not only with all personal particulars respecting these illustrious individuals, but of learning their most private thoughts and feelings. Matilda, the subject of this memoir, was her eldest daughter, and was probably born in the year 1079. This we infer from the remarkable circumstance of Robert Courthose, the elder brother of her future husband, being her godfather. Malcolm Canmore, her father, invaded England in that year, and Robert of Normandy was, on his reconciliation with his father, William the Conqueror, sent with a military force to repel this northern attack. Robert, finding his forces inadequate to maintain successfully a war of aggression, entered into a negotiation with the Scottish monarch, which ended in a friendly treaty. Malcolm renewed his homage for Cumberland; and Robert, who, whatever his faults might be as a private character, was one of the most courteous knights and polished gentlemen of the age in which he lived, cemented the auspicious amity he had established between his royal sire and the warlike husband of the heiress presumptive of the Saxon line of kings, by becoming the sponsor of the infant princess Matilda. Some historians assert that the name of the little princess was originally Editha, and that it was, out of compliment to the Norman prince her godfather, changed to Matilda, the name of his beloved mother; the contemporary chronicler, Ordericus Vitalis, says, Matildem, quæ prius dicta est Editha. Matilda, whose first name was Edith." 66 Matilda the Good received her earliest lessons of virtue and piety from her illustrious mother, and of learning from the worthy Turgot, the preceptor of the royal children of Scotland. While Matilda was very young, there appears to have been an attempt on the part, either of the queen her mother, or her aunt Christina Atheling, the celebrated abbess of Romsey, to consecrate her to the church, or at least to give her tender mind a conventual bias, greatly to the displeasure of the king her father; who once, as Matilda herself testified, when she was brought into his presence dressed in a nun's veil, snatched it from her head in a great passion, and indignantly tore it in pieces, observing at the same time to Alan, duke of Bretagne, who stood by, "that he intended to bestow her in marriage, and not to devote her to a cloister." This circumstance, young as she was, made a deep impression on the mind of the little princess, and probably assisted in strengthening her determination, in after years, never to complete the profession of which she was, at one period of her life, compelled to assume the dress. Alan, duke of Bretagne, to whom king Malcolm addressed this observation, was the widower of William the Conqueror's daughter Constance; though there was a great disparity of years between him and Matilda, his learning and piety, that he was promoted to be prior of Durham. When Margaret Atheling became queen of Scotland, she preferred him to the office of her confessor. He and followed the fortunes of his royal pupil Ma tilda, the daughter of his illustrious patroness, after her marriage with Henry I. 1 Eadmer. 1 1093.] The King her father slain. 75 it appears certain that the object of his visit to the Scottish court was to obtain her for his second wife.1 Matilda's uncle, Edgar Atheling, became resident at the court of her father and mother for some time, in the year 1091; and it is a remarkable fact, that William Rufus and Malcolm joined in appointing him as arbiter of peace between England and Scotland, which were then engaged in a fierce devastating war. Thus placed in the most singular and romantic position that ever was sustained by a disinherited heir, Edgar conducted himself with such zeal and impartiality as to give satisfaction to both parties, and a pacification was concluded, which afforded a breathing time of two years to the harassed people of this island. After a reconciliation with William Rufus, which was never afterwards broken, Edgar returned to the court of his favourite friend and companion, Robert of Normandy. The dangerous illness of William Rufus, at Gloucester, tempted king Malcolm Canmore to invade his dominions, in the year 1093, for the purpose, as he said, of revenging the insults he had received from the Anglo-Norman sovereign; his real object was, probably, to take advantage of Rufus's unpopularity with all classes, and to assert the rival title of the descendants of the great Alfred, with whom he was now so closely united. According to Hector Boethius and Buchanan, Malcolm was killed at the siege of Alnwick-castle, by the treachery of the besieged, who, being reduced to the last extremity, offered to surrender, if the Scottish king would receive the keys in person. Malcolm acceded to this condition,3 and coming to the gates, was there met by a knight bearing the keys on the point of a lance, which he offered to the king on his knee; but when Malcolm stooped to receive them, he treacherously thrust the point of the lance through the bars of his vizer into his eye, and gave him a mortal wound. Have This was heavy news to pour into the anxious ear of the widowed queen, who then lay on her death-bed, attended by her daughters Matilda and Mary. Cold, and in the agonies of death, she ceased not to put up her supplications to Heaven in the touching words of the Miserere: mercy upon me, O God, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies; blot out mine iniquities; make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me; restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit ; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." At that moment her young son, prince Edgar, returned from the disastrous English expedition, and approached her couch. it with the king and my Edward ?" asked the dying queen. ful prince stood mournfully silent. "I know all I know all,” cried his "yet, by this holy cross I adjure you speak out the worst." 1 Eadmer. Gem. mother; 2 R. of Hov. 3 Wm. of Malms. "How fares The youth 4 Turgot. As she spoke she presented to the view of her son that celebrated "black cross" which she had brought with her from England, as the most precious possession she derived from her royal Saxon ancestors. "Both are slain," replied the prince. Lifting her eyes and hands towards heaven, she said, "Praise and blessing be to thee, Almighty God, that thou hast been pleased to make me endure so bitter anguish in the hour of my departure, thereby, as I trust, to purify me in some measure from the corruption of my sins. And thou, O Lord Jesus Christ! who, through the will of the Father, hast given life to the world by thy death, oh, deliver me!" While pronouncing these words she expired. 66 The reputation of her virtues, and the report that miracles had been wrought at her tomb, caused her name to be enrolled in the catalogue of saints by the church of Rome. It is a pleasure to find the following enlightened passage, from the pen of an ecclesiastic of the eleventh century:-"Others," says Turgot, may admire the indications of sanctity which miracles afford. I much more admire in Margaret the works of mercy. Such signs (namely, miracles) are common to the evil and the good; but the works of true piety and charity are peculiar to the good. With better reason, therefore, ought we to admire the deeds of Margaret, which made her saintly, than her miracles, had she performed any." To this great and good man did the dying Margaret consign the spiritual guardianship of her two young daughters, the princesses Matilda and Mary, and her younger sons. Turgot has preserved the words with which she gave him this important charge; they will strike an answering chord on the heart of every mother. "Farewell!" she said; "my life draws to a close, but you may survive me long. To you I commit the charge of my children. Teach them, above all things, to love and fear God; and if any of them should be permitted to attain to the height of earthly grandeur, oh! then, in an especial manner, be to them a father and a guide. Admonish, and if need be, reprove them, lest they should be swelled with the pride of momentary glory, and through covetousness, or by reason of the prosperity of this world, offend their Creator, and forfeit eternal life. This, in the presence of Him who is now our only witness, I beseech you to promise and perform." Adversity was soon to try these youthful scions of royalty with her touchstone; and of the princess Matilda, as well as her saintly mother, it may justly be said, "Stern, rugged nurse, thy rigid lore With patience many a year she bore." Donald Bane (the brother of Malcolm Canmore), soon after the disastrous defeat and death of Matilda's father and eldest brother, seized 1094.] Matilda brought to England with her sister. 77 the throne of Scotland, and commanded all the English exiles, of whatsoever degree, to quit the kingdom, under pain of death. Edgar Atheling, Matilda's uncle, then conveyed to England the orphan family of his sister, the queen of Scotland, consisting of five young princes, and two princesses.1 He supported Matilda, her sister and brothers, who were all minors, privately, from his own means. They were in considerable personal danger, from the accusation of one of the knights at the English court, who told William Rufus that the Saxon prince had brought into England, and was raising up, a family of competitors for the English crown. A friend of Edgar, named Godwin, challenged and slew the calumniator; and William Rufus, supposing Providence had decided in favour of the innocent, treated Edgar and his adopted family with kindness and friendship. The princesses Matilda and Mary were placed by their uncle in the nunnery of Romsey, of which his surviving sister, Christina, was abbess; for the princes he obtained an honourable reception at the court of William Rufus, who eventually sent him at the head of an army to Scotland, with which he succeeded in re-establishing the young king Edgar, eldest brother of Matilda, on the throne of his ancestors. Ordericus Vitalis confirms, in a great measure, the statements of Turgot; and, after relating the death of queen Margaret, adds, “She had sent her two daughters, Edith (Matilda) and Mary, to Christina her sister, who was a religieuse of the abbey of Romsey, to be instructed by her in holy writ. These princesses were a long time pupils among the nuns. They were instructed by them, not only in the art of reading, but in the observance of good manners; and these devoted maidens, as they approached the age of womanhood, waited for the consolation of God. As we have said, they were orphans, deprived of both their parents, separated from their brothers, and far from the protecting care of kindred or friends. They had no home or hope but the cloister, and yet, by the mercy of God, they were not professed as nuns. They were destined by the Disposer of all earthly events for better things." The abbey of Wilton, ever since the profession of the royal saint Editha, had been the place of nurture and education for the princesses Hardyng, in his rhyming Chronicle, thus quaintly enumerates the posterity of Margaret Atheling (see Sir Henry Ellis's edition): "Edward, Dunkan, Edgar, Alixander the gay. And David also (that kings were all they say), At Dunfermlyn shrined and canonized; By whom Malcolyn a daughter had also, King Henry's wife the first, full well avised Queen Maude, that's right well loved England through. Through all England she made at her expense, of the Anglo-Saxon reigning family. This abbey of black Benedictine nuns was founded by king Alfred, and since his days it had been usua to elect a superior of his lineage. Wilton-abbey had been refounded by the queen Editha, consort to Edward the Confessor. While tha monarch was building Westminster-abbey, his queen employed he revenues in changing the nunnery of Wilton from a wooden edifice int one of stone. The abbey of Romsey was likewise a royal foundation, generally go verned by an abbess of the blood-royal. Christina is first mentioned a abbess of Romsey in Hampshire, and afterwards as superior of the Wil ton convent. As both belonged to the order of black Benedictines, this transfer was not difficult; but chroniclers do not mention when it was effected, simply stating the fact that the Scottish princess first dwelt at Romsey, yet when she grew up she was resident at Wilton-abbey, under the superintendence of the abbess Christina her aunt. Matilda thus became an inhabitant of the same abode where the royal virgins of her race had always received their education. It was the express desire of the queen, her mother, who survived that request but a few hours, that she should be placed under the care of the lady Christina at Romsey. While in these English convents, the royal maid was compelled to assume the thick black veil of a votaress,3 as a protection from the insults of the lawless Norman nobles. The abbess Christina, her aunt, who was exceedingly desirous of seeing her beautiful niece become a nun professed, treated her very harshly if she removed this cumbrous and inconvenient envelope, which was composed of coarse black cloth or serge; some say it was a tissue of horse-hair. The imposition of this veil was considered by Matilda as an intolerable grievance. She wore it, as she herself acknowledged, with sighs and tears in the presence of her stem aunt; and the moment she found herself alone, she flung it on the ground, and stamped it under her feet. During the seven years that Matilda resided in this dreary asylum, she was carefully instructed in all the learning of the age. Ordericus Vitalis says she was taught the "literatoriam artem," of which she afterwards became, like her predecessor, Matilda of Flanders, a most munificent patroness. She was also greatly skilled in music, for which her love amounted almost to a passion. When queen, we shall find her sometimes censured for the too great liberality she showed in rewarding, with costly presents, the monks who sang skilfully in the church service.5 The superior education which this illustrious princess received during these years of conventual seclusion, eminently fitted her to become the consort of so accomplished a prince as Henry le Beauclerc. Robert of Gloucester, and Piers of Langtoft, and, above all, Eadmer, a contempo rary, assert that the royal pair had been lovers before circumstances ad4 Ibid. 5 Tyrrell. 1 Camden. 2 Ord. Vit. 3 Eadmer. |