foreign Birth yet so far gained the general Affections and Satisfaction of the Commoners of the Realm who ask nothing but Security in their Estates and Properties that no Commotions afterwards raised by the Nobles and Clergy against his Government though in Favour of a better Right and Title were ever supported by the Commons who compose the Mass and Bulk of a Nation and whose general good or ill Humour Satisfaction or Discontent will ever have the most forcible Influence for the Preservation or Ruin of any State Besides the good and profitable Institutions and Orders of this King already mentioned so generally approved and so grateful to the Commonalty of the Realm there were others of a different Nature and which had a contrary Effect by distasting and disobliging many of the chief Nobility and most or all of the Clergy though some were so cautious as not to lose their Dignities or Revenues by expressing their Resentments The Offences taken by these last were first the abrogating or surceasing the Judiciary Power exercised by the Bishops during the Saxon Times in each County where Justice was administred and the Bishop with the Alderman or Earl of each Shire sate as Judges in those Courts which encreased not only their Authority but their Revenues too by a Share they had with the King in all Fines rais'd from the Issue of Causes there determined But all this was abolished by the King's Institution of Justiciaries to administer Justice upon all Pleas of the Crown and others among Subjects at four Terms of the Year This gave particular Offence to the Bishops but another to the whole Clergy for whereas before they held all their Land by Franc Almonage and subject to no Duties or Impositions but such as they laid upon themselves in their Ecclesiastical Assemblies This Prince finding above a third Part of the Lands of the Kingdom in Possession of the Clergy and the Forces of the Crown which consisted in Knights Service lessened in Proportion by their Immunity He reduced all their Lands to the common Tenure of Knights Fees and Baronage and thereby subjected them to the Attendance upon the King in his Wars and to other Services anciently due and sometimes raised upon all Lands that held in fee from the Crown This Innovation touched not only the Bishops but all the Abbots throughout the Kingdom many of whom were endowed with so great Lands and Revenues that in Right thereof they were upon the regular Constitutions of Parliaments allowed Session with the Bishops as Barons in the House of Lords The whole Clergy exclaimed against this new Institution not only as an Indignity and Injustice but as an Impiety too and Violation of the sacred Rights of the holy Church but their Complaints were without Redress though not without ill Consequence The Discontents among many of the great Nobles arose chiefly from two Occasion The first was the Rigor of the Forrest Laws and of their Execution And the other was the King 's too apparent Partiality to his Normans To know the Ground or Pretence of these Forrest Laws it will be necessary to run up to their Original In the first Seisures and Distributions made of the British Lands by the conquering Saxons besides those reserved to the Kings or divided among the People and held by the Tenures either of Knights Service or of Book-land as it was termed among the Saxons and thereby distinguish'd from that of Villenage There were many great Tracts of barren wild or woody Lands left undisposed and in a manner waste so great Numbers of British Inhabitants having been extinguish'd by the Wars or retired into Wales Cornwal Britanny and Scotland and the new Saxons not content to share among them any Lands but such as were fruitful and fit to be cultivated These were enclosed or improved as well as inhabited by the new Proprietors and the others left wast as well as undisposed to any certain Owners The whole Country was as has been observed very full of all Sorts of wild Game in the Time of the Britains who lived at large without any Inclosures little Property and subsisted much upon Hunting Fishing and Fowling which they had all in common Upon the enclosing or cultivating of the fruitful Lands by the Saxons the wild Beasts naturally afraid of Neighbours whom they found to be all Enemies fled into the wild woody and desolate Tracts of Land where they found Shelter and fed though hardly yet out of common Sight and Noise And hereby all those Parts became replenish'd with all Sorts of Game especially with Red and Fallow-Deer and made all those several Extents of Ground which were afterwards called Forrests The Saxon Kings esteemed these to belong to the Crown by their Right to all Possessions that have no certain Owner and by their never having been disposed upon the first Divisions of Land in the Saxon Kingdoms nor afterwards by any Grants of the Crown This Right was not disputed nor any Use of it made further than for the King's Pleasure which yet was not by them restrained from the Nobles or Knights that were Borderers upon the Forrests who were so moderate in those more simple Ages as to commit no Excesses or destroy the Game which it was their Interest to preserve both for their Sport and the Quarry and for some use made of it for common Pasturage among all the bordering Neighbours William the Conqueror not only seised upon all these Forrests as Part of his own Demesns but made a very large one in Hampshire besides those he found by laying wast and leaving uninhabited great Extents of Land which he pretended to be fallen to the Crown by ancient Succession or by new Forfeitures and this he called the new Forrest which Name after so long a Course of Ages it still retains In all these Forrests he pretended an absolute Right and Dominion and in Pursuance thereof instituted new and arbitrary Laws of his own unused and unknown before in this Kingdom and very different from the Moderation of the Saxon Government He confined all hunting or fowling in these Forrests to himself or such as should have Right to it by his Concessions or Permissions He imposed Fines upon all Trespasses committed in them according to his own Pleasure and which seemed much to exceed the Fault or Value of the thing These he caused to be levied with great Rigor and Exaction and thereby debarred not only his Commoners but his Nobles too from a Liberty they had before always enjoy'd Though he took care not to provoke the Commoners by leaving Pasturage free for such of the Neighbours who lived most upon their Stock and thereby took no greeat Offence at the Restraint from their Sport which they had not Time from their Labour much to follow yet the Nobles and Knights who valued their Sports more than common Gains and made use of their Riches but for Encrease of their Pleasures resented this Restraint as a sensible Injury as an Invasion
of their Liberties and even as an Affectation of an Arbitrary Power in this Particular and from the Exercise whereof he was only restrained by the Regards of his Safety and Interest in others of more Moment and Consequence The great Nobles resented it yet further as an Indignity by levelling their Privileges with the Liberties of the Commoners from whom they esteemed themselves distinguished by the usual Regards and Respects paid them from the Princes in their Degree as well as from the People Nor does it appear whether this violent Institution of the Forrest Laws proceeded from his passionate Love of hunting the only Pleasure to which this Prince was addicted or from his Avarice by so many Fines to encrease his Treasure or from a Desire of being absolute and arbitrary in one Part of his Government which he found he could not be with any Safety in the rest For his Partiality to the Normans though it was disguised or at least not evident in the common Forms of his Justice which run a free and even Course yet it was easily discovered in that of his Graces and Favour the Civil Offices Ecclesiastical Benefices Places of most Trust about his Person and in his Realm were conferred generally upon his Normans and besides these Advantages and those of the Forfeitures that fell upon his Entrance they appeared to have his Countenance his Conversation his Confidence so that whatsoever the English possessed of the Kingdom the Normans alone seemed to possess the King This might have been more excusable if the English had considered the King as much as themselves and many of his Circumstances as well as their own They were Strangers to him or but new Acquaintance they differed in Language in Manners in Customs they had very lately differed in Interest and from Enemies in War were indeed now become Subjects but rather as to a Conqueror than a lawful Prince The Normans spoke his Native Tongue were trained up in the same Customs acquainted with his Person from his Youth had attended him in his Court followed him in his Wars at Home and Abroad and thought it but just they should share in his Fortunes as they had in his Dangers However many of the great aspiring Spirits among the English Nobles could not bear this Partiality of the Kings They thought the Normans ought to be provided of Rewards or Honours in Normandy but those of England should be conferred upon English Besides they resented the common Testimonies of his Inclination to the Normans as much as they could have done Injuries to themselves like generous Lovers who are more jealous and spited to see their Rivals gain the Inclination of their Mistress than the Possession and had rather they should have her Body than her Heart Upon all these Causes the Discontents of many chief English Nobles and Prelates were grown to such a Height swelling more within the more they were suppressed that they wanted only a fair Occasion to draw them to a Head and make them break out with Violence and much Pain and Danger to the State This furnish'd them either by Fortune or Design in the third fourth or fifth Year of the Conqueror's Reign for the Authors are neither distinct nor agreed in assigning the Causes or the Times of this King's Actions in War or Institutions in Peace by which their true Nature and that of the Prince would have been best discovered whereas they content themselves to display their Eloquence or vent their Passions by relating general or particular Events what was done and what was suffered in his Reign by which some of the Norman Writers endeavonr to represent him as a God and some of the English like a Devil and both unjustly Edgar Atheling was Nephew to Edward the Confessor and the undisputed as well as undoubted Heir of the Kingdom from the Saxon Race It was generally thought that he had likewise been designed by King Edward a just and pious Prince to succeed him in the Throne and that his Declaration pretended by Harold or Testament by the Duke of Normandy were fictitious or at least neither of them evident from any clear and undoubted Writings or Testimonies Edgar was besides from the Bounty of his Nature the Excellence of his Temper the Prerogative of his Birth and the Compassion of his unjust Fortunes much and generally beloved and esteemed among all the English both Nobles and Commons yet he neither opposed Harold's Usurpation nor the Normans Conquest whether for want of Spirit to attempt so great an Adventure or upon Prudence not to oppose such Powers as he found unresistable and in which so many Circumstances had conspired choosing rather to content himself with the Shades of a private Condition out of Danger and Envy or at least to attend some future Occasions that might open a more probable Way to his Hopes and his Fortunes He was at London among many other Nobles when the famous and decisive Battle was fought at Hastings and the News brought of the Duke's Victory and of Harold's Death Those of the Nobles who were for opposing the Conqueror were for declaring Edgar Atheling King the Citizens of London were at first disposed to the same Resolution but the Bishops and Clergy who had the greatest Sway among both those Orders prevailed in this general Council for a general Submission to the Fate of the Kingdom In Pursuance of this Resolution Edgar Atheling with Stigand and Alred Archbishops of Canterbury and York Edwin and Morchar two of the greatest English Lords the rest of the Nobles and Bishops who had attended the Victorious Duke upon his Way to London was well received by him and treated with Bounty as well as Humanity so that the young Prince attended frequently at Court accompanied the King into Normandy returned with him into England and lived there for some time like one who had forgot his Birth and his Title though they were by the English well remembred But at length either weary of Rest or roused by other Spirits more unquiet than his own he resolved or at least pretended to make a Journey into Hungary where he was born during his Father's Exile had lived long and was much beloved He embarqued for Flanders with his two Sisters Margaret and Christine but forced by a Storm and contrary Winds or allured by fairer Hopes he was driven upon the Coasts of Scotland the first was given out but the last suspected from the Event of this Voyage He was received by Malcolm the King with great Kindness and Compassion of his Disasters both at Sea and Land was resorted to by all the Nobles and Gentlemen who had sheltered themselves in that Kingdom upon Hate or Fear of the Conquest in England and was by them acknowledged and honoured as the true lawful Heir of that Crown Soon after his Arrival the King of Scotland enflamed either with the Beauty of the young Lady or with the Hopes of her Brother's Fortunes or upon former Concert with the
in Normandy and in a Church he had there built How the Ground that was opened to receive him was claimed at that instant by a Knight of the Country who alledged it had belonged to his Ancestors and himself and was violently or unjusty seised from them by the King so that his Funeral was fain to be deferred till an Agreement was made and the Value of the Ground paid to the Claimer with other invidious Circumstances which may argue the Ingratitude Avarice or other Vices of his Servants or Subjects then living but not defame the Memory or obscure the Glory of the Dead Thus ended all that was Mortal of this noble King and this renowned Conqueror for his Fame will never die but remain for ever in the most lasting Records of Time and Monuments of Glory among the Princes most celebrated for their brave Atchievements in War their wise Institutions in Peace the Length and Prosperity of their Lives and their Reigns In all which he must with Justice be confessed not to have been equalled by many if indeed by any we read of in Story I have made no mention of any great Councils or Assemblies held in this King's Reign because I find no clear Evidence of the Nature or Constitution the Times or the Occasions of them whether like those used in the Saxon Reigns or like the Parliaments in Normandy or whether that Style was introduced here in this King's Time or that of his Sons who succeeded him It appears that he often assembled the Nobles and Barons of the Realm but whether upon the Solemnity of some great Festivals or some Occasions of more Importance either for the Honour of his Court or Consultation of his Affairs I find not so well recorded nor so easie to determine as some will have it It is agreed only that there were two general Assemblies of the Clergy one about the sixth Year of his Reign upon a Controversie between the Archbishops of Canterbury and York about the Primacy which was therein determined in favour of the first The other about erecting some new Bishopricks or translating their Sees from some decayed and smaller Towns to others grown in that Age more populous and opulent The Lichfield Chronicle also relates how in the fourth Year of his Reign he summoned out of every County the Nobles the Wise Men and such as were learned in their own Law that he might from them learn what were their ancient Laws and Customs After which the Laws of St. Edward were conserved and by him confirmed throughout the whole Kingdom I have not been so particular as other Writers in the Names of Places or of Persons or Distinction of Years because in such Antiquity of Times and Variety of Authors I find them very hard to be ascertained Besides the Disagreement among Writers is so great in assigning the Years to the several Actions of this Prince that so important an Affair as that of framing the Doomesday Book is by some referred to the eighth by others to the thirteenth and by some to the nineteenth Year of his Reign And many others are left in the same Uncertainty I have likewise omitted the Accounts and Remarks wherein some Writers have busied their Pens of strange Comets Inclemencies of Seasons raging Diseases or deplorable Fires that are said to have happened in this Age and Kingdom and are represented by some as Judgments of God upon this King's Reign Because I rather esteem them Accidents of Time or Chance such as happen in one Part or other of the World perhaps every Age at some Periods of time or from some Influence of Stars or by the conspiring of some natural or casual Circumstanstances and neither argue the Virtues or Vices of Princes nor serve for Example or Instruction to Posterity which are the great Ends of History and ought to be the chief Care of all Historians For this Reason as well as to comply with common Custom it may not be improper or unnecessary to end the wise politick and prosperous Reign with the just Character of this renowned Prince Since all great Actions in the World and Revolutions of States may be truly derived from the Genius of the Persons that conduct and govern them so as by comparing both together and observing the Causes as well as Events it may be easie to discern by what Personal Qualities and Dispositions of Princes the happy and glorious Successes of their own Fortunes with the Greatness and Felicity of their States are generally atchieved for to attribute such great Events to Time or to Chance were to destroy the Examples and confound the Consequences of all Virtues and Vices among Men. William surnamed the Conqueror was of the tallest Stature among those common in his Age and Country his Size large and his Body strong built but well proportioned His Strength such as few of his Court could draw his Bow His Health was great and constant which made him very active in his Business and his Pleasures till about the Decline of his Age he grew something corpulent from all which I suppose came the Story in some Norman Writers that he was eight Foot high or the Size of Hercules As he was of goodly Personage so his Face was lovely but of a Masculine Beauty the Loins being strong rather than delicate his Eyes were quick and lively but when moved something fierce his Complection Sanguine his Countenance very pleasant when he was gay and familiar when he was serious something severe His Pastimes were chiefly hunting and feasting in the first he spent much Time used great Exercise and yet much Moderation of Diet. In his Feasts which were designed for Magnificence or Conversation to know or to be known among his Nobles and not for Luxury he was courteous affable familiar and often pleasant and which made him the more so to his Company was easie at those Times in granting Suits and Pardons It is by all agreed that he was chaste and temperate which with a happy Constitution and much Exercise preserved not only his Health but Vigor to the last Decline of his Age. He was of sound natural Sense and shewed it not only in his own Conduct and Reasoning upon all great Occasions but also in the Choice of his Ministers and Friends wherein no Prince was happier or wiser than he He talked little never vaunted observed much was very secret and used only Lanfranc Archbishop of Canterbury with an universal Confidence both as a Counsellor and a Friend to whom he was ever meek and gentle though to others something austere as if this Conqueror had been himself subdued by the Wisdom and Virtue of that excellent Man In his Purposes he was steddy but not obstinate and though constant to his Ends yet appliable to Occasions as appeared by his favouring and trusting the Normans in his Troubles of England and the English in those of Normandy and was either very wise or very happy in the Arts of gaining Enemies and retaining Friends