WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 341

company ; and the English themselves , ashamed chap.of their own country , affected to excel in that iv.foreign dialect. From this attention of William,and from the extensive foreign dominions, longannexed to the crown of England, proceeded thatmixture of French , which is at present to befound in the English tongue , and which composesthe greatest and best part of our language. Butamidst those endeavours to depress the Englishnation, the king, moved by the remonstrancesof some of his prelates, and by the earnest desiresof the people, restored a few of the laws ofking Edward es ; which , though seemingly ofno great importance towards the protection ofgeneral liberty, gave them extreme satisfaction ,as a memorial of their ancient government, andan unusual mark of complaisance in their imperiousconquerors

The situation of the two great earls, Morcar I0^r •and Edwin , became now very disagreeable.

Though they had retained their allegiance , duringthis general insurrection of their countrymen,they had not gained the king’s confidence, andthey found themselves exposed to the malignity ofthe courtiers, who envied them on account of th^iropulence and greatness, and at the lame time in-volved them in that general contempt which theyentertained for the English. Sensible that they

>! Ingulf, p. 88 . Brompton, p. 98?. Knyghton, p. 2353.

Hoveden, p. 600. ** Se? note [K] at the end of

the volume.

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