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144 SCOTTISH ANNALS
Thereupon Edmer called into consultation with him John,
bishop of Glasgow, and two monks of Canterbury whom he
had with him at the time and asked of them what ; they
decided he should best do in such an affair. 1 Then they
went to the king and learning more fully the attitude of his
mind toward the man they enjoined this upon [Edmer,] as
though the conclusion of their counsel sprang not from [the
king,] but solely from themselves :
" If thou wishest, as a son of peace, to live in peace, seek
it elsewhere ; here, so long as this [king] reigns, there will
be no communion between peace and thee. We know the
man. He wishes in his kingdom to be all things alone, and
will not endure that any authority have the least power in
any matter, without his control. Now he is inflamed against
thee and knows not why ; never will he be fully reconciled
with thee, even if he should see wherefore. And therefore
know that thou must either leave all, or lead thy life in dishonour
continually among the Scots, following their usages,
contrary to the safety of thy soul. But if thou prefer to
depart, thou art compelled to restore to him both the ring
which thou didst receive from his hand, and the staff which
thou didst take from off the altar. Otherwise, except thou
art able to fly over it, thou shalt not escape from his land."
In reply to this how much was said, how much contested
on either side, I am reluctant to write, and turn to other
things.
But after all this the bishop elect himself, considering
the manner in which everything in connection with him had
been done, namely how he had received the ring from the
king's hand, how he had been invested in the bishopric, how
he had taken the staff from off the altar, answered thus in
brief :
" The ring which I received from his hand I will gladly
restore, inasmuch as I have received none of the authority
which is betokened by it, for it was given by a layman, to whom
such power in no way belongs ; but the staff which I took
from off the altar in presence of two bishops I will place where
I received it, and commend it to be disposed of by the dispensation
of Jesus Christ. And I consent, because force is
used against me, to resign the whole episcopate upon the
understanding that I shall not reclaim it in the time of king
1 Cf. the remarkable letter of advice written in 1120 to Edmer in Scot-
land by Nicholas, prior of Worcester, a monk of Canterbury ;
Anglia Sacra, ii, 234-236 H. & ; S., ii, 202-204.
in Wharton's