Dr. Ward's treatment is cautious and careful compared to that of Prof.
Henry Morley in his "English Writers." For example, the latter
writes: [Footnote: Vol. 5, p. 98.] "Lionel lived till 1368, but we shall
find that in and after 1358 Chaucer's relations are with John of Gaunt,
and the entries in the household of the Countess Elizabeth might imply
no more than that Chaucer, page to John of Gaunt, was detached for
service of the Countess upon her coming to London." A few pages further
on [Footnote: p. 103.]in the same volume occurs a paragraph on the life
of John of Gaunt glossed "Chaucer's Patron." With regard to the grants
of a pitcher of wine daily, and the two controllerships, Professor
Morley writes: [Footnote: p. 107.] "These successive gifts Chaucer owed
to John of Gaunt, who, in this last period of his father's reign, took
active part in the administration." And again, [Footnote: p. 109.] "John
of Gaunt had administered affairs of government. It was he, therefore,
who had so freely used the power of the crown to bestow marks of favour
upon Chaucer." [Footnote: p. 110.] "It was his patron the Duke,
therefore, who, towards the end of 1376, joined Chaucer with Sir John
Burley, in some secret service of which the nature is not known."
[Footnote: Studies in Chaucer, vol. I, pp. 81-82.]

Finally, after mentioning Chaucer's being "discharged" from his
controllerships, Morley writes: [Footnote: p. 243.] "During all this time
Chaucer's patron John of Gaunt was away with an army in Portugal."

Such absolute certainty and boldness of statement as Professor Morley's
is scarcely found again in reputable writers on Chaucer. Professor
Lounsbury in his life of Chaucer implies rather cautiously that Chaucer
lost his places in the Customs because of John of Gaunt's absence from
the country, and as the result of an investigation of the customs. Mr.
Jusserand in his Literary History of England writes: [Footnote: Eng.