that if you beseech him to do that which it is becoming in me to ask, and in him to perform, he cannot justly refuse a compliance with your request. It is a thing perfectly manifest to all persons, that he ought to hold the very highest rank in the priesthood. This is as plain to us as that we are his inferiors in wisdom, and in all that duly merits honour and respect in this life, as we are sure that he who is King of the English is a more powerful monarch than any of the other kings of the earth. Address him, then, with that winning eloquence which belongs to women: struggle, in order that the grace which you have obtained in his eyes, may gain from the servant of God a compliance which cannot but tend to aid in releasing us from the bonds of sin." I The Queen-Mother, in obedience to the words of her son, invited Dunstan to come to her, and sought, by her arguments, to induce him to relax in his resolution, but he remained unmoved. "I am unwilling," said he, "lady, that thou shouldst ask of me aught that it would hurt my conscientious feelings to concede, or the refusal to concede which may give offence to thee. am not ignorant how difficult it is for each of us to plead his cause before the tribunal of Christ, much less how difficult it will be for a man to obtain an acquittal in those cases in which he has acted as the adviser or the judge of others. If, however, these considerations cannot produce any impression upon thy mind, I would desire to add another, and such as may be esteemed that which mainly must prevent me from receiving a bishopric. I see that my lord, the King, suffers under a constant langour, that his life is endangered by it, that he cannot endure to be parted from me for a moment, because he has made me as if the father of a sovereign, and the master of an entire kingdom." As the Queen-Mother still persisted in urging him to accept the mitre, notwithstanding his repeated refusals, he, somewhat agitated, said to her "Most assuredly, the episcopal mitre shall never cover my brows in the days of this thy son." From this conversation Dunstan departed, with his mind much agitated. The next day, however, he informed the King that, after his interview with Edgifa, he had, on his return home, beheld a vision of St. Peter, who struck him, saying, “This is the punishment for your refusal, and a token to you not to decline hereafter the primacy of England." The King, not perceiving his friend's artifice, who desired to be all or none, interpreted the vision to his own mind, asserting that it foretold he was to be Archbishop of Canterbury.2 In 955, the death of Edred deprived Edgifa of her son, and Dunstan of a firm friend. His nephew Edwy, eldest son of Edmund, succeeded him, a prince then in his sixteenth year. He not only manifested an open antipathy to the clergy, but deprived many prelates of their benefices, and even went so far as to banish Dunstan from the kingdom. These measures gave great umbrage to the people; but they were still more displeased, and loudly and vehemently did they express their indignation, when they beheld the manner in which Edwy treated his aged grandmother, the venerable Queen Edgifa. Upon some unknown pretext, she was despoiled of all she possessed, and reduced to a state of indigence and privacy.3 Eadmer, writing of the injuries Osbern, Vit. St. Dunstan ; Acta Sancta; Aug. Sacra. Edwy inflicted on his grandmother, says, "He afflicted immensely his mother, the glory of all England, the consoler of churches, and the supporter of the oppressed, and after having taken away from her the property belonging to her, cruelly and barbarously degraded her from her previous dignity." For this ill-treatment no other cause is apparent than the favour with which the Queen had always regarded the clergy. As regards her patrimonial estate, we find that the Queen's own Charter runs thus: "At length Edred died, and Edgifa was despoiled of her whole inheritance. When Leofric and Leofstan, the two sons of Goda, seized from Edgifa the two aforesaid lands at Cowling and at Osterland, and said to the young Edwy, who had then been elected, that they were more rightfully theirs than hers. And so it was settled until Edgar." The reign of the oppressor was, however, prematurely brought to a close. The people rebelled against Edwy, and placed his brother Edgar, a boy of twelve years of age, on the throne, which caused Edwy to die of grief soon after. Edgar was no sooner made king than he annulled all the oppressive acts of the preceding government. Attention was forthwith paid to the injuries of Edgifa, who now recovered her often-disputed patrimony.1 The Queen's Charter says of King Edgar, that "he and his nobles decreed that they (viz. Leofric and Leofstan, the sons of Goda) had committed a wicked robbery, and they decreed the inheritance to be hers, and had it restored. Then Edgifa received by the King's permission, and in presence of him and all his bishops, the said deeds, and laying her hand on the altar, gave the land to the Church of Christ, viz., to the convent (of Christ's Church at Canterbury), and for the quiet of her soul; 1 Lingard. and denounced that Christ, with the whole assembly of heaven, would bring evil on him for ever, who should at any time pervert or make void this bequest. Thus this inheritance came to the convent of the Church of Christ." No doubt the harassed Queen saw that this was the only plan of securing the property, as the Church would guard its own. Appended to an antique picture of Queen Edgifa are the following lines commemorative of her donations to the Church; in it her name is written, as is sometimes the case in our old authors, Eddeva or Edyve :— "Edyve, the good queene and noble mother To Ethelstane, Edmund, and Eldred, Kinges of England, every each after other, To Christ's Church of Canterbury did give indeed, East Farleugh, and Lenham, as we beeleve; The yeare Dom. MLXI. of Christ's incarnation." In the subscriptions of King Edgar's Charter of Privilege to Hyde Abbey, by Winchester, which is yet remaining in the valuable library of Sir Robert Cotton, are contained also the signatures of Elfrida, that monarch's queen, and Edgifa, his aged grandmother. They are written in letters of gold, in a hand of that age: "Ego Edgifu, prædicti regis avia hoc opus egregiam crucis taumate consolidavi." Selden observes that Edgifa durst not style herself any other than "the king's grandmother," on account of the law passed in Wessex through the crimes of Eadburga; for so "avia," as well as " avea," denoted, of which many instances in those times are on record. Edgifa died August 25th, A.D. 963.1 1 Notes to Lye's Saxon Dictionary, whence the Queen's will has been extracted. ETHELGIVA, QUEEN OF EDWY THE FAIR. CONTENTS. Ethelgiva's relationship to the young Prince Edwy the Fair-Her extreme beauty-St. Dunstan's character and history-His contentions with the Devil; his temptations and triumphs-The fame of the Saint-St. Dunstan's mortification to find the young King married-The forced coronation-Flight of the King—Anger of the Nobles-Rage of the Bishops-Discovery of the weeping Bride-Insults to Edwy and Ethelgiva-Passionate words of the Mother of the young Queen-Fury of Dunstan Sympathy of the People for the Royal Pair-Ethelgiva refused the title of Queen -Edwy's dislike to the ambitious Prelate-The evil spirit at Glastonbury-Flight of Dunstan-His dangers from his enemies, the married priests-Security of the Royal Lovers-Seizure of Ethelgiva horrible vengeance-She is sent to Ireland-Odo's representations to the King-His despair-His troubles-His brother Edgar Recall of Dunstan Divorce pronounced against Ethelgiva -Excommunication of Edwy-Recovery of Ethelgiva, and attempt to return-Waylaid on her journey-Hamstrung and starved to death-Broken heart of Edwy-He dies-Buried at Winchester. : THE history of Ethelgiva's life is a sad episode, and presents a picture of crime, cruelty, and bigotry rarely equalled in the annals of any country. She must have been of royal blood, as she is said to be so nearly allied |