VIII. among the early doctrines of Wycliffe, that on all CHAP. questions respecting either the wealth, or the civil relations of the clergy, the magistrate should be final. 66 authority of the Worldly clerks "and feigned religions," he observes, "break "and destroy the king's peace, and his realm. "For the prelates of this world, and the priests, 66 66 66 high and low, say freely, and write in their law, that the king hath no jurisdiction nor power over their persons, nor over the goods "of holy church. And yet Christ and his apostles "were most obedient to kings and lords, and 66 66 taught all men to be subject to them, and to "serve them truly and cheerfully in bodily works, "and to fear them, and honor them above all "other men. The wise king Solomon also, put "down a high bishop who was unfaithful to him " and his kingdom, and exiled him, and ordained a good priest in his room, as the book of Kings "telleth. And Jesus Christ paid tribute to the emperor, and commanded men to pay him "tribute. St. Peter also commandeth christian "men to be subject to every ordinance of man, “whether unto the king as more high than others, " or unto dukes, as sent of him to the vengeance "of evil doers, and the praising of good men. "Also St. Paul commandeth by the authority of God, that every soul be subject to the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. Princes are not to the dread of good works, but "of evil. Wilt thou not dread the power?-do 66 66 66 66 6 good, and thou shalt have praise of the same, "for he is God's minister to thee for good. If "thou hast done evil, assuredly thou shouldst CHAP. fear, for he beareth not the sword in vain. "Therefore ye must needs be subject, not only VIII. 66 66 " for wrath, but also for conscience. For therefore ye give tribute, they being the ministers of "God serving to this same thing. Therefore yield ye to all men's debts, to whom tribute, tribute; to whom toll, toll; to whom dread, dread; to whom honor, honor.' Our Saviour, "Jesus Christ, meekly suffered a painful death "under Pilate, not excusing himself from that jurisdiction by virtue of his office. And St. "Paul professed himself ready to suffer death, by the doom of the emperor's justice, if he were worthy of death, as the deeds of the apostles "teach. And Paul appealed to the heathen 66 emperor, from the priests of the jews, to be under "his jurisdiction, and so to save his life.3 Lord, "who hath made our worldly clergy exempt 66 66 from the king's jurisdiction, and chastening, "since God hath given kings this office over all King: Gistmisdoers. Clerks, and particularly high-priests, hanos, his laws "should be most meek and obedient to the laws righteous "of this world, as were Christ and his apostles; " and thus be a mirror to all men, that they may 66 yield this meekness and obedience to the king, "and to his righteous laws. What sturdy robbers "and traitors then, are these to lords and kings "in refusing this obedience, and in thus giving "an example to all the men of the land to become rebels against the king and the lords. For in "this, and in what they teach, they instruct the It was thus the reformer would vindicate his own appeal to the same authority. See chap. iii. 83, 81. CHAP. commons of the land, both in words and deeds, "to be unfaithful and rebellious against the king. "And this seemeth well, according to their new ▸ "law of decretals, where proud clerks have or"dained that our clergy shall pay no subsidy nor 66 tax, nor any thing for the keeping of our king "and our realm without assent from the worldly 66 66 66 VIII. The avignan Tapasy priest of Rome. And yet many times thisffects proud worldly priest is an enemy of our land, "and secretly maintaining our enemies in war against us, with our own gold. Thus an alien priest, and the proudest of all priests, they "make the chief lord over the whole of the goods "which clerks possess in this kingdom, and that "is the greater part thereof. And where are "there greater traitors, either to God, or holy "church, and especially to our liege lord and his kingdom? An alien, worldly priest, and an enemy to us, is made chief lord over the greater part of our country!” 66 66 To this decisive passage, others of the same import, and equally bold in their character, might be added. In a subsequent chapter of the same work, the writer has supposed a number of extreme cases, with a view to exhibit more vividly the evils which must be inseparable from these clerical exemptions. Thus he remarks,-should churchmen refuse the payment of the most lawful debts, such is the nature of the immunities which they claim, that no lay authority would be left to enforce it; and were this privileged class to determine on conveying the whole of their wealth 4 MS. Sentence of the Curse Expounded, c. 11. VIII. CHAP. to another soil, the nation may do nothing to prevent a measure, which, if adopted, must reduce it to poverty. For the same reason, it is argued, were the clergy to conspire the death of the king, of the court, and of the nobility of the realm, neither the monarch nor the aristocracy, might punish these daring delinquents, with the smallest possible forfeiture of liberty or goods. To such uncourtly extremes, indeed, is the reformer carried by the warmth of his indignation, that he ventures to suppose the college of cardinals transformed into a regular banditti; and he enquires what the state of a people must be, who could be weak enough to believe that, to resist these holy depredators must be to incur the guilt of sacrilege, and the lowest perdition !5 On the general But the reformer is said to have maintained authority a doctrine which has been sometimes designated, of the ma- "dominion founded on grace." This article is gistrate. described as hostile to every social institution; and as it was in consequence adapted to awaken the jealousy of the civil power, a cautious prominence was given to it by his adversaries. Woodford, employed whatever ingenuity he could 5 MS. Ibid. c. 19. Dr. Lingard (Hist. iv. 262.) has cited the reformer's language in his Trialogus (iv. 18.) which expresses his doctrine respecting the duty of lords, to deprive a church habitually delinquent of her possessions; and has quoted an extract from the passage of which the substance is given in the text as showing that the writer" afterwards attempted to explain it away." It remains however to be shown that "the Sentence "of the Curse Expounded," did not appear until after the Trialogus. It is certain, that they were published so nearly together, that the priority of either can be of no moment. A few months only could have intervened. The passage too, instead of being what Dr. Lingard insinuates, is one which as the reader will perceive, presents the most vigorous enforcement of the obnoxious article intended. VIII. command, to make his refutation of the supposed CHAP. heresy, as formal and imposing as possible. Subsequently, the fathers of the council of Constance, in their great care to preserve the regal authority from injury, placed this dangerous tenet under their anathema; and the cardinal Bellarmine, moved by the same solicitude, assures the king of England, that the doctrine which sanctifies the murder of princes, and which the monarch had inadvertently imputed to catholics, is the property of the innovaters, "certainly, of John "Wycliffe." But with the consistency which usually attends the defence of a bad cause, the enemies of the reformer have been no less forward on other occasions, in charging him with making the most flattering appeals to the secular authorities, in hope of arraying them against the power and possessions of the priesthood. If this was his design, and he has scarcely a foe who does not impute it to him, it is needless to enquire whether he could, for a moment, have regarded it as expedient, to become the abettor of any doctrine unfriendly to the influence of the civil power. In the very consistent language of party zeal, the sword of the magistrate was at once his idol, and his hatred; a weapon, which at one moment he would extend, far beyond the due sphere of its influence; and at another, consign to its scabbard, that every lawless passion might be loosened on the world. There are also other facts, which warrant a suspicion as to the fidelity, or the correct information, of the persons who dwell with such marked interest on the evils of the delinquency alleged. The authorities cited |