grammar, rhetoric, philofophy, architecture, and geometry. He was an excellent hiftorian; he understood mufic; he was acknowledged to be the beft Saxon poet of the age, and left many works behind him, fome of which remain to this day. To give a character of this prince, would only be to fum up thofe qualities which conftitue perfection. Even virtues feemingly oppofite were happily blended in his difpofition; perfevering, yet flexible; moderate, yet enterprifing; juft, yet merciful; ftern in command, yet gentle in converfation. Nature, alfo, as if defirous that fuch admirable qualities of mind fhould be fet off to the greatest advantage, had beftowed on him all bodily accomplishments, vigour, dignity, and an engaging open countenance.

His fecond fon, Edward, fucceeded him on the throne. To him fucceeded Athelftan, his natural fon, the illegiti macy of his birth not being then deemed a fufficient obftacle to his inheriting the crown. He died at Gloucester, after a reign of fixteen years, and was fucceeded by his brother Edmund, who, like the reft of his predeceffors, met with disturbance from the Northumbrians on his ac ceffion to the throne; but his activity foon defeated their attempts. The refentment this monarch bore to men of an abandoned way of living was the caufe of his death. He was killed by Leolff, a robber, at a feaft, where this villain had the infolence to intrude into the king's prefence. His brother, Edred, was appointed to fucceed and, like his predeceffors, this monarch found himself at the head of a rebellious and refractory people. Edred implicitly fubmitted to the directions of Dunftan the monk, both in church and ftate; and the kingdom was in a fair way of being turned into a papal province by this zealous ecclefiaftic; but he was checked in the midit of his career, by the death of the king, who died of a quinfy, in the tenth year of his reign.

Edwy, his nephew, who afcended the throne, his own fons being yet unfit to govern, was a prince of great per fonal accomplishments, and a martial difpofition. But he was now come to the government of a kingdom, in which he had an enemy to contend with, against whom all military virtues could be of little fervice. Dunstan, who had governed

governed during the former reign, was refolved to remit nothing of his authority in this; and Edwy, immediately upon his acceffion, found himself involved in a quarrel with the monks; whofe rage, neither his accomplishments nor his virtues could mitigate.

Among other inftances of their cruelty, the following is recorded. There was a lady of the royal blood, named Elgiva, whofe beauty had made a ftrong impreffion upon the young monarch's heart. He had even ventured to marry her, contrary to the advice of his counsellors, as he was within the degrees of affinity prohibited by the canon law. On the day of his coronation, while his nobility were giving a loose to the more noify pleafures of wine and feftivity in the great hall, Edwy retired to his wife's apartment, where, in company with her mother, he enjoyed the more pleafing fatisfaction of her converfation. Dunftan no fooner perceived his abfence, than, conjecturing the reafon, he rushed, furioufly into the apartment, and upbraiding him with all the bitterness of ecclefiaftical rancour, dragged him forth in the most outrageous manner. Dunftan, it feems, was not without his enemies, for the king was advised to punifh this infult, by bringing him to account for the money with which he had been intrufted during the laft reign. This account the haughty monk refufed to give in; wherefore he was deprived of all the ecclefiaftical and civil emoluments of which he had been in poffeffion, and banished the kingdom. His exile only ferved to increase the reputation of his fanctity with the people; among the reft, Odo, archbishop of Canterbury, was fo far tranfported with the fpirit of party, that he pronounced a divorce between Edwy and Eigiva. The king was unable to refift the indignation of the church and confented to furrender his beautiful wife to its fury. Accordingly, Odo fent into the palace a party of foldiers, who feized the queen, and, by his orders, branded her on the face with a hot iron. Not contented with this cruel vengeance, they carried her by force into Ireland, and there commanded her to remain in perpetual exile. This injunction, however, was too diftreffing for that faithful woman to comply with; for, being cured of her wound, and having obliterated the marks which had been made

;

to

to deface her beauty, fhe once more ventured to return to the king, whom the ftill regarded as her husband. But misfortune continued to purfue her. She was taken prifoner by a party whom the archbishop had appointed to obferve her conduct, and was put to death in the most cruel manner; the finews of her legs being cut, and her body mangled, fhe was thus left to expire in the most cruel agony. In the mean time, a fecret revolt against Edwy became almoft general; and Dunftan put himself at the head of the party. The malecontents at laft proceeded to open rebellion; and, having placed Edgar, the king's younger brother, a boy of about thirteen years of age, at their head, they foon put him in poffeffion of all the northern parts of the kingdom. Edwy's power, and the number of his adherents every day declining, he was at laft obliged to confent to a partition of the kingdom; but his death, which happened foon after, freed his enemies from all further inquietude, and gave Edgar peaceable poffeffion of the government.

Edgar being placed on the throne by the influence of the monks, affected to be entirely guided by their directions in all his fucceeding tranfactions.

Little worthy of notice is mentioned of this monarch, except his amour with Elfrida, which is of too fingular a nature to be omitted. Edgar had long heard of the beauty of a young lady, whofe name was Elfrida, daughter to the earl of Devonshire; but unwilling to credit common fame in this particular, he fent Ethelwald, his favourite friend, to fee, and inform him, if Elfrida was indeed that incomparable woman report had defcribed her. Ethelwald ar riving at the earl's, had no fooner caft his eyes upon that nobleman's daughter, than he became defperately enamoured of her himfelf. Such was the violence of his paffion, that, forgetting his master's intentions, he folicited only his own interefts, and demanded for himself the beautiful Elfrida, from her father, in marriage. The fa vourite of a king was not likely to find a refufal; the earl gave his confent, and the nuptials were performed in private. Upon his return to court, which was fhortly after, he affured the king that her riches alone, and her high quality, had been the cause of her fame, and he ap

peared

peared amazed how the world could talk fo much, and fo unjustly, of her charms. The king was fatisfied, and no longer felt any curiofity, while Ethelwald fecretly triumphed in his addrefs. When he had, by this deceit, weaned the king from his purpofe, he took an opportunity, after fome time, of turning the converfation on Elfrida, reprefenting, that though the fortune of the earl of Devonshire's daughter would be a trifle to a king, yet it would be an immenfe acquifition to a needy fubject. He, therefore, humbly intreated permiffion to pay his addreffes to her, as she was the richest heiress in the kingdom. A request fo feemingly reasonable, was readily complied with; Ethelwald returned to his wife, and their nuptials were folemnized in public. His greatest care, however, was employed in keeping her from court; and he took every precaution to prevent her from appearing before a king fo fufceptible of love, while fhe was fo ca pable of infpiring that paffion. But it was impoffible to keep his treachery long concealed. Edgar was foon informed of the whole tranfaction; but diffembling his refentment, he took occafion to vifit that part of the country where this miracle of beauty was detained, ac. companied by Ethelwald, who reluctantly attended him thither. Upon coming near the lady's habitation, he told him, that he had a curiofity to fee his wife, of whom he had formerly heard fo much, and defired to be introduced as his acquaintance. Ethelwald, thunder-ftruck at the propofal, did all in his power, but in vain, to diffuade him. All he could obtain, was permiffion to go before, on pretence of preparing for the king's reception. On his arrival, he fell at his wife's feet, confeffing what he had done to be poffeffed of her charms, and conjuring her to conceal, as much as poffible, her beauty from the king, who was but too fufceptible of its power. Elfrida, little obliged to him for a paffion that had deprived her of a crown, promised compliance; but, prompted either by vanity, or revenge, adorned her perfon with the most exquifite art, and called up all her beauty on the occafion. The event anfwered her expectations; the king, no fooner faw, than he loved her, and was inftantly refolved to obtain her. The better to effect his intentions, he concealed

his paffion from the husband, and took leave with a feem. ing indifference; but his revenge was not the lefs certain and fatal. Ethelwald was fome time after fent into Northumberland, upon pretence of urgent affairs, and was found murdered in a wood by the way. Some fay he was ftabbed by the king's own hand; fome, that he only commanded the affaffination; however this be, Elfrida was invited foon after to court, by the king's own order, and their nuptials were performed with the ufual folemnity.

This monarch died, after a reign of fixteen years, in the thirty-third year of his age, being fucceeded by his fon, Edward, whom he had by his first marriage, with the daughter of the Earl of Ordmer.

Edward, furnamed the Martyr, was made king by the intereft of the monks, and lived but four years after his acceffion. In his reign there is nothing remarkable, if we except his tragical and memorable end. Hunting one day near Corfe Caftle, where Elfrida, his mother-in-law refided, he thought it his duty to pay her a vifit, although he was not attended by any of his retinue. There defir. ing fome liquor to be brought him, as he was thirty, while he was yet holding the cup to his head, one of Elfrida's domeftics, inftructed for that purpofe, ftabbed him in the back. The king, finding himself wounded, put fpurs to his horfe; but, fainting with the lofs of blood, he fell from the faddle, and his foot sticking in the ftir. rup, he was dragged along by his horfe, till he died.

Ethelred the fecond, the fon of Edgar and Elfrida, fuc. ceeded; a weak and irrefolute monarch, incapable of go. verning the kingdom, or providing for its fafety. During his reign the old and terrible enemies, the Danes, who feemed not to be loaded with the fame accumulation of vice and folly as the English, were daily gaining ground. The weakness and inexperience of Ethelred appeared to give a favourable opportunity for renewing their depredations; and, accordingly, they landed on feveral parts of the coaft, fpreading their ufual terror and devaftation.

As they lived indifcriminately among the English, a refolution was taken for a general maffacre; and Ethelred, by a policy incident to weak princes, embraced the cruel

refolution