being told that he had perished, "Then I will not outlive him," said the captain, and immediately sunk to the bottom. The shrieks of these unfortunate people were heard from the shore, and the noise even reached the king's ship, but the cause was then unknown. Henry entertained hopes, for three days, that his son had put into some distant port in England; but when certain intelligence of the calamity was brought to him, he fainted away, and was never seen to smile from that moment to the day of his death, which followed some time after at St. Denis, a little town in Normandy, from eating too plentifully of lampreys, a dish of which he was particularly fond. He died in the sixty-seventh year of his age, and the thirtyfifth of his reign, leaving, by will, his daughter Matilda, the widow of the emperor Henry V., heiress of all his dominions.

EXERCISES.

In what year did Henry I. ascend the throne of England? Why was he called Beauclerc? In what degree of relationship did he stand to the late king? What induced the nation to acknowledge his claim? What me thod did he adopt to gain the favour of the people? How did he reconcile the nation to the Norman succession? On what conditions did his eldest brother resign his pretensions to England? Describe the character of Robert. What was the result of the first engagement between Robert and Henry? How did Henry requite his brother's kindness? Why did he found the abbey of Reading? From what circumstances was Henry justified in looking forward to a long succession of felicity? With what family misfortunes was he visited? What act of gluttony put a period to his life? In what year of his age and reign did he die? To whom did he bequeath all his dominions?

O sooner was the king known to be dead, than Stephen, Earl of Boulogne, second son of Stephen, Earl of Blois, and of Adela, daughter of William the conqueror, and nephew of the late king, conscious of his own power and influence, resolved to secure to himself the possession of what he so long desired. He speedily hastened from Normandy, and arriving at London, was immediately saluted king by all the lower ranks of people. Being thus secure of the people, his next step was to gain over the clergy; and, for that purpose, his brother, the bishop of Winchester, exerted all his influence among them with good success. Thus was Stephen made king by one of those speedy revolutions which ever mark the barbarity of a state in which they often happen.

The first acts of an usurper are always popular. Stephen, in order to secure his tottering throne, passed a charter, granting several privileges to the different orders of the state: to the nobility, a permission to hunt in their own forests; to the clergy, a speedy filling of all vacant benefices; and to the people, a restoration of the laws of Edward the Confessor. To fix himself still more securely, he took possession of the royal treasures at Winchester, and had his title ratified by the pope with a part of the money.

It was not long, however, that Matilda delayed asserting her daim to the crown. She landed upon the coast of Sussex, assisted by Robert, earl of Gloucester, natural son of the late king. The whole of Matilda's retinue, upon this occasion, amounted to no more than one hundred and forty knights, who immediately took possession of Arundel castle; but the nature of her claim soon increased the number of her partisans, and her forces every day seemed to gain ground upon those of her antagonist. Mean time. Stephen, being assured of her arrival, flew to besiege Arundel castle, where she had taken refuge, and where she was protected by the queen dowager, who secretly favoured her pretensions. This fortress was too feeble to promise a long defence; and would have been soon taken, had it not been represented to the king, that, as it was a castle belonging to the queen dowager, it would be an infringement on the respect due to her to attempt taking it by force. There was a spirit of generosity mixed with the rudeness of the times, which unaccountably prevailed in many transactions. Stephen permitted Matilda to come forth in safety, and had her conveyed with security to Bristol, another fortress equally strong with that from which he permitted her to retire. It would be tedious to relate the various skirmishes on either side, in pursuance of their respective pretensions; it will suffice to say, at Matilda's forces increased every day, while her antagonist seemed every hour to become weaker; and a victory, gained by the queen, threw Stephen from his assumed dignity, and placed the lawful heiress on the throne of her ancestors. Matilda was crowned at Winchester with all imaginable solemnity, on the third day of March, 1141.

This princess, however, was unfit for government. She afected to treat the nobility with a degree of disdain, to which hey had long been unaccustomed; so that the fickle nation > ce more began to pity their deposed king, and repent the teps they had taken in her favour. The bishop of WinchesC was not remiss in fomenting these discontents; and when he found the people ripe for a tumult, detached a party of his friends and vassals to block up the city of London, where the queen then resided. At the same time, measures were taken o instigate the Londoners to a revolt, and to seize her person. Matilda, having timely notice of this conspiracy, fled to Winester, whither the bishop, still her secret enemy, followed r, watching an opportunity to ruin her cause. His party was soon sufficiently strong to bid the queen open defiance, and to besiege her in the very place where she first received

his benediction. There she continued for some time, but the town being pressed by a famine, she was obliged to escape; while her brother, the earl of Gloucester, endeavouring to follow, was taken prisoner, and exchanged for Stephen, who still continued a captive. Thus a sudden revolution once more took place: Matilda was deposed and obliged to seek for safety in Oxford. Stephen was again recognized as king, and taken from the dungeon to be replaced on his throne.

But he was now to enter the lists with a new opposer, who was every day coming to maturity, and growing more formidable: this was Henry, the son of Matilda and Geoffrey Platagenet, Earl of Anjou, who had now reached his sixteenth year; and gave the greatest hopes of being one day a valiant leader, and a consummate politician.

With the wishes of the people in his favour, young Henry was resolved to reclaim his hereditary kingdom, and to dispute once more Stephen's usurped pretensions; and accordingly made an invasion of England, where he was immediately joined by almost all the barons of the kingdom.

In the mean time, Stephen, alarmed at the power and popularity of his young rival, tried every method to anticipate the purpose of his invasion; but finding it impossible to turn the torrent, he was obliged to have recourse to treaty. It was therefore agreed, by all parties, that Stephen should reign during his life; and that justice should be administered in his name. That Henry should, on Stephen's death, succeed to the kingdom; and William, Stephen's son, should inherit Boulogne and his patrimonial estate. After all the barons had sworn to this treaty, which filled the whole kingdom with joy, Henry evacuated England; and Stephen returned to the peaceable enjoyment of his throne. Soon after this transaction, an iliac passion put an end to his life at Canterbury, in the fiftieth and in the nineteenth of his reign. year of his age,

EXERCISES.

In what year was Stephen proclaimed king? Of whom was he a son? To whom was he indebted for gaining over to his interest the Clergy of England? What state of society do sudden revolutions indicate? What steps did Stephen take to render himself popular? Who claimed the crown from hereditary right? Who was Matilda? Who assisted her on her landing in England? Did the people seem to acknowledge her claims? In what instance did Stephen act with generosity towards her? Had Stephen and Matilda recourse to arms? What was the result of the last engagement? What induced the nobility to pity the deposed king? Who promoted the interest of Stephen? From what place was he taken to re-ascend the throne?

In what city did Matilda seek for safety? With whom had Stephen now to contend? On what conditions did he conclude a treaty with Henry? In what year of his life and reign did he die?

TH

HENRY II.

Proclaimed king in the year 1154, and died in 1189.

HE first act of Henry's government gave the people happy omen of his future wise administration. Conscious of his power, he began to correct those abuses, and to resume those privileges, which had been extorted from the weakness or the credulity of his predecessors. He immediately ordered all those mercenary soldiers who had committed depredations of the most dreadful kind to quit his kingdom before a particular day, under the penalty of death, and they all obeyed his order. He resumed many of those benefactions which had been made to churches and monasteries in the former reigns, and gave charters to several towns, by which the citizens claimed their freedom and privileges, independently of any superior but himself. These charters were the groundwork of English liberty. The struggles which had before this time been, whether the king, or the barons, or the clergy, should be despotic over the people, now began to assume a new aspect; and a fourth order, namely, that of the more opulent of the people, began to claim a share in administration. Thus was the feudal government at first impaired ; and liberty began to be more equally diffused throughout the nation.

Henry being thus become the most powerful prince of his age, the undisputed monarch of England, possessed of more