Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/650

 will cleave to God." They did as he bade them; they went, and Anselm was left almost alone; the few friends who clave to him sat apart at his bidding, and prayed to God to bring the matter to a good ending.

In all these debates it is the bishops who play the worst part. They seem to say in calm earnest the same kind of things which the King said in wrath or in jest. After a short delay, they come back, accompanied by some lay barons, and the tone of their discourse is at once raised. Anselm has no longer the laity on his side, as he had at Rockingham; nor can we wonder at the change. The speech which is now made is harsh, perhaps captious; but at all events the stand is now taken on direct legal grounds, no longer on the base motives confessed to by the bishops. The King sent word that Anselm had troubled him, embittered him, tortured him, by his complaints. The Archbishop is reminded that, after the suit at Rockingham and the reconciliation which followed at Windsor—a reconciliation which is now attributed to the earnest prayers of Anselm's friends —he had sworn to obey the laws and customs of the realm, and to defend them against all men. After this promise the King had believed that Anselm would give him no more trouble.