No stranger to Philadelphia fails to visit this room, people, and realized a large sum of money. It was to distinguish that the machine was moved by a crank, for it is an American shrine-the birth place of our almost universally admitted that he had made a which always gives an unequal power, and therefore National Independence. One cannot walk through wonderful discovery, and men of learning and science an unequal velocity in the course of each revolution; its echoing solitudes without and a nice and practised ear may recalling the grand history which perceive that the sound is not its silent eloquence so forcibly uniform. If the machine had records; without "peopling the been kept in motion by what was void air" with the forms of those its ostensible moving power, it who enacted here one of the must have had an equable rotary greatest scenes in Life's imposing motion, and the sound would drama. Out from the dimness have been always the same. of the past come the white heads and the grave stern brows of those who assembled here on that occasion. They range around us solemn and calm, and we see the features of many a one whom fame has made as familiar to us as household friends-Adams and Jefferson, Hancock and Franklin, Carroll, Henry, and others. Time fades away, all that has been since disappears, and we seem to be actors in the scene. The mighty purposes in the hearts of those men rests with its solemn weight on ours also. We appreciate, as we never appreciated before, all After some little conversation with the showman, Mr. Fulton did not hesitate to declare that the machine was an imposition, and to tell the gentleman that he was an impostor. Notwithstanding the anger and bluster these charges excited, he assured the company that the thing was a cheat, and that if they would support him in the attempt, he would detect it at the risk of paying any penalty if he failed. Having obtained the assent of all who were present, he began by knocking away some very thin little pieces of lath, which appeared to be no part of the machinery but to go from the frame of the machine to the wall of the room, merely to keep the corner posts of the machine steady. the fearful uncertainty, and the great responsibility of the step that is about to be taken. The words of the Declaration are fraught with deeper and intenser meaning than they ever were before. But there is no fear, no hesitation. Only a solemn weight It was found that a catgut rests upon all; brows hang heavily, string was led through one of and hearts beat with quicker these laths and the frame of the motions. There are, perhaps, in machine, to the head of the upthe hearts of some a struggle right shaft of a principal wheel; with their old notions of allegithat the catgut was conducted ance and loyalty; but there is no through the wall, and along the thought of weakness, nor of floors of the second story to a back cock-loft at the distance of retraction. Duty is a master whose voice is more to them than a number of yards from the room those old affections or old prejuwhich contained the machine : dices. At last the paper is and there was found the moving signed, the fiat has gone forth, a power! This was a poor old new nation has sprung ready armed into existence, | formed various theories to account for this perpetual fellow with an immense beard, and all the appearance the bell bursts with a peal such as never bell pealed notion. Mr. Fulton was a perfect unbeliever in of having suffered a long imprisonment, who, when before; shouts ring PERPETUAL MOTION. they broke in upon him, STEP ON WHICH THE SECRETARY Redheffer's discovery, and although hundreds were daily paying their dollar to see the wonder, Mr. Fulton AMONG the numerous curious facts connected with could not be prevailed upon, for some time, to follow the history of the oft-exploded and oft-renewed search for perpetual motion, the following anecdote is worthy of perusal. It appears that some years ago an American, named Redheffer, contemporaneous with the celebrated Fulton, pretended to have discovered perpetual motion, and for a long time deluded the the crowd. He was at length induced by some of his In a very short time after Mr. Fulton had entered There exists in human nature a disposition to murmur at the disappointments and calamities incident to it, rather than to acknowledge with gratitude the blessings by which they are more than counterbalanced. LIVES OF THE thing is certain, that she reaped all the advantage of that she might share in his new dignity, and receive QUEENS OF ENGLAND. the crime-for his lands were conveyed to her by the crown matrimonial from the hands of the Arch BY J. F. SMITH, ESQ,, Author of "Stanfield Hall," "Minnie Grey," etc. MATILDA OF FLANDERS, QUEEN CONSORT OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. THE Continued from page 303. CHAPTER XIV. That woman's breast-fair as the snows, Pure as the breath of spring's first rose, The seat of every fond desire, FATE OF GENIUS. A temple for love's living fire, Weak in regret, and prone to changeShould nourish a revenge so strange, Passes my thought. HE new king perused Matilda's letter in silence, and dismissed the messenger of his wife with renewed marks of his favor. From his knowledge of Lanfranc-who seems to have been a person of considerable learning and virtue-William knew that it would be useless to consult him on the occasion: he felt himself bound by his oath, and he dared not break it. The following morning-before leaving London for Hastings, where he was about to proceed, accompanied by a brilliant train of Saxon and Norman nobles, to lay the foundation stone of the abbey-he called to his closet a knight of Bayeux, named Onfroy, and, placing a parchment in his hands, directed him to proceed at once to Gloucester, with a sufficient force, arrest the person of Brihtric Meaw, and convey him to the Castle of Winchester. "Should he resist ?" observed the knight. "Slay him!" exclaimed the Conqueror, impatiently. -who felt that it would be better for his own honor that the unfortunate Saxon should fall in openly resisting his orders, and so give some color of justice to the proceedings, than that the promise he had so recently made of governing the land with equity should be broken by his private assassination. Onfroy-who had received his instructions most probably from Matilda herself, previous to his leaving Normandy started that same day upon his expedition. By the time William returned from laying the foundation of the Abbey of Battle, Brihtric Meaw was a prisoner in one of the deepest dungeons of Winchester Castle, and his broad lands in the possession of his enemies. What a strange thing is humanity! How often do we find the evil passions which disfigure it, in the same breast with the virtues which adorn and redeem charter from the Conqueror. In the Doomsday Book, which her husband caused soon after to be compiled, and which contained a list of the estates in every county of England, we find the line alluding to the honor of Gloucester: bishop of York. Matilda joyfully obeyed the summons of her husband, and set sail for England, where she arrived in April, 1068, and was conducted by William to Winchester; in the cathedral of which ancient city preparations were made on a scale of unprece "Infra scraptus terras tenuit Brihtric, et post Regina dented splendour for their coronation. Matilda " There is generally some clue-some fine line to be followed-by which the historian and antiquary can trace the most secret actions to their source. This unfeminine revenge of the first of our Norman queens is the only serious blot on her otherwise exalted cha racter. William's queen held the lands of Avening, Tewkesbury, Fanford, Thornbury, and Whittenhurst-the possessions of the unfortunate Saxon-to the time of her death, when they reverted to the crown, and were conferred by her husband upon his second son, William Rufus, who ultimately succeeded him upon the English throne. She even carried her resentment so far as to deprive the city of Gloucester of its charter, apparently for no other reason than its having been conferred upon the inhabitants by the man she hated. Shortly after the ceremony of his coronation, the Conqueror retired to Berkhamstead, not feeling over secure of the loyalty of his new subjects. He felt, perhaps, that his person was in greater security in the midst of his camp, than in the capital of the kingdom, where the population began to display dissatisfaction at the oppressive conduct of their Norman rulers, who indulged in the usual excesses which the victors in all ages show to the vanquished. Whilst residing at the latter place, William summoned to his court the principal Saxon nobility; and, on receiving their oaths of allegiance, gave back to most of them their estates. Anxious once more to embrace his queen, and display to his faithful Normans the riches he had gained in his new kingdom, the new monarch determined to spend his Easter in his native dominions; and, after naming Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and his trusty friend, Fitz-Osmond, regents of the kingdom, he set sail for his duchy, carrying with him the leading men of the English nobility-not less as hostages for the fidelity of their countrymen during his absence, than to swell the pageant of his return. He left England in the Mora, and landed at the little port of Fescamp-where Matilda and her children were waiting to receive him in the month of March, 1067. Whilst William, with all the vanity of a conqueror, it! Matilda was an affectionate wife and mother, was making a triumphant progress through his native constant in her friendships, a liberal patroness of dominions-displaying to the Normans the treasures learning and of art-according to the superstition of of gold and silver plate, and the matchless vestments the age in which she flourished, deeply religious; yet, of needlework for which the English were renowned she never forgave the slight which her woman's pride |—serious disturbances occurred in his new kingdom. had received in the rejection of her hand by the un- A plot was on foot for the general massacre of the infortunate Lord of Gloucester, but persecuted him even vaders, who had anything but conciliated the Saxons unto death. by their oppressive and impolitic conduct. Shortly after his captivity, Brihtric Meaw diedthere is every reason to suppose he was murdered by her direction, in his prison at Winchester-and his body was privately interred in the cathedral of that ancient city. Whether Matilda actually commanded his death, is perhaps uncertain-history, at least, is not decided on the point. The chroniclers of the time had too much to hope from a princess, who was the patroness of learned men, to distinctly record the fact; but one It was policy, perhaps, on William's part to be recrowned with her. This time Aldred had no occasion to extort the oath of maintaining the rights and liberties of the nation, particularly that of trial by jury, from the monarch; he took it voluntarily, and in so doing, conciliated the good feeling of his new subjects. The presence of the queen and her ladies made the second coronation a far more imposing pageant than the first. It was on this occasion that the office of champion was instituted in England. The first champion was a noble knight, named Marmion, whose descendant has been immortalised by Sir Walter Scott, in his romantic poem of that name. From him the right descended to the family of Dymocks, of Scrivelsby, whose representative exercised the office at the coronation of George IV. At the two coronations which have succeeded it, the ceremony has been omitted, but the right is still preserved in the family which for so many centuries has exercised it. The ceremony at Winchester was the first occasion on which the wife of an English monarch had been solemnly associated with the regal dignity; and the office of champion was most probably created lest any one should object to Matilda assuming the style and title of queen, contrary to the usages and law of the kingdom; but as no one thought it either prudent or necessary to object, the right passed unquestioned; and Matilda ever afterwards signed herself Regina, or Queen. Shortly after her arrival in England, the queen gave birth to her fourth son, Henry, surnamed Beauclerk, who was born at Selby, in Yorkshire. His mother settled upon him all her lands and possessions in her new kingdom, reserving, however, the enjoyment of them during her own life. In the same magnificent pile which witnessed the triumph of Matilda, reposed the remains of her victim, the unhappy Brihtric Meaw, who seems to have been speedily forgotten by the people-who, with that fickleness common to them in all ages, hailed with tumultuous shouts of approbation the coronation of his murderess. We wonder if, at the moment the crown was placed upon her brow, she thought of the fate of her victim, whose ashes reposed so near her. TILL further to strengthen his possession of Eng Informed by his spies of what was in agitation, land, William, towards the end of the year 1068, William at once relinquished the idea of further stay laid the foundation of the Tower of London, which in Normandy, and embarked for England, after re-rose rapidly under the direction of an able priest, Gunappointing Matilda regent in his absence. dulph, Bishop of Rochester. The fortress was in He arrived suddenly at Winchelsea, on the 7th of tended to overawe the citizens of London, who, on December in the same year, and proceeded at once to several occasions, had manifested their dislike of London, attended by a powerful body of troops. All foreign rule, by attacks upon the Normans. As a attempts at insurrection were suppressed by the further precaution, he either built or garrisoned promptitude and unrelenting severity of his measures. strong forts, till he had formed a line of posts from Early in the spring he sent for his queen, in order one end of the country to the other: a proceeding which naturally excited the jealousy of the Saxons, who saw themselves caged, as it were, on their native soil. The powerful earls, Edwin and Morcar, withdrew from court; a treaty was entered into with the kings of Scotland and Denmark for assistance; the Prince of Wales, the nephew of the two Saxon nobles, promised to aid the enterprise; and it was finally resolved that an effort should be made by the allies to drive the invaders from the island. But the attempt failed, from the energetic precautions of the new sovereign. The unsettled state of the country, owing to the repeated attempts of the Saxons to throw off the yoke of their foreign masters, and the great discontent caused in Normandy by the absence of the sovereign and his court, induced William, as a precaution for the safety both of his queen and continental dominions, to send Matilda back to his native country, as regent. She was much beloved in Normandy, where her government had been firm and enlightened. Judith, upon him in marriage. This ill-starred union The Saxon clergy had hitherto been the most un- The churches and monasteries throughout the king- gold and silver, the rich shrines and reliquaries which As for the rich benefices and dignities of the The next great act of injustice was the arbitrary Her eldest son, Robert, was associated with her in substitution of the Norman language for the Saxon tongue, in all the schools, colleges, and courts of law the regency. in the kingdom. William wished, if possible to proThe departure of Matilda and her court served to scribe the language of the people he had conquered, increase the discontent amongst the lower classes in England, who depended chiefly on trade. Vast numbers of citizens were starving. It was about this time that William the Conqueror established the curfew, or couvre feu-literally, cover fire--in order to prevent the oppressed Saxons from meeting at night to discuss their grievances, and conspire against their oppressors. At eight o'clock every evening, on the tolling of a bell, the inhabitants were obliged to extinguish both fire and light, under a severe penalty. Under Maine revolted; and the King of France, together with the young and warlike Duke of Bretagne, seized the occasion of the Conqueror's embarrassments in England to attack his continental dominions. these circumstances, the regent applied to her husband for succor. William sent the son of his faithful captain, Fitz-Osborne, to her assistance, promising to cross over himself as soon as he had concluded a peace with the King of Scotland, who supported the Saxon insurgents in their attempts to recover their liberty. Fortune, as usual, smiled upon his efforts; and he was shortly after enabled to perform his promise of passing over to Normandy, to the succor of his queen. and compel them to acquire that of their masters. The racter to his own. It is to this combination that we owe the noble language in which Shakspeare and Milton wrote, and which bids fair to become the prevailing language of nations just verging into being. It is an error to suppose that England was either the first or only country in which such a law existed. William had previously established the same custom Although William was a most affectionate husband, in Normandy, in order to secure the observance of his he was not altogether free from the licentious manners ordinances for the suppression of brawls and duels; of the age. The niece of Merlewin-a noble of Kent which ordinances were known by the name of " God's-caught his attention soon after the departure of MaPeace." The curfew-or, as it is called by the Normans, la retraite—is still sounded in some parts of the country. Immediately after the departure of the queen, her husband took the field, and directed his march towards the north, provoked by the repeated insurrections of his new subjects. The Conqueror had taken one of those fearful resolutions, which are so characteristic of the barbarous age in which he lived. He had sworn by the splendour of God-his usual oath that he would not leave a living soul in Northumberland! He did his best to keep his word-for no sooner had he entered the borders of Yorkshire, than he began to lay waste the country with fire and sword; the affrighted inhabitants were hunted, like wild beasts, by his troops; whole villages, with their churches, reduced to ashes; neither age nor sex were spared. The first check he received in his progress of blood and desolation, was from the strongly fortified city of York, which was he'd by a noble Saxon chief, named Waltheof, and defended by a strong body of Danes. It is possible that the oppressed Saxons might have made a successful stand against their invader, but for the treachery of the leader of the Danish army, who accepted a large sum of gold as the price of his retreat to his vessels-and the love or ambition of Waltheof. As the price of his surrender of the city to his troops, William bestowed the hand of his niece, The Christmas of the year 1075 was kept by Matilda and her husband at Fescamp. The Princess Cicely, the eldest daughter of the Conqueror and his queen, had from her infancy been dedicated to the church. Perhaps her parents thought, in accordance with the superstition of the age, that such a sacrifice might win pardon for their own sins; and we have already shown that both William and his queen, despite their great qualities, had heavy ones to tilda; and there is little doubt that he either seduced answer for. Certain it is, that the royal maid herself her, or effected his purpose by still more reprehensible had little or any choice in the affair. From her earliest means. The fate of the unfortunate victim of the Con-years she had been educated in the convent founded queror's passion was a sad one. News of the intrigue by her mother, at Caen. was speedily conveyed to the ears of the absent queen, either by the agency of Githa, the mother of Harold who, not unnaturally, perhaps, found a pleasure in circulating a report likely to affect the domestic happiness of the successor of her slaughtered son-or by the wife of Hugh Grantmesnil, who had caused great misery amongst the Norman ladies, by the scandalous reports she circulated of the conduct of their absent lords. The consecration took place at Fescamp; and was attended by the king and queen, together with the great nobles and ladies of their court. A description of the ceremony, drawn from the chronicles and ecclesiastical records of the time, may not prove uninteresting to our readers. At an early hour, the church, which was strewed with rushes and decorated with rich hangings, was crowded by a multitude of spectators, who came from Matilda, in her conduct to Brihtric Meaw, had given far and near to witness the ceremony. The clergy terrible proof that she was not a person to be wounded were assembled in their stalls, on either side of the in her affections with impunity. William, as her hus- choir. At the termination of the mass, the youthful band, sovereign, and the father of her children, she princess was led into church by her two brothers, would not assail-but her hatred fell only the more Robert-surnamed by his father Courthose, from the heavily upon the helpless and unfortunate object of her jealousy. She instantly dispatched confidential agents to England, who seized the person of the Saxon girl. According to Rapin, she was put to death by being hamstrung. Henderson asserts that Matilda caused her jaws to be slit, for which act of cruelty there is a tradition that her husband gave her a beating with his bridle-the second occasion on which she had proved the strength of William's arm, and certainly, if true, much more merited than on the first. shortness of his stature-and William Rufus, who succeeded the Conqueror on the throne of England. The postulant was arrayed like a bride. A royal mantle of damask and gold, faced with minever, fell from her shoulders, and a circlet of gems confined her long auburn tresses, doomed soon to fall beneath the shears of the officiating prelate; in her arms she carried a large wooden cross as an emblem of the life of privation she had chosen. As the future nun advanced up the choir, the priests chaunted the "Veni Creator," and the voices were responded to by those of the veiled sisterhood, who assisted behind the grating which separated their convent from the church-at the sacrifice. After receiving the blessing from her parents, the princess Cicely advanced to a prie Dieu, placed exactly in front of the altar, and knelt for some time in prayer, after which she made her obligation. After replying to the usual questions of the archbishop in the affirmative, the attendants removed her robes and jewels, the prelate severing the first tress of her long, silken hair with a pair of golden scissors; the rest of her locks were remorselessly cropped short by the priests. She next received the sacred host from the hands of the archbishop, in which act of piety William and Matilda joined her as if by that act they thought to share in the spiritual grace accorded to their child. "All that remains," exclaimed the mitred prelate, to complete the august sacrifice, is to take the three oaths of chastity, poverty, and obedience. Cicely, Princess of England and Normandy, art thou ready?” "I am ready," replied the maiden. "And willing?" "And willing," she added, in the same clear tone. The books containing the constitutions of the order were then brought from the sanctuary by the Abbot of Bech, who administered the oaths. "You voluntarily and solemnly swear," said the priest," to lead a life of chastity; to devote yourself to the service of God, and his Divine Son; to have or know no other spouse than our holy church?" "I swear!" said the princess, kissing the Evangel, which one of the assisting bishops held. "You voluntarily and solemnly swear to renounce the riches of this world; to accept poverty as a blessing; and devote such means and substance as you possess, or may hereafter possess, to works of charity— to assisting the poor and needy, repairing the house of the Lord, or in such good and pious works as His holy will may inspire you unto ?" Upon any or all," exclaimed the young man, "who forget the respect due to the heir of England and Normandy! I have endured too long the studied slights of my brothers-the injustice of my father! It is time that I maintained the respect due to my blood and station!" Again the impetuous speaker would have forced his ALTHOUGH William and his queen displayed pro. way, but his father, in turn drawing his weapon, found knowledge of the world, and great tact in the government of their dominions, no two parents ever acted more unwisely in the direction of their children. Robert, the eldest born, whilst yet a child, had been associated with his mother, as regent, in the government of Normandy. Thus at an early age he had been permitted to exercise the intoxicating powers of royalty. He was the idol of Matilda, who seems to have regarded him with an excess of affection; for it rendered her blind not only to his follies, but his unnatural disobedience to his father, whose equally unjust preference for his favorite son, William Rufus, strengthened—if it did not create the feeling of hatred which existed between the two princes. Robert was brave, impetuous, and generous-the idol of the Normans, who, during the absence of his father in England, had accustomed themselves to regard him as their sovereign. He felt humiliated, therefore, when his father, on his return, resumed the reins of sovereignty in his own hands, and he was reduced to act the part of a subject. It appears that William had frequently promised to resign Normandy in his favor. He had also a more serious cause of quarrel with his parent. Whilst yet a child, he had espoused the infant-heiress of the last Earl of Maine. The countess died whilst yet an infant; and her ambitious father-in-law immediately annexed her territories to his own domains. The oath was repeated. "You voluntarily and solemnly swear, for the last When his son arrived at age, he naturally expected time," continued the Abbot of Bech, "to observe the to be put in possession of the dower of his wife; but rules and statutes of your order; to yield obedience William kept possession, notwithstanding the remonto all lawful superiors; to obey the mandates and re-strance of Robert, and the demand of the nobles of scripts of such without murmuring, questioning, reservation, or restriction?" The last oath, like the preceding ones, was confirmed by the postulant's pressing her lips to the Evangel. At this moment the choir chaunted the "Gloria in excelsis." The archbishop-who, during the administering of the oaths, had been occupied in consecrating the large, flowing black veil which was to adorn the future nun -took the symbol from the altar, and, standing on the topmost step, said, in a loud voice: Sister Cicely-nun professed-advance, and from my hands receive the veil which henceforth separates you from the world, to unite you to God, to his Divine Son, the Blessed Virgin, and the holy saints!" Hitherto they had styled the princess by her earthly title. Maine, who wished to have him for their earl. William Rufus, the third son of William and Matilda, was as crafty and politic as his elder brother seems to have been impetuous and frank. He studied his father's humor in everything. There is little doubt that even at an early age he meditated supplanting Robert, not only in the duchy of Normandy, but in the more important sovereignty of England-which, having been won by the Conqueror by his sword, he, with some show of justice, claimed the right of disposing of at his pleasure, which he eventually did, in favor of Rufus. In the year 1076, whilst William was holding his court at the Castle of the Eagle, so called from its almost inaccessible situation, Robert received an af front, which led to an open rupture with his family. His two younger brothers, William and Henry, to show The royal maiden advanced to the foot of the altar, their contempt of their elder brother, threw some and the sombre veil descended like a cloud upon her water from one of the windows of the castle upon head. The sacrifice was accomplished, amid clouds Robert's head, who was walking with several of his of incense and the chaunting of the nuns. The grate partisans, in the court-yard below. The fiery and at the side of the altar slowly opened, and the sister-impetuous prince, incensed at the insult, rushed into hood, headed by their abbess, entered the railings of the building, and the consequence might have been the altar, from which spot all but the newly consecra- fearful, had not the cries of the attendants alarmed the ted nun and the archbishop had withdrawn. Conqueror, who made his appearance, just as Robert, barred the passage; and Robert, with all his faults, was not the man to lift his sword against the person of his parent and his sovereign. ""Tis well, beausire," he said, sheathing his weapon. "I see you not only protect my enemies, but add insult to wrong!' Wrong!" repeated the Conqueror; "of what canst thou complain?" "Of broken promises of spoliation! Didst thou not pledge thyself to resign Normandy in my favor?" Son," said his father, gravely, "I do not divest myself of my clothing till I retire to bed!" By this quaint reply, the speaker meant to intimate that he would hold possession both of England and his paternal inheritance, till death rendered him no longer able to maintain them. "And Maine," exclaimed the infuriated prince-"the dower of my dead wife—was neither the inheritance of our ancestors nor the fruit of thy victories! What pretence hast thou for keeping it from me! None," he added, after a pause, "but that of thirst of dominion, which has deprived you of all natural feeling, and changed a father into a robber and oppres sor !" Words at last ran so high, that it required all the influence of Matilda to keep the peace between them. The fiery monarch, in his indignation at the bold reproaches of his son-which he resented none the less that he must have felt in some degree he merited them-would have commanded the arrest of his eldest born, had not the prayers of his queen appeased him; perhaps, too, he listened to the voice of prudence-for Robert was so beloved by the Norman nobility and people, that there is little doubt but so extreme a measure would have provoked a revolt in his favor. Still the peace was but a hollow one between the unjust parent and his ambitious son; for, on the evening of the day of the quarrel, Robert, attended by a band of chosen friends, secretly withdrew from court, and henceforth there were two parties in Normandy. "It is all thy fault, Matilda!" said her husband, when informed of the departure of his heir; "thy imprudent indulgence has ruined the wayward boy!" The queen, who felt keenly the injustice done to her eldest born, answered him by demanding if it was she who had robbed him of his inheritance of Maine? The Conqueror remained silent. "Or gave him the ridiculous name of Curthose?" added his mother. "No, William! it is not I who have driven him to desperation, but his wrongs! If ill comes of them, the burthen does not lie at my door." Matilda was right-doubly right-both as a queen and a mother. In the inordinate affection which she displayed for her first-born, Robert, we may trace the truest instinct of woman's nature. The child that is They raised her from the step of the altar, on which sword in hand, had forced his way into the apartment wronged or harshly treated by the father, is sure to she still remained kneeling. which his brothers had vainly barricaded against hi n. | engross the greatest share of the mother's love. This was the first cloud which had passed over the domestic happiness of the Conqueror and his wife. The former, to do him justice, remained to the hour of his death, fondly attached to the love of her youth. that the precaution was not taken without some No sooner had the hasty Robert reached the court of By the mediation of the queen, the incensed father and son consented to meet, and, if possible, arrange their differences. According to Odericus Vitalis, the interview was a stormy one; Robert, as a preliminary to reconciliation, demanding the investiture of the duchy of Normandy, and his wife's inheritance of Maine. The latter was both morally and legally his. But William, who had underrated the military tal-Matilda still continued to assist her favorite son; and ents of the heir-towards whom, through life, he privately remitted vast sums of gold to the exile from evinced an unaccountable distaste-sternly replied, by her own coffers; when these were exhausted, she even reminding him of the fate of Absalom and Rehoboam. had the weakness to strip herself of her jewels and "I did not come to listen to a sermon," answered costly garments for the same purpose. From the chaRobert, indignantly, "but to receive an answer to my racter of Robert, it is needless to say, that the sums just demand—the investure of Normandy and Maine. thus lavished on him by the weak affection of his Answer me positively," he added, haughtily, " are not mother, were squandered in dissipation at the court of these my right? Have you not promised to yield them his crafty uncle. to me?" "As long as I live," replied the Conqueror, "I will not strip myself of my native realm of Normandy, neither will I divide it with another, even though that other be my eldest born; for it is written in the Evangelists, that a kingdom divided against itself shall become desolate." A bitter sneer curled the lip of the young prince, as he heard his father quote the Sacred Writings to justify his broken faith and spoliation of Maine-the latter the most unjustifiable part of his conduct to him. The proceedings of Robert, and the weakness of the queen, in thus supplying him with the means of his unnatural rebellion, artfully as they were veiled, could not escape the penetration of Roger De Beaumont, who dispatched a messenger to England, urging the return of the Conqueror. The first feeling of William, on reading the missive of his faithful minister, was incredulity. How could he mistrust the mother of his children-the woman whom he had raised to such high dignity-trusted and loved as few husbands trust or love their wives; but when he remembered the inordinate affection of Ma"It is also written, beausire," he said, "in the same tilda for her first-born, his confidence was shaken, and Holy Book, Put not your faith in Princes!'" "As for England," said his father, "I won it by my good sword; its prelates placed the diadem of its kings upon my brow-their sceptre in my hand; and I swear that all the powers of the earth combined shall not induce me to delegate my authority to another." "If it be inconvenient for you to keep your word," replied his son, as he turned upon his heel to quit the presence of his father, "I will withdraw from Normandy, and seek justice from strangers! Adieu, beausire!" Thus did William Rufus, even at the very moment he censured the rebellion of his brother, betray his own secret discontent at the jealousy with which his father withheld from him all share in the government and possessions. Knighthood, which in the present day it is the peculiar privilege of the sovereign to bestow, was formerly conferred, not only by the great vassals of the crown, but by prelates and churchmen. From the hands of the latter it was considered a higher honor than from those of a layman, unless that layman was a king. In compliance with his pupil's request, Lanfranc, at an early hour the following morning, celebrated a military mass in the cathedral at Canterbury. William Rufus, in full armor, but bareheaded, assisted. At the end of the first communion, the archbishop, being clothed in his rochet and mitre, advanced to the railings of the altar, and, having received a sword from the hands of the senior noble present, struck the young prince thrice upon the shoulder, at the same time exclaiming : "In the name of God and Our Lady, I dub thee knight! Be wise in council, brave in the field, loyal to thy prince, and faithful in thy allegiance! So may St. Michael, the archangel, strengthen thee, and the saints hold thee in their holy keeping!" It is to be observed that, in the ceremony of knighting the son of William the Conqueror, the name of St. George was uot used. It was not till the marriage of Henry II. with Eleanora of Aquitaine, that St. George became the war cry and patron-saint of England. he resolved at once to proceed to Normandy-attended The young prince was with his friend and tutor, Lanfranc, when the messenger arrived. No sooner had he read the letter, than, with a countenance flushed William smiled scornfully at the threats of Robert; with joy, he sought the archbishop, who had just done CHAPTER XIX It is the curse of civil war to arm The brother 'gainst the brother's life, the sire OLD DRAMATIST he had no great opinion of the talents of his heir. celebrating the evening service in the cathedral of WILLIAM'S first interview with his queen, after The event proved that he had undervalued them. The impetuous young prince, attended by his partisans, sought refuge at the court of his maternal uncle, Robert, Earl of Flanders, where he commenced plotting against his parent who, meanwhile, had returned to England CHAPTER XVIII Let's muster men-my council is my shield; THE SHAKSPEARE HE Norman monarch was accompanied, on his return to England, by his third son, William Rufus. His second son, Richard, of whom little mention is made in history, died young. Both he and his next brother were pupils of the learned Lanfranc, whom the Conqueror, in fulfilment of his promise, had elevated to the Archbishopric of Canterbury-next to the crown, the highest dignity in the realm. Previous to his departure from Normandy, he had appointed his tried friend and servant, Roger de Beaumont, first minister of the duchy, with strict orders, it is supposed, to watch not only the conduct of the rebellious son, but that of his queen; the event proved Canterbury. his landing in Normandy, as our readers may "See, father!" he said, placing the letter from the suppose, was a stormy one. He had been wounded Conqueror in his hand; our anticipations are realised! by her conduct, both as a sovereign and a husband. Robert has already raised the standard of revolt-the For her blind partiality to Robert made her overlook fool!" he added; "it will cost him dear!" the fact, that, in aiding him in his rebellion, she be"A crown!" replied the prelate, in a tone so as came virtually a conspirator against his father and her not to be heard by his attendants-for, like most church-sovereign. men, he was exceedingly cautious. "William will never pardon the son who raises the standard of revolt against him!" The eyes of Rufus sparkled with joy to hear the "When do you depart ?" demanded the prelate. "What promise?” inquired the archbishop. Odericus Vitalis has preserved the exact words in which the Conqueror addressed her when they met. The discovery of her agent, Sampson, had placed her participation and assistance in the crime of Robert, beyond the shadow of a doubt. "The observation of a certain philosopher is true," exclaimed the king; "and I have only too much cause to admit the force of his words: Naufragium rerum est, mulier malefida marito, (A perfidious wife is the ruin of her husband.) Where," he continued, "could you have found a companion so devoted in his affection? Behold my wife"To arm me a knight. I wish to prove to my good she whom I have loved as my own soul-to whom I father that I am worthy of his blood; and that if I re- have confided the government of my realms, my treamain contented with such appanage as it is his pleasure, and all that I possessed in the world of power sure to allot to me, it is from affection and duty-not and greatness-she hath supported mine adversary want of courage to assert my rights." against me! She hath strengthened and enriched him |