John XXII

“ For the same purpose, John Huss makes an appeal to John XXIII., [2] which has been inserted in his history, accompanied by the testimony of the Academy of Prague.]
I write with the humble submission and respect that is due to your commands, Reverend Fathers in Christ; you who are clothed with an apostolical character, who shine as great lights to enlighten the nation, and who are elevated to power in order to efface the sins of the world, to snatch souls from the snares of Satan, and to succour those who suffer in Christ’s name. ”

“ Is this the man that doth contemn the pope? Is this the man that robbed the holy church, And yet will fly unto a friary? Is this the king that aims at abbeys’ lands? Is this the man whom all the world abhors, And yet will fly unto a friary? Accursed be Swinstead Abbey, abbot, friars, Monks, nuns, and clerks, and all that dwells therein, If wicked John escape alive away. Now if that thou wilt look to merit heaven, And be canonized for a holy saint, To please the world with a deserving work, Be thou the man to set thy country free, And murder him that seeks to murder thee. ”

“ Success may follow thee; Thus hast thou showed thy kindness to thy king. Sirrah, in haste go greet the cardinal, Pandulph I mean, the legate from the pope. Say that the king desires to speak with him. Now John, bethink thee how thou may’st resolve, And if thou wilt continue England’s king, Then cast about to keep thy diadem, For life and land, and all is leveled at. The pope of Rome, ‘tis he that is the cause, He curseth thee, he sets thy subjects free From due obedience to their sovereign ”

“ He seems more concerned about events than about duty. John was younger than Peter, and, in the course of nature, likely to survive him: "Lord," says he, "what times shall he be reserved for?" Whereas, if God by his grace enable us to persevere to the end, and finish well, and get safely to heaven, we need not ask, "What shall be the lot of those that shall come after us?" Is it not well if peace and truth be in my days? Scripture-predictions must be eyed for the directing of our consciences, not the satisfying of our curiosity. ”

“ But if that most vile enemy, in order to withdraw from us the medicine of heavenly cure, has violated the safekeeping of our sleeping mind, provided only that it has been contaminated by no blameable sensual desire, no assent to delight, but merely some voiding produced by natural necessity, or at least drawn out by the attack of the devil without any pleasurable sense to create an obstacle to our sanctification, we can and should confidently approach the grace of the life-giving food. ”

“ Pandulph, as gave his Holiness in charge, So hath the Dolphin mustered up his troops And won the greatest part of all this land. But ill becomes your grace, Lord Cardinal, Thus to converse with John that is accursed. [Cardinal] Pandulph
Lewis of France, victorious conqueror, Whose sword hath made this island quake for fear: Thy forwardness to fight for holy Rome, Shall be remunerated to the full. But know, my lord, King John is now absolved; The pope is pleased, the land is blessed again, And thou hast brought each thing to good effect. ”

“ Please it your Majesty, the prince of France With all the nobles of your grace’s land, Are marching hitherward in good array. Where e’er they set their foot, all places yield; Thy land is theirs, and not a foot holds out But Dover Castle, which is hard besieged. [Cardinal] Pandulph
Fear not, King John, thy kingdom is the pope’s, And they shall know his Holiness hath power To beat them soon from whence he hath to do. Drums and trumpets. Enter Lewis, Meloun, Salisbury, Essex, Pembroke, and all
the nobles from France, and England. ”

“ Having been established in this purity of chastity, sin will not longer control us. [4] For we are not under the law, which while it commends the permitted rights of marriage, even that by the help of which the drive for illicit fornication is assuaged, nevertheless feeds and preserves the fire deep within us ”

“ The Lord Jesus had most plainly foretold the secret of victory in the hearing of John when he had said, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” And, doubtless, these words came with fullness and force to the memory of the apostle when he heard the “loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down.” ”

“ He animates the nobles in their wars, He gives away the crown to Philip’s son, And pardons all that seek to murder thee— And thus blind zeal is still predominant. Then John, there is no way to keep thy crown, But finely to dissemble with the pope; That hand that gave the wound must give the salve To cure the hurt, else quite incurable. Thy sins are far too great to be the man T’ abolish pope, and popery from thy realm, But in thy seat, if I may guess at all, A king shall reign that shall suppress them all. Peace John, here comes the legate of the pope ”

“ But He who had sat by the well did not ask this proof of her desire for reformation. 'Woman,' He said, 'believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.' All she had asked—all that most Samaritans or Jews would have disputed about—was where they ought to worship. The thought upon which Jesus fixes her mind, is the Being to be worshipped. That new name, which John said the Son was come to reveal, is now proclaimed in the ears of a separatist and a sinner. He speaks not of the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, but of the Father. ”

“ King John
Lady, stand up, be patient for awhile; And fellow, say, whose bastard is thy brother? Philip
Not for myself, nor for my mother now, But for the honor of so brave a man, Whom he accuseth with adultery, Here I beseech your grace upon my knees, To count him mad, and so dismiss us hence. Robert
Nor mad, nor mazed, but well advised, I Charge thee before this royal presence here To be a bastard to King Richard’s self, Son to your grace, and brother to your Majesty. Thus bluntly, and— Queen Eleanor
Young man, thou need’st not be ashamed of thy kin, Nor of thy sire. ”

“ So wrong shall be suborned by trust of strength; A tyrant’s practice to invest himself, Where weak resistance giveth wrong the way, To check the which, in holy lawful arms, I in the right of Arthur Geoffrey’s son, Am come before this city of Angiers, To bar all other false supposed claim, From whence or howsoe’er the error springs. And in his quarrel on my princely word, I’ll fight it out unto the latest man. John
Know, king of France, I will not be commanded By any power or prince in Christendom, To yield an instance how I hold mine own, More than to answer, that mine own is mine. ”

“ Thou must surrender to the see of Rome Thy crown and diadem, then shall the pope Defend thee from th’ invasion of thy foes. And where his Holiness hath kindled France, And set thy subjects hearts at war with thee, Then shall he curse thy foes, and beat them down, That seek the discontentment of the king. King John
From bad to worse! Or I must lose my realm, Or give my crown for penance unto Rome! A misery more piercing than the darts That break from burning exhalation’s power. What? Shall I give my crown with this right hand? No! With this hand defend thy crown and thee. ”

“ Thou tell’st me marvels, would thou hadst brought the man; We might have questioned him of things to come. Bastard
My lord, I took a care of “had I wist,” And brought the prophet with me to the court. He stays, my lord, but at the presence door; Pleaseth your Highness, I will call him in. John
Nay, stay awhile; we’ll have him here anon. A thing of weight is first to be performed. Enter the nobles and crown King John, and then cry “God save the king”. ”

“ Art thou John, who said that my Kingdom would speedily be uprooted, and that another King, Jesus, was going to reign instead of me? And John answered and said to him: Thou also shalt reign for many years given to thee by God, and after thee very many others; and when the times of the things upon earth have been fulfilled, out of heaven shall come a King, eternal, true, Judge of living and dead, to whom every nation and tribe shall confess, through whom every earthly power and dominion shall be brought to nothing, and every mouth speaking strange things shall be shut. ”

“ John bore witness of Him and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spoke. He that cometh after me is preferred before me because He was before me. We have all received of His fullness, grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, hath declared Him.
And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? ”

“ Which, not so much by emptiness of the flesh than by circumspection of the mind and by virtue, if they cannot be entirely prevented, at least they are led to that simple quality of an emptying, the grace of God assisting. ”

“ It was an aggravation of their unbelief, [1.] That John was such an excellent person, that he came, and came to them, in the way of righteousness. The better the means are, the greater will the account be, if not improved. [2.] That, when they saw the publicans and harlots go before them into the kingdom of heaven, they did not afterward repent and believe; were not thereby provoked to a holy emulation, Rom. xi. 14. Shall publicans and harlots go away with grace and glory; and shall not we put in for a share? Shall our inferiors be more holy and more happy than we? ”

“ It is proof that a man’s attachment to Christ and endeavour to forward His purposes have been recognised by the world. Persecution, then, should be welcome as the world’s testimony to the disciple’s identity with Christ.
No idea had fixed itself more deeply in the mind of John than this of the identity of Christ and His people. As he brooded upon the life of Christ and sought to penetrate to the hidden meanings of all that appeared on the surface, he came to see that the unbelief and hatred with which He was met was the necessary result of goodness presented to worldliness and selfishness. ”

“ See what a laudable emulation it is among disciples to strive which shall excel, which shall exceed, in that which is good. It was no breach of ill manners for John, though the younger, to outrun Peter, and get before him. We must do our best, and neither envy those that can do better, nor despise those that do as they can, though they come behind. (1.) He that got foremost in this race as the disciple whom Jesus loved in a special manner, and who therefore in a special manner loved Jesus. Note, Sense of Christ's love to us, kindling love in us to him again, will make us to excel in virtue. ”

“ John has been presenting to us from the beginning of his Gospel, of a Word who was with God and was God, of a Son who had come forth from the Father to reveal His grace and truth to men, of a Son who was returning to that Father as to His proper home. All is consistent from first to last; all has been divine, and all human. No clashing of the one with the other; but the human showing forth the divine as the perfect light from which it has been derived; the human leading on to the divine as that in which it is satisfied.
Hitherto this prayer has had no special reference to the disciples. ”

“ Though John be faulty, yet let subjects bear, He will amend and right the people’s wrongs. A mother though she were unnatural, Is better than the kindest stepdame is: Let never Englishman trust foreign rule. Then, Philip, show thy fealty to thy king, And ‘mongst the nobles plead thou for the king. Bastard
I go my lord. See how he is distraught, This is the cursed priest of Italy Hath heaped these mischiefs on this hapless land. Now Philip, hadst thou Tully’s eloquence, Then might’st thou hope to plead with good success. ”

“ Here, in the most solemn manner, Jesus makes the same assertion to His disciples. The works that He did upon earth were only the beginning of what He would do—the signs, as St. John has expressed it so constantly, of a power to be more completely exerted, of a purpose to be fulfilled. His returning to the Father is to be the crisis and commencement of a new life to the world,—the pledge that all the influences for health and renovation which the Son of Man had put forth, instead of being exhausted, were to go on proving their vigour and winning their victories from generation to generation. ”

“ John has been speaking of a race born, not of flesh, nor of blood, nor of the will of men, but of God. Christ here declares that He has founded such a race upon the earth. He prays His Father to keep it in the world, not to take it out of the world; to keep it by His word, His quickening, uniting word, which a world that is divided and is seeking death must hate; to keep it in the confession of Him who is not of the world, but is the Son of God ”

“ Trust me my lord, right well have you advised, Venom for use, but never for a sport Is to be dallied with, lest it infect. Were you installed, as soon I hope you shall, Be free from traitors, and dispatch them all. Lewis
That so I mean, I swear before you all On this same altar, and by heaven’s power, There’s not an English traitor of them all, John once dispatched, and I fair England’s king, Shall on his shoulders bear his head one day, But I will crop it for their guilt’s desert. Nor shall their heirs enjoy their signories, But perish by their parents’ foul amiss. ”