The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 576, November 17, 1832
TextETHELBERT AND ELFRIDA. AN HISTORICAL TALE
Night wanes apace!—The crowd are gone;
The lamps have ceased to glow;
And Cynthia's beams reflect upon
The placid lake below.
The song of mirth is heard no more;
No guests the goblet fill;
The banquet's revelry is o'er,
All—all is hush'd and still.
No more, amid the stately pile,
The dance afford's delight;
Nor tale, nor jocund sports beguile
The silent hours of night.
All seek the downy couch of sleep—
The host, and worthy guest;
The drowsy guards on duty keep,
And envy them their rest.
No minstrels strike th' enliv'ning string—
None blow the twanging horn;
The nightingale has ceas'd to sing,
And slowly breaks the morn.
The portals of the dappled East
Assume their bright array;
The Sun, in new-born splendour drest,
Drives sable clouds away.
Thick vapours from the earth arise,
And pass away unseen,
Till night again shall veil the skies,
Now lucid and serene.
Above proud Offa's gate the gold
Embroider'd banners hung—
And 'scutcheon'd shields emblazon'd told
From whence his race had sprung!
The glitt'ring lance and crested plume
Adorn the sculptur'd wall,
And deep'ning shadows cast a gloom
Around his spacious hall!
On "South Town's" "heav'n directed" fanes
Sol sheds his glowing ray;
And Peace, and Joy, through Mercia's plains
Their gladsome sceptre sway.
How diff'rent far the scene will be
When night appears again;—
O'er all now reigns festivity,
But lamentation then!
A richly silver-braided vest
The virgin train prepare—
A scarf, to wrap the snow-white breast,
And gems to deck the hair.
Elfrida, at her lattice high,
Sits with the bridal throng—
She looks and looks—then heaves a sigh—
"Why tarries he so long?"
He comes!—'tis he!—and by his side
Attend a noble band—
He comes to claim his royal bride—
His lov'd Elfrida's hand.
The wish'd-for hour is gone and past;—
Slow chimes the marriage-bell;
May Heav'n forbid it prove his last—
The bridegroom's fun'ral knell!
The priest before the altar stands—
The bride bends on her knee,
And lifts to God her heart and hands
In pious fervency!
But where is he, who should have knelt
Before his Maker, low?
And where are they, who might have felt
What none but parents know!
In vain she waits, and looks around,
Still vainer are her cries;
With shrieks the sacred aisles resound;—
Save echo, naught replies:
Fell grief her throbbing heart enthrals,—
Her lips grow ghastly pale;
She weeps—she faints—and senseless falls
Before the altar-rail!
But where is he, by whom the vows
Of love were pledg'd so late?
Demand of Offa's artful spouse,
Whose fiat seal'd his fate?
The blush of guilt upon her cheek
Spreads forth its purple hues,—
And agitation seems to speak
What conscience dares refuse!
To Him who gives life's fleeting breath
His soul has ta'en its flight!—
He sleeps the last long sleep of death
Upon his bridal night.
His guards were gone;—no friends were near
To bless him ere he died!
None, none to dry the falling tear,
Or bid his pains subside.
Oh! where is she whom fate hath made
Dejected and forlorn?
She goes to Croyland's hallow'd shade,
To live—alas!—to mourn!
Weep, Anglia, weep!—thy monarch's dead!
To heav'n his spirit's flown;
And he whose hands his blood have shed
Will mount thy vacant throne.
He reigns!—but mark! how self-reproach
Pervades his inmost breast;—
And pangs of sad remorse encroach
Upon his fever'd rest.
He lives—but life has little left,
If aught, his love to claim;
Of all, save grief, 'tis now bereft;
To him 'tis but a name!
J.H.I.
The event which the foregoing stanzas have attempted to describe laid the foundation of the future importance and prosperity of the Cathedral church of Hereford.
"The restless ambition of Offa prompted him to attack the neighbouring kingdom of the East Angles, with a view of adding it to his dominions; but in this attempt he was defeated by the successful valour of Ethelbert. Peace being subsequently concluded, Offa acceded to proposals of marriage between Ethelbert and his daughter Elfrida;—and the young and unsuspecting prince attended, invited, at the palace of Offa (at South Town, now Sutton, near Hereford), with a splendid retinue, to treat of the intended spousals. The queen of Offa, Quendreda, is recorded to have prevailed upon her husband to violate the ties of hospitality and humanity; and Ethelbert was treacherously murdered, A.D. 793. His guards and retinue were dispersed; his kingdom, taken by surprise, was annexed to the state of Mercia. The faithful Elfrida retired to Croyland Abbey; and Offa, seized with remorse, sought to appease his wounded conscience by actions which, at that time, were thought to atone for the deepest delinquency. He caused the body of Ethelbert to be removed from Marden, where it had been previously interred, to the cathedral of St. Mary, at Hereford, erecting over him a magnificent tomb, and endowing the church with valuable gifts, chiefly situated in the immediate vicinity of his own palace. The known virtues of the murdered prince caused his shrine to be visited as that of a martyr; and such was the fame of his miracles, that the city and cathedral attained a degree of opulence from the pious contributions of devoted pilgrims."
Wright's History of Hereford.
It is not asserted that Ethelbert was murdered on the day appointed for his marriage; but poetical license will, it is hoped, be pardoned for the variation, whilst the principal facts are strictly adhered to.
RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS
PARLIAMENTS
(Concluded from vol. xvii.)
In 833, a parliament was held at London, in the presence of King Egbert, with his son Ethelwolf, and Withlaf, the tributary King of Mercia, and most of the prelates and great men of the realm, to deliberate on the best means they could adopt to prevent the Danes from invading England.
In 1210, King John summoned a parliament to meet him at his palace in St. Bride's parish, London; where he exacted of the clergy and religious persons the sum of 100,000l., and 40,000l. in particular from the white monks. The present hospital of Bridewell stands on a part of that palace.
In 1294, Edward I., in order to raise funds for the invasion of Scotland, addressed writs to the sheriffs, directing them to send "representatives for every city and borough in their bailiwicks." Many of the boroughs at this time, on account of the expense of paying their representatives, declined to send members; but the King took care for his own purposes that the Royal and other boroughs where his influence extended, should send members: hence in Cornwall and the other counties on the same coast, where the King's power and property chiefly lay, on account of the mines and tallages, almost every village sent representatives.
In 1414, the fifth year of the reign of Henry IV., the Commons proceeded in their design of regulating the King's household, with whom the Lords accorded; and they required that four persons should be removed out of the King's house,—namely, the Abbot of Dore, the King's confessor, with Durham and Crosbie, gentlemen of his chamber. On February 9, 1414, the confessor, Durham and Crosbie, came into the parliament before the King and the Lords, when his Majesty took occasion to excuse those officers himself, saying, that he knew no cause why they should be removed, but only because they were hated by the people: yet he charged them to depart from his house, according to the desire of his Commons, and would have proceeded in the same manner against the Abbot of Dore, had he been present. The printed roll of Parliamentary proceedings adds these remarkable expressions:—"And our Lord the King moreover said that he would see that the Same measures were taken with regard to any one about his Royal person, who might incur the hatred or indignation of his people." A proceeding similar to this took place in 1451, when Henry VI., at the request of the House of Commons, removed from his court and presence several individuals of either sex, against whom there was universal noise and clamour.
On November 27, 1621, the House of Lords sentenced John Blount to pillory, imprisonment, and labour for life, for counterfeiting a Lord's protection. This was the first case of imprisonment beyond the session, by the House of Lords. The first precedent for their infliction of fines appears about two years afterwards, when they sentenced one Morley to pay 1,000l., and condemned him to the pillory for a libel on the Lord Keeper.
The number of Bishops having seats in the House of Lords is thirty; namely, the two English archbishops, twenty-four English bishops, and four Irish bishops; and they all sit in the house, not as churchmen, or peers representing the clergy, in their various grades, (for these are all represented with the commonalty in the lower House,) but as soldiers, that is, as barons holding certain land by military tenure—tenants in capite per baroniam; and therefore compelled, under the feudal system, by which they were created, to furnish their quota of knights, or men-at-arms, and do other military service to the crown.
The following account of the manner of speaking and voting by the Lords and Commons, is given in A Key to both Houses of Parliament:
"In the House of Lords, the Peers give their votes or suffrages, by beginning with the lowest baron; and so on with the rest, seriatim, until all have expressed their opinions; each one answering apart, 'Content,' or 'Not Content.' If the affirmatives and negatives should happen to be equal in number, the question is invariably presumed to be in the negative, (semper praesumitur pro negante,) and the Not Contents have the effect of an absolute majority. In the House of Commons, the members vote by Ayes and Noes, altogether: but if it be doubtful which is the greater number, the House divides. If the question be whether any bill, petition, &c. is to be brought into the House, then the Ayes, or approvers of the same, go out; but, if it be upon anything which the House is once possessed of, the Noes go out. Upon all questions where the House divides, the Speaker appoints four tellers—two of each opinion; who, after they have told or numbered those within, place themselves in the passage between the Bar and the door, in order to tell those who went out; who, till then, are not permitted to re-enter the House. This being done, the two tellers who have the majority take the right hand, and all four placing themselves within the bar, make three reverences as they advance towards the table, where they deliver the written numbers, saying, 'the Ayes that went out are so many: the Noes who remain are so many:' and vice versa as it may happen. This the Speaker repeats, declaring the majority.
"In a committee of the whole House, the way of dividing is by changing sides, the Ayes taking the right, and the Noes taking the left hand of the Speaker's chair. On such occasions there are but two tellers.
"In each House the act of the majority binds the whole. This majority is openly declared, and the votes, with the names of their authors attached, are generally published in the newspapers; so that the people at large are well enabled to judge of the conduct of their legislators and representatives. This notoriety doubtless produces a very beneficial effect in preserving the integrity of the members of both houses. It is true that when the House of Commons is about to divide, the speaker orders the gallery to be cleared, and all strangers are compelled to withdraw, that the members may be free from popular influence in giving their votes. But, as tellers are appointed to count the votes on each side, there can be no collusion or deception in the decision of any question; at the same time, this method is attended with sufficient publicity for every constitutional purpose. Indeed, it has ever been held the law, rule, and usage of the House of Commons, that all strangers are there only by sufferance, consequently, whenever a member gives notice to the Speaker that he perceives a stranger or strangers, it is the invariable custom of the latter to order them to withdraw; otherwise the sergeant-at-arms will take them into custody, and so enforce the Standing Orders of the House for their exclusion. The publication of the speeches and votes delivered in Parliament is a modern practice, and certainly a breach of the privileges of the members; consequently it may at any time be prohibited by the enforcement of the Standing Orders of either House.
"In the House of Commons, the Speaker never speaks to any question, except the House be in a committee; nor does he even vote, unless the number of votes on both sides of the House be equal; when his casting vote decides the majority. In the Lords, if the Chancellor be desirous of giving his opinion, he must leave the woolsack, and go to his place among that rank of nobility to which he belongs. If he be not a peer, he may neither speak to the question, nor vote upon it; but if a peer, he has a vote on every question. The Speaker of the Commons is prohibited by the rules of that House from persuading or dissuading the members in the passing of any bill: his duty is merely to make a plain and short narrative of its objects. When any member of the Commons is desirous of speaking on a bill before the House, he stands up in his place; uncovered, and directs his speech to the Speaker. In the House of Peers, on the contrary, the orator addresses himself to the Lords generally, only. In either case he may remain on his legs for an indefinite length of time: using whatever arguments, and entering into as many details, as he pleases; but, having once sat down, he is not permitted, unless personally reflected on, to speak again on the same day, to the same matter; or on the same reading of the same bill, even although his arguments be confuted by another member: but, if the whole house should be turned into a committee on any business, then any member may reply as often as he pleases, or as the chairman of the said committee may judge expedient. If it happen that any member of either House should utter words offensive to the King's majesty, or to the House itself, he is immediately called to the bar: in the House of Commons he sometimes, on his knees, receives a reprimand from the Speaker, and is obliged to apologize: if the offence be great, he may, by the Speaker's warrant, be sent to the Tower, or even to Newgate. When a member, during the heat of debate, happens to be betrayed into intemperate language towards another member he is merely called to 'Order' by the Speaker, and this call has generally the desired effect of quelling all animosity between the parties; but if, as sometimes has happened, anything should be uttered amounting to a challenge to settle the dispute 'out of doors,' the Speaker invariably insists upon a pledge from both, 'upon their honour,' that there shall be no fight, and generally succeeds in making them shake hands; otherwise, he has it in his power to commit the would-be combatants to the safe-keeping of the sergeant-at-arms, and to bind the mover to keep the peace. If any member, notwithstanding the call to 'Order,' persist in being disorderly, it is customary for the Speaker to name him; by which indication he is sure to incur the displeasure or censure of the House."