208 
way, or their business, because an old 
woman slumbers or snores. Come, 
Gaultier de Poix, to horse.” Henry, 
the king’s brother, Guillaume de 
Breteuil, and many.other chiefs, ac- 
companied him to the forest. The 
hunters dispersed themselves, but 
Gualtier Tirel remained with the king, 
and their dogs ran together. Each 
was at his post; opposite the other; 
their arrows upon their cross bows, 
and their fingers on the lock.* At the 
moment when the sun went down, a 
large stag, roused by the rangers, ad- 
vanced between the king and his 
friend. William drew, but the string 
of his cross-bow broke, and the stag, 
surprised at the noise, stood still, and 
looked around him.t The king made 
a sign 1o his companion to draw; but 
whether he saw not the stag, or mis- 
understood the signal, he did nothing ; 
on which the king cried out impa- 
tiently, ‘‘ Pull, Walter, pull,—in the 
naine of the devil ;’{ and, at the word, 
an arrow, whether that of Tirel or 
some other person, entered the king’s 
breast. He fell,—he uttered not a 
word,—-and expired. Gualtier ran 
towards him, and, finding him breath- 
less, he mounted his horse, galloped 
to the sea-shore, passed into Nor- 
mandy, and from thence to France. 
On the report of the death of Wil- 
liam, all the party fled to their own 
business. Henry, the late king’s bro- 
ther, hurried to Winchester, in order 
to seize the royal treasure.§ The 
corpse was left abandoned, as had 
been that of the Conqueror: the char- 
coal-burners who passed by saw it yet 
transfixed with the arrow.; they placed 
it on their cart, and covered it with 
ragged linen, through which the blood 
dropped all along the road.|}| Such was 
the procession of the king’s remains 
towards the casile of Winchester,—of 
which Henry had already taken pos- 
_Session, and where he was furiously 
demanding the keys of the royal trea- 
sure. While the keepers were hesi- 
tating, Guillaume de Breteuil arrived 
breathless§ from the forest to oppose 
the pretensions of Henry. ‘Thou 
and I (said he,) must loyally remem- 
* H. Knighton, 273, 
+ Ib. 
¢ Tire, tire de e par le diable. 
§ Ord. Vit. 
|| Matt. Pan! 3a Will. Malms. 126. 
q Ord, Vit. 782. © 
4 
Elucidations of Portions of English History. 
1 
(Ort, 1, 
ber the faith we have engaged to Duke 
Robert; thy brother. He has received 
our cath of homage.* Absent as well 
as present he has his riglits.” vio- 
lent quarrel took place: Henry put his 
hand upon his sword, and, assisted by 
the crowd that had gathered together, 
soon possessed himself of the treasures 
and the insignia of royalty. 
It was true, in fact, that, according 
to the treaty of peace lately concluded 
between William and Robert, and 
Sworn to by all the Normans, the 
crown of. England devolved to the 
duke: but he was at the Crusade, and 
his partizans, having no leader, could 
not support his pretensions suceess- 
fully against those of Henry, who, with 
the money he had seized, hurried ‘to- 
wards S.ondon, where the Norman 
chiefs assembled, and, three days after 
the death of his brother, theyt elected 
him king; and he was solemuly crown- 
ed. He was supported by the eccle- 
siastics; for he was their friend, and 
the protector of the literature of the 
time; in consequence of which he was 
honoured with the title of Clere or 
Beauelere. The Saxons even prefer- 
red him to his brother, because he was 
born in England.t He promised at 
his coronation to observe the good 
laws of Edward, as they had been 
amended by his father ;§ but he de- 
clared that he would maintain, as ls 
father did, the exclusive guardianship 
of the forests. ’ 
While these events were passing, 
Robert was in Apulia with the Nor- 
man chiefs, who reigned over that 
country under the same title as the 
Normans reigned in England... He 
had espoused there the daughter of 
one Godefroy, who by the lance and 
the sword had become Count of 
Brindes. As soon as he learned the 
death of one brother, and the corona- 
tion of the other, he hastily made sail 
for Normandy; but his voyage was a 
tedious one, and Henry had time to 
consolidate his strength for the pre- 
servation of the crown he had seized, 
in violation of his own oaths, and of 
the oaths of the Normans in England 
and in Normandy. To entrench him- 
self more strongly, he did what had 
never 
* Ord. Vit. 782. 
+ Chron. Sax. 268. 
¢t Will. Neubrig. 297. 
§ Jo. Brompton. 998. 
