Windsor Castle, and its environs;

Front matter

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Chapter I

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. — Origin of Modem Chivalry. — Ashmole's Eulogium of Knighthood. — Connexion of the Subject with the History of Windsor Castle. — Derivation of the Name. — ^William the Norman. — The Pawnbroker and the Crusader . . . . . . .

Chapter II

Judgment upon the Conqueror's Family. — Completion of the First Castle.— Removal from Old to New Windsor. — Royal Eloquence. — The bereft Father. — " He never smiled again." — Manners of the Time. — Private Wars. — General Confusion . . .10

Chapter III

The Unnatural Family.— The (Governor of the Castle.— Royal Penitence. — William of Scotland imprisoned in Windsor Castle. — Policy of Henry II.— Death of Prince Henry.— New Rebellions of the Unnatural Family.— Despair and Death of the Father . . 20

IV CONTENTS.

Chapter IV. Paob

Richard Coeur de Lion.— Order of the Garter.— Legend of the Leather Thong.— The two Rival Bishops.- A new Governor of the Castle.— Prince John.— Horrihle Atrocity,— Fighting Bishops .

Chapter V

King John. — Horrihle Barharity. — Henry IIL — Rohhery of the City of London. — Refinement of Cruelty. — Anecdotes. — Original Form of the Castle.^-Fortifications. — Description of the different Stages. — Grand Entrance. — ^Anglo-Normans and Anglo-Saxons . 38

CHAPTER VL

Progress of Civilization. — Windsor Castle assumes a new Form. — Zeal of Edward III. — Impressment of Workmen. — Royal Triumph over Death. — Institution of the Order of the Garter. — Heathen Gods and Christian Saints.—- King Edward's Round Tahle— Tradition of the Garter. — The Fair Maid of Kent. — Unsuccessful Wooing of Edward.— The Queen's Garter . . .49

Chapter VII

Love and .Gallantry of Chivalry.-*- The Cours d' Amour. — Love Cases for the Casuists. — Officers of the Courts of Love. — Equality of the Knights of the Garter. — Mottos and Devices. — Patrons of the Garter. — Legend of St. George. — Statutes of the Order of the Garter. — ^The Points of Reproach . . . . .61

Chapter VIII

Hahits and Ensigns of the Order of the Garter. — ^The Garter. —The Mantle.— The Surcoat.— The Hood.— The Collar.— The George. — The Lesser George.— Procession of the Knights Elect to Windsor. — The Offering. — Investiture with the Rohe. — Girding with the Sword,— The Oath. — Investiture with the other Insignia. —Grand Festival of the Order. — Ceremony of the Degradation of a Knight-Companion . . . . .73

CONTENTS.

Chapter IX. Pack

Origin of the Poor Knights of Windsor.— Their Daty.— Statutes of the Poor Knights. — Annual Allowance. — St. Geoige's Chapel • 90

Chapter X

French Fashions. — The Captives of Windsor. — Richard II. — Anne of Bohemia. — Tournament. — Importance attached to the Order of the Ghirter. — Famous Appeal of High Treason. — The Citizens of London. — Henry IV. — Plot against the Usurper's Life. — Grotesque Fashions of the Age. — The Philosopher's Stone . . 101

Chapter XI

James I. of Scotland a Captive at Windsor. — Heroic Fidelity. — Henry V.— The Veritahle Heart of St. George. — Chartism of the Fifteenth Century.— Edward IV., or the Royal Rake.— The two Kings. — Richard III. — Henry VII. — Royal Castaways at Windsor 116

Chapter XII

The Defender of the Faith.—The Priest and the Butcher .—The Duke of Shoreditch.— Fall of the Price of Relics.— Fashion.— Diary of Edward VI. — Philip and Mary. — Hentzner's Description of Windsor Castle . . . . • .130

Chapter XIII

Queen Elizaheth. — Her celebrated Terrace. — Her literary Occupations at Windsor. — Her Influence on Literature and Fashion. — Merry Wives of Windsor. — Heme the Hunter. — Personal Vanity of Elizabeth. — Silk Stockings. — Clear-starching. — Baths of Wine and Milk. — Edict against Ugly Portraits of the Queen. — Descriptions of Elizabeth by different Authorities. — A Beau of her Time.-— Char racter of the English by a Foreigner .... 149

Chapter XIV

James I. — Visit of the King of Denmark. — The Goodly Ancient Gentlemen.^ Institution of the Order of Baronets. — Its Origin. — Ashmole's Account of the Institution. — Controversy respecting the Character of James. — ^Mr. D'Israeli's Defence. — Witches . . 168

VI CONTENTS.

Chapter XV

rAGB

Charles I. — ^Royal Romance. — Man*8 Love and Woman*8 Love. — The Infanta of Spain and Henrietta of France. — Conflict of the Grace-sayerB. — Windsor the Prison of its Master. — ^Weekly Newspapers of the Time. — The Castle repaired and embellished by Charles II. — The New Queen and her Train of Uglinesses. — Barbara Villiers. — The brutal Husband. — Cannibal Loyalists. — Evelyn's Account of Windsor. — James II. . . . . .180

Chapter XVI

Changes in Taste. — Specimen of bad Taste. — ^Round Tower. — Sir J. Wyatville. — Circumference of the Castle. — Principal Oateway. — Upper Ward. — Entrance to the State Apartments. — Queen's Ball-room. — Introduction of Verrio to Windsor. — Anecdotes. — Sums paid for his Ceilings. — Grinllng Gibbons. — Pictures in the Queen's Ball-room. — Countess of Carlisle. — Duchess of Richmond. — Countess of Dorset. — ^Lady Venetia Digby. — Carew and Killigrew. —Henrietta Maria.— Charles I. . . . .200

Chapter XVII

The Queen's Drawing-room. — Queen's Closet — Duke of Hamilton. — King's Closet. — The Blacksmith Painter.— Anecdote of the Princess Charlotte. — Emperor Charles V. — Steenwyck's Prison Scene. — King's Council-room. — Duke of Marlborough. — Luther. — Prince Rupert ....... 218

Chapter XVIII

King's Drawing-room,— Pictures by Rubens. — The Vestibule. — Battle of Poictiers. — Queen Philippa. — Throne-room. — Picture of the Installation of the Knights of the Garter,— Ball-room. — ^Waterloo Gkillery. — St. George's Hall. — Guard Chamber. — ^Ancient Arms and Engines of War. — Queen's Presence Chamber. — Queen's Audience Chamber ...... 226

Chapter XIX

English Rabble. — Terra incognita of the Palace.— Grand Vestibule and Staircase. — Dining-room.— Stupendous Toy. — Saloons. —Library.— Grand Corridor.— Sir Jeffrey Wyatville . . 235

CONTENTS. YU

Chapter XX. Page

King Charles's Beauties. — Mrs.Middleton. — MissWanninster. — Miss Hamilton. — ^Duchess of Richmond.— Duchess of Cleveland. — Lady Ossory.— Lady Denham. — Lady Whitmore. — Lady Northumberland. — Countess of Sunderland.— Duchess of Somerset.— Lady Byron. — Lady Rochester. — Mrs. Lawson. — Queen Catherine. — Anne Hyde. — Duchess of Portsmouth .... 245

CHAPTER XXL

The Bound Tower. — View from the Summit. — History of the Tower.—- The Imprisoned Poet. — Lord Surrey's Lament at Windsor. — Geraldine. — Lower Ward of the Castle. — Cloisters. — Inscriptions. — Royal Tomb-house.— Its Modem Inhabitants . . 268

Chapter XXII

Royal Chapel of St. George.— Interior. — Choir.— West Window. — Screen. — Stalls of the Knights. — ^Monuments.— Cenotaph of the Princess Charlotte . . . .270

Chapter XXIII

The (German Prince's Opinion of Windsor. — Eton College. — Little Park. — Frogmore. — Misconceptions in Taste. — The Long Walk.— Heronry.— Statue of Geoige III. — Great Park.— Viiginia Water.— The Cascade.— Ruinsw— Frigates of the Lake.— Fishing Temple. — Belvidere Tower. — Bridges.— Return to Windsor. — Royal Lodge. — Cumberland Lodge.— Eclipse. — Queen Victoria . 279

Chapter XXIV

Eton College. — Its Architecture. — Eminent Men Educated at Eton College. — Gray, the Poet. — ^Amusements at Eton. — Eton Montem.— Salt-Hill .293

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

STEEL PLATES.

PakUedbjf Bngmedkg

Portrait of Her Mi^esty £. Cokboulo .... F. Hbath Front.

Engrared Title, Tlie Eagle Tower J. D. Hakdimo . . E. RATCLTrrs Title.

Windsor Park and ite Vicinage, plan Wtld p. 1

Windsor Castle, ftom the Home Paik . . J. D. Hakdino . . Smith 48

Interior of St. George's HalL T. Allom Wallib 89

Interior of St. George's Clu^id. F. If ackbrsib . . If ottbam 00

Windsor Castle, from the Clewer Meadow J. D. Habdino .. Allbh 1S8

Wmdsor Casde, from the Long Walk .. J. D. Habdimo .. Vabball 900

Windsor Castle, from the Great Park J. D. Habdiro .. Wallib 900

Ruins, Virginia Water J. D. Habdiro .. Watkirb 18ft

Fishing Temple, Virginia Water J. D. Haboiro .. Wallib 887

Eton, from the Windsor Terrsce J. D. Habdiro . . Pbiob. 994

Eton, from the Flaying-Flelds J. D. Habdiro .. Willmobb 303

WOODCUTS.

Daignedbg Bngranedbjf

Windsor CasUe, from Bishopsgate W. H. Pbiob Lirtor and Smith.. 1

Windsor Castle, from Horton W. H. Pbiob W. 6. Habor 90

Charter Island W. H. Pbiob Obbir Smith 40

Magna Charta Seal R. Tbomsor Mabor 48

Edward III W. H. Pbiob Obbir Smith 49

Arms of the Bishop of Beauvais 6o

Wolsey's Head Holbbir W. H. Pbiob 97

Fashitms in Edward III. 's Time Stardvabt W. Lirtor 101

HenryVlI 190

Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn Stardvabt W. Lirtor ISO

EdwardVI 130

Henry VIII.'s Gate, Wmdsor Castle .... W. H. Pbiob .... "E. Lardbllb 139

Eton College and Chspel W. H. Pbiob — E. Lardbllb 147

HeniyVIII 148

Heme'sOak W.H.Pbiob E. Lardbllb 164

Queen Elisabeth Stardvabt W. Lirtor 160

Sir Walter Ralei^ Starovast W. Lirtor 104

Wster Quintain on the Thames From an Old Print. 179

Costumes of Charles I.'s Time Stardvast W. Lirtor 180

JamesII 198

Windsor Castle, from Flaying. Fields,Eton W. H. Pbiob Lirtor 900

East Front, Windsor Castle W. H. Pbiob E. Lardbllb 918

Earl of Surrey !!.... W.H.Pbiob Obbir Smith 909

EtonCollege 979

Elms near the Heroniy W.H.Pbiob.... E. Lardbllb 989

Virginia Water W.H.Pbiob E. Lardbllb 988

Gate, Eton College W.H.Pbiob.... E. Lardbllb 999

Gray, the Poet W. H. Pbiob .... Obbir Smith 998

Eton Montem, in the Timeof George III. Gbimm B. Williamb 309

Costumes at Eton Montem Williamb B. Williamb 819

WINDSOR CASTLE. PROM BI8H0PSGATB.

WINDSOR CASTLE.

Chapter I

KINO ARTHUR AND^THS ItNIOHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE. — ORIGIN OF MODERN CHIVALRY. ASHMOLb's EULOOIUM OF KNIOHTHOOD. CON- NEXION OF THE SUBJECT WITH THE HISTORY OF WINDSOR CASTLE.

DERIVATION OF THE NAME. — WILLIAM THE NORMAN. — THE PAWNn'^' BROKER AND THE CRUSADER.

If palaces are "poems in stone," Windsor Castle is an epic of chivalry. There be heterodox persons, we know, who put not their trust in King Arthur, or who, while believing in the Knights of the Kound

B

Table^ give them altogether another locality; but for our part, we would take the word of the renowned chronlder, Sir John FroLssart, for a greater matter than this. It is a high advantage to have a central spot where history and tradition meet. The authentic story of Windsor may begin only with the Norman William; but there is a vista stretching far away —

^0*er the dark rereward and abysm of time,"

which it is as delightftd, and it may be as profitable, to contemplate.

The knighthood of King Arthur, however, must be regarded rather as a prediction of chivalry than the thing itself; which did not arise, in tangible shape, tiU about the precise epoch of the erection of Windsor Castle. The authors who have combated so fiercely on the question of the antiquity of chivalry, have contested, as is usually the case, about a mere name. They have confounded the institution of the Holy Order with vassalage and feudal tenure, which existed long before. In our own day, Mr. Fennie, a neglected man of genius, wonders that any one can be so " silly " as to suppose chivalry a comparatively modem institution, since, among the Germans, in the time of Tacitus, ^^ there was great emulation among the followers who should stand highest in the princes' or chiefs' favour, nor did any one hesitate to be seen among these attendants and followers!"^ Whitaker, on the other hand, is satis-

* Britain'B Historical Drama, p. 636.

GIANTS AND DRAGONS. 3

fied with making the order originate with King Arthur, in the sixth century. "It was the first," says he, " that had ever been instituted in the island ; and it has been since imitated by all the nations on the continent. By means of this association, Arthur mixed among the provincials a general glow of ingenuous heroism; the first spirit of chivalry that ever appeared in Europe."" But O'Halloran denies the impertinent assumption with huge disdain; asserting, that Arthur established in Britain only what had been for ages the glory of Ireland !

The military class, in all ages, and in all nations, from the Hindoos to the Germans, have had their ceremonies and investitures; but chivalry, in the sense usually understood by this word, there is every reason to believe originated amidst the disorders of the eleventh century, when monarchy was a mere name, the best part of Europe being parcelled out among independent chiefs, who led their followers to war and pillage, at their pleasure. These were the true giants and dragons of romance ; and it was the mission of the first knights to put down, by the strong hand, a power which there was no public law capable of restraining. Chivalry was a species of priesthood, and its ceremonies were taken as closely as possible from those of the holy sacraments. Bap* tism lent its white robes, its bath, and its godfather; confirmation gave birth to the accolade; the viaticum to unction; confession and communion were common to both ; the head of the knight, as well as the priest,

b2 was shaven in front, and his hair cut round. They both enjoyed privileges of nearly the same kind; and the knight, by buying or selling chivalry, could render himself guilty of simony.

In England, knights were at first created by high dignitaries of the church, and this custom continued for some time after the conquest, when it was forbidden by a synod, held in 1102, although the religious ceremonies still continued. These were performed with great solemnity at the creation of two hundred and sixty-seven knights at one time, when Edward I. held his famous Whitsuntide.

Let not the reader think these details irrelevant; for upon these depend, in no small degree, the honour and dignity of our Castle. Rather let him peruse,^ with all due reverence, the eulogium pronounced upon chivalry by Mr. Ashmole, in his history of that most noble Order, the cradle of which was Windsor.

" In the dignity, honour, and renown of knighthood, is included somewhat of magnificence more excellent that nobility itself; which, mounting the royal throne, becomes the assertor of civil nobility, and sits as judge at the tribunal therefore. Knight is noted by Camden as a name of dignity, but baron is not so. For if heretofore a baron had not received knighthood, he was written plainly by his Christian name, and that of his family, without any addition but that of Dominus, a term attributed to a knight; and, in ancient charters, the titles and names of

GLORY OF CHIVALRY. 5

knights may be seen set before barons. It bestows gentility, not only upon the meanly born, but upon his descendants, and increases the honour of those well descended. Hereunto agrees the common law: if a yillain be made a knight, he is thereby immediately enfranchised, and consequently accounted a gentleman; agreeably to the Koman law, where the donation of a gold ring ennobled a slave. Maecenas died a companion of that order; even kings and princes look upon it as an accession — their other titles showing dominion and power, this their valour and courage. Geysa, king of Hungary — Leopold, marquis of Austria — Ottacher, duke of Stiria — ^Frederick, duke of Austria and Stiria — Godfrey, duke of Brabant, with Henry his son — Peter, king of Arragon — the emperor Henry III. — our William Rufus, Kings

Edward III., Henry VI., Henry VII., Edward VI

Lewis XL, Francis L, kings of France, and others, received this dignity at the time they enjoyed their other titles. And though it is said the sons of the French king are knights as soon as they receive baptism, yet are they not judged worthy the kingdom unless first solemnly created. And we elsewhere find, that the royal heirs of Arragon were suspended from the crown until they had received the honour of knighthood. And after the Norman conquest, our young princes were sent over to the neighbouring kings to receive this honour. Thus our king, Henry IL, was sent to David, king of Scots, and knighted by him in Carlisle; and Edward, at the age of fifteen years, to Alphonsus XL» king of Castile, for the same dignity. In like manner did foreign princes repair hither to receive the honour from our kings; — as Malcolm, king of Scotland, and Alexander, son of William, king of Scotland, knighted by our King John, anno 1212. So was Alexander III. by our King Henry III., at York, anno 1252, and Magnus, king of the Isle of Man, by the same king. All which sufficiently demonstrates the great renown of knighthood, and the honour and esteem which was ever had for that order."

To understand the history of Windsor Castle, it is necessary to comprehend the spirit and institutions of chivalry. In its modem origin — ^for, in compliance with the matter-of-fact prejudices of the day, we shall leave King Arthur in the background — ^it was the den of a monstrous dragon, who lay coiled in the midst of its almost impenetrable woods, whence he issued ever and anon to ravage and devour the country. Succeeding him came certain smaller monsters, who sometimes felt the lance of the knighterrant, even in their forest lair; and after them the preux chevaliers themselves held high carouse in the now stately halls of Windsor, whence they sent forth troops of the brave into all quarters of the world, to the rescue of distressed damsels, and the consolation of forlorn widows.

The Dragon, par ewcdlmce^ was the brave Norman, who had no sooner crossed the channel, and possessed himself of a great kingdom, as easily as

WILLIAM THE NORMAN. 7

a robber takes a purse upon the highway — (and in somewhat the same fashion)^ — than he looked round in search of a site, for an employment quite as necessary as war. William's conquest of England would not have been worth the trouble, had it not been able to furnish him with a forest for hunting; and it fortunately happened, that this important desideratum was found at the distance of only a pleasant ride from his capital. The Saxon princes, whose dynasty he had brought to a bloody close, had formerly a palace in a low situation in the domain, which now drew his attention; but this had been granted by the Confessor in the early part of the century to the monks of Westminster. William, howeyer, had no difficulty in getting back the prize, in lieu of which he assigned some lands in Essex to the monastery. With better taste than his predecessors, he chose a bold brow of the Thames for the site of his hunting seat; and, according to the manners and necessities of the times, the seat, as a matter of course, was constructed as a fortress. The Saxon name of the territory is supposed to have been Windleyhopa,* derived, as Camdem supposes, from the winding shores of the river. This was gradually changed into Wyndlechera, softened by Leland into Windlesore, and corrupted by us into Windsor. The fortress of William, in order to distinguish it from the other, was called New

* The Saxon word was Wifruishore, and from thence Windsor. Bee Transactions of the Literary Society for 1847.— En.

Windsor, and the site of the palace of the Saxon kings is Old Winder to this day.

We are sorry to be able to give the following eloquent remarks upon this reign as a quotation from an unknown book. They are from the pen of our friend Thomas Boscoe, and occur in a publication projected by him, with the view of illustrating Windsor Castle. The speculation failed at the commencement, though, we need hardly add, not for want of talent.

^^ Though firmly seated on his throne, and holding his royal hunts and revels at his new palacefortress of Windsor, while his fierce chiefs possessed themselves of England'3 baronial seats and wide domains, it was in vain the Conqueror sought, by fostering repeated rebellions, to strike a last blow at the liberties of the country. The attempt recoiled on his ovm head; for the example spread from the Anglo-Saxon chie& to his own barons, to his own rebellious sons, and to his own household. It is true the splendid prize of the adventurers was parcelled out with lavish hand ; military lines of fortresses and castles were stretched over the allotted districts, and Norman lords took up their stations, like sentinels in a newly captured city. * Woe to the conquered!' might have been the motto inscribed on the Conqueror's banner, that waved over town and tower, when the sun shone, and fruits and harvest no longer ripened for the hopeless countryman. A gloomy silence reigned over plains and valleys : in-

FEUDAL SYSTEM. 9

stead of the evening carol and the old British sports, were heard the toll of the curfew bell, the heavy tramp of Norman horse, and the voice of the steel-clad foreigner, debarring the light of heaven, and consigning the people to their nightly tombs.

" It was then the roots of our feudal system struck deep into the soil; and upon military proscription was founded that grand and noble system of hereditary honours, which raised England to such a pinnacle of fame, gave her a new national existence, a new aristocracy, and a new church; all the advantages of a constitution and popular government, the envy of the world. It is thus, by the wise decrees of Providence, that good springs out of evil, that British freedom retained its energy in the very heart of tyranny, when England appeared like one vast military settlement, as now the military farms and colonies of Russia; its broad domains held only at lordly pleasure, or granted, for the luxury and enjoyment of the conquerors, in perpetuity to the wild animals of the forest. ^ Stet pro ratione voluntas,^ seems to have been the only Norman law put into full force during the first half century after the conquest."

William, at his death, bequeathed his possessions to his two sons; England to William, surnamed Rufus, and Normandy to Robert. Neither of these princes is mentioned, at much length, in connexion with Windsor; and it may be sufficient, therefore, to say that the former was a famous pawnbroker, lending money upon kingdoms, and that the latter, responding to the call of Peter the Hermit, which was at that time heard echoing throughout Europe, pledged his patrimony to his brother for ten thousand marks, and set forth for Jerusalem as a Pilgrim of the Cross.

Chapter II

JUDGMENT UPON THE OONQUEROR's FAMILY. — COMPLETION OF THE FIRST 0A8TLB. — BSMOVAL FROM OLD TO NEW WINDSOR — ROYAL ELOQUENCE.—

THE BEREFT FATHER. — '^ HE NEVER SMILED AGAIN." MANNERS OF

THE TIME. — PRIVATE WARS.— GENERAL CONFUSION.

On the death of William Kufus in the new forest by the hand of Walter Tyrrel, it was observed, as a singular fact, that not only fiichard, an elder brother of the king's, had been gored to death by a stag, but that Richard, his nephew, had lost his life in the same place, and by the same means. All men now exclaimed that this was a judgment upon the Conqueror^s cruelty, in driving forth the people of that rich and noble district, to make room for his game, and that heaven had signalized its vengeance by so many fatalities in the lives of his descendants. Rufus, at his death, was only in the fortieth year of his age, and had reigned thirteen years, during which he had completed several unfinished portions of the first Castle

COMPLETION OF THE FIRST CASTLE. 11

of Windsor, erected by his father; and so decorated it with the spoils of the forests, that it resembled rather a vast establishment of gamekeepers than a royal palace.

Prince Henry was with his brother in the forest, at the moment he fell slain by an arrow; and, hurrying to Winchester, he first secured the royal treasure, drawing his sword, and threatening Breteuil, the then chancellor of the exchequer, (an easy office,) with instant death if he refused to obey. He had to contend, however, with serious difficulties. Eobert, invited by a large body of the nobility, landed in England; and the two brothers at the head of large armies, found themselves engaged in deadly strife. The next morning had decided the fate of a throne; but, by the unanimous interposition of common friends, an adjustment of diffisrences was arranged. This enabled Henry subsequently to invade Normandy, where a decisive battle was fought, in which he took Robert and his only son William prisoners, and committed them to strict custody.

Having now leisure to consolidate his throne, and, by wise regulations, to attach to him the great interests of the state, the aristocracy, and the army, he directed his attention to the royal castle at Windsor; the additional portions of which, begun both by the Conqueror and William Rufus, especially the lighter parts, adapting it for princely residence, were yet in a half-finished state. To Henry Beauclerk it was first indebted for assuming the character of a palace;

and it was considerably augmented and strengthened by artificers brought over from Normandy. On the completion of these "many goodly buildings," and having well fortified the whole, we are told that, in the tenth year of his reign, he summoned thither all his chief nobility, and held his Whitsuntide with great state and magnificence.

"In the year 1110,** says Holinshed, "Henry removed his court from Old to New Windsor, which has ever since continued to be one of the chief royal palaces, and is the principal summer residence of our present gracious sovereign, who, besides the princely domain of Windsor, retains in her own hand some of the neighbouring manors, and the adjoining hundred of Brag, Cookham, Begnhurst, and Eipplemere."

In 1127, this monarch also held his Whitsuntide here, when David, king of Scotland, and the English barons, swore fealty to the empress Maude, the king's daughter. He was married at Windsor to his second queen, Adelaide, daughter of Godfrey, duke of Louvaine, in 1122.

But the disputes with Anselm, and the clergy, and the court of Eome, allowed Henry I. but little time to devote to the pleasures of royalty. With the aid of the court of Some, the malcontents fomented conspiracies and insurrections both in England and his extensive dominions on the continent. Threatened with rebellion and excommunication, he was at length induced to adopt conciliatory measures by the earnest appeals of his sister, the countess de Blois, a lady of

ROYAL ELOQUENCE. 13

singular piety, who was terrified, it is said, at the imminent risk her brother ran of eternal perdition. The French king also presented young William, who had made his escape, before a general council assembled at Rheims, and inveighed against the injustice of Henry in detaining his father, duke Robert, one of the most distinguished champions who had borne arms for the cross, under the special protection of the holy see. But Henry, with equal vigour and dexterity, despatched his English bishops to the synod, with orders to gain the ear of the pope and his favourites with liberal donations ; cautioning them at the same time not to admit any farther claims. " Hasten,*" he said ; ^^ salute pope Calixtus in my name; listen to his apostolic precepts; but beware how you bring any of his new monitions into my kingdom!" The plan succeeded; and, after a conference held the same summer between these two wily belligerents, in which the king had recourse to similar means, his holiness facetiously observed, '^ that of all men with whom he had ever had the pleasure to converse, Henry of England was beyond comparison the most eloquent and persuasive." He next defeated the French in a great battle at Brenneville, commanded by prince William, the son of Robert, who fought with the utmost bravery. Henry was in imminent danger, being wounded in the head by Crispin, a gallant Norman; yet still undismayed, he arose and struck his enemy to the ground, when his English soldiers, animated by the sight of their monarch's bravery, again charged, and put French, Normans, and Burgundians to the rout. Lewis himself escaped with the utmost difficulty in this memorable action ; and yet we are told that, out of nine hundred horsemen, wearing heavy armour, two only were slain. The armour, in fact, worn by the knights, was almost a complete protection. The great slaughter was among the peasants; although, it must be confessed, these took every opportunity of running in among the iron-sheathed combatants, when they saw one of their tyrants unhorsed, and lying helpless but unhurt upon the earth, and then searching for a chink in his armour, they stung him to death with their long knives.