the figure of an eagle on his back, divided his ribs to tear out his lungs, and agonized his lacerated flesh by the addition of the saline stimulant."-The great work of vengeance thus accomplished, the Danes began to establish themselves in different parts of the conquered territory. Their power continuing to increase, they, in 870, added nearly all the eastern part of the island to their northern conquests. It was then that the unfortunate Edmund, and the country of East Anglia, were subjected to their ravages. Having overrun Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire, Inguar, separated from Hubba, marched towards Thetford, where Edmund then held his court. Edmund, apparently not expecting to be attacked, had made no preparations for resistance; but, on the approach of Inguar, he hastily collected his forces, and marched from Thetford, to oppose his progress. The hostile armies met near that city. A fierce and bloody battle ensued, and lasted an entire day. Night came; but, desperate as the contest had been, the victory was undecided.* Edmund, actuated by that false principle of humanity, which, shrinking from a temporary sacrifice of human life, avoids the present, only to encounter a future evil, of more appalling and disastrous magnitude, is said to have fled, in the night, to Framlingham Castle. The Danes pursued him thither, Blomefield, in his History of Norfolk, supposes, that the tumul, which appear near Rushforth, Euston, Barnham, and Thetford, mark the spot where this great battle was fought. besieged the Castle, and took it. Edmund escaped, and fled into a wood, near Hoxne, then called Heglisdon, or Eglesdene-the Hill of Eagles. He had only deferred his fate. Shortly after the battle, Inguar had been joined by his brother, Hubba, with 10,000 fresh troops. He followed Edmund; and, when he drew near the place of his retreat, he dispatched a messenger, with proposals to the unfortunate King. The Danish envoy, having demanded a division of his treasures and kingdom, as the purchase of his life, retired to await an answer. Edmund held a consultation with his secretary, Bishop Humbert, who, anxious to preserve the life of his sovereign, earnestly recommended an immediate compliance with the imperious demand of the enemy. The King remained long silent; but, recalling that fortitude by which he had been deserted, he declared that he should die with pleasure, if his death would restore his beloved country to its former state of peace and happiness. The Bishop urged, that the country was already covered with slain, and without means of defence; and, therefore, that it would be wise in the king, to avoid the threatened punishment by submission. Edmund, however, persevered. He had no fear of death; he had devoted his life to Christ; and he would not then begin to serve two masters. "I desire not," said he, "to survive my dear subjects: deprived of those I valued, shall I by flying tarnish that honour which has never been disgraced? Have I never borne the shame of aban doning my fellow soldiers, because I felt it noble rather to die for my country, and shall I now be a voluntary recreant, when the loss of those I loved makes even the light of Heaven tedious to me!”— Incensed by the rejection of their proposal, the Danish chiefs marched directly to Hoxne, where Edmund surrendered to their superior force, without further contest. Still refusing to comply with the conqueror's terms, he was bound with close fetters, and severely scourged. He was then lashed to a tree, and his naked flesh lacerated with whips, or, according to Lydgate, beaten with short bats. The cruel chiefs next wantonly fixed him as a mark to exercise the skill of their archers, and his body was covered with arrows, like a porcupine with quills. Inguar, still finding his mind invincible, ordered his head to be struck off. And thus he died, Kyng, Martyr, and Virgyne,' on the 20th Nov. A. D. 870, in the 15th year of his reign, and the 29th of his age.' 66 * There is a tradition, that Edmund, in his flight to Eglesdene, now Hoxne, was discovered by the brilliant appearance of his golden spurs, beneath the arch of an old bridge, by a newlymarried couple, returning home by moonlight, who betrayed him to the Danes. In the midst of his sufferings, he poured forth a dreadful curse upon every couple who should afterwards pass over that bridge, in their way to, or from, the altar of Hymen; and his last words have been most religiously attended to-a remarkable instance of the length of time, through which tradition is transmitted to distant posterity, Such is the effect of this curse, that, rather than pass the bridge, the newly On the death of this unfortunate prince, the Danes, married couples, amongst the lower order, will proceed home by a more winding and tedious journey.-A Suffolk poet has thus neatly versified this traditionary tale : "The morn arose, and shot his ray, Resplendent, from the clime of day, Fast o'er the misty hills, afar, The chief of Lochlin* urged the car, And wak'd to strife th' adventurous war: The guardians of their native land; The spirits of the mighty dead Leaned from the Heavens, o'er CONFLICT's bed, Intent to hear th' expiring sigh, The dying moan of LIBERTY. IVAR approached, DEATH in his rear, * Denmark. we are told, in insult to his remains, cast his severed Lay high-piled ranks of countless dead, The Heavens their shroud-the heath their bed The bannered Raven, tow'ring, waved O'er EDMUND's ranks.-In vain they braved For VICTORY sat on IVAR's brow. At distance cheer'd the gloomy plain ;- They passed the bridge;-the moon's soft beam Fell radiant on the ripling stream, And to the wanderers on the shore Betrayed the Spurs* that EDMUND wore: *"This fact is authenticated, if oral tradition may be credited; cer-tain it is, that the bridge, under which Edmund sought protection, retains to this day the name of 'Gold Bridge'." |