Justly now come pain and care,

Tears and sighing sadness;
And, if pang-time pardon bear,

Grief should nourish gladness.
Oar cold hearts would God anneal,

Oh, then, meet we cheerly
Fires, that may heaven's hues reveal

On our souls stamped clearly.
Yea, on Gor, in deep faith stay;

He, He only knoweth
How, at the great Judgment-Day,

Unscourged sinner showeth.
Silent, with adoring heart,

Trust His Love unfearing;
Thou shalt bless each bitter smart

At thy Lord's appearing.

ROYAL ROSE-BUDS.

A HISTORICAL SKETCH,

CHAPTER III.

scribe the if, that exist

dat he alssa

one long it there'

MAUDE OF NORMANDY, 1070.
She was betrothed to one now dead,
Or worse, who had dishonoured fled.'
“Yet one asylum is my own

Against the dreaded hour,
A low, a silent and a lone,

Where kings have little power,

One victim is before me there.'-Scoti.
We now turn to scenes and times nearer our own, and
* Shakspeare's fairy elf boasted that he could put a
girdle round the earth in forty minutes, so will we avail
ourselves of the yet quicker wings of thought, and bid
them bear us back to merrie England, as it was eight

years ago. 'Merrie England' it was indeed
called, but at the period of which we write, 'the mirth of

hundred

the land was gone.

The battle of Hastings, by which William of Nor mandy obtained the British throne, had only just been fought, the Nornian Conquerors were fierce and rapacious the vanquished Saxons sullen and despairing.

We now know that much of our national greatness may be traced to the blending of Norman and Saxon character of the impetuous bravery of the former, with the stund independence of the latter, and we look back to the event that brought this about, and see the Hand of God in them. But many years passed away before these results wert obtained, and meanwhile, the races remained apart, like two meeting rivers which run sullenly side by side for a space, and then slowly begin to mingle their waters ani blend their hues together.

The Conqueror attempted to win over some of the Thane by flattery and deceitful promises. Amongst these were Edwin, Earl of Chester, and his brother Morcar, two brave young noblemen, of great weight and authority in the north of England. William invited these fair-haired Saxons to his court, amused them with tilts and feastingt and even promised the hand of his young daughter Maudes to Edwin, the elder brother. Most likely he never meant to fulfil this engagement, but it suited him to keep Edwin near him in a sort of honourable captivity. Having ** duced his new subjects to obedience, William resolved to pay a visit to his wife and children in Normandy; and in March, 1067, embarked for his native shore, accompanied by many noble Saxons. Amongst these were the good and gentle Edgar Etheling, sole descendant of King Alfred, Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Earls Edwin and Morcar. The expedition must have been most galling to English pride, and we may imagine the haughty young Thanes chafing in spirit, while they rode after their new master through the streets of Rouen.

give forth one shout,' as they passed, and the sun shone with unwonted and Midsummer brightness. Earl Edwin

• The city seemed

PACHET

I depair

w

mingle there

hich is and his fair-haired companions attracted great notice by

the beauty and nobleness of their faces, their tall strongly tere fiert sist kait frames

, and their dresses, crusted with gold and silver.

The next three months were passed in gaiety and knightly er nationales diversions

, and we may conclude that Edwin grew recon. Man and uns diled to his position, since he was admitted into the royal

family

, and learned to know and love the gentle Maude. formier,

She was one of a large family, four brothers, (two of se Hand of whom, William Rufus and Henry, were afterwards kings efore the sake of England,) and six sisters. Their mother, Matilda of

Flanders

, was a clever, spirited woman, her husband's best
Lillenlr sik tadvicer and helper in matters of state ; she was also a

friend of learned men, and a great builder of churches.
Sze excelled in all the womanly accomplishments of that
day

, and some very fine tapestry worked by her may still

be seen at Bayeux Cathedral, in Normandy. Nothing can = brother is be more curious than this tapestry, recording, as it does.

the warlike exploits of her lord. It presents a series of sirited the boy pictures of armed knights, horses with rich trappings, Foung dengan asing and engaged in deadly struggle ; as a whole, it is writh tilts els taps and boats crossing a sea of worsted work, warriors likelyhend Pery impressive, though the quaint figures and odd proad bi min

portions often make one smile. Matilda was a painstaking,
opisy tenga probably a stern mother, and her daughters were
Willi'ery carefully trained up. The eldest, Cecily, had from

childhood been of a serious and quiet temper, and, by her
om desire, entered a nunnery in early girlhood.

The
others crossed with their mother to England in 1068, and
passed many months in the royal city of Winchester, where

was crowned Queen of England. Earl Edwin e been want much time with his betrothed here. This venerable town, rich in Saxon legends and history from the days of

was now at its highest prosperity, and so thickly peopled, that it is said to have extended a mile further than it does in our day. The Conqueror built a strong castle there, but his family lived in the royal palace

eight and

in Normaat

re shore

, a bese were the ndant of

Matilda

and Earle la

King Arthur,

T*

le the begin Frode after the 1). "The one ied, and the htness

of their Danish predecessors. Hyde Abbey, the burying. place of Alfred, was then standing, and there were, besides, more than forty parish churches in the city. Maude must often have worshipped in one or other of them, for she was very holy and pure of heart, and so much did she love to pray, that after death her knees were found quite worn and hardened with kneeling. Walls of Aint, strongly cemented with mortar, girded the city, and the river Itchen, crystal-like in its clearness and brightness, flowed murmuring through it. Chalky hille stood round, as if to protect the venerable town, and be yond them breezy sheep-downs stretched away for miles, and joined the grassy and wooded slopes on which Merdonija Castle then frowned. These were the scenes in which Edwin and Maude passed some bright moments together. At last, weary of waiting for the hand of his plighted bride, Edwin sought an interview with her father, and earnestly begged that a time might be fixed for their marriage. William, afraid of giving offence to his prond Normans by choosing a Saxon son-in-law, tried to put off the Earl with fair words. Edwin grew angry, uttered fierce threats, and in a fit of passion fled to one of his strongholds in the north. Here calm reflection, and per haps the image of the gentle Maude, brought him to his senses, and next Easter we find him again at Winchester, and seemingly reconciled to the king ; but as William's treacherous dealing grew more apparent, and all hopes of obtaining Maude's hand became fainter and fainter, the Thane's small stock of patience became exhausted. He broke off entirely with the king, and a second time retreated to the north.

Shortly after he was travelling northward through a thick forest, bound on some secret errand to the King of Scots, when a band of Normans suddenly fell upon him; he struggled with them desperately, but was slain at last

, with twenty of his faithful followers. The assassins carried

de Aber a his head to William, expecting a large reward, but even , and the 4 bis bard heart was melted, and at the sight of the long es in tbe c 4 "fair bair dabbled in blood,' he is said to have burst into

of heart 2: Near the spot where Earl Edwin fell, or at least Hath her le where be last was heard of, a singular curiosity was ith kontiz tamed up by the plough many years ago. It is a small ortar, girdik ve shield of silver about six inches long. Some Saxon words

in its cast are engraved upon it, their purport being that this shield Jugh it contains a charm both to protect her who wears it, and nerable to be lover for whose sake it is worn.' If it belonged to –tched apart Earl Edwin, it might have been a returned keepsake from Pes on this the Princess. We know nothing of what Maude felt or the seat is paid when the direful news was brought to her, but it hit moment ens likely that she afterwards spent much of her time Tiand of his le retirement with her sister Cecily. A historian, who with her bude maited the convent, says that he saw there one of King st be fire Willian's younger daughters, but had forgotten her name.

After a while, Maude's band was promised by her antitions father to Alfonso the Valiant, King of Castille, aj who had lately divorced his first wife. Maude wept and

prosed and vainly besought her father to release her from this hateful marriage, but his heart was set upon

From the earthly parent who thus sacrificed her, again at liebe turned to the Father of Spirits, and prayed that 'He 18; but arould rather take her to Himself' than suffer her to fall ent, and al ia muto the hands of the Spanish king.

She wished she might this wearie life foregoe,

And shortly turne unto her happy rest,'
Le secund, and her desire was granted. She set out towards Spain

with a splendid train of nobles, but ere she had traversed
France, and reached the Pyrenees, fell sick and died.
Her body was brought back to Normandy, and there

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