Elucidations of Portions oj English Hisidry . [April t 



204 



their island ;* but the Normans turn- 

 ed their eagerness into mockery and 

 derision ; insulted tliem, — insulted 

 Waltheof, whom they ealled a foul 

 traitor, justly punished i'or his crime.f 

 The Norman woman, whom a tempo- 

 rary political interest had induced to 

 sacrifice him, was inheriting all his 

 possessions.^ She would lain have 

 shared her immense property with a 

 man of her choice; but that was denied 

 to her. A will, mightier than her own, 

 deprived her of the ])owcr of choosing. 

 The daughter of oppressors, — in her 

 turn she was oppressed. William had 

 employed her as an agent of seduction 

 of a Saxon ; he now disposed of her 

 to reward the services of a man of 

 France. That man was Simon of 

 Senlis, who had accompanied h:m 

 through his conquests : he was a 

 brave soldier, but lame and misfi- 

 gured,§ The disdain of .ludith for 

 this selected bridegroom irritated the 

 conquering king, whose plans were 

 not to be thwarted by the feeble oppo- 

 •sition of a woman. The inheritance 

 of Waltheof was taken from his widow, 

 and Simon de Senlis received the 

 greater portion of it.|| Judith, despised 

 by hrr own nation because reduced 

 to poverty, haled as a murderess by 

 that of tiie eonquen d, wandered from 

 .spot to spot, and hid herself in various 

 retreats.^! The Anglo-Saxon histo- 

 rians seem to pursue her witli eager 

 joy to her misery and obscurity. 



The exerution of Waltheof left the 

 ])Cople of England in the very abyss 

 of dejection. It would appear that 

 .some hopes were yet indulged while 

 one of their race occuiiicd a situation 

 of great authority, even under the 

 •lictation of a stranger. After Wal- 

 theof, no political cliicf even under- 

 stood the language of the English ; 

 they were dcimeil by their tyrants 

 cither enemies or I rutes.** Their 

 very name was an opprobium. All 

 religious authority, too, was possessed 

 by the intruders. One single Saxon, 

 >\ ulfstan, yet possessed a bisliopric. 

 He was a i'eeblc nerveless being, inca- 



* Ord. Vit. ot3. ~ 



+ Do. II). 



t In dotcm iinprissiniEE Jezabc!. (Ingiiif. 

 Croy. 903.) 

 § lb. 



II II'- 

 t lb. 



** Riides e\ iciiola.— Malt. Far. Vit. al, 

 b2 ; Hist, p. 8. 



pable of daring,* and one who, during 

 the great persecution of the priests, 

 when Fretlieric, and those in whom 

 there was stiengtii or courage, were 

 hastening to the camp at Ely, recon- 

 ciled himself cordially to the con- 

 queror: he had rendered to the in- 

 vaders every possible service ; he had 

 marched in person against Roger of 

 Hereford, when he crossed the Severn ; 

 but he was of English blood. His day 

 of degradation came at last. In the 

 year 1076 Wuli'slan was cited before a 

 great council of Norman chiefs and 

 bishops, assembled in Westminster 

 Abbey. The king and the archbishop, 

 Lanfriinc, presided ; and it was deler» 

 mined that the Saxon was unworthy 

 of his bishopric, because he was igno- 

 rant of the French tongue. f On this 

 solitary ground the sentence of depo- 

 sition was i)ronounced ; and the Nor- 

 mans required him to deliver up his 

 ring and pastoral staff, — the insignia 

 of ei)iscopacy. At this moment the 

 peaceful spirit of Wulfstan kindled 

 into indignation; that indignation 

 which had been roused in the mind of 

 the meek ^Ired, when the curse of the 

 stranger fell upon him. Wulfstan 

 rose, and, with his stall in his hand, ho 

 marched straight forward to the tomb 

 of Edward, who had been buried 

 there. He stopped, and thus address- 

 ed the buried nionareh in his native 

 tongue :t — "Edward! from thee I re- 

 ceived the staff I carry : to thee I con- 

 fide, to thee I deliver it. Defend it if 

 thou can." Then turning to the Nor- 

 mans, "I \\ill never deliver to you 

 what I have never received from you. 

 I resign to him who was more worthy 

 than you. Take it up, if you dare !" 

 As he uttered these words, he struck 

 the stone of the tomb with his pastoral 

 stall', 'i his energetic impulse, and the 

 solemnity of his animated voice, asto- 

 nished the Noiman council, who dared 

 not repeat their mandate, but left this 

 last of the English bishops undivested 

 of his authority. Popular superstition, 

 lingering round its hopes and dreams, 

 found iinolhcr miracle here ; nnd it 

 was announced and believed, that the 

 staff of the bishop penetrated the 

 tombstone, as if it had been of soft 

 earth ; and that no one could withdraw 



it 



* Jo. BroniptOD. 976. 

 + QikaI Galliciun nescerit (Ann. Burt.) 

 Kingtrr '23b'd. 

 i In lingua sua. (^Ann. Bui I.; 



