strange to say, when they went out from the service they found at the church door a miraculous stone; and in this stone was fixed, as in a vice, a gleaming sword, on the hilt of which were engraved the following words: "I am called Excalibur, To a Ring a fair treasure; It was at once agreed that this was the token from Heaven for which they had been praying, and decreed that whoever should be able to draw the sword out of the stone should be proclaimed king at once. Many were the hands which labored to draw it out; but the sword resisted the efforts of each one who had been contending for the throne. So there remained at the church door the stone holding its sword. Now the young Arthur had grown and prospered under the care of Sir Antour. He was a child of great nobility, fair, courteous and strong, but had been kept in perfect ignorance of his high birth. Arthur being of a noble presence and ability, was taken as squire by his foster-father's son, who was named Sir Kay. This knight, on one occasion being in a battle, broke his sword, and was forced to send young Arthur to his mother for a new one. Arthur hastened home, but did not find the lady; he had, however, observed near the church a sword sticking in a stone, and on his return galloped to the place, drew it out with ease, and perfectly unconscious of having performed a mighty feat, delivered it to his master. Sir Kay, who knew the sword and its value at once, made Arthur swear to be secret as to what he had done, and then showing the weapon to his father, declared that he would claim the throne as if he had drawn out the sword. Sir Antour insisted that his son should repeat the feat; and Kay, who supposed he could draw it out easily again, readily replaced the sword in the stone-but, lo! it stuck there as immovably as ever. Poor Kay was very much ashamed, and had to confess to his father that he had received the sword from his squire, Arthur. Sir Antour informed Arthur that his drawing out the sword made him King of England! He also told the Bishop what Arthur had done, and the ghostly Father summoned an assembly before which the feat was several times repeated. So an early day was proclaimed for the coronation of Arthur as king. But the knights and princes were jealous of the young king, and resolved to make a resistance; so on the day of the festival they tried with their retainers to seize Arthur's person. Then they found that the trusty Excalibur was not only able to make a king, but to defend one; for the rebels were utterly routed. And of all the knights who remained true Arthur formed his famous Round Table. From this time he reigned over a happy kingdom, and his good Excalibur was not idle: it never helped the cause of wrong or oppression, and it never failed to win the day. But I can not tell you all the fair deeds of this righteous king, who with the blessing of God lived a long time to plant the seeds of Christianity and civilization in Britain. It came to pass that in one of his engagements Arthur was fatally wounded. He looked around when he knew he must die, to see if there was one of his knights worthy to wield his faithful Excalibur when he was gone. He feared that some baser hand should one day soil its pure temper in striving for low ambition or dishonorable purpose; for he had, alas, found out by experience that many of his knights who had seemed fair to him were corrupt. So he resolved that Excalibur should be cast into the sea where it was wrought. He requested Sir Bedivere, who was supporting him, to give him a seat; which being done, he gave him his sword and adjured him to throw it into the sea. Sir Bedivere took the sword, but on his way, tempted by its beauty and the jewels set in it, concealed it under a tree. On his return, the king asked him what he observed when he threw it in. Bedivere replied, "Nothing but the waters deep and the waves wan.” "Thou art untrue to me," said the king, with flashing eye; "thou hast not fulfilled thy trust as a knight should do." Then Bedivere ran in haste and took the sword; but when he had reached the sea-shore, again overcome by temptation, he threw only the scabbard into the sea, and concealed the sword. On his return, the king again asked him what he had observed. "Nothing," replied Sir Bedivere, "but the splashing of the water on the reeds." Then Arthur arose, and with wrath cried, "Unknightly traitor! how canst thou deal thus wrongfully by thy dying king!" Then Bedivere rushed to the sea-side and hurled through the air the sword, which sped like a lightning streak. And, lo! as he did so,a fair, shining hand and arm clothed in white emerged from the waves and caught Excalibur, and bore it down into the deep. When Bedivere returned to the king, he found there two women of angelic guise who bore Arthur away and placed him in a barge, and together they floated away over the sea; and long was it prophesied in Britain, that when the land was worthy of such a king Arthur should again float over the sea to its shore. —As Uncle Paul closed this marvellous story, Alfred insisted on his continuing, but little Edith was asleep, and he bore her up stairs to bed; when he came down he peeped over Arthur's shoulder, and saw him holding a pen over his sword, on which could be already read EXC CHAPTER II. "Let the lost sword be for God."-ANCIENT PROVERB. The next evening Uncle Paul was under an engagement made just eleven months and twenty-nine days before, to play Santa Claus for the children. If folks only knew it, greater love hath no man for children than that he enact Saint Nicholas for them. How little do the delighted, fluttering little hearts know of the heated, melting form of Uncle Paul under his great buffalo robes, or of the Pauline nostril smothered and scratched under an impenetrable vizor with great woolen whiskers! In this case our victim bore his martyrdom pretty well for a while; but at last the white feather was visible over his mask; for he stooped down and whispered to his nephews and his niece, who at once paused in their mad career, whilst the little neighbors who had been invited grew instantly apprehensive of an impending catastrophe. What was it that the faint-hearted Santa Claus whispered? Why, these words: Wouldn't you like to hear something more about that sword? Emotions were for a while in conflict; pros and cons beat violently against each other; but Santa Claus decided the question by vanishing through a key-hole and sending down presently, in his stead, Uncle Paul. The children were doubtful of him; they thought they had certainly seen the end of that sword when it disappeared under the waves, and they put the proposition to him in that form. Uncle Paul informed them that there were more things in heaven and earth than were dreamt of in their philosophy; and having now a large audience gathered about him he proceeded as follows: Have you not seen in your Atlas, on the map of Europe, a great red country in the South-east, called Austria? Well, this country with the hard names for its towns and rivers, has been, and perhaps is now, the worst on the face of the earth. I suppose the country itself was good enough, and the people had hearts, but they were under the rule, from 1200 years ago down, of the most wicked of families, called the House of Hapsburgh. Each descendant of this house seemed only trying to outstrip the evil which his predecessor had done. It was like that great Dragon of which you read in the story-books, which polluted the air with its breath and which demanded that a virgin should be given it every day for breakfast. The virgin in this case was a nation: the other great powers-Russia,' England and France-through fear, agreed to give it a young nation a day, and in this way Austria devoured Bavaria, Poland, Hungary, Silesia and Italy. The measure of its iniquity seemed full when Maria Theresa, by her blandishments and promises, gained the confidence of the Hungarians, only to fasten the evils of the Hapsburgh Dragon more fully about them. Alfred. Where was St. George then? Uncle Paul.-Well asked! St. George came to fight the Dragon-only this time he was named Frederick the Great. His mission on earth was to punish the crimes of Austria; and after the most tremendous series of battles ever known, lasting about forty years, he humbled the House of Hapsburgh, which, in the person of Maria Theresa, knelt at his feet and sued for peace. Austria, the old Dragon, lives yet, but its fangs have been all drawn out, and it gets weaker and weaker. Arthur.--But about Excalibur ? Ah, yes, I'm coming to that. When it was known that Frederick the Prussian monarch had resolved to set himself front to front against Austria, the day before he marched into Bohemia at the head of a hundred thousand men to take Prague, a Bavarian peasant came to his door and earnestly desired to see the monarch. The courtiers and porters refused to admit so plainly dressed a boor, who had also a formidable, rusty old sword in his hand; but the man took his seat on the door and would not leave. Frederick, hearing some altercation, came to the door and found the peasant suffering indignities from his servants; sternly reproving the latter, he asked the peasant what he wished. The man held out the sword, and said, "Sire, I am a poor man, and make a scanty living by fishing. One day, as we were drawing in our nets, we found therein this old sword, which, though it be rusty, has some rich jewels in its hilt. And when I heard that a Savior had risen up to shield us from our oppressor, I traveled day and night to lay this sword at his feet." The king took the sword and proffered a reward to the peasant, but he would not receive it. He took the sword into his palace and examined it closely. On it he could only make out the letters EXCAL- What that meant, I leave you to guess. The king had the sword brightened up and made new, and placed it at his side. With him also it never failed! With it he conquered an immense kingdom; and though there are many things that may be said against Frederick the Great, it can never be denied that he built up the best and happiest kingdom which the world had ever seen. He had a noble idea of royalty it was he that said, "A king is only the first of subjects;" that is, he should feel himself as much under a Higher Law, as his subjects are under his Law. When Peace came, he gave the corn which had been provided for the next campaign to feed the destitute; he abolished burthensome taxes on the people; he lived as plainly as a peasant, stripped his palace of rich ornaments, and even wore threadbare garments, that the agriculture and industry of his nation might be advanced, and that there should be work and bread for all! He encouraged literature, and was an able writer himself; he allowed religious freedom throughout his dominions: a man could think what he pleased, and speak or print what he pleased, even though he spoke or wrote against the king himself. No need that such a king should ever fear his people's liberty! What was done with Excalibur? Why, I will tell you. Frederick, having now established the nations on a basis of freer nationality, having conquered a European peace, looked over the Ocean and saw some brave colonies fighting against their oppressor as the nations which he had relieved had fought against Austria. He watched with interest, and then in various ways helped George Washington and his army to carry forward to a successful issue the American Revolution. And when our Revolution was over, and Washington, with the blessings of a free and happy people crowning his head with a coronet brighter than king ever knew, retired to Mount Vernon, Frederick the Great sent across the Atlantic his sword, and when it was placed in the hands of Washington it bore these words: From the oldest general in the |