but he has since known many a boy who, from want of a like caution or the wisdom to attend to it, has lost his hat.

"The Rocket," like all the Stephensons' work, was strong and exact; and after a life of good service in the "carrying trade," has found a safe and honourable asylum at the South Kensington Museum; where, though the tongues of its makers are now silenced by death, it may be seen, a lasting example of their careful observation, patient industry, and scientific research.

The first public railway, that from Stockton to Darlington, being entrusted to George Stephenson, was completed and opened in 1825. While this was in progress, the far more formidable project of uniting Liverpool and Manchester was started. For a time the difficulties appeared insurmountable. Thanks, however, to the perseverance and resources of Stephenson and its promoters, Chat-Moss was crossed, and the cotton and other goods from the wharves of Liverpool found ready and economical transit to Manchester and other great centres of manufacture.

It must not, however, be supposed that the wonderful development that followed was wholly due to the Stephensons. We have already mentioned others as taking part in this work; and to them may well be added the names of George and John Rennie, the Brunels, father and son, and many others. What are

called the great trunk lines of railway, such as the Great Western, the Great Northern, the Midland, and the London and North Western, are among the most gigantic undertakings in the world.

It is worthy of note that with the vast increase of travelling which followed the introduction of railways,

science has provided us, in the electric telegraph, with one means whereby that travelling may also be rendered more safe.

EXERCISES.-I. Define,-Improvements, industrial, extended, products, engineer, perseverance, and amazement. 2. Mention the chief works upon which George Stephenson was engaged. 3. Describe a locomotive engine. (Call to mind what you have seen, as well as what you have read.)

HOW THE ANGLO-SAXONS WERE GOVERNED.

Heptarchy, a seven-fold govern

ment.

Romances, tales of war and love.
Disguised, under false covering.
Baptized, admitted into the
Church by baptism.
Proclaimed, made known pub-
licly.

Exploits, bold deeds.

Extending, becoming wider.
Inspired, filled with fresh life.
Translated, put into another
language.

Ecclesiastic, a cleric or priest.
Conciliated, made friendly.

We

Having shown how the first English obtained and held a footing in this land, we must now show you the condition into which they passed after they had become well established in their new island home. have seen that at first they were very rude, though full of life and vigour. They were not the men who, having obtained the land, would sit down and lead an idle life. Moreover, they were very fond of liberty, and each thought himself as good as his neighbour. They had, too, a very poor notion of any one who could not or would not work hard; and thus their kings and great men were just those who raised themselves to the highest places by being able to do more than any of their subjects.

We have mentioned the seven kingdoms which the Anglo-Saxons formed, and which are known as the king

doms of the Heptarchy. They were generally at war, either with one another or with their common foes the Welsh. During the seventh century the latter were forced to retire for the most part to what is now Wales and Cornwall; and so by their retreat Mercia and Wessex enlarged their territories. By the middle of the eighth century, the minor kingdoms had been absorbed, and Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex vied with each other. for the superiority. Under the reign of Offa the Terrible, Mercia took the lead, but in 827, Egbert of Wessex became supreme king south of the Humber.

It was during this period that the Welsh king Arthur, who never submitted to the Anglo-Saxons, lived and held court in Somersetshire. The brave exploits of this prince and of his "Knights of the Round Table," were the foundation of many stirring romances in after-ages, in which truth and fiction are perhaps equally mixed.

As early as the reign of Egbert, the eastern coast counties, as well as the lands bordering on the seas of the south and west, were visited by bands of hardy, seafaring Norsemen or Northmen. Like the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes, to whom they were related, they tried in their turn to get possession of our coasts; and by dint of immense courage and daring, and in spite of the resistance of the English, these Danes, as they were called, obtained at last a firm footing here. From the east, they went on extending their territory, until, in Alfred's time, a large part of the country was held by them.

This young brave king fought them in battle after battle, but they had then become too strong for his dispirited followers; and at last Alfred himself had for a

while to give up the struggle. Disguised as a peasant, he served a poor herdsman in Somerset, and in this retreat waited and watched for a fitting opportunity in which again to take arms against the foe. At last, having in the disguise of a minstrel made himself acquainted with the condition of the Danish army, under its chief, Guthrum, Alfred secretly called together his scattered English, and having inspired them with his own courage and confidence, they fell upon the Danes at Ethandune, or Edington, in Wiltshire, and gained a great victory. This struck terror into the hitherto victorious Danes, and the English king followed up the victory with such energy, that after many hard fought battles, he became undisputed King of England. And at a meeting of the Wise Men, held at Wedmore, in Somersetshire, a treaty was made by which the Danes gave up Wessex and the greater part of Mercia, but were allowed to retain East Anglia, Northumbria, and part of Essex. Besides this they promised to respect the Christian faith, in testimony of which their chief, Guthrum, was baptized.

Alfred the Great, as he is rightly called, was as good as he was great. He was very attentive to religious matters, and as the Bible then in use was written in Latin, he translated the Psalms and some other parts of it into the English tongue, so that the people might read it for themselves. He also founded several monasteries and churches.

The eighty years which followed the death of Alfred in 901, was a period of peace and prosperity. The monasteries, many of which had disappeared before the pagan Danes, began to be rebuilt, and the monks, under Dunstan and Odo, two famous ecclesiastics, rose to great