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he attacked the doctrine of transubstantiation, many of his most influential friends were alarmed and deserted him. When again brought before Convocation, he defended himself with great ability; but nothing could avail. He was condemned, and orders were issued that all his writings should be burned.

Wycliffe began to see that the only way to enlighten the people permanently, and thus free their consciences, was to give them the Bible in their own tongue, so that they might read and study it for themselves. Consequently, he undertook the work of translating it, and found many willing helpers. There were no printingpresses to multiply the copies, but many poor preachers were glad to transcribe the different portions as fast as they were translated. The people were eager for the treasures of truth thus brought within their reach. is said that a poor peasant would gladly give a load of hay for a few pages. Wycliffe's strength held out until he had completed this noble task. It is hard to realize that for a thousand years after Christianity was introduced into Britain, there was no Bible in the English tongue.

It

It is interesting to compare the following verses of the first chapter of Mark, taken from Wycliffe's translation, with the modern version of the same.

*

1. The bigynnynge of the gospel of Jhesu Crist, the sone of God.

2. As it is writun in Ysaie, the prophete, Lo! I send myn angel bifore thi face, that schal make thi weye redy before thee. 3. The voyce of oon cryinge in desert, Make ye redy the weye of the Lord, make ye his pathis rihtful.

*The orthography is very irregular, the same word being often spelled in two or more different ways on the same page.

4. Jhon was in desert baptisynge, and prechinge the baptym of penaunce, into remiscioun of synnes.

5. And alle men of Jerusalem wenten out to him, and al the cuntree of Judee; and weren baptisid of him in the flood of Jordan, knowlechinge her synnes.

6. And John was clothid with heeris of camelis, and a girdil of skyn abowte his leendis; and he eet locusts, and hony of the wode and prechide, seyinge:

7. A strengere than I schal come aftir me, of whom I knelinge am not worthi for to vndo, or vnbynde, the thwong of his schoon.

8. I have baptisid you in water; forsothe he shal baptise you in the Holy Goost.

9. And it is don in thoo dayes, Jhesus came fro Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptisid of Joon in Jordan.

10. And anoon he styinge vp of the water, sayth heuenes openyd, and the Holy Goost cummynge doun as a culuere, and dwellynge in hym.

II. And a voys is maad fro heuenes, thou art my scne loued, in thee I haue plesid.

12. And anon the Spirit puttide hym in to desert.

13. And he was in desert fourty dayes and fourty nightis, and was temptid of Sathanas, and was with beestis and angelis mynstriden to hym.

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30. Chaucer. The most polished and versatile writer of the fourteenth century was Geoffrey Chaucer. His language has been called a well of English undefiled; but most people of the present day find his writings hard to read. The chief difficulty, however, arises from the strange spelling. With no spelling-books or dictionaries, and no printing-presses, it is not surprising that the spelling was confused and uncertain. The same words were spelled in various ways by different writers, and often by the same writer.

Chaucer had a wide and varied experience in life. He was well acquainted with all the pomp and parade of courts, both in England and in other countries. He had rich and influential connections. He had been sent as ambassador by the king to distant lands, and even knew by experience the realities of camp life. He was for a time a member of Parliament, was in the king's council, and married one of the queen's maids of honor, thus becoming brother-in-law to John of Gaunt. Yet he was not without his reverses, and knew well the life of the common people. Indeed, judging from his writings, he was more interested in their customs and manners than he was in the ways of people in high life. He seems to have been a favorite everywhere, and in his writings knew equally well how to please. He had something to interest and amuse all classes of society, portraying life and character so naturally and so pleasantly as to charm nearly every reader. His poems were stories which in themselves were of very little account, but incidentally they gave a living picture of the people of his day, including all classes from highest to lowest. The actors pass before you as living realities. You hear them talk, you see them smile, you know just how they are dressed, you know their spirit and bearing as you do that of your friends with whom you daily associate.

His descriptions of nature are especially impressive. You not only see the objects he describes, but you believe at once in the sincerity of his love for them. You know it to be genuine, and besides, he makes you see as he sees, feel as he feels. He was, by far, the greatest genius of the age, and as a delineator of life and nature,

he scarcely has an equal.

There is a kindly feeling running through his writings, and they dispose the reader to feel kindly toward all.

But as he has something for all classes, so he has something for all tastes, the vulgar as well as the refined. While some passages have a delicacy that is exquisite, others are so coarse that we cannot but wish they had never been written. His writings did much for the literature of his day and for the enlightenment of the people of his time, but there are few who need them for present reading. That Chaucer was a genius, a scholar, and a pure-minded man, no one can deny; but in his productions are many things that are unprofitable, and some things that are offensive. Poets and antiquaries admire him, the one class, for his true, poetic genius; the other, for his quaint expressions. Of all his numerous writings the "Canterbury Tales" Canterbury Tales" are generally best appreciated and most extensively read.

31. Mandeville.- Sir John Mandeville said that he felt ashamed to lead a life of idleness as so many of the knights and nobles were doing, with scarcely a higher aim in life than to amuse themselves. He had a strong desire to benefit his country; and since most of his countrymen at that time knew so little about other parts of the world and the nations that inhabited them, he determined to travel. He visited many lands, mingling with the common people as well as with the rulers of the nations. He endured hardships, traveled on foot, studied the languages as well as the dress and manners of the people, heard their legends and their own account of themselves, returning at last, after an absence of thirty

four years. When he reached home, but few of his friends were alive, and no one knew him. There had been great changes since he set forth on his travels. His own country had become, like the others, a strange land. But he did not relinquish his original purpose. He wrote a voluminous account of all his travels and of what he had learned during his absence. He first wrote in Latin, then in French, then in English, so that all classes might read with ease and pleasure. The superstitious narratives that had been told him in different lands were readily believed by the English people, especially such marvels as pertained to the Holy Land. From his experiences he deduced many arguments to show that the world is spherical, and not flat, as had been supposed. Among other evidences, he brought forward the fact (now so well known) that, as he traveled southward, the north star disappeared from the heavens, and the southern cross arose above the horizon at the south; that when he traveled northward again, the southern cross sank from sight, and the north star was seen again in its usual place. This theory concerning the sphericity of the earth no one would believe. Then, as now, truth seemed stranger than fiction. Doubts have been cast on the genuineness of Mandeville's work. This need not disturb us: many are trying to make us believe that Shakespeare was not the author of his plays. In the words of the International Encyclopedia, "Several of his [Mandeville's] statements, once regarded as improbable, have since been verified;" and again, “His book is written in a very interesting manner, was long exceedingly popular, and was translated into many languages.

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