V. dered pleasing. From these, and some other less CHAP. prominent facts in the story of his life, it is but too certain that, however much the political creed of Wycliffe might commend itself to the mind of John of Gaunt, it was not the happiness of that distinguished nobleman to comply with the reformer's invariable maxims with respect either to morals or devotion. The rector of Lutterworth might oppose the secular ambition of the clergy with all the decision of Arnold of Bresia, or assail the idolatrous customs of the church with the severity of Vigilantius; but to inculcate the claims of the christian doctrine with the purity and earnestness of a primitive believer, was to proceed where a few only would follow. It is at the same time greatly to the honor of the duke of Lancaster, that, disapproving as he did of the tenets of Wycliffe in relation to the eucharist, and unprepared as he was to follow out the plans of improvement proposed in the writings of that reformer, he continued to be known as an admirer of his character, and as the friend of his followers, and of their general doctrine. He had listened to the herald of the approaching change, in the faith and customs of Europe, with delightful interest; and if there were things which he was in no way disposed to relinquish, though denounced as unlawful, it was never his to forget the excellencies which he knew to be connected with what he discountenanced as error or impiety. More than once, subsequent to the year 1382, his authority was successfully employed in behalf of the persecuted; to his death, indeed, no man's life was the forfeiture incurred by his creed, V. CHAP. and among his latest acts, was a defence in the english parliament of the vernacular scriptures, as a property which no priesthood should be allowed to wrest from the people." It should also be remarked, that, had the reformed opinions been more fully adopted by Lancaster; it is difficult to perceive how his authority could have been rendered equal to the task, of saving the men who had embraced them from the meditated vengeance of their enemies. Richard, by his extravagance and his favoritism, and by connecting himself with the animosities which had been so unhappily prevalent from the commencement of his reign, had rendered himself almost dependent on the clergy. By the queenmother, he may have been taught to think favourably of the character of Wycliffe; but alone he could never have withstood the enmity of the church, which would have been the certain consequence of his befriending the reformers. His uncle, of Lancaster, was the only statesman who could have afforded him any material aid in pursuing such a line of policy; and the malevolent rumours circulated with respect to him, had so far injured him both with the court and the people, as to render it improbable that even his influence would have been equal to such a crisis. The king possessed neither the consistency, nor the energy, which at such a moment could alone inspire confidence; while a boisterous temper, 7 Knighton, 2657. Lewis. c. v. All that may be said in favor of John of Gaunt has been elaborately adduced by his great admirer, Mr. Godwin. See the Life of Chaucer, ii. 219. 383–386. and elsewhere. which seemed to forbode the coming disasters of the whole state, was constantly disclosing itself, both among the governing and the governed. But over all these circumstances, there was one Mind presiding, to whose infinite discernment it appeared well, that there should be in the regeneration of Christendom, as in the system of nature, a seed time, and a wintry interval, before the appearance of spring, and the abundance of harvest. encou Nor was the duke of Lancaster the only dis- His efforts tinguished person in the fourteenth century, who raged by was known to be favorable to a reformation of other distinguished the anglican church. His brother, of Gloucester, persons. from the work dedicated to him, by the rector of Lutterworth, may be presumed to have been friendly to the zeal of the reformer, as directed against the evils which had been introduced into the ecclesiastical system, by the mendicants.8 In the number of his friends, we also find the widow of the Black Prince, the mother of the youthful Richard,-a female, whose intellectual character, and known solicitude for the tranquillity of the nation, seemed to authorize that interference with the disputes of the period which is not unfrequent in her history. It is This MS. is preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. Class c. Tab. 3. No. 12. It consists of about fifteen pages, and beside the part of it which presents a spirited summary of the debate, as it then stood, between the mendicants and their opponents, it treats considerably of theological opinions. The writer states among other things, that "God is so good that in each goodness he is before, and in each evil he cometh "after the effect." It should be added that the discussion is said to have taken place in the presence of the duke; and that Knighton speaks of more than one person bearing that title, as among the friends of Wycliffe, "" cum ducibus et comitibus." De Event. 2661. 66 V. CHAP. conjectured, that her husband, toward the close of life, had regarded Lancaster with an eye of suspicion. If so, the protection afforded to our reformer, while known to be under the peculiar patronage of John of Gaunt, is the more honorable to the mother of the sovereign, and to the object of her favor. The motives which led her to interpose, that no definite sentence might be passed on the opinions of Wycliffe, by the synod at Lambeth, are said to have induced an effort to create a regard for his character and doctrine in the mind of her son. But the feeble monarch began his career in too much dependence on the clergy; lending his name, and that in contempt of the constitution, to aid their measures of intolerance. Anne of His queen came to this country in 1382. She was daughter to the emperor, Charles the fourth, and sister to the king of Bohemia. By Wycliffe she is described as the sister of Cæsar, and as possessing the gospel written in three languages, Bohemian, German, and Latin; and the reformer enquires whether to "hereticate her on that "account, would not be luciferian folly." Her removal from this world, in which but little repose was allotted to her, took place in 1394, and Arundel, the primate, noticing her loss, observes, that "although she was a stranger, yet she constantly "studied the four gospels in english, and explained by the expositions of the doctors; and in the study of these, and reading of godly "books, she was more diligent than even the pre"lates themselves, though their office and busi 66 "ness require this of them." The queen's connexion with Germany, and especially with Bohemia, may in some measure, explain this attachment to the vernacular scriptures. In Germany, the authority of the pontiffs had always to contend with the rival pretensions of the emperors; and with the less partial hostilities of sectaries, whom no persecution could destroy. CHAP. V. of the re It was not until toward the close of the ninth Sketch century, that the Bohemians began to renounce ligious idolatry; and to adopt the language of the his- history of torians of their sufferings, when they "received "the first light of the gospel, the cross was "the concomitant of it, according to the will "of Christ, who, as he did establish the church by his own blood, so he sprinkled it with the "blood of martyrs that it may be fruitful. This "is the council of divine wisdom that we may 66 hope in Christ, and not for the things of this life; "therefore the gospel cost the Bohemians some "of their blood."12 The test of christian sincerity thus applied, arose in the first instance, from the resentment of such among them as still adhered to the ancient superstitions; and afterwards, from the obtrusive domination of the tiffs. Nearly a century had passed since the 11 Fox. Acts, &c. pon 12 The following is the title of the book from which the materials of the above sketch are selected. "The History of the Bohemian Perse"cution, from the beginning of their conversion to christianity in the 66 year 894 to the year 1632, Ferdinand the second, of Austria, reigning." The epistle "To the Godly Reader," is thus subscribed, "In our banish"ment in the year 1632, N. N. N. &c." The facts of the story related, were designed to improve an addition of the Acts and Monuments, and the Bohemian pastors state, that they were collected from their own writers, or supplied from observation. The work was printed in this country in 1650. |