There are two circumstances related of Siward, which discover his high
sense of honor, and his martial disposition. When intelligence was
brought him of his son Osberne's death, he was inconsolable; till he
heard that the wound was received in the breast, and that he had
behaved with great gallantry in the action. When he found his own death
approaching, he ordered his servants to clothe him in a complete suit
of armor; and sitting erect on the couch, with a spear in his hand,
declared, that in that posture, the only one worthy of a warrior, he
would patiently await the fatal moment.
The king, now worn out with cares and infirmities, felt himself far
advanced in the decline of life; and having no issue himself, began to
think of appointing a successor to the kingdom. He sent a deputation to
Hungary, to invite over his nephew Edward, son of his elder brother, and
the only remaining heir of the Saxon line. That prince, whose succession
to the crown would have been easy and undisputed, came to England with
his children, Edgar, surnamed Atheling, Margaret, and Christina; but his
death, which happened a few days after his arrival, threw the king into
new difficulties.
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