He saw that the great power and ambition of Harold had
tempted him to think of obtaining possession of the throne on the first
vacancy, and that Edgar, on account of his youth and inexperience, was
very unfit to oppose the pretensions of so popular and enterprising a
rival. The animosity which he had long borne to Earl Godwin, made him
averse to the succession of his son; and he could not, without extreme
reluctance, think of an increase of grandeur to a family which had risen
on the ruins of royal authority, and which, by the murder of Alfred, his
brother, had contributed so much to the weakening of the Saxon line. In
this uncertainty, he secretly cast his eye towards his kinsman, William
duke of Normandy, as the only person whose power, and reputation, and
capacity, could support any destination which he might make in his
favor, to the exclusion of Harold and his family.[*]
[* Irgulph. p. 68]
This famous prince was natural son of Robert, duke of Normandy, by
Harlotta, daughter of a tanner in Falaise,[**] and was very early
established in that grandeur, from which his birth seemed to have set
him at so great a distance.
[** Brompton, p.
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