withstanding the murmurs of the Anglo-Norman barons, from whom the conclusion of the treaty was concealed as long as possible. Geoffrey acted as a boy of sixteen might be expected to act-quarrelled with his wife and father-in-law, and left neither of them

any peace during several years. But the purpose of Henry was so far accomplished, that Matilda bore three sons to her husband, and male posterity was thus secured.

To place the succession of his daughter and her children beyond all doubt, the King engaged his barons to take an oath of fealty to her after her marriage with Geoffrey; and again on the birth of Henry, her eldest son, that oath was renewed to the young Prince as heir to the crown. In all these acts, Stephen Count of Boulogne, took part, and bound himself by the most solemn ties to support the throne of Matilda. Though naturally and habitually a suspicious man, Henry I., to his credit be it spoken, retained some faith in human gratitude and honour; and he does not seem to have entertained the slightest apprehension that either the strong tie of benefits received and conferred which ought to have bound his nephew to him, or the solemn vow which the Count of Boulogne had taken to Matilda, would ever be broken.

Stephen himself was one of four brothers, the sons, as we have seen, of Adela, daughter of the Conqueror, and the Count of Blois. The distribution of the Count's patrimony after his death shows one of

the strange anomalies, which occasionally took place in the feudal system at an early period, and proves, by a striking example, how weakly established was the right of primogeniture at this time. It was Theobald, the second son of the Count, who succeeded to the territory of Blois; the eldest son, William, having become Count of Solieu by his marriage with the heiress of that fief. The two other sons, Stephen and Henry, derived their elevation from the kindness and affection of their uncle, the King of England. The youngest he gradually raised from monastic seclusion to the important Bishopric of Winchester; and Stephen, the third son of his sister, he married to the heiress of the Count of Boulogne, after bestowing on him numerous estates both in England and Normandy.

In him Henry trusted that his daughter would find strong support; and in that confidence, the King remained in Normandy, to guard the Duchy against some rash though perhaps not unjustifiable attempts of his son-in-law Geoffrey. He was still there, when either exc ss or some accidental cause cast him into a fever, and he soon felt that the termination of his long and eventful carcer was approaching. On his death-bed, he solemnly declared it to be his will, that the kingdom of England, as well as the duchy of Normandy, should descend to his daughter Matilda, and in direct succession to her legitimate posterity. He did not leave any portion of his territories to Geoffrey of Anjou; nor did he seem to contemplate

any material opposition to the immediate elevation of his daughter. Shortly after this solemn ratification of that order of succession which he had previously established, he died, leaving his illegitimate son, Robert of Gloucester, to manage the affairs of Normandy for the Empress, till she could be called from Anjou, to which province she had lately gone with her husband.

In favour of Matilda's claim, there was much to be urged; her father's will, the oaths of the Barons, her immediate proximity in blood to the last king, and her clear descent from the Anglo-Saxon monarchs of England; for though she was not the direct heir of the last of those monarchs, she was yet quite near enough to succeed according to the Saxon rule. Against her, but one objection was to be urged that she was a woman; and though it could be shown that in all ordinary cases of feudal succession, old rules had been done away, and a female succeeded to her father's lands unopposed by collateral males; yet hers was the first instance where a crown was in dispute; and the objection was sufficiently strong to induce Stephen to determine at once upon contesting with her the throne of England, notwithstanding the oaths of all the Barons of the land, notwithstanding his own repeated vows, and notwithstanding the ties of gratitude, which ought to have bound him to support her with all his strength.

The way was prepared before the Count of Bou

VOL. I.

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logne by the perfidy of his brother, the Bishop of Winchester; who, as we have before said, had been raised by Henry I., from the low state of a Cluniac monk, to one of the most important dignities of the English church, and had been covered with benefits and obligations of all kinds. Not the slightest doubt can exist, that the Bishop had laboured effectually to dispose the minds of many persons in favour of his brother; and there is even reason to suppose, that if he did not actually suggest to Stephen his design upon the crown, he confirmed him in his determination of contesting the succession with Matilda.

No sooner then did the news of the King's death reach the ears of the Count of Boulogne, than he set sail from Whitsand for the shores of England, determined to oppose both by arms and deceit the claims of the daughter of his uncle and benefactor.

A thousand circumstances combined to render the just pretensions of that Princess unsuccessful. She herself was absent in Anjou at the time of her father's death. Her attached and talented brother, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, was detained in Normandy, by the task of executing Henry's will regarding that province; and almost all those on whose faith and attachment she had the best reason to rely for the security of her insular dominions, proved false and treacherous, abandoning her cause at the appearance of a rival, and selling their faith to the first bidder.

Amongst those that most disgraced themselves by

treachery and ingratitude, was Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, who owed even more to the father of Matilda, than Stephen himself, or the Bishop of Winchester. He had been taken from the low station of a Norman curate, and without any claim whatever, had been raised successively by the mere bounty of Henry, to the posts and dignities of Chancellor, Bishop of Salisbury, and Grand Justiciary. In the latter quality, he was the natural Protector and Regent of the Kingdom upon the demise of the Crown: he held all the power, and all the authority of the state; and had he remained faithful to the duties imposed upon him both by his situation, and by the will of his master, Stephen's attempt must have been frustrated in the outset. He, however, was one of the first to betray Matilda and go over to her enemies; and for this act, he met, at an after period, not only a just, but an appropriate punishment.

It is not to be doubted, that the defection of the Grand Justiciary was owing to the suggestions and temptations of the Bishop of Winchester, one of the most remarkable men of his age: unprincipled, dissolute, and careless of every moral duty; but bold, politic, decided, and endowed with the rare and valuable talent of guiding, directing, and uniting a great party. The Bishop of Salisbury was also a man of considerable ability, and was particularly distinguished by his skill in finance. Though by no means a moral or religious man, he had not