the story of his general's escape, and so impressed with the marks of
capacity and talent which the young Saxon manifested, that he gave
Godwin immediately a military command in his army. In fact, a young
man who could leave his home and his father, and abandon the cause
of his countrymen forever under such circumstances, must have had
something besides generosity toward a fugitive enemy to impel him.
Godwin was soon found to possess a large portion of that peculiar
spirit which constitutes a soldier. He was ambitious, stern,
energetic, and always successful. He rose rapidly in influence and
rank, and in the course of a few years, during which King Canute
triumphed wholly over his Saxon enemies, and established his dominion
over almost the whole realm, he was promoted to the rank of a king,
and ruled, second only to Canute himself, over the kingdom of Wessex,
one of the most important divisions of Canute's empire. Here he lived
and reigned in peace and prosperity for many years. He was married,
and he had a daughter named Edith, who was as gentle and lovely as her
father was terrible and stern. They said that Edith sprung from Godwin
like a rose from its stem of thorns.

A writer who lived in those days, and recorded the occurrences of the
times, says that, when he was a boy, his father was employed in some
way in Godwin's palace, and that in going to and from school he was
often met by Edith, who was walking, attended by her maid. On such
occasions Edith would stop him, he said, and question him about his
studies, his grammar, his logic, and his verses; and she would often
draw him into an argument on those subtle points of disputation which
attracted so much attention in those days. Then she would commend him
for his attention and progress, and order her woman to make him a
present of some money. In a word, Edith was so gentle and kind, and
took so cordial an interest in whatever concerned the welfare and