refolution of putting them all to the fword. This plot was carried on with fuch fecrefy, that it was executed in one day, and all the Danes in England were deftroyed without mercy. But this maffacre, fo perfidious in the contriving, and fo cruel in the execution, inftead of ending the long miferies of the people, only prepared the way for greater calamities.

While the English were yet congratulating each other upon their late deliverance from an inveterate enemy, Sweyn, king of Denmark, who had been informed of their treacherous cruelties, appeared off the weftern coafts with a large fleet, meditating flaughter, and furious with revenge. Ethelred was obliged to fly into Normandy, and the whole country thus became under the power of Sweyn, his victorious rival.

Canute, afterwards furnamed the Great, fucceeded Sweyn as king of Denmark, and alfo as general of the Danish forces in England. The conteft between him and Edmund Ironfide, fucceffor to Ethelred, was managed with great obftinacy and perfeverance; the first battle that was fought, appeared undecifive; a fecond followed, in which the Danes were victorious; but Edmund ftill having intereft enough to bring a third army into the field, the Danish and English nobility, equally harraffed by these convulfions, obliged their kings to come to a compromife, and to divide the kingdom between them by treaty. Canute referved to himself the northern parts of the kingdom; the fouthern parts were left to Edmund; but this prince being murdered about a month after the treaty, by his two chamberlains, at Oxford, Canute was left in peaceable poffeffion of the whole kingdom.

Canute is reprefented by fome hiftorians as one of the first character in those barbarous ages. The piety of the latter part of his life, and the refolute valour of the former, were topics that filled the mouths of his courtiers with flattery and praife. They even affected to think his power uncontrollable, and that all things would be obedient to his command. Canute, fenfible of their adulation, is faid to have taken the following method to reprove them. He ordered his chair to be set on the fea-thore while the tide was coming in, and commanded the fea to

retire.

retire. Thou art under my dominion," cried he, "the land upon which I fit is mine; I charge thee therefore to approach no farther, nor dare to wet the feet of thy fovereign." He feigned to fit fome time in expectation of fubmiffion, till the waves began to furround him: then, turning to his courtiers, he obferved, that the titles of Lord and Mafter belonged only to him whom both earth and feas were ready to obey. Thus feared and refpected, he lived many years, honoured with the furname of Great for his power, but deferving it ftill more for his virtues. He died at Shaftesbury, in the nineteenth year of his reign, leaving behind him three fons, Sweyn, Harold, and Hardicanute. Sweyn was crowned king of Norway, Hardicanute was put in poffeffion of Denmark, and Harold fucceeded his father on the English throne.

To Harold fucceeded his brother, Hardicanute, whofe title was readily acknowledged both by the Danes and the English; and, upon his arrival from the continent, he was received with the moft extravagant demonftra tions of joy. This king's violent and unjuft government was but of thort duration. He died two years after his acceffion, in confequence of excefs at the marriage of a Danish lord which was celebrated at Lambeth.

The diforders of the Danish monarchs once more induced the English to place a monarch of the Saxon line upon the throne, and accordingly Edward, furnamed the Confeffor, was, by the general confent, crowned king.

The English, who had long groaned under a foreign yoke, now fet no bounds to their joy, at finding the line of their ancient monarchs restored.

As he had been bred in the Norman court, he fhewed, in every inftance, a predilection for the cuftoms, laws, and even the natives of that country; and among the rest of his faults, though he married Editha, the daughter of Godwin, yet, either from mistaken piety, or fixed averfion, during his whole reign he abftained from her bed.

Thus having no legitimate iffue, and being wholly en. groffed, during the continuance of a long reign with the vifions of fuperftition, he was at laft furprifed by fickness, which brought him to his end, on the fifth of January, in the fixty-fifth year of his age, and twenty-fifth of his reign. Harold

Harold, the fon of a popular nobleman, whofe name was Godwin, and whofe intrigues and virtues feemed to give a right to his pretenfions, afcended the throne without any oppofition.

But neither his valour, his juftice, nor his popularity, were able to fecure him from the misfortunes attendant upon an ill-grounded title. His pretenfions were opposed by William, duke of Normandy, who infifted that the crown belonged of right to him, it being bequeathed to him by Edward the Confeffor.

William, who was afterwards called the Conqueror, was the natural fon of Robert duke of Normandy. His mother's name was Arlette, a beautiful maid of Falaize, whom Robert fell in love with as the ftood gazing at the door whilft he passed through the town. William, who was the offspring of this amour, owed a part of his greatnefs to his birth, but ftill more to his own perfonal merit. His body was vigorous, his mind capacious and noble, and his courage not to be repreffed by apparent danger. Upon coming to his dukedom of Normandy, though yet very young, he on all fides oppofed his rebellious fubjects, and repreffed foreign invaders, while his valour and con. duct prevailed in every action. The tranquillity which he had thus established in his dominions, induced him to extend his views; and fome overtures made him by Edward the Confeffor, in the latter part of his reign, who was wavering in the choice of a fucceffor, inflamed his ambition with a defire of fucceeding to the English throne. The pope himself was not behind the reft in favouring his pretenfions; but, either influenced by the apparent juftice of his claims, or by the hopes of extending the authority of the church, he immediately pronounced Harold an ufurper. With fuch favourable incentives, William foon found himself at the head of a chofen army of fixty thousand men, all equipped in the moft warlike and fplendid manner. It was in the beginning of fummer that he embarked this powerful body on board a fleet of three hundred fail; and, after fome fmall oppofition from the weather, landed at Pevensey, on the coast of Suffex, with refolute tranquillity.

เสีย

Harold, who feemed refolved to defend his right to

the

the crown, and retain that fovereignty which he had received from the people, who only had a right to bestow it, was now returning, flufhed with conqueft, from defeating the Norwegians, who had invaded the kingdom, with all the forces he had employed in that expedition, and all he could invite or collect in the country through which he paffed. His army was compofed of active and valiant troops, in high fpirits, ftrongly attached to their king, and eager to engage. On the other hand, the army of William confifted of the flower of all the continent, and had long been inured to danger. The men of Bretagne, Bologne, Flanders, Poitou, Maine, Orleans, France, and Normandy, were all voluntarily united under his command. England never before, nor ever fince, faw two fuch armies drawn up to difpute its crown. The day before the battle, William fent an offer to Harold to decide the quarrel between them by fingle: combat, and thus to fpare the blood of thousands: but Harold refused, and faid, he would leave it to the God of armies to determine. Both armies, therefore, that night pitched in fight of each other, expecting the dawning of the next day with impatience. The English paffed the night in fongs and feafting; the Normans in devotion and prayer.

The next morning, at feven, as foon as day appeared, both armies were drawn up in array against each other. Harold appeared in the centre of his forces, leading on his army on foot, that his men might be more encouraged, by feeing their king expofed to an equality of danger. William fought on horfeback, leading on his army that moved at once, finging the fong of Roland, one of the famous chiefs of their country. The Nor mans began to fight with their cross bows, which, at firft, galled and furprifed the English; and as their ranks were clofe, their arrows did great execution. But foon they came to clofer fight, and the English, with their bills, hewed down their adverfaries with great flaughter. Confufion was fpreading among the ranks, when William, who found himself on the brink of deftruction, hastened, with a felect band, to the relief of his forces. His prefence restored the fufpenfe of battle; he was feen in every

D

lace

place, endeavouring to pierce the ranks of the enemy, and had three horfes flain under him. At length, perceiving that the English line continued impenetrable, he pretended to give ground, which, as he expected, drew the enemy from their ranks, and he was inftantly ready to take advantage of their disorder. Upon a fignal given, the Normans immediately returned to the charge with greater fury than before, broke the English troops, and purfued them to a rifing ground. It was in this extremity, that Harold was feen flying from rank to rank, rallying and infpiring his troops with vigour; and though he had toiled all day, till near night fall, in the front of his Kentish men, yet he still seemed unabated in force or courage, keeping his men to the post of honour. Once more, therefore, the victory feemed to turn against the Normans, and they fell in great numbers, fo that the fiercenefs and obftinacy of this memorable battle was often renewed by the courage of the leaders, whenever that of the foldiers began to flacken, Fortune, at length, determined a victory that valour was unable to decide. Harold, making a furious onfet at the head of his troops against the Norman heavy armed infantry, was fhot into the brains by an arrow; and his two valiant brothers, fighting by his fide, fhared the fame fate. He fell with his fword in his hand, amidst heaps of flain; and, after the battle, the royal corpfe could hardly be distinguished among the dead.

This was the end of the Saxon monarchy in England, which had continued for more than fix hundred years.

CHAP.