WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.

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with admiration of the beauty of their person?, chapthe size and workmanship of their silver plate, iv.the costliness of their embroideries, an art inwhich the Englisti then excelled ; and he expresseshimself in such terms, as tend much to exalt ouridea of the opulence and cultivation of the peo-ple' 8 . But though every thing bore the face of joyand festivity, and William himself treated hisnew courtiers with great appearance of kindness,it was impossible altogether to prevent the insolenceof the Normans; and the English nobles derivedlittle satisfaction from those entertainments, wherethey considered themselves as led in. triumph bytheir ostentatious conqueror.

In England affairs took still a wcMe turn D sc ° nt ' ntS

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during the absence of the sovereign. Discontents mh.and complaints multiplied every where; secretconspiracies were entered into against the govern-ment ; hostilities were already begun in manyplaces ; and every thing seemed to menace arevolution as rapid as that which had placedWilliam on the throne. The historian abovementioned, who is a panegyrist of his master,throws the blame entirely on the fickle andmutinous disposition of the English, and highly

" Ar the historian chiefly insists on the silver plate,his panegyric on the English magnificence shows onlyhow incompetent a judge he was of the matter. Silverwas then of ten times the value, and was more than twentytimes more rare than at present; and consequently, of allspecies of luxury_, place malt have been the rarest.