Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/161

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judgement which has just been pronounced is false and unjust.[1] Hugh of Beaumont is driven to a retort; "I and my companions are ready to confirm our judgement in this court." The Bishop again declares that he will enter into no pleadings in that court. Let him speak never so well, his words are perverted by the King's partisans. They have no respect for the apostolic authority, and, even after he has made his appeal, they load him with an unjust judgement. He will go to Rome to seek the help of God and of Saint Peter.[2]

Speeches of the King. Up to this time the King has taken only a secondary part in the lively dispute which has been going on in his presence. We have listened chiefly to the pithy sayings of Lanfranc and to the official utterances of Hugh of Beaumont. But now Rufus himself steps in as a chief speaker, and that certainly in a characteristic strain. His patience had borne a good deal, but it was now beginning to give way. The King's short and pointed sentences, uttered, we must remember, with a fierce look and a stammering tongue, are a marked contrast to the long-turned periods and legal subtleties of the Bishop. He now steps into the dispute from a very practical side; "My will is that you give me up your castle, as you will not abide by the sentence of my court."[3] More distinctions, more protests, more appeals to Rome, only stir up the Red King to the use of his familiar oath;

  1. ↑ Mon. Ang. u. s. "In omni loco in quo non violentia sed justitia dominetur, de scelere et perjurio me purgare paratus sum, et hoc quod hic pro judicio recitasti in Romana ecclesia falsum et injuste dictum esse monstrabo."
  2. ↑ Ib. "In curia ista nullum ad præsens placitum subintrabo, quia nihil ibi tam bene dicerem quin fautores regis depravando perverterent, qui ipsam et non reverentes apostolicam auctoritatem post ejus appellationem me judicio non legali gravant, sed Dei et Sancti Petri postulans auxilium Romam vadam."
  3. ↑ Ib. "Tunc rex ait, 'Modo volo ut castellum tuum mihi reddas, quoniam judicium meæ curiæ non sequeris.'"
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