In the time of Wicliffe, it was ordered in the university of Oxford, that priests and curates should not read the scriptures till they were of nine or ten years anding; and some papists went so far as to assert (probably from their hatred to Wicliffe,) "that the decrees of bishops in the church, are of greater authority, weight, and dignity, than is the authority of the scriptures." In reply to this, Wicliffe affirms, that

Christian men and women, old and young, shoulden study fast in the New Testament, and that no simple man of wit should be aferde unmeasurably to study in the text of holy writ; that pride and covetisse of clerks, is cause of their blindness and heresy, and priveth them fro very understanding of holy writ. That the New Testament is of full autority, and open to understanding of simple men, as to the points that ben most needful to salvation; that the text of holy writ ben word of everlasting life, and that he that keepeth meekness and charity, hath the true understanding and perfection of all holy writ; that it seemeth open heresy to say that the Gospel with his truth and freedom sufficeth not to salvation of christian men, without keeping of ceremonies and statutes of sinful men and uncunning, that ben made in the time of Satanas and of Anti-Christ; that inen

ought to desire only the truth and freedom of the holy Gospel, and to accept man's law and ordinances only in as much as they ben grounded in holy scripture, either good reason and common profit of Christian people. That if any man in earth, either angel of heaven teacheth us the contrary of holy writ, or any thing against reason and charity, we should flee from him in that, as fro the foul fiend of hell, and hold us stedfastly to life and death, to the truth and freedom of the holy Gospel of Jesus Christ; and take us meekly men's sayings and laws, only in as much as they accorden with holy writ and good consciences; no further, for life, neither for death.

Wicliffe seized all occasions of exposing the corruptions of the church of Rome, and the shameless vices of the clergy, both regular and secular; but no part of his conduct excited their rancour so much, as his undertaking to translate the scriptures into English. They affirmed, "It is heresy to speak of the holy scripture in English."

And so (says Wicliffe) they would condemn the Holy Ghost, that gave it in tongues to the apostles of Christ, as it is written, to speak the word of God in all languages that were ordained of God under hea ven, as it is written.

Again, he complains

Thilk' that have the key of conning, have y-locked the truth of thy teaching under many wards, and y-hid fro thy children.

He gives his reasons for this great undertaking, in the form of an apology.

Lord God! sithin at the beginning of faith, so many men translated into Latin, and to great profit of Latin men; let one simple creature of God translate into English, for profit of Englishmen. For, if worldly clerks look well their chronicles and books, they shoulden find, that Bede translated the Bible, and expounded much in Saxon, that was English, either common language of this land, in his time. And not only Bede, but king Alfred, that founded Oxenford, translated in his last days, the beginning of the Psalter into Saxon, and would more, if he had lived longer. Also Frenchmen, Bemers and Britons, han the bible and other books of devotion and exposition translated into their mother language. Why shoulden not Englishmen have the same in their mother language? I cannot wit. No, but for falseness and negligence of clerks, either for our people is not worthy to have so great grace and gift of God, in pain of their old sins.

As the several translations of the scriptures had very considerable influence on the early progress, as well as on the subsequent establishment, of our language, I shall perhaps be excused for introducing in this place, a brief account of those versions which existed prior to Wicliffe.-It is asserted by Fox, the martyrologist, in the preface to his Saxon copy of the four Gospels, published in 1571, from a MS. in the Bodleian library, that Bede not only translated the whole Bible into Saxon, but also, not long before his death, the Gospel of St. John into the English of his time; that Alfred translated both the Old and New Testament into his native language; that if histories were well examined, it would be found that before the conquest and after, as likewise before Wicliffe and since, the whole body of scripture was translated, by sundry persons, into English; and that Arundel, archbishop of York, and chancellor of England, at the funeral sermon of queen Anne, who died in 1994, affirmed that princess to have had the Gospels, in the vulgar tongue, with divers expositions upon the same, which she sent to him to be examined.

It may be proper to remark

upon this ab

stract, that the English language as spoken at present, did not begin to be formed till several centuries after the Anglo-Saxon version of Bede, who died in 734; and that the version of the Gospels last-mentioned, as in the possession of queen Anne, was probably that of Wicliffe, as he died ten years before that prin

cess.

و

There was, however, a metrical version of . the scriptures in French, mentioned by Warton, in his History of English Poetry, made about the year 1200; and one in prose, by Mace, in 1343; and another also in verse by Raoul de Presles, in the year 1380. From the intimate connection of the English and French, and from the circumstance of the French tongue being the language of the court, at this period, those versions were very possibly known to some of the higher ranks in England. But the lower orders were unable to read even in their vernacular language; and from the general ignorance which hence prevailed, the impudence and selfish policy of the monks, were busy in propagating the opinion, that it was unlawful for any but priests to read the scriptures. Yet, in spite of this terrific dogma, Richard Rolle, hermit of Hampole,