E N G L A N D. 
.557 
that time Harold became the idol of the people; and his 
virtues certainly merited their regard, had they not been 
excited by ambition. 
Harold, now fecure in the affections of the Englifh, no 
longer ftiwe to conceal his views, but openly afpired at 
the fucce.ffion. He every where infmuated, that as the 
heir-apparent to the crown was utterly unequal to the 
talk of governing, both from age and natural imbecility, 
there was none (o proper as a man of mature experience 
and tried integrity; he alleged, that a man born in Eng¬ 
land was only fit to govern Englifhmen ; and that none 
but an able general could defend them againft fo many 
foreign enemies as they were every day threatened with. 
The people readily dil'cerned to what thefe fpeeches tend¬ 
ed, and, in (lead of difcountenancing, they encouraged and 
applauded, them. Edward, broken down with age and 
infirmities, and eh'groffed by the vilions of fuperftition, 
faw the danger to which the government was expofed, 
but took feeble and irrefolute (feps to fecure the fuccef- 
fion. In this (late of indecifion he was feized with a fever, 
which brought him to his end, on the fifth of January, 
A. D. to66, in the fixty-fifth year of his age, and twenty- 
fifth of his reign. 
This prince, who was reverenced by the monks, under 
t|ie titles of faint and confelfor, had but weak pretentions 
to either, being indolent, irrefolute, and credulous. The 
tranquillity of his reign was owing rather to the weak- 
nefs of his foreign enemies than to his own exertions or 
ftrength. But,- though he feemed to have few active vir¬ 
tues, yet he certainly had no vices of an atrocious kind ; 
and the want of the paflions, rather than their refiraint, 
was then, as it has been long (ince, the belt title to ca¬ 
nonization. He was the fir ft who touched for the king’s- 
evil : the opinion of It is fanCtity procured belief to this 
cure among the people : his fucceffors regarded it as a part 
of their (late and grandeur to uphold the fame opinion. 
It h as been continued down to our time ; and the pradlice 
was fir ft dropped by the prefent royal family, who ob- 
ferved, that it could no longer give amazement even to 
the populace, and was attended with ridicule in the eyes 
of all men of underftanding. 
Harold, whofe intrigues and virtues feemed to give a 
right to liis pretenfions, ftepped into the vacant throne 
without oppofition. The citizens of London, who had 
been ever fond of an elective monarchy, feconded his 
claims; the clergy adopted his caufe; and the body of 
the people, whofe friend he had been, fincerely regarded 
him. Nor were the firft aCts of his reign unworthy of the 
general prejudice in his favour. He took the moft effec¬ 
tual mea litres for an impartial adminiftration of juftrce ; 
ordered the laws to be revifed and reformed; and thofe 
•difturbers of the public peace to be punilhed, who had 
thriven under the lenity of the la It reign. But neither 
bis valour, his juftice, nor his popularity, weie able to 
fecure him from the misfortunes attendant upon an ill- 
grounded title. The firft fymptoms of his danger came 
from his own brother Tofti, who had taken refuge in 
Flanders, and had endeavoured to engage the princes on 
the continent in a league aguinft Harold, whom lie repre¬ 
sented as a tyrant and ufurper. Being furniftied with 
fome (hips by the earl of Flanders, lie made a defeent 
upon the ifie of Wight, which he laid under contribu¬ 
tion, and pillaged the Englifh coaft, until he was encoun¬ 
tered and routed by Morcar, w ho had been appointed to 
the government from which lie was expelled. 
But he was not yet without fuccOnr; for Harfagar, 
king of Norway, who had been brought over by his en¬ 
treaties, arrived with a fleet of two hundred fail at the 
mouth of the Humber, where he was joined by the (bat¬ 
tered remains of Tofti’s forces. It was in vain that the 
earls of Mercia and Northumberland attempted to flop 
their progrefs ; they were quickly routed, and York was 
taken by the enemy. Harold was no fooner informed of 
this misfortune, than he haftened to the relief and pro¬ 
tection of his people, and manifefted the utmoft ardour 
Vol, VI. No. 372, 
to ftiow himfelf worthy of their favour. He had given 
fo many proofs of an equitable and prudent adminiftra¬ 
tion, that the people flocked to his ftandard; and, as Coon 
as lie readied the enemy at Stanford, he found himfelf in 
a condition to give them battle. The action was obfti- 
nate and bloody; but the victory was decifive on the fide 
of Harold, arid ended in the total rout of the Norwegians, 
Harfagar their king, and Tofti, being botli (lain. Thofe 
who efcaped, owed their fafety to the perfonal prowefs 
of a brave Norwegian,' who is faid to have defended a 
bridge over the Derwent for three hours, againft the 
whole Englifh army ; during which time, he flew forty 
of their beft men with his battle-ax; but he at length 
fell by an arrow. Harold, purfuing his victory, made 
himfelf mafter of the Norwegian fleet that lay in the ri¬ 
ver Oufe; and had the generofity to give prince Olave, 
tile foil of Harfagar, his liberty, and allowed him to de¬ 
part with twenty vefiels. There had never before been 
in England an engagement between two fuch numerous 
armies, each being compofed of no lefs than threefcore 
thoufand men. The news of this decifive victory difrufed 
joy over tiie whole kingdom; they gloried in a monarch 
who had fliewn himfelf able to defend them from infult, 
and avenge them of their invaders ; but they had no long; 
interval for triumph : news was foon brought of a frefti 
invafion, and that of the moft formidable kind. This 
was under the conduct of William, duke of Normandy, 
who landed at Haftings, September 29, 1066, with a pow¬ 
erful army of difciplined veterans, and laid claim to the 
Englilh crown. 
William, afterwards called the Conqueror, was the na¬ 
tural fon of Robert, duke of Normandy. His mother’s 
name was Arlette, a beautiful maid of Falaife, whom 
Robert fell in love with as (he flood gazing at tire door 
whilft lie patted through the town, William, who was 
the offspring of this amour, owed a part of his greatnefs 
to his birth, but (till more to his own perfonal merit. 
His body was vigorous, his mind capacious and noble, 
and his courage not to be repreffed by difficulty or dan¬ 
ger. His father Robert, growing old, and, as was com¬ 
mon to princes then, fuperttitious alfo, refolved upon a 
pilgrimage to Jerufalem, contrary to the advice and opi¬ 
nion of his nobility. As his heart was bent upon tire ex¬ 
pedition, inftead of attending to their advice, he (hewed 
them his fon William, whom, though illegitimate, he 
tenderly loved, and recommended to their care, exacting 
an oath from them of homage and fealty. He then put 
him, at ten years of age, under the tutelage of tIre French 
king; and foon after, going into Afia, from whence he 
never returned, left prince William rather the inheritor 
of his willies, than of his crown. In fa£t William, from 
the beginning, found himfelf expofed to many dangers, 
and much oppofition, ariling from his youth and inexpe¬ 
rience, from the reproach of iris birth, from a fufpeited 
guardian, a difputed title, and a did ratted (late. The 
regency, appointed by Robert, were under great difficul ¬ 
ties in fupporting the government againft this complicated 
danger ; and the young prince, when he came of age, 
found himfelf furrounded witlt difficulties. But the great 
qualities which lie foon difpluyed in the field and the ca¬ 
binet, gave encouragement to his friends, and ftruck ter¬ 
ror to his enemies. On all (ides lie oppofed his rebellious 
fubjetts, and repreffed foreign invaders, while his valour 
and conduct prevailed in every attion. The tranquillity 
which he had thus ettabliftied in his paternal dominions, 
induced him to extend his views; and fome overtures, 
faid to have been made to him by Edward the Confelfor, 
in the latter part of his reign, if true, mull have inflamed 
his ambition with a defire of fucceeding to the Englifh 
throne. O’n whatever fide juftice might lie, the conftant 
pretext on William’s part was, that he was appointed 
heir to the crown of England by Edward the Confelfor, 
upon a vilit lie had paid that monarch during his life¬ 
time. In confcquence of thefe pretenfions, he laid his 
claims; but Harold would not admit them, and refolved 
7 C to 
