Page:John Wycliff, last of the schoolmen and first of the English reformers.djvu/181

 his nomination we find that it was granted to another.

The discontent of Englishmen had meanwhile come to a head; and at last the group which had held office up to 1370, and which had been dismissed by royal ordinance following on a parliamentary petition, secured another chance of directing the affairs of the nation. John of Gaunt had neglected to have Parliament summoned since November, 1373; but his elder brother, always the most authoritative of his father's subjects, though never a politician, and now fast approaching his end, caused the writs to be issued at the beginning of 1376. There could be no question as to the temper of the men who would be returned to these writs. The new House of Commons represented by a great majority not merely the grievances due to over-taxation and the widespread misery of the country, but also the indignation caused by Lancaster's attempt to limit the privileges of Parliament, the disgust of Englishmen at the two inglorious compacts at Bruges, and a determination to put an end to the open scandals of the Court.

The old official group, with Bishop Wykeham at their head, and recruited by a still stronger man in Bishop Courtenay, now returned to power; and before the session came to an end a Committee of barons and bishops was appointed to share the responsibility of the leaders in the Commons—an arrangement manifestly contributing (so far as it goes) to the development of the Cabinet as distinguished from the holders of particular offices of