And  not  only  is  the  parochial  ideal  of  duty  a
constant,  or  at  least  a  perpetually  recurring  one,
but  we  find  from  the  earliest  times  evidence  of
characteristic  preferences  in  the  wider  field  of  Church
politics.  One  such  constant  characteristic  is  a  strong
apathy,  becoming  at  intervals  a  strong  antipathy,
towards  the  Roman  see,  and  a  correspondingly  strong
sense  of  the  necessary  attachment  between  the  Eng-
lish Church  and  State.  In  Saxon  times  the  bishops


APOLOGIA   PRO  CLERO.  153

and  clergy  had  rank  and  duties  in  the  body  politic,
independently  of  a  place  in  their  own  ecclesiastical
synods.  All  through  mediaeval  times  bishops  were
great  officers  of  State ;  and  even  now  the  ordinary
Englishman  is  pleased  that  they  should  have  a  seat
in  the  Upper  House  of  Parliament.  As  to  the  early
existence  of  anti-papal  feeling,  Dr.  Cutts  1  points  out
that  the  canons  sent  by  Boniface  to  Cuthbert,  and
considered  by  the  Council  of  Clovesho  (A.D.  747),  were
all  passed,  with  the  exception  of  the  two  preliminary
canons  formally  acknowledging  the  supremacy  of
Rome.  "The  omissions,"  he  adds,  "are  the  most
important  part  of  the  document."  The  anti-papal
acts  of  the  parliaments  of  Edward  I.,  following  upon
the  papal  extortions  under  John  and  Henry  III.,  are
numerous  ;  and  those  in  Henry  VIII.'s  reign,  although
dictated  by  the  King,  were  far  from  being  unpopular.
