THE NORMAN KINGDOM. WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR (Concluded.) P. To-day we will make up our "lesson" on William's reign, and learn it. .... 1066 1087 L. I will write it, papa. LESSON 11. WILLIAM I. Began to reign Died 1. WILLIAM I. was the Duke of Normandy. He claimed the crown of England because it had been promised to him by Edward the Confessor, and by Hareid. 2. HAROLD was elected King by the English; but William, being assisted by the Pope and the Norman barons, invaded England, killed Harold, and was proclaimed king. 3. William, at first, treated his new subjects with kindness; but, finding that they would not submit to him, he subdued them with much cruel war and bloodshed. He then divided their lands amongst his followers, and introduced THE FEUDAL SYSTEM, which brought the people into a state of slavery. 4. This system also gave too much power and riches to the king, whose income was TEN MILLION POUNDS A-YEAR. During William's reign, many attempts were made to overthrow him. The conquered SAXONS rebelled many times; so also did the BARONS:-MALCOLM, CANUTE, and ODO, even his own son ROBERT, attacked him; but he kept his power until his death in the year 1087. 5. The writing of the DOOMSDAY Book, the establishment of the CURFEW BELL, and the return of the JEWS to England, were events worthy of notice in this reign. P. No; I think that with the death of William the Conqueror we will stop. We will not have any more history until next month. You shall have some of Mr. Young's Geography of England instead. Tell me,-Which of the kings we have heard of do you like best? L. Oh, I like ALFRED best; because he lived to do good. His good laws, and the schools he built, show that he must have been a good king. W. I liked, too, his dividing that loaf with the poor man-that was like Jesus Christ. And the manner in which he treated the Danes, when he conquered them, pleased me. Ion. Yes; but I did not like his making them become Christiansbecause you know that he could not really make them love Jesus. Jesus never tried to make anybody follow Him. I daresay He thought Alfred was a rather "officious" disciple. W. But then, Alfred was a Roman Catholic; perhaps that was the reason. I know that Catholics do make people become Christians. I'm sure that none of the apostles were Roman Catholics. What is a "Roman Catholic," papa? Ion. I think I know-there's St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and P. Never mind now, who the Roman Catholics are. Which king do you like best after Alfred? W. I like CANUTE, papa. It was such a good thing for him to make those "courtiers" look foolish; and to put his crown away. L. That was not particularly good. I like ATHELSTAN better, L. Now, papa, shall we hear because he treated his enemies about William Rufus ? kindly, as Alfred did; and made that good law to encourage com merce. Ion. Then, papa, I liked EDWARD, the son of Alfred. I think it was very good of him and his sister to take so much care of the people, and build walls round the towns and castles to protect them. L. EGBERT, too, must have been a good king-at least, I think so; because he made all the people obey him. At all events, he must have been very powerful. W. And I liked that chief CARACTACUS, who was not afraid of CESAR, and made him repent by speaking the plain truth to him. P. And there were two men worth noticing who had much power over the people. Ion. Yes: Dunstan. He had great power in the reigns of Edred, Edwy, Edgar, Edward the Martyr, and Ethelred. W. And the other was the Earl Godwin, who had great power in the reign of Hardicanute and Edward the Confessor. L. But there was a great difference between them: one gained power by his wickedness, and the other by his honesty. P. Which do you like least of all these kings? L. I like ETHELRED least, the cowardly man who murdered the Danes. Ion. I say Ethelred," papa. W. So do I. Ethelred and his mother Elfrida-they were a very bad pair. P. Well, we will not stop to talk about the bad people. It is a good thing for men to have history written in books, that they may look back and see other people's characters. And we may think, too, how pleasant it is to be one of the good people, and for people to bless us after we are dead. So, dear children, when you think of the good people, try to copy them. Think!-say to yourself, "I have a soul," "I have a mind," "I will not come into this world, and go out again, and do nothing-I'll try and do good to the world, as Alfred did." Think this thought; and think it every day when you get up in the morning, "I will ask God to do me good with His Spirit, then I'll try to do good with my spirit." W. But, papa, I shall never be a king-I cannot do so much that people will put my name down in a history book! P. Indeed, Willie, it will be put down in a history book. The history books written by men are very little things; but there is a great history book in heaven, written by the Great Almighty. He does not forget anything. He says that actions are just the same, whether they come from children or kings. So, once more, dear children, as you pass through this world, take care of your "history." It is all being written now; and perhaps you may, one day, read it. Mind, then, and let it be a good history; for you will either be called "good," or "bad," just as the kings we have been talking about. Here are three thoughts for you about that history book. First, I must be called good or bad. Secondly, I may be called either. Thirdly, Which shall I be? ཁལ་་འ TRUST not yourself, but, your defects to know, POPE. THE KNIFE AND FORK M. Well, Willie, I hope that you know now how to observe and describe the knife-so begin. W. Yes; I observe that it has two parts-the blade and the handle. Ion. And the rivets, Williethree parts. L. And there is a stamp on the blade-"shear steel"-four parts. Ion. And the blade has a round thick piece at the beginning of it, where it is joined to the handle-what is that called? M. That is called the shoulder; there is another part yet W. Yes; there is a long piece of iron running into the handle. M. That is called the tang. W. So that there are six parts -the blade, the handle, the rivets, the stamp, the shoulder, and the tang. And then we might count up the different parts of the blade, thus-the back, the edge, the sides, the end, the beginning, and Ion. The middle, you might say, and then the half-way toward the middle; then you might divide it into inches, and call each inch a part-the first inch, the second inch, and so on. M. Yes, Ion, but you would only be observing its length-a property which the knife must have, as a matter of course. If you wish to make a description of the knife, you must observe those parts which belong to a knife in particular-the parts which make us call it "knife." I think I have told you so before. W. I think you did say so, mamma. We are to make such an account that anybody might be able to imagine the knife, if he had never seen it. Ion. Well, the first six parts were peculiar parts; now, let us find the peculiar qualities. The BLADE first. The blade is bright. W. And the blade is sharp. L. It is long, also, and thin. Ada. And it is flat. W. It is very hard, and smooth, too, and cold, and of a greyish colour. Ada. The edge is straight. Ion. Except at the top, Ada, there it is curved; and the back, too, is straight. We ought to notice these things to show that it is a dinner-knife; for, just look at my pocket knife-the large blade that I cut slate pencils with. Do you see it? The edge curves forward, and so does the back; it is quite round-backed. Ada. Yes, it is something like a poll-parrot's beak. L. And here is another quality it will rust in water. W. Before we describe the blade, if we want to write down its qualities properly, I'll tell you what we should do-arrange them!-put down the qualities that relate to its shape first, then those relating to its colour and surface. Ion. The qualities which describe its shape are "long," thin," 66 flat,' Ion. Is bright a colour? L. No, I think that the word "bright" describes the surface of the knife, not the colour. It is bright, because its surface is so smooth. W. Then that will not do, Lucy; "bright" does not describe the surface; it is the word smooth that describes it; the brightness is the effect of the surface. Oh, where shall we put the word bright? L. I think we will leave it where it is. The quality which belongs to the surface is "smooth." What do the remaining three qualities describe?" hard," "cold," "will rust in water." W. Why, hard means that the particles are very close together; cold means that they have not much heat in them; and rusty, that means-that means-something. So these qualities relate to the substance of the knife. Now, we have four kinds of qualitiesqualities relating to the shape; qualities relating to the colour; qualities relating to the surface; and qualities belonging to the substance. Ion. Now, I'll try and describe the blade of this knife. "It is a long, thin, flat piece of steel, curved at the top, but with a straight edge at the back, and a straight, sharp edge in front. It is hard, smooth, cold, and will rust in water; and it has a greyish and bright appearance." M. You need not stop to describe the handle. Let us notice the uses of the knife. W. Oh, the knife is used for cutting-that is all, and for scraping. L. And for spreading--Jane cuts the bread, and spreads the butter with it. The doctors, too, spread their plasters with knives. W. And there are many different sorts of knives. Let us count them. 1. Carving-knife. 2. Dinnerknife. 3. Fruit-knife (with a silver blade). Ton. And, 4. Pocket-knife-like this one in my pocket. 5. Penknife. M. You have forgotten the Paper-knife with a blunt edge. L. And, 6. The Palette-knife, which the chemists and painters use for spreading with. W. And a Butcher's knife. W. Shoemaker's knife. L. And there is a Cheese-knife, which the cheesemongers use for cutting cheese-it has a straight back and a circular edge. W. And a curious handle. Ada. I've seen a Beard-knifepeople cut off their beards with it. L. She means a Razor-that is really a knife. Ion. And I know another, the knife when he vaccinated baby-a Doctor's knife. The surgeon had a very small thin one. M. That is called a Lancet. W. That will make twelve different kinds, mamma! Please will you tell us the history of knives. When did men begin to use dinner-knives? Or what did they do before they had any knives? M. Mankind, it seems, have never been without knives of some kind; even boys, the first time they save a sixpence, are very proud to buy a new knife. Amongst all rude people and savages you find knives, daggers, and spears, made sometimes of shark's teeth, or flint, or bone, or copper (the Roman knives and swords were made of a mixture of copper and tin called bronze); but in later times, knives were made of iron, and now of steel. The New Zealanders' knives and other tools were once made of bone. The ancient Egyptians often used flint knives. At Pompeii, the buried city, swords have been found made of bone. But in modern days the manufacture of knives has been brought to perfection. The best English cutlery is made at a Yorkshire town called Sheffield. I know a gentleman who, when he Benedictio Mensæ. 4 was at Sheffield, saw a knife cnly an inch long. He was told to open some of the blades-and by the time he had opened all, he found that there were seventy, and all beautifully finished. He also saw a knife with eighteen hundred and forty blades; all of them had hinges and springs, and they all closed in one handle. But the most interesting knife I know of, is a curious ancient knife, preserved in France; it is called "the musical knife," for on the blade these notes are engraved Que sumpturi sumus benedicat trinus et unus. Amen. The Latin inscription is what we | instrument, consisting of a handle call A GRACE BEFORE MEAT-it and a blade. means, The blessing of the table. What we are about to take may Trinity in Unity bless. It is likely that this knife was made in the sixteenth century—a time when almost every one in France used to sing. This music is only the bass part of the tune, so that there must have been perhaps five different knives to make the music perfect. And that must have been a pleasant thing, I think-to have God's praises engraved on the very knife used for cutting the food he had given them. Think! When it was time to "say grace," each person at the table would take up his knife, and sing to God. That was a very pleasant way to begin. THE BLADE is a long, thin, flat piece of steel, curved at the top, but with a straight edge at the back, and a straight, sharp edge in front. It is hard, smooth, cold, and will rust in water; and it has a greyish and bright appearance. It is fastened to the handle by a long piece of iron called a tang. THE HANDLE is formed generally of wood or bone. 2. Knives are used for cutting, scraping, and spreading. 3. There are many sorts of knives, such as the carving-knife, dinnerknife, fruit-knife, pocket-knife, penknife, paper-knife, butcher's-knife, oyster-knife, shoemaker's knife, cheese-knife, razor, and lancet. 4. Knives have been made of shark's teeth, flint, bone, copper, bronze, iron, and lastly, STEELwith which metal they are brought to the highest perfection, especially at We will now make the lesson. |