side. Before the trial could proceed far Harry Percy and the Bishop of London fell into a quarrel, and the court was broken up and Wiclif escaped.

Five years later, being attacked by a dangerous disease, the priests thought they might induce him. to recant upon his dying bed; so four of them called on him and reminded him of his supposed errors, and hoped that in his last moments he would confess. He listened to them in perfect silence. Then he asked his servants to raise his head, and strong in faith, he fixed his eyes upon them, and instead of making the confession they hoped for, replied: "I shall not die, but live, and again declare the evil deeds of the friars." The priests hastily retired, and Wiclif recovered and renewed the battle. A year afterward he finished his great work, the translation of the Bible.

God seems to have restrained his enemies until this was accomplished, for shortly afterward the priests succeeded in obtaining a decree from the king, by which Wiclif was expelled from the university, and ordering that his publications should be everywhere seized and destroyed. The pope then cited him to appear at Rome to be tried as a heretic. Wiclif forwarded a letter in reply, saying that Christ had instructed him to the contrary, and taught him to obey God rather than man. His health soon failed, yet still this devoted minister of God constantly preached the doctrines of the Bible, until in the year 1384, four years after he had given the word of God to his countrymen, he died. Such was the rancor of his enemies that some time after his death they dug up his bones and burned them.

The circulation of the Scriptures in English was a terrible blow to Romanism. It is true the printing

press was not then in existence, and it was necessary to write out every copy with the pen; yet copies were made everywhere, and they were read by the nobility, by the middle classes, by the poor, in the cities, in the country, from one end of the kingdom to the other. Many a poor wanderer who had been groping in spiritual darkness, found in them light and peace. Many a guilty child of Adam, as he mournfully inquired, "O where shall rest be found?" here leaned upon the promises of God. Many a sorrowful heart, overtaxed and overloaded by the ceremonies of Rome, here learned to distinguish between the commandments of men and the commandments of God; between a load of vain observances, and the service of him whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. Thank God for this first translation of the Bible into the English language! Multitudes adopted the opinions of Wiclif in England, and were furiously persecuted, until it was supposed they were completely destroyed. Their blood flowed on all sides. Lords and peasants, rich and poor, sealed their testimony with their lives. Their prison yet remains in England. It is called the Lollard's prison. It is lined with thick oak plank. The door is nearly covered with the heads of iron spikes. The iron rings to which those who read and loved Wiclif's Bible were chained are still there, about five feet from the floor; and upon the walls, carved in the oaken plank, are to be seen some of the precious promises of the word of God, cut there in that gloomy prison by those who had no other support. These promises were their hope and strength when all human consolation had fled forever. Could we follow them to the place of execution, and behold them as they willingly gave their lives for Christ, and see victim after victim as

they fell, it might lead us to realize that our trials and our crosses are exceeding light. But could we follow them further on, and behold them after their warfare is accomplished and their sufferings over, and witness their joys with Christ in heaven, who would not press forward to the attainment of the same felicity?

I HAVE said that England was the true parent of the Reformation, rather than Germany. D'Aubigné, in his great work, though not distinctly stating this fact, says that Wiclif was the first Reformer of Christendom, and that to him, under God, Britain is indebted for the honor of being the foremost in the attack upon the theocratic system of the pope.* He says again. that after Wiclif's death England was almost won over to the Reformer's doctrine.† And again, that the opinions of Wiclif had spread over all Christendom.‡ An eminent writer has lately said: "The Reformation began in England under the labors of John Wiclif, in the fourteenth century." "The Reformation under Luther and the English Reformers was but a revival of the glorious work of God which two centuries before had made a deadly thrust at the man of sin."S

It is right that we should be well acquainted with the men who carried on this work after Wiclif's death. They are the heroes of their age, and more deserve to be carried down to posterity than those who have distinguished themselves by the sword.

* Vol. v, p. 104.

+ Vol. v, p. 107.

Vol. i, p. 101. § Dr. George Peck, Methodist Quarterly Review, January, 1858.

Lord Cobham* was one of the most illustrious of these in England. He lived about one hundred years before Luther rose in Germany. Notwithstanding the wealth and high position which he inherited by birth, he became an humble Christian. The Bible, as it had been translated by Wiclif, became the guide of his life. As an officer in the king's army he was, says a historian, historian, "one of the bravest and best in England." As a member of the Parliament he never failed to advocate the religious and civil liberty of the people. Hence he became greatly beloved by the whole nation, with the exception of the Romish clergy and their adherents. Having felt the peace of God and the joys of religion in his own heart, with that love to all men which is like a fire in the breast of every true Christian, he desired to communicate it to others. He therefore hired men to copy the Bible and other works of Wiclif, and employed persons, something like the colporteurs of our day, to distribute them abroad. He devoted also much of his income to maintaining traveling preachers in the dioceses of London, Canterbury, Rochester, and Hereford.

This did not suit the bishops and priests, and they therefore began to contrive how they could put an end to him. But Lord Cobham was in favor with the king, and highly popular, and they dared not attack him openly.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Arundel, requested the king to send commissioners to Oxford to inquire into the growth of heresy. With this the king complied, and the commissioners reported that heresy was increasing, and that Lord Cobham was the cause of it, because he encouraged the scholars of

*His title originally was Sir John Oldcastle.

Oxford and other places to preach their heretical opinions through the country. In other words, Lord Cobham was an archheretic, because he was the means of preaching to the people the truths of the Bible and the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has always had need of many more such heretics.

Taking this report, the archbishop and a large number of priests called on the king, and begged in all humility and charity that his majesty would suffer them, for Christ's sake, to put Lord Cobham to death. The king replied that he thought such violence would destroy truth rather than error, and that he himself would see Lord Cobham and reason with him. Henry V., the hero of Harfleur, conqueror of France, and the great warrior of his age, had little idea of true religion. He expected to be obeyed. He sent for Lord Cobham, and reasoned with him as to his doctrines and faith, exhorting him to renounce his supposed errors and yield obedience to the pope. The noble soldier and Christian disdained any kind of equivocation, and replied:

"I have ever been a faithful subject to my king, next to my God, and hope I ever shall be. As for the dominion of the pope, I never could see on what foundation it is claimed, nor can I pay him any obedience; for as sure as God's word is true, it is fully evident to me that he is the great antichrist foretold in holy writ."

The king was displeased with this answer, and he thereupon gave the archbishop leave to proceed against Lord Cobham as he chose, who was summoned speedily before the archbishop, and excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

He now prepared a statement of his faith, and