themselves they increase
rather than mitigate the miseries of the people. Milo, Earl of Hereford,
has demanded money of the Bishop of Hereford to pay his troops. The
Bishop refuses, and Milo seizes his lands and goods. The Bishop then
pronounces sentence of excommunication against Milo and his adherents,
and lays an interdict upon the country subject to the Earl's authority.
We might hastily think that the solemn curse pronounced against a
nation, or a district, was an unmeaning ceremony, with its "bell, book,
and candle," to terrify only the weakminded. It was one of the most
outrageous of the numerous ecclesiastical tyrannies. The consolations of
religion were eagerly sought for and justly prized by the great body of
the people, who earnestly believed that a happy future would be a reward
for the patient endurance of a miserable present. As they were admitted
to the holy communion, they recognized an acknowledgment of the equality
of men before the great Father of all. Their marriages were blessed and
their funerals were hallowed. Under an interdict all the churches were
shut. No knell was tolled for the dead, for the dead remained unburied.
No merry peals welcomed the bridal procession, for no couple could be
joined in wedlock. The awe-stricken mother might have her infant
baptized, and the dying might receive extreme unction. But all public
offices of the Church were suspended. If we imagine such a condition of
society in a village devastated by fire and sword, we may wonder how a
free government and a Christian church have ever grown up among us.

If Stephen had quietly possessed the throne, and his heir had succeeded
him, the crowns of England and Normandy would have been disconnected
before the thirteenth century. Geoffrey of Anjou, while his duchess was
in England, had become master of Normandy, and its nobles had
acknowledged his son Henry as their rightful duke. The boy was in
England, under the protection of the Earl of Gloucester, who attended to
his education. The great Earl died in 1147. For a few years there had
been no decided contest between the forces of the King and the Empress.
After eight years of terrible hostility, and of desperate adventure,
Matilda left the country. Stephen made many efforts to control the
license of the barons, but with little effect. He was now engaged in
another quarrel with the Church. His brother had been superseded as
legate by Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, in consequ