IZ6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

c H A F. in child-bed, refused afterwards all commerce11. with her husband; not from any weak superstition,as was common in that age , but because shedeemed all domestic occupations unworthy ofher masculine and ambitious spirit She diedbefore her brother ; and Edward , during theremainder of his reign, took upon himself theimmediate government of Mercia, which beforehad been entrusted to the authority ofa governor Iof .The Saxon Chronicle sixes the death of this princein 925 I0 ‘: His kingdom devolved to Athelstan,his natural son.

ATHELSTAN.

s **' rHE stain in this prince’s birth was not, inthose times, deemed so considerable as to excludehim from the throne ; and Athelstan , being ofan age, as well as of a capacity, fitted for go-vernment, obtained the preference to Edward’syounger children , who, though legitimate, wereof too tender years to rule a nation so muchexposed both to foreign invasion and to domesticconvulsions. Some discontents, however, pre*vailed on his accession ; and Alfred, a noblemanof considerable power , was thence encouraged toenter into a conspiracy against him. This incident

" W. Maltnes. lib. 2. cap. 5. Matth. West. p. 182.Ingulf, p. 28- Higden, p. 261.

Chron. Sax. p. no. Brompton, p. 831.

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