John's refignation feemed to confider England as a tributary country, which he might plunder at difcretion. He had now no occafion for the affiftance of the clergy, who, whilft they found their account in it, promoted all his defigns, and exalted his ufurped power. But as the cafe now ftood, they found a blind complaifance for the orders of the pope, and his demands of money, would only ferve to ruin them. They had nothing to hope from the king, who kept no measures with them: they beheld with grief all vacant benefices bestowed on foreigners, infomuch, that at one time no lefs than three hundred ecclefiafticks were fent over. Whofoever looks into M. Paris, will find him every where full of inftances of the pope's extortion and oppreffion towards the English clergy, in which the king went hand in hand with him. The clergy were not fo blind to their own intereft, as not to be fenfible it was now their business to join with the people in condemning Henry's proceedings accordingly we find through this reign they always fhewed great backwardness in complying with the exactions of the king and pope, and fometimes they had the refolution to give them a down-right refusal, and openly to declare they would no longer fubmit to such oppreffions.

But

But that their regard for the interest of the laity was no greater than at other times, plainly appears from the open attempts they themfelves made towards fubverting the laws, which my lord Coke mentions in his preface to the articuli cleri*. "in the forty-fecond year of "Henry III. Boniface archbishop of Canterbury, made diverfe and many canons and "conftitutions provincial, directly against the "laws of the realm, and tending to ufurp and "encroach upon many matters which appa

rently belonged to the common law; but "notwithstanding the greatness of Boniface, "and that diverfe of the judges of the realm "were of the clergy, and all the great officers "of the realm, as chancellor, treasurer, privy "feal, &c. were prelates, yet the judges pro"ceeded according to the laws of the realm, "and ftill kept, though with great difficulty, "the ecclefiaftical courts within their juft and "proper limits." We may reasonably conclude, had the king taken the method, fome of his more politic fucceffors have done, of attaching the clergy to his intereft, by fhewing a zeal for their pretended rights, and a readiness in contributing to the advancement of their riches and power, and had himself

4

*Second vol. of Inft.

only

only plundered and haraffed his other fubjects; he would have met with their full concurrence in his defigns: and all precautions in the laity for the fecurity of their liberty, would have been cenfured as unwarrantable, and rebellious. For what could not be expected from a set of men, whose power and wealth were become fo dangerous to liberty, and their endeavours to encrease them fo ftrenuous, that, as the great man juft quoted fays, it was with great difficulty the laws of the land were rescued from their all-engroffing ambition ?

In this and the following reign, we may obferve, how difficult it was by the wifest provifions and reftrictions of the law to prevent the clergy from evading fuch statutes as Set any bounds to their wealth or power. At the time of figning Magna Charta by Henry, the barons were fo fenfible of the dangerous confequence of the immenfe riches, the church was every day acquiring, that they inferted a claufe to prevent the further disposition of lands to religious houfes. But the clergy found fo many ways to creep out of that statute, and their poffeffions continued ftill to encrease fo faft, that in the feventh of Edward I. the ftatute of mortmain was enacted to the general joy of the people. The words intended to provide against their devices are fo ftrong, that I will VOL. II. C

infert

infert them here: «Quod nullus religiofus "aut alius quicunque terras aut tenementa " aliqua emere vel vendere fub colore dona<tionis aut termini," (and to prevent all other inventions and evafions, these general words were added) "aut ratione alterius ti"tuli terras aut tenementa ab aliquo recipere, aut alio quovis modo, arte vel ingenio, fibi appropriare præfumat, sub forisfactura eorun"dorum.'

"

A man would have thought, fays my lord Coke, that this fhould have prevented all new devices; but they foon found out an evafion for this ftatute also.

In the progress of this reign we see the grounds of their oppofition in the former fully made out by the willingness, the clergy fhewed, in making use of the pope's authority, whenever it chimed with their own intereft: they now made a bull of Boniface VIII. † a pretence to exempt them from the payment of any taxes to fecular princes, without the confent of the holy fee; and by fo doing, openly put themselves upon a foot of independence on the rest of the kingdom; and even affumed

See lord Coke's magna charta, ch. 36.

+ M. Weft. 405. Walfing. p. 68.

a

a fuperiority, by declaring they were not obliged to join with them in contributing to the public

expences.

In the close of this reign, the bishops give us a further more convincing proof of what I have before faid, that hitherto whenever they fhewed a difapprobation of any innovations or oppreffions, it was merely because they had no fhare in the profits. Edward, notwithstanding the encomiums of some hiftorians, had no lefs fondness for arbitrary power than his predeceffors, though his fuperior understanding made him fenfible, how neceffary it was to conceal it; of which he was convinced by the refolute behaviour of some of the barons, However, towards the decline of his life, he began to act with lefs referve in that refpect; and having procured from Rome a difpenfation of his oath, in regard to the two charters, he by virtue of a grant from thence levied the tenth of all ecclefiaftical revenues for two years; in confideration. of which, the pope referved to himself the first-fruits of all the benefices. Here one would imagine, that the chief men of the clergy were concerned in the greatest degree to prevent any innovation of this kind, which fo particularly affected their own body; but in this care was taken, that the bishops should