Chapter xx.
_Julian performs the part of a statesman._
"It was now my fortune to be born of a German princess; but aman-midwife, pulling my head off in delivering my mother, put a speedyend to my princely life.
"Spirits who end their lives before they are at the age of five yearsare immediately ordered into other bodies; and it was now my fortune toperform several infancies before I could again entitle myself to anexamination of Minos.
"At length I was destined once more to play a considerable part on thestage. I was born in England, in the reign of Ethelred II. My father'sname was Ulnoth: he was earl or thane of Sussex. I was afterwards knownby the name of earl Goodwin, and began to make a considerable figure inthe world in the time of Harold Harefoot, whom I procured to be madeking of Wessex, or the West Saxons, in prejudice of Hardicanute, whosemother Emma endeavoured afterwards to set another of her sons on thethrone; but I circumvented her, and, communicating her design to theking, at the same time acquainted him with a project which I had formedfor the murder of these two young princes. Emma had sent for these hersons from Normandy, with the king's leave, whom she had deceived by herreligious behaviour, and pretended neglect of all worldly affairs; but Iprevailed with Harold to invite these princes to his court, and put themto death. The prudent mother sent only Alfred, retaining Edward toherself, as she suspected my ill designs, and thought I should notventure to execute them on one of her sons, while she secured the other;but she was deceived, for I had no sooner Alfred in my possession thanI caused him to be conducted to Ely, where I ordered his eyes to be putout, and afterwards to be confined in a monastery.
"This was one of those cruel expedients which great men satisfythemselves well in executing, by concluding them to be necessary to theservice of their prince, who is the support of their ambition.
"Edward, the other son of Emma, escaped again to Normandy; whence, afterthe death of Harold and Hardicanute, he made no scruple of applying tomy protection and favour, though he had before prosecuted me with allthe vengeance he was able, for the murder of his brother; but in allgreat affairs private relation must yield to public interest. Havingtherefore concluded very advantageous terms for myself with him, I madeno scruple of patronizing his cause, and soon placed him on the throne.Nor did I conceive the least apprehension from his resentment, as I knewmy power was too great for him to encounter.
"Among other stipulated conditions, one was to marry my daughter Editha.This Edward consented to with great reluctance, and I had afterwards noreason to be pleased with it; for it raised her, who had been myfavourite child, to such an opinion of greatness, that, instead ofpaying me the usual respect, she frequently threw in my teeth (as oftenat least as I gave her any admonition), that she was now a queen, andthat the character and title of father merged in that of subject. Thisbehaviour, however, did not cure me of my affection towards her, norlessen the uneasiness which I afterwards bore on Edward's dismissing herfrom his bed.
"One thing which principally induced me to labour the promotion ofEdward was the simplicity or weakness of that prince, under whom Ipromised myself absolute dominion under another name. Nor did thisopinion deceive me; for, during his whole reign, my administration wasin the highest degree despotic: I had everything of royalty but theoutward ensigns; no man ever applying for a place, or any kind ofpreferment, but to me only. A circumstance which, as it greatly enrichedmy coffers, so it no less pampered my ambition, and satisfied my vanitywith a numerous attendance; and I had the pleasure of seeing those whoonly bowed to the king prostrating themselves before me.
"Edward the Confessor, or St Edward, as some have called him, inderision I suppose, being a very silly fellow, had all the faultsincident, and almost inseparable, to fools. He married my daughterEditha from his fear of disobliging me; and afterwards, out of hatred tome, refused even to consummate his marriage, though she was one of themost beautiful women of her age. He was likewise guilty of the basestingratitude to his mother (a vice to which fools are chiefly, if notonly, liable); and, in return for her endeavours to procure him a thronein his youth, confined her in a loathsome prison in her old age. This,it is true, he did by my advice; but as to her walking over nineploughshares red-hot, and giving nine manors, when she had not one inher possession, there is not a syllable of veracity in it.
"The first great perplexity I fell into was on the account of my sonSwane, who had deflowered the abbess of Leon, since called Leominster,in Herefordshire. After this fact he retired into Denmark, whence hesent to me to obtain his pardon. The king at first refused it, beingmoved thereto, as I afterwards found, by some churchmen, particularly byone of his chaplains, whom I had prevented from obtaining a bishopric.Upon this my son Swane invaded the coasts with several ships, andcommitted many outrageous cruelties; which, indeed, did his business,as they served me to apply to the fear of this king, which I had longsince discovered to be his predominant passion. And, at last, he who hadrefused pardon to his first offence submitted to give it him after hehad committed many other more monstrous crimes; by which his pardon lostall grace to the offended, and received double censure from all others.
"The king was greatly inclined to the Normans, had created a Normanarchbishop of Canterbury, and had heaped extraordinary favours on him. Ihad no other objection to this man than that he rose without myassistance; a cause of dislike which, in the reign of great and powerfulfavourites, hath often proved fatal to the persons who have given it, asthe persons thus raised inspire us constantly with jealousies andapprehensions. For when we promote any one ourselves, we take effectualcare to preserve such an ascendant over him, that we can at any timereduce him to his former degree, should he dare to act in opposition toour wills; for which reason we never suffer any to come near the princebut such as we are assured it is impossible should be capable ofengaging or improving his affection; no prime minister, as I apprehend,esteeming himself to be safe while any other shares the ear of hisprince, of whom we are as jealous as the fondest husband can be of hiswife. Whoever, therefore, can approach him by any other channel thanthat of ourselves, is, in our opinion, a declared enemy, and one whomthe first principles of policy oblige us to demolish with the utmostexpedition. For the affection of kings is as precarious as that ofwomen, and the only way to secure either to ourselves is to keep allothers from them.
"But the archbishop did not let matters rest on suspicion. He soon gaveopen proofs of his interest with the Confessor in procuring an officeof some importance for one Rollo, a Roman of mean extraction and verydespicable parts. When I represented to the king the indecency ofconferring such an honour on such a fellow, he answered me that he wasthe archbishop's relation. 'Then, sir,' replied I, 'he is related toyour enemy.' Nothing more past at that time; but I soon perceived, bythe archbishop's behaviour, that the king had acquainted him with ourprivate discourse; a sufficient assurance of his confidence in him andneglect of me.
"The favour of princes, when once lost, is recoverable only by thegaining a situation which may make you terrible to them. As I had nodoubt of having lost all credit with this king, which indeed had beenoriginally founded and constantly supported by his fear, so I took themethod of terror to regain it.
"The earl of Boulogne coming over to visit the king gave me anopportunity of breaking out into open opposition; for, as the earl wason his return to France, one of his servants, who was sent before toprocure lodgings at Dover, and insisted on having them in the house of aprivate man in spite of the owner's teeth, was, in a fray which ensued,killed on the spot; and the earl himself, arriving there soon after,very narrowly escaped with his life. The earl, enraged at this affront,returned to the king at Gloucester with loud complaints and demands ofsatisfaction. Edward consented to his demands, and ordered me tochastise the rioters, who were under my government as earl of Kent: but,instead of obeying these orders, I answered, with some warmth, that theEnglish were not used to punish people unheard, nor ought their rightsand privileges to be violated; that the accused should b
e firstsummoned--if guilty, should make satisfaction both with body and estate,but, if innocent, should be discharged. Adding, with great ferocity,that as earl of Kent it was my duty to protect those under my governmentagainst the insults of foreigners.
"This accident was extremely lucky, as it gave my quarrel with the kinga popular colour, and so ingratiated me with the people, that when I setup my standard, which I soon after did, they readily and chearfullylisted under my banners and embraced my cause, which I persuaded themwas their own; for that it was to protect them against foreigners that Ihad drawn my sword. The word foreigners with an Englishman hath a kindof magical effect, they having the utmost hatred and aversion to them,arising from the cruelties they suffered from the Danes and some otherforeign nations. No wonder therefore they espoused my cause in a quarrelwhich had such a beginning.
"But what may be somewhat more remarkable is, that when I afterwardsreturned to England from banishment, and was at the head of an army ofthe Flemish, who were preparing to plunder the city of London, I stillpersisted that I was come to defend the English from the danger offoreigners, and gained their credit. Indeed, there is no lie so grossbut it may be imposed on the people by those whom they esteem theirpatrons and defenders.
"The king saved his city by being reconciled to me, and taking again mydaughter, whom he had put away from him; and thus, having frightened theking into what concessions I thought proper, I dismissed my army andfleet, with which I intended, could I not have succeeded otherwise, tohave sacked the city of London and ravaged the whole country.
"I was no sooner re-established in the king's favour, or, what was aswell for me, the appearance of it, than I fell violently on thearchbishop. He had of himself retired to his monastery in Normandy; butthat did not content me: I had him formally banished, the see declaredvacant, and then filled up by another.
"I enjoyed my grandeur a very short time after my restoration to it; forthe king, hating and fearing me to a very great degree, and finding nomeans of openly destroying me, at last effected his purpose by poison,and then spread abroad a ridiculous story, of my wishing the next morselmight choak me if I had had any hand in the death of Alfred; and,accordingly, that the next morsel, by a divine judgment, stuck in mythroat and performed that office.
"This of a statesman was one of my worst stages in the other world. Itis a post subjected daily to the greatest danger and inquietude, andattended with little pleasure and less ease. In a word, it is a pillwhich, was it not gilded over by ambition, would appear nauseous anddetestable in the eye of every one; and perhaps that is one reason whyMinos so greatly compassionates the case of those who swallow it: forthat just judge told me he always acquitted a prime minister who couldproduce one single good action in his whole life, let him have committedever so many crimes. Indeed, I understood him a little too largely, andwas stepping towards the gate; but he pulled me by the sleeve, and,telling me no prime minister ever entered there, bid me go back again;saying, he thought I had sufficient reason to rejoice in my escaping thebottomless pit, which half my crimes committed in any other capacitywould have entitled me to."
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