Harold, Book 10. The Last Of The Saxon Kings

g earls Morcar and Edwin, but Caradoc, chafing at the

course of members entitled to vote in the assembly even larger than that which had met for the inlawry of Godwin. There was but one thought uppermost in the minds of men, to whic

n by birth, were not acknowledged by the general tenor of the Saxon laws, which did not recognize as heir to the crown the son of a father who had not himself been crowned [214];-forebodings of coming evil and danger, originating in Edward's perturbed visions; revivals of obscure and till then forgotten prophecie

ays of Caesar had been considered in advance of the rest of the British population, and from the days of Hengist had exercised an influence that nothing save the warlike might of the Anglo-Danes counterbalanced. With Harold, too, were many of the thegns from his earlier earldom of East Anglia, comprising the county of Essex, great part of He

feud, plundered a single convent; or in peace, and through plot, appropriated to himself a single hide of Church land; and that was more than could have been said of any other earl of the age-even of Leofric the Ho

ange the terrible Welch on the one hand, and the Scottish domain of the sub-king Malcolm, himself a Cumbrian, on the other, despite Malcolm's personal predilections for Tostig, to whom he was strongly attached. But then the chiefs of this party, while at present they stood aloof, were all, with the exception perhaps of the young earls themselves, disposed, on the slightest encouragement, to blend their suffrage with the friends of Harold; an

his party influence on the side of oppression and injustice, solely for the sake of his brother; nor, on the other, was it decorous or natural to take part himself against Tostig; nor could he, as a statesman, contemplate without anxie

brings up the harvest. His fate seems taken out of his own control: greatness seems thrust upon him. He has made himself, as it were, a want to the nation

oes or make friends; trusting rather to his representations to Edward, (who was wroth with the rebelli

lly into the streets below, where, with the gay dresses of the thegns and cnehts, blended the grave robes of ecclesiastic and youthful scholar;-for to that illustrious university (pillaged the persecuted by t

hou the ca

et more pale than usual

cies are ripeni

on his brow, and sparkled from his eye-he checked the j

lords of the land-the highest dignitaries of the Church- and, oft and frequent, came old foe by the side or trusty friend. They all paused

ated honestly his own strong wish, if possible, to have concentrated the popular suffrages on the young Atheling; and under the emergence of the case, to have waived the objection to his immature years.

ur best to prepare for you the throne on the demise of Edward, and to seat you thereon as firmly as ever sate King of England and son of Cerdic;-knowing that in you, and in you alo

his crimson robe, could his emotion be seen. But as soon as the approving murmur

st guard the weal of England. Pardon me, then, if I answer you not as ambition alone would answer; neither deem me insensible to the glorious lot of presiding, under heaven, and by the light of our laws, over the destinies of the English realm,-if I pause to weigh well the responsibilities incurred, and the obstacles to be surmounted. There is that on my mind that I would fain unbosom, not of a nature to discuss in an assembly so numerous, but which I would rather s

and there were both pity and approva

ire at once, and elect those with whom thou mayest freely c

d with him went the co

last said,

O Harold, as to confess thy compe

sign," replied

to remonstrate, but t

our as strong as in the spells of Hilda. Go, dear boy; the fault is not in thee, but in the superstitious infirmities of a man who hath once lowered, or, it may be, too high

his head,

d the events of his unhappy visit to the Norman; and he felt, as the young chief pressed his han

apal States, but at least more intelligent and more free from mere formal monasticism than most of their Saxon contemporaries,-and six of the chiefs m

s a confession against man's pride, and sorely doth it shame;-so

the first tones of which, as betraying earnest emotion, irresisti

to terror than repugnance, with which the list

rtain oaths-bad relic of those times!-still existing in our parliamentary and collegiate proceedings, are deemed by men, not otherwise dishonourable, even now. And to no kind of oath was more latitude given than to such as related to fealty to a chief: for these, in the constant rebellions which happened year after year, were openly violated, and without re

ooked at each other, doubtful and appalled, when the Earl ceased his tale; while only among the laymen circled a murmur of mingled wrath at William's bold

prelate and mine own soul have freed me. Whether as king or as subject, I shall alike revere the living and their long posterity more than the dead men's bones, and, with sword and with battle-axe, hew out against the invader my best ato

e lesser sin and the greater-the one which the Church could absolve-the one which no Church had the right to exact, and which, if fulfilled, no penance could expiate. He owned frankly, nevertheless, that it was the difficulties so created, that had made him incline to the Atheling;-but, co

at very reason deprive ourselves of the only man able to resist him? Harold hath taken an oath! God wot, who among us have not taken some oath at law for which they have deemed it meet afterwards to do a penance, or endow a convent? The wisest means to strengthen Harold against that oath, is to show the moral impossibility of fulfilling it, by placing him on the throne. The best proof we can give to t

ces, and ample Church gifts, would suffice for the insult offered to the relics: and,-if they in so grave a case outstripped, in absolution, an authority amply sufficing for all ordi

im back to the conclave. The two brothers were kneeling side by side before the little altar; and there was something inexpressibly to

-room. Alred briefly communicated the result of the conference; and with an

ncil: too great is my personal stake in this matter to allow my mind to be unbiassed; judge ye, then, and decide for me in all things: your

his hand into Harold

ld's

reconcile with us Mercia and Northumbria, and make the kingdom one against the foe. You, as Tostig's brother, have done well to a

ic weal, you consent," said Alred, thoughtfu

that it serve Englan

, flitted over the pr

nce more alo