Town of Seynt Albones, passed the See, in the Zeer of our Lord Jesu Crist MCCCXXII, in the Day of Seynt Michelle; and hidre to have been longe tyme over the See, and have seyn and gon thorghe manye dyverse Londes, and many Provynces and Kingdomes and Iles, and have passed thorghe Tartarye, Percye, Ermonye2 the litylle and the grete; thorghe Lybye, Caldee and a gret partie of Ethiope; thorghe Amazoyne, Inde the lasse and the more, a gret partie; and thorghe out many othere Iles, that ben abouten Inde; where dwellen many dyverse Folkes, and of dyverse Maneres and Lawes, and of dyverse Schappes3 of men. Of whiche Londes and Iles, I schalle speke more pleynly hereaftre. zou sum partie of thinges that there ben, whan time schalle ben, aftre it may best come to my mynde; and specyally for hem, that wylle and are in purpos for to visite the Holy Citee of Jerusalem, and the holy Places that are thereaboute. And I schalle telle the Weye, that thei schulle holden thidre. For I have often tymes passed and ryden1 the way, with gode Companye of many Lordes: God be thonked.

And I schalle devise

"And zee schulle' undirstonde, that I have put this Boke out of Latyn into Frensche, and translated it azen out of Frensche into Englyssche, that every Man of my Nacioun may undirstonde it. But Lordes and Knyghtes and othere noble and worthi Men, that conne' Latyn but litylle, and han ben bezonde the See, knowen and undirstonden, zif I erre in devisynge, for forzetynge, or elles; that thei mowe1o redresse it and amende it. For thinges passed out of longe tyme from a Mannes mynde or from his syght, turnen sone into forzetynge: Because that Mynde of Man ne may not ben comprehended ne witheholden, for the Freeltee of Mankynde."

8

THE LONG NAILS AND LITTLE FEET OF THE CHINESE.

"For the Noblesse of that Contree is to have longe Nayles, and to make hem growen alle weys to ben as longe as men may. And there been manye in that Contree, that han hire" Nayles so longe, that thei envyronne alle the Hond: and that is a gret Noblesse. And the Noblesse of the Women, is for to haven smale Feet and litille: and therfore anon as thei ben born, they leet12 bynde hire Feet so streyte, that thei may not growen half as nature wolde.”

THE GIRAFFE.

"In Arabye, thei ben clept Gerfauntz; that is a Best pomelee or spotted; that is but a litylle more highe, than is a Stede :' but he hathe the Necke a 20 Cubytes long: and his Croup and his Tayl is as of an Hert: and he may loken over a gret highe Hous."

992

THE SPHERICAL FORM OF THE EARTH.3

"In that Lond, ne in many othere bezonde that, no man may see the Sterre transmontane, that is clept the Sterre of the See, that is unmevable, and that is toward the Northe, that we clepen the Lode Sterre. But men seen another Sterre, the contrarie to him, that is toward the Southe, that is clept Antartyk. And right as the Schip men taken here Avys here, and governe hem be the Lode Sterre, right so don Schip men bezonde the parties, be the Sterre of the Southe, the whiche Sterre apperethe not to us. And this Sterre, that is toward the Northe, that wee clepen the Lode Sterre, ne apperethe not to hem. For whiche cause, men may wel perceyve, that the Lond and the See ben of rownde schapp and forme. For the partie of the Firmament schewethe in 09 Contree, that schewethe not in another Contree. And men may well preven be experience and sotyle10 compassement of Wytt, that zif a man fond passages be Schippes, that wolde go to serchen the World, men myghte go be Schippe alle aboute the World, and aboven and benethen. And zif I hadde had Companye and Schippynge, for to go more bezonde, I trowe" wel in certeyn, that wee scholde have seen alle the roundnesse of the Firmament alle aboute.

"But how it semethe to symple men unlerned, that men ne mowe12 not go undre the Erthe, and also that men scholde falle toward the Hevene, from undre! But that may not be, upon lesse, than wee mowe falle toward Hevene, fro the Erthe, where wee ben. For fro what partie of the Erthe, that men

1 Horse.

2 The houses of the east, but one story.

3 This, it seems to me, is a most curious and remarkable passage, for we must remember that it was written nearly one hundred and fifty years before the discovery of America. It proves, beyond a doubt, that Mandeville had a distinct idea of the rotundity of the earth, and probably of the New World, and that, if he had had the means, he would undoubtedly have anticipated by more than a century the brilliant discovery of Columbus.

4 Africa. 5 The pole star. 6 That is, the star to which the loadstone or magnet points. Called. 8 Advice. 9 One. 10 Subtle. 12 11 Think. May

not, that is, cannot. 13 Unless.

duelle,' outher aboven or benethen, it semethe alweys to hem that duellen, that thei gon more righte than ony other folk. And righte as it semethe to us, that thei ben undre us, righte so it semethe hem, that wee ben undre hem. For zif a man myghte falle fro the Erthe unto the Firmament; be grettere resoun, the Erthe and the See, that ben so grete and so hevy, scholde fallen to the Firmament: but that may not be."

JOHN WICLIF. 1324-1384.

JOHN WICLIF, the Morning Star of the Reformation, "that Englishman," (to use the words of Milton,) "honored of God to be the first Preacher of a general Reformation to all Europe,' was born in the little village of Wiclif, near Richmond, in the northern part of Yorkshire, about the year 1324. Where he received the rudiments of his education is not known, but at a suitable age he entered the University of Oxford, where he soon distinguished himself, not only in the scholastic philosophy of the times, in which he surpassed all his cotemporaries, but also in the study and interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures; so that he acquired the title of Evangelical or Gospel Doctor. In 1361 he was promoted to the headship of Canterbury Hall, and soon after, from witnessing the ecclesiastical corruptions which so extensively prevailed, he began to attack, without discrimination, both in his sermons and other pieces, not only the whole body of Monks, but also the encroachments and tyranny of the church of Rome.

He had now fairly entered into that arena which he was to quit only with his life. To enter, however, into the particulars of his eventful life-the continued and most bitter persecutions he ever experienced at the hands of ecclesiastical power-his fearless and manly defences of himself—the bulls issued against him by the Pope-his appearance before august convocations to answer for himself, touching the same-his providential escapes from the snares set for him by his enemies--to enter into these and the numerous other incidents of his most active life, would be quite impracticable in the limited space prescribed for these biographical sketches. The reader is therefore referred to the excellent works mentioned below.2

Milton, in his Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing, thus remarks: "Had it not been for the obstinate perverseness of our Prelates against the divine and admirable spirit of Wiclif, to suppress him as a schis

1 Dwell, live.

2 The Life and Opinions of John Wiclif, by Robert Vaughan, 8vo. The Life of Wiclif, by Professor Charles Webb Le Bas, London, 12mo. The Life of Wiclif, with an appendix and list of his works, 12mo., Edinburg, 1826. No author's name is given to this. Of these, I must prefer the work of Professor Le Bas. If none of these is accessible, there is the little work of Professor Pond, entitled "Wiclif and his Times," published by the American Sunday School Union.

matic or innovator, perhaps neither the Bohemian Husse and Jerome, no, nor the name of Luther or of Calvin had ever been known." And Milton is undoubtedly right. Far be it from us to say anything that would detract, in the least degree, from the great merits of the great German Reformer. The name of Luther is endeared to the whole Protestant world, and will ever be cherished as long as holy zeal, and moral courage, and untiring ardor in the best of causes, have an advocate on earth. But in some respects Wiclif claims precedence of Luther. We must ever bear in mind that he was one hundred years before him, and that he lived in a darker night of ignorance, and when the Papal power was in its fullest strength. Wiclif, too, stood almost alone; for though countenanced by the mother of the king, and by the powerful Duke of Lancaster, yet he met with no support that deserved to be compared with that retinue of powerful patronage which gave effect to the exertions of Luther. Allowing, however," (says Professor Le Bas,) "if we must, to Luther, the highest niche in this sacred department of the Temple of Renown, I know not who can be chosen to fill the next, if it shall be denied to Wiclif."

"In all stages of society, those unquestionably deserve the highest praise, who outstep the rest of their cotemporaries; who rise up in solitary majesty amidst a host of prejudices and errors, combating intrepidly on one side, though assailed and weakened on another. The merit consists in setting the example; in exhibiting a pattern after which others may work. It is easy to follow where there is one to lead; but to be the first to strike out into a new and untried way, in whatever state of society it may be found, marks a genius above the common order. Such men are entitled to everlasting gratitude." Burnet's English Prose Writers.

Wiclif died in the year 1384 of a stroke of the palsy, continuing to the very end of life to labor with increasing zeal in that holy cause, to which he had devoted himself in his earlier years. His inveterate enemies, the papal clergy, betrayed an indecent joy at his death, and the council of Constance, thirty years after, decreed that his remains should be disinterred and scattered. The order was obeyed, and what were supposed to be the ashes of Wiclif were cast into an adjoining brook, one of the branches of the Avon. "And thus," says old Fuller, the historian, "this brook did convey his ashes into the Avon; the Avon into the Severn; the Severn into the narrow sea; and this into the wide ocean. And so the ashes of Wiclif are the emblem of his doctrine. It is now dispersed all over the world."1

1 Wordsworth has thus beautifully expressed this thought.

Wiclif is disinhumed;

Yea-his dry bones to ashes are consumed,

And flung into the brook that travels near:

Forthwith, that ancient voice which streams can hear,
Thus speaks-(that voice which walks upon the wind,
Though seldom heard by busy human kind :)

'As thou these ashes, little brook, wilt bear
Into the Avon-Avon to the tide

Of Severn-Severn to the narrow seas

The number of the writings of Wiclif still extant, though very many were burnt both before and after his death by order of the Pope, is truly astonishing. Most of these now exist in manuscript, in the public libraries in England and Ireland, and some in the Imperial Library at Vienna. His great work was the translation of the Scriptures, and to him belongs the high honor of having given to the English nation the first translation of the entire Scriptures in their mother tongue, which he made, not from the original languages, the Hebrew and Greek, but from the Latin Vulgate. The following are his reasons for this great undertaking :'

WICLIF'S APOLOGY.

"Oh Lord God! sithin2 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, han3 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.

Into main ocean they-this deed accurst
An emblem yields to friends and enemies,
How the bold teacher's doctrine, sanctified

By truth, shall spread throughout the world dispersed.""

1 He received, of course, abuse without measure from the priests, for this noble labor, which he completed in 1380. The following is but a mild specimen of Papal rage. It is from one Henry Knyghton, a cotemporary priest.

"This master John Wiclif translated out of Latin into English, the Gospel which Christ had entrusted with the clergy and doctors of the church, that they might minister it to the laity and weaker sort, according to the exigency of times, and their several occasions. So that by this means the Gospel is made vulgar, and laid more open to the laity, and even to women who could read, than it used to be to the most learned of the clergy, and those of the best understanding. And so the Gospel jewel, or evangelical pearl, is thrown about and trodden under foot of swine."

2 Since. 8 Or because.

3 Or.

4 Bohemians. S Have. 6 Know, or tell.

Scholars.