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Becket himself. The French people were on the 
same side from natural enmity to England, and Pope 
Alexander was in the same difficulty in which Pope 
Clement found himself three centuries later between 
Henry the Eighth and Charles the Fifth. He said 
that he could form no resolution till he had heard 
what Becket had to say. He suggested that the 
English envoys should wait for Becket’s arrival; but 
it was uncertain when Becket might arrive; his 
French friends were gathering in their rear, and 
might intercept their return, A protracted stay was 
impossible, and they again pressed for a legate. 
Alexander agreed. to send some one, but without the 
ample powers which the envoys desired. He reserved 
the final decision for himself. 
The influences by which the papal court was 
determined were already too grossly notorious. A 
decision given in France would be the decision which 
would please the King of France. The envoys 
went home, taking with them a complimentary 
auncio from the pope, and they had some diffi- 
culty in escaping an attempt to waylay and capture 
them. 
They had no sooner gone than Becket appeared 
at Sens. He was received with no great warmth by 
the pope, and still more coldly by the cardinals,