, and how
the sun stood still while he got the victory, and how he divided the
land; this book also I turned into English for prince Ethelverd, wherein
a man may behold the great wonders of God really fulfilled." ......
"After him known it is that there were in the land certaine judges over
Israel, who guided the people as it is written in the book of Judges
..... of this whoso hath desire to hear further, may read it in that
English book which I translated concerning the same." ..... "Of the book
of Kings, I have translated also some part into English," "the book of
Esther, I briefly after my manner translated into English," and "The
Widow Judith who overcame Holophernes, the Syrian General, hath her book
also, among these, concerning her own victory and _Englished according to
my skill for your example_, that ye men may also defend your country by
force of arms, against the invasion of a foreign host." "Two books of
Machabeus, to the glory of God, I have turned also into English, and so
read them, you may if you please, for your instruction." And at the end
we find him again admonishing the scribes to use the pen with
faithfulness. "Whosoever," says he, "shall write out this book, let him
write it according to the copy, and for God's love correct it, that it be
not faulty, less he thereby be discredited, and I shent."[103]

This learned prelate died on the 16th of November, 1006, after a life
spent thus in the service of Christ and the cause of learning; by his
will he bequeathed to the Abbey of St. Alban's, besides some landed
possessions, his little library of books;[104] he was honorably buried at
Abingdon, but during the reign of Canute, his bones were removed to
Canterbury.

Passing on a few years, we come to that period when a new light shone
upon the lethargy of the Saxons; the learning and erudition which had
been fostering in the snug monasteries of Normandy, hitherto
silent--buried as it were--but yet fast growing to maturity, accompanied
the sword of the Norman duke, and added to the glory of the conquering
hero, by their splendid intellectual endowments. All this emulated and
roused the Saxons from their slumber; and, rubbing their laziness away,
they again grasped the pen with the full nerve and energy of their
nature; a reaction ensued, literature was respected, learning prospered,
and copious work flowed in upon the scribes; the crackling of parchment,
and the din of controversy bespoke the presence of