till, by frequent repetition the student committed them to memory, or, according to the ancient phrase, got them by heart.”

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These impositions were distasteful to the young king, and were often sadly contrasted by him with the pleasures and joyous freedom of his early years, before his accession to the regal dignity had burdened him with the heavy fetters of state and deprived him of the amusements of his age, and above all of the company of his brother Ethelred, his tenderlybeloved living plaything.

The royal manor and castle of Corfe had been, as I said before, the favourite residence of the deceased king his father, during whose reign it had been a constant scene of gaiety and festivity. The happy days of Edward's childhood had been spent there, and when he compared the gloomy routine and fatiguing employments of his present mode of life with the sweet remembrances of that pleasant time, he felt disposed to regard the demesne of the queen dowager as a sort of Eden, contrasted with which the rest of his kingdom was but an extensive wilderness.

This desire of revisiting the scenes of his infancy, "his home," as he emphatically styled Corfe Castle, became more pressing in proportion as it was resisted by his inexorable guardian and the rest of the wise counsellors by whose decision he, while a minor, was compelled to abide, and he secretly resolved to embrace the first opportunity tnat might occur for the gratification of his wish.

Meantime, unremitting application to the laborious studies and public duties which Dunstan enjoined, impatience of the restraints imposed upon him, and above all, his incessant pining for the beloved scenes and companion of his childhood, produced a visible change in his health. His fading cheek, heavy eye, and languid appearance, at length attracted the attention of Dunstan, who, in common with most ecclesiastics of that period, possessed a considerable knowledge of physic, and was desirous of administering to his royal pupil a medicine which he considered might be efficacious to him.

"It is of no avail," said Edward, rejecting as he spoke the proffered cup, "it is not a nauseous compound of drugs that will restore me to health. It is the divertisements, the relaxations, and the companionships of my age that I require."

"Know you not, Oh! King, that as the lord of a mighty nation, you are called upon to put away childish things, and to employ your precious time in fitting yourself for the performance of the important duties which pertain to your exalted station?" said the archbishop.

"Ah! station full of sorrow!" exclaimed the young king," how gladly would I exchange its gilded fetters for the healthful toils and envied freedom of a shepherd boy!"

"In the same sinful spirit of discontent and rebellion against the dispensations of the Most High, thou wouldst have coveted regal dignity, hadst thou

been doomed to bear the hardships and privations. of a herdsman's lot," replied the archbishop.

"I could endure them all patiently, yea joyfully, were I permitted to breathe the fresh free air of dale and down in liberty," rejoined the youthful monarch, "and to solace myself with the company of one dear familiar friend, were it but a day."

"Thou art a perverse boy, and knowest not the value of a real friend when thou hast found one," said Dunstan reproachfully. "Thou deemest me harsh, and my counsels bitter, because, instead of dissembling with thy folly, I labour to convince thee that a king is the property of the nation that permits his authority, and that it behoves him to sacrifice his dearest wishes where they interfere with the duty he owes to his people."

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Nay, but, my father," said Edward, “my present desire is so simple in its nature, that it concerneth no one beside myself, or I would not urge it."

"It is, I know, of no avail to reason with thy perversity to-day," said Dunstan impatiently. "What wouldst thou?"

"I would fain hunt the deer in my royal chase of Wareham," replied the king in a hurried voice, being awed by the stern manner of his preceptor into dissembling half his wish.

"Is that all?" demanded Dunstan, fixing his penetrating eye upon the varying cheek of the youthful king; "thou mightest well call thine a simple

wish, and if thou hadst added foolish thou hadst not said amiss."

"I knew thou wouldst call it so, my Lord Archbishop," said the king, turning away.

"Nay, Edward, nay, this is mere childishness," resumed the archbishop, taking the feverish hand of his royal charge, "if hunting the deer be thy desire, far be it from me to withstand thee in such a trifle, especially as thou thinkest the fresh air and jocund exercise of following the hound horn will restore thy health and spirits; but why shouldst thou speak of the distant woods of Wareham for thy divertisement, when thou hast thy royal and wide extended forest and chase of Waltham so close to thy loving city of London, that thou mayest enjoy goodly pastime there this very day, with thy noble. thanes, and earldormen and trusty burgesses for thy company and guards?"

No," replied the king, "I love not to seek my game amidst such gaping crowds of idle followers, and I will not hunt at Waltham to-day."

"Thou shalt find goodly sport in the fair forests. of Windsor, if thou wilt seek it there," said Dunstan, 66 or in thy chase at Sheen, or at Greenwich and the Black-heath."

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"I do not incline to hunt at Windsor," replied the King, nor yet at Sheen, nor Greenwich, nor the Black-heath, nor any where but at Wareham, where my royal father was wont to rouse the deer."

"Wareham is too near to Corfe Castle, the abode of the bold bad woman, thy guileful stepdame Elfrida,'

replied Dunstan. "It is a vicinity fraught with peril to thee, and thou shalt not go thither, Edward.” Edward was sad and sullen during the remainder of the day.

The next morning there was an evident access of the low fever that hung about the young king; he was languid and dispirited, and would neither attend to his studies, nor enter into any of the little plans laid out for his amusement by his courtiers at Dunstan's instigation.

When Dunstan perceived this, and observed that his royal pupil sickened and rejected his food from day to day, he said to him again, "Edward, what wouldst thou ?"

"I told thee before," replied the youth, "but it was in vain, that I did but desire to breathe the sweet air of the Dorsetshire hills and downs, and to hunt the deer in my pleasant woods of Wareham, and lo! thou didst refuse me this little thing."

"Because I saw thou wert like a foolish bird, wilfully bent on falling into the snare of the cunning fowler," returned Dunstan, "and I know thou hast now only revealed a part of thy purpose, which is to visit Corfe Castle."

A deep blush overspread the pale cheek of the young king, as he protested that he had no such intention.

"I fear thou dost dissemble with thy true friend, King Edward," said the archbishop. "In troth, my son, it is only natural that thou shouldst desiro to embrace thy brother Ethelred; but, give up this