10. "The Saxons," reported Duke William's outposts of Norman soldiers, who were instructed to retire as King Harold's army advanced, "rush on us through their pillaged country with the fury of madmen."

"Let them come, and come soon," said Duke William.

11. Some proposals for reconciliation were made, but were soon abandoned. In the middle of the month of October, in the "ear one thousand and sixty-six, the Normans and the English came front to front. All night the armies lay encamped before each other in a part of the country then called Senlac, now called (in remembrance of them) Battle. With the first dawn of day they arose.

12. There, in the faint light, were the English on a hill; a wood behind them; in their midst the royal banner, representing a fighting warrior woven in gold thread, adorned with precious stones; beneath the banner, as it rustled in the wind, stood King Harold on foot, with two of his remaining brothers by his side; around them, still and silent as the dead, clustered the whole English army -every soldier covered by his shield, and bearing in his hand his dreaded English battle-ax.

13. On an opposite hill, in three lines-archers, foot soldiers, horsemen-was the Norman force. Of a sudden, a great battle cry, "God help us!" burst from the Norman lines. The English answered with their own battle cry, "God's rood! holy rood!" The Normans then came sweeping down the hill to attack the English.

14. There was one tall Norman knight who rode before the Norman army on a prancing horse, throwing up his heavy sword and catching it, and singing of the bravery of his countrymen. An English knight, who rode out from the English force to meet him, fell by this

knight's hand. Another English knight rode out, and he fell too. But then a third rode out, and killed the Norman. This was in the first beginning of the fight. It soon raged everywhere.

15. The English, keeping side by side in a great mass, cared no more for the showers of Norman arrows than if they had been showers of Norman rain. When the Norman horsemen rode against them, with their battleaxes they cut men and horses down.

16. The Normans gave way. The English pressed forward. A A cry went forth among the Norman troops that Duke William was killed. Duke William took off his helmet, in order that his face might be distinctly seen, and rode along the line before his men. This gave them courage. As they turned again to face the English, some of the Norman horse divided the pursuing body of the English from the rest, and thus all that foremost portion of the English army fell, fighting bravely.

17. The main body still remaining firm, heedless of the Norman arrows, and with their battle-axes cutting down the crowds of horsemen when they rode up, like forests of young trees, Duke William pretended to retreat. The eager English followed. The Norman army closed again, and fell upon them with great slaughter.

"Still," said Duke William, "there are thousands of the English, firm as rocks, around their king. Shoot upward, Norman archers, that your arrows may fall down upon their faces."

18. The sun rose high, and sank, and the battle still raged. Through all the wild October day, the clash and din resounded in the air. In the red sunset, and in the white moonlight, heaps upon heaps of dead men lay

strewn a dreadful spectacle-all over the ground. King Harold, wounded with an arrow in the eye, was nearly blind. His brothers were already killed. Twenty Norman knights, whose battered armor had flashed fiery and golden in the sunshine all day long, and now looked silvery in the moonlight, dashed forward to seize the royal banner from the English knights and soldiers, still faithfully collected round their blinded king. The king received a mortal wound, and dropped. The English broke and fled. The Normans rallied, and the day was lost.

19. Oh, what a sight beneath the moon and stars, when lights were shining in the tent of the victorious Duke William, which was pitched near the spot where Harold fell—and he and his knights were carousing within—and soldiers with torches, going slowly to and fro without, sought for the corpse of Harold among the piles of dead— and the banner, with its warrior worked in golden thread and precious stones, lay low, all torn and soiled in blood. -and the three Norman lions kept watch over the field!

Charles Dickens.

FOR PREPARATION.-I. Give an account of the author of this piece. Have you read his "Nicholas Nickleby"?—"A Child's History of England"? What else? Point out, on the map, Rouen, Normandy, Norway, Hastings, Derwent River (in Yorkshire; there is another in Cumberland), York. At what time did this occur? (§ 11.) Has England been conquered since this "Norman conquest"? Who had conquered it before? Who was "the Confessor ". r"?

II. Conn'-çil, leagued (leegd), çîr'-ele (-kl), sur-vey' (-vā'), eǎp'-tain (-tin) dis-miss'-al, knight (nit), Eng'-lish (ing'glish), sought (sawt), war'rior (yer).

III. Explain the effect on the meaning of the word of 's in Conqueror's ;ed in asked ;-n in strewn;—most in foremost ;-less in needless. In § 14, is the word "first" necessary before "beginning"?

IV. Meaning of resign (1), vassal (2), survey (3), divers (8), pillaged (10), reconciliation) (11), carousing (19).

events.

V. Point out remarks that indicate a gay humor in describing these Is such a style appropriate to the subject? Can you find passages that seem flippant? What is the author's reason for writing in this style? (writing for the amusement of children?) Has he selected the essential features of the events to describe? Does his narrative give you a clear picture of the battle, and an idea of the causes at work to effect the results which he names? Which is the most spirited passage in the piece?—the

most touching?

XVI. AN ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF A MAD DOG.

1. Good people all, of every sort,
Give ear unto my song;
And if you find it wondrous short,
It can not hold you long.

2. In Islington there lived a man,

Of whom the world might say,
That still a godly race he ran
Whene'er he went to pray.

3. A kind and gentle heart he had,
To comfort friends and foes;
The naked every day he clad
When he put on his clothes.

4. And in that town a dog was found,
As many dogs there be,

Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,
And curs of low degree.

5. This dog and man at first were friends;
But when a pique began,

The dog, to gain his private ends,
Went mad, and bit the man.

6. Around from all the neighboring streets
The wondering neighbors ran,

And swore the dog had lost his wits,
To bite so good a man.

7. The wound it seemed both sore and saa
To every Christian eye;

And while they swore the dog was mad,
They swore the man would die.

8. But soon a wonder came to light,
That showed the rogues they lied:
The man recovered of the bite;

The dog it was that died.

Oliver Goldsmith.

FOR PREPARATION.-I. "Islington "—where?

II. Mon'-grel (můng'-), pïque (peek), rōgueş (rögz).

III. Explain changes from bite to bit, swear to swore, run to ran, have to had, begin to began, clothe to clad, find to found.

IV. What different words are used for dogs in this piece? Explain their different shades of meaning.

V. Examine the turns of wit in this poem. They consist in the use of words or phrases of two meanings (ambiguous), and, when you incline to take one of them, suddenly the next line suggests that the other may be the true one. (A person thinks to sit down in a chair where there is none, and sits on the floor.) "Wondrous short" (in space), "hold you long" (time) (1); "godly race he ran"-literal meaning and a figurative one (2); "clad the naked " (i. e., was good to the poor ?), "when he put on his clothes" (no, he clad his naked self) (3); "a dog was found, as many dogs there be" ("was found" means simply there was, but may mean was discovered); curs of low degree" (using an expression applied to human beings only, as if there were social castes among dogs) (4); "to gain his private ends, went mad" (in order to gratify his spite, he inflicted on himself a deadly injury) (5); “dog had lost his wits, to bite,” etc. (“lost his wits" means that he acted foolishly, or that he had the hydrophobia) (6).