of 2&illtam, 159 



the case was otherwise. He then spoke and felt as a 

 dying man, who was shortly to appear before the 

 tribunal of his Maker, there to render an account of all 

 the deeds which he had done, of all the gifts committed 

 to his care, of his riches and his power. His hard 

 heart softened then, and he bitterly bewailed the 

 cruelties which he had committed. He thought of the 

 fair city which he had ordered to be set in flames, and 

 though he could not bring to life the many who 

 had fallen in the dreadful day of its undoing, nor soothe 

 the mental anguish which that day had caused, he sent 

 a messenger in haste with a large sum for the rebuilding 

 of the monasteries and churches. The noble patrimony 

 which he had wrested from ill-fated Harold, was con- 

 sidered with other thoughts than those with which he left 

 the shores of England. A large sum was also remitted to 

 the religious houses, that he might obtain remission for the 

 robberies which he had committed there. Some who 

 waited beside his couch suggested that whoever sought 

 for mercy at the hand of the Most High, must show 

 mercy to his fellow-men, and they entreated him to 

 remember the unhappy persons who had pined for 

 many years in their lone prison-houses, shut out from all 

 the privileges of social life. The fierce king felt that it 

 was easier to give money for rebuilding churches 

 than pardon to an enemy ; and it was not till he appre- 

 handed his last hour to be close at hand, that he gave 

 orders for releasing the state-prisoners. The Earls of 



