During some part of this period the shipping of England seems to have been pretty numerous; but what portion of it belonged to the port of Lynn does not appear. The royal navy too, was at times on a respectable footing, particularly in the reigns of Alfred and Canute, as well as in those of Edgar, surnamed the peaceable, and Ethelred: the latter is said to have possessed near 800 sail of men of war, [274] but they were all what would now be called small vessels. The military force of the kingdom consisted generally of about 50,000, though on extraordinary occasions it considerably exceeded that number.
For a long time, markets were usually kept on Sundays, in or near some church, but that being found somewhat inconvenient, as interfering with the religious service of the day, they were afterwards changed to Saturdays. The fairs of those times were also generally kept within the precincts of some great churches, or monasteries, on some notable day, generally the anniversary of the patron saint, and it was customary to oblige every comer to the fair, at the gate, before he entered, to swear that he would neither lie, steal, nor cheat: which might be very useful, if the people had then a proper sense of the sacredness of oaths, otherwise it would be of but little avail, as it is to be feared it would also be in the present day, when, from the multiplicity or commonness of oaths, a disposition to trifle with, or make light of them is notoriously prevalent. For holding these fairs, bishops and abbots obtained charters from the crown, with a view to increase their own revenues by the tolls which such charters would authorise them to levy on such occasions. Thus every thing contributed to the aggrandizement of the church. Before the end of this period, the clergy had possession of more than a third part of all the land in the kingdom, with the tithes of all the rest.
Much attention was then bestowed on the decoration of churches and religious houses. Organs and bells were introduced toward the latter part of this period. The famous Saint Dunstan gave a fine organ, in the reign of Edgar, to the abbey of Glastonbury. Bells became very common about the 10th century, and were hung in the towers of churches, which were then all of wood: only the altars were, it seems, built of stone. The first set of bells in this kingdom, that we hear of, was at Croyland, in Lincolnshire, in the reign of Athelstan, a gift of the abbot Turketul to that celebrated monastery. [275] There had, however, been single bells in England long before that period, and even as early as the 7th century, as is attested by Bede. In the time of M. Paris, bells were not allowed to ring at funerals, as inspiring too gay and unsuitable ideas. Clocks also began to be introduced here toward the close of this period. About the same time, the English began to be expert and noted manufacturers of woollen cloth; the value of a sheep’s fleece, of course, was then well understood, and rated at two fifths of the animal’s whole price. Silk, though now beginning to be imported, was not woven here until some centuries afterwards: linen, in the mean time, was extremely scarce. It is very remarkable, but seemingly an unquestionable fact, that highly finished works in gold and silver, were the production even of our darkest ages. The monks, in those times, were the best artists, and the famous St. Dunstan inferior to none of them. Yet the means of supplying life with necessaries, appear to have been but imperfectly known and cultivated. The pagans of Sussex, in the 7th. century, though starving for want of food, knew not how to catch any fish, except eels, until bishop Wilfred, who came thither in 678, instructed them in the use of nets. He took 300 at a draught; and by thus supplying their bodily wants, rendered their minds tractable to his doctrines, and easily succeeded in their conversion. [276]—Our modern missionaries to the south sea isles, and other foreign parts, would do well to imitate his example, and not confine their attention or labours solely to religious instruction. A goodly pattern of the same kind has also been very lately set before them among the North American Indians by the Quaker missionaries. But it is to be feared that they and their employers are too wise in their own eyes to profit by such examples.
Section VI.
Population of Lynn, and the country in general, before the conquest—condition of the bulk of the inhabitants in the mean time—sufferings of the inhabitants of Lynn and the adjacent country from the Danes—intrepid and ferocious character of that people—instruments of vengeance on the Anglo-Saxons—their disposition and character not much changed by their conversion to christianity—remarkable instances of imposition, superstition, and credulity.
Of the population of Lynn, at any time during that long period, from the establishment of the Saxons to that of the Normans, no estimate can now be formed; but it is pretty certain that the major part of its inhabitants, as well as those of the adjacent country, and of all the rest of England, were Slaves, during the whole of that time, and long after. Those unfortunate people, for the most part at least, appear to have been the descendants of the original inhabitants, who were reduced to that condition, at the subjugation, of conquest of the country, and whose lives had been then spared, on condition of their becoming the property, or goods and chattels of the conquerors. So did the Saxons treat those of the natives whose lives they condescended to spare; all the rest they butchered without mercy, except such of them as were fortunate enough to escape to the unsubdued parts of the island. Of these cruel and horrid deeds, they never appear to have repented, even after they assumed the name of christians, for the bondage still continued; but, in time, a severe retaliation took place, and the Saxons, in their turn, were treated much after the same manner as they had formerly treated the Britons. Long peace had destroyed their martial spirit: from a very warlike people, they became gradually a most dastardly race, and so fell an easy prey to the ferocious Danes. The difference at that time between these two nations in point of military prowess, is said to be so great that the Saxons, alias the English, frequently fled before inferior numbers of the Danes, and could hardly be prevailed upon to meet them in the field of battle on any terms. “Oh the misery and worldly shame in which England is involved through the wrath of God! (said an English bishop in the reign of Ethelred the unready) How often doth two or three troops of Danes drive the whole English army before them from sea to sea, to our eternal infamy, if we were capable of feeling shame! But, alas! so abject are we become, that we worship those who trample upon us, and load us with indignities.” Such was then the abject submission of the English to the insolence of the Danes, “that when an Englishman met a Dane on a bridge, or in a narrow path, where he could not avoid him, he was obliged to stand still, with his head uncovered, and in a bowing posture, till he was out of sight.” Nay, we are assured that English submission and Danish insolence and brutality were sometimes carried still further, and even to degrees that are almost incredible, as well as too indelicate to relate. [278] These Danes, who now became the instruments of retaliation and vengeance upon the Anglo-Saxons, were remarkable for their extraordinary military skill and intrepidity; and they were as unfeeling and ferocious as the latter appear to have been at the time when they invaded and conquered this country: they were therefore probably the fitter for the execution of the work in which they were employed. Much has been said of the cruelties committed by the Danes in this country: they were certainly very enormous and shocking; but there is no reason to conclude that they exceeded, or, perhaps, even equalled those which the Saxons had before exercised upon the former inhabitants. Of all the perpetrators of Danish enormities, in this island, Guthrum seems to be the foremost, or most conspicuous, in the pages of our ancient historians. Of him one of them speaks thus—“The cruel Guthrum arrived in England A.D. 878, at the head of an army of Pagan Danes, no less cruel than himself; who, like inhuman savages, destroyed all before them with fire and sword, involving cities, towns, and villages, with their inhabitants, in devouring flames; and cutting those in pieces with their battle-axes who attempted to escape from their burning houses. The tears, cries, and lamentations of men, women, and children, made no impressions upon their unrelenting hearts; even the most tempting bribes, and the humblest offers of becoming their slaves, had no effect. All the towns through which they passed exhibited the most deplorable scenes of misery and desolation; as, venerable old men lying with their throats cut before their own doors; the streets covered with the bodies of young men and children, without heads, legs, or arms; and of matrons and virgins, who had been first publicly dishonoured, and then put to death.” [279] This is very shocking, and looks like providential retaliation. The annals of history exhibit many instances of the same kind. The Danish warriors were always prodigal of life, and not only did not fear, but even courted a violent death. A natural death they dreaded, as a most ignoble and disgraceful end, and which they always appeared very anxious to avoid. No wonder that they became the terror of every nation against which they happened to wage war. No greater evil could well befall any people than to have them for their enemies and invaders.
To no part of this island did the Danes prove a greater, or more terrible scourge than to the province of the East Angles, which became one of their principal settlements, and where they committed the most shocking barbarities. Hence we may very safely conclude that the sufferings which the inhabitants of Lynn experienced from them must have been exceedingly grievous and deplorable. But as those sufferings have not been recorded they cannot now be described or particularized.
The Danes, as well as the Anglo-Saxons, when they invaded this country were pagans. Both of them afterward took up the profession of christianity; but it was only its profession, or bare name that they did take up. Their former ferocity still remained. They continued grossly ignorant, superstitious, and heathenish, and exhibited scarcely a spark of the real spirit of the religion of Christ, except perhaps in the latter part of the reign of Alfred. Their ghostly, or religious instructors were miserable and blind guides, or knavish and artful impostors, who taught them that the most meritorious actions consisted in erecting and endowing monasteries, performing pilgrimages, and reverencing the priesthood. From such pretended or pseudo-christianity, what good effect could be expected? Grapes cannot be gathered of thorns, or figs of thistles.—When Earl Alwine, who was the greatest and richest man in England, in the reign of Edgar the peaceable, consulted St. Oswald, bishop of York, what he should do to obtain the pardon of his sins, the sainted prelate made him the following eloquent harangue: “I beseech your excellency to believe that those holy men who have retired from the world, and spend their days in poverty and prayer, are the greatest favourites of heaven, and the greatest blessings to the world. It is by their merits that the divine judgements are averted and changed; that plagues and famines are removed; that healthful seasons and plentiful harvests are procured; that states and kingdoms are governed; that prisons are opened, captives delivered, shipwrecks prevented, the weak strengthened, and the sick healed: that I may say all in one word, it is by their merits that this world, so full of wickedness, is preserved from immediate ruin and destruction. I intreat you therefore, my dear son, if you have any place in your estate fit for that purpose, that you immediately build a monastery, and fill it with holy monks, whose prayers will supply all your defects, and expiate all your crimes.” The Apostles, no doubt, would have answered such an inquiry very differently. The building of Ramsey abbey, however, as Dr. Henry observes, was the consequence of this fine speech. [282] Such acts were represented by the monks as contributing greatly to the future repose of those who did them, and of their friends; whence it was usual for all those who had any sense of religion, or concern, for their salvation, to bequeath some part of their estates to their own souls, as they called those bequests which they made to a church or a monastery.
To promote and establish an unbounded veneration for the priesthood, miraculous tales were industriously propagated, and as readily believed; for the credulity of the people perfectly suited the knavery of the priests. The following talc, or rather miracle, is related by William of Malmsbury, in the very words, as he says, of one of the persons on whom it was wrought:
“I Ethelbert, a sinner, will give a true relation of what happened to me on the day before Christmas, A.D. 1012, in a certain village, where there was a church dedicated to St Magnus the martyr, that all men may know the danger of disobeying the commands of a priest. Fifteen young women and eighteen young men, of which I was one, were dancing and singing in the church-yard, when one Robert, a priest, was performing mass in the church; who sent us a civil message, intreating us to desist from our diversion, because we disturbed his devotion by our noise. But we impiously disregarded his request; upon which the holy man, inflamed with anger, prayed to God and St. Magnus, that we might continue dancing and singing a whole year, without intermission. His prayers were heard. A young man, the son of a priest, named John, took his sister, (who was singing with us) by the hand, and her arm dropped from her body without one drop of blood following. But notwithstanding this disaster she continued to dance and sing with us a whole year. During all that time we felt no inconvenience from rain, cold, heat, hunger, thirst, or weariness; and neither our shoes, nor our clothes wore out. Whenever it began to rain, a magnificent house was erected over us, by the power of the Almighty. By our continual dancing we wore the earth so much, that by degrees we sunk into it up to the knees, and at length up to the middle. When the year was ended, bishop Hubert came to the place, dissolved the invisible ties by which our hands had been so long united, absolved us, and reconciled us to St. Magnus. The priest’s daughter, who had lost her arm, and other two of the young women, died away immediately; but all the rest fell into a profound sleep, in which they continued three days and three nights; after which they arose and went up and down the world, publishing this true and glorious miracle, and carrying the evidence of its truth along with them, in the continual shaking of their limbs.”