Chancellor CAMEOXIX. found it, became much attached to his gallant Chancellor, and not only sought his advice in the regulation of England after its long troubles, but when business was done, they used to play together like two schoolboys. It must have been a curious scene in the hall of Chancellor Becket, when, at the daily meal, earls and barons sat round his table, and knights and nobles crowded so thickly at the others that the benches were not sufficient, and the floor was daily strewn with hay or straw in winter, or in summer with green boughs, that those who sat on it might not soil their robes. Gold and silver dishes, and goblets, and the richest wines, were provided, and the choicest, most costly viands were purchased at any price by his servants for these entertainments: they once gave a hundred shillings for a dish of eels. But the Chancellor seldom touched these delicacies, living on the plainest fare, as he sat in his place as the host, answering the pledges of his guests, amusing them with his converse, and providing minstrelsy and sports of all kinds for their recreation. Often the King would ride into the hall, in the midst of the gay crowd seated on the floor, throw himself off his horse, leap over the table, and join in the mirth. These rich feasts afforded afterwards plentiful alms for the poor, who were never forgotten in the height of Becket's magnificence, and the widow and the oppressed never failed to find a protector in the Chancellor. His house was full of young squires and pages, the sons of the nobility, who placed them there as the best school of knighthood; and among them was the King's own son, Henry, who had been made his pupil. The king seems to have been apt to laugh at Becket for his strict life and overflowing charity. One very cold day, as they were riding, they met an old man in a thin ragged coat. 66 'Poor old man!" said Henry, "would it not be a charity to give him a good warm cloak?" "It would indeed," said Becket; "you had better keep the matter in mind." "No, no, it is you that shall have the credit of this great act of charity," said Henry, laughing. "Ha! old man, should you not like this nice warm cloak?" and with those words he began to pull at the scarlet and grey mantle which the Chancellor wore. Becket struggled for it, and in this rough sport they were both nearly pulled off their horses, till the clasp gave way, and the King triumphantly tossed his prize to the astonished old man. The Chancellor was in the habit of daily giving more costly gifts than these both to rich and poor, gold and silver robes and jewels, fine armour and horses, hawks and hounds, even fine new ships were bestowed by him, from the wealth of the old merchant Gilbert, as well as from the revenues of his archdeaconry and of several other benefices, which the lax opinions of his time caused him to think no shame to keep in his own hands. Becket's We cannot call Thomas à Becket by any means a perfect character; CAMEOXIX. but thoroughly conscientious he must ever have been, and very selfdenying, keeping himself pure from every stain in the midst of the Splendour. court, and guarding himself by strict discipline. He was found to be in the habit of sleeping on the bare boards beside his rich bed, and in secret he wore sackcloth, and submitted to the lash of penance. His uprightness and incorruptibility as a judge, his wisdom in administering the affairs of state, and his skill in restoring peace to England, made the reign of Henry Plantaganet a relief indeed to his subjects. In almost every respect he lived like a layman. He hunted and hawked, and was found fault with by the Prior of Leicester for wearing a cape with sleeves, which it seems was an unclerical garment. The prior said it was more unsuitable in one who held so many ecclesiastical preferments, and was likely to become Archbishop of Canterbury. To this Thomas answered: "I know three poor priests, each of whom I would rather see Archbishop than myself. If I had that rank, I know full well I must either lose the King's favour, or set aside my duty to God." When Henry went to war with France respecting the inheritance of Eleanor of Aquitaine, his wife, his Chancellor brought to his aid seven hundred knights of his own household, besides twelve hundred in his pay, and four thousand foot soldiers. He fed the knights themselves at his own table, and paid them each three shillings a day for the support of their squires and horses; and he himself commanded them, wearing armour, and riding at their head. He kept them together by the sound of a long slender trumpet, such as was then used only by his own band; and in combat he showed himself strong and dexterous in the use of lance and sword, winning great admiration and respect even from the enemy. Henry resolved to come to a treaty, and to seal it by asking the King of France, Louis le Jeune, to give his daughter Margaret in marriage to Henry, the heir of England. Becket was sent on this embassy, and the splendour of his equipment was such as might become its importance. Two hundred men on horseback, in armour or gay robes, were his immediate followers, and with them came eight waggons, each drawn by five horses, a groom walking beside each horse, and a driver and guard to every waggon, besides a large fierce dog chained beneath each. The waggons carried provisions and garments, and furniture for the night two were filled with ale for the French, who much admired that English liquor; another was fitted up as a kitchen, and another for a chapel. There were twelve sumpter horses carrying smaller articles, and on the back of each of these sat a long-tailed ape! Dogs and hawks, with their attendants, accompanied the procession, the whole marshalled in regular order, and the men singing as they went; and the impression on the minds of all beholders was, "If such was the Chancellor, what must be the King?" CAMEOXIX. Becket At Paris all these riches were given away, and so resolved was Becket to keep up his character for munificence, that he did not choose to be Archbishop. maintained at the expense of the French king; and when Louis, wishing to force him into being his guest, sent orders to the markets round to sell nothing to the English Chancellor, his attendants disguised themselves, and bought up all the provisions in the neighbourhood. King Louis acquired a great esteem and admiration for the Chancellor, and willingly granted his request, betrothing Margaret, who was only seven years old, to Prince Henry. She, as well as her little husband, became Becket's pupils, by desire of King Henry, and she, at least, never seems to have lost her attachment to him. The time Becket dreaded came. The good old peaceable Archbishop Theobald died in 1162, and Henry, who was then at Falaise, ordered his Chancellor to England, ostensibly to settle a disturbance in the western counties, but in reality, as he declared in a private interview, that he might be elected to the primacy. If Becket smiled, and pointing to his gay robes, said, “You are choosing a pretty dress to figure at the head of your monks of Canterbury. you do as you say, my lord, you will soon hate me as much as you love me now, for you assume an authority in Church affairs to which I shall not consent, and there will be plenty of persons to stir up strife between us. Henry did not heed the warning, and King, Bishops, and the Chapter of Canterbury unanimously chose Becket as Archbishop, with only one reluctant voice, that of Gilbert Foliot, Bishop of London, who expected the same promotion himself. On Whit-Sunday Thomas received priest's orders, and shortly after was consecrated Bishop by Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester, and brother of King Stephen. John of Salisbury, a priest of Becket's household, and his intimate friend, was sent to Rome to ask for the pallium, and bringing it home, laid it on the altar of Canterbury Cathedral, whence the Archbishop took it up. The magnificent Archdeacon was expected by King Henry to lead the same life when Archbishop, and thus to secularize the Church. But Henry had mistaken his man. Clever and clear-sighted as the King was, seven years of transacting business together and of familiar intercourse with the frank-hearted, free-spoken Thomas à Becket had failed to make him conscious of the inner life and deep devotion, the mortification and uncompromising sense of duty, that was the true spring of his actions. It was no secret-Becket avowed it from the first-the King only did not see it, because he could not understand it. Becket had too high an idea of the office of a bishop to unite the care of state affairs with it, and he at once resigned the chancellorship. Outwardly there was not much difference—he still kept a magnificent table, and entertained nobles and knights at his banquets; but his selfdiscipline was secretly carried to a far greater extent than before. He touched the wine-cup with his lips, to do honour to his guests, but his drink was water in which hay had been boiled; and though costly meats were placed before him, he hardly tasted them, and his chief food CAMEOXIX. was bread. He doubled all the gifts that Archbishop Theobald had Becket's been wont to make to the poor convents and hospitals, and gave very humility. large alms. Every day he washed the feet of thirteen beggars, then fed them, and gave them each four shillings. This was in fact considered, as a religious duty, almost an obligation on certain occasions. It is a ceremony still performed by the Pope at Passion-tide; and Queen Elizabeth herself used to do so on Maundy Thursday. The gifts now distributed by the Queen on that day are a relic of the custom. Archbishop Becket, when at Canterbury, often visited the cloisters, where he sat reading among the monks; and he often went to see and console the sick or infirm brethren, who were unable to leave their cells. He was much loved and respected by those who knew him best; but the nobles, who had usurped lands belonging to his see, dreaded his maintenance of his rights, and hoped for disagreements between him and the King, especially one Randolf de Broc, who wrongfully held the castle of Saltwood, near Canterbury. However, at the first meeting all was smooth. On the return of the court the Archbishop brought his pupil, Prince Henry, to meet his father at Southampton, and was received with great affection—the King embraced him eagerly, and spent much time apart with him, discussing all that had taken place in his absence. CAMEO XX. Benefit of THE strife between the Crown and the Mitre was not long in breaking out again. The former strife had been on the matter of investiture, the strife of the twelfth century was respecting jurisdiction. We sometimes hear the expression "without benefit of clergy," and the readers of the "Lay of the Last Minstrel" cannot have forgotten William of Deloraine's declaration, "Letter or line know I never a one, Were't my neck-verse at Harribee." These are witnesses of the combat between Henry II. and Thomas à Becket. The Church, as bearing the message of peace, claimed to be exempt from the sword of the state. Her sacred buildings protected the criminal, the inhabitants of her lands were spared in war, and offences committed either by an ecclesiastic or against one were not liable to be punished by the temporal power. This protection was extended not only over actually ordained clergymen, but all who held any office in connexion with ecclesiastical affairs; all students, nay, all who were clerks enough to read and write. Thus the wild Borderers, when made prisoners, escaped the halter by pretending to read a verse of the Miserere, which they had learnt by heart in case of such an emergency, and called their neck-verse; and "without benefit of clergy was added to new laws to prevent education from exempting persons from their power. But this arose long after the battle had been fought and won; and it is not to be supposed that the Church left offenders unpunished. Imprisonment, loss of rank, and penance fell heavily on them, and it was only very hardened and desperate men who would die under excommunication rather than endure all that was required before they could be reconciled to the Church. Henry II. had found the course of justice seriously impeded by these privileges of the clergy, and convoking a council at Westminster, in 1163, called on the bishops to consent that as soon as a clerk should be |