unhappy reign. He
revoked all the grants of land that had been hastily made, on either
side, during the late struggles; he obliged numbers of disorderly
soldiers to depart from England; he reclaimed all the castles belonging
to the Crown; and he forced the wicked nobles to pull down their own
castles, to the number of eleven hundred, in which such dismal cruelties
had been inflicted on the people. The King's brother, GEOFFREY, rose
against him in France, while he was so well employed, and rendered it
necessary for him to repair to that country; where, after he had subdued
and made a friendly arrangement with his brother (who did not live long),
his ambition to increase his possessions involved him in a war with the
French King, Louis, with whom he had been on such friendly terms just
before, that to the French King's infant daughter, then a baby in the
cradle, he had promised one of his little sons in marriage, who was a
child of five years old. However, the war came to nothing at last, and
the Pope made the two Kings friends again.

Now, the clergy, in the troubles of the last reign, had gone on very ill
indeed. There were all kinds of criminals among them--murderers,
thieves, and vagabonds; and the worst of the matter was, that the good
priests would not give up the bad priests to justice, when they committed
crimes, but persisted in sheltering and defending them. The King, well
knowing that there could be no peace or rest in England while such things
lasted, resolved to reduce the power of the clergy; and, when he had
reigned seven years, found (as he considered) a good opportunity for
doing so, in the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury. 'I will have for
the new Archbishop,' thought the King, 'a friend in whom I can trust, who
will help me to humble these rebellious priests, and to have them dealt
with, when they do wrong, as other men who do wrong are dealt with.' So,
he resolved to make his favourite, the new Archbishop; and this favourite
was so extraordinary a man, and his story is so curious, that I must tell
you all about him.

Once upon a time, a worthy merchant of London, named GILBERT A BECKET,
made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and was taken prisoner by a Saracen
lord. This lord, who treated him kindly and not like a slave, had one
fair daughter, who fell in love with the merchant; and who told him that
she wanted to become a Christian, and was willing to marry him if they
could fly to a Christ