The Battersea Series of Standard Reading Books for Boys; Book IV for Standard IV

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1891 Excerpt: ... or work at the forge, as well as read learned books. King Edmund took a great fancy to him, and made him Abbot of Glastonbury, an abbey which he had built on purpose for him. An abbot was the head of an abbey or monastery, and the men who lived there were called monks. In those days the monks were the only men who cultivated learning; they were good gardeners, and farmers, and doctors also, and travelled about, teaching and preaching besides; but not a few of them were wicked men, and the richer they got the more wicked they became. Dunstan was a bold, bad man, who wanted to rule England and England's kings, and the time favoured his purpose. He ruled Edmund and Edred; then came Edwy, the son of Edmund, and he was only a boy of fourteen, and Dunstan meant to rule him too. But Edwy did not like the monk, who insulted him on his coronation day, and dragged him back to the feast when he had gone away to sit with his beautiful young wife Elgiva. Then Edwy charged him with taking money which belonged to his uncle, King Edred, whose treasurer he had been; and upon this Dunstan fled to Belgium. But he was busy there plotting against the king; and he and another wicked priest, Odo, set up his younger brother Edgar as his rival. The monks were all on Dunstan's side, for he wanted to make them richer than they were, and they persuaded the people that the king was not worthy to reign. Odo took Edwy's young wife Elgiva, and burned her face with hot irons, and sent her away to Ireland. But she got back, and was about to join her husband, who was fight ng for his throne, when they caught her again and cruelly woundt d her, so that she should never walk any more. Thrn, in great pain and misery, the poor young queen died; and her husband, who was only eighteen, died soon ...