THEO of London, the duke's father, pater etiam ducis et ejus Abp. Cant. uxor, and all his near relations, are made security for the

BALD,

Chronic. Norman. p. 991.

ton, Nubrigens. &c.

treaty. That the empress was pleased with this accommodation, appears from a passage in the first year of her son's reign. The young king was then desirous to attempt the conquest of Ireland, and called a convention at Winchester for this purpose; but the empress, his mother, not approving the design, the expedition was dropped. From hence we may fairly infer, that the mother and son held a friendly correspondence with each other, and that she had resigned the crown to him.

And now Stephen was rightly king, for which reason I Malmsbur. have already given him that title by way of prolepsis; for, Huntingbefore this time, as all our historians report him, he was no better than an usurper. Now, as long as he lay under this blemish, the royal style was none of his due; for he that has no right to the government, has no right to the title which belongs to it.

Upon the death of William of St. Barbara, Hugh Pusar, or Pudsey, treasurer of York and archdeacon of Winchester, was elected to that see. He was a person of the first quality, and nearly related to king Stephen. Henry, his metropolitan of York, refused him consecration; alleging his age was under the canon, and that his behaviour was too secular and gay. Upon this the elect, with some of his principal electors, took a journey to Rome; the archbishop likewise sent his proxy to prevent their success; but Eugenius III. being lately dead, and Anastasius IV., to whom the archbishop was unknown, put in his place, Hugh carried his point without much difficulty, and was solemnly Nubrigens. consecrated by his holiness. The affair was more easily 1. 1. c. 26. finished, because news was brought to Rome of the death of Henry, archbishop of York. This Henry, surnamed Murdac, was a monk of the Cistercian order. Stubs reports him a person of great strictness and discipline with respect to himself; that he wore sackcloth next his skin; that he governed his diocese with great care and conscience, and was very circumspect both in precept and Stubs. Act. example.

Pontif.

Eborac. col. 1721.

After his decease, William, who was formerly set aside, took a journey to Rome to try his fortune once more upon

PHEN,

the vacancy: and that he might not seem to reflect upon STEthe proceedings of the late council at Rheims, he prevailed K. of Eng. with the chapter of York to choose him a second time. Being thus strongly recommended, and not insisting on his Nubrig, first election, he was honourably received, consecrated by Stubs. Act. the pope, and presented with a pall.

1. 1. c. 26.

Pontif.
Eborac. col.

of David,

Scots.

Church.

342.

This year David, king of Scots, departed this life. He 1722. was a prince of a great many good qualities, and endea- The death voured to promote the interest of religion. He founded king of the bishopricks of Ross, Brichen, Dunkeld, and Dum- His benefacblaine, with the abbeys of Jedburgh, Kelso, Melrose, New- tions to the bottle, Holyrood-house, Kinlos, Combuskeneth, Dunedrenan, and Holm-Cultram, in Cumberland; he founded likewise two religious houses at Newcastle, one for the Benedictines, and another for the white monks; and for single women professed, two nunneries, one at Berwick, and another at Carlisle; all which he endowed with revenues proportionable to the design. Some modern historians, as the learned archbishop Spotswood observes, blame this prince for his munificence to the Church; and particularly Hollingshead pretends, that this immeasurable liberality unfurnished his exchequer, disabled the crown, and forced him to be burthensome to the people; but this charge the worthy prelate above mentioned disproves by several arguments; adding withal in the close, that supposing the objection were true, and the censure well grounded, it ought to be touched with great tenderness and regard: "for," says he, "if there be any profusion excusable in princes, it is this; for, besides that these foundations are the most likely means to give lustre and perpetuity to their memories: not to mention this, they are generally the most serviceable provisions to supply their occasions upon all emergencies."

Spotswood, Histor. of William, archbishop of York, upon his return from Rome, the Church of Scotland, was received in his province with great demonstrations of book 2. p. welcome. It is said, that the bridge over the Aire, near 34, 35. Pontefract, or, as others have it, over the Ouse, was overloaded and broken down by the crowd, and that the people were preserved from perishing by the archbishop's prayers. This archbishop died soon after his A. D. 1154. coming to York, and some report him poisoned in the con- bishop of secrated wine. But this story is disproved by Nubrigen

The arch

York dies.

BALD,

THEO- sis, who received the relation from a prebendary of York, Abp. Cant. an intimate acquaintance of the archbishop's, and then upon the spot. This prelate was very nobly extracted: his father Herbert was an earl of a great military figure, and his mother, Emma, was sister to king Stephen. He has likewise the commendation of a very strict and unexceptionable conduct.

Neubrig.

1. 1. c. 26.

Stubs. Act.

Pontif. Eborac. p. 1721. St. Ulfric, an anchorite.

This year the famous anchorite, St. Ulfric, departed this life. He was born in Somersetshire, near Bristol, and being bred to learning, took orders, and was a parish priest. He is said to have lived somewhat negligently, and given himself too much diversion in this station. Upon reflec

tion, he resolved to retire, and not to trust himself in the world any longer. He pitched upon Haselberg, a village about thirty miles east of Oxford, for his retirement; and here, living in a cell, he fasted, watched, wore sackcloth, and practised all manner of austerities to the highest degree. In this course of mortification he continued nine and twenty Mat. Paris, years, and is said to have worked miracles, both living and Hist. Angl. p. 92, 93, 94, afterwards.

The death

of king Stephen.

Stow in

This year king Stephen died, and was buried in the monastery of Feversham, of his own founding. When this abbey was demolished in the reign of king Henry VIII., this prince was robbed of his leaden coffin, and his corpse thrown into the sea. Thus sacrilege, like the unjust judge, fears not God nor regards man, and has neither justice to the living nor humanity to the dead. Beside this monasking Stephen's life. tery, king Stephen founded an hospital near the west-gate in York; and whereas twenty-four oat sheaves, for the king's hounds, were formerly paid out of every plough land between Trent and Edinburgh-Frith, he settled this rentStow ibid. charge upon the hospital above mentioned. To these religious benefactions, we may add the famous hospital of St. Catherine's, London, founded by Maud, king Stephen's wife, though some assign the foundation to Robert, bishop of Lincoln. The choir of this hospital, which was taken down in the reign of queen Elizabeth, was said to have been little short of that of St. Paul's.

Stow's Survey of London, p. 117.

As for Stephen, though he died a lawful king, yet since his title was apparently defective till the treaty above mentioned, it may be demanded which way the clergy could

PHEN,

Church History, book 3. p. 25, 26.

The differ

satisfy themselves in their compliance. I mention the clergy, STEbecause the nature of the history requires it, and because K. of Eng. they bore the principal sway in the kingdom at that time. It seems that there were great differences of opinion upon Fuller's this occasion. I shall represent some of them according to the sense, though not just in the words of Mr. Fuller. First, some founded Stephen's right upon the choice of the people; the crown, they argued, was not governed by ent opinions proximity of blood, and lineal descent. The hereditary Stephen's succession had been set aside in several instances since the Conquest. This plea was easily disproved, by answering,— First, that the precedents of setting aside the eldest line in William Rufus and Henry I., are looked upon as usurpations by our historians.

Secondly, supposing the government had been elective, that plea was of no avail in the present case; for since the electors had pre-engaged themselves by oath to the empress Maud, their votes were all barred, and their liberty disposed of.

:

To proceed some acted for Stephen upon the notion of possession; they urged, the titles of princes were often perplexed and mysterious; that nowadays kings were not pointed out by revelation, nor proclaimed, as it were, from the sky; that the pleasure of God Almighty was now to be collected from matters of fact, and read in the event of things; from hence they inferred, that whoever was so lucky as to seize a crown, had a right to wear it. To this the other party replied, that by this reasoning the committing a rape would bring a woman under coverture, and give the injurious person a title to her estate: that we are to govern ourselves by the stated rules of justice, and not to swim down the stream at all adventures: that God suffers many things which he does by no means allow that to infer his approbation from his permission, is to justify all the wickedness in the world, and make an apology for the devil.

Thirdly, it was farther pretended, that the blemish of Stephen's usurpation was worn out by time; that eighteen years' possession was a thorough settlement, and a sufficient declaration of Providence. To this, the answer was, that the settlement was not perfect, because the title was con

concerning

title.

343.

THEO- tested, and the empress's claim held up through all this BALD, Abp. Cant. period; and that from her first landing, to the late accommodation, Stephen was never master of the whole kingdom. But granting his possession had been ever so entire and undisturbed, and the legal sovereign in no condition to make head against him; granting all this, yet unless the right heir was extinct, or the claim surrendered, the plea signifies nothing. For that which was wrong at first will never mend by bare continuance. Just and unjust do not depend upon the motion of the sun or the revolution of the seasons. Time, notwithstanding its force in other matters, can never blanch a black action. On the other hand, ill practice swells by repetition, and grows more bulky in its progress. The length of usurpation is an aggravation of the first injustice; and the guilt of it, like other sins, rises by the frequency of commission. A libertine of seven years standing is much more criminal than when he first launched out into irregularity. And the same reasoning must reach the usurper, unless the greatness of a crime can give a protection, and amounts to a licence to continue in it.

Fourthly, it was urged, that loyalty was only a conditional duty, and subsists upon the benefits of government; that when a prince is in no condition to protect his subjects, they are at liberty to shift for themselves, and provide for their security. In this case, they may transfer their allegiance, and retire under the shelter of the prevailing party. To this it was returned, that allegiance was founded upon a right to govern, and ought to continue as long as the right remained; that no prince's right could be extinguished by the revolt of his subjects or the prevalence of an usurper. To suppose a man may lose his property by being injured, is plainly to renounce all reason and justice, and make right depend upon wrong. This principle resolves all title into force, encourages rebellion, and saps the foundation of civil society. At this rate, when a man's parents prove burthensome, he is at liberty to discard the relation, and disclaim them in their age and poverty.

Lastly, it was urged, that the empress Maud had cancelled the obligation, and given the subject a release. Was there, then, any formal discharge? That was not so much as pretended. How then could the proof be made out?