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Cæfenas and William Occam (9) exposed the various errors and herefies of John XXII to the number of 77; and fecure in the protection of the emperor, they set at nought the thunder of the pope's excommunications. Marfilius, a famous lawyer of Padua, (1) wrote a treatise intitled the defender of peace, wherein he advanced the power of the emperor above that of the pope in things fpiritual as well as temporal; painted in the ftrongest colors the pride, ambition, and luxury of the court of Rome; and abundantly proved that the pope had not by divine right the leaft authority or præeminence over other bishops. It is no wonder that the author and his book were condemned together. But there were other and better witneffes than thefe in this age. It was shown before from Thuanus, that the Waldenses and Albigenfes being perfecuted in their own country, fled for refuge into foreign nations, fome into Germany, and fome into Britain. Germany they grew and multiplied so fast, notwithstanding the rage and violence of croifaders and inquifitors, that at the beginning of this century (2) it is computed, that there were eighty thousand of them in Bohemia, Auftria, and

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27. Dupin. ibid. Chap. 5 & 8.

(2) Bzovius ad Ann. 1315. Spanhem. ibid. Cap. 6. Sect. 1. Dupin. ibid. Chap. 8. N 4 (3) Dupin.

and the neighbouring territories; and they pertinaciously defended their doctrins even unto death. Among a variety of other names they were called Lollards from (3) one Walter Lollard, who preached in Germany about the year 1315 against the authority of the pope, the interceffion of faints, the mafs, extreme unction, and other ceremonies and fuperftitions of the church of Rome; and was burned alive. at Cologn in the year 1322. In England also they were denominated Lollards, tho' there was a man more worthy to have given name to the fect, the defervedly famous John Wickliff, the honor of his own, and the admiration of all fucceeding times. Rector only of Lutterworth, he (4) filled all England, and almost all Europe with his doctrin. He began to grow famous about the year 1360 by preaching and writing against the fuperftitions of the age, the tyranny of the pope, the erroneous doctrins and vicious lives of the monks and the clergy; and efpecially by defending the royal and ecclefiaftical jurifdiction against the ufurpations of the popes and mendicant friers. The more he oppofed, the more reafon he found for oppofition. He tranflated the canonical fcriptures into the English language,

(3) Dupin. ibid. Hoffmanni Lex. Spelman. Skinner. &c.

and

(4) H. Wharton in Append. ad Cave. p. 60, &c. Span

hem.

and wrote comments upon them. He demonftrated the antichriftianity of popery, and the abomination of defolation in the temple of God. He afferted the one true facrifice of Chrift, and oppofed the facrifice of the mafs, tranfubftantiation, the adoration of the hoft, the feven facraments, purgatory, prayers for the dead, the worship of faints and images, and in short all the principal corruptions and fuperftitions of the church of Rome. His fuccefs too was greater than he could have expected. The princes, the people, the univerfity of Oxford, many even of the clergy, favored and supported him, and embraced his opinions. His enemies have charged him with feveral heterodox notions; but many years ago was publifhed An apology for John Wickliff, fhowing his conformity with the now church of England, &c; collected out of his written works in the Bodleian library by Thomas James keeper of the fame, at Oxford 1608. This truly great and good man died of a palfy the last day of the year 1387, but his doctrins did not die with him. books were read in the public schools and colleges at Oxford, and were recommended to the diligent perusal of each student in the university, till they were condemned and prohibited

hem. ibid. Cap. 6. Leland, Bale, Tanner. &c. &c.

His

by

(5) Wal

by the council of Conftance in the next century. His followers the Lollards in the year 1395 prefented (5) a remonftrance to the parlament, which contained these with other articles; that when the church of England began to mismanage her temporalities in conformity to the precedents of Rome, faith, hope, and charity began to take their leave of her communion; that the English priesthood derived from Rome, and pretending to a power fuperior to angels, is not that priesthood which Chrift fettled upon his apostles; that injoining celibacy to the clergy was the occasion of scandalous irregularities in the church; that the pretended miracle of transubstantiation runs the greatest part of christendom upon idolatry; that exorcisms and benedictions pronounced over wine, bread, water, -the mitre, the crofs, &c, have more of necromancy than religion in them; that prayer made for the dead is a wrong ground for charity and religious endowments; that pilgrimages, prayers and offerings made to images and croffes, are near of kin to idolatry; that auricular confeffion makes the priests proud, lets them into the fecrets of the penitent, gives opportunities for intrigues, and is attended with fcandalous.confequences,

(5) Walfingham, Stow, Spelman, Collier's Ecclef. Hift. B. 6. P. 596. &c.

(6) Balei

fequences, as well as the doctrin of indulgences; that the vow of fingle life undertaken by women in the church of England is the occafion of horrible diforders, &c. Some false tenets might be contained in the fame remonftrance; for alas, who is there that holdeth the truth without any mixture or allay of error? They denied the infallibility of the pope, and they could not well pretend to be infallible themselves.

Two things contributed much to the revival of learning in the fifteenth century, the Greeks flying with their books from Conftantinople which the Turks had taken, and the invention of printing. As learning more revived, so the truth prevailed more; and the more the truth prevailed, the fury of perfecution increased in proportion. Wickliff himself had been permitted -to die in peace; but after his death (6) his sdoctrins were condemned, his books were burnt, his very body was dug up and burnt too, by a decree of the council of Conftance, and the command of pope Martin V, executed by Richard Fleming bishop of Lincoln. His followers however were not difcouraged, and many of them witneffed a good confeffion even unto -death. William Sawtre, parish priest of St.

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