degree of power unknown in the ancient Saxon times, and dangerous in
all. Large possessions, and a larger authority, were annexed to the
offices of the Saxon magistrates, whom they called Aldermen. This
authority, in their long and bloody wars with the Danes, it was found
necessary to increase, and often to increase beyond the ancient limits.
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. These officers found means to turn
the royal bounty into an instrument of becoming independent of its
authority. Too great to obey, and too little to protect, they were a
dead weight upon the country. They began to cast an eye on the crown,
and distracted the nation by cabals to compass their designs. At the
same time they nourished the most terrible feuds amongst themselves. The
feeble government of Edward established these abuses. He could find no
method of humbling one subject grown too great, but by aggrandizing in
the same excessive degree some others. 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. The
consequence was this: he did not humble Godwin, but raised him potent
rivals. 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 throne was now the prize of faction; and Harold, the son
of Godwin, having the strongest faction, carried it. By this success the
opposite parties were inflamed with a new occasion of rancor and
animosity, and an incurable discontent was raised in the minds of Edwin
and Morcar, the sons of Duke Leofric, who inherited their father's power
and popularity: but this animosity operated nothing in favor of the
legitimate heir, though it weakened the hands of the governing prince.