A.D. 1166. THE AECHBISHOP's LETTER TO KING HENET. 287 that a shocking subversion of the Church of God is threatened, and that, becoming weary of our lives, we may curse the day on which we were born to behold such a sight as this. Beloved father in Christ, may Almighty God preserve you in safety for long to come !" The Letter of the blessed Thomas to King Henry. " To his most revered lord, Henry, by the grace of God, the illustrious king of the English, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and earl of Anjou, Thomas, by the same grace the humble servant of the church of Canterbury, health and best prayers for his prosperity in all things. To speak concerning God stands in need of a mind utterly free and unbiassed ; upon this subject it is that I address my lord, and, I trust, with peace towards all men. I beseech you, my lord, that, with patience of mind, you will endure some little advice, which, by the grace of God, which is never ineffectual, will contribute to the salvation of your soul and to my acquittal. Difficulties beset me on every side ; even tribulation and difficulties have come upon me, who am placed between two most grave and fearful alternatives. When I say between two most fearful alternatives, I mean a dangerous silence on the one hand, and admonition of you on the other. If, on the one hand, I am silent, it will be death to me, and I shall not escape the hands of the Lord, who says, ' If thou dost not warn the wicked from his wicked way, and he shall die in his iniquity, his blood He will require at your hands.'57 If, on the other hand, I admonish you, I fear, which God forbid, that I shall not escape the wrath of my lord. And I trust that it may not befall me, according to what the wise man says, that when a person sends to intercede or to admonish a person who is not pleased thereat, it is to be feared leSt, becoming angered, his mind may be provoked to do what is worse. What, then, am I to do ? Am I to speak, or am I to be silent ? In either alternative there is danger, no doubt. But inasmuch as it is safer to fall under the indignation of men than into the hands of the living God, trusting in the mercy of the Most High, in whose hands are the hearts of kings, and who wiU induce them as He shall think fit, (and I trust that Ho will, to take the better part), I will speak to my lord, inasmuch as I have once begun so to do. Eor often are good " Ezekiel iii. 18.