Pope, and accepted by king John, was altogether “a vain thing;" and he commends to his reverend adversary the task of proving it to be otherwise. "But if I mistake not," he adds in conclusion; "the day will first arrive in which every exaction shall cease, before the doctor will be able to establish that a stipulation, such as this, can ever be consistent either with honesty or with reason."

It is not, perhaps, very easy to decide, whether Wiclif is here to be considered as reporting the substance of a debate which had actually taken place in the House of Peers, relative to the demands of the Pope', or whether he is merely putting into the mouths. of fictitious and imaginary speakers, such arguments, as would naturally suggest themselves to intelligent, high-spirited, and patriotic men. But, however this may be, it has been the pleasure of a living historian 2 to pronounce, that this "Determination" of the Reformer, "does more honor to his loyalty as a subject, than to his abilities as a scholar or a divine." His abilities, it may frankly be conceded, are not displayed to much advantage in this piece, considered as a specimen of artificial rhetoric, or finished composition. The style, it must be allowed, is sufficiently barbarous and rugged, and the Latinity such as to inflict severe penance on Ciceronian ears,- -a circumstance

1 It is clear that he does not pretend to have been present at the discussion. His words are, 66 transmitto Doctorem meum reverendum ad solutionem hujus argumenti, quam audivi in quodam Concilio a Dominis Secularibus esse datam. Primus autem Dominus, in armis plus strenuus, fertur taliter respondisse, &c. &c." Lewis, p. 351.

2 Lingard, vol. iv. p. 215, note 194.

not very surprising, when it is remembered, that, in those days, the graces of a classic style were little cultivated, and, indeed, scarcely known. If, however, the performance is to be estimated by its fitness to produce the desired impression on the public mind, it will assuredly be found not more honorable to his loyalty, than to his capacity and address. With a view to the purposes contemplated by him, we can scarcely imagine a happier form than that, into which he has thrown the multiplied objections to these intolerable claims. It must have elated the very soul of any loyal Englishman to hear the reasonings by which the first men in the kingdom hurled back in the teeth of the Pontiff his pretensions to sovereignty over their native land. Every individual, with a grain of common sense in his head, or a spark of patriotism and religion in his heart, must have felt his blood warmed by these noble pledges of resistance to foreign arrogance and usurpation. On such an occasion, and for such objects, what could the scholar and the divine, the peculiar clerk and chaplain to the king,—do better, than throw aside, for a time, the person of a mere professional disputant, and appeal to the understanding of his readers in the language of senators and of statesmen?

It is further asserted by the same writer, that this paper" is chiefly remarkable for containing the germ of those doctrines, which afterwards involved Wiclif

1 So he describes himself in his Determination : "Ego cum sim peculiaris Regis Clericus, talis qualis, volo libenter induere habitum responsalis, defendendo et suadendo quod Rex potest justè dominari regno Angliæ, negando tributum Romano Pontifici."

K

in so much trouble, namely, that dominion is founded in grace, and that the clergy ought not to hold temporal possessions 1." With regard to the absurd and pernicious doctrine, that dominion is founded on grace, there is but one allusion to it in the whole document. It occurs in the argument of the sixth speaker; and there it appears in the form of an appeal to principles, which were admitted by the theological doctors of the age 2. That the temporal endowments of the Church were destitute of all sanction, either from primitive example, or from the spirit and design of Christ's religion, is, it must be acknowledged, a doctrine distinctly and uniformly maintained by Wiclif. But a candid perusal of his "Determination" must shew, that this was not the only, and certainly not the strongest ground, on which he resisted the claim of any Ecclesiastic, however exalted, to extort tribute from a foreign country. As these points will occasionally meet us again in the course of this narrative, it may be proper to seize the opportunity of remarking, that the opinions of Wiclif, relative to ecclesiastical property, appear to have been carried to a point, which lay very far beyond the limits of moderation. It is fit that the reader should be prepared for this and it is likewise fit that his attention should be fixed on the causes which often drove the Reformer to a dangerous audacity of statement, in his discussions of this subject. It should never be forgotten, that he lived in days when the possessions of the Papal hierarchy had reached a most

1 Lingard, vol. iv. p. 215, note 194.

2 Papa, dum fuerit in peccato mortali, secundum theologos, caret dominio. Lewis, p. 354.

portentous magnitude, and had converted the Romish priesthood, for the most part, into a corrupt and indolent aristocracy. It has been computed, that more than half' the landed property of this kingdom was then in their hands; and nothing but the Statute of Mortmain had prevented a still further absorption of it. Now it is one of the curses inflicted on mankind by flagrant and inveterate abuse, that the momentum required for its overthrow is such as frequently to carry the assailant forward, beyond the boundaries of wisdom and of safety. If, therefore, the principles or the reasonings of the Reformer, respecting the worldly affluence of the clergy, should be thought to savour of rashness or extravagance, a substantial apology may be found in the ruinous enormity of those evils, which called him forth to a life of incessant, perilous, and spirit-stirring conflict.

1 It is stated that there were in England 53,215 feoda militum; of which the religious had 28,000,-more than half! See Turner's History of England, vol. ii. p. 413, note 64.

CHAPTER IV.

1367-1377.

Petition of Parliament that Ecclesiastics should not hold offices of State-Answer of the King-Probable effect of Wiclif's writings and opinions respecting this question-His sentiments on the employment of the Clergy in secular offices-He becomes a Doctor of Divinity, and is raised to the Divinity Chair at Oxford -His Exposition of the Decalogue-Notice of his "Pore Caitiff" -Notice of the struggles of this Country against Papal exaction-Papal Provisions-Statute of Provisors, and of Premunire -Wiclif sent as Ambassador to the Pope-Presented to the Prebend of Aust and the Rectory of Lutterworth-Remonstrance of the "Good Parliament" against the Extortions of the PopeWiclif summoned to appear before the Convocation at St. Paul's -He is protected by John of Gaunt-His appearance at St. Paul's-The tumultuous scene which followed-Death of Edward III., and accession of Richard II.-Further complaints of the Parliament against the Pope-Question, "whether the treasure of the kingdom might not be detained, although required by the Pope," referred to Wiclif-His answer.

NOTHING is clearly or positively known respecting the life, the studies, and the pursuits of Wiclif, during the interval which elapsed between his intrepid vindication of the independence of his country, and the year 1371, which was memorable for another assault upon the honors and privileges of churchmen. In 1371. that year, a petition was presented by ament that eccle- the Parliament to the King, requesting the exclusion of ecclesiastical persons from offices of State, which, at that

Petition of Parli

siastics should

not hold offices of

State.