CHAPTER II.

Death of William Rufus-Henry hastens to Winchester-Breteuil, the royal treasurer. refuses to give up to him the keys of the treasury-Henry with his associates force them from him-Arrival of Robert's partisans-The populace declare for Henry, who is forthwith crowned-He announces his intention of marrying Matilda Atheling-The Abbess Christina opposes his marriage-Henry applies to Archbishop Anselm, who convokes a council, before which Matilda is examined-The council declares that she is free to marry the king-On leaving Wilton nunnery Matilda hears of Henry's amours, and hesitates joining her hand with him-Through the entreaties of the Saxon nobles, she lays aside her seruples-She is married, and immediately afterwards crowned-Her noble conduct obtains for her the surname of the "Good"-Her great popularity.

Henry did the bidding of the generous noble on the instant, and without even turning aside to obtain a hasty glance at the remains of his brother Rufus, sped to the royal treasury with such swiftness, that when Breteuil arrived there, he had already planted himself at the door.

"Many thanks," exclaimed Henry, glancing blandly at Breteuil, "we feel honoured by your kindly anticipating our desire; you have the keys of the royal treasury, I presume."

ENRY was in the | Up, on to my saddle, and with lightning thirty second or swiftness away to Winchester and you thirty-third year of may yet out-Cæsar Breteuil, the royal his age, when the er- treasurer, who has declared for Robert, ring shaft of Sir and is already on his road thither, to Walter Tyrrel rid secure the crown and the royal wealth." the world of his brother, William Rufus, a monarch whose reign was one unbroken succession of tyrannies; and who was so little loved or respected even by his own attendants, that they unceremoniously threw his slaughtered body into the cart of a poor charcoal burner that chanced to be passing by; and in this manner, without regard even to common decency, was the royal corpse conveyed by the man of soot to the city of Winchester, where, on the following day, it was hastily buried, with- "I have, prince,"replied Breteuil boldly, out any of the gorgeous ceremony which" and mean to keep them till the arrival usually marks the obsequies of a power- of our king, Robert of Normandy, from ful king. Henry was hunting on foot the Holy Land, for to no other than the at a distant part of the forest, when the rightful heir of the throne will I resign fatal accident befell his brother. But the crown and treasury of the late king." the boisterous breeze then blowing wafted the loud and clamorous shouts of the royal attendants to his quick ears, and overwhelmed him with surprise. "What," he musingly muttered, "is it so, or do 1 dream? Hark! again they cry, Rufus is dead! long live King Robert! long live King Henry! By the crucifixion! it is reality." At this instant a courtier swiftly gallopped up to Henry, and hastily dismounting, exclaimed, "Rufus is no more; quick, prince, and the crown is yours!

During this parley, noble after noble was arriving, and Henry, finding that his staunch friend Bellomonte and many other of his powerful partizans were around him, drew his sword, and loudly exclaimed, "William Breteuil, I, Henry of Normandy, demand of you, in my own right, the keys of the royal treasury."

Breteuil answered not, for as yet but few of Robert's friends had arrived, and he hoped by silence to gain time, and strengthen the number of his party.

great Alfred. and confirmed by Edward the Confessor.

But the shrewd Henry suspected his motive, and stepping forward, shouted, in tones of vehement anger, "My lord, Immediately after his coronation, you are silent! Did you not hear my de- Henry further strengthened his popumand? Quick, the keys!" larity with his Saxon subjects, by anBreteuil folded his arms, and with anouncing his intention to wed the Prin scornful scowl, muttered, "Nothing short of force, prince, will obtain from me compliance with your damnable request." | "by the crucifixion! dare you defy my power, contemptible churl? On, friends, on! spare him not!" roared the exasperated Henry, who, assisted by Bellomonte and others, instantly attacked Breteuil, and forced the keys of the treasury from him.

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cess Matilda Atheling. To this union Matilda's brother, Edgar, now King of Scotland, offered no objection; but the royal maiden, much as she loved Henry, would only consent to become his consort on condition that he granted a charter annulling the Norman tyrannies, confirming the liberty of the subject, and confining the royal authority within due bounds. This important document was speedily prepared and signed; but Henry had yet another formidable obstacle to remove before the royal nuptials could be solemnized. The powerfully prejudiced Abbess Christina hated the Normans, and endeavoured to prevent the connexion of the royal Anglo-Saxon and Norman lines, by spreading a report that her royal niece had taken the veil,

an insurmountable obstacle to the alliance, as it was deemed in the highest degree sacrilegious to marry a consecrated nun. To remove this difficulty without outraging popular prejudice, Henry wrote to that idol of the clergy and the people, the learned Anselm, whom the unyielding Red King had driven from the archbishopric of Canterbury to seek refuge at Lyons, pressing him to return without delay. Anselm obeyed the royal mandate, but found the case such an important and difficult one, that he convoked a solemn council of prelates and nobles to determine the mighty question.

Immediately Henry had possessed himself of the royal treasure, a number of Robert's partizans arrived, upon which, as the dispute threatened to be a stormy one, they, by universal assent, retired to the council chamber. But scarcely had they commenced the important debate, when the populace of Winchester, whom Henry had completely gained by profuse gifts and extravagant promises, so clam-which, if well founded, would have proved orously shouted, "Long live Henry! long live the English-born king!" that the opposing peers, to secure their personal safety, decided for Henry, who was immediately proclaimed king, amidst the maddening huzzas of the excited multitude. Henry waited not to receive the adulations of the populace at Winchester: immediately after the hasty, unceremonious funeral of the ill-starred Rufus, he proceeded to London, where, on the fifth of August, 1100, only three days after the death of his brother, he was consecrated king, with but little pomp,in Westminster Abbey, by Maurice, Bishop of London. Title to the throne he evidently had none; and it was only by promptitude, judicious bribery, and liberal promises, that he obtained its possession. In order, therefore, to more securely grasp the sceptre which he had so flagrantly usurped from his brother Robert, who had gone to chastise the infidels in the Holy Land, he at his coronation, besides taking the usual oath, swore to abrogate the tyrannical enactments of his Norman predecessors, and declared his intention to re-establish the laws and privileges instituted by the

Before this council was the unwilling Matilda examined. She confessed that her aunt Christina had many times forced her to wear the veil; that during her residence in the nunneries of Rumsey and Wilton, she, in common with other English ladies, assumed it to preserve her honour from the ruthless attacks of the Normans, and that, under a pretence of having devoted herself to the church, she had excused herself from accepting more than one eligible offer of marriage.

But," demanded the Archbishop

Anselm, "have you ever voluntarily sworn to devote yourself to God and his Holy Son, and to lead a life of chastity, poverty, and obedience ?”

"I never have, and never will bind myself by such an oath," replied Matilda | with an air of pride and firmness; and in truth," she continued, "I have adopted conventual life only as a necessity. I abhor it; and whenever left to my own free will, I have torn off the veil, and trampled it under my feet, as a thing to be despised."

"One more question, and I have done," said the learned archbishop. "Did your parents ever vow to dedicate your life to

God?"

"Never," answered the princess.

The council was satisfied with these explanations, and declared that Matilda Atheling, having neither pledged nor connected herself with any religious sisterhood, she was free to marry the king."

But, notwithstanding this favourable decision of the council at Lambeth, the celebration of the royal union did not immediately take place. On quitting Wilton nunnery, Matilda heard, to her disgust and astonishment, of Henry's amours with Nestor, the captivating daughter of Rus ap Tudor, Prince of Wales, and numerous other mistresses, by whom he had about twenty natural children; she now, therefore, hesitated before entering into holy matrimony with one so inconstant. The delay, however, so troubled the Saxon nobles, that they afforded her no peace until she consented to forego her scruples.

companied with more pomp and gorgeous ceremony than was the previous coronation of her royal lord, Henry. All London and Westminster were out of doors on that auspicious day; and although the heavens lowered and gently wept on the passing pageant, the huzzas and the bright smiles of the multitude dispelled the gloom and lightened the hearts of all present. The church at Westminster was crowded with the nobles of the land and their superbly-dighted ladies. The pompous proceedings were opened by Archbishop Anselm, who uttered from the pulpit a history of the proceedings of the synod that had pronounced Matilda free to marry, and concluded by exclaiming, in a loud, clear voice, "Does any one object to this decision? if so, let him now speak out, or ever after hold his peace." A protracted pause followed this harangue, after which the universal assent of the assembly burst forth in a long loud shout of approbatien. The learned prelate then descended from the pulpit and by his hands M2tilda was united in holy wedlock to the king, and immediately afterwards crowned queen-consort before the brilliant assembly.

On Matilda's exaltation to the throne, she found herself surrounded by foreigners, as scarcely an Anglo-Saxon had been permitted to enter the court circles of the Norman monarchs; and although she was the people's idol, many of the Norman courtiers and nobles despised her, because she influenced her royal husband in favour of the Saxons; whilst the moral restraint she had imposed on the court so annoyed them, that they, in derision, named her "the Saxon woman." Little, however, did Matilda heed their scoffings: with a worthy purity of purpose and honesty of heart, she spurned vice from the presence of royalty, and afforded queenly encouragement to learning, religion, and refinement. A munificent This and other similar earnest entrea- patroness of literature and art, her suties so moved the warm heart of the perb residence at Westminster was ever good Matilda, that on Sunday, the ele- thronged with minstrels or trouviers, and venth of November, 1100, her marriage learned clerks, whose songs and recitals and coronation were solemnized by Arch- afforded her infinite pleasure; and we bishop Anselm, in Westminster Abbey. may presume that she was a Latin schoThe inauguration of Matilda was ac-lar, as to her the learned Hildebert,

"Oh, most beautiful and beneficent of princesses!" said they, "thou on whom depends the uprising of our nation's honour, we beseech thee to wed our good King Henry, and so change the enmity between the Saxon and the Norman races into love, and restore peace and plenty to the land."

Bishop of Mans, addressed several Latin poems. But it was not her munificence | to wandering minstrels and singing clerks that obtained for the Saxon queen that laudable surname the "Good," but her unbounded and self-sacrificing charity to the sick poor, and, above all her humiliation in so frequently casting off the pomp of royalty, and entering the dank prison and rude hovel to dress the wounds of the maimed, and afford medical succour and spiritual consolation to the diseased and the penniless.

It was for these deeds of virtue, and for her having moved the king to enact laws which protected the honest mer

chant and artificer from oppression and robbery, and the Anglo-Saxon of gentier mould from the outrage of the overbearing Norman, that the people so adored the queen, that although, in compliment to her godfather, the Duke of Normandy, she was called Matilda, they more commonly styled her Editha. a name dear to the Saxons, who still fondly cherished the memory of their last queen of the blood of Alfred, Editha, consort of Edward the Confessor, and which, according to some historians, she received at the baptismal font at a period prior to her being christened Matilda, after the wife of the Conqueror.

CHAPTER III.

Duke Robert of Normandy marches to Winchester with a hostile force-Matilda prevails upon King Henry to bring about a pacification-Robert becomes a guest at court-Quarrel between Henry and Anselm-Robert re-visits England-He is advised to flee to Winchester-Is cajoled to cancel his claims against Henry-Henry goes into Normandy, meets with Anselm, and renews his friendship-Anselm returns to England-The Anglo-Saxon clergy forced to lead a life of celibacy-The queen gives birth to a princess-Henry returns from Normandy-He passes the winter at Northampton—Duke Robert implores the king, but is repulsed-Henry entrusts Matilda with the government, and embarks for Normandy-Matilda aids Gundulph in building several noble structures—Builds the first stone bridge in England-Patronizes religious houses-Henry's success in Normandy, where he obtains the crown, and returns in triumph-Marriage of his daughter with Henry the Fifth-Institution of the House of Commons-Death of Matilda-She is buried at Winchester.

UT nine months had Matilda the Good shared the throne with Henry the First, when Duke Robert of Normandy, having returned from the Holy Land, landed at Portsmouth, and being joined by many of the Anglo-Norman barons, and even some of the English nobles, including Matilda's uncle, Edgar Atheling, marched with a considerable hostile force to Winchester, where he drew up his army in battle array. But on being informed that Matilda was then lying there with her first-born, William the Atheling, who had seen the light but a few days, he, with a generosity unknown to

his brothers, relinquished his project of besieging the city, declaring, "that his heart would not permit him to commence war by an attack upon a woman in childbed."

Matilda was so pleased with this kind consideration of her godfather, that she prevailed on the king, by the good offices of Archbishop Anselm, to bring about a pacification, which was satisfactorily arranged, by Henry agreeing, in consideration of his retaining the crown of England, to pay an annual pension of three thousand marks to Robert. The king invited the Duke of Normandy to become his guest at court, and Robert, who delighted in music and merry company, was so well feasted and entertained, that he tarried there upwards of six

montas, and at his departure declared that nowhere else, in or out of Christendom, did such princely pleasures abound. Early in 1103. Henry and Archbishop Anselm had a serious quarrel. The prelate claimed, for the chapters of the clergy, the right hitherto enjoyed by the kings of Ingland of nominating the bishops, which the king resolutely refused, and both appealed to the pope, Anselm going in person to plead against the king's advocates, and remaining for a period in exile.

when she lay in childbed; flee to her at Winchester, impiore her to intercede for you with the king, and you may yet be saved."

Robert lost no time in acting as the count had advised him, but he paid dearly for his indiscretion; for the queen, playing puppet to her royal lord, graciously received him, and taking the opportunity when he was overcome by wine, persuaded him, with sweet words and winning smiles, to cancel his claims against his brother the king. When Henry found that his deeply-laid scheme had succeeded to the full, he was right glad, and with many thanks for hi kind

his Norman brother. But Duke Robert felt no inclination to grasp the hand of his despoiler, whom he bitterly reproached with having, by wine and woman's craft, tricked him out of his pension.

In the year following, Robert, so appropriately named the Unready, unwisely visited England. His purport for so doing probably being to demand his pen-ness, proffered the hand of friendship to sion and enjoy the pleasures of his royal goddaughter's court, although some writers affirm it was nothing less than to remonstrate with Henry, who, with a rod of iron, had persecuted several nobles for no other reason than that they were his partizans. On hearing of his landing, although he came unarmed and with but twelve attendants, the king flew into a great rage, and swore that if he fell into his hands he would keep him a prisoner for life.

"God forbid, sire!" exclaimed the Count de Mellent, who witnessed the king's wrath-"God forbid that your brother Robert should receive such harshness at your hands! Besides, he is so generous and easy-hearted, that I dare swear a few kindly-spoken words would induce him to depart in peace, and relinquish his pension to boot."

Be it so," rejoined the king; "and our good cousin shall himself try his eloquence upon our unruly brother."

With all my heart," replied the count, who immediately mounted his flcetest charger, and meeting Robert on the Southampton road, reasoned with him on the folly of exposing himself to the deadly ire of the king, who, he declared, was so terribly vexed at having to pay him four thousand marks a-year, that he swore by the Apostles to slay him or imprison him for life. "Indeed," continued the count, "there is no hope nor safety for you but under the protecting wings of our good Queen Matilda: doubtless she has not forgotten your kindness

"Beauclerc, thou art a treacherous villain; and if it costs me my life, I will be revenged!" he exclaimed, as in wild fury he rushed from the presence of his brother Henry.

Perhaps it may, should you attempt to execute your threat," murmured the artful king, who in a few months afterwards nominated his consort Matilda Regent of England, and set sail for Normandy, whither he went with the pretext of mediating between the factions then desolating the land, although his real purpose was to personally observe how and when he could most prudently snatch the ducal crown from the head of his brother Robert.

When in Normandy, Henry and Archbishop Anselm met at the castle of the Eagle, and after a few explanations, again became friends. Anselm then embarked for England, and landed at Dover, where the queen received him with hearty welcomes; and he being advanced in years, she herself preceded him on his journey to the metropolis, and in this manner provided for him sumptuous fare and princely accommodation.

But the return of the aged primate brought trouble to the heart of Matilda, as from this time both the king and Anselm forced the Anglo-Saxon clergy, who