times. Of this translation, several MS. copies still exist in the libraries of our Universities, in the British Museum, and in other public and private collections. In St. John's College in Oxford is a MS. of the Old Testament, said to be of Wicliffe's own writing, which ends with the Second Book of Maccabees. I shall give a specimen from this, as before quoted by Lewis.

Exod. xx.

And ye1 spake all yese words. I am yes Lord God, yat* lad ye out of ye land of Egypt, fro ye house of servage. You shalt not have alien Gods before me. You shalt not make to ye, a graven image, neyir any likeness of ying" which is in heaven above, and which is in earth beneath, neither of yo yingis yt ben in waters under earth. You shalt not herie yoo, neyer you shalt worship.

Levit. xxvi.

Ye shulen " not make to you an idol, and a graven

image; neyer ghe1 shulen raise tytlis ; it is an tesis for idolatry; neyer ghe shulen set a noble stone in your land, that ye worship it.

Deutero. v.

You shalt not have alien Gods in my sight. You shalt not make to ye a graven image, neyer a likeness of all yinges yat ben in heaven above, and yat ben in earth beneath, and yat liven in waters under earth. You shalt not herie them, and thou shalt not worship hem.

To the several books of the New Testament, Wicliffe prefixed the prologues or prefaces of St. Hierome, as they are vulgarly called, with additions of his own. His New Testament was published in 1731, fol. by Lewis, with a history of the English translations of the Bible; from which work this account of them has been chiefly abstracted. A short specimen will suffice to give the reader an idea of the manner in which it is executed.

Rom. chap. viii. v. 28, 29, 30.

And we witen that to men that love God, all

1 ye.

2 standing images. 3 author, cause?

4 know.

thing is worken together into good, to them that af

2

ter purpose ben clepid1 saints. For thilke that he knew before, he before ordained by grace, to be made like to the image of his Son, that he be the first begotten, among many brethren. And thilke that he before ordained to bliss, them he cleped; and which he cleped, them he justified; and which he justified, them he glorified.

The most outrageous abuse was bestowed upon Wicliffe by the Catholic party, for thus enabling the multitude to draw at the fountain of their faith. Henry Knyghton, canon of Leicester, his cotemporary, thus speaks of his labours. "This Master John Wicliffe, transiated 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.”

This is a mild specimen of Catholic rage. The general alarm, however, among the clergy was so great, that in the 13th of Richard II. a bill was brought into the House of Lords for suppressing it; but was opposed in so firm a tone by the renowned duke of Lancaster, that it was thrown out.

Some of the followers of Wicliffe, encouraged by his success, undertook to review his translation, or rather to make another, which was less literal, but more comformable to the sense. Of this version also, various MS. copies exist in our public libraries.

In the age of Wicliffe, the orthodox divines commonly wrote in Latin. But the sentiments he was so zealous to promulgate, could not have been sufficiently diffused, if he had confined himself to a learned language; and to give his arguments their utmost influence by rendering them intelligible to the bulk of the people, he was compelled to write, as well as to speak, in the vernacular tongue. His quarrel with the pope, therefore, in addition to the more important consequences it involved, may be considered as highly auspicious to English

VOL. I.

literature for his influence with his cotempo traries, arising from his talents and pre-eminent learning, aided by the contagious nature of the sentiments he was ambitious to disseminate, greatly contributed to give diffusion to that fashion in the use of the English, which had already begun to. prevail, and which was subsequently established by the exertions of Chaucer and Gower. Another circumstance which tended to give currency to the national dialect, was that Edward III. regarding the Norman tongue as a badge of conquest, abolished it in the public acts and judicial proceedings, and substituted the language of his country.

Wicliffe surpassed all the learned men of his age in extent and variety of knowledge. Indeed, his great learning and general superiority were allowed even by his enemies. He was eminently skilled in all the logical subtleties of the schools, and as a disputant was unrivalled. He had a profound knowledge of the civil and canon law, as well as of our own municipal laws. But his studies were more particularly directed to theological learning; and he not only translated the scriptures into English, but wrote notes, expositions, and homilies, upon various parts of them. His character was marked by