The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-11-30
John Wyeline.

beyond tho Rio Grnnde. M.W. II.
John wyeline.
The five hundrcdth anniversary of Wye
lifres death naturally received much less atten-
ton than tho four hundredth anniversary OF
Luther's BIRTH and. but for the proximity OF
dates. might not have boon commemorated at
all. As 1t ia. an effective effort was made In
England and in this country to recall the sup
posed precursor OF the Anglican schism. II not
Of the whole Protestant Reformation. to the
community at large by presenting In n concise
and popular form tho discoveries and conclu-
sions Of Wyclffo's most exhaustive and au.
thortativo biographcr. who. tho reader will
hear without SURPRISE is a German. Prof.
Lechler OF Lelpsic. 1t is not. however. a mere
summary Of Lechler's capacious work which
Mr.. JOHN LAIRD WILSON offers us in his Mono
graph John Hvc'iGe Funk 4 Wagnnlls,. for he
has sometimes had occasion to dissent from
its opinions. and hos worked into his narrative
n good deal Of illustrative material from other
sources.
The reader will OF course. recognize that tho
production OF q memoir OF Wycliffe at this time
implies that tho subject will be treated from a
Protestant point OF view. But tho author Is
quito free from controversial rancor. and how
ever distasteful may be some OF his assertions
regarding the condition Of Catholicism in the
fourteenth century. they may. undoubtedly. be
raralleled in tho writings Of orthodox Catho-
lies who were contemporary with Wycliffe. The
truth is that tho Church OF Rome. since in the
second half of tho sixteenth century 1t vigor-
ously entcred on tho task OF self-reform. Is not
in tho least called upon to defend the ecclesi-
sstical abuses OF Wyclifre's time. aggravated It's
they wore by the Papal schism which split
Christendom for nifty years. But 1t is a leGiti-
mate subject Of discussion between Catholics
and Professionals whether Wycliffo. had no
lived two hundred years later. would
have played tho Part OF Luther or
that OF Erasmus would have. in other words.
insisted upon shattering the Church or been
content to purify it. This question. which has
only a speculative interest. must be settled by
his attitude under ecclesiastical correction.
and by relevant passages from his writings.
We can SEQ in him no mark OF Luthers indom-
liable spirit. After he was shut out from Ok
ford he mndo no attempt to preach the con.
demned doctrines to an audience wider than
could 10 supplied by the parish church OF Lu.-
terworth. Wo do not mean that he recanted
my Of his opinions. or that he was not prolific
in letters and pamphlets during tho last two
yenrs OF his lifo. but these could havo had but
little circulation or influence. seeing that the
slender force OF copyists at his command was
absorbed in multiplying copies OF his English
version Of tho Bible.
As to his theological tencts and their relation
to Protestant formulas. much stress has at
times been laid on his rejection OF the doctrine
transubstan tintion. which. since the beginning
Of the thirteenth century. has formed an article
Of the Catholic creed. Tho fact H. however.
that Wycilre's view OF tho Eucharist is
neither Lutheransm nor Calvinism nor Ewing
llanism. but approximates to the doctrine
which has. on the whole. been dominant in the
Anglican communion. MIR. Wilson seems un-
willing to admit that WyclifIe had no FORE
CLEAN OF The capital Lutheran tenet justiflca-
ton by faith. but he fails TO produce single en-
cerpt from Wycllfre's tracts or sermons to justi-
~ the assumption OF inclination to this doctrine.
On the other hand. the opinions OF Wycliffc in
regard to saint worship. monastic VOWS. con-
fession. dissolution. and indu!Rences. are set
forth at some length. but. though thoy are UNI
doubtehly expressed In a rude and trenchant
way. they are not ut bottom inconsistent with
tho ground occasionally taken by orthodox
Catholics in relation to those matters. 1t is
neither. in fine. by his theology nor by any in
foxiblo defiance OF Papal authority on his part
that Wyclifre's relation to the Protestant revolt
OF the sixteenth century can DO distinctly de-
fined. The link is rather to be found in his
translation and propagation Of an English ver-
sion OF the whole Bible which inevitably carried
with it-athough Wyclifre did not foresee this
for he dwcl!s on the importance Of the peoples
forming ORTHODOX opinions-the assertion OF the
right OF individual judgment. Wyciffe's share
in this work. moreover. was by no means con-
fined to the conception. The translation OF the
Now Testament seems to have como mainly
from his hands. and he completed his friend
Hereford's version OF the Old Testament
which had been broken Off in the Apocrypha
Under his eye. also. was performed the revision
OF the book, which. however. was not finished
till four years after his death.
What was really original and revolutionary In
this enterprise OF WyclifIe's was not the repro
duction Of the Bible In the vernaculni. but tho
resolve to 80 propagate copies and parts Of
copies as to make 1t really accessible to the
people. Parts OF the Scriptures though not ap-
parently the whole OF them had boon repeated
ly translated into one English dialect or an
other from the time OF Bede and King Alfred to
the period OF Wyciffs's BIRTH But these YER
sions wcro made for tho convenience OF princes
or scholars. and no measures were taken to
bring them within reach OF the masses OF the
nation. How different was the pur-
pose contemplated and attained In this
case may be scon from tho fact that
seven years after Wyclifro's death a bill was
brought into Parliament to forbid the clrcula-
tion OF tho English Scriptures. which was
blocked for tho tine. however. by John Of
Gaunt. But after prohibition OF the Wyclifrs
Bible was embodied In the Arundel Constitu-
tons OF 1908 men ran tho risk OF Imprisonment
and even death by owning It. Nevertheless.
most OF tho 40 manuscript copies OF tho whole
version known to bs In existence appear to
have been written after the Transcription or
possession OF II had become SO dangerous.
tpin 4, Va. VI
lilfe's relation to tho agrarian insurrection
associated with the names OF Wat Tyler and
John Ball from that TO which Mr.. J. 4. T..
Rogers adherss In tho remarkable survey OF
fourteenth century history In his Work
and Wages." According 70 our author. The