Page:John Wycliff, last of the schoolmen and first of the English reformers.djvu/179

 issue. For there was no question that a backward instead of a forward step had now been taken, and that Rome had rather gained a victory than suffered a defeat. The clerical Commissioners had gone to Bruges in order to clip the claws of papal usurpation in England. They came back after arranging a simple quid pro quo between the Pope and the King, and abandoning the principle of national independence, on which the whole strength of their case rested.

Of one thing we may be fairly certain; no one would be more disappointed with this result than Wyclif. The only ground on which the Commissioners could have persuaded themselves that they were making a good bargain would be that they had brought the Pope to renounce his claim to reserve benefices, whereas the English King had merely undertaken not to supply vacancies by an arbitrary exercise of his power, and without regard for the spiritual authority of Rome. No doubt the worst abuse of all was the papal traffic in English benefices, and the disposal of next presentations without reference to local rights and needs. The Commissioners may have flattered themselves that they had got rid of this abuse without paying too dear for it. But that was not what people thought at home; and it is difficult to believe that the shrewd mind of Wyclif could have been led away by such a contention, or that he acquiesced in any finding or conclusion of the Conference which would have the effect of strengthening instead of putting an end to the authority of the Pope in England.