History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century
Chapter 185 : Wickliffe, therefore, continued tranquilly to preach Jesus Christ; and on the 29th Dec

Wickliffe, therefore, continued tranquilly to preach Jesus Christ; and on the 29th December 1384, as he was in his church at Lutterworth, in the midst of his flock, at the very moment that he stood before the altar, and was elevating the host with trembling hands, he fell upon the pavement struck with paralysis. He was carried to his house by the affectionate friends around him, and after lingering forty-eight hours resigned his soul to G.o.d on the last day of the year.

[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE'S CHARACTER.]

Thus was removed from the church one of the boldest witnesses to the truth. The seriousness of his language, the holiness of his life, and the energy of his faith, had intimidated the popedom. Travellers relate that if a lion is met in the desert, it is sufficient to look steadily at him, and the beast turns away roaring from the eye of man.

Wickliffe had fixed the eye of a Christian on the papacy, and the affrighted papacy had left him in peace. Hunted down unceasingly while living, he died in quiet, at the very moment when by faith he was eating the flesh and drinking the blood which give eternal life. A glorious end to a glorious life.

The Reformation of England had begun.

Wickliffe is the greatest English Reformer: he was in truth the first reformer of Christendom, and to him, under G.o.d, Britain is indebted for the honour of being the foremost in the attack upon the theocratic system of Gregory VII. The work of the Waldenses, excellent as it was, cannot be compared to his. If Luther and Calvin are the fathers of the Reformation, Wickliffe is its grandfather.

Wickliffe, like most great men, possessed qualities which are not generally found together. While his understanding was eminently speculative--his treatise on the _Reality of universal Ideas_[193]

made a sensation in philosophy--he possessed that practical and active mind which characterizes the Anglo-Saxon race. As a divine, he was at once scriptural and spiritual, soundly orthodox, and possessed of an inward and lively faith. With a boldness that impelled him to rush into the midst of danger, he combined a logical and consistent mind, which constantly led him forward in knowledge, and caused him to maintain with perseverance the truths he had once proclaimed. First of all, as a Christian, he had devoted his strength to the cause of the church; but he was at the same time a citizen, and the realm, his nation, and his king, had also a great share in his unwearied activity. He was a man complete.

[193] De universalibus realibus.

[Sidenote: WICKLIFFE'S ECCLESIASTICAL VIEWS.]

If the man is admirable, his teaching is no less so. Scripture, which is the rule of truth, should be (according to his views) the rule of Reformation, and we must reject every doctrine and every precept which does not rest on that foundation.[194] To believe in the power of man in the work of regeneration is the great heresy of Rome, and from that error has come the ruin of the church. Conversion proceeds from the grace of G.o.d alone, and the system which ascribes it partly to man and partly to G.o.d is worse than Pelagianism.[195] Christ is every thing in Christianity; whosoever abandons that fountain which is ever ready to impart life, and turns to muddy and stagnant waters, is a madman.[196] Faith is a gift of G.o.d; it puts aside all merit, and should banish all fear from the mind.[197] The one thing needful in the Christian life and in the Lord's Supper is not a vain formalism and superst.i.tious rites, but communion with Christ according to the power of the spiritual life.[198] Let Christians submit not to the word of a priest but to the word of G.o.d. In the primitive church there were but two orders, the deacon and the priest: the presbyter and the bishop were one.[199] The sublimest calling which man can attain on earth is that of preaching the word of G.o.d. The true church is the a.s.sembly of the righteous for whom Christ shed his blood. So long as Christ is in heaven, in Him the church possesses the best pope. It is possible for a pope to be condemned at the last day because of his sins. Would men compel us to recognise as our head "a devil of h.e.l.l?"[200] Such were the essential points of Wickliffe's doctrine. It was the echo of the doctrine of the apostles--the prelude to that of the reformers.

[194] Auctoritas Scripturae sacrae, quae est lex Christi, infinitum excedit quam libet scripturam aliam. Dialog. [Trialogus] lib. iii.

cap. x.x.x; see in particular chap. x.x.xi. The authority of Holy Scripture, which is the law of Christ, infinitely surpa.s.ses all other writings whatever.

[195] Ibid. de praedestinatione, de peccato, de gratia, etc.

[196] Dialog. [Trialogus] lib. iii, cap. x.x.x.

[197] Fidem a Deo infusam sine aliqua trepidatione fidei contraria.

Ibid. lib. iii, cap. ii.

[198] Secundum rationem spiritualis et virtualis existentiae. Ibid.

lib. iv, cap. viii.

[199] Fuit idem presbyter atque episcopus. Ibid. lib. iv, cap. xv.

[200] Vaughan's Life of Wickliffe, ii, 307. The Christian public is much indebted to Dr. Vaughan for his biography of this reformer.

[Sidenote: PROPHECY.]

In many respects Wickliffe is the Luther of England; but the times of revival had not yet come, and the English reformer could not gain such striking victories over Rome as the German reformer. While Luther was surrounded by an ever-increasing number of scholars and princes, who confessed the same faith as himself, Wickliffe shone almost alone in the firmament of the church. The boldness with which he subst.i.tuted a living spirituality for a superst.i.tious formalism, caused those to shrink back in affright who had gone with him against friars, priests, and popes. Erelong the Roman pontiff ordered him to be thrown into prison, and the monks threatened his life;[201] but G.o.d protected him, and he remained calm amidst the machinations of his adversaries.

"Antichrist," said he, "can only kill the body." Having one foot in the grave already, he foretold that, from the very bosom of monkery, would some day proceed the regeneration of the church. "If the friars, whom G.o.d condescends to teach, shall be converted to the primitive religion of Christ," said he, "we shall see them abandoning their unbelief, returning freely, with or without the permission of Antichrist, to the primitive religion of the Lord, and building up the church, as did St. Paul."[202]

[201] Mult.i.tudo fratrum mortem tuam multipliciter machinantur. Ibid.

lib. iv, cap. iv.

[202] Aliqui fratres quos Deus docere dignatur....relicta sua perfidia.....redibunt libere ad religionem Christi primaevam, et tunc aedificabunt ecclesiam, sicut Paulus. Dialog. [Trialogus] lib. iv, cap.

x.x.x.

Thus did Wickliffe's piercing glance discover, at the distance of nearly a century and a half, the young monk Luther in the Augustine convent at Erfurth, converted by the Epistle to the Romans, and returning to the spirit of St. Paul and the religion of Jesus Christ.

Time was hastening on to the fulfilment of this prophecy. "The rising sun of the Reformation," for so has Wickliffe been called, had appeared above the horizon, and its beams were no more to be extinguished. In vain will thick clouds veil it at times; the distant hill-tops of Eastern Europe will soon reflect its rays;[203] and its piercing light, increasing in brightness, will pour over all the world, at the hour of the church's renovation, floods of knowledge and of life.

[203] John Huss in Bohemia.

CHAPTER IX.

The Wickliffites--Call for Reform--Richard II--The first Martyr--Lord Cobham--Appears before Henry V--Before the Archbishop--His Confession and Death--The Lollards.

[Sidenote: CALL FOR REFORM.]

Wickliffe's death manifested the power of his teaching. The master being removed, his disciples set their hands to the plough, and England was almost won over to the reformer's doctrines. The Wickliffites recognized a ministry independent of Rome, and deriving authority from the word of G.o.d alone. "Every minister," said they, "can administer the sacraments and confer the cure of souls as well as the pope." To the licentious wealth of the clergy they opposed a Christian poverty, and to the degenerate asceticism of the mendicant orders, a spiritual and free life. The townsfolk crowded around these humble preachers; the soldiers listened to them, armed with sword and buckler to defend them;[204] the n.o.bility took down the images from their baronial chapels;[205] and even the royal family was partly won over to the Reformation. England was like a tree cut down to the ground, from whose roots fresh buds are shooting out on every side, erelong to cover all the earth beneath their shade.[206]

[204] a.s.sistere solent gladio et pelta stipati ad eorum defensionem.

Knyghton, lib. v, p. 2660.

[205] Milites c.u.m ducibus et comitibus erant praecipue eis adhaerentes.

Ibid.

[206] Quasi germinantes multiplicati sunt nimis et impleverunt ubique orbem regni. Kuyguton. lib. v, p. 2660. These "_Conclusiones_" are reprinted by Lewis (Wickliffe) p. 337.

This augmented the courage of Wickliffe's disciples, and in many places the people took the initiative in the reform. The walls of St.

Paul's and other cathedrals were hung with placards aimed at the priests and friars, and the abuses of which they were the defenders; and in 1395 the friends of the Gospel pet.i.tioned parliament for a general reform. "The essence of the wors.h.i.+p which comes from Rome,"

said they, "consists in signs and ceremonies, and not in the efficacity of the Holy Ghost: and therefore it is not that which Christ has ordained. Temporal things are distinct from spiritual things: a king and a bishop ought not to be one and the same person."[207] And then, from not clearly understanding the principle of the separation of the functions which they proclaimed, they called upon parliament to "abolish celibacy, transubstantiation, prayers for the dead, offerings to images, auricular confession, war, the arts unnecessary to life, the practice of blessing oil, salt, wax, incense, stones, mitres, and pilgrims' staffs. All these pertain to necromancy and not to theology." Emboldened by the absence of the king in Ireland, they fixed their _Twelve Conclusions_ on the gates of St.

Paul's and Westminster Abbey. This became the signal for persecution.

[207] Rex et episcopus in una persona, etc. Ibid.

[Sidenote: THE FIRST MARTYR.]

As soon as Arundel, archbishop of York, and Braybrooke, bishop of London, had read these propositions, they hastily crossed St. George's channel, and conjured the king to return to England. The prince hesitated not to comply, for his wife, the pious Anne of Luxemburg, was dead. Richard, during childhood and youth, had been committed in succession to the charge of several guardians, and like children (says an historian), whose nurses have been often changed, he thrived none the better for it. He did good or evil, according to the influence of those around him, and had no decided inclinations except for ostentation and licentiousness. The clergy were not mistaken in calculating on such a prince. On his return to London he forbade the parliament to take the Wickliffite pet.i.tion into consideration; and having summoned before him the most distinguished of its supporters, such as Story, Clifford, Latimer, and Montacute, he threatened them with death if they continued to defend their abominable opinions.

Thus was the work of the reformer about to be destroyed.

But Richard had hardly withdrawn his hand from the Gospel, when G.o.d (says the annalist) withdrew his hand from him.[208] His cousin, Henry of Hereford, son of the famous duke of Lancaster, and who had been banished from England, suddenly sailed from the continent, landed in Yorks.h.i.+re, gathered all the malcontents around him, and was acknowledged king. The unhappy Richard, after being formally deposed, was confined in Pontefract castle, where he soon terminated his earthly career.

[208] Fox, Acts, i. p. 584, fol. Lond. 1684.

The son of Wickliffe's old defender was now king: a reform of the church seemed imminent; but the primate Arundel had foreseen the danger. This cunning priest and skilful politician had observed which way the wind blew, and deserted Richard in good time. Taking Lancaster by the hand, he put the crown on his head, saying to him: "To consolidate your throne, conciliate the clergy, and sacrifice the Lollards."--"I will be the protector of the church," replied Henry IV, and from that hour the power of the priests was greater than the power of the n.o.bility. Rome has ever been adroit in profiting by revolutions.

Lancaster, in his eagerness to show his grat.i.tude to the priests, ordered that every incorrigible heretic should be burnt alive, to terrify his companions.[209] Practice followed close upon the theory.

A pious priest named William Sawtre had presumed to say: "Instead of adoring the cross on which Christ suffered, I adore Christ who suffered on it."[210] He was dragged to St. Paul's; his hair was shaved off; a layman's cap was placed on his head; and the primate handed him over to the _mercy_ of the earl-marshal of England. This mercy was shown him--he was burnt alive at Smithfield in the beginning of March, 1401. Sawtre was the first martyr to protestantism.

[209] Ibid. p. 586. This is the statute known as 2 Henry IV. c. 15, the first actual law in England against heresy.

[210] Ibid. p. 589.

[Sidenote: LORD COBHAM.]