At this time the various profitable devices, by which the Vatican turned into its own channels the wealth and patronage of the church, were come into full operation. By its provisions and reservations, and other expedients, it had filled many valuable benefices with foreign ecclesiastics; these, for the most part, were non-resident, and spent in other countries the rich revenues which they derived from England. This system had been vigorously opposed both by kings and people, but with little effectual success; for the Pope commonly contrived to repair the losses which he had sustained in the tempest during the interval which succeeded it. In 1374 Edward III. dispatched an embassy to Avignon to remonstrate on these subjects with Gregory XI., and procure the relinquishment of his pretensions. The Bishop of Bangor was at the head of this commission, and the name of Wiclif stood second on the list. The negociation was protracted, and ended in no important result; and the various arts of the Vatican triumphed over the zeal of the Reformer, and, as some believe, over the honesty of the Bishop. Howbeit, Wiclif obtained on that occasion a nearer insight into the pontifical machinery, and beheld with closer eyes the secret springs which moved it. And if he carried along with him into the presence of the vicar of Christ no very obsequious regard for his person, or reverence for his authority, he returned from that mission armed with more decided principles, and inflamed with a more determined animosity. At the same time his sovereign rewarded his services at the Papal Court by the prebend of Aust, in the Collegiate Church of Westbury, in the diocese of Worcester; and soon afterwards by the rectory of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire.