I Ethelfled, second daughter of Athelred, surnamed Mucil, Earl of the Gaini,' was born in the year of our Lord's incarnation 858. My sister Ethelswitha was by five years my elder. Now it came to pass, about a week after her first coming into this naughty world, that my mother had a dream concerning her, somewhat after the fashion of the patriarch Joseph, to the effect that the child newly born should eventually be set up on high, and that her father, mother, and kindred should do homage to her, which in due time came to pass. And this gives me occasion to think that dreams are not always mere phantasies of the brain, but that on occasions suited for the discernible action of a superior intelligence, visions of forthcoming events are sometimes disclosed to the inward and spiritual sight. husky voice, the uneasy movements of the hands, the the notable things which in divers times and places pale and hollow cheek, are all true, too true, to nature. have happened, it seems good also to me, Ethelfleda, Thus Rachel in "Phédre," arrested, in the full force Abbess of this poor house of St. Audrey, to record of youth and health, by the poison which circulates certain events, for causes that will in fit season in her veins, her eye already glazing, her cheek pallid, | appear. her voice all changed, with faltering step is led on to die. Both the christian and the heathen queen have done with the world-what they have to say to those around is but a last duty in which they take no partbut one thought, at last, recals the past to both. With the holy and resigned christian woman, whose duties and affections had united, it is the remembrance of her child which animates the worn-out frame; a simile like a mild moonbeam once more plays over those features, and the voice, though plaintive, is yet sweet and clear. Yet 'tis but for a moment, and then she returns her thoughts to heaven, her mind to eternal rest. So Phédre, exhausted by passion, tortured by bodily pain, falters out slowly, word by word, the confession of her passion and her crime; but as she speaks, her thoughts recur to that time when, sheltered by deep woods, she watched the swift car of Hypolitus flying before her admiring gaze; then, with this passion which has been her fate, again the eye kindles, again the voice grows firm and loud, her strength returns; and following still her visions, with extended arm, nostrils dilated, and glance of fire, she rises from her chair. But the vision fades, the fictitious powers vanish, and she falls exhausted back to her place in agony and despair, to give to the infernal gods her unquiet spirit. How like, and yet how different, is the same thought which, moulded to the fashion of the character and circumstance, inspired both these women of genius! Time will scarcely mar any of the qualities of either of these great actresses. Europe has not tired of Rachel, and both America and Europe are always ready to welcome Miss Cushman: but when years and years are gone by, they will still be remembered-because the impression, on seeing both, is like an event of one's Efe-and as such will be related by the old to the younger, and thus their genius will live for ever. Chronicle of Ethelfled. IN SIX BOOKS. TRANSLATOR'S NOTE. [THE authenticity of this Chronicle, which we have only collated with that of Asser, is highly questionable; and we do not hold curselves responsible for its correspondence with any other monkish manuscript. Doubts have been raised concerning the genuineness even of Asser's work, from which we derive nearly all the information we possess, and are accustomed to believe, of our glorious By reason of the frequent incursions of the pagans, who laid hands alike on live stock, arms, chests of plate, and noble damsels, my father was fain to commit my sister and me to the care of an aunt, who was Superior of one of the very few religious houses left in Mercia for the refuge of holy and highborn virgins. This was about the time of the good King Ethelbert's death. Ethelred his brother then reigned over West Saxony in his stead. That was in the days of our King Buhred. It mattered very little to my sister and me who reigned, as long as mother Gundred let us see her hive the bees and take the honey. Ethelswitha was fairer and more facetious than I, therefore the greater favourite; and being by so many years my elder, had many pleasures and indulgences which I had not; but, on the other hand, I had many pleasures too, all to myself. For instance,-fabling certain flowers to talk to one another and to me, and to tell of their how and about. Also fancying certain trees and patches of chalk on the hill-side into images of dragons and ghosts until I was sore ydrad, and yet feeling a strange mixture of pleasure and trepidation in going up to the dragon's mouth with a handful of grass, and saying, "Dragon, will you bite me ?" and then running away. There were certain peep-holes through the oak-palings, and dark corners among the tree-roots, that I should have been sorry if any had wist of except myself. Once, lying under a hollow oak, I seemed to feel the fairies pulling at my hair, that they might get withinside of it. One of my peep-holes looked into our burial-ground. I knew defunct persons lay there, their faces all turned up king; the reader must, therefore, take both of these authors on their own merits, and believe as much or as little of them as heward; and my aunt the Abbess told me their souls chooses, since we have neither time nor occasion for the question There seemed no reason why the Chronicle of our good abbess should not be rendered into the modern vernacular, save in the occasional use of an archaistic expression which had no incongruity nor unnatural strangeness,' when sanctioned by her own evident use of a Saxonism badly Latinized.] BOOK FIRST. FORASMUCH as sundry persons have taken in hand, whether with or without reason, to set forth in order went to heaven. I thought if I kept a sharp lookout, I should see some of them going there, on a starry night, if any of the nuns would but die. There was a sister who, I think, was as learned as Leobgitha, the correspondent of Boniface. She was always making enigmata and poring over manuscripts. (1) Gainsborough. Of her I acquired my facility of writing, which the king says is remarkable; but, in regard of its neatness, I am always at the mercy of my pcu:-however, I now always have a good one. About the year 869, my sister and I were sent home. Thenceforth, my father, mother, and Ethelswitha were much at court; but, by reason of my tender years, I went not. After one of these their visits, it was currently reported among us that Alfred, Prince of the West Saxons, whose sister had married our king, would shortly come to see our chase. The best tablecloth was washed, and many dishes were cooked; howbcit, he came not. The fewer, the better cheer; and I was less disappointed than was Ethelswitha. This time, she told me so many fine things about the court, that when they all returned to it, which they shortly did, I felt for the first time lonely. They had made a pretty clear larder before they went, and I was left nominal mistress of the household, both servile and freed, but with very little to do, except to see a stag now and then put his head out of the forest. They might have been gone three hours, and I was eating bread and honey, when there winds me a horn at the gate, and, lo you, Prince Alfred come by himself, and nobody to receive him. Eadwulf took his horse and his spear, and Urfried washed his feet; but what could we do? The best tablecloth in the buck-basket, no fresh meat in the larder, nor had I even the key of the cellar. There were eels in the dike; and a goose hung by the wall, if he would have waited to have it boiled: howbeit, he made light of all, said bread and honey was fit for a king, especially when the bread was warm and the honey fresh from the comb; aud Adam's wine was better than mead or metheglin for a water-drinker like himself, who shunned wine and cyder like John the Baptist. I was glad to find him so easy to please; indeed, had never lighted on so cheerful and winsome a young gentleman; and, having seen but few gentlemen before, whether young or otherwise, by reason of our retired living, I shortly lost all fear, forgot he was a prince, and made him welcome to what we had, as freely as if I had known him twelve years, that is to say, my whole life. He asked me how I came to be so small for my age. But I could not tell. He asked me if I could read, if I said my prayers, if I loved bread and honey, and if I were afraid of him. To the three first, I said yes, to the last, no. He said that was right, and arose pushing aside the yldestan-setl, and bade me good speed, and bear in mind King Solomon's saying, "To eat much honey is not good;" and so departed. But, when he had mounted, his horse reared at our white owl that suddenly flew out of its hole, and threw the prince, whom we picked up with his bright hair all dabbled with blood, and brought into the house. He did not seem to regard it much, but gave his orders to one and the other with wonderful precision; and, being laid on a double setl, Urfried and I washed and bound up his wound as we best could, and two of our freedmen rode off to advertise the king, and bring back my father and mother. Hereabouts, I Ethelfled must relate that Urfried's fear of approaching the blood royal had at first been so oppressive and unwiselike, that she had thrust me forward into office more cowardly than a woman of her years needed to have been; but, as soon as she found the prince affable, would have made my tender age a reason for setting me aside and stepping into my place. Howbeit, his grace settled it by desiring she should instantly make him a dish of frumenty, and stir it herself all the while it boiled; and then he bade me sit over-against him on a tripod stool, keep an eye to his bandages, and nurse him the best I could; observing that he always found himself the better for a great deal of attention. And hereupon ensued a discourse, wherewith I have frequently recreated my nuns by repeating it to them. Poor maids! they sometimes get a little dull, specially between Whitsuntide and Christmas, when there are no great festivals; and I find nothing sooner brings all things straight than a little innocent conversation, chiefly in the infirmary, where a good many find themselves in the fruit and pulse season, and a good many more contrive to be nurses. We should never forget we were once young ourselves. After I had held my peace a good while, the prince asked me if I could tell him a story. Thereupon I put it to him whether he would have Morvidus and the dragon, or Corineus and the great giant Goëmaggot. In reply he said, that when he had heard both, he would make his choice. So I told him first one, and then the other, and proceeded to ask him whether he thought there had ever been a dragon. He said, yes, there was one always going about, seeking whom it could devour. I said I hoped it would never come my way. He said, oh yes, it would, sooner or later; I must mind what I did, or even thought, or he would swallow me at a snap. So then I found who he meant. I asked him whether he would not like to see a fairy. He said he had seen one once he was riding one day, all alone, through a dark, glooming wood, when he came upon a bright, green glade; and there, very much to his surprise, he saw a fairy. I could not help drawing a little nearer to him on this, to ask him what the fairy was like. He said, like a woman, only a very small one, with a lily skin, and long silky hair, and dressed-in blue. I said I thought they always wore green. He replied, "Why, they do say so, but this one had a cyrtle just like yours, with a little darn in the hanging sleeves, from her leaning on her elbows." So then I said, Oh....! and was a little shamed; for I found he meant me. He asked me what I would give to see a giant. I said, a good deal. He said, that was no answer at all-would I give the next handsome present I expected to have, whatever it might be ? After some thought, I said yes, provided I were out of harm's way. He said, Ah, he had been thinking of giving me something very costly, in return for my civility to him, but now he would keep it for himself, and take me with him to fight the Danes, for he understood they had just landed a giant as big as Goliath, very | After a pause, she said, "Use it in place of gold thread, fond of human flesh, especially when young and to embroider a kerchief for the Virgin." So I gave tender; whose fist was heavier than a hundred sledge- her all but one long, pale brown curl, which I have hammers, and his foot as large as this...here he drew even now, (for it is not every one can show a lock of the outline of a foot about a yard long in the air; the hair of King Alfred,) but, in truth, Ethelswitha his cloak was fringed with kings' beards and ladies' kept not her vow, for the Virgin's kerchief has never tresses; and there was a yard or so of fringe yet been embroidered from that day to this. wanting. He should like to go out against him like David the son of Jesse, and bring him down with a pebble. He'd teach giants to come to England! I said, I marvelled that the Danes dared intrude on us as they did. He said, "Why, I suppose you know we are only intruders ourselves. What fellowship have we with the old Britons whom we have hunted into the Cambrian dens and fastnesses? Surely you have heard of wicked Vortigern, king of the Britons, who first invited us over, under Hengist and Horsa; and how, when the pagan Hengist, (for we were all pagans then,) came into his Christian presence, he said, 'I regret your ungodliness, but am glad of your coming.' King Vortigern ought to have known better, but he was much given to drinking and sleeping, whereas our Hengist, pagan though he was, was a brave and fine fellow, standing seven feet high, as I have been told by one who never saw him. But Vortigern was nidering, and deserved the end he had, which was to be smothered with smoke in his fastness, like a wasp in his nest." After some farther parley on this and that, he called for another story. I said, I have told you two, you must now tell me onc. He said, "Two? you have told me a hundred !" I said, "How can that be?" and, just then, my father and mother came in, somewhat to my regret; they having met some one on the road who told them of Prince Alfred's visit, which caused them to turn back. They fell to condoling and excusing; and the prince said there was no need; he had been so deftly tended by the handiest little chatterbox he had ever met with in all his life. Thereupon my mother looked grave, saying I had commonly been accounted silent; which indeed was true enough, and I wist not how my tongue had on this occasion become loosed. But there was something about him, methinks, that thawed all hearts. My mother applied all-heal and wound-wort to his head; and I kept near him all I could; but Ethelswitha approached him not, only questioned me straitly at bed-time, of all he had said, so that we spent half the night in talking. It was Ethelswitha's wont to take me on her kuce, and with her silver comb to comb out my hair, which was not nearly equal, in length, to her own; her locks being, indeed, as long and yellow as Queen Guinever's. Seeing me hold something fast in my hand, she sayeth, "What have you there?" I laughed, and would make her guess; at length, said, "Some of the prince's hair which we cut off to wash his wound." “His hair ?” then cries she, "what are you going to do with it?" I said, "Make a ball of it." "Oh, silly, silly child," she then cries, "forsooth you must give it me, I will find a better use for it." But I closed my fingers fast on it, and said, “What shall you, then, do with it ?” VOL. XV. Next morning, I was summoned to my mother, who was sitting surrounded by her maids. "Child," says she, "Urfried tells me there was a bare larder yesterday, which I partly apprehended, though enough went down from the hall, I should have thought, to have kept you for a week. However, twice-warmed meats are not for a royal table: and yet his grace informed me over-night, you had feasted him like a king! What am I to believe? My heart smote me when I bethought me of the havock we two had made, and I cried hastily, "In troth, mother, 'twas he emptied the honey-pot rather than I, he laid it on so thickly; and I dared not say him nay!" My mother could not forbear smiling; saying, as she tapped me on the cheek, "Well, you seem to have saved the credit of the house." Before noon, that day, there was a dinner prepared that might have been set on King Arthur's round table. I peeped through a chink, and saw Ethelswitha present the basin, and my father carve the venison, and my mother kiss the cup. Howbeit, the prince only touched it with his lips; so demand was made for spring-water, which, amid so many sweet and spiced beverages, had never been provided; and, every hand being busy, Urfried gave me a pitcher, and bade me run down to the spring, which I gladly did. By the spring sate an old man, tuning a harp. I bade him make way, because I was in haste for water for Alfred the prince. He said, "Is Prince Alfred here?-then I will into carshot of him, for he loves the sound of a harp. . . ." and, following me up to the house, he commenced playing at the gate, and was soon let in. In truth, the afternoon proving rainy, and the prince drinking no wine, nor playing at tafel, scaccorum, nor any game of hazard, this old harper's arrival was very opportune, for he went on, from one ballad to another, as if his head were lined with them, and Alfred the prince was hugely pleased; in special with one that told how Baldulf got into King Arthur's camp, disguised as a glee-man, and, while he was harping, learned all he wanted to know, without ever being found out. He called it a good stratagem. At length the prince asked the harper if he had ever heard of the song of Cædmon. "That have I, my prince," returned the minstrel; " and can sing it, too: how that some of the angels kept not their first estate, but fell into perdition, because they would have shared glory with the Highest; and how He made for those perfidious an exiled home. Sweet as honey is that stave describing their first bliss: "They were very happy,- C Also, how the earth and stars came to be created out | to talking with me more than any only, it befel, that of nothing; and how the first man and woman, beautiful as angels, dwelt in Eden-garden: 'tis a song-o'Sunday!" Sing me as much as you can of it," says the prince, "and I will presently give you this gold bracelet." "I dare say your glory knows," pursued the harper, (who was a Cornish man; his name was Tinne:) "how holy Aldhelm availed himself of this our vocation to instruct the lower sort, and took his stand on the public bridge, like a common harper, to win the ears of the foot-passengers by intermingling gay and grave matters.".. while we were cracking and eating some nuts, he paused of a sudden, and I looked up and saw his lips quite white, or rather blue, and a cold, grey shadow on his brow. I cried, "Oh, mother!" and she arose in haste, saying, "What ails you, sweet prince ?" And commenced rubbing his hands. But, presently, he smiled, and said, "This prick at the heart is passing off. . . . it is all for my good!" Howbeit, there was no more merry-making that afternoon, but we sate closer and quieter, and looked more earnestly at one another, and talked of prayers, and saints, and penances, and heavenly chastenings, and earthly probations, and celestial refreshings; and I think the latter end of that day was better than the beginning. He spent two days with us; and on the evening of the second day, he took my father aside, and had long speech of him: we concluded, concerning the pagans, who seemed drawing together in Northumbria, upon some mischief. It may, or may not, have been so; howbeit, my father came forth from the conference with a strange mixture of care and elation on his brow; and the prince was much flushed, and sprang on his horse, that had long been pawing the ground at the gate. As he rode off, he cried, laugh 66 : I am now one of your family by the law of the land, for I have slept two nights under your roof; and, if I do any wrong on the king's highway, you will be answerable for it!" "That be my care, sweet prince!" returns my father, cheerily: "May I never have a more dangerous cuman2 under my roof! Return when you will, whether in company or steorless." The following year, (868,) there befel a grievous murrain among all cattle; and after the murrain, a famine throughout the land; and after the famine, a pestilence; so that the hand of the Lord was heavy upon man and beast. It was lamentable to see the dead bodies left by the way-side, with none to cover them out of the reach of birds and dogs. The pooring: people might be seen ravening on half-putrid flesh, and eagerly devouring the cresses and ramps that grew in the ditches; which unwholesome diet was enough of itself, my mother thought, to account for the pestilence. But the failure of the crops was a manifest visitation of God; and as He foreknew that the scarcity of wholesome diet must needs drive the people to eat that which was pernicious and unclean, the sickness, to my mind, was an indirect chastisement from him too. We gat much to our knees in prayer; and Ethelswitha, who was very softhearted, prayed my mother to let her have all the bones, scraps, and broken food from our table, to seethe into pottage for the poor, and dispense at our own gate, which my mother willingly did, and thereby drew down on our house many a poor soul's blessing. And it befel that, one forenoon, Ethelswitha and I, having provided a larger mess than usual, and carrying it forth to the folk at the gate, steaming, and very savoury, there appears Alfred the prince standing among the rest, looking fixedly upon Ethelswitha, who at first marked him not; and presently, without more ado, he steps up, and kisses her before all; an unfair thing, for even a king's son to do, secing she could not defend herself by reason of the full bicker. And the people, with one accord, set up a shout, as if it were the jolliest sight eyes ever saw, to the great shame of Ethelswitha. The prince dined and supped with us, and told us of many things he had seen in Rome when he was a cniht;1 and talked, and harped, and sang, and did more to entertain us than we could do to entertain him in special, as Ethelswitha was quite dull all the afternoon. But I was full blythe, and at last he fell (1) A little boy: a lad. He was out of sight before one could say Ave. To bed we went, but not to sleep as for myself, I lay awake, thinking over all the brave things I had heard, and ejaculating inwardly, "Happy they who hold thy stirrup and water thy horse! happier they that carve before thee at table and hear thy pleasant voice!" As for Ethelswitha, though we were in the dark, and she lay long quite still, I had an impression that she was weeping; so, to make sure, I kissed her, and found her face quite wet. I asked her why she wept; she answered, she could not tell me, because she did not know herself. So there was an end, only I took care not to worry her by my own wakefulness, and lay a musing of Prince Alfred in the streets of Rome, till somehow, or ever I was ware, I fell on sleep. I must now mix public affairs with private, because of those pagans, the Danes, whom the East Anglians having with great pusillanimity received and set on horseback, with less anxiety for the general welfare than for their own particular safety, they had established themselves in Northumbria. The news now came that the invaders, not content with having scized the city of York, were advancing upon us Mercians; and, indeed, they followed so closely on the heels of the news, that before we well wist they (2) Come-one: guest. Of some things, I was, from a child, very observant, and reflected much on them; of others, not at all. Hence it came that had I not been told of this projected alliance, a long time might have ensued before any of its signals had warned me of its coming. As it was, the surprise and joy stunned me, like the I showed not myself so gladdened as in truth I was; especially as the thought of losing Ethelswitha, when it dawned upon me, dissolved me in a shower of tears. But she consoled me all she could, by dilating on the blessedness of continually consorting with such a companion as Prince Alfred, and promising to have me much with her in the royal city of Reading. On my mother's side, as is well known, we are of royal descent; therefore Ethelswitha was no ill match for a king's younger brother; and as there was no reason for delay, the betrothal took place speedily. The Earl of Berks was one of the Prince's sponsors; and the transaction, to my mind, was very interesting and imposing. The foster-lean was settled, and the morgen-gift agreed on, which was to consist of sundry large parcels of land for three lives, with men and horses thereunto belonging; and so much more land for Ethelswitha to bestow on her nearest and dearest of her own free choice, for the term of her life and after it; always providing that if she were widowed, she should for a twelvemonth keep herself in the peace of God and of the king, before she married again. were on the move, they had taken possession of | was I to hear that there was a treaty of marriage on Nottingham, which the Romans well called "the foot between Alfred the prince and Ethelswitha! house of caves." For the town is sheltered by a huge rock, perforated with numerous caverns and passages, some of which pierce it even to the summit, doubtless wormed in it by the people of some obscure age, whom, in these modern times, we have altogether lost sight of; and there is a spring of water above as well as below, which makes this rock a notable strong-falling of a great weight on my head, so that I believe hold in time of war, and doubtless will continue to do so while the world lasts. Now it fell, that so soon as the pagans had seized Nottingham, we were all in a sore strait; and King Buhred sent to my father to wit what he should do, and my father's counsel was, that he should ask succour of Ethelred, and King Buhred said no one was so fit to ask or so likely to obtain it as my father; so he sent my father to the West Saxon court, and King Ethelred gave car unto Lim, and promised to come with Alfred the prince, and the Earl of Berks, and a great army to assist the Mercians. Now, the pagans kept close quarters all the winter; but so soon as ever the rivers unfroze, and the roads were practicable, or ere there was a bud on the bushes, or a bird on the tree, we all rose to arms. I say we, albe I Ethelfled only looked on with other women and children, for we all had a pretty strong interest in the issue; and there were troops of men tramping past our gates daily, and glad of water and bread, and anything they could get. It was an expensive season to my father and mother, for King Ethelred, Prince Alfred, the Earl of Berks, and Osric his brother, came and went to and from us all the time of the siege; but it was losing something to save all, and I am sure we never grudged them our best; besides which, as there was always something going on, they made the house very pleasant. Howbeit, the pagans had entrenched themselves so strongly in Nottingham castle, that there was no dislodging them. So peace was made with them, sorely against our wills, and the West Saxons drew off their forces with King Buhred's consent, seeing he could not get them to stay any longer. At this time, every tongue spoke in praise of Alfred the prince, now in his twentieth year, who was the darling of all hearts, and certainly of mine. This, I was going to say, was all in an innocent way; but I may rather assert that it was more than that, and did me much good; for it is of infinite value to young persons to be admirers of some living excellence; and as to any vain imagination of being brought into nearer conjunction to him than I was already, I no more thought of it than of being married to the north star; chiefly applying my mind to the reconsideration of whatever fell from his lips, which, young as he was, had mostly something wiselike and farsighted in it. These cogitations I was well able to pursue while my hands were busy at the loom and spindle, and their effect was to wean me very much from puerile things, and make me thoughtful and womanish. Howbeit, my appearance was still that of what in truth I was, a mere child. How amazed My father, not to be outdone, promised to give with her two thousand swine, which was thought a good deal of by those whom Alfred the prince called "the spinning-side,"i. e. the female part of the house. Since, as every one must see, this was adding gift unto gift, and enriching that which was already of infinite worth; and our Saxon laws most wisely provide that presents shali universally come from the other, that is, the brydcuma's side, where there is anything to bestow, if it be but a hen; since a man must think a wife little worth the having if he will not pay pretty handsomely for her, and think her a good bargain too! However, Alfred the prince was not to be excelled in generosity even by my father; and to the morgengift he added, over and above the men, horses, and land, presents worth the two thousand swine once and again: to wit,-rings, bracelets, necklaces,—one of them curiously twisted like a serpent-crosses, circlets, buckles, a golden brooch shaped like a fly; wimples, tunics, cyrtles of silk and samite; fine linen, mentels, cuffian and binden,' a mirror; a handbell; a golden foot-stool; a silver foot-bath; fringed coverings for seats and high-settles; 2 wall-hangings worked with the Siege of Troy; a bed-curtain presenting the Landing of King Brute; a coverlet woven with golden flowers; another, for winter, of dressed skins, wondrous light and pleasant; gold and (1) Cuffs and ribbons. (2) Heah-setle. |