head and body into the thickest part of the woods

Suspicion seized each wondering mind,
And, faster than the rising wind,
They hastened to the long past gate,
Eager to point their King's retreat.
"Ill fated Monarch! once the dread
Of foreign foes-thy hopes are fled!
How chang'd thy fate! the rising day
Beheld thee England's sceptre sway;
Its dying beams illume the breast
Of EDMUND-now pale SORROW's guest:
A suppliant at a conqueror's throne,
E'en on the shores so late his own.

"Submissive, at a Victor's frown;
Usurper of thy country's crown;
Chain'd to the stake-by anguish torn,
Thy hurried breast must know the scorn
Of murderers, happy in thy moan,
Thy fortune lost, thy honours flown.
Not sorrow, torture, pangs unsung,
Can wrench confession from his tongue,*
But, glorying in his noble death,
He, calm, resigns his parting breath.

"But hark-the dying martyr speaks,
From his parch'd lips his last will breaks :—
'Cursed be the spot, where EDMUND lay-
Dimmed in that spot be LUNA's ray-
May execrations 'tend the pair,
Who o'er the fatal arch repair,
From Hymen's sainted altars free,
May hate-unknown mortality—
Attend their lives;-domestic strife,
And all the ills of wedded life;-

Allusive to his refusal to renounce the Christian faith.

of Eglesdene. On the departure of the enemy, the
East Anglians, prompted by affection for their late
sovereign, assembled, in considerable numbers, to
pay his corpse the last solemn duties.
After a sor-
rowful search, the body was discovered, conveyed
to Hoxne, and there interred; but the head could
not be found. Dividing themselves, therefore, into
small parties, the mourners searched every quarter of
the wood. Terrified by its thickness and obscurity,
some of them cried out to their companions-
"Where are you?"--A voice answered, 'Here,
here, here!' Hastening to the place where the sound
proceeded, they found the long-sought head in a
thicket of thorns, guarded by a wolf-"an unkouth
thyng," says Lydgate, "and strange ageyn nature.”
The people, almost overpowered with joy, took the
holy head, which its guardian quietly surrendered
to them, and carried it to the body. The friendly
wolf joined in the procession; and, after seeing the

May anguish seal their dying breath-
And fell remorse-woe worse than death.'

"He bleeds-the quivering arrow gnaws his breast;
He dies, and agonizing sinks to rest.
TRADITION tells the mournful tale,
And weeps at SORROW's bloody wail;-
Fell SUPERSTITION marks the place,
That sheltered EDMUND'S last distress;
And never, from that fatal day,
Have HYMEN'S votaries trod the way.
His spirit, by the pale moon's light,
Flits there, each sad revolving night."

precious treasure, which he had with so much care protected, deposited with the body, whence it had been severed, with doleful mourning, and without shewing any fierceness, he returned into the woods. This was about forty days after the matyrdom of the Saint.

The remains of King Edmund appear to have been buried in the earth, in an obscure wooden chapel,* at Hoxne, where, it is said, some traditionary vestiges of his history are still to be found. There they were suffered to lie, neglected, for thirty-three years, till the dormant attention of the people was aroused, by certain miracles, reported to have been performed by the deceased king and martyr. Then, as a more suitable depository for the honoured corpse, 'a large church was constructed with wood in the town of Betrichesworth;' and Abbo says, when they expected, from the length of time, to find the body putrid, to their astonishment it appeared safe and as in health; with the head united to it, only the mark of a red thread appearing round the neck."+-About the year 903, the remains

*This chapel, says Blomefield, was, in process of time, converted into a cell, or priory, inhabited by seven or eight monks, governed by a Prior, nominated and removable by the Prior of Norwich, and called the Cell and Chapel of the blessed St. Edmund, King and Martyr.-A. D. 1226, Thomas de Blumville, Bishop of Norwich, confirmed all revenues to God and the Chapel of St. Edmund at Hoxne. At the dissolution, this Cell had revenues worth about £40 per annum.

+YATES'S Bury.

of Edmund were removed from thence, to Bedericksworth, or Bury. The circumstances of the sacred body having been found, perfect and uncorrupted, with the head reunited to it, was long a favorite miracle with the monastic writers. A female devotee, named Oswyna, stood forward as a witness of the incorruption; avering that she had long secluded herself, and lived near the town; and that, for several preceding years, she had annually cut the hair, and pared the nails, of the saint, preserving the sacred relics with religious care. "A certain nobleman, named Leofstanus, presuming to doubt concerning the incorruption of the martyr's body, arrogantly ordered the tomb to be opened, that he might have ocular demonstration of this remarkable fact: his request was complied with, and he saw the body of the saint uncerrupted; but, being immediately seized by a demon, he miserably expired.' This story, no doubt, repressed that curiosity which might otherwise have explored too minutely the clerical arcana. An ecclesiastic, however, was permitted, without incurring this awful fate, to have the satisfaction of seeing for himself, and for others also; the veracity of Bishop Theodored is adduced as a most unequivocal testimony to authenticate the fact. Having performed a devotional fast for three days, he opened the coffin, and found the body perfect; washed it, arrayed it in new vestments; and again replaced it in its narrow dwelling'.

* YATES'S Bury.

con

Some ecclesiastics having devoted themselves to the monastic life, under the protection of the royal Saint and Martyr, they were incorporated into a college of priests about the year 925. From this period may be dated the advancement and increasing consequence of the town of Bury. King Athelstan, besides other donations, presented to the church of St. Edmund, a copy of the Evangelists, which was regarded as a gift of such value in those days, that he offered it upon the altar "for the benefit of his soul." Edmund, son of Edward the Elder, ferred upon the monks a jurisdiction over the whole town, and one mile round it. This, with other privileges, he confirmed by a royal grant, or charter, in the year 945; an example which was liberally imitated by succeeding sovereigns, and other persons of distinction; and thus many considerable manors in the neighbourhood were soon added to the possessions of the monastery. About the middle of the tenth century, commenced the disputes between the secular clergy and monks, or regulars, which will be noticed more explicitly in a subsequent part of this volume, relating to the abbey. The result was, that the monks dispossessed the established clergy of their most valuable establishments, gained over the bishop of the diocese, and, in the year 990, procured the appointment of Ailwin, one of their number, to be the guardian of the body of the Saint.

Sweyn, King of Denmark, who had committed

D