Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/283

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few of them were so strong that, in the words of King Philip—Philip of Macedon, not Philip of France—an ass laden with gold could not find its way into them. Armed at all points, master alike of gold and steel, able to work himself and to command the services of others alike with the head and with the hand, William Rufus could, at least in contending with Robert, conquer when he chose and how he chose. And for a while he chose, like the Persian king of old, to win towns and castles without stirring from his hearth.

The first point of the mainland which the Red King won was one which lay beyond the strict bounds of the Norman duchy; but no spot, either in Normandy or in England, was more closely connected with the fortunes of his house. And it was one which had a certain fitness as the beginning of such a campaign. The first spot of continental ground which was added to the dominion of one who called himself King of the English, and who at least was truly King of England, was the spot from which his father had set forth for the conquest of England. He won it by the means which were specially his own. "By his cunning or by his treasures he gat him the castle at Saint Valery and the havens." Englishmen had fought for the elder William

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