44. To Henry, King of the English

To Henry, his revered lord, the renowned King of England, Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, offers his faithful homage, with prayers.

I give thanks to God, from whom cometh all good, for your safety and happiness, and that He has continued your successes to your joy and that of your faithful servants. I also thank your mightiness for deigning to send me word of this as to one faithful in whom you trust because he rejoices with you in all your prosperity and gives thanks to Him by whose providence it comes to pass. It is indeed true that I daily pray and long for this, that God may so guide you and yours in the glory of your temporal rule over the English, as that He may cause you to reign in eternal felicity among the angels. And it is with regard to this that I most desire to serve you. Where fore since this is my duty (I am indeed placed here for that), I as both trusted servant and bishop advise, pray, and, as it is written, adjure in season, out of season, that as God increases your prosperity and exalts your power, so you may above all things love in all your doings to fulfil His will. The which may He grant you long so to do in prosperity in this life that He may after this life cause you to rejoice with Him in eternity. With me, thank God, all is going well; and before the Assumption of the Blessed Mary I shall depart from Bec, that according as God shall direct I may pursue the object for which I quitted England. As for our concerns: though I have every trust in your goodness, yet I would ask you to give orders for all to be left undisturbed until I return.