and Richard de Lucy, Justiciary of England, declared him free to God, and to holy church, from all receipts and computations, and from every secular exaction on the part of the Lord King. Farther, he refused to plead.

The King, on this answer being brought to him, demanded that instant justice should be done on Becket, his liegeman, who refused to recognize the authority of his court. The Bishops, however, moved by the menaces which Becket had addressed to them in the morning, besought the King's permission to absent themselves from the judgment against the Primate, on the condition of their appealing in their clerical capacity to the Pope against him, and soliciting his deposition. Although they were bound by the laws of the land, and by the various feudal estates which they held, to attend the judgment of the king's court, Henry weakly gave way to their request; and they went out to announce to Becket their solemn appeal to the supreme pontiff.

The laudatory historians of Becket declare that the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Exeter preceded the other prelates in their retreat from the hall, the one telling his clerks to follow, that they might not see the effusion of blood, and the other informing Becket that the King had threatened to put the first man to death who should speak in his favour. But this statement is quite contrary to more impartial and reasonable accounts.

There could not be the slightest fear of effusion of blood in the King's presence; such a thing had never taken place even in the most turbulent times of Stephen, or during the tyrannical reign of Rufus. All that the King demanded was, that the Archbishop should give an account of certain sums received, or be tried for contumacy in refusing it; and these tales of his personal danger at this time were evidently manufactured afterwards to give an excuse for Becket's conduct. At length the great body of the Bishops appeared, and the Bishop of Chichester, acting as speaker for the rest, thus addressed the Archbishop.

"You were formerly our Primate, and we were bound to obey you; but because you have taken the oath of fealty to our Lord the King, that is to say, an oath to preserve, in the utmost in your power, his life, limbs, and royal dignity, and to keep his statutes, which he requires to be maintained, and because you do now nevertheless endeavour to destroy them, especially those which immediately concern his dignity and honour, we therefore declare you guilty of perjury, and henceforth own no obedience to a perjured Archbishop, and putting ourselves and all that appertains to us under the protection of the Pope, cite you to his presence, there to answer these charges."

It would appear that this solemn condemnation of his conduct by his episcopal brethren took Becket by surprise, and for a moment overwhelmed

him. His only reply was, "I hear what you say,' and the Bishops seating themselves on the other side of the hall, the whole body remained in expectant silence for the result of those proceedings which they knew were taking place within. In a few minutes, the doors opened again, and the Earls of Cornwall and Leicester, appearing, addressed the Primate, once more commanding him to come before the King, and ending "Or otherwise hear

your sentence."

Here Becket interrupted the speaker, having recovered his presence of mind, and prepared himself to act vigorously.

"My sentence!" he exclaimed, starting up. "Nay, my son, the Earl, first hear you me! You well know how faithfully I have served the king in the matters of this world, on account of which he was pleased to raise me to the archbishopric of Canterbury-God knows much against my will!"

* I have combined the account of Hoveden with that of other writers, thinking it probable that the King did send a summons to Becket from the inner chamber, where he himself was sitting, to the hall in which the Archbishop had remained, before he called upon the Peers to pronounce any judgment at all. That the summons was repeated by the Earl of Leicester before he proceeded to announce the sentence after it was given, is proved by the concurrent testimony of many. It will be seen, however, that I have rejected almost entirely the authority of Fitzstephen, whose testimony, if he had been unbiassed, would have been invaluable, but whose determination to elevate Becket in the eyes of his readers, often reaches the burlesque.

He then went on to repeat what he had said regarding the declaration of the Justiciary and Prince Henry at his consecration, and ended by the following extraordinary declaration: "Attend, my son, to what I say. Inasmuch as the soul is more worthy than the body, so are you more strictly bound to obey God and me, than any earthly king. Neither does justice or reason permit children to judge and condemn their fathers ; therefore I do not own the judgment of the King, of yourself, or of all the other peers of the realm, being only to be judged, under God, by our Lord the Pope. To him, before you all, I here appeal, leaving the church of Canterbury, my order, dignity, and all things appertaining to it, to his protection, and to God's. Moreover, I cite you, my brethren, the Bishops, because you obey man rather than God, to the presence and judgment of the supreme Pontiff; and relying upon the authority of the Church and the Holy See, I depart from this place."

Thus saying, he rose to go forth; and the hall being filled with a vast number of Henry's nobles, as well as with many of the inferior clergy, a great noise was made, and the Archbishop was assailed with gross and threatening language. Some called him perjured traitor, and some offered him. other insulting names, which roused the proud and irritable spirit within him; and turning round, he reviled his enemies in turn with the foulest and most disgraceful language. He declared, in

the first place, that if his ecclesiastical station did not prohibit it, he would repel the charge in arms; and then singling out two of the most conspicuous of his adversaries he accused the one of having had a relation who was hanged, and calling the other a bastard, accused him of a monstrous and horrible offence.

In this manner the future Saint made his way out of the hall, amidst evident marks of hatred and derision on the part of those within it. On coming to the outer gates, however, he found them locked and the porter absent, and it is probable, as the judgment of the Court was that he should be taken and imprisoned, he would have been arrested in this situation, had not one of his attendants observed the keys hanging near, and given him egress. The mob which was round the door, and which consisted principally, it would seem, of the very lowest classes, with a few of the inferior clergy, received him with shouts and congratulations, and thus conducted him home; and the King, to whom his conduct was represented with much anger by the Barons, became alarmed lest the nobles should carry their indignation to too great a length, and published a proclamation forbidding all persons on pain of death to do any injury to the Primate or his retainers.

This was a very wise and prudent measure, for it deprived Becket of any real cause for apprehension. That prelate, however, as I have shown,