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

combat may be but lightly esteemed to-day.
Yet those who believe that liberty of thought
has proved not a curse but a blessing 10 Eng
land and to the peoples that have sprung from
her will regard with thankfulness and prlIs
the work which the speculation. Of wycliNs
set on foot and the valor Of his devoted suo-
cessors accomplished
VI.
The relation Of wyclinfsm n the German
Reformation Is q question that lies outside Of
our authors inquiry, vet he has touched upon
II In a supplemental note, The author recog-
nizes that to leave this influence unconsidered
Is an omission even from the viewpoint oi
English history. For three things are GER
tain, first that Wyolif g doctrines were adonted
by the Hussites; secondly, that the Ilussites
TO a greater or less extent affected Lutheran-
ism: and. thirdly, that Lutheranism reacted
upon England. In a Bohemian psalter ~
1872 appears a symbolioal picture representing
Wycliffe striking tho spark. Huss kindllng the
Goals and Luther brandishing the lighted torch.
Our author thinks that IN some extent tbs
picture represents the truth; certainly, II Is
scarcely too much to say that the works Of
Huss were but repetitions or paraphrases n
Wyclire's writings. The degree 10 which tho
HUSTLE movement hastened or affected the
German Reformation is a question which may
be left to the Germans themsel yes.
Besides England and Bohemia, however.
Lollardry found q precarious home In a country
which In institutions and society differed at
that time from England almost as much as from
Bohemia, although in the race and character
Of the inhabitants the kinship with the Eng
lsh was very close. As far back as i4n an
English Wyclinfte named John Reeeby, fly
ing from persecutors In his own land, took
refuge in Scotland. probably tho first Prcsby.
| terian to set foot upon Scottish soil. Whether
his eyes were ravished with visions Of future
Kirk assemblies, Mr.. Trevelyan would leave
II TO poets 10 say; there Is no doubt that the Pope
| had the better OF II for the time, because the
Scotch Bishops burned the intruder atthe stake.
| Either Reseby. however. or other English fuRi-
| tives brought over the border wycliffte writ
| ing. which were read and treasured by Scotch
| Lollards In great fear and secrecy during the
| early years Of the fifteenth century. In i4?s
| the sect was largo enough 10 attract the atten-
| ton Of the Scotch Parliament, which directed
| the Bishops to suppress II; and IN 1881 q Bo-
| hemian, who denied Transubstantiation and
administered the sacramento In both kinds TO his
| congregation after the fashion Of his Hussits
feliow-countrymen, was burned ut st. Andrews.
| After that we hear no moro Of Scotch heretics
for soms time. They seem. however. to
have kept the candle alieht. though under .
bushei, for three generations later We come
upon their SUCCESSORS, known In history as -ths
Lollards OF Kyle Their homo Was Ayrshire.
and they numbered In their CONGREGATION SOW
sral lords and ladies ~ good family. In i4ss
the Archbishop OF Glasgow condemned thirty
Of them In his spiritual court on articles which
prove hem to have been genuine Lollards; but
he could not induce the secular arm TO bring any
Of them TO the stake. On the whole. although
the lasting effect Of Wyclinfsm In England 10
beyond q doubt, II would be harder to show that
the Scotch Lollards took any great part In pre-
parinG their country for the later conquest BY
Calvinism.
What was the proportion that the wealth ~
the Church bore to the wealth OF the kingdom
In the fifteenth century? Mr.. Trevelyan hns
n note on the subject In his appendix. Ths
data for calculation are defective and rrao-
tically are reduced 70 two, namely. a computa-
ton Of Church wealth in 1901 and a computa-
tion Of Church wealth at the time Of the Ref
ormation. The pnges Of the Ecclesiastical Tnr-
alton NJ 1921. printed II In 1890, have been summed
up by Bishop Stubs. the result for the data
mentioned being n revenue Of R,iO, ga; n similar
calculation made by Canon Dickson for tbs
same period gives f2is. 500 a. the yearly income.
Now the Valor Ecciesidsdcus and Speeds
calculation from II give the result Of fs?o,?So
as the yearly income Of the Church Mt the Tins
Of the Reformation. In Mr.. Trevelyan's opin-
ion, we may safely suppose TINT the ecclosi-
astical income In the reign ~ Richard II Inv
somewhere between these two sums. say no
about e27o. 900. We are at the same Tins
cautioned TO remember that the latter fgurs
Il Exclusive OF several very large sources ~
wealth enjoyed by the clergy, What wers
these ~sources' They were. frst, incomes enc
joyed for secular e~mployments ny rrelates in
ofioe under the King. and by clerks engaged
by business men; secondly, the money coll-c'ad
from the lalty by way Of aims. or by sale Of IN
dulgences and In all exceptional ways: thirdly.
the large fines, fees and blackmail collected by
the spiritual courts, The aggregate outcoms
Of the three items here named is impossible 10
compute. and consequently II Ia iuposs:,ls
10 estimate the annual income Of the Church In
England during the fourteenth or fifteenth GEM
turtles with any approximations correctness.
Even II we could It would be Of little use. for
II Is quite impracticnble to calculate the incoms
Of the laity and Of the kingdom as a who's IN
either Of those epochs. and therefor- .- --S-
portion that Church wealth bore 10 the whols
cannot be nxed. When economic historians ars
uncertain as to whether the population Of Eng
land at the time when tho Church assessment of
1901 was taken was one and a half or three mill
lions. how IL II possible 70 estimate the ma
tional wealth. about which We know even less'
What we know with certainty isthat the clerical
tenth. paid on the basis Of the calculation Of
1901, was In the fourteenth century. f2o,oco.
the tenth paid by the laity on their property
being f3o,ooo. This would seem 20 indicnts
that the Church Possessed tvc-afths Of the
realty and personal property In England. Mr..
Treyelyan, for his part, would no, any that
this represents the real proportion Of clerical
70 lay wealth. There Is no doubt that the COM
mons declared that tho Church possessed more
than a third OF the wealth OF the land, but the
data on which thia aatiuata wss hs .od ara naA