1 9 S HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

C it a p. hated on account of tlieir disloyalty to their nativein. prince. And even the traitor, Edric, having hadthe assurance to reproach him with his services,was condemned to be executed , and his body tobe thrown into the Thames; a suitable rewardfor his multiplied acts of perfidy and rebellion.Canute also found himself obliged, in the. beginning of his reign , to load the people withheavy taxes, in order to reward his Danish follow-ers : He exacted from them at one time the sumof 72,000 pounds; besides 11,000 pounds, whichhe levied on London alone. He was probablywilling , from political motives, to mulct severelythat city, on account of the affection which ithad borne to Edmond, and the resistance whichit had made to the Danish power in two obstinatesieges But these rigours were imputed tonecessity; and Canute, like a wife prince, wasdetermined, that the English, now deprived ofall their dangerous leaders, should be reconciledto the Danish yoke , by thejustice and impartialityof his administration. He sent back to Denmarkas many of his followers as he could safely spare:He restored the Saxon customs in a generalassembly of the states He made no distinctionbetween Danes and English in the distributionof justice : And he took care, by a strictexecution of law, to protect the lives and

,s W. Malm. p. 72. In one of these sieges, Canutediverted the course os the Thames, and by that meansbrought his ships above London-bridge.