662 - E N G L A N D. 
the'papacy,. For this purpofe, taking the opportunity of terred in the church at Caen, which he .himfelf had 
of William's abfence, he equipped a veflel at the Ifle of founded : but his interment wasfattended with a-remark- 
Wight, on-board of which he fent immenfe treafures, and able circumflance. As the body was carrying to the 
prepared for his embarkation ; but he was unfortunately grave, the prelates and priefts attending with the.mod 
detained by contrary winds. In the mean time William, awful filence, a man, who flood upon an eminence, was 
having had intimation of his defign, tofoived to prevent heard to cry opt with a loud voice, and to forbid the in- 
the exportation of fo much wealth front his dominions, terment of the body in a fpot that-had been unjuflly- 
Accordingly, returning from Normandy, where he was feized by the Conqueror : “ That very place (cried the 
then employed, he came into England at the very inftant man) is the area of my father’s houfe ; and I now fum- 
ltis brother was ftepping on-board, and immediately or- mon the departed foul before the divine tribunal to do 
dered hint to be made a priloner. His attendants, how- me juflice, and to atone for fo great an oppreflion.” The 
ever, refpefting the immunities of the church, fcrupled biihops and attendants were ftnick with the man’s intre- 
to execute his commands ; fo that the king himfelf was pid condubt; they enquired into the truth of his charge, 
obliged with his own hands to feize him. Odo, difeon- and, finding it juft, agreed to fatisfy him for the damages 
certed at fo unexpected an intervention, appealed to the he had I'uflained. 
pope ; who, he'alleged, was the only perfon upon earth The character of this prince, fays lord Lyttleton, has 
to try a bifbop. To this'the king replied, that he did - feldom been fet in its true light ; lome eminent writers 
not feize him as bifnop of Baieux, but as the earl of having been dazzled fo much by the more fliining parts 
Kent; and in that capacity he'expedted, and would have, of it, that they have hardly feen its faults ; while others, 
an account of his adminifiration. He was therefore fent out of a ftrontr deteftation of tvranny, have been unwil- 
prifoner into Normandy ; and, notwithftanding all the' re- 
monflrances and threats of Gregory, he was detained in 
cuftody during the remainder of William’s reign. 
The king had fcarcely put an end to this trknfaction, 
when he felt a very lev ere blow in the death of Matilda, 
his queen; and, as misfortunes commonly tread on the 
heels of eacli other, he received information of a gene¬ 
ral infurreCtion in Maine, the nobility of which had been 
■always averfe to the (Norman government. Upon his ar¬ 
rival on the continent, lie found that the infurgents had 
been fecretly aflided and excited by the king of France, 
wh'ofe policy confided in thusjeflening the Norman power, 
by creating dilfentions among the nobles of its different 
provinces. The king’s difpleafure was not a little in- 
creafed by fome railleries which that monarch had thrown 
out againd him. William, who was become corpulent, 
had been detained in bed fome time by ficknefs ; and 
Philip w as heard to fay, that lie only lay in of a big belly. 
This fo provoked the Englidi monarch, that he fent him 
word lie diouid foon be up, and would at his churching 
prefent fuch a number of tapers, as would fet the king¬ 
dom of France in a flame. In order to perform this pro- 
mile, he levied a ftrong army, and, entering the ifle of 
France, dedroyed and burnt all the/villages and houfes 
without oppofition. He took the town of Mante, which 
he reduced to allies. .But the progrefs of thefe hoflili- 
ties was flopped by an accident, which fliortly after put 
an end to the Conqueror’s life. His horfe, chancing to 
place his fore-feet on fome hot aflies, plunged fo violent¬ 
ly, that the king was thrown forward, and bruifed upon 
the pommel of the laddie to fuch a degree, that he buf¬ 
fered a relapfe, and was obliged to return to Rouen. 
Finding his illnefs increafe, and perceiving the approach 
of death, lip began to turn his eyes to a future date, from 
which the purfuit of ambition had long eflranged them. 
He was now flruck with remorfe for all the cruelties and 
-defolations he had committed : liq endeavoured to atone 
for his former offences, by large prefents to churches and 
monafleries, and by giving liberty to many prifonqrs whom 
he had unjudly detained. He was even prevailed on, 
though not without reluiStance, to confent, with his dy¬ 
ing breath, to the enlargement of his brother Odo. He 
bequeathed Normandy- and Le Maine to his elded fon Ro¬ 
bert; to Henry, lie left five thoufand pounds, and his 
mother’s jointure, without the fmallefl territory; and, 
though he would not pretend to edablifli the fuccefiion of 
the crown of England, to which lie now began to per¬ 
ceive that he had no title, he expreffed his wiflt that it 
might devolve to his favourite fon William, whom he 
immediately difpatched with letters to the archbifliop of 
Canterbury, entreating his afliftance. Having thus regu¬ 
lated his temporal affairs, he was conveyed in a litter to 
a village near Rouen, where lie died, in the fixty-fird year 
of his'age, after having reigned fifty-two years in Nor¬ 
mandy, and twenty-one in England, His body was in- 
ling to allow him the praife he deferves. He may with 
juflice be ranked among the greated generals any age has 
produced.' There was united rn him adlivity, vigilance, 
intrepidity, caution, great force of judgment, and never- 
failing prelence of mind. He was flribt in his difeipline, 
and kept his foldiersin perfect obedience ; yet preferved 
their aft’edtion. Having been from his very childhood 
continually in war, and at the head of armies, lie joined 
to all the capacity that genius could give, all tlie know¬ 
ledge and fkill that experience could teach, and Was a 
perfect mafler of the military art, as it was prablifed in 
the times wherein he lived. His conflitution enabled 
him to endure any hardfltips, and very few were equal 
to him in perfonal flrength, which was an excellence of 
more importance than it is now, front the manner of 
fighting then in ufe. His afpedt was noble, his ftature 
tall, and the compofition of his mufcles fo flrong, that 
there was fcarcely a man to he found who could bend his 
bow, or handle his arms. His courage was heroic, and 
he poflefied it not only in the field, but (which is more 
uncommon) in the cabinet, attempting great things with 
means that to other men appeared totally unequal to fuch 
undertakings', and deadily profecuting what he had bold¬ 
ly refolved ; being never diflurbed or diflieartened by 
difficulties, in the courfe of his enterprifes ; but having 
that noble vigour of mind, which, indead of bending to 
oppofition, rifes againd it, and feems to have a power of 
controlling and commanding fortune herfelf. 
Nor was he lefs fuperior to pleafure than to fear : no 
luxury foftened him, no riot difordeted, no doth relax¬ 
ed, It helped not a little to maintain tbe high refpebl 
his fubjebts had for him, that the nrajedy of his charac¬ 
ter was never let down by any incontinence or indecent 
excefs. His temperapee and his chadity were condant 
guards, that fecured his mind from all weak riel's, ftip- 
ported its dignity, and kept it always as it were on the 
throne. Through his -whole life he had no partner of 
his bed but his queen ; a mod extraordinary virtue in 
one who had lived, e-ven from-his eariied youth, amidft 
all the licence of camps, the allurements of a court, and 
the fedubtions of (overeign power! Had he kept his 
oaths to his people as well as he did his marriage vow, 
he would have been the bed of kings ; but he indulged 
other pa dibits of a worfe nature, and infinitely more de¬ 
trimental to the public than thofe he redrained. A lull 
of power, which no regard to juflice could limit, the 
mod unrelenting cruelty,'and the mod infatiable ava¬ 
rice, ^pofleffed his foul. It is true, indeed, that among 
many adds of extreme inhumanity, fome fltining indances 
of great clemency may be produced, that were either ef¬ 
fects of his policy, which taught him this method of ac¬ 
quiring friends, or of his magnanimity, which made him 
flight a weak and fubdued enemy, fuch as was Edgar 
Atheling,. in whom he found neither fpirit nor talents 
able to contend with him for the crown. But where he 
had 
