Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/570

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forth from the crowd and knelt at the feet of Anselm, with the words, "Father and lord, through me your suppliant children pray you not to let your heart be troubled at what you have heard; remember how the blessed Job vanquished the devil on his dunghill, and avenged Adam whom he had vanquished in paradise." Anselm received his words with a pleased and cheerful look; for he now knew that the heart of the people was with him. And his true companions rejoiced also, and grew calmer in their minds, knowing the scripture—so our guide tells us—that the voice of the people is the voice of God. While a native English heart was thus carried back to the feelings of bygone times, the voice of the stranger King, to whom God was as a personal enemy, was speaking in another tone. His hopes had utterly broken down; his loyal bishops had made promises to him which they had been unable to fulfil. When he heard how popular feeling was turning towards Anselm, he was angered beyond measure, to the very rending asunder of his soul. He turned to his bishops in wrath. "What is this? Did you not promise that you would deal with him altogether according to my will, that you would judge him, that you would condemn him?" The boasted wisdom, the very flow of speech, of their leader the Bishop of Durham now failed him; he spoke as one from whom
 * —we should gladly know his name and race and dwelling-place—stepped

already; see above, p. 397.]
 * [Footnote: pro eo loqui audebat ob metum tyranni." We have had the word "tyrannis"