were, by her own particular desire, in-• terred in tho abbey of Bee, before the altar of tbe Virgin, where a tomb, richly adorned with silver, erected to her memory by the filial affection of her son, King Henry the Second, bore a Lutin epitaph, of which the following is a translation :— " Ry father much, spouse more, but son most blest, Here Henry's mother, daughter, wife, doth rest."* CHAPTER IV. Rejoicings of Matilda and Stephen at their success—Matilda founds the hospital of St. Katherine, and the abbeys of Coggeshall and St. Saviour, at Feversham—Her health declines—Henry Flantagenet visits his uncle, King David of Scotland— Death of Matilda—Burial—Her children—Stephen endeavours to procure the coronation of his son Eustace—Henry Flantagenet lands in England—Terms of peace — Lamentable death of Eustace—William, Earl of Boulogne—Mary, the nun— Her elevation to the abbacy of Rumsey—Her forced marriage wiih the Earl of Flanders—She retires to the nunnery of Austrcbert, and dies—Death and burial of Stephen—His body exhumed. ο the history of M a tilda of Boulogne and her lord, Ste phen. On the de parture of the Do mina, in 1147, the restoration of the long-desired publie peace was celebrated throughout the land with great rejoicings. Stephen and his consort, no less elated than their subjects at the bright prospects of the future, kept their Christmas at Lincoln with extraordinary magnificence. AH tho powerful prelates and barons were invited to court, and entertained with great pomp and ceremony. Stephen, in tho pride of his heart, believed himself again monarch of England, and although there was a prediction then abroad that direful misfortunes would befal the king who dared to appear crowned in that city, he could not resist the temptation of wearing the diadem and robes of royalty at public mass. He even endeavoured to obtain the coronation of his son Eustace, as his successor, but in this he signally failed, as most of the barons declared they would not swear fealty to any one as heir to the crown whilst matters were yet so unsettled. In 1148, Queen Matilda founded and richly endowed the hospital and church of St. Katherine, near the Tower, for the repose of the souls of her two departccf infants, Baldwin and Maud. In 1853 was discovered, beneath the house at the south-cast corner of Leadenhall Street, and directly opposite Aidgate Bump, the remains of l i St. Michael next Aldgate," a chapel built about the year 1108, by Norman, prior of St. Katherine, and of the Holy Trinity, and which was subsequently connected by an arched passage with the church of St. Katherine. Queen Matilda also founded the abbey of Coggeshall, as a testimony of grati * It has been asserted by some historians that, the Empress Matilda was crowned Queen of England; but this is a mistake, as her downfall occurred whilst preparations were yet being made for her coronation in Westminster Abbey. William of Malmesbury, the paid historian of her unflinching partisan, Karl Robert of Gloucester, expressly declares that she never was crowned nor styled Queen of England. On the broad seal which she used during her short exaltation at Winchester, although she bears a sceptre in her hand and a crown on her brow, the inscription is simply—" Romanomni Regina Macthildis,"— which renders it highly probable that the suai was struck for her use as Empress of Germany. Besides, it cannot be presumed for a moment that so haughty a personage as the Empress would have assumed the royal reins without styling herself on her great seal " Queen Regnant of England."