Dunstan s influence secured the crown for Edward. But a fierce struggle ensued between Dunstan and his enemies. In 977 the Witan met three times; and the last meeting, that at Calne, was signalized by an accident, which the friends of Dunstan called a miracle. Half the floor of the room in which the Witan was assembled gave way at the moment that Dunstan was making a solemn appeal to God, so that the enemies of Dunstan fell, and Dunstan and his friends remained unhurt. This accident has been ex plained by reference to the archbishop s well-known skill in mechanics. During the first few years of the unhappy reign of Ethelred the Unready, Dunstan probably retained some influence in the government ; and it is noteworthy that the year of his death (which took place on the 19th May 988) marks the commencement of the most disastrous invasions of the Danes. Towards the close of his life Dunstan is said to have retired from the court, and his last years were devoted to religious observances and the com position of sacred music, his favourite amusement being,
as of old, the manufacture of bells and musical instruments.Dunstan has been frequently painted by historians as one of the most complete types of the bigoted ecclesiastic. If, however, we critically examine the best sources, he will appear to have been statesman much more than ecclesiastic ; and the circumstances which caused him to be honoured by the monks as one of their greatest patrons will become manifest. Even in his lifetime he was believed to be endowed with supernatural power, as is shown by the charge of witchcraft brought against him in his youth, and by the story of the miracle at Calne. His earliest biography, written by a contemporary, represents him as a man of vivid imagination, a seer of visions and dreamer of dreams, a man of unusually sensitive nervous organization, as is indicated by the strange " gift of tears " with which he is said to have been endowed ; and in this biography we find the first of the tales which became so common of his interviews with the devil, who is said to have tormented him in the form of a bear and in other frightful shapes. By a very common process, there came to be connected with his name a large number of marvellous legends, of which the best known is the story of how the devil appeared to him with impure suggestions while he was working at his forge, and how the saint retaliated by seizing the nose of the great enemy with a pair of red-hot tongs. It is not sur prising that tho monkish writers should exaggerate any services rendered to their order by an archbishop possessed of so wonderful a reputation. But in fact there is good reason to believe that Dunstan always treated church affairs as subordinate to political considerations. While Ethelwald, the bishop of Winchester, and Oswald, bishop of Worcester, and afterwards archbishop of York, were introducing monks of the strict Benedictine order into their sees in place of the seculars, and doing their utmost to enforce celibacy among the clergy, he allowed the married priests to retain their places in his diocese without interfer ence. On the other hand, no doubt all Dunstan s influence in church affairs was given to the monastic party, though that influence was exerted with a statesman-like moderation for which he has not received credi!",and it is likely that he did not attain his canonization without performing sub stantial service to the church. The political services which Dunstau rendered to England were certainly of the first importance. He guided the state successfully during the nine years reign of the invalid Edred. And there is good reason to believe that he deserves at least as much credit as the king himself for the settlement of Northumbria and the Danes which was effected, for the peace which prevailed, and the glory which was gained, in Edgar s famous reign.
Several works have been attributed to Dunstan, including a commentary on the Benedictine rule, and a Rcgularis Concordia (published in Reyner s Apostolatus Benedidinorum and in the New Monasticon) ; but the real authorship of both of these is doubtful. His reputation as a miracle-worker so long outlasted his life, that a tract on the philosopher s stone was published in his name at Cassel in 1649.
The earliest and the most trustworthy of the biographers of Dunstan was "the priest B. ," whom some authorities have supposed, though not upon conclusive grounds, to be the scholar Bridferth of Ramsey.[1] The date of his work is fixed by Prof. Stubbs at about 1000; it is dedicated to archbishop Elfric who died in 1006. The later lives, those of Adelard (which consists ot lessons intended to be used in the monasteries), of Osbern, Eadmer, and William of Malmesbury, are of far less value, being distorted by prejudice and filled with extravagant legends. The Memorials of Saint Dutistan have been published by Mabillon, and also in the Master of the Rolls series, edited, with an introduction, by Prof. Stubbs. A scholarly essay on Dunstan and his Policy is contained in Mr E. W. Robertson s Historical Essays ; and the life of Dunstan is included in Dean Hook s Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury.
DUNTON, John (1659-1735) an eccentric bookseller, publisher, and author, was born at Graffham, in Hunting donshire, May 4, 1659. In his boyhood he showed great fondness for adventure, and a faculty for getting into and out of scrapes. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to Thomas Parkhurst, bookseller, at the sign of the Bible and Three Crowns, Cheapside, London, whose strictness had full exercise in the endeavour to keep in check his way ward tendencies. During the struggle which led to the Revolution, Dunton joined the Whig apprentices, and became the treasurer of that body. In 1685 he became bookseller at the sign of the Raven, near the Royal Exchange, having, after much consideration as to the lady he should select, married a sister of Samuel Wesley. His wife managed his business, so that he was left free in a great measure to follow his own eccentric devices, which now took the form chiefly of writing and rambling. In 1686, probably because he was concerned in the Monmouth rising, he visited New England, where he stayed eight months selling books and observing with interest the new country and its inhabitants. He then made a short excursion to Holland; after which, returning to England, he opened a new shop in the Poultry, in the hope of better times. Here he published weekly the Athenian Mercury, which professed to answer all questions on history, philosophy, love, marriage, and things in general. It enjoyed considerable popularity for some time, but he discontinued it, after a course of six years, in 1696. His wife died some time after this. He married a second time ; but a quarrel about his wife s property led to a separation, and, having no one to manage his affairs, he spent the remainder of his life in great poverty. He died in 1735. He wrote a great many books which are now forgotten, but his Life and Errors, on account of its naivete and as a picture of bygone times, is still read, and his letters from New England were published in America in 1867.
navigator and scientific investigator, was born at Paris, entered the navy in 1803, took part in the military opera tions of 1809 at Brest and Rochefort, and assisted in the hydrogrnplucal survey of the coast of Tuscany carried on during that and the following year. From 1817 to 1820 he served under Freycinet in his great voyage round the world, being intrusted with the hydrographic operations on board the " Urania ; " and he contributed largely to the
preservation of the crew and the scientific collections when
- ↑ This question is fully discussed by Prof. Stubbs in his Introdnc- tion to the Memorials of Saint Dunstan; but there are no sufficient data for discovering the author.
