An old chronicler tells us a pleasing story of his love of minstrelsy. It was on the eve of a feast which he desired to keep in the abbey at Ely. As his barge sped through the maze of waters by which the island was approached, the voices of the chanting monks were borne faintly on the breeze. Bidding the rowers cease their work, Canute listened with unfeigned delight to the strain, rendered all the more harmonious by distance and the intervening waters. Then as the boat shot forward once more he composed the following verse, keeping time with the beat of the oars:—— “Merrily sang the monks of Ely, As Cnut the king rowed by; Row, knights, near the land, And let us hear these good monks sing.” In Rome, the heart of Christendom, the Viking was still regarded as a heathen pirate, a deadly enemy alike of civilization and true religion. Canute was eager to remove this impression, and to bring his empire into union with the greatest spiritual power of the world. He therefore undertook a pilgrimage to Rome. West Saxon kings for three hundred years past had visited the Pope and the tombs of the saints, but now, for the first time, a Dane set out on the pious journey. A long train of attendants accompanied him, but he himself wore a pilgrim’s robe and carried a pilgrim’s staff in his hand. As he journeyed along the pilgrims’ route, he bethought him of those who should hereafter follow him, and made treaties with the masters of the Alpine passes, so that his subjects should come and go unmolested. Arrived in Rome, he prayed before the altars, placed rich gifts on every shrine, and purchased relics for the churches at home. From Rome he wrote to the Witan a letter which reveals him in a most favourable light. Ere Canute passes by and our pageant knows him no more, let us extract one passage from the message which he sent to his people: “I would have you know that I have made a vow to Almighty God to regulate my life by the dictates of virtue, and to govern my people with judgment. If during the rashness of youth I have done anything contrary to justice, I will for the future, with the help of God, amend this to the best of my power. Wherefore I require and command all my counsellors to lend themselves to no injustice, either in fear of me or to favour the powerful. I recommend them, if they prize my friendship and their own lives, to do no harm or violence to any man, rich or poor. Let every one, in his place, enjoy that which he possesses, and not be disturbed in that enjoyment, either in the king’s name or in the name of any other person, nor under pretext of levying money for my treasury, for I need no money obtained by unjust means.”