man named Peter the Hermit had been making a pilgrimage (as these journeys were called) to Jerusalem, and was grieved to find the holy city in possession of the Turks and Saracens, who did not believe in Jesus, and were very cruel to the Christians who lived there; so he went back to his own country, preaching on his way the duty of rescuing Jerusalem from the hands of the infidels or unbelievers; telling his hearers, on the authority of the Pope, that those who should die in the undertaking would be sure to go to heaven, however bad their lives might have been. Roused by this false preaching, thousands upon thousands of people, of all ranks and of every European country, joined into one great army, and marched for the Holy Land, hoping to save their souls by doing what they believed so good a work. How could they think a merciful Lord would take pleasure in strife and bloodshed? "Put up thy sword into its place," said He, "for all they that take the sword shall perish by the sword." (Matt. xxvi. 52.) These warriors wore a red cross embroidered on the right shoulder, and hence the holy wars were called Crusades, or Croisades, from the French word croix, a cross. The cross has always been the favourite emblem of a Christian, but unhappily the emblem was

abused in popish times, and we Protestants have therefore been perhaps over scrupulous in the use of it; we still, however, retain the sign in baptism, "in token that we shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under His banner, against sin, the world, and the devil, and to continue Christ's faithful servants unto our lives' end." (Baptismal service.) For the same reason, as a sign of their faith, the Crusaders wore a red cross on their shoulder. Many thousands who left their homes to join these expeditions, never returned to their wives and children, but died in the land they went to rescue. Surely they would have been acting more like Christians had they stayed at home, and tried to teach their children to be good and holy; but in those days men were more clever with the sword than with the pen, and there were but few books to teach them the right way, and fewer persons still who could read them.

Robert, duke of Normandy, was so anxious to go to Jerusalem, that he thought no more of quarrelling about the throne of England, but borrowed some money of William, and left the dukedom under his care while he was gone.

William Rufus had all his father's bad qualities

without his firmness and generosity. He was very impious, and addicted to low company, drinking, and other vices. He was excessively fond of money, and unscrupulous about the means of obtaining it. pretended at first to be kindly disposed towards his Saxon subjects, in order that they might place him securely on the throne, but no sooner had he made sure of this, than he forgot all his promises, and treated them with still greater harshness and cruelty than his father had done. In his reign were built Westminster Hall, and the Tower of London, of which latter I shall often have to speak in the course of this history. William was as passionately fond of fieldsports as his father had been, and met his death in that very New Forest which had been made by the Conqueror at so great an expense of injustice and cruelty. He had gone out hunting there one day, accompanied by Sir Walter Tyrrel. William slightly wounded a stag with an arrow, and Sir Walter, fearing it would escape, hastily sent another after it, which glancing from the bough of a tree, struck the king, and pierced him to the heart. Tyrrel, terrified at the accident, fled to France, and joined the Crusades, and William's body was found by some peasants, who threw it across a horse and took it to Winchester, where it was

DEATH OF RUFUS.

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buried in the cathedral. No one was sorry for the death of Rufus, for he thought only of amusing himself, and never tried to do any good to his people. I have read in some history, that he was very fond of dressing in fine clothes, and I mention this, my dear children, as another proof of his weakness and folly, to which I hope you will never give way. Read what St. Peter says on the subject of outward adorning, in his first epistle, third chapter, and third and fourth verses.

William Rufus was killed in the year 1100, in the fortieth year of his age, and the thirteenth of his reign.

CHAPTER VII.

HENRY THE FIRST-FROM 1100 TO 1135.

AFTER the death of William Rufus, Robert was the next heir to the throne, but he was absent from England at the time, and Henry his brother at once took advantage of this circumstance to supplant him. He was hunting in another part of the New Forest when William met his death; and immediately rode off to Winchester, where the king's money was kept. This he seized, and caused himself to be proclaimed king. Then, to strengthen his possession, and to please the people, who still remembered their Saxon rulers with affection, he married Matilda, daughter of Malcolm, king of Scotland, and niece of Edgar Atheling, who was now dead, and thus the land came again into possession of the right family.

He was suffered to reign in peace till Robert returned from the Holy Land, and laid claim to the kingdom, which Henry refused to give up to him; and by the payment of a sum of money, induced Robert to relinquish his claim, and go to his own