power both in Church and State. In King Edgar's reign, from 959 to 975, the Saxon kingly power in England rose to its highest pitch. During one of his journeys through the land, he is said to have been rowed up the river Dee by eight tributary princes. Shortly after, however, the Danes reappeared on our coasts, and everything began to fall into confusion and misery. The only plan adopted to keep the invaders off, was the giving them large sums of money, which were raised by a tax called the Dane-geld. All was, however, in vain; and in 1002, King Ethelred ordered a general massacre of the Danes. Amongst the slain was the sister of the King of Denmark. The angry monarch came over the next year, and forcing the now wearied and exhausted Saxons to submit, was proclaimed king at London, 1013. Some efforts were made by the nation to rally once more their forces, but they were totally conquered at the great battle of Assington, in Essex, where the flower of the English nobility perished. In the year 1017, Knut or Canute the Dane, son of Sweyn, became sole king of England. He was one of the greatest kings of that age, assuming the title of King of England, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. It is said that the first regular standing army since the departure of the Romans was formed at this time. After a reign of twenty years, his sons Harold I. and Hardicanute succeeded; but in 1041, after twenty-five years of Danish rule, the Saxon line was restored in the person of Edward the Confessor. This monarch repealed the Dane-geld, and conciliated the Danes, so that the long warfare and bitter hatred between them and the Saxons at last came to an end, and the two peoples 14 gradually became one English nation. It was this king who rebuilt Westminster Abbey, in which he was himself buried. EXERCISES.-I. Define,-Mentioned, superior, estuary, possession, resistance, victorious, and tributary. 2. Name the best and greatest of the Anglo-Saxon kings. 3. Write all you know of Alfred the Great. THE LAST OF THE FLOCK. Sturdy, stout and strong. WORDSWORTH. Dwindled, gradually became less. Reckless, heedless of conse- Ewe, a female sheep. In distant countries have I been, I followed him, and said: "My friend, To-day I fetched him from the rock- When I was young, a single man, Though little given to care and thought Of sheep I numbered a full score, And now I care not if we die, "Six children, sir, had I to feed; They said I was a wealthy man, 'Do this; how can we give to you,' And they were healthy with their food, "Another still! and still another ! A little lamb, and then its mother! It was a vein that never stopped, Like blood-drops from my heart they dropped, They dwindled, dwindled, one by one; "To wicked deeds I was inclined, I went my work about,— Bent oftentimes to flee from home, And hide my head where wild beasts roam. "Sir, 'twas a precious flock to me, As dear as my own children be; For daily with my growing store, I loved my children more and more. God cursed me in my sore distress ;- And every week, and every day, "They dwindled, sir; sad sight to see! And then at last from three to two :- I had but only one; -And here it lies upon my arm, Alas! and I have none; To-day I fetched it from the rock, NOTE. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, the chief of modern natural poets, was born, lived, and died in the lake district of Cumberland and Westmoreland. His poems are full of simple beauty; outward things being made to suggest an inner life or soul. Born 1770; died 1850. EXERCISES.-I. Narrate the story (facts only) upon which the poem is founded. 2. Give the "argument" of the first and second stanzas (see example, page 32). 3. Paraphrase the first stanza. |