Edwy the Fair or the First Chronicle of Aescendune
Crake, A. D. (Augustine David), 1836-1890
English
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Below is a summary of Edwy the Fair or the First Chronicle of Aescendune
Edwy the Fair or the First Chronicle of Aescendune:
A Tale of the Days of Saint Dunstan,
by the Rev. A. D. Crake.
CHAPTER I. "THIS IS THE FORESTPRIMEVAL."
CHAPTER II. THE HOUSE OFAESCENDUNE.
CHAPTER IV. LONDON IN THE OLDENTIME.
CHAPTER VII. "THE KING IS DEAD! --LONG LIVE THE KING!"
CHAPTER X. ELFRIC AND ALFRED.
CHAPTER XI. THE FLIGHT OFDUNSTAN.
CHAPTER XVI. NAKED THOUGH LOCKED INSTEEL.
CHAPTER XIX. EARTH TO EARTH, ANDDUST TO DUST.
CHAPTER XX. "AND THE DOOR WASSHUT."
CHAPTER XXIII. "VENGEANCE IS MINE,I WILL REPAY."
CHAPTER XXIV. SOW THE WIND, ANDREAP THE WHIRLWIND.
CHAPTER XXV. "FOR EVER WITH THELORD."
It has been the aim of the Author, in a series of original talestold to the senior boys of a large school, to illustrateinteresting or difficult passages of Church History by the aid offiction. Two of these tales -- "Aemilius," a tale of the Decian andValerian persecutions; and "Evanus," a tale of the days ofConstantine -- he has already published, and desires gratefully toacknowledge the kindness with which they have been received.
He is thus encouraged to submit another attempt to the public,having its scene of action in our own land, although in times verydissimilar to our own; and for its object, the illustration of thestruggle between the regal and ecclesiastical powers in the days ofthe ill-fated and ill-advised King Edwy.
Scarcely can one find a schoolboy who has not read the touchinglegend of Edwy and Elgiva -- for it is little more than a legend inmost of its details; and which of these youthful readers has notexecrated the cruelty of the Churchmen who separated those unhappylovers? While the tragical story of the fate of the hapless Elgivahas been the theme of many a poet and even historian, who hasaccepted the tale as if it were of as undoubted authenticity as theReform Bill.
The writer can well remember the impression the tale made uponhis youthful imagination, and the dislike, to use a mild word, withwhich he ever viewed the character of the great statesman andecclesiastic of the tenth century, Dunstan, until a wider knowledgeof history and a more accurate judgment came with maturer years;and testimonies to the ability and genius of that monk, who hadbeen the moving spirit of his age, began to force themselves uponhim.
Lord Macaulay has well summed up the relative positions ofChurch and State in that age in the following words: "It is truethat the Church had been deeply corrupted by superstition, yet sheretained enough of the sublime theology and benevolent morality ofher early days to elevate many intellects, and to purify manyhearts. That the sacerdotal order should encroach on the functionsof the chief magistrate, would in our time be a great evil. Butthat which in an age of good government is an evil, may in an ageof grossly bad government be a blessing. It is better that menshould be governed by priest craft than by brute violence; by sucha prelate as Dunstan, than by such a warrior as Penda."
The Church was indeed the salt of the earth, even if the salthad somewhat lost its savour; it was the only power which couldstep in between the tyrant and his victim, which could teach theirresponsible great -- irresponsible to man -- their responsibilityto the great and awful Being whose creatures they were. And again,it was then the only home of civilisation and learning. It has beenwell said that for the learning of this age to vilify the monks andmonasteries of the medieval period, is for the oak to revile the
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