Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/649

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reason for the course which he is taking, and they will then give him their counsel in God's name. The three bishops chose first to confer with their brethren; Walkelin and Robert were then sent in to the King, and the whole body of bishops came once more to Anselm. We now see the portrait of the prelates of the Red King's day, as it is drawn by their own spokesman. Anselm they knew to be a devout and holy man who had his conversation in heaven. But they were hindered by the kinsfolk whom they sustained, by the manifold affairs of the world which they loved; they could not rise to the loftiness of Anselm's life or trample on this world as he did. But if he would come down to them, and would walk in their way, then they would consult for him as they would consult for themselves, and would help him in his affairs as if they were their own. If he would persist in standing alone and referring everything to God, they would not go beyond the fealty which they owed to the King. This was plain speaking enough; the doctrine of interest against right has seldom, even in these later times, been more openly set forth. One would think that the bishops simply meant to strengthen Anselm's fixed purpose; they could not hope to move him with arguments which certainly did not do justice to their own case. Anselm's scholastic training always enabled him to seize an advantage in argument. "You have spoken well," he answered; "go to your lord; I