er him up those twelve towns (or manors) in England which Malcolm
had held under William the Conqueror; together with a pension of twelve
thousand marks.

At this time were sown the seeds of another quarrel between him and Duke
Robert, who soliciting the King to perform some covenants of the last
peace, and meeting with a repulse, withdrew in great discontent to
Normandy.

King William, in his return from Scotland, fell dangerously sick at
Gloucester, where, moved by the seasonable exhortations of his clergy,
or rather by the fears of dying, he began to discover great marks of
repentance, with many promises of amendment and retribution,
particularly for his injuries to the Church. To give credit to which
good resolutions, he immediately filled several vacant sees, giving that
of Canterbury to Anselm, a foreigner of great fame for piety and
learning. But as it is the disposition of men who derive their vices
from their complexions, that their passions usually beat strong and weak
with their pulses, so it fared with this prince, who upon recovery of
his health soon forgot the vows he had made in his sickness, relapsing
with greater violence into the same irregularities of injustice and
oppression, whereof Anselm, the new archbishop, felt the first effects.
This prelate, soon after his promotion, offered the King a sum of money
by way of present; but took care it should be so small, that none might
interpret it to be a consideration of his late preferment. The King
rejected it with scorn; and as he used but little ceremony in such
matters, insisted in plain terms for more. Anselm would not comply; and
the King enraged, sought all occasions to make him uneasy; until at
length the poor archbishop, tired out with perpetual usurpations (or at
least what was then understood to be such) upon his jurisdiction,
privileges, and possessions, desired the King licence for a journey to
Rome; and upon a refusal, went without it. As soon as he was withdrawn,
the King seized on all his revenues, converting them to his own use, and
the archbishop continued an exile until the succeeding reign.

The particulars of this quarrel between the King and archbishop are not,
in my opinion, considerable enough to deserve a place in this brief
collection, being of little use to posterity, and of less entertainment;
neither should I have mentioned it at all, but for the occasion it gives
me of making a general observation, which may afford some light