Such were the provisions, by which, when the popes were in the zenith of their authority, our catholic ancestors disclaimed and resisted their pretensions to temporal power, and even the undue exercise of their spiritual power, within this imperial realm*. VII. 4. Services rendered by the Popes to Religion and THE scenes, in which the popes were engaged, in consequence of their claim to temporal power by divine right, present the dark side of the papal character. In most other respects, they appear to advantage, both in their sacerdotal and their civil capacities. That a few, in the long list, were stained by vice, is not denied; nor that others exhibited the workings of those passions, which too generally accompany the possession of power; but can it be said, that, even in the times of the greatest ignorance, the roman bishops were not eminently distinguished by superior virtue and superior acquirements? Collectively taken, let them be compared with the contemporary princes in every age; and most assuredly they will not suffer on the comparison. The subject of this chapter is exhausted by lord Coke, in his treatise De Jure Regis Ecclesiastico, prefixed to the fifth volume of his Reports, and the answer to it by father Persons, published in 1606.-See also Mr.Lingard's History of England, vol. ii. ch. 15, p. 304, 311 :—and vol. iii, ch. 19, p. 144, 156; ch. 20, p. 189, 198. Voltaire observes that, in the dark ages, there was less of barbarism and ignorance in the dominions of the popes, than in any other European state. Much, unquestionably, was done by them, in every portion of christendom, to dispel ignorance, to spread the faith and morality of the gospel, to protect the lower ranks against their oppressors, to preserve peace among princes, and to alleviate the general calamities of the times. Their exertions, during the middle ages, to compel the monarchs of Europe to respect the sanctity of the marriage bed, have not been sufficiently observed: had it not been for these, royal incontinence, even of the worst kind, would probably have become common, and would probably have been generally imitated. Persecuted by every other power, the jews were protected by the popes; great exertions were made by them for the redemption of captives, and for the amelioration of the condition of the slaves*. Nothing contributed more to elevate the third estate into notice, and give it importance, than the assistance, which the Italian republics, in their contests with the emperors, received from the popes. Their exertions for the conversion of infidels were unremitted: few nations can read the history of the introduction of christianity among them, without being sensible of their obligations to the popes. In 1167, pope Alexander the third solemnly declared in council, that all christians ought to be exempt from slavery. CHAP. VIII. HISTORICAL MINUTES OF ROBERT GROSSETETE, BISHOP OF LINCOLN. * THIS illustrious prelate took an active and honourable part in many of the events mentioned in the preceding chapters. As several circumstances of his life shew the spirit of the times, to which this portion of our work relates, on most of the subjects of the preceding pages; and as, notwithstanding the great renown of this prelate in his own time, and in the times which immediately followed, the particulars of his life are little known to the generality of readers, it has been thought, that a short biographical notice of him in this place, would not be unacceptable. * This account of Robert Grossetete is taken from "The "Life of Robert Grossetete, the celebrated bishop of Lincoln, "by Samuel Pegge, LL. D. prebendary of Louth, in that "diocese, with an account of the bishop's works, and appen"dix, quarto, 1793." This work is become extremely scarce, and a new edition of it, enlarged by interweaving in it a history of the times, which was Dr. Pegge's original design, would be a valuable present to the public.-By the favour of Dr. Cameron, the roman-catholic bishop in the Lowlands of Scotland, the writer has been favoured with a perusal of a manuscript life of bishop Grossetete, by the late doctor Perry, president of the English roman-catholic college of Valladolid. Should such a work, as the writer has suggested, be undertaken, both this manuscript and a life of Grossetete, which Dr. Pegge mentions in his preliminary observations, to have been left in manuscript, by Mr. Knight the biographer of Erasmus, should be consulted. VIII. 1. Birth and early years of Grossetete. He was born, according to the most probable opinion, about the year 1175, at Stow, a village near Lincoln, of obscure parents. His mother, on her death-bed, recommended him to "seek God "and true wisdom, more than meat or drink." Impressed with this sentiment, the mayor of Lincoln having proffered him a boon, Robert entreated the mayor to procure him the means of improving his mind. The good mayor placed him in a grammar school: there he distinguished himself; and, having finished in it his grammatical studies, was removed to Oxford. Anthony Wood* mentions, that this celebrated university then contained 30,000 students; some of whom were foreigners. Here Grossetete made great proficiency in the learning of the schools, and obtained also a considerable degree of knowledge both of the Greek and Hebrew languages. To pursue his studies with greater advantage, he repaired to Paris: "Whither," says Dr. Pegge, in his life of our pre ፡፡ *" Athenæ Oxonienses. An exact History of all the Writers "and Bishops who had their education in the most ancient "and famous university of Oxford, from the 15th year of king Henry the seventh, A. D. 1500, to the end of the year "1690, representing the birth, fortune, preferment and death "of all those authors and prelates, the great accidents of their "lives, and the fate and character of their writings. To which 66 are added the Fasti or Annales of this University for the "same time, fol. 1791."-See vol. i. p. 80, 84, 98. late," almost all our English divines, who aspired "after a superior degree of eminence in their pro fession, resorted for the finishing of their cha"racter, notwithstanding the high reputation of our own domestic academies." VIII. 2. Grossetete's Proficiencies in Literature. GROSSETETE cultivated literature through life. The writings, which he left behind him, embraced the whole circle of science, logic, ethics, œconomics, politics, arithmetic, geometry, the doctrine of the sphere, comets, the air, light, catoptrics, astronomy, metaphysics, music, medicine, canon law and theology. He composed treatises on most of these subjects. The far greater part remains in manuscript: some of his sermons, and many of his letters, were published by Mr. Browne in his Fasciculus. The vulgar looked on Grossetete as a prodigy. Like many other men of science, who flourished in the dark ages, he was accused of magic: he was said to have framed a head, that spoke and gave council; and to have had such a power over the invisible world, that, on an emergency, he compelled Satan to assume the shape of a horse, which carried him to Rome and back again, in twentyfour hours. To some of these magic honours, Roger Bacon, the Franciscan friar, afterwards succeeded. Grossetete first attracted the notice of the public by his lectures on theology. The reputation |