censed. He then bequeathed Normandy and Maine
to his eldest son Robert, whom he never loved; to
Henry he left five thousand pounds and his mother's
jointure, without the smallest territory; and though he
would not pretend to establish the succession of the
crown of England, to which he now began to perceive
that he had no title, he expressed his wish that it might
devolve to his favourite son William, whom he imme-
diately dispatched with letters to the archbishop of
Canterbury, desiring his assistance. Having thus re-
gulated his temporal affairs, he was conveyed in a litter
to a little village near Rouen, where he might settle the
concerns of his soul without noise or interruption. It
was there that he died, in the sixty-fifth year of his age,
after having reigned fifty-three years in Normandy and
almost twenty-one in England. His body was interred
in the church at Caen, which he himself had founded:
but his interment was attended with a remarkable cir-
cumstance. As the body was carrying to the grave,
the prelates and priests attending with the most awful
silence, a man, who stood upon an eminence, was heard
to cry out with a loud voice, and to forbid the inter-
ment of the body in a spot that had been unjustly
seized by the Conqueror. "That very place," cried
the man, 66
is the area of my father's house; and I
now summon the departed soul before the divine tri-
bunal to do me justice, and to atone for so great an
oppression." The bishops and attendants were struck
with the man's intrepid conduct; they inquired into the
truth of his charge, and, finding it just, agreed to satisfy
him for the damages he had sustained.

William's
William was a prince of great courage and capacity;
Characte ambitious, politic, cruel, vindictive, and rapacious. He
was fond of glory, and parsimonious merely for the pur-
poses of ostentation. Though sudden and impetuous

in his enterprises, he was cool, deliberate, and indefatigable in times of danger. He is said, by the Norman writers, to have been above eight feet high, his body strong-built and well proportioned, and his strength such that none of his courtiers could draw his bow. He talked little; he was seldom affable to any, except to Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury; with him he was ever meek and gentle-with all others stern and austere. Though he rendered himself formidable to all, and odious to many, yet he had policy sufficient to transmit his power to posterity; and the throne is still occupied by his descendants.

CHAPTER VI.

WILLIAM RUFUS. 'r rothfreige
A. D. 1087-1100.

WILLIAM, surnamed Rufus from the colour of his hair, Wilhelm
had no sooner received the late king's letter to Lan-ufus,
franc in his favour, than he hastened to take measures
for securing himself on the throne. Arriving, therefore,
before the news of William's death had yet reached
England, his first care was to take possession of the
treasure left by the king at Winchester, which amounted
to the sum of sixty thousand pounds. He then ad-
dressed the primate, who had always considered him
with an eye of peculiar affection, and who now, finding
the justness of his claim, instantly proceeded to the ce-
remony of his coronation. At the same time Robert,
who had been appointed successor to Normandy, took
peaceable possession of that government; where his
person was loved, and his accession long desired.

Anfängliche In the beginning of the reign of William Rufus, the Verstellung English began to think they had hitherto mistaken this von William prince's character, who had always appeared to them Rufus.

geyon William.

rude and brutal. He at first seemed to pay the utmost regard to the counsels of Lanfranc the primate, which were mild and gentle, and constantly calculated for the benefit of the nation. Nevertheless, the Norman barons, who knew him better, perceived that he kept his disposition under an unnatural restraint, and that he only waited an opportunity for throwing off the mask when his power should be established. They were, from the beginning, displeased at the division of the empire by the late king; they eagerly desired an union as before, and looked upon Robert as the proper owner of the whole. The natural disposition also of this prince was as pleasing to them as that of William his brother was odious. Robert was open, generous, and humane; he carried his facility to an excess, as he could scarcely find strength of mind to give any of his adherents the mortification of a refusal. But this was a quality no way disagreeable to those who expected to build their ambition on the easy pliancy of his temper. A powerful conspiracy was therefore carried on against William; and Odo, the late king's brother, undertook to conduct it to maturity.

Verschwörung William, sensible of the danger that threatened him on all sides, endeavoured to gain the affections of the native English, whom he prevailed upon, by promises of future good treatment and preference of the distribution of his favours, to espouse his interests. He was soon in the field; and, at the head of a numerous army, showed himself in readiness to oppose all who should dispute his pretensions. In the mean time Odo had written to Robert an account of the conspiracy in his favour, urging him to use dispatch, and exeiting him by the great

ness of the danger, and the splendour of the reward. Robert gave the most positive assurances of speedy assistance; but his indolence was not to be excited by distant expectations. Instead of employing his money in levies to support his friends in England, he squandered it away in idle expenses and unmerited benefits, so that he procrastinated his departure till the opportunity was lost; while William exerted himself with incredible activity to dissipate the confederacy before he could arrive. Nor was this difficult to effect the conspirators had, in consequence of Robert's assurances, taken possession of some fortresses; but the appearance of the king soon reduced them to implore for mercy. He granted them their lives, but confiscated all their estates, and banished them from the kingdom.

William, thus freed from all danger of insurrection, William leg and fixed in the peaceable possession of the kingdom, eine Verstel showed the first instance of his perverse disposition, in lung ab.

his ingratitude to the English who had secured him on

the throne.

Kirche an.

The death of Lanfranc, which followed shortly after, Willian greif took off all restraint from his inclinations; and his mind die Priviles now appeared in its natural deformity, tyrannical and g unjust. He ordered a new survey to be taken of all the lands and property of the kingdom; and wherever he found them undervalued in the Domesday-book, he raised the proportion of taxes accordingly. Even the privileges of the church, which were held very sacred in those times of ignorance, were but a feeble rampart against his usurpations; he seized the vacant bishoprics, and openly put to sale such abbeys as he thought proper. But, not contented with exerting his tyranny over his own dominions, he was resolved to extend his authority over those of his brother. In consequence of

A. D. this resolution he appeared in Normandy at the 1091. head of a numerous army; but the nobility, on both sides, strongly connected by interest and alliances, brought on an accommodation. Among other articles of this treaty, it was agreed, that, if either of the brothers should die without issue, the survivor should inherit all his dominions. It was in vain that Henry, the other brother, remonstrated against this act of injustice; it was in vain that he took arms, and even defended a little fortress on the coast of Normandy, for some time, against their united assaults. He was at last obliged to surrender; and, being despoiled of even the small patrimony that was left him, he wandered about for some years with a few attendants, and was often reduced to great poverty.

Edle Charme. It was in besieging this fortress that a circumstance fire or two have been related, which serve to mark the character of the two brothers. As William was taking the air one day on horseback, at some distance from the camp, he perceived two horsemen riding out from the castle, who soon came up and attacked him. In the very first encounter, the king's horse being killed, overturned, and lay upon him in such a manner that he could not disengage himself. His antagonist, while he remained in this situation, lifted up his arm to dispatch him; when William exclaimed, in a menacing tone, "Hold, villain! I am the king of England." The two soldiers were immediately seized with veneration and and helping him up, accommodated him with one of their horses. William was not ungrateful for this service; he mounted the horse, and ordering the soldier to follow, took him into his service. Soon after, Robert had an occasion to show still greater marks of generosity; for, hearing that the garrison was in great distress for want of water, he not only ordered that Henry

awe;