The mower is now in the field with his scythe. At an early hour we hear the merry ringing of the stone upon the steel, as he is sharpening it. How beautiful now is the meadow――the orchard――the wheat field, the maize field, and the forest! How various and how brilliant the flowers; how fragrant the air――how balmy, yet how healthful the breeze! [Illustration: _William the Conqueror._] [Illustration: _Henry II._] [Illustration: _Edward Longshanks._] [Illustration: _Henry I._] [Illustration: _Richard of the Lion Heart._] [Illustration: _Henry IV._] A Chapter of English Kings. In the year 1041, the Danes were finally driven out of England, and for a short space the Saxon kings were restored to the throne. The last of these, Harold, was defeated by _William, Duke of Normandy_, or _William the Conqueror_, in the celebrated battle of Hastings, in the year 1066. This decided the fate of England: Harold was killed upon the field, and the Norman line of kings succeeded to the throne. William reigned about twenty years. He was an able warrior, but he ruled with great severity. He divided the lands of the nobility of England among his followers, and oppressed the people by rigorous laws. They therefore held meetings to devise plots of rebellion, usually in the evening. To suppress them, he ordered a bell to be rung every evening at eight o’clock, at which time they were required to put out their fires and lights. This was called the _couvre feu_,――French words, signifying _cover fire_: it is from this that the word curfew has come, which now means, the bell rung at evening, about the time for the people to go to bed. William endeavored to make the English people live like Frenchmen; he required the French language to be used in the courts of law, and it was spoken by himself and all around the palace. William took pains to make his new kingdom thrive; he had a careful survey made of the lands and property, and these were registered in a book called the Dooms-day book, copies of which are still preserved. During William’s reign, the laws were firmly established, and a great deal was done to benefit the people. He was at first hated as a conqueror and oppressor, but he was finally regarded as a sagacious, though severe king. He died at Rouen, in France, 1087, aged 63 years. _William Rufus_, or William the Red, the second son of the Conqueror, succeeded his father; he was addicted to field sports, and one day, while pursuing a deer in the forest, he was killed by an arrow, discharged by Walter Tyrrel. The arrow first hit a tree, but it glanced, and struck the king in the breast. This occurred in the year 1100.