Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/616

 *



the King had brought the name of Legate, and of Rome itself, into discredit. Jeronto was therefore trusted with a commission to make an appeal to William, such as Walter had clearly never made, about the evils which were allowed to go on under his government. Of the two branches of this commission one prospered better than the other. At first, we are told, the Abbot's righteous boldness and plainness of speech seemed to have made an effect on the King, while it raised general hopes of reform among the nation. But the King or his counsellors knew how to deal, if not with Abbot Jeronto, at least with those in greater authority. He had, so the story runs, sent a messenger of his own to the Pope—most likely during his sojourn in northern Gaul, of which we shall hear again—carrying with him the weighty argument of ten marks of the purest gold. Trusting to this means of gaining his end, the King kept the Abbot of Dijon with him, till the Easter of the next year. By that time the King's messenger came back, bringing with him a commissioner from the Pope, a layman, the sister's son of Urban, by whose word of mouth it would seem the Abbot's commission was cancelled and all questions were adjourned till the next Christmas. When the next