VI. CHAP. adapt themselves, or be adapted by the wisdom of the master, to the demands of every period and stage of civilisation. And this from a man of the profound religion of Colet! But Colet saw that the dominant religion, or rather the form of that religion, was drawing to a close, and who should determine where that change would be arrested? Christianity would never fail; but what was to be the Christianity of the future, John Colet presumed not to foresee.2 Colet was meditating retirement from his labours; it is said, from the petty harassing persecutions of Bishop Fitz James. His health had suffered from more than one attack of the fatal malady of the times, the sweating sickness. The survivor of twenty-two children might well tremble for the precarious tenure of life. His retirement could be hardly anywhere but to a monastery-a monastery sufficiently religious, but not too monastic. This was difficult to find. Colet chose the house of the Carthusians at Sheen, but, before he could enter into his earthly repose, he was carried off by his obstinate enemy, the sweating sickness, at the age of fifty-three. No one who would do justice to the wisdom and the religion of Colet, will hesitate to read the famous letter of Erasmus to Justus Jonas, in which he describes, with eloquence which comes from the heart, and, as far as we can judge, with unquestionable truth, the two most perfect Christians whom the world, in his time, had seen. One of them was John Colet, Dean of S. Paul's. 2 S. Paul's School, Colet's, must have risen rapidly to eminence. See the very curious account of the plays performed by the scholars before the King at Gravesend, in 1527, in Mr. THE CHAPTER OF S. PAUL'S.-REVENUES.-FABRIC OF THE CATHEDRAL. It SOME of the earlier authorities give the appellation of monastery to S. Paul's. This is, no doubt, erroneous. arose from the desire of making S. Paul's a counterpart to the great monastery of S. Peter's in Thorney Island (Westminster). But, from their foundation, the members of the Chapter of S. Paul's were secular priests, and constantly bore the name of Canons, or, improperly, Prebendaries, from the prebends or portions attached to each stall. S. Paul's was surrounded, indeed, with great monastic establishments. At its feet were the Black Friars (the Dominicans), near the opening on Blackfriars Bridge: beyond, the White Friars (Carmelites), whose precincts degenerated into what was called Alsatia. Beyond was the magnificent abode of the Templars. On the north side of Ludgate Hill were the Grey Friars (Franciscans), who occupied the site of Christ's Hospital. Further back, the rich Priory of S. John's, Clerkenwell, and a convent of Sisters of S. Clare. Then the Priory of S. Bartholomew's, Smithfield; the Holy Trinity, within Aldgate; and the Carthusians (the Charter House), those brothers who so intrepidly resisted and so nobly died for their faith at the beginning of the Reformation. But S. Paul's had no relation with any of these insti tions. Even to the Bishop K CHAP. 130 CHAP. VII. CHAPTER OF S. PAUL'S. these monasteries acknowledged but doubtful, limited, and contested subjection. The Bishop, with the Dean and his thirty Canons, constituted the great Chapter. To the Dean and Canons belonged, in theory and in form, the election of the Bishop. But it was usually as barren and unreal an honour as in our days. As the Pope or the King were in the ascendant, came the irresistible nomination, which it would have been perilous for the Chapter to refuse-impossible to elude. But the right of confirmation was always claimed by the Pope; who, by provisions, and those other ingenious devices by which the Papal Court secured to itself the appointment to so many sees in England, frequently nominated directly the Bishop of London. Yet, even in the high days of Papal usurpation, no Italian appeared on the episcopal throne of the English capital. A dean, indeed, appears exhibiting this abuse in its most monstrous form. Clement V., the first Avignonese pontiff (how he obtained the Pontificate is a dark history1), had a nephew, the Cardinal Deacon, Raymond de la Goth. The Pope thrust him, by his assumed power, successively (he did not hold more than two deaneries together) into the rich deaneries of London, Salisbury, Lincoln, and York, with other fat benefices. This act of nepotism made no favourable impression in England. He was a youth too much 'beloved by the Pope; he was well-disposed, but too luxurious-a pregnant word! 2 During the earlier period, the Bishop appears at the head and as the active ruling authority in the Cathedral. After the demolition of the old Anglo-Saxon building by fire, soon after the Conquest, it is the Bishop Maurice who undertakes and defrays the cost of the new cathedral. 1 Latin Christianity, vol. vii. p. 171. 2 Hist. Dunelm., quoted by Wharton, p. 214. His successor, Richard de Belmeis, devoted his whole revenues to this sole purpose. The glory and the burden of the holy work is borne by the Bishop, or by contributions under his authority and influence, levied on the churches in the diocese or throughout the realm, or from the piety or wealth of prelates, nobles, kings, or the citizens of London. Still the Bishop is the one superior power and representative of the Cathedral. The Palace was in the precincts, closely bordering on the Church. At what time, and for what reasons, the Bishop withdrew from this continual administration and government of the Cathedral does not appear. The secession was probably gradual. It is most likely, that when the Bishop of London became, as he did at an early period, and continued to be, one of the great officers of state, Chancellor, High Treasurer, the King's Ambassador in foreign realms, the administration would fall to the Dean and Chapter, and so silently become their privilege and right. The Bishop, too, was glad to retire to his pleasant manor of Fulham, from which we have seen him carried off and imprisoned in the reign of King Stephen, and thus withdrew himself from regular attendance on the services of S. Paul's. And so the chief seat and government would fall to the Dean, for whom a convenient residence is said to have been built in the reign of Stephen, and was certainly built by Ralph de Diceto.3 CHAP. VII. CHAP. 132 THIRTY CANONS OF S. PAUL'S. The Dean and Chapter appear as the usual ruling and administrative body. The foundation and gradual growth of the Chapter stretches up into the Anglo-Saxon period, where it is lost in obscurity. Of its origin, at what time the number of Canons attained to, or was limited to, thirty, there is no trustworthy record or tradition; that they were the owners of landed estates at a very remote period, is clear beyond doubt. Though the authority of the AngloSaxon charters printed by Dugdale and Mr. Kemble may be more than questionable, yet, as Archdeacon Hale has acutely observed, the forgery of such documents proves the actual possession of the estates at the time, and that was a very remote time, when the antiquity of those grants was attempted to be proved by supposititious charters. The false titledeeds prove that the estates were in the hands of the forgers. The thirty Canons or Prebendaries formed the greater V Chapter. In this Chapter the preeminence or presidency of the Dean was recognised and established by statute. The Dean had supreme authority; was bound to defend the liberties of the Church; was bound by his oath himself to observe, and to compel all others, from the Canons down to the lowest officers and servants, to observe the laudable customs of the Church, to watch over all the possessions of the Church, and to recover whatever might have been lost or alienated. He had authority also over all who inhabited the manors and estates; an authority the Archbishop's Official, who being sworn before the Archbishop to the faithful discharge of his trust, should assume the jurisdiction, give away benefices, perform visitations, and account for all the proceeds of the See to the Archbishop. This decree was somewhat modified by Archbishop Kilwarby. Appendix to Wharton, ii. iii. A The Statutes of S. Paul's exist in several copies of different ages. There is no important difference. beautiful MS. of the Statutes, made by and for Dean Lisieux, 14411456, has strayed into the University Library at Cambridge. Colet's scheme of Statutes (MS.) never came into operation. They may be read in Dugdale. |