quite defenceless, were in general the first objects attacked by the Danes, who, after killing or driving out the inhabi tants, carried off all the plunder they could find, and commonly destroyed the monastery. Of those who escaped, many took refuge in the neighbouring villages; and this occasioned a great increase of parish churches, almost all the churches till now having been either cathedrals, or annexed to religious houses. After a time many of the new parish priests became attached to the homes which they thus acquired, and married, and, in short, lived among their parishioners as clergymen do now. When Alfred rebuilt the monasteries, and wanted their former inhabitants to go back to them, many refused to return, and he was, therefore, obliged to invite monks from other countries to come and live in his monasteries. Perpetual quarrels and jealousies ensued, and the two parties did all they could to injure one another. Perhaps the unmarried clergy reproved the others because they were married. Celibacy of the clergy, or a single life is required by Catholics. St. Dunstan was an English monk, of good interest and connections. He had been at first abbot of Glastonbury; and at last came to be Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a proud, meddling man, and very violent against the secular clergy, and persuaded king Edred, over whom he had great influence, to treat them in a very harsh manner. Edred, in the latter part of his life, which ended in 955, became indolent and helpless from bad health, and let St. Dunstan do whatever he pleased. Edwy, the eldest son of king Edmund, and nephew to Edred, then succeeded to the throne. He was only eighteen years old, and was naturally well-disposed; but the cruelty and hard-heartedness of this St. Dunstan de. stroyed not only the happiness of his life, but also his life, as shall be related. Edwy had a beautiful cousin, Elgiva, whom he loved very What is meant by celibacy of the clergy? Who was St. Dunstan ? Whose son was Edwy? What example of ecclesiastical abuse of power is afforded by the his tory of Edwy? dearly, and whom he married. St. Dunstan, and Odo, at that time archbishop of Canterbury, declared it to be sinful for a man to marry his cousin, and did all they could to disturb their mutual happiness. On this the king sent St. Dunstan out of the kingdom; but Odo contrived to seize on the poor queen, cruelly burned her face with hot irons, in order to destroy her beauty, and then had her carried away into Ireland, where she was kept a prisoner. Odo then instigated Edgar, who was still a boy, to raise a rebellion against his brother. St. Dunstan also returned from his banishment, and joined in Edgar's rebellion. To complete Edwy's afflictions, Elgiva, having made her escape from Ireland, got as far as Gloucester in her way back to him; but she was there discovered by her savage persecutors, who put her to death. Edwy, not able to support such an accumulation of misfortunes, died, of a broken heart, in 959. Edgar, the next king, was only sixteen years old when he succeeded his unfortunate brother Edwy. We are told that justice was so well and wisely administered in his time, that travelers had no longer any fear of robbers. It appears that he attended diligently to the maritime affairs of his kingdom; and he had so large a fleet, that the Danes never ventured to molest him. After having reigned seventeen years, A. D. 975. Edgar died in 975. His reign was so free from wars and tumults, that he obtained the title of Edgar the Peaceable. He left two sons, Edward, the son of his first wife; and Ethelred, whose mother, Elfrida, was still living. Elfrida was ambitious that her son should be king instead of his half-brother; but the influence of St. Dunstan placed the crown on the head of Edward. One This young man behaved kindly and gently to every body, and respectfully to his ambitious step-mother; but this did not prevent her from contriving his death. day, when he was hunting near Corfe Castle, in Dorsetshire, where Elfrida lived, he rode to the Castle, unat tended by any of his servants, and unsuspicious of any ill, What was one consequence of the cruelties of Odo and St Dunstan? When did Edgar die, and who succeeded him? Who killed king Edward? to make the queen a visit. Elfrida received him with much pretended kindness; and as he declined dismounting from his horse, she presented him with a cup of wine. While he was drinking it, she caused him to be stabbed in the back.-Edward, finding himself wounded, put spurs to his horse, and galloped off; but becoming weak from loss of blood, he fell from his horse, and was dragged in the stirrup till he died. Ethelred then succeeded to the throne; but though his wicked mother had now obtained her utmost wish, she found it impossible to be happy. She founded monasteries, and performed penances, according to the superstitious notions of those times but could never regain her peace of mind. Edward, whom she had murdered, was, on account of his tragical death, called Edward the Martyr. In those superstitious times, when any one had committed a crime, instead of making amends for it in a proper way, by sincere repentance, and by repairing to the utmost the harm he had done, the monks used to persuade him to do penance, or inflict voluntary punishment upon himself. To do penance, was often to go barefoot, or to sleep on a hard board instead of a bed, or to do something else which should vex the body; but which would not make the heart, or temper, from which the fault arose, at all the better. It was then common for priests to exhort rich sin ners to leave their money at their deaths to build churches and monasteries. Indulgencies were privileges that were to be bought, allowing people to dc things which were forbidden; but which still they had a mind to do. For instance, it was against the rules of the church to eat butter during Lent; but by paying a priest for liberty to eat butter, any person was permitted to eat it in Lent. Ethelred had the name of Ethelred the Unready: for when the Danes made an attack upon his kingdom, instead of being prepared to drive them off, he bribed them with a large sum of money to go away. This, at that time, they How did the murdress of Edward console herself for her crime? What amends for crimes did the Catholic Church sometimes enjoin? What is Penance? What are Indulgences in the Catholic Church? By what foolish policy did Ethelred keep off the Danes from Englard did, but it was only to return again the next year, in hopes of being again bribed. Ethelred, however, was now ready for them, and would have blocked up and destroyed their fleet, had not Ealfric, one of his own commanders, desert ed to them, after having first given them notice of the intended attack. By this means they escaped with only the loss of one ship. The country was again invaded. Sweyn, A. D. 993. king of Denmark, and Olave, king of Norway, commanded this expedition. They sailed up the Humber, landed in Lincolnshire, and remained nearly two years, overrunning and pillaging different parts of the country. At last Ethelred, by giving them a very large sum of money, prevailed on them to depart. But the kingdom had only one year's rest from these insatiable marauders. They again returned, and were again bribed to leave the country. Some years before, a body of Northmen, under the command of a leader named Rollo, had made an incursion into France, and obtained possession of a fertile district, which has since been called Normandy. Richard II., duke of Normandy, a descendant of Rollo, was a very powerful prince; and the improvident Ethelred, who had entirely exhausted the resources of his own kingdom by repeated bribes to the Danes, thought that the making a friend of this duke, would be his best protection against them in case they should return again. To cement this friendship, he prevailed on the duke to give him in marriage his daughter Emma, who was accounted the most beautiful princess n Europe. This marriage might, through the duke of Normandy's influence with the Danes, have been some security to the English, but for an act of barbarity, not less unwise than wicked, of which they were guilty. In revenge for the repeated sufferings which the foreign Danes had brought upon them, they made, in the year 1002, a general massa What occurred A. D. 993 ? What northern adventurer first established himself in France, and why did the king of England seek his friendship? What bloody act of the English brought upon them the vengeance of Swevn? cre of the Danes settled in England. Ainongst otherS was killed a sister of the king of Norway, with her husband and children. When the news of this cruel murder reached Sweyn, he vowed to make a bloody retaliation; and, accordingly, in the year 1003, he brought a large army to England, where he established himself successfully. In the course of ten years, Sweyn got entire possession of the kingdom; and Ethelred and his queen Emma, with their two young sons, fled into Normandy. But Sweyn, before he could be crowned, died at Gainsborough. As soon as Ethelred heard of his death, he came back into England, and conducted himself with such unexpected activity and courage, that he compelled the Danes, with their young king Canute, to return home. If Ethelred had been wise and prudent, he might now have reinstated himself in his kingdom: but he suffered himself to be governed and misguided by one of his traitorous nobles, and caused some of his more faithful adherents to be put to death unjustly. Canute now returned; and Edmund, the eldest son of Ethelred, a brave and active young prince, struggled hard to preserve his father's kingdom, amidst the many and great difficulties occasioned by the cruelties of the Danes, the weakness of his father, and the wickedness of the nobles. A. D. 1016. This prince, on the death of his father, became king; and, from his hardihood and invincible valor, was called Edmund Ironsides. He fought no less than five pitched battles with the Danes. Canute and he then came to an agreement to divide the kingdom between them, and to live in peace. It was settled that Canute should have Mercia and Northumberland, and that Edmund should keep all the rest of the kingdom. But, a few days after this agreement had been made between them, Edmund was murdered at Oxford by one of his own nobles, and thus Canute became sole king of England in the year 1017. Why was not Sweyn crowned king of England? What was the conduct of Ethelred, and his son Edmund |