A.D. 1066. HAROLD LEVEES AN ARMY. 133 about to pass, a certain leprous man, full of running sores. Those who went before rebuked him, and, wishing to remove him thence, bade him hold his peace; on which, the king said to them, " Allow him to sit there." When the king had approached him, the leper thus addressed him, " I conjure thee, by the living God, to carry me on thy shoulders into the church';" upon which the king, bowing down his head, ordered the leper to be placed on his shoulders. And it came to pass, that, when the king moved on, and prayed to the Lord that He would restore the leper to health, his prayers were heard, and the leper was made whole from that hour, praising and blessing the Lord.24 Harold, as soon as he had begun to reign, proceeded to abolish all unjust laws and to enact just ones, to become the zealous patron of churches and monasteries, to venerate and encourage the bishops, abbats, monks, and clergy, to show himself pious, humble, and affable to all, and to hold evil-doers in detestation. Por he gave general orders to the dukes, earls, sheriffs, and thanes, to seize all thieves, robbers, and dis-turbers of the realm, and himself used every exertion, for the defence of the country, both by sea and land. In the same year, on the eighth day before the calends of May, there appeared a comet, not only in England, but even, it is said, throughout the whole world. It made its appearance during seven days, and shone with extreme brightness; whence the saying ; In the year one thousand sixty-six A comet all England's gaze did fix.24* Shortly after this, earl Tosti, returning from Flanders, landed in the Isle of Wight, and, having compelled the islanders to find him tribute and provisions, took his depar-ture and collected plunder near the sea-shore, until he came to the port of Sandwich. On hearing this, king Harold, who was then staying at London, ordered a considerable fleet, and an 24 With this king originated the supposed efficacy of the royal touch for king's evil ; which was supposed to be possessed by the royal family of England till the reign of queen Anne, the last who practised it. This translation is about as good as the rhyming verses in the ori-ginal:— Anno milleno, sexageno, quoque seno Anglorum metse crinem sensêre comete.