Plurality of livings.

king, and the bishops of the province, having appealed to the Pope against the decision, this pontiff annulled it, and appointed Richard de Grand, of Weatherstead, Chancellor of Lincoln, to be Archbishop. It is said, by historians, that three successive elections were set aside by the sovereign pontiff, who compelled not only the chapter, but the king, to ratify the election of his choice. Another remarkable interference is recorded, that when Boniface died, in 1270, William Chillenden, their sub-prior, was elected by their chapter, but the Pope disannulled their election of that individual, and nominated Robert Kirwarby, and he became Archbishop. The right of nominating to inferior benefices, was seized in a more flagrant manner. The Pope carried his authority so far at last, as even to nominate Italian priests to the lucrative benefice of England, and these resided in Italy, and a large portion of their revenues was drawn from the monastic lands of this kingdom :-one of them is recorded to have drawn as much as seventy thousand marks yearly from the empire-a sum, at that time, greater than the entire revenues of the reigning monarch: and the abuse of this power was not only in giving the revenues of the monastic lands to a foreigner, and abstracting them from the kingdom, but it sometimes occurred, that one individual would be possessed of as many as sixty or seventy livings. And the effect of this evil, was not only in

Henry II.

The authority of the Pope.

keeping from the natives the enjoyment of these church livings, but when they were so taken, the necessitous poor were deprived of their alms, and the parishes, in which these livings were so appropriated, were deficient of that spiritual consolation these benefices were originally designed to impart.

The Pope's authority seems, in the fourteenth century, to have been so absolute, that even kings and emperors were alike under its domination; and this was a source of increasing wealth to the reigning pontiff, as new monasteries and abbeys were continually in a course of erection, or additions made to those then in existence, by the gifts and bequests of the pious, to the landed property of the clergy. A law to prevent landed proprietors from bequeathing their estates to the nunneries, was now passed, and a restraint was put somewhat upon the disposition of the rich, to bestow their lands on the church.

In the thirteenth century, the clergy were in possession of half the lands of the kingdom: on which they erected churches, abbeys, and nunneries: while the landed proprietors built castles and mansions in great profusion,—and these must have given employment to the handicraftsmen and artificers of every description, who must have benefitted, as well as the labourers who assisted them: this may have been the first cause of enticing the agricultural labourers out of their districts into the adjacent towns, where, being crowded together, and not having sufficient clothing, or by living differently from what they had No. 2.

H

A pestilence passes over Europe and Asia.

been accustomed to, would be likely to produce epidemic diseases. Hence, we have it recorded, that a great plague visited the island about the middle of the fourteenth century. Historians assert, that its first appearance was in the northern part of Asia, and was similar, both in its deadly effects, and the suddenness with which its devastating ravages were committed, to the Asiatic cholera, whose dreadful effects were experienced by this nation a few years since. After ravaging northern Asia, it proceeded with its deadly effects to northern Russia, from which it travelled southerly into Europe :-it then passed across central Asia, by the Caraccas, from China, until it reached the Black Sea,-it desolated the borders of that large sea, and was conveyed, by ships, to Constantinople, the centre of commercial intercourse between Asia, Europe, and Africa. It was felt in Sicily, Italy, and France, where it committed dreadful depredations, passing through France, from Marseilles, to Calais, through England, and the continent of Europe. Its attacks were so sudden and so violent, that it destroyed a large proportion of the population of Europe,--England suffered very severely, losing, according to some historians, half its population. Dr. Mead says, the population of the island was reduced to 2,500,000. The pestilence raged very fatally in France, particularly in Avignon, the seat of the papal dominion in that kingdom-some, who were attacked by it, fell down and expired instantaneously, as if struck by an electric shock-few survived until the third day;

The moral effects of the pestilence.

whenever any one felt attacked by its virulent tumour, he gave up all hope of recovery, and only sought those consolations which religion can afford. The priest was sent for, and absolution obtained; and the poor sufferer, having his mind composed by religious resignation, gave himself up into the arms of death, and was soon released from his misery. Vessels were seen at sea floating before the wind, having no living soul on board-for all had been swept away by the destroying pestilence.

The blasphemous arrogance of the then Pope, Clement VI., might, at this period, be a subject of doubt, were not the fact attested by credible historians; he is said, by them, to have issued a bull, declaring that God had given him the whole empire of heaven and earth-and that he delegated this power to his priesthood.

The moral effects of this destructive malady, called the black pestilence, may be readily traced by its operations on the passions of mankind- selfishness, superstition, and fanatical excesses, were predominant in their minds; some ascribed the cause of this scourge to poison-others vented their spleen against their fellow-creatures. The jews became particularly the object of general detestation: this might probably arise from their not associating with the natives, or by their keeping themselves as a separate community, or, more probably, from their great riches, as they were, at that period, the most wealthy class in the community; thousands of these unfortunate beings

The effects of pestilence on the labouring population.

were exiled from the lands in which they had resided all their lives,-others were tortured, condemned, and burnt, frequently without a trial, and their wealth seized on by the ruthless hands of power. Twelve thousand of these unfortunate sufferers were burnt at Mayenne, in France, in a retreat, into which they had fled they were pursued by the people, the magistrates, and even by the feudal lords-and by royalty itself. And in no part of Europe was an asylum offered them, except in Lithuania, where Casimer the Great granted them his protection: and this will account for the greater number of jews which are found in Poland, than in any other part of Europe, at this day.

This devastating pestilence, upon the whole, was favourable to the improvement of the labouring classes, inasmuch, as those who had escaped the devouring pestilence, were insufficient to discharge the ordinary duties of life; and to prevent the rise of wages above what the employer could afford to pay, an act of the legislature was passed, called The Statute of the Labourers, which, among other clauses, enacted, "That every man who laboured should be paid double the usual wages allowed five years before, to the great detriment of the lords and commons:" it then provided, "that in future, porters, ploughmen, ploughdrivers, shepherds, swineherds, and other servants, should be content with such liveries, and wages, as they received two or three years before; and that in districts where they had been paid in corn, they should