The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1854-09-23

Now. Thomas a Beckett was proud and .lov-
ed to be famous. He was already famous for
the pomp Of his life, for his riches, his gold
and silver plate. his wagons. horses and at
tcndants. He could do no more in that wav
than he had done; and being tired Of that
kind of fame (Which is a very poor onc.) he
longcd to have his name celebrated for some
thing else. Nothing, he knew. would render
INN 50 famous in the world. as the setting of
his utmost power and ability against the ut
most power and ability Of the King. lie rcsol-
we'd with the whole strength OF hi mind to DO it
lie may have had some secret crulcc against
'le hing besides. The klnr NAV have Of
icnd@! bis proud humor at some time or 9th
cr, for any thing know. | think it likely.
because it is a common thing for Kinc.. Prin-
cc> and other great people. to try the tempcrs
of their tavoritcs rather severely. Even the
little affair of the crimson cloak mast have
been any thin" but a pleasant one to hauclr-
ty man. Thomas Beckett knew better thar
any one in England what the Kinr cxrcctcd
OF him. In all lis SumptuouS life. he had
neyer vet been in a position to ,li>aproint the
King. He could take up lha, prou! stand
now. a> head Of 'hc Church: AMI he deter
mined that it should lie written in history. c
t'rr 'hat he >ud,:rd .hc KIM. or ;Ia; the
King su'!rch him.
So. Of sudden. i" ro'Aplr'cly altered thc
whole manner Of his iic. Jlc turnr,, of his
lrIiI9Ht followers. ate coarse food drank bit
ter waf"r. Wore next i,i~ kin ~1ykrlotll cover
81 viii dirt and ,,rn.n (for it was then
jhoN-ht very religions 20 lc very lirty.) nor-
ge;l Lis la K 10 p'ini>h lim-c,t. lived chiefly
il little cell. washed hrftc; O.. thirteen poor
rcop'" every day. and looked Is miserable a.
h, possibly could. file Lad pat twr!,c hun
drcd MONKEYS on horseback instead of twelve.
az! hal :,o'." in procession with ci.h, ll.oa-
san'! wagons instead of c;.ht, he could not
have a>toni-hrd The people half so much As
fy tbs g:ra' cAangc II sooa caused him to
!'c "lcrr talked about As an Archbishop ilan
he ha'! Fccn a> 4 Chaurcllor.
he Nliig WAS very angry: ard was made
I'll! NOR" 80. when the new Ary!lE;~ho;. claim
me 'af!ou, estates from the no|lcs a, benz
r;ci'tulIy Church prorvrty, required tie
NM him>clt, lor the same reason. to rive up
Rochester Castle, and 10, hester CITY too
Not satisfied with this. he declared that no
power Int himself Should appoint a priest to
any church in ;hc part OF England over which
he wa Archbishop; and when certain GEN
tlrma': of Kent made such an apIointncnt.a>
he claimed to have the r;rht to do. Thomas a
Beckett cxcoiHmunca;cl him.
Recommendation wa~. lex; to The Intcr,lirt
tol! vou of at the close Of the last charter.
thr Great weapon Of! ;hc CLERGY i consisted
in declaring The person wLo was cxcoulaui.i-
Gated. an ou:caSt from the Church and from
all religious o.liccs: and in cu.,n.s li:n all
over from The top of his head to the sole of
his foot, whether lie was standing up living
Gown. sitting. kncc!inr. walking. rurniur
hopping. jumping, "aning, ,coug l.in. sncczing.
or whatever else lie was dong This uncriS-
tan nonsense would o! course have made no
sort OF difference 10 TIE person cursed who
could say his prayers at home if he were >u;
ont OF church, and wlom none bat God could
.lnd.c -blit for the i,ars and >upcrs;i,onS of
thr people, who avoided dcxcomnauniratclp per
sons, and made their lives unhappy SO, the
King SAID 10 lc new Archbishop Take of
tl'iS Excommua;cation from this gentleman
ot Kent" To which the Archbishop replied
i shall 10 no such thing"
The quarrel went on. 4 priest in Wor-
cc>;rr>nlrc committed 4 most dreadful, murder
that aroused the horror Of the Whole nation.
The King demanded to have this wretch de-
Iivcrcd up, to bc tried in the same court and
IN the sam" way as any other murderer The
Archbishop refused, and kept him in the Bi>h-
ops prison. The king. holln" solemn as
srnblv in Westminster Hall. demanded that
IN future all rric.ts found guilty before their
bishops Of crimes against the law of the land.
should be considered priest, no longer. and
shonld be delivered over to the law of the
land for punishment. The Archbishop again
refused. The King required to know whctI-
er The clergy would obey the ancient customs
oi thc country: Every priest there, but one,
said after Thomas a Beckett, Saving nv or
der" This really meant that they would on
ly obey those customs when thcy did not IN
tcrfcrc with their own claims: and the KING
went out of the Hall in great wrath,
Some Of the clergy hcran to be afraid. now.
hat :hcy were gong TOO far Though Thom-
As Beckett was otherwise as unmovcd as
Westminster Hall, they prevailed upon him,
for The sake Of their fears. to 90 to The King
at Woodstock. and promise to observe the an
Gent customs of the country, without saving
any thing about his order. The King rccci-
we'd this submission favorably. and summoned
great council of the clergy to meet at the
Castle OF Clarendon, by Salisbury. But when
this council met. the Archbishop again insist
Cd on The words saving my ORDER" and he
still insisted, though lords entrea:ed him, and
priests wept before him. and knclt to him.
and an adjoining room was thrown open, filled