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could procure shipping, he proposed to visit Eng- CHAP. land; he continues:

XI.

Canute

1031.

"I HAVE sent this letter first, that all my people the Great. may rejoice in my prosperity, because, as you yourselves know, I have never forborne to apply myself and my labour, nor will I ever forbear to devote either, to the necessary utility of all my people."

THESE patriotic sentiments, from a royal pen, are highly valuable. Such kings give new splendor to their thrones, and secure to themselves that perpetuity of fame which mortality so covets.

CHAP. XII.

The Reign of HAROLD the First, surnamed HARefoot.

BOOK CANUTE, at his death', left three sons, Svein,

Harold

1035.

Harold, and Hardicanute. In his life he had the First. placed Svein over Norway, and he wished that Harold should rule in England, and Hardicanute in Denmark. At the council which met at Oxford to elect a new sovereign, the opinions were divided. The chiefs of Danish descent and connections chose Harold; the West-Saxons, headed by earl Godwin, preferred his brother Hardicanute, because his mother, Emma, had been the wife of Ethelred, and was a favourite with the AngloSaxons. The children of Ethelred who were in Normandy were also remembered; but the Danish dynasty was not yet unpopular, and Harold, by force or influence, obtained a portion of the kingdom, and seized the treasures which Emma possessed from the gift of Canute. Harold, at first, reigned at London, and north of the Thames; and Hardicanute in the west of England.

3

THE murder of Alfred, one of the sons of Emma

1 He died at Shaftesbury, the 12th of November, 1034. MS. Tib. B. 1.

2 Snorre, Saga Olafi Helga, p. 383. Florence calls his mother Northamtunensis Alfgivæ filiæ Alfhelmi Ducis, p. 398. Snorre names her Alfifo dottor Alfrims Jarls.

3 Flor. Wig. 398. MS. Sax. Chron. Tib. B. 1. It is said of Harold, that he was not Canute's son, but a cobler's. The tale is, that his mother, having given no children to Canute, pretended pregnancy, and introduced first Svein, and afterwards Harold, as her own children. As Snorre does not mention it of Svein, it is probable that in both cases the rumour was the offspring of malignant competition. The author of

by Ethelred, lies heavy on the memory both of CHAP. Harold and Godwin. 4

XII.

Harold

1035.

HAROLD, though nominated king, could not the First. obtain from the archbishop the regal benediction, because the children of Emma were alive. The archbishop, instead of committing to Harold the crown and sceptre, placed them on the altar, and forbad the bishops to give their benediction.

THIS conduct produced the effects which might easily have been foreseen. Harold despised the benediction as useless, and contracted a hatred against the Christian religion, and the children of Emma. When others were attending divine service, he called out his hunting dogs, or studied to occupy himself in some contemptuous pursuit. To get the youths, so imprudently set against him,

Enc. Em., though he believes it, adduces only the plurimorum assertio for it, which is a better description of a rumour than of a fact. Florence states it as a res in dubio.

4 I state this from the Encomium Emmæ. The author addresses his account to the mother herself, by whose orders he wrote it. (See his prologue.) He apologises to her for his brevity on Alfred's sufferings, and says, "Possent enim multa dici si non tuo parceremus dolori," p. 175. Considering, however, that he wrote to the youth's mother, he is sometimes horribly particular, for he describes part of their progress of operation. Malmsbury says, the deed took place between Harold's death and Hardicanute's election, p. 77.; but this cannot prevail against the contemporary above cited, strengthened as it is as to its occurrence under Harold, by Flor. 399.; Matt. West. 410.; and Hoveden, 438. Two of these make 600 men to have perished. The printed Saxon Chronicle has nothing of it. The MS. Tib. B. 1. give a long account of it. It thus mentions the fate of the companions: "Dir gerepan he todpaffume mislice ofɲloh, rume hi man pith feo realde, sume hpeoplice ac pealde, sume hi man bende, rume hi man blende, rume hamelobe, rume hættobe." It adds, "Ne peapth peophere dæd gedon on thison eaɲde sýththan Đene comon."

VI.

1035.

BOOK into his power, he forged a letter to them in their Harold mother's name, inveighing against himself, and the First. desiring one to come to her to be counselled as to his conduct. The answer of the princes from Normandy expressed their obedience, and appointed a day and place. At the time so named, Alfred, the youngest, chose his military companions, and sailed. His waiting enemies too eagerly pressed on him when about to land, and he sailed to another part, still unconscious of the deceit. Godwin, now become a courtier to Harold, met him in the garb of friendship, and with the mockery of oaths. The innocent youth followed him to Guildford ; there his warlike friends were artfully separated into little bands of ten, twelve, or twenty, to be more conveniently entertained at different houses. A few only remained with the prince. Food and wine were profusely given to all, till they sought the bed of rest; then the agents of Harold furtively took away their arms, and in the morning bound them in chains. Their fate was decided by a bloody decimation; the tenth man only was left unmurdered.

THE betrayed Alfred was hurried to the Isle of Ely. Vile judges were appointed over him, who directed his eyes to be taken out.

5

The shocking Emma withdrew absence in Den

scene was closed by his death.
to Bruges. By Hardicanute's
mark, Harold obtained all England.
1040, and was buried at Westminster.

He died in

Enc. 176. The author's account of Bruges shows it to have been then of commercial importance. Emma's name was also Elfgiva.

6 Ingulf, 61. Flor. 400. marks 1037 as the year when this occurred. So the MS. Tib. B. 1. and B. 4.

CHAP. XIII.

The Reign of HARDICANUTE.

THIS reign demands but few sentences.

He CHA P.

had sailed the preceding year from Denmark to his mother, Emma, at Bruges. On Harold's death he was invited to the English crown; and he came with purposes of such degrading revenge, that he even caused the body of Harold to be dug up, decapitated, and thrown first into a marsh, and afterwards into the Thames. A fisherman found and the Danes buried it in a cemetery which they had in London. ' Such actions fix the stain of barbarism on the persons who counsel and the age which permits them. 2

HARDICANUTE oppressed England with impositions which occasioned great misery. Insurrection followed, and military execution at Worcester added a dreadful catastrophe. 3

HE projected to punish Godwin for Alfred's murder; but the Dane had a passion which predominated over his fraternal feeling; and the present of a splendid vessel, profusely gilt, and

1 Flor. 402. Matt. West. 402. The MS. Chron. Tib. B. 1. This MS. contains many paragraphs in this reign not in the printed chronicle.

2 Even the age of Hardicanute condemned his cruelty: "Unde in singulorum ore hominum de eo haberi imprecatus ut tantæ crudelitatis non diu abesset animadversio."-Reg. Abb. MS. Cotton Lib. Claudius, C. 9. Malmsbury, p. 76., mentions it with disapprobation.

3 Flor. Wig. 403. MS. Chron. Tib. B. 1. and B. 4. Matt. West. 413. Malsmb. 76.

XIII.

Hardi

canute.

1040.

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