which he vainly endeavoured to overcome, St. Edmund, after upbraiding both king and legate, went into voluntary exile. Dismissing his train of domestics, he buried himself, like his illustrious predecessor, Thomas à Becket, in the abbey of Pontigni. There falling dangerously ill, he was removed, by the advice of his physicians, to that of Soissy, in the vicinity of Provins. Instead of diminishing, however, his illness increased with such violence that he felt his last hour was at hand. Few men could repeat, with equal truth, the prayer of this excellent prelate before he expired : Lord, in thee I have trusted; thee have I preached; in thee have I faithfully instructed my flock: and well thou knowest that I have desired nothing on earth but thee!" He died on the 16th day of November, 1246. During his last residence at Pontigni, where he was held in the most affectionate veneration, he drew up, for the edification of the monks, his Speculum Ecclesiæ, a work which contains purer strains of devotion than any other of the same century. What the saint, - for such he truly wasenforces with most earnestness, is the love and obedience of God; and his strains sometimes assume a tone worthy of seraphs themselves. From such a work, the historian cannot well make extracts. We will merely add, that this excellent prelate affords a proof, that in a superstitious age, real, even enlightened piety existed, and that, in a corrupt one, moral worth was to be found in the highest perfection human nature can attain.*

Contemporary with St. Edmund, of equal uprightness 1253. of principle, but far his superior in vigour of character. was the celebrated Robert Grossetete, bishop of Lincoln. Born of humble parents in that county, he was indebted for his education at Oxford, to the charity of the mayor of Lincoln. The proficiency which he made justified the discernment of his patron. Having studied the usual

Matthæus Parisiensis, Historia, and most of the contemporary historians of England (sub annis). Capgravius, Nova Legenda Sanctorum, fol. ciii. Surius, de Probitis Sanctorum Vitis, die Novemb. xvi. Raynaldus, Annales Ecclesiastici (sub annis). S. Edmundus, Speculum Ecclesiæ (in Bibliotheca Patrum, tom. xvi.).

heads of learning in that university, he repaired, in conformity with the custom of the times, to Paris, which was at that time the most celebrated school in Europe. There he acquired great reputation, obtained his doctor's degree, and returned to receive such preferment as his merits deserved: he was soon made archdeacon of Leicester, and in 1237 he succeeded to the see of Lincoln. This fact proves, that with all its corruption the English church still possessed something good: even in times that some are apt to call more religious, as well as more enlightened, such homage would not readily be paid to merit alone. From his elevation, he was resolved never to spare abuses; to assail them even where there was no prospect of removing them. Stern in his notions of duty, conscientious in all his actions, of incorruptible integrity, of spotless life, ardent in his zeal, intrepid in mind, and deeply impressed with the manifold evils to which we have already adverted, he became what he endeavoured to be, a faithful pastor of Christ's flock. The corruption of the church he chiefly ascribed to the conduct or incapacity of the clerical body; he inveighed with honest bitterness against the worldly spirit which animated all; he spared not even the tiara; and within his own jurisdiction he proved to be a formidable unhending opponent of every "wolf in Christ's fold." Invariably he refused institution to every pluralist; to clergymen engaged in secular pursuits, such as the courts of law; to all, however qualified, who did not promise to reside on their benefices. Such inflexible rigour was sure to create much opposition: the clergymen thus rejected, complained to their patrons; the patrons stormed; the ministers of the crown murmured; but he heard all unmoved. Not less were the obstacles he encountered in his attempts to reform both the clergy and laity of his diocese. The latter sought the protection of the civil courts; the former pleaded their ancient customs or papal exemption: from his decisions, appeals were frequently carried to the king by the one party, to the pope by the other; he was always involved in some law

suit; and twice he was compelled to visit the papal court, to answer for his suspension of negligent or inefficient clergymen. In his visitation of the monasteries, which he would not allow any exemption from his jurisdiction, to depose such superiors as were convicted of immorality, ignorance, or remissness: to excommunicate clergy or laity who spurned correction, seemed to be the favourite, as beyond doubt they were the chief, occupations of his life. He resisted, with greater firmness than success, the continued claims of the royal prerogative; but if, through the interested opposition he encountered, he had thus the mortification of failure, he might yet be consoled, not only by the consciousness that he had done his duty, but that his energetic remonstrances were making a great impression on the public mind. With the pope he was not less inflexible than with the crown. Neither pontiff nor legate could prevail on him to institute foreign clergymen to any living in his diocese. Thus, when Innocent IV. sent a provision to a prebendal stall in Lincoln cathedral, in favour of his own nephew, the bishop replied, that such provisions were contrary to the good of the church and the welfare of souls; that he would not consider the present one as issued by the pontiff; and that, even if it were, he would not regard it. Again, on receiving another mandate from the papal chair, as little agreeable to his principles as the former, he not only rejected it, but wrote to the other bishops to do the same, in a tone of such indignant severity, of such manly independence, of such inflexible conscientiousness, of such enlightened policy, as to convince us, that, even at this period, when papal corruption was at its height, — and 'assuredly the climax may be referred to the third Henry's reign, the English church had still something to command our respect: "I know that if I obey with respect such commands as are truly apostolic, I oppose such as are not, even from a regard to the honour of the holy see itself: both that submission and this resistance are obligatory on me, since they are the positive injunctions of God himself. Now, to be

apostolic, these commands must be conformable with the doctrine of the apostles, and of Jesus Christ, whom the pope represents in the church; but the letter which I have received from him, in no wise exhibits this conformity. In the first place, it bears the odious clause, non obstante, which gives birth to inconstancy, impudence, lying, deceit, distrust, and saps the foundations of human society.* By allowing the pope to annul all particular laws and conventions contrary to his own will, it involves the monstrous doctrine that there can be no certain rule of church government. Since the sin of Lucifer, which will also be that of Antichrist, there has been none greater than that of ruining souls by depriving them of faithful pastoral service, by thinking of the flock only as an object of never-ending plunder. Now, as the cause is worse than the effect, so they who introduce into the church these false shepherds, these murderers of souls, are worse than these pastors: they are not much better than Lucifer and Antichrist; especially when we consider that the higher the authority they hold in the church, the greater their obligation to banish such pastors from it. The power which the holy see has received from Jesus Christ, it has received for edification only; nor can it lawfully order or do any thing tending to a sin so abominable in itself, and so injurious to the world to suppose such a thing would involve a monstrous abuse of power, a departure from the throne of Christ, an exchange of that throne for the throne of pestilence in hell. Whoever is faithful to the holy see, and not separated from it by schism, cannot obey such commands, come from whatever quarter they may, should they come even from the highest angels: on the contrary, he is bound to oppose them with all his might.

Non obstante, notwithstanding any previous decrees or provisions to the contrary. This clause was, indeed, odious and wicked. By it the pope could annul or suspend the decrees of preceding popes, and even set aside the acts of councils. It recognised the worst species of despotism,-the power of one man to effect what he p'eased, in contradiction to scripture, to reason, and to authority. This clause appears to have been first introduced by Innocent IV. (1243-1254.). The evil was, therefore, of no long growth.

that

Wherefore, venerable brethren, allow me to protest, I will not obey such orders - that I will resist them to the last." Such language as this does immortal honour to the memory of Grossetete; nor was it peculiar to him. Similar sentiments might be extracted from a hundred other divines of the middle ages, but not expressed with equal boldness. It was far from pleasing to Innocent IV., who was proceeding to punish him for his audacity, when some of the papal councillors suggested the propriety of forbearance, as Grossetete was too popular, and his opinions too generally diffused in England, to render such punishment advisable. There can be no doubt that it would have led to open tumult, or something more. So exasperated was the public mind with the abuses of the popes, and the immorality of the clergy, that it was prepared for violent measures. There was, indeed, equal reason for dissatisfaction with their king, who was a nearer and more dangerous plunderer. In reading the history of this period, it is impossible not to feel some surprise, and more indignation, that the people did not rise en masse, and put down king and pope. Grossetete, however, had no such wish. He was evidently attached to the holy see, the powers of which he exalted far more highly than was to be expected, even in these days: he was apparently not averse to its superiority over the temporal power: he was, certainly, a determined supporter of clerical immunities, even of those we justly regard as most obnoxious. His object was to reform the popedom, not to curtail its prerogatives, much less to destroy it. The vehemence of his language arose from his character. Fearless of danger, in the presence of Innocent himself, at a synod of Lyons, he preached in his usual strain, - referring all the evils of the times to the corruption of the clergy, and openly charging the papal court itself with the origin of this corruption. "What," he asks, "is the first and original cause, the primary fountain of such wickedness? I tremble to speak it, yet speak it I must, lest I fall under the prophetic de nunciation,- Woe is me! for I am undone, because I