Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/459

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drag him nearer to the King. The bishops at last succeeded in drawing him apart from the crowd, and began to argue with him more quietly. They warned him not to withstand the will of God, or to refuse the work to which he was called. He saw that Christianity had almost died out in England; everything had fallen into confusion; every abomination was rife. One bolder voice—was it the voice of English Wulfstan or of Norman Gundulf?—added words such as are not often uttered in the chamber of a king, and which even then perhaps were not meant to reach kingly ears. "By the tyranny of that man" —pointing to the sick king on his bed—"we and the churches which we ought to rule have fallen into danger of eternal death; wilt thou, when thou canst help us, scorn our petition?" The appeal went on; Anselm was told how the church of Canterbury, in whose oppression all were oppressed, called to him to raise up her and them; could he, casting aside all thought for her freedom, all thought for the help of his brethren, refuse to share their work, and seek only his own ease? Anselm pleaded at length; he was old; he was unused to worldly affairs. He prayed to be allowed to abide in the peaceful calling which he loved. The bishops all the more called on him to take the rule over them which was offered to him; let him guide them in the way of God; let him pray to God for them, and they would manage all worldly affairs for him. He then pleaded that he was the subject of another realm; he owed obedience to his own prince, to his own archbishop; he could not cast off his duty to them without