THE ENGLISH SPIRIT OF RESISTANCE.

41

The English Spirit of Resistance to Foreigners.

Anglo

their

But though the Anglo-Saxon army was defeated, The England was not conquered. The spirit of resistance Saxons to foreign invaders has always been strong in Eng- still defend land, and always may it remain so. We are, it is true, homes. merchants, and glad to welcome to our shores those who come in peace, to bring us from foreign lands such things as England does not produce, or to give us knowledge which we do not possess. But we never forget-and, I say, let us never forget-that we are islanders; that our islands are our home, our Rule, sacred home, never to be tainted by a foreign sway; Britons never to be ruled, never to be dictated to, by a foreign never shall king.

"This England never did, (nor ever shall,)
Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror,

But when it first did help to wound itself."

So says our greatest poet, and so was it on this occasion. Had there been no division among the Anglo-Saxons, no jealousies, the Normans would not have gained the victory. Let this ever be a lesson to us. United, we may resist the world in arms. Disunited, even we may fall beneath a foreign yoke.

The Normans helped to civilise the Anglo-Saxons.

Britannia!

be slaves.

Normans

We must not, however, look on the Norman Con- The quest as nothing but a misfortune or disgrace to our of the same land. In the first place, these Normans, although blood as they lived in what is now a part of France, were not Frenchmen. They sprang from nearly the same

the Saxons.

races as our Anglo-Saxon forefathers. William Duke of Normandy was descended from Rollo, a bold warrior of Norway, and thus the Northern blood flowed equally in the veins of William and of his new subjects; and if the Saxons were beaten, it was by foes who, like themselves, had been hardened in contests with the stormy waves of the Northern seas. Besides this, the Normans brought with them arts and civilisation, which softened the rough strength of our forefathers, without weakening their bravery. When the Normans settled in France,

The

Normans

speak the French language.

Norman Ladies. (From an old Psalter.)

"they abandoned their native speech, and adopted the French tongue, which was mainly derived from the Latin. They speedily raised their new language to a dignity and importance it never before possessed. They found it a barbarous jargon; they fixed it in writing; and they employed it in legislation, in poetry, and in romance. They re

Normans

arts and

nounced that brutal intemperance to which all the other branches of the great German family were too much inclined. The polite luxury of the Norman The presented a striking contrast to the coarse voracity fond of and drunkenness of his Saxon and Danish neigh- an bours. He loved to display his magnificence, not in huge piles of food and hogsheads of strong drink, but in large and beautiful buildings, rich armour, gallant horses, choice falcons, banquets delicate rather

Enriched Norman Window - St. Cross, Winchester.

than abundant, and wines remarkable rather for their fine flavour, than for their intoxicating power.' These tastes, and this higher civilisation, the Normans imparted to our Anglo-Saxon forefathers.

* Macaulay.

William advances towards London.

William the Conqueror reigns over England.

A. D. 1066.

I must now return to the events which followed the battle of Hastings. As I have already said, this battle by no means gave William complete possession of England. After his victory, William took possession of Dover, and then cautiously marched towards London. He found the Anglo-Saxons ready to op

pose him, and, therefore, after burning Southwark, he ravaged the surrounding counties of Surrey,

WILLIAM'S TERRIBLE VENGEANCE.

45

goes to

stead.

Buckinghamshire, and Hertfordshire, and finally took William up a position at Great Berkhampstead, in order to Great prevent London being relieved from the North. BerkhampThither the Anglo-Saxon chiefs sent a deputation, and submitted themselves to William, who then marched to London. Before entering the city, however, he built a strong fortress, which has since grown into the Tower of London; and when this was completed, William entered London, and was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

ravages

Defeated in the South, the Saxons gathered to- William gether in the North of England, and were supported the north by the Kings of Denmark and Scotland. But William of England. was never wanting in resolution or in speed. He hastened to the North and defeated the allied armies. His vengeance was terrible. A writer, who describes the state of the country sixty years afterwards, says: "From York to Durham not an inhabited village remained. Fire, slaughter, and desolation made it the vast wilderness which it continues to this day." Some of the country people, taking refuge in the mountains and forests, tried to subsist by plundering their oppressors; many sold themselves into slavery; and so hard pressed were they by hunger, that the flesh of dogs, horses, and even men, was greedily devoured. What was called peace was thus made in the North of England, and the Anglo-Saxon cause was utterly broken. Other efforts were made to resist the Normans, but in vain; the conquerors possessed the land.