cted monarch. However, there was a seed of discontent sown on this
occasion, which grew up afterwards to the mutual destruction of all the
parties. During the whole reign of Edgar, as he had secured the most
popular part of the clergy, and with them the people, in his interests,
there was no internal disturbance; there was no foreign war, because
this prince was always ready for war. But he principally owed his
security to the care he took of his naval power, which was much greater
and better regulated than that of any English monarch before him. He had
three fleets always equipped, one of which annually sailed round the
island. Thus the Danes, the Scots, the Irish, and the Welsh were kept
in awe. He assumed the title of King of all Albion. His court was
magnificent, and much frequented by strangers. His revenues were in
excellent order, and no prince of his time supported the royal character
with more dignity.

[Sidenote: Edward, A.D. 975.]

[Sidenote: Ethelred, A.D. 979.]

Edgar had two wives, Elfleda and Elfrida. By the first he had a son
called Edward; the second bore him one called Ethelred. On Edgar's
death, Edward, in the usual order of succession, was called to the
throne; but Elfrida caballed in favor of her son, and finding it
impossible to set him up in the life of his brother, she murdered him
with her own hands in her castle of Corfe, whither he had retired to
refresh himself, wearied with hunting. Ethelred, who by the crimes of
his mother ascended a throne sprinkled with his brother's blood, had a
part to act which exceeded the capacity that could be expected in one of
his youth and inexperience. The partisans of the secular clergy, who
were kept down by the vigor of Edgar's government, thought this a fit
time to renew their pretensions. The monks defended themselves in their
possession; there was no moderation on either side, and the whole nation
joined in these parties. The murder of Edward threw an odious stain on
the king, though he was wholly innocent of that crime. There was a
general discontent, and every corner was full of murmurs and cabals. In
this state of the kingdom, it was equally dangerous to exert the fulness
of the sovereign authority or to suffer it to relax. The temper of the
king was most inclined to the latter method, which is of all things the
worst. A weak government, too easy, suffers evils to grow which often
make the most rigorous and illegal proceedings necessary. Through an
e