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ATTRACTIVELY ANB STRONGLY BOUND. i > FRIOe, 30 CENTS, While the ability to spell correctly is justly regarded as one of the most important objects of education, as it is also one of its most distin- guishing marks, the old style of ** Speller," with its lists of words in parallel columns, classified only with reference to their length, is, and deserves to be, in disrepute among intelligent teachers. Tb.e Word and Sentence Book recognizes the truth of the educa- tional maxim, "We learn by doing." While it contains an unusually large list of words, classified with respect to their meaning, it provides also, in great number and variety, carefully prepared dictation exercises requiring the pupil to write the words in different combinations. It will be found that by the use of these exercises the primary object of a spelling-book, to enable pupils to spell correctly in written composition, can be must successfully accomplished. In order to get the best results the pupil must be interested in the book, and it is believed that Grafton's Word and Sentence Book, containing, as it does, not only the best selected and best classified list of words, but a far greater amount of useful and interesting information than can be found in any other book of its kind, will insure his interest. What they say of the New Speller : " It is the best." | " Is delighted with it." " Selections for copying and memorizing are in good taste." " Has found it perfectly satisfactory." ! ** I would like to put every class in school through it." ' " Th» best he has ever seen." " It heads the list." ... * ' It covers the whole ground." , " The most practical and interesting he has ever seen. He pi edicts for it great success." i Authorized fffr me in the Province of Quebec. > Adopted for use in the Public and High Schools of Montreal. | F. E. GRAFTON & SONS, Publishers, ( / \ \ A LIST OF THE VARIOUS COUNTRIES, ISLANDS, TERRI- TORIES AND POSSESSIONS WHICH MAKE UP THE "BRITISH EMPIRE," AND IN WHICH THE ".UNION JACK" FLIES (1893):— The British Islands. Population . 29,002,525 4,025,647 4.704.750 54,000 90,000 nhabited by 5,000,000 198,000 England and Wales . Scotland .... Ireland .... Isle of Man The Channel Islands Great Countries chiefly Englishmen— North America. Canada Newfoundland Australasia. New South Wales Victoria New Zealand Queensland South Australia Western Australia Tasmania. . Places colonised by Englishmen, bt which those of English descent, outnumbered by natives, or thos^ some other race — in which there is still a large number of natives or persons not of English race— Bahamas, [West Indies] . 48,000 Barbados, [North Atfanticl 172,000 Ceylon, [Indian Ocean] . . 3,000,000 Fiji Islands, [Pacific Oeean] 125,000 Jamaica and Turk's Island, [West Indies] 639,500 Labuan, [China Seas] . 6,000 Leeward Islands, [West Indies] 120,000 Mauritius, [Indian Ocean] 378,000 New Guinea,[£ast Indies]iVi?/ ascertained Trinidad, [West Indies] Windward Islands, [West In- dies], including : — Grenada St. Lucia St. Vincent 188,500 53,000 42,000 4I,O.X5 t8,ooo South Africa Cape Colony . Natal .... Griqualand West Hechuanaland . Zululand . . . ,, ,, Walfisch Bay . . „ ,, KoTR— In the South African colonies there are a largo number of persona of Dutch descent ax well as the natives. • », 525,000 543.000 50,000 Noi ascertained West Africa. Gambia .... Gold Coast and Lagos Sierra Leone Asia. Straits Settlements South America. British Guiana . British Honduras 14,000 450,000 74,000 600,000 285,000 31.500 Islands forming part of the Empire and colonised by men of English race, but partly for com- i jMeflyjia^mill- 44,000 221,000 15,000 Aden . . . , Perim .... China Seas Hong Kong North Atlantic. Bermuda .... South Atlantic. Ascension .... 200 St. Helena . . . 4,000 Possessions under the Qovernor-Qeneral of India, people by a number of native races, under the Qovernment of a few Englishmen— India Burmah* 286,000,000 Countries under the protection of the British Empire— Zanzibar and the parts of Africa striped red in the map. ''S'''eror Claudius or Severus constructed a road from Londinium to Deva^ is to be told a fact which may or may not linger in the recollection of a child until the day of examination ; but to stand on the Edgware Road and to know that you are standing on the Watling Street whose stony pave- ment actually rang to the \ramp of the Tenth Legion, and whose straight course may be marked o'er hill and dale right through our midland counties from London to St. Albans, St. Albans to Dunstable, through Weedon and Wroxeter, across the Severn to Chester, is to put a bridge across 1,500 years of time, and to be one step nearer to understanding the meaning of the continuity of our history. The story of English History is rich and varied as a great romance. The Englishman who loves to study the history of his country can, indeed, like the householder of Scripture, " bring forth from his treasui-e " — the rich storehouse of the re- cords of England — " things new and old." Our history touches our daily life in a thousand places. The form of an arch, the spelling of a word, the turn of a phrase, the cut of a coat, the direction of a road, all have their story if we can only read it. The Queen assents to an Act of Parliament in French, and thereby hangs a tale which is as long as the history of the Normans in England. A Wiltshire ploughman talks of " housen " and " eyen" and we are back in Saxon England and the language of Chaucer. The Judge's Marshal swears- in the " Grand Jury," and the Clerk of Arraigns calls the " Panel " of the Petty Jury, and we are in contact with the legal institutions and the legal phi'ases of 6 PREFACE. Henry IT. The lives of the majority of Englishmen are not over-full of romance and imagination, and it seems a pity that we should fail to take every advantage which the varied historical record of our country affords us for lightening and brightening the aspect of our somewhat dull lives. I believe that English I)eople know far too little of the history of their country, and that the Education Department has acted most wisely in endeavouring to change a state of things which is greatly io our disadvantage. My hope is that in this series I may have succeeded in putting some life into the study which many children are wont to regard as a dull one, and that I may help some of my younger fellow-countrymen to grow up better citizens because they know and can understand the history of their country, and happier men and women because they are able to find in the common objects of their daily life a perpetual series of fresh links with the ci'owded history of their forefathers. H. O. A.-P. ®lj^ fflross of ^t €earQe. The Red Cross is the Cross of St. George, the Patron Saint of England. The Red Cross has for hundreds of years been carried as the Flag of England. We can see it now in the middle of the •'Union Jack," together with the Cross of St. Andrew— which is of this shape X, and is white upon a blue ground— and the^ Cross of St. Patrick, which is of the same shape as the Cross of St. Andrew, but is red upon a white ground. The Cross of St. George is for England, the Cross of St. Ar.drew for Scotland, and the Cross of St. Patrick for Ireland. The 2ir(i of April is St. Grorge's Day. It would be a good thing if every school in Canada had a '* Union Jack," with the Red Cross of ' - 11. And now I am going to tell you some of the things which are to be found in Julius Caesar's book ; so that you may learn what sort of a place England seemed to the Roman soldiers wlio invaded it nearly two thousand years ago. mg^i^^'mimmmm^m lie was BRITAIN AND TUB BRITONS, 19 ns great em, but g-ht two other in hem he )n these at of all ve been itten in 11 other 3 school 3h were given ^amina- d them passed which one of ngland ome of Julius sort of oldiers ago. CHAPTER III. Britain and the Britons. 1. I TOLD you that the Romans thought that when they came to Britain they were coming to a savage land; but in this they were mis- taken, for the people of Britain were not really savages. Their manners and customs were quite different from those of the Romans ; and for thaic reason the Romans despised them and thought them savages. 2. But it is easy to see, by what the Romans themselves tell us about them, that the Britons were not r'^ally savages at all. English people in our own time sometimes make the same mistake which the Romans made, and treat the people of other countries as savages and far below them, just because their habits are strange and their ways of thought are not like our own. 3. We do not know a very great deal about what the Britons were really like, but we know some things about them. The men were tall and handsome, and fought bravely in battle ; but it seems as if they were rather too fond of fighting, for not only did they fight against the Romans and other enemies who came from abroad, but thev often quarrelled and fought aniong themselves. B 20 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. 4. Tliey lived in villa<^os made up of a number of small houses or huts, surrounded by a hi^h wall. They lived chiefly by huntin*^ and fisliing, and there were always plenty of wild A BBITON AND HIS BOAT. Ir ;: animals to kill and fish to catch ; for we must not forget that at the time we are speaking of, England was very different from wliat it is now ; the country was covered with thick forests, and the rivers, instead of being shut in between close banks, often spread over the land and made great UniTAIN AND THE BRITONS, 21 swamps and marshes. In the forests tliere were wolves, wild boars, and many other animals which are quite unknown in England in our own day. It was with the skins of these animals that the Britons made their clothes, just as Robinson Crusoe did when he found himself alone on his island. 5. The Britons did not drink wine, but they made a strong drink out of honey. This drink is sometimes made now; it is called mead. The religion of the Britons was quite diif erent from ours. They were heathens, and believed that there were many gods. Their priests were called Druids. These Druids were very strange people. They used to pretend that they had very great and terrible secrets which were known to them and to nobody else. They said that their gods lived in the very thickest and darkest parts of the woods, and they used to go and pray to their gods under the great oaks in the forests. They wore long white robes, and the people held them in great awe. 6. The Druids have been dead hundreds of years, and their religion has long been forgotten, but there are still some things in England in our own time to remind us of the white-robed Druids and their strange religion. 'll"^'iil '!.;:; STORIES FROM ENGLISH BISTORT. ! I 'I;: i I'll I i I m m PI hi 1 II! Imn , CHAPTER IV. ^ What the Britons have left us. 1. If we take the train to Salisbury, and then take a carriage and drive rather more than ten miles over Salisbury Plain, we shall 'I ./ STONEHENGE A8 IT 18. (From a Photograph by J. Valentine i& Sons, Dundee.) suddenly come to a very strange sight. In the middle of the plain we shall see a number of great stones — some of them lying on their sides on the grass, others standing straight up, and some of them resting upon other great stones in the way shown in the picture. The stones are of enormous size and very heavy — many of them are from 23 to 28 feet high. ;lil:;i!i|i WHAT TUB BRITONS HAVE LEFT US. 23 2. It seems a wonder how such heavy stones ever got to be set up in this way ; but we shall find a still more wonderful thing about some of the stones when we come to look more closely at them. We shall find that they are not of the BTONEHENGE AS IT WAS. same kind as the stones which are found upon Salisbury Plain, but that they are of ti kind which must have come from a long way off. 8. What is this place, and what are these strange stones that have been set up in the middle of Salisbury Plain ? The place is Stone- henge, and the stones were set up there before the time of Julius Caesar by the Druids whom 24 STORIES FROM ENGLISH mSTORY. ivM liiitii t!l»ii:' WO have. been reading about. Stonehenge was one of the places where the Druids used to wor- ship their gods ; and though no one quite knows why they set up tlie stones, it is certain that they were looked upon by the Britons as being very sacred. 4. Once there were a great many more stones standing up than what we see now. If the stones which have fallen do\^♦n were still in their places, we should see that the Druids had made two great circles, one inside tlie other; the outside one of big stones, and the inside one of smaller stones. On page 2'^ there is a picture of what Stone- heiige must have looked like before any of the stones fell down. 5. There are other rings of stones in England, but the one at Stonehenge is tlie largest and most interesting. All these stones were put up by the Druids; and they can be seen to this day by Englishmen, and will help to remind them of the Britons who lived in our l^nd two thousand years ago. 6. There is another thing besides the great stone circle which ought to remind us of the Druids. Most of us, whether we live in town or country, have seen the sprigs of green leaves and white berries which are put up among the holly and the laurel leaves at Christmas. They are the mistld- th El WHAT THE BRITONS HAVE LEFT US. 25 toe leaves and berries wliioh are gathered from plants which grow on the steins of the trees in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and in many other parts of England. 7. It is not easy at first to guess why it is that mistktoe is hung up in so many houses in England at Christmas time. To find out the THE MISTIJETOE BOUGH. answer to the question we must go back a very long way in history, until we come to the time of the DrLiids. It was the Druids who first used the mistletoe. They thought that its berries were sacred or holy, and they often put them up in the places where they prayed to their gods. 8. We have long forgotten all about the gods to whom, the Druids prayed, but we have not forgotten about the mistletoe the) were so fond 26 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY, of. The great stones at Stonehenge tumbled down, the Romans came over and conquered the Britons, and many changes, good and bad, took place in England, but the use of the mistletoe bough never changed ; and when the people of England learnt to pray to another God, ^nd found that the gods of the Druids were false gods, they still went on using the sacred mistletoe. 9. And thus it happens that when in our own time we come to Christmas Day, the day on which we remember that Jesus Christ was born, we still pdt up in our houses the mistletoe berries which the old Druids first picked in the time of the Britons. • SUMMARY OF STORY ONE. Tliifl Story ib about Britannia, or Britain ; and the Romans. Britain is the same country as England. We learn about the ancient Britons from a book written by Julius Csesiir, the Roman. The Britons were heathens. Their priests were called Druids. Stouehenge, ou Salisbury Plain, was made by the Druids. ' ^V>' ! ! 27 r STOliY TWO. HOW THE ROMANS CAME TO BRITAIN. CHAPTER I. Julius Csesar. 1. It was fifty-five years before the year in which Jesus Christ was born that Julius Csesar, the great Roman general, made up his mind that he would lead his army into Britain. He collected a number of ships, and when all was ready, he ordered his soldiers to go on board them. The ships had not far to go, for the distance between France and England, the place from which Csesar's ships started, is only four- and-twenty miles. 2. The ships soon reached the shore of Britain; but as they came near the land, the soldiers saw that the beach was covered with armed Britons, who had heard that an enemy was coming. 3. The Romans were disappointed, for they hoped that they would have taken the Britons by surprise. They feared to land, and they 28 STORIES FROM ENGLISH BISTORT. ml I took their ships farther along the coast until they came to the place where the town of Deal now stands. There they made up their minds that they would land ; but they found that the water was not deep enough to allow their ships to get to the shore. Here, too, were large numbers of Britons, who were ready to fight them as soon as they got to land. 4. At first it seemed as if they would have to sail away once more, but at this moment a brave Roman soldier came forward. This soldier was 'the Standard-bearer of the Romans. Each regiment in our own army has a flag, which is carried with the regiment, and of which all the soldiers are very proud. ' 5. The Roman regiments were called legions, and each legion instead of a flag had a stand- ard, on the top of which there was the figure of an eagle, made in gold or brass. The brave standard-bearer of whom I have told you, when he saw that the soldiery who were with him in the ship were afraid to land, seized the ^^ Eagle" of the legion in his hand, and jumped into the water. " Follow me, my comrades," cried he, *4f you would not see your Eagle taken by the enemy. If I die, I shall have done my duty to Rome and to my general." When the Roman soldiers saw this brave act, they, too, JULIUS C^SAR. 29 my the threw themselves into the water, and though it was deep they waded to tlie land. 6. Then there was a fierce battle between the Romans and the Britons. The Britons, led by the Druids, fought bravely, and many of them were killed. At last the Roman soldiers won the day, and the Britons were forced to fly into the woods. And thus it was that Julius Csbsar first made himself master of Britain ; and this is how it happens that in telling the history of England we cannot leave out the Romans. 7. As soon as Caesar had once landed in the country, he began to march forward with his army, but the Britons were now quite ready to meet him. They joined together under a brave leader named Oassivelau- nus. There were several fierce battles between the Romans and the Britons. BOMAN SOLPIKBS. {From Trajan's Column.) 80 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. ! 8. The Britons fought in a way to which the Romans were not accustomed. They went into battle driving at full speed in chariots. To the wooden wheels of the chariots scythes or sharp blades were fastened ; and as long as the chariot was moving fast the sharp blades on the wheels cut down those who came near them. 9. But though the Britons had their chariots, the Roman soldiers proved too strong for them. Besides, some of the Britons who were enemies of Cassivelaunus took the side of the Romans. At last, however, there came a message to Julius Caesar telling him that he must return without delay to Gaul. By this time both Csesar and his soldiers were tired of nghting hard battles with the Britons, and they were glad enouoch to leave Ensrland. They went away, and ior a time the Britons were left in peace. ii' if ii I! ■ CHAPTER II. " In the Year of Our Lord." 1. It was not till nearly a hundred years after Julius Csesar had gone away that the Romans came a second time into Britain. Julius Caesar was deadj and the Roman Emperor was called **m TEE YEAR OP OUR LORD." 81 Claudius. Claudius determined that he would follow the example of Julius Caesar, but that this time the Britons should be really beaten, and that their country should belong to Rome. 2. Before I say anything about the army which Claudius sent to Britain, and what hap- pened to it when it got there, there is one thing that I want you to notice. If we wish to write down the year in which Julius Caesar came to Britain, we write it in this way — ** 55 B.C." ; but if we want to write th( year in which Claudius sent an army we put — ^* a.d. 43." 3. What do ^^b.c." and ^^a.d." mean? The letters ^'b.c." mean ^' before Christ," and therefore ^^ bo B.C." means fifty-five years before Christ was born. The letters '^a.d." stand for two Latin words — Anno Domini — which mean " in the year of our Lord." ^^ a d. 43 " means forty- three years after the year in which Jesus Christ was born. 4. People now sometimes write the year in which we live in this way — they say "ad. 1894," or '^ A.D 1895," meaning that the year in which we live is the one thousand eight hundred and ninety- fourth, or the one thousand eight hundred and ninety -fifth year after the year in which Christ was born. Now you will easily understand that between the year 55 before Christ and the year 82 STORIES FROM ENGLISn HISTORY. 43 after the birth of Christ a great thing must have happened. 5. It was in the years between the coming of Julius Caesar and the coming of the Romans in tlie time of Claudius that Christ was born at Beth- lehem. And so you will see, that if you want to know when the history of our country, so far as we know anything about it, begins, we have only to remember that it began just before the birth of Christ, and that if we know the year in which we live, we shall know the number of years which have passed since the Uouians first came to Britain. \V CHAPTER III. Caractacus and Boadicea. 1 . When the Romans came with Julius Caesar, they only stopped in Britain for two years, but when the}^ came a second time under Claudius tliey, and their sons after them, remained for over three hundred and sixty years. At first they brought nothing but war and misery with them. The Britons fought fiercely. This time they were led by a chief called Paractacus, who for a long time was able to stop the Roman ■■I ^ must ling of lans in Both- i^ant, to far as e only e birth which years came Caesar, years, audius ed for Lt first Y with s time S, who [loman ^ M O s flp STOniES FllOU BlfailSH HISTORY. u\m< iH armies from taking tlio country. But at last he was beaten in a great battle and was taken prisoner. He was sent to Rome, and there brought before the Emperor Claudius (a.d. 51). 2. When CaractacAis was brought before Claudius, he spoke to him boldly, and told him that he was not ashamed of what he had done, but proud of it — that he had only fought for his country. ^* I am in your power," said he to the Emperor, " and you can do what you please with me. But I am only here because I was true to my country and because I would not promise to obey your laws and to be your servant. You can put me to death, but you will gain more honour if you spare my life." 3. When Claudius and the Roman officers who stood with him heard these brave words, they could not help admiring the proud Briton. Claudius commanded that his life should be spared and that he should be well treated. But the war between the Roipans and the Britons did not end when Caractacus was taken prisoner. There arose among the Britons a fresh leader, whose name has become famous in our history. This leader was Boadicea, the widow of one of the British chiefs. 4. Boadicea hated the Romans, and she had good reason to do so ; for not only had they been ;!P;;i ill CAHA0TA0U8 AND BOADIOEA. 85 U last taken there 51). before d him done, for his to tlie e with true to iiise to You more 's who , they 5riton. Id be Rut US did soner. eader, story. ne of e had been very unjust to her husband when he was alive, but wlien she went to complain to the Roman Governor, instead of doing justice, he ordered her to be seized and to be beaten with rods. Hoadicea therefore hated the Romans, both because they were enemies of her country and because they had been so cruel to her. She called upon her countrymen to join her in resist- ing the enemy, and many of them gathered round her, prepared to follow wherever she led them. 5. It is said that Boadicea was tall and beautiful, with long, flowing hair, and that she appeared before her people clad in a long robe and with a golden chain about her waist. Her beauty and her courage made her loved by the Britons, and the Romans soon learnt to fear her. In more than one battle the Britons under Boadicea defeated the Roman soldiers, and for a time it seemed as though the brave aueen would succeed in driving her hated enemies out of the land. 6. The Romans had built a town upon the banks of a river which we now call the Thames. The name of the town was Londinium, a name which we now know much better as London. Already Londinium had become a large place, and besides the Romans who lived there, there c 2 lliiili' 36 8T0BIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. mm m ! i^'' i:l were many Britons who had taken the side of the Romans. • 7. It was to Londinium that Boadicea now led her army. As she came near tlie town the Roman soldiers saw that there were not enough of them to resist the great army of the Britons, and they marched away, leaving behind them all their friends who had trusted them. Soon Boadicea came to the gates, and, once inside the town, the fierce Britons showed no mercy. Thousands? of the people of Londinium were killed, and the town was all but destroyed. 8. But, alas! the British queen had won her last victory. The Roman general, whose name was Suetonius, got together all his soldiers and marched against the queen. Boadicea, on her side, was ready for the battle. She called upon the Britons to fight like iiicri, to rid their country of its enemies, and to avenge the cruelty which had been done to herself. She herself stood in the midst of the army, ' and declared that she would rather kill herself than allow herself to be taken prisoner by the Romans. 9. The battle began. The army of the Britons was far larger than that of the Romans, but the Roman soldiers had long been taught how to fight together, and to obey the orders that were given them. It was not long before the THE WORK OF THE ROMANS. 37 ide of 1 now 7X1 the nough ritons, them Soon inside nercy. were m her name rs and )n her L upon 3untry which )od in it she to be )f the )mans, it how s that re the battle was over. The Britons were quite unable to resist the Romans. No less than eighty thousand of them were killed. Boadicea herself was true to her promise. Rather than be taken prisoner by the Romans, she took poison, and thus ended her own life (61). With her death ended the hopes of the Britons, and from that time the Romans were masters of the whole country. CHAPTER IV. The Work of the Romans. 1. After the death of Boadicea, the Romans soon became masters of nearly all that part of Britain which we now call England. At first they had to fight many battles, but after a time the Britons submitted to the Romans and agreed to 'jhej their laws. For nearly four hundred yeai"^ the Romans stopped in this country, and in our own day we can still find many marks of the things they did while they were here. 2. It would indeed be strange if, after they had been so long in Britain, the Romans had not left something by which we might remember them. They were a very wonderful people, 38 STOUlES FtiOM ENGLIStt mSTOUY. lii 111 i and have set an example in many things to all the nations who have come after them. The Roman soldiers were the wonder of tlie world. During time of peace they were alwa}'s practising what they would have to do in time of war. They could fight well and they could march well. Nor was this all; they knew liow to protect Jiemselves against an enemy as well as they knew how to attack an enemy when they wished. 3. Whenever the Roman soldiers came to the end of a day's march, in whatever part of the world they were, they did the same thing. They built a wall of earth and made a ditch round their camp, and, as all the soldiers knew how to work, and all worked together, the ditch was dug, and the wall was built before the soldiers lay down to sleep. Sometimes they built much larger camps than those which were wanted for one night only. These camps had deep ditches and high walls, and they were usually placed on the top of a hill. 4. In many parts of England these Roman camps may still be seen ; and not only are the camps themselves still to be found in England, but the very names by which the Romans called their camps are used by Englishmen every day. The Latin word for camp is " Gastra " ; and ROMAN BUILDERS AND ROAD-MAKERS. 39 igs to them. >f tlie ilways Line of could V liOW veil as I they to the of the They round lovv to li was )ldiers much id for itches placed though we have not got exactly the word " Castra " in English, we have got something like it. We have all heard of Chester, the capital of Cheshire, which stands on the river Dee. The word " Chester" is really the same as "Castra," and Chester got its name because in the time of the Romans there was a camp, or strong place, full of soldiers there. 5. But Chester is not tlie only place where we find a Roman name. We have 6%/-chester, A'o-chester, Man-chesteT^ and many others; and we have also the word Castra written Caster, in such places as L«/i-caster, -Oo?^-caster, Tad- caster. The names of all these places tell us quite plainly that the Roman soldiers once upon a time built their wall and dug their ditch there in the days that came after the landing of Julius Caesar. lorn an re the ^land, called r day. : and y CHAPTER V. I&oman Builders and Road-makers. 1. The Romans, too, were great builders. Tliey knew how to build large buildings of stone, and especially of brick. Most of these buildings which they built in Britain have fallen into ruin ; w^ 40 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. but parts of them nave been found in many places, and enough is left to show how beautiful innuiiiiiiiiiii[uiiiiiiaiu.jiuu' llllUllllliiUllimMllIMinillilHiimmilfflin'nrU [iiunaiituiiinuijiu itiuiQun 'uiii iiiiii mu uiii A EOMAN PAVEMENT. the buildings must have been when they were new. 2. The floors of the houses were paved with ROMAN BUILDERS AND ROAD-MAKERS. 41 iaaaa !«•«■ ■ ■>■■ !■■■ ■ !■■•« • ;: ■ ■ ■ a !! • a ■ a - aa ,. aa« . •^i aai ■ ai ■1 ' aai - 'Maa ■ ■■ Sal ■ aa ' aaa ■ ■ — ■■? ■ aa aa' ■ : .- ■ a -._ » 1 ;: s :a- -. ■■ - , =- ■«' • » jl ^: ■ ■ ■ - '^ • • ■;»! am :: 5a mm '.aaaaa'-i.'^^l tiles in pretty patterns. There were carved pillars inside and outside the houses. There were baths supplied with hot water, and there were many comforts which we sometimes think were not known before our own time. In some places beautiful statues have been dug up, and many thousands of gold and copper coins have been found which have stamped on them the heads of the Roman Emperors, and Latin words which tell us something about the CO'"** 3. But though the Romans were famous as builders of houses, they were still more famous as makers of roads. The Romans were the first people to make great roads from one end of England to the other. The roads were paved with stone, and they ran in a straight line up hill and down dale from one town to another. Nowadays it would not be considered wise to take the roads straight up the hills. It is more usual to go round a hill rather than to go up it. ' 4. But the Romans were quite right to do as they did in their time. If we want to go from one place to another the shortest distance between the two places is always a straight line. In the picture on the next page are two points, A and B, and there is a straight line joining them. TTT' 42 STOJlItJS FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. I Mil II I liiiil! i You may try as lon<^ as you like, but you cannot find a sliorter way from a to b than the straiglit line. 5. The reason why we do not make our 9\ ! ifl I ll I THE SH0BTE8T KISTANCii BiiXVVl.l:-i;< iWO POINTS IS A STBAIOHT LINK. i roads go in a straight line now is that we use a great many carriages and carts, and it is very hard for a horse to pull a carriage or a cart up-hill; but when the Romans were in Britain, carriages and carts were scarcely used at all, and those who went on long journeys travelled either on foot or on horseback. Their luggage our •a' ^:mm 1 (d § s i,i i u STORIES FROM ENGLISH iriSTOU^ was taken from place to place on the ^acks of horses or mules. 6. The hills, therefore, did not matter very mucli, and a straight road enabled the Roman soldiers to get from place to place very quickly. Tliere are many places in England where the •oads still follow exactly the same line as the old Roman roads. 7. Sometimes we come to a stretch of road which goes on quite straight for several miles. We may generally be sure that we are on th^ line of a road which has never changed for eighteen hundred years, and which was first planned by one of the Roman officers under the command of Vespasian, or Severus, or Titus, or some other Roman general. The best known Roman roads in England are called ** The Watling Street," which goes from London to Chester ; " The Fosse Way," which goes from Bath to Lincoln ; '' The Ermine Street," which goes from London to Lincoln, and on to York; and " The Seaside Road,"* which runs all along the sea-coast of Wales down into Pembroke- shire. 8. Besides their buildings and their roads, the Romans have also left us a very wonderful marJ'i of tlieii- work on the border between England * Via Maritima. ROMAN BVILBF.BS AND F0AD-MAKER8. 45 and Scotland. After the Eomans hc«d made peace in that part of Britain which is now called England, and had begun to rule quietly there, they found that they were often troubled by enemies who came down from the country which THE KOMAN GATEWAY AT LINCOIiK. we now call Scotland. These enemies were known as the " Picts." 9. The Romans fought and beat the Picts many times; but they found them so trouble- some that at last they made up their minds to build a great wall right across the country to keep them out. The Romau Emperor Hadrian 46 STORIES FROM EXOLISH HISTORY. m ordered the wall to be built (121), and after Hadrian's death another Roman Emperor, named SeVdruSy built a second wall. This wall is called " The Wall of Severus," and many parts of it are still to be seen in our own day. So we see that there are many things still left in our coiintry to remind us that the Romans once ruled over it. CHAPTER VI. 4 Tacitus the Writer and Titus the Oeneral. 1. But I must not finish this Story about the Romans without saying one word about some very famous Romans who lived in Britain for a time. I have already told you of Julius Cajsar, who was a very great man, and I have told you how Julius Caesar wrote a book from which we learn a good deal about Britain in the time of the Romans. Luckily, he was not the only Roman who wrote a book about our country. 2. There was a very clever man named Tacitus, who came over here and lived a long time in the country. He, too, wrote a famous book about Briton and the Britons which we can read at this day. If it had not been for Julius Ceesar and Taoitus we should THE GOING AWAY OF THE ROMANS. 47 1 after named J called ;s of it we see loiintry ver It. indeed know very little of the story ot our country in the days of the Britons. 3. And, last of all, I want you to remember one other Roman who lived some time in this country. His name was TitUS, and when he was in Britain he was general of the Roman army ; but he afterwards became one of the greatest of the Roman Emperors. 4. The name of Titus is famous in history, not because he came to Britain, but for quite another reason. The name of Titus will never be forgotten, because it was he who led the Roman armies against the Jews, and who, after a long and terrible siege, took and destroyed the city of Jerusalem (70). I think it is always interesting to remember that the great general who took the city of Jerusalem had lived for a long time in Britain and knew our country so well. CHAPTER VII. The Gk)ing Away of the Romans. 1. The Romans stopped in Britain for nearly four hundred years, and during the greater part of that time there were peace and quiet in the 4S STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. fMm W]m m WM mill iji iiliill m iliiihi'::; ll" countiy. As long as the Roman soldier^ were here, there was little fear of any fresh enemy coming and taking the country. 2. But at last there came news from Rome that a fierce enemy was marching against Italy, and that the Emperor was afraid that Rome itself would be taken. At such a time every Roman soldier was needed to defend Italy and Rome, and orders were therefore sent that the armies which were in Britain should return to Italy. • 3. This was very sad news for the Britons, for by this time they had come to look upon the Romans more as friends than as foes, and they feared to lose the Roman soldiers who had so long protected them from every enemy. Besides, the Romans had built towns in Britain; many of them were married to British wives, and they had begun to teach the Britons many of the arts which they had brought with them from Rome. 4. For all these reasons the Britons were very sorry when the order came for the Roman Legions to sail across the Straits of Dover and to leave the white cliffs of Britain behind them. But a soldier must do what he is ordered, and the Romans were too good soldiers to disobey the orders which they got from Rome. The Legions marched down to the sea- coast, got into their THE OOmO AWAY OF THE ROMANS. 49 hips, and sailed away across the sea on tneir oad home to Italy. 5. What happened to the Legions when liey got to Rome, and how the great city of bome, which had conquered so many countries, ^as at last conquered itself, can be read in the listory of Rome. But we are reading about the istory of England, and we must now say good- bye to the Roman soldiers as we lose sight of 16 sails of their ships crossing the Cliannel ktween England and France. SUMMARY OF STORY TWO. Julius Caesar, the Roman, landed in Britain 55 B.C. The Britons fought bravely, |itwei'e beaten. Julius Geesiiar soon returned to Borne, but anotlier Roman army came Britain a.d. 43. The Roman general was called Claudius. Between the time of the [tilling of Ceesnr and the coming of Claudius, Jesus Christ was born. Caractacus, a ider of the Britons, was taken prisoner and sent to Rome. Boadicea, tiie British |iieen, fought against the Romans, but was at last beaten by Suetonius. Tlie Romans remained over 300 years in Britain. Many things are still left in Britain licit tell ns about the Romans. The names of places, the walls of houses, the great mis, and the Roman wall, all help to remind ns of the Romans. Two great Romans Irate iHioks altout Br'tain. One wns Julius CiPSHr, and tb ■>!,. m STOIilES FROM ENOLISH HISTORY, i killed (455). It is not quite certain whether the story of Horsa be really true ; but one thing is plain, and that is, that a great fight took place between the Saxons and the Britons, in which the Britons tried to prevent the Saxons crossing the River Medway and getting to London, and that in this fight the Britons were beaten* ' CHAPTER Til. The Ford of the River Medway. 1. It is interesting to remember that over and over again battles have been fought upon the Eiver Medway, for just the same reason as this battle of which I have been talking about between the Saxons and the Britons. If we look at the map we shall see that the part of England which is closest to Europe is the county of Kent, and that anyone who lands in the county of Kent and wants to get to London will have to cross the River Medway. : 2. He will not try to cross where it is very broad, but he will be forced to go up as far as Chatham, where the stream is narrow, and where there is now a bridge over it. The easiest m a I' m I c ft^ *t & NT'^i M \, *■¥ Si^ ill' ill ilipl m fii; i!'ii!(iii;il'!i| B .11 i!iSlliiill[ '" 58 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. and the shortest way from the coast of Kent to London is across the Medway at Chatham ; and it is for this reason that, all through English history, those who wanted to defend London against an enemy have made a great fortress at Chatham. 3. If we go to Chatham now we can still see what is left of the fortresses which our forefathers built at different times. The Romans, who were very great soldiers, always knew which was the best place for a fortress, and they were the first to make a great " Camp " close to Chatham. The towns of ^Rochester and Chatham touch each other. Now " Chester," as we read in Story One, Chapter IV., is really a Latin word for ^'a camp," and we know, therefore, from the name that there was a Roman camp at Rochester. 4. After the Romans had gone, the Britons in their turn made a strong fortress at Chatham, and when the Saxons came, this fortress pre- vented them crossing the river at this place. They were forced to CQme up the bank of the river till they reached Aylesford. 5. Then the Saxons in their turn built a strong fortress at Chatham, and after them the Normans, of whom we shall read later on, built a great stone castle, of which there is a picture on the last page, and which, though it is in ruins, can be seen at the present day. THE FORD OF THE RIVER MEDWAT. 59 3 name 6. After gunpowder was invented, the Nor- nan castle was not strong enough to defend the crossing of the Medway, and another fortress, built of earth and brick, was made in its place. The greater part of these earth and brick walls still remain, and we can see them any day if we go to Chatham. And now, quite lately, a new fortress has been built all round Chatham to prevent enemies crossing the Medway, and to keep safe the ships of war which lie at Chatham. 7. And so you will see that though times have changed, and though many years have gone by, the reason which made the Britons defend the Medway in the time of Hengist and Horsa, more than fourteen hundred years ago, was a reason which makes us defend it with a great fortress in the days in which we live. SUMMARY OF STORY THREE. After the Romai)S ha help her brother Edward. She must have been a very brave H 2 116 8T0B1E8 FROM ENGLISH HISTORY, woman, for she was not afraid to put on armour, to carry a sword, and to ride into battle at the head of her soldiers. She rode on a white horse, and was always in the thickest of the fight. Her people called her the Lady of the Mercians, ^i 3. -^thelfleda was as wise as she was brave. She was not content with beating the Danes in battle, but she took care that they should not come into her land again after peace had been made, as they had so often done before. She built strong castles to keep the Danes back, and put soldiers into the castles, who were always ready to go out and fight. 4. At last King Edward beat all his enemies — ^the Danes, the Scot'rT and the Welsh; and from that time he was really King of all Eng- land, and there was no other king in the whole country. 5. But it must not be supposed that be- cause the Danes were beaten by King Edward, and could no longer come as they pleased into England, that they were content to stay in their own country. When they found that they could no longer land in England and plunder the English as much as they pleased, they turned their boats to sea again, and sailed away to the south until they came to a land where they could still be masters. ".^ ■ TBB HISTORY OF THE NORMANS. ,U7 }j lOUr, t the lorse, Her \. '--" 3rave. les in d not L been She k, and always ^nemies „ , and 1 Eng- whole lat be- Idward, ed into Ler turned CHAPTER II. " The History of the Noimans. 1. A PART of them landed in France. At their head was a chief called Rolf, who is some- times known as Rolf the " Ganger." Nowadays boys are sometimes called " Ralph," or " RoUo," names which are really the same as Rolf. So you see that we have not quite forgotten this Dane who lived so long ago. It is said that the reason why Rolf was called the " Ganger " was that he was such a tall man that when he rode on a horse his feet touched the ground on either side, and he was forced to " gang," or " go " on foot. 2. If this storv be true, we can learn two things from it. In the first place, we may be sure that the horses which Rolf the Ganger rode were very little ones — more like ponies than horses. No doubt they were like the little Shetland ponies which we see sometimes, and which children often ride upon. These small horses are still used in Norway, and we can easily fancy to ourselves Rolf's long legs touching the ground when he was seated on one of these tiny animals. ti. There is another thing which we can learn from Rolfs name, and that is that the language which these Northmen talked was not so very 118 8T0BIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. unlike the language which is still talked in some parts of England and Scotland. Those of us who live in Yorkshire or in Scotland will often hear people say " gang " and " ganging," instead of "go" and "going." And thus we see that Rolf the " Oanger " is not a very strange name after all ; and when we write it Ralph the "Goer/* it seems quite like an English name, instead of the name of a fierce Danish king who lived a thousand years ago. 4. But there is something more to be re- membered about Rolf besides his name. When Rolf and his comrades landed in France, they set to work to do in that country just exactly what their friends had done when they landed in England. They began to rob the people who were living there, and to take their land from them. Charles, the French king, fought against the Danes, but he was not able to beat them, or to turn them out of 'France. 5. At last, for the sake of peace, he made an agreement with them. He gave them a great piece of France to live in, and he made Rolf "Duke," or chief of it. The piece of France which Charles gave to the Northmen was called after them, "Normandy," or the country of the Normans. The chief town in Normandy is Rouen. It is easy to see that the word Norman THE HISTOliY OF THE NOUMANd. 119 is really just the same as Northman^ and that the country of the Normans meant the country of the Northmen. 6. King Charles of France said that the Northmen should have Normandy on one con- dition only, and that was that they should call him their king. He sent for Rolf and told him that he must kneel down and kiss his foot, as a sign that he was ready to obey him and be true to him. 7. It was a common thing in those days for a chief to kneel down and kiss the foot of the king, or of some greater chief than himself, and Rolf would only have done what many other chiefs had done if he had obeyed King Charles. But Rolf was a proud man, and thought himself quite as great as King Charles of France. So when he came to the king's throne, instead of stooping down and kissing the king's foot, he caught hold of his toes and tipped him back- wards, chair and ^11, so that the poor king cut a very sorry figure. The fierce Northmen and their chief would have no master. ' 8. But after a time the Northmen who came with Rolf into France began to settle down quietly. They learnt much from the French among whom they lived, and, as they them- selves were a brave and clever people, they soon 120 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. became famous for other things besides fighting and winning battles. 9. They became Christians, and they built many beautiful churches, some of which may be seen in Normandy to this day. They learnt how to read and write, and some of them wrote famous books. They learnt also how to work with iron, how to make armour and weapons, and when they had made the armour and the weapons, they learnt how to use them in the best way. 10. And so before many years had gone by the fierce Northmen who had landed with Rolf had turned into a great and strong nation, ruled by good laws, under wise and brave chiefs. We must not forget the Normans, for we shall read about them again in this book, and we shall, before we come to the last Story, see that the Normans have a great deal to do with the history of England ; and that we can never understand the history of England pn)pLMly iinlo«5s we know who tlio Normans were and what 6ort of people they were. VA. THE VIGT0BIE8 OF ATHEL8TAK 121 CHAPTER III. The Victories of Athelstan. 1. And now we must go back to the story of the English kings. King Edward lived fifty-five years, and after him his son Athelstan became king (925). Athelstan, like his father Edward and his grandfather Alfred, had to fight against the Danes, who came in great nmnbers over the seas. This time some of them came from a new place. Many of the Danes who had been pre- vented by A If red and Edward from coming into England had gone on to Ireland, where they had landed and had built towns. Now they came back from Ireland to England, ready to join with any friends they could find who would help them to fight against the English. 2. They soon found friends among the Welsh and among the Danes who were already in England, and they marched against Athelstan with a great army. Athelstan went out to meet them, and a terrible battle was fought near Beverley, in Yorkshire.* 3. Five of the Danish kings, and seven of the great Danish chiefs, or "Eorls," were killed in the battle. The story of the fight may still • The battle of Bronanbarh 122 8T0RIE8 FROM ENGLISH BISTORT. be read in a long poem which was written at the time. The poem is not in English such as we speak now, but it is written in the Anglo-Saxon language, which was the language which the people of England talked in the time of King Athelstan. 4. The poem is made up of a number of very short lines, or verses, and no doubt it was sung by the harpers, who pleased the king and his soldiers by singing to them of their own brave deeds^, and of their great victory over the Danes. It tells us how fierce the fight was, how bravely the English fought, and how at last the Danes were beaten and fled. The poem has been translated into English, and here is a bit of it: — ,^ 6. There lay many a warrior Slain by the spear; There lay the Northmen, Shot over the tops of their shields. And there were the Scots, "Weary and sad; The bands of West Saxons All day long pursued The hated strangers. " , ':i\^^ 'rV'. '♦!. The Northmen departed In their nailed ships. '^ * This means that the planks of which their ships were made were fastened together with nails. THE VICT0MIE8 OF ATUELSTAN. 123 On the roaring ocean O'er the deep water, Dublin to seek; And to Ireland again, With minds full of shame. Greater Moodshed ■ In ^his island * jj .. * II»o iievef ueeii seen ^ Before this day — . As the books tell us, As the old writers say, ■ 1^ ^ Since the time when there came here '^'^'■^-p.:,'--:.^^:..,':;^-'': Tho Attglos and the Saxons ' From the east, Over the broad seas ; ^ To England. 'I 6. The king who came after AthelstAu w«« King Edmund (940). He was Athektan's brot her, and, like Athelstan, he also was king for only a short time. He was a wise and brave man, and it would have been a good thing for his country if he had lived longer. He met with his death in a strange manner. There was a man named Leolfy who was a great robber. Edmund caught this man and, instead of killing him, or putting him into prison, sent him away out of the country, and told him never to come back. 7. It happened that a few years afterwards 124 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. King Edmund was taking part in a great feast, and while the feasting was going on, whom should he see but Leolf the robber come boldly up the hall and seat himself at the table. When Ed- mund saw the man whom he had punished and sent away, he was angry, and, going up to Leolf, he ordered his servants to take him prisoner. 8. Then Leolf drew a dagger to defend him- self, and the king, in a passion, caught the robber by the hair and threw him on the ground. But Leolf, leaping up, plunged the dagger into the king's heart. Those who stood round at once cut down and killed the robber, but King Edmund lay dead upon the ground. Edmund was only twenty-four years old when he was killed, and had been king for six years. His brother Edred was chosen king in his place. A :-^v,p>r^vm^^ CHAPTER IV. -^^ \l: Dunstan. 1 . Edred (946) reigned only a very short time, and so did his nephew Edwy (955), who came after him. It was in the time of King Edred that we first hear of a very famous man. This famous man was Dunstan, who for many years was the greatest man in England. When nUNSTAN. 125 he was very young Dunstan became a priest, and by the time he was eighteen he was made head, or, as it was called, " Abbot," of the Monastery of Glastonbury. 2. Most of us have heard of an Abbey. There are Westminster Abbey, Bolton Abbey, and Tintem Abbey, and many other Abbeys. Some of them, such as Westminster Abbey, are still used as churches; others, like Tintem and Bolton, have fallen intf ruin. When these Abbeys were first built there were generally a number of buildings close to them in which the Monks used to live. 3. The Monks were men who had agreed to. live together and to obey certain rules. They all promised never to marry, and they gave up their lives to religion and to good works. The place in which the Monks lived was called a " Monastery," and when a Monastery was built close to an Abbey the Monk who was at the head of the Monastery was called " The Abbot." Now we can understand what is meant by say- ing that Dunstan was Abbot of the Monastery of Olastonbury. 4. Sometimes a number of women lived together and promised to give up their lives to good works, and to obey fixed rules like the Monks. They, too, promised never to marry. The women who 126 8T0BIE8 FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. did this were called "Nuns," and the place in which they lived was called a "Nunnery." 5. King Edred soon sent for Dunstan, and asked his advice in all that he did. Edwy, who came after Edred, did not like Dunstan, and sent him away out of the country. But Dunstan BOLTON ABBEY ON THE BIVEB WHABFE. (I (From a Photograph by J. Valentine ami Sons, Dundee). was not long away, for Edwy died after he had been king for three years only. And when Edgar (958), Edwy's brother, became king, he sent for Dunstan at once, and made him come back to live at his court and give him advice. From that time Dunstan became very great and powerful. 1 ^i DUNSTAN. 127 6. As long as the Kings of England took Dunstan's advice all went well; and it was not until there came a king who would not listen to Dunstan that misfortunes came to England. There were two things which Dunstan was always trying to do. One was to make England BvmI oovMHa'J' ^'i^^f^^y^l TINTEEN ABBEY ON THE RIVEB WYE. {From a Photograph by J. Valentine and Sons, Dundee.) great and powerful ; the other was to make the Church, and all those who had to do with the Church, powerful and rich. 7. He was a stern, harsh man, and always wanted to have his own way ; and he was often rough and cruel to those who did not agree with 128 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. him. It is not strange, therefore, that he had many enemies. But he did much that was good, and his name has been always remembered by Englishmen as that of a great man. He was made Archbishop of Canterbury by King Edgar, and while he was Archbishop he tried to do all the good he could to the Church of which he was the head. 8. At that time many of the priests and Monks had become very bad men, and led wicked lives. Dunstan turned out these bad priests and Monks and put better men in their places. He thought it was a shame that those who had to teach the people what was right and good should themselves be men of bad lives. 9. After his death Dunstan was called a Saint, and many strange stories were told of the wonderful things he was said to have done while he was alive. The name of Dunstan is still to be found in many places in England, and there are many churches which are called " St. Dun- Stan's/' after the great man of whom we have been reading. 10. In the middle of the busy streets of the City of London, not far from the Law Courts, Strand, there stands a church with a tall tower, which re- calls the name of King Edgar's great Archbishop, for it is called the Church of St. Dunstan. ST. DUNSTAN'S CHUBCH, fleet STBEEI. LONDON. (From a Photograph by J. VaUntitu and Son*, Duridee,) i «• *'i r'^;: n L, ' A\^> 130 STORIES FROM ENQLISH HISTORY, " ^ . CHAPTER V. Dunstan and Edgar. 1. With Dunstan's help Edgar became a great king, and in his time there was peace in England. AH the ** under kings,'' or chiefs, obeyed him, and were willing to serve him. There is a , ONE OF OUB ENGLISH WILD BEASTS— THE BADOEB. story told of the king which shows how power- ful he was. It is said that Edgar was rowed in a boat on the River Dee, near Chester, and that every one of the eight rowers was himself a king who had submitted to the great King of England. 2. There is another story told of King Edgar and his times which helps us to understand what a change has taken place in our country since DUNS TAN AND EDGAB. 131 his day. In the reigii of King Edgar there were thousands oi' wolves in Wales. There were so many of them, and they so fierce, that at were last Edgar thought he would try and get rid of them. At that time the Welsh paid to King Edgar a sum of money, or, as it is sometimes called, a " tribute," every year. 3. Edgar sent to the Welsh and told them that for the future they need not pay any tribute in money, but tliat instead they must send him each year the heads oi throe hundred wolves. The Welsh obeyed, and many hun- dreds of wolves' heads were brought to the king. But though so many were killed, it is certain that very many must have been left alive, for there were plenty of wolves in Wales, I 2 ONE OF 0V3, ENGLISH WILD BEASTS— THE WEASEL. 132 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. and in England too, long after the days of King Edgar. 4. It seems strange to think of these savage animals running wild in our country. Now the largest wild animal that eats other creatures which is left in England is the badger, and as there are ve y few badgers, and as the very few that are left generally take their walks between one and three o'clock in the morning, when most of us are in bed and asleep, not many people ever see a badger at all. ^ 5. It is true that there are other wild animals of the same kind still left, but they are even smaller than the badgers. There are the foxes ; but if it were not that foxes are kept for hunting in some parts of the country, there would soon be no foxes left alive. There are also a few otters, and there are weasels and stoats, which are fierce little creatures. But the day has lonof gone by when Englishmen have anything to fear from any wild beast, such' as the wild boars and the wolves, which were common in every part of the land in the time of King Edgar. v , i SUMMARY OF STORY EIGHT. After Alfred came his son. Edward the Elder. Edward and his siHter ^thelfleds fought against the Danes and beat them. JEthelfleda was called the " Lady of the Mercians." It was at this time that some of the Danes or Northmen landed in France. At their head was Rolf the "Ganger." Charles, King of France, had to give up part of his country to Rolf. The Northmen who lauded in France became the Normans. K-Tta SUMMARY OF STOBT EIGHT. 133 Athelstan became king after Edward. In his time a great battle was fought between the English and the Danes near Beverley, in Yorkshire. There is a poem which tells the story of this battle. After Athelstan came Edmund, who was murdnred by Leolf, the roblter. After Edmund came Edred his brother. It was in Edred's reign that Diiustan flrst liegnn to be the adviser of the kings of England. Dunstan was Abbot of Glastonbury. After Edred came his nephew Edwy. Edwy quarrelled with Dunstau and sent him away, but Ea 6. We shall see, however, that Ethelred turned out a very bad king, and that it was an unlucky day for England when he took the place of his murdered brother. As for Elfrida, she soon found that her crime' had not brought her happiness. Overcome by remorse, she shut her- self up in a nunnery, and passed the rest of her life in sorrowing over the wrong which she had done. ETHELBED THE '' UNBEDY^ 137 ' '^ ' •; CHAPTER 11. ( Ethelred the " Unredy."— The Death of Dunstan. 1. The reign of Ethelred (979) was a bad reign for England. Ethelred was called The "Unready." This name did not mean that the king was unpunctual, or that he was not ready to do things when they had to be done: it really meant something quite different. There is an Anglo-Saxon word "Rede," which means " Counsel," and Ethelred the " Unready " really meant Ethelred the " Un-redy " ; that is to say, a man who was not well counselled or well advised in what he did. 2. The very first thing which Ethelred did when he became king showed that he was indeed without " Rede " ; for he quarrelled with the wisest counsellor he had. This wise counsellor was Dunstan, who was soon obliged to leave the king's court and to go and live far away to escape from his enemies, who were the young king's friends. 3. The wise old man saw that the king would bring misfortune upon his country, but he could do nothing to stop it. Dunstan died in the year 988, nine years after Ethelred had come 138 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. to the throne. He was sixty-three years old when he died. Seven kings had reigned in England during his life, and he had been the friend and adviser of six of them. 4. Other people besides Dunstan soon saw that Ethelred was a weak man, and without counsel. Among the persons who saw this waa Sweyn, King of the Danes. Sweyn, who was called by his people "Sweyn of the Forked Beard," or "Fork-Beard," was a great and powerful king^ and he longed to come over to England and to win victories over the English, as so many other Danish kings had done before him. At last he got Olaf, King of Norway, to join with him, and the two kings sailed together with their fleet into the River Thames. 5. The English in London fought bravely, but Ethelred the king was less brave than his people. He thought of a way of getting rid of the Danes which would save him the trouble of fighting them. He offered* to pay them large sums of money if they would go away and leave England in peace. It soon became plain that this was very nearly the worst plan he could have chosen. The Danes found out that Ethelred was afraid of them, and when they knew that they could get money by coming over, they came again and again. THE *'DANE-OELD,*' AND ST. BEIGE'S DAY. 139 CHAPTER III. The ''Dane-Geld," and St. Brice's Day. 1. Then Ethelred put a tax upon the English — each man had to pay so much a year towards the money which was to be «^ven to the Danes. This tax was called the "Dans-Qeld/* or the " Dane Money."* Of course, directly the Danes learnt that the Dane-Geld was ready for them, they lost no time in coming over to get it. And so matters were really worse than when the English had fought like brave men against their enemies. 2. Then Ethebed once more showed how " un-redy " he was, for he thought of a new plan for getting rid of the Danes which was even worse than that of paying them money to go. 3. He gave secret orders that on a particular night all the Danes who were living in England were to be killed. The night which was chosen was that of St. Brice's Day, which is on the 13th of November (1002). On that night a great many of the Danes, who suspected no harm, were cruelly put to death. 4. Among those who were killed was the sister of Sweyn, King of Denmark. When * The German word for money is still " geld." 140 8T0RISS FROM ENGLUSH HISTORY. Sweyn heard what had been done, he was terribly angry, and he vowed that ho would come to England and destroy all that he could find there. 5. He sailed with an army and came to Exeter. He took and burnt the city of Exeter, and killed many of the English. The next year he came to England again, and this time he landed near Norwich. The English were foolish enough to promise to pay the Danes a great sum of money if they would go away and not injure their town. The Danes took the money and then burnt the town they had promised to spare. 6. Ethelred the Unready could do nothing to beat back the armies of the Danes, and soon matters were made worse. One of Ethelred's own generals went over and joined the Danes with some of the English ships. ti- ll CHAPTER IV. The Danes' Revenge. 1 . At last Ethelred had scarcely any towns left. They had all been taken by the Danes, except London and Canterbury. Soon a strong army of Danes marched to Canterbury. They THE DANES' REVENGE. 141 took the city and burned it to the ground. The Archbishop of Canterbury at that time was called «. * J ' -fir '^ 11^' jfti^ . r f lisBiaH ^^^^^^^^H^^^l kAl-ifilffi li ;-'\ \ ' /ijft ' ^ flic "T \ J / ■ -r " ■^^■' i/- V# r ^■ . <=^' ■-< i^^ ':V-*^..^:,U'>pJ^^fe ., ^ ^^ .-.v^-?^^/ / #1 ^ *- • i A »■'■ \ 4. ^ »'■'■- THE DEATH OF ALPilKUK. Alphege. He was made prisoner by the Danes. They told Alphege that if his people would pay U2 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. a great sum of money he should be set free. Then the Archbishop replied: ** My people are poor, and in distress. They had little before you came, and now you have taken from them the little that they have. I will never make my people pay to set me free." 2. At first the Danes did not believe him. They thought that he would be afraid of death, and that he would ask his friends to pay the money. But Alphege was a good and a bravo man. He toqk no trouble to try and get the money, but he spent his time in trying to make the Danish soldiers who guarded him become Christians. » 8. Then the Danes became very angry ; and one day, when their chiefs were feasting togetlicr, they sent for Alphege, their prisoner, and had him brought before them. In their fierce, drunken anger they cried out to the Archbishop, " Whore is your gold ? — give us the gold." Alphege stood calm and uriin()»''ed. Then tlie feasters dragged Alphege out of the hall, and began to throw at him their drinking-cups and the bones which were left from the meat upon which they had been feasting. 4. The Archbishop fell upon his knees ; and as ho knelt, one of the Danes struck him to the ground with his axe and killed him. THE DANES* BEVENOE. 143 5. It is not wonderful that English people were proud of their good Archbishop, and that they soon learnt to call him " Saint Alphege." 6. There is a church in the town of Green- wich called the Church of Saint Alphege, and in it these words were written up, and could be read by anyone until a few years ago, when the church was altered : 7. '' triylB chnvch inoa Imtlt to tire (Slor^ of (&ob, mh In memory of Jit. '^l^hts^r ^tcWuhop of (ttmizvbnt^, taffo tooB Irere Blatn b]; t&e gattea httaniz Kre iaonlb not ransom (rts lift h^ an nnreaBonoble sum of mone^f." 8. At last Ethelred gave up all hope of fighting against the Danes, and he fled like a coward from his country. Then Sw&yiSlf King of Denmark, became the real King of England (1013), and for the first time there was a Danish king upon the English throne. 9. When Sweyn died, the people of England sent for Ethelred and made him come back. They liked better to have a king of their own, even though he were a bad one, rather than a foreigner. 10. But Ethelred had not become anv wiser while he was away from home ; and thv gh he and his son Edmund fought against the Danes, and tried once more to free the country from 144 8T0BIE8 FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. them, the English were again beaten and the Danes won the victory. 11. Ethelred died in the year 1016, when he was forty-eiglit years old. He had been king for thirty-seven years. Seldom has England been so unhappy and so unlucky as it was in the days of "Ethelred the Un-redy." \\ SUMMARY OF STORY NINE. Ed^nr married twice. Tlie son of liiii (Irst wife, Eifleda, was onllod Edward. The son of his second wifu, Elfridn, was called Etholretl. Bifritla was Jealotis of her stt'p- sun Kdwiird, and wlien he l>eran>u lo murdered, so tliat her son Gtliclred miglit Iteooiiio king in liis stead. King Etlush-ed was a lad and foolish king. He was called " the Unready," which means that he was without " Rede," or good iiounHel. Me tried to get the Danes to go a.v.iy l»y l>ayiiig them money, and he put on a tax called " Daiie-fltiid," so as to get the money. The Danes took tlie money but ilid ni>t go away. Etlndi-od ordered idl Uie Danes who were living in England to \>e kille I on St. lliicw'H Day. Swcyn, King of Denmark, <-an)e ovr to tiike his revenue. Many of tlie Kngliah wore killed, and among them (Mphege, Arciibishop of Canterbury. i( iV>.v';^fc'. '. ■■.i-- . -'■ ' :, '' ' , i... 145 STOnr TEN". THE DANISH KINGS. CHAPTER T. Edmund Ironside and Canute, i 1. After the death of Etholred, his son, Edmund, became king (1016). Edmund was so brave and such a good soldier that his friends used to call him "Edmund Ironside." He fought many battles against Canute and the Dnnes ; and at last both sides seemed weary of iij»iiting, and they agreed to divide England Lotween thenci. Canute was to have one part, and Edmund Ironside was to have the other part. 2. But this plan of having two kings did not last long; for after he had been king only seven months, Edmund died, leaving two little cliildren called Edward and Edmund. 3. When King Edmund Ironside died, Canute, the Dane, soon became king over all England (1017), for there was now no one to light against. Although Canute was a foreigner he provo.l to 146 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. be a very good king. He made up his mind that he would make friends with the English, and that he would govern the country in the way they wished. He sent away many of the Danes who had come over with him from Denmark, and gave the offices which they had held to English- men. He said that the English laws should be obeyed, and not the Danish ones. And, last of all, he married Emma of Normandy, who was the widow of King Ethelred the Unready. 4. It is not wonderful that when the English saw how friendly King Canute was to them that they should be ready to help him and to obey him. They liked him so much that when he went away across the sea to fight against his enemies in Sweden, many of them went with him to fight as his soldiers. 5. An English army under King Canute fought against the Swedes and beat them in a great battle. 6. While Canute wa^ ting, the people of foreign countries learnt to fear and to respect England ; and the name of Canute was well known throughout all Europe. TEE 80N8 OF KINO CANUTE, U7 CHAPTER 11. The Sons of King Canute. 1. King Canute died when he was only forty years old, and after his death troubles once more came to poor England. Canute had three sons calle(f Harthacanute, Sweyn, and Harold. Sweyn became King of Norway, Harthacanute became King of Denmark, but when it came to settling who should be King of England, a quarrel broke out. 2. There were two parties. One was for Harthacanute, and the other was for Harold. The strongest man on the side of Harthacanute was Earl Gk)dwin, who was very rich and powerful. li. For a time it was agreed to divide Eng- land between the two kings ; but after five years Harold died, and Harthacanute became sole king (1040). He was a bad king, and the English people soon rebelled against him, and a tierce war broke out. It was a good thing when Harthacanute died, after reigning only two years. It is said he killed himself by drinking. SUMMARY OF STORY TEN. After EUielred'a death, his son, Edmund Ironside, and Cannte, son of Sweyn, divided the kingdom between them, but Edmund soon died, and Cannte became king by hijiiself. Canute was a great king. He behaved well to the people of England. He miirried Etinna of Normandy, the widow of King Ethelred. After Canute's death, Ids soiim quarrelled as to whiuh should become king. HarMia- cauutti became king for a short time. J 2 148 M .1:1 v> ] Vi: ■' ■- 8TOBT ELEVEN. . .-: ^\ THE LAST OF THE ENGLISH KINGS. -•o*- CHAPTER I. J ■■-'.-,'■'-, '^ '■■-,,.,■, ;■.■ j; -J., I t Edward the Confessor and Earl Godwin. '".» 1. By this time the English were tired of having Danish kings to rule over them, and were only too glad to go back to one of their own English kings. * m 2. The person whom they chose was Edward (1042), son of Ethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. Earl Godwin declared that he would be the friend of the new king ; and Godwin was so rich and powerful that he easily persuaded the English to take Edward as their king. 3. Edward soon married Edith, Godwin's daughter, anl this made Earl Godwin more powerful than ever. King Edward did not behave well to his mother Emma. He was very unkind to her ; he took her money from her, and made her live alone at Winchester. 4. The English were very glad to have an English king again, and thought that at last EDWARD THE G0NFES80B AND EABL GODWIN. 149 they were free from all foreigners. But they forgot one thing, and that was, that Edward had lived for a long time in a foreign country. He had spent all his boyhood in Normandy, which was his mother's country, and there he had made many friends ; and now he brought a great many of these Norman friends over to England. 5. Soon quarrels broke out between the English and the Normans; and Godwin, who was the favourite of the English, was the first to try and get the Normans turned out of the country. 6. This led to a quarrel between King Edward on the one side, and Earl Godwin and his three sons, Sweyn and Harold and Tostig, on the other. Godwin and his sons could not bear to see the king's Norman friends coming to England. King Edward would not let Godwin turn the Normans out. 7. At last the king in his anger sent God- win and his sons out of England, and said they should not come back. But Godwin was too strong for the king. He came back again ; and this time he was able to turn out nearly all the Normans who were the king's friends. 8. Very soon after this the Earl died, and the people of England grieved over his death, for rl .1 160 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. 1 1 they knew he was their friend. After Godwin's death his sons, Harold, Sweyn, and Tostig, became as great and powerful as their father had been before them. 9. There has not been much in this Story about King Edward ; and the reason is that King Edward did so little while he was king, and tlie great earls, Godwin and Harold, did so much, that the story of Edward's time is really the story of Godwin and Harold. 10. But there is one thing which King Edward did, for which he will always be remem- bered, and which we shall read about in the next chapter. The king was pious and studious^ and liked better to be in the company of priests and of students than with soldiers. He was called " Edward the Confessor," which meant that he had suffered for his religion. CHAPTER II. The Church on Thomey Island. 1. There was at that time a little island in the River Thames called "Thomey Island." On either side of this island there were marshes, THE CHUIiGH ON THOENEY ISLAND. 151 I - ■ i ■ ■ ^ t and the river flowed broad and shallow, very different from what it is now. If we stand on THE TOMB OF EDWAED THE OONFESSOE IN WESTMINSTEB ABBEY. the bridge at Westminster in London, we look down upon the place where the island of Thomey used to be. 2. It was on this island that King Edward f.^i , ' fi*! ^ 'M ■i i Ui V 1! THE CJJil.LJI ON TJIULAUY ISLAND, 153 built a church which was called " The Church of Saint Peter." As we stand on Westminster Bridge we can see two towers rising close to the Houses of Parliament: these are the towers of the " Church of Saint Peter." 3. On the opposite page is a picture of the church. It is very different from the church which Edward built eight hundred and fifty years ago, for many English kings and queens have added on pieces to the church which Edward built, and the beautiful building which we see in the picture has grown bit by bit, until it has be- come one of the greatest and most famous churches in the world. It is still called by the name which King Edward gave to it — " The Church of Saint Peter " ; but all Englishmen know it still better by another name, and speak of the beautiful church as "Westminster Abbey." 4. It is in Westminster Abbey that many of England's greatest men lie buried. If we go to London and visit Westminster Abbey, we shall see there the graves of many famous men whose names are known to all the world ; and when we see them we i iA not forget to ask which is the grave of Edward the Confessor, King of England, who first built the Church of Saint Peter on Thomey Island, more than eight hundred years ago. a ill -iiu I 1| It vl 154 ST0BW8 FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. SUMMARY OF STORY ELEVEN. On tlie death of Harthacanute, Edward, son of Ethelred, was made king. Edward Is called " Edward the Cnnfessor." He built the church of St. Peter on Thomey Island, which is now Westiniiuter Abbey. Earl uuiiwiu and his soiiii gained great power over the kiwi. \ A "BOSB'^ WINDOW IN WBSIIONSIBS ABBET. 155 STORY TtrELVE. THE NORMAN CONQUERORS. CHAPTER I. Harold, the Son of Godwin. 1. And now we come to the last story in this book. We have read how the Romans came and took our island from the Britons. We have read how, after the Romans had gone, the Saxons came over and turned out the Britons. We have seen how the Danes in their turn fought the Saxons ; and how at last they came to share England with the Saxons. And now we come to tell how once more an enemy came into England and made themselves masters of the land. 2. Before we can understand this story, we must go back to a man about whom we read in the last story. This man was Harold, the son of Earl Godwin, who had quarrelled with King Edward the Confessor. 3. It happened that Harold was one day sailing down the English Channel. A storm aio&e, and his ship was wrecked upon the shores 156 1 1 STORIES FROM ENOLISII HISTOUY. of France. The part of France upon which Harold was thrown belonged to William, Duke of Normandy. 4. When William heard that Harold was in his country, he sent for the English earl to have him brought to his town of Rouen. It is said that William made Harold promise that, after King P]dward's death, William should be King of England, and that Harold should help him. But though this is not quite certain, it is quite certain that from that tipe William, Duke of Normandy, made up his mind that he would make himself King of England after Edward the Confessor's death. ': : v 5. Edward the Confessor had no children: and the right person to come to the throne after his death was Edgar, the son of Edmund Iron- side, about whom we read in Story Ten. Edgar was called by the English, " Edgar Atheling."* He was only a boy at this time ; and William thought that he would be quite strong enough to prevent a boy becoming king. ^It turned out that he was quite right. « « Atheling " meaus a member of a noble family, or Prince. ^- r- -v. V ■ WILLIAM THE NORMAN. 157 CHAPTER II. William the Norman.— The Battle of Hastings. 1. As soon as Edward the Confessor had died, the English chose Harold to be their king (1066) ; HABOLO TAKUN PfiUONBB. and no sooner had William of Normandy learned what had happened than he determined that he would try his best to take his kingdom from him. He sent to his friends and told them that Harold r 158 ^STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. had no right to be King of England, and that he himself was the true king. 2. Then he set to work to 'jollect a great army in Normandy, and soon he had gathered together 900 ships and 60,000 soldiers. Harold soon saw that he would have to fight hard if he were to keep his kingdom. 3. But the Normans were not the only ene- mies he had. His brother Tostig was angry because the people had chosen Harold, and not himself, to be king. He put himself at the head of an army, and he sent to Harold Hardrada, a great chief among the Northmen, to come and help him against his brother. And so Harold had two enemies to fight against at the same time. 4. As he waited with his army upon the shore of the English Channel, looking out for the ships of William of Normandy, he heard that his brother Tostig and Harold Hardrada had landed in the north of England and were marching against York. 5. Then Harold got together his army as quickly as he could and went off to the north to fight against his brother. When the two armies came near together, a messenger was sent from the army of Tostig to King Harold, to ask whether Harold would make peace and divide his kingdom with his brother. WILLIAM THE NORMAN. 159 6. Then Harold answered like a brave Eng- lishman. He said, " To my brother Tostig I will give the kingdom of Northumberland ; and 1 will make peace with him, for he is an English- man ; but to Harold Hardrada, who is a ibreigner and an enemy, I will give but six feet of English ground, or, as I hear that he is taller than most men, ± will give him seven feet, but that is all the English ground he shall have from me." By this, Harold meant that he would give to his enemy only ground enough to make his grave, and that lie would make no peace with him. 7. When Tostig and Harold Hardrada saw that Harold would not agree to -what they pro- posed, they ordered the battle to begin. The fight that followed was long and fierce, but at last the enemy were beaten, ar\d both Harold Hardrada and Tostig were killed. 8. The place where the battle was fought was Stamford Bridge, which is on the River Derwent in Yorkshire. Then Harold marched back with his victorious army to the south of England to fight against his ^ther enemy, William the Norman ; but this time there was to be no victory for him or his army. 9. Four days after the battle of Stamford Bridge had been Imp^^^i the Norman army had m , r ■V 160 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. i< i" 1 i. t landed at Pevensey, near Hastings. As William stepped on shore he fell, but as he rose he picked up a clod of earth from the ground. ^^ See," said one of the Duke's followers, " our duke has already taken the soil of England." Had Harold been at Pevensey with his army he might have prevented the Normans from landing ; but alas ! he came too late. 10. The whole of the Normans got safely on shore and marched to Hastings. It was not for some days that Harold was able fo get an army strong enough to meet the enemy. At last, upon the 14th day of October, in the year 10G6, the English and the Norman armies met. 1 1 . At first the Normans were l^eaten back by the English. The English soldiers stood with their shields and their axes in a great ring round King Harold. Again and again the Normans tried to break through this ring, but they were beaten back each time. 12. At last William ordered the Normans to pretend to run away. Then the English broke their ranks and followed them ; but as soon as they had broken their ranks, the Norman horse- men rode among them and killed many of them. But still the great ring round the king remained unbroken. Then William thought of another plan — he bade his archers fire their arrows up n 102 STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISWEY, into the air so that they should fall on the heads of the English. 13. It so happened that one of these arrows struck King Harold in the eye. The king fell to the ground and soon died. Then those who had stood round him began to give way, and when the English saw that the Royal Standard had fallen and that their king was dead, they fled on every side. 14. Soon the battle was over, and the Nor- mans had won tl^e victory. Fifteen thousand of the Norman soldiers had been killed, and a still greater number of the English. The body of King Harold was found the next day upon the battle-field. It was buried under a heap of stones, but it was afterwards taken away and buried again at Waltham Abbey, in the county of Essex. 15. And so ended for many years the story of our English kings. William the Norman became King of England (1066), and for more than c hundred years England was ruled by foreigners, and was under the power of the Normans. 16. A great Abbey was built near Har.tings in memory of the great fight, and it is called to this day "Battle Abbey." LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING FORWARD. 163 CHAPTER III. Looking Back and Looking Forward. 1. And now that we have gone through tlie story of England from the time when the Romans first came over under Julius C98Sar to the time when Harold, King of the English, fell fighting on the battle-field of Hastings, it would be a good thing to try and understand how long a time passed between the days of Julius Caesar and the days of Harold. 2. We see at the end of this book a picture of a long Scroll, or Chart, part of which has been unrolled from the roller at the top. It is divided into twenty-one divisions, and on it are written some of the most important things in the history of England. We shall see that the distance be- tween each two lines marks a hundred years. The first division at the bottom is marked *^ B.C.," and if we turn back to page 31 we shall find, if we do not remember without looking, that ^* B.C." means before Christ. All the other divisions from "0" to ^^2,000" show the years after the birth of Christ, which, ^ as we learnt, are some- times written ^* a.d.," meaning in the year of our Lord (Anno Domini). 3. In the middle of the chart is the thick K 2 t li LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING FORWARD. 165 black line, with the number 1066 written upon it. Now 1066 was the date we had in the last Story, and is the year in which the battle of Hastings, was fought ; and so we can see in a moment that the battle of Hastings comes almost exactly half-way in the history of England. The time which passed between the days of Julius Caesar and the landing of William the Norman is rather longer than all the time which passed between the landing of William the Norman and the days in which we live. 4. People sometimes forget what a long time pas^jed between the days of the Romans and the days of the Normans. Of course, it is not hard to see why this should be. ^ 5. Many more books have been written in the last part of our history than in the first part, and much more is known about the last part than about the first part ; and that is the reason why the history of England since the time of the Normans always takes up more room in the history books than the history of England before the time of the Normans. 6. But if we look at the chart at the end of this book, and try and understand it, we shall never forget that more than a thousand years passed between the time of Julius Caesar and the time of William the Norman. 166 BTORlBa FROM IJNQLTSH HISTOUt, SUMMARY OF STORY TWELVE. On Edward's death, Harold, son of Oodwin, was made king in his place. Before hd ky>^j.iiie king, Harold had been taken prisoner in Normandy, and William, Duke of Normcvndy, said that Harold had promised him that he should become king when Euwarl the Confessor was dead. William claimed the throne of England, and got togetiior a large army to take it. At the same time Harold's brother Tostig, and Hardrada, invaded the north of England. Harold beat Tostig, and then marched against William, but was too late to prevent the Normans landing. A great battle was fought at Hastings. The Bnglish were beaten, and Harold was kiU^, and Wiliiam, Duke of Normandy, made himself king of England. From the time when Julius Csesar first landed in England to the time when Harold was killed at the Itattle of Hastings is eleven hundred and twenty-one years. Fruni the battle of Hastings to the year 1894 is eight hundred and twenty-eight years. HABOLD ON HIS TBBONB. (From the Bayeux To^^try.) WILLIAM I. ON HIS TIIBOMB. (From the Bayeux Tapestry.) A NOBMAN SHIP OF WAB. II I) LIST OF DIFFICULT WORDS. Story l.-THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN. CHAPTER I. famous powerful Britannia cargoes conquered language CHAPTER II. victories understand underneath steamer account mountains thousand inhabited general detennined prepared examinations stopped generally CHAPTER III. savages fought interesting really villages believed remind manners despised different unknown terrible secrets OHAFTER IV. countries religion forgotten Salisbury laurel tumbled suddenly wonderful remind thousand mistletoe sacred remember Stonehenge berries Story II.-HOW THE ROMANS CAME TO BRITAIN. CHAPTER L collected ordered covered regiment legion figure eagle seized waded fierce Cassivelaunus chariots scythes message 168 i ' STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. CHAPTER II. Claudius determined example happened Bethlehem . 1 CHAPTER III. remained fought fiercely Caractacus prisoner ashamed admiring commanded treated Boadicea complain justice seized * resisting gathered prepared beautiful appeared defeated succeed destroyed Suetonius 1-1 declared ^ taught i ':''',' ^ ■ ' , , , CHAFIER IV. submitted agreed stopped Tadcaster • wonderful together whenever exactly ditch Chichester usually whatever Chester Doncaster Rochester Manchester Tiancaster ■■„, ,. , ii CHAPTER V. 1' buildings enemies Ermine Hadrian pillars especially paved patterns considered supplied statues scarcely journeys straight ' carriages enabled exactly travelled luggage . planned Vespasian several Titus Watling Fosse Severus wonderful troubled already CHAPTER VI. Jerusalem Tacitus siege I ! LIST OF DIFFICULT WORDS. 109 CHAPTER VII. f fierce Dover Italy protected disobey countries maiTied Story lll.-THE COMING OF THE SAXONS. CHAPTER I. happens hushed expect beginning different remained overclouded protect CHAPTER II. y Germany Saxons perhaps covered Norfolk Horsa touches Baltic Angles Jutes thought fertile adventures fighting Suffolk " resist CHAPTER III. Holland exactly barren Lincoln Hengist interesting easiest gunpowder remember invented fortress different Medway Chatham Story IV.— THE SAXON CONQUEST. CHAPTER I. victory remained inhabited natural waited bringing peaceably taught Plymouth Cornwall descended ancient different formerly Strathclyde H 170 aiORlEa FROM ENGLISH maWBT, ini contrary followers <3flAFTER II. ^ Denmark Jutland worship throughout worshipped really mention fierce separate stayed CHAPl'ER III. atlases histories divided several Yarmouth require Story V.-HOW THE SAXONS BECAME ENGLISH, AND HOW THE ENGLISH BECAME CHRISTIANS. H CHAPTER I. heathen worshipped beautiful Christians remained Gregory whiter browned whether angels Augustine received CHAPTER II. » contained iEthelbert Bertha allowed Thanet Margate Ramsgate Broadstairs Wantsum Sandwich Reculver fourteen messenger persuaded receive Ebbsfleet companions understand silence finished Canterbury followers preaching honest CHAFl'ER III. .,' powerful account believed guess spear Northumbria councillors country Paulinus fastened ^thelburga advise different Coifi allowed Northumberland LIST OP DIFFIOULT WOEDS. Ill CHAPTER IV. Mercia Lincolnshire Derbyshire Warwickshire Herefordshire Penda Cuthbert Butiiam tanl^iodrai certainly earnest Oswald possible understand translated delightful Cheshire Aidan buildings Lindisfame understood CHAPl'ER V. misfortune Shropshire Oswy stretched Monmouth CHAPTER VI. Cheshire nowadays Essex Egbert Wessex reason Story VI.-THE NORTHMEN. CHAPTER L Sussex events Norway eager steamer Edinburgh harbours wonderful plunder pleasanter straight cruel • CHAPTER II. terrible destroying swelled enemies refuge killing escape rowers shields stopped painted standards raven serpent dragon CHAPTER III. terror plundered suffering wandering determined accounts belonged different misery forefathers 'm ST0RIE8 FROM ENGLISH HISTORY, Story VII.-ALFRED THE TRUTH TELLER. \N, ' !- r i!, CHAPTER I. ^ , happened grandfather numerous difference fortunate especially Winchester industry deserve contained Swithin honourable CHAFl'ER u. ignorant practised stupid generally shooting defend n CHAPTER in. strengthened harbours fought victorious dared deserted peasant chalk Athelney escape obliged marshes hiding heard figure underneath Exeter CHAPTER IV. fighting Guthrum baptised overtaken CHAPTER^ V. invented different Story VIII.-THF ENGLISH KINGS FROM EDWARD TO EDGAR. CHAPTER I. ^thelfleda armour supposea ileased < t • i LIST OF DIFFICULT WORDS. 173 •1 1 liii CHAPTER II. 1 Rolf 4 Shetland Charles Normandy I Rouen properly obeyed winning CHAPTER III. weapons 1 i 1 Athelstan robber prevented Beverley caught dagger CHAPTER IV. Leolf ^^H Dunstan Nunnery Abbot Monastery advice misfortunes Glastonbury stern 1 harsh rough submitted tribute 1 savage animals creatures ■ Story IX.-THE DANISH CONQUEST. CHAPTER I. Elfleda cruelly wonderful guided stopped begged murdered counsellor jealous remorse Elfrida stabbed unpunctual adviser showed terribly Exeter CHAPTER II. advised quarrelled Sweyn victories CHAPTER III. secret particular angry Norwich vowed promise misfortune Olaf suspected destroy injure 174 8T0BIE8 FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. 1 1 Alphege feasting dragged a soldier fighting respect troubles powerful I < CHAPTER IV. ^ \ replied guarded chiefs archbishop unmoved feasters Greenwich foreigner Story X.-THE DANISH KINGS. CHAPTER I. Ironside Canute weary govern obeyed friendly r, CHAPTER II. Harthacanute settling quarrel rebelled reigning Story XI.— THE LAST OF THE ENGLISH KINGS. CHAPTER I. declared persuaded daughter behave grieved students boyhood favourite marshes thousand CHAPTER 11. shallow different Westminster Story XII.— THE NORMAN CONQUERORS. CHAPTER I. fought enemy himself quarrelled sailing arose wrecked collect messenger proposed Pevensey remained LIST OF DIFFICULT W0BD8. CHAPTER II. 175 gathered Tostig agree prevented shields arrows Standard enemies • Northumberland Stamford -• t ■ waited taller Derwent axes Waltham 1) understand divisions written CHAPTER III. Scroll Chart important exactly history unrolled sometimes \y A: •■ ■ i ■ ■■ 276 '* POETICAL SELECTTONS. „ PSALM XXIII. ~ > David's Confidence in God's Grace, A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures ; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul ; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil ; for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies ; thou anointest my head with oil ; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life ; and I will dwell in the house of ihe Lord for ever. F lis-' OLD HUNDREDTH. All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice ; Him serve with fear, his praise forth tell, Come ye before him, and^rejoice. Know that the Lord is God indeed ; Without our aid he did us make ; We are his flock ; he doth us feed. And for his sheep he doth us take. O, enter then his gates with praise ; Approach with joy his courts unto : Praise, laud, and bless his name always, For it is seemly so to do. II 11 t POETICAL SELECTIOXS. For why ? the Lord our God is good His mercy is forever sure ; His truth at all times firmly stood, And shall from age to age endure. 177 11 \i THE SONG OF THE ANGELS. E. H. SEARS It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold : " Peace to the Earth, good-will to men. From Heaven's all-gracious King !" The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing. Still through the cloven skies they come, With peaceful wings unfurled ; And still their heavenly music floats O'er all the weary world ; Above its sad and lowly plains They bend on heavenly wing, And ever o'er its Babel sounds The blessed angels sing. Yet, with the woes of sin and strife. The world has suffered long ; Beneath the angel-strain have rolled Two thousand years of wrong ; And men, at war with men, hear not The love-song which they bring ; — Oh, hush the noise, ye men of strife, And hear the angels sing ! And ye, beneath life's crushing load Whose forms are bending low, — Who toil along the climbing way ill 'fa ;;ir ' ? hi. 178 ' POETICAL SELECTIONS, With painful steps and slow, — Look now I for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing : Oh I rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing I For lo ! the days are hastening on, By prophet bards foretold. When, with the ever-circling years, Comes round the age of gold ; When Peace shall over all the Earth Her ancient splendours fling, And the whole world send back the song Which now the angels sing. CHRIST, THE LORD, IS RISEN AGAIN. Christ, the Lord, is risen again, Christ hath broken every chain ; Hark ! angelic voices cry. Singing evermore on high, Hallelujah 1 Praise the Lord ! He who gave for us his life, Who for us endured the strife. Is our Paschal Lamb to-day ; We, too, sing for joy, and say. Hallelujah ! Praise the Lord I He who bore all pain and loss, Comfortless upon the cross. Lives in glory now on high. Pleads for us, and hears our cry ; Hallelujah ! Praise the Lord I POETICAL SELECTIONS. Now he bids us tell abroad How the lost may be restored, 1 low the penitent forgiven, I low we, too, may enter heaven • Hallelujah ! Praise the Lord ! 179 IJ I) FOR ALL THE SALNTS. lH)r all the Saints who from their labours rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confess'd, Thy Name, O Jcsu, be for ever blest. Alleluia I Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Mit^ht ; Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fouj^ht fi^dit ; Thou in the darkness drear their one true Light. Alleluia I O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold, Fight as the Saints who nobly fought of old, And win, with them, the victor's crown of gold. Alleluia! O blest communion ! fellowship Divine I We feebly struggle, they in glory shine ; Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. Alleluia! And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long. Steals on the ear the distant triumph-song, And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong. Alleluia ! The golden evening brightens in the west ; Soon, soon to faithful warriors ccmucs their rest ; Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest. Allcl uia 180 POETICAL SELECTIONS. But lo ! there breaks a yet more glorious day ; The Saints triumphant rise in bright array : The King of glory passes on His way. Alleluia ! From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Alleluia ! BOADICEA. COWPER. When the British warrior-queen, Bleeding from the Roman rods, Sought, with an indignant mien, ■ Counsel of her country's gods, Sage beneath the spreading oak Sat the Druid, hoary chief, — Every burning word he spoke Full of rage and ^ull of grief: " Princess ! if our aged eyes Weep upon thy matchless wrongs, 'Tis because resentment ties All the terrors of our tongues. " Rome shall perish ! — write that word In the blood that she has spilt ; Perish, hopeless and abhorr'd, Deep in ruin as in guilt ! " Rome, for empire far renowned, Tramples on a thousand states ; Soon her pride shall kiss the ground- Hark ! the Gaul is at her gates ! ^ c POETICAL SELECTIONS. 181 " Other Romans shall arise, Heedless of a soldier's name ; Sounds, not arms, shall win the prize, Harmony, the path to fame. " Then the progeny that springs From the forests of our land. Armed with thunder, clad with wings, Shall a wider world command. " Regions Caesar never knew Thy posterity shall sway ; Where his eagles never flew, None invincible as they." Such the bard's prophetic words, Pregnant with celestial £re, Bending as he swept the chords Of his sweet but awful lyre. She, with all a monarch's pride. Felt them in her bosom glow ; Rushed to battle, fought and died. Dying, hurled them at the foe. " Ruffians, pitiless as proud ! Heaven awards the vengeance due ; Empire is on us bestowed ; Shame and ruin wait for you. 1/ 18'J POETICAL SELECTIOXS. THE SKELETON IN ARMOUR. LONGFELLOW. "Speak ! speak ! thou fearful guest! Who, with thy hollow breast Still in rude armour drest, Comcst to daunt me ! Wrapped not in Eastern balms, But with thy fleshless palms Stretched as if asking alms, Why dost thou haunt me ? Then from those cavernous eyes Pale flashes seemed to rise, As when the Northern skies Gleam in December ; And, like the water's flow Under December's snow, Came a dull voice of woe From the heart's chamber. " I was a Viking old ! My deeds, though manifold, No Skald in song has told. No Saga taught thee ! Take heed, that in thy verse Thou dost the tale rehearse. Else dread a dead^man's curse! For this I sought thee. " Far in the Northern Land, By the wild Baltic's strand, I, with my childish hand. Tamed the ger falcon ; And, with my skates fast-bound, Skimmed the half frozen Sound, That the poor whimpering hound Trembled to walk on. POETICAL SELECTIONS. " Oft to his frozen lair Tracked I the grisly bear, While from my path the hare Fled like a shadow ; Oft through the forest dark Followed the were-wolf's bark, Until the soaring lark Sang from the meadow. But when I older grew, Joining a corsair's crew, O'er the dark sea I flew With the marauders. Wild was the life we led ; Many the souls that sped. Many the hearts that bled By our stern orders. " Many a wassail bout Wore the long winter out ; Often our midnight shout Set the cocks crowing, As we the Berserk's tale Measured in cups of ale. Draining the oaken pail. Filled to o'erflowing, "Once, as I told in glee Tales of the stormy sea. Soft eyes did gaze on me. Burning, yet tender ; And as the white stars shine On the dark Norway pine, On that dark heart of mine Fell their soft splendour. " I wooed the blue-eyed maid. Yielding, yet half afraid, And in the forest's shade 183 ^J^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) Z 1.0 I.I 150 '"^^ Hffi^s u Hi Z »£ 12.0 1.8 1-25 1.4 1.6 •• 6" ► Photographic Sdences Corporation ^"^ '^1^^ ^->^1^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 '^ ^J<^ k 184 POETICAL SELECTIONS. I Our vows were plighted. Under its loosened vest Fluttered her little breast, Like birds within their nest By the hawk frighted. " Bright in her father's hall Shields gleamed upon the wall, Loud sang the minstrels all, Chanting his glory ; When of old Hildebrand I asked his daughter's hand. Mute did the minstrel stand To hear my story. " While the brown ale he quaffed. Loud when the champion laughed, And as the wind-gusts waft The sea-foam brightly, So the loud laugh of scorny Out of those lips unshorn, From the deep drinking-horn Blew the foam lightly. " She was a Prince's child, I but a Viking wild, And though she blushed and smiled, I was discarded! Should not the dove so white Follow the sea-mew's flight, Why did they leave that night Her nest unguarded ? " Scarce had I put to sea. Bearing the maid with me, — Fairest of all was she Among the Norsemen I — POETICAL SELECTIONS. When on the white-sea strand^ Waving his armfed hand, Saw we old Kildebrand, With twenty horsemen. " Then launched they to the blast, ' Bent like a reed each mast, Yet we were gaining fast When the wind failed us And with a sudden flaw Came round the gusty Skaw, So that our foe we saw Laugh as he hailed us. 185 « cc And as to catch the gale Round veered the flapping sail, Death ! was the helmsman's hail, Death without quarter ! Mid-ships with iron-keel Struck we her ribs of steel ; Down her black hulk did reel Through the black water. As with his wings aslant. Sails the fierce cormorant. Seeking some rocky haunt, With his prey laden. So toward the open main, Beating to sea again. Through the wild hurricane, Bore I the maiden. " Three weeks we westward bore, And when the storm was o'er, Cloud-like we saw the shore Stretching to leeward ; 186 ! POETICAL SELECTIONS. There for my lady's bower Built I the lofty tower, Which, to this very hour. Stands looking seaward. " There lived we many years ; Time dried the maiden's tears ; - She had forgot her fears. She was a mother ; Death closed her mild blue eyes, Under that tower she lies ; Ne'er shall the sun arise On such another ! " Still gre^ my bosom then. Still as a stagnant fen ! Hateful to me were men. The sunlight hateful ! In the vast forest here, Clad in my warlike gear, Fell I upon my spear, Oh, death was grateful ! " Thus, seemed with many scars. Bursting these prison bars, Up to its native stars My soul ascended ! There from the flowing bowl Deep drinks the warrior's soul. Skoal! to the Northland ! Skoai/ — Thus the tale ended. » * • In Scandinavia this is the customary salutation when drinking a health. I have slightly changed the orthography of the word in order to preserve the correct pronunciation. POETICAL SELECTIONS, THE DEATH OF KING WARWOLF. 187 The great Kinj^ Warvvolf waxing olvl, And feeling that death was nigh at hand, Resolved to die as a hero should— Not pent in a bed, and then hid In the sand. So he clad him brave in his golden mail, And took his axe and his masslcst shield, And his spear, and his bow, and his two-edged sword. That no one else but himself could wield. And he bade them drag his galley forth, And load it with trunks of the driest pine, And store it with oak-butts knotty and ringed, And pile it with fir-cones line on line. — So they set the gold-cloth sails all fair, And tied the well-worn helm due north, And they bore him down on their brazen shields To the barque that was destined to bear him forth.] Sitting erect on his fir-tree throne, In his royal robe and glittering crown, As the fateful galley bore away Slowly out of sight of the town. Singing to Odin hymns of praise, — Cheerily, though with a failing breath. He went in splendour and bold of heart. In a kingly way to meet King Death. They watched till they saw the ship go down Below the long grey line of se? ; And then there arose a great red glare, That seemed to crimson fitfully The whole broad heaven, and melt the waves Into one cauldron of blood-red light, And soon all suddenly there fell A pitchy gloom, and then came— night. ■PS" 11 188 POETICAL SELECTIONS. ALFRED THE GREAT. 849-901. The Isle of Roses in her Lindian shrine, Athena's dwelling, gleam'd with golden song Of Pindar, set in gold the walls along, Blazoning the praise of H^racMs divine. — O Poets, who for us have wrought the mine Of old Romance, illusive pearl and gold. Its star-fair maids, knights of heroic mould. Ye lend the rays that on their features shine, Ideal strength and beauty : — But O thou Fair truth ! — to thee with deeper faith we bow ; Knowing thy genuine heroes bring with them Their more than poetry : From these we learn What man can be : By their own light they burn Ab in far heavens the Pleiad diadem. II The fair-hair'd boy is at his mother's knee, A many-colour'd page before them spread. Gay summer harvest-field of gold and red, With lines and staves of ancient minstrelsy. But through her eyes alone the child can see. From her sweet lips partake the words of song. And looks as one who feels a hidden wrong, Or gazes on some feat of gramarye. * When thou canst use it, thine the book ! ' she cried ; He blush'd, and clasp'd it to his breast with pride: — * Unkingly task ! ' his comrades cry ; Irx vain : m POETICAL SELECTIONS. 189 All work ennobles nobleness, all art, He sees ; Head governs hand ; and in his heart All knowledge for his province he has ta'en. Ill Few the bright days, and brief the fruitful rest, As summer-clouds that o'er the valley flit — To other tasks his genius he must fit ; The Dane is in the land, uneasy guest ! — O sacred Athelney, from pagan quest Secure, sole haven for the faithful boy Waiting God's issue with heroic joy And unrelaxing purpose in the breast ! The Dragon and the Raven, inch by inch. For England fight ; nor Dane nor Saxon flinch ; Then Alfred strikes his blow ; the realm is free :- He, changing at the font his foe to friend. Yields for the time, to gain the far-off end, By moderation doubling victory. IV O much-vex'd life, for us too short, too dear ! The laggard body lame behind the soul ; Pain, that ne'er n\arr'd the mind's serene control ; Breathing on earth heaven's aether atmosphere, God with thee, and the love that casts out fear ! A soul in life's salt ocean guarding sure The freshness of youth's fountain sweet and pure, And to all natural impulse crystal-clear : — To service or command, to low and high Equal at once in magnanimity, The Great by right divine thou only art ! ,, # 190 POETICAL SELECTIONS. Fair star, that crowns the front of England's morn, Royal with Nature's royalty inborn, And English to the very heart of heart ! CARACTACUS. BERNARD BARTON. Before proud Rome's imperial throne in mind's unconquered mood. As if the triumph were his own, The dauntless captive stood. None, to have seiin his freeborn air. Had fancied him a captive there. r^.ough through the crowded streets of Rome, With slow and stately tread. Far U'ow. his own loved island home, That day in triumph led, — Unbound his head, unbent his knee, Qndimmed his eye, his aspect free. A free and fearless glance he cast On temple, arch, and tower. By which the long procession passed Of Rome's victorious power ; And somewhat of a scornful smile Upcurled his haughty lip the while. And now he stood, with brow serene. Where slaves might prostrate fall, Bearing a Briton's manly mien In Caesar's palace hall ; ¥ POETICAL SELECTIONS. Claiming, with kindled brow and cheek, The liberty e'en there to speak. Nor could Rome's haughty lord withstand The claim that look preferred, But motioned with uplifted hand The suppliant should be heard, — If he indeed a suppliant were Whose glance demanded audience there. Deep stillness fell on all the crowd, From Claudius on his throne Down to the meanest slave that bowed At his imperial throne ; Silent his fellow-captive's grief As fearless spoke the Island Chief. " Think not, thou eagle lord of Rome, And master of the world. Though victory's banner o'er thy dome In triumph now is furled, I would address thee as thy slave. But as the bold should greet the brave ! " I might perchance, could I have deigned, To hold a vassal's throne. E'en now in Britain's isle have reigned A king in name alone. Yet holding, as thy meek ally, A monclrch's mimic pageantry. "Then through Rome's crowded streets to-day I might have rode with thee. Not in a captive's base array, But fetterless and free, — If freedom he could hope to find, Whose bondage is of heart and mind. 191 ii 192 a POETICAL SELECTIONS. " But canst thou marvel that, freeborn, With heart and soul unquelled, Throne, crown, and sceptre I should scorn. By thy permission held ? Or that I should retain my right Till wrested by a conqueror's might ? " Rome, with her palaces and towers, By us unwished, unreft, Her homely huts and woodland bowers To Britain might have left ; Worthless to you their wealth must be, But dear to us, for they were free ! " I might have bowed before, but where Had been thy triu.rph now ? To my resolve no yoke to bear Thou ow'st thy laurelled brow ; Inglorious victory had been thine. And more inglorious bondage mine. " Now I have spoken, do thy will ; Be life or death my lot. Since Britain's throne no more I fill, To me it matters not. My fame is clear ; but on my fa^e Thy glory or thy shame must wait." He ceased ; from all around upsprung A murmur of applause. For well had truth and freedom's tongue Maintained their holy cause. Their conqueror was their captive then. He bade the slave be free again. V u w § O w S o fe o O H u C/5 o erf X u • u w § O W o o ^ . Price, 8 CENTS EACH. No expense has been spared to make these books superior in every respect. * - / *, The system is simplicity itself. The writing staff is divided into only three spaces, and all letters, both small and capital, are brought within these three spacfes. The advantages of this must be apparent to every practical teacher. It makes the system simpler and easier to teach, it follows more closely the proportions of ordinary type, and produces a style of penmanship having more character and dignity than any other scale. • • , Every single letter form has been carefully considered, so that it might combine in the highest degree the qualities of grace, legibility, and ease of execution. After much deliberation, the proportion of 3 in width to 4 in height has been adopted as the basis of the capitals and small letters ; the capitals and loops of small letters are made just twice the height of the small letters a, <:, m, n, etc. ; and the initial and terminal strokes are made to extend one half-space vertically and hori- zontally — a unique feature, simplifying the letters considerably. An examination of Grafton's Vertical Copy Books will convince anyone that they are not books hastily prepared in response to a sudden demand, but that they are the outcome of long-continued study and thought on the part of both the authors and the publishers. In fifteen months the edition of these Copy Books published in the United States has been adopted by School Boards, over all competitors, in cities and towns having an aggregate population of 5,000,000. Descriptive Circular, showing specimen of writing in the different numbers, upon application. v F. E. GRAFTON & SONS, Publishers, A PRACTICAL ARITHMETIC. The New Arithmetic. — The motto is : " No routine methods ; a maximum of practice with a minimum of theory." GRAFTON'S GRADED ARITHMETIC Published in Parts. Fully Illustrated. By E. W. Arthy, Superintendent of Schools, Montreal. Part I. — Comprising the four Simple Rules, with exercises intro- ductory to Canadian Money, "Weights and Measures. Numbers up to lO must be taught by means of objects. This book starts from the /^«, and presents in easy steps the operations involved in adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing numbers. It contains a very large number of exercises for both mental and written drilL Part II. — Comprising Canadian Money, Factors and Multiples, Common and Decimal Fractions, Compound Quantities. Part III. — Comprising Denominate Fractions, Practice, Propor- tion, Metric System of Weights and Measures, Mensuration, Percentage with its simple applications to Profit and Lc.-.s, Interest and Discount. Each Part contains carefully graded exercises sufficient for two years. All new work is introduced by easy sight examples, the object being to lead to an almost unaided perception of processes and prin- ciples, before they are formally discussed or committed to memory. Price, 15 cents a part, 96 to 112 pages. A Teachers' Manual accompanies each book of the series, giving full directions in using the book, as well as answers to Problems. Price, 35 cents. . v ' Authorized for tise in the Province of Quebec* ' Adopted for use in the Public and High Schools of MoKtreal. i I . THE METRIC SYSTEM. f U.S. HOUSE OF representatives' COMMITTEE FAVOURABLE TO IT. Washington, D.C, March 17, 1896.— The House Committee on . Coinage, Weights and Measures is in earnest in its efforts for the adop- tion of the metric system of weights and measures in this country. It has reported favourably a bill requiring its adoption in the departments after July l, 1898, and throughout the country in 1 901. A Committee of the British House of Commons has also reported is favour of introducing the metric system. i»njmi>i»i,»i!«(M '.iJ^.j^JU 1-if:bieLixi^Ui^-^Al£:.\^