ort this arrangement. On his death-bed,
Edward said to Harold and his kinsmen, "Ye know full well, my lords,
that I have bequeathed my kingdom to the Duke of Normandy, and are there
not those _here_ whose oaths have been given to secure his succession?"
The person to whom the crown should have gone was Edgar Atheling, son of
Edward the Outlaw, and a lineal descendant of Ironside. Neither William
nor Harold had any _claim_ to the succession, whereas Edgar's claim was
as good as that of the Prince of Wales to the throne of Great Britain is
to-day. That Edward did not nominate Edgar must be attributed, in part
at least, to the conviction that his nomination would be treated with
contempt by the partisans of both William and Harold. He feared, it is
probable, that the nomination of Edgar would give England up to the
horrors of war, and that, after that prince should be disposed of by a
union of Saxons and Normans against his claim, there would be another
contest between the two factions of the victors. He was incapable of the
grim humor of the Macedonian Alexander, who on his death-bed bequeathed
his kingdom "to the strongest"; but his bequest was virtually of the
same nature as that which so long before was made in Babylon. His death
led to great funeral games, which are not yet over.

"Harold," says Palgrave, "afterward founded his title upon Edward's
_last_ will; many of our historians prove his claim, and the different
statements are difficult to be reconciled; yet, taken altogether, the
circumstances are exactly such as we meet with in private life. The
childless owner of a large estate at first leaves his property to his
cousin on the mother's side, from whose connections he has received much
kindness. He advances in age, and alters his intentions in favor of a
nephew on his father's side,--an amiable young man, living abroad,--and
from whom he had been estranged in consequence of a family quarrel of
long standing. The young heir comes to the testator's house, is received
with great affection, and is suddenly cut off by illness. The testator
then returns to his will in favor of his cousin, who resides abroad. His
acute and active brother-in-law has taken the management of his affairs;
is well informed of this will; and, when the testator is on his
death-bed, he contrives to tease and persuade the dying man to alter the
will again in his favor. This is exactly the state of the case; and
though considerable doubts have b