Page:The Church of England, its catholicity and continuity.djvu/72

 outside their intentions. &hellip; He traced all the evils of the Church to the corruption of the Curia and the greed and avarice of the Romans."

In the year 1253, Grosseteste most boldly and righteously opposed the Pope in another matter. The Pope ordered him to install his nephew, a mere boy who was not even in Holy Orders, into a canonry. He absolutely refused to do so, or as he himself expressed it, he "filially and obediently refused to obey." The letter in which the refusal was conveyed spoke out strongly against the Pope's wickedness.

"Those are guilty," he said, "who receive the profits without performing the sacerdotal office. Those who appoint such unqualified persons are most to blame, especially in proportion to their high station. The Holy Apostolic See, which has received its authority for edification and not for destruction, can never countenance such a horrible prevarication which would amount to a forfeiture of its authority; indeed, such persons might be said to sit in the chair of pestilence with the devil and antichrist."

I think you will now acknowledge that I have said quite enough to show you how the English people opposed the claim of Rome over them, enough to show that Englishmen did not recognize that the Pope of Rome had legal authority in our land.

I could give you many other instances to bear out this testimony.

I must beg to crave your attention a little longer in order