Alfred, the learned king of Northumbria--His patronage of the celebrated scholar Aldhelm--Ceowulf, the patron of Bede-- Mollo, brother of the king of Wessex, burnt alive in Kent--King Ina and his celebrated laws--Strange device of Ina's queen to induce him to resign his crown, and make a pilgrimage to Rome --Mysterious death of Ostrida, queen of the Mercians--Her husband, Ethelred, abandons his crown and becomes a monk after her violent death--Ethelbald ascends the throne of Mercia-- Adventures of his early life--His residence with Guthlac, the hermit, in the island of Croyland--First founder of the monastery of Croyland--Ethelbald joins Cuthred, king of Wessex, and obtains a victory over the Welsh--Proclaims war against Cuthred--Description of the battle, and defeat of Ethelbald-- Independence of the kingdom of Wessex--Abdication of Sigebyhrt, king of Wessex--His death in the forest of Andredswold--Rapid accession and dethronement of the kings of Northumbria--Summary of their brief reigns p. 129 CHAPTER XVI. OFFA, SURNAMED THE TERRIBLE. Offa ascends the throne of Mercia--Drida's introduction and marriage with the Mercian king--Character of queen Drida and her daughter Edburga--Offa's invasion of Northumbria--He marches into Kent--Is victorious--Defeats the king of Wessex --His victory over the Welsh--Description of Offa's dyke-- Offa's friendly correspondence with Charlemagne--Adventures of Egbert--Murder of Cynewulf, at Merton, in Surrey--Brihtric obtains the crown of Wessex, and marries the daughter of Offa-- Ethelbert, king of East Anglia, visits the Mercian court--Queen Drida plots his destruction--Description of a Saxon feast-- Dreadful death of Ethelbert--Offa's daughter, Alfleda, seeks shelter in the monastery of Croyland--Murder of Queen Drida --Edburga poisons her husband, Brihtric, king of Wessex--She flies to France--Her reception at the court of Charlemagne-- She dies a beggar in the streets of Pavia p. 139 CHAPTER XVII. EGBERT, KING OF ALL THE SAXONS. Character of Egbert--His watchful policy--Death of Kenwulf, and decline of the kingdom of Mercia--Egbert annexes the kingdom of Kent to Wessex--Compels Wiglaf, king of Mercia, to pay him tribute--He conquers the kingdom of Northumbria, and subjects the whole of the Saxon kingdoms to his sway--Northumbria invaded by the Danes--They sack the abbey of Lindisfarne, and slay the monks--The Danes again land in Dorsetshire--Egbert presides over a council in London, to devise measures to prevent the ravages of the Danes--The remnant of the ancient Britons who have been driven into Wales, form a league with the Danes, and are defeated--Death of Egbert p. 145 CHAPTER XVIII. THE ANCIENT SEA-KINGS.