Edmund Burke

The throne was now the prize of faction; and Harold, the son of Godwin, having the strongest faction, carried it.

When, therefore, this prince died, the lawful successor to the crown, who had nothing but right in his favor, was totally eclipsed by the splendor of the great men who had adorned themselves with the spoils of royalty.

The consequence was this: he did not humble Godwin, but raised him potent rivals.

Thus, he endeavored to balance the power of Earl Godwin by exalting Leofric, Duke of Mercia, and Siward, Duke of Northumberland, to an extravagant greatness.

He could find no method of humbling one subject grown too great, but by aggrandizing in the same excessive degree some others.

Too great to obey, and too little to protect, they were a dead weight upon the country.

These officers found means to turn the royal bounty into an instrument of becoming independent of its authority.

Aldermen were created for life; they were then frequently made hereditary; some were vested with a power over others; and at this period we begin to hear of dukes who governed over several shires, and had many aldermen subject to them.

Wars and confiscations, but above all the custom of gavelkind, had reduced that body very low.

If William had marched directly to London, all contest had probably been at an end; but he judged it more prudent to secure the sea-coast, to make way for reinforcements, distrusting his fortune in his success more than he had done in his…

The consternation which this defeat and the death of Harold produced over the kingdom was more fatal than the defeat itself.

Harold in this emergency did everything which became him, everything possible to collect his troops and to renew the engagement; but whilst he flew from place to place, and in all places restored the battle, an arrow pierced his brain, and…

On the part of the Normans it was spent in prayer, and in a cool and steady preparation for the engagement; on the side of the English, in riot and a vain confidence that neglected all the necessary preparations.

But with the most unparalleled good fortune and conduct he overcame all opposition, and triumphed over every enemy, raising his power and reputation above that of all his ancestors, as much as he was exalted by his bravery above the…

In these troubles he was formed early in life to vigilance, activity, secrecy, and a conquest over all those passions, whether bad or good, which obstruct the way to greatness.

He was careful of the privileges of his subjects, and took care to have a body of the Saxon laws, very favorable to them, digested and enforced.

The galleys of Edward and Godwin met on the Thames; but such was the general favor to Godwin, such the popularity of his cause, that the king's men threw down their arms, and refused to fight against their countrymen in favor of strangers.

The character of such a prince is not, therefore, what influences the government, any further than as it puts it in the hands of others.

They choose to be thought subdued by the treachery of their friends rather than the superior bravery of their enemies.

It is common with the conquered side to attribute all their misfortunes to the treachery of their own party.

The English, having once found the method of diverting the storm by an inglorious bargain, could not bear to think of any other way of resistance.

The scheme of purchasing peace not only gave rise to many internal hardships, but, whilst it weakened the kingdom, it inspired such a desire of invading it to the enemy, that Sweyn, King of Denmark, came in person soon after with a…

Thus all the principal men held a sort of factious and independent authority; they despised the king, they oppressed the people, and they hated one another.

Through an extreme lenity it is on some occasions tyrannical.

A weak government, too easy, suffers evils to grow which often make the most rigorous and illegal proceedings necessary.