The History of England, Volume I: From the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688 — David Hume — John Shaqi
The History of England, Volume I: From the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688
David Hume · en
The English minister told Pascal, that his master would rather lose
his crown than part with the right of granting investitures. "And I,"
replied Pascal, "would rather lose my head than allow him to retain it
[h]." Henry secretly prohibited Anselm from returning, unless he
resolved to conform himself to the laws and usages of the kingdom; and
the primate took up his residence at Lyons, in expectation that the
king would at last be obliged to yield the point which was the present
object of controversy between them. Soon after he was permitted to
return to his monastery at Bec in Normandy; and Henry, besides
restoring to him the revenues of his see, treated him with the
greatest respect, and held several conferences with him, in order to
soften his opposition, and bend him to submission [i]. The people of
England, who thought all differences now accommodated, were inclined
to blame their primate for absenting himself so long from his charge;
and he daily received letters from his partizans, representing the
necessity of his speedy return. The total extinction, they told him,
of religion and Christianity were likely to ensue from the want of his
fatherly care: the most shocking customs prevail in England; and the
dread of his severity being now removed, sodomy, and the practice of
wearing long hair, gain ground among all ranks of men, and these
enormities openly appear every where without sense of shame or fear of
punishment [k].
[FN [h] Eadmer, p. 73. W. Malm. p. 226. M. Paris, p. 40. [i]
Hoveden, p. 471. [k] Eadmer, p. 81.]