William had entered Northumberland, and commit ted the most wanton depredations, but was compelled to retreat by Richard de Lucy, who had been left guar dian of the realm during the king's absence. Lucy had also defeated, with great slaughter, a numerous army of Flemings, who had landed hi Suffolk under the Earl of Leicester, and had taken the Earl himself prisoner. The insurgents, however, were still numerous, and depended greatly upon the assistance of the king of Scotland, who had again entered the kingdom with an army of 80,000 men. I lenry hastened home to oppose him; but he first endeavoured to conciliate the favour of heaven, to whose indignation he ascribed the dissensions in his family, by making atonement to the ashes of Thomas-a-Becket. When he came within sight of the church of Canterbu ry, he dismounted from his horse, and walking barefoot to the tomb of the saint, remained there, in fasting and prayer, during a whole day and night; and even pre sented his bare shoulders to be scourged by the monks. After having submitted to this humiliating penance, he received absolution, and departing for London, received the agreeable news of the defeat of the Scots, which be ing gained on the day of his absolution, was attributed to the favour of Thomas-a-Becket. William had en camped at Alnwick, and thinking himself secure from any attack, had weakened his army, by sending out nu merous parties of pillagers. But Ralph de Glanville, the famous justiciary, having got intelligence of his situation, hastened forward by forced marches, and at tacking the Scottish camp at unawares, threw the ene my into confusion, routed them with great slaughter, and took their king prisoner. This victory at once de stroyed the hopes of the confederates. The English barons immediately submitted, and in a few weeks all England was restored to tranquillity. Louis, however, had again invaded Normandy, and laid siege to Rouen ; but Henry hastened to its relief, and, after having ob tained various advantages over the enemy, at last com pelled the King of France to think seriously of peace. Henry received the submission of his children, upon be stowing upon them some castles for their residence, with suitable pensions; and granting an indemnity to all their adherents. The King of Scotland was the severest sufferer on this occasion, and obtained his liberty only with the loss of his independence. He stipulated to do homage to Henry for all his dominions; and engaged that all the nobles and bishops of his kingdom should do the same; and also agreed, that the fortresses of Berwick and Roxburgh should be put into the hands of the Eng lish. These humiliating terms were rigorously exact ed; and William, with all his barons and prelates, did homage to the King of England in the cathedral of York, and acknowledged him their superior lord.
Henry being now freed from the toils of war, em ployed several years of peace in regulating the internal affairs of his kingdom. He made considerable altera tions in the trial by water ordeal, which, though con demned by the church, still subsisted. He also mode rated the trial by duel, allowing only either of the par ties to challenge a trial, by a jury of twelve freeholders. He enacted severe penalties against murder, robbery, false coining, and fire raising; and having partitioned the kingdom into four districts, he appointed a justice, who was either a prelate or a nobleman, to go the cir cuit in each division, and decide the causes in the coun ties. But he was interrupted in the execution of these wise measures, by new dissensions in his family. Philip, king of France, had succeeded his father, while only a youth of sixteen, and had been greatly indebted to the interference of Henry, in composing the quarrels which had arisen in the royal family of France on the death of Louis, and in establishing him upon the throne. But he requited these services, by fomenting discords among the children of his benefactor. At his instance, young Henry renewed his demand of the cession of Normandy, and when refused, he found protection at the court of France. Philip, however, not being at that time dis posed to support his pretensions, he made submissions to his father, and was reconciled. Richard also, who had received the duchy of Guienne, had refused to do for his dominions to young Henry, as had been agreed upon, which occasioned a war between the two brothers. And this difference was scarcely settled be tween them, when the king discovered, that his eldest son was again engaged in a conspiracy against himself. His unnatural designs, however, were defeated by his death, which was occasioned by a fever, in the 28th year of his age. Before he expired, he expressed great corn punction for his undutiful conduct, and earnestly entreat ed tb see his father, that he might obtain forgiveness. Henry, who had been so frequently deceived by thc pre tended repentance of his children, suspected that his sick ness was feigned, and would not trust himself in his son's power. But when he heard of his death, he was affected with the deepest sorrow, and reproached him self with hardheartedness, in refusing the dying request of his son. Young Henry dying without issue, Richard
became heir to all his dominions; but not content with what belonged to his brother, he wished also to retain the duchy of Guienne, which Henry had intended for his youngest son John. Ile even proceeded to take up arms in support of his claim; but dreading an insurrec tion of the Gascons in favour of his mother, he returned to obedience. Geoffrey, who had been put in possession of Brittany, and who was the most vicious of Henry's children, being known among the people by the name of the Child of Perdition, next demanded that the coun ty of Anjou should be annexed to his territories. This being refused, he prepared for war. But he was soon after killed in a tournament at Paris; and his son Ar thur, who was born after his death, was invested in his dominions under the guardianship of his grandfather.
About this time, the attention of all was directed to the progress of the Infidels in Palestine. Saladin, King of Egypt, had spread his conquests over the East ; and, through the treachery of the Count of Tripoli, who com manded the Christian army, had reduced Jerusalem, and had almost entirely subdued the kingdom of An tioch. This intelligence filled the Western Christians with sorrow and dismay ; and every effort was made to excite the sovereigns of Europe to undertake another crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land. The Arch bishop of Tyre.having procured an interview with Phi lip and Henry near Gisors, gave such a pathetic de scription of the sufferings of their fellow-Christians in Asia, that they mutually laid aside their animosity, and immediately took the cross. But Richard, pursuing the dictates of ambition rather than of nature, was again se duced from his duty by the King of France, who was still jealous of Henry's power. He entered into an al liance with Philip against his father ; and when a nego tiation was proposed to accommodate their differences, Philip required that Richard should be crowned during the lifetime of Henry, should be invested in all his fo reign dominions, and should immediately espouse Alice, Philip's sister, to whom he had formerly been affianced. These proposals were rejected by the king of England, and open hostilities immediately commenced. As this contest put a stop to the projected crusade, the pope's legate in France excommunicated Richard as the prin cipal cause of discord, and threatened to lay an interdict on Philip's dominions. But these proved entirely inef fectual to restrain the ambition of these princes; and they carried on the war with such vigour, that Henry, after having lost several towns, found himself under the necessity of submitting to very humiliating conditions. It was agreed that Richard should marry the Princess Alice, and should receive the homage and oath of fealty of all his father's subjects ; that Henry should pay 20,000 marks to the King of France, to defray the char ges of the war; that his own barons should promise, that in case of his violating the treaty, they would join Philip and Richard ; and that an indemnity for the past should be offered to all. These terms, rigorous and mor tifying as they were, did not affect him so much as the discovery that his favourite son John had been leagued with his enemies. When he read his name in the list of those barons to whom he had engaged to grant a pardon for their connection with Richard, he was overwhelmed with grief. He cursed the clay that he was born; and bestowed on his ungrateful and undutiful children a malediction, which he never could be prevailed upon to retract. This last domestic affliction quite broke his spirit, and brought on a lingering fever, of which he died at the castle of Chinon near Saumur, in the 58th year of his age, and 35th of his reign. This prince was equally distinguished by his private as well as his pub lic virtues. His greatest blemish was his amour with the fair Rosamond, by whom he had two sons, Richard Longsword, and Geoffrey, afterwards Archbishop of York ; and his hypocritical devotion at the shrine of Thomas-a-Becket cannot be justified, even by the emer gency of his affairs at the time. By one weak action he cancelled the firmness of his past conduct, and rivetted upon his people those fetters of superstition which, du ring the former part of his life, he had been attempting to unbind. In his general conduct, however, he dis played the highest qualities of the understanding and the heart. He was the most tender and indulgent of fathers, and though his affections were often torn by the ingratitude and disobedience of his children, his temper always preserved its natural sensibility. He loved peace, and in the execution of justice was severe without oppression. In war he possessed bravery and conduct ; and perhaps there never was a monarch who extended his dominions and authority so far, with so little violence and injustice.