14 ROGER OF WEN'DOVKR. [A.U . 1170. tho church's dignity is in danger of being shipwrecked, were ratified by oath and held to be binding hereafter for ever. In which matter, although the vehemence of the king himself causes us much disquiet, yet we arc the more disturbed at the weakness which you and your brother bishop- have displayed, who, we grieve to say it, have been like rams not having horns, and have retreated ingloriously before the face of your pursuer. You might lawfully have discharged this ofliec, my brother, in your own province, but in tin; province of another, and especially of him who was an exile for the sakt of justice, who alone went forth to give glory to (!od, we can find nothing in reason itself, nor in the constitution of the holy fathers to justify such a deed: you allowed thoe unjust constitutions to be confirmed on oath, and neglected to take the shield of faith, and to stand up for the Lord's house on the day of battle. Wherefore, that we may not, by longer silence, be involved, on the day of judgment, in the same sentence as yourself, we do hereby, on the authority of the holy Roman church, whose servant under God we are. declare you suspended from every otfiee appertaining to your episcopal dignity." Archbishop Thomas, also, by virtue of mother letter from the pope, suspended from their episcopal functions the bishops of London, Salisbury, Exeter, Chester, Rochester, St. Asaph, and Llandatf, as well as the others who had assisted at the coronation aforesaid. The pope's letter was as follows: "The cause for which our venerable brother Thomas archbishop of Canterbury and legate of the npo-tolie see has been driven into exile, need not now be explained to you, because you were present to witness it, and because the rumour of it has spread through all the church of the west. But whereas Theobald of pious memory formerly archbishop of Canterbury, and predecessor of the present archbishop, placed the crown on the head of the. king of England, and by these means the church of Canterbury has, as it were, the right of exerci-ing this oilice, yon have now not hesitated, in defence of our apostolical letters to the contrary, to aid in the coronation of the new king, though the archbishop bad not been informed of it, and tin? ceremony took place in his own province: you, who ought to have lightened the archbishop's exile by such consolations as were in your power, have rather aggravated the case against him, and, we grieve to say