that he should be no longer bound by it, than so long as Stephen kept his engagements with him, and maintained to him his dignity uninjured and entire. Stephen, however, had given him fully sufficient cause to doubt his security at the English court, and he had consequently remained at a distance, watching the progress of events, and preparing to take advantage of the first favourable conjuncture to assert the claims of his sister to the crown.

Matilda and her brother reached the shores of Sussex, on the 30th September 1139, and were kindly received by Adelais, the Queen-dowager. That Princess had married the Earl of Sussex after her first husband's death, but had always preserved a tender regard for Henry's child, and had kept up a secret correspondence with her during her exile. The gates of Arundel castle, which was then in her possession, were thrown open to the Empress and her followers; and there the Earl of Gloucester left his sister, trusting that the strength of the place would enable her to resist all the efforts of Stephen till he could raise an army and march to her relief. The journey which he himself then undertook was most perilous, for a wide track of country lay between Arundel and Bristol, in the neighbourhood of which city the Earl's chief partizans were to be found; and the intervening space was thickly covered with the friends and supporters of Stephen.

Partly, it is supposed, by the connivance and aid

of the Bishop of Winchester himself, partly by the prompt and vigorous assistance of Brian Fitz-Comte, Constable of Wallingford castle, Robert of Gloucester, pursuing bye-paths and unfrequented roads, made his way across the country in safety. A great part of the west of England now declared in favour of Matilda, as well as Canterbury and Dover in the east; but on the other hand, Stephen marching with extreme rapidity from Marlborough to Arundel, laid siege to the castle, and might have captured his rival with ease. It was under these circumstances that the King, some say at the treacherous suggestion of his brother, some say from a spontaneous movement-a folly which is hardly credible -entered into a convention with Matilda, by virtue of which she was conveyed safely under an escort of his own troops, to join her brother at Bristol.

As soon as this extraordinary compact was executed, both parties took the field; but a great part of the nobility held aloof from both, and satisfied themselves with plundering and making war upon their neighbours. Various changes of fortune then occurred; but after a desultory struggle, a battle ensued, in which Stephen was taken prisoner. The Clergy sided with Matilda; the Barons did so likewise, though by no means universally; and the citizens followed where the others led, with the exception of the inhabitants of London, who with laudable firmness maintained their faith to the sovereign they had chosen, as long as it was pos

sible, and in the end gave but very faint tokens of acquiescence in the substitution of Matilda. The Bishop of Winchester, the brother of the imprisoned Prince, after some faint dalliance with the successful power, had likewise acceded, and affecting to blend justice to Matilda and the nation with a decent love for his brother, he admitted in full synod, that Stephen had failed in all his engagements, and, therefore, that the people were free from the restraint of their oaths.

The character of the Empress was one in which the evil spots are more clearly seen under the full sunshine of success than in the dim twilight of adversity. All her arrogance and harshness of character now appeared, and she soon taught the people of England to regret Stephen and abhor herself. She insulted and injured the citizens of London, whose adherence to their oaths should but have excited her respect; and in an outburst of popular feeling, excited by the sight of a small troop of horse belonging to a feeble party which the wife of Stephen had raised in his favour, the burgesses rose and rushed to besiege Matilda in her palace. She escaped them but by a few minutes, and with a small body of friends fled in haste to Oxford.

It would seem that the Bishop of Winchester was by this time disgusted with the party of the Empress, and was actually engaged in preparing for the restoration of his brother. An intimation that such was the case having been conveyed to the ears of Matilda, she determined to surprise him in Win

chester; but failing in that attempt, she endeavoured to get possession of his wealth, and of a fortress which he held in that city. While she was eagerly besieging the latter, however, she was attacked by the Bishop and a large body of his adherents, and was in turn besieged by him. The fortunes of the day now became unfavourable to the Empress, and she was forced to fly, while her brother and a body of her most faithful friends attempted to cover her retreat, and sacrificed themselves for her safety. The Earl of Gloucester and several others were taken, many more were slain, and the rest escaped with the greatest difficulty; but Matilda herself was placed in security by the gallant devotion of her friends, and reached the castle of Devizes after extraordinary fatigues.

Stephen's partisans treated Robert of Gloucester with much greater lenity than Matilda had shewn towards the usurper; * and after various negociations, it was agreed that the brother of the Empress should be exchanged for the King. Thus when the two parties once more took the field against each other, they were very nearly in the same position in which they had commenced the war.

* By some we are told, that Matilda loaded Stephen with chains, and treated him with the utmost severity: by others, equally worthy of credit, that the Earl of Gloucester "treated him with the greatest humanity," and "kept him in safe but gentle confinement:" which of these two statements is correct may be difficult to decide.

VOL. I.

F

Though his situation seemed somewhat difficult, from the fact of his having served both parties, the Bishop of Winchester, formidable alike to each, easily prevailed upon Stephen to regard his late services as full compensation for his former defection. At the same time, to the people and the clergy he justified his political variations, in a manner not very complimentary to either of the candidates for the throne. He said, in effect, that although Stephen's conduct had been so bad as to induce him, notwithstanding their affinity, to abandon his cause, yet Matilda's had proved so much worse, that he was fully justified in quitting her party likewise. He added, moreover, that he had been compelled by circumstances to support the Empress for a time, not led by inclination; and that since then, God had manifestly shown his disapprobation of Matilda's cause, by the misfortunes with which he had visited her.

It is an extraordinary thing, that the quality of the human mind which seems the most completely independent of all adventitious aids-I mean common sense-should be found so very often wanting in barbarous ages. This reasoning on the part of the legate was received as perfectly satisfactory by a great part of his audience, and he proceeded with an unblushing face to adjure the clergy to excommunicate the supporters of her whom he had himself so lately served.

Before the struggle in the field, which had been