vaded the kingdom, with all the forces he had employed in that expedition, and all he could invite or collect in the country through which he paffed. His army was compofed of active and valiant troops, in high fpirits, ftrongly attached to their king, and eager to engage. On the other hand, the army of William confifted of the flower of all the continent, and had been long inured to danger. The men of Bretagne, Bologne, Flanders, Poitou, Maine, Orleans, France, and Normandy, were all voluntarily united under his command. England never before, nor ever fince, faw two fuch armies drawn up to difpute its crown. The day before the battle, William fent an offer to Harold to divide the quarrel between them by fingle combat, and thus to fpare the blood of thoufands; but Harold refufed, and faid, he would leave it to the God of armies to determine, Both armies, therefore, that night pitched in fight of each other, expecting the dawning of the day with impatience. The English paffed the night in fongs and feafting; the Normans in devotion and prayer.

The next morning at feven, as foon as day appeared, both armies were drawn up in array againft each other. Harold appeared in the centre of his forces, leading on his army on foot, that his men might be more encouraged, by feeing their king expofed to an equality of danger. William fought on horfeback, leading on his army that moved at once, finging the fong of Roland, one of the chiefs of their. country. The Normans began the fight with their crofs bows, which, at firft, galled and furprifed the English, and as their ranks were close, their arrows did great execution. But foon they came to clofer fight, and the English, with their bills, hewed down their adverfaries with great flaughter. Confufion was fpreading among the ranks, when William, who found himfelt on the brink of deftruction, haftened with a felect band to the relief of his forces. His.

prefence reftored the fufpence of battle; he was feen in every place, endeavouring to pierce the ranks of the eneiny, and had three horfes flain under him. At length perceiving that the Englifh line continued impenetrable, he pretended to give ground, which, as he expected, drew the enemy from their ranks, and he was inftantly ready to take advantage of their diforder. Upon a fignal given, the Normans immediately returned to the charge with greater fury than before, broke the English troops, and pursued themto a rifing ground. It was in this extremity, that Harold was feen flying from rank to rank, rallying and infpiring his troops with vigour; and though he had toiled all day, till near night-fall, in the front of his Kentifh-men, yet he ftill feemed unabated in force or courage, keeping his men to the post of honour. Once more, therefore, the victory feemed. to turn against the Normans, and they fell in great numbers; fo that the fiercenefs and obftinacy of this memorable battle was often renewed by the courage of the leaders, whenever that of the foldiers began to flacken. Fortune, at length, determined a victory that valour was unable to decide. Harold making a furious onfet at the head of his troops, against the Norman armed infantry, was fhot into the brains by an arrow; and his two valiant brothers, fighting by his fide, fhared the fame fate. He fell with a fword in his hand, amidst heaps of flain, and after the battle the royal corpfe could hardly be distinguished among the dead.

This was the end of the Saxon monarchy in England, which had continued for more than fix hundred years.

CHAP.

CHA P. IV.

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.

As foon as William paffed the Thames, at Wal

S

lingford, Stigand, the primate, made fubmiflions to him in the name of the clergy; and before he came within fight of the city, all the chief nobility came into his camp, and declared an intention of yielding to his authority. William was glad of being thus peaceably put in poffeffion of a throne which feveral of his predeceffors had not gained without repeated victories.

But in order to give his invafion all the fanction poffible, he was crowned at Westminster by the archbishop of York, and took the oath ufual in the times of the Saxon and Danish kings, which was, to protect and defend the church, to obferve the laws of the realm, and to govern the people with impartiality. Having thus fecured the government, and by a mixture of vigour and lenity brought the Englifh to an entire fubmiffion, he refolved to return to the continent, there to enjoy the triumph and con gratulation of his ancient fubjects...

In the mean time, the abfence of the Conqueror in England produced the most fatal effects. His officers being no longer controuled by his juftice, thought this a fit opportunity for extortion; while the English, no longer awed by his prefence, thought it the happiest occafion for vindicating their freedom.

The English had entered into a confpiracy to cut off their invaders, and fixed the day for their intended maffacre which was to be on Afh-Wednesday, during the time of divine fervice, when all the Normans would be unarmed as penitents, according to the difcipline of the times. But William's return quickly

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quickly difconcerted all their fchemes: And from that time forward he began to lofe all confidence in his English fubje&is, and to regard them as inveterate and irreconcileable enemies. He had already raifed fuch a number of fortreffes in the kingdom, that he no longer dreaded the tumultuous or tranfient efforts of a difcontented multitude; he therefore determined to treat them as a conquered nation, to indulge his own avarice, and that of his followers, by numerous confifcations, and to fecure his power by humbling all who were able to make any refift. ance. He proceeded to confifcate all the eftates of the English gentry, and to grant them liberally to his Norman followers. Thus all the ancient and honourable families were reduced to beggary, and the English found themfelves entirely excluded from every road that led either to honour or preferment.

To keep the clergy as much as poffible in his intereft, he appointed none but his own countrymen to the most confiderable church dignities, and even difplaced Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, upon fome frivolous pretences.

William having crushed several confpiracies, and by punishing the male-contents, thus fecured the peace of his dominions, now expected reft from his labours; and finding none either willing or powerful enough to oppofe him, he hoped that the end of his reign would be marked with profperity and peace. But fuch is the blindness of human hope, that he found enemies where he leaft expected them, and fuch too as ferved to imbitter all the latter part of his life. His laft troubles were excited by his own children, from the oppofing of whom he could expect to reap neither glory nor gain. He had three fons, Robert, William, and Henry, befides feveral daughte.s. Robert, his eldeft fon, furnamed Curthofe, from the fhortness of his legs, was a prince

who

.

who inherited all the bravery of his family and na tion, but was rather bold than prudent; and was often heard to exprefs his jealoufy of his two brothers, William and Henry. Thefe, by greater affiduity, had wrought upon the credulity and affections of the king, and confequently were the more obnoxious to Robert. A mind, therefore, fo well prepared for refentment, foon found or made a cause for an open rupture. The princes were one day in fport together, and in the idle petulance of play, took it in their head to throw water upon their elder brother as he paffed through the court, on leaving their apartment. Robert, all alive to fufpicion, quickly turned this frolic into a ftudied indignity, and having thefe jealoufies ftill farther inflamed by one of his favourites, he drew his fword, and ran up ftairs with intent to take revenge. The whole caftle was quickly filled with tumult, and it was not without fome difficulty, that the king himself was able to appease it. But he could not allay the ani- · mofity which, from that moment, ever after prevailed in his family. Robert, attended by feveral of his confederates, withdrew to Rouen that very night, hoping to furprise the castle, but his defign was defeated by the governor.

The flame being thus kindled, the popular character of the prince, and a fympathy of manners, engaged all the young nobility of Normandy and Maine, as well as of Anjou and Brittany, to efpouse his quarrel; even his mother, it is faid, fupported him by fecret remittances, and aided him in: his obftinate refiftance by private encouragement. This unnatural conteft continued for feveral years to inflame the Norman ftate; and William was at laft obliged to have recourfe to England for fupporting his authority against his fon. Accordingly drawing an army of Englifhmen together, he led. them over to Normandy, where he foon compelled Robert

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