Perhaps her parents thought, in accordance with the superstition of the age, that such a sacrifice might win pardon for their own sins; and we have already shown that both William and his queen, despite their great qualities, had heavy ones to answer for. Certain it is, that the royal maid herself had little or any choice in the affair. From her earliest years she had been educated in the convent founded by her mother, at Caen.

The consecration took place at Fescamp; and was attended by the king and queen, together with the great nobles and ladies of their court.

A description of the ceremony, drawn from the chronicles and ecclesiastical records of the time, may not prove uninteresting to our readers.

At an early hour, the church, which was strewed with rushes and decorated with rich hangings, was crowded by a multitude of spectators, who came from far and near to witness the ceremony. The clergy were assembled in their stalls, on either side of the choir. At the termination of the mass, the youthful princess was led into the church by her two brothers, Robert-surnamed by his father Courthose, from the shortness of his stature-and William Rufus, who succeeded the Conqueror upon the throne of England. The postulant was arrayed like a bride. A royal mantle of damask and gold, faced with minever, fell from her shoulders, and a circlet of gems confined her long auburn tresses, doomed soon to fall beneath the shears of the officiating prelate; in her arms she carried a large wooden cross as an emblem of the life of privation she had chosen.

As the future nun advanced up the choir, the priests chaunted the "Veni Creator," and their voices were responded to by those of the veiled sisterhood, who assisted-behind the grating which separated the convent from the church-at the sacrifice.

After receiving the blessing of her parents, the princess Cicely advanced to a prie Dieu, placed exactly in front of the altar, and knelt for some time in prayer, after which she made her obligation.

After replying to the usual questions of the archbishop in the

affirmative, the attendants removed her robes and jewels, the prelate severing the first tress of her long silken hair with a pair of golden scissors; the rest of her locks were remorselessly cropped short by the priests.

She next received the sacred host from the hands of the archbishop, in which act of piety William and Matilda joined her -as if by that act they thought to share in the spiritual grace accorded to their child.

"All that remains," exclaimed the mitred prelate, to complete the agust sacrifice, "is to take the three oaths of chastity, poverty, and obedience. Cicely, Princess of England and Normandy, art thou ready?"

"I am ready," replied the maiden.

"And willing?"

"And willing," she added, in the same clear tone.

The books containing the constitutions of the order were then brought from the sanctuary by the Abbot of Bech, who administered the oaths.

"You voluntarily and solemnly swear," said the priest, “to lead a life of chastity; to devote yourself to the service of God, and his Divine Son; to have or know no other spouse than our holy church?"

"I swear!" said the princess, kissing the Evangel, which one of the assisting bishops held.

"You voluntarily and solemnly swear to renounce the riches of this world; to accept poverty as a blessing; and devote such means and substance as you possess, or may hereafter possess, to works of charity—to assisting the poor and needy, repairing the house of the Lord, or in such good and pious works as His holy will may inspire you unto?"

The oath was repeated.

"You voluntarily and solemnly swear, for the last time,” continued the Abbot of Bech, "to observe the rules and statutes of your order; to yield obedience to all lawful superiors; to obey the mandates and rescripts of such without murmuring, questioning, reservation, or restriction ?"

The last oath, like the preceding ones, was confirmed by the postulant's pressing her lips to the Evangel. At this moment the choir chaunted the "Gloria in excelsis."

The archbishop-who, during the administering of the oaths, had been occupied in consecrating the large, flowing black veil which was to adorn the future nun-took the symbol from the altar, and, standing on the topmost step, said, in a loud voice:

"Sister Cicely-nun professed--advance, and from my hands receive the veil which henceforth separates you from the world, to unite you to God, to his Divine Son, the Blessed Virgin, and the holy saints!"

Hitherto they had styled the princess by her earthly title.

The royal maiden advanced to the foot of the altar, and the sombre veil descended like a cloud upon her head. The sacrifice was accomplished, amid clouds of incense and the chaunting of the nuns. The grate at the side of the altar slowly opened, and the sisterhood, headed by their abbess, entered the railings of the altar, from which spot all but the newly-consecrated nun and the archbishop had withdrawn.

They raised her from the step of the altar, on which she still remained kneeling.

"Jubilate❞ pealed through the vaulted roof of the abbey, as the veiled sisters retired with their new companion into the interior of their convent, and the grate which divided them from the world was closed.

CHAPTER XVII.

Unwise the parents who distinction make,
Changing their children's love to bitterest hate-
Arming the brother 'gainst the brother's life-
Making their mutual bond a bond of strife.

OLD PLAY.

ALTHOUGH William and his queen displayed profound knowledge of the world, and great tact in the government of their dominions, no two parents ever acted more unwisely in the direc

tion of their children. Robert, the eldest born, whilst yet a child, had been associated with his mother, as regent, in the government of Normandy. Thus at an early age he had been permitted to exercise the intoxicating powers of royalty. He was the idol of Matilda, who seems to have regarded him with an excess of affection; for it rendered her blind not only to his follies, but his unnatural disobedience to his father, whose equally unjust preference for his favorite son, William Rufus, strengthened-if it did not create-the feeling of hatred which existed between the two princes.

Robert was brave, impetuous, and generous-the idol of the Normans, who, during the absence of his father in England, had accustomed themselves to regard him as their sovereign. He felt humiliated, therefore, when his father, on his return, resumed the reins of sovereignty in his own hands, and he was reduced to act the part of a subject. It appears that William had frequently promised to resign Normandy in his favor. He had also a more serious cause of quarrel with his parent.

Whilst yet a child, he had espoused the infant heiress of the last Earl of Maine. The countess died whilst yet an infant; and her ambitious father-in-law immediately annexed her territories to his own domains.

When his son arrived at age, he naturally expected to be put in possession of the dower of his wife; but William kept possession, notwithstanding the remonstrance of Robert, and the demand of the nobles of Maine, who wished to have him for their earl.

William Rufus, the third son of William and Matilda, was as crafty and politic as his elder brother seems to have been impetuous and frank. He studied his father's humor in everything. There is little doubt that even at an early age he meditated supplanting Robert, not only in the duchy of Normandy, but in the more important sovereignty of England—which, having been won by the Conqueror by his sword, he, with some show of justice, claimed the right of disposing of at his pleasure, which he eventually did, in favor of Rufus.

In the year 1076, whilst William was holding his court at the

Castle of the Eagle, so called from its almost inaccessible situation, Robert received an affront, which led to an open rupture with his family. His two younger brothers, William and Henry, to show their contempt for their elder brother, threw some water from one of the windows of the castle upon Robert's head, who was walking with several of his partisans, in the court-yard below. The fiery and impetuous prince, incensed at the insult, rushed into the building, and the consequence might have been fearful, had not the cries of the attendants alarmed the Conqueror, who made his appearance, just as Robert, sword in hand, had forced his way into the apartment which his brothers had vainly barricaded against him.

"What would you?" demanded the monarch, sternly. "Avenge an insult,” replied the prince.

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Upon your brothers!"

Upon any or all," exclaimed the young man, "who forget the respect due to the heir of England and Normandy! I have endured too long the studied slights of my brothers—the injustice of my father! It is time that I maintained the respect due to my blood and station!"

Again the impetuous speaker would have forced his way, but his father, in turn drawing his weapon, barred the passage; and Robert, with all his faults, was not the man to lift his sword against the person of his parent and his sovereign.

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"'Tis well, beausire," he said, sheathing his weapon, “I see you not only protect my enemies, but add insult to wrong!"

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Wrong!" repeated the Conqueror; "of what canst thou complain?"

"Of broken promises-of spoliation! Didst thou not pledge thyself to resign Normandy in my favor?"

"Son," said his father, gravely, "I do not divest myself of my clothing till I retire to bed!"

By this quaint reply, the speaker meant to intimate that he would hold possession both of England and his paternal inheri tance, till death rendered him no longer able to maintain them.

"And Maine," exclaimed the infuriated prince" the dower of