That o'er your head hung by the golden chain Of right and law this glorious English crown? Edward. Aye; but no right nor law, the abbot said To be thence lifted on the anointed brows Of such as Peter loved. Godwin (apart.) A crowned monk He flew his hawks last year on sackcloth day, I shun him till he soothes our angry mother. Godwin (apart.) Why, though he carried in effeminate hand The sceptre; and on feeble brow the crown, He might be like the image, gilt and jewell'd, That decks the vessel's prow, looking in pride On its reflected form when waves are smooth, But following lightest touch of steersman's hand When tempest breaks its mirror. Edward. If ought else You'd have me do, say but the word I'll do it ; Godwin (suddenly taking his resolution.) King! You shall be king! Edward. You mock me! you have power: They love you; you have fought and conquer'd ever, Oh taunt me not that I am weak ! Dread Prince ! Godwin. An awe that bends the knee and shakes the heart; From thirty years of council and of war And 'neath the aweful purple of your State You'd wear around your heart the close knit mail As easily as if the links were flowers. Edward. Oh sir,—if Godwin is my shield. I said the hands were snowy, to whose art Dwells nobleness, and if at Leofric's word She shall give king's blood to a race of kings, And Godwin's grandchild, claim his grandsire's knee Leofric has gain'd his answer.-(gives place to Edward)—Humbly, sir. Exeunt. 27.-THE BANISHMENT OF GODWIN. DR. LAPPENBErg. Edward had spent not only his youthful years, which are wont to give a fixed direction to the inclinations and the character, but also those of his maturer age, in which the indissoluble bonds of love and habit hold us even till death, in a country widely differing in climate, manners and language, from the land of his birth. The higher those intellectual enjoyments raised him, to which he could devote himself in the leisure of his powerful position, so much the more excusable and powerful must be his conviction, that the participators in the sentiments which made him happy had a claim to his entire confidence, and to the support of the whole power committed to him by the Almighty. On leaving the soil of his education and his joys, the hearty greeting of the West Saxon peasant sounded strange to his ear, and spoke not to his heart. The rugged manners of the Anglo-Danish nobles, from intercourse with whom he could no longer take refuge under the peaceful arches of a cloister, filled him with disgust, while the independent spirit of the Anglo-Saxon clergy, who in language and through ancient tradition had ever been divided from the church of Rome, appeared to the orthodox Catholic little better than damnable heresy. Above all things, Edward was anxious to introduce Norman ecclesiastics into his kingdom, and through them to bring it into closer relationship with the papal chair. Soon after his accession, the see of London becoming vacant by the death of Bishop Elfweard, he bestowed it on Robert the Frank, a monk of Jumièges, who is said to have shown particular kindness to Edward in his days of need. A few years afterwards Robert succeeded Eadseye in the dignity of Archbishop of Canterbury and primate of all England. Other French ecclesiastics were appointed chaplains to the king, which post in this as in other countries may be regarded as the nursery of its future bishops. On one of them, named William, at the instance of Robert and command of the pope, the see of London was bestowed, although the king had already conferred it under his writ and seal on Spearhafor (Sparrowhawk), and whose rich abbey of Abingdon had been given to Radulf, a relation of Edward. Another Norman, named Ulf, received the bishopric of Dorchester, and thus all the best vacant benefices fell into the hands of foreigners, a state of things to which the English church had till then been a stranger. The nation, nevertheless, would hardly have noticed these innovations, and would probably have endured the gradual installation of foreign prelates, had not the powerful temporal lords of the land found themselves aggrieved by the strangers. Of these Radulf, a nephew of the king, who had attended him on his return from exile to England, had been (probably after the banishment of Sweyn) invested with the earldom of Hereford. Many French knights had also attached themselves to Radulf, and resided in his castles, and some had their own castles, as Osbern, surnamed Pentecost, and Hugo. Mention is also made of the castle of another French knight, Robert, son of Wincare, situated to the north of London. The influence of Radulf was considered all powerful at the court of Edward: the weak courted his favour, and presumed not to withstand any of his pretensions; and even the influential abbot of Ramsey, prompted by the conviction of his power, was induced to surrender to him certain lands, the possession of which he coveted. The powerful looked on him only with ill-concealed rancour. The refusal of Archbishop Robert to consecrate Spearhafor to the see of London had just excited the minds of the people anew against the Franks, and they looked with jealousy on the marriage, which shortly after took place, of Goda, the sister of Edward and mother of Radulf, with Eustace count of Boulogne, called from his large moustaches 'Eustace aux Grenons,' when the unwelcome intelligence of a fresh arrival of Frankish visitors became public, and was received with mistrust and murmuring. The king's brotherin-law, Eustace, appeared at court with a stately retinue. On his return, having stopped for refreshment at Canterbury, he proceeded on the way to Dover. When within a mile or two of the town, it was observed that he and his men put on their hauberks, and no sooner had they arrived than they announced their intention to quarter themselves wherever it appeared agreeable to them. Against abuses in harbouring even the king and his followers, the townspeople could secure themselves; but to these Franks, who were regarded as a public nuisance, no one would act as host. One of them having wounded a householder, who resisted his attempt at entrance, was slain by the latter; whereupon Eustace and his followers mounted their horses and made a general attack on the inhabitants, in which the householder above-mentioned and about twenty others were slain. Many of the French also fell by the hands of the townsmen, and many more were wounded. Eustace himself with a few of his people escaping with difficulty, went immediately to the king at Gloucester, who on hearing their version of what had taken place, in his anger despatched Godwin to punish the townsmen for their misconduct. But why should the proud and mighty earl, out of mere compliance with the will of his weak-minded son-in-law, be the instrument to punish his brave burghers for a deed which had called forth praise from every part of England, and thus degrade himself for the sake of the odious Franks? All the West Saxons shared in this hatred, for reckless insolence and rash violence had marked the career of every Frank in England. In the neighbourhood of one of their newly-built castles in Herefordshire, probably that of Pentecost, even the king's vassals were exposed to their insults and violence. Godwin hereupon, with his sons, Sweyn and Harold, resolved to lay their own and the nation's complaints before the king, who had appointed his witan to assemble at Gloucester about the second mass day of St. Mary, for the purpose of suppressing these dissensions. In the meantime Godwin and his sons had gathered around them at Beverston (By feres-stan) and Langtree (Langatreo) a strong and well-appointed body of followers, by whose aid they would probably have been enabled to extort compliance with their demands; but Leofric, Seward, and Radulf had also assembled their forces, and it required great consideration and wise mediators to withhold the opposed parties from a conflict, which threatened the destruction of some of the most influential men of the country. Godwin and his sons were unable to justify their conduct to the king, whose ear had been already forestalled by the foreigners; still less were they able to obtain their desire, that Eustace and his men, together with all the Frenchmen who were in the castle in Herefordshire, should be delivered into their hands. But threatening as the aspect of things was, Edward succeeded for the moment in re-establishing tranquillity; hostages were mutually given, and the witan appointed to meet again at London on the autumnal equinox. On the arrival of Godwin and his sons with their thanes and a numerous army at Southwark, they found the king surrounded by a formidable host collected from the earldoms of Seward and Leofric and other parts. Disheartened by the aspect of affairs, the army of the earls rapidly decreased by desertion. By the witena-gemot pledges were demanded from all the thanes of Harold, Sweyn was declared an outlaw, Godwin and Harold were summoned to justify their conduct before the assembly. They demanded a safe conduct from the king and hostages for their security, but on his demand placed all their thanes at his disposal. Edward now commanded them to appear with twelve of their followers before his council, for the purpose of defending themselves, when they again demanded hostages, which, though no doubt necessary for their safety, could not be granted without offence to the royal dignity, and were consequently refused, a safe conduct only for five days being allowed them, within which time they were ordered to leave the country. Godwin hereupon with his wife Gytha, Tostig and his wife Judith, a daughter or niece of Baldwin, Count of Flanders, Sweyn and Gyrth, withdrew by night to his estates of Bosham and Thorney, in his native Sussex, whence, in a vessel hastily laden with as much gold, silver, and other treasure as it would contain, they embarked for Flanders. Harold and his younger brother fled to Bristol, where they found a ship that had been fitted out by Sweyn for his own use, on board of which they sailed towards Ireland. The king despatched Bishop Eldred with a force in pursuit of them, who, however, could not or would not overtake them, and they reached their destination in safety, where, under the protection of the king, they passed the winter. But Edward's Frankish counsellors appear not to have been satisfied with having overthrown their most powerful foes, and deprived him of his favourites; they also prevailed on him to separate from his wife Edith, who, bereft of all her lands and treasures, was sent, attended by one female servant, to the abbey of Wherwell, and there committed to the custody of the abbess, a sister of Edward. The banishment of Godwin and his sons was connected with too many interests to be of long duration, and they neglected no means of securing for themselves a triumphant restoration. A short time before the occurrence of the above-mentioned events, a fleet of Irish pirates, consisting of thirty-six ships, entered the mouth of the Severn, and being aided by Griffith, king of South Wales, they crossed the Wye and ravaged the neighbouring country. Eldred bishop of Worcester, with a small body of forces, gathered from the shores of Gloucester and Hereford, went out against them; but some Welch among his men, in violation of the oath of fidelity which they had taken, sent private intelligence to Griffith, advising him to make an immediate attack on the English. In pursuance of this counsel, Griffith together with the Irish rushing on the little army of Eldred at the dawn of day, slew many of them, and put the rest with the bishop to flight. * * * * * * It was probably in concert with Godwin and his sons that Griffith again invaded the English territory, and laid waste the greater part of Herefordshire. In the neighbourhood of Leominster he was encountered by the people of the country, aided by the Normans from the castle, whom, after a considerable loss on both sides he overcame, and returned with much booty to his own country. Harold and Leofwine now sailed with a considerable fleet from Ireland and entered the mouth of the Severn, where they landed, and plundered many towns and villages in the counties of Somerset and Devon. In an engagement between their forces and the people of the country, the latter were defeated with great loss, including above thirty thanes. Harold then sailed round the Land's End into the British Channel. Edward and his witan now deemed it time to adopt measures for the security of his people, and caused a fleet of forty ships to be fitted out under the command of the earls Odda and Radulf, which was, during many weeks, stationed at Sandwich, for the purpose of watching the movements of Godwin. A day or two before midsummer Godwin proceeded from Bruges to his ships, which were lying in the Yser, below Nienport, whence he sailed to the coast of England, and arrived at the point a little to the south of Romney. Here he found all the people devoted to him the sailors (butsecarlas) of Hastings, the men of Sussex, Surrey and Essex, declared themselves ready to live or die for him. The royal fleet had in the meanwhile sailed in quest of him, but, after a fruitless cruise, returned to its station at Sandwich, and thence sailed to London. It was now resolved to place the royal fleet under abler commanders, but, during the delay which attended the execution of this resolution, the seamen returned to their homes. The state of embarrassment into which his opponents were naturally plunged by these untoward occurrences could not be unknown to Godwin, whose next visit was to the fertile Isle of Wight, where having supplied his fleet with provisions, he sailed to Portland. Here he was joined by his sons Harold and Leofwine. With their united fleets they now proceeded along the coast eastwards, limiting their demands, wherever they met with no hostile opposition, to the supplies necessary for their forces, enticing the people, both landsmen and sailors, into their service, and seizing on all the ships which lay at Romney, Hythe, and Folkestone. At Dover also and Sandwich they seized on the ships and received hostages and supplies, and thence directed their course up the Thames towards London, till they arrived at Southwark, where, while waiting for the flood-tide, Godwin treated with the townspeople, who were all favourably disposed towards him. Then passing through the bridge, he arrayed both his land and sea forces along the southern bank of the river, inclining his ships towards the opposite shore, as if he would hem in the royal fleet, which consisted of fifty ships under Edward and his earls, who had, moreover, a considerable land army, but all of whom were ill-disposed to fight against their own countrymen, for the sake of the foreign favourites. Godwin and his party now demanded the restoration of their possessions and honours, which Edward at first sternly refused; but at length, finding that his people were excited against him, and through the interposition of Stigand, Bishop of Winchester, with other prudent counsellors, it was settled that hostages should be mutually given. On receiving this intelligence the Frenchmen immediately mounted their horses and fled, some to Osbern Pentecost's castle, others northwards to Earl Robert's; while Robert the archbishop, William Bishop of London, and Ulf Bishop of Dorchester, with many followers, escaped out at the east gate, and injuring many in their flight proceeded to the coast, where at Eadulfs-ness, they threw themselves into a crazy boat and reached the shores of Normandy, leaving behind the archiepiscopal pall and other valuables. Bishop William was, on account of his excellent character, afterwards recalled and reinstated in his diocese. Pentecost and Hugo, having surrendered their castles, |