had not fought yet, and it was now evening. How they had chafed and longed to join in the battle; but they had had to wait. The French did not know they were there; they were lying down, four deep, hidden in a ditch. At last the moment came, and Wellington shouted, "Up, Guards, and at them!" Up they sprang. From that moment the battle was decided. The French Guards, fighting gallantly, began to give way nevertheless. The English Guards slowly, irresistibly came forward, pushing the mass of French before them.

20. The Prussian aid arrived at last; and now those immovable squares, which had stood like rocks fixed in the earth from morning till night, saw the duke ride to the front, wave his hat in the air, and order them forward. "With joyful step the whole line pressed forward as one man at the command of their chief, and the last rays of the sun gleamed on 50,000 men, who, with a shout which caused the very earth to shake, streamed over the summit of the hill. The French, who had believed that the British infantry was wholly destroyed, . . . were thunderstruck when they beheld this immense body advance majestically in line, driving before them the last column of the Imperial Guard. . . . Despair now seized upon the French soldiers; they saw at once that all was lost, and horse, foot, and cannon, breaking their ranks, fled tumultuously."

21. At last Napoleon himself fled also. But his brave Old Guard would not fly; they formed themselves into four strong squares and stood firm. It was all in vain; they were pierced through and through, cut down or made prisoners. There was never a more utter defeat.

Napoleon could do no more; he yielded himself up to the English, who sent him to St. Helena, a solitary island in the Atlantic, where he died at last, having done no more injury to the world.

22. Whilst this grand fight was being fought at Waterloo the people of England were at church. It was Sunday, the eighteenth day of June. Old people used to tell, not long ago, how every one noticed the Psalms read on that day: the ninetieth, ninetyfirst, and ninety-second :-" Lord, Thou hast been our refuge from one generation to another. . . . A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. . . . It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to praise Thy name, O most High."

23. That was the last, as well as the greatest, of our great battles with France. It was a long, long time before they could

forgive it. For many years they still hoped to avenge Waterloo. For many years Englishmen and Frenchmen looked on each other as natural enemies. But the anger and the pride and the jealousy have died away now, and the two countries, so near to each other, and having had so much to do with one another through all these centuries, are now warm friends, and from their hearts wish each other well. In the only great European war England has had anything to do with since that time, the French and the English stood side by side as trusty allies.

CONCLUSION.

1. We have now come so near to our own times that it is hardly possible to write any more history. We know too much and too little.

We may have seen and heard many of the principal actors in what has taken place,-eminent men, eloquent men, talented and brave men,—and as yet we can hardly judge which of them were the true leaders of the time. We know, too, innumerable facts and events, but we cannot tell yet which of them are notable facts, that will greatly affect the future, and which of them were interesting only to ourselves.

2. In some respects it is evident that we have been carrying on the work of our forefathers; and in others it seems as if we have been striking out quite new paths, which will lead we know not whither.

3. We have learnt more and more of the value of religious liberty, and the injustice and folly of religious persecution. The Test and Corporation Acts (see p. 500) have been quite done away with. It is true that, long before, an Indemnity Act had been passed nearly every year, excusing Dissenting mayors, common council-men, and others from receiving the sacrament at church. But as no one likes to

Religious liberty.

be perpetually forgiven and excused when he has done nothing wrong, it was a relief to them when the oppressive law was openly put an end to.

1828.

In the following year Roman Catholics were permitted to enter parliament and to hold other offices without taking the oath of

the royal supremacy, or declaring that they did not 1829.

believe in transubstantiation.

Thirty years afterwards the oaths were altered so that Jews also might take their places in the House of Com- 1859.

mons.

4. Changes of the same kind have also been made in the universities; and Dissenters, Catholics, and Jews may now