7. And he spake unto them and told them all that God had said unto them by the mouth of his servant Cuthbert, and he told them that, by the gift of God and by the help of St. Cuthbert, they would overcome their enemies and win back their own land. And he bade them, as St. Cuthbert had taught him, to be pious toward God and righteous toward men. And he bade his son Edward, who was by him, to be faithful to God and St. Cuthbert, and so he should always have victory over his enemies. So they went forth to battle and smote their enemies and overcame them, and King Alfred took the kingdom of all Britain, and he ruled well and wisely over the just and the unjust for the rest of his days.
E. A. Freeman.
XV.—A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER.
1. Milon, or Milone, a knight of great family, and distantly related to Charlemagne, having secretly married Bertha, the emperor's sister, was banished from France. After a long and miserable wandering on foot as mendicants, Milon and his wife arrived at Sutri, in Italy, where they took refuge in a cave, and in that cave Orlando was born. There his mother continued, drawing a scanty support from the compassion of the neighboring peasants, while Milon, in quest of honor and fortune, went into foreign lands. Orlando grew up among the children of the peasantry, surpassing them all in strength and manly graces.
2. Among his companions in age, though in station far more elevated, was Oliver, son of the governor of the town. Between the two boys a feud arose, that led to a fight, in which Orlando thrashed his rival; but this did not prevent a friendship springing up between the two which lasted through life.
3. Orlando was so poor that he was sometimes half naked. As he was a favorite of the boys, one day four of them brought some cloth to make him clothes. Two brought white and two red; and from this circumstance Orlando took his coat-of-arms, or quarterings.
4. When Charlemagne was on his way to Rome, to receive the imperial crown, he dined in public in Sutri. Orlando and his mother that day had nothing to eat, and Orlando, coming suddenly upon the royal party, and seeing abundance of provisions, seized from the attendants as much as he could carry off, and made good his retreat in spite of their resistance.
5. The emperor, being told of this incident, was reminded of an intimation he had received in a dream, and ordered the boy to be followed. This was done by three of the knights, whom Orlando would have encountered with a cudgel on their entering the grotto, had not his mother restrained him. When they heard from her who she was, they threw themselves at her feet, and promised to obtain her pardon from the emperor. This was easily effected. Orlando was received into favor by the emperor, returned with him to France, and so distinguished himself that he became the most powerful support of the throne and of Christianity.