Stagirite. "The bitterest enemy of his name [Knighton] has described him as second to none in philosophy, and in scholastic discipline altogether incomparable."" In addition to these accomplishments, Wickliffe devoted himself to the study of the civil and canon, or ecclesiastical law; and made himself acquainted with "the municipal laws and customs of his own country.' His varied, and extensive, and accurate knowledge, enabled him to stand " without a rival in the public disputations, which were then in high repute;" and procured for him the highest reputation in the university, and in the kingdom generally. This reputation for logical acuteness and scholastic learning gave his peculiar theological opinions great influence. These were formed chiefly by a diligent study of the sacred Scriptures. In the knowledge of these Wickliffe excelled all his contemporaries, and earned from them the enviable title of The Evangelical Doctor, or Gospel Doctor. But in his devotion to the inspired volume, he did not neglect the fathers of the church: Augustine, Jerome, Basil, and Gregory appear to have been his favorite authors among the primitive writers; and Grosseteste and Fitzralph among the moderns.

It is impossible for us, in this age of scriptural intelligence, duly to estimate the strength of mind, the depth of principle, and the intrepidity of the man, who, in the fourteenth century, could break away from Duns Scotus, Peter Lombard, Aristotle, and "Mother Church," and form his theological opinions from the word of God, aided by the lights of the fourth century. A writer of the twelfth cen

* Le Bas' Life of Wiclif, p. 102.

+ Milner, Cent. XIV. Chap. 3.

His biographer does not tell us which of the Gregories, but probably the bishop of Nyssa, in Cappadocia.-See Mosheim, Cent. IV. P. II. Chap. 2.

tury, quoted by Prof. Le Bas, tells us, that in his day-and it was not materially otherwise in Wickliffe's—those teachers who appealed to the Scriptures for authority were "not only rejected as philosophers, but unwillingly endured as clergymen-nay, were scarcely acknowledged to be men. They became objects of derision, and were termed the bullocks of Abraham, or the asses of Balaam.”

In defiance of all this contempt, John Wickliffe became a diligent student of the Bible, and a constant expounder of its sacred contents. "Some three hundred of his manuscript homilies [or expository discourses] are still preserved in the British Museum, and in the libraries of Cambridge and Dublin, and in other collections."*

This intimate acquaintance with the truth of God opened the eyes of the faithful student, to the falsehoods of men. He began to see the inconsistencies, and absurdities, and iniquities of those who were the spiritual guides of the people. And what he saw, he dared to speak; and what he spake, was not in doubtful terms. The first publication from his vigorous pen, was in 1356, when he was about twenty-five years old. The nation at that time had been suffering for several years under a grievous plague: probably more than one hundred thousand of his countrymen had fallen before the destroyer: "men's hearts were failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which [had come] on the earth." The devout, and perhaps somewhat excited mind of Wickliffe regarded this awful pestilence as the servant of an angry God, sent forth to chastise the nation for its sins, and to announce the commencement of" the last age," and the speedy approach of the end of the world. Under these impressions he published a title-" De ultima Ætate Ecclesiae,”–

tract bearing the

* Le Bas.

Concerning the Last Age of the Church. In this work he boldly inveighs against the worldliness, the rapacity, the sensuality, the simony, and the utter degeneracy of the clergy; and denounces them, as blind guides, who, instead of leading the people by precept and example into the ways of truth and holiness, had plunged with them into the abyss of sin and crime. Thus the Reformer fairly launched forth among the stormy elements whose buffetings he was destined long to endure.

About four years after this publication Wickliffe was found in the front rank of opposition to the Mendicants.* Allusion has already been made to the introduction of these pretended poverty-loving beggars. Under pretence of zeal for "Holy Church," they had spread themselves thickly over the kingdom; and had engrossed nearly all of the clerical duties of the nation. Travelling continually as they did, and numerous as they were, they gained access to all classes of society in every section of the country. They were the companions and confessors of the rich, and the preachers and directors of the poor. Ever ready to confess all that come to them, and ignorant, as they necessarily were, of the character of those who applied for absolution, these Mendicants virtually encouraged every species

*The title of "Mendicants" is given to the numerous orders in the Romish church, who, under pretence of renouncing the world and all earthly acquisitions, were licensed by the pope to roam over the world and make proselytes to anti-christ, and subsist upon the gifts of the people, without having, like the regular clergy, any fixed revenues for their support. Previous to the time of Wickliffe these beggars had become so numerous and audacious, that the church herself could not endure them all. Gregory the Xth, therefore, suppressed, in 1272, all but the Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites and Augustinės. The friars who infested England were principally Dominicans and Franciscans.

"Let

of iniquity. The wicked would say to each other: us follow our own pleasure. Some one of the preaching brothers will soon travel this way;-one whom we never saw before, and never shall see again; so that, when we have had our will, we can confess without trouble or an

Not content with this absorption of the duties of the regular clergy, and this encouragement of crime, these voracious animals laid hold of every civil office within their reach. They even entered the court"in the character of counsellors, and chamberlains, and treasurers, and negotiators of marriage."+ By their numerous arts and efforts; by lying, and begging, and confessing; by frightening the ignorant, and flattering the rich-" within the four and twenty years of their establishment in England, these friars [had] piled up their mansions to a royal altitude.”+

A man of Wickliffe's character could not contemplate these movements without indignation. But that which brought him more immediately into conflict with these "Black Friars," was their encroachments on the University of Oxford. The first monastery of the Dominicans was erected near this ancient seat of learning, and enjoyed the countenance and encouragement of its professors. It * Matthew Paris, quoted by Le Bas, p. 114.

† Matth Paris in Le Bas, p. 113.-Matthew Paris was one of the best English historians, from William the Conqueror to the latter end of the reign of Henry III. ** He was a man of extraordinary knowledge for the thirteenth century; and of an excellent moral character; and, as an historian, of strict integrity."— London Encyclopaedia.

This appellation they bore from the circumstance that their dress was black. When they first settled in London, a tract of land was given them by the city, which lies along the Thames, and still bears the name of Black friars.

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was not long, however, before the university had reason to deplore the influence of the friars. Their acquaintance with all classes in society, in all parts of the kingdom; their pretensions to piety; their influence and wealth; enabled them to draw away from the university, to their monasteries, vast numbers of young men. Many parents, unwilling to have their sons enter on a life of mendicancy, were more willing," as Fitzralph tells us, to make them 'erthe tilyers' [earth tillers], and have them, than to send them to the universitie, and lose them." The operation of these causes, in a few years reduced the number of students in Oxford, from thirty thousand to six thousand. It was not to be expected that the university would tamely submit to such encroachments upon its prerogatives. Aided by the bishops and the regular clergy, her professors had for some time been at war with the mendicant army, when, in 1360, Wickliffe entered the lists. His earnest, bold, and effective opposition to these depredators, secured the gratitude of the learned, and the esteem of the community. His learning, and talents, and fearless advocacy of the rights of the university were soon after rewarded by an appointment to the wardenship, or presidency of Baliol college; and in 1365, to that of Canterbury Hall. From this last station he was removed, under circumstances of great injustice, by archbishop Langham, a protege of the pope. From this unrighteous act, Wickliffe appealed to his holiness; who, after a delay of three or four years, confirmed the doings of the primate. Such a decision might have been anticipated by any one who witnessed the Reformer's course, during the pendency of his cause at Rome. For," regardless of consequences," he had "continued his attacks on the insatiable ambition, tyranny, and avarice of the ruling ecclesiastics; as also, on the idleness, debauchery, and hy