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restitution to be made to some whom he had wronged. He also released the English prisoners of state, many of whom had been confined during his entire reign. Unloved in life, few mourned his death. Deserted by his family and attendants, his dead body was conveyed, for very pity, to Caen, by a knight named Herlain. In the Church of St. Stephen which he had founded, the priests performed for him the last rites of the Church, with candle, book, and bell; but just as the body was about to be interred, there and then a voice was heard from the crowd which exclaimed, "This ground is mine. Upon it stood my father's house. In the great name of God, I forbid the body to be covered with the earth that is my right." And sixty shillings were paid down to him for the final resting place of the once great warrior and king.

But his sons, where were they? Robert was idling and drinking with minstrels and gamesters in France or Germany, Henry was securing the money his father could no longer hold, while William the Red was hurry- · ing to England to make sure of the now vacant throne. The latter we must for a brief space follow.

Rufus, wise in his generation, first secured the ports of Dover, Pevensey, and Hastings, and then hastened to Winchester to make sure of the royal treasures deposited there. These measures taken, he was crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury as William II. This reign, like the preceding, was one of war, intrigue, and violence. First, Odo, the Norman bishop, headed an insurrection. Conceiving himself to be something of a kingmaker, and thinking he could manage the pleasure-loving Robert more easily than he could the fiery and keen William, he headed a rebellion with the view of making

Robert king. The crafty Rufus, finding himself opposed by his Norman barons, made fair promises to his English subjects, and so obtaining their aid, scattered and subdued his enemies; and then forgetting all his promises, went on in his course of oppression with all the energy and passion of his father.

The English king soon carried an army into Normandy, and a fierce war between the brothers was imminent, but the wiser of the nobles interfered and brought about a treaty, which secured to Rufus his present territory during life, while the survivor was to inherit the dominions of the one who should first die. Having joined hands upon this, they forthwith joined armies to rob their younger brother, Henry the Scholar, of a slice of Normandy, which he held by virtue of an alleged purchase with his five thousand pounds; but after many deeds of violence and some of chivalry, this enterprise was abandoned.

Returning to England, what with the Scotch in the north, and the Welsh in the west, his own subjects in England, and his brother Robert in Normandy, William had little rest. No sooner had he quelled one foe than up started another. In the midst of these conflicts, the king found time for his favourite sport of hunting. The New Forest in Hampshire was his most used hunting ground, as it had been that of his father. The Red King, on a fine August day, in company with Henry the Scholar and a merry party, gave chase to the fleet and antlered deer. Toward nightfall, however, a poor charcoal burner found the body of the royal huntsman heartpierced with an arrow.

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The king had made many enemies among priests, nobles, and people, and whether his death was by the

hand of any of these, or a mere accident of the chase, has never been certainly known. The fact is plain, that on lands obtained and held by fraud and violence, the king fell, and died unattended and unblessed. His body was taken to Winchester, and there buried, and Henry the Scholar hastened to the same city, not to mourn for his brother, but to seize the royal treasures.

EXERCISES.-I. Define,-Governed, invasion, inheritance, deposited, interfered, and insolence. 2. Compare the Norman invasion with those of the Romans and Saxons. 3. Briefly state the chief events in the reigns of William I. and II.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON..

N. P. WILLIS.

Persuade, to make one believe.
Prime, the first or best.

Whoop, to make a loud merry shout.

Renew, to make new or as new
Thrill, a warbling.

Wile, to deceive pleasantly.

I love to look on a scene like this,
Of wild and careless play,

And persuade myself that I am not old,

And my locks are not yet grey;

For it stirs the blood in an old man's heart,
And it makes his pulses fly,

To catch the thrill of a happy voice,
And the light of a pleasant eye.

I have walked the earth for fourscore years;
And they say that I am old:

And my heart is ripe for the reaper, death,

And my years are well-nigh told.

It is very true; it is very true;

I'm old, and "I 'bide my time;"

But my heart will leap at a scene like this,
And I half renew my prime.

H

Play on, play on; I am with you there,
In the midst of your merry ring ;
I can feel the thrill of the daring jump,
And the rush of the breathless swing.
I hide with you in the fragrant hay,

And I whoop the smothered call,
And my feet slip on the reedy floor,
And I care not for the fall.

I am willing to die when my time shall come,
And I shall be glad to go;

For the world, at best, is a weary place,

And my pulse is getting low;

But the grave is dark, and the heart will fail,

On treading its gloomy way;

And it wiles my heart from its dreariness,
To see the young so gay.

NOTE.-NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS, a popular American poet, was born at Portland, Maine, in 1817. Died, 1867. His best known works are 66 'Pencillings by the Way," and "Inklings of

Adventure.'

EXERCISES.-1. Describe the scene that led the poet to write this piece. 2. Paraphrase the first two stanzas. 3. Write an account of one of your own happy Saturday afternoons.

GENERAL AND PROSPECTIVE.

Accurate, quite correct.
Prospective, in view of the future.
Confront, to put face to face.
Devise, to contrive or plan.
Anticipate, to take before its
time.

Harnessed, fastened to for work.
Devastating, producing ruin.
Confirmation, making certain.

Prosperity, a condition of success. Solution, the settlement of a doubt.

Substitute, one put in place of
another.

Gelatinous, of the nature of jelly.
Electricity, one of the forces of

nature.

Sustain, to hold up.

In this lesson we will first look back over the ground

already passed, then forward to what may be done in the future.

You will remember that in a former book the way in which science must be studied was pointed out. It was shown that the first step consisted in the accurate and extensive observation of facts, whether seen in the order of nature or revealed by experiment. The second was the careful grouping or arrangement of these facts; then came hypothesis or theory, which upon confirmation became law, by virtue of which the facts were explained; and lastly, some idea was given as to how scientific truths are applied to help man in his daily life. Having thus laid out the plan, we illustrated it by a few easy lessons on some of the most obvious phenomena of the heavens above and the earth beneath.

In this book we have introduced to you a few of those who have devoted themselves to the study of science. In these sketches you may, to some extent, learn what manner of men they were, the nature of the task they so earnestly set themselves to master, how they did that work, and what was the result. And you must remember, that the little that could be said of them, in the space at command, is but a slight indication and by no means a measure, of what they did. And now we fancy we hear you asking, "Well, and what good has come, or is likely to come, of it all ?”

This question then leads us to our forward or prospective view in relation to this science question. And, in the first place, we will put into form the thoughts on which the question is based. You think that your future course in life will neither allow of nor need, that you, like Newton, Watt, or Miller, should dive into the depths of science to make discoveries of things now

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