and the dusky 'pada,' the corse to enjoy, greedy war-hawk, and the grey beast, wolf of the wood. Carnage greater has not been in this island ever yet of people slain, by edges of swords, as books us say, old writers, since from the east hither Angles and Saxons came to land, o'er the broad seas eorls most bold, this earth obtained. 22.-EDWIN THE FAIR. HENRY TAYLOR. [Mr. Taylor's Drama of Edwin the Fair' is full of grace and power, seizing, we have no doubt, upon the great historical truths of that age. We give a scene, with an extract from the Preface.] Mr. Turner's learned and elaborate work has done much to make the AngloSaxon times better known than they were formerly, and we have ceased to regard them as antecedent to the dawn of civilization amongst us, or as destitute of the spiritual and chivalric features by which in reality some of the subsequent centuries (though not those immediately subsequent) were less distinguished than they. Of the dark ages, in this country, the tenth century was hardly so dark as the fifteenth; and if the aspects of each could be distinctly traced, the civil wars of the Anglo-Saxons would probably excite a deeper interest than struggles such as those of the Houses of York and Lancaster, in which there was no religious and hardly any political principle at stake. Indeed though the three centuries which preceded the Conquest were on the whole less enlightened than the three which followed it, yet the Anglo-Saxon times furnish examples of both the Hero and the Scholar, which the Norman can hardly match; and perhaps the real distinction between the periods is, that amongst the Anglo-Saxons, learning and ignorance, and rudeness and refinement, co-existed in stronger contrast. But even when Anglo-Saxon history was less read and otherwise understood than it is now, some interest was always felt in the reign of Edwin the Fair. There was left to us little more than the outline of a tragic story; in some parts, indeed, even less-for here and there the outline itself is broken and wavering; but the little that was known was romantic enough to have impressed itself upon the popular mind, and the tale of Edwy and Elgiva' had been current in the nursery long before it came to be studied as an historical question. Edwin's contemporaneous arnalists, being Monks, were his natural enemies; and their enmity is sufficiently apparent in their writings. But notwithstanding all their efforts, and all the influence which the monastic orders undoubtedly possessed over the English populace of the tenth century, there is reason to think that the interest taken in Edwin's story may have dated from his own times. His name having been supplanted by its diminutive Edwy,' seems to indicate a sentiment of tenderness and pity as popularly connected with him from the first; and his surname of 'The All-Fair' (given him, says the Monk Ingulphus, "pro nimiâ pulchritudine"), may be construed as a farther indication that the success of the monastic faction in decrying him with the people, was not so complete as the merely political events of his reign might lead us to suppose. Whilst the details of his story are left, with one or two exceptions, to our imagination, the main course of the struggle in which he was engaged, represents in strong and vivid colours the spirit of the times. It was a spirit which exercises human nature in its highest faculties and deepest feelings the spirit of religious enthusiasm; a spirit which never fails to produce great men and to give an impulse to the mind of a nation; but one which commonly passes into a spirit of ecclesiastic discord, and which cannot then be cast out without tearing the body. In the tenth century it vented itself in a war of religious opinion. An apartment leading to an Oratory in the Royal residence at Sheen. As the Scene opens, EDWIN and ELGIVA are discovered before the altar in the Oratory, and RICOLA, the King's Chaplain, is joining their hands. They all three then advance out of the Oratory to the front. Ricola. So be ye one from this time forth for ever, In love and peace to live! A hasty rite Hath solemnized your nuptials; not the less Be ye observant of the sacred bonds Wherein ye stand contracted for all time. Edwin. My honoured friend, We thank you for this service, one of many, Our secret kept, the Queen abides with you. I must return to Kingston; but ere midnight Elgiva! Oh, past expression beautiful and dear, To know thee mine, that nature for my bound [Exit Ricola Forgive me but I fear * * * * I'm old, my lord, RICOLA goes to the door, and returns with GRIMBALD. Edwin. Well, my good fool, and what hast thou to tell? There was grace after meat with a fist on the board, And down went the morat, and out flew the sword. Elgiva. Truce to thy calling for a while, good fool, The nobles went together; in the fray The Horse-Thane and the Dish-Thane were o'erborne And sent to prison. Then I took to my heels To bring you word. Elgiva. Earl Athulf? Where is he? Grimbald. He stood against Harcather hand to hand When I departed; but I know no more. Enter the QUEEN MOTHER. Queen Mother. So you are here, my son, and madam, you? Is it for this you quit your noble guests? Is it for this you vex the kingdom? Yea, To shedding of blood-for there has blood been shed For nought but this? Oh, fie! for dalliance-oh! And whilst you waste the hours in wantonness *** Edwin. Good mother, speak of what you know. Not here You little think how little idly spent Has been the hour that's gone. Queen Mother. But here come those can speak. How spent? oh, son! So! here they come ! Enter DUNSTAN and ODO, with two or three Thanes following, who are gradually augmented as the scene proceeds till the stage is filled with DUNSTAN's adherents. Ricola. Wilt please you to withdraw ? Edwin. Wherefore is this, my lord Archbishop? Why Dost thou pursue me to my privacy? When I did leave you 'twas my will to leave you. Am I your king, or am I not? Odo. Sir, sir, 'Tis true, with suffrage of the Witena, You were anointed with the holy oil And crowned this day by me. But deem not thence Is this, that when your lords and councillors, Edwin. 'Twas for carousal, not for conference, Dunstan. Sirs, stand ye all apart, And suffer that I reason with the king, Elgiva. Of woman say'st thou that perdition came ? "Twas of the serpent, priest. Thou bold and naughty jade! Thou pit! Thou snare! Edwin. Oh, mother, hold! Know you at whom you rail Deem her your daughter, or me not your son. Queen Mother. Thou art not and thou shalt not be my son If thou demean'st thyself to her—a witch! A practiser of sorceries! Edwin [kneeling]. Oh God! I pray thee that thou shorten not my days, And see'st thou in what presence? Be thou warned! Far other fires shall kindle in the church The channel as of mercies, so of wrath. G Elgiva. Content thee! never were they heeded less By God or by his angels than by me. You renounce the world! Edwin. Insolent churchmen! You'll teach yourselves and others to renounce, Alternate have consumed you to the core, And given your hearts the dry-rot. Meddlesome monks! For women, or from womankind to win, As atrophy denies itself to fatten. Elgiva. What worth are you to us, that set no store By you or by your threats? I tell thee, priest, I do make no account of thee. And I tell thee more, Ah, woe is me! I am thy sovereign mistress and thy queen, Odo. Thy lawful wife? How lawful? By what law? I see thee, and I know thee-yea, I smell thee Again 'tis Satan meets me front to front, Again I triumph! Where and by what rite, That was no marriage, made to seem a marriage? 'Tis for your own behoof and for your crown's. Elgiva. Be of good comfort; Edwin we shall meet [She is taken out. |