effects. Mercia, Wessex, Sussex, and Kent yielded to the prince who had been a fugitive for the five preceding months. This appears to have been the result of his wise and moderate treatment of the vanquished Danes, and Gothrun their king. Far from rendering them desperate by manifesting an intention of exterminating them, he conceived the nobler policy of subduing their ferocity by civilization, and the mild influence of Christianity. To effect this, he required them to give up paganism, and then allotted them East Anglia for an abode. The Danish ruler and thirty of his chiefs were baptized near Ethelney, and Alfred acted as godfather. Gothrun and the remainder of his shattered army settled down into peaceful cultivators of the country which was so liberally assigned to them. The Danes in Northumbria followed the salutary example of their countrymen. After these events, Alfred, with eminent peril, and by repeated severe struggles and unceasing vigilance, repelled the attack of the formidable Hastings, who had rendered his name dreadful in France and Italy. When that danger was passed, this truly great monarch devoted all his powers to heal the wounds which had been inflicted upon his country, to encourage a taste for agriculture, commerce, and the arts of peace. Alfred died A. D. 901, after having, through a reign of twenty-nine years, and a long course of difficulties and dangers, discovered such talents and virtues, as justly obtained for him the appellations of the Great and the Good. As his character shone resplendent with all military talents,

so did it, in peace, exhibit all the qualities of the true patriot, and the wise legislator,

He rebuilt the towns and villages that had been ruined by the Danes; he erected castles for defence; he created a navy, the natural bulwark of England; he regulated the administration of justice, restoring vigour to ancient regulations, and enacting new laws adapted to the exigencies and extraordinary circumstances of the times; he laid the foundation of that inestimable part of the British Constitution, the trial by jury; he established the division of the kingdom into counties, hundreds, and tithings; he encouraged the arts, commerce, and learned men,

In his own person he displayed an admirable example of temperance, indefatigable industry, courteous and affable deportment, and regular arrangement of time and occupation. He was pious and devout, and affectionate in his domestic and social relations.

In short, most of those virtues and qualities which can adorn human nature and render a king a blessing to his subjects, were manifested in the character and conduct of Alfred.

From Turner, principally.

BATTLE OF HASTINGS. -CORONATION OF WILLIAM I. CHARACTER OF WILLIAM I.

WILLIAM, duke of Normandy, having spent about eight months in the most vigorous preparations for invading England, and dethroning king Harold, sailed from the harbour of St. Valery, at

the mouth of the river Somme, with a numerous fleet and a gallant army, in September, A. D. 1066; and in two days arrived at Pevensey, in Sussex. At that place he landed his troops, horses, arms, and baggage of all kinds, without any opposition. He immediately erected a fort, in which he placed a garrison for the protection of his fleet. From Pevensey he marched to Hastings, where he remained about fifteen days, fortifying his camp, refreshing his men and horses, and putting every thing in order for the prosecution of his design.

The Normans were, unquestionably, the best soldiers in Europe. Their brethren had shaken the realm of France to its foundation, and wrested from it, its richest provinces; they had subdued the finest region of Italy; and had made the eastern empire tremble. William, their leader, naturally daring and ambitious, was burning to emulate the exploits of his ancestors.

An in

stance of his quickness of thought and presence of mind was displayed when he landed on the English coast. As he leaped from his boat, he fell on the sand. This incident, which, in that superstitious age, might have discouraged his soldiers, he converted into a favourable presage, exclaiming aloud, "Thank heaven, I have now taken possession of the land I claim." Just at the moment a Norman knight, rushing to a neighbouring cottage, tore off a part of the thatch, and gave it to the Duke, thereby completing the form of delivering over England as an estate.

Harold was at York, with his army, celebrat

ing the victory which he had just gained over his turbulent brother, Tosti, and Harfager, king of Norway, when he received intelligence of this formidable invasion.

Harold immediately pressed forward to meet his adversary. When he reached London, he found that his army was greatly weakened by the late battle, and the subsequent rapid march. Gurth, his faithful and prudent brother, and his wisest counsellors, intreated him to remain in his capital till he had refreshed or recruited his army; or at least not to venture his own person in a desperate and unequal conflict. But, flushed with his late victory, the high-spirited English king rejected their friendly admonitions, and hurried to Hastings. where he pitched his camp near to that of the Normans. Early on the morning of the next day, the 14th of October, the two armies were drawn out in hostile array. The English, all on foot, were armed with spears, swords, and Danish battle-axes, and formed into one deep, compact body; in the centre of which, on a rising ground, stood the king, with his two brothers, Gurf and Leofwin, close to the royal standard. The Norman infantry were ranged in two lines; the first composed of archers and slingers; the second, of heavy-armed troops; while the cavalry, commanded by duke William, in person, were stationed on the wings and in the rear.

The English (says an old historian, Matthew of Westminster), who had passed the night in riotous excess, marched towards the foe, uttering

posure.

terrific shouts and yells. The Normans, who had been all night praying and confessing their sins, waited the approach of their enemies with comWilliam ordered the national song of Roland, the Orlando of romance, to be raised. It was begun by a Knight named Taille-fer, and repeated in grand chorus by the whole army.The battle raged with destructive fury, from morn till towards evening. The duke of Normandy had three horses killed under him, and Harold fully maintained his character for impetuous valour. At length, William commanded his troops to give way before the enemy, and to exhibit the appearance of flight. The English, thinking the day their own, quitted their ranks, with rash impetuosity, to pursue the apparent fugitives; when the Normans turning upon their foes, and taking advantage of their disorder, drove them back to a hill; whence, however, they could not dislodge them, as long as Harold lived to animate his troops by his example.

That Prince, at last fell by a random shaft, which, entering at the eye, penetrated to the brain. His brave brothers, being slain likewise, and the royal standard taken, the English finally gave up the contest, and fled. In this battle, one of the most important ever fought in this island as to its consequences, no fewer than fifteen thousand Normans fell, and of the English a far greater number, with their monarch and the flower of their nobility.

The Conqueror discovered great prudence and generosity after his victory. He made his army kneel on the field of battle, and join in offering a