BX 4905 .V38 1831 v. 2 Vaughan, Robert, 1795-1868 The life and opinions of John de Wycliffe JUL 19 1974 THE LIFE AND OPINIONS JOHN DE WYCLIFFE, D.D. VOL. II. AMS PRESS NEW YORK THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF JOHN DE WYCLIFFE, D. D. ILLUSTRATED HRINCIPALLV FKOM HIS A PRELIMINARY VIEW OF THE PAPAL SYSTEM, AND OF THE STATE OF THE PROTESTANT DOCTRINE IN EUROPE, COMMENCEMENT OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY, BY ROBERT VAUGHAN. VOL. II. SECOND EDITION, MUCH ni PROVED. ' Qiiod si deficiant vires, audacia certe Lans crii; in magisis et volnisse sat est." Propeiitius. LONDON : HOLDS WORTH AND BALL, 18, ST. pail's CHURCH-YARD. MDCCCXXXI. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Vaughan, Robert, 1795-1868. The life and opinions of John de Wycliffe, D. D, Includes bibliographical references o 1. Wycliffe, John, d. 1384-. I. Title. BX4905oV36 1973 270.5 '092'4 [B] 71-178561 ISBN 0-4.04-56678-2 (set) Reprinted from an original copy in the collections of the University of Pennsylvania From the edition of 1831, London First AMS edition published in 1973 Manufactured in the United States of America International Standard Book Number Complete Set: 0-404-56678-2 Volume Two: 0-404-56680-4 AMS PRESS INC. NEW YORK, N.Y. 10003 CONTENTS. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAPTER I. PAGE Origin and Effects of the Papal Schism. — Wycliffe's tract " On the " Schism of the Popes," and other references to that event. — His work " On the Truth and Meaning of Scripture." — His sickness at Oxford, and recovery. — Importance attached by him to Preaching — his laborious attention to it — reasons of his particular reverence for that exercise. — Methods of Preaching. — Character of Wycliffe's Manuscript Discourses. — Extracts, illustrating his manner of Exposing the Errors and Disorders of the Ecclesiastical System— of incul- cating the SuflBciency of Scripture — the Right of Private Judgment — the Doctrines peculiar to the Gospel — and the various obligations, and the means conducing, to Religious Devotedness 1 CHAPTER II. History of attempts toward a Translation of the Scriptures into the Language of this Country before the age of Wycliffe^ — ^by the Anglo- Saxon Clergy — by the Anglo-Norman. — Wycliffe's purpose, as embracing a Translation of the whole Volume, and its General Circu- lation, strictly a Novelty. — This affirmed by Knighton. — Some circumstances favourable to this enterprise. — Extracts exhibiting the Reformer's manner of defending this effort. — The insurrection of the Commons CHAPTER III. Transubstantiation — opposed by Berengarius — and by the Vaudois and Albigenses — not recognised by the Anglo-Saxon Church — defended by Lanfranc, and espoused by the Anglo-Norman Clergy. — Wycliffe's Opposition to it. — Severe Penalties to be inflicted on all who should favour his Opinions concerning it. — His Appeal to the Civil Power for protection. — His feeling under these Persecutions.— Analysis of his " Wicket." — Proceedings of Courtney, and the Synod at the Grey VOL. II. b IV CONTENTS. Friars. — Wycliffe favoured by the University. — State of parties in the nation nnfriendly to the efforts of the Reformers. — Inquisitorial Statute obtained by the Clergy. — Notice of Robert Rigge, Dr. Here- ford, Reppington, Ashton, and others 52 CHAPTER IV. Persecution. — Wycliffe's devotional allusion to the evils of his time.— Summary of his Complaint addressed to the King and Parliament. — Effect of that Appeal. — The Reformer is forsaken by Lancaster. — His purposes unaltered by that event. — His vigorous perception of the bearings of the Controversy respecting the Eucharist, and his confi- dence of ultimate success. — He appears before the Convocation at Oxford. — Substance of his Confession. — Perplexity of his Judges. — He retires to I-utterworth. — His Letter to the Pontiff 91 CHAPTER V. State of the Reformed Doctrine on the Continent during the age of Wycliffe. — Causes of the protection frequently afforded to its Dis- ciples by the Secular Power. — Probable motives of the Duke of Lancaster in patronizing Wycliffe.— The Reformer is favoured by the Duke of Gloucester^the Queen Mother — Anne of Bohemia. — Farther notice of Wycliffe's more distinguished followers. — Geoffrey Chaucer. Influence of Poetry on the Reformation of the Church.— Notice of St. Amour— of the Roman De la Rose— and of Robert Longland . . .124 CHAPTER VI. Number of Wycliffe's Disciples. — Tlie Lollards consisted of two classes. —Notice of John of Northampton. — Prospects of the Reformers under Richard the Second.^Testimony of Knighton respecting the Number and the Character of Wycliffe's followers.— Analysis of the Plowman's Tale. — Theological opinions of the Disciples of Wycliffe. Character of his " Poor Priests."— Analysis of the tract, " M'hy Poor Priests have no Benefices." — Notice of William Thorp 150 CHAPTER VII. Notice of Wycliffe's Writings subsequent to his exclusion from Oxford — His Trialogus — on Obedience to Prelates — on the Deceits of Satan and of his Priests— on the Duty of Lords— of Servants and Lords— of Good Preaching Priests— on the Four Deceits of Antichrist— on the Prayers of Good Men— of Clerks Possessioners.— Rise of the Crusade against the Avignon Pope, and its Failure. — Wycliffe renews his contest with the Mendicants.— His Treatise on the Sentence of the Curse Expounded.— On Prelates and other subjects. — His Senti- ments on War. — Extracts from his Sermons.— His .Sickness and Death 171 CONTEXTS. CHAPTER VIII. The Opinions of WycUffe. Design of the Chapter. — The Doctrine of WyclifFe respecting the Pope's Temporal Power. — The Secular Exemptions of the Clergy.— The General Authority of the Magistrate. — The limits of that Autho- rity.— The Obligations of the Magistrate with respect to the Church. — The Customs of Patronage. — Tithes and Ecclesiastical Endow- ments. — The Principles of the Reformer's theory derived in part from the existing system. — His Reverence for the Priestly Office. — His judgment of the Contemporary Priesthood. — A Summary of his Doctrine relative to the Civil Establishment of Christianity and Clerical Revenue. — His Opinions relating to Simony. — The Spiritual Power of the Pope. — The Hierarchy. — The Religious Orders. — Tiie Nature of a Christian Church.— The Power of the Keys. — Purgatory and Masses for the Dead. — The Invocation of Saints. — The Worship of Images. — Confession. — The Doctrine of Indulgences. — The Celi- bacy of the Clergy. — The Sacraments. — Transubstantiation. — Public Worship. — Sufficiency of the Scriptures, and the Right of Private Judgment. — A Summary of his Theological Doctrine 226 CHAPTER IX. Observations on the Character of WtjcUffe, and on the Connexion of his Doctrine with the Reformation of the Sixteenth Centurif. AVycliffe's claim to Originality. — His Learning, and Intellectual Cha- racter. — His Patriotism and love of Mankind. — His Piety. — Luther and WycUffe compared.— The bones of Wycliffe burnt. — State of tlie Reformed Doctrine in England, from the decease of W^yc iffe to the age of Luther. — Accession of the House of Lancaster. — Character of the Persecutions sanctioned by Henry the Fourth. — The Doctrine of Wycliffe survives them. — The Martyrdom of Lord Cobhani — Conclusion 329 CHAPTER X. On the Writings of John MycUffe, D.D . 379 SECTION I. His p-inted Works . . c 380 VI CONTENTS. SECTION 11. WyclifFe's Manuscripts extant in England and Ireland. This series contains nearly forty MSS. preserved in the Library of Trinity Col- lege, Dublin, the existence of which has been hitherto unknown to the Reformer's Biographers 385 SECTION III. His Pieces in the Imperial Library of Vienna 393 SECTION IV. Titles of his Pieces known only by their names 393 SECTION V. Works which have been improperly attributed to AVycliffe .... ?.95 NOTES 397 APPENDIX -1-24 THE LIFE OF W Y C L I F F E. CHAPTER I. ORIGIN AND EFFECTS OF THE PAPAL SCHISM. WYCLIFFE S TRACT II " THE SCHISM OF THE POPES, AND OTHER REFERENCES TO THAT EVENT. HIS WORK " ON THE TRUTH AND MEANING OF SCRIPTURE." HIS SICKNESS AT OXFORD, AND RECOVERY. IMPORTANCE ATTACHED BY HIM TO PREACHING ; HIS LABORIOUS ATTENTION TO IT ; REASONS OF HIS PARTICULAR REVERENCE FOR THAT EXERCISE. METHODS OF PREACHING. • CHARACTER OF WYCLIFFe's MANUSCRIPT DISCOURSES. EXTRACTS, ILLUSTRATING HIS MANNER OF EXPOSING THE ERRORS AND DISORDERS OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL SYSTEM OF INCULCATING THE SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIP- TURE THE RIGHT OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT THE DOCTRINES PECULIAR TO THE GOSPEL AND THE VARIOUS OBLIGATIONS, AND THE MEANS CON- DUCING, TO RELIGIOUS DEVOTEDNESS. The residence of the pontiffs during seventy chap. years at Avignon, was described by the Italians L_ as a second Babylonish captivity. That capti- f^;f47/'"^ vity, if such it may be called, had indeed a ten- ^^^^^^^''^ dency to moderate the papal claims ; but it was far from being the most serious feature of that disgrace which accompanied the representatives of St. Peter on returning to the ancient seat of their authority. On the death of Gregory the eleventh, in 1378, the cardinals assembled to elect his successor ; but the Roman populace, aware that three-fourths of the conclave were French- men, and indignant that tlie vacant honour had VOL. II. !i 2 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. |)gejj gQ frequently conferred on ecclesiastics of that nation, gathered tumultuously around the place of meeting, and uttered the most alarming menaces with a view to secure the suffrage of the electors in favour of an Italian. The car- dinals trembled for their safety, and immediately pronounced Bartholomew de Pregnano, a Neapo- litan, and then archbishop of Bari, as the object of their choice. The new pontiff assumed the name of Urban the sixth ; but his conduct soon became such as to exasperate his enemies and alienate his friends. From this cause, or from national partialities, some of the leading cardinals retired from Rome to Anagni; and at Fondi, a city of Naples, they chose their brother of Ge- neva to be the successor of Gregory, and he was immediately proclaimed as Clement the seventh. To justify this bold measure, it was pleaded that the election of Urban was the result of intimida- tion, and accordingly invalid. France, and her allies, including Spain, Sicily, and Cyprus, ac- knowledged the authority of Clement ; while England, and the rest of Europe, adhered to that of Urban.' " And which of these two," observes Mosheim, "is to be considered as the true and "• lawful pope, is to this day matter of doubt, nor *' will the records and writings alleged by the " contending parties enable us to adjust that point " with any certainty."^ But whatever were the merits of this con- troversy, its effects were by no means doubtful. Through the next half century, the church had two or three different heads at the same time ; ' Mosheim, iii. 326, 327. 2 Ibid. THE LIFE OF MYCLIFFE. 3 each of the contending popes forming plots, and chap. thundering out anathemas against their competi- '— tors. " The distress and calamity of these times" is said to have been " beyond all power of de- " scription ; for not to insist on the perpetual con- ** tentions and wars between the factions of the " several popes, by which multitudes lost their " fortunes and lives, all sense of religion was ex- '' tinguished in most places, and profligacy arose " to a most scandalous excess. The clergy, while " they vehemently contended which of the reigning " popes was the true successor of Christ, were so " excessively corrupt as to be no longer studious " to keep up even the appearance of religion or " decency; and in consequence of all this, many " plain, well-meaning people, who concluded that " no one could possibly partake of eternal life " unless united with the vicar of Christ, were " overwhelmed with doubt, and were plunged into " the deepest distress of mind."^ And thus, also, it was, that multitudes were prepared to doubt whether the supremacy claimed by the pontiffs, since it could become involved in such fearful un- certainty, could really be an article of faith or discipline so momentous as had been commonly supposed. Wycliffe, whose escape from the ven- geance of the clergy, must be attributed in a great degree to the distractions occasioned by this event, was fully aware of the aid which it might be made to confer on his efforts as a reformer. The controversy had no sooner commenced, wyciiffe-s than he published a tract intitled, — " On the ti.e'schism of the Pope^." 3 Mosheiin, iii. 328. B 2 4 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. '' Schism of the Popes,"* in which he adverts to — '- — this dispute as having divided the hierarchy against itself, and as presenting a powerful in- ducement to attempt the destruction of those laws and customs, which had served so greatly to corrupt the christian priesthood, and to afflict the whole christian community. The endow- ments of the church, whether claimed by the pontiffs, or by the national clergy, he names as a principal cause of the degeneracy of both ; and the property entrusted to the stewardship of churchmen, he affirms to be capable, generally, of a more just, and of a far less dangerous appli- cation. To effect this new appropriation of the wealth, which it is said had been frequently ill acquired, and as frequently worse employed, the appeal made is not to the passions of the few or the many, but to the sacred responsibilities of the sovereigns and rulers of Christendom. And that this exhortation might not be in vain, he renews his attack upon those superstitions from which the undue influence of the clergy had derived its being and continuance. Instead of conceding that the power of the clergy, or of the pope, over the disembodied spirit, must ever regulate its destiny, he contends, that when cor- rectly exercised, it is merely ministerial ; and that inasmuch as the decisions of these men were frequently opposed to moral propriety, and to the known will of God, they were frequently to be viewed as the mere assumptions of human weak- ness or passion, from which no evil should be * MS. Trinity CollcRe, Dublin, class C. tab. 3, No. 12, p. 193-208. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. O apprehended. His advice, therefore, is, "Trust chap. "we in the help of Christ on this point, for he '- — *' hath begun already to help us graciously, in " that he hath clove the head of Antichrist, and *' made the two parts fight against each other. " For it is not doubtftd, that the sin of the popes, " which hath been so long continued, hath " brought in this division." Should the rival pontiffs continue to lance their anathemas against each other, or should either prevail, a serious wound is believed to be inflicted, and it is urged accordingly, that " emperors, and kings, should " help in this cause, to maintain God's law, to " recover the heritage of the church, and to de- " stroy the foul sins of clerks, saving their per- " sons. Thus should peace be established, and " simony destroyed." As to the infallibility of the popes, he remarks, that there is nothing in the suffrage of princes or cardinals to impart any such attribute to erring man. On this point, he observes, " the children of the fiend should learn " their logic, and their philosophy well, lest they " prove heretical by a false understanding of the " law of Christ." Except the person elected to an ecclesiastical office shall possess the virtues which bespeak him a servant of Christ, the most vaunted forms of investing him with that dignity are declared to be vain. Among heresies, he affirms, that " there is no greater, than for a man to " believe that he is absolved from his sin, if he •' give money, or because a priest layeth his " hand on the head, and saith I absolve thee. " For thou must be sorrowful in thy heart," he adds, "or else God absolveth thee not." In the 6 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, same treatise, the necessity of confession to a ' priest is denied no less distinctly than tlie re- ceived doctrine on the power of the keys. And having thus wrested the weapons from the hands of churchmen, which had been wielded with so much success against human liberty, he calls upon the secular authorities to attempt the long-needed reformation of the ecclesiastical body, both in its head and its members. other re. ^ Qy was it in thls Droductiou only that these bold that event. scRtimcnts wcre uttered. In his writmgs from this period to his death,the lust of dominion, the avarice, and the cruelty, discovered by these rival pontiffs, in prosecuting their different claims, are all placed in fearless contrast with the maxims and spirit of Christ and his apostles. " Simon Magus," he observes, "never laboured more in the work of " simony, than do these priests. And so God " would no longer suffer the fiend to reign in only " one such priest, but for the sin which they had " done, made division among two, so that men, in " Christ's name, may the more easily overcome " them both." Evil, it is remarked, is weakened by diffusion, no less than good ; " and this now " moveth poor priests to speak heartily in this ** matter, for when God will bless the church, but ** men are slothful, and will not labour, their sloth " is to be rebuked for many reasons."' In his parochial discourses, delivered to his flock at Lutterworth, the schism of the papacy is fre- quently adverted to, and always in a manner tending to deliver men from the fear of the priest, * MS. Of the Church uuJ lier Govcrnauce. Bib. Reg. xviii. b. i\. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 7 and, at the same time, to impress them with chap, the fear of God.^ L_ It was at this period that the reformer com- ^'^''^^ «f }^ ■. f-f^ '"'s work pleted a work, '* On the Truth and Meaning- of "o.. the o . „ , 1 •/> Truth and Scripture, the most extended, if not the most Meaning of systematically arranged, of all his productions. A copy of this treatise was in the possession of our venerable martyrologist, and appears to have been considered the only one extant. That at present in the Bodleian library was formerly the property of Dr. Allen, a great admirer of WyclifFe, and a diligent collector of his manuscripts. It is without a title page, and a few leaves from the commencement are lost : the remaining portion of the volume, extending to more than six hun- dred pages, is in good preservation. Besides this copy, the only one hitherto mentioned in the printed catalogues of the reformer's writings, there is another in the library at Trinity College, Dublin. This is complete, and in an excellent state. The work itself has required this parti- cular notice, not only from its extent, but from its character, as embodying almost every sentiment peculiar to the mind of our reformer. The su- preme authority of holy writ; the unalienable right of private judgment; all the branches of clerical power ; the sacraments of the church ; together with almost every article of moral obli- * Thus in one of his homilies (on " Peter ; bat spoileth them, and sla^'cth Rom. xiii.) it is affirmed of the " them, and leadeth them many wrong pontift', " that he is not on Christ's " ways." The same contrast is pur- " side, who put his soul for his slieep, sued in the homily on John, Ep. i. c. ii. "but on the side of antichrist, who and much more at length in the treatise " putteth many souls for his pride. " On the Seven Deadly Sins." — MS. " This man feedeth not the sheep of Bibl. Bodl. " Christ, as Christ thrice commanded 8 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, gation, may be found largely discussed in this '. — volume. The author of the Acts and Monuments intended giving it to the world ; and we may regret that his purpose was not accomplished. Were this the only work preserved from the pen of WyclifFe, it would alone be sufficient, to merit for its author the first place among the intrepid advocates of truth and piety in the annals of this country.'' ii;s sickness But the labour of producing; such compositions, at Oxford. . ^, ? 1 P 1 1 and the excitements mseparable from the restless hostilities of his enemies, so shook his frame, at this period, as to threaten his speedy dissolution, — and, in truth, to lay the foundation of the malady which a few years later was the occasion of his death. Such also was the force of religious prejudice in the fourteenth century, that his old antagonists, the mendicants, conceived it next to impossible, that an heresiarch so notorious, should find himself near a future world without the most serious apprehensions of approaching vengeance. But while thus conscious of their own rectitude, and certain that the dogmas of the reformer had arisen from the suggestions of the great enemy, some advantages to their cause were anticipated, could the dying culprit be induced to utter any recantation of his published opinions. Wyclifie was in Oxford when this sickness arrested his activity, and confined him to his chamber. From the four orders of friars, four doctors, who were also called regents, were gravely deputed to wait 7 MS. Bibl. Bodl. Rotiila- in Aichi. Sensu et Veritate Scripture, is the A. 3021, 32. MS. Trinity Collt!;e, (ille j^ivcn lo \\\v worii by Fox, Dublin, clas.s C. tub. 1. No. 24 De i. 583. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 9 on their expiring enemy; and to these the same chap. number of civil officers, called senators of the city, '. and aldermen of the wards, were added. When this embassy entered the apartment of the rector of Lutterworth, he was seen stretched on his bed. Some kind wishes were first expressed as to his better health, and the blessing of a speedy re- covery. It was presently suggested, that he must be aware of the many wrongs which the whole mendicant brotherhood had sustained from his attacks, especially in his sermons, and in certain of his writings ; and as death was now, apparently, about to remove him, it was sincerely hoped, that he would not conceal his penitence, but distinctly revoke whatever he had said tending to the in- jury of those holy fraternities. The sick man remained silent, and motionless, until this address was concluded. He then beckoned his servants to raise him in his bed ; and fixing his eyes on the persons assembled, summoned all his remain- ing strength, as he exclaimed aloud, " 1 shall not " die but live, and shall again declare the evil deeds " of the friars!" The doctors, and their attend- ants, retreated in mortification and dismay, and they lived to feel the truth of the reformer's predic- tion ; nor will it be easy to imagine another scene, more characteristic of the parties composing it, or of the times with which it is connected.^ While the writings of Wycliffe were thus per- nis senti. forming their part on the mind of his countrymen, lespcctto it was not merely his divinity lectures, but the whole of his pulpit instructions, which were stu- diously directed to the same object, [t is known «■ Lewis, civ. 82. Bale, 419, ,.\c. 10 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, that in the fourteenth century, the exercises of ' public worship consisted of little beside that spe- cies of mechanical occupation which an apostle describes as " bodily exercise," and as " profiting little." These, however, and that domestic ministration of the sacraments, to which the most feeble or depraved among the clergy were deemed fully competent, were generally considered as securing to the worshipper whatever it was the design of Christianity to bestow. As the conse- quence of questioning this theory, and at length of wholly denying the efficacy of such services, except as accompanied by appropriate perception and feeling on the part of the persons engaged in them, was the importance attached by our re- former to the office of preaching. No language can be more forcible, than that in which the sacred writers speak of the preaching of the cross, as the divinely appointed means of bringing the nations to the obedience of the gospel ; and in proportion as men have imbibed the spirit of primitive piety, in any subsequent age, has been the prominence assigned to this department of ministerial duty. Among the means which had induced our Saxon ancestors to renounce their ancient idolatry, preaching held a conspicuous place;" but from that period to the age of Wycliffe, it fell into comparative disuse in the practice of the English clergy. Grossteste deplored this fact, and with a view to supply the deficiency, became a zealous patron of the preaching friars. He lived, 9 This was the service to which Saxons, Oswald, the sovereign, acted Aidan, the apostle of Northunibria, as his interpreter. Bj the Scottish devoted his life. (Bede, c. v.) In missionaries, in general, the same iin- his first attempt to address the pagan portance was attached to this function. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 11 however, to regret that remedy, as bemg even chap. worse than the disease. '•* Yet so powerful were^--^- the effects of preaching, even in the hands of the mendicants, that had not their rapid success pro- duced so speedy a corruption of their institute, the parochial clergy, by limiting their official ser- vices to the prescribed repetitions from the mass book, must have lost the whole of their influence over the mind of the people.'' Wycliffe saw this state of things, but wliile he complained of the indolence and the vices of the secular clergy, as leading to the prevalent neglect of this exercise, his boldest censures were reserved for the frater- nities, in whose labours he could discern nothing but the abuses of the function, which they had as- sumed as their peculiar province. The itinerant character of their ministry could hardly have dis- pleased him, as he often defended the same prac- tice- in his followers. It was their substituting '* fables — chronicles of the world — and stories from the battle of Troy" — in the place of the gospel ; and the religious delusions imposed by them on the rich and the poor, to raise themselves into distinction, and to gratify their avarice and sensuality, which filled him with so restless an abhorrence of " these new orders." Instead, how- ever, of imbibing a disgust of preaching, from seeing it thus perverted, the reformer appears to have judged only the more favourably of its power as the means of reformation, if rightly applied. Possessed himself of such learning as had aided the mendicants in acquiring their reputation, he was also a proficient in that power of oral com- '" Palis, 873. " See Piclini. View, c.iii. scct.i. 12 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, munication which was their special faculty. In '■ — Wycliffe, the severity of the cloister was asso- ciated with the learning of the college, and with that power of interesting the understanding and affections of ordinary minds, which is rarely found in such combinations. In secret, he mourned over the degraded state of his country, and over that immense expenditure of wealth in favour of the clergy, which served only to perpetuate their secular character, and to strengthen every cord of the national thraldom ; and to contribute some- thing toward the recovery of his native land from this state of gloomy bondage, was the object to which the acquirements, and the energies, of his generous nature were readily devoted. Mis 1.1,.,. ^^Q know not the number of sermons composed !,Ze'",f'' ^y Wycliffe, but that copies of nearly three hun- i>.eaciin,s. drcd should have escaped the effort which was so long made to effect the destruction of what- ever his pen had produced, is sufficient to as- sure us, that his labours as a preacher were abundant.'* His zeal was not of that spurious kind which assails the vast only, or which expatiates on the great and the future, at the cost of every nearer and more humble department of duty. Accord- ingly, to appreciate the character of the English reformer, it is necessary to view him, not only as advocating the claims of his sovereign before the delegates of the pontiff; as solving the questions which perplexed the English parliament ; or as '2 The copy which I have princi- the close of the fourteenth century, pally consulted, is that of the British and in others later, are still extant Museum. — Bib. Reg. xviii. b. ix. Se- in the Museum, and in the libraries veral copies, more or less perfect, and of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dub- written, in some instances, before lin. THE LIFE or WYCLIFFE. 13 challenging the most intellectual of the age to chap. discussions on the truth of his acknowledged doc- '. trine. To all this he added the diligent perform- ance of those less imposing duties which devolve on the parish priest. It was no novelty to see the venerable Wycliffe in a village pulpit, surrounded by his rustic auditory ; or in the lowest hovel of the poor, fulfilling his office at the bedside of the sick and the dying, whether freeman or slave. It was over a sphere thus extended, that his genius and benevolence were diffused. Previous to this period, he had required his disciples to unite with the devotions of the sabbath, a regular attention to the wants of the afflicted and the poor. The pub- lic exercises of that day being devoutly performed, the christian man is enjoined " to visit those who " are sick, or who are in trouble, especially those *' whom God hath made needy by age, or by other " sickness, as the feeble, the blind, and the lame, " who are in poverty. These thou shalt relieve " with thy goods, after thy power, and after their " need, for thus biddeth the gospel."" It is but just to suppose, that the preacher, who, under such circumstances, was forward to inculcate these and similar offices of domestic charity, was himself accustomed to conform to them. But his favourite doctrine, which defined true charity as " beginning at the love of man's spirit," was so far extended, as to induce him to believe, that " men " who love not the souls, love little the bodies "of their neighbours;'' and hence the work of christian instruction is described, as " the best '= JIS. Exposition of the Decalo-nc. Cotton. Titus, D. xiv. 1:22. 14 THE LIFE OF -WYCLIFFE. c H A P. " service that man may do for his brother."^* !_ Priests who are found " in taverns, and hunting, " and playing at their tables," instead of " learn- '' ing God's law, and preaching," are accordingly denounced as " foulest traitors," since among the duties of their office, *' most of all is the preaching •* of the gospel ; for this Christ enjoined on his " disciples more than any other ; by this he con- *' quered the world out of the fiend's hand ; and *' whosoever he be that can but bring priests to " act thus, hath authority from God, and merit in '* his deed."'* wyciiffes As the impression made by Wycliffe, and his .'nTv"ourof followcrs, ou the mind of their contemporaries, may preaching. ^^ attributcd, In a great degree, to their peculiar sentiments on the relative importance of preach- ing, it will not perhaps be uninteresting to the reader, to notice the statements and reasonings of the reformer, on this point, more at length. '* I. The highest service that men may attain to " on earth," is said to be, to " preach the word ** of God. This service falls peculiarly to priests, *' and therefore God more straightly demands it " of them. Hereby should they produce children " to God, and that is the end for which God has " wedded the church. Lovely it might be, to have " a son that were lord of this world, but fairer " much it were to have a son in God, who, as a " member of holy church, shall ascend to heaven! " And for this cause, Jesus Christ left other works, ** and occupied himself mostly in preaching ; and '* thus did his apostles, and for this God loved '* Homily on Philippians, c. iii. '^ Epistola ad Siinplices Saceidotes. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. L5 "them. II. Also, he does best, who best keeps ^hap. " the commandments of God. Now the first — '- — " commandment of the second table bids us ho- " nour our elders, as our father and mother. But ■* this honour should be first given to holy church, ■* for she is the mother we should most love, and ■' for her, as our faith teaches, Christ died. The ' church, however, is honoured most by the ' preaching of God's word, and hence this is the ' best service that priests may render unto God. ' Thus a woman said to Christ, that the womb ' which bare him, and the breasts which he had ' sucked, should be blessed of God ; but Christ ' said, rather should that man be blessed, who * should hear the words of God, and keep them. ' And this should preachers do more than other ' men, and this word should they keep more than ' any other treasure. Idleness in this office is ' to the church its greatest injury, producing * most the children of the fiend, and sendino- ' them to his court. III. Also, that service is the ' best, which has the worst opposed to it. But ' the opposite of preaching, is of all things the ' worst ; and therefore preaching, if it be well ' done, is the best of all. And accordingly, ' Jesus Christ, when he ascended into heaven, ' commanded it especially to all his apostles, to ' preach the gospel freely to every man. So also, ' when Christ spoke last with Peter, he bade him ' thrice, as he loved him, to feed his sheep ; and * this would not a wise shepherd have done, had ' he not himself loved it well. In this stands the ' office of the spiritual shepherd. As the bishop ' of the temple hindered Christ, so is he hindered 16 THE LIFE OF WYCLTFFE. CHAP. ** by the hindering of this deed. Therefore Christ — '. — *' told them, that at the day of doom, Sodom and ** Gomorrah should better fare than they. And *' thus, if our bishops preach not in their own ** persons, and hinder true priests from preaching, " they are in the sin of the bishops who killed " the Lord Jesus Christ."" So far then was the reformer from confiding in the sacraments of the church, as certainly con- nected with a participation in the mercies of redemption. Man he considers, as a being en- dowed with reason and with passions, and he attempts the discipline of his affections, only by bringing the light of divine truth to bear upon his understanding. This, in the language of the church of Rome, was to ensnare the unwary, by an artful appeal to the vanity and self-confidence of the human mind. But if there be truth in religion, or nature, intellectual culture is the only medium through which the moral improvement of man should be contemplated. The faculties of his being, and the known will of the Deity, announce him as accountable ; and the theory which serves at all to weaken the feeling of this accountableness, must be of murderous tendency. There is another motive, however, from which objection to the office of preaching has sometimes arisen. To have imitated the zeal of Wycliffe, on this point, would have required a different faculty from what was necessary to go through the usual routine of parish duty. The class of men, who were satisfied with their ability for such performances, and still more the inmates of con- 's MS. Contra Fralres Bibl. Bodl. Archi. A. 83, p. 19, 20. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 17 vents, would affect to be astonished at the weak- chap. ness, or the novelty, of the reformer's opinions, — '- — respecting a function, which the care of the church had rendered almost superfluous, which had ever been but too much allied to ostentation, and pregnant with no small danger to the peace and unity of the christian commonwealth. It is thus he reasons with such objectors : " When '' true men teach, that by the law of God, and " wit, and reason, each priest is bound to do his " utmost to preach the gospel of Christ, the fiend " beguileth hypocrites to excuse him from this " service by teaching a feigned contemplative " life ; — and urging, that since that is the best, " and they may not do both, they are needed, " from their love of God, to leave the preaching " of the gospel to live in contemplation. But see " now the hypocrisy and falsehood of this. Our " faith teaches us, that since Christ was God, " and might not err, he taught and did the best " life for priests ; yet Christ preached the gospel, " and charged all his apostles and disciples to go " and preach the gospel to all men. The best life " then for priests, in this world, is to teach and " preach the gospel. God also teacheth in the " old law, that the office of a priest is to shew to " the people their sins. But as each priest is a " prophet by his order, according to St. Gregory " on the Gospels, it is then the office of each to " preach and to proclaim the sins of the people; " and in this manner shall each priest be an angel " of God, as holy writ affirms. Also Christ, and " John the Baptist, left the desert, and preached " the gospel to their death. To do this, therefore, ^' o L . 1 1 . c 18 THE LIFE OF AVYCLTFFE. CHAP. <* is the greatest charity, or else they were out of " charity, or at least imperfect in it ; and that " may hardly be, since the one was God ; and " since no man, after Christ, hath been holier " than the Baptist." " Also, the holy prophet, Jeremiah, hallowed in " his mother's womb, might not be excused from ** preaching by his love of contemplation, but was ** charged of God to proclaim the sins of the ** people, and to suffer hard pain for doing so ; and '* so were all the prophets of God. Ah ! Lord, " since Christ and John, and all the prophets, " were compelled by charity to come out of the '* desert to preach to the people, and to leave ** their solitary prayers, how dare these pretend- " ing heretics say it is better to be still, and to " pray over their own feigned ordinances, than to "preach the gospel of Christ? Lord! what " cursed spirit of falsehood moveth priests to close '* themselves within stone walls for all their life, ** since Christ commanded all his apostles and " priests to go into all the world, and to preach *' the gospel? Certainly they are open fools, and " do plainly against the gospel ; and if they '* continue in this error, are accursed of God, as " perilous deceivers, and heretics. For in the " best part of the pope's law, it is said, that each " man who cometh to the priesthood, taketh on " him the office of a beadle, or a crier, to go " before doomsday, and to cry to the people their " sins, and the vengeance of God ; and since men " are holden heretics who do against the pope's *' law, are not those priests heretics, who refuse '* to preach the gospel of Christ, and compel other THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 19 " true men to leave the preaching of it? All laws chap. " opposed to this service, are opposed to God's '. — ** law, and reason and charity, and for the main- " tenance of pride and covetousness in Antichrist's " worldly clerks."" To those who allege from the gospel, that Magdalene chose the better part, in preferring a contemplative to an active life, it is replied, that the quotation might have some pertinence, if priests were women, and if no command opposed to a life of solitude and uselessness could be found in scripture. The result, indeed, of the reasonings commonly adopted on this subject, is said to be, '* that Christ, when in this world, chose " the life least suited to it, and that he has obliged " all his priests to forsake the better and take "the worse. It is thus," he adds, "these de- " ceivers put error on Jesus Christ. * * * Prayer,'' it is cautiously affirmed, " is good, but not so " good as preaching ; and, accordingly, in preach- " ing, and also in praying, in the giving of sacra- " ments, the learning of the law of God, and the " rendering of a good example by purity of life, " in these should stand the life of a priest."'^ Such were the opinions of Wycliffe with respect to preaching, as compared with the other duties of the christian minister, and from his adherence to these arose much of his efficiency as a re- former. Opinions so true, so practical, and so plainly stated, could not have been reiterated in vain ; and we find them creatins: the class of " MS. Of a Feigned Contemplative '^ MS. Contra Fratres, Bibl. Bodl. Life, &c. Trinity College, Dublin, Arch A. 83. class C. tab. 3. No. 12. 20 THE LIFE OF WYCLTFFE. CHAP, men, called by the rector of Lutterworth, ''poor " priests ;" — persons, whose itinerant preaching, we shall presently see, was laboriously directed to discredit the superstitions, and to advance the piety of their countrymen. Methods of While such was the place assigned by the re- former to the office of preaching, it may be proper to remark, that to the commencement of the thir- teenth century, two methods of performing this service had prevailed. These were technically called, "declaring," and " postulating," According to the former, the preacher commenced, by an- nouncing the subject on which he meant to dis- course, and proceeded to deliver, what in modern language would be considered an oration, or an essay, rather than a sermon. To postillate, was to commence with reading a portion of scripture, and then taking its parts, in the order of the writer, to offer such remarks upon them, as were fitted to explain their meaning, and secure their application. To the latter method, which is the same with what is still called lecturing, or expo- sition, another was added about this period, and one by which the ancient practice of declaring was ere long nearly abolished, and the far better cus- tom of postillating was rendered much less fre- quent. The sacred text had been recently divided into its present order of chapters; and the logic to which the schoolmen were so devoted, sug- gested the selecting of some brief portion of scripture as the basis of a sermon, and also that the matters introduced to illustrate the doctrine or duty to be discussed, should be divided and sub- divided, in the manner still so generally adopted THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 21 by preachers." The sacred writings were too chap. highly valued by Wyclifte, to be dispensed with '- — as the obvious foundation of the instructions de- livered by him from the pulpit. This motive, also, which led him to avoid the practice of declaring, appears to have rendered him doubtful concerning the utility of the new scholastic mode of teaching, and to have determined his general preference of the expository method. His compositions for the pulpit, therefore, which cimracter have descended to us, are nearly all of the class sermons. described as " postils." They are also the produc- tion of different periods, through the interval from 1376, when the writer became rector of Lutter- worth, to the close of 1384. In some instances, they consist of little more than a few brief notes, appended to a vernacular translation of the lesson for the day, in others they approach nearer to the length of a modern sermon. But, when filling seve- ral closely-written folio pages, we know not how far to regard them as exhibiting any thing beyond the spirit or the general manner of the reformer's efforts as a preacher. That he wholly restricted " Wood i. 58, 59. Knighton, col. " of certain novices, whohave invented 2430. The former writer lias intro- " a new way of preaching, by endless duced friar Bacon, as bitterly la- " divisions and quibblings, in which menting the prevalence of the scho- " there is neither sublimity of style, lastic methods of preaching, and as " nor depth of wisdom, but much accounting for its adoption in a way " childish trilling and folly, unsuitable not very honourable to the contempo- " to the dignity of the pulpit. May rary clergy. " The greatest part of " God," he exclaims, " banish this " our prelates," he observes, " having "conceited and artificial way of " but little knowledge in divinity, and " preaching out of his church, for it " having been little used to preaching " will never do any good, nor elevate " in their youth, when they become " the hearts of the hearers to any " bishops, and are sometimes obliged " thing that is good or excellent." " to preach, are under a necessity of Henry's Hist. viii. 182—18-7. •' begging and borrowing the sermons 22 THE LIFE OF M'YCLIFFE. CHAP. himself, in any case, to what he had written, is '. — improbable, from his known facility of extem- poraneous communication, and from the fact that these preparations for the pulpit, sometimes re- semble the mere specifications of topics, rather than any regular discussion of them. Nor is it certain, indeed, that their publication was the act of the reformer, or at all anticipated by him. They contain nothing opposed to the supposition of their having been collected and published after his de- cease ; and the character of Purvey, his curate at that period, renders it certain that a careful eftbrt would be made to preserve every such document. But through whatever medium the copies of these discourses have been transmitted, we may safely conclude that what they contain was delivered to the people of Lutterworth by their rector ; and there is scarcely a peculiarity of opinion adopted by Wycliffe, the nature, or the progress of which, might not be illustrated from these voluminous re- mains. It should also be stated, that these com- positions are strictly of a popular character. References to abstruse or speculative questions frequently arise, either from the import of the text, or from the reasonings suggested by it ; but these are almost invariably dismissed, that " things more " profiting" might become the matter of attention. Through the whole, the multiplied corruptions of the hierarchy are vigorously assailed, as forming the great barrier to all religious improvement. The social obligations of men are also frequently discussed, and traced with a cautious firmness to the authority of the scriptures ; while the doctrines of the gospel are uniformly exhibited, as declaring THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 23 the guilt, and the spiritual infirmities of men, to be chap. such as to render the atonement of Christ their only way of pardon, and the grace of the divine Spirit their only hope of purity. A few extracts will farther assist the reader in judging of the man- ner in which the reformer discharged the duties of the humble but important office of village preacher. It is thus he addressed his parishioners, on the "'"nodeof ' treating- tlie oblie^ation of priests, to extend their services as questions of " ^ . reform from preachers to the village and the hamlet, and to twe puipn. the most scattered portions of the community. " The gospel telleth us the duty which falls to all " the disciples of Christ, and also telleth us how " priests, both high and low, should occupy them- ** selves in the church of God, and in serving him. " And first, Jesus himself did indeed the lessons " which he taught. The gospel relates how Jesus " went about in the places of the country, both *' great and small, as in cities and castles, or " small towns, and this to teach us to profit gene- " rally unto men, and not to forbear to preach " to a people because they are few, and our name " may not, in consequence, be great. For we " should labour for God, and from him hope for " our reward. There is no doubt, that Christ ** went into small uplandish towns, as to Beth- " phage, and Cana in Galilee ; for Christ went to " all those places where he wished to do good. " And he laboured not thus for gain, for he was ** not smitten with pride or with covetousness."^" In a subsequent discourse, he remarks, that *' it " was ever the manner of Jesus to speak the ^-J Homilies, Bib. Reg. xviii. b. ix. 134. 24 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. c HA P. <' morels of God, wherever he knew that they ** would be profitable to others who heard them ; ** and hence Christ often preached, now at meat, " and now at supper, and indeed at whatever time " it was convenient for others to hear him."^' It is accordingly regretted, that the *' craft of the ** fiend" had given that form to the jurisdiction of the prelates, which greatly prevented good men in their attempts to imitate those retired eiforts in the cause of humanity and religion, which appear so lovely in the history of the Saviour. While Hebrew priests admitted the Master to their syna- gogues, the successors of the apostles are said to exclude his servants from their churches." In an exposition of the epistle read on the third Sunday after advent, he thus proceeds ; — " Let a man so guess of us, as of the ministers of " God, and as dispensers of his services. And if " each man should be found true in this matter, ** priests, both high and low, should be found " more true. But most foul is the failure and " the sin of priests in this respect. As if ashamed " to appear as the servants of Christ, the pope *' and his bishops show the life of emperors, and " of the lordly in the world, and not the living of ** Christ. But since Christ hated such things, " they give us no room to guess them to be the *' ministers of Christ. And so they fail in the " first lesson which Paul teacheth in this scrip- '* ture. Lord ! what good doth the idle talk of the " pope, who must be called of men most blessed " father, and bishops most reverend men, while " their life is discordant from that of Christ? In 21 Horn. Bib. Rep. p. 1G9 - Ibid. 131. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 25 " SO taking of these names, they show that they chap. " are on the fiend's side, and children of the father " of falsehood. After St. Gregory, the pope may " say, that he is the servant of the servants of " God, but his life reverseth his name ; for he " faileth to follow Christ, and is not the dispenser " of the services which God hath bidden, but de- " parteth from this service to that lordship which " emperors have bestowed. And thus, all the " services of the church, which Christ hath ap- " pointed to his priests, are turned aside, so that " if men will take heed to that service which " Christ hath thus limited, it is all turned upside " down, and hypocrites are become rulers. "^^ But it would have been of small service to have shown that the ruling clergy were little worthy of the regard which their titles claimed for them, unless some protection could be afforded from the usual consequences of clerical displeasure. To this point the remaining portion of the sermon distinctly relates. The apostle is noticed as affirming, " that in his case it was a small thing " to be judged of man's judgment;" and from this it is observed, " that men should not suppose " themselves injured by the blind judgment of " men, since God will judge all things, whether " to good or evil. Paul therefore taketh little *' heed to the judgment that man judgeth, for " he knew well, from the scriptures, that if God " judgeth thus, then man's judgment must stand, " and not else. Thus there are two days ol" " judgment, the day of the Lord, and man's " day. The day of the Lord is the day of doom, 26 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. ♦* when he shall judge all manner of men; the — '. — " day of man is now present, when man judgeth, ** and by the law of man. Now every present " judgment must be reversed, if it ought reverseth ** reason. But at the day of doom, all shall stand •* according to the judgment of God. That is the " day of the Lord, because then all shall be as he " will, and nothing shall reverse his judgment; " and St. Paul therefore saith, ' Judge nothing ** before the time, until the time of the Lord come, ** the which shall light the hidden things of dark- ** ness, and shall make known the counsels of the " heart.' — And this moveth many men to think " day and night upon the law of God, for that " leadeth to a knowledge of what is God's will, " and without a knowledge of this should man do " nothing, and this also moveth men to forsake " the judgment of man. To St. Paul, the truth ** of holy writ, which is the will of the first Judge, " was enough until doomsday. Stewards of the " church, therefore, should not judge merely ac- ** cording to their own will, but always accord- ** ing to the law of God, and in things of which " they are certain. But the laws and judgments " which Antichrist has brought in, and added '* to the law of God, mar too much the church of " Christ. For with the stewards of the church, ** the laws of Antichrist are the rules by which " they make officers therein ; and to deceive the " laity. Antichrist challengeth to be, in such things, ** fully God's fellow ; for he affirms that, if he " judgeth thus, his will should be taken for reason, " whereas this is the highest point that falleth " to the godhead. Popes, and kings, therefore. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 27 *' should seek a reason above their own will, for chap. "such blasphemy often bringeth to men more__l_ " than the pride of Lucifer. He said he would " ascend, and be like the Most High, but he chal- '* lenged not to be the fellow of God, even with " him, or passing him! May God bring down " this pride, and help, that his word may reverse '* that of the fiend ! Well indeed, I know, that " when it is at the highest, this smoke shall dis- ** appear." ^* The advice of the preacher in con- clusion is, that his hearers should study the will of God, and thus learn to cherish an inde- pendence of the judgments pronounced upon them by "popes or prelates," inasmuch as such decisions "stretch not to doomsday" — the pe- riod, when the will of God shall be felt as su- preme, and unalterable. One more extract must be sufficient, to illus- trate the manner in which the reformer was accus- tomed to notice the disorders of the hierarchy from the pulpit. " Freedom," it is remarked, "is " much coveted, as men know by nature, but " much more should christian men covet the " better freedom of Christ. It is known, however, " that Antichrist hath enthralled the church more " than it was under the old law, though then " the service was not to be borne. New laws are " now made by Antichrist, and such as are not " founded on the laws of the Saviour. More " ceremonies too are now brought in than were " in the old law, and more do they tarry men " in coming to heaven, than did the traditions of " the Scribes and Pharisees. One cord of this •■' Horn. Bib. Rcir. 28 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. *' thraldom, is the lordship claimed by Antichrist, '. " as being full lord both of spirituals and tem- " porals. Thus he turneth christian men aside " from serving Christ in christian freedom ; so " much so, that they might well say as the poet '* saith in his fable the frogs said to the har- '* row — * Cursed be so many masters.' For in '* this day, christian men are oppressed, now with " popes, and now with bishops, now with cardi- " nals under popes, and now with prelates under " bishops, and now their head is assailed with ** censures, — in short, buffeted are they as men " would serve a football. But certainly, if the " Baptist were not worthy to loose the latchet of '* the shoe of Christ, Antichrist hath no power ** thus to impede the freedom which Christ hath *' bought. Christ gave this freedom to men, that " they might come to the bliss of Heaven with '* less difficulty ; but Antichrist burdens them, that ** they may give him money. Foul, therefore, is ** this doing, with respect both to God and his " law. Ever also do these hypocrites dread lest " God's law should be shown, and they should ** thus be convicted of their falsehood. For God " and his law are most powerful; and for a time, " only, may these deceivers hold men in the " thraldom of Satan." '^' Extracts But whilc thcsc and similar evils were fre- theiheoio. quently noticed in the sermons of the reformer, trineandthe aud always in this intrepid temper, the flock com- feeiingofhis mittcd to his care, as rector of Lutterworth, was far addresses, from bciug uuaccustomed to the sound of themes more devotional in their character, and less con- '» Horn. Bib. Reg. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 29 iiected with the passions too commonly excited by chap. controversy. The following is the substance of a '- — sermon delivered by him on a Christmas day, and upon the passage in Isaiah, beginning with the words, " Unto us a child is born." " On this " day we may affirm that a Child is born to us, " since Jesus, according to our belief, was this " day born. Both in figure, and in letter, God " spake of old to this intent, that to us a Child " should be born, in whom we should have joy. " From this speech of Isaiah, three short lessons *' are to be delivered, that men may rejoice in the " after-services of this Child. First, we hold it " as a part of our faith, that as our first parents " had sinned, there must be atonement made for " it, according to the righteousness of God. For " as God is merciful, so he is full of righteousness. *' But except he keep his righteousness in this ** point, how may he judge all the world? There " is no sin done but what is against God, but this " sin was done directly against the Lord Al- " mighty, and Allrightful. The greater also the " Lord is, against whom any sin is done, the " greater always is the sin, — just as to do against " the king's bidding is deemed the greatest of " offences. But the sin which is done against " God's bidding is greater without measure. God " then, according to our belief, bid Adam that he " should not eat of the apple. Yet he broke " God's command ; nor was he to be excused " therein by his own weakness, by Eve, nor by " the serpent ; and hence, according to the righ- " teousness of God, this sin must always be pu- " nished. It is to speak lightly, to say that God 30 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. *' might of his mere power forgive this sin, without ! " the atonement which was made for it, since the ** justice of God would not suffer this, but re- " quires that every trespass be punished either in ** earth or in hell. God may not accept a person, " to forgive him his sin without an atonement, /* else he must give free licence to sin, both in " angels and men, and then sin were no sin, and ** our God were no God ! ** Such is the first lesson we take as a part of our *' faith ; the second is, that the person who may '* make atonement for the sin of our first father, ** must needs be God and man. For as man's nature ** trespassed, so must man's nature render atone- " ment. An angel therefore would attempt in vain ** to make atonement for man, for he has not the ** power to do it, nor was his the nature that here ** sinned. But since all men form one person, if " any member of this person maketh atonement, ** the whole person maketh it. But we may see " that if God made a man of nought, or strictly •' anew, after the manner of Adam, yet he were ** bound to God, to the extent of his power for ** himself, having nothing wherewith to make *' atonement for his own, or for Adam's sin. ** Since then, atonement must be made for the ** sin of Adam, as we have shown, the person " to make the atonement must be God and man, ** for then the worthiness of this person's deeds ** were even with the unworthiness of the sin." From this necessity of an atonement for sin, and of the incarnation that it might be made, the conclusion is said to follow, that the Child born must needs be God and man. The doctrine of THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 31 the discourse is then made to assume a practical chap. bearing. " And we suppose," observes the '- — preacher, '* that this Child is only born to the " men who follow him in his manner of life, for " he was born against others. The men who are " unjust and proud, and who rebel against God, " may read their judgment in the person of Christ. " By him, they must needs be condemned, and ** most certainly if they continue wicked toward '* his Spirit to their death. And if we covet sin- ** cerely that this Child may prove to be born to " us ; have we joy of him, and follow we him in ** these three virtues, in righteousness, and meek- ** ness, and in patience for our God. For whoever *' shall be against Christ and his Spirit in these *' unto his death, must needs be condemned of ** this Child, as others must needs be saved. And " thus the joy professed in this Child, who was " all meekness, and full of virtues, should make *' men to be children in malice, and then they " would well keep this festival. To those who ** would indulge in strife, I would say that the *' Child who is born is also Prince of peace, and ** loveth peace, and contemneth men contrary " to peace. Reflect we then how Christ came " in the fulness of time, when he should ; and " how he came in meekness, teaching us this at ''his birth; and how he came in patience, con- *' tinning even from his birth unto his death ; and ** follow we him in these things, for the joy that " we here have in him, and because this joy ** in the patience of Christ bringeth to joy that *' ever shall last." '" 26 Horn. Bib. Reg. 32 THE LIFE OF WYCLTFFE. CHAP. The doctrines of scripture witli regard to the '■ — person of Christ, and his sufferings considered as the price of our redemption, are of frequent occur- rence in these discourses. It was in the following manner that the reformer generally spoke on the latter subject. " Men mark the passion of Christ, '* and print it on their heart, somewhat to follow it. It was the most voluntary passion that ever was suffered, and the most luunful. It was most voluntary, and so most meritorious. Hence, ■' when Christ went to Jerusalem, he foretold the form of his passion to his disciples, and he who before concealed himself to come to the city, came now to his suffering in a way to shew his free will. Hence also he saith at the "■ supper, ' With desire have I coveted to eat of this passover with you.' The desire of his god- head, and the desire of his manhood, moved him " to eat thereof, and afterwards to suffer. But all this was significant, and in figure of his last '"' supper which he eateth in heaven with the men whom he hath chosen. And since Christ suf- " fered thus cheerfully for the sins of his brethren, " they should suffer gratefully for their own sins, ' and should purpose to forsake them. This, in- deed, is the cause why God would have the " passion of Christ rehearsed — the profit of the " brethren of Christ, and not his own. But the " ;m/;^ of Christ's passion, passed all other pain, for he was the most tender of men, and in '* middle age ; and God, by miracle, allowed his mind to suffer, for else, by his joy, he might not have known sorrow. In Christ's passion, indeed, were all tiiinos, which could make TI[E LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 33 " his pain great, and so make it the more men- ^hap " torious. The place was solemn, and the day " also, and the hour, the most so known to Jews, "■ or heathen men ; and the ingratitude, and con- " tempt were most ; for men who should most " have loved Christ, ordained the foulest death, " in return for his deepest kindness ! We should " also believe, that Christ suffered not, in any " manner, but for some certain reason ; for he " is both God and man, who made all things in " their number, and so would frame his passion " to answer to the greatness of man's sin. Fol- " low we then after Christ in his blessed passion, " and keep we ourselves from sin hereafter, and " gather we a devout mind from him.""^' The reader will remember, that these devotional in- structions were prepared for the usual auditory of a parish church in the fourteenth century. The following passages were intended by the r)"'^trinooi preacher, to explain the only sense in which he "^ could admit that men might be said to '* deserve" the felicities of heaven. *' We should know that " faith is a gift of God, and that it may not be " given to men except it be graciously. Thus, " indeed, all the good which men have is of God, " and accordingly when God rewardeth a good " work of man, he crowneth his own gift. This " then is also of grace, even as all things are of " grace that men have according to the will of " God. God's goodness is the first cause why " he confers any good on man ; and so it may not " be that God doeth good to men, but if he do it " freely, by his own grace; and with this under- -•- Horn. Bib. Re-. i).Gl. VOL. I!. D 34 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. <* stood, we shall grant that men deserve of God." — * — But the doctrine of short-sighted men *' as was ** Pelagius, and others, who conceive that nothing ** may be, unless it be of itself, as are mere sub- ** stances, is to be scorned, and left to idiots." It is then remarked, in connexion with the story of the centurion, whose faith had elicited the above observation, " Learn we of this knight, to be " meek in heart, and in word, and in deed ; for *' he granted first, that he was under man's power, *' and yet by power of man he might do many " things ; much more should we know that we *' are under God's power, and that we may do " nothing but by the power of God; and woe shall " hereafter be to us, if we abuse this power. " This root of meekness, therefore, should pro- *' duce in us all other virtues." It is evident that, in the mind of the reformer, the doctrine of these passages, dangerous as its tendencies are sometimes said to be, was connected with a feeling of the most sincere devotion. ^iati'ons''of I^ ^s t^^s ^^ endeavours to strengthen the mind religion, ^f ^hc chrlstiau worshipper, while suffering under the adversities of life, and especially from the contempt of men. ** As men who are in a fever *' desire not that which were best for them, so " men in sin covet not that which is best for " them in this world. The world said that the ** apostles were fools, and forsaken of God ; and " so it would say to-day of all who live like " them ; for worldly joy, and earthly possessions " alone pleaseth them, while of heavenly things, " and of a right following after Christ, they savour " not. And this their choice, in the present THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 35 *' world, is a manifest proof against them, that, in chap. '* soul, they are not holy, but turned aside to the — '. *' things of the world. For as the palate of a *' sick man, distempered from good meat, moveth '* him to covet things contrary to his health, so it ** is with the soul of man when it savoureth not " of the law of God. And as the want of na- *' tural appetite is a deadly sign to man, so a " wanting of spiritual relish for God's word is a ** sign of his second death." Yet men are said to judge of their participation in the favour of God, by the success of their worldly enterprises. But to expose this error, it is observed, *' we should ** leave these sensible signs, and take the example ** of holy men, as of Christ, and his apostles; how ** they had not their bliss on earth, but that here " Christ ordained them pain, and the hatred of ** the world, even much suffering to the men ** whom he most loved,— and this, to teach us " how to follow him." It is therefore said to follow, that in this world the marks of patient suffering should much rather be taken as those which bespeak the love of God.^ The connexion between this independence of Connection ' between terrestrial evils, and the faith of the sfospel, is^^ithand . or devotion. thus pomted out. ** If thou hast a full belief of " Christ, how he lived here on the earth, and ** how he overcame the world, thou also over- ** comest it, as a kind son. For if thou takest ** heed how Christ despised the world, and fol- '* lowest him here, as thou shouldst by the faith ** of the Father, thou must needs overcome it. '* And here it is manifest what many men are in «8 Horn. Bib. Reg. p. 78, D 2 36 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP. '* this world. They are not born of God, nor do — '. — " they believe in Christ. For if this belief were " in them, they should follow Christ in the man- " ner of his life, but they are not of faith, as will " be known in the day of doom. What man " should fully believe that the day of doom will " be anon, and that God shall then judge men, ** after what they have been in his cause, and not " prepare himself to follow Christ for this bless- " ing thereof? Either the belief of such men " sleepeth, or they want a right belief; since " men who love this world, and rest in the lusts " thereof, live as if God had never spoken as in *' his word, or would fail to judge them for their " doing. To all christian men, therefore, the " faith of Christ's life is needful, and hence we " should know the gospel, for this telleth the be- " lief of Christ. "-^^ * Horn. Bib. Reg p. 70. It may be liad been presented to the public, nor due to myself to .state, tliat previous to have they been at all quoted, so as to the publication of the present work, no assist the reader in forming any judg- inforniation, at all satisfactory, as to ment respecting them. Note to the tlie general character of tiiese li(in:i!ies second editicm. THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 37 CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF ATTEMPTS TOWARD A TRANSLATION OF THE SCRIPTURES INTO THE LANGUAGE OF THIS COUNTRY BEFORE THE AGE OF WYCLIFFE^ BV THE ANGLO-SAXON CLERGY — BY THE ANGLO-NORMAN. WYCLIFFe's PURPOSE, AS EMBRACING A TRANSLATION OF THE WHOLE VOLUME, AND ITS GENERAL CIRCULATION, STRICTLY A NOVELTY. THIS AFFIRMED BY KNIGHTON. SOME CIRCUMSTANCES FAVOURABLE TO THIS ENTERPRISE. EXTRACTS EXHIBITING THE REFORMER'S MANNER OF DEFENDING THIS EFFORT. THE INSURRECTION OF THE COMMONS. That the gospel was known to the people of chap. this island, before the close of the first century, __J is the general testimony of historians. ' Three centuries, also, intervened, before that connexion between the subject provinces of Britain and the capital of the empire, which had led to this diffu- sion of Christianity, was dissolved. We have no authority, however, for supposing, that any por- tion of the sacred writings was possessed by our Celtic ancestors, during that period, in the verna- cular tongue. With the few, indeed, who could read, the Latin, though introduced by their con- querors, was the principal object of attention ;'-' and the importance of obtaining the scriptures in their own dialect, which this circumstance served greatly to diminish, was probably overlooked. Subsequently, the religion of the Britons must ' Uiilier, Stillingfleet, Collier. from the prevalence of the Latin lan- - Tacitus, Vita Ajfric. c.xxi. GilJas, guage, Britain niij^ht Lave been called Hist. The last writer obser>es, that a Roman rather than a British island. 38 THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. CHAP, have suffered much from their protracted war 1_ with the Saxons ; and after the arrival of Augus- tine, nearly a century v^as occupied in bringing the disciples of Odin to their partial acknowledg- ment of the God of the Christians. Attempts It was in the seventh century that Cedman, traTJiatfon au Auglo-SaxoH monk, produced a composition, turerb'JX which claimed the attention of his countrymen, Wis. as exhibiting the first application of their lan- guage to sacred poetry ; and as the first attempt to render any part of the inspired volume in the speech of our forefathers." This poem, which has all the marks of the antiquity assigned to it, in- cludes the leading events of Old Testament his- tory, as the creation of the world, the fall of angels and of man, the deluge, the departure from Egypt, the entrance upon Canaan, with 7oi»- some subsequent occurrences. In the following century, Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne ; and Guthlac, the celebrated anchoret, are among the authors of the Anglo-Saxon versions *of the Psalter. In the same age, the venerable Bede prefers his claim to the honour of a literal trans- 3 Bede, iv. 24. — On this interesting " of the Scriptares, previous to the subject, Mr. Lewis's volume, intitled " opening of the Fifteenth Centurj," " A History of the English Transla- and it determines every question on tions of the Bible," is well known ; also this subject to the time of Wycliffe. a lesser work, by Johnson. The latter The brief memoirs of oor reformer, production, however, thoughfrequently published in connexion with the same cited as an authority, and honoured work, I should have noticed in the with a place among bishop Watson's Preface, had I not been sensible that Theological Tracts, is strangely inac- the writer is too well acquainted with curate. I have found no better guide these things, not to be fully aware, than Mr. Baber, a gentleman to whose that his notices respecting the sacred discernment the public are indebted scriptures, and his enlarged and re- fer a reprint of Wyclifte's New Testa- vised catalogue of the Wyclifle manu- ment. To that work a chapter is pre- scripts, impart to that portion of his fixed, intitled, " An Historical Account publication its chief value. " of (he Suxou and English \ eisions THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 39 lation of St. John's gospel/ A manuscript copy chap. of the Latin gospels, with a Saxon version inter- '. lined, known by the name of the Durham book, is attributed on probable evidence to about the time of Alfred.* The Rushworth Gloss, is a 900. Latin transcript of the same portion of the sacred volume, with a Saxon translation, introduced after the same manner, the latter being apparently the production of the tenth century." Among the valuable manuscripts of Benet College, Cam- bridge, is a third copy of the gospels in the Saxon tongue, written a little before the con- quest ; and a fourth, which belongs to the same loao. period, and appears to have been copied from the former, may be seen in the Bodleian library.' But an ecclesiastic, who did more than all his brethren toward supplying his countrymen with the scriptures in their own language, was Elfric. This industrious scholar lived during the reign of Ethelred, and subscribes himself, at different periods, as monk, mass priest, and abbot. In his 1000. epitome of the Old and New Testament, com- posed for Sigwerd, a nobleman, we are informed, that at the request of various persons, he had translated the Pentateuch, the books of Joshua and Judges, those of Esther, Job, and Judith, also the two books of Maccabees, with part of the first and second book of Kings. ^ Alfred, ■• Baber. Cutbberti Vita Ven. Bedae. its former possessor, John Rushworth, 5 It is preserved in the British Esq. of Lincoln's -inn. Baber, nbi Museum, Nero, D.iv. and is described supra. by Mr. Baber, as the finest specimen 7 ]bid. of Saxon calligraphy and decoration ^ Turner's Hist. iii. 442. Baber. extant. The extent of Elfric's labours is * This is in the Bodleian, D. xxiv. learnt, as stated above, from various No. 3964. It derived its name from incidental notices occurring in such of Alls Noim.'iii 40 THE LIFE OF AVYCLIFFE. CHAP, whose name is associated by the admiration of '. — our ancestors, with ahuost every thing enhght- ened in their polity or rehgion, is noticed as having prefixed a translation of certain passages from the Mosaic writings to his code of laws ; and he is said to have made a considerable pro- gress in a Saxon version of the Psalms a little previous to his death. ^ By the This, however, is the extent of our information, on this interesting question, as connected with the Anglo-Saxon period of our history. The Anglo-Norman clergy were far more competent to have supplied their flock with this efficient means of sacred knowledge ; but, in this respect, the example of their predecessors was slighted, or rather disapproved. Some fragments of scrip- tural truth may have been preserved by means of certain lessons which occurred in the ritual of the period ; but the first attempt, after the conquest, to place any more complete portion of the scrip- tures before the English people, appears to have been made by the author of a rhyming paraphrase on the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, in- titled '* Ormulum."^" Subsequent to the date of this work, which evidently belongs to one of the liis works as have descended to us. " very wise is lie who speaketh by liis In his Epitome of the Old and New " doings ; and well proceedeth lie both Testament, lie has not only made his " with God and with the woild, who selection from tlie scriptures, but has " furnisheth himself with good works. fre(iueiitly added things to the sacred " And very plain it is in holy scrip- story from other writings. A copy of " ture, that holy men employed in well this work, printed with an English " doing, were in this world held in translation by William L'IsIe in 1G23, " good reputation." is in the Bodleian, and another has 9 Spelman, i. 3.34. Prefatio Regis been for some time in my possession. Aluredi, M. ad Leges suas. .See also It is thus it bci^in> ; " Abbot Elfrike, Baber, 02. " greeteth friendly .Sigwerd, at East i" Ibid. Budkian. .lunius, i. " IL'olon. True it i., I tell llice, ilia! THE LIFE OF WYCLIFFE. 41 earliest stages of our language, we perceive a chap. similar application of mind in a collection of me- '— trical pieces, called Salus Animas, or in English, '^"''" " Sowlehele."" In the huge volume thus de- signated, the materials are not all of the same class. The object of the compiler, or transcriber, seems to have been to furnish a complete body of legendary and scriptural history in verse, or rather to collect into one view, all the religious history he could find. It professes, however, to exhibit an outline, both of the Old and New Testament, and its composition is supposed to have preceded 1300. the opening of the fourteenth century. In Benet College, Cambridge, there is another work of the same description, the offspring of the same period, and containing notices of the principal events re- corded in the books of Genesis and Exodus. In that collection, there is also a copy of the Psalms in English metre, which is attributed to about the year 1300; and two transcripts, of nearly the same antiquity, have been preserved — the one in the Bodleian library, the other in that of Sir Robert Cotton.'^ But it is not until the middle of the following century, that we trace the re- motest attempt to produce a literal translation 1350. even of detached portions of the scriptures. The effort then made was by Richard Roll, called the Hermit of Hampole. His labours, also, were re- stricted to a little more than half the book of Psalms, and to these a devotional commentary was annexed. Contemporary with this recluse, were some devout men among the clergy, who " Walton's History of English Poetry, sect. i. MSS. Bodleian, 77