case he would incur. He resolved not to outlive so great a dishonour, but determined to set up as his last rest, his crown and kingdom, and life withal.
He was so confident of victory that he offered the duke a sum of money if he would depart the kingdom, to save the effusion of blood. The Norman, not to be behind in vaunting, sent some monks with a message, requiring him to resign the kingdom, to hold it under homage of the duke, to submit their quarrel to the arbitration of the pope, or to try their cause in single combat. Harold replied that the God of battles would soon be the arbiter of all their differences .
Both armies now prepared themselves for the decision of the sword, but the two camps produced widely different scenes : the English passing the night in feasting and disorder, the Normans in silence and prayer and the other functions of religion. At break of day, the king and duke were ready in arms ; William encouraging his men by declaring to them the noble achievements of their ancestors, their own brave exploits under him ; by showing them the beauties and riches of the country by which they were surrounded, and which would fall to them as a reward for their valour ; that the whole fortune of the war depended on their swords, and would be decided that day whether they should conquer the kingdom at one blow, or by cowardice lose the chance that was now within their grasp ; an enraged enemy hung upon their rear, the sea met them in their retreat, and an ignominious death would be the reward of their ignoble valour ; that, by collecting so great a host, the flower of France, he had assured every human means of conquest, and the commander of the enemy, by his criminal conduct, had given him just cause to hope for the favour of the Almighty, in whose hands alone lay the events of wars and battles ; and that a perjured usurper, anathematised by the sovereign -
