by the intervention of friends: upon which he returned to England; but was fo zealous for maintaining and propagating the opinion of the Pope's fole right of inveftiture, that he was again obliged to fly from the kingdom.

William the Conqueror having rendered the new Forest in Hants, by his devaftation of towns and churches, a wilderness for men, and a paradise for deer; King Rufus went there on a party of pleafure, when the King was flain by the glance of an arrow, fhot by Sir Walter Tirrell.

Thus fell William, after the reign of thirteen years, during which he oppreffed his people in every form of tyranny and infult. He was equally void of learning, principles and humanity; haughty, paffionate, profligate and ungrateful; a fcoffer at religion, a fcourge to the clergy, vain-glorious, rapacious and diffolute, and an inveterate enemy to the English, though he owed his crown to their valour and fidelity; when the Normans attempted to deprive him of the crown, fcarce poffeffed of one fingle virtue, to compenfate for his vices; and, in the words of the celebrated Mr. Pope, DAMNED TO EVERLASTING FAME.

HENRY I. furnamed BEAUCLERK, A. D. 1100.

Henry, the youngest fon of the Conqueror (furnamed Beauclerk, which fignifies a good scholar) succeeded to the crown, though, had his brother been in England at the time of Rufus's death, the English feemed more biaffed in his favour, and he would probably have acceded to the crown. However, circumstances favoured Henry's advancement to the throne, though not without fome tumultuous oppofition at the election, and he was immediately proclaimed King. And as the people had too much reafon during the two laft reigns, to think that a King is very apt to difregard his coronation-oath, Henry, for the farther fa

tisfaction

tisfaction of his fubjects, granted the same day a charter, confirming their privileges, and redreffing fome greivances under which they laboured. By this deed, which was authenticated in the most folemn manner, and transcribed into a great number of copies, difperfed all over the kingdom, he established the churches in poffeffion of all their immunities, and exempted them from all the hardships they had fuftained from the tyranny of Rufus, efpecially that of being kept vacant for the King's ufe, and afterwards put up to public fale, without any regard to merit or capacity. He abolished the exceffive fines which used to be exacted from the heirs of noblemen for the livery of their lands; permitted the natives in general to difpose of their children in marriage, according to their own pleafure, without paying for a licence from the crown. He fuppreffed the duty of moneyage, paid once in three years, in confideration of the King's preferving the coins unaltered. He remitted all fines, mulcts, and debts in the exchequer, arifing from vexatious profecutions; allowed the barons to bequeathe their perfonal estates; exempted the lands poffeffed by the military tenants of the crown from gelds, talliages and benevolences; reftored the laws of Edward III. relative to murders, thefts, &c. and forgave all rapine and depredation committed to that time, on condition the offenders would make immediate reftitution.

In pursuance of the fame laudable scheme of reformation and redrefs, he expelled from court all the ministers and instruments of his brother's debauchery and arbitrary power, and published a fevere edict against delinquents and adulterers; he abolished the odious curfew, requiring every man at the ring of a bell at eight o'clock to put out his fire.

As Henry had been greatly obliged to the citizens of London in his acquifition of the crown, he gratified them with another charter of very ample privileges; and, in order to crown the fatisfaction of the people, he re

called

called Anfelm, archbishop of Canterbury, who was become exceeding popular in England through the influence of the monks. The prelate accepted the invitation with transport, and foon after landed at Dover; but the King was greatly disappointed when he found that Anfelm refused to do him homage, adhering, to the canons of the council of Bari, which forbad ecclefiaftics to receive inveftitures from the laity, or to pay them homage on any account; and the conditions of their living together in a good understanding were, that the king fhould relinquish the prerogative of investing bishops and abbots, and pay an implicit obedience to the Pope. Henry, though fhocked at the infolent proposals of this arrogant prieft, who wanted to curtail his authority, was forced to temporize. For about this time his brother Robert afferts his claim to the English crown, and if Anfelm's intereft were to have been thrown in that fcale, it might preponderate on that fide; and even, notwithstanding, the king's moderation, when Robert his brother made a descent at Portsmouth, he found the people's mind fluctuating, and the King was obliged to depend, in fome measure, on the eloquence and intereft of Anfelm, to preferve peace and loyalty to his majefty; fo that at length affairs were compromised. Henry now proceeded with rigour against many of the nobles who had promoted the invasion by his brother: fome were banifhed, their eftates feized, &c. while he rewarded others for their zealous attachment to his royal perfon.

But all the nobles in the land were more easily managed than the archbishop of Canterbury, who was a true monk and bigot to the church of Rome. For his defign was to accomplish two projects: the first was to establish celibacy among ecclefiaftics; (Anfelm called a council at Westminster, where firft he excommunicated all married priefts, though half the clergy at that time were married;) and the fecond, to hinder bishops and abbots from receiving the inveftiture of VOL. I. No. 8. A a

thei

their benefices from the King. The Pope had given his orders for infifting upon the execution of the canons against lay inveftiture; nevertheless, the King refused to part with his prerogative, and Anfelm refused to confecrate the bishops whom Henry had appointed. This produced a quarrel, which at length Anfelm refolved to go and lay before Pope Pascal II. A. D. 1103; and he was accompanied by fome bifhops, who had quitted their benefices, rather than acknowlege the King's fupremacy; and the King fent two ambaffadors at the fame time to defend his caufe. But notwithstanding their remonstrance the Pope remained inflexible, and would not make any conceffions, though he wrote a letter to the King in mild terms, telling him, " He fhould be glad to oblige him in any thing that was confiftent with justice; that he had no defign of incroaching upon his prerogative; but the granting the right of inveftiture to a layman was not in his power, as it was an effential property of church-government.'

The King was not well pleased with the Pope's anfwer, and ordered his ambaffadors to acquaint Anfelm, that he did not defire to see him in England, unless he was refolved to conform to the example of his prede

ceffors.

Whilft Henry was abroad in Normandy, he received an expoftulatory letter from the Pope, by the hand of Anfelm, and the King allowed him to return to England.

When Anfelm arrived here, he was received very joyfully; and repairing to Canterbury with the pall in a filver box, the archbishop went bare-footed to meet him, attended by all the monks of St. Auguftine and Chrift-church.

A legate was likewife fent by Pope Henorius II. to go to England and Scotland in the quality of legate à latere, and on his arrival was received by the archbishop of Canterbury with all the honours due to his character. The legate being commiffioned to enquire

into the diffentions between the archbishop of York and the Scotch prelates, who refufed to acknowledge his primacy, went to Roxburgh, where he held a conference with David, King of Scotland, on that fubject. On his return, he prefided at a general convocation of the prelates and clergy, where, to fhew his authority, he was feated on an eminence above the feats of the archbishops and temporal lords, who attended the council, which was very difagreeable to many of the English, and the council ended with no important advantages.

We might enlarge in the hiftory of the reign of Henry I. by a variety of tranfactions of a civil nature; but as that is not my province, fhall conclude with only obferving, that he died of a fever, A. D. 1135, and fhall fum up his character in a few words. He was too fond of foreigners, too vindictive to his enemies, too fenfible to be an enthusiast, too cautious to be furprised, too valiant to be conquered, too good to deserve the calumnies caft on him by the monks, and too bad to be generally applauded.

STEPHEN, A. D. 1135.

Stephen afcending the throne, after being elected, rather by a cabal of prelates and noblemen, than by a general confent of the nation, refolved to fecure the favour of the nation by fome extraordinary conceffions; and therefore over and above his promife of ruling with equity and moderation, he folemnly fwore that he would not retain vacant fees and benefices in his hands, but fill them immediately with perfons canonically elected; that he would not difturb the clergy or laity in the enjoyment of their woods; that he would not fue any perfon for hunting in the royal foreft; that he would never exact the tax of danegelt. The English were fo credulous as to believe he would pay a greater regard to it, than was evident from his future conduct. However, partly through his own treachery

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