Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/657

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William of Warelwast at Dover.

Anselm crosses to Whitsand. his old mind, to the spirit of petty insult and petty gain. The King's obedient clerk, William of Warelwast, one day to be the builder of the twin towers of Exeter, was there already. For fifteen days Anselm and his companions were kept at Dover, waiting for a favourable wind. Meanwhile William of Warelwast went in and out with Anselm; he ate at his table, and said not a word of the purpose which had brought him.[1] On the fifteenth day the wind changed, and the sailors urged the Archbishop's party to cross at once. When they were on the shore ready to start, William stopped the Archbishop as if he had been a runaway slave or a criminal escaping from justice,[2] and in the King's name forbade him to cross, till he had declared everything that he had in his baggage. In hope of finding money, all Anselm's bags and trunks were opened and ransacked, in the sight of a vast crowd that stood by wondering at so unheard of a deed, and cursing those who did it.[3] The bags were opened and ransacked in vain. Nothing was found that the King's faithful clerk thought worth his master's taking. The Archbishop, with Baldwin and Eadmer, was then allowed to set sail, and they landed safely at Whitsand.

The archbishopric seized by the King. As soon as the King heard that Anselm was out of the kingdom, he did as he had said that he would do; he again seized all the estates of the archbishopric into his own hands. This was only what was to be looked for; it was fully in accordance with the doctrines of Flambard, and better kings than William Rufus would

  1. ↑ Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 41. "In qua mora idem Willielmus, cum patre intrans et exiens et in mensa illius quotidie comedens, nihil de causa pro qua missus fuerat agere volebat."
  2. ↑ Ib. "Patrem patriæ, primatem totius Britanniæ, Willielmus ille, quasi fugitivum vel alicujus immanis sceleris reum, in littore detinuit."
  3. ↑ Ib. "Ingenti plebis multitudine circumstante ac nefarium opus, pro sui novitate, admirando spectante et spectando exsecrante."
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