whose placid hours were divided between devotion, study, labours in the hayfield, and deeds of love; if it were true that, out of mere "insatiable" malice, without any new incitement, he heaped affliction after affliction on this meek recluse, and at last forced the brotherhood which had sheltered him to turn him out of doors. But when the case is stated in its real form and order; when it is considered that Becket had put the crown to a long course of the most vexatious conduct by pronouncing the highest censures of the Church on his Sovereign's advisers, by menacing the King himself with excommunication and his dominions with an interdict, by anathematizing his laws and releasing his subjects from their pledge to observe them; when we consider that the violence of these acts alienated from the Primate some of the English bishops who before were favourable to him, and provoked the Archbishop of Rouen ("that most firm pillar of the Church," as John of Salisbury styles him) to declare that "all his actions proceeded either from pride or passion;"" when we consider that Becket himself was so well aware of the extraordinary nature of his act that he did not venture to consult his most confidential friends on it, out of fear that their dissuasions might overpower his wisheswe cannot very greatly wonder that Henry should have

a Joh. Sarisb., i. 279, ed. Giles. | yet all this vails but little with John's advice to his master on this is significant "You must meet this opinion by a display of moderation, as well in your deeds and words as in your bearing and habit;

God unless it proceed from the secret chamber of your conscience." Rotrou's saying is also mentioned by Nicolas of Rouen, S. T. C., iv. 195.

taken the readiest means which occurred to him of retaliating in such measure as he could. To abstain from retaliation would have been the part of a character very different from a Norman King of England-from a prince or noble of that age; most assuredly it would have been the part of one very different from Becket himself. And if there seem to be something unworthy in the manner of the retaliation, even this may be in some degree palliated when we remember the circumstances of the case-that the Archbishop had fled from England, and that therefore it might very naturally be an object with Henry to make him feel that (as is somewhere said in the correspondence) "the King had long hands;" that even in a foreign territory, and under the protection of a foreign prince, a fugitive ecclesiastic was not altogether beyond his Sovereign's reach.

Having resolved on leaving Pontigny, the Archbishop held a consultation with his clerks as to his future course. Herbert of Bosham reminded him that the King of France, at their first interview, had offered to support him in any city of his dominions which he might choose, and the Archbishop, after some hesitation, was persuaded to take advantage of the offer. Herbert was therefore despatched to state the circumstances to the King, who, on hearing his story, broke forth into severe reflections on the Cistercians: "O religion! religion! whither art thou gone? Lo, those whom we supposed to be dead to the world are afraid of the world's threats; and for the perishable and fleeting things which they profess to have despised for God's sake, they cast out God's cause and him who is an exile for it!" Then,

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turning to the envoy, "Greet the Archbishop in my name,” he said, “and tell him that, although the world and those who seem dead to the world desert him, yet I will not. Let him name to us any place in our dominions where he would wish to settle, and he shall find it ready to receive him." A man whose worldly interest it was to support Becket might well be righteously indignant against those who followed their interest by getting rid of him. The Archbishop fixed on the Benedictine monastery of St. Columba, near the city of Sens, and Louis sent a nobleman with three hundred mounted followers to escort him.

It was about Martinmas that the Archbishop left Pontigny, amid the lamentations of the monks, who crowded about him, entreating his blessing, and could not be restrained, either by the abbot's commands or by the duties of the choir, from following him far beyond the precincts, in order to catch a last look of him, and to contend for his last benediction. The abbot accompanied him on his way, and, observing that he was sad (whereas, says Herbert, on a journey he was usually very free in talk, and a most cheerful companion), urged

Herb., vii. 238-241.

b The King's support was far from steady. John of Salisbury speaks as if it were cooling very early in the day (i. 194, ed. Giles), and, as to its generosity, we find from John of Poitiers, about the same time, that Louis wished to provide for the Archbishop out of the revenues of some vacant see, as to keep his own funds unim

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paired." S. T. C., vi. 250.

c Ludoy. ad Thom. ap. Foliot, Ep. 506. Garnier says that the King himself rode to Pontigny, and, after thanking the monks for their hospitality to Becket, announced his intention of receiving him at Sens (98). Diceto represents him as having personally conducted the Archbishop, 547. d Gervase, 1401.

him to tell the cause of his sorrow. After repeated entreaties, the Archbishop, under a promise of secrecy, said that he had been troubled by a vision during the night. He had found himself in a church, pleading his cause in the presence of the Roman conclave,-the Pope hearing him with favour, while the Cardinals, in the interest of King Henry, opposed him; when four knights entered, hurried him away, and cut off his tonsured crown. The abbot is said to have observed with a smile, "How should one who eats and drinks as you do be a martyr? The cup of wine which you drink accords ill with the cup of martyrdom." b And the Archbishop replied, "I own that I indulge too much in the pleasures of the body, yet, unworthy as I am, He who justifieth the ungodly hath vouchsafed to reveal this mystery to me." The vision is said to have been imparted, a few

a

а

Herb., vii. 244. We have already given a similar story from Grim, who places it earlier, and also tells us that one day at mass the Archbishop had a vision, in which it was said to him-" Thomas, Thomas, thou shalt glorify Me by thy death" (i. 64). Comp. Fitzst., i. 251, and Garnier, 100-1, who relates that the Archbishop had visions of judgments on Foliot and Hilary of Chichester; Foliot's flesh rotting and dropping to pieces. "The prophecy is fulfilled as to the Bishop of Chichester," says Garnier; "let him of London beware." Garnier also mentions some miracles done by Becket at Pontigny (94-5). A later legend represents the Archbishop as having prophesied that one of his

successors (Edmund, see above, p. 163) would recompense the monastery for its hospitality to him (S. T. C., ii. 300).

b "Quid esculento, temulento, et martyri?

'Non bene conveniunt, nec in una sede morantur'

calix vini quem potas, et calix martyrii."

c Will. Cant. ii. 18. Notwithstanding all that is said as to Becket's concealment of his austerities, and although the abbot's speech may be nothing more than a token of monastic narrowness, unable to conceive any sanctity or abstinence except after the very fashion of his own order, the accusation and the reply must strike us with some surprise.

days later, and under the same obligation to secrecy, to the abbot of Val-luisant, another Cistercian community; and both the depositaries of the secret are said to have faithfully kept it until after it had been verified by the event. This is not exactly in the manner of Scripture prophecy, where, although the meaning might not appear until after the fulfilment, there was never any concealment of the words.

Becket had scrupled to exchange his monastic solitude for the neighbourhood of a populous city; but to some of his companions, at least, the removal would seem to have been very welcome. Herbert is profuse in his admiration of the fertile soil and mild climate of Sens, and in his praises of the inhabitants for their politeness, their cultivation, hospitality, and sociable qualities. The Archbishop, Hugh, received him with honour, and after the death of this prelate, in February, 1168, Becket found in his successor, William, one of his warmest supporters; while all classes joined in doing honour to the guests whom the King had commended to them. The abbey of St. Columba, a virgin martyr of Sens, who is said to have suffered in the reign of the Emperor Aurelian, stands at some distance without the city, and, although little of the ancient buildings now remains, is still a religious house, being occupied by a sisterhood of nuns. On the south of it, the river Yonne

66.

с

d

a Herb. vii. 244; Bened. Petrib. | liam was brother-in-law of King

b vii. 242, 246.

c Gallia Christiana, xii. 50. d Fitzst., i. 252. See William's letters, Epp. Thom., 324, sqq. Wil

Louis, and nephew of Stephen of England. In 1176 he was translated to Rheims.

e See Butler's Lives of the Saints, Dec. 31.