Their uppermost garment was a mantle of white or blue cloth, square, and lined, and so formed that when put on the shoulders it reached to the feet before and behind, but hardly to the knees on each side. Bracelets and chains of gold or silver adorned their persons.

SAXON MODE OF TRIAL.

The great power of the clergy induced them to arge upon accused persons the desirability of appealing to Heaven to demonstrate their guilt or innocence. Various modes were adopted, but the following six were most commonly used:-The judicial combat-the ordeal of the cross-the ordeal of the corsned-the ordeal of cold water-the ordeal of hot water-the ordeal of hot iron.

As instances of the manner in which these trials were conducted, we will give the ordeals of cold water and of hot iron. The accused person having performed some rigorous acts of devotion, fasted for three days, and at the appointed time was publicly conducted to the church, where the priest said mass, and before allowing the accused to communicate, thus addressed him:-"I adjure thee, O man, by the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, by the true Christianity which you profess, by the only begotten Son of God, by the Holy Trinity, by the Holy Gospels, and by all the Holy relics in this Church, that you do not presume to communicate or approach this holy altar, if you have committed this crime, consented to it, or know who committed it." If the prisoner did not confess, the priest gave him the communion, saying: "Let this body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be received by you as a probation this day." The congregation then moved in procession to the pool, where having arrived, the priest gave the accused a drink of holy water, saying: "Let this holy water be a probation to thee this day." The priest then repeated a long and fervent prayer over the pool, adjuring it by everything divine, to reject the person if he were guilty, or to receive him into its bosom if innocent. The prisoner was next stripped naked, and his arms and legs having been tied with strong cords, he was thrown into the water. If he sank to a certain depth, he was dragged out, and declared innocent; but if he floated upon the surface, he was pronounced guilty, and made to suffer the punishment awarded by the laws for the crime he had committed. The religious preparations for the ordeal of hot iron were the same as those we have already described; and all being ready, a ballof iron having been made red-hot, was placed on the floor of the church. The prisoner having crossed himself and sprinkled his hand with holy water, took the iron in his palm and carried it to a distance of nine feet; his hand was then sealed up in a clean linen bag for three days, at the expiration of which time the bandage was loosened in the presence of a jury of twenty-four persons. If any signs of burning appeared, the accused was found guilty, and suffered punishment. If not, he was acquitted. The other way of performing this ordeal was by making the accused walk blindfolded and bare-footed over nine hot ploughshares placed at certain distances. If he did this without being burnt, he was pronounced innocent.

THE ANGLO-SAXON DYNASTY.

FROM A.D. 827 TO A.D. 1066.

EGBERT.

EGBERT arrived among the West Saxons in 801, and took possession

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COIN OF EGBERT.

of the throne. Sussex, was even then annexed to Wessex, East Anglia, Kent, and the East Saxons to Mercia, so that there remained of the Heptarchy but three kingdoms, Wessex, Mercia, and Northumberland. It seems that Egbert was employed in subduing the British chieftains in Cornwall, when Bernulf, King of Mercia, taking advantage of his neighbour's distress, invaded his territories. Egbert met the invader at Wilton, and defeated him with great slaughter; he then marched into Mercia, and was everywhere received as a deliverer. In four years from the commencement of this war the whole of England south of the Humber acknowledged the King of Wessex for Sovereign; but his ambition carried him still further, and he determined to add Northumbria to his other possessions. The chiefs of that state, finding it impossible to resist so powerful an invader, made their submission, and thus was the whole of the Heptarchy subdued. Egbert now resolved to conquer Wales, and had almost succeeded, when he heard that new and formidable enemies had made their appearance. These were the DANES, who landed on the coasts of Dorsetshire. The King hastened to meet them, when a great but indecisive battle ensued. In the year 836, the Danes again landed, but were totally defeated by Egbert, who closed his glorious career in the same year.

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ETHELWOLF.-A.D. 836.

ETHELWOLF, Son of Egbert, succeeded, and his reign of twenty-one years was marked by the increasing encroachments of the Danes, who not only took and plundered the cities of London and Canterbury, but founded a permanent settlement on the Isle of Thanet. In the year 854, Ethelwolf, accompanied by his youngest son, made a pilgrimage to Rome, on which occasion the future Alfred the Great was anointed by the Pope. On returning to his kingdom Ethelwolf found that his son Ethelbald had resolved upon dethroning him, and to avoid open war was compelled to associate his rebel son with him in the government. This King died shortly afterwards.

BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF ALFRED.-A.D. 849.

This great King was the fourth son of King Ethelwolf and his Queen Osberga. He was born at Wantage, in Berkshire, and it would appear that he lost his mother at a very early age. His beauty, wit, and playfulness endeared him to his father, and in his fifth year he was sent with a numerous retinue to be blessed by the Pope at Rome. Again, when Ethelwolf, at a later period made a pilgrimage to that city, he selected Alfred for his companion.

It is recorded that his step-mother, Judith, a lady of much beauty and learning, on one occasion held up to the view of her children a Saxon poem beautifully written and illuminated, which she offered as a present to the first who could read it. Alfred's emulation was excited; he ran to his master, and, with tears in his eyes, entreated that he might be taught to read. He applied himself so diligently, that he was soon able to claim the prize.

ETHELBALD.-A.D. 857.

THE only recorded action of this monarch, is his marriage with his mother-in-law Judith, from whom he was separated on the remonstrance of Swithin, Bishop of Winchester. He reigned three years.

DURING his short reign of six years, the Danes became so daring and powerful, that the King consented to pay them a large sum of money to discontinue their ravages.

ETHELRED.-A.D. 866.

ANOTHER SON of Ethelwolf succeeded, and now the Danes penetrated into the heart of the country, took the city of York, and marching into the midland district seized Nottingham. Ethelred, and his younger brother Alfred advanced against these merciless invaders and compelled them for a time to retire to the north. After resting a whole year in and about York, the Danes again directed their march southward, and entered East Anglia. The inhabitants, under their Prince, Edmund, made an heroic but useless resistance; they were overpowered, and their leader was cruelly slain at a place which has ever since retained the name of St. Edmund's Bury, in Suffolk. Encouraged by this success the strangers advanced to Reading, when Ethelred fearing for the safety of the whole kingdom, summoned all his vassals to his standard, but many of them, taking advantage of his distress to regain their independence, refused to comply with his demands. Not, however, dispirited, the King marched at the head of the West Saxons against the Danes, and during the year 871, fought five pitched battles, in the last of which he was mortally wounded.

SUMMARY.

FEW Monarchs have commenced their reign under such desperate cir

cumstances as the Prince whose name heads this paragraph. The Danes, for upwards of thirty years had ravaged the fair plains of England, leaving behind them naught but ruins, and blood, and destruction.

Up to this time they had not seriously attacked the patrimonial

lands, but now, feeling confident in their strength, they advanced into Wessex, the head-quarters of the Anglo-Saxon King. Within a month of his accession, Alfred fought a great battle at Wilton, in which he was defeated, but the slaughter was so enormous on both sides, that a kind of armistice was tacitly agreed upon. This was observed by the Danes only so long as they were powerless, for, their strength recruited, they continued the war, and by 877 had over-run Wessex as far as

SAXON VESSEL.

Exeter. But a momentary gleam of success shone over the English arms, for Alfred suddenly collected a fleet and an army, and blockading his enemies in their newly captured city, forced them to surrender. In the following year they seized upon Chippenham, a royal town, when Alfred was com pelled to retire and hide among the forests and morasses of Somersetshire. It was at this time that he was upbraided for his idleness, by the wife of the neat-herd who had charitably given him shelter.

During the period of his hiding, Alfred was not really idle; he chose a convenient spot at the meeting of the waters of the rivers Parrett and Thone in Somersetshire, where he erected a small fort, and collected a few of the most trusted and determined of his adherents. In this place, which he called Ethelingey, or the Isle of the Nobles, he continued four months, making frequent excursions for the purpose of procuring food and information.

Now the Danes had a standard, called Reafen or the Raven, which they regarded with superstitious veneration. Oddune, Earl of Devon, having met a party of the invaders, killed their leader and captured the magic standard. This being related to Alfred, he was encouraged to send out messengers requiring all his countrymen to meet in Selwood Forest. But previously to commencing war, he visited the Danish camp, near Chippenham, in the disguise of a minstrel, when finding the enemy given up to riot and debauchery, he believed the moment of attack had arrived.

The Danes were astonished to see the English advancing under their beloved King, and Alfred not allowing them time to prepare for an attack, fell upon and totally defeated them. The Danish commander Guthrum, and the rest of his army having surrendered, the generous and politic Alfred proposed that they should become Christians, and join with him in repelling any future invasion. They willingly consented to these conditions, and were settled in East Anglia.

Several years of peace followed, which were employed by this wise Prince in repairing his ruined cities, building forts to protect his coasts, increasing his fleet, and training his subjects to the use of arms. It is also probable that this period of repose was chosen by Alfred to found