Wymeswold, Leicestershire.
_Henry of Huntingdon's "Letter to Walter."_--Mr. Forester (Bohn's
_Antiquarian Library_) decides, in opposition to Wharton and Hardy, that
this epistle was written in 1135, during the lifetime of Henry I., and
there can be no doubt that the passage he quotes bears him out in this; but
it is not less certain that, whether owing to the death of the friend to
whom the letter was addressed, or from a wholesome fear of the resentment
of that king who is so roughly handled in it, the publication was deferred
long enough for the author to reinforce by a few "modern instances" of more
recent date, the "wise saws" which are so plentifully diffused through it:
for instance, at p. 313. he mentions the death of Louis VI. of France,
which occurred 1st August, 1137, twenty months after the death of Henry.
And it is probable that a closer search than I have the means of making,
would reveal other instances of a like nature, though this is sufficient by
itself.
After all, is it not possible that the worthy archdeacon (like Bolingbroke
at a future day) may have antedated his letter to give himself an air of
boldness and independence beyond what he really possessed? This would
account not only for the references to later occurrences, but for the
accurate fulfilment of the prophecy which he quotes about the duration of
the reign of Henry I.