chancellor for having preached it. At this Courtenay was astonished and alarmed. He felt that unless this powerful party growing up at Oxford were put down, the new principles would soon become dominant throughout the length and breadth of the land. Prompt measures were adopted. Appeal was made to the king. The chancellor saw that the position he had taken up was one of great danger. He made a confession that he had done wrong, and they forgave him; but he declared, at the same time, that such was the state of party feeling in Oxford, that it would be at the peril of his life if he attempted to publish the edict of the Synod condemning Wyckliffe and his opinions. He afterwards, however, did make a sort of proclamation of it in the name of the archbishop, but this caused such a tumult among the students that the religious orders had to betake themselves to flight.

Wyckliffe, at Lutterworth, watched with deep interest the course of events. He could not but sympathise with them who were now suffering persecution at the hands of the "Great Bishop of England," and his coadjutors the monks and mendicants. He was now about sixty years of age. Never of robust health, sickness and care and sorrow had impaired his strength, and greatly restricted him in the labours to which he was devoted. He is not disposed, however, to retire from the field of conflict against error. He wrote a letter to the bishops, in which he makes reference to a scene already described, in these words :-" More than a year since I told your coadjutor William de Beiton, then Chancellor of Oxford, that he might have power to silence me in my own hall; but that he had no power to prevent me appealing to a much higher authority than histhe authority of the King and Parliament. What was done and what was said on that memorable day is still present with me. Well do I know that it will offend you deeply, should I do as I then said I would do. Your power for evil will then, no doubt, be directed against me more than against the pious and honourable men whom you have of late been summoning, cursing, and menacing so notoriously. But it shall be done; done, because I have said it; done, because it is right;" and it was accordingly done. Wyckliffe presented a paper to the Parliament which met in October 1382. He frankly states his opinions to the "Great men of the realm, both secular and men of holy church; and says that they can be proved by authority and reason. In one section of his paper, speaking of the priests of that age, he concludes with these words ::- "Ah, Lord God, is it reason to constrain the poor people to tend a worldly priest, sometimes unable, both in life and knowledge, in pomps and pride, covetousness and envy, gluttony, drunkenness, and lechery, with fat horses, and jolly and gay saddles and bridles ringing by the way, and himself in costly clothes and furs?'

Wyckliffe's paper was quickly transcribed by the writers, and a copy of it was sent to each member of Parliament. Little practical benefit, however, to the cause of reform resulted from the discussions to which this paper gave rise in the House of Commons, farther than directing the attention of the nation more distinctly to the great movement now in progress in the direction of civil and religious liberty.

In obedience to a summons from the archbishop, Wyckliffe appears before a convocation of the great ecclesiastics met at Oxford to consider his opinions. He was not afraid to answer for himself. The charges against him are duly read in his hearing He reads his defence, first in the Latin and then in the English language, that all present might fully understand him. Strange to say, the convocation, instead of committing him to prison, the course recommended by the dignitaries as the best remedy against heresy, permits him quietly to wend his way back to his old rectory at Lutterworth. The attitude of the Parliament, which had often protested against the en

croachment of the clergy within the domain of civil affairs, no doubt, restrained on this occasion the persecuting spirit of these churchmen, and kept them from going all the length they would otherwise have gone against Wyckliffe. The Pope, however, was very far from approving of the clemency of the convocation, and summoned Wyckliffe to appear be fore him at Rome. Wyckliffe, in reply to the summons of Pope Urban, told his holiness that his infirm health unfitted him for such a journey. He explained to him his views on many important points. Among other sound observations we find these words :-"I believe that no man should follow the Pope, nor any saint that is now in heaven, except inasmuch as he shall follow Christ-for James and John erred, and Peter and Paul sinned." Urban was at this time, however, too much occupied with himself in warring against an anti-pope, to be much concerned either about Wyckliffe or his letter.*

After his retirement from Oxford, in 1381, Wyckliffe set himself, in his rectory at Lutterworth, amid his other labours, to the achievement of the great work of translating the Sacred Scriptures. The historian Knyton. who wrote shortly after Wyckliffe's death, thus refers to this work:"Christ," says he, "delivered His Gospel to the clergy and doctors of the Church that they might administer it to the laity and to weaker persons, according to the states of the times and the wants of men. But this Master John Wyckliffe translated it out of Latin into English, and thus laid it out more open to the laity, and even to women who can read it, than it had formerly been even to the more learned of the clergy, even to those of them who had the best understanding." "In this way," says he, "the Gospel pearl is cast abroad and trodden under feet of swine; that which had hitherto been the chosen gift of the clergy and of divines is made for ever common to the laity." In the year 1350 about one half of the Book of Psalms was translated into English by one Richard Roll. This was the first attempt to give to the English nation a literal translation of any part of Scripture. Parts of the Gospels and Epistles were afterwards translated by others whose names are unknown; but it was reserved for Wyckliffe to undertake and carry through a translation of the whole Bible. The giving to the English people the Sacred Scriptures in their own language was an event which told most powerfully on the destinies of Christendom.

"Of the Book that had been a sealed up Book

He tore the clasps, that the nation,

With eyes unbandaged, might look thereon,
And learn to read salvation,

A light was struck, a light which shewed
How hideous were error's features;
And how perverted the law bestowed
By Heaven to guide its creatures.

At first for that spark amidst the dark
The friar his fear dissembled,

But soon at the fame of Wyckliffe's name
The throne of St Peter trembled."

Besides his labours as an author, Wyckliffe was a zealous and faithful preacher of the Gospel. The MSS. of many of his sermons preached to his

On the occasion of the death of Pope Gregory XI. in 1378, the inhabitants of Rome, to which city the Papal Court had returned from Avignon, fearing lest the cardinals should elect a Frenchman as Pope, surrounded the palace, and, with threats, demanded that they should elect an Italian. The cardinals, alarmed by the fierce clamours of the people, proclaimed the Archbishop of Bari, who was by birth a Ne politan, Pontiff. He took the title of Urban VI. The haughtiness and overbearing tyranny of this Pope so disgusted the cardinals that they withdrew from Rome to

congregation at Lutterworth are still preserved. They are simple and popular both in their manner and substance, giving evidence of much care having been taken by their author to expose the delusions practised on the people by the priests, and impress their minds with the thought that their acceptance with God at last shall depend not on what may have been done for them, but on their faith in the sacrifice of Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and on the purity of their lives as the fruit of the renewing influences of the Holy Spirit operating on their souls through the truth as

it is in Jesus.

Chaucer, in his "Canterbury Tales," describes the "Good Priest," who is none other than John Wyckliffe, thus :

"Benign was he and wondrous diligent,
And in adversity full patient:

Wide was his parish, the houses far asunder,
But he ne'er left neither for rain nor thunder,
In sickness nor in mischief for to visit
The farthest in his parish great or light;
And though he holy were and virtuous
He was not to sinful men despitious;
Nor of his speech dangerous nor deign,
But in his teaching discreet and benign,
To draw folk to heaven with fairness

By good example-this was his business."

From 1381, when Wyckliffe retired from Oxford to Lutterworth, he published a continuous succession of tracts and treatises, illustrative of the great truths he had been engaged in expounding and defending in his lectures to the students at Oxford. His parishioners were deeply interested in his work. They read with eagerness his various publications as they came forth from the "text-writers," a large number of whom he kept constantly employed in transcribing his works. These " text-writers were the printers and publishers of these times, the art of printing being as yet unknown. The works published by him during the last three years of his life have about them a distinct Protestant tone, betokening a growing acquaintance with the Gospel, and breathing an earnestness of feeling which became the more intense as life was drawing nearer its close. With ceaseless self-sacrificing zeal he toiled on in the cause of truth. He lived but to labour. He expected rest beyond the grave.

On the 29th December 1384, while preaching to his people at Lutterworth, he was suddenly smitten down with apoplexy. He was borne by his sorrowing, anxious flock, to the rectory house. There they tenderly watched by his bed-side, but he was all unconscious of what passed around him, and, after two days, peacefully expired. A few days after his remains are carried back into the old church, and laid to rest in a vault near the pulpit, which they had prepared for their reception. His parishioners mourn his death as a sore bereavement, for their hearts were knit to him in warmest affection.

As an illustration of the estimate in which Wyckliffe was held by the great churchmen and the priests of that age, we quote the following sentences from the historian Walsingham, a monk, who wrote shortly after our reformer's death :-"On the Feast of the Passion of St Thomas of Fondi, and there elected another Pope, who took the name of Clement VII. Urban continued to reside in Rome. Clement went to Avignon. Both of them claimed to be rightful Pope, each anathematising the other as a usurper. England recognised Urban as Pope, while Scotland, Spain, and France, acknowledged Clement. This great schism in the popedom continued during half a century. During that time the Church had two and sometimes three Popes at the same time. The war between these rival Popes produced, as might have been expected, much confusion and strife.

Canterbury, that organ of the devil-that enemy of the Church-that author of confusion to the common people-that idol of heretics-that image of hypocrites-that storehouse of lies, John Wyckliffe, being struck by the horrible judgment of God, was seized with palsy throughout his body, and continued to lie in that condition until St Sylvester's day, on which he breathed out his malicious spirit into the abodes of darkness." Thus the Roman Catholic speaks of Wyckliffe. This is the best testimony we could wish, that he had not lived nor laboured in vain in assailing that giant system of superstition and error then overshadowing the land. We can scarcely, indeed, overestimate the importance of the work done by Wyckliffe, or sufficiently admire the magnanimous heroism which distinguished his doing of it. He was the first that assailed Rome in the maturity of its strength. A century and a-half before the appearance of the great German reformer, then, we see Wyckliffe wielding, undismayed, his spiritual armour in his heroic assaults against the strongholds of error and superstition, gathering around him, and preparing for future times, those whose work it was to preserve the truth, and transmit it to the generation following, who would rise to yet nobler victories, and break asunder the fetters by which the nation had been enslaved.

Soon after the death of Wyckliffe Richard was induced to authorise proceedings against persons accused by the priests of Lollardism in various parts of England. Wyckliffe had many followers, not among the poorer classes only, but also among the most wealthy and influential families of the land. 46 They everywhere filled the compass of the land," says the cotemporary historian Knyton; "insomuch that a man could not meet two persons on the road, but one of them was a disciple of Wyckliffe's." In 1388 a decree was issued against Wyckliffe's books, and persons convicted of retaining them in their possession were liable to imprisonment. A search was made for these heretical books, and all the priests could lay their hands on were burned. The people had places of concealment about their houses, where they hid from the inquisitors the tracts and books they valued so highly. Not many years ago, when an old house in Lutterworth was being pulled down, such a place of concealment was found in the wall behind the wainscoting. It contained many of the prohibited books, and also a copy of Wyckliffe's translation of the Bible.

In 1395 the Lollards presented a petition to Parliament, containing an epitome of the doctrines taught by Wyckliffe, and praying Parliament to reform certain flagrant abuses among the clergy. Placards also were affixed to the doors of St Paul's and Westminster Abbey, denouncing the iniquities of the clergy, and calling for reform. The people of England groaned under the burden of a corrupt, insolent priesthood, and they cried loudly for deliverance from the yoke.

The House of Commons received and read the petition of the Lollards; several bold speeches were delivered in its favour. The prelates became alarmed, and sent for Richard, who was at that time in Ireland. He hastened to their relief, and summoning certain of the leading Wyckliffites into his presence, severely reprimanded them. The Pope, having heard of the state of matters, wrote to the prelates and the king, deploring the spread of heresy in England. He blames them for allowing them, and earnestly admonishes them to root out and destroy all who would not recant. The clergy bestirred themselves in the matter, and the king did all he could to aid them in exterminating heretics.

Henry IV., who succeeded Richard II., thought the support of the clergy necessary to the stability of his throne. He entered into a compact with the prelates to assist them against heretics. Two years after he ascended the throne a royal statute was passed, authorising the burning of heretics It was soon put into force, and the custom of burning heretics had a be

ginning in English history. The first who perished thus in the flames was one William Sawtre, a priest at Norwich, who had embraced Wyckliffe's opinions and refused to recant. This was twenty-four years after Wyckliffe's death.

The conduct of the king provoked against him the hatred of his barons, who denounced him as a tyrant and a usurper, and were prepared to act in league with the Wyckliffites against him. Henry found it necessary to comply with many of the demands of the Commons, in order that he might retain his throne.

In 1408 the clergy, having met in convocation at Oxford, issued a decree, requiring "That all possible means be used to root out the heresies known under the new and damnable name of Lollardy, as everywhere, so especially at the University of Oxford, once so famous for its orthodoxy, but of late so poisoned with false doctrines; and, finally, that all suspected persons refusing to appear before the proper authorities, when summoned, shall be declared guilty."

In 1413 Henry V. ascended the throne. He resembled his predecessor in his hatred of Lollardism, and in his willingness to aid the clergy in their work of persecution.

It was well known that among the patrons of the Lollards were men of rank in both Houses of Parliament. Lord Cobham was specially obnoxious to the clergy for the favour he had shewn to the Wyckliffites. He freely expended his wealth in multiplying copies of Wyckliffe's works, and thus he had been instrumental in scattering the seeds of heresy more widely, not only in England, but also on the Continent, and especially in Bohemia, whither these writings were conveyed. The clergy resolved to proceed against Lord Cobham as a heretic. They acquainted Henry with their resolution. The king promised to admonish him, and if he would not recant he would place no obstruction in their way. When that nobleman had listened to Henry's words, he replied, "I am as I have always been, most willing to obey your majesty as a minister of God, appointed to bear the sword of justice for the punishment of evil doers, and the protection of them that do well, but as to the Pope and the spiritual dominion which he claims, I owe him no service that I know of, nor will I render him any; for as sure as God's Word is true, to me it is fully evident that he is the great Antichrist, the son of perdition, the open adversary of God, and the abomination standing in the holy place." These were bold words, uttered more than a hundred years before the Reformation. The king was displeased with the reply, and left Cobham to be dealt with by the Church. He was cast into the Tower, and then brought before the Archbishop of Canterbury, and other dignitaries; but he openly avowed his belief of the doctrines taught by Wyckliffe, saying, "You see me in your power, do with me as you please." His courage never failed him. He was questioned and cross-questioned by his judges. It was an exciting scene. one part of his examination he exclaimed with much emotion, "As for that virtuous man, Wyckliffe, before God and man I here profess, that until I knew him and his doctrines, that ye so much disdain, I never abstained from sin; but since I have learned from him to fear my God, I trust it has been otherwise with me." The archbishop warned him of the consequences of his heresy. His answer was, "My mind is unalterable, do with me as you please.' The clergy then rose and stood uncovered, while the archbishop pronounced sentence on "Sir John Oldcastle, Knight, Lord Cobham, as a most pernicious and detestable heretic." By some means Cobham escaped at this time and fled into Wales. He was apprehended, however, three years after, and committed to the flames. He died with heroic faith, exhorting the people to follow the priests only so far as their life and doctrines should be conformable to the Word of God.

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