een raised relating to the
contradictory bequests of the Confessor, there can be no difficulty in
admitting that the conflicting pretensions of William and Harold were
grounded upon the acts emanating from a wavering and feeble mind. If
such disputes take place between private individuals, they are decided
by a court of justice; but if they concern a kingdom, they can only be
settled by the sword."[K] And to the sword Harold and William remitted
the settlement of the question.

The two men who were thus arrayed in deadly opposition to each other
were not unworthy of being competitors for a crown. Harold belonged to
the greatest Saxon family of his time, of which he had been the head
ever since the death of his father, the great Earl Godwin, which took
place in 1053. Earl Godwin was one of the foremost men of the
ante-Norman period of England, though his character, as Mr. St. John
observes, "lies buried beneath a load of calumny"; and he quotes Dr.
Hook as saying that "Godwin was the connecting link between the Saxon
and the Dane, and, as the leader of the united English people, became
one of the greatest men this country has ever produced, although, as is
the English custom, one of the most maligned." "Calm, moderate, and
dignified, reining in with wisdom the impetuosity of his nature," says
Mr. St. John, "he presented to those around him the _beau ideal_ of an
Englishman, with all his predilections and prejudices, the warmest
attachment to his native land, and a somewhat overweening contempt of
foreigners. He was without question the greatest statesman of his age;
and, indeed, statesmanship in England may almost be said to have
commenced with him. Whether we look at home or abroad, we discover no
man in Christendom worthy to be ranked with him, in genius or wisdom, in
peace or war. His figure towers far above all his contemporaries; he
constitutes the acme of the purely Saxon mind. No taint of foreign blood
was in him.... Godwin's lot was cast upon evil days. The marriage of
Ethelred with Emma originated a fatal connection between this country
and Normandy, the first fruits of which, forcing themselves but too
obviously on his notice, he prevented, while he lived, from growing to
maturity. The efforts, public and secret, which he found it necessary to
make in the performance of this patriotic task, laid him open to the
charge of craft and subtlety. Let it be granted that he deserved the
imputation; but it must be added