THE DEATH OF THE BRUCE

his instance and desire to be presented to the holy Sepulchre. Than all the lordes that harde these wordes, wept for pitie. And whan this knyght, Sir James Duglas, myght speke for wepyng, he sayd, Ah gentle and noble kyng, a hundred tymes I thanke your grace of the great honour that ye do to me, sith of so noble and great treasure ye gyue me in charge; and syr, I shall do with a glad harte, all that ye haue commanded me, to the best of my true power; howe be it, I am nat worthy nor sufficient to achyue such a noble entreprise. Than the kyng sayd, Ah gentle knyght, I thanke you, so that ye wyl promyse to do it. Syr, sayd the knyght, I shall do it vndoubtedly, by the fathe that I owe to God, and to the order of knyghthodde. Than I thanke you, sayd the kyng, for now shall I dye in more ease of my mynde sith I know that the most worthy and sufficient knyght of my realme shall achyue for me, the whiche I coulde neuer atteyne vnto. And thus, soone after thys, noble Robert de Bruse kyng of Scotland trepassed out of this vncertayne worlde, and hys hart was taken out of his body, and embaumed, and honorably he was entred in the Abbey of Donfremlyn in the yere of our Lord God, MCCCXXVII the vii day of the moneth of Nouembre.

FROISSART, translated by Lord Berners

THE GOOD PRIEST

The Good Priest

IMON the high priest, the son of Onias,

SIMON

Who in his life repaired the house again,

And in his days fortified the temple .

How was he honoured in the midst of the people,
In his coming forth out of the sanctuary!
When he put on the robe of honour,

And was clothed with the perfection of glory,
When he went up to the holy altar,

He made the garment of holiness honourable.

When he took the portions out of the priests' hands,
He himself stood by the hearth of the altar,
Compassed with his brethren round about,
As a young cedar in Libanus,

And as palm-trees compassed they him round about. . . .
He stretched out his hand to the cup,

And poured out of the blood of the grape,

He poured out at the foot of the altar

A sweet-smelling savour unto the Most High King

of All.

Then shouted the sons of Aaron,

And sounded the silver trumpets,

And made a great noise to be heard,

For a remembrance before the Most High.
Then all the people together hasted,

And fell down to the earth upon their faces,

To worship their Lord God Almighty, the Most

High.

THE DEATH OF BEDE

The singers also sang praises with their voices: With great variety of sounds was there made sweet melody.

And the people besought the Lord, the Most High, By prayer before him that is merciful,

Till the solemnity of the Lord was ended,

And they had finished the service.

Then he went down and lifted up his hands

Over the whole congregation of the children of Israel, To give the blessing of the Lord with his lips,

And to rejoice in his name.

Ecclesiasticus

S°

The Death of Bede

until Ascension-tide he worked with his pupils to conclude his translation of St. John's Gospel into the English tongue: but the Tuesday before Ascension-tide his sickness increased upon him. Nevertheless he taught and bade his scholars work, saying cheerfully, Write with speed now, for I cannot tell how long I may last.' The day broke (that is, Wednesday), and about the third hour the scribe said, 'There is yet a chapter wanting: it is hard for thee to continue. vexing thyself.' That is easily done,' said he; take thy pen again and write quickly'-and joyfully he dictated until the evening at the ninth hour. 'Dear Master,' said the boy, there is yet one sentence to be written.' He answered, Write it quickly.' Soon after the boy said, 'It is finished now.' 'Thou hast

THE GOOD KNIGHT

well said, it is finished.

and turn my

Raise my

head in thy arms,

face toward the holy spot where I was wont to pray, for I desire to sit facing it and call upon my Father.'

So they held him up on the pavement, and he chanted, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.' Then, as he named the Holy Ghost, his spirit took leave, and departed to the Heavenly Kingdom.

CUTHBERT

The Good Knight

AND when sir Ector de Maris heard such noise

and light in the quyre of Joyous-gard, hee alighted, and put his horse away from him, and came into the quyre; and there hee saw men sing the service full lamentably; and all they knew sir Ector, but hee knew not them. Then went sir Bors unto sir Ector, and told him how there lay his brother sir Launcelot dead.

And then sir Ector threw his shield, his sword and his helme from him; and when hee beheld sir Launcelot's visage hee fell downe in a sowne, and when hee awaked it were hard for any tongue to tell the dolefull complaints that he made for his brother. 'Ah, sir Launcelot,' said hee, thou werte head of all christen knights! And now I dare say,' said sir Ector, that, sir Launcelot, there thou liest, thou were never matched of none earthly hands; and thou were the curtiest knight that ever beare shield; and

THE HAPPY WARRIOR

thou were the truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrood horse, and thou were the truest lover of a sinful man that ever loved woman; and thou were the kindest man that ever strooke with sword; and thou were the goodliest person that ever came among presse of knights; and thou were the meekest man and the gentlest that ever eate in hall among ladies; and thou were the sternest knight to thy mortall foe that ever put speare in the rest.'

Then there was weeping and dolour out of measure. Thus they kept sir Launcelot's corps above the ground fifteene dayes, and then they buried it with great devotion; and then at leasure they went all with the bishop of Canterbury unto his hermitage, and there they were together more than a moneth.

SIR THOMAS MALORY

Character of the Happy Warrior

HO is the happy Warrior? Who is he

WHO

That every man in arms should wish to be? -It is the generous Spirit, who, when brought Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought Upon the plan that pleased his boyish thought: Whose high endeavours are an inward light That makes the path before him always bright: Who, with a natural instinct to discern What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn; Abides by this resolve, and stops not there, But makes his moral being his prime care;