to be supposed that the dignitaries of the church were at this time so pure as to render their worldly eagerness in purchasing the low-priced estates which were now set up for sale in any degree marvellous.

The barons and the earls, indeed, were not backward in the same market, which was at length honoured by the presence of a king; the Scottish monarch, William, having, in the month of September, visited Richard at Canterbury, for the double purpose of doing homage to the sovereign of England for his feofs in this country, and of purchasing the emancipation of his own dominions from all subjection to the English crown. Ten thousand marks of silver were offered and received for the castles of Roxburg and Berwick, together with the renunciation of all right and title to those oaths which the Scottish king and nobles had been forced to take by Henry II.; and in a charter signed not only by the king, but by his brother John, and all the principal clergy and nobles of the land, Richard promised to restore the documents of every kind by which William had acknowledged himself a vassal of the English sovereigns.

A vague clause, indeed, was introduced into the end of this important paper, leaving the original question, as to whether there was any ancient right in the crown of England to the homage of the kings of Scotland still doubtful; Richard announcing an unexplained claim in the following words :

"But he (the King of Scotland) became our liegeman for all those lands on account of which his predecessors were the liegemen of our predecessors, and he swore fidelity to us and to our heirs."*

* In describing this charter, Mr. Berington has, as usual, greatly disfigured its real meaning. He says "It specifies that the vassalage to which William and his country had been subjected by Henry, were extorted during his captivity;" and he adds, in another place, that the King of Scotland did homage to Richard for the fiefs only which he held in England. Now, the charter says nothing of the kind. After speaking of the cession of Roxburg and Berwick, Richard goes on to declare"Besides, we have set him free from all conventions and compacts which our father, Henry, King of England, of happy memory, by new charters, and by his capture, extorted from him; that is to say, so that he do fully and entirely towards us that which his brother Malcolm, King of the Scotch, did of right, and ought to have done, to our predecessors; and we will do towards him whatsoever our ancestors did of right, and ought to have done, towards the aforesaid Malcolm; that is to say, in safe conduct coming to the court, returning from the court, and in staying in the court, and in procurations, and in all liberties, and dignities, and honours due to him of right, according to that which may be recognised by four of our nobles, chosen by the said King William, and four of his nobles, chosen by us." He then goes on to state, that if anything has been usurped on the borders of Scotland by Englishmen, it shall be restored and reduced to the same state as before William's capture. After this Richard proceeds in the following words :-" Præterea de terris suis, quas haberet in Anglia, seu dominicis, seu feodis, scilicet in comitatu Hundendoniæ, et in omnibus aliis: in ea libertate, et plenitudine possideat, et hæredes ejus in perpetuum, qua Malcolmus possedit vel possidere debuit, nisi prædictus Malcolmus, vel hæredes sui aliquid postea infeodaverint:

The reckless and improvident manner in which the king parted with the domains of the crown, rendered the proceeds very much less than the sum which might have been easily obtained, had a slower and more rational course been pursued. Richard's eagerness to obtain money as rapidly as possible, however, hurried him into acts even less justifiable. It is distinctly stated by all the historians of the time, that he thus disposed of many estates to which he had no lawful claim; and he obtained letters from the Pope, by which he was authorized to remit to any persons whom he should depute to keep his lands, the obligation under which all men lay to take the cross. These indulgences the monarch

ita tamen quod si qua postea infeodata sunt, ipsorum feodorum servitia ad cum, vel hæredes ejus pertineant. Et si quid pater noster prædicto Willielmo regi Scotia donaverit, ratum et firmum habere volumus: Reddidimus etiam ei ligantias hominum suorum, et omnes chartas, quas dominus pater noster de eo habuit per captionem suam. Et si aliquæ aliæ forte per oblivionem retentæ, aut inventæ fuerint, eas penitus viribus carere præcipimus. Ipse autem ligius homo noster devenit de omnibus terris, de quibus antecessores sui ligii homines antecessorum nostrorum fuerunt. Et fidelitatem juravit nobis, et hæredibus nostris."

It will be seen from the above statement, that Richard by no means declared that the vassalage to which William and his country had been subjected by Henry, had been extorted during his captivity, as Mr. Berington says. He only vaguely sets him free from that which had been extorted, without specifying hwat, and especially reserves any ancient claims which the crown of England might have to homage from the crown of Scotland.

also set up to sale, by which, we are informed, he acquired an inestimable amount of money.

It is not to be supposed, however, that such acts were committed without remonstrance. Opposition, indeed, there was none, but we find it upon record that some of his nobles ventured to point out the imprudence of the course he was pursuing. Richard's reply was characteristic of the man, and indicative of the rash and childish eagerness with which he followed his object. "I would sell London, likewise," he replied, "if I could find a good purchaser."

One man, however, was found to do more than remonstrate. Ranulph de Glanville, the greatest lawyer of his age, grieved and indignant at conduct which he could not check, resigned into the king's hands his office of high justiciary, beseeching permission to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The post which he abandoned was immediately sought by the covetous Bishop of Durham, who, there can be no doubt, employed the same corrupt means to obtain this office which he had used for the acquisition of Northumberland; but in this instance, Richard did not altogether show the facility he had previously evinced, and though he partially granted the bishop's suit, he associated with him several other personages, for the execution of those high and important functions which Ranulph de Glanville had exercised undivided.

About the 15th of September, the king named,

in a council held at Pipewell, six persons as commissioners to perform the office of high justiciary. The name of the Bishop of Durham was the first upon the list; that of William, Earl of Albemarle, came next; and his was followed by those of Geoffrey FitzPeter, William Brewere, Robert Wihtefield, and Roger Fitz-Remfrid. The death of some of these parties, and the influence of others over the mind of the king, caused various changes in this arrangement; and, indeed, there is some reason to suppose that the four latter named gentlemen were not invested with the same powers, but were appointed more to act as the council of the two first, than actually to participate in their authority.

The Earl of Albemarle, however, died in Normandy two months after his appointment, and, before the king quitted England, he issued a new commission, in which the name of the Bishop of Durham still stood first, while that of William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, the chancellor, took the place of the Earl of Albemarle, and Hugh Bardolf and William Mareschal were substituted for Robert Wihtfield and Roger Fitz-Remfrid. The whole of the real power passed into the hands of Pusey and Longchamp, and from that moment a struggle commenced between them, the particulars of which we shall have to notice hereafter.

The people of England, however, saw with consternation by whom they were to be governed; and while they scorned the weak old man, whose wealth