A brilliant area of glory and prosperity seems to have been the blessing of the capital during the reign of Athelstan, and we find it in A. D. 939 receiving the distinguished privilege of coinage. This monarch resided in the heart of London, in a place which still retains his name: for from Athelstan or Adlestan, the name of Addle Street is taken, and it is noticed in an ancient record as King Addle Street. This prince is also said to have founded the neighbouring church of St. Alban, Wood Street. Edmund I. the brother and successor of Athelstan convoked a Wittena-gemot in London, A. D. 945, for the settlement of ecclessiastical affairs *.

In 958, the church which Sebert had erected, and which had been destroyed by the Danes, was, at the instance of Dunstan, bishop of London, rebuilt by Edgar the Peaceable, who also erected it into a monastic establishment. But London was not exempted from calamity; the Cathedral of St. Paul was destroyed by fire in A. D. 961, whilst a malignant fever carried off a prodigious number of the inhabitants.

The zenith of Saxon London seems at this period to have passed its meredian; the inglorious reign of Ethelred II. who had found his way to the throne by means of the murder of his brother was peculiarly unfortunate to the city. In the fourth year of his reign it was again almost intirely consumed by fire, and had scarcely recovered from this desolation when another Danish invasion threatened the whole country. After various pusillanimous means to stem the

"This monarch gave to the cathedral Church of St Paul, London, the manor and lordship of Cadington Major, now called Astonbury in Bedfordshire, together with the manor of Sandon in Hertfordshire. The prebendary of Cadington-minor in the same cathedral, which bears the name of the manor or farm of Provender in Bedfordshire, was part of the donation of Cadington, given by the same king. About the same time when stone buildings began to be encouraged, we may date the foundation of the parochial church of Allhallows Staining, otherwise stane or stone-church, to distinguish it from other churches of the same name in the city, which were built in those days of timber; stane in the Saxon tongue signifying stone." Entick, i. 48.

violence

violence and rapacity of the invaders had proved ineffectual Ethelred awoke from his timid indolence, and in a general council of the principal persons of the kingdom, it was resolved to collect the whole naval force of the country to the port of London, and either give battle to the enemy or block them up in the harbours which they had occupied; but the treachery of Elfric duke of Mercia, rendered this wise and vigorous measure abortive; for he not only informed the Danes of these proceedings, but traiterously joined them against his country.

The golden harvests which the northern pirates bad reaped from the English spoils were so vast and frequent, that a more important predatory invasion was suggested by Swein their king, assisted by the king of Norway; these sovereigns entered the Humber with a numerous fleet and army, and ravaged the country on both sides of that river. Encouraged by success, they, in 994, again put to sea, boldly advanced up the Thames and invested London, by such means probably to secure the conquest of the whole kingdom. But to the valour of her own undaunted citizens, to their unshaken loyalty, did London, at this important crisis, owe her preservation. By the paternal care of the great Alfred, the city had been fortified on every side; and his foresight was of essential service to her on the present occasion; for these walls secured her buildings, and were bravely defended by her intrepid sons. The Danes were continually repelled with loss, and obliged to raise the siege. Had Ethelred exerted any thing like energy, in assistance to his faithful citizens at this time, the Danes might have been totally driven to their own inhospitable shores discomfited and dismayed; but on the contrary, he had recourse to his usual wretched expedient of purchasing respite, and ultimately imposed upon his devoted dominions the odious tax called Danegelt, of which London bore a very large proportion; it was not repealed till the reign of Henry II *.

The

As we have certain information respecting, the nature, quantity, and proportional assessments of this antient tax, it may be acceptable to detail

a few

The horrid massacre of the Danes, authorized by the mandate of the cowardly and pitiful Ethelred, in cold blood, composes so affecting a picture, that even at this remote period we contemplate it with painful emotions; we therefore avoid, as much as possible, exhibiting such a scene of horror, as well as to relate the guilty share which the deluded citizens took in the dreadful butchery.

But the ferocious denunciation which followed, when the news reached the Danish court, and the vengeance by which it was accompanied, is only to be compared with the distressed state of the English at this time: oppressed with every species of national calamity, governed by a weak and irresolute prince, her bowels alternately torn by the rage of a foreign enemy or a domestic traitor, she sustained a series of complicated misery for ten years; till Ethelred, after having suffered his realm to be desolated by the revengeful retalia

a few of the leading particulars. Even then the king could not impose and levy it by a mere act of authority: the consent of the Wittena-gemot, or great council, was first obtained. The original imposition was one Saxon shilling on each hide of land in the kingdom. As the whole was computed to be two hundred and forty three thousand six hundred hides, the produce of the tax, at one shilling, was twelve thousand one hundred and eighty Saxon pounds, equal in quantity of silver to about 36,540%. sterling; and equivalent in efficiency to near 400,000/. according to the present value of money. It was successively raised from one up to seven shillings the hide of land. While the Danish visits were annually repeated, the Saxon sovereign of England could put little into his coffers of the surplus of the tax, as the whole, and sometimes more, was expended in fighting or bribing the invaders. But when the government of the country became Danish, Danegelt became one of the principal sources of revenue to the crown It was raised so high, and levied so rigorously by Canute, A. D. 1018, as to produce the enormous sum of 71,000%. Saxon, besides 11,000% the assessment at which the city of London was rated. Those who had money to pay this intolerable imposition were compelled to it; and such as had none, were subjected to the confiscation of lands and pos sessions. Houses in towns were assessed to the tax, and a house of such a value, or rent, paid the same rent as a hide of land. From the sum levied in London, some judgment may be formed of its size and population at this period. The tax rose and fell according to the exigencies of government, or rather according to the rapacity or generosity of the reigning prince. It was at length wholly remitted, about seventy years after the Norman Conquest. Henry's History of Great Britain.

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tion of the Danes, retired to Normandy, A. D. 1013, leaving his capital city and distressed country to the insatiate barbarity of the conquerors. London thus deserted, was compelled to open her portals to her bitterest enemies, and, with her, England submitted to the Danish yoke. At this time the city presented an alluring bait to a voracious enemy; she had become a place of considerable strength; it is not therefore surprising that in the distracted state of the country, her importance rendered her peculiar defence of the utmost consequence; her own citizens, however, were not only sufficient for her protection, but, under the command of the gallant prince Edmund, assisted to make a last effort to revive the expiring liberty of the kingdom, by collecting a force, which, under his conduct, would have turned the scale against the victorious Canute; the imbecility of the father, in this instance as well as many others, counteracted the diligence and address of the son. He suddenly retired within the walls, where the mortified prince was soon compelled to join him with the remainder of his dispersed forces. Forlorn to himself, and unhappy to his country, Ethelred soon expired in the metropolis, A. D. 1016, leaving his family and country in the most desperate situation. He was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.

The brave Edmund Ironside, was immediately crowned in London*, amidst the acclamations of the patriotic and loyal citizens, and his courage and ability, though his rival Canute had been crowned at Southampton, soon taught that monarch to experience that the golden prize was not easily to be ob tained; for Edmund immediately on his accession marched into the western provinces to consolidate the scattered remains of his royal inheritance. In his absence Canute laid siege to the capital, which by its intrepidity baffled all his endeavours to reduce it, till Edmund with the force he had collected flew to its relief. The year 1016 is marked in crimson characters: thrice in this year was London besieged

This is the first coronation ceremony recorded to have been performed in the metropolis.

by

by the assaults of Canute, and as often relieved by the bra very of her native prince. But the incredible effusion of blood on these and other occasions, induced the rivals to a compromise of dominion, and this city, as the capital of Mercia, was doomed to the controul of Canute. Edmund was soon after murdered by means of his traiterous relation, Edric Streon, who was amply recompenced for his treasons by Canute; that sovereign, now sole monarch, ordering him to be decapitated, and his body to be thrown into the Thames.

When Canute arrived at the plenitude of his power, the citizens felt the weight of his resentment. The Danegelt was increased from one shilling to seven shillings for every hide of land throughout the kingdom; and to mark the royal displeasure against London for her attachment to her native prince, the citizens were assessed a full seventh part of the imposition on the whole kingdom. A convincing proof, as well of the tyrannic disposition of her Danish ruler, as of her own increased opulence.

It is but justice to add, that Canute afterwards relaxed his severity, and endeavoured to reconcile the English to his government by his justice and impartiality; and the city was obliged to him for the extension of her foreign commerce. The metropolis had at this time risen to a very high degree of distinction in the arts of war and peace. But foreign commerce was to be the source of her greatness; and even during the calamitous reign of Ethelred, the trade of London and of the whole country engaged one of the principal attentions of government. We find therefore in the Saxon Chronicle, that

In one of those sieges, Canute, it is said, intending to attack th city on the side of the river, found his advances obstructed by the bridge over the Thames, which was strongly fortified and well defended. This is the first mention of a bridge, or by whom or when constructed. Disappointed of bringing his ships to bear a part in the siege, he diverted the course of the Thames by a trench, through the marshes on the Surry side, by which he towed round his vessels to act against the city he had thus surrounded. But the bravery of the citizens sustained his assaults till relieved by their champion, king Edmund. William of Malmsbury-Stow's Survey, &c.