characteristics of England, and from which we derive no little of that
spirit which keeps our island safe, is not of modern growth. It was one
of the most important portions of the education of the people seven
centuries ago.

It was this community, then, so brave, so energetic, so enriched by
commerce above all the other cities of England, that resolutely abided
by the fortunes of King Stephen. They had little to dread from any
hostile assaults of the rival faction; for the city was strongly
fortified on all sides except to the river; but on that side it was
secure, after the Tower was built. The palace of Westminster had also a
breastwork and bastions. After Matilda had taken her hasty departure,
the indignant Londoners marched out, and they sustained a principal part
in what has been called "the rout of Winchester," in which Robert, Earl
of Gloucester, was taken prisoner. The ex-Empress escaped to Devizes.
The capture of the Earl of Gloucester led to important results. A
convention was agreed to between the adherents of each party that the
King should be exchanged for the Earl. Stephen was once more "every inch
a king." But still there was no peace in the land.

The Bishop of Winchester had again changed his side. In the hour of
success the empress Matilda had refused the reasonable request that
Prince Eustace, the son of Stephen, should be put in possession of his
father's earldom of Boulogne. Malmesbury says, "A misunderstanding arose
between the legate and the Empress which may be justly considered as the
melancholy cause of every subsequent evil in England." The chief actors
in this extraordinary drama present a curious study of human character.
Matilda, resting her claim to the throne upon her legitimate descent
from Henry I, who had himself usurped the throne--possessing her
father's courage and daring, with some of his cruelty--haughty,
vindictive--furnishes one of the most striking portraits of the proud
lady of the feudal period, who shrank from no danger by reason of her
sex, but made the homage of chivalry to woman a powerful instrument for
enforcing her absolute will. The Earl of Gloucester, the illegitimate
brother of Matilda, brave, steadfast, of a free and generous nature, a
sagacious counsellor, a lover of literature, appears to have had few of
the vices of that age, and most of its elevating qualities. Of Stephen
it has been said, "He deserves no other reproach than that of having
embraced the occ