Jacob Abbott

King Alfred of England Jacob Abbott

Book Excerpt: ...eared at the head of an army of a hundred thousand men, and gathering them around her, she ascended a mound of earth and harangued them--that is, as many as could stand within reach of her voice--arousing them to sentiments of revenge against their hated oppressors, and urging them to the highest pitch of determination and courage for the approaching struggle. Boadicea had reason to deem the Romans her implacable foes. They had robbed her of her treasures, deprived her of her kingdom, imprisoned her, scourged her, and inflicted the worst possible injuries upon her daughters. These things had driven the wretched mother to a perfect phrensy of hate, and aroused her to this desperate struggle for redress and revenge. But all was in vain. In encountering the spears of Roman soldiery, she was encountering the very hardest and sharpest steel that a cruel world could furnish. Her army was conquered, and she killed herself by taking poison in her despair. By struggles such as these the contest between the Roma...