man cries out that there is always enough wrong in the world to make a man miserable.  Conceded; but wrong is ever being righted; there is always enough that is good and right to make us joyful.  There is ever sunshine somewhere; and the brave man will go on his way rejoicing, content to look forward if under a cloud, not bating one jot of heart or hope if for a moment cast down; honoring his occupation, whatever it may be; rendering even rags respectable by the way he wears them; and not only being happy himself, but causing the happiness of others.

* * * * *

XXXVII.

HAROLD.

THE LAST SAXON KING OF ENGLAND.

The father of Harold, the last Saxon king of England, was named Godwin, and was the first great English statesman.  It was from him that Harold in a great measure inherited his vigor and power, though, indeed, he came altogether of a noble race, both by lineage and character, for his mother was a daughter of Canute the Great.

All the English loved Harold; he was strong and generous, and a better counselor than Godwin, his father, in many ways.  At first he never sought any thing for himself; but as time went on, and he found how he was obeyed, and how he was beloved, how the whole country turned her eyes to him as the fittest king when Edward the Confessor should be gone, he also took the same idea into his mind, and gave himself to rule, to teach, and to act as one who should by and by be king.

Edward’s queen, Edith, was Harold’s sister; but there was another Edith, who influenced Harold more than any one else in many ways.  From his boyhood he and she had played together, and they grew up, never so much as thinking that a time would come when they would separate.

The more Harold saw her the more he felt he should like to ask her to be his wife, and have her always with him; but there were many things which made that impossible.  And then England required Harold.  If he thought only of his own happiness his country must suffer.  The great nobles wished him to establish the kingdom by marrying the daughter of one of the most powerful lords; this would connect the people and the land more closely, and prevent quarrels and divisions; and the government required the whole of Harold’s services, and the people required his watchfulness, his thought, his care, his presence.

All his life through he had consulted Edith, and now at this terrible moment he consulted her again.  He stood before her, and in great trouble and agony of spirit told her just how things were, scarcely daring to look at the woman he loved; for if he looked at her, England, her greatness and her needs, all melted away, and he saw nothing but a beaming vision of a quiet, beloved home, free from the storms of the great world outside.

But Edith too was unselfish, pure and good; so she put all thought of personal happiness away, and putting her hand on his shoulder, said, “Never, O Harold, did I feel so proud of thee, for Edith could not love thee as she doth, and will till the grave clasp her, if thou didst not love England more than Edith.”  So these two separated.