its stem of thorns.

A writer who lived in those days, and recorded the occurrences of the
times, says that, when he was a boy, his father was employed in some
way in Godwin's palace, and that in going to and from school he was
often met by Edith, who was walking, attended by her maid. On such
occasions Edith would stop him, he said, and question him about his
studies, his grammar, his logic, and his verses; and she would often
draw him into an argument on those subtle points of disputation which
attracted so much attention in those days. Then she would commend him
for his attention and progress, and order her woman to make him a
present of some money. In a word, Edith was so gentle and kind, and
took so cordial an interest in whatever concerned the welfare and
happiness of those around her, that she was universally beloved. She
became in the end, as we shall see in due time, the English queen.

In the mean time, while Godwin was governing, as vicegerent, the
province which Canute had assigned him, Canute himself extended his
own dominion far and wide, reducing first all England under his sway,
and then extending his conquests to the Continent. Edmund, the Saxon
king, was dead. His brothers Edward and Alfred, the two remaining sons
of Ethelred, were with their mother in Normandy. They, of course,
represented the Saxon line. The Saxon portion of Canute's kingdom
would of course look to them as their future leaders. Under these
circumstances, Canute conceived the idea of propitiating the Saxon
portion of the population, and combining, so far as was possible, the
claims of the two lines, by making the widow Emma his own wife. He
made the proposal to her, and she accepted it, pleased with the
idea of being once more a queen. She came to England, and they were
married. In process of time they had a son, who was named Hardicanute,
which means Canute _the strong_.

Canute now felt that his kingdom was secure; and he hoped, by making
Hardicanute his heir, to perpetuate the dominion in his own family. It
is true that he had older children, whom the Danes might look upon as
more properly his heirs; and Emma had also two older children, the
sons of Ethelred, in Normandy. These the _Saxons_ would be likely
to consider as the rightful heirs to the throne. There was danger,
therefore, that at his death parties would again be formed, and the
civil wars break out anew. Canute and Emma therefore seem to have
acted wisely, and to have