that in his day a gold bracelet, it was said, might be hung up by the roadside and none would dare touch it. Finding his people were very ignorant he sent abroad for learned men to teach them; he himself turned a number of Latin books into English. He built two monasteries, gave much money to the poor, and made rich presents to the churches; perhaps there never was a man more unselfish.

In one of his writings Alfred says that he had "ever striven to live worthily," and that he hoped to leave for those who came after him " a remembrance of him in good works." As he strove so did he live, as he hoped so has it come to pass: he lived worthily, and the memory of his good works will endure as long as the English nation.

2

5 Chippenham, in
athelings, or princes.

4 Wilton,

Wiltshire.

7

raven

1 Famous, well known. successful, doing what one tries to do. 3 drawn battle, a battle in which neither side has won. some distance from Salisbury. 6 Athelney, means the island of the banner, said to have been woven in a single night by the leader's three sisters; there was on it the figure of a raven, which was supposed to flap its wings before victory. 8 collect, to gather. 9 Ethandun, now Edington, a few miles from Trowbridge in Wiltshire. 10 submit, give in. 11 treaty, a bargain, agreement. 12 Wedmore, west of Wells, in Somerset.

In the time of Egbert all the other kings had been

forced to own the king of Wessex as over-lord.

Now there was but one other king, the ruler of the Danes.

Alfred died in 901, and his son, Edward the Elder, succeeded him. Nearly the whole of Edward's reign was spent in warring with the Danes who had settled in the land. Steadily, little by little, he stretched the borders of his kingdom; and those parts of the country which he did not bring directly under his own government were obliged to 1acknowledge him as over-lord.

2

But the Danes were by no means satisfied, and when Edward died they strove hard to throw oft the rule of his son Athelstan. They were joined by Anlaf, a Danish king who had brought a great fleet across the sea, as well as by the Welsh and Scots. Athelstan met all these foes at 3Brunanburh.

After

a fearful fight victory rested with the English. The Scotch king's son, five Danish kings, seven of Anlaf's earls, and unnumbered men of lower degree were slain.

4

Under Athelstan's brother Edmund the Danes broke out again; but they could not free themselves from the rule of the English. Edmund chose as his chief counsellor, Dunstan, whom he made 5Abbot of Glastonbury, and who afterwards became Archbishop of Canterbury. By his advice. the Danes were allowed to keep their own laws and customs, and thus, having little to complain of, they began to live peaceably and to mix with the folk around them. By the time of Edmund's son Edgar they seem to have come to reckon themselves as

English. The Northmen were very quick to grow like the foreigners among whom they settled; the Danes would the more quickly unite with the English as the two peoples were so near akin in blood and language.

When the Danes first came the country was divided into a number of little kingdoms; in the time of Edgar it was all one. The invasions, dreadful as they had been, helped to bring about the change. The common danger united the people of the south; the conquest of Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria by the Danes left those parts without English kings, so that when they were won by the king of Wessex, he became, not, as formerly, over-lord of them, but full king.

Acknowledge, to own. 2 Athelstan, Ethelstan. 3 Brunanburh. This was somewhere in the north, but where is not known. 4 counsellor, adviser. abbot, the chief man in an abbey. 6 Glastonbury, in Somerset.

5

THE people were now all under one king, but they were not one in thought and feeling; there was hardly any more real union between the English of the North and those of the South than between the English and the Welsh. You will find that just for want of this union the crown was twice won by foreigners within a hundred years of the death of Edgar.

In 9791 Ethelred, son of Edgar, became king. He was called the Unready-not because he was never ready to meet any difficulty that might befall him, but because he was foolish. In the old English language, rede meant counsel, and Ethel-red noble in counsel. It seemed strange to men that one with such a name should be unwise, so they called him Un-red-y, that is, without counsel or

sense.

In his reign Danes from over the sea began to trouble the land again, but the invasions were now different in kind from what they had been before. When we first hear of the Northmen they were living under petty chiefs, much as the English were when we first hear of them. Their land was barren, and so they used to sail abroad for plunder. The Danes who visited Britain, from their first coming till nearly the time of Alfred, came thus on plundering raids.

Then the chiefs began struggling among themselves. Those who lost would not live on under the rule of those who won, and so, with their followers, sought new homes elsewhere. Thus it was that the Danes tried to settle in England.

Lastly, by the time of Ethelred the Unready, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark had each become a united kingdom, and after that any invasions which were made were made on a regular plan. You will find that Swegen, king of Denmark, came to England with an army for the purpose of conquering the country.

In the early part of Ethelred's reign there were a number of small invasions, and he tried the very foolish plan of paying the invaders for going away. They would go away at the time; but when they wanted more money they would come again.

The earl of Essex (a brave old warrior named Brihtnoth), thinking it wiser and manlier to fight than to give tribute, would not follow the weak example of the king. When the Northmen came to his part of the country he fought with them; a famous English song tells of the battle. The invaders sailed up the River Blackwater as far as Maldon, and then went ashore to plunder. Returning to their ships, they saw upon the opposite shore the Essex men drawn up. The Danish leader sent a messenger to say, "There is no need for us to fight; give us gold, and we will go away without molesting you."

Brihtnoth angrily replied, "For gold we will give spears and swords. Return to those that sent you, and tell them that here stand undaunted an earl and his companions, who will defend this, their own land, to the last."

6

The tide being at flood the bands could not get at each other; they could only shoot arrows across the water. At ebb the Danes tried to cross, but were easily kept back. Then they asked Brihtnoth to let them come over, and he boldly, though unwisely, allowed them. On the level ground beside the river a fierce battle raged for a while. The old earl slew one of the Danish chiefs, but was himself