And so the father and son came sailing up the Thames to Southwark; great numbers of the people declaring for them, and shouting for the English Earl and the English Harold, against the Norman favourites! The King was at first as blind and stubborn as kings usually have been whensoever they have been in the hands of monks.

But the people rallied so thickly round the old Earl and his son, and the old Earl was so steady in demanding without bloodshed the restoration of himself and his family to their rights, that at last the court took the alarm.

The Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Norman Bishop of London, surrounded by their retainers, fought their way out of London, and escaped from Essex to France in a fishing-boat.

The other Norman favourites dispersed in all directions.

The old Earl and his sons (except Sweyn, who had committed crimes against the law) were restored to their possessions and dignities.