icher and mightier than either of them. The King then dictated a
letter to Lafranc, setting forth his wishes with regard to the
kingdom. He sealed it and gave it to his son William, and bade him,
with his last blessing and his last kiss, to cross at once into
England. William Rufus straightway set forth for Witsand, and there
heard of his father's death. Meanwhile Henry, too, left his father's
bedside to take for himself the money that was left to him, to see
that nothing was lacking in its weight, to call together his comrades
on whom he could trust, and to take measures for stowing the treasure
in a place of safety.

And now those who stood around the dying King began to implore his
mercy for the captives whom he held in prison. He granted the
prayer....

The last earthly acts of the Conqueror were now done. He had striven
to make his peace with God and man, and to make such provision as he
could for the children and the subjects whom he had left behind him.
And now his last hour was come. On a Thursday morning in September,
when the sun had already risen upon the earth, the sound of the great
bell of the metropolitan minster struck on the ears of the dying King.
He asked why it sounded. He was told that it rang for prime in the
church of our Lady. William lifted his eyes to heaven, he stretched
forth his hands, and spake his last words: "To my Lady Mary, the Holy
Mother of God, I commend myself, that by her holy prayers she may
reconcile me to her dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ." He prayed, and
his soul passed away. William, king of the English and duke of the
Normans, the man whose fame has filled the world in his own and in
every following age, had gone the way of all flesh. No kingdom was
left him now but his seven feet of ground, and even to that his claim
was not to be undisputed.

The death of a king in those days came near to a break-up of all civil
society. Till a new king was chosen and crowned, there was no longer a
power in the land to protect or to chastise. All bonds were loosed;
all public authority was in abeyance; each man had to look to his own
as he best might. No sooner was the breath out of William's body than
the great company which had patiently watched around him during the
night was scattered hither and thither. The great men mounted their
horses and rode with all speed to their own homes, to guard their
houses and goods against the outburst of lawlessness which was sure to
break forth no