hich he had inflicted upon him who struck Jeremiah the
great priest: he died with a year."

Stephen's was the greater offense, but Stephen could wait; not so the
Archbishop, apparently.

The kingdom was a prey to intestine wars; slaughter, fire, and rapine
spread ruin throughout the land; cries of distress, horror, and woe rose
in every quarter.

That was the result of Stephen's crime. These unspeakable conditions
continued during nineteen years. Then Stephen died as comfortably as
any man ever did, and was honorably buried. It makes one pity the poor
Archbishop, and with that he, too, could have been let off as leniently.
How did Henry of Huntington know that the Archbishop was sent to his
grave by judgment of God for consecrating Stephen? He does not explain.
Neither does he explain why Stephen was awarded a pleasanter death than
he was entitled to, while the aged King Henry, his predecessor, who
had ruled England thirty-five years to the people's strongly worded
satisfaction, was condemned to close his life in circumstances most
distinctly unpleasant, inconvenient, and disagreeable. His was probably
the most uninspiring funeral that is set down in history. There is not
a detail about it that is attractive. It seems to have been just the
funeral for Stephen, and even at this far-distant day it is matter of
just regret that by an indiscretion the wrong man got it.

Whenever God punishes a man, Henry of Huntington knows why it was done,
and tells us; and his pen is eloquent with admiration; but when a man
has earned punishment, and escapes, he does not explain. He is evidently
puzzled, but he does not say anything. I think it is often apparent that
he is pained by these discrepancies, but loyally tries his best not
to show it. When he cannot praise, he delivers himself of a silence
so marked that a suspicious person could mistake it for suppressed
criticism. However, he has plenty of opportunities to feel contented
with the way things go--his book is full of them.

King David of Scotland... under color of religion caused his followers
to deal most barbarously with the English. They ripped open women,
tossed children on the points of spears, butchered priests at the
altars, and, cutting off the heads from the images on crucifixes, placed
them on the bodies of the slain, while in exchange they fixed on the
crucifixes the heads of their victims. Wherever the Scots came, there
was the same scene of horror and cruelty: