60 files changed, 31777 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/34083-0.txt b/34083-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..75a89c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,7424 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories of the Olden Time, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Stories of the Olden Time
+       (Historical Series--Book IV Part I)
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: October 16, 2010 [EBook #34083]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF THE OLDEN TIME ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[illustration]
+
+
+
+
+  _HISTORICAL SERIES--BOOK IV PART I_
+
+  STORIES
+  OF THE OLDEN TIME
+
+  COMPILED AND ARRANGED
+  BY JAMES JOHONNOT
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  NEW YORK  CINCINNATI  CHICAGO
+  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1889,
+  BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
+
+  E. P. 12
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+When we go back to the early history of any people, we find that fact
+and fiction are strangely blended, and that the stories told are
+largely made up of traditions distorted and exaggerated by imagination
+and time. The myth, however, is valuable as representing the first
+steps of a nation in the evolution of its literature from a barbaric
+state, and as indicating special national characteristics.
+
+The myths of Greece, for example, are chiefly derived from the
+traditions extant when the alphabet was invented, and are preserved in
+the poetic stories of Homer and Virgil. Combined, they make that
+mythology which grew up in Greece, and which now so largely permeates
+the literature of every civilized language.
+
+The first stories given in this book are myths. They stand first in
+the order of precedence because they stand first in the order of time.
+
+The myths are followed by a few parables and fables, forms of stories
+which from the earliest times have been used to apply some
+well-established principle of morals to practical conduct.
+
+Next follow legends, where we are called upon to separate the probable
+from the improbable, the true from the false. Herodotus, the father of
+history, wrote his account of the "Persian Empire" several hundred
+years after the events took place which he has recorded. The stories
+had been preserved to his day by tradition.
+
+In the traditional stories and in the truer records which follow, the
+pupil will see the play of the same emotions and passions which
+actuate men at the present time, and the careers of the great
+conquerors, Frederic and Napoleon, differ little essentially from
+those of Alexander and Cæsar. Tyranny remains the same forever,
+encroaching upon human liberty and limiting the field of human
+conduct. It will be seen also that from the state of barbarism there
+has been a gradual evolution which more and more places men under the
+protection of equal laws.
+
+These books are to be used mainly for the stories they contain. By a
+simple reproduction in speech or in writing, we have the best possible
+language lesson. The value of the books may be entirely lost by
+catechisms which demand the literal reproduction of the text.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  MYTHS.
+
+                                                             PAGE
+
+        I. Arion                                                7
+       II. Arachne                                             12
+      III. Polyphemus                                          15
+       IV. Ulysses's Return                                    17
+        V. Thor's Visit to Jotunheim                           20
+
+
+  PARABLES AND FABLES.
+
+       VI. The Wolf and the Dog                                24
+      VII. Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard             26
+     VIII. Parable of the Sower and the Seed                   28
+       IX. Pairing-Time anticipated                            30
+
+
+  LEGENDS.
+
+        X. The Gift of Tritemius                               33
+       XI. Damon and Pythias                                   36
+      XII. King Canute                                         40
+     XIII. A Norseman's Sword                                  43
+       IV. The Story of King Alfred and St. Cuthbert           46
+       XV. A Roland for an Oliver                              49
+      XVI. The Legend of Macbeth                               52
+
+
+  OLD BALLADS.
+
+     XVII. Chevy-Chase                                         59
+    XVIII. Valentine and Ursine                                65
+
+
+  EARLY EASTERN RECORD.
+
+      XIX. Sennacherib                                         71
+       XX. Glaucon                                             75
+      XXI. Cyrus and his Grandfather                           80
+     XXII. Cyrus and the Armenians                             83
+    XXIII. The Macedonian Empire                               90
+     XXIV. Alexander's Conquests                               98
+      XXV. Judas Maccabæus, the Hebrew William Tell           106
+
+
+  ROMAN RECORD.
+
+     XXVI. Tarquin the Wicked                                 117
+    XXVII. The Roman Republic                                 127
+   XXVIII. Cincinnatus                                        137
+     XXIX. The Roman Father                                   141
+      XXX. Archimedes                                         150
+     XXXI. The Death of Cæsar                                 154
+    XXXII. How Romans lived                                   161
+
+
+  MEDIÆVAL RECORD.
+
+   XXXIII. Conversion of the English                          169
+    XXXIV. Leo the Slave                                      173
+     XXXV. The Moors in Spain                                 179
+    XXXVI. Charlemagne                                        183
+
+
+  WESTERN RECORD.
+
+   XXXVII. The Norsemen                                       191
+  XXXVIII. Rolf the Ganger                                    200
+    XXXIX. The True Story of Macbeth                          206
+       XL. Duke William of Normandy                           211
+      XLI. The Norman Conquest                                217
+     XLII. King Richard Cœur de Lion in the Holy Land      224
+    XLIII. King John and the Charter                          230
+     XLIV. An Early Election to Parliament                    237
+      XLV. The Battle of Cressy                               245
+     XLVI. The Battle of Agincourt                            251
+
+
+
+
+MYTHS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+_I.--ARION._
+
+
+1. Arion was a famous musician, and dwelt at the court of Periander,
+King of Corinth, with whom he was a great favorite. There was a
+musical contest in Sicily, and Arion longed to compete for the prize.
+He told his wish to Periander, who besought him like a brother to give
+up the thought. "Pray stay with me," he said, "and be contented. He
+who strives to win may lose." Arion answered: "A wandering life best
+suits the free heart of a poet. A talent which a god bestowed upon me
+I would fain make a source of pleasure to others; and if I win the
+prize, how will the enjoyment of it be increased by the consciousness
+of my wide-spread fame!"
+
+2. He went, won the prize, and embarked with his wealth in a
+Corinthian vessel for home. On the second morning after setting sail,
+the wind breathed mild and fair. "O Periander!" he exclaimed, "dismiss
+your fears. Soon shall you forget them in my embrace. With what lavish
+offerings will we display our gratitude to the gods, and how merry
+will we be at the festal board!" The wind and sea continued favorable,
+not a cloud dimmed the firmament. He had not trusted too much to the
+ocean, but to man he had. He overheard the seamen plotting to get
+possession of his treasure. Presently they surrounded him, loud and
+mutinous, and said: "Arion, you must die! If you would have a grave on
+the shore, yield yourself to die on this spot; but if otherwise, cast
+yourself into the sea."
+
+3. "Will nothing satisfy you but my life?" said he; "take my gold in
+welcome. I willingly buy my life at that price." "No, no; we can not
+spare you. Your life would be too dangerous to us. Where could we go to
+escape Periander if he should know that you had been robbed by us? Your
+gold would be of little use to us, if, on returning home, we could never
+more be free from fear." "Grant me, then," said he, "a last request,
+since naught will prevail to save my life, that I may die as I have
+lived, as becomes a bard. When I shall have sung my death-song, and my
+harp-strings cease to vibrate, then I will bid farewell to life, and
+yield to my fate." This prayer, like the others, would have been
+unheeded--they thought only of their booty--but to hear so famous a
+musician moved their hearts. "Suffer me," he added, "to arrange my
+dress. Apollo will not favor me unless I am clad in my minstrel garb."
+
+4. He clothed himself in gold and purple, fair to see, his tunic fell
+around him in graceful folds, jewels adorned his arms, his brow was
+crowned with a golden wreath, and over his neck and shoulders flowed
+his hair, perfumed with odors. His left hand held the lyre, his right
+the ivory wand with which he struck the chords. Like one inspired he
+seemed to drink the morning air and glitter in the morning ray. The
+seamen gazed in admiration. He strode forward to the vessel's side,
+and looked down into the blue sea.
+
+5. Addressing his lyre, he sang: "Companion of my voice, come with me
+to the realm of shades! Though Cerberus may growl, we know the power
+of song can tame his rage. Ye heroes of Elysium, who have passed the
+darkling flood--ye happy souls, soon shall I join your band. Yet can
+ye relieve my grief? Alas! I leave my friend behind me. Thou, who
+didst find thy Eurydice, and lose her again as soon as found, when she
+had vanished like a dream, how thou didst hate the cheerful light! I
+must away, but I will not fear. The gods look down upon us. Ye who
+slay me unoffending, when I am no more your time of trembling shall
+come! Ye Nereids, receive your guest, who throws himself upon your
+mercy!" So saying, he sprang into the deep sea. The waves covered him,
+and the seamen held their way, fancying themselves safe from all
+danger of detection.
+
+6. But the strains of his music had drawn around him the inhabitants
+of the deep to listen, and dolphins followed the ship as if charmed by
+a spell. While he struggled in the waves a dolphin offered him its
+back, and carried him mounted thereon safe to shore. At the spot where
+he landed, a monument of brass was afterward erected upon the rocky
+shore to preserve the memory of the event.
+
+7. When Arion and the dolphin parted, each returning to his own
+element, Arion thus poured forth his thanks: "Farewell, thou faithful,
+friendly fish! Would that I could reward thee! but thou canst not wend
+with me, nor I with thee; companionship we may not have. May Galatea,
+queen of the deep, accord thee her favor, and thou, proud of the
+burden, draw her chariot over the smooth mirror of the deep!"
+
+[Illustration: _Arion and the Dolphin._]
+
+8. Arion hastened from the shore, and soon saw before him the towers
+of Corinth. He journeyed on, harp in hand, singing as he went, full of
+love and happiness, forgetting his losses, and mindful only of what
+remained, his friend and his lyre. He entered the hospitable halls,
+and was soon clasped in the embrace of Periander. "I come back to
+thee, my friend," he said. "The talent which a god bestowed has been
+the delight of thousands, but false knaves have stripped me of my
+well-earned treasure." Then he told all the wonderful events that had
+befallen him. Periander, who heard him in amazement, said: "Shall such
+wickedness triumph? Then in vain is power lodged in my hands. That we
+may discover the criminals you must lie here concealed, so that they
+come without suspicion."
+
+9. When the ship arrived in the harbor, he summoned the mariners
+before him. "Have you heard anything of Arion?" he inquired. "I
+anxiously look for his return." They replied, "We left him well and
+prosperous in Tarentum." As they said these words, Arion stepped forth
+and faced them. He was clad in all his glory as when he leaped into
+the sea. They fell prostrate at his feet, as if a lightning-bolt had
+struck them. "We meant to murder him, and he has become a god! O
+earth, open and receive us!" Then Periander spoke: "He lives, the
+master of the lay! kind Heaven protects the poet's life. As for you, I
+invoke not the spirit of vengeance; Arion wishes not your blood. Ye
+slaves of avarice, begone! Seek some barbarous land, and never may
+aught beautiful delight your souls!"
+
+
+
+
+_II.--ARACHNE._
+
+
+1. In the old mythology it was considered a great sin for any mortal
+to enter into a contest with a god, and whenever one did so he
+incurred a fearful penalty. The maiden Arachne early showed marvelous
+skill in embroidery and all kinds of needle-work. So beautiful were
+her designs that the nymphs themselves would leave their groves and
+fountains, and come and gaze delighted upon her work. It was not only
+beautiful when it was done, but was beautiful in the doing. As they
+watched the delicate touch of her fingers they declared that the
+goddess Minerva must have been her teacher. This Arachne denied, and,
+grown very vain of her many compliments, she said: "Let Minerva try
+her skill with mine, and if beaten I will pay the penalty!"
+
+2. Minerva heard this, and was greatly displeased at the vanity and
+presumption of the maiden. Assuming the form of an old woman she went
+to Arachne and gave her some friendly advice. "I have much
+experience," she said, "and I hope you will not despise my counsel.
+Challenge mortals as much as you like, but do not try and compete with
+a goddess!" Arachne stopped her spinning, and angrily replied: "keep
+your counsel for your daughters and handmaids; for my part, I know
+what I say, and I stand to it. I am not afraid of the goddess."
+
+3. Minerva then dropped her disguise, and stood before the company in
+her proper person. The nymphs at once paid her homage. Arachne alone
+had no fear. She stood by her resolve, and the contest proceeded. Each
+took her station, and attached the web to the beam. Both worked with
+speed; their skillful hands moved rapidly, and the excitement of the
+contest made the labor light.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+4. Minerva wrought into her web the scene of her contest with Neptune.
+The gods are all represented in their most august forms, and the
+picture is noble in its perfect simplicity and chaste beauty. In the
+four corners she wrought scenes where mortals entered into contest
+with gods and were punished for their presumption. These were meant as
+warnings to her rival to give up the contest before it was too late.
+
+5. Arachne filled her web with subjects designedly chosen to exhibit
+the failings and errors of the gods. Every story to their discredit
+she appears to have treasured up. The last scene she represented was
+that of Jupiter in the form of a bull carrying off Europa across the
+sea, leaving the heart-broken mother to wander in search of her child
+until she died.
+
+6. Minerva examined the work of her rival, and doubly angry at the
+presumption and the sacrilege manifested in her choice of subjects,
+struck her web with a shuttle and tore it from the loom. She then
+touched the forehead of Arachne and made her feel her guilt and shame.
+This she could not endure, and went out and hanged herself. Minerva
+pitied her, as she saw her hanging by a rope. "Live, guilty woman,"
+said she; "and that you may preserve the memory of this lesson,
+continue to hang, you and your descendants, to all future times." She
+sprinkled her with the juice of aconite, and immediately her form
+shrunk up, her head grew small, and her fingers grew to her sides and
+served as legs. All the rest of her is body, out of which she spins
+her thread, often hanging suspended by it in the same attitude as when
+Minerva touched her and transformed her into a spider.
+
+
+
+
+_III.--POLYPHEMUS._
+
+
+1. When Troy was captured, Ulysses, the King of Ithaca, set sail for
+his native country. With favorable winds he should have reached home
+in a few months, but he met with so many adventures that it was ten
+years before he saw the shores of his beloved Ithaca. At one time he
+and his companions landed upon an unknown shore in search of food.
+Ulysses took with him a jar of wine as a present should he meet with
+any inhabitants. Presently they came to a large cave, and entered it.
+There they found lambs and kids in their pens, and a table spread with
+cheese, fruits, and bowls of milk. But soon the master of the cave,
+Polyphemus, returned, and Ulysses saw that they were in the land of
+the Cyclops, a race of immense giants. The name means "round eye," and
+these giants were so called because they had but one eye, and that was
+placed in the middle of the forehead.
+
+2. Polyphemus drove into the cave the sheep and the goats to be
+milked, and then placed a huge rock at the mouth of the cave to serve
+as a door. While attending to his supper he chanced to spy the Greeks,
+who were hidden in one corner. He growled out to them, demanding to
+know who they were, and where from. Ulysses replied, stating that they
+were returning from the siege of Troy, and that they had landed in
+search of provisions. At this Polyphemus gave no answer, but seizing a
+couple of Greeks, he killed and ate them up on the spot. He then went
+to sleep, and his snoring sounded like thunder in the ears of the
+terrified Greeks all the livelong night. In the morning the giant
+arose, ate two more men, and went out with his flocks, having
+carefully secured the door so that the remainder could not get away.
+
+3. Then Ulysses contrived a plan to punish the giant, and get away
+from his clutches. He found a great bar of wood which the giant had
+cut for a staff. This his men sharpened at one end and hardened at the
+fire. Then a number were selected to use it, and they awaited events.
+In the evening Polyphemus returned, and having eaten his two men he
+lay down to sleep. But Ulysses presented him with some of the wine
+from the jar which the giant eagerly drank, and called for more. In a
+short time he was quite drunk, and then he asked Ulysses his name, and
+he replied: "My name is Noman."
+
+[Illustration: _Polyphemus._]
+
+4. When the giant was fairly asleep, the sailors seized the sharpened
+stick, and, aiming it directly at his single eye, they rushed forward
+with all their might. The eye was put out, and the giant was left
+blind. He felt around the cave trying to catch his tormentors, but
+they contrived to get out of his way. He then howled so loud that his
+neighbors came to see what was the matter, when he said, "I am hurt,
+Noman did it!" Then they said, "If no man did it, we can not help
+you." So they went home, leaving him groaning.
+
+5. In the morning Polyphemus rolled away the stone to let out his
+sheep and goats, and the Greeks contrived to get out with them without
+being discovered. Once out, they lost no time in driving the flocks
+down to the shore, and then with their vessels well provisioned they
+set sail once more for their native land.
+
+
+
+
+_IV.--ULYSSES'S RETURN._
+
+
+1. Ulysses, the lord of Ithaca, went to assist the Greeks in the siege
+of Troy. For ten long years the war lasted, and when Troy fell,
+Ulysses was ten more years in reaching his home. He met with so many
+accidents and adventures that delayed him, that even his stout heart
+almost gave out as he thought of the wife and children waiting for him
+through all these weary years. In the mean time his son Telemachus had
+grown to manhood, and had gone in search of his father.
+
+2. During all this time his wife, Queen Penelope, never lost hope, but
+lived daily looking for her husband to come sailing over the sea. But
+while the master was away, more than a hundred young lords laid claim
+to the hand of Penelope, so as to obtain the power and riches of
+Ulysses. They lorded it over the palace and people as if they were the
+owners of both, and they paid no attention to the wishes of Penelope,
+as she was but a woman, and could not protect herself. Her only safety
+lay in the fact that the suitors were jealous of each other, and no
+one could make any advance until Penelope had made her selection.
+
+[Illustration: _Ulysses and his Dog._]
+
+3. At last Ulysses returned in the disguise of a beggar. No one knew
+him except his old dog Argus, who, in his excess of joy, died while
+licking his hands. He made himself known to Eumæus, a faithful
+servant, and by him was presented to Telemachus, who had just
+returned. Great was the joy of father and son at thus meeting each
+other. Then the three laid a plan to punish the suitors and to rid
+Ithaca of their presence. In carrying out this plan, Telemachus went
+to his mother's palace publicly, and the suitors bade him welcome,
+though they secretly hated him, and had tried to take his life. Here
+he found feasting going on, and, at his request, the supposed beggar
+was admitted to the foot of the table.
+
+4. Penelope had put off her decision on various pretexts until now,
+when there appeared no other reason for delay. So she announced that
+she would accept the one who would shoot an arrow through twelve rings
+arranged in a line. A bow formerly used by Ulysses was brought in and
+all other arms removed. All things being ready, the first thing to be
+done was to attach the string to the bow, which required the bow to be
+bent. Telemachus tried and failed. Then each of the suitors tried in
+turn, and all failed. They even rubbed the bow with tallow, but it
+would not bend.
+
+5. Here Ulysses spoke and said: "Beggar as I am, I once was a soldier,
+and there is some strength in these old limbs of mine yet. Let me
+try." The suitors hooted at him, and would have turned him out of the
+hall; but Telemachus said it was best to gratify the old man, and so
+put the bow in his hand. Ulysses took it and easily adjusted the cord.
+Then he selected an arrow and sent it through the twelve rings at the
+first shot. Before the suitors recovered from their astonishment he
+sent another through the heart of the most insolent of them.
+Telemachus, Eumæus, and another faithful servant sprang to their aid.
+The suitors looked around for arms, but there were none. Ulysses did
+not let them remain long in doubt; he announced himself as the
+long-lost chief whose house they had invaded, whose substance they had
+squandered, and whose wife and son they had persecuted for ten long
+years, and told them he meant to have ample vengeance. All the suitors
+were slain but two, and Ulysses was left master of his own palace and
+the possessor of his kingdom and wife.
+
+[Illustration: _Penelope and Ulysses's Bow._]
+
+
+
+
+_V.--THOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM._
+
+
+1. Thor, the god of the Northmen, who always carried a hammer to make
+his way or obtain his wishes, heard of the giant's country, Jotunheim,
+of which Utgard was the capital, and he resolved on a visit to that
+region to try his strength with any one whom he might find. So,
+accompanied by his servants, Thiolfi and Loki, he set out. Thiolfi was
+of all men the swiftest on foot. At nightfall they took refuge from a
+storm in a very large building which they imperfectly saw in the dim
+light, but were kept awake by loud thunder which shook their abode
+like an earthquake. In the morning it was found that the thunder was
+the snoring of a huge giant sleeping near by, and that the building in
+which they had taken shelter was the giant's glove.
+
+2. The giant, whose name was Skrymer, knew Thor, and proposed that
+they should travel together, to which the god consented. At night they
+encamped, and soon the giant was asleep. Thor, finding that he could
+not untie the provision-bag which the giant had carried all day, went
+into a rage and struck the sleeper a mighty blow with, his hammer.
+Skrymer awoke and said, "The leaves are falling, for one just now fell
+upon my breast." They lay down again, and soon the giant began to
+snore so loud that Thor could get no sleep, so he grasped the hammer
+in both hands and dealt him another blow. Skrymer awoke and called
+out, "How fares it with thee, Thor? A bird must be overhead--a bunch
+of moss has just now fallen upon me." Just before daylight Thor
+thought that he would end this matter then, so he seized his hammer
+and threw it with all his might. Skrymer awoke, and stroking his cheek
+said, "An acorn fell upon my head. But let us be stirring, as we have
+a long day before us."
+
+3. When within sight of the city Skrymer turned off, as his route lay in
+another direction, and soon Thor and his companions were in presence of
+the giant king. Addressing Thor, the king asked if he or his companions
+could do anything better than others, for he said that no one was
+permitted to remain in the city unless he excelled in something.
+
+4. Loki, who was a great eater, proposed a feast, and the king called
+Logi to come out and compete with him. A trough filled with meat was
+placed in the midst of the hall, and Loki beginning at one end soon
+ate all the flesh to the middle of the trough; but it was found that
+Logi had devoured both flesh and bones and the trough to boot. So the
+company adjudged Loki vanquished.
+
+5. Next Thiolfi presented himself to run a race, and the king brought
+out a young man named Hugi to run with him. Hugi ran over the course
+and turning back met Thiolfi but just started. Then the king remarked
+that if Thor could not do better than his servants, it were well that
+he stay at home. Then a drinking-match was proposed, and a drinking
+horn was brought in. It was not very large, but was of great length,
+and the king remarked that any one of his subjects ought to empty it
+at a single draught, but none would fail to do so in three draughts.
+Thor drank long and deep, but the horn was as full as before; a second
+trial met with a similar failure. Then Thor straightened himself for a
+mighty effort and drank as the thirsty earth drinks of the rains from
+heaven. The liquor was diminished, but still the horn was nearly full.
+"I perceive," said the king, "that thou canst not be very thirsty, or
+thou wouldst drink more."
+
+6. "What new trial do you propose?" said Thor. "We have a trifling
+game here," said the king, "in which we exercise none but children. It
+consists in merely lifting my cat from the ground, and I should not
+have mentioned it to the great Thor if I had not observed that thou
+art by no means what we took thee for." As he finished speaking, a
+large gray cat sprang into the hall. Thor put forth all his mighty
+strength three times without lifting her, though on the third trial
+one foot was raised from the floor.
+
+7. "Well," said the king, "only one trial remains for thee. Thou must
+wrestle with somebody, and after thy failures to-day none of our men
+will wrestle with thee." So saying, the king called upon his old
+nurse, a toothless crone, shaking and trembling on the edge of the
+grave. Thor grasped her and put forth a mighty effort, but the old
+woman stood fast. At last she grasped him in turn, and he was thrown
+upon his knee. The king here interfered, and the contests came to an
+end. The travelers, however, were royally entertained, and after a
+good night's rest, and a bountiful breakfast, they bade the king
+good-by, and set out on their return.
+
+8. Toward night they overtook a traveler, who proved to be Skrymer,
+their former companion and guide, and they encamped together in the
+very wood where they passed their first night together. The giant,
+perceiving the dejected looks of Thor, said, "Something appears to
+trouble thee; has thy journey gone amiss?" Thereupon Thor related the
+whole story of his failures. "Then," said the giant, "take heart, for
+thou hast performed great wonders, but hast been the victim of
+delusions. Observe me closely!" Thor looked, and saw that Skrymer and
+the king were one and the same person.
+
+9. "Now," said the king, "Loki devoured all that was set before him,
+but Logi was Fire, and consumed trough and all. Hugi, with whom
+Thiolfi was running, was Thought, and not the swiftest runner can keep
+pace with that. The horn that thou failedst to empty had its lower end
+in the sea, and thou wilt see how the very ocean is lowered by thy
+draught. The cat is the animal that bears up the world, and thy last
+mighty effort caused the solid earth to shake as with an earthquake.
+The old woman with whom thou wrestledst was old age, and she throws
+everybody." The king then pointed out the place where Thor dealt his
+blows on the night of their first meeting, and lo! three mighty chasms
+showed where the solid mountains had been rent asunder.
+
+
+
+
+PARABLES AND FABLES.
+
+
+
+
+_VI.--THE WOLF AND THE DOG._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Lean, hungry wolf, fell in one moonlight night with a jolly, plump,
+well-fed mastiff, and after the first greetings were passed, the wolf
+accosted him: "You look extremely well," said he, "I think I never saw a
+more graceful, comely personage; but how comes it about, I beseech you,
+that you should live so much better than I? I may say, without vanity,
+that I venture fifty times more than you do, and yet I am almost ready
+to perish with hunger." The dog answered very bluntly: "Why, you may
+live as well as I if you will do the same services for it." The wolf
+pricked up his ears at the proposal, and requested to be informed what
+he must do to earn such plentiful meals. "Very little," answered the
+dog; "only to guard the house at night, and keep it from thieves and
+beggars." "With all my heart," rejoined the wolf, "for at present I have
+but a sorry time of it; and, I think, to change my hard lodging in the
+woods, where I endure rain, frost, and snow, for a warm roof over my
+head and plenty of food, will be no bad bargain." "True," said the dog,
+"therefore, you have nothing more to do than to follow me."
+
+2. As they were jogging along together, the wolf spied a circle, worn
+round his friend's neck, and, being almost as curious as some of a
+higher species, he could not forbear asking what it meant. "Pooh!
+nothing," said the dog, "or at most a mere trifle." "Nay, but pray,"
+urged the wolf, "inform me." "Why, then," said the dog, "perhaps it is
+the collar to which my chain is fastened; for I am sometimes tied up
+in the day-time, because I am a little fierce, and might bite people,
+and am only let loose at night. But this is done with design to make
+me sleep in the day, more than anything else, that I may watch the
+better in the night-time. As soon as the twilight appears, I am turned
+loose, and may go where I please. Then my master brings me plates of
+bones from the table with his own hands; and whatever scraps are left
+by the family fall to my share, for you must know I am a favorite with
+everybody. So, seeing how you are to live, come along! Why, what is
+the matter with you?" "I beg your pardon," replied the wolf, "but you
+may keep your happiness to yourself. I am resolved to have no share in
+your dinners. Half a meal, with liberty, is, in my estimation, worth a
+full one without it."
+
+
+
+
+_VII.--PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD._
+
+
+1. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder,
+which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.
+
+2. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent
+them into his vineyard.
+
+3. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle
+in the market-place,
+
+4. And said unto them; go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is
+right I will give you. And they went their way.
+
+5. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
+
+6. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing
+idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
+
+7. They say unto him, because no man hath hired us. He saith unto
+them, go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that
+shall ye receive.
+
+8. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his
+steward, call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from
+the last unto the first.
+
+9. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they
+received every man a penny.
+
+10. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have
+received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
+
+11. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man
+of the house,
+
+12. Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made
+them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+13. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong:
+didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
+
+14. Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last,
+even as unto thee.
+
+15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine
+eye evil, because I am good?
+
+16. So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be
+called, but few chosen.
+
+                                        (_St. Matthew, xx. 1-16._)
+
+
+
+
+_VIII.--PARABLE OF THE SOWER AND THE SEED._
+
+
+1. The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
+
+2. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he
+went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
+
+3. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a
+sower went forth to sow;
+
+4. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side, and the fowls
+came and devoured them up:
+
+5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and
+forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
+
+6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had
+no root, they withered away.
+
+7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked
+them:
+
+8. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a
+hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold.
+
+9. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
+
+10. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto
+them in parables?
+
+11. He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know
+the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
+
+[Illustration: _A Sower went forth to Sow._]
+
+12. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more
+abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even
+that he hath.
+
+13. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see
+not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
+
+                                      (_St. Matthew xiii, 1-13._)
+
+
+
+
+_IX.--PAIRING-TIME ANTICIPATED._
+
+
+    1. I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau
+       If birds confabulate or no;
+       'Tis clear that they were always able
+       To hold discourse,--at least in fable;
+       And even the child, who knows no better
+       Than to interpret by the letter
+       A story of a cock and bull,
+       Must have a most uncommon skull.
+
+    2. It chanced then on a winter's day,
+       But warm and bright and calm as May,
+       The birds, conceiving a design
+       To forestall sweet Saint Valentine,
+       In many an orchard, copse, and grove,
+       Assembled on affairs of love,
+       And with much twitter and much chatter,
+       Began to agitate the matter.
+
+    3. At length a bull-finch, who could boast
+       More years and wisdom than the most,
+       Entreated, opening wide his beak
+       A moment's liberty to speak,
+       And silence publicly enjoined,
+       Briefly delivered thus his mind:
+       "My friends! be cautious how ye treat
+       The subject upon which we meet;
+       I fear we shall have winter yet."
+
+    4. A finch, whose tongue knew no control,
+       With golden wings and satin poll,
+       A last year's bird, who ne'er had tried
+       What marriage means, thus pert, replied:
+       "Methinks the gentleman," quoth she,
+       "Opposite in the apple-tree,
+       By his good will, would keep us single
+       'Till yonder heaven and earth shall mingle,
+       Or, what is likelier to befall,
+       'Till death exterminate us all.
+       I marry without more ado!
+       My dear Dick Redcap, what say you?"
+
+    5. Dick heard, and tweedling, ogling, bridling,
+       Turning short round, strutting and sidling,
+       Attested glad his approbation
+       Of an immediate conjugation.
+       Their sentiments so well expressed,
+       Mightily influenced all the rest.
+       All paired and each pair built a nest.
+
+    6. But though the birds were thus in haste,
+       The leaves came out not quite so fast,
+       And destiny, that sometimes bears
+       An aspect stern on men's affairs,
+       Not altogether smiled on their's.
+       The wing of late breathed gently forth,
+       Now shifted east and east by north.
+       Bare trees and shrubs, but ill, you know
+       Could shelter them from rain or snow.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+    7. Stepping into their nests they paddled;
+       Themselves were chilled, their eggs were addled;
+       Soon every father bird and mother,
+       Grew quarrelsome and pecked each other,
+       Parted without the least regret--
+       Except that they had ever met--
+       And learned in future to be wiser
+       Than to neglect a good adviser.
+
+    8. Moral:
+           Misses, the tale that I relate,
+             This moral seems to carry--
+           Choose not alone a proper mate,
+             But proper time to marry.
+
+                                      _Cowper._
+
+
+
+
+LEGENDS.
+
+
+
+
+_X.--THE GIFT OF TRITEMIUS._
+
+
+    1. Tritemius, of Herbipolis, one day,
+       While kneeling at the altar's foot to pray,
+       Alone with God, as was his pious choice,
+       Heard from without a miserable voice,
+       A sound which seemed of all sad things to tell,
+       As of a lost soul crying out of hell.
+
+    2. Thereat the abbot paused; the chain whereby
+       His thoughts went upward broken by that cry;
+       And, looking from the casement, saw below
+       A wretched woman, with gray hair a-flow,
+       And withered hands held up to him, who cried
+       For alms as one who might not be denied.
+
+[Illustration: _The gift of Tritemius._]
+
+    3. She cried, "For the dear love of Him who gave
+       His life for ours, my child from bondage save,--
+       My beautiful, brave first-born, chained with slaves
+       In the Moor's galley, where the sun-smit waves
+       Lap the white walls of Tunis!" "What I can
+       I give," Tritemius said: "my prayers." "O man
+       Of God," she cried, for grief had made her bold,
+       "Mock me not thus; I ask not prayers, but gold.
+       Words will not serve me, alms alone suffice;
+       Even while I speak, perchance, my first-born dies."
+
+    4. "Woman," Tritemius answered, "from our door
+       None go unfed; hence are we always poor;
+       A single soldo is our only store.
+       Thou hast our prayers; what can we give thee more?"
+
+    5. "Give me," she said, "the silver candlesticks
+       On either side of the great crucifix;
+       God may well spare them on his errands sped,
+       Or he can give you golden ones instead."
+
+    6. Then spake Tritemius: "Even as thy word,
+       Woman, so be it! (Our most gracious Lord,
+       Who loveth mercy more than sacrifice,
+       Pardon me if a human soul I prize
+       Above the gifts upon his altar piled!)
+       Take what thou askest, and redeem thy child."
+
+    7. But his hand trembled as the holy alms
+       He placed within the beggar's eager palms;
+       And as she vanished down the linden shade,
+       He bowed his head, and for forgiveness prayed.
+
+    8. So the day passed, and when the twilight came
+       He woke to find the chapel all aflame,
+       And, dumb with grateful wonder, to behold
+       Upon the altar candlesticks of gold!
+
+                                        _Whittier._
+
+
+
+
+_XI.--DAMON AND PYTHIAS._
+
+
+1. About four hundred years before the Christian era, the government
+of Syracuse fell into the hands of Dionysius, a successful general of
+the army. He dispossessed the magistrates whom the people elected, and
+was therefore a usurper. While ruling justly in the main, he had a
+capricious temper, and often in his rage performed actions which he
+sincerely regretted in his sober moments. He was a good scholar, and
+very fond of philosophy and poetry, and he delighted to have learned
+men around him, and he had naturally a generous spirit; but the sense
+that he was in a position that did not belong to him, and that every
+one hated him for assuming it, made him very harsh and suspicious. It
+is of him that the story is told, that he had a chamber hollowed in
+the rock near his state prison, and constructed with galleries to
+conduct sounds like an ear, so that he might overhear the conversation
+of his captives; and of him, too, is told that famous anecdote which
+has become a proverb, that on hearing a friend, named Damocles,
+express a wish to be in his situation for a single day, he took him at
+his word, and Damocles found himself at a banquet with everything that
+could delight his senses, delicious food, costly wine, flowers,
+perfumes, music, but with a sword with the point almost touching his
+head, and hanging by a single horse-hair! This was to show the
+condition in which a usurper lived.
+
+[Illustration: _Damon and Pythias._]
+
+2. Thus Dionysius was in constant dread. He had a wide trench round his
+bedroom, with a drawbridge that he drew up and put down with his own
+hands; and he put one barber to death for boasting that he held a razor
+to the tyrant's throat every morning. After this he made his young
+daughters shave him; and by-and-by he would not trust them with a
+razor, and caused them to singe off his beard with hot nut-shells.
+
+3. One philosopher, named Philoxenus, he sent to a dungeon for finding
+fault with his poetry, but he afterward composed another piece, which
+he thought so superior that he could not be content without sending
+for this adverse critic to hear it. When he had finished reading it,
+he looked to Philoxenus for a compliment; but the philosopher only
+turned round to the guards, and said dryly, "Carry me back to prison."
+This time Dionysius had the sense to laugh, and forgive his honesty.
+
+4. All these stories may not be true; but that they should have been
+current in the ancient world, shows what was the character of the man
+of whom they were told, how stern and terrible was his anger, and how
+easily it was incurred. Among those who came under it was a
+Pythagorean called Pythias, who was sentenced to death, according to
+the usual fate of those who fell under his suspicion.
+
+5. Pythias had lands and relations in Greece, and he entreated as a
+favor to be allowed to return thither and arrange his affairs,
+engaging to return within a specified time and suffer death. The
+tyrant laughed his request to scorn. Once safe out of Sicily, who
+would answer for his return? Pythias made reply that he had a friend
+who would become security for his return; and while Dionysius, the
+miserable man who trusted nobody, was ready to scoff at his
+simplicity, another Pythagorean, by name Damon, came forward and
+offered to become surety for his friend, engaging that, if Pythias did
+not return according to promise, to suffer death in his stead.
+
+6. Dionysius, much astonished, consented to let Pythias go, marveling
+what would be the issue of the affair. Time went on, and Pythias did
+not appear. The Syracusans watched Damon, but he showed no
+uneasiness. He said he was secure of his friend's truth and honor, and
+that if any accident had caused his delay, he should rejoice in dying
+to save the life of one so dear to him.
+
+7. Even to the last day Damon continued serene and content, however it
+might fall out; nay, even when the very hour drew nigh and still no
+Pythias. His trust was so perfect that he did not even grieve at having
+to die for a faithless friend who left him to the fate to which he had
+unwarily pledged himself. It was not Pythias's own will, but the winds
+and waves, so he still declared, when the decree was brought and the
+instruments of death made ready. The hour had come, and a few moments
+more would have ended Damon's life, when Pythias duly presented himself,
+embraced his friend, and stood forward himself to receive his sentence,
+calm, resolute, and rejoiced that he had come in time.
+
+8. Even the dim hope they owned of a future state was enough to make
+these two brave men keep their word, and confront death for one
+another without quailing. Dionysius looked on more struck than ever.
+He felt that neither of such men must die. He reversed the sentence of
+Pythias, and calling the two to his judgment-seat, he entreated them
+to admit him as a third in their friendship.
+
+                                              _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XII.--KING CANUTE._
+
+
+    1. Upon his royal throne he sat
+         In a monarch's thoughtful mood;
+       Attendants on his regal state,
+         His servile courtiers stood,
+       With foolish flatteries, false and vain,
+       To win his smile, his favor gain.
+
+    2. They told him e'en the mighty deep
+         His kingly sway confessed;
+       That he could bid its billows leap,
+         Or still its stormy breast!
+       He smiled contemptuously and cried,
+       "Be then my boasted empire tried!"
+
+    3. Down to the ocean's sounding shore
+         The proud procession came,
+       To see its billows' wild uproar
+         King Canute's power proclaim,
+       Or, at his high and dread command,
+       In gentle murmurs kiss the strand.
+
+    4. Not so thought he, their noble king,
+         As his course he seaward sped;
+       And each base slave, like a guilty thing,
+         Hung down his conscious head:
+       He knew the ocean's Lord on high!
+       They, that he scorned their senseless lie.
+
+    5. His throne was placed by ocean's side,
+         He lifted his scepter there,
+       Bidding, with tones of kingly pride,
+         The waves their strife forbear;
+       And while he spoke his royal will,
+       All but the winds and waves were still.
+
+[Illustration: _Canute and his Courtiers._]
+
+    6. Louder the stormy blast swept by,
+         In scorn of idle word;
+       The briny deep its waves tossed high,
+         By his mandate undeterred,
+       As threatening, in their angry play,
+       To sweep both king and court away.
+
+    7. The monarch, with upbraiding look,
+         Turned to the courtly ring;
+       But none the kindling eye could brook
+         Even of his earthly king;
+       For in that wrathful glance they see
+       A mightier monarch wronged than he!
+
+    8. Canute, thy regal race is run;
+         Thy name had passed away,
+       But for the meed this tale hath won,
+         Which never shall decay:
+       Its meek, unperishing renown
+       Outlasts thy scepter and thy crown.
+
+    9. The Persian, in his mighty pride,
+         Forged fetters for the main,
+       And, when its floods his power defied,
+         Inflicted stripes as vain;
+       But it was worthier far of thee
+       To know thyself than rule the sea!
+
+                        _Bernard Barton._
+
+
+
+
+_XIII.--A NORSEMAN'S SWORD._
+
+
+1. The smelting of iron in the north of Europe is believed to have
+commenced with the Finns or Laplanders, the original inhabitants of
+Scandinavia, who then occupied the localities where the best ores are
+still found. The diminutive stature of these people compared with that
+of their Gothic invaders, their skill in penetrating the bowels of the
+earth in search of ores, the smoke of their collieries, the flame and
+thunder of their furnaces and forges, and, above all, the excellent
+temper of the weapons wrought by them--all these conspired to render
+them objects of superstitious wonder to the Goths.
+
+2. The legendary stories of that people are filled with strange tales
+of the northern dwarfs, who lived in the solid rock, and possessed
+magic skill in all the various arts of the smith. One of these legends
+may be worth citing, and the rather, because it relates to Vanlander,
+the Scandinavian Vulcan, of whom many traditions are extant, even in
+England, where he is styled Wayland Smith. At the age of thirteen
+Vanlander was apprenticed by his father, the giant Vade, to two of the
+dwarfs who dwelt in the interior of the mountain, and he applied
+himself so faithfully to their instructions, that in two years he
+equaled his masters in knowledge of all the arts of smithery, both
+black and white.
+
+3. Being at the court of King Nidung, where his dexterity as a smith
+became known, a rivalship arose between him and Amilias, principal
+smith to the king. Amilias challenged Vanlander to a trial of skill,
+upon condition that the life of the vanquished should be at the
+disposal of the victor. The terms proposed were that Vanlander should
+forge a sword, and Amilias a helmet, cuirass, and other defensive
+armor, and a twelvemonth was allowed for preparation. If the sword of
+Vanlander penetrated the armor of Amilias, the former was to be
+declared the victor, if otherwise, his life was forfeited to his rival.
+
+[Illustration: _A Norseman's Sword._]
+
+4. Amilias spent the whole year at his task, but Vanlander did not
+commence his labors until two months before the trial. He now, after
+seven days' labor, exhibited to the king a sword of great beauty and
+excellent temper, but too heavy for use. By way of testing its edge,
+he took a cushion stuffed with wool a foot in thickness, threw it into
+the river, and let it float with the current against the edge of the
+sword, which cut it fairly in two. The king thought this a sufficient
+proof, but Vanlander was not satisfied.
+
+5. He took the sword to his smithy, filed it quite to dust, and after
+subjecting the filings to an odd process of animal chemistry, he
+forged from them another sword of somewhat smaller size than the
+first, though still rather heavy. Upon testing this sword in the same
+manner as before, it readily divided a cushion two feet in thickness,
+and the king thought it the finest weapon in the world, but Vanlander
+said he would have it half as good again before he was done with it.
+
+6. It was now reduced to filings, which were treated as in the former
+instance, and in three weeks Vanlander produced a sword of convenient
+size, inlaid with gold, and with an ornamental hilt, all of the
+highest finish and beauty. The king and the smith went again to the
+river with a cushion three feet in thickness, which was thrown into
+the water and driven against the blade as before. The sword divided
+the cushion as easily as the water, and without even checking its
+progress as it floated with the current, and King Nidung declared its
+fellow could not be found on earth.
+
+7. At the appointed day Amilias put on his armor, all of which was of
+double plates, and, declaring himself ready for the trial, seated
+himself in a chair, and defied his rival to do his worst. Vanlander
+stepped behind him, gave him a blow upon the helmet, and asked him if
+he felt the edge. "I felt as if cold water were running through me,"
+replied Amilias. "Shake yourself," said Vanlander. His rival did so,
+and fell asunder, the sword having cleft him to the chine.
+
+                                                _George P. Marsh._
+
+
+
+
+_XIV.--THE STORY OF KING ALFRED AND ST. CUTHBERT._
+
+
+1. Now King Alfred was driven from his kingdom by the Danes, and he
+lay hid three years in the Isle of Glastonbury. 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." 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.
+
+2. And when the servant 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 had come 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!" And the king was glad,
+and he and his folk were merry; yet he pondered much upon that which
+had come to pass.
+
+3. And when night came the king went to his bed, and the king lay
+awake and thought of all that had come to pass by 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
+miter on his head, and holding in his right hand a book of the Gospels
+adorned with gold and gems. 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 Cuthbert the Soldier of Christ.
+
+4. "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. 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 mayst 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 Assaudun. And thus
+shalt thou fight against thine enemies, and doubt not that thou shalt
+overcome them.
+
+5. "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."
+
+6. 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 St. Cuthbert his patron. So in the morning he arose
+and 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 men of the bravest and
+dearest of his friends.
+
+7. And he spake unto them and told them all that God had said unto them
+by the mouth of his servant Cuthbert, and he told them that, by the gift
+of God and by the help of St. Cuthbert, they would overcome their
+enemies and win back their own land. And he bade them, as St. Cuthbert
+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 St.
+Cuthbert, and so he should always have 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.
+
+                                                  _E. A. Freeman._
+
+
+
+
+_XV.--A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER._
+
+
+1. Milon, or Milone, a knight of great family, and distantly related
+to Charlemagne, having secretly married Bertha, the emperor's sister,
+was banished from France. After a long and miserable wandering on foot
+as mendicants, Milon and his wife arrived at Sutri, in Italy, where
+they took refuge in a cave, and in that cave Orlando was born. There
+his mother continued, drawing a scanty support from the compassion of
+the neighboring peasants, while Milon, in quest of honor and fortune,
+went into foreign lands. Orlando grew up among the children of the
+peasantry, surpassing them all in strength and manly graces.
+
+2. Among his companions in age, though in station far more elevated,
+was Oliver, son of the governor of the town. Between the two boys a
+feud arose, that led to a fight, in which Orlando thrashed his rival;
+but this did not prevent a friendship springing up between the two
+which lasted through life.
+
+3. Orlando was so poor that he was sometimes half naked. As he was a
+favorite of the boys, one day four of them brought some cloth to make
+him clothes. Two brought white and two red; and from this circumstance
+Orlando took his coat-of-arms, or quarterings.
+
+4. When Charlemagne was on his way to Rome, to receive the imperial
+crown, he dined in public in Sutri. Orlando and his mother that day had
+nothing to eat, and Orlando, coming suddenly upon the royal party, and
+seeing abundance of provisions, seized from the attendants as much as he
+could carry off, and made good his retreat in spite of their resistance.
+
+5. The emperor, being told of this incident, was reminded of an
+intimation he had received in a dream, and ordered the boy to be
+followed. This was done by three of the knights, whom Orlando would
+have encountered with a cudgel on their entering the grotto, had not
+his mother restrained him. When they heard from her who she was, they
+threw themselves at her feet, and promised to obtain her pardon from
+the emperor. This was easily effected. Orlando was received into favor
+by the emperor, returned with him to France, and so distinguished
+himself that he became the most powerful support of the throne and of
+Christianity.
+
+6. On another occasion, Orlando encountered a puissant Saracen
+warrior, and took from him, as the prize of victory, the sword
+Durindana. This famous weapon had once belonged to the illustrious
+prince Hector of Troy. It was of the finest workmanship, and of such
+strength and temper that no armor in the world could stand against it.
+
+7. Guerin de Montglave held the lordship of Vienne, subject to
+Charlemagne. He had quarreled with his sovereign, and Charles laid
+siege to his city, having ravaged the neighboring country. Guerin was
+an aged warrior, but relied for his defense upon his four sons and two
+grandsons, who were among the bravest knights of the age. After the
+siege had continued two months, Charlemagne received tidings that
+Marsilius, King of Spain, had invaded France, and, finding himself
+unopposed, was advancing rapidly in the southern provinces. At this
+intelligence, Charles listened to the counsel of his peers, and
+consented to put the quarrel with Guerin to the decision of Heaven, by
+single combat between two knights, one of each party, selected by lot.
+
+8. The proposal was acceptable to Guerin and his sons. The name of the
+four, together with Guerin's own, who would not be excused, and of the
+two grandsons, who claimed their lot, being put into a helmet,
+Oliver's was drawn forth, and to him, the youngest of the grandsons,
+was assigned the honor and the peril of the combat. He accepted the
+award with delight, exulting in being thought worthy to maintain the
+cause of his family. On Charlemagne's side Roland was designated
+champion, and neither he nor Oliver knew who his antagonist was to be.
+
+9. They met on an island in the Rhône, and the warriors of both camps
+were ranged on either shore, spectators of the battle. At the first
+encounter both lances were shivered, but both riders kept their seats
+immovable. They dismounted and drew their swords. Then ensued a combat
+which seemed so equal, that the spectators could not form an opinion
+as to the probable issue. Two hours and more the knights continued to
+strike and parry, to thrust and ward, neither showing any sign of
+weariness, nor ever being taken at unawares.
+
+10. At length Orlando struck furiously upon Oliver's shield, burying
+Durindana in its edge so deeply that he could not draw it back, and
+Oliver, almost at the same moment, thrust so vigorously upon Orlando's
+breastplate that his sword snapped off at the handle. Thus were the two
+warriors left weaponless. Scarcely pausing a moment, they rushed upon
+one another, each striving to throw his adversary to the ground, and,
+failing in that, each snatched at the other's helmet to tear it away.
+Both succeeded, and at the same moment they stood bareheaded face to
+face, and Roland recognized Oliver, and Oliver Roland. For a moment they
+stood still; and the next, with open arms, rushed into one another's
+embrace. "I am conquered," said Orlando. "I yield me," said Oliver.
+
+11. The people on the shore knew not what to make of all this.
+Presently they saw the two late antagonists standing hand-in-hand, and
+it was evident the battle was at an end. The knights crowded around
+them, and with one voice hailed them as equal in glory. If there were
+any who felt disposed to murmur that the battle was left undecided,
+they were silenced by the voice of Ogier the Dane, who proclaimed
+aloud that all had been done that honor required, and declared that he
+would maintain that award against all gainsayers.
+
+12. The quarrel with Guerin and his sons being left undecided, a truce
+was made for four days, and in that time, by the efforts of Duke Namo
+on the one side, and of Oliver on the other, a reconciliation was
+effected. Charlemagne, accompanied by Guerin and his valiant family,
+marched to meet Marsilius, who hastened to retreat across the frontier.
+
+                                                      _Bullfinch._
+
+
+
+
+_XVI.--THE LEGEND OF MACBETH._
+
+
+1. Soon after the Scots and Picts had become one people, there was a
+king of Scotland called Duncan, a very good old man. He had two sons,
+Malcolm and Donaldbane. But King Duncan was too old to lead out his
+army to battle, and his sons were too young to help him. Now it
+happened that a great fleet of Danes came to Scotland and landed their
+men in Fife and threatened to take possession of that province. So a
+numerous Scottish army was levied to go out to fight with them. The
+king intrusted the command to Macbeth, a near kinsman.
+
+2. This Macbeth, who was a brave soldier, put himself at the head of
+the Scottish army and marched against the Danes. And he took with him
+a near relative of his own called Banquo, a brave and successful
+soldier. There was a great battle fought between the Danes and the
+Scots, and Macbeth and Banquo defeated the Danes and drove them back
+to their ships, leaving a great many of their soldiers killed and
+wounded. Then Macbeth and his army marched back to Forres in the north
+of Scotland, rejoicing on account of their victory.
+
+3. Now, at this time, there lived in the town of Forres three old
+women, whom people thought were witches, and supposed they could tell
+what was to come to pass. These old women went and stood by the
+way-side, in a great moor near Forres, and waited until Macbeth came
+up. And then stepping before him as he was marching at the head of his
+soldiers the first woman said, "All hail Macbeth! hail to the Thane of
+Glamis!" The second said, "All hail to the Thane of Cawdor!" Then the
+third wishing to pay him a higher compliment, said: "All hail Macbeth,
+that shall be King of Scotland!" While Macbeth stood wondering what
+they could mean, Banquo stepped forward and asked if they had not
+something good to say to him. And they said he should not be so great
+as Macbeth, yet his children should succeed to the throne of Scotland
+and reign for a great number of years.
+
+4. Before Macbeth had recovered from his surprise, there came a
+messenger to tell him that his father was dead; so that, he was Thane
+of Glamis; and then came a second messenger from the king to thank
+Macbeth for the great victory over the Danes, and to tell him that the
+Thane of Cawdor had rebelled against the king, and that the king had
+taken his office from him, and had sent to make Macbeth Thane of
+Cawdor. Macbeth, seeing that a part of their words came true, began to
+think how he might become king as the three old women had predicted.
+Now Lady Macbeth was a very wicked woman, and she showed Macbeth that
+the only way to become king was to kill good King Duncan. At first
+Macbeth would not listen to her, but at last his ambition to be king
+became so great that he resolved to murder his kinsman and best friend.
+
+5. To accomplish his purpose he invited King Duncan to visit him in
+his own castle near Inverness, and the king accepted the invitation.
+Macbeth and his lady received their distinguished guests with great
+seeming joy and made for them a great feast. At the close of the feast
+the king retired to rest, and all the other guests followed his
+example. The two personal attendants of the king whose duty it was to
+watch over him while asleep, were purposely made drunk by Lady
+Macbeth, and they fell upon their couch in a profound slumber.
+
+[Illustration: _Macbeth._]
+
+6. Then Macbeth came into King Duncan's room about two o'clock in the
+morning. It was a terrible stormy night, but the noise of the wind and
+the thunder could not awaken the king, as he was old and weary with
+his journey; neither could it awaken the two sentinels. They all slept
+soundly. So Macbeth stepped gently over the floor and took the two
+dirks which belonged to the sentinels and stabbed poor old King Duncan
+to the heart, so he died without a groan. Then Macbeth put the bloody
+daggers into the hands of the sleeping sentinels and daubed their
+hands and faces with blood. Macbeth was frightened at what he had
+done, but his wife made him wash his hands and go to bed.
+
+7. Early in the morning the nobles and gentlemen who attended on the
+king assembled in the great hall of the castle, and then they began to
+talk of what a dreadful storm there had been the night before. They
+waited for some time, but finding the king did not come out, one of the
+noblemen went to see whether he was well or not. But when he came into
+the room he found King Duncan dead, and went back and spread the alarm.
+The Scottish nobles were greatly enraged at the sight, and Macbeth made
+believe he was more enraged than any of them, and drawing his sword he
+killed the two attendants of the king, still heavy with sleep in
+consequence of the drink furnished by Lady Macbeth the night before.
+
+8. Malcolm and Donaldbane, the two sons of Duncan, when they saw their
+father dead, fled from the castle, as they believed that Macbeth had
+committed the murder. Malcolm, the eldest son, made his way to the
+English court, and solicited aid to get possession of his father's
+throne. In the mean time Macbeth took possession of the kingdom of
+Scotland. The remembrance of his great crime continually haunted him,
+and he became so sleepless as to be nearly insane. He remembered that
+the witches had said that the children of Banquo should reign as kings
+in Scotland, and he became terribly jealous of his old friend and
+companion. At last he hired ruffians to waylay Banquo and his sons and
+murder them. The scheme was partially successful--Banquo was killed
+but the sons escaped, and from him descended a long line of the early
+Scottish kings.
+
+9. But Macbeth was not more happy after he had slain his friend and
+cousin Banquo. He knew that people began to suspect him of his evil
+deeds, and he was constantly afraid that some of his nobles would
+treat him as he treated King Duncan. In his perplexity he sought the
+three witches he had met before, to ask them what was to happen to him
+in the future. They answered him that he should not be conquered nor
+lose the crown of Scotland until a great forest, called Birnam Wood
+should come to attack him in his strong castle on Dunsinane hill. As
+the distance between the two was about twelve miles, Macbeth thought
+it was impossible that the trees should ever come to assault him in
+his castle. He immediately summoned all his nobles to assist him in
+strengthening his castle at Dunsinane. All the nobles were obliged to
+furnish oxen and horses to drag the heavy stones and logs used on the
+fortification up the steep hill.
+
+10. One day Macbeth noticed a pair of oxen so tired with their burden
+that they fell down under their load. Upon inquiry he learned that they
+belonged to Macduff, the Thane of Fife. The king, who was jealous of
+Macduff, flew into a great rage and declared that "since the Thane of
+Fife sends such worthless cattle as these to do my labor, I will put his
+own neck into the yoke, and make him drag the burden himself." A friend
+of Macduff who heard this speech hastened to the king's castle and
+informed Macduff who was walking about while the dinner was preparing.
+
+11. Macduff snatched a loaf of bread from the table, called for his
+horses and servants, and galloped off toward his own castle of
+Kennoway in Fife. When Macbeth returned he first asked what had become
+of Macduff, and being informed that he had fled from Dunsinane,
+Macbeth put himself at the head of a large force of his guards, and
+immediately pursued. Macduff reached his castle which is built upon
+the shore of the sea, a little in advance of the king. He ordered his
+wife to shut the gates of the castle and pull up the drawbridge, and
+on no account permit the king or any of his soldiers to enter. In the
+mean time he went aboard a small ship and put out to sea.
+
+12. Macbeth then summoned the lady to open the gates and deliver up
+her husband. "Do you see," said she, "yon white sail upon the sea?
+Yonder goes Macduff to the court of England. You will never see him
+again until he comes with young Prince Malcolm to pull you down from
+the throne and put you to death. You will never be able to put your
+yoke upon the neck of the Thane of Fife."
+
+13. Some say that Macbeth was so enraged at the escape of Macduff that
+he stormed and took the castle, and put to death the wife and children
+of Macduff. But others say that Macbeth turned back from the strong
+castle and its brave defenders, and returned to his own home at
+Dunsinane. Macduff readily found Prince Malcolm and the English king,
+fitted them out with an army. Upon entering Scotland a large share of
+the nobles deserted Macbeth and joined the forces of Malcolm. The army
+marched as far as Birnam Wood where they encamped to rest and recuperate.
+
+14. Macbeth, in the mean time, shut himself up in his castle, where he
+thought himself safe according to the old woman's prophecy, until
+Birnam Wood should advance against him, and this he never expected to
+see. Malcolm's army having entirely recovered their strength and
+vigor, at length were ready to march. As they were about to start,
+Macduff advised each soldier to cut down the bough of a tree and carry
+it so as to conceal the strength of the army as they crossed the
+valley. The sentinel on the castle walls saw all these green boughs
+advancing, ran to Macbeth and informed him that the wood of Birnam was
+moving toward the castle of Dunsinane. The king at first called him a
+liar and threatened to put him to death; but when he looked from the
+walls himself, and saw the appearance of a forest approaching from
+Birnam, he remembered the prediction, and felt that the hour of his
+destruction had come.
+
+15. His followers were also superstitious and began to desert him. But
+Macbeth, at the head of those who remained true to him sallied out,
+and was killed in a hand-to-hand conflict with Macduff. This story, a
+tradition, is told by Sir Walter Scott, and forms the foundation of
+Shakespeare's tragedy of "Macbeth."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+OLD BALLADS.
+
+
+
+
+_XVII.--CHEVY-CHASE._
+
+
+    1.  God prosper long our noble king,
+          Our lives and safeties all;
+        A woful hunting once there did
+          In Chevy-Chase befall.
+
+    2.  The stout Earl of Northumberland
+          A vow to God did make
+        His pleasure in the Scottish woods
+          Three summer days to take--
+
+    3.  The chiefest harts in Chevy-Chase
+          To kill and bear away.
+        These tidings to Earl Douglas came,
+          In Scotland where he lay;
+
+    4.  Who sent Earl Percy present word
+          He would prevent his sport.
+        The English earl, not fearing that,
+          Did to the woods resort,
+
+    5.  With fifteen hundred bowmen bold,
+          All chosen men of might,
+        Who knew full well in time of need
+          To aim their shafts aright.
+
+    6.  The gallant greyhounds swiftly ran
+          To chase the fallow deer;
+        On Monday they began to hunt
+          When daylight did appear;
+
+    7.  And long before high noon they had
+          A hundred fat bucks slain;
+        Then, having dined, the drovers went
+          To rouse the deer again.
+
+    8.  Lord Percy to the quarry went,
+          To view the slaughtered deer;
+        Quoth he, "Earl Douglas promised
+          This day to meet me here;
+
+    9.  "But if I thought he would not come--
+          No longer would I stay";
+        With that a brave young gentleman
+          Thus to the earl did say:
+
+    10. "Lo, yonder doth Earl Douglas come--
+          His men in armor bright,
+        Full twenty hundred Scottish spears
+          All marching in our sight."
+
+    11. Earl Douglas on his milk-white steed,
+          Most like a baron bold,
+        Rode foremost of his company,
+          Whose armor shone like gold.
+
+    12. "Show me," said he, "whose men you be,
+          That hunt so boldly here,
+        That, without my consent, do chase
+          And kill my fallow-deer."
+
+    13. The first man that did answer make
+          Was noble Percy he--
+        Who said: "We list not to declare,
+          Nor show whose men we be:
+
+    14. "Yet will we spend our dearest blood
+          Thy chiefest harts to slay."
+        Then Douglas swore a solemn oath,
+          And thus in rage did say:
+
+    15. "Ere thus I will out-bravèd be,
+          One of us two shall die!
+        I know thee well, an earl thou art--
+          Lord Percy, so am I.
+
+    16. "Let you and me the battle try,
+          And set our men aside."
+        "Accursed be he," Earl Percy said,
+          "By whom this is denied!"
+
+    17. Then stepped a gallant squire forth,
+          Witherington was his name,
+        Who said: "I would not have it told
+          To Henry, our king, for shame,
+
+    18. "That e'er my captain fought on foot,
+          And I stood looking on.
+        You two be earls," said Witherington,
+          "And I a squire alone.
+
+    19. "I'll do the best that do I may,
+          While I have power to stand;
+        While I have power to wield my sword
+          I'll fight with heart and hand."
+
+    20. Our English archers bent their bows--
+          Their hearts were good and true;
+        At the first flight of arrows sent,
+          Full fourscore Scots they slew.
+
+    21. Yet stays Earl Douglas on the bent,
+          As chieftain stout and good;
+        As valiant captain, all unmoved,
+          The shock he firmly stood.
+
+    22. His host he parted had in three,
+          As leaders ware and tried;
+        And soon his spearmen on their foes
+          Bore down on every side.
+
+    23. At last these two stout earls did meet;
+          Like captains of great might,
+        Like lions wode, they laid on lode,
+          And made a cruel fight.
+
+    24. "Yield thee, Lord Percy," Douglas said.
+          "In faith I will thee bring
+        Where thou shalt high advancèd be
+          By James, our Scottish king.
+
+    25. "Thy ransom I will freely give,
+          And this report of thee--
+        Thou art the most courageous knight
+          That ever I did see."
+
+    26. "No, Douglas," saith Earl Percy then,
+          "Thy proffer I do scorn;
+        I will not yield to any Scot
+          That ever yet was born."
+
+    27. With that there came an arrow keen
+          Out of an English bow,
+        Which struck Earl Douglas to the heart--
+          A deep and deadly blow;
+
+    28. Who never spake more words than these
+          "Fight on, my merry men all;
+        For why, my life is at an end;
+          Lord Percy sees my fall."
+
+    29. Then leaving life, Earl Percy took
+          The dead man by the hand,
+        And said: "Earl Douglas, for thy life
+          Would I had lost my land!
+
+    30. "In truth, my very heart doth bleed
+          With sorrow for thy sake;
+        For sure a more redoubted knight
+          Mischance did never make."
+
+    31. A knight amongst the Scots there was
+          Who saw Earl Douglas die,
+        Who straight in wrath did vow revenge
+          Upon the Earl Percy.
+
+    32. Sir Hugh Mountgomery was he called,
+          Who with a spear full bright,
+        Well mounted on a gallant steed,
+          Ran fiercely through the fight;
+
+    33. And past the English archers all,
+          Without a dread or fear,
+        And through Earl Percy's body then
+          He thrust his hateful spear.
+
+    34. So thus did both these nobles die,
+          Whose courage none could stain.
+        An English archer then perceived
+          The noble earl was slain.
+
+    35. Against Sir Hugh Mountgomery
+          To right a shaft he set;
+        The gray goose-wing that was thereon
+          In his heart's blood was wet.
+
+    36. This fight did last from break of day
+          Till setting of the sun;
+        For when they rung the evening-bell
+          The battle scarce was done.
+
+    37. Of fifteen hundred Englishmen
+          Went home but fifty-three;
+        The rest in Chevy-Chase were slain,
+          Under the greenwood-tree.
+
+    38. The news was brought to Edinburg,
+          Where Scotland's king did reign,
+        That brave Earl Douglas suddenly
+          Was with an arrow slain.
+
+    39. "Oh, heavy news!" King James did say;
+          "Scotland can witness be,
+        I have not any captain more
+          Of such account as he."
+
+    40. Like tidings to King Henry came
+          Within as short a space,
+        That Percy of Northumberland
+          Was slain in Chevy-Chase;
+
+    41. "Now God be with him," said our king,
+          "Since 'twill no better be;
+        I trust I have within my realm
+          Five hundred as good as he:
+
+    42. "Yet shall not Scot or Scotland say
+          But I will vengeance take;
+        I'll be revengèd on them all
+          For brave Earl Percy's sake!"
+
+    43. This vow full well the king performed
+          After at Humbledown:
+        In one day fifty knights were slain,
+          With lords of high renown;
+
+    44. And of the rest, of small account,
+          Did many hundreds die:
+        Thus endeth the hunting of Chevy-Chase,
+          Made by the Earl Percy.
+
+    45. God save the king and bless this land
+          With plenty, joy, and peace;
+        And grant, henceforth, that foul debate
+          'Twixt noblemen may cease!
+
+                              _Old Ballad._
+
+
+
+
+_XVIII.--VALENTINE AND URSINE._
+
+
+    1.  When Flora 'gins to deck the fields
+          With colors fresh and fine,
+        Then holy clerks their matins sing
+          To good St. Valentine.
+
+    2.  The King of France, that morning fair,
+          He would a-hunting ride,
+        To Artois Forest prancing forth
+          In all his princely pride.
+
+    3.  To grace his sports a courtly train
+          Of gallant peers attend,
+        And with their loud and cheerful cries
+          The hills and valleys rend.
+
+    4.  Through the deep forest swift they pass,
+          Through woods and thickets wild,
+        When down within a lonely dell
+          They found a new-born child.
+
+    5.  All in a scarlet kerchief laid,
+          Of silk so fine and thin,
+        A golden mantle wrapt him round,
+          Pinned with a silver pin.
+
+    6.  The sudden sight surprised them all,
+          The courtiers gathered round;
+        They look, they call, the mother seek--
+          No mother could be found.
+
+    7.  At length the king himself drew near,
+          And, as he gazing stands,
+        The pretty babe looked up and smiled,
+          And stretched his little hands.
+
+    8.  "Now, by the rood," King Pepin says,
+          "This child is passing fair;
+        I wot he is of gentle blood,
+          Perhaps some prince's heir.
+
+    9.  "Go, bear him home unto my court,
+          With all the care you may,
+        Let him be christened Valentine,
+          In honor of this day.
+
+    10. "And look me out some cunning nurse,
+          Well nurtured let him be;
+        Nor aught be wanting that becomes
+          A bairn of high degree."
+
+    11. They looked him out a cunning nurse,
+          And nurtured well was he;
+        Nor aught was wanting that became
+          A bairn of high degree.
+
+    12. Thus grew the little Valentine,
+          Beloved of king and peers,
+        And showed in all he spake or did
+          A wit beyond his years.
+
+    13. But chief in gallant feats of arms
+          He did himself advance,
+        That, ere he grew to man's estate,
+          He had no peer in France.
+
+    14. And now the early down began
+          To shade his youthful chin,
+        When Valentine was dubbed a knight,
+          That he might glory win.
+
+    15. "A boon, a boon, my gracious liege,
+          I beg a boon of thee:
+        The first adventure that befalls
+          May be reserved for me."
+
+    16. "The first adventure shall be thine,"
+          The king did smiling say.
+        Not many days, when lo! there came
+          Three palmers clad in gray.
+
+    17. "Help, gracious lord," they weeping said,
+          And knelt, as it was meet;
+        "From Artois Forest we are come,
+          With weak and weary feet.
+
+    18. "Within those deep and dreary woods
+          There dwells a savage boy,
+        Whose fierce and mortal rage doth yield
+          Thy subjects dire annoy.
+
+    19. "To more than savage strength he joins
+          A more than human skill;
+        For arms no cunning may suffice
+          His cruel rage to still."
+
+    20. Up then rose Sir Valentine
+          And claimed that arduous deed.
+        "Go forth and conquer," said the king,
+          "And great shall be thy meed."
+
+    21. Well mounted on a milk-white steed,
+          His armor white as snow,
+        As well beseemed a virgin knight,
+          Who ne'er had fought a foe--
+
+    22. To Artois Forest he repairs,
+          With all the haste he may,
+        And soon he spies the savage youth
+          A-rending of his prey!
+
+    23. His unkempt hair all matted hung
+          His shaggy shoulders round;
+        His eager eye all fiery glowed,
+          His face with fury frowned.
+
+    24. Like eagle's talons grew his nails,
+          His limbs were thick and strong,
+        And dreadful was the knotted oak
+          He bare with him along.
+
+    25. Soon as Sir Valentine approached,
+          He starts with sudden spring,
+        And yelling forth a hideous howl,
+          He made the forest ring.
+
+    26. As when a tiger fierce and fell
+          Hath spied a passing roe,
+        And leaps at once upon his throat,
+          So sprang the savage foe.
+
+    27. So lightly leaped with furious force,
+          The gentle knight to seize,
+        But met his tall uplifted spear,
+          Which sank him on his knees.
+
+    28. A second stroke, so stiff and stern,
+          Had laid the savage low;
+        But, springing up, he raised his club,
+          And aimed a dreadful blow.
+
+    29. The watchful warrior bent his head,
+          And shunned the coming stroke;
+        Upon his taper spear it fell,
+          And all to shivers broke.
+
+    30. Then, lighting nimbly from his steed,
+          He drew his burnished brand;
+        The savage quick as lightning flew
+          To wrest it from his hand.
+
+    31. Three times he grasped the silver hilt,
+          Three times he felt the blade;
+        Three times it fell with furious force,
+          Three ghastly cuts it made.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+    "_To court his hairy captive soon
+      Sir Valentine doth bring,
+    And, kneeling down upon his knee,
+      Presents him to the king._"
+
+]
+
+    32. Now with redoubled rage he roared,
+          His eyeballs flashed with fire,
+        Each hairy limb with fury shook,
+          And all his heart was ire.
+
+    33. But soon the knight, with active spring,
+          O'erturned his hairy foe,
+        And now between their sturdy fists
+          Passed many a bruising blow.
+
+    34. But brutal force and savage strength
+          To art and skill must yield;
+        Sir Valentine at length prevailed,
+          And won the well-fought field.
+
+    35. Then binding straight his conquered foe
+          Fast with an iron chain,
+        He ties him to his horse's tail,
+          And leads him o'er the plain.
+
+    36. To court his hairy captive soon
+          Sir Valentine doth bring,
+        And, kneeling down upon his knee,
+          Presents him to the king.
+
+    37. With loss of blood and loss of strength,
+          The savage tamer grew,
+        And to Sir Valentine became
+          A servant tried and true.
+
+    38. And, 'cause with bears he first was bred,
+          Ursine they called his name--
+        A name which unto future times
+          The Muses shall proclaim.
+
+                                _Old Ballad._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+EARLY EASTERN RECORD.
+
+
+
+
+_XIX.--SENNACHERIB._
+
+
+1. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith
+the Lord God of Israel, that which thou hast prayed to me against
+Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
+
+2. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The
+virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to
+scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
+
+3. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast
+thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against
+the Holy One of Israel.
+
+4. By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With
+the multitude of my chariots, I am come up to the height of the
+mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall
+cedar-trees thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof: and I will enter
+into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
+
+5. I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my
+feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
+
+6. Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient
+times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou
+shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
+
+7. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed
+and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green
+herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be
+grown up.
+
+8. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy
+rage against me.
+
+9. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine
+ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy
+lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
+
+10. And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such
+things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which
+springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and
+plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
+
+11. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet
+again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
+
+12. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that
+escape out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
+
+13. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He
+shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come
+before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
+
+14. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall
+not come into this city, saith the Lord.
+
+15. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and
+for my servant David's sake.
+
+16. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went
+out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and
+five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they
+were all dead corpses.
+
+17. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned,
+and dwelt at Nineveh.
+
+                                          _II Kings, xix, 20-36._
+
+
+THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB.
+
+    1. The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
+       And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
+       And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
+       When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
+
+    2. Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
+       That host with its banners at sunset was seen;
+       Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
+       That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
+
+    3. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
+       And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed;
+       And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
+       And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still.
+
+    4. And there lay the steed, with his nostrils all wide,
+       But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride;
+       And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
+       And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
+
+    5. And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,
+       With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail,
+       And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
+       The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
+
+    6. And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
+       And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
+       And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
+       Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+                                                  _Byron._
+
+
+
+
+_XX.--GLAUCON._
+
+
+1. When Glaucon, the son of Ariston, attempted to harangue the people,
+from a desire, though he was not yet twenty years of age, to have a
+share in the government of the state, no one of his relatives, or
+other friends, could prevent him from getting himself dragged down
+from the tribunal and making himself ridiculous; but Socrates, who had
+a friendly feeling toward him on account of Charmides, the son of
+Glaucon, as well as on account of Plato, succeeded in prevailing on
+him, by his sole dissuasion, to relinquish his purpose.
+
+[Illustration: _Socrates._]
+
+2. Meeting him by chance, he first stopped him by addressing him as
+follows, that he might be willing to listen to him: "Glaucon," said
+he, "have you formed an intention to govern the state for us?" "I
+have, Socrates," replied Glaucon. "By Jupiter," rejoined Socrates, "it
+is an honorable office, if any other among men be so; for it is
+certain that, if you attain your object, you will be able yourself to
+secure whatever you may desire, and will be in a condition to benefit
+your friends; you will raise your father's house, and increase the
+power of your country; you will be celebrated first of all in your own
+city, and afterward throughout Greece, and perhaps, also, like
+Themistocles, among the barbarians, and, wherever you may be, you will
+be an object of general admiration." Glaucon, hearing this, was highly
+elated, and cheerfully stayed to listen. Socrates next proceeded to
+say: "But it is plain, Glaucon, that if you wish to be honored, you
+must benefit the state." "Certainly," answered Glaucon. "Then, in the
+name of the gods," said Socrates, "do not hide from us how you intend
+to act, but inform us with what proceeding you will begin to benefit
+the state." But as Glaucon was silent, as if just considering how he
+should begin, Socrates said: "As, if you wished to aggrandize the
+family of a friend, you would endeavor to make it richer, tell me
+whether you will in like manner also endeavor to make the state
+richer?" "Assuredly," said he. "Would it then be richer, if its
+revenues were increased?" "That is at least probable," said Glaucon.
+"Tell me then," proceeded Socrates, "from what the revenues of the
+state arise, and what is their amount; for you have doubtless
+considered, in order that if any of them fall short, you may make up
+the deficiency, and that if any of them fail, you may procure fresh
+supplies." "These matters, by Jupiter," replied Glaucon, "I have not
+considered."
+
+3. "Well, then," said Socrates, "if you have omitted to consider this
+point, tell me at least the annual expenditure of the state; for you
+undoubtedly mean to retrench whatever is superfluous in it." "Indeed,"
+replied Glaucon, "I have not yet had time to turn my attention to that
+subject." "We will therefore," said Socrates, "put off making our
+state richer for the present; for how is it possible for him who is
+ignorant of its expenditure and its income to manage those matters?"
+
+4. "But Socrates," observed Glaucon, "it is possible to enrich the
+state at the expense of our enemies." "Extremely possible, indeed,"
+replied Socrates, "if we be stronger than they; but if we be weaker,
+we may lose all that we have." "What you say is true," said Glaucon.
+
+5. "Accordingly," said Socrates, "he who deliberates with whom he
+shall go to war, ought to know the force both of his own country and
+of the enemy, so that, if that of his own country be superior to that
+of the enemy, he may advise it to enter upon the war, but if inferior,
+may persuade it to be cautious of doing so." "You say rightly," said
+Glaucon.
+
+[Illustration: _Socrates and Glaucon._]
+
+6. "In the first place, then," proceeded Socrates, "tell us the
+strength of the country by land and sea, and next that of the enemy."
+"But, by Jupiter," exclaimed Glaucon, "I should not be able to tell
+you on the moment, and at a word." "Well, then, if you have it written
+down," said Socrates, "bring it, for I should be extremely glad to
+hear what it is." "But, to say the truth," replied Glaucon, "I have
+not yet written it down."
+
+7. "We will therefore put off considering about war for the present,"
+said Socrates, "for it is very likely that on account of the magnitude
+of these subjects, and as you are just commencing your administration,
+you have not yet examined into them. But to the defense of the
+country, I am quite sure that you have directed your attention, and
+that you know how many garrisons are in advantageous positions, and
+how many not so, what number of men would be sufficient to maintain
+them, and what number would be insufficient, and that you will advise
+your countrymen to make the garrisons in advantageous positions
+stronger, and to remove the useless ones."
+
+8. "By Jove," replied Glaucon, "I shall recommend them to remove them
+all, as they keep guard so negligently, that the property is secretly
+carried off out of the country." "Yet, if we remove the garrisons,"
+said Socrates, "do you not think that liberty will be given to anybody
+that pleases to pillage? But," added he, "have you gone personally and
+examined as to this fact, or how do you know that the garrisons
+conduct themselves with such negligence?" "I form my conjectures,"
+said he. "Well, then," inquired Socrates, "shall we settle about these
+matters also, when we no longer rest upon conjecture, but have
+obtained certain knowledge?" "Perhaps that," said Glaucon, "will be
+the better course."
+
+9. "To the silver-mines, however," continued Socrates, "I know that
+you have not gone, so as to have the means of telling us why a smaller
+revenue is derived from them than came in some time ago." "I have not
+gone thither," said he. "Indeed, the place," said Socrates, "is said
+to be unhealthy, so that when it is necessary to bring it under
+consideration, this will be a sufficient excuse for you." "You jest
+with me," said Glaucon. "I am sure, however," proceeded Socrates,
+"that you have not neglected to consider, but have calculated, how
+long the corn which is produced in the country, will suffice to
+maintain the city, and how much it requires for the year, in order
+that the city may not suffer from scarcity unknown to you, but that,
+from your own knowledge, you may be able, by giving your advice
+concerning the necessaries of life, to support the city and preserve
+it." "You propose a vast field for me," observed Glaucon, "if it will
+be necessary for me to attend to such subjects."
+
+10. "Nevertheless," proceeded Socrates, "a man can not order his house
+properly, unless he ascertains all that it requires, and takes care to
+supply it with everything necessary; but since the city consists of
+more than ten thousand houses, and since it is difficult to provide
+for so many at once, how is it that you have not tried to aid one
+first of all, suppose that of your uncle, for it stands in need of
+help? If you be able to assist that one, you may proceed to assist
+more; but if you be unable to benefit one, how will you be able to
+benefit many? Just as it is plain that, if a man can not carry the
+weight of a talent, he need not attempt to carry a greater weight?"
+
+11. "But I would improve my uncle's house," said Glaucon, "if he would
+but be persuaded by me." "And then," resumed Socrates, "when you can
+not persuade your uncle, do you expect to make all the Athenians,
+together with your uncle, yield to your arguments?
+
+12. "Take care, Glaucon, lest, while you are eager to acquire glory,
+you meet with the reverse of it. Do you not see how dangerous it is
+for a person to speak of, or undertake, what he does not understand?
+Contemplate, among other men, such as you know to be characters that
+plainly talk of, and attempt to do, what they do not know, and
+consider whether they appear to you, by such conduct, to obtain more
+applause or censure, whether they seem to be more admired or despised?
+
+13. "Contemplate, again, those who have some understanding of what
+they say and do, and you will find, I think, in all transactions, that
+such as are praised and admired are of the number of those who have
+most knowledge, and that those who incur censure and neglect are among
+those that have least.
+
+14. "If, therefore, you desire to gain esteem and reputation in your
+country, endeavor to succeed in gaining a knowledge of what you wish
+to do; for if, when you excel others in this qualification, you
+proceed to manage the affairs of the state, I shall not wonder if you
+very easily obtain what you desire."
+
+                                                      _Xenophon._
+
+
+
+
+_XXI.--CYRUS AND HIS GRANDFATHER._
+
+
+1. When Cyrus was twelve years old, his mother Mandana took him with
+her into Media to his grandfather Astyages, who, from the many things
+he had heard in favor of the young prince, had a great desire to see
+him. In this court young Cyrus found very different manners from those
+of his own country: pride, luxury, and magnificence reigned here
+universally. Astyages himself was richly clothed, had his eyes
+colored, his face painted, and his hair embellished with artificial
+locks; for the Medes affected an effeminate life--to be dressed in
+scarlet and to wear necklaces and bracelets--whereas the habits of the
+Persians were very plain and coarse.
+
+2. All this finery had no effect upon Cyrus, who, without criticising
+or condemning what he saw, was content to live as he had been brought
+up, and adhered to the principles he had imbibed from his infancy. He
+charmed his grandfather with his sprightliness and wit, and gained the
+favor of all by his noble and engaging behavior. I shall only mention
+one instance, whereby we may judge of the rest. Astyages, to make his
+grandson unwilling to return home, made a sumptuous entertainment, in
+which there was a vast plenty and profusion of everything that was
+nice and delicate. Cyrus looked upon all this exquisite cheer and
+magnificent preparation with great indifference, and, observing that
+it excited the surprise of Astyages, "The Persians," says he to the
+king, "instead of going such a roundabout way to appease their hunger,
+have a much shorter one to the same end: a little bread and cresses
+with them answer the purpose."
+
+3. Astyages desiring Cyrus to dispose of all the meats as he thought
+fit, the latter immediately distributed them to the king's
+officers-in-waiting: to one, because he taught him to ride; to
+another, because he waited well upon his grandfather; and to a third,
+because he took great care of his mother. Sacas, the king's
+cup-bearer, was the only person to whom he gave nothing. This officer,
+besides the post of cup-bearer, had that likewise of introducing those
+who were to have audience with the king; and, as he could not possibly
+grant that favor to Cyrus as often as he desired it, he had the
+misfortune to displease the prince, who took this occasion to show his
+resentment.
+
+4. Astyages, manifesting some concern at the neglect of this officer,
+for whom he had a particular regard, and who deserved it, as he said,
+on account of the wonderful dexterity with which he served him--"Is
+that all, father?" replied Cyrus; "if that be sufficient to merit your
+favor, you shall see I will quickly obtain it; for I will take upon me
+to serve you better than he." Cyrus immediately equipped as a
+cup-bearer, and advancing gravely with a serious countenance, a napkin
+upon his shoulder, and holding the cup nicely with three of his
+fingers, presented it to the king with a dexterity and a grace that
+charmed both Astyages and Mandana. When he had done he threw himself
+upon his grandfather's neck, and, kissing him, cried out with great
+joy: "O Sacas! poor Sacas! thou art undone; I shall have thy place!"
+
+5. Astyages embraced him with great fondness, and said: "I am highly
+pleased, my dear child; nobody can serve me with a better grace; but
+you have forgot one essential ceremony, which is that of tasting";
+and, indeed, the cup-bearer was used to pour some of the liquor into
+his left hand, and to taste it, before he presented it to the king.
+"No," replied Cyrus, "it was not through forgetfulness that I omitted
+that ceremony." "Why, then," says Astyages, "for what reason did you
+not do it?" "Because I apprehended there was poison in the liquor."
+"Poison, child! How could you think so?" "Yes, poison, father, for not
+long ago, at an entertainment you gave to the lords of your court,
+after the guests had drunk a little of that liquor, I perceived all
+their heads were turned. They sang, made a noise, and talked they did
+not know what; you yourself seemed to have forgotten that you were
+king, and they that they were subjects; and when you would have danced
+you could not stand upon your legs." "Why," said Astyages, "have you
+never seen the same thing happen to your father?" "No, never," says
+Cyrus. "What, then? How is it with him when he drinks?" "Why, when he
+has drunk, his thirst is quenched, and that is all."
+
+6. Mandana being upon the point of returning to Persia, Cyrus joyfully
+complied with the repeated requests his grandfather had made to him to
+stay in Media; being desirous, as he said, to perfect himself in the
+art of riding, which he was not yet master of, and which was not known
+in Persia, where the barrenness of the country and its craggy,
+mountainous situation rendered it unfit for the breeding of horses.
+
+7. During the time of his residence at this court his behavior
+procured him infinite love and esteem. He was gentle, affable,
+beneficent, and generous. Whenever the young lords had any favor to
+ask of the king, Cyrus was their solicitor. If the king had any
+subject of complaint against them, Cyrus was their mediator; their
+affairs became his, and he always managed them so well that he
+obtained whatever he desired.
+
+                                                        _Rollin._
+
+
+
+
+_XXII.--CYRUS AND THE ARMENIANS._
+
+
+1. The King of Armenia who was vassal to the Medes, looking upon them
+as ready to be swallowed up by a formidable league formed against
+them, thought fit to lay hold of this occasion to shake off their
+yoke. Accordingly he refused to pay them the ordinary tribute, and to
+send them the number of troops he was obliged to furnish in time of
+war. This highly embarrassed Cyaxares, who was afraid at this
+juncture of bringing new enemies upon his hands if he undertook to
+compel the Armenians to execute their treaty.
+
+2. But Cyrus, having informed himself exactly of the strength and
+situation of the country, undertook the affair. The important point was
+to keep his design secret, without which it was not likely to succeed.
+He therefore appointed a great hunting-match on that side of the
+country; for it was his custom to ride out that way, and frequently to
+hunt with the king's son and the young noblemen of Armenia. On the
+appointed day, he set out with a numerous retinue. The troops followed
+at a distance, and were not to appear till a signal was given. After
+some days' hunting, when they had nearly reached the palace where the
+court resided, Cyrus communicated his design to his officers; and sent
+Chrysanthes with a detachment, ordering them to make themselves master
+of a certain steep eminence, where he knew the king used to retire in
+case of an alarm, with his family and his treasures.
+
+3. This being done, he sent a herald to the king of Armenia, to summon
+him to perform the treaty, and in the mean time ordered his troops to
+advance. Never was a court in greater surprise and perplexity. The
+king was conscious of the wrong he had done, and was not in a
+condition to support it. However, he did what he could to assemble his
+forces together from all quarters; and in the mean time dispatched his
+youngest son, called Stabaris, into the mountains, with his wives, his
+daughters, and whatever was most precious and valuable. But when he
+was informed by his scouts that Cyrus was closely pursuing, he
+entirely lost all courage, and all thoughts of making a defense.
+
+4. The Armenians, following his example, ran away, every one where he
+could, to secure what was dearest to him. Cyrus, seeing the country
+covered with people that were endeavoring to make their escape, sent
+them word that no harm should be done to them if they stayed in their
+houses; but that as many as were taken running away should be treated
+as enemies. This made them all retire to their habitations, excepting
+a few that followed the king.
+
+5. On the other hand, they that were conducting the princesses to the
+mountains fell into the ambush Chrysanthes had laid for them, and were
+most of them taken prisoners. The queen, the king's son, his
+daughters, his eldest son's wife, and his treasures, all fell into the
+hands of the Persians.
+
+6. The king, hearing this melancholy news, and not knowing what would
+become of him, retired to a little eminence, where he was presently
+invested by the Persian army, and obliged to surrender. Cyrus ordered
+him with all his family to be brought to the midst of the army. At
+that very instant arrived Tigranes, the king's eldest son, who was
+just returned from a journey. At so moving a scene he could not
+forbear weeping. Cyrus, addressing himself to him, said: "Prince, you
+are come very seasonably to be present at the trial of your father."
+And immediately he assembled the captains of the Persians and Medes,
+and called in also the great men of Armenia. Nor did he so much as
+exclude the ladies from this assembly, who were there in their
+chariots, but gave them full liberty to hear and see all that passed.
+
+7. When all was ready and Cyrus had commanded silence, he began with
+requiring of the king, that in all the questions he was about to
+propose to him, he would answer sincerely, because nothing could be
+more unworthy a person of his rank than to use dissimulation or
+falsehood. The king promised he would. Then Cyrus asked him, but at
+different times, proposing each article separately, and in order,
+whether it was not true, that he had made war upon Astyages, King of
+the Medes, his grandfather; whether he had not been overcome in that
+war, and in consequence of his defeat had concluded a treaty with
+Astyages; whether by virtue of that treaty he was not obliged to pay a
+certain tribute, to furnish a certain number of troops, and not to
+keep any fortified place in his country.
+
+8. It was impossible for the king to deny any of these facts, which
+were all public and notorious. "For what reason, then," continued
+Cyrus, "have you violated the treaty in every article?" "For no
+other," replied the king, "than because I thought it a glorious thing
+to shake off the yoke, to live free, and to leave my children in the
+same condition." "It is really glorious," answered Cyrus, "to fight in
+defense of liberty, but if any one, after he is reduced to servitude,
+should attempt to run away from his master, what would you do with
+him?" "I must confess," said the king, "I would punish him." "And if
+you had given a government to one of your subjects, and he should be
+found to misbehave, would you continue him in his post?" "No,
+certainly; I would put another in his place." "And if he had amassed
+great riches by his unjust practices?" "I would strip him of them."
+"But, which is still worse, if he had held intelligence with your
+enemies, how would you treat him?" "Though I should pass sentence upon
+myself," replied the king, "I must declare the truth; I would put him
+to death." At these words Tigranes tore his tiara from his head, and
+rent his garments; the women burst out into lamentations and outcries,
+as if the sentence had actually passed upon him.
+
+9. Cyrus, having again commanded silence, Tigranes addressed himself
+to the prince to this effect: "Great prince, can you think it
+consistent with your wisdom, to put my father to death, even against
+your own interest?" "How against my interest?" replied Cyrus. "Because
+he was never so capable of doing you service." "How do you make that
+appear? Do the faults we commit enhance our merit, and give us a new
+title to consideration and favor?" "They certainly do, provided they
+serve to make us wiser; for wisdom is of inestimable value. Are either
+riches, courage, or address to be compared to it? Now it is evident,
+this single day's experience has infinitely improved my father's
+wisdom. He knows how dear the violation of his word has cost him. He
+has proved and felt how much you are superior to him in all respects.
+He has not been able to succeed in any of his designs; but you have
+happily accomplished all yours; and with such expedition and secrecy
+that he has found himself surrounded and taken before he expected to
+be attacked, and the very place of his retreat has served only to
+ensnare him."
+
+10. "But your father," replied Cyrus, "has yet undergone no sufferings
+that can have taught him wisdom." "The fear of evils," answered
+Tigranes, "when it is so well founded as this is, has a much sharper
+sting, and is more capable of piercing the soul, than the evil itself.
+Besides, permit me to say, that gratitude is a stronger and more
+prevailing motive than any whatever; and there can be no obligations
+in the world of a higher nature than those you will lay upon my
+father--his fortune, liberty, scepter, life, wives, and children, all
+restored to him with such a generosity. Where can you find,
+illustrious prince, in one single person, so many strong and powerful
+ties to attach him to your service?"
+
+11. "Well, then," replied Cyrus, turning to the king, "if I should
+yield to your son's entreaties, with what number of men, and what sum
+of money, will you assist us in the war against the Babylonians?" "My
+troops and treasures," says the Armenian king, "are no longer mine;
+they are entirely yours. I can raise forty thousand foot and eight
+thousand horse; and as for money, I reckon, including the treasure
+which my father left me, there are about three thousand talents ready
+money. All these are wholly at your disposal." Cyrus accepted half the
+number of the troops, and left the king the other half, for the
+defense of the country against the Chaldeans, with whom he was at war.
+
+12. The annual tribute which was due to the Medes he doubled, and
+instead of fifty talents exacted a hundred, and borrowed the like sum
+over and above in his own name. "But what would you give me," added
+Cyrus, "for the ransom of your wives?" "All that I have in the world,"
+replied the king. "And for the ransom of your children?" "The same
+thing." "From this time, then, you are indebted to me the double of
+all your possessions. And you, Tigranes, at what price would you
+redeem the liberty of your lady?" Now he had lately married her, and
+was passionately fond of her. "At the price," said he, "of a thousand
+lives if I had them." Cyrus then conducted them all to his tent, and
+entertained them at supper. It is easy to imagine what transports of
+joy there must have been upon this occasion.
+
+13. After supper, as they were discoursing upon various subjects,
+Cyrus asked Tigranes what was become of a governor whom he had often
+seen hunting with him, and for whom he had a particular esteem.
+"Alas!" said Tigranes, "he is no more; and I dare not tell you by what
+accident I lost him." Cyrus pressed him to tell him. "My father,"
+continued Tigranes, "seeing I had a very tender affection for this
+governor, and that I was extremely attached to him, suspected it might
+be of some ill consequence and put him to death. But he was so honest
+a man, that as he was ready to expire, he sent for me and spoke to me
+in these words: 'Tigranes, let not my death occasion any
+dissatisfaction in you toward the king your father. What he has done
+to me did not proceed from malice, but only from prejudice, and a
+false notion wherewith he was unhappily blinded.'" "Oh, the excellent
+man!" cried Cyrus, "never forget the last advice he gave you."
+
+14. When the conversation was ended, Cyrus, before they parted,
+embraced them all, as in token of a perfect reconciliation. This done,
+they got into their chariots, with their wives, and went home full of
+gratitude and admiration. Nothing but Cyrus was mentioned the whole
+way; some extolling his wisdom, others his valor; some admiring the
+sweetness of his temper, others praising the beauty of his person and
+the majesty of his mien. "And you," said Tigranes, addressing himself
+to his lady, "what do you think of Cyrus's aspect and deportment?" "I
+do not know," replied the lady, "I did not observe him." "Upon what
+object, then, did you fix your eyes?" "Upon him that said he would
+give a thousand lives to ransom my liberty."
+
+The next day the King of Armenia sent presents to Cyrus, and
+refreshments for his whole army, and brought him double the sum of
+money he was required to furnish. But Cyrus took only what had been
+stipulated, and restored him the rest. The Armenian troops were
+ordered to be ready in three days' time, and Tigranes desired to
+command them.
+
+                                                        _Rollin._
+
+
+
+
+_XXIII.--THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE._
+
+
+1. After the battle of Platæa, in which the army of the Persian king
+Xerxes was defeated and destroyed, the Greek states became the
+dominant power in the civilized world, and the Greek cities became
+centers of influence and art. Under Pericles, the successor of
+Themistocles, Athens, in richness and beauty of her palaces and
+temples, arrived at a point of excellence which far surpassed anything
+the world had before seen. But jealousies between different states led
+to civil wars that desolated the whole land, and in the next one
+hundred and fifty years scarcely any progress was made in adding to
+the national strength. While these bloody wars were going on
+principally between Sparta and Athens, the tribes of Macedon, a region
+lying immediately north of Greece, were rapidly becoming civilized and
+consolidated. In 359 B. C. Philip became the reigning monarch.
+
+2. He was very desirous of being considered as a Greek, invited
+distinguished men to his court, and ordered public rejoicings in his
+kingdom when his chariots had won the prize at the Olympic games. He
+was very clever, and cared little about the justice and honor of the
+means by which he attained his ends, which were, to hold in subjection
+all the rest of Greece, and to conquer Persia. In the first design he
+succeeded, for the latter he only prepared the way for his son. He had
+both to form his officers and his army. The first he attempted by
+bringing the young nobles to his court, and there instructing them;
+and in the last he succeeded in a remarkable manner.
+
+3. The chief strength of the army, as he constituted it, was in the
+phalanx, a body of sixteen thousand foot soldiers, fully armed in the
+Greek fashion, with spears twenty-four feet long. When drawn up in
+order of battle, the four front ranks held their spears pointing
+outward, and stood at such a space apart, that the foremost line had
+four spear-points between each man and the enemy, or on occasion they
+marched with their shields touching, so as to form an almost
+impenetrable wall.
+
+4. As soon as Philip's designs against Greece were apparent, a strong
+spirit of resistance showed itself, and chiefly at Athens, where the
+great orator, Demosthenes, never ceased to rouse his countrymen to
+maintain their freedom. Demosthenes had trained himself in eloquence
+under great difficulties; he naturally either stammered, or had an
+indistinct pronunciation--a defect which he cured by speaking with
+pebbles in his mouth, and he used to rehearse his speeches to the
+roaring sea, in order to nerve himself against the clamors of a
+tumultuous assembly. He so far succeeded, that he often swayed the
+minds of the Athenians; his name stands as the first of orators, and
+his Philippics, as his discourses against Philip are called, are
+considered as models of rhetoric.
+
+5. At Cheronæa, in 338, a battle was fought by Philip against the
+allied forces of the Athenians and Thebans. At one time the Athenians
+gained some advantage, but they used it so ill, that Philip, calling
+out to his troops, "They do not know how to conquer," made a sudden
+charge, and routed them with great slaughter. The battle of Cheronæa
+was the end of the independence of Greece, which from that time
+forward became subject to Macedon, in spite of its many struggles to
+shake off the yoke, and recover the liberty which had been lost for
+want of a firm, united, settled government.
+
+6. The King of Macedon next commenced his arrangements for his other
+favorite scheme--the invasion of Asia; but in the year 336, in the
+midst of the feasts in honor of his daughter's marriage, he was
+murdered by a young Macedonian noble, who was slain in the first anger
+of the surrounding guards, without having time to disclose the motive
+of his crime.
+
+7. Alexander, son of Philip and his Epirot queen Olympias, was twenty
+years of age when he came to the throne. On the night of his birth the
+temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was burned to the ground by a man named
+Erostratus, in the foolish desire of making himself notorious, and
+this Alexander liked to consider as an omen that he should himself
+kindle a flame in Asia.
+
+8. He traced his descent from his father's side from Hercules, and by
+his mother's from Achilles, and throughout his boyhood he seems to
+have lived in a world of the old Greek poetry, sleeping with Homer's
+works under his pillow, and dreaming of deeds in which he should rival
+the fame of the victors of Troy. He was placed under the care of
+Aristotle, the great philosopher of Stagira, to whom, when Philip had
+written to announce Alexander's birth, he had said that he knew not
+whether most to rejoice at having a son, or that his son would have
+such a teacher as Aristotle.
+
+9. From him the young Alexander learned to think deeply, to resolve
+firmly, and devise plans of government; by others he was instructed in
+all the graceful accomplishments of the Greeks, and under his father
+he was trained to act promptly. At fourteen he tamed the noble horse
+Bucephalus, which no one else dared to mount; two years later he
+rescued his father in a battle with the Scythians, and he commanded
+the cavalry at Cheronæa, but he was so young at the time of his
+accession, that the Greeks thought they had nothing to fear from him.
+
+[Illustration: _Battle on the Granicus._]
+
+10. There were very ungenerous rejoicings at Athens at the murder of
+Philip. Demosthenes, though he had just lost a daughter, crowned himself
+with a wreath of flowers, and came with great tokens of joy to announce
+it to the Athenians so soon after the event, as almost to excite a
+suspicion that he must have been concerned in the crime. But they found
+that their joy was unfounded, for no sooner did Thebes take up arms,
+than Alexander marched against it, destroyed the walls, killed many of
+the citizens, and blotted it out from the number of Greek cities. The
+other states did not dare to make any further opposition, and he was
+thus at leisure to prepare for the invasion of Persia.
+
+11. Leaving Antipater as governor of Macedon, he set out in the spring
+of 334, at the head of thirty thousand infantry and four thousand five
+hundred cavalry, and bade farewell to his native land, which he was
+never to see again. He crossed the Hellespont, and was the first man
+to leap on Asiatic ground; then, while his forces were landing, he
+went to visit the spot which had so long been the object of his
+dreams--the village which marked the site of Troy. He offered a
+sacrifice at the tomb of Achilles, hung up his own shield in the
+temple, and took down one which was said to be a relic of the Greek
+conquerors, intending to have it always borne before him in battle.
+
+12. His march was at first toward the east, along the shore of the
+Hellespont, until at the river Granicus he met the Persians drawn up
+on the other bank of the river, under the command of the satrap
+Memnon. Alexander himself, at the head of his cavalry, charged through
+the midst of the rapid stream, won the landing-place, and followed by
+the phalanx, quickly gained a complete victory.
+
+13. All the neighboring country fell into his hands, and after taking
+possession of it, he changed his course, marching along the shores of
+the Ægean, and taking all the towns. It was his first object to cut
+the Persians off from their seaports, and thus deprive them of the use
+of their fleet, which was so superior to his own, that he never
+ventured on one sea-fight.
+
+14. This march round the western and southern coasts of Asia Minor,
+together with an expedition into the interior, occupied a year, and in
+the early part of the summer, he arrived at Tarsus, in Cilicia. Here,
+on entering the city, overwhelmed with heat and fatigue, he bathed in
+the cold waters of the Cydnus, and the chill brought on a violent
+fever, which nearly cost him his life. A letter was sent to warn him
+that his physician, Philip, had been bribed by the Persian king to
+poison him. While he was reading it the physician himself brought him
+a draught of medicine; the king put the letter into his hand, took the
+cup and drank it off, even before Philip could profess his innocence.
+In three days' time he was again able to appear at the head of his
+troops, and not before he was needed, for the enemy's army was near at
+hand, under King Darius Codomanus himself.
+
+15. The Persians advanced in great state. First came a number of
+persons bearing silver altars, on which burned the sacred fire; then
+followed the Magi, and three hundred and sixty-five youths robed in
+scarlet, in honor of the days of the year. Next came the chariot and
+horses of the Sun, with their attendants, and afterward the army
+itself, the Immortal Band, with gold-handled lances, white robes, and
+jeweled corslets, and a host of others of less note, all far more fit
+for show than for battle. Darius himself, arrayed in purple robes and
+glittering with jewels, was in the midst, in a chariot covered with
+gold ornaments, and with him came his mother, Sisygambis, his
+principal wife, his daughters, a number of other ladies, and a
+multitude of slaves. This unwieldy and useless host took up their
+position on the hilly ground above the city of Issus, where they were
+so entangled among the rocks, that their numbers were of little profit
+to them, and it was an easy victory for the Macedonians. No sooner did
+Darius see that the day was against him, than he turned his chariot
+and fled, leaving his family to fall into the hands of the conqueror,
+while he himself hastened to Babylon to collect another army.
+
+16. Alexander treated the mother, wife, and children of Darius with
+great kindness and courtesy, sending an officer to assure them of his
+protection, and going the next morning to visit them, accompanied by
+his friend Hephæstion, a young man of his own age. Alexander, though
+of beautiful and noble countenance, and well formed for strength and
+activity, was rather short in stature, and as his dress was very
+simple, Sisygambis mistook Hephæstion for the King of Macedon, and
+threw herself on the ground before him; and she was greatly confused
+and distressed when she discovered her error; but Alexander said, as
+he raised her, "You were not deceived, for he is Alexander's other
+self." He gave her the name of mother, never sat down in her presence
+except at her request, and showed in every point a respect and
+courtesy such as she had probably never before received from the
+Asiatic princes, who always held women in contempt.
+
+17. Pursuing his intention of first destroying the naval power of the
+Persian empire, Alexander next entered Phoenicia, and readily received
+the submission of Zidon, but Tyre refused to admit him within the
+walls. New Tyre, which was built after the seventy years' desolation
+which followed the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, stood upon an island
+about half a mile from the shore, and was inhabited by a numerous and
+brave people, who thought themselves secure from an enemy who had no
+fleet to bring against them.
+
+18. Alexander was, however, not to be daunted by any difficulty. He at
+first attempted to build a causeway from the shore to the island, and
+when the Tyrians destroyed his works he went to Zidon and there
+obtained a fleet, by means of which he at length took the city after a
+seven months' siege. He stained his victory by a cruel slaughter, and
+made slaves of all whose lives were spared, excepting a few whom the
+Zidonians contrived to conceal in their ships. This was the final fall
+of the great merchant city, so often predicted by Isaiah and Ezekiel.
+
+19. He then marched through the rest of Palestine, intending to punish
+Jerusalem, which had stood loyal to Darius, and refused to send him
+supplies. The Jews, on his approach, prayed for guidance and
+protection, and it was revealed to Jaddua, the high-priest, that he
+should open the gates and go forth in his sacred robes to receive the
+Grecian conqueror. It was accordingly done; and Jaddua, in the
+vestments of Aaron, came forth at the head of the choir of priests in
+white garments as Alexander and the Greeks mounted the hill toward the
+city. No sooner did the king meet the procession than he bent down to
+the ground in adoration, and walked in the midst of the priests to the
+temple, where a sacrifice was offered; and he not only spared the
+Jews, but showed them much favor.
+
+20. He told his generals that before he left Macedon he had seen in a
+dream a figure exactly resembling that of the high-priest, which had
+foretold all his conquests. And surely there is little reason to doubt
+that such a revelation might be made to a conqueror marked out as
+clearly by prophecy as Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus, before he set out on
+the work appointed for him. Both his predecessors in conquest, as soon
+as they came in contact with the chosen people, were taught that they
+were the subjects of prophecy; and Alexander, in his turn, was shown
+by Jaddua the prediction of Daniel, which spoke of him as a he-goat
+(the actual ensign of Macedon), "Who came from the West, and smote the
+ram, and brake his two horns, and cast him down and trampled on him."
+"And the rough goat is the King of Grecia."
+
+21. He then proceeded southward, besieged and took Gaza, after a brave
+resistance, which he cruelly requited, and entered Egypt, subduing it
+with little difficulty. On one of the peninsulas formed by the mouth
+of the Nile, he founded a city, called after his name Alexandria,
+which became the capital of Egypt under its Greek rulers, and one of
+the most famous cities in the world. He made an expedition to the
+temple of Jupiter Ammon, on an oasis in the Libyan desert, and
+consulted the oracle there, and then after appointing a Macedonian
+satrap in Egypt, retraced his steps toward the Holy Land, and marched
+toward Babylonia, where Darius was again collecting his forces to
+oppose him.
+
+                                            _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XXIV.--ALEXANDER'S CONQUESTS._
+
+
+1. Alexander crossed the Euphrates and Tigris without opposition, and
+the decisive battle did not take place till he reached the plain of
+Arbela, where the Persians were drawn up to receive him. The
+Macedonians wished to make a night attack, but Alexander would not
+permit it, saying that he disdained to steal a victory, and the combat
+took place the next day.
+
+2. The present army of Persians was drawn from the more remote
+regions of Bactria and Parthia, where the men were more warlike, and
+they fought better than any whom the Macedonians had before
+encountered; but Darius himself fled early in the day, leaving behind
+him his bow and shield; his men lost courage, and followed him, and
+Alexander was left master of the field of Arbela.
+
+3. This battle placed in his power all the western part of the Persian
+empire, and he had only to march to the great cities of Babylon, Susa,
+Ecbatana, and Persepolis, to take possession of the huge stores of
+treasures there heaped up by the Persian kings, which he now
+distributed among his followers with royal bounty. The unfortunate
+Darius escaped into Bactria, where two satraps, in whom he had
+confided, treacherously seized him and made him prisoner, carrying him
+along with them as they fled before Alexander, until at length, being
+closely pressed by the Greeks, they threw their darts at him, and left
+him lying on the ground mortally wounded.
+
+4. He was still alive when some of the Greeks came up, but died before
+the arrival of Alexander. The conqueror wept as he beheld the corpse
+of the last of a line of such great princes; he threw his own cloak
+over it, and sent it to Babylon, where it was buried with great
+magnificence.
+
+[Illustration: _Alexander at the Dead Body of Darius._]
+
+5. The wife of Darius had died a prisoner, but Sisygambis still
+remained with her grandchildren at Babylon. Only once does Alexander
+seem to have hurt her feelings, and this was through ignorance of
+Persian customs. He showed her some robes of his sister's own weaving
+and embroidery, and offered to have her grand-daughters instructed in
+the same art, at which she wept, since Persian ladies deemed such
+employments work fit only for slaves and captives, and Alexander was
+obliged to explain how honorably the loom and needle were esteemed
+by his own countrywomen.
+
+6. Alexander was much attached to his own mother, Olympias, and
+portions of his letters to her have come down to our time. She was a
+proud and violent woman, who often interfered with Antipater, governor
+of Macedon, and caused him to send many complaints to the king: "Ah!"
+said Alexander, "Antipater does not know that one tear of a mother
+will blot out ten thousand of his letters."
+
+7. Alexander had indeed an open and affectionate heart, but he was
+fast becoming too much uplifted by his successes. On Darius's death,
+he took the state as well as the title of a king of Persia, wore the
+tiara and robes, and claimed from the Macedonians the same servile
+tokens of homage as were paid by the eastern nations, thus causing
+perpetual heart-burnings among them, since they could neither endure
+to see their king exalted so much further above them, nor to be placed
+on the same level with the barbarians whom they despised.
+
+8. Their jealousies troubled Alexander from the time he assumed the
+tiara of Persia. He found it impossible to raise the condition of the
+Persians, and treat them with favor, without offending the
+Macedonians, and his temper did not always endure these provocations.
+The worst action of his life was the sentencing to death, on a false
+accusation, the wise old General Parmenio, and his son; and in a fit
+of passion at a riotous banquet, he slew, with his own hand, his
+friend Clitus, his nurse's son, who had saved his life at the battle
+of Granicus. It was the deed of a moment of drunken violence, and he
+bitterly lamented it, shutting himself up for several days without
+allowing any one to approach him, and paying all honors to the memory
+of his murdered friend.
+
+9. His pride and vain-glory went so far, that he declared that the
+oracle of Jupiter Ammon had announced that he was the son of Jupiter,
+and sent to Greece to desire to be enrolled among the gods in his
+life-time. Some of the Greeks were shocked at his profanity, others
+laughed at him; but all the Spartans said was, "If Alexander will be a
+god, let him."
+
+10. The next four years were the most laborious of Alexander's life.
+He pursued the murderers of Darius into Bactria and Sogdiana, avenged
+his death, and reduced the numerous hill-forts as far as the frontier
+of Scythia. Fierce insurrections broke out among the wild tribes of
+Sogdiana, which it required all his activity and judgment to quell,
+and more than once provoked him into cruelty, though in general,
+conqueror as he was, he was no spoiler, but wherever he went founded
+cities, and tried to teach the Persians the civilized arts of Greece.
+
+11. In 326 he set out for India, as the region was called round the
+river Indus. Here the inhabitants were warlike, and Porus, king of a
+portion of the country, made a brave resistance, but was at length
+defeated and taken prisoner. On being brought before Alexander he said
+he had nothing to ask, save to be treated as a king. "That I shall do
+for my own sake," said Alexander, and accordingly not only set him at
+liberty, but enlarged his territory.
+
+12. All these Indian nations brought a tribute of elephants, which the
+Macedonians now for the first time learned to employ in war. Alexander
+wished to proceed into Hindostan, a country hitherto entirely unknown,
+but his soldiers grew so discontented at the prospect of being led so
+much farther from home, into the utmost parts of the earth, that he
+was obliged to give up his attempt, and very unwillingly turned back
+from the banks of the Sutlej.
+
+13. While returning, he besieged a little town belonging to a tribe
+called the Malli, and believed to be the present city of Mooltan. He
+was the first to scale the wall, and after four others had mounted,
+the ladder broke, and he was left standing on the wall, a mark for the
+darts of the enemy. He instantly leaped down within the wall into the
+midst of the Malli, and there setting his back against a fig-tree,
+defended himself until a barbed arrow deeply pierced his breast, and,
+after trying to keep up a little longer, he sunk, fainting, on his
+shield. His four companions sprung down after him--two were slain, but
+the others held their shields over him till the rest of the army
+succeeded in breaking into the town and coming to the rescue.
+
+14. His wound was severe and dangerous, but he at length recovered,
+sailed down to the mouth of the Indus, and sent a fleet to survey the
+Persian Gulf, while he himself marched along the shore. The country
+was bare and desert, and his army suffered dreadfully from heat,
+thirst, and hunger, while he readily shared all their privations. A
+little water was once brought him on a parching day, as a great prize,
+but since there was not enough for all, he poured it out on the sand,
+lest his faithful followers should feel themselves more thirsty when
+they saw him drink alone.
+
+15. At last he safely arrived at Caramania, whence he returned to the
+more inhabited and wealthy parts of Persia, held his court with great
+magnificence at Susa, and then went to Babylon. Here embassies met him
+from every part of the known world, bringing gifts and homage, and
+above all, there arrived from the Greek states the much desired
+promise that he should be honored as a god. He was at the highest
+pitch of worldly greatness to which mortal man had yet attained, and
+his designs were reaching yet further; but his hour was come, and at
+Babylon, the home of pride, "the great horn" was to be broken.
+
+[Illustration: _Alexander the Great._]
+
+16. In the marshes into which the Euphrates had spread since its
+channel was altered by Cyrus, there breathed a noxious air, and a few
+weeks after Alexander's arrival, he was attacked by a fever, perhaps
+increased by intemperance. He bore up against it as long as possible,
+continued to offer sacrifices daily, though with increasing
+difficulty, and summoned his officers to arrange plans for his
+intended expedition; but his strength failed him on the ninth day, and
+though he called them together as usual, he could not address them.
+Perhaps he thought in that hour of the prophecy he had seen at
+Jerusalem, that the empire he had toiled to raise should be divided,
+for he is reported to have said that there would be a mighty contest
+at his funeral games. He made no attempt to name a successor, but he
+took off his signet-ring, placed it on the finger of Perdiccas, one of
+his generals, and a short time after expired, in the thirty-third year
+of his age, and the twelfth of his reign.
+
+17. There was a voice of wailing throughout the city that night. The
+Babylonians shut up their houses, and trembled at the neighborhood of
+the fierce Greek soldiery, now that their protector was dead; the
+Macedonians stood to arms all night, as if in presence of the enemy;
+and when in the morning the officers assembled in the palace council
+chamber, bitter and irrepressible was the burst of lamentation that
+broke out at the sight of the vacant throne, where lay the crown,
+scepter, and royal robes, and where Perdiccas now placed the
+signet-ring. More deeply than all mourned the prisoner, the aged
+Sisygambis, who covered her face with a black veil, sat down in a
+corner of her room, refused all entreaties to speak or to eat, and
+expired five days after Alexander.
+
+18. Nor did the Persians soon cease to lament the conqueror, who had
+ruled them more beneficently than their own monarchs had done; their
+traditions made Alexander a prince of their own, and adorned him with
+every virtue valued in the East. That he had many great faults has
+already been shown, and, of course, by the rules of justice, his
+conquests were but reckless gratifications of his own ambition; but he
+was a high-minded, generous man, open of heart, free of hand, and for
+the most part acting up to his knowledge of right; and if unbridled
+power, talent of the highest order, and glory such as none before or
+since has ever attained, inflamed his passions, and elated him with
+pride, still it is not for us to judge severely of one who had such
+great temptations, and so little to guide him aright.
+
+                                            _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XXV.--JUDAS MACCABÆUS, THE HEBREW WILLIAM TELL._
+
+
+1. The kingdom of Judah escaped destruction at the hands of
+Sennacherib, but its respite was short. Soon afterward Babylon,
+closely related to Assyria, and the heir of its dominion, swept into
+captivity in distant Mesopotamia nearly all that were left of Hebrew
+stock. For a time, the nation seemed to have been wiped from the face
+of the earth. The ten tribes of Israel that had been first dragged
+forth never returned to Judea, and their ultimate fate, after the
+destruction of Nineveh, whose splendor they had in their servitude
+done so much to enhance, was that of homeless wanderers. The harp of
+Judah, silent upon the devastated banks of the Jordan, was hung upon
+the Babylonian willows, for how could the exiles sing the Lord's song
+in a strange land! But the cry went forth at length that Babylon had
+fallen in her turn, just as destruction had before overtaken Nineveh.
+In the middle of the sixth century B. C., Cyrus the Mede made a
+beginning of restoring the exiles, who straightway built anew the
+Temple walls.
+
+2. In David's time, the population of Palestine must have numbered
+several millions, and it largely increased during the succeeding
+reigns. Multitudes, however, had perished by the sword, and other
+multitudes were retained in strange lands. Scarcely fifty thousand
+found their way back in the time of Cyrus to the desolate site of
+Jerusalem, but, one hundred years later, the number was increased by a
+re-enforcement under Ezra. From this nucleus, with astonishing
+vitality, a new Israel was presently developed. With weapons always at
+hand to repel the freebooters of the desert, they constructed once
+more the walls of Jerusalem. Through all their harsh experience their
+feelings of nationality had not been at all abated; their blood was
+untouched by foreign admixture, though some Gentile ideas had entered
+into the substance of their faith. The conviction that they were the
+chosen people of God was as unshaken as in the ancient time. With
+pride as indomitable as ever, intrenched within their little corner of
+Syria, they confronted the hostile world.
+
+3. But a new contact was at hand, far more memorable even than that
+with the nations of Mesopotamia--a contact whose consequences affect
+at the present hour the condition of the greater part of the human
+race. In the year 332 B. C., the high-priest, Jaddua, at Jerusalem,
+was in an agony, not knowing how he should meet certain new invaders
+of the land, before whom Tyre, and Gaza, the old Philistine
+stronghold, had fallen, and who were now marching upon the city of
+David. But God warned him in a dream that he should take courage,
+adorn the city, and open the gates; that the people should appear in
+white garments of peace, but that he and the priests should meet the
+strangers in the robes of their office. At length, at the head of a
+sumptuous train of generals and tributary princes, a young man of
+twenty-four, upon a beautiful steed, rode forward from the way going
+down to the sea to the spot which may still be seen, called,
+anciently, Scopus, the prospect, because from that point one
+approaching could behold, for the first time, Jerusalem crowned by the
+Temple rising fair upon the heights of Zion and Moriah.
+
+4. The youth possessed a beauty of a type in those regions hitherto
+little known. As compared with the swarthy Syrians in his suite, his
+skin was white; his features were stamped with the impress of command,
+his eyes filled with an intellectual light. With perfect horsemanship he
+guided the motions of his charger. A fine grace marked his figure, set
+off with a cloak, helmet, and gleaming arms, as he expressed with
+animated gestures his exultation over the spectacle before him. But now,
+down from the heights came the procession of the priests and the people.
+The multitude proceeded in their robes of white; the priests stood
+clothed in fine linen; while the high-priest, in attire of purple and
+scarlet, upon his breast the great breastplate of judgment with its
+jewels, upon his head the mitre marked with the plate of gold whereon
+was engraved the name of God, led the train with venerable dignity.
+
+5. Now, says the historian, when the Phœnicians and Chaldeans that
+followed Alexander thought that they should have liberty to plunder
+the city, and torment the high-priest to death, the very reverse
+happened; for the young leader, when he saw the multitude in the
+distance, and the figure of the high-priest before, approached him by
+himself, saluted him, and adored the name, which was graven upon the
+plate of the mitre. Then a captain, named Parmino, asked him how it
+came to pass that, when all others adored him, he should adore the
+high-priest of the Jews. To whom the leader replied: "I do not adore
+him, but that God who hath honored him with his high-priesthood; for I
+saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit, when I was at
+Dios in Macedonia, who, when I was considering how I might obtain the
+dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass
+over the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army, and could
+give me the dominion over the Persians." Then, when Alexander had
+given the high-priest his right hand, the priests ran along by him and
+he came into the city, and he offered sacrifice to God in the Temple,
+according to the high-priest's direction, and magnificently treated
+both the high-priest and the priests. He granted all the multitude
+desired; and when he said to them that if any of them would enlist
+themselves in his army on this condition, that they should continue
+under the laws of their forefathers, he was willing to take them with
+him, many were ready to accompany him in his wars.
+
+6. But this Aryan troop that went southward is less interesting to us
+than companies that departed westward, for in these westward marching
+bands went the primeval forefathers from whose venerable loins we
+ourselves have proceeded. They passed into Western Asia, and from Asia
+into Europe--each migrating multitude impelled by a new swarm sent forth
+from the parent hive behind. At the head of the Adriatic Sea an Aryan
+troop had divided, sending down into the eastern peninsula the ancestors
+of the Greeks, and into the western peninsula the train destined to
+establish upon the seven hills the power of Rome. Already the Aryan
+pioneers, the Celts, on the outmost rocks of the western coast of
+Europe, were fretting against the barrier of storm and sea, across which
+they were not to find their way for many ages. Already Phœnician
+merchants, trading for amber in the far-off Baltic, had become aware of
+the wild Aryan tribes pressing to the northwest--the Teutons and Goths.
+Already, perhaps, upon the outlying spur of the Ural range, still other
+Aryans had fixed their hold, the progenitors of the Sclav. The
+aboriginal savage of Europe was already nearly extinct. His lance of
+flint had fallen harmless from the Aryan buckler; his rude altars had
+become displaced by the shrines of the new gods. In the Mediterranean
+Sea each sunny isle and pleasant promontory had long been in Aryan
+hands, and now in the wintry forests to the northward the resistless
+multitudes had more recently fixed their seats.
+
+7. In the Macedonians, the Aryans, having established their dominion
+in Europe, march back upon the track which their forefathers long
+before had followed westward; and now it is that the Hebrews become
+involved with the race that from that day to this has been the
+master-race of the world. It was a contact taking place under
+circumstances, it would seem, the most auspicious--the venerable old
+man and the beautiful Greek youth clasping hands, the ruthless
+followers of the conqueror baffled in their hopes of booty, the
+multitudes of Jerusalem, in their robes of peace, filling the air with
+acclamations, as Alexander rode from the place of prospect, upon the
+heights of Zion, into the solemn precincts of the Temple.
+
+8. The successors of Alexander the Great made the Jews a link between
+the Hellenic populations that had become widely scattered throughout the
+East by the Macedonian conquests, and the great barbarian races among
+whom the Greeks had placed themselves. The dispersion of the Jews, which
+had already taken place to such an extent through the Assyrian and
+Babylonian conquests, went forward now more vigorously. Throughout
+Western Asia they were found everywhere, but it was in Egypt that they
+attained the highest prosperity and honor. The one city, Alexandria
+alone, is said to have contained at length a million Jews, whom the
+Greek kings of Egypt, the Ptolemies, preferred in every way to the
+native population. Elsewhere, too, they were favored, and hence they
+were everywhere hated; and the hatred assumed a deeper bitterness from
+the fact that the Jew always remained a Jew, marked in garb, in feature,
+in religious faith, always scornfully asserting the claim that he was
+the chosen of the Lord. Palestine became incorporated with the empire of
+the Seleucidæ, the Macedonian princes to whom had fallen Western Asia.
+Oppression at last succeeded the earlier favor, the defenses of
+Jerusalem were demolished, and the Temple defiled with pagan ceremonies;
+and now it is that we reach some of the finest figures in Hebrew
+history, the great high-priests, the Maccabees.
+
+9. There dwelt at the town of Modin a priest, Mattathias, the
+descendant of Asmonæus, to whom had been born five sons--John, Simon,
+Judas Maccabæus, or the Hammer, Eleazar, and Jonathan. Mattathias
+lamented the ravaging of the land and the plunder of the Temple by
+Antiochus Epiphanes, and when, in the year 167 B. C., the Macedonian
+king sent to Modin to have sacrifices offered, the Asmonæan returned a
+spirited reply. "Thou art a ruler," said the king's officers, "and an
+honorable and great man in this city, and strengthened with sons and
+brethren. Now, therefore, come thou first: so shalt thou and thy
+house be in number of the king's friends, and thou and thy children
+shall be honored with silver and gold and many rewards." But
+Mattathias replied with a loud voice: "Though all the nations that are
+under the king's dominions obey him, and fall away every one from the
+religion of their fathers, yet will I and my sons and my brethren,
+walk in the covenant of our fathers. God forbid that we should forsake
+the law and the ordinances! We will not hearken to the king's words to
+go from our religion, either on the right hand or the left."
+
+10. An heroic struggle for freedom at once began, which opened for the
+Jews full of sadness. An apostate Jew, approaching to offer sacrifice
+in compliance with the command of Antiochus, was at once slain by
+Mattathias, who struck down also Apelles, the king's general, with
+some of his soldiers. As he fled with his sons into the desert,
+leaving his substance behind him, many of the faithful Israelites
+followed, pursued by the Macedonians seeking revenge. The oppressors
+knew well how to choose their time. Attacking on the Sabbath-day,
+when, according to old tradition, it was a transgression even to
+defend one's life, a thousand with their wives and children were
+burned and smothered in the caves in which they had taken refuge. But
+Mattathias, rallying those that remained, taught them to fight on the
+Sabbath, and at all times. The heathen altars were overthrown, the
+breakers of the law were slain, the uncircumcised boys were everywhere
+circumcised. But the fullness of time approached for Mattathias; after
+a year his day of death had come, and these were his parting words to
+his sons: "I know that your brother Simon is a man of counsel; give
+ear unto him always; he shall be a father unto you. As for Judas
+Maccabæus, he hath been mighty and strong even from his youth up; let
+him be your captain and fight the battles of the people. Admit among
+you the righteous."
+
+11. No sooner had the father departed, than it appeared that the
+captain whom he had designated was a man as mighty as the great
+champions of old, Joshua and Gideon and Samson. He forthwith smote
+with defeat Apollonius, the general in the Samaritan country, and when
+he had slain the Greek he took his sword for his own. Seron, general
+of the army in Cœle-Syria, came against him with a host of
+Macedonians strengthened by apostate Jews. The men of Judas Maccabæus
+were few in number, without food, and faint-hearted, but he inspired
+them with his own zeal, and overthrew the new foes at Bethoron. King
+Antiochus, being now called eastward to Persia, committed military
+matters in Palestine to the viceroy, Lysias, with orders to take an
+army with elephants and conquer Judea, enslave its people, destroy
+Jerusalem, and abolish the nation. At once the new invaders were upon
+the land; of foot-soldiers there were forty thousand, of horsemen
+seven thousand, and as they advanced many Syrians and renegade Jews
+joined them. Merchants marched with the army, with money to buy the
+captives as slaves, and chains with which to bind those whom they
+purchased. But Judas Maccabæus was no whit dismayed. Causing his
+soldiers to array themselves in sackcloth, he made them pray to
+Jehovah. He dismissed those lately married, and those who had newly
+come into great possessions, as likely to be faint-hearted. After
+addressing those that remained, he set them in the ancient order of
+battle, and waited the opportunity to strike.
+
+12. The hostile general, fancying he saw an opportunity to surprise
+the little band of Hebrews, sent a portion of his host against them,
+by secret ways at night. But the spies of Judas were out. Leaving the
+fires burning brightly in his camp, to lure forward those who were
+commissioned to attack him, he rushed forth under the shadows against
+the main body, weakened by the absence of the detachment. He forced
+their position, though strongly defended, overcame the army; then
+turned back to scatter utterly the other party who were seeking him in
+the abandoned camp. He took great booty of gold and silver, and of
+raiment purple and blue. He marched home in great joy to the villages
+of Judea, singing hymns to God, as was done in the days of Miriam,
+long before, because they had triumphed gloriously.
+
+13. The next year Lysias advanced from Antioch, the Syrian capital,
+with a force of sixty-five thousand. Judas Maccabæus, with ten
+thousand, overthrew his vanguard, upon which the viceroy, terrified at
+the desperate fighting, retired to assemble a still greater army. For
+a time there was a respite from war, during which Judas counseled the
+people to purify the Temple. The Israelites, overjoyed at the revival
+of their ancient customs, the restoration of the old worship in all
+its purity, and the relief from foreign oppressors, celebrated for
+eight days a magnificent festival. The lamps in the Temple porches
+were rekindled to the sound of instruments and the chant of the
+Levites. But one vial of oil could be found, when, lo, a miracle! the
+one vial sufficed for the supply of the seven-branched golden
+candlestick for a week. This ancient Maccabæan festival faithful Jews
+still celebrate under the name of the Hanoukhah, the Feast of Lights.
+
+14. Judas subdues also the Idumeans of the southward, and the
+Ammonites. His brethren, too, have become mighty men of valor.
+Jonathan crosses the Jordan with him and campaigns against the tribes
+to the eastward. Eleazar is a valiant soldier, and Simon carries
+succor to the Jews in Galilee. But at length the Macedonian is again
+at hand, more terrible than before. The foot are a hundred thousand,
+the horse twenty thousand; and as rallying-points, thirty-two
+elephants tower among the ranks. About each one of the huge beasts is
+collected a troop of a thousand foot and five hundred horse; high
+turrets upon their backs are occupied by archers; their great flanks
+and limbs are cased in plates of steel. The host show their golden and
+brazen shields, making in the sun a glorious splendor, and shout in
+exultation so that the mountains echo. In the battle that follows
+Fortune does not altogether favor the Jews. In particular, the
+champion Eleazar lays down his life. He had attacked the largest
+elephant, a creature covered with plated armor, and carrying upon his
+back a whole troop of combatants, among whom it was believed that the
+king himself fought. Eleazar had slain those in the neighborhood,
+then, creeping beneath the belly of the elephant, had pierced him. As
+the brute fell, Eleazar was crushed in the fall. Judas was forced to
+retire within the defenses of Jerusalem, where still further disaster
+seemed likely to overcome him. Dissensions among themselves, however,
+weakened the Macedonians. Peace was offered the Jews, and permission
+to live according to the law of their fathers--proposals which were
+gladly accepted, although the invaders razed the defenses of the Temple.
+
+15. The peace was not enduring. New Macedonian invasions followed; new
+Hebrew successes, the Maccabees and their partisans making up, by
+their fierce zeal, their military skill, and dauntless valor, for
+their want of numbers. But a sad day came at last. Judas, twenty times
+outnumbered, confronts the leader Bacchides in Galilee. The Greek sets
+horsemen on both wings, his light troops and archers before the
+heavier phalanx, and takes his own station on the right. The Jewish
+hero is valiant as ever; the right wing of the enemy turns to flee.
+The left and center, however, encompass him, and he falls, fighting
+gloriously, having earned a name of the most skillful and valorous of
+the world's great vindicators of freedom.
+
+               _James K. Hosmer. "The Story of the Jews."_
+                       _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+ROMAN RECORD.
+
+
+
+
+_XXVI.--TARQUIN THE WICKED._
+
+
+1. For his tyranny King Tarquin was banished from Rome about 500 B.
+C., and after his expulsion he sent messengers to Rome to ask that his
+property should be given up to him, and the senate decreed that his
+prayer should be granted. But the king's ambassadors, while they were
+in Rome, stirred up the minds of the young men and others who had been
+favored by Tarquin, so that a plot was made to bring him back. Among
+those who plotted were Titus and Tiberius, the sons of the consul
+Brutus; and they gave letters to the messengers of the king. But it
+chanced that a certain slave hid himself in the place where they met,
+and overheard them plotting; and he came and told the thing to the
+consuls, who seized the messengers of the king with the letters upon
+their persons, authenticated by the seals of the young men. The
+culprits were immediately arrested; but the ambassadors were let go,
+because their persons were regarded as sacred. And the goods of King
+Tarquin were given up for plunder to the people.
+
+2. Then the traitors were brought up before the consuls, and the sight
+was such as to move all beholders to pity; for among them were the
+sons of Lucius Junius Brutus himself, the first consul, the liberator
+of the Roman people. And now all men saw how Brutus loved his country;
+for he bade the lictors put all the traitors to death, and his own
+sons first; and men could mark in his face the struggle between his
+duty as a chief magistrate of Rome and his feelings as a father. And
+while they praised and admired him they pitied him yet more. This was
+the first attempt to restore Tarquin the Proud.
+
+3. When Tarquin saw that the plot at home had failed, he prevailed on
+the people of Tarquinii and Veii to make war with him against the
+Romans. But the consuls came out against them; Valerius commanding the
+main army, and Brutus the cavalry. And it chanced that Aruns, the
+king's son, led the cavalry of the enemy. When he saw Brutus, he
+spurred his horse against him, and Brutus did not decline the combat.
+They rode straight at each other with leveled spears; and so fierce
+was the shock, that they pierced each other through from breast to
+back, and both fell dead.
+
+4. Then, also, the armies fought, but the battle was neither won nor
+lost. But in the night a voice was heard by the Etruscans, saying that
+the Romans were the conquerers. So the enemy fled by night; and when
+the Romans arose in the morning, there was no man to oppose them. Then
+they took up the body of Brutus, and departed home, and buried him in
+public with great pomp.
+
+5. And thus the second attempt to restore King Tarquin was frustrated.
+After the death of Brutus, Valerius, the remaining consul, ruled the
+people for awhile by himself, and began to build himself a house upon
+the ridge called Velia, which looks down upon the forum. So the people
+thought that he was going to make himself king; but when he heard
+this, he called an assembly of the people, and appeared before them
+with his fasces lowered, and with no axes in them, whence the custom
+remained ever after, that no consular lictors wore axes within the
+city, and no consul had power of life and death except when he was in
+command of his legions abroad. And he pulled down the beginning of his
+house upon the Velia, and built it below that hill. Also, he passed
+laws that every Roman citizen might appeal to the people against the
+judgment of the chief magistrates. Wherefore he was greatly honored
+among the people, and was called _Poplicola_, or _Friend of the People_.
+
+6. After this Valerius called together the great assembly of the
+centuries, and they chose Spurius Lucretius, father of Lucretius, to
+succeed Brutus. But he was an old man, and not many days afterward he
+died, and Marcus Horatius was chosen in his stead.
+
+7. The temple on the Capitol which King Tarquin began had never yet been
+consecrated. Then Valerius and Horatius drew lots which should be the
+consecrator, and the lot fell on Horatius. But the friends of Valerius
+murmured, and they wished to prevent Horatius from having the honor; so,
+when he was now saying the prayer of consecration, with his hand upon
+the door-post of the temple, there came a messenger who told him that
+his son was just dead, and that one mourning for a son could not rightly
+consecrate the temple. But Horatius kept his hand upon the door-post,
+and told them to see to the burial of his son, and finished the rite of
+consecration. Thus did he honor the gods even above his own son.
+
+8. In the next year Valerius was again made consul, with Titus
+Lucretius; and Tarquin, despairing now of aid from his friends at Veii
+and Tarquinii, went to Lars Porsena of Clusium, a city on the river
+Clanis, which falls into the Tiber. Porsena was, at this time,
+acknowledged as chief of the twelve Etruscan cities; and he assembled
+a powerful army and came to Rome. He came so quickly that he reached
+the Tiber, and was near the Sublician Bridge before there was time to
+destroy it; and if he had crossed it the city would have been lost.
+
+9. Then, a noble Roman, called Horatius Cocles, of the Lucerian tribe,
+with two friends--Spurius Lartius, a Ramnian, and Titus Herminius, a
+Titian--posted themselves at the far end of the bridge, and defended
+the passage against all the Etruscan host, while the Romans were
+cutting it off behind them. When it was all but destroyed, his two
+friends retreated across the bridge, and Horatius was left alone to
+bear the whole attack of the enemy. He kept his ground, standing
+unmoved amid the darts which were showered upon his shield, till the
+last beams of the bridge fell crashing into the river. Then he prayed,
+saying, "Father Tiber, receive me, and bear me up I pray thee." He
+then plunged in, and reached the other side safely; and the Romans
+honored him greatly: they put up his statue in the Comitium, and gave
+him as much land as he could plow round in a day, and every man at
+Rome subscribed the cost of one day's food to reward him.
+
+                                                        _Liddell._
+
+10. This story is told in very spirited verse by Macaulay, in his poem
+of Horatius:
+
+
+HORATIUS.
+
+    1.  Fast by the royal standard,
+          O'erlooking all the war,
+        Lars Porsena of Clusium
+          Sate in his ivory car.
+        By the right wheel rode Mamilius,
+          Prince of the Latian name;
+        And by the left false Sextus,
+          That wrought the deed of shame.
+
+    2.  But when the face of Sextus
+          Was seen among the foes,
+        A yell that rent the firmament
+          From all the town arose.
+        On the house-tops was no woman
+          But spate toward him and hissed;
+        No child but screamed out curses,
+          And shook its little fist.
+
+    3.  But the consul's brow was sad,
+          And the consul's speech was low;
+        And darkly looked he at the wall,
+          And darkly at the foe.
+        "Their van will be upon us
+          Before the bridge goes down;
+        And if they once may win the bridge,
+          What hope to save the town?"
+
+    4.  Then out spoke brave Horatius,
+          The captain of the gate:
+        "To every man upon this earth
+          Death cometh soon or late.
+        And how can man die better
+          Than facing fearful odds
+        For the ashes of his fathers,
+          And the temples of his gods!
+
+[Illustration: _Horatius._]
+
+    5.  "Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul
+          With all the speed ye may;
+        I, with two more to help me,
+          Will hold the foe in play.
+        In yon straight path a thousand
+          May well be stopped by three.
+        Now, who will stand on either hand,
+          And keep the bridge with me?"
+
+    6.  Then out spoke Spurius Lartius,
+          A Ramnian proud was he:
+        "Lo, I will stand on thy right hand,
+          And keep the bridge with thee."
+        And out spoke strong Herminius,
+          Of Titian blood was he:
+        "I will abide on thy left side,
+          And keep the bridge with thee."
+
+    7.  The three stood calm and silent,
+          And looked upon the foes.
+        And a great shout of laughter
+          From all the vanguard rose:
+        And forth three chiefs came spurring
+          Before that mighty mass;
+        To earth they sprang, their swords they drew
+        And lifted high their shields, and flew
+          To win the narrow pass.
+
+    8.  Aunus from green Tifernum,
+          Lord of the Hill of Tines;
+        And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves
+          Sicken in Ilva's mines;
+        And Picus, long to Clusium
+          Vassal in peace and war,
+        Who led to fight his Umbrian powers
+        From that gray crag where, girt with towers,
+        The fortress of Nequinum lowers
+          O'er the pale waves of Nar.
+
+    9.  Stout Lartius hurled down Aunus
+          Into the stream beneath;
+        Herminius struck at Seius,
+          And clove him to the teeth;
+        At Picus brave Horatius
+          Darted one fiery thrust,
+        And the proud Umbrian's gilded arms
+          Clashed in the bloody dust.
+
+    10. But meanwhile axe and lever
+          Have manfully been plied,
+        And now the bridge hangs tottering
+          Above the boiling tide.
+        "Come back, come back, Horatius,"
+          Loud cried the Fathers all.
+        "Back, Lartius! back, Herminius!
+          Back, ere the ruin fall!"
+
+    11. Back darted Spurius Lartius;
+          Herminius darted back:
+        And as they passed, beneath their feet
+          They felt the timbers crack.
+        But when they turned their faces,
+          And on the further shore
+        Saw brave Horatius stand alone,
+          They would have crossed once more.
+
+    12. But with a crash like thunder
+          Fell every loosened beam,
+        And, like a dam, the mighty wreck
+          Lay right athwart the stream;
+        And a long shout of triumph
+          Rose from the walls of Rome,
+        As to the highest turret tops
+          Was splashed the yellow foam.
+
+    13. Alone stood brave Horatius,
+          But constant still in mind;
+        Thrice thirty thousand foes before,
+          And the broad flood behind.
+        "Down with him!" cried false Sextus,
+          With a smile on his pale face.
+        "Now yield thee," cried Lars Porsena,
+          "Now yield thee to our grace."
+
+    14. Round turned he, as not deigning
+          Those craven ranks to see;
+        Naught spake he to Lars Porsena,
+          To Sextus naught spake he;
+        But he saw on Palatinus
+          The white porch of his home,
+        And he spake to the noble river
+          That rolls by the towers of Rome.
+
+    15. "Oh, Tiber! Father Tiber!
+          To whom the Romans pray,
+        A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,
+          Take thou in charge this day!"
+        So he spoke, and speaking sheathed
+          The good sword by his side,
+        And with his harness on his back
+          Plunged headlong in the tide.
+
+    16. But fiercely ran the current,
+          Swollen high by months of rain;
+        And fast his blood was flowing;
+          And he was sore in pain,
+        And heavy with his armor,
+          And spent with changing blows:
+        And oft they thought him sinking,
+          But still again he rose.
+
+    17. And now he feels the bottom;
+          Now on dry earth he stands;
+        Now round him throng the fathers,
+          To press his gory hands;
+        And now with shouts and clapping,
+          And noise of weeping loud,
+        He enters through the River-gate,
+          Borne by the joyous crowd.
+
+    18. And still his name sounds stirring
+          Unto the men of Rome,
+        As the trumpet-blast that cries to them
+          To charge the Volscian home;
+        And wives still pray to Juno
+          For boys with hearts as bold
+        As his who kept the bridge so well
+          In the brave days of old.
+
+    19. And in the nights of winter,
+          When the cold north winds blow,
+        And the long howling of the wolves
+          Is heard amidst the snow;
+        When round the lonely cottage
+          Roars loud the tempest's din,
+        And the good logs of Algidus
+          Roar louder yet within;
+
+    20. When the oldest cask is opened,
+          And the largest lamp is lit,
+        When the chestnuts glow in the embers,
+          And the kid turns on the spit;
+        When young and old in circle
+          Around the firebrands close;
+        When the girls are weaving baskets,
+          And the lads are shaping bows;
+
+    21. When the goodman mends his armor,
+          And trims his helmet's plume;
+        When the goodwife's shuttle merrily
+          Goes flashing through the loom;
+        With weeping and with laughter
+          Still is the story told,
+        How well Horatius kept the bridge
+          In the brave days of old.
+
+                                _Macaulay._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+_XXVII.-THE ROMAN REPUBLIC._
+
+
+1. The establishment of the republic marked an era in the history of
+Rome. The people had decreed, that for them there never should be a
+king, and the law was kept to the letter; though, if they meant that
+supreme authority should never be held among them by one man, it was
+violated many times. The story of Rome is unique in the history of the
+world, for it is not the record of the life of one great country, but
+of a city that grew to be strong, and successfully established its
+authority over many countries.
+
+2. The most ancient and the most remote from the sea of the cities of
+Latium, Rome soon became the most influential, and began to combine in
+itself the traits of the peoples near it; but owing to the singular
+strength and rare impressiveness of the national character, these were
+assimilated, and the inhabitant of the capital remained distinctively
+a Roman in spite of his intimate association with men of different
+origin and training.
+
+3. The citizen of Rome was practical, patriotic, and faithful to
+obligation; he loved to be governed by inflexible law; and it was a
+fundamental principle with him that the individual should be
+subordinate to the state. His kings were either organizers, like Numa
+and Ancus-Marcius, or warriors like Romulus and Tullus Hostilius; they
+either made laws, like Servius, or they enforced them with the
+despotism of Tarquinius Superbus. It is difficult for us to conceive
+of such majestic power emanating from a territory so insignificant.
+
+4. We hardly realize that Latium did not comprise a territory quite
+fifty miles by one hundred in extent, and that it was but a hundred
+miles from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic. It was but a short walk
+from Rome to the territory of the Etruscans, and when Tarquin found an
+asylum at Cære, he did not separate himself by twenty miles from the
+scene of his tyranny. Ostia was scarcely more distant, and one might
+have ridden before the first meal of the day to Lavinium, or Alba, or
+Veii, or to Ardea, the ancient city of the Rutuli. It is important to
+keep these facts in mind as we read the story of the remarkable city.
+
+5. All towns were built on hills in these early days, for safety in
+case of war, as well as because the valleys were insalubrious, but
+this was not a peculiarity of the Romans, for in New England in the
+late ages of our own ancestors, they were obliged to follow the same
+custom. On the tops and slopes of seven hills, as they liked to remind
+themselves, the Romans built their city. They were not impressive
+elevations, though their sides were sharp and rocky, for the loftiest
+rose less than three hundred feet above the sea-level. Their summits
+were crowned with groves of beech trees and oaks, and in the lower
+lands grew osiers and other smaller varieties.
+
+[Illustration: _Ancient Roman Monument._]
+
+6. The earlier occupations of the Roman people were war and
+agriculture, or the pasturage of flocks and herds. They raised grapes
+and made wines; they cultivated the oil-olive, and knew the use of its
+fruit. They found copper in their soil, and made a pound of it their
+unit of value, but it was so cheap that ten thousand pounds of it were
+required to buy a war-horse, though cattle and sheep were much lower.
+They yoked their oxen and called the path they occupied a _jugerum_
+(_jugum_--a cross-beam or a yoke), and this in time came to be their
+familiar standard of square measure, containing about two-thirds of an
+acre. Two of these were assigned to a citizen, and seven were the
+narrow limit to which only one's landed possessions were for a long
+time allowed to extend. In time commerce was added to the pursuits of
+the men, and with it came fortunes and improved dwellings, and public
+buildings. Laziness and luxury were frowned upon by the early Romans.
+Mistress and maid worked together in the affairs of the household,
+like Lucretia and other noble women of whom history tells, and the man
+did not hesitate to hold the plow, as the example of Cincinnatus will
+show us. Time was precious, and thrift and economy were necessary to
+success. The father was the autocrat in the household, and exercised
+his power with stern rigidity.
+
+7. Art was backward, and came from abroad; of literature there was
+none, long after Greece had passed its period of heroic poetry. The
+dwellings of the citizens were low and insignificant, though, as time
+passed on, they became more massive and important. The vast public
+structures of the later kings were comparable to the taskwork of the
+builders of the Egyptian pyramids, and they still strike us with
+astonishment, and surprise.
+
+8. The religion of these strong conquerors was narrow, severe, and
+dreary. The early fathers worshiped native deities only. They
+recognized gods everywhere--in the home, in the grove, and on the
+mountain. They erected their altars on the hills; they had their lares
+and penates to watch over their hearth-stones, and their vestal
+virgins kept everlasting vigil near the never-dying fires in the
+temples. With the art of Greece that made itself felt through Etruria,
+came also the influence of the Grecian mythology, and Jupiter, Juno,
+and Minerva found a shrine on the top of the Capitoline, where the
+first statue of a deity was erected. The mysterious sibylline books
+are also a mark of the Grecian influence, coming from Cumæ, a colony
+of Magna Græcia.
+
+9. During the period we have considered, the city passed through five
+distinct stages of political organization. The government at first was
+an elective monarchy, the electors being a patriarchal aristocracy.
+After the invasion of the Sabines there was a union with that people,
+the sovereignty being held by rulers chosen from each, but it was not
+long before Rome became the head of a federal state. The Tarquins
+established a monarchy, which rapidly degenerated into an offensive
+tyranny, which aroused rebellion and at last led to the republic.
+
+10. During all these changes, the original aristocrats and their
+descendants held their position as the Populus Romanus, the Roman
+people, insisting that every one else must belong to an inferior order,
+and, as no body of men is willing to be condemned to a hopelessly
+subordinate position in a state, there was a perpetual antagonism
+between the patricians and the plebeians, between the aristocracy and
+the commonalty. This led to a temporary change under Servius Tullius,
+when property took the place of pedigree in establishing a man's rank
+and influence; but owing to the peculiar method of voting adopted, the
+power of the commons was not greatly increased. However, they had made
+their influence felt, and were encouraged.
+
+11. The overturning of the scheme by Tarquin favored a union of the
+two orders for the punishment of that tyrant, and they combined; but
+it was only for a time. When the danger had been removed, the tie was
+found broken and the antagonism rather increased, so that the
+subsequent history for five generations, though exceedingly
+interesting, is largely a record of the struggles of the commons for
+relief from the burdens laid upon them by the aristocrats.
+
+[Illustration: _Roman Private Life._]
+
+12. The father passed down to his son the story of the oppression of
+the patricians, and the son told the same sad narrative to his
+offspring. The mother mourned with her daughter over the sufferings
+brought upon them by the rich, for whom their poor father and brothers
+were obliged to fight the battles, while they were not allowed to
+share the spoil, nor to divide the lands gained by their own prowess.
+The struggle was not so much between patrician and plebeian as between
+the rich and the poor. It was intimately connected with the uses of
+money in those times. What could the rich Roman do with his
+accumulations? He might buy land or slaves, or he might become a
+lender; to a certain extent he could use his surplus in commerce; but
+of these its most remunerative employment was found in usury. As there
+were no laws regulating the rates of interest, they became exorbitant,
+and as it was customary to compound it, debts rapidly grew beyond the
+possibility of payment. As the rich made the laws they naturally
+exerted their ingenuity to frame them in such a way as to enable the
+lender to collect his dues with promptness and with little regard for
+the feelings or interests of the debtor.
+
+13. It is difficult, if not impossible, for us to form a proper
+conception of the magnitude of the wrongs involved in the system of
+money-lending at Rome during the period of the republic. The small
+farmers were ever needy, and came to their wealthy neighbors for
+accommodation loans. If these were not paid when due, the debtor was
+liable to be locked up in prison, to be sold into slavery, with his
+children, wife, and grandchildren; and the heartless law reads, that
+in case the estate should prove insufficient to satisfy all claims,
+the creditors were actually authorized to cut the body to pieces, that
+each Shylock might take the pound of flesh that he claimed.
+
+14. At last the severity of the lenders overreached itself. It was in
+the year 495 B. C., that a poor but brave debtor, one who had been at
+the very front in the wars, broke out of his prison, and while the
+wind flaunted his rags in the face of the populace, clanked his chains
+and told the story of his calamities so effectually in words of
+natural eloquence, that the commons were aroused to madness, and
+resolved at last to make a vigorous effort, and seek redress for their
+wrongs in a way that could not be resisted.
+
+15. The form of this man stands out forever on the pages of Roman
+history, as he entered the forum with all the badges of his misery
+upon him. His pale and emaciated body was but partially covered by his
+wretched tatters; his long hair played about his shoulders, and his
+glaring eyes and the grizzled beard hanging down before him added to
+his savage wildness. As he passed along he uncovered the scars of near
+two score battles that remained upon his breast, and explained to
+inquirers that while he had been serving in the Sabine war, his house
+had been pillaged and burned by the enemy; that when he had returned
+to enjoy the sweets of the peace he had helped to win, he had found
+that his cattle had been driven off, and a tax imposed.
+
+16. To meet the debts that thronged upon him and the interest by which
+they were aggravated, he had stripped himself of his ancestral farms.
+Finally, pestilence had overtaken him, and as he was not able to work,
+his creditor had placed him in a house of detention, the savage
+treatment in which was shown by the fresh stripes upon his bleeding back.
+
+17. At the moment a war was imminent, and the forum--the entire city,
+in fact--already excited, was filled with the uproar of the angry
+plebeians. Many confined for debt broke from their prison-houses and
+ran from all quarters into the crowds to claim protection. The majesty
+of the consuls was insufficient to preserve order, and while the
+discord was rapidly increasing horsemen rushed into the gates
+announcing that an enemy was actually upon them, marching to besiege
+the city. The plebeians saw that their opportunity had arrived, and
+when proud Appius Claudius called upon them to enroll their names for
+the war, they refused the summons, saying that the patricians might
+fight their own battles; that for themselves it was better to perish
+together at home rather than to go to the field and die separated.
+
+18. Threatened with war beyond the gates, and with riot at home, the
+patricians were forced to promise to redress the civil grievances. It
+was ordered that no one could seize or sell the goods of a soldier
+while he was in camp, or arrest his children, and that no one should
+detain a citizen in prison or in chains, so as to hinder him from
+enlisting in the army. When this was known, the released prisoners
+volunteered in numbers, and entered upon the war with enthusiasm. The
+legions were victorious, and when peace was declared, the plebeians
+anxiously looked for the ratification of the promises made to them.
+
+19. Their expectations were disappointed. They had, however, seen
+their power, and were determined to act upon their new knowledge.
+Without undue haste they protected their homes on the Aventine, and
+retreated the next year to a mountain across the Anio, about three
+miles from the city, to a spot which afterward held a place in the
+memories of the Romans similar to that which the green meadow on the
+Thames called Runnymede has held in British history since the June day
+when King John met his commons there, and gave them the great charter
+of their liberties.
+
+20. The plebeians said calmly that they would no longer be imposed
+upon; that not one of them would thereafter enlist for a war until the
+public faith was made good. They reiterated the declaration that the
+lords might fight their own battles, so that the perils of conflict
+should lie where its advantages were. When the situation of affairs
+was thoroughly understood, Rome was on fire with anxiety, and the
+enforced suspense filled the citizens with fear lest an external enemy
+should take the opportunity for a successful onset upon the city.
+
+21. Meanwhile the poor secessionists fortified their camp, but
+carefully refrained from actual war. The people left in the city
+feared the senators, and the senators in turn dreaded the citizens
+lest they should do them violence. It was a time of panic and
+suspense. After consultation, good counsels prevailed in the senate,
+and it was resolved to send an embassy to the despised and downtrodden
+plebeians, who now seemed to hold the balance of power, and to treat
+for peace, for there could be no security until the secessionists had
+returned to their homes.
+
+22. The spokesman on the occasion was Menenius Agrippa Lanatus who was
+popular with the people and had a reputation for eloquence. The
+address of this good man had its desired effect, and the people were
+at last willing to listen to a proposition for their return. It was
+settled that there should be a general release of all those who had
+been handed over to their creditors, and a cancelling of debts, and
+that two of the plebeians should be selected as their protectors, with
+power to veto objectionable laws, their persons being as inviolable at
+all times as were those of the sacred messengers of the gods. These
+demands, showing that the plebeians did not seek political power, were
+agreed to, the Valerian laws were reaffirmed, and a solemn treaty was
+concluded, each party swearing for itself and its posterity, with all
+the formality of representatives of foreign nations.
+
+23. The two leaders of the commons, Caius Licinius and Lucius Albinus,
+were elected the first tribunes of the people, as the new officers
+were called, with two ædiles to aid them. They were not to leave the
+city during their term of office, their doors being open night and
+day, that all who needed their protection might have access to them.
+The hill upon which this treaty had been concluded was ever after
+known as the Sacred Mount; its top was enclosed and consecrated, an
+altar being built upon it, on which sacrifices were offered to
+Jupiter, the god of terror and deliverance, who had allowed the
+commons to return home in safety, though they had gone out in
+trepidation. Henceforth the commons were to be protected; they were
+better fitted to share the honors as well as the benefits of their
+country, and the threatened dissolution of the nation was averted.
+
+            _Arthur Gilman, M. A. "The Story of Rome."_
+                      _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations Series."_
+
+
+
+
+_XXVIII.--CINCINNATUS._
+
+
+1. In the course of the early Roman wars, Minucius, one of the consuls
+suffered himself to be cut off from Rome, in a narrow valley of Mount
+Algidus, and it seemed as if hope of delivery there was none. However,
+five horsemen found means to escape and report at Rome the perilous
+condition of the consul and his army. Then the other consul consulted
+the senate, and it was agreed that the only man who could deliver the
+army was Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. He was thereupon named dictator,
+and deputies were sent to acquaint him with his high dignity.
+
+2. He was called Cincinnatus, because he wore his hair in long curling
+locks, _cincinni_, and, though he was a patrician he lived on his own
+small farm, like any plebeian yeoman. This farm was beyond the
+Tiber, and here he lived contentedly with his wife Racilia.
+
+3. Two years before he had been consul, and had been brought into
+great distress by the conduct of his son, Kæso. This Kæso was a Wild
+and insolent young man, who despised the plebeians and hated their
+tribunes. One Volscius Fictor alleged that he and his brother, an old
+and sickly man, had been attacked by Kæso and a party of young
+patricians by night, and that his brother had died of the treatment
+then received. The indignation of the people rose high; and Kæso was
+forced to go into exile. After this the young patricians became more
+insolent than ever, but they courted the poorest of the people, hoping
+to engage them on their side against the more respectable plebeians.
+
+4. Next year all Rome was alarmed by finding that the Capitol had been
+seized by an enemy during the night. This enemy was Appius Herdonius, a
+Sabine, and with him was associated a band of desperate men, exiles and
+runaway slaves. The first demand he made was that all Roman exiles
+should be restored. The consul, P. Valerius, collected a force and took
+the Capitol, but was killed in the assault, and Cincinnatus, father of
+the banished Kæso, was chosen to succeed him. When he heard the news of
+his elevation, he turned to his wife, and said: "I fear, Racilia, our
+little field must remain this year unsown." Then he assumed the robe of
+state, and went to Rome. It was believed that Kæso had been concerned in
+the desperate enterprise that had just been defeated. What had become of
+him was unknown; but that he was already dead was pretty certain; and
+his father was very bitter against the tribunes and their party, to whom
+he attributed his son's disgrace and death.
+
+5. P. Valerius, the consul, had persuaded the plebeians to join in the
+assault of the Capitol, by promising to gain them further privileges;
+this promise Cincinnatus refused to keep, and used all his power to
+frustrate the attempts of the tribunes to gain its fulfillment. At the
+end of his year of office, however, when the patricians wished to
+continue him in the consulship, he positively declined the offer, and
+returned to his rustic life as if he had never left it.
+
+6. It was two years after these events that the deputies of the
+senate, who came to invest him with the ensigns of dictatorial power,
+found him working on his little farm. He was clad in his tunic only,
+and as the deputies advanced they bade him put on his toga, that he
+might receive the commands of the senate in seemly guise. So he wiped
+off the dust and sweat, and bade his wife fetch his toga, and asked
+anxiously whether all was right or no. Then the deputies told him how
+the army was beset by the Æquian foe, and how the Senate looked to him
+as the savior of the state. A boat was provided to carry him over the
+Tiber; and when he reached the other bank, he was greeted by his
+family and friends, and the greater part of the senate, who followed
+him to the city, while he himself walked in state, with his four and
+twenty lictors.
+
+7. That same day the dictator and his master of horse came down into
+the forum, ordered all shops to be shut, and all business to be
+suspended. All men of the military age were to meet in the Field of
+Mars before sunset, each man with five days' provisions and twelve
+stakes; the older men were to get the provisions ready, while the
+soldiers were preparing the stakes. Thus all was got ready in time:
+the dictator led them forth; and they marched so rapidly, that by
+midnight they had reached Mount Algidus, where the army of the consul
+was hemmed in.
+
+8. Then the dictator, when he had discovered the place of the enemy's
+army, ordered his men to put all their baggage down in one place, and
+then to surround the enemy's camp. They obeyed, and each one raising a
+shout, began digging the trench and fixing his stakes, so as to form a
+palisade round the enemy. The consul's army, which was hemmed in,
+heard the shout of their brethren, and flew to arms; and so hotly did
+they fight all night, that the Æquians had no time to attend to the
+new foe, and next morning found themselves hemmed in on all sides by
+the trench and palisade, so that they were now between two Roman
+armies. They were thus forced to surrender. The dictator required them
+to give up their chiefs, and made their whole army pass under the
+yoke, which was formed by two spears fixed upright in the ground, and
+a third bound across them at the top.
+
+9. Cincinnatus returned to Rome amid the shouts and exultation of his
+soldiers: they gave him a golden crown, in token that he had saved the
+lives of many citizens; and the senate decreed that he should enter the
+city in triumph. So Cincinnatus accomplished the purpose for which he
+had been made dictator in twenty-four hours. One evening he marched
+forth to deliver the consul, and the next evening he returned
+victorious. But he would not lay down his high office till he had
+avenged his son. Accordingly, he summoned Volscius Fictor, the accuser,
+and had him tried for perjury. The man was condemned and banished; and
+then Cincinnatus once more returned to his wife and farm.
+
+                                                        _Liddell._
+
+
+
+
+_XXIX.--THE ROMAN FATHER._
+
+
+1. Among the most interesting of the early legends of Rome is that of
+Virginius, a soldier of the army belonging to the plebeian order.
+While performing his duty in the army which was encamped about twenty
+miles from Rome, his young daughter, Virginia, about fifteen years
+of age found her home with her near relatives in the city. Her beauty
+attracted the attention of Appius Claudius, one of the ten governors
+of Rome. With the view of getting possession of her person, he ordered
+one of his clients, M. Claudius by name, to lay hands upon her as she
+was going to her school in the Forum, and to claim her as his slave.
+The man did so; and when the cries of her nurse brought a crowd round
+them, M. Claudius insisted on taking her before the decemvir, in order
+(as he said) to have the case fairly tried. Her friends consented, and
+no sooner had Appius heard the matter, than he gave judgment that the
+maiden should be delivered up to the claimant, who should be bound to
+produce her in case her alleged father appeared to gainsay the claim.
+
+[Illustration: _The Seizure of Virginia._]
+
+2. Now this judgment was directly against one of the laws of the
+Twelve Tables, which Appius himself had framed: for therein it was
+provided, that any person being at freedom should continue free, till
+it was proved that such person was a slave. Icilius her betrothed,
+therefore, with Numitorius, the uncle of the maiden, boldly argued
+against the legality of the judgment; and at length, Appius, fearing a
+tumult, agreed to leave the girl in their hands, on condition of their
+giving bail to bring her before him next morning; and then, if
+Virginius did not appear, he would at once, he said, give her up to
+her pretended master.
+
+3. To this Icilius consented; but he delayed giving bail, pretending
+that he could not procure it readily, and in the mean time he sent off a
+secret message to the camp on Algidus to inform Virginius of what had
+happened. As soon as the bail was given, Appius also sent a message to
+the decemvirs in command of that army, ordering them to refuse leave of
+absence to Virginius. But when this last message arrived, Virginius was
+already half-way on his road to Rome; for the distance was not more
+than twenty miles, and he had started at nightfall.
+
+4. Next morning early, Virginius entered the forum leading his
+daughter by the hand, both clad in mean attire. A great number of
+friends and matrons attended him; and he went about among the people
+entreating them to support him against the tyranny of Appius. So, when
+Appius came to take his place on the judgment-seat, he found the forum
+full of people, all friendly to Virginius and his cause. But he
+inherited the boldness as well as the vices of his sires, and though
+he saw Virginius standing there, ready to prove that he was the
+maiden's father, he at once gave judgment against his own law, that
+Virginia should be given up to M. Claudius, till it should be proved
+that she was free. The wretch came up to seize her, and the lictors
+kept the people from him. Virginius now despairing of deliverance,
+begged Appius to allow him to ask the maiden whether she were indeed
+his daughter or no. "If," said he, "I find I am not her father, I
+shall bear her loss the lighter." Under this pretense, he drew her
+aside to a spot upon the northern side of the forum (afterward called
+the Novæ Tabernæ), and here, snatching up a knife from a butcher's
+stall, he cried: "In this way only can I keep thee free!" and, so
+saying, stabbed her to the heart.
+
+5. Then he turned to the tribunal, and said: "On thee, Appius, and on
+thy head be this blood." Appius cried out to sieze "the murderer"; but
+the crowd made way for Virginius, and he passed through them holding up
+the bloody knife, and went out at the gate, and made straight for the
+army. There, when the soldiers had heard his tale, they at once
+abandoned their decemviral generals, and marched to Rome. They were soon
+followed by the other army from the Sabine frontier; for to them
+Icilius had gone, and Numitorius; and they found willing ears among the
+men. So the two armies joined their banners, elected new generals, and
+encamped upon the Aventine hill, the quarter of the plebeians.
+
+6. Meantime, the people at home had risen against Appius; and after
+driving him from the forum, they joined their armed fellow citizens
+upon the Aventine. There the whole body of the commons, armed and
+unarmed, hung like a dark cloud ready to burst upon the city.
+
+                                                        _Liddell._
+
+
+VIRGINIUS.
+
+    1. When Appius Claudius saw that deed he shuddered and sank down,
+       And hid his face some little space with the corner of his gown,
+       Till with white lips and blood-shot eyes Virginius tottered nigh,
+       And stood before the judgment-seat, and held the knife on high.
+       "Oh! dwellers in the nether gloom, avengers of the slain,
+       By this dear blood, I cry to you, do right between us twain;
+       And even as Appius Claudius hath dealt with me and mine,
+       Deal you by Appius Claudius and all the Claudian line!"
+       So spake the slayer of his child, and turned, and went his way;
+       But first he cast one haggard glance to where the body lay,
+       And writhed, and groaned a fearful groan; and then with steadfast
+                 feet,
+       Strode right across the market-place into the sacred street.
+
+    2. Then up sprang Appius Claudius: "Stop him; alive or dead!
+       Ten thousand pounds of copper to the man who brings his head."
+       He looked upon his clients, but none would work his will.
+       He looked upon his lictors, but they trembled and stood still.
+       And as Virginius, through the press, his way in silence cleft,
+       Ever the mighty multitude fell back to right and left.
+       And he hath passed in safety unto his woful home,
+       And there ta'en horse to tell the camp what deeds are done in
+                 Rome.
+
+    3. By this the flood of people was swollen from every side,
+       And streets and porches round were filled with that o'erflowing
+                 tide,
+       And close around the body gathered a little train
+       Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain.
+       They brought a bier, and hung it with many a cypress crown,
+       And gently they uplifted her, and gently laid her down.
+       The face of Appius Claudius wore the Claudian scowl and sneer,
+       And in the Claudian note he cried, "What doth this rabble here?
+       Have they no crafts to mind at home, that hitherward they stray?
+       Ho! lictors, clear the market-place, and fetch the corpse away!"
+
+    4. Till then the voice of pity and fury was not loud,
+       But a deep, sullen murmur, wandered among the crowd.
+       Like the moaning noise that goes before the whirlwind on the deep,
+       Or the growl of a fierce watch-dog but half-aroused from sleep.
+       But when the lictors at that word, tall yeomen all, and strong,
+       Each with his axe and sheaf of twigs, went down into the throng,
+       Those old men say, who saw that day of sorrow and of sin,
+       That in the Roman Forum was never such a din.
+       The wailing, hooting, cursing, the howls of grief and hate,
+       Were heard beyond the Pincian hill, beyond the Latin gate.
+
+    5. But close around the body, where stood the little train
+       Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain,
+       No cries were there, but teeth set fast, low whispers, and black
+                 frowns,
+       And breaking up of benches, and girding up of gowns.
+       'Twas well the lictors might not pierce to where the maiden lay,
+       Else surely had they been all twelve torn limb from limb that day.
+       Right glad they were to struggle back, blood streaming from their
+                 heads,
+       With axes all in splinters, and raiment all in shreds.
+
+[Illustration: _The Dead Virginia._]
+
+    6. Then Appius Claudius gnawed his lip, and the blood left his cheek;
+       And thrice he beckoned with his hand, and thrice he strove to
+                 speak;
+       And thrice the tossing forum sent up a frightful yell--
+       "See, see, thou dog! what thou hast done; and hide thy shame in
+                 hell,
+       Thou that wouldst make our maidens slaves, must first make slaves
+                 of men.
+       Tribunes!--Hurrah for tribunes! Down with the wicked Ten!"
+       And straightway, thick as hailstones, came whizzing through the
+                 air
+       Pebbles, and bricks, and potsherds, all round the curule chair;
+       And upon Appius Claudius great fear and trembling came;
+       For never was a Claudius yet brave against aught but shame.
+
+    7. So now 'twas seen of Appius. When stones began to fly,
+       He shook, and crouched, and wrung his hands, and smote upon his
+                 thigh.
+       "Kind clients, honest lictors, stand by me in this fray!
+       Must I be torn to pieces? Home, home the nearest way."
+       While yet he spake, and looked around with a bewildered stare,
+       Four sturdy lictors put their necks beneath the curule chair;
+       And fourscore clients on the left, and fourscore on the right,
+       Arrayed themselves with swords and staves, and loins girt up for
+                 fight.
+
+    8. But, though without or staff or sword, so furious was the throng,
+       That scarce the train, with might and main, could bring their lord
+                 along.
+       Twelve times the crowd made at him; five times they seized his
+                 gown;
+       Small chance was his to rise again, if once they got him down:
+       And sharper came the pelting; and evermore the yell--
+       "Tribunes! we will have tribunes!" rose with a louder swell:
+       And the chair tossed as tosses a bark with tattered sail,
+       When raves the Adriatic beneath an eastern gale,
+       When the Calabrian sea-marks are lost in clouds of spume,
+       And the great Thunder-Cape has donned his veil of inky gloom.
+       One stone hit Appius in the mouth, and one beneath the ear;
+       And ere he reached Mount Palatine, he swooned with pain and fear.
+       His cursed head, that he was wont to hold so high with pride,
+       Now, like a drunken man's, hung down, and swayed from side to
+                 side;
+       And when his stout retainers had brought him to his door,
+       His neck and face were all one cake of filth and clotted gore.
+
+                                                      _Macaulay._
+
+
+
+
+_XXX.--ARCHIMEDES._
+
+
+1. This extraordinary man was a native of Syracuse, a city of Sicily. He
+was born two hundred and eighty-eight years before the Christian era,
+and from fifty to one hundred years after the appearance of the
+far-famed Euclid. Who his parents were, and what was their rank in life
+are not known, though it is claimed that he was in some way related to
+Hiero the king of Syracuse. It is said that Hiero considered himself
+greatly honored by such a relation, and well he might be, for science
+and genius combined are much higher than royalty. Besides it is probable
+that the name of the monarch would never have been preserved except in
+connection with the great philosopher.
+
+2. By whom he was instructed in the elements of education, history
+fails to inform us, but it tells us of the progress he made in
+mechanics and geometry, and for the sake of the quiet necessary to
+pursue these branches he gave up all the advantages of a political
+life derived from his connection with the king. His favorite studies
+had more charms for him than the glitter of events or the plunder of
+conquered cities.
+
+3. After studying at home until he could learn nothing more in the
+city of his birth, he repaired to Alexandria in Egypt, at that time
+the educational center that had inherited the philosophy and culture
+of Athens. Here he studied for some years and became acquainted with
+the most distinguished scholars of his day. Among his most intimate
+friends was Conon, a famous mathematician from Samos, who often
+exchanged problems with him for solution. While staying at Alexandria
+he began his work of practical invention which he afterward turned to
+such good account.
+
+[Illustration: _Archimedes._]
+
+4. Some of his ardent admirers have maintained that Archimedes
+taught the Egyptians more than they taught him; that while he imbibed
+philosophy and book learning, he more than repaid the New Athens by
+inventions which were of the greatest use in the ordinary work of the
+home and the shop. Although we do not know exactly what he turned his
+hand to, we are quite sure that in many ways he performed feats that
+have scarcely been surpassed in modern times.
+
+5. After his return to his native city, Archimedes continued his
+studies with unabated vigor, often neglecting his food and the care of
+his person when a new problem was to be solved or a new invention
+perfected. The method of determining the relative amount of gold and
+base metal in Hiero's crown occurred to him while in his bath, and
+without stopping to put on his clothes, he is said to have rushed
+through the streets exclaiming "_Eureka!_ Eureka!"
+
+6. To prevent the ruin of his health his servants were sometimes
+obliged to take him by main force to the table and bath, and to take
+his daily exercise. Hiero at one time expressed an admiration of some
+of his inventions when Archimedes replied that had he a place to fix
+his machines upon he could move the earth itself. His days were passed
+in study and retirement until the safety of his native city called him
+out to take part in its defense.
+
+7. During the wars between the Romans and Carthaginians, the people of
+Sicily, and especially the Syracusans, had for a long time remained
+neutral or been in alliance with the Romans. But a Carthaginian
+interest sprung up which mastered and sought to extend itself over the
+whole island. As soon as the news of this political movement and
+rebellion reached Marcellus, the Roman general, he hastened with a
+strong force into Sicily, and after the capture of the principalities
+he laid siege to Syracuse.
+
+8. Here he met with an unexpected check. The inventive genius of
+Archimedes enabled the Syracusans to successfully defend their city
+for three years. He so improved the warlike instruments for the
+discharge of missiles, that he repeatedly beat back the most
+determined assault, and the Romans were more than once on the point of
+abandoning the siege, believing that the city was defended by the
+gods. By means of long and powerful levers, together with grappling
+irons, he is said to have destroyed many of the Roman galleys when
+they approached the walls of the city; and when they retired for
+safety he set them on fire by a combination of immense burning-glasses.
+
+9. The story of these exploits is told by the Romans themselves, and
+there can be no doubt but here Science gained one of her greatest
+triumphs. The success of the new engine was evidently so great, that
+an element of superstition entered into the record. But the triumph of
+genius was not complete. During a festival in honor of Diana when wine
+flowed freely, the guards neglected to man some particular part of the
+walls. The Romans observing this scaled the walls and made themselves
+masters of the city.
+
+10. Amid the plunder and carnage which followed, Archimedes was killed.
+Marcellus had given orders for his special protection, but the deed was
+done by a Roman soldier. One account says that he was slain in his
+laboratory where he was found studying a problem, and he refused to move
+until he had completed the solution. Another account says that he was
+put to death on the street while drawing a geometrical figure in the
+sand. The third and most rational account is that while bearing some
+boxes of mathematical instruments to Marcellus he was killed by a
+soldier who supposed that the boxes contained treasure. His death
+happened about 210 B. C. at the age of seventy-six.
+
+
+
+
+_XXXI.--THE DEATH OF CÆSAR._
+
+[Illustration: _Cæsar (enlarged from a Roman Coin)._]
+
+
+1. The greatest of Rome's generals, and one of the greatest of
+military chieftains of all ages, was Julius Cæsar. Of a patrician
+family, he was one of the most accomplished men of Rome. He was great
+in civil as well as military life. He became the most popular of the
+greatest men of Rome's most brilliant days. His military feats rivaled
+those of Alexander, and he extended the rule of Rome through all
+central Europe, completely subduing all of the tribes with which he
+came in contact. From his northern victories he turned his victorious
+army south, crossed the Rubicon, which marked the border of his own
+province, and seized the control of Rome.
+
+2. In the management of civil affairs he was as successful as in the
+field. He corrected abuses that had crept into the political management
+of affairs, and placed new safeguards around the rights of the people.
+
+3. His administration was almost as brilliant as that of Pericles in
+Athens; yet the principal nobles did not love him, and with the people
+at large he suffered still more, from a belief that he wished to be
+made king. On his return from Spain he had been named dictator and
+imperator for life. His head had for some time been placed on the
+money of the republic, a regal honor conceded to none before him.
+Quintilis, the fifth month of the old calendar, received from him the
+name which it still bears. The senate took an oath to guard the safety
+of his person.
+
+4. He was honored with sacrifices, and honors hitherto reserved for
+the gods. But Cæsar was not satisfied. He was often heard to quote the
+sentiment of Euripides, that, "if any violation of law is excusable,
+it is excusable for the sake of gaining sovereign power." It was no
+doubt to ascertain the popular sentiments that various propositions
+were made toward an assumption of the title of king. His statues in
+the forum were found crowned with a diadem; but two of the tribunes
+tore it off, and the mob applauded.
+
+5. On the 26th of January, at the great Latin festival on the Alban
+Mount, voices in the crowd saluted him as king; but mutterings of
+discontent reached his ears, and he promptly said; "I am no king, but
+Cæsar." The final attempt was made at the Lupercalia on the 15th of
+February. Antony, in the character of one of the priests of Pan,
+approached the dictator as he sat presiding in his golden chair, and
+offered him an embroidered band, like the diadem of Oriental
+sovereigns. The applause which followed was partial, and the dictator
+put the offered gift aside. Then a burst of genuine cheering greeted
+him, which waxed louder still when he rejected it a second time. Old
+traditional feeling was too strong at Rome even for Cæsar's daring
+temper to brave it. The people would submit to the despotic rule of a
+dictator, but would not have a king.
+
+6. Other causes of discontent had been agitating various classes at
+Rome. The more fiery partisans of Cæsar disapproved of his clemency;
+the more prodigal sort were angry at his regulations for securing the
+provincials from oppression. The populace of the city complained--the
+genuine Romans, at seeing favor extended to provincials, those of
+foreign origin because they had been excluded from the corn bounty.
+Cæsar, no doubt, was eager to return to his army, and escape from the
+increasing difficulties which beset his civil government. But as soon
+as he joined the army, he would assume monarchical power in virtue of
+the late decree; and this consideration urged the discontented to a
+plot against his life.
+
+7. The difficulty was to find a leader. At length Marcus Junius Brutus
+accepted the post of danger. This young man, a nephew of Cato, had
+taken his uncle as an example for his public life. But he was fonder
+of speculation than of action. His habits were reserved, rather those
+of a student than a statesman. He had reluctantly joined the cause of
+Pompey, for he could ill forget that it was by Pompey that his father
+had been put to death in cold blood. After the battle of Pharsalia he
+was treated by Cæsar almost like a son. In the present year he had
+been proclaimed prætor of the city, with the promise of the
+consulship. But the discontented remnants of the senatorial party
+assailed him with constant reproaches. The name of Brutus, dear to all
+Roman patriots, was made a rebuke to him. "His ancestors expelled
+the Tarquins; could he sit quietly under a king's rule?" At the foot
+of the statue of that ancestor, or on his own prætorian tribunal,
+notes were placed, containing phrases such as these: "Thou art not
+Brutus: would thou wert." "Brutus, thou sleepest." "Awake, Brutus."
+Gradually he was brought to think that it was his duty as a patriot to
+put an end to Cæsar's rule even by taking his life.
+
+8. The most notable of those who arrayed themselves under him was
+Cassius. This man's motive is unknown. He had never taken much part in
+politics; he had made submission to the conquerer, and had been
+received with marked favor. Some personal reason probably actuated his
+unquiet spirit. More than sixty persons were in the secret, most of
+them, like Brutus and Cassius, under personal obligations to the
+dictator. Publius Servilius Casca was by his grace tribune of the
+plebs. Lucius Tullius Cimber was promised the government of Bithynia.
+Decius Brutus, one of his old Gallic officers, was prætor elect, and
+was to be gratified with the rich province of Cisalpine Gaul. Caius
+Trebonius, another trusted officer, had received every favor which the
+dictator could bestow; he had just laid down the consulship, and was
+on the eve of departure for the government of Asia. Quintius Ligarius
+had lately accepted a pardon from the dictator, and rose from a sick
+bed to join the conspirators.
+
+9. A meeting of the senate was called for the Ides of March, at which
+Cæsar was to be present. This was the day appointed for the murder.
+The secret had oozed out. Many persons warned Cæsar that some danger
+was impending. A Greek soothsayer told him of the very day. On the
+morning of the Ides his wife arose so disturbed by dreams, that she
+persuaded him to relinquish his purpose of presiding in the senate,
+and he sent Antony in his stead.
+
+10. This change of purpose was reported after the House was formed.
+The conspirators were in despair. Decius Brutus at once went to Cæsar,
+told him that the Fathers were only waiting to confer upon him the
+sovereign power which he desired, and begged him not to listen to
+auguries and dreams. Cæsar was persuaded to change his purpose, and
+was carried forth in his litter. On his way, a slave who had
+discovered the conspiracy tried to attract his notice, but was unable
+to reach him for the crowd. A Greek philosopher, named Artemidorus,
+succeeded in putting a roll of paper into his hand, containing full
+information of the conspiracy; but Cæsar, supposing it to be a
+petition, laid it by his side for a more convenient season. Meanwhile,
+the conspirators had reason to think that their plot had been
+discovered. A friend came up to Casca and said, "Ah, Casca, Brutus has
+told me your secret!" The conspirator started, but was relieved by the
+next sentence: "Where will _you_ find money for the expenses of the
+ædileship?" More serious alarm was felt when Popillius Lænas remarked
+to Brutus and Cassius: "You have my good wishes; but what you do, do
+quickly"--especially when the same senator stepped up to Cæsar on his
+entering the house, and began whispering in his ear. So terrified was
+Cassius, that he thought of stabbing himself instead of Cæsar, till
+Brutus quietly observed, that the gestures of Popillius indicated that
+he was asking a favor, not revealing a fatal secret. Cæsar took his
+seat without further delay.
+
+[Illustration: _Antony delivering the Oration on the Death of Cæsar._]
+
+11. As was agreed, Cimber presented a petition praying for his
+brother's recall from banishment; and all the conspirators pressed
+round the dictator, urging his favorable answer. Displeased at their
+importunity, Cæsar attempted to rise. At that moment Cimber seized the
+lappet of his robe, and pulled him down; and immediately Casca
+struck him from the side, but inflicted only a slight wound. Then all
+drew their daggers and assailed him. Cæsar for a time defended himself
+with the gown folded over his left arm, and the sharp-pointed style
+which he held in his right hand for writing on the wax of his tablets.
+But when he saw Brutus among the assassins, he exclaimed, "You, too,
+Brutus!" and covering his face with his gown, offered no further
+resistance. In their eagerness, some blows intended for their victim
+fell upon themselves. But enough reached Cæsar to do the bloody work.
+Pierced by twenty-three wounds, he fell at the base of Pompey's
+statue, which had been removed after Pharsalia by Antony, but had been
+restored by the magnanimity of Cæsar.
+
+12. Thus died "the foremost man of all the world," a man who failed in
+nothing that he attempted. He might, Cicero thought, have been a great
+orator; his "Commentaries" remain to prove that he was a great writer.
+As a general he had few superiors, as a statesman and politician no
+equal. That which stamps him as a man of true greatness, is the entire
+absence of vanity and self-conceit from his character. He paid,
+indeed, great attention to his personal appearance, even when his hard
+life and unremitting activity had brought on fits of an epileptic
+nature, and left him with that meager visage which is familiar to us
+from his coins. Even then he was sedulous in arranging his robes, and
+was pleased to have the privilege of wearing a laurel crown to hide
+the scantiness of his hair. But these were foibles too trifling to be
+taken as symptoms of real vanity. His successes in war, achieved by a
+man who in his forty-ninth year had hardly seen a camp, add to our
+conviction of his real genius. These successes were due not so much to
+scientific manœuvres, as to rapid audacity of movement, and mastery
+over the wills of men.
+
+13. The effect of Cæsar's fall was to cause a renewal of bloodshed for
+another half generation; and then his work was finished by a far less
+general ruler. Those who slew Cæsar were guilty of a great crime, and
+a still greater blunder.
+
+                                                        _Liddell._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXII.--HOW ROMANS LIVED._
+
+
+1. The Roman house at first was extremely simple, being of but one
+room, called the _atrium_ or darkened chamber, because its walls were
+stained by the smoke that rose from the fire upon the hearth, and with
+difficulty found its way through a hole in the roof. The aperture also
+admitted light and rain, the water that dripped from the roof being
+caught in a cistern that was formed in the middle of the room. The
+atrium was entered by way of a vestibule open to the sky, in which the
+gentleman of the house put on his toga as he went out. Double doors
+admitted the visitor to the entrance-hall, or _ostium_.
+
+2. There was a threshold upon which it was unlucky to place the left
+foot; a knocker afforded means of announcing one's approach, and a
+porter, who had a small room at the side, opened the door, showing the
+caller the words _Cave canem_ (beware of the dog), or _Salve_
+(welcome), or perchance the dog himself reached out toward the visitor
+as far as his chain would allow. Sometimes, too, there would be
+noticed in the mosaic of the pavement the representation of the
+faithful domestic animal which has so long been the companion as well
+as the protector of his human friend. Perhaps myrtle or laurel might
+be seen on a door, indicating that a marriage was in process of
+celebration, or a chaplet announcing the happy birth of an heir.
+Cypress, probably set in pots in the vestibule, indicated a death, as
+a crape festoon does upon our own door-handles, while torches, lamps,
+wreaths, garlands, branches of trees, showed that there was joy from
+some cause in the house.
+
+3. In the "black room" the bed stood; there the meals were cooked and
+eaten, there the goodman received his friends, and there the goodwife
+sat in the midst of her maidens spinning. The original house grew
+larger in the course of time: wings were built on the sides--and the
+Romans called them wings as well as we (_ala_, a wing). Beyond the
+black room a recess was built in which the family records and archives
+were preserved, but with it for a long period the Roman house stopped
+its growth.
+
+4. Before the empire came, however, there had been great progress in
+making the dwelling convenient as well as luxurious. Another hall had
+been built out from the room of archives, leading to an open court,
+surrounded by columns, known as the _peristylum_ (_peri_, about,
+_stulos_, a pillar), which was sometimes of great magnificence.
+Bedchambers were made separate from the atrium, but they were small,
+and would not seem very convenient to modern eyes.
+
+5. The dining-room, called the _triclinium_ (Greek, _kline_, a bed)
+from its three couches, was a very important apartment. In it were
+three lounges surrounding a table, on each of which three guests might
+be accommodated. The couches were elevated above the table, and each
+man lay almost flat on his breast, resting on his left elbow, and
+having his right hand free to use, thus putting the head of one near
+the breast of the man behind him, and making natural the expression
+that he lay in the bosom of the other. As the guests were thus
+arranged by threes, it was natural that the rule should have been
+made that a party at dinner should not be less in number than the
+Graces, nor more than the Muses, though it has remained a useful one
+ever since.
+
+6. Before the republic came to an end, it was so fashionable to have a
+book-room that ignorant persons who might not be able to read even the
+titles of their own books endeavored to give themselves the appearance
+of erudition by building book-rooms in their houses, and furnishing
+them with elegance. The books were in cases arranged around the walls
+in convenient manner, and busts and statues of the Muses, of Minerva,
+and of men of note were used then as they are now for ornaments.
+House-philosophers were often employed to open to the uninstructed the
+stores of wisdom contained in the libraries.
+
+[Illustration: _Interior of a Roman Bath-Room, Ruins of Pompeii._]
+
+7. As wealth and luxury increased, the Romans added the bath-room to
+their other apartments. In the early ages they had bathed for comfort
+and cleanliness once a week, but the warm bath was apparently unknown
+to them. In time this became very common, and in the days of Cicero
+there were hot and cold baths, both public and private, which were
+well patronized. Some were heated by fires in flues, directly under
+the floors, which produced a vapor-bath. The bath was, however,
+considered a luxury, and at a later date it was held a capital offense
+to indulge in one on a religious holiday, and the public baths were
+closed when any misfortune happened to the republic.
+
+
+8. Comfort and convenience united to take the cooking out of the
+atrium into a separate apartment known as the _culina_, or kitchen, in
+which was a raised platform on which coals might be burned, and the
+processes of broiling, boiling, and roasting might be carried on in a
+primitive manner, much like the arrangement still to be seen at Rome.
+On the tops of the houses, after a while, terraces were planned for
+the purpose of basking in the sun, and sometimes they were furnished
+with shrubs, fruit-trees, and even fish-ponds. Often there were upward
+of fifty rooms in a house on a single floor; but in the course of time
+land became so valuable that other stories were added, and many lived
+in flats. A flat was sometimes called an _insula_, which meant,
+properly, a house not joined to another, and afterward was applied to
+hired lodgings. _Domus_, a house, meant a dwelling occupied by one
+family, whether it were an _insula_ or not.
+
+[Illustration: _Lares and Penates._]
+
+9. The floors of these rooms were sometimes, but not often, laid with
+boards, and generally were formed of stones, tiles, bricks, or some
+sort of cement. In the richer dwellings they were often inlaid with
+mosaics of elegant patterns. The walls were often faced with marble,
+but they were usually adorned with paintings; the ceilings were left
+uncovered, the beams supporting the floor or the roof above being
+visible, though it was frequently arched over. The means of lighting
+either by day or night, were defective. The atrium was, as we have
+seen, lighted from above, and the same was true of other apartments,
+those at the side being illuminated from the larger ones in the
+middle of the house. There were windows, however, in the upper
+stories, though they were not protected by glass, but covered with
+shutters or lattice-work, and, at a later period, were glazed with
+sheets of mica. Smoking lamps, hanging from the ceiling or supported
+by candelabra, or candles gave a gloomy light by night in the houses,
+and torches without.
+
+10. The sun was chiefly depended upon for heat, for there were no
+proper stoves, though braziers were used to burn coals upon, the smoke
+escaping through the aperture in the ceiling, and, in rare cases,
+hot-air furnaces were constructed below, the heat being conveyed to
+the upper rooms through pipes. There has been a dispute regarding
+chimneys, but it seems almost certain that the Romans had none in
+their dwellings, and indeed, there was little need of them for
+purposes of artificial warmth in so moderate a climate as theirs.
+
+11. Such were some of the chief traits of the city-houses of the
+Romans. Besides these there were villas in the country, some of which
+were simply farm-houses, and others places of rest and luxury
+supported by the residents of cities. The farm-villa was placed, if
+possible, in a spot secluded from visitors, protected from the
+severest winds, and from the malaria of marshes, in a well-watered
+place, near the foot of a well-wooded mountain. It had accommodations
+for the kitchen, the wine-press, the farm superintendent, the slaves,
+the animals, the crops, and the other products of the farm. There were
+baths, and cellars for the wine and for the confinement of the slaves
+who might have to be chained.
+
+[Illustration: _Roman Villa._]
+
+12. Varro thus describes life at a rural household: "Manius summons
+his people to rise with the sun, and in person conducts them to the
+scene of their daily work. The youths make their own bed, which labor
+renders soft to them, and supply themselves with water-pot, and lamp.
+Their drink is the clear fresh spring; their fare bread, with onions
+as a relish. Everything prospers in house and field. The house is no
+work of art, but an architect might learn symmetry from it. Care is
+taken of the field that it shall not be left disorderly, and waste or
+go to ruin through slovenliness or neglect; and in return, grateful
+Ceres wards off damage from the produce, that the high-piled sheaves
+may gladden the heart of the husbandman. Here hospitality still holds
+good, the bread-pantry, the wine-vat, and the store of sausages on the
+rafter, lock and key are at the service of the traveler, and piles of
+food are set before him; contented, the sated guest sits, looking
+neither before him, nor behind, dozing by the hearth in the kitchen.
+The warmest double wool sheepskin is spread as a couch for him. Here
+people still, as good burgesses, obey the righteous law which neither
+out of envy injures the innocent, nor out of favor pardons the guilty.
+Here they speak no evil against their neighbors. Here they trespass
+not with their feet on the sacred hearth, but honor the gods with
+devotion and with sacrifices; throw to the familiar spirit his little
+bit of flesh into his appointed little dish, and when the master of
+the household dies accompany the bier with the same prayer with which
+those of his father and of his grandfather were borne forth."
+
+            _Arthur Gilman, M. A. "The Story of Rome."_
+                      _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations Series."_
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+MEDIÆVAL RECORD.
+
+
+
+
+_XXXIII.--CONVERSION OF THE ENGLISH._
+
+
+1. Some time before Gregory became Pope, perhaps about the year 574,
+he went one day through the market at Rome, where, among other things,
+there were still men, women, and children to be sold as slaves. He saw
+there some beautiful boys who had just been brought by a
+slave-merchant, boys with a fair skin and long fair hair, as English
+boys then would have.
+
+2. He was told that they were heathen boys from the Isle of Britain.
+Gregory was sorry to think that forms which were so fair without
+should have no light within, and he asked again what was the name of
+their nation. "_Angles_," he was told. "_Angles_," said Gregory; "they
+have the faces of _angels_, and they ought to be made fellow-heirs of
+the angels in heaven. But of what province or tribe of the Angles are
+they?" "Of _Deira_," said the merchant. "_De ira!_" said Gregory;
+"then they must be delivered from the wrath of God. And what is the
+name of their king?" "_Ælla._" "_Ælla_; then _Alleluia_ shall be sung
+in his land."
+
+3. Gregory then went to the Pope, and asked him to send missionaries
+into Britain, of whom he himself would be one, to convert the English.
+The Pope was willing, but the people of Rome, among whom Gregory was a
+priest and was much beloved, would not let him go. So nothing came of
+the matter for some time.
+
+4. We do not know whether Gregory was able to do anything for the poor
+English boys whom he saw in the market, but he certainly never forgot
+his plan for converting the English people. After a while he became
+Pope himself. Of course, he now no longer thought of going into
+Britain himself, as he had enough to do in Rome. But he now had power
+to send others. He therefore presently sent a company of monks, with
+one called Augustine at their head, who became the first Archbishop of
+Canterbury, and is called the Apostle of the English.
+
+5. This was in 597. The most powerful king in Britain at this time was
+Æthelbert, of Kent, who is said to have been lord over all the kings
+south of the Humber. This Æthelbert had done what was very seldom done
+by English kings then or for a long time after; he had married a
+foreign wife, the daughter of Chariberth, one of the kings of the
+Franks, in Gaul.
+
+6. Now, the Franks had become Christians; so when the Frankish queen
+came over to Kent, Æthelbert promised that she should be allowed to
+keep to her own religion without let or hindrance. She brought with
+her, therefore, a Frankish bishop named Lindhard, and the queen and
+her bishop used to worship God in a little church near Canterbury,
+called Saint Martin's, which had been built in the Roman times. So you
+see that both Æthelbert and his people must have known something
+about the Christian faith before Augustine came.
+
+7. It does not, however, seem that either the king or any of his
+people had at all thought of turning Christians. This seems strange
+when one reads how easily they were converted afterward. One would
+have thought that Bishop Lindhard would have been more likely to
+convert them than Augustine, for, being a Frank, he would speak a
+tongue not very different from English, while Augustine spoke Latin,
+and, if he ever knew English at all, he must have learned it after he
+came into the island. I can not tell you for certain why this was.
+Perhaps they did not think that a man who had merely come in the
+queen's train was so well worth listening to as one who had come on
+purpose all the way from the great city of Rome, to which all the West
+still looked up as the capital of the world.
+
+8. So Augustine and his companions set out from Rome, and passed
+through Gaul, and came into Britain, even as Cæsar had done ages
+before. But this time Rome had sent forth men not to conquer lands,
+but to win souls. They landed first in the Isle of Thanet, which joins
+close to the east part of Kent, and thence they sent a message to King
+Æthelbert, saying why they had come into his land. The king sent word
+back to them to stay in the isle till he had fully made up his mind
+how to treat them; and he gave orders that they should be well taken
+care of meanwhile.
+
+9. After a little while he came himself into the isle, and bade them
+come and tell him what they had to say. He met them in the open air,
+for he would not meet them in a house, as he thought they might be
+wizards, and that they might use some charm or spell, which he thought
+would have less power out-of-doors. So they came, carrying an image
+of our Lord on the cross, wrought in silver, and singing litanies as
+they came. And when they came before the king, they preached the
+gospel to him and to those who were with him.
+
+10. So King Æthelbert hearkened to them, and he made answer like a
+good and wise man. "Your words and promises," said he, "sound very
+good unto me; but they are new and strange, and I can not believe them
+all at once, nor can I leave all that I and my fathers, and the whole
+English folk, have believed so long. But I see that ye have come from
+a far country to tell us that which ye yourselves hold for truth; so
+ye may stay in the land, and I will give you a house to dwell in and
+food to eat; and ye may preach to my folk, and if any man of them will
+believe as ye believe, I hinder him not."
+
+11. So he gave them a house to dwell in in the royal city of
+Canterbury, and he let them preach to the people. And, as they drew
+near to the city, they carried their silver image of the Lord Jesus,
+and sang litanies, saying, "We pray Thee, O Lord, let thy anger and
+thy wrath be turned away from this city, and from thy holy house,
+because we have sinned. Alleluia!"
+
+12. Thus Augustine and his companions dwelt at Canterbury, and
+worshiped in the old church where the queen worshiped, and preached to
+the men of the land. And many men hearkened to them and were baptized,
+and before long King Æthelbert himself believed and was baptized; and
+before the year was out there were added to the Church more than ten
+thousand souls.
+
+                                                        _Freeman._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXIV.--LEO THE SLAVE._
+
+
+1. In A. D. 533, the Franks had fully gained possession of all the
+north of Gaul, except Brittany. Clovis had made them Christians in
+name, but they still remained horribly savage, and the life of the
+Gauls under them was wretched. The Burgundians and Visigoths, who had
+peopled the southern and eastern provinces, were far from being
+equally violent. They had entered on their settlements on friendly
+terms, and even showed considerable respect for the Roman-Gallic
+senators, magistrates, and higher clergy, who all remained unmolested
+in their dignity and riches. Thus it was that Gregory, Bishop of
+Langres, was a man of high rank and consideration in the Burgundian
+kingdom, whence the Christian Queen Clotilda had come; and even after
+the Burgundians had been subdued by the four sons of Clovis, he
+continued a rich and prosperous man.
+
+2. After one of the many quarrels and reconciliations between these
+fierce brethren, there was an exchange of hostages for the observance
+of the terms of the treaty. These were not taken from among the
+Franks, who were too proud to submit to captivity, but from among the
+Gaulish nobles, a much more convenient arrangement for the Frankish
+kings, who cared for the life of a "Roman" infinitely less than even
+for the life of a Frank. Thus many young men of senatorial families
+were exchanged between the domains of Theodoric to the south, and of
+Hildebert to the northward, and quartered among Frankish chiefs, with
+whom at first they had nothing more to endure than the discomfort of
+living as guests with such rude and coarse barbarians.
+
+3. But ere long fresh quarrels arose between Theodoric and Hildebert,
+and the unfortunate hostages were at once turned into slaves. Some of
+them ran away, if they were near the frontier; but Bishop Gregory was
+in the utmost anxiety about his nephew Attalus, who had been last
+heard of as being placed under the charge of a Frank who lived between
+Trèves and Metz. The bishop sent emissaries to make secret inquiries,
+and they brought back the word that the unfortunate youth had been
+reduced to slavery, and was made to keep his master's herds of horses.
+Upon this the uncle again sent off his messengers with presents for
+the ransom of Attalus; but the Frank rejected them, saying, "One of
+such high race can only be redeemed for ten pounds weight of gold."
+
+4. This was beyond the bishop's means, and, while he was considering
+how to raise the sum, the slaves were all lamenting for their young
+lord, to whom they were much attached, till one of them, named Leo,
+the cook to the household, came to the bishop, saying to him, "If thou
+wilt give me leave to go, I will deliver him from captivity." The
+bishop replied that he gave free permission, and the slave set off for
+Trèves, and there watched anxiously for an opportunity of gaining
+access to Attalus; but, though the poor young man, no longer daintily
+dressed, bathed, and perfumed, but ragged and squalid, might be seen
+following his herds of horses, he was too well watched for any
+communication to be held with him.
+
+5. Then Leo went to a person, probably of Gallic birth, and said:
+"Come with me to this barbarian's house, and there sell me for a
+slave. Thou shalt have the money; I only ask thee to help me thus
+far." Both repaired to the Frank's abode, the chief among a confused
+collection of clay and timber huts, intended for shelter during eating
+and sleeping. The Frank looked at the slave, and asked him what he
+could do. "I can dress whatever is eaten at lordly tables," replied
+Leo. "I am afraid of no rival; I only tell thee the truth when I say
+that, if thou wouldst give a feast to the king, I could send it up in
+the neatest manner." "Ha!" said the barbarian, "the Sun's day is
+coming. I shall invite my kinsmen and friends. Cook me such a dinner
+as may amaze them, and make them say, 'We saw nothing better in the
+king's house.'" "Let me have plenty of poultry, and I will do
+according to my master's bidding," returned Leo.
+
+6. Accordingly, he was purchased for twelve gold-pieces, and on the
+Sunday, as Bishop Gregory of Tours, who tells the story, explains,
+that the barbarians called the Lord's day, he produced a banquet after
+the most approved Roman fashion, much to the surprise and delight of
+the Franks, who had never tasted such delicacies before, and
+complimented their host upon them all the evening. Leo gradually
+became a great favorite, and was placed in authority over the other
+slaves, to whom he gave out their portions of broth and meat. But from
+the first he had not shown any recognition of Attalus, and had signed
+to him that they must be strangers to one another.
+
+7. A whole year passed away in this manner, when one day Leo wandered,
+as if for pastime, into the plain where Attalus was watching the
+horses, and sitting down on the ground at some paces off, and with his
+back toward his young master so that they might not be seen talking
+together, he said: "This is the time for thoughts of home! When thou
+hast led the horses to the stable to-night, sleep not. Be ready at the
+first call!"
+
+8. That day the Frank lord was entertaining a large number of guests,
+among them his daughter's husband, a jovial young man, given to jesting.
+On going to rest he fancied he should be thirsty at night, and called
+Leo to place a pitcher of hydromel by his bedside. As the slave was
+setting it down, the Frank looked slyly from under his eyelids and said
+in joke, "Tell me, my father-in-law's trusty man, wilt thou not some
+night take one of his horses and run away to thine own home?"
+
+9. "Please God, it is what I mean to do this very night," answered the
+Gaul, so undauntedly that the Frank took it as a jest, and answered,
+"I shall look out, then, that thou dost not carry off anything of
+mine," and then Leo left him, both laughing.
+
+10. All were soon asleep, and the cook crept out to the stable, where
+Attalus usually slept among the horses. He was broad awake now, and
+ready to saddle the two swiftest; but he had no weapon, except a small
+lance, so Leo boldly went back to his master's sleeping hut, and took
+down his sword and shield, but not without awakening him enough to ask
+who was moving. "It is I, Leo," was the answer; "I have been to call
+Attalus to take out the horses early. He sleeps as hard as a
+drunkard." The Frank went to sleep again, quite satisfied, and Leo,
+carrying out the weapons, soon made Attalus feel like a free man and a
+noble once more.
+
+11. They passed unseen out of the inclosure, mounted their horses and
+rode along the great Roman road from Trèves as far as the Meuse, but
+they found the bridge guarded, and were obliged to wait till night,
+when they cast their horses loose, and swam the river, supporting
+themselves on boards that they had found on the bank. They had as yet
+had no food since the supper at their master's, and were thankful to
+find a plum-tree in the wood, with fruit, to refresh them in small
+degree, before they lay down for the night. The next morning they went
+on in the direction of Rheims, carefully listening whether there were
+any sounds behind, until, on the broad, hard-paved causeway, they
+heard the trampling of horses. Happily a bush was near, behind which
+they crept, and here the riders actually halted for a few moments to
+arrange their harness. Men and horses were both those they feared, and
+they trembled at hearing one say: "Woe is me that those rogues have
+made off, and have not been caught! On my salvation, if I catch them,
+I will have one hung, and the other chopped into little bits!"
+
+12. It was no small comfort to hear the trot of the horses resumed, and
+soon dying away in the distance. That same night, the two faint, hungry,
+weary travelers, foot-sore and exhausted, came stumbling into Rheims,
+looking about for some person still awake, to tell them the way to the
+house of the priest Paul, a friend of Attalus's uncle. They found it
+just as the church-bell was ringing for matins, a sound that must have
+seemed very like home to these members of an episcopal household. They
+knocked, and in the morning twilight met the priest going to his
+earliest Sunday-morning service. Leo told his young master's name, and
+how they had escaped, and the priest's first exclamation was a strange
+one: "My dream is true! This very night I saw two doves, one white and
+one black, who came and perched on my hand."
+
+13. The good man was overjoyed, but he scrupled to give them any food,
+as it was contrary to the Church's rules for the fast to be broken
+before mass; but the travelers were half-dead with hunger, and could
+only say, "The good Lord pardon us, for, saving the respect due to his
+day, we must eat something, since this is the fourth day since we have
+touched bread or meat." The priest, upon this, gave them some bread
+and wine, and after hiding them carefully, went to church, hoping to
+avert suspicion. But their master was already at Rheims, making strict
+search for them, and learning that Paul the priest was a friend of the
+Bishop of Langres, he went to the church, and there questioned him
+closely. But the priest succeeded in guarding his secret, and though
+he incurred much danger--as the Salic law is very severe against
+concealers of runaway slaves--he kept Attalus and Leo for two days,
+till the search was over, and their strength restored, so that they
+could proceed to Langres. There they were welcomed like men risen from
+the dead; the bishop wept on the neck of Attalus, and was ready to
+receive Leo as a slave no more, but a friend and deliverer.
+
+14. A few days after, Leo was solemnly led to the church. Every door
+was set open as a sign that he might henceforth go whithersoever he
+would. Bishop Gregorius took him by the hand, and, standing, before
+the archdeacon, declared that for the sake of the good services
+rendered by his slave Leo, he set him free, and created him a Roman
+citizen. Then the archbishop read a writing of manumission. "Whatever
+is done according to the Roman law is irrevocable. According to the
+constitution of the Emperor Constantine, of happy memory, and the
+edict that declares that whosoever is manumitted in church, in the
+presence of the bishops, priests, and deacons, shall become a Roman
+citizen under protection of the Church; from this day Leo becomes a
+member of the city, free to go and come where he will, as if he had
+been born of free parents. From this day forward he is exempt from all
+subjection of servitude, of all duty of a freedman, all bond of
+clientship. He is and shall be free, with full and entire freedom, and
+shall never cease to belong to the body of Roman citizens."
+
+15. At the same time Leo was endowed with lands, which raised him to
+the rank of what the Franks called a Roman proprietor, the highest
+reward in the bishop's power, for the faithful devotion that had
+incurred such dangers in order to rescue the young Attalus from his
+miserable bondage.
+
+                                            _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXV.--THE MOORS IN SPAIN._
+
+
+1. Scarcely had the Arabs become firmly settled in Spain before they
+commenced a brilliant career. Adopting what had now become the
+established policy of the commanders of the Faithful in Asia, the
+caliphs of Cordova distinguished themselves as patrons of learning,
+and set an example of refinement strongly contrasting with the
+condition of the native European princes. Cordova, under their
+administration, at its highest point of prosperity, boasted of more
+than two hundred thousand houses, and more than a million inhabitants.
+After sunset a man might walk through it in a straight line for ten
+miles by the light of the public lamps. Seven hundred years after this
+time there was not so much as one public lamp in London. Its streets
+were solidly paved. In Paris, centuries subsequently, who ever stepped
+over his threshold on a rainy day stepped up to his ankles in mud.
+
+2. Other cities, as Granada, Seville, Toledo, considered themselves
+rivals of Cordova. The palaces of the caliphs were magnificently
+decorated. Those sovereigns might well look down with supercilious
+contempt on the dwellings of the rulers of Germany, France, and
+England, which were scarcely better than stables--chimneyless,
+windowless, and with a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape, like
+the wigwams of certain Indians.
+
+3. The Spanish Mohammedans had brought with them all the luxuries and
+prodigalities of Asia. Their residences stood forth against the clear
+blue sky, or were embosomed in woods. They had polished marble
+balconies, overhanging orange-gardens, courts with cascades of water,
+shady retreats provocative of slumber in the heat of the day,
+retiring-rooms, vaulted with stained glass, speckled with gold, over
+which streams of water were made to gush; the floors and walls were
+of exquisite mosaic. Here a fountain of quicksilver shot up in a
+glistening spray, the glittering particles falling with a tranquil
+sound like fairy bells; there, apartments into which cool air was
+drawn from flower-gardens, in summer, by means of ventilating towers,
+and in the winter through earthen pipes, or caleducts, imbedded in the
+walls--the hypocaust, in the vaults below, breathing forth volumes of
+warm and perfumed air through these hidden passages.
+
+4. The walls were not covered with wainscot, but adorned with
+arabesques and paintings of agricultural scenes and views of paradise.
+From the ceilings, corniced with fretted gold, great chandeliers hung,
+one of which, it is said, was so large that it contained one thousand
+and eighty-four lamps. Clusters of frail marble columns surprised the
+beholder with the vast weights they bore. In the boudoirs of the
+sultanas they were sometimes of verd-antique, and incrusted with
+lapis-lazuli. The furniture was of sandal and citron wood inlaid with
+mother-of-pearl, ivory, silver, or relieved with gold and precious
+malachite. In orderly confusion were arranged vases of rock-crystal,
+Chinese porcelain, and tables of exquisite mosaic. The winter
+apartments were hung with rich tapestry; the floors were covered with
+embroidered Persian carpets. Pillows and couches of elegant forms were
+scattered about the rooms, which were perfumed with frankincense.
+
+5. It was the intention of the Saracen architect, by excluding the
+view of the external landscape, to concentrate attention on his work,
+and since the representation of the human form was religiously
+forbidden, and that source of decoration denied, his imagination ran
+riot with the complicated arabesques he introduced, and sought every
+opportunity of replacing the prohibited work of art by the trophies
+and rarities of the garden. For this reason the Arabs never produced
+artists; religion turned them from the beautiful, and made them
+soldiers, philosophers, and men of affairs. Splendid flowers and rare
+exotics ornamented the court-yards and even the inner chambers.
+
+6. Great care was taken to make due provision for the cleanliness,
+occupation, and amusement of the inmates. Through pipes of metal,
+water, both warm and cold, to suit the season of the year, ran into
+baths of marble; in niches, where the current of air could be
+artificially directed, hung dripping _alcarazzas_. There were
+whispering-galleries for the amusement of the women; labyrinths and
+marble play-courts for the children; for the master himself, grand
+libraries. The Caliph Alhakem's was so large that the catalogue alone
+filled forty volumes. He had also apartments for the transcribing,
+binding, and ornamenting of books. A taste for caligraphy and the
+possession of splendidly illuminated manuscripts seems to have
+anticipated in the caliphs, both of Asia and Spain, the taste for
+statuary and painting among the later popes of Rome.
+
+7. Such were the palace and gardens of Zehra, in which Abderrahman III
+honored his favorite sultana. The edifice had twelve hundred columns
+of Greek, Italian, Spanish, and African marble. The body-guard of the
+sovereign was composed of twelve thousand horsemen, whose cimeters and
+belts were studded with gold. This was that Abderrahman who, after a
+glorious reign of fifty years, sat down to count the number of days of
+unalloyed happiness he had experienced, and could only enumerate
+fourteen. "O man!" exclaimed the plaintive caliph, "put not your trust
+in this present world."
+
+8. No nation has ever excelled the Spanish Arabs in the beauty and
+costliness of their pleasure-gardens. To them also we owe the
+introduction of very many of our most valuable cultivated fruits, such
+as the peach. Retaining the love of their ancestors for the cooling
+effect of water in a hot climate, they spared no pains in the
+superfluity of fountains, hydraulic works, and artificial lakes in
+which fish were raised for the table. Into such a lake, attached to
+the palace of Cordova, many loaves were cast each day to feed the
+fish.
+
+9. There were also menageries of foreign animals, aviaries of rare
+birds, manufactories in which skilled workmen, obtained from foreign
+countries, displayed their art in textures of silk, cotton, linen, and
+all the miracles of the loom; in jewelry and filigree-work, with which
+they ministered to the female pride. Under the shade of cypresses
+cascades disappeared; among flowering shrubs there were winding walks,
+bowers of roses, seats cut out of rock, and crypt-like grottoes hewn
+in the living stone. Nowhere was ornamental gardening better
+understood; for not only did the artist try to please the eye as it
+wandered over the pleasant gradation of vegetable color and form--he
+also boasted his success in the gratification of the sense of smell by
+the studied succession of perfumes from beds of flowers.
+
+10. In the midst of all this luxury, which can not be regarded by the
+historian with disdain, since in the end it produced a most important
+result in the south of France, the Spanish caliphs, emulating the
+example of their Asiatic compeers, were not only the patrons but the
+personal cultivators of human learning. One of them was himself the
+author of a work on polite literature in not less than fifty volumes;
+another wrote a treatise on algebra. When Taryak, the musician, came
+from the East to Spain, the Caliph Abderrahman rode forth to meet him
+with honor. The College of Music in Cordova was sustained by ample
+government patronage, and is said to have produced many illustrious
+professors.
+
+                                                _John W. Draper._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXVI.--CHARLEMAGNE._
+
+
+1. We come now to one of the greatest men of all times, Charles the
+Great, son of Pepin the Short, a man who has left his mark on history
+for all time. Charles (called by the French Charlemagne) was great in
+many ways, whereas most great men are great in one or two. He was a
+great warrior, a great political genius, an energetic legislator, a
+lover of learning, and a lover also of his natural language and poetry
+at a time when it was the fashion to despise them. And he united and
+displayed all these merits in a time of general and monotonous
+barbarism, when, save in the church, the minds of men were dull and
+barren.
+
+2. From 769 to 813, in Germany and Western and Northern Europe,
+Charlemagne conducted thirty-two campaigns against the Saxons,
+Frisians, Bavarians, Avars, Slavs, and Danes; in Italy, five against
+the Lombards; in Spain, Corsica, and Sardinia, twelve against the
+Arabs, two against the Greeks, and three in Gaul itself, against the
+Aquitanians and Bretons--in all, fifty-three expeditions in forty-five
+years, among which those he undertook against the Saxons, the
+Lombards, and the Arabs were long and difficult wars.
+
+3. The kingdom of Charles was vast; it comprised nearly all Germany,
+Belgium, France, Switzerland, and the north of Italy and of Spain. He
+had, in ruling this mighty realm, to deal with different nations,
+without cohesion, and to grapple with their various institutions and
+bring them into system.
+
+4. The first great undertaking of Charles was against the Saxons. They
+were still heathen, and were a constant source of annoyance to the
+Franks, for they made frequent inroads to pillage and destroy their
+towns and harvests.
+
+5. In the line of mountains which forms the step from lower into upper
+Germany, above the Westphalian plains, is one point at which the river
+Weser breaks through and flows down into the level land about three
+miles above the town of Minden. This rent in the mountain is called
+the Westphalian Gate. The hills stand on each side like red sandstone
+door-posts, and one is crowned by some crumbling fragments of a
+castle; it is called the Wittekindsberg, and takes its name from
+Wittekind, a Saxon king, who had his castle there. Wittekind was a
+stubborn heathen, and a very determined man.
+
+6. In 772 Charles convoked a great assembly at Worms, at which it was
+unanimously resolved to march against the Saxons and chastise them for
+their incursions. Charles advanced along the Weser, through the gate,
+destroyed Wittekind's castle, pushed on to Paderborn, where he threw
+down an idol adored by the Saxons, and then was obliged to return and
+hurry to Italy to fight the Lombards, who had revolted. Next year he
+invaded Saxony again. He built himself a palace at Paderborn, and
+summoned the Saxon chiefs to come and do homage. Wittekind alone
+refused, and fled to Denmark.
+
+[Illustration: _Charlemagne._]
+
+7. No sooner had Charles gone to fight the Moors in Spain than
+Wittekind returned, and the Saxons rose at his summons, and, bursting
+into Franconia, devastated the land up to the walls of Cologne.
+Charles returned and fought them in two great battles, defeated them,
+erected fortresses in their midst, and carried off hostages. Affairs
+seemed to prosper, and Charles deemed himself as securely master of
+Saxony as Varus had formerly in the same country, and under precisely
+the same circumstances. Charles then quitted the country, leaving
+orders for a body of Saxons to join his Franks and march together
+against the Slavs. The Saxons obeyed the call with alacrity, and soon
+outnumbered the Franks. One day, as the army was crossing the
+mountains from the Weser, at a given signal the Saxons fell on their
+companions and butchered them.
+
+8. When the news of this disaster reached Charles he resolved to teach
+the Saxons a terrible lesson. Crossing the Rhine, he laid waste their
+country with fire and sword, and forced the Saxons to submit to be
+baptized and accept Christian teachers. Those who refused he killed.
+At Verdun he had over four thousand of the rebels beheaded. At
+Detmold, Wittekind led the Saxons in a furious battle, in which
+neither gained the victory. In another battle, on the Hase, they were
+completely routed.
+
+9. Then Wittekind submitted, came into the camp of Charles, and asked
+to be baptized. A little ruined chapel stands on the Wittekindsberg,
+above the Westphalian Gate, and there, according to tradition, near
+the overturned walls of his own castle, the stubborn heathen bowed the
+neck to receive the yoke of Christ. Charles's two nephews, the sons of
+Karlomann, were with Desiderius, the Lombard king, and Desiderius
+tried to force the Pope to anoint them kings of the Franks, to head a
+revolt against Charles. When the great king heard this he came over
+the Alps into Italy, dethroned Desiderius, and shut him up in a
+monastery. Then he crowned himself with the iron crown of the Lombard
+kings, which was said to have been made out of one of the nails that
+fastened Christ to the cross.
+
+10. Duke Thassils of Bavaria had married a daughter of Desiderius, and
+he refused to acknowledge the authority of Charles. He also stirred up
+the Avars who lived in Hungary to invade the Frankish realm. Charles
+marched against Thassils, drove him out of Bavaria, subdued the Avars,
+and converted the country between the Ems and Raab--that is, Austria
+proper--into a province, which was called the East March, and formed the
+beginning of the East Realm (Oesterreich), or Austria. Charles also
+fought the Danes, and took from them the country up to the river Eider.
+
+11. When we consider what continuous fighting Charles had, it is a
+wonder to us that he had time to govern and make laws; but he devoted
+as much thought to arranging his realm and placing it under proper
+governors as he did to extending its frontiers.
+
+12. Charles constituted the various parts of his vast
+empire--kingdoms, duchies, and counties. He was himself the sovereign
+of all these united, but he managed them through counts and
+vice-counts. The frontier districts were called marches, and were
+under march-counts, or margraves. Count is not a German title; the
+German equivalent is Graf, and the English is earl. The counties were
+divided into hundreds; a hundred villages went to a vice-count. He had
+also counts of the palace, who ruled over the crown estates, and
+send-counts (_missi_), whom he sent out yearly through the country to
+see that his other counts did justice, and did not oppress the people.
+If people felt themselves wronged by the counts, they appealed to
+these send-counts; and if the send-counts did not do them justice,
+they appealed to the palatine-counts.
+
+13. Every year Charles summoned his counts four times, when he could,
+but always once, in May, to meet him in council, and discuss the
+grievances of the people. As the great dukes were troublesome, because
+so powerful, Charles tried to do without them, and to keep them in
+check. He gave whole principalities to bishops, hoping that they would
+become supporters of him and the crown against the powerful dukes.
+
+14. He was also very careful for the good government of the Church. He
+endowed a number of monasteries to serve as schools for boys and
+girls. He had also a collection of good, wholesome sermons made in
+German, and sent copies about in all directions, requiring them to be
+read to the people in church. He invited singers and musicians from
+Italy to come and improve the performance of divine worship, and two
+song-schools were established, one at Gall, another at Metz. His
+Franks, he complained, had not much aptitude for music; their singing
+was like the howling of wild beasts or the noise made by the
+squeaking, groaning wheels of a baggage-wagon over a stony road!
+
+15. Charles was particularly interested in schools, and delighted in
+going into them and listening to the boys at their lessons. One day
+when he had paid such a visit he was told that the noblemen's sons
+were much idler than those of the common citizens. Then the great king
+grew red in the face and frowned, and his eyes flashed. He called the
+young nobles before him and said in thundering tones: "You grand
+gentlemen! You young puppets! You puff yourselves up with the thoughts
+of your rank and wealth, and suppose you have no need of letters! I
+tell you that your pretty faces and your high nobility are accounted
+nothing by me. Beware! beware! Without diligence and conscientiousness
+not one of you gets anything from me."
+
+16. Charles dearly loved the grand old German poems of the heroes, and
+he had them collected and copied out. Alas! they have been lost. His
+stupid son, thinking them rubbish, burned them all. The great king
+also sent to Italy for builders, and set them to work to erect palaces
+and churches. His favorite palaces were at Aix and at Ingelheim. At
+the latter place he had a bridge built over the Rhine. At Aix he built
+the cathedral with pillars taken from Roman ruins. It was quite
+circular, with a colonnade going round it; inside it remains almost
+unaltered to the present day.
+
+17. He was very eager to promote trade, and so far in advance of the
+times was he that he resolved to cut a canal so as to connect the Main
+with the Regnitz, and thus make a water-way right across Germany from
+the Rhine to the Danube, and so connect the German Ocean with the
+Black Sea. The canal was begun, but wars interfered with its
+completion, and the work was not carried out till the present century
+by Louis I of Bavaria.
+
+18. Charles was a tall, grand looking man, nearly seven feet high. He
+was so strong that he could take a horseshoe in his hands and snap it.
+He ate and drank in moderation, and was grave and dignified in his
+conduct.
+
+19. In the year 800, an insurrection broke out in Rome against Pope
+Leo III. While he was riding in procession his enemies fell on him,
+threw him from his horse, and an awkward attempt was made to put out
+his eyes and cut out his tongue. Thus, bleeding and insensible, he was
+put into a monastery. The Duke of Spoleto, a Frank, hearing of this,
+marched to Rome and removed the wounded Pope to Spoleto, where he was
+well nursed and recovered his eye-sight and power of speech. Charles
+was very indignant when he heard of the outrage, and he left the
+Saxons, whom he was fighting, and came to Italy to investigate the
+circumstance. He assumed the office of judge, and the guilty persons
+were sent to prison in France.
+
+20. Then came Christmas-day, the Christmas of the last year in the
+eighth century of Christ. Charles and all his sumptuous court, the
+nobles and people of Rome, the whole clergy of Rome, were present at
+the high services of the birth of Christ. The Pope himself chanted the
+mass; the full assembly were rapt in profound devotion. At the close
+the Pope rose, advanced toward Charles with a splendid crown in his
+hands, placed it upon his brow, and proclaimed him Cæsar Augustus.
+"God grant life and victory to the great emperor!" His words were lost
+in the acclamations of the soldiery, the people, and the clergy.
+
+21. Charles was taken completely by surprise. What the consequences
+would be to Germany and to the papacy, how fatal to both, neither he
+nor Leo could see. So Charlemagne became King of Italy and Emperor of
+the West--the successor of the Cæsars of Rome.
+
+22. When Charles felt that his end was approaching, he summoned all
+his nobles to Aix into the church he had there erected. There, on the
+altar, lay a golden crown. Charles made his son Ludwig, or Louis,
+stand before him, and, in the audience of his great men, gave him his
+last exhortation: to fear God and to love his people as his own
+children, to do right and to execute justice, and to walk in integrity
+before God and man. With streaming eyes Louis promised to fulfill his
+father's command. "Then," said Charles, "take this crown, and place it
+on your own head, and never forget the promise you have made this day."
+
+      _Sabine, Baring-Gould. "The Story of Germany."_
+                      _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series._
+
+
+
+
+WESTERN RECORD.
+
+
+
+
+_XXXVII.-THE NORSEMEN._
+
+
+1. The Gulf Stream flows so near to the southern coast of Norway, and
+to the Orkneys and Western Islands, that their climate is much less
+severe than might be supposed. Yet no one can help wondering why they
+were formerly so much more populous than now, and why the people who
+came westward even so long ago as the great Aryan migration, did not
+persist in turning aside to the more fertile countries that lay
+farther southward. In spite of all their disadvantages, the
+Scandinavian peninsula, and the sterile islands of the northern seas,
+were inhabitated by men and women whose enterprise and intelligence
+ranked them above their neighbors.
+
+2. Now, with the modern ease of travel and transportation, these
+poorer countries can be supplied from other parts of the world. And
+though the summers of Norway are misty and dark and short, and it is
+difficult to raise even a little hay on the bits of meadow among the
+rocky mountain-slopes, commerce can make up for all deficiencies. In
+early times there was no commerce, except that carried on by the
+pirates, if we may dignify their undertakings by such a respectable
+name, and it was hardly possible to make a living from the soil
+alone. But it does not take us long to discover that the ancient
+Northmen were not farmers, but hunters and fishermen. It had grown
+more and more difficult to find food along the rivers and broad grassy
+wastes of inland Europe, and pushing westward they had at last reached
+the place where they could live beside waters that swarmed with fish
+and among hills that sheltered plenty of game.
+
+3. The tribes that settled in the north grew in time to have many
+peculiarities of their own, and as their countries grew more and more
+populous, they needed more things that could not easily be had, and a
+fashion of plundering their neighbors began to prevail. Men were still
+more or less beasts of prey. Invaders must be kept out, and at last
+much of the industry of Scandinavia was connected with the carrying on
+of an almost universal fighting and marauding. Ships must be built,
+and there must be endless supplies of armor and weapons. Stones were
+easily collected for missiles or made fit for arrows and spear-heads,
+and metals were worked with great care.
+
+4. In Norway and Sweden were the best places to find all these, and if
+the Northmen planned to fight a great battle, they had to transport a
+huge quantity of stones, iron, and bronze. It is easy to see why one
+day's battle was almost always decisive in ancient times, for supplies
+could not be quickly forwarded from point to point, and after the arrows
+were all shot and the conquered were chased off the field, they had no
+further means of offense except a hand-to-hand fight with those who had
+won the right to pick up the fallen spears at their leisure. So, too, an
+unexpected invasion was likely to prove successful; it was a work of
+time to get ready for a battle, and when the Northmen swooped down upon
+some shore town of Britain or Gaul, the unlucky citizens were at their
+mercy. And while the Northmen had fish and game, and were mighty
+hunters, and their rocks and mines helped forward their warlike
+enterprises, so the forests supplied them with ship-timber, and they
+gained renown as sailors wherever their fame extended.
+
+5. There was a great difference, however, between the manner of life in
+Norway and that of England and France. The Norwegian stone, however
+useful for arrow-heads or axes, was not fit for building purposes. There
+is hardly any clay there, either, to make bricks with, so that wood has
+usually been the only material for houses. In the southern countries
+there had always been rude castles in which the people could shelter
+themselves, but the Northmen could build no castles that a torch could
+not destroy. They trusted much more to their ships than to their houses,
+and some of their captains disdained to live on shore at all.
+
+6. There is something refreshing in the stories of old Norse life; of
+its simplicity and freedom and childish zest. An old writer says that
+they had "a hankering after pomp and pageantry," and by means of this
+they came at last to doing things decently and in order, and to
+setting the fashions for the rest of Europe. There was considerable
+dignity in the manner of every-day life and housekeeping. Their houses
+were often very large, even two hundred feet long, with flaring fires
+on a pavement in the middle of the floor, and the beds built next the
+walls on three sides, sometimes hidden by wide tapestries or foreign
+cloth that had been brought home in the viking ships. In front of the
+beds were benches where each man had his seat and footstool, with his
+armor and weapons hung high on the wall above.
+
+7. The master of the house had a high seat on the north side in the
+middle of a long bench; opposite was another bench for guests and
+strangers, while the women sat on the third side. The roof was high;
+there were a few windows in it, and those were covered by skins, and
+let in but little light. The smoke escaped through openings in the
+carved, soot-blackened roof; and though in later times the rich men's
+houses were more like villages, because they made groups of smaller
+buildings for store houses, for guest-rooms, or for work-shops all
+around still, the idea of this primitive great hall or living-room has
+not even yet been lost. The latest copies of it in England and France
+that still remain are most interesting; but what a fine sight it must
+have been at night when the great fires blazed and the warriors sat on
+their benches in solemn order, and the skalds recited their long
+sagas, of the host's own bravery or the valiant deeds of his
+ancestors! Hospitality was almost chief among the virtues.
+
+8. We must read what was written in their own language, and then we
+shall have more respect for the vikings and sea-kings, always
+distinguishing between these two; for, while any peasant who wished
+could be a viking--a sea-robber--a sea-king was a king indeed, and
+must be connected with the royal race of the country. He received the
+title of king by right as soon as he took command of a ship's crew,
+though he need not have any land or kingdom. Vikings were merely
+pirates; they might be peasants and vikings by turn, and won their
+names from the inlets, the viks or wicks, where they harbored their
+ships. A sea-king must be a viking, but naturally very few of the
+vikings were sea-kings.
+
+[Illustration: _A Viking's Home._]
+
+9. The viking had rights in his own country, and knew what it was to
+enjoy those rights; if he could win more land, he would know how to
+govern it, and he knew what he was fighting for, and meant to win.
+If we wonder why all this energy was spent on the high seas and in
+strange countries, there are two answers: first, that fighting was the
+natural employment of the men, and that no right could be held that
+could not be defended; but besides this, one form of their energy was
+showing itself at home in rude attempts at literature.
+
+10. The more that we know of the Northmen, the more we are convinced
+how superior they were in their knowledge of the useful arts to the
+people whom they conquered. There is a legend that, when Charlemagne,
+in the ninth century, saw some pirate ships cruising in the
+Mediterranean, along the shores of which they had at last found their
+way, he covered his face and burst into tears. He was not so much
+afraid of their cruelty and barbarity as of their civilization. Nobody
+knew better that none of the Christian countries under his rule had
+ships or men that could make such a daring voyage. He knew that they
+were skillful workers in wood and iron, and had learned to be
+rope-makers and weavers; that they could make casks for their supply
+of drinking-water, and understood how to prepare food for their long
+cruises. All their swords and spears and bow-strings had to be made
+and kept in good condition, and sheltered from the sea-spray.
+
+11. When we picture the famous sea-kings' ships to ourselves, we do
+not wonder that the Northmen were so proud of them, or that the skalds
+were never tired of recounting their glories. There were two kinds of
+vessels: the last-ships, that carried cargoes, and the long-ships, or
+ships of war. Listen to the splendors of the "Long Serpent," which was
+the largest ship ever built in Norway. A dragon-ship, to begin with,
+because all the long-ships had a dragon for a figure-head, except the
+smallest of them, which were called cutters, and only carried ten or
+twenty rowers on a side. The "Long Serpent" had thirty-four rowers'
+benches on a side, and she was one hundred and eleven feet long. Over
+the sides were hung the shining red and white shields of the vikings,
+the gilded dragon's head towered high at the prow, and at the stern a
+gilded tail went curling off over the head of the steersman. Then,
+from the long body, the heavy oars swept forward and back through the
+water, and as it came down the fiôrd, the "Long Serpent" must have
+looked like some enormous centipede creeping out of its den on an
+awful errand, and heading out across the rough water toward its prey.
+
+12. The voyages were often disastrous in spite of much clever
+seamanship. They knew nothing of the mariner's compass, and found
+their way chiefly by the aid of the stars--inconstant pilots enough on
+such foggy, stormy seas. They carried birds, too, oftenest ravens, and
+used to let them loose and follow them toward the nearest land. The
+black raven was the vikings' favorite symbol for their flags, and
+familiar enough it became in other harbors than their own. They were
+bold, hardy fellows, and held fast to a rude code of honor and rank of
+knighthood.
+
+13. The valleys of the Elbe and the Rhine, of the Seine and the Loire,
+made a famous hunting-ground for the dragon-ships to seek.
+
+14. The people who lived in France were of another sort, but they
+often knew how to defend themselves as well as the Northmen knew how
+to attack. There are few early French records for us to read, for the
+literature of that early day was almost wholly destroyed in the
+religious houses and public buildings of France. Here and there a few
+pages of a poem or of a biography or chronicle have been kept, but
+from this very fact we can understand the miserable condition of the
+country.
+
+15. The whole second half of the ninth century is taken up with the
+histories of these invasions. We must follow for a while the progress
+of events in Gaul, or France as we call it now, though it was made up
+then of a number of smaller kingdoms. The result of the great siege of
+Paris was only a settling of affairs with the Northmen for the time
+being; one part of the country was delivered from them at the expense
+of another.
+
+16. They could be bought off and bribed for a time, but there was
+never to be any such thing as their going back to their own country
+and letting France alone for good and all. But as they gained at
+length whole tracts of country, instead of the little wealth of a few
+men to take away in their ships as at first, they began to settle down
+in their new lands and to become conquerors and colonists instead of
+mere plunderers. Instead of continually ravaging and attacking the
+kingdoms, they slowly became the owners and occupiers of the conquered
+territory; they pushed their way from point to point.
+
+17. At first, as you have seen already they trusted to their ships,
+and always left their wives and children at home in the north
+countries, but as time went on, they brought their families with them
+and made new homes, for which they would have to fight many a battle
+yet. It would be no wonder if the women had become possessed by a love
+of adventure, too, and had insisted upon seeing the lands from which
+the rich booty was brought to them, and that they had been saying for
+a long time: "Show us the places where the grapes grow and the
+fruit-trees bloom, where men build great houses and live in them
+splendidly. We are tired of seeing only the long larchen beams of
+their high roofs, and the purple and red and gold cloths, and the red
+wine and yellow wheat that you bring away. Why should we not go to
+live in that country, instead of your breaking it to pieces, and going
+there so many of you, every year, only to be slain as its enemies? We
+are tired of our sterile Norway and our great Danish deserts of sand,
+of our cold winds and wet weather, and our long winters that pass by
+so slowly while the fleets are gone. We would rather see Seville and
+Paris themselves, than only their gold and merchandise and the rafters
+of their churches that you bring home for ship timbers."
+
+18. The kingdoms of France had been divided and subdivided, and, while
+we find a great many fine examples of resistance, and some great
+victories over the Northmen, they were not pushed out and checked
+altogether. Instead, they gradually changed into Frenchmen themselves,
+different from other Frenchmen only in being more spirited, vigorous
+and alert. They inspired every new growth of the religion, language,
+or manners, with their own splendid vitality. They were like plants
+that have grown in dry, thin soil, transplanted to a richer spot of
+ground, and sending out fresh shoots in the doubled moisture and
+sunshine. And presently we shall find the Northman becoming the Norman
+of history. As the Northman, almost the first thing we admire about
+him is his character, his glorious energy; as the Norman, we see that
+energy turned into better channels, and bringing a new element into
+the progress of civilization.
+
+          _Sarah O. Jewett. "The Story of the Normans."_
+                      _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXVIII.--ROLF THE GANGER._
+
+
+1. The ninth century was a sad time for both England and France. The
+Gothic tribes, in their march to the west had reached the sea in
+Denmark and Norway, and had increased to such an extent as to take up
+all the land fit for cultivation. The strength and courage which they
+had shown in many a battle-field on the land was now transferred to
+the sea, soldiers and knights becoming vikings and pirates. Fierce
+worshipers were they of the old gods Odin, Frey, and Thor. They
+plundered, they burned, they slew; they especially devastated churches
+and monasteries, and no coast was safe from them from the Adriatic to
+the farthest north--even Rome saw their long-ships, and, "From the
+fury of the Northmen, good Lord deliver us!" was the prayer in every
+litany of the West.
+
+2. England had been well-nigh undone by them, when the spirit of her
+greatest king awoke, and by Alfred they were overcome. Some were
+permitted to settle down, and were taught Christianity and
+civilization, and the fresh invaders were driven from the coast.
+Alfred's gallant son and grandson held the same course, guarded their
+coasts, and made their faith and themselves respected throughout the
+North. But in France, the much harassed house of Charles the Great,
+and the ill-compacted bond of different nations, were little able to
+oppose their fierce assaults, and ravage and devastation reigned from
+one end of the country to another.
+
+3. However, the vikings, on returning to their native homes sometimes
+found their place filled up, and the family inheritance incapable of
+supporting so many. Thus they began to think of winning not merely
+gold and cattle, but lands and houses, on the coasts they pillaged. In
+Scotland, the Hebrides, and Ireland, they settled by leave of nothing
+but their swords; in England, by treaty with Alfred; and in France,
+half by conquest, half by treaty, always, however, accepting
+Christianity as a needful obligation when they took posession of
+southern lands. Probably they thought Thor was only the god of the
+north, and that the "White Christ," as they called Him who was made
+known to them in these new countries was to be adored in what they
+deemed alone his territories.
+
+4. Of all the sea-robbers who sailed from their rocky dwelling-places
+by the fiôrds of Norway, none enjoyed higher renown than Rolf, called
+the ganger, or walker, as tradition relates, because his stature was
+so gigantic that, when clad in full armor, no horse could support his
+weight, and he therefore always fought on foot.
+
+5. Rolf's lot had, however, fallen in what he doubtless considered as
+evil days. No such burnings and plunderings as had hitherto wasted
+England and enriched Norway, fell to his share; for Alfred had made
+the bravest Northman feel that his fleet and army were more than a
+match for theirs. Ireland was exhausted by the former depredations of
+the pirates, and, from a fertile and flourishing country had become a
+scene of desolation. Scotland and its isles were too barren to afford
+prey to the spoiler.
+
+6. Rolf, presuming on the favor shown to his family while returning
+from an expedition on the Baltic, made a descent on the coast of
+Viken, a part of Norway, and carried off the cattle wanted by his
+crew. The king, who happened at that time to be in that district, was
+highly displeased, and, assembling a council, declared Rolf the Ganger
+an outlaw.
+
+7. The banished Rolf found a great number of companions, who, like
+himself, were unwilling to submit to the strict rule of Harald, and
+setting sail with them, he first plundered and devastated the coast
+of Flanders, and afterward returned to France. In the spring of 896
+the citizens of Rouen, scarcely yet recovered from the miseries
+inflicted upon them by the fierce Danish rover Hasting, were dismayed
+by the sight of a fleet of long, low vessels, with spreading sails,
+heads carved like that of a serpent, and sterns finished like the tail
+of a reptile, such as they well knew to be the keels of the dreaded
+Northmen, the harbingers of destruction and desolation. Little hope of
+succor or protection was there from King Charles the Simple; and,
+indeed, had the sovereign been ever so warlike and energetic, it would
+little have availed Rouen, which might have been destroyed twice over
+before a messenger could reach Laon.
+
+8. In this emergency, Franco, the archbishop, proposed to go forth to
+meet the Northmen and attempt to make terms for his flock. The offer
+was gladly accepted by the trembling citizens, and the good archbishop
+went, bearing the keys of the town, to visit the camp which the
+Northmen had begun to erect upon the bank of the river. They offered
+him no violence, and he performed his errand safely. Rolf, the rude
+generosity of whose character was touched by his fearless conduct,
+readily agreed to spare the lives and property of the citizens, on
+condition that Rouen was surrendered to him without resistance.
+
+9. Entering the town, he there established his headquarters, and spent
+a whole year in the adjacent parts of the country, during which time
+the Northmen so faithfully observed their promise, that they were
+regarded by the Rouennais rather as friends than as conquerors; and
+Rolf, or Rollo, as the French called him, was far more popular among
+them than their real sovereign. Wherever he met with resistance, he
+showed, indeed, the relentless cruelty of the heathen pirate;
+wherever he found submission, he was a kind master.
+
+10. In the course of the following year, he advanced along the banks
+of the Seine as far as its junction with the Eure. On the opposite
+side of the river there were visible a number of tents, where slept a
+numerous army, which Charles had at length collected to oppose this
+formidable enemy. The Northmen also set up their camp, in expectation
+of a battle, and darkness had just closed in on them when a shout was
+heard on the opposite side of the river, and to their surprise a voice
+was heard speaking in their own language. "Brave warriors, why come ye
+hither, and what do ye seek?"
+
+11. "We are Northmen, come hither to conquer France," replied Rollo.
+"But who art thou who speakest our tongue so well?" "Heard ye never of
+Hasting?" was the reply. "Yes," returned Rollo, "he began well, but
+ended badly." "Will ye not, then," continued the old pirate, "submit
+to my lord the king? Will ye not hold of him lands and honors?" "No,"
+replied the Northmen, disdainfully, "we will own no lord, we will take
+no gift, but we will have what we ourselves can conquer by force."
+
+12. Here Hasting took his departure, and returning to the French camp,
+strongly advised the commander not to hazard a battle. His counsel was
+overruled by a young standard-bearer, who, significantly observing,
+"Wolves make not war on wolves," so offended the old sea-king, that he
+quitted the army that night, and never again appeared in France. The
+wisdom of his advice was the next morning made evident, by the total
+defeat of the French, and the advance of the Northmen, who in a short
+space after appeared beneath the walls of Paris. Failing in their
+attempt to take the city, they returned to Rouen, where they fortified
+themselves, making it the capital of the territory they had conquered.
+
+13. Fifteen years passed away, the summers of which were spent in
+ravaging the dominions of Charles the Simple, and the winters in the
+city of Rouen, and in the meantime a change had come over the leader.
+He had been insensibly softened and civilized by his intercourse with
+the good Archbishop Franco, and finding, perhaps, that it was not
+quite so easy as he had expected to conquer the whole kingdom of
+France, he declared himself willing to follow the example which he
+once despised, and to become a vassal of the French crown for the
+duchy of Neustria.
+
+14. Charles, greatly rejoiced to find himself thus able to put a stop
+to the dreadful devastations of the Northmen, readily agreed to the
+terms proposed by Rollo, appointing the village of St. Clair-sur-Epte,
+on the borders of Neustria, as the place of meeting for the purpose of
+receiving his homage and oath of fealty.
+
+15. The greatest difficulty to be overcome in this conference was the
+repugnance felt by the proud Northman to perform the customary act of
+homage before any living man, especially one whom he held so cheap as
+Charles the Simple. He consented, indeed, to swear allegiance, and
+declare himself the "king's man," with his hands clasped between those
+of Charles. The remaining part of the ceremony, the kneeling to kiss
+the foot of the liege lord, he absolutely refused, and was with
+difficulty persuaded to permit one of his followers to perform it in
+his name. The proxy, as proud as his master, instead of kneeling, took
+the king's foot in his hand, and lifted it to his mouth while he stood
+upright, thus overturning both monarch and throne, amid the rude
+laughter of his companions, while the miserable Charles and his
+courtiers felt such a dread of these new vassals that they did not
+dare resent the insult.
+
+16. On his return to Rouen, Rollo was baptized, and, on leaving the
+cathedral, celebrated his conversion by large grants to the different
+churches and convents of his duchy, making a fresh gift on each of the
+days during which he wore the white robes of the newly baptized. All
+of his warriors who chose to follow his example, and embrace the
+Christian faith, received from him grants of land, to be held of him
+on the same terms as those by which he held the dukedom from the king.
+The country thus peopled by the Northmen, gradually assumed the name
+of Normandy.
+
+17. Applying themselves with all the ardor of their temper to their
+new way of life, the Northmen quickly adopted the manners, language,
+and habits which were recommended to them as connected with the holy
+faith which they had just embraced, but without losing their own bold
+and vigorous spirit. Soon the gallant and accomplished Norman knight
+could scarcely have been recognized as the savage sea-robber, while,
+at the same time, he bore as little resemblance to the cruel and
+voluptuous French noble, at once violent and indolent.
+
+18. There is no doubt, however, that the keen, unsophisticated vigor
+of Rollo, directed by his new religion did great good in Normandy, and
+that his justice was sharp, his discipline impartial, so that of him
+is told the famous old story bestowed upon other just princes, that a
+gold bracelet was left for three years untouched upon a tree in a
+forest. He had been married, as part of the treaty, to Gisèle, a
+daughter of King Charles the Simple, but he was an old grizzly
+warrior, and neither cared for the other. A wife whom he had long
+before taken, had borne him a son, named William, to whom he left his
+dukedom in 932.
+
+
+
+
+_XXXIX.--THE TRUE STORY OF MACBETH._
+
+
+1. In the north of Scotland, where the cliffs bordering Moray Firth
+face the auroral heavens, are two ancient towns, Inverness and Forres,
+whose names are immortalized in Shakespeare's great tragedy of
+Macbeth, for it is in their vicinity that most of its scenes are laid.
+
+2. It is a wild, lonely country, and must have been wilder and
+lonelier still eight hundred years ago, when from the neighboring
+Norway coast the black boats of the vikings, or North Sea rovers, used
+to come flocking into the quiet harbors of Moray and Cromarty Firths,
+like so many swift birds of prey swooping suddenly in from the gray
+horizon, snatching their plunder and flitting away on never-resting
+wings only to return in greater numbers and depart with richer booty.
+
+3. In 1033-1039, when the sons of Canute the Dane were wearing the
+English crown, and not long after a few of the roving Norsemen had
+drifted away to plant a little history and a great mystery across the
+wide Atlantic, there reigned in Scotland a king by the name of Duncan
+MacCrinan. Among his nobles was a certain Macbeth, Thane of Glamis,
+about whom a great many stories are told, some of which would no doubt
+have made their subject open his eyes, for if we may credit the sober
+historians he was rather respectable than otherwise, and probably
+slept much better o' nights than Mr. Shakespeare would have us
+believe. It is even said that he made a pilgrimage to Rome and saw the
+Pope, which certainly ought to establish his virtue to anybody's
+satisfaction.
+
+4. At all events he was a brave soldier and able general, and Duncan
+naturally thought that he had the right man in the right place when he
+gave him command of the royal army and sent him off to drive out
+Thorfinn and Thorkell, two Norse chiefs who had come over to conquer
+Scotland.
+
+5. Macbeth had wedded a lady named Grnoch MacBœdhe, which made him
+cousin to the king, and very likely put strange notions into his head,
+even if they never were there before. He was what we call "a rising
+man," and so, having gloriously defeated Thorfinn and Thorkell, or,
+some say, making them allies, he gloriously turned around and made war
+upon Duncan MacCrinan. In this struggle Duncan was killed or mortally
+wounded near Elgin, on Moray Firth, and Macbeth usurped the throne.
+
+6. Others claim that Thorfinn had conquered that part of Scotland,
+that Macbeth was his vassal and merely fulfilled his duty to his
+over-lord in repelling an invasion by Duncan, in which the latter
+deservedly met the common fate of war.
+
+7. It is very difficult to learn the real truth about people who lived
+before history was anything more than oral tradition, because, as in
+the case of Macbeth, a great many legends gradually clustered about
+their names, which were not committed to writing until many, many
+years after the events actually occurred. The very earliest Scotch
+writing ever discovered is only a charter, and is dated 1095, more
+than fifty years after Duncan was "in his grave," and it was more than
+three hundred years later that a Scotch prior, named Androwe of
+Wyntonne, wrote a long historical poem which he called an Orygynale
+Cronykil of Scotland. In it he relates the story of Macbeth and the
+three witches, and the murder of Duncan, though he says that Macbeth
+afterward made a very wise and just king, whose reign of seventeen
+years was marked by great abundance, and by royal almsgiving and zeal
+for "holy kirk."
+
+8. But a Latin history of Scotland, written about a hundred years
+before Shakespeare by an Aberdeen professor, and translated into
+English under the title of Holinshed's Chronicle, supplied the great
+dramatist with his plot, though it suited his purpose to combine the
+true story of Macbeth with the murder of an earlier king. Then, adding
+a great deal about ghosts and witches, and, above all, breathing into
+these dry, long-dead mummies the quickening breath of genius, the
+immortal playwright recreated a Macbeth who seems a far more real and
+living character than many of our contemporaries.
+
+9. By whatever means Macbeth secured the throne, history and fiction
+agree as to the manner of his losing it. Duncan's sons, in reality
+mere infants at their father's death, were hurried away by their
+friends, and Malcolm, the elder, was committed to his mother's
+brother, Siward, Earl of Northumbria, who in good time aided his young
+kinsman to recover his birthright.
+
+10. Macbeth, notwithstanding his prosperous reign, was regarded as a
+usurper, and was consequently very unpopular with the loyal Scotch,
+who, though proud and quarrelsome, were always devotedly true where
+they recognized an obligation of fealty. So when Malcolm returned they
+flocked around the beloved young heir, and defeated his enemy at
+Dunsinane, though Macbeth was not killed at this place, as Shakespeare
+says, but fled across the Grampians to rally at Lumphanan. Here he was
+slain and the victorious Malcolm--called in history Malcolm
+Canmore--now went to Scone and was crowned upon a famous stone,
+believed by the Scotch to be the same that Jacob used for his pillow.
+It is certainly the one that Edward I of England afterward took away
+and made the seat of the coronation chair at Westminster Abbey, where
+it is still to be seen.
+
+11. But, like many another evil that has been wrought before now,
+Macbeth's treason resulted in the ultimate good of his country; for
+Malcolm, during his long exile, had become accustomed to the superior
+civilization of the English, and now introduced many improvements
+among his subjects. Having known, too, the sorrows of a fugitive, he
+welcomed to his court the Saxon princes fleeing from Norman William,
+among whom was Margaret Atheling, the gentle granddaughter of Edmund
+Ironsides, who became his bride, and whose winning graces went far
+toward refining the rude manners of the warlike Scots. One of their
+sons was the saintly King David, who founded Melrose Abbey, and who is
+said to have been to Scotland "all that Alfred was to England, and
+more than Louis was to France."
+
+12. Another noble, called Banquo, seems to have had some part in
+Duncan's overthrow, but as the play of Macbeth was written in the
+reign of James I, who was a Scot and traced his descent back to
+Banquo, it was not deemed prudent or polite to represent the character
+in an unflattering light; so he was pictured as noble and
+incorruptible, and was so unfortunate, poor man, as to have to be
+murdered to make the story end well.
+
+13. Sir Walter Scott, in his "Tales of a Grandfather," gives us a
+story differing little from the outline of Shakespeare's drama, but
+then, who that has spent enraptured hours over Rob Roy and the Black
+Dwarf could wish the charming wizard to spoil a good story for the
+sake of mere historical exactness? not I, surely! And the Macbeth of
+history, no matter how zealously we may try to discover him, or how
+faithfully we may attempt, at this late day, to reconstruct his
+damaged reputation, he can never be to us anything better than a very
+misty tradition. Whatever he may have been eight hundred years ago,
+the Macbeth _we_ know, the only real Macbeth there is or ever can be,
+is after all the one that met the witches in the thunder-storm on
+Forres Heath and then went home and murdered the gentle old king who
+"had so much blood in him," and a moment later, startled by the
+knocking at the gate, exclaimed in bitterest remorse: "Wake Duncan
+with thy knocking! I would thou could'st!"
+
+14. If you read this scene in the silent hours when every one else in
+the house is sleeping, you will almost believe that you murdered
+Duncan yourself, and that you hear Lady Macbeth's hoarse whisper in
+your ear: "To bed, to bed, there's knocking at the gate. Come, come,
+come, come, give me your hand. What's done can not be undone. To bed,
+to bed, to bed."
+
+15. Then you will shut the book in sudden terror of the lonely
+midnight, and scramble into bed with the blood curdling in your veins,
+and presently, aided by the darkness, your imagination will bridge the
+gulf of centuries, and you will seem to see a long vaulted hall in a
+mediæval palace, and in the hall a banquet spread, around which gather
+lords of high degree, while on the canopied dais at the upper end sit
+King Macbeth and his white-haired, pitiless, guilty queen. And from
+the rainy outer darkness you may catch the faint echo of a mortal cry:
+"Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!" And then as you picture the king
+stepping down from his royal seat to meet a blood-stained murderer at
+the door, you will have a momentary glimpse of Banquo lying in the
+roadside ditch "with twenty trenchéd gashes in his head," and of
+Fleance speeding away alone through the stormy night.
+
+
+
+
+_XL.--DUKE WILLIAM OF NORMANDY._
+
+
+1. Now Duke William was in his park at Rouen, and in his hands he held
+a bow ready strung, for he was going hunting, and many knights and
+squires with him. And behold, there came to the gate a messenger from
+England; and he went straight to the duke and drew him aside, and told
+him secretly how King Edward's life had come to an end, and Harold had
+been made king in his stead. And when the duke had heard the tidings,
+and understood all that was come to pass, those that looked upon him
+perceived that he was greatly enraged, for he forsook the chase, and
+went in silence, speaking no word to any man, clasping and unclasping
+his cloak, neither dared any man speak to him; but he crossed over the
+Seine in a boat, and went to his hall, and sat down on a bench; and he
+covered his face with his mantle, and leaned down his head, and there
+he abode, turning about restlessly for one hour after another in
+gloomy thought. And none dared speak a word to him, but they spake to
+one another, saying: "What ails the duke? Why bears he such a mien?"
+
+2. "That is it that troubles me," said the duke. "I grieve because
+Edward is dead, and that Harold has done me a wrong; for he has taken
+my kingdom who was bound to me by oath and promise." To these words
+answered Fitz-Osbern the bold: "Sir, tarry not, but make ready with
+speed to avenge yourself on Harold, who has been disloyal to you; for
+if you lack not courage, there will be left no land to Harold. Summon
+all whom you may summon, cross the sea and seize his lands; for no
+brave man should begin a matter and not carry it on to the end."
+
+3. Then William sent messengers to Harold to call upon him to keep
+the oath that he had sworn; but Harold replied in scorn that he would
+not marry his daughter, nor give up his land to him. And William sent
+to him his defiance; but Harold answered that he feared him not, and
+he drove all the Normans out of the land, with their wives and
+children, for King Edward had given them lands and castles, but Harold
+chased them out of the country; neither would he let one remain. And
+at Christmas he took the crown, but it would have been well for
+himself and his land if he had not been crowned, since for the kingdom
+he perjured himself, and his reign lasted but a short space.
+
+4. Then Duke William called together his barons, and told them all his
+will, and how Harold had wronged him, and that he would cross the sea
+and revenge himself; but without their aid he could not gather men
+enough, nor a large navy; therefore, he would know of each one of them
+how many men and ships he would bring. And they prayed for leave to
+take counsel together, and the duke granted their request. And their
+deliberations lasted long, for many complained that their burdens were
+heavy, and some said that they would bring ships and cross the sea
+with the duke, and others said they would not go, for they were in
+debt and poor. Thus some would and some would not, and there was great
+contention between them.
+
+5. Then Fitz-Osbern came to them and said: "Wherefore dispute you,
+sirs? Ye should not fail your natural lord when he goes seeking
+honors. Ye owe him service for your fiefs, and where ye owe service ye
+should serve with all your power. Ask not delay, nor wait until he
+prays you; but go before, and offer him more than you can do. Let him
+not lament that his enterprise failed for your remissness." But they
+answered: "Sir, we fear the sea, and we owe no service across the
+sea. Speak for us, we pray you, and answer in our stead. Say what you
+will, and we will abide by your words." "Will ye all leave yourselves
+to me?" he said. And each one answered: "Yes. Let us go to the duke,
+and you shall speak for us."
+
+6. And Fitz-Osbern turned himself about and went before him to the duke,
+and spoke for them, and he said: "Sir, no lord has such men as you have,
+and who will do so much for their lord's honor, and you ought to love
+and keep them well. For you they say they would be drowned in the sea or
+thrown into the fire. You may trust them well, for they have served you
+long and followed you at great cost. And if they have done well, they
+will do better; for they will pass the sea with you, and will double
+their service. For he who should bring twenty knights will gladly bring
+forty, and he who should serve you thirty will bring sixty, and he from
+whom one hundred is due will willingly bring two hundred. And I, in
+loving loyalty, will bring in my lord's business sixty ships, well
+arrayed and laden with fighting men."
+
+7. But the barons marveled at him, and murmured aloud at the words
+that he spake and the promises he made, for which they had given him
+no warrant. And many contradicted him, and there arose a noise and
+loud disturbance among them; for they feared that if they doubled
+their service it would become a custom, and be turned into a feudal
+right. And the noise and outcry became so great that a man could not
+hear what his fellow said. Then the duke went aside, for the noise
+displeased him, and sent for the barons one by one, and spoke to each
+one of the greatness of the enterprise, and that if they would double
+their service, and do freely more than their due, it should be well
+for them, and that he would never make it a custom, nor require of
+them any service more than was the usage of the country, and such as
+their ancestors had paid to their lord. Then each one said he would do
+it, and he told how many ships he would bring, and the duke had them
+all written down in brief. Bishop Odo, his brother, brought him forty
+ships, and the Bishop of Le Mans prepared thirty, with their mariners
+and pilots. And the duke prayed his neighbors of Brittany, Anjou, and
+Maine, Ponthieu, and Boulogne, to aid him in this business; and he
+promised them lands if England were conquered, and rich gifts and
+large pay. Thus from all sides came soldiers to him.
+
+8. Then he showed the matter to his lord the King of France, and he
+sought him at St. Germer, and found him there; and he said that he
+would aid him, so that by his aid he won his right, he would hold
+England from him and serve him for it. But the king answered that he
+would not aid him, neither with his will should he pass the sea; for
+the French prayed him not to aid him, saying he was too strong
+already, and that if he let him add riches from over the sea to his
+lands of Normandy and all his good knights, there would never be
+peace. "And when England shall be conquered," said they, "you will
+hear no more of his service. He pays little service now, but then it
+will be less. The more he has, the less he will do."
+
+9. So the duke took leave of the king, and came away in a rage,
+saying: "Sir, I go to do the best I can, and if God will that I gain
+my right you shall see me no more but for evil. And if I fail, and the
+English can defend themselves, my children shall inherit my lands, and
+thou shalt not conquer them. Living or dead, I fear no menace!"
+
+10. Then the duke sent to Rome clerks that were skilled in speech,
+and they told the Pope how Harold had sworn falsely, and that Duke
+William promised that if he conquered England he would hold it of St.
+Peter. And the Pope sent him a standard and a very precious ring, and
+underneath the stone there was, it is said, a hair of St. Peter's. And
+about that time there appeared a great star shining in the south with
+very long rays, such a star as is seen when a kingdom is about to have
+a new king. I have spoken with many men who saw it, and those who are
+cunning in the stars call it a comet.
+
+11. Then the duke called together carpenters and ship-builders, and in
+all the ports of Normandy there was sawing of planks and carrying of
+wood, spreading of sails and setting up of masts, with great labor and
+industry. Thus all the summer long and through the month of August
+they made ready the fleet and assembled the men; for there was no
+knight in all the land, nor any good sergeant, nor archer, nor any
+peasant of good courage, of age to fight, whom the duke did not summon
+to go with him to England.
+
+12. When the ships were ready, they were anchored in the Somme at St.
+Valery. And as the renown of the duke went abroad there came to him
+soldiers one by one or two by two, and the duke kept them with him,
+and promised them much. And some asked for lands in England, and
+others pay and large gifts. But I will not write down what barons,
+knights, and soldiers the duke had in his company; but I have heard my
+father say (I remember it well, though I was but a boy) that there
+were seven hundred ships, save four, when they left St. Valery--ships,
+and boats, and little skiffs. But I found it written (I know not the
+truth) that there were three thousand ships carrying sails and masts.
+
+13. And at St. Valery they tarried long for a favorable wind, and the
+barons grew weary with waiting; and they prayed those of the convent
+to bring out to the camp the shrine of St. Valery, and they came to it
+and prayed they might cross the sea, and they offered money till all
+the holy body was covered with it, and the same day there sprang up a
+favorable wind. Then the duke put a lantern on the mast of his ship,
+that the other ships might see it and keep their course near, and an
+ensign of gilded copper on the top; and at the head of the ships,
+which mariners call the prow, there was a child made of copper holding
+a bow and arrow, and he had his face toward England, and seemed about
+to shoot.
+
+14. Thus the ships came to port, and they all arrived together and
+anchored together on the beach, and together they all disembarked. And
+it was near Hastings, and the ships lay side by side. And the good
+sailors and sergeants and esquires sprang out, and cast anchor, and
+fastened the ships with ropes; and they brought out their shields and
+saddles, and led forth the horses.
+
+15. The archers were the first to come to land, every one with his bow
+and his quiver and arrows by his side, all shaven and dressed in short
+tunics, ready for battle and of good courage; and they searched all
+the beach, but no armed man could they find. When they were issued
+forth, then came the knights in armor, with helmet laced and shield on
+neck, and together they came to the sand and mounted their war-horses;
+and they had their swords at their sides, and rode with lances raised.
+The barons had their standards and the knights their pennons. After
+them came the carpenters, with their axes in their hands and their
+tools hanging by their side. And when they came to the archers and to
+the knights they took counsel together, and brought wood from the
+ships and fastened it together with bolts and bars, and before the
+evening was well come they had made themselves a strong fort. And they
+lighted fires and cooked food, and the duke and his barons and knights
+sat down to eat; and they all ate and drank plentifully and rejoiced
+that they were come to land.
+
+16. When the duke came forth of his ship he fell on his hands to the
+ground, and there rose a great cry, for all said it was an evil sign;
+but he cried aloud: "Lords, I have seized the land with my two hands,
+and will never yield it. All is ours." Then a man ran to land and laid
+his hand upon a cottage, and took a handful of the thatch, and
+returned to the duke. "Sir," said he, "take seizin of the land; yours
+is the land without doubt." Then the duke commanded the mariners to
+draw all the ships to land and pierce holes in them and break them to
+pieces, for they should never return by the way they had come.
+
+                    _"Belt and Spur," Stories of the Old Knights._
+
+
+
+
+_XLI.--THE NORMAN CONQUEST._
+
+
+1. Poor old Edward the Confessor, holy, weak, and sad, lay in his new
+choir of Westminster--where the wicked cease from troubling and the
+weary are at rest. The crowned ascetic had left no heir behind.
+England seemed as a corpse, to which all the eagles might gather
+together; and the South-English, in their utter need, had chosen for
+their king the ablest, and it may be the justest, man in Britain--Earl
+Harold Godwinson: himself, like half the upper classes of England
+then, of all-dominant Norse blood; for his mother was a Danish princess.
+
+[Illustration: _Edward the Confessor's Tomb._]
+
+2. Then out of Norway, with a mighty host, came Harold Hardraade,
+taller than all men, the ideal Viking of his time. He had been away to
+Russia to King Jaroslaf; he had been in the Emperor's Varanger guard
+at Constantinople--and, it was whispered, had slain a lion there with
+his bare hands; he had carved his name and his comrades' in Runic
+characters--if you go to Venice you may see them at this day--on the
+loins of the great marble lion, which stood in his time not in Venice
+but in Athens. And now, King of Norway and conqueror, for the time, of
+Denmark, why should he not take England, as Sweyn and Canute took it
+sixty years before, when the flower of the English gentry perished at
+the fatal battle of Assingdune? If he and his half-barbarous host had
+conquered, the civilization of Britain would have been thrown back,
+perhaps, for centuries. But it was not to be.
+
+3. England _was_ to be conquered by the Normans; but by the civilized,
+not the barbaric; by the Norse who had settled, but four generations
+before, in the northeast of France under Rou, Rollo, Rolf the Ganger,
+so called, they say, because his legs were so long that, when on
+horseback, he touched the ground and seemed to gang, or walk. He and
+his Norsemen had taken their share of France, and called it Normandy
+to this day; and meanwhile, with that docility and adaptability which
+marks so often truly great spirits, they changed their creed, their
+language, their habits, and had become, from heathen and murderous
+Berserkers, the most truly civilized people in Europe, and--as was
+most natural then--the most faithful allies and servants of the Pope
+of Rome. So greatly had they changed, and so fast, that William Duke
+of Normandy, the great-great grandson of Rolf the wild Viking, was
+perhaps the finest gentleman, as well as the most cultivated sovereign
+and the greatest statesman and warrior in Europe.
+
+4. So Harold of Norway came with all his Vikings to Stamford Bridge by
+York; and took, by coming, only that which Harold of England promised
+him, namely, "forasmuch as he was taller than any other man, seven
+feet of English ground."
+
+5. The story of that great battle, told with a few inaccuracies, but
+as only great poets tell, you should read, if you have not read it
+already, in the "Heimskringla" of Snorri Sturluson, the Homer of the
+North:
+
+    High feast that day held the birds of the air and the beasts of the
+              field,
+    White-tailed erm and sallow glede,
+    Dusky raven, with horny neb,
+    And the gray deer the wolf of the wood.
+
+The bones of the slain, men say, whitened the place for fifty years to
+come.
+
+6. And remember that on the same day on which that fight
+befell--September 27, 1066--William, Duke of Normandy, with all his
+French-speaking Norsemen, was sailing across the British Channel,
+under the protection of a banner consecrated by the Pope, to conquer
+that England which the Norse-speaking Normans could not conquer.
+
+7. And now King Harold showed himself a man. He turned at once from
+the north of England to the south. He raised the folk of the southern,
+as he had raised those of the central and northern shires, and in
+sixteen days--after a march which in those times was a prodigious
+feat--he was intrenched upon the fatal down which men called
+Heathfield then, and Senlac, but Battle to this day--with William and
+his French Normans opposite him on Telham Hill.
+
+8. Then came the battle of Hastings. You all know what befell upon
+that day, and how the old weapon was matched against the new--the
+English axe against the Norman lance--and beaten only because the
+English broke their ranks.
+
+9. It was a fearful time which followed. I can not but believe that
+our forefathers had been, in some way or other, great sinners, or two
+such conquests as Canute's and William's would not have fallen on them
+within the short space of sixty years. They did not want for courage,
+as Stamford Brigg and Hastings showed full well. English swine, their
+Norman conquerors called them often enough, but never English cowards.
+
+10. Their ruinous vice, if we trust the records of the time, was what
+the old monks called _accidia_, and ranked it as one of the seven
+deadly sins: a general careless, sleepy, comfortable habit of mind,
+which lets all go its way for good or evil--a habit of mind too often
+accompanied, as in the case of the Anglo-Danes, with self-indulgence,
+often coarse enough. Huge eaters and huger drinkers, fuddled with ale,
+were the men who went down at Hastings--though they went down like
+heroes--before the staid and sober Norman out of France.
+
+11. But these were fearful times. As long as William lived, ruthless
+as he was to all rebels, he kept order and did justice with a strong
+and steady hand; for he brought with him from Normandy the instincts
+of a truly great statesman. And in his sons' time matters grew worse
+and worse. After that, in the troubles of Stephen's reign, anarchy let
+loose tyranny in its most fearful form, and things were done which
+recall the cruelties of the old Spanish _conquistadores_ in America.
+Scott's charming romance of "Ivanhoe" must be taken, I fear, as a too
+true picture of English society in the time of Richard I.
+
+[Illustration: _Battle Abbey._]
+
+12. And what came of it all? What was the result of all this misery and
+wrong? This, paradoxical as it may seem: that the Norman conquest was
+the making of the English people; of the free commons of England.
+
+13. Paradoxical, but true. First, you must dismiss from your minds the
+too common notion that there is now in England a governing Norman
+aristocracy, or that there has been one, at least since the year 1215,
+when the Magna Charta was won from the Norman John by Normans and by
+English alike. For the first victors at Hastings, like the first
+_conquistadores_ in America, perished, as the monk chronicles point
+out, rapidly by their own crimes; and very few of our nobility can
+trace their names back to the authentic Battle Abbey roll.
+
+14. The cause is plain: The conquest of England by the Normans was not
+one of those conquests of a savage by a civilized race, or of a
+cowardly race by a brave race, which results in the slavery of the
+conquered, and leaves the gulf of caste between two races--master and
+slave. The vast majority, all but the whole population of England,
+have always been free, and free as they are not when caste exists to
+change their occupations. They could intermarry, if they were able
+men, into the rank above them; as they could sink, if they were unable
+men, into the rank below them.
+
+15. Nay, so utterly made up now is the old blood-feud between Norman
+and Englishman, between the descendants of those who conquered and
+those who were conquered, that, in the children of the Prince of
+Wales, after eight hundred years, the blood of William of Normandy is
+mingled with the blood of Harold, who fell at Hastings. And so, by the
+bitter woes which followed the Norman conquest was the whole
+population, Dane, Angle, and Saxon, earl and churl, freeman and slave,
+crushed and welded together into one homogeneous mass, made just and
+merciful toward each other by the most wholesome of all teachings, a
+community of suffering; and if they had been, as I fear they were, a
+lazy and a sensual people, were taught--
+
+    That life is not as idle ore,
+    But heated hot with burning fears,
+    And bathed in baths of hissing tears,
+    And battered with the strokes of doom
+    To shape and use.
+
+                                              _Charles Kingsley._
+
+
+
+
+_XLII.--KING RICHARD CŒUR DE LION IN THE HOLY LAND._
+
+
+1. At the end of August, 1191, Richard led his crusading troops from
+Acre into the midst of the wilderness of Mount Carmel, where their
+sufferings were terrible; the rocky, sandy, and uneven ground was
+covered with bushes full of long, sharp prickles, and swarms of
+noxious insects buzzed in the air, fevering the Europeans with their
+stings; and in addition to these natural obstacles, multitudes of Arab
+horsemen harrassed them on every side, slaughtering every straggler
+who dropped behind from fatigue, and attacking them so unceasingly
+that it was remarked, that throughout their day's track there was not
+one space of four feet without an arrow sticking in the ground.
+Richard fought indefatigably, always in the van, and ready to reward
+the gallant exploits of his knights. A young knight who bore a white
+shield, in hopes of gaining some honorable bearing, so distinguished
+himself that Richard thus greeted him at the close of the day: "Maiden
+knight, you have borne yourself as a lion, and done the deed of six
+crusaders."
+
+[Illustration: _Battle of Arsaaf._]
+
+2. At Arsaaf, on the 7th of September, a great battle was fought.
+Saladin and his brother had almost defeated the two religious orders
+(the Templars and the Hospitallers), and the gallant French knight
+Jacques d'Avesne, after losing his leg by a stroke from a cimeter,
+fought bravely on, calling on the English king until he fell
+overpowered by numbers. Cœur de Lion and Guillaume des Barres
+retrieved the day, hewed down the enemy on all sides, and remained
+masters of the field. It is even said that Richard and Saladin met
+hand to hand, but this is uncertain. This victory opened the way to
+Joppa, where the crusaders spent the next month in the repair of the
+fortifications, while the Saracen forces lay at Ascalon.
+
+3. While here, Richard often amused himself with hawking, and one day
+was asleep under a tree when he was aroused by the approach of a party
+of Saracens, and springing on his horse Frannelle, which had been
+taken at Cyprus, he rashly pursued them and fell into an ambush. Four
+knights were slain, and he would have been seized had not a Gascon
+knight named Guillaume des Parcelets called out that he himself was
+the Malak Rik (great king), and allowed himself to be taken. Richard
+offered ten noble Saracens in exchange for this generous knight, whom
+Saladin restored together with a valuable horse that had been captured
+at the same time. A present of another Arab steed accompanied them;
+but Richard's half-brother, William Longsword, insisted on trying the
+animal before the king should mount it. No sooner was he on its back,
+than it dashed at once across the country, and before he could stop it
+he found himself in the midst of the enemy's camp. The two Saracen
+princes were extremely shocked and distressed lest this should be
+supposed a trick, and instantly escorted Longsword back with a gift of
+three chargers, which proved to be more manageable.
+
+4. From Joppa the crusaders marched to Ramla, and thence, on New
+Year's Day, 1192, set out for Jerusalem through a country full of
+greater obstacles than they had yet encountered. They were too full of
+spirit to be discouraged until they came to Bethany, where the two
+Grand Masters represented to Richard the imprudence of laying siege to
+such fortifications as those of Jerusalem at such a season of the
+year, while Ascalon was ready in his rear for a post whence the enemy
+would attack him.
+
+5. He yielded, and retreated to Ascalon, which Saladin had ruined and
+abandoned, and began eagerly to repair the fortifications so as to be
+able to leave a garrison there. The soldiers grumbled, saying they had
+not come to Palestine to build Ascalon, but to conquer Jerusalem;
+whereupon Richard set the example of himself carrying stones, and
+called on Leopold, the Duke of Austria, to do the same. The sulky
+reply, "He was not the son of a mason," so irritated Richard, that he
+struck him a blow; Leopold straightway quitted the army, and returned
+to Austria.
+
+6. It was not without great grief and many struggles that Cœur de
+Lion finally gave up his hopes of taking Jerusalem. He again advanced
+as far as Bethany; but a quarrel with Hugh of Burgundy, and the
+defection of the Austrians made it impossible for him to proceed, and
+he turned back to Ramla. While riding out with a party of knights, one
+of them called out, "This way, my lord, and you will see Jerusalem."
+"Alas!" said Richard, hiding his face with his mantle, "those who are
+not worthy to win the Holy City are not worthy to behold it." He
+returned to Acre; but there hearing that Saladin was besieging Joppa,
+he embarked his troops and sailed to its aid.
+
+7. The crescent (the standard of the Saracens) shone on its walls as
+he entered the harbor; but while he looked on in dismay, he was hailed
+by a priest who had leaped into the sea and swum out to inform him
+that there was yet time to rescue the garrison, though the town was in
+the hands of the enemy. He hurried his vessel forward, leaped into the
+water breast-high, dashed upward on the shore, ordered his immediate
+followers to raise a bulwark of casks and beams to protect the landing
+of the rest, and rushing up a flight of steps, entered the city alone.
+"St. George! St. George!" That cry dismayed the infidels, and those in
+the town to the number of three thousand fled in the utmost confusion,
+and were pursued for two miles by three knights who had been fortunate
+enough to find him.
+
+8. Richard pitched his tent outside the walls, and remained there with
+so few troops that all were contained in ten tents. Very early one
+morning, before the king was out of bed, a man rushed into his tent,
+crying out: "O king! we are all dead men!" Springing up, Richard
+fiercely silenced him: "Peace! or thou diest by my hand!" Then, while
+hastily donning his suit of mail, he heard that the glitter of arms
+had been seen in the distance, and in another moment the enemy were
+upon them, seven thousand in number. Richard had neither helmet nor
+shield, and only seventeen of his knights had horses; but undaunted he
+drew up his little force in a compact body, the knights kneeling on
+one knee covered by their shields, their lances pointing outward, and
+between each pair an archer with an assistant to load his cross-bow;
+and he stood in the midst encouraging them with his voice, and
+threatening to cut off the head of the first who turned to fly. In
+vain did the Saracens charge that mass of brave men, not one seventh
+of their number; the shields and lances were impenetrable; and without
+one forward step or one bolt from the cross-bows, their passive
+steadiness turned back wave after wave of the enemy.
+
+9. At last the king gave the word for the cross-bowmen to advance,
+while he, with the seventeen mounted knights charged, lance in rest.
+His curtal axe bore down all before it, and he dashed like lightning
+from one part of the plain to another, with not a moment to smile at
+the opportune gift from the polite Malek-el-Afdal, who, in the hottest
+of the fight, sent him two fine horses, desiring him to use them in
+escaping from this dreadful peril. Little did the Saracen princes
+imagine that they would find him victorious, and that they would mount
+two more pursuers!
+
+10. Next came a terrified fugitive with news that three thousand
+Saracens had entered Joppa! Richard summoned a few knights, and
+without a word to the rest galloped back into the city. The panic
+inspired by his presence instantly cleared the streets, and riding
+back, he again led his troops to the charge; but such were the swarms
+of Saracens, that it was not till evening that the Christians could
+give themselves a moment's rest, or look round and feel that they had
+gained one of the most wonderful of victories. Since daybreak Richard
+had not laid aside his sword or axe, and his hand was all over
+blistered. No wonder that the terror of his name endured for centuries
+in Palestine, and that the Arab chided his starting horse with, "Dost
+think that yonder is the Malek Rik?" while the mother stilled her
+crying child by threats that the Malek Rik should take it.
+
+11. These violent exertions seriously injured Richard's health, and a
+low fever placed him in great danger, as well as several of his best
+knights. No command or persuasion could induce the rest to commence
+any enterprise without him, and the tidings from Europe induced him to
+conclude a peace and return home. Malek-el-Afdal came to visit him,
+and a truce was signed for three years, three months, three weeks,
+three days, three hours, and three minutes, thus so quaintly arranged
+in accordance with some astrological views of the Saracens. Ascalon
+was to be demolished on condition that free access to Jerusalem was to
+be allowed to the pilgrims; but Saladin would not restore the piece of
+the True Cross, as he was resolved not to conduce to what he
+considered idolatry.
+
+12. Richard sent notice that he was coming back with double his
+present force to effect the conquest, and the Sultan answered, that if
+the Holy City was to pass into Frank hands, none could be nobler than
+those of the Malek Rik. Fever and debility detained Richard a month
+longer at Joppa, during which time he sent the Bishop of Salisbury to
+carry his offerings to Jerusalem. The prelate was invited to the
+presence of Saladin, who spoke in high terms of Richard's courage, but
+censured his rash exposure of his own life. On October 9, 1193,
+Cœur de Lion took leave of Palestine, watching with tears its
+receding shores, as he exclaimed, "O, Holy Land, I commend thee and
+thy people unto God. May He grant me yet to return to aid thee!"
+
+                                            _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XLIII.--KING JOHN AND THE CHARTER._
+
+
+1. On his return from the crusade Richard was taken prisoner by the
+Duke of Austria. He bought his release only to find King Philip
+attacking his French dominions, and to plunge into wearisome and
+indecisive wars, in the midst of which he was slain at the Castle of
+Chaluz. His brother John, who followed him on the throne, was a vile
+and weak ruler, under whom the great sovereignty built up by Henry II
+broke utterly down. Normandy, Maine, and Anjou were reft from him by
+Philip of France, and only Aquitaine remained to him on that side of
+the sea. In England his lust and oppression drove people and nobles to
+join in resistance to him; and their resistance found a great leader
+in the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton.
+
+2. From the moment of his landing in England, Stephen Langton had
+taken up the constitutional position of the primate in upholding the
+old customs and rights of the realm against the personal despotism of
+the kings. As Anselm had withstood William the Red, as Theobald had
+withstood Stephen, so Langton prepared to withstand and rescue his
+country from the tyranny of John. He had already forced him to swear
+to observe the laws of Edward the Confessor, in other words the
+traditional liberties of the realm. When the baronage refused to sail
+for Poitou, saying that they owed service to him in England, but not
+in foreign lands, he compelled the king to deal with them not by arms,
+but by process of law. But the work which he now undertook was far
+greater and weightier than this. The pledges of Henry the First had
+long been forgotten when the justiciar brought them to light, but
+Langton saw the vast importance of such a precedent. At the close of
+the month he produced Henry's charter in a fresh gathering of barons
+at St. Paul's, and it was at once welcomed as a base for the needed
+reforms. From London Langton hastened to the king, whom he reached at
+Northampton on his way to attack the nobles of the north, and wrested
+from him a promise to bring his strife with them to legal judgment
+before assailing them in arms.
+
+3. With his enemies gathering abroad, John had doubtless no wish to be
+entangled in a long quarrel at home, and the archbishop's mediation
+allowed him to withdraw with seeming dignity. After a demonstration
+therefore at Durham John marched hastily south again, and reached London
+in October. His justiciar Geoffry Fitz-Peter at once laid before him the
+claims of the Council of St. Alban's and St. Paul's, but the death of
+Geoffry at this juncture freed him from the pressure which his minister
+was putting upon him. "Now, by God's feet," cried John, "I am for the
+first time king and lord of England," and he intrusted the vacant
+justiciarship to a Poitevin, Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester,
+whose temper was in harmony with his own. But the death of Geoffry only
+called the archbishop to the front, and Langton at once demanded the
+king's assent to the charter of Henry the First.
+
+4. In seizing on this charter as a basis for national action, Langton
+showed a political ability of the highest order. The enthusiasm with
+which its recital was welcomed showed the sagacity with which the
+archbishop had chosen his ground. From that moment the baronage was no
+longer drawn together in secret conspiracies by a sense of common
+wrong or a vague longing for common deliverance; they were openly
+united in a definite claim of national freedom and national law.
+Secretly, and on the pretext of pilgrimage, the nobles met at St.
+Edmundsbury, resolute to bear no longer with John's delays. If he
+refused to restore their liberties they swore to make war on him till
+he confirmed them by charter under the king's seal, and they parted to
+raise forces with the purpose of presenting their demands at
+Christmas. John, knowing nothing of the coming storm, pursued his
+policy of winning over the Church by granting it freedom of election,
+while he imbittered still more the strife with his nobles by
+demanding scutage[A] from the northern nobles who had refused to
+follow him to Poitou. But the barons were now ready to act, and early
+in January, in the memorable year 1215, they appeared in arms to lay,
+as they had planned, their demands before the king.
+
+5. John was taken by surprise. He asked for a truce till Easter-tide,
+and spent the interval in fevered efforts to avoid the blow. Again he
+offered freedom to the Church, and took vows as a crusader against
+whom war was a sacrilege, while he called for a general oath of
+allegiance and fealty from the whole body of his subjects. But month
+after month only showed the king the uselessness of further
+resistance. Though Pandulf, the Pope's legate, was with him, his
+vassalage had as yet brought little fruit in the way of aid from Rome;
+the commissioners whom he sent to plead his cause at the shire courts
+brought back news that no man would help him against the charter that
+the barons claimed; and his efforts to detach the clergy from the
+league of his opponents utterly failed. The nation was against the
+king. He was far indeed from being utterly deserted. His ministers
+still clung to him, men such as Geoffry de Lucy, Geoffry de Furnival,
+Thomas Basset, and William Briwere, statesmen trained in the
+administrative school of his father, and who, dissent as they might
+from John's mere oppression, still looked on the power of the crown as
+the one barrier against feudal anarchy; and beside them stood some of
+the great nobles of royal blood, Earl William of Salisbury, his cousin
+Earl William of Warenne, and Henry, Earl of Cornwall, a grandson of
+Henry the First. With him too remained Ranulf, Earl of Chester, and
+the wisest and noblest of the barons, William Marshal, the elder Earl
+of Pembroke. William Marshal had shared in the rising of the younger
+Henry against Henry II, and stood by him as he died; he had shared in
+the overthrow of William Longchamp, and in the outlawry of John. He
+was now an old man, firm, as we shall see in his aftercourse, to
+recall the government to the path of freedom and law, but shrinking
+from a strife which might bring back the anarchy of Stephen's day, and
+looking for reforms rather in the bringing constitutional pressure to
+bear upon the king than in forcing them from him by arms.
+
+6. But cling as such men might to John, they clung to him rather as
+mediators than adherents. Their sympathies went with the demands of
+the barons when the delay which had been granted was over and the
+nobles again gathered in arms at Brackley in Northamptonshire to lay
+their claims before the king. Nothing marks more strongly the
+absolutely despotic idea of his sovereignty which John had formed than
+the passionate surprise which breaks out in his reply. "Why do they
+not ask for my kingdom?" he cried. "I will never grant such liberties
+as will make me a slave!" The imperialist theories of the lawyers of
+his father's court had done their work. Held at bay by the practical
+sense of Henry, they had told on the more headstrong nature of his
+sons. Richard and John both held with Glanvill that the will of the
+prince was the law of the land; and to fetter that will by the customs
+and franchises which were embodied in the baron's claims seemed to
+John a monstrous usurpation of his rights.
+
+[Illustration: _King John and the Charter._]
+
+7. But no imperialist theories had touched the minds of his people.
+The country rose as one man at his refusal. At the close of May,
+London threw open her gates to the forces of the barons, now arrayed
+under Robert Fitz Walter as "Marshal of the Army of God and Holy
+Church." Exeter and Lincoln followed the example of the capital;
+promises of aid came from Scotland and Wales, the northern barons
+marched hastily under Eustace de Vesci to join their comrades in
+London. Even the nobles who had as yet clung to the king, but whose
+hopes of conciliation were blasted by his obstinacy, yielded at last
+to the summons of the "Army of God." Pandulf, indeed, and Archbishop
+Langton still remained with John, but they counseled as Earl Ranulf
+and William Marshal counseled his acceptance of the charter. None, in
+fact, counseled its rejection save his new justiciar, the Poitevin
+Peter des Roches and other foreigners who knew the barons purposed
+driving them from the land. But even the number of these was small;
+there was a moment when John found himself with but seven knights at
+his back and before him a nation in arms. Quick as he was, he had been
+taken utterly by surprise. It was in vain that in the short respite he
+had gained from Christmas to Easter, he had summoned mercenaries to
+his aid and appealed to his new suzerain, the Pope. Summons and appeal
+were alike too late. Nursing wrath in his heart, John bowed to
+necessity, and called the barons to a conference on an island in the
+Thames between Windsor and Staines, near a marshy meadow by the
+river-side, the meadow of Runnymede.
+
+8. The king encamped on one bank of the river, the barons covered the
+flat of Runnymede on the other. Their delegates met on the 15th of
+July in the island between them, but the negotiations were a mere
+cloak to cover John's purpose of unconditional submission. The Great
+Charter was discussed and agreed to in a single day.
+
+                                            _John Richard Green._
+
+[Footnote A: Scutage, or shield-money, was the commutation paid in
+lieu of military service by all who owed service to the king.]
+
+
+
+
+_XLIV.--AN EARLY ELECTION TO PARLIAMENT._
+
+     The following preliminary sketch by J. R. Green, the historian,
+     serves as an introduction to Palgrave's picture of an election
+     under Edward I:
+
+     "It was Edward the First, who first made laws in what has ever
+     since been called Parliament. For this purpose he called on the
+     shires and larger towns to choose men to 'represent' them, or
+     appear in their stead in the Great Council; the shires sending
+     knights of the shire, the towns burgesses. These, added to the
+     peers or high nobles and to the bishops, made up Parliament.
+
+     "The business of Parliament was not only to make good laws for
+     the realm, but to grant money to the king for the needs of the
+     state in peace and war, and to authorize him to raise this money
+     by taxes or subsidies from his subjects. So at first people saw
+     little of the great good of such Parliaments, but dreaded their
+     calling together, because they brought taxes with them. Nor did
+     men seek, as they do now, to be chosen members of Parliament, for
+     the way thither was long and travel costly, and so they did their
+     best not to be chosen, and when chosen had to be bound over under
+     pain of heavy fines to serve in Parliament."
+
+
+1. During the last half-hour the suitors had been gathering round the
+shire-oak awaiting the arrival of the high officer whose duty it was
+to preside. Notwithstanding the size of the meeting, there was an
+evident system in the crowd. A considerable proportion of the throng
+consisted of little knots of husbandmen or churls, four or five of
+whom were generally standing together, each company seeming to compose
+a deputation. The churls might be easily distinguished by their dress,
+a long frock of coarse yet snow-white linen hanging down to the same
+length before and behind, and ornamented round the neck with broidery
+rudely executed in blue thread. They wore, in fact, the attire of the
+carter and plowman, a garb which was common enough in country parts
+about five-and-twenty years ago, but which will probably soon be
+recollected only as an ancient costume, cast away with all the other
+obsolete characteristics of merry old England.
+
+[Illustration: _An Early Election to Parliament._]
+
+2. These groups of peasantry were the representatives of their
+respective townships, the rural communes into which the whole realm
+was divided; and each had a species of chieftain or head-man in the
+person of an individual who, though it was evident that he belonged to
+the same rank in society, gave directions to the rest. Interspersed
+among the churls, though not confounded with them, were also very many
+well-clad persons, possessing an appearance of rustic respectability,
+who were also subjected to some kind of organization, being collected
+into sets of twelve men each, who were busily employed in
+confabulation among themselves. These were "the sworn centenary
+deputies" or jurors, the sworn men who answered for or represented the
+several hundreds.
+
+3. A third class of members of the shire court could be equally
+distinguished, proudly known by their gilt spurs and blazoned tabards
+as the provincial knighthood, and who, though thus honored, appeared
+to mix freely and affably in converse with the rest of the commons of
+the shire.
+
+4. A flourish of trumpets announced the approach of the high-sheriff,
+Sir Giles de Argentein, surrounded by his escort of javelin-men, tall
+yeomen, all arrayed in a uniform suit of livery, and accompanied,
+among others, by four knights, the coroners, who took cognizance of
+all pleas that concerned the king's rights within the county, and who,
+though they yielded precedence to the sheriff, were evidently
+considered to be almost of equal importance with him. "My masters,"
+said the sheriff to the assembled crowd, "even now hath the
+port-joye[B] of the chancery delivered to me certain most important
+writs of our sovereign lord the king, containing his Grace's high
+commands." At this time the chancellor, who might be designated as
+principal secretary of state for all departments, was the great medium
+of communication between king and subject: whatever the sovereign had
+to ask or tell was usually asked or told by, or under, the directions
+of this high functionary.
+
+5. Now, although the gracious declarations which the chancellor was
+charged to deliver were much diversified in their form, yet, somehow
+or other, they all conveyed the same intent. Whether directing the
+preservation of peace or preparing for the prosecution of a war,
+whether announcing a royal birth or a royal death, the knighthood of
+the king's son or the marriage of the king's daughter, the mandates of
+our ancient kings invariably conclude with a request or a demand for
+money's worth or money.
+
+6. The present instance offered no exception to the general rule. King
+Edward, greeting his loving subjects, expatiated upon the miseries
+which the realm was likely to sustain by the invasion of the wicked,
+barbarous, and perfidious Scots. Church and state, he alleged, were in
+equal danger, and "inasmuch as that which concerneth all ought to be
+determined by the advice of all concerned, we have determined,"
+continued the writ, "to hold our Parliament at Westminster in eight
+days from the feast of St. Hilary." The effect of the announcement was
+magical. Parliament! Even before the second syllable of the word had
+been uttered, visions of aids and subsidies rose before the appalled
+multitude, grim shadows of assessors and collectors floated in the
+ambient air.
+
+7. Sir Gilbert Hastings instinctively plucked his purse out of his
+sleeve; drawing the strings together, he twisted, and tied them in the
+course of half a minute of nervous agitation into a Gordian knot,
+which apparently defied any attempt to undo it, except by means
+practiced by the son of Ammon. The Abbot of Oseney forthwith guided
+his steed to the right about, and rode away from the meeting as fast
+as his horse could trot, turning the deafest of all deaf ears to the
+monitions which he received to stay.
+
+8. The sheriff and the other functionaries alone preserved a tranquil
+but not a cheerful gravity, as Sir Giles commanded his clerk to read
+the whole of the writ, by which he was commanded "to cause two knights
+to be elected for the shire; and from every city within his bailiwick
+two citizens; and from every borough two burgesses--all of them of the
+more discreet and wiser sort; and to cause them to come before the
+king in this Parliament at the before-mentioned day and place, with
+full powers from their respective communities to perform and consent
+to such matters as by common counsel shall then and there be ordained;
+and this you will in no wise omit, as you will answer at your peril."
+
+9. A momentary pause ensued. The main body of the suitors retreated
+from the high-sheriff, as though he had been a center of repulsion.
+After a short but vehement conversation among themselves, one of the
+bettermost sort of yeomen, a gentleman farmer, if we may use the
+modern term, stepped forward and addressed Sir Giles: "Your worship
+well knows that we, your commons, are not bound to proceed to the
+election. You have no right to call upon us to interfere. So many of
+the earls and barons of the shire, the great men, who ought to take
+the main trouble, burthen, and business of the choice of the knights
+upon themselves, are absent now in the king's service, that we neither
+can nor dare proceed to nominate those who are to represent the
+county. Such slender folks as we have no concern in these weighty
+matters. How can we tell who are best qualified to serve?"
+
+10. "What of that, John Trafford?" said the sheriff. "Do you think
+that his Grace will allow his affairs to be delayed by excuses such as
+these? You suitors of the shire are as much bound and obliged to
+concur in the choice of the county members as any baron of the realm.
+Do your duty; I command you in the king's name!"
+
+11. John Trafford had no help. Like a wise debater, he yielded to the
+pinch of the argument without confessing that he felt it; and, having
+muttered a few words to the sheriff, which might be considered as an
+assent, a long conference took place between him and some of his
+brother stewards, as well as with other suitors. During this
+confabulation several nods and winks of intelligence passed between
+Trafford and a well-mounted knight; and while the former appeared to
+be settling the business with the suitors, the latter, who had been
+close to Sir Giles, continued gradually backing and sidling away
+through the groups of shiresmen, and, just as he had got clear out of
+the ring, John Trafford declared, in a most sonorous voice, that the
+suitors had chosen Sir Richard de Pogeys as one of their
+representatives.
+
+12. The sheriff, who, keeping his eye fixed upon Sir Richard as he
+receded, had evidently suspected some manœuvre, instantly ordered
+his bailiffs to secure the body of the member. "And," continued he
+with much vehemence, "Sir Richard must be forthwith committed to
+custody, unless he gives good bail--two substantial freeholders--that
+he will duly attend in his place among the commons on the first day of
+the session, according to the law and usage of Parliament."
+
+13. All this, however, was more easily said than done. Before the
+verbal precept had proceeded from the lips of the sheriff, Sir Richard
+was galloping away at full speed across the fields. Off dashed the
+bailiffs after the member, amid the shouts of the surrounding crowd,
+who forgot all their grievances in the stimulus of the chase, which
+they contemplated with the perfect certainty of receiving some
+satisfaction by its termination; whether by the escape of the
+fugitive, in which case their common enemy, the sheriff, would be
+liable to a heavy amercement;[C] or by the capture of the knight, a
+result which would give them almost equal delight, by imposing a
+disagreeable and irksome duty upon an individual who was universally
+disliked, in consequence of his overbearing harshness and domestic
+tyranny.
+
+14. One of the two above-mentioned gratifications might be considered
+as certain. But, besides these, there was a third contingent
+amusement, by no means to be overlooked, namely, the chance that in
+the contest those respectable and intelligent functionaries, the
+sheriff's bailiffs, might somehow or another come to some kind of
+harm. In this charitable expectation the good men of the shire were
+not entirely disappointed. Bounding along the open fields, while the
+welkin resounded with the cheers of the spectators, the fleet courser
+of Sir Richard sliddered on the grass, then stumbled and fell down the
+sloping side of one of the many ancient British intrenchments by which
+the plain was crossed, and, horse and rider rolling over, the latter
+was deposited quite at the bottom of the foss, unhurt, but much
+discomposed.
+
+15. Horse and rider were immediately on their respective legs again:
+the horse shook himself, snorted, and was quite ready to start; but
+Sir Richard had to regird his sword, and before he could remount, the
+bailiffs were close at him. Dick-o'-the-Gyves attempted to trip him
+up, John Catchpole seized him by the collar of his pourpoint.[D] A
+scuffle ensued, during which the nags of the bailiffs slyly took the
+opportunity of emancipating themselves from control. Distinctly seen
+from the moot-hill, the strife began and ended in a moment; in what
+manner it had ended was declared without any further explanation,
+when the officers rejoined the assembly, by Dick's limping gait and
+the closed eye of his companion.
+
+16. In the mean time Sir Richard had wholly disappeared, and the
+special return made by the sheriff to the writ, which I translate from
+the original, will best elucidate the bearing of the transaction:
+
+"Sir Richard de Pogeys, knight, duly elected by the shire, refused to
+find bail for his appearance in Parliament at the day and place within
+mentioned, and having grievously assaulted my bailiffs in contempt of
+the king, his crown, and dignity, and absconded to the Chiltern
+Hundreds[E], into which liberty, not being shire-land or guildable, I
+can not enter, I am unable to make any other execution of the writ as
+far as he is concerned."
+
+17. At the present day a nominal stewardship connected with the
+Chiltern Hundreds, called an office of profit under the crown, enables
+the member, by a species of juggle, to resign his seat. But it is not
+generally known that this ancient domain, which now affords the means
+of retreating out of the House of Commons, was in the fourteenth
+century employed as a sanctuary in which the knight of the shire took
+refuge in order to avoid being dragged into Parliament against his
+will. Being a distinct jurisdiction, in which the sheriff had no
+control, and where he could not capture the county member, it enabled
+the recusant to baffle the process, at least until the short session
+had closed.
+
+                                                      _Palgrave._
+
+[Footnote B: The port-joye was the messenger of the chancellor.]
+
+[Footnote C: Fine.]
+
+[Footnote D: Overcoat, or doublet.]
+
+[Footnote E: The district of the Chilterns, or line of chalk-hills to
+the east of Buckinghamshire.]
+
+
+
+
+_XLV.--THE BATTLE OF CRESSY._
+
+
+1. Froissart was a brilliant historian of the middle ages. His
+writings are in quaint old French. At the request of Henry VIII of
+England, a translation of his "Battle of Cressy" was made into the
+English of that day. We insert this as a most lively description of
+the battle itself, and as a specimen of old literature in which pupils
+can not fail to take great interest:
+
+2. Thenglysshmen who were in three batayls, lyeing on the grounde to
+rest them, assone as they saw the frenchmen approche, they rose upon
+their fete, fayre and easily, without any haste, and arranged their
+batayls: the first, which was the prince's batell, the archers then
+strode in the manner of a harrow, and the men at armes in the botome
+of the batayle.
+
+3. Therle of Northāpton and therle of Arundell, with the second
+batell, were on a wyng in good order, redy to comfort the princes
+batayle, if nede were. The lordes and knyghtes of France, cāe not
+to the assemble togyder in good order, for some came before, and some
+cāe after, in such haste and yvell order, y^t one of thē dyd
+trouble another: when the french kyng sawe the englysshmen, his blode
+chaunged, and sayde to his marshals, make the genowayes go on before,
+and begynne the batayle in the name of god and saynt Denyse; ther were
+of the genowayse crosbowes, about a fiftene thousand, but they were so
+wery of goyng a fote that day, a six leages, armed with their
+crosbowes, that they sayde to their constables, we be not well ordered
+to fyght this day, for we be not in the case to do any great dede of
+armes, we have more nede of rest. These wordes came to the erle of
+Alanson, who sayd, a man is well at ease to be charged w^t suche a
+sorte of rascalles, to be faynt and fayle now at moost nede. Also the
+same season there fell a great rayne, and a clyps, with a terryble
+thunder, and before the rayne, ther came fleying over both batayls, a
+great nombre of crowes, for feare of the tempest comynge.
+
+4. Than anone the eyre beganne to wax clere, and the sonne to shyne
+fayre and bright, the which was right in the frenchmens eyen and on
+thenglysshmens backes. Whan the genowayes were assembled to-guyder,
+and began to aproche, they made a great leape and crye, to abasshe
+thenglysshmen, but they stode styll, and styredde not for all that;
+thāns the genowayes agayne the seconde tyme made another leape, and
+a fell crye, and stepped forward a lytell, and thenglysshmen remeued
+not one fote; thirdly agayne they leapt and cryed, and went forthe
+tyll they come within shotte; thane they shotte feersly with their
+crosbowes; thun thenglysshe archers stept forthe one pase, and lette
+fly their arowes so hotly, and so thycke, that it semed snowe; when
+the genowayes felte the arowes persynge through heeds, armes, and
+brestes, many of them cast downe their crosbowes, and dyde cutte their
+strynges, and retourned dysconfited.
+
+5. Whun the frenche kynge sawe them flye away, he sayd, slee these
+rascalles, for they shall lette and trouble us without reason: then ye
+shulde have sene the men of armes dasshe in among them, and kylled a
+great nombre of them; and ever styll the englysshmen shot where as
+they sawe thyckest preace; the sharpe arowes ranne into the men of
+armes, and into their horses, and many fell, horse and men, amōge
+the genowayes; and when they were downe, they coude not relyve agayne,
+the preace was so thycke, that one overthrewe another. And also amonge
+the englysshmen there were certayne rascalles that went a fote, with
+great knyves, and they went in among the men of armes, and slewe and
+murdredde many as they lay on the grounde, both erles, baronnes,
+knyghtes and squyers, whereof the kynge of Englande was after
+dyspleased, for he had rather they had bene taken prisoners.
+
+6. The valyant kyng of Behaygne, called Charles of Luzenbomge, sonne
+to the noble emperour Henry of Luzenbomge, for all that he was nyghe
+blynde, whun he understode the order of the batayle, he sayde to them
+about hym, where is the lorde Charles my son? his men sayde, sir, we
+can not tell, we thynke he be fyghtynge; thun he sayde, sirs, ye ar my
+men, my companyons, and frendes in this journey. I requyre you bring
+me so farre forwarde, that I may stryke one stroke with my swerde;
+they sayde they wolde do his commandement, and to the intent that they
+shulde not lese him in the prease, they tyed all their raynes of their
+bridelles eche to other, and sette the kynge before to accomplysshe
+his desyre, and so thei went on their ennemyes; the lorde Charles of
+Behaygne, his sonne, who wrote hymselfe kyng of Behaygne, and bare the
+armes, he came in good order to the batayle, but whāne he sawe that
+the matter went awrie on their partie, he departed, I can not tell you
+whiche waye, the kynge his father was so farre forwarde that he strake
+a stroke with his swerde, ye and mo thun foure, and fought valyuntly,
+and so dyde his compuny, and they advētured themselfe so forwarde,
+that they were ther all slayne, and the next day they were founde in
+the place about the kyng, and all their horses tyed eche to other.
+
+7. The erle of Alansone came to the batayle right ordy notlye, and
+fought with thenglysshmen; and the erle of Flaunders also on his
+parte; these two lordes with their cōpanyes wosted the englysshe
+archers, and came to the princes batayle, and there fought valyantly
+longe. The frenche kynge wolde fayne have come thyder whanne he saw
+their baners, but there was a great hedge of archers before hym. The
+same day the frenche kynge hadde gyven a great blacke courser to Sir
+John of Heynault, and he made the lorde Johan of Fussels to ryde on
+hym, and to bere his banerre; the same horse tooke the bridell in the
+tethe, and brought hym through all the currours of thē'glysshmen,
+and as he wolde have retourned agayne, he fell in a great dyke, and
+was sore hurt, and had been ther deed, and his page had not ben, who
+followed him through all the batayls, and sawe where his maister lay
+in the dyke, and had none other lette but for his horse, for
+thenglysshmen wolde not yssue out of their batayle, for takyng of any
+prisiner; thāne the page alyghted and relyved his maister, thun he
+went not backe agayn y^e same way that they came, there was to many in
+his way.
+
+8. This batyle bytwene Broy and Cressy, this Saturday was right cruell
+and fell, and many a feat of armes done, that came not to my
+knowledge; in the night, dyverse knyghtes and sqyers lost their
+maisters, and sometyme came on thenglysshmen, who receyved them in
+such wyse, that they were ever nighe slayne; for there was none taken
+to mercy nor to raunsome, for so thenglysshmen were determyned: in the
+mornyng the day of the batayle, certayne frenchmen and almaygnes
+perforce opyned the archers of the princes batayle, and came and
+fought with the men of armes hande to hande: than the seconde batayle
+of thenglysshmen came to sucour the princes batayle, the whiche was
+tyme, for they had as thān moche ado; and they with y^e prince sent
+a messanger to the kynge, who was on a lytell wyndmyll hyll; thun the
+knyght sayd to the kyng, sir, therle of Warwyke, and therle of
+Cāfort, Sir Reynolde Cobham, and other, suche as be about the
+prince your sonne, as feersly fought with all, and ar sore handled,
+wherefore they desyre you, that you and your batayle wolle come and
+ayde them, for if the frenchmen encrease, as they dout they woll, your
+sonne and they shall have much ado.
+
+9. Thun the kynge sayde, is my sonne deed or hurt, or on the yerthe
+felled? no sir, quoth the knyght, but he is hardely matched, wherefore
+he hath nede of your ayde. Well, sayde the king, returne to him, and
+to thrm that sent you hyther, and say to them, that they sende no more
+to me for an adventure that falleth, as long as my son is alyve, and
+also say to thē, that they suffre hym this day to wynne his
+spurres, for if god he pleased, I woll this journey be his, and the
+honoure therof, and to them that be aboute him. Thun the knyght
+returned agayn to thē, and shewed the kynges wordes, the which
+gretly encouraged them, and repoyned in that they had sende to the
+kynge as they dyd. Sir Godfray of Harecourt, wolde gladly that the
+erle of Harcourt, his brother, myghte have been saved, for he hurd say
+by thē that he sawe his baner, howe that he was ther in the felde
+on the french partie, but Sir Godfray coude not come to hym betymes
+for he was slayne or he coude coē at hym, and so also was therle of
+Almare, his nephue.
+
+10. In another place the erle of Aleuson, and therle of Flaunders,
+fought valyantly, every lorde under his owne banere; but finally they
+coude not resyst agaynt the payssance of thenglysshmen, and so ther
+they were also slayne, and dyvers knyghtes and sqyers, also therle of
+Lewes of Bloyes, nephue to the frenche kyng, and the duke of Lorayne,
+fought under their baners, but at last they were closed in among a
+cōpany of englysshmen and welshmen, and were there slayed, for all
+their powers. Also there was slayne the erle of Ausser, therle of
+Saynt Poule, and many others.
+
+11. In the evenynge, the frenche kynge, who had lefte about hym no
+more than a threscore persons, one and other, whereof Sir John of
+Heynalt was one, who had remounted ones the kynge, for his horse was
+slayne with an arowe, thā sayde to the kynge, sir, departe hense,
+for it is tyme, lese not yourselfe wylfully, if ye have losse at this
+tyme, ye shall recover it agaynt another season, and soo he took the
+kynge's horse by the brydell, and ledde hym away in a maner perforce;
+than the kyng rode tyll he came to the castell of Broy. The gate was
+closed, because it was by that tyme darke; than the kynge called the
+captayne, who came to the walles, and sayd, Who is that calleth there
+this tyme of night? than the kynge sayde, open your gate quickly, for
+this is the fortune of Fraunce; the captayne knewe than it was the
+kyng, and opyned the gate, and let downe the bridge; than the kyng
+entred, and he had with hym but fyve baronnes, Sir Johan of Heynault,
+Sir Charles of Monmorency, the lorde of Beaureive, the lorde Dobegny,
+and the lorde of Mountfort; the kynge wolde not tary there, but
+drāke and departed thense about mydnyght, and so rode by suche
+guydes as knewe the country, tyll he came in the mornynge to Anyeuse,
+and then he rested. This saturday the englysshmen never departed for
+their batayls for chasynge of any man, but kept styll their felde, and
+ever defended themselfe agaynst all such as came to assayle them; the
+batayle ended about evynsonge tyme.
+
+
+
+
+_XLVI.--THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT._
+
+
+    1.  Fair stood the wind for France
+        When we our sails advance,
+        Nor now to prove our chance
+          Longer will tarry;
+        But, putting to the main,
+        At Kaux, the mouth of Seine,
+        With all his martial train,
+          Landed King Harry.
+
+    2.  And taking many a fort,
+        Furnish'd in warlike sort,
+        March'd toward Agincourt
+          In happy hour;
+        Skirmishing day by day
+        With those that stop'd the way,
+        Where the French gen'ral lay
+          With all his power.
+
+    3.  Which in his height of pride,
+        King Henry to deride,
+        His ransom to provide
+          To the king sending;
+        Which he neglects the while,
+        As from a nation vile,
+        Yet with an angry smile,
+          Their fall portending.
+
+    4.  And turning to his men,
+        Quoth our brave Henry then,
+        Though they be one to ten,
+          Be not amazed.
+        Yet, have we well begun,
+        Battles so bravely won
+        Have ever to the sun
+          By fame been raised.
+
+    5.  And for myself, quoth he,
+        This my full rest shall be,
+        England ne'er mourn for me,
+          Nor more esteem me.
+        Victor I will remain,
+        Or on this earth lie slain,
+        Never shall she sustain
+          Loss to redeem me.
+
+    6.  Poictiers and Cressy tell,
+        When most their pride did swell,
+        Under our swords they fell,
+          No less our skill is,
+        Than when our grandsire great,
+        Claiming the regal seat,
+        By many a warlike feat,
+          Lop'd the French lilies.
+
+    7.  The Duke of York so dread
+        The eager vanward led;
+        With the main Henry sped
+          Amongst his henchmen.
+        Excester had the rear,
+        A braver man not there;
+        O Lord, how hot they were
+          On the false Frenchmen!
+
+    8.  They now to fight are gone,
+        Armor on armor shone,
+        Drum now to drum did groan,
+          To hear was wonder;
+        That with the cries they make,
+        The very earth did shake,
+        Trumpet to trumpet spake,
+          Thunder to thunder.
+
+    9.  Well it thine age became,
+        O noble Erpingham,
+        Which did the signal aim
+          To our hid forces;
+        When from a meadow by,
+        Like a storm suddenly,
+        The English archery
+          Struck the French horses.
+
+    10. With Spanish yew so strong,
+        Arrows a cloth-yard long,
+        That like to serpents stung,
+          Piercing the weather;
+        None from his fellow starts,
+        But playing manly parts,
+        And, like true English hearts,
+          Stuck close together.
+
+    11. When down their bows they threw
+        And forth their bilbows drew,
+        And on the French they flew;
+          Not one was tardy.
+        Arms from their shoulders sent,
+        Scalps to the teeth were rent,
+        Down the French peasants went,
+          Our men were hardy.
+
+    12. This while our noble king,
+        His broadsword brandishing,
+        Down the French host did ding,
+          As to o'erwhelm it;
+        And many a deep wound lent,
+        His arms with blood besprent,
+        And many a cruel dent
+          Bruisèd his helmet.
+
+    13. Glo'ster, that duke so good,
+        Next of the royal blood,
+        For famous English stood,
+          With his brave brother,
+        Clarence, in steel so bright,
+        Though but a maiden knight,
+        Yet in that furious fight
+          Scarce such another.
+
+    14. Warwick in blood did wade,
+        Oxford the foe invade,
+        And cruel slaughter made,
+          Still as they ran up;
+        Suffolk his axe did ply,
+        Beaumont and Willoughby;
+        Bore them right doughtily,
+          Ferrers and Fanhope.
+
+    15. Upon Saint Crispin's day
+        Fought was this noble fray,
+        Which fame did not delay
+          To England to carry.
+        O when shall Englishmen
+        With such acts fill a pen,
+        Or England breed again
+          Such a King Harry?
+
+              _Michael Drayton._
+
+
+      THE END.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+
+    * Punctuation errors have been corrected.
+
+    * Footnotes have been moved to the end of the respective story.
+
+    * Hyphenation of "housetops" and "house-tops" left as printed.
+
+    * Pg 51 Corrected spelling of "breastplace" to "breastplate" in
+    "... upon Orlando's breastplace that his sword ..."
+
+    * Pg 137 Corrected spelling of "acccess" to "access" in "... might
+    have acccess to them"
+
+    * Pg 148 Corrected spelling of "forescore" to "fourscore" in "... on
+    the left, and forescore on the ..."
+
+    * Pg 176 Corrected spelling of "Treves" to "Trèves" in "... Roman
+    road from Treves as far as the ..."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories of the Olden Time, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF THE OLDEN TIME ***
+
+***** This file should be named 34083-0.txt or 34083-0.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/0/8/34083/
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/34083-8.txt b/34083-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ace24d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,7424 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories of the Olden Time, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Stories of the Olden Time
+       (Historical Series--Book IV Part I)
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: October 16, 2010 [EBook #34083]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF THE OLDEN TIME ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[illustration]
+
+
+
+
+  _HISTORICAL SERIES--BOOK IV PART I_
+
+  STORIES
+  OF THE OLDEN TIME
+
+  COMPILED AND ARRANGED
+  BY JAMES JOHONNOT
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  NEW YORK  CINCINNATI  CHICAGO
+  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1889,
+  BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
+
+  E. P. 12
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+When we go back to the early history of any people, we find that fact
+and fiction are strangely blended, and that the stories told are
+largely made up of traditions distorted and exaggerated by imagination
+and time. The myth, however, is valuable as representing the first
+steps of a nation in the evolution of its literature from a barbaric
+state, and as indicating special national characteristics.
+
+The myths of Greece, for example, are chiefly derived from the
+traditions extant when the alphabet was invented, and are preserved in
+the poetic stories of Homer and Virgil. Combined, they make that
+mythology which grew up in Greece, and which now so largely permeates
+the literature of every civilized language.
+
+The first stories given in this book are myths. They stand first in
+the order of precedence because they stand first in the order of time.
+
+The myths are followed by a few parables and fables, forms of stories
+which from the earliest times have been used to apply some
+well-established principle of morals to practical conduct.
+
+Next follow legends, where we are called upon to separate the probable
+from the improbable, the true from the false. Herodotus, the father of
+history, wrote his account of the "Persian Empire" several hundred
+years after the events took place which he has recorded. The stories
+had been preserved to his day by tradition.
+
+In the traditional stories and in the truer records which follow, the
+pupil will see the play of the same emotions and passions which
+actuate men at the present time, and the careers of the great
+conquerors, Frederic and Napoleon, differ little essentially from
+those of Alexander and C�sar. Tyranny remains the same forever,
+encroaching upon human liberty and limiting the field of human
+conduct. It will be seen also that from the state of barbarism there
+has been a gradual evolution which more and more places men under the
+protection of equal laws.
+
+These books are to be used mainly for the stories they contain. By a
+simple reproduction in speech or in writing, we have the best possible
+language lesson. The value of the books may be entirely lost by
+catechisms which demand the literal reproduction of the text.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  MYTHS.
+
+                                                             PAGE
+
+        I. Arion                                                7
+       II. Arachne                                             12
+      III. Polyphemus                                          15
+       IV. Ulysses's Return                                    17
+        V. Thor's Visit to Jotunheim                           20
+
+
+  PARABLES AND FABLES.
+
+       VI. The Wolf and the Dog                                24
+      VII. Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard             26
+     VIII. Parable of the Sower and the Seed                   28
+       IX. Pairing-Time anticipated                            30
+
+
+  LEGENDS.
+
+        X. The Gift of Tritemius                               33
+       XI. Damon and Pythias                                   36
+      XII. King Canute                                         40
+     XIII. A Norseman's Sword                                  43
+       IV. The Story of King Alfred and St. Cuthbert           46
+       XV. A Roland for an Oliver                              49
+      XVI. The Legend of Macbeth                               52
+
+
+  OLD BALLADS.
+
+     XVII. Chevy-Chase                                         59
+    XVIII. Valentine and Ursine                                65
+
+
+  EARLY EASTERN RECORD.
+
+      XIX. Sennacherib                                         71
+       XX. Glaucon                                             75
+      XXI. Cyrus and his Grandfather                           80
+     XXII. Cyrus and the Armenians                             83
+    XXIII. The Macedonian Empire                               90
+     XXIV. Alexander's Conquests                               98
+      XXV. Judas Maccab�us, the Hebrew William Tell           106
+
+
+  ROMAN RECORD.
+
+     XXVI. Tarquin the Wicked                                 117
+    XXVII. The Roman Republic                                 127
+   XXVIII. Cincinnatus                                        137
+     XXIX. The Roman Father                                   141
+      XXX. Archimedes                                         150
+     XXXI. The Death of C�sar                                 154
+    XXXII. How Romans lived                                   161
+
+
+  MEDI�VAL RECORD.
+
+   XXXIII. Conversion of the English                          169
+    XXXIV. Leo the Slave                                      173
+     XXXV. The Moors in Spain                                 179
+    XXXVI. Charlemagne                                        183
+
+
+  WESTERN RECORD.
+
+   XXXVII. The Norsemen                                       191
+  XXXVIII. Rolf the Ganger                                    200
+    XXXIX. The True Story of Macbeth                          206
+       XL. Duke William of Normandy                           211
+      XLI. The Norman Conquest                                217
+     XLII. King Richard C[oe]ur de Lion in the Holy Land      224
+    XLIII. King John and the Charter                          230
+     XLIV. An Early Election to Parliament                    237
+      XLV. The Battle of Cressy                               245
+     XLVI. The Battle of Agincourt                            251
+
+
+
+
+MYTHS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+_I.--ARION._
+
+
+1. Arion was a famous musician, and dwelt at the court of Periander,
+King of Corinth, with whom he was a great favorite. There was a
+musical contest in Sicily, and Arion longed to compete for the prize.
+He told his wish to Periander, who besought him like a brother to give
+up the thought. "Pray stay with me," he said, "and be contented. He
+who strives to win may lose." Arion answered: "A wandering life best
+suits the free heart of a poet. A talent which a god bestowed upon me
+I would fain make a source of pleasure to others; and if I win the
+prize, how will the enjoyment of it be increased by the consciousness
+of my wide-spread fame!"
+
+2. He went, won the prize, and embarked with his wealth in a
+Corinthian vessel for home. On the second morning after setting sail,
+the wind breathed mild and fair. "O Periander!" he exclaimed, "dismiss
+your fears. Soon shall you forget them in my embrace. With what lavish
+offerings will we display our gratitude to the gods, and how merry
+will we be at the festal board!" The wind and sea continued favorable,
+not a cloud dimmed the firmament. He had not trusted too much to the
+ocean, but to man he had. He overheard the seamen plotting to get
+possession of his treasure. Presently they surrounded him, loud and
+mutinous, and said: "Arion, you must die! If you would have a grave on
+the shore, yield yourself to die on this spot; but if otherwise, cast
+yourself into the sea."
+
+3. "Will nothing satisfy you but my life?" said he; "take my gold in
+welcome. I willingly buy my life at that price." "No, no; we can not
+spare you. Your life would be too dangerous to us. Where could we go to
+escape Periander if he should know that you had been robbed by us? Your
+gold would be of little use to us, if, on returning home, we could never
+more be free from fear." "Grant me, then," said he, "a last request,
+since naught will prevail to save my life, that I may die as I have
+lived, as becomes a bard. When I shall have sung my death-song, and my
+harp-strings cease to vibrate, then I will bid farewell to life, and
+yield to my fate." This prayer, like the others, would have been
+unheeded--they thought only of their booty--but to hear so famous a
+musician moved their hearts. "Suffer me," he added, "to arrange my
+dress. Apollo will not favor me unless I am clad in my minstrel garb."
+
+4. He clothed himself in gold and purple, fair to see, his tunic fell
+around him in graceful folds, jewels adorned his arms, his brow was
+crowned with a golden wreath, and over his neck and shoulders flowed
+his hair, perfumed with odors. His left hand held the lyre, his right
+the ivory wand with which he struck the chords. Like one inspired he
+seemed to drink the morning air and glitter in the morning ray. The
+seamen gazed in admiration. He strode forward to the vessel's side,
+and looked down into the blue sea.
+
+5. Addressing his lyre, he sang: "Companion of my voice, come with me
+to the realm of shades! Though Cerberus may growl, we know the power
+of song can tame his rage. Ye heroes of Elysium, who have passed the
+darkling flood--ye happy souls, soon shall I join your band. Yet can
+ye relieve my grief? Alas! I leave my friend behind me. Thou, who
+didst find thy Eurydice, and lose her again as soon as found, when she
+had vanished like a dream, how thou didst hate the cheerful light! I
+must away, but I will not fear. The gods look down upon us. Ye who
+slay me unoffending, when I am no more your time of trembling shall
+come! Ye Nereids, receive your guest, who throws himself upon your
+mercy!" So saying, he sprang into the deep sea. The waves covered him,
+and the seamen held their way, fancying themselves safe from all
+danger of detection.
+
+6. But the strains of his music had drawn around him the inhabitants
+of the deep to listen, and dolphins followed the ship as if charmed by
+a spell. While he struggled in the waves a dolphin offered him its
+back, and carried him mounted thereon safe to shore. At the spot where
+he landed, a monument of brass was afterward erected upon the rocky
+shore to preserve the memory of the event.
+
+7. When Arion and the dolphin parted, each returning to his own
+element, Arion thus poured forth his thanks: "Farewell, thou faithful,
+friendly fish! Would that I could reward thee! but thou canst not wend
+with me, nor I with thee; companionship we may not have. May Galatea,
+queen of the deep, accord thee her favor, and thou, proud of the
+burden, draw her chariot over the smooth mirror of the deep!"
+
+[Illustration: _Arion and the Dolphin._]
+
+8. Arion hastened from the shore, and soon saw before him the towers
+of Corinth. He journeyed on, harp in hand, singing as he went, full of
+love and happiness, forgetting his losses, and mindful only of what
+remained, his friend and his lyre. He entered the hospitable halls,
+and was soon clasped in the embrace of Periander. "I come back to
+thee, my friend," he said. "The talent which a god bestowed has been
+the delight of thousands, but false knaves have stripped me of my
+well-earned treasure." Then he told all the wonderful events that had
+befallen him. Periander, who heard him in amazement, said: "Shall such
+wickedness triumph? Then in vain is power lodged in my hands. That we
+may discover the criminals you must lie here concealed, so that they
+come without suspicion."
+
+9. When the ship arrived in the harbor, he summoned the mariners
+before him. "Have you heard anything of Arion?" he inquired. "I
+anxiously look for his return." They replied, "We left him well and
+prosperous in Tarentum." As they said these words, Arion stepped forth
+and faced them. He was clad in all his glory as when he leaped into
+the sea. They fell prostrate at his feet, as if a lightning-bolt had
+struck them. "We meant to murder him, and he has become a god! O
+earth, open and receive us!" Then Periander spoke: "He lives, the
+master of the lay! kind Heaven protects the poet's life. As for you, I
+invoke not the spirit of vengeance; Arion wishes not your blood. Ye
+slaves of avarice, begone! Seek some barbarous land, and never may
+aught beautiful delight your souls!"
+
+
+
+
+_II.--ARACHNE._
+
+
+1. In the old mythology it was considered a great sin for any mortal
+to enter into a contest with a god, and whenever one did so he
+incurred a fearful penalty. The maiden Arachne early showed marvelous
+skill in embroidery and all kinds of needle-work. So beautiful were
+her designs that the nymphs themselves would leave their groves and
+fountains, and come and gaze delighted upon her work. It was not only
+beautiful when it was done, but was beautiful in the doing. As they
+watched the delicate touch of her fingers they declared that the
+goddess Minerva must have been her teacher. This Arachne denied, and,
+grown very vain of her many compliments, she said: "Let Minerva try
+her skill with mine, and if beaten I will pay the penalty!"
+
+2. Minerva heard this, and was greatly displeased at the vanity and
+presumption of the maiden. Assuming the form of an old woman she went
+to Arachne and gave her some friendly advice. "I have much
+experience," she said, "and I hope you will not despise my counsel.
+Challenge mortals as much as you like, but do not try and compete with
+a goddess!" Arachne stopped her spinning, and angrily replied: "keep
+your counsel for your daughters and handmaids; for my part, I know
+what I say, and I stand to it. I am not afraid of the goddess."
+
+3. Minerva then dropped her disguise, and stood before the company in
+her proper person. The nymphs at once paid her homage. Arachne alone
+had no fear. She stood by her resolve, and the contest proceeded. Each
+took her station, and attached the web to the beam. Both worked with
+speed; their skillful hands moved rapidly, and the excitement of the
+contest made the labor light.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+4. Minerva wrought into her web the scene of her contest with Neptune.
+The gods are all represented in their most august forms, and the
+picture is noble in its perfect simplicity and chaste beauty. In the
+four corners she wrought scenes where mortals entered into contest
+with gods and were punished for their presumption. These were meant as
+warnings to her rival to give up the contest before it was too late.
+
+5. Arachne filled her web with subjects designedly chosen to exhibit
+the failings and errors of the gods. Every story to their discredit
+she appears to have treasured up. The last scene she represented was
+that of Jupiter in the form of a bull carrying off Europa across the
+sea, leaving the heart-broken mother to wander in search of her child
+until she died.
+
+6. Minerva examined the work of her rival, and doubly angry at the
+presumption and the sacrilege manifested in her choice of subjects,
+struck her web with a shuttle and tore it from the loom. She then
+touched the forehead of Arachne and made her feel her guilt and shame.
+This she could not endure, and went out and hanged herself. Minerva
+pitied her, as she saw her hanging by a rope. "Live, guilty woman,"
+said she; "and that you may preserve the memory of this lesson,
+continue to hang, you and your descendants, to all future times." She
+sprinkled her with the juice of aconite, and immediately her form
+shrunk up, her head grew small, and her fingers grew to her sides and
+served as legs. All the rest of her is body, out of which she spins
+her thread, often hanging suspended by it in the same attitude as when
+Minerva touched her and transformed her into a spider.
+
+
+
+
+_III.--POLYPHEMUS._
+
+
+1. When Troy was captured, Ulysses, the King of Ithaca, set sail for
+his native country. With favorable winds he should have reached home
+in a few months, but he met with so many adventures that it was ten
+years before he saw the shores of his beloved Ithaca. At one time he
+and his companions landed upon an unknown shore in search of food.
+Ulysses took with him a jar of wine as a present should he meet with
+any inhabitants. Presently they came to a large cave, and entered it.
+There they found lambs and kids in their pens, and a table spread with
+cheese, fruits, and bowls of milk. But soon the master of the cave,
+Polyphemus, returned, and Ulysses saw that they were in the land of
+the Cyclops, a race of immense giants. The name means "round eye," and
+these giants were so called because they had but one eye, and that was
+placed in the middle of the forehead.
+
+2. Polyphemus drove into the cave the sheep and the goats to be
+milked, and then placed a huge rock at the mouth of the cave to serve
+as a door. While attending to his supper he chanced to spy the Greeks,
+who were hidden in one corner. He growled out to them, demanding to
+know who they were, and where from. Ulysses replied, stating that they
+were returning from the siege of Troy, and that they had landed in
+search of provisions. At this Polyphemus gave no answer, but seizing a
+couple of Greeks, he killed and ate them up on the spot. He then went
+to sleep, and his snoring sounded like thunder in the ears of the
+terrified Greeks all the livelong night. In the morning the giant
+arose, ate two more men, and went out with his flocks, having
+carefully secured the door so that the remainder could not get away.
+
+3. Then Ulysses contrived a plan to punish the giant, and get away
+from his clutches. He found a great bar of wood which the giant had
+cut for a staff. This his men sharpened at one end and hardened at the
+fire. Then a number were selected to use it, and they awaited events.
+In the evening Polyphemus returned, and having eaten his two men he
+lay down to sleep. But Ulysses presented him with some of the wine
+from the jar which the giant eagerly drank, and called for more. In a
+short time he was quite drunk, and then he asked Ulysses his name, and
+he replied: "My name is Noman."
+
+[Illustration: _Polyphemus._]
+
+4. When the giant was fairly asleep, the sailors seized the sharpened
+stick, and, aiming it directly at his single eye, they rushed forward
+with all their might. The eye was put out, and the giant was left
+blind. He felt around the cave trying to catch his tormentors, but
+they contrived to get out of his way. He then howled so loud that his
+neighbors came to see what was the matter, when he said, "I am hurt,
+Noman did it!" Then they said, "If no man did it, we can not help
+you." So they went home, leaving him groaning.
+
+5. In the morning Polyphemus rolled away the stone to let out his
+sheep and goats, and the Greeks contrived to get out with them without
+being discovered. Once out, they lost no time in driving the flocks
+down to the shore, and then with their vessels well provisioned they
+set sail once more for their native land.
+
+
+
+
+_IV.--ULYSSES'S RETURN._
+
+
+1. Ulysses, the lord of Ithaca, went to assist the Greeks in the siege
+of Troy. For ten long years the war lasted, and when Troy fell,
+Ulysses was ten more years in reaching his home. He met with so many
+accidents and adventures that delayed him, that even his stout heart
+almost gave out as he thought of the wife and children waiting for him
+through all these weary years. In the mean time his son Telemachus had
+grown to manhood, and had gone in search of his father.
+
+2. During all this time his wife, Queen Penelope, never lost hope, but
+lived daily looking for her husband to come sailing over the sea. But
+while the master was away, more than a hundred young lords laid claim
+to the hand of Penelope, so as to obtain the power and riches of
+Ulysses. They lorded it over the palace and people as if they were the
+owners of both, and they paid no attention to the wishes of Penelope,
+as she was but a woman, and could not protect herself. Her only safety
+lay in the fact that the suitors were jealous of each other, and no
+one could make any advance until Penelope had made her selection.
+
+[Illustration: _Ulysses and his Dog._]
+
+3. At last Ulysses returned in the disguise of a beggar. No one knew
+him except his old dog Argus, who, in his excess of joy, died while
+licking his hands. He made himself known to Eum�us, a faithful
+servant, and by him was presented to Telemachus, who had just
+returned. Great was the joy of father and son at thus meeting each
+other. Then the three laid a plan to punish the suitors and to rid
+Ithaca of their presence. In carrying out this plan, Telemachus went
+to his mother's palace publicly, and the suitors bade him welcome,
+though they secretly hated him, and had tried to take his life. Here
+he found feasting going on, and, at his request, the supposed beggar
+was admitted to the foot of the table.
+
+4. Penelope had put off her decision on various pretexts until now,
+when there appeared no other reason for delay. So she announced that
+she would accept the one who would shoot an arrow through twelve rings
+arranged in a line. A bow formerly used by Ulysses was brought in and
+all other arms removed. All things being ready, the first thing to be
+done was to attach the string to the bow, which required the bow to be
+bent. Telemachus tried and failed. Then each of the suitors tried in
+turn, and all failed. They even rubbed the bow with tallow, but it
+would not bend.
+
+5. Here Ulysses spoke and said: "Beggar as I am, I once was a soldier,
+and there is some strength in these old limbs of mine yet. Let me
+try." The suitors hooted at him, and would have turned him out of the
+hall; but Telemachus said it was best to gratify the old man, and so
+put the bow in his hand. Ulysses took it and easily adjusted the cord.
+Then he selected an arrow and sent it through the twelve rings at the
+first shot. Before the suitors recovered from their astonishment he
+sent another through the heart of the most insolent of them.
+Telemachus, Eum�us, and another faithful servant sprang to their aid.
+The suitors looked around for arms, but there were none. Ulysses did
+not let them remain long in doubt; he announced himself as the
+long-lost chief whose house they had invaded, whose substance they had
+squandered, and whose wife and son they had persecuted for ten long
+years, and told them he meant to have ample vengeance. All the suitors
+were slain but two, and Ulysses was left master of his own palace and
+the possessor of his kingdom and wife.
+
+[Illustration: _Penelope and Ulysses's Bow._]
+
+
+
+
+_V.--THOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM._
+
+
+1. Thor, the god of the Northmen, who always carried a hammer to make
+his way or obtain his wishes, heard of the giant's country, Jotunheim,
+of which Utgard was the capital, and he resolved on a visit to that
+region to try his strength with any one whom he might find. So,
+accompanied by his servants, Thiolfi and Loki, he set out. Thiolfi was
+of all men the swiftest on foot. At nightfall they took refuge from a
+storm in a very large building which they imperfectly saw in the dim
+light, but were kept awake by loud thunder which shook their abode
+like an earthquake. In the morning it was found that the thunder was
+the snoring of a huge giant sleeping near by, and that the building in
+which they had taken shelter was the giant's glove.
+
+2. The giant, whose name was Skrymer, knew Thor, and proposed that
+they should travel together, to which the god consented. At night they
+encamped, and soon the giant was asleep. Thor, finding that he could
+not untie the provision-bag which the giant had carried all day, went
+into a rage and struck the sleeper a mighty blow with, his hammer.
+Skrymer awoke and said, "The leaves are falling, for one just now fell
+upon my breast." They lay down again, and soon the giant began to
+snore so loud that Thor could get no sleep, so he grasped the hammer
+in both hands and dealt him another blow. Skrymer awoke and called
+out, "How fares it with thee, Thor? A bird must be overhead--a bunch
+of moss has just now fallen upon me." Just before daylight Thor
+thought that he would end this matter then, so he seized his hammer
+and threw it with all his might. Skrymer awoke, and stroking his cheek
+said, "An acorn fell upon my head. But let us be stirring, as we have
+a long day before us."
+
+3. When within sight of the city Skrymer turned off, as his route lay in
+another direction, and soon Thor and his companions were in presence of
+the giant king. Addressing Thor, the king asked if he or his companions
+could do anything better than others, for he said that no one was
+permitted to remain in the city unless he excelled in something.
+
+4. Loki, who was a great eater, proposed a feast, and the king called
+Logi to come out and compete with him. A trough filled with meat was
+placed in the midst of the hall, and Loki beginning at one end soon
+ate all the flesh to the middle of the trough; but it was found that
+Logi had devoured both flesh and bones and the trough to boot. So the
+company adjudged Loki vanquished.
+
+5. Next Thiolfi presented himself to run a race, and the king brought
+out a young man named Hugi to run with him. Hugi ran over the course
+and turning back met Thiolfi but just started. Then the king remarked
+that if Thor could not do better than his servants, it were well that
+he stay at home. Then a drinking-match was proposed, and a drinking
+horn was brought in. It was not very large, but was of great length,
+and the king remarked that any one of his subjects ought to empty it
+at a single draught, but none would fail to do so in three draughts.
+Thor drank long and deep, but the horn was as full as before; a second
+trial met with a similar failure. Then Thor straightened himself for a
+mighty effort and drank as the thirsty earth drinks of the rains from
+heaven. The liquor was diminished, but still the horn was nearly full.
+"I perceive," said the king, "that thou canst not be very thirsty, or
+thou wouldst drink more."
+
+6. "What new trial do you propose?" said Thor. "We have a trifling
+game here," said the king, "in which we exercise none but children. It
+consists in merely lifting my cat from the ground, and I should not
+have mentioned it to the great Thor if I had not observed that thou
+art by no means what we took thee for." As he finished speaking, a
+large gray cat sprang into the hall. Thor put forth all his mighty
+strength three times without lifting her, though on the third trial
+one foot was raised from the floor.
+
+7. "Well," said the king, "only one trial remains for thee. Thou must
+wrestle with somebody, and after thy failures to-day none of our men
+will wrestle with thee." So saying, the king called upon his old
+nurse, a toothless crone, shaking and trembling on the edge of the
+grave. Thor grasped her and put forth a mighty effort, but the old
+woman stood fast. At last she grasped him in turn, and he was thrown
+upon his knee. The king here interfered, and the contests came to an
+end. The travelers, however, were royally entertained, and after a
+good night's rest, and a bountiful breakfast, they bade the king
+good-by, and set out on their return.
+
+8. Toward night they overtook a traveler, who proved to be Skrymer,
+their former companion and guide, and they encamped together in the
+very wood where they passed their first night together. The giant,
+perceiving the dejected looks of Thor, said, "Something appears to
+trouble thee; has thy journey gone amiss?" Thereupon Thor related the
+whole story of his failures. "Then," said the giant, "take heart, for
+thou hast performed great wonders, but hast been the victim of
+delusions. Observe me closely!" Thor looked, and saw that Skrymer and
+the king were one and the same person.
+
+9. "Now," said the king, "Loki devoured all that was set before him,
+but Logi was Fire, and consumed trough and all. Hugi, with whom
+Thiolfi was running, was Thought, and not the swiftest runner can keep
+pace with that. The horn that thou failedst to empty had its lower end
+in the sea, and thou wilt see how the very ocean is lowered by thy
+draught. The cat is the animal that bears up the world, and thy last
+mighty effort caused the solid earth to shake as with an earthquake.
+The old woman with whom thou wrestledst was old age, and she throws
+everybody." The king then pointed out the place where Thor dealt his
+blows on the night of their first meeting, and lo! three mighty chasms
+showed where the solid mountains had been rent asunder.
+
+
+
+
+PARABLES AND FABLES.
+
+
+
+
+_VI.--THE WOLF AND THE DOG._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Lean, hungry wolf, fell in one moonlight night with a jolly, plump,
+well-fed mastiff, and after the first greetings were passed, the wolf
+accosted him: "You look extremely well," said he, "I think I never saw a
+more graceful, comely personage; but how comes it about, I beseech you,
+that you should live so much better than I? I may say, without vanity,
+that I venture fifty times more than you do, and yet I am almost ready
+to perish with hunger." The dog answered very bluntly: "Why, you may
+live as well as I if you will do the same services for it." The wolf
+pricked up his ears at the proposal, and requested to be informed what
+he must do to earn such plentiful meals. "Very little," answered the
+dog; "only to guard the house at night, and keep it from thieves and
+beggars." "With all my heart," rejoined the wolf, "for at present I have
+but a sorry time of it; and, I think, to change my hard lodging in the
+woods, where I endure rain, frost, and snow, for a warm roof over my
+head and plenty of food, will be no bad bargain." "True," said the dog,
+"therefore, you have nothing more to do than to follow me."
+
+2. As they were jogging along together, the wolf spied a circle, worn
+round his friend's neck, and, being almost as curious as some of a
+higher species, he could not forbear asking what it meant. "Pooh!
+nothing," said the dog, "or at most a mere trifle." "Nay, but pray,"
+urged the wolf, "inform me." "Why, then," said the dog, "perhaps it is
+the collar to which my chain is fastened; for I am sometimes tied up
+in the day-time, because I am a little fierce, and might bite people,
+and am only let loose at night. But this is done with design to make
+me sleep in the day, more than anything else, that I may watch the
+better in the night-time. As soon as the twilight appears, I am turned
+loose, and may go where I please. Then my master brings me plates of
+bones from the table with his own hands; and whatever scraps are left
+by the family fall to my share, for you must know I am a favorite with
+everybody. So, seeing how you are to live, come along! Why, what is
+the matter with you?" "I beg your pardon," replied the wolf, "but you
+may keep your happiness to yourself. I am resolved to have no share in
+your dinners. Half a meal, with liberty, is, in my estimation, worth a
+full one without it."
+
+
+
+
+_VII.--PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD._
+
+
+1. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder,
+which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.
+
+2. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent
+them into his vineyard.
+
+3. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle
+in the market-place,
+
+4. And said unto them; go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is
+right I will give you. And they went their way.
+
+5. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
+
+6. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing
+idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
+
+7. They say unto him, because no man hath hired us. He saith unto
+them, go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that
+shall ye receive.
+
+8. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his
+steward, call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from
+the last unto the first.
+
+9. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they
+received every man a penny.
+
+10. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have
+received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
+
+11. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man
+of the house,
+
+12. Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made
+them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+13. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong:
+didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
+
+14. Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last,
+even as unto thee.
+
+15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine
+eye evil, because I am good?
+
+16. So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be
+called, but few chosen.
+
+                                        (_St. Matthew, xx. 1-16._)
+
+
+
+
+_VIII.--PARABLE OF THE SOWER AND THE SEED._
+
+
+1. The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
+
+2. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he
+went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
+
+3. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a
+sower went forth to sow;
+
+4. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side, and the fowls
+came and devoured them up:
+
+5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and
+forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
+
+6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had
+no root, they withered away.
+
+7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked
+them:
+
+8. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a
+hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold.
+
+9. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
+
+10. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto
+them in parables?
+
+11. He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know
+the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
+
+[Illustration: _A Sower went forth to Sow._]
+
+12. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more
+abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even
+that he hath.
+
+13. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see
+not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
+
+                                      (_St. Matthew xiii, 1-13._)
+
+
+
+
+_IX.--PAIRING-TIME ANTICIPATED._
+
+
+    1. I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau
+       If birds confabulate or no;
+       'Tis clear that they were always able
+       To hold discourse,--at least in fable;
+       And even the child, who knows no better
+       Than to interpret by the letter
+       A story of a cock and bull,
+       Must have a most uncommon skull.
+
+    2. It chanced then on a winter's day,
+       But warm and bright and calm as May,
+       The birds, conceiving a design
+       To forestall sweet Saint Valentine,
+       In many an orchard, copse, and grove,
+       Assembled on affairs of love,
+       And with much twitter and much chatter,
+       Began to agitate the matter.
+
+    3. At length a bull-finch, who could boast
+       More years and wisdom than the most,
+       Entreated, opening wide his beak
+       A moment's liberty to speak,
+       And silence publicly enjoined,
+       Briefly delivered thus his mind:
+       "My friends! be cautious how ye treat
+       The subject upon which we meet;
+       I fear we shall have winter yet."
+
+    4. A finch, whose tongue knew no control,
+       With golden wings and satin poll,
+       A last year's bird, who ne'er had tried
+       What marriage means, thus pert, replied:
+       "Methinks the gentleman," quoth she,
+       "Opposite in the apple-tree,
+       By his good will, would keep us single
+       'Till yonder heaven and earth shall mingle,
+       Or, what is likelier to befall,
+       'Till death exterminate us all.
+       I marry without more ado!
+       My dear Dick Redcap, what say you?"
+
+    5. Dick heard, and tweedling, ogling, bridling,
+       Turning short round, strutting and sidling,
+       Attested glad his approbation
+       Of an immediate conjugation.
+       Their sentiments so well expressed,
+       Mightily influenced all the rest.
+       All paired and each pair built a nest.
+
+    6. But though the birds were thus in haste,
+       The leaves came out not quite so fast,
+       And destiny, that sometimes bears
+       An aspect stern on men's affairs,
+       Not altogether smiled on their's.
+       The wing of late breathed gently forth,
+       Now shifted east and east by north.
+       Bare trees and shrubs, but ill, you know
+       Could shelter them from rain or snow.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+    7. Stepping into their nests they paddled;
+       Themselves were chilled, their eggs were addled;
+       Soon every father bird and mother,
+       Grew quarrelsome and pecked each other,
+       Parted without the least regret--
+       Except that they had ever met--
+       And learned in future to be wiser
+       Than to neglect a good adviser.
+
+    8. Moral:
+           Misses, the tale that I relate,
+             This moral seems to carry--
+           Choose not alone a proper mate,
+             But proper time to marry.
+
+                                      _Cowper._
+
+
+
+
+LEGENDS.
+
+
+
+
+_X.--THE GIFT OF TRITEMIUS._
+
+
+    1. Tritemius, of Herbipolis, one day,
+       While kneeling at the altar's foot to pray,
+       Alone with God, as was his pious choice,
+       Heard from without a miserable voice,
+       A sound which seemed of all sad things to tell,
+       As of a lost soul crying out of hell.
+
+    2. Thereat the abbot paused; the chain whereby
+       His thoughts went upward broken by that cry;
+       And, looking from the casement, saw below
+       A wretched woman, with gray hair a-flow,
+       And withered hands held up to him, who cried
+       For alms as one who might not be denied.
+
+[Illustration: _The gift of Tritemius._]
+
+    3. She cried, "For the dear love of Him who gave
+       His life for ours, my child from bondage save,--
+       My beautiful, brave first-born, chained with slaves
+       In the Moor's galley, where the sun-smit waves
+       Lap the white walls of Tunis!" "What I can
+       I give," Tritemius said: "my prayers." "O man
+       Of God," she cried, for grief had made her bold,
+       "Mock me not thus; I ask not prayers, but gold.
+       Words will not serve me, alms alone suffice;
+       Even while I speak, perchance, my first-born dies."
+
+    4. "Woman," Tritemius answered, "from our door
+       None go unfed; hence are we always poor;
+       A single soldo is our only store.
+       Thou hast our prayers; what can we give thee more?"
+
+    5. "Give me," she said, "the silver candlesticks
+       On either side of the great crucifix;
+       God may well spare them on his errands sped,
+       Or he can give you golden ones instead."
+
+    6. Then spake Tritemius: "Even as thy word,
+       Woman, so be it! (Our most gracious Lord,
+       Who loveth mercy more than sacrifice,
+       Pardon me if a human soul I prize
+       Above the gifts upon his altar piled!)
+       Take what thou askest, and redeem thy child."
+
+    7. But his hand trembled as the holy alms
+       He placed within the beggar's eager palms;
+       And as she vanished down the linden shade,
+       He bowed his head, and for forgiveness prayed.
+
+    8. So the day passed, and when the twilight came
+       He woke to find the chapel all aflame,
+       And, dumb with grateful wonder, to behold
+       Upon the altar candlesticks of gold!
+
+                                        _Whittier._
+
+
+
+
+_XI.--DAMON AND PYTHIAS._
+
+
+1. About four hundred years before the Christian era, the government
+of Syracuse fell into the hands of Dionysius, a successful general of
+the army. He dispossessed the magistrates whom the people elected, and
+was therefore a usurper. While ruling justly in the main, he had a
+capricious temper, and often in his rage performed actions which he
+sincerely regretted in his sober moments. He was a good scholar, and
+very fond of philosophy and poetry, and he delighted to have learned
+men around him, and he had naturally a generous spirit; but the sense
+that he was in a position that did not belong to him, and that every
+one hated him for assuming it, made him very harsh and suspicious. It
+is of him that the story is told, that he had a chamber hollowed in
+the rock near his state prison, and constructed with galleries to
+conduct sounds like an ear, so that he might overhear the conversation
+of his captives; and of him, too, is told that famous anecdote which
+has become a proverb, that on hearing a friend, named Damocles,
+express a wish to be in his situation for a single day, he took him at
+his word, and Damocles found himself at a banquet with everything that
+could delight his senses, delicious food, costly wine, flowers,
+perfumes, music, but with a sword with the point almost touching his
+head, and hanging by a single horse-hair! This was to show the
+condition in which a usurper lived.
+
+[Illustration: _Damon and Pythias._]
+
+2. Thus Dionysius was in constant dread. He had a wide trench round his
+bedroom, with a drawbridge that he drew up and put down with his own
+hands; and he put one barber to death for boasting that he held a razor
+to the tyrant's throat every morning. After this he made his young
+daughters shave him; and by-and-by he would not trust them with a
+razor, and caused them to singe off his beard with hot nut-shells.
+
+3. One philosopher, named Philoxenus, he sent to a dungeon for finding
+fault with his poetry, but he afterward composed another piece, which
+he thought so superior that he could not be content without sending
+for this adverse critic to hear it. When he had finished reading it,
+he looked to Philoxenus for a compliment; but the philosopher only
+turned round to the guards, and said dryly, "Carry me back to prison."
+This time Dionysius had the sense to laugh, and forgive his honesty.
+
+4. All these stories may not be true; but that they should have been
+current in the ancient world, shows what was the character of the man
+of whom they were told, how stern and terrible was his anger, and how
+easily it was incurred. Among those who came under it was a
+Pythagorean called Pythias, who was sentenced to death, according to
+the usual fate of those who fell under his suspicion.
+
+5. Pythias had lands and relations in Greece, and he entreated as a
+favor to be allowed to return thither and arrange his affairs,
+engaging to return within a specified time and suffer death. The
+tyrant laughed his request to scorn. Once safe out of Sicily, who
+would answer for his return? Pythias made reply that he had a friend
+who would become security for his return; and while Dionysius, the
+miserable man who trusted nobody, was ready to scoff at his
+simplicity, another Pythagorean, by name Damon, came forward and
+offered to become surety for his friend, engaging that, if Pythias did
+not return according to promise, to suffer death in his stead.
+
+6. Dionysius, much astonished, consented to let Pythias go, marveling
+what would be the issue of the affair. Time went on, and Pythias did
+not appear. The Syracusans watched Damon, but he showed no
+uneasiness. He said he was secure of his friend's truth and honor, and
+that if any accident had caused his delay, he should rejoice in dying
+to save the life of one so dear to him.
+
+7. Even to the last day Damon continued serene and content, however it
+might fall out; nay, even when the very hour drew nigh and still no
+Pythias. His trust was so perfect that he did not even grieve at having
+to die for a faithless friend who left him to the fate to which he had
+unwarily pledged himself. It was not Pythias's own will, but the winds
+and waves, so he still declared, when the decree was brought and the
+instruments of death made ready. The hour had come, and a few moments
+more would have ended Damon's life, when Pythias duly presented himself,
+embraced his friend, and stood forward himself to receive his sentence,
+calm, resolute, and rejoiced that he had come in time.
+
+8. Even the dim hope they owned of a future state was enough to make
+these two brave men keep their word, and confront death for one
+another without quailing. Dionysius looked on more struck than ever.
+He felt that neither of such men must die. He reversed the sentence of
+Pythias, and calling the two to his judgment-seat, he entreated them
+to admit him as a third in their friendship.
+
+                                              _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XII.--KING CANUTE._
+
+
+    1. Upon his royal throne he sat
+         In a monarch's thoughtful mood;
+       Attendants on his regal state,
+         His servile courtiers stood,
+       With foolish flatteries, false and vain,
+       To win his smile, his favor gain.
+
+    2. They told him e'en the mighty deep
+         His kingly sway confessed;
+       That he could bid its billows leap,
+         Or still its stormy breast!
+       He smiled contemptuously and cried,
+       "Be then my boasted empire tried!"
+
+    3. Down to the ocean's sounding shore
+         The proud procession came,
+       To see its billows' wild uproar
+         King Canute's power proclaim,
+       Or, at his high and dread command,
+       In gentle murmurs kiss the strand.
+
+    4. Not so thought he, their noble king,
+         As his course he seaward sped;
+       And each base slave, like a guilty thing,
+         Hung down his conscious head:
+       He knew the ocean's Lord on high!
+       They, that he scorned their senseless lie.
+
+    5. His throne was placed by ocean's side,
+         He lifted his scepter there,
+       Bidding, with tones of kingly pride,
+         The waves their strife forbear;
+       And while he spoke his royal will,
+       All but the winds and waves were still.
+
+[Illustration: _Canute and his Courtiers._]
+
+    6. Louder the stormy blast swept by,
+         In scorn of idle word;
+       The briny deep its waves tossed high,
+         By his mandate undeterred,
+       As threatening, in their angry play,
+       To sweep both king and court away.
+
+    7. The monarch, with upbraiding look,
+         Turned to the courtly ring;
+       But none the kindling eye could brook
+         Even of his earthly king;
+       For in that wrathful glance they see
+       A mightier monarch wronged than he!
+
+    8. Canute, thy regal race is run;
+         Thy name had passed away,
+       But for the meed this tale hath won,
+         Which never shall decay:
+       Its meek, unperishing renown
+       Outlasts thy scepter and thy crown.
+
+    9. The Persian, in his mighty pride,
+         Forged fetters for the main,
+       And, when its floods his power defied,
+         Inflicted stripes as vain;
+       But it was worthier far of thee
+       To know thyself than rule the sea!
+
+                        _Bernard Barton._
+
+
+
+
+_XIII.--A NORSEMAN'S SWORD._
+
+
+1. The smelting of iron in the north of Europe is believed to have
+commenced with the Finns or Laplanders, the original inhabitants of
+Scandinavia, who then occupied the localities where the best ores are
+still found. The diminutive stature of these people compared with that
+of their Gothic invaders, their skill in penetrating the bowels of the
+earth in search of ores, the smoke of their collieries, the flame and
+thunder of their furnaces and forges, and, above all, the excellent
+temper of the weapons wrought by them--all these conspired to render
+them objects of superstitious wonder to the Goths.
+
+2. The legendary stories of that people are filled with strange tales
+of the northern dwarfs, who lived in the solid rock, and possessed
+magic skill in all the various arts of the smith. One of these legends
+may be worth citing, and the rather, because it relates to Vanlander,
+the Scandinavian Vulcan, of whom many traditions are extant, even in
+England, where he is styled Wayland Smith. At the age of thirteen
+Vanlander was apprenticed by his father, the giant Vade, to two of the
+dwarfs who dwelt in the interior of the mountain, and he applied
+himself so faithfully to their instructions, that in two years he
+equaled his masters in knowledge of all the arts of smithery, both
+black and white.
+
+3. Being at the court of King Nidung, where his dexterity as a smith
+became known, a rivalship arose between him and Amilias, principal
+smith to the king. Amilias challenged Vanlander to a trial of skill,
+upon condition that the life of the vanquished should be at the
+disposal of the victor. The terms proposed were that Vanlander should
+forge a sword, and Amilias a helmet, cuirass, and other defensive
+armor, and a twelvemonth was allowed for preparation. If the sword of
+Vanlander penetrated the armor of Amilias, the former was to be
+declared the victor, if otherwise, his life was forfeited to his rival.
+
+[Illustration: _A Norseman's Sword._]
+
+4. Amilias spent the whole year at his task, but Vanlander did not
+commence his labors until two months before the trial. He now, after
+seven days' labor, exhibited to the king a sword of great beauty and
+excellent temper, but too heavy for use. By way of testing its edge,
+he took a cushion stuffed with wool a foot in thickness, threw it into
+the river, and let it float with the current against the edge of the
+sword, which cut it fairly in two. The king thought this a sufficient
+proof, but Vanlander was not satisfied.
+
+5. He took the sword to his smithy, filed it quite to dust, and after
+subjecting the filings to an odd process of animal chemistry, he
+forged from them another sword of somewhat smaller size than the
+first, though still rather heavy. Upon testing this sword in the same
+manner as before, it readily divided a cushion two feet in thickness,
+and the king thought it the finest weapon in the world, but Vanlander
+said he would have it half as good again before he was done with it.
+
+6. It was now reduced to filings, which were treated as in the former
+instance, and in three weeks Vanlander produced a sword of convenient
+size, inlaid with gold, and with an ornamental hilt, all of the
+highest finish and beauty. The king and the smith went again to the
+river with a cushion three feet in thickness, which was thrown into
+the water and driven against the blade as before. The sword divided
+the cushion as easily as the water, and without even checking its
+progress as it floated with the current, and King Nidung declared its
+fellow could not be found on earth.
+
+7. At the appointed day Amilias put on his armor, all of which was of
+double plates, and, declaring himself ready for the trial, seated
+himself in a chair, and defied his rival to do his worst. Vanlander
+stepped behind him, gave him a blow upon the helmet, and asked him if
+he felt the edge. "I felt as if cold water were running through me,"
+replied Amilias. "Shake yourself," said Vanlander. His rival did so,
+and fell asunder, the sword having cleft him to the chine.
+
+                                                _George P. Marsh._
+
+
+
+
+_XIV.--THE STORY OF KING ALFRED AND ST. CUTHBERT._
+
+
+1. Now King Alfred was driven from his kingdom by the Danes, and he
+lay hid three years in the Isle of Glastonbury. 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." 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.
+
+2. And when the servant 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 had come 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!" And the king was glad,
+and he and his folk were merry; yet he pondered much upon that which
+had come to pass.
+
+3. And when night came the king went to his bed, and the king lay
+awake and thought of all that had come to pass by 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
+miter on his head, and holding in his right hand a book of the Gospels
+adorned with gold and gems. 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 Cuthbert the Soldier of Christ.
+
+4. "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. 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 mayst 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 Assaudun. And thus
+shalt thou fight against thine enemies, and doubt not that thou shalt
+overcome them.
+
+5. "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."
+
+6. 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 St. Cuthbert his patron. So in the morning he arose
+and 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 men of the bravest and
+dearest of his friends.
+
+7. And he spake unto them and told them all that God had said unto them
+by the mouth of his servant Cuthbert, and he told them that, by the gift
+of God and by the help of St. Cuthbert, they would overcome their
+enemies and win back their own land. And he bade them, as St. Cuthbert
+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 St.
+Cuthbert, and so he should always have 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.
+
+                                                  _E. A. Freeman._
+
+
+
+
+_XV.--A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER._
+
+
+1. Milon, or Milone, a knight of great family, and distantly related
+to Charlemagne, having secretly married Bertha, the emperor's sister,
+was banished from France. After a long and miserable wandering on foot
+as mendicants, Milon and his wife arrived at Sutri, in Italy, where
+they took refuge in a cave, and in that cave Orlando was born. There
+his mother continued, drawing a scanty support from the compassion of
+the neighboring peasants, while Milon, in quest of honor and fortune,
+went into foreign lands. Orlando grew up among the children of the
+peasantry, surpassing them all in strength and manly graces.
+
+2. Among his companions in age, though in station far more elevated,
+was Oliver, son of the governor of the town. Between the two boys a
+feud arose, that led to a fight, in which Orlando thrashed his rival;
+but this did not prevent a friendship springing up between the two
+which lasted through life.
+
+3. Orlando was so poor that he was sometimes half naked. As he was a
+favorite of the boys, one day four of them brought some cloth to make
+him clothes. Two brought white and two red; and from this circumstance
+Orlando took his coat-of-arms, or quarterings.
+
+4. When Charlemagne was on his way to Rome, to receive the imperial
+crown, he dined in public in Sutri. Orlando and his mother that day had
+nothing to eat, and Orlando, coming suddenly upon the royal party, and
+seeing abundance of provisions, seized from the attendants as much as he
+could carry off, and made good his retreat in spite of their resistance.
+
+5. The emperor, being told of this incident, was reminded of an
+intimation he had received in a dream, and ordered the boy to be
+followed. This was done by three of the knights, whom Orlando would
+have encountered with a cudgel on their entering the grotto, had not
+his mother restrained him. When they heard from her who she was, they
+threw themselves at her feet, and promised to obtain her pardon from
+the emperor. This was easily effected. Orlando was received into favor
+by the emperor, returned with him to France, and so distinguished
+himself that he became the most powerful support of the throne and of
+Christianity.
+
+6. On another occasion, Orlando encountered a puissant Saracen
+warrior, and took from him, as the prize of victory, the sword
+Durindana. This famous weapon had once belonged to the illustrious
+prince Hector of Troy. It was of the finest workmanship, and of such
+strength and temper that no armor in the world could stand against it.
+
+7. Guerin de Montglave held the lordship of Vienne, subject to
+Charlemagne. He had quarreled with his sovereign, and Charles laid
+siege to his city, having ravaged the neighboring country. Guerin was
+an aged warrior, but relied for his defense upon his four sons and two
+grandsons, who were among the bravest knights of the age. After the
+siege had continued two months, Charlemagne received tidings that
+Marsilius, King of Spain, had invaded France, and, finding himself
+unopposed, was advancing rapidly in the southern provinces. At this
+intelligence, Charles listened to the counsel of his peers, and
+consented to put the quarrel with Guerin to the decision of Heaven, by
+single combat between two knights, one of each party, selected by lot.
+
+8. The proposal was acceptable to Guerin and his sons. The name of the
+four, together with Guerin's own, who would not be excused, and of the
+two grandsons, who claimed their lot, being put into a helmet,
+Oliver's was drawn forth, and to him, the youngest of the grandsons,
+was assigned the honor and the peril of the combat. He accepted the
+award with delight, exulting in being thought worthy to maintain the
+cause of his family. On Charlemagne's side Roland was designated
+champion, and neither he nor Oliver knew who his antagonist was to be.
+
+9. They met on an island in the Rh�ne, and the warriors of both camps
+were ranged on either shore, spectators of the battle. At the first
+encounter both lances were shivered, but both riders kept their seats
+immovable. They dismounted and drew their swords. Then ensued a combat
+which seemed so equal, that the spectators could not form an opinion
+as to the probable issue. Two hours and more the knights continued to
+strike and parry, to thrust and ward, neither showing any sign of
+weariness, nor ever being taken at unawares.
+
+10. At length Orlando struck furiously upon Oliver's shield, burying
+Durindana in its edge so deeply that he could not draw it back, and
+Oliver, almost at the same moment, thrust so vigorously upon Orlando's
+breastplate that his sword snapped off at the handle. Thus were the two
+warriors left weaponless. Scarcely pausing a moment, they rushed upon
+one another, each striving to throw his adversary to the ground, and,
+failing in that, each snatched at the other's helmet to tear it away.
+Both succeeded, and at the same moment they stood bareheaded face to
+face, and Roland recognized Oliver, and Oliver Roland. For a moment they
+stood still; and the next, with open arms, rushed into one another's
+embrace. "I am conquered," said Orlando. "I yield me," said Oliver.
+
+11. The people on the shore knew not what to make of all this.
+Presently they saw the two late antagonists standing hand-in-hand, and
+it was evident the battle was at an end. The knights crowded around
+them, and with one voice hailed them as equal in glory. If there were
+any who felt disposed to murmur that the battle was left undecided,
+they were silenced by the voice of Ogier the Dane, who proclaimed
+aloud that all had been done that honor required, and declared that he
+would maintain that award against all gainsayers.
+
+12. The quarrel with Guerin and his sons being left undecided, a truce
+was made for four days, and in that time, by the efforts of Duke Namo
+on the one side, and of Oliver on the other, a reconciliation was
+effected. Charlemagne, accompanied by Guerin and his valiant family,
+marched to meet Marsilius, who hastened to retreat across the frontier.
+
+                                                      _Bullfinch._
+
+
+
+
+_XVI.--THE LEGEND OF MACBETH._
+
+
+1. Soon after the Scots and Picts had become one people, there was a
+king of Scotland called Duncan, a very good old man. He had two sons,
+Malcolm and Donaldbane. But King Duncan was too old to lead out his
+army to battle, and his sons were too young to help him. Now it
+happened that a great fleet of Danes came to Scotland and landed their
+men in Fife and threatened to take possession of that province. So a
+numerous Scottish army was levied to go out to fight with them. The
+king intrusted the command to Macbeth, a near kinsman.
+
+2. This Macbeth, who was a brave soldier, put himself at the head of
+the Scottish army and marched against the Danes. And he took with him
+a near relative of his own called Banquo, a brave and successful
+soldier. There was a great battle fought between the Danes and the
+Scots, and Macbeth and Banquo defeated the Danes and drove them back
+to their ships, leaving a great many of their soldiers killed and
+wounded. Then Macbeth and his army marched back to Forres in the north
+of Scotland, rejoicing on account of their victory.
+
+3. Now, at this time, there lived in the town of Forres three old
+women, whom people thought were witches, and supposed they could tell
+what was to come to pass. These old women went and stood by the
+way-side, in a great moor near Forres, and waited until Macbeth came
+up. And then stepping before him as he was marching at the head of his
+soldiers the first woman said, "All hail Macbeth! hail to the Thane of
+Glamis!" The second said, "All hail to the Thane of Cawdor!" Then the
+third wishing to pay him a higher compliment, said: "All hail Macbeth,
+that shall be King of Scotland!" While Macbeth stood wondering what
+they could mean, Banquo stepped forward and asked if they had not
+something good to say to him. And they said he should not be so great
+as Macbeth, yet his children should succeed to the throne of Scotland
+and reign for a great number of years.
+
+4. Before Macbeth had recovered from his surprise, there came a
+messenger to tell him that his father was dead; so that, he was Thane
+of Glamis; and then came a second messenger from the king to thank
+Macbeth for the great victory over the Danes, and to tell him that the
+Thane of Cawdor had rebelled against the king, and that the king had
+taken his office from him, and had sent to make Macbeth Thane of
+Cawdor. Macbeth, seeing that a part of their words came true, began to
+think how he might become king as the three old women had predicted.
+Now Lady Macbeth was a very wicked woman, and she showed Macbeth that
+the only way to become king was to kill good King Duncan. At first
+Macbeth would not listen to her, but at last his ambition to be king
+became so great that he resolved to murder his kinsman and best friend.
+
+5. To accomplish his purpose he invited King Duncan to visit him in
+his own castle near Inverness, and the king accepted the invitation.
+Macbeth and his lady received their distinguished guests with great
+seeming joy and made for them a great feast. At the close of the feast
+the king retired to rest, and all the other guests followed his
+example. The two personal attendants of the king whose duty it was to
+watch over him while asleep, were purposely made drunk by Lady
+Macbeth, and they fell upon their couch in a profound slumber.
+
+[Illustration: _Macbeth._]
+
+6. Then Macbeth came into King Duncan's room about two o'clock in the
+morning. It was a terrible stormy night, but the noise of the wind and
+the thunder could not awaken the king, as he was old and weary with
+his journey; neither could it awaken the two sentinels. They all slept
+soundly. So Macbeth stepped gently over the floor and took the two
+dirks which belonged to the sentinels and stabbed poor old King Duncan
+to the heart, so he died without a groan. Then Macbeth put the bloody
+daggers into the hands of the sleeping sentinels and daubed their
+hands and faces with blood. Macbeth was frightened at what he had
+done, but his wife made him wash his hands and go to bed.
+
+7. Early in the morning the nobles and gentlemen who attended on the
+king assembled in the great hall of the castle, and then they began to
+talk of what a dreadful storm there had been the night before. They
+waited for some time, but finding the king did not come out, one of the
+noblemen went to see whether he was well or not. But when he came into
+the room he found King Duncan dead, and went back and spread the alarm.
+The Scottish nobles were greatly enraged at the sight, and Macbeth made
+believe he was more enraged than any of them, and drawing his sword he
+killed the two attendants of the king, still heavy with sleep in
+consequence of the drink furnished by Lady Macbeth the night before.
+
+8. Malcolm and Donaldbane, the two sons of Duncan, when they saw their
+father dead, fled from the castle, as they believed that Macbeth had
+committed the murder. Malcolm, the eldest son, made his way to the
+English court, and solicited aid to get possession of his father's
+throne. In the mean time Macbeth took possession of the kingdom of
+Scotland. The remembrance of his great crime continually haunted him,
+and he became so sleepless as to be nearly insane. He remembered that
+the witches had said that the children of Banquo should reign as kings
+in Scotland, and he became terribly jealous of his old friend and
+companion. At last he hired ruffians to waylay Banquo and his sons and
+murder them. The scheme was partially successful--Banquo was killed
+but the sons escaped, and from him descended a long line of the early
+Scottish kings.
+
+9. But Macbeth was not more happy after he had slain his friend and
+cousin Banquo. He knew that people began to suspect him of his evil
+deeds, and he was constantly afraid that some of his nobles would
+treat him as he treated King Duncan. In his perplexity he sought the
+three witches he had met before, to ask them what was to happen to him
+in the future. They answered him that he should not be conquered nor
+lose the crown of Scotland until a great forest, called Birnam Wood
+should come to attack him in his strong castle on Dunsinane hill. As
+the distance between the two was about twelve miles, Macbeth thought
+it was impossible that the trees should ever come to assault him in
+his castle. He immediately summoned all his nobles to assist him in
+strengthening his castle at Dunsinane. All the nobles were obliged to
+furnish oxen and horses to drag the heavy stones and logs used on the
+fortification up the steep hill.
+
+10. One day Macbeth noticed a pair of oxen so tired with their burden
+that they fell down under their load. Upon inquiry he learned that they
+belonged to Macduff, the Thane of Fife. The king, who was jealous of
+Macduff, flew into a great rage and declared that "since the Thane of
+Fife sends such worthless cattle as these to do my labor, I will put his
+own neck into the yoke, and make him drag the burden himself." A friend
+of Macduff who heard this speech hastened to the king's castle and
+informed Macduff who was walking about while the dinner was preparing.
+
+11. Macduff snatched a loaf of bread from the table, called for his
+horses and servants, and galloped off toward his own castle of
+Kennoway in Fife. When Macbeth returned he first asked what had become
+of Macduff, and being informed that he had fled from Dunsinane,
+Macbeth put himself at the head of a large force of his guards, and
+immediately pursued. Macduff reached his castle which is built upon
+the shore of the sea, a little in advance of the king. He ordered his
+wife to shut the gates of the castle and pull up the drawbridge, and
+on no account permit the king or any of his soldiers to enter. In the
+mean time he went aboard a small ship and put out to sea.
+
+12. Macbeth then summoned the lady to open the gates and deliver up
+her husband. "Do you see," said she, "yon white sail upon the sea?
+Yonder goes Macduff to the court of England. You will never see him
+again until he comes with young Prince Malcolm to pull you down from
+the throne and put you to death. You will never be able to put your
+yoke upon the neck of the Thane of Fife."
+
+13. Some say that Macbeth was so enraged at the escape of Macduff that
+he stormed and took the castle, and put to death the wife and children
+of Macduff. But others say that Macbeth turned back from the strong
+castle and its brave defenders, and returned to his own home at
+Dunsinane. Macduff readily found Prince Malcolm and the English king,
+fitted them out with an army. Upon entering Scotland a large share of
+the nobles deserted Macbeth and joined the forces of Malcolm. The army
+marched as far as Birnam Wood where they encamped to rest and recuperate.
+
+14. Macbeth, in the mean time, shut himself up in his castle, where he
+thought himself safe according to the old woman's prophecy, until
+Birnam Wood should advance against him, and this he never expected to
+see. Malcolm's army having entirely recovered their strength and
+vigor, at length were ready to march. As they were about to start,
+Macduff advised each soldier to cut down the bough of a tree and carry
+it so as to conceal the strength of the army as they crossed the
+valley. The sentinel on the castle walls saw all these green boughs
+advancing, ran to Macbeth and informed him that the wood of Birnam was
+moving toward the castle of Dunsinane. The king at first called him a
+liar and threatened to put him to death; but when he looked from the
+walls himself, and saw the appearance of a forest approaching from
+Birnam, he remembered the prediction, and felt that the hour of his
+destruction had come.
+
+15. His followers were also superstitious and began to desert him. But
+Macbeth, at the head of those who remained true to him sallied out,
+and was killed in a hand-to-hand conflict with Macduff. This story, a
+tradition, is told by Sir Walter Scott, and forms the foundation of
+Shakespeare's tragedy of "Macbeth."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+OLD BALLADS.
+
+
+
+
+_XVII.--CHEVY-CHASE._
+
+
+    1.  God prosper long our noble king,
+          Our lives and safeties all;
+        A woful hunting once there did
+          In Chevy-Chase befall.
+
+    2.  The stout Earl of Northumberland
+          A vow to God did make
+        His pleasure in the Scottish woods
+          Three summer days to take--
+
+    3.  The chiefest harts in Chevy-Chase
+          To kill and bear away.
+        These tidings to Earl Douglas came,
+          In Scotland where he lay;
+
+    4.  Who sent Earl Percy present word
+          He would prevent his sport.
+        The English earl, not fearing that,
+          Did to the woods resort,
+
+    5.  With fifteen hundred bowmen bold,
+          All chosen men of might,
+        Who knew full well in time of need
+          To aim their shafts aright.
+
+    6.  The gallant greyhounds swiftly ran
+          To chase the fallow deer;
+        On Monday they began to hunt
+          When daylight did appear;
+
+    7.  And long before high noon they had
+          A hundred fat bucks slain;
+        Then, having dined, the drovers went
+          To rouse the deer again.
+
+    8.  Lord Percy to the quarry went,
+          To view the slaughtered deer;
+        Quoth he, "Earl Douglas promised
+          This day to meet me here;
+
+    9.  "But if I thought he would not come--
+          No longer would I stay";
+        With that a brave young gentleman
+          Thus to the earl did say:
+
+    10. "Lo, yonder doth Earl Douglas come--
+          His men in armor bright,
+        Full twenty hundred Scottish spears
+          All marching in our sight."
+
+    11. Earl Douglas on his milk-white steed,
+          Most like a baron bold,
+        Rode foremost of his company,
+          Whose armor shone like gold.
+
+    12. "Show me," said he, "whose men you be,
+          That hunt so boldly here,
+        That, without my consent, do chase
+          And kill my fallow-deer."
+
+    13. The first man that did answer make
+          Was noble Percy he--
+        Who said: "We list not to declare,
+          Nor show whose men we be:
+
+    14. "Yet will we spend our dearest blood
+          Thy chiefest harts to slay."
+        Then Douglas swore a solemn oath,
+          And thus in rage did say:
+
+    15. "Ere thus I will out-brav�d be,
+          One of us two shall die!
+        I know thee well, an earl thou art--
+          Lord Percy, so am I.
+
+    16. "Let you and me the battle try,
+          And set our men aside."
+        "Accursed be he," Earl Percy said,
+          "By whom this is denied!"
+
+    17. Then stepped a gallant squire forth,
+          Witherington was his name,
+        Who said: "I would not have it told
+          To Henry, our king, for shame,
+
+    18. "That e'er my captain fought on foot,
+          And I stood looking on.
+        You two be earls," said Witherington,
+          "And I a squire alone.
+
+    19. "I'll do the best that do I may,
+          While I have power to stand;
+        While I have power to wield my sword
+          I'll fight with heart and hand."
+
+    20. Our English archers bent their bows--
+          Their hearts were good and true;
+        At the first flight of arrows sent,
+          Full fourscore Scots they slew.
+
+    21. Yet stays Earl Douglas on the bent,
+          As chieftain stout and good;
+        As valiant captain, all unmoved,
+          The shock he firmly stood.
+
+    22. His host he parted had in three,
+          As leaders ware and tried;
+        And soon his spearmen on their foes
+          Bore down on every side.
+
+    23. At last these two stout earls did meet;
+          Like captains of great might,
+        Like lions wode, they laid on lode,
+          And made a cruel fight.
+
+    24. "Yield thee, Lord Percy," Douglas said.
+          "In faith I will thee bring
+        Where thou shalt high advanc�d be
+          By James, our Scottish king.
+
+    25. "Thy ransom I will freely give,
+          And this report of thee--
+        Thou art the most courageous knight
+          That ever I did see."
+
+    26. "No, Douglas," saith Earl Percy then,
+          "Thy proffer I do scorn;
+        I will not yield to any Scot
+          That ever yet was born."
+
+    27. With that there came an arrow keen
+          Out of an English bow,
+        Which struck Earl Douglas to the heart--
+          A deep and deadly blow;
+
+    28. Who never spake more words than these
+          "Fight on, my merry men all;
+        For why, my life is at an end;
+          Lord Percy sees my fall."
+
+    29. Then leaving life, Earl Percy took
+          The dead man by the hand,
+        And said: "Earl Douglas, for thy life
+          Would I had lost my land!
+
+    30. "In truth, my very heart doth bleed
+          With sorrow for thy sake;
+        For sure a more redoubted knight
+          Mischance did never make."
+
+    31. A knight amongst the Scots there was
+          Who saw Earl Douglas die,
+        Who straight in wrath did vow revenge
+          Upon the Earl Percy.
+
+    32. Sir Hugh Mountgomery was he called,
+          Who with a spear full bright,
+        Well mounted on a gallant steed,
+          Ran fiercely through the fight;
+
+    33. And past the English archers all,
+          Without a dread or fear,
+        And through Earl Percy's body then
+          He thrust his hateful spear.
+
+    34. So thus did both these nobles die,
+          Whose courage none could stain.
+        An English archer then perceived
+          The noble earl was slain.
+
+    35. Against Sir Hugh Mountgomery
+          To right a shaft he set;
+        The gray goose-wing that was thereon
+          In his heart's blood was wet.
+
+    36. This fight did last from break of day
+          Till setting of the sun;
+        For when they rung the evening-bell
+          The battle scarce was done.
+
+    37. Of fifteen hundred Englishmen
+          Went home but fifty-three;
+        The rest in Chevy-Chase were slain,
+          Under the greenwood-tree.
+
+    38. The news was brought to Edinburg,
+          Where Scotland's king did reign,
+        That brave Earl Douglas suddenly
+          Was with an arrow slain.
+
+    39. "Oh, heavy news!" King James did say;
+          "Scotland can witness be,
+        I have not any captain more
+          Of such account as he."
+
+    40. Like tidings to King Henry came
+          Within as short a space,
+        That Percy of Northumberland
+          Was slain in Chevy-Chase;
+
+    41. "Now God be with him," said our king,
+          "Since 'twill no better be;
+        I trust I have within my realm
+          Five hundred as good as he:
+
+    42. "Yet shall not Scot or Scotland say
+          But I will vengeance take;
+        I'll be reveng�d on them all
+          For brave Earl Percy's sake!"
+
+    43. This vow full well the king performed
+          After at Humbledown:
+        In one day fifty knights were slain,
+          With lords of high renown;
+
+    44. And of the rest, of small account,
+          Did many hundreds die:
+        Thus endeth the hunting of Chevy-Chase,
+          Made by the Earl Percy.
+
+    45. God save the king and bless this land
+          With plenty, joy, and peace;
+        And grant, henceforth, that foul debate
+          'Twixt noblemen may cease!
+
+                              _Old Ballad._
+
+
+
+
+_XVIII.--VALENTINE AND URSINE._
+
+
+    1.  When Flora 'gins to deck the fields
+          With colors fresh and fine,
+        Then holy clerks their matins sing
+          To good St. Valentine.
+
+    2.  The King of France, that morning fair,
+          He would a-hunting ride,
+        To Artois Forest prancing forth
+          In all his princely pride.
+
+    3.  To grace his sports a courtly train
+          Of gallant peers attend,
+        And with their loud and cheerful cries
+          The hills and valleys rend.
+
+    4.  Through the deep forest swift they pass,
+          Through woods and thickets wild,
+        When down within a lonely dell
+          They found a new-born child.
+
+    5.  All in a scarlet kerchief laid,
+          Of silk so fine and thin,
+        A golden mantle wrapt him round,
+          Pinned with a silver pin.
+
+    6.  The sudden sight surprised them all,
+          The courtiers gathered round;
+        They look, they call, the mother seek--
+          No mother could be found.
+
+    7.  At length the king himself drew near,
+          And, as he gazing stands,
+        The pretty babe looked up and smiled,
+          And stretched his little hands.
+
+    8.  "Now, by the rood," King Pepin says,
+          "This child is passing fair;
+        I wot he is of gentle blood,
+          Perhaps some prince's heir.
+
+    9.  "Go, bear him home unto my court,
+          With all the care you may,
+        Let him be christened Valentine,
+          In honor of this day.
+
+    10. "And look me out some cunning nurse,
+          Well nurtured let him be;
+        Nor aught be wanting that becomes
+          A bairn of high degree."
+
+    11. They looked him out a cunning nurse,
+          And nurtured well was he;
+        Nor aught was wanting that became
+          A bairn of high degree.
+
+    12. Thus grew the little Valentine,
+          Beloved of king and peers,
+        And showed in all he spake or did
+          A wit beyond his years.
+
+    13. But chief in gallant feats of arms
+          He did himself advance,
+        That, ere he grew to man's estate,
+          He had no peer in France.
+
+    14. And now the early down began
+          To shade his youthful chin,
+        When Valentine was dubbed a knight,
+          That he might glory win.
+
+    15. "A boon, a boon, my gracious liege,
+          I beg a boon of thee:
+        The first adventure that befalls
+          May be reserved for me."
+
+    16. "The first adventure shall be thine,"
+          The king did smiling say.
+        Not many days, when lo! there came
+          Three palmers clad in gray.
+
+    17. "Help, gracious lord," they weeping said,
+          And knelt, as it was meet;
+        "From Artois Forest we are come,
+          With weak and weary feet.
+
+    18. "Within those deep and dreary woods
+          There dwells a savage boy,
+        Whose fierce and mortal rage doth yield
+          Thy subjects dire annoy.
+
+    19. "To more than savage strength he joins
+          A more than human skill;
+        For arms no cunning may suffice
+          His cruel rage to still."
+
+    20. Up then rose Sir Valentine
+          And claimed that arduous deed.
+        "Go forth and conquer," said the king,
+          "And great shall be thy meed."
+
+    21. Well mounted on a milk-white steed,
+          His armor white as snow,
+        As well beseemed a virgin knight,
+          Who ne'er had fought a foe--
+
+    22. To Artois Forest he repairs,
+          With all the haste he may,
+        And soon he spies the savage youth
+          A-rending of his prey!
+
+    23. His unkempt hair all matted hung
+          His shaggy shoulders round;
+        His eager eye all fiery glowed,
+          His face with fury frowned.
+
+    24. Like eagle's talons grew his nails,
+          His limbs were thick and strong,
+        And dreadful was the knotted oak
+          He bare with him along.
+
+    25. Soon as Sir Valentine approached,
+          He starts with sudden spring,
+        And yelling forth a hideous howl,
+          He made the forest ring.
+
+    26. As when a tiger fierce and fell
+          Hath spied a passing roe,
+        And leaps at once upon his throat,
+          So sprang the savage foe.
+
+    27. So lightly leaped with furious force,
+          The gentle knight to seize,
+        But met his tall uplifted spear,
+          Which sank him on his knees.
+
+    28. A second stroke, so stiff and stern,
+          Had laid the savage low;
+        But, springing up, he raised his club,
+          And aimed a dreadful blow.
+
+    29. The watchful warrior bent his head,
+          And shunned the coming stroke;
+        Upon his taper spear it fell,
+          And all to shivers broke.
+
+    30. Then, lighting nimbly from his steed,
+          He drew his burnished brand;
+        The savage quick as lightning flew
+          To wrest it from his hand.
+
+    31. Three times he grasped the silver hilt,
+          Three times he felt the blade;
+        Three times it fell with furious force,
+          Three ghastly cuts it made.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+    "_To court his hairy captive soon
+      Sir Valentine doth bring,
+    And, kneeling down upon his knee,
+      Presents him to the king._"
+
+]
+
+    32. Now with redoubled rage he roared,
+          His eyeballs flashed with fire,
+        Each hairy limb with fury shook,
+          And all his heart was ire.
+
+    33. But soon the knight, with active spring,
+          O'erturned his hairy foe,
+        And now between their sturdy fists
+          Passed many a bruising blow.
+
+    34. But brutal force and savage strength
+          To art and skill must yield;
+        Sir Valentine at length prevailed,
+          And won the well-fought field.
+
+    35. Then binding straight his conquered foe
+          Fast with an iron chain,
+        He ties him to his horse's tail,
+          And leads him o'er the plain.
+
+    36. To court his hairy captive soon
+          Sir Valentine doth bring,
+        And, kneeling down upon his knee,
+          Presents him to the king.
+
+    37. With loss of blood and loss of strength,
+          The savage tamer grew,
+        And to Sir Valentine became
+          A servant tried and true.
+
+    38. And, 'cause with bears he first was bred,
+          Ursine they called his name--
+        A name which unto future times
+          The Muses shall proclaim.
+
+                                _Old Ballad._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+EARLY EASTERN RECORD.
+
+
+
+
+_XIX.--SENNACHERIB._
+
+
+1. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith
+the Lord God of Israel, that which thou hast prayed to me against
+Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
+
+2. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The
+virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to
+scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
+
+3. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast
+thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against
+the Holy One of Israel.
+
+4. By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With
+the multitude of my chariots, I am come up to the height of the
+mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall
+cedar-trees thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof: and I will enter
+into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
+
+5. I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my
+feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
+
+6. Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient
+times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou
+shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
+
+7. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed
+and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green
+herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be
+grown up.
+
+8. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy
+rage against me.
+
+9. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine
+ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy
+lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
+
+10. And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such
+things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which
+springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and
+plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
+
+11. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet
+again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
+
+12. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that
+escape out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
+
+13. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He
+shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come
+before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
+
+14. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall
+not come into this city, saith the Lord.
+
+15. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and
+for my servant David's sake.
+
+16. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went
+out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and
+five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they
+were all dead corpses.
+
+17. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned,
+and dwelt at Nineveh.
+
+                                          _II Kings, xix, 20-36._
+
+
+THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB.
+
+    1. The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
+       And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
+       And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
+       When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
+
+    2. Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
+       That host with its banners at sunset was seen;
+       Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
+       That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
+
+    3. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
+       And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed;
+       And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
+       And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still.
+
+    4. And there lay the steed, with his nostrils all wide,
+       But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride;
+       And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
+       And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
+
+    5. And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,
+       With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail,
+       And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
+       The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
+
+    6. And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
+       And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
+       And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
+       Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+                                                  _Byron._
+
+
+
+
+_XX.--GLAUCON._
+
+
+1. When Glaucon, the son of Ariston, attempted to harangue the people,
+from a desire, though he was not yet twenty years of age, to have a
+share in the government of the state, no one of his relatives, or
+other friends, could prevent him from getting himself dragged down
+from the tribunal and making himself ridiculous; but Socrates, who had
+a friendly feeling toward him on account of Charmides, the son of
+Glaucon, as well as on account of Plato, succeeded in prevailing on
+him, by his sole dissuasion, to relinquish his purpose.
+
+[Illustration: _Socrates._]
+
+2. Meeting him by chance, he first stopped him by addressing him as
+follows, that he might be willing to listen to him: "Glaucon," said
+he, "have you formed an intention to govern the state for us?" "I
+have, Socrates," replied Glaucon. "By Jupiter," rejoined Socrates, "it
+is an honorable office, if any other among men be so; for it is
+certain that, if you attain your object, you will be able yourself to
+secure whatever you may desire, and will be in a condition to benefit
+your friends; you will raise your father's house, and increase the
+power of your country; you will be celebrated first of all in your own
+city, and afterward throughout Greece, and perhaps, also, like
+Themistocles, among the barbarians, and, wherever you may be, you will
+be an object of general admiration." Glaucon, hearing this, was highly
+elated, and cheerfully stayed to listen. Socrates next proceeded to
+say: "But it is plain, Glaucon, that if you wish to be honored, you
+must benefit the state." "Certainly," answered Glaucon. "Then, in the
+name of the gods," said Socrates, "do not hide from us how you intend
+to act, but inform us with what proceeding you will begin to benefit
+the state." But as Glaucon was silent, as if just considering how he
+should begin, Socrates said: "As, if you wished to aggrandize the
+family of a friend, you would endeavor to make it richer, tell me
+whether you will in like manner also endeavor to make the state
+richer?" "Assuredly," said he. "Would it then be richer, if its
+revenues were increased?" "That is at least probable," said Glaucon.
+"Tell me then," proceeded Socrates, "from what the revenues of the
+state arise, and what is their amount; for you have doubtless
+considered, in order that if any of them fall short, you may make up
+the deficiency, and that if any of them fail, you may procure fresh
+supplies." "These matters, by Jupiter," replied Glaucon, "I have not
+considered."
+
+3. "Well, then," said Socrates, "if you have omitted to consider this
+point, tell me at least the annual expenditure of the state; for you
+undoubtedly mean to retrench whatever is superfluous in it." "Indeed,"
+replied Glaucon, "I have not yet had time to turn my attention to that
+subject." "We will therefore," said Socrates, "put off making our
+state richer for the present; for how is it possible for him who is
+ignorant of its expenditure and its income to manage those matters?"
+
+4. "But Socrates," observed Glaucon, "it is possible to enrich the
+state at the expense of our enemies." "Extremely possible, indeed,"
+replied Socrates, "if we be stronger than they; but if we be weaker,
+we may lose all that we have." "What you say is true," said Glaucon.
+
+5. "Accordingly," said Socrates, "he who deliberates with whom he
+shall go to war, ought to know the force both of his own country and
+of the enemy, so that, if that of his own country be superior to that
+of the enemy, he may advise it to enter upon the war, but if inferior,
+may persuade it to be cautious of doing so." "You say rightly," said
+Glaucon.
+
+[Illustration: _Socrates and Glaucon._]
+
+6. "In the first place, then," proceeded Socrates, "tell us the
+strength of the country by land and sea, and next that of the enemy."
+"But, by Jupiter," exclaimed Glaucon, "I should not be able to tell
+you on the moment, and at a word." "Well, then, if you have it written
+down," said Socrates, "bring it, for I should be extremely glad to
+hear what it is." "But, to say the truth," replied Glaucon, "I have
+not yet written it down."
+
+7. "We will therefore put off considering about war for the present,"
+said Socrates, "for it is very likely that on account of the magnitude
+of these subjects, and as you are just commencing your administration,
+you have not yet examined into them. But to the defense of the
+country, I am quite sure that you have directed your attention, and
+that you know how many garrisons are in advantageous positions, and
+how many not so, what number of men would be sufficient to maintain
+them, and what number would be insufficient, and that you will advise
+your countrymen to make the garrisons in advantageous positions
+stronger, and to remove the useless ones."
+
+8. "By Jove," replied Glaucon, "I shall recommend them to remove them
+all, as they keep guard so negligently, that the property is secretly
+carried off out of the country." "Yet, if we remove the garrisons,"
+said Socrates, "do you not think that liberty will be given to anybody
+that pleases to pillage? But," added he, "have you gone personally and
+examined as to this fact, or how do you know that the garrisons
+conduct themselves with such negligence?" "I form my conjectures,"
+said he. "Well, then," inquired Socrates, "shall we settle about these
+matters also, when we no longer rest upon conjecture, but have
+obtained certain knowledge?" "Perhaps that," said Glaucon, "will be
+the better course."
+
+9. "To the silver-mines, however," continued Socrates, "I know that
+you have not gone, so as to have the means of telling us why a smaller
+revenue is derived from them than came in some time ago." "I have not
+gone thither," said he. "Indeed, the place," said Socrates, "is said
+to be unhealthy, so that when it is necessary to bring it under
+consideration, this will be a sufficient excuse for you." "You jest
+with me," said Glaucon. "I am sure, however," proceeded Socrates,
+"that you have not neglected to consider, but have calculated, how
+long the corn which is produced in the country, will suffice to
+maintain the city, and how much it requires for the year, in order
+that the city may not suffer from scarcity unknown to you, but that,
+from your own knowledge, you may be able, by giving your advice
+concerning the necessaries of life, to support the city and preserve
+it." "You propose a vast field for me," observed Glaucon, "if it will
+be necessary for me to attend to such subjects."
+
+10. "Nevertheless," proceeded Socrates, "a man can not order his house
+properly, unless he ascertains all that it requires, and takes care to
+supply it with everything necessary; but since the city consists of
+more than ten thousand houses, and since it is difficult to provide
+for so many at once, how is it that you have not tried to aid one
+first of all, suppose that of your uncle, for it stands in need of
+help? If you be able to assist that one, you may proceed to assist
+more; but if you be unable to benefit one, how will you be able to
+benefit many? Just as it is plain that, if a man can not carry the
+weight of a talent, he need not attempt to carry a greater weight?"
+
+11. "But I would improve my uncle's house," said Glaucon, "if he would
+but be persuaded by me." "And then," resumed Socrates, "when you can
+not persuade your uncle, do you expect to make all the Athenians,
+together with your uncle, yield to your arguments?
+
+12. "Take care, Glaucon, lest, while you are eager to acquire glory,
+you meet with the reverse of it. Do you not see how dangerous it is
+for a person to speak of, or undertake, what he does not understand?
+Contemplate, among other men, such as you know to be characters that
+plainly talk of, and attempt to do, what they do not know, and
+consider whether they appear to you, by such conduct, to obtain more
+applause or censure, whether they seem to be more admired or despised?
+
+13. "Contemplate, again, those who have some understanding of what
+they say and do, and you will find, I think, in all transactions, that
+such as are praised and admired are of the number of those who have
+most knowledge, and that those who incur censure and neglect are among
+those that have least.
+
+14. "If, therefore, you desire to gain esteem and reputation in your
+country, endeavor to succeed in gaining a knowledge of what you wish
+to do; for if, when you excel others in this qualification, you
+proceed to manage the affairs of the state, I shall not wonder if you
+very easily obtain what you desire."
+
+                                                      _Xenophon._
+
+
+
+
+_XXI.--CYRUS AND HIS GRANDFATHER._
+
+
+1. When Cyrus was twelve years old, his mother Mandana took him with
+her into Media to his grandfather Astyages, who, from the many things
+he had heard in favor of the young prince, had a great desire to see
+him. In this court young Cyrus found very different manners from those
+of his own country: pride, luxury, and magnificence reigned here
+universally. Astyages himself was richly clothed, had his eyes
+colored, his face painted, and his hair embellished with artificial
+locks; for the Medes affected an effeminate life--to be dressed in
+scarlet and to wear necklaces and bracelets--whereas the habits of the
+Persians were very plain and coarse.
+
+2. All this finery had no effect upon Cyrus, who, without criticising
+or condemning what he saw, was content to live as he had been brought
+up, and adhered to the principles he had imbibed from his infancy. He
+charmed his grandfather with his sprightliness and wit, and gained the
+favor of all by his noble and engaging behavior. I shall only mention
+one instance, whereby we may judge of the rest. Astyages, to make his
+grandson unwilling to return home, made a sumptuous entertainment, in
+which there was a vast plenty and profusion of everything that was
+nice and delicate. Cyrus looked upon all this exquisite cheer and
+magnificent preparation with great indifference, and, observing that
+it excited the surprise of Astyages, "The Persians," says he to the
+king, "instead of going such a roundabout way to appease their hunger,
+have a much shorter one to the same end: a little bread and cresses
+with them answer the purpose."
+
+3. Astyages desiring Cyrus to dispose of all the meats as he thought
+fit, the latter immediately distributed them to the king's
+officers-in-waiting: to one, because he taught him to ride; to
+another, because he waited well upon his grandfather; and to a third,
+because he took great care of his mother. Sacas, the king's
+cup-bearer, was the only person to whom he gave nothing. This officer,
+besides the post of cup-bearer, had that likewise of introducing those
+who were to have audience with the king; and, as he could not possibly
+grant that favor to Cyrus as often as he desired it, he had the
+misfortune to displease the prince, who took this occasion to show his
+resentment.
+
+4. Astyages, manifesting some concern at the neglect of this officer,
+for whom he had a particular regard, and who deserved it, as he said,
+on account of the wonderful dexterity with which he served him--"Is
+that all, father?" replied Cyrus; "if that be sufficient to merit your
+favor, you shall see I will quickly obtain it; for I will take upon me
+to serve you better than he." Cyrus immediately equipped as a
+cup-bearer, and advancing gravely with a serious countenance, a napkin
+upon his shoulder, and holding the cup nicely with three of his
+fingers, presented it to the king with a dexterity and a grace that
+charmed both Astyages and Mandana. When he had done he threw himself
+upon his grandfather's neck, and, kissing him, cried out with great
+joy: "O Sacas! poor Sacas! thou art undone; I shall have thy place!"
+
+5. Astyages embraced him with great fondness, and said: "I am highly
+pleased, my dear child; nobody can serve me with a better grace; but
+you have forgot one essential ceremony, which is that of tasting";
+and, indeed, the cup-bearer was used to pour some of the liquor into
+his left hand, and to taste it, before he presented it to the king.
+"No," replied Cyrus, "it was not through forgetfulness that I omitted
+that ceremony." "Why, then," says Astyages, "for what reason did you
+not do it?" "Because I apprehended there was poison in the liquor."
+"Poison, child! How could you think so?" "Yes, poison, father, for not
+long ago, at an entertainment you gave to the lords of your court,
+after the guests had drunk a little of that liquor, I perceived all
+their heads were turned. They sang, made a noise, and talked they did
+not know what; you yourself seemed to have forgotten that you were
+king, and they that they were subjects; and when you would have danced
+you could not stand upon your legs." "Why," said Astyages, "have you
+never seen the same thing happen to your father?" "No, never," says
+Cyrus. "What, then? How is it with him when he drinks?" "Why, when he
+has drunk, his thirst is quenched, and that is all."
+
+6. Mandana being upon the point of returning to Persia, Cyrus joyfully
+complied with the repeated requests his grandfather had made to him to
+stay in Media; being desirous, as he said, to perfect himself in the
+art of riding, which he was not yet master of, and which was not known
+in Persia, where the barrenness of the country and its craggy,
+mountainous situation rendered it unfit for the breeding of horses.
+
+7. During the time of his residence at this court his behavior
+procured him infinite love and esteem. He was gentle, affable,
+beneficent, and generous. Whenever the young lords had any favor to
+ask of the king, Cyrus was their solicitor. If the king had any
+subject of complaint against them, Cyrus was their mediator; their
+affairs became his, and he always managed them so well that he
+obtained whatever he desired.
+
+                                                        _Rollin._
+
+
+
+
+_XXII.--CYRUS AND THE ARMENIANS._
+
+
+1. The King of Armenia who was vassal to the Medes, looking upon them
+as ready to be swallowed up by a formidable league formed against
+them, thought fit to lay hold of this occasion to shake off their
+yoke. Accordingly he refused to pay them the ordinary tribute, and to
+send them the number of troops he was obliged to furnish in time of
+war. This highly embarrassed Cyaxares, who was afraid at this
+juncture of bringing new enemies upon his hands if he undertook to
+compel the Armenians to execute their treaty.
+
+2. But Cyrus, having informed himself exactly of the strength and
+situation of the country, undertook the affair. The important point was
+to keep his design secret, without which it was not likely to succeed.
+He therefore appointed a great hunting-match on that side of the
+country; for it was his custom to ride out that way, and frequently to
+hunt with the king's son and the young noblemen of Armenia. On the
+appointed day, he set out with a numerous retinue. The troops followed
+at a distance, and were not to appear till a signal was given. After
+some days' hunting, when they had nearly reached the palace where the
+court resided, Cyrus communicated his design to his officers; and sent
+Chrysanthes with a detachment, ordering them to make themselves master
+of a certain steep eminence, where he knew the king used to retire in
+case of an alarm, with his family and his treasures.
+
+3. This being done, he sent a herald to the king of Armenia, to summon
+him to perform the treaty, and in the mean time ordered his troops to
+advance. Never was a court in greater surprise and perplexity. The
+king was conscious of the wrong he had done, and was not in a
+condition to support it. However, he did what he could to assemble his
+forces together from all quarters; and in the mean time dispatched his
+youngest son, called Stabaris, into the mountains, with his wives, his
+daughters, and whatever was most precious and valuable. But when he
+was informed by his scouts that Cyrus was closely pursuing, he
+entirely lost all courage, and all thoughts of making a defense.
+
+4. The Armenians, following his example, ran away, every one where he
+could, to secure what was dearest to him. Cyrus, seeing the country
+covered with people that were endeavoring to make their escape, sent
+them word that no harm should be done to them if they stayed in their
+houses; but that as many as were taken running away should be treated
+as enemies. This made them all retire to their habitations, excepting
+a few that followed the king.
+
+5. On the other hand, they that were conducting the princesses to the
+mountains fell into the ambush Chrysanthes had laid for them, and were
+most of them taken prisoners. The queen, the king's son, his
+daughters, his eldest son's wife, and his treasures, all fell into the
+hands of the Persians.
+
+6. The king, hearing this melancholy news, and not knowing what would
+become of him, retired to a little eminence, where he was presently
+invested by the Persian army, and obliged to surrender. Cyrus ordered
+him with all his family to be brought to the midst of the army. At
+that very instant arrived Tigranes, the king's eldest son, who was
+just returned from a journey. At so moving a scene he could not
+forbear weeping. Cyrus, addressing himself to him, said: "Prince, you
+are come very seasonably to be present at the trial of your father."
+And immediately he assembled the captains of the Persians and Medes,
+and called in also the great men of Armenia. Nor did he so much as
+exclude the ladies from this assembly, who were there in their
+chariots, but gave them full liberty to hear and see all that passed.
+
+7. When all was ready and Cyrus had commanded silence, he began with
+requiring of the king, that in all the questions he was about to
+propose to him, he would answer sincerely, because nothing could be
+more unworthy a person of his rank than to use dissimulation or
+falsehood. The king promised he would. Then Cyrus asked him, but at
+different times, proposing each article separately, and in order,
+whether it was not true, that he had made war upon Astyages, King of
+the Medes, his grandfather; whether he had not been overcome in that
+war, and in consequence of his defeat had concluded a treaty with
+Astyages; whether by virtue of that treaty he was not obliged to pay a
+certain tribute, to furnish a certain number of troops, and not to
+keep any fortified place in his country.
+
+8. It was impossible for the king to deny any of these facts, which
+were all public and notorious. "For what reason, then," continued
+Cyrus, "have you violated the treaty in every article?" "For no
+other," replied the king, "than because I thought it a glorious thing
+to shake off the yoke, to live free, and to leave my children in the
+same condition." "It is really glorious," answered Cyrus, "to fight in
+defense of liberty, but if any one, after he is reduced to servitude,
+should attempt to run away from his master, what would you do with
+him?" "I must confess," said the king, "I would punish him." "And if
+you had given a government to one of your subjects, and he should be
+found to misbehave, would you continue him in his post?" "No,
+certainly; I would put another in his place." "And if he had amassed
+great riches by his unjust practices?" "I would strip him of them."
+"But, which is still worse, if he had held intelligence with your
+enemies, how would you treat him?" "Though I should pass sentence upon
+myself," replied the king, "I must declare the truth; I would put him
+to death." At these words Tigranes tore his tiara from his head, and
+rent his garments; the women burst out into lamentations and outcries,
+as if the sentence had actually passed upon him.
+
+9. Cyrus, having again commanded silence, Tigranes addressed himself
+to the prince to this effect: "Great prince, can you think it
+consistent with your wisdom, to put my father to death, even against
+your own interest?" "How against my interest?" replied Cyrus. "Because
+he was never so capable of doing you service." "How do you make that
+appear? Do the faults we commit enhance our merit, and give us a new
+title to consideration and favor?" "They certainly do, provided they
+serve to make us wiser; for wisdom is of inestimable value. Are either
+riches, courage, or address to be compared to it? Now it is evident,
+this single day's experience has infinitely improved my father's
+wisdom. He knows how dear the violation of his word has cost him. He
+has proved and felt how much you are superior to him in all respects.
+He has not been able to succeed in any of his designs; but you have
+happily accomplished all yours; and with such expedition and secrecy
+that he has found himself surrounded and taken before he expected to
+be attacked, and the very place of his retreat has served only to
+ensnare him."
+
+10. "But your father," replied Cyrus, "has yet undergone no sufferings
+that can have taught him wisdom." "The fear of evils," answered
+Tigranes, "when it is so well founded as this is, has a much sharper
+sting, and is more capable of piercing the soul, than the evil itself.
+Besides, permit me to say, that gratitude is a stronger and more
+prevailing motive than any whatever; and there can be no obligations
+in the world of a higher nature than those you will lay upon my
+father--his fortune, liberty, scepter, life, wives, and children, all
+restored to him with such a generosity. Where can you find,
+illustrious prince, in one single person, so many strong and powerful
+ties to attach him to your service?"
+
+11. "Well, then," replied Cyrus, turning to the king, "if I should
+yield to your son's entreaties, with what number of men, and what sum
+of money, will you assist us in the war against the Babylonians?" "My
+troops and treasures," says the Armenian king, "are no longer mine;
+they are entirely yours. I can raise forty thousand foot and eight
+thousand horse; and as for money, I reckon, including the treasure
+which my father left me, there are about three thousand talents ready
+money. All these are wholly at your disposal." Cyrus accepted half the
+number of the troops, and left the king the other half, for the
+defense of the country against the Chaldeans, with whom he was at war.
+
+12. The annual tribute which was due to the Medes he doubled, and
+instead of fifty talents exacted a hundred, and borrowed the like sum
+over and above in his own name. "But what would you give me," added
+Cyrus, "for the ransom of your wives?" "All that I have in the world,"
+replied the king. "And for the ransom of your children?" "The same
+thing." "From this time, then, you are indebted to me the double of
+all your possessions. And you, Tigranes, at what price would you
+redeem the liberty of your lady?" Now he had lately married her, and
+was passionately fond of her. "At the price," said he, "of a thousand
+lives if I had them." Cyrus then conducted them all to his tent, and
+entertained them at supper. It is easy to imagine what transports of
+joy there must have been upon this occasion.
+
+13. After supper, as they were discoursing upon various subjects,
+Cyrus asked Tigranes what was become of a governor whom he had often
+seen hunting with him, and for whom he had a particular esteem.
+"Alas!" said Tigranes, "he is no more; and I dare not tell you by what
+accident I lost him." Cyrus pressed him to tell him. "My father,"
+continued Tigranes, "seeing I had a very tender affection for this
+governor, and that I was extremely attached to him, suspected it might
+be of some ill consequence and put him to death. But he was so honest
+a man, that as he was ready to expire, he sent for me and spoke to me
+in these words: 'Tigranes, let not my death occasion any
+dissatisfaction in you toward the king your father. What he has done
+to me did not proceed from malice, but only from prejudice, and a
+false notion wherewith he was unhappily blinded.'" "Oh, the excellent
+man!" cried Cyrus, "never forget the last advice he gave you."
+
+14. When the conversation was ended, Cyrus, before they parted,
+embraced them all, as in token of a perfect reconciliation. This done,
+they got into their chariots, with their wives, and went home full of
+gratitude and admiration. Nothing but Cyrus was mentioned the whole
+way; some extolling his wisdom, others his valor; some admiring the
+sweetness of his temper, others praising the beauty of his person and
+the majesty of his mien. "And you," said Tigranes, addressing himself
+to his lady, "what do you think of Cyrus's aspect and deportment?" "I
+do not know," replied the lady, "I did not observe him." "Upon what
+object, then, did you fix your eyes?" "Upon him that said he would
+give a thousand lives to ransom my liberty."
+
+The next day the King of Armenia sent presents to Cyrus, and
+refreshments for his whole army, and brought him double the sum of
+money he was required to furnish. But Cyrus took only what had been
+stipulated, and restored him the rest. The Armenian troops were
+ordered to be ready in three days' time, and Tigranes desired to
+command them.
+
+                                                        _Rollin._
+
+
+
+
+_XXIII.--THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE._
+
+
+1. After the battle of Plat�a, in which the army of the Persian king
+Xerxes was defeated and destroyed, the Greek states became the
+dominant power in the civilized world, and the Greek cities became
+centers of influence and art. Under Pericles, the successor of
+Themistocles, Athens, in richness and beauty of her palaces and
+temples, arrived at a point of excellence which far surpassed anything
+the world had before seen. But jealousies between different states led
+to civil wars that desolated the whole land, and in the next one
+hundred and fifty years scarcely any progress was made in adding to
+the national strength. While these bloody wars were going on
+principally between Sparta and Athens, the tribes of Macedon, a region
+lying immediately north of Greece, were rapidly becoming civilized and
+consolidated. In 359 B. C. Philip became the reigning monarch.
+
+2. He was very desirous of being considered as a Greek, invited
+distinguished men to his court, and ordered public rejoicings in his
+kingdom when his chariots had won the prize at the Olympic games. He
+was very clever, and cared little about the justice and honor of the
+means by which he attained his ends, which were, to hold in subjection
+all the rest of Greece, and to conquer Persia. In the first design he
+succeeded, for the latter he only prepared the way for his son. He had
+both to form his officers and his army. The first he attempted by
+bringing the young nobles to his court, and there instructing them;
+and in the last he succeeded in a remarkable manner.
+
+3. The chief strength of the army, as he constituted it, was in the
+phalanx, a body of sixteen thousand foot soldiers, fully armed in the
+Greek fashion, with spears twenty-four feet long. When drawn up in
+order of battle, the four front ranks held their spears pointing
+outward, and stood at such a space apart, that the foremost line had
+four spear-points between each man and the enemy, or on occasion they
+marched with their shields touching, so as to form an almost
+impenetrable wall.
+
+4. As soon as Philip's designs against Greece were apparent, a strong
+spirit of resistance showed itself, and chiefly at Athens, where the
+great orator, Demosthenes, never ceased to rouse his countrymen to
+maintain their freedom. Demosthenes had trained himself in eloquence
+under great difficulties; he naturally either stammered, or had an
+indistinct pronunciation--a defect which he cured by speaking with
+pebbles in his mouth, and he used to rehearse his speeches to the
+roaring sea, in order to nerve himself against the clamors of a
+tumultuous assembly. He so far succeeded, that he often swayed the
+minds of the Athenians; his name stands as the first of orators, and
+his Philippics, as his discourses against Philip are called, are
+considered as models of rhetoric.
+
+5. At Cheron�a, in 338, a battle was fought by Philip against the
+allied forces of the Athenians and Thebans. At one time the Athenians
+gained some advantage, but they used it so ill, that Philip, calling
+out to his troops, "They do not know how to conquer," made a sudden
+charge, and routed them with great slaughter. The battle of Cheron�a
+was the end of the independence of Greece, which from that time
+forward became subject to Macedon, in spite of its many struggles to
+shake off the yoke, and recover the liberty which had been lost for
+want of a firm, united, settled government.
+
+6. The King of Macedon next commenced his arrangements for his other
+favorite scheme--the invasion of Asia; but in the year 336, in the
+midst of the feasts in honor of his daughter's marriage, he was
+murdered by a young Macedonian noble, who was slain in the first anger
+of the surrounding guards, without having time to disclose the motive
+of his crime.
+
+7. Alexander, son of Philip and his Epirot queen Olympias, was twenty
+years of age when he came to the throne. On the night of his birth the
+temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was burned to the ground by a man named
+Erostratus, in the foolish desire of making himself notorious, and
+this Alexander liked to consider as an omen that he should himself
+kindle a flame in Asia.
+
+8. He traced his descent from his father's side from Hercules, and by
+his mother's from Achilles, and throughout his boyhood he seems to
+have lived in a world of the old Greek poetry, sleeping with Homer's
+works under his pillow, and dreaming of deeds in which he should rival
+the fame of the victors of Troy. He was placed under the care of
+Aristotle, the great philosopher of Stagira, to whom, when Philip had
+written to announce Alexander's birth, he had said that he knew not
+whether most to rejoice at having a son, or that his son would have
+such a teacher as Aristotle.
+
+9. From him the young Alexander learned to think deeply, to resolve
+firmly, and devise plans of government; by others he was instructed in
+all the graceful accomplishments of the Greeks, and under his father
+he was trained to act promptly. At fourteen he tamed the noble horse
+Bucephalus, which no one else dared to mount; two years later he
+rescued his father in a battle with the Scythians, and he commanded
+the cavalry at Cheron�a, but he was so young at the time of his
+accession, that the Greeks thought they had nothing to fear from him.
+
+[Illustration: _Battle on the Granicus._]
+
+10. There were very ungenerous rejoicings at Athens at the murder of
+Philip. Demosthenes, though he had just lost a daughter, crowned himself
+with a wreath of flowers, and came with great tokens of joy to announce
+it to the Athenians so soon after the event, as almost to excite a
+suspicion that he must have been concerned in the crime. But they found
+that their joy was unfounded, for no sooner did Thebes take up arms,
+than Alexander marched against it, destroyed the walls, killed many of
+the citizens, and blotted it out from the number of Greek cities. The
+other states did not dare to make any further opposition, and he was
+thus at leisure to prepare for the invasion of Persia.
+
+11. Leaving Antipater as governor of Macedon, he set out in the spring
+of 334, at the head of thirty thousand infantry and four thousand five
+hundred cavalry, and bade farewell to his native land, which he was
+never to see again. He crossed the Hellespont, and was the first man
+to leap on Asiatic ground; then, while his forces were landing, he
+went to visit the spot which had so long been the object of his
+dreams--the village which marked the site of Troy. He offered a
+sacrifice at the tomb of Achilles, hung up his own shield in the
+temple, and took down one which was said to be a relic of the Greek
+conquerors, intending to have it always borne before him in battle.
+
+12. His march was at first toward the east, along the shore of the
+Hellespont, until at the river Granicus he met the Persians drawn up
+on the other bank of the river, under the command of the satrap
+Memnon. Alexander himself, at the head of his cavalry, charged through
+the midst of the rapid stream, won the landing-place, and followed by
+the phalanx, quickly gained a complete victory.
+
+13. All the neighboring country fell into his hands, and after taking
+possession of it, he changed his course, marching along the shores of
+the �gean, and taking all the towns. It was his first object to cut
+the Persians off from their seaports, and thus deprive them of the use
+of their fleet, which was so superior to his own, that he never
+ventured on one sea-fight.
+
+14. This march round the western and southern coasts of Asia Minor,
+together with an expedition into the interior, occupied a year, and in
+the early part of the summer, he arrived at Tarsus, in Cilicia. Here,
+on entering the city, overwhelmed with heat and fatigue, he bathed in
+the cold waters of the Cydnus, and the chill brought on a violent
+fever, which nearly cost him his life. A letter was sent to warn him
+that his physician, Philip, had been bribed by the Persian king to
+poison him. While he was reading it the physician himself brought him
+a draught of medicine; the king put the letter into his hand, took the
+cup and drank it off, even before Philip could profess his innocence.
+In three days' time he was again able to appear at the head of his
+troops, and not before he was needed, for the enemy's army was near at
+hand, under King Darius Codomanus himself.
+
+15. The Persians advanced in great state. First came a number of
+persons bearing silver altars, on which burned the sacred fire; then
+followed the Magi, and three hundred and sixty-five youths robed in
+scarlet, in honor of the days of the year. Next came the chariot and
+horses of the Sun, with their attendants, and afterward the army
+itself, the Immortal Band, with gold-handled lances, white robes, and
+jeweled corslets, and a host of others of less note, all far more fit
+for show than for battle. Darius himself, arrayed in purple robes and
+glittering with jewels, was in the midst, in a chariot covered with
+gold ornaments, and with him came his mother, Sisygambis, his
+principal wife, his daughters, a number of other ladies, and a
+multitude of slaves. This unwieldy and useless host took up their
+position on the hilly ground above the city of Issus, where they were
+so entangled among the rocks, that their numbers were of little profit
+to them, and it was an easy victory for the Macedonians. No sooner did
+Darius see that the day was against him, than he turned his chariot
+and fled, leaving his family to fall into the hands of the conqueror,
+while he himself hastened to Babylon to collect another army.
+
+16. Alexander treated the mother, wife, and children of Darius with
+great kindness and courtesy, sending an officer to assure them of his
+protection, and going the next morning to visit them, accompanied by
+his friend Heph�stion, a young man of his own age. Alexander, though
+of beautiful and noble countenance, and well formed for strength and
+activity, was rather short in stature, and as his dress was very
+simple, Sisygambis mistook Heph�stion for the King of Macedon, and
+threw herself on the ground before him; and she was greatly confused
+and distressed when she discovered her error; but Alexander said, as
+he raised her, "You were not deceived, for he is Alexander's other
+self." He gave her the name of mother, never sat down in her presence
+except at her request, and showed in every point a respect and
+courtesy such as she had probably never before received from the
+Asiatic princes, who always held women in contempt.
+
+17. Pursuing his intention of first destroying the naval power of the
+Persian empire, Alexander next entered Phoenicia, and readily received
+the submission of Zidon, but Tyre refused to admit him within the
+walls. New Tyre, which was built after the seventy years' desolation
+which followed the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, stood upon an island
+about half a mile from the shore, and was inhabited by a numerous and
+brave people, who thought themselves secure from an enemy who had no
+fleet to bring against them.
+
+18. Alexander was, however, not to be daunted by any difficulty. He at
+first attempted to build a causeway from the shore to the island, and
+when the Tyrians destroyed his works he went to Zidon and there
+obtained a fleet, by means of which he at length took the city after a
+seven months' siege. He stained his victory by a cruel slaughter, and
+made slaves of all whose lives were spared, excepting a few whom the
+Zidonians contrived to conceal in their ships. This was the final fall
+of the great merchant city, so often predicted by Isaiah and Ezekiel.
+
+19. He then marched through the rest of Palestine, intending to punish
+Jerusalem, which had stood loyal to Darius, and refused to send him
+supplies. The Jews, on his approach, prayed for guidance and
+protection, and it was revealed to Jaddua, the high-priest, that he
+should open the gates and go forth in his sacred robes to receive the
+Grecian conqueror. It was accordingly done; and Jaddua, in the
+vestments of Aaron, came forth at the head of the choir of priests in
+white garments as Alexander and the Greeks mounted the hill toward the
+city. No sooner did the king meet the procession than he bent down to
+the ground in adoration, and walked in the midst of the priests to the
+temple, where a sacrifice was offered; and he not only spared the
+Jews, but showed them much favor.
+
+20. He told his generals that before he left Macedon he had seen in a
+dream a figure exactly resembling that of the high-priest, which had
+foretold all his conquests. And surely there is little reason to doubt
+that such a revelation might be made to a conqueror marked out as
+clearly by prophecy as Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus, before he set out on
+the work appointed for him. Both his predecessors in conquest, as soon
+as they came in contact with the chosen people, were taught that they
+were the subjects of prophecy; and Alexander, in his turn, was shown
+by Jaddua the prediction of Daniel, which spoke of him as a he-goat
+(the actual ensign of Macedon), "Who came from the West, and smote the
+ram, and brake his two horns, and cast him down and trampled on him."
+"And the rough goat is the King of Grecia."
+
+21. He then proceeded southward, besieged and took Gaza, after a brave
+resistance, which he cruelly requited, and entered Egypt, subduing it
+with little difficulty. On one of the peninsulas formed by the mouth
+of the Nile, he founded a city, called after his name Alexandria,
+which became the capital of Egypt under its Greek rulers, and one of
+the most famous cities in the world. He made an expedition to the
+temple of Jupiter Ammon, on an oasis in the Libyan desert, and
+consulted the oracle there, and then after appointing a Macedonian
+satrap in Egypt, retraced his steps toward the Holy Land, and marched
+toward Babylonia, where Darius was again collecting his forces to
+oppose him.
+
+                                            _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XXIV.--ALEXANDER'S CONQUESTS._
+
+
+1. Alexander crossed the Euphrates and Tigris without opposition, and
+the decisive battle did not take place till he reached the plain of
+Arbela, where the Persians were drawn up to receive him. The
+Macedonians wished to make a night attack, but Alexander would not
+permit it, saying that he disdained to steal a victory, and the combat
+took place the next day.
+
+2. The present army of Persians was drawn from the more remote
+regions of Bactria and Parthia, where the men were more warlike, and
+they fought better than any whom the Macedonians had before
+encountered; but Darius himself fled early in the day, leaving behind
+him his bow and shield; his men lost courage, and followed him, and
+Alexander was left master of the field of Arbela.
+
+3. This battle placed in his power all the western part of the Persian
+empire, and he had only to march to the great cities of Babylon, Susa,
+Ecbatana, and Persepolis, to take possession of the huge stores of
+treasures there heaped up by the Persian kings, which he now
+distributed among his followers with royal bounty. The unfortunate
+Darius escaped into Bactria, where two satraps, in whom he had
+confided, treacherously seized him and made him prisoner, carrying him
+along with them as they fled before Alexander, until at length, being
+closely pressed by the Greeks, they threw their darts at him, and left
+him lying on the ground mortally wounded.
+
+4. He was still alive when some of the Greeks came up, but died before
+the arrival of Alexander. The conqueror wept as he beheld the corpse
+of the last of a line of such great princes; he threw his own cloak
+over it, and sent it to Babylon, where it was buried with great
+magnificence.
+
+[Illustration: _Alexander at the Dead Body of Darius._]
+
+5. The wife of Darius had died a prisoner, but Sisygambis still
+remained with her grandchildren at Babylon. Only once does Alexander
+seem to have hurt her feelings, and this was through ignorance of
+Persian customs. He showed her some robes of his sister's own weaving
+and embroidery, and offered to have her grand-daughters instructed in
+the same art, at which she wept, since Persian ladies deemed such
+employments work fit only for slaves and captives, and Alexander was
+obliged to explain how honorably the loom and needle were esteemed
+by his own countrywomen.
+
+6. Alexander was much attached to his own mother, Olympias, and
+portions of his letters to her have come down to our time. She was a
+proud and violent woman, who often interfered with Antipater, governor
+of Macedon, and caused him to send many complaints to the king: "Ah!"
+said Alexander, "Antipater does not know that one tear of a mother
+will blot out ten thousand of his letters."
+
+7. Alexander had indeed an open and affectionate heart, but he was
+fast becoming too much uplifted by his successes. On Darius's death,
+he took the state as well as the title of a king of Persia, wore the
+tiara and robes, and claimed from the Macedonians the same servile
+tokens of homage as were paid by the eastern nations, thus causing
+perpetual heart-burnings among them, since they could neither endure
+to see their king exalted so much further above them, nor to be placed
+on the same level with the barbarians whom they despised.
+
+8. Their jealousies troubled Alexander from the time he assumed the
+tiara of Persia. He found it impossible to raise the condition of the
+Persians, and treat them with favor, without offending the
+Macedonians, and his temper did not always endure these provocations.
+The worst action of his life was the sentencing to death, on a false
+accusation, the wise old General Parmenio, and his son; and in a fit
+of passion at a riotous banquet, he slew, with his own hand, his
+friend Clitus, his nurse's son, who had saved his life at the battle
+of Granicus. It was the deed of a moment of drunken violence, and he
+bitterly lamented it, shutting himself up for several days without
+allowing any one to approach him, and paying all honors to the memory
+of his murdered friend.
+
+9. His pride and vain-glory went so far, that he declared that the
+oracle of Jupiter Ammon had announced that he was the son of Jupiter,
+and sent to Greece to desire to be enrolled among the gods in his
+life-time. Some of the Greeks were shocked at his profanity, others
+laughed at him; but all the Spartans said was, "If Alexander will be a
+god, let him."
+
+10. The next four years were the most laborious of Alexander's life.
+He pursued the murderers of Darius into Bactria and Sogdiana, avenged
+his death, and reduced the numerous hill-forts as far as the frontier
+of Scythia. Fierce insurrections broke out among the wild tribes of
+Sogdiana, which it required all his activity and judgment to quell,
+and more than once provoked him into cruelty, though in general,
+conqueror as he was, he was no spoiler, but wherever he went founded
+cities, and tried to teach the Persians the civilized arts of Greece.
+
+11. In 326 he set out for India, as the region was called round the
+river Indus. Here the inhabitants were warlike, and Porus, king of a
+portion of the country, made a brave resistance, but was at length
+defeated and taken prisoner. On being brought before Alexander he said
+he had nothing to ask, save to be treated as a king. "That I shall do
+for my own sake," said Alexander, and accordingly not only set him at
+liberty, but enlarged his territory.
+
+12. All these Indian nations brought a tribute of elephants, which the
+Macedonians now for the first time learned to employ in war. Alexander
+wished to proceed into Hindostan, a country hitherto entirely unknown,
+but his soldiers grew so discontented at the prospect of being led so
+much farther from home, into the utmost parts of the earth, that he
+was obliged to give up his attempt, and very unwillingly turned back
+from the banks of the Sutlej.
+
+13. While returning, he besieged a little town belonging to a tribe
+called the Malli, and believed to be the present city of Mooltan. He
+was the first to scale the wall, and after four others had mounted,
+the ladder broke, and he was left standing on the wall, a mark for the
+darts of the enemy. He instantly leaped down within the wall into the
+midst of the Malli, and there setting his back against a fig-tree,
+defended himself until a barbed arrow deeply pierced his breast, and,
+after trying to keep up a little longer, he sunk, fainting, on his
+shield. His four companions sprung down after him--two were slain, but
+the others held their shields over him till the rest of the army
+succeeded in breaking into the town and coming to the rescue.
+
+14. His wound was severe and dangerous, but he at length recovered,
+sailed down to the mouth of the Indus, and sent a fleet to survey the
+Persian Gulf, while he himself marched along the shore. The country
+was bare and desert, and his army suffered dreadfully from heat,
+thirst, and hunger, while he readily shared all their privations. A
+little water was once brought him on a parching day, as a great prize,
+but since there was not enough for all, he poured it out on the sand,
+lest his faithful followers should feel themselves more thirsty when
+they saw him drink alone.
+
+15. At last he safely arrived at Caramania, whence he returned to the
+more inhabited and wealthy parts of Persia, held his court with great
+magnificence at Susa, and then went to Babylon. Here embassies met him
+from every part of the known world, bringing gifts and homage, and
+above all, there arrived from the Greek states the much desired
+promise that he should be honored as a god. He was at the highest
+pitch of worldly greatness to which mortal man had yet attained, and
+his designs were reaching yet further; but his hour was come, and at
+Babylon, the home of pride, "the great horn" was to be broken.
+
+[Illustration: _Alexander the Great._]
+
+16. In the marshes into which the Euphrates had spread since its
+channel was altered by Cyrus, there breathed a noxious air, and a few
+weeks after Alexander's arrival, he was attacked by a fever, perhaps
+increased by intemperance. He bore up against it as long as possible,
+continued to offer sacrifices daily, though with increasing
+difficulty, and summoned his officers to arrange plans for his
+intended expedition; but his strength failed him on the ninth day, and
+though he called them together as usual, he could not address them.
+Perhaps he thought in that hour of the prophecy he had seen at
+Jerusalem, that the empire he had toiled to raise should be divided,
+for he is reported to have said that there would be a mighty contest
+at his funeral games. He made no attempt to name a successor, but he
+took off his signet-ring, placed it on the finger of Perdiccas, one of
+his generals, and a short time after expired, in the thirty-third year
+of his age, and the twelfth of his reign.
+
+17. There was a voice of wailing throughout the city that night. The
+Babylonians shut up their houses, and trembled at the neighborhood of
+the fierce Greek soldiery, now that their protector was dead; the
+Macedonians stood to arms all night, as if in presence of the enemy;
+and when in the morning the officers assembled in the palace council
+chamber, bitter and irrepressible was the burst of lamentation that
+broke out at the sight of the vacant throne, where lay the crown,
+scepter, and royal robes, and where Perdiccas now placed the
+signet-ring. More deeply than all mourned the prisoner, the aged
+Sisygambis, who covered her face with a black veil, sat down in a
+corner of her room, refused all entreaties to speak or to eat, and
+expired five days after Alexander.
+
+18. Nor did the Persians soon cease to lament the conqueror, who had
+ruled them more beneficently than their own monarchs had done; their
+traditions made Alexander a prince of their own, and adorned him with
+every virtue valued in the East. That he had many great faults has
+already been shown, and, of course, by the rules of justice, his
+conquests were but reckless gratifications of his own ambition; but he
+was a high-minded, generous man, open of heart, free of hand, and for
+the most part acting up to his knowledge of right; and if unbridled
+power, talent of the highest order, and glory such as none before or
+since has ever attained, inflamed his passions, and elated him with
+pride, still it is not for us to judge severely of one who had such
+great temptations, and so little to guide him aright.
+
+                                            _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XXV.--JUDAS MACCAB�US, THE HEBREW WILLIAM TELL._
+
+
+1. The kingdom of Judah escaped destruction at the hands of
+Sennacherib, but its respite was short. Soon afterward Babylon,
+closely related to Assyria, and the heir of its dominion, swept into
+captivity in distant Mesopotamia nearly all that were left of Hebrew
+stock. For a time, the nation seemed to have been wiped from the face
+of the earth. The ten tribes of Israel that had been first dragged
+forth never returned to Judea, and their ultimate fate, after the
+destruction of Nineveh, whose splendor they had in their servitude
+done so much to enhance, was that of homeless wanderers. The harp of
+Judah, silent upon the devastated banks of the Jordan, was hung upon
+the Babylonian willows, for how could the exiles sing the Lord's song
+in a strange land! But the cry went forth at length that Babylon had
+fallen in her turn, just as destruction had before overtaken Nineveh.
+In the middle of the sixth century B. C., Cyrus the Mede made a
+beginning of restoring the exiles, who straightway built anew the
+Temple walls.
+
+2. In David's time, the population of Palestine must have numbered
+several millions, and it largely increased during the succeeding
+reigns. Multitudes, however, had perished by the sword, and other
+multitudes were retained in strange lands. Scarcely fifty thousand
+found their way back in the time of Cyrus to the desolate site of
+Jerusalem, but, one hundred years later, the number was increased by a
+re-enforcement under Ezra. From this nucleus, with astonishing
+vitality, a new Israel was presently developed. With weapons always at
+hand to repel the freebooters of the desert, they constructed once
+more the walls of Jerusalem. Through all their harsh experience their
+feelings of nationality had not been at all abated; their blood was
+untouched by foreign admixture, though some Gentile ideas had entered
+into the substance of their faith. The conviction that they were the
+chosen people of God was as unshaken as in the ancient time. With
+pride as indomitable as ever, intrenched within their little corner of
+Syria, they confronted the hostile world.
+
+3. But a new contact was at hand, far more memorable even than that
+with the nations of Mesopotamia--a contact whose consequences affect
+at the present hour the condition of the greater part of the human
+race. In the year 332 B. C., the high-priest, Jaddua, at Jerusalem,
+was in an agony, not knowing how he should meet certain new invaders
+of the land, before whom Tyre, and Gaza, the old Philistine
+stronghold, had fallen, and who were now marching upon the city of
+David. But God warned him in a dream that he should take courage,
+adorn the city, and open the gates; that the people should appear in
+white garments of peace, but that he and the priests should meet the
+strangers in the robes of their office. At length, at the head of a
+sumptuous train of generals and tributary princes, a young man of
+twenty-four, upon a beautiful steed, rode forward from the way going
+down to the sea to the spot which may still be seen, called,
+anciently, Scopus, the prospect, because from that point one
+approaching could behold, for the first time, Jerusalem crowned by the
+Temple rising fair upon the heights of Zion and Moriah.
+
+4. The youth possessed a beauty of a type in those regions hitherto
+little known. As compared with the swarthy Syrians in his suite, his
+skin was white; his features were stamped with the impress of command,
+his eyes filled with an intellectual light. With perfect horsemanship he
+guided the motions of his charger. A fine grace marked his figure, set
+off with a cloak, helmet, and gleaming arms, as he expressed with
+animated gestures his exultation over the spectacle before him. But now,
+down from the heights came the procession of the priests and the people.
+The multitude proceeded in their robes of white; the priests stood
+clothed in fine linen; while the high-priest, in attire of purple and
+scarlet, upon his breast the great breastplate of judgment with its
+jewels, upon his head the mitre marked with the plate of gold whereon
+was engraved the name of God, led the train with venerable dignity.
+
+5. Now, says the historian, when the Ph[oe]nicians and Chaldeans that
+followed Alexander thought that they should have liberty to plunder
+the city, and torment the high-priest to death, the very reverse
+happened; for the young leader, when he saw the multitude in the
+distance, and the figure of the high-priest before, approached him by
+himself, saluted him, and adored the name, which was graven upon the
+plate of the mitre. Then a captain, named Parmino, asked him how it
+came to pass that, when all others adored him, he should adore the
+high-priest of the Jews. To whom the leader replied: "I do not adore
+him, but that God who hath honored him with his high-priesthood; for I
+saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit, when I was at
+Dios in Macedonia, who, when I was considering how I might obtain the
+dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass
+over the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army, and could
+give me the dominion over the Persians." Then, when Alexander had
+given the high-priest his right hand, the priests ran along by him and
+he came into the city, and he offered sacrifice to God in the Temple,
+according to the high-priest's direction, and magnificently treated
+both the high-priest and the priests. He granted all the multitude
+desired; and when he said to them that if any of them would enlist
+themselves in his army on this condition, that they should continue
+under the laws of their forefathers, he was willing to take them with
+him, many were ready to accompany him in his wars.
+
+6. But this Aryan troop that went southward is less interesting to us
+than companies that departed westward, for in these westward marching
+bands went the primeval forefathers from whose venerable loins we
+ourselves have proceeded. They passed into Western Asia, and from Asia
+into Europe--each migrating multitude impelled by a new swarm sent forth
+from the parent hive behind. At the head of the Adriatic Sea an Aryan
+troop had divided, sending down into the eastern peninsula the ancestors
+of the Greeks, and into the western peninsula the train destined to
+establish upon the seven hills the power of Rome. Already the Aryan
+pioneers, the Celts, on the outmost rocks of the western coast of
+Europe, were fretting against the barrier of storm and sea, across which
+they were not to find their way for many ages. Already Ph[oe]nician
+merchants, trading for amber in the far-off Baltic, had become aware of
+the wild Aryan tribes pressing to the northwest--the Teutons and Goths.
+Already, perhaps, upon the outlying spur of the Ural range, still other
+Aryans had fixed their hold, the progenitors of the Sclav. The
+aboriginal savage of Europe was already nearly extinct. His lance of
+flint had fallen harmless from the Aryan buckler; his rude altars had
+become displaced by the shrines of the new gods. In the Mediterranean
+Sea each sunny isle and pleasant promontory had long been in Aryan
+hands, and now in the wintry forests to the northward the resistless
+multitudes had more recently fixed their seats.
+
+7. In the Macedonians, the Aryans, having established their dominion
+in Europe, march back upon the track which their forefathers long
+before had followed westward; and now it is that the Hebrews become
+involved with the race that from that day to this has been the
+master-race of the world. It was a contact taking place under
+circumstances, it would seem, the most auspicious--the venerable old
+man and the beautiful Greek youth clasping hands, the ruthless
+followers of the conqueror baffled in their hopes of booty, the
+multitudes of Jerusalem, in their robes of peace, filling the air with
+acclamations, as Alexander rode from the place of prospect, upon the
+heights of Zion, into the solemn precincts of the Temple.
+
+8. The successors of Alexander the Great made the Jews a link between
+the Hellenic populations that had become widely scattered throughout the
+East by the Macedonian conquests, and the great barbarian races among
+whom the Greeks had placed themselves. The dispersion of the Jews, which
+had already taken place to such an extent through the Assyrian and
+Babylonian conquests, went forward now more vigorously. Throughout
+Western Asia they were found everywhere, but it was in Egypt that they
+attained the highest prosperity and honor. The one city, Alexandria
+alone, is said to have contained at length a million Jews, whom the
+Greek kings of Egypt, the Ptolemies, preferred in every way to the
+native population. Elsewhere, too, they were favored, and hence they
+were everywhere hated; and the hatred assumed a deeper bitterness from
+the fact that the Jew always remained a Jew, marked in garb, in feature,
+in religious faith, always scornfully asserting the claim that he was
+the chosen of the Lord. Palestine became incorporated with the empire of
+the Seleucid�, the Macedonian princes to whom had fallen Western Asia.
+Oppression at last succeeded the earlier favor, the defenses of
+Jerusalem were demolished, and the Temple defiled with pagan ceremonies;
+and now it is that we reach some of the finest figures in Hebrew
+history, the great high-priests, the Maccabees.
+
+9. There dwelt at the town of Modin a priest, Mattathias, the
+descendant of Asmon�us, to whom had been born five sons--John, Simon,
+Judas Maccab�us, or the Hammer, Eleazar, and Jonathan. Mattathias
+lamented the ravaging of the land and the plunder of the Temple by
+Antiochus Epiphanes, and when, in the year 167 B. C., the Macedonian
+king sent to Modin to have sacrifices offered, the Asmon�an returned a
+spirited reply. "Thou art a ruler," said the king's officers, "and an
+honorable and great man in this city, and strengthened with sons and
+brethren. Now, therefore, come thou first: so shalt thou and thy
+house be in number of the king's friends, and thou and thy children
+shall be honored with silver and gold and many rewards." But
+Mattathias replied with a loud voice: "Though all the nations that are
+under the king's dominions obey him, and fall away every one from the
+religion of their fathers, yet will I and my sons and my brethren,
+walk in the covenant of our fathers. God forbid that we should forsake
+the law and the ordinances! We will not hearken to the king's words to
+go from our religion, either on the right hand or the left."
+
+10. An heroic struggle for freedom at once began, which opened for the
+Jews full of sadness. An apostate Jew, approaching to offer sacrifice
+in compliance with the command of Antiochus, was at once slain by
+Mattathias, who struck down also Apelles, the king's general, with
+some of his soldiers. As he fled with his sons into the desert,
+leaving his substance behind him, many of the faithful Israelites
+followed, pursued by the Macedonians seeking revenge. The oppressors
+knew well how to choose their time. Attacking on the Sabbath-day,
+when, according to old tradition, it was a transgression even to
+defend one's life, a thousand with their wives and children were
+burned and smothered in the caves in which they had taken refuge. But
+Mattathias, rallying those that remained, taught them to fight on the
+Sabbath, and at all times. The heathen altars were overthrown, the
+breakers of the law were slain, the uncircumcised boys were everywhere
+circumcised. But the fullness of time approached for Mattathias; after
+a year his day of death had come, and these were his parting words to
+his sons: "I know that your brother Simon is a man of counsel; give
+ear unto him always; he shall be a father unto you. As for Judas
+Maccab�us, he hath been mighty and strong even from his youth up; let
+him be your captain and fight the battles of the people. Admit among
+you the righteous."
+
+11. No sooner had the father departed, than it appeared that the
+captain whom he had designated was a man as mighty as the great
+champions of old, Joshua and Gideon and Samson. He forthwith smote
+with defeat Apollonius, the general in the Samaritan country, and when
+he had slain the Greek he took his sword for his own. Seron, general
+of the army in C[oe]le-Syria, came against him with a host of
+Macedonians strengthened by apostate Jews. The men of Judas Maccab�us
+were few in number, without food, and faint-hearted, but he inspired
+them with his own zeal, and overthrew the new foes at Bethoron. King
+Antiochus, being now called eastward to Persia, committed military
+matters in Palestine to the viceroy, Lysias, with orders to take an
+army with elephants and conquer Judea, enslave its people, destroy
+Jerusalem, and abolish the nation. At once the new invaders were upon
+the land; of foot-soldiers there were forty thousand, of horsemen
+seven thousand, and as they advanced many Syrians and renegade Jews
+joined them. Merchants marched with the army, with money to buy the
+captives as slaves, and chains with which to bind those whom they
+purchased. But Judas Maccab�us was no whit dismayed. Causing his
+soldiers to array themselves in sackcloth, he made them pray to
+Jehovah. He dismissed those lately married, and those who had newly
+come into great possessions, as likely to be faint-hearted. After
+addressing those that remained, he set them in the ancient order of
+battle, and waited the opportunity to strike.
+
+12. The hostile general, fancying he saw an opportunity to surprise
+the little band of Hebrews, sent a portion of his host against them,
+by secret ways at night. But the spies of Judas were out. Leaving the
+fires burning brightly in his camp, to lure forward those who were
+commissioned to attack him, he rushed forth under the shadows against
+the main body, weakened by the absence of the detachment. He forced
+their position, though strongly defended, overcame the army; then
+turned back to scatter utterly the other party who were seeking him in
+the abandoned camp. He took great booty of gold and silver, and of
+raiment purple and blue. He marched home in great joy to the villages
+of Judea, singing hymns to God, as was done in the days of Miriam,
+long before, because they had triumphed gloriously.
+
+13. The next year Lysias advanced from Antioch, the Syrian capital,
+with a force of sixty-five thousand. Judas Maccab�us, with ten
+thousand, overthrew his vanguard, upon which the viceroy, terrified at
+the desperate fighting, retired to assemble a still greater army. For
+a time there was a respite from war, during which Judas counseled the
+people to purify the Temple. The Israelites, overjoyed at the revival
+of their ancient customs, the restoration of the old worship in all
+its purity, and the relief from foreign oppressors, celebrated for
+eight days a magnificent festival. The lamps in the Temple porches
+were rekindled to the sound of instruments and the chant of the
+Levites. But one vial of oil could be found, when, lo, a miracle! the
+one vial sufficed for the supply of the seven-branched golden
+candlestick for a week. This ancient Maccab�an festival faithful Jews
+still celebrate under the name of the Hanoukhah, the Feast of Lights.
+
+14. Judas subdues also the Idumeans of the southward, and the
+Ammonites. His brethren, too, have become mighty men of valor.
+Jonathan crosses the Jordan with him and campaigns against the tribes
+to the eastward. Eleazar is a valiant soldier, and Simon carries
+succor to the Jews in Galilee. But at length the Macedonian is again
+at hand, more terrible than before. The foot are a hundred thousand,
+the horse twenty thousand; and as rallying-points, thirty-two
+elephants tower among the ranks. About each one of the huge beasts is
+collected a troop of a thousand foot and five hundred horse; high
+turrets upon their backs are occupied by archers; their great flanks
+and limbs are cased in plates of steel. The host show their golden and
+brazen shields, making in the sun a glorious splendor, and shout in
+exultation so that the mountains echo. In the battle that follows
+Fortune does not altogether favor the Jews. In particular, the
+champion Eleazar lays down his life. He had attacked the largest
+elephant, a creature covered with plated armor, and carrying upon his
+back a whole troop of combatants, among whom it was believed that the
+king himself fought. Eleazar had slain those in the neighborhood,
+then, creeping beneath the belly of the elephant, had pierced him. As
+the brute fell, Eleazar was crushed in the fall. Judas was forced to
+retire within the defenses of Jerusalem, where still further disaster
+seemed likely to overcome him. Dissensions among themselves, however,
+weakened the Macedonians. Peace was offered the Jews, and permission
+to live according to the law of their fathers--proposals which were
+gladly accepted, although the invaders razed the defenses of the Temple.
+
+15. The peace was not enduring. New Macedonian invasions followed; new
+Hebrew successes, the Maccabees and their partisans making up, by
+their fierce zeal, their military skill, and dauntless valor, for
+their want of numbers. But a sad day came at last. Judas, twenty times
+outnumbered, confronts the leader Bacchides in Galilee. The Greek sets
+horsemen on both wings, his light troops and archers before the
+heavier phalanx, and takes his own station on the right. The Jewish
+hero is valiant as ever; the right wing of the enemy turns to flee.
+The left and center, however, encompass him, and he falls, fighting
+gloriously, having earned a name of the most skillful and valorous of
+the world's great vindicators of freedom.
+
+               _James K. Hosmer. "The Story of the Jews."_
+                       _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+ROMAN RECORD.
+
+
+
+
+_XXVI.--TARQUIN THE WICKED._
+
+
+1. For his tyranny King Tarquin was banished from Rome about 500 B.
+C., and after his expulsion he sent messengers to Rome to ask that his
+property should be given up to him, and the senate decreed that his
+prayer should be granted. But the king's ambassadors, while they were
+in Rome, stirred up the minds of the young men and others who had been
+favored by Tarquin, so that a plot was made to bring him back. Among
+those who plotted were Titus and Tiberius, the sons of the consul
+Brutus; and they gave letters to the messengers of the king. But it
+chanced that a certain slave hid himself in the place where they met,
+and overheard them plotting; and he came and told the thing to the
+consuls, who seized the messengers of the king with the letters upon
+their persons, authenticated by the seals of the young men. The
+culprits were immediately arrested; but the ambassadors were let go,
+because their persons were regarded as sacred. And the goods of King
+Tarquin were given up for plunder to the people.
+
+2. Then the traitors were brought up before the consuls, and the sight
+was such as to move all beholders to pity; for among them were the
+sons of Lucius Junius Brutus himself, the first consul, the liberator
+of the Roman people. And now all men saw how Brutus loved his country;
+for he bade the lictors put all the traitors to death, and his own
+sons first; and men could mark in his face the struggle between his
+duty as a chief magistrate of Rome and his feelings as a father. And
+while they praised and admired him they pitied him yet more. This was
+the first attempt to restore Tarquin the Proud.
+
+3. When Tarquin saw that the plot at home had failed, he prevailed on
+the people of Tarquinii and Veii to make war with him against the
+Romans. But the consuls came out against them; Valerius commanding the
+main army, and Brutus the cavalry. And it chanced that Aruns, the
+king's son, led the cavalry of the enemy. When he saw Brutus, he
+spurred his horse against him, and Brutus did not decline the combat.
+They rode straight at each other with leveled spears; and so fierce
+was the shock, that they pierced each other through from breast to
+back, and both fell dead.
+
+4. Then, also, the armies fought, but the battle was neither won nor
+lost. But in the night a voice was heard by the Etruscans, saying that
+the Romans were the conquerers. So the enemy fled by night; and when
+the Romans arose in the morning, there was no man to oppose them. Then
+they took up the body of Brutus, and departed home, and buried him in
+public with great pomp.
+
+5. And thus the second attempt to restore King Tarquin was frustrated.
+After the death of Brutus, Valerius, the remaining consul, ruled the
+people for awhile by himself, and began to build himself a house upon
+the ridge called Velia, which looks down upon the forum. So the people
+thought that he was going to make himself king; but when he heard
+this, he called an assembly of the people, and appeared before them
+with his fasces lowered, and with no axes in them, whence the custom
+remained ever after, that no consular lictors wore axes within the
+city, and no consul had power of life and death except when he was in
+command of his legions abroad. And he pulled down the beginning of his
+house upon the Velia, and built it below that hill. Also, he passed
+laws that every Roman citizen might appeal to the people against the
+judgment of the chief magistrates. Wherefore he was greatly honored
+among the people, and was called _Poplicola_, or _Friend of the People_.
+
+6. After this Valerius called together the great assembly of the
+centuries, and they chose Spurius Lucretius, father of Lucretius, to
+succeed Brutus. But he was an old man, and not many days afterward he
+died, and Marcus Horatius was chosen in his stead.
+
+7. The temple on the Capitol which King Tarquin began had never yet been
+consecrated. Then Valerius and Horatius drew lots which should be the
+consecrator, and the lot fell on Horatius. But the friends of Valerius
+murmured, and they wished to prevent Horatius from having the honor; so,
+when he was now saying the prayer of consecration, with his hand upon
+the door-post of the temple, there came a messenger who told him that
+his son was just dead, and that one mourning for a son could not rightly
+consecrate the temple. But Horatius kept his hand upon the door-post,
+and told them to see to the burial of his son, and finished the rite of
+consecration. Thus did he honor the gods even above his own son.
+
+8. In the next year Valerius was again made consul, with Titus
+Lucretius; and Tarquin, despairing now of aid from his friends at Veii
+and Tarquinii, went to Lars Porsena of Clusium, a city on the river
+Clanis, which falls into the Tiber. Porsena was, at this time,
+acknowledged as chief of the twelve Etruscan cities; and he assembled
+a powerful army and came to Rome. He came so quickly that he reached
+the Tiber, and was near the Sublician Bridge before there was time to
+destroy it; and if he had crossed it the city would have been lost.
+
+9. Then, a noble Roman, called Horatius Cocles, of the Lucerian tribe,
+with two friends--Spurius Lartius, a Ramnian, and Titus Herminius, a
+Titian--posted themselves at the far end of the bridge, and defended
+the passage against all the Etruscan host, while the Romans were
+cutting it off behind them. When it was all but destroyed, his two
+friends retreated across the bridge, and Horatius was left alone to
+bear the whole attack of the enemy. He kept his ground, standing
+unmoved amid the darts which were showered upon his shield, till the
+last beams of the bridge fell crashing into the river. Then he prayed,
+saying, "Father Tiber, receive me, and bear me up I pray thee." He
+then plunged in, and reached the other side safely; and the Romans
+honored him greatly: they put up his statue in the Comitium, and gave
+him as much land as he could plow round in a day, and every man at
+Rome subscribed the cost of one day's food to reward him.
+
+                                                        _Liddell._
+
+10. This story is told in very spirited verse by Macaulay, in his poem
+of Horatius:
+
+
+HORATIUS.
+
+    1.  Fast by the royal standard,
+          O'erlooking all the war,
+        Lars Porsena of Clusium
+          Sate in his ivory car.
+        By the right wheel rode Mamilius,
+          Prince of the Latian name;
+        And by the left false Sextus,
+          That wrought the deed of shame.
+
+    2.  But when the face of Sextus
+          Was seen among the foes,
+        A yell that rent the firmament
+          From all the town arose.
+        On the house-tops was no woman
+          But spate toward him and hissed;
+        No child but screamed out curses,
+          And shook its little fist.
+
+    3.  But the consul's brow was sad,
+          And the consul's speech was low;
+        And darkly looked he at the wall,
+          And darkly at the foe.
+        "Their van will be upon us
+          Before the bridge goes down;
+        And if they once may win the bridge,
+          What hope to save the town?"
+
+    4.  Then out spoke brave Horatius,
+          The captain of the gate:
+        "To every man upon this earth
+          Death cometh soon or late.
+        And how can man die better
+          Than facing fearful odds
+        For the ashes of his fathers,
+          And the temples of his gods!
+
+[Illustration: _Horatius._]
+
+    5.  "Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul
+          With all the speed ye may;
+        I, with two more to help me,
+          Will hold the foe in play.
+        In yon straight path a thousand
+          May well be stopped by three.
+        Now, who will stand on either hand,
+          And keep the bridge with me?"
+
+    6.  Then out spoke Spurius Lartius,
+          A Ramnian proud was he:
+        "Lo, I will stand on thy right hand,
+          And keep the bridge with thee."
+        And out spoke strong Herminius,
+          Of Titian blood was he:
+        "I will abide on thy left side,
+          And keep the bridge with thee."
+
+    7.  The three stood calm and silent,
+          And looked upon the foes.
+        And a great shout of laughter
+          From all the vanguard rose:
+        And forth three chiefs came spurring
+          Before that mighty mass;
+        To earth they sprang, their swords they drew
+        And lifted high their shields, and flew
+          To win the narrow pass.
+
+    8.  Aunus from green Tifernum,
+          Lord of the Hill of Tines;
+        And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves
+          Sicken in Ilva's mines;
+        And Picus, long to Clusium
+          Vassal in peace and war,
+        Who led to fight his Umbrian powers
+        From that gray crag where, girt with towers,
+        The fortress of Nequinum lowers
+          O'er the pale waves of Nar.
+
+    9.  Stout Lartius hurled down Aunus
+          Into the stream beneath;
+        Herminius struck at Seius,
+          And clove him to the teeth;
+        At Picus brave Horatius
+          Darted one fiery thrust,
+        And the proud Umbrian's gilded arms
+          Clashed in the bloody dust.
+
+    10. But meanwhile axe and lever
+          Have manfully been plied,
+        And now the bridge hangs tottering
+          Above the boiling tide.
+        "Come back, come back, Horatius,"
+          Loud cried the Fathers all.
+        "Back, Lartius! back, Herminius!
+          Back, ere the ruin fall!"
+
+    11. Back darted Spurius Lartius;
+          Herminius darted back:
+        And as they passed, beneath their feet
+          They felt the timbers crack.
+        But when they turned their faces,
+          And on the further shore
+        Saw brave Horatius stand alone,
+          They would have crossed once more.
+
+    12. But with a crash like thunder
+          Fell every loosened beam,
+        And, like a dam, the mighty wreck
+          Lay right athwart the stream;
+        And a long shout of triumph
+          Rose from the walls of Rome,
+        As to the highest turret tops
+          Was splashed the yellow foam.
+
+    13. Alone stood brave Horatius,
+          But constant still in mind;
+        Thrice thirty thousand foes before,
+          And the broad flood behind.
+        "Down with him!" cried false Sextus,
+          With a smile on his pale face.
+        "Now yield thee," cried Lars Porsena,
+          "Now yield thee to our grace."
+
+    14. Round turned he, as not deigning
+          Those craven ranks to see;
+        Naught spake he to Lars Porsena,
+          To Sextus naught spake he;
+        But he saw on Palatinus
+          The white porch of his home,
+        And he spake to the noble river
+          That rolls by the towers of Rome.
+
+    15. "Oh, Tiber! Father Tiber!
+          To whom the Romans pray,
+        A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,
+          Take thou in charge this day!"
+        So he spoke, and speaking sheathed
+          The good sword by his side,
+        And with his harness on his back
+          Plunged headlong in the tide.
+
+    16. But fiercely ran the current,
+          Swollen high by months of rain;
+        And fast his blood was flowing;
+          And he was sore in pain,
+        And heavy with his armor,
+          And spent with changing blows:
+        And oft they thought him sinking,
+          But still again he rose.
+
+    17. And now he feels the bottom;
+          Now on dry earth he stands;
+        Now round him throng the fathers,
+          To press his gory hands;
+        And now with shouts and clapping,
+          And noise of weeping loud,
+        He enters through the River-gate,
+          Borne by the joyous crowd.
+
+    18. And still his name sounds stirring
+          Unto the men of Rome,
+        As the trumpet-blast that cries to them
+          To charge the Volscian home;
+        And wives still pray to Juno
+          For boys with hearts as bold
+        As his who kept the bridge so well
+          In the brave days of old.
+
+    19. And in the nights of winter,
+          When the cold north winds blow,
+        And the long howling of the wolves
+          Is heard amidst the snow;
+        When round the lonely cottage
+          Roars loud the tempest's din,
+        And the good logs of Algidus
+          Roar louder yet within;
+
+    20. When the oldest cask is opened,
+          And the largest lamp is lit,
+        When the chestnuts glow in the embers,
+          And the kid turns on the spit;
+        When young and old in circle
+          Around the firebrands close;
+        When the girls are weaving baskets,
+          And the lads are shaping bows;
+
+    21. When the goodman mends his armor,
+          And trims his helmet's plume;
+        When the goodwife's shuttle merrily
+          Goes flashing through the loom;
+        With weeping and with laughter
+          Still is the story told,
+        How well Horatius kept the bridge
+          In the brave days of old.
+
+                                _Macaulay._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+_XXVII.-THE ROMAN REPUBLIC._
+
+
+1. The establishment of the republic marked an era in the history of
+Rome. The people had decreed, that for them there never should be a
+king, and the law was kept to the letter; though, if they meant that
+supreme authority should never be held among them by one man, it was
+violated many times. The story of Rome is unique in the history of the
+world, for it is not the record of the life of one great country, but
+of a city that grew to be strong, and successfully established its
+authority over many countries.
+
+2. The most ancient and the most remote from the sea of the cities of
+Latium, Rome soon became the most influential, and began to combine in
+itself the traits of the peoples near it; but owing to the singular
+strength and rare impressiveness of the national character, these were
+assimilated, and the inhabitant of the capital remained distinctively
+a Roman in spite of his intimate association with men of different
+origin and training.
+
+3. The citizen of Rome was practical, patriotic, and faithful to
+obligation; he loved to be governed by inflexible law; and it was a
+fundamental principle with him that the individual should be
+subordinate to the state. His kings were either organizers, like Numa
+and Ancus-Marcius, or warriors like Romulus and Tullus Hostilius; they
+either made laws, like Servius, or they enforced them with the
+despotism of Tarquinius Superbus. It is difficult for us to conceive
+of such majestic power emanating from a territory so insignificant.
+
+4. We hardly realize that Latium did not comprise a territory quite
+fifty miles by one hundred in extent, and that it was but a hundred
+miles from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic. It was but a short walk
+from Rome to the territory of the Etruscans, and when Tarquin found an
+asylum at C�re, he did not separate himself by twenty miles from the
+scene of his tyranny. Ostia was scarcely more distant, and one might
+have ridden before the first meal of the day to Lavinium, or Alba, or
+Veii, or to Ardea, the ancient city of the Rutuli. It is important to
+keep these facts in mind as we read the story of the remarkable city.
+
+5. All towns were built on hills in these early days, for safety in
+case of war, as well as because the valleys were insalubrious, but
+this was not a peculiarity of the Romans, for in New England in the
+late ages of our own ancestors, they were obliged to follow the same
+custom. On the tops and slopes of seven hills, as they liked to remind
+themselves, the Romans built their city. They were not impressive
+elevations, though their sides were sharp and rocky, for the loftiest
+rose less than three hundred feet above the sea-level. Their summits
+were crowned with groves of beech trees and oaks, and in the lower
+lands grew osiers and other smaller varieties.
+
+[Illustration: _Ancient Roman Monument._]
+
+6. The earlier occupations of the Roman people were war and
+agriculture, or the pasturage of flocks and herds. They raised grapes
+and made wines; they cultivated the oil-olive, and knew the use of its
+fruit. They found copper in their soil, and made a pound of it their
+unit of value, but it was so cheap that ten thousand pounds of it were
+required to buy a war-horse, though cattle and sheep were much lower.
+They yoked their oxen and called the path they occupied a _jugerum_
+(_jugum_--a cross-beam or a yoke), and this in time came to be their
+familiar standard of square measure, containing about two-thirds of an
+acre. Two of these were assigned to a citizen, and seven were the
+narrow limit to which only one's landed possessions were for a long
+time allowed to extend. In time commerce was added to the pursuits of
+the men, and with it came fortunes and improved dwellings, and public
+buildings. Laziness and luxury were frowned upon by the early Romans.
+Mistress and maid worked together in the affairs of the household,
+like Lucretia and other noble women of whom history tells, and the man
+did not hesitate to hold the plow, as the example of Cincinnatus will
+show us. Time was precious, and thrift and economy were necessary to
+success. The father was the autocrat in the household, and exercised
+his power with stern rigidity.
+
+7. Art was backward, and came from abroad; of literature there was
+none, long after Greece had passed its period of heroic poetry. The
+dwellings of the citizens were low and insignificant, though, as time
+passed on, they became more massive and important. The vast public
+structures of the later kings were comparable to the taskwork of the
+builders of the Egyptian pyramids, and they still strike us with
+astonishment, and surprise.
+
+8. The religion of these strong conquerors was narrow, severe, and
+dreary. The early fathers worshiped native deities only. They
+recognized gods everywhere--in the home, in the grove, and on the
+mountain. They erected their altars on the hills; they had their lares
+and penates to watch over their hearth-stones, and their vestal
+virgins kept everlasting vigil near the never-dying fires in the
+temples. With the art of Greece that made itself felt through Etruria,
+came also the influence of the Grecian mythology, and Jupiter, Juno,
+and Minerva found a shrine on the top of the Capitoline, where the
+first statue of a deity was erected. The mysterious sibylline books
+are also a mark of the Grecian influence, coming from Cum�, a colony
+of Magna Gr�cia.
+
+9. During the period we have considered, the city passed through five
+distinct stages of political organization. The government at first was
+an elective monarchy, the electors being a patriarchal aristocracy.
+After the invasion of the Sabines there was a union with that people,
+the sovereignty being held by rulers chosen from each, but it was not
+long before Rome became the head of a federal state. The Tarquins
+established a monarchy, which rapidly degenerated into an offensive
+tyranny, which aroused rebellion and at last led to the republic.
+
+10. During all these changes, the original aristocrats and their
+descendants held their position as the Populus Romanus, the Roman
+people, insisting that every one else must belong to an inferior order,
+and, as no body of men is willing to be condemned to a hopelessly
+subordinate position in a state, there was a perpetual antagonism
+between the patricians and the plebeians, between the aristocracy and
+the commonalty. This led to a temporary change under Servius Tullius,
+when property took the place of pedigree in establishing a man's rank
+and influence; but owing to the peculiar method of voting adopted, the
+power of the commons was not greatly increased. However, they had made
+their influence felt, and were encouraged.
+
+11. The overturning of the scheme by Tarquin favored a union of the
+two orders for the punishment of that tyrant, and they combined; but
+it was only for a time. When the danger had been removed, the tie was
+found broken and the antagonism rather increased, so that the
+subsequent history for five generations, though exceedingly
+interesting, is largely a record of the struggles of the commons for
+relief from the burdens laid upon them by the aristocrats.
+
+[Illustration: _Roman Private Life._]
+
+12. The father passed down to his son the story of the oppression of
+the patricians, and the son told the same sad narrative to his
+offspring. The mother mourned with her daughter over the sufferings
+brought upon them by the rich, for whom their poor father and brothers
+were obliged to fight the battles, while they were not allowed to
+share the spoil, nor to divide the lands gained by their own prowess.
+The struggle was not so much between patrician and plebeian as between
+the rich and the poor. It was intimately connected with the uses of
+money in those times. What could the rich Roman do with his
+accumulations? He might buy land or slaves, or he might become a
+lender; to a certain extent he could use his surplus in commerce; but
+of these its most remunerative employment was found in usury. As there
+were no laws regulating the rates of interest, they became exorbitant,
+and as it was customary to compound it, debts rapidly grew beyond the
+possibility of payment. As the rich made the laws they naturally
+exerted their ingenuity to frame them in such a way as to enable the
+lender to collect his dues with promptness and with little regard for
+the feelings or interests of the debtor.
+
+13. It is difficult, if not impossible, for us to form a proper
+conception of the magnitude of the wrongs involved in the system of
+money-lending at Rome during the period of the republic. The small
+farmers were ever needy, and came to their wealthy neighbors for
+accommodation loans. If these were not paid when due, the debtor was
+liable to be locked up in prison, to be sold into slavery, with his
+children, wife, and grandchildren; and the heartless law reads, that
+in case the estate should prove insufficient to satisfy all claims,
+the creditors were actually authorized to cut the body to pieces, that
+each Shylock might take the pound of flesh that he claimed.
+
+14. At last the severity of the lenders overreached itself. It was in
+the year 495 B. C., that a poor but brave debtor, one who had been at
+the very front in the wars, broke out of his prison, and while the
+wind flaunted his rags in the face of the populace, clanked his chains
+and told the story of his calamities so effectually in words of
+natural eloquence, that the commons were aroused to madness, and
+resolved at last to make a vigorous effort, and seek redress for their
+wrongs in a way that could not be resisted.
+
+15. The form of this man stands out forever on the pages of Roman
+history, as he entered the forum with all the badges of his misery
+upon him. His pale and emaciated body was but partially covered by his
+wretched tatters; his long hair played about his shoulders, and his
+glaring eyes and the grizzled beard hanging down before him added to
+his savage wildness. As he passed along he uncovered the scars of near
+two score battles that remained upon his breast, and explained to
+inquirers that while he had been serving in the Sabine war, his house
+had been pillaged and burned by the enemy; that when he had returned
+to enjoy the sweets of the peace he had helped to win, he had found
+that his cattle had been driven off, and a tax imposed.
+
+16. To meet the debts that thronged upon him and the interest by which
+they were aggravated, he had stripped himself of his ancestral farms.
+Finally, pestilence had overtaken him, and as he was not able to work,
+his creditor had placed him in a house of detention, the savage
+treatment in which was shown by the fresh stripes upon his bleeding back.
+
+17. At the moment a war was imminent, and the forum--the entire city,
+in fact--already excited, was filled with the uproar of the angry
+plebeians. Many confined for debt broke from their prison-houses and
+ran from all quarters into the crowds to claim protection. The majesty
+of the consuls was insufficient to preserve order, and while the
+discord was rapidly increasing horsemen rushed into the gates
+announcing that an enemy was actually upon them, marching to besiege
+the city. The plebeians saw that their opportunity had arrived, and
+when proud Appius Claudius called upon them to enroll their names for
+the war, they refused the summons, saying that the patricians might
+fight their own battles; that for themselves it was better to perish
+together at home rather than to go to the field and die separated.
+
+18. Threatened with war beyond the gates, and with riot at home, the
+patricians were forced to promise to redress the civil grievances. It
+was ordered that no one could seize or sell the goods of a soldier
+while he was in camp, or arrest his children, and that no one should
+detain a citizen in prison or in chains, so as to hinder him from
+enlisting in the army. When this was known, the released prisoners
+volunteered in numbers, and entered upon the war with enthusiasm. The
+legions were victorious, and when peace was declared, the plebeians
+anxiously looked for the ratification of the promises made to them.
+
+19. Their expectations were disappointed. They had, however, seen
+their power, and were determined to act upon their new knowledge.
+Without undue haste they protected their homes on the Aventine, and
+retreated the next year to a mountain across the Anio, about three
+miles from the city, to a spot which afterward held a place in the
+memories of the Romans similar to that which the green meadow on the
+Thames called Runnymede has held in British history since the June day
+when King John met his commons there, and gave them the great charter
+of their liberties.
+
+20. The plebeians said calmly that they would no longer be imposed
+upon; that not one of them would thereafter enlist for a war until the
+public faith was made good. They reiterated the declaration that the
+lords might fight their own battles, so that the perils of conflict
+should lie where its advantages were. When the situation of affairs
+was thoroughly understood, Rome was on fire with anxiety, and the
+enforced suspense filled the citizens with fear lest an external enemy
+should take the opportunity for a successful onset upon the city.
+
+21. Meanwhile the poor secessionists fortified their camp, but
+carefully refrained from actual war. The people left in the city
+feared the senators, and the senators in turn dreaded the citizens
+lest they should do them violence. It was a time of panic and
+suspense. After consultation, good counsels prevailed in the senate,
+and it was resolved to send an embassy to the despised and downtrodden
+plebeians, who now seemed to hold the balance of power, and to treat
+for peace, for there could be no security until the secessionists had
+returned to their homes.
+
+22. The spokesman on the occasion was Menenius Agrippa Lanatus who was
+popular with the people and had a reputation for eloquence. The
+address of this good man had its desired effect, and the people were
+at last willing to listen to a proposition for their return. It was
+settled that there should be a general release of all those who had
+been handed over to their creditors, and a cancelling of debts, and
+that two of the plebeians should be selected as their protectors, with
+power to veto objectionable laws, their persons being as inviolable at
+all times as were those of the sacred messengers of the gods. These
+demands, showing that the plebeians did not seek political power, were
+agreed to, the Valerian laws were reaffirmed, and a solemn treaty was
+concluded, each party swearing for itself and its posterity, with all
+the formality of representatives of foreign nations.
+
+23. The two leaders of the commons, Caius Licinius and Lucius Albinus,
+were elected the first tribunes of the people, as the new officers
+were called, with two �diles to aid them. They were not to leave the
+city during their term of office, their doors being open night and
+day, that all who needed their protection might have access to them.
+The hill upon which this treaty had been concluded was ever after
+known as the Sacred Mount; its top was enclosed and consecrated, an
+altar being built upon it, on which sacrifices were offered to
+Jupiter, the god of terror and deliverance, who had allowed the
+commons to return home in safety, though they had gone out in
+trepidation. Henceforth the commons were to be protected; they were
+better fitted to share the honors as well as the benefits of their
+country, and the threatened dissolution of the nation was averted.
+
+            _Arthur Gilman, M. A. "The Story of Rome."_
+                      _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations Series."_
+
+
+
+
+_XXVIII.--CINCINNATUS._
+
+
+1. In the course of the early Roman wars, Minucius, one of the consuls
+suffered himself to be cut off from Rome, in a narrow valley of Mount
+Algidus, and it seemed as if hope of delivery there was none. However,
+five horsemen found means to escape and report at Rome the perilous
+condition of the consul and his army. Then the other consul consulted
+the senate, and it was agreed that the only man who could deliver the
+army was Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. He was thereupon named dictator,
+and deputies were sent to acquaint him with his high dignity.
+
+2. He was called Cincinnatus, because he wore his hair in long curling
+locks, _cincinni_, and, though he was a patrician he lived on his own
+small farm, like any plebeian yeoman. This farm was beyond the
+Tiber, and here he lived contentedly with his wife Racilia.
+
+3. Two years before he had been consul, and had been brought into
+great distress by the conduct of his son, K�so. This K�so was a Wild
+and insolent young man, who despised the plebeians and hated their
+tribunes. One Volscius Fictor alleged that he and his brother, an old
+and sickly man, had been attacked by K�so and a party of young
+patricians by night, and that his brother had died of the treatment
+then received. The indignation of the people rose high; and K�so was
+forced to go into exile. After this the young patricians became more
+insolent than ever, but they courted the poorest of the people, hoping
+to engage them on their side against the more respectable plebeians.
+
+4. Next year all Rome was alarmed by finding that the Capitol had been
+seized by an enemy during the night. This enemy was Appius Herdonius, a
+Sabine, and with him was associated a band of desperate men, exiles and
+runaway slaves. The first demand he made was that all Roman exiles
+should be restored. The consul, P. Valerius, collected a force and took
+the Capitol, but was killed in the assault, and Cincinnatus, father of
+the banished K�so, was chosen to succeed him. When he heard the news of
+his elevation, he turned to his wife, and said: "I fear, Racilia, our
+little field must remain this year unsown." Then he assumed the robe of
+state, and went to Rome. It was believed that K�so had been concerned in
+the desperate enterprise that had just been defeated. What had become of
+him was unknown; but that he was already dead was pretty certain; and
+his father was very bitter against the tribunes and their party, to whom
+he attributed his son's disgrace and death.
+
+5. P. Valerius, the consul, had persuaded the plebeians to join in the
+assault of the Capitol, by promising to gain them further privileges;
+this promise Cincinnatus refused to keep, and used all his power to
+frustrate the attempts of the tribunes to gain its fulfillment. At the
+end of his year of office, however, when the patricians wished to
+continue him in the consulship, he positively declined the offer, and
+returned to his rustic life as if he had never left it.
+
+6. It was two years after these events that the deputies of the
+senate, who came to invest him with the ensigns of dictatorial power,
+found him working on his little farm. He was clad in his tunic only,
+and as the deputies advanced they bade him put on his toga, that he
+might receive the commands of the senate in seemly guise. So he wiped
+off the dust and sweat, and bade his wife fetch his toga, and asked
+anxiously whether all was right or no. Then the deputies told him how
+the army was beset by the �quian foe, and how the Senate looked to him
+as the savior of the state. A boat was provided to carry him over the
+Tiber; and when he reached the other bank, he was greeted by his
+family and friends, and the greater part of the senate, who followed
+him to the city, while he himself walked in state, with his four and
+twenty lictors.
+
+7. That same day the dictator and his master of horse came down into
+the forum, ordered all shops to be shut, and all business to be
+suspended. All men of the military age were to meet in the Field of
+Mars before sunset, each man with five days' provisions and twelve
+stakes; the older men were to get the provisions ready, while the
+soldiers were preparing the stakes. Thus all was got ready in time:
+the dictator led them forth; and they marched so rapidly, that by
+midnight they had reached Mount Algidus, where the army of the consul
+was hemmed in.
+
+8. Then the dictator, when he had discovered the place of the enemy's
+army, ordered his men to put all their baggage down in one place, and
+then to surround the enemy's camp. They obeyed, and each one raising a
+shout, began digging the trench and fixing his stakes, so as to form a
+palisade round the enemy. The consul's army, which was hemmed in,
+heard the shout of their brethren, and flew to arms; and so hotly did
+they fight all night, that the �quians had no time to attend to the
+new foe, and next morning found themselves hemmed in on all sides by
+the trench and palisade, so that they were now between two Roman
+armies. They were thus forced to surrender. The dictator required them
+to give up their chiefs, and made their whole army pass under the
+yoke, which was formed by two spears fixed upright in the ground, and
+a third bound across them at the top.
+
+9. Cincinnatus returned to Rome amid the shouts and exultation of his
+soldiers: they gave him a golden crown, in token that he had saved the
+lives of many citizens; and the senate decreed that he should enter the
+city in triumph. So Cincinnatus accomplished the purpose for which he
+had been made dictator in twenty-four hours. One evening he marched
+forth to deliver the consul, and the next evening he returned
+victorious. But he would not lay down his high office till he had
+avenged his son. Accordingly, he summoned Volscius Fictor, the accuser,
+and had him tried for perjury. The man was condemned and banished; and
+then Cincinnatus once more returned to his wife and farm.
+
+                                                        _Liddell._
+
+
+
+
+_XXIX.--THE ROMAN FATHER._
+
+
+1. Among the most interesting of the early legends of Rome is that of
+Virginius, a soldier of the army belonging to the plebeian order.
+While performing his duty in the army which was encamped about twenty
+miles from Rome, his young daughter, Virginia, about fifteen years
+of age found her home with her near relatives in the city. Her beauty
+attracted the attention of Appius Claudius, one of the ten governors
+of Rome. With the view of getting possession of her person, he ordered
+one of his clients, M. Claudius by name, to lay hands upon her as she
+was going to her school in the Forum, and to claim her as his slave.
+The man did so; and when the cries of her nurse brought a crowd round
+them, M. Claudius insisted on taking her before the decemvir, in order
+(as he said) to have the case fairly tried. Her friends consented, and
+no sooner had Appius heard the matter, than he gave judgment that the
+maiden should be delivered up to the claimant, who should be bound to
+produce her in case her alleged father appeared to gainsay the claim.
+
+[Illustration: _The Seizure of Virginia._]
+
+2. Now this judgment was directly against one of the laws of the
+Twelve Tables, which Appius himself had framed: for therein it was
+provided, that any person being at freedom should continue free, till
+it was proved that such person was a slave. Icilius her betrothed,
+therefore, with Numitorius, the uncle of the maiden, boldly argued
+against the legality of the judgment; and at length, Appius, fearing a
+tumult, agreed to leave the girl in their hands, on condition of their
+giving bail to bring her before him next morning; and then, if
+Virginius did not appear, he would at once, he said, give her up to
+her pretended master.
+
+3. To this Icilius consented; but he delayed giving bail, pretending
+that he could not procure it readily, and in the mean time he sent off a
+secret message to the camp on Algidus to inform Virginius of what had
+happened. As soon as the bail was given, Appius also sent a message to
+the decemvirs in command of that army, ordering them to refuse leave of
+absence to Virginius. But when this last message arrived, Virginius was
+already half-way on his road to Rome; for the distance was not more
+than twenty miles, and he had started at nightfall.
+
+4. Next morning early, Virginius entered the forum leading his
+daughter by the hand, both clad in mean attire. A great number of
+friends and matrons attended him; and he went about among the people
+entreating them to support him against the tyranny of Appius. So, when
+Appius came to take his place on the judgment-seat, he found the forum
+full of people, all friendly to Virginius and his cause. But he
+inherited the boldness as well as the vices of his sires, and though
+he saw Virginius standing there, ready to prove that he was the
+maiden's father, he at once gave judgment against his own law, that
+Virginia should be given up to M. Claudius, till it should be proved
+that she was free. The wretch came up to seize her, and the lictors
+kept the people from him. Virginius now despairing of deliverance,
+begged Appius to allow him to ask the maiden whether she were indeed
+his daughter or no. "If," said he, "I find I am not her father, I
+shall bear her loss the lighter." Under this pretense, he drew her
+aside to a spot upon the northern side of the forum (afterward called
+the Nov� Tabern�), and here, snatching up a knife from a butcher's
+stall, he cried: "In this way only can I keep thee free!" and, so
+saying, stabbed her to the heart.
+
+5. Then he turned to the tribunal, and said: "On thee, Appius, and on
+thy head be this blood." Appius cried out to sieze "the murderer"; but
+the crowd made way for Virginius, and he passed through them holding up
+the bloody knife, and went out at the gate, and made straight for the
+army. There, when the soldiers had heard his tale, they at once
+abandoned their decemviral generals, and marched to Rome. They were soon
+followed by the other army from the Sabine frontier; for to them
+Icilius had gone, and Numitorius; and they found willing ears among the
+men. So the two armies joined their banners, elected new generals, and
+encamped upon the Aventine hill, the quarter of the plebeians.
+
+6. Meantime, the people at home had risen against Appius; and after
+driving him from the forum, they joined their armed fellow citizens
+upon the Aventine. There the whole body of the commons, armed and
+unarmed, hung like a dark cloud ready to burst upon the city.
+
+                                                        _Liddell._
+
+
+VIRGINIUS.
+
+    1. When Appius Claudius saw that deed he shuddered and sank down,
+       And hid his face some little space with the corner of his gown,
+       Till with white lips and blood-shot eyes Virginius tottered nigh,
+       And stood before the judgment-seat, and held the knife on high.
+       "Oh! dwellers in the nether gloom, avengers of the slain,
+       By this dear blood, I cry to you, do right between us twain;
+       And even as Appius Claudius hath dealt with me and mine,
+       Deal you by Appius Claudius and all the Claudian line!"
+       So spake the slayer of his child, and turned, and went his way;
+       But first he cast one haggard glance to where the body lay,
+       And writhed, and groaned a fearful groan; and then with steadfast
+                 feet,
+       Strode right across the market-place into the sacred street.
+
+    2. Then up sprang Appius Claudius: "Stop him; alive or dead!
+       Ten thousand pounds of copper to the man who brings his head."
+       He looked upon his clients, but none would work his will.
+       He looked upon his lictors, but they trembled and stood still.
+       And as Virginius, through the press, his way in silence cleft,
+       Ever the mighty multitude fell back to right and left.
+       And he hath passed in safety unto his woful home,
+       And there ta'en horse to tell the camp what deeds are done in
+                 Rome.
+
+    3. By this the flood of people was swollen from every side,
+       And streets and porches round were filled with that o'erflowing
+                 tide,
+       And close around the body gathered a little train
+       Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain.
+       They brought a bier, and hung it with many a cypress crown,
+       And gently they uplifted her, and gently laid her down.
+       The face of Appius Claudius wore the Claudian scowl and sneer,
+       And in the Claudian note he cried, "What doth this rabble here?
+       Have they no crafts to mind at home, that hitherward they stray?
+       Ho! lictors, clear the market-place, and fetch the corpse away!"
+
+    4. Till then the voice of pity and fury was not loud,
+       But a deep, sullen murmur, wandered among the crowd.
+       Like the moaning noise that goes before the whirlwind on the deep,
+       Or the growl of a fierce watch-dog but half-aroused from sleep.
+       But when the lictors at that word, tall yeomen all, and strong,
+       Each with his axe and sheaf of twigs, went down into the throng,
+       Those old men say, who saw that day of sorrow and of sin,
+       That in the Roman Forum was never such a din.
+       The wailing, hooting, cursing, the howls of grief and hate,
+       Were heard beyond the Pincian hill, beyond the Latin gate.
+
+    5. But close around the body, where stood the little train
+       Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain,
+       No cries were there, but teeth set fast, low whispers, and black
+                 frowns,
+       And breaking up of benches, and girding up of gowns.
+       'Twas well the lictors might not pierce to where the maiden lay,
+       Else surely had they been all twelve torn limb from limb that day.
+       Right glad they were to struggle back, blood streaming from their
+                 heads,
+       With axes all in splinters, and raiment all in shreds.
+
+[Illustration: _The Dead Virginia._]
+
+    6. Then Appius Claudius gnawed his lip, and the blood left his cheek;
+       And thrice he beckoned with his hand, and thrice he strove to
+                 speak;
+       And thrice the tossing forum sent up a frightful yell--
+       "See, see, thou dog! what thou hast done; and hide thy shame in
+                 hell,
+       Thou that wouldst make our maidens slaves, must first make slaves
+                 of men.
+       Tribunes!--Hurrah for tribunes! Down with the wicked Ten!"
+       And straightway, thick as hailstones, came whizzing through the
+                 air
+       Pebbles, and bricks, and potsherds, all round the curule chair;
+       And upon Appius Claudius great fear and trembling came;
+       For never was a Claudius yet brave against aught but shame.
+
+    7. So now 'twas seen of Appius. When stones began to fly,
+       He shook, and crouched, and wrung his hands, and smote upon his
+                 thigh.
+       "Kind clients, honest lictors, stand by me in this fray!
+       Must I be torn to pieces? Home, home the nearest way."
+       While yet he spake, and looked around with a bewildered stare,
+       Four sturdy lictors put their necks beneath the curule chair;
+       And fourscore clients on the left, and fourscore on the right,
+       Arrayed themselves with swords and staves, and loins girt up for
+                 fight.
+
+    8. But, though without or staff or sword, so furious was the throng,
+       That scarce the train, with might and main, could bring their lord
+                 along.
+       Twelve times the crowd made at him; five times they seized his
+                 gown;
+       Small chance was his to rise again, if once they got him down:
+       And sharper came the pelting; and evermore the yell--
+       "Tribunes! we will have tribunes!" rose with a louder swell:
+       And the chair tossed as tosses a bark with tattered sail,
+       When raves the Adriatic beneath an eastern gale,
+       When the Calabrian sea-marks are lost in clouds of spume,
+       And the great Thunder-Cape has donned his veil of inky gloom.
+       One stone hit Appius in the mouth, and one beneath the ear;
+       And ere he reached Mount Palatine, he swooned with pain and fear.
+       His cursed head, that he was wont to hold so high with pride,
+       Now, like a drunken man's, hung down, and swayed from side to
+                 side;
+       And when his stout retainers had brought him to his door,
+       His neck and face were all one cake of filth and clotted gore.
+
+                                                      _Macaulay._
+
+
+
+
+_XXX.--ARCHIMEDES._
+
+
+1. This extraordinary man was a native of Syracuse, a city of Sicily. He
+was born two hundred and eighty-eight years before the Christian era,
+and from fifty to one hundred years after the appearance of the
+far-famed Euclid. Who his parents were, and what was their rank in life
+are not known, though it is claimed that he was in some way related to
+Hiero the king of Syracuse. It is said that Hiero considered himself
+greatly honored by such a relation, and well he might be, for science
+and genius combined are much higher than royalty. Besides it is probable
+that the name of the monarch would never have been preserved except in
+connection with the great philosopher.
+
+2. By whom he was instructed in the elements of education, history
+fails to inform us, but it tells us of the progress he made in
+mechanics and geometry, and for the sake of the quiet necessary to
+pursue these branches he gave up all the advantages of a political
+life derived from his connection with the king. His favorite studies
+had more charms for him than the glitter of events or the plunder of
+conquered cities.
+
+3. After studying at home until he could learn nothing more in the
+city of his birth, he repaired to Alexandria in Egypt, at that time
+the educational center that had inherited the philosophy and culture
+of Athens. Here he studied for some years and became acquainted with
+the most distinguished scholars of his day. Among his most intimate
+friends was Conon, a famous mathematician from Samos, who often
+exchanged problems with him for solution. While staying at Alexandria
+he began his work of practical invention which he afterward turned to
+such good account.
+
+[Illustration: _Archimedes._]
+
+4. Some of his ardent admirers have maintained that Archimedes
+taught the Egyptians more than they taught him; that while he imbibed
+philosophy and book learning, he more than repaid the New Athens by
+inventions which were of the greatest use in the ordinary work of the
+home and the shop. Although we do not know exactly what he turned his
+hand to, we are quite sure that in many ways he performed feats that
+have scarcely been surpassed in modern times.
+
+5. After his return to his native city, Archimedes continued his
+studies with unabated vigor, often neglecting his food and the care of
+his person when a new problem was to be solved or a new invention
+perfected. The method of determining the relative amount of gold and
+base metal in Hiero's crown occurred to him while in his bath, and
+without stopping to put on his clothes, he is said to have rushed
+through the streets exclaiming "_Eureka!_ Eureka!"
+
+6. To prevent the ruin of his health his servants were sometimes
+obliged to take him by main force to the table and bath, and to take
+his daily exercise. Hiero at one time expressed an admiration of some
+of his inventions when Archimedes replied that had he a place to fix
+his machines upon he could move the earth itself. His days were passed
+in study and retirement until the safety of his native city called him
+out to take part in its defense.
+
+7. During the wars between the Romans and Carthaginians, the people of
+Sicily, and especially the Syracusans, had for a long time remained
+neutral or been in alliance with the Romans. But a Carthaginian
+interest sprung up which mastered and sought to extend itself over the
+whole island. As soon as the news of this political movement and
+rebellion reached Marcellus, the Roman general, he hastened with a
+strong force into Sicily, and after the capture of the principalities
+he laid siege to Syracuse.
+
+8. Here he met with an unexpected check. The inventive genius of
+Archimedes enabled the Syracusans to successfully defend their city
+for three years. He so improved the warlike instruments for the
+discharge of missiles, that he repeatedly beat back the most
+determined assault, and the Romans were more than once on the point of
+abandoning the siege, believing that the city was defended by the
+gods. By means of long and powerful levers, together with grappling
+irons, he is said to have destroyed many of the Roman galleys when
+they approached the walls of the city; and when they retired for
+safety he set them on fire by a combination of immense burning-glasses.
+
+9. The story of these exploits is told by the Romans themselves, and
+there can be no doubt but here Science gained one of her greatest
+triumphs. The success of the new engine was evidently so great, that
+an element of superstition entered into the record. But the triumph of
+genius was not complete. During a festival in honor of Diana when wine
+flowed freely, the guards neglected to man some particular part of the
+walls. The Romans observing this scaled the walls and made themselves
+masters of the city.
+
+10. Amid the plunder and carnage which followed, Archimedes was killed.
+Marcellus had given orders for his special protection, but the deed was
+done by a Roman soldier. One account says that he was slain in his
+laboratory where he was found studying a problem, and he refused to move
+until he had completed the solution. Another account says that he was
+put to death on the street while drawing a geometrical figure in the
+sand. The third and most rational account is that while bearing some
+boxes of mathematical instruments to Marcellus he was killed by a
+soldier who supposed that the boxes contained treasure. His death
+happened about 210 B. C. at the age of seventy-six.
+
+
+
+
+_XXXI.--THE DEATH OF C�SAR._
+
+[Illustration: _C�sar (enlarged from a Roman Coin)._]
+
+
+1. The greatest of Rome's generals, and one of the greatest of
+military chieftains of all ages, was Julius C�sar. Of a patrician
+family, he was one of the most accomplished men of Rome. He was great
+in civil as well as military life. He became the most popular of the
+greatest men of Rome's most brilliant days. His military feats rivaled
+those of Alexander, and he extended the rule of Rome through all
+central Europe, completely subduing all of the tribes with which he
+came in contact. From his northern victories he turned his victorious
+army south, crossed the Rubicon, which marked the border of his own
+province, and seized the control of Rome.
+
+2. In the management of civil affairs he was as successful as in the
+field. He corrected abuses that had crept into the political management
+of affairs, and placed new safeguards around the rights of the people.
+
+3. His administration was almost as brilliant as that of Pericles in
+Athens; yet the principal nobles did not love him, and with the people
+at large he suffered still more, from a belief that he wished to be
+made king. On his return from Spain he had been named dictator and
+imperator for life. His head had for some time been placed on the
+money of the republic, a regal honor conceded to none before him.
+Quintilis, the fifth month of the old calendar, received from him the
+name which it still bears. The senate took an oath to guard the safety
+of his person.
+
+4. He was honored with sacrifices, and honors hitherto reserved for
+the gods. But C�sar was not satisfied. He was often heard to quote the
+sentiment of Euripides, that, "if any violation of law is excusable,
+it is excusable for the sake of gaining sovereign power." It was no
+doubt to ascertain the popular sentiments that various propositions
+were made toward an assumption of the title of king. His statues in
+the forum were found crowned with a diadem; but two of the tribunes
+tore it off, and the mob applauded.
+
+5. On the 26th of January, at the great Latin festival on the Alban
+Mount, voices in the crowd saluted him as king; but mutterings of
+discontent reached his ears, and he promptly said; "I am no king, but
+C�sar." The final attempt was made at the Lupercalia on the 15th of
+February. Antony, in the character of one of the priests of Pan,
+approached the dictator as he sat presiding in his golden chair, and
+offered him an embroidered band, like the diadem of Oriental
+sovereigns. The applause which followed was partial, and the dictator
+put the offered gift aside. Then a burst of genuine cheering greeted
+him, which waxed louder still when he rejected it a second time. Old
+traditional feeling was too strong at Rome even for C�sar's daring
+temper to brave it. The people would submit to the despotic rule of a
+dictator, but would not have a king.
+
+6. Other causes of discontent had been agitating various classes at
+Rome. The more fiery partisans of C�sar disapproved of his clemency;
+the more prodigal sort were angry at his regulations for securing the
+provincials from oppression. The populace of the city complained--the
+genuine Romans, at seeing favor extended to provincials, those of
+foreign origin because they had been excluded from the corn bounty.
+C�sar, no doubt, was eager to return to his army, and escape from the
+increasing difficulties which beset his civil government. But as soon
+as he joined the army, he would assume monarchical power in virtue of
+the late decree; and this consideration urged the discontented to a
+plot against his life.
+
+7. The difficulty was to find a leader. At length Marcus Junius Brutus
+accepted the post of danger. This young man, a nephew of Cato, had
+taken his uncle as an example for his public life. But he was fonder
+of speculation than of action. His habits were reserved, rather those
+of a student than a statesman. He had reluctantly joined the cause of
+Pompey, for he could ill forget that it was by Pompey that his father
+had been put to death in cold blood. After the battle of Pharsalia he
+was treated by C�sar almost like a son. In the present year he had
+been proclaimed pr�tor of the city, with the promise of the
+consulship. But the discontented remnants of the senatorial party
+assailed him with constant reproaches. The name of Brutus, dear to all
+Roman patriots, was made a rebuke to him. "His ancestors expelled
+the Tarquins; could he sit quietly under a king's rule?" At the foot
+of the statue of that ancestor, or on his own pr�torian tribunal,
+notes were placed, containing phrases such as these: "Thou art not
+Brutus: would thou wert." "Brutus, thou sleepest." "Awake, Brutus."
+Gradually he was brought to think that it was his duty as a patriot to
+put an end to C�sar's rule even by taking his life.
+
+8. The most notable of those who arrayed themselves under him was
+Cassius. This man's motive is unknown. He had never taken much part in
+politics; he had made submission to the conquerer, and had been
+received with marked favor. Some personal reason probably actuated his
+unquiet spirit. More than sixty persons were in the secret, most of
+them, like Brutus and Cassius, under personal obligations to the
+dictator. Publius Servilius Casca was by his grace tribune of the
+plebs. Lucius Tullius Cimber was promised the government of Bithynia.
+Decius Brutus, one of his old Gallic officers, was pr�tor elect, and
+was to be gratified with the rich province of Cisalpine Gaul. Caius
+Trebonius, another trusted officer, had received every favor which the
+dictator could bestow; he had just laid down the consulship, and was
+on the eve of departure for the government of Asia. Quintius Ligarius
+had lately accepted a pardon from the dictator, and rose from a sick
+bed to join the conspirators.
+
+9. A meeting of the senate was called for the Ides of March, at which
+C�sar was to be present. This was the day appointed for the murder.
+The secret had oozed out. Many persons warned C�sar that some danger
+was impending. A Greek soothsayer told him of the very day. On the
+morning of the Ides his wife arose so disturbed by dreams, that she
+persuaded him to relinquish his purpose of presiding in the senate,
+and he sent Antony in his stead.
+
+10. This change of purpose was reported after the House was formed.
+The conspirators were in despair. Decius Brutus at once went to C�sar,
+told him that the Fathers were only waiting to confer upon him the
+sovereign power which he desired, and begged him not to listen to
+auguries and dreams. C�sar was persuaded to change his purpose, and
+was carried forth in his litter. On his way, a slave who had
+discovered the conspiracy tried to attract his notice, but was unable
+to reach him for the crowd. A Greek philosopher, named Artemidorus,
+succeeded in putting a roll of paper into his hand, containing full
+information of the conspiracy; but C�sar, supposing it to be a
+petition, laid it by his side for a more convenient season. Meanwhile,
+the conspirators had reason to think that their plot had been
+discovered. A friend came up to Casca and said, "Ah, Casca, Brutus has
+told me your secret!" The conspirator started, but was relieved by the
+next sentence: "Where will _you_ find money for the expenses of the
+�dileship?" More serious alarm was felt when Popillius L�nas remarked
+to Brutus and Cassius: "You have my good wishes; but what you do, do
+quickly"--especially when the same senator stepped up to C�sar on his
+entering the house, and began whispering in his ear. So terrified was
+Cassius, that he thought of stabbing himself instead of C�sar, till
+Brutus quietly observed, that the gestures of Popillius indicated that
+he was asking a favor, not revealing a fatal secret. C�sar took his
+seat without further delay.
+
+[Illustration: _Antony delivering the Oration on the Death of C�sar._]
+
+11. As was agreed, Cimber presented a petition praying for his
+brother's recall from banishment; and all the conspirators pressed
+round the dictator, urging his favorable answer. Displeased at their
+importunity, C�sar attempted to rise. At that moment Cimber seized the
+lappet of his robe, and pulled him down; and immediately Casca
+struck him from the side, but inflicted only a slight wound. Then all
+drew their daggers and assailed him. C�sar for a time defended himself
+with the gown folded over his left arm, and the sharp-pointed style
+which he held in his right hand for writing on the wax of his tablets.
+But when he saw Brutus among the assassins, he exclaimed, "You, too,
+Brutus!" and covering his face with his gown, offered no further
+resistance. In their eagerness, some blows intended for their victim
+fell upon themselves. But enough reached C�sar to do the bloody work.
+Pierced by twenty-three wounds, he fell at the base of Pompey's
+statue, which had been removed after Pharsalia by Antony, but had been
+restored by the magnanimity of C�sar.
+
+12. Thus died "the foremost man of all the world," a man who failed in
+nothing that he attempted. He might, Cicero thought, have been a great
+orator; his "Commentaries" remain to prove that he was a great writer.
+As a general he had few superiors, as a statesman and politician no
+equal. That which stamps him as a man of true greatness, is the entire
+absence of vanity and self-conceit from his character. He paid,
+indeed, great attention to his personal appearance, even when his hard
+life and unremitting activity had brought on fits of an epileptic
+nature, and left him with that meager visage which is familiar to us
+from his coins. Even then he was sedulous in arranging his robes, and
+was pleased to have the privilege of wearing a laurel crown to hide
+the scantiness of his hair. But these were foibles too trifling to be
+taken as symptoms of real vanity. His successes in war, achieved by a
+man who in his forty-ninth year had hardly seen a camp, add to our
+conviction of his real genius. These successes were due not so much to
+scientific man[oe]uvres, as to rapid audacity of movement, and mastery
+over the wills of men.
+
+13. The effect of C�sar's fall was to cause a renewal of bloodshed for
+another half generation; and then his work was finished by a far less
+general ruler. Those who slew C�sar were guilty of a great crime, and
+a still greater blunder.
+
+                                                        _Liddell._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXII.--HOW ROMANS LIVED._
+
+
+1. The Roman house at first was extremely simple, being of but one
+room, called the _atrium_ or darkened chamber, because its walls were
+stained by the smoke that rose from the fire upon the hearth, and with
+difficulty found its way through a hole in the roof. The aperture also
+admitted light and rain, the water that dripped from the roof being
+caught in a cistern that was formed in the middle of the room. The
+atrium was entered by way of a vestibule open to the sky, in which the
+gentleman of the house put on his toga as he went out. Double doors
+admitted the visitor to the entrance-hall, or _ostium_.
+
+2. There was a threshold upon which it was unlucky to place the left
+foot; a knocker afforded means of announcing one's approach, and a
+porter, who had a small room at the side, opened the door, showing the
+caller the words _Cave canem_ (beware of the dog), or _Salve_
+(welcome), or perchance the dog himself reached out toward the visitor
+as far as his chain would allow. Sometimes, too, there would be
+noticed in the mosaic of the pavement the representation of the
+faithful domestic animal which has so long been the companion as well
+as the protector of his human friend. Perhaps myrtle or laurel might
+be seen on a door, indicating that a marriage was in process of
+celebration, or a chaplet announcing the happy birth of an heir.
+Cypress, probably set in pots in the vestibule, indicated a death, as
+a crape festoon does upon our own door-handles, while torches, lamps,
+wreaths, garlands, branches of trees, showed that there was joy from
+some cause in the house.
+
+3. In the "black room" the bed stood; there the meals were cooked and
+eaten, there the goodman received his friends, and there the goodwife
+sat in the midst of her maidens spinning. The original house grew
+larger in the course of time: wings were built on the sides--and the
+Romans called them wings as well as we (_ala_, a wing). Beyond the
+black room a recess was built in which the family records and archives
+were preserved, but with it for a long period the Roman house stopped
+its growth.
+
+4. Before the empire came, however, there had been great progress in
+making the dwelling convenient as well as luxurious. Another hall had
+been built out from the room of archives, leading to an open court,
+surrounded by columns, known as the _peristylum_ (_peri_, about,
+_stulos_, a pillar), which was sometimes of great magnificence.
+Bedchambers were made separate from the atrium, but they were small,
+and would not seem very convenient to modern eyes.
+
+5. The dining-room, called the _triclinium_ (Greek, _kline_, a bed)
+from its three couches, was a very important apartment. In it were
+three lounges surrounding a table, on each of which three guests might
+be accommodated. The couches were elevated above the table, and each
+man lay almost flat on his breast, resting on his left elbow, and
+having his right hand free to use, thus putting the head of one near
+the breast of the man behind him, and making natural the expression
+that he lay in the bosom of the other. As the guests were thus
+arranged by threes, it was natural that the rule should have been
+made that a party at dinner should not be less in number than the
+Graces, nor more than the Muses, though it has remained a useful one
+ever since.
+
+6. Before the republic came to an end, it was so fashionable to have a
+book-room that ignorant persons who might not be able to read even the
+titles of their own books endeavored to give themselves the appearance
+of erudition by building book-rooms in their houses, and furnishing
+them with elegance. The books were in cases arranged around the walls
+in convenient manner, and busts and statues of the Muses, of Minerva,
+and of men of note were used then as they are now for ornaments.
+House-philosophers were often employed to open to the uninstructed the
+stores of wisdom contained in the libraries.
+
+[Illustration: _Interior of a Roman Bath-Room, Ruins of Pompeii._]
+
+7. As wealth and luxury increased, the Romans added the bath-room to
+their other apartments. In the early ages they had bathed for comfort
+and cleanliness once a week, but the warm bath was apparently unknown
+to them. In time this became very common, and in the days of Cicero
+there were hot and cold baths, both public and private, which were
+well patronized. Some were heated by fires in flues, directly under
+the floors, which produced a vapor-bath. The bath was, however,
+considered a luxury, and at a later date it was held a capital offense
+to indulge in one on a religious holiday, and the public baths were
+closed when any misfortune happened to the republic.
+
+
+8. Comfort and convenience united to take the cooking out of the
+atrium into a separate apartment known as the _culina_, or kitchen, in
+which was a raised platform on which coals might be burned, and the
+processes of broiling, boiling, and roasting might be carried on in a
+primitive manner, much like the arrangement still to be seen at Rome.
+On the tops of the houses, after a while, terraces were planned for
+the purpose of basking in the sun, and sometimes they were furnished
+with shrubs, fruit-trees, and even fish-ponds. Often there were upward
+of fifty rooms in a house on a single floor; but in the course of time
+land became so valuable that other stories were added, and many lived
+in flats. A flat was sometimes called an _insula_, which meant,
+properly, a house not joined to another, and afterward was applied to
+hired lodgings. _Domus_, a house, meant a dwelling occupied by one
+family, whether it were an _insula_ or not.
+
+[Illustration: _Lares and Penates._]
+
+9. The floors of these rooms were sometimes, but not often, laid with
+boards, and generally were formed of stones, tiles, bricks, or some
+sort of cement. In the richer dwellings they were often inlaid with
+mosaics of elegant patterns. The walls were often faced with marble,
+but they were usually adorned with paintings; the ceilings were left
+uncovered, the beams supporting the floor or the roof above being
+visible, though it was frequently arched over. The means of lighting
+either by day or night, were defective. The atrium was, as we have
+seen, lighted from above, and the same was true of other apartments,
+those at the side being illuminated from the larger ones in the
+middle of the house. There were windows, however, in the upper
+stories, though they were not protected by glass, but covered with
+shutters or lattice-work, and, at a later period, were glazed with
+sheets of mica. Smoking lamps, hanging from the ceiling or supported
+by candelabra, or candles gave a gloomy light by night in the houses,
+and torches without.
+
+10. The sun was chiefly depended upon for heat, for there were no
+proper stoves, though braziers were used to burn coals upon, the smoke
+escaping through the aperture in the ceiling, and, in rare cases,
+hot-air furnaces were constructed below, the heat being conveyed to
+the upper rooms through pipes. There has been a dispute regarding
+chimneys, but it seems almost certain that the Romans had none in
+their dwellings, and indeed, there was little need of them for
+purposes of artificial warmth in so moderate a climate as theirs.
+
+11. Such were some of the chief traits of the city-houses of the
+Romans. Besides these there were villas in the country, some of which
+were simply farm-houses, and others places of rest and luxury
+supported by the residents of cities. The farm-villa was placed, if
+possible, in a spot secluded from visitors, protected from the
+severest winds, and from the malaria of marshes, in a well-watered
+place, near the foot of a well-wooded mountain. It had accommodations
+for the kitchen, the wine-press, the farm superintendent, the slaves,
+the animals, the crops, and the other products of the farm. There were
+baths, and cellars for the wine and for the confinement of the slaves
+who might have to be chained.
+
+[Illustration: _Roman Villa._]
+
+12. Varro thus describes life at a rural household: "Manius summons
+his people to rise with the sun, and in person conducts them to the
+scene of their daily work. The youths make their own bed, which labor
+renders soft to them, and supply themselves with water-pot, and lamp.
+Their drink is the clear fresh spring; their fare bread, with onions
+as a relish. Everything prospers in house and field. The house is no
+work of art, but an architect might learn symmetry from it. Care is
+taken of the field that it shall not be left disorderly, and waste or
+go to ruin through slovenliness or neglect; and in return, grateful
+Ceres wards off damage from the produce, that the high-piled sheaves
+may gladden the heart of the husbandman. Here hospitality still holds
+good, the bread-pantry, the wine-vat, and the store of sausages on the
+rafter, lock and key are at the service of the traveler, and piles of
+food are set before him; contented, the sated guest sits, looking
+neither before him, nor behind, dozing by the hearth in the kitchen.
+The warmest double wool sheepskin is spread as a couch for him. Here
+people still, as good burgesses, obey the righteous law which neither
+out of envy injures the innocent, nor out of favor pardons the guilty.
+Here they speak no evil against their neighbors. Here they trespass
+not with their feet on the sacred hearth, but honor the gods with
+devotion and with sacrifices; throw to the familiar spirit his little
+bit of flesh into his appointed little dish, and when the master of
+the household dies accompany the bier with the same prayer with which
+those of his father and of his grandfather were borne forth."
+
+            _Arthur Gilman, M. A. "The Story of Rome."_
+                      _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations Series."_
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+MEDI�VAL RECORD.
+
+
+
+
+_XXXIII.--CONVERSION OF THE ENGLISH._
+
+
+1. Some time before Gregory became Pope, perhaps about the year 574,
+he went one day through the market at Rome, where, among other things,
+there were still men, women, and children to be sold as slaves. He saw
+there some beautiful boys who had just been brought by a
+slave-merchant, boys with a fair skin and long fair hair, as English
+boys then would have.
+
+2. He was told that they were heathen boys from the Isle of Britain.
+Gregory was sorry to think that forms which were so fair without
+should have no light within, and he asked again what was the name of
+their nation. "_Angles_," he was told. "_Angles_," said Gregory; "they
+have the faces of _angels_, and they ought to be made fellow-heirs of
+the angels in heaven. But of what province or tribe of the Angles are
+they?" "Of _Deira_," said the merchant. "_De ira!_" said Gregory;
+"then they must be delivered from the wrath of God. And what is the
+name of their king?" "_�lla._" "_�lla_; then _Alleluia_ shall be sung
+in his land."
+
+3. Gregory then went to the Pope, and asked him to send missionaries
+into Britain, of whom he himself would be one, to convert the English.
+The Pope was willing, but the people of Rome, among whom Gregory was a
+priest and was much beloved, would not let him go. So nothing came of
+the matter for some time.
+
+4. We do not know whether Gregory was able to do anything for the poor
+English boys whom he saw in the market, but he certainly never forgot
+his plan for converting the English people. After a while he became
+Pope himself. Of course, he now no longer thought of going into
+Britain himself, as he had enough to do in Rome. But he now had power
+to send others. He therefore presently sent a company of monks, with
+one called Augustine at their head, who became the first Archbishop of
+Canterbury, and is called the Apostle of the English.
+
+5. This was in 597. The most powerful king in Britain at this time was
+�thelbert, of Kent, who is said to have been lord over all the kings
+south of the Humber. This �thelbert had done what was very seldom done
+by English kings then or for a long time after; he had married a
+foreign wife, the daughter of Chariberth, one of the kings of the
+Franks, in Gaul.
+
+6. Now, the Franks had become Christians; so when the Frankish queen
+came over to Kent, �thelbert promised that she should be allowed to
+keep to her own religion without let or hindrance. She brought with
+her, therefore, a Frankish bishop named Lindhard, and the queen and
+her bishop used to worship God in a little church near Canterbury,
+called Saint Martin's, which had been built in the Roman times. So you
+see that both �thelbert and his people must have known something
+about the Christian faith before Augustine came.
+
+7. It does not, however, seem that either the king or any of his
+people had at all thought of turning Christians. This seems strange
+when one reads how easily they were converted afterward. One would
+have thought that Bishop Lindhard would have been more likely to
+convert them than Augustine, for, being a Frank, he would speak a
+tongue not very different from English, while Augustine spoke Latin,
+and, if he ever knew English at all, he must have learned it after he
+came into the island. I can not tell you for certain why this was.
+Perhaps they did not think that a man who had merely come in the
+queen's train was so well worth listening to as one who had come on
+purpose all the way from the great city of Rome, to which all the West
+still looked up as the capital of the world.
+
+8. So Augustine and his companions set out from Rome, and passed
+through Gaul, and came into Britain, even as C�sar had done ages
+before. But this time Rome had sent forth men not to conquer lands,
+but to win souls. They landed first in the Isle of Thanet, which joins
+close to the east part of Kent, and thence they sent a message to King
+�thelbert, saying why they had come into his land. The king sent word
+back to them to stay in the isle till he had fully made up his mind
+how to treat them; and he gave orders that they should be well taken
+care of meanwhile.
+
+9. After a little while he came himself into the isle, and bade them
+come and tell him what they had to say. He met them in the open air,
+for he would not meet them in a house, as he thought they might be
+wizards, and that they might use some charm or spell, which he thought
+would have less power out-of-doors. So they came, carrying an image
+of our Lord on the cross, wrought in silver, and singing litanies as
+they came. And when they came before the king, they preached the
+gospel to him and to those who were with him.
+
+10. So King �thelbert hearkened to them, and he made answer like a
+good and wise man. "Your words and promises," said he, "sound very
+good unto me; but they are new and strange, and I can not believe them
+all at once, nor can I leave all that I and my fathers, and the whole
+English folk, have believed so long. But I see that ye have come from
+a far country to tell us that which ye yourselves hold for truth; so
+ye may stay in the land, and I will give you a house to dwell in and
+food to eat; and ye may preach to my folk, and if any man of them will
+believe as ye believe, I hinder him not."
+
+11. So he gave them a house to dwell in in the royal city of
+Canterbury, and he let them preach to the people. And, as they drew
+near to the city, they carried their silver image of the Lord Jesus,
+and sang litanies, saying, "We pray Thee, O Lord, let thy anger and
+thy wrath be turned away from this city, and from thy holy house,
+because we have sinned. Alleluia!"
+
+12. Thus Augustine and his companions dwelt at Canterbury, and
+worshiped in the old church where the queen worshiped, and preached to
+the men of the land. And many men hearkened to them and were baptized,
+and before long King �thelbert himself believed and was baptized; and
+before the year was out there were added to the Church more than ten
+thousand souls.
+
+                                                        _Freeman._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXIV.--LEO THE SLAVE._
+
+
+1. In A. D. 533, the Franks had fully gained possession of all the
+north of Gaul, except Brittany. Clovis had made them Christians in
+name, but they still remained horribly savage, and the life of the
+Gauls under them was wretched. The Burgundians and Visigoths, who had
+peopled the southern and eastern provinces, were far from being
+equally violent. They had entered on their settlements on friendly
+terms, and even showed considerable respect for the Roman-Gallic
+senators, magistrates, and higher clergy, who all remained unmolested
+in their dignity and riches. Thus it was that Gregory, Bishop of
+Langres, was a man of high rank and consideration in the Burgundian
+kingdom, whence the Christian Queen Clotilda had come; and even after
+the Burgundians had been subdued by the four sons of Clovis, he
+continued a rich and prosperous man.
+
+2. After one of the many quarrels and reconciliations between these
+fierce brethren, there was an exchange of hostages for the observance
+of the terms of the treaty. These were not taken from among the
+Franks, who were too proud to submit to captivity, but from among the
+Gaulish nobles, a much more convenient arrangement for the Frankish
+kings, who cared for the life of a "Roman" infinitely less than even
+for the life of a Frank. Thus many young men of senatorial families
+were exchanged between the domains of Theodoric to the south, and of
+Hildebert to the northward, and quartered among Frankish chiefs, with
+whom at first they had nothing more to endure than the discomfort of
+living as guests with such rude and coarse barbarians.
+
+3. But ere long fresh quarrels arose between Theodoric and Hildebert,
+and the unfortunate hostages were at once turned into slaves. Some of
+them ran away, if they were near the frontier; but Bishop Gregory was
+in the utmost anxiety about his nephew Attalus, who had been last
+heard of as being placed under the charge of a Frank who lived between
+Tr�ves and Metz. The bishop sent emissaries to make secret inquiries,
+and they brought back the word that the unfortunate youth had been
+reduced to slavery, and was made to keep his master's herds of horses.
+Upon this the uncle again sent off his messengers with presents for
+the ransom of Attalus; but the Frank rejected them, saying, "One of
+such high race can only be redeemed for ten pounds weight of gold."
+
+4. This was beyond the bishop's means, and, while he was considering
+how to raise the sum, the slaves were all lamenting for their young
+lord, to whom they were much attached, till one of them, named Leo,
+the cook to the household, came to the bishop, saying to him, "If thou
+wilt give me leave to go, I will deliver him from captivity." The
+bishop replied that he gave free permission, and the slave set off for
+Tr�ves, and there watched anxiously for an opportunity of gaining
+access to Attalus; but, though the poor young man, no longer daintily
+dressed, bathed, and perfumed, but ragged and squalid, might be seen
+following his herds of horses, he was too well watched for any
+communication to be held with him.
+
+5. Then Leo went to a person, probably of Gallic birth, and said:
+"Come with me to this barbarian's house, and there sell me for a
+slave. Thou shalt have the money; I only ask thee to help me thus
+far." Both repaired to the Frank's abode, the chief among a confused
+collection of clay and timber huts, intended for shelter during eating
+and sleeping. The Frank looked at the slave, and asked him what he
+could do. "I can dress whatever is eaten at lordly tables," replied
+Leo. "I am afraid of no rival; I only tell thee the truth when I say
+that, if thou wouldst give a feast to the king, I could send it up in
+the neatest manner." "Ha!" said the barbarian, "the Sun's day is
+coming. I shall invite my kinsmen and friends. Cook me such a dinner
+as may amaze them, and make them say, 'We saw nothing better in the
+king's house.'" "Let me have plenty of poultry, and I will do
+according to my master's bidding," returned Leo.
+
+6. Accordingly, he was purchased for twelve gold-pieces, and on the
+Sunday, as Bishop Gregory of Tours, who tells the story, explains,
+that the barbarians called the Lord's day, he produced a banquet after
+the most approved Roman fashion, much to the surprise and delight of
+the Franks, who had never tasted such delicacies before, and
+complimented their host upon them all the evening. Leo gradually
+became a great favorite, and was placed in authority over the other
+slaves, to whom he gave out their portions of broth and meat. But from
+the first he had not shown any recognition of Attalus, and had signed
+to him that they must be strangers to one another.
+
+7. A whole year passed away in this manner, when one day Leo wandered,
+as if for pastime, into the plain where Attalus was watching the
+horses, and sitting down on the ground at some paces off, and with his
+back toward his young master so that they might not be seen talking
+together, he said: "This is the time for thoughts of home! When thou
+hast led the horses to the stable to-night, sleep not. Be ready at the
+first call!"
+
+8. That day the Frank lord was entertaining a large number of guests,
+among them his daughter's husband, a jovial young man, given to jesting.
+On going to rest he fancied he should be thirsty at night, and called
+Leo to place a pitcher of hydromel by his bedside. As the slave was
+setting it down, the Frank looked slyly from under his eyelids and said
+in joke, "Tell me, my father-in-law's trusty man, wilt thou not some
+night take one of his horses and run away to thine own home?"
+
+9. "Please God, it is what I mean to do this very night," answered the
+Gaul, so undauntedly that the Frank took it as a jest, and answered,
+"I shall look out, then, that thou dost not carry off anything of
+mine," and then Leo left him, both laughing.
+
+10. All were soon asleep, and the cook crept out to the stable, where
+Attalus usually slept among the horses. He was broad awake now, and
+ready to saddle the two swiftest; but he had no weapon, except a small
+lance, so Leo boldly went back to his master's sleeping hut, and took
+down his sword and shield, but not without awakening him enough to ask
+who was moving. "It is I, Leo," was the answer; "I have been to call
+Attalus to take out the horses early. He sleeps as hard as a
+drunkard." The Frank went to sleep again, quite satisfied, and Leo,
+carrying out the weapons, soon made Attalus feel like a free man and a
+noble once more.
+
+11. They passed unseen out of the inclosure, mounted their horses and
+rode along the great Roman road from Tr�ves as far as the Meuse, but
+they found the bridge guarded, and were obliged to wait till night,
+when they cast their horses loose, and swam the river, supporting
+themselves on boards that they had found on the bank. They had as yet
+had no food since the supper at their master's, and were thankful to
+find a plum-tree in the wood, with fruit, to refresh them in small
+degree, before they lay down for the night. The next morning they went
+on in the direction of Rheims, carefully listening whether there were
+any sounds behind, until, on the broad, hard-paved causeway, they
+heard the trampling of horses. Happily a bush was near, behind which
+they crept, and here the riders actually halted for a few moments to
+arrange their harness. Men and horses were both those they feared, and
+they trembled at hearing one say: "Woe is me that those rogues have
+made off, and have not been caught! On my salvation, if I catch them,
+I will have one hung, and the other chopped into little bits!"
+
+12. It was no small comfort to hear the trot of the horses resumed, and
+soon dying away in the distance. That same night, the two faint, hungry,
+weary travelers, foot-sore and exhausted, came stumbling into Rheims,
+looking about for some person still awake, to tell them the way to the
+house of the priest Paul, a friend of Attalus's uncle. They found it
+just as the church-bell was ringing for matins, a sound that must have
+seemed very like home to these members of an episcopal household. They
+knocked, and in the morning twilight met the priest going to his
+earliest Sunday-morning service. Leo told his young master's name, and
+how they had escaped, and the priest's first exclamation was a strange
+one: "My dream is true! This very night I saw two doves, one white and
+one black, who came and perched on my hand."
+
+13. The good man was overjoyed, but he scrupled to give them any food,
+as it was contrary to the Church's rules for the fast to be broken
+before mass; but the travelers were half-dead with hunger, and could
+only say, "The good Lord pardon us, for, saving the respect due to his
+day, we must eat something, since this is the fourth day since we have
+touched bread or meat." The priest, upon this, gave them some bread
+and wine, and after hiding them carefully, went to church, hoping to
+avert suspicion. But their master was already at Rheims, making strict
+search for them, and learning that Paul the priest was a friend of the
+Bishop of Langres, he went to the church, and there questioned him
+closely. But the priest succeeded in guarding his secret, and though
+he incurred much danger--as the Salic law is very severe against
+concealers of runaway slaves--he kept Attalus and Leo for two days,
+till the search was over, and their strength restored, so that they
+could proceed to Langres. There they were welcomed like men risen from
+the dead; the bishop wept on the neck of Attalus, and was ready to
+receive Leo as a slave no more, but a friend and deliverer.
+
+14. A few days after, Leo was solemnly led to the church. Every door
+was set open as a sign that he might henceforth go whithersoever he
+would. Bishop Gregorius took him by the hand, and, standing, before
+the archdeacon, declared that for the sake of the good services
+rendered by his slave Leo, he set him free, and created him a Roman
+citizen. Then the archbishop read a writing of manumission. "Whatever
+is done according to the Roman law is irrevocable. According to the
+constitution of the Emperor Constantine, of happy memory, and the
+edict that declares that whosoever is manumitted in church, in the
+presence of the bishops, priests, and deacons, shall become a Roman
+citizen under protection of the Church; from this day Leo becomes a
+member of the city, free to go and come where he will, as if he had
+been born of free parents. From this day forward he is exempt from all
+subjection of servitude, of all duty of a freedman, all bond of
+clientship. He is and shall be free, with full and entire freedom, and
+shall never cease to belong to the body of Roman citizens."
+
+15. At the same time Leo was endowed with lands, which raised him to
+the rank of what the Franks called a Roman proprietor, the highest
+reward in the bishop's power, for the faithful devotion that had
+incurred such dangers in order to rescue the young Attalus from his
+miserable bondage.
+
+                                            _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXV.--THE MOORS IN SPAIN._
+
+
+1. Scarcely had the Arabs become firmly settled in Spain before they
+commenced a brilliant career. Adopting what had now become the
+established policy of the commanders of the Faithful in Asia, the
+caliphs of Cordova distinguished themselves as patrons of learning,
+and set an example of refinement strongly contrasting with the
+condition of the native European princes. Cordova, under their
+administration, at its highest point of prosperity, boasted of more
+than two hundred thousand houses, and more than a million inhabitants.
+After sunset a man might walk through it in a straight line for ten
+miles by the light of the public lamps. Seven hundred years after this
+time there was not so much as one public lamp in London. Its streets
+were solidly paved. In Paris, centuries subsequently, who ever stepped
+over his threshold on a rainy day stepped up to his ankles in mud.
+
+2. Other cities, as Granada, Seville, Toledo, considered themselves
+rivals of Cordova. The palaces of the caliphs were magnificently
+decorated. Those sovereigns might well look down with supercilious
+contempt on the dwellings of the rulers of Germany, France, and
+England, which were scarcely better than stables--chimneyless,
+windowless, and with a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape, like
+the wigwams of certain Indians.
+
+3. The Spanish Mohammedans had brought with them all the luxuries and
+prodigalities of Asia. Their residences stood forth against the clear
+blue sky, or were embosomed in woods. They had polished marble
+balconies, overhanging orange-gardens, courts with cascades of water,
+shady retreats provocative of slumber in the heat of the day,
+retiring-rooms, vaulted with stained glass, speckled with gold, over
+which streams of water were made to gush; the floors and walls were
+of exquisite mosaic. Here a fountain of quicksilver shot up in a
+glistening spray, the glittering particles falling with a tranquil
+sound like fairy bells; there, apartments into which cool air was
+drawn from flower-gardens, in summer, by means of ventilating towers,
+and in the winter through earthen pipes, or caleducts, imbedded in the
+walls--the hypocaust, in the vaults below, breathing forth volumes of
+warm and perfumed air through these hidden passages.
+
+4. The walls were not covered with wainscot, but adorned with
+arabesques and paintings of agricultural scenes and views of paradise.
+From the ceilings, corniced with fretted gold, great chandeliers hung,
+one of which, it is said, was so large that it contained one thousand
+and eighty-four lamps. Clusters of frail marble columns surprised the
+beholder with the vast weights they bore. In the boudoirs of the
+sultanas they were sometimes of verd-antique, and incrusted with
+lapis-lazuli. The furniture was of sandal and citron wood inlaid with
+mother-of-pearl, ivory, silver, or relieved with gold and precious
+malachite. In orderly confusion were arranged vases of rock-crystal,
+Chinese porcelain, and tables of exquisite mosaic. The winter
+apartments were hung with rich tapestry; the floors were covered with
+embroidered Persian carpets. Pillows and couches of elegant forms were
+scattered about the rooms, which were perfumed with frankincense.
+
+5. It was the intention of the Saracen architect, by excluding the
+view of the external landscape, to concentrate attention on his work,
+and since the representation of the human form was religiously
+forbidden, and that source of decoration denied, his imagination ran
+riot with the complicated arabesques he introduced, and sought every
+opportunity of replacing the prohibited work of art by the trophies
+and rarities of the garden. For this reason the Arabs never produced
+artists; religion turned them from the beautiful, and made them
+soldiers, philosophers, and men of affairs. Splendid flowers and rare
+exotics ornamented the court-yards and even the inner chambers.
+
+6. Great care was taken to make due provision for the cleanliness,
+occupation, and amusement of the inmates. Through pipes of metal,
+water, both warm and cold, to suit the season of the year, ran into
+baths of marble; in niches, where the current of air could be
+artificially directed, hung dripping _alcarazzas_. There were
+whispering-galleries for the amusement of the women; labyrinths and
+marble play-courts for the children; for the master himself, grand
+libraries. The Caliph Alhakem's was so large that the catalogue alone
+filled forty volumes. He had also apartments for the transcribing,
+binding, and ornamenting of books. A taste for caligraphy and the
+possession of splendidly illuminated manuscripts seems to have
+anticipated in the caliphs, both of Asia and Spain, the taste for
+statuary and painting among the later popes of Rome.
+
+7. Such were the palace and gardens of Zehra, in which Abderrahman III
+honored his favorite sultana. The edifice had twelve hundred columns
+of Greek, Italian, Spanish, and African marble. The body-guard of the
+sovereign was composed of twelve thousand horsemen, whose cimeters and
+belts were studded with gold. This was that Abderrahman who, after a
+glorious reign of fifty years, sat down to count the number of days of
+unalloyed happiness he had experienced, and could only enumerate
+fourteen. "O man!" exclaimed the plaintive caliph, "put not your trust
+in this present world."
+
+8. No nation has ever excelled the Spanish Arabs in the beauty and
+costliness of their pleasure-gardens. To them also we owe the
+introduction of very many of our most valuable cultivated fruits, such
+as the peach. Retaining the love of their ancestors for the cooling
+effect of water in a hot climate, they spared no pains in the
+superfluity of fountains, hydraulic works, and artificial lakes in
+which fish were raised for the table. Into such a lake, attached to
+the palace of Cordova, many loaves were cast each day to feed the
+fish.
+
+9. There were also menageries of foreign animals, aviaries of rare
+birds, manufactories in which skilled workmen, obtained from foreign
+countries, displayed their art in textures of silk, cotton, linen, and
+all the miracles of the loom; in jewelry and filigree-work, with which
+they ministered to the female pride. Under the shade of cypresses
+cascades disappeared; among flowering shrubs there were winding walks,
+bowers of roses, seats cut out of rock, and crypt-like grottoes hewn
+in the living stone. Nowhere was ornamental gardening better
+understood; for not only did the artist try to please the eye as it
+wandered over the pleasant gradation of vegetable color and form--he
+also boasted his success in the gratification of the sense of smell by
+the studied succession of perfumes from beds of flowers.
+
+10. In the midst of all this luxury, which can not be regarded by the
+historian with disdain, since in the end it produced a most important
+result in the south of France, the Spanish caliphs, emulating the
+example of their Asiatic compeers, were not only the patrons but the
+personal cultivators of human learning. One of them was himself the
+author of a work on polite literature in not less than fifty volumes;
+another wrote a treatise on algebra. When Taryak, the musician, came
+from the East to Spain, the Caliph Abderrahman rode forth to meet him
+with honor. The College of Music in Cordova was sustained by ample
+government patronage, and is said to have produced many illustrious
+professors.
+
+                                                _John W. Draper._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXVI.--CHARLEMAGNE._
+
+
+1. We come now to one of the greatest men of all times, Charles the
+Great, son of Pepin the Short, a man who has left his mark on history
+for all time. Charles (called by the French Charlemagne) was great in
+many ways, whereas most great men are great in one or two. He was a
+great warrior, a great political genius, an energetic legislator, a
+lover of learning, and a lover also of his natural language and poetry
+at a time when it was the fashion to despise them. And he united and
+displayed all these merits in a time of general and monotonous
+barbarism, when, save in the church, the minds of men were dull and
+barren.
+
+2. From 769 to 813, in Germany and Western and Northern Europe,
+Charlemagne conducted thirty-two campaigns against the Saxons,
+Frisians, Bavarians, Avars, Slavs, and Danes; in Italy, five against
+the Lombards; in Spain, Corsica, and Sardinia, twelve against the
+Arabs, two against the Greeks, and three in Gaul itself, against the
+Aquitanians and Bretons--in all, fifty-three expeditions in forty-five
+years, among which those he undertook against the Saxons, the
+Lombards, and the Arabs were long and difficult wars.
+
+3. The kingdom of Charles was vast; it comprised nearly all Germany,
+Belgium, France, Switzerland, and the north of Italy and of Spain. He
+had, in ruling this mighty realm, to deal with different nations,
+without cohesion, and to grapple with their various institutions and
+bring them into system.
+
+4. The first great undertaking of Charles was against the Saxons. They
+were still heathen, and were a constant source of annoyance to the
+Franks, for they made frequent inroads to pillage and destroy their
+towns and harvests.
+
+5. In the line of mountains which forms the step from lower into upper
+Germany, above the Westphalian plains, is one point at which the river
+Weser breaks through and flows down into the level land about three
+miles above the town of Minden. This rent in the mountain is called
+the Westphalian Gate. The hills stand on each side like red sandstone
+door-posts, and one is crowned by some crumbling fragments of a
+castle; it is called the Wittekindsberg, and takes its name from
+Wittekind, a Saxon king, who had his castle there. Wittekind was a
+stubborn heathen, and a very determined man.
+
+6. In 772 Charles convoked a great assembly at Worms, at which it was
+unanimously resolved to march against the Saxons and chastise them for
+their incursions. Charles advanced along the Weser, through the gate,
+destroyed Wittekind's castle, pushed on to Paderborn, where he threw
+down an idol adored by the Saxons, and then was obliged to return and
+hurry to Italy to fight the Lombards, who had revolted. Next year he
+invaded Saxony again. He built himself a palace at Paderborn, and
+summoned the Saxon chiefs to come and do homage. Wittekind alone
+refused, and fled to Denmark.
+
+[Illustration: _Charlemagne._]
+
+7. No sooner had Charles gone to fight the Moors in Spain than
+Wittekind returned, and the Saxons rose at his summons, and, bursting
+into Franconia, devastated the land up to the walls of Cologne.
+Charles returned and fought them in two great battles, defeated them,
+erected fortresses in their midst, and carried off hostages. Affairs
+seemed to prosper, and Charles deemed himself as securely master of
+Saxony as Varus had formerly in the same country, and under precisely
+the same circumstances. Charles then quitted the country, leaving
+orders for a body of Saxons to join his Franks and march together
+against the Slavs. The Saxons obeyed the call with alacrity, and soon
+outnumbered the Franks. One day, as the army was crossing the
+mountains from the Weser, at a given signal the Saxons fell on their
+companions and butchered them.
+
+8. When the news of this disaster reached Charles he resolved to teach
+the Saxons a terrible lesson. Crossing the Rhine, he laid waste their
+country with fire and sword, and forced the Saxons to submit to be
+baptized and accept Christian teachers. Those who refused he killed.
+At Verdun he had over four thousand of the rebels beheaded. At
+Detmold, Wittekind led the Saxons in a furious battle, in which
+neither gained the victory. In another battle, on the Hase, they were
+completely routed.
+
+9. Then Wittekind submitted, came into the camp of Charles, and asked
+to be baptized. A little ruined chapel stands on the Wittekindsberg,
+above the Westphalian Gate, and there, according to tradition, near
+the overturned walls of his own castle, the stubborn heathen bowed the
+neck to receive the yoke of Christ. Charles's two nephews, the sons of
+Karlomann, were with Desiderius, the Lombard king, and Desiderius
+tried to force the Pope to anoint them kings of the Franks, to head a
+revolt against Charles. When the great king heard this he came over
+the Alps into Italy, dethroned Desiderius, and shut him up in a
+monastery. Then he crowned himself with the iron crown of the Lombard
+kings, which was said to have been made out of one of the nails that
+fastened Christ to the cross.
+
+10. Duke Thassils of Bavaria had married a daughter of Desiderius, and
+he refused to acknowledge the authority of Charles. He also stirred up
+the Avars who lived in Hungary to invade the Frankish realm. Charles
+marched against Thassils, drove him out of Bavaria, subdued the Avars,
+and converted the country between the Ems and Raab--that is, Austria
+proper--into a province, which was called the East March, and formed the
+beginning of the East Realm (Oesterreich), or Austria. Charles also
+fought the Danes, and took from them the country up to the river Eider.
+
+11. When we consider what continuous fighting Charles had, it is a
+wonder to us that he had time to govern and make laws; but he devoted
+as much thought to arranging his realm and placing it under proper
+governors as he did to extending its frontiers.
+
+12. Charles constituted the various parts of his vast
+empire--kingdoms, duchies, and counties. He was himself the sovereign
+of all these united, but he managed them through counts and
+vice-counts. The frontier districts were called marches, and were
+under march-counts, or margraves. Count is not a German title; the
+German equivalent is Graf, and the English is earl. The counties were
+divided into hundreds; a hundred villages went to a vice-count. He had
+also counts of the palace, who ruled over the crown estates, and
+send-counts (_missi_), whom he sent out yearly through the country to
+see that his other counts did justice, and did not oppress the people.
+If people felt themselves wronged by the counts, they appealed to
+these send-counts; and if the send-counts did not do them justice,
+they appealed to the palatine-counts.
+
+13. Every year Charles summoned his counts four times, when he could,
+but always once, in May, to meet him in council, and discuss the
+grievances of the people. As the great dukes were troublesome, because
+so powerful, Charles tried to do without them, and to keep them in
+check. He gave whole principalities to bishops, hoping that they would
+become supporters of him and the crown against the powerful dukes.
+
+14. He was also very careful for the good government of the Church. He
+endowed a number of monasteries to serve as schools for boys and
+girls. He had also a collection of good, wholesome sermons made in
+German, and sent copies about in all directions, requiring them to be
+read to the people in church. He invited singers and musicians from
+Italy to come and improve the performance of divine worship, and two
+song-schools were established, one at Gall, another at Metz. His
+Franks, he complained, had not much aptitude for music; their singing
+was like the howling of wild beasts or the noise made by the
+squeaking, groaning wheels of a baggage-wagon over a stony road!
+
+15. Charles was particularly interested in schools, and delighted in
+going into them and listening to the boys at their lessons. One day
+when he had paid such a visit he was told that the noblemen's sons
+were much idler than those of the common citizens. Then the great king
+grew red in the face and frowned, and his eyes flashed. He called the
+young nobles before him and said in thundering tones: "You grand
+gentlemen! You young puppets! You puff yourselves up with the thoughts
+of your rank and wealth, and suppose you have no need of letters! I
+tell you that your pretty faces and your high nobility are accounted
+nothing by me. Beware! beware! Without diligence and conscientiousness
+not one of you gets anything from me."
+
+16. Charles dearly loved the grand old German poems of the heroes, and
+he had them collected and copied out. Alas! they have been lost. His
+stupid son, thinking them rubbish, burned them all. The great king
+also sent to Italy for builders, and set them to work to erect palaces
+and churches. His favorite palaces were at Aix and at Ingelheim. At
+the latter place he had a bridge built over the Rhine. At Aix he built
+the cathedral with pillars taken from Roman ruins. It was quite
+circular, with a colonnade going round it; inside it remains almost
+unaltered to the present day.
+
+17. He was very eager to promote trade, and so far in advance of the
+times was he that he resolved to cut a canal so as to connect the Main
+with the Regnitz, and thus make a water-way right across Germany from
+the Rhine to the Danube, and so connect the German Ocean with the
+Black Sea. The canal was begun, but wars interfered with its
+completion, and the work was not carried out till the present century
+by Louis I of Bavaria.
+
+18. Charles was a tall, grand looking man, nearly seven feet high. He
+was so strong that he could take a horseshoe in his hands and snap it.
+He ate and drank in moderation, and was grave and dignified in his
+conduct.
+
+19. In the year 800, an insurrection broke out in Rome against Pope
+Leo III. While he was riding in procession his enemies fell on him,
+threw him from his horse, and an awkward attempt was made to put out
+his eyes and cut out his tongue. Thus, bleeding and insensible, he was
+put into a monastery. The Duke of Spoleto, a Frank, hearing of this,
+marched to Rome and removed the wounded Pope to Spoleto, where he was
+well nursed and recovered his eye-sight and power of speech. Charles
+was very indignant when he heard of the outrage, and he left the
+Saxons, whom he was fighting, and came to Italy to investigate the
+circumstance. He assumed the office of judge, and the guilty persons
+were sent to prison in France.
+
+20. Then came Christmas-day, the Christmas of the last year in the
+eighth century of Christ. Charles and all his sumptuous court, the
+nobles and people of Rome, the whole clergy of Rome, were present at
+the high services of the birth of Christ. The Pope himself chanted the
+mass; the full assembly were rapt in profound devotion. At the close
+the Pope rose, advanced toward Charles with a splendid crown in his
+hands, placed it upon his brow, and proclaimed him C�sar Augustus.
+"God grant life and victory to the great emperor!" His words were lost
+in the acclamations of the soldiery, the people, and the clergy.
+
+21. Charles was taken completely by surprise. What the consequences
+would be to Germany and to the papacy, how fatal to both, neither he
+nor Leo could see. So Charlemagne became King of Italy and Emperor of
+the West--the successor of the C�sars of Rome.
+
+22. When Charles felt that his end was approaching, he summoned all
+his nobles to Aix into the church he had there erected. There, on the
+altar, lay a golden crown. Charles made his son Ludwig, or Louis,
+stand before him, and, in the audience of his great men, gave him his
+last exhortation: to fear God and to love his people as his own
+children, to do right and to execute justice, and to walk in integrity
+before God and man. With streaming eyes Louis promised to fulfill his
+father's command. "Then," said Charles, "take this crown, and place it
+on your own head, and never forget the promise you have made this day."
+
+      _Sabine, Baring-Gould. "The Story of Germany."_
+                      _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series._
+
+
+
+
+WESTERN RECORD.
+
+
+
+
+_XXXVII.-THE NORSEMEN._
+
+
+1. The Gulf Stream flows so near to the southern coast of Norway, and
+to the Orkneys and Western Islands, that their climate is much less
+severe than might be supposed. Yet no one can help wondering why they
+were formerly so much more populous than now, and why the people who
+came westward even so long ago as the great Aryan migration, did not
+persist in turning aside to the more fertile countries that lay
+farther southward. In spite of all their disadvantages, the
+Scandinavian peninsula, and the sterile islands of the northern seas,
+were inhabitated by men and women whose enterprise and intelligence
+ranked them above their neighbors.
+
+2. Now, with the modern ease of travel and transportation, these
+poorer countries can be supplied from other parts of the world. And
+though the summers of Norway are misty and dark and short, and it is
+difficult to raise even a little hay on the bits of meadow among the
+rocky mountain-slopes, commerce can make up for all deficiencies. In
+early times there was no commerce, except that carried on by the
+pirates, if we may dignify their undertakings by such a respectable
+name, and it was hardly possible to make a living from the soil
+alone. But it does not take us long to discover that the ancient
+Northmen were not farmers, but hunters and fishermen. It had grown
+more and more difficult to find food along the rivers and broad grassy
+wastes of inland Europe, and pushing westward they had at last reached
+the place where they could live beside waters that swarmed with fish
+and among hills that sheltered plenty of game.
+
+3. The tribes that settled in the north grew in time to have many
+peculiarities of their own, and as their countries grew more and more
+populous, they needed more things that could not easily be had, and a
+fashion of plundering their neighbors began to prevail. Men were still
+more or less beasts of prey. Invaders must be kept out, and at last
+much of the industry of Scandinavia was connected with the carrying on
+of an almost universal fighting and marauding. Ships must be built,
+and there must be endless supplies of armor and weapons. Stones were
+easily collected for missiles or made fit for arrows and spear-heads,
+and metals were worked with great care.
+
+4. In Norway and Sweden were the best places to find all these, and if
+the Northmen planned to fight a great battle, they had to transport a
+huge quantity of stones, iron, and bronze. It is easy to see why one
+day's battle was almost always decisive in ancient times, for supplies
+could not be quickly forwarded from point to point, and after the arrows
+were all shot and the conquered were chased off the field, they had no
+further means of offense except a hand-to-hand fight with those who had
+won the right to pick up the fallen spears at their leisure. So, too, an
+unexpected invasion was likely to prove successful; it was a work of
+time to get ready for a battle, and when the Northmen swooped down upon
+some shore town of Britain or Gaul, the unlucky citizens were at their
+mercy. And while the Northmen had fish and game, and were mighty
+hunters, and their rocks and mines helped forward their warlike
+enterprises, so the forests supplied them with ship-timber, and they
+gained renown as sailors wherever their fame extended.
+
+5. There was a great difference, however, between the manner of life in
+Norway and that of England and France. The Norwegian stone, however
+useful for arrow-heads or axes, was not fit for building purposes. There
+is hardly any clay there, either, to make bricks with, so that wood has
+usually been the only material for houses. In the southern countries
+there had always been rude castles in which the people could shelter
+themselves, but the Northmen could build no castles that a torch could
+not destroy. They trusted much more to their ships than to their houses,
+and some of their captains disdained to live on shore at all.
+
+6. There is something refreshing in the stories of old Norse life; of
+its simplicity and freedom and childish zest. An old writer says that
+they had "a hankering after pomp and pageantry," and by means of this
+they came at last to doing things decently and in order, and to
+setting the fashions for the rest of Europe. There was considerable
+dignity in the manner of every-day life and housekeeping. Their houses
+were often very large, even two hundred feet long, with flaring fires
+on a pavement in the middle of the floor, and the beds built next the
+walls on three sides, sometimes hidden by wide tapestries or foreign
+cloth that had been brought home in the viking ships. In front of the
+beds were benches where each man had his seat and footstool, with his
+armor and weapons hung high on the wall above.
+
+7. The master of the house had a high seat on the north side in the
+middle of a long bench; opposite was another bench for guests and
+strangers, while the women sat on the third side. The roof was high;
+there were a few windows in it, and those were covered by skins, and
+let in but little light. The smoke escaped through openings in the
+carved, soot-blackened roof; and though in later times the rich men's
+houses were more like villages, because they made groups of smaller
+buildings for store houses, for guest-rooms, or for work-shops all
+around still, the idea of this primitive great hall or living-room has
+not even yet been lost. The latest copies of it in England and France
+that still remain are most interesting; but what a fine sight it must
+have been at night when the great fires blazed and the warriors sat on
+their benches in solemn order, and the skalds recited their long
+sagas, of the host's own bravery or the valiant deeds of his
+ancestors! Hospitality was almost chief among the virtues.
+
+8. We must read what was written in their own language, and then we
+shall have more respect for the vikings and sea-kings, always
+distinguishing between these two; for, while any peasant who wished
+could be a viking--a sea-robber--a sea-king was a king indeed, and
+must be connected with the royal race of the country. He received the
+title of king by right as soon as he took command of a ship's crew,
+though he need not have any land or kingdom. Vikings were merely
+pirates; they might be peasants and vikings by turn, and won their
+names from the inlets, the viks or wicks, where they harbored their
+ships. A sea-king must be a viking, but naturally very few of the
+vikings were sea-kings.
+
+[Illustration: _A Viking's Home._]
+
+9. The viking had rights in his own country, and knew what it was to
+enjoy those rights; if he could win more land, he would know how to
+govern it, and he knew what he was fighting for, and meant to win.
+If we wonder why all this energy was spent on the high seas and in
+strange countries, there are two answers: first, that fighting was the
+natural employment of the men, and that no right could be held that
+could not be defended; but besides this, one form of their energy was
+showing itself at home in rude attempts at literature.
+
+10. The more that we know of the Northmen, the more we are convinced
+how superior they were in their knowledge of the useful arts to the
+people whom they conquered. There is a legend that, when Charlemagne,
+in the ninth century, saw some pirate ships cruising in the
+Mediterranean, along the shores of which they had at last found their
+way, he covered his face and burst into tears. He was not so much
+afraid of their cruelty and barbarity as of their civilization. Nobody
+knew better that none of the Christian countries under his rule had
+ships or men that could make such a daring voyage. He knew that they
+were skillful workers in wood and iron, and had learned to be
+rope-makers and weavers; that they could make casks for their supply
+of drinking-water, and understood how to prepare food for their long
+cruises. All their swords and spears and bow-strings had to be made
+and kept in good condition, and sheltered from the sea-spray.
+
+11. When we picture the famous sea-kings' ships to ourselves, we do
+not wonder that the Northmen were so proud of them, or that the skalds
+were never tired of recounting their glories. There were two kinds of
+vessels: the last-ships, that carried cargoes, and the long-ships, or
+ships of war. Listen to the splendors of the "Long Serpent," which was
+the largest ship ever built in Norway. A dragon-ship, to begin with,
+because all the long-ships had a dragon for a figure-head, except the
+smallest of them, which were called cutters, and only carried ten or
+twenty rowers on a side. The "Long Serpent" had thirty-four rowers'
+benches on a side, and she was one hundred and eleven feet long. Over
+the sides were hung the shining red and white shields of the vikings,
+the gilded dragon's head towered high at the prow, and at the stern a
+gilded tail went curling off over the head of the steersman. Then,
+from the long body, the heavy oars swept forward and back through the
+water, and as it came down the fi�rd, the "Long Serpent" must have
+looked like some enormous centipede creeping out of its den on an
+awful errand, and heading out across the rough water toward its prey.
+
+12. The voyages were often disastrous in spite of much clever
+seamanship. They knew nothing of the mariner's compass, and found
+their way chiefly by the aid of the stars--inconstant pilots enough on
+such foggy, stormy seas. They carried birds, too, oftenest ravens, and
+used to let them loose and follow them toward the nearest land. The
+black raven was the vikings' favorite symbol for their flags, and
+familiar enough it became in other harbors than their own. They were
+bold, hardy fellows, and held fast to a rude code of honor and rank of
+knighthood.
+
+13. The valleys of the Elbe and the Rhine, of the Seine and the Loire,
+made a famous hunting-ground for the dragon-ships to seek.
+
+14. The people who lived in France were of another sort, but they
+often knew how to defend themselves as well as the Northmen knew how
+to attack. There are few early French records for us to read, for the
+literature of that early day was almost wholly destroyed in the
+religious houses and public buildings of France. Here and there a few
+pages of a poem or of a biography or chronicle have been kept, but
+from this very fact we can understand the miserable condition of the
+country.
+
+15. The whole second half of the ninth century is taken up with the
+histories of these invasions. We must follow for a while the progress
+of events in Gaul, or France as we call it now, though it was made up
+then of a number of smaller kingdoms. The result of the great siege of
+Paris was only a settling of affairs with the Northmen for the time
+being; one part of the country was delivered from them at the expense
+of another.
+
+16. They could be bought off and bribed for a time, but there was
+never to be any such thing as their going back to their own country
+and letting France alone for good and all. But as they gained at
+length whole tracts of country, instead of the little wealth of a few
+men to take away in their ships as at first, they began to settle down
+in their new lands and to become conquerors and colonists instead of
+mere plunderers. Instead of continually ravaging and attacking the
+kingdoms, they slowly became the owners and occupiers of the conquered
+territory; they pushed their way from point to point.
+
+17. At first, as you have seen already they trusted to their ships,
+and always left their wives and children at home in the north
+countries, but as time went on, they brought their families with them
+and made new homes, for which they would have to fight many a battle
+yet. It would be no wonder if the women had become possessed by a love
+of adventure, too, and had insisted upon seeing the lands from which
+the rich booty was brought to them, and that they had been saying for
+a long time: "Show us the places where the grapes grow and the
+fruit-trees bloom, where men build great houses and live in them
+splendidly. We are tired of seeing only the long larchen beams of
+their high roofs, and the purple and red and gold cloths, and the red
+wine and yellow wheat that you bring away. Why should we not go to
+live in that country, instead of your breaking it to pieces, and going
+there so many of you, every year, only to be slain as its enemies? We
+are tired of our sterile Norway and our great Danish deserts of sand,
+of our cold winds and wet weather, and our long winters that pass by
+so slowly while the fleets are gone. We would rather see Seville and
+Paris themselves, than only their gold and merchandise and the rafters
+of their churches that you bring home for ship timbers."
+
+18. The kingdoms of France had been divided and subdivided, and, while
+we find a great many fine examples of resistance, and some great
+victories over the Northmen, they were not pushed out and checked
+altogether. Instead, they gradually changed into Frenchmen themselves,
+different from other Frenchmen only in being more spirited, vigorous
+and alert. They inspired every new growth of the religion, language,
+or manners, with their own splendid vitality. They were like plants
+that have grown in dry, thin soil, transplanted to a richer spot of
+ground, and sending out fresh shoots in the doubled moisture and
+sunshine. And presently we shall find the Northman becoming the Norman
+of history. As the Northman, almost the first thing we admire about
+him is his character, his glorious energy; as the Norman, we see that
+energy turned into better channels, and bringing a new element into
+the progress of civilization.
+
+          _Sarah O. Jewett. "The Story of the Normans."_
+                      _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXVIII.--ROLF THE GANGER._
+
+
+1. The ninth century was a sad time for both England and France. The
+Gothic tribes, in their march to the west had reached the sea in
+Denmark and Norway, and had increased to such an extent as to take up
+all the land fit for cultivation. The strength and courage which they
+had shown in many a battle-field on the land was now transferred to
+the sea, soldiers and knights becoming vikings and pirates. Fierce
+worshipers were they of the old gods Odin, Frey, and Thor. They
+plundered, they burned, they slew; they especially devastated churches
+and monasteries, and no coast was safe from them from the Adriatic to
+the farthest north--even Rome saw their long-ships, and, "From the
+fury of the Northmen, good Lord deliver us!" was the prayer in every
+litany of the West.
+
+2. England had been well-nigh undone by them, when the spirit of her
+greatest king awoke, and by Alfred they were overcome. Some were
+permitted to settle down, and were taught Christianity and
+civilization, and the fresh invaders were driven from the coast.
+Alfred's gallant son and grandson held the same course, guarded their
+coasts, and made their faith and themselves respected throughout the
+North. But in France, the much harassed house of Charles the Great,
+and the ill-compacted bond of different nations, were little able to
+oppose their fierce assaults, and ravage and devastation reigned from
+one end of the country to another.
+
+3. However, the vikings, on returning to their native homes sometimes
+found their place filled up, and the family inheritance incapable of
+supporting so many. Thus they began to think of winning not merely
+gold and cattle, but lands and houses, on the coasts they pillaged. In
+Scotland, the Hebrides, and Ireland, they settled by leave of nothing
+but their swords; in England, by treaty with Alfred; and in France,
+half by conquest, half by treaty, always, however, accepting
+Christianity as a needful obligation when they took posession of
+southern lands. Probably they thought Thor was only the god of the
+north, and that the "White Christ," as they called Him who was made
+known to them in these new countries was to be adored in what they
+deemed alone his territories.
+
+4. Of all the sea-robbers who sailed from their rocky dwelling-places
+by the fi�rds of Norway, none enjoyed higher renown than Rolf, called
+the ganger, or walker, as tradition relates, because his stature was
+so gigantic that, when clad in full armor, no horse could support his
+weight, and he therefore always fought on foot.
+
+5. Rolf's lot had, however, fallen in what he doubtless considered as
+evil days. No such burnings and plunderings as had hitherto wasted
+England and enriched Norway, fell to his share; for Alfred had made
+the bravest Northman feel that his fleet and army were more than a
+match for theirs. Ireland was exhausted by the former depredations of
+the pirates, and, from a fertile and flourishing country had become a
+scene of desolation. Scotland and its isles were too barren to afford
+prey to the spoiler.
+
+6. Rolf, presuming on the favor shown to his family while returning
+from an expedition on the Baltic, made a descent on the coast of
+Viken, a part of Norway, and carried off the cattle wanted by his
+crew. The king, who happened at that time to be in that district, was
+highly displeased, and, assembling a council, declared Rolf the Ganger
+an outlaw.
+
+7. The banished Rolf found a great number of companions, who, like
+himself, were unwilling to submit to the strict rule of Harald, and
+setting sail with them, he first plundered and devastated the coast
+of Flanders, and afterward returned to France. In the spring of 896
+the citizens of Rouen, scarcely yet recovered from the miseries
+inflicted upon them by the fierce Danish rover Hasting, were dismayed
+by the sight of a fleet of long, low vessels, with spreading sails,
+heads carved like that of a serpent, and sterns finished like the tail
+of a reptile, such as they well knew to be the keels of the dreaded
+Northmen, the harbingers of destruction and desolation. Little hope of
+succor or protection was there from King Charles the Simple; and,
+indeed, had the sovereign been ever so warlike and energetic, it would
+little have availed Rouen, which might have been destroyed twice over
+before a messenger could reach Laon.
+
+8. In this emergency, Franco, the archbishop, proposed to go forth to
+meet the Northmen and attempt to make terms for his flock. The offer
+was gladly accepted by the trembling citizens, and the good archbishop
+went, bearing the keys of the town, to visit the camp which the
+Northmen had begun to erect upon the bank of the river. They offered
+him no violence, and he performed his errand safely. Rolf, the rude
+generosity of whose character was touched by his fearless conduct,
+readily agreed to spare the lives and property of the citizens, on
+condition that Rouen was surrendered to him without resistance.
+
+9. Entering the town, he there established his headquarters, and spent
+a whole year in the adjacent parts of the country, during which time
+the Northmen so faithfully observed their promise, that they were
+regarded by the Rouennais rather as friends than as conquerors; and
+Rolf, or Rollo, as the French called him, was far more popular among
+them than their real sovereign. Wherever he met with resistance, he
+showed, indeed, the relentless cruelty of the heathen pirate;
+wherever he found submission, he was a kind master.
+
+10. In the course of the following year, he advanced along the banks
+of the Seine as far as its junction with the Eure. On the opposite
+side of the river there were visible a number of tents, where slept a
+numerous army, which Charles had at length collected to oppose this
+formidable enemy. The Northmen also set up their camp, in expectation
+of a battle, and darkness had just closed in on them when a shout was
+heard on the opposite side of the river, and to their surprise a voice
+was heard speaking in their own language. "Brave warriors, why come ye
+hither, and what do ye seek?"
+
+11. "We are Northmen, come hither to conquer France," replied Rollo.
+"But who art thou who speakest our tongue so well?" "Heard ye never of
+Hasting?" was the reply. "Yes," returned Rollo, "he began well, but
+ended badly." "Will ye not, then," continued the old pirate, "submit
+to my lord the king? Will ye not hold of him lands and honors?" "No,"
+replied the Northmen, disdainfully, "we will own no lord, we will take
+no gift, but we will have what we ourselves can conquer by force."
+
+12. Here Hasting took his departure, and returning to the French camp,
+strongly advised the commander not to hazard a battle. His counsel was
+overruled by a young standard-bearer, who, significantly observing,
+"Wolves make not war on wolves," so offended the old sea-king, that he
+quitted the army that night, and never again appeared in France. The
+wisdom of his advice was the next morning made evident, by the total
+defeat of the French, and the advance of the Northmen, who in a short
+space after appeared beneath the walls of Paris. Failing in their
+attempt to take the city, they returned to Rouen, where they fortified
+themselves, making it the capital of the territory they had conquered.
+
+13. Fifteen years passed away, the summers of which were spent in
+ravaging the dominions of Charles the Simple, and the winters in the
+city of Rouen, and in the meantime a change had come over the leader.
+He had been insensibly softened and civilized by his intercourse with
+the good Archbishop Franco, and finding, perhaps, that it was not
+quite so easy as he had expected to conquer the whole kingdom of
+France, he declared himself willing to follow the example which he
+once despised, and to become a vassal of the French crown for the
+duchy of Neustria.
+
+14. Charles, greatly rejoiced to find himself thus able to put a stop
+to the dreadful devastations of the Northmen, readily agreed to the
+terms proposed by Rollo, appointing the village of St. Clair-sur-Epte,
+on the borders of Neustria, as the place of meeting for the purpose of
+receiving his homage and oath of fealty.
+
+15. The greatest difficulty to be overcome in this conference was the
+repugnance felt by the proud Northman to perform the customary act of
+homage before any living man, especially one whom he held so cheap as
+Charles the Simple. He consented, indeed, to swear allegiance, and
+declare himself the "king's man," with his hands clasped between those
+of Charles. The remaining part of the ceremony, the kneeling to kiss
+the foot of the liege lord, he absolutely refused, and was with
+difficulty persuaded to permit one of his followers to perform it in
+his name. The proxy, as proud as his master, instead of kneeling, took
+the king's foot in his hand, and lifted it to his mouth while he stood
+upright, thus overturning both monarch and throne, amid the rude
+laughter of his companions, while the miserable Charles and his
+courtiers felt such a dread of these new vassals that they did not
+dare resent the insult.
+
+16. On his return to Rouen, Rollo was baptized, and, on leaving the
+cathedral, celebrated his conversion by large grants to the different
+churches and convents of his duchy, making a fresh gift on each of the
+days during which he wore the white robes of the newly baptized. All
+of his warriors who chose to follow his example, and embrace the
+Christian faith, received from him grants of land, to be held of him
+on the same terms as those by which he held the dukedom from the king.
+The country thus peopled by the Northmen, gradually assumed the name
+of Normandy.
+
+17. Applying themselves with all the ardor of their temper to their
+new way of life, the Northmen quickly adopted the manners, language,
+and habits which were recommended to them as connected with the holy
+faith which they had just embraced, but without losing their own bold
+and vigorous spirit. Soon the gallant and accomplished Norman knight
+could scarcely have been recognized as the savage sea-robber, while,
+at the same time, he bore as little resemblance to the cruel and
+voluptuous French noble, at once violent and indolent.
+
+18. There is no doubt, however, that the keen, unsophisticated vigor
+of Rollo, directed by his new religion did great good in Normandy, and
+that his justice was sharp, his discipline impartial, so that of him
+is told the famous old story bestowed upon other just princes, that a
+gold bracelet was left for three years untouched upon a tree in a
+forest. He had been married, as part of the treaty, to Gis�le, a
+daughter of King Charles the Simple, but he was an old grizzly
+warrior, and neither cared for the other. A wife whom he had long
+before taken, had borne him a son, named William, to whom he left his
+dukedom in 932.
+
+
+
+
+_XXXIX.--THE TRUE STORY OF MACBETH._
+
+
+1. In the north of Scotland, where the cliffs bordering Moray Firth
+face the auroral heavens, are two ancient towns, Inverness and Forres,
+whose names are immortalized in Shakespeare's great tragedy of
+Macbeth, for it is in their vicinity that most of its scenes are laid.
+
+2. It is a wild, lonely country, and must have been wilder and
+lonelier still eight hundred years ago, when from the neighboring
+Norway coast the black boats of the vikings, or North Sea rovers, used
+to come flocking into the quiet harbors of Moray and Cromarty Firths,
+like so many swift birds of prey swooping suddenly in from the gray
+horizon, snatching their plunder and flitting away on never-resting
+wings only to return in greater numbers and depart with richer booty.
+
+3. In 1033-1039, when the sons of Canute the Dane were wearing the
+English crown, and not long after a few of the roving Norsemen had
+drifted away to plant a little history and a great mystery across the
+wide Atlantic, there reigned in Scotland a king by the name of Duncan
+MacCrinan. Among his nobles was a certain Macbeth, Thane of Glamis,
+about whom a great many stories are told, some of which would no doubt
+have made their subject open his eyes, for if we may credit the sober
+historians he was rather respectable than otherwise, and probably
+slept much better o' nights than Mr. Shakespeare would have us
+believe. It is even said that he made a pilgrimage to Rome and saw the
+Pope, which certainly ought to establish his virtue to anybody's
+satisfaction.
+
+4. At all events he was a brave soldier and able general, and Duncan
+naturally thought that he had the right man in the right place when he
+gave him command of the royal army and sent him off to drive out
+Thorfinn and Thorkell, two Norse chiefs who had come over to conquer
+Scotland.
+
+5. Macbeth had wedded a lady named Grnoch MacB[oe]dhe, which made him
+cousin to the king, and very likely put strange notions into his head,
+even if they never were there before. He was what we call "a rising
+man," and so, having gloriously defeated Thorfinn and Thorkell, or,
+some say, making them allies, he gloriously turned around and made war
+upon Duncan MacCrinan. In this struggle Duncan was killed or mortally
+wounded near Elgin, on Moray Firth, and Macbeth usurped the throne.
+
+6. Others claim that Thorfinn had conquered that part of Scotland,
+that Macbeth was his vassal and merely fulfilled his duty to his
+over-lord in repelling an invasion by Duncan, in which the latter
+deservedly met the common fate of war.
+
+7. It is very difficult to learn the real truth about people who lived
+before history was anything more than oral tradition, because, as in
+the case of Macbeth, a great many legends gradually clustered about
+their names, which were not committed to writing until many, many
+years after the events actually occurred. The very earliest Scotch
+writing ever discovered is only a charter, and is dated 1095, more
+than fifty years after Duncan was "in his grave," and it was more than
+three hundred years later that a Scotch prior, named Androwe of
+Wyntonne, wrote a long historical poem which he called an Orygynale
+Cronykil of Scotland. In it he relates the story of Macbeth and the
+three witches, and the murder of Duncan, though he says that Macbeth
+afterward made a very wise and just king, whose reign of seventeen
+years was marked by great abundance, and by royal almsgiving and zeal
+for "holy kirk."
+
+8. But a Latin history of Scotland, written about a hundred years
+before Shakespeare by an Aberdeen professor, and translated into
+English under the title of Holinshed's Chronicle, supplied the great
+dramatist with his plot, though it suited his purpose to combine the
+true story of Macbeth with the murder of an earlier king. Then, adding
+a great deal about ghosts and witches, and, above all, breathing into
+these dry, long-dead mummies the quickening breath of genius, the
+immortal playwright recreated a Macbeth who seems a far more real and
+living character than many of our contemporaries.
+
+9. By whatever means Macbeth secured the throne, history and fiction
+agree as to the manner of his losing it. Duncan's sons, in reality
+mere infants at their father's death, were hurried away by their
+friends, and Malcolm, the elder, was committed to his mother's
+brother, Siward, Earl of Northumbria, who in good time aided his young
+kinsman to recover his birthright.
+
+10. Macbeth, notwithstanding his prosperous reign, was regarded as a
+usurper, and was consequently very unpopular with the loyal Scotch,
+who, though proud and quarrelsome, were always devotedly true where
+they recognized an obligation of fealty. So when Malcolm returned they
+flocked around the beloved young heir, and defeated his enemy at
+Dunsinane, though Macbeth was not killed at this place, as Shakespeare
+says, but fled across the Grampians to rally at Lumphanan. Here he was
+slain and the victorious Malcolm--called in history Malcolm
+Canmore--now went to Scone and was crowned upon a famous stone,
+believed by the Scotch to be the same that Jacob used for his pillow.
+It is certainly the one that Edward I of England afterward took away
+and made the seat of the coronation chair at Westminster Abbey, where
+it is still to be seen.
+
+11. But, like many another evil that has been wrought before now,
+Macbeth's treason resulted in the ultimate good of his country; for
+Malcolm, during his long exile, had become accustomed to the superior
+civilization of the English, and now introduced many improvements
+among his subjects. Having known, too, the sorrows of a fugitive, he
+welcomed to his court the Saxon princes fleeing from Norman William,
+among whom was Margaret Atheling, the gentle granddaughter of Edmund
+Ironsides, who became his bride, and whose winning graces went far
+toward refining the rude manners of the warlike Scots. One of their
+sons was the saintly King David, who founded Melrose Abbey, and who is
+said to have been to Scotland "all that Alfred was to England, and
+more than Louis was to France."
+
+12. Another noble, called Banquo, seems to have had some part in
+Duncan's overthrow, but as the play of Macbeth was written in the
+reign of James I, who was a Scot and traced his descent back to
+Banquo, it was not deemed prudent or polite to represent the character
+in an unflattering light; so he was pictured as noble and
+incorruptible, and was so unfortunate, poor man, as to have to be
+murdered to make the story end well.
+
+13. Sir Walter Scott, in his "Tales of a Grandfather," gives us a
+story differing little from the outline of Shakespeare's drama, but
+then, who that has spent enraptured hours over Rob Roy and the Black
+Dwarf could wish the charming wizard to spoil a good story for the
+sake of mere historical exactness? not I, surely! And the Macbeth of
+history, no matter how zealously we may try to discover him, or how
+faithfully we may attempt, at this late day, to reconstruct his
+damaged reputation, he can never be to us anything better than a very
+misty tradition. Whatever he may have been eight hundred years ago,
+the Macbeth _we_ know, the only real Macbeth there is or ever can be,
+is after all the one that met the witches in the thunder-storm on
+Forres Heath and then went home and murdered the gentle old king who
+"had so much blood in him," and a moment later, startled by the
+knocking at the gate, exclaimed in bitterest remorse: "Wake Duncan
+with thy knocking! I would thou could'st!"
+
+14. If you read this scene in the silent hours when every one else in
+the house is sleeping, you will almost believe that you murdered
+Duncan yourself, and that you hear Lady Macbeth's hoarse whisper in
+your ear: "To bed, to bed, there's knocking at the gate. Come, come,
+come, come, give me your hand. What's done can not be undone. To bed,
+to bed, to bed."
+
+15. Then you will shut the book in sudden terror of the lonely
+midnight, and scramble into bed with the blood curdling in your veins,
+and presently, aided by the darkness, your imagination will bridge the
+gulf of centuries, and you will seem to see a long vaulted hall in a
+medi�val palace, and in the hall a banquet spread, around which gather
+lords of high degree, while on the canopied dais at the upper end sit
+King Macbeth and his white-haired, pitiless, guilty queen. And from
+the rainy outer darkness you may catch the faint echo of a mortal cry:
+"Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!" And then as you picture the king
+stepping down from his royal seat to meet a blood-stained murderer at
+the door, you will have a momentary glimpse of Banquo lying in the
+roadside ditch "with twenty trench�d gashes in his head," and of
+Fleance speeding away alone through the stormy night.
+
+
+
+
+_XL.--DUKE WILLIAM OF NORMANDY._
+
+
+1. Now Duke William was in his park at Rouen, and in his hands he held
+a bow ready strung, for he was going hunting, and many knights and
+squires with him. And behold, there came to the gate a messenger from
+England; and he went straight to the duke and drew him aside, and told
+him secretly how King Edward's life had come to an end, and Harold had
+been made king in his stead. And when the duke had heard the tidings,
+and understood all that was come to pass, those that looked upon him
+perceived that he was greatly enraged, for he forsook the chase, and
+went in silence, speaking no word to any man, clasping and unclasping
+his cloak, neither dared any man speak to him; but he crossed over the
+Seine in a boat, and went to his hall, and sat down on a bench; and he
+covered his face with his mantle, and leaned down his head, and there
+he abode, turning about restlessly for one hour after another in
+gloomy thought. And none dared speak a word to him, but they spake to
+one another, saying: "What ails the duke? Why bears he such a mien?"
+
+2. "That is it that troubles me," said the duke. "I grieve because
+Edward is dead, and that Harold has done me a wrong; for he has taken
+my kingdom who was bound to me by oath and promise." To these words
+answered Fitz-Osbern the bold: "Sir, tarry not, but make ready with
+speed to avenge yourself on Harold, who has been disloyal to you; for
+if you lack not courage, there will be left no land to Harold. Summon
+all whom you may summon, cross the sea and seize his lands; for no
+brave man should begin a matter and not carry it on to the end."
+
+3. Then William sent messengers to Harold to call upon him to keep
+the oath that he had sworn; but Harold replied in scorn that he would
+not marry his daughter, nor give up his land to him. And William sent
+to him his defiance; but Harold answered that he feared him not, and
+he drove all the Normans out of the land, with their wives and
+children, for King Edward had given them lands and castles, but Harold
+chased them out of the country; neither would he let one remain. And
+at Christmas he took the crown, but it would have been well for
+himself and his land if he had not been crowned, since for the kingdom
+he perjured himself, and his reign lasted but a short space.
+
+4. Then Duke William called together his barons, and told them all his
+will, and how Harold had wronged him, and that he would cross the sea
+and revenge himself; but without their aid he could not gather men
+enough, nor a large navy; therefore, he would know of each one of them
+how many men and ships he would bring. And they prayed for leave to
+take counsel together, and the duke granted their request. And their
+deliberations lasted long, for many complained that their burdens were
+heavy, and some said that they would bring ships and cross the sea
+with the duke, and others said they would not go, for they were in
+debt and poor. Thus some would and some would not, and there was great
+contention between them.
+
+5. Then Fitz-Osbern came to them and said: "Wherefore dispute you,
+sirs? Ye should not fail your natural lord when he goes seeking
+honors. Ye owe him service for your fiefs, and where ye owe service ye
+should serve with all your power. Ask not delay, nor wait until he
+prays you; but go before, and offer him more than you can do. Let him
+not lament that his enterprise failed for your remissness." But they
+answered: "Sir, we fear the sea, and we owe no service across the
+sea. Speak for us, we pray you, and answer in our stead. Say what you
+will, and we will abide by your words." "Will ye all leave yourselves
+to me?" he said. And each one answered: "Yes. Let us go to the duke,
+and you shall speak for us."
+
+6. And Fitz-Osbern turned himself about and went before him to the duke,
+and spoke for them, and he said: "Sir, no lord has such men as you have,
+and who will do so much for their lord's honor, and you ought to love
+and keep them well. For you they say they would be drowned in the sea or
+thrown into the fire. You may trust them well, for they have served you
+long and followed you at great cost. And if they have done well, they
+will do better; for they will pass the sea with you, and will double
+their service. For he who should bring twenty knights will gladly bring
+forty, and he who should serve you thirty will bring sixty, and he from
+whom one hundred is due will willingly bring two hundred. And I, in
+loving loyalty, will bring in my lord's business sixty ships, well
+arrayed and laden with fighting men."
+
+7. But the barons marveled at him, and murmured aloud at the words
+that he spake and the promises he made, for which they had given him
+no warrant. And many contradicted him, and there arose a noise and
+loud disturbance among them; for they feared that if they doubled
+their service it would become a custom, and be turned into a feudal
+right. And the noise and outcry became so great that a man could not
+hear what his fellow said. Then the duke went aside, for the noise
+displeased him, and sent for the barons one by one, and spoke to each
+one of the greatness of the enterprise, and that if they would double
+their service, and do freely more than their due, it should be well
+for them, and that he would never make it a custom, nor require of
+them any service more than was the usage of the country, and such as
+their ancestors had paid to their lord. Then each one said he would do
+it, and he told how many ships he would bring, and the duke had them
+all written down in brief. Bishop Odo, his brother, brought him forty
+ships, and the Bishop of Le Mans prepared thirty, with their mariners
+and pilots. And the duke prayed his neighbors of Brittany, Anjou, and
+Maine, Ponthieu, and Boulogne, to aid him in this business; and he
+promised them lands if England were conquered, and rich gifts and
+large pay. Thus from all sides came soldiers to him.
+
+8. Then he showed the matter to his lord the King of France, and he
+sought him at St. Germer, and found him there; and he said that he
+would aid him, so that by his aid he won his right, he would hold
+England from him and serve him for it. But the king answered that he
+would not aid him, neither with his will should he pass the sea; for
+the French prayed him not to aid him, saying he was too strong
+already, and that if he let him add riches from over the sea to his
+lands of Normandy and all his good knights, there would never be
+peace. "And when England shall be conquered," said they, "you will
+hear no more of his service. He pays little service now, but then it
+will be less. The more he has, the less he will do."
+
+9. So the duke took leave of the king, and came away in a rage,
+saying: "Sir, I go to do the best I can, and if God will that I gain
+my right you shall see me no more but for evil. And if I fail, and the
+English can defend themselves, my children shall inherit my lands, and
+thou shalt not conquer them. Living or dead, I fear no menace!"
+
+10. Then the duke sent to Rome clerks that were skilled in speech,
+and they told the Pope how Harold had sworn falsely, and that Duke
+William promised that if he conquered England he would hold it of St.
+Peter. And the Pope sent him a standard and a very precious ring, and
+underneath the stone there was, it is said, a hair of St. Peter's. And
+about that time there appeared a great star shining in the south with
+very long rays, such a star as is seen when a kingdom is about to have
+a new king. I have spoken with many men who saw it, and those who are
+cunning in the stars call it a comet.
+
+11. Then the duke called together carpenters and ship-builders, and in
+all the ports of Normandy there was sawing of planks and carrying of
+wood, spreading of sails and setting up of masts, with great labor and
+industry. Thus all the summer long and through the month of August
+they made ready the fleet and assembled the men; for there was no
+knight in all the land, nor any good sergeant, nor archer, nor any
+peasant of good courage, of age to fight, whom the duke did not summon
+to go with him to England.
+
+12. When the ships were ready, they were anchored in the Somme at St.
+Valery. And as the renown of the duke went abroad there came to him
+soldiers one by one or two by two, and the duke kept them with him,
+and promised them much. And some asked for lands in England, and
+others pay and large gifts. But I will not write down what barons,
+knights, and soldiers the duke had in his company; but I have heard my
+father say (I remember it well, though I was but a boy) that there
+were seven hundred ships, save four, when they left St. Valery--ships,
+and boats, and little skiffs. But I found it written (I know not the
+truth) that there were three thousand ships carrying sails and masts.
+
+13. And at St. Valery they tarried long for a favorable wind, and the
+barons grew weary with waiting; and they prayed those of the convent
+to bring out to the camp the shrine of St. Valery, and they came to it
+and prayed they might cross the sea, and they offered money till all
+the holy body was covered with it, and the same day there sprang up a
+favorable wind. Then the duke put a lantern on the mast of his ship,
+that the other ships might see it and keep their course near, and an
+ensign of gilded copper on the top; and at the head of the ships,
+which mariners call the prow, there was a child made of copper holding
+a bow and arrow, and he had his face toward England, and seemed about
+to shoot.
+
+14. Thus the ships came to port, and they all arrived together and
+anchored together on the beach, and together they all disembarked. And
+it was near Hastings, and the ships lay side by side. And the good
+sailors and sergeants and esquires sprang out, and cast anchor, and
+fastened the ships with ropes; and they brought out their shields and
+saddles, and led forth the horses.
+
+15. The archers were the first to come to land, every one with his bow
+and his quiver and arrows by his side, all shaven and dressed in short
+tunics, ready for battle and of good courage; and they searched all
+the beach, but no armed man could they find. When they were issued
+forth, then came the knights in armor, with helmet laced and shield on
+neck, and together they came to the sand and mounted their war-horses;
+and they had their swords at their sides, and rode with lances raised.
+The barons had their standards and the knights their pennons. After
+them came the carpenters, with their axes in their hands and their
+tools hanging by their side. And when they came to the archers and to
+the knights they took counsel together, and brought wood from the
+ships and fastened it together with bolts and bars, and before the
+evening was well come they had made themselves a strong fort. And they
+lighted fires and cooked food, and the duke and his barons and knights
+sat down to eat; and they all ate and drank plentifully and rejoiced
+that they were come to land.
+
+16. When the duke came forth of his ship he fell on his hands to the
+ground, and there rose a great cry, for all said it was an evil sign;
+but he cried aloud: "Lords, I have seized the land with my two hands,
+and will never yield it. All is ours." Then a man ran to land and laid
+his hand upon a cottage, and took a handful of the thatch, and
+returned to the duke. "Sir," said he, "take seizin of the land; yours
+is the land without doubt." Then the duke commanded the mariners to
+draw all the ships to land and pierce holes in them and break them to
+pieces, for they should never return by the way they had come.
+
+                    _"Belt and Spur," Stories of the Old Knights._
+
+
+
+
+_XLI.--THE NORMAN CONQUEST._
+
+
+1. Poor old Edward the Confessor, holy, weak, and sad, lay in his new
+choir of Westminster--where the wicked cease from troubling and the
+weary are at rest. The crowned ascetic had left no heir behind.
+England seemed as a corpse, to which all the eagles might gather
+together; and the South-English, in their utter need, had chosen for
+their king the ablest, and it may be the justest, man in Britain--Earl
+Harold Godwinson: himself, like half the upper classes of England
+then, of all-dominant Norse blood; for his mother was a Danish princess.
+
+[Illustration: _Edward the Confessor's Tomb._]
+
+2. Then out of Norway, with a mighty host, came Harold Hardraade,
+taller than all men, the ideal Viking of his time. He had been away to
+Russia to King Jaroslaf; he had been in the Emperor's Varanger guard
+at Constantinople--and, it was whispered, had slain a lion there with
+his bare hands; he had carved his name and his comrades' in Runic
+characters--if you go to Venice you may see them at this day--on the
+loins of the great marble lion, which stood in his time not in Venice
+but in Athens. And now, King of Norway and conqueror, for the time, of
+Denmark, why should he not take England, as Sweyn and Canute took it
+sixty years before, when the flower of the English gentry perished at
+the fatal battle of Assingdune? If he and his half-barbarous host had
+conquered, the civilization of Britain would have been thrown back,
+perhaps, for centuries. But it was not to be.
+
+3. England _was_ to be conquered by the Normans; but by the civilized,
+not the barbaric; by the Norse who had settled, but four generations
+before, in the northeast of France under Rou, Rollo, Rolf the Ganger,
+so called, they say, because his legs were so long that, when on
+horseback, he touched the ground and seemed to gang, or walk. He and
+his Norsemen had taken their share of France, and called it Normandy
+to this day; and meanwhile, with that docility and adaptability which
+marks so often truly great spirits, they changed their creed, their
+language, their habits, and had become, from heathen and murderous
+Berserkers, the most truly civilized people in Europe, and--as was
+most natural then--the most faithful allies and servants of the Pope
+of Rome. So greatly had they changed, and so fast, that William Duke
+of Normandy, the great-great grandson of Rolf the wild Viking, was
+perhaps the finest gentleman, as well as the most cultivated sovereign
+and the greatest statesman and warrior in Europe.
+
+4. So Harold of Norway came with all his Vikings to Stamford Bridge by
+York; and took, by coming, only that which Harold of England promised
+him, namely, "forasmuch as he was taller than any other man, seven
+feet of English ground."
+
+5. The story of that great battle, told with a few inaccuracies, but
+as only great poets tell, you should read, if you have not read it
+already, in the "Heimskringla" of Snorri Sturluson, the Homer of the
+North:
+
+    High feast that day held the birds of the air and the beasts of the
+              field,
+    White-tailed erm and sallow glede,
+    Dusky raven, with horny neb,
+    And the gray deer the wolf of the wood.
+
+The bones of the slain, men say, whitened the place for fifty years to
+come.
+
+6. And remember that on the same day on which that fight
+befell--September 27, 1066--William, Duke of Normandy, with all his
+French-speaking Norsemen, was sailing across the British Channel,
+under the protection of a banner consecrated by the Pope, to conquer
+that England which the Norse-speaking Normans could not conquer.
+
+7. And now King Harold showed himself a man. He turned at once from
+the north of England to the south. He raised the folk of the southern,
+as he had raised those of the central and northern shires, and in
+sixteen days--after a march which in those times was a prodigious
+feat--he was intrenched upon the fatal down which men called
+Heathfield then, and Senlac, but Battle to this day--with William and
+his French Normans opposite him on Telham Hill.
+
+8. Then came the battle of Hastings. You all know what befell upon
+that day, and how the old weapon was matched against the new--the
+English axe against the Norman lance--and beaten only because the
+English broke their ranks.
+
+9. It was a fearful time which followed. I can not but believe that
+our forefathers had been, in some way or other, great sinners, or two
+such conquests as Canute's and William's would not have fallen on them
+within the short space of sixty years. They did not want for courage,
+as Stamford Brigg and Hastings showed full well. English swine, their
+Norman conquerors called them often enough, but never English cowards.
+
+10. Their ruinous vice, if we trust the records of the time, was what
+the old monks called _accidia_, and ranked it as one of the seven
+deadly sins: a general careless, sleepy, comfortable habit of mind,
+which lets all go its way for good or evil--a habit of mind too often
+accompanied, as in the case of the Anglo-Danes, with self-indulgence,
+often coarse enough. Huge eaters and huger drinkers, fuddled with ale,
+were the men who went down at Hastings--though they went down like
+heroes--before the staid and sober Norman out of France.
+
+11. But these were fearful times. As long as William lived, ruthless
+as he was to all rebels, he kept order and did justice with a strong
+and steady hand; for he brought with him from Normandy the instincts
+of a truly great statesman. And in his sons' time matters grew worse
+and worse. After that, in the troubles of Stephen's reign, anarchy let
+loose tyranny in its most fearful form, and things were done which
+recall the cruelties of the old Spanish _conquistadores_ in America.
+Scott's charming romance of "Ivanhoe" must be taken, I fear, as a too
+true picture of English society in the time of Richard I.
+
+[Illustration: _Battle Abbey._]
+
+12. And what came of it all? What was the result of all this misery and
+wrong? This, paradoxical as it may seem: that the Norman conquest was
+the making of the English people; of the free commons of England.
+
+13. Paradoxical, but true. First, you must dismiss from your minds the
+too common notion that there is now in England a governing Norman
+aristocracy, or that there has been one, at least since the year 1215,
+when the Magna Charta was won from the Norman John by Normans and by
+English alike. For the first victors at Hastings, like the first
+_conquistadores_ in America, perished, as the monk chronicles point
+out, rapidly by their own crimes; and very few of our nobility can
+trace their names back to the authentic Battle Abbey roll.
+
+14. The cause is plain: The conquest of England by the Normans was not
+one of those conquests of a savage by a civilized race, or of a
+cowardly race by a brave race, which results in the slavery of the
+conquered, and leaves the gulf of caste between two races--master and
+slave. The vast majority, all but the whole population of England,
+have always been free, and free as they are not when caste exists to
+change their occupations. They could intermarry, if they were able
+men, into the rank above them; as they could sink, if they were unable
+men, into the rank below them.
+
+15. Nay, so utterly made up now is the old blood-feud between Norman
+and Englishman, between the descendants of those who conquered and
+those who were conquered, that, in the children of the Prince of
+Wales, after eight hundred years, the blood of William of Normandy is
+mingled with the blood of Harold, who fell at Hastings. And so, by the
+bitter woes which followed the Norman conquest was the whole
+population, Dane, Angle, and Saxon, earl and churl, freeman and slave,
+crushed and welded together into one homogeneous mass, made just and
+merciful toward each other by the most wholesome of all teachings, a
+community of suffering; and if they had been, as I fear they were, a
+lazy and a sensual people, were taught--
+
+    That life is not as idle ore,
+    But heated hot with burning fears,
+    And bathed in baths of hissing tears,
+    And battered with the strokes of doom
+    To shape and use.
+
+                                              _Charles Kingsley._
+
+
+
+
+_XLII.--KING RICHARD C[OE]UR DE LION IN THE HOLY LAND._
+
+
+1. At the end of August, 1191, Richard led his crusading troops from
+Acre into the midst of the wilderness of Mount Carmel, where their
+sufferings were terrible; the rocky, sandy, and uneven ground was
+covered with bushes full of long, sharp prickles, and swarms of
+noxious insects buzzed in the air, fevering the Europeans with their
+stings; and in addition to these natural obstacles, multitudes of Arab
+horsemen harrassed them on every side, slaughtering every straggler
+who dropped behind from fatigue, and attacking them so unceasingly
+that it was remarked, that throughout their day's track there was not
+one space of four feet without an arrow sticking in the ground.
+Richard fought indefatigably, always in the van, and ready to reward
+the gallant exploits of his knights. A young knight who bore a white
+shield, in hopes of gaining some honorable bearing, so distinguished
+himself that Richard thus greeted him at the close of the day: "Maiden
+knight, you have borne yourself as a lion, and done the deed of six
+crusaders."
+
+[Illustration: _Battle of Arsaaf._]
+
+2. At Arsaaf, on the 7th of September, a great battle was fought.
+Saladin and his brother had almost defeated the two religious orders
+(the Templars and the Hospitallers), and the gallant French knight
+Jacques d'Avesne, after losing his leg by a stroke from a cimeter,
+fought bravely on, calling on the English king until he fell
+overpowered by numbers. C[oe]ur de Lion and Guillaume des Barres
+retrieved the day, hewed down the enemy on all sides, and remained
+masters of the field. It is even said that Richard and Saladin met
+hand to hand, but this is uncertain. This victory opened the way to
+Joppa, where the crusaders spent the next month in the repair of the
+fortifications, while the Saracen forces lay at Ascalon.
+
+3. While here, Richard often amused himself with hawking, and one day
+was asleep under a tree when he was aroused by the approach of a party
+of Saracens, and springing on his horse Frannelle, which had been
+taken at Cyprus, he rashly pursued them and fell into an ambush. Four
+knights were slain, and he would have been seized had not a Gascon
+knight named Guillaume des Parcelets called out that he himself was
+the Malak Rik (great king), and allowed himself to be taken. Richard
+offered ten noble Saracens in exchange for this generous knight, whom
+Saladin restored together with a valuable horse that had been captured
+at the same time. A present of another Arab steed accompanied them;
+but Richard's half-brother, William Longsword, insisted on trying the
+animal before the king should mount it. No sooner was he on its back,
+than it dashed at once across the country, and before he could stop it
+he found himself in the midst of the enemy's camp. The two Saracen
+princes were extremely shocked and distressed lest this should be
+supposed a trick, and instantly escorted Longsword back with a gift of
+three chargers, which proved to be more manageable.
+
+4. From Joppa the crusaders marched to Ramla, and thence, on New
+Year's Day, 1192, set out for Jerusalem through a country full of
+greater obstacles than they had yet encountered. They were too full of
+spirit to be discouraged until they came to Bethany, where the two
+Grand Masters represented to Richard the imprudence of laying siege to
+such fortifications as those of Jerusalem at such a season of the
+year, while Ascalon was ready in his rear for a post whence the enemy
+would attack him.
+
+5. He yielded, and retreated to Ascalon, which Saladin had ruined and
+abandoned, and began eagerly to repair the fortifications so as to be
+able to leave a garrison there. The soldiers grumbled, saying they had
+not come to Palestine to build Ascalon, but to conquer Jerusalem;
+whereupon Richard set the example of himself carrying stones, and
+called on Leopold, the Duke of Austria, to do the same. The sulky
+reply, "He was not the son of a mason," so irritated Richard, that he
+struck him a blow; Leopold straightway quitted the army, and returned
+to Austria.
+
+6. It was not without great grief and many struggles that C[oe]ur de
+Lion finally gave up his hopes of taking Jerusalem. He again advanced
+as far as Bethany; but a quarrel with Hugh of Burgundy, and the
+defection of the Austrians made it impossible for him to proceed, and
+he turned back to Ramla. While riding out with a party of knights, one
+of them called out, "This way, my lord, and you will see Jerusalem."
+"Alas!" said Richard, hiding his face with his mantle, "those who are
+not worthy to win the Holy City are not worthy to behold it." He
+returned to Acre; but there hearing that Saladin was besieging Joppa,
+he embarked his troops and sailed to its aid.
+
+7. The crescent (the standard of the Saracens) shone on its walls as
+he entered the harbor; but while he looked on in dismay, he was hailed
+by a priest who had leaped into the sea and swum out to inform him
+that there was yet time to rescue the garrison, though the town was in
+the hands of the enemy. He hurried his vessel forward, leaped into the
+water breast-high, dashed upward on the shore, ordered his immediate
+followers to raise a bulwark of casks and beams to protect the landing
+of the rest, and rushing up a flight of steps, entered the city alone.
+"St. George! St. George!" That cry dismayed the infidels, and those in
+the town to the number of three thousand fled in the utmost confusion,
+and were pursued for two miles by three knights who had been fortunate
+enough to find him.
+
+8. Richard pitched his tent outside the walls, and remained there with
+so few troops that all were contained in ten tents. Very early one
+morning, before the king was out of bed, a man rushed into his tent,
+crying out: "O king! we are all dead men!" Springing up, Richard
+fiercely silenced him: "Peace! or thou diest by my hand!" Then, while
+hastily donning his suit of mail, he heard that the glitter of arms
+had been seen in the distance, and in another moment the enemy were
+upon them, seven thousand in number. Richard had neither helmet nor
+shield, and only seventeen of his knights had horses; but undaunted he
+drew up his little force in a compact body, the knights kneeling on
+one knee covered by their shields, their lances pointing outward, and
+between each pair an archer with an assistant to load his cross-bow;
+and he stood in the midst encouraging them with his voice, and
+threatening to cut off the head of the first who turned to fly. In
+vain did the Saracens charge that mass of brave men, not one seventh
+of their number; the shields and lances were impenetrable; and without
+one forward step or one bolt from the cross-bows, their passive
+steadiness turned back wave after wave of the enemy.
+
+9. At last the king gave the word for the cross-bowmen to advance,
+while he, with the seventeen mounted knights charged, lance in rest.
+His curtal axe bore down all before it, and he dashed like lightning
+from one part of the plain to another, with not a moment to smile at
+the opportune gift from the polite Malek-el-Afdal, who, in the hottest
+of the fight, sent him two fine horses, desiring him to use them in
+escaping from this dreadful peril. Little did the Saracen princes
+imagine that they would find him victorious, and that they would mount
+two more pursuers!
+
+10. Next came a terrified fugitive with news that three thousand
+Saracens had entered Joppa! Richard summoned a few knights, and
+without a word to the rest galloped back into the city. The panic
+inspired by his presence instantly cleared the streets, and riding
+back, he again led his troops to the charge; but such were the swarms
+of Saracens, that it was not till evening that the Christians could
+give themselves a moment's rest, or look round and feel that they had
+gained one of the most wonderful of victories. Since daybreak Richard
+had not laid aside his sword or axe, and his hand was all over
+blistered. No wonder that the terror of his name endured for centuries
+in Palestine, and that the Arab chided his starting horse with, "Dost
+think that yonder is the Malek Rik?" while the mother stilled her
+crying child by threats that the Malek Rik should take it.
+
+11. These violent exertions seriously injured Richard's health, and a
+low fever placed him in great danger, as well as several of his best
+knights. No command or persuasion could induce the rest to commence
+any enterprise without him, and the tidings from Europe induced him to
+conclude a peace and return home. Malek-el-Afdal came to visit him,
+and a truce was signed for three years, three months, three weeks,
+three days, three hours, and three minutes, thus so quaintly arranged
+in accordance with some astrological views of the Saracens. Ascalon
+was to be demolished on condition that free access to Jerusalem was to
+be allowed to the pilgrims; but Saladin would not restore the piece of
+the True Cross, as he was resolved not to conduce to what he
+considered idolatry.
+
+12. Richard sent notice that he was coming back with double his
+present force to effect the conquest, and the Sultan answered, that if
+the Holy City was to pass into Frank hands, none could be nobler than
+those of the Malek Rik. Fever and debility detained Richard a month
+longer at Joppa, during which time he sent the Bishop of Salisbury to
+carry his offerings to Jerusalem. The prelate was invited to the
+presence of Saladin, who spoke in high terms of Richard's courage, but
+censured his rash exposure of his own life. On October 9, 1193,
+C[oe]ur de Lion took leave of Palestine, watching with tears its
+receding shores, as he exclaimed, "O, Holy Land, I commend thee and
+thy people unto God. May He grant me yet to return to aid thee!"
+
+                                            _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XLIII.--KING JOHN AND THE CHARTER._
+
+
+1. On his return from the crusade Richard was taken prisoner by the
+Duke of Austria. He bought his release only to find King Philip
+attacking his French dominions, and to plunge into wearisome and
+indecisive wars, in the midst of which he was slain at the Castle of
+Chaluz. His brother John, who followed him on the throne, was a vile
+and weak ruler, under whom the great sovereignty built up by Henry II
+broke utterly down. Normandy, Maine, and Anjou were reft from him by
+Philip of France, and only Aquitaine remained to him on that side of
+the sea. In England his lust and oppression drove people and nobles to
+join in resistance to him; and their resistance found a great leader
+in the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton.
+
+2. From the moment of his landing in England, Stephen Langton had
+taken up the constitutional position of the primate in upholding the
+old customs and rights of the realm against the personal despotism of
+the kings. As Anselm had withstood William the Red, as Theobald had
+withstood Stephen, so Langton prepared to withstand and rescue his
+country from the tyranny of John. He had already forced him to swear
+to observe the laws of Edward the Confessor, in other words the
+traditional liberties of the realm. When the baronage refused to sail
+for Poitou, saying that they owed service to him in England, but not
+in foreign lands, he compelled the king to deal with them not by arms,
+but by process of law. But the work which he now undertook was far
+greater and weightier than this. The pledges of Henry the First had
+long been forgotten when the justiciar brought them to light, but
+Langton saw the vast importance of such a precedent. At the close of
+the month he produced Henry's charter in a fresh gathering of barons
+at St. Paul's, and it was at once welcomed as a base for the needed
+reforms. From London Langton hastened to the king, whom he reached at
+Northampton on his way to attack the nobles of the north, and wrested
+from him a promise to bring his strife with them to legal judgment
+before assailing them in arms.
+
+3. With his enemies gathering abroad, John had doubtless no wish to be
+entangled in a long quarrel at home, and the archbishop's mediation
+allowed him to withdraw with seeming dignity. After a demonstration
+therefore at Durham John marched hastily south again, and reached London
+in October. His justiciar Geoffry Fitz-Peter at once laid before him the
+claims of the Council of St. Alban's and St. Paul's, but the death of
+Geoffry at this juncture freed him from the pressure which his minister
+was putting upon him. "Now, by God's feet," cried John, "I am for the
+first time king and lord of England," and he intrusted the vacant
+justiciarship to a Poitevin, Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester,
+whose temper was in harmony with his own. But the death of Geoffry only
+called the archbishop to the front, and Langton at once demanded the
+king's assent to the charter of Henry the First.
+
+4. In seizing on this charter as a basis for national action, Langton
+showed a political ability of the highest order. The enthusiasm with
+which its recital was welcomed showed the sagacity with which the
+archbishop had chosen his ground. From that moment the baronage was no
+longer drawn together in secret conspiracies by a sense of common
+wrong or a vague longing for common deliverance; they were openly
+united in a definite claim of national freedom and national law.
+Secretly, and on the pretext of pilgrimage, the nobles met at St.
+Edmundsbury, resolute to bear no longer with John's delays. If he
+refused to restore their liberties they swore to make war on him till
+he confirmed them by charter under the king's seal, and they parted to
+raise forces with the purpose of presenting their demands at
+Christmas. John, knowing nothing of the coming storm, pursued his
+policy of winning over the Church by granting it freedom of election,
+while he imbittered still more the strife with his nobles by
+demanding scutage[A] from the northern nobles who had refused to
+follow him to Poitou. But the barons were now ready to act, and early
+in January, in the memorable year 1215, they appeared in arms to lay,
+as they had planned, their demands before the king.
+
+5. John was taken by surprise. He asked for a truce till Easter-tide,
+and spent the interval in fevered efforts to avoid the blow. Again he
+offered freedom to the Church, and took vows as a crusader against
+whom war was a sacrilege, while he called for a general oath of
+allegiance and fealty from the whole body of his subjects. But month
+after month only showed the king the uselessness of further
+resistance. Though Pandulf, the Pope's legate, was with him, his
+vassalage had as yet brought little fruit in the way of aid from Rome;
+the commissioners whom he sent to plead his cause at the shire courts
+brought back news that no man would help him against the charter that
+the barons claimed; and his efforts to detach the clergy from the
+league of his opponents utterly failed. The nation was against the
+king. He was far indeed from being utterly deserted. His ministers
+still clung to him, men such as Geoffry de Lucy, Geoffry de Furnival,
+Thomas Basset, and William Briwere, statesmen trained in the
+administrative school of his father, and who, dissent as they might
+from John's mere oppression, still looked on the power of the crown as
+the one barrier against feudal anarchy; and beside them stood some of
+the great nobles of royal blood, Earl William of Salisbury, his cousin
+Earl William of Warenne, and Henry, Earl of Cornwall, a grandson of
+Henry the First. With him too remained Ranulf, Earl of Chester, and
+the wisest and noblest of the barons, William Marshal, the elder Earl
+of Pembroke. William Marshal had shared in the rising of the younger
+Henry against Henry II, and stood by him as he died; he had shared in
+the overthrow of William Longchamp, and in the outlawry of John. He
+was now an old man, firm, as we shall see in his aftercourse, to
+recall the government to the path of freedom and law, but shrinking
+from a strife which might bring back the anarchy of Stephen's day, and
+looking for reforms rather in the bringing constitutional pressure to
+bear upon the king than in forcing them from him by arms.
+
+6. But cling as such men might to John, they clung to him rather as
+mediators than adherents. Their sympathies went with the demands of
+the barons when the delay which had been granted was over and the
+nobles again gathered in arms at Brackley in Northamptonshire to lay
+their claims before the king. Nothing marks more strongly the
+absolutely despotic idea of his sovereignty which John had formed than
+the passionate surprise which breaks out in his reply. "Why do they
+not ask for my kingdom?" he cried. "I will never grant such liberties
+as will make me a slave!" The imperialist theories of the lawyers of
+his father's court had done their work. Held at bay by the practical
+sense of Henry, they had told on the more headstrong nature of his
+sons. Richard and John both held with Glanvill that the will of the
+prince was the law of the land; and to fetter that will by the customs
+and franchises which were embodied in the baron's claims seemed to
+John a monstrous usurpation of his rights.
+
+[Illustration: _King John and the Charter._]
+
+7. But no imperialist theories had touched the minds of his people.
+The country rose as one man at his refusal. At the close of May,
+London threw open her gates to the forces of the barons, now arrayed
+under Robert Fitz Walter as "Marshal of the Army of God and Holy
+Church." Exeter and Lincoln followed the example of the capital;
+promises of aid came from Scotland and Wales, the northern barons
+marched hastily under Eustace de Vesci to join their comrades in
+London. Even the nobles who had as yet clung to the king, but whose
+hopes of conciliation were blasted by his obstinacy, yielded at last
+to the summons of the "Army of God." Pandulf, indeed, and Archbishop
+Langton still remained with John, but they counseled as Earl Ranulf
+and William Marshal counseled his acceptance of the charter. None, in
+fact, counseled its rejection save his new justiciar, the Poitevin
+Peter des Roches and other foreigners who knew the barons purposed
+driving them from the land. But even the number of these was small;
+there was a moment when John found himself with but seven knights at
+his back and before him a nation in arms. Quick as he was, he had been
+taken utterly by surprise. It was in vain that in the short respite he
+had gained from Christmas to Easter, he had summoned mercenaries to
+his aid and appealed to his new suzerain, the Pope. Summons and appeal
+were alike too late. Nursing wrath in his heart, John bowed to
+necessity, and called the barons to a conference on an island in the
+Thames between Windsor and Staines, near a marshy meadow by the
+river-side, the meadow of Runnymede.
+
+8. The king encamped on one bank of the river, the barons covered the
+flat of Runnymede on the other. Their delegates met on the 15th of
+July in the island between them, but the negotiations were a mere
+cloak to cover John's purpose of unconditional submission. The Great
+Charter was discussed and agreed to in a single day.
+
+                                            _John Richard Green._
+
+[Footnote A: Scutage, or shield-money, was the commutation paid in
+lieu of military service by all who owed service to the king.]
+
+
+
+
+_XLIV.--AN EARLY ELECTION TO PARLIAMENT._
+
+     The following preliminary sketch by J. R. Green, the historian,
+     serves as an introduction to Palgrave's picture of an election
+     under Edward I:
+
+     "It was Edward the First, who first made laws in what has ever
+     since been called Parliament. For this purpose he called on the
+     shires and larger towns to choose men to 'represent' them, or
+     appear in their stead in the Great Council; the shires sending
+     knights of the shire, the towns burgesses. These, added to the
+     peers or high nobles and to the bishops, made up Parliament.
+
+     "The business of Parliament was not only to make good laws for
+     the realm, but to grant money to the king for the needs of the
+     state in peace and war, and to authorize him to raise this money
+     by taxes or subsidies from his subjects. So at first people saw
+     little of the great good of such Parliaments, but dreaded their
+     calling together, because they brought taxes with them. Nor did
+     men seek, as they do now, to be chosen members of Parliament, for
+     the way thither was long and travel costly, and so they did their
+     best not to be chosen, and when chosen had to be bound over under
+     pain of heavy fines to serve in Parliament."
+
+
+1. During the last half-hour the suitors had been gathering round the
+shire-oak awaiting the arrival of the high officer whose duty it was
+to preside. Notwithstanding the size of the meeting, there was an
+evident system in the crowd. A considerable proportion of the throng
+consisted of little knots of husbandmen or churls, four or five of
+whom were generally standing together, each company seeming to compose
+a deputation. The churls might be easily distinguished by their dress,
+a long frock of coarse yet snow-white linen hanging down to the same
+length before and behind, and ornamented round the neck with broidery
+rudely executed in blue thread. They wore, in fact, the attire of the
+carter and plowman, a garb which was common enough in country parts
+about five-and-twenty years ago, but which will probably soon be
+recollected only as an ancient costume, cast away with all the other
+obsolete characteristics of merry old England.
+
+[Illustration: _An Early Election to Parliament._]
+
+2. These groups of peasantry were the representatives of their
+respective townships, the rural communes into which the whole realm
+was divided; and each had a species of chieftain or head-man in the
+person of an individual who, though it was evident that he belonged to
+the same rank in society, gave directions to the rest. Interspersed
+among the churls, though not confounded with them, were also very many
+well-clad persons, possessing an appearance of rustic respectability,
+who were also subjected to some kind of organization, being collected
+into sets of twelve men each, who were busily employed in
+confabulation among themselves. These were "the sworn centenary
+deputies" or jurors, the sworn men who answered for or represented the
+several hundreds.
+
+3. A third class of members of the shire court could be equally
+distinguished, proudly known by their gilt spurs and blazoned tabards
+as the provincial knighthood, and who, though thus honored, appeared
+to mix freely and affably in converse with the rest of the commons of
+the shire.
+
+4. A flourish of trumpets announced the approach of the high-sheriff,
+Sir Giles de Argentein, surrounded by his escort of javelin-men, tall
+yeomen, all arrayed in a uniform suit of livery, and accompanied,
+among others, by four knights, the coroners, who took cognizance of
+all pleas that concerned the king's rights within the county, and who,
+though they yielded precedence to the sheriff, were evidently
+considered to be almost of equal importance with him. "My masters,"
+said the sheriff to the assembled crowd, "even now hath the
+port-joye[B] of the chancery delivered to me certain most important
+writs of our sovereign lord the king, containing his Grace's high
+commands." At this time the chancellor, who might be designated as
+principal secretary of state for all departments, was the great medium
+of communication between king and subject: whatever the sovereign had
+to ask or tell was usually asked or told by, or under, the directions
+of this high functionary.
+
+5. Now, although the gracious declarations which the chancellor was
+charged to deliver were much diversified in their form, yet, somehow
+or other, they all conveyed the same intent. Whether directing the
+preservation of peace or preparing for the prosecution of a war,
+whether announcing a royal birth or a royal death, the knighthood of
+the king's son or the marriage of the king's daughter, the mandates of
+our ancient kings invariably conclude with a request or a demand for
+money's worth or money.
+
+6. The present instance offered no exception to the general rule. King
+Edward, greeting his loving subjects, expatiated upon the miseries
+which the realm was likely to sustain by the invasion of the wicked,
+barbarous, and perfidious Scots. Church and state, he alleged, were in
+equal danger, and "inasmuch as that which concerneth all ought to be
+determined by the advice of all concerned, we have determined,"
+continued the writ, "to hold our Parliament at Westminster in eight
+days from the feast of St. Hilary." The effect of the announcement was
+magical. Parliament! Even before the second syllable of the word had
+been uttered, visions of aids and subsidies rose before the appalled
+multitude, grim shadows of assessors and collectors floated in the
+ambient air.
+
+7. Sir Gilbert Hastings instinctively plucked his purse out of his
+sleeve; drawing the strings together, he twisted, and tied them in the
+course of half a minute of nervous agitation into a Gordian knot,
+which apparently defied any attempt to undo it, except by means
+practiced by the son of Ammon. The Abbot of Oseney forthwith guided
+his steed to the right about, and rode away from the meeting as fast
+as his horse could trot, turning the deafest of all deaf ears to the
+monitions which he received to stay.
+
+8. The sheriff and the other functionaries alone preserved a tranquil
+but not a cheerful gravity, as Sir Giles commanded his clerk to read
+the whole of the writ, by which he was commanded "to cause two knights
+to be elected for the shire; and from every city within his bailiwick
+two citizens; and from every borough two burgesses--all of them of the
+more discreet and wiser sort; and to cause them to come before the
+king in this Parliament at the before-mentioned day and place, with
+full powers from their respective communities to perform and consent
+to such matters as by common counsel shall then and there be ordained;
+and this you will in no wise omit, as you will answer at your peril."
+
+9. A momentary pause ensued. The main body of the suitors retreated
+from the high-sheriff, as though he had been a center of repulsion.
+After a short but vehement conversation among themselves, one of the
+bettermost sort of yeomen, a gentleman farmer, if we may use the
+modern term, stepped forward and addressed Sir Giles: "Your worship
+well knows that we, your commons, are not bound to proceed to the
+election. You have no right to call upon us to interfere. So many of
+the earls and barons of the shire, the great men, who ought to take
+the main trouble, burthen, and business of the choice of the knights
+upon themselves, are absent now in the king's service, that we neither
+can nor dare proceed to nominate those who are to represent the
+county. Such slender folks as we have no concern in these weighty
+matters. How can we tell who are best qualified to serve?"
+
+10. "What of that, John Trafford?" said the sheriff. "Do you think
+that his Grace will allow his affairs to be delayed by excuses such as
+these? You suitors of the shire are as much bound and obliged to
+concur in the choice of the county members as any baron of the realm.
+Do your duty; I command you in the king's name!"
+
+11. John Trafford had no help. Like a wise debater, he yielded to the
+pinch of the argument without confessing that he felt it; and, having
+muttered a few words to the sheriff, which might be considered as an
+assent, a long conference took place between him and some of his
+brother stewards, as well as with other suitors. During this
+confabulation several nods and winks of intelligence passed between
+Trafford and a well-mounted knight; and while the former appeared to
+be settling the business with the suitors, the latter, who had been
+close to Sir Giles, continued gradually backing and sidling away
+through the groups of shiresmen, and, just as he had got clear out of
+the ring, John Trafford declared, in a most sonorous voice, that the
+suitors had chosen Sir Richard de Pogeys as one of their
+representatives.
+
+12. The sheriff, who, keeping his eye fixed upon Sir Richard as he
+receded, had evidently suspected some man[oe]uvre, instantly ordered
+his bailiffs to secure the body of the member. "And," continued he
+with much vehemence, "Sir Richard must be forthwith committed to
+custody, unless he gives good bail--two substantial freeholders--that
+he will duly attend in his place among the commons on the first day of
+the session, according to the law and usage of Parliament."
+
+13. All this, however, was more easily said than done. Before the
+verbal precept had proceeded from the lips of the sheriff, Sir Richard
+was galloping away at full speed across the fields. Off dashed the
+bailiffs after the member, amid the shouts of the surrounding crowd,
+who forgot all their grievances in the stimulus of the chase, which
+they contemplated with the perfect certainty of receiving some
+satisfaction by its termination; whether by the escape of the
+fugitive, in which case their common enemy, the sheriff, would be
+liable to a heavy amercement;[C] or by the capture of the knight, a
+result which would give them almost equal delight, by imposing a
+disagreeable and irksome duty upon an individual who was universally
+disliked, in consequence of his overbearing harshness and domestic
+tyranny.
+
+14. One of the two above-mentioned gratifications might be considered
+as certain. But, besides these, there was a third contingent
+amusement, by no means to be overlooked, namely, the chance that in
+the contest those respectable and intelligent functionaries, the
+sheriff's bailiffs, might somehow or another come to some kind of
+harm. In this charitable expectation the good men of the shire were
+not entirely disappointed. Bounding along the open fields, while the
+welkin resounded with the cheers of the spectators, the fleet courser
+of Sir Richard sliddered on the grass, then stumbled and fell down the
+sloping side of one of the many ancient British intrenchments by which
+the plain was crossed, and, horse and rider rolling over, the latter
+was deposited quite at the bottom of the foss, unhurt, but much
+discomposed.
+
+15. Horse and rider were immediately on their respective legs again:
+the horse shook himself, snorted, and was quite ready to start; but
+Sir Richard had to regird his sword, and before he could remount, the
+bailiffs were close at him. Dick-o'-the-Gyves attempted to trip him
+up, John Catchpole seized him by the collar of his pourpoint.[D] A
+scuffle ensued, during which the nags of the bailiffs slyly took the
+opportunity of emancipating themselves from control. Distinctly seen
+from the moot-hill, the strife began and ended in a moment; in what
+manner it had ended was declared without any further explanation,
+when the officers rejoined the assembly, by Dick's limping gait and
+the closed eye of his companion.
+
+16. In the mean time Sir Richard had wholly disappeared, and the
+special return made by the sheriff to the writ, which I translate from
+the original, will best elucidate the bearing of the transaction:
+
+"Sir Richard de Pogeys, knight, duly elected by the shire, refused to
+find bail for his appearance in Parliament at the day and place within
+mentioned, and having grievously assaulted my bailiffs in contempt of
+the king, his crown, and dignity, and absconded to the Chiltern
+Hundreds[E], into which liberty, not being shire-land or guildable, I
+can not enter, I am unable to make any other execution of the writ as
+far as he is concerned."
+
+17. At the present day a nominal stewardship connected with the
+Chiltern Hundreds, called an office of profit under the crown, enables
+the member, by a species of juggle, to resign his seat. But it is not
+generally known that this ancient domain, which now affords the means
+of retreating out of the House of Commons, was in the fourteenth
+century employed as a sanctuary in which the knight of the shire took
+refuge in order to avoid being dragged into Parliament against his
+will. Being a distinct jurisdiction, in which the sheriff had no
+control, and where he could not capture the county member, it enabled
+the recusant to baffle the process, at least until the short session
+had closed.
+
+                                                      _Palgrave._
+
+[Footnote B: The port-joye was the messenger of the chancellor.]
+
+[Footnote C: Fine.]
+
+[Footnote D: Overcoat, or doublet.]
+
+[Footnote E: The district of the Chilterns, or line of chalk-hills to
+the east of Buckinghamshire.]
+
+
+
+
+_XLV.--THE BATTLE OF CRESSY._
+
+
+1. Froissart was a brilliant historian of the middle ages. His
+writings are in quaint old French. At the request of Henry VIII of
+England, a translation of his "Battle of Cressy" was made into the
+English of that day. We insert this as a most lively description of
+the battle itself, and as a specimen of old literature in which pupils
+can not fail to take great interest:
+
+2. Thenglysshmen who were in three batayls, lyeing on the grounde to
+rest them, assone as they saw the frenchmen approche, they rose upon
+their fete, fayre and easily, without any haste, and arranged their
+batayls: the first, which was the prince's batell, the archers then
+strode in the manner of a harrow, and the men at armes in the botome
+of the batayle.
+
+3. Therle of North[=a]pton and therle of Arundell, with the second
+batell, were on a wyng in good order, redy to comfort the princes
+batayle, if nede were. The lordes and knyghtes of France, c[=a]e not
+to the assemble togyder in good order, for some came before, and some
+c[=a]e after, in such haste and yvell order, y^t one of th[=e] dyd
+trouble another: when the french kyng sawe the englysshmen, his blode
+chaunged, and sayde to his marshals, make the genowayes go on before,
+and begynne the batayle in the name of god and saynt Denyse; ther were
+of the genowayse crosbowes, about a fiftene thousand, but they were so
+wery of goyng a fote that day, a six leages, armed with their
+crosbowes, that they sayde to their constables, we be not well ordered
+to fyght this day, for we be not in the case to do any great dede of
+armes, we have more nede of rest. These wordes came to the erle of
+Alanson, who sayd, a man is well at ease to be charged w^t suche a
+sorte of rascalles, to be faynt and fayle now at moost nede. Also the
+same season there fell a great rayne, and a clyps, with a terryble
+thunder, and before the rayne, ther came fleying over both batayls, a
+great nombre of crowes, for feare of the tempest comynge.
+
+4. Than anone the eyre beganne to wax clere, and the sonne to shyne
+fayre and bright, the which was right in the frenchmens eyen and on
+thenglysshmens backes. Whan the genowayes were assembled to-guyder,
+and began to aproche, they made a great leape and crye, to abasshe
+thenglysshmen, but they stode styll, and styredde not for all that;
+th[=a]ns the genowayes agayne the seconde tyme made another leape, and
+a fell crye, and stepped forward a lytell, and thenglysshmen remeued
+not one fote; thirdly agayne they leapt and cryed, and went forthe
+tyll they come within shotte; thane they shotte feersly with their
+crosbowes; thun thenglysshe archers stept forthe one pase, and lette
+fly their arowes so hotly, and so thycke, that it semed snowe; when
+the genowayes felte the arowes persynge through heeds, armes, and
+brestes, many of them cast downe their crosbowes, and dyde cutte their
+strynges, and retourned dysconfited.
+
+5. Whun the frenche kynge sawe them flye away, he sayd, slee these
+rascalles, for they shall lette and trouble us without reason: then ye
+shulde have sene the men of armes dasshe in among them, and kylled a
+great nombre of them; and ever styll the englysshmen shot where as
+they sawe thyckest preace; the sharpe arowes ranne into the men of
+armes, and into their horses, and many fell, horse and men, am[=o]ge
+the genowayes; and when they were downe, they coude not relyve agayne,
+the preace was so thycke, that one overthrewe another. And also amonge
+the englysshmen there were certayne rascalles that went a fote, with
+great knyves, and they went in among the men of armes, and slewe and
+murdredde many as they lay on the grounde, both erles, baronnes,
+knyghtes and squyers, whereof the kynge of Englande was after
+dyspleased, for he had rather they had bene taken prisoners.
+
+6. The valyant kyng of Behaygne, called Charles of Luzenbomge, sonne
+to the noble emperour Henry of Luzenbomge, for all that he was nyghe
+blynde, whun he understode the order of the batayle, he sayde to them
+about hym, where is the lorde Charles my son? his men sayde, sir, we
+can not tell, we thynke he be fyghtynge; thun he sayde, sirs, ye ar my
+men, my companyons, and frendes in this journey. I requyre you bring
+me so farre forwarde, that I may stryke one stroke with my swerde;
+they sayde they wolde do his commandement, and to the intent that they
+shulde not lese him in the prease, they tyed all their raynes of their
+bridelles eche to other, and sette the kynge before to accomplysshe
+his desyre, and so thei went on their ennemyes; the lorde Charles of
+Behaygne, his sonne, who wrote hymselfe kyng of Behaygne, and bare the
+armes, he came in good order to the batayle, but wh[=a]ne he sawe that
+the matter went awrie on their partie, he departed, I can not tell you
+whiche waye, the kynge his father was so farre forwarde that he strake
+a stroke with his swerde, ye and mo thun foure, and fought valyuntly,
+and so dyde his compuny, and they adv[=e]tured themselfe so forwarde,
+that they were ther all slayne, and the next day they were founde in
+the place about the kyng, and all their horses tyed eche to other.
+
+7. The erle of Alansone came to the batayle right ordy notlye, and
+fought with thenglysshmen; and the erle of Flaunders also on his
+parte; these two lordes with their c[=o]panyes wosted the englysshe
+archers, and came to the princes batayle, and there fought valyantly
+longe. The frenche kynge wolde fayne have come thyder whanne he saw
+their baners, but there was a great hedge of archers before hym. The
+same day the frenche kynge hadde gyven a great blacke courser to Sir
+John of Heynault, and he made the lorde Johan of Fussels to ryde on
+hym, and to bere his banerre; the same horse tooke the bridell in the
+tethe, and brought hym through all the currours of th[=e]'glysshmen,
+and as he wolde have retourned agayne, he fell in a great dyke, and
+was sore hurt, and had been ther deed, and his page had not ben, who
+followed him through all the batayls, and sawe where his maister lay
+in the dyke, and had none other lette but for his horse, for
+thenglysshmen wolde not yssue out of their batayle, for takyng of any
+prisiner; th[=a]ne the page alyghted and relyved his maister, thun he
+went not backe agayn y^e same way that they came, there was to many in
+his way.
+
+8. This batyle bytwene Broy and Cressy, this Saturday was right cruell
+and fell, and many a feat of armes done, that came not to my
+knowledge; in the night, dyverse knyghtes and sqyers lost their
+maisters, and sometyme came on thenglysshmen, who receyved them in
+such wyse, that they were ever nighe slayne; for there was none taken
+to mercy nor to raunsome, for so thenglysshmen were determyned: in the
+mornyng the day of the batayle, certayne frenchmen and almaygnes
+perforce opyned the archers of the princes batayle, and came and
+fought with the men of armes hande to hande: than the seconde batayle
+of thenglysshmen came to sucour the princes batayle, the whiche was
+tyme, for they had as th[=a]n moche ado; and they with y^e prince sent
+a messanger to the kynge, who was on a lytell wyndmyll hyll; thun the
+knyght sayd to the kyng, sir, therle of Warwyke, and therle of
+C[=a]fort, Sir Reynolde Cobham, and other, suche as be about the
+prince your sonne, as feersly fought with all, and ar sore handled,
+wherefore they desyre you, that you and your batayle wolle come and
+ayde them, for if the frenchmen encrease, as they dout they woll, your
+sonne and they shall have much ado.
+
+9. Thun the kynge sayde, is my sonne deed or hurt, or on the yerthe
+felled? no sir, quoth the knyght, but he is hardely matched, wherefore
+he hath nede of your ayde. Well, sayde the king, returne to him, and
+to thrm that sent you hyther, and say to them, that they sende no more
+to me for an adventure that falleth, as long as my son is alyve, and
+also say to th[=e], that they suffre hym this day to wynne his
+spurres, for if god he pleased, I woll this journey be his, and the
+honoure therof, and to them that be aboute him. Thun the knyght
+returned agayn to th[=e], and shewed the kynges wordes, the which
+gretly encouraged them, and repoyned in that they had sende to the
+kynge as they dyd. Sir Godfray of Harecourt, wolde gladly that the
+erle of Harcourt, his brother, myghte have been saved, for he hurd say
+by th[=e] that he sawe his baner, howe that he was ther in the felde
+on the french partie, but Sir Godfray coude not come to hym betymes
+for he was slayne or he coude co[=e] at hym, and so also was therle of
+Almare, his nephue.
+
+10. In another place the erle of Aleuson, and therle of Flaunders,
+fought valyantly, every lorde under his owne banere; but finally they
+coude not resyst agaynt the payssance of thenglysshmen, and so ther
+they were also slayne, and dyvers knyghtes and sqyers, also therle of
+Lewes of Bloyes, nephue to the frenche kyng, and the duke of Lorayne,
+fought under their baners, but at last they were closed in among a
+c[=o]pany of englysshmen and welshmen, and were there slayed, for all
+their powers. Also there was slayne the erle of Ausser, therle of
+Saynt Poule, and many others.
+
+11. In the evenynge, the frenche kynge, who had lefte about hym no
+more than a threscore persons, one and other, whereof Sir John of
+Heynalt was one, who had remounted ones the kynge, for his horse was
+slayne with an arowe, th[=a] sayde to the kynge, sir, departe hense,
+for it is tyme, lese not yourselfe wylfully, if ye have losse at this
+tyme, ye shall recover it agaynt another season, and soo he took the
+kynge's horse by the brydell, and ledde hym away in a maner perforce;
+than the kyng rode tyll he came to the castell of Broy. The gate was
+closed, because it was by that tyme darke; than the kynge called the
+captayne, who came to the walles, and sayd, Who is that calleth there
+this tyme of night? than the kynge sayde, open your gate quickly, for
+this is the fortune of Fraunce; the captayne knewe than it was the
+kyng, and opyned the gate, and let downe the bridge; than the kyng
+entred, and he had with hym but fyve baronnes, Sir Johan of Heynault,
+Sir Charles of Monmorency, the lorde of Beaureive, the lorde Dobegny,
+and the lorde of Mountfort; the kynge wolde not tary there, but
+dr[=a]ke and departed thense about mydnyght, and so rode by suche
+guydes as knewe the country, tyll he came in the mornynge to Anyeuse,
+and then he rested. This saturday the englysshmen never departed for
+their batayls for chasynge of any man, but kept styll their felde, and
+ever defended themselfe agaynst all such as came to assayle them; the
+batayle ended about evynsonge tyme.
+
+
+
+
+_XLVI.--THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT._
+
+
+    1.  Fair stood the wind for France
+        When we our sails advance,
+        Nor now to prove our chance
+          Longer will tarry;
+        But, putting to the main,
+        At Kaux, the mouth of Seine,
+        With all his martial train,
+          Landed King Harry.
+
+    2.  And taking many a fort,
+        Furnish'd in warlike sort,
+        March'd toward Agincourt
+          In happy hour;
+        Skirmishing day by day
+        With those that stop'd the way,
+        Where the French gen'ral lay
+          With all his power.
+
+    3.  Which in his height of pride,
+        King Henry to deride,
+        His ransom to provide
+          To the king sending;
+        Which he neglects the while,
+        As from a nation vile,
+        Yet with an angry smile,
+          Their fall portending.
+
+    4.  And turning to his men,
+        Quoth our brave Henry then,
+        Though they be one to ten,
+          Be not amazed.
+        Yet, have we well begun,
+        Battles so bravely won
+        Have ever to the sun
+          By fame been raised.
+
+    5.  And for myself, quoth he,
+        This my full rest shall be,
+        England ne'er mourn for me,
+          Nor more esteem me.
+        Victor I will remain,
+        Or on this earth lie slain,
+        Never shall she sustain
+          Loss to redeem me.
+
+    6.  Poictiers and Cressy tell,
+        When most their pride did swell,
+        Under our swords they fell,
+          No less our skill is,
+        Than when our grandsire great,
+        Claiming the regal seat,
+        By many a warlike feat,
+          Lop'd the French lilies.
+
+    7.  The Duke of York so dread
+        The eager vanward led;
+        With the main Henry sped
+          Amongst his henchmen.
+        Excester had the rear,
+        A braver man not there;
+        O Lord, how hot they were
+          On the false Frenchmen!
+
+    8.  They now to fight are gone,
+        Armor on armor shone,
+        Drum now to drum did groan,
+          To hear was wonder;
+        That with the cries they make,
+        The very earth did shake,
+        Trumpet to trumpet spake,
+          Thunder to thunder.
+
+    9.  Well it thine age became,
+        O noble Erpingham,
+        Which did the signal aim
+          To our hid forces;
+        When from a meadow by,
+        Like a storm suddenly,
+        The English archery
+          Struck the French horses.
+
+    10. With Spanish yew so strong,
+        Arrows a cloth-yard long,
+        That like to serpents stung,
+          Piercing the weather;
+        None from his fellow starts,
+        But playing manly parts,
+        And, like true English hearts,
+          Stuck close together.
+
+    11. When down their bows they threw
+        And forth their bilbows drew,
+        And on the French they flew;
+          Not one was tardy.
+        Arms from their shoulders sent,
+        Scalps to the teeth were rent,
+        Down the French peasants went,
+          Our men were hardy.
+
+    12. This while our noble king,
+        His broadsword brandishing,
+        Down the French host did ding,
+          As to o'erwhelm it;
+        And many a deep wound lent,
+        His arms with blood besprent,
+        And many a cruel dent
+          Bruis�d his helmet.
+
+    13. Glo'ster, that duke so good,
+        Next of the royal blood,
+        For famous English stood,
+          With his brave brother,
+        Clarence, in steel so bright,
+        Though but a maiden knight,
+        Yet in that furious fight
+          Scarce such another.
+
+    14. Warwick in blood did wade,
+        Oxford the foe invade,
+        And cruel slaughter made,
+          Still as they ran up;
+        Suffolk his axe did ply,
+        Beaumont and Willoughby;
+        Bore them right doughtily,
+          Ferrers and Fanhope.
+
+    15. Upon Saint Crispin's day
+        Fought was this noble fray,
+        Which fame did not delay
+          To England to carry.
+        O when shall Englishmen
+        With such acts fill a pen,
+        Or England breed again
+          Such a King Harry?
+
+              _Michael Drayton._
+
+
+      THE END.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+
+    * Punctuation errors have been corrected.
+
+    * Footnotes have been moved to the end of the respective story.
+
+    * Hyphenation of "housetops" and "house-tops" left as printed.
+
+    * Pg 51 Corrected spelling of "breastplace" to "breastplate" in
+    "... upon Orlando's breastplace that his sword ..."
+
+    * Pg 137 Corrected spelling of "acccess" to "access" in "... might
+    have acccess to them"
+
+    * Pg 148 Corrected spelling of "forescore" to "fourscore" in "... on
+    the left, and forescore on the ..."
+
+    * Pg 176 Corrected spelling of "Treves" to "Tr�ves" in "... Roman
+    road from Treves as far as the ..."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories of the Olden Time, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF THE OLDEN TIME ***
+
+***** This file should be named 34083-8.txt or 34083-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/0/8/34083/
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/34083-8.zip b/34083-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d0874d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-8.zip
diff --git a/34083-h/34083-h.htm b/34083-h/34083-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b95a95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/34083-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,9489 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Stories of the Olden Time: Historical Series--Book IV Part I,
+      by James Johonnot.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+
+body {
+    margin-left: 10%;
+    margin-right: 10%;
+}
+
+    h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {
+    text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
+    clear: both;
+}
+
+p {
+    margin-top: .75em;
+    text-align: justify;
+    margin-bottom: .75em;
+}
+
+p.p2 {
+    font-size: 150%;
+}
+
+hr {
+    margin: 3em auto 3em auto;
+    height: 0px;
+    border-width: 1px 0 0 0;
+    border-style: solid;
+    border-color: #dcdcdc;
+    width: 500px;
+    clear: both;
+}
+
+hr.hr2 {
+    width: 250px;
+    margin: 3em auto 3em auto;
+}
+
+table {
+    margin-left: auto;
+    margin-right: auto;
+    border-collapse:collapse;
+}
+
+table.toc {
+    margin: auto;
+    width: 60%;
+    border-collapse:collapse;
+}
+
+td.c1  {
+    text-align: right;
+    vertical-align: top;
+    padding-right: 1em;
+}
+
+td.c2  {
+    text-align: left;
+}
+
+td.c22  {
+    text-align: center;
+}
+
+td.c3 {
+    text-align: right;
+}
+
+td  { padding: 0em 1em; }
+th  { padding: 0em 1em; }
+
+    .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
+        /*  visibility: hidden;  */
+        position: absolute;
+        left: 92%;
+        font-size: smaller;
+        text-align: right;
+        color: #999;
+} /* page numbers */
+
+    .blockquot {
+        margin-left: 10%;
+        margin-right: 10%;
+}
+
+    .center   {text-align: center;}
+
+    .smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
+
+    .caption  {font-weight: bold;}
+
+/* Images */
+    .figcenter {
+        margin: auto;
+        text-align: center;
+}
+
+    .figleft {
+        clear: left;
+        float: left;
+        padding: 0;
+        text-align: left;
+        width: auto;
+}
+
+    .figright {
+        clear: right;
+        float: right;
+        margin: 0em 0em 0em 1em;
+        padding: 0;
+        text-align: left;
+        width: auto;
+}
+
+.splitlt {float: left;
+         clear: left;
+         margin-bottom: -1em;
+}
+
+.splitlb {float: left;
+         clear: left;
+         margin-top: 1em;
+}
+
+.splitrt {float: right;
+         clear: right;
+         margin-bottom: -1em;
+         margin-left: 1em;
+}
+
+.splitrb {float: right;
+         clear: right;
+         margin-top: 1em;
+         margin-left: 1em;
+}
+
+    .bord img {
+        padding: 1px;
+        border: 1px solid black;
+}
+
+p.caption {
+    margin-top: 0;
+    font-size: 70%;
+    text-align: left;
+}
+
+p.caption2 {
+    margin-top: 0;
+    font-size: 70%;
+    text-align: center;
+}
+
+/* Transcriber Notes */
+div.tn {
+    background-color: #EEE;
+    border: dashed 1px;
+    color: #000;
+    margin-left: 20%;
+    margin-right: 20%;
+    margin-top: 5em;
+    margin-bottom: 5em;
+    padding: 1em;
+}
+
+ul.corrections {
+    list-style-type: circle;
+}
+
+/* Footnotes */
+div.fn {
+    background-color: #EEE;
+    border: dashed 1px;
+    color: #000;
+    margin-left: 20%;
+    margin-right: 20%;
+    margin-top: 5em;
+    margin-bottom: 5em;
+    padding: 1em;
+}
+
+    .footnote {
+        margin-left: 10%;
+        margin-right: 10%;
+        font-size: 0.9em;
+}
+
+    .footnote .label {
+        position: absolute;
+        right: 84%;
+        text-align: right;
+}
+
+    .fnanchor {
+        vertical-align: super;
+        font-size: .8em;
+        text-decoration: none;
+}
+
+/* Poetry */
+    .poem {
+        margin-left: 35%;
+        margin-right: 10%;
+        text-align: left;
+}
+
+    .poem br { display: none; }
+
+    .poem .stanza { margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; }
+
+    .poem span.i0 {
+        display: block;
+        margin-left: 0em;
+        padding-left: 3em;
+        text-indent: -3em;
+}
+
+    .poem span.i1 {
+        display: block;
+        margin-left: 1em;
+        padding-left: 3em;
+        text-indent: -3em;
+}
+
+    .poem span.i2 {
+        display: block;
+        margin-left: 2em;
+        padding-left: 3em;
+        text-indent: -3em;
+}
+
+    .poem span.i3 {
+        display: block;
+        margin-left: 3em;
+        padding-left: 3em;
+        text-indent: -3em;
+}
+    .poem span.i4 {
+        display: block;
+        margin-left: 4em;
+        padding-left: 3em;
+        text-indent: -3em;
+}
+
+    .poem span.i22 {
+        display: block;
+        margin-left: 1.5em;
+        padding-left: 3em;
+        text-indent: -3em;
+}
+
+    .poem span.i33 {
+        display: block;
+        margin-left: 2.5em;
+        padding-left: 3em;
+        text-indent: -3em;
+}
+
+    .signature {
+        text-align: right;
+        margin-right: 5%;
+}
+
+    .signature2 {
+        text-align: right;
+        margin-right: 15%;
+}
+
+    .signature3 {
+        text-align: right;
+        margin-right: 40%;
+}
+
+    </style>
+  </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories of the Olden Time, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Stories of the Olden Time
+       (Historical Series--Book IV Part I)
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: October 16, 2010 [EBook #34083]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF THE OLDEN TIME ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="f001-illus.jpg" id="f001-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/f001-illus.jpg" width="500" height="781" alt="A warrior" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3><i>HISTORICAL SERIES&mdash;BOOK IV PART I</i></h3>
+
+<h1>STORIES<br />
+OF THE OLDEN TIME</h1>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h4>COMPILED AND ARRANGED</h4>
+<h2><span class="smcap">By JAMES JOHONNOT</span></h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 125px;">
+    <a name="p001-illus.jpg" id="p001-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p001-illus.jpg" width="125" height="87" alt="Publisher symbol" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h3>NEW YORK&nbsp;&nbsp;CINCINNATI&nbsp;&nbsp;CHICAGO</h3>
+<h2>AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY</h2>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1889,</span></h4>
+<h3><span class="smcap">By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</span></h3>
+<h5>E. P. 12</h5>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
+<h2>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+<p>When we go back to the early history of any people,
+we find that fact and fiction are strangely blended, and
+that the stories told are largely made up of traditions
+distorted and exaggerated by imagination and time. The
+myth, however, is valuable as representing the first steps
+of a nation in the evolution of its literature from a barbaric
+state, and as indicating special national characteristics.</p>
+
+<p>The myths of Greece, for example, are chiefly derived
+from the traditions extant when the alphabet was
+invented, and are preserved in the poetic stories of
+Homer and Virgil. Combined, they make that mythology
+which grew up in Greece, and which now so largely
+permeates the literature of every civilized language.</p>
+
+<p>The first stories given in this book are myths. They
+stand first in the order of precedence because they stand
+first in the order of time.</p>
+
+<p>The myths are followed by a few parables and fables,
+forms of stories which from the earliest times have been
+used to apply some well-established principle of morals
+to practical conduct.</p>
+
+<p>Next follow legends, where we are called upon to separate
+the probable from the improbable, the true from
+the false. Herodotus, the father of history, wrote his
+account of the "Persian Empire" several hundred years
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>
+after the events took place which he has recorded. The
+stories had been preserved to his day by tradition.</p>
+
+<p>In the traditional stories and in the truer records
+which follow, the pupil will see the play of the same
+emotions and passions which actuate men at the present
+time, and the careers of the great conquerors, Frederic
+and Napoleon, differ little essentially from those of Alexander
+and C�sar. Tyranny remains the same forever,
+encroaching upon human liberty and limiting the field of
+human conduct. It will be seen also that from the state
+of barbarism there has been a gradual evolution which
+more and more places men under the protection of equal
+laws.</p>
+
+<p>These books are to be used mainly for the stories they
+contain. By a simple reproduction in speech or in writing,
+we have the best possible language lesson. The value
+of the books may be entirely lost by catechisms which
+demand the literal reproduction of the text.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<table class="toc" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td class="c1">&nbsp;</td><td class="c22">MYTHS.</td><td class="c3">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">&nbsp;</td><td class="c2">&nbsp;</td><td class="c3"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">I.</td><td class="c2">Arion</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">II.</td><td class="c2">Arachne</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_12">12</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">III.</td><td class="c2">Polyphemus</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">IV.</td><td class="c2">Ulysses's Return</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">V.</td><td class="c2">Thor's Visit to Jotunheim</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">&nbsp;</td><td class="c22">PARABLES AND FABLES.</td><td class="c3">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">VI.</td><td class="c2">The Wolf and the Dog</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">VII.</td><td class="c2">Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">VIII.</td><td class="c2">Parable of the Sower and the Seed</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">IX.</td><td class="c2">Pairing-Time anticipated</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">&nbsp;</td><td class="c22">LEGENDS.</td><td class="c3">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">X.</td><td class="c2">The Gift of Tritemius</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XI.</td><td class="c2">Damon and Pythias</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XII.</td><td class="c2">King Canute</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XIII.</td><td class="c2">A Norseman's Sword</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">IV.</td><td class="c2">The Story of King Alfred and St. Cuthbert</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XV.</td><td class="c2">A Roland for an Oliver</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XVI.</td><td class="c2">The Legend of Macbeth</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">&nbsp;</td><td class="c22">OLD BALLADS.</td><td class="c3">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XVII.</td><td class="c2">Chevy-Chase</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XVIII.</td><td class="c2">Valentine and Ursine</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">&nbsp;</td><td class="c22">EARLY EASTERN RECORD.</td><td class="c3">&nbsp;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XIX.</td><td class="c2">Sennacherib</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XX.</td><td class="c2">Glaucon</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXI.</td><td class="c2">Cyrus and his Grandfather</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXII.</td><td class="c2">Cyrus and the Armenians</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXIII.</td><td class="c2">The Macedonian Empire</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXIV.</td><td class="c2">Alexander's Conquests</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXV.</td><td class="c2">Judas Maccab�us, the Hebrew William Tell</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">&nbsp;</td><td class="c22">ROMAN RECORD.</td><td class="c3">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXVI.</td><td class="c2">Tarquin the Wicked</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXVII.</td><td class="c2">The Roman Republic</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXVIII.</td><td class="c2">Cincinnatus</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXIX.</td><td class="c2">The Roman Father</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXX.</td><td class="c2">Archimedes</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXXI.</td><td class="c2">The Death of C�sar</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXXII.</td><td class="c2">How Romans lived</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">&nbsp;</td><td class="c22">MEDI�VAL RECORD.</td><td class="c3">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXXIII.</td><td class="c2">Conversion of the English</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXXIV.</td><td class="c2">Leo the Slave</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXXV.</td><td class="c2">The Moors in Spain</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXXVI.</td><td class="c2">Charlemagne</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">&nbsp;</td><td class="c22">WESTERN RECORD.</td><td class="c3">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXXVII.</td><td class="c2">The Norsemen</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXXVIII.</td><td class="c2">Rolf the Ganger</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_200">200</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XXXIX.</td><td class="c2">The True Story of Macbeth</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XL.</td><td class="c2">Duke William of Normandy</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_211">211</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XLI.</td><td class="c2">The Norman Conquest</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XLII.</td><td class="c2">King Richard C&oelig;ur de Lion in the Holy Land</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XLIII.</td><td class="c2">King John and the Charter</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XLIV.</td><td class="c2">An Early Election to Parliament</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XLV.</td><td class="c2">The Battle of Cressy</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_245">245</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="c1">XLVI.</td><td class="c2">The Battle of Agincourt</td><td class="c3"><a href="#Page_251">251</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>
+<img src="images/p007a-illus.jpg" width="500" height="261" alt="Men on a ship" title="" class="splitlt" />
+<img src="images/p007b-illus.jpg" width="240" height="225" alt="with treasure" title="" class="splitlb" />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2 center"><b><i>I.&mdash;ARION.</i></b></p>
+
+<p>1. Arion was a famous
+musician, and dwelt at the
+court of Periander, King of
+Corinth, with whom he was
+a great favorite. There was a
+musical contest in Sicily, and
+Arion longed to compete for the
+prize. He told his wish to Periander, who besought him
+like a brother to give up the thought. "Pray stay with
+me," he said, "and be contented. He who strives to win
+may lose." Arion answered: "A wandering life best suits
+the free heart of a poet. A talent which a god bestowed
+upon me I would fain make a source of pleasure to others;
+and if I win the prize, how will the enjoyment of it be
+increased by the consciousness of my wide-spread fame!"</p>
+
+<p>2. He went, won the prize, and embarked with his
+wealth in a Corinthian vessel for home. On the second
+morning after setting sail, the wind breathed mild and
+fair. "O Periander!" he exclaimed, "dismiss your
+fears. Soon shall you forget them in my embrace. With
+what lavish offerings will we display our gratitude to the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>
+gods, and how merry will we be at the festal board!"
+The wind and sea continued favorable, not a cloud
+dimmed the firmament. He had not trusted too much to
+the ocean, but to man he had. He overheard the seamen
+plotting to get possession of his treasure. Presently they
+surrounded him, loud and mutinous, and said: "Arion,
+you must die! If you would have a grave on the shore,
+yield yourself to die on this spot; but if otherwise, cast
+yourself into the sea."</p>
+
+<p>3. "Will nothing satisfy you but my life?" said he;
+"take my gold in welcome. I willingly buy my life at
+that price." "No, no; we can not spare you. Your life
+would be too dangerous to us. Where could we go to
+escape Periander if he should know that you had been
+robbed by us? Your gold would be of little use to us, if,
+on returning home, we could never more be free from
+fear." "Grant me, then," said he, "a last request, since
+naught will prevail to save my life, that I may die as I
+have lived, as becomes a bard. When I shall have sung
+my death-song, and my harp-strings cease to vibrate, then
+I will bid farewell to life, and yield to my fate." This
+prayer, like the others, would have been unheeded&mdash;they
+thought only of their booty&mdash;but to hear so famous a
+musician moved their hearts. "Suffer me," he added,
+"to arrange my dress. Apollo will not favor me unless
+I am clad in my minstrel garb."</p>
+
+<p>4. He clothed himself in gold and purple, fair to see,
+his tunic fell around him in graceful folds, jewels adorned
+his arms, his brow was crowned with a golden wreath, and
+over his neck and shoulders flowed his hair, perfumed
+with odors. His left hand held the lyre, his right the
+ivory wand with which he struck the chords. Like one
+inspired he seemed to drink the morning air and glitter
+in the morning ray. The seamen gazed in admiration.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+He strode forward to the vessel's side, and looked down
+into the blue sea.</p>
+
+<p>5. Addressing his lyre, he sang: "Companion of my
+voice, come with me to the realm of shades! Though
+Cerberus may growl, we know the power of song can
+tame his rage. Ye heroes of Elysium, who have passed
+the darkling flood&mdash;ye happy souls, soon shall I join your
+band. Yet can ye relieve my grief? Alas! I leave my
+friend behind me. Thou, who didst find thy Eurydice,
+and lose her again as soon as found, when she had vanished
+like a dream, how thou didst hate the cheerful
+light! I must away, but I will not fear. The gods look
+down upon us. Ye who slay me unoffending, when I
+am no more your time of trembling shall come! Ye
+Nereids, receive your guest, who throws himself upon
+your mercy!" So saying, he sprang into the deep sea.
+The waves covered him, and the seamen held their way,
+fancying themselves safe from all danger of detection.</p>
+
+<p>6. But the strains of his music had drawn around him
+the inhabitants of the deep to listen, and dolphins followed
+the ship as if charmed by a spell. While he struggled
+in the waves a dolphin offered him its back, and
+carried him mounted thereon safe to shore. At the
+spot where he landed, a monument of brass was afterward
+erected upon the rocky shore to preserve the memory of
+the event.</p>
+
+<p>7. When Arion and the dolphin parted, each returning
+to his own element, Arion thus poured forth his thanks:
+"Farewell, thou faithful, friendly fish! Would that I
+could reward thee! but thou canst not wend with me, nor I
+with thee; companionship we may not have. May Galatea,
+queen of the deep, accord thee her favor, and thou,
+proud of the burden, draw her chariot over the smooth
+mirror of the deep!"</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p010-illus.jpg" id="p010-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p010-illus.jpg" width="500" height="300" alt="In the water" title="" />
+    <p class="caption2"><i>Arion and the Dolphin.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>
+    8. Arion hastened from the shore, and soon saw before
+him the towers of Corinth. He journeyed on, harp in
+hand, singing as he went, full of love and happiness, forgetting
+his losses, and mindful only of what remained, his
+friend and his lyre. He entered the hospitable halls, and
+was soon clasped in the embrace of Periander. "I come
+back to thee, my friend," he said. "The talent which a
+god bestowed has been the delight of thousands, but false
+knaves have stripped me of my well-earned treasure."
+Then he told all the wonderful events that had befallen
+him. Periander, who heard him in amazement, said:
+"Shall such wickedness triumph? Then in vain is
+power lodged in my hands. That we may discover the
+criminals you must lie here concealed, so that they come
+without suspicion."</p>
+
+<p>9. When the ship arrived in the harbor, he summoned
+the mariners before him. "Have you heard anything
+of Arion?" he inquired. "I anxiously look for his return."
+They replied, "We left him well and prosperous
+in Tarentum." As they said these words, Arion stepped
+forth and faced them. He was clad in all his glory as
+when he leaped into the sea. They fell prostrate at his
+feet, as if a lightning-bolt had struck them. "We meant
+to murder him, and he has become a god! O earth, open
+and receive us!" Then Periander spoke: "He lives,
+the master of the lay! kind Heaven protects the poet's
+life. As for you, I invoke not the spirit of vengeance;
+Arion wishes not your blood. Ye slaves of avarice, begone!
+Seek some barbarous land, and never may aught
+beautiful delight your souls!"</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>II.&mdash;ARACHNE.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. In the old mythology it was considered a great
+sin for any mortal to enter into a contest with a god, and
+whenever one did so he incurred a fearful penalty. The
+maiden Arachne early showed marvelous skill in embroidery
+and all kinds of needle-work. So beautiful
+were her designs that the nymphs themselves would leave
+their groves and fountains, and come and gaze delighted
+upon her work. It was not only beautiful when it was
+done, but was beautiful in the doing. As they watched
+the delicate touch of her fingers they declared that the
+goddess Minerva must have been her teacher. This
+Arachne denied, and, grown very vain of her many compliments,
+she said: "Let Minerva try her skill with
+mine, and if beaten I will pay the penalty!"</p>
+
+<p>2. Minerva heard this, and was greatly displeased at
+the vanity and presumption of the maiden. Assuming
+the form of an old woman she went to Arachne and
+gave her some friendly advice. "I have much experience,"
+she said, "and I hope you will not despise my
+counsel. Challenge mortals as much as you like, but do
+not try and compete with a goddess!" Arachne stopped
+her spinning, and angrily replied: "keep your counsel
+for your daughters and handmaids; for my part, I know
+what I say, and I stand to it. I am not afraid of the
+goddess."</p>
+
+<p>3. Minerva then dropped her disguise, and stood before
+the company in her proper person. The nymphs
+at once paid her homage. Arachne alone had no fear.
+She stood by her resolve, and the contest proceeded. Each
+took her station, and attached the web to the beam. Both
+worked with speed; their skillful hands moved rapidly,
+and the excitement of the contest made the labor light.</p>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p013-illus.jpg" id="p013-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p013-illus.jpg" width="500" height="741" alt="Arachne and Minerva" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>4. Minerva wrought into
+her web the scene of her
+contest with Neptune. The
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+gods are all represented in their most august forms, and
+the picture is noble in its perfect simplicity and chaste
+beauty. In the four corners she wrought scenes where
+mortals entered into contest with gods and were punished
+for their presumption. These were meant as warnings
+to her rival to give up the contest before it was too late.</p>
+
+<p>5. Arachne filled her web with subjects designedly
+chosen to exhibit the failings and errors of the gods.
+Every story to their discredit she appears to have treasured
+up. The last scene she represented was that of
+Jupiter in the form of a bull carrying off Europa across
+the sea, leaving the heart-broken mother to wander in
+search of her child until she died.</p>
+
+<p>6. Minerva examined the work of her rival, and
+doubly angry at the presumption and the sacrilege manifested
+in her choice of subjects, struck her web with a
+shuttle and tore it from the loom. She then touched the
+forehead of Arachne and made her feel her guilt and
+shame. This she could not endure, and went out and
+hanged herself. Minerva pitied her, as she saw her
+hanging by a rope. "Live, guilty woman," said she;
+"and that you may preserve the memory of this lesson,
+continue to hang, you and your descendants, to all future
+times." She sprinkled her with the juice of aconite, and
+immediately her form shrunk up, her head grew small,
+and her fingers grew to her sides and served as legs. All
+the rest of her is body, out of which she spins her
+thread, often hanging suspended by it in the same attitude
+as when Minerva touched her and transformed her
+into a spider.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>III.&mdash;POLYPHEMUS.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. When Troy was captured, Ulysses, the King of Ithaca,
+set sail for his native country. With favorable winds he
+should have reached home in a few months, but he met
+with so many adventures that it was ten years before he
+saw the shores of his beloved Ithaca. At one time he
+and his companions landed upon an unknown shore in
+search of food. Ulysses took with him a jar of wine as
+a present should he meet with any inhabitants. Presently
+they came to a large cave, and entered it. There they
+found lambs and kids in their pens, and a table spread
+with cheese, fruits, and bowls of milk. But soon the
+master of the cave, Polyphemus, returned, and Ulysses
+saw that they were in the land of the Cyclops, a race of
+immense giants. The name means "round eye," and
+these giants were so called because they had but one eye,
+and that was placed in the middle of the forehead.</p>
+
+<p>2. Polyphemus drove into the cave the sheep and the
+goats to be milked, and then placed a huge rock at the
+mouth of the cave to serve as a door. While attending
+to his supper he chanced to spy the Greeks, who were
+hidden in one corner. He growled out to them, demanding
+to know who they were, and where from. Ulysses
+replied, stating that they were returning from the siege
+of Troy, and that they had landed in search of provisions.
+At this Polyphemus gave no answer, but seizing a couple
+of Greeks, he killed and ate them up on the spot. He
+then went to sleep, and his snoring sounded like thunder
+in the ears of the terrified Greeks all the livelong night.
+In the morning the giant arose, ate two more men, and
+went out with his flocks, having carefully secured the
+door so that the remainder could not get away.</p>
+
+<p>3. Then Ulysses contrived a plan to punish the giant,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>
+and get away from his clutches. He found a great bar
+of wood which the giant had cut for a staff. This his
+men sharpened at one end and hardened at the fire.
+Then a number were selected to use it, and they awaited
+events. In the evening Polyphemus returned, and having
+eaten his two men he lay down to sleep. But Ulysses
+presented him with some of the wine from the jar which
+the giant eagerly drank, and called for more. In a short
+time he was quite drunk, and then he asked Ulysses his
+name, and he replied: "My name is Noman."</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p016-illus.jpg" id="p016-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p016-illus.jpg" width="500" height="348" alt="Drinking wine" title="" />
+    <p class="caption2"><i>Polyphemus.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>4. When the giant was fairly asleep, the sailors seized
+the sharpened stick, and, aiming it directly at his single
+eye, they rushed forward with all their might. The eye
+was put out, and the giant was left blind. He felt around
+the cave trying to catch his tormentors, but they contrived
+to get out of his way. He then howled so loud
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>
+that his neighbors came to see what was the matter, when
+he said, "I am hurt, Noman did it!" Then they said,
+"If no man did it, we can not help you." So they went
+home, leaving him groaning.</p>
+
+<p>5. In the morning Polyphemus rolled away the stone
+to let out his sheep and goats, and the Greeks contrived
+to get out with them without being discovered. Once
+out, they lost no time in driving the flocks down to the
+shore, and then with their vessels well provisioned they
+set sail once more for their native land.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>IV.&mdash;ULYSSES'S RETURN.</i></h2>
+
+<div>
+<img src="images/p018a-illus.jpg" width="228" height="300" alt="Mourning" title="" class="splitlt" />
+<img src="images/p018b-illus.jpg" width="500" height="131" alt="his dog" title="" class="splitlb"  />
+<p class="figleft caption2" style="margin-right: 187px; padding-left: 187px; margin-bottom: 5px; ">
+<span class="caption2"><i>Ulysses and his Dog.</i></span></p>
+</div>
+<p>1. Ulysses, the lord of Ithaca, went to assist the
+Greeks in the siege of Troy. For ten long years the war
+lasted, and when Troy fell, Ulysses was ten more years
+in reaching his home. He met with so many accidents
+and adventures that delayed him, that even his stout heart
+almost gave out as he thought of the wife and children
+waiting for him through all these weary years. In the
+mean time his son Telemachus had grown to manhood,
+and had gone in search of his father.</p>
+
+<p>2. During all this time his wife, Queen Penelope,
+never lost hope, but lived daily looking for her husband
+to come sailing over the sea. But while the master was
+away, more than a hundred young lords laid claim to the
+hand of Penelope, so as to obtain the power and riches of
+Ulysses. They lorded it over the palace and people as
+if they were the owners of both, and they paid no attention
+to the wishes of Penelope, as she was but a woman,
+and could not protect herself. Her only safety lay in
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>
+the fact that the suitors were jealous of each other, and
+no one could make any advance until Penelope had made
+her selection.
+</p>
+
+<p>3. At last Ulysses returned in the disguise of a beggar.
+No one knew him except his old dog Argus, who,
+in his excess of joy, died while licking
+his hands. He made himself
+known to Eum�us, a faithful servant,
+and by him was presented to
+Telemachus, who had just returned.
+Great was the joy of father and son
+at thus meeting each other. Then
+the three laid a plan to punish the
+suitors and to rid Ithaca of their
+presence. In carrying out this plan,
+Telemachus went to his mother's
+palace publicly, and the suitors bade
+him welcome, though they secretly hated him, and had
+tried to take his life. Here he found feasting going on,
+and, at his request, the supposed beggar was admitted to
+the foot of the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>4. Penelope had put off her decision on various pretexts
+until now, when there appeared no other reason for
+delay. So she announced that she would accept the one
+who would shoot an arrow through twelve rings arranged
+in a line. A bow formerly used by Ulysses was brought
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>
+in and all other arms removed. All things being ready,
+the first thing to be done was to attach the string to the
+bow, which required the bow to be bent. Telemachus
+tried and failed. Then each of the suitors tried in turn,
+and all failed. They even rubbed the bow with tallow,
+but it would not bend.</p>
+
+<p>5. Here Ulysses spoke and said: "Beggar as I am, I
+once was a soldier, and there is some strength in these
+old limbs of mine yet. Let me try." The suitors hooted
+at him, and would have turned him out of the hall; but
+Telemachus said it was best to gratify the old man, and
+so put the bow in his hand. Ulysses took it and easily
+adjusted the cord. Then he selected an arrow and sent
+it through the twelve rings at the first shot. Before the
+suitors recovered from their astonishment he sent another
+through the heart of the most insolent of them. Telemachus,
+Eum�us, and another faithful servant sprang to
+their aid. The suitors looked around for arms, but there
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>
+were none. Ulysses did not let them remain long in
+doubt; he announced himself as the long-lost chief whose
+house they had invaded, whose substance they had squandered,
+and whose wife and son they had persecuted for
+ten long years, and told them he meant to have ample
+vengeance. All the suitors were slain but two, and Ulysses
+was left master of his own palace and the possessor
+of his kingdom and wife.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p019-illus.jpg" id="p019-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p019-illus.jpg" width="500" height="302" alt="Wife carrying his bow" title="" />
+    <p class="caption2"><i>Penelope and Ulysses's Bow.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>V.&mdash;THOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. Thor, the god of the Northmen, who always carried
+a hammer to make his way or obtain his wishes,
+heard of the giant's country, Jotunheim, of which Utgard
+was the capital, and he resolved on a visit to that region
+to try his strength with any one whom he might find.
+So, accompanied by his servants, Thiolfi and Loki, he set
+out. Thiolfi was of all men the swiftest on foot. At
+nightfall they took refuge from a storm in a very large
+building which they imperfectly saw in the dim light,
+but were kept awake by loud thunder which shook their
+abode like an earthquake. In the morning it was found
+that the thunder was the snoring of a huge giant sleeping
+near by, and that the building in which they had taken
+shelter was the giant's glove.</p>
+
+<p>2. The giant, whose name was Skrymer, knew Thor,
+and proposed that they should travel together, to which
+the god consented. At night they encamped, and soon
+the giant was asleep. Thor, finding that he could not
+untie the provision-bag which the giant had carried all
+day, went into a rage and struck the sleeper a mighty
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
+blow with, his hammer. Skrymer awoke and said, "The
+leaves are falling, for one just now fell upon my breast."
+They lay down again, and soon the giant began to snore
+so loud that Thor could get no sleep, so he grasped
+the hammer in both hands and dealt him another blow.
+Skrymer awoke and called out, "How fares it with thee,
+Thor? A bird must be overhead&mdash;a bunch of moss has just
+now fallen upon me." Just before daylight Thor thought
+that he would end this matter then, so he seized his hammer
+and threw it with all his might. Skrymer awoke,
+and stroking his cheek said, "An acorn fell upon my head.
+But let us be stirring, as we have a long day before us."</p>
+
+<p>3. When within sight of the city Skrymer turned off,
+as his route lay in another direction, and soon Thor and
+his companions were in presence of the giant king. Addressing
+Thor, the king asked if he or his companions
+could do anything better than others, for he said that no
+one was permitted to remain in the city unless he excelled
+in something.</p>
+
+<p>4. Loki, who was a great eater, proposed a feast, and
+the king called Logi to come out and compete with him.
+A trough filled with meat was placed in the midst of the
+hall, and Loki beginning at one end soon ate all the flesh
+to the middle of the trough; but it was found that Logi
+had devoured both flesh and bones and the trough to
+boot. So the company adjudged Loki vanquished.</p>
+
+<p>5. Next Thiolfi presented himself to run a race, and
+the king brought out a young man named Hugi to run
+with him. Hugi ran over the course and turning back
+met Thiolfi but just started. Then the king remarked
+that if Thor could not do better than his servants, it were
+well that he stay at home. Then a drinking-match was
+proposed, and a drinking horn was brought in. It was
+not very large, but was of great length, and the king
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>
+remarked that any one of his subjects ought to empty
+it at a single draught, but none would fail to do so in
+three draughts. Thor drank long and deep, but the horn
+was as full as before; a second trial met with a similar
+failure. Then Thor straightened himself for a mighty
+effort and drank as the thirsty earth drinks of the rains
+from heaven. The liquor was diminished, but still the
+horn was nearly full. "I perceive," said the king, "that
+thou canst not be very thirsty, or thou wouldst drink
+more."</p>
+
+<p>6. "What new trial do you propose?" said Thor.
+"We have a trifling game here," said the king, "in which
+we exercise none but children. It consists in merely lifting
+my cat from the ground, and I should not have mentioned
+it to the great Thor if I had not observed that
+thou art by no means what we took thee for." As he
+finished speaking, a large gray cat sprang into the hall.
+Thor put forth all his mighty strength three times without
+lifting her, though on the third trial one foot was
+raised from the floor.</p>
+
+<p>7. "Well," said the king, "only one trial remains for
+thee. Thou must wrestle with somebody, and after thy
+failures to-day none of our men will wrestle with thee."
+So saying, the king called upon his old nurse, a toothless
+crone, shaking and trembling on the edge of the grave.
+Thor grasped her and put forth a mighty effort, but the
+old woman stood fast. At last she grasped him in turn,
+and he was thrown upon his knee. The king here interfered,
+and the contests came to an end. The travelers,
+however, were royally entertained, and after a good
+night's rest, and a bountiful breakfast, they bade the king
+good-by, and set out on their return.</p>
+
+<p>8. Toward night they overtook a traveler, who proved
+to be Skrymer, their former companion and guide, and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
+they encamped together in the very wood where they
+passed their first night together. The giant, perceiving
+the dejected looks of Thor, said, "Something appears to
+trouble thee; has thy journey gone amiss?" Thereupon
+Thor related the whole story of his failures. "Then,"
+said the giant, "take heart, for thou hast performed
+great wonders, but hast been the victim of delusions.
+Observe me closely!" Thor looked, and saw that
+Skrymer and the king were one and the same person.</p>
+
+<p>9. "Now," said the king, "Loki devoured all that
+was set before him, but Logi was Fire, and consumed
+trough and all. Hugi, with whom Thiolfi was running,
+was Thought, and not the swiftest runner can keep pace
+with that. The horn that thou failedst to empty had its
+lower end in the sea, and thou wilt see how the very
+ocean is lowered by thy draught. The cat is the animal
+that bears up the world, and thy last mighty effort caused
+the solid earth to shake as with an earthquake. The old
+woman with whom thou wrestledst was old age, and she
+throws everybody." The king then pointed out the place
+where Thor dealt his blows on the night of their first
+meeting, and lo! three mighty chasms showed where the
+solid mountains had been rent asunder.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p>
+<h2>PARABLES AND FABLES.</h2>
+
+<div>
+<img src="images/p024a-illus.jpg" width="500" height="266" alt="Dog and wolf" title="" class="splitlt" />
+<img src="images/p024b-illus.jpg" width="181" height="130" alt="A" title="" class="splitlb" />
+<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
+</div>
+
+<p class="p2 center"><b><i>VI.&mdash;THE WOLF AND THE DOG.</i></b></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;lean, hungry wolf, fell in one
+moonlight night with a jolly, plump,
+well-fed mastiff, and after the first
+greetings were passed, the wolf accosted
+him: "You look extremely
+well," said he, "I think I never saw a more graceful,
+comely personage; but how comes it about, I beseech
+you, that you should live so much better than I? I may
+say, without vanity, that I venture fifty times more than
+you do, and yet I am almost ready to perish with hunger."
+The dog answered very bluntly: "Why, you
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>
+may live as well as I if you will do the same services for
+it." The wolf pricked up his ears at the proposal, and
+requested to be informed what he must do to earn such
+plentiful meals. "Very little," answered the dog; "only
+to guard the house at night, and keep it from thieves and
+beggars." "With all my heart," rejoined the wolf, "for
+at present I have but a sorry time of it; and, I think, to
+change my hard lodging in the woods, where I endure
+rain, frost, and snow, for a warm roof over my head and
+plenty of food, will be no bad bargain." "True," said
+the dog, "therefore, you have nothing more to do than
+to follow me."</p>
+
+<p>2. As they were jogging along together, the wolf
+spied a circle, worn round his friend's neck, and, being
+almost as curious as some of a higher species, he could
+not forbear asking what it meant. "Pooh! nothing,"
+said the dog, "or at most a mere trifle." "Nay, but
+pray," urged the wolf, "inform me." "Why, then," said
+the dog, "perhaps it is the collar to which my chain is
+fastened; for I am sometimes tied up in the day-time,
+because I am a little fierce, and might bite people, and
+am only let loose at night. But this is done with design
+to make me sleep in the day, more than anything else,
+that I may watch the better in the night-time. As soon
+as the twilight appears, I am turned loose, and may go
+where I please. Then my master brings me plates of
+bones from the table with his own hands; and whatever
+scraps are left by the family fall to my share, for you
+must know I am a favorite with everybody. So, seeing
+how you are to live, come along! Why, what is the matter
+with you?" "I beg your pardon," replied the wolf, "but
+you may keep your happiness to yourself. I am resolved
+to have no share in your dinners. Half a meal, with liberty,
+is, in my estimation, worth a full one without it."</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>VII.&mdash;PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE<br />
+VINEYARD.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man
+that is a householder, which went out early in the morning
+to hire laborers into his vineyard.</p>
+
+<p>2. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a
+penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.</p>
+
+<p>3. And he went out about the third hour, and saw
+others standing idle in the market-place,</p>
+
+<p>4. And said unto them; go ye also into the vineyard,
+and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they
+went their way.</p>
+
+<p>5. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour,
+and did likewise.</p>
+
+<p>6. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and
+found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why
+stand ye here all the day idle?</p>
+
+<p>7. They say unto him, because no man hath hired us.
+He saith unto them, go ye also into the vineyard; and
+whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.</p>
+
+<p>8. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard
+saith unto his steward, call the laborers, and give them
+their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.</p>
+
+<p>9. And when they came that were hired about the
+eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.</p>
+
+<p>10. But when the first came, they supposed that they
+should have received more; and they likewise received
+every man a penny.</p>
+
+<p>11. And when they had received it, they murmured
+against the good man of the house,</p>
+
+<p>12. Saying, These last have wrought but one hour,
+and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have
+borne the burden and heat of the day.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p027-illus.jpg" id="p027-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p027-illus.jpg" width="500" height="739" alt="Laborers" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>13. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend,
+I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a
+penny?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
+    14. Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give
+unto this last, even as unto thee.</p>
+
+<p>15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with
+mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?</p>
+
+<p>16. So the last shall be first, and the first last: for
+many be called, but few chosen.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">(<i>St. Matthew, xx. 1&ndash;16.</i>)</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>VIII.&mdash;PARABLE OF THE SOWER AND THE SEED.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. The same day went Jesus out of the house, and
+sat by the sea side.</p>
+
+<p>2. And great multitudes were gathered together unto
+him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole
+multitude stood on the shore.</p>
+
+<p>3. And he spake many things unto them in parables,
+saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;</p>
+
+<p>4. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side,
+and the fowls came and devoured them up:</p>
+
+<p>5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not
+much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they
+had no deepness of earth:</p>
+
+<p>6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched;
+and because they had no root, they withered away.</p>
+
+<p>7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns
+sprung up, and choked them:</p>
+
+<p>8. But other fell into good ground, and brought
+forth fruit, some a hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some
+thirty-fold.</p>
+
+<p>9. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.</p>
+
+<p>10. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why
+speakest thou unto them in parables?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>
+    11. He answered and said unto them, Because it is
+given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
+heaven, but to them it is not given.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p029-illus.jpg" id="p029-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p029-illus.jpg" width="500" height="728" alt="A planter" title="" />
+    <p class="caption2"><i>A Sower went forth to Sow.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+    12. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and
+he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not,
+from him shall be taken away even that he hath.</p>
+
+<p>13. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because
+they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither
+do they understand.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">(<i>St. Matthew xiii, 1&ndash;13.</i>)</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>IX.&mdash;PAIRING-TIME ANTICIPATED.</i></h2>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">1. I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If birds confabulate or no;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'Tis clear that they were always able<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To hold discourse,&mdash;at least in fable;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And even the child, who knows no better<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Than to interpret by the letter<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A story of a cock and bull,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Must have a most uncommon skull.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">2. It chanced then on a winter's day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But warm and bright and calm as May,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The birds, conceiving a design<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To forestall sweet Saint Valentine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In many an orchard, copse, and grove,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Assembled on affairs of love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And with much twitter and much chatter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Began to agitate the matter.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">3. At length a bull-finch, who could boast<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">More years and wisdom than the most,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Entreated, opening wide his beak<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A moment's liberty to speak,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And silence publicly enjoined,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+    <span class="i1">Briefly delivered thus his mind:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"My friends! be cautious how ye treat<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The subject upon which we meet;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I fear we shall have winter yet."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">4. A finch, whose tongue knew no control,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With golden wings and satin poll,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A last year's bird, who ne'er had tried<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">What marriage means, thus pert, replied:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Methinks the gentleman," quoth she,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Opposite in the apple-tree,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">By his good will, would keep us single<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'Till yonder heaven and earth shall mingle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Or, what is likelier to befall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'Till death exterminate us all.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I marry without more ado!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">My dear Dick Redcap, what say you?"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">5. Dick heard, and tweedling, ogling, bridling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Turning short round, strutting and sidling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Attested glad his approbation<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of an immediate conjugation.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Their sentiments so well expressed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Mightily influenced all the rest.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All paired and each pair built a nest.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">6. But though the birds were thus in haste,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The leaves came out not quite so fast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And destiny, that sometimes bears<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">An aspect stern on men's affairs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Not altogether smiled on their's.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The wing of late breathed gently forth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Now shifted east and east by north.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Bare trees and shrubs, but ill, you know<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Could shelter them from rain or snow.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p032-illus.jpg" id="p032-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p032-illus.jpg" width="500" height="383" alt="Building their nest" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">7. Stepping into their nests they paddled;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Themselves were chilled, their eggs were addled;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Soon every father bird and mother,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Grew quarrelsome and pecked each other,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Parted without the least regret&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Except that they had ever met&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And learned in future to be wiser<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Than to neglect a good adviser.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">8. Moral:<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Misses, the tale that I relate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This moral seems to carry&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Choose not alone a proper mate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But proper time to marry.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="signature3"><i>Cowper.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p>
+<h2>LEGENDS.</h2>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h2><i>X.&mdash;THE GIFT OF TRITEMIUS.</i></h2>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">1. Tritemius, of Herbipolis, one day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">While kneeling at the altar's foot to pray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Alone with God, as was his pious choice,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Heard from without a miserable voice,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A sound which seemed of all sad things to tell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As of a lost soul crying out of hell.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">2. Thereat the abbot paused; the chain whereby<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His thoughts went upward broken by that cry;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And, looking from the casement, saw below<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A wretched woman, with gray hair a-flow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And withered hands held up to him, who cried<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For alms as one who might not be denied.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p034-illus.jpg" id="p034-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p034-illus.jpg" width="500" height="309" alt="A gift" title="" />
+    <p class="caption2"><i>The gift of Tritemius.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">3. She cried, "For the dear love of Him who gave<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His life for ours, my child from bondage save,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">My beautiful, brave first-born, chained with slaves<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In the Moor's galley, where the sun-smit waves<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lap the white walls of Tunis!" "What I can<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I give," Tritemius said: "my prayers." "O man<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of God," she cried, for grief had made her bold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Mock me not thus; I ask not prayers, but gold.<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 34]<br />[Pg 35]</a></span>
+    <span class="i1">Words will not serve me, alms alone suffice;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Even while I speak, perchance, my first-born dies."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">4. "Woman," Tritemius answered, "from our door<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">None go unfed; hence are we always poor;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A single soldo is our only store.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thou hast our prayers; what can we give thee more?"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">5. "Give me," she said, "the silver candlesticks<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On either side of the great crucifix;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">God may well spare them on his errands sped,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Or he can give you golden ones instead."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">6. Then spake Tritemius: "Even as thy word,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Woman, so be it! (Our most gracious Lord,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Who loveth mercy more than sacrifice,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Pardon me if a human soul I prize<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Above the gifts upon his altar piled!)<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Take what thou askest, and redeem thy child."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">7. But his hand trembled as the holy alms<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He placed within the beggar's eager palms;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And as she vanished down the linden shade,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He bowed his head, and for forgiveness prayed.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">8. So the day passed, and when the twilight came<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He woke to find the chapel all aflame,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And, dumb with grateful wonder, to behold<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Upon the altar candlesticks of gold!<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="signature3"><i>Whittier.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XI.&mdash;DAMON AND PYTHIAS.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. About four hundred years before the Christian
+era, the government of Syracuse fell into the hands of
+Dionysius, a successful general of the army. He dispossessed
+the magistrates whom the people elected, and was
+therefore a usurper. While ruling justly in the main,
+he had a capricious temper, and often in his rage performed
+actions which he sincerely regretted in his sober
+moments. He was a good scholar, and very fond of philosophy
+and poetry, and he delighted to have learned
+men around him, and he had naturally a generous spirit;
+but the sense that he was in a position that did not belong
+to him, and that every one hated him for assuming it,
+made him very harsh and suspicious. It is of him that
+the story is told, that he had a chamber hollowed in the
+rock near his state prison, and constructed with galleries
+to conduct sounds like an ear, so that he might overhear
+the conversation of his captives; and of him, too, is told
+that famous anecdote which has become a proverb, that
+on hearing a friend, named Damocles, express a wish to
+be in his situation for a single day, he took him at his
+word, and Damocles found himself at a banquet with
+everything that could delight his senses, delicious food,
+costly wine, flowers, perfumes, music, but with a sword
+with the point almost touching his head, and hanging by
+a single horse-hair! This was to show the condition in
+which a usurper lived.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p037-illus.jpg" id="p037-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p037-illus.jpg" width="500" height="843" alt="Ruler of Syracuse" title="" />
+    <p class="caption2"><i>Damon and Pythias.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>2. Thus Dionysius was in constant dread. He had a
+wide trench round his bedroom, with a drawbridge that
+he drew up and put down with his own hands; and he
+put one barber to death for boasting that he held a razor
+to the tyrant's throat every morning. After this he
+made his young daughters shave him; and by-and-by he
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 37]<br />[Pg 38]</a></span>
+would not trust them with a razor, and caused them to
+singe off his beard with hot nut-shells.</p>
+
+<p>3. One philosopher, named Philoxenus, he sent to a
+dungeon for finding fault with his poetry, but he afterward
+composed another piece, which he thought so superior
+that he could not be content without sending for this
+adverse critic to hear it. When he had finished reading
+it, he looked to Philoxenus for a compliment; but the
+philosopher only turned round to the guards, and said
+dryly, "Carry me back to prison." This time Dionysius
+had the sense to laugh, and forgive his honesty.</p>
+
+<p>4. All these stories may not be true; but that they
+should have been current in the ancient world, shows
+what was the character of the man of whom they were
+told, how stern and terrible was his anger, and how easily
+it was incurred. Among those who came under it was a
+Pythagorean called Pythias, who was sentenced to death,
+according to the usual fate of those who fell under his
+suspicion.</p>
+
+<p>5. Pythias had lands and relations in Greece, and he
+entreated as a favor to be allowed to return thither and
+arrange his affairs, engaging to return within a specified
+time and suffer death. The tyrant laughed his request to
+scorn. Once safe out of Sicily, who would answer for
+his return? Pythias made reply that he had a friend
+who would become security for his return; and while
+Dionysius, the miserable man who trusted nobody, was
+ready to scoff at his simplicity, another Pythagorean, by
+name Damon, came forward and offered to become surety
+for his friend, engaging that, if Pythias did not return
+according to promise, to suffer death in his stead.</p>
+
+<p>6. Dionysius, much astonished, consented to let Pythias
+go, marveling what would be the issue of the affair.
+Time went on, and Pythias did not appear. The Syracusans
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>
+watched Damon, but he showed no uneasiness.
+He said he was secure of his friend's truth and honor, and
+that if any accident had caused his delay, he should rejoice
+in dying to save the life of one so dear to him.</p>
+
+<p>7. Even to the last day Damon continued serene and
+content, however it might fall out; nay, even when the
+very hour drew nigh and still no Pythias. His trust was
+so perfect that he did not even grieve at having to die for
+a faithless friend who left him to the fate to which he
+had unwarily pledged himself. It was not Pythias's own
+will, but the winds and waves, so he still declared, when
+the decree was brought and the instruments of death
+made ready. The hour had come, and a few moments
+more would have ended Damon's life, when Pythias duly
+presented himself, embraced his friend, and stood forward
+himself to receive his sentence, calm, resolute, and rejoiced
+that he had come in time.</p>
+
+<p>8. Even the dim hope they owned of a future state
+was enough to make these two brave men keep their
+word, and confront death for one another without quailing.
+Dionysius looked on more struck than ever. He
+felt that neither of such men must die. He reversed the
+sentence of Pythias, and calling the two to his judgment-seat,
+he entreated them to admit him as a third in their
+friendship.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Charlotte M. Yonge.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XII.&mdash;KING CANUTE.</i></h2>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">1. Upon his royal throne he sat<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In a monarch's thoughtful mood;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Attendants on his regal state,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His servile courtiers stood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With foolish flatteries, false and vain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To win his smile, his favor gain.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">2. They told him e'en the mighty deep<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His kingly sway confessed;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That he could bid its billows leap,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Or still its stormy breast!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He smiled contemptuously and cried,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Be then my boasted empire tried!"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">3. Down to the ocean's sounding shore<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The proud procession came,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To see its billows' wild uproar<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">King Canute's power proclaim,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Or, at his high and dread command,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In gentle murmurs kiss the strand.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">4. Not so thought he, their noble king,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As his course he seaward sped;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And each base slave, like a guilty thing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Hung down his conscious head:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He knew the ocean's Lord on high!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They, that he scorned their senseless lie.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">5. His throne was placed by ocean's side,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He lifted his scepter there,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Bidding, with tones of kingly pride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The waves their strife forbear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And while he spoke his royal will,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All but the winds and waves were still.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p041-illus.jpg" id="p041-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p041-illus.jpg" width="500" height="756" alt="The king" title="" />
+    <p class="caption2"><i>Canute and his Courtiers.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">6. Louder the stormy blast swept by,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In scorn of idle word;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The briny deep its waves tossed high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By his mandate undeterred,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As threatening, in their angry play,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To sweep both king and court away.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">7. The monarch, with upbraiding look,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Turned to the courtly ring;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But none the kindling eye could brook<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Even of his earthly king;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For in that wrathful glance they see<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A mightier monarch wronged than he!<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">8. Canute, thy regal race is run;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thy name had passed away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But for the meed this tale hath won,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Which never shall decay:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Its meek, unperishing renown<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Outlasts thy scepter and thy crown.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">9. The Persian, in his mighty pride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Forged fetters for the main,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And, when its floods his power defied,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Inflicted stripes as vain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But it was worthier far of thee<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To know thyself than rule the sea!<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="signature3"><i>Bernard Barton.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XIII.&mdash;A NORSEMAN'S SWORD.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. The smelting of iron in the north of Europe is
+believed to have commenced with the Finns or Laplanders,
+the original inhabitants of Scandinavia, who then occupied
+the localities where the best ores are still found.
+The diminutive stature of these people compared with
+that of their Gothic invaders, their skill in penetrating
+the bowels of the earth in search of ores, the smoke
+of their collieries, the flame and thunder of their furnaces
+and forges, and, above all, the excellent temper
+of the weapons wrought by them&mdash;all these conspired
+to render them objects of superstitious wonder to the
+Goths.</p>
+
+<p>2. The legendary stories of that people are filled with
+strange tales of the northern dwarfs, who lived in the
+solid rock, and possessed magic skill in all the various
+arts of the smith. One of these legends may be worth
+citing, and the rather, because it relates to Vanlander, the
+Scandinavian Vulcan, of whom many traditions are extant,
+even in England, where he is styled Wayland Smith. At
+the age of thirteen Vanlander was apprenticed by his
+father, the giant Vade, to two of the dwarfs who dwelt in
+the interior of the mountain, and he applied himself so
+faithfully to their instructions, that in two years he
+equaled his masters in knowledge of all the arts of smithery,
+both black and white.</p>
+
+<p>3. Being at the court of King Nidung, where his dexterity
+as a smith became known, a rivalship arose between
+him and Amilias, principal smith to the king. Amilias
+challenged Vanlander to a trial of skill, upon condition
+that the life of the vanquished should be at the disposal
+of the victor. The terms proposed were that Vanlander
+should forge a sword, and Amilias a helmet, cuirass, and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>
+other defensive armor, and a twelvemonth was allowed for
+preparation. If the sword of Vanlander penetrated the
+armor of Amilias, the former
+was to be declared the victor,
+if otherwise, his life was forfeited
+to his rival.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p044-illus.jpg" id="p044-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p044-illus.jpg" width="500" height="646" alt="The trial" title="" />
+    <p class="caption2"><i>A Norseman's Sword.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>4. Amilias spent the whole year at his task, but Vanlander
+did not commence his labors until two months
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>
+before the trial. He now, after seven days' labor, exhibited
+to the king a sword of great beauty and excellent
+temper, but too heavy for use. By way of testing its
+edge, he took a cushion stuffed with wool a foot in
+thickness, threw it into the river, and let it float with
+the current against the edge of the sword, which cut it
+fairly in two. The king thought this a sufficient proof,
+but Vanlander was not satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>5. He took the sword to his smithy, filed it quite to
+dust, and after subjecting the filings to an odd process of
+animal chemistry, he forged from them another sword of
+somewhat smaller size than the first, though still rather
+heavy. Upon testing this sword in the same manner as
+before, it readily divided a cushion two feet in thickness,
+and the king thought it the finest weapon in the world,
+but Vanlander said he would have it half as good again
+before he was done with it.</p>
+
+<p>6. It was now reduced to filings, which were treated
+as in the former instance, and in three weeks Vanlander
+produced a sword of convenient size, inlaid with gold,
+and with an ornamental hilt, all of the highest finish and
+beauty. The king and the smith went again to the river
+with a cushion three feet in thickness, which was thrown
+into the water and driven against the blade as before.
+The sword divided the cushion as easily as the water, and
+without even checking its progress as it floated with the
+current, and King Nidung declared its fellow could not
+be found on earth.</p>
+
+<p>7. At the appointed day Amilias put on his armor,
+all of which was of double plates, and, declaring himself
+ready for the trial, seated himself in a chair, and defied
+his rival to do his worst. Vanlander stepped behind him,
+gave him a blow upon the helmet, and asked him if he
+felt the edge. "I felt as if cold water were running
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>
+through me," replied Amilias. "Shake yourself," said
+Vanlander. His rival did so, and fell asunder, the sword
+having cleft him to the chine.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>George P. Marsh.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XIV.&mdash;THE STORY OF KING ALFRED AND ST.<br />
+CUTHBERT.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. Now King Alfred was driven from his kingdom
+by the Danes, and he lay hid three years in the Isle of
+Glastonbury. 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." 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.</p>
+
+<p>2. And when the servant 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 had come 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!" And the king was glad,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>
+and he and his folk were merry; yet he pondered much
+upon that which had come to pass.</p>
+
+<p>3. And when night came the king went to his bed,
+and the king lay awake and thought of all that had come
+to pass by 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 miter
+on his head, and holding in his right hand a book of the
+Gospels adorned with gold and gems. 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 Cuthbert the Soldier of Christ.</p>
+
+<p>4. "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. 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 mayst 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 Assaudun. And thus shalt thou fight against
+thine enemies, and doubt not that thou shalt overcome
+them.</p>
+
+<p>5. "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
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>
+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."</p>
+
+<p>6. 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 St.
+Cuthbert his patron. So in the morning he arose and
+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 men of the bravest and dearest of
+his friends.</p>
+
+<p>7. And he spake unto them and told them all that
+God had said unto them by the mouth of his servant
+Cuthbert, and he told them that, by the gift of God and
+by the help of St. Cuthbert, they would overcome their
+enemies and win back their own land. And he bade
+them, as St. Cuthbert 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 St. Cuthbert, and so he should always have 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.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>E. A. Freeman.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XV.&mdash;A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. Milon, or Milone, a knight of great family, and
+distantly related to Charlemagne, having secretly married
+Bertha, the emperor's sister, was banished from France.
+After a long and miserable wandering on foot as mendicants,
+Milon and his wife arrived at Sutri, in Italy, where
+they took refuge in a cave, and in that cave Orlando was
+born. There his mother continued, drawing a scanty
+support from the compassion of the neighboring peasants,
+while Milon, in quest of honor and fortune, went into
+foreign lands. Orlando grew up among the children of
+the peasantry, surpassing them all in strength and manly
+graces.</p>
+
+<p>2. Among his companions in age, though in station
+far more elevated, was Oliver, son of the governor of the
+town. Between the two boys a feud arose, that led to a
+fight, in which Orlando thrashed his rival; but this did
+not prevent a friendship springing up between the two
+which lasted through life.</p>
+
+<p>3. Orlando was so poor that he was sometimes half
+naked. As he was a favorite of the boys, one day four
+of them brought some cloth to make him clothes. Two
+brought white and two red; and from this circumstance
+Orlando took his coat-of-arms, or quarterings.</p>
+
+<p>4. When Charlemagne was on his way to Rome, to
+receive the imperial crown, he dined in public in Sutri.
+Orlando and his mother that day had nothing to eat, and
+Orlando, coming suddenly upon the royal party, and seeing
+abundance of provisions, seized from the attendants
+as much as he could carry off, and made good his retreat
+in spite of their resistance.</p>
+
+<p>5. The emperor, being told of this incident, was reminded
+of an intimation he had received in a dream, and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>
+ordered the boy to be followed. This was done by three
+of the knights, whom Orlando would have encountered
+with a cudgel on their entering the grotto, had not his
+mother restrained him. When they heard from her who
+she was, they threw themselves at her feet, and promised
+to obtain her pardon from the emperor. This was easily
+effected. Orlando was received into favor by the emperor,
+returned with him to France, and so distinguished
+himself that he became the most powerful support of the
+throne and of Christianity.</p>
+
+<p>6. On another occasion, Orlando encountered a puissant
+Saracen warrior, and took from him, as the prize of
+victory, the sword Durindana. This famous weapon had
+once belonged to the illustrious prince Hector of Troy. It
+was of the finest workmanship, and of such strength and
+temper that no armor in the world could stand against it.</p>
+
+<p>7. Guerin de Montglave held the lordship of Vienne,
+subject to Charlemagne. He had quarreled with his sovereign,
+and Charles laid siege to his city, having ravaged
+the neighboring country. Guerin was an aged warrior,
+but relied for his defense upon his four sons and two
+grandsons, who were among the bravest knights of the
+age. After the siege had continued two months, Charlemagne
+received tidings that Marsilius, King of Spain, had
+invaded France, and, finding himself unopposed, was advancing
+rapidly in the southern provinces. At this intelligence,
+Charles listened to the counsel of his peers,
+and consented to put the quarrel with Guerin to the decision
+of Heaven, by single combat between two knights,
+one of each party, selected by lot.</p>
+
+<p>8. The proposal was acceptable to Guerin and his sons.
+The name of the four, together with Guerin's own, who
+would not be excused, and of the two grandsons, who
+claimed their lot, being put into a helmet, Oliver's was
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>
+drawn forth, and to him, the youngest of the grandsons,
+was assigned the honor and the peril of the combat. He
+accepted the award with delight, exulting in being thought
+worthy to maintain the cause of his family. On Charlemagne's
+side Roland was designated champion, and
+neither he nor Oliver knew who his antagonist was to be.</p>
+
+<p>9. They met on an island in the Rh�ne, and the warriors
+of both camps were ranged on either shore, spectators
+of the battle. At the first encounter both lances
+were shivered, but both riders kept their seats immovable.
+They dismounted and drew their swords. Then
+ensued a combat which seemed so equal, that the spectators
+could not form an opinion as to the probable issue.
+Two hours and more the knights continued to strike and
+parry, to thrust and ward, neither showing any sign of
+weariness, nor ever being taken at unawares.</p>
+
+<p>10. At length Orlando struck furiously upon Oliver's
+shield, burying Durindana in its edge so deeply that he
+could not draw it back, and Oliver, almost at the same
+moment, thrust so vigorously upon Orlando's <a name="breast" id="breast"></a>breastplate
+that his sword snapped off at the handle. Thus were the
+two warriors left weaponless. Scarcely pausing a moment,
+they rushed upon one another, each striving to throw his
+adversary to the ground, and, failing in that, each snatched
+at the other's helmet to tear it away. Both succeeded,
+and at the same moment they stood bareheaded face to
+face, and Roland recognized Oliver, and Oliver Roland.
+For a moment they stood still; and the next, with open
+arms, rushed into one another's embrace. "I am conquered,"
+said Orlando. "I yield me," said Oliver.</p>
+
+<p>11. The people on the shore knew not what to make
+of all this. Presently they saw the two late antagonists
+standing hand-in-hand, and it was evident the battle was
+at an end. The knights crowded around them, and with
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
+one voice hailed them as equal in glory. If there were
+any who felt disposed to murmur that the battle was left
+undecided, they were silenced by the voice of Ogier the
+Dane, who proclaimed aloud that all had been done that
+honor required, and declared that he would maintain that
+award against all gainsayers.</p>
+
+<p>12. The quarrel with Guerin and his sons being left
+undecided, a truce was made for four days, and in that
+time, by the efforts of Duke Namo on the one side, and of
+Oliver on the other, a reconciliation was effected. Charlemagne,
+accompanied by Guerin and his valiant family,
+marched to meet Marsilius, who hastened to retreat across
+the frontier.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Bullfinch.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XVI.&mdash;THE LEGEND OF MACBETH.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. Soon after the Scots and Picts had become one
+people, there was a king of Scotland called Duncan, a very
+good old man. He had two sons, Malcolm and Donaldbane.
+But King Duncan was too old to lead out his army
+to battle, and his sons were too young to help him. Now
+it happened that a great fleet of Danes came to Scotland
+and landed their men in Fife and threatened to take possession
+of that province. So a numerous Scottish army
+was levied to go out to fight with them. The king intrusted
+the command to Macbeth, a near kinsman.</p>
+
+<p>2. This Macbeth, who was a brave soldier, put himself
+at the head of the Scottish army and marched against
+the Danes. And he took with him a near relative of his
+own called Banquo, a brave and successful soldier. There
+was a great battle fought between the Danes and the
+Scots, and Macbeth and Banquo defeated the Danes and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
+drove them back to their ships, leaving a great many of
+their soldiers killed and wounded. Then Macbeth and
+his army marched back to Forres in the north of Scotland,
+rejoicing on account of their victory.</p>
+
+<p>3. Now, at this time, there lived in the town of Forres
+three old women, whom people thought were witches,
+and supposed they could tell what was to come to pass.
+These old women went and stood by the way-side, in a
+great moor near Forres, and waited until Macbeth came
+up. And then stepping before him as he was marching
+at the head of his soldiers the first woman said, "All hail
+Macbeth! hail to the Thane of Glamis!" The second said,
+"All hail to the Thane of Cawdor!" Then the third
+wishing to pay him a higher compliment, said: "All
+hail Macbeth, that shall be King of Scotland!" While
+Macbeth stood wondering what they could mean, Banquo
+stepped forward and asked if they had not something
+good to say to him. And they said he should not be so
+great as Macbeth, yet his children should succeed to the
+throne of Scotland and reign for a great number of years.</p>
+
+<p>4. Before Macbeth had recovered from his surprise,
+there came a messenger to tell him that his father was
+dead; so that, he was Thane of Glamis; and then came
+a second messenger from the king to thank Macbeth for
+the great victory over the Danes, and to tell him that the
+Thane of Cawdor had rebelled against the king, and that
+the king had taken his office from him, and had sent to
+make Macbeth Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth, seeing that
+a part of their words came true, began to think how he
+might become king as the three old women had predicted.
+Now Lady Macbeth was a very wicked woman, and she
+showed Macbeth that the only way to become king was
+to kill good King Duncan. At first Macbeth would not
+listen to her, but at last his ambition to be king became
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>
+so great that he resolved
+to murder his kinsman
+and best friend.</p>
+
+<div>
+<img src="images/p054a-illus.jpg" width="300" height="166" alt="Background of mountains" title="" class="splitrt" />
+<img src="images/p054b-illus.jpg" width="139" height="180" alt="with Macbeth posing" title="" class="splitrb"  />
+<p class="figright caption2" style="margin-right: 50px; padding-left: 50px; margin-bottom: 5px; ">
+<span class="caption2"><i>Macbeth.</i></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>5. To accomplish his
+purpose he invited King
+Duncan to visit him in his
+own castle near Inverness,
+and the king accepted the
+invitation. Macbeth and his
+lady received their distinguished
+guests with great
+seeming joy and made for
+them a great feast. At the
+close of the feast the king
+retired to rest, and all the other guests followed his example.
+The two personal attendants of the king whose
+duty it was to watch over him while asleep, were purposely
+made drunk by Lady Macbeth, and they fell upon
+their couch in a profound slumber.</p>
+
+<p>6. Then Macbeth came into King Duncan's room
+about two o'clock in the morning. It was a terrible
+stormy night, but the noise of the wind and the thunder
+could not awaken the king, as he was old and weary with
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
+his journey; neither could it awaken the two sentinels.
+They all slept soundly. So Macbeth stepped gently over
+the floor and took the two dirks which belonged to the
+sentinels and stabbed poor old King Duncan to the heart,
+so he died without a groan. Then Macbeth put the bloody
+daggers into the hands of the sleeping sentinels and daubed
+their hands and faces with blood. Macbeth was frightened
+at what he had done, but his wife made him wash
+his hands and go to bed.</p>
+
+<p>7. Early in the morning the nobles and gentlemen
+who attended on the king assembled in the great hall of
+the castle, and then they began to talk of what a dreadful
+storm there had been the night before. They waited for
+some time, but finding the king did not come out, one of
+the noblemen went to see whether he was well or not.
+But when he came into the room he found King Duncan
+dead, and went back and spread the alarm. The
+Scottish nobles were greatly enraged at the sight, and
+Macbeth made believe he was more enraged than any of
+them, and drawing his sword he killed the two attendants
+of the king, still heavy with sleep in consequence
+of the drink furnished by Lady Macbeth the night before.</p>
+
+<p>8. Malcolm and Donaldbane, the two sons of Duncan,
+when they saw their father dead, fled from the castle, as
+they believed that Macbeth had committed the murder.
+Malcolm, the eldest son, made his way to the English court,
+and solicited aid to get possession of his father's throne.
+In the mean time Macbeth took possession of the kingdom
+of Scotland. The remembrance of his great crime continually
+haunted him, and he became so sleepless as to be
+nearly insane. He remembered that the witches had
+said that the children of Banquo should reign as kings in
+Scotland, and he became terribly jealous of his old friend
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>
+and companion. At last he hired ruffians to waylay
+Banquo and his sons and murder them. The scheme was
+partially successful&mdash;Banquo was killed but the sons escaped,
+and from him descended a long line of the early
+Scottish kings.</p>
+
+<p>9. But Macbeth was not more happy after he had
+slain his friend and cousin Banquo. He knew that people
+began to suspect him of his evil deeds, and he was
+constantly afraid that some of his nobles would treat him
+as he treated King Duncan. In his perplexity he sought
+the three witches he had met before, to ask them what
+was to happen to him in the future. They answered
+him that he should not be conquered nor lose the crown of
+Scotland until a great forest, called Birnam Wood should
+come to attack him in his strong castle on Dunsinane
+hill. As the distance between the two was about twelve
+miles, Macbeth thought it was impossible that the trees
+should ever come to assault him in his castle. He immediately
+summoned all his nobles to assist him in strengthening
+his castle at Dunsinane. All the nobles were
+obliged to furnish oxen and horses to drag the heavy
+stones and logs used on the fortification up the steep
+hill.</p>
+
+<p>10. One day Macbeth noticed a pair of oxen so tired
+with their burden that they fell down under their load.
+Upon inquiry he learned that they belonged to Macduff,
+the Thane of Fife. The king, who was jealous of Macduff,
+flew into a great rage and declared that "since the
+Thane of Fife sends such worthless cattle as these to do
+my labor, I will put his own neck into the yoke, and
+make him drag the burden himself." A friend of Macduff
+who heard this speech hastened to the king's castle
+and informed Macduff who was walking about while the
+dinner was preparing.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>
+    11. Macduff snatched a loaf of bread from the table,
+called for his horses and servants, and galloped off toward
+his own castle of Kennoway in Fife. When Macbeth returned
+he first asked what had become of Macduff, and
+being informed that he had fled from Dunsinane, Macbeth
+put himself at the head of a large force of his guards,
+and immediately pursued. Macduff reached his castle
+which is built upon the shore of the sea, a little in advance
+of the king. He ordered his wife to shut the gates
+of the castle and pull up the drawbridge, and on no account
+permit the king or any of his soldiers to enter. In
+the mean time he went aboard a small ship and put out to
+sea.</p>
+
+<p>12. Macbeth then summoned the lady to open the
+gates and deliver up her husband. "Do you see," said
+she, "yon white sail upon the sea? Yonder goes Macduff
+to the court of England. You will never see him again
+until he comes with young Prince Malcolm to pull you
+down from the throne and put you to death. You will
+never be able to put your yoke upon the neck of the
+Thane of Fife."</p>
+
+<p>13. Some say that Macbeth was so enraged at the escape
+of Macduff that he stormed and took the castle, and
+put to death the wife and children of Macduff. But
+others say that Macbeth turned back from the strong castle
+and its brave defenders, and returned to his own home
+at Dunsinane. Macduff readily found Prince Malcolm
+and the English king, fitted them out with an army.
+Upon entering Scotland a large share of the nobles deserted
+Macbeth and joined the forces of Malcolm. The
+army marched as far as Birnam Wood where they encamped
+to rest and recuperate.</p>
+
+<p>14. Macbeth, in the mean time, shut himself up in
+his castle, where he thought himself safe according to
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>
+the old woman's prophecy, until Birnam Wood should
+advance against him, and this he never expected to see.
+Malcolm's army having entirely recovered their strength
+and vigor, at length were ready to march. As they were
+about to start, Macduff advised each soldier to cut down
+the bough of a tree and carry it so as to conceal the
+strength of the army as they crossed the valley. The
+sentinel on the castle walls saw all these green boughs advancing,
+ran to Macbeth and informed him that the wood
+of Birnam was moving toward the castle of Dunsinane.
+The king at first called him a liar and threatened to put
+him to death; but when he looked from the walls himself,
+and saw the appearance of a forest approaching from
+Birnam, he remembered the prediction, and felt that the
+hour of his destruction had come.</p>
+
+<p>15. His followers were also superstitious and began
+to desert him. But Macbeth, at the head of those who
+remained true to him sallied out, and was killed in a
+hand-to-hand conflict with Macduff. This story, a tradition,
+is told by Sir Walter Scott, and forms the foundation
+of Shakespeare's tragedy of "Macbeth."</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 125px;">
+    <a name="p058-illus.jpg" id="p058-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p058-illus.jpg" width="125" height="87" alt="Publisher symbol" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p>
+<h2>OLD BALLADS.</h2>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XVII.&mdash;CHEVY-CHASE.</i></h2>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">1. God prosper long our noble king,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Our lives and safeties all;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A woful hunting once there did<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In Chevy-Chase befall.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">2. The stout Earl of Northumberland<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A vow to God did make<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His pleasure in the Scottish woods<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Three summer days to take&mdash;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">3. The chiefest harts in Chevy-Chase<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To kill and bear away.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">These tidings to Earl Douglas came,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In Scotland where he lay;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">4. Who sent Earl Percy present word<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He would prevent his sport.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The English earl, not fearing that,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Did to the woods resort,<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">5. With fifteen hundred bowmen bold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">All chosen men of might,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Who knew full well in time of need<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To aim their shafts aright.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">6. The gallant greyhounds swiftly ran<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To chase the fallow deer;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On Monday they began to hunt<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When daylight did appear;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">7. And long before high noon they had<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A hundred fat bucks slain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then, having dined, the drovers went<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To rouse the deer again.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">8. Lord Percy to the quarry went,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To view the slaughtered deer;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Quoth he, "Earl Douglas promised<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">This day to meet me here;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">9. "But if I thought he would not come&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No longer would I stay";<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With that a brave young gentleman<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thus to the earl did say:<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">10. "Lo, yonder doth Earl Douglas come&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">His men in armor bright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Full twenty hundred Scottish spears<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">All marching in our sight."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">11. Earl Douglas on his milk-white steed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Most like a baron bold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Rode foremost of his company,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Whose armor shone like gold.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">12. "Show me," said he, "whose men you be,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">That hunt so boldly here,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">That, without my consent, do chase<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And kill my fallow-deer."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">13. The first man that did answer make<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Was noble Percy he&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Who said: "We list not to declare,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Nor show whose men we be:<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">14. "Yet will we spend our dearest blood<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Thy chiefest harts to slay."<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Then Douglas swore a solemn oath,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And thus in rage did say:<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">15. "Ere thus I will out-brav�d be,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">One of us two shall die!<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">I know thee well, an earl thou art&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Lord Percy, so am I.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">16. "Let you and me the battle try,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And set our men aside."<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">"Accursed be he," Earl Percy said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">"By whom this is denied!"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">17. Then stepped a gallant squire forth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Witherington was his name,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Who said: "I would not have it told<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">To Henry, our king, for shame,<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">18. "That e'er my captain fought on foot,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And I stood looking on.<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">You two be earls," said Witherington,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">"And I a squire alone.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">19. "I'll do the best that do I may,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">While I have power to stand;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">While I have power to wield my sword<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">I'll fight with heart and hand."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">20. Our English archers bent their bows&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Their hearts were good and true;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">At the first flight of arrows sent,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Full fourscore Scots they slew.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">21. Yet stays Earl Douglas on the bent,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">As chieftain stout and good;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">As valiant captain, all unmoved,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">The shock he firmly stood.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">22. His host he parted had in three,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">As leaders ware and tried;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And soon his spearmen on their foes<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Bore down on every side.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">23. At last these two stout earls did meet;<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Like captains of great might,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Like lions wode, they laid on lode,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And made a cruel fight.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">24. "Yield thee, Lord Percy," Douglas said.<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">"In faith I will thee bring<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Where thou shalt high advanc�d be<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">By James, our Scottish king.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">25. "Thy ransom I will freely give,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And this report of thee&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Thou art the most courageous knight<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">That ever I did see."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">26. "No, Douglas," saith Earl Percy then,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">"Thy proffer I do scorn;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">I will not yield to any Scot<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">That ever yet was born."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">27. With that there came an arrow keen<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Out of an English bow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Which struck Earl Douglas to the heart&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">A deep and deadly blow;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">28. Who never spake more words than these<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">"Fight on, my merry men all;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">For why, my life is at an end;<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Lord Percy sees my fall."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">29. Then leaving life, Earl Percy took<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">The dead man by the hand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And said: "Earl Douglas, for thy life<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Would I had lost my land!<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">30. "In truth, my very heart doth bleed<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">With sorrow for thy sake;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">For sure a more redoubted knight<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Mischance did never make."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">31. A knight amongst the Scots there was<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Who saw Earl Douglas die,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Who straight in wrath did vow revenge<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Upon the Earl Percy.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">32. Sir Hugh Mountgomery was he called,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Who with a spear full bright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Well mounted on a gallant steed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Ran fiercely through the fight;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">33. And past the English archers all,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Without a dread or fear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And through Earl Percy's body then<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">He thrust his hateful spear.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">34. So thus did both these nobles die,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Whose courage none could stain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">An English archer then perceived<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">The noble earl was slain.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">35. Against Sir Hugh Mountgomery<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">To right a shaft he set;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">The gray goose-wing that was thereon<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">In his heart's blood was wet.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">36. This fight did last from break of day<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Till setting of the sun;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">For when they rung the evening-bell<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">The battle scarce was done.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">37. Of fifteen hundred Englishmen<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Went home but fifty-three;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">The rest in Chevy-Chase were slain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Under the greenwood-tree.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">38. The news was brought to Edinburg,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Where Scotland's king did reign,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">That brave Earl Douglas suddenly<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Was with an arrow slain.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">39. "Oh, heavy news!" King James did say;<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">"Scotland can witness be,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">I have not any captain more<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Of such account as he."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">40. Like tidings to King Henry came<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Within as short a space,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">That Percy of Northumberland<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Was slain in Chevy-Chase;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">41. "Now God be with him," said our king,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">"Since 'twill no better be;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">I trust I have within my realm<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Five hundred as good as he:<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">42. "Yet shall not Scot or Scotland say<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">But I will vengeance take;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">I'll be reveng�d on them all<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">For brave Earl Percy's sake!"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">43. This vow full well the king performed<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">After at Humbledown:<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">In one day fifty knights were slain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">With lords of high renown;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">44. And of the rest, of small account,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Did many hundreds die:<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Thus endeth the hunting of Chevy-Chase,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Made by the Earl Percy.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">45. God save the king and bless this land<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">With plenty, joy, and peace;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And grant, henceforth, that foul debate<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">'Twixt noblemen may cease!<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="signature3"><i>Old Ballad.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XVIII.&mdash;VALENTINE AND URSINE.</i></h2>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">1. When Flora 'gins to deck the fields<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With colors fresh and fine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then holy clerks their matins sing<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To good St. Valentine.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">2. The King of France, that morning fair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He would a-hunting ride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To Artois Forest prancing forth<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In all his princely pride.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">3. To grace his sports a courtly train<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of gallant peers attend,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And with their loud and cheerful cries<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The hills and valleys rend.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">4. Through the deep forest swift they pass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Through woods and thickets wild,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When down within a lonely dell<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They found a new-born child.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">5. All in a scarlet kerchief laid,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of silk so fine and thin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A golden mantle wrapt him round,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Pinned with a silver pin.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">6. The sudden sight surprised them all,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The courtiers gathered round;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They look, they call, the mother seek&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No mother could be found.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">7. At length the king himself drew near,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, as he gazing stands,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The pretty babe looked up and smiled,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And stretched his little hands.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">8. "Now, by the rood," King Pepin says,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"This child is passing fair;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I wot he is of gentle blood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Perhaps some prince's heir.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">9. "Go, bear him home unto my court,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With all the care you may,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Let him be christened Valentine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In honor of this day.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">10. "And look me out some cunning nurse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Well nurtured let him be;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Nor aught be wanting that becomes<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">A bairn of high degree."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">11. They looked him out a cunning nurse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And nurtured well was he;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Nor aught was wanting that became<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">A bairn of high degree.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">12. Thus grew the little Valentine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Beloved of king and peers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And showed in all he spake or did<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">A wit beyond his years.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">13. But chief in gallant feats of arms<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">He did himself advance,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">That, ere he grew to man's estate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">He had no peer in France.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">14. And now the early down began<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">To shade his youthful chin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">When Valentine was dubbed a knight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">That he might glory win.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">15. "A boon, a boon, my gracious liege,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">I beg a boon of thee:<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">The first adventure that befalls<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">May be reserved for me."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">16. "The first adventure shall be thine,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">The king did smiling say.<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Not many days, when lo! there came<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Three palmers clad in gray.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">17. "Help, gracious lord," they weeping said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And knelt, as it was meet;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">"From Artois Forest we are come,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">With weak and weary feet.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">18. "Within those deep and dreary woods<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">There dwells a savage boy,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Whose fierce and mortal rage doth yield<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Thy subjects dire annoy.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">19. "To more than savage strength he joins<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">A more than human skill;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">For arms no cunning may suffice<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">His cruel rage to still."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">20. Up then rose Sir Valentine<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And claimed that arduous deed.<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">"Go forth and conquer," said the king,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">"And great shall be thy meed."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">21. Well mounted on a milk-white steed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">His armor white as snow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">As well beseemed a virgin knight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Who ne'er had fought a foe&mdash;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">22. To Artois Forest he repairs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">With all the haste he may,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And soon he spies the savage youth<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">A-rending of his prey!<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">23. His unkempt hair all matted hung<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">His shaggy shoulders round;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">His eager eye all fiery glowed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">His face with fury frowned.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">24. Like eagle's talons grew his nails,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">His limbs were thick and strong,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And dreadful was the knotted oak<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">He bare with him along.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">25. Soon as Sir Valentine approached,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">He starts with sudden spring,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And yelling forth a hideous howl,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">He made the forest ring.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">26. As when a tiger fierce and fell<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Hath spied a passing roe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And leaps at once upon his throat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">So sprang the savage foe.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">27. So lightly leaped with furious force,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">The gentle knight to seize,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">But met his tall uplifted spear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Which sank him on his knees.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">28. A second stroke, so stiff and stern,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Had laid the savage low;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">But, springing up, he raised his club,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And aimed a dreadful blow.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">29. The watchful warrior bent his head,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And shunned the coming stroke;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Upon his taper spear it fell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And all to shivers broke.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">30. Then, lighting nimbly from his steed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">He drew his burnished brand;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">The savage quick as lightning flew<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">To wrest it from his hand.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">31. Three times he grasped the silver hilt,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Three times he felt the blade;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Three times it fell with furious force,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Three ghastly cuts it made.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p069-illus.jpg" id="p069-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p069-illus.jpg" width="500" height="703" alt="Captive led to court" title="" />
+                        <div class="poem">
+                        <div class="stanza">
+                        <span class="i0">"<i>To court his hairy captive soon</i><br /></span>
+                        <span class="i1"><i>Sir Valentine doth bring,</i><br /></span>
+                        <span class="i0"><i>And, kneeling down upon his knee,</i><br /></span>
+                        <span class="i1"><i>Presents him to the king.</i>"<br /></span>
+                        </div></div>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">32. Now with redoubled rage he roared,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">His eyeballs flashed with fire,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Each hairy limb with fury shook,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And all his heart was ire.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">33. But soon the knight, with active spring,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">O'erturned his hairy foe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And now between their sturdy fists<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Passed many a bruising blow.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">34. But brutal force and savage strength<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">To art and skill must yield;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Sir Valentine at length prevailed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And won the well-fought field.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">35. Then binding straight his conquered foe<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Fast with an iron chain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">He ties him to his horse's tail,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And leads him o'er the plain.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">36. To court his hairy captive soon<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Sir Valentine doth bring,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And, kneeling down upon his knee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Presents him to the king.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">37. With loss of blood and loss of strength,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">The savage tamer grew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And to Sir Valentine became<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">A servant tried and true.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">38. And, 'cause with bears he first was bred,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Ursine they called his name&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">A name which unto future times<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">The Muses shall proclaim.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="signature3"><i>Old Ballad.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p071-illus.jpg" id="p071-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p071-illus.jpg" width="500" height="299" alt="Engraving of a king" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h2>EARLY EASTERN RECORD.</h2>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h2><i>XIX.&mdash;SENNACHERIB.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah,
+saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, that which
+thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria
+I have heard.</p>
+
+<p>2. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning
+him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised
+thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of
+Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.</p>
+
+<p>3. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and
+against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up
+thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.</p>
+
+<p>4. By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord,
+and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots, I am
+come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of
+Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar-trees thereof,
+and the choice fir-trees thereof: and I will enter into the
+lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>
+    5. I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with
+the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged
+places.</p>
+
+<p>6. Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it,
+and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I
+brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste
+fenced cities into ruinous heaps.</p>
+
+<p>7. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power,
+they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the
+grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on
+the <a name="house" id="house"></a>housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.</p>
+
+<p>8. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy
+coming in, and thy rage against me.</p>
+
+<p>9. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come
+up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy
+nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back
+by the way by which thou camest.</p>
+
+<p>10. And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat
+this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the
+second year that which springeth of the same; and in the
+third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat
+the fruits thereof.</p>
+
+<p>11. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of
+Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit
+upward.</p>
+
+<p>12. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant,
+and they that escape out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the
+Lord of hosts shall do this.</p>
+
+<p>13. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the
+king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor
+shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield,
+nor cast a bank against it.</p>
+
+<p>14. By the way that he came, by the same shall he
+return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>
+    15. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine
+own sake, and for my servant David's sake.</p>
+
+<p>16. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of
+the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians
+a hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when
+they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all
+dead corpses.</p>
+
+<p>17. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and
+went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>II Kings, xix, 20&ndash;36.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h3>THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">1. The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">2. Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That host with its banners at sunset was seen;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">3. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">4. And there lay the steed, with his nostrils all wide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">5. And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">6. And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="signature3"><i>Byron.</i></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p074-illus.jpg" id="p074-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p074-illus.jpg" width="500" height="458" alt="Destruction" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XX.&mdash;GLAUCON.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. When Glaucon, the son of Ariston, attempted to
+harangue the people, from a desire, though he was not
+yet twenty years of age, to have a share in the government
+of the state, no one of his relatives, or other friends,
+could prevent him from getting himself dragged down
+from the tribunal and making himself ridiculous; but
+Socrates, who had a friendly feeling toward him on account
+of Charmides, the son of Glaucon, as well as on
+account of Plato, succeeded in prevailing on him, by his
+sole dissuasion, to relinquish his purpose.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 140px;">
+    <a name="p075-illus.jpg" id="p075-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p075-illus.jpg" width="140" height="256" alt="His bust" title="" />
+    <p class="caption2"><i>Socrates.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>2. Meeting him by chance, he first stopped him by
+addressing him as follows, that he might be willing to
+listen to him: "Glaucon," said he, "have you formed an
+intention to govern the state for
+us?" "I have, Socrates," replied
+Glaucon. "By Jupiter," rejoined
+Socrates, "it is an honorable office,
+if any other among men be so;
+for it is certain that, if you attain
+your object, you will be able
+yourself to secure whatever you
+may desire, and will be in a condition
+to benefit your friends;
+you will raise your father's house,
+and increase the power of your
+country; you will be celebrated
+first of all in your own city, and
+afterward throughout Greece, and
+perhaps, also, like Themistocles,
+among the barbarians, and, wherever
+you may be, you will be an object of general admiration."
+Glaucon, hearing this, was highly elated, and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>
+cheerfully stayed to listen. Socrates next proceeded to
+say: "But it is plain, Glaucon, that if you wish to be
+honored, you must benefit the state." "Certainly," answered
+Glaucon. "Then, in the name of the gods," said
+Socrates, "do not hide from us how you intend to act,
+but inform us with what proceeding you will begin to
+benefit the state." But as Glaucon was silent, as if just
+considering how he should begin, Socrates said: "As, if
+you wished to aggrandize the family of a friend, you
+would endeavor to make it richer, tell me whether you
+will in like manner also endeavor to make the state
+richer?" "Assuredly," said he. "Would it then be
+richer, if its revenues were increased?" "That is at least
+probable," said Glaucon. "Tell me then," proceeded
+Socrates, "from what the revenues of the state arise,
+and what is their amount; for you have doubtless considered,
+in order that if any of them fall short, you
+may make up the deficiency, and that if any of them
+fail, you may procure fresh supplies." "These matters,
+by Jupiter," replied Glaucon, "I have not considered."</p>
+
+<p>3. "Well, then," said Socrates, "if you have omitted
+to consider this point, tell me at least the annual expenditure
+of the state; for you undoubtedly mean to retrench
+whatever is superfluous in it." "Indeed," replied Glaucon,
+"I have not yet had time to turn my attention to
+that subject." "We will therefore," said Socrates, "put
+off making our state richer for the present; for how is it
+possible for him who is ignorant of its expenditure and
+its income to manage those matters?"</p>
+
+<p>4. "But Socrates," observed Glaucon, "it is possible
+to enrich the state at the expense of our enemies." "Extremely
+possible, indeed," replied Socrates, "if we be
+stronger than they; but if we be weaker, we may lose all
+that we have." "What you say is true," said Glaucon.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>
+    5. "Accordingly," said Socrates, "he who deliberates
+with whom he shall go to war, ought to know the
+force both of his own country and of the enemy,
+so that, if that of his own country be superior
+to that of the enemy, he may
+advise it to enter upon the war, but if
+inferior, may persuade it to be cautious of doing so."
+"You say rightly," said Glaucon.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p077-illus.jpg" id="p077-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p077-illus.jpg" width="500" height="629" alt="A discussion" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Socrates and Glaucon.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>6. "In the first place, then," proceeded Socrates, "tell
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>
+us the strength of the country by land and sea, and next
+that of the enemy." "But, by Jupiter," exclaimed Glaucon,
+"I should not be able to tell you on the moment, and
+at a word." "Well, then, if you have it written down,"
+said Socrates, "bring it, for I should be extremely glad
+to hear what it is." "But, to say the truth," replied
+Glaucon, "I have not yet written it down."</p>
+
+<p>7. "We will therefore put off considering about war
+for the present," said Socrates, "for it is very likely that
+on account of the magnitude of these subjects, and as you
+are just commencing your administration, you have not
+yet examined into them. But to the defense of the country,
+I am quite sure that you have directed your attention,
+and that you know how many garrisons are in advantageous
+positions, and how many not so, what number
+of men would be sufficient to maintain them, and what
+number would be insufficient, and that you will advise
+your countrymen to make the garrisons in advantageous
+positions stronger, and to remove the useless ones."</p>
+
+<p>8. "By Jove," replied Glaucon, "I shall recommend
+them to remove them all, as they keep guard so negligently,
+that the property is secretly carried off out of the
+country." "Yet, if we remove the garrisons," said Socrates,
+"do you not think that liberty will be given to
+anybody that pleases to pillage? But," added he, "have
+you gone personally and examined as to this fact, or
+how do you know that the garrisons conduct themselves
+with such negligence?" "I form my conjectures,"
+said he. "Well, then," inquired Socrates, "shall we
+settle about these matters also, when we no longer rest
+upon conjecture, but have obtained certain knowledge?"
+"Perhaps that," said Glaucon, "will be the better
+course."</p>
+
+<p>9. "To the silver-mines, however," continued Socrates,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>
+"I know that you have not gone, so as to have the means
+of telling us why a smaller revenue is derived from them
+than came in some time ago." "I have not gone thither,"
+said he. "Indeed, the place," said Socrates, "is said to
+be unhealthy, so that when it is necessary to bring it under
+consideration, this will be a sufficient excuse for you."
+"You jest with me," said Glaucon. "I am sure, however,"
+proceeded Socrates, "that you have not neglected
+to consider, but have calculated, how long the corn which
+is produced in the country, will suffice to maintain the
+city, and how much it requires for the year, in order that
+the city may not suffer from scarcity unknown to you,
+but that, from your own knowledge, you may be able, by
+giving your advice concerning the necessaries of life, to
+support the city and preserve it." "You propose a vast
+field for me," observed Glaucon, "if it will be necessary
+for me to attend to such subjects."</p>
+
+<p>10. "Nevertheless," proceeded Socrates, "a man can
+not order his house properly, unless he ascertains all that
+it requires, and takes care to supply it with everything
+necessary; but since the city consists of more than ten
+thousand houses, and since it is difficult to provide for so
+many at once, how is it that you have not tried to aid one
+first of all, suppose that of your uncle, for it stands in
+need of help? If you be able to assist that one, you may
+proceed to assist more; but if you be unable to benefit
+one, how will you be able to benefit many? Just as it is
+plain that, if a man can not carry the weight of a talent,
+he need not attempt to carry a greater weight?"</p>
+
+<p>11. "But I would improve my uncle's house," said
+Glaucon, "if he would but be persuaded by me." "And
+then," resumed Socrates, "when you can not persuade
+your uncle, do you expect to make all the Athenians, together
+with your uncle, yield to your arguments?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>
+    12. "Take care, Glaucon, lest, while you are eager to
+acquire glory, you meet with the reverse of it. Do you
+not see how dangerous it is for a person to speak of, or
+undertake, what he does not understand? Contemplate,
+among other men, such as you know to be characters that
+plainly talk of, and attempt to do, what they do not know,
+and consider whether they appear to you, by such conduct,
+to obtain more applause or censure, whether they
+seem to be more admired or despised?</p>
+
+<p>13. "Contemplate, again, those who have some understanding
+of what they say and do, and you will find, I
+think, in all transactions, that such as are praised and admired
+are of the number of those who have most knowledge,
+and that those who incur censure and neglect are
+among those that have least.</p>
+
+<p>14. "If, therefore, you desire to gain esteem and reputation
+in your country, endeavor to succeed in gaining a
+knowledge of what you wish to do; for if, when you excel
+others in this qualification, you proceed to manage the
+affairs of the state, I shall not wonder if you very easily
+obtain what you desire."</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Xenophon.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XXI.&mdash;CYRUS AND HIS GRANDFATHER.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. When Cyrus was twelve years old, his mother
+Mandana took him with her into Media to his grandfather
+Astyages, who, from the many things he had
+heard in favor of the young prince, had a great desire to
+see him. In this court young Cyrus found very different
+manners from those of his own country: pride, luxury,
+and magnificence reigned here universally. Astyages
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>
+himself was richly clothed, had his eyes colored, his face
+painted, and his hair embellished with artificial locks;
+for the Medes affected an effeminate life&mdash;to be dressed
+in scarlet and to wear necklaces and bracelets&mdash;whereas
+the habits of the Persians were very plain and coarse.</p>
+
+<p>2. All this finery had no effect upon Cyrus, who,
+without criticising or condemning what he saw, was content
+to live as he had been brought up, and adhered to
+the principles he had imbibed from his infancy. He
+charmed his grandfather with his sprightliness and wit,
+and gained the favor of all by his noble and engaging behavior.
+I shall only mention one instance, whereby we
+may judge of the rest. Astyages, to make his grandson
+unwilling to return home, made a sumptuous entertainment,
+in which there was a vast plenty and profusion of
+everything that was nice and delicate. Cyrus looked
+upon all this exquisite cheer and magnificent preparation
+with great indifference, and, observing that it excited the
+surprise of Astyages, "The Persians," says he to the
+king, "instead of going such a roundabout way to appease
+their hunger, have a much shorter one to the same end:
+a little bread and cresses with them answer the purpose."</p>
+
+<p>3. Astyages desiring Cyrus to dispose of all the meats
+as he thought fit, the latter immediately distributed them
+to the king's officers-in-waiting: to one, because he taught
+him to ride; to another, because he waited well upon his
+grandfather; and to a third, because he took great care
+of his mother. Sacas, the king's cup-bearer, was the only
+person to whom he gave nothing. This officer, besides
+the post of cup-bearer, had that likewise of introducing
+those who were to have audience with the king; and, as
+he could not possibly grant that favor to Cyrus as often
+as he desired it, he had the misfortune to displease the
+prince, who took this occasion to show his resentment.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>
+    4. Astyages, manifesting some concern at the neglect
+of this officer, for whom he had a particular regard, and
+who deserved it, as he said, on account of the wonderful
+dexterity with which he served him&mdash;"Is that all,
+father?" replied Cyrus; "if that be sufficient to merit
+your favor, you shall see I will quickly obtain it; for I
+will take upon me to serve you better than he." Cyrus
+immediately equipped as a cup-bearer, and advancing
+gravely with a serious countenance, a napkin upon his
+shoulder, and holding the cup nicely with three of his
+fingers, presented it to the king with a dexterity and a
+grace that charmed both Astyages and Mandana. When
+he had done he threw himself upon his grandfather's
+neck, and, kissing him, cried out with great joy: "O
+Sacas! poor Sacas! thou art undone; I shall have thy
+place!"</p>
+
+<p>5. Astyages embraced him with great fondness, and
+said: "I am highly pleased, my dear child; nobody can
+serve me with a better grace; but you have forgot one
+essential ceremony, which is that of tasting"; and, indeed,
+the cup-bearer was used to pour some of the liquor
+into his left hand, and to taste it, before he presented it
+to the king. "No," replied Cyrus, "it was not through
+forgetfulness that I omitted that ceremony." "Why,
+then," says Astyages, "for what reason did you not do
+it?" "Because I apprehended there was poison in the
+liquor." "Poison, child! How could you think so?"
+"Yes, poison, father, for not long ago, at an entertainment
+you gave to the lords of your court, after the guests
+had drunk a little of that liquor, I perceived all their
+heads were turned. They sang, made a noise, and talked
+they did not know what; you yourself seemed to have
+forgotten that you were king, and they that they were
+subjects; and when you would have danced you could
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>
+not stand upon your legs." "Why," said Astyages,
+"have you never seen the same thing happen to your
+father?" "No, never," says Cyrus. "What, then?
+How is it with him when he drinks?" "Why, when he
+has drunk, his thirst is quenched, and that is all."</p>
+
+<p>6. Mandana being upon the point of returning to
+Persia, Cyrus joyfully complied with the repeated requests
+his grandfather had made to him to stay in Media;
+being desirous, as he said, to perfect himself in the art of
+riding, which he was not yet master of, and which was
+not known in Persia, where the barrenness of the country
+and its craggy, mountainous situation rendered it
+unfit for the breeding of horses.</p>
+
+<p>7. During the time of his residence at this court his
+behavior procured him infinite love and esteem. He was
+gentle, affable, beneficent, and generous. Whenever the
+young lords had any favor to ask of the king, Cyrus was
+their solicitor. If the king had any subject of complaint
+against them, Cyrus was their mediator; their affairs became
+his, and he always managed them so well that he
+obtained whatever he desired.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Rollin.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XXII.&mdash;CYRUS AND THE ARMENIANS.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. The King of Armenia who was vassal to the
+Medes, looking upon them as ready to be swallowed up
+by a formidable league formed against them, thought fit
+to lay hold of this occasion to shake off their yoke. Accordingly
+he refused to pay them the ordinary tribute,
+and to send them the number of troops he was obliged to
+furnish in time of war. This highly embarrassed Cyaxares,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>
+who was afraid at this juncture of bringing new
+enemies upon his hands if he undertook to compel the
+Armenians to execute their treaty.</p>
+
+<p>2. But Cyrus, having informed himself exactly of the
+strength and situation of the country, undertook the affair.
+The important point was to keep his design secret, without
+which it was not likely to succeed. He therefore appointed
+a great hunting-match on that side of the country;
+for it was his custom to ride out that way, and frequently
+to hunt with the king's son and the young noblemen
+of Armenia. On the appointed day, he set out
+with a numerous retinue. The troops followed at a distance,
+and were not to appear till a signal was given.
+After some days' hunting, when they had nearly reached
+the palace where the court resided, Cyrus communicated
+his design to his officers; and sent Chrysanthes with a
+detachment, ordering them to make themselves master of
+a certain steep eminence, where he knew the king used
+to retire in case of an alarm, with his family and his
+treasures.</p>
+
+<p>3. This being done, he sent a herald to the king of
+Armenia, to summon him to perform the treaty, and in
+the mean time ordered his troops to advance. Never was
+a court in greater surprise and perplexity. The king
+was conscious of the wrong he had done, and was not in
+a condition to support it. However, he did what he
+could to assemble his forces together from all quarters;
+and in the mean time dispatched his youngest son, called
+Stabaris, into the mountains, with his wives, his daughters,
+and whatever was most precious and valuable. But
+when he was informed by his scouts that Cyrus was closely
+pursuing, he entirely lost all courage, and all thoughts
+of making a defense.</p>
+
+<p>4. The Armenians, following his example, ran away,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>
+every one where he could, to secure what was dearest to
+him. Cyrus, seeing the country covered with people
+that were endeavoring to make their escape, sent them
+word that no harm should be done to them if they stayed
+in their houses; but that as many as were taken running
+away should be treated as enemies. This made them all
+retire to their habitations, excepting a few that followed
+the king.</p>
+
+<p>5. On the other hand, they that were conducting the
+princesses to the mountains fell into the ambush Chrysanthes
+had laid for them, and were most of them taken
+prisoners. The queen, the king's son, his daughters, his
+eldest son's wife, and his treasures, all fell into the hands
+of the Persians.</p>
+
+<p>6. The king, hearing this melancholy news, and not
+knowing what would become of him, retired to a little
+eminence, where he was presently invested by the Persian
+army, and obliged to surrender. Cyrus ordered him
+with all his family to be brought to the midst of the
+army. At that very instant arrived Tigranes, the king's
+eldest son, who was just returned from a journey. At so
+moving a scene he could not forbear weeping. Cyrus,
+addressing himself to him, said: "Prince, you are come
+very seasonably to be present at the trial of your father."
+And immediately he assembled the captains of the Persians
+and Medes, and called in also the great men of Armenia.
+Nor did he so much as exclude the ladies from
+this assembly, who were there in their chariots, but gave
+them full liberty to hear and see all that passed.</p>
+
+<p>7. When all was ready and Cyrus had commanded
+silence, he began with requiring of the king, that in all
+the questions he was about to propose to him, he would
+answer sincerely, because nothing could be more unworthy
+a person of his rank than to use dissimulation or
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
+falsehood. The king promised he would. Then Cyrus
+asked him, but at different times, proposing each article
+separately, and in order, whether it was not true, that he
+had made war upon Astyages, King of the Medes, his
+grandfather; whether he had not been overcome in that
+war, and in consequence of his defeat had concluded a
+treaty with Astyages; whether by virtue of that treaty
+he was not obliged to pay a certain tribute, to furnish a
+certain number of troops, and not to keep any fortified
+place in his country.</p>
+
+<p>8. It was impossible for the king to deny any of
+these facts, which were all public and notorious. "For
+what reason, then," continued Cyrus, "have you violated
+the treaty in every article?" "For no other," replied
+the king, "than because I thought it a glorious thing to
+shake off the yoke, to live free, and to leave my children
+in the same condition." "It is really glorious," answered
+Cyrus, "to fight in defense of liberty, but if any one,
+after he is reduced to servitude, should attempt to run
+away from his master, what would you do with him?"
+"I must confess," said the king, "I would punish him."
+"And if you had given a government to one of your subjects,
+and he should be found to misbehave, would you
+continue him in his post?" "No, certainly; I would
+put another in his place." "And if he had amassed great
+riches by his unjust practices?" "I would strip him of
+them." "But, which is still worse, if he had held intelligence
+with your enemies, how would you treat him?"
+"Though I should pass sentence upon myself," replied
+the king, "I must declare the truth; I would put him
+to death." At these words Tigranes tore his tiara from
+his head, and rent his garments; the women burst out
+into lamentations and outcries, as if the sentence had
+actually passed upon him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>
+    9. Cyrus, having again commanded silence, Tigranes
+addressed himself to the prince to this effect: "Great
+prince, can you think it consistent with your wisdom, to
+put my father to death, even against your own interest?"
+"How against my interest?" replied Cyrus. "Because
+he was never so capable of doing you service." "How
+do you make that appear? Do the faults we commit enhance
+our merit, and give us a new title to consideration
+and favor?" "They certainly do, provided they serve
+to make us wiser; for wisdom is of inestimable value.
+Are either riches, courage, or address to be compared to
+it? Now it is evident, this single day's experience has
+infinitely improved my father's wisdom. He knows how
+dear the violation of his word has cost him. He has
+proved and felt how much you are superior to him in all
+respects. He has not been able to succeed in any of his
+designs; but you have happily accomplished all yours;
+and with such expedition and secrecy that he has found
+himself surrounded and taken before he expected to be
+attacked, and the very place of his retreat has served only
+to ensnare him."</p>
+
+<p>10. "But your father," replied Cyrus, "has yet
+undergone no sufferings that can have taught him wisdom."
+"The fear of evils," answered Tigranes, "when it is so
+well founded as this is, has a much sharper sting, and is
+more capable of piercing the soul, than the evil itself.
+Besides, permit me to say, that gratitude is a stronger and
+more prevailing motive than any whatever; and there
+can be no obligations in the world of a higher nature
+than those you will lay upon my father&mdash;his fortune,
+liberty, scepter, life, wives, and children, all restored to
+him with such a generosity. Where can you find, illustrious
+prince, in one single person, so many strong and powerful
+ties to attach him to your service?"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
+    11. "Well, then," replied Cyrus, turning to the king,
+"if I should yield to your son's entreaties, with what
+number of men, and what sum of money, will you assist
+us in the war against the Babylonians?" "My troops
+and treasures," says the Armenian king, "are no longer
+mine; they are entirely yours. I can raise forty thousand
+foot and eight thousand horse; and as for money, I
+reckon, including the treasure which my father left me,
+there are about three thousand talents ready money. All
+these are wholly at your disposal." Cyrus accepted half
+the number of the troops, and left the king the other
+half, for the defense of the country against the Chaldeans,
+with whom he was at war.</p>
+
+<p>12. The annual tribute which was due to the Medes
+he doubled, and instead of fifty talents exacted a hundred,
+and borrowed the like sum over and above in his own
+name. "But what would you give me," added Cyrus,
+"for the ransom of your wives?" "All that I have in
+the world," replied the king. "And for the ransom of
+your children?" "The same thing." "From this time,
+then, you are indebted to me the double of all your possessions.
+And you, Tigranes, at what price would you
+redeem the liberty of your lady?" Now he had lately
+married her, and was passionately fond of her. "At the
+price," said he, "of a thousand lives if I had them."
+Cyrus then conducted them all to his tent, and entertained
+them at supper. It is easy to imagine what transports
+of joy there must have been upon this occasion.</p>
+
+<p>13. After supper, as they were discoursing upon various
+subjects, Cyrus asked Tigranes what was become of
+a governor whom he had often seen hunting with him,
+and for whom he had a particular esteem. "Alas!"
+said Tigranes, "he is no more; and I dare not tell you by
+what accident I lost him." Cyrus pressed him to tell
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>
+him. "My father," continued Tigranes, "seeing I had a
+very tender affection for this governor, and that I was
+extremely attached to him, suspected it might be of some
+ill consequence and put him to death. But he was so
+honest a man, that as he was ready to expire, he sent for
+me and spoke to me in these words: 'Tigranes, let not
+my death occasion any dissatisfaction in you toward the
+king your father. What he has done to me did not proceed
+from malice, but only from prejudice, and a false
+notion wherewith he was unhappily blinded.'" "Oh, the
+excellent man!" cried Cyrus, "never forget the last advice
+he gave you."</p>
+
+<p>14. When the conversation was ended, Cyrus, before
+they parted, embraced them all, as in token of a perfect
+reconciliation. This done, they got into their chariots,
+with their wives, and went home full of gratitude and admiration.
+Nothing but Cyrus was mentioned the whole
+way; some extolling his wisdom, others his valor; some
+admiring the sweetness of his temper, others praising the
+beauty of his person and the majesty of his mien. "And
+you," said Tigranes, addressing himself to his lady, "what
+do you think of Cyrus's aspect and deportment?" "I
+do not know," replied the lady, "I did not observe him."
+"Upon what object, then, did you fix your eyes?"
+"Upon him that said he would give a thousand lives to
+ransom my liberty."</p>
+
+<p>The next day the King of Armenia sent presents to
+Cyrus, and refreshments for his whole army, and brought
+him double the sum of money he was required to furnish.
+But Cyrus took only what had been stipulated, and restored
+him the rest. The Armenian troops were ordered
+to be ready in three days' time, and Tigranes desired to
+command them.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Rollin.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XXIII.&mdash;THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. After the battle of Plat�a, in which the army of
+the Persian king Xerxes was defeated and destroyed, the
+Greek states became the dominant power in the civilized
+world, and the Greek cities became centers of influence
+and art. Under Pericles, the successor of Themistocles,
+Athens, in richness and beauty of her palaces and temples,
+arrived at a point of excellence which far surpassed
+anything the world had before seen. But jealousies between
+different states led to civil wars that desolated the
+whole land, and in the next one hundred and fifty years
+scarcely any progress was made in adding to the national
+strength. While these bloody wars were going on principally
+between Sparta and Athens, the tribes of Macedon,
+a region lying immediately north of Greece, were
+rapidly becoming civilized and consolidated. In 359 <span class="smcap">B. C.</span>
+Philip became the reigning monarch.</p>
+
+<p>2. He was very desirous of being considered as a
+Greek, invited distinguished men to his court, and ordered
+public rejoicings in his kingdom when his chariots had
+won the prize at the Olympic games. He was very
+clever, and cared little about the justice and honor of the
+means by which he attained his ends, which were, to hold
+in subjection all the rest of Greece, and to conquer Persia.
+In the first design he succeeded, for the latter he
+only prepared the way for his son. He had both to form
+his officers and his army. The first he attempted by
+bringing the young nobles to his court, and there instructing
+them; and in the last he succeeded in a remarkable
+manner.</p>
+
+<p>3. The chief strength of the army, as he constituted
+it, was in the phalanx, a body of sixteen thousand foot
+soldiers, fully armed in the Greek fashion, with spears
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>
+twenty-four feet long. When drawn up in order of battle,
+the four front ranks held their spears pointing outward,
+and stood at such a space apart, that the foremost
+line had four spear-points between each man and the
+enemy, or on occasion they marched with their shields
+touching, so as to form an almost impenetrable wall.</p>
+
+<p>4. As soon as Philip's designs against Greece were
+apparent, a strong spirit of resistance showed itself, and
+chiefly at Athens, where the great orator, Demosthenes,
+never ceased to rouse his countrymen to maintain their
+freedom. Demosthenes had trained himself in eloquence
+under great difficulties; he naturally either stammered,
+or had an indistinct pronunciation&mdash;a defect which he
+cured by speaking with pebbles in his mouth, and he
+used to rehearse his speeches to the roaring sea, in order
+to nerve himself against the clamors of a tumultuous assembly.
+He so far succeeded, that he often swayed the
+minds of the Athenians; his name stands as the first of
+orators, and his Philippics, as his discourses against Philip
+are called, are considered as models of rhetoric.</p>
+
+<p>5. At Cheron�a, in 338, a battle was fought by
+Philip against the allied forces of the Athenians and Thebans.
+At one time the Athenians gained some advantage,
+but they used it so ill, that Philip, calling out to his
+troops, "They do not know how to conquer," made a
+sudden charge, and routed them with great slaughter.
+The battle of Cheron�a was the end of the independence
+of Greece, which from that time forward became subject
+to Macedon, in spite of its many struggles to shake off
+the yoke, and recover the liberty which had been lost for
+want of a firm, united, settled government.</p>
+
+<p>6. The King of Macedon next commenced his arrangements
+for his other favorite scheme&mdash;the invasion
+of Asia; but in the year 336, in the midst of the feasts in
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>
+honor of his daughter's marriage, he was murdered by a
+young Macedonian noble, who was slain in the first anger
+of the surrounding guards, without having time to disclose
+the motive of his crime.</p>
+
+<p>7. Alexander, son of Philip and his Epirot queen
+Olympias, was twenty years of age when he came to
+the throne. On the night of his birth the temple of
+Diana, at Ephesus, was burned to the ground by a
+man named Erostratus, in the foolish desire of making
+himself notorious, and this Alexander liked to consider
+as an omen that he should himself kindle a flame
+in Asia.</p>
+
+<p>8. He traced his descent from his father's side from
+Hercules, and by his mother's from Achilles, and throughout
+his boyhood he seems to have lived in a world of the
+old Greek poetry, sleeping with Homer's works under
+his pillow, and dreaming of deeds in which he should
+rival the fame of the victors of Troy. He was placed
+under the care of Aristotle, the great philosopher of Stagira,
+to whom, when Philip had written to announce Alexander's
+birth, he had said that he knew not whether
+most to rejoice at having a son, or that his son would
+have such a teacher as Aristotle.</p>
+
+<p>9. From him the young Alexander learned to think
+deeply, to resolve firmly, and devise plans of government;
+by others he was instructed in all the graceful accomplishments
+of the Greeks, and under his father he was
+trained to act promptly. At fourteen he tamed the noble
+horse Bucephalus, which no one else dared to mount;
+two years later he rescued his father in a battle with the
+Scythians, and he commanded the cavalry at Cheron�a,
+but he was so young at the time of his accession, that
+the Greeks thought they had nothing to fear from him.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p093-illus.jpg" id="p093-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p093-illus.jpg" width="500" height="301" alt="A battle" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Battle on the Granicus.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>10. There were very ungenerous rejoicings at Athens
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 93]<br />[Pg 94]</a></span>
+at the murder of Philip. Demosthenes, though he had
+just lost a daughter, crowned himself with a wreath of
+flowers, and came with great tokens of joy to announce it
+to the Athenians so soon after the event, as almost to excite
+a suspicion that he must have been concerned in the
+crime. But they found that their joy was unfounded, for
+no sooner did Thebes take up arms, than Alexander
+marched against it, destroyed the walls, killed many of the
+citizens, and blotted it out from the number of Greek
+cities. The other states did not dare to make any further
+opposition, and he was thus at leisure to prepare for the
+invasion of Persia.</p>
+
+<p>11. Leaving Antipater as governor of Macedon, he
+set out in the spring of 334, at the head of thirty thousand
+infantry and four thousand five hundred cavalry, and bade
+farewell to his native land, which he was never to see
+again. He crossed the Hellespont, and was the first man
+to leap on Asiatic ground; then, while his forces were
+landing, he went to visit the spot which had so long been
+the object of his dreams&mdash;the village which marked the
+site of Troy. He offered a sacrifice at the tomb of
+Achilles, hung up his own shield in the temple, and took
+down one which was said to be a relic of the Greek conquerors,
+intending to have it always borne before him in
+battle.</p>
+
+<p>12. His march was at first toward the east, along the
+shore of the Hellespont, until at the river Granicus he
+met the Persians drawn up on the other bank of the river,
+under the command of the satrap Memnon. Alexander
+himself, at the head of his cavalry, charged through the
+midst of the rapid stream, won the landing-place, and followed
+by the phalanx, quickly gained a complete victory.</p>
+
+<p>13. All the neighboring country fell into his hands,
+and after taking possession of it, he changed his course,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>
+marching along the shores of the �gean, and taking all
+the towns. It was his first object to cut the Persians off
+from their seaports, and thus deprive them of the use of
+their fleet, which was so superior to his own, that he never
+ventured on one sea-fight.</p>
+
+<p>14. This march round the western and southern coasts
+of Asia Minor, together with an expedition into the interior,
+occupied a year, and in the early part of the summer,
+he arrived at Tarsus, in Cilicia. Here, on entering
+the city, overwhelmed with heat and fatigue, he bathed
+in the cold waters of the Cydnus, and the chill brought
+on a violent fever, which nearly cost him his life. A
+letter was sent to warn him that his physician, Philip,
+had been bribed by the Persian king to poison him.
+While he was reading it the physician himself brought
+him a draught of medicine; the king put the letter into
+his hand, took the cup and drank it off, even before
+Philip could profess his innocence. In three days' time
+he was again able to appear at the head of his troops, and
+not before he was needed, for the enemy's army was near
+at hand, under King Darius Codomanus himself.</p>
+
+<p>15. The Persians advanced in great state. First came
+a number of persons bearing silver altars, on which burned
+the sacred fire; then followed the Magi, and three hundred
+and sixty-five youths robed in scarlet, in honor of
+the days of the year. Next came the chariot and horses
+of the Sun, with their attendants, and afterward the army
+itself, the Immortal Band, with gold-handled lances, white
+robes, and jeweled corslets, and a host of others of less
+note, all far more fit for show than for battle. Darius
+himself, arrayed in purple robes and glittering with jewels,
+was in the midst, in a chariot covered with gold ornaments,
+and with him came his mother, Sisygambis, his
+principal wife, his daughters, a number of other ladies,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>
+and a multitude of slaves. This unwieldy and useless
+host took up their position on the hilly ground above the
+city of Issus, where they were so entangled among the
+rocks, that their numbers were of little profit to them,
+and it was an easy victory for the Macedonians. No
+sooner did Darius see that the day was against him, than
+he turned his chariot and fled, leaving his family to fall
+into the hands of the conqueror, while he himself hastened
+to Babylon to collect another army.</p>
+
+<p>16. Alexander treated the mother, wife, and children
+of Darius with great kindness and courtesy, sending an
+officer to assure them of his protection, and going the
+next morning to visit them, accompanied by his friend
+Heph�stion, a young man of his own age. Alexander,
+though of beautiful and noble countenance, and well
+formed for strength and activity, was rather short in stature,
+and as his dress was very simple, Sisygambis mistook
+Heph�stion for the King of Macedon, and threw herself
+on the ground before him; and she was greatly confused
+and distressed when she discovered her error; but Alexander
+said, as he raised her, "You were not deceived, for
+he is Alexander's other self." He gave her the name of
+mother, never sat down in her presence except at her request,
+and showed in every point a respect and courtesy
+such as she had probably never before received from the
+Asiatic princes, who always held women in contempt.</p>
+
+<p>17. Pursuing his intention of first destroying the
+naval power of the Persian empire, Alexander next entered
+Phoenicia, and readily received the submission of
+Zidon, but Tyre refused to admit him within the walls.
+New Tyre, which was built after the seventy years' desolation
+which followed the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar,
+stood upon an island about half a mile from the shore,
+and was inhabited by a numerous and brave people, who
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+thought themselves secure from an enemy who had no
+fleet to bring against them.</p>
+
+<p>18. Alexander was, however, not to be daunted by
+any difficulty. He at first attempted to build a causeway
+from the shore to the island, and when the Tyrians destroyed
+his works he went to Zidon and there obtained a
+fleet, by means of which he at length took the city after
+a seven months' siege. He stained his victory by a cruel
+slaughter, and made slaves of all whose lives were spared,
+excepting a few whom the Zidonians contrived to conceal
+in their ships. This was the final fall of the great
+merchant city, so often predicted by Isaiah and Ezekiel.</p>
+
+<p>19. He then marched through the rest of Palestine,
+intending to punish Jerusalem, which had stood loyal to
+Darius, and refused to send him supplies. The Jews, on
+his approach, prayed for guidance and protection, and it
+was revealed to Jaddua, the high-priest, that he should
+open the gates and go forth in his sacred robes to receive
+the Grecian conqueror. It was accordingly done; and
+Jaddua, in the vestments of Aaron, came forth at the
+head of the choir of priests in white garments as Alexander
+and the Greeks mounted the hill toward the city.
+No sooner did the king meet the procession than he bent
+down to the ground in adoration, and walked in the midst of
+the priests to the temple, where a sacrifice was offered; and
+he not only spared the Jews, but showed them much favor.</p>
+
+<p>20. He told his generals that before he left Macedon
+he had seen in a dream a figure exactly resembling that
+of the high-priest, which had foretold all his conquests.
+And surely there is little reason to doubt that such a revelation
+might be made to a conqueror marked out as clearly
+by prophecy as Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus, before he
+set out on the work appointed for him. Both his predecessors
+in conquest, as soon as they came in contact with
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>
+the chosen people, were taught that they were the subjects
+of prophecy; and Alexander, in his turn, was shown
+by Jaddua the prediction of Daniel, which spoke of him
+as a he-goat (the actual ensign of Macedon), "Who came
+from the West, and smote the ram, and brake his two
+horns, and cast him down and trampled on him." "And
+the rough goat is the King of Grecia."</p>
+
+<p>21. He then proceeded southward, besieged and took
+Gaza, after a brave resistance, which he cruelly requited,
+and entered Egypt, subduing it with little difficulty. On
+one of the peninsulas formed by the mouth of the Nile,
+he founded a city, called after his name Alexandria,
+which became the capital of Egypt under its Greek rulers,
+and one of the most famous cities in the world. He
+made an expedition to the temple of Jupiter Ammon, on
+an oasis in the Libyan desert, and consulted the oracle
+there, and then after appointing a Macedonian satrap in
+Egypt, retraced his steps toward the Holy Land, and
+marched toward Babylonia, where Darius was again collecting
+his forces to oppose him.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Charlotte M. Yonge.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XXIV.&mdash;ALEXANDER'S CONQUESTS.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. Alexander crossed the Euphrates and Tigris without
+opposition, and the decisive battle did not take place till
+he reached the plain of Arbela, where the Persians were
+drawn up to receive him. The Macedonians wished to
+make a night attack, but Alexander would not permit
+it, saying that he disdained to steal a victory, and the
+combat took place the next day.</p>
+
+<p>2. The present army of Persians was drawn from the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>
+more remote regions of Bactria and Parthia, where the
+men were more warlike, and they fought better than
+any whom the Macedonians had before encountered; but
+Darius himself fled early in the day, leaving behind
+him his bow and shield; his men lost courage, and followed
+him, and Alexander was left master of the field of
+Arbela.</p>
+
+<p>3. This battle placed in his power all the western part
+of the Persian empire, and he had only to march to the
+great cities of Babylon, Susa, Ecbatana, and Persepolis,
+to take possession of the huge stores of treasures there
+heaped up by the Persian kings, which he now distributed
+among his followers with royal bounty. The unfortunate
+Darius escaped into Bactria, where two satraps, in
+whom he had confided, treacherously seized him and made
+him prisoner, carrying him along with them as they fled
+before Alexander, until at length, being closely pressed
+by the Greeks, they threw their darts at him, and left
+him lying on the ground mortally wounded.</p>
+
+<p>4. He was still alive when some of the Greeks came
+up, but died before the arrival of Alexander. The conqueror
+wept as he beheld the corpse of the last of a line
+of such great princes; he threw his own cloak over it,
+and sent it to Babylon, where it was buried with great
+magnificence.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p100-illus.jpg" id="p100-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p100-illus.jpg" width="500" height="708" alt="Death of a king" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Alexander at the Dead Body of Darius.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>5. The wife of Darius had died a prisoner, but Sisygambis
+still remained with her grandchildren at Babylon.
+Only once does Alexander seem to have hurt her feelings,
+and this was through ignorance of Persian customs. He
+showed her some robes of his sister's own weaving and
+embroidery, and offered to have her grand-daughters instructed
+in the same art, at which she wept, since Persian
+ladies deemed such employments work fit only for slaves
+and captives, and Alexander was obliged to explain how
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 100]<br />[Pg 101]</a></span>
+honorably the loom and needle were esteemed by his own
+countrywomen.</p>
+
+<p>6. Alexander was much attached to his own mother,
+Olympias, and portions of his letters to her have come
+down to our time. She was a proud and violent woman,
+who often interfered with Antipater, governor of Macedon,
+and caused him to send many complaints to the
+king: "Ah!" said Alexander, "Antipater does not know
+that one tear of a mother will blot out ten thousand of
+his letters."</p>
+
+<p>7. Alexander had indeed an open and affectionate
+heart, but he was fast becoming too much uplifted by his
+successes. On Darius's death, he took the state as well
+as the title of a king of Persia, wore the tiara and robes,
+and claimed from the Macedonians the same servile tokens
+of homage as were paid by the eastern nations, thus causing
+perpetual heart-burnings among them, since they could
+neither endure to see their king exalted so much further
+above them, nor to be placed on the same level with the
+barbarians whom they despised.</p>
+
+<p>8. Their jealousies troubled Alexander from the time
+he assumed the tiara of Persia. He found it impossible
+to raise the condition of the Persians, and treat them with
+favor, without offending the Macedonians, and his temper
+did not always endure these provocations. The worst
+action of his life was the sentencing to death, on a false
+accusation, the wise old General Parmenio, and his son;
+and in a fit of passion at a riotous banquet, he slew, with
+his own hand, his friend Clitus, his nurse's son, who had
+saved his life at the battle of Granicus. It was the deed
+of a moment of drunken violence, and he bitterly lamented
+it, shutting himself up for several days without allowing
+any one to approach him, and paying all honors to
+the memory of his murdered friend.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+    9. His pride and vain-glory went so far, that he declared
+that the oracle of Jupiter Ammon had announced
+that he was the son of Jupiter, and sent to Greece to desire
+to be enrolled among the gods in his life-time. Some
+of the Greeks were shocked at his profanity, others
+laughed at him; but all the Spartans said was, "If Alexander
+will be a god, let him."</p>
+
+<p>10. The next four years were the most laborious of
+Alexander's life. He pursued the murderers of Darius
+into Bactria and Sogdiana, avenged his death, and reduced
+the numerous hill-forts as far as the frontier of
+Scythia. Fierce insurrections broke out among the wild
+tribes of Sogdiana, which it required all his activity and
+judgment to quell, and more than once provoked him
+into cruelty, though in general, conqueror as he was,
+he was no spoiler, but wherever he went founded cities,
+and tried to teach the Persians the civilized arts of
+Greece.</p>
+
+<p>11. In 326 he set out for India, as the region was
+called round the river Indus. Here the inhabitants were
+warlike, and Porus, king of a portion of the country,
+made a brave resistance, but was at length defeated and
+taken prisoner. On being brought before Alexander he
+said he had nothing to ask, save to be treated as a king.
+"That I shall do for my own sake," said Alexander, and
+accordingly not only set him at liberty, but enlarged his
+territory.</p>
+
+<p>12. All these Indian nations brought a tribute of elephants,
+which the Macedonians now for the first time
+learned to employ in war. Alexander wished to proceed
+into Hindostan, a country hitherto entirely unknown, but
+his soldiers grew so discontented at the prospect of being
+led so much farther from home, into the utmost parts of
+the earth, that he was obliged to give up his attempt, and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+very unwillingly turned back from the banks of the Sutlej.</p>
+
+<p>13. While returning, he besieged a little town belonging
+to a tribe called the Malli, and believed to be the
+present city of Mooltan. He was the first to scale the
+wall, and after four others had mounted, the ladder broke,
+and he was left standing on the wall, a mark for the darts
+of the enemy. He instantly leaped down within the wall
+into the midst of the Malli, and there setting his back
+against a fig-tree, defended himself until a barbed arrow
+deeply pierced his breast, and, after trying to keep up a
+little longer, he sunk, fainting, on his shield. His four
+companions sprung down after him&mdash;two were slain, but
+the others held their shields over him till the rest of the
+army succeeded in breaking into the town and coming to
+the rescue.</p>
+
+<p>14. His wound was severe and dangerous, but he at
+length recovered, sailed down to the mouth of the Indus,
+and sent a fleet to survey the Persian Gulf, while he himself
+marched along the shore. The country was bare and
+desert, and his army suffered dreadfully from heat, thirst,
+and hunger, while he readily shared all their privations.
+A little water was once brought him on a parching day,
+as a great prize, but since there was not enough for all,
+he poured it out on the sand, lest his faithful followers
+should feel themselves more thirsty when they saw him
+drink alone.</p>
+
+<p>15. At last he safely arrived at Caramania, whence
+he returned to the more inhabited and wealthy parts of
+Persia, held his court with great magnificence at Susa,
+and then went to Babylon. Here embassies met him
+from every part of the known world, bringing gifts and
+homage, and above all, there arrived from the Greek
+states the much desired promise that he should be honored
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>
+as a god. He was at the highest pitch of worldly
+greatness to which mortal man had yet attained, and his
+designs were reaching yet further; but his hour was come,
+and at Babylon, the home of pride, "the great horn" was
+to be broken.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p104-illus.jpg" id="p104-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p104-illus.jpg" width="500" height="644" alt="Viewing the lands" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Alexander the Great.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>
+    16. In the marshes into which the Euphrates had
+spread since its channel was altered by Cyrus, there
+breathed a noxious air, and a few weeks after Alexander's
+arrival, he was attacked by a fever, perhaps increased by
+intemperance. He bore up against it as long as possible,
+continued to offer sacrifices daily, though with increasing
+difficulty, and summoned his officers to arrange plans for
+his intended expedition; but his strength failed him on
+the ninth day, and though he called them together as
+usual, he could not address them. Perhaps he thought
+in that hour of the prophecy he had seen at Jerusalem,
+that the empire he had toiled to raise should be divided,
+for he is reported to have said that there would be a
+mighty contest at his funeral games. He made no attempt
+to name a successor, but he took off his signet-ring,
+placed it on the finger of Perdiccas, one of his generals,
+and a short time after expired, in the thirty-third year of
+his age, and the twelfth of his reign.</p>
+
+<p>17. There was a voice of wailing throughout the city
+that night. The Babylonians shut up their houses, and
+trembled at the neighborhood of the fierce Greek soldiery,
+now that their protector was dead; the Macedonians
+stood to arms all night, as if in presence of the
+enemy; and when in the morning the officers assembled
+in the palace council chamber, bitter and irrepressible was
+the burst of lamentation that broke out at the sight of
+the vacant throne, where lay the crown, scepter, and royal
+robes, and where Perdiccas now placed the signet-ring.
+More deeply than all mourned the prisoner, the aged
+Sisygambis, who covered her face with a black veil, sat
+down in a corner of her room, refused all entreaties to
+speak or to eat, and expired five days after Alexander.</p>
+
+<p>18. Nor did the Persians soon cease to lament the conqueror,
+who had ruled them more beneficently than their
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>
+own monarchs had done; their traditions made Alexander
+a prince of their own, and adorned him with every
+virtue valued in the East. That he had many great faults
+has already been shown, and, of course, by the rules of
+justice, his conquests were but reckless gratifications of
+his own ambition; but he was a high-minded, generous
+man, open of heart, free of hand, and for the most part
+acting up to his knowledge of right; and if unbridled
+power, talent of the highest order, and glory such as none
+before or since has ever attained, inflamed his passions,
+and elated him with pride, still it is not for us to judge
+severely of one who had such great temptations, and so
+little to guide him aright.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Charlotte M. Yonge.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XXV.&mdash;JUDAS MACCAB�US, THE HEBREW<br />
+WILLIAM TELL.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. The kingdom of Judah escaped destruction at the
+hands of Sennacherib, but its respite was short. Soon
+afterward Babylon, closely related to Assyria, and the
+heir of its dominion, swept into captivity in distant
+Mesopotamia nearly all that were left of Hebrew stock.
+For a time, the nation seemed to have been wiped from
+the face of the earth. The ten tribes of Israel that had
+been first dragged forth never returned to Judea, and
+their ultimate fate, after the destruction of Nineveh,
+whose splendor they had in their servitude done so much
+to enhance, was that of homeless wanderers. The harp
+of Judah, silent upon the devastated banks of the Jordan,
+was hung upon the Babylonian willows, for how could
+the exiles sing the Lord's song in a strange land! But
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>
+the cry went forth at length that Babylon had fallen in
+her turn, just as destruction had before overtaken Nineveh.
+In the middle of the sixth century <span class="smcap">B. C.</span>, Cyrus the
+Mede made a beginning of restoring the exiles, who
+straightway built anew the Temple walls.</p>
+
+<p>2. In David's time, the population of Palestine must
+have numbered several millions, and it largely increased
+during the succeeding reigns. Multitudes, however, had
+perished by the sword, and other multitudes were retained
+in strange lands. Scarcely fifty thousand found
+their way back in the time of Cyrus to the desolate site
+of Jerusalem, but, one hundred years later, the number
+was increased by a re-enforcement under Ezra. From
+this nucleus, with astonishing vitality, a new Israel was
+presently developed. With weapons always at hand to
+repel the freebooters of the desert, they constructed once
+more the walls of Jerusalem. Through all their harsh
+experience their feelings of nationality had not been at
+all abated; their blood was untouched by foreign admixture,
+though some Gentile ideas had entered into the substance
+of their faith. The conviction that they were the
+chosen people of God was as unshaken as in the ancient
+time. With pride as indomitable as ever, intrenched
+within their little corner of Syria, they confronted the
+hostile world.</p>
+
+<p>3. But a new contact was at hand, far more memorable
+even than that with the nations of Mesopotamia&mdash;a
+contact whose consequences affect at the present hour
+the condition of the greater part of the human race. In
+the year 332 <span class="smcap">B. C.</span>, the high-priest, Jaddua, at Jerusalem,
+was in an agony, not knowing how he should meet certain
+new invaders of the land, before whom Tyre, and
+Gaza, the old Philistine stronghold, had fallen, and who
+were now marching upon the city of David. But God
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>
+warned him in a dream that he should take courage,
+adorn the city, and open the gates; that the people should
+appear in white garments of peace, but that he and the
+priests should meet the strangers in the robes of their
+office. At length, at the head of a sumptuous train of
+generals and tributary princes, a young man of twenty-four,
+upon a beautiful steed, rode forward from the way
+going down to the sea to the spot which may still be seen,
+called, anciently, Scopus, the prospect, because from that
+point one approaching could behold, for the first time,
+Jerusalem crowned by the Temple rising fair upon the
+heights of Zion and Moriah.</p>
+
+<p>4. The youth possessed a beauty of a type in those
+regions hitherto little known. As compared with the
+swarthy Syrians in his suite, his skin was white; his features
+were stamped with the impress of command, his
+eyes filled with an intellectual light. With perfect horsemanship
+he guided the motions of his charger. A fine
+grace marked his figure, set off with a cloak, helmet, and
+gleaming arms, as he expressed with animated gestures
+his exultation over the spectacle before him. But now,
+down from the heights came the procession of the priests
+and the people. The multitude proceeded in their robes
+of white; the priests stood clothed in fine linen; while
+the high-priest, in attire of purple and scarlet, upon his
+breast the great breastplate of judgment with its jewels,
+upon his head the mitre marked with the plate of gold
+whereon was engraved the name of God, led the train
+with venerable dignity.</p>
+
+<p>5. Now, says the historian, when the Ph&oelig;nicians and
+Chaldeans that followed Alexander thought that they
+should have liberty to plunder the city, and torment the
+high-priest to death, the very reverse happened; for the
+young leader, when he saw the multitude in the distance,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>
+and the figure of the high-priest before, approached him
+by himself, saluted him, and adored the name, which was
+graven upon the plate of the mitre. Then a captain,
+named Parmino, asked him how it came to pass that,
+when all others adored him, he should adore the high-priest
+of the Jews. To whom the leader replied: "I do
+not adore him, but that God who hath honored him with
+his high-priesthood; for I saw this very person in a
+dream, in this very habit, when I was at Dios in Macedonia,
+who, when I was considering how I might obtain
+the dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but
+boldly to pass over the sea thither, for that he would
+conduct my army, and could give me the dominion over
+the Persians." Then, when Alexander had given the
+high-priest his right hand, the priests ran along by him
+and he came into the city, and he offered sacrifice to God
+in the Temple, according to the high-priest's direction,
+and magnificently treated both the high-priest and the
+priests. He granted all the multitude desired; and when
+he said to them that if any of them would enlist themselves
+in his army on this condition, that they should continue
+under the laws of their forefathers, he was willing
+to take them with him, many were ready to accompany
+him in his wars.</p>
+
+<p>6. But this Aryan troop that went southward is less
+interesting to us than companies that departed westward,
+for in these westward marching bands went the primeval
+forefathers from whose venerable loins we ourselves have
+proceeded. They passed into Western Asia, and from
+Asia into Europe&mdash;each migrating multitude impelled
+by a new swarm sent forth from the parent hive behind.
+At the head of the Adriatic Sea an Aryan troop had
+divided, sending down into the eastern peninsula the ancestors
+of the Greeks, and into the western peninsula
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>
+the train destined to establish upon the seven hills the
+power of Rome. Already the Aryan pioneers, the Celts,
+on the outmost rocks of the western coast of Europe,
+were fretting against the barrier of storm and sea, across
+which they were not to find their way for many ages.
+Already Ph&oelig;nician merchants, trading for amber in the
+far-off Baltic, had become aware of the wild Aryan tribes
+pressing to the northwest&mdash;the Teutons and Goths. Already,
+perhaps, upon the outlying spur of the Ural range,
+still other Aryans had fixed their hold, the progenitors of
+the Sclav. The aboriginal savage of Europe was already
+nearly extinct. His lance of flint had fallen harmless
+from the Aryan buckler; his rude altars had become displaced
+by the shrines of the new gods. In the Mediterranean
+Sea each sunny isle and pleasant promontory had
+long been in Aryan hands, and now in the wintry forests
+to the northward the resistless multitudes had more recently
+fixed their seats.</p>
+
+<p>7. In the Macedonians, the Aryans, having established
+their dominion in Europe, march back upon the track
+which their forefathers long before had followed westward;
+and now it is that the Hebrews become involved
+with the race that from that day to this has been the master-race
+of the world. It was a contact taking place under
+circumstances, it would seem, the most auspicious&mdash;the
+venerable old man and the beautiful Greek youth clasping
+hands, the ruthless followers of the conqueror baffled in
+their hopes of booty, the multitudes of Jerusalem, in
+their robes of peace, filling the air with acclamations, as
+Alexander rode from the place of prospect, upon the
+heights of Zion, into the solemn precincts of the Temple.</p>
+
+<p>8. The successors of Alexander the Great made the
+Jews a link between the Hellenic populations that had
+become widely scattered throughout the East by the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>
+Macedonian conquests, and the great barbarian races
+among whom the Greeks had placed themselves. The dispersion
+of the Jews, which had already taken place to such
+an extent through the Assyrian and Babylonian conquests,
+went forward now more vigorously. Throughout Western
+Asia they were found everywhere, but it was in
+Egypt that they attained the highest prosperity and honor.
+The one city, Alexandria alone, is said to have contained
+at length a million Jews, whom the Greek kings
+of Egypt, the Ptolemies, preferred in every way to the
+native population. Elsewhere, too, they were favored,
+and hence they were everywhere hated; and the hatred
+assumed a deeper bitterness from the fact that the Jew
+always remained a Jew, marked in garb, in feature, in
+religious faith, always scornfully asserting the claim that
+he was the chosen of the Lord. Palestine became incorporated
+with the empire of the Seleucid�, the Macedonian
+princes to whom had fallen Western Asia. Oppression
+at last succeeded the earlier favor, the defenses of
+Jerusalem were demolished, and the Temple defiled with
+pagan ceremonies; and now it is that we reach some of
+the finest figures in Hebrew history, the great high-priests,
+the Maccabees.</p>
+
+<p>9. There dwelt at the town of Modin a priest, Mattathias,
+the descendant of Asmon�us, to whom had been
+born five sons&mdash;John, Simon, Judas Maccab�us, or the
+Hammer, Eleazar, and Jonathan. Mattathias lamented
+the ravaging of the land and the plunder of the Temple
+by Antiochus Epiphanes, and when, in the year 167 <span class="smcap">B. C.</span>,
+the Macedonian king sent to Modin to have sacrifices
+offered, the Asmon�an returned a spirited reply. "Thou
+art a ruler," said the king's officers, "and an honorable
+and great man in this city, and strengthened with sons
+and brethren. Now, therefore, come thou first: so shalt
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>
+thou and thy house be in number of the king's friends,
+and thou and thy children shall be honored with silver
+and gold and many rewards." But Mattathias replied
+with a loud voice: "Though all the nations that are under
+the king's dominions obey him, and fall away every one
+from the religion of their fathers, yet will I and my sons
+and my brethren, walk in the covenant of our fathers.
+God forbid that we should forsake the law and the ordinances!
+We will not hearken to the king's words to go
+from our religion, either on the right hand or the left."</p>
+
+<p>10. An heroic struggle for freedom at once began,
+which opened for the Jews full of sadness. An apostate
+Jew, approaching to offer sacrifice in compliance with the
+command of Antiochus, was at once slain by Mattathias,
+who struck down also Apelles, the king's general, with
+some of his soldiers. As he fled with his sons into the
+desert, leaving his substance behind him, many of the
+faithful Israelites followed, pursued by the Macedonians
+seeking revenge. The oppressors knew well how to choose
+their time. Attacking on the Sabbath-day, when, according
+to old tradition, it was a transgression even to defend
+one's life, a thousand with their wives and children were
+burned and smothered in the caves in which they had
+taken refuge. But Mattathias, rallying those that remained,
+taught them to fight on the Sabbath, and at all
+times. The heathen altars were overthrown, the breakers
+of the law were slain, the uncircumcised boys were everywhere
+circumcised. But the fullness of time approached
+for Mattathias; after a year his day of death had come,
+and these were his parting words to his sons: "I know
+that your brother Simon is a man of counsel; give ear
+unto him always; he shall be a father unto you. As for
+Judas Maccab�us, he hath been mighty and strong even
+from his youth up; let him be your captain and fight
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>
+the battles of the people. Admit among you the righteous."</p>
+
+<p>11. No sooner had the father departed, than it appeared
+that the captain whom he had designated was a
+man as mighty as the great champions of old, Joshua and
+Gideon and Samson. He forthwith smote with defeat
+Apollonius, the general in the Samaritan country, and
+when he had slain the Greek he took his sword for his
+own. Seron, general of the army in C&oelig;le-Syria, came
+against him with a host of Macedonians strengthened by
+apostate Jews. The men of Judas Maccab�us were few
+in number, without food, and faint-hearted, but he inspired
+them with his own zeal, and overthrew the new
+foes at Bethoron. King Antiochus, being now called
+eastward to Persia, committed military matters in Palestine
+to the viceroy, Lysias, with orders to take an army
+with elephants and conquer Judea, enslave its people,
+destroy Jerusalem, and abolish the nation. At once the
+new invaders were upon the land; of foot-soldiers there
+were forty thousand, of horsemen seven thousand, and as
+they advanced many Syrians and renegade Jews joined
+them. Merchants marched with the army, with money
+to buy the captives as slaves, and chains with which to
+bind those whom they purchased. But Judas Maccab�us
+was no whit dismayed. Causing his soldiers to array
+themselves in sackcloth, he made them pray to Jehovah.
+He dismissed those lately married, and those who had
+newly come into great possessions, as likely to be faint-hearted.
+After addressing those that remained, he set
+them in the ancient order of battle, and waited the opportunity
+to strike.</p>
+
+<p>12. The hostile general, fancying he saw an opportunity
+to surprise the little band of Hebrews, sent a portion
+of his host against them, by secret ways at night.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>
+But the spies of Judas were out. Leaving the fires burning
+brightly in his camp, to lure forward those who were
+commissioned to attack him, he rushed forth under the
+shadows against the main body, weakened by the absence
+of the detachment. He forced their position, though
+strongly defended, overcame the army; then turned back
+to scatter utterly the other party who were seeking him
+in the abandoned camp. He took great booty of gold
+and silver, and of raiment purple and blue. He marched
+home in great joy to the villages of Judea, singing hymns
+to God, as was done in the days of Miriam, long before,
+because they had triumphed gloriously.</p>
+
+<p>13. The next year Lysias advanced from Antioch, the
+Syrian capital, with a force of sixty-five thousand. Judas
+Maccab�us, with ten thousand, overthrew his vanguard,
+upon which the viceroy, terrified at the desperate fighting,
+retired to assemble a still greater army. For a time there
+was a respite from war, during which Judas counseled
+the people to purify the Temple. The Israelites, overjoyed
+at the revival of their ancient customs, the restoration
+of the old worship in all its purity, and the relief from
+foreign oppressors, celebrated for eight days a magnificent
+festival. The lamps in the Temple porches were rekindled
+to the sound of instruments and the chant of the
+Levites. But one vial of oil could be found, when, lo, a
+miracle! the one vial sufficed for the supply of the seven-branched
+golden candlestick for a week. This ancient
+Maccab�an festival faithful Jews still celebrate under the
+name of the Hanoukhah, the Feast of Lights.</p>
+
+<p>14. Judas subdues also the Idumeans of the southward,
+and the Ammonites. His brethren, too, have become
+mighty men of valor. Jonathan crosses the Jordan
+with him and campaigns against the tribes to the eastward.
+Eleazar is a valiant soldier, and Simon carries
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>
+succor to the Jews in Galilee. But at length the Macedonian
+is again at hand, more terrible than before. The
+foot are a hundred thousand, the horse twenty thousand;
+and as rallying-points, thirty-two elephants tower among
+the ranks. About each one of the huge beasts is collected
+a troop of a thousand foot and five hundred horse;
+high turrets upon their backs are occupied by archers;
+their great flanks and limbs are cased in plates of steel.
+The host show their golden and brazen shields, making
+in the sun a glorious splendor, and shout in exultation so
+that the mountains echo. In the battle that follows Fortune
+does not altogether favor the Jews. In particular,
+the champion Eleazar lays down his life. He had attacked
+the largest elephant, a creature covered with plated
+armor, and carrying upon his back a whole troop of combatants,
+among whom it was believed that the king himself
+fought. Eleazar had slain those in the neighborhood,
+then, creeping beneath the belly of the elephant, had
+pierced him. As the brute fell, Eleazar was crushed in
+the fall. Judas was forced to retire within the defenses
+of Jerusalem, where still further disaster seemed likely to
+overcome him. Dissensions among themselves, however,
+weakened the Macedonians. Peace was offered the Jews,
+and permission to live according to the law of their fathers&mdash;proposals
+which were gladly accepted, although the
+invaders razed the defenses of the Temple.</p>
+
+<p>15. The peace was not enduring. New Macedonian
+invasions followed; new Hebrew successes, the Maccabees
+and their partisans making up, by their fierce zeal, their
+military skill, and dauntless valor, for their want of numbers.
+But a sad day came at last. Judas, twenty times
+outnumbered, confronts the leader Bacchides in Galilee.
+The Greek sets horsemen on both wings, his light troops
+and archers before the heavier phalanx, and takes his own
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>
+station on the right. The Jewish hero is valiant as ever;
+the right wing of the enemy turns to flee. The left and
+center, however, encompass him, and he falls, fighting
+gloriously, having earned a name of the most skillful and
+valorous of the world's great vindicators of freedom.</p>
+
+<div class="signature2"><i>James K. Hosmer. "The Story of the Jews."</i></div>
+<div class="signature"><i>Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p117-illus.jpg" id="p117-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p117-illus.jpg" width="500" height="289" alt="Engraving of Romulus and Remus" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h2>ROMAN RECORD.</h2>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h2><i>XXVI.&mdash;TARQUIN THE WICKED.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. For his tyranny King Tarquin was banished from
+Rome about 500 <span class="smcap">B. C.</span>, and after his expulsion he sent
+messengers to Rome to ask that his property should be
+given up to him, and the senate decreed that his prayer
+should be granted. But the king's ambassadors, while
+they were in Rome, stirred up the minds of the young
+men and others who had been favored by Tarquin, so
+that a plot was made to bring him back. Among those
+who plotted were Titus and Tiberius, the sons of the
+consul Brutus; and they gave letters to the messengers
+of the king. But it chanced that a certain slave hid himself
+in the place where they met, and overheard them
+plotting; and he came and told the thing to the consuls,
+who seized the messengers of the king with the letters
+upon their persons, authenticated by the seals of the
+young men. The culprits were immediately arrested;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>
+but the ambassadors were let go, because their persons
+were regarded as sacred. And the goods of King Tarquin
+were given up for plunder to the people.</p>
+
+<p>2. Then the traitors were brought up before the consuls,
+and the sight was such as to move all beholders to
+pity; for among them were the sons of Lucius Junius
+Brutus himself, the first consul, the liberator of the Roman
+people. And now all men saw how Brutus loved
+his country; for he bade the lictors put all the traitors to
+death, and his own sons first; and men could mark in his
+face the struggle between his duty as a chief magistrate
+of Rome and his feelings as a father. And while they
+praised and admired him they pitied him yet more. This
+was the first attempt to restore Tarquin the Proud.</p>
+
+<p>3. When Tarquin saw that the plot at home had failed,
+he prevailed on the people of Tarquinii and Veii to make
+war with him against the Romans. But the consuls came
+out against them; Valerius commanding the main army,
+and Brutus the cavalry. And it chanced that Aruns, the
+king's son, led the cavalry of the enemy. When he saw
+Brutus, he spurred his horse against him, and Brutus did
+not decline the combat. They rode straight at each other
+with leveled spears; and so fierce was the shock, that
+they pierced each other through from breast to back, and
+both fell dead.</p>
+
+<p>4. Then, also, the armies fought, but the battle was
+neither won nor lost. But in the night a voice was heard
+by the Etruscans, saying that the Romans were the conquerers.
+So the enemy fled by night; and when the Romans
+arose in the morning, there was no man to oppose
+them. Then they took up the body of Brutus, and departed
+home, and buried him in public with great pomp.</p>
+
+<p>5. And thus the second attempt to restore King Tarquin
+was frustrated. After the death of Brutus, Valerius,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>
+the remaining consul, ruled the people for awhile by himself,
+and began to build himself a house upon the ridge
+called Velia, which looks down upon the forum. So the
+people thought that he was going to make himself king;
+but when he heard this, he called an assembly of the
+people, and appeared before them with his fasces lowered,
+and with no axes in them, whence the custom remained
+ever after, that no consular lictors wore axes
+within the city, and no consul had power of life and
+death except when he was in command of his legions
+abroad. And he pulled down the beginning of his house
+upon the Velia, and built it below that hill. Also, he
+passed laws that every Roman citizen might appeal to the
+people against the judgment of the chief magistrates.
+Wherefore he was greatly honored among the people, and
+was called <i>Poplicola</i>, or <i>Friend of the People</i>.</p>
+
+<p>6. After this Valerius called together the great assembly
+of the centuries, and they chose Spurius Lucretius,
+father of Lucretius, to succeed Brutus. But he was an
+old man, and not many days afterward he died, and
+Marcus Horatius was chosen in his stead.</p>
+
+<p>7. The temple on the Capitol which King Tarquin
+began had never yet been consecrated. Then Valerius
+and Horatius drew lots which should be the consecrator,
+and the lot fell on Horatius. But the friends of Valerius
+murmured, and they wished to prevent Horatius
+from having the honor; so, when he was now saying the
+prayer of consecration, with his hand upon the door-post
+of the temple, there came a messenger who told him that
+his son was just dead, and that one mourning for a son
+could not rightly consecrate the temple. But Horatius
+kept his hand upon the door-post, and told them to see to
+the burial of his son, and finished the rite of consecration.
+Thus did he honor the gods even above his own son.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>
+    8. In the next year Valerius was again made consul,
+with Titus Lucretius; and Tarquin, despairing now of
+aid from his friends at Veii and Tarquinii, went to Lars
+Porsena of Clusium, a city on the river Clanis, which falls
+into the Tiber. Porsena was, at this time, acknowledged
+as chief of the twelve Etruscan cities; and he assembled
+a powerful army and came to Rome. He came so quickly
+that he reached the Tiber, and was near the Sublician
+Bridge before there was time to destroy it; and if he had
+crossed it the city would have been lost.</p>
+
+<p>9. Then, a noble Roman, called Horatius Cocles, of
+the Lucerian tribe, with two friends&mdash;Spurius Lartius, a
+Ramnian, and Titus Herminius, a Titian&mdash;posted themselves
+at the far end of the bridge, and defended the passage
+against all the Etruscan host, while the Romans were
+cutting it off behind them. When it was all but destroyed,
+his two friends retreated across the bridge, and
+Horatius was left alone to bear the whole attack of the
+enemy. He kept his ground, standing unmoved amid
+the darts which were showered upon his shield, till the
+last beams of the bridge fell crashing into the river.
+Then he prayed, saying, "Father Tiber, receive me, and
+bear me up I pray thee." He then plunged in, and
+reached the other side safely; and the Romans honored
+him greatly: they put up his statue in the Comitium, and
+gave him as much land as he could plow round in a day,
+and every man at Rome subscribed the cost of one day's
+food to reward him.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Liddell.</i></div>
+
+<p>10. This story is told in very spirited verse by Macaulay,
+in his poem of Horatius:</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p>
+<h3>HORATIUS.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">1. Fast by the royal standard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">O'erlooking all the war,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lars Porsena of Clusium<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sate in his ivory car.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">By the right wheel rode Mamilius,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Prince of the Latian name;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And by the left false Sextus,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That wrought the deed of shame.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">2. But when the face of Sextus<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Was seen among the foes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A yell that rent the firmament<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">From all the town arose.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On the <a name="tops" id="tops"></a>house-tops was no woman<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But spate toward him and hissed;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">No child but screamed out curses,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And shook its little fist.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">3. But the consul's brow was sad,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And the consul's speech was low;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And darkly looked he at the wall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And darkly at the foe.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Their van will be upon us<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Before the bridge goes down;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And if they once may win the bridge,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What hope to save the town?"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">4. Then out spoke brave Horatius,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The captain of the gate:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"To every man upon this earth<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Death cometh soon or late.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And how can man die better<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Than facing fearful odds<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For the ashes of his fathers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And the temples of his gods!<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p122-illus.jpg" id="p122-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p122-illus.jpg" width="500" height="743" alt="Battle on the bridge" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Horatius.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">5. "Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With all the speed ye may;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I, with two more to help me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Will hold the foe in play.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In yon straight path a thousand<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">May well be stopped by three.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Now, who will stand on either hand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And keep the bridge with me?"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">6. Then out spoke Spurius Lartius,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A Ramnian proud was he:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Lo, I will stand on thy right hand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And keep the bridge with thee."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And out spoke strong Herminius,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of Titian blood was he:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"I will abide on thy left side,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And keep the bridge with thee."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">7. The three stood calm and silent,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And looked upon the foes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And a great shout of laughter<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">From all the vanguard rose:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And forth three chiefs came spurring<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Before that mighty mass;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To earth they sprang, their swords they drew<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And lifted high their shields, and flew<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To win the narrow pass.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">8. Aunus from green Tifernum,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Lord of the Hill of Tines;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sicken in Ilva's mines;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And Picus, long to Clusium<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Vassal in peace and war,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>
+    <span class="i1">Who led to fight his Umbrian powers<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From that gray crag where, girt with towers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The fortress of Nequinum lowers<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">O'er the pale waves of Nar.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">9. Stout Lartius hurled down Aunus<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Into the stream beneath;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Herminius struck at Seius,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And clove him to the teeth;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">At Picus brave Horatius<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Darted one fiery thrust,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the proud Umbrian's gilded arms<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Clashed in the bloody dust.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">10. But meanwhile axe and lever<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Have manfully been plied,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And now the bridge hangs tottering<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Above the boiling tide.<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">"Come back, come back, Horatius,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Loud cried the Fathers all.<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">"Back, Lartius! back, Herminius!<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Back, ere the ruin fall!"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">11. Back darted Spurius Lartius;<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Herminius darted back:<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And as they passed, beneath their feet<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">They felt the timbers crack.<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">But when they turned their faces,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And on the further shore<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Saw brave Horatius stand alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">They would have crossed once more.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">12. But with a crash like thunder<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Fell every loosened beam,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And, like a dam, the mighty wreck<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Lay right athwart the stream;<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>
+    <span class="i22">And a long shout of triumph<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Rose from the walls of Rome,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">As to the highest turret tops<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Was splashed the yellow foam.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">13. Alone stood brave Horatius,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">But constant still in mind;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Thrice thirty thousand foes before,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And the broad flood behind.<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">"Down with him!" cried false Sextus,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">With a smile on his pale face.<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">"Now yield thee," cried Lars Porsena,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">"Now yield thee to our grace."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">14. Round turned he, as not deigning<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Those craven ranks to see;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Naught spake he to Lars Porsena,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">To Sextus naught spake he;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">But he saw on Palatinus<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">The white porch of his home,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And he spake to the noble river<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">That rolls by the towers of Rome.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">15. "Oh, Tiber! Father Tiber!<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">To whom the Romans pray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Take thou in charge this day!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">So he spoke, and speaking sheathed<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">The good sword by his side,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And with his harness on his back<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Plunged headlong in the tide.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">16. But fiercely ran the current,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Swollen high by months of rain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And fast his blood was flowing;<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And he was sore in pain,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>
+    <span class="i22">And heavy with his armor,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And spent with changing blows:<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And oft they thought him sinking,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">But still again he rose.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">17. And now he feels the bottom;<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Now on dry earth he stands;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Now round him throng the fathers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">To press his gory hands;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And now with shouts and clapping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And noise of weeping loud,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">He enters through the River-gate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Borne by the joyous crowd.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">18. And still his name sounds stirring<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Unto the men of Rome,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">As the trumpet-blast that cries to them<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">To charge the Volscian home;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And wives still pray to Juno<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">For boys with hearts as bold<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">As his who kept the bridge so well<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">In the brave days of old.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">19. And in the nights of winter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">When the cold north winds blow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And the long howling of the wolves<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Is heard amidst the snow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">When round the lonely cottage<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Roars loud the tempest's din,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And the good logs of Algidus<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Roar louder yet within;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">20. When the oldest cask is opened,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And the largest lamp is lit,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">When the chestnuts glow in the embers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And the kid turns on the spit;<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>
+    <span class="i22">When young and old in circle<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Around the firebrands close;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">When the girls are weaving baskets,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And the lads are shaping bows;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">21. When the goodman mends his armor,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">And trims his helmet's plume;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">When the goodwife's shuttle merrily<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Goes flashing through the loom;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">With weeping and with laughter<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Still is the story told,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">How well Horatius kept the bridge<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">In the brave days of old.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="signature3"><i>Macaulay.</i></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p127-illus.jpg" id="p127-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p127-illus.jpg" width="500" height="235" alt="Sitting in a circle" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XXVII.-THE ROMAN REPUBLIC.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. The establishment of the republic marked an era
+in the history of Rome. The people had decreed, that
+for them there never should be a king, and the law was
+kept to the letter; though, if they meant that supreme
+authority should never be held among them by one man,
+it was violated many times. The story of Rome is unique
+in the history of the world, for it is not the record of the
+life of one great country, but of a city that grew to be
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>
+strong, and successfully established its authority over many
+countries.</p>
+
+<p>2. The most ancient and the most remote from the
+sea of the cities of Latium, Rome soon became the most
+influential, and began to combine in itself the traits of
+the peoples near it; but owing to the singular strength
+and rare impressiveness of the national character, these
+were assimilated, and the inhabitant of the capital remained
+distinctively a Roman in spite of his intimate association
+with men of different origin and training.</p>
+
+<p>3. The citizen of Rome was practical, patriotic, and
+faithful to obligation; he loved to be governed by inflexible
+law; and it was a fundamental principle with him
+that the individual should be subordinate to the state.
+His kings were either organizers, like Numa and Ancus-Marcius,
+or warriors like Romulus and Tullus Hostilius;
+they either made laws, like Servius, or they enforced
+them with the despotism of Tarquinius Superbus. It is
+difficult for us to conceive of such majestic power emanating
+from a territory so insignificant.</p>
+
+<p>4. We hardly realize that Latium did not comprise a
+territory quite fifty miles by one hundred in extent, and
+that it was but a hundred miles from the Mediterranean
+to the Adriatic. It was but a short walk from Rome to
+the territory of the Etruscans, and when Tarquin found
+an asylum at C�re, he did not separate himself by twenty
+miles from the scene of his tyranny. Ostia was scarcely
+more distant, and one might have ridden before the first
+meal of the day to Lavinium, or Alba, or Veii, or to Ardea,
+the ancient city of the Rutuli. It is important to
+keep these facts in mind as we read the story of the remarkable
+city.</p>
+
+<p>5. All towns were built on hills in these early days,
+for safety in case of war, as well as because the valleys
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>
+were insalubrious, but this was not a peculiarity of the
+Romans, for in New England in the late ages of our own
+ancestors, they were obliged to follow the same custom.
+On the tops and slopes of seven hills, as they liked to remind
+themselves, the Romans built their city. They were
+not impressive elevations, though their sides were sharp
+and rocky, for the loftiest rose less than three hundred
+feet above the sea-level. Their summits were crowned
+with groves of beech trees and oaks, and in the lower
+lands grew osiers and other smaller varieties.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p129-illus.jpg" id="p129-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p129-illus.jpg" width="500" height="355" alt="A large building" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Ancient Roman Monument.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>6. The earlier occupations of the Roman people were
+war and agriculture, or the pasturage of flocks and herds.
+They raised grapes and made wines; they cultivated the
+oil-olive, and knew the use of its fruit. They found copper
+in their soil, and made a pound of it their unit of
+value, but it was so cheap that ten thousand pounds of it
+were required to buy a war-horse, though cattle and sheep
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>
+were much lower. They yoked their oxen and called the
+path they occupied a <i>jugerum</i> (<i>jugum</i>&mdash;a cross-beam or
+a yoke), and this in time came to be their familiar standard
+of square measure, containing about two-thirds of an
+acre. Two of these were assigned to a citizen, and seven
+were the narrow limit to which only one's landed possessions
+were for a long time allowed to extend. In time
+commerce was added to the pursuits of the men, and with
+it came fortunes and improved dwellings, and public
+buildings. Laziness and luxury were frowned upon by
+the early Romans. Mistress and maid worked together
+in the affairs of the household, like Lucretia and other
+noble women of whom history tells, and the man did not
+hesitate to hold the plow, as the example of Cincinnatus
+will show us. Time was precious, and thrift and economy
+were necessary to success. The father was the autocrat in
+the household, and exercised his power with stern rigidity.</p>
+
+<p>7. Art was backward, and came from abroad; of literature
+there was none, long after Greece had passed its period
+of heroic poetry. The dwellings of the citizens were
+low and insignificant, though, as time passed on, they
+became more massive and important. The vast public
+structures of the later kings were comparable to the taskwork
+of the builders of the Egyptian pyramids, and they
+still strike us with astonishment, and surprise.</p>
+
+<p>8. The religion of these strong conquerors was narrow,
+severe, and dreary. The early fathers worshiped
+native deities only. They recognized gods everywhere&mdash;in
+the home, in the grove, and on the mountain. They
+erected their altars on the hills; they had their lares and
+penates to watch over their hearth-stones, and their vestal
+virgins kept everlasting vigil near the never-dying fires in
+the temples. With the art of Greece that made itself felt
+through Etruria, came also the influence of the Grecian
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>
+mythology, and Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva found a shrine
+on the top of the Capitoline, where the first statue of a
+deity was erected. The mysterious sibylline books are
+also a mark of the Grecian influence, coming from Cum�,
+a colony of Magna Gr�cia.</p>
+
+<p>9. During the period we have considered, the city
+passed through five distinct stages of political organization.
+The government at first was an elective monarchy,
+the electors being a patriarchal aristocracy. After the
+invasion of the Sabines there was a union with that people,
+the sovereignty being held by rulers chosen from each, but
+it was not long before Rome became the head of a federal
+state. The Tarquins established a monarchy, which rapidly
+degenerated into an offensive tyranny, which aroused
+rebellion and at last led to the republic.</p>
+
+<p>10. During all these changes, the original aristocrats
+and their descendants held their position as the Populus
+Romanus, the Roman people, insisting that every one
+else must belong to an inferior order, and, as no body of
+men is willing to be condemned to a hopelessly subordinate
+position in a state, there was a perpetual antagonism
+between the patricians and the plebeians, between the
+aristocracy and the commonalty. This led to a temporary
+change under Servius Tullius, when property took
+the place of pedigree in establishing a man's rank and influence;
+but owing to the peculiar method of voting
+adopted, the power of the commons was not greatly increased.
+However, they had made their influence felt, and
+were encouraged.</p>
+
+<p>11. The overturning of the scheme by Tarquin favored a
+union of the two orders for the punishment of that tyrant,
+and they combined; but it was only for a time. When
+the danger had been removed, the tie was found broken
+and the antagonism rather increased, so that the subsequent
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>
+history for five generations, though exceedingly
+interesting, is largely a record of the struggles of the
+commons for relief from the burdens laid upon them by
+the aristocrats.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p132-illus.jpg" id="p132-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p132-illus.jpg" width="500" height="541" alt="Conversing with one another" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Roman Private Life.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>12. The father passed down to his son the story of
+the oppression of the patricians, and the son told the same
+sad narrative to his offspring. The mother mourned
+with her daughter over the sufferings brought upon them
+by the rich, for whom their poor father and brothers were
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>
+obliged to fight the battles, while they were not allowed
+to share the spoil, nor to divide the lands gained by their
+own prowess. The struggle was not so much between
+patrician and plebeian as between the rich and the poor.
+It was intimately connected with the uses of money in
+those times. What could the rich Roman do with his
+accumulations? He might buy land or slaves, or he
+might become a lender; to a certain extent he could use
+his surplus in commerce; but of these its most remunerative
+employment was found in usury. As there were no
+laws regulating the rates of interest, they became exorbitant,
+and as it was customary to compound it, debts rapidly
+grew beyond the possibility of payment. As the
+rich made the laws they naturally exerted their ingenuity
+to frame them in such a way as to enable the lender to
+collect his dues with promptness and with little regard
+for the feelings or interests of the debtor.</p>
+
+<p>13. It is difficult, if not impossible, for us to form a
+proper conception of the magnitude of the wrongs involved
+in the system of money-lending at Rome during
+the period of the republic. The small farmers were ever
+needy, and came to their wealthy neighbors for accommodation
+loans. If these were not paid when due, the
+debtor was liable to be locked up in prison, to be sold
+into slavery, with his children, wife, and grandchildren;
+and the heartless law reads, that in case the estate should
+prove insufficient to satisfy all claims, the creditors were
+actually authorized to cut the body to pieces, that each
+Shylock might take the pound of flesh that he claimed.</p>
+
+<p>14. At last the severity of the lenders overreached itself.
+It was in the year 495 <span class="smcap">B. C.</span>, that a poor but brave debtor,
+one who had been at the very front in the wars, broke
+out of his prison, and while the wind flaunted his rags in
+the face of the populace, clanked his chains and told the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
+story of his calamities so effectually in words of natural
+eloquence, that the commons were aroused to madness,
+and resolved at last to make a vigorous effort, and seek
+redress for their wrongs in a way that could not be resisted.</p>
+
+<p>15. The form of this man stands out forever on the
+pages of Roman history, as he entered the forum with all
+the badges of his misery upon him. His pale and emaciated
+body was but partially covered by his wretched tatters;
+his long hair played about his shoulders, and his
+glaring eyes and the grizzled beard hanging down before
+him added to his savage wildness. As he passed along
+he uncovered the scars of near two score battles that remained
+upon his breast, and explained to inquirers that
+while he had been serving in the Sabine war, his house
+had been pillaged and burned by the enemy; that when
+he had returned to enjoy the sweets of the peace he had
+helped to win, he had found that his cattle had been
+driven off, and a tax imposed.</p>
+
+<p>16. To meet the debts that thronged upon him and
+the interest by which they were aggravated, he had
+stripped himself of his ancestral farms. Finally, pestilence
+had overtaken him, and as he was not able to work,
+his creditor had placed him in a house of detention, the
+savage treatment in which was shown by the fresh stripes
+upon his bleeding back.</p>
+
+<p>17. At the moment a war was imminent, and the
+forum&mdash;the entire city, in fact&mdash;already excited, was
+filled with the uproar of the angry plebeians. Many confined
+for debt broke from their prison-houses and ran
+from all quarters into the crowds to claim protection.
+The majesty of the consuls was insufficient to preserve
+order, and while the discord was rapidly increasing horsemen
+rushed into the gates announcing that an enemy was
+actually upon them, marching to besiege the city. The
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>
+plebeians saw that their opportunity had arrived, and
+when proud Appius Claudius called upon them to enroll
+their names for the war, they refused the summons, saying
+that the patricians might fight their own battles; that
+for themselves it was better to perish together at home
+rather than to go to the field and die separated.</p>
+
+<p>18. Threatened with war beyond the gates, and with
+riot at home, the patricians were forced to promise to redress
+the civil grievances. It was ordered that no one
+could seize or sell the goods of a soldier while he was in
+camp, or arrest his children, and that no one should detain
+a citizen in prison or in chains, so as to hinder him
+from enlisting in the army. When this was known, the
+released prisoners volunteered in numbers, and entered
+upon the war with enthusiasm. The legions were victorious,
+and when peace was declared, the plebeians anxiously
+looked for the ratification of the promises made to them.</p>
+
+<p>19. Their expectations were disappointed. They had,
+however, seen their power, and were determined to act
+upon their new knowledge. Without undue haste they
+protected their homes on the Aventine, and retreated the
+next year to a mountain across the Anio, about three
+miles from the city, to a spot which afterward held a
+place in the memories of the Romans similar to that
+which the green meadow on the Thames called Runnymede
+has held in British history since the June day when
+King John met his commons there, and gave them the
+great charter of their liberties.</p>
+
+<p>20. The plebeians said calmly that they would no
+longer be imposed upon; that not one of them would
+thereafter enlist for a war until the public faith was made
+good. They reiterated the declaration that the lords
+might fight their own battles, so that the perils of conflict
+should lie where its advantages were. When the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>
+situation of affairs was thoroughly understood, Rome was
+on fire with anxiety, and the enforced suspense filled the
+citizens with fear lest an external enemy should take the
+opportunity for a successful onset upon the city.</p>
+
+<p>21. Meanwhile the poor secessionists fortified their
+camp, but carefully refrained from actual war. The people
+left in the city feared the senators, and the senators
+in turn dreaded the citizens lest they should do them violence.
+It was a time of panic and suspense. After consultation,
+good counsels prevailed in the senate, and it
+was resolved to send an embassy to the despised and downtrodden
+plebeians, who now seemed to hold the balance of
+power, and to treat for peace, for there could be no security
+until the secessionists had returned to their homes.</p>
+
+<p>22. The spokesman on the occasion was Menenius
+Agrippa Lanatus who was popular with the people and
+had a reputation for eloquence. The address of this
+good man had its desired effect, and the people were at
+last willing to listen to a proposition for their return. It
+was settled that there should be a general release of all
+those who had been handed over to their creditors, and
+a cancelling of debts, and that two of the plebeians should
+be selected as their protectors, with power to veto objectionable
+laws, their persons being as inviolable at all times
+as were those of the sacred messengers of the gods.
+These demands, showing that the plebeians did not seek
+political power, were agreed to, the Valerian laws were
+reaffirmed, and a solemn treaty was concluded, each party
+swearing for itself and its posterity, with all the formality
+of representatives of foreign nations.</p>
+
+<p>23. The two leaders of the commons, Caius Licinius
+and Lucius Albinus, were elected the first tribunes of
+the people, as the new officers were called, with two
+�diles to aid them. They were not to leave the city
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>
+during their term of office, their doors being open
+night and day, that all who needed their protection might
+have <a name="access" id="access"></a>access to them. The hill upon which this treaty
+had been concluded was ever after known as the Sacred
+Mount; its top was enclosed and consecrated, an altar
+being built upon it, on which sacrifices were offered to
+Jupiter, the god of terror and deliverance, who had allowed
+the commons to return home in safety, though
+they had gone out in trepidation. Henceforth the commons
+were to be protected; they were better fitted to
+share the honors as well as the benefits of their country,
+and the threatened dissolution of the nation was averted.</p>
+
+<div class="signature2"><i>Arthur Gilman, M. A. "The Story of Rome."</i></div>
+<div class="signature"><i>Putnam's "Stories of the Nations Series."</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XXVIII.&mdash;CINCINNATUS.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. In the course of the early Roman wars, Minucius,
+one of the consuls suffered himself to be cut off from
+Rome, in a narrow valley of Mount Algidus, and it
+seemed as if hope of delivery there was none. However,
+five horsemen found means to escape and report at
+Rome the perilous condition of the consul and his army.
+Then the other consul consulted the senate, and it was
+agreed that the only man who could deliver the army
+was Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. He was thereupon
+named dictator, and deputies were sent to acquaint him
+with his high dignity.</p>
+
+<p>2. He was called Cincinnatus, because he wore his
+hair in long curling locks, <i>cincinni</i>, and, though he was a
+patrician he lived on his own small farm, like any plebeian
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>
+yeoman. This farm was beyond the Tiber, and here he
+lived contentedly with his wife Racilia.</p>
+
+<p>3. Two years before he had been consul, and had
+been brought into great distress by the conduct of his
+son, K�so. This K�so was a Wild and insolent young
+man, who despised the plebeians and hated their tribunes.
+One Volscius Fictor alleged that he and his brother, an
+old and sickly man, had been attacked by K�so and a
+party of young patricians by night, and that his brother
+had died of the treatment then received. The indignation
+of the people rose high; and K�so was forced to go
+into exile. After this the young patricians became more
+insolent than ever, but they courted the poorest of the
+people, hoping to engage them on their side against the
+more respectable plebeians.</p>
+
+<p>4. Next year all Rome was alarmed by finding that
+the Capitol had been seized by an enemy during the
+night. This enemy was Appius Herdonius, a Sabine,
+and with him was associated a band of desperate men,
+exiles and runaway slaves. The first demand he made
+was that all Roman exiles should be restored. The consul,
+P. Valerius, collected a force and took the Capitol,
+but was killed in the assault, and Cincinnatus, father of
+the banished K�so, was chosen to succeed him. When
+he heard the news of his elevation, he turned to his wife,
+and said: "I fear, Racilia, our little field must remain
+this year unsown." Then he assumed the robe of state,
+and went to Rome. It was believed that K�so had been
+concerned in the desperate enterprise that had just been
+defeated. What had become of him was unknown; but
+that he was already dead was pretty certain; and his father
+was very bitter against the tribunes and their party, to
+whom he attributed his son's disgrace and death.</p>
+
+<p>5. P. Valerius, the consul, had persuaded the plebeians
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>
+to join in the assault of the Capitol, by promising to gain
+them further privileges; this promise Cincinnatus refused
+to keep, and used all his power to frustrate the attempts
+of the tribunes to gain its fulfillment. At the end of his
+year of office, however, when the patricians wished to
+continue him in the consulship, he positively declined the
+offer, and returned to his rustic life as if he had never
+left it.</p>
+
+<p>6. It was two years after these events that the deputies
+of the senate, who came to invest him with the ensigns
+of dictatorial power, found him working on his
+little farm. He was clad in his tunic only, and as the
+deputies advanced they bade him put on his toga, that he
+might receive the commands of the senate in seemly
+guise. So he wiped off the dust and sweat, and bade his
+wife fetch his toga, and asked anxiously whether all was
+right or no. Then the deputies told him how the army
+was beset by the �quian foe, and how the Senate looked
+to him as the savior of the state. A boat was provided
+to carry him over the Tiber; and when he reached the
+other bank, he was greeted by his family and friends,
+and the greater part of the senate, who followed him to
+the city, while he himself walked in state, with his four
+and twenty lictors.</p>
+
+<p>7. That same day the dictator and his master of horse
+came down into the forum, ordered all shops to be shut,
+and all business to be suspended. All men of the military
+age were to meet in the Field of Mars before sunset,
+each man with five days' provisions and twelve stakes;
+the older men were to get the provisions ready, while the
+soldiers were preparing the stakes. Thus all was got ready
+in time: the dictator led them forth; and they marched
+so rapidly, that by midnight they had reached Mount
+Algidus, where the army of the consul was hemmed in.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>
+    8. Then the dictator, when he had discovered the
+place of the enemy's army, ordered his men to put all
+their baggage down in one place, and then to surround
+the enemy's camp. They obeyed, and each one raising
+a shout, began digging the trench and fixing his stakes, so
+as to form a palisade round the enemy. The consul's
+army, which was hemmed in, heard the shout of their
+brethren, and flew to arms; and so hotly did they fight
+all night, that the �quians had no time to attend to the
+new foe, and next morning found themselves hemmed in
+on all sides by the trench and palisade, so that they were
+now between two Roman armies. They were thus forced
+to surrender. The dictator required them to give up
+their chiefs, and made their whole army pass under the
+yoke, which was formed by two spears fixed upright in
+the ground, and a third bound across them at the top.</p>
+
+<p>9. Cincinnatus returned to Rome amid the shouts and
+exultation of his soldiers: they gave him a golden crown,
+in token that he had saved the lives of many citizens;
+and the senate decreed that he should enter the city in
+triumph. So Cincinnatus accomplished the purpose for
+which he had been made dictator in twenty-four hours.
+One evening he marched forth to deliver the consul, and
+the next evening he returned victorious. But he would
+not lay down his high office till he had avenged his son.
+Accordingly, he summoned Volscius Fictor, the accuser,
+and had him tried for perjury. The man was condemned
+and banished; and then Cincinnatus once more returned
+to his wife and farm.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Liddell.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XXIX.&mdash;THE ROMAN FATHER.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. Among the most interesting of the early legends of
+Rome is that of Virginius, a soldier of the army belonging
+to the plebeian order.
+While performing
+his duty in the army
+which was encamped
+about twenty miles from
+Rome, his young daughter,
+Virginia, about fifteen
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>
+years of age found her home with her near relatives
+in the city. Her beauty attracted the attention of Appius
+Claudius, one of the ten governors of Rome. With the
+view of getting possession of her person, he ordered one
+of his clients, M. Claudius by name, to lay hands upon her
+as she was going to her school in the Forum, and to claim
+her as his slave. The man did so; and when the cries of
+her nurse brought a crowd round them, M. Claudius insisted
+on taking her before the decemvir, in order (as he
+said) to have the case fairly tried. Her friends consented,
+and no sooner had Appius heard the matter, than he
+gave judgment that the maiden should be delivered up to
+the claimant, who should be bound to produce her in case
+her alleged father appeared to gainsay the claim.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p141-illus.jpg" id="p141-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p141-illus.jpg" width="500" height="671" alt="Claimed as a slave" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>The Seizure of Virginia.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>2. Now this judgment was directly against one of the
+laws of the Twelve Tables, which Appius himself had
+framed: for therein it was provided, that any person being
+at freedom should continue free, till it was proved
+that such person was a slave. Icilius her betrothed,
+therefore, with Numitorius, the uncle of the maiden,
+boldly argued against the legality of the judgment; and
+at length, Appius, fearing a tumult, agreed to leave the
+girl in their hands, on condition of their giving bail to
+bring her before him next morning; and then, if Virginius
+did not appear, he would at once, he said, give her
+up to her pretended master.</p>
+
+<p>3. To this Icilius consented; but he delayed giving
+bail, pretending that he could not procure it readily, and
+in the mean time he sent off a secret message to the camp
+on Algidus to inform Virginius of what had happened.
+As soon as the bail was given, Appius also sent a message
+to the decemvirs in command of that army, ordering
+them to refuse leave of absence to Virginius. But when
+this last message arrived, Virginius was already half-way
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>
+on his road to Rome; for the distance was not more than
+twenty miles, and he had started at nightfall.</p>
+
+<p>4. Next morning early, Virginius entered the forum
+leading his daughter by the hand, both clad in mean attire.
+A great number of friends and matrons attended
+him; and he went about among the people entreating
+them to support him against the tyranny of Appius. So,
+when Appius came to take his place on the judgment-seat,
+he found the forum full of people, all friendly to
+Virginius and his cause. But he inherited the boldness
+as well as the vices of his sires, and though he saw Virginius
+standing there, ready to prove that he was the maiden's
+father, he at once gave judgment against his own
+law, that Virginia should be given up to M. Claudius,
+till it should be proved that she was free. The wretch
+came up to seize her, and the lictors kept the people from
+him. Virginius now despairing of deliverance, begged
+Appius to allow him to ask the maiden whether she were
+indeed his daughter or no. "If," said he, "I find I am
+not her father, I shall bear her loss the lighter." Under
+this pretense, he drew her aside to a spot upon the northern
+side of the forum (afterward called the Nov� Tabern�),
+and here, snatching up a knife from a butcher's stall, he
+cried: "In this way only can I keep thee free!" and,
+so saying, stabbed her to the heart.</p>
+
+<p>5. Then he turned to the tribunal, and said: "On
+thee, Appius, and on thy head be this blood." Appius
+cried out to sieze "the murderer"; but the crowd made
+way for Virginius, and he passed through them holding
+up the bloody knife, and went out at the gate, and made
+straight for the army. There, when the soldiers had
+heard his tale, they at once abandoned their decemviral
+generals, and marched to Rome. They were soon followed
+by the other army from the Sabine frontier; for
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>
+to them Icilius had gone, and Numitorius; and they
+found willing ears among the men. So the two armies
+joined their banners, elected new generals, and encamped
+upon the Aventine hill, the quarter of the plebeians.</p>
+
+<p>6. Meantime, the people at home had risen against Appius;
+and after driving him from the forum, they joined
+their armed fellow citizens upon the Aventine. There the
+whole body of the commons, armed and unarmed, hung
+like a dark cloud ready to burst upon the city.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Liddell.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h3>VIRGINIUS.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">1. When Appius Claudius saw that deed he shuddered and sank down,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And hid his face some little space with the corner of his gown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Till with white lips and blood-shot eyes Virginius tottered nigh,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And stood before the judgment-seat, and held the knife on high.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Oh! dwellers in the nether gloom, avengers of the slain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">By this dear blood, I cry to you, do right between us twain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And even as Appius Claudius hath dealt with me and mine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Deal you by Appius Claudius and all the Claudian line!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">So spake the slayer of his child, and turned, and went his way;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But first he cast one haggard glance to where the body lay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And writhed, and groaned a fearful groan; and then with steadfast feet,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>
+    <span class="i1">Strode right across the market-place into the sacred street.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">2. Then up sprang Appius Claudius: "Stop him; alive or dead!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Ten thousand pounds of copper to the man who brings his head."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He looked upon his clients, but none would work his will.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He looked upon his lictors, but they trembled and stood still.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And as Virginius, through the press, his way in silence cleft,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Ever the mighty multitude fell back to right and left.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And he hath passed in safety unto his woful home,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And there ta'en horse to tell the camp what deeds are done in Rome.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">3. By this the flood of people was swollen from every side,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And streets and porches round were filled with that o'erflowing tide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And close around the body gathered a little train<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They brought a bier, and hung it with many a cypress crown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And gently they uplifted her, and gently laid her down.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The face of Appius Claudius wore the Claudian scowl and sneer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And in the Claudian note he cried, "What doth this rabble here?<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Have they no crafts to mind at home, that hitherward they stray?<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Ho! lictors, clear the market-place, and fetch the corpse away!"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">4. Till then the voice of pity and fury was not loud,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But a deep, sullen murmur, wandered among the crowd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Like the moaning noise that goes before the whirlwind on the deep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Or the growl of a fierce watch-dog but half-aroused from sleep.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But when the lictors at that word, tall yeomen all, and strong,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Each with his axe and sheaf of twigs, went down into the throng,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Those old men say, who saw that day of sorrow and of sin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That in the Roman Forum was never such a din.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The wailing, hooting, cursing, the howls of grief and hate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Were heard beyond the Pincian hill, beyond the Latin gate.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">5. But close around the body, where stood the little train<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">No cries were there, but teeth set fast, low whispers, and black frowns,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And breaking up of benches, and girding up of gowns.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'Twas well the lictors might not pierce to where the maiden lay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Else surely had they been all twelve torn limb from limb that day.<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>
+    <span class="i1">Right glad they were to struggle back, blood streaming from their heads,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With axes all in splinters, and raiment all in shreds.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p147-illus.jpg" id="p147-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p147-illus.jpg" width="500" height="611" alt="She's dead" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>The Dead Virginia.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">6. Then Appius Claudius gnawed his lip, and the blood left his cheek;<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>
+    <span class="i1">And thrice he beckoned with his hand, and thrice he strove to speak;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And thrice the tossing forum sent up a frightful yell&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"See, see, thou dog! what thou hast done; and hide thy shame in hell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thou that wouldst make our maidens slaves, must first make slaves of men.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Tribunes!&mdash;Hurrah for tribunes! Down with the wicked Ten!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And straightway, thick as hailstones, came whizzing through the air<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Pebbles, and bricks, and potsherds, all round the curule chair;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And upon Appius Claudius great fear and trembling came;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For never was a Claudius yet brave against aught but shame.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">7. So now 'twas seen of Appius. When stones began to fly,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He shook, and crouched, and wrung his hands, and smote upon his thigh.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Kind clients, honest lictors, stand by me in this fray!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Must I be torn to pieces? Home, home the nearest way."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">While yet he spake, and looked around with a bewildered stare,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Four sturdy lictors put their necks beneath the curule chair;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And fourscore clients on the left, and <a name="four" id="four"></a>fourscore on the right,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Arrayed themselves with swords and staves, and loins girt up for fight.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">8. But, though without or staff or sword, so furious was the throng,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That scarce the train, with might and main, could bring their lord along.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Twelve times the crowd made at him; five times they seized his gown;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Small chance was his to rise again, if once they got him down:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And sharper came the pelting; and evermore the yell&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Tribunes! we will have tribunes!" rose with a louder swell:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the chair tossed as tosses a bark with tattered sail,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When raves the Adriatic beneath an eastern gale,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When the Calabrian sea-marks are lost in clouds of spume,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the great Thunder-Cape has donned his veil of inky gloom.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">One stone hit Appius in the mouth, and one beneath the ear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And ere he reached Mount Palatine, he swooned with pain and fear.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His cursed head, that he was wont to hold so high with pride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Now, like a drunken man's, hung down, and swayed from side to side;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And when his stout retainers had brought him to his door,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His neck and face were all one cake of filth and clotted gore.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="signature3"><i>Macaulay.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XXX.&mdash;ARCHIMEDES.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. This extraordinary man was a native of Syracuse, a
+city of Sicily. He was born two hundred and eighty-eight
+years before the Christian era, and from fifty to one
+hundred years after the appearance of the far-famed Euclid.
+Who his parents were, and what was their rank in
+life are not known, though it is claimed that he was in
+some way related to Hiero the king of Syracuse. It is said
+that Hiero considered himself greatly honored by such a
+relation, and well he might be, for science and genius combined
+are much higher than royalty. Besides it is probable
+that the name of the monarch would never have been
+preserved except in connection with the great philosopher.</p>
+
+<p>2. By whom he was instructed in the elements of
+education, history fails to inform us, but it tells us of the
+progress he made in mechanics and geometry, and for the
+sake of the quiet necessary to pursue these branches he
+gave up all the advantages of a political life derived from
+his connection with the king. His favorite studies had
+more charms for him than the glitter of events or the
+plunder of conquered cities.</p>
+
+<p>3. After studying at home until he could learn nothing
+more in the city of his birth, he repaired to Alexandria
+in Egypt, at that time the educational center that
+had inherited the philosophy and culture of Athens.
+Here he studied for some years and became acquainted
+with the most distinguished scholars of his day. Among
+his most intimate friends was Conon, a famous mathematician
+from Samos, who often exchanged problems with
+him for solution. While staying at Alexandria he began
+his work of practical invention which he afterward turned
+to such good account.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p151-illus.jpg" id="p151-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p151-illus.jpg" width="500" height="784" alt="A relaxing mood" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Archimedes.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>4. Some of his ardent admirers have maintained that
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 151]<br />[Pg 152]</a></span>
+Archimedes taught the Egyptians more than they taught
+him; that while he imbibed philosophy and book learning,
+he more than repaid the New Athens by inventions
+which were of the greatest use in the ordinary work of
+the home and the shop. Although we do not know exactly
+what he turned his hand to, we are quite sure that
+in many ways he performed feats that have scarcely been
+surpassed in modern times.</p>
+
+<p>5. After his return to his native city, Archimedes
+continued his studies with unabated vigor, often neglecting
+his food and the care of his person when a new problem
+was to be solved or a new invention perfected. The
+method of determining the relative amount of gold and
+base metal in Hiero's crown occurred to him while in his
+bath, and without stopping to put on his clothes, he is said
+to have rushed through the streets exclaiming "<i>Eureka!</i>
+Eureka!"</p>
+
+<p>6. To prevent the ruin of his health his servants were
+sometimes obliged to take him by main force to the table
+and bath, and to take his daily exercise. Hiero at one
+time expressed an admiration of some of his inventions
+when Archimedes replied that had he a place to fix
+his machines upon he could move the earth itself. His
+days were passed in study and retirement until the safety
+of his native city called him out to take part in its
+defense.</p>
+
+<p>7. During the wars between the Romans and Carthaginians,
+the people of Sicily, and especially the Syracusans,
+had for a long time remained neutral or been in alliance
+with the Romans. But a Carthaginian interest
+sprung up which mastered and sought to extend itself
+over the whole island. As soon as the news of this political
+movement and rebellion reached Marcellus, the
+Roman general, he hastened with a strong force into
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>
+Sicily, and after the capture of the principalities he laid
+siege to Syracuse.</p>
+
+<p>8. Here he met with an unexpected check. The inventive
+genius of Archimedes enabled the Syracusans to
+successfully defend their city for three years. He so improved
+the warlike instruments for the discharge of missiles,
+that he repeatedly beat back the most determined
+assault, and the Romans were more than once on the
+point of abandoning the siege, believing that the city was
+defended by the gods. By means of long and powerful
+levers, together with grappling irons, he is said to have destroyed
+many of the Roman galleys when they approached
+the walls of the city; and when they retired for
+safety he set them on fire by a combination of immense
+burning-glasses.</p>
+
+<p>9. The story of these exploits is told by the Romans
+themselves, and there can be no doubt but here Science
+gained one of her greatest triumphs. The success of the
+new engine was evidently so great, that an element of
+superstition entered into the record. But the triumph of
+genius was not complete. During a festival in honor of
+Diana when wine flowed freely, the guards neglected to
+man some particular part of the walls. The Romans observing
+this scaled the walls and made themselves masters
+of the city.</p>
+
+<p>10. Amid the plunder and carnage which followed,
+Archimedes was killed. Marcellus had given orders for
+his special protection, but the deed was done by a Roman
+soldier. One account says that he was slain in his laboratory
+where he was found studying a problem, and he refused
+to move until he had completed the solution. Another
+account says that he was put to death on the street
+while drawing a geometrical figure in the sand. The
+third and most rational account is that while bearing some
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>
+boxes of mathematical instruments to Marcellus he was
+killed by a soldier who supposed that the boxes contained
+treasure. His death happened about 210 <span class="smcap">B. C.</span> at the age
+of seventy-six.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XXXI.&mdash;THE DEATH OF C�SAR.</i></h2>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 140px;">
+    <a name="p154-illus.jpg" id="p154-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p154-illus.jpg" width="140" height="212" alt="His image" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>C�sar (enlarged from a Roman Coin).</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>1. The greatest of Rome's generals, and one of the
+greatest of military chieftains of all ages, was Julius
+C�sar. Of a patrician
+family, he was one of the
+most accomplished men
+of Rome. He was great
+in civil as well as military
+life. He became
+the most popular of the
+greatest men of Rome's
+most brilliant days. His
+military feats rivaled
+those of Alexander, and
+he extended the rule of
+Rome through all central
+Europe, completely
+subduing all of the tribes
+with which he came in
+contact. From his northern
+victories he turned
+his victorious army south,
+crossed the Rubicon,
+which marked the border of his own province, and seized
+the control of Rome.</p>
+
+<p>2. In the management of civil affairs he was as successful
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>
+as in the field. He corrected abuses that had
+crept into the political management of affairs, and placed
+new safeguards around the rights of the people.</p>
+
+<p>3. His administration was almost as brilliant as that
+of Pericles in Athens; yet the principal nobles did not
+love him, and with the people at large he suffered still
+more, from a belief that he wished to be made king. On
+his return from Spain he had been named dictator and
+imperator for life. His head had for some time been
+placed on the money of the republic, a regal honor conceded
+to none before him. Quintilis, the fifth month of
+the old calendar, received from him the name which it
+still bears. The senate took an oath to guard the safety
+of his person.</p>
+
+<p>4. He was honored with sacrifices, and honors hitherto
+reserved for the gods. But C�sar was not satisfied. He
+was often heard to quote the sentiment of Euripides, that,
+"if any violation of law is excusable, it is excusable for
+the sake of gaining sovereign power." It was no doubt
+to ascertain the popular sentiments that various propositions
+were made toward an assumption of the title of
+king. His statues in the forum were found crowned with
+a diadem; but two of the tribunes tore it off, and the mob
+applauded.</p>
+
+<p>5. On the 26th of January, at the great Latin festival
+on the Alban Mount, voices in the crowd saluted him as
+king; but mutterings of discontent reached his ears, and
+he promptly said; "I am no king, but C�sar." The final
+attempt was made at the Lupercalia on the 15th of February.
+Antony, in the character of one of the priests of
+Pan, approached the dictator as he sat presiding in his
+golden chair, and offered him an embroidered band, like
+the diadem of Oriental sovereigns. The applause which
+followed was partial, and the dictator put the offered gift
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>
+aside. Then a burst of genuine cheering greeted him,
+which waxed louder still when he rejected it a second
+time. Old traditional feeling was too strong at Rome
+even for C�sar's daring temper to brave it. The people
+would submit to the despotic rule of a dictator, but would
+not have a king.</p>
+
+<p>6. Other causes of discontent had been agitating various
+classes at Rome. The more fiery partisans of C�sar
+disapproved of his clemency; the more prodigal sort
+were angry at his regulations for securing the provincials
+from oppression. The populace of the city complained&mdash;the
+genuine Romans, at seeing favor extended to provincials,
+those of foreign origin because they had been
+excluded from the corn bounty. C�sar, no doubt, was
+eager to return to his army, and escape from the increasing
+difficulties which beset his civil government.
+But as soon as he joined the army, he would assume
+monarchical power in virtue of the late decree; and this
+consideration urged the discontented to a plot against his
+life.</p>
+
+<p>7. The difficulty was to find a leader. At length
+Marcus Junius Brutus accepted the post of danger. This
+young man, a nephew of Cato, had taken his uncle as an
+example for his public life. But he was fonder of speculation
+than of action. His habits were reserved, rather
+those of a student than a statesman. He had reluctantly
+joined the cause of Pompey, for he could ill forget that
+it was by Pompey that his father had been put to death
+in cold blood. After the battle of Pharsalia he was treated
+by C�sar almost like a son. In the present year he
+had been proclaimed pr�tor of the city, with the promise
+of the consulship. But the discontented remnants of
+the senatorial party assailed him with constant reproaches.
+The name of Brutus, dear to all Roman patriots, was made
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
+a rebuke to him. "His ancestors expelled the Tarquins;
+could he sit quietly under a king's rule?" At the foot
+of the statue of that ancestor, or on his own pr�torian
+tribunal, notes were placed, containing phrases such as
+these: "Thou art not Brutus: would thou wert." "Brutus,
+thou sleepest." "Awake, Brutus." Gradually he was
+brought to think that it was his duty as a patriot to put an
+end to C�sar's rule even by taking his life.</p>
+
+<p>8. The most notable of those who arrayed themselves
+under him was Cassius. This man's motive is unknown.
+He had never taken much part in politics; he had made
+submission to the conquerer, and had been received with
+marked favor. Some personal reason probably actuated
+his unquiet spirit. More than sixty persons were in the
+secret, most of them, like Brutus and Cassius, under personal
+obligations to the dictator. Publius Servilius Casca
+was by his grace tribune of the plebs. Lucius Tullius
+Cimber was promised the government of Bithynia. Decius
+Brutus, one of his old Gallic officers, was pr�tor
+elect, and was to be gratified with the rich province of
+Cisalpine Gaul. Caius Trebonius, another trusted officer,
+had received every favor which the dictator could bestow;
+he had just laid down the consulship, and was on the eve
+of departure for the government of Asia. Quintius Ligarius
+had lately accepted a pardon from the dictator, and
+rose from a sick bed to join the conspirators.</p>
+
+<p>9. A meeting of the senate was called for the Ides of
+March, at which C�sar was to be present. This was the
+day appointed for the murder. The secret had oozed out.
+Many persons warned C�sar that some danger was impending.
+A Greek soothsayer told him of the very day.
+On the morning of the Ides his wife arose so disturbed by
+dreams, that she persuaded him to relinquish his purpose
+of presiding in the senate, and he sent Antony in his stead.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>
+    10. This change of purpose was reported after the
+House was formed. The conspirators were in despair.
+Decius Brutus at once went to C�sar, told him that the
+Fathers were only waiting to confer upon him the sovereign
+power which he desired, and begged him not to listen
+to auguries and dreams. C�sar was persuaded to change
+his purpose, and was carried forth in his litter. On his
+way, a slave who had discovered the conspiracy tried to
+attract his notice, but was unable to reach him for the
+crowd. A Greek philosopher, named Artemidorus, succeeded
+in putting a roll of paper into his hand, containing
+full information of the conspiracy; but C�sar, supposing
+it to be a petition, laid it by his side for a more
+convenient season. Meanwhile, the conspirators had reason
+to think that their plot had been discovered. A friend
+came up to Casca and said, "Ah, Casca, Brutus has told
+me your secret!" The conspirator started, but was relieved
+by the next sentence: "Where will <i>you</i> find money
+for the expenses of the �dileship?" More serious alarm
+was felt when Popillius L�nas remarked to Brutus and
+Cassius: "You have my good wishes; but what you do,
+do quickly"&mdash;especially when the same senator stepped
+up to C�sar on his entering the house, and began whispering
+in his ear. So terrified was Cassius, that he thought
+of stabbing himself instead of C�sar, till Brutus quietly
+observed, that the gestures of Popillius indicated that he
+was asking a favor, not revealing a fatal secret. C�sar
+took his seat without further delay.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p159-illus.jpg" id="p159-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p159-illus.jpg" width="500" height="298" alt="Trying to convince the people" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Antony delivering the Oration on the Death of C�sar.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>11. As was agreed, Cimber presented a petition praying
+for his brother's recall from banishment; and all the
+conspirators pressed round the dictator, urging his favorable
+answer. Displeased at their importunity, C�sar
+attempted to rise. At that moment Cimber seized the
+lappet of his robe, and pulled him down; and immediately
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 159]<br />[Pg 160]</a></span>
+Casca struck him from the side, but inflicted only a
+slight wound. Then all drew their daggers and assailed
+him. C�sar for a time defended himself with the gown
+folded over his left arm, and the sharp-pointed style which
+he held in his right hand for writing on the wax of his
+tablets. But when he saw Brutus among the assassins, he
+exclaimed, "You, too, Brutus!" and covering his face with
+his gown, offered no further resistance. In their eagerness,
+some blows intended for their victim fell upon themselves.
+But enough reached C�sar to do the bloody work. Pierced
+by twenty-three wounds, he fell at the base of Pompey's
+statue, which had been removed after Pharsalia by Antony,
+but had been restored by the magnanimity of C�sar.</p>
+
+<p>12. Thus died "the foremost man of all the world,"
+a man who failed in nothing that he attempted. He
+might, Cicero thought, have been a great orator; his "Commentaries"
+remain to prove that he was a great writer.
+As a general he had few superiors, as a statesman and
+politician no equal. That which stamps him as a man of
+true greatness, is the entire absence of vanity and self-conceit
+from his character. He paid, indeed, great attention
+to his personal appearance, even when his hard
+life and unremitting activity had brought on fits of an
+epileptic nature, and left him with that meager visage
+which is familiar to us from his coins. Even then he was
+sedulous in arranging his robes, and was pleased to have
+the privilege of wearing a laurel crown to hide the scantiness
+of his hair. But these were foibles too trifling to be
+taken as symptoms of real vanity. His successes in war,
+achieved by a man who in his forty-ninth year had hardly
+seen a camp, add to our conviction of his real genius.
+These successes were due not so much to scientific man&oelig;uvres,
+as to rapid audacity of movement, and mastery
+over the wills of men.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>13. The effect of C�sar's fall was to cause a renewal
+of bloodshed for another half generation; and then his
+work was finished by a far less general ruler. Those who
+slew C�sar were guilty of a great crime, and a still greater
+blunder.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Liddell.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XXXII.&mdash;HOW ROMANS LIVED.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. The Roman house at first was extremely simple,
+being of but one room, called the <i>atrium</i> or darkened
+chamber, because its walls were stained by the smoke
+that rose from the fire upon the hearth, and with difficulty
+found its way through a hole in the roof. The
+aperture also admitted light and rain, the water that
+dripped from the roof being caught in a cistern that was
+formed in the middle of the room. The atrium was entered
+by way of a vestibule open to the sky, in which the
+gentleman of the house put on his toga as he went out.
+Double doors admitted the visitor to the entrance-hall, or
+<i>ostium</i>.</p>
+
+<p>2. There was a threshold upon which it was unlucky
+to place the left foot; a knocker afforded means of announcing
+one's approach, and a porter, who had a small
+room at the side, opened the door, showing the caller the
+words <i>Cave canem</i> (beware of the dog), or <i>Salve</i> (welcome),
+or perchance the dog himself reached out toward the visitor
+as far as his chain would allow. Sometimes, too, there
+would be noticed in the mosaic of the pavement the representation
+of the faithful domestic animal which has so long
+been the companion as well as the protector of his human
+friend. Perhaps myrtle or laurel might be seen on a door,
+indicating that a marriage was in process of celebration,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>
+or a chaplet announcing the happy birth of an heir. Cypress,
+probably set in pots in the vestibule, indicated a
+death, as a crape festoon does upon our own door-handles,
+while torches, lamps, wreaths, garlands, branches of trees,
+showed that there was joy from some cause in the house.</p>
+
+<p>3. In the "black room" the bed stood; there the
+meals were cooked and eaten, there the goodman received
+his friends, and there the goodwife sat in the
+midst of her maidens spinning. The original house grew
+larger in the course of time: wings were built on the
+sides&mdash;and the Romans called them wings as well as we
+(<i>ala</i>, a wing). Beyond the black room a recess was built
+in which the family records and archives were preserved,
+but with it for a long period the Roman house stopped
+its growth.</p>
+
+<p>4. Before the empire came, however, there had been
+great progress in making the dwelling convenient as well
+as luxurious. Another hall had been built out from the
+room of archives, leading to an open court, surrounded by
+columns, known as the <i>peristylum</i> (<i>peri</i>, about, <i>stulos</i>, a
+pillar), which was sometimes of great magnificence. Bedchambers
+were made separate from the atrium, but they
+were small, and would not seem very convenient to modern
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>5. The dining-room, called the <i>triclinium</i> (Greek,
+<i>kline</i>, a bed) from its three couches, was a very important
+apartment. In it were three lounges surrounding a
+table, on each of which three guests might be accommodated.
+The couches were elevated above the table, and
+each man lay almost flat on his breast, resting on his left
+elbow, and having his right hand free to use, thus putting
+the head of one near the breast of the man behind him,
+and making natural the expression that he lay in the
+bosom of the other. As the guests were thus arranged
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>
+by threes, it was natural that the rule should have been
+made that a party at dinner should not be less in number
+than the Graces, nor more than the Muses, though it has
+remained a useful one ever since.</p>
+
+<p>6. Before the republic came to an end, it was so fashionable
+to have a book-room that ignorant persons who
+might not be able to read even the titles of their own
+books endeavored to give themselves the appearance of
+erudition by building book-rooms in their houses, and furnishing
+them with elegance. The books were in cases arranged
+around the walls in convenient manner, and busts
+and statues of the Muses, of Minerva, and of men of note
+were used then as they are now for ornaments. House-philosophers
+were often employed to open to the uninstructed
+the stores of wisdom contained in the libraries.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p163-illus.jpg" id="p163-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p163-illus.jpg" width="500" height="358" alt="Inside a bath" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Interior of a Roman Bath-Room, Ruins of Pompeii.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>7. As wealth and luxury increased, the Romans added
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>
+the bath-room to their other apartments. In the early
+ages they had bathed for comfort and cleanliness once a
+week, but the warm bath was apparently unknown to
+them. In time this became very common, and in the
+days of Cicero there were hot and cold baths, both public
+and private, which were well patronized. Some were
+heated by fires in flues, directly under the floors, which
+produced a vapor-bath. The bath was, however, considered
+a luxury, and at a later date it was held a capital
+offense to indulge in one on a religious holiday, and the
+public baths were closed when any misfortune happened
+to the republic.</p>
+
+
+<p>8. Comfort and convenience united to take the cooking
+out of the atrium into a separate apartment known as
+the <i>culina</i>, or kitchen, in which was a raised platform on
+which coals might be burned, and the processes of broiling,
+boiling, and roasting might be carried on in a primitive
+manner, much like the arrangement still to be seen
+at Rome. On the tops of the houses, after a while, terraces
+were planned for the purpose of basking in the sun,
+and sometimes they were furnished with shrubs, fruit-trees,
+and even fish-ponds. Often there were upward of
+fifty rooms in a house on a single floor; but in the course
+of time land became so valuable that other stories were
+added, and many lived in flats. A flat was sometimes
+called an <i>insula</i>, which meant, properly, a house not
+joined to another, and afterward was applied to hired
+lodgings. <i>Domus</i>, a house, meant a dwelling occupied
+by one family, whether it were an <i>insula</i> or not.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p165-illus.jpg" id="p165-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p165-illus.jpg" width="500" height="595" alt="The kitchen" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Lares and Penates.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>9. The floors of these rooms were sometimes, but not
+often, laid with boards, and generally were formed of
+stones, tiles, bricks, or some sort of cement. In the
+richer dwellings they were often inlaid with mosaics of
+elegant patterns. The walls were often faced with marble,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>
+but they were usually adorned with paintings; the
+ceilings were left uncovered, the beams supporting the
+floor or the roof above being visible, though it was frequently
+arched over. The means of lighting either by
+day or night, were defective. The atrium was, as we
+have seen, lighted from above, and the same was true of
+other apartments, those at the side being illuminated from
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>
+the larger ones in the middle of the house. There were
+windows, however, in the upper stories, though they were
+not protected by glass, but covered with shutters or lattice-work,
+and, at a later period, were glazed with sheets
+of mica. Smoking lamps, hanging from the ceiling or
+supported by candelabra, or candles gave a gloomy light
+by night in the houses, and torches without.</p>
+
+<p>10. The sun was chiefly depended upon for heat, for
+there were no proper stoves, though braziers were used to
+burn coals upon, the smoke escaping through the aperture
+in the ceiling, and, in rare cases, hot-air furnaces
+were constructed below, the heat being conveyed to the
+upper rooms through pipes. There has been a dispute regarding
+chimneys, but it seems almost certain that the
+Romans had none in their dwellings, and indeed, there
+was little need of them for purposes of artificial warmth
+in so moderate a climate as theirs.</p>
+
+<p>11. Such were some of the chief traits of the city-houses
+of the Romans. Besides these there were villas in
+the country, some of which were simply farm-houses, and
+others places of rest and luxury supported by the residents
+of cities. The farm-villa was placed, if possible, in
+a spot secluded from visitors, protected from the severest
+winds, and from the malaria of marshes, in a well-watered
+place, near the foot of a well-wooded mountain. It had
+accommodations for the kitchen, the wine-press, the farm
+superintendent, the slaves, the animals, the crops, and the
+other products of the farm. There were baths, and cellars
+for the wine and for the confinement of the slaves
+who might have to be chained.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p167-illus.jpg" id="p167-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p167-illus.jpg" width="500" height="359" alt="A villa" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Roman Villa.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>12. Varro thus describes life at a rural household: "Manius
+summons his people to rise with the sun, and in person
+conducts them to the scene of their daily work. The
+youths make their own bed, which labor renders soft to
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>
+them, and supply themselves with water-pot, and lamp.
+Their drink is the clear fresh spring; their fare bread,
+with onions as a relish. Everything prospers in house
+and field. The house is no work of art, but an architect
+might learn symmetry from it. Care is taken of the
+field that it shall not be left disorderly, and waste or go
+to ruin through slovenliness or neglect; and in return,
+grateful Ceres wards off damage from the produce, that
+the high-piled sheaves may gladden the heart of the husbandman.
+Here hospitality still holds good, the bread-pantry,
+the wine-vat, and the store of sausages on the
+rafter, lock and key are at the service of the traveler, and
+piles of food are set before him; contented, the sated
+guest sits, looking neither before him, nor behind, dozing
+by the hearth in the kitchen. The warmest double wool
+sheepskin is spread as a couch for him. Here people
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>
+still, as good burgesses, obey the righteous law which
+neither out of envy injures the innocent, nor out of favor
+pardons the guilty. Here they speak no evil against their
+neighbors. Here they trespass not with their feet on the
+sacred hearth, but honor the gods with devotion and with
+sacrifices; throw to the familiar spirit his little bit of
+flesh into his appointed little dish, and when the master
+of the household dies accompany the bier with the same
+prayer with which those of his father and of his grandfather
+were borne forth."</p>
+
+<div class="signature2"><i>Arthur Gilman, M. A. "The Story of Rome."</i></div>
+<div class="signature"><i>Putnam's "Stories of the Nations Series."</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p169-illus.jpg" id="p169-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p169-illus.jpg" width="500" height="292" alt="An engraving" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h2>MEDI�VAL RECORD.</h2>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h2><i>XXXIII.&mdash;CONVERSION OF THE ENGLISH.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. Some time before Gregory became Pope, perhaps
+about the year 574, he went one day through the market
+at Rome, where, among other things, there were still
+men, women, and children to be sold as slaves. He saw
+there some beautiful boys who had just been brought by
+a slave-merchant, boys with a fair skin and long fair hair,
+as English boys then would have.</p>
+
+<p>2. He was told that they were heathen boys from the
+Isle of Britain. Gregory was sorry to think that forms
+which were so fair without should have no light within,
+and he asked again what was the name of their nation.
+"<i>Angles</i>," he was told. "<i>Angles</i>," said Gregory; "they
+have the faces of <i>angels</i>, and they ought to be made
+fellow-heirs of the angels in heaven. But of what
+province or tribe of the Angles are they?" "Of <i>Deira</i>,"
+said the merchant. "<i>De ira!</i>" said Gregory; "then
+they must be delivered from the wrath of God. And
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>
+what is the name of their king?" "<i>�lla.</i>" "<i>�lla</i>;
+then <i>Alleluia</i> shall be sung in his land."</p>
+
+<p>3. Gregory then went to the Pope, and asked him to
+send missionaries into Britain, of whom he himself would
+be one, to convert the English. The Pope was willing,
+but the people of Rome, among whom Gregory was a
+priest and was much beloved, would not let him go. So
+nothing came of the matter for some time.</p>
+
+<p>4. We do not know whether Gregory was able to do
+anything for the poor English boys whom he saw in the
+market, but he certainly never forgot his plan for converting
+the English people. After a while he became
+Pope himself. Of course, he now no longer thought of
+going into Britain himself, as he had enough to do in
+Rome. But he now had power to send others. He
+therefore presently sent a company of monks, with one
+called Augustine at their head, who became the first
+Archbishop of Canterbury, and is called the Apostle of
+the English.</p>
+
+<p>5. This was in 597. The most powerful king in
+Britain at this time was �thelbert, of Kent, who is said
+to have been lord over all the kings south of the Humber.
+This �thelbert had done what was very seldom done by
+English kings then or for a long time after; he had married
+a foreign wife, the daughter of Chariberth, one of
+the kings of the Franks, in Gaul.</p>
+
+<p>6. Now, the Franks had become Christians; so when
+the Frankish queen came over to Kent, �thelbert promised
+that she should be allowed to keep to her own religion
+without let or hindrance. She brought with her,
+therefore, a Frankish bishop named Lindhard, and the
+queen and her bishop used to worship God in a little
+church near Canterbury, called Saint Martin's, which had
+been built in the Roman times. So you see that both
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
+�thelbert and his people must have known something
+about the Christian faith before Augustine came.</p>
+
+<p>7. It does not, however, seem that either the king or
+any of his people had at all thought of turning Christians.
+This seems strange when one reads how easily they were
+converted afterward. One would have thought that
+Bishop Lindhard would have been more likely to convert
+them than Augustine, for, being a Frank, he would speak
+a tongue not very different from English, while Augustine
+spoke Latin, and, if he ever knew English at all, he must
+have learned it after he came into the island. I can not
+tell you for certain why this was. Perhaps they did not
+think that a man who had merely come in the queen's
+train was so well worth listening to as one who had come
+on purpose all the way from the great city of Rome, to
+which all the West still looked up as the capital of the
+world.</p>
+
+<p>8. So Augustine and his companions set out from
+Rome, and passed through Gaul, and came into Britain,
+even as C�sar had done ages before. But this time Rome
+had sent forth men not to conquer lands, but to win souls.
+They landed first in the Isle of Thanet, which joins close
+to the east part of Kent, and thence they sent a message
+to King �thelbert, saying why they had come into his
+land. The king sent word back to them to stay in the
+isle till he had fully made up his mind how to treat them;
+and he gave orders that they should be well taken care of
+meanwhile.</p>
+
+<p>9. After a little while he came himself into the isle,
+and bade them come and tell him what they had to say.
+He met them in the open air, for he would not meet them
+in a house, as he thought they might be wizards, and that
+they might use some charm or spell, which he thought
+would have less power out-of-doors. So they came, carrying
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>
+an image of our Lord on the cross, wrought in silver,
+and singing litanies as they came. And when they
+came before the king, they preached the gospel to him
+and to those who were with him.</p>
+
+<p>10. So King �thelbert hearkened to them, and he
+made answer like a good and wise man. "Your words
+and promises," said he, "sound very good unto me; but
+they are new and strange, and I can not believe them all
+at once, nor can I leave all that I and my fathers, and the
+whole English folk, have believed so long. But I see that
+ye have come from a far country to tell us that which ye
+yourselves hold for truth; so ye may stay in the land,
+and I will give you a house to dwell in and food to eat;
+and ye may preach to my folk, and if any man of them
+will believe as ye believe, I hinder him not."</p>
+
+<p>11. So he gave them a house to dwell in in the royal
+city of Canterbury, and he let them preach to the people.
+And, as they drew near to the city, they carried their
+silver image of the Lord Jesus, and sang litanies, saying,
+"We pray Thee, O Lord, let thy anger and thy wrath
+be turned away from this city, and from thy holy house,
+because we have sinned. Alleluia!"</p>
+
+<p>12. Thus Augustine and his companions dwelt at Canterbury,
+and worshiped in the old church where the
+queen worshiped, and preached to the men of the land.
+And many men hearkened to them and were baptized,
+and before long King �thelbert himself believed and
+was baptized; and before the year was out there were
+added to the Church more than ten thousand souls.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Freeman.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XXXIV.&mdash;LEO THE SLAVE.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. In <span class="smcap">A. D.</span> 533, the Franks had fully gained possession
+of all the north of Gaul, except Brittany. Clovis
+had made them Christians in name, but they still
+remained horribly savage, and the life of the Gauls
+under them was wretched. The Burgundians and Visigoths,
+who had peopled the southern and eastern provinces,
+were far from being equally violent. They had
+entered on their settlements on friendly terms, and even
+showed considerable respect for the Roman-Gallic senators,
+magistrates, and higher clergy, who all remained
+unmolested in their dignity and riches. Thus it was that
+Gregory, Bishop of Langres, was a man of high rank and
+consideration in the Burgundian kingdom, whence the
+Christian Queen Clotilda had come; and even after the
+Burgundians had been subdued by the four sons of Clovis,
+he continued a rich and prosperous man.</p>
+
+<p>2. After one of the many quarrels and reconciliations
+between these fierce brethren, there was an exchange of
+hostages for the observance of the terms of the treaty.
+These were not taken from among the Franks, who were
+too proud to submit to captivity, but from among the
+Gaulish nobles, a much more convenient arrangement for
+the Frankish kings, who cared for the life of a "Roman"
+infinitely less than even for the life of a Frank. Thus
+many young men of senatorial families were exchanged
+between the domains of Theodoric to the south, and of
+Hildebert to the northward, and quartered among Frankish
+chiefs, with whom at first they had nothing more to
+endure than the discomfort of living as guests with such
+rude and coarse barbarians.</p>
+
+<p>3. But ere long fresh quarrels arose between Theodoric
+and Hildebert, and the unfortunate hostages were at once
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>
+turned into slaves. Some of them ran away, if they were
+near the frontier; but Bishop Gregory was in the utmost
+anxiety about his nephew Attalus, who had been last
+heard of as being placed under the charge of a Frank
+who lived between Tr�ves and Metz. The bishop sent
+emissaries to make secret inquiries, and they brought back
+the word that the unfortunate youth had been reduced to
+slavery, and was made to keep his master's herds of horses.
+Upon this the uncle again sent off his messengers with
+presents for the ransom of Attalus; but the Frank rejected
+them, saying, "One of such high race can only be redeemed
+for ten pounds weight of gold."</p>
+
+<p>4. This was beyond the bishop's means, and, while he
+was considering how to raise the sum, the slaves were all
+lamenting for their young lord, to whom they were much
+attached, till one of them, named Leo, the cook to the
+household, came to the bishop, saying to him, "If thou
+wilt give me leave to go, I will deliver him from captivity."
+The bishop replied that he gave free permission,
+and the slave set off for Tr�ves, and there watched anxiously
+for an opportunity of gaining access to Attalus;
+but, though the poor young man, no longer daintily
+dressed, bathed, and perfumed, but ragged and squalid,
+might be seen following his herds of horses, he was too
+well watched for any communication to be held with him.</p>
+
+<p>5. Then Leo went to a person, probably of Gallic
+birth, and said: "Come with me to this barbarian's house,
+and there sell me for a slave. Thou shalt have the money;
+I only ask thee to help me thus far." Both repaired to
+the Frank's abode, the chief among a confused collection
+of clay and timber huts, intended for shelter during eating
+and sleeping. The Frank looked at the slave, and asked
+him what he could do. "I can dress whatever is eaten
+at lordly tables," replied Leo. "I am afraid of no rival;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>
+I only tell thee the truth when I say that, if thou wouldst
+give a feast to the king, I could send it up in the neatest
+manner." "Ha!" said the barbarian, "the Sun's day is
+coming. I shall invite my kinsmen and friends. Cook
+me such a dinner as may amaze them, and make them
+say, 'We saw nothing better in the king's house.'"
+"Let me have plenty of poultry, and I will do according
+to my master's bidding," returned Leo.</p>
+
+<p>6. Accordingly, he was purchased for twelve gold-pieces,
+and on the Sunday, as Bishop Gregory of Tours,
+who tells the story, explains, that the barbarians called the
+Lord's day, he produced a banquet after the most approved
+Roman fashion, much to the surprise and delight
+of the Franks, who had never tasted such delicacies before,
+and complimented their host upon them all the
+evening. Leo gradually became a great favorite, and was
+placed in authority over the other slaves, to whom he
+gave out their portions of broth and meat. But from the
+first he had not shown any recognition of Attalus, and had
+signed to him that they must be strangers to one another.</p>
+
+<p>7. A whole year passed away in this manner, when
+one day Leo wandered, as if for pastime, into the plain
+where Attalus was watching the horses, and sitting down
+on the ground at some paces off, and with his back toward
+his young master so that they might not be seen talking
+together, he said: "This is the time for thoughts of home!
+When thou hast led the horses to the stable to-night, sleep
+not. Be ready at the first call!"</p>
+
+<p>8. That day the Frank lord was entertaining a large
+number of guests, among them his daughter's husband, a
+jovial young man, given to jesting. On going to rest he
+fancied he should be thirsty at night, and called Leo to
+place a pitcher of hydromel by his bedside. As the slave
+was setting it down, the Frank looked slyly from under
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>
+his eyelids and said in joke, "Tell me, my father-in-law's
+trusty man, wilt thou not some night take one of his
+horses and run away to thine own home?"</p>
+
+<p>9. "Please God, it is what I mean to do this very
+night," answered the Gaul, so undauntedly that the Frank
+took it as a jest, and answered, "I shall look out, then,
+that thou dost not carry off anything of mine," and then
+Leo left him, both laughing.</p>
+
+<p>10. All were soon asleep, and the cook crept out to the
+stable, where Attalus usually slept among the horses. He
+was broad awake now, and ready to saddle the two swiftest;
+but he had no weapon, except a small lance, so Leo
+boldly went back to his master's sleeping hut, and took
+down his sword and shield, but not without awakening
+him enough to ask who was moving. "It is I, Leo," was
+the answer; "I have been to call Attalus to take out the
+horses early. He sleeps as hard as a drunkard." The
+Frank went to sleep again, quite satisfied, and Leo, carrying
+out the weapons, soon made Attalus feel like a free
+man and a noble once more.</p>
+
+<p>11. They passed unseen out of the inclosure, mounted
+their horses and rode along the great Roman road from
+<a name="Treves" id="Treves"></a>Tr�ves as far as the Meuse, but they found the bridge
+guarded, and were obliged to wait till night, when they
+cast their horses loose, and swam the river, supporting
+themselves on boards that they had found on the bank.
+They had as yet had no food since the supper at their
+master's, and were thankful to find a plum-tree in the
+wood, with fruit, to refresh them in small degree, before
+they lay down for the night. The next morning they
+went on in the direction of Rheims, carefully listening
+whether there were any sounds behind, until, on the
+broad, hard-paved causeway, they heard the trampling of
+horses. Happily a bush was near, behind which they
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>
+crept, and here the riders actually halted for a few moments
+to arrange their harness. Men and horses were
+both those they feared, and they trembled at hearing one
+say: "Woe is me that those rogues have made off, and
+have not been caught! On my salvation, if I catch them, I
+will have one hung, and the other chopped into little bits!"</p>
+
+<p>12. It was no small comfort to hear the trot of the
+horses resumed, and soon dying away in the distance.
+That same night, the two faint, hungry, weary travelers,
+foot-sore and exhausted, came stumbling into Rheims,
+looking about for some person still awake, to tell them the
+way to the house of the priest Paul, a friend of Attalus's
+uncle. They found it just as the church-bell was ringing
+for matins, a sound that must have seemed very like home
+to these members of an episcopal household. They
+knocked, and in the morning twilight met the priest going
+to his earliest Sunday-morning service. Leo told his
+young master's name, and how they had escaped, and the
+priest's first exclamation was a strange one: "My dream
+is true! This very night I saw two doves, one white
+and one black, who came and perched on my hand."</p>
+
+<p>13. The good man was overjoyed, but he scrupled to
+give them any food, as it was contrary to the Church's
+rules for the fast to be broken before mass; but the travelers
+were half-dead with hunger, and could only say,
+"The good Lord pardon us, for, saving the respect due to
+his day, we must eat something, since this is the fourth
+day since we have touched bread or meat." The priest,
+upon this, gave them some bread and wine, and after hiding
+them carefully, went to church, hoping to avert suspicion.
+But their master was already at Rheims, making
+strict search for them, and learning that Paul the priest
+was a friend of the Bishop of Langres, he went to the
+church, and there questioned him closely. But the priest
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>
+succeeded in guarding his secret, and though he incurred
+much danger&mdash;as the Salic law is very severe against
+concealers of runaway slaves&mdash;he kept Attalus and Leo
+for two days, till the search was over, and their strength
+restored, so that they could proceed to Langres. There
+they were welcomed like men risen from the dead; the
+bishop wept on the neck of Attalus, and was ready to receive
+Leo as a slave no more, but a friend and deliverer.</p>
+
+<p>14. A few days after, Leo was solemnly led to the
+church. Every door was set open as a sign that he might
+henceforth go whithersoever he would. Bishop Gregorius
+took him by the hand, and, standing, before the archdeacon,
+declared that for the sake of the good services
+rendered by his slave Leo, he set him free, and created
+him a Roman citizen. Then the archbishop read a writing
+of manumission. "Whatever is done according to the
+Roman law is irrevocable. According to the constitution
+of the Emperor Constantine, of happy memory, and the
+edict that declares that whosoever is manumitted in
+church, in the presence of the bishops, priests, and deacons,
+shall become a Roman citizen under protection of
+the Church; from this day Leo becomes a member of the
+city, free to go and come where he will, as if he had
+been born of free parents. From this day forward he is
+exempt from all subjection of servitude, of all duty of a
+freedman, all bond of clientship. He is and shall be
+free, with full and entire freedom, and shall never cease
+to belong to the body of Roman citizens."</p>
+
+<p>15. At the same time Leo was endowed with lands,
+which raised him to the rank of what the Franks called
+a Roman proprietor, the highest reward in the bishop's
+power, for the faithful devotion that had incurred such
+dangers in order to rescue the young Attalus from his
+miserable bondage.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Charlotte M. Yonge.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XXXV.&mdash;THE MOORS IN SPAIN.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. Scarcely had the Arabs become firmly settled in
+Spain before they commenced a brilliant career. Adopting
+what had now become the established policy of the
+commanders of the Faithful in Asia, the caliphs of Cordova
+distinguished themselves as patrons of learning, and
+set an example of refinement strongly contrasting with
+the condition of the native European princes. Cordova,
+under their administration, at its highest point of prosperity,
+boasted of more than two hundred thousand houses,
+and more than a million inhabitants. After sunset a
+man might walk through it in a straight line for ten miles
+by the light of the public lamps. Seven hundred years
+after this time there was not so much as one public lamp
+in London. Its streets were solidly paved. In Paris,
+centuries subsequently, who ever stepped over his threshold
+on a rainy day stepped up to his ankles in mud.</p>
+
+<p>2. Other cities, as Granada, Seville, Toledo, considered
+themselves rivals of Cordova. The palaces of the caliphs
+were magnificently decorated. Those sovereigns might
+well look down with supercilious contempt on the dwellings
+of the rulers of Germany, France, and England,
+which were scarcely better than stables&mdash;chimneyless,
+windowless, and with a hole in the roof for the smoke to
+escape, like the wigwams of certain Indians.</p>
+
+<p>3. The Spanish Mohammedans had brought with
+them all the luxuries and prodigalities of Asia. Their
+residences stood forth against the clear blue sky, or were
+embosomed in woods. They had polished marble balconies,
+overhanging orange-gardens, courts with cascades of
+water, shady retreats provocative of slumber in the heat
+of the day, retiring-rooms, vaulted with stained glass,
+speckled with gold, over which streams of water were
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>
+made to gush; the floors and walls were of exquisite
+mosaic. Here a fountain of quicksilver shot up in a glistening
+spray, the glittering particles falling with a tranquil
+sound like fairy bells; there, apartments into which cool
+air was drawn from flower-gardens, in summer, by means
+of ventilating towers, and in the winter through earthen
+pipes, or caleducts, imbedded in the walls&mdash;the hypocaust,
+in the vaults below, breathing forth volumes of warm and
+perfumed air through these hidden passages.</p>
+
+<p>4. The walls were not covered with wainscot, but
+adorned with arabesques and paintings of agricultural
+scenes and views of paradise. From the ceilings, corniced
+with fretted gold, great chandeliers hung, one of
+which, it is said, was so large that it contained one thousand
+and eighty-four lamps. Clusters of frail marble columns
+surprised the beholder with the vast weights they
+bore. In the boudoirs of the sultanas they were sometimes
+of verd-antique, and incrusted with lapis-lazuli.
+The furniture was of sandal and citron wood inlaid with
+mother-of-pearl, ivory, silver, or relieved with gold and
+precious malachite. In orderly confusion were arranged
+vases of rock-crystal, Chinese porcelain, and tables of exquisite
+mosaic. The winter apartments were hung with
+rich tapestry; the floors were covered with embroidered
+Persian carpets. Pillows and couches of elegant forms
+were scattered about the rooms, which were perfumed
+with frankincense.</p>
+
+<p>5. It was the intention of the Saracen architect, by
+excluding the view of the external landscape, to concentrate
+attention on his work, and since the representation
+of the human form was religiously forbidden, and that
+source of decoration denied, his imagination ran riot with
+the complicated arabesques he introduced, and sought
+every opportunity of replacing the prohibited work of art
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
+by the trophies and rarities of the garden. For this reason
+the Arabs never produced artists; religion turned
+them from the beautiful, and made them soldiers, philosophers,
+and men of affairs. Splendid flowers and rare
+exotics ornamented the court-yards and even the inner
+chambers.</p>
+
+<p>6. Great care was taken to make due provision for the
+cleanliness, occupation, and amusement of the inmates.
+Through pipes of metal, water, both warm and cold, to
+suit the season of the year, ran into baths of marble; in
+niches, where the current of air could be artificially
+directed, hung dripping <i>alcarazzas</i>. There were whispering-galleries
+for the amusement of the women; labyrinths
+and marble play-courts for the children; for the master
+himself, grand libraries. The Caliph Alhakem's was so
+large that the catalogue alone filled forty volumes. He
+had also apartments for the transcribing, binding, and
+ornamenting of books. A taste for caligraphy and the
+possession of splendidly illuminated manuscripts seems to
+have anticipated in the caliphs, both of Asia and Spain,
+the taste for statuary and painting among the later popes
+of Rome.</p>
+
+<p>7. Such were the palace and gardens of Zehra, in which
+Abderrahman III honored his favorite sultana. The edifice
+had twelve hundred columns of Greek, Italian, Spanish,
+and African marble. The body-guard of the sovereign
+was composed of twelve thousand horsemen, whose
+cimeters and belts were studded with gold. This was
+that Abderrahman who, after a glorious reign of fifty
+years, sat down to count the number of days of unalloyed
+happiness he had experienced, and could only enumerate
+fourteen. "O man!" exclaimed the plaintive caliph,
+"put not your trust in this present world."</p>
+
+<p>8. No nation has ever excelled the Spanish Arabs in
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
+the beauty and costliness of their pleasure-gardens. To
+them also we owe the introduction of very many of our
+most valuable cultivated fruits, such as the peach. Retaining
+the love of their ancestors for the cooling effect
+of water in a hot climate, they spared no pains in the
+superfluity of fountains, hydraulic works, and artificial
+lakes in which fish were raised for the table. Into such
+a lake, attached to the palace of Cordova, many loaves
+were cast each day to feed the fish.</p>
+
+<p>9. There were also menageries of foreign animals,
+aviaries of rare birds, manufactories in which skilled workmen,
+obtained from foreign countries, displayed their art
+in textures of silk, cotton, linen, and all the miracles of
+the loom; in jewelry and filigree-work, with which they
+ministered to the female pride. Under the shade of cypresses
+cascades disappeared; among flowering shrubs
+there were winding walks, bowers of roses, seats cut
+out of rock, and crypt-like grottoes hewn in the living
+stone. Nowhere was ornamental gardening better understood;
+for not only did the artist try to please the eye as
+it wandered over the pleasant gradation of vegetable
+color and form&mdash;he also boasted his success in the gratification
+of the sense of smell by the studied succession of
+perfumes from beds of flowers.</p>
+
+<p>10. In the midst of all this luxury, which can not be
+regarded by the historian with disdain, since in the end it
+produced a most important result in the south of France,
+the Spanish caliphs, emulating the example of their Asiatic
+compeers, were not only the patrons but the personal cultivators
+of human learning. One of them was himself
+the author of a work on polite literature in not less than
+fifty volumes; another wrote a treatise on algebra. When
+Taryak, the musician, came from the East to Spain, the
+Caliph Abderrahman rode forth to meet him with honor.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>
+The College of Music in Cordova was sustained by ample
+government patronage, and is said to have produced many
+illustrious professors.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>John W. Draper.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XXXVI.&mdash;CHARLEMAGNE.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. We come now to one of the greatest men of all
+times, Charles the Great, son of Pepin the Short, a man
+who has left his mark on history for all time. Charles
+(called by the French Charlemagne) was great in many
+ways, whereas most great men are great in one or two.
+He was a great warrior, a great political genius, an energetic
+legislator, a lover of learning, and a lover also of his
+natural language and poetry at a time when it was the
+fashion to despise them. And he united and displayed
+all these merits in a time of general and monotonous barbarism,
+when, save in the church, the minds of men were
+dull and barren.</p>
+
+<p>2. From 769 to 813, in Germany and Western and
+Northern Europe, Charlemagne conducted thirty-two
+campaigns against the Saxons, Frisians, Bavarians, Avars,
+Slavs, and Danes; in Italy, five against the Lombards; in
+Spain, Corsica, and Sardinia, twelve against the Arabs,
+two against the Greeks, and three in Gaul itself, against
+the Aquitanians and Bretons&mdash;in all, fifty-three expeditions
+in forty-five years, among which those he undertook
+against the Saxons, the Lombards, and the Arabs were
+long and difficult wars.</p>
+
+<p>3. The kingdom of Charles was vast; it comprised
+nearly all Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and
+the north of Italy and of Spain. He had, in ruling this
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>
+mighty realm, to deal with different nations, without cohesion,
+and to grapple with their various institutions and
+bring them into system.</p>
+
+<p>4. The first great undertaking of Charles was against
+the Saxons. They were still heathen, and were a constant
+source of annoyance to the Franks, for they made frequent
+inroads to pillage and destroy their towns and harvests.</p>
+
+<p>5. In the line of mountains which forms the step
+from lower into upper Germany, above the Westphalian
+plains, is one point at which the river Weser breaks
+through and flows down into the level land about three
+miles above the town of Minden. This rent in the mountain
+is called the Westphalian Gate. The hills stand on
+each side like red sandstone door-posts, and one is crowned
+by some crumbling fragments of a castle; it is called the
+Wittekindsberg, and takes its name from Wittekind, a
+Saxon king, who had his castle there. Wittekind was a
+stubborn heathen, and a very determined man.</p>
+
+<p>6. In 772 Charles convoked a great assembly at
+Worms, at which it was unanimously resolved to march
+against the Saxons and chastise them for their incursions.
+Charles advanced along the Weser, through the gate, destroyed
+Wittekind's castle, pushed on to Paderborn, where
+he threw down an idol adored by the Saxons, and then
+was obliged to return and hurry to Italy to fight the Lombards,
+who had revolted. Next year he invaded Saxony
+again. He built himself a palace at Paderborn, and summoned
+the Saxon chiefs to come and do homage. Wittekind
+alone refused, and fled to Denmark.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p185-illus.jpg" id="p185-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p185-illus.jpg" width="500" height="811" alt="Forced Christianity" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Charlemagne.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>7. No sooner had Charles gone to fight the Moors in
+Spain than Wittekind returned, and the Saxons rose at
+his summons, and, bursting into Franconia, devastated the
+land up to the walls of Cologne. Charles returned and
+fought them in two great battles, defeated them, erected
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 185]<br />[Pg 186]</a></span>
+fortresses in their midst, and carried off hostages. Affairs
+seemed to prosper, and Charles deemed himself as securely
+master of Saxony as Varus had formerly in the same
+country, and under precisely the same circumstances.
+Charles then quitted the country, leaving orders for a
+body of Saxons to join his Franks and march together
+against the Slavs. The Saxons obeyed the call with alacrity,
+and soon outnumbered the Franks. One day, as the
+army was crossing the mountains from the Weser, at a
+given signal the Saxons fell on their companions and
+butchered them.</p>
+
+<p>8. When the news of this disaster reached Charles he
+resolved to teach the Saxons a terrible lesson. Crossing
+the Rhine, he laid waste their country with fire and sword,
+and forced the Saxons to submit to be baptized and accept
+Christian teachers. Those who refused he killed.
+At Verdun he had over four thousand of the rebels
+beheaded. At Detmold, Wittekind led the Saxons
+in a furious battle, in which neither gained the victory.
+In another battle, on the Hase, they were completely
+routed.</p>
+
+<p>9. Then Wittekind submitted, came into the camp of
+Charles, and asked to be baptized. A little ruined chapel
+stands on the Wittekindsberg, above the Westphalian
+Gate, and there, according to tradition, near the overturned
+walls of his own castle, the stubborn heathen
+bowed the neck to receive the yoke of Christ. Charles's
+two nephews, the sons of Karlomann, were with Desiderius,
+the Lombard king, and Desiderius tried to force the
+Pope to anoint them kings of the Franks, to head a revolt
+against Charles. When the great king heard this he
+came over the Alps into Italy, dethroned Desiderius, and
+shut him up in a monastery. Then he crowned himself
+with the iron crown of the Lombard kings, which was
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>
+said to have been made out of one of the nails that
+fastened Christ to the cross.</p>
+
+<p>10. Duke Thassils of Bavaria had married a daughter
+of Desiderius, and he refused to acknowledge the authority
+of Charles. He also stirred up the Avars who lived
+in Hungary to invade the Frankish realm. Charles
+marched against Thassils, drove him out of Bavaria, subdued
+the Avars, and converted the country between the
+Ems and Raab&mdash;that is, Austria proper&mdash;into a province,
+which was called the East March, and formed the beginning
+of the East Realm (Oesterreich), or Austria. Charles
+also fought the Danes, and took from them the country
+up to the river Eider.</p>
+
+<p>11. When we consider what continuous fighting
+Charles had, it is a wonder to us that he had time to govern
+and make laws; but he devoted as much thought to
+arranging his realm and placing it under proper governors
+as he did to extending its frontiers.</p>
+
+<p>12. Charles constituted the various parts of his vast
+empire&mdash;kingdoms, duchies, and counties. He was himself
+the sovereign of all these united, but he managed
+them through counts and vice-counts. The frontier districts
+were called marches, and were under march-counts,
+or margraves. Count is not a German title; the German
+equivalent is Graf, and the English is earl. The counties
+were divided into hundreds; a hundred villages went to
+a vice-count. He had also counts of the palace, who ruled
+over the crown estates, and send-counts (<i>missi</i>), whom he
+sent out yearly through the country to see that his other
+counts did justice, and did not oppress the people. If
+people felt themselves wronged by the counts, they appealed
+to these send-counts; and if the send-counts did not
+do them justice, they appealed to the palatine-counts.</p>
+
+<p>13. Every year Charles summoned his counts four
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>
+times, when he could, but always once, in May, to meet
+him in council, and discuss the grievances of the people.
+As the great dukes were troublesome, because so powerful,
+Charles tried to do without them, and to keep them
+in check. He gave whole principalities to bishops, hoping
+that they would become supporters of him and the
+crown against the powerful dukes.</p>
+
+<p>14. He was also very careful for the good government
+of the Church. He endowed a number of monasteries to
+serve as schools for boys and girls. He had also a collection
+of good, wholesome sermons made in German, and
+sent copies about in all directions, requiring them to be
+read to the people in church. He invited singers and
+musicians from Italy to come and improve the performance
+of divine worship, and two song-schools were established,
+one at Gall, another at Metz. His Franks, he complained,
+had not much aptitude for music; their singing
+was like the howling of wild beasts or the noise made by
+the squeaking, groaning wheels of a baggage-wagon over
+a stony road!</p>
+
+<p>15. Charles was particularly interested in schools, and
+delighted in going into them and listening to the boys at
+their lessons. One day when he had paid such a visit he
+was told that the noblemen's sons were much idler than
+those of the common citizens. Then the great king grew
+red in the face and frowned, and his eyes flashed. He
+called the young nobles before him and said in thundering
+tones: "You grand gentlemen! You young puppets!
+You puff yourselves up with the thoughts of your rank
+and wealth, and suppose you have no need of letters! I
+tell you that your pretty faces and your high nobility are
+accounted nothing by me. Beware! beware! Without
+diligence and conscientiousness not one of you gets anything
+from me."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>
+    16. Charles dearly loved the grand old German poems
+of the heroes, and he had them collected and copied out.
+Alas! they have been lost. His stupid son, thinking them
+rubbish, burned them all. The great king also sent to
+Italy for builders, and set them to work to erect palaces
+and churches. His favorite palaces were at Aix and at
+Ingelheim. At the latter place he had a bridge built over
+the Rhine. At Aix he built the cathedral with pillars
+taken from Roman ruins. It was quite circular, with a
+colonnade going round it; inside it remains almost unaltered
+to the present day.</p>
+
+<p>17. He was very eager to promote trade, and so far in
+advance of the times was he that he resolved to cut a
+canal so as to connect the Main with the Regnitz, and
+thus make a water-way right across Germany from the
+Rhine to the Danube, and so connect the German Ocean
+with the Black Sea. The canal was begun, but wars interfered
+with its completion, and the work was not carried
+out till the present century by Louis I of Bavaria.</p>
+
+<p>18. Charles was a tall, grand looking man, nearly seven
+feet high. He was so strong that he could take a horseshoe
+in his hands and snap it. He ate and drank in
+moderation, and was grave and dignified in his conduct.</p>
+
+<p>19. In the year 800, an insurrection broke out in Rome
+against Pope Leo III. While he was riding in procession
+his enemies fell on him, threw him from his horse, and an
+awkward attempt was made to put out his eyes and cut
+out his tongue. Thus, bleeding and insensible, he was
+put into a monastery. The Duke of Spoleto, a Frank,
+hearing of this, marched to Rome and removed the
+wounded Pope to Spoleto, where he was well nursed and
+recovered his eye-sight and power of speech. Charles was
+very indignant when he heard of the outrage, and he left
+the Saxons, whom he was fighting, and came to Italy to
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>
+investigate the circumstance. He assumed the office of
+judge, and the guilty persons were sent to prison in
+France.</p>
+
+<p>20. Then came Christmas-day, the Christmas of the
+last year in the eighth century of Christ. Charles and all
+his sumptuous court, the nobles and people of Rome, the
+whole clergy of Rome, were present at the high services
+of the birth of Christ. The Pope himself chanted the
+mass; the full assembly were rapt in profound devotion.
+At the close the Pope rose, advanced toward Charles with
+a splendid crown in his hands, placed it upon his brow,
+and proclaimed him C�sar Augustus. "God grant life
+and victory to the great emperor!" His words were lost
+in the acclamations of the soldiery, the people, and the
+clergy.</p>
+
+<p>21. Charles was taken completely by surprise. What
+the consequences would be to Germany and to the papacy,
+how fatal to both, neither he nor Leo could see. So
+Charlemagne became King of Italy and Emperor of the
+West&mdash;the successor of the C�sars of Rome.</p>
+
+<p>22. When Charles felt that his end was approaching,
+he summoned all his nobles to Aix into the church he had
+there erected. There, on the altar, lay a golden crown.
+Charles made his son Ludwig, or Louis, stand before him,
+and, in the audience of his great men, gave him his last
+exhortation: to fear God and to love his people as his
+own children, to do right and to execute justice, and to
+walk in integrity before God and man. With streaming
+eyes Louis promised to fulfill his father's command.
+"Then," said Charles, "take this crown, and place it on
+your own head, and never forget the promise you have
+made this day."</p>
+
+<div class="signature2"><i>Sabine, Baring-Gould. "The Story of Germany."</i></div>
+<div class="signature"><i>Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p>
+<h2>WESTERN RECORD.</h2>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h2><i>XXXVII.-THE NORSEMEN.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. The Gulf Stream flows so near to the southern coast
+of Norway, and to the Orkneys and Western Islands, that
+their climate is much less severe than might be supposed.
+Yet no one can help wondering why they were formerly
+so much more populous than now, and why the people
+who came westward even so long ago as the great Aryan
+migration, did not persist in turning aside to the more
+fertile countries that lay farther southward. In spite of
+all their disadvantages, the Scandinavian peninsula, and
+the sterile islands of the northern seas, were inhabitated
+by men and women whose enterprise and intelligence
+ranked them above their neighbors.</p>
+
+<p>2. Now, with the modern ease of travel and transportation,
+these poorer countries can be supplied from other
+parts of the world. And though the summers of Norway
+are misty and dark and short, and it is difficult to
+raise even a little hay on the bits of meadow among the
+rocky mountain-slopes, commerce can make up for all deficiencies.
+In early times there was no commerce, except
+that carried on by the pirates, if we may dignify their
+undertakings by such a respectable name, and it was hardly
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>
+possible to make a living from the soil alone. But it
+does not take us long to discover that the ancient Northmen
+were not farmers, but hunters and fishermen. It
+had grown more and more difficult to find food along the
+rivers and broad grassy wastes of inland Europe, and
+pushing westward they had at last reached the place where
+they could live beside waters that swarmed with fish and
+among hills that sheltered plenty of game.</p>
+
+<p>3. The tribes that settled in the north grew in time
+to have many peculiarities of their own, and as their
+countries grew more and more populous, they needed
+more things that could not easily be had, and a fashion
+of plundering their neighbors began to prevail. Men
+were still more or less beasts of prey. Invaders must be
+kept out, and at last much of the industry of Scandinavia
+was connected with the carrying on of an almost universal
+fighting and marauding. Ships must be built, and
+there must be endless supplies of armor and weapons.
+Stones were easily collected for missiles or made fit for
+arrows and spear-heads, and metals were worked with
+great care.</p>
+
+<p>4. In Norway and Sweden were the best places to
+find all these, and if the Northmen planned to fight a
+great battle, they had to transport a huge quantity of
+stones, iron, and bronze. It is easy to see why one day's
+battle was almost always decisive in ancient times, for
+supplies could not be quickly forwarded from point to
+point, and after the arrows were all shot and the conquered
+were chased off the field, they had no further
+means of offense except a hand-to-hand fight with those
+who had won the right to pick up the fallen spears at
+their leisure. So, too, an unexpected invasion was likely
+to prove successful; it was a work of time to get ready
+for a battle, and when the Northmen swooped down upon
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>
+some shore town of Britain or Gaul, the unlucky citizens
+were at their mercy. And while the Northmen had fish
+and game, and were mighty hunters, and their rocks and
+mines helped forward their warlike enterprises, so the
+forests supplied them with ship-timber, and they gained
+renown as sailors wherever their fame extended.</p>
+
+<p>5. There was a great difference, however, between the
+manner of life in Norway and that of England and
+France. The Norwegian stone, however useful for arrow-heads
+or axes, was not fit for building purposes.
+There is hardly any clay there, either, to make bricks
+with, so that wood has usually been the only material for
+houses. In the southern countries there had always been
+rude castles in which the people could shelter themselves,
+but the Northmen could build no castles that a torch
+could not destroy. They trusted much more to their
+ships than to their houses, and some of their captains disdained
+to live on shore at all.</p>
+
+<p>6. There is something refreshing in the stories of old
+Norse life; of its simplicity and freedom and childish
+zest. An old writer says that they had "a hankering
+after pomp and pageantry," and by means of this they
+came at last to doing things decently and in order, and to
+setting the fashions for the rest of Europe. There was
+considerable dignity in the manner of every-day life and
+housekeeping. Their houses were often very large, even
+two hundred feet long, with flaring fires on a pavement
+in the middle of the floor, and the beds built next the
+walls on three sides, sometimes hidden by wide tapestries
+or foreign cloth that had been brought home in the viking
+ships. In front of the beds were benches where each
+man had his seat and footstool, with his armor and weapons
+hung high on the wall above.</p>
+
+<p>7. The master of the house had a high seat on the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>
+north side in the middle of a long bench; opposite was
+another bench for guests and strangers, while the women
+sat on the third side. The roof was high; there were a
+few windows in it, and those were covered by skins, and
+let in but little light. The smoke escaped through openings
+in the carved, soot-blackened roof; and though in
+later times the rich men's houses were more like villages,
+because they made groups of smaller buildings for store
+houses, for guest-rooms, or for work-shops all around
+still, the idea of this primitive great hall or living-room
+has not even yet been lost. The latest copies of it in
+England and France that still remain are most interesting;
+but what a fine sight it must have been at night
+when the great fires blazed and the warriors sat on their
+benches in solemn order, and the skalds recited their long
+sagas, of the host's own bravery or the valiant deeds of
+his ancestors! Hospitality was almost chief among the
+virtues.</p>
+
+<p>8. We must read what was written in their own language,
+and then we shall have more respect for the vikings
+and sea-kings, always distinguishing between these two;
+for, while any peasant who wished could be a viking&mdash;a
+sea-robber&mdash;a sea-king was a king indeed, and must be
+connected with the royal race of the country. He received
+the title of king by right as soon as he took command
+of a ship's crew, though he need not have any land
+or kingdom. Vikings were merely pirates; they might
+be peasants and vikings by turn, and won their names
+from the inlets, the viks or wicks, where they harbored
+their ships. A sea-king must be a viking, but naturally
+very few of the vikings were sea-kings.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p195-illus.jpg" id="p195-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p195-illus.jpg" width="500" height="811" alt="Home" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>A Viking's Home.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>9. The viking had rights in his own country, and
+knew what it was to enjoy those rights; if he could win
+more land, he would know how to govern it, and he knew
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 195]<br />[Pg 196]</a></span>
+what he was fighting for, and meant to win. If we wonder
+why all this energy was spent on the high seas and
+in strange countries, there are two answers: first, that
+fighting was the natural employment of the men, and
+that no right could be held that could not be defended;
+but besides this, one form of their energy was showing
+itself at home in rude attempts at literature.</p>
+
+<p>10. The more that we know of the Northmen, the
+more we are convinced how superior they were in their
+knowledge of the useful arts to the people whom they
+conquered. There is a legend that, when Charlemagne,
+in the ninth century, saw some pirate ships cruising in the
+Mediterranean, along the shores of which they had at last
+found their way, he covered his face and burst into tears.
+He was not so much afraid of their cruelty and barbarity
+as of their civilization. Nobody knew better that none
+of the Christian countries under his rule had ships or
+men that could make such a daring voyage. He knew
+that they were skillful workers in wood and iron, and
+had learned to be rope-makers and weavers; that they
+could make casks for their supply of drinking-water, and
+understood how to prepare food for their long cruises.
+All their swords and spears and bow-strings had to be
+made and kept in good condition, and sheltered from the
+sea-spray.</p>
+
+<p>11. When we picture the famous sea-kings' ships to
+ourselves, we do not wonder that the Northmen were so
+proud of them, or that the skalds were never tired of recounting
+their glories. There were two kinds of vessels:
+the last-ships, that carried cargoes, and the long-ships, or
+ships of war. Listen to the splendors of the "Long Serpent,"
+which was the largest ship ever built in Norway.
+A dragon-ship, to begin with, because all the long-ships
+had a dragon for a figure-head, except the smallest of
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>
+them, which were called cutters, and only carried ten
+or twenty rowers on a side. The "Long Serpent" had
+thirty-four rowers' benches on a side, and she was one
+hundred and eleven feet long. Over the sides were hung
+the shining red and white shields of the vikings, the gilded
+dragon's head towered high at the prow, and at the
+stern a gilded tail went curling off over the head of the
+steersman. Then, from the long body, the heavy oars
+swept forward and back through the water, and as it
+came down the fi�rd, the "Long Serpent" must have
+looked like some enormous centipede creeping out of its
+den on an awful errand, and heading out across the rough
+water toward its prey.</p>
+
+<p>12. The voyages were often disastrous in spite of
+much clever seamanship. They knew nothing of the
+mariner's compass, and found their way chiefly by the
+aid of the stars&mdash;inconstant pilots enough on such foggy,
+stormy seas. They carried birds, too, oftenest ravens,
+and used to let them loose and follow them toward the
+nearest land. The black raven was the vikings' favorite
+symbol for their flags, and familiar enough it became in
+other harbors than their own. They were bold, hardy
+fellows, and held fast to a rude code of honor and rank
+of knighthood.</p>
+
+<p>13. The valleys of the Elbe and the Rhine, of the
+Seine and the Loire, made a famous hunting-ground for
+the dragon-ships to seek.</p>
+
+<p>14. The people who lived in France were of another
+sort, but they often knew how to defend themselves as
+well as the Northmen knew how to attack. There are
+few early French records for us to read, for the literature
+of that early day was almost wholly destroyed in the religious
+houses and public buildings of France. Here and
+there a few pages of a poem or of a biography or chronicle
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>
+have been kept, but from this very fact we can understand
+the miserable condition of the country.</p>
+
+<p>15. The whole second half of the ninth century is
+taken up with the histories of these invasions. We must
+follow for a while the progress of events in Gaul, or
+France as we call it now, though it was made up then of
+a number of smaller kingdoms. The result of the great
+siege of Paris was only a settling of affairs with the
+Northmen for the time being; one part of the country
+was delivered from them at the expense of another.</p>
+
+<p>16. They could be bought off and bribed for a time,
+but there was never to be any such thing as their going
+back to their own country and letting France alone for
+good and all. But as they gained at length whole tracts
+of country, instead of the little wealth of a few men to
+take away in their ships as at first, they began to settle
+down in their new lands and to become conquerors and
+colonists instead of mere plunderers. Instead of continually
+ravaging and attacking the kingdoms, they slowly
+became the owners and occupiers of the conquered territory;
+they pushed their way from point to point.</p>
+
+<p>17. At first, as you have seen already they trusted to
+their ships, and always left their wives and children at
+home in the north countries, but as time went on, they
+brought their families with them and made new homes,
+for which they would have to fight many a battle yet.
+It would be no wonder if the women had become possessed
+by a love of adventure, too, and had insisted upon
+seeing the lands from which the rich booty was brought
+to them, and that they had been saying for a long time:
+"Show us the places where the grapes grow and the fruit-trees
+bloom, where men build great houses and live in
+them splendidly. We are tired of seeing only the long
+larchen beams of their high roofs, and the purple and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
+red and gold cloths, and the red wine and yellow wheat that
+you bring away. Why should we not go to live in that
+country, instead of your breaking it to pieces, and going
+there so many of you, every year, only to be slain as its
+enemies? We are tired of our sterile Norway and our
+great Danish deserts of sand, of our cold winds and wet
+weather, and our long winters that pass by so slowly while
+the fleets are gone. We would rather see Seville and
+Paris themselves, than only their gold and merchandise
+and the rafters of their churches that you bring home for
+ship timbers."</p>
+
+<p>18. The kingdoms of France had been divided and
+subdivided, and, while we find a great many fine examples
+of resistance, and some great victories over the
+Northmen, they were not pushed out and checked altogether.
+Instead, they gradually changed into Frenchmen
+themselves, different from other Frenchmen only in being
+more spirited, vigorous and alert. They inspired every
+new growth of the religion, language, or manners, with
+their own splendid vitality. They were like plants that
+have grown in dry, thin soil, transplanted to a richer spot
+of ground, and sending out fresh shoots in the doubled
+moisture and sunshine. And presently we shall find the
+Northman becoming the Norman of history. As the
+Northman, almost the first thing we admire about him is
+his character, his glorious energy; as the Norman, we see
+that energy turned into better channels, and bringing a
+new element into the progress of civilization.</p>
+
+<div class="signature2"><i>Sarah O. Jewett. "The Story of the Normans."</i></div>
+<div class="signature"><i>Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XXXVIII.&mdash;ROLF THE GANGER.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. The ninth century was a sad time for both England
+and France. The Gothic tribes, in their march to
+the west had reached the sea in Denmark and Norway,
+and had increased to such an extent as to take up all the
+land fit for cultivation. The strength and courage which
+they had shown in many a battle-field on the land was
+now transferred to the sea, soldiers and knights becoming
+vikings and pirates. Fierce worshipers were they of
+the old gods Odin, Frey, and Thor. They plundered, they
+burned, they slew; they especially devastated churches and
+monasteries, and no coast was safe from them from the
+Adriatic to the farthest north&mdash;even Rome saw their long-ships,
+and, "From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord
+deliver us!" was the prayer in every litany of the West.</p>
+
+<p>2. England had been well-nigh undone by them, when
+the spirit of her greatest king awoke, and by Alfred they
+were overcome. Some were permitted to settle down, and
+were taught Christianity and civilization, and the fresh
+invaders were driven from the coast. Alfred's gallant
+son and grandson held the same course, guarded their
+coasts, and made their faith and themselves respected
+throughout the North. But in France, the much harassed
+house of Charles the Great, and the ill-compacted bond of
+different nations, were little able to oppose their fierce
+assaults, and ravage and devastation reigned from one end
+of the country to another.</p>
+
+<p>3. However, the vikings, on returning to their native
+homes sometimes found their place filled up, and the family
+inheritance incapable of supporting so many. Thus
+they began to think of winning not merely gold and cattle,
+but lands and houses, on the coasts they pillaged. In
+Scotland, the Hebrides, and Ireland, they settled by leave
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>
+of nothing but their swords; in England, by treaty with
+Alfred; and in France, half by conquest, half by treaty,
+always, however, accepting Christianity as a needful obligation
+when they took posession of southern lands. Probably
+they thought Thor was only the god of the north,
+and that the "White Christ," as they called Him who
+was made known to them in these new countries was to
+be adored in what they deemed alone his territories.</p>
+
+<p>4. Of all the sea-robbers who sailed from their rocky
+dwelling-places by the fi�rds of Norway, none enjoyed
+higher renown than Rolf, called the ganger, or walker,
+as tradition relates, because his stature was so gigantic
+that, when clad in full armor, no horse could support his
+weight, and he therefore always fought on foot.</p>
+
+<p>5. Rolf's lot had, however, fallen in what he doubtless
+considered as evil days. No such burnings and plunderings
+as had hitherto wasted England and enriched
+Norway, fell to his share; for Alfred had made the
+bravest Northman feel that his fleet and army were more
+than a match for theirs. Ireland was exhausted by the
+former depredations of the pirates, and, from a fertile
+and flourishing country had become a scene of desolation.
+Scotland and its isles were too barren to afford prey to
+the spoiler.</p>
+
+<p>6. Rolf, presuming on the favor shown to his family
+while returning from an expedition on the Baltic, made
+a descent on the coast of Viken, a part of Norway, and
+carried off the cattle wanted by his crew. The king, who
+happened at that time to be in that district, was highly
+displeased, and, assembling a council, declared Rolf
+the Ganger an outlaw.</p>
+
+<p>7. The banished Rolf found a great number of companions,
+who, like himself, were unwilling to submit to
+the strict rule of Harald, and setting sail with them, he
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>
+first plundered and devastated the coast of Flanders, and
+afterward returned to France. In the spring of 896 the
+citizens of Rouen, scarcely yet recovered from the miseries
+inflicted upon them by the fierce Danish rover Hasting,
+were dismayed by the sight of a fleet of long, low
+vessels, with spreading sails, heads carved like that of a
+serpent, and sterns finished like the tail of a reptile, such
+as they well knew to be the keels of the dreaded Northmen,
+the harbingers of destruction and desolation. Little
+hope of succor or protection was there from King Charles
+the Simple; and, indeed, had the sovereign been ever so
+warlike and energetic, it would little have availed Rouen,
+which might have been destroyed twice over before a
+messenger could reach Laon.</p>
+
+<p>8. In this emergency, Franco, the archbishop, proposed
+to go forth to meet the Northmen and attempt to
+make terms for his flock. The offer was gladly accepted
+by the trembling citizens, and the good archbishop went,
+bearing the keys of the town, to visit the camp which
+the Northmen had begun to erect upon the bank of the
+river. They offered him no violence, and he performed
+his errand safely. Rolf, the rude generosity of whose
+character was touched by his fearless conduct, readily
+agreed to spare the lives and property of the citizens, on
+condition that Rouen was surrendered to him without
+resistance.</p>
+
+<p>9. Entering the town, he there established his headquarters,
+and spent a whole year in the adjacent parts of
+the country, during which time the Northmen so faithfully
+observed their promise, that they were regarded by
+the Rouennais rather as friends than as conquerors; and
+Rolf, or Rollo, as the French called him, was far more
+popular among them than their real sovereign. Wherever
+he met with resistance, he showed, indeed, the relentless
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>
+cruelty of the heathen pirate; wherever he found submission,
+he was a kind master.</p>
+
+<p>10. In the course of the following year, he advanced
+along the banks of the Seine as far as its junction with
+the Eure. On the opposite side of the river there were
+visible a number of tents, where slept a numerous army,
+which Charles had at length collected to oppose this formidable
+enemy. The Northmen also set up their camp,
+in expectation of a battle, and darkness had just closed in
+on them when a shout was heard on the opposite side of
+the river, and to their surprise a voice was heard speaking
+in their own language. "Brave warriors, why come
+ye hither, and what do ye seek?"</p>
+
+<p>11. "We are Northmen, come hither to conquer
+France," replied Rollo. "But who art thou who speakest
+our tongue so well?" "Heard ye never of Hasting?"
+was the reply. "Yes," returned Rollo, "he began well,
+but ended badly." "Will ye not, then," continued the
+old pirate, "submit to my lord the king? Will ye not
+hold of him lands and honors?" "No," replied the
+Northmen, disdainfully, "we will own no lord, we will
+take no gift, but we will have what we ourselves can conquer
+by force."</p>
+
+<p>12. Here Hasting took his departure, and returning
+to the French camp, strongly advised the commander not
+to hazard a battle. His counsel was overruled by a young
+standard-bearer, who, significantly observing, "Wolves
+make not war on wolves," so offended the old sea-king,
+that he quitted the army that night, and never again appeared
+in France. The wisdom of his advice was the
+next morning made evident, by the total defeat of the
+French, and the advance of the Northmen, who in a short
+space after appeared beneath the walls of Paris. Failing
+in their attempt to take the city, they returned to Rouen,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>
+where they fortified themselves, making it the capital of
+the territory they had conquered.</p>
+
+<p>13. Fifteen years passed away, the summers of which
+were spent in ravaging the dominions of Charles the Simple,
+and the winters in the city of Rouen, and in the
+meantime a change had come over the leader. He had
+been insensibly softened and civilized by his intercourse
+with the good Archbishop Franco, and finding, perhaps,
+that it was not quite so easy as he had expected to conquer
+the whole kingdom of France, he declared himself
+willing to follow the example which he once despised, and
+to become a vassal of the French crown for the duchy of
+Neustria.</p>
+
+<p>14. Charles, greatly rejoiced to find himself thus able
+to put a stop to the dreadful devastations of the Northmen,
+readily agreed to the terms proposed by Rollo, appointing
+the village of St. Clair-sur-Epte, on the borders
+of Neustria, as the place of meeting for the purpose of
+receiving his homage and oath of fealty.</p>
+
+<p>15. The greatest difficulty to be overcome in this conference
+was the repugnance felt by the proud Northman
+to perform the customary act of homage before any living
+man, especially one whom he held so cheap as Charles
+the Simple. He consented, indeed, to swear allegiance,
+and declare himself the "king's man," with his hands
+clasped between those of Charles. The remaining part
+of the ceremony, the kneeling to kiss the foot of the liege
+lord, he absolutely refused, and was with difficulty persuaded
+to permit one of his followers to perform it in his
+name. The proxy, as proud as his master, instead of
+kneeling, took the king's foot in his hand, and lifted it
+to his mouth while he stood upright, thus overturning
+both monarch and throne, amid the rude laughter of his
+companions, while the miserable Charles and his courtiers
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>
+felt such a dread of these new vassals that they did not
+dare resent the insult.</p>
+
+<p>16. On his return to Rouen, Rollo was baptized, and,
+on leaving the cathedral, celebrated his conversion by
+large grants to the different churches and convents of his
+duchy, making a fresh gift on each of the days during
+which he wore the white robes of the newly baptized.
+All of his warriors who chose to follow his example, and
+embrace the Christian faith, received from him grants of
+land, to be held of him on the same terms as those by
+which he held the dukedom from the king. The country
+thus peopled by the Northmen, gradually assumed the
+name of Normandy.</p>
+
+<p>17. Applying themselves with all the ardor of their
+temper to their new way of life, the Northmen quickly
+adopted the manners, language, and habits which were
+recommended to them as connected with the holy faith
+which they had just embraced, but without losing their
+own bold and vigorous spirit. Soon the gallant and accomplished
+Norman knight could scarcely have been recognized
+as the savage sea-robber, while, at the same time,
+he bore as little resemblance to the cruel and voluptuous
+French noble, at once violent and indolent.</p>
+
+<p>18. There is no doubt, however, that the keen, unsophisticated
+vigor of Rollo, directed by his new religion
+did great good in Normandy, and that his justice was
+sharp, his discipline impartial, so that of him is told the
+famous old story bestowed upon other just princes, that a
+gold bracelet was left for three years untouched upon a tree
+in a forest. He had been married, as part of the treaty, to
+Gis�le, a daughter of King Charles the Simple, but he was
+an old grizzly warrior, and neither cared for the other.
+A wife whom he had long before taken, had borne him a
+son, named William, to whom he left his dukedom in 932.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XXXIX.&mdash;THE TRUE STORY OF MACBETH.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. In the north of Scotland, where the cliffs bordering
+Moray Firth face the auroral heavens, are two ancient
+towns, Inverness and Forres, whose names are immortalized
+in Shakespeare's great tragedy of Macbeth,
+for it is in their vicinity that most of its scenes are laid.</p>
+
+<p>2. It is a wild, lonely country, and must have been
+wilder and lonelier still eight hundred years ago, when
+from the neighboring Norway coast the black boats of
+the vikings, or North Sea rovers, used to come flocking
+into the quiet harbors of Moray and Cromarty Firths,
+like so many swift birds of prey swooping suddenly in
+from the gray horizon, snatching their plunder and flitting
+away on never-resting wings only to return in greater
+numbers and depart with richer booty.</p>
+
+<p>3. In 1033&ndash;1039, when the sons of Canute the Dane
+were wearing the English crown, and not long after a few
+of the roving Norsemen had drifted away to plant a little
+history and a great mystery across the wide Atlantic, there
+reigned in Scotland a king by the name of Duncan MacCrinan.
+Among his nobles was a certain Macbeth, Thane
+of Glamis, about whom a great many stories are told,
+some of which would no doubt have made their subject
+open his eyes, for if we may credit the sober historians
+he was rather respectable than otherwise, and probably
+slept much better o' nights than Mr. Shakespeare would
+have us believe. It is even said that he made a pilgrimage
+to Rome and saw the Pope, which certainly ought to
+establish his virtue to anybody's satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>4. At all events he was a brave soldier and able general,
+and Duncan naturally thought that he had the right
+man in the right place when he gave him command of
+the royal army and sent him off to drive out Thorfinn
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
+and Thorkell, two Norse chiefs who had come over to
+conquer Scotland.</p>
+
+<p>5. Macbeth had wedded a lady named Grnoch MacB&oelig;dhe,
+which made him cousin to the king, and very
+likely put strange notions into his head, even if they never
+were there before. He was what we call "a rising man,"
+and so, having gloriously defeated Thorfinn and Thorkell,
+or, some say, making them allies, he gloriously turned
+around and made war upon Duncan MacCrinan. In this
+struggle Duncan was killed or mortally wounded near
+Elgin, on Moray Firth, and Macbeth usurped the throne.</p>
+
+<p>6. Others claim that Thorfinn had conquered that
+part of Scotland, that Macbeth was his vassal and merely
+fulfilled his duty to his over-lord in repelling an invasion
+by Duncan, in which the latter deservedly met the
+common fate of war.</p>
+
+<p>7. It is very difficult to learn the real truth about people
+who lived before history was anything more than oral
+tradition, because, as in the case of Macbeth, a great many
+legends gradually clustered about their names, which were
+not committed to writing until many, many years after
+the events actually occurred. The very earliest Scotch
+writing ever discovered is only a charter, and is dated
+1095, more than fifty years after Duncan was "in his
+grave," and it was more than three hundred years later
+that a Scotch prior, named Androwe of Wyntonne, wrote
+a long historical poem which he called an Orygynale
+Cronykil of Scotland. In it he relates the story of Macbeth
+and the three witches, and the murder of Duncan,
+though he says that Macbeth afterward made a very wise
+and just king, whose reign of seventeen years was marked
+by great abundance, and by royal almsgiving and zeal for
+"holy kirk."</p>
+
+<p>8. But a Latin history of Scotland, written about a
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>
+hundred years before Shakespeare by an Aberdeen professor,
+and translated into English under the title of Holinshed's
+Chronicle, supplied the great dramatist with his
+plot, though it suited his purpose to combine the true
+story of Macbeth with the murder of an earlier king.
+Then, adding a great deal about ghosts and witches, and,
+above all, breathing into these dry, long-dead mummies
+the quickening breath of genius, the immortal playwright
+recreated a Macbeth who seems a far more real and living
+character than many of our contemporaries.</p>
+
+<p>9. By whatever means Macbeth secured the throne,
+history and fiction agree as to the manner of his losing it.
+Duncan's sons, in reality mere infants at their father's
+death, were hurried away by their friends, and Malcolm,
+the elder, was committed to his mother's brother, Siward,
+Earl of Northumbria, who in good time aided his young
+kinsman to recover his birthright.</p>
+
+<p>10. Macbeth, notwithstanding his prosperous reign, was
+regarded as a usurper, and was consequently very unpopular
+with the loyal Scotch, who, though proud and quarrelsome,
+were always devotedly true where they recognized
+an obligation of fealty. So when Malcolm returned
+they flocked around the beloved young heir, and defeated
+his enemy at Dunsinane, though Macbeth was not killed
+at this place, as Shakespeare says, but fled across the
+Grampians to rally at Lumphanan. Here he was slain
+and the victorious Malcolm&mdash;called in history Malcolm
+Canmore&mdash;now went to Scone and was crowned upon a
+famous stone, believed by the Scotch to be the same that
+Jacob used for his pillow. It is certainly the one that
+Edward I of England afterward took away and made the
+seat of the coronation chair at Westminster Abbey, where
+it is still to be seen.</p>
+
+<p>11. But, like many another evil that has been wrought
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>
+before now, Macbeth's treason resulted in the ultimate
+good of his country; for Malcolm, during his long exile,
+had become accustomed to the superior civilization of the
+English, and now introduced many improvements among
+his subjects. Having known, too, the sorrows of a fugitive,
+he welcomed to his court the Saxon princes fleeing
+from Norman William, among whom was Margaret Atheling,
+the gentle granddaughter of Edmund Ironsides, who
+became his bride, and whose winning graces went far
+toward refining the rude manners of the warlike Scots.
+One of their sons was the saintly King David, who founded
+Melrose Abbey, and who is said to have been to Scotland
+"all that Alfred was to England, and more than
+Louis was to France."</p>
+
+<p>12. Another noble, called Banquo, seems to have had
+some part in Duncan's overthrow, but as the play of
+Macbeth was written in the reign of James I, who was a
+Scot and traced his descent back to Banquo, it was not
+deemed prudent or polite to represent the character in an
+unflattering light; so he was pictured as noble and incorruptible,
+and was so unfortunate, poor man, as to have to
+be murdered to make the story end well.</p>
+
+<p>13. Sir Walter Scott, in his "Tales of a Grandfather,"
+gives us a story differing little from the outline of Shakespeare's
+drama, but then, who that has spent enraptured
+hours over Rob Roy and the Black Dwarf could wish the
+charming wizard to spoil a good story for the sake of
+mere historical exactness? not I, surely! And the Macbeth
+of history, no matter how zealously we may try to
+discover him, or how faithfully we may attempt, at this
+late day, to reconstruct his damaged reputation, he can
+never be to us anything better than a very misty tradition.
+Whatever he may have been eight hundred
+years ago, the Macbeth <i>we</i> know, the only real Macbeth
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>
+there is or ever can be, is after all the one that met the
+witches in the thunder-storm on Forres Heath and then
+went home and murdered the gentle old king who "had
+so much blood in him," and a moment later, startled by
+the knocking at the gate, exclaimed in bitterest remorse:
+"Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou
+could'st!"</p>
+
+<p>14. If you read this scene in the silent hours when
+every one else in the house is sleeping, you will almost
+believe that you murdered Duncan yourself, and that you
+hear Lady Macbeth's hoarse whisper in your ear: "To
+bed, to bed, there's knocking at the gate. Come, come,
+come, come, give me your hand. What's done can not
+be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed."</p>
+
+<p>15. Then you will shut the book in sudden terror of
+the lonely midnight, and scramble into bed with the
+blood curdling in your veins, and presently, aided by the
+darkness, your imagination will bridge the gulf of centuries,
+and you will seem to see a long vaulted hall in a
+medi�val palace, and in the hall a banquet spread, around
+which gather lords of high degree, while on the canopied
+dais at the upper end sit King Macbeth and his white-haired,
+pitiless, guilty queen. And from the rainy outer
+darkness you may catch the faint echo of a mortal cry:
+"Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!" And then as you picture
+the king stepping down from his royal seat to meet
+a blood-stained murderer at the door, you will have a momentary
+glimpse of Banquo lying in the roadside ditch
+"with twenty trench�d gashes in his head," and of Fleance
+speeding away alone through the stormy night.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XL.&mdash;DUKE WILLIAM OF NORMANDY.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. Now Duke William was in his park at Rouen,
+and in his hands he held a bow ready strung, for he was
+going hunting, and many knights and squires with him.
+And behold, there came to the gate a messenger from
+England; and he went straight to the duke and drew
+him aside, and told him secretly how King Edward's life
+had come to an end, and Harold had been made king in
+his stead. And when the duke had heard the tidings,
+and understood all that was come to pass, those that
+looked upon him perceived that he was greatly enraged,
+for he forsook the chase, and went in silence, speaking no
+word to any man, clasping and unclasping his cloak,
+neither dared any man speak to him; but he crossed
+over the Seine in a boat, and went to his hall, and sat
+down on a bench; and he covered his face with his mantle,
+and leaned down his head, and there he abode, turning
+about restlessly for one hour after another in gloomy
+thought. And none dared speak a word to him, but they
+spake to one another, saying: "What ails the duke?
+Why bears he such a mien?"</p>
+
+<p>2. "That is it that troubles me," said the duke. "I
+grieve because Edward is dead, and that Harold has done
+me a wrong; for he has taken my kingdom who was
+bound to me by oath and promise." To these words answered
+Fitz-Osbern the bold: "Sir, tarry not, but make
+ready with speed to avenge yourself on Harold, who has
+been disloyal to you; for if you lack not courage, there
+will be left no land to Harold. Summon all whom you
+may summon, cross the sea and seize his lands; for no
+brave man should begin a matter and not carry it on to
+the end."</p>
+
+<p>3. Then William sent messengers to Harold to call
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>
+upon him to keep the oath that he had sworn; but Harold
+replied in scorn that he would not marry his
+daughter, nor give up his land to him. And William
+sent to him his defiance; but Harold answered that he
+feared him not, and he drove all the Normans out of the
+land, with their wives and children, for King Edward had
+given them lands and castles, but Harold chased them out
+of the country; neither would he let one remain. And
+at Christmas he took the crown, but it would have been
+well for himself and his land if he had not been crowned,
+since for the kingdom he perjured himself, and his reign
+lasted but a short space.</p>
+
+<p>4. Then Duke William called together his barons,
+and told them all his will, and how Harold had wronged
+him, and that he would cross the sea and revenge himself;
+but without their aid he could not gather men enough,
+nor a large navy; therefore, he would know of each one
+of them how many men and ships he would bring. And
+they prayed for leave to take counsel together, and the
+duke granted their request. And their deliberations
+lasted long, for many complained that their burdens were
+heavy, and some said that they would bring ships and
+cross the sea with the duke, and others said they would
+not go, for they were in debt and poor. Thus some
+would and some would not, and there was great contention
+between them.</p>
+
+<p>5. Then Fitz-Osbern came to them and said: "Wherefore
+dispute you, sirs? Ye should not fail your natural
+lord when he goes seeking honors. Ye owe him service
+for your fiefs, and where ye owe service ye should serve
+with all your power. Ask not delay, nor wait until he
+prays you; but go before, and offer him more than you
+can do. Let him not lament that his enterprise failed
+for your remissness." But they answered: "Sir, we fear
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>
+the sea, and we owe no service across the sea. Speak for
+us, we pray you, and answer in our stead. Say what you
+will, and we will abide by your words." "Will ye all
+leave yourselves to me?" he said. And each one answered:
+"Yes. Let us go to the duke, and you shall
+speak for us."</p>
+
+<p>6. And Fitz-Osbern turned himself about and went
+before him to the duke, and spoke for them, and he said:
+"Sir, no lord has such men as you have, and who will
+do so much for their lord's honor, and you ought to love
+and keep them well. For you they say they would be
+drowned in the sea or thrown into the fire. You may
+trust them well, for they have served you long and followed
+you at great cost. And if they have done well,
+they will do better; for they will pass the sea with you,
+and will double their service. For he who should bring
+twenty knights will gladly bring forty, and he who should
+serve you thirty will bring sixty, and he from whom one
+hundred is due will willingly bring two hundred. And
+I, in loving loyalty, will bring in my lord's business sixty
+ships, well arrayed and laden with fighting men."</p>
+
+<p>7. But the barons marveled at him, and murmured
+aloud at the words that he spake and the promises he
+made, for which they had given him no warrant. And
+many contradicted him, and there arose a noise and loud
+disturbance among them; for they feared that if they
+doubled their service it would become a custom, and be
+turned into a feudal right. And the noise and outcry
+became so great that a man could not hear what his fellow
+said. Then the duke went aside, for the noise displeased
+him, and sent for the barons one by one, and
+spoke to each one of the greatness of the enterprise, and
+that if they would double their service, and do freely
+more than their due, it should be well for them, and that
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>
+he would never make it a custom, nor require of them
+any service more than was the usage of the country, and
+such as their ancestors had paid to their lord. Then each
+one said he would do it, and he told how many ships he
+would bring, and the duke had them all written down in
+brief. Bishop Odo, his brother, brought him forty ships,
+and the Bishop of Le Mans prepared thirty, with their
+mariners and pilots. And the duke prayed his neighbors
+of Brittany, Anjou, and Maine, Ponthieu, and Boulogne,
+to aid him in this business; and he promised them lands
+if England were conquered, and rich gifts and large pay.
+Thus from all sides came soldiers to him.</p>
+
+<p>8. Then he showed the matter to his lord the King of
+France, and he sought him at St. Germer, and found him
+there; and he said that he would aid him, so that by his
+aid he won his right, he would hold England from him
+and serve him for it. But the king answered that he
+would not aid him, neither with his will should he pass
+the sea; for the French prayed him not to aid him, saying
+he was too strong already, and that if he let him add
+riches from over the sea to his lands of Normandy and all
+his good knights, there would never be peace. "And
+when England shall be conquered," said they, "you will
+hear no more of his service. He pays little service now,
+but then it will be less. The more he has, the less he
+will do."</p>
+
+<p>9. So the duke took leave of the king, and came away
+in a rage, saying: "Sir, I go to do the best I can, and if
+God will that I gain my right you shall see me no more
+but for evil. And if I fail, and the English can defend
+themselves, my children shall inherit my lands, and thou
+shalt not conquer them. Living or dead, I fear no menace!"</p>
+
+<p>10. Then the duke sent to Rome clerks that were
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>
+skilled in speech, and they told the Pope how Harold had
+sworn falsely, and that Duke William promised that if he
+conquered England he would hold it of St. Peter. And
+the Pope sent him a standard and a very precious ring,
+and underneath the stone there was, it is said, a hair of
+St. Peter's. And about that time there appeared a great
+star shining in the south with very long rays, such a star
+as is seen when a kingdom is about to have a new king.
+I have spoken with many men who saw it, and those who
+are cunning in the stars call it a comet.</p>
+
+<p>11. Then the duke called together carpenters and
+ship-builders, and in all the ports of Normandy there was
+sawing of planks and carrying of wood, spreading of sails
+and setting up of masts, with great labor and industry.
+Thus all the summer long and through the month of
+August they made ready the fleet and assembled the men;
+for there was no knight in all the land, nor any good
+sergeant, nor archer, nor any peasant of good courage, of
+age to fight, whom the duke did not summon to go with
+him to England.</p>
+
+<p>12. When the ships were ready, they were anchored
+in the Somme at St. Valery. And as the renown of the
+duke went abroad there came to him soldiers one by one
+or two by two, and the duke kept them with him, and
+promised them much. And some asked for lands in
+England, and others pay and large gifts. But I will not
+write down what barons, knights, and soldiers the duke
+had in his company; but I have heard my father say (I
+remember it well, though I was but a boy) that there
+were seven hundred ships, save four, when they left St.
+Valery&mdash;ships, and boats, and little skiffs. But I found
+it written (I know not the truth) that there were three
+thousand ships carrying sails and masts.</p>
+
+<p>13. And at St. Valery they tarried long for a favorable
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>
+wind, and the barons grew weary with waiting; and
+they prayed those of the convent to bring out to the camp
+the shrine of St. Valery, and they came to it and prayed
+they might cross the sea, and they offered money till all
+the holy body was covered with it, and the same day
+there sprang up a favorable wind. Then the duke put a
+lantern on the mast of his ship, that the other ships might
+see it and keep their course near, and an ensign of gilded
+copper on the top; and at the head of the ships, which
+mariners call the prow, there was a child made of copper
+holding a bow and arrow, and he had his face toward
+England, and seemed about to shoot.</p>
+
+<p>14. Thus the ships came to port, and they all arrived
+together and anchored together on the beach, and together
+they all disembarked. And it was near Hastings, and the
+ships lay side by side. And the good sailors and sergeants
+and esquires sprang out, and cast anchor, and fastened
+the ships with ropes; and they brought out their
+shields and saddles, and led forth the horses.</p>
+
+<p>15. The archers were the first to come to land, every
+one with his bow and his quiver and arrows by his side,
+all shaven and dressed in short tunics, ready for battle
+and of good courage; and they searched all the beach,
+but no armed man could they find. When they were
+issued forth, then came the knights in armor, with helmet
+laced and shield on neck, and together they came to the
+sand and mounted their war-horses; and they had their
+swords at their sides, and rode with lances raised. The
+barons had their standards and the knights their pennons.
+After them came the carpenters, with their axes in their
+hands and their tools hanging by their side. And when
+they came to the archers and to the knights they took
+counsel together, and brought wood from the ships and
+fastened it together with bolts and bars, and before the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>
+evening was well come they had made themselves a strong
+fort. And they lighted fires and cooked food, and the
+duke and his barons and knights sat down to eat; and
+they all ate and drank plentifully and rejoiced that they
+were come to land.</p>
+
+<p>16. When the duke came forth of his ship he fell on
+his hands to the ground, and there rose a great cry, for all
+said it was an evil sign; but he cried aloud: "Lords, I
+have seized the land with my two hands, and will never
+yield it. All is ours." Then a man ran to land and laid
+his hand upon a cottage, and took a handful of the thatch,
+and returned to the duke. "Sir," said he, "take seizin
+of the land; yours is the land without doubt." Then the
+duke commanded the mariners to draw all the ships to
+land and pierce holes in them and break them to pieces,
+for they should never return by the way they had come.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>"Belt and Spur," Stories of the Old Knights.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XLI.&mdash;THE NORMAN CONQUEST.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. Poor old Edward the Confessor, holy, weak, and
+sad, lay in his new choir of Westminster&mdash;where the
+wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest.
+The crowned ascetic had left no heir behind. England
+seemed as a corpse, to which all the eagles might gather
+together; and the South-English, in their utter need, had
+chosen for their king the ablest, and it may be the justest,
+man in Britain&mdash;Earl Harold Godwinson: himself,
+like half the upper classes of England then, of all-dominant
+Norse blood; for his mother was a Danish princess.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p218-illus.jpg" id="p218-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p218-illus.jpg" width="500" height="764" alt="Burial site" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Edward the Confessor's Tomb.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>2. Then out of Norway, with a mighty host, came
+   <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 218]<br />[Pg 219]</a></span>
+Harold Hardraade, taller than all men, the ideal Viking
+of his time. He had been away to Russia to King Jaroslaf;
+he had been in the Emperor's Varanger guard at
+Constantinople&mdash;and, it was whispered, had slain a lion
+there with his bare hands; he had carved his name and
+his comrades' in Runic characters&mdash;if you go to Venice
+you may see them at this day&mdash;on the loins of the great
+marble lion, which stood in his time not in Venice but in
+Athens. And now, King of Norway and conqueror, for
+the time, of Denmark, why should he not take England,
+as Sweyn and Canute took it sixty years before, when
+the flower of the English gentry perished at the fatal battle
+of Assingdune? If he and his half-barbarous host had
+conquered, the civilization of Britain would have been
+thrown back, perhaps, for centuries. But it was not to be.</p>
+
+<p>3. England <i>was</i> to be conquered by the Normans;
+but by the civilized, not the barbaric; by the Norse who
+had settled, but four generations before, in the northeast
+of France under Rou, Rollo, Rolf the Ganger, so called,
+they say, because his legs were so long that, when on
+horseback, he touched the ground and seemed to gang, or
+walk. He and his Norsemen had taken their share of
+France, and called it Normandy to this day; and meanwhile,
+with that docility and adaptability which marks so
+often truly great spirits, they changed their creed, their
+language, their habits, and had become, from heathen
+and murderous Berserkers, the most truly civilized people
+in Europe, and&mdash;as was most natural then&mdash;the most
+faithful allies and servants of the Pope of Rome. So
+greatly had they changed, and so fast, that William Duke
+of Normandy, the great-great grandson of Rolf the wild
+Viking, was perhaps the finest gentleman, as well as the
+most cultivated sovereign and the greatest statesman and
+warrior in Europe.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>
+    4. So Harold of Norway came with all his Vikings to
+Stamford Bridge by York; and took, by coming, only
+that which Harold of England promised him, namely,
+"forasmuch as he was taller than any other man, seven
+feet of English ground."</p>
+
+<p>5. The story of that great battle, told with a few inaccuracies,
+but as only great poets tell, you should read, if
+you have not read it already, in the "Heimskringla" of
+Snorri Sturluson, the Homer of the North:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">High feast that day held the birds of the air and the beasts of the field,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">White-tailed erm and sallow glede,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dusky raven, with horny neb,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the gray deer the wolf of the wood.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The bones of the slain, men say, whitened the place for
+fifty years to come.</p>
+
+<p>6. And remember that on the same day on which
+that fight befell&mdash;September 27, 1066&mdash;William, Duke of
+Normandy, with all his French-speaking Norsemen, was
+sailing across the British Channel, under the protection
+of a banner consecrated by the Pope, to conquer that
+England which the Norse-speaking Normans could not
+conquer.</p>
+
+<p>7. And now King Harold showed himself a man.
+He turned at once from the north of England to the
+south. He raised the folk of the southern, as he had
+raised those of the central and northern shires, and in
+sixteen days&mdash;after a march which in those times was a
+prodigious feat&mdash;he was intrenched upon the fatal down
+which men called Heathfield then, and Senlac, but Battle
+to this day&mdash;with William and his French Normans opposite
+him on Telham Hill.</p>
+
+<p>8. Then came the battle of Hastings. You all know
+what befell upon that day, and how the old weapon was
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>
+matched against the new&mdash;the English axe against the
+Norman lance&mdash;and beaten only because the English
+broke their ranks.</p>
+
+<p>9. It was a fearful time which followed. I can not
+but believe that our forefathers had been, in some way or
+other, great sinners, or two such conquests as Canute's
+and William's would not have fallen on them within the
+short space of sixty years. They did not want for courage,
+as Stamford Brigg and Hastings showed full well.
+English swine, their Norman conquerors called them often
+enough, but never English cowards.</p>
+
+<p>10. Their ruinous vice, if we trust the records of the
+time, was what the old monks called <i>accidia</i>, and ranked
+it as one of the seven deadly sins: a general careless,
+sleepy, comfortable habit of mind, which lets all go its
+way for good or evil&mdash;a habit of mind too often accompanied,
+as in the case of the Anglo-Danes, with self-indulgence,
+often coarse enough. Huge eaters and huger
+drinkers, fuddled with ale, were the men who went down
+at Hastings&mdash;though they went down like heroes&mdash;before
+the staid and sober Norman out of France.</p>
+
+<p>11. But these were fearful times. As long as William
+lived, ruthless as he was to all rebels, he kept order and
+did justice with a strong and steady hand; for he brought
+with him from Normandy the instincts of a truly great
+statesman. And in his sons' time matters grew worse and
+worse. After that, in the troubles of Stephen's reign,
+anarchy let loose tyranny in its most fearful form, and
+things were done which recall the cruelties of the old
+Spanish <i>conquistadores</i> in America. Scott's charming
+romance of "Ivanhoe" must be taken, I fear, as a too true
+picture of English society in the time of Richard I.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p222-illus.jpg" id="p222-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p222-illus.jpg" width="500" height="294" alt="Battle Abbey" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Battle Abbey.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>12. And what came of it all? What was the result
+of all this misery and wrong? This, paradoxical as it
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 222]<br />[Pg 223]</a></span>
+may seem: that the Norman conquest was the making of
+the English people; of the free commons of England.</p>
+
+<p>13. Paradoxical, but true. First, you must dismiss
+from your minds the too common notion that there is
+now in England a governing Norman aristocracy, or that
+there has been one, at least since the year 1215, when the
+Magna Charta was won from the Norman John by Normans
+and by English alike. For the first victors at Hastings,
+like the first <i>conquistadores</i> in America, perished, as
+the monk chronicles point out, rapidly by their own
+crimes; and very few of our nobility can trace their names
+back to the authentic Battle Abbey roll.</p>
+
+<p>14. The cause is plain: The conquest of England by
+the Normans was not one of those conquests of a savage
+by a civilized race, or of a cowardly race by a brave race,
+which results in the slavery of the conquered, and leaves
+the gulf of caste between two races&mdash;master and slave.
+The vast majority, all but the whole population of England,
+have always been free, and free as they are not
+when caste exists to change their occupations. They
+could intermarry, if they were able men, into the rank
+above them; as they could sink, if they were unable men,
+into the rank below them.</p>
+
+<p>15. Nay, so utterly made up now is the old blood-feud
+between Norman and Englishman, between the descendants
+of those who conquered and those who were
+conquered, that, in the children of the Prince of Wales,
+after eight hundred years, the blood of William of Normandy
+is mingled with the blood of Harold, who fell at
+Hastings. And so, by the bitter woes which followed the
+Norman conquest was the whole population, Dane, Angle,
+and Saxon, earl and churl, freeman and slave, crushed
+and welded together into one homogeneous mass, made
+just and merciful toward each other by the most wholesome
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>
+of all teachings, a community of suffering; and if
+they had been, as I fear they were, a lazy and a sensual
+people, were taught&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">That life is not as idle ore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But heated hot with burning fears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And bathed in baths of hissing tears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And battered with the strokes of doom<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To shape and use.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Charles Kingsley.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XLII.&mdash;KING RICHARD C&OElig;UR DE LION IN<br />
+THE HOLY LAND.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. At the end of August, 1191, Richard led his crusading
+troops from Acre into the midst of the wilderness
+of Mount Carmel, where their sufferings were terrible;
+the rocky, sandy, and uneven ground was covered with
+bushes full of long, sharp prickles, and swarms of noxious
+insects buzzed in the air, fevering the Europeans with
+their stings; and in addition to these natural obstacles,
+multitudes of Arab horsemen harrassed them on every
+side, slaughtering every straggler who dropped behind
+from fatigue, and attacking them so unceasingly that it
+was remarked, that throughout their day's track there
+was not one space of four feet without an arrow sticking
+in the ground. Richard fought indefatigably, always in
+the van, and ready to reward the gallant exploits of his
+knights. A young knight who bore a white shield, in
+hopes of gaining some honorable bearing, so distinguished
+himself that Richard thus greeted him at the close of the
+day: "Maiden knight, you have borne yourself as a lion,
+and done the deed of six crusaders."</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p225-illus.jpg" id="p225-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p225-illus.jpg" width="500" height="298" alt="An ensuing battle" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>Battle of Arsaaf.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>2. At Arsaaf, on the 7th of September, a great battle
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 225]<br />[Pg 226]</a></span>
+was fought. Saladin and his brother had almost defeated
+the two religious orders (the Templars and the Hospitallers),
+and the gallant French knight Jacques d'Avesne,
+after losing his leg by a stroke from a cimeter, fought
+bravely on, calling on the English king until he fell overpowered
+by numbers. C&oelig;ur de Lion and Guillaume des
+Barres retrieved the day, hewed down the enemy on all
+sides, and remained masters of the field. It is even said
+that Richard and Saladin met hand to hand, but this is
+uncertain. This victory opened the way to Joppa, where
+the crusaders spent the next month in the repair of the
+fortifications, while the Saracen forces lay at Ascalon.</p>
+
+<p>3. While here, Richard often amused himself with
+hawking, and one day was asleep under a tree when he
+was aroused by the approach of a party of Saracens, and
+springing on his horse Frannelle, which had been taken
+at Cyprus, he rashly pursued them and fell into an ambush.
+Four knights were slain, and he would have been
+seized had not a Gascon knight named Guillaume des
+Parcelets called out that he himself was the Malak Rik
+(great king), and allowed himself to be taken. Richard
+offered ten noble Saracens in exchange for this generous
+knight, whom Saladin restored together with a valuable
+horse that had been captured at the same time. A present
+of another Arab steed accompanied them; but Richard's
+half-brother, William Longsword, insisted on trying the
+animal before the king should mount it. No sooner was
+he on its back, than it dashed at once across the country,
+and before he could stop it he found himself in the midst
+of the enemy's camp. The two Saracen princes were extremely
+shocked and distressed lest this should be supposed
+a trick, and instantly escorted Longsword back
+with a gift of three chargers, which proved to be more
+manageable.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>
+    4. From Joppa the crusaders marched to Ramla, and
+thence, on New Year's Day, 1192, set out for Jerusalem
+through a country full of greater obstacles than they had
+yet encountered. They were too full of spirit to be discouraged
+until they came to Bethany, where the two
+Grand Masters represented to Richard the imprudence of
+laying siege to such fortifications as those of Jerusalem at
+such a season of the year, while Ascalon was ready in his
+rear for a post whence the enemy would attack him.</p>
+
+<p>5. He yielded, and retreated to Ascalon, which Saladin
+had ruined and abandoned, and began eagerly to repair
+the fortifications so as to be able to leave a garrison there.
+The soldiers grumbled, saying they had not come to Palestine
+to build Ascalon, but to conquer Jerusalem; whereupon
+Richard set the example of himself carrying stones,
+and called on Leopold, the Duke of Austria, to do the
+same. The sulky reply, "He was not the son of a mason,"
+so irritated Richard, that he struck him a blow;
+Leopold straightway quitted the army, and returned to
+Austria.</p>
+
+<p>6. It was not without great grief and many struggles
+that C&oelig;ur de Lion finally gave up his hopes of taking
+Jerusalem. He again advanced as far as Bethany; but a
+quarrel with Hugh of Burgundy, and the defection of
+the Austrians made it impossible for him to proceed, and
+he turned back to Ramla. While riding out with a party
+of knights, one of them called out, "This way, my lord,
+and you will see Jerusalem." "Alas!" said Richard,
+hiding his face with his mantle, "those who are not
+worthy to win the Holy City are not worthy to behold
+it." He returned to Acre; but there hearing that Saladin
+was besieging Joppa, he embarked his troops and
+sailed to its aid.</p>
+
+<p>7. The crescent (the standard of the Saracens) shone
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>
+on its walls as he entered the harbor; but while he looked
+on in dismay, he was hailed by a priest who had leaped
+into the sea and swum out to inform him that there was
+yet time to rescue the garrison, though the town was in
+the hands of the enemy. He hurried his vessel forward,
+leaped into the water breast-high, dashed upward on the
+shore, ordered his immediate followers to raise a bulwark
+of casks and beams to protect the landing of the rest,
+and rushing up a flight of steps, entered the city alone.
+"St. George! St. George!" That cry dismayed the infidels,
+and those in the town to the number of three thousand
+fled in the utmost confusion, and were pursued for
+two miles by three knights who had been fortunate enough
+to find him.</p>
+
+<p>8. Richard pitched his tent outside the walls, and remained
+there with so few troops that all were contained
+in ten tents. Very early one morning, before the king
+was out of bed, a man rushed into his tent, crying out:
+"O king! we are all dead men!" Springing up, Richard
+fiercely silenced him: "Peace! or thou diest by my
+hand!" Then, while hastily donning his suit of mail, he
+heard that the glitter of arms had been seen in the distance,
+and in another moment the enemy were upon them,
+seven thousand in number. Richard had neither helmet
+nor shield, and only seventeen of his knights had horses;
+but undaunted he drew up his little force in a compact
+body, the knights kneeling on one knee covered by their
+shields, their lances pointing outward, and between each
+pair an archer with an assistant to load his cross-bow; and
+he stood in the midst encouraging them with his voice, and
+threatening to cut off the head of the first who turned to
+fly. In vain did the Saracens charge that mass of brave
+men, not one seventh of their number; the shields and
+lances were impenetrable; and without one forward step
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>
+or one bolt from the cross-bows, their passive steadiness
+turned back wave after wave of the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>9. At last the king gave the word for the cross-bowmen
+to advance, while he, with the seventeen mounted knights
+charged, lance in rest. His curtal axe bore down all before
+it, and he dashed like lightning from one part of the
+plain to another, with not a moment to smile at the opportune
+gift from the polite Malek-el-Afdal, who, in the
+hottest of the fight, sent him two fine horses, desiring him
+to use them in escaping from this dreadful peril. Little
+did the Saracen princes imagine that they would find him
+victorious, and that they would mount two more pursuers!</p>
+
+<p>10. Next came a terrified fugitive with news that
+three thousand Saracens had entered Joppa! Richard
+summoned a few knights, and without a word to the rest
+galloped back into the city. The panic inspired by his
+presence instantly cleared the streets, and riding back, he
+again led his troops to the charge; but such were the
+swarms of Saracens, that it was not till evening that the
+Christians could give themselves a moment's rest, or look
+round and feel that they had gained one of the most wonderful
+of victories. Since daybreak Richard had not laid
+aside his sword or axe, and his hand was all over blistered.
+No wonder that the terror of his name endured for centuries
+in Palestine, and that the Arab chided his starting
+horse with, "Dost think that yonder is the Malek Rik?"
+while the mother stilled her crying child by threats that
+the Malek Rik should take it.</p>
+
+<p>11. These violent exertions seriously injured Richard's
+health, and a low fever placed him in great danger, as
+well as several of his best knights. No command or persuasion
+could induce the rest to commence any enterprise
+without him, and the tidings from Europe induced him
+to conclude a peace and return home. Malek-el-Afdal
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>
+came to visit him, and a truce was signed for three years,
+three months, three weeks, three days, three hours, and
+three minutes, thus so quaintly arranged in accordance with
+some astrological views of the Saracens. Ascalon was to
+be demolished on condition that free access to Jerusalem
+was to be allowed to the pilgrims; but Saladin would not
+restore the piece of the True Cross, as he was resolved
+not to conduce to what he considered idolatry.</p>
+
+<p>12. Richard sent notice that he was coming back with
+double his present force to effect the conquest, and the
+Sultan answered, that if the Holy City was to pass into
+Frank hands, none could be nobler than those of the
+Malek Rik. Fever and debility detained Richard a month
+longer at Joppa, during which time he sent the Bishop of
+Salisbury to carry his offerings to Jerusalem. The prelate
+was invited to the presence of Saladin, who spoke in high
+terms of Richard's courage, but censured his rash exposure
+of his own life. On October 9, 1193, C&oelig;ur de Lion
+took leave of Palestine, watching with tears its receding
+shores, as he exclaimed, "O, Holy Land, I commend thee
+and thy people unto God. May He grant me yet to return
+to aid thee!"</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Charlotte M. Yonge.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><i>XLIII.&mdash;KING JOHN AND THE CHARTER.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. On his return from the crusade Richard was taken
+prisoner by the Duke of Austria. He bought his release
+only to find King Philip attacking his French dominions,
+and to plunge into wearisome and indecisive wars, in the
+midst of which he was slain at the Castle of Chaluz. His
+brother John, who followed him on the throne, was a vile
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>
+and weak ruler, under whom the great sovereignty built
+up by Henry II broke utterly down. Normandy, Maine,
+and Anjou were reft from him by Philip of France, and
+only Aquitaine remained to him on that side of the sea.
+In England his lust and oppression drove people and nobles
+to join in resistance to him; and their resistance
+found a great leader in the Archbishop of Canterbury,
+Stephen Langton.</p>
+
+<p>2. From the moment of his landing in England, Stephen
+Langton had taken up the constitutional position of
+the primate in upholding the old customs and rights of
+the realm against the personal despotism of the kings.
+As Anselm had withstood William the Red, as Theobald
+had withstood Stephen, so Langton prepared to withstand
+and rescue his country from the tyranny of John.
+He had already forced him to swear to observe the laws
+of Edward the Confessor, in other words the traditional
+liberties of the realm. When the baronage refused to
+sail for Poitou, saying that they owed service to him in
+England, but not in foreign lands, he compelled the king
+to deal with them not by arms, but by process of law.
+But the work which he now undertook was far greater and
+weightier than this. The pledges of Henry the First had
+long been forgotten when the justiciar brought them to
+light, but Langton saw the vast importance of such a precedent.
+At the close of the month he produced Henry's
+charter in a fresh gathering of barons at St. Paul's, and it
+was at once welcomed as a base for the needed reforms.
+From London Langton hastened to the king, whom he
+reached at Northampton on his way to attack the nobles
+of the north, and wrested from him a promise to bring
+his strife with them to legal judgment before assailing
+them in arms.</p>
+
+<p>3. With his enemies gathering abroad, John had
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>
+doubtless no wish to be entangled in a long quarrel at
+home, and the archbishop's mediation allowed him to
+withdraw with seeming dignity. After a demonstration
+therefore at Durham John marched hastily south again,
+and reached London in October. His justiciar Geoffry
+Fitz-Peter at once laid before him the claims of the Council
+of St. Alban's and St. Paul's, but the death of Geoffry
+at this juncture freed him from the pressure which
+his minister was putting upon him. "Now, by God's feet,"
+cried John, "I am for the first time king and lord of
+England," and he intrusted the vacant justiciarship to a
+Poitevin, Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester,
+whose temper was in harmony with his own. But the
+death of Geoffry only called the archbishop to the front,
+and Langton at once demanded the king's assent to the
+charter of Henry the First.</p>
+
+<p>4. In seizing on this charter as a basis for national
+action, Langton showed a political ability of the highest
+order. The enthusiasm with which its recital was welcomed
+showed the sagacity with which the archbishop
+had chosen his ground. From that moment the baronage
+was no longer drawn together in secret conspiracies by a
+sense of common wrong or a vague longing for common
+deliverance; they were openly united in a definite claim
+of national freedom and national law. Secretly, and on
+the pretext of pilgrimage, the nobles met at St. Edmundsbury,
+resolute to bear no longer with John's delays. If
+he refused to restore their liberties they swore to make
+war on him till he confirmed them by charter under the
+king's seal, and they parted to raise forces with the purpose
+of presenting their demands at Christmas. John,
+knowing nothing of the coming storm, pursued his policy
+of winning over the Church by granting it freedom of
+election, while he imbittered still more the strife with
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>
+his nobles by demanding scutage<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a>
+    <a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> from the northern nobles
+who had refused to follow him to Poitou. But the
+barons were now ready to act, and early in January, in
+the memorable year 1215, they appeared in arms to lay,
+as they had planned, their demands before the king.</p>
+
+<p>5. John was taken by surprise. He asked for a truce
+till Easter-tide, and spent the interval in fevered efforts to
+avoid the blow. Again he offered freedom to the Church,
+and took vows as a crusader against whom war was a sacrilege,
+while he called for a general oath of allegiance
+and fealty from the whole body of his subjects. But
+month after month only showed the king the uselessness
+of further resistance. Though Pandulf, the Pope's legate,
+was with him, his vassalage had as yet brought little fruit
+in the way of aid from Rome; the commissioners whom
+he sent to plead his cause at the shire courts brought back
+news that no man would help him against the charter
+that the barons claimed; and his efforts to detach the
+clergy from the league of his opponents utterly failed.
+The nation was against the king. He was far indeed
+from being utterly deserted. His ministers still clung to
+him, men such as Geoffry de Lucy, Geoffry de Furnival,
+Thomas Basset, and William Briwere, statesmen trained
+in the administrative school of his father, and who, dissent
+as they might from John's mere oppression, still
+looked on the power of the crown as the one barrier
+against feudal anarchy; and beside them stood some of
+the great nobles of royal blood, Earl William of Salisbury,
+his cousin Earl William of Warenne, and Henry, Earl of
+Cornwall, a grandson of Henry the First. With him too remained
+Ranulf, Earl of Chester, and the wisest and noblest
+of the barons, William Marshal, the elder Earl of Pembroke.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>
+William Marshal had shared in the rising of the
+younger Henry against Henry II, and stood by him as he
+died; he had shared in the overthrow of William Longchamp,
+and in the outlawry of John. He was now an
+old man, firm, as we shall see in his aftercourse, to recall
+the government to the path of freedom and law, but
+shrinking from a strife which might bring back the anarchy
+of Stephen's day, and looking for reforms rather in
+the bringing constitutional pressure to bear upon the king
+than in forcing them from him by arms.</p>
+
+<p>6. But cling as such men might to John, they clung
+to him rather as mediators than adherents. Their sympathies
+went with the demands of the barons when the
+delay which had been granted was over and the nobles
+again gathered in arms at Brackley in Northamptonshire
+to lay their claims before the king. Nothing marks more
+strongly the absolutely despotic idea of his sovereignty
+which John had formed than the passionate surprise
+which breaks out in his reply. "Why do they not ask
+for my kingdom?" he cried. "I will never grant such
+liberties as will make me a slave!" The imperialist theories
+of the lawyers of his father's court had done their
+work. Held at bay by the practical sense of Henry, they
+had told on the more headstrong nature of his sons.
+Richard and John both held with Glanvill that the will
+of the prince was the law of the land; and to fetter that
+will by the customs and franchises which were embodied
+in the baron's claims seemed to John a monstrous usurpation
+of his rights.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p235-illus.jpg" id="p235-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p235-illus.jpg" width="500" height="821" alt="Agreement of the Great Charter" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>King John and the Charter.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>7. But no imperialist theories had touched the minds
+of his people. The country rose as one man at his refusal.
+At the close of May, London threw open her gates to the
+forces of the barons, now arrayed under Robert Fitz Walter
+as "Marshal of the Army of God and Holy Church."
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 235]<br />[Pg 236]</a></span>
+Exeter and Lincoln followed the example of the capital;
+promises of aid came from Scotland and Wales, the northern
+barons marched hastily under Eustace de Vesci to
+join their comrades in London. Even the nobles who had
+as yet clung to the king, but whose hopes of conciliation
+were blasted by his obstinacy, yielded at last to the summons
+of the "Army of God." Pandulf, indeed, and Archbishop
+Langton still remained with John, but they counseled
+as Earl Ranulf and William Marshal counseled his
+acceptance of the charter. None, in fact, counseled its
+rejection save his new justiciar, the Poitevin Peter des
+Roches and other foreigners who knew the barons purposed
+driving them from the land. But even the number
+of these was small; there was a moment when John
+found himself with but seven knights at his back and before
+him a nation in arms. Quick as he was, he had
+been taken utterly by surprise. It was in vain that in
+the short respite he had gained from Christmas to Easter,
+he had summoned mercenaries to his aid and appealed to
+his new suzerain, the Pope. Summons and appeal were
+alike too late. Nursing wrath in his heart, John bowed
+to necessity, and called the barons to a conference on an
+island in the Thames between Windsor and Staines, near
+a marshy meadow by the river-side, the meadow of Runnymede.</p>
+
+<p>8. The king encamped on one bank of the river, the
+barons covered the flat of Runnymede on the other.
+Their delegates met on the 15th of July in the island between
+them, but the negotiations were a mere cloak to
+cover John's purpose of unconditional submission. The
+Great Charter was discussed and agreed to in a single
+day.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>John Richard Green.</i></div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<div class="fn">
+<h4>Footnote</h4>
+<p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a>
+    <a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Scutage,
+    or shield-money, was the commutation paid in lieu of military
+    service by all who owed service to the king.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XLIV.&mdash;AN EARLY ELECTION TO PARLIAMENT.</i></h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>The following preliminary sketch by J. R. Green, the historian,
+serves as an introduction to Palgrave's picture of an election under
+Edward I:</p>
+
+<p>"It was Edward the First, who first made laws in what has ever
+since been called Parliament. For this purpose he called on the
+shires and larger towns to choose men to 'represent' them, or appear
+in their stead in the Great Council; the shires sending knights
+of the shire, the towns burgesses. These, added to the peers or high
+nobles and to the bishops, made up Parliament.</p>
+
+<p>"The business of Parliament was not only to make good laws for
+the realm, but to grant money to the king for the needs of the state
+in peace and war, and to authorize him to raise this money by taxes
+or subsidies from his subjects. So at first people saw little of the
+great good of such Parliaments, but dreaded their calling together,
+because they brought taxes with them. Nor did men seek, as they
+do now, to be chosen members of Parliament, for the way thither
+was long and travel costly, and so they did their best not to be
+chosen, and when chosen had to be bound over under pain of heavy
+fines to serve in Parliament."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>1. During the last half-hour the suitors had been gathering
+round the shire-oak awaiting the arrival of the high
+officer whose duty it was to preside. Notwithstanding
+the size of the meeting, there was an evident system in the
+crowd. A considerable proportion of the throng consisted
+of little knots of husbandmen or churls, four or five of
+whom were generally standing together, each company
+seeming to compose a deputation. The churls might be
+easily distinguished by their dress, a long frock of coarse
+yet snow-white linen hanging down to the same length
+before and behind, and ornamented round the neck with
+broidery rudely executed in blue thread. They wore, in
+fact, the attire of the carter and plowman, a garb which
+was common enough in country parts about five-and-twenty
+years ago, but which will probably soon be recollected
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>
+only as an ancient costume, cast away with all the
+other obsolete characteristics of merry old England.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p238-illus.jpg" id="p238-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p238-illus.jpg" width="500" height="608" alt="An election procession" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2"><i>An Early Election to Parliament.</i></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>2. These groups of peasantry were the representatives
+of their respective townships, the rural communes into
+which the whole realm was divided; and each had a
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>
+species of chieftain or head-man in the person of an individual
+who, though it was evident that he belonged to the
+same rank in society, gave directions to the rest. Interspersed
+among the churls, though not confounded with
+them, were also very many well-clad persons, possessing
+an appearance of rustic respectability, who were also subjected
+to some kind of organization, being collected into
+sets of twelve men each, who were busily employed in
+confabulation among themselves. These were "the sworn
+centenary deputies" or jurors, the sworn men who answered
+for or represented the several hundreds.</p>
+
+<p>3. A third class of members of the shire court could
+be equally distinguished, proudly known by their gilt
+spurs and blazoned tabards as the provincial knighthood,
+and who, though thus honored, appeared to mix freely
+and affably in converse with the rest of the commons of
+the shire.</p>
+
+<p>4. A flourish of trumpets announced the approach of
+the high-sheriff, Sir Giles de Argentein, surrounded by
+his escort of javelin-men, tall yeomen, all arrayed in a
+uniform suit of livery, and accompanied, among others,
+by four knights, the coroners, who took cognizance of all
+pleas that concerned the king's rights within the county,
+and who, though they yielded precedence to the sheriff,
+were evidently considered to be almost of equal importance
+with him. "My masters," said the sheriff to the
+assembled crowd, "even now hath the port-joye<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a>
+    <a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> of the
+chancery delivered to me certain most important writs of
+our sovereign lord the king, containing his Grace's high
+commands." At this time the chancellor, who might be
+designated as principal secretary of state for all departments,
+was the great medium of communication between
+king and subject: whatever the sovereign had to ask or
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>
+tell was usually asked or told by, or under, the directions
+of this high functionary.</p>
+
+<p>5. Now, although the gracious declarations which the
+chancellor was charged to deliver were much diversified
+in their form, yet, somehow or other, they all conveyed
+the same intent. Whether directing the preservation of
+peace or preparing for the prosecution of a war, whether
+announcing a royal birth or a royal death, the knighthood
+of the king's son or the marriage of the king's daughter,
+the mandates of our ancient kings invariably conclude
+with a request or a demand for money's worth or money.</p>
+
+<p>6. The present instance offered no exception to the
+general rule. King Edward, greeting his loving subjects,
+expatiated upon the miseries which the realm was likely
+to sustain by the invasion of the wicked, barbarous, and
+perfidious Scots. Church and state, he alleged, were in
+equal danger, and "inasmuch as that which concerneth all
+ought to be determined by the advice of all concerned,
+we have determined," continued the writ, "to hold our
+Parliament at Westminster in eight days from the feast
+of St. Hilary." The effect of the announcement was
+magical. Parliament! Even before the second syllable
+of the word had been uttered, visions of aids and subsidies
+rose before the appalled multitude, grim shadows of assessors
+and collectors floated in the ambient air.</p>
+
+<p>7. Sir Gilbert Hastings instinctively plucked his purse
+out of his sleeve; drawing the strings together, he twisted,
+and tied them in the course of half a minute of nervous
+agitation into a Gordian knot, which apparently defied any
+attempt to undo it, except by means practiced by the son
+of Ammon. The Abbot of Oseney forthwith guided his
+steed to the right about, and rode away from the meeting
+as fast as his horse could trot, turning the deafest of
+all deaf ears to the monitions which he received to stay.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>
+    8. The sheriff and the other functionaries alone preserved
+a tranquil but not a cheerful gravity, as Sir Giles
+commanded his clerk to read the whole of the writ, by
+which he was commanded "to cause two knights to be
+elected for the shire; and from every city within his
+bailiwick two citizens; and from every borough two burgesses&mdash;all
+of them of the more discreet and wiser sort;
+and to cause them to come before the king in this Parliament
+at the before-mentioned day and place, with full
+powers from their respective communities to perform and
+consent to such matters as by common counsel shall then
+and there be ordained; and this you will in no wise omit,
+as you will answer at your peril."</p>
+
+<p>9. A momentary pause ensued. The main body of
+the suitors retreated from the high-sheriff, as though he
+had been a center of repulsion. After a short but vehement
+conversation among themselves, one of the bettermost
+sort of yeomen, a gentleman farmer, if we may use the
+modern term, stepped forward and addressed Sir Giles:
+"Your worship well knows that we, your commons, are
+not bound to proceed to the election. You have no right
+to call upon us to interfere. So many of the earls and
+barons of the shire, the great men, who ought to take the
+main trouble, burthen, and business of the choice of the
+knights upon themselves, are absent now in the king's
+service, that we neither can nor dare proceed to nominate
+those who are to represent the county. Such slender folks
+as we have no concern in these weighty matters. How
+can we tell who are best qualified to serve?"</p>
+
+<p>10. "What of that, John Trafford?" said the sheriff.
+"Do you think that his Grace will allow his affairs to
+be delayed by excuses such as these? You suitors of
+the shire are as much bound and obliged to concur in
+the choice of the county members as any baron of the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>
+realm. Do your duty; I command you in the king's
+name!"</p>
+
+<p>11. John Trafford had no help. Like a wise debater,
+he yielded to the pinch of the argument without confessing
+that he felt it; and, having muttered a few words to
+the sheriff, which might be considered as an assent, a long
+conference took place between him and some of his brother
+stewards, as well as with other suitors. During this confabulation
+several nods and winks of intelligence passed
+between Trafford and a well-mounted knight; and while
+the former appeared to be settling the business with the
+suitors, the latter, who had been close to Sir Giles, continued
+gradually backing and sidling away through the
+groups of shiresmen, and, just as he had got clear out of
+the ring, John Trafford declared, in a most sonorous voice,
+that the suitors had chosen Sir Richard de Pogeys as one
+of their representatives.</p>
+
+<p>12. The sheriff, who, keeping his eye fixed upon Sir
+Richard as he receded, had evidently suspected some
+man&oelig;uvre, instantly ordered his bailiffs to secure the
+body of the member. "And," continued he with much
+vehemence, "Sir Richard must be forthwith committed
+to custody, unless he gives good bail&mdash;two substantial
+freeholders&mdash;that he will duly attend in his place among
+the commons on the first day of the session, according to
+the law and usage of Parliament."</p>
+
+<p>13. All this, however, was more easily said than done.
+Before the verbal precept had proceeded from the lips of
+the sheriff, Sir Richard was galloping away at full speed
+across the fields. Off dashed the bailiffs after the member,
+amid the shouts of the surrounding crowd, who forgot
+all their grievances in the stimulus of the chase, which
+they contemplated with the perfect certainty of receiving
+some satisfaction by its termination; whether by the escape
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>
+of the fugitive, in which case their common enemy,
+the sheriff, would be liable to a heavy amercement;<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a>
+    <a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> or
+by the capture of the knight, a result which would give
+them almost equal delight, by imposing a disagreeable
+and irksome duty upon an individual who was universally
+disliked, in consequence of his overbearing harshness and
+domestic tyranny.</p>
+
+<p>14. One of the two above-mentioned gratifications
+might be considered as certain. But, besides these, there
+was a third contingent amusement, by no means to be
+overlooked, namely, the chance that in the contest those
+respectable and intelligent functionaries, the sheriff's
+bailiffs, might somehow or another come to some kind of
+harm. In this charitable expectation the good men of the
+shire were not entirely disappointed. Bounding along
+the open fields, while the welkin resounded with the
+cheers of the spectators, the fleet courser of Sir Richard
+sliddered on the grass, then stumbled and fell down the
+sloping side of one of the many ancient British intrenchments
+by which the plain was crossed, and, horse and
+rider rolling over, the latter was deposited quite at the
+bottom of the foss, unhurt, but much discomposed.</p>
+
+<p>15. Horse and rider were immediately on their respective
+legs again: the horse shook himself, snorted, and
+was quite ready to start; but Sir Richard had to regird
+his sword, and before he could remount, the bailiffs were
+close at him. Dick-o'-the-Gyves attempted to trip him
+up, John Catchpole seized him by the collar of his pourpoint.<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a>
+    <a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a>
+A scuffle ensued, during which the nags of the
+bailiffs slyly took the opportunity of emancipating themselves
+from control. Distinctly seen from the moot-hill,
+the strife began and ended in a moment; in what manner
+it had ended was declared without any further explanation,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>
+when the officers rejoined the assembly, by Dick's
+limping gait and the closed eye of his companion.</p>
+
+<p>16. In the mean time Sir Richard had wholly disappeared,
+and the special return made by the sheriff to the
+writ, which I translate from the original, will best elucidate
+the bearing of the transaction:</p>
+
+<p>"Sir Richard de Pogeys, knight, duly elected by the
+shire, refused to find bail for his appearance in Parliament
+at the day and place within mentioned, and having grievously
+assaulted my bailiffs in contempt of the king, his
+crown, and dignity, and absconded to the Chiltern Hundreds<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a>
+    <a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a>,
+into which liberty, not being shire-land or guildable,
+I can not enter, I am unable to make any other execution
+of the writ as far as he is concerned."</p>
+
+<p>17. At the present day a nominal stewardship connected
+with the Chiltern Hundreds, called an office of
+profit under the crown, enables the member, by a species
+of juggle, to resign his seat. But it is not generally
+known that this ancient domain, which now affords the
+means of retreating out of the House of Commons, was in
+the fourteenth century employed as a sanctuary in which
+the knight of the shire took refuge in order to avoid being
+dragged into Parliament against his will. Being a
+distinct jurisdiction, in which the sheriff had no control,
+and where he could not capture the county member, it
+enabled the recusant to baffle the process, at least until
+the short session had closed.</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><i>Palgrave.</i></div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<div class="fn">
+<h4>Footnotes</h4>
+<p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a>
+    <a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a>
+    The port-joye was the messenger of the chancellor.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a>
+    <a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> Fine.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a>
+    <a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> Overcoat, or doublet.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a>
+    <a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a>
+    The district of the Chilterns, or line of chalk-hills to the east of
+    Buckinghamshire.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XLV.&mdash;THE BATTLE OF CRESSY.</i></h2>
+
+<p>1. Froissart was a brilliant historian of the middle
+ages. His writings are in quaint old French. At the
+request of Henry VIII of England, a translation of his
+"Battle of Cressy" was made into the English of that day.
+We insert this as a most lively description of the battle
+itself, and as a specimen of old literature in which pupils
+can not fail to take great interest:</p>
+
+<p>2. Thenglysshmen who were in three batayls, lyeing
+on the grounde to rest them, assone as they saw the
+frenchmen approche, they rose upon their fete, fayre and
+easily, without any haste, and arranged their batayls: the
+first, which was the prince's batell, the archers then strode
+in the manner of a harrow, and the men at armes in the
+botome of the batayle.</p>
+
+<p>3. Therle of North&#257;pton and therle of Arundell,
+with the second batell, were on a wyng in good order,
+redy to comfort the princes batayle, if nede were. The
+lordes and knyghtes of France, c&#257;e not to the assemble
+togyder in good order, for some came before, and some
+c&#257;e after, in such haste and yvell order, y<sup>t</sup> one of th&#275; dyd
+trouble another: when the french kyng sawe the englysshmen,
+his blode chaunged, and sayde to his marshals, make
+the genowayes go on before, and begynne the batayle in
+the name of god and saynt Denyse; ther were of the
+genowayse crosbowes, about a fiftene thousand, but they
+were so wery of goyng a fote that day, a six leages,
+armed with their crosbowes, that they sayde to their constables,
+we be not well ordered to fyght this day, for we
+be not in the case to do any great dede of armes, we have
+more nede of rest. These wordes came to the erle of
+Alanson, who sayd, a man is well at ease to be charged
+w<sup>t</sup> suche a sorte of rascalles, to be faynt and fayle now at
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>
+moost nede. Also the same season there fell a great
+rayne, and a clyps, with a terryble thunder, and before
+the rayne, ther came fleying over both batayls, a great
+nombre of crowes, for feare of the tempest comynge.</p>
+
+<p>4. Than anone the eyre beganne to wax clere, and the
+sonne to shyne fayre and bright, the which was right in
+the frenchmens eyen and on thenglysshmens backes.
+Whan the genowayes were assembled to-guyder, and began
+to aproche, they made a great leape and crye, to
+abasshe thenglysshmen, but they stode styll, and styredde
+not for all that; th&#257;ns the genowayes agayne the seconde
+tyme made another leape, and a fell crye, and stepped forward
+a lytell, and thenglysshmen remeued not one fote;
+thirdly agayne they leapt and cryed, and went forthe tyll
+they come within shotte; thane they shotte feersly with
+their crosbowes; thun thenglysshe archers stept forthe
+one pase, and lette fly their arowes so hotly, and so thycke,
+that it semed snowe; when the genowayes felte the
+arowes persynge through heeds, armes, and brestes, many
+of them cast downe their crosbowes, and dyde cutte their
+strynges, and retourned dysconfited.</p>
+
+<p>5. Whun the frenche kynge sawe them flye away, he
+sayd, slee these rascalles, for they shall lette and trouble
+us without reason: then ye shulde have sene the men of
+armes dasshe in among them, and kylled a great nombre
+of them; and ever styll the englysshmen shot where as
+they sawe thyckest preace; the sharpe arowes ranne into
+the men of armes, and into their horses, and many fell,
+horse and men, am&#333;ge the genowayes; and when they
+were downe, they coude not relyve agayne, the preace
+was so thycke, that one overthrewe another. And also
+amonge the englysshmen there were certayne rascalles
+that went a fote, with great knyves, and they went in
+among the men of armes, and slewe and murdredde many
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>
+as they lay on the grounde, both erles, baronnes, knyghtes
+and squyers, whereof the kynge of Englande was after
+dyspleased, for he had rather they had bene taken prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>6. The valyant kyng of Behaygne, called Charles of
+Luzenbomge, sonne to the noble emperour Henry of
+Luzenbomge, for all that he was nyghe blynde, whun he
+understode the order of the batayle, he sayde to them
+about hym, where is the lorde Charles my son? his men
+sayde, sir, we can not tell, we thynke he be fyghtynge;
+thun he sayde, sirs, ye ar my men, my companyons, and
+frendes in this journey. I requyre you bring me so farre
+forwarde, that I may stryke one stroke with my swerde;
+they sayde they wolde do his commandement, and to the
+intent that they shulde not lese him in the prease, they
+tyed all their raynes of their bridelles eche to other, and
+sette the kynge before to accomplysshe his desyre, and so
+thei went on their ennemyes; the lorde Charles of Behaygne,
+his sonne, who wrote hymselfe kyng of Behaygne,
+and bare the armes, he came in good order to the batayle,
+but wh&#257;ne he sawe that the matter went awrie on their
+partie, he departed, I can not tell you whiche waye, the
+kynge his father was so farre forwarde that he strake a
+stroke with his swerde, ye and mo thun foure, and fought
+valyuntly, and so dyde his compuny, and they adv&#275;tured
+themselfe so forwarde, that they were ther all slayne, and
+the next day they were founde in the place about the
+kyng, and all their horses tyed eche to other.</p>
+
+<p>7. The erle of Alansone came to the batayle right ordy
+notlye, and fought with thenglysshmen; and the erle of
+Flaunders also on his parte; these two lordes with their
+c&#333;panyes wosted the englysshe archers, and came to the
+princes batayle, and there fought valyantly longe. The
+frenche kynge wolde fayne have come thyder whanne he
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>
+saw their baners, but there was a great hedge of archers
+before hym. The same day the frenche kynge hadde
+gyven a great blacke courser to Sir John of Heynault,
+and he made the lorde Johan of Fussels to ryde on hym,
+and to bere his banerre; the same horse tooke the bridell
+in the tethe, and brought hym through all the currours of
+th&#275;'glysshmen, and as he wolde have retourned agayne, he
+fell in a great dyke, and was sore hurt, and had been ther
+deed, and his page had not ben, who followed him through
+all the batayls, and sawe where his maister lay in the dyke,
+and had none other lette but for his horse, for thenglysshmen
+wolde not yssue out of their batayle, for takyng of
+any prisiner; th&#257;ne the page alyghted and relyved his
+maister, thun he went not backe agayn y<sup>e</sup> same way that
+they came, there was to many in his way.</p>
+
+<p>8. This batyle bytwene Broy and Cressy, this Saturday
+was right cruell and fell, and many a feat of armes
+done, that came not to my knowledge; in the night, dyverse
+knyghtes and sqyers lost their maisters, and sometyme
+came on thenglysshmen, who receyved them in such
+wyse, that they were ever nighe slayne; for there was
+none taken to mercy nor to raunsome, for so thenglysshmen
+were determyned: in the mornyng the day of the batayle,
+certayne frenchmen and almaygnes perforce opyned
+the archers of the princes batayle, and came and fought
+with the men of armes hande to hande: than the seconde
+batayle of thenglysshmen came to sucour the princes batayle,
+the whiche was tyme, for they had as th&#257;n moche ado;
+and they with y<sup>e</sup> prince sent a messanger to the kynge,
+who was on a lytell wyndmyll hyll; thun the knyght sayd
+to the kyng, sir, therle of Warwyke, and therle of C&#257;fort,
+Sir Reynolde Cobham, and other, suche as be about the
+prince your sonne, as feersly fought with all, and ar sore
+handled, wherefore they desyre you, that you and your batayle
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>
+wolle come and ayde them, for if the frenchmen encrease,
+as they dout they woll, your sonne and they shall
+have much ado.</p>
+
+<p>9. Thun the kynge sayde, is my sonne deed or hurt,
+or on the yerthe felled? no sir, quoth the knyght, but he
+is hardely matched, wherefore he hath nede of your ayde.
+Well, sayde the king, returne to him, and to thrm that
+sent you hyther, and say to them, that they sende no more
+to me for an adventure that falleth, as long as my son is
+alyve, and also say to th&#275;, that they suffre hym this day
+to wynne his spurres, for if god he pleased, I woll this
+journey be his, and the honoure therof, and to them that
+be aboute him. Thun the knyght returned agayn to th&#275;,
+and shewed the kynges wordes, the which gretly encouraged
+them, and repoyned in that they had sende to
+the kynge as they dyd. Sir Godfray of Harecourt, wolde
+gladly that the erle of Harcourt, his brother, myghte have
+been saved, for he hurd say by th&#275; that he sawe his baner,
+howe that he was ther in the felde on the french partie,
+but Sir Godfray coude not come to hym betymes for he
+was slayne or he coude co&#275; at hym, and so also was therle
+of Almare, his nephue.</p>
+
+<p>10. In another place the erle of Aleuson, and therle
+of Flaunders, fought valyantly, every lorde under his owne
+banere; but finally they coude not resyst agaynt the
+payssance of thenglysshmen, and so ther they were also
+slayne, and dyvers knyghtes and sqyers, also therle of
+Lewes of Bloyes, nephue to the frenche kyng, and the
+duke of Lorayne, fought under their baners, but at last
+they were closed in among a c&#333;pany of englysshmen and
+welshmen, and were there slayed, for all their powers.
+Also there was slayne the erle of Ausser, therle of Saynt
+Poule, and many others.</p>
+
+<p>11. In the evenynge, the frenche kynge, who had lefte
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>
+about hym no more than a threscore persons, one and
+other, whereof Sir John of Heynalt was one, who had
+remounted ones the kynge, for his horse was slayne with
+an arowe, th&#257; sayde to the kynge, sir, departe hense, for
+it is tyme, lese not yourselfe wylfully, if ye have losse at
+this tyme, ye shall recover it agaynt another season, and
+soo he took the kynge's horse by the brydell, and ledde
+hym away in a maner perforce; than the kyng rode tyll
+he came to the castell of Broy. The gate was closed, because
+it was by that tyme darke; than the kynge called
+the captayne, who came to the walles, and sayd, Who is
+that calleth there this tyme of night? than the kynge
+sayde, open your gate quickly, for this is the fortune of
+Fraunce; the captayne knewe than it was the kyng, and
+opyned the gate, and let downe the bridge; than the
+kyng entred, and he had with hym but fyve baronnes,
+Sir Johan of Heynault, Sir Charles of Monmorency, the
+lorde of Beaureive, the lorde Dobegny, and the lorde of
+Mountfort; the kynge wolde not tary there, but dr&#257;ke
+and departed thense about mydnyght, and so rode by
+suche guydes as knewe the country, tyll he came in the
+mornynge to Anyeuse, and then he rested. This saturday
+the englysshmen never departed for their batayls for
+chasynge of any man, but kept styll their felde, and ever
+defended themselfe agaynst all such as came to assayle
+them; the batayle ended about evynsonge tyme.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p>
+<h2><i>XLVI.&mdash;THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT.</i></h2>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">1. Fair stood the wind for France<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When we our sails advance,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Nor now to prove our chance<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Longer will tarry;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But, putting to the main,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">At Kaux, the mouth of Seine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With all his martial train,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Landed King Harry.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">2. And taking many a fort,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Furnish'd in warlike sort,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">March'd toward Agincourt<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In happy hour;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Skirmishing day by day<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With those that stop'd the way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Where the French gen'ral lay<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With all his power.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">3. Which in his height of pride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">King Henry to deride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His ransom to provide<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To the king sending;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Which he neglects the while,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As from a nation vile,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet with an angry smile,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Their fall portending.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">4. And turning to his men,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Quoth our brave Henry then,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Though they be one to ten,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Be not amazed.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yet, have we well begun,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>
+    <span class="i1">Battles so bravely won<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Have ever to the sun<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By fame been raised.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">5. And for myself, quoth he,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">This my full rest shall be,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">England ne'er mourn for me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Nor more esteem me.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Victor I will remain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Or on this earth lie slain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Never shall she sustain<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Loss to redeem me.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">6. Poictiers and Cressy tell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When most their pride did swell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Under our swords they fell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No less our skill is,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Than when our grandsire great,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Claiming the regal seat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">By many a warlike feat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Lop'd the French lilies.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">7. The Duke of York so dread<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The eager vanward led;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With the main Henry sped<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Amongst his henchmen.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Excester had the rear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A braver man not there;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">O Lord, how hot they were<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">On the false Frenchmen!<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">8. They now to fight are gone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Armor on armor shone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Drum now to drum did groan,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To hear was wonder;<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>
+    <span class="i1">That with the cries they make,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The very earth did shake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Trumpet to trumpet spake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thunder to thunder.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">9. Well it thine age became,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">O noble Erpingham,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Which did the signal aim<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To our hid forces;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When from a meadow by,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Like a storm suddenly,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The English archery<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Struck the French horses.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">10. With Spanish yew so strong,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Arrows a cloth-yard long,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">That like to serpents stung,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Piercing the weather;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">None from his fellow starts,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">But playing manly parts,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And, like true English hearts,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Stuck close together.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">11. When down their bows they threw<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And forth their bilbows drew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And on the French they flew;<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Not one was tardy.<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Arms from their shoulders sent,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Scalps to the teeth were rent,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Down the French peasants went,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Our men were hardy.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">12. This while our noble king,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">His broadsword brandishing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Down the French host did ding,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">As to o'erwhelm it;<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>
+    <span class="i22">And many a deep wound lent,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">His arms with blood besprent,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And many a cruel dent<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Bruis�d his helmet.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">13. Glo'ster, that duke so good,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Next of the royal blood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">For famous English stood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">With his brave brother,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Clarence, in steel so bright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Though but a maiden knight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Yet in that furious fight<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Scarce such another.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">14. Warwick in blood did wade,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Oxford the foe invade,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">And cruel slaughter made,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Still as they ran up;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Suffolk his axe did ply,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Beaumont and Willoughby;<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Bore them right doughtily,<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Ferrers and Fanhope.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">15. Upon Saint Crispin's day<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Fought was this noble fray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Which fame did not delay<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">To England to carry.<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">O when shall Englishmen<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">With such acts fill a pen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i22">Or England breed again<br /></span>
+<span class="i33">Such a King Harry?<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="signature3"><i>Michael Drayton.</i></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h4>THE END.</h4>
+
+<hr />
+<div class="tn">
+<h4>Transcriber's Note</h4>
+<ul class="corrections">
+<li>Punctuation errors have been corrected.</li>
+<li>Footnotes have been moved to the end of the respective story.</li>
+<li>Hyphenation of "<a href="#house">housetops</a>" and "<a href="#tops">house-tops</a>" left
+as printed.</li>
+<li>Pg <a href="#breast">51</a> Corrected spelling of "breastplace" to "breastplate" in "... upon Orlando's
+breastplace that his sword ..."</li>
+<li>Pg <a href="#access">137</a> Corrected spelling of "acccess" to "access" in "... might have
+acccess to them"</li>
+<li>Pg <a href="#four">148</a> Corrected spelling of "forescore" to "fourscore" in "... on the
+left, and forescore on the ..."</li>
+<li>Pg <a href="#Treves">176</a> Corrected spelling of "Treves" to "Tr�ves" in "... Roman road
+from Treves as far as the ..."</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories of the Olden Time, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF THE OLDEN TIME ***
+
+***** This file should be named 34083-h.htm or 34083-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/0/8/34083/
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/34083-h/images/f001-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/f001-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9606b4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/f001-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p001-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p001-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4bcea72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p001-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p007a-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p007a-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8851680
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p007a-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p007b-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p007b-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d8d299
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p007b-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p010-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p010-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..daf4f79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p010-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p013-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p013-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d794646
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p013-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p016-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p016-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..16d22d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p016-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p018a-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p018a-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..437d4ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p018a-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p018b-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p018b-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6374ae3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p018b-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p019-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p019-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17b4d10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p019-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p024a-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p024a-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eede978
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p024a-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p024b-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p024b-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..562a5cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p024b-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p027-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p027-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ffab7cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p027-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p029-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p029-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad9901f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p029-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p032-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p032-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a43afee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p032-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p034-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p034-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4fe5400
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p034-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p037-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p037-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84ca5c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p037-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p041-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p041-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d97cab1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p041-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p044-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p044-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d0a13d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p044-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p054a-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p054a-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..649a5ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p054a-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p054b-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p054b-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..09f0af8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p054b-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p058-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p058-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df3fdef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p058-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p069-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p069-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3639744
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p069-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p071-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p071-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00a70d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p071-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p074-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p074-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1cd7c61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p074-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p075-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p075-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d41ef41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p075-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p077-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p077-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e159068
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p077-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p093-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p093-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..971ab66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p093-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p100-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p100-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1fe966e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p100-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p104-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p104-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f763277
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p104-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p117-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p117-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6dbaa8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p117-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p122-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p122-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..44f5436
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p122-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p127-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p127-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92fbdab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p127-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p129-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p129-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff50bcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p129-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p132-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p132-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7afe3fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p132-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p141-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p141-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7f65f9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p141-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p147-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p147-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..18fe131
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p147-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p151-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p151-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03da97e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p151-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p154-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p154-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7a488b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p154-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p159-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p159-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dca53b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p159-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p163-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p163-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a18a834
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p163-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p165-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p165-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f1b313f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p165-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p167-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p167-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03e3348
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p167-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p169-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p169-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2c50b08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p169-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p185-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p185-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..023ccc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p185-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p195-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p195-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8cf517
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p195-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p218-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p218-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad1648f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p218-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p222-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p222-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..88f8284
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p222-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p225-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p225-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4be3fd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p225-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p235-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p235-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d79a801
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p235-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083-h/images/p238-illus.jpg b/34083-h/images/p238-illus.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..25edaee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083-h/images/p238-illus.jpg
diff --git a/34083.txt b/34083.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..145a17c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,7424 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories of the Olden Time, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Stories of the Olden Time
+       (Historical Series--Book IV Part I)
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: October 16, 2010 [EBook #34083]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF THE OLDEN TIME ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[illustration]
+
+
+
+
+  _HISTORICAL SERIES--BOOK IV PART I_
+
+  STORIES
+  OF THE OLDEN TIME
+
+  COMPILED AND ARRANGED
+  BY JAMES JOHONNOT
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  NEW YORK  CINCINNATI  CHICAGO
+  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1889,
+  BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
+
+  E. P. 12
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+When we go back to the early history of any people, we find that fact
+and fiction are strangely blended, and that the stories told are
+largely made up of traditions distorted and exaggerated by imagination
+and time. The myth, however, is valuable as representing the first
+steps of a nation in the evolution of its literature from a barbaric
+state, and as indicating special national characteristics.
+
+The myths of Greece, for example, are chiefly derived from the
+traditions extant when the alphabet was invented, and are preserved in
+the poetic stories of Homer and Virgil. Combined, they make that
+mythology which grew up in Greece, and which now so largely permeates
+the literature of every civilized language.
+
+The first stories given in this book are myths. They stand first in
+the order of precedence because they stand first in the order of time.
+
+The myths are followed by a few parables and fables, forms of stories
+which from the earliest times have been used to apply some
+well-established principle of morals to practical conduct.
+
+Next follow legends, where we are called upon to separate the probable
+from the improbable, the true from the false. Herodotus, the father of
+history, wrote his account of the "Persian Empire" several hundred
+years after the events took place which he has recorded. The stories
+had been preserved to his day by tradition.
+
+In the traditional stories and in the truer records which follow, the
+pupil will see the play of the same emotions and passions which
+actuate men at the present time, and the careers of the great
+conquerors, Frederic and Napoleon, differ little essentially from
+those of Alexander and Caesar. Tyranny remains the same forever,
+encroaching upon human liberty and limiting the field of human
+conduct. It will be seen also that from the state of barbarism there
+has been a gradual evolution which more and more places men under the
+protection of equal laws.
+
+These books are to be used mainly for the stories they contain. By a
+simple reproduction in speech or in writing, we have the best possible
+language lesson. The value of the books may be entirely lost by
+catechisms which demand the literal reproduction of the text.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  MYTHS.
+
+                                                             PAGE
+
+        I. Arion                                                7
+       II. Arachne                                             12
+      III. Polyphemus                                          15
+       IV. Ulysses's Return                                    17
+        V. Thor's Visit to Jotunheim                           20
+
+
+  PARABLES AND FABLES.
+
+       VI. The Wolf and the Dog                                24
+      VII. Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard             26
+     VIII. Parable of the Sower and the Seed                   28
+       IX. Pairing-Time anticipated                            30
+
+
+  LEGENDS.
+
+        X. The Gift of Tritemius                               33
+       XI. Damon and Pythias                                   36
+      XII. King Canute                                         40
+     XIII. A Norseman's Sword                                  43
+       IV. The Story of King Alfred and St. Cuthbert           46
+       XV. A Roland for an Oliver                              49
+      XVI. The Legend of Macbeth                               52
+
+
+  OLD BALLADS.
+
+     XVII. Chevy-Chase                                         59
+    XVIII. Valentine and Ursine                                65
+
+
+  EARLY EASTERN RECORD.
+
+      XIX. Sennacherib                                         71
+       XX. Glaucon                                             75
+      XXI. Cyrus and his Grandfather                           80
+     XXII. Cyrus and the Armenians                             83
+    XXIII. The Macedonian Empire                               90
+     XXIV. Alexander's Conquests                               98
+      XXV. Judas Maccabaeus, the Hebrew William Tell           106
+
+
+  ROMAN RECORD.
+
+     XXVI. Tarquin the Wicked                                 117
+    XXVII. The Roman Republic                                 127
+   XXVIII. Cincinnatus                                        137
+     XXIX. The Roman Father                                   141
+      XXX. Archimedes                                         150
+     XXXI. The Death of Caesar                                 154
+    XXXII. How Romans lived                                   161
+
+
+  MEDIAEVAL RECORD.
+
+   XXXIII. Conversion of the English                          169
+    XXXIV. Leo the Slave                                      173
+     XXXV. The Moors in Spain                                 179
+    XXXVI. Charlemagne                                        183
+
+
+  WESTERN RECORD.
+
+   XXXVII. The Norsemen                                       191
+  XXXVIII. Rolf the Ganger                                    200
+    XXXIX. The True Story of Macbeth                          206
+       XL. Duke William of Normandy                           211
+      XLI. The Norman Conquest                                217
+     XLII. King Richard C[oe]ur de Lion in the Holy Land      224
+    XLIII. King John and the Charter                          230
+     XLIV. An Early Election to Parliament                    237
+      XLV. The Battle of Cressy                               245
+     XLVI. The Battle of Agincourt                            251
+
+
+
+
+MYTHS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+_I.--ARION._
+
+
+1. Arion was a famous musician, and dwelt at the court of Periander,
+King of Corinth, with whom he was a great favorite. There was a
+musical contest in Sicily, and Arion longed to compete for the prize.
+He told his wish to Periander, who besought him like a brother to give
+up the thought. "Pray stay with me," he said, "and be contented. He
+who strives to win may lose." Arion answered: "A wandering life best
+suits the free heart of a poet. A talent which a god bestowed upon me
+I would fain make a source of pleasure to others; and if I win the
+prize, how will the enjoyment of it be increased by the consciousness
+of my wide-spread fame!"
+
+2. He went, won the prize, and embarked with his wealth in a
+Corinthian vessel for home. On the second morning after setting sail,
+the wind breathed mild and fair. "O Periander!" he exclaimed, "dismiss
+your fears. Soon shall you forget them in my embrace. With what lavish
+offerings will we display our gratitude to the gods, and how merry
+will we be at the festal board!" The wind and sea continued favorable,
+not a cloud dimmed the firmament. He had not trusted too much to the
+ocean, but to man he had. He overheard the seamen plotting to get
+possession of his treasure. Presently they surrounded him, loud and
+mutinous, and said: "Arion, you must die! If you would have a grave on
+the shore, yield yourself to die on this spot; but if otherwise, cast
+yourself into the sea."
+
+3. "Will nothing satisfy you but my life?" said he; "take my gold in
+welcome. I willingly buy my life at that price." "No, no; we can not
+spare you. Your life would be too dangerous to us. Where could we go to
+escape Periander if he should know that you had been robbed by us? Your
+gold would be of little use to us, if, on returning home, we could never
+more be free from fear." "Grant me, then," said he, "a last request,
+since naught will prevail to save my life, that I may die as I have
+lived, as becomes a bard. When I shall have sung my death-song, and my
+harp-strings cease to vibrate, then I will bid farewell to life, and
+yield to my fate." This prayer, like the others, would have been
+unheeded--they thought only of their booty--but to hear so famous a
+musician moved their hearts. "Suffer me," he added, "to arrange my
+dress. Apollo will not favor me unless I am clad in my minstrel garb."
+
+4. He clothed himself in gold and purple, fair to see, his tunic fell
+around him in graceful folds, jewels adorned his arms, his brow was
+crowned with a golden wreath, and over his neck and shoulders flowed
+his hair, perfumed with odors. His left hand held the lyre, his right
+the ivory wand with which he struck the chords. Like one inspired he
+seemed to drink the morning air and glitter in the morning ray. The
+seamen gazed in admiration. He strode forward to the vessel's side,
+and looked down into the blue sea.
+
+5. Addressing his lyre, he sang: "Companion of my voice, come with me
+to the realm of shades! Though Cerberus may growl, we know the power
+of song can tame his rage. Ye heroes of Elysium, who have passed the
+darkling flood--ye happy souls, soon shall I join your band. Yet can
+ye relieve my grief? Alas! I leave my friend behind me. Thou, who
+didst find thy Eurydice, and lose her again as soon as found, when she
+had vanished like a dream, how thou didst hate the cheerful light! I
+must away, but I will not fear. The gods look down upon us. Ye who
+slay me unoffending, when I am no more your time of trembling shall
+come! Ye Nereids, receive your guest, who throws himself upon your
+mercy!" So saying, he sprang into the deep sea. The waves covered him,
+and the seamen held their way, fancying themselves safe from all
+danger of detection.
+
+6. But the strains of his music had drawn around him the inhabitants
+of the deep to listen, and dolphins followed the ship as if charmed by
+a spell. While he struggled in the waves a dolphin offered him its
+back, and carried him mounted thereon safe to shore. At the spot where
+he landed, a monument of brass was afterward erected upon the rocky
+shore to preserve the memory of the event.
+
+7. When Arion and the dolphin parted, each returning to his own
+element, Arion thus poured forth his thanks: "Farewell, thou faithful,
+friendly fish! Would that I could reward thee! but thou canst not wend
+with me, nor I with thee; companionship we may not have. May Galatea,
+queen of the deep, accord thee her favor, and thou, proud of the
+burden, draw her chariot over the smooth mirror of the deep!"
+
+[Illustration: _Arion and the Dolphin._]
+
+8. Arion hastened from the shore, and soon saw before him the towers
+of Corinth. He journeyed on, harp in hand, singing as he went, full of
+love and happiness, forgetting his losses, and mindful only of what
+remained, his friend and his lyre. He entered the hospitable halls,
+and was soon clasped in the embrace of Periander. "I come back to
+thee, my friend," he said. "The talent which a god bestowed has been
+the delight of thousands, but false knaves have stripped me of my
+well-earned treasure." Then he told all the wonderful events that had
+befallen him. Periander, who heard him in amazement, said: "Shall such
+wickedness triumph? Then in vain is power lodged in my hands. That we
+may discover the criminals you must lie here concealed, so that they
+come without suspicion."
+
+9. When the ship arrived in the harbor, he summoned the mariners
+before him. "Have you heard anything of Arion?" he inquired. "I
+anxiously look for his return." They replied, "We left him well and
+prosperous in Tarentum." As they said these words, Arion stepped forth
+and faced them. He was clad in all his glory as when he leaped into
+the sea. They fell prostrate at his feet, as if a lightning-bolt had
+struck them. "We meant to murder him, and he has become a god! O
+earth, open and receive us!" Then Periander spoke: "He lives, the
+master of the lay! kind Heaven protects the poet's life. As for you, I
+invoke not the spirit of vengeance; Arion wishes not your blood. Ye
+slaves of avarice, begone! Seek some barbarous land, and never may
+aught beautiful delight your souls!"
+
+
+
+
+_II.--ARACHNE._
+
+
+1. In the old mythology it was considered a great sin for any mortal
+to enter into a contest with a god, and whenever one did so he
+incurred a fearful penalty. The maiden Arachne early showed marvelous
+skill in embroidery and all kinds of needle-work. So beautiful were
+her designs that the nymphs themselves would leave their groves and
+fountains, and come and gaze delighted upon her work. It was not only
+beautiful when it was done, but was beautiful in the doing. As they
+watched the delicate touch of her fingers they declared that the
+goddess Minerva must have been her teacher. This Arachne denied, and,
+grown very vain of her many compliments, she said: "Let Minerva try
+her skill with mine, and if beaten I will pay the penalty!"
+
+2. Minerva heard this, and was greatly displeased at the vanity and
+presumption of the maiden. Assuming the form of an old woman she went
+to Arachne and gave her some friendly advice. "I have much
+experience," she said, "and I hope you will not despise my counsel.
+Challenge mortals as much as you like, but do not try and compete with
+a goddess!" Arachne stopped her spinning, and angrily replied: "keep
+your counsel for your daughters and handmaids; for my part, I know
+what I say, and I stand to it. I am not afraid of the goddess."
+
+3. Minerva then dropped her disguise, and stood before the company in
+her proper person. The nymphs at once paid her homage. Arachne alone
+had no fear. She stood by her resolve, and the contest proceeded. Each
+took her station, and attached the web to the beam. Both worked with
+speed; their skillful hands moved rapidly, and the excitement of the
+contest made the labor light.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+4. Minerva wrought into her web the scene of her contest with Neptune.
+The gods are all represented in their most august forms, and the
+picture is noble in its perfect simplicity and chaste beauty. In the
+four corners she wrought scenes where mortals entered into contest
+with gods and were punished for their presumption. These were meant as
+warnings to her rival to give up the contest before it was too late.
+
+5. Arachne filled her web with subjects designedly chosen to exhibit
+the failings and errors of the gods. Every story to their discredit
+she appears to have treasured up. The last scene she represented was
+that of Jupiter in the form of a bull carrying off Europa across the
+sea, leaving the heart-broken mother to wander in search of her child
+until she died.
+
+6. Minerva examined the work of her rival, and doubly angry at the
+presumption and the sacrilege manifested in her choice of subjects,
+struck her web with a shuttle and tore it from the loom. She then
+touched the forehead of Arachne and made her feel her guilt and shame.
+This she could not endure, and went out and hanged herself. Minerva
+pitied her, as she saw her hanging by a rope. "Live, guilty woman,"
+said she; "and that you may preserve the memory of this lesson,
+continue to hang, you and your descendants, to all future times." She
+sprinkled her with the juice of aconite, and immediately her form
+shrunk up, her head grew small, and her fingers grew to her sides and
+served as legs. All the rest of her is body, out of which she spins
+her thread, often hanging suspended by it in the same attitude as when
+Minerva touched her and transformed her into a spider.
+
+
+
+
+_III.--POLYPHEMUS._
+
+
+1. When Troy was captured, Ulysses, the King of Ithaca, set sail for
+his native country. With favorable winds he should have reached home
+in a few months, but he met with so many adventures that it was ten
+years before he saw the shores of his beloved Ithaca. At one time he
+and his companions landed upon an unknown shore in search of food.
+Ulysses took with him a jar of wine as a present should he meet with
+any inhabitants. Presently they came to a large cave, and entered it.
+There they found lambs and kids in their pens, and a table spread with
+cheese, fruits, and bowls of milk. But soon the master of the cave,
+Polyphemus, returned, and Ulysses saw that they were in the land of
+the Cyclops, a race of immense giants. The name means "round eye," and
+these giants were so called because they had but one eye, and that was
+placed in the middle of the forehead.
+
+2. Polyphemus drove into the cave the sheep and the goats to be
+milked, and then placed a huge rock at the mouth of the cave to serve
+as a door. While attending to his supper he chanced to spy the Greeks,
+who were hidden in one corner. He growled out to them, demanding to
+know who they were, and where from. Ulysses replied, stating that they
+were returning from the siege of Troy, and that they had landed in
+search of provisions. At this Polyphemus gave no answer, but seizing a
+couple of Greeks, he killed and ate them up on the spot. He then went
+to sleep, and his snoring sounded like thunder in the ears of the
+terrified Greeks all the livelong night. In the morning the giant
+arose, ate two more men, and went out with his flocks, having
+carefully secured the door so that the remainder could not get away.
+
+3. Then Ulysses contrived a plan to punish the giant, and get away
+from his clutches. He found a great bar of wood which the giant had
+cut for a staff. This his men sharpened at one end and hardened at the
+fire. Then a number were selected to use it, and they awaited events.
+In the evening Polyphemus returned, and having eaten his two men he
+lay down to sleep. But Ulysses presented him with some of the wine
+from the jar which the giant eagerly drank, and called for more. In a
+short time he was quite drunk, and then he asked Ulysses his name, and
+he replied: "My name is Noman."
+
+[Illustration: _Polyphemus._]
+
+4. When the giant was fairly asleep, the sailors seized the sharpened
+stick, and, aiming it directly at his single eye, they rushed forward
+with all their might. The eye was put out, and the giant was left
+blind. He felt around the cave trying to catch his tormentors, but
+they contrived to get out of his way. He then howled so loud that his
+neighbors came to see what was the matter, when he said, "I am hurt,
+Noman did it!" Then they said, "If no man did it, we can not help
+you." So they went home, leaving him groaning.
+
+5. In the morning Polyphemus rolled away the stone to let out his
+sheep and goats, and the Greeks contrived to get out with them without
+being discovered. Once out, they lost no time in driving the flocks
+down to the shore, and then with their vessels well provisioned they
+set sail once more for their native land.
+
+
+
+
+_IV.--ULYSSES'S RETURN._
+
+
+1. Ulysses, the lord of Ithaca, went to assist the Greeks in the siege
+of Troy. For ten long years the war lasted, and when Troy fell,
+Ulysses was ten more years in reaching his home. He met with so many
+accidents and adventures that delayed him, that even his stout heart
+almost gave out as he thought of the wife and children waiting for him
+through all these weary years. In the mean time his son Telemachus had
+grown to manhood, and had gone in search of his father.
+
+2. During all this time his wife, Queen Penelope, never lost hope, but
+lived daily looking for her husband to come sailing over the sea. But
+while the master was away, more than a hundred young lords laid claim
+to the hand of Penelope, so as to obtain the power and riches of
+Ulysses. They lorded it over the palace and people as if they were the
+owners of both, and they paid no attention to the wishes of Penelope,
+as she was but a woman, and could not protect herself. Her only safety
+lay in the fact that the suitors were jealous of each other, and no
+one could make any advance until Penelope had made her selection.
+
+[Illustration: _Ulysses and his Dog._]
+
+3. At last Ulysses returned in the disguise of a beggar. No one knew
+him except his old dog Argus, who, in his excess of joy, died while
+licking his hands. He made himself known to Eumaeus, a faithful
+servant, and by him was presented to Telemachus, who had just
+returned. Great was the joy of father and son at thus meeting each
+other. Then the three laid a plan to punish the suitors and to rid
+Ithaca of their presence. In carrying out this plan, Telemachus went
+to his mother's palace publicly, and the suitors bade him welcome,
+though they secretly hated him, and had tried to take his life. Here
+he found feasting going on, and, at his request, the supposed beggar
+was admitted to the foot of the table.
+
+4. Penelope had put off her decision on various pretexts until now,
+when there appeared no other reason for delay. So she announced that
+she would accept the one who would shoot an arrow through twelve rings
+arranged in a line. A bow formerly used by Ulysses was brought in and
+all other arms removed. All things being ready, the first thing to be
+done was to attach the string to the bow, which required the bow to be
+bent. Telemachus tried and failed. Then each of the suitors tried in
+turn, and all failed. They even rubbed the bow with tallow, but it
+would not bend.
+
+5. Here Ulysses spoke and said: "Beggar as I am, I once was a soldier,
+and there is some strength in these old limbs of mine yet. Let me
+try." The suitors hooted at him, and would have turned him out of the
+hall; but Telemachus said it was best to gratify the old man, and so
+put the bow in his hand. Ulysses took it and easily adjusted the cord.
+Then he selected an arrow and sent it through the twelve rings at the
+first shot. Before the suitors recovered from their astonishment he
+sent another through the heart of the most insolent of them.
+Telemachus, Eumaeus, and another faithful servant sprang to their aid.
+The suitors looked around for arms, but there were none. Ulysses did
+not let them remain long in doubt; he announced himself as the
+long-lost chief whose house they had invaded, whose substance they had
+squandered, and whose wife and son they had persecuted for ten long
+years, and told them he meant to have ample vengeance. All the suitors
+were slain but two, and Ulysses was left master of his own palace and
+the possessor of his kingdom and wife.
+
+[Illustration: _Penelope and Ulysses's Bow._]
+
+
+
+
+_V.--THOR'S VISIT TO JOTUNHEIM._
+
+
+1. Thor, the god of the Northmen, who always carried a hammer to make
+his way or obtain his wishes, heard of the giant's country, Jotunheim,
+of which Utgard was the capital, and he resolved on a visit to that
+region to try his strength with any one whom he might find. So,
+accompanied by his servants, Thiolfi and Loki, he set out. Thiolfi was
+of all men the swiftest on foot. At nightfall they took refuge from a
+storm in a very large building which they imperfectly saw in the dim
+light, but were kept awake by loud thunder which shook their abode
+like an earthquake. In the morning it was found that the thunder was
+the snoring of a huge giant sleeping near by, and that the building in
+which they had taken shelter was the giant's glove.
+
+2. The giant, whose name was Skrymer, knew Thor, and proposed that
+they should travel together, to which the god consented. At night they
+encamped, and soon the giant was asleep. Thor, finding that he could
+not untie the provision-bag which the giant had carried all day, went
+into a rage and struck the sleeper a mighty blow with, his hammer.
+Skrymer awoke and said, "The leaves are falling, for one just now fell
+upon my breast." They lay down again, and soon the giant began to
+snore so loud that Thor could get no sleep, so he grasped the hammer
+in both hands and dealt him another blow. Skrymer awoke and called
+out, "How fares it with thee, Thor? A bird must be overhead--a bunch
+of moss has just now fallen upon me." Just before daylight Thor
+thought that he would end this matter then, so he seized his hammer
+and threw it with all his might. Skrymer awoke, and stroking his cheek
+said, "An acorn fell upon my head. But let us be stirring, as we have
+a long day before us."
+
+3. When within sight of the city Skrymer turned off, as his route lay in
+another direction, and soon Thor and his companions were in presence of
+the giant king. Addressing Thor, the king asked if he or his companions
+could do anything better than others, for he said that no one was
+permitted to remain in the city unless he excelled in something.
+
+4. Loki, who was a great eater, proposed a feast, and the king called
+Logi to come out and compete with him. A trough filled with meat was
+placed in the midst of the hall, and Loki beginning at one end soon
+ate all the flesh to the middle of the trough; but it was found that
+Logi had devoured both flesh and bones and the trough to boot. So the
+company adjudged Loki vanquished.
+
+5. Next Thiolfi presented himself to run a race, and the king brought
+out a young man named Hugi to run with him. Hugi ran over the course
+and turning back met Thiolfi but just started. Then the king remarked
+that if Thor could not do better than his servants, it were well that
+he stay at home. Then a drinking-match was proposed, and a drinking
+horn was brought in. It was not very large, but was of great length,
+and the king remarked that any one of his subjects ought to empty it
+at a single draught, but none would fail to do so in three draughts.
+Thor drank long and deep, but the horn was as full as before; a second
+trial met with a similar failure. Then Thor straightened himself for a
+mighty effort and drank as the thirsty earth drinks of the rains from
+heaven. The liquor was diminished, but still the horn was nearly full.
+"I perceive," said the king, "that thou canst not be very thirsty, or
+thou wouldst drink more."
+
+6. "What new trial do you propose?" said Thor. "We have a trifling
+game here," said the king, "in which we exercise none but children. It
+consists in merely lifting my cat from the ground, and I should not
+have mentioned it to the great Thor if I had not observed that thou
+art by no means what we took thee for." As he finished speaking, a
+large gray cat sprang into the hall. Thor put forth all his mighty
+strength three times without lifting her, though on the third trial
+one foot was raised from the floor.
+
+7. "Well," said the king, "only one trial remains for thee. Thou must
+wrestle with somebody, and after thy failures to-day none of our men
+will wrestle with thee." So saying, the king called upon his old
+nurse, a toothless crone, shaking and trembling on the edge of the
+grave. Thor grasped her and put forth a mighty effort, but the old
+woman stood fast. At last she grasped him in turn, and he was thrown
+upon his knee. The king here interfered, and the contests came to an
+end. The travelers, however, were royally entertained, and after a
+good night's rest, and a bountiful breakfast, they bade the king
+good-by, and set out on their return.
+
+8. Toward night they overtook a traveler, who proved to be Skrymer,
+their former companion and guide, and they encamped together in the
+very wood where they passed their first night together. The giant,
+perceiving the dejected looks of Thor, said, "Something appears to
+trouble thee; has thy journey gone amiss?" Thereupon Thor related the
+whole story of his failures. "Then," said the giant, "take heart, for
+thou hast performed great wonders, but hast been the victim of
+delusions. Observe me closely!" Thor looked, and saw that Skrymer and
+the king were one and the same person.
+
+9. "Now," said the king, "Loki devoured all that was set before him,
+but Logi was Fire, and consumed trough and all. Hugi, with whom
+Thiolfi was running, was Thought, and not the swiftest runner can keep
+pace with that. The horn that thou failedst to empty had its lower end
+in the sea, and thou wilt see how the very ocean is lowered by thy
+draught. The cat is the animal that bears up the world, and thy last
+mighty effort caused the solid earth to shake as with an earthquake.
+The old woman with whom thou wrestledst was old age, and she throws
+everybody." The king then pointed out the place where Thor dealt his
+blows on the night of their first meeting, and lo! three mighty chasms
+showed where the solid mountains had been rent asunder.
+
+
+
+
+PARABLES AND FABLES.
+
+
+
+
+_VI.--THE WOLF AND THE DOG._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Lean, hungry wolf, fell in one moonlight night with a jolly, plump,
+well-fed mastiff, and after the first greetings were passed, the wolf
+accosted him: "You look extremely well," said he, "I think I never saw a
+more graceful, comely personage; but how comes it about, I beseech you,
+that you should live so much better than I? I may say, without vanity,
+that I venture fifty times more than you do, and yet I am almost ready
+to perish with hunger." The dog answered very bluntly: "Why, you may
+live as well as I if you will do the same services for it." The wolf
+pricked up his ears at the proposal, and requested to be informed what
+he must do to earn such plentiful meals. "Very little," answered the
+dog; "only to guard the house at night, and keep it from thieves and
+beggars." "With all my heart," rejoined the wolf, "for at present I have
+but a sorry time of it; and, I think, to change my hard lodging in the
+woods, where I endure rain, frost, and snow, for a warm roof over my
+head and plenty of food, will be no bad bargain." "True," said the dog,
+"therefore, you have nothing more to do than to follow me."
+
+2. As they were jogging along together, the wolf spied a circle, worn
+round his friend's neck, and, being almost as curious as some of a
+higher species, he could not forbear asking what it meant. "Pooh!
+nothing," said the dog, "or at most a mere trifle." "Nay, but pray,"
+urged the wolf, "inform me." "Why, then," said the dog, "perhaps it is
+the collar to which my chain is fastened; for I am sometimes tied up
+in the day-time, because I am a little fierce, and might bite people,
+and am only let loose at night. But this is done with design to make
+me sleep in the day, more than anything else, that I may watch the
+better in the night-time. As soon as the twilight appears, I am turned
+loose, and may go where I please. Then my master brings me plates of
+bones from the table with his own hands; and whatever scraps are left
+by the family fall to my share, for you must know I am a favorite with
+everybody. So, seeing how you are to live, come along! Why, what is
+the matter with you?" "I beg your pardon," replied the wolf, "but you
+may keep your happiness to yourself. I am resolved to have no share in
+your dinners. Half a meal, with liberty, is, in my estimation, worth a
+full one without it."
+
+
+
+
+_VII.--PARABLE OF THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD._
+
+
+1. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder,
+which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.
+
+2. And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent
+them into his vineyard.
+
+3. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle
+in the market-place,
+
+4. And said unto them; go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is
+right I will give you. And they went their way.
+
+5. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
+
+6. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing
+idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
+
+7. They say unto him, because no man hath hired us. He saith unto
+them, go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that
+shall ye receive.
+
+8. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his
+steward, call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from
+the last unto the first.
+
+9. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they
+received every man a penny.
+
+10. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have
+received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
+
+11. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man
+of the house,
+
+12. Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made
+them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+13. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong:
+didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
+
+14. Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last,
+even as unto thee.
+
+15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine
+eye evil, because I am good?
+
+16. So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be
+called, but few chosen.
+
+                                        (_St. Matthew, xx. 1-16._)
+
+
+
+
+_VIII.--PARABLE OF THE SOWER AND THE SEED._
+
+
+1. The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
+
+2. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he
+went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
+
+3. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a
+sower went forth to sow;
+
+4. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way-side, and the fowls
+came and devoured them up:
+
+5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and
+forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
+
+6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had
+no root, they withered away.
+
+7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked
+them:
+
+8. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a
+hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold.
+
+9. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
+
+10. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto
+them in parables?
+
+11. He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know
+the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
+
+[Illustration: _A Sower went forth to Sow._]
+
+12. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more
+abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even
+that he hath.
+
+13. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see
+not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
+
+                                      (_St. Matthew xiii, 1-13._)
+
+
+
+
+_IX.--PAIRING-TIME ANTICIPATED._
+
+
+    1. I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau
+       If birds confabulate or no;
+       'Tis clear that they were always able
+       To hold discourse,--at least in fable;
+       And even the child, who knows no better
+       Than to interpret by the letter
+       A story of a cock and bull,
+       Must have a most uncommon skull.
+
+    2. It chanced then on a winter's day,
+       But warm and bright and calm as May,
+       The birds, conceiving a design
+       To forestall sweet Saint Valentine,
+       In many an orchard, copse, and grove,
+       Assembled on affairs of love,
+       And with much twitter and much chatter,
+       Began to agitate the matter.
+
+    3. At length a bull-finch, who could boast
+       More years and wisdom than the most,
+       Entreated, opening wide his beak
+       A moment's liberty to speak,
+       And silence publicly enjoined,
+       Briefly delivered thus his mind:
+       "My friends! be cautious how ye treat
+       The subject upon which we meet;
+       I fear we shall have winter yet."
+
+    4. A finch, whose tongue knew no control,
+       With golden wings and satin poll,
+       A last year's bird, who ne'er had tried
+       What marriage means, thus pert, replied:
+       "Methinks the gentleman," quoth she,
+       "Opposite in the apple-tree,
+       By his good will, would keep us single
+       'Till yonder heaven and earth shall mingle,
+       Or, what is likelier to befall,
+       'Till death exterminate us all.
+       I marry without more ado!
+       My dear Dick Redcap, what say you?"
+
+    5. Dick heard, and tweedling, ogling, bridling,
+       Turning short round, strutting and sidling,
+       Attested glad his approbation
+       Of an immediate conjugation.
+       Their sentiments so well expressed,
+       Mightily influenced all the rest.
+       All paired and each pair built a nest.
+
+    6. But though the birds were thus in haste,
+       The leaves came out not quite so fast,
+       And destiny, that sometimes bears
+       An aspect stern on men's affairs,
+       Not altogether smiled on their's.
+       The wing of late breathed gently forth,
+       Now shifted east and east by north.
+       Bare trees and shrubs, but ill, you know
+       Could shelter them from rain or snow.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+    7. Stepping into their nests they paddled;
+       Themselves were chilled, their eggs were addled;
+       Soon every father bird and mother,
+       Grew quarrelsome and pecked each other,
+       Parted without the least regret--
+       Except that they had ever met--
+       And learned in future to be wiser
+       Than to neglect a good adviser.
+
+    8. Moral:
+           Misses, the tale that I relate,
+             This moral seems to carry--
+           Choose not alone a proper mate,
+             But proper time to marry.
+
+                                      _Cowper._
+
+
+
+
+LEGENDS.
+
+
+
+
+_X.--THE GIFT OF TRITEMIUS._
+
+
+    1. Tritemius, of Herbipolis, one day,
+       While kneeling at the altar's foot to pray,
+       Alone with God, as was his pious choice,
+       Heard from without a miserable voice,
+       A sound which seemed of all sad things to tell,
+       As of a lost soul crying out of hell.
+
+    2. Thereat the abbot paused; the chain whereby
+       His thoughts went upward broken by that cry;
+       And, looking from the casement, saw below
+       A wretched woman, with gray hair a-flow,
+       And withered hands held up to him, who cried
+       For alms as one who might not be denied.
+
+[Illustration: _The gift of Tritemius._]
+
+    3. She cried, "For the dear love of Him who gave
+       His life for ours, my child from bondage save,--
+       My beautiful, brave first-born, chained with slaves
+       In the Moor's galley, where the sun-smit waves
+       Lap the white walls of Tunis!" "What I can
+       I give," Tritemius said: "my prayers." "O man
+       Of God," she cried, for grief had made her bold,
+       "Mock me not thus; I ask not prayers, but gold.
+       Words will not serve me, alms alone suffice;
+       Even while I speak, perchance, my first-born dies."
+
+    4. "Woman," Tritemius answered, "from our door
+       None go unfed; hence are we always poor;
+       A single soldo is our only store.
+       Thou hast our prayers; what can we give thee more?"
+
+    5. "Give me," she said, "the silver candlesticks
+       On either side of the great crucifix;
+       God may well spare them on his errands sped,
+       Or he can give you golden ones instead."
+
+    6. Then spake Tritemius: "Even as thy word,
+       Woman, so be it! (Our most gracious Lord,
+       Who loveth mercy more than sacrifice,
+       Pardon me if a human soul I prize
+       Above the gifts upon his altar piled!)
+       Take what thou askest, and redeem thy child."
+
+    7. But his hand trembled as the holy alms
+       He placed within the beggar's eager palms;
+       And as she vanished down the linden shade,
+       He bowed his head, and for forgiveness prayed.
+
+    8. So the day passed, and when the twilight came
+       He woke to find the chapel all aflame,
+       And, dumb with grateful wonder, to behold
+       Upon the altar candlesticks of gold!
+
+                                        _Whittier._
+
+
+
+
+_XI.--DAMON AND PYTHIAS._
+
+
+1. About four hundred years before the Christian era, the government
+of Syracuse fell into the hands of Dionysius, a successful general of
+the army. He dispossessed the magistrates whom the people elected, and
+was therefore a usurper. While ruling justly in the main, he had a
+capricious temper, and often in his rage performed actions which he
+sincerely regretted in his sober moments. He was a good scholar, and
+very fond of philosophy and poetry, and he delighted to have learned
+men around him, and he had naturally a generous spirit; but the sense
+that he was in a position that did not belong to him, and that every
+one hated him for assuming it, made him very harsh and suspicious. It
+is of him that the story is told, that he had a chamber hollowed in
+the rock near his state prison, and constructed with galleries to
+conduct sounds like an ear, so that he might overhear the conversation
+of his captives; and of him, too, is told that famous anecdote which
+has become a proverb, that on hearing a friend, named Damocles,
+express a wish to be in his situation for a single day, he took him at
+his word, and Damocles found himself at a banquet with everything that
+could delight his senses, delicious food, costly wine, flowers,
+perfumes, music, but with a sword with the point almost touching his
+head, and hanging by a single horse-hair! This was to show the
+condition in which a usurper lived.
+
+[Illustration: _Damon and Pythias._]
+
+2. Thus Dionysius was in constant dread. He had a wide trench round his
+bedroom, with a drawbridge that he drew up and put down with his own
+hands; and he put one barber to death for boasting that he held a razor
+to the tyrant's throat every morning. After this he made his young
+daughters shave him; and by-and-by he would not trust them with a
+razor, and caused them to singe off his beard with hot nut-shells.
+
+3. One philosopher, named Philoxenus, he sent to a dungeon for finding
+fault with his poetry, but he afterward composed another piece, which
+he thought so superior that he could not be content without sending
+for this adverse critic to hear it. When he had finished reading it,
+he looked to Philoxenus for a compliment; but the philosopher only
+turned round to the guards, and said dryly, "Carry me back to prison."
+This time Dionysius had the sense to laugh, and forgive his honesty.
+
+4. All these stories may not be true; but that they should have been
+current in the ancient world, shows what was the character of the man
+of whom they were told, how stern and terrible was his anger, and how
+easily it was incurred. Among those who came under it was a
+Pythagorean called Pythias, who was sentenced to death, according to
+the usual fate of those who fell under his suspicion.
+
+5. Pythias had lands and relations in Greece, and he entreated as a
+favor to be allowed to return thither and arrange his affairs,
+engaging to return within a specified time and suffer death. The
+tyrant laughed his request to scorn. Once safe out of Sicily, who
+would answer for his return? Pythias made reply that he had a friend
+who would become security for his return; and while Dionysius, the
+miserable man who trusted nobody, was ready to scoff at his
+simplicity, another Pythagorean, by name Damon, came forward and
+offered to become surety for his friend, engaging that, if Pythias did
+not return according to promise, to suffer death in his stead.
+
+6. Dionysius, much astonished, consented to let Pythias go, marveling
+what would be the issue of the affair. Time went on, and Pythias did
+not appear. The Syracusans watched Damon, but he showed no
+uneasiness. He said he was secure of his friend's truth and honor, and
+that if any accident had caused his delay, he should rejoice in dying
+to save the life of one so dear to him.
+
+7. Even to the last day Damon continued serene and content, however it
+might fall out; nay, even when the very hour drew nigh and still no
+Pythias. His trust was so perfect that he did not even grieve at having
+to die for a faithless friend who left him to the fate to which he had
+unwarily pledged himself. It was not Pythias's own will, but the winds
+and waves, so he still declared, when the decree was brought and the
+instruments of death made ready. The hour had come, and a few moments
+more would have ended Damon's life, when Pythias duly presented himself,
+embraced his friend, and stood forward himself to receive his sentence,
+calm, resolute, and rejoiced that he had come in time.
+
+8. Even the dim hope they owned of a future state was enough to make
+these two brave men keep their word, and confront death for one
+another without quailing. Dionysius looked on more struck than ever.
+He felt that neither of such men must die. He reversed the sentence of
+Pythias, and calling the two to his judgment-seat, he entreated them
+to admit him as a third in their friendship.
+
+                                              _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XII.--KING CANUTE._
+
+
+    1. Upon his royal throne he sat
+         In a monarch's thoughtful mood;
+       Attendants on his regal state,
+         His servile courtiers stood,
+       With foolish flatteries, false and vain,
+       To win his smile, his favor gain.
+
+    2. They told him e'en the mighty deep
+         His kingly sway confessed;
+       That he could bid its billows leap,
+         Or still its stormy breast!
+       He smiled contemptuously and cried,
+       "Be then my boasted empire tried!"
+
+    3. Down to the ocean's sounding shore
+         The proud procession came,
+       To see its billows' wild uproar
+         King Canute's power proclaim,
+       Or, at his high and dread command,
+       In gentle murmurs kiss the strand.
+
+    4. Not so thought he, their noble king,
+         As his course he seaward sped;
+       And each base slave, like a guilty thing,
+         Hung down his conscious head:
+       He knew the ocean's Lord on high!
+       They, that he scorned their senseless lie.
+
+    5. His throne was placed by ocean's side,
+         He lifted his scepter there,
+       Bidding, with tones of kingly pride,
+         The waves their strife forbear;
+       And while he spoke his royal will,
+       All but the winds and waves were still.
+
+[Illustration: _Canute and his Courtiers._]
+
+    6. Louder the stormy blast swept by,
+         In scorn of idle word;
+       The briny deep its waves tossed high,
+         By his mandate undeterred,
+       As threatening, in their angry play,
+       To sweep both king and court away.
+
+    7. The monarch, with upbraiding look,
+         Turned to the courtly ring;
+       But none the kindling eye could brook
+         Even of his earthly king;
+       For in that wrathful glance they see
+       A mightier monarch wronged than he!
+
+    8. Canute, thy regal race is run;
+         Thy name had passed away,
+       But for the meed this tale hath won,
+         Which never shall decay:
+       Its meek, unperishing renown
+       Outlasts thy scepter and thy crown.
+
+    9. The Persian, in his mighty pride,
+         Forged fetters for the main,
+       And, when its floods his power defied,
+         Inflicted stripes as vain;
+       But it was worthier far of thee
+       To know thyself than rule the sea!
+
+                        _Bernard Barton._
+
+
+
+
+_XIII.--A NORSEMAN'S SWORD._
+
+
+1. The smelting of iron in the north of Europe is believed to have
+commenced with the Finns or Laplanders, the original inhabitants of
+Scandinavia, who then occupied the localities where the best ores are
+still found. The diminutive stature of these people compared with that
+of their Gothic invaders, their skill in penetrating the bowels of the
+earth in search of ores, the smoke of their collieries, the flame and
+thunder of their furnaces and forges, and, above all, the excellent
+temper of the weapons wrought by them--all these conspired to render
+them objects of superstitious wonder to the Goths.
+
+2. The legendary stories of that people are filled with strange tales
+of the northern dwarfs, who lived in the solid rock, and possessed
+magic skill in all the various arts of the smith. One of these legends
+may be worth citing, and the rather, because it relates to Vanlander,
+the Scandinavian Vulcan, of whom many traditions are extant, even in
+England, where he is styled Wayland Smith. At the age of thirteen
+Vanlander was apprenticed by his father, the giant Vade, to two of the
+dwarfs who dwelt in the interior of the mountain, and he applied
+himself so faithfully to their instructions, that in two years he
+equaled his masters in knowledge of all the arts of smithery, both
+black and white.
+
+3. Being at the court of King Nidung, where his dexterity as a smith
+became known, a rivalship arose between him and Amilias, principal
+smith to the king. Amilias challenged Vanlander to a trial of skill,
+upon condition that the life of the vanquished should be at the
+disposal of the victor. The terms proposed were that Vanlander should
+forge a sword, and Amilias a helmet, cuirass, and other defensive
+armor, and a twelvemonth was allowed for preparation. If the sword of
+Vanlander penetrated the armor of Amilias, the former was to be
+declared the victor, if otherwise, his life was forfeited to his rival.
+
+[Illustration: _A Norseman's Sword._]
+
+4. Amilias spent the whole year at his task, but Vanlander did not
+commence his labors until two months before the trial. He now, after
+seven days' labor, exhibited to the king a sword of great beauty and
+excellent temper, but too heavy for use. By way of testing its edge,
+he took a cushion stuffed with wool a foot in thickness, threw it into
+the river, and let it float with the current against the edge of the
+sword, which cut it fairly in two. The king thought this a sufficient
+proof, but Vanlander was not satisfied.
+
+5. He took the sword to his smithy, filed it quite to dust, and after
+subjecting the filings to an odd process of animal chemistry, he
+forged from them another sword of somewhat smaller size than the
+first, though still rather heavy. Upon testing this sword in the same
+manner as before, it readily divided a cushion two feet in thickness,
+and the king thought it the finest weapon in the world, but Vanlander
+said he would have it half as good again before he was done with it.
+
+6. It was now reduced to filings, which were treated as in the former
+instance, and in three weeks Vanlander produced a sword of convenient
+size, inlaid with gold, and with an ornamental hilt, all of the
+highest finish and beauty. The king and the smith went again to the
+river with a cushion three feet in thickness, which was thrown into
+the water and driven against the blade as before. The sword divided
+the cushion as easily as the water, and without even checking its
+progress as it floated with the current, and King Nidung declared its
+fellow could not be found on earth.
+
+7. At the appointed day Amilias put on his armor, all of which was of
+double plates, and, declaring himself ready for the trial, seated
+himself in a chair, and defied his rival to do his worst. Vanlander
+stepped behind him, gave him a blow upon the helmet, and asked him if
+he felt the edge. "I felt as if cold water were running through me,"
+replied Amilias. "Shake yourself," said Vanlander. His rival did so,
+and fell asunder, the sword having cleft him to the chine.
+
+                                                _George P. Marsh._
+
+
+
+
+_XIV.--THE STORY OF KING ALFRED AND ST. CUTHBERT._
+
+
+1. Now King Alfred was driven from his kingdom by the Danes, and he
+lay hid three years in the Isle of Glastonbury. 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." 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.
+
+2. And when the servant 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 had come 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!" And the king was glad,
+and he and his folk were merry; yet he pondered much upon that which
+had come to pass.
+
+3. And when night came the king went to his bed, and the king lay
+awake and thought of all that had come to pass by 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
+miter on his head, and holding in his right hand a book of the Gospels
+adorned with gold and gems. 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 Cuthbert the Soldier of Christ.
+
+4. "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. 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 mayst 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 Assaudun. And thus
+shalt thou fight against thine enemies, and doubt not that thou shalt
+overcome them.
+
+5. "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."
+
+6. 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 St. Cuthbert his patron. So in the morning he arose
+and 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 men of the bravest and
+dearest of his friends.
+
+7. And he spake unto them and told them all that God had said unto them
+by the mouth of his servant Cuthbert, and he told them that, by the gift
+of God and by the help of St. Cuthbert, they would overcome their
+enemies and win back their own land. And he bade them, as St. Cuthbert
+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 St.
+Cuthbert, and so he should always have 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.
+
+                                                  _E. A. Freeman._
+
+
+
+
+_XV.--A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER._
+
+
+1. Milon, or Milone, a knight of great family, and distantly related
+to Charlemagne, having secretly married Bertha, the emperor's sister,
+was banished from France. After a long and miserable wandering on foot
+as mendicants, Milon and his wife arrived at Sutri, in Italy, where
+they took refuge in a cave, and in that cave Orlando was born. There
+his mother continued, drawing a scanty support from the compassion of
+the neighboring peasants, while Milon, in quest of honor and fortune,
+went into foreign lands. Orlando grew up among the children of the
+peasantry, surpassing them all in strength and manly graces.
+
+2. Among his companions in age, though in station far more elevated,
+was Oliver, son of the governor of the town. Between the two boys a
+feud arose, that led to a fight, in which Orlando thrashed his rival;
+but this did not prevent a friendship springing up between the two
+which lasted through life.
+
+3. Orlando was so poor that he was sometimes half naked. As he was a
+favorite of the boys, one day four of them brought some cloth to make
+him clothes. Two brought white and two red; and from this circumstance
+Orlando took his coat-of-arms, or quarterings.
+
+4. When Charlemagne was on his way to Rome, to receive the imperial
+crown, he dined in public in Sutri. Orlando and his mother that day had
+nothing to eat, and Orlando, coming suddenly upon the royal party, and
+seeing abundance of provisions, seized from the attendants as much as he
+could carry off, and made good his retreat in spite of their resistance.
+
+5. The emperor, being told of this incident, was reminded of an
+intimation he had received in a dream, and ordered the boy to be
+followed. This was done by three of the knights, whom Orlando would
+have encountered with a cudgel on their entering the grotto, had not
+his mother restrained him. When they heard from her who she was, they
+threw themselves at her feet, and promised to obtain her pardon from
+the emperor. This was easily effected. Orlando was received into favor
+by the emperor, returned with him to France, and so distinguished
+himself that he became the most powerful support of the throne and of
+Christianity.
+
+6. On another occasion, Orlando encountered a puissant Saracen
+warrior, and took from him, as the prize of victory, the sword
+Durindana. This famous weapon had once belonged to the illustrious
+prince Hector of Troy. It was of the finest workmanship, and of such
+strength and temper that no armor in the world could stand against it.
+
+7. Guerin de Montglave held the lordship of Vienne, subject to
+Charlemagne. He had quarreled with his sovereign, and Charles laid
+siege to his city, having ravaged the neighboring country. Guerin was
+an aged warrior, but relied for his defense upon his four sons and two
+grandsons, who were among the bravest knights of the age. After the
+siege had continued two months, Charlemagne received tidings that
+Marsilius, King of Spain, had invaded France, and, finding himself
+unopposed, was advancing rapidly in the southern provinces. At this
+intelligence, Charles listened to the counsel of his peers, and
+consented to put the quarrel with Guerin to the decision of Heaven, by
+single combat between two knights, one of each party, selected by lot.
+
+8. The proposal was acceptable to Guerin and his sons. The name of the
+four, together with Guerin's own, who would not be excused, and of the
+two grandsons, who claimed their lot, being put into a helmet,
+Oliver's was drawn forth, and to him, the youngest of the grandsons,
+was assigned the honor and the peril of the combat. He accepted the
+award with delight, exulting in being thought worthy to maintain the
+cause of his family. On Charlemagne's side Roland was designated
+champion, and neither he nor Oliver knew who his antagonist was to be.
+
+9. They met on an island in the Rhone, and the warriors of both camps
+were ranged on either shore, spectators of the battle. At the first
+encounter both lances were shivered, but both riders kept their seats
+immovable. They dismounted and drew their swords. Then ensued a combat
+which seemed so equal, that the spectators could not form an opinion
+as to the probable issue. Two hours and more the knights continued to
+strike and parry, to thrust and ward, neither showing any sign of
+weariness, nor ever being taken at unawares.
+
+10. At length Orlando struck furiously upon Oliver's shield, burying
+Durindana in its edge so deeply that he could not draw it back, and
+Oliver, almost at the same moment, thrust so vigorously upon Orlando's
+breastplate that his sword snapped off at the handle. Thus were the two
+warriors left weaponless. Scarcely pausing a moment, they rushed upon
+one another, each striving to throw his adversary to the ground, and,
+failing in that, each snatched at the other's helmet to tear it away.
+Both succeeded, and at the same moment they stood bareheaded face to
+face, and Roland recognized Oliver, and Oliver Roland. For a moment they
+stood still; and the next, with open arms, rushed into one another's
+embrace. "I am conquered," said Orlando. "I yield me," said Oliver.
+
+11. The people on the shore knew not what to make of all this.
+Presently they saw the two late antagonists standing hand-in-hand, and
+it was evident the battle was at an end. The knights crowded around
+them, and with one voice hailed them as equal in glory. If there were
+any who felt disposed to murmur that the battle was left undecided,
+they were silenced by the voice of Ogier the Dane, who proclaimed
+aloud that all had been done that honor required, and declared that he
+would maintain that award against all gainsayers.
+
+12. The quarrel with Guerin and his sons being left undecided, a truce
+was made for four days, and in that time, by the efforts of Duke Namo
+on the one side, and of Oliver on the other, a reconciliation was
+effected. Charlemagne, accompanied by Guerin and his valiant family,
+marched to meet Marsilius, who hastened to retreat across the frontier.
+
+                                                      _Bullfinch._
+
+
+
+
+_XVI.--THE LEGEND OF MACBETH._
+
+
+1. Soon after the Scots and Picts had become one people, there was a
+king of Scotland called Duncan, a very good old man. He had two sons,
+Malcolm and Donaldbane. But King Duncan was too old to lead out his
+army to battle, and his sons were too young to help him. Now it
+happened that a great fleet of Danes came to Scotland and landed their
+men in Fife and threatened to take possession of that province. So a
+numerous Scottish army was levied to go out to fight with them. The
+king intrusted the command to Macbeth, a near kinsman.
+
+2. This Macbeth, who was a brave soldier, put himself at the head of
+the Scottish army and marched against the Danes. And he took with him
+a near relative of his own called Banquo, a brave and successful
+soldier. There was a great battle fought between the Danes and the
+Scots, and Macbeth and Banquo defeated the Danes and drove them back
+to their ships, leaving a great many of their soldiers killed and
+wounded. Then Macbeth and his army marched back to Forres in the north
+of Scotland, rejoicing on account of their victory.
+
+3. Now, at this time, there lived in the town of Forres three old
+women, whom people thought were witches, and supposed they could tell
+what was to come to pass. These old women went and stood by the
+way-side, in a great moor near Forres, and waited until Macbeth came
+up. And then stepping before him as he was marching at the head of his
+soldiers the first woman said, "All hail Macbeth! hail to the Thane of
+Glamis!" The second said, "All hail to the Thane of Cawdor!" Then the
+third wishing to pay him a higher compliment, said: "All hail Macbeth,
+that shall be King of Scotland!" While Macbeth stood wondering what
+they could mean, Banquo stepped forward and asked if they had not
+something good to say to him. And they said he should not be so great
+as Macbeth, yet his children should succeed to the throne of Scotland
+and reign for a great number of years.
+
+4. Before Macbeth had recovered from his surprise, there came a
+messenger to tell him that his father was dead; so that, he was Thane
+of Glamis; and then came a second messenger from the king to thank
+Macbeth for the great victory over the Danes, and to tell him that the
+Thane of Cawdor had rebelled against the king, and that the king had
+taken his office from him, and had sent to make Macbeth Thane of
+Cawdor. Macbeth, seeing that a part of their words came true, began to
+think how he might become king as the three old women had predicted.
+Now Lady Macbeth was a very wicked woman, and she showed Macbeth that
+the only way to become king was to kill good King Duncan. At first
+Macbeth would not listen to her, but at last his ambition to be king
+became so great that he resolved to murder his kinsman and best friend.
+
+5. To accomplish his purpose he invited King Duncan to visit him in
+his own castle near Inverness, and the king accepted the invitation.
+Macbeth and his lady received their distinguished guests with great
+seeming joy and made for them a great feast. At the close of the feast
+the king retired to rest, and all the other guests followed his
+example. The two personal attendants of the king whose duty it was to
+watch over him while asleep, were purposely made drunk by Lady
+Macbeth, and they fell upon their couch in a profound slumber.
+
+[Illustration: _Macbeth._]
+
+6. Then Macbeth came into King Duncan's room about two o'clock in the
+morning. It was a terrible stormy night, but the noise of the wind and
+the thunder could not awaken the king, as he was old and weary with
+his journey; neither could it awaken the two sentinels. They all slept
+soundly. So Macbeth stepped gently over the floor and took the two
+dirks which belonged to the sentinels and stabbed poor old King Duncan
+to the heart, so he died without a groan. Then Macbeth put the bloody
+daggers into the hands of the sleeping sentinels and daubed their
+hands and faces with blood. Macbeth was frightened at what he had
+done, but his wife made him wash his hands and go to bed.
+
+7. Early in the morning the nobles and gentlemen who attended on the
+king assembled in the great hall of the castle, and then they began to
+talk of what a dreadful storm there had been the night before. They
+waited for some time, but finding the king did not come out, one of the
+noblemen went to see whether he was well or not. But when he came into
+the room he found King Duncan dead, and went back and spread the alarm.
+The Scottish nobles were greatly enraged at the sight, and Macbeth made
+believe he was more enraged than any of them, and drawing his sword he
+killed the two attendants of the king, still heavy with sleep in
+consequence of the drink furnished by Lady Macbeth the night before.
+
+8. Malcolm and Donaldbane, the two sons of Duncan, when they saw their
+father dead, fled from the castle, as they believed that Macbeth had
+committed the murder. Malcolm, the eldest son, made his way to the
+English court, and solicited aid to get possession of his father's
+throne. In the mean time Macbeth took possession of the kingdom of
+Scotland. The remembrance of his great crime continually haunted him,
+and he became so sleepless as to be nearly insane. He remembered that
+the witches had said that the children of Banquo should reign as kings
+in Scotland, and he became terribly jealous of his old friend and
+companion. At last he hired ruffians to waylay Banquo and his sons and
+murder them. The scheme was partially successful--Banquo was killed
+but the sons escaped, and from him descended a long line of the early
+Scottish kings.
+
+9. But Macbeth was not more happy after he had slain his friend and
+cousin Banquo. He knew that people began to suspect him of his evil
+deeds, and he was constantly afraid that some of his nobles would
+treat him as he treated King Duncan. In his perplexity he sought the
+three witches he had met before, to ask them what was to happen to him
+in the future. They answered him that he should not be conquered nor
+lose the crown of Scotland until a great forest, called Birnam Wood
+should come to attack him in his strong castle on Dunsinane hill. As
+the distance between the two was about twelve miles, Macbeth thought
+it was impossible that the trees should ever come to assault him in
+his castle. He immediately summoned all his nobles to assist him in
+strengthening his castle at Dunsinane. All the nobles were obliged to
+furnish oxen and horses to drag the heavy stones and logs used on the
+fortification up the steep hill.
+
+10. One day Macbeth noticed a pair of oxen so tired with their burden
+that they fell down under their load. Upon inquiry he learned that they
+belonged to Macduff, the Thane of Fife. The king, who was jealous of
+Macduff, flew into a great rage and declared that "since the Thane of
+Fife sends such worthless cattle as these to do my labor, I will put his
+own neck into the yoke, and make him drag the burden himself." A friend
+of Macduff who heard this speech hastened to the king's castle and
+informed Macduff who was walking about while the dinner was preparing.
+
+11. Macduff snatched a loaf of bread from the table, called for his
+horses and servants, and galloped off toward his own castle of
+Kennoway in Fife. When Macbeth returned he first asked what had become
+of Macduff, and being informed that he had fled from Dunsinane,
+Macbeth put himself at the head of a large force of his guards, and
+immediately pursued. Macduff reached his castle which is built upon
+the shore of the sea, a little in advance of the king. He ordered his
+wife to shut the gates of the castle and pull up the drawbridge, and
+on no account permit the king or any of his soldiers to enter. In the
+mean time he went aboard a small ship and put out to sea.
+
+12. Macbeth then summoned the lady to open the gates and deliver up
+her husband. "Do you see," said she, "yon white sail upon the sea?
+Yonder goes Macduff to the court of England. You will never see him
+again until he comes with young Prince Malcolm to pull you down from
+the throne and put you to death. You will never be able to put your
+yoke upon the neck of the Thane of Fife."
+
+13. Some say that Macbeth was so enraged at the escape of Macduff that
+he stormed and took the castle, and put to death the wife and children
+of Macduff. But others say that Macbeth turned back from the strong
+castle and its brave defenders, and returned to his own home at
+Dunsinane. Macduff readily found Prince Malcolm and the English king,
+fitted them out with an army. Upon entering Scotland a large share of
+the nobles deserted Macbeth and joined the forces of Malcolm. The army
+marched as far as Birnam Wood where they encamped to rest and recuperate.
+
+14. Macbeth, in the mean time, shut himself up in his castle, where he
+thought himself safe according to the old woman's prophecy, until
+Birnam Wood should advance against him, and this he never expected to
+see. Malcolm's army having entirely recovered their strength and
+vigor, at length were ready to march. As they were about to start,
+Macduff advised each soldier to cut down the bough of a tree and carry
+it so as to conceal the strength of the army as they crossed the
+valley. The sentinel on the castle walls saw all these green boughs
+advancing, ran to Macbeth and informed him that the wood of Birnam was
+moving toward the castle of Dunsinane. The king at first called him a
+liar and threatened to put him to death; but when he looked from the
+walls himself, and saw the appearance of a forest approaching from
+Birnam, he remembered the prediction, and felt that the hour of his
+destruction had come.
+
+15. His followers were also superstitious and began to desert him. But
+Macbeth, at the head of those who remained true to him sallied out,
+and was killed in a hand-to-hand conflict with Macduff. This story, a
+tradition, is told by Sir Walter Scott, and forms the foundation of
+Shakespeare's tragedy of "Macbeth."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+OLD BALLADS.
+
+
+
+
+_XVII.--CHEVY-CHASE._
+
+
+    1.  God prosper long our noble king,
+          Our lives and safeties all;
+        A woful hunting once there did
+          In Chevy-Chase befall.
+
+    2.  The stout Earl of Northumberland
+          A vow to God did make
+        His pleasure in the Scottish woods
+          Three summer days to take--
+
+    3.  The chiefest harts in Chevy-Chase
+          To kill and bear away.
+        These tidings to Earl Douglas came,
+          In Scotland where he lay;
+
+    4.  Who sent Earl Percy present word
+          He would prevent his sport.
+        The English earl, not fearing that,
+          Did to the woods resort,
+
+    5.  With fifteen hundred bowmen bold,
+          All chosen men of might,
+        Who knew full well in time of need
+          To aim their shafts aright.
+
+    6.  The gallant greyhounds swiftly ran
+          To chase the fallow deer;
+        On Monday they began to hunt
+          When daylight did appear;
+
+    7.  And long before high noon they had
+          A hundred fat bucks slain;
+        Then, having dined, the drovers went
+          To rouse the deer again.
+
+    8.  Lord Percy to the quarry went,
+          To view the slaughtered deer;
+        Quoth he, "Earl Douglas promised
+          This day to meet me here;
+
+    9.  "But if I thought he would not come--
+          No longer would I stay";
+        With that a brave young gentleman
+          Thus to the earl did say:
+
+    10. "Lo, yonder doth Earl Douglas come--
+          His men in armor bright,
+        Full twenty hundred Scottish spears
+          All marching in our sight."
+
+    11. Earl Douglas on his milk-white steed,
+          Most like a baron bold,
+        Rode foremost of his company,
+          Whose armor shone like gold.
+
+    12. "Show me," said he, "whose men you be,
+          That hunt so boldly here,
+        That, without my consent, do chase
+          And kill my fallow-deer."
+
+    13. The first man that did answer make
+          Was noble Percy he--
+        Who said: "We list not to declare,
+          Nor show whose men we be:
+
+    14. "Yet will we spend our dearest blood
+          Thy chiefest harts to slay."
+        Then Douglas swore a solemn oath,
+          And thus in rage did say:
+
+    15. "Ere thus I will out-braved be,
+          One of us two shall die!
+        I know thee well, an earl thou art--
+          Lord Percy, so am I.
+
+    16. "Let you and me the battle try,
+          And set our men aside."
+        "Accursed be he," Earl Percy said,
+          "By whom this is denied!"
+
+    17. Then stepped a gallant squire forth,
+          Witherington was his name,
+        Who said: "I would not have it told
+          To Henry, our king, for shame,
+
+    18. "That e'er my captain fought on foot,
+          And I stood looking on.
+        You two be earls," said Witherington,
+          "And I a squire alone.
+
+    19. "I'll do the best that do I may,
+          While I have power to stand;
+        While I have power to wield my sword
+          I'll fight with heart and hand."
+
+    20. Our English archers bent their bows--
+          Their hearts were good and true;
+        At the first flight of arrows sent,
+          Full fourscore Scots they slew.
+
+    21. Yet stays Earl Douglas on the bent,
+          As chieftain stout and good;
+        As valiant captain, all unmoved,
+          The shock he firmly stood.
+
+    22. His host he parted had in three,
+          As leaders ware and tried;
+        And soon his spearmen on their foes
+          Bore down on every side.
+
+    23. At last these two stout earls did meet;
+          Like captains of great might,
+        Like lions wode, they laid on lode,
+          And made a cruel fight.
+
+    24. "Yield thee, Lord Percy," Douglas said.
+          "In faith I will thee bring
+        Where thou shalt high advanced be
+          By James, our Scottish king.
+
+    25. "Thy ransom I will freely give,
+          And this report of thee--
+        Thou art the most courageous knight
+          That ever I did see."
+
+    26. "No, Douglas," saith Earl Percy then,
+          "Thy proffer I do scorn;
+        I will not yield to any Scot
+          That ever yet was born."
+
+    27. With that there came an arrow keen
+          Out of an English bow,
+        Which struck Earl Douglas to the heart--
+          A deep and deadly blow;
+
+    28. Who never spake more words than these
+          "Fight on, my merry men all;
+        For why, my life is at an end;
+          Lord Percy sees my fall."
+
+    29. Then leaving life, Earl Percy took
+          The dead man by the hand,
+        And said: "Earl Douglas, for thy life
+          Would I had lost my land!
+
+    30. "In truth, my very heart doth bleed
+          With sorrow for thy sake;
+        For sure a more redoubted knight
+          Mischance did never make."
+
+    31. A knight amongst the Scots there was
+          Who saw Earl Douglas die,
+        Who straight in wrath did vow revenge
+          Upon the Earl Percy.
+
+    32. Sir Hugh Mountgomery was he called,
+          Who with a spear full bright,
+        Well mounted on a gallant steed,
+          Ran fiercely through the fight;
+
+    33. And past the English archers all,
+          Without a dread or fear,
+        And through Earl Percy's body then
+          He thrust his hateful spear.
+
+    34. So thus did both these nobles die,
+          Whose courage none could stain.
+        An English archer then perceived
+          The noble earl was slain.
+
+    35. Against Sir Hugh Mountgomery
+          To right a shaft he set;
+        The gray goose-wing that was thereon
+          In his heart's blood was wet.
+
+    36. This fight did last from break of day
+          Till setting of the sun;
+        For when they rung the evening-bell
+          The battle scarce was done.
+
+    37. Of fifteen hundred Englishmen
+          Went home but fifty-three;
+        The rest in Chevy-Chase were slain,
+          Under the greenwood-tree.
+
+    38. The news was brought to Edinburg,
+          Where Scotland's king did reign,
+        That brave Earl Douglas suddenly
+          Was with an arrow slain.
+
+    39. "Oh, heavy news!" King James did say;
+          "Scotland can witness be,
+        I have not any captain more
+          Of such account as he."
+
+    40. Like tidings to King Henry came
+          Within as short a space,
+        That Percy of Northumberland
+          Was slain in Chevy-Chase;
+
+    41. "Now God be with him," said our king,
+          "Since 'twill no better be;
+        I trust I have within my realm
+          Five hundred as good as he:
+
+    42. "Yet shall not Scot or Scotland say
+          But I will vengeance take;
+        I'll be revenged on them all
+          For brave Earl Percy's sake!"
+
+    43. This vow full well the king performed
+          After at Humbledown:
+        In one day fifty knights were slain,
+          With lords of high renown;
+
+    44. And of the rest, of small account,
+          Did many hundreds die:
+        Thus endeth the hunting of Chevy-Chase,
+          Made by the Earl Percy.
+
+    45. God save the king and bless this land
+          With plenty, joy, and peace;
+        And grant, henceforth, that foul debate
+          'Twixt noblemen may cease!
+
+                              _Old Ballad._
+
+
+
+
+_XVIII.--VALENTINE AND URSINE._
+
+
+    1.  When Flora 'gins to deck the fields
+          With colors fresh and fine,
+        Then holy clerks their matins sing
+          To good St. Valentine.
+
+    2.  The King of France, that morning fair,
+          He would a-hunting ride,
+        To Artois Forest prancing forth
+          In all his princely pride.
+
+    3.  To grace his sports a courtly train
+          Of gallant peers attend,
+        And with their loud and cheerful cries
+          The hills and valleys rend.
+
+    4.  Through the deep forest swift they pass,
+          Through woods and thickets wild,
+        When down within a lonely dell
+          They found a new-born child.
+
+    5.  All in a scarlet kerchief laid,
+          Of silk so fine and thin,
+        A golden mantle wrapt him round,
+          Pinned with a silver pin.
+
+    6.  The sudden sight surprised them all,
+          The courtiers gathered round;
+        They look, they call, the mother seek--
+          No mother could be found.
+
+    7.  At length the king himself drew near,
+          And, as he gazing stands,
+        The pretty babe looked up and smiled,
+          And stretched his little hands.
+
+    8.  "Now, by the rood," King Pepin says,
+          "This child is passing fair;
+        I wot he is of gentle blood,
+          Perhaps some prince's heir.
+
+    9.  "Go, bear him home unto my court,
+          With all the care you may,
+        Let him be christened Valentine,
+          In honor of this day.
+
+    10. "And look me out some cunning nurse,
+          Well nurtured let him be;
+        Nor aught be wanting that becomes
+          A bairn of high degree."
+
+    11. They looked him out a cunning nurse,
+          And nurtured well was he;
+        Nor aught was wanting that became
+          A bairn of high degree.
+
+    12. Thus grew the little Valentine,
+          Beloved of king and peers,
+        And showed in all he spake or did
+          A wit beyond his years.
+
+    13. But chief in gallant feats of arms
+          He did himself advance,
+        That, ere he grew to man's estate,
+          He had no peer in France.
+
+    14. And now the early down began
+          To shade his youthful chin,
+        When Valentine was dubbed a knight,
+          That he might glory win.
+
+    15. "A boon, a boon, my gracious liege,
+          I beg a boon of thee:
+        The first adventure that befalls
+          May be reserved for me."
+
+    16. "The first adventure shall be thine,"
+          The king did smiling say.
+        Not many days, when lo! there came
+          Three palmers clad in gray.
+
+    17. "Help, gracious lord," they weeping said,
+          And knelt, as it was meet;
+        "From Artois Forest we are come,
+          With weak and weary feet.
+
+    18. "Within those deep and dreary woods
+          There dwells a savage boy,
+        Whose fierce and mortal rage doth yield
+          Thy subjects dire annoy.
+
+    19. "To more than savage strength he joins
+          A more than human skill;
+        For arms no cunning may suffice
+          His cruel rage to still."
+
+    20. Up then rose Sir Valentine
+          And claimed that arduous deed.
+        "Go forth and conquer," said the king,
+          "And great shall be thy meed."
+
+    21. Well mounted on a milk-white steed,
+          His armor white as snow,
+        As well beseemed a virgin knight,
+          Who ne'er had fought a foe--
+
+    22. To Artois Forest he repairs,
+          With all the haste he may,
+        And soon he spies the savage youth
+          A-rending of his prey!
+
+    23. His unkempt hair all matted hung
+          His shaggy shoulders round;
+        His eager eye all fiery glowed,
+          His face with fury frowned.
+
+    24. Like eagle's talons grew his nails,
+          His limbs were thick and strong,
+        And dreadful was the knotted oak
+          He bare with him along.
+
+    25. Soon as Sir Valentine approached,
+          He starts with sudden spring,
+        And yelling forth a hideous howl,
+          He made the forest ring.
+
+    26. As when a tiger fierce and fell
+          Hath spied a passing roe,
+        And leaps at once upon his throat,
+          So sprang the savage foe.
+
+    27. So lightly leaped with furious force,
+          The gentle knight to seize,
+        But met his tall uplifted spear,
+          Which sank him on his knees.
+
+    28. A second stroke, so stiff and stern,
+          Had laid the savage low;
+        But, springing up, he raised his club,
+          And aimed a dreadful blow.
+
+    29. The watchful warrior bent his head,
+          And shunned the coming stroke;
+        Upon his taper spear it fell,
+          And all to shivers broke.
+
+    30. Then, lighting nimbly from his steed,
+          He drew his burnished brand;
+        The savage quick as lightning flew
+          To wrest it from his hand.
+
+    31. Three times he grasped the silver hilt,
+          Three times he felt the blade;
+        Three times it fell with furious force,
+          Three ghastly cuts it made.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+    "_To court his hairy captive soon
+      Sir Valentine doth bring,
+    And, kneeling down upon his knee,
+      Presents him to the king._"
+
+]
+
+    32. Now with redoubled rage he roared,
+          His eyeballs flashed with fire,
+        Each hairy limb with fury shook,
+          And all his heart was ire.
+
+    33. But soon the knight, with active spring,
+          O'erturned his hairy foe,
+        And now between their sturdy fists
+          Passed many a bruising blow.
+
+    34. But brutal force and savage strength
+          To art and skill must yield;
+        Sir Valentine at length prevailed,
+          And won the well-fought field.
+
+    35. Then binding straight his conquered foe
+          Fast with an iron chain,
+        He ties him to his horse's tail,
+          And leads him o'er the plain.
+
+    36. To court his hairy captive soon
+          Sir Valentine doth bring,
+        And, kneeling down upon his knee,
+          Presents him to the king.
+
+    37. With loss of blood and loss of strength,
+          The savage tamer grew,
+        And to Sir Valentine became
+          A servant tried and true.
+
+    38. And, 'cause with bears he first was bred,
+          Ursine they called his name--
+        A name which unto future times
+          The Muses shall proclaim.
+
+                                _Old Ballad._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+EARLY EASTERN RECORD.
+
+
+
+
+_XIX.--SENNACHERIB._
+
+
+1. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith
+the Lord God of Israel, that which thou hast prayed to me against
+Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
+
+2. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The
+virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to
+scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
+
+3. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast
+thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against
+the Holy One of Israel.
+
+4. By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With
+the multitude of my chariots, I am come up to the height of the
+mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall
+cedar-trees thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof: and I will enter
+into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
+
+5. I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my
+feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
+
+6. Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient
+times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou
+shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
+
+7. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed
+and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green
+herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be
+grown up.
+
+8. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy
+rage against me.
+
+9. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine
+ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy
+lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
+
+10. And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such
+things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which
+springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and
+plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
+
+11. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet
+again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
+
+12. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that
+escape out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
+
+13. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He
+shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come
+before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
+
+14. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall
+not come into this city, saith the Lord.
+
+15. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and
+for my servant David's sake.
+
+16. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went
+out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and
+five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they
+were all dead corpses.
+
+17. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned,
+and dwelt at Nineveh.
+
+                                          _II Kings, xix, 20-36._
+
+
+THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB.
+
+    1. The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
+       And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
+       And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
+       When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
+
+    2. Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
+       That host with its banners at sunset was seen;
+       Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
+       That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
+
+    3. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
+       And breathed on the face of the foe as he passed;
+       And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
+       And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still.
+
+    4. And there lay the steed, with his nostrils all wide,
+       But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride;
+       And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
+       And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
+
+    5. And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,
+       With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail,
+       And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
+       The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
+
+    6. And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
+       And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
+       And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
+       Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+                                                  _Byron._
+
+
+
+
+_XX.--GLAUCON._
+
+
+1. When Glaucon, the son of Ariston, attempted to harangue the people,
+from a desire, though he was not yet twenty years of age, to have a
+share in the government of the state, no one of his relatives, or
+other friends, could prevent him from getting himself dragged down
+from the tribunal and making himself ridiculous; but Socrates, who had
+a friendly feeling toward him on account of Charmides, the son of
+Glaucon, as well as on account of Plato, succeeded in prevailing on
+him, by his sole dissuasion, to relinquish his purpose.
+
+[Illustration: _Socrates._]
+
+2. Meeting him by chance, he first stopped him by addressing him as
+follows, that he might be willing to listen to him: "Glaucon," said
+he, "have you formed an intention to govern the state for us?" "I
+have, Socrates," replied Glaucon. "By Jupiter," rejoined Socrates, "it
+is an honorable office, if any other among men be so; for it is
+certain that, if you attain your object, you will be able yourself to
+secure whatever you may desire, and will be in a condition to benefit
+your friends; you will raise your father's house, and increase the
+power of your country; you will be celebrated first of all in your own
+city, and afterward throughout Greece, and perhaps, also, like
+Themistocles, among the barbarians, and, wherever you may be, you will
+be an object of general admiration." Glaucon, hearing this, was highly
+elated, and cheerfully stayed to listen. Socrates next proceeded to
+say: "But it is plain, Glaucon, that if you wish to be honored, you
+must benefit the state." "Certainly," answered Glaucon. "Then, in the
+name of the gods," said Socrates, "do not hide from us how you intend
+to act, but inform us with what proceeding you will begin to benefit
+the state." But as Glaucon was silent, as if just considering how he
+should begin, Socrates said: "As, if you wished to aggrandize the
+family of a friend, you would endeavor to make it richer, tell me
+whether you will in like manner also endeavor to make the state
+richer?" "Assuredly," said he. "Would it then be richer, if its
+revenues were increased?" "That is at least probable," said Glaucon.
+"Tell me then," proceeded Socrates, "from what the revenues of the
+state arise, and what is their amount; for you have doubtless
+considered, in order that if any of them fall short, you may make up
+the deficiency, and that if any of them fail, you may procure fresh
+supplies." "These matters, by Jupiter," replied Glaucon, "I have not
+considered."
+
+3. "Well, then," said Socrates, "if you have omitted to consider this
+point, tell me at least the annual expenditure of the state; for you
+undoubtedly mean to retrench whatever is superfluous in it." "Indeed,"
+replied Glaucon, "I have not yet had time to turn my attention to that
+subject." "We will therefore," said Socrates, "put off making our
+state richer for the present; for how is it possible for him who is
+ignorant of its expenditure and its income to manage those matters?"
+
+4. "But Socrates," observed Glaucon, "it is possible to enrich the
+state at the expense of our enemies." "Extremely possible, indeed,"
+replied Socrates, "if we be stronger than they; but if we be weaker,
+we may lose all that we have." "What you say is true," said Glaucon.
+
+5. "Accordingly," said Socrates, "he who deliberates with whom he
+shall go to war, ought to know the force both of his own country and
+of the enemy, so that, if that of his own country be superior to that
+of the enemy, he may advise it to enter upon the war, but if inferior,
+may persuade it to be cautious of doing so." "You say rightly," said
+Glaucon.
+
+[Illustration: _Socrates and Glaucon._]
+
+6. "In the first place, then," proceeded Socrates, "tell us the
+strength of the country by land and sea, and next that of the enemy."
+"But, by Jupiter," exclaimed Glaucon, "I should not be able to tell
+you on the moment, and at a word." "Well, then, if you have it written
+down," said Socrates, "bring it, for I should be extremely glad to
+hear what it is." "But, to say the truth," replied Glaucon, "I have
+not yet written it down."
+
+7. "We will therefore put off considering about war for the present,"
+said Socrates, "for it is very likely that on account of the magnitude
+of these subjects, and as you are just commencing your administration,
+you have not yet examined into them. But to the defense of the
+country, I am quite sure that you have directed your attention, and
+that you know how many garrisons are in advantageous positions, and
+how many not so, what number of men would be sufficient to maintain
+them, and what number would be insufficient, and that you will advise
+your countrymen to make the garrisons in advantageous positions
+stronger, and to remove the useless ones."
+
+8. "By Jove," replied Glaucon, "I shall recommend them to remove them
+all, as they keep guard so negligently, that the property is secretly
+carried off out of the country." "Yet, if we remove the garrisons,"
+said Socrates, "do you not think that liberty will be given to anybody
+that pleases to pillage? But," added he, "have you gone personally and
+examined as to this fact, or how do you know that the garrisons
+conduct themselves with such negligence?" "I form my conjectures,"
+said he. "Well, then," inquired Socrates, "shall we settle about these
+matters also, when we no longer rest upon conjecture, but have
+obtained certain knowledge?" "Perhaps that," said Glaucon, "will be
+the better course."
+
+9. "To the silver-mines, however," continued Socrates, "I know that
+you have not gone, so as to have the means of telling us why a smaller
+revenue is derived from them than came in some time ago." "I have not
+gone thither," said he. "Indeed, the place," said Socrates, "is said
+to be unhealthy, so that when it is necessary to bring it under
+consideration, this will be a sufficient excuse for you." "You jest
+with me," said Glaucon. "I am sure, however," proceeded Socrates,
+"that you have not neglected to consider, but have calculated, how
+long the corn which is produced in the country, will suffice to
+maintain the city, and how much it requires for the year, in order
+that the city may not suffer from scarcity unknown to you, but that,
+from your own knowledge, you may be able, by giving your advice
+concerning the necessaries of life, to support the city and preserve
+it." "You propose a vast field for me," observed Glaucon, "if it will
+be necessary for me to attend to such subjects."
+
+10. "Nevertheless," proceeded Socrates, "a man can not order his house
+properly, unless he ascertains all that it requires, and takes care to
+supply it with everything necessary; but since the city consists of
+more than ten thousand houses, and since it is difficult to provide
+for so many at once, how is it that you have not tried to aid one
+first of all, suppose that of your uncle, for it stands in need of
+help? If you be able to assist that one, you may proceed to assist
+more; but if you be unable to benefit one, how will you be able to
+benefit many? Just as it is plain that, if a man can not carry the
+weight of a talent, he need not attempt to carry a greater weight?"
+
+11. "But I would improve my uncle's house," said Glaucon, "if he would
+but be persuaded by me." "And then," resumed Socrates, "when you can
+not persuade your uncle, do you expect to make all the Athenians,
+together with your uncle, yield to your arguments?
+
+12. "Take care, Glaucon, lest, while you are eager to acquire glory,
+you meet with the reverse of it. Do you not see how dangerous it is
+for a person to speak of, or undertake, what he does not understand?
+Contemplate, among other men, such as you know to be characters that
+plainly talk of, and attempt to do, what they do not know, and
+consider whether they appear to you, by such conduct, to obtain more
+applause or censure, whether they seem to be more admired or despised?
+
+13. "Contemplate, again, those who have some understanding of what
+they say and do, and you will find, I think, in all transactions, that
+such as are praised and admired are of the number of those who have
+most knowledge, and that those who incur censure and neglect are among
+those that have least.
+
+14. "If, therefore, you desire to gain esteem and reputation in your
+country, endeavor to succeed in gaining a knowledge of what you wish
+to do; for if, when you excel others in this qualification, you
+proceed to manage the affairs of the state, I shall not wonder if you
+very easily obtain what you desire."
+
+                                                      _Xenophon._
+
+
+
+
+_XXI.--CYRUS AND HIS GRANDFATHER._
+
+
+1. When Cyrus was twelve years old, his mother Mandana took him with
+her into Media to his grandfather Astyages, who, from the many things
+he had heard in favor of the young prince, had a great desire to see
+him. In this court young Cyrus found very different manners from those
+of his own country: pride, luxury, and magnificence reigned here
+universally. Astyages himself was richly clothed, had his eyes
+colored, his face painted, and his hair embellished with artificial
+locks; for the Medes affected an effeminate life--to be dressed in
+scarlet and to wear necklaces and bracelets--whereas the habits of the
+Persians were very plain and coarse.
+
+2. All this finery had no effect upon Cyrus, who, without criticising
+or condemning what he saw, was content to live as he had been brought
+up, and adhered to the principles he had imbibed from his infancy. He
+charmed his grandfather with his sprightliness and wit, and gained the
+favor of all by his noble and engaging behavior. I shall only mention
+one instance, whereby we may judge of the rest. Astyages, to make his
+grandson unwilling to return home, made a sumptuous entertainment, in
+which there was a vast plenty and profusion of everything that was
+nice and delicate. Cyrus looked upon all this exquisite cheer and
+magnificent preparation with great indifference, and, observing that
+it excited the surprise of Astyages, "The Persians," says he to the
+king, "instead of going such a roundabout way to appease their hunger,
+have a much shorter one to the same end: a little bread and cresses
+with them answer the purpose."
+
+3. Astyages desiring Cyrus to dispose of all the meats as he thought
+fit, the latter immediately distributed them to the king's
+officers-in-waiting: to one, because he taught him to ride; to
+another, because he waited well upon his grandfather; and to a third,
+because he took great care of his mother. Sacas, the king's
+cup-bearer, was the only person to whom he gave nothing. This officer,
+besides the post of cup-bearer, had that likewise of introducing those
+who were to have audience with the king; and, as he could not possibly
+grant that favor to Cyrus as often as he desired it, he had the
+misfortune to displease the prince, who took this occasion to show his
+resentment.
+
+4. Astyages, manifesting some concern at the neglect of this officer,
+for whom he had a particular regard, and who deserved it, as he said,
+on account of the wonderful dexterity with which he served him--"Is
+that all, father?" replied Cyrus; "if that be sufficient to merit your
+favor, you shall see I will quickly obtain it; for I will take upon me
+to serve you better than he." Cyrus immediately equipped as a
+cup-bearer, and advancing gravely with a serious countenance, a napkin
+upon his shoulder, and holding the cup nicely with three of his
+fingers, presented it to the king with a dexterity and a grace that
+charmed both Astyages and Mandana. When he had done he threw himself
+upon his grandfather's neck, and, kissing him, cried out with great
+joy: "O Sacas! poor Sacas! thou art undone; I shall have thy place!"
+
+5. Astyages embraced him with great fondness, and said: "I am highly
+pleased, my dear child; nobody can serve me with a better grace; but
+you have forgot one essential ceremony, which is that of tasting";
+and, indeed, the cup-bearer was used to pour some of the liquor into
+his left hand, and to taste it, before he presented it to the king.
+"No," replied Cyrus, "it was not through forgetfulness that I omitted
+that ceremony." "Why, then," says Astyages, "for what reason did you
+not do it?" "Because I apprehended there was poison in the liquor."
+"Poison, child! How could you think so?" "Yes, poison, father, for not
+long ago, at an entertainment you gave to the lords of your court,
+after the guests had drunk a little of that liquor, I perceived all
+their heads were turned. They sang, made a noise, and talked they did
+not know what; you yourself seemed to have forgotten that you were
+king, and they that they were subjects; and when you would have danced
+you could not stand upon your legs." "Why," said Astyages, "have you
+never seen the same thing happen to your father?" "No, never," says
+Cyrus. "What, then? How is it with him when he drinks?" "Why, when he
+has drunk, his thirst is quenched, and that is all."
+
+6. Mandana being upon the point of returning to Persia, Cyrus joyfully
+complied with the repeated requests his grandfather had made to him to
+stay in Media; being desirous, as he said, to perfect himself in the
+art of riding, which he was not yet master of, and which was not known
+in Persia, where the barrenness of the country and its craggy,
+mountainous situation rendered it unfit for the breeding of horses.
+
+7. During the time of his residence at this court his behavior
+procured him infinite love and esteem. He was gentle, affable,
+beneficent, and generous. Whenever the young lords had any favor to
+ask of the king, Cyrus was their solicitor. If the king had any
+subject of complaint against them, Cyrus was their mediator; their
+affairs became his, and he always managed them so well that he
+obtained whatever he desired.
+
+                                                        _Rollin._
+
+
+
+
+_XXII.--CYRUS AND THE ARMENIANS._
+
+
+1. The King of Armenia who was vassal to the Medes, looking upon them
+as ready to be swallowed up by a formidable league formed against
+them, thought fit to lay hold of this occasion to shake off their
+yoke. Accordingly he refused to pay them the ordinary tribute, and to
+send them the number of troops he was obliged to furnish in time of
+war. This highly embarrassed Cyaxares, who was afraid at this
+juncture of bringing new enemies upon his hands if he undertook to
+compel the Armenians to execute their treaty.
+
+2. But Cyrus, having informed himself exactly of the strength and
+situation of the country, undertook the affair. The important point was
+to keep his design secret, without which it was not likely to succeed.
+He therefore appointed a great hunting-match on that side of the
+country; for it was his custom to ride out that way, and frequently to
+hunt with the king's son and the young noblemen of Armenia. On the
+appointed day, he set out with a numerous retinue. The troops followed
+at a distance, and were not to appear till a signal was given. After
+some days' hunting, when they had nearly reached the palace where the
+court resided, Cyrus communicated his design to his officers; and sent
+Chrysanthes with a detachment, ordering them to make themselves master
+of a certain steep eminence, where he knew the king used to retire in
+case of an alarm, with his family and his treasures.
+
+3. This being done, he sent a herald to the king of Armenia, to summon
+him to perform the treaty, and in the mean time ordered his troops to
+advance. Never was a court in greater surprise and perplexity. The
+king was conscious of the wrong he had done, and was not in a
+condition to support it. However, he did what he could to assemble his
+forces together from all quarters; and in the mean time dispatched his
+youngest son, called Stabaris, into the mountains, with his wives, his
+daughters, and whatever was most precious and valuable. But when he
+was informed by his scouts that Cyrus was closely pursuing, he
+entirely lost all courage, and all thoughts of making a defense.
+
+4. The Armenians, following his example, ran away, every one where he
+could, to secure what was dearest to him. Cyrus, seeing the country
+covered with people that were endeavoring to make their escape, sent
+them word that no harm should be done to them if they stayed in their
+houses; but that as many as were taken running away should be treated
+as enemies. This made them all retire to their habitations, excepting
+a few that followed the king.
+
+5. On the other hand, they that were conducting the princesses to the
+mountains fell into the ambush Chrysanthes had laid for them, and were
+most of them taken prisoners. The queen, the king's son, his
+daughters, his eldest son's wife, and his treasures, all fell into the
+hands of the Persians.
+
+6. The king, hearing this melancholy news, and not knowing what would
+become of him, retired to a little eminence, where he was presently
+invested by the Persian army, and obliged to surrender. Cyrus ordered
+him with all his family to be brought to the midst of the army. At
+that very instant arrived Tigranes, the king's eldest son, who was
+just returned from a journey. At so moving a scene he could not
+forbear weeping. Cyrus, addressing himself to him, said: "Prince, you
+are come very seasonably to be present at the trial of your father."
+And immediately he assembled the captains of the Persians and Medes,
+and called in also the great men of Armenia. Nor did he so much as
+exclude the ladies from this assembly, who were there in their
+chariots, but gave them full liberty to hear and see all that passed.
+
+7. When all was ready and Cyrus had commanded silence, he began with
+requiring of the king, that in all the questions he was about to
+propose to him, he would answer sincerely, because nothing could be
+more unworthy a person of his rank than to use dissimulation or
+falsehood. The king promised he would. Then Cyrus asked him, but at
+different times, proposing each article separately, and in order,
+whether it was not true, that he had made war upon Astyages, King of
+the Medes, his grandfather; whether he had not been overcome in that
+war, and in consequence of his defeat had concluded a treaty with
+Astyages; whether by virtue of that treaty he was not obliged to pay a
+certain tribute, to furnish a certain number of troops, and not to
+keep any fortified place in his country.
+
+8. It was impossible for the king to deny any of these facts, which
+were all public and notorious. "For what reason, then," continued
+Cyrus, "have you violated the treaty in every article?" "For no
+other," replied the king, "than because I thought it a glorious thing
+to shake off the yoke, to live free, and to leave my children in the
+same condition." "It is really glorious," answered Cyrus, "to fight in
+defense of liberty, but if any one, after he is reduced to servitude,
+should attempt to run away from his master, what would you do with
+him?" "I must confess," said the king, "I would punish him." "And if
+you had given a government to one of your subjects, and he should be
+found to misbehave, would you continue him in his post?" "No,
+certainly; I would put another in his place." "And if he had amassed
+great riches by his unjust practices?" "I would strip him of them."
+"But, which is still worse, if he had held intelligence with your
+enemies, how would you treat him?" "Though I should pass sentence upon
+myself," replied the king, "I must declare the truth; I would put him
+to death." At these words Tigranes tore his tiara from his head, and
+rent his garments; the women burst out into lamentations and outcries,
+as if the sentence had actually passed upon him.
+
+9. Cyrus, having again commanded silence, Tigranes addressed himself
+to the prince to this effect: "Great prince, can you think it
+consistent with your wisdom, to put my father to death, even against
+your own interest?" "How against my interest?" replied Cyrus. "Because
+he was never so capable of doing you service." "How do you make that
+appear? Do the faults we commit enhance our merit, and give us a new
+title to consideration and favor?" "They certainly do, provided they
+serve to make us wiser; for wisdom is of inestimable value. Are either
+riches, courage, or address to be compared to it? Now it is evident,
+this single day's experience has infinitely improved my father's
+wisdom. He knows how dear the violation of his word has cost him. He
+has proved and felt how much you are superior to him in all respects.
+He has not been able to succeed in any of his designs; but you have
+happily accomplished all yours; and with such expedition and secrecy
+that he has found himself surrounded and taken before he expected to
+be attacked, and the very place of his retreat has served only to
+ensnare him."
+
+10. "But your father," replied Cyrus, "has yet undergone no sufferings
+that can have taught him wisdom." "The fear of evils," answered
+Tigranes, "when it is so well founded as this is, has a much sharper
+sting, and is more capable of piercing the soul, than the evil itself.
+Besides, permit me to say, that gratitude is a stronger and more
+prevailing motive than any whatever; and there can be no obligations
+in the world of a higher nature than those you will lay upon my
+father--his fortune, liberty, scepter, life, wives, and children, all
+restored to him with such a generosity. Where can you find,
+illustrious prince, in one single person, so many strong and powerful
+ties to attach him to your service?"
+
+11. "Well, then," replied Cyrus, turning to the king, "if I should
+yield to your son's entreaties, with what number of men, and what sum
+of money, will you assist us in the war against the Babylonians?" "My
+troops and treasures," says the Armenian king, "are no longer mine;
+they are entirely yours. I can raise forty thousand foot and eight
+thousand horse; and as for money, I reckon, including the treasure
+which my father left me, there are about three thousand talents ready
+money. All these are wholly at your disposal." Cyrus accepted half the
+number of the troops, and left the king the other half, for the
+defense of the country against the Chaldeans, with whom he was at war.
+
+12. The annual tribute which was due to the Medes he doubled, and
+instead of fifty talents exacted a hundred, and borrowed the like sum
+over and above in his own name. "But what would you give me," added
+Cyrus, "for the ransom of your wives?" "All that I have in the world,"
+replied the king. "And for the ransom of your children?" "The same
+thing." "From this time, then, you are indebted to me the double of
+all your possessions. And you, Tigranes, at what price would you
+redeem the liberty of your lady?" Now he had lately married her, and
+was passionately fond of her. "At the price," said he, "of a thousand
+lives if I had them." Cyrus then conducted them all to his tent, and
+entertained them at supper. It is easy to imagine what transports of
+joy there must have been upon this occasion.
+
+13. After supper, as they were discoursing upon various subjects,
+Cyrus asked Tigranes what was become of a governor whom he had often
+seen hunting with him, and for whom he had a particular esteem.
+"Alas!" said Tigranes, "he is no more; and I dare not tell you by what
+accident I lost him." Cyrus pressed him to tell him. "My father,"
+continued Tigranes, "seeing I had a very tender affection for this
+governor, and that I was extremely attached to him, suspected it might
+be of some ill consequence and put him to death. But he was so honest
+a man, that as he was ready to expire, he sent for me and spoke to me
+in these words: 'Tigranes, let not my death occasion any
+dissatisfaction in you toward the king your father. What he has done
+to me did not proceed from malice, but only from prejudice, and a
+false notion wherewith he was unhappily blinded.'" "Oh, the excellent
+man!" cried Cyrus, "never forget the last advice he gave you."
+
+14. When the conversation was ended, Cyrus, before they parted,
+embraced them all, as in token of a perfect reconciliation. This done,
+they got into their chariots, with their wives, and went home full of
+gratitude and admiration. Nothing but Cyrus was mentioned the whole
+way; some extolling his wisdom, others his valor; some admiring the
+sweetness of his temper, others praising the beauty of his person and
+the majesty of his mien. "And you," said Tigranes, addressing himself
+to his lady, "what do you think of Cyrus's aspect and deportment?" "I
+do not know," replied the lady, "I did not observe him." "Upon what
+object, then, did you fix your eyes?" "Upon him that said he would
+give a thousand lives to ransom my liberty."
+
+The next day the King of Armenia sent presents to Cyrus, and
+refreshments for his whole army, and brought him double the sum of
+money he was required to furnish. But Cyrus took only what had been
+stipulated, and restored him the rest. The Armenian troops were
+ordered to be ready in three days' time, and Tigranes desired to
+command them.
+
+                                                        _Rollin._
+
+
+
+
+_XXIII.--THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE._
+
+
+1. After the battle of Plataea, in which the army of the Persian king
+Xerxes was defeated and destroyed, the Greek states became the
+dominant power in the civilized world, and the Greek cities became
+centers of influence and art. Under Pericles, the successor of
+Themistocles, Athens, in richness and beauty of her palaces and
+temples, arrived at a point of excellence which far surpassed anything
+the world had before seen. But jealousies between different states led
+to civil wars that desolated the whole land, and in the next one
+hundred and fifty years scarcely any progress was made in adding to
+the national strength. While these bloody wars were going on
+principally between Sparta and Athens, the tribes of Macedon, a region
+lying immediately north of Greece, were rapidly becoming civilized and
+consolidated. In 359 B. C. Philip became the reigning monarch.
+
+2. He was very desirous of being considered as a Greek, invited
+distinguished men to his court, and ordered public rejoicings in his
+kingdom when his chariots had won the prize at the Olympic games. He
+was very clever, and cared little about the justice and honor of the
+means by which he attained his ends, which were, to hold in subjection
+all the rest of Greece, and to conquer Persia. In the first design he
+succeeded, for the latter he only prepared the way for his son. He had
+both to form his officers and his army. The first he attempted by
+bringing the young nobles to his court, and there instructing them;
+and in the last he succeeded in a remarkable manner.
+
+3. The chief strength of the army, as he constituted it, was in the
+phalanx, a body of sixteen thousand foot soldiers, fully armed in the
+Greek fashion, with spears twenty-four feet long. When drawn up in
+order of battle, the four front ranks held their spears pointing
+outward, and stood at such a space apart, that the foremost line had
+four spear-points between each man and the enemy, or on occasion they
+marched with their shields touching, so as to form an almost
+impenetrable wall.
+
+4. As soon as Philip's designs against Greece were apparent, a strong
+spirit of resistance showed itself, and chiefly at Athens, where the
+great orator, Demosthenes, never ceased to rouse his countrymen to
+maintain their freedom. Demosthenes had trained himself in eloquence
+under great difficulties; he naturally either stammered, or had an
+indistinct pronunciation--a defect which he cured by speaking with
+pebbles in his mouth, and he used to rehearse his speeches to the
+roaring sea, in order to nerve himself against the clamors of a
+tumultuous assembly. He so far succeeded, that he often swayed the
+minds of the Athenians; his name stands as the first of orators, and
+his Philippics, as his discourses against Philip are called, are
+considered as models of rhetoric.
+
+5. At Cheronaea, in 338, a battle was fought by Philip against the
+allied forces of the Athenians and Thebans. At one time the Athenians
+gained some advantage, but they used it so ill, that Philip, calling
+out to his troops, "They do not know how to conquer," made a sudden
+charge, and routed them with great slaughter. The battle of Cheronaea
+was the end of the independence of Greece, which from that time
+forward became subject to Macedon, in spite of its many struggles to
+shake off the yoke, and recover the liberty which had been lost for
+want of a firm, united, settled government.
+
+6. The King of Macedon next commenced his arrangements for his other
+favorite scheme--the invasion of Asia; but in the year 336, in the
+midst of the feasts in honor of his daughter's marriage, he was
+murdered by a young Macedonian noble, who was slain in the first anger
+of the surrounding guards, without having time to disclose the motive
+of his crime.
+
+7. Alexander, son of Philip and his Epirot queen Olympias, was twenty
+years of age when he came to the throne. On the night of his birth the
+temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was burned to the ground by a man named
+Erostratus, in the foolish desire of making himself notorious, and
+this Alexander liked to consider as an omen that he should himself
+kindle a flame in Asia.
+
+8. He traced his descent from his father's side from Hercules, and by
+his mother's from Achilles, and throughout his boyhood he seems to
+have lived in a world of the old Greek poetry, sleeping with Homer's
+works under his pillow, and dreaming of deeds in which he should rival
+the fame of the victors of Troy. He was placed under the care of
+Aristotle, the great philosopher of Stagira, to whom, when Philip had
+written to announce Alexander's birth, he had said that he knew not
+whether most to rejoice at having a son, or that his son would have
+such a teacher as Aristotle.
+
+9. From him the young Alexander learned to think deeply, to resolve
+firmly, and devise plans of government; by others he was instructed in
+all the graceful accomplishments of the Greeks, and under his father
+he was trained to act promptly. At fourteen he tamed the noble horse
+Bucephalus, which no one else dared to mount; two years later he
+rescued his father in a battle with the Scythians, and he commanded
+the cavalry at Cheronaea, but he was so young at the time of his
+accession, that the Greeks thought they had nothing to fear from him.
+
+[Illustration: _Battle on the Granicus._]
+
+10. There were very ungenerous rejoicings at Athens at the murder of
+Philip. Demosthenes, though he had just lost a daughter, crowned himself
+with a wreath of flowers, and came with great tokens of joy to announce
+it to the Athenians so soon after the event, as almost to excite a
+suspicion that he must have been concerned in the crime. But they found
+that their joy was unfounded, for no sooner did Thebes take up arms,
+than Alexander marched against it, destroyed the walls, killed many of
+the citizens, and blotted it out from the number of Greek cities. The
+other states did not dare to make any further opposition, and he was
+thus at leisure to prepare for the invasion of Persia.
+
+11. Leaving Antipater as governor of Macedon, he set out in the spring
+of 334, at the head of thirty thousand infantry and four thousand five
+hundred cavalry, and bade farewell to his native land, which he was
+never to see again. He crossed the Hellespont, and was the first man
+to leap on Asiatic ground; then, while his forces were landing, he
+went to visit the spot which had so long been the object of his
+dreams--the village which marked the site of Troy. He offered a
+sacrifice at the tomb of Achilles, hung up his own shield in the
+temple, and took down one which was said to be a relic of the Greek
+conquerors, intending to have it always borne before him in battle.
+
+12. His march was at first toward the east, along the shore of the
+Hellespont, until at the river Granicus he met the Persians drawn up
+on the other bank of the river, under the command of the satrap
+Memnon. Alexander himself, at the head of his cavalry, charged through
+the midst of the rapid stream, won the landing-place, and followed by
+the phalanx, quickly gained a complete victory.
+
+13. All the neighboring country fell into his hands, and after taking
+possession of it, he changed his course, marching along the shores of
+the AEgean, and taking all the towns. It was his first object to cut
+the Persians off from their seaports, and thus deprive them of the use
+of their fleet, which was so superior to his own, that he never
+ventured on one sea-fight.
+
+14. This march round the western and southern coasts of Asia Minor,
+together with an expedition into the interior, occupied a year, and in
+the early part of the summer, he arrived at Tarsus, in Cilicia. Here,
+on entering the city, overwhelmed with heat and fatigue, he bathed in
+the cold waters of the Cydnus, and the chill brought on a violent
+fever, which nearly cost him his life. A letter was sent to warn him
+that his physician, Philip, had been bribed by the Persian king to
+poison him. While he was reading it the physician himself brought him
+a draught of medicine; the king put the letter into his hand, took the
+cup and drank it off, even before Philip could profess his innocence.
+In three days' time he was again able to appear at the head of his
+troops, and not before he was needed, for the enemy's army was near at
+hand, under King Darius Codomanus himself.
+
+15. The Persians advanced in great state. First came a number of
+persons bearing silver altars, on which burned the sacred fire; then
+followed the Magi, and three hundred and sixty-five youths robed in
+scarlet, in honor of the days of the year. Next came the chariot and
+horses of the Sun, with their attendants, and afterward the army
+itself, the Immortal Band, with gold-handled lances, white robes, and
+jeweled corslets, and a host of others of less note, all far more fit
+for show than for battle. Darius himself, arrayed in purple robes and
+glittering with jewels, was in the midst, in a chariot covered with
+gold ornaments, and with him came his mother, Sisygambis, his
+principal wife, his daughters, a number of other ladies, and a
+multitude of slaves. This unwieldy and useless host took up their
+position on the hilly ground above the city of Issus, where they were
+so entangled among the rocks, that their numbers were of little profit
+to them, and it was an easy victory for the Macedonians. No sooner did
+Darius see that the day was against him, than he turned his chariot
+and fled, leaving his family to fall into the hands of the conqueror,
+while he himself hastened to Babylon to collect another army.
+
+16. Alexander treated the mother, wife, and children of Darius with
+great kindness and courtesy, sending an officer to assure them of his
+protection, and going the next morning to visit them, accompanied by
+his friend Hephaestion, a young man of his own age. Alexander, though
+of beautiful and noble countenance, and well formed for strength and
+activity, was rather short in stature, and as his dress was very
+simple, Sisygambis mistook Hephaestion for the King of Macedon, and
+threw herself on the ground before him; and she was greatly confused
+and distressed when she discovered her error; but Alexander said, as
+he raised her, "You were not deceived, for he is Alexander's other
+self." He gave her the name of mother, never sat down in her presence
+except at her request, and showed in every point a respect and
+courtesy such as she had probably never before received from the
+Asiatic princes, who always held women in contempt.
+
+17. Pursuing his intention of first destroying the naval power of the
+Persian empire, Alexander next entered Phoenicia, and readily received
+the submission of Zidon, but Tyre refused to admit him within the
+walls. New Tyre, which was built after the seventy years' desolation
+which followed the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, stood upon an island
+about half a mile from the shore, and was inhabited by a numerous and
+brave people, who thought themselves secure from an enemy who had no
+fleet to bring against them.
+
+18. Alexander was, however, not to be daunted by any difficulty. He at
+first attempted to build a causeway from the shore to the island, and
+when the Tyrians destroyed his works he went to Zidon and there
+obtained a fleet, by means of which he at length took the city after a
+seven months' siege. He stained his victory by a cruel slaughter, and
+made slaves of all whose lives were spared, excepting a few whom the
+Zidonians contrived to conceal in their ships. This was the final fall
+of the great merchant city, so often predicted by Isaiah and Ezekiel.
+
+19. He then marched through the rest of Palestine, intending to punish
+Jerusalem, which had stood loyal to Darius, and refused to send him
+supplies. The Jews, on his approach, prayed for guidance and
+protection, and it was revealed to Jaddua, the high-priest, that he
+should open the gates and go forth in his sacred robes to receive the
+Grecian conqueror. It was accordingly done; and Jaddua, in the
+vestments of Aaron, came forth at the head of the choir of priests in
+white garments as Alexander and the Greeks mounted the hill toward the
+city. No sooner did the king meet the procession than he bent down to
+the ground in adoration, and walked in the midst of the priests to the
+temple, where a sacrifice was offered; and he not only spared the
+Jews, but showed them much favor.
+
+20. He told his generals that before he left Macedon he had seen in a
+dream a figure exactly resembling that of the high-priest, which had
+foretold all his conquests. And surely there is little reason to doubt
+that such a revelation might be made to a conqueror marked out as
+clearly by prophecy as Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus, before he set out on
+the work appointed for him. Both his predecessors in conquest, as soon
+as they came in contact with the chosen people, were taught that they
+were the subjects of prophecy; and Alexander, in his turn, was shown
+by Jaddua the prediction of Daniel, which spoke of him as a he-goat
+(the actual ensign of Macedon), "Who came from the West, and smote the
+ram, and brake his two horns, and cast him down and trampled on him."
+"And the rough goat is the King of Grecia."
+
+21. He then proceeded southward, besieged and took Gaza, after a brave
+resistance, which he cruelly requited, and entered Egypt, subduing it
+with little difficulty. On one of the peninsulas formed by the mouth
+of the Nile, he founded a city, called after his name Alexandria,
+which became the capital of Egypt under its Greek rulers, and one of
+the most famous cities in the world. He made an expedition to the
+temple of Jupiter Ammon, on an oasis in the Libyan desert, and
+consulted the oracle there, and then after appointing a Macedonian
+satrap in Egypt, retraced his steps toward the Holy Land, and marched
+toward Babylonia, where Darius was again collecting his forces to
+oppose him.
+
+                                            _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XXIV.--ALEXANDER'S CONQUESTS._
+
+
+1. Alexander crossed the Euphrates and Tigris without opposition, and
+the decisive battle did not take place till he reached the plain of
+Arbela, where the Persians were drawn up to receive him. The
+Macedonians wished to make a night attack, but Alexander would not
+permit it, saying that he disdained to steal a victory, and the combat
+took place the next day.
+
+2. The present army of Persians was drawn from the more remote
+regions of Bactria and Parthia, where the men were more warlike, and
+they fought better than any whom the Macedonians had before
+encountered; but Darius himself fled early in the day, leaving behind
+him his bow and shield; his men lost courage, and followed him, and
+Alexander was left master of the field of Arbela.
+
+3. This battle placed in his power all the western part of the Persian
+empire, and he had only to march to the great cities of Babylon, Susa,
+Ecbatana, and Persepolis, to take possession of the huge stores of
+treasures there heaped up by the Persian kings, which he now
+distributed among his followers with royal bounty. The unfortunate
+Darius escaped into Bactria, where two satraps, in whom he had
+confided, treacherously seized him and made him prisoner, carrying him
+along with them as they fled before Alexander, until at length, being
+closely pressed by the Greeks, they threw their darts at him, and left
+him lying on the ground mortally wounded.
+
+4. He was still alive when some of the Greeks came up, but died before
+the arrival of Alexander. The conqueror wept as he beheld the corpse
+of the last of a line of such great princes; he threw his own cloak
+over it, and sent it to Babylon, where it was buried with great
+magnificence.
+
+[Illustration: _Alexander at the Dead Body of Darius._]
+
+5. The wife of Darius had died a prisoner, but Sisygambis still
+remained with her grandchildren at Babylon. Only once does Alexander
+seem to have hurt her feelings, and this was through ignorance of
+Persian customs. He showed her some robes of his sister's own weaving
+and embroidery, and offered to have her grand-daughters instructed in
+the same art, at which she wept, since Persian ladies deemed such
+employments work fit only for slaves and captives, and Alexander was
+obliged to explain how honorably the loom and needle were esteemed
+by his own countrywomen.
+
+6. Alexander was much attached to his own mother, Olympias, and
+portions of his letters to her have come down to our time. She was a
+proud and violent woman, who often interfered with Antipater, governor
+of Macedon, and caused him to send many complaints to the king: "Ah!"
+said Alexander, "Antipater does not know that one tear of a mother
+will blot out ten thousand of his letters."
+
+7. Alexander had indeed an open and affectionate heart, but he was
+fast becoming too much uplifted by his successes. On Darius's death,
+he took the state as well as the title of a king of Persia, wore the
+tiara and robes, and claimed from the Macedonians the same servile
+tokens of homage as were paid by the eastern nations, thus causing
+perpetual heart-burnings among them, since they could neither endure
+to see their king exalted so much further above them, nor to be placed
+on the same level with the barbarians whom they despised.
+
+8. Their jealousies troubled Alexander from the time he assumed the
+tiara of Persia. He found it impossible to raise the condition of the
+Persians, and treat them with favor, without offending the
+Macedonians, and his temper did not always endure these provocations.
+The worst action of his life was the sentencing to death, on a false
+accusation, the wise old General Parmenio, and his son; and in a fit
+of passion at a riotous banquet, he slew, with his own hand, his
+friend Clitus, his nurse's son, who had saved his life at the battle
+of Granicus. It was the deed of a moment of drunken violence, and he
+bitterly lamented it, shutting himself up for several days without
+allowing any one to approach him, and paying all honors to the memory
+of his murdered friend.
+
+9. His pride and vain-glory went so far, that he declared that the
+oracle of Jupiter Ammon had announced that he was the son of Jupiter,
+and sent to Greece to desire to be enrolled among the gods in his
+life-time. Some of the Greeks were shocked at his profanity, others
+laughed at him; but all the Spartans said was, "If Alexander will be a
+god, let him."
+
+10. The next four years were the most laborious of Alexander's life.
+He pursued the murderers of Darius into Bactria and Sogdiana, avenged
+his death, and reduced the numerous hill-forts as far as the frontier
+of Scythia. Fierce insurrections broke out among the wild tribes of
+Sogdiana, which it required all his activity and judgment to quell,
+and more than once provoked him into cruelty, though in general,
+conqueror as he was, he was no spoiler, but wherever he went founded
+cities, and tried to teach the Persians the civilized arts of Greece.
+
+11. In 326 he set out for India, as the region was called round the
+river Indus. Here the inhabitants were warlike, and Porus, king of a
+portion of the country, made a brave resistance, but was at length
+defeated and taken prisoner. On being brought before Alexander he said
+he had nothing to ask, save to be treated as a king. "That I shall do
+for my own sake," said Alexander, and accordingly not only set him at
+liberty, but enlarged his territory.
+
+12. All these Indian nations brought a tribute of elephants, which the
+Macedonians now for the first time learned to employ in war. Alexander
+wished to proceed into Hindostan, a country hitherto entirely unknown,
+but his soldiers grew so discontented at the prospect of being led so
+much farther from home, into the utmost parts of the earth, that he
+was obliged to give up his attempt, and very unwillingly turned back
+from the banks of the Sutlej.
+
+13. While returning, he besieged a little town belonging to a tribe
+called the Malli, and believed to be the present city of Mooltan. He
+was the first to scale the wall, and after four others had mounted,
+the ladder broke, and he was left standing on the wall, a mark for the
+darts of the enemy. He instantly leaped down within the wall into the
+midst of the Malli, and there setting his back against a fig-tree,
+defended himself until a barbed arrow deeply pierced his breast, and,
+after trying to keep up a little longer, he sunk, fainting, on his
+shield. His four companions sprung down after him--two were slain, but
+the others held their shields over him till the rest of the army
+succeeded in breaking into the town and coming to the rescue.
+
+14. His wound was severe and dangerous, but he at length recovered,
+sailed down to the mouth of the Indus, and sent a fleet to survey the
+Persian Gulf, while he himself marched along the shore. The country
+was bare and desert, and his army suffered dreadfully from heat,
+thirst, and hunger, while he readily shared all their privations. A
+little water was once brought him on a parching day, as a great prize,
+but since there was not enough for all, he poured it out on the sand,
+lest his faithful followers should feel themselves more thirsty when
+they saw him drink alone.
+
+15. At last he safely arrived at Caramania, whence he returned to the
+more inhabited and wealthy parts of Persia, held his court with great
+magnificence at Susa, and then went to Babylon. Here embassies met him
+from every part of the known world, bringing gifts and homage, and
+above all, there arrived from the Greek states the much desired
+promise that he should be honored as a god. He was at the highest
+pitch of worldly greatness to which mortal man had yet attained, and
+his designs were reaching yet further; but his hour was come, and at
+Babylon, the home of pride, "the great horn" was to be broken.
+
+[Illustration: _Alexander the Great._]
+
+16. In the marshes into which the Euphrates had spread since its
+channel was altered by Cyrus, there breathed a noxious air, and a few
+weeks after Alexander's arrival, he was attacked by a fever, perhaps
+increased by intemperance. He bore up against it as long as possible,
+continued to offer sacrifices daily, though with increasing
+difficulty, and summoned his officers to arrange plans for his
+intended expedition; but his strength failed him on the ninth day, and
+though he called them together as usual, he could not address them.
+Perhaps he thought in that hour of the prophecy he had seen at
+Jerusalem, that the empire he had toiled to raise should be divided,
+for he is reported to have said that there would be a mighty contest
+at his funeral games. He made no attempt to name a successor, but he
+took off his signet-ring, placed it on the finger of Perdiccas, one of
+his generals, and a short time after expired, in the thirty-third year
+of his age, and the twelfth of his reign.
+
+17. There was a voice of wailing throughout the city that night. The
+Babylonians shut up their houses, and trembled at the neighborhood of
+the fierce Greek soldiery, now that their protector was dead; the
+Macedonians stood to arms all night, as if in presence of the enemy;
+and when in the morning the officers assembled in the palace council
+chamber, bitter and irrepressible was the burst of lamentation that
+broke out at the sight of the vacant throne, where lay the crown,
+scepter, and royal robes, and where Perdiccas now placed the
+signet-ring. More deeply than all mourned the prisoner, the aged
+Sisygambis, who covered her face with a black veil, sat down in a
+corner of her room, refused all entreaties to speak or to eat, and
+expired five days after Alexander.
+
+18. Nor did the Persians soon cease to lament the conqueror, who had
+ruled them more beneficently than their own monarchs had done; their
+traditions made Alexander a prince of their own, and adorned him with
+every virtue valued in the East. That he had many great faults has
+already been shown, and, of course, by the rules of justice, his
+conquests were but reckless gratifications of his own ambition; but he
+was a high-minded, generous man, open of heart, free of hand, and for
+the most part acting up to his knowledge of right; and if unbridled
+power, talent of the highest order, and glory such as none before or
+since has ever attained, inflamed his passions, and elated him with
+pride, still it is not for us to judge severely of one who had such
+great temptations, and so little to guide him aright.
+
+                                            _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XXV.--JUDAS MACCABAEUS, THE HEBREW WILLIAM TELL._
+
+
+1. The kingdom of Judah escaped destruction at the hands of
+Sennacherib, but its respite was short. Soon afterward Babylon,
+closely related to Assyria, and the heir of its dominion, swept into
+captivity in distant Mesopotamia nearly all that were left of Hebrew
+stock. For a time, the nation seemed to have been wiped from the face
+of the earth. The ten tribes of Israel that had been first dragged
+forth never returned to Judea, and their ultimate fate, after the
+destruction of Nineveh, whose splendor they had in their servitude
+done so much to enhance, was that of homeless wanderers. The harp of
+Judah, silent upon the devastated banks of the Jordan, was hung upon
+the Babylonian willows, for how could the exiles sing the Lord's song
+in a strange land! But the cry went forth at length that Babylon had
+fallen in her turn, just as destruction had before overtaken Nineveh.
+In the middle of the sixth century B. C., Cyrus the Mede made a
+beginning of restoring the exiles, who straightway built anew the
+Temple walls.
+
+2. In David's time, the population of Palestine must have numbered
+several millions, and it largely increased during the succeeding
+reigns. Multitudes, however, had perished by the sword, and other
+multitudes were retained in strange lands. Scarcely fifty thousand
+found their way back in the time of Cyrus to the desolate site of
+Jerusalem, but, one hundred years later, the number was increased by a
+re-enforcement under Ezra. From this nucleus, with astonishing
+vitality, a new Israel was presently developed. With weapons always at
+hand to repel the freebooters of the desert, they constructed once
+more the walls of Jerusalem. Through all their harsh experience their
+feelings of nationality had not been at all abated; their blood was
+untouched by foreign admixture, though some Gentile ideas had entered
+into the substance of their faith. The conviction that they were the
+chosen people of God was as unshaken as in the ancient time. With
+pride as indomitable as ever, intrenched within their little corner of
+Syria, they confronted the hostile world.
+
+3. But a new contact was at hand, far more memorable even than that
+with the nations of Mesopotamia--a contact whose consequences affect
+at the present hour the condition of the greater part of the human
+race. In the year 332 B. C., the high-priest, Jaddua, at Jerusalem,
+was in an agony, not knowing how he should meet certain new invaders
+of the land, before whom Tyre, and Gaza, the old Philistine
+stronghold, had fallen, and who were now marching upon the city of
+David. But God warned him in a dream that he should take courage,
+adorn the city, and open the gates; that the people should appear in
+white garments of peace, but that he and the priests should meet the
+strangers in the robes of their office. At length, at the head of a
+sumptuous train of generals and tributary princes, a young man of
+twenty-four, upon a beautiful steed, rode forward from the way going
+down to the sea to the spot which may still be seen, called,
+anciently, Scopus, the prospect, because from that point one
+approaching could behold, for the first time, Jerusalem crowned by the
+Temple rising fair upon the heights of Zion and Moriah.
+
+4. The youth possessed a beauty of a type in those regions hitherto
+little known. As compared with the swarthy Syrians in his suite, his
+skin was white; his features were stamped with the impress of command,
+his eyes filled with an intellectual light. With perfect horsemanship he
+guided the motions of his charger. A fine grace marked his figure, set
+off with a cloak, helmet, and gleaming arms, as he expressed with
+animated gestures his exultation over the spectacle before him. But now,
+down from the heights came the procession of the priests and the people.
+The multitude proceeded in their robes of white; the priests stood
+clothed in fine linen; while the high-priest, in attire of purple and
+scarlet, upon his breast the great breastplate of judgment with its
+jewels, upon his head the mitre marked with the plate of gold whereon
+was engraved the name of God, led the train with venerable dignity.
+
+5. Now, says the historian, when the Ph[oe]nicians and Chaldeans that
+followed Alexander thought that they should have liberty to plunder
+the city, and torment the high-priest to death, the very reverse
+happened; for the young leader, when he saw the multitude in the
+distance, and the figure of the high-priest before, approached him by
+himself, saluted him, and adored the name, which was graven upon the
+plate of the mitre. Then a captain, named Parmino, asked him how it
+came to pass that, when all others adored him, he should adore the
+high-priest of the Jews. To whom the leader replied: "I do not adore
+him, but that God who hath honored him with his high-priesthood; for I
+saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit, when I was at
+Dios in Macedonia, who, when I was considering how I might obtain the
+dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass
+over the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army, and could
+give me the dominion over the Persians." Then, when Alexander had
+given the high-priest his right hand, the priests ran along by him and
+he came into the city, and he offered sacrifice to God in the Temple,
+according to the high-priest's direction, and magnificently treated
+both the high-priest and the priests. He granted all the multitude
+desired; and when he said to them that if any of them would enlist
+themselves in his army on this condition, that they should continue
+under the laws of their forefathers, he was willing to take them with
+him, many were ready to accompany him in his wars.
+
+6. But this Aryan troop that went southward is less interesting to us
+than companies that departed westward, for in these westward marching
+bands went the primeval forefathers from whose venerable loins we
+ourselves have proceeded. They passed into Western Asia, and from Asia
+into Europe--each migrating multitude impelled by a new swarm sent forth
+from the parent hive behind. At the head of the Adriatic Sea an Aryan
+troop had divided, sending down into the eastern peninsula the ancestors
+of the Greeks, and into the western peninsula the train destined to
+establish upon the seven hills the power of Rome. Already the Aryan
+pioneers, the Celts, on the outmost rocks of the western coast of
+Europe, were fretting against the barrier of storm and sea, across which
+they were not to find their way for many ages. Already Ph[oe]nician
+merchants, trading for amber in the far-off Baltic, had become aware of
+the wild Aryan tribes pressing to the northwest--the Teutons and Goths.
+Already, perhaps, upon the outlying spur of the Ural range, still other
+Aryans had fixed their hold, the progenitors of the Sclav. The
+aboriginal savage of Europe was already nearly extinct. His lance of
+flint had fallen harmless from the Aryan buckler; his rude altars had
+become displaced by the shrines of the new gods. In the Mediterranean
+Sea each sunny isle and pleasant promontory had long been in Aryan
+hands, and now in the wintry forests to the northward the resistless
+multitudes had more recently fixed their seats.
+
+7. In the Macedonians, the Aryans, having established their dominion
+in Europe, march back upon the track which their forefathers long
+before had followed westward; and now it is that the Hebrews become
+involved with the race that from that day to this has been the
+master-race of the world. It was a contact taking place under
+circumstances, it would seem, the most auspicious--the venerable old
+man and the beautiful Greek youth clasping hands, the ruthless
+followers of the conqueror baffled in their hopes of booty, the
+multitudes of Jerusalem, in their robes of peace, filling the air with
+acclamations, as Alexander rode from the place of prospect, upon the
+heights of Zion, into the solemn precincts of the Temple.
+
+8. The successors of Alexander the Great made the Jews a link between
+the Hellenic populations that had become widely scattered throughout the
+East by the Macedonian conquests, and the great barbarian races among
+whom the Greeks had placed themselves. The dispersion of the Jews, which
+had already taken place to such an extent through the Assyrian and
+Babylonian conquests, went forward now more vigorously. Throughout
+Western Asia they were found everywhere, but it was in Egypt that they
+attained the highest prosperity and honor. The one city, Alexandria
+alone, is said to have contained at length a million Jews, whom the
+Greek kings of Egypt, the Ptolemies, preferred in every way to the
+native population. Elsewhere, too, they were favored, and hence they
+were everywhere hated; and the hatred assumed a deeper bitterness from
+the fact that the Jew always remained a Jew, marked in garb, in feature,
+in religious faith, always scornfully asserting the claim that he was
+the chosen of the Lord. Palestine became incorporated with the empire of
+the Seleucidae, the Macedonian princes to whom had fallen Western Asia.
+Oppression at last succeeded the earlier favor, the defenses of
+Jerusalem were demolished, and the Temple defiled with pagan ceremonies;
+and now it is that we reach some of the finest figures in Hebrew
+history, the great high-priests, the Maccabees.
+
+9. There dwelt at the town of Modin a priest, Mattathias, the
+descendant of Asmonaeus, to whom had been born five sons--John, Simon,
+Judas Maccabaeus, or the Hammer, Eleazar, and Jonathan. Mattathias
+lamented the ravaging of the land and the plunder of the Temple by
+Antiochus Epiphanes, and when, in the year 167 B. C., the Macedonian
+king sent to Modin to have sacrifices offered, the Asmonaean returned a
+spirited reply. "Thou art a ruler," said the king's officers, "and an
+honorable and great man in this city, and strengthened with sons and
+brethren. Now, therefore, come thou first: so shalt thou and thy
+house be in number of the king's friends, and thou and thy children
+shall be honored with silver and gold and many rewards." But
+Mattathias replied with a loud voice: "Though all the nations that are
+under the king's dominions obey him, and fall away every one from the
+religion of their fathers, yet will I and my sons and my brethren,
+walk in the covenant of our fathers. God forbid that we should forsake
+the law and the ordinances! We will not hearken to the king's words to
+go from our religion, either on the right hand or the left."
+
+10. An heroic struggle for freedom at once began, which opened for the
+Jews full of sadness. An apostate Jew, approaching to offer sacrifice
+in compliance with the command of Antiochus, was at once slain by
+Mattathias, who struck down also Apelles, the king's general, with
+some of his soldiers. As he fled with his sons into the desert,
+leaving his substance behind him, many of the faithful Israelites
+followed, pursued by the Macedonians seeking revenge. The oppressors
+knew well how to choose their time. Attacking on the Sabbath-day,
+when, according to old tradition, it was a transgression even to
+defend one's life, a thousand with their wives and children were
+burned and smothered in the caves in which they had taken refuge. But
+Mattathias, rallying those that remained, taught them to fight on the
+Sabbath, and at all times. The heathen altars were overthrown, the
+breakers of the law were slain, the uncircumcised boys were everywhere
+circumcised. But the fullness of time approached for Mattathias; after
+a year his day of death had come, and these were his parting words to
+his sons: "I know that your brother Simon is a man of counsel; give
+ear unto him always; he shall be a father unto you. As for Judas
+Maccabaeus, he hath been mighty and strong even from his youth up; let
+him be your captain and fight the battles of the people. Admit among
+you the righteous."
+
+11. No sooner had the father departed, than it appeared that the
+captain whom he had designated was a man as mighty as the great
+champions of old, Joshua and Gideon and Samson. He forthwith smote
+with defeat Apollonius, the general in the Samaritan country, and when
+he had slain the Greek he took his sword for his own. Seron, general
+of the army in C[oe]le-Syria, came against him with a host of
+Macedonians strengthened by apostate Jews. The men of Judas Maccabaeus
+were few in number, without food, and faint-hearted, but he inspired
+them with his own zeal, and overthrew the new foes at Bethoron. King
+Antiochus, being now called eastward to Persia, committed military
+matters in Palestine to the viceroy, Lysias, with orders to take an
+army with elephants and conquer Judea, enslave its people, destroy
+Jerusalem, and abolish the nation. At once the new invaders were upon
+the land; of foot-soldiers there were forty thousand, of horsemen
+seven thousand, and as they advanced many Syrians and renegade Jews
+joined them. Merchants marched with the army, with money to buy the
+captives as slaves, and chains with which to bind those whom they
+purchased. But Judas Maccabaeus was no whit dismayed. Causing his
+soldiers to array themselves in sackcloth, he made them pray to
+Jehovah. He dismissed those lately married, and those who had newly
+come into great possessions, as likely to be faint-hearted. After
+addressing those that remained, he set them in the ancient order of
+battle, and waited the opportunity to strike.
+
+12. The hostile general, fancying he saw an opportunity to surprise
+the little band of Hebrews, sent a portion of his host against them,
+by secret ways at night. But the spies of Judas were out. Leaving the
+fires burning brightly in his camp, to lure forward those who were
+commissioned to attack him, he rushed forth under the shadows against
+the main body, weakened by the absence of the detachment. He forced
+their position, though strongly defended, overcame the army; then
+turned back to scatter utterly the other party who were seeking him in
+the abandoned camp. He took great booty of gold and silver, and of
+raiment purple and blue. He marched home in great joy to the villages
+of Judea, singing hymns to God, as was done in the days of Miriam,
+long before, because they had triumphed gloriously.
+
+13. The next year Lysias advanced from Antioch, the Syrian capital,
+with a force of sixty-five thousand. Judas Maccabaeus, with ten
+thousand, overthrew his vanguard, upon which the viceroy, terrified at
+the desperate fighting, retired to assemble a still greater army. For
+a time there was a respite from war, during which Judas counseled the
+people to purify the Temple. The Israelites, overjoyed at the revival
+of their ancient customs, the restoration of the old worship in all
+its purity, and the relief from foreign oppressors, celebrated for
+eight days a magnificent festival. The lamps in the Temple porches
+were rekindled to the sound of instruments and the chant of the
+Levites. But one vial of oil could be found, when, lo, a miracle! the
+one vial sufficed for the supply of the seven-branched golden
+candlestick for a week. This ancient Maccabaean festival faithful Jews
+still celebrate under the name of the Hanoukhah, the Feast of Lights.
+
+14. Judas subdues also the Idumeans of the southward, and the
+Ammonites. His brethren, too, have become mighty men of valor.
+Jonathan crosses the Jordan with him and campaigns against the tribes
+to the eastward. Eleazar is a valiant soldier, and Simon carries
+succor to the Jews in Galilee. But at length the Macedonian is again
+at hand, more terrible than before. The foot are a hundred thousand,
+the horse twenty thousand; and as rallying-points, thirty-two
+elephants tower among the ranks. About each one of the huge beasts is
+collected a troop of a thousand foot and five hundred horse; high
+turrets upon their backs are occupied by archers; their great flanks
+and limbs are cased in plates of steel. The host show their golden and
+brazen shields, making in the sun a glorious splendor, and shout in
+exultation so that the mountains echo. In the battle that follows
+Fortune does not altogether favor the Jews. In particular, the
+champion Eleazar lays down his life. He had attacked the largest
+elephant, a creature covered with plated armor, and carrying upon his
+back a whole troop of combatants, among whom it was believed that the
+king himself fought. Eleazar had slain those in the neighborhood,
+then, creeping beneath the belly of the elephant, had pierced him. As
+the brute fell, Eleazar was crushed in the fall. Judas was forced to
+retire within the defenses of Jerusalem, where still further disaster
+seemed likely to overcome him. Dissensions among themselves, however,
+weakened the Macedonians. Peace was offered the Jews, and permission
+to live according to the law of their fathers--proposals which were
+gladly accepted, although the invaders razed the defenses of the Temple.
+
+15. The peace was not enduring. New Macedonian invasions followed; new
+Hebrew successes, the Maccabees and their partisans making up, by
+their fierce zeal, their military skill, and dauntless valor, for
+their want of numbers. But a sad day came at last. Judas, twenty times
+outnumbered, confronts the leader Bacchides in Galilee. The Greek sets
+horsemen on both wings, his light troops and archers before the
+heavier phalanx, and takes his own station on the right. The Jewish
+hero is valiant as ever; the right wing of the enemy turns to flee.
+The left and center, however, encompass him, and he falls, fighting
+gloriously, having earned a name of the most skillful and valorous of
+the world's great vindicators of freedom.
+
+               _James K. Hosmer. "The Story of the Jews."_
+                       _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+ROMAN RECORD.
+
+
+
+
+_XXVI.--TARQUIN THE WICKED._
+
+
+1. For his tyranny King Tarquin was banished from Rome about 500 B.
+C., and after his expulsion he sent messengers to Rome to ask that his
+property should be given up to him, and the senate decreed that his
+prayer should be granted. But the king's ambassadors, while they were
+in Rome, stirred up the minds of the young men and others who had been
+favored by Tarquin, so that a plot was made to bring him back. Among
+those who plotted were Titus and Tiberius, the sons of the consul
+Brutus; and they gave letters to the messengers of the king. But it
+chanced that a certain slave hid himself in the place where they met,
+and overheard them plotting; and he came and told the thing to the
+consuls, who seized the messengers of the king with the letters upon
+their persons, authenticated by the seals of the young men. The
+culprits were immediately arrested; but the ambassadors were let go,
+because their persons were regarded as sacred. And the goods of King
+Tarquin were given up for plunder to the people.
+
+2. Then the traitors were brought up before the consuls, and the sight
+was such as to move all beholders to pity; for among them were the
+sons of Lucius Junius Brutus himself, the first consul, the liberator
+of the Roman people. And now all men saw how Brutus loved his country;
+for he bade the lictors put all the traitors to death, and his own
+sons first; and men could mark in his face the struggle between his
+duty as a chief magistrate of Rome and his feelings as a father. And
+while they praised and admired him they pitied him yet more. This was
+the first attempt to restore Tarquin the Proud.
+
+3. When Tarquin saw that the plot at home had failed, he prevailed on
+the people of Tarquinii and Veii to make war with him against the
+Romans. But the consuls came out against them; Valerius commanding the
+main army, and Brutus the cavalry. And it chanced that Aruns, the
+king's son, led the cavalry of the enemy. When he saw Brutus, he
+spurred his horse against him, and Brutus did not decline the combat.
+They rode straight at each other with leveled spears; and so fierce
+was the shock, that they pierced each other through from breast to
+back, and both fell dead.
+
+4. Then, also, the armies fought, but the battle was neither won nor
+lost. But in the night a voice was heard by the Etruscans, saying that
+the Romans were the conquerers. So the enemy fled by night; and when
+the Romans arose in the morning, there was no man to oppose them. Then
+they took up the body of Brutus, and departed home, and buried him in
+public with great pomp.
+
+5. And thus the second attempt to restore King Tarquin was frustrated.
+After the death of Brutus, Valerius, the remaining consul, ruled the
+people for awhile by himself, and began to build himself a house upon
+the ridge called Velia, which looks down upon the forum. So the people
+thought that he was going to make himself king; but when he heard
+this, he called an assembly of the people, and appeared before them
+with his fasces lowered, and with no axes in them, whence the custom
+remained ever after, that no consular lictors wore axes within the
+city, and no consul had power of life and death except when he was in
+command of his legions abroad. And he pulled down the beginning of his
+house upon the Velia, and built it below that hill. Also, he passed
+laws that every Roman citizen might appeal to the people against the
+judgment of the chief magistrates. Wherefore he was greatly honored
+among the people, and was called _Poplicola_, or _Friend of the People_.
+
+6. After this Valerius called together the great assembly of the
+centuries, and they chose Spurius Lucretius, father of Lucretius, to
+succeed Brutus. But he was an old man, and not many days afterward he
+died, and Marcus Horatius was chosen in his stead.
+
+7. The temple on the Capitol which King Tarquin began had never yet been
+consecrated. Then Valerius and Horatius drew lots which should be the
+consecrator, and the lot fell on Horatius. But the friends of Valerius
+murmured, and they wished to prevent Horatius from having the honor; so,
+when he was now saying the prayer of consecration, with his hand upon
+the door-post of the temple, there came a messenger who told him that
+his son was just dead, and that one mourning for a son could not rightly
+consecrate the temple. But Horatius kept his hand upon the door-post,
+and told them to see to the burial of his son, and finished the rite of
+consecration. Thus did he honor the gods even above his own son.
+
+8. In the next year Valerius was again made consul, with Titus
+Lucretius; and Tarquin, despairing now of aid from his friends at Veii
+and Tarquinii, went to Lars Porsena of Clusium, a city on the river
+Clanis, which falls into the Tiber. Porsena was, at this time,
+acknowledged as chief of the twelve Etruscan cities; and he assembled
+a powerful army and came to Rome. He came so quickly that he reached
+the Tiber, and was near the Sublician Bridge before there was time to
+destroy it; and if he had crossed it the city would have been lost.
+
+9. Then, a noble Roman, called Horatius Cocles, of the Lucerian tribe,
+with two friends--Spurius Lartius, a Ramnian, and Titus Herminius, a
+Titian--posted themselves at the far end of the bridge, and defended
+the passage against all the Etruscan host, while the Romans were
+cutting it off behind them. When it was all but destroyed, his two
+friends retreated across the bridge, and Horatius was left alone to
+bear the whole attack of the enemy. He kept his ground, standing
+unmoved amid the darts which were showered upon his shield, till the
+last beams of the bridge fell crashing into the river. Then he prayed,
+saying, "Father Tiber, receive me, and bear me up I pray thee." He
+then plunged in, and reached the other side safely; and the Romans
+honored him greatly: they put up his statue in the Comitium, and gave
+him as much land as he could plow round in a day, and every man at
+Rome subscribed the cost of one day's food to reward him.
+
+                                                        _Liddell._
+
+10. This story is told in very spirited verse by Macaulay, in his poem
+of Horatius:
+
+
+HORATIUS.
+
+    1.  Fast by the royal standard,
+          O'erlooking all the war,
+        Lars Porsena of Clusium
+          Sate in his ivory car.
+        By the right wheel rode Mamilius,
+          Prince of the Latian name;
+        And by the left false Sextus,
+          That wrought the deed of shame.
+
+    2.  But when the face of Sextus
+          Was seen among the foes,
+        A yell that rent the firmament
+          From all the town arose.
+        On the house-tops was no woman
+          But spate toward him and hissed;
+        No child but screamed out curses,
+          And shook its little fist.
+
+    3.  But the consul's brow was sad,
+          And the consul's speech was low;
+        And darkly looked he at the wall,
+          And darkly at the foe.
+        "Their van will be upon us
+          Before the bridge goes down;
+        And if they once may win the bridge,
+          What hope to save the town?"
+
+    4.  Then out spoke brave Horatius,
+          The captain of the gate:
+        "To every man upon this earth
+          Death cometh soon or late.
+        And how can man die better
+          Than facing fearful odds
+        For the ashes of his fathers,
+          And the temples of his gods!
+
+[Illustration: _Horatius._]
+
+    5.  "Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul
+          With all the speed ye may;
+        I, with two more to help me,
+          Will hold the foe in play.
+        In yon straight path a thousand
+          May well be stopped by three.
+        Now, who will stand on either hand,
+          And keep the bridge with me?"
+
+    6.  Then out spoke Spurius Lartius,
+          A Ramnian proud was he:
+        "Lo, I will stand on thy right hand,
+          And keep the bridge with thee."
+        And out spoke strong Herminius,
+          Of Titian blood was he:
+        "I will abide on thy left side,
+          And keep the bridge with thee."
+
+    7.  The three stood calm and silent,
+          And looked upon the foes.
+        And a great shout of laughter
+          From all the vanguard rose:
+        And forth three chiefs came spurring
+          Before that mighty mass;
+        To earth they sprang, their swords they drew
+        And lifted high their shields, and flew
+          To win the narrow pass.
+
+    8.  Aunus from green Tifernum,
+          Lord of the Hill of Tines;
+        And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves
+          Sicken in Ilva's mines;
+        And Picus, long to Clusium
+          Vassal in peace and war,
+        Who led to fight his Umbrian powers
+        From that gray crag where, girt with towers,
+        The fortress of Nequinum lowers
+          O'er the pale waves of Nar.
+
+    9.  Stout Lartius hurled down Aunus
+          Into the stream beneath;
+        Herminius struck at Seius,
+          And clove him to the teeth;
+        At Picus brave Horatius
+          Darted one fiery thrust,
+        And the proud Umbrian's gilded arms
+          Clashed in the bloody dust.
+
+    10. But meanwhile axe and lever
+          Have manfully been plied,
+        And now the bridge hangs tottering
+          Above the boiling tide.
+        "Come back, come back, Horatius,"
+          Loud cried the Fathers all.
+        "Back, Lartius! back, Herminius!
+          Back, ere the ruin fall!"
+
+    11. Back darted Spurius Lartius;
+          Herminius darted back:
+        And as they passed, beneath their feet
+          They felt the timbers crack.
+        But when they turned their faces,
+          And on the further shore
+        Saw brave Horatius stand alone,
+          They would have crossed once more.
+
+    12. But with a crash like thunder
+          Fell every loosened beam,
+        And, like a dam, the mighty wreck
+          Lay right athwart the stream;
+        And a long shout of triumph
+          Rose from the walls of Rome,
+        As to the highest turret tops
+          Was splashed the yellow foam.
+
+    13. Alone stood brave Horatius,
+          But constant still in mind;
+        Thrice thirty thousand foes before,
+          And the broad flood behind.
+        "Down with him!" cried false Sextus,
+          With a smile on his pale face.
+        "Now yield thee," cried Lars Porsena,
+          "Now yield thee to our grace."
+
+    14. Round turned he, as not deigning
+          Those craven ranks to see;
+        Naught spake he to Lars Porsena,
+          To Sextus naught spake he;
+        But he saw on Palatinus
+          The white porch of his home,
+        And he spake to the noble river
+          That rolls by the towers of Rome.
+
+    15. "Oh, Tiber! Father Tiber!
+          To whom the Romans pray,
+        A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,
+          Take thou in charge this day!"
+        So he spoke, and speaking sheathed
+          The good sword by his side,
+        And with his harness on his back
+          Plunged headlong in the tide.
+
+    16. But fiercely ran the current,
+          Swollen high by months of rain;
+        And fast his blood was flowing;
+          And he was sore in pain,
+        And heavy with his armor,
+          And spent with changing blows:
+        And oft they thought him sinking,
+          But still again he rose.
+
+    17. And now he feels the bottom;
+          Now on dry earth he stands;
+        Now round him throng the fathers,
+          To press his gory hands;
+        And now with shouts and clapping,
+          And noise of weeping loud,
+        He enters through the River-gate,
+          Borne by the joyous crowd.
+
+    18. And still his name sounds stirring
+          Unto the men of Rome,
+        As the trumpet-blast that cries to them
+          To charge the Volscian home;
+        And wives still pray to Juno
+          For boys with hearts as bold
+        As his who kept the bridge so well
+          In the brave days of old.
+
+    19. And in the nights of winter,
+          When the cold north winds blow,
+        And the long howling of the wolves
+          Is heard amidst the snow;
+        When round the lonely cottage
+          Roars loud the tempest's din,
+        And the good logs of Algidus
+          Roar louder yet within;
+
+    20. When the oldest cask is opened,
+          And the largest lamp is lit,
+        When the chestnuts glow in the embers,
+          And the kid turns on the spit;
+        When young and old in circle
+          Around the firebrands close;
+        When the girls are weaving baskets,
+          And the lads are shaping bows;
+
+    21. When the goodman mends his armor,
+          And trims his helmet's plume;
+        When the goodwife's shuttle merrily
+          Goes flashing through the loom;
+        With weeping and with laughter
+          Still is the story told,
+        How well Horatius kept the bridge
+          In the brave days of old.
+
+                                _Macaulay._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+_XXVII.-THE ROMAN REPUBLIC._
+
+
+1. The establishment of the republic marked an era in the history of
+Rome. The people had decreed, that for them there never should be a
+king, and the law was kept to the letter; though, if they meant that
+supreme authority should never be held among them by one man, it was
+violated many times. The story of Rome is unique in the history of the
+world, for it is not the record of the life of one great country, but
+of a city that grew to be strong, and successfully established its
+authority over many countries.
+
+2. The most ancient and the most remote from the sea of the cities of
+Latium, Rome soon became the most influential, and began to combine in
+itself the traits of the peoples near it; but owing to the singular
+strength and rare impressiveness of the national character, these were
+assimilated, and the inhabitant of the capital remained distinctively
+a Roman in spite of his intimate association with men of different
+origin and training.
+
+3. The citizen of Rome was practical, patriotic, and faithful to
+obligation; he loved to be governed by inflexible law; and it was a
+fundamental principle with him that the individual should be
+subordinate to the state. His kings were either organizers, like Numa
+and Ancus-Marcius, or warriors like Romulus and Tullus Hostilius; they
+either made laws, like Servius, or they enforced them with the
+despotism of Tarquinius Superbus. It is difficult for us to conceive
+of such majestic power emanating from a territory so insignificant.
+
+4. We hardly realize that Latium did not comprise a territory quite
+fifty miles by one hundred in extent, and that it was but a hundred
+miles from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic. It was but a short walk
+from Rome to the territory of the Etruscans, and when Tarquin found an
+asylum at Caere, he did not separate himself by twenty miles from the
+scene of his tyranny. Ostia was scarcely more distant, and one might
+have ridden before the first meal of the day to Lavinium, or Alba, or
+Veii, or to Ardea, the ancient city of the Rutuli. It is important to
+keep these facts in mind as we read the story of the remarkable city.
+
+5. All towns were built on hills in these early days, for safety in
+case of war, as well as because the valleys were insalubrious, but
+this was not a peculiarity of the Romans, for in New England in the
+late ages of our own ancestors, they were obliged to follow the same
+custom. On the tops and slopes of seven hills, as they liked to remind
+themselves, the Romans built their city. They were not impressive
+elevations, though their sides were sharp and rocky, for the loftiest
+rose less than three hundred feet above the sea-level. Their summits
+were crowned with groves of beech trees and oaks, and in the lower
+lands grew osiers and other smaller varieties.
+
+[Illustration: _Ancient Roman Monument._]
+
+6. The earlier occupations of the Roman people were war and
+agriculture, or the pasturage of flocks and herds. They raised grapes
+and made wines; they cultivated the oil-olive, and knew the use of its
+fruit. They found copper in their soil, and made a pound of it their
+unit of value, but it was so cheap that ten thousand pounds of it were
+required to buy a war-horse, though cattle and sheep were much lower.
+They yoked their oxen and called the path they occupied a _jugerum_
+(_jugum_--a cross-beam or a yoke), and this in time came to be their
+familiar standard of square measure, containing about two-thirds of an
+acre. Two of these were assigned to a citizen, and seven were the
+narrow limit to which only one's landed possessions were for a long
+time allowed to extend. In time commerce was added to the pursuits of
+the men, and with it came fortunes and improved dwellings, and public
+buildings. Laziness and luxury were frowned upon by the early Romans.
+Mistress and maid worked together in the affairs of the household,
+like Lucretia and other noble women of whom history tells, and the man
+did not hesitate to hold the plow, as the example of Cincinnatus will
+show us. Time was precious, and thrift and economy were necessary to
+success. The father was the autocrat in the household, and exercised
+his power with stern rigidity.
+
+7. Art was backward, and came from abroad; of literature there was
+none, long after Greece had passed its period of heroic poetry. The
+dwellings of the citizens were low and insignificant, though, as time
+passed on, they became more massive and important. The vast public
+structures of the later kings were comparable to the taskwork of the
+builders of the Egyptian pyramids, and they still strike us with
+astonishment, and surprise.
+
+8. The religion of these strong conquerors was narrow, severe, and
+dreary. The early fathers worshiped native deities only. They
+recognized gods everywhere--in the home, in the grove, and on the
+mountain. They erected their altars on the hills; they had their lares
+and penates to watch over their hearth-stones, and their vestal
+virgins kept everlasting vigil near the never-dying fires in the
+temples. With the art of Greece that made itself felt through Etruria,
+came also the influence of the Grecian mythology, and Jupiter, Juno,
+and Minerva found a shrine on the top of the Capitoline, where the
+first statue of a deity was erected. The mysterious sibylline books
+are also a mark of the Grecian influence, coming from Cumae, a colony
+of Magna Graecia.
+
+9. During the period we have considered, the city passed through five
+distinct stages of political organization. The government at first was
+an elective monarchy, the electors being a patriarchal aristocracy.
+After the invasion of the Sabines there was a union with that people,
+the sovereignty being held by rulers chosen from each, but it was not
+long before Rome became the head of a federal state. The Tarquins
+established a monarchy, which rapidly degenerated into an offensive
+tyranny, which aroused rebellion and at last led to the republic.
+
+10. During all these changes, the original aristocrats and their
+descendants held their position as the Populus Romanus, the Roman
+people, insisting that every one else must belong to an inferior order,
+and, as no body of men is willing to be condemned to a hopelessly
+subordinate position in a state, there was a perpetual antagonism
+between the patricians and the plebeians, between the aristocracy and
+the commonalty. This led to a temporary change under Servius Tullius,
+when property took the place of pedigree in establishing a man's rank
+and influence; but owing to the peculiar method of voting adopted, the
+power of the commons was not greatly increased. However, they had made
+their influence felt, and were encouraged.
+
+11. The overturning of the scheme by Tarquin favored a union of the
+two orders for the punishment of that tyrant, and they combined; but
+it was only for a time. When the danger had been removed, the tie was
+found broken and the antagonism rather increased, so that the
+subsequent history for five generations, though exceedingly
+interesting, is largely a record of the struggles of the commons for
+relief from the burdens laid upon them by the aristocrats.
+
+[Illustration: _Roman Private Life._]
+
+12. The father passed down to his son the story of the oppression of
+the patricians, and the son told the same sad narrative to his
+offspring. The mother mourned with her daughter over the sufferings
+brought upon them by the rich, for whom their poor father and brothers
+were obliged to fight the battles, while they were not allowed to
+share the spoil, nor to divide the lands gained by their own prowess.
+The struggle was not so much between patrician and plebeian as between
+the rich and the poor. It was intimately connected with the uses of
+money in those times. What could the rich Roman do with his
+accumulations? He might buy land or slaves, or he might become a
+lender; to a certain extent he could use his surplus in commerce; but
+of these its most remunerative employment was found in usury. As there
+were no laws regulating the rates of interest, they became exorbitant,
+and as it was customary to compound it, debts rapidly grew beyond the
+possibility of payment. As the rich made the laws they naturally
+exerted their ingenuity to frame them in such a way as to enable the
+lender to collect his dues with promptness and with little regard for
+the feelings or interests of the debtor.
+
+13. It is difficult, if not impossible, for us to form a proper
+conception of the magnitude of the wrongs involved in the system of
+money-lending at Rome during the period of the republic. The small
+farmers were ever needy, and came to their wealthy neighbors for
+accommodation loans. If these were not paid when due, the debtor was
+liable to be locked up in prison, to be sold into slavery, with his
+children, wife, and grandchildren; and the heartless law reads, that
+in case the estate should prove insufficient to satisfy all claims,
+the creditors were actually authorized to cut the body to pieces, that
+each Shylock might take the pound of flesh that he claimed.
+
+14. At last the severity of the lenders overreached itself. It was in
+the year 495 B. C., that a poor but brave debtor, one who had been at
+the very front in the wars, broke out of his prison, and while the
+wind flaunted his rags in the face of the populace, clanked his chains
+and told the story of his calamities so effectually in words of
+natural eloquence, that the commons were aroused to madness, and
+resolved at last to make a vigorous effort, and seek redress for their
+wrongs in a way that could not be resisted.
+
+15. The form of this man stands out forever on the pages of Roman
+history, as he entered the forum with all the badges of his misery
+upon him. His pale and emaciated body was but partially covered by his
+wretched tatters; his long hair played about his shoulders, and his
+glaring eyes and the grizzled beard hanging down before him added to
+his savage wildness. As he passed along he uncovered the scars of near
+two score battles that remained upon his breast, and explained to
+inquirers that while he had been serving in the Sabine war, his house
+had been pillaged and burned by the enemy; that when he had returned
+to enjoy the sweets of the peace he had helped to win, he had found
+that his cattle had been driven off, and a tax imposed.
+
+16. To meet the debts that thronged upon him and the interest by which
+they were aggravated, he had stripped himself of his ancestral farms.
+Finally, pestilence had overtaken him, and as he was not able to work,
+his creditor had placed him in a house of detention, the savage
+treatment in which was shown by the fresh stripes upon his bleeding back.
+
+17. At the moment a war was imminent, and the forum--the entire city,
+in fact--already excited, was filled with the uproar of the angry
+plebeians. Many confined for debt broke from their prison-houses and
+ran from all quarters into the crowds to claim protection. The majesty
+of the consuls was insufficient to preserve order, and while the
+discord was rapidly increasing horsemen rushed into the gates
+announcing that an enemy was actually upon them, marching to besiege
+the city. The plebeians saw that their opportunity had arrived, and
+when proud Appius Claudius called upon them to enroll their names for
+the war, they refused the summons, saying that the patricians might
+fight their own battles; that for themselves it was better to perish
+together at home rather than to go to the field and die separated.
+
+18. Threatened with war beyond the gates, and with riot at home, the
+patricians were forced to promise to redress the civil grievances. It
+was ordered that no one could seize or sell the goods of a soldier
+while he was in camp, or arrest his children, and that no one should
+detain a citizen in prison or in chains, so as to hinder him from
+enlisting in the army. When this was known, the released prisoners
+volunteered in numbers, and entered upon the war with enthusiasm. The
+legions were victorious, and when peace was declared, the plebeians
+anxiously looked for the ratification of the promises made to them.
+
+19. Their expectations were disappointed. They had, however, seen
+their power, and were determined to act upon their new knowledge.
+Without undue haste they protected their homes on the Aventine, and
+retreated the next year to a mountain across the Anio, about three
+miles from the city, to a spot which afterward held a place in the
+memories of the Romans similar to that which the green meadow on the
+Thames called Runnymede has held in British history since the June day
+when King John met his commons there, and gave them the great charter
+of their liberties.
+
+20. The plebeians said calmly that they would no longer be imposed
+upon; that not one of them would thereafter enlist for a war until the
+public faith was made good. They reiterated the declaration that the
+lords might fight their own battles, so that the perils of conflict
+should lie where its advantages were. When the situation of affairs
+was thoroughly understood, Rome was on fire with anxiety, and the
+enforced suspense filled the citizens with fear lest an external enemy
+should take the opportunity for a successful onset upon the city.
+
+21. Meanwhile the poor secessionists fortified their camp, but
+carefully refrained from actual war. The people left in the city
+feared the senators, and the senators in turn dreaded the citizens
+lest they should do them violence. It was a time of panic and
+suspense. After consultation, good counsels prevailed in the senate,
+and it was resolved to send an embassy to the despised and downtrodden
+plebeians, who now seemed to hold the balance of power, and to treat
+for peace, for there could be no security until the secessionists had
+returned to their homes.
+
+22. The spokesman on the occasion was Menenius Agrippa Lanatus who was
+popular with the people and had a reputation for eloquence. The
+address of this good man had its desired effect, and the people were
+at last willing to listen to a proposition for their return. It was
+settled that there should be a general release of all those who had
+been handed over to their creditors, and a cancelling of debts, and
+that two of the plebeians should be selected as their protectors, with
+power to veto objectionable laws, their persons being as inviolable at
+all times as were those of the sacred messengers of the gods. These
+demands, showing that the plebeians did not seek political power, were
+agreed to, the Valerian laws were reaffirmed, and a solemn treaty was
+concluded, each party swearing for itself and its posterity, with all
+the formality of representatives of foreign nations.
+
+23. The two leaders of the commons, Caius Licinius and Lucius Albinus,
+were elected the first tribunes of the people, as the new officers
+were called, with two aediles to aid them. They were not to leave the
+city during their term of office, their doors being open night and
+day, that all who needed their protection might have access to them.
+The hill upon which this treaty had been concluded was ever after
+known as the Sacred Mount; its top was enclosed and consecrated, an
+altar being built upon it, on which sacrifices were offered to
+Jupiter, the god of terror and deliverance, who had allowed the
+commons to return home in safety, though they had gone out in
+trepidation. Henceforth the commons were to be protected; they were
+better fitted to share the honors as well as the benefits of their
+country, and the threatened dissolution of the nation was averted.
+
+            _Arthur Gilman, M. A. "The Story of Rome."_
+                      _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations Series."_
+
+
+
+
+_XXVIII.--CINCINNATUS._
+
+
+1. In the course of the early Roman wars, Minucius, one of the consuls
+suffered himself to be cut off from Rome, in a narrow valley of Mount
+Algidus, and it seemed as if hope of delivery there was none. However,
+five horsemen found means to escape and report at Rome the perilous
+condition of the consul and his army. Then the other consul consulted
+the senate, and it was agreed that the only man who could deliver the
+army was Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. He was thereupon named dictator,
+and deputies were sent to acquaint him with his high dignity.
+
+2. He was called Cincinnatus, because he wore his hair in long curling
+locks, _cincinni_, and, though he was a patrician he lived on his own
+small farm, like any plebeian yeoman. This farm was beyond the
+Tiber, and here he lived contentedly with his wife Racilia.
+
+3. Two years before he had been consul, and had been brought into
+great distress by the conduct of his son, Kaeso. This Kaeso was a Wild
+and insolent young man, who despised the plebeians and hated their
+tribunes. One Volscius Fictor alleged that he and his brother, an old
+and sickly man, had been attacked by Kaeso and a party of young
+patricians by night, and that his brother had died of the treatment
+then received. The indignation of the people rose high; and Kaeso was
+forced to go into exile. After this the young patricians became more
+insolent than ever, but they courted the poorest of the people, hoping
+to engage them on their side against the more respectable plebeians.
+
+4. Next year all Rome was alarmed by finding that the Capitol had been
+seized by an enemy during the night. This enemy was Appius Herdonius, a
+Sabine, and with him was associated a band of desperate men, exiles and
+runaway slaves. The first demand he made was that all Roman exiles
+should be restored. The consul, P. Valerius, collected a force and took
+the Capitol, but was killed in the assault, and Cincinnatus, father of
+the banished Kaeso, was chosen to succeed him. When he heard the news of
+his elevation, he turned to his wife, and said: "I fear, Racilia, our
+little field must remain this year unsown." Then he assumed the robe of
+state, and went to Rome. It was believed that Kaeso had been concerned in
+the desperate enterprise that had just been defeated. What had become of
+him was unknown; but that he was already dead was pretty certain; and
+his father was very bitter against the tribunes and their party, to whom
+he attributed his son's disgrace and death.
+
+5. P. Valerius, the consul, had persuaded the plebeians to join in the
+assault of the Capitol, by promising to gain them further privileges;
+this promise Cincinnatus refused to keep, and used all his power to
+frustrate the attempts of the tribunes to gain its fulfillment. At the
+end of his year of office, however, when the patricians wished to
+continue him in the consulship, he positively declined the offer, and
+returned to his rustic life as if he had never left it.
+
+6. It was two years after these events that the deputies of the
+senate, who came to invest him with the ensigns of dictatorial power,
+found him working on his little farm. He was clad in his tunic only,
+and as the deputies advanced they bade him put on his toga, that he
+might receive the commands of the senate in seemly guise. So he wiped
+off the dust and sweat, and bade his wife fetch his toga, and asked
+anxiously whether all was right or no. Then the deputies told him how
+the army was beset by the AEquian foe, and how the Senate looked to him
+as the savior of the state. A boat was provided to carry him over the
+Tiber; and when he reached the other bank, he was greeted by his
+family and friends, and the greater part of the senate, who followed
+him to the city, while he himself walked in state, with his four and
+twenty lictors.
+
+7. That same day the dictator and his master of horse came down into
+the forum, ordered all shops to be shut, and all business to be
+suspended. All men of the military age were to meet in the Field of
+Mars before sunset, each man with five days' provisions and twelve
+stakes; the older men were to get the provisions ready, while the
+soldiers were preparing the stakes. Thus all was got ready in time:
+the dictator led them forth; and they marched so rapidly, that by
+midnight they had reached Mount Algidus, where the army of the consul
+was hemmed in.
+
+8. Then the dictator, when he had discovered the place of the enemy's
+army, ordered his men to put all their baggage down in one place, and
+then to surround the enemy's camp. They obeyed, and each one raising a
+shout, began digging the trench and fixing his stakes, so as to form a
+palisade round the enemy. The consul's army, which was hemmed in,
+heard the shout of their brethren, and flew to arms; and so hotly did
+they fight all night, that the AEquians had no time to attend to the
+new foe, and next morning found themselves hemmed in on all sides by
+the trench and palisade, so that they were now between two Roman
+armies. They were thus forced to surrender. The dictator required them
+to give up their chiefs, and made their whole army pass under the
+yoke, which was formed by two spears fixed upright in the ground, and
+a third bound across them at the top.
+
+9. Cincinnatus returned to Rome amid the shouts and exultation of his
+soldiers: they gave him a golden crown, in token that he had saved the
+lives of many citizens; and the senate decreed that he should enter the
+city in triumph. So Cincinnatus accomplished the purpose for which he
+had been made dictator in twenty-four hours. One evening he marched
+forth to deliver the consul, and the next evening he returned
+victorious. But he would not lay down his high office till he had
+avenged his son. Accordingly, he summoned Volscius Fictor, the accuser,
+and had him tried for perjury. The man was condemned and banished; and
+then Cincinnatus once more returned to his wife and farm.
+
+                                                        _Liddell._
+
+
+
+
+_XXIX.--THE ROMAN FATHER._
+
+
+1. Among the most interesting of the early legends of Rome is that of
+Virginius, a soldier of the army belonging to the plebeian order.
+While performing his duty in the army which was encamped about twenty
+miles from Rome, his young daughter, Virginia, about fifteen years
+of age found her home with her near relatives in the city. Her beauty
+attracted the attention of Appius Claudius, one of the ten governors
+of Rome. With the view of getting possession of her person, he ordered
+one of his clients, M. Claudius by name, to lay hands upon her as she
+was going to her school in the Forum, and to claim her as his slave.
+The man did so; and when the cries of her nurse brought a crowd round
+them, M. Claudius insisted on taking her before the decemvir, in order
+(as he said) to have the case fairly tried. Her friends consented, and
+no sooner had Appius heard the matter, than he gave judgment that the
+maiden should be delivered up to the claimant, who should be bound to
+produce her in case her alleged father appeared to gainsay the claim.
+
+[Illustration: _The Seizure of Virginia._]
+
+2. Now this judgment was directly against one of the laws of the
+Twelve Tables, which Appius himself had framed: for therein it was
+provided, that any person being at freedom should continue free, till
+it was proved that such person was a slave. Icilius her betrothed,
+therefore, with Numitorius, the uncle of the maiden, boldly argued
+against the legality of the judgment; and at length, Appius, fearing a
+tumult, agreed to leave the girl in their hands, on condition of their
+giving bail to bring her before him next morning; and then, if
+Virginius did not appear, he would at once, he said, give her up to
+her pretended master.
+
+3. To this Icilius consented; but he delayed giving bail, pretending
+that he could not procure it readily, and in the mean time he sent off a
+secret message to the camp on Algidus to inform Virginius of what had
+happened. As soon as the bail was given, Appius also sent a message to
+the decemvirs in command of that army, ordering them to refuse leave of
+absence to Virginius. But when this last message arrived, Virginius was
+already half-way on his road to Rome; for the distance was not more
+than twenty miles, and he had started at nightfall.
+
+4. Next morning early, Virginius entered the forum leading his
+daughter by the hand, both clad in mean attire. A great number of
+friends and matrons attended him; and he went about among the people
+entreating them to support him against the tyranny of Appius. So, when
+Appius came to take his place on the judgment-seat, he found the forum
+full of people, all friendly to Virginius and his cause. But he
+inherited the boldness as well as the vices of his sires, and though
+he saw Virginius standing there, ready to prove that he was the
+maiden's father, he at once gave judgment against his own law, that
+Virginia should be given up to M. Claudius, till it should be proved
+that she was free. The wretch came up to seize her, and the lictors
+kept the people from him. Virginius now despairing of deliverance,
+begged Appius to allow him to ask the maiden whether she were indeed
+his daughter or no. "If," said he, "I find I am not her father, I
+shall bear her loss the lighter." Under this pretense, he drew her
+aside to a spot upon the northern side of the forum (afterward called
+the Novae Tabernae), and here, snatching up a knife from a butcher's
+stall, he cried: "In this way only can I keep thee free!" and, so
+saying, stabbed her to the heart.
+
+5. Then he turned to the tribunal, and said: "On thee, Appius, and on
+thy head be this blood." Appius cried out to sieze "the murderer"; but
+the crowd made way for Virginius, and he passed through them holding up
+the bloody knife, and went out at the gate, and made straight for the
+army. There, when the soldiers had heard his tale, they at once
+abandoned their decemviral generals, and marched to Rome. They were soon
+followed by the other army from the Sabine frontier; for to them
+Icilius had gone, and Numitorius; and they found willing ears among the
+men. So the two armies joined their banners, elected new generals, and
+encamped upon the Aventine hill, the quarter of the plebeians.
+
+6. Meantime, the people at home had risen against Appius; and after
+driving him from the forum, they joined their armed fellow citizens
+upon the Aventine. There the whole body of the commons, armed and
+unarmed, hung like a dark cloud ready to burst upon the city.
+
+                                                        _Liddell._
+
+
+VIRGINIUS.
+
+    1. When Appius Claudius saw that deed he shuddered and sank down,
+       And hid his face some little space with the corner of his gown,
+       Till with white lips and blood-shot eyes Virginius tottered nigh,
+       And stood before the judgment-seat, and held the knife on high.
+       "Oh! dwellers in the nether gloom, avengers of the slain,
+       By this dear blood, I cry to you, do right between us twain;
+       And even as Appius Claudius hath dealt with me and mine,
+       Deal you by Appius Claudius and all the Claudian line!"
+       So spake the slayer of his child, and turned, and went his way;
+       But first he cast one haggard glance to where the body lay,
+       And writhed, and groaned a fearful groan; and then with steadfast
+                 feet,
+       Strode right across the market-place into the sacred street.
+
+    2. Then up sprang Appius Claudius: "Stop him; alive or dead!
+       Ten thousand pounds of copper to the man who brings his head."
+       He looked upon his clients, but none would work his will.
+       He looked upon his lictors, but they trembled and stood still.
+       And as Virginius, through the press, his way in silence cleft,
+       Ever the mighty multitude fell back to right and left.
+       And he hath passed in safety unto his woful home,
+       And there ta'en horse to tell the camp what deeds are done in
+                 Rome.
+
+    3. By this the flood of people was swollen from every side,
+       And streets and porches round were filled with that o'erflowing
+                 tide,
+       And close around the body gathered a little train
+       Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain.
+       They brought a bier, and hung it with many a cypress crown,
+       And gently they uplifted her, and gently laid her down.
+       The face of Appius Claudius wore the Claudian scowl and sneer,
+       And in the Claudian note he cried, "What doth this rabble here?
+       Have they no crafts to mind at home, that hitherward they stray?
+       Ho! lictors, clear the market-place, and fetch the corpse away!"
+
+    4. Till then the voice of pity and fury was not loud,
+       But a deep, sullen murmur, wandered among the crowd.
+       Like the moaning noise that goes before the whirlwind on the deep,
+       Or the growl of a fierce watch-dog but half-aroused from sleep.
+       But when the lictors at that word, tall yeomen all, and strong,
+       Each with his axe and sheaf of twigs, went down into the throng,
+       Those old men say, who saw that day of sorrow and of sin,
+       That in the Roman Forum was never such a din.
+       The wailing, hooting, cursing, the howls of grief and hate,
+       Were heard beyond the Pincian hill, beyond the Latin gate.
+
+    5. But close around the body, where stood the little train
+       Of them that were the nearest and dearest to the slain,
+       No cries were there, but teeth set fast, low whispers, and black
+                 frowns,
+       And breaking up of benches, and girding up of gowns.
+       'Twas well the lictors might not pierce to where the maiden lay,
+       Else surely had they been all twelve torn limb from limb that day.
+       Right glad they were to struggle back, blood streaming from their
+                 heads,
+       With axes all in splinters, and raiment all in shreds.
+
+[Illustration: _The Dead Virginia._]
+
+    6. Then Appius Claudius gnawed his lip, and the blood left his cheek;
+       And thrice he beckoned with his hand, and thrice he strove to
+                 speak;
+       And thrice the tossing forum sent up a frightful yell--
+       "See, see, thou dog! what thou hast done; and hide thy shame in
+                 hell,
+       Thou that wouldst make our maidens slaves, must first make slaves
+                 of men.
+       Tribunes!--Hurrah for tribunes! Down with the wicked Ten!"
+       And straightway, thick as hailstones, came whizzing through the
+                 air
+       Pebbles, and bricks, and potsherds, all round the curule chair;
+       And upon Appius Claudius great fear and trembling came;
+       For never was a Claudius yet brave against aught but shame.
+
+    7. So now 'twas seen of Appius. When stones began to fly,
+       He shook, and crouched, and wrung his hands, and smote upon his
+                 thigh.
+       "Kind clients, honest lictors, stand by me in this fray!
+       Must I be torn to pieces? Home, home the nearest way."
+       While yet he spake, and looked around with a bewildered stare,
+       Four sturdy lictors put their necks beneath the curule chair;
+       And fourscore clients on the left, and fourscore on the right,
+       Arrayed themselves with swords and staves, and loins girt up for
+                 fight.
+
+    8. But, though without or staff or sword, so furious was the throng,
+       That scarce the train, with might and main, could bring their lord
+                 along.
+       Twelve times the crowd made at him; five times they seized his
+                 gown;
+       Small chance was his to rise again, if once they got him down:
+       And sharper came the pelting; and evermore the yell--
+       "Tribunes! we will have tribunes!" rose with a louder swell:
+       And the chair tossed as tosses a bark with tattered sail,
+       When raves the Adriatic beneath an eastern gale,
+       When the Calabrian sea-marks are lost in clouds of spume,
+       And the great Thunder-Cape has donned his veil of inky gloom.
+       One stone hit Appius in the mouth, and one beneath the ear;
+       And ere he reached Mount Palatine, he swooned with pain and fear.
+       His cursed head, that he was wont to hold so high with pride,
+       Now, like a drunken man's, hung down, and swayed from side to
+                 side;
+       And when his stout retainers had brought him to his door,
+       His neck and face were all one cake of filth and clotted gore.
+
+                                                      _Macaulay._
+
+
+
+
+_XXX.--ARCHIMEDES._
+
+
+1. This extraordinary man was a native of Syracuse, a city of Sicily. He
+was born two hundred and eighty-eight years before the Christian era,
+and from fifty to one hundred years after the appearance of the
+far-famed Euclid. Who his parents were, and what was their rank in life
+are not known, though it is claimed that he was in some way related to
+Hiero the king of Syracuse. It is said that Hiero considered himself
+greatly honored by such a relation, and well he might be, for science
+and genius combined are much higher than royalty. Besides it is probable
+that the name of the monarch would never have been preserved except in
+connection with the great philosopher.
+
+2. By whom he was instructed in the elements of education, history
+fails to inform us, but it tells us of the progress he made in
+mechanics and geometry, and for the sake of the quiet necessary to
+pursue these branches he gave up all the advantages of a political
+life derived from his connection with the king. His favorite studies
+had more charms for him than the glitter of events or the plunder of
+conquered cities.
+
+3. After studying at home until he could learn nothing more in the
+city of his birth, he repaired to Alexandria in Egypt, at that time
+the educational center that had inherited the philosophy and culture
+of Athens. Here he studied for some years and became acquainted with
+the most distinguished scholars of his day. Among his most intimate
+friends was Conon, a famous mathematician from Samos, who often
+exchanged problems with him for solution. While staying at Alexandria
+he began his work of practical invention which he afterward turned to
+such good account.
+
+[Illustration: _Archimedes._]
+
+4. Some of his ardent admirers have maintained that Archimedes
+taught the Egyptians more than they taught him; that while he imbibed
+philosophy and book learning, he more than repaid the New Athens by
+inventions which were of the greatest use in the ordinary work of the
+home and the shop. Although we do not know exactly what he turned his
+hand to, we are quite sure that in many ways he performed feats that
+have scarcely been surpassed in modern times.
+
+5. After his return to his native city, Archimedes continued his
+studies with unabated vigor, often neglecting his food and the care of
+his person when a new problem was to be solved or a new invention
+perfected. The method of determining the relative amount of gold and
+base metal in Hiero's crown occurred to him while in his bath, and
+without stopping to put on his clothes, he is said to have rushed
+through the streets exclaiming "_Eureka!_ Eureka!"
+
+6. To prevent the ruin of his health his servants were sometimes
+obliged to take him by main force to the table and bath, and to take
+his daily exercise. Hiero at one time expressed an admiration of some
+of his inventions when Archimedes replied that had he a place to fix
+his machines upon he could move the earth itself. His days were passed
+in study and retirement until the safety of his native city called him
+out to take part in its defense.
+
+7. During the wars between the Romans and Carthaginians, the people of
+Sicily, and especially the Syracusans, had for a long time remained
+neutral or been in alliance with the Romans. But a Carthaginian
+interest sprung up which mastered and sought to extend itself over the
+whole island. As soon as the news of this political movement and
+rebellion reached Marcellus, the Roman general, he hastened with a
+strong force into Sicily, and after the capture of the principalities
+he laid siege to Syracuse.
+
+8. Here he met with an unexpected check. The inventive genius of
+Archimedes enabled the Syracusans to successfully defend their city
+for three years. He so improved the warlike instruments for the
+discharge of missiles, that he repeatedly beat back the most
+determined assault, and the Romans were more than once on the point of
+abandoning the siege, believing that the city was defended by the
+gods. By means of long and powerful levers, together with grappling
+irons, he is said to have destroyed many of the Roman galleys when
+they approached the walls of the city; and when they retired for
+safety he set them on fire by a combination of immense burning-glasses.
+
+9. The story of these exploits is told by the Romans themselves, and
+there can be no doubt but here Science gained one of her greatest
+triumphs. The success of the new engine was evidently so great, that
+an element of superstition entered into the record. But the triumph of
+genius was not complete. During a festival in honor of Diana when wine
+flowed freely, the guards neglected to man some particular part of the
+walls. The Romans observing this scaled the walls and made themselves
+masters of the city.
+
+10. Amid the plunder and carnage which followed, Archimedes was killed.
+Marcellus had given orders for his special protection, but the deed was
+done by a Roman soldier. One account says that he was slain in his
+laboratory where he was found studying a problem, and he refused to move
+until he had completed the solution. Another account says that he was
+put to death on the street while drawing a geometrical figure in the
+sand. The third and most rational account is that while bearing some
+boxes of mathematical instruments to Marcellus he was killed by a
+soldier who supposed that the boxes contained treasure. His death
+happened about 210 B. C. at the age of seventy-six.
+
+
+
+
+_XXXI.--THE DEATH OF CAESAR._
+
+[Illustration: _Caesar (enlarged from a Roman Coin)._]
+
+
+1. The greatest of Rome's generals, and one of the greatest of
+military chieftains of all ages, was Julius Caesar. Of a patrician
+family, he was one of the most accomplished men of Rome. He was great
+in civil as well as military life. He became the most popular of the
+greatest men of Rome's most brilliant days. His military feats rivaled
+those of Alexander, and he extended the rule of Rome through all
+central Europe, completely subduing all of the tribes with which he
+came in contact. From his northern victories he turned his victorious
+army south, crossed the Rubicon, which marked the border of his own
+province, and seized the control of Rome.
+
+2. In the management of civil affairs he was as successful as in the
+field. He corrected abuses that had crept into the political management
+of affairs, and placed new safeguards around the rights of the people.
+
+3. His administration was almost as brilliant as that of Pericles in
+Athens; yet the principal nobles did not love him, and with the people
+at large he suffered still more, from a belief that he wished to be
+made king. On his return from Spain he had been named dictator and
+imperator for life. His head had for some time been placed on the
+money of the republic, a regal honor conceded to none before him.
+Quintilis, the fifth month of the old calendar, received from him the
+name which it still bears. The senate took an oath to guard the safety
+of his person.
+
+4. He was honored with sacrifices, and honors hitherto reserved for
+the gods. But Caesar was not satisfied. He was often heard to quote the
+sentiment of Euripides, that, "if any violation of law is excusable,
+it is excusable for the sake of gaining sovereign power." It was no
+doubt to ascertain the popular sentiments that various propositions
+were made toward an assumption of the title of king. His statues in
+the forum were found crowned with a diadem; but two of the tribunes
+tore it off, and the mob applauded.
+
+5. On the 26th of January, at the great Latin festival on the Alban
+Mount, voices in the crowd saluted him as king; but mutterings of
+discontent reached his ears, and he promptly said; "I am no king, but
+Caesar." The final attempt was made at the Lupercalia on the 15th of
+February. Antony, in the character of one of the priests of Pan,
+approached the dictator as he sat presiding in his golden chair, and
+offered him an embroidered band, like the diadem of Oriental
+sovereigns. The applause which followed was partial, and the dictator
+put the offered gift aside. Then a burst of genuine cheering greeted
+him, which waxed louder still when he rejected it a second time. Old
+traditional feeling was too strong at Rome even for Caesar's daring
+temper to brave it. The people would submit to the despotic rule of a
+dictator, but would not have a king.
+
+6. Other causes of discontent had been agitating various classes at
+Rome. The more fiery partisans of Caesar disapproved of his clemency;
+the more prodigal sort were angry at his regulations for securing the
+provincials from oppression. The populace of the city complained--the
+genuine Romans, at seeing favor extended to provincials, those of
+foreign origin because they had been excluded from the corn bounty.
+Caesar, no doubt, was eager to return to his army, and escape from the
+increasing difficulties which beset his civil government. But as soon
+as he joined the army, he would assume monarchical power in virtue of
+the late decree; and this consideration urged the discontented to a
+plot against his life.
+
+7. The difficulty was to find a leader. At length Marcus Junius Brutus
+accepted the post of danger. This young man, a nephew of Cato, had
+taken his uncle as an example for his public life. But he was fonder
+of speculation than of action. His habits were reserved, rather those
+of a student than a statesman. He had reluctantly joined the cause of
+Pompey, for he could ill forget that it was by Pompey that his father
+had been put to death in cold blood. After the battle of Pharsalia he
+was treated by Caesar almost like a son. In the present year he had
+been proclaimed praetor of the city, with the promise of the
+consulship. But the discontented remnants of the senatorial party
+assailed him with constant reproaches. The name of Brutus, dear to all
+Roman patriots, was made a rebuke to him. "His ancestors expelled
+the Tarquins; could he sit quietly under a king's rule?" At the foot
+of the statue of that ancestor, or on his own praetorian tribunal,
+notes were placed, containing phrases such as these: "Thou art not
+Brutus: would thou wert." "Brutus, thou sleepest." "Awake, Brutus."
+Gradually he was brought to think that it was his duty as a patriot to
+put an end to Caesar's rule even by taking his life.
+
+8. The most notable of those who arrayed themselves under him was
+Cassius. This man's motive is unknown. He had never taken much part in
+politics; he had made submission to the conquerer, and had been
+received with marked favor. Some personal reason probably actuated his
+unquiet spirit. More than sixty persons were in the secret, most of
+them, like Brutus and Cassius, under personal obligations to the
+dictator. Publius Servilius Casca was by his grace tribune of the
+plebs. Lucius Tullius Cimber was promised the government of Bithynia.
+Decius Brutus, one of his old Gallic officers, was praetor elect, and
+was to be gratified with the rich province of Cisalpine Gaul. Caius
+Trebonius, another trusted officer, had received every favor which the
+dictator could bestow; he had just laid down the consulship, and was
+on the eve of departure for the government of Asia. Quintius Ligarius
+had lately accepted a pardon from the dictator, and rose from a sick
+bed to join the conspirators.
+
+9. A meeting of the senate was called for the Ides of March, at which
+Caesar was to be present. This was the day appointed for the murder.
+The secret had oozed out. Many persons warned Caesar that some danger
+was impending. A Greek soothsayer told him of the very day. On the
+morning of the Ides his wife arose so disturbed by dreams, that she
+persuaded him to relinquish his purpose of presiding in the senate,
+and he sent Antony in his stead.
+
+10. This change of purpose was reported after the House was formed.
+The conspirators were in despair. Decius Brutus at once went to Caesar,
+told him that the Fathers were only waiting to confer upon him the
+sovereign power which he desired, and begged him not to listen to
+auguries and dreams. Caesar was persuaded to change his purpose, and
+was carried forth in his litter. On his way, a slave who had
+discovered the conspiracy tried to attract his notice, but was unable
+to reach him for the crowd. A Greek philosopher, named Artemidorus,
+succeeded in putting a roll of paper into his hand, containing full
+information of the conspiracy; but Caesar, supposing it to be a
+petition, laid it by his side for a more convenient season. Meanwhile,
+the conspirators had reason to think that their plot had been
+discovered. A friend came up to Casca and said, "Ah, Casca, Brutus has
+told me your secret!" The conspirator started, but was relieved by the
+next sentence: "Where will _you_ find money for the expenses of the
+aedileship?" More serious alarm was felt when Popillius Laenas remarked
+to Brutus and Cassius: "You have my good wishes; but what you do, do
+quickly"--especially when the same senator stepped up to Caesar on his
+entering the house, and began whispering in his ear. So terrified was
+Cassius, that he thought of stabbing himself instead of Caesar, till
+Brutus quietly observed, that the gestures of Popillius indicated that
+he was asking a favor, not revealing a fatal secret. Caesar took his
+seat without further delay.
+
+[Illustration: _Antony delivering the Oration on the Death of Caesar._]
+
+11. As was agreed, Cimber presented a petition praying for his
+brother's recall from banishment; and all the conspirators pressed
+round the dictator, urging his favorable answer. Displeased at their
+importunity, Caesar attempted to rise. At that moment Cimber seized the
+lappet of his robe, and pulled him down; and immediately Casca
+struck him from the side, but inflicted only a slight wound. Then all
+drew their daggers and assailed him. Caesar for a time defended himself
+with the gown folded over his left arm, and the sharp-pointed style
+which he held in his right hand for writing on the wax of his tablets.
+But when he saw Brutus among the assassins, he exclaimed, "You, too,
+Brutus!" and covering his face with his gown, offered no further
+resistance. In their eagerness, some blows intended for their victim
+fell upon themselves. But enough reached Caesar to do the bloody work.
+Pierced by twenty-three wounds, he fell at the base of Pompey's
+statue, which had been removed after Pharsalia by Antony, but had been
+restored by the magnanimity of Caesar.
+
+12. Thus died "the foremost man of all the world," a man who failed in
+nothing that he attempted. He might, Cicero thought, have been a great
+orator; his "Commentaries" remain to prove that he was a great writer.
+As a general he had few superiors, as a statesman and politician no
+equal. That which stamps him as a man of true greatness, is the entire
+absence of vanity and self-conceit from his character. He paid,
+indeed, great attention to his personal appearance, even when his hard
+life and unremitting activity had brought on fits of an epileptic
+nature, and left him with that meager visage which is familiar to us
+from his coins. Even then he was sedulous in arranging his robes, and
+was pleased to have the privilege of wearing a laurel crown to hide
+the scantiness of his hair. But these were foibles too trifling to be
+taken as symptoms of real vanity. His successes in war, achieved by a
+man who in his forty-ninth year had hardly seen a camp, add to our
+conviction of his real genius. These successes were due not so much to
+scientific man[oe]uvres, as to rapid audacity of movement, and mastery
+over the wills of men.
+
+13. The effect of Caesar's fall was to cause a renewal of bloodshed for
+another half generation; and then his work was finished by a far less
+general ruler. Those who slew Caesar were guilty of a great crime, and
+a still greater blunder.
+
+                                                        _Liddell._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXII.--HOW ROMANS LIVED._
+
+
+1. The Roman house at first was extremely simple, being of but one
+room, called the _atrium_ or darkened chamber, because its walls were
+stained by the smoke that rose from the fire upon the hearth, and with
+difficulty found its way through a hole in the roof. The aperture also
+admitted light and rain, the water that dripped from the roof being
+caught in a cistern that was formed in the middle of the room. The
+atrium was entered by way of a vestibule open to the sky, in which the
+gentleman of the house put on his toga as he went out. Double doors
+admitted the visitor to the entrance-hall, or _ostium_.
+
+2. There was a threshold upon which it was unlucky to place the left
+foot; a knocker afforded means of announcing one's approach, and a
+porter, who had a small room at the side, opened the door, showing the
+caller the words _Cave canem_ (beware of the dog), or _Salve_
+(welcome), or perchance the dog himself reached out toward the visitor
+as far as his chain would allow. Sometimes, too, there would be
+noticed in the mosaic of the pavement the representation of the
+faithful domestic animal which has so long been the companion as well
+as the protector of his human friend. Perhaps myrtle or laurel might
+be seen on a door, indicating that a marriage was in process of
+celebration, or a chaplet announcing the happy birth of an heir.
+Cypress, probably set in pots in the vestibule, indicated a death, as
+a crape festoon does upon our own door-handles, while torches, lamps,
+wreaths, garlands, branches of trees, showed that there was joy from
+some cause in the house.
+
+3. In the "black room" the bed stood; there the meals were cooked and
+eaten, there the goodman received his friends, and there the goodwife
+sat in the midst of her maidens spinning. The original house grew
+larger in the course of time: wings were built on the sides--and the
+Romans called them wings as well as we (_ala_, a wing). Beyond the
+black room a recess was built in which the family records and archives
+were preserved, but with it for a long period the Roman house stopped
+its growth.
+
+4. Before the empire came, however, there had been great progress in
+making the dwelling convenient as well as luxurious. Another hall had
+been built out from the room of archives, leading to an open court,
+surrounded by columns, known as the _peristylum_ (_peri_, about,
+_stulos_, a pillar), which was sometimes of great magnificence.
+Bedchambers were made separate from the atrium, but they were small,
+and would not seem very convenient to modern eyes.
+
+5. The dining-room, called the _triclinium_ (Greek, _kline_, a bed)
+from its three couches, was a very important apartment. In it were
+three lounges surrounding a table, on each of which three guests might
+be accommodated. The couches were elevated above the table, and each
+man lay almost flat on his breast, resting on his left elbow, and
+having his right hand free to use, thus putting the head of one near
+the breast of the man behind him, and making natural the expression
+that he lay in the bosom of the other. As the guests were thus
+arranged by threes, it was natural that the rule should have been
+made that a party at dinner should not be less in number than the
+Graces, nor more than the Muses, though it has remained a useful one
+ever since.
+
+6. Before the republic came to an end, it was so fashionable to have a
+book-room that ignorant persons who might not be able to read even the
+titles of their own books endeavored to give themselves the appearance
+of erudition by building book-rooms in their houses, and furnishing
+them with elegance. The books were in cases arranged around the walls
+in convenient manner, and busts and statues of the Muses, of Minerva,
+and of men of note were used then as they are now for ornaments.
+House-philosophers were often employed to open to the uninstructed the
+stores of wisdom contained in the libraries.
+
+[Illustration: _Interior of a Roman Bath-Room, Ruins of Pompeii._]
+
+7. As wealth and luxury increased, the Romans added the bath-room to
+their other apartments. In the early ages they had bathed for comfort
+and cleanliness once a week, but the warm bath was apparently unknown
+to them. In time this became very common, and in the days of Cicero
+there were hot and cold baths, both public and private, which were
+well patronized. Some were heated by fires in flues, directly under
+the floors, which produced a vapor-bath. The bath was, however,
+considered a luxury, and at a later date it was held a capital offense
+to indulge in one on a religious holiday, and the public baths were
+closed when any misfortune happened to the republic.
+
+
+8. Comfort and convenience united to take the cooking out of the
+atrium into a separate apartment known as the _culina_, or kitchen, in
+which was a raised platform on which coals might be burned, and the
+processes of broiling, boiling, and roasting might be carried on in a
+primitive manner, much like the arrangement still to be seen at Rome.
+On the tops of the houses, after a while, terraces were planned for
+the purpose of basking in the sun, and sometimes they were furnished
+with shrubs, fruit-trees, and even fish-ponds. Often there were upward
+of fifty rooms in a house on a single floor; but in the course of time
+land became so valuable that other stories were added, and many lived
+in flats. A flat was sometimes called an _insula_, which meant,
+properly, a house not joined to another, and afterward was applied to
+hired lodgings. _Domus_, a house, meant a dwelling occupied by one
+family, whether it were an _insula_ or not.
+
+[Illustration: _Lares and Penates._]
+
+9. The floors of these rooms were sometimes, but not often, laid with
+boards, and generally were formed of stones, tiles, bricks, or some
+sort of cement. In the richer dwellings they were often inlaid with
+mosaics of elegant patterns. The walls were often faced with marble,
+but they were usually adorned with paintings; the ceilings were left
+uncovered, the beams supporting the floor or the roof above being
+visible, though it was frequently arched over. The means of lighting
+either by day or night, were defective. The atrium was, as we have
+seen, lighted from above, and the same was true of other apartments,
+those at the side being illuminated from the larger ones in the
+middle of the house. There were windows, however, in the upper
+stories, though they were not protected by glass, but covered with
+shutters or lattice-work, and, at a later period, were glazed with
+sheets of mica. Smoking lamps, hanging from the ceiling or supported
+by candelabra, or candles gave a gloomy light by night in the houses,
+and torches without.
+
+10. The sun was chiefly depended upon for heat, for there were no
+proper stoves, though braziers were used to burn coals upon, the smoke
+escaping through the aperture in the ceiling, and, in rare cases,
+hot-air furnaces were constructed below, the heat being conveyed to
+the upper rooms through pipes. There has been a dispute regarding
+chimneys, but it seems almost certain that the Romans had none in
+their dwellings, and indeed, there was little need of them for
+purposes of artificial warmth in so moderate a climate as theirs.
+
+11. Such were some of the chief traits of the city-houses of the
+Romans. Besides these there were villas in the country, some of which
+were simply farm-houses, and others places of rest and luxury
+supported by the residents of cities. The farm-villa was placed, if
+possible, in a spot secluded from visitors, protected from the
+severest winds, and from the malaria of marshes, in a well-watered
+place, near the foot of a well-wooded mountain. It had accommodations
+for the kitchen, the wine-press, the farm superintendent, the slaves,
+the animals, the crops, and the other products of the farm. There were
+baths, and cellars for the wine and for the confinement of the slaves
+who might have to be chained.
+
+[Illustration: _Roman Villa._]
+
+12. Varro thus describes life at a rural household: "Manius summons
+his people to rise with the sun, and in person conducts them to the
+scene of their daily work. The youths make their own bed, which labor
+renders soft to them, and supply themselves with water-pot, and lamp.
+Their drink is the clear fresh spring; their fare bread, with onions
+as a relish. Everything prospers in house and field. The house is no
+work of art, but an architect might learn symmetry from it. Care is
+taken of the field that it shall not be left disorderly, and waste or
+go to ruin through slovenliness or neglect; and in return, grateful
+Ceres wards off damage from the produce, that the high-piled sheaves
+may gladden the heart of the husbandman. Here hospitality still holds
+good, the bread-pantry, the wine-vat, and the store of sausages on the
+rafter, lock and key are at the service of the traveler, and piles of
+food are set before him; contented, the sated guest sits, looking
+neither before him, nor behind, dozing by the hearth in the kitchen.
+The warmest double wool sheepskin is spread as a couch for him. Here
+people still, as good burgesses, obey the righteous law which neither
+out of envy injures the innocent, nor out of favor pardons the guilty.
+Here they speak no evil against their neighbors. Here they trespass
+not with their feet on the sacred hearth, but honor the gods with
+devotion and with sacrifices; throw to the familiar spirit his little
+bit of flesh into his appointed little dish, and when the master of
+the household dies accompany the bier with the same prayer with which
+those of his father and of his grandfather were borne forth."
+
+            _Arthur Gilman, M. A. "The Story of Rome."_
+                      _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations Series."_
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+MEDIAEVAL RECORD.
+
+
+
+
+_XXXIII.--CONVERSION OF THE ENGLISH._
+
+
+1. Some time before Gregory became Pope, perhaps about the year 574,
+he went one day through the market at Rome, where, among other things,
+there were still men, women, and children to be sold as slaves. He saw
+there some beautiful boys who had just been brought by a
+slave-merchant, boys with a fair skin and long fair hair, as English
+boys then would have.
+
+2. He was told that they were heathen boys from the Isle of Britain.
+Gregory was sorry to think that forms which were so fair without
+should have no light within, and he asked again what was the name of
+their nation. "_Angles_," he was told. "_Angles_," said Gregory; "they
+have the faces of _angels_, and they ought to be made fellow-heirs of
+the angels in heaven. But of what province or tribe of the Angles are
+they?" "Of _Deira_," said the merchant. "_De ira!_" said Gregory;
+"then they must be delivered from the wrath of God. And what is the
+name of their king?" "_AElla._" "_AElla_; then _Alleluia_ shall be sung
+in his land."
+
+3. Gregory then went to the Pope, and asked him to send missionaries
+into Britain, of whom he himself would be one, to convert the English.
+The Pope was willing, but the people of Rome, among whom Gregory was a
+priest and was much beloved, would not let him go. So nothing came of
+the matter for some time.
+
+4. We do not know whether Gregory was able to do anything for the poor
+English boys whom he saw in the market, but he certainly never forgot
+his plan for converting the English people. After a while he became
+Pope himself. Of course, he now no longer thought of going into
+Britain himself, as he had enough to do in Rome. But he now had power
+to send others. He therefore presently sent a company of monks, with
+one called Augustine at their head, who became the first Archbishop of
+Canterbury, and is called the Apostle of the English.
+
+5. This was in 597. The most powerful king in Britain at this time was
+AEthelbert, of Kent, who is said to have been lord over all the kings
+south of the Humber. This AEthelbert had done what was very seldom done
+by English kings then or for a long time after; he had married a
+foreign wife, the daughter of Chariberth, one of the kings of the
+Franks, in Gaul.
+
+6. Now, the Franks had become Christians; so when the Frankish queen
+came over to Kent, AEthelbert promised that she should be allowed to
+keep to her own religion without let or hindrance. She brought with
+her, therefore, a Frankish bishop named Lindhard, and the queen and
+her bishop used to worship God in a little church near Canterbury,
+called Saint Martin's, which had been built in the Roman times. So you
+see that both AEthelbert and his people must have known something
+about the Christian faith before Augustine came.
+
+7. It does not, however, seem that either the king or any of his
+people had at all thought of turning Christians. This seems strange
+when one reads how easily they were converted afterward. One would
+have thought that Bishop Lindhard would have been more likely to
+convert them than Augustine, for, being a Frank, he would speak a
+tongue not very different from English, while Augustine spoke Latin,
+and, if he ever knew English at all, he must have learned it after he
+came into the island. I can not tell you for certain why this was.
+Perhaps they did not think that a man who had merely come in the
+queen's train was so well worth listening to as one who had come on
+purpose all the way from the great city of Rome, to which all the West
+still looked up as the capital of the world.
+
+8. So Augustine and his companions set out from Rome, and passed
+through Gaul, and came into Britain, even as Caesar had done ages
+before. But this time Rome had sent forth men not to conquer lands,
+but to win souls. They landed first in the Isle of Thanet, which joins
+close to the east part of Kent, and thence they sent a message to King
+AEthelbert, saying why they had come into his land. The king sent word
+back to them to stay in the isle till he had fully made up his mind
+how to treat them; and he gave orders that they should be well taken
+care of meanwhile.
+
+9. After a little while he came himself into the isle, and bade them
+come and tell him what they had to say. He met them in the open air,
+for he would not meet them in a house, as he thought they might be
+wizards, and that they might use some charm or spell, which he thought
+would have less power out-of-doors. So they came, carrying an image
+of our Lord on the cross, wrought in silver, and singing litanies as
+they came. And when they came before the king, they preached the
+gospel to him and to those who were with him.
+
+10. So King AEthelbert hearkened to them, and he made answer like a
+good and wise man. "Your words and promises," said he, "sound very
+good unto me; but they are new and strange, and I can not believe them
+all at once, nor can I leave all that I and my fathers, and the whole
+English folk, have believed so long. But I see that ye have come from
+a far country to tell us that which ye yourselves hold for truth; so
+ye may stay in the land, and I will give you a house to dwell in and
+food to eat; and ye may preach to my folk, and if any man of them will
+believe as ye believe, I hinder him not."
+
+11. So he gave them a house to dwell in in the royal city of
+Canterbury, and he let them preach to the people. And, as they drew
+near to the city, they carried their silver image of the Lord Jesus,
+and sang litanies, saying, "We pray Thee, O Lord, let thy anger and
+thy wrath be turned away from this city, and from thy holy house,
+because we have sinned. Alleluia!"
+
+12. Thus Augustine and his companions dwelt at Canterbury, and
+worshiped in the old church where the queen worshiped, and preached to
+the men of the land. And many men hearkened to them and were baptized,
+and before long King AEthelbert himself believed and was baptized; and
+before the year was out there were added to the Church more than ten
+thousand souls.
+
+                                                        _Freeman._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXIV.--LEO THE SLAVE._
+
+
+1. In A. D. 533, the Franks had fully gained possession of all the
+north of Gaul, except Brittany. Clovis had made them Christians in
+name, but they still remained horribly savage, and the life of the
+Gauls under them was wretched. The Burgundians and Visigoths, who had
+peopled the southern and eastern provinces, were far from being
+equally violent. They had entered on their settlements on friendly
+terms, and even showed considerable respect for the Roman-Gallic
+senators, magistrates, and higher clergy, who all remained unmolested
+in their dignity and riches. Thus it was that Gregory, Bishop of
+Langres, was a man of high rank and consideration in the Burgundian
+kingdom, whence the Christian Queen Clotilda had come; and even after
+the Burgundians had been subdued by the four sons of Clovis, he
+continued a rich and prosperous man.
+
+2. After one of the many quarrels and reconciliations between these
+fierce brethren, there was an exchange of hostages for the observance
+of the terms of the treaty. These were not taken from among the
+Franks, who were too proud to submit to captivity, but from among the
+Gaulish nobles, a much more convenient arrangement for the Frankish
+kings, who cared for the life of a "Roman" infinitely less than even
+for the life of a Frank. Thus many young men of senatorial families
+were exchanged between the domains of Theodoric to the south, and of
+Hildebert to the northward, and quartered among Frankish chiefs, with
+whom at first they had nothing more to endure than the discomfort of
+living as guests with such rude and coarse barbarians.
+
+3. But ere long fresh quarrels arose between Theodoric and Hildebert,
+and the unfortunate hostages were at once turned into slaves. Some of
+them ran away, if they were near the frontier; but Bishop Gregory was
+in the utmost anxiety about his nephew Attalus, who had been last
+heard of as being placed under the charge of a Frank who lived between
+Treves and Metz. The bishop sent emissaries to make secret inquiries,
+and they brought back the word that the unfortunate youth had been
+reduced to slavery, and was made to keep his master's herds of horses.
+Upon this the uncle again sent off his messengers with presents for
+the ransom of Attalus; but the Frank rejected them, saying, "One of
+such high race can only be redeemed for ten pounds weight of gold."
+
+4. This was beyond the bishop's means, and, while he was considering
+how to raise the sum, the slaves were all lamenting for their young
+lord, to whom they were much attached, till one of them, named Leo,
+the cook to the household, came to the bishop, saying to him, "If thou
+wilt give me leave to go, I will deliver him from captivity." The
+bishop replied that he gave free permission, and the slave set off for
+Treves, and there watched anxiously for an opportunity of gaining
+access to Attalus; but, though the poor young man, no longer daintily
+dressed, bathed, and perfumed, but ragged and squalid, might be seen
+following his herds of horses, he was too well watched for any
+communication to be held with him.
+
+5. Then Leo went to a person, probably of Gallic birth, and said:
+"Come with me to this barbarian's house, and there sell me for a
+slave. Thou shalt have the money; I only ask thee to help me thus
+far." Both repaired to the Frank's abode, the chief among a confused
+collection of clay and timber huts, intended for shelter during eating
+and sleeping. The Frank looked at the slave, and asked him what he
+could do. "I can dress whatever is eaten at lordly tables," replied
+Leo. "I am afraid of no rival; I only tell thee the truth when I say
+that, if thou wouldst give a feast to the king, I could send it up in
+the neatest manner." "Ha!" said the barbarian, "the Sun's day is
+coming. I shall invite my kinsmen and friends. Cook me such a dinner
+as may amaze them, and make them say, 'We saw nothing better in the
+king's house.'" "Let me have plenty of poultry, and I will do
+according to my master's bidding," returned Leo.
+
+6. Accordingly, he was purchased for twelve gold-pieces, and on the
+Sunday, as Bishop Gregory of Tours, who tells the story, explains,
+that the barbarians called the Lord's day, he produced a banquet after
+the most approved Roman fashion, much to the surprise and delight of
+the Franks, who had never tasted such delicacies before, and
+complimented their host upon them all the evening. Leo gradually
+became a great favorite, and was placed in authority over the other
+slaves, to whom he gave out their portions of broth and meat. But from
+the first he had not shown any recognition of Attalus, and had signed
+to him that they must be strangers to one another.
+
+7. A whole year passed away in this manner, when one day Leo wandered,
+as if for pastime, into the plain where Attalus was watching the
+horses, and sitting down on the ground at some paces off, and with his
+back toward his young master so that they might not be seen talking
+together, he said: "This is the time for thoughts of home! When thou
+hast led the horses to the stable to-night, sleep not. Be ready at the
+first call!"
+
+8. That day the Frank lord was entertaining a large number of guests,
+among them his daughter's husband, a jovial young man, given to jesting.
+On going to rest he fancied he should be thirsty at night, and called
+Leo to place a pitcher of hydromel by his bedside. As the slave was
+setting it down, the Frank looked slyly from under his eyelids and said
+in joke, "Tell me, my father-in-law's trusty man, wilt thou not some
+night take one of his horses and run away to thine own home?"
+
+9. "Please God, it is what I mean to do this very night," answered the
+Gaul, so undauntedly that the Frank took it as a jest, and answered,
+"I shall look out, then, that thou dost not carry off anything of
+mine," and then Leo left him, both laughing.
+
+10. All were soon asleep, and the cook crept out to the stable, where
+Attalus usually slept among the horses. He was broad awake now, and
+ready to saddle the two swiftest; but he had no weapon, except a small
+lance, so Leo boldly went back to his master's sleeping hut, and took
+down his sword and shield, but not without awakening him enough to ask
+who was moving. "It is I, Leo," was the answer; "I have been to call
+Attalus to take out the horses early. He sleeps as hard as a
+drunkard." The Frank went to sleep again, quite satisfied, and Leo,
+carrying out the weapons, soon made Attalus feel like a free man and a
+noble once more.
+
+11. They passed unseen out of the inclosure, mounted their horses and
+rode along the great Roman road from Treves as far as the Meuse, but
+they found the bridge guarded, and were obliged to wait till night,
+when they cast their horses loose, and swam the river, supporting
+themselves on boards that they had found on the bank. They had as yet
+had no food since the supper at their master's, and were thankful to
+find a plum-tree in the wood, with fruit, to refresh them in small
+degree, before they lay down for the night. The next morning they went
+on in the direction of Rheims, carefully listening whether there were
+any sounds behind, until, on the broad, hard-paved causeway, they
+heard the trampling of horses. Happily a bush was near, behind which
+they crept, and here the riders actually halted for a few moments to
+arrange their harness. Men and horses were both those they feared, and
+they trembled at hearing one say: "Woe is me that those rogues have
+made off, and have not been caught! On my salvation, if I catch them,
+I will have one hung, and the other chopped into little bits!"
+
+12. It was no small comfort to hear the trot of the horses resumed, and
+soon dying away in the distance. That same night, the two faint, hungry,
+weary travelers, foot-sore and exhausted, came stumbling into Rheims,
+looking about for some person still awake, to tell them the way to the
+house of the priest Paul, a friend of Attalus's uncle. They found it
+just as the church-bell was ringing for matins, a sound that must have
+seemed very like home to these members of an episcopal household. They
+knocked, and in the morning twilight met the priest going to his
+earliest Sunday-morning service. Leo told his young master's name, and
+how they had escaped, and the priest's first exclamation was a strange
+one: "My dream is true! This very night I saw two doves, one white and
+one black, who came and perched on my hand."
+
+13. The good man was overjoyed, but he scrupled to give them any food,
+as it was contrary to the Church's rules for the fast to be broken
+before mass; but the travelers were half-dead with hunger, and could
+only say, "The good Lord pardon us, for, saving the respect due to his
+day, we must eat something, since this is the fourth day since we have
+touched bread or meat." The priest, upon this, gave them some bread
+and wine, and after hiding them carefully, went to church, hoping to
+avert suspicion. But their master was already at Rheims, making strict
+search for them, and learning that Paul the priest was a friend of the
+Bishop of Langres, he went to the church, and there questioned him
+closely. But the priest succeeded in guarding his secret, and though
+he incurred much danger--as the Salic law is very severe against
+concealers of runaway slaves--he kept Attalus and Leo for two days,
+till the search was over, and their strength restored, so that they
+could proceed to Langres. There they were welcomed like men risen from
+the dead; the bishop wept on the neck of Attalus, and was ready to
+receive Leo as a slave no more, but a friend and deliverer.
+
+14. A few days after, Leo was solemnly led to the church. Every door
+was set open as a sign that he might henceforth go whithersoever he
+would. Bishop Gregorius took him by the hand, and, standing, before
+the archdeacon, declared that for the sake of the good services
+rendered by his slave Leo, he set him free, and created him a Roman
+citizen. Then the archbishop read a writing of manumission. "Whatever
+is done according to the Roman law is irrevocable. According to the
+constitution of the Emperor Constantine, of happy memory, and the
+edict that declares that whosoever is manumitted in church, in the
+presence of the bishops, priests, and deacons, shall become a Roman
+citizen under protection of the Church; from this day Leo becomes a
+member of the city, free to go and come where he will, as if he had
+been born of free parents. From this day forward he is exempt from all
+subjection of servitude, of all duty of a freedman, all bond of
+clientship. He is and shall be free, with full and entire freedom, and
+shall never cease to belong to the body of Roman citizens."
+
+15. At the same time Leo was endowed with lands, which raised him to
+the rank of what the Franks called a Roman proprietor, the highest
+reward in the bishop's power, for the faithful devotion that had
+incurred such dangers in order to rescue the young Attalus from his
+miserable bondage.
+
+                                            _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXV.--THE MOORS IN SPAIN._
+
+
+1. Scarcely had the Arabs become firmly settled in Spain before they
+commenced a brilliant career. Adopting what had now become the
+established policy of the commanders of the Faithful in Asia, the
+caliphs of Cordova distinguished themselves as patrons of learning,
+and set an example of refinement strongly contrasting with the
+condition of the native European princes. Cordova, under their
+administration, at its highest point of prosperity, boasted of more
+than two hundred thousand houses, and more than a million inhabitants.
+After sunset a man might walk through it in a straight line for ten
+miles by the light of the public lamps. Seven hundred years after this
+time there was not so much as one public lamp in London. Its streets
+were solidly paved. In Paris, centuries subsequently, who ever stepped
+over his threshold on a rainy day stepped up to his ankles in mud.
+
+2. Other cities, as Granada, Seville, Toledo, considered themselves
+rivals of Cordova. The palaces of the caliphs were magnificently
+decorated. Those sovereigns might well look down with supercilious
+contempt on the dwellings of the rulers of Germany, France, and
+England, which were scarcely better than stables--chimneyless,
+windowless, and with a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape, like
+the wigwams of certain Indians.
+
+3. The Spanish Mohammedans had brought with them all the luxuries and
+prodigalities of Asia. Their residences stood forth against the clear
+blue sky, or were embosomed in woods. They had polished marble
+balconies, overhanging orange-gardens, courts with cascades of water,
+shady retreats provocative of slumber in the heat of the day,
+retiring-rooms, vaulted with stained glass, speckled with gold, over
+which streams of water were made to gush; the floors and walls were
+of exquisite mosaic. Here a fountain of quicksilver shot up in a
+glistening spray, the glittering particles falling with a tranquil
+sound like fairy bells; there, apartments into which cool air was
+drawn from flower-gardens, in summer, by means of ventilating towers,
+and in the winter through earthen pipes, or caleducts, imbedded in the
+walls--the hypocaust, in the vaults below, breathing forth volumes of
+warm and perfumed air through these hidden passages.
+
+4. The walls were not covered with wainscot, but adorned with
+arabesques and paintings of agricultural scenes and views of paradise.
+From the ceilings, corniced with fretted gold, great chandeliers hung,
+one of which, it is said, was so large that it contained one thousand
+and eighty-four lamps. Clusters of frail marble columns surprised the
+beholder with the vast weights they bore. In the boudoirs of the
+sultanas they were sometimes of verd-antique, and incrusted with
+lapis-lazuli. The furniture was of sandal and citron wood inlaid with
+mother-of-pearl, ivory, silver, or relieved with gold and precious
+malachite. In orderly confusion were arranged vases of rock-crystal,
+Chinese porcelain, and tables of exquisite mosaic. The winter
+apartments were hung with rich tapestry; the floors were covered with
+embroidered Persian carpets. Pillows and couches of elegant forms were
+scattered about the rooms, which were perfumed with frankincense.
+
+5. It was the intention of the Saracen architect, by excluding the
+view of the external landscape, to concentrate attention on his work,
+and since the representation of the human form was religiously
+forbidden, and that source of decoration denied, his imagination ran
+riot with the complicated arabesques he introduced, and sought every
+opportunity of replacing the prohibited work of art by the trophies
+and rarities of the garden. For this reason the Arabs never produced
+artists; religion turned them from the beautiful, and made them
+soldiers, philosophers, and men of affairs. Splendid flowers and rare
+exotics ornamented the court-yards and even the inner chambers.
+
+6. Great care was taken to make due provision for the cleanliness,
+occupation, and amusement of the inmates. Through pipes of metal,
+water, both warm and cold, to suit the season of the year, ran into
+baths of marble; in niches, where the current of air could be
+artificially directed, hung dripping _alcarazzas_. There were
+whispering-galleries for the amusement of the women; labyrinths and
+marble play-courts for the children; for the master himself, grand
+libraries. The Caliph Alhakem's was so large that the catalogue alone
+filled forty volumes. He had also apartments for the transcribing,
+binding, and ornamenting of books. A taste for caligraphy and the
+possession of splendidly illuminated manuscripts seems to have
+anticipated in the caliphs, both of Asia and Spain, the taste for
+statuary and painting among the later popes of Rome.
+
+7. Such were the palace and gardens of Zehra, in which Abderrahman III
+honored his favorite sultana. The edifice had twelve hundred columns
+of Greek, Italian, Spanish, and African marble. The body-guard of the
+sovereign was composed of twelve thousand horsemen, whose cimeters and
+belts were studded with gold. This was that Abderrahman who, after a
+glorious reign of fifty years, sat down to count the number of days of
+unalloyed happiness he had experienced, and could only enumerate
+fourteen. "O man!" exclaimed the plaintive caliph, "put not your trust
+in this present world."
+
+8. No nation has ever excelled the Spanish Arabs in the beauty and
+costliness of their pleasure-gardens. To them also we owe the
+introduction of very many of our most valuable cultivated fruits, such
+as the peach. Retaining the love of their ancestors for the cooling
+effect of water in a hot climate, they spared no pains in the
+superfluity of fountains, hydraulic works, and artificial lakes in
+which fish were raised for the table. Into such a lake, attached to
+the palace of Cordova, many loaves were cast each day to feed the
+fish.
+
+9. There were also menageries of foreign animals, aviaries of rare
+birds, manufactories in which skilled workmen, obtained from foreign
+countries, displayed their art in textures of silk, cotton, linen, and
+all the miracles of the loom; in jewelry and filigree-work, with which
+they ministered to the female pride. Under the shade of cypresses
+cascades disappeared; among flowering shrubs there were winding walks,
+bowers of roses, seats cut out of rock, and crypt-like grottoes hewn
+in the living stone. Nowhere was ornamental gardening better
+understood; for not only did the artist try to please the eye as it
+wandered over the pleasant gradation of vegetable color and form--he
+also boasted his success in the gratification of the sense of smell by
+the studied succession of perfumes from beds of flowers.
+
+10. In the midst of all this luxury, which can not be regarded by the
+historian with disdain, since in the end it produced a most important
+result in the south of France, the Spanish caliphs, emulating the
+example of their Asiatic compeers, were not only the patrons but the
+personal cultivators of human learning. One of them was himself the
+author of a work on polite literature in not less than fifty volumes;
+another wrote a treatise on algebra. When Taryak, the musician, came
+from the East to Spain, the Caliph Abderrahman rode forth to meet him
+with honor. The College of Music in Cordova was sustained by ample
+government patronage, and is said to have produced many illustrious
+professors.
+
+                                                _John W. Draper._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXVI.--CHARLEMAGNE._
+
+
+1. We come now to one of the greatest men of all times, Charles the
+Great, son of Pepin the Short, a man who has left his mark on history
+for all time. Charles (called by the French Charlemagne) was great in
+many ways, whereas most great men are great in one or two. He was a
+great warrior, a great political genius, an energetic legislator, a
+lover of learning, and a lover also of his natural language and poetry
+at a time when it was the fashion to despise them. And he united and
+displayed all these merits in a time of general and monotonous
+barbarism, when, save in the church, the minds of men were dull and
+barren.
+
+2. From 769 to 813, in Germany and Western and Northern Europe,
+Charlemagne conducted thirty-two campaigns against the Saxons,
+Frisians, Bavarians, Avars, Slavs, and Danes; in Italy, five against
+the Lombards; in Spain, Corsica, and Sardinia, twelve against the
+Arabs, two against the Greeks, and three in Gaul itself, against the
+Aquitanians and Bretons--in all, fifty-three expeditions in forty-five
+years, among which those he undertook against the Saxons, the
+Lombards, and the Arabs were long and difficult wars.
+
+3. The kingdom of Charles was vast; it comprised nearly all Germany,
+Belgium, France, Switzerland, and the north of Italy and of Spain. He
+had, in ruling this mighty realm, to deal with different nations,
+without cohesion, and to grapple with their various institutions and
+bring them into system.
+
+4. The first great undertaking of Charles was against the Saxons. They
+were still heathen, and were a constant source of annoyance to the
+Franks, for they made frequent inroads to pillage and destroy their
+towns and harvests.
+
+5. In the line of mountains which forms the step from lower into upper
+Germany, above the Westphalian plains, is one point at which the river
+Weser breaks through and flows down into the level land about three
+miles above the town of Minden. This rent in the mountain is called
+the Westphalian Gate. The hills stand on each side like red sandstone
+door-posts, and one is crowned by some crumbling fragments of a
+castle; it is called the Wittekindsberg, and takes its name from
+Wittekind, a Saxon king, who had his castle there. Wittekind was a
+stubborn heathen, and a very determined man.
+
+6. In 772 Charles convoked a great assembly at Worms, at which it was
+unanimously resolved to march against the Saxons and chastise them for
+their incursions. Charles advanced along the Weser, through the gate,
+destroyed Wittekind's castle, pushed on to Paderborn, where he threw
+down an idol adored by the Saxons, and then was obliged to return and
+hurry to Italy to fight the Lombards, who had revolted. Next year he
+invaded Saxony again. He built himself a palace at Paderborn, and
+summoned the Saxon chiefs to come and do homage. Wittekind alone
+refused, and fled to Denmark.
+
+[Illustration: _Charlemagne._]
+
+7. No sooner had Charles gone to fight the Moors in Spain than
+Wittekind returned, and the Saxons rose at his summons, and, bursting
+into Franconia, devastated the land up to the walls of Cologne.
+Charles returned and fought them in two great battles, defeated them,
+erected fortresses in their midst, and carried off hostages. Affairs
+seemed to prosper, and Charles deemed himself as securely master of
+Saxony as Varus had formerly in the same country, and under precisely
+the same circumstances. Charles then quitted the country, leaving
+orders for a body of Saxons to join his Franks and march together
+against the Slavs. The Saxons obeyed the call with alacrity, and soon
+outnumbered the Franks. One day, as the army was crossing the
+mountains from the Weser, at a given signal the Saxons fell on their
+companions and butchered them.
+
+8. When the news of this disaster reached Charles he resolved to teach
+the Saxons a terrible lesson. Crossing the Rhine, he laid waste their
+country with fire and sword, and forced the Saxons to submit to be
+baptized and accept Christian teachers. Those who refused he killed.
+At Verdun he had over four thousand of the rebels beheaded. At
+Detmold, Wittekind led the Saxons in a furious battle, in which
+neither gained the victory. In another battle, on the Hase, they were
+completely routed.
+
+9. Then Wittekind submitted, came into the camp of Charles, and asked
+to be baptized. A little ruined chapel stands on the Wittekindsberg,
+above the Westphalian Gate, and there, according to tradition, near
+the overturned walls of his own castle, the stubborn heathen bowed the
+neck to receive the yoke of Christ. Charles's two nephews, the sons of
+Karlomann, were with Desiderius, the Lombard king, and Desiderius
+tried to force the Pope to anoint them kings of the Franks, to head a
+revolt against Charles. When the great king heard this he came over
+the Alps into Italy, dethroned Desiderius, and shut him up in a
+monastery. Then he crowned himself with the iron crown of the Lombard
+kings, which was said to have been made out of one of the nails that
+fastened Christ to the cross.
+
+10. Duke Thassils of Bavaria had married a daughter of Desiderius, and
+he refused to acknowledge the authority of Charles. He also stirred up
+the Avars who lived in Hungary to invade the Frankish realm. Charles
+marched against Thassils, drove him out of Bavaria, subdued the Avars,
+and converted the country between the Ems and Raab--that is, Austria
+proper--into a province, which was called the East March, and formed the
+beginning of the East Realm (Oesterreich), or Austria. Charles also
+fought the Danes, and took from them the country up to the river Eider.
+
+11. When we consider what continuous fighting Charles had, it is a
+wonder to us that he had time to govern and make laws; but he devoted
+as much thought to arranging his realm and placing it under proper
+governors as he did to extending its frontiers.
+
+12. Charles constituted the various parts of his vast
+empire--kingdoms, duchies, and counties. He was himself the sovereign
+of all these united, but he managed them through counts and
+vice-counts. The frontier districts were called marches, and were
+under march-counts, or margraves. Count is not a German title; the
+German equivalent is Graf, and the English is earl. The counties were
+divided into hundreds; a hundred villages went to a vice-count. He had
+also counts of the palace, who ruled over the crown estates, and
+send-counts (_missi_), whom he sent out yearly through the country to
+see that his other counts did justice, and did not oppress the people.
+If people felt themselves wronged by the counts, they appealed to
+these send-counts; and if the send-counts did not do them justice,
+they appealed to the palatine-counts.
+
+13. Every year Charles summoned his counts four times, when he could,
+but always once, in May, to meet him in council, and discuss the
+grievances of the people. As the great dukes were troublesome, because
+so powerful, Charles tried to do without them, and to keep them in
+check. He gave whole principalities to bishops, hoping that they would
+become supporters of him and the crown against the powerful dukes.
+
+14. He was also very careful for the good government of the Church. He
+endowed a number of monasteries to serve as schools for boys and
+girls. He had also a collection of good, wholesome sermons made in
+German, and sent copies about in all directions, requiring them to be
+read to the people in church. He invited singers and musicians from
+Italy to come and improve the performance of divine worship, and two
+song-schools were established, one at Gall, another at Metz. His
+Franks, he complained, had not much aptitude for music; their singing
+was like the howling of wild beasts or the noise made by the
+squeaking, groaning wheels of a baggage-wagon over a stony road!
+
+15. Charles was particularly interested in schools, and delighted in
+going into them and listening to the boys at their lessons. One day
+when he had paid such a visit he was told that the noblemen's sons
+were much idler than those of the common citizens. Then the great king
+grew red in the face and frowned, and his eyes flashed. He called the
+young nobles before him and said in thundering tones: "You grand
+gentlemen! You young puppets! You puff yourselves up with the thoughts
+of your rank and wealth, and suppose you have no need of letters! I
+tell you that your pretty faces and your high nobility are accounted
+nothing by me. Beware! beware! Without diligence and conscientiousness
+not one of you gets anything from me."
+
+16. Charles dearly loved the grand old German poems of the heroes, and
+he had them collected and copied out. Alas! they have been lost. His
+stupid son, thinking them rubbish, burned them all. The great king
+also sent to Italy for builders, and set them to work to erect palaces
+and churches. His favorite palaces were at Aix and at Ingelheim. At
+the latter place he had a bridge built over the Rhine. At Aix he built
+the cathedral with pillars taken from Roman ruins. It was quite
+circular, with a colonnade going round it; inside it remains almost
+unaltered to the present day.
+
+17. He was very eager to promote trade, and so far in advance of the
+times was he that he resolved to cut a canal so as to connect the Main
+with the Regnitz, and thus make a water-way right across Germany from
+the Rhine to the Danube, and so connect the German Ocean with the
+Black Sea. The canal was begun, but wars interfered with its
+completion, and the work was not carried out till the present century
+by Louis I of Bavaria.
+
+18. Charles was a tall, grand looking man, nearly seven feet high. He
+was so strong that he could take a horseshoe in his hands and snap it.
+He ate and drank in moderation, and was grave and dignified in his
+conduct.
+
+19. In the year 800, an insurrection broke out in Rome against Pope
+Leo III. While he was riding in procession his enemies fell on him,
+threw him from his horse, and an awkward attempt was made to put out
+his eyes and cut out his tongue. Thus, bleeding and insensible, he was
+put into a monastery. The Duke of Spoleto, a Frank, hearing of this,
+marched to Rome and removed the wounded Pope to Spoleto, where he was
+well nursed and recovered his eye-sight and power of speech. Charles
+was very indignant when he heard of the outrage, and he left the
+Saxons, whom he was fighting, and came to Italy to investigate the
+circumstance. He assumed the office of judge, and the guilty persons
+were sent to prison in France.
+
+20. Then came Christmas-day, the Christmas of the last year in the
+eighth century of Christ. Charles and all his sumptuous court, the
+nobles and people of Rome, the whole clergy of Rome, were present at
+the high services of the birth of Christ. The Pope himself chanted the
+mass; the full assembly were rapt in profound devotion. At the close
+the Pope rose, advanced toward Charles with a splendid crown in his
+hands, placed it upon his brow, and proclaimed him Caesar Augustus.
+"God grant life and victory to the great emperor!" His words were lost
+in the acclamations of the soldiery, the people, and the clergy.
+
+21. Charles was taken completely by surprise. What the consequences
+would be to Germany and to the papacy, how fatal to both, neither he
+nor Leo could see. So Charlemagne became King of Italy and Emperor of
+the West--the successor of the Caesars of Rome.
+
+22. When Charles felt that his end was approaching, he summoned all
+his nobles to Aix into the church he had there erected. There, on the
+altar, lay a golden crown. Charles made his son Ludwig, or Louis,
+stand before him, and, in the audience of his great men, gave him his
+last exhortation: to fear God and to love his people as his own
+children, to do right and to execute justice, and to walk in integrity
+before God and man. With streaming eyes Louis promised to fulfill his
+father's command. "Then," said Charles, "take this crown, and place it
+on your own head, and never forget the promise you have made this day."
+
+      _Sabine, Baring-Gould. "The Story of Germany."_
+                      _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series._
+
+
+
+
+WESTERN RECORD.
+
+
+
+
+_XXXVII.-THE NORSEMEN._
+
+
+1. The Gulf Stream flows so near to the southern coast of Norway, and
+to the Orkneys and Western Islands, that their climate is much less
+severe than might be supposed. Yet no one can help wondering why they
+were formerly so much more populous than now, and why the people who
+came westward even so long ago as the great Aryan migration, did not
+persist in turning aside to the more fertile countries that lay
+farther southward. In spite of all their disadvantages, the
+Scandinavian peninsula, and the sterile islands of the northern seas,
+were inhabitated by men and women whose enterprise and intelligence
+ranked them above their neighbors.
+
+2. Now, with the modern ease of travel and transportation, these
+poorer countries can be supplied from other parts of the world. And
+though the summers of Norway are misty and dark and short, and it is
+difficult to raise even a little hay on the bits of meadow among the
+rocky mountain-slopes, commerce can make up for all deficiencies. In
+early times there was no commerce, except that carried on by the
+pirates, if we may dignify their undertakings by such a respectable
+name, and it was hardly possible to make a living from the soil
+alone. But it does not take us long to discover that the ancient
+Northmen were not farmers, but hunters and fishermen. It had grown
+more and more difficult to find food along the rivers and broad grassy
+wastes of inland Europe, and pushing westward they had at last reached
+the place where they could live beside waters that swarmed with fish
+and among hills that sheltered plenty of game.
+
+3. The tribes that settled in the north grew in time to have many
+peculiarities of their own, and as their countries grew more and more
+populous, they needed more things that could not easily be had, and a
+fashion of plundering their neighbors began to prevail. Men were still
+more or less beasts of prey. Invaders must be kept out, and at last
+much of the industry of Scandinavia was connected with the carrying on
+of an almost universal fighting and marauding. Ships must be built,
+and there must be endless supplies of armor and weapons. Stones were
+easily collected for missiles or made fit for arrows and spear-heads,
+and metals were worked with great care.
+
+4. In Norway and Sweden were the best places to find all these, and if
+the Northmen planned to fight a great battle, they had to transport a
+huge quantity of stones, iron, and bronze. It is easy to see why one
+day's battle was almost always decisive in ancient times, for supplies
+could not be quickly forwarded from point to point, and after the arrows
+were all shot and the conquered were chased off the field, they had no
+further means of offense except a hand-to-hand fight with those who had
+won the right to pick up the fallen spears at their leisure. So, too, an
+unexpected invasion was likely to prove successful; it was a work of
+time to get ready for a battle, and when the Northmen swooped down upon
+some shore town of Britain or Gaul, the unlucky citizens were at their
+mercy. And while the Northmen had fish and game, and were mighty
+hunters, and their rocks and mines helped forward their warlike
+enterprises, so the forests supplied them with ship-timber, and they
+gained renown as sailors wherever their fame extended.
+
+5. There was a great difference, however, between the manner of life in
+Norway and that of England and France. The Norwegian stone, however
+useful for arrow-heads or axes, was not fit for building purposes. There
+is hardly any clay there, either, to make bricks with, so that wood has
+usually been the only material for houses. In the southern countries
+there had always been rude castles in which the people could shelter
+themselves, but the Northmen could build no castles that a torch could
+not destroy. They trusted much more to their ships than to their houses,
+and some of their captains disdained to live on shore at all.
+
+6. There is something refreshing in the stories of old Norse life; of
+its simplicity and freedom and childish zest. An old writer says that
+they had "a hankering after pomp and pageantry," and by means of this
+they came at last to doing things decently and in order, and to
+setting the fashions for the rest of Europe. There was considerable
+dignity in the manner of every-day life and housekeeping. Their houses
+were often very large, even two hundred feet long, with flaring fires
+on a pavement in the middle of the floor, and the beds built next the
+walls on three sides, sometimes hidden by wide tapestries or foreign
+cloth that had been brought home in the viking ships. In front of the
+beds were benches where each man had his seat and footstool, with his
+armor and weapons hung high on the wall above.
+
+7. The master of the house had a high seat on the north side in the
+middle of a long bench; opposite was another bench for guests and
+strangers, while the women sat on the third side. The roof was high;
+there were a few windows in it, and those were covered by skins, and
+let in but little light. The smoke escaped through openings in the
+carved, soot-blackened roof; and though in later times the rich men's
+houses were more like villages, because they made groups of smaller
+buildings for store houses, for guest-rooms, or for work-shops all
+around still, the idea of this primitive great hall or living-room has
+not even yet been lost. The latest copies of it in England and France
+that still remain are most interesting; but what a fine sight it must
+have been at night when the great fires blazed and the warriors sat on
+their benches in solemn order, and the skalds recited their long
+sagas, of the host's own bravery or the valiant deeds of his
+ancestors! Hospitality was almost chief among the virtues.
+
+8. We must read what was written in their own language, and then we
+shall have more respect for the vikings and sea-kings, always
+distinguishing between these two; for, while any peasant who wished
+could be a viking--a sea-robber--a sea-king was a king indeed, and
+must be connected with the royal race of the country. He received the
+title of king by right as soon as he took command of a ship's crew,
+though he need not have any land or kingdom. Vikings were merely
+pirates; they might be peasants and vikings by turn, and won their
+names from the inlets, the viks or wicks, where they harbored their
+ships. A sea-king must be a viking, but naturally very few of the
+vikings were sea-kings.
+
+[Illustration: _A Viking's Home._]
+
+9. The viking had rights in his own country, and knew what it was to
+enjoy those rights; if he could win more land, he would know how to
+govern it, and he knew what he was fighting for, and meant to win.
+If we wonder why all this energy was spent on the high seas and in
+strange countries, there are two answers: first, that fighting was the
+natural employment of the men, and that no right could be held that
+could not be defended; but besides this, one form of their energy was
+showing itself at home in rude attempts at literature.
+
+10. The more that we know of the Northmen, the more we are convinced
+how superior they were in their knowledge of the useful arts to the
+people whom they conquered. There is a legend that, when Charlemagne,
+in the ninth century, saw some pirate ships cruising in the
+Mediterranean, along the shores of which they had at last found their
+way, he covered his face and burst into tears. He was not so much
+afraid of their cruelty and barbarity as of their civilization. Nobody
+knew better that none of the Christian countries under his rule had
+ships or men that could make such a daring voyage. He knew that they
+were skillful workers in wood and iron, and had learned to be
+rope-makers and weavers; that they could make casks for their supply
+of drinking-water, and understood how to prepare food for their long
+cruises. All their swords and spears and bow-strings had to be made
+and kept in good condition, and sheltered from the sea-spray.
+
+11. When we picture the famous sea-kings' ships to ourselves, we do
+not wonder that the Northmen were so proud of them, or that the skalds
+were never tired of recounting their glories. There were two kinds of
+vessels: the last-ships, that carried cargoes, and the long-ships, or
+ships of war. Listen to the splendors of the "Long Serpent," which was
+the largest ship ever built in Norway. A dragon-ship, to begin with,
+because all the long-ships had a dragon for a figure-head, except the
+smallest of them, which were called cutters, and only carried ten or
+twenty rowers on a side. The "Long Serpent" had thirty-four rowers'
+benches on a side, and she was one hundred and eleven feet long. Over
+the sides were hung the shining red and white shields of the vikings,
+the gilded dragon's head towered high at the prow, and at the stern a
+gilded tail went curling off over the head of the steersman. Then,
+from the long body, the heavy oars swept forward and back through the
+water, and as it came down the fiord, the "Long Serpent" must have
+looked like some enormous centipede creeping out of its den on an
+awful errand, and heading out across the rough water toward its prey.
+
+12. The voyages were often disastrous in spite of much clever
+seamanship. They knew nothing of the mariner's compass, and found
+their way chiefly by the aid of the stars--inconstant pilots enough on
+such foggy, stormy seas. They carried birds, too, oftenest ravens, and
+used to let them loose and follow them toward the nearest land. The
+black raven was the vikings' favorite symbol for their flags, and
+familiar enough it became in other harbors than their own. They were
+bold, hardy fellows, and held fast to a rude code of honor and rank of
+knighthood.
+
+13. The valleys of the Elbe and the Rhine, of the Seine and the Loire,
+made a famous hunting-ground for the dragon-ships to seek.
+
+14. The people who lived in France were of another sort, but they
+often knew how to defend themselves as well as the Northmen knew how
+to attack. There are few early French records for us to read, for the
+literature of that early day was almost wholly destroyed in the
+religious houses and public buildings of France. Here and there a few
+pages of a poem or of a biography or chronicle have been kept, but
+from this very fact we can understand the miserable condition of the
+country.
+
+15. The whole second half of the ninth century is taken up with the
+histories of these invasions. We must follow for a while the progress
+of events in Gaul, or France as we call it now, though it was made up
+then of a number of smaller kingdoms. The result of the great siege of
+Paris was only a settling of affairs with the Northmen for the time
+being; one part of the country was delivered from them at the expense
+of another.
+
+16. They could be bought off and bribed for a time, but there was
+never to be any such thing as their going back to their own country
+and letting France alone for good and all. But as they gained at
+length whole tracts of country, instead of the little wealth of a few
+men to take away in their ships as at first, they began to settle down
+in their new lands and to become conquerors and colonists instead of
+mere plunderers. Instead of continually ravaging and attacking the
+kingdoms, they slowly became the owners and occupiers of the conquered
+territory; they pushed their way from point to point.
+
+17. At first, as you have seen already they trusted to their ships,
+and always left their wives and children at home in the north
+countries, but as time went on, they brought their families with them
+and made new homes, for which they would have to fight many a battle
+yet. It would be no wonder if the women had become possessed by a love
+of adventure, too, and had insisted upon seeing the lands from which
+the rich booty was brought to them, and that they had been saying for
+a long time: "Show us the places where the grapes grow and the
+fruit-trees bloom, where men build great houses and live in them
+splendidly. We are tired of seeing only the long larchen beams of
+their high roofs, and the purple and red and gold cloths, and the red
+wine and yellow wheat that you bring away. Why should we not go to
+live in that country, instead of your breaking it to pieces, and going
+there so many of you, every year, only to be slain as its enemies? We
+are tired of our sterile Norway and our great Danish deserts of sand,
+of our cold winds and wet weather, and our long winters that pass by
+so slowly while the fleets are gone. We would rather see Seville and
+Paris themselves, than only their gold and merchandise and the rafters
+of their churches that you bring home for ship timbers."
+
+18. The kingdoms of France had been divided and subdivided, and, while
+we find a great many fine examples of resistance, and some great
+victories over the Northmen, they were not pushed out and checked
+altogether. Instead, they gradually changed into Frenchmen themselves,
+different from other Frenchmen only in being more spirited, vigorous
+and alert. They inspired every new growth of the religion, language,
+or manners, with their own splendid vitality. They were like plants
+that have grown in dry, thin soil, transplanted to a richer spot of
+ground, and sending out fresh shoots in the doubled moisture and
+sunshine. And presently we shall find the Northman becoming the Norman
+of history. As the Northman, almost the first thing we admire about
+him is his character, his glorious energy; as the Norman, we see that
+energy turned into better channels, and bringing a new element into
+the progress of civilization.
+
+          _Sarah O. Jewett. "The Story of the Normans."_
+                      _Putnam's "Stories of the Nations" Series._
+
+
+
+
+_XXXVIII.--ROLF THE GANGER._
+
+
+1. The ninth century was a sad time for both England and France. The
+Gothic tribes, in their march to the west had reached the sea in
+Denmark and Norway, and had increased to such an extent as to take up
+all the land fit for cultivation. The strength and courage which they
+had shown in many a battle-field on the land was now transferred to
+the sea, soldiers and knights becoming vikings and pirates. Fierce
+worshipers were they of the old gods Odin, Frey, and Thor. They
+plundered, they burned, they slew; they especially devastated churches
+and monasteries, and no coast was safe from them from the Adriatic to
+the farthest north--even Rome saw their long-ships, and, "From the
+fury of the Northmen, good Lord deliver us!" was the prayer in every
+litany of the West.
+
+2. England had been well-nigh undone by them, when the spirit of her
+greatest king awoke, and by Alfred they were overcome. Some were
+permitted to settle down, and were taught Christianity and
+civilization, and the fresh invaders were driven from the coast.
+Alfred's gallant son and grandson held the same course, guarded their
+coasts, and made their faith and themselves respected throughout the
+North. But in France, the much harassed house of Charles the Great,
+and the ill-compacted bond of different nations, were little able to
+oppose their fierce assaults, and ravage and devastation reigned from
+one end of the country to another.
+
+3. However, the vikings, on returning to their native homes sometimes
+found their place filled up, and the family inheritance incapable of
+supporting so many. Thus they began to think of winning not merely
+gold and cattle, but lands and houses, on the coasts they pillaged. In
+Scotland, the Hebrides, and Ireland, they settled by leave of nothing
+but their swords; in England, by treaty with Alfred; and in France,
+half by conquest, half by treaty, always, however, accepting
+Christianity as a needful obligation when they took posession of
+southern lands. Probably they thought Thor was only the god of the
+north, and that the "White Christ," as they called Him who was made
+known to them in these new countries was to be adored in what they
+deemed alone his territories.
+
+4. Of all the sea-robbers who sailed from their rocky dwelling-places
+by the fiords of Norway, none enjoyed higher renown than Rolf, called
+the ganger, or walker, as tradition relates, because his stature was
+so gigantic that, when clad in full armor, no horse could support his
+weight, and he therefore always fought on foot.
+
+5. Rolf's lot had, however, fallen in what he doubtless considered as
+evil days. No such burnings and plunderings as had hitherto wasted
+England and enriched Norway, fell to his share; for Alfred had made
+the bravest Northman feel that his fleet and army were more than a
+match for theirs. Ireland was exhausted by the former depredations of
+the pirates, and, from a fertile and flourishing country had become a
+scene of desolation. Scotland and its isles were too barren to afford
+prey to the spoiler.
+
+6. Rolf, presuming on the favor shown to his family while returning
+from an expedition on the Baltic, made a descent on the coast of
+Viken, a part of Norway, and carried off the cattle wanted by his
+crew. The king, who happened at that time to be in that district, was
+highly displeased, and, assembling a council, declared Rolf the Ganger
+an outlaw.
+
+7. The banished Rolf found a great number of companions, who, like
+himself, were unwilling to submit to the strict rule of Harald, and
+setting sail with them, he first plundered and devastated the coast
+of Flanders, and afterward returned to France. In the spring of 896
+the citizens of Rouen, scarcely yet recovered from the miseries
+inflicted upon them by the fierce Danish rover Hasting, were dismayed
+by the sight of a fleet of long, low vessels, with spreading sails,
+heads carved like that of a serpent, and sterns finished like the tail
+of a reptile, such as they well knew to be the keels of the dreaded
+Northmen, the harbingers of destruction and desolation. Little hope of
+succor or protection was there from King Charles the Simple; and,
+indeed, had the sovereign been ever so warlike and energetic, it would
+little have availed Rouen, which might have been destroyed twice over
+before a messenger could reach Laon.
+
+8. In this emergency, Franco, the archbishop, proposed to go forth to
+meet the Northmen and attempt to make terms for his flock. The offer
+was gladly accepted by the trembling citizens, and the good archbishop
+went, bearing the keys of the town, to visit the camp which the
+Northmen had begun to erect upon the bank of the river. They offered
+him no violence, and he performed his errand safely. Rolf, the rude
+generosity of whose character was touched by his fearless conduct,
+readily agreed to spare the lives and property of the citizens, on
+condition that Rouen was surrendered to him without resistance.
+
+9. Entering the town, he there established his headquarters, and spent
+a whole year in the adjacent parts of the country, during which time
+the Northmen so faithfully observed their promise, that they were
+regarded by the Rouennais rather as friends than as conquerors; and
+Rolf, or Rollo, as the French called him, was far more popular among
+them than their real sovereign. Wherever he met with resistance, he
+showed, indeed, the relentless cruelty of the heathen pirate;
+wherever he found submission, he was a kind master.
+
+10. In the course of the following year, he advanced along the banks
+of the Seine as far as its junction with the Eure. On the opposite
+side of the river there were visible a number of tents, where slept a
+numerous army, which Charles had at length collected to oppose this
+formidable enemy. The Northmen also set up their camp, in expectation
+of a battle, and darkness had just closed in on them when a shout was
+heard on the opposite side of the river, and to their surprise a voice
+was heard speaking in their own language. "Brave warriors, why come ye
+hither, and what do ye seek?"
+
+11. "We are Northmen, come hither to conquer France," replied Rollo.
+"But who art thou who speakest our tongue so well?" "Heard ye never of
+Hasting?" was the reply. "Yes," returned Rollo, "he began well, but
+ended badly." "Will ye not, then," continued the old pirate, "submit
+to my lord the king? Will ye not hold of him lands and honors?" "No,"
+replied the Northmen, disdainfully, "we will own no lord, we will take
+no gift, but we will have what we ourselves can conquer by force."
+
+12. Here Hasting took his departure, and returning to the French camp,
+strongly advised the commander not to hazard a battle. His counsel was
+overruled by a young standard-bearer, who, significantly observing,
+"Wolves make not war on wolves," so offended the old sea-king, that he
+quitted the army that night, and never again appeared in France. The
+wisdom of his advice was the next morning made evident, by the total
+defeat of the French, and the advance of the Northmen, who in a short
+space after appeared beneath the walls of Paris. Failing in their
+attempt to take the city, they returned to Rouen, where they fortified
+themselves, making it the capital of the territory they had conquered.
+
+13. Fifteen years passed away, the summers of which were spent in
+ravaging the dominions of Charles the Simple, and the winters in the
+city of Rouen, and in the meantime a change had come over the leader.
+He had been insensibly softened and civilized by his intercourse with
+the good Archbishop Franco, and finding, perhaps, that it was not
+quite so easy as he had expected to conquer the whole kingdom of
+France, he declared himself willing to follow the example which he
+once despised, and to become a vassal of the French crown for the
+duchy of Neustria.
+
+14. Charles, greatly rejoiced to find himself thus able to put a stop
+to the dreadful devastations of the Northmen, readily agreed to the
+terms proposed by Rollo, appointing the village of St. Clair-sur-Epte,
+on the borders of Neustria, as the place of meeting for the purpose of
+receiving his homage and oath of fealty.
+
+15. The greatest difficulty to be overcome in this conference was the
+repugnance felt by the proud Northman to perform the customary act of
+homage before any living man, especially one whom he held so cheap as
+Charles the Simple. He consented, indeed, to swear allegiance, and
+declare himself the "king's man," with his hands clasped between those
+of Charles. The remaining part of the ceremony, the kneeling to kiss
+the foot of the liege lord, he absolutely refused, and was with
+difficulty persuaded to permit one of his followers to perform it in
+his name. The proxy, as proud as his master, instead of kneeling, took
+the king's foot in his hand, and lifted it to his mouth while he stood
+upright, thus overturning both monarch and throne, amid the rude
+laughter of his companions, while the miserable Charles and his
+courtiers felt such a dread of these new vassals that they did not
+dare resent the insult.
+
+16. On his return to Rouen, Rollo was baptized, and, on leaving the
+cathedral, celebrated his conversion by large grants to the different
+churches and convents of his duchy, making a fresh gift on each of the
+days during which he wore the white robes of the newly baptized. All
+of his warriors who chose to follow his example, and embrace the
+Christian faith, received from him grants of land, to be held of him
+on the same terms as those by which he held the dukedom from the king.
+The country thus peopled by the Northmen, gradually assumed the name
+of Normandy.
+
+17. Applying themselves with all the ardor of their temper to their
+new way of life, the Northmen quickly adopted the manners, language,
+and habits which were recommended to them as connected with the holy
+faith which they had just embraced, but without losing their own bold
+and vigorous spirit. Soon the gallant and accomplished Norman knight
+could scarcely have been recognized as the savage sea-robber, while,
+at the same time, he bore as little resemblance to the cruel and
+voluptuous French noble, at once violent and indolent.
+
+18. There is no doubt, however, that the keen, unsophisticated vigor
+of Rollo, directed by his new religion did great good in Normandy, and
+that his justice was sharp, his discipline impartial, so that of him
+is told the famous old story bestowed upon other just princes, that a
+gold bracelet was left for three years untouched upon a tree in a
+forest. He had been married, as part of the treaty, to Gisele, a
+daughter of King Charles the Simple, but he was an old grizzly
+warrior, and neither cared for the other. A wife whom he had long
+before taken, had borne him a son, named William, to whom he left his
+dukedom in 932.
+
+
+
+
+_XXXIX.--THE TRUE STORY OF MACBETH._
+
+
+1. In the north of Scotland, where the cliffs bordering Moray Firth
+face the auroral heavens, are two ancient towns, Inverness and Forres,
+whose names are immortalized in Shakespeare's great tragedy of
+Macbeth, for it is in their vicinity that most of its scenes are laid.
+
+2. It is a wild, lonely country, and must have been wilder and
+lonelier still eight hundred years ago, when from the neighboring
+Norway coast the black boats of the vikings, or North Sea rovers, used
+to come flocking into the quiet harbors of Moray and Cromarty Firths,
+like so many swift birds of prey swooping suddenly in from the gray
+horizon, snatching their plunder and flitting away on never-resting
+wings only to return in greater numbers and depart with richer booty.
+
+3. In 1033-1039, when the sons of Canute the Dane were wearing the
+English crown, and not long after a few of the roving Norsemen had
+drifted away to plant a little history and a great mystery across the
+wide Atlantic, there reigned in Scotland a king by the name of Duncan
+MacCrinan. Among his nobles was a certain Macbeth, Thane of Glamis,
+about whom a great many stories are told, some of which would no doubt
+have made their subject open his eyes, for if we may credit the sober
+historians he was rather respectable than otherwise, and probably
+slept much better o' nights than Mr. Shakespeare would have us
+believe. It is even said that he made a pilgrimage to Rome and saw the
+Pope, which certainly ought to establish his virtue to anybody's
+satisfaction.
+
+4. At all events he was a brave soldier and able general, and Duncan
+naturally thought that he had the right man in the right place when he
+gave him command of the royal army and sent him off to drive out
+Thorfinn and Thorkell, two Norse chiefs who had come over to conquer
+Scotland.
+
+5. Macbeth had wedded a lady named Grnoch MacB[oe]dhe, which made him
+cousin to the king, and very likely put strange notions into his head,
+even if they never were there before. He was what we call "a rising
+man," and so, having gloriously defeated Thorfinn and Thorkell, or,
+some say, making them allies, he gloriously turned around and made war
+upon Duncan MacCrinan. In this struggle Duncan was killed or mortally
+wounded near Elgin, on Moray Firth, and Macbeth usurped the throne.
+
+6. Others claim that Thorfinn had conquered that part of Scotland,
+that Macbeth was his vassal and merely fulfilled his duty to his
+over-lord in repelling an invasion by Duncan, in which the latter
+deservedly met the common fate of war.
+
+7. It is very difficult to learn the real truth about people who lived
+before history was anything more than oral tradition, because, as in
+the case of Macbeth, a great many legends gradually clustered about
+their names, which were not committed to writing until many, many
+years after the events actually occurred. The very earliest Scotch
+writing ever discovered is only a charter, and is dated 1095, more
+than fifty years after Duncan was "in his grave," and it was more than
+three hundred years later that a Scotch prior, named Androwe of
+Wyntonne, wrote a long historical poem which he called an Orygynale
+Cronykil of Scotland. In it he relates the story of Macbeth and the
+three witches, and the murder of Duncan, though he says that Macbeth
+afterward made a very wise and just king, whose reign of seventeen
+years was marked by great abundance, and by royal almsgiving and zeal
+for "holy kirk."
+
+8. But a Latin history of Scotland, written about a hundred years
+before Shakespeare by an Aberdeen professor, and translated into
+English under the title of Holinshed's Chronicle, supplied the great
+dramatist with his plot, though it suited his purpose to combine the
+true story of Macbeth with the murder of an earlier king. Then, adding
+a great deal about ghosts and witches, and, above all, breathing into
+these dry, long-dead mummies the quickening breath of genius, the
+immortal playwright recreated a Macbeth who seems a far more real and
+living character than many of our contemporaries.
+
+9. By whatever means Macbeth secured the throne, history and fiction
+agree as to the manner of his losing it. Duncan's sons, in reality
+mere infants at their father's death, were hurried away by their
+friends, and Malcolm, the elder, was committed to his mother's
+brother, Siward, Earl of Northumbria, who in good time aided his young
+kinsman to recover his birthright.
+
+10. Macbeth, notwithstanding his prosperous reign, was regarded as a
+usurper, and was consequently very unpopular with the loyal Scotch,
+who, though proud and quarrelsome, were always devotedly true where
+they recognized an obligation of fealty. So when Malcolm returned they
+flocked around the beloved young heir, and defeated his enemy at
+Dunsinane, though Macbeth was not killed at this place, as Shakespeare
+says, but fled across the Grampians to rally at Lumphanan. Here he was
+slain and the victorious Malcolm--called in history Malcolm
+Canmore--now went to Scone and was crowned upon a famous stone,
+believed by the Scotch to be the same that Jacob used for his pillow.
+It is certainly the one that Edward I of England afterward took away
+and made the seat of the coronation chair at Westminster Abbey, where
+it is still to be seen.
+
+11. But, like many another evil that has been wrought before now,
+Macbeth's treason resulted in the ultimate good of his country; for
+Malcolm, during his long exile, had become accustomed to the superior
+civilization of the English, and now introduced many improvements
+among his subjects. Having known, too, the sorrows of a fugitive, he
+welcomed to his court the Saxon princes fleeing from Norman William,
+among whom was Margaret Atheling, the gentle granddaughter of Edmund
+Ironsides, who became his bride, and whose winning graces went far
+toward refining the rude manners of the warlike Scots. One of their
+sons was the saintly King David, who founded Melrose Abbey, and who is
+said to have been to Scotland "all that Alfred was to England, and
+more than Louis was to France."
+
+12. Another noble, called Banquo, seems to have had some part in
+Duncan's overthrow, but as the play of Macbeth was written in the
+reign of James I, who was a Scot and traced his descent back to
+Banquo, it was not deemed prudent or polite to represent the character
+in an unflattering light; so he was pictured as noble and
+incorruptible, and was so unfortunate, poor man, as to have to be
+murdered to make the story end well.
+
+13. Sir Walter Scott, in his "Tales of a Grandfather," gives us a
+story differing little from the outline of Shakespeare's drama, but
+then, who that has spent enraptured hours over Rob Roy and the Black
+Dwarf could wish the charming wizard to spoil a good story for the
+sake of mere historical exactness? not I, surely! And the Macbeth of
+history, no matter how zealously we may try to discover him, or how
+faithfully we may attempt, at this late day, to reconstruct his
+damaged reputation, he can never be to us anything better than a very
+misty tradition. Whatever he may have been eight hundred years ago,
+the Macbeth _we_ know, the only real Macbeth there is or ever can be,
+is after all the one that met the witches in the thunder-storm on
+Forres Heath and then went home and murdered the gentle old king who
+"had so much blood in him," and a moment later, startled by the
+knocking at the gate, exclaimed in bitterest remorse: "Wake Duncan
+with thy knocking! I would thou could'st!"
+
+14. If you read this scene in the silent hours when every one else in
+the house is sleeping, you will almost believe that you murdered
+Duncan yourself, and that you hear Lady Macbeth's hoarse whisper in
+your ear: "To bed, to bed, there's knocking at the gate. Come, come,
+come, come, give me your hand. What's done can not be undone. To bed,
+to bed, to bed."
+
+15. Then you will shut the book in sudden terror of the lonely
+midnight, and scramble into bed with the blood curdling in your veins,
+and presently, aided by the darkness, your imagination will bridge the
+gulf of centuries, and you will seem to see a long vaulted hall in a
+mediaeval palace, and in the hall a banquet spread, around which gather
+lords of high degree, while on the canopied dais at the upper end sit
+King Macbeth and his white-haired, pitiless, guilty queen. And from
+the rainy outer darkness you may catch the faint echo of a mortal cry:
+"Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!" And then as you picture the king
+stepping down from his royal seat to meet a blood-stained murderer at
+the door, you will have a momentary glimpse of Banquo lying in the
+roadside ditch "with twenty trenched gashes in his head," and of
+Fleance speeding away alone through the stormy night.
+
+
+
+
+_XL.--DUKE WILLIAM OF NORMANDY._
+
+
+1. Now Duke William was in his park at Rouen, and in his hands he held
+a bow ready strung, for he was going hunting, and many knights and
+squires with him. And behold, there came to the gate a messenger from
+England; and he went straight to the duke and drew him aside, and told
+him secretly how King Edward's life had come to an end, and Harold had
+been made king in his stead. And when the duke had heard the tidings,
+and understood all that was come to pass, those that looked upon him
+perceived that he was greatly enraged, for he forsook the chase, and
+went in silence, speaking no word to any man, clasping and unclasping
+his cloak, neither dared any man speak to him; but he crossed over the
+Seine in a boat, and went to his hall, and sat down on a bench; and he
+covered his face with his mantle, and leaned down his head, and there
+he abode, turning about restlessly for one hour after another in
+gloomy thought. And none dared speak a word to him, but they spake to
+one another, saying: "What ails the duke? Why bears he such a mien?"
+
+2. "That is it that troubles me," said the duke. "I grieve because
+Edward is dead, and that Harold has done me a wrong; for he has taken
+my kingdom who was bound to me by oath and promise." To these words
+answered Fitz-Osbern the bold: "Sir, tarry not, but make ready with
+speed to avenge yourself on Harold, who has been disloyal to you; for
+if you lack not courage, there will be left no land to Harold. Summon
+all whom you may summon, cross the sea and seize his lands; for no
+brave man should begin a matter and not carry it on to the end."
+
+3. Then William sent messengers to Harold to call upon him to keep
+the oath that he had sworn; but Harold replied in scorn that he would
+not marry his daughter, nor give up his land to him. And William sent
+to him his defiance; but Harold answered that he feared him not, and
+he drove all the Normans out of the land, with their wives and
+children, for King Edward had given them lands and castles, but Harold
+chased them out of the country; neither would he let one remain. And
+at Christmas he took the crown, but it would have been well for
+himself and his land if he had not been crowned, since for the kingdom
+he perjured himself, and his reign lasted but a short space.
+
+4. Then Duke William called together his barons, and told them all his
+will, and how Harold had wronged him, and that he would cross the sea
+and revenge himself; but without their aid he could not gather men
+enough, nor a large navy; therefore, he would know of each one of them
+how many men and ships he would bring. And they prayed for leave to
+take counsel together, and the duke granted their request. And their
+deliberations lasted long, for many complained that their burdens were
+heavy, and some said that they would bring ships and cross the sea
+with the duke, and others said they would not go, for they were in
+debt and poor. Thus some would and some would not, and there was great
+contention between them.
+
+5. Then Fitz-Osbern came to them and said: "Wherefore dispute you,
+sirs? Ye should not fail your natural lord when he goes seeking
+honors. Ye owe him service for your fiefs, and where ye owe service ye
+should serve with all your power. Ask not delay, nor wait until he
+prays you; but go before, and offer him more than you can do. Let him
+not lament that his enterprise failed for your remissness." But they
+answered: "Sir, we fear the sea, and we owe no service across the
+sea. Speak for us, we pray you, and answer in our stead. Say what you
+will, and we will abide by your words." "Will ye all leave yourselves
+to me?" he said. And each one answered: "Yes. Let us go to the duke,
+and you shall speak for us."
+
+6. And Fitz-Osbern turned himself about and went before him to the duke,
+and spoke for them, and he said: "Sir, no lord has such men as you have,
+and who will do so much for their lord's honor, and you ought to love
+and keep them well. For you they say they would be drowned in the sea or
+thrown into the fire. You may trust them well, for they have served you
+long and followed you at great cost. And if they have done well, they
+will do better; for they will pass the sea with you, and will double
+their service. For he who should bring twenty knights will gladly bring
+forty, and he who should serve you thirty will bring sixty, and he from
+whom one hundred is due will willingly bring two hundred. And I, in
+loving loyalty, will bring in my lord's business sixty ships, well
+arrayed and laden with fighting men."
+
+7. But the barons marveled at him, and murmured aloud at the words
+that he spake and the promises he made, for which they had given him
+no warrant. And many contradicted him, and there arose a noise and
+loud disturbance among them; for they feared that if they doubled
+their service it would become a custom, and be turned into a feudal
+right. And the noise and outcry became so great that a man could not
+hear what his fellow said. Then the duke went aside, for the noise
+displeased him, and sent for the barons one by one, and spoke to each
+one of the greatness of the enterprise, and that if they would double
+their service, and do freely more than their due, it should be well
+for them, and that he would never make it a custom, nor require of
+them any service more than was the usage of the country, and such as
+their ancestors had paid to their lord. Then each one said he would do
+it, and he told how many ships he would bring, and the duke had them
+all written down in brief. Bishop Odo, his brother, brought him forty
+ships, and the Bishop of Le Mans prepared thirty, with their mariners
+and pilots. And the duke prayed his neighbors of Brittany, Anjou, and
+Maine, Ponthieu, and Boulogne, to aid him in this business; and he
+promised them lands if England were conquered, and rich gifts and
+large pay. Thus from all sides came soldiers to him.
+
+8. Then he showed the matter to his lord the King of France, and he
+sought him at St. Germer, and found him there; and he said that he
+would aid him, so that by his aid he won his right, he would hold
+England from him and serve him for it. But the king answered that he
+would not aid him, neither with his will should he pass the sea; for
+the French prayed him not to aid him, saying he was too strong
+already, and that if he let him add riches from over the sea to his
+lands of Normandy and all his good knights, there would never be
+peace. "And when England shall be conquered," said they, "you will
+hear no more of his service. He pays little service now, but then it
+will be less. The more he has, the less he will do."
+
+9. So the duke took leave of the king, and came away in a rage,
+saying: "Sir, I go to do the best I can, and if God will that I gain
+my right you shall see me no more but for evil. And if I fail, and the
+English can defend themselves, my children shall inherit my lands, and
+thou shalt not conquer them. Living or dead, I fear no menace!"
+
+10. Then the duke sent to Rome clerks that were skilled in speech,
+and they told the Pope how Harold had sworn falsely, and that Duke
+William promised that if he conquered England he would hold it of St.
+Peter. And the Pope sent him a standard and a very precious ring, and
+underneath the stone there was, it is said, a hair of St. Peter's. And
+about that time there appeared a great star shining in the south with
+very long rays, such a star as is seen when a kingdom is about to have
+a new king. I have spoken with many men who saw it, and those who are
+cunning in the stars call it a comet.
+
+11. Then the duke called together carpenters and ship-builders, and in
+all the ports of Normandy there was sawing of planks and carrying of
+wood, spreading of sails and setting up of masts, with great labor and
+industry. Thus all the summer long and through the month of August
+they made ready the fleet and assembled the men; for there was no
+knight in all the land, nor any good sergeant, nor archer, nor any
+peasant of good courage, of age to fight, whom the duke did not summon
+to go with him to England.
+
+12. When the ships were ready, they were anchored in the Somme at St.
+Valery. And as the renown of the duke went abroad there came to him
+soldiers one by one or two by two, and the duke kept them with him,
+and promised them much. And some asked for lands in England, and
+others pay and large gifts. But I will not write down what barons,
+knights, and soldiers the duke had in his company; but I have heard my
+father say (I remember it well, though I was but a boy) that there
+were seven hundred ships, save four, when they left St. Valery--ships,
+and boats, and little skiffs. But I found it written (I know not the
+truth) that there were three thousand ships carrying sails and masts.
+
+13. And at St. Valery they tarried long for a favorable wind, and the
+barons grew weary with waiting; and they prayed those of the convent
+to bring out to the camp the shrine of St. Valery, and they came to it
+and prayed they might cross the sea, and they offered money till all
+the holy body was covered with it, and the same day there sprang up a
+favorable wind. Then the duke put a lantern on the mast of his ship,
+that the other ships might see it and keep their course near, and an
+ensign of gilded copper on the top; and at the head of the ships,
+which mariners call the prow, there was a child made of copper holding
+a bow and arrow, and he had his face toward England, and seemed about
+to shoot.
+
+14. Thus the ships came to port, and they all arrived together and
+anchored together on the beach, and together they all disembarked. And
+it was near Hastings, and the ships lay side by side. And the good
+sailors and sergeants and esquires sprang out, and cast anchor, and
+fastened the ships with ropes; and they brought out their shields and
+saddles, and led forth the horses.
+
+15. The archers were the first to come to land, every one with his bow
+and his quiver and arrows by his side, all shaven and dressed in short
+tunics, ready for battle and of good courage; and they searched all
+the beach, but no armed man could they find. When they were issued
+forth, then came the knights in armor, with helmet laced and shield on
+neck, and together they came to the sand and mounted their war-horses;
+and they had their swords at their sides, and rode with lances raised.
+The barons had their standards and the knights their pennons. After
+them came the carpenters, with their axes in their hands and their
+tools hanging by their side. And when they came to the archers and to
+the knights they took counsel together, and brought wood from the
+ships and fastened it together with bolts and bars, and before the
+evening was well come they had made themselves a strong fort. And they
+lighted fires and cooked food, and the duke and his barons and knights
+sat down to eat; and they all ate and drank plentifully and rejoiced
+that they were come to land.
+
+16. When the duke came forth of his ship he fell on his hands to the
+ground, and there rose a great cry, for all said it was an evil sign;
+but he cried aloud: "Lords, I have seized the land with my two hands,
+and will never yield it. All is ours." Then a man ran to land and laid
+his hand upon a cottage, and took a handful of the thatch, and
+returned to the duke. "Sir," said he, "take seizin of the land; yours
+is the land without doubt." Then the duke commanded the mariners to
+draw all the ships to land and pierce holes in them and break them to
+pieces, for they should never return by the way they had come.
+
+                    _"Belt and Spur," Stories of the Old Knights._
+
+
+
+
+_XLI.--THE NORMAN CONQUEST._
+
+
+1. Poor old Edward the Confessor, holy, weak, and sad, lay in his new
+choir of Westminster--where the wicked cease from troubling and the
+weary are at rest. The crowned ascetic had left no heir behind.
+England seemed as a corpse, to which all the eagles might gather
+together; and the South-English, in their utter need, had chosen for
+their king the ablest, and it may be the justest, man in Britain--Earl
+Harold Godwinson: himself, like half the upper classes of England
+then, of all-dominant Norse blood; for his mother was a Danish princess.
+
+[Illustration: _Edward the Confessor's Tomb._]
+
+2. Then out of Norway, with a mighty host, came Harold Hardraade,
+taller than all men, the ideal Viking of his time. He had been away to
+Russia to King Jaroslaf; he had been in the Emperor's Varanger guard
+at Constantinople--and, it was whispered, had slain a lion there with
+his bare hands; he had carved his name and his comrades' in Runic
+characters--if you go to Venice you may see them at this day--on the
+loins of the great marble lion, which stood in his time not in Venice
+but in Athens. And now, King of Norway and conqueror, for the time, of
+Denmark, why should he not take England, as Sweyn and Canute took it
+sixty years before, when the flower of the English gentry perished at
+the fatal battle of Assingdune? If he and his half-barbarous host had
+conquered, the civilization of Britain would have been thrown back,
+perhaps, for centuries. But it was not to be.
+
+3. England _was_ to be conquered by the Normans; but by the civilized,
+not the barbaric; by the Norse who had settled, but four generations
+before, in the northeast of France under Rou, Rollo, Rolf the Ganger,
+so called, they say, because his legs were so long that, when on
+horseback, he touched the ground and seemed to gang, or walk. He and
+his Norsemen had taken their share of France, and called it Normandy
+to this day; and meanwhile, with that docility and adaptability which
+marks so often truly great spirits, they changed their creed, their
+language, their habits, and had become, from heathen and murderous
+Berserkers, the most truly civilized people in Europe, and--as was
+most natural then--the most faithful allies and servants of the Pope
+of Rome. So greatly had they changed, and so fast, that William Duke
+of Normandy, the great-great grandson of Rolf the wild Viking, was
+perhaps the finest gentleman, as well as the most cultivated sovereign
+and the greatest statesman and warrior in Europe.
+
+4. So Harold of Norway came with all his Vikings to Stamford Bridge by
+York; and took, by coming, only that which Harold of England promised
+him, namely, "forasmuch as he was taller than any other man, seven
+feet of English ground."
+
+5. The story of that great battle, told with a few inaccuracies, but
+as only great poets tell, you should read, if you have not read it
+already, in the "Heimskringla" of Snorri Sturluson, the Homer of the
+North:
+
+    High feast that day held the birds of the air and the beasts of the
+              field,
+    White-tailed erm and sallow glede,
+    Dusky raven, with horny neb,
+    And the gray deer the wolf of the wood.
+
+The bones of the slain, men say, whitened the place for fifty years to
+come.
+
+6. And remember that on the same day on which that fight
+befell--September 27, 1066--William, Duke of Normandy, with all his
+French-speaking Norsemen, was sailing across the British Channel,
+under the protection of a banner consecrated by the Pope, to conquer
+that England which the Norse-speaking Normans could not conquer.
+
+7. And now King Harold showed himself a man. He turned at once from
+the north of England to the south. He raised the folk of the southern,
+as he had raised those of the central and northern shires, and in
+sixteen days--after a march which in those times was a prodigious
+feat--he was intrenched upon the fatal down which men called
+Heathfield then, and Senlac, but Battle to this day--with William and
+his French Normans opposite him on Telham Hill.
+
+8. Then came the battle of Hastings. You all know what befell upon
+that day, and how the old weapon was matched against the new--the
+English axe against the Norman lance--and beaten only because the
+English broke their ranks.
+
+9. It was a fearful time which followed. I can not but believe that
+our forefathers had been, in some way or other, great sinners, or two
+such conquests as Canute's and William's would not have fallen on them
+within the short space of sixty years. They did not want for courage,
+as Stamford Brigg and Hastings showed full well. English swine, their
+Norman conquerors called them often enough, but never English cowards.
+
+10. Their ruinous vice, if we trust the records of the time, was what
+the old monks called _accidia_, and ranked it as one of the seven
+deadly sins: a general careless, sleepy, comfortable habit of mind,
+which lets all go its way for good or evil--a habit of mind too often
+accompanied, as in the case of the Anglo-Danes, with self-indulgence,
+often coarse enough. Huge eaters and huger drinkers, fuddled with ale,
+were the men who went down at Hastings--though they went down like
+heroes--before the staid and sober Norman out of France.
+
+11. But these were fearful times. As long as William lived, ruthless
+as he was to all rebels, he kept order and did justice with a strong
+and steady hand; for he brought with him from Normandy the instincts
+of a truly great statesman. And in his sons' time matters grew worse
+and worse. After that, in the troubles of Stephen's reign, anarchy let
+loose tyranny in its most fearful form, and things were done which
+recall the cruelties of the old Spanish _conquistadores_ in America.
+Scott's charming romance of "Ivanhoe" must be taken, I fear, as a too
+true picture of English society in the time of Richard I.
+
+[Illustration: _Battle Abbey._]
+
+12. And what came of it all? What was the result of all this misery and
+wrong? This, paradoxical as it may seem: that the Norman conquest was
+the making of the English people; of the free commons of England.
+
+13. Paradoxical, but true. First, you must dismiss from your minds the
+too common notion that there is now in England a governing Norman
+aristocracy, or that there has been one, at least since the year 1215,
+when the Magna Charta was won from the Norman John by Normans and by
+English alike. For the first victors at Hastings, like the first
+_conquistadores_ in America, perished, as the monk chronicles point
+out, rapidly by their own crimes; and very few of our nobility can
+trace their names back to the authentic Battle Abbey roll.
+
+14. The cause is plain: The conquest of England by the Normans was not
+one of those conquests of a savage by a civilized race, or of a
+cowardly race by a brave race, which results in the slavery of the
+conquered, and leaves the gulf of caste between two races--master and
+slave. The vast majority, all but the whole population of England,
+have always been free, and free as they are not when caste exists to
+change their occupations. They could intermarry, if they were able
+men, into the rank above them; as they could sink, if they were unable
+men, into the rank below them.
+
+15. Nay, so utterly made up now is the old blood-feud between Norman
+and Englishman, between the descendants of those who conquered and
+those who were conquered, that, in the children of the Prince of
+Wales, after eight hundred years, the blood of William of Normandy is
+mingled with the blood of Harold, who fell at Hastings. And so, by the
+bitter woes which followed the Norman conquest was the whole
+population, Dane, Angle, and Saxon, earl and churl, freeman and slave,
+crushed and welded together into one homogeneous mass, made just and
+merciful toward each other by the most wholesome of all teachings, a
+community of suffering; and if they had been, as I fear they were, a
+lazy and a sensual people, were taught--
+
+    That life is not as idle ore,
+    But heated hot with burning fears,
+    And bathed in baths of hissing tears,
+    And battered with the strokes of doom
+    To shape and use.
+
+                                              _Charles Kingsley._
+
+
+
+
+_XLII.--KING RICHARD C[OE]UR DE LION IN THE HOLY LAND._
+
+
+1. At the end of August, 1191, Richard led his crusading troops from
+Acre into the midst of the wilderness of Mount Carmel, where their
+sufferings were terrible; the rocky, sandy, and uneven ground was
+covered with bushes full of long, sharp prickles, and swarms of
+noxious insects buzzed in the air, fevering the Europeans with their
+stings; and in addition to these natural obstacles, multitudes of Arab
+horsemen harrassed them on every side, slaughtering every straggler
+who dropped behind from fatigue, and attacking them so unceasingly
+that it was remarked, that throughout their day's track there was not
+one space of four feet without an arrow sticking in the ground.
+Richard fought indefatigably, always in the van, and ready to reward
+the gallant exploits of his knights. A young knight who bore a white
+shield, in hopes of gaining some honorable bearing, so distinguished
+himself that Richard thus greeted him at the close of the day: "Maiden
+knight, you have borne yourself as a lion, and done the deed of six
+crusaders."
+
+[Illustration: _Battle of Arsaaf._]
+
+2. At Arsaaf, on the 7th of September, a great battle was fought.
+Saladin and his brother had almost defeated the two religious orders
+(the Templars and the Hospitallers), and the gallant French knight
+Jacques d'Avesne, after losing his leg by a stroke from a cimeter,
+fought bravely on, calling on the English king until he fell
+overpowered by numbers. C[oe]ur de Lion and Guillaume des Barres
+retrieved the day, hewed down the enemy on all sides, and remained
+masters of the field. It is even said that Richard and Saladin met
+hand to hand, but this is uncertain. This victory opened the way to
+Joppa, where the crusaders spent the next month in the repair of the
+fortifications, while the Saracen forces lay at Ascalon.
+
+3. While here, Richard often amused himself with hawking, and one day
+was asleep under a tree when he was aroused by the approach of a party
+of Saracens, and springing on his horse Frannelle, which had been
+taken at Cyprus, he rashly pursued them and fell into an ambush. Four
+knights were slain, and he would have been seized had not a Gascon
+knight named Guillaume des Parcelets called out that he himself was
+the Malak Rik (great king), and allowed himself to be taken. Richard
+offered ten noble Saracens in exchange for this generous knight, whom
+Saladin restored together with a valuable horse that had been captured
+at the same time. A present of another Arab steed accompanied them;
+but Richard's half-brother, William Longsword, insisted on trying the
+animal before the king should mount it. No sooner was he on its back,
+than it dashed at once across the country, and before he could stop it
+he found himself in the midst of the enemy's camp. The two Saracen
+princes were extremely shocked and distressed lest this should be
+supposed a trick, and instantly escorted Longsword back with a gift of
+three chargers, which proved to be more manageable.
+
+4. From Joppa the crusaders marched to Ramla, and thence, on New
+Year's Day, 1192, set out for Jerusalem through a country full of
+greater obstacles than they had yet encountered. They were too full of
+spirit to be discouraged until they came to Bethany, where the two
+Grand Masters represented to Richard the imprudence of laying siege to
+such fortifications as those of Jerusalem at such a season of the
+year, while Ascalon was ready in his rear for a post whence the enemy
+would attack him.
+
+5. He yielded, and retreated to Ascalon, which Saladin had ruined and
+abandoned, and began eagerly to repair the fortifications so as to be
+able to leave a garrison there. The soldiers grumbled, saying they had
+not come to Palestine to build Ascalon, but to conquer Jerusalem;
+whereupon Richard set the example of himself carrying stones, and
+called on Leopold, the Duke of Austria, to do the same. The sulky
+reply, "He was not the son of a mason," so irritated Richard, that he
+struck him a blow; Leopold straightway quitted the army, and returned
+to Austria.
+
+6. It was not without great grief and many struggles that C[oe]ur de
+Lion finally gave up his hopes of taking Jerusalem. He again advanced
+as far as Bethany; but a quarrel with Hugh of Burgundy, and the
+defection of the Austrians made it impossible for him to proceed, and
+he turned back to Ramla. While riding out with a party of knights, one
+of them called out, "This way, my lord, and you will see Jerusalem."
+"Alas!" said Richard, hiding his face with his mantle, "those who are
+not worthy to win the Holy City are not worthy to behold it." He
+returned to Acre; but there hearing that Saladin was besieging Joppa,
+he embarked his troops and sailed to its aid.
+
+7. The crescent (the standard of the Saracens) shone on its walls as
+he entered the harbor; but while he looked on in dismay, he was hailed
+by a priest who had leaped into the sea and swum out to inform him
+that there was yet time to rescue the garrison, though the town was in
+the hands of the enemy. He hurried his vessel forward, leaped into the
+water breast-high, dashed upward on the shore, ordered his immediate
+followers to raise a bulwark of casks and beams to protect the landing
+of the rest, and rushing up a flight of steps, entered the city alone.
+"St. George! St. George!" That cry dismayed the infidels, and those in
+the town to the number of three thousand fled in the utmost confusion,
+and were pursued for two miles by three knights who had been fortunate
+enough to find him.
+
+8. Richard pitched his tent outside the walls, and remained there with
+so few troops that all were contained in ten tents. Very early one
+morning, before the king was out of bed, a man rushed into his tent,
+crying out: "O king! we are all dead men!" Springing up, Richard
+fiercely silenced him: "Peace! or thou diest by my hand!" Then, while
+hastily donning his suit of mail, he heard that the glitter of arms
+had been seen in the distance, and in another moment the enemy were
+upon them, seven thousand in number. Richard had neither helmet nor
+shield, and only seventeen of his knights had horses; but undaunted he
+drew up his little force in a compact body, the knights kneeling on
+one knee covered by their shields, their lances pointing outward, and
+between each pair an archer with an assistant to load his cross-bow;
+and he stood in the midst encouraging them with his voice, and
+threatening to cut off the head of the first who turned to fly. In
+vain did the Saracens charge that mass of brave men, not one seventh
+of their number; the shields and lances were impenetrable; and without
+one forward step or one bolt from the cross-bows, their passive
+steadiness turned back wave after wave of the enemy.
+
+9. At last the king gave the word for the cross-bowmen to advance,
+while he, with the seventeen mounted knights charged, lance in rest.
+His curtal axe bore down all before it, and he dashed like lightning
+from one part of the plain to another, with not a moment to smile at
+the opportune gift from the polite Malek-el-Afdal, who, in the hottest
+of the fight, sent him two fine horses, desiring him to use them in
+escaping from this dreadful peril. Little did the Saracen princes
+imagine that they would find him victorious, and that they would mount
+two more pursuers!
+
+10. Next came a terrified fugitive with news that three thousand
+Saracens had entered Joppa! Richard summoned a few knights, and
+without a word to the rest galloped back into the city. The panic
+inspired by his presence instantly cleared the streets, and riding
+back, he again led his troops to the charge; but such were the swarms
+of Saracens, that it was not till evening that the Christians could
+give themselves a moment's rest, or look round and feel that they had
+gained one of the most wonderful of victories. Since daybreak Richard
+had not laid aside his sword or axe, and his hand was all over
+blistered. No wonder that the terror of his name endured for centuries
+in Palestine, and that the Arab chided his starting horse with, "Dost
+think that yonder is the Malek Rik?" while the mother stilled her
+crying child by threats that the Malek Rik should take it.
+
+11. These violent exertions seriously injured Richard's health, and a
+low fever placed him in great danger, as well as several of his best
+knights. No command or persuasion could induce the rest to commence
+any enterprise without him, and the tidings from Europe induced him to
+conclude a peace and return home. Malek-el-Afdal came to visit him,
+and a truce was signed for three years, three months, three weeks,
+three days, three hours, and three minutes, thus so quaintly arranged
+in accordance with some astrological views of the Saracens. Ascalon
+was to be demolished on condition that free access to Jerusalem was to
+be allowed to the pilgrims; but Saladin would not restore the piece of
+the True Cross, as he was resolved not to conduce to what he
+considered idolatry.
+
+12. Richard sent notice that he was coming back with double his
+present force to effect the conquest, and the Sultan answered, that if
+the Holy City was to pass into Frank hands, none could be nobler than
+those of the Malek Rik. Fever and debility detained Richard a month
+longer at Joppa, during which time he sent the Bishop of Salisbury to
+carry his offerings to Jerusalem. The prelate was invited to the
+presence of Saladin, who spoke in high terms of Richard's courage, but
+censured his rash exposure of his own life. On October 9, 1193,
+C[oe]ur de Lion took leave of Palestine, watching with tears its
+receding shores, as he exclaimed, "O, Holy Land, I commend thee and
+thy people unto God. May He grant me yet to return to aid thee!"
+
+                                            _Charlotte M. Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+_XLIII.--KING JOHN AND THE CHARTER._
+
+
+1. On his return from the crusade Richard was taken prisoner by the
+Duke of Austria. He bought his release only to find King Philip
+attacking his French dominions, and to plunge into wearisome and
+indecisive wars, in the midst of which he was slain at the Castle of
+Chaluz. His brother John, who followed him on the throne, was a vile
+and weak ruler, under whom the great sovereignty built up by Henry II
+broke utterly down. Normandy, Maine, and Anjou were reft from him by
+Philip of France, and only Aquitaine remained to him on that side of
+the sea. In England his lust and oppression drove people and nobles to
+join in resistance to him; and their resistance found a great leader
+in the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton.
+
+2. From the moment of his landing in England, Stephen Langton had
+taken up the constitutional position of the primate in upholding the
+old customs and rights of the realm against the personal despotism of
+the kings. As Anselm had withstood William the Red, as Theobald had
+withstood Stephen, so Langton prepared to withstand and rescue his
+country from the tyranny of John. He had already forced him to swear
+to observe the laws of Edward the Confessor, in other words the
+traditional liberties of the realm. When the baronage refused to sail
+for Poitou, saying that they owed service to him in England, but not
+in foreign lands, he compelled the king to deal with them not by arms,
+but by process of law. But the work which he now undertook was far
+greater and weightier than this. The pledges of Henry the First had
+long been forgotten when the justiciar brought them to light, but
+Langton saw the vast importance of such a precedent. At the close of
+the month he produced Henry's charter in a fresh gathering of barons
+at St. Paul's, and it was at once welcomed as a base for the needed
+reforms. From London Langton hastened to the king, whom he reached at
+Northampton on his way to attack the nobles of the north, and wrested
+from him a promise to bring his strife with them to legal judgment
+before assailing them in arms.
+
+3. With his enemies gathering abroad, John had doubtless no wish to be
+entangled in a long quarrel at home, and the archbishop's mediation
+allowed him to withdraw with seeming dignity. After a demonstration
+therefore at Durham John marched hastily south again, and reached London
+in October. His justiciar Geoffry Fitz-Peter at once laid before him the
+claims of the Council of St. Alban's and St. Paul's, but the death of
+Geoffry at this juncture freed him from the pressure which his minister
+was putting upon him. "Now, by God's feet," cried John, "I am for the
+first time king and lord of England," and he intrusted the vacant
+justiciarship to a Poitevin, Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester,
+whose temper was in harmony with his own. But the death of Geoffry only
+called the archbishop to the front, and Langton at once demanded the
+king's assent to the charter of Henry the First.
+
+4. In seizing on this charter as a basis for national action, Langton
+showed a political ability of the highest order. The enthusiasm with
+which its recital was welcomed showed the sagacity with which the
+archbishop had chosen his ground. From that moment the baronage was no
+longer drawn together in secret conspiracies by a sense of common
+wrong or a vague longing for common deliverance; they were openly
+united in a definite claim of national freedom and national law.
+Secretly, and on the pretext of pilgrimage, the nobles met at St.
+Edmundsbury, resolute to bear no longer with John's delays. If he
+refused to restore their liberties they swore to make war on him till
+he confirmed them by charter under the king's seal, and they parted to
+raise forces with the purpose of presenting their demands at
+Christmas. John, knowing nothing of the coming storm, pursued his
+policy of winning over the Church by granting it freedom of election,
+while he imbittered still more the strife with his nobles by
+demanding scutage[A] from the northern nobles who had refused to
+follow him to Poitou. But the barons were now ready to act, and early
+in January, in the memorable year 1215, they appeared in arms to lay,
+as they had planned, their demands before the king.
+
+5. John was taken by surprise. He asked for a truce till Easter-tide,
+and spent the interval in fevered efforts to avoid the blow. Again he
+offered freedom to the Church, and took vows as a crusader against
+whom war was a sacrilege, while he called for a general oath of
+allegiance and fealty from the whole body of his subjects. But month
+after month only showed the king the uselessness of further
+resistance. Though Pandulf, the Pope's legate, was with him, his
+vassalage had as yet brought little fruit in the way of aid from Rome;
+the commissioners whom he sent to plead his cause at the shire courts
+brought back news that no man would help him against the charter that
+the barons claimed; and his efforts to detach the clergy from the
+league of his opponents utterly failed. The nation was against the
+king. He was far indeed from being utterly deserted. His ministers
+still clung to him, men such as Geoffry de Lucy, Geoffry de Furnival,
+Thomas Basset, and William Briwere, statesmen trained in the
+administrative school of his father, and who, dissent as they might
+from John's mere oppression, still looked on the power of the crown as
+the one barrier against feudal anarchy; and beside them stood some of
+the great nobles of royal blood, Earl William of Salisbury, his cousin
+Earl William of Warenne, and Henry, Earl of Cornwall, a grandson of
+Henry the First. With him too remained Ranulf, Earl of Chester, and
+the wisest and noblest of the barons, William Marshal, the elder Earl
+of Pembroke. William Marshal had shared in the rising of the younger
+Henry against Henry II, and stood by him as he died; he had shared in
+the overthrow of William Longchamp, and in the outlawry of John. He
+was now an old man, firm, as we shall see in his aftercourse, to
+recall the government to the path of freedom and law, but shrinking
+from a strife which might bring back the anarchy of Stephen's day, and
+looking for reforms rather in the bringing constitutional pressure to
+bear upon the king than in forcing them from him by arms.
+
+6. But cling as such men might to John, they clung to him rather as
+mediators than adherents. Their sympathies went with the demands of
+the barons when the delay which had been granted was over and the
+nobles again gathered in arms at Brackley in Northamptonshire to lay
+their claims before the king. Nothing marks more strongly the
+absolutely despotic idea of his sovereignty which John had formed than
+the passionate surprise which breaks out in his reply. "Why do they
+not ask for my kingdom?" he cried. "I will never grant such liberties
+as will make me a slave!" The imperialist theories of the lawyers of
+his father's court had done their work. Held at bay by the practical
+sense of Henry, they had told on the more headstrong nature of his
+sons. Richard and John both held with Glanvill that the will of the
+prince was the law of the land; and to fetter that will by the customs
+and franchises which were embodied in the baron's claims seemed to
+John a monstrous usurpation of his rights.
+
+[Illustration: _King John and the Charter._]
+
+7. But no imperialist theories had touched the minds of his people.
+The country rose as one man at his refusal. At the close of May,
+London threw open her gates to the forces of the barons, now arrayed
+under Robert Fitz Walter as "Marshal of the Army of God and Holy
+Church." Exeter and Lincoln followed the example of the capital;
+promises of aid came from Scotland and Wales, the northern barons
+marched hastily under Eustace de Vesci to join their comrades in
+London. Even the nobles who had as yet clung to the king, but whose
+hopes of conciliation were blasted by his obstinacy, yielded at last
+to the summons of the "Army of God." Pandulf, indeed, and Archbishop
+Langton still remained with John, but they counseled as Earl Ranulf
+and William Marshal counseled his acceptance of the charter. None, in
+fact, counseled its rejection save his new justiciar, the Poitevin
+Peter des Roches and other foreigners who knew the barons purposed
+driving them from the land. But even the number of these was small;
+there was a moment when John found himself with but seven knights at
+his back and before him a nation in arms. Quick as he was, he had been
+taken utterly by surprise. It was in vain that in the short respite he
+had gained from Christmas to Easter, he had summoned mercenaries to
+his aid and appealed to his new suzerain, the Pope. Summons and appeal
+were alike too late. Nursing wrath in his heart, John bowed to
+necessity, and called the barons to a conference on an island in the
+Thames between Windsor and Staines, near a marshy meadow by the
+river-side, the meadow of Runnymede.
+
+8. The king encamped on one bank of the river, the barons covered the
+flat of Runnymede on the other. Their delegates met on the 15th of
+July in the island between them, but the negotiations were a mere
+cloak to cover John's purpose of unconditional submission. The Great
+Charter was discussed and agreed to in a single day.
+
+                                            _John Richard Green._
+
+[Footnote A: Scutage, or shield-money, was the commutation paid in
+lieu of military service by all who owed service to the king.]
+
+
+
+
+_XLIV.--AN EARLY ELECTION TO PARLIAMENT._
+
+     The following preliminary sketch by J. R. Green, the historian,
+     serves as an introduction to Palgrave's picture of an election
+     under Edward I:
+
+     "It was Edward the First, who first made laws in what has ever
+     since been called Parliament. For this purpose he called on the
+     shires and larger towns to choose men to 'represent' them, or
+     appear in their stead in the Great Council; the shires sending
+     knights of the shire, the towns burgesses. These, added to the
+     peers or high nobles and to the bishops, made up Parliament.
+
+     "The business of Parliament was not only to make good laws for
+     the realm, but to grant money to the king for the needs of the
+     state in peace and war, and to authorize him to raise this money
+     by taxes or subsidies from his subjects. So at first people saw
+     little of the great good of such Parliaments, but dreaded their
+     calling together, because they brought taxes with them. Nor did
+     men seek, as they do now, to be chosen members of Parliament, for
+     the way thither was long and travel costly, and so they did their
+     best not to be chosen, and when chosen had to be bound over under
+     pain of heavy fines to serve in Parliament."
+
+
+1. During the last half-hour the suitors had been gathering round the
+shire-oak awaiting the arrival of the high officer whose duty it was
+to preside. Notwithstanding the size of the meeting, there was an
+evident system in the crowd. A considerable proportion of the throng
+consisted of little knots of husbandmen or churls, four or five of
+whom were generally standing together, each company seeming to compose
+a deputation. The churls might be easily distinguished by their dress,
+a long frock of coarse yet snow-white linen hanging down to the same
+length before and behind, and ornamented round the neck with broidery
+rudely executed in blue thread. They wore, in fact, the attire of the
+carter and plowman, a garb which was common enough in country parts
+about five-and-twenty years ago, but which will probably soon be
+recollected only as an ancient costume, cast away with all the other
+obsolete characteristics of merry old England.
+
+[Illustration: _An Early Election to Parliament._]
+
+2. These groups of peasantry were the representatives of their
+respective townships, the rural communes into which the whole realm
+was divided; and each had a species of chieftain or head-man in the
+person of an individual who, though it was evident that he belonged to
+the same rank in society, gave directions to the rest. Interspersed
+among the churls, though not confounded with them, were also very many
+well-clad persons, possessing an appearance of rustic respectability,
+who were also subjected to some kind of organization, being collected
+into sets of twelve men each, who were busily employed in
+confabulation among themselves. These were "the sworn centenary
+deputies" or jurors, the sworn men who answered for or represented the
+several hundreds.
+
+3. A third class of members of the shire court could be equally
+distinguished, proudly known by their gilt spurs and blazoned tabards
+as the provincial knighthood, and who, though thus honored, appeared
+to mix freely and affably in converse with the rest of the commons of
+the shire.
+
+4. A flourish of trumpets announced the approach of the high-sheriff,
+Sir Giles de Argentein, surrounded by his escort of javelin-men, tall
+yeomen, all arrayed in a uniform suit of livery, and accompanied,
+among others, by four knights, the coroners, who took cognizance of
+all pleas that concerned the king's rights within the county, and who,
+though they yielded precedence to the sheriff, were evidently
+considered to be almost of equal importance with him. "My masters,"
+said the sheriff to the assembled crowd, "even now hath the
+port-joye[B] of the chancery delivered to me certain most important
+writs of our sovereign lord the king, containing his Grace's high
+commands." At this time the chancellor, who might be designated as
+principal secretary of state for all departments, was the great medium
+of communication between king and subject: whatever the sovereign had
+to ask or tell was usually asked or told by, or under, the directions
+of this high functionary.
+
+5. Now, although the gracious declarations which the chancellor was
+charged to deliver were much diversified in their form, yet, somehow
+or other, they all conveyed the same intent. Whether directing the
+preservation of peace or preparing for the prosecution of a war,
+whether announcing a royal birth or a royal death, the knighthood of
+the king's son or the marriage of the king's daughter, the mandates of
+our ancient kings invariably conclude with a request or a demand for
+money's worth or money.
+
+6. The present instance offered no exception to the general rule. King
+Edward, greeting his loving subjects, expatiated upon the miseries
+which the realm was likely to sustain by the invasion of the wicked,
+barbarous, and perfidious Scots. Church and state, he alleged, were in
+equal danger, and "inasmuch as that which concerneth all ought to be
+determined by the advice of all concerned, we have determined,"
+continued the writ, "to hold our Parliament at Westminster in eight
+days from the feast of St. Hilary." The effect of the announcement was
+magical. Parliament! Even before the second syllable of the word had
+been uttered, visions of aids and subsidies rose before the appalled
+multitude, grim shadows of assessors and collectors floated in the
+ambient air.
+
+7. Sir Gilbert Hastings instinctively plucked his purse out of his
+sleeve; drawing the strings together, he twisted, and tied them in the
+course of half a minute of nervous agitation into a Gordian knot,
+which apparently defied any attempt to undo it, except by means
+practiced by the son of Ammon. The Abbot of Oseney forthwith guided
+his steed to the right about, and rode away from the meeting as fast
+as his horse could trot, turning the deafest of all deaf ears to the
+monitions which he received to stay.
+
+8. The sheriff and the other functionaries alone preserved a tranquil
+but not a cheerful gravity, as Sir Giles commanded his clerk to read
+the whole of the writ, by which he was commanded "to cause two knights
+to be elected for the shire; and from every city within his bailiwick
+two citizens; and from every borough two burgesses--all of them of the
+more discreet and wiser sort; and to cause them to come before the
+king in this Parliament at the before-mentioned day and place, with
+full powers from their respective communities to perform and consent
+to such matters as by common counsel shall then and there be ordained;
+and this you will in no wise omit, as you will answer at your peril."
+
+9. A momentary pause ensued. The main body of the suitors retreated
+from the high-sheriff, as though he had been a center of repulsion.
+After a short but vehement conversation among themselves, one of the
+bettermost sort of yeomen, a gentleman farmer, if we may use the
+modern term, stepped forward and addressed Sir Giles: "Your worship
+well knows that we, your commons, are not bound to proceed to the
+election. You have no right to call upon us to interfere. So many of
+the earls and barons of the shire, the great men, who ought to take
+the main trouble, burthen, and business of the choice of the knights
+upon themselves, are absent now in the king's service, that we neither
+can nor dare proceed to nominate those who are to represent the
+county. Such slender folks as we have no concern in these weighty
+matters. How can we tell who are best qualified to serve?"
+
+10. "What of that, John Trafford?" said the sheriff. "Do you think
+that his Grace will allow his affairs to be delayed by excuses such as
+these? You suitors of the shire are as much bound and obliged to
+concur in the choice of the county members as any baron of the realm.
+Do your duty; I command you in the king's name!"
+
+11. John Trafford had no help. Like a wise debater, he yielded to the
+pinch of the argument without confessing that he felt it; and, having
+muttered a few words to the sheriff, which might be considered as an
+assent, a long conference took place between him and some of his
+brother stewards, as well as with other suitors. During this
+confabulation several nods and winks of intelligence passed between
+Trafford and a well-mounted knight; and while the former appeared to
+be settling the business with the suitors, the latter, who had been
+close to Sir Giles, continued gradually backing and sidling away
+through the groups of shiresmen, and, just as he had got clear out of
+the ring, John Trafford declared, in a most sonorous voice, that the
+suitors had chosen Sir Richard de Pogeys as one of their
+representatives.
+
+12. The sheriff, who, keeping his eye fixed upon Sir Richard as he
+receded, had evidently suspected some man[oe]uvre, instantly ordered
+his bailiffs to secure the body of the member. "And," continued he
+with much vehemence, "Sir Richard must be forthwith committed to
+custody, unless he gives good bail--two substantial freeholders--that
+he will duly attend in his place among the commons on the first day of
+the session, according to the law and usage of Parliament."
+
+13. All this, however, was more easily said than done. Before the
+verbal precept had proceeded from the lips of the sheriff, Sir Richard
+was galloping away at full speed across the fields. Off dashed the
+bailiffs after the member, amid the shouts of the surrounding crowd,
+who forgot all their grievances in the stimulus of the chase, which
+they contemplated with the perfect certainty of receiving some
+satisfaction by its termination; whether by the escape of the
+fugitive, in which case their common enemy, the sheriff, would be
+liable to a heavy amercement;[C] or by the capture of the knight, a
+result which would give them almost equal delight, by imposing a
+disagreeable and irksome duty upon an individual who was universally
+disliked, in consequence of his overbearing harshness and domestic
+tyranny.
+
+14. One of the two above-mentioned gratifications might be considered
+as certain. But, besides these, there was a third contingent
+amusement, by no means to be overlooked, namely, the chance that in
+the contest those respectable and intelligent functionaries, the
+sheriff's bailiffs, might somehow or another come to some kind of
+harm. In this charitable expectation the good men of the shire were
+not entirely disappointed. Bounding along the open fields, while the
+welkin resounded with the cheers of the spectators, the fleet courser
+of Sir Richard sliddered on the grass, then stumbled and fell down the
+sloping side of one of the many ancient British intrenchments by which
+the plain was crossed, and, horse and rider rolling over, the latter
+was deposited quite at the bottom of the foss, unhurt, but much
+discomposed.
+
+15. Horse and rider were immediately on their respective legs again:
+the horse shook himself, snorted, and was quite ready to start; but
+Sir Richard had to regird his sword, and before he could remount, the
+bailiffs were close at him. Dick-o'-the-Gyves attempted to trip him
+up, John Catchpole seized him by the collar of his pourpoint.[D] A
+scuffle ensued, during which the nags of the bailiffs slyly took the
+opportunity of emancipating themselves from control. Distinctly seen
+from the moot-hill, the strife began and ended in a moment; in what
+manner it had ended was declared without any further explanation,
+when the officers rejoined the assembly, by Dick's limping gait and
+the closed eye of his companion.
+
+16. In the mean time Sir Richard had wholly disappeared, and the
+special return made by the sheriff to the writ, which I translate from
+the original, will best elucidate the bearing of the transaction:
+
+"Sir Richard de Pogeys, knight, duly elected by the shire, refused to
+find bail for his appearance in Parliament at the day and place within
+mentioned, and having grievously assaulted my bailiffs in contempt of
+the king, his crown, and dignity, and absconded to the Chiltern
+Hundreds[E], into which liberty, not being shire-land or guildable, I
+can not enter, I am unable to make any other execution of the writ as
+far as he is concerned."
+
+17. At the present day a nominal stewardship connected with the
+Chiltern Hundreds, called an office of profit under the crown, enables
+the member, by a species of juggle, to resign his seat. But it is not
+generally known that this ancient domain, which now affords the means
+of retreating out of the House of Commons, was in the fourteenth
+century employed as a sanctuary in which the knight of the shire took
+refuge in order to avoid being dragged into Parliament against his
+will. Being a distinct jurisdiction, in which the sheriff had no
+control, and where he could not capture the county member, it enabled
+the recusant to baffle the process, at least until the short session
+had closed.
+
+                                                      _Palgrave._
+
+[Footnote B: The port-joye was the messenger of the chancellor.]
+
+[Footnote C: Fine.]
+
+[Footnote D: Overcoat, or doublet.]
+
+[Footnote E: The district of the Chilterns, or line of chalk-hills to
+the east of Buckinghamshire.]
+
+
+
+
+_XLV.--THE BATTLE OF CRESSY._
+
+
+1. Froissart was a brilliant historian of the middle ages. His
+writings are in quaint old French. At the request of Henry VIII of
+England, a translation of his "Battle of Cressy" was made into the
+English of that day. We insert this as a most lively description of
+the battle itself, and as a specimen of old literature in which pupils
+can not fail to take great interest:
+
+2. Thenglysshmen who were in three batayls, lyeing on the grounde to
+rest them, assone as they saw the frenchmen approche, they rose upon
+their fete, fayre and easily, without any haste, and arranged their
+batayls: the first, which was the prince's batell, the archers then
+strode in the manner of a harrow, and the men at armes in the botome
+of the batayle.
+
+3. Therle of North[=a]pton and therle of Arundell, with the second
+batell, were on a wyng in good order, redy to comfort the princes
+batayle, if nede were. The lordes and knyghtes of France, c[=a]e not
+to the assemble togyder in good order, for some came before, and some
+c[=a]e after, in such haste and yvell order, y^t one of th[=e] dyd
+trouble another: when the french kyng sawe the englysshmen, his blode
+chaunged, and sayde to his marshals, make the genowayes go on before,
+and begynne the batayle in the name of god and saynt Denyse; ther were
+of the genowayse crosbowes, about a fiftene thousand, but they were so
+wery of goyng a fote that day, a six leages, armed with their
+crosbowes, that they sayde to their constables, we be not well ordered
+to fyght this day, for we be not in the case to do any great dede of
+armes, we have more nede of rest. These wordes came to the erle of
+Alanson, who sayd, a man is well at ease to be charged w^t suche a
+sorte of rascalles, to be faynt and fayle now at moost nede. Also the
+same season there fell a great rayne, and a clyps, with a terryble
+thunder, and before the rayne, ther came fleying over both batayls, a
+great nombre of crowes, for feare of the tempest comynge.
+
+4. Than anone the eyre beganne to wax clere, and the sonne to shyne
+fayre and bright, the which was right in the frenchmens eyen and on
+thenglysshmens backes. Whan the genowayes were assembled to-guyder,
+and began to aproche, they made a great leape and crye, to abasshe
+thenglysshmen, but they stode styll, and styredde not for all that;
+th[=a]ns the genowayes agayne the seconde tyme made another leape, and
+a fell crye, and stepped forward a lytell, and thenglysshmen remeued
+not one fote; thirdly agayne they leapt and cryed, and went forthe
+tyll they come within shotte; thane they shotte feersly with their
+crosbowes; thun thenglysshe archers stept forthe one pase, and lette
+fly their arowes so hotly, and so thycke, that it semed snowe; when
+the genowayes felte the arowes persynge through heeds, armes, and
+brestes, many of them cast downe their crosbowes, and dyde cutte their
+strynges, and retourned dysconfited.
+
+5. Whun the frenche kynge sawe them flye away, he sayd, slee these
+rascalles, for they shall lette and trouble us without reason: then ye
+shulde have sene the men of armes dasshe in among them, and kylled a
+great nombre of them; and ever styll the englysshmen shot where as
+they sawe thyckest preace; the sharpe arowes ranne into the men of
+armes, and into their horses, and many fell, horse and men, am[=o]ge
+the genowayes; and when they were downe, they coude not relyve agayne,
+the preace was so thycke, that one overthrewe another. And also amonge
+the englysshmen there were certayne rascalles that went a fote, with
+great knyves, and they went in among the men of armes, and slewe and
+murdredde many as they lay on the grounde, both erles, baronnes,
+knyghtes and squyers, whereof the kynge of Englande was after
+dyspleased, for he had rather they had bene taken prisoners.
+
+6. The valyant kyng of Behaygne, called Charles of Luzenbomge, sonne
+to the noble emperour Henry of Luzenbomge, for all that he was nyghe
+blynde, whun he understode the order of the batayle, he sayde to them
+about hym, where is the lorde Charles my son? his men sayde, sir, we
+can not tell, we thynke he be fyghtynge; thun he sayde, sirs, ye ar my
+men, my companyons, and frendes in this journey. I requyre you bring
+me so farre forwarde, that I may stryke one stroke with my swerde;
+they sayde they wolde do his commandement, and to the intent that they
+shulde not lese him in the prease, they tyed all their raynes of their
+bridelles eche to other, and sette the kynge before to accomplysshe
+his desyre, and so thei went on their ennemyes; the lorde Charles of
+Behaygne, his sonne, who wrote hymselfe kyng of Behaygne, and bare the
+armes, he came in good order to the batayle, but wh[=a]ne he sawe that
+the matter went awrie on their partie, he departed, I can not tell you
+whiche waye, the kynge his father was so farre forwarde that he strake
+a stroke with his swerde, ye and mo thun foure, and fought valyuntly,
+and so dyde his compuny, and they adv[=e]tured themselfe so forwarde,
+that they were ther all slayne, and the next day they were founde in
+the place about the kyng, and all their horses tyed eche to other.
+
+7. The erle of Alansone came to the batayle right ordy notlye, and
+fought with thenglysshmen; and the erle of Flaunders also on his
+parte; these two lordes with their c[=o]panyes wosted the englysshe
+archers, and came to the princes batayle, and there fought valyantly
+longe. The frenche kynge wolde fayne have come thyder whanne he saw
+their baners, but there was a great hedge of archers before hym. The
+same day the frenche kynge hadde gyven a great blacke courser to Sir
+John of Heynault, and he made the lorde Johan of Fussels to ryde on
+hym, and to bere his banerre; the same horse tooke the bridell in the
+tethe, and brought hym through all the currours of th[=e]'glysshmen,
+and as he wolde have retourned agayne, he fell in a great dyke, and
+was sore hurt, and had been ther deed, and his page had not ben, who
+followed him through all the batayls, and sawe where his maister lay
+in the dyke, and had none other lette but for his horse, for
+thenglysshmen wolde not yssue out of their batayle, for takyng of any
+prisiner; th[=a]ne the page alyghted and relyved his maister, thun he
+went not backe agayn y^e same way that they came, there was to many in
+his way.
+
+8. This batyle bytwene Broy and Cressy, this Saturday was right cruell
+and fell, and many a feat of armes done, that came not to my
+knowledge; in the night, dyverse knyghtes and sqyers lost their
+maisters, and sometyme came on thenglysshmen, who receyved them in
+such wyse, that they were ever nighe slayne; for there was none taken
+to mercy nor to raunsome, for so thenglysshmen were determyned: in the
+mornyng the day of the batayle, certayne frenchmen and almaygnes
+perforce opyned the archers of the princes batayle, and came and
+fought with the men of armes hande to hande: than the seconde batayle
+of thenglysshmen came to sucour the princes batayle, the whiche was
+tyme, for they had as th[=a]n moche ado; and they with y^e prince sent
+a messanger to the kynge, who was on a lytell wyndmyll hyll; thun the
+knyght sayd to the kyng, sir, therle of Warwyke, and therle of
+C[=a]fort, Sir Reynolde Cobham, and other, suche as be about the
+prince your sonne, as feersly fought with all, and ar sore handled,
+wherefore they desyre you, that you and your batayle wolle come and
+ayde them, for if the frenchmen encrease, as they dout they woll, your
+sonne and they shall have much ado.
+
+9. Thun the kynge sayde, is my sonne deed or hurt, or on the yerthe
+felled? no sir, quoth the knyght, but he is hardely matched, wherefore
+he hath nede of your ayde. Well, sayde the king, returne to him, and
+to thrm that sent you hyther, and say to them, that they sende no more
+to me for an adventure that falleth, as long as my son is alyve, and
+also say to th[=e], that they suffre hym this day to wynne his
+spurres, for if god he pleased, I woll this journey be his, and the
+honoure therof, and to them that be aboute him. Thun the knyght
+returned agayn to th[=e], and shewed the kynges wordes, the which
+gretly encouraged them, and repoyned in that they had sende to the
+kynge as they dyd. Sir Godfray of Harecourt, wolde gladly that the
+erle of Harcourt, his brother, myghte have been saved, for he hurd say
+by th[=e] that he sawe his baner, howe that he was ther in the felde
+on the french partie, but Sir Godfray coude not come to hym betymes
+for he was slayne or he coude co[=e] at hym, and so also was therle of
+Almare, his nephue.
+
+10. In another place the erle of Aleuson, and therle of Flaunders,
+fought valyantly, every lorde under his owne banere; but finally they
+coude not resyst agaynt the payssance of thenglysshmen, and so ther
+they were also slayne, and dyvers knyghtes and sqyers, also therle of
+Lewes of Bloyes, nephue to the frenche kyng, and the duke of Lorayne,
+fought under their baners, but at last they were closed in among a
+c[=o]pany of englysshmen and welshmen, and were there slayed, for all
+their powers. Also there was slayne the erle of Ausser, therle of
+Saynt Poule, and many others.
+
+11. In the evenynge, the frenche kynge, who had lefte about hym no
+more than a threscore persons, one and other, whereof Sir John of
+Heynalt was one, who had remounted ones the kynge, for his horse was
+slayne with an arowe, th[=a] sayde to the kynge, sir, departe hense,
+for it is tyme, lese not yourselfe wylfully, if ye have losse at this
+tyme, ye shall recover it agaynt another season, and soo he took the
+kynge's horse by the brydell, and ledde hym away in a maner perforce;
+than the kyng rode tyll he came to the castell of Broy. The gate was
+closed, because it was by that tyme darke; than the kynge called the
+captayne, who came to the walles, and sayd, Who is that calleth there
+this tyme of night? than the kynge sayde, open your gate quickly, for
+this is the fortune of Fraunce; the captayne knewe than it was the
+kyng, and opyned the gate, and let downe the bridge; than the kyng
+entred, and he had with hym but fyve baronnes, Sir Johan of Heynault,
+Sir Charles of Monmorency, the lorde of Beaureive, the lorde Dobegny,
+and the lorde of Mountfort; the kynge wolde not tary there, but
+dr[=a]ke and departed thense about mydnyght, and so rode by suche
+guydes as knewe the country, tyll he came in the mornynge to Anyeuse,
+and then he rested. This saturday the englysshmen never departed for
+their batayls for chasynge of any man, but kept styll their felde, and
+ever defended themselfe agaynst all such as came to assayle them; the
+batayle ended about evynsonge tyme.
+
+
+
+
+_XLVI.--THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT._
+
+
+    1.  Fair stood the wind for France
+        When we our sails advance,
+        Nor now to prove our chance
+          Longer will tarry;
+        But, putting to the main,
+        At Kaux, the mouth of Seine,
+        With all his martial train,
+          Landed King Harry.
+
+    2.  And taking many a fort,
+        Furnish'd in warlike sort,
+        March'd toward Agincourt
+          In happy hour;
+        Skirmishing day by day
+        With those that stop'd the way,
+        Where the French gen'ral lay
+          With all his power.
+
+    3.  Which in his height of pride,
+        King Henry to deride,
+        His ransom to provide
+          To the king sending;
+        Which he neglects the while,
+        As from a nation vile,
+        Yet with an angry smile,
+          Their fall portending.
+
+    4.  And turning to his men,
+        Quoth our brave Henry then,
+        Though they be one to ten,
+          Be not amazed.
+        Yet, have we well begun,
+        Battles so bravely won
+        Have ever to the sun
+          By fame been raised.
+
+    5.  And for myself, quoth he,
+        This my full rest shall be,
+        England ne'er mourn for me,
+          Nor more esteem me.
+        Victor I will remain,
+        Or on this earth lie slain,
+        Never shall she sustain
+          Loss to redeem me.
+
+    6.  Poictiers and Cressy tell,
+        When most their pride did swell,
+        Under our swords they fell,
+          No less our skill is,
+        Than when our grandsire great,
+        Claiming the regal seat,
+        By many a warlike feat,
+          Lop'd the French lilies.
+
+    7.  The Duke of York so dread
+        The eager vanward led;
+        With the main Henry sped
+          Amongst his henchmen.
+        Excester had the rear,
+        A braver man not there;
+        O Lord, how hot they were
+          On the false Frenchmen!
+
+    8.  They now to fight are gone,
+        Armor on armor shone,
+        Drum now to drum did groan,
+          To hear was wonder;
+        That with the cries they make,
+        The very earth did shake,
+        Trumpet to trumpet spake,
+          Thunder to thunder.
+
+    9.  Well it thine age became,
+        O noble Erpingham,
+        Which did the signal aim
+          To our hid forces;
+        When from a meadow by,
+        Like a storm suddenly,
+        The English archery
+          Struck the French horses.
+
+    10. With Spanish yew so strong,
+        Arrows a cloth-yard long,
+        That like to serpents stung,
+          Piercing the weather;
+        None from his fellow starts,
+        But playing manly parts,
+        And, like true English hearts,
+          Stuck close together.
+
+    11. When down their bows they threw
+        And forth their bilbows drew,
+        And on the French they flew;
+          Not one was tardy.
+        Arms from their shoulders sent,
+        Scalps to the teeth were rent,
+        Down the French peasants went,
+          Our men were hardy.
+
+    12. This while our noble king,
+        His broadsword brandishing,
+        Down the French host did ding,
+          As to o'erwhelm it;
+        And many a deep wound lent,
+        His arms with blood besprent,
+        And many a cruel dent
+          Bruised his helmet.
+
+    13. Glo'ster, that duke so good,
+        Next of the royal blood,
+        For famous English stood,
+          With his brave brother,
+        Clarence, in steel so bright,
+        Though but a maiden knight,
+        Yet in that furious fight
+          Scarce such another.
+
+    14. Warwick in blood did wade,
+        Oxford the foe invade,
+        And cruel slaughter made,
+          Still as they ran up;
+        Suffolk his axe did ply,
+        Beaumont and Willoughby;
+        Bore them right doughtily,
+          Ferrers and Fanhope.
+
+    15. Upon Saint Crispin's day
+        Fought was this noble fray,
+        Which fame did not delay
+          To England to carry.
+        O when shall Englishmen
+        With such acts fill a pen,
+        Or England breed again
+          Such a King Harry?
+
+              _Michael Drayton._
+
+
+      THE END.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+
+    * Punctuation errors have been corrected.
+
+    * Footnotes have been moved to the end of the respective story.
+
+    * Hyphenation of "housetops" and "house-tops" left as printed.
+
+    * Pg 51 Corrected spelling of "breastplace" to "breastplate" in
+    "... upon Orlando's breastplace that his sword ..."
+
+    * Pg 137 Corrected spelling of "acccess" to "access" in "... might
+    have acccess to them"
+
+    * Pg 148 Corrected spelling of "forescore" to "fourscore" in "... on
+    the left, and forescore on the ..."
+
+    * Pg 176 Corrected spelling of "Treves" to "Treves" in "... Roman
+    road from Treves as far as the ..."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories of the Olden Time, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF THE OLDEN TIME ***
+
+***** This file should be named 34083.txt or 34083.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/0/8/34083/
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/34083.zip b/34083.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02751ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/34083.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..581e8e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #34083 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34083)