Walter Brute then proceeds to the matter of the sacra

ments.

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He says,

Touching the matter of the sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, divers men have divers opinions, as the learned know. As concerning my judgment upon the same, I firmly believe whatsoever the Lord Jesus taught implicitly or expressly to his disciples, and faithful people, to be believed. For he is, as I believe and know, the true Bread of God which descended from heaven, and giveth life to the world. Of which Bread whosoever eateth, shall live for ever; as it is in the sixth of John declared. Before the coming of Christ in the flesh, although men did live in body, yet in spirit they did not live; because all men were then under sin, whose souls thereby were dead. From the which death, no man by the law, nor with the law was justified. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified, Gal. ii. And again in the same epistle, chap. iii. that by the law no man is justified before God it is manifest. For the just man shall live by his faith; the law is not of faith; but whosoever hath the works thereof, shall live in them. And again, in the same chapter, If the law had been given, which might have justified, then our righteousness had come by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise might be sure by the faith of Jesus Christ to all believers. Moreover, before that faith came, they were kept and concluded all under the law, until the coming of that faith which was to be revealed. For the law was our schoolmaster in Christ Jesus, that we should be justified by faith. Also the said Paul, Rom. v. saith, That the law entered in the mean time, whereby that sin might more abound. Where then sin hath more abounded, there hath also grace superabounded; that like as sin hath reigned unto death, so that grace might also reign by righteousness unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Whereby it is manifest, that by the faith which we have in Christ, believing him to be the true Son of God who came down from heaven to redeem us from sin, we are justified from sin; and so do live by him who is the true bread and meat of our souls. And the bread which Christ gave is his flesh, given for the life of the world, John vi. For he, being God, came down from heaven, and being truly carnal man,* did suffer in the flesh for our sins,

* Really having man's nature.

which in his divinity he could not suffer. Wherefore, like as we believe by our faith that he is true God; so must we also believe that he is a true man. And then do we eat the bread of heaven, and the flesh of Christ. And if we believe that he did voluntarily shed his blood for our redemption, then do we drink his blood. And thus, except we eat the flesh of the Son of man, and shall drink his blood, we have not eternal life in us; because the flesh of Christ verily is meat, and his blood is drink indeed; and whosoever eateth the flesh of Christ and drinketh his blood, abideth in Christ, and Christ in him, John, chap. vi."

The subject of the sacrament of the altar has been so fully treated by Wickliff and other reformers, that there is no occasion to give the arguments of Walter Brute upon this head. It is sufficient to say that he exposes many of the errors and superstitions of the church of Rome : among them he censures priests who bargain to sing mass for souls departed, thus he boldly attacked a main pillar of popery. Selling of prayer he notes as abominable, and says, "Many are deceived in buying or selling of prayers, as in the buying of pardons that they might be delivered from pain, when commonly they pay dearer for the prayers of proud and vicious prelates, than for those of devout women and devout men of the lay people."

Brute proceeds to expose the covetousness of the monastic orders, and writes with great boldness against the spiritual traffic of the church of Rome. He appears to have anticipated the downfal of the monastic establishments on account of their abuses, so that “taking away of temporalities from the clergy shall come to pass for the multitude of their sins." He concludes his long and able declarations in the following words :—

"Thus, reverend father, have I made mine answer to the matter whereof I am accused; beseeching you that as I have been obedient to your desire, and that even as a son, declaring unto you the secrets of my heart in plain words, although rudely, so I desire to know your opinion. And I crave your fatherly benevolence, that now your labour may be for my instruction and amendment, and not to accusation and condemnation. For like as in the beginning I have promised you, that if any man, of what state, sect, or condition soever he be, can show me any error in any of my writings, by the authority of holy scripture, or by any probable reason

grounded on the scriptures; I will receive his information willingly and humbly."

Fox proceeds, "After all the aforesaid things were exhibited and given by Walter Brute unto the bishop of Hereford, he appointed the third day of the month of October, at Hereford, with the continuance of the days following, to hear his opinion. Which day, being Friday, 1393, Walter Brute appeared before him, sitting in commission in the cathedral church of Hereford, at six o'clock; having for his assistants, divers prelates and abbots, and twenty bachelors of divinity, whereof twelve were monks, and two doctors of the law. Amongst these was Nicholas Hereford,' formerly a follower of Wickliff, accompanied with many other prelates and worshipful men, and wise graduates in sundry faculties. Now was Walter apposed* of his writings aforesaid, and the contents therein. Earnest were they in picking out of those writings, his heresies, and in showing his schisms, sundry errors, and divers other things. After that they had continued all that day and the two days following, that is, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, in their informations and examinations, Walter Brute submitted himself to the determination of the church, and to the correction of the bishop, as it appears in a scroll written in the English tongue; the tenour of which is as follows:-'I Walter Brute submit myself principally to the evangely of Jesus Christ, and to the determination of holy church, and to the general councils of holy church. And to the sentence and determination of the four doctors of holy writ, that is, Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, and Gregory. And I meekly submit me to your correction, as a subject ought to his bishop.' Which scroll in the English tongue, Walter Brute read with a loud and intelligible voice, at the cross in the churchyard on Monday, the sixth of the said month of October, before the sermon made unto the people in presence of the bishop of Hereford and others above written, also other barons, knights, and noblemen, and clergy, and a great multitude of people. After which reading of the scroll, Thomas Crawlay, bachelor of divinity, made a sermon unto the people, and took for his theme the words of the apostle to the Romans, in the eleventh chapter: Be not over wise in your own conceits, but stand in fear,' &c.

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"Out of these declarations and writings of Walter Brute, * Questioned

the bishop with the monks and doctors gathered and drew certain articles, to the number of thirty-seven, which they sent to the university of Cambridge to be confuted, unto two learned men, master Colwill, and master Newton, bachelors of divinity. Who both laboured in the matter, to the uttermost of their cunning, in replying and answering to the said thirty-seven articles.

"Besides them also, William Woodford, a friar, who wrote likewise against the articles of Wickliff, labouring in the same cause, made a solemn and a long tractation, against the articles of the said Brute.

"What after this became to this Walter Brute, or what end he had, I find it not registered; but like it is, that he for this time escaped. Other writings I find, which albeit they bear no name of this Walter, nor of any certain author, yet because they are in the same register adjoined to the history of him, I thought fit to be inserted. Of which one was a letter sent to Nicholas Hereford a little above specified; who being at the first a great follower of John Wickliff, was now in the number of them which sat upon this Walter, as is above recorded."

This letter is given by Fox, but need not be here inserted, nor another which follows, written under the name and character of Lucifer, prince of darkness, addressed to the persecuting prelates of the popish clergy, in which their wicked conduct is strongly depictured, and they are highly praised for their malpractices, and urged to go forward with increased energy in wresting the scriptures and persecuting the Lollards!* The followers of Wickliff were not yet openly put to death, but the latter part of this advice gives us information of the conduct of the popish prelates of that day. “If any man preach or teach otherwise than ye will, oppress them violently with the sentence of excommunication, and by your censures heaped one upon another, by the consent of your brethren. Let him be kept in a most strait prison, and there tormented till he die, for a terrible example to all such as confess Christ."

Several such letters are found among the writings of that day; it is worth noticing that they probably suggested to John Bunyan the idea of the epistles from Diabolus and his princes to their adherents in Mansoul, which are inserted in his inimitable treatise, the Holy War.

THE

EXAMINATIONS

OF

THE CONSTANT SERVANT OF GOD,

WILLIAM THORPE,

BEFORE ARCHBISHOP ARUNDEL.

Written by himself, A.D. 1407, and originally printed by William Tindal.

NEXT comes to our hands the worthy history of master William Thorpe, a valiant warrior, under the triumphant banner of Christ, with the process of his examinations before Thomas Arundel, arch bishop of Canterbury, written by the said Thorpe, and storied by his own pen, at the request of his friends, as by his own words in the process hereof may appear. In whose examination, which seems first to begin, anno 1407, good reader, thou shalt have both to learn and to marvel. To learn, in that thou shalt hear truth discoursed and discussed, with the contrary reasons of the adversary dissolved. To marvel, for that thou shalt behold in this man, the marvellous force and strength of the Lord's might, Spirit, and grace, working and fighting in his soldiers, and also speaking in their mouths, according to the word of his promise, Luke xxi.

To the text of the story we have neither added nor diminished; but as we have received it copied out, and corrected by master William Tindal, who had it in Thorpe's own hand-writing, so we have here sent it, and set it out abroad. Although for the more credit of the matter, I rather wished it in his own natural speech, wherein it was first written. Notwithstanding, to put away all doubt and scruple herein, this I thought before to premonish and testify to the reader, touching the certainty hereof, that they are yet alive who have seen the selfsame copy in his own old English, resembling the true antiquity both of the speech, and of the time. The name of whom, as for record of the same to avouch, is M. Whitehead; who as he hath seen the true ancient copy in the hands of George Constantine, so hath he given credible relation of the same, both to the printer, and to me. What the causes were why this good man and servant of Christ, William Thorpe, did write it, and pen it out himself, is sufficiently declared in his own preface, set before his book, which here is prefixed in manner as follows.-Fox, Acts and Monuments.

This tract was condemned and prohibited by the Romish clergy, in the reign of Henry VIII., and frequent mention is made of persons who were censured for reading it. Constantine assisted Tindal in his translation of the new testament. Whitehead was one of the persons recommended by Cranmer for archbishop of Armagh. He was an exile in the reign of queen Mary. During the early part of the reign of Elizabeth, he was highly respected, and employed in several public matters respecting the reformation, but was afterwards sequestered for nonconformity.