The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-06-24

A SuLIlC lIOul M aKl0anRA q 0OMn
against tina victlms .bow. that tho s.ct had
undergone some change IN the course OF A
hundred vears Tia Iorords had hscome
more than ever wha, n was thar hos., m he.
10 wit. "simnls ma, " Thsir rol;cion xas n
religion of comror sarso ro,hor ,hon q, l.orn-
Ing. This chnnre resultsd from two csuses- -
their long senara,ion fran, IN. riohor and he,ter
educated classes and ,ho d.s,r,c,,on of wvc-
lGe's thcoIocical vri,,n,s hv IN. .ccissias,ical
and clvf, nn,bori,ias m. ,oI,.rds hod long
possessed a svs,em Of ,boolo,, IN tho works
of their foupdor I'm, .hosa n,orLs hod haa,
hunted ON, and hurnod. tho, Rod ro,nded
! schools. but ,,ose schoo,s bod hoo, broken
IN. Even IN s,,dv tho Dlh,o wo, ,hon , dam
rerous orencc ,l,bor,h ,ha,. hror,a ~, do,-
ger. persacution had foro,d ,har, ., h.ooua
an unlearned hodv "a. IVA moreover thar
the oninlons of ,bs GOO, had hooo,o ,,on tho
whole. mora violent, and harsh ,hon those Of
the early Vyclirnt.s Thu vas tho ;,oyjtahla
result of the nrolo,yad ds,,h .trurg,e with
the pitile.s orp,niza,iop NJ Co,ho,cism Many
If net most. of tho Inter Iol,,rds had nassed
beyond tho limited heresv Of Corsuhstantia-
| ton. which had so,lsn.d ,hs,- nredecessors
| and smoke with increasing scorn ana discnst
! of the rites which Than constituted re,,oiop
The strength Of revived IolIaydrv Ia dis-
| closed in the register ~ nersscrtInv RIshons
| which afford evidence Of various Lo,l,rd con-
rresations beteen i.ao and 10, each ma large
"a that which the Bishon of Norwich had broken
I'D In 1881: congregations that studied nj least
| one OF wycline's works and that could trace
| back their foundation To the bcuinnlnp or the
middle Of tho fifteenth century. In berkshire
| and Bucklnghamshire there had been such
societies in continuous existence for sixty or
seventy years. A preacher of that district
named Thomas Man, before going TO the stake
in 1918. told his Judge, that ne believed he had
converted 700 persons In the course Of his life.
Uxbridge and Henley had hereto conyrsQa-
tons In close communication with those OF
Norfolk and Suffolk several years before Luther
appeared on the stage. In 1921 a r~esolute at
tack was made on the Buckinghamshire and
Berkshire Lollards by the Bishop Of Lincoln, and
on those Of Essex and Middlessx by the Bishop
Of London. Accusations were heard against
hundreds Of persons: scores were forced to
recant, and at least six were burned. Even
at this advanced date, however. the English
Bible and one OF Wyclife's books we're the only
literature used by the accused. We hear not
a word OF German or Lutheran influence. which.
indeed. had not had time TO spread into the
little villages which the bishops attacked.
During tho reign Of Henry VII. there were
renewed prosecutions In such old Lollard CEN
tres as Bristol, Salisbury and Coventry, and
one or two persons were burnt In Norfolk and
Kent. We hear, however, Of no herosy outside
the old range of Lollard inf In London.
between 1900 and 1918, men were forced 20 re-
cant by the score, while four or five were burnt.
The capital had always contained wyclifites.
and the connection bet ween the London Prot
estants of this period and their predecessors
Of the fifteenth century Is confirmed. IL II need
ed confirmation. by the statements OF their
prosecutors. In 1914 Richard Hun. who soon
ufterward died In prison In the Lollurds' Tower
under suspicious circumstances VIVA accused
OF having In his keeping divers works prohib-
tied and damned by the law. ~ the Apooalypse
in English, the Epistles and Gospels in English.
and Wycllfe's dsmnable works." Another man
had divers times read tina said book osllsd
'WycliHe's Wicket which had bean introduced
to him many years before BY an old Lollard Who
WAS burnt at Salisbury In 1909. Still moro i'm
portant Is the opinion OF TunstaIl. Bishop Of
London. on the effect OF Lutheyanism in England
which he expresses In a private lettsr Ia Erss-
mus In the yeur lS2s. 1T "a no question. . hs
writes. "of soma pernicious novelty: Il Is only
that new arms are being added TO the xreat
bxnd Of wyolinite heretics." Erasmus. him
self, writing tho same year 10 Pope Adrian the
Sixth. TO urge on the new pontiH the remxrks-
BILE doctrine Of the uselessnsss OF persecution,
confesses that "once the party Of the wyciifates
was overcome by the power Of the Kings:
but. 1t was only overcome. and not extin-
gulshed." Mr.. Trevelysn thinks that the
Bishop OF London was right when he said that
Lutheranism was adding now arms TO the
Wyoliites. Although In the country distriots.
East Anglia, Burks and Bucks. the old Iollard
congregations we're in 1871 still untouched by
German influence, Lutheran books wsrs In that
very year introduced into Oxford, with the re-
suit that divers Of that university were In
feoted with tho heresies" Of the Germans. Al
though the new doctrines scarcely differed A
all in essentials from Lollardry thew sppesIeA
better to the politician and thu man ~ lea,nln.
The orthodox instantly took alarm. Mn.
Henry VIII. wrote his famous '.Dsfence ~ the
Faith" and Cardinal Wolsey In that anna vs.r
issued orders to seize all Lutheran boots.
Hero, then, ends the history of Lollardrv uronr
not because It Is extinguished but becsu.s n =
merged In another party. Thu sociati.s =,
poor mon who had met to road the ro.n., AVA
Wycllfs's .Wioket- nv night suddap,x erd-
inc Furoue conv,l.ed nv thsIr 49,. .,d..~.~.
their beliefs adopted nv the ,..rnsh a. 49,
noverful. surrrendsrsd thsmsaIy,. I.vn,nx.
the sreat nav movemsnt ror vh,,h ~
been waiting In the dark faithn,lIv ,nd Law
The Importance. hovsv.r =, on.rS.."n
not be estimated bv the numbev ~ 80 -