Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/113

TO A.D. 1071.] which arrows could be discharged, and towers planted at various distances. The outward walls were seldom less than seven feet in thickness, and those of the keep frequently as many as fifteen.

Before the discovery of gunpowder and the invention of artillery, these strongholds might be considered impregnable; and when taken it was generally by famine, or through the treachery of some portion of the garrison. Figuratively speaking, they were so many Norman bridles to check the impatience of the half-broken Saxon steed.

The English had now the mortification to find that as William's authority increased it was employed in their oppression; that the scheme of subjection had been craftily planned, and was being relentlessly carried out, attended by every circumstance of indignity and insult calculated to wound the pride of a susceptible people.



The Conqueror even attempted to extirpate the Saxon tongue; and with that view he commanded that in all the schools throughout the country the youth should be instructed in French, which also became the language of the courts of law. Moved at last by the representations of some of the prelates, and the entreaties of his subjects, he contented to restore some of the laws of Edward the Confessor, which, although of no great importance, were regarded with affection by the people, as memorials of their ancient liberty.

The position of the two Earls Morcar and Edwin soon became intolerable; for, notwithstanding that they had stood aloof during the last insurrection of their countrymen, and maintained their allegiance, William treated them with indignity; and the hungry adventurers who surrounded his court, while they envied the possessions of the Saxon nobles, thought themselves entitled to treat them with contempt as slaves and barbarians.

Sensible that with the loss of their dignity they had no longer any hops of safety, they determined, though too late, to assert the independence of their country. With this intention Edwin retired to his estates in the north, whilst his brother Morcar took refuge with the gallant Hereward, who still maintained himself in the Isle of Ely. The king, with his usual vigour, determined to subdue their stronghold; and for this purpose he caused a large number of flat-bottomed boats to be constructed, on which he placed his men, and surrounded it. He next caused a road to be made through the morass, two miles in length, and after a desperate attack obliged the Saxons to surrender. (A.D. 1071.)

Hereward, however, contrived to escape, by cutting his way, sword in hand, through the enemy, and carried on the war by sea against the Normans with such success, that William was glad to compromise with him, by giving him back his estate and honours.

The memory of Hereward, "England's darling," as he was called by his countrymen, long remained cherished in hearts, and the exploits of the last hero of Anglo-Saxon independence were for many years a favourite theme of tradition and poetry.

Morcar and Egelwin, Bishop of Durham, who had joined the insurgents, were taken and thrown into prison, where the last-named personage soon afterwards died of grief, whilst Edwin was slain in an attempt to escape into Scotland.

The King of Scotland, in hopes of profiting by these convulsions, had fallen on the northern counties, but on the approach of William he retired; and when Malcolm re-entered his country he was glad to make peace, and to pay the usual homage to the English crown. To complete the Norman king's prosperity, Edgar Atheling himself, despairing of the success of his cause, and weary of a fugitive life, submitted to his enemy; and receiving a decent pension for his subsistence, was permitted to live in England unmolested. But these acts of generosity towards the leaders were contrasted, as usual, by William's rigour against the inferior malcontents. He ordered the hands to be lopped off, and