He died in
the sixty-seventh year of his age, and the thirty-fifth of his reign;
leaving by will his daughter, Matilda, heir of all his dominions,
without making any mention of her husband Geoffrey, who had given him
several causes of displeasure [a].
[FN [x] W. Malm. p. 177. [y] H. Hunt. p. 385. [z] Ibid. p. 385. M.
Paris, p. 50. [a] W. Malm. p. 178.]

This prince was one of the most accomplished that has filled the
English throne, and possessed all the great qualities both of body and
mind, natural and acquired which could fit him for the high station to
which he attained. His person was manly, his countenance engaging,
his eyes clear, serene, and penetrating. The affability of his
address encouraged those who might be overawed by the sense of his
dignity or of his wisdom; and though he often indulged his facetious
humour, he knew how to temper it with discretion, and ever kept at a
distance from all indecent familiarities with his courtiers. His
superior eloquence and judgment would have given him an ascendant,
even had he been born in a private station; and his personal bravery
would have procured him respect, though it had been less supported by
art and policy. By his great progress in literature, he acquired the
name of BEAUCLERK, or the Scholar: but his application to those
sedentary pursuits abated nothing of the activity and vigilance of his
government; and though the learning of that age was better fitted to
corrupt than improve the understanding, his natural good sense
preserved itself untainted both from the pedantry and superstition
which were then so prevalent among men of letters. His temper was
susceptible of the sentiments as well of friendship as of resentment
[b]; and his ambition though high, might be deemed moderate and
reasonable, had not his conduct towards his brother and nephew showed
that he was too much disposed to sacrifice to it all the maxims of
justice and equity. But the total incapacity of Robert for government
afforded his younger brother a reason or pretence for seizing the
sceptre both of England and Normandy; and when violence and usurpation
are once begun, necessity obliges a prince to continue in the same
criminal course, and engages him in measures which his better judgment
and sounder principles would otherwise have induced him to reject with
warmth and indignation.
[FN [b] Order. Vital. p. 805.]

King Henry was much addicted to women; and historians mention no les