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William's character has been drawn with apparent impartiality in the Saxon chronicle, by a contemporary and an Englishman. That the reader may learn the opinion of one, who possessed the means of forming an accurate judgment, I shall transcribe the passage, retaining, as far as it may be intelligible, the very phraseology of the original.

66

:

If any one wish to know what manner of man he was, or what worship he had, or of how many lands he were the lord, we will describe him as we have known him for we looked on him, and somewhile lived in his herd. King William was a very wise man, and very rich, more worshipful and strong than any of his fore gangers. He was mild to good men, who loved God: and stark beyond all bounds to those who withsaid his will. On the very stede, where God gave him to win England, he reared a noble monastery, and set monks therein, and endowed it well. He was very worshipful. Thrice he bore his king-helmet every year, when he was in England; at Easter he bore it at Winchester, at Pen tecost at Westminster, and in mid-winter at Gloucester. And then were with him all the rich men over all England: archbishops, and diocesan bishops, abbots, and earls, thanes and knights. Moreover he was a very stark man, and very savage: so that no man durst do any thing against his will. He had earls in his bonds, who had done against his will: bishops he set off their bishoprics, abbots off their abbotries; and thanes in prisons: and at last he did not spare his own brother Odo. Him he set in prison. Yet among other things we must not forget

* Smollett says 61.

the good frith which he made in this land t; so that a man, that was good for aught, might travel over the kingdom with his bosom full of gold without molestation: and no man durst slay another man, though he had suffered never so mickle evil from the other. He ruled over Eng. land: and by his cunning he was so thoroughly acquainted with it, that there is not a hide of land, of which he did not know, both who had it, and what was its worth and that he set down in his writings. Wales was under his weald, and therein he wrought castles: and he wielded the Isle of Man withal: moreover he subdued Scotland by his mickle strength: Normandy was his by kinn; and over the earldom called Mans he ruled and if he might have lived yet two years, he would have won Ireland by the fame of his power, and without any armament. Yet truely in his time. men had mickle suffering, and very many hardships. Castles he caused to be wrought, and poor men to be oppressed. He was so very stark. He took from his subjects many marks of gold, and many hundred pounds of silver: and that he took, some by right, and some by mickle might, for very little need. He had fallen into avarice, and greediness he loved withal." "He let his lands to fine as dear as he could: then came some other and bade more than the first had given, and the king let it to him who bade more. Then came a third, and bid yet more, and the king let it into the hands of the man, who bade the most. Nor did he reck how sinfully his reeves got money of poor men, or how many unlawful things they did. For the more men talked of right law, the more they did against the law." "He also set many deerfriths; and he made laws therewith, that whosoever should slay hart or hind, him man should blind. As he forbade the slaying of harts, so also did he of boars. So much he loved the high-deer, as if he had been their father. He also decreed about hares, that they should go free. His rich men moaned, and the poor men murmured: but he was so hard, that he recked not the hatred of them all. For it was need they should follow the king's will withal, if they wished to live,

+ Frith is the king's peace or protection, the violation of which subjected the offender to a heavy fine.

+ Deer-friths were forests in which the deer were under the king's protection or frith,

450

or to have lands, or goods, or his favour. Alas, that any man should be so moody, and should so puff up himself, and think himself above all other men! May Almighty God have mercy on his soul, and grant him forgiveness of his sins."

To this account may be added a few particulars gleaned from other historians. The king was of ordinary stature, but inclined to corpulency. His countenance wore an air of ferocity, which, when he was agitated by passion, struck terror into every beholder. The story told of his strength at one period of life, almost exceeds belief. It is said, that sitting on horseback he could draw the string of a bow, which no other man could bend even on foot. Hunting formed his favourite amusement. The reader has seen the censure passed upon him for his deerfriths and game-laws: nor will he think it undeserved, if he attend to the following instance. Though the king possessed sixty-eight forests, besides parks and chases, in different parts of England, he was not yet satisfied, but, for the occasional accommodation of his court, afforested an extensive tract of country lying between the city of Winchester and the sea coast. The inhabitants were expelled the cottages and the churches and more than thirty square were burnt; miles of a rich and populous district were withdrawn from cultivation, and converted into a wilderness, to afford sufficient for the deer, and ample space range for the royal diversion. The memory of this act of despotism has been perpetuated in the name of the New Forest, which it retains at the present day, after the lapse of seven hundred and fifty

years.

:

his

aside that haughty demeanour, with which he was accustomed to awe the most powerful of his barons; he willingly concurred in the deposition of his uncle Malger, archbishop of Rouen, who disgraced his dignity by the immorality of his conduct, and showed that he knew how to value and recompense virtue, by endeavouring to place in the same church the monk Guitmond, from whom he had formerly received so severe a reprimand. On the decease of a prelate, he appointed officers to protect the property of the vacant archbishopric or abbey, and named a successor with the advice of the principal clergy. Lanfranc, in his numerous struggles against the rapacity of the Normans, was constantly patronised by the king, who appointed him with certain other commissioners to compel the sheriffs of the several counties to restore to the church whatever had been unjustly taken from it since the invasion.

During William's reign the people of England were exposed to calamities of every description. It commenced with years of carnage and devastation: its progress was marked by a regular system of confiscation and oppression: and

this succession of evils was closed with

famine and pestilence. In 1086 a summer, more rainy and tempestuous than had been experienced in the memory of man, occasioned a total failure of the harvest:

and the winter introduced a malignant disease, which attacked one half of the inhabitants, and is said to have proved fatal to many thousands. Even of those who escaped the infection, or recovered from the disease, numbers perished afterwards from want or unwholesome nourishment. "Alas," exclaims an eye-witness, "how miserable, how rueful a time was that. The wretched victims had nearly perished by the fever: then came the sharp hunger, and destroyed them outright. Who is so hard-hearted as not to weep Lingard.

over such calamities?"

William's education had left on mind religious impressions which were never effaced. When indeed his power or interest was concerned, he listened to no suggestions but those of ambition or of avarice: but on other occasions he displayed a strong sense of religion, and a profound respect for its institutions. He $ daily heard the mass of his private chaplain, and was regular in his attendance at the public worship; in the company of men celebrated for holiness of life, he laid

54.

The Character of WILLIAM
RUFUS.

Thus fell William*, surnamed Rufus, from his red hair and florid complexion, after he had lived four-and-forty years,

* By the hand of Tyrrel, a French gentleman, remarkable for his address in archery, attending him in the recreation of hunting, as William had dismounted after a chase. Tyrrel, impatient to shew his dexterity, let fly at a stag which suddenly started before him: the arrow glancing from a tree, struck the king in his breast, and instantly slew him.

and reigned near thirteen; during which time he oppressed his people in every form of tyranny and insult. He was equally void of learning, principle, and honour; haughty, passionate, and ungrateful: a scoffer at religion, a scourge to the clergy; vain-glorious, talkative, rapacious, lavish, and dissolute; and an inveterate enemy to the English, though he owed his crown to their valour and fidelity, when the Norman lords intended to expel him from the throne. In return for this instance of their loyalty, he took all opportunities to fleece and enslave them; and at one time imprisoned fifty of the best families in the kingdom, on pretence of killing his deer; so that they were compelled to purchase their liberty at the expense of their wealth, though not before they had undergone the fiery ordeal. He lived in a scandalous commerce with prostitutes, professing his contempt for marriage, and having no legitimate issue, the crown devolved to his brother Henry, who was so intent upon the succession, that he paid very little regard to the funeral of the deceased king.

$ 55.

Smollett.

Another Character of WILLIAM
RUFUS.

Of the violent character of William, his rapacity, despotism, and voluptuousness, the reader will have formed a sufficient notion from the preceding pages. In person he was short and corpulent, with flaxen hair, and a ruddy complexion: from which last circumstance he derived the name of Rufus, or the red king. In ordinary conversation his utterance was slow and embarrassed in the hurry of passion precipitate and unintelligible. He assumed in public a haughty port, rolling his eyes with fierceness on the spectators, and endeavouring by the tone of his voice and the tenor of his answers to intimidate those who addressed him. But in private he descended to an equality with his companions, amusing them with his wit, which was chiefly pointed against himself, and seeking to lessen the odium of his excesses, by making them the subjects of laughter.

He built at the expense of the neighbouring counties a wall round the Tower, a bridge over the Thames, and the great hall at Westminster. The latter was finished the year before his death: and when he first visited it after his return from Normandy, he replied to his

flatterers, that there was nothing in its dimensions to excite their wonder: it was only the vestibule to the palace which he intended to raise. But in this respect he seems to have followed, not to have created, the taste of the age. During his reign structures of unusual magnificence arose in every part of the kingdom: and the most opulent proprietors sought to distinguish themselves by the castles which they built, and the monasteries which they founded. Lingard.

§ 56.

Character of HENRY I.

This prince was one of the most accomplished that has filled the English throne; and possessed all the qualities both of body and mind, natural and acquired, which could fit him for the high station to which he attained: his person was manly; his countenance engaging; his eyes clear, serene, and penetrating. The affability of his address encouraged those who might be overawed by the sense of his dignity or his wisdom; and though he often indulged his facetious humour, he knew how to temper it with discretion, and ever kept at a distance from all indecent familiarities with his courtiers. His superior eloquence and judgment would have given him an ascendant, even if he had been born in a private station; and his personal bravery would have procured him respect, even though it had been less supported by art and policy. By his great progress in literature, he acquired the name of Beau Clerc, or the Scholar; but his application to sedentary pursuits abated nothing of the activity and vigilance of his government; and though the learning of that age was better fitted to corrupt than improve the understanding, his natural good sense preserved itself untainted both from the pedantry and superstition which were then so prevalent among men of letters. His temper was very susceptible of the sentiments as well of friendship as resentment; and his ambition, though high, might be esteemed moderate, had not his conduct towards his brother shewed, that he was too much disposed to sacrifice to it all the maxims of justice and equity. Died December 1, 1135, aged 67, having reigned 35 years. Hume.

§ 57. Another Character of HENRY I. A contemporary writer has left us the character of Henry as it was differently

drawn by his friends and enemies after his death. By the former he was ranked among the wisest, richest, and bravest of our monarchs: the latter loaded his memory with the reproach of cruelty, avarice, and incontinence. To an indifferent observer at the present day his reign will offer little worthy of praise, unless it be the severity with which he punished offences. This was a real benefit to his people, as it not only contributed to extirpate the robbers by profession, but also checked the rapacity and violence of the barons. Still his merit will be very equivocal. As long as each conviction brought with it a fine or forfeiture to the royal exchequer, princes were stimulated to the execution of the laws by a sense of personal interest. Henry, at the same time that he visited the injustice of others, scrupled not to commit injustice himself. Probably in both cases he had in view the same object, his own emolument.

He was naturally suspicious; and this disposition had been greatly encouraged by his knowledge of the clandestine attempts of his enemies. On one occasion the keeper of his treasures was convicted of a design on his life: on another, while he was marching in the midst of his army towards Wales, an arrow from an unknown hand struck him on the breast, but was repelled by the temper of his cuirass. Alarmed by these incidents, he always kept on his guard, frequently changed his apartments, and, when he retired to rest, ordered sentinels to be stationed at the door, and his sword and shield to be placed near his pillow.

The suspicious are generally dissembling and revengeful. Henry seldom forgot an injury, though he would disguise his enmity under the mask of friendship. Fraud, and treachery, and violence, were employed to insnare those who had greatly offended him; and their usual portion was death, or blindness, or perpetual imprisonment. After his decease it was discovered that his cousin, the earl of Moretoil, whom he had long kept in confinement, had also been deprived of sight. Luke de Barré, a poet, who had fought against him, was made prisoner at the close of the last war, and sentenced by the king to lose his eyes. Charles the good, earl of Flanders, was present, and Temonstrated against so direful a punishment. It was not, he observed, the custom of civilized nations to inflict bodily

punishment on knights who had drawn the sword in the service of their lord. "It "is not," replied Henry, "the first time "that he has been in arms against me. "But what is worse, he has made me the "subject of satire, and in his poems has "held me up to the derision of my ene"mies. From his example let other ver"sifiers learn what they may expect, if "they offend the king of England." The cruel mandate was executed: and the troubadour, in a paroxysm of agony, bursting from the hands of the officers, dashed out his brains against the wall.

His dissimulation was so well known that he was mistrusted even by his favou rites. When Bloet, bishop of Lincoln, who had for many years been one of his principal justiciaries, was told that the king had spoken of him in terms of the highest commendation: "Then," he replied, "I am undone: for I never knew "him praise a man whom he did not in"tend to ruin." The event justified his apprehensions. In an unguarded moment the prelate had boasted that the monastery, which he was building at Eynsham, should equal that which Henry had founded at Reading. The words were carried to the king, and the fall of the favourite was consummated. was immediately deprived of the office of justiciary: vexatious prosecutions were commenced against him: by fines and extortions all his wealth was drawn to the royal exchequer and the bishop would probably have been compelled to resign his dignity, had he not died by a sudden stroke of apoplexy, as he was speaking to Henry.

He

Malmsbury has allotted to the king the praise of temperance and continency. Perhaps his claim to the first, certainly his claim to the second, of these virtues, rests on no other ground than the partiality of his panegyrist. If, as many writers affirm, his death was occasioned by the excess with which he ate a dish of lampreys, we may fairly doubt of his temperance: nor can the continency of that man be much commended, who is known to have been attached to several mistresses, and of whose illegitimate children no fewer than seven sons, and eight daughters, lived to the age of puberty. Of the sons, Robert of Caen, earl of Gloucester, was chiefly distinguished by his father. He will claim the attention of the reader in the following reign.

Henry, if we consider the value of money at that period, was immensely rich. On occasions of ceremony, when he wore his crown, he imitated the parade of the eastern monarchs: and before him on a table were displayed the most precious of his treasures, particularly two golden vases of extraordinary dimensions, and elegantly enchased with jewels. After his death, his successor found in the exchequer, besides the plate and gems, collected by himself and his two predecessors, one hundred thousand pounds of pennies, all of just weight, and of pure silver. So much wealth had enabled him to indulge his taste for architecture: and while the castles, which he raised on the borders of Wales, contributed to the protection of the country, by repairing and rebuilding most of the royal palaces, he provided for the comfort and splendour of himself and his successors. At Woodstock he enclosed a spacious park for deer, and added a menagerie for wild beasts, among which Malmsbury mentions lions, leopards, lynxes, camels, and, what appears to have chiefly attracted the notice of the historian, a porcupine. But his religious foundations principally displayed his magnificence. These were three monasteries, two for regular canons at Chichester and Dunstaple: and one for the monks of the order of Člugni, situated at Reading, near the conflux of the Thames and the Kennet, where the great roads of the kingdom intersected each other. The wealth with which Henry endowed this establishment did not seduce the monks from the rigid observance of their rule. It was their custom to offer hospitality to all who passed by their convent: and it was believed that in the entertainment of strangers they annually expended a much larger sum than was devoted to their own maintenance. Lingard.

§ 58. Character of STEPHEN. England suffered great miseries during the reign of this prince: but his personal character, allowing for the temerity and injustice of his usurpation, appears not liable to any great exception; and he seems to have been well qualified, had he succeeded by a just title, to have promoted the happiness and prosperity of his subjects. He was possessed of industry, activity, and courage, to a great degree; was not deficient in ability, had the talent of gaining men's affections; and, notwith

standing his precarious situation, never
indulged himself in the exercise of any
cruelty of revenge. His advancement to
the throne procured him neither tranquil-
lity nor happiness. Died 1154. Hume.
§ 59. Another Character of STEPHEN.

Stephen was a prince of great courage,
fortitude, and activity, and might have
reigned with the approbation of his peo-
ple, had he not been harassed by the
efforts of a powerful competitor, which
obliged him to take such measures for his
safety as were inconsistent with the dic-
tates of honour, which indeed his ambi-
tion prompted him to forego, in his first
His
endeavours to ascend the throne.
necessities afterwards compelled him to
infringe the charter of privileges he
granted at his accession; and he was in-
stigated by his jealousy and resentment
to commit the most flagrant outrages
against gratitude and sound policy. His
vices, as a king, seem to have been the
effect of troubles, in which he was in-
volved; for, as a man, he was brave,
open, and liberal; and, during the short
calm that succeeded the tempest of his
reign, he made a progress through his
kingdom, published an edict to restrain
all rapine and violence, and disbanded
the foreign mercenaries who had preyed
Smollell.
so long on his people.

age,

His cha

§ 60. Character of HENRY II. Thus died, in the 58th year of his and thirty-fifth of his reign, the greatest prince of his time for wisdom, virtue, and ability, and the most powerful in extent of dominion, of all those that had ever filled the throne of England. racter, both in public and private life, is almost without a blemish; and he seems to have possessed every accomplishment, both of body and mind, which makes a man estimable or amiable. He was of a middle stature, strong, and well proportioned; his countenance was lively and engaging, his conversation affable and entertaining; his elocution easy, persuasive, and ever at command. He loved peace, but possessed both conduct and bravery in war; was provident without timidity; severe in the execution of justice without rigour, and temperate without austerity. He preserved health, and kept himself from corpulency, to which he was somewhat inclined, by an abstemious diet, and by frequent exercise, particularly by

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