346 Lingard'5 Antiqtdiics of tJie Anglo-Saxon ChnrcJu Oct# Art. hi. The Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church. By the llev. John L[ngard. Second Edition# all the virtues of an historian, impartiality is the most rare. Contemporary authors arc exposed to bias by their enmities or tlmir affections; and, among general historians^ wc meet with none who are entirely exempt from national partial- ity, or coinpleleiy divested of the deep-rooted prejudices com- municated by sect or party. Even the candid temper and phi- losophic mind of f Iiiino were not proof against the influence of those passions It would be unreasonable, then, to expect that^ a Catholic clergyman, zeabn.Jy attached to his communion, should be able to write, with impartiality, the history of a pe- riod obscured and perplexed by the controversies of Catholic and Protestant. Let us do justice, however, to Mr Lingard. His work is the fruit of great labour and i*escarch. He has frequently detected, and exposed with success, though not without asperity, the er- rors of Protestant hi'^torians ; and if has sometimes treated his adversaries with flippant and offensive petulance, he has on many occasions pointed out and corrected their misrepresenta- tions and mistakes. We find no fault with the opinions, ex- pressed with freedom and supported with learning, which he has advanced and defended in nis history. His subject natural- ly led him to topics of discussion between Catholic and Protest- ant ; and wc cannot blame him for espousing the interests, and maintaining the doctrines, of his own church. The usefijjness of confession, the merilh of penance, and the advantages of ab- solution, we leave him to .settle with our divines, cannot say we feel much interest or curiosity about the form of words, in which our barbarous ancestors chose to clothe their ignorance of the mystery of transubstantiation ; but we can understand that Mr Lingard annexes importance to such inquiries. Wc can excuse his adipi» :ition of monks, arid listen with patience to bis eulogies of C( lil>;jcy. Wc neither believe in the miracles, nor can give our implicit assent to the virtues and merits of his saints and confessors ; but we agree with him in reprobating the rash and illiberal censures of modern historians, who stigmatize them in a body ns a collection of knaves and hypocrites. To the clergy of the dark ages, Europe owes much of her civiliza^ lion, her learning, and her liberty. But though we admire the warmth with which Mr Lingard vindicates the character of Uk'sc men from unjust aspersions and indiscriminate abuscj w>e 1815. Lingard^5 Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church. 34^7 cannot approve of the artifices he not unfrequently condescends to employ, in order to palliate their faults, or throw a veil over their crimes. Where it serves his purposes of vindication, we find him suppressing or perverting the evidence of our ancient historians, and giving a false and partial colouring to the trans- actions which they relate. By dealing thus uncandidly with his readers, we fear he has excluded his work, which, in its general ch{?racter is learned and liberal, from the place it would other- wise have justly merited among the best and most valuable of our modern histories. The instances we are going to adduce of this unfair and disingenuous conduct in Mr Lingard, relate, in general, to points of no great importance in themselves, but they show the spirit in which^his book is vvritten, and enable us to judge of the credit due to his conclusions, and of the confi- dence with which we may rely on his work as a safe and sure guide to historical twuh. The story of Edvvy and Elgiva has been told by Hume with his usual felicity of narration ; and no one, we will venture to say, has ever perused the history of their misfortunes, in the pages of that inimitable writer, without being inflamed with in- dignation against the rude violence of Dunstan, and the savage ferocity of Odo. We must confess that Mr Lingard has some- what dispelled the charm. After the minute investigation he has bestowed on the subject, little remains of the romantic sto- ry of Edwy and Elgiva that is deserving of credit. The lady banished to Ireland by Archbishop Odo, and murdered on her return from exile, was the mistress, not the wife of iidwy. Of this fact wc can bring evidence more direct and conclusive than th«N; produced by Mr Lingard. In the history of St Oswald by Eatlmer, there is the following decivivc passage, which seems to haveVliuled the researches of Mr Linganl, as it had escaped the noticc\f all our former historians. ‘ Edwins, qiii quartus a prmfato .telhclstano regni Aiiglorum sceptra tenebat, volup- tatuni amator magis quam dei, liixurim quam sobrictalis, li- bidinum urs, there was ano- ther reason alleged for his condemnation. And, in the second place, no ancient historian whom we have been able to consult, Im- putes the persecution of Du nstan to Ethclgiva; and, on the con- trary, every one who names the enemy of that celebrated Abbot, calls her Elgiva. According to Mathew of Westminster, it was Elgiva, who rebuked Dunstan for his unseasonable intrusion into the royal apartment, on the evening of the coronation ; it was Elgiva who poisoned the King’s mind against the holy man ; it was the same Elgiva who procured liis banishment, and endea- voured to put out his eyes ^ and it was the same Elgiva who was afterwards separated from the King by Odo, ‘ vel causa con- * sauguinitatis, vel quia illam ut adulterara adamavit. ’f Johii of Wallingford is in the same story. It was Elgiva whom a for- ward tongue, and coofidence in the King’s affection, prompt- ed to abuse Dunstan for his intrusion on the evening of the coronation; it was * impudens ilia mulicr’ who inflamed the animosity of Edwy against Dunstan and the monks; it was the hahd of the Queen which Dunstan ibuiid every where raised a- gainst him ; it was the hatred of the Queen which stirred up dis- cord in the convent of Glastonbury, and excited the greater part of the monks against their abbot: And it was the malevo- lence of the Queen, as well as of the King, which struck terror in his friends, and left him without aid or advice in his afflic- tions. X What does Mr Lingard oppose to this evideno^ r He takes no notice of it at all; he keeps it entirely ouj'of sight;, and boldly assumes the fact Umt Ethelgiva was the wrsecutor of Dunstan. In his indignation against her, he calls fi|er contemp- tuously * the woman ; ’ and, having prepared his re-iders by this phraseology for vvliat follows, he ingeniously quptf^H in illustra- tion of bis story, a passage from Wallingford, in wnfeh that his- torian says, * prrcntela mulicris prosequens — saned qculos cruere disponebat. ’ But he could not be ignorant, in makibg this quo- tatibn, that the ‘ mulier ’ of WaUingford was not his'* woman, * but the Queen. Mr Lingard is confident that * Edwy was not married to El- giva at the time of his coronation ; ’ but he is w illing to admits Scriptores XV. tom. i. p. 54-2. f p. 196. Edit, of 1601 X Scriptores XV.. tom. i. p. 543. 1 S 1 o. twingard V AiiHquiiies of the Ajigto- Saxon Church. 351 that, * after the banishment’ of Elhelgiva, the King * took EJgiva to his bed, as his mistress, or married her withiu thepro- J iibited degrees. ’ Of these two positions the first is doubtful; nd the second, as far as relates to the date of the marriage; certainly erroneous. That Edwy was married At the titne when Odo broke into his palace with a band of soldiers, we are ex- pressly told by Eadmer, in the passage formerly quoted from the life of St Oswald. That he was married before ihe’ exild of Ounstan, appears from the narrative of Wallingford, who re- })eatedly mentions the Queen among the enemies of that hol^ j)ersonage, Malnisbury informs us of his marriage before hp gives an account of his coronation; from whichTt seems reasbn- able to infer, as modern historians have done, that his marriage preceded that event. Mr Lingard, it is true, calls the expres- sion ambiguous, which speaks of the marriage ; and finds fault with Mr Carte for the boldness of his translation of it. ‘ Pro- xime cognatam invadens uxorem, ’ is the phrase of the historian^ and Mr Carte renders it, * the King had married a wife nearly Jrelated to him. ' We have nothing to urge for the latinity of Malmsbury ; but we confess there seems to us no doubt of his meaning. The monk of Ramsay had used almost the same phrase to express the same marriage. Speaking of Edwy, he says, ‘ cujusdam cognata3 suce eximiee speciei jiivencidae illicitum invasit matriinonium. ’f We own there are difficulties in the supposition of Edwy’s marriage with Elgiva, before his corona- tion ; and we must add, that after all the pains bestowed by Mr Langard in elucidating this portion of our history, there still re- mains great obscurity and uncertainty in parts of it. But we think'Sr. clearly proved, that Edwy was married before the ba- nishment of the woman sent to Ireland, and before the exile of Dunstan ; ‘^ind, from a passage in the history of Ramsay, we thiijk it prmablc, that it was the opposition of Dunstan to the marriage oil the King with his kinswoman, that converted the Queen into }be^ mortal enemy of tho Abbot. The separation of Edwy ancJ/T|giva, on the ground of consanguinity, did not take place till tly^ee years afterwards ; and, therefore, incredible It may ap|:^r to Mr Lingard, ‘ the active and inflexible Odo * wailed inree years before he performed that, which he must ‘ daily have considered as an imperious and indispensable duty. ’ But it is not in t!io history of Edwy and Elgiva only, Wherel we find Mr Idngard a disingenuous advocate arid partial histo- rian, wherever ihc reputation of saints is concerned. We shall give a few more example^ of the same spirit from other parts of the life of Duiistuii. I Gale, tom. i. p. 390. Z t ioi Lingard’5 Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church. Oct. The catastrophe at Caine, which bestowed a final' victory on the monks over the secular clergy, has been imputed by Mr Turner to the contrivance of Dunstan. Mr Lingard ridicules Mr Turner for the discovery, as he is pleased to call it, of * n * secret which, during almost eight centuries, had eluded the * observation of every historian ; * and, among other objections to the charge against the primate, he urges * the impolicy of ^ involving in the same fate his friends as well as his adversaria. * To confirm the impression he wishes to give of this transaction, he quotes * the simple narrative of the Saxon Chronicle, the * most faithful register of the times. ’ — * This year the principal * nobility of England fell at Caine from an upper floor, except * the holy Archbishop Dunstan, who stood upon a beam. And * some were grievously hurt, and some did not escape with their ‘ lives. * But why does he suppress the account of Osbern ? “ To Christ as judge (exclaimed Dunstan to the assembly) I commit the care of his church. " — ‘ Dixit et quod dixit irati dei cen- * sura firmavit. Moxenim concussa est domus, cCenaculum sub * pedibus solutom, hostes solo prmciphati ac ruentium trabinm * pondere oppress! sunt ; uhi vero cum stiis sanctus accubitabaty * ibi nulla ruins suflitsio fiebat. ’ * If Osbern is unworthy of credit, as an * injudicious biographer, whose anile curiosity col- lected and embellished every fatdc, ’ the same objection can- not be made to Eadmer, one of the best and most sensible of the monkish historians. But Eadmer informs us, that Dunstan having concluded his speech against the secular clergy by say- ing, * Domino deo cansani ecclesise sum contra insurgentes hos- * tes tuendam committo. Dixit ; et ecce solarium sub pedibus ‘ eorum, qui adversus virum conveiierant, e vestigiu ceciilit.-*om- ^ nesque pariter prmcipitatos in suo casu non modic^/h Imsit. * Ubt vero Dunstanus cum suis consistebat, nulla ruina domus, * nuUus emerserat casus. Hoc igitur modo calunin% clcricuruni * est sopita. ’ f After reading this account, we must own we are inclined to the opinion of Archbishop Parker, who, it seems, * ascribed the misfortune at Caln^, ’ as Mr Lingai]4gently terms it, * to a conspiracy between the devil and the m^,nk«. ’ In a council held at Winchester, * it b said that 'iji v«)icc issued * from a crucifix, exclaiming, ** All is well; make ^o change. ” * Mr Turner, with his usual fidelity and candour, ’ says Mr liingard, * describes this voice as an artifice of the primate: 1 * would rather say, that the whole history is no more than a * popular tale, adopted and perhaps improved by later writers: * it was unhtofwn to the more antient hiUoriaus.' Wiio are the * Auglia Sacra, tom. ii. p. 112. Ib. p. 220. IS 15. Lingard’j Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Chureh. S5S historians whom Mr Lingard has chosen on this occasion to dis- tinguish as the more antient, he has left us to guess. The story is to be found in Osbern, and is thus related by Eadmer. In « council held at Wincliester, to take into consideration a fition from the ejected clergyi the king and nobles, moved with pity for their distress, entreated Dunstan in their favour. The primate was silent, and with his eyes fixed on the ground, rje- vr>tvcd in his mind what was best to be done. The assembly in suspense waited for his answer. * Tunc subito crUcifixi del imago signo crucis in edito domus affixa audientibns cunctis dixit, ** Noi\ fiet, non fict. Judicastis bene, mutaretis noif ** bene. ” Tremefucto in his siinul universp conventu, intulit E ater Dunstanus, ct ait : Quid aniplius vultis, fratres Aei f >ivina sententia definitum audistis negotium prmsens. Aiunt^ audivimus vere. ’ $ Had it been the intention of the historian to have exposed Uie credulity of the age, anel knavery of the pri- mate, he could not have depicted them in plainer emours. Mr Lingard is disposed to triumph over Hume, on account of some trifling inaccuracies, into which that historian has fallen, in his narrative of an infamous act of sacrilege and brutality, perpetrated by Edgar, the great patron of the Monks. That prince carried off a lady by force from a convent, and commit- ted violence on her person ; for which offences he was sharply rebuked by Archbishop Dunstan, and compelled to do penance, Hume h.is taken his account of this transaction from Malms- bury ; and has very nearly giveo an exact transcript of the words of that author. — ‘ But it was his duty,’ says Mr Lingard, * to t^have collated the difierent passages; and not to have incauti- * ously imposed on himself, and insulted the credulity of hia * reJdjrs. The name of the lady, it seems, was not Editha, but Wulfrith ; and in this correction, Mr Lingard is in the right. — Si e was not a nun, but pupil to the nUns ; but though she is so described by Eadmer, and, in one place, by Malms- bury, Mrl^ingard is quite aware, that slie is Called by Osbem * deo devQ^A Christi ; ’ and that Malmsbu- ry, in hii^liistory, speaks of her as being * virginis deo dicaUe.’ — Hume tes said, * the king was not obliged, ’ by Dunstan, * to * separat^ himself fi'om his mistress ; * to whicli Mr Lingard tartly rejflies, ‘ they did separate;’ and refers for the fact to Malmsbury. When we look to Malmsbury, we find the follow- ing passage, on the separation of the king from bis tsistress— «• * ilia quoque ‘partu explicito voluptati frequentandse non inhse- * ait ; sed doluit potius et sprevit, sanctaque pro vero asseritur ^ Anglia Sacra, tom. ii. p. 112. i Ib. p. 2ld. 354i Lingard’s Anliquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church . Oct. ‘ et celebratur j ’ — from which it is quite clear, that the Arch- bishop did not scpaiate the king from hii mi-tress, but that Ed- gar continued to cohabit with her, or, as Malmsbnry expresses it, ‘ Non semel in thoro suo collocavit, ’ till she had brought him a child ; after which, she rctiretl of her own accord to a convent, like another Soeur Jeanne, to edify or provoke its in- mates with her repentance. Tho merit of the separation is, therefore, due to the lady, and not to the prelate, who seems to have tolerated the senndid for the sake of the penance. Hunic, it must be owned, has not related all the particulars of the ex- piation prescribed by the Archbishop for this offence. But how