The Express.
London, England, 1851-06-07 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Pried Mime so of Rom*. Bentley.
The anooymoua author of this little work regretting,
as every Mend of human progress must, that after a
wee of centuries, all the old wounds of ON Wien
are re-opened, and the polemical and religions die-
anarioas which harmed our forefathers aro
considers that there exists no better weapons kr re-
sisting the papal encronchments than such as the
armoury of our enemies supplies ready to hand. He
thinks that the best way to check and confound the
advances of Rome, is to seek the proofs of her frauds,
tyrannies, and usurpations in her own hideous chro-
nicles, and to show the hideous features of popery
in a glass held up by itself. For these reasons be
has chosen the life of St. Dunstan, one of the shining
lights of the Popish calendar, as his theme, and ehal-
lenges the whole bead-roll of beatified sinners patro-
nized by Rome to produce a more glaring example
than this Dunstan of the atrocities she authorized
to secure her spiritual and temporal supremacy. In
the paragraph quoted we have the author's notion of

THE WISEMAN IMENT.
Perhaps the papal court may believe that in this century
the has discovered a disciple who can match with the crafty
Saxon, and who will eventually be u much interwoven
with our national hi-tory. Perhaps Rome may conceive
that another master-mind may subvert national law and in-
dependence, as Duustan did under the succesnors of Alfred.
But unless there comes a new irruption of barbarians,
like the ancient Scythian hordes, to subvert all Esrope,
and plunge us into a seconfl age of darkness, thu
expectation will never be realised. Whatever
to us, we cannot retrograde. The hcptarchy would
as
easy to us as the clotted tiara, the inquisition, and the eau-
fessional. The Bible must be blotted out from the earth
before any modern Dawn in can bring hack England under
the seraphie government of what Dr. Wiseman calls the
(" hierarchy of angels." If Rome hopes to root out protest-
satins, she must employ other measures than those which
were resorted to in the ages of the Edgers and the Edwina.
She must, at teat, begin by an attempt to convince our
lesson, and not by vulgar chests, juggles, and pretended
miracles. The age of tho monkish Katerfelto hu gone for
over. _ _ _ - •

The first five chapters of the volume are of an in-
troductory character, and treat of the early Christian
church in Britaiu, the introduction of popery, and
the state of the nation in the era of Etheldred, &c.
The sixth chapter shows us

HOW DUNSTAN BM AWE AN AUCHBISIIO/P.
The see of Winchester falling vacant, was offered by
Bdred to Dunstan, but refused by him, under divers pre-
tences. This opportunity, however, was not to be lost of
possessing the mind of the king with what he deemed
the only reward fitted fur his talents and ambition,
sad so Odo was then very old, the crafty Dunstan
carefully abstained from accepting any post inferior
to the primacy. The mode in which be informed the
king of his desire was characteristic, and as wand under the
Reid of miraculous interposition. " lie had," he related,
seen a vision, and, moreover, received a blow from St.
Peter, who had informed him that it was inflicted as a pu-
nishment for his refusal, and a token not to decline the
primacy of England." The weak Faired believed' the tale,
and sagache.ly pronounced it as a sign that he would in-
fallibly become Archbishop of Canterbury.
In the next chapter we have an account of how
Dunstan treated his sovereign, and see pretty plainly

WHAT A VOrtill AUCLIDIDMOr WILL DO.
Edwin was young, headstrong, and perhaps weak; but
unlike the weakness iif hit predecessor (which, seeking sup-
port from the assisting aria of Dunstan, allowed himself I
blindly to be lea by him) Edwin was self-willed and obsti-
nate, determined to emancipate himself from the control of
both priests and courtiers, in order to indulge his inclina-
tion and passions without consulting their opinions. Ifs
esteemed himself no puny boy, to be taught that he wore a
crown only to invest others with its power ; but being •
king, as such he determined to reign.
1 hear feelings arc natural to youth and inexperience,
and had Edo iu lived, the nobler parts of his nature would
have ultimately predominated, and his tender heart might
have felt fur Ins people a portion of that love he bore El-
vis; but to a youthful sovereign Hushed with power, the
haughty supremacy of such hold spirits as Odo and Dunstan
must have been unbearable ; and while I cannot but pity
the want of policy which led hint to attack, before he could
subdue them, I warmly sympathise in the generous endea-
vour to emancipate the nation and himself from such thral-
dom. Ile appears to have been one of the only persons of
i that day notimposed upon by the miraculous machinery so
successfully used to blind all eyes as to the real purposes of
the priests, and this aloue at his age argues the possession
of considerable understanding.
The precise time when his connection with Elgiva began
is not clear, but the moat probable view is that he married
young, and was her husband at the time of his coronation.
The obstinate perverseness., of all the monkish writers in
denying her the name of wife, may Ise at once referred to
the fiat that she was related to her husband within the
prohibited degrees. Therefore, in their prejudiced eyes,
the fair Elgiva held but the infamous position of a concu-
bine. Ilea ever, this supposed impediment to the lawfulness
of their marriuge proves her, at least to have been of noble
birth, and fit to match with the king. Bat the Saxon
chronicles mention her repeatedly as his wife, and even the
'scepticism of Lingual admit. the', though all agree in the
fact of her affinity to Edwin, this tic probably having been
the means of attaching them to each other from tenderest
infancy. Hints are thrown out by his enemies that Edwin
possessed the regard of other women, but no substantial
accusation arraigns his constancy; and had the truth been
really as is implied, doubtless his enemies would more clearly
have assured themselves of it.
After these preliminary remarks, I shall proceed to relate
the tale of their love and their sufferings; a tale so fraught
with interest, that it has emerged with singular distinct-
ness from the obscurity of surrounding events. Where his-
tory even has failed to secure attention, this romantic story
has been sung by poets, and served for the foundation of
many a tale.
When Edwin ascended the throne he was only sixteen,
and possessed of such singular personal beauty as to be sur-
named " the all fair." During the life of his uncle he is
mid to have treated the Archbishop Odo with much re-
spect, but liuding, probably, that ho endeavoured to en-
croach, and sought to make himself too much master of his
actions, he ceased to distinguish him after his accession.
We are left to suppose, however, that Odo performed the
ceremony of coronation, as in the subsequent feats he takes
DO prominent • part.
At this banquet were assembled all the nobles and clergy
in the land, rallying round the throne of a young king,
whose tender age seemed todemand their presence and claim
their loyalty. Great importance was in those days at-
tubed to thew national carousals, with which every re-
markable event was celebrated. The Anglo-Saxons are re-
proached for their monstrous excesses in drinking, and on
this occasion it should have been the policy of Edwin, how-
ever disgusted, to have appeared to share in their riotous
revels. But his he.art was elsewhere, and he longed to ap-
proach his beloved and beautiful wife ; and, casting at her
feet the regal trappings with which he was invested, to for-
get in her society the noisy wine he could no longer endure,
With thoughtleas levity he rose from the table, nor did
he observe the astonished and angry looks cast on him by
the theme around, hut hastily retreated to his private apart-
swots. liege and displeasure possessed the assembly, who
became at List so clamorous that the onieioua Odo proposed
sending for the monarch and forcing his return. No lay-
man dared accept so delicate a mission ; none but • priest
could have the aallacity to trust himself upon the privacy
of the king ; but Dunstan rejoiced in the opportunity of as-
serting the power he intended to exercise in full vigour
during the future reign, stepped forwareLand, accompanied
by a bishop sCynesius by name) penetrated to the king's
sparuneuts. Here they discovered Edwin caressing his be-
loved Elgiva, his crown thrown on the ground, and he
himself divested of his royal mantle ; the presence of his
mother appears sufficient proof that it was her society alone
he sought, though the monkish writers with indecent spleen
have insinuated that the mother shared, or rivalled Mute's
love for her daughter.
Dunstan, to whom this mew poseented thews. and I
whose heart, closed to lamest aibeties, envied elbow its I
enjoyment, endeavoured he dreg the kind from the wart-
meet, instead of megiordtelly nigh/ his regemit, and
wincing him in proper language the impreithee et his
conduct.
Outraged to the last degree by the ineeleath of the abbot,
Edwin "clewed to complyoued Dustin rod bh MIA for-
getful even of the vmdiwagen des to the wen and eir•
impeded by the &average, he the wows on his head;
end unheeding the threats awl remsnstrances of the est-
raged Motive (who wherewith, ins& baths& an bar lord)
they dragged him away, and hesilit ressehmil him et the
festival. In this act we sea the tog rome sf Dnasteab sada-
city —the saint wholly disrm. sow is sesablsnes, and
Edwin was fully justified OMIT /*SWIM the
lie was, indeed, unwise in the mit he adopted of nsgre
his digs*. _ 'Whops be wasberried un by the isdisweet
iopstionse of Teo wheammeweelly insulted by the rebind
of Dances to acksewlsilge her as his wife, natianllysenglit
to nab► the man whim sesdast woo so injurious.
Dsgslth wee too Ind y gootol is the favour of the ma-
ths, end the mash =NM if the &Mats Dayasarf to pos-
sess in his YAW*, yoreglooo of de age. to be woly et-
tie;ed by arms hies as pee henna to his by no
=din thiliseed Edwin showed tea-
Mont* opidl,C=l whim. on,
whew =ever the eththese Edwin was
the Mel grime Dewlap, and
rho spasse esseits elaw, ennead eithey
introdasties ef the some
meth& Ms whisk wee se,pr=
etieLtsibooloyozatt:r dont tad Rabogaloggoloto
he ems mord to defy arradri. Mu-
th§ dews court gathering &Ng blot too
to diassipsfrA. mired to us mosootory at
Olastothary, then to ham awe osbonto fe webthatiag
the eartlMtp the kbog, Nod to bum
booro-
bi
diesnies the wth Eights from boas mow syslisity. The peyote Ovum
gook4simmosi by soolodetiot is oil mob being shear
seetit abbot to he wise arovioisobod. is exact propos.
ibis Irk*. Impost istomt et the clones).
• siniMilell
Madre Doman =dog tobooloogy egos amb or was
llumblogl, ono ggotoOdo. bat. as the rolobilios tar lis en-
radth meth dis lumpiest was under consideration, it is

wersjegollehle that, aware of dm fie be naked for present I
. The /rat indication of the beintiktiself was a
The
bawds kb/Fre:4w legt".
Murtilltreeetures etwamiesed to the sea-
-1 esses of former semedgea. This nee. bind. tonehlog
Dead= in • met ten*
be helves me Mort idle le
plead dm ide et erne bemfm4 edges sin had be-
Wd in kil adlosellW &Lyda. maim li eopemelliens I
oisonings. would Unneeded at eadi dlielms. end akin
ham afEn4 WO led hosent fatsi itworaid have been I
Me tke amen ari ast the 14aelt dr treasure.
Fairly memieni. alMillik. W • gala he darned,
Dunstan, the mint. the sew marine 10 memo the money,
was driven le the reedlike el flight. •
resolve OW _bed le pummel any reel loran, he weal ,
' rather ham died thee denied Into sovietise. Indeed el'
thus tacitly acknowledging hie guilt, and husking his
church and soneastery, (thiprreecution of whisk should be
' the natural meek of his deporture), hushed& rather have
expired at the Met Of the am, in the ante mine Met me so
zany a the einem, Monk lees crafty digelteries of the
early church bed perished in the trying BUM Mr the
northern invasions. With what a humbled spirit pet the
haughty prelate lave presented himself before the abode of
those friends whom lespitaikg he new meght! What new
miracles end revelations lie saint have reined to explain his
otherwise
Dealasessitelmlamigtilronve with his friends Abhelwold
and Oawelg, afterwards raised by him to the sees of Win
(heater and IVorcester ; but no roof could now afford safety
to the man who but a few mouths hack was the chosen and
bosomed gnat of kings and nobles, and he sought the ma-
shers, determined to cross ti Flanders, and seek in a fo-
reign lend the security denied him at home. Having ob-
tained a asset, he hastily embarked, and while a favour-
able wed Ailed the sails, he could descry on the beach the
OIRMISIMS of the queen, who, it is said, having closely
traced his thoesteps, had arrived too late to execute her
cruel command of putting out his eyes.
His character and conduct justify me in supposing that
in this moment of extreme humiliation he must have sworn
some dreadful oath, that those shores which witnessed hie
departure as an outcast should, ere long, view his return
possessed of all the power his soul desired, when that king.
who had dared to beard him, should be dethroned, and the
proud beauty, who had hunted him like a fetbn from plane
to place, should by a wretched death wash out his injuries
in her blood.
To Flanders Dunstan sailed, where, on his arrival, he
was hospitably received by Count Arnett', and at the abbey
of St. Peter, in the town of (-Vocal, he safely reposed, and
composed his mind in these monastic solitudes to the pleasing
task of revenge.
Here for the present we must leave him, and look back
to what is passing in England and at the court of Edwin
after his flight. No opposition stems to have been appre-
hended, and the flight of Dunstan appeared to the head-
strong Edwin to he the real commencement of his reign.
Nothing, however, could have been more impolitic in a
young and inexperienced prince than the banishment of
Dunstan. To sa) nothing of the opinion of the nation at
large, Odo, the archbishop, was the intimate friend and
firm supporter of Dunstan. The pious Turketnl, far re-
moved from the scandal of courts, and ignorant of the
fraudulent means used by him for advancement, also
honoured him with his regard. Thus Edwin's precipitancy
deprived the throne of all support from those who ought
to have bees its beat defence, anti whose enmity ensured the
downfall of his power. The abbeys possessed by Dunstan
(those of Olastonbury and Abingdon) were dissolved,
and the Benedictine monks, probably more pious than
their superior, driven forth on the world to de-
plore in vain the pusillanimous desertion of their
abbot, and the secular clergy triumphed everywhere in
their stead. Edwin, misled by counsellors as hot-headed
as hinisilf, whose opinions were strengthened by the influ-
ence of the exasperated queen, waged war on all the monas-
teries' and by their sequestration forfeited the good opinion
of his subjects, who viewed the monks as beings of a supe-
rior order. No excuse can be offered for his conduct to his
grandmother, who from her birth and merits was univer-
sally beloved, and his cruel confiscation of all her estates
present* the only real indication of a corrupt heart. In rcs
gard to his other acts the power of the church had become
so excessive, and the part which Dunstan had taken against
the queen, and his authority was so undisguised, that he
was fully justified (if he hail possessed the power) to uproot
the one and moderate the other.
Disorder and cunfusioa were rapidly spreading over the
land; the Archbishop Otto viewed with horror the banish-
ment of Dunstan and the power of Elgiva ; and he headed
•anspiracy, strengthened by the numerous friends of Dun-
i*" to IMAIC/Iniue the authority of the king. Whether this
eemegirsey was fomented by the angry passions of Dunstan,
I leave my reader to imagine. The first open act of out-
zel a vengeance inflicted on Edwin, was a divorce
separated him from Elgiva. A strong party must
Mae piewerfu-ly seconded the ferocious spirit of the arch-
Whets se he dared to send a Lund of 'soldiers to fulfil his
demeou
aimibo, forcibly penetrating into the palace, seised
the Elgiva, and after branding her beautiful face
with • t iron, iu order effectually to destroy the power
of those triumphant charms, banished her to Ireland.
Whistwere the feelings of Edwin when he learned or
wintered the outrage history dues not record; but its
disuse is significant, and &aims how much his situation was
awed, when lie endured unrevenged the loss of his wife,
bland of using his authority to punish the horrible out-
age with the name spirit he had excercised to repel the
Ilimainsult to his authority. Elgiva's beauty, however, re-
covered from the creel marks inflicted on her by Odo. Rs-
vishina as ever, and impatient again to return to her husband,
she escaped from Ireland, and sought fur him at Gloucester.
Hearing of her arrrival, °do's satellites pursued and seized
her; vainly she called on the protection of a husband, on the
respect duo to a queen ; no pitying ear was near, no avenging
hand was raised to her aid ; the monsters in human form,
into a hose custody she had fallen, cut the muscles and sinews
of her legs to prevent her flight and the possibility of her re-
joining Edwin, leaving her in unutterable agonies to await
that death which soon terminated her excessive suffering.
The extraordinary cruelty indicted on Elgiva is only ex-
plained by the recollection that she had formed a party
against Dunstan and the monks. Iler opponents have in
her death given us au edifying specimen of the ferocity
with which the church considers henielfjustified in punish-
ing those who oppose her favourites, and refuse submission
to their grasping ambition.
The final quotation shows the termination of a dis-
pute of parties which had rent the kingdom.
DUNIITA24.I MIRACLE.
The exiled monks, driven from the kingdom by the Be-
nedictine., had taken refuge in numbers with the Scotch,
hence they now returned tilled with new hopes of restoration
and success. Each side was preparing an army to decide
such conflicting claims, and the kingdom was threatened
with the immediate prospect of a civil war likely to be
waged with peculiar animosity. But at this critical mo-
ment, while the sword was as yet but half drawn forth,
and none had advanced to shed the first blood, the
primate's voice was heard. Upheld by the sanctity
of his office, and the respect borne him by the nation,
he prevailed on the adverse chiefs to join with him
in convening a synod at Winchester, where the posture of
affairs could be peaceably considered. Ou this ecclesiastical
ground he felt iui his own sphere, and amid the lolly isles of
that ancient cathedral the clang of arms, and the warlike
array of the nobles, was dumb and powerless before the
gorgeous display of altars, of relics, of glittering processions
and costly garments, with the various accessories the church,
even in these days, could display. All the machinery of
1 that vivid appeal to the senses, so popular among an igno-
rant and superstitious people, was called into requisition to
captivate the e7e and blind the understanding the of assem-
bly. The archbishop, as he seated liirrself on the throne, and
remembered his own resources, surveyed the magnificent
scene around, and felt that by the superiority of his in-
tellect the day was already won ; assured that those whose
breasts then beat with rage, and whose minds were fixed
in determined opposition, would in a short space retire
humble, abject, and convinced.
The couueil was stormy, the debates tumultuous • at
length a number of voices called on Dunstan to speak,
all eyes were directed towardehim, and every ear was bent
in earnest attention.
A strange silence followed—the primate spoke not, bat
steadfastly directed his eye to the crucifix at the high altar,
which, marvellous to relate, became articulate, and amid
the awed hush of thc assembly uttered these words: "Far
be it from you—you have dune well—to change again,
would be wrung. ' Arising at the moment that every'
listener stood suspended in fear, dismay, or awe, at so
supernatural en event, Dunstan addressed the assembly,
and premed on them the monstrous impiety of disregarding
such a miraculous intervention. " What wish ye more?
cried he; "the divine voice has spoken." Descending
from his throne, the assembly retired in confusion, and the
conucil separated.
This scheme was so far successful that opposition was
quieted for the present, and none dared openly arraign the
Maishishop of a fraud, which was believed by the majority
le Man actual demonstration of the divine will. The ar- ,
Mlherefore, was signally happy, and I should seppose
Was thus time that Dunstan hail so especially
at
himself before the eyes of the nation as the vehicle
eithedivine will, that he announced the fact of his haling
MSS la a vision his own mother united to the Saviour of
Iles world, and repeated with pious unction a song learnt
tutim on the occasion from one of the attendant angels.
anecdote is the climax of the curiosities contained in
that invaluable repository, the Cleopatra MS., without,
whose valuable help I should want the very cream of my
narrative.
But alas, there is no accounting for the obstinacy of man-
kind; spite of the miraculous voice at Winchester, spite of
the video, sastantly seen by our mint, some adversaries
were NM Inn& hardy enough to oppose his will, and (as he
Isforantedl *the will of heaven. At the expiration of tour
=4,llllllllhelime of the former synod, these godless men'
all the ammibly of another assembly at Caine to
eseddie stew the flited points. Here then was Dun-
gan orb Ile meet with Mese Impious opposers of his pro-
)." Una =la who duel le doubt his infallibility, and he
resolved not to alien di tele weeps from his grasp so
lightly op baked dens et
If Mak obi }at Mel* lives must pay
the forfeit. The laYm mamboing salke plea of youth, and
Dunstan maid OM essilisted the deliberations of the
senned. ems/Wm elf
at beam.
eas_ Mile. rid threats and reproaches
nag at easy veplied in a short speech,
end* with Mass verde: . I submit the cause
et. the church M the deddies le Christ:" words no
sewer snared that the satire SIR grasir:::, and Dunstan
alone naminell Wooly sealed IS his throne. Numbers
were kiln eall may the victory was
gained, what awed thalgi=tewthsuataidst infamy was cam-