III. waking, and officying, and of sitis or of placing, and of CHAP. bilding, and of othere suche manie the mo of the peple schulde be provokid and stirid therby into religioun: that aftir that ený man hath professid eny of tho religiouns, and is receyved into it, if it can be openli provid and schewid, that he is bounden bi comaundement of Goddis lawe for to do eny certein deede out of thilk religioun for eny certein while, or for al his lyvys tyme, sotheli thilk religioun is noon harder, neither streiter holding, but that thilk man schal have good leue and license for to wirche and do the so provideede out of the religioun for the same while. For weel provid deede religiose persoones ben licencid for to leue perpetuali her professid religiouns. Nunnys han be taken out of her cloistris, and han be weddid to Princis; and Monkis han be take out of her cloistris, and han be weddid and maad Kings.- -And claustral Monkis han be licencid for to be summe heremytis, and summe reclusis, and manye Monkis han be take out of cloister liif to be Bischopis.to be Bischopis.-But after all his Lordship owns, that summe harme and yvel comith throug the havyng of such now seid multitude of m religious Orders, and, that ech religioun now usid, the occupatiouns foundid and devisid bi the religioun, bisides the thre principal vowis, that is to seie, of chastite, of wilful and exproprial poverte, and of obedience to the Prelate when he comaundith comaundementis of the religioun, mygte be myche amendid, both the occupaciouns of her prying, and officiyng, and of her contemplacioun, and also the occupaciouns of her studiyng and lernyng. But then he observes, that git not so great harme and yvel cometh of there being so many Orders of religion, as is excluded by the having of so great a multitude; and, that the occupations of the Religious being capable of being much m of the Friars alone were four Orders, viz. the Carmelites, Augustines, Jacobites, and Minorites, of the initial letters of which is made the word Caim, and the name Cain being then so spelt, Dr. Wiclif calls their houses Caim's castles. Dial. lib. iv. c. 33. These were commonly called the White, the Black, the Austin, and the Grey Friars. CHAP. amended, argueth not neither proveth tho occupaciouns to be naugt neither to be unfrytful. III. 62. To the objections made to the habits, stately houses, &c. of the Religious, our Bishop answers, that such variety of habits is for distinction sake, and to remind the Religious of what they are, and what they have bound themselves to; that their stately buildings were of great convenience to persons of quality, and of great use to the monasteries for great persons to repair thither; that lords and ladies are thereby the more shut out of the world to attend to their religious concerns, and the Monks can thus attend them the more constantly, and at the same time be supported and protected by them, and have less need to go a begging among poorer persons, and become chargeable to them; that their magnificent churches, so very richly adorned and furnished, were most for the honour of God's service, and would contain more people. 63. Lastly, the Bishop answers the particular objection made to the Franciscans, their having jewels of gold and of silver and of precious stones, and knives and girdles harnessed with gold and silver, and their telling money with a stick's end, when by the rule of St. Francis they were to forbear handling and bearing of money. His Lordship observes, that to handle or bere money is a more homely entermeting with the same money, than is for to telle it with a stik; and therefore the more homelyness is forborn, and the lasse comelyness is suffrid: that jewelis ben not in so manie kindis so redy and so nige to the uce in whiche the haver mai delite him synfulli as in money and therefore the more perol is forborn, whilis the lasse is suffrid to abide. And thoug it were so, that the telling of money with a stik were as great a neiging in homelynes to money as is bare handling; and thoug the handling of jewelis were as perilose as is the handling of money; yit therof not folewith, that if eny man for devocioun wolde forbere the oon, that he ougt forbere the other-For whi it is fair, good, and priseable to forbere the oon whilis he is not consteyned to for III. bere of hem bothe eny oon- -Whanne a man is fre to CHAP. leve bothe, it is priseable, and fair, and honest, if he take the oon, and not bothe, and nameliche, sithen fewe othere taken eny of hem bothe. 64. Hitherto the Bishop had defended six of those usages of the Church of England which were opposed by the Lollards; there remained, according to his proposed method, five other usages or governances, to be vindicated from their objections. These were, 7. Prayers offered to saints, and the communication of merits commonly boasted of, and put to sale by the Monks. 8. The vast number of precious jewels or utensils kept in churches or religious houses, which, it was pleaded, might better have been sold and given to the poor, and the honour given to the images and relics of saints. 9. The divine worship which was given to the eucharistical elements, the wafer and the wine. 10. The use of oaths usurped by the Clergy, and imposed by them on others. 11. The use of capital punishments, and of war, or the croisade, approved by the Church. But his Lordship having largely treated of these governances in other discourses, declined saying any more of them in this book. Thus he expresses himself concerning the Clergy's swearing, and making others to swear. The xth principal gouernaunce agens which summe of the comoun peple erren is this; that the Clergie in certein causes and maters swerith and makith othere persoones for to swere; and allowith weel, that Princis and her officers being undir hem bothe swere, and make othere men of the layte for to swere. Certis summe of the lay peple holden this gouernaunce to be unleoful and agens the comaundement of God, and that it is uttirli unleeful eny man for to swere. Neuertheles for as muche as this unwiis holding is sufficientli proued to be untrew in the booke filling the iiii tablis, in the secunde partie bi manye chapitris, therfore nothing therof here. The Bishop thus concludes this book. And thus y eende this present book clepid the Represser of ouer-miche blamyng the Clergie. For which book, to thee Lord God, be preising and CHAP. thanking; and to all the seid ouermyche underneymers and blamers ful amendment. Amen. c. 30. III. 65. As to the invocation of saints, or praying to them, Dial. lib. iii. Dr. Wiclif observed, that "Christ himself is the Mediator, "the best intercessor, and most ready in every extremity: "that it must be therefore foolish to seek after another "intercessor, because two eligible things being proposed, "he who chooses the less eligible is a fool: that Christ "always lives with the Father to make intercession, and “is paratissimus illapsus in mente cujuslibet viatoris qui "ipsum dilexerit. Wherefore there is no occasion to make 66 use of the mediation of any saints to get to the speech "of him, since he is kinder and more ready to help us Ad captan- " than any of them." He therefore concludes, that whe dum ejus colloqui um. ther they are the fathers of the old law, or of the law of grace, how much soever they may be magnified, non sunt laudandi in fide, any farther than they are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. And hence, says he, has our Church this reasonable custom, that whatsoever saint it prays to, it directs its speech to Christ God; not to that saint principally, but to Christ. Whoever is acquainted with the devotions of the Roman Church, must be very sensible, that in them formal petitions are often made to the saints immediately, nay, that sometimes they join God and them together in their praises, and in the same glories. Dr. Wiclif therefore can mean no more than, that though the saints are formally and directly invocated, yet it is not from them that the petitioners expect the blessings they ask, but from God at their request. For instance, Saint Erasmus is thus addressed; O saint Erasmus, the precious martyr of cundum Sa-Christ-receive this prayer for the salvation of my body and soul; that through thy prayer God may vouchsafe to give to me food and raiment, &c. So is the blessed Virgin prayed to obtain, for the petitioner, of our Lord Jesus Christ, the indulgence of all his sins, &c. Dr. Wiclif therefore tells us, that many thought it would be good for the Church, if there were no festivals of saints at all, but that the festival of Christ was observed alone. Because Horæ se rum. Primer of III. then the memory of Christ would be more fresh, and the CHAP. devotion of the people not be so unduly scattered or divided among his members. The same was the judgment of the great Erasmus, that the Pastors of the Church would do Epist. lib. well, if they altogether abolished all the festival days, except the Lord's day, and a few of the principal saints' days. xxxi. ep. 43. 66. The Popes had now for some time driven a very gainful trade of granting indulgences, or pardons, which they pretended was by virtue of the holy merits of saints, which they did more than was needful for their own happiness: these they claimed a power of communicating to others, whose merit was not so great, and accordingly pretended to grant to men thousands of years of pardon, which, as Dr. Wiclif observed, was presuming to be even Life, p. 169. with God, in knowing certainly the coming of the day of judgment, and distributing of mercies to whom they pleased. In an humble imitation of this divine power claimed by the Popes, the Religious pretended to a communication of their merits; and by granting to men and women letters of fraternity, confirmed by their general seal, to bear them in hand, that they should have part of all their masses, mattins, preachings, fastings, wakings, and all other good deeds done by those of their order, both whilst they lived, and after they were dead. They likewise made men believe, that their singing of special pray- Life of Dr. ers for people by name, as famulory and benefactory 161, 339. should turn to men after their granting and limiting. On which account scarce any one, who had any thing to give, but left a legacy to some of the religious Orders, for n n Item, lego unum trental ad celebrand. pro anima mea, Test. Alice Pocock, de St. Nicholao in Taneto, 1396. Item, lego ad opus ecclesiæ fratrum in villa Sandwich, decem solidos ut fratres ibidem dicerent unum trentall pro anima mea, et pro quibus teneor. Test. Johannis Sackett, de St. Petro in Taneto, 1444. Item, lego fratribus Carmelorum de Sandwich, 40d. Item, lego fratribus Sti. Augustini, Cant. 40d. Item, lego fratribus ordinis Sti. Franscisci, Cant. 40d. Test. John Malyn, de Monketon. Item, lego fratribus Carmelitis de Sandwich, 6s. 8d. Test. Thomas Walter, de Birchington, 1414. Wiclif, p. |