r tfAp. II. from the Conquest, to the Death of A. Mary I. jj

Months, and six and twenty Days,reckoning from the Battle of Ha*

c C 72 )*

-Peed. H his last Speech to those who wereabout him he said: " He would con-" stitute no Heir to the Realm of Eng-" land, but would commend it to God ;" because he had not been King by" Risrh't of Inheritance, but by the" Instinct of God, Effusion of Blood,“ and the Perjury of Harold .” Yet he

tr wiflied that his Son William, who* r had ever been obedient to him ," might flourish in it, and, to that Endp,fC he sent him with a Letter to Lanfrane.

I n the Year 1542. the Bishop ofBayeux, Abbot of St. Stephens in Caen ,ordered this King’s Tomb to be opened,wherein his Body was found whole, fairand perfect, his Limbs large and big,and his Stature taller, and Bulk biggerthan that of ordinary Men.

C H A P. II.

Naval Expeditions and TransaSiions of the English, with some otherOccurrences , during the Reign of King William II.

I08*

p Venation

V Will. II.

*088.

E roiB pton.

H

At

: ov eden.

ivobert’j

e skei.

I L L I A M , surnamed Ru-jus, (a) the second Son ofWilliam the Conquer our, suc-ceeded his Father to theCrown of England, tho’ his elder Bro-ther Robert was living. His fair Pro-mises to the Clergy and Nobility, onthe one Hand, and the Absence, as wellas Negligence of his Brother, on theother Side, made his Accestion to theThrone so easy, that he was crownedKing at Wejlminjler, by the Name ofWilliam II. on the seven and twentiethHay of September, (b) eighteen Daysafter his Father’s Death. However, asthere was a considerable Faction in En-gland for Robert, his Coronation washardly over, before he had Insurrec-tions and Rebellions to struggle with.

Robert seems to have neglected thefair Opportunity the Troubles of Eng-land afforded him to pursue his Preten-

sion, by not going himself into Eng-land,with. a sufficient Number of Troopsto support and encourage his Abettors:

Instead of this he was contented withsending over but a Part of his Army,which, however,must not have been ve-ry inconsiderable, because our Histori-ans fay, King William's Fleet killedand drowned a great Number of hisMen. (c)

These Troubles being over, and 1090.his Dominions in England pretty secure,

William’s next Thoughts were bent on ord° Vital,being revenged on the Author of them, . ..his Brother. He resolved to invade vades^or-■Normandy , and to dispossess him of mandy,that Duchy. To that End he sifted outa Fleet, and made a Descent. Robert,not in the least suspecting his Intent,was in no Posture of Defense, so Wil- f e Justj^ uc ~Ham soon became Master of the Castleof St. Valery, Albemarle and several

other

(») By a Charter granted in this King’s Reignto the City of London-, the Reader may fee whatthe Saxon or English Tongue was before it wascorrupted with Norman or French Words. As itis but sliort, I shall satisfy the Reader’s Curiosityby inserting it from HoltnJheUd. “ William, King,“ grets William Bisceop and Godfred Porterefan“ i a Magistrate so called ) and ealle ya ( all the)“ Burgh warn ( Citizens ) binnen (within) Lon-“ don, Frencisce & Englisee sreudlice (kindly-,)“ & Ic kidea eoy ( I give you to understand) yeet“ ie wille yeet git ben ealra weera Lagay weord“ (that I will that ye he worthy of all those Laws)“ ye get weeran on Eadwerd’s Daege Kings“ (that ye were in Edward’s Days , the King’s)“ And ic will yeet relc (every) Child by his Fa-“ der’s Yrfnume ( Heir ) æfter his Fader's Daege“ (Days.) And ic net's gewolian ( will not Justyeet ænig Man eoy oenis Wrang beode“ God eoy heald (preserve.) This Language isnot altogether unintelligible now.

To this I shall add an Extract out of Williamthe Conqueror’s Laws, which, as it is a Sea-Law,is not foreign to my Purpose. It will give theReader some Idea what the Norman Tongue was

in those Days ; And, with the above Fragment ofSaxon , will thew him from what Materials theEngltjh Tongue is produced.

Si home en pmjfuned altre feit occis u per mana- Seldenus inblement eijstelle Lo jettai voz closes de la nefperpour Eadmerum.de mort , & d'eo ne me poez enplatder. kar lest ajaire damge a altre pur pour de mort quantparele nepot efchaper est de come mefeez qui pur pour de mortnel feiste de eo mejprkrai e les chojes qui stunt remiseen la neststeient departis en comune stulun les chatelse st alcun jothed les chatels fors de la nef Jenz bustun,st I rend et.

One is old French , and the other old Englijh.

(a) So called, either because of his ruddy Com-plexion, or his red Hair.

(h) Holinshead fays, the six and twentieth, Holin/head.and Daniel the eleventh of Otlober. Daniel.

(c) Anglici veropiratæ qui curam maris d rege Brompton.fustceperant , innumerabiles ex . illis occiderunt &stubmersterunt. ... \

SeD Willielmus junior jam mare munierat EidpLoveden.Piratis, qui vementes in Angliam tot occiderunt, &in mare mersterunt, ut nullus stt hominum , qui stciatnumeruni pereunti um ,