and had three horses slain under him. At length perceiving that the English line continued impenetrable, he pretended to give ground, which, as he expected, drew the enemy from their ranks, and he was instantly ready to take advantage of their disorder. Upon a signal given, the Normans readily returned to the charge, with greater fury than before, broke the English troops, and pursued them to a rising ground. It was in this extremity, that Harold was seen flying from rank to rank, rallying and inspiring his troops, with vigour; and, though he had toiled all day, till near nightfall, in the front of his Kentish men, yet he still seemed unabated in force or courage, keeping his men to the post of honour. Once more, therefore, the victory seemed to turn against the Normans, and they fell in great numbers, so that the fierceness and obstinacy of this memorable battle was often renewed by the courage of the leaders, whenever that of the soldiers began to slacken. Fortune, at length, determined a victory, that valour was unable to decide. Harold, making a furious onset at the head of his troops, against the Norman heavy-armed infantry, had his brains pierced by an arrow; and his two valiant brothers, fighting by his side, shared the same fate. He fell with his sword in his hand, amidst heaps of slain, and after the battle, the royal corpse could hardly be distinguished among the dead. From the moment of his death, all courage seemed to forsake the English; they gave ground on every side, and were pursued with great slaughter by the victorious Normans. Thus, after a battle, which was fought from morning till sun-set, the invaders proved successful, and the English crown became the reward of victory. There fell near fifteen thousand of the Normans, while the loss on the

side of the vanquished was yet more considerable, beside that of the king, and his two brothers. The next day, the dead body of Harold was brought to William, and generously restored, without ransom, to his mother.

Oct. 14.

1066.

This was the end of the Saxon monarchy in England, which had continued for more than six hundred years. Before the times of Alfred, the kings of this race. seemed totally immersed in ignorance; and after him, taken up with combating the superstition of the monks, or blindly obeying its dictates. As for the crown, during this period, it was neither wholly elective, nor yet totally hereditary, but disposed either by the will of the former possessor, or obtained by the eminent intrigues or services of some person nearly allied to the royal family. As for the laws and customs of this race, they brought in many, long in practice among their German ancestors; but they adopted also many more which they found among the Britons, or which the Romans left behind them after their abdication. They assumed, in imitation of those nations, the name of kings; nay, some of them took the Greek appellation of Basileus, a title unknown to the countries from whence they came. Their noblemen also assumed names of Roman authority, being termed Dukes or Duces; while the lower classes of people were bought and sold with the farms they cultivated; an horrid custom, first introduced by the Greeks and Romans, and afterwards adopted by the countries they conquered. Their canon laws also, which often controuled the civil authority, had primarily their origin in Rome ; and the priests and monks who drew them up, had generally their education there. We must not, therefore, ascribe the laws and customs which then prevailed over England entirely to Saxon original,

as many of them were derived from the Britons and Romans, But now the Saxon monarchy was no more; all customs and laws, of whatever origi nal, were melted down into one common mass, and cemented by those of Norman institution. The whole face of obligation was altered, and the new masters instituted new modes of obedience. The laws were improved; but the taste of the people for polite learning, arts, and philosophy, for more than four hundred years after, were still to continue the same. It appears surprizing enough, that in such a variety of events, such innovation in military discipline, and such changes in government, that true politeness, and what is called taste in the arts, never came to be cultivated. Perhaps, the reason may be, that while the authority of the church continued so great, the people were afraid of any knowledge but that derived to them through their clergy; and, being secluded from the ordinary conversation of mankind, they were but indifferent judges of human nature. A monk of the tenth century, and a monk of the eighteenth century, are equally refined, and equally fit to advance those studies that give us an acquaintance with ourselves, or that tend to display the mazes of the human heart.

CHAPTER V.

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.

OTHING could exceed the consternation of

N the English upon the loss of the battle of

Hastings; their king slain, the flower of their nobility cut off, and their whole army dispersed or destroyed, struck them with despair. Very little seemed now remaining, but a tame submission to

the victor; and William sensible of their terrors, was careful not to lose the fruits of victory by delay. Accordingly, after the pursuit of the flying enemy, and a short refreshment of his own army, he set forward on the completion of his design; and sitting down before Dover, took it after a slight resistance, and fortified it with fresh redoubts. After a short delay at this place, he advanced by quick marches towards London, where his approach served to spread new confusion. The inhabitants for some time hesitated between their terrors and their loyalty; but, casting their eyes on every side, they saw no person of valour or authority sufficient to support them in their independence. Edgar Atheling, the right heir to the crown, was a weak and feeble prince, without courage or ambition; all their other leaders were either destroyed, or too remote to lend them assistance. The clergy, who had a large share in the deliberation, declared openly for a prince whose pretensions were acknowledged, and whose arms. were blessed by the holy see. Nothing therefore remained, but to submit to the necessity of the times, and to acknowledge those claims which it was not in their power to oppose. As soon, therefore, as William passed the Thames, at Wallingford, Stigand, the primate, made submissions to him in the name of the clergy; and, before he came within sight of the city, all the chief nobility, and Edgar Atheling himself, who just before had been created king, came into his camp, and declared an intention of yielding to his authority. William was glad of being thus peaceably put in possession of a throne, which several of his predecessors had not gained without repeated victories. He therefore accepted the crown upon the terms that were offered him, which were, that he should govern according to the established customs of the

country. William, though he had it in his power to dictate his own conditions, rather than receive any, chose to have his election considered rather as a gift from his subjects, than a measure extorted by him. He knew himself to be a conqueror, but was willing to be thought a legal king.

In order to give his invasion all the sanction possible, he was crowned at Westminster by the archbishop of York, and took the usual oath in the times of the Saxon and Danish kings, which was, to protect and defend the church, to observe the laws of the realm, and to govern the people with impartiality. Having thus given all possible satis faction to the English, his next care was, to reward the many brave adventurers who had followed his fortunes. He first divided the lands of the English barons, who opposed him, among the Norman barons who had assisted his enterprize; and such as he could neither supply with money nor lands, he appointed to the vacant offices of the state. But, as there were still numbers unprovided for, he quartered them on the rich abbeys of the kingdom, until better means offered for their advancement. This, which gave no small umbrage to the clergy, was but little resented by the people, who were willing to see their own burdens lightened, by having a part of them laid upon shoulders that were at that time much better able to bear them.

But what gave them greater umbrage, was, to see him place all real power in the hands of his own countrymen, and stikto give them the possession of the sword, to which he owed all his authority. He disarmed the city of London, and other places which appeared most warlike and populous, and quartered Norman soldiers in all those places where he most dreaded an insurrection. Having thus secured the government, and by a