quent excursions, the Earl of Gloucester, who watched all
opportunities, came unaware with a strong body of men, and set fire on
the nunnery while the King himself was in it. Stephen, upon the sudden
surprise of the thing, wholly lost or forgot his usual courage, and fled
shamefully away, leaving his soldiers to be cut in pieces by the Earl.

During the rest of the war, although it lasted nine years longer, there
is little memorable recorded by any writer; whether the parties being
pretty equal, and both sufficiently tired with so long a contention,
wanted vigour and spirit to make a thorough conquest, and only
endeavoured to keep what they had, or whether the multitude of strong
castles, whose number daily increased, made it very difficult to end a
war between two contending powers almost in balance; let the cause be
what it will, the whole time passed in mutual sieges, surprises,
revolts, surrenders of fortified places, without any decisive action, or
other event of importance to be related. By which at length the very
genius of the people became wholly bent upon a life of spoil, robbery,
and plunder; many of the nobles, although pretending to hold their
castles for the King or the Empress, lived like petty independent
princes in a perpetual state of war against their neighbours; the fields
lay uncultivated, all the arts of civil life were banished, no
veneration left for sacred persons or things; in short, no law, truth,
or religion among men, but a scene of universal misery, attended with
all the consequences of an embroiled and distracted state.

About the eleventh year of the King's reign, young Henry, now growing
towards a man, was sent for to France by a message from his father, who
was desirous to see him; but left a considerable party in England, to
adhere to his interests; and in a short time after (as some write[38])
the Empress herself grown weary of contending any longer in a cause
where she had met with nothing but misfortunes of her own procuring,
left the kingdom likewise, and retired to her husband. Nor was this the
only good fortune that befell Stephen; for before the year ended, the
main prop and pillar of his enemies was taken away by death; this was
Robert Earl of Gloucester, than whom there have been few private persons
known in the world that deserve a fairer place and character in the
registers of time, for his inviolable faith, disinterested friendship,
indefatigable zeal, and firm constancy to