compensate them out of the spoils that he could secure their co-
operation. A list of the number of ships supplied by each Norman
chieftain appears in Lord Lyttleton's "History of Henry III." vol.
i., appendix.

I need hardly remind you that the settlers in Normandy were from
Norway, or that they had been expelled from their native land in
consequence of their efforts to subvert its institutions, and to
make the descent of land hereditary, instead of being divisible
among all the sons of the former owner. Nor need I relate how they
won and held the fair provinces of northern France--whether as a
fief of the French Crown or not, is an open question. But I should
wish you to bear in mind their affinity to the ANGLO-SAXONs, to the
Danes, and to the Norwegians, the family of Sea Robbers, whose
ravages extended along the coasts of Europe as far south as
Gibraltar, and, as some allege, along the Mediterranean. Some
questions have been raised as to the means of transport of the
Saxons, the Jutes, and the Angles, but they were fully as extensive
as those by which Rollo invaded France or William invaded England.

William strengthened his claim to the throne by his military
success, and by a form of election, for which there were many
previous precedents. Those who called upon him to ascend it alleged
"that they had always been ruled by legal power, and desired to
follow in that respect the example of their ancestors, and they
knew of no one more worthy than himself to hold the reins of
government."

His alleged title to the crown, sanctioned by success and confirmed
by election, enabled him, in conformity with existing institutions,