In these
troubles
he
was formed early in life to vigilance, activity, secrecy,
and a conquest over all those passions, whether bad
or good, which obstruct the way to greatness.
was formed early in life to vigilance, activity, secrecy,
and a conquest over all those passions, whether bad
or good, which obstruct the way to greatness.
Edmund Burke
The scheme of purchlasing peace not only gave rise to many internal
hardships, but, whilst it weakened the kingdom, it
inspired such a desire of invading it to the enemy,
that Sweyn, King of Denmark, came in person soon
after with a prodigious fleet and army. The English,
having once found the method of diverting the storm
by an inglorious bargain, could not bear to think of
any other way of resistance. A greater sum, 48,0001. ,
was now paid, which the Danes accepted with pleasure, as they could. by this means exhaust their enemies and enrich themselves with little danger or trouble. With very short intermissions they still returned, continually increasing in their demands. . In
a few years they extorted upwards of 160,0001. from
the English, besides an annual tribute of 48,0001.
The country was wholly exhausted both of money
and spirit. The Daines in England, under the protection of the foreign Danes, committed a thousand
insolencies; and so infatuated with stupidity and
baseness were the English at this time, that they
employed hardly any other soldiers for their defence.
A. D. 1002. In this state of shame and misery, their
sufferings suggested to them a design rather
desperate than brave. They resolved on a massacre
of the Danes. Some authors say, that ill one night
the whole race was cut off. Many, probably all the
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 275
military men, were so destroyed. But this massacre,
injudicious as it was cruel, was certainly not universal; nor did it serve any other or better end than
to exasperate those of the same nation abroad, who
the next year landed in England with a
A. D. 1003.
powerful army to revenge it, and committed outrages even beyond the usual tenor of the Danish cruelty. There was in England no money left to purchase a peace, nor courage to wage a successful
war; and the King of Denmark, Sweyn, a prince of
capacity, at the head of a large body of brave and
enterprising men, soon mastered the whole kingdom,
except London. Ethelred, abandoned by fortune and
his sulbjects, was forced to fly into Normandy.
As there was no good order in the English affairs,
though continually alarmed, they were always surprised; they were only roused to arms by the cruelty of the enemy, and they were only formed into a body by being driven from their homes: so that
they never made a resistance until they seemed to
be entirely conquered. This may serve to account
for the frequent sudden reductions of the island, and
the frequent renewals of their fortune when it seemed
the most desperate. Sweyn, in the midst of his victories, dies, and, though succeeded by his son Canute,
who inherited his father's resolution, their affairs
were thrown into some disorder by this accident.
The English were encouraged by it. Ethelred was
recalled, and the Danes retired out of the kingdom;
but it was only to return the next year with a greater and better appointed force. Nothing seemed able
to oppose them. The king dies. A great part of
the land was surrendered, without resistance, to Canute. Edmund, the eldest son of -Ethelred, supported,
? ? ? ? 276: ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
Edinund however, the declining hopes of the English
Ironside,
a. D. 1016. for some time; in three months he fought
three victorious battles; he attempted a fourth, but
lost it by the base desertion of Edric, the principal
author of all these troubles. It is common with the
conquered side to attribute all their misfortunes to
the treachery of their own party. They choose to
be thought subdued by the treachery of their friends
rather than the superior bravery of their enemies.
All the old historians talk in this strain; and it must
be acknowledged that all adherents to a declining
party have many temptations to infidelity.
Edmund, defeated, but not discouraged, retreated
to the Severn, where he recruited his forces. Canute
followed at his heels. And now the two armies were
drawn up which were to decide the fate of England,
when it was proposed to determine the war by a
single combat between the two kings. Neither was
unwilling; the Isle of Alney in the Severn was chosen for the lists. Edmund had the advantage by the greatness of his strength, Canute by his address; for
when Edmund had so far prevailed as: to disarm him,
he proposed a parley, in which he persuaded Edmund
to a peace, and to a division of the kingdom. Their
armies accepted the agreement, and both kings departed in a seeming friendship. But Edmund died soon after, with a probable suspicion of being murdered by the instruments of his associate in the empire.
The Danish Canute, on this event, assembled the
race. states of the kingdom, by whom he was acCanute. knowledged King of all England. He was a prince truly great; for, having acquired the kingdom by his-valor, he maintained and improved it
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 277
by his justice and clemency. Choosing rather to
rule by the inclination of his subjects than the
right of conquest, he dismissed his Danish army,
and committed his safety to the laws. He re6stablished the order and tranquillity which so long a series of bloody wars had banished. He revived
the ancient statutes of the Saxon princes, and governed through his whole reign with such steadiness and moderation that the English were much happier
under this foreign prince than they had been under
their natural kings. Canute, though the beginning
of his life was stained with those marks of violence
and injustice which attend conquest, was remarkable in his latter end for his piety. According to the mode of that time, he made a pilgrimage to Rome,
with a view to expiate the crimes which paved his
way to the throne; but he made a goon use of this
peregrination, and returned full of the observations
he had made in the country through which he
passed, which he turned to the benefit of his extensive dominlions. They comprehended England, Denmark, Norway, and many of the countries which
lie upon the Baltic. Those he left, established in
peace and security, to his children. The fate of his
Northern possessions is not of this place. England
fell to his son Harold, though not without Harold I. ,
much competition in favor of the sons of AD. 1036.
Edmund Ironside, while some contended for the
right of the sons of Ethelred, Alfred and Edward.
Harold inherited none of the virtues of Canute;
he banished his mother Emma, murdered his halfbrother Alfred, and died without issue after a short reign, full of violence, weakness, and cru- lardicanute
elty. His brother Hardicanute, who SUC A. D. '1039.
? ? ? ? 278 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
ceeded him, resembled him in his character; he
committed new cruelties and injustices in revenging
those which his brother had committed, and he died
after a yet shorter reign. The Danish power, es
tablished with so much blood, expired of itself; and
The Saxon Edward, the only surviving son of Ethelred,
line restored. then an exile in Normandy, was called to
the throne by tile unanimous voice of the kingdom.
Edward the This prince was educated in a monastery,
Confessor,
A. D. 104o. where h-le learned piety, continence, and humility, but nothing of the art of government. He
was innocent and artless, but his views were narrow,
*and his genius contemptible. The character of such
a prince is not, therefore, what influences the government, any further than as it puts it in the hands of
others. When lie came to the throne, Godwin, Earl
of Kent, was the most popular man in England; he
possessed a very great estate, an enterprising disposition, and an eloquence beyond the age he lived in;
he was arrogant, imperious, assuming, and of a conscience which never put itself in the way of his interest. He had a considerable share in restoring Edward to the throne of his ancestors; and by this
merit, joined to his popularity, he for some time directed everything according to his pleasure. He intended to fortify his interest by giving in marriage to the king his- daughter, a lady of great beauty, great
virtue, and an education beyond her sex. Godwin
had, however, powerful rivals in the king's favor.
This monarch, who possessed many of the private
virtues, had a grateful remembrance of his favorable reception in Normandy; he caressed the people
of that country, and promoted several to the first
places, ecclesiastical and civil, in his kingdom. This
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 279
begot an uneasiness in all the English; but Earl
Godwin was particularly offended. The Normans,
on the other hand, accused Godwin of a design on
the crown, the justice of which imputation the whole
tenor of his conduct evinced sufficiently. But as his
cabals began to break into action before they were in
perfect ripeness for it, the Norman party prevailed,
and Godwin was banished. This man was not only
very popular at home by his generosity and address,
but he found means to engage even foreigners in
his interests. Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, gave him
a very kind reception. By his assistance Godwin
fitted out a fleet, hired a competent force, sailed
to England, and having near Sandwich deceived
the king's navy, he presented himself at London
before he was expected. The king made ready as
great a force as the time would admit to oppose him.
The galleys of Edward and Godwin met on the
Thames; but such was the general favor to Godwin, such the popularity of his cause, that the king's men threw down their arms, and refused to fight
against their countrymen in favor of strangers. Edward was obliged to treat with his Own subjects, and in consequence of this treaty to dismiss the Normans, whom he believed to be the best attached to his interests. Godwin used the power to which he was
restored to gratify his personal revenge, showing no
mercy to his enemies. Some of his sons behaved
in the most tyrannical manner. The great lords
of the kingdom envied and hated a greatness which
annihilated the royal authority, eclipsed them, and
oppressed the people; but Godwin's death D 1053
soon after quieted for a while their murmurs. The king, who had the least share in the
? ? ? ? 280 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
transactions of his own reign, and who was of a
temper not to perceive his own insignificance, begun in his old age to think of a successor. He had
no children: for some weak reasons of religion or
personal dislike, he had never cohabited with his
wife. He sent for his nephew Edward, the son of
Edmund Ironside, out of Hungary, where he had
taken refuge but he died soon after he came to
England, leaving a son called Edgar Atheling. The
1066 king himself, irresolute in so momentous an
affair, died without mnaking' any settlement.
His reign was properly that of his great men, or
rather of their factions. All of it that was his own
was good. He was careful of the privileges of his
subjects, and took care: to have a body of the Saxon
laws, very favorable to them, digested and enforced.
He remitted the heavy imposition called Danegelt,
amounting to 40,0001. a year, which had been constantly collected after the occasion had ceased; he even repaid to his subjects what he found in the
treasury at his accession. In' short, there is little
in his life that can call his title to sanctity in question, though he can never be reckoned among the great kings.
CHAPTER VI.
HAROLD II. - INVASION OF THE NORMANS. - ACCOUNT
OF THAT PEOPLE, AND OF THE STATE OF ENGLAND AT
THE TIME OF THE INVASION.
Harold II. , THOUGH Edgar Atheling had the best tiA. D. 1066. tle to the succession, yet Harold, the son of Earl Godwin, on account of the credit of his father,
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 281
and his own great qualities, whichl supported and
extended the interest of his family, was by the general voice set upon the throne. The right of Edgar,
young, and discovering no great capacity, gave him
little disturbance in comparison of the violence of his
own brother Tosti, whom for his infamous oppression
he had found himself obliged to banish. This man,
who was a tyrant at home and a traitor abroad, insulted the maritime parts with a piratical fleet, whilst
he incited all the neighboring princes to fall upon his
country. Harold Harfager, King of Norway, after
the conquest of the Orkneys, with a powerful navy
hung over the coasts of England. But nothing troubled Harold so much as the pretensions and the formidable preparation of William, Duke of Normandy, one of the most able, ambitious, and enterprising men
of that age. We have mentioned the. partiality of
King Edward to the Normans, and the hatred he
bore to Godwin and his family. The Duke of Normandy, to whom Edward had personal obligations,
had -taken a tour into England, and neglected no
means to improve these dispositions to his. own advantage. It is said that he then received the fullest
assurances of being appointed to the succession, and
that Harold himself had been sent soon after into
Normandy to settle whatever related to it. This is
an obscure transaction, and would, if it could be
cleared up, convey but little instruction. So that
whether we believe or not that, William. had engaged Harold by a solemn oath to secure him the
kingdom, we know that he afterwards set up a will
of King Edward in his favor, which, however, he
never produced, and probably never had to produce.
In these delicate circumstances Harold was not want
? ? ? ? 282 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
ing to himself. By the most equitable laws and the
most popular behavior he sought to secure the affections of his subjects; and he succeeded so well, that, when he marched against the King of Norway, who
had invaded his kingdom and taken York, without difficulty he raised a numerous army of gallant men, zealous for his cause and their country. He obtained
a signal and decisive victory over the Norwegians.
The King Elarfager, and the traitor Tosti, who had
joined him, were slain in the battle, and the Norwegians were forced to evacuate the country. Harold had, however, but little time to enjoy the fruits of his
victory.
Scarce had the Norwegians departed, when William, Duke of Normandy, landed in the southern part
of the kingdom with an army of sixty thousand chosen men, and struck a general terror through all the nation, which was well acquainted with the character
of the commander and the courage and discipline of
his troops.
The Normans were'the posterity of those Danes
who had so long and so cruelly harassed the British
islands and the shore of the adjoining continent. In
the days of King Alfred, a body of these adventurers, under their leader, Rollo, made an attempt upon England; but so well did they find every spot defended by. the vigilance and bravery of that great monarch that they were compelled to retire. Beaten from these shores, the stream of their impetuosity bore towards the northern parts of France, which had
been reduced to the most deplorable condition by
their former ravages. Charles the Simple then sat
on the throne of that kingdom; unable to resist this
torrent of barbarians, he was obliged to yield to it;
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 283
he agreed to give up to Rollo the large and fertile
province of Neustria, to hold of him as his feudatory.
This province, from the new inhabitants, was called
Normandy. Five princes succeeded Rollo, who maintained with great bravery and cultivated with equal wisdom his conquests. The ancient ferocity of this
people was a little softened by their settlement; but
the bravery which had made the Danes so formidable
was not extinguished in the Normans, nor the spirit
of enterprise. Not long before this period, a private
gentleman of Normandy, by his personal br. avery, had
acquired the kingdom of Naples. Several others followed his fortunes, who added Sicily to it. From
one end of Europe to the other the Norman name
was known, respected, and feared. Robert, the sixth
Duke of Normandy, to expiate some crime which lay
heavy upon his conscience, resolved, according to the
ideas of that time, upon a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
It was in vain that his nobility, whom he had'assembled to notify this resolution to them, represented to him the miserable state to which his country would
be reduced, abandoned by its prince, and uncertain
of a legal successor. The Duke was not. to be moved
from his resolution, which appeared but the: more
meritorious from the difficulties which attended it.
He presented to the states William, then an infant,
born of an obscure woman, whom, notwithstanding,
he doubted not to be his son; him he appointed to
succeed; him he recommended to their virtue and
loyalty; and then, solemnly resigning the government in his favor, he departed on the pilgrimage,
from whence he never returned. The states, hesitating some time between the mischiefs that attend the allowing an illegitimate succession and those
? ? ? ? 284 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
which might arise from admitting foreign pretensions,
thought the former the least prejudicial, and accordingly swore allegiance to William. But this oath was not sufficient to establish a right so doubtful. The
Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, as well as several
Norman noblemen, had specious titles. The endeavors of all these disquieted the reign of the young prince with perpetual troubles.
In these troubles he
was formed early in life to vigilance, activity, secrecy,
and a conquest over all those passions, whether bad
or good, which obstruct the way to greatness. He
had to contend with all the neighboring princes, with
the seditions of a turbulent and unfaithful nobility,
and the treacherous protection of his feudal lord, the
King of France. All of these in their turns, sometimes all of these together, distressed him. But with
the most unparalleled good fortune and conduct he
overcame all opposition, and triumphed over every
enemy, raising his power and reputation above that
of all his ancestors, as much as he was exalted by his
bravery above the princes of his own time.
Such was the prince who, on a pretended claim
from the will of King Edward, supported by the common and popular pretence of punishing offenders and redressing grievances, landed at Pevensey in Sussex,
to contest the crown with Harold. Harold had no
sooner advice of his landing than he advanced to
meet him with all possible diligence; but there did
not appear in his army, upon this occasion, the same
unanimity and satisfaction which animated it on its
march against the Norwegians. An ill-timed economy in Harold, which made him refuse to his soldiers the plunder of the Norwegian camp, had created a
general discontent. Several deserted; and the sol
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 285
diers who remained followed heavily a leader under
whom there was no hope of plunder, the greatest incitement of the soldiery. Notwithstanding this ill disposition, Harold still urged forward, and by forced
marches advanced within seven miles of the enemy.
The Norman, on his landing, is said to have sent
away his ships, that his army might have no way
of safety but in conquest; yet had he fortified his
camp, and taken every prudent precaution, that so
considerable an enterprise should not be reduced to
a single effort of despair. When the armies, charged
with the decision of so mighty a contest, had approached each other, Harold paused awhile. A
great deal depended on his conduct at this critical
time. The most experienced in the council of war,
who knew the condition of their troops, were of opinion that the engagement ought to be deferred, - that the country ought to be wasted, - that, as the winter
approached, the Normans would in, all probability be
obliged to retire of themselves, - that,,if. this should
not happen, the Norman army was without resources,
whilst the English would be every'day considerably
augmented, and might attack their enemy at a time
and manner which might make their success certain.
To all these reasons nothing was opposed but a false
point of honor and a mistaken courage in Ilarold,1
who urged his fate, and resolved on an engagement.
The Norman, as soon as lie perceived that the English were determined' on a battle, left his camp to post himself in an advantageous situation, in which
his whole: army remained the night which preceded
the action.
This night was spent in a manner which prognosticated the event of the following day. On the part of
? ? ? ? 286 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
the Normans it was spent in prayer, and in a cool
and steady preparation for the engagement; on the
side of the English, in riot and a vain confidence
that neglected all the necessary preparations. The
two armies met in the morning; from seven to five
the battle was fought with equal vigor, until at last
the Norman army pretending to break in confusion,
a stratagem to which they had been regularly formed,
the English, elated with success, suffered that firm
order in which their security consisted to dissipate,
which when William observed, he gave the signal to
his men to regain their former disposition, and fall
upon the English, broken and dispersed. Harold in
this emergency did everything which became him,
everything possible to collect his troops and to renew the engagement; but whilst he flew from place to place, and in all places restored the battle, an
arrow pierced his brain, and he died a king, in a
manner worthy of a warrior. The English immediately fled; the rout was total, and the slaughter prodigious.
The consternation which this defeat and the death
of Harold produced over the kingdom was more fatal
than the defeat itself. If William had marched directly to London, all contest had probably been at an end; but he judged it more prudent to secure the
sea-coast, to make way for reinforcements, distrusting
his fortune in his success more than he had done in
his first attempts. He marched to Dover, where the
effect of his victory was such that the strong castle
there surrendered without resistance. Had this fortress made any tolerable defence, the English would have had leisure to rouse from their consternation,
and plan some rational method for continuing the
? ? ? ? ABRIDGHENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 287
war; but now the conqueror was on full march
to London, whilst the English were debating concerning the measures they should take, and doubtful in what manner they should fill the vacant
throne. However, in this emergency it was necessary to take some resolution. The party of Edgar
Atheling prevailed, and he was owned king by the
city of London, which even at this time was exceedingly powerful, and by the greatest part of the nobility then present. But his reign was of a short duration. William advanced by hasty marches, and, as he approached, the perplexity of the English redoubled: they had done nothing for the defence of the
city; they had no reliance on their new king; they
suspected one another; there was no authority, no
order, no counsel; a confused and ill-sorted assembly
of unwarlike people, of priests, burghers, and nobles
confounded with them in the general panic, struck
down by the consternation of the late defeat, and
trembling under the bolts of the Papal excommunication, were unable to plan any method of defence: insomuch that, when he had passed the
Thames and drew near to London, the clergy, the
citizens, and the greater part of the nobles, who had
so lately set the crown on the head of Edgar, went
out to meet him; they submitted to him, and having brought him in triumph to Westminster, he
was there solemnly crowned King of England. The
whole nation followed the example of London; and
one battle gave England to the Normans, which had
cost the Romans, the Saxons, and Danes so much
time and blood to acquire.
At first view it is very difficult to conceive how
this could have happened to a powerful nation, in
? ? ? ? 288 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
which it does not appear that the conqueror had one
partisan. It stands a single event in history, unless,
perhaps, we may compare it with the reduction of
Ireland, some time after, by Henry the Second. An
attentive consideration of the state of the kingdom at'
that critical time may, perhaps, in some measure, lay
open to us the cause of this extraordinary revolution.
The nobility of England, in which its strength consisted, was much decayed. Wars and confiscations,
but above all the custom of gavelkind, had reduced
that body very low. . At the same time some few
families had been raised to a degree of power unknown in the ancient Saxon times, and dangerous. in all. Large possessions, and a larger authority, were annexed to the offices of the Saxon magistrates, whom they called Aldermen. This authority,
in their long and bloody wars with the Danes, it was
found necessary to increase, and often to increase
beyond the ancient limits. Aldermen were created
for life; they were then frequently made hereditary;
some were vested with a power over others; and at
this period we begin to hear of dukes who governed
over several shires, and had many aldermen subject
to them. These officers found means to turn the
royal bounty into an instrument of becoming independent of its authority. Too great to obey, and too
little to protect, they were a dead weight upon the
country. They begau to cast an eye on the crown,
and distracted the nation by cabals to compass their
designs. At the same time they nourished the most
terrible feuds amongst themselves. The feeble government of Edward established these abuses. He
could find no method of humbling one subject
grown too great, but by aggrandizing in the same
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 289
excessive degree some others. Thus, he endeavored to balance the power of Earl Godwin by exalting Leofric, Duke of Mercia; and Siward, Duke of Northumberland, to an extravagant greatness. The
consequence was this: he did not humble Godwin,
but raised him potent rivals. When, therefore, this
prince died, the lawful successor to the crown, who
had nothing but right in his favor, was totally
eclipsed by the splendor of the great men who had
adorned themselves with the spoils of royalty. The
throne was now the prize of faction; and Harold, the
son of Godwin, having the strongest faction, carried
it. By this success the opposite parties were inflamed with a new occasion of rancor and animosity,
and an incurable discontent was raised in the minds
of Edwin and Morcar, the sons of Duke Leofric, who
inherited their father's power and popularity: but
this animosity operated nothing in favor of the legitimate heir, though it weakened the hands of the gov
erning prince.
The death of Harold was far from putting an end
to these evils; it rather unfolded more at large the
fatal consequences of the ill measures which had
been pursued. Edwin and Morcar set on foot once
more their practices to obtain the crown; and when
they found themselves baffled, they retired in discontent from the councils of the nation, withdrawing:
thereby a very large part of its strength and authority. The council of the nation, which was fornfied of
the clashing factions of a few great men, (for the
rest were nothing,) divided, disheartened, weakened,
without head, without direction, dismayed by a terrible defeat, submitted, because they saw no other
course, to a conqueror whose valor they had experiVOL. VII. 19
? ? ? ? 290 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
enced, and who had hitherto behaved with great
appearances of equity and moderation. As for the
grandees, they were contenlted rather to submit to
this foreign prince than to those whom they regarded
as their equals and enemies.
With these causes other strong ones concurred.
For near two centuries the continual and bloody
wars with the Danes had exhausted the nation; the
peace, which for a long time they were obliged to buy
dearly, exhausted it yet more; and it had not sufficient leisure nor sufficient means of acquiring wealth
to yield at this time any extraordinary resources.
The new people, which after so long a struggle had
mixed with the Elglish, had not yet so thoroughly
incorporated with the ancient inhabitants that a perfect union might be expected between them, or that any strong, uniform, national effort might have resulted from it. Besides, the people of England were
the most backward in Europe in all improvements,
whether in military or in civil life. Their towns
were meanly built, and more meanly fortified; there
was scarcely anything that deserved the name of a
strong place in the kingdom; there was no fortress
which, by retarding the progress of a conqueror,
might give the people an opportunity of recalling
their spirits and collecting their strength. To these
we may add, that the Pope's approbation of William's pretensions gave them great weight, especially amongst the clergy, and that this disposed and reconciled to submission a people whom the circumstances we have mentioned had before driven to it.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 291
CHAPTER VII.
OF THE LAWS AND INSTITUTIONS OF THE SAXONS.
BEFORE we begin to consider the laws and constitutions of the Saxons, let us take a view of- the state of the country from whence they are derived, as it is
portrayed in ancient writers. This view will be the
best comment on their institutions. Let us represent
to -ourselves a people without learning, without arts,
without industry, solely pleased and occupied with
war, neglecting agriculture, abhorring cities, and
seeking their livelihood only from pasturage and
hunting through a boundless range of morasses and
forests. Such a people must necessarily be united to
each other by very feeble bonds; their ideas of government will necessarily be imperfect, their freedom and their love of freedom great. From these dispositions it must happen, of course, that the intention of investing one person or a few with the whole powers
of government, and the notion of deputed authority
or representation, are ideas that never could have entered their imaginations. When, therefore, amongst such a people any resolution of consequence was to
be taken, there was no way of effecting it but by
bringing together the whole body of the nation, that
every individual might consent to the law, and each
reciprocally bind the other to the observation of it.
This polity, if so it may be called, subsists still in
all its simplicity in Poland.
But as in such a society as we have mentioned
the people cannot be classed according to any political regulations, great talents have a more ample sphere in which to exert themselves than in a close
? ? ? ? 292 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH1 HISTORY.
and better formed society. These talents must therefore have attracted a great share of the public veneration, and drawn. a numerous train after the person distinguished by them, of those who sought his protection, or feared:his power, or admired his qualifications, or wished to form themselves after his example, or, in fine, of whoever desired to partake of his importance by being mentioned along with him. These
the ancient Gauls, who nearly resembled the Germans in their customs, called Ambacti; the Romans
called them Comites. Over these their chief had a
considerable power, and the more considerable because it depended upon influence rather than institution: influence among so free a people being the principal source of power. But this authority,. great
as it was, never could by its very nature be stretched
to despotism; because any despotic act would have
shocked the only principle by which that authority
was supported, the general good opinion. On the
other hand, it could not have been bounded by any
positive laws, because laws can hardly subsist amongst
a people who have not the use of letters. It was a
species of arbitrary power, softened by the popularity
from whence it arose. It came from popular opinion,
and by popular opinion it was corrected.
If people so barbarous as the Germans have no
laws, they have yet customs that serve in their room;
and these customs operate amongst them better than
laws, because they become a sort of Nature both to
the governors and the governed. This circumstance
in solne measure removed all fear of the abuse of
authority, and induced the Germans to permit their
chiefs to decide upon matters of lesser moment,
* They had no other nobility; yet several families amongst them
were considered as noble.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 293
their private differences, -for so Tacitus explains
the minores res. These chiefs were a sort of judges,
but not legislators; nor do they appear to have had
a share in the superior branches of the executive
part of government, - the business of peace and war,
and everything of a public nature, being determined,
as we have before remarked, by the whole body of
the people, according to a maxim general among the
Germans, that what concerned all ought to be handled by all. Thus were delineated the faint and incorrect outlines of our Constitution, which has: since been so nobly fashioned and so highly finished. This
fine system, says Montesquieu, was invented in the
woods; but whilst it remained in the woods, and for
a long time after, it was far from being a fine one, -
no more, -indeed, than a very imperfect attempt at
government, a system for a rude and barbarous people, calculated to maintain them in their barbarity.
The ancient state of the Germans was military:
so that the orders into which they were distributed,
their subordination, their courts, and every part of
their government, must be deduced from an attention to a military principle.
The ancient German people, as all the other Northern tribes, consisted of freemen and slaves: the freemen professed arms, the slaves cultivated the ground. But men were not allowed to profess arms at their
own will, nor until, they were admitted to that dignity by an established order, which at a certain age
separated the boys from men. For when a young
man approached to virility,* he was not yet admitted
as a member of the state, which was quite military,
* Arma sumere non ante cuiquam moris, quhm civitas suffecturum probaverit. - Tacitus de Mor. Germ. 13;
? ? ? ? 294 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
until he had been invested with a spear in the public
assembly of his tribe; and then he was adjudged
proper to carry arms, and also to assist in the public deliberations, which were always held armed. *
This spear he generally received from the hand of
some old and respected chief, under whom he conmmonly entered himself, and was admitted among his followers. t No man could stand out as an independent individual, but must have enlisted in one of these military fraternities; and as soon as he had so enlisted, immediately he became bound to his leader in
the strictest dependence, which was confirmed by an
oath,$ and to his brethren in a common vow for their
mutual support in all dangers, and for the advancement and the honor of their common chief. This
chief was styled Senior, Lord, and the like terms,
which marked out a superiority in age and merit;
the followers were called Ambacti, Com. ites, Leudes,
Vassals, and other terms, marking submission and
dependence. This was the very first origin of civil,
or rather, military government, amongst the ancient
people of Europe; and it arose from the connection
that necessarily was created between the person who
gave the arms, or knighted the young man, and him
that received them; which implied that they were to
be occupied in his service who originally gave them.
These principles it is necessary strictly to attend to,
because they will serve much to explain the whole
* Nihil autem neque publicae neque privatse rei nisi armati agunt.
- Tacitus de Mor. Germ. 13.
t Cweteri robustioribus ac jam pridem probatis aggregantur. - Id.
ibid.
$ Illum defendere, tueri, sua quoque fortia facta glorive ejus assignare, prmecipuum sacramentum est. --Id. 14.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 295
course both of government and real property, wherever the German nations obtained a settlement: the
whole of their government depending for the most
part upon two principles in our nature, - ambition,
that makes one man desirous, at any hazard or expense, of taking the lead amongst others,- and admiration,. which makes others equally desirous of following him, from the mere pleasure of admiration, and a sort of secondary ambition, one of the most
universal passions among men. These two principles, strong, both of them, in our nature, create a
voluntary inequality and dependence. But amongst
equals in condition there could be no such bond, and
this was supplied by confederacy; and as the first of
these principles created the senior and the knight,
the second produced the conjurati fratres, which,
sometimes as a more extensive, sometimes as a stricter bond, are perpetually mentioned in the old laws
and histories.
The relation between the lord and the vassal produced another effect, -- that the leader was obliged
to find sustenance for his followers, and to maintain
them at his table, or give them some equivalent in
order to their maintenance. It is plain from these
principles, that this service on one hand, and this obligation to support on the other, could not have originally been hereditary, but must have been entirely
in the free choice of the parties.
But it is impossible that such a polity could long
have subsisted by election alone. For, in the first
place, that natural love which every man has to his
own kindred would make the chief willing to perpetuate the power and dignity he acquired in his own
blood, - and for that purpose, even during his own
? ? ? ? 296 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
life, would raise his son, if grown up, or. his collaterals, to such a rank as they should find it only necessary to continue their possession upon his death. On the other hand, if a follower was cut off in war, or
fell by natural course, leaving his offspring destitute,
the lord could not so far forget the services of his
vassal as not to continue his allowance to his children; and these again growing up, from reason and
gratitude, could only take their knighthood at his
hands from whom they had received their education; and thus, as it could seldom happen but that
the bond, either on the side of the lord or dependant, was perpetuated, some families must have been
distinguished by a long continuance of this relation,
and have been therefore looked upon in an honorable light, from that only circumstance from whence
honor -was derived in the Northern world. Thus
nobility was seen in Germany; and in the earliest
Anglo-Saxon times some families were distinguished
by the title of Ethelings, or of noble descent. But
this nobility of birth was rather a qualification for
the dignities of the state than an actual designation
to them. The Saxon ranks are chiefly designed to
ascertain the quantity of the composition for personal injuries against them.
But though this hereditary relation was created
very early, it must not be mistaken for such a regular inheritance as we see at this day: it was an
inheritance only according to the principles from
whence it was derived; by them it was modified.
It was originally a military connection; and if a
father left his son under a military age, so as that
he' could neither lead nor judge his people, nor
qualify the young men-who came up under him to
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 297
take arms, --in order to continue the cliental bond,
and not to break up an old and strong confederacy,
and thereby disperse the tribe, who should be pitched
upon to head the whole, but the worthiest of blood
of the deceased leader, he that ranked next to him
in his life? * And this is Tanistry, which is a succession made up of inheritance and election, a succession in which blood is inviolably regarded, so far as it was consistent with military purposes. It was
thus that our kings succeeded to the throne throughout the whole time of the Anglo-Saxon empire. The
first kings of the Franks succeeded in the same manner, and without all doubt the succession of all the
inferior chieftains was regulated by a. similar law.
Very frequent examples occur in the Saxon times,
where the son of the deceased king, if under age,;wa;s entirely passed over, and his uncle, or some
remoter relation, raised to the crown; but there
is not a single instance where the election has carried it out of the blood. So that, in truth, the controversy, which has been managed with such heat, whether in the Saxon times the crown was hereditary or elective, must be determined in some degree
favorably for the -litigants on either side; for it was
certainly both hereditary and elective within the
bounds which we have mentioned. This order prevailed in Ireland, where the Northern customs were
retained some hundreds of years after the rest of
Europe had in a great measure receded from them.
Tanistry continued in force there until the beginning
of the last century. And we have greatly to regret
the narrow notions of our lawyers, who abolished the
* Deputed authority, guardianship, &c. , not known to the Northern nations; they gained this idea by intercourse with the Romans.
hardships, but, whilst it weakened the kingdom, it
inspired such a desire of invading it to the enemy,
that Sweyn, King of Denmark, came in person soon
after with a prodigious fleet and army. The English,
having once found the method of diverting the storm
by an inglorious bargain, could not bear to think of
any other way of resistance. A greater sum, 48,0001. ,
was now paid, which the Danes accepted with pleasure, as they could. by this means exhaust their enemies and enrich themselves with little danger or trouble. With very short intermissions they still returned, continually increasing in their demands. . In
a few years they extorted upwards of 160,0001. from
the English, besides an annual tribute of 48,0001.
The country was wholly exhausted both of money
and spirit. The Daines in England, under the protection of the foreign Danes, committed a thousand
insolencies; and so infatuated with stupidity and
baseness were the English at this time, that they
employed hardly any other soldiers for their defence.
A. D. 1002. In this state of shame and misery, their
sufferings suggested to them a design rather
desperate than brave. They resolved on a massacre
of the Danes. Some authors say, that ill one night
the whole race was cut off. Many, probably all the
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 275
military men, were so destroyed. But this massacre,
injudicious as it was cruel, was certainly not universal; nor did it serve any other or better end than
to exasperate those of the same nation abroad, who
the next year landed in England with a
A. D. 1003.
powerful army to revenge it, and committed outrages even beyond the usual tenor of the Danish cruelty. There was in England no money left to purchase a peace, nor courage to wage a successful
war; and the King of Denmark, Sweyn, a prince of
capacity, at the head of a large body of brave and
enterprising men, soon mastered the whole kingdom,
except London. Ethelred, abandoned by fortune and
his sulbjects, was forced to fly into Normandy.
As there was no good order in the English affairs,
though continually alarmed, they were always surprised; they were only roused to arms by the cruelty of the enemy, and they were only formed into a body by being driven from their homes: so that
they never made a resistance until they seemed to
be entirely conquered. This may serve to account
for the frequent sudden reductions of the island, and
the frequent renewals of their fortune when it seemed
the most desperate. Sweyn, in the midst of his victories, dies, and, though succeeded by his son Canute,
who inherited his father's resolution, their affairs
were thrown into some disorder by this accident.
The English were encouraged by it. Ethelred was
recalled, and the Danes retired out of the kingdom;
but it was only to return the next year with a greater and better appointed force. Nothing seemed able
to oppose them. The king dies. A great part of
the land was surrendered, without resistance, to Canute. Edmund, the eldest son of -Ethelred, supported,
? ? ? ? 276: ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
Edinund however, the declining hopes of the English
Ironside,
a. D. 1016. for some time; in three months he fought
three victorious battles; he attempted a fourth, but
lost it by the base desertion of Edric, the principal
author of all these troubles. It is common with the
conquered side to attribute all their misfortunes to
the treachery of their own party. They choose to
be thought subdued by the treachery of their friends
rather than the superior bravery of their enemies.
All the old historians talk in this strain; and it must
be acknowledged that all adherents to a declining
party have many temptations to infidelity.
Edmund, defeated, but not discouraged, retreated
to the Severn, where he recruited his forces. Canute
followed at his heels. And now the two armies were
drawn up which were to decide the fate of England,
when it was proposed to determine the war by a
single combat between the two kings. Neither was
unwilling; the Isle of Alney in the Severn was chosen for the lists. Edmund had the advantage by the greatness of his strength, Canute by his address; for
when Edmund had so far prevailed as: to disarm him,
he proposed a parley, in which he persuaded Edmund
to a peace, and to a division of the kingdom. Their
armies accepted the agreement, and both kings departed in a seeming friendship. But Edmund died soon after, with a probable suspicion of being murdered by the instruments of his associate in the empire.
The Danish Canute, on this event, assembled the
race. states of the kingdom, by whom he was acCanute. knowledged King of all England. He was a prince truly great; for, having acquired the kingdom by his-valor, he maintained and improved it
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 277
by his justice and clemency. Choosing rather to
rule by the inclination of his subjects than the
right of conquest, he dismissed his Danish army,
and committed his safety to the laws. He re6stablished the order and tranquillity which so long a series of bloody wars had banished. He revived
the ancient statutes of the Saxon princes, and governed through his whole reign with such steadiness and moderation that the English were much happier
under this foreign prince than they had been under
their natural kings. Canute, though the beginning
of his life was stained with those marks of violence
and injustice which attend conquest, was remarkable in his latter end for his piety. According to the mode of that time, he made a pilgrimage to Rome,
with a view to expiate the crimes which paved his
way to the throne; but he made a goon use of this
peregrination, and returned full of the observations
he had made in the country through which he
passed, which he turned to the benefit of his extensive dominlions. They comprehended England, Denmark, Norway, and many of the countries which
lie upon the Baltic. Those he left, established in
peace and security, to his children. The fate of his
Northern possessions is not of this place. England
fell to his son Harold, though not without Harold I. ,
much competition in favor of the sons of AD. 1036.
Edmund Ironside, while some contended for the
right of the sons of Ethelred, Alfred and Edward.
Harold inherited none of the virtues of Canute;
he banished his mother Emma, murdered his halfbrother Alfred, and died without issue after a short reign, full of violence, weakness, and cru- lardicanute
elty. His brother Hardicanute, who SUC A. D. '1039.
? ? ? ? 278 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
ceeded him, resembled him in his character; he
committed new cruelties and injustices in revenging
those which his brother had committed, and he died
after a yet shorter reign. The Danish power, es
tablished with so much blood, expired of itself; and
The Saxon Edward, the only surviving son of Ethelred,
line restored. then an exile in Normandy, was called to
the throne by tile unanimous voice of the kingdom.
Edward the This prince was educated in a monastery,
Confessor,
A. D. 104o. where h-le learned piety, continence, and humility, but nothing of the art of government. He
was innocent and artless, but his views were narrow,
*and his genius contemptible. The character of such
a prince is not, therefore, what influences the government, any further than as it puts it in the hands of
others. When lie came to the throne, Godwin, Earl
of Kent, was the most popular man in England; he
possessed a very great estate, an enterprising disposition, and an eloquence beyond the age he lived in;
he was arrogant, imperious, assuming, and of a conscience which never put itself in the way of his interest. He had a considerable share in restoring Edward to the throne of his ancestors; and by this
merit, joined to his popularity, he for some time directed everything according to his pleasure. He intended to fortify his interest by giving in marriage to the king his- daughter, a lady of great beauty, great
virtue, and an education beyond her sex. Godwin
had, however, powerful rivals in the king's favor.
This monarch, who possessed many of the private
virtues, had a grateful remembrance of his favorable reception in Normandy; he caressed the people
of that country, and promoted several to the first
places, ecclesiastical and civil, in his kingdom. This
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 279
begot an uneasiness in all the English; but Earl
Godwin was particularly offended. The Normans,
on the other hand, accused Godwin of a design on
the crown, the justice of which imputation the whole
tenor of his conduct evinced sufficiently. But as his
cabals began to break into action before they were in
perfect ripeness for it, the Norman party prevailed,
and Godwin was banished. This man was not only
very popular at home by his generosity and address,
but he found means to engage even foreigners in
his interests. Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, gave him
a very kind reception. By his assistance Godwin
fitted out a fleet, hired a competent force, sailed
to England, and having near Sandwich deceived
the king's navy, he presented himself at London
before he was expected. The king made ready as
great a force as the time would admit to oppose him.
The galleys of Edward and Godwin met on the
Thames; but such was the general favor to Godwin, such the popularity of his cause, that the king's men threw down their arms, and refused to fight
against their countrymen in favor of strangers. Edward was obliged to treat with his Own subjects, and in consequence of this treaty to dismiss the Normans, whom he believed to be the best attached to his interests. Godwin used the power to which he was
restored to gratify his personal revenge, showing no
mercy to his enemies. Some of his sons behaved
in the most tyrannical manner. The great lords
of the kingdom envied and hated a greatness which
annihilated the royal authority, eclipsed them, and
oppressed the people; but Godwin's death D 1053
soon after quieted for a while their murmurs. The king, who had the least share in the
? ? ? ? 280 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
transactions of his own reign, and who was of a
temper not to perceive his own insignificance, begun in his old age to think of a successor. He had
no children: for some weak reasons of religion or
personal dislike, he had never cohabited with his
wife. He sent for his nephew Edward, the son of
Edmund Ironside, out of Hungary, where he had
taken refuge but he died soon after he came to
England, leaving a son called Edgar Atheling. The
1066 king himself, irresolute in so momentous an
affair, died without mnaking' any settlement.
His reign was properly that of his great men, or
rather of their factions. All of it that was his own
was good. He was careful of the privileges of his
subjects, and took care: to have a body of the Saxon
laws, very favorable to them, digested and enforced.
He remitted the heavy imposition called Danegelt,
amounting to 40,0001. a year, which had been constantly collected after the occasion had ceased; he even repaid to his subjects what he found in the
treasury at his accession. In' short, there is little
in his life that can call his title to sanctity in question, though he can never be reckoned among the great kings.
CHAPTER VI.
HAROLD II. - INVASION OF THE NORMANS. - ACCOUNT
OF THAT PEOPLE, AND OF THE STATE OF ENGLAND AT
THE TIME OF THE INVASION.
Harold II. , THOUGH Edgar Atheling had the best tiA. D. 1066. tle to the succession, yet Harold, the son of Earl Godwin, on account of the credit of his father,
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 281
and his own great qualities, whichl supported and
extended the interest of his family, was by the general voice set upon the throne. The right of Edgar,
young, and discovering no great capacity, gave him
little disturbance in comparison of the violence of his
own brother Tosti, whom for his infamous oppression
he had found himself obliged to banish. This man,
who was a tyrant at home and a traitor abroad, insulted the maritime parts with a piratical fleet, whilst
he incited all the neighboring princes to fall upon his
country. Harold Harfager, King of Norway, after
the conquest of the Orkneys, with a powerful navy
hung over the coasts of England. But nothing troubled Harold so much as the pretensions and the formidable preparation of William, Duke of Normandy, one of the most able, ambitious, and enterprising men
of that age. We have mentioned the. partiality of
King Edward to the Normans, and the hatred he
bore to Godwin and his family. The Duke of Normandy, to whom Edward had personal obligations,
had -taken a tour into England, and neglected no
means to improve these dispositions to his. own advantage. It is said that he then received the fullest
assurances of being appointed to the succession, and
that Harold himself had been sent soon after into
Normandy to settle whatever related to it. This is
an obscure transaction, and would, if it could be
cleared up, convey but little instruction. So that
whether we believe or not that, William. had engaged Harold by a solemn oath to secure him the
kingdom, we know that he afterwards set up a will
of King Edward in his favor, which, however, he
never produced, and probably never had to produce.
In these delicate circumstances Harold was not want
? ? ? ? 282 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
ing to himself. By the most equitable laws and the
most popular behavior he sought to secure the affections of his subjects; and he succeeded so well, that, when he marched against the King of Norway, who
had invaded his kingdom and taken York, without difficulty he raised a numerous army of gallant men, zealous for his cause and their country. He obtained
a signal and decisive victory over the Norwegians.
The King Elarfager, and the traitor Tosti, who had
joined him, were slain in the battle, and the Norwegians were forced to evacuate the country. Harold had, however, but little time to enjoy the fruits of his
victory.
Scarce had the Norwegians departed, when William, Duke of Normandy, landed in the southern part
of the kingdom with an army of sixty thousand chosen men, and struck a general terror through all the nation, which was well acquainted with the character
of the commander and the courage and discipline of
his troops.
The Normans were'the posterity of those Danes
who had so long and so cruelly harassed the British
islands and the shore of the adjoining continent. In
the days of King Alfred, a body of these adventurers, under their leader, Rollo, made an attempt upon England; but so well did they find every spot defended by. the vigilance and bravery of that great monarch that they were compelled to retire. Beaten from these shores, the stream of their impetuosity bore towards the northern parts of France, which had
been reduced to the most deplorable condition by
their former ravages. Charles the Simple then sat
on the throne of that kingdom; unable to resist this
torrent of barbarians, he was obliged to yield to it;
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 283
he agreed to give up to Rollo the large and fertile
province of Neustria, to hold of him as his feudatory.
This province, from the new inhabitants, was called
Normandy. Five princes succeeded Rollo, who maintained with great bravery and cultivated with equal wisdom his conquests. The ancient ferocity of this
people was a little softened by their settlement; but
the bravery which had made the Danes so formidable
was not extinguished in the Normans, nor the spirit
of enterprise. Not long before this period, a private
gentleman of Normandy, by his personal br. avery, had
acquired the kingdom of Naples. Several others followed his fortunes, who added Sicily to it. From
one end of Europe to the other the Norman name
was known, respected, and feared. Robert, the sixth
Duke of Normandy, to expiate some crime which lay
heavy upon his conscience, resolved, according to the
ideas of that time, upon a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
It was in vain that his nobility, whom he had'assembled to notify this resolution to them, represented to him the miserable state to which his country would
be reduced, abandoned by its prince, and uncertain
of a legal successor. The Duke was not. to be moved
from his resolution, which appeared but the: more
meritorious from the difficulties which attended it.
He presented to the states William, then an infant,
born of an obscure woman, whom, notwithstanding,
he doubted not to be his son; him he appointed to
succeed; him he recommended to their virtue and
loyalty; and then, solemnly resigning the government in his favor, he departed on the pilgrimage,
from whence he never returned. The states, hesitating some time between the mischiefs that attend the allowing an illegitimate succession and those
? ? ? ? 284 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
which might arise from admitting foreign pretensions,
thought the former the least prejudicial, and accordingly swore allegiance to William. But this oath was not sufficient to establish a right so doubtful. The
Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, as well as several
Norman noblemen, had specious titles. The endeavors of all these disquieted the reign of the young prince with perpetual troubles.
In these troubles he
was formed early in life to vigilance, activity, secrecy,
and a conquest over all those passions, whether bad
or good, which obstruct the way to greatness. He
had to contend with all the neighboring princes, with
the seditions of a turbulent and unfaithful nobility,
and the treacherous protection of his feudal lord, the
King of France. All of these in their turns, sometimes all of these together, distressed him. But with
the most unparalleled good fortune and conduct he
overcame all opposition, and triumphed over every
enemy, raising his power and reputation above that
of all his ancestors, as much as he was exalted by his
bravery above the princes of his own time.
Such was the prince who, on a pretended claim
from the will of King Edward, supported by the common and popular pretence of punishing offenders and redressing grievances, landed at Pevensey in Sussex,
to contest the crown with Harold. Harold had no
sooner advice of his landing than he advanced to
meet him with all possible diligence; but there did
not appear in his army, upon this occasion, the same
unanimity and satisfaction which animated it on its
march against the Norwegians. An ill-timed economy in Harold, which made him refuse to his soldiers the plunder of the Norwegian camp, had created a
general discontent. Several deserted; and the sol
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 285
diers who remained followed heavily a leader under
whom there was no hope of plunder, the greatest incitement of the soldiery. Notwithstanding this ill disposition, Harold still urged forward, and by forced
marches advanced within seven miles of the enemy.
The Norman, on his landing, is said to have sent
away his ships, that his army might have no way
of safety but in conquest; yet had he fortified his
camp, and taken every prudent precaution, that so
considerable an enterprise should not be reduced to
a single effort of despair. When the armies, charged
with the decision of so mighty a contest, had approached each other, Harold paused awhile. A
great deal depended on his conduct at this critical
time. The most experienced in the council of war,
who knew the condition of their troops, were of opinion that the engagement ought to be deferred, - that the country ought to be wasted, - that, as the winter
approached, the Normans would in, all probability be
obliged to retire of themselves, - that,,if. this should
not happen, the Norman army was without resources,
whilst the English would be every'day considerably
augmented, and might attack their enemy at a time
and manner which might make their success certain.
To all these reasons nothing was opposed but a false
point of honor and a mistaken courage in Ilarold,1
who urged his fate, and resolved on an engagement.
The Norman, as soon as lie perceived that the English were determined' on a battle, left his camp to post himself in an advantageous situation, in which
his whole: army remained the night which preceded
the action.
This night was spent in a manner which prognosticated the event of the following day. On the part of
? ? ? ? 286 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
the Normans it was spent in prayer, and in a cool
and steady preparation for the engagement; on the
side of the English, in riot and a vain confidence
that neglected all the necessary preparations. The
two armies met in the morning; from seven to five
the battle was fought with equal vigor, until at last
the Norman army pretending to break in confusion,
a stratagem to which they had been regularly formed,
the English, elated with success, suffered that firm
order in which their security consisted to dissipate,
which when William observed, he gave the signal to
his men to regain their former disposition, and fall
upon the English, broken and dispersed. Harold in
this emergency did everything which became him,
everything possible to collect his troops and to renew the engagement; but whilst he flew from place to place, and in all places restored the battle, an
arrow pierced his brain, and he died a king, in a
manner worthy of a warrior. The English immediately fled; the rout was total, and the slaughter prodigious.
The consternation which this defeat and the death
of Harold produced over the kingdom was more fatal
than the defeat itself. If William had marched directly to London, all contest had probably been at an end; but he judged it more prudent to secure the
sea-coast, to make way for reinforcements, distrusting
his fortune in his success more than he had done in
his first attempts. He marched to Dover, where the
effect of his victory was such that the strong castle
there surrendered without resistance. Had this fortress made any tolerable defence, the English would have had leisure to rouse from their consternation,
and plan some rational method for continuing the
? ? ? ? ABRIDGHENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 287
war; but now the conqueror was on full march
to London, whilst the English were debating concerning the measures they should take, and doubtful in what manner they should fill the vacant
throne. However, in this emergency it was necessary to take some resolution. The party of Edgar
Atheling prevailed, and he was owned king by the
city of London, which even at this time was exceedingly powerful, and by the greatest part of the nobility then present. But his reign was of a short duration. William advanced by hasty marches, and, as he approached, the perplexity of the English redoubled: they had done nothing for the defence of the
city; they had no reliance on their new king; they
suspected one another; there was no authority, no
order, no counsel; a confused and ill-sorted assembly
of unwarlike people, of priests, burghers, and nobles
confounded with them in the general panic, struck
down by the consternation of the late defeat, and
trembling under the bolts of the Papal excommunication, were unable to plan any method of defence: insomuch that, when he had passed the
Thames and drew near to London, the clergy, the
citizens, and the greater part of the nobles, who had
so lately set the crown on the head of Edgar, went
out to meet him; they submitted to him, and having brought him in triumph to Westminster, he
was there solemnly crowned King of England. The
whole nation followed the example of London; and
one battle gave England to the Normans, which had
cost the Romans, the Saxons, and Danes so much
time and blood to acquire.
At first view it is very difficult to conceive how
this could have happened to a powerful nation, in
? ? ? ? 288 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
which it does not appear that the conqueror had one
partisan. It stands a single event in history, unless,
perhaps, we may compare it with the reduction of
Ireland, some time after, by Henry the Second. An
attentive consideration of the state of the kingdom at'
that critical time may, perhaps, in some measure, lay
open to us the cause of this extraordinary revolution.
The nobility of England, in which its strength consisted, was much decayed. Wars and confiscations,
but above all the custom of gavelkind, had reduced
that body very low. . At the same time some few
families had been raised to a degree of power unknown in the ancient Saxon times, and dangerous. in all. Large possessions, and a larger authority, were annexed to the offices of the Saxon magistrates, whom they called Aldermen. This authority,
in their long and bloody wars with the Danes, it was
found necessary to increase, and often to increase
beyond the ancient limits. Aldermen were created
for life; they were then frequently made hereditary;
some were vested with a power over others; and at
this period we begin to hear of dukes who governed
over several shires, and had many aldermen subject
to them. These officers found means to turn the
royal bounty into an instrument of becoming independent of its authority. Too great to obey, and too
little to protect, they were a dead weight upon the
country. They begau to cast an eye on the crown,
and distracted the nation by cabals to compass their
designs. At the same time they nourished the most
terrible feuds amongst themselves. The feeble government of Edward established these abuses. He
could find no method of humbling one subject
grown too great, but by aggrandizing in the same
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 289
excessive degree some others. Thus, he endeavored to balance the power of Earl Godwin by exalting Leofric, Duke of Mercia; and Siward, Duke of Northumberland, to an extravagant greatness. The
consequence was this: he did not humble Godwin,
but raised him potent rivals. When, therefore, this
prince died, the lawful successor to the crown, who
had nothing but right in his favor, was totally
eclipsed by the splendor of the great men who had
adorned themselves with the spoils of royalty. The
throne was now the prize of faction; and Harold, the
son of Godwin, having the strongest faction, carried
it. By this success the opposite parties were inflamed with a new occasion of rancor and animosity,
and an incurable discontent was raised in the minds
of Edwin and Morcar, the sons of Duke Leofric, who
inherited their father's power and popularity: but
this animosity operated nothing in favor of the legitimate heir, though it weakened the hands of the gov
erning prince.
The death of Harold was far from putting an end
to these evils; it rather unfolded more at large the
fatal consequences of the ill measures which had
been pursued. Edwin and Morcar set on foot once
more their practices to obtain the crown; and when
they found themselves baffled, they retired in discontent from the councils of the nation, withdrawing:
thereby a very large part of its strength and authority. The council of the nation, which was fornfied of
the clashing factions of a few great men, (for the
rest were nothing,) divided, disheartened, weakened,
without head, without direction, dismayed by a terrible defeat, submitted, because they saw no other
course, to a conqueror whose valor they had experiVOL. VII. 19
? ? ? ? 290 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
enced, and who had hitherto behaved with great
appearances of equity and moderation. As for the
grandees, they were contenlted rather to submit to
this foreign prince than to those whom they regarded
as their equals and enemies.
With these causes other strong ones concurred.
For near two centuries the continual and bloody
wars with the Danes had exhausted the nation; the
peace, which for a long time they were obliged to buy
dearly, exhausted it yet more; and it had not sufficient leisure nor sufficient means of acquiring wealth
to yield at this time any extraordinary resources.
The new people, which after so long a struggle had
mixed with the Elglish, had not yet so thoroughly
incorporated with the ancient inhabitants that a perfect union might be expected between them, or that any strong, uniform, national effort might have resulted from it. Besides, the people of England were
the most backward in Europe in all improvements,
whether in military or in civil life. Their towns
were meanly built, and more meanly fortified; there
was scarcely anything that deserved the name of a
strong place in the kingdom; there was no fortress
which, by retarding the progress of a conqueror,
might give the people an opportunity of recalling
their spirits and collecting their strength. To these
we may add, that the Pope's approbation of William's pretensions gave them great weight, especially amongst the clergy, and that this disposed and reconciled to submission a people whom the circumstances we have mentioned had before driven to it.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 291
CHAPTER VII.
OF THE LAWS AND INSTITUTIONS OF THE SAXONS.
BEFORE we begin to consider the laws and constitutions of the Saxons, let us take a view of- the state of the country from whence they are derived, as it is
portrayed in ancient writers. This view will be the
best comment on their institutions. Let us represent
to -ourselves a people without learning, without arts,
without industry, solely pleased and occupied with
war, neglecting agriculture, abhorring cities, and
seeking their livelihood only from pasturage and
hunting through a boundless range of morasses and
forests. Such a people must necessarily be united to
each other by very feeble bonds; their ideas of government will necessarily be imperfect, their freedom and their love of freedom great. From these dispositions it must happen, of course, that the intention of investing one person or a few with the whole powers
of government, and the notion of deputed authority
or representation, are ideas that never could have entered their imaginations. When, therefore, amongst such a people any resolution of consequence was to
be taken, there was no way of effecting it but by
bringing together the whole body of the nation, that
every individual might consent to the law, and each
reciprocally bind the other to the observation of it.
This polity, if so it may be called, subsists still in
all its simplicity in Poland.
But as in such a society as we have mentioned
the people cannot be classed according to any political regulations, great talents have a more ample sphere in which to exert themselves than in a close
? ? ? ? 292 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH1 HISTORY.
and better formed society. These talents must therefore have attracted a great share of the public veneration, and drawn. a numerous train after the person distinguished by them, of those who sought his protection, or feared:his power, or admired his qualifications, or wished to form themselves after his example, or, in fine, of whoever desired to partake of his importance by being mentioned along with him. These
the ancient Gauls, who nearly resembled the Germans in their customs, called Ambacti; the Romans
called them Comites. Over these their chief had a
considerable power, and the more considerable because it depended upon influence rather than institution: influence among so free a people being the principal source of power. But this authority,. great
as it was, never could by its very nature be stretched
to despotism; because any despotic act would have
shocked the only principle by which that authority
was supported, the general good opinion. On the
other hand, it could not have been bounded by any
positive laws, because laws can hardly subsist amongst
a people who have not the use of letters. It was a
species of arbitrary power, softened by the popularity
from whence it arose. It came from popular opinion,
and by popular opinion it was corrected.
If people so barbarous as the Germans have no
laws, they have yet customs that serve in their room;
and these customs operate amongst them better than
laws, because they become a sort of Nature both to
the governors and the governed. This circumstance
in solne measure removed all fear of the abuse of
authority, and induced the Germans to permit their
chiefs to decide upon matters of lesser moment,
* They had no other nobility; yet several families amongst them
were considered as noble.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 293
their private differences, -for so Tacitus explains
the minores res. These chiefs were a sort of judges,
but not legislators; nor do they appear to have had
a share in the superior branches of the executive
part of government, - the business of peace and war,
and everything of a public nature, being determined,
as we have before remarked, by the whole body of
the people, according to a maxim general among the
Germans, that what concerned all ought to be handled by all. Thus were delineated the faint and incorrect outlines of our Constitution, which has: since been so nobly fashioned and so highly finished. This
fine system, says Montesquieu, was invented in the
woods; but whilst it remained in the woods, and for
a long time after, it was far from being a fine one, -
no more, -indeed, than a very imperfect attempt at
government, a system for a rude and barbarous people, calculated to maintain them in their barbarity.
The ancient state of the Germans was military:
so that the orders into which they were distributed,
their subordination, their courts, and every part of
their government, must be deduced from an attention to a military principle.
The ancient German people, as all the other Northern tribes, consisted of freemen and slaves: the freemen professed arms, the slaves cultivated the ground. But men were not allowed to profess arms at their
own will, nor until, they were admitted to that dignity by an established order, which at a certain age
separated the boys from men. For when a young
man approached to virility,* he was not yet admitted
as a member of the state, which was quite military,
* Arma sumere non ante cuiquam moris, quhm civitas suffecturum probaverit. - Tacitus de Mor. Germ. 13;
? ? ? ? 294 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
until he had been invested with a spear in the public
assembly of his tribe; and then he was adjudged
proper to carry arms, and also to assist in the public deliberations, which were always held armed. *
This spear he generally received from the hand of
some old and respected chief, under whom he conmmonly entered himself, and was admitted among his followers. t No man could stand out as an independent individual, but must have enlisted in one of these military fraternities; and as soon as he had so enlisted, immediately he became bound to his leader in
the strictest dependence, which was confirmed by an
oath,$ and to his brethren in a common vow for their
mutual support in all dangers, and for the advancement and the honor of their common chief. This
chief was styled Senior, Lord, and the like terms,
which marked out a superiority in age and merit;
the followers were called Ambacti, Com. ites, Leudes,
Vassals, and other terms, marking submission and
dependence. This was the very first origin of civil,
or rather, military government, amongst the ancient
people of Europe; and it arose from the connection
that necessarily was created between the person who
gave the arms, or knighted the young man, and him
that received them; which implied that they were to
be occupied in his service who originally gave them.
These principles it is necessary strictly to attend to,
because they will serve much to explain the whole
* Nihil autem neque publicae neque privatse rei nisi armati agunt.
- Tacitus de Mor. Germ. 13.
t Cweteri robustioribus ac jam pridem probatis aggregantur. - Id.
ibid.
$ Illum defendere, tueri, sua quoque fortia facta glorive ejus assignare, prmecipuum sacramentum est. --Id. 14.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 295
course both of government and real property, wherever the German nations obtained a settlement: the
whole of their government depending for the most
part upon two principles in our nature, - ambition,
that makes one man desirous, at any hazard or expense, of taking the lead amongst others,- and admiration,. which makes others equally desirous of following him, from the mere pleasure of admiration, and a sort of secondary ambition, one of the most
universal passions among men. These two principles, strong, both of them, in our nature, create a
voluntary inequality and dependence. But amongst
equals in condition there could be no such bond, and
this was supplied by confederacy; and as the first of
these principles created the senior and the knight,
the second produced the conjurati fratres, which,
sometimes as a more extensive, sometimes as a stricter bond, are perpetually mentioned in the old laws
and histories.
The relation between the lord and the vassal produced another effect, -- that the leader was obliged
to find sustenance for his followers, and to maintain
them at his table, or give them some equivalent in
order to their maintenance. It is plain from these
principles, that this service on one hand, and this obligation to support on the other, could not have originally been hereditary, but must have been entirely
in the free choice of the parties.
But it is impossible that such a polity could long
have subsisted by election alone. For, in the first
place, that natural love which every man has to his
own kindred would make the chief willing to perpetuate the power and dignity he acquired in his own
blood, - and for that purpose, even during his own
? ? ? ? 296 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
life, would raise his son, if grown up, or. his collaterals, to such a rank as they should find it only necessary to continue their possession upon his death. On the other hand, if a follower was cut off in war, or
fell by natural course, leaving his offspring destitute,
the lord could not so far forget the services of his
vassal as not to continue his allowance to his children; and these again growing up, from reason and
gratitude, could only take their knighthood at his
hands from whom they had received their education; and thus, as it could seldom happen but that
the bond, either on the side of the lord or dependant, was perpetuated, some families must have been
distinguished by a long continuance of this relation,
and have been therefore looked upon in an honorable light, from that only circumstance from whence
honor -was derived in the Northern world. Thus
nobility was seen in Germany; and in the earliest
Anglo-Saxon times some families were distinguished
by the title of Ethelings, or of noble descent. But
this nobility of birth was rather a qualification for
the dignities of the state than an actual designation
to them. The Saxon ranks are chiefly designed to
ascertain the quantity of the composition for personal injuries against them.
But though this hereditary relation was created
very early, it must not be mistaken for such a regular inheritance as we see at this day: it was an
inheritance only according to the principles from
whence it was derived; by them it was modified.
It was originally a military connection; and if a
father left his son under a military age, so as that
he' could neither lead nor judge his people, nor
qualify the young men-who came up under him to
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 297
take arms, --in order to continue the cliental bond,
and not to break up an old and strong confederacy,
and thereby disperse the tribe, who should be pitched
upon to head the whole, but the worthiest of blood
of the deceased leader, he that ranked next to him
in his life? * And this is Tanistry, which is a succession made up of inheritance and election, a succession in which blood is inviolably regarded, so far as it was consistent with military purposes. It was
thus that our kings succeeded to the throne throughout the whole time of the Anglo-Saxon empire. The
first kings of the Franks succeeded in the same manner, and without all doubt the succession of all the
inferior chieftains was regulated by a. similar law.
Very frequent examples occur in the Saxon times,
where the son of the deceased king, if under age,;wa;s entirely passed over, and his uncle, or some
remoter relation, raised to the crown; but there
is not a single instance where the election has carried it out of the blood. So that, in truth, the controversy, which has been managed with such heat, whether in the Saxon times the crown was hereditary or elective, must be determined in some degree
favorably for the -litigants on either side; for it was
certainly both hereditary and elective within the
bounds which we have mentioned. This order prevailed in Ireland, where the Northern customs were
retained some hundreds of years after the rest of
Europe had in a great measure receded from them.
Tanistry continued in force there until the beginning
of the last century. And we have greatly to regret
the narrow notions of our lawyers, who abolished the
* Deputed authority, guardianship, &c. , not known to the Northern nations; they gained this idea by intercourse with the Romans.
