A.D. 1168.] GILBERT'S REPLY TO TH E POPE. son of St. Peter, and of yourself, and giving his whole atten tion to works of piety, should cease to afflict the churches and the clergy, or to suffer them to be afflicted by others : that he, through whom kings reign, might preserve his temporal kingdom for him, as long as he should remain on earth, and hereafter bestow on him an eternal sovereignty in heaven : otherwise, if he would not listen to these wholesome counsels, your holiness, who has hitherto borne with him so patiently, would no longer be longsuffering. The king received our admonition with much thankfulness, and answered modestly to every part of it. In the first place be assured that his mind was in no wise estranged from you, and that he had never formed any other intentions, provided you showed a paternal care for his welfare, than to love you as his father, to support and cherish the holy Roman church, and humbly to obey your commands, saving always the dignity of himself and his kingdom : but if he has latterly not looked on you with his wonted reverence, he says that the eause thereof is this, that although he maintained your cause in your necessity, with all his heart and soul and strength, your holiness did not return him the like in his time of need ; but he complains with bitterness that in almost every thing he has asked of you, he has met with a repulse. Trusting in a father's love, which will always listen to the petition of a son, and hoping to have more genial tokens of your regard, he remains firm and constant in his regard for St. Peter and for you ; and not only will he not prevent any one who may wish to visit you, but that he has never done so in times past. As regards the question of appeals, he claims as his own privilege and duty, by the ancient customs of his country, that no clerk of his kingdom shall leave the kingdom for any civil suit until he has first tried to obtain justice by the king's own authority and mandate : but if there shall be a failure of justice in this particular, your excellency may then be appealed to, nor will the king make any further opposition to it. Under which head, also, if your rights or privileges have in any way been prejudiced, the king promises that he will speedily correct it, with God's help, in a council of all the clergy of his dominions. As regards the emperor, although the king knew him to be a schismatic, he has never heard to this hour that you have excommunicated