become a kind of page in De l'Aigle's household. With his lord, young Thomas, a remarkably handsome and clever youth, became a great favourite. He hunted and hawked with him, and doubtless then contracted those habits of luxurious extravagance for which he was subsequently censured. From some cause, not stated, he quitted his patron; and his mother having died, and his father becoming reduced in circumstances, Thomas, now about twentyone, set out for Paris, but not to attend the lectures of learned men-not like his friend and eulogist, John of Salisbury, studying grammar with William de Coenobriem, and logic and divinity with Magister Gilbert, but apparently to finish his wholly secular education by taking lessons in French, according to the Parisian mode of pronunciation; and, as Lord Campbell expresses it, to get rid of his English accent.

A short time would suffice for this, so he soon after returned; and then we find him in the service of a rich kinsman, named Osbern Huitdeniers, as clerk and accountant. This Osbern is termed a merchant; but from his name-evidently a nickname— (eight penny), and from Becket being represented as his accountant, we have little doubt that his trade was that of a usurer-a very lucrative, though a much and justly-abused trade at this time. Subsequently we find him filling a similar, but more miserable, situation under the sheriffs of London. Thus, up to at least his twenty-sixth year, no thought of entering the Church-even by those half orders which would entitle him to write "Clericus" after his name, and to plead, if necessary, "benefit of clergy "-seems to have occurred to Becket's mind. The bold, handsome page, skilful in the sports of the field, had become the clever man of business, the quick arithmetician, busy with tallies, and the counters that aided the imperfect calculations of an age to which the Arabic numerals were unknown.

There was much, however, at this period to awaken ambition in the mind of a young man. England had been the scene of constant civil war for the last seven years; and although there was now some prospect of coming tranquillity, still everything was unsettled, and no one could tell what the next year might bring. These are just the times for the active and enterprising, and when, too, such are eagerly sought after; we therefore think it very probable that the talents which Thomas had already shown in his office under the sheriffs, combined with his political capabilities, marked him outalthough, subordinately, he might have owed the first introduction to a kind friend-for a higher station; and this he found in the service of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the year 1144.

We are told that at this time Thomas Becket was tall and handsome in person, quick and eloquent of speech, of readiest apprehension, so that the deficiencies of his early education were scarcely perceivable; a skilful chess-player-an important accomplishment in the twelfth century-and unrivalled in hunting and hawking, and every manly exercise. A young man thus gifted must indeed have

VOL. III.

U

been a pleasant inmate at the aged archbishop's residence at Harrow, where the sports of the merry greenwood would often present to the younger members of that immense household a welcome relief from the dull routine of a semi-claustral establishment. But Becket won favour in the eyes of the primate, too; and although twice compelled to leave, through the misrepresentation of a learned clerk, one Roger Pont d'Eveque, who probably scorned him for his want of learning, twice he returned, to stand higher each time in the favour of his patron. We think it was probably about this time, in order that he might profit by the liberality of the primate, that Becket took orders; for although deacon's orders did not permit him to perform church ceremonies, they allowed him to claim church emoluments; and so we find that in a short time the living of St. Mary-le-Strand, and that of Otford in Kent, together with prebends belonging to St. Paul's and Lincoln, were bestowed on the fortunate young deacon. It was then that Becket seems to have been determined to improve his defective education, and obtaining leave from Archbishop Theobald, he repaired to the continent for the benefit of its schools.

The reader need scarcely be reminded that this was the era of the revival of the canon and civil law; and that this new study had become so popular as almost to supersede both logic and grammar. Archbishop Theobald, we find, had been so interested in this new study that he imported copies of the Pandects, and invited Magister Vaccarius to lecture upon them at Oxford. King Stephen had, however, shortly after silenced the professor, and ordered the books to be destroyed-a step which was followed by the usual consequence of making the study more popular than ever; but as the lecturer had retired from England, the students were compelled to seek instruction in the continental schools. At this time the celebrated Gratian lectured at Bologna, and thither Becket repaired to study the canon law; and then, after a shorter stay at Auxerre, but pursuing the same study, he returned to England.

Ere long, Becket was raised to a very high position in the archbishop's service. He was entrusted with difficult and delicate missions connected with the affairs of the see; and in 1152 is said to have "paved the way for the succession of Henry II., by prevailing upon Eugenius III. to forbid the coronation of Eustace as his father's colleague, although King Stephen had sent the Archbishop of York to urge his suit at the papal court." Theobald, the Archbishop, had been long at variance with Stephen, and therefore was anxious for the succession of young Plantagenet, hence the efforts made by Becket; and we may here remark that however much Henry might talk of the gratitude due to him from Becket, there evidently was no slight claim on Becket's side, of gratitude due from the king.

From this time, Becket's rise in station and influence was singularly rapid; additional Church preferment was lavished upon him; even the archdeaconry of Canterbury, when the death of the Arch

bishop of York elevated Becket's old foeman, Roger Pont l'Eveque, to the vacant see. Indeed, so enormous a pluralist had he become through the partiality of his patron, that when subsequently taunted with the favours Plantagenet had conferred upon him, he could reply, that what with his archdeaconry, and "plurimæ ecclesiæ, prebendæ nonnullæ, et alia etiam non pauca!" he was in possession of a right royal income years before Henry ascended the throne. In reviewing this part of Becket's life, we must still bear in mind that he was viewed as a layman; that he hunted, and hawked, and gave splendid feasts, and clothed himself in the most gorgeous attire, without blame, even without the surprise of his contemporaries, for "deacon's orders " involved no clerical duties-far less anything like the mortification of the cloister. It was an age of great luxury, and of splendid observances, and Archdeacon Thomas bore himself as gallantly among his friends as the wealthiest noble.

It were much to be wished that we had more specific records of Becket's life at this time, for there seems little doubt that he was actively engaged in promoting the cause of the young prince, who was so soon to wear the crown. Had Becket been a devoted servant of the Church, he must have looked forward to that event with anxious forebodings. Young Henry's grandfather kept a high hand over his clergy; his mother's first husband had held Pope Paschal II. in captivity, while his father sprung from a race remarkable for their hostility to churchmen-who in return told the story how his grandmother had been carried off through the roof of a Church, after the prim fashion of the old woman of Berkeley-had distinguished himself by most outrageous conduct towards the clergy of Anjou; and from all accounts, young Henry himself appeared likely enough to follow these goodly examples. Even Archbishop Theobald seems rather to have feared; and with a view to provide a counteracting influence, he is said to have introduced the handsome, eloquent, clearsighted archdeacon to the notice of the future monarch. At the period of his accession, Henry was in his twenty-second year, Becket in his thirty-sixth. Thus, while Becket had considerable advantage over the king in point of years, he was still a young man who could share in his pastimes-and Henry was a keen lover of the sports of the wood and the field--as well as participate in his counsels, and conduct his political negociations. We have referred, rather at length, to these events of Becket's early years, because, without bearing them in mind, it is impossible to form a correct opinion of his subsequent conduct.

66

Rapid as had been the rise of Becket in the aged archbishop's favour, even more rapid was the progress of his favour with the young king. He was raised to the dignity of chancellor in the very first year of Henry's reign; a second Joseph set over the land of Egypt," as Grim remarks, while so great, and so obvious was the partiality already expressed by the king, that Archbishop Theobald himself writes to him, "It sounds in the ears, and is in the mouths of the people, that you and the king are of one heart and of one soul."

Although the office of chancellor differed in some respects from the modern, it was even in the twelfth century a station of great influence. The chancellor had "the custody of the Great Seal, the superintendence of the king's chapel, the care of vacant sees, abbacies, and baronies; he was entitled, without any summons, to attend all the king's councils, and all royal grants passed through his hands." But, in addition, Becket had become Henry's chief adviser; and in this office, we shall find that England indeed owed a debt of gratitude to him. At his suggestion, the foreign mercenaries, who had grievously plundered the people, were driven away; the castles, which had been the strongholds of rapine and cruelty, were razed to the ground-one writer estimates them at nearly three hundred; thieves and lawless men, who during Stephen's reign had pillaged almost with impunity, were sternly put down; and families were re-instated in the possessions which had been wrested from them during the civil war. These great benefits, which even Becket's enemies never denied, were sufficient to make Chancellor Thomas one of the most popular men in the whole kingdom. But popular tradition does not stop here, when handing down the story of "the blessed martyr's" good deeds. It told how many an unjust decree was reversed, how many a sanguinary law was suspended, how equably the tollage was imposed, how sternly the oppressor was dealt with, while the son of the Saxon goldsmith held the Great Seal. Surely the common belief that Thomas was Saxon by birth, and yet more Saxon in heart, must have been the true one, when we find that his aid was invoked both by barons and people during their struggle with John; that he, as the English saint and martyr, was supplicated to befriend his countrymen in De Montfort's long contest for freedom; and that when, after the battle of Boroughbridge, Earl Thomas of Lancaster was so basely executed by his cousin Edward II., the populace claimed for him the palm of martyrdom, and exulted that from henceforth two English saints would watch over English freedom-St. Thomas à Becket, and St. Thomas of Lancaster. Now, Becket's contest with the king had no reference to particular rights: surely, then, it must have been his conduct as chancellor, his love-expressed in word and in deed—– for Saxon men, that linked so closely in the popular mind the memory of him who was martyr in the cause of ecclesiastical power with their aspirations after freedom.

us.

According to some historians, everything is dim and misty in past times; and verily! dim and misty enough are the pictures they give This is always to be regretted if the study be the middle ages, because there was so much of the picturesque alike in regal and ecclesiastical observances, and so much proving, too, that much which has been asserted as to the barbarism of these ages is utterly untrue. In reading FitzStephen's account of Becket, or John of Salisbury's letters, we can scarcely imagine that he lived seven hundred years ago. Always gorgeous in his habits, and delicate in his tastes, the chancellor sate in his dining-hall, surrounded by

richly-clad attendants-many of them the sons of nobles. The richest drapery decked the tables; silver and gold plate alone was used; the costliest wines were poured from golden beakers into enamelled and jewelled cups, and huge silver candelabra with coloured wax-lights were placed around. Preserves from France and Spain, sturgeon from the northern seas, beccaficos from Italy, spices from the farthest east, all supplied the feast, to which a throng of knights and nobles were daily invited, and to which the king himself would often come quite unexpectedly, sometimes snatching up the cup of wine placed before the chancellor, drinking it off, and laughingly departing; sometimes leaping over the table, and seating himself by his side, but always treating his favourite on terms of perfect equality.

Far and wide went the fame of the right royal state of Henry's chancellor; but when he went on his embassy into France in 1159, the description of his progress reads like a tale of Oriental romance. Canon Robertson gives a portion of it, but we will marshal the long procession just as it passed before the admiring eyes of Becket's affectionate biographer, FitzStephen. First came two hundred boys, singing English songs, next the staghounds in couples with the huntsmen, then a train of huge waggons, each with a fierce mastiff chained beneath, and containing furniture, cooking apparatus, wine, and, what he especially notices with a right Saxon feeling, "two waggons, carrying only ale, which is made of the finest of the wheat boiled in water, and placed in casks hooped with iron, as a present to the French," naively adding, "a kind of liquor, truly wholesome to drink, clear, in colour like wine, but in flavour better." We may remark here, that all the wines at this period were white wines. Next came a line of well-laden sumpter horses with more valuable goods, and an ape mounted on each; and then began the household procession. Esquires, belonging to the chancellor's knights, the shield borne on the left arm, while the right led the highly-prized war steed; then the armour-bearers, the pages, the falconers, each with a beautiful bird on his wrist-well did Thomas love the falcon, and enormous were the sums he paid for the fairest that could be bought--then the cupbearers; then the knights riding two and two; the chaplains two and two; the great officers of his household in ascending order; and lastly, on his splendid palfrey, so richly caparisoned, that "he carried a treasure in his bit alone," clad in robes of royal scarlet, the tall and handsome chancellor came along reining in his proud steed, and showing to the French, even at that early day, the unrivalled grace of the English rider. Becket's sojourn in Paris was distinguished by the same profuse magnificence; he feasted a thousand guests for three days on the richest dainties, gave magnificent presents to scholars, and having obtained the object of his mission, and the praise of most royal free-handedness, he returned well pleased to England.

Becket's subsequent mission to France displayed him in a new character. No longer only the acute statesman, or the shrewd