William

I, duke of Normandy, king of England, and one of the greatest generals of the eleventh century, was born at Falaise, and was the natural son of Robert, duke of Normandy, by Aslette, a furrier’s daughter. After the death of Robert, which happened in 1035, William, who was his only son, succeeded him, His relations, however, disputed the succe ion, but being favoured by Henry I, king of France, he triumphed over them, defeated count d’A rques, took Maine, and carried the war into Anjou. Some time afier he paid a visit to Edward the 4on fe or, who treated him with great respect, and took a tour with him through England. Some time after Edward’ the Confe or dying Without i ue, in 1065, appointed him his heir. On which William sent to demand the crown, and soon after landed at Pevensey, in Su ex, with a powerful army, and thence sroceeding to Hastings, built a strong fort. Harold had placed himself on the throne, and now march= ed to oppose him, on which a bloody battle ensued, the 14th of October, 1066, in which William obtained a complete victory, though he had three horses killed under him, and lost a great number of his troops. ‘On the side of the English, Harold was slain, with many of the nobility, and about sixty you sand soldiers. The Normans had besides the advantage of long bows, of the use of which the English were then ignorant. But, in spite of these, the English with their battle-axes kept so close together, that they remained invincible, till’ the Normans pretending to fly, brought them into disorder. Notwithstanding this victory, William could have little hopes of gaining the throne by right of conquest; he, tnerefore, gave out that he came to revenge the death of prince Alfred, brother to king Edward, to restore Robert archbishop of Canterbury to his see, and to obtain the crown as his right, on account of its being bequeathed to him by Edward the Confe or. He cannot, therefore, be properly said to obtain the crown by conquest, since these motives engaged many of the English in his favour, William: was ‘tall,, broad set, and had great strength. His pase sions were violent, but he had much wisdom, and an equal share of di imulation. He marched directly to London, but on the way was met by a large body of Kentish men, each with a bough, or branch of a tree in his hand. This army was headed by Stigand the archbishop, who made a speech to the conquerer, in which he boldly demanded the preservation of their) liberties, and let him know that they were resolved rather to die than to part with their laws and live in bondage. William thought proper to grant their demands; he agreed to govern them by the laws of Edward the Confe or, and te suffer them to retain their ancient gustoms. Upon his coronation at Westminster, he was sworn to govern by the laws of the realm; and though he afterwards introduced some new forms, he preserved trials by juries and the borough law. He Instituted the courts of Chancery and Exchequer; but at the same time disarmed his English subjects, and forbade their having any light in their houses after eight o'clock at night, when a bell was rung called curfew or cover fire, at the sound of which ali were obliged to put out their fires and candles. He conquered several powers who invaded England, obliged the Scots to preserve the peace they had broken, compelled the Welsh to pay him tribute, refused to pay homage to the pope, built the tower of London, and caused all public acts ta be made in the Norman tongue. He op= pre ed the people by taxes, and caused all ¥ngland to be surveyed and rated, and had. the men numbered, in a work called Domesday-book, which 4s still extant. He resolved to chastise the French, who invaded Normandy, and after that to reduce his son Robert; but Robert no sooner found that he was engaged with his father, than he dutifully ‘submitted to him, notwithstanding his being victorious. Some time after William declared war against Philip I. king of France, laid waste the country, burnt Mantes, and_ ravaged it with fire and sword to the gates of Paris; -but approaching too near the flames of. Mantes, the heat of the fire, together with the warmth of the season, threw him into a fever, which being increased by a fall from his horse in his return to Roan, he died in a village near that city, the gth of September, 1087, in the 64th year of his age, after a reign of fifty-four years in Normandy, and twenty-one in England. He was interred at Caen, in Normandy. WirwiaAm Il. surnamed Rufus, or Red, from the colour of his hair, was the second surviving son of William the Conqueror, and succeeded his father the 27th of oF temnisers 1087. He was then thirty years of age, and at the same time Robert, his elder brother, succeeded by his father’s will to the duchy of Normandy; but he resolved to a ert his right of primogeniture to the crown of England, and several of the Norman nobility espoused his cause. William, however, defeated a bod his troops in Kent, and soon after ule. on him to conclude a peace. ‘The two brothers then made war on Henry, their youngest brother, whom they besieged in Mount St. Michael, where the king riding one morning unattended, fell in with a party of Henry’s soldiers, and endeavoured to force his way through them, but was dismounted, and a pe Bi was going to dispatch him, when he saved his life by crying out, ** Hold, fellow, Lam the king of England.” Upon this the man dropping his sword, raised the monarch from the ground, and received from him the honour of knighthood, and other favours. The brothers being now soon recon* ciled, William turned his arms against Scot- land, and defeated the army of king Malcolm, who with his son were killed just before in an ambush laid by Mowbray, governor of North- umber land.. But soon after, Mowbray finding that the king neglected to reward his services, joined with other noblemen. to set the crown on the head of Stephen, grandson to William the Conquerer: upon which the king marched into Yorkshire, reduced Bam borough, took Mowbray prisoner, and put an end to the re- hellion, But at length William hunting in the New Forest, was killed by an arrow shot by Walter Tyrrel, his particular favourite, who aiming at a deer, shot the king in the breast, on which he immediately expired, on the gd of August, 1100, aged forty-four, after a reign of thirteen years. It is said so little respect avas paid to his body, that it was conveyed in a coal-cart to Winchester..- Wixtram™ IIL. of Na au, prince of Orange, etadtholder of the United provinces, king of England; . was the son of William of Nas-. sau, prince of Orange, by Henrietta- Maria, the daughter of Charles I. king of England, and was born at the Hague, the 4th of November, 1650. He was about twenty-two years of age when, in 1672, he was elected stadtholder, and declared general of the Dutch troops, in order to put a stop to the rapidity of the conquests made’ by Lewis XIV. In 1073, he took the strong town of Naerden, and. obliged the French to quit Utrecht, and several considerable places where they had garrisons. Soon after he engaged the French at Senef,, where he gained great honour by his courage. and conduct, and obtained a victory after a most bloody engagement. On the 17th of October, 1677, he embarked for England, and the 4th of November was married to the prince Mary, the eldest daughter of the duke of York, and the 29th of the same month depee from London with his prince , and anded at Terbyde. In August, 1678, he attacked and defeated the duke of Luxemburg in, his quarters, near the abbey of St. Dennis. In the heat of the action he advanced so far, that he was in great danger of being killed. On the 29th of June, 1684, a treaty was signed at the Hague, which put an end to the war. James, duke of York, having ascended to the throne of England, after the death of his brother, Charles IL. endeavouring to restore the popish religion, and to destroy the civil and religious liberties of the people, they. naturally cast their eyes on the prince of Orange, and applied to him for deliverance, on which he landed at Torbay, the 5th of November, 1688, and was joyfully received by almost the whole nation. James now made his escape to France, and after his departure, the lords and commons agreed, after much dispute, that he had abdicated the throne,. upon which the prince of Orange and the prin- ce Mary were proclaimed king and queen the 13th of February, 1689, and crowned the 1ith of April following. An attempt was then made by the opposite party to secure Scotland for James II. but on the 26th of May, 1689, the two armies meeting at Killic- kranky, in the shire of Perth, lieutenant- general Mackay, who commanded for king 331