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England which the Norse…speaking Normans could not conquer。







And now King Harold showed himself a man。  He turned at once from



the North of England to the South。  He raised the folk of the



Southern; as he had raised those of the Central and Northern shires;



and in sixteen daysafter a march which in those times was a



prodigious feathe was entrenched upon the fatal down which men



called Heathfield then; and Senlac; but Battle to this daywith



William and his French Normans opposite him on Telham hill。







Then came the battle of Hastings。  You all know what befell upon



that day; and how the old weapon was matched against the newthe



English axe against the Norman lanceand beaten only because the



English broke their ranks。  If you wish to refresh your memories;



read the tale once more in Mr。 Freeman's 〃History of England;〃 or



Professor Creasy's 〃 Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World;〃 or



even; best of all; the late Lord Lytton's splendid romance of



〃Harold。〃  And when you go to England; go; as some of you may have



gone already; to Battle; and there from off the Abbey grounds; or



from Mountjoye behind; look down off what was then 〃The Heathy



Field;〃 over the long slopes of green pasture and the rich hop…



gardens; where were no hop…gardens then; and the flat tide…marshes



winding between the wooded heights; towards the southern sea; and



imagine for yourselves the feelings of an Englishman as he



contemplates that broad green sloping lawn; on which was decided the



destiny of his native land。  Here; right beneath; rode Taillefer up



the slope before them all; singing the song of Roland; tossing his



lance in air and catching it as it fell; with all the Norse



berserker spirit of his ancestors flashing out in him; at the



thought of one fair fight; and then purgatory; or Valhalla



Taillefer perhaps preferred the latter。  Yonder on the left; in that



copse where the red…ochre gully runs; is Sanguelac; the drain of



blood; into which (as the Bayeux tapestry; woven by Matilda's maids;



still shows) the Norman knights fell; horse and man; till the gully



was bridged with writhing bodies for those who rode after。  Here;



where you standthe crest of the hill marks where it must have



beenwas the stockade on which depended the fate of England。



Yonder; perhaps; stalked out one English squire or house…carle after



another:   tall men with long…handled battle…axesone specially



terrible; with a wooden helmet which no sword could piercewho



hewed and hewed down knight on knight; till they themselves were



borne to earth at last。  And here; among the trees and ruins of the



garden; kept trim by those who know the treasure which they own;



stood Harold's two standards of the fighting…man and the dragon of



Wessex。  And here; close by (for here; for many a century; stood the



high altar of Battle Abbey; where monks sang masses for Harold's



soul); upon this very spot the Swan…neck found her hero…lover's



corpse。  〃Ah;〃 says many an Englishmanand who will blame him for



it〃how grand to have died beneath that standard on that day!〃



Yes; and how right。  And yet how right; likewise; that the Norman's



cry of DEXAIE!〃God Help!〃and not the English hurrah; should have



won that day; till William rode up Mountjoye in the afternoon to see



the English army; terrible even in defeat; struggling through copse



and marsh away toward Brede; and; like retreating lions driven into



their native woods; slaying more in the pursuit than they slew even



in the fight。







But so it was to be; for so it ought to have been。  You; my American



friends; delight; as I have said already; in seeing the old places



of the old country。  Go; I beg you; and look at that old place; and



if you be wise; you will carry back from it one lesson:   That God's



thoughts are not as our thoughts; nor His ways as our ways。







It was a fearful time which followed。  I cannot but believe that our



forefathers had been; in some way or other; great sinners; or two



such conquests as Canute's and William's would not have fallen on



them within the short space of sixty years。  They did not want for



courage; as Stamford Brigg and Hastings showed full well。  English



swine; their Norman conquerors called them often enough; but never



English cowards。  Their ruinous vice; if we are to trust the records



of the time; was what the old monks called accidia'Greek text'



and ranked it as one of the seven deadly sins:   a general careless;



sleepy; comfortable habit of mind; which lets all go its way for



good or evila habit of mind too often accompanied; as in the case



of the Angle…Danes; with self…indulgence; often coarse enough。  Huge



eaters and huger drinkers; fuddled with ale; were the men who went



down at Hastingsthough they went down like heroesbefore the



staid and sober Norman out of France。







But those were fearful times。  As long as William lived; ruthless as



he was to all rebels; he kept order and did justice with a strong



and steady hand; for he brought with him from Normandy the instincts



of a truly great statesman。  And in his sons' time matters grew



worse and worse。  After that; in the troubles of Stephen's reign;



anarchy let loose tyranny in its most fearful form; and things were



done which recall the cruelties of the old Spanish CONQUISTADORES in



America。  Scott's charming romance of 〃Ivanhoe〃 must be taken; I



fear; as a too true picture of English society in the time of



Richard I。







And what came of it all?  What was the result of all this misery and



wrong?







This; paradoxical as it may seem:   That the Norman conquest was the



making of the English people; of the Free Commons of England。







Paradoxical; but true。  First; you must dismiss from your minds the



too common notion that there is now; in England; a governing Norman



aristocracy; or that there has been one; at least since the year



1215; when Magna Charta was won from the Norman John by Normans and



by English alike。  For the first victors at Hastings; like the first



conquistadores in America; perished; as the monk chronicles point



out; rapidly by their own crimes; and very few of our nobility can



trace their names back to the authentic Battle Abbey roll。  The



great majority of the peers have sprung from; and all have



intermarried with; the Commons; and the peerage has been from the



first; and has become more and more as centuries have rolled on; the



prize of success in life。







The cause is plain。  The conquest of England by the Normans was not



one of those conquests of a savage by a civilised race; or of a



cowardly race by a brave race; which results in the slavery of the



conquered; and leaves the gulf of caste between two racesmaster



and slave。  That was the case in France; and resulted; after



centuries of oppression; in the great and dreadful revolution of



1793; which convulsed not only France but the whole civilised world。



But caste; thank God; has never existed in England; since at least



the first generation after the Norman conquest。







The vast majority; all but the whole population of England; have



been always free; and free; as they are not where caste exists to



change their occupations。  They could intermarry; if they were able



men; into the ranks above them; as they could sink; if they were



unable men; into the ranks below them。  Any man acquainted with the



origin of our English surnames may verify this fact for himself; by



looking at the names of a single parish or a single street of shops。



There; jumbled together; he will find names marking the noblest



Saxon or Angle bloodKenward or Kenric; Osgood or Osborne; side by



side with Cordery or Banisternow names of farmers in my own



parishor other Norman…French names which may be; like those two



last; in Battle Abbey rolland side by side the almost ubiquitous



Brown; whose ancestor was probably some Danish or Norwegian house…



carle; proud of his name Biorn the Bear; and the ubiquitous Smith or



Smythe; the Smiter; whose forefather; whether he be now peasant or



peer; assuredly handled the tongs and hammer at his own forge。  This



holds true equally in New England and in Old。  When I search through



(as I delight to do) your New England surnames; I find the same



jumble of namesWest Saxon; Angle; Danish; Norman; and French…



Norman likewise; many of primaeval and heathen antiquity; many of



high nobility; all worked together; as at home; to form the Free



Commoners of England。







If any should wish to know more on this curious and important



subject; let me recommend them to study Ferguson's 〃Teutonic Name



System;〃 a book from which you will discover that some of our



quaintest; and seemingly most plebeian surnamesmany surnames; too;



which are extinct in England; but remain in Americaare really



corruptions of good old Teutonic names; which our ancestors may have



carried in the German Forest; before an Englishman set foot on



British soil; from which he will rise with the comfortable feeling



that we English…speaking men; from the highest to the lowest; are



literally kinsmen。  Nay; so utterly made up now is the old blood…



feud between Norseman and Englishman; between the descendants of



those who conquered and those who were conquered; that in the



children of our Prince of Wales; after 800 years; the blood of



William of Normandy is mingled with the blood of the very Harold who



fell at Hasting

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