that they had always maintained in their dealings with other men—namely, that no grant to the church could ever be resumed.

This probably may be the secret of the ready assent which Henry's proposition met with; and no sooner was that assent obtained, than he proceeded to put the proposed measure into execution, shewing therein a vigour and promptitude which increased his power and authority, and a moderation and clemency which maintained his popularity undiminished. The first that attempted to oppose him was the Earl of Albemarle, who during the reign of Stephen had ruled Yorkshire with almost sovereign sway. It would seem that he did not absolutely refuse to surrender the grants now resumed, but that he certainly hesitated to express his acquiescence, and was making preparation for actual resistance.

Henry, however, marched at once in person to settle the question, ere open rebellion broke out, and the Earl found himself compelled to obey, and make entire restitution of all the crown lands. Almost at the same time, Roger Mortimer and the young Earl of Hereford took arms on the frontiers of Wales, and refused to resign what they had received for good and meritorious services. The case of the Earl of Hereford, indeed, seems peculiarly hard, for those lands which were now demanded, had been granted by Matilda to his father Milo Fitzwalter, one of the noblest, most disinterested, resolute, and

unchangeable of all her friends. But Henry founded the resumption upon the general illegality of all such grants; and there were many others similarly situated with the young Earl of Hereford. He could therefore make no distinction in resuming the demesne, but he might have granted the lands afterwards to the Earl in the nature of a benefice, to be held for his life, which would have been consonant to law and justice, and honourable to the King's gratitude, and good feeling. Mortimer, however, and his ally, waited Henry's coming in arms; but the Earl was detached from the conspiracy by the exhortations of the Bishop of Winchester, who persuaded him to resign the two castles in dispute, and submit to the King's pleasure.

Mortimer, thus left alone, nevertheless determined to hold out, and defended the three castles of Clebury, Wigmore, and Bridgenorth, against the forces of the King. All three were speedily captured; but the career of Henry had very nearly terminated before the castle of Bridgenorth, into which Mortimer had thrown himself, and against which the King commanded in person. While he was directing the operations within a very short distance of the walls of the castle, an arrow was aimed at Henry with unerring skill; and, had not one of his most gallant officers, Hubert Saint Clare, cast himself between the King and the missile, it must have pierced the monarch's heart. Saint Clare received it, however, in his own bosom, and died shortly after in

VOL. I.

I

the arms of his grateful sovereign; recommending his only child, a daughter, to the care of him for whose life he had given his own. To the honour of Henry be it said that he nobly fulfilled the trust. Bridgenorth soon after surrendered at discretion; and to the surprise of all, Henry pardoned Mortimer freely the resistance he had made, contented himself with resuming the grants, the restitution of which he had at first demanded, and took no other vengeance of his revolted subject.

It need hardly be pointed out what a remarkable influence such acts of clemency and moderation must have had in humanising the hearts of men, and softening the asperities of a barbarous age. No other resistance, that I have discovered, was made to the resumption of the grants; and Henry proceeded in the same course of policy, temperance, firmness, and mildness, pardoning offences against himself, and even against his crown, with perhaps excessive moderation; trusting to the vigour and sternness with which he punished offences against social rights and the general security, to maintain that respect for his authority, which could alone enable him to be lenient without danger. In a very rapid manner, considering the long period of anarchy which had just passed, law and order, and the even administration of justice were reestablished; and to this happy effect, the King's frequent presence in different parts of the country, seeing with his own eyes, and hearing with his own ears, greatly contributed.

Another act of much importance took place in this most bright and honourable period of the King's reign, which was the renewal or confirmation of the famous charter of Henry I.

Everything now promised Henry, in England at least, internal peace; but there remained much still to be done: he had to guard against attack from without, to suppress civil wars in his continental possessions, and to risk a struggle upon his northern frontier for the recovery of those English provinces which David King of Scotland had contrived to seize upon, during the late contest for the throne. No moment could be more favourable for the attempt to regain these provinces, than that which Henry chose, while Malcolm King of Scotland, who had now succeeded to David his grandfather, was yet under seventeen years of age.

There was but one impediment in the way of the English monarch: namely, the oath which he had taken, while at the court of King David at Carlisle, never to resume those counties, if he should obtain the crown of England. Henry, however, was not a great respecter of oaths, and in this case he did not treat that which he had taken at all tenderly. He held, and probably with justice, that in this instance, it was in no degree binding, for it had been extracted from him at a time when he was completely in the power of the King of Scotland-when that monarch had promised to make great efforts in his favour, which

were never accomplished-and when he had every reason to suppose that the attainment of the crown of England, which was contemplated in the oath, was likely to ensue as a consequence of David's assistance. The corresponding engagements of the King of Scotland had not been fulfilled. Henry had derived no equivalent advantage whatsoever, and, consequently, he might well regard his oath as of no avail. He accordingly sent ambassadors to the Court of Scotland, to represent that it was not right or just, that this large portion of England should remain dismembered from the empire. The King of Scotland did not resist; but, by the advice of his council, restored to Henry, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Northumberland, and agreed to do homage for the county of Lothian, which had been conferred by Edgar, one of our Saxon monarchs, upon Kenneth III.

I have dwelt more particularly upon the circumstances which induced Henry to pay no attention to his oath in regard to Scotland, because another event took place in the commencement of his reign, in which a solemn engagement was directly violated on political motives, no less strong than those which actuated him in the transaction with Scotland, but without any moral justification. In order to make the proceeding to which I allude clearly understood, it may be necessary to go back to the period of Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, Henry's father. By the will of that