2. The Isle of Wight lies, as it were, in the highway of intercourse between England and France; and in Norman times, when England was ruled by the Dukes of Normandy, and these rulers and their nobles were continually passing to and fro between France and England, the importance of this island must have been very great. We are therefore not surprised to find that Carisbrook Castle comes prominently into notice in the history of William the Conqueror, as the following story will show. 3. When William returned to France, after his conquest of England, he left his half-brother Odo in high authority in this country. But Odo behaved very cruelly to the English, and the consequence was that they broke out into rebellion. William therefore returned and restored order; but the measures he took for restraining Odo and the other Norman barons from repeating their conduct as soon as he was again gone away to Normandy, made them very angry, and they were no sooner free from his presence than they began to plot against him. 4. The King had lately given to Odo some large estates in Kent; indeed, Odo was Earl of Kent as well as Bishop of Bayeux, and was thus as much a warrior as a priest, for in those times all who held lands of the King did so on the condition that they followed him in his wars. Taking advantage of William's absence, Odo now collected together as many of the lawless and discontented barons as he could, and lodged them in Carisbrook Castle and other places in the Isle of Wight. Before his plans were completed, however, the King suddenly appeared at Carisbrook, and demanded of Odo an explanation of his proceedings. 5. Though Odo must have been surprised, and perhaps ashamed, he did not lose his courage nor his haughty spirit, but bore himself proudly and defiantly. After severely reproaching him, the King ordered the guards to arrest him. Such, however, was their dread of offending the Pope by laying hands upon a bishop, and such also was the awe inspired by the character of Odo himself, that the guards hesitated to obey the commands of their King. Seeing this, William himself leaped up, seized his guilty brother, and handed him over to the guards. He was sent away into Normandy, and there, in the gloom of a dungeon, he had leisure to meditate on the deeds of an evil life. 6. Nearly six hundred years later, Charles I., then a boy and not yet King, might have been seen playing about in the grounds that surround the Castle of Carisbrook; and in the year 1648, when he had lost his army and his friends in his war with the Parliament, he came here a fugitive, and placed himself in the hands of Colonel Hammond, the Governor of the Castle. He was at first treated rather as a guest than a prisoner, and from here he carried on an open correspondence with the Parliament, and a secret one with the Scots. 7. At this time the army which the Parliament had raised for its struggle with the King was under the influence of Oliver Cromwell and its other officers, and had set itself to bring Charles to death. But the Parliament was not willing to sanction such a proceeding, and the consequence was that many of its members went over to the King's side, and of the rest there were not a few who wished to disband the army and destroy the power of Cromwell and his friends. 8. But the men who formed Cromwell's army were not to be daunted with difficulties, nor did they shrink from dangers. They had to contend with the friends of the King and the more moderate of those who had formerly been opposed to him; the Scots also were threatening to march an army against them. It is therefore probable that if Charles had been quick and decided in making terms with the Parliament, and liberal in his offers to the Scots, he might have succeeded in regaining his power; but while he was wasting day after day, Cromwell and his friends were quickly beating down all opposition. What a contrast is there between the strong-minded William of Normandy, dealing a rapid blow at a rebellion here in this very castle, and the weak, unstable Charles, foolishly dreaming while his enemy is acting! 9. Having beaten the Scots and routed the King's friends in England, Cromwell and the army determined to get the King into their power and put him to death. Colonel Hammond was suspected of being inclined to favour Charles; it was therefore decided to send a troop of soldiers and take the King away. This was done. One dark December night he was roused from sleep, and was hurried away to Hurst Castle, in Hampshire. Soon after this, he was put upon his trial, was condemned, and was executed in London January 30, 1649. [TO CARVE OUT DIALS QUAINTLY, POINT BY POINT.] O GOD! methinks it were a happy life, To carve out dials quaintly, point by point, 'Swain, peasant, countryman. How many years a mortal man may live. 10. When this is known, then to divide the times, So many hours1 must I tend my flock; So many days my ewes have been with young; To kings, that fear their subjects' treachery? O, yes, it doth; a thousand fold it doth. And to conclude,--the shepherd's homely curds, His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle, His wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade, 30. All which secure and sweetly he enjoys, Is far beyond a prince's delicates, His viands sparkling in a golden cup, His body couchèd in a curious bed, When care, mistrust, and treason wait on him. SHAKESPEARE'S Henry VI. 1 Hours, must be pronounced here as a dissyllable. Many other monosyllables ending in r or re, preceded by a long vowel or diphthong, are similarly pronounced in Shakespeare; e.g. dear, fire, fear, four, your. 2 Poor fools, used here as a term of endearment. 3 Yean (spelt also ean), to bring forth their young. 4 Silly, harmless, innocent. Not used in our sense of foolish. |