himself take the key appointed for him alone, and thereby become divinely wise. The records of the Privy Council in 1437 disclose a transaction which may have been the result of mission work, but may also have been, instead of that, merely an instance of successful mendicancy. We have no criterion whereby to determine the real value of the instance. The entry in question is that of a petition to the council from Guillyaume Pieres, a "Sarasyn," who had been converted to the Christian faith, and had been baptized in the Church of St. Magnus, at the foot of London Bridge, [“jadys mescreant, ore est convers à loy Dieu, lui Roy omnipotent,"] setting forth that, from the desire of his heart towards the true God, he had forsaken his country and kindred, and had forfeited all his possessions; whereupon he prays for a contribution towards his support. He is granted by the crown two pence per day. * We are apt to become restless in the act of contemplating the long periods of time during which the cause of Christ appears to us to have been almost stationary. But, out of our sight, God is ever working, and, as in the case of the earth beneath, preparations are going on with all the unerring precision of physical law. There was, in truth, much heroism at this time being enacted in obscure places. The meek and lowly followers of our blessed Saviour were now quietly fulfilling His commands, and disappearing one by one. They were hopeful, though they could not unitedly express their * "Privy Council Proceedings," vol. v. joyful anticipations; they were content to wait, for so they interpreted their Lord's will concerning themselves. Very few names have escaped the historic oblivion by which they became quickly hidden from view. James Retby, a disciple of Wycliffe, promulgated his master's opinions in Scotland, where they spread in the diocese of Glasgow. The herald of salvation met with the common fate; he was persecuted and burnt for heresy. But he laid the foundation of an extensive and permanent spread of Lollardism throughout the western parts of that kingdom. As the living experiences of those who are enlightened from above, whereby they perceive the excellency and suitableness of the Gospel as a provision for their souls, display similar principles working in all varieties of cases, so the dying experiences of the sad victims of intolerance also show the identity of the convictions, hopes, and consolations of the sufferers. The fact of this identity, when there could be no common action, is worthy of note; as is also the tenacious faithfulness of men, many of whom were uneducated and poor. The humble daisy unfolds its petals at the dawn, and continues open though clouds obscure the sky all day: so these children of God, having once lifted their hearts in faith towards their heavenly Father, continued stedfastly regarding him, though the firmament of his providence was overclouded during all their pilgrimage. The pen of the English historian now occasionally begins to find materials for notice, besides the territoria wars of princes, and the squabbles of ecclesiastics. G “There was a third party in the country-the only one which, in a true high sense, was of importance at all, and for the sake of which, little as it appeared, the whole work was to be done,-composed at that time nearly of poor men-poor cobblers, weavers, carpenters, trade apprentices, and humble artisans,—men of low birth and low estate, who might have been seen at night stealing along the lanes and alleys of London, carrying with them some precious load of books, which it was death to possess, and giving their lives gladly, if it must be so, for brief tenure of so dear a treasure." * We obtain indirect proofs of the existence of this third party from the records of subsequent persecutions. Thus it is said of William Cowbridge, who was burnt at Oxford in 1538, that he was the son of the high bailiff of Colchester, a wealthy man of high repute, whose ancestors "even from Wycliffe's time had always been favourers of the Gospel." + The incurring of penalties by men claiming the right of private judgment in matters of religion, proves that we are not wholly governed by expediency; since the latter would always lead to an accordance with ruling power. There is therefore that within us, which, at the call of God and duty, can rise superior to the claims of self-interest. The circumstances have changed; truth has been publicly vindicated; the criminals of Lollardism were the ancestors in opinion of the legislators and judges of the present day; the judges of those days would rank with barbarians Foxe, vol. v., p. 18. * Froude's Hist., vol. i., p. 152. now. The tenets of the Lollards, touching the supremacy of the rights of conscience, are wholly triumphant in the place where once they were trodden under foot. The noble apologies once uttered amidst scoffs have now become axioms of legislative wisdom. "The common cry Will, as 'tis ever wont, affix the blame DANTE. So was it when the great Apostle of the Gentiles stood at the bar of Cæsar; so was it also, when his and our infinitely higher Master stood at the bar of Pilate. On each occasion God's cause in the world seemed to be on the point of becoming extinguished. Yet never was it so grandly triumphant. The times when it has apparently been brought nigh to a perpetual end, have been epochs in which its hidden Divine force has been culminating for future victory. CHAPTER VII. The Course of the Movement. DOUBTLESS, in those confused times, when the religious agitation had fairly begun, there were many persons, both in the ranks of the Romanists and of the Lollards, who were guided to the cross of Christ whilst seeking peace for their souls. Never has the great theatre of human action, since our Lord's advent, been totally free from the presence of His followers. The recognitions of heaven will comprise some strange surprises. The motley liveries of earth often separate brethren. Many who have anathematized each other, have nevertheless been together loving the Lord Jesus Christ, though after a strangely separate and incomplete method. The literature of evangelic Romanism does not do justice to its votaries; it is greatly defective in Spiritualism, inasmuch as the biographers have been for the most part ritualists, not sympathizing with the deepest feelings and highest aspirations of the soul realised through the influences of the Holy Spirit. Mysticism, the most attractive form of mediæval piety, never much prevailed in England. On the Continent it |