eading that a like revolution might
subvert his family, had taken care to have him recognized successor by
the states of the kingdom, and had carried him over to Normandy, that he
might receive the homage of the barons of that duchy. The king, on his
return, set sail from Barfleur, and was soon carried by a fair wind
out of sight of land. The prince was detained by some accident; and his
sailors, as well as their captain, Thomas Fitz-Stephens, having spent
me interval in drinking, were so flustered, that, being in a hurry to
follow the king, they heedlessly carried the ship on a rock, where she
immediately foundered. William was put into the long boat, and had got
clear of the ship, when, hearing the cries of his natural sister, the
countess of Perche, he ordered the seamen to row back, in hopes of
saving her: but the numbers who then crowded in, soon sunk the boat;
and the prince with all his retinue perished. Above a hundred and forty
young noblemen, of the principal families of England and Normandy, were
lost on this occasion. A butcher of Rouen was the only person on board
who escaped:[*] he clung to the mast, and was taken up next morning by
fishermen. Fitz-Stephens also took hold of the mast; but being informed
by the butcher that Prince William had perished, he said that he
would not survive the disaster; and he threw himself headlong into the
sea.[**] Henry entertained hopes for three days that his son had put
into some distant port of England; but when certain intelligence of the
calamity was brought him, he fainted away; and it was remarked, that
he never after was seen to smile, nor ever recovered his wonted
cheerfulness.[***]

The death of William may be regarded, in one respect, as a misfortune
to the English; because it was the immediate source of those civil
wars which, after the demise of the king, caused such confusion in the
kingdom; but it is remarkable, that the young prince had entertained a
violent aversion to the natives; and had been heard to threaten, that
when he should be king he would make them draw the plough, and would
turn them into beasts of burden. These prepossessions he inherited from
his father; who, though he was wont, when it might serve his purpose, to
value himself on his birth, as a native of England,[****] showed, in the
course of his government, an extreme prejudice against that people. All
hopes of preferment to ecclesiastical as well as civil dignities were
denied them during