ign over England. There were, however, some
of the Saxon lords who objected to Athelstane being made king, because
he was born before King Edward's royal marriage with the reigning
queen; Athelstane's mother, Egwina, having been only a poor shepherd's
daughter. They wished, therefore, that Prince Edwin, the eldest son of
King Edward's queen, should be declared king; but as Edwin was very
young, the people decided on crowning Athelstane, he being of a proper
age to govern.

This election was very displeasing to some of the proud Saxon lords;
and Cendric, the father of Wilfrid, had been among those who conspired
with a wicked traitor of the name of Alfred, to take away the life of
Athelstane. The conspiracy was discovered, and all who were engaged in
it were punished with death.

The college in which Wilfrid was placed at Oxford, had been founded by
Alfred the Great, for the education of the youthful nobles and gentles
of the land. It had been deemed the most proper place for the
education of the king's younger brother, Prince Edwin, and some other
royal wards, for the most part sons of Anglo-Saxon and Danish nobles,
whose persons and estates had been committed to the guardianship of the
king during their minority. King Athelstane, who, like his
grandfather, Alfred the Great, was very desirous of promoting learning,
had provided suitable masters for their instruction in every branch of
knowledge, leaving, therefore, men of distinguished learning and of
great wisdom to conduct the education, and form the minds and morals of
this youthful community; and being himself engaged in the cares of
government, and in repelling the attacks of the Danes, the king limited
his further attention to occasional inquiries after the health and
improvement of his brother and the rest of the royal wards.

He had, indeed, taken the pains to draw up the rules which he deemed
proper to be observed in this juvenile society. One of the most
important of these, namely, that a system of perfect equality should be
observed toward all the individuals of whom it was composed, was,
however, soon violated in favor of Prince Edwin, who, because he was
the Atheling, as the heir apparent to the throne was called in those
days, was honored with peculiar marks of distinction. Every person in
the college, from the masters to the humblest servitor, appeared
desirous of winning the favor of the future sovereign, and of this
Edwin too soon became aware.