The Cairo bulletin., 1912-07-20

to the full-armed "Hus-Carles' OF the
royal bodyguard. The leader WAS Har-
Old. Saxon King. OF England lie had
ru he'd hts trolo rs BY long marches to
this spot, to check the advance OF. a
Norman invader,
In the plain below, toward the hfll-
sile, marched the invsdinsNhost. Far
III advance of their line rode the Nor
man minstrel Taillefer, gaudily
dressed, throwing his sword into the
air and catching it; singing loudly the
Death Chant OF Roland" 1t was this
minstrel who struck the first blow in
the battle of Hastings and who was
first to fall
The Normans flung themselves upon
the Saxons, only to be sent Keeling
back. Again and again they charged
yainIy against that solid battle line.
The Saxons hurled them off, shouting:
Out, Quit" ~
At last the willy Norman leader,
Duke William, tried craft where force
had failed He drew off his soldiers In
seeming retreat. The headstrong Sax
ons, disobeying Harold's orders, broke
their own line to dash In disorderlyi
pursuit of the fleeing foe. The Nor.
mans suddenly turned and charged
through the broken line. gaining the
hilltop, scattering the Saxons, Staying
Harold and-winning England,
1t was big Gay with Destiny. II
was also day wherein Might con
qneser Right: and where, out OF crush
ing defeat, England made her first
step toward greatness.
Norway, Sweden and Denmark were
peopled by wild, bioodthirsty sea
rovers. Unable to prosper in theit
own bleak lands. these Mortimer"
Tor "Norsemen) had for centuries
made raids on the rich coasts Of 4Eng,g
land and France. SO dreaded were
these raids that the old English
prayer book contained the petition:
From the fury of the Mortimer, good
Lord. deliver u.s." band OF Morse
pirates had swooped down on France
and had settled in u rich district ef.
that country. They called themselves
"Normans" and their province Nor.
mandy"
William the Conqueror was the son
OF Duke Robert of Normandy CRob.
ert the Devil') and tanners daugh.
ter. He was born in 1927. From early
beyhood he led life of constant war
fare. peril and treachery. In order to
save his dukedom and his life from the
greed of neighboring potentates he
was forced to acts of brutality and
crime. At length heswas safely estab-
lished In his own realm and looked
about him for further conquests. Ills
eye fell on England.
The English king, Edward the Con-
fessor,' was childless. William ners
suaded or bribed Edward to bequcathj
to him the throne of England
Edward died early III 1865. The
English decided, rightfully, that no
king could legally bequeath his crown
TO anyone. So they elected Harold
their king. At once William demand
ed the crown. Harold refused to give
it up. William stirred up an invasion
of England by the Norveglans and
landed a Norman host on the British
shores at about the same time. ilar-
old thrashed the NorWegians, then
hurried his tired army to Hastings to-
meet William. The Nornans were
victorious; and in London, on Christ
mas day, 1865, William was crowned
king Of England, There he built a
fortress that later became the famed
Tower OF London
Ills conquest of England was a piece
OF bare highway robbery, with no
shadow of moral right ito justify it,
Yet, in the end, 1t was the best thing
that could have happened to the coun-
try For it infused new blood into the
rough Saxon strain, modernized the
isolated. od-fashioned British and
brought them into touch with the
world Mt large and with progress. n
TO create royal hunting park for
himself (the New Forest) he destroyed
villages, churches, converts ard farms.
for space OF thirty mics In lamp
shire and had desolate track stocked
with game for his own pleasure, Ihe
evicted inhabitants were turned away
10 starve. Williams fathers had been
sea rovers. He had chosen to become
a land pirate: merciless, grasping;
lawless lawmaker.
The king of France made fun OF
Williams fairness. William, In rage,
found excuse to invade France. There,
In 1857, he captured and burned the
town OF Nantes. AS he was riding
through the city's hot embers his
horse reared and threw him, causing
mortal injury.
Thus the blackguard who for sixty
years had hraved death in every form,
persisted at last through bit of care.
less Workmanship.