e, the cause ought to be carried
before the king, that by his precept the suit might be terminated in
the archbishop's court, so as not to proceed further without the
king's consent. Henry I had endeavored to prevent appeals from being
carried before the Pope, and it was supposed that the same was the
object of the present constitution. The King, however, thought proper
to deny it. According to the explanation which he gave, it prohibited
clergymen from appealing to the pope in _civil_ causes only, when they
might obtain justice in the royal courts. The remaining articles are
of minor importance. They confine pleas of debt and disputes
respecting advowsons to the cognizance of the king's justices; declare
that clergymen who hold lands of the crown hold by barony, and are
bound to the same services as the lay barons; and forbid the bishops
to admit to orders the sons of villeins, without the license of their
respective lords.

As the Primate retired he meditated in silence on his conduct in the
council. His scruples revived, and the spontaneous censures of his
attendants added to the poignancy of his feelings. In great agony of
mind he reached Canterbury, where he condemned his late weakness,
interdicted himself from the exercise of his functions, wrote to
Alexander a full account of the transaction, and solicited absolution
from that Pontiff. It was believed that, if he had submitted with
cheerfulness at Clarendon, he would have recovered his former
ascendency over the royal mind: but his tardy assent did not allay the
indignation which his opposition had kindled, and his subsequent
repentance for that assent closed the door to forgiveness. Henry had
flattered himself with the hope that he should be able to extort the
approbation of the "customs" either from the gratitude of Alexander,
whom he had assisted in his necessities, or from the fears of that
Pontiff, lest a refusal might add England to the nations which
acknowledged the antipope.

The firmness of the Pope defeated all his schemes, and the King in his
anger vowed to be revenged on the Archbishop. Among his advisers there
were some who sought to goad him on to extremities. They scattered
unfounded reports; they attributed to Becket a design of becoming
independent; they accused him of using language the most likely to
wound the vanity of the monarch. He was reported to have said to his
confidants that the youth of Henry required a master; that the
violence of