there was neither that which is hunted for on land, fished for in the water, or flying in the air, which was not compelled to be at the service of his table, insomuch that he appeared to have shared the elements with the Lord ; leaving the heaven of heavens alone to the Lord, and reserving the other three to advantage by the use or rather abuse and luxurious, enjoyment thereof. All the sons of the nobles acted as his servants, with downcast looks, nor dared they to look upwards towards the heavens, unless it so happened that they were addressed by him ; and if they attended to anything else, they were pricked with a goad, which their lord held in his hands, fully mindful of his grandfather of pious memory, who being of servile condition in the district of Beauvais, had for his occupation to guide the plough and,whip up the oxen;3 1 and who at length, to gain his liberty, fled to the Norman territory. The grandchildren and relatives of this man, even any females whatsoever who were akin to him, though sprung from a poor cabin, earls,. and barons, and nobles of the kingdom, longed with the greatest avidity to unite with themselves in marriage ; thinking it a matter for pride, under any title whatever, to acquire the favour of his intimate acquaintanceship ; nor was there a churl who longed for a field, a citizen who longed for a farm, a knight who longed for an estate, a clerk who longed for a benefice, or a monk who longed for an abbey, who was not obliged to become subservient to his power and influence. And although all England, bending the knee, was ever at his service, still did he always aspire to the free mode of life of the Franks, and removed his knights and yeomen, and all his household, to Oxford ; where, slighting the English nation on all occasions, attended by a troop of Franks and Flemings, he moved pompously along, bearing a sneer in his nostrils, a grin on his features, derision in his eyes, and superciliousness on his brow, by way of fit ornament for a priest. For his own aggrandizement and for the glorification of his name, he was in the habit of getting up verses that he had picked up by begging, and adulatory jingles, and enticed jesters and singers from the kingdom of France by his presents, that they might sing about him in the streets ; and but lately it was everywhere said that there was not such a person in all the world. And really, if it had been the time of the Cœsars, he would with Liberius33 have had himself styled 3 1 This is said in a spirit of caustic malevolence. 3 3 A misprint for Tiberias.