LIFE AND TIMES OF THOMAS BECKET. 107 
the Church. He was willing to consent to any 
reasonable terms of. arrangement, with security for 
God’s honour, proper respect for himself, and the 
restoration of his estates. They asked if he would 
recognize the Constitutions; he saidl that no such 
engagement had been required of his predecessors, 
and ought not to be required of him. “The book of 
Abominations,' as he called the Constitutions, was 
produced and read, and he challenged the cardinals 
to affirm that Christian men should obey such laws. 
Henry was prepared to accept the smallest con- 
cession ; nothing need be said about the Con- 
stitutions if Becket woull go back to Canterbury, 
resume his duties, and give a general promise to be 
quiet, The archbishop answered that there was % 
proverb in England that silence gave consent, The 
question had been raised, and could not now be 
passed over. The cardinals asked if he would accept 
their judgment on the whole cause. He said that he 
would go into court before them or before any one 
whom the pope might appoint, as soon as his pro- 
perty was restored to him. In his present poverty 
he could not encounter the expense of a lawsuit. 
Curious satire on Becket’s whole contention, none 
the less so that he was himself unconscious of the 
absurdity! He withArew from the conference,