VI. BOOK rowed by eighty men in sumptuous apparel and Hardi- splendid armour, having each on his arm two canute. golden bracelets, weighing sixteen ounces, expiated the crime of Godwin. 4 He displaced a bishop for joining in the cruelty, who appealed to the same master passion, and escaped. " 1040. 5 It was, however, a laudable trait of fraternal affection in Hardicanute, that he welcomed the arrival of his half-brother Edward in England. The son of Ethelred was a more grateful object to the English, than the son of a foreign conqueror. In caressing so kindly a brother so dangerous, Hardicanute displayed a virtue in which an Athelstan was wanting. His health was frequently assailed by disease; but he ended his two years' reign by an act of intemperance, at a nuptial feast at Lambeth: a copious draught, as he stood in the mirthful company, occasioned him to fall senseless to the ground. He spake no more. He died in June, and was buried with Canute at Winchester. 8 His death separated the crowns of England and Denmark; and Magnus, the king of Norway, obtained the Danish sceptre. 8 Flor. Wig. 403. Ingulf, 62. MS .Tib. B. 1. and B. 4. contain passages on his death not in the printed Chronicle. CHAP. XIV. The Reign of EDWARD the Confessor. XIV. the Confessor, 1042. THE Danish line had now become unpopular: CHAP the factions, which the administration of Edward Dunstan had at first excited, had ceased, and a new generation had arisen. The nation inclined again to its ancient line, and Edward, the surviving son of Ethelred, and at that time in England, was chosen to be king. While Edward and his brother were friendless exiles, Godwin was their enemy, and even projected their assassination; but became the zealous partisan of Edward, and eagerly assisted to introduce him to the throne, when Canute's issue failed. ' The king was induced to marry Editha, the daughter of Godwin 2; but was neither ardent in his connubial nor filial attentions. At no long period after his coronation, he went, with three earls, suddenly to his mother, and 1 Ingulf, 62. Malmsbury states at length a sort of bargain which Godwin made with Edward, before he supported him, 80. 2 Ingulf knew her, and describes her as very beautiful, meek, modest, faithful, virtuous, and the enemy of no one. She had none of the barbarism of her father and brothers. She was even literis apprime erudita, a lady of learning. He adds, "I have very often seen her, when only a boy. I visited my father in the royal court. Often as I came from school she questioned me on letters and my verse; and, willingly passing from grammar to logic, she caught me in the subtle nets of argument. I had always three or four pieces of money counted by her maiden, and was sent to the royal larder for refreshment," p. 62. But even this fair rose, as the chroniclers call her, was stained with blood. See further. BOOK spoiled her of all the property which she pos VI. Edward sessed. 3 the Confessor. 1042. EDWARD was at first menaced with the competition of Magnus, the king of Norway, who had subdued Denmark into obedience. Magnus sent letters to Edward, claiming the crown, and Edward assembled a great fleet at Sandwich to dispute his landing." Embarrassed by a rival for his Danish sceptre, in Svein, the son of Ulfr, Magnus resolved not to risk the enterprise." SVEIN requested the aid of Edward against Magnus; and Godwin, whose first patron had been Svein's father, urged that fifty ships should be sent to him. But as Magnus was known to be well skilled in maritime affairs, the earl Leofric and the rest of the council opposed it as unadvisable. Magnus soon drove out Svein from Denmark, but died much lamented the same year. 8 Svein then 3 Flor. 404. Sax. Chron. 157. In the Appendix to the Saxon Dictionary, a fragment of a Saxon chronicle is quoted, E. Cod. MS. G. Lambardi exarata in Bib. Ecc. Chr. Canterb The fragment begins with Edward's reign. It is not the same with the printed one, nor with the two MSS. in the Cotton Library. I shall quote it as Lamb. MS. 4 As the successor of Hardicanute. Snorre magnesi Goda, c. 38, 39. 5 Lamb. MS. Sax. Chron. at Cambridge. 6" I think it," he declared, "right and most convenient that I should let Edward enjoy his crown, and content myself with the kingdoms which God has given me." Snorre, p. 52. 7 Flor. 406, 407. Lamb. MSS. 8 Lamb. MSS. Snorre says, that he dreamt that his father appeared to him, saying, “Choose, my son, whether you will become my companion immediately, or live long the most powerful of kings, but by the commission of a crime that can never be expiated." The choice of Magnus was perplexed, but he decided with discreet virtue. "Father! do you choose for me."-" Be with me," was the answer of the vision. Snorre XIV. the Confessor. 1042. obtained the Danish crown; and Harald Har- CHAP. drada, who afterwards perished in his invasion of Edward England, the son of Sygurd Syr, and by his mother, the brother of St. Olave, succeeded in Norway." Harald is highly extolled for his wisdom. 10 He sent letters of friendship to Edward, whose amicable answer established peace between their kingdoms. Thus passed over the disturbing question between England and the Baltic states. Edward and his council wisely suffered the hostility to die quietly away. Hence Svein's second application for assistance against Harald, though again supported by Godwin, was negatived by the good sense of Leofric and the community. " THE character of Edward was amiable for its gentleness and kindness, and laudable for its piety; but it did not unite strength of mind with these interesting qualities. There is a simplicity in his exclamation to the low peasant who had displeased him, “I would hurt you if I were able," which almost implies imbecility. Men of rank and power, however inferior in understanding, know sufficiently their means of aggression against those of meaner condition who offend them. That Edward, when angry enough to desire to punish, should suppose that, although king, he had not the power, displays an ignorance of his authority that is not reconcileable with his intellect. But as he reigned with more virtue, so he had better fortune than his father. His mild and equitable government was so adds, that he awoke, told his dream, and afterwards died. 9 Snorre, c. 30, 31. Flor. 407. VI. Confessor. 12 BOOK popular, that a festival is said to have been annuEdward ally celebrated in England, to express the national the joy at the deliverance from the Danish kings. His provinces were under the administration of men of talents appointed by his predecessors."5 The unanimity of the country gave effect to their measures. England again became respected abroad, and no foreign power attempted to disturb its tranquillity. 1042, BUT a new cause of internal discussion and contest, and ultimately of a great revolution, was silently rising up from preceding events. The marriage of Ethelred to a princess of Normandy; the residence of this king during his exile, and of his children afterwards, at that court; Canute's subsequent marriage with this lady; and Edward's education in the same country; had raised an attachment to the Norman manners and nation, not only in Edward's mind, but in those of the nobles who had resided abroad with his father and himself, or had visited them in Normandy. THE Frankish nation had rapidly improved since the reign of Charlemagne. The effects of the Roman civilisation were extensive and permanent, and the ardent zeal of the Christian clergy had greatly contributed to humanise and soften their martial fierceness. The unwarlike characters of the successors of Charlemagne had tended to increase the civilising spirit. The Normans, from their contiguity, partook of the melioration of the French manners; and to Edward's milder temper these were peculiarly congenial. The AngloSaxons could not have been equally improved by the ruder Danes. Hence Edward found at first 12 Spelman, Gloss. Voc. Hocday. 13 Malmsb. 79. |