§ 36. 1397. In 1397, the payment of the pension was again behindhand; there seems to have been some difficulty in obtaining it, due, probably, to the lavish extravagance of the king. Instead of receiving his half-yearly pension at Easter, Chaucer received it much later, and in two instalments; viz. 5l. on July 2, and 5l. on Aug. 9. But after this, things mended; for his Michaelmas pension was paid in full, viz. 10l., on Oct 26[149]. It was received for him by John Walden, and it is probable that at this time he was in infirm health. § 37. 1398. We may certainly infer that, at this time, Chaucer was once more in great distress for money, and considerably in debt. It is also probable that he was becoming infirm; for indeed, his death was now approaching. In the Easter term of 1398 (Apr. 24-May 20), one Isabella Buckholt sued him for the sum of 14l. 1s. 11d. He did not, however, put in an appearance; for the sheriff's return, in the Michaelmas term (Oct. 9-Nov. 28), was--'non est inventus'; and a similar return was again made in the Trinity term of 1399 (June 4-25)[150]. We are tempted to suspect that the sheriff was not particularly diligent in his search after the debtor. That Chaucer was well aware of the awkwardness of his position, is shewn by the fact that on May 4, 1398, just at the very time when the suit was brought, he applied for, and obtained, letters of protection from the king against his enemies, forbidding any one to sue or arrest him on any plea, except it were connected with land, for the term of two years[151]. This furnishes an additional reason why the sheriff did not 'find' him. When the two years terminated, in May, 1400, he had not half a year to live. On June 3, 1398, Chaucer was again unable to receive his pension himself, but it was conveyed to him by William Waxcombe[152]. At the close of the next month, he was reduced to such pitiable straits that we find him applying _personally_ to the exchequer, for such a trifling advance as 6s. 8d., on July 24; and for the same sum only a week later, on July 31[152]. On Aug. 23, he personally received a further advance of 5l. 6s. 8d.[152] In his distress, he determined to send in a petition to the king. A copy of this, in French, is still preserved. On Oct. 13, 1398, he prayed to be allowed a hogshead of wine (tonel de vin), to be given him by the king's butler[153]; he even asked this favour 'for God's sake and as a work of charity' (pur Dieu et en oeure de charitee). It is satisfactory to find that his request met with a prompt response; for only two days afterwards, on Oct. 15, the king made him a grant of a tun of wine annually for life, from the king's butler or his deputy; Sir H. Nicolas computes the value of this grant at about 5l. a year. Moreover, the grant was made to date as from Dec. 1, 1397; so that he necessarily received from it some immediate benefit[154]. He also received from the exchequer, with his own hands, the sum of 10l. on Oct. 28[155].