Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/433

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sickness that might drive him into the cloister. But the youth for a while cast aside his piety; he cast aside his learning; he gave himself to the thoughts and sports of the world; he even yielded to those temptations of the flesh which Wulfstan had withstood in the midst of his military exercises, and which Thomas withstood in the midst of his worldly business. But the love of his tender and pious mother kept him from wholly falling away. The yearning for a monastic life came upon him again, though his wishes were greatly opposed by his father. At last, in his twenty-fourth year, Anselm left his own land. After three years' sojourn in Burgundy and France, he reached Normandy, and, in the steps of Lanfranc, first took up his abode at Avranches. But Lanfranc was now at Bec. Thither Anselm, fully bent on the monastic calling, followed the great scholar. He had doubted for a while between Bec and Clugny. We shall hardly think the worse of him for his frank confession of human feelings. He doubted, because at Clugny his human learning would be of no use, while at Bec it would be overshadowed by that of Lanfranc. In the end, by the advice of Lanfranc him-*aut nulli prodesse,]*