on the head with an axe, so that with the dint he sank down, and his holy blood fell on the earth, and his holy soul he sent forth to God's kingdom." He was first buried in London, where, says the Chronicle,' "God now manifests the holy martyr's miracles." And the principal church in Greenwich, St. Alphege, was named after him; but a few years afterwards his body was carried to his own church at Canterbury with all honour, as we shall see.

20. It was not Swend who took Canterbury; he was not in England just then; but the next year he returned with a splendid fleet, and bringing with him his son Cnut (or Canute). They say his ships were beautifully adorned with figures of men and animals, birds and dragons, lions, bulls, and dolphins, in gold, silver, and amber. After some fearful cruelties and very little resistance from anybody except the Londoners he mastered everything and everybody, and was actually acknowledged king of England.

21. Thus at last the Danes conquered, after all these hundreds

of years' fighting. Even London had now to submit. 1013.

The queen, Ethelred's wife, fled over the sea; then the two young princes, her sons, followed, and next year Ethelred himself.

The Danes

triumph.

peo

22. We must pause here to learn a little of the place and ple to whom they fled, because we shall have to hear a great deal more about them by and bye. Queen Emma was a The Normans. foreign lady, the daughter of the Duke of Normandy.

This country is of course part of France, but yet the Normans were not really Franks, nor were they Gauls or Celts; they were in fact very near relations to the English and to the Danes. Just as the Danes used to come plundering to England, and at last settled down in parts of the country, and gradually became Englishmen, so they also went plundering to France, and at last settled down there and became Frenchmen. Only they were not called "Danes," but Northmen, which was really a better name, as they were not nearly all from Denmark; many came also from Sweden and from Norway.

As Alfred made peace with Guthorm, and let him rule as an under-king in a great part of England, the king of the French made peace with the leader of the Northmen, and let him settle down in a part of France, which came to be called Normandy, and the Northmen Normans. After settling there they became Christians, and, dropping their old speech, learnt to talk French, which was a much greater change than for those in England to

learn to speak English. The Duke of Normandy was under the French king; he was his vassal, and though not called "king," he was in fact as powerful as one.

23. Ethelred, then, had married Emma, the daughter of one of the dukes of Normandy, who was what we may call a French lady. When she came to England she had to receive a new name, because "Emma" sounded so outlandish and foreign. She was called by the old English name of Elfgifu (the fairies' gift), which sounds rather outlandish and foreign to us now. So, in their trouble, she and her husband and children took refuge with her brother the Duke of Normandy, her father being dead by this time, and there the two young princes were educated.

1014.

Death of
Swend.

24. But Ethelred did not stay long in Normandy; Swend had hardly been made king before he died. There is a singular tale about his death. We all remember St. Edmund, the under-king of East Anglia, whom the Danes had so cruelly murdered nearly 150 years before. It seems that Swend had a special hatred for his memory, and to show it he demanded a heavy tribute from the church which had been built in his honour at Bury St. Edmund's. He threatened if it were not paid he would burn the church and the town, and put the clergy to death by torture. He had even set forth on his march for this purpose, like Saul, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter," when he saw in a vision the martyred Edmund coming against him, clothed in armour, and a spear in his hand. "Help," he cried, "fellow-soldiers ! St. Edmund is coming to slay me." He fell from his horse and died the same night, every one believing that the saint had pierced him with his spear. It is easy to see how this story might arise and be spread abroad in all good faith. Swend might have been already ill and half delirious when he set forth. He very likely partly believed in Christianity, and in his excitement thought he beheld the figure of the saint; and his followers, who all heard his cry, would readily believe in those days that it was a real vision and a real miracle.

25. When he was dead, leaving only his young son of nineteen behind him, the English thought of Ethelred again, and sent after him to Normandy. The 'Chronicle' tells of the messages they exchanged. The wise men said that "to them no lord was dearer than their natural lord, if he would rule them better than he had done before."

Ethelred returns.

Ethelred, in return, sent messages to "greet all his people, and said that he would be to them a kind lord, and amend all those things which they abhorred, and all the things should be forgiven. which had been done or said to him, on condition that they all, with one mind, and without treachery, would turn to him." So he returned home to his own people, and was gladly received by all.

26. He really seems now to have done his best. There was a great meeting of the witan, where they made many good and pious resolutions; and then he marched against young Cnut, and drove him away for the time. Ethelred lived but two years longer; and he had a brave and noble son to help him now. This was not one of Emma's children,-we shall hear more of them in due time,-but a son of Ethelred by his first wife-Edmund, who was surnamed Ironside because of his strength and courage. indeed a contrast to his feeble father. He went about in the most wonderfully energetic way, gathering armies and trying to put some spirit into the disheartened people.

Edmund

Ironside.

He was

1016.

Cnut.

27. Cnut soon came back again with another splendid fleet, and the war went on. Ethelred fell back into being as weak and wavering as ever. Cnut gained great victories, and when Ethelred died, which he happily did at last, the assembly of the witan chose Cnut to be king. But the Londoners had something to say to that; they held an assembly of their own, and elected Edmund Ironside. So there were two kings, an Englishman and a Dane; both of them young, clever, brave, and neither of them likely to give in to the other. Now followed seven months, in which London was besieged three times by the Danes, but never taken; and in which the English and Danes had six great battles. Four times at least out of these Edmund Ironside won the victory; but in the sixth, after a gallant fight, the Danes were victorious, and Edmund had to flee. He was not at all out of heart; he was quite ready for a seventh battle, with a fresh army, when the "wise men" interposed and brought about a peace.

28. The two young kings met. They had by this time each seen something to respect in the other, and both must have felt that it would be no easy matter fully to conquer and subdue the other. So they behaved with great courtesy, called each other brothers, and agreed to divide the kingdom between them. Edmund had all England south of the Thames, East Anglia,

I

Essex, and London. Cnut had all the rest; but it seems that Edmund was to be his "over-lord."

29. This did not last, for before the year was over the brave Edmund, the last worthy descendant of Egbert and Alfred, died. How he died is not exactly known. Some said he was murdered; some think he was worn out by his almost superhuman exertions. But when he died Cnut the Dane became king of all England.

1016. Death of Edmund.

LECTURE XIII.-CNUT.

A Danish king-his fierce beginning-his reform-his religion-pilgrimage to Rome-his letter-his sons.

1016.

1. CNUT did not wish to appear a usurper, or one who had taken a kingdom to which he had no right; nor did he wish only to seem a conqueror, having seized on the kingdom by force. There were no strict rules then, as there are now, about who should succeed to the throne. If the king when he died left a brave son already grown up, it was almost sure he would be chosen, as Alfred's son Edward was; but if he left only young children, then one of their uncles would very likely be made king instead. In those days, as we have seen in the last reign, it was of the very greatest importance to have a king who was a real leader and ruler. The fortunes of all the people much depended on him and his personal character. In our days this does not matter nearly so much. The House of Commons, and the ministers in whom they have confidence, and whom we may say they really appoint, govern the country, make the laws, and lay on the taxes. The king or queen cannot do anything without their good-will. It is still a very happy thing for the country to have a good and wise king or queen, because they have great influence, and by their example lead the people to some extent; as our queen all through her reign has set an example of a good and pure life, and so has had a thoroughly beneficial influence; while a bad, selfish, and immoral sovereign would set a bad example, and have a thoroughly evil influence. But neither one nor the other could make or unmake laws, or lay on taxes, or govern in any way according to their own will or pleasure.

2. In these old times the king had indeed to consult his witan or wise men ; but in general it seems that he made all the plans, proposed the laws, and laid them before the wise men to discuss, and approve or disapprove. This is why it was better in those days to have no hard and fast rule as to which of the royal family