diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod index 706e3822b3..f807d50ffd 100644 --- a/go.mod +++ b/go.mod @@ -15,6 +15,6 @@ require ( github.com/spf13/cobra v0.0.3 github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.3 // indirect github.com/stretchr/testify v1.4.0 - github.com/yahoo/athenz v1.8.55 github.com/valyala/gozstd v1.7.0 + github.com/yahoo/athenz v1.8.55 ) diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum index 1008e02a67..393865fca3 100644 --- a/go.sum +++ b/go.sum @@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ github.com/jawher/mow.cli v1.0.4/go.mod h1:5hQj2V8g+qYmLUVWqu4Wuja1pI57M83EChYLV github.com/jawher/mow.cli v1.1.0/go.mod h1:aNaQlc7ozF3vw6IJ2dHjp2ZFiA4ozMIYY6PyuRJwlUg= github.com/klauspost/compress v1.10.5 h1:7q6vHIqubShURwQz8cQK6yIe/xC3IF0Vm7TGfqjewrc= github.com/klauspost/compress v1.10.5/go.mod h1:aoV0uJVorq1K+umq18yTdKaF57EivdYsUV+/s2qKfXs= +github.com/klauspost/compress v1.10.8 h1:eLeJ3dr/Y9+XRfJT4l+8ZjmtB5RPJhucH2HeCV5+IZY= github.com/klauspost/compress v1.10.8/go.mod h1:aoV0uJVorq1K+umq18yTdKaF57EivdYsUV+/s2qKfXs= github.com/konsorten/go-windows-terminal-sequences v1.0.1 h1:mweAR1A6xJ3oS2pRaGiHgQ4OO8tzTaLawm8vnODuwDk= github.com/konsorten/go-windows-terminal-sequences v1.0.1/go.mod h1:T0+1ngSBFLxvqU3pZ+m/2kptfBszLMUkC4ZK/EgS/cQ= diff --git a/pulsar/internal/compression/compression_bench_test.go b/pulsar/internal/compression/compression_bench_test.go new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..8b4b1a73fa --- /dev/null +++ b/pulsar/internal/compression/compression_bench_test.go @@ -0,0 +1,92 @@ +// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one +// or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file +// distributed with this work for additional information +// regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file +// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the +// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance +// with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at +// +// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 +// +// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, +// software distributed under the License is distributed on an +// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY +// KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the +// specific language governing permissions and limitations +// under the License. + +package compression + +import ( + "io/ioutil" + "testing" +) + +var compressed int + +func testCompression(b *testing.B, provider Provider) { + data, err := ioutil.ReadFile("test_data_sample.txt") + if err != nil { + b.Error(err) + } + + dataLen := int64(len(data)) + + b.ResetTimer() + + for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ { + // Use len() to avoid the compiler optimizing the call away + compressed = len(provider.Compress(data)) + b.SetBytes(dataLen) + } +} + +func testDecompression(b *testing.B, provider Provider) { + // Read data sample file + data, err := ioutil.ReadFile("test_data_sample.txt") + if err != nil { + b.Error(err) + } + + dataCompressed := provider.Compress(data) + + dataLen := int64(len(data)) + + b.ResetTimer() + + for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ { + provider.Decompress(dataCompressed, int(dataLen)) + b.SetBytes(dataLen) + } +} + +var benchmarkProviders = []testProvider{ + {"zlib", ZLibProvider, nil}, + {"lz4", Lz4Provider, nil}, + {"zstd-pure-go-fastest", newPureGoZStdProvider(1), nil}, + {"zstd-pure-go-default", newPureGoZStdProvider(2), nil}, + {"zstd-pure-go-best", newPureGoZStdProvider(3), nil}, + {"zstd-cgo-level-fastest", newCGoZStdProvider(1), nil}, + {"zstd-cgo-level-default", newCGoZStdProvider(3), nil}, + {"zstd-cgo-level-best", newCGoZStdProvider(9), nil}, +} + +func BenchmarkCompression(b *testing.B) { + b.ReportAllocs() + for _, provider := range benchmarkProviders { + p := provider + b.Run(p.name, func(b *testing.B) { + testCompression(b, p.provider) + }) + } +} + +func BenchmarkDecompression(b *testing.B) { + b.ReportAllocs() + for _, provider := range benchmarkProviders { + p := provider + b.Run(p.name, func(b *testing.B) { + testDecompression(b, p.provider) + }) + } +} diff --git a/pulsar/internal/compression/test_data_sample.txt b/pulsar/internal/compression/test_data_sample.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..89e3e4787a --- /dev/null +++ b/pulsar/internal/compression/test_data_sample.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1795 @@ +**The Project Gutenberg Etext of A Child's History of England** +#11 in our series by Charles Dickens + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +A Child's History of England + +by Charles Dickens + +October, 1996 [Etext #699] + + +**The Project Gutenberg Etext of A Child's History of England** +*****This file should be named achoe10.txt or achoe10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, achoe11.txt. +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, achoe10a.txt. + + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, for time for better editing. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. To be sure you have an +up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes +in the first week of the next month. Since our ftp program has +a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a +look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a +new copy has at least one byte more or less. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +fifty hours is one conservative estimate for how long it we take +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-two text +files per month: or 400 more Etexts in 1996 for a total of 800. +If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the +total should reach 80 billion Etexts. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by the December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000=Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only 10% of the present number of computer users. 2001 +should have at least twice as many computer users as that, so it +will require us reaching less than 5% of the users in 2001. + + +We need your donations more than ever! + + +All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/BU": and are +tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. (BU = Benedictine +University). (Subscriptions to our paper newsletter go to BU.) + +For these and other matters, please mail to: + +Project Gutenberg +P. O. Box 2782 +Champaign, IL 61825 + +When all other email fails try our Executive Director: +Michael S. Hart + +We would prefer to send you this information by email +(Internet, Bitnet, Compuserve, ATTMAIL or MCImail). + +****** +If you have an FTP program (or emulator), please +FTP directly to the Project Gutenberg archives: +[Mac users, do NOT point and click. . .type] + +ftp uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd etext/etext90 through /etext96 +or cd etext/articles [get suggest gut for more information] +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET INDEX?00.GUT +for a list of books +and +GET NEW GUT for general information +and +MGET GUT* for newsletters. + +**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor** +(Three Pages) + + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG- +tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor +Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at +Benedictine University (the "Project"). Among other +things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this +etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, +officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost +and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or +indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause: +[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification, +or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- + cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the + net profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association / Benedictine + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Benedictine University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +A Child's History of England by Charles Dickens +Scanned and Proofed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + + +A Child's History of England + + + + +CHAPTER I - ANCIENT ENGLAND AND THE ROMANS + + + +IF you look at a Map of the World, you will see, in the left-hand +upper corner of the Eastern Hemisphere, two Islands lying in the +sea. They are England and Scotland, and Ireland. England and +Scotland form the greater part of these Islands. Ireland is the +next in size. The little neighbouring islands, which are so small +upon the Map as to be mere dots, are chiefly little bits of +Scotland, - broken off, I dare say, in the course of a great length +of time, by the power of the restless water. + +In the old days, a long, long while ago, before Our Saviour was +born on earth and lay asleep in a manger, these Islands were in the +same place, and the stormy sea roared round them, just as it roars +now. But the sea was not alive, then, with great ships and brave +sailors, sailing to and from all parts of the world. It was very +lonely. The Islands lay solitary, in the great expanse of water. +The foaming waves dashed against their cliffs, and the bleak winds +blew over their forests; but the winds and waves brought no +adventurers to land upon the Islands, and the savage Islanders knew +nothing of the rest of the world, and the rest of the world knew +nothing of them. + +It is supposed that the Phoenicians, who were an ancient people, +famous for carrying on trade, came in ships to these Islands, and +found that they produced tin and lead; both very useful things, as +you know, and both produced to this very hour upon the sea-coast. +The most celebrated tin mines in Cornwall are, still, close to the +sea. One of them, which I have seen, is so close to it that it is +hollowed out underneath the ocean; and the miners say, that in +stormy weather, when they are at work down in that deep place, they +can hear the noise of the waves thundering above their heads. So, +the Phoenicians, coasting about the Islands, would come, without +much difficulty, to where the tin and lead were. + +The Phoenicians traded with the Islanders for these metals, and +gave the Islanders some other useful things in exchange. The +Islanders were, at first, poor savages, going almost naked, or only +dressed in the rough skins of beasts, and staining their bodies, as +other savages do, with coloured earths and the juices of plants. +But the Phoenicians, sailing over to the opposite coasts of France +and Belgium, and saying to the people there, 'We have been to those +white cliffs across the water, which you can see in fine weather, +and from that country, which is called BRITAIN, we bring this tin +and lead,' tempted some of the French and Belgians to come over +also. These people settled themselves on the south coast of +England, which is now called Kent; and, although they were a rough +people too, they taught the savage Britons some useful arts, and +improved that part of the Islands. It is probable that other +people came over from Spain to Ireland, and settled there. + +Thus, by little and little, strangers became mixed with the +Islanders, and the savage Britons grew into a wild, bold people; +almost savage, still, especially in the interior of the country +away from the sea where the foreign settlers seldom went; but +hardy, brave, and strong. + +The whole country was covered with forests, and swamps. The +greater part of it was very misty and cold. There were no roads, +no bridges, no streets, no houses that you would think deserving of +the name. A town was nothing but a collection of straw-covered +huts, hidden in a thick wood, with a ditch all round, and a low +wall, made of mud, or the trunks of trees placed one upon another. +The people planted little or no corn, but lived upon the flesh of +their flocks and cattle. They made no coins, but used metal rings +for money. They were clever in basket-work, as savage people often +are; and they could make a coarse kind of cloth, and some very bad +earthenware. But in building fortresses they were much more +clever. + +They made boats of basket-work, covered with the skins of animals, +but seldom, if ever, ventured far from the shore. They made +swords, of copper mixed with tin; but, these swords were of an +awkward shape, and so soft that a heavy blow would bend one. They +made light shields, short pointed daggers, and spears - which they +jerked back after they had thrown them at an enemy, by a long strip +of leather fastened to the stem. The butt-end was a rattle, to +frighten an enemy's horse. The ancient Britons, being divided into +as many as thirty or forty tribes, each commanded by its own little +king, were constantly fighting with one another, as savage people +usually do; and they always fought with these weapons. + +They were very fond of horses. The standard of Kent was the +picture of a white horse. They could break them in and manage them +wonderfully well. Indeed, the horses (of which they had an +abundance, though they were rather small) were so well taught in +those days, that they can scarcely be said to have improved since; +though the men are so much wiser. They understood, and obeyed, +every word of command; and would stand still by themselves, in all +the din and noise of battle, while their masters went to fight on +foot. The Britons could not have succeeded in their most +remarkable art, without the aid of these sensible and trusty +animals. The art I mean, is the construction and management of +war-chariots or cars, for which they have ever been celebrated in +history. Each of the best sort of these chariots, not quite breast +high in front, and open at the back, contained one man to drive, +and two or three others to fight - all standing up. The horses who +drew them were so well trained, that they would tear, at full +gallop, over the most stony ways, and even through the woods; +dashing down their masters' enemies beneath their hoofs, and +cutting them to pieces with the blades of swords, or scythes, which +were fastened to the wheels, and stretched out beyond the car on +each side, for that cruel purpose. In a moment, while at full +speed, the horses would stop, at the driver's command. The men +within would leap out, deal blows about them with their swords like +hail, leap on the horses, on the pole, spring back into the +chariots anyhow; and, as soon as they were safe, the horses tore +away again. + +The Britons had a strange and terrible religion, called the +Religion of the Druids. It seems to have been brought over, in +very early times indeed, from the opposite country of France, +anciently called Gaul, and to have mixed up the worship of the +Serpent, and of the Sun and Moon, with the worship of some of the +Heathen Gods and Goddesses. Most of its ceremonies were kept +secret by the priests, the Druids, who pretended to be enchanters, +and who carried magicians' wands, and wore, each of them, about his +neck, what he told the ignorant people was a Serpent's egg in a +golden case. But it is certain that the Druidical ceremonies +included the sacrifice of human victims, the torture of some +suspected criminals, and, on particular occasions, even the burning +alive, in immense wicker cages, of a number of men and animals +together. The Druid Priests had some kind of veneration for the +Oak, and for the mistletoe - the same plant that we hang up in +houses at Christmas Time now - when its white berries grew upon the +Oak. They met together in dark woods, which they called Sacred +Groves; and there they instructed, in their mysterious arts, young +men who came to them as pupils, and who sometimes stayed with them +as long as twenty years. + +These Druids built great Temples and altars, open to the sky, +fragments of some of which are yet remaining. Stonehenge, on +Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, is the most extraordinary of these. +Three curious stones, called Kits Coty House, on Bluebell Hill, +near Maidstone, in Kent, form another. We know, from examination +of the great blocks of which such buildings are made, that they +could not have been raised without the aid of some ingenious +machines, which are common now, but which the ancient Britons +certainly did not use in making their own uncomfortable houses. I +should not wonder if the Druids, and their pupils who stayed with +them twenty years, knowing more than the rest of the Britons, kept +the people out of sight while they made these buildings, and then +pretended that they built them by magic. Perhaps they had a hand +in the fortresses too; at all events, as they were very powerful, +and very much believed in, and as they made and executed the laws, +and paid no taxes, I don't wonder that they liked their trade. +And, as they persuaded the people the more Druids there were, the +better off the people would be, I don't wonder that there were a +good many of them. But it is pleasant to think that there are no +Druids, NOW, who go on in that way, and pretend to carry +Enchanters' Wands and Serpents' Eggs - and of course there is +nothing of the kind, anywhere. + +Such was the improved condition of the ancient Britons, fifty-five +years before the birth of Our Saviour, when the Romans, under their +great General, Julius Caesar, were masters of all the rest of the +known world. Julius Caesar had then just conquered Gaul; and +hearing, in Gaul, a good deal about the opposite Island with the +white cliffs, and about the bravery of the Britons who inhabited it +- some of whom had been fetched over to help the Gauls in the war +against him - he resolved, as he was so near, to come and conquer +Britain next. + +So, Julius Caesar came sailing over to this Island of ours, with +eighty vessels and twelve thousand men. And he came from the +French coast between Calais and Boulogne, 'because thence was the +shortest passage into Britain;' just for the same reason as our +steam-boats now take the same track, every day. He expected to +conquer Britain easily: but it was not such easy work as he +supposed - for the bold Britons fought most bravely; and, what with +not having his horse-soldiers with him (for they had been driven +back by a storm), and what with having some of his vessels dashed +to pieces by a high tide after they were drawn ashore, he ran great +risk of being totally defeated. However, for once that the bold +Britons beat him, he beat them twice; though not so soundly but +that he was very glad to accept their proposals of peace, and go +away. + +But, in the spring of the next year, he came back; this time, with +eight hundred vessels and thirty thousand men. The British tribes +chose, as their general-in-chief, a Briton, whom the Romans in +their Latin language called CASSIVELLAUNUS, but whose British name +is supposed to have been CASWALLON. A brave general he was, and +well he and his soldiers fought the Roman army! So well, that +whenever in that war the Roman soldiers saw a great cloud of dust, +and heard the rattle of the rapid British chariots, they trembled +in their hearts. Besides a number of smaller battles, there was a +battle fought near Canterbury, in Kent; there was a battle fought +near Chertsey, in Surrey; there was a battle fought near a marshy +little town in a wood, the capital of that part of Britain which +belonged to CASSIVELLAUNUS, and which was probably near what is now +Saint Albans, in Hertfordshire. However, brave CASSIVELLAUNUS had +the worst of it, on the whole; though he and his men always fought +like lions. As the other British chiefs were jealous of him, and +were always quarrelling with him, and with one another, he gave up, +and proposed peace. Julius Caesar was very glad to grant peace +easily, and to go away again with all his remaining ships and men. +He had expected to find pearls in Britain, and he may have found a +few for anything I know; but, at all events, he found delicious +oysters, and I am sure he found tough Britons - of whom, I dare +say, he made the same complaint as Napoleon Bonaparte the great +French General did, eighteen hundred years afterwards, when he said +they were such unreasonable fellows that they never knew when they +were beaten. They never DID know, I believe, and never will. + +Nearly a hundred years passed on, and all that time, there was +peace in Britain. The Britons improved their towns and mode of +life: became more civilised, travelled, and learnt a great deal +from the Gauls and Romans. At last, the Roman Emperor, Claudius, +sent AULUS PLAUTIUS, a skilful general, with a mighty force, to +subdue the Island, and shortly afterwards arrived himself. They +did little; and OSTORIUS SCAPULA, another general, came. Some of +the British Chiefs of Tribes submitted. Others resolved to fight +to the death. Of these brave men, the bravest was CARACTACUS, or +CARADOC, who gave battle to the Romans, with his army, among the +mountains of North Wales. 'This day,' said he to his soldiers, +'decides the fate of Britain! Your liberty, or your eternal +slavery, dates from this hour. Remember your brave ancestors, who +drove the great Caesar himself across the sea!' On hearing these +words, his men, with a great shout, rushed upon the Romans. But +the strong Roman swords and armour were too much for the weaker +British weapons in close conflict. The Britons lost the day. The +wife and daughter of the brave CARACTACUS were taken prisoners; his +brothers delivered themselves up; he himself was betrayed into the +hands of the Romans by his false and base stepmother: and they +carried him, and all his family, in triumph to Rome. + +But a great man will be great in misfortune, great in prison, great +in chains. His noble air, and dignified endurance of distress, so +touched the Roman people who thronged the streets to see him, that +he and his family were restored to freedom. No one knows whether +his great heart broke, and he died in Rome, or whether he ever +returned to his own dear country. English oaks have grown up from +acorns, and withered away, when they were hundreds of years old - +and other oaks have sprung up in their places, and died too, very +aged - since the rest of the history of the brave CARACTACUS was +forgotten. + +Still, the Britons WOULD NOT yield. They rose again and again, and +died by thousands, sword in hand. They rose, on every possible +occasion. SUETONIUS, another Roman general, came, and stormed the +Island of Anglesey (then called MONA), which was supposed to be +sacred, and he burnt the Druids in their own wicker cages, by their +own fires. But, even while he was in Britain, with his victorious +troops, the BRITONS rose. Because BOADICEA, a British queen, the +widow of the King of the Norfolk and Suffolk people, resisted the +plundering of her property by the Romans who were settled in +England, she was scourged, by order of CATUS a Roman officer; and +her two daughters were shamefully insulted in her presence, and her +husband's relations were made slaves. To avenge this injury, the +Britons rose, with all their might and rage. They drove CATUS into +Gaul; they laid the Roman possessions waste; they forced the Romans +out of London, then a poor little town, but a trading place; they +hanged, burnt, crucified, and slew by the sword, seventy thousand +Romans in a few days. SUETONIUS strengthened his army, and +advanced to give them battle. They strengthened their army, and +desperately attacked his, on the field where it was strongly +posted. Before the first charge of the Britons was made, BOADICEA, +in a war-chariot, with her fair hair streaming in the wind, and her +injured daughters lying at her feet, drove among the troops, and +cried to them for vengeance on their oppressors, the licentious +Romans. The Britons fought to the last; but they were vanquished +with great slaughter, and the unhappy queen took poison. + +Still, the spirit of the Britons was not broken. When SUETONIUS +left the country, they fell upon his troops, and retook the Island +of Anglesey. AGRICOLA came, fifteen or twenty years afterwards, +and retook it once more, and devoted seven years to subduing the +country, especially that part of it which is now called SCOTLAND; +but, its people, the Caledonians, resisted him at every inch of +ground. They fought the bloodiest battles with him; they killed +their very wives and children, to prevent his making prisoners of +them; they fell, fighting, in such great numbers that certain hills +in Scotland are yet supposed to be vast heaps of stones piled up +above their graves. HADRIAN came, thirty years afterwards, and +still they resisted him. SEVERUS came, nearly a hundred years +afterwards, and they worried his great army like dogs, and rejoiced +to see them die, by thousands, in the bogs and swamps. CARACALLA, +the son and successor of SEVERUS, did the most to conquer them, for +a time; but not by force of arms. He knew how little that would +do. He yielded up a quantity of land to the Caledonians, and gave +the Britons the same privileges as the Romans possessed. There was +peace, after this, for seventy years. + +Then new enemies arose. They were the Saxons, a fierce, sea-faring +people from the countries to the North of the Rhine, the great +river of Germany on the banks of which the best grapes grow to make +the German wine. They began to come, in pirate ships, to the sea- +coast of Gaul and Britain, and to plunder them. They were repulsed +by CARAUSIUS, a native either of Belgium or of Britain, who was +appointed by the Romans to the command, and under whom the Britons +first began to fight upon the sea. But, after this time, they +renewed their ravages. A few years more, and the Scots (which was +then the name for the people of Ireland), and the Picts, a northern +people, began to make frequent plundering incursions into the South +of Britain. All these attacks were repeated, at intervals, during +two hundred years, and through a long succession of Roman Emperors +and chiefs; during all which length of time, the Britons rose +against the Romans, over and over again. At last, in the days of +the Roman HONORIUS, when the Roman power all over the world was +fast declining, and when Rome wanted all her soldiers at home, the +Romans abandoned all hope of conquering Britain, and went away. +And still, at last, as at first, the Britons rose against them, in +their old brave manner; for, a very little while before, they had +turned away the Roman magistrates, and declared themselves an +independent people. + +Five hundred years had passed, since Julius Caesar's first invasion +of the Island, when the Romans departed from it for ever. In the +course of that time, although they had been the cause of terrible +fighting and bloodshed, they had done much to improve the condition +of the Britons. They had made great military roads; they had built +forts; they had taught them how to dress, and arm themselves, much +better than they had ever known how to do before; they had refined +the whole British way of living. AGRICOLA had built a great wall +of earth, more than seventy miles long, extending from Newcastle to +beyond Carlisle, for the purpose of keeping out the Picts and +Scots; HADRIAN had strengthened it; SEVERUS, finding it much in +want of repair, had built it afresh of stone. + +Above all, it was in the Roman time, and by means of Roman ships, +that the Christian Religion was first brought into Britain, and its +people first taught the great lesson that, to be good in the sight +of GOD, they must love their neighbours as themselves, and do unto +others as they would be done by. The Druids declared that it was +very wicked to believe in any such thing, and cursed all the people +who did believe it, very heartily. But, when the people found that +they were none the better for the blessings of the Druids, and none +the worse for the curses of the Druids, but, that the sun shone and +the rain fell without consulting the Druids at all, they just began +to think that the Druids were mere men, and that it signified very +little whether they cursed or blessed. After which, the pupils of +the Druids fell off greatly in numbers, and the Druids took to +other trades. + +Thus I have come to the end of the Roman time in England. It is +but little that is known of those five hundred years; but some +remains of them are still found. Often, when labourers are digging +up the ground, to make foundations for houses or churches, they +light on rusty money that once belonged to the Romans. Fragments +of plates from which they ate, of goblets from which they drank, +and of pavement on which they trod, are discovered among the earth +that is broken by the plough, or the dust that is crumbled by the +gardener's spade. Wells that the Romans sunk, still yield water; +roads that the Romans made, form part of our highways. In some old +battle-fields, British spear-heads and Roman armour have been +found, mingled together in decay, as they fell in the thick +pressure of the fight. Traces of Roman camps overgrown with grass, +and of mounds that are the burial-places of heaps of Britons, are +to be seen in almost all parts of the country. Across the bleak +moors of Northumberland, the wall of SEVERUS, overrun with moss and +weeds, still stretches, a strong ruin; and the shepherds and their +dogs lie sleeping on it in the summer weather. On Salisbury Plain, +Stonehenge yet stands: a monument of the earlier time when the +Roman name was unknown in Britain, and when the Druids, with their +best magic wands, could not have written it in the sands of the +wild sea-shore. + + + +CHAPTER II - ANCIENT ENGLAND UNDER THE EARLY SAXONS + + + +THE Romans had scarcely gone away from Britain, when the Britons +began to wish they had never left it. For, the Romans being gone, +and the Britons being much reduced in numbers by their long wars, +the Picts and Scots came pouring in, over the broken and unguarded +wall of SEVERUS, in swarms. They plundered the richest towns, and +killed the people; and came back so often for more booty and more +slaughter, that the unfortunate Britons lived a life of terror. As +if the Picts and Scots were not bad enough on land, the Saxons +attacked the islanders by sea; and, as if something more were still +wanting to make them miserable, they quarrelled bitterly among +themselves as to what prayers they ought to say, and how they ought +to say them. The priests, being very angry with one another on +these questions, cursed one another in the heartiest manner; and +(uncommonly like the old Druids) cursed all the people whom they +could not persuade. So, altogether, the Britons were very badly +off, you may believe. + +They were in such distress, in short, that they sent a letter to +Rome entreating help - which they called the Groans of the Britons; +and in which they said, 'The barbarians chase us into the sea, the +sea throws us back upon the barbarians, and we have only the hard +choice left us of perishing by the sword, or perishing by the +waves.' But, the Romans could not help them, even if they were so +inclined; for they had enough to do to defend themselves against +their own enemies, who were then very fierce and strong. At last, +the Britons, unable to bear their hard condition any longer, +resolved to make peace with the Saxons, and to invite the Saxons to +come into their country, and help them to keep out the Picts and +Scots. + +It was a British Prince named VORTIGERN who took this resolution, +and who made a treaty of friendship with HENGIST and HORSA, two +Saxon chiefs. Both of these names, in the old Saxon language, +signify Horse; for the Saxons, like many other nations in a rough +state, were fond of giving men the names of animals, as Horse, +Wolf, Bear, Hound. The Indians of North America, - a very inferior +people to the Saxons, though - do the same to this day. + +HENGIST and HORSA drove out the Picts and Scots; and VORTIGERN, +being grateful to them for that service, made no opposition to +their settling themselves in that part of England which is called +the Isle of Thanet, or to their inviting over more of their +countrymen to join them. But HENGIST had a beautiful daughter +named ROWENA; and when, at a feast, she filled a golden goblet to +the brim with wine, and gave it to VORTIGERN, saying in a sweet +voice, 'Dear King, thy health!' the King fell in love with her. My +opinion is, that the cunning HENGIST meant him to do so, in order +that the Saxons might have greater influence with him; and that the +fair ROWENA came to that feast, golden goblet and all, on purpose. + +At any rate, they were married; and, long afterwards, whenever the +King was angry with the Saxons, or jealous of their encroachments, +ROWENA would put her beautiful arms round his neck, and softly say, +'Dear King, they are my people! Be favourable to them, as you +loved that Saxon girl who gave you the golden goblet of wine at the +feast!' And, really, I don't see how the King could help himself. + +Ah! We must all die! In the course of years, VORTIGERN died - he +was dethroned, and put in prison, first, I am afraid; and ROWENA +died; and generations of Saxons and Britons died; and events that +happened during a long, long time, would have been quite forgotten +but for the tales and songs of the old Bards, who used to go about +from feast to feast, with their white beards, recounting the deeds +of their forefathers. Among the histories of which they sang and +talked, there was a famous one, concerning the bravery and virtues +of KING ARTHUR, supposed to have been a British Prince in those old +times. But, whether such a person really lived, or whether there +were several persons whose histories came to be confused together +under that one name, or whether all about him was invention, no one +knows. + +I will tell you, shortly, what is most interesting in the early +Saxon times, as they are described in these songs and stories of +the Bards. + +In, and long after, the days of VORTIGERN, fresh bodies of Saxons, +under various chiefs, came pouring into Britain. One body, +conquering the Britons in the East, and settling there, called +their kingdom Essex; another body settled in the West, and called +their kingdom Wessex; the Northfolk, or Norfolk people, established +themselves in one place; the Southfolk, or Suffolk people, +established themselves in another; and gradually seven kingdoms or +states arose in England, which were called the Saxon Heptarchy. +The poor Britons, falling back before these crowds of fighting men +whom they had innocently invited over as friends, retired into +Wales and the adjacent country; into Devonshire, and into Cornwall. +Those parts of England long remained unconquered. And in Cornwall +now - where the sea-coast is very gloomy, steep, and rugged - +where, in the dark winter-time, ships have often been wrecked close +to the land, and every soul on board has perished - where the winds +and waves howl drearily and split the solid rocks into arches and +caverns - there are very ancient ruins, which the people call the +ruins of KING ARTHUR'S Castle. + +Kent is the most famous of the seven Saxon kingdoms, because the +Christian religion was preached to the Saxons there (who domineered +over the Britons too much, to care for what THEY said about their +religion, or anything else) by AUGUSTINE, a monk from Rome. KING +ETHELBERT, of Kent, was soon converted; and the moment he said he +was a Christian, his courtiers all said THEY were Christians; after +which, ten thousand of his subjects said they were Christians too. +AUGUSTINE built a little church, close to this King's palace, on +the ground now occupied by the beautiful cathedral of Canterbury. +SEBERT, the King's nephew, built on a muddy marshy place near +London, where there had been a temple to Apollo, a church dedicated +to Saint Peter, which is now Westminster Abbey. And, in London +itself, on the foundation of a temple to Diana, he built another +little church which has risen up, since that old time, to be Saint +Paul's. + +After the death of ETHELBERT, EDWIN, King of Northumbria, who was +such a good king that it was said a woman or child might openly +carry a purse of gold, in his reign, without fear, allowed his +child to be baptised, and held a great council to consider whether +he and his people should all be Christians or not. It was decided +that they should be. COIFI, the chief priest of the old religion, +made a great speech on the occasion. In this discourse, he told +the people that he had found out the old gods to be impostors. 'I +am quite satisfied of it,' he said. 'Look at me! I have been +serving them all my life, and they have done nothing for me; +whereas, if they had been really powerful, they could not have +decently done less, in return for all I have done for them, than +make my fortune. As they have never made my fortune, I am quite +convinced they are impostors!' When this singular priest had +finished speaking, he hastily armed himself with sword and lance, +mounted a war-horse, rode at a furious gallop in sight of all the +people to the temple, and flung his lance against it as an insult. +From that time, the Christian religion spread itself among the +Saxons, and became their faith. + +The next very famous prince was EGBERT. He lived about a hundred +and fifty years afterwards, and claimed to have a better right to +the throne of Wessex than BEORTRIC, another Saxon prince who was at +the head of that kingdom, and who married EDBURGA, the daughter of +OFFA, king of another of the seven kingdoms. This QUEEN EDBURGA +was a handsome murderess, who poisoned people when they offended +her. One day, she mixed a cup of poison for a certain noble +belonging to the court; but her husband drank of it too, by +mistake, and died. Upon this, the people revolted, in great +crowds; and running to the palace, and thundering at the gates, +cried, 'Down with the wicked queen, who poisons men!' They drove +her out of the country, and abolished the title she had disgraced. +When years had passed away, some travellers came home from Italy, +and said that in the town of Pavia they had seen a ragged beggar- +woman, who had once been handsome, but was then shrivelled, bent, +and yellow, wandering about the streets, crying for bread; and that +this beggar-woman was the poisoning English queen. It was, indeed, +EDBURGA; and so she died, without a shelter for her wretched head. + +EGBERT, not considering himself safe in England, in consequence of +his having claimed the crown of Wessex (for he thought his rival +might take him prisoner and put him to death), sought refuge at the +court of CHARLEMAGNE, King of France. On the death of BEORTRIC, so +unhappily poisoned by mistake, EGBERT came back to Britain; +succeeded to the throne of Wessex; conquered some of the other +monarchs of the seven kingdoms; added their territories to his own; +and, for the first time, called the country over which he ruled, +ENGLAND. + +And now, new enemies arose, who, for a long time, troubled England +sorely. These were the Northmen, the people of Denmark and Norway, +whom the English called the Danes. They were a warlike people, +quite at home upon the sea; not Christians; very daring and cruel. +They came over in ships, and plundered and burned wheresoever they +landed. Once, they beat EGBERT in battle. Once, EGBERT beat them. +But, they cared no more for being beaten than the English +themselves. In the four following short reigns, of ETHELWULF, and +his sons, ETHELBALD, ETHELBERT, and ETHELRED, they came back, over +and over again, burning and plundering, and laying England waste. +In the last-mentioned reign, they seized EDMUND, King of East +England, and bound him to a tree. Then, they proposed to him that +he should change his religion; but he, being a good Christian, +steadily refused. Upon that, they beat him, made cowardly jests +upon him, all defenceless as he was, shot arrows at him, and, +finally, struck off his head. It is impossible to say whose head +they might have struck off next, but for the death of KING ETHELRED +from a wound he had received in fighting against them, and the +succession to his throne of the best and wisest king that ever +lived in England. + + + +CHAPTER III - ENGLAND UNDER THE GOOD SAXON, ALFRED + + + +ALFRED THE GREAT was a young man, three-and-twenty years of age, +when he became king. Twice in his childhood, he had been taken to +Rome, where the Saxon nobles were in the habit of going on journeys +which they supposed to be religious; and, once, he had stayed for +some time in Paris. Learning, however, was so little cared for, +then, that at twelve years old he had not been taught to read; +although, of the sons of KING ETHELWULF, he, the youngest, was the +favourite. But he had - as most men who grow up to be great and +good are generally found to have had - an excellent mother; and, +one day, this lady, whose name was OSBURGA, happened, as she was +sitting among her sons, to read a book of Saxon poetry. The art of +printing was not known until long and long after that period, and +the book, which was written, was what is called 'illuminated,' with +beautiful bright letters, richly painted. The brothers admiring it +very much, their mother said, 'I will give it to that one of you +four princes who first learns to read.' ALFRED sought out a tutor +that very day, applied himself to learn with great diligence, and +soon won the book. He was proud of it, all his life. + +This great king, in the first year of his reign, fought nine +battles with the Danes. He made some treaties with them too, by +which the false Danes swore they would quit the country. They +pretended to consider that they had taken a very solemn oath, in +swearing this upon the holy bracelets that they wore, and which +were always buried with them when they died; but they cared little +for it, for they thought nothing of breaking oaths and treaties +too, as soon as it suited their purpose, and coming back again to +fight, plunder, and burn, as usual. One fatal winter, in the +fourth year of KING ALFRED'S reign, they spread themselves in great +numbers over the whole of England; and so dispersed and routed the +King's soldiers that the King was left alone, and was obliged to +disguise himself as a common peasant, and to take refuge in the +cottage of one of his cowherds who did not know his face. + +Here, KING ALFRED, while the Danes sought him far and near, was +left alone one day, by the cowherd's wife, to watch some cakes +which she put to bake upon the hearth. But, being at work upon his +bow and arrows, with which he hoped to punish the false Danes when +a brighter time should come, and thinking deeply of his poor +unhappy subjects whom the Danes chased through the land, his noble +mind forgot the cakes, and they were burnt. 'What!' said the +cowherd's wife, who scolded him well when she came back, and little +thought she was scolding the King, 'you will be ready enough to eat +them by-and-by, and yet you cannot watch them, idle dog?' + +At length, the Devonshire men made head against a new host of Danes +who landed on their coast; killed their chief, and captured their +flag; on which was represented the likeness of a Raven - a very fit +bird for a thievish army like that, I think. The loss of their +standard troubled the Danes greatly, for they believed it to be +enchanted - woven by the three daughters of one father in a single +afternoon - and they had a story among themselves that when they +were victorious in battle, the Raven stretched his wings and seemed +to fly; and that when they were defeated, he would droop. He had +good reason to droop, now, if he could have done anything half so +sensible; for, KING ALFRED joined the Devonshire men; made a camp +with them on a piece of firm ground in the midst of a bog in +Somersetshire; and prepared for a great attempt for vengeance on +the Danes, and the deliverance of his oppressed people. + +But, first, as it was important to know how numerous those +pestilent Danes were, and how they were fortified, KING ALFRED, +being a good musician, disguised himself as a glee-man or minstrel, +and went, with his harp, to the Danish camp. He played and sang in +the very tent of GUTHRUM the Danish leader, and entertained the +Danes as they caroused. While he seemed to think of nothing but +his music, he was watchful of their tents, their arms, their +discipline, everything that he desired to know. And right soon did +this great king entertain them to a different tune; for, summoning +all his true followers to meet him at an appointed place, where +they received him with joyful shouts and tears, as the monarch whom +many of them had given up for lost or dead, he put himself at their +head, marched on the Danish camp, defeated the Danes with great +slaughter, and besieged them for fourteen days to prevent their +escape. But, being as merciful as he was good and brave, he then, +instead of killing them, proposed peace: on condition that they +should altogether depart from that Western part of England, and +settle in the East; and that GUTHRUM should become a Christian, in +remembrance of the Divine religion which now taught his conqueror, +the noble ALFRED, to forgive the enemy who had so often injured +him. This, GUTHRUM did. At his baptism, KING ALFRED was his +godfather. And GUTHRUM was an honourable chief who well deserved +that clemency; for, ever afterwards he was loyal and faithful to +the king. The Danes under him were faithful too. They plundered +and burned no more, but worked like honest men. They ploughed, and +sowed, and reaped, and led good honest English lives. And I hope +the children of those Danes played, many a time, with Saxon +children in the sunny fields; and that Danish young men fell in +love with Saxon girls, and married them; and that English +travellers, benighted at the doors of Danish cottages, often went +in for shelter until morning; and that Danes and Saxons sat by the +red fire, friends, talking of KING ALFRED THE GREAT. + +All the Danes were not like these under GUTHRUM; for, after some +years, more of them came over, in the old plundering and burning +way - among them a fierce pirate of the name of HASTINGS, who had +the boldness to sail up the Thames to Gravesend, with eighty ships. +For three years, there was a war with these Danes; and there was a +famine in the country, too, and a plague, both upon human creatures +and beasts. But KING ALFRED, whose mighty heart never failed him, +built large ships nevertheless, with which to pursue the pirates on +the sea; and he encouraged his soldiers, by his brave example, to +fight valiantly against them on the shore. At last, he drove them +all away; and then there was repose in England. + +As great and good in peace, as he was great and good in war, KING +ALFRED never rested from his labours to improve his people. He +loved to talk with clever men, and with travellers from foreign +countries, and to write down what they told him, for his people to +read. He had studied Latin after learning to read English, and now +another of his labours was, to translate Latin books into the +English-Saxon tongue, that his people might be interested, and +improved by their contents. He made just laws, that they might +live more happily and freely; he turned away all partial judges, +that no wrong might be done them; he was so careful of their +property, and punished robbers so severely, that it was a common +thing to say that under the great KING ALFRED, garlands of golden +chains and jewels might have hung across the streets, and no man +would have touched one. He founded schools; he patiently heard +causes himself in his Court of Justice; the great desires of his +heart were, to do right to all his subjects, and to leave England +better, wiser, happier in all ways, than he found it. His industry +in these efforts was quite astonishing. Every day he divided into +certain portions, and in each portion devoted himself to a certain +pursuit. That he might divide his time exactly, he had wax torches +or candles made, which were all of the same size, were notched +across at regular distances, and were always kept burning. Thus, +as the candles burnt down, he divided the day into notches, almost +as accurately as we now divide it into hours upon the clock. But +when the candles were first invented, it was found that the wind +and draughts of air, blowing into the palace through the doors and +windows, and through the chinks in the walls, caused them to gutter +and burn unequally. To prevent this, the King had them put into +cases formed of wood and white horn. And these were the first +lanthorns ever made in England. + +All this time, he was afflicted with a terrible unknown disease, +which caused him violent and frequent pain that nothing could +relieve. He bore it, as he had borne all the troubles of his life, +like a brave good man, until he was fifty-three years old; and +then, having reigned thirty years, he died. He died in the year +nine hundred and one; but, long ago as that is, his fame, and the +love and gratitude with which his subjects regarded him, are +freshly remembered to the present hour. + +In the next reign, which was the reign of EDWARD, surnamed THE +ELDER, who was chosen in council to succeed, a nephew of KING +ALFRED troubled the country by trying to obtain the throne. The +Danes in the East of England took part with this usurper (perhaps +because they had honoured his uncle so much, and honoured him for +his uncle's sake), and there was hard fighting; but, the King, with +the assistance of his sister, gained the day, and reigned in peace +for four and twenty years. He gradually extended his power over +the whole of England, and so the Seven Kingdoms were united into +one. + +When England thus became one kingdom, ruled over by one Saxon king, +the Saxons had been settled in the country more than four hundred +and fifty years. Great changes had taken place in its customs +during that time. The Saxons were still greedy eaters and great +drinkers, and their feasts were often of a noisy and drunken kind; +but many new comforts and even elegances had become known, and were +fast increasing. Hangings for the walls of rooms, where, in these +modern days, we paste up paper, are known to have been sometimes +made of silk, ornamented with birds and flowers in needlework. +Tables and chairs were curiously carved in different woods; were +sometimes decorated with gold or silver; sometimes even made of +those precious metals. Knives and spoons were used at table; +golden ornaments were worn - with silk and cloth, and golden +tissues and embroideries; dishes were made of gold and silver, +brass and bone. There were varieties of drinking-horns, bedsteads, +musical instruments. A harp was passed round, at a feast, like the +drinking-bowl, from guest to guest; and each one usually sang or +played when his turn came. The weapons of the Saxons were stoutly +made, and among them was a terrible iron hammer that gave deadly +blows, and was long remembered. The Saxons themselves were a +handsome people. The men were proud of their long fair hair, +parted on the forehead; their ample beards, their fresh +complexions, and clear eyes. The beauty of the Saxon women filled +all England with a new delight and grace. + +I have more to tell of the Saxons yet, but I stop to say this now, +because under the GREAT ALFRED, all the best points of the English- +Saxon character were first encouraged, and in him first shown. It +has been the greatest character among the nations of the earth. +Wherever the descendants of the Saxon race have gone, have sailed, +or otherwise made their way, even to the remotest regions of the +world, they have been patient, persevering, never to be broken in +spirit, never to be turned aside from enterprises on which they +have resolved. In Europe, Asia, Africa, America, the whole world +over; in the desert, in the forest, on the sea; scorched by a +burning sun, or frozen by ice that never melts; the Saxon blood +remains unchanged. Wheresoever that race goes, there, law, and +industry, and safety for life and property, and all the great +results of steady perseverance, are certain to arise. + +I pause to think with admiration, of the noble king who, in his +single person, possessed all the Saxon virtues. Whom misfortune +could not subdue, whom prosperity could not spoil, whose +perseverance nothing could shake. Who was hopeful in defeat, and +generous in success. Who loved justice, freedom, truth, and +knowledge. Who, in his care to instruct his people, probably did +more to preserve the beautiful old Saxon language, than I can +imagine. Without whom, the English tongue in which I tell this +story might have wanted half its meaning. As it is said that his +spirit still inspires some of our best English laws, so, let you +and I pray that it may animate our English hearts, at least to this +- to resolve, when we see any of our fellow-creatures left in +ignorance, that we will do our best, while life is in us, to have +them taught; and to tell those rulers whose duty it is to teach +them, and who neglect their duty, that they have profited very +little by all the years that have rolled away since the year nine +hundred and one, and that they are far behind the bright example of +KING ALFRED THE GREAT. + + + +CHAPTER IV - ENGLAND UNDER ATHELSTAN AND THE SIX BOY-KINGS + + + +ATHELSTAN, the son of Edward the Elder, succeeded that king. He +reigned only fifteen years; but he remembered the glory of his +grandfather, the great Alfred, and governed England well. He +reduced the turbulent people of Wales, and obliged them to pay him +a tribute in money, and in cattle, and to send him their best hawks +and hounds. He was victorious over the Cornish men, who were not +yet quite under the Saxon government. He restored such of the old +laws as were good, and had fallen into disuse; made some wise new +laws, and took care of the poor and weak. A strong alliance, made +against him by ANLAF a Danish prince, CONSTANTINE King of the +Scots, and the people of North Wales, he broke and defeated in one +great battle, long famous for the vast numbers slain in it. After +that, he had a quiet reign; the lords and ladies about him had +leisure to become polite and agreeable; and foreign princes were +glad (as they have sometimes been since) to come to England on +visits to the English court. + +When Athelstan died, at forty-seven years old, his brother EDMUND, +who was only eighteen, became king. He was the first of six boy- +kings, as you will presently know. + +They called him the Magnificent, because he showed a taste for +improvement and refinement. But he was beset by the Danes, and had +a short and troubled reign, which came to a troubled end. One +night, when he was feasting in his hall, and had eaten much and +drunk deep, he saw, among the company, a noted robber named LEOF, +who had been banished from England. Made very angry by the +boldness of this man, the King turned to his cup-bearer, and said, +'There is a robber sitting at the table yonder, who, for his +crimes, is an outlaw in the land - a hunted wolf, whose life any +man may take, at any time. Command that robber to depart!' 'I +will not depart!' said Leof. 'No?' cried the King. 'No, by the +Lord!' said Leof. Upon that the King rose from his seat, and, +making passionately at the robber, and seizing him by his long +hair, tried to throw him down. But the robber had a dagger +underneath his cloak, and, in the scuffle, stabbed the King to +death. That done, he set his back against the wall, and fought so +desperately, that although he was soon cut to pieces by the King's +armed men, and the wall and pavement were splashed with his blood, +yet it was not before he had killed and wounded many of them. You +may imagine what rough lives the kings of those times led, when one +of them could struggle, half drunk, with a public robber in his own +dining-hall, and be stabbed in presence of the company who ate and +drank with him. + +Then succeeded the boy-king EDRED, who was weak and sickly in body, +but of a strong mind. And his armies fought the Northmen, the +Danes, and Norwegians, or the Sea-Kings, as they were called, and +beat them for the time. And, in nine years, Edred died, and passed +away. + +Then came the boy-king EDWY, fifteen years of age; but the real +king, who had the real power, was a monk named DUNSTAN - a clever +priest, a little mad, and not a little proud and cruel. + +Dunstan was then Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, whither the body of +King Edmund the Magnificent was carried, to be buried. While yet a +boy, he had got out of his bed one night (being then in a fever), +and walked about Glastonbury Church when it was under repair; and, +because he did not tumble off some scaffolds that were there, and +break his neck, it was reported that he had been shown over the +building by an angel. He had also made a harp that was said to +play of itself - which it very likely did, as AEolian Harps, which +are played by the wind, and are understood now, always do. For +these wonders he had been once denounced by his enemies, who were +jealous of his favour with the late King Athelstan, as a magician; +and he had been waylaid, bound hand and foot, and thrown into a +marsh. But he got out again, somehow, to cause a great deal of +trouble yet. + +The priests of those days were, generally, the only scholars. They +were learned in many things. Having to make their own convents and +monasteries on uncultivated grounds that were granted to them by +the Crown, it was necessary that they should be good farmers and +good gardeners, or their lands would have been too poor to support +them. For the decoration of the chapels where they prayed, and for +the comfort of the refectories where they ate and drank, it was +necessary that there should be good carpenters, good smiths, good +painters, among them. For their greater safety in sickness and +accident, living alone by themselves in solitary places, it was +necessary that they should study the virtues of plants and herbs, +and should know how to dress cuts, burns, scalds, and bruises, and +how to set broken limbs. Accordingly, they taught themselves, and +one another, a great variety of useful arts; and became skilful in +agriculture, medicine, surgery, and handicraft. And when they +wanted the aid of any little piece of machinery, which would be +simple enough now, but was marvellous then, to impose a trick upon +the poor peasants, they knew very well how to make it; and DID make +it many a time and often, I have no doubt. + +Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, was one of the most sagacious +of these monks. He was an ingenious smith, and worked at a forge +in a little cell. This cell was made too short to admit of his +lying at full length when he went to sleep - as if THAT did any +good to anybody! - and he used to tell the most extraordinary lies +about demons and spirits, who, he said, came there to persecute +him. For instance, he related that one day when he was at work, +the devil looked in at the little window, and tried to tempt him to +lead a life of idle pleasure; whereupon, having his pincers in the +fire, red hot, he seized the devil by the nose, and put him to such +pain, that his bellowings were heard for miles and miles. Some +people are inclined to think this nonsense a part of Dunstan's +madness (for his head never quite recovered the fever), but I think +not. I observe that it induced the ignorant people to consider him +a holy man, and that it made him very powerful. Which was exactly +what he always wanted. + +On the day of the coronation of the handsome boy-king Edwy, it was +remarked by ODO, Archbishop of Canterbury (who was a Dane by +birth), that the King quietly left the coronation feast, while all +the company were there. Odo, much displeased, sent his friend +Dunstan to seek him. Dunstan finding him in the company of his +beautiful young wife ELGIVA, and her mother ETHELGIVA, a good and +virtuous lady, not only grossly abused them, but dragged the young +King back into the feasting-hall by force. Some, again, think +Dunstan did this because the young King's fair wife was his own +cousin, and the monks objected to people marrying their own +cousins; but I believe he did it, because he was an imperious, +audacious, ill-conditioned priest, who, having loved a young lady +himself before he became a sour monk, hated all love now, and +everything belonging to it. + +The young King was quite old enough to feel this insult. Dunstan +had been Treasurer in the last reign, and he soon charged Dunstan +with having taken some of the last king's money. The Glastonbury +Abbot fled to Belgium (very narrowly escaping some pursuers who +were sent to put out his eyes, as you will wish they had, when you +read what follows), and his abbey was given to priests who were +married; whom he always, both before and afterwards, opposed. But +he quickly conspired with his friend, Odo the Dane, to set up the +King's young brother, EDGAR, as his rival for the throne; and, not +content with this revenge, he caused the beautiful queen Elgiva, +though a lovely girl of only seventeen or eighteen, to be stolen +from one of the Royal Palaces, branded in the cheek with a red-hot +iron, and sold into slavery in Ireland. But the Irish people +pitied and befriended her; and they said, 'Let us restore the girl- +queen to the boy-king, and make the young lovers happy!' and they +cured her of her cruel wound, and sent her home as beautiful as +before. But the villain Dunstan, and that other villain, Odo, +caused her to be waylaid at Gloucester as she was joyfully hurrying +to join her husband, and to be hacked and hewn with swords, and to +be barbarously maimed and lamed, and left to die. When Edwy the +Fair (his people called him so, because he was so young and +handsome) heard of her dreadful fate, he died of a broken heart; +and so the pitiful story of the poor young wife and husband ends! +Ah! Better to be two cottagers in these better times, than king +and queen of England in those bad days, though never so fair! + +Then came the boy-king, EDGAR, called the Peaceful, fifteen years +old. Dunstan, being still the real king, drove all married priests +out of the monasteries and abbeys, and replaced them by solitary +monks like himself, of the rigid order called the Benedictines. He +made himself Archbishop of Canterbury, for his greater glory; and +exercised such power over the neighbouring British princes, and so +collected them about the King, that once, when the King held his +court at Chester, and went on the river Dee to visit the monastery +of St. John, the eight oars of his boat were pulled (as the people +used to delight in relating in stories and songs) by eight crowned +kings, and steered by the King of England. As Edgar was very +obedient to Dunstan and the monks, they took great pains to +represent him as the best of kings. But he was really profligate, +debauched, and vicious. He once forcibly carried off a young lady +from the convent at Wilton; and Dunstan, pretending to be very much +shocked, condemned him not to wear his crown upon his head for +seven years - no great punishment, I dare say, as it can hardly +have been a more comfortable ornament to wear, than a stewpan +without a handle. His marriage with his second wife, ELFRIDA, is +one of the worst events of his reign. Hearing of the beauty of +this lady, he despatched his favourite courtier, ATHELWOLD, to her +father's castle in Devonshire, to see if she were really as +charming as fame reported. Now, she was so exceedingly beautiful +that Athelwold fell in love with her himself, and married her; but +he told the King that she was only rich - not handsome. The King, +suspecting the truth when they came home, resolved to pay the +newly-married couple a visit; and, suddenly, told Athelwold to +prepare for his immediate coming. Athelwold, terrified, confessed +to his young wife what he had said and done, and implored her to +disguise her beauty by some ugly dress or silly manner, that he +might be safe from the King's anger. She promised that she would; +but she was a proud woman, who would far rather have been a queen +than the wife of a courtier. She dressed herself in her best +dress, and adorned herself with her richest jewels; and when the +King came, presently, he discovered the cheat. So, he caused his +false friend, Athelwold, to be murdered in a wood, and married his +widow, this bad Elfrida. Six or seven years afterwards, he died; +and was buried, as if he had been all that the monks said he was, +in the abbey of Glastonbury, which he - or Dunstan for him - had +much enriched. + +England, in one part of this reign, was so troubled by wolves, +which, driven out of the open country, hid themselves in the +mountains of Wales when they were not attacking travellers and +animals, that the tribute payable by the Welsh people was forgiven +them, on condition of their producing, every year, three hundred +wolves' heads. And the Welshmen were so sharp upon the wolves, to +save their money, that in four years there was not a wolf left. + +Then came the boy-king, EDWARD, called the Martyr, from the manner +of his death. Elfrida had a son, named ETHELRED, for whom she +claimed the throne; but Dunstan did not choose to favour him, and +he made Edward king. The boy was hunting, one day, down in +Dorsetshire, when he rode near to Corfe Castle, where Elfrida and +Ethelred lived. Wishing to see them kindly, he rode away from his +attendants and galloped to the castle gate, where he arrived at +twilight, and blew his hunting-horn. 'You are welcome, dear King,' +said Elfrida, coming out, with her brightest smiles. 'Pray you +dismount and enter.' 'Not so, dear madam,' said the King. 'My +company will miss me, and fear that I have met with some harm. +Please you to give me a cup of wine, that I may drink here, in the +saddle, to you and to my little brother, and so ride away with the +good speed I have made in riding here.' Elfrida, going in to bring +the wine, whispered an armed servant, one of her attendants, who +stole out of the darkening gateway, and crept round behind the +King's horse. As the King raised the cup to his lips, saying, +'Health!' to the wicked woman who was smiling on him, and to his +innocent brother whose hand she held in hers, and who was only ten +years old, this armed man made a spring and stabbed him in the +back. He dropped the cup and spurred his horse away; but, soon +fainting with loss of blood, dropped from the saddle, and, in his +fall, entangled one of his feet in the stirrup. The frightened +horse dashed on; trailing his rider's curls upon the ground; +dragging his smooth young face through ruts, and stones, and +briers, and fallen leaves, and mud; until the hunters, tracking the +animal's course by the King's blood, caught his bridle, and +released the disfigured body. + +Then came the sixth and last of the boy-kings, ETHELRED, whom +Elfrida, when he cried out at the sight of his murdered brother +riding away from the castle gate, unmercifully beat with a torch +which she snatched from one of the attendants. The people so +disliked this boy, on account of his cruel mother and the murder +she had done to promote him, that Dunstan would not have had him +for king, but would have made EDGITHA, the daughter of the dead +King Edgar, and of the lady whom he stole out of the convent at +Wilton, Queen of England, if she would have consented. But she +knew the stories of the youthful kings too well, and would not be +persuaded from the convent where she lived in peace; so, Dunstan +put Ethelred on the throne, having no one else to put there, and +gave him the nickname of THE UNREADY - knowing that he wanted +resolution and firmness. + +At first, Elfrida possessed great influence over the young King, +but, as he grew older and came of age, her influence declined. The +infamous woman, not having it in her power to do any more evil, +then retired from court, and, according, to the fashion of the +time, built churches and monasteries, to expiate her guilt. As if +a church, with a steeple reaching to the very stars, would have +been any sign of true repentance for the blood of the poor boy, +whose murdered form was trailed at his horse's heels! As if she +could have buried her wickedness beneath the senseless stones of +the whole world, piled up one upon another, for the monks to live +in! + +About the ninth or tenth year of this reign, Dunstan died. He was +growing old then, but was as stern and artful as ever. Two +circumstances that happened in connexion with him, in this reign of +Ethelred, made a great noise. Once, he was present at a meeting of +the Church, when the question was discussed whether priests should +have permission to marry; and, as he sat with his head hung down, +apparently thinking about it, a voice seemed to come out of a +crucifix in the room, and warn the meeting to be of his opinion. +This was some juggling of Dunstan's, and was probably his own voice +disguised. But he played off a worse juggle than that, soon +afterwards; for, another meeting being held on the same subject, +and he and his supporters being seated on one side of a great room, +and their opponents on the other, he rose and said, 'To Christ +himself, as judge, do I commit this cause!' Immediately on these +words being spoken, the floor where the opposite party sat gave +way, and some were killed and many wounded. You may be pretty sure +that it had been weakened under Dunstan's direction, and that it +fell at Dunstan's signal. HIS part of the floor did not go down. +No, no. He was too good a workman for that. + +When he died, the monks settled that he was a Saint, and called him +Saint Dunstan ever afterwards. They might just as well have +settled that he was a coach-horse, and could just as easily have +called him one. + +Ethelred the Unready was glad enough, I dare say, to be rid of this +holy saint; but, left to himself, he was a poor weak king, and his +reign was a reign of defeat and shame. The restless Danes, led by +SWEYN, a son of the King of Denmark who had quarrelled with his +father and had been banished from home, again came into England, +and, year after year, attacked and despoiled large towns. To coax +these sea-kings away, the weak Ethelred paid them money; but, the +more money he paid, the more money the Danes wanted. At first, he +gave them ten thousand pounds; on their next invasion, sixteen +thousand pounds; on their next invasion, four and twenty thousand +pounds: to pay which large sums, the unfortunate English people +were heavily taxed. But, as the Danes still came back and wanted +more, he thought it would be a good plan to marry into some +powerful foreign family that would help him with soldiers. So, in +the year one thousand and two, he courted and married Emma, the +sister of Richard Duke of Normandy; a lady who was called the +Flower of Normandy. + +And now, a terrible deed was done in England, the like of which was +never done on English ground before or since. On the thirteenth of +November, in pursuance of secret instructions sent by the King over +the whole country, the inhabitants of every town and city armed, +and murdered all the Danes who were their neighbours. + +Young and old, babies and soldiers, men and women, every Dane was +killed. No doubt there were among them many ferocious men who had +done the English great wrong, and whose pride and insolence, in +swaggering in the houses of the English and insulting their wives +and daughters, had become unbearable; but no doubt there were also +among them many peaceful Christian Danes who had married English +women and become like English men. They were all slain, even to +GUNHILDA, the sister of the King of Denmark, married to an English +lord; who was first obliged to see the murder of her husband and +her child, and then was killed herself. + +When the King of the sea-kings heard of this deed of blood, he +swore that he would have a great revenge. He raised an army, and a +mightier fleet of ships than ever yet had sailed to England; and in +all his army there was not a slave or an old man, but every soldier +was a free man, and the son of a free man, and in the prime of +life, and sworn to be revenged upon the English nation, for the +massacre of that dread thirteenth of November, when his countrymen +and countrywomen, and the little children whom they loved, were +killed with fire and sword. And so, the sea-kings came to England +in many great ships, each bearing the flag of its own commander. +Golden eagles, ravens, dragons, dolphins, beasts of prey, +threatened England from the prows of those ships, as they came +onward through the water; and were reflected in the shining shields +that hung upon their sides. The ship that bore the standard of the +King of the sea-kings was carved and painted like a mighty serpent; +and the King in his anger prayed that the Gods in whom he trusted +might all desert him, if his serpent did not strike its fangs into +England's heart. + +And indeed it did. For, the great army landing from the great +fleet, near Exeter, went forward, laying England waste, and +striking their lances in the earth as they advanced, or throwing +them into rivers, in token of their making all the island theirs. +In remembrance of the black November night when the Danes were +murdered, wheresoever the invaders came, they made the Saxons +prepare and spread for them great feasts; and when they had eaten +those feasts, and had drunk a curse to England with wild +rejoicings, they drew their swords, and killed their Saxon +entertainers, and marched on. For six long years they carried on +this war: burning the crops, farmhouses, barns, mills, granaries; +killing the labourers in the fields; preventing the seed from being +sown in the ground; causing famine and starvation; leaving only +heaps of ruin and smoking ashes, where they had found rich towns. +To crown this misery, English officers and men deserted, and even +the favourites of Ethelred the Unready, becoming traitors, seized +many of the English ships, turned pirates against their own +country, and aided by a storm occasioned the loss of nearly the +whole English navy. + +There was but one man of note, at this miserable pass, who was true +to his country and the feeble King. He was a priest, and a brave +one. For twenty days, the Archbishop of Canterbury defended that +city against its Danish besiegers; and when a traitor in the town +threw the gates open and admitted them, he said, in chains, 'I will +not buy my life with money that must be extorted from the suffering +people. Do with me what you please!' Again and again, he steadily +refused to purchase his release with gold wrung from the poor. + +At last, the Danes being tired of this, and being assembled at a +drunken merry-making, had him brought into the feasting-hall. + +'Now, bishop,' they said, 'we want gold!' + +He looked round on the crowd of angry faces; from the shaggy beards +close to him, to the shaggy beards against the walls, where men +were mounted on tables and forms to see him over the heads of +others: and he knew that his time was come. + +'I have no gold,' he said. + +'Get it, bishop!' they all thundered. + +'That, I have often told you I will not,' said he. + +They gathered closer round him, threatening, but he stood unmoved. +Then, one man struck him; then, another; then a cursing soldier +picked up from a heap in a corner of the hall, where fragments had +been rudely thrown at dinner, a great ox-bone, and cast it at his +face, from which the blood came spurting forth; then, others ran to +the same heap, and knocked him down with other bones, and bruised +and battered him; until one soldier whom he had baptised (willing, +as I hope for the sake of that soldier's soul, to shorten the +sufferings of the good man) struck him dead with his battle-axe. + +If Ethelred had had the heart to emulate the courage of this noble +archbishop, he might have done something yet. But he paid the +Danes forty-eight thousand pounds, instead, and gained so little by +the cowardly act, that Sweyn soon afterwards came over to subdue +all England. So broken was the attachment of the English people, +by this time, to their incapable King and their forlorn country +which could not protect them, that they welcomed Sweyn on all +sides, as a deliverer. London faithfully stood out, as long as the +King was within its walls; but, when he sneaked away, it also +welcomed the Dane. Then, all was over; and the King took refuge +abroad with the Duke of Normandy, who had already given shelter to +the King's wife, once the Flower of that country, and to her +children. + +Still, the English people, in spite of their sad sufferings, could +not quite forget the great King Alfred and the Saxon race. When +Sweyn died suddenly, in little more than a month after he had been +proclaimed King of England, they generously sent to Ethelred, to +say that they would have him for their King again, 'if he would +only govern them better than he had governed them before.' The +Unready, instead of coming himself, sent Edward, one of his sons, +to make promises for him. At last, he followed, and the English +declared him King. The Danes declared CANUTE, the son of Sweyn, +King. Thus, direful war began again, and lasted for three years, +when the Unready died. And I know of nothing better that he did, +in all his reign of eight and thirty years. + +Was Canute to be King now? Not over the Saxons, they said; they +must have EDMUND, one of the sons of the Unready, who was surnamed +IRONSIDE, because of his strength and stature. Edmund and Canute +thereupon fell to, and fought five battles - O unhappy England, +what a fighting-ground it was! - and then Ironside, who was a big +man, proposed to Canute, who was a little man, that they two should +fight it out in single combat. If Canute had been the big man, he +would probably have said yes, but, being the little man, he +decidedly said no. However, he declared that he was willing to +divide the kingdom - to take all that lay north of Watling Street, +as the old Roman military road from Dover to Chester was called, +and to give Ironside all that lay south of it. Most men being +weary of so much bloodshed, this was done. But Canute soon became +sole King of England; for Ironside died suddenly within two months. +Some think that he was killed, and killed by Canute's orders. No +one knows. + + + +CHAPTER V - ENGLAND UNDER CANUTE THE DANE + + + +CANUTE reigned eighteen years. He was a merciless King at first. +After he had clasped the hands of the Saxon chiefs, in token of the +sincerity with which he swore to be just and good to them in return +for their acknowledging him, he denounced and slew many of them, as +well as many relations of the late King. 'He who brings me the +head of one of my enemies,' he used to say, 'shall be dearer to me +than a brother.' And he was so severe in hunting down his enemies, +that he must have got together a pretty large family of these dear +brothers. He was strongly inclined to kill EDMUND and EDWARD, two +children, sons of poor Ironside; but, being afraid to do so in +England, he sent them over to the King of Sweden, with a request +that the King would be so good as 'dispose of them.' If the King +of Sweden had been like many, many other men of that day, he would +have had their innocent throats cut; but he was a kind man, and +brought them up tenderly. + +Normandy ran much in Canute's mind. In Normandy were the two +children of the late king - EDWARD and ALFRED by name; and their +uncle the Duke might one day claim the crown for them. But the +Duke showed so little inclination to do so now, that he proposed to +Canute to marry his sister, the widow of The Unready; who, being +but a showy flower, and caring for nothing so much as becoming a +queen again, left her children and was wedded to him. + +Successful and triumphant, assisted by the valour of the English in +his foreign wars, and with little strife to trouble him at home, +Canute had a prosperous reign, and made many improvements. He was +a poet and a musician. He grew sorry, as he grew older, for the +blood he had shed at first; and went to Rome in a Pilgrim's dress, +by way of washing it out. He gave a great deal of money to +foreigners on his journey; but he took it from the English before +he started. On the whole, however, he certainly became a far +better man when he had no opposition to contend with, and was as +great a King as England had known for some time. + +The old writers of history relate how that Canute was one day +disgusted with his courtiers for their flattery, and how he caused +his chair to be set on the sea-shore, and feigned to command the +tide as it came up not to wet the edge of his robe, for the land +was his; how the tide came up, of course, without regarding him; +and how he then turned to his flatterers, and rebuked them, saying, +what was the might of any earthly king, to the might of the +Creator, who could say unto the sea, 'Thus far shalt thou go, and +no farther!' We may learn from this, I think, that a little sense +will go a long way in a king; and that courtiers are not easily +cured of flattery, nor kings of a liking for it. If the courtiers +of Canute had not known, long before, that the King was fond of +flattery, they would have known better than to offer it in such +large doses. And if they had not known that he was vain of this +speech (anything but a wonderful speech it seems to me, if a good +child had made it), they would not have been at such great pains to +repeat it. I fancy I see them all on the sea-shore together; the +King's chair sinking in the sand; the King in a mighty good humour +with his own wisdom; and the courtiers pretending to be quite +stunned by it! + +It is not the sea alone that is bidden to go 'thus far, and no +farther.' The great command goes forth to all the kings upon the +earth, and went to Canute in the year one thousand and thirty-five, +and stretched him dead upon his bed. Beside it, stood his Norman +wife. Perhaps, as the King looked his last upon her, he, who had +so often thought distrustfully of Normandy, long ago, thought once +more of the two exiled Princes in their uncle's court, and of the +little favour they could feel for either Danes or Saxons, and of a +rising cloud in Normandy that slowly moved towards England. + + + +CHAPTER VI - ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD HAREFOOT, HARDICANUTE, AND EDWARD +THE CONFESSOR + + + +CANUTE left three sons, by name SWEYN, HAROLD, and HARDICANUTE; but +his Queen, Emma, once the Flower of Normandy, was the mother of +only Hardicanute. Canute had wished his dominions to be divided +between the three, and had wished Harold to have England; but the +Saxon people in the South of England, headed by a nobleman with +great possessions, called the powerful EARL GODWIN (who is said to +have been originally a poor cow-boy), opposed this, and desired to +have, instead, either Hardicanute, or one of the two exiled Princes +who were over in Normandy. It seemed so certain that there would +be more bloodshed to settle this dispute, that many people left +their homes, and took refuge in the woods and swamps. Happily, +however, it was agreed to refer the whole question to a great +meeting at Oxford, which decided that Harold should have all the +country north of the Thames, with London for his capital city, and +that Hardicanute should have all the south. The quarrel was so +arranged; and, as Hardicanute was in Denmark troubling himself very +little about anything but eating and getting drunk, his mother and +Earl Godwin governed the south for him. + +They had hardly begun to do so, and the trembling people who had +hidden themselves were scarcely at home again, when Edward, the +elder of the two exiled Princes, came over from Normandy with a few +followers, to claim the English Crown. His mother Emma, however, +who only cared for her last son Hardicanute, instead of assisting +him, as he expected, opposed him so strongly with all her influence +that he was very soon glad to get safely back. His brother Alfred +was not so fortunate. Believing in an affectionate letter, written +some time afterwards to him and his brother, in his mother's name +(but whether really with or without his mother's knowledge is now +uncertain), he allowed himself to be tempted over to England, with +a good force of soldiers, and landing on the Kentish coast, and +being met and welcomed by Earl Godwin, proceeded into Surrey, as +far as the town of Guildford. Here, he and his men halted in the +evening to rest, having still the Earl in their company; who had +ordered lodgings and good cheer for them. But, in the dead of the +night, when they were off their guard, being divided into small +parties sleeping soundly after a long march and a plentiful supper +in different houses, they were set upon by the King's troops, and +taken prisoners. Next morning they were drawn out in a line, to +the number of six hundred men, and were barbarously tortured and +killed; with the exception of every tenth man, who was sold into +slavery. As to the wretched Prince Alfred, he was stripped naked, +tied to a horse and sent away into the Isle of Ely, where his eyes +were torn out of his head, and where in a few days he miserably +died. I am not sure that the Earl had wilfully entrapped him, but +I suspect it strongly. + +Harold was now King all over England, though it is doubtful whether +the Archbishop of Canterbury (the greater part of the priests were +Saxons, and not friendly to the Danes) ever consented to crown him. +Crowned or uncrowned, with the Archbishop's leave or without it, he +was King for four years: after which short reign he died, and was +buried; having never done much in life but go a hunting. He was +such a fast runner at this, his favourite sport, that the people +called him Harold Harefoot. + +Hardicanute was then at Bruges, in Flanders, plotting, with his +mother (who had gone over there after the cruel murder of Prince +Alfred), for the invasion of England. The Danes and Saxons, +finding themselves without a King, and dreading new disputes, made +common cause, and joined in inviting him to occupy the Throne. He +consented, and soon troubled them enough; for he brought over +numbers of Danes, and taxed the people so insupportably to enrich +those greedy favourites that there were many insurrections, +especially one at Worcester, where the citizens rose and killed his +tax-collectors; in revenge for which he burned their city. He was +a brutal King, whose first public act was to order the dead body of +poor Harold Harefoot to be dug up, beheaded, and thrown into the +river. His end was worthy of such a beginning. He fell down +drunk, with a goblet of wine in his hand, at a wedding-feast at +Lambeth, given in honour of the marriage of his standard-bearer, a +Dane named TOWED THE PROUD. And he never spoke again. + +EDWARD, afterwards called by the monks THE CONFESSOR, succeeded; +and his first act was to oblige his mother Emma, who had favoured +him so little, to retire into the country; where she died some ten +years afterwards. He was the exiled prince whose brother Alfred +had been so foully killed. He had been invited over from Normandy +by Hardicanute, in the course of his short reign of two years, and +had been handsomely treated at court. His cause was now favoured +by the powerful Earl Godwin, and he was soon made King. This Earl +had been suspected by the people, ever since Prince Alfred's cruel +death; he had even been tried in the last reign for the Prince's +murder, but had been pronounced not guilty; chiefly, as it was +supposed, because of a present he had made to the swinish King, of +a gilded ship with a figure-head of solid gold, and a crew of +eighty splendidly armed men. It was his interest to help the new +King with his power, if the new King would help him against the +popular distrust and hatred. So they made a bargain. Edward the +Confessor got the Throne. The Earl got more power and more land, +and his daughter Editha was made queen; for it was a part of their +compact that the King should take her for his wife. + +But, although she was a gentle lady, in all things worthy to be +beloved - good, beautiful, sensible, and kind - the King from the +first neglected her. Her father and her six proud brothers, +resenting this cold treatment, harassed the King greatly by +exerting all their power to make him unpopular. Having lived so +long in Normandy, he preferred the Normans to the English. He made +a Norman Archbishop, and Norman Bishops; his great officers and +favourites were all Normans; he introduced the Norman fashions and +the Norman language; in imitation of the state custom of Normandy, +he attached a great seal to his state documents, instead of merely +marking them, as the Saxon Kings had done, with the sign of the +cross - just as poor people who have never been taught to write, +now make the same mark for their names. All this, the powerful +Earl Godwin and his six proud sons represented to the people as +disfavour shown towards the English; and thus they daily increased +their own power, and daily diminished the power of the King. + +They were greatly helped by an event that occurred when he had +reigned eight years. Eustace, Earl of Bologne, who had married the +King's sister, came to England on a visit. After staying at the +court some time, he set forth, with his numerous train of +attendants, to return home. They were to embark at Dover. +Entering that peaceful town in armour, they took possession of the +best houses, and noisily demanded to be lodged and entertained +without payment. One of the bold men of Dover, who would not +endure to have these domineering strangers jingling their heavy +swords and iron corselets up and down his house, eating his meat +and drinking his strong liquor, stood in his doorway and refused +admission to the first armed man who came there. The armed man +drew, and wounded him. The man of Dover struck the armed man dead. +Intelligence of what he had done, spreading through the streets to +where the Count Eustace and his men were standing by their horses, +bridle in hand, they passionately mounted, galloped to the house, +surrounded it, forced their way in (the doors and windows being +closed when they came up), and killed the man of Dover at his own +fireside. They then clattered through the streets, cutting down +and riding over men, women, and children. This did not last long, +you may believe. The men of Dover set upon them with great fury, +killed nineteen of the foreigners, wounded many more, and, +blockading the road to the port so that they should not embark, +beat them out of the town by the way they had come. Hereupon, +Count Eustace rides as hard as man can ride to Gloucester, where +Edward is, surrounded by Norman monks and Norman lords. 'Justice!' +cries the Count, 'upon the men of Dover, who have set upon and +slain my people!' The King sends immediately for the powerful Earl +Godwin, who happens to be near; reminds him that Dover is under his +government; and orders him to repair to Dover and do military +execution on the inhabitants. 'It does not become you,' says the +proud Earl in reply, 'to condemn without a hearing those whom you +have sworn to protect. I will not do it.' + +The King, therefore, summoned the Earl, on pain of banishment and +loss of his titles and property, to appear before the court to +answer this disobedience. The Earl refused to appear. He, his +eldest son Harold, and his second son Sweyn, hastily raised as many +fighting men as their utmost power could collect, and demanded to +have Count Eustace and his followers surrendered to the justice of +the country. The King, in his turn, refused to give them up, and +raised a strong force. After some treaty and delay, the troops of +the great Earl and his sons began to fall off. The Earl, with a +part of his family and abundance of treasure, sailed to Flanders; +Harold escaped to Ireland; and the power of the great family was +for that time gone in England. But, the people did not forget +them. + +Then, Edward the Confessor, with the true meanness of a mean +spirit, visited his dislike of the once powerful father and sons +upon the helpless daughter and sister, his unoffending wife, whom +all who saw her (her husband and his monks excepted) loved. He +seized rapaciously upon her fortune and her jewels, and allowing +her only one attendant, confined her in a gloomy convent, of which +a sister of his - no doubt an unpleasant lady after his own heart - +was abbess or jailer. + +Having got Earl Godwin and his six sons well out of his way, the +King favoured the Normans more than ever. He invited over WILLIAM, +DUKE OF NORMANDY, the son of that Duke who had received him and his +murdered brother long ago, and of a peasant girl, a tanner's +daughter, with whom that Duke had fallen in love for her beauty as +he saw her washing clothes in a brook. William, who was a great +warrior, with a passion for fine horses, dogs, and arms, accepted +the invitation; and the Normans in England, finding themselves more +numerous than ever when he arrived with his retinue, and held in +still greater honour at court than before, became more and more +haughty towards the people, and were more and more disliked by +them. + +The old Earl Godwin, though he was abroad, knew well how the people +felt; for, with part of the treasure he had carried away with him, +he kept spies and agents in his pay all over England. + +Accordingly, he thought the time was come for fitting out a great +expedition against the Norman-loving King. With it, he sailed to +the Isle of Wight, where he was joined by his son Harold, the most +gallant and brave of all his family. And so the father and son +came sailing up the Thames to Southwark; great numbers of the +people declaring for them, and shouting for the English Earl and +the English Harold, against the Norman favourites! + +The King was at first as blind and stubborn as kings usually have +been whensoever they have been in the hands of monks. But the +people rallied so thickly round the old Earl and his son, and the +old Earl was so steady in demanding without bloodshed the +restoration of himself and his family to their rights, that at last +the court took the alarm. The Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, and +the Norman Bishop of London, surrounded by their retainers, fought +their way out of London, and escaped from Essex to France in a +fishing-boat. The other Norman favourites dispersed in all +directions. The old Earl and his sons (except Sweyn, who had +committed crimes against the law) were restored to their +possessions and dignities. Editha, the virtuous and lovely Queen +of the insensible King, was triumphantly released from her prison, +the convent, and once more sat in her chair of state, arrayed in +the jewels of which, when she had no champion to support her +rights, her cold-blooded husband had deprived her. + +The old Earl Godwin did not long enjoy his restored fortune. He +fell down in a fit at the King's table, and died upon the third day +afterwards. Harold succeeded to his power, and to a far higher +place in the attachment of the people than his father had ever +held. By his valour he subdued the King's enemies in many bloody +fights. He was vigorous against rebels in Scotland - this was the +time when Macbeth slew Duncan, upon which event our English +Shakespeare, hundreds of years afterwards, wrote his great tragedy; +and he killed the restless Welsh King GRIFFITH, and brought his +head to England. + +What Harold was doing at sea, when he was driven on the French +coast by a tempest, is not at all certain; nor does it at all +matter. That his ship was forced by a storm on that shore, and +that he was taken prisoner, there is no doubt. In those barbarous +days, all shipwrecked strangers were taken prisoners, and obliged +to pay ransom. So, a certain Count Guy, who was the Lord of +Ponthieu where Harold's disaster happened, seized him, instead of +relieving him like a hospitable and Christian lord as he ought to +have done, and expected to make a very good thing of it. + +But Harold sent off immediately to Duke William of Normandy, +complaining of this treatment; and the Duke no sooner heard of it +than he ordered Harold to be escorted to the ancient town of Rouen, +where he then was, and where he received him as an honoured guest. +Now, some writers tell us that Edward the Confessor, who was by +this time old and had no children, had made a will, appointing Duke +William of Normandy his successor, and had informed the Duke of his +having done so. There is no doubt that he was anxious about his +successor; because he had even invited over, from abroad, EDWARD +THE OUTLAW, a son of Ironside, who had come to England with his +wife and three children, but whom the King had strangely refused to +see when he did come, and who had died in London suddenly (princes +were terribly liable to sudden death in those days), and had been +buried in St. Paul's Cathedral. The King might possibly have made +such a will; or, having always been fond of the Normans, he might +have encouraged Norman William to aspire to \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/pulsar/internal/compression/zstd.go b/pulsar/internal/compression/zstd.go index ccf84ba10b..1dff293a00 100644 --- a/pulsar/internal/compression/zstd.go +++ b/pulsar/internal/compression/zstd.go @@ -20,34 +20,17 @@ package compression import ( + "fmt" "github.com/klauspost/compress/zstd" - "github.com/pkg/errors" ) -type zstdProvider struct { - encoder *zstd.Encoder - decoder *zstd.Decoder -} - func NewZStdProvider() Provider { - p := &zstdProvider{} - p.encoder, _ = zstd.NewWriter(nil) - p.decoder, _ = zstd.NewReader(nil) - return p -} - -func (p *zstdProvider) CanCompress() bool { - return true + return newPureGoZStdProvider(zstd.SpeedDefault) } -func (p *zstdProvider) Compress(data []byte) []byte { - return p.encoder.EncodeAll(data, []byte{}) -} - -func (p *zstdProvider) Decompress(compressedData []byte, originalSize int) (dst []byte, err error) { - dst, err = p.decoder.DecodeAll(compressedData, nil) - if err == nil && len(dst) != originalSize { - return nil, errors.New("Invalid uncompressed size") - } - return -} +func newCGoZStdProvider(compressionLevel int) Provider { + // This is kept to avoid compile errors in benchmark code when cgo is disabled. + // The warning is only shown when running the benchmark with CGO disabled. + fmt.Println("WARNING: CGO is disabled, using pure Go implementation of ZStd. Use CGO_ENABLED=1 when running benchmark.") + return newPureGoZStdProvider(zstd.SpeedDefault) +} \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/pulsar/internal/compression/zstd_cgo.go b/pulsar/internal/compression/zstd_cgo.go index 3f74b934ba..2eba0a3c2b 100644 --- a/pulsar/internal/compression/zstd_cgo.go +++ b/pulsar/internal/compression/zstd_cgo.go @@ -27,20 +27,28 @@ import ( zstd "github.com/valyala/gozstd" ) -type zstdCGoProvider struct{} +type zstdCGoProvider struct { + compressionLevel int +} + +func newCGoZStdProvider(compressionLevel int) Provider { + return &zstdCGoProvider{ + compressionLevel: compressionLevel, + } +} func NewZStdProvider() Provider { - return &zstdCGoProvider{} + return newCGoZStdProvider(zstd.DefaultCompressionLevel) } func (*zstdCGoProvider) CanCompress() bool { return true } -func (*zstdCGoProvider) Compress(data []byte) []byte { - return zstd.Compress(nil, data) +func (z *zstdCGoProvider) Compress(data []byte) []byte { + return zstd.CompressLevel(nil, data, z.compressionLevel) } -func (*zstdCGoProvider) Decompress(compressedData []byte, originalSize int) ([]byte, error) { +func (z *zstdCGoProvider) Decompress(compressedData []byte, originalSize int) ([]byte, error) { return zstd.Decompress(nil, compressedData) } diff --git a/pulsar/internal/compression/zstd_go.go b/pulsar/internal/compression/zstd_go.go new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..da3004a943 --- /dev/null +++ b/pulsar/internal/compression/zstd_go.go @@ -0,0 +1,51 @@ +// Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one +// or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file +// distributed with this work for additional information +// regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file +// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the +// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance +// with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at +// +// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 +// +// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, +// software distributed under the License is distributed on an +// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY +// KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the +// specific language governing permissions and limitations +// under the License. + +package compression + +import ( + "github.com/klauspost/compress/zstd" + "github.com/pkg/errors" +) + +type zstdProvider struct { + encoder *zstd.Encoder + decoder *zstd.Decoder +} + +func newPureGoZStdProvider(compressionLevel zstd.EncoderLevel) Provider { + p := &zstdProvider{} + p.encoder, _ = zstd.NewWriter(nil, zstd.WithEncoderLevel(compressionLevel)) + p.decoder, _ = zstd.NewReader(nil) + return p +} + +func (p *zstdProvider) CanCompress() bool { + return true +} + +func (p *zstdProvider) Compress(data []byte) []byte { + return p.encoder.EncodeAll(data, []byte{}) +} + +func (p *zstdProvider) Decompress(compressedData []byte, originalSize int) (dst []byte, err error) { + dst, err = p.decoder.DecodeAll(compressedData, nil) + if err == nil && len(dst) != originalSize { + return nil, errors.New("Invalid uncompressed size") + } + return +}