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 Return this book on or before the 
 Latest Date stamped below. 
 
 University of Illinois Library 
 
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 THE LOLLARDS: 
 
 FOUNDED ON THE 
 
 PERSECUTIONS WHICH MARKED THE EARLY PART 
 OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 THE MYSTERY, OR FORTY YEARS AGO ; AND OF 
 CALTHORPE, OR FALLEN FORTUNES. 
 
 Forgotten generations live again. H. K. White. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 TRINTED FOR 
 
 LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, 
 
 PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 1822.
 
 i 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 ■ i 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In the following pages it has been at- 
 tempted to furnish correct sketches of 
 scenes which actually occurred four cen- 
 turies ago. The author, — the compiler, 
 perhaps, he should rather call himselfi 
 has supplied from imagination what he 
 considered necessary to give them con- 
 nexion ; but generally, he has kept as 
 closely as possible to history. This will 
 account for some of the incidents bear- 
 ing more resemblance to each other than 
 would be desirable in a work purely 
 fictitious, and anxiety to picture the 
 manners of the times will perhaps avert 
 a 3
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 censure from some of the characters, 
 who appear rather negligent of that 
 dignity in which the heroes of romance 
 have commonly an advantage over those 
 of real life. Should a smile of disdain 
 be provoked by the habits and amuse- 
 ments pourtrayed, it may be well to 
 remember, that they are given as belong- 
 ing to an age not a century removed from 
 that, in which the expenses of a British 
 monarch appear to have been augmented 
 by his devotion to the undignified game 
 of tossing up head or tail, or <c cross and 
 pile" as it was then called; and when an 
 entry like the following was not con- 
 sidered degrading or extraordinary : — 
 
 « c Item, paie a Roi mesmes, pur jewer 
 a cros et pil, par les meins Richard de 
 Mereworth, rescevivant les deniers, xij." 
 
 " Item, paid to the King himself; to 
 play at cross and pile, by the hands of 
 Richard de Mereworth, the receiver of 
 the treasury, twelve pence/' 
 
 Originally, it was the intention of the 
 12
 
 PKEFACE. Vll 
 
 writer to subjoin, in notes, the autho- 
 rities for his incidents and descriptions. 
 But he conceived that this would appear 
 too formal, and from the ease with which 
 a preface can be, and generally is, passed 
 over by a large class of readers, he decided 
 to give in that form, for the satisfaction 
 of those who might require them, such 
 explanations as he considered necessary. 
 Here then, he would state, that Mait- 
 land, Pennant, Malcolm, Douce, Henry, 
 Beckmann, Baker, Monstrelet, Holling- 
 shed, and Grose, are responsible for most 
 of the historical facts and local repre- 
 sentations. Other aids have been drawn 
 from different sources. No apology is 
 offered for giving a comparatively modern 
 dress to the conversations : the extracts 
 from various books and from documents of 
 the time will sufficiently prove, that to 
 have adhered to the language of the period, 
 would have made the tale nearly unin- 
 telligible to the general reader. The 
 
 A 4
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 expressions put into the mouth of John 
 Huss, are often transcribed from his 
 letters, or from the narratives of Fox, 
 Clark, and Gilpin. That journey is given 
 to Huss which, from veneration for the 
 principles of Wickliffe, was actually per- 
 formed by his friend Jerome of Prague. 
 The sufferings of Huss towards the close 
 of his career are collected from a variety 
 of respectable Protestant authors. 
 
 The petition brought forward by one 
 of the characters, is a real document be- 
 longing to the reign of Henry VI., the 
 amount of the public debt being reduced 
 to what it may be supposed to have been 
 in the time of that monarch's father. It 
 has not been thought necessary rigidly to 
 adhere to chronology. The affair of the 
 Mayor of Chester occurred about forty 
 years after the period assigned to it in the 
 tale, but the state of things by which it 
 was produced continued from the time of 
 Owen Glendower. The incident, it is
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 therefore presumed will be regarded as 
 little out of its place, where it only serves 
 to mark the spirit which actually ani- 
 mated the Welsh borderers at the date 
 of those events with which it is con- 
 nected. 
 
 The writer may be thought less 
 excusable for introducing the art of 
 printing, which is generally supposed to 
 have been unknown till the reign imme- 
 diately following that to which he has 
 given it. Mr. Nichols says, " It does 
 not appear that any book was printed in 
 this kingdom till 1464, when William 
 Caxton opened a shop at the Sun, in Fleet 
 Street." It is, however, not contended, 
 that the invention of printing was pre- 
 viously unknown. Playing cards were 
 printed for the amusement of Charles the 
 Sixth of France, who was contemporary 
 with Henry the Fifth of England. This 
 may not seem much to the purpose, but 
 we are told by Mr. Ellis, that he saw at
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 Haarlem, a volume, the De Spiegel 
 onser Behoedinge> which had been printed 
 by Coster, so early as M30. Mr, Ellis 
 minutely describes the book, and his state- 
 ment is supported by Schrevelius. The 
 last-mentioned writer has been called * un 
 compilateur sans discernment, et un critique 
 sans justesse.' But his English hiogra- 
 grapher describes him very differently, 
 and Schrevelius in this case is sup- 
 ported by Boxhornius and others, who 
 do not labour under the stigma cast 
 on him in the Dictionaire Histo- 
 rique. 
 
 In our day, printing and publishing 
 are so closely united, that speaking of 
 one we are likely to confound it with 
 the other. This was not always so. 
 When we read of William Caxton open- 
 ing his shop, in 1464*, we are led to the con- 
 clusion that he then published his book as 
 well as printed it. Various circumstances 
 might prevent publication till a consider-
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 able period after the art of printing 
 had been discovered, and might supply a 
 motive for using concealment. " In 1429 
 Nicholas Belward, of South Elmham, 
 in Suffolk, was accused of having in 
 his possession a New Testament, which 
 he had bought in London for four marks 
 and forty pence, Q.L 16s. Sd. ; a sum 
 equivalent to more than 40/. at pre- 
 sent, an astonishing price to be paid by 
 a labouring man, for such Belward ap- 
 pears to have been." # If 40/. were paid 
 for a written Testament by a labouring 
 man, who, it may be presumed, did not 
 go to the dearest market, it will be seen 
 that a few individuals who were capable 
 of imitating manuscripts (which we know 
 the first printers aimed at,) by the easy 
 and rapid process of printing, might real- 
 ize great wealth, if they kept the secret 
 to themselves. In the tale, two of the 
 characters are placed in the situations of 
 Fust and Coster, and that fifteen years be- 
 * Tovvnley's Illustrations of Biblical Literature
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 fore the printing of the book mentioned by 
 Mr. Ellis. It will, however, be remarked, 
 that the art which they possessed is sup- 
 posed merely to have existed — not to 
 have been generally known to exist. 
 That it was in being at, or close upon 
 that time, other proofs might be adduced. 
 Home tells us that Baron Heinecker 
 found a very curious wood -cut of St. 
 Christopher in the convent of the Char- 
 treux, at Buxheim, near Memmingen, at 
 the foot of which he read the following 
 words engraved and printed, together 
 with the figure: If Cristqferi Jaciem die 
 qudcunque tueris. Ilia nempe die morte 
 mala non morieris Millesimo CCCC XX 
 tertio" It surely, then, will not appear 
 very extravagant to imagine that that 
 mode of printing might be known to one 
 or two persons in 1415, which we have 
 positive proof was known in 1423. This 
 is not the place to answer the question 
 which so long occupied the attention 
 of the learned j — how came the art of
 
 PREFACE. Xlll 
 
 printing, if known at or before the year 
 1430, to lie dormant till the revival at 
 Mentz? What has been stated, may 
 in some degree account for that cir- 
 cumstance. At all events, if the in- 
 vention, important as it was, were lost 
 sight of for thirty or forty years, it is not 
 the only one that has experienced such a 
 fate. In 1 736 a patent was granted for 
 navigating vessels by steam, but what 
 advantage resulted from that magnificent 
 discovery in the sixty years which im- 
 mediately followed ? 
 
 In taking a general view of that pe- 
 riod which has furnished the succeeding 
 scenes, no feature is more singularly 
 striking than the hostility which pursued 
 English translations of the Bible. The 
 history of the world presents not a more 
 remarkable contrast between the policy 
 of a government at different times, than 
 is here furnished. At the opening of 
 the fifteenth century, reading the Bible 
 in English was a crime, which the law
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 visited with severest vengeance, and re- 
 proach even attached to those who learned 
 to read, from a suspicion that they did 
 so for the purpose of perusing that re- 
 vered volume, which British ministers 
 now desire to make known to every 
 human being. The sufferings growing 
 out of the apprehension once entertained 
 of the fearful effects of permitting the 
 Bible to be read in the vulgar tongue, 
 furnish the following pages. But the 
 author, in describing what appears to 
 have occurred, wishes to cast no illiberal 
 stigma on any sect. The crimes he de- 
 picts, he gives not as the characteristics 
 of any particular faith, but as those of 
 the individuals by whom they were per- 
 petrated ; of the age in which they 
 lived, and of the opinions which then 
 prevailed. 
 
 An author who has twice had the 
 honour of being translated, may be par- 
 doned for supposing that his present pro- 
 duction will have foreign readers. He
 
 PREFACE; XV 
 
 would briefly remark, that though he has 
 given the English that superior fortune 
 in war, which chroniclers assign to them 
 at the epoch here recalled, he trusts that 
 nothing has escaped him that can of- 
 fend the national pride of others. He 
 confidently anticipates that no reader 
 of " The Lollards" will accuse him of 
 making such a return for the favourable 
 notice bestowed in France on " The Mys- 
 tery" and " Calthorpe." 
 
 He will extend these remarks no fur* 
 ther. Some explanation seemed neces- 
 sary, as incidents mean and puerile, 
 if contemplated as efforts of imagination, 
 frequently become interesting when re- 
 cognised as belonging to real history. 
 Among those who annually quit London 
 to contemplate the local peculiarities as 
 they now exist, of distant places cele- 
 brated in story, or famed in song, he 
 hopes that some will be well content to 
 be reminded that tha theatres of scenes 
 of memorable interest may be found
 
 XVI PREFACE. 
 
 nearer home. From such " The Lol- 
 lards" may experience a welcome ; and, 
 till the season admits of an excursion to 
 more romantic spots, the inhabitant of 
 the metropolis may derive some amuse- 
 ment from sketches of London, as it was, 
 and from a description of some of the 
 circumstances which once gave eclat to 
 Cheapside, Fleet Street, and Smithfield.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ". He lifts his radiant eyes, which gleam 
 ** With resignation's sainted beam." 
 
 Mrs. Robinson. 
 
 The despotic sway which the Church 
 of Rome had long exercised over the 
 rights and opinions of mankind, called 
 forth, towards the close of the fourteenth 
 century, a spirit of resistance on the part 
 of several of those who were most distin- 
 guished for their scholastic acquirements 
 and superior intellect. WicklifTe, by his 
 vol. r. B
 
 2 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 efforts to convey a knowledge of the 
 Scriptures to the lower classes, had laid 
 the foundation for one of the most impor- 
 tant changes recorded in our history. 
 Many persons of reputed piety denoun- 
 ced him as a heretic, and an enemy to 
 true religion ; but the forcible appeal 
 which he had made to the understanding 
 was not to be answered by sanctified in- 
 vectives ; and the taste for what was called 
 " Wickliffe learning," continued rapidly 
 to increase. The bishops and clergy saw 
 first with contempt, then with indigna- 
 tion, and finally with dismay, the indeco- 
 rous efforts of the unlettered multitude 
 to obtain the means of judging for them- 
 selves in those matters which affected 
 their eternal welfare ; and considered it 
 expedient to oppose, with all their might, 
 the fearful torrent which threatened to 
 annihilate what they regarded as most 
 essential to true religion — the ancient 
 authority and rights of the Church. 
 To them it appeared wise to have re-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. $ 
 
 course to measures of severity. A sect 
 had newly sprung up, important from its 
 numbers, as well as from its influence, 
 the members of which were denominated 
 Lollards. It was against these that the 
 hostile measures of the established Church 
 were directed ; but the success which at- 
 tended them was not equal to the barba- 
 rity by which they were accompanied. 
 While Henry IV. sat on the throne of 
 England, the fires of persecution had been 
 kindled ; but the victims which bigotry 
 claimed, when they suffered for their own 
 transgressions, did not reclaim their bre- 
 thren from the errors into which they 
 were supposed to have fallen ; and after 
 the crown had devolved on the fifth 
 Henry, the nation being still divided by 
 religious differences, new examples were 
 considered necessary to vindicate the pu- 
 rity of the true faith. 
 
 Thomas Arundel, then archbishop of 
 Canterbury, incensed at the spread of 
 " Wickliffe learning," determined to at-
 
 4 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 tempt its extirpation, by a bold attack on 
 its most popular advocate, Sir John Old- 
 castle, commonly called Lord Cobham, 
 from his having married the heiress of 
 that title. Arundel in this proved his cou- 
 rage to be as great as his policy ; for Cob- 
 ham was not only viewed with admiration 
 by the people, but he was a favorite with 
 the king, in whose household he held a 
 situation. He had served in France with 
 great credit, and was not less esteemed 
 for his valour, than admired for the 
 polished accomplishments of the courtier. 
 When Henry heard the charge which 
 Arundel had to prefer, he took upon him- 
 self to interrogate Cobham on the subject 
 of his religious principles; not suspecting 
 that the loyal submission which he had 
 found in every other instance would be 
 wanting here, and promising himself 
 the satisfaction of saving his favourite 
 from the impending storm, and the glory 
 of restoring to the Church one who had 
 incautiously ventured to oppose some of 
 its doctrines.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. O 
 
 But the monarch deceived himself. Cob- 
 ham stoutly defended the principles which 
 he had adopted, and offered, according to 
 the custom of that age, to prove their 
 soundness by bringing a hundred war- 
 riors to combat for them, against an equal 
 number who condemned them as here- 
 tical. He might be excused for thinking 
 that such a proposition would not appear 
 unreasonable to a Prince of Henry's cha- 
 racter ; but the circumstances in which 
 the young King was placed, imposed 
 upon him a line of conduct very different 
 from that which his natural vivacity led 
 him to prefer. He had found it necessary, 
 on coming to the throne, to conciliate 
 those grave and venerable characters 
 whom till then it had been his pleasure 
 to hold up to derision ; and he considered 
 it of the last importance to establish a 
 high reputation for piety. In conse- 
 quence of this impression on the part of 
 the King, Cobham received an answer on 
 which he had not calculated ; and the 
 B 3
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 monarch re-urged his former arguments 
 with increased earnestness, but only to 
 hear them opposed with unbending reso- 
 lution. In common life, when equals 
 argue warmly, respect and friendship of- 
 ten rapidly diminish ; but when a subject 
 will not be convinced by the eloquence of 
 his sovereign, the latter must be very 
 different from the rest of mankind, if he 
 can brook such disrespect with patience. 
 That conduct on the part of Lord Cob- 
 ham, which has for ages enjoyed the 
 character of heroic intrepidity, was view- 
 ed by Henry as an instance of stubborn 
 insolence. Arundel had complained that 
 his messengers had been treated most in- 
 juriously by Cobham, and Henry now 
 thought he saw just reason to conclude 
 that the statement he had heard was cor- 
 rect. His presumption in questioning the 
 correctness of royal reasoning, satisfied 
 the King that what he had been told of 
 the contemptuous manner in which the 
 officers of the archbishop had been repel-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 7 
 
 Jed from Cowling Castle (the residence 
 of Lord Cobham), when they were sent 
 to cite him to appear before Arundel, 
 was true. He could not doubt that 
 one so deficient in respect to himself, 
 would be capable of treating every thing 
 that was sacred with indecorous neglect, 
 or offensive ridicule. 
 
 Unawed by the frowns of his sovereign, 
 the Lord Cobham, confident in the good- 
 ness of his cause, still hoped to make it ap- 
 pear to the King what it really seemed to 
 himself. But his powerful opponent was 
 now securely fortified against conviction. 
 The energy which Cobham had at first 
 to encounter was no more; but a chilling 
 coldness met all that he advanced ; and 
 when, as a last effort, he again demanded 
 to be allowed to vindicate his principles 
 according to the law of arms, on a sig- 
 nal given by the King, one of the officers 
 who had in vain sought admittance at 
 Cowling Castle, entered the apartment, 
 and served Cobham with a citation to ap- 
 b 4
 
 b THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 pear before his inflexible enemy, the 
 archbishop. He felt indignant, and in- 
 voluntarily directed a reproachful glance 
 towards the King. Henry understood it 
 well ; and with that resentment which 
 those who do an injury commonly feel, if 
 the victim is so indiscreet as to complain, 
 when Cobham avowed an intention of 
 appealing to the Pope, the monarch fiercely 
 exclaimed — " Thou shalt never have an 
 opportunity of prosecuting thy suit j" 
 and by his command, the refractory dis- 
 putant was immediately committed to the 
 Tower. 
 
 Cobham was shortly brought before the 
 convocation assembled in the Chapter 
 House at St. Paul's. At the preceding 
 session, he had been formally excommu- 
 nicated for refusing to appear. He was 
 now reminded of this by the archbishop, 
 and admonished to renounce the heretical 
 opinions which he was known to have 
 imbibed. Arundel, with an air of pater- 
 nal regard, offered to give him absolution
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 9 
 
 on his yielding submission to the Church. 
 This indulgent kindness was lost upon 
 Cobham. He took no notice of the pro- 
 ferred absolution ; but desired to read the 
 principles for which he had heretofore 
 contended, and which he was now pre- 
 pared to vindicate. These may be de- 
 scribed in very few words. He admitted 
 the real presence in the bread used in 
 the sacrament, but denied that the bread 
 ceased altogether to exist as bread. Pe- 
 nances for sins, as a sign of contrition, lie 
 held to be proper. For the use of images, 
 he contended that they could only be 
 worshipped, not for themselves, but as 
 the representatives of heavenly things ; 
 and those who offered them divine wor- 
 ship in any other character, he maintained 
 were blind idolaters. Pilgrimages to the 
 shrines of saints, he asserted to be useless. 
 The archbishop told him that some of 
 his principles were orthodox ; but on cer- 
 tain points, it was necessary that he should 
 give more explicit answers, Cobham 
 b 5
 
 10 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 declared that he had no others to offer. 
 His body, he added, was in their hands, 
 they might do with it what they pleased, 
 without disturbing him, convinced as he 
 was that his eternal part was safe. — 
 Arundel, in dealing with a man so popu- 
 lar as Lord Cobham, considered it to be 
 politic to affect the greatest mildness, and 
 he therefore allowed him till the following 
 Monday to re-consider his answers. 
 
 Nothing could tend more to raise Cob- 
 ham in the estimation of the people, than 
 the firmness which had marked his de- 
 portment on this occasion. Admiration 
 for him, failed not to produce hatred of 
 those who were regarded as his persecu- 
 tors. This rose so high that it was 
 thought prudent not to allow his final 
 examination to take place at St. Paul's; 
 and Sir Robert Morley, the lieutenant 
 or constable of the Tower, was accord- 
 ingly instructed to convey his prisoner to 
 a Dominican convent, within Ludgate, 
 which was thought a place of greater 

 
 THE LOLLARDS. 11 
 
 security. Thither Cobham was conduc- 
 ted on the appointed day, under a strong 
 guard, and received by a numerous body 
 of friars and monks, through whom he 
 undauntedly advanced to defend his faith. 
 Arundel demanded whether he believed 
 that any of the material bread remained 
 after consecration, insisting that the sa- 
 cramental words once spoken, the bread 
 and wine were instantly changed into 
 "very flesh andblood." Cobhairfs answers 
 were in substance but a repetition of 
 what he had previously advanced; and 
 he roundly taxed the clergy with sup- 
 planting the Gospel, by introducing ab- 
 surdities of their own. He was fre- 
 quently interrupted by cries of " heresy!" 
 " Wickliffe learning !" and " away with 
 him !" When he attacked the friars for 
 the profits which they made by their 
 images, shrines, and absolutions, a general 
 murmur of horror ran through the as- 
 sembly, and one Dominican, raising up 
 his eyes to Heaven, could not refrain from 
 b 6
 
 12 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 the pious exclamation, " What desperate 
 and devilish wretches are these disciples 
 of Wickliffe !" 
 
 Fired at the indignity thus ottered to 
 the memory and principles of Wickliffe, 
 Cobham replied, with great animation : 
 
 " Now, before God do 1 profess, that 
 till I knew that good and holy man, I 
 never did abstain from sinful doings ; but 
 he it was that opened my eyes to see my 
 errors; and following his example, I hope, 
 with all humility I speak, that I reformed 
 them." 
 
 " Truly most hard methinks had been 
 my case," said Arundel, " if in an age 
 so marvellously enlightened as this, and 
 so liberally supplied with pious and learned 
 men I had still been unable to amend 
 my ways, and lead a holy life, until I 
 went to hear the devil preach." 
 
 " Go on," cried the*accused; " go on 
 in the steps of your fathers the Pharisees, 
 and ascribe every good to the devil, which 
 you find opposed to your iniquities."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. XS 
 
 Language like this could not but ex- 
 asperate those who had to decide on his 
 fate. The insults which they had re- 
 ceived augmented their zeal to avenge 
 the wrongs of the Deity, and devotion 
 derived new fervour from rage. Cob- 
 ham furnished them with but too fair an 
 excuse for proceeding to extremities. 
 Not content with condemning idols, pil- 
 grimages, and offerings at the shrines of 
 saints, he, in no very measured language, 
 ridiculed the worship of the cross ; and 
 rites which successive ages had agreed to 
 hold sacred, he fearlessly treated with 
 that contempt which many of his hearers 
 could not regard as any thing short of 
 the most appalling blasphemy. 
 
 The archbishop, when he had finished, 
 stood up ; the other members of the con- 
 vocation did the same. He raised his 
 eyes to Heaven for some moments, as so- 
 lemnly appealing to the Almighty, to at- 
 test the justice of the sentence which he 
 was about to pronounce against a har-
 
 14 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 dened sinner; and having recapitulated 
 the former proceedings, and briefly ani- 
 madverted on the contumacious conduct 
 of the accused, he declared it to be his 
 painful duty to pass sentence on the pri- 
 soner, as a most pernicious and detestable 
 heretic, and to hand him over to the se- 
 cular power that he might be put to 
 death. At the same time, he denounced 
 as accursed, all who might defend the 
 errors of the accused, or favour or assist 
 him in any way whatever. 
 
 The courage of Cobham did not desert 
 him in this awful moment. He heard 
 his sentence with perfect composure, and 
 reiterated the declaration that he regarded 
 not the fate of his body, happy in the 
 joyful conviction, that his soul was safe. 
 He addressed the populace in the same 
 strain on his way to the Tower, conjuring 
 them, one and all, to secure their ever- 
 lasting happiness, by following in the track 
 of the illustrious Wickliffe. 
 
 It was expected that execution would
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 15 
 
 promptly follow; but Henry was reluctant 
 to commit to the flames one for whom he 
 had formerly felt so much regard, and a 
 respite of fifty days was granted by his 
 command. During this time, the efforts 
 of the friends of Cobham were unremit- 
 ting to sustain and increase his reputation. 
 It is probable that the kindness inspired 
 in the minds of the people, would only 
 have produced applause in honour of the 
 constancy of the martyr, had the captive, 
 relying on their affection, been negligent 
 for himself. ; He thought he saw the 
 means of escaping, and having commu- 
 nicated his plan to two of his friends, 
 they approved of it, and promised that 
 on a night which was named, they would 
 be in waiting on Tower-hill, to carry him 
 from the vicinity of his prison, if he 
 could find the means of conveying him- 
 self to the outside. He succeeded in 
 making a breach in the wall of his apart- 
 ment, by which he purposed to pass to 
 the ramparts. It was half large enough
 
 16 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 to admit of his making the attempt, when 
 he heard the door unlocked, and Sir 
 Robert Morley entered. Cobham, before 
 he commenced his operations, had care- 
 fully hung his cloak over that part of the 
 wall which he was about to attack, so 
 that it might be instantly let down and 
 conceal the meditated dilapidation, before 
 his work approached completion. But it 
 was now so far advanced that the garment 
 but imperfectly covered the hole ; and 
 the scattered cement which strewed his 
 chamber, it was impossible to hide. He 
 therefore abandoned all hope of deceiving 
 Sir Robert, and resigned himself to his fate. 
 To his great surprise, however, the lieu- 
 tenant retired, taking no notice of the 
 disorder which prevailed. Cobham was 
 extremely embarrassed by this incident. 
 He had not usually been visited by Sir 
 Robert at so late an hour, and his coming 
 indicated unusual apprehension. That 
 he had made no remark on what seemed 
 to force itself on his attention, w r as a
 
 THE LOLLARDS. IJ 
 
 circumstance for which Cobham was un- 
 able to account, as he was confident that 
 the lieutenant had glanced suspiciously at 
 the cloak. Upon the whole, he came to 
 the conclusion, that his project had by 
 some means transpired ; and that Sir 
 Robert only deferred acting upon the 
 information he had received, that the 
 mortification of the defeated captive 
 should be rendered more complete, by 
 detection at the very instant when the 
 last obstacle to escape had been removed. 
 A slight noise in the vicinity of his cham- 
 ber strengthened this idea; arid now con- 
 vinced. that his motions were watched, to 
 continue his labour seemed useless, and 
 he resolved to deny his jailor the malig- 
 nant joy on which Cobham doubted not 
 he had calculated, by receiving him as 
 one whom he expected. He accordingly 
 seated himself in his chair, to await 
 the re-entrance of the lieutenant.
 
 18 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 " Nothing hath privilege 'gainst the violent ear; 
 " No place, no day, no hour (we see) is free, 
 " (Not our religious and most sacred times) 
 " From some one kind of cruelty." 
 
 Jonson. 
 
 The noise which Lord Cobham had heard 
 near the door of his apartment had cea- 
 sed, and a more than usual silence pre- 
 vailed. For nearly two hours he re- 
 mained motionless on his seat, firm 
 to the resolution adopted not to resume 
 his interrupted labour. He had wrought 
 his mind into a state of perfect compos- 
 ure, and was fully prepared for the 
 taunts and insults which he anticipated 
 would requite his unsuccessful attempt. 
 Such were his feelings when a sudden 
 flash of light illumined his apartment, by 
 the aperture which he had made, and
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 19 
 
 from which his cloak had been removed. 
 He shook his head at the sight, and sor- 
 rowfully exclaimed : 
 
 " It is all in vain. You are faithful, my 
 friends, but alas ! your hopes will not be 
 realized. I shall not be enabled to de- 
 feat my persecutors by flight; all that 
 remains for me to do, is to meet them 
 with courage.' * 
 
 He then endeavoured to resume the 
 train of thought which the signal con- 
 certed to announce the arrival of his 
 friends had interrupted. But he found 
 it no easy task to subdue the agitation it 
 had caused. Reminded of the hopes in 
 which he had indulged, he could not 
 revert to his actual situation, without 
 mourning the discovery which he sup- 
 posed to have taken place. He felt 
 deeply affected, not merely for the con- 
 sequences to himself, but for the grief 
 and mortification which must fall on those 
 who had encouraged, and were now pre- 
 pared to assist, an escape.
 
 20 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 The signal was repeated ; the flashing 
 of torches told that he was impatiently 
 expected, and led him to question the 
 decision to which he had come after the 
 visit which he had received from Sir 
 Robert. Strange as it was that the 
 lieutenant should overlook the disorder 
 which presented itself to view, the, mo- 
 ment the door of his prison was opened, 
 it was not less strange that, if seen, no 
 precaution had yet been taken to guard 
 against that flight which was meditated. 
 It was possible that the lieutenant, occu- 
 pied with other matters, had not remark- 
 ed the situation in which the prisoner 
 was found. This was certain, that there 
 was no appearance of any difficulty being 
 thrown in his wav, on which he had not 
 calculated, and with which he was not 
 prepared to grapple. At the worst, he 
 had no evil to dread from detection, when 
 his preparations were complete, to which 
 he would not be exposed by what he had 
 already done. In justice, then, to those
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 21 
 
 friends who so kindly interested them- 
 selves in his fate, he ought not to have 
 Buffered a mere surmise to arrest his 
 labours ; and even now, though after so 
 much time lost the chance of success 
 was greatly diminished, it might be 
 due to them to endeavour at repairing 
 his error. 
 
 While these thoughts ran through the 
 mind of Cobham, he returned to the 
 work in which he had been so unfortu- 
 nately interrupted. His vigour was re- 
 stored by the rest in which he had in- 
 dulged, and to widen the aperture he had 
 made required less labour than it had 
 cost him to make the original breach. 
 It was not long before it appeared suffici- 
 ently large. He tried to force himself 
 through, and with such good fortune, 
 that he was in no small danger of break- 
 ing his neck through the expedition with 
 which he cleared the wall and commenc- 
 ed his descent head downwards, holding 
 the rope which he had made fast to a
 
 L 2 c i THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 staple in the chamber, by one hand. This 
 was in consequence of part of the wall 
 giving way, which he was not aware that 
 he had loosened. He, however, held fast by 
 the rope, and lowered himself more 
 gradually, though still with such incon- 
 venient rapidity, that his hands were 
 severely burned by the friction ; and he 
 was obliged at last to let go, when his 
 feet were still six or eight feet from the 
 ground. He was alarmed at the noise 
 with which he closed his descent; but he 
 saw no centinel, and passed, without en- 
 countering any new difficulty, to the 
 ramparts. Thence he let himself down 
 to the moat, with more caution than he 
 had previously used. Having reached 
 the surface of the water, he was on the 
 point of relinquishing the line by which 
 he had effected this, when he heard a 
 confused noise in the garrison. Several 
 soldiers drew near that part of the ram- 
 parts which he had just quitted; some- 
 thing fell close to him, and " There he
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 23 
 
 goes ! there he goes !" was repeated by 
 half a dozen voices. Cobham thought he 
 had no time to lose, and instantly com- 
 mitted himself to the water. A general 
 shout of surprise followed, and a volley 
 of stones which had been collected for the 
 rat, the original object of pursuit, was 
 now directed at the adventurous swimmer. 
 Several of them struck him, but though 
 they inflicted pain they did not impede 
 his flight. In the fortress, it was rightly 
 conjectured that the person seen in the 
 moat was no other than Lord Cobham. 
 The breach which he had made, and the 
 line pendant from it, removed all doubt, 
 and the alarm was instantly given. Cob- 
 ham made his way across the ditch to 
 the spot where the torches still waived — 
 his approach was sufficiently announced 
 by the tumult within the walls. Tower- 
 Hill was then but a wide neglected field, 
 to which few persons repaired after night- 
 fall. The friends of Lord Cobham, 
 accompanied by his son Edward, had
 
 °2\> THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 drawn him from the ditch without dan- 
 ger of encountering the observation of 
 curious passengers, and mounted him on 
 a fleet horse, before any attempt to in- 
 terrupt their operations could be made on 
 the part of Sir Robert Morley. The 
 moment Cobham was lifted from the 
 moat, the torches were extinguished, and 
 the party separated. The late captive 
 passed by the then new abbey called 
 Eastminster, and on to Aldgate. Turn- 
 ing to the right he took his road through 
 Bow and Stratford, to a cottage on the 
 borders of Epping Forest. Here he was 
 provided with a change of clothes, and 
 with refreshments, of which he stood 
 much in need, and his happy liberation 
 was celebrated by pious thanksgivings 
 and prayer. 
 
 It was not till several days had passed 
 that those immediately concerned in 
 effecting the escape of the Lord Cobham, 
 ventured to rejoin him. The joy of the 
 populace at hearing of his flight, was
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 25 
 
 great. While he was in the Tower, a 
 rumour had gone abroad that he had 
 recanted all that he had before advanced 
 in favour of tire doctrines of Wickliffe. 
 But not all the perils which then encom- 
 passed him, could induce him to suffer 
 such a calumny to pass uncontradicted. 
 He accordingly from his prison dictated 
 a paper, which was copied and posted in 
 the most public streets, declaring the 
 charge to be unfounded, and asserting 
 his determination to adhere to the con- 
 fession of faith which he had previously 
 made. This intrepidity added to the 
 admiration which his conduct had pre- 
 viously inspired, and the joy of the com- 
 mon people at Cobham's escape, was only 
 equalled by the satisfaction with which 
 they learned that all the exertions made 
 by his enemies to discover his retreat 
 proved fruitless. The opinions which 
 he had entertained, gained importance 
 with those who had till then considered 
 them as unworthy of serious attention. 
 vol. i. c
 
 26 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 The resolution of the man was thought 
 to prove the excellence of his creed, and 
 many who found it more easy to adopt 
 than to form an opinion, took it for 
 granted, that because Cobham was reso- 
 lute he must be right. 
 
 That Lollardy rapidly increased was 
 clear to every one. In his concealment, 
 Cobham was refreshed from time to time 
 with the most gratifying assurances of 
 this fact, and when the vigilance of his 
 pursuers was thought to be somewhat 
 abated, he ventured to present himself to 
 parties of his admirers, who were in the 
 habit of meeting at night to indulge 
 in religious exercises. The gratification 
 which they experienced at finding them- 
 selves in company with those to whom 
 they could freely pour out their senti- 
 ments, caused these meetings to be 
 multiplied. They were usually held in 
 the environs of London. The Lollards 
 repaired to the place of rendezvous, some 
 retired and unfrequented spot, shortly
 
 THE LOLLARDS. Tf 
 
 after nightfall. There, having compared 
 the progress of their minds in spiritual 
 matters, they applied themselves to 
 prayer, and, occupied with various pious 
 exercises, it was commonly midnight 
 before they separated. 
 
 These nocturnal meetings soon attracted 
 notice, and became the subject of anxious 
 enquiry on the part of the government. 
 The bishops and others, who were engag- 
 ed in the extirpation of heresy, thought 
 it necessary that they should be put down, 
 as they rightly conceived that the laws 
 which had been passed against Lollardy 
 would prove wholly nugatory, if those 
 against whom they were directed con- 
 tinued to hold such assemblies with 
 impunity. They, in consequence, never 
 ceased to importune Henry to interfere 
 with a strong hand ; alleging that to 
 make a severe example, would be to in- 
 spire a salutary terror, and would, there- 
 fore, serve the cause of humanity. He 
 was slow to attend to these suggestions ; 
 c 2
 
 28 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 but his reluctance was at length vanquish- 
 ed by the mysterious reports which 
 reached him, representing the meetings 
 of the Lollards to be connected with 
 a traitorous scheme for the overthrow of 
 his government. Every thing that tran- 
 spired, when this idea had once been 
 thrown out, was thought to confirm it ; 
 and those who were the first to adopt it, 
 were thought to argue with irresistible 
 force, when they asked, if the designs of 
 those who formed these meetings were 
 good, or even harmless, why should they 
 meet in darkness? It did not occur to 
 many, that a reasonable answer was 
 supplied by the fact that at no other time 
 could the Lollards assemble for the pur- 
 poses which some of their friends alleged 
 were the only ones which they had in 
 view, without exposing themselves to 
 persecution, under the sanction of law. 
 
 The king was in the highest degree 
 indignant against Cobham, who was said 
 to be the chief promoter of the treason-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 29 
 
 able practices then in progress. To the 
 impetuous monarch the most odious 
 ingratitude seemed to mark the conduct 
 of that nobleman. He had endeavoured to 
 enlighten Cobham when his wanderings 
 first attracted the notice of the church ; 
 and when obstinacy had made this 
 effort of no avail, and produced con- 
 viction before the Convocation, that 
 a respite of fifty days was allowed 
 him, he owed to the humanity of his 
 royal master. Henry also knew that he 
 was under one other obligation to him, 
 of which Cobham himself was not aware. 
 Though the angry disputant had fiercely 
 handed over a refractory opponent to the 
 offended church, the relenting sovereign 
 shuddered at the idea of his suffering 
 execution ; and anxious to prevent this 
 without being seen to interfere, he caused 
 it to be privately intimated to Sir Robert 
 Morley, that if he could restore his 
 prisoner to liberty, making it appear that 
 Cobham had effected his escape by his 
 c 3
 
 SO THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 own means, the supposed negligence 
 should never operate to his prejudice. 
 It was in consequence of this, that the 
 captive received a visit from Sir Robert, 
 when he least expected or desired such a 
 mark of courtesy. The lieutenant had 
 intended to suggest a way by which 
 Cobham might break prison. What he 
 saw, at once convinced him that his in- 
 terference was unnecessary, and affecting 
 not to perceive the evidences of Cobham's 
 undertaking, which forced themselves 
 on his observation, he immediately with- 
 drew, and only favoured the attempt by 
 this wilful blindness, and by removing 
 those sentinels who were nearest the 
 scene of the prisoner's operations. For 
 this clemency, Henry thought that Cob- 
 ham, all ignorant as he was of the in- 
 tended mercy, ought to have made a 
 return very different from that which he 
 now understood him to be making ; 
 and the rebellious conduct imputed to 
 him appeared, in the view of the king, an
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 31 
 
 odious combination of the foulest treason, 
 and the blackest ingratitude. 
 
 A proclamation had already been 
 issued against the Lollards' night meet- 
 ings, but without effect. Satisfactory 
 proof was obtained that many who at- 
 tended them went armed. This ought 
 not to have excited either alarm or sus- 
 picion. Persons expecting to be late 
 from their homes, and having the lonely 
 plains to traverse which then intervened 
 between the metropolis, and the spot on 
 which they frequently assembled in St. 
 Giles's, might be excused, the defective 
 state of the police considered, for availing 
 themselves of such protection as weapons 
 of defence could offer. But no such con- 
 sideration was entertained for -the Lol- 
 lards ; and the fact of their having 
 endeavoured to secure themselves against 
 lawless violence, was held to demonstrate 
 that their object was to put down all law. 
 
 Such was the opinion entertained of 
 these unfortunate sectarists, when news 
 c 4
 
 3% THE LOLLARDS* 
 
 was brought to the king, he being then 
 at Eltham, that the Lord Cobham was 
 about to raise the standard of revolt, and 
 w T as already in St. Giles's Fields, then 
 called Thicket Fields, at the head of 
 twenty thousand men. Henry forthwith 
 advanced on the supposed rebels ; the 
 gates of the city had been shut by his 
 orders, and he attacked the assembling 
 devotees, who were instantly dispersed. 
 Some were killed, and the retreat of the 
 rest to their homes being cut off by the 
 precaution which Henry had taken, many 
 were made prisoners. 
 
 The king was much exasperated at 
 finding that Cobham, against whom his 
 rage had principally been directed, was 
 not taken. Torture extorted from those 
 who had fallen into his power, a con- 
 fession that he had been present. The 
 principal prisoners were brought to trial, 
 and expiated their offences with their 
 blood. At the instance of Henry, a bill 
 of attainder against Cobham was framed,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. S3 
 
 and laws imposing additional penalties on 
 the Lollards generally, were passed by 
 the Parliament. 
 
 Lord Cobham no longer ventured to 
 remain in London or its neighbourhood. 
 He fled alone, and directed his steps to 
 Wales. Very few of his late friends were 
 made acquainted with the place of his 
 concealment. Prudence suggested that 
 he ought not to put it in the power of 
 the incautious to disclose his retreat, as 
 the king for the more effectually secur- 
 ing the punishment of so great an 
 offender, had offered, by proclamation, a 
 reward of one thousand marks for his 
 apprehension, with exemption from taxes 
 to any town in which he might be 
 discovered. 
 
 c 5
 
 34 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 11 Do but look on her eyes, they do light 
 " All that love's world compriseth ! 
 
 " Do but look on her hair, it is bright 
 " As love's star when it riseth !" 
 
 Jonson. 
 
 The persecution of which the Lord 
 Cobham had become the object, much as 
 it might afflict him, pressed with equal 
 severity on others, who have not yet been 
 named in these pages. It had been 
 thought advisable that his son Edward 
 should not accompany the fugitive, as, 
 however desirable his assistance, the 
 chances of recognition would have been 
 increased by their journeying together ; 
 and there was, besides, one not so capable 
 of enduring the hardships of a flight,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 35 
 
 and such a flight as theirs, who claimed 
 their tenderest care. This was Alice, the 
 daughter of Lord Cobham. She was now 
 sixteen years of age, and admired as a 
 beauty. Separated from her father, she 
 required all the protection a brother 
 could afford, as her mother had but 
 recently paid the debt of nature. 
 
 Near the hospital of Saint Mary Roun- 
 cival, in the village of Charing, lived Sir 
 Thomas Venables, an opulent knight of 
 ancient family. He had been one of the 
 first to join the standard of Henry the 
 Fourth, when Richard was deposed, and 
 was accompanied on that occasion by his 
 friend Sir John Oldcastle. Their inti- 
 macy had lasted through many years; and 
 before those differences on matters of 
 religion, in which Lord Cobham acted so 
 distinguished a part, disturbed the public 
 tranquillity, it was proposed to form a 
 still closer union between the two fami- 
 lies, by the marriage of Edward Old- 
 castle with Matilda, the heiress of Sir 
 c 6
 
 86 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 Thomas. The project, a favourite one 
 with both the fathers, had this peculiarity 
 attached to it, that it was nothing repug- 
 nant to the wishes of those who were 
 still more deeply interested in the event. 
 Edward had been the companion of Ma- 
 tilda's infancy ; he became the friend of 
 her youth ; and the qualities of her heart, 
 and the accomplishments of which she 
 had possessed herself, would have con- 
 verted friendship to love, had her ripen- 
 ing years disclosed charms less dazzling 
 than those which met the enamoured eye 
 of the son of Lord Cobham. But when 
 the admirably perfect figure of Matilda 
 and her nobly animated countenance met 
 his view, he gave himself up to the most 
 rapturous contemplations. Her full, dark, 
 expressive eye indicated the resolution of 
 a man, while it beamed with that benevo- 
 lence which is the most captivating orna- 
 ment of woman ; and when she spoke, 
 the lover was only embarrassed to decide 
 which most charmed his senses, energy
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 37 
 
 or intelligence. Sir Thomas, though not 
 very remarkable for a sordid disposition, 
 found no small inducements in favour of 
 this marriage, in the riches, renown, and 
 high credit at court, which his old friend 
 enjoyed. The youth of the parties alone 
 delayed the celebration of the nuptials, 
 and this obstacle was considered to be 
 nearly removed, when the principles of 
 Lord Cobham first attracted the notice, 
 and the hostility of Arundel. The events 
 which followed, withdrew many of the 
 attractions which the intended union had 
 originally held out to the knight. That 
 which affected him more than all the rest, 
 was the horror which the heresies of the 
 father of his intended son-in-law had in- 
 spired. Those with whom the knight 
 was most intimate never ceased to de- 
 claim against the monstrous impiety of 
 Cobham, and their representations made 
 Sir Thomas shrink with unaffected dread 
 from the completion of those engage- 
 ments which it had previously been the 
 dearest object of his heart to form.
 
 38 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 Henry Chichely, then Bishop of St. 
 David's, a name celebrated in the annals 
 of the church, was one of the most par- 
 ticular friends of Sir Thomas. To him 
 the conduct of Cobham appeared so atro- 
 cious, that he frequently expressed aston- 
 ishment at the forbearance of the Most 
 High, in not selecting him as the instant 
 victim of divine wrath. He strengthened 
 the impressions which others had made ; 
 and Sir Thomas, though reluctant to in- 
 cur the suspicion of meanness from break- 
 ing with an old friend when overtaken 
 by distress, yielding to the arguments of 
 Chichely, at length made known his final 
 resolution, and that resolution was fatal 
 to the hopes of Edward Cobham. 
 
 But this was not sufficient for the 
 Bishop of St. David's. He suspected the 
 relenting character of Sir Thomas, and 
 wished to place him in such a situation, 
 that it should not be in his power to de- 
 part from that resolution to which he had 
 wrought him. While, therefore, he con- 
 tinued to descant on the iniquities of
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 39 
 
 Cobham and his son, he was eloquent in 
 praise of the virtues of another young 
 nobleman, whom he desired to see re- 
 ceived as the future husband of Matilda. 
 This was Octavius, the son of Earl Powis, 
 whom he represented to be endowed with 
 every personal advantage that favouring 
 Heaven could confer on a brave and 
 truly orthodox young soldier ; for the 
 person in whose favour he thus warmly 
 interested himself, was devoted to the 
 profession of arms. 
 
 Sir Thomas Venables had marked the 
 deep affliction of his daughter, when he 
 announced to her that she must no longer 
 regard young Cobham as her lover. He 
 pitied the distress of which he was the 
 cause, but wanted resolution to revoke 
 his late decision. He could think of no 
 means so likely to diminish the grief of 
 Matilda for the loss of one lover, as the 
 introduction of a new suitor. Nothing 
 could be more reasonable than this calcu- 
 lation ; and it can hardly be doubted that
 
 40 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 the knight's experience justified an idea 
 that the meditated experiment would 
 be attended with complete success. Be 
 this as it may, he listened with satisfac- 
 tion to the recommendations of Chichely, 
 and expressed himself content to receive 
 the young nobleman the Bishop had 
 mentioned. Lord Powis was speedily 
 informed of all that had passed, by the 
 Bishop ; and as his Lordship's affairs were 
 somewhat deranged, he was much rejoiced 
 at the idea of seeing his only son carry 
 the rich and beautiful heiress of Sir 
 Thomas Venables. A letter was soon 
 received, expressing the high pleasure 
 which he had derived from the commu- 
 nication made to him by Chichely, and 
 further stating, that Octavius, who was 
 preparing to accompany the armament 
 then understood to be fitting out against 
 France, would, before he sailed, have the 
 honour and the felicity of presenting him- 
 self to his intended mistress at Charing. 
 These tidings were conveyed to Ma- 
 ll
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 41 
 
 tiida. It was her aunt, the Lady Mary 
 Walworth, who was the bearer of them, 
 and who now, in compliance with the re- 
 quest of Sir Thomas, exhorted her to 
 dismiss all regret for the past, and to re- 
 joice in the new prospects of happiness 
 which opened to her view. 
 
 " Spare me, my aunt," was the reply of 
 Matilda ; <c spare me this cruel conso- 
 lation. I did understand it was my duty 
 to love Cobham, and God knows I yielded 
 willing obedience to the wishes of my 
 parent. But having done so, he — he 
 himself has put it out of my power to 
 obey him a second time." 
 
 " Your father," said the Lady Mary, 
 " told you to love the son of Lord Cob- 
 ham, because he was worthy of you. 
 When he ceased to be so, he in fact failed 
 in constancy to you, as in loyalty to his 
 King, and in duty to his God." 
 
 " You are deceived, — indeed you are, 
 good madam. I have known Edward 
 from his boyish days, and certain do I
 
 4£ THE LOLLARDS, 
 
 feel that all his thoughts have to me, 
 been open as my own. That he would 
 waver in his love I cannot credit ; and 
 for loyalty, full sure I am, a truer heart 
 no monarch can command. 1 know that 
 in religious matters he ever differed from 
 some churchmen ; but I think he only 
 did object, not to the creed, but to such 
 practices as went to throw discredit on 
 their preachings." 
 
 u Do you not see," the aunt replied, 
 " this is the subterfuge by which the 
 wily infidel seeks to approach the defences 
 of the church ; that affecting to reform, 
 he may gain the means of assailing the 
 sacred work of ages. Methinks your 
 shrewdness hardly can be wanting to pe- 
 netrate so poor a disguise." 
 
 " You little know the character of 
 Edward, if you believe that he would 
 wear disguise to me. It is not for a sim- 
 ple maiden to engage in the discussion of 
 abstruse questions which affect religion. 
 I have never heard from him opinions,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 13 
 
 but such as holiest fathers of the church 
 have sanctioned. Now, his crime, it 
 should appear, amounts but to this, — that 
 he is faithful to a parent's cause ; and 
 ought a parent, gentle aunt, to think 
 this quite unpardonable?" 
 
 Lady Mary discreetly evaded this ques- 
 tion, by saying, " If you have such un- 
 bounded reverence for filial obedience, 
 you will endeavour to serve the cause 
 you advocate by example. Your duty to 
 a parent requires you to think of Edward 
 no more." 
 
 Matilda looked sadly on the counte- 
 nance of her relation, as if soliciting more 
 consoling language. Then averting her 
 tearful eyes, she exclaimed, " And can 
 it be my duty to perform impossibilities? 
 Forget him I can never." 
 
 " That may be true. I do not ask 
 you to forget, but I would have you 
 to remember him as one who has for- 
 feited all claim to your regard. Hence- 
 forth let your thoughts rest on the son of
 
 44< THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 Earl Powis. He, the good Bishop of St. 
 David's has told me, is all that a young 
 nobleman ought to be." 
 
 " The Bishop is a very pious man ; but 
 his anxiety to serve a friend may make 
 him partial. I have heard before of this 
 same youth, and I have heard, that a wilder 
 student was never seen in Oxford. With 
 Edward he was there for some years, and 
 though from him I never heard dispara- 
 ging language of young Powis, yet has it 
 oft by accident transpired that he was 
 ever first in riotous folly — the daring 
 ringleader in every broil : but less dis- 
 tinguished in the paths of learning, and 
 no proficient in the various arts, in which 
 the world, reluctant still to praise, ac- 
 knowledge Edward Oldcastle to excel." 
 
 The aunt replied, by describing the 
 expected suitor to have relinquished all 
 the follies into which his vivacity had 
 hurried him at College. She could not 
 deny that he had committed some ex- 
 cesses, but she spoke eloquently in extenu-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 45 
 
 ation of them, Merry mischief in a 
 handsome young man, (which the son 
 of Earl Powis was said to be,) often ap- 
 pears very excusable to a widow of six 
 and thirty ; and such was Lady Mary 
 Walworth. She insisted that many who 
 were distinguished for their wildness in 
 youth, proved most excellent characters 
 in mature age. This doctrine was pecu- 
 liarly fashionable at that period, and refer- 
 ence was on every occasion made to the 
 highest authority, that of the King, whose 
 former and whose present conduct seem- 
 ed to establish the principle. Matilda, 
 like the majority of her sex, would per- 
 haps, have admitted that there was some 
 force in the arguments of her relation, if a 
 prepossession in favour of another had 
 not occupied her bosom. But that made 
 her deaf to all that could be advanced in 
 favour of the young nobleman, to whom 
 she was now required to transfer her af- 
 fections. Though she had been taught 
 to regard the bishop as a holy man,
 
 46 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 she had perceived that his conduct 
 was in some instances regulated by 
 worldly motives, and this led her to con- 
 clude, that his known hostility to Cob- 
 nam might prompt the praises he had 
 bestowed on Octavius, more than a sense 
 of his merits. Earl Powis was reported 
 to be a sordid man, and Matilda could 
 not help suspecting that this peculiarity 
 extended to his son. That such was the 
 case she could scarcely doubt, from the 
 readiness with which he lent himself to 
 the views of the Bishop and the Earl ; and 
 had Edward never been in existence, she 
 persuaded herself she could have had but 
 a slender chance of happiness with one 
 whose affections were so easily taught the 
 dutiful obedience, which she understood 
 him to yield to the wishes of a parent, 
 whose heart was fixed on the acres to 
 which she was heiress. 
 
 Such were the reflections of Matilda, 
 when left to herself. To the praises be- 
 stowed on the person of the expected
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 47 
 
 suitor, she was perfectly indifferent : but 
 the mind will occupy itself, when much 
 is heard of an individual, in sketching his 
 portrait. Matilda formed an ideal pic- 
 ture of young Powis, which presented 
 itself to her imagination whenever his 
 name was mentioned. She imaged a 
 young man with a countenance flushed 
 by excesses, and wearing an air of reck- 
 less effrontery, to disguise the avarice of 
 which he was the instrument and the 
 accomplice. Already she shrank from 
 the libertine gaze which she expected 
 would be fixed on her, the moment she 
 was compelled to endure his presence, 
 and receded from the offensive flattery, 
 or insolent boastings, with which she 
 doubted not her ears would be assailed, 
 while the rude stare of curiosity occa- 
 sionally gave place to a greedy glance at 
 the surrounding indications of wealth. 
 
 Thus did Matilda represent to herself 
 the man whom she was required to re- 
 ceive as her future husband. Each passing
 
 48 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 day was regretted, as having brought 
 nearer the dreaded hour at which she must 
 be introduced to the son of Earl Powis. 
 It arrived. One morning she was sum- 
 moned rather earlier than usual to the 
 breakfast table, and first Lady Mary, and 
 then Sir Thomas, came to announce that 
 the visitor they looked for had just made 
 his appearance at Charing, and to admo- 
 nish her as to her carriage on so impor- 
 tant an occasion. All that Matilda had 
 courage to offer in the shape of remon- 
 strance had previously been urged, and 
 silent tears conveyed her answer to the 
 unwelcome intelligence now communi- 
 cated. These she dried at the command 
 of her father, and was led, without speak- 
 ing, to the parlour, in which Octavius, 
 with the Bishop of St. David's, awaited her 
 approach. The former started as she en- 
 tered, and looked round to the bishop who 
 stood on his left, as acknowledging the 
 accuracy of the description he had re- 
 ceived of Matilda's beauty. He advanced
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 49 
 
 with an easy confidence, but with so 
 graceful an air of profound respect, that, 
 prejudiced as she certainly was, Ma- 
 tilda could not but feel that she had 
 wronged him. Though her eyes were 
 but seldom directed towards him, she 
 plainly saw that he Was little like what 
 she had expected to find the son of Earl 
 Powis. His features had scarcely re- 
 ceived the finishing stamp of manhood, 
 and were somewhat tanned from the jour- 
 ney which he had performed, or from the 
 field sports in which he was accustomed 
 to indulge. His beard, then regarded as 
 no unimportant appendage to a fine face, 
 had just become conspicuous, and was per- 
 fectly black, as were his bold eye-brows, 
 and the curling locks by which they were 
 surmounted. His eye, keen and piercing, 
 indicated courage without ferocity ; and 
 his unembarrassed deportment was very 
 remote from that rudeness and arrogance 
 which the heiress he was intended to woo, 
 had expected to detect among his most 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 prominent characteristics. In a word, his 
 whole appearance and deportment were 
 such, that Matilda felt they threw no 
 discredit on the praises which had been 
 lavished on his person and accomplish- 
 ments by Chichely ; and though far from 
 pleased to see him in the character which 
 he was to assume, she saw nothing but 
 what, under different circumstances, she 
 might easily have been taught to admire«
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 51 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 u I think you are happy in this second match, 
 •' For it excels your first." 
 
 Shakspeare. 
 
 Octavius was in high spirits, and the 
 pleasantries which he uttered while doing 
 justice to the hospitality of Sir Thomas, 
 convulsed the baronet, Lady Mary Wal- 
 worth, and even the bishop with laughter. 
 The baronet was delighted with his 
 soldier-like affability, which appeared 
 to Lady Mary decidedly preferable to 
 the complacent but somewhat reserved 
 deportment of Edward Oldcastle. The 
 bishop's eyes sparkled with ecstasy at 
 witnessing the noble bearing of the young 
 warrior, and the impression which he at 
 d % 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
 
 52 THE LOLLARDS 
 
 once perceived that it had made on all but 
 Matilda. Octavius ate heartily of the 
 poultry and venison, but indulged very 
 moderately in the wine, which Sir Tho- 
 mas pressed on him to complete his 
 breakfast. He was unremitting in his 
 attentions to Matilda ; but these were so 
 well timed, that she, however reluctant 
 to approve, could not feel them irksome. 
 
 The conversation turned on the ex- 
 pected war, and Octavius spoke with 
 animation of the gallant enterprize, in 
 which the King intended to engage. 
 
 " You speak," said the bishop, " as 
 well becomes a soldier, but I am grieved 
 to damp your generous hopes, by telling 
 you that even to this hour the King hath 
 not decided on a war, and there are those 
 within this realm of England who think, 
 at least who do profess to think, the 
 Salic Law, which France doth put in bar 
 to our King's rightful claim, derived from 
 his great grandmother Queen Isabella, 
 deserveth to be treated with respect."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 53 
 
 " Much do I wonder even France 
 herself, 5 ' Octavius answered, " in en- 
 lightened times like those in which we 
 live, can for a moment sanction such a 
 law, and hold it worthy reverence. 
 Frenchmen, till now, I still have under- 
 stood, in all affairs of gallantry, stand 
 hardly second even to Englishmen. How, 
 while they boast their love for woman- 
 kind, can they uphold that vain and bar- 
 barous law, that excludes those who most 
 deserve to rule, from the throne which 
 their charms would grace ? M 
 
 While he spoke, a glance of rapturous 
 admiration fell on Matilda. The bishop 
 remarked it, and smiled at the adroitness 
 which found the materials for a compli- 
 ment, in a speech like that which he had 
 made. He replied, — 
 
 " Indubitable as our monarch's right 
 is, we have among us those who question 
 it, and the late efforts at rebellion prove 
 too clearly, how desperately vile mal- 
 contents are bent on thwarting the 
 d 3
 
 54 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 King's views, and all the nation's hopes. of 
 glory. Our worthy host has had a sad 
 example of this, in one who formerly 
 was his friend. Need I add, I speak 
 of Oldcastle, now called Lord Cobham ? 
 
 " His was indeed, my Lord, a desperate 
 project, as I have heard it told. Was 
 his son thought to share in it?" 
 
 " Undoubtedly." 
 
 " Indeed ! — Poor Ned I" 
 
 These words were uttered with an air 
 of sympathy, that was not lost on Matilda, 
 The generous feeling which they seemed 
 to indicate, gave new interest to the 
 visitor. 
 
 "You speak of the young Lollard," 
 said Chichely, " as though you were 
 acquainted. Know you the traitorous 
 boy?" 
 
 " Too well, my Lord, did I know him, 
 when we were at Oxford, and, to say 
 truth, I liked him little." 
 
 How different were the sensations of 
 Matilda from those which had thrilled;
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 55 
 
 her heart but a moment before! She 
 now regarded Octavius as the mean tra- 
 ducer of the virtuous youth whom he had 
 affected to pity. The bishop, delighted 
 to hear anything that tended to lower 
 the Oldcastles in the estimation of Sir 
 Thomas, caught at the words just heard, 
 and anxious that nothing should remain 
 behind, which might be brought forward 
 to the prejudice of either father or son, 
 invited the young nobleman to proceed, 
 by saying, — 
 
 " The sorrow you have manifested for 
 having been companion to young Old- 
 castle, becomes you well ; and that you 
 never liked him proves how soon a pious 
 mind discriminates." 
 
 " My Lord, you praise me much too 
 highly. Small is the credit that I ought 
 to claim, for having evermore disliked 
 young Oldcastle." 
 
 " I comprehend you. What you would 
 say is this, that his depravity was even 
 then so glaring, that every one perceived, 
 d 4
 
 56 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 as you did, the ripe iniquity which 
 singled him from all his fellows." 
 
 jf Not I, by heaven !" cried Octavius, 
 turning quick upon the bishop — " I were 
 no man to tell such stories of an old 
 companion. Never did I hear his con- 
 duct questioned — never did I see any 
 act of his that called for censure — never 
 did I hear till now of aught connected 
 with his character, that I would not 
 gladly have reported of me." 
 
 Matilda hastily turned from the table, 
 to conceal the grateful emotion which 
 she could not repress. 
 
 The bishop was confounded by th$ 
 tone and language of Octavius, which 
 were so opposite to what he wished, and 
 had reason to expect. He, however, did 
 not give up the point, but endeavoured 
 to bring Octavius back to the charge, by 
 reminding him of what he had previously 
 advanced." 
 
 " But you said you knew this Oldcastle 
 too well, and that you ever did dislike 
 him."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 57 
 
 ** Aye, my Lord, did I. Too well I 
 knew him for my own ease and repu- 
 tation, and I had abundant cause for 
 disliking him ; for he was ever so sedate 
 and studious, that my irregularities 
 seemed all the worse from contrast with 
 his merit. He so excelled in all that 
 I neglected to acquire, that my ignorance 
 was ill at ease in presence of his learning, 
 nor could my graceless folly endure his 
 virtue." 
 
 Matilda endeavoured to appear com- 
 posed, but the inexpressible delight 
 which every word that fell from Octavius 
 afforded, made this a task of no common 
 difficulty. " How have I wronged this 
 generous, gallant heart !" was her mental 
 exclamation ; and could the bishop and 
 Sir Thomas have known the admiration 
 which the new suitor had already in- 
 spired, they would have judged the day 
 was not very remote, when Octavius 
 would triumph over the absent Edward, 
 d 5
 
 58 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " That virtue," said the bishop, with 
 some severity of tone, which was intended 
 to admonish Octavius that he ought not 
 to continue the strain of panegyric in 
 which he had indulged — "that virtue 
 of which you tell us, hath passed away 
 with no common rapidity. You do not 
 well to speak so warmly in a Lollard's 
 praise ^ nor is it prudent, I must add, 
 that, standing in your present situ- 
 ation, you thus exalt one fallen as he is, 
 and paint him so superior to yourself." 
 
 " I speak, my Lord, but that which 
 1 know, and only tell what once poor 
 Cobham was. If he in latter days has- 
 turned from that fair path he erst so 
 nobly trod, I meddle not with that, for 
 this simple and sufficient reason, it is to 
 me unknown. How I have acted in 
 this imprudently, I do not compre- 
 hend; but must with humility confess, I 
 never was expert at calculating con- 
 sequences." 
 
 Chichely endeavoured to smile, but it
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 5f) 
 
 was a reproving smile that sat on his stern 
 features, while he said, " You must, 
 methinks, be marvellously slow at calcu- 
 lation, if you can suppose that thus to 
 labour for your own disparagement, 
 would much advance your suit with that 
 high-born damsel. ,, 
 
 " Humbly I hope I have not offended 
 her ; but truth, my Lord, is truth. I 
 will not praise that fair one in her 
 presence, but surely he who aspired to 
 such a treasure could never reach it by 
 ignoble paths. I would not basely grovel 
 into favour. So, please your reverence, 
 I am fixed to take a far bolder course. 
 My Lord, and you Sir Thomas, shall 
 see me strive to climb above young 
 Cobham's level, but never seek to pull 
 him down to mine." 
 
 ** Demean not yourself by speaking 
 thus," cried the bishop, now taking the 
 undisguised language of reproof. " You 
 seem forgetful of the stripling's crimes, 
 and overlook the damning facts in proof 
 p 6
 
 60 THE LOLLARDS, 
 
 that he is believed to have rebelled 
 against his King, and sinned against 
 religion." 
 
 " My Lord, I understand that his 
 opinions in religious matters, are much 
 opposed to those our holy church has 
 long adopted. To me this seems an 
 error.'* 
 
 " An error ! — Why such lenient lan- 
 guage ? Our holy faith is part and par- 
 cel of the law, and he who dare erect 
 himself against it, rebels against his 
 sovereign." 
 
 " In some cases — " Octavius began. 
 
 M In any case," vociferated Chichely. 
 
 " From this, my Lord, with all humility 
 I differ. A subject's thoughts of heaven 
 I think his own. My body is my sov- 
 ereign's. Born in his land and nourished 
 on his soil, this person is of right devoted 
 to the service of its king. My soul is 
 native of another place ; it claims no 
 sustenance from this his land; and, there- 
 fore, I presume to think its situation
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 61 
 
 different. In fine, my Lord, I should say 
 it owes no duty but to Him who gave it 
 being, no homage but to Heaven's eternal 
 King," 
 
 " You claim too great a latitude, young 
 man. False liberality carries you away. 
 Such language from another would lead 
 me to suspect he favoured Lollardy. I 
 would not think the son of mine ancient 
 friend could be led away by the per- 
 nicious heresies of the times. " 
 
 " O no, my Lord ; I am no reformer 
 of the church. It is for holy and learned 
 men, like you, to determine what is the 
 true faith, and not for thoughtless idlers 
 to undertake the regulation of such mat- 
 ters. I have neither skill nor time, and 
 so am not furnished with an excuse for 
 doubting." 
 
 The bishop was proceeding to point 
 out the unsoundness of some of the 
 opinions which Octavius had seemed 
 to advocate, when he was interrupted 
 by the arrival of a messenger from Cam
 
 6<2 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 terbury ; who not finding Chichely at his 
 own residence, had been directed to seek 
 him at the house of* Sir Thomas Venables, 
 to deliver a letter, with which he was 
 charged, into the bishop's own hands. 
 To Chichely, the contents of the letter 
 were of such importance, that he thought 
 no more of correcting in his young friend 
 a disposition to favour Lollardy. The 
 letter announced, that the prior and 
 monks of the church of Canterbury had, 
 by the general suffrage of the whole body, 
 determined on requiring that he should 
 fill the archiepiscopal chair of that see, 
 which had become vacant by the death 
 of Arundel. This communication came 
 from an emissary of Chichely*s, who had 
 been stationed at Canterbury to obtain 
 the earliest possible intelligence of the 
 decision come to respecting the appoint- 
 ment cf a successor to the late archbishop. 
 Joy, but thinly disguised under the mask 
 of humility and professions of unwor- 
 thiness, sparkled in his eyes, and gave
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 6.9 
 
 his countenance a glow of unusual ani- 
 mation. His correspondent had further 
 informed him, that two monks were about 
 to be dispatched to London, to commu- 
 nicate the proceedings of the body to 
 which they belonged, in a formal and 
 official manner; and the bishop of St* 
 David's forthwith proceeded to take his 
 departure from Charing, that he might 
 be ready to receive them on their arrival. 
 He excused himself to the knight and 
 his family, for abruptly leaving them, and 
 received their congratulations with an air 
 of composure, while he declared the 
 wishes of the brotherhood could never 
 be carried into effect, for he, ^though 
 nothing averse to comply) seeing that he 
 was already bishop of St. David's, could 
 not be divorced from that see, but by the 
 special interference of the Pope j and he 
 affected to think it was little probable, 
 that the successor of St. Peter would 
 condescend so largely to interest himself 
 in what concerned so humble a son of the 
 church as Henry Chichely.
 
 &k THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 But those to whom he addressed him- 
 self doubted not but his translation would 
 be speedily effected, and Sir Thomas, if 
 anxious before to stand well with the 
 King's confessor, (for such was Chichely) 
 was not less disposed to gain the appro- 
 bation of the archbishop of Canterbury, 
 by giving his daughter to the son of Earl 
 Powis, who seemed to him in every re- 
 spect most eligible to become his son-in- 
 law. Both he and Lady Mary Walworth, 
 exulted beyond measure, at having found 
 so accomplished a youth to succeed Ed- 
 ward Oldcastle in the affections of Ma- 
 tilda. That he would speedily do so 
 they could not doubt, for they thought 
 they perceived that the hold which young 
 Oldcastle had had on her affections, was 
 loosened. To Lady Mary she spoke no 
 longer disparagingly of Octavius, nor 
 was she disposed to recall what she had 
 heard of his former excesses. The noble 
 frankness of his manner appeared, even 
 to Matilda, to atone for the errors it 
 acknowledged ; she listened to his praises
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 65 
 
 with pleasure ; and if but little disposed 
 to assist in carrying the wishes of Sir 
 Thomas into effect, the person recom- 
 mended to her love, completely suc- 
 ceeded in establishing himself in her 
 esteem.
 
 G6 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 " Observe this rule, one ill must cure another, 
 
 " As aconitum, a strong poison, brings 
 
 " A present cure against all serpents' stings." 
 
 Webster. 
 
 Jcjarl Powis was so much impoverished 
 by various circumstances, that he attached 
 the utmost importance to the resources 
 which he flattered himself would be 
 brought within his reach, by the union 
 of his son and the daughter of Sir Thomas 
 Venables. Octavius, before he left home, 
 understood this well, and was somewhat 
 reluctant to enter upon the journey, from 
 an apprehension, notwithstanding the 
 praises which he had heard lavished on 
 Matilda, that he should not find in her the 
 person he could desire to call his wife. 
 Having resigned himself to the wishes of
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 6j 
 
 his father, it was rapture to discover that 
 he could accomplish the object of the 
 Earl, without sacrificing his own hap- 
 piness. 
 
 Matilda was not blind to the merits of 
 Octavius. His manly accomplishments 
 appeared to her entitled to the praises 
 which she heard lavished on them ; but 
 what she admired most, was the unaffected 
 frankness and unobtrusive benevolence, 
 which various little incidents proved and 
 disclosed. Confident of his generosity, 
 she sometimes resolved on praying him 
 to consult her peace, by fixing his 
 affections on another. But her deli- 
 cacy shrunk from the avowal which 
 she wished to make, and as often as 
 an opportunity offered for communi- 
 cating the sentiments of her bosom, fear 
 and embarrassment made her dumb. She 
 consoled herself by reflecting that delay 
 was not very important. That, at all 
 events, the union so dreaded would not 
 be pressed on her till Octavius returned
 
 68 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 from the campaign, which was expected 
 shortly to commence ; and there was a 
 chance that he might return no more. 
 Death might arrest the youthful warrior 
 at the very opening of his career ; but 
 that was an event to which all her reso* 
 lutions of constancy to Edward were in- 
 capable of reconciling her mind. 
 
 An application was made to the Pope, 
 praying his sanction to the translation 
 of Chichely. A favourable answer was 
 returned. Chichely soon received the 
 holy pall, which was to " give him power 
 over bishops, to enable him to call sy* 
 nods, and confer sacred duties." This 
 ceremony was performed with great pomp 
 in the King's palace at Sutton ; and the 
 revenues of the see were next conferred 
 on him by the favour of the crown, on 
 his redeeming the half year's rent, which 
 had fallen to the Exchequer, by a pay* 
 ment of six hundred marks. 
 
 The patriots of those days had attempt- 
 ed, in various ways, to call the attention
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 69 
 
 of the crown to the abuses of the church. 
 Many who expressed the most pious ab- 
 horrence of the crime of Lollardy, and the 
 most constitutional hostility to " Wick- 
 liffe learning," had contrived to direct 
 the attention of Henry to the immense 
 wealth enjoyed by the clergy. All the 
 influence of the new archbishop was ex- 
 erted to counteract these public spirited 
 persons, and no more effectual way of 
 saving the property of the church sug- 
 gested itself, than an appeal to the mar- 
 tial character of Henry in favour of a 
 war with France. Chichely therefore 
 in council, raised his voice most decidedly 
 in favour of enforcing the claim of Henry 
 to the crown of that kingdom, and backed 
 his arguments with the offer of a liberal 
 grant from the clergy. Eloquence so 
 persuasive was not to be withstood. The 
 archbishop triumphed, and the French 
 ambassadors, who had been sent to Eng- 
 land with a view of adjusting the matters 
 in dispute between the two monarchs by
 
 70 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 negotiation, were dismissed, with an inti- 
 mation that Henry would compel com- 
 pliance with the demands which he had 
 urged, by invading France with a power- 
 ful army. 
 
 Joy sparkled in the eyes of Octavius 
 when it was announced to him by the 
 archbishop, that the formidable warlike 
 preparations which had been thought ne- 
 cessary, had not been made in vain ; and 
 that before, the close of the ensuing 
 month, it was probable that English war- 
 riors would again be seen in the territories 
 of the King of France. Chichely was 
 delighted at witnessing the ardour of the 
 young soldier \ and he warmly expressed 
 his satisfaction. 
 
 " Right glad am I," he said, " to find that 
 the son of my old friend inherits so much 
 of the spirit of his ancestors. Just ground 
 is there for exultation, that his highness 
 is at length resolved to vindicate his hon- 
 our, and compel the dishonest French to 
 render unto him his just inheritance* 
 12
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 71 
 
 That he has come to this decision, and is 
 enabled to carry into effect his wise pur- 
 pose, is mainly owing to the good council 
 and liberal aid which he has received 
 from the bishops and clergy, whom im- 
 pious men have wished him to despoil." 
 
 " In this," Octavius remarked, " all 
 the land shall confess that they have dis- 
 played a spirit worthy of men who claim 
 to stand pre-eminent." 
 
 " My son ! my son ! the times in which 
 we live require that holy men should act 
 with more than customary vigour, and 
 the world shall see that I at least will not 
 disgrace the high situation to which I 
 have been called, by timidly shrinking 
 from the duty. The disorders which 
 have lately occurred may all be imputed 
 to the heresies of WicklifTe. As yet, none 
 have dared to meet the evil as it ought to 
 be met. New measures shall be tried." 
 
 He spoke with an air of stern resolution. 
 Octavius was surprised at the fiery zeal 
 which he remarked, and ventured to en-
 
 7- THE LOLLARDSi 
 
 quire the character of those measures 
 which the archbishop desired to see adopt- 
 ed ; and Chichely, speaking with the 
 same animation which he had previously 
 displayed* announced it to be his inten- 
 tion to propose, that the reading of the 
 Scriptures in English, should be punished 
 by forfeiture of land, cattle, and goods ; 
 and that those who might so offend 
 a second time, should be held liable to be 
 first hanged for treason against the King, 
 and then burned for heresy to God. 
 
 The soldier started at the measureless 
 severity of the law which Chichely con- 
 templated, and replied with some emotion: 
 
 " I know, my Lord, full well, that it is 
 not your habit to sport ; yet I cannot per- 
 suade myself that you, upon mature deli- 
 beration, have resolved to raise your 
 voice in favour of a law that seems so 
 harshly to punish those who, if they 
 offend, do so in error, not in malice." 
 
 This opposition recalled to Chichely 
 the language which had moved his dis*
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 73 
 
 pleasure, when Octavius first arrived at 
 Charing. He was equally surprised and 
 indignant at what Octavius had now ad- 
 vanced, and with a scrutinizing look he 
 reproved it. 
 
 " And seems it then to you so light a 
 matter, that wicked men should plot 
 against the church, and strip it of those 
 funds which have for ages been wisely 
 applied to its support ? Is it from you — 
 from you, whom I would cherish as though 
 you were the son of my own loins, that my 
 outraged senses must hear such impiety 
 defended ?" 
 
 " Trust me, most reverend Lord, you 
 have not heard aright. Such acts I have 
 not defended. I but designed to say, that 
 less appalling punishments than those you 
 mentioned, might fitly be resorted to 
 against such men as offend the law, by 
 merely reading the Bible in the English 
 tongue." 
 
 " By merely reading !*' the archbishop 
 retorted — " by merely reading the Bible 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 74 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 in the English tongue ! Who hath per- 
 verted thy unsteady youth, and made 
 thee so familiar with depravity, that thou 
 can'st think on such a crime as this with 
 calmness ; nay, even with indulgence ? 
 That which thou regardest as of such 
 trifling import, seemeth to those, whom 
 many years of study have given some 
 insight into spiritual matters, most fatal 
 to the interests of the true faith. " 
 
 " My ignorance is much surprised I 
 own, to learn that the Englishing of those 
 holy writings which I evermore have 
 been taught to view as pregnant with 
 divine instruction and nourishing truths, 
 should be considered a crime of such 
 appalling magnitude." 
 
 " Youth," replied Chichely, " it seem- 
 eth passing strange that you should have 
 to learn that the sacred mysteries, of 
 which the fathers of the church are the 
 appointed guardians, must not be pro- 
 faned by being disclosed to vulgar eyes. 
 Should rudeness dare to lift your mis-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 7-5 
 
 tress's veil, your wrath would strike the 
 offender dead. Would you, then, deal 
 more mildly with the sacrilegious hand 
 which exposes those stores of sacred 
 knowledge confided to the keeping of 
 the clergy ?" 
 
 " May I presume to ask, why the Re- 
 velation, if not intended to be made 
 known to mankind at large, was made 
 at all ?" 
 
 " Peace, young man," said the arch- 
 bishop. " The enquiry is profane. As 
 well might you ask why the tree of know- 
 ledge was permitted to flourish in the 
 garden of Eden, seeing our first parents 
 were denied to eat thereof." 
 
 " Some evils would, perhaps, arise 
 from the misconceptions of the igno- 
 rant, were translations sanctioned ; but 
 might not a counterbalancing good be 
 derived from the diffusion of knowledge 
 which this would promote ?" 
 
 " Assuredly not. The Scriptures, in 
 the hands of the vulgar, might be made 
 e %
 
 76 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 an engine of infinite mischief. Since 
 copies of the translation made by the 
 heretic Wickliffe have got among the 
 people, behold how turbulent they have 
 grown." 
 
 Octavius scrupled not to oppose 
 the opinions of the archbishop with 
 his accustomed intrepidity. He re- 
 minded him that if rebellions had 
 been attempted since the works of Wick- 
 lifTe had become popular, they were not 
 the first insurrectionary efforts recorded 
 in our history ; and consequently it was 
 not proved that they really sprang from 
 that which Chichely was disposed to re- 
 gard as their source. Such language 
 subjected him to new reproofs from the 
 zealous churchman 5 and the soldier, 
 though not convinced by his arguments, 
 felt embarrassed how to answer some of 
 them, without advocating the principles 
 contended for by the Lollards. This he 
 was little disposed to do. He had not 
 given so much attention to religious
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 77 
 
 matters as to feel great horror for the 
 errors and alledged impieties of those 
 who were then the objects of persecution ; 
 but the severities to which they were 
 exposed, were sufficient to induce a 
 youth of his careless, unreflecting cha- 
 racter, to take it for granted that there 
 must be something bad in their tenets or 
 practices, to call forth that deadly hos- 
 tility which he saw arrayed against them. 
 This feeling caused him to give up the 
 contest, and the archbishop, gratified with 
 what he regarded as the triumph of his elo- 
 quence, soon relaxed from the harsh tone 
 he had assumed, to converse on matters 
 connected with the prospect of glory 
 which the war about to commence opened 
 to youthful ambition. 
 
 While thus engaged, Matilda entered, 
 and the archbishop smiling most gra- 
 ciously, enquired if she had a scarf ready 
 to bestow on the warrior who was about 
 to go forth as her knight. On her replying 
 that she had not made such preparation, he 
 e 3
 
 78 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 remarked that she would do well to set her- 
 self about it strait, as her hero would very 
 shortly find himself in the field of glory; 
 but trusting that Octavius would plead 
 better for himself than a man of his 
 years could do for him, he would leave 
 him to try his fortune alone. 
 
 Chichely retired, and Matilda remained 
 with Octavius. She felt alarmed at the 
 tranquil manner in which the archbishop 
 had assumed that she, as a matter of 
 course, must regard the son of Earl 
 Powis as her knight ; and the hint which 
 had been given to the young soldier to 
 press his suit, added to her embarrassment. 
 
 Octavius wanted no greater encou- 
 ragement than that which he had 
 received from his reverend friend, to 
 apply himself in earnest to obtain some 
 mark of Matilda's favour, before he took 
 his departure. This he solicited w r ith a 
 degree of eager anxiety for which she 
 was not prepared, and which, at once 
 respectful and energetic, compelled atten-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 79 
 
 tion. The manly frankness of his lan- 
 guage and deportment was not lost upon 
 Matilda, and she felt real pain at the idea 
 of giving an answer that would be fatal 
 to his peace. Though much disposed to 
 seize this opportunity for making the 
 disclosure which she had contemplated, 
 Matilda could not summon sufficient 
 resolution to execute her purpose. She 
 endeavoured to get rid of the subject 
 for the present, by expressing disappro- 
 bation of the practice which had obtained, 
 of calling on females to give their sanc- 
 tion to war, and employing them to in- 
 spire in the soldier, about to go forth to 
 battle, a keener appetite for bloodshed. 
 
 " That war is too often necessary," 
 said she, " I do not deny ; nor would I 
 withhold the meed of gratitude due to 
 the defender of his country. But 1 shud- 
 der at the idea of a human being glowing 
 with impatience to be engaged in destroy- 
 ing his fellows. That you, in all else 
 gentle and humane, should sigh for car- 
 e 4
 
 80 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 nage, calling it glory, excites my as- 
 tonishment." 
 
 " Lady, methinks you are too critical/' 
 replied Octavius. " The warrior has 
 ever been considered to tread the path of 
 glory. I cannot control the opinions of 
 the rest of mankind. I must take the 
 world as I find it, and seek to make my- 
 self valued in it, by acting in conformity 
 with the ideas of my fellow men. Were 
 there a peaceful path to glory pointed out 
 to me, I will confess, I much fear that 
 my temperament would not be best fitted 
 to tread it ; so all hail, glorious war ! 
 Yet frown not on me, while I avow my 
 weakness. I much mistake myself if I 
 am that ferocious being, your gentleness 
 would picture every soldier. It was but 
 now that I fell under the displeasure of 
 my Lord Bisliop, for speaking too warmly 
 against that shedding of blood, which he, 
 though a man of peace, considers neces- 
 sary for the well-being of the state." 
 
 " Indeed ! — What blood can he desire 
 to shed ?"
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 81 
 
 *< It is that of the Lollards that he 
 would pour forth ; and methinks, the 
 law which he meditates, is especially 
 aimed at the destruction of the unfortu- 
 nate Cobham. He may, possibly, have 
 offended much ; yet I cannot help feeling 
 sincere grief that such calamity should 
 fall to his share ; nor see I that the crime 
 imputed to him is one that bears so deep 
 a dye, as fitly to call down the punishment 
 of death." 
 
 " No more do L Methinks the sins 
 of thought were better left to the punish- 
 ment of Him who sees all hearts, and who, 
 when his laws are insulted, heeds not the 
 feeble arm of man to aid his vengeance." 
 
 " Even this," said Octavius, " did L 
 tell to the archbishop, but he rebuked 
 me as profane. Still, though my ever- 
 lasting hope depended on it, I cannot 
 choose but sorrow for Lord Cobham." 
 
 c « And for his son ?" 
 
 ** Aye, lady, from my heart j and much 
 k 5
 
 82 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 I wish that it were mine to bear him 
 comfort." 
 
 " Would you now — let me put a case 
 to you, — " said Matilda; " would you 
 adventure on a perilous journey to do 
 him service?" 
 
 " By Heaven, I would go to Palestine 
 to do it." 
 
 " You need not journey quite so far, 
 for 1 do know that he is now in England. 
 But distant is the place, and dangerous 
 the road ; and, peradventure, I should not 
 do well to suffer you to encounter such 
 perils as would beset you in your jour- 
 ney, if I besought you to carry him that 
 solace which, it may be, a friend of his 
 would be able to supply." 
 
 " I do entreat you let this task be 
 mine. Ah ! lovely one ! how doth this 
 gentle pity become that beauteous coun- 
 tenance !" 
 
 " Nay, cease this language now," 
 cried Matilda hastily ; " I would show
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 83 
 
 you that it is misplaced. I could wish to 
 tell you what much concerns you ; — in 
 a word, — " she added, in a tremulous 
 voice, " I would implore you — ■ — " 
 
 She paused. Octavius listened with 
 astonishment ; but Matilda was silent. 
 
 The voice of Sir Thomas was heard in 
 the next apartment. She made a sign 
 for Octavius not to pursue the subject. 
 He understood her, and was anxious to 
 start a new topic, but none suggested 
 itself. Looking towards the window, 
 the cross erected by the first King 
 Edward, in honour of his deceased 
 Queen, which then formed the most con- 
 spicuous ornament at Charing, met his 
 eye, and relieved him from the embar- 
 rassment. 
 
 " Though you, Matilda, approve not 
 the warrior's calling, such has not been 
 the feeling of illustrious arid amiable 
 females in other days. Yonder pile 
 attests that the consort of Edward was 
 so far from experiencing all that 
 e 6
 
 84 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 repugnance which military labours in- 
 spire in you, that that famous princess 
 trod the tented field with her husband, 
 anxious to participate in the dangers of" 
 war/' 
 
 " The duty of the wife, might carry 
 the intrepid Eleanor to scenes which the 
 feelings of the woman inclined her to 
 abhor ; and I must not suffer you to 
 wrong her memory, by considering 
 the monument which perpetuates an 
 effort of devoted affection, as proving 
 a sanguinary love of bloodshed." 
 
 Sir Thomas did not appear, but he was 
 heard engaged in conversation with the 
 archbishop, who appeared to be taking 
 his departure. Expecting every mo- 
 ment that he would join them, Matilda, 
 in reverting to the subject nearest to her 
 heart, could only say, — 
 
 " I will not express at this time what 
 I wished to confide to you. By two of the 
 clock this afternoon I am to ride with 
 my father, I commonly go forth a short
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 85 
 
 time before him. My palfrey will pass 
 through yonder shady lane," and she 
 pointed to the way, which has now long 
 been known as a thickly-inhabited street 
 — Saint Martin's Lane. "Thence by Lord 
 Fitzosborne's villa, near Thicket fields, 
 on to the Oxford road. Should you be 
 able to join me before I am overtaken by 
 my father, I will unfold to you the means 
 by which you may, in some degree, ad- 
 minister to the unfortunate Edward Old- 
 castle. But to accomplish this, it will 
 be needful that you should, on some pre- 
 text, claim absence for a week. Should 
 I be denied the opportunity of speaking 
 with you, I will be prepared with that 
 which shall teach you whither you should 
 journey." 
 
 " Depend on me, lady. Your bene- 
 volence shall not be balked for lack of a 
 trusty and expeditious messenger. I shall 
 not fail to find a seemly excuse ; and my 
 horse, trained as he has been to forced 
 marches, shall soon reach any part of this
 
 86 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 island, to which your bidding may direct 
 his master. Never trust me, fair one, if 
 the very idea of comforting Ned Old- 
 castle will not save me from all sense of 
 fatigue." 
 
 Sir Thomas entered, and the conversa- 
 tion was dropped.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 87 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 " His ready smile a parent's warmth express'd, 
 " Their welfare pleas'd him, and their cares 
 " distress'd." 
 
 Goldsmith. 
 
 When Lord Cobham fled to Wales, his 
 son and daughter, who were left behind 
 for reasons already stated, retired from 
 the capital, and sought a retreat remote 
 from those parts in which they had been 
 accustomed to reside. They went to 
 Lutterworth, in Leicestershire ; to which 
 place they were invited by a friend of the 
 family, Mr. Whittington, brother to the 
 celebrated Sir Richard, who, possessed 
 of a competency, and being like his 
 friend, Lord Cobham, enamoured of the 
 works of WicklhTe, had taken up his
 
 88 THE L0LLA11DS. 
 
 abode at Lutterworth, for the satisfaction 
 of being near the spot where the bones of 
 that celebrated man reposed. 
 
 Here, sheltered from the pitiless storm 
 which persecution had raised, their 
 hours glided away not free from sorrow, 
 but cheered with hope, the gay com- 
 panion of youth. Taught resignation by 
 the precepts and example of their revered 
 father, they endeavoured to bow with 
 submission to the visitations of Provi- 
 dence; and if regret, when memory told 
 of the gay visions which were passed, 
 sometimes disturbed their bosoms, no 
 murmur ever escaped their lips. 
 
 One evening towards the decline of 
 the year, seated with their host after 
 supper, at his request, Edward indulged 
 him with the dear prohibited delight of 
 hearing a few chapters read from the 
 Scriptures. Lord Cobham had obtained 
 a copy of WicklifFe's translation, from 
 WicklhTe himself. This was considered 
 by him of greater value than all he
 
 THE L0LLA11DS. 89 
 
 possessed in the world beside. Edward 
 had made a copy from that which 
 belonged to his father, and he had ex- 
 ecuted it with such persevering care 
 and exquisite ability, that it was a perfect 
 fac-simile of the original. It was, indeed, 
 so like, that to guard against its ever 
 being forgotten which had actually come 
 from the venerable translator's hands, 
 a mark had been put on the rude iron 
 edged binding, which had been supplied 
 to protect it from injury. Edward, in 
 compliance with the wish of Mr. Whit- 
 tington, was engaged in reading the 
 first chapter of the third gospel, and was 
 proceeding with the following verses : — 
 
 " And it bifel that whanne Zacarye 
 schould do the office of presthod in the 
 ordir of his course to fore God. 
 
 " After the custom of the presthod, he 
 wente forth by lot, and entride into the 
 temple to encensen. 
 
 " And al the multitude of the pupel 
 was without forth, and preyede in the 
 our of encensying.
 
 90 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " And an aungel of the Lord apperide 
 to him, and stood on the right half of the 
 auter of encense." 
 
 " Me thought," said Edward, offering 
 to close the book, " that I heard a 
 knocking without." 
 
 " No," cried Mr. Whittington, — " no 
 such noise have I heard. Close not thy 
 book, but proceed." 
 
 Edward complied. 
 
 " And Zacarye seying was af "rayed : 
 and drede fel upon him. 
 
 "And the aungel sayde to him, Zacarye 
 drede thou not." 
 
 Here a loud knocking was heard. 
 Alarmed lest the spies, whom he had but 
 too much reason to believe followed his 
 steps, had discovered his retreat and the 
 manner in which he was occupied, he 
 hastily shut the volume, and removing a 
 pannel in the wainscot which disclosed a 
 small closet prepared by himself, and 
 appropriated to the reception of this 
 valued book, he there deposited it with
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 91 
 
 all expedition. Mr. Whittington shared 
 the apprehensions of his guest, for the 
 knocking was at the back part of the 
 house, to which, for safety, he had been 
 accustomed to retire, whenever he medi- 
 tated a violation of the law, by reading 
 the Bible. In the fear of the moment 
 he could not but tremble for the heavy 
 penalties which might fall on him. He 
 had set his heart on a higher treasure 
 than the earth contains, yet he could not 
 but contemplate with pain the probable 
 forfeiture of all his worldly goods. 
 
 Endeavouring to conceal his emotion, 
 he demanded in an authoritative tone, 
 who it was that disturbed his family so 
 long after the usual hour of retiring to 
 rest, it being then nine o'clock. 
 
 He was answered in an unknown voice, 
 with the words which Edward had last 
 read, 
 
 « Drede thou not." 
 
 It was now quite plain that whoever 
 the party without might be, the reading
 
 92 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 had been overheard. Edward and Mr. 
 Whittington exchanged looks of surprise 
 and uneasiness, when the voice was 
 again heard. 
 
 " Drede thou not, for they preier is 
 herd." 
 
 Their apprehension, though not their 
 surprise, was somewhat diminished by 
 this. The stranger, in continuing the 
 verse, had proved that he possessed an 
 intimate knowledge of the prohibited 
 work, which was hardly to be expected 
 in one who came as an enemy. 
 
 " What wantest thou ?" demanded 
 Whittington. 
 
 " Y am sent to thee, to speke and to 
 evangelise to thee," was the reply ; the 
 stranger still continuing to quote from 
 that chapter of the English translation of 
 the Testament, which Edward had been 
 reading. He added — "I am a friend 
 to thee, and to thy house ; therefore, 
 admit me strait." 
 
 The master of the house looked doubt- 
 11
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 93 
 
 fully at Edward, as if wishing to have 
 counsel from him on the step proper to 
 be taken in this emergency. He felt 
 that if the person without was a legal 
 enemy, he exposed himself to no new 
 danger, by admitting him, the cause of 
 his alarm having been deposited already 
 in what he considered a place of secure 
 concealment. 
 
 Determined by this reflection he 
 advanced to the door, and cautiously 
 opened it. The person with whom he 
 had conversed immediately entered. It 
 was a man who appeared rather advanced 
 in years. He was of tall stature, but 
 his habitual stoop so reduced his height, 
 that at first sight he would not have 
 been pronounced above the middle size ; 
 his habit was spare, and the sallow hue 
 of his countenance, combined with an air 
 of studious observation, told that much 
 of his life had been passed in labours of 
 a sedentary character. His eyes were 
 grey, and rather sunken, but they
 
 94 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 glistened with more than common in- 
 telligence. His nose, which inclined to 
 the aquiline, communicated a sharpness 
 to his countenance, rather at variance 
 with the mildness and humility, which 
 the rest of his features expressed; and his 
 beard, fast turning grey, was suffered to 
 grow on his upper lip, and from the 
 centre of the chin, was brought down 
 to a point. His manner was dignified 
 and unembarrassed, but those whom he 
 had disturbed, looked in vain for that 
 insolent importance, which was then, as 
 it is now, the distinguishing characteristic 
 of underlings in office, one of whom they 
 had expected to appear. He advanced 
 with an assured step towards the master 
 of the house, and proceeded to accost 
 those whose wondering regards were fixed 
 on him with breathless astonishment. 
 
 " Friend Whittington, I greet ye well. 
 Your name, and that of your brother Sir 
 Richard, have long been familiar to my 
 ear. I rejoice to learn that you have
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 95 
 
 happily gained that good part which 
 shall not be taken from you. For you," 
 he continued, addressing himself to 
 Edward, " I feel, as I trust a man should 
 feel, for the son of his dear friend, and 
 brother in the faith; and for thee, ,, (look- 
 ing at Alice,) "thou tenderer bough of 
 the same tree, I do flatter myself that 
 mine shall be the joy to aid the kind hand 
 of thy protector here, in sheltering thee 
 from those enemies who would pursue 
 even unto the death, thy gallant father 
 and his guiltless race." 
 
 Universal surprise sat on every coun- 
 tenance. Benevolence was in the looks 
 as well as in the words of the stranger ; 
 yet believing themselves to be surrounded 
 by spies, they doubted whether to con- 
 sider what they heard as the language of 
 friendship and sincerity, or that of hosti- 
 lity and fraud. Whittington replied : 
 
 " Albeit 1 have never seen thee before, 
 I would fain regard thee as being what 
 thou seemest. Yet must I add, and
 
 96 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 trust me, much I sorrow to confess it, the 
 times in which we live produce so much 
 iniquity, that I am embarrassed whether 
 to decide that thou comest in friendship, 
 or to regard thee as the foe of truth, a 
 traitor, and a spy." 
 
 " I lament that such suspicions should 
 be but too well justified, by the mournful 
 facts which have within my own ex- 
 perience fallen out. But thou shalt know 
 that I am not the man who would prac- 
 tise to harm thee." 
 
 " Yet that you come at this untimely 
 hour, and in such manner too, not by 
 the common road, but by the garden, to 
 the most retired part of my dwelling, is 
 more like the serpent who would secretly 
 glide where he could not openly gain 
 admittance, than the friend who seeks 
 an honest, open welcome." 
 
 " But even this which I have done," 
 said the unknown, " and which * excites 
 thy distrust, I have performed to the end 
 that thou shouldest have no doubt of my
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 97 
 
 real errand hither. I have shown that 
 I know how and where to seek thee. 
 More will I do, and prove that if I were 
 a spy, I should not lack the power to do 
 thee harm. I heard the youth read the 
 Scripture, and I now will show him and 
 thee where the treasure is concealed." 
 
 With these words he advanced to the 
 closet, in which Edward had bestowed 
 the manuscript, opened it, and displayed 
 the book to the astonished group around 
 him. 
 
 The stranger started with unaffected 
 surprise. He gazed on the book which 
 he had snatched from its place of con- 
 cealment ; turned over its pages, then 
 pressed it to his lips, in an ecstasy of joy. 
 
 " Trust me," said he, " I am amazed. 
 I had heard much of thy skill," he 
 continued, addressing himself to Ed- 
 ward ; "for though 1 never saw thee be- 
 fore, I need not ask thy name, I read it 
 in thy face ; much, I say, 1 have heard of 
 thy talent, as a transcriber of the sacred 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 98 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 writings j but I believed not such per- 
 fection attainable as that which I now 
 witness. Here I behold the hand-writing 
 of the immortal Wickliffe, so faithfully 
 copied, that I, well skilled as I am in all 
 that his grace-directed pen left behind, 
 can scarcely believe that this precious 
 produce of thy industry is thine indeed, 
 so wondrous like I find it to the revered 
 original." 
 
 The perplexity into which the stranger 
 had previously thrown the inmates of the 
 house to which he had introduced him- 
 self, was not a little augmented by the 
 intimate knowledge both of them and of 
 their habits, which it was manifest he 
 possessed. The suavity of his speech, 
 and the frankness of his manner, were 
 well calculated to disarm suspicion 5 but 
 the terror which he had caused when he 
 first made known his approach, was not 
 wholly dissipated, and each feared to 
 answer with that confidence which he in- 
 vited, lest some unwary admission should
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 99 
 
 escape, of which advantage might be 
 taken. He understood their confusion, 
 and hastened to relieve them from the 
 painful suspense in which they had been 
 plunged. 
 
 <c I see," he remarked, " that my pre- 
 sence and my conduct, which must seem 
 passing strange, have created some alarm. 
 Yet thus have I acted to spare you ground- 
 less apprehension. My friend, Lord Cob- 
 ham, directed me so to approach, and so to 
 act, that I might prove myself at once 
 his bosom friend. He supplied me 
 with the information, which has enabled 
 me thus to surprise. Doubt ye still ? 
 Behold his letter — see the plan traced 
 out, by following which I have thus come 
 upon ye; and let this paper assure ye that I 
 am the friend he taught you to expect 
 would shortly be on his way from Bo- 
 hemia." 
 
 " John Huss !" exclaimed Edward and 
 Mr. Whittington, in the same moment, 
 with equal transport and astonishment. 
 F 2
 
 100 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " Such, indeed," replied the Bohemian, 
 " is my unworthy name." 
 
 " Most welcome are you here ; most 
 blessed am I of Heaven," said the master 
 of the house, " to see so bold a champion 
 in the cause of truth beneath my humble 
 roof." 
 
 " And truly," said Edward, " it gives 
 my heart unwonted joy to see the friend 
 of my father, so much earlier than he 
 had taught us to expect you would be 
 likely to reach England." 
 
 '« Verily," said Huss, " in this the 
 hand of Providence is seen working good 
 out of evil. Not so soon could I have 
 hastened to the succour of my persecuted 
 friend, had not my enemies prevailed 
 against me for a season, and suspended 
 my pastoral labours in my own country. 
 Their brief triumph has enabled me to 
 execute a design long since formed, and 
 long fondly cherished in vain ; that of 
 visiting the hallowed sepulchre of Wick- 
 lifTe ; not in the way of a vain pilgrimage
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 101 
 
 as weak idolaters hie them to that cun- 
 ningly devised toy, the crucifix, called 
 the Rood of Grace, to see the doll which 
 is profanely made to represent the Re- 
 deemer, open and shut its eyes ; nor as 
 others, to go to the shrines of Thomas 
 d Becket f and Darvel Gatherin ; but for 
 the holier purpose of striving to collect 
 such writings as were left by that good 
 man, which have not yet been added to 
 my spiritual wealth." 
 
 Willingly did Edward and Mr. Whit- 
 tington assure the Bohemian Reformer, 
 that their assistance in the search should 
 not be wanting. He thanked them for 
 their proffered aid, and cheerfully par- 
 took of the refreshments which were 
 promptly set before him. Thus engaged, 
 his attention again rested on Alice. He 
 gazed on her with admiration ; but it was 
 not the delicate and transparent fairness 
 of her countenance, nor the flaxen ring- 
 lets which graced her brow, that claimed 
 attention. It was the air of holy re- 
 f 3
 
 102 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 signation which, while it spoke Alice 
 content under severe privation, proved 
 her heart the seat of pious hope, and told 
 that mild ohedience and gentle love were 
 inmates there. 
 
 " And why, blue-eyed one," said he, 
 " shrink you from a stranger ? Is it thy 
 maiden bashfulness that would retire from 
 the view of thy father's friend, or does 
 sorrow prey on thee, and subdue those 
 bounding spirits, which in other days, as 
 I have heard, made the walls of Cowling 
 Castle resound with mirth? — By mirth I 
 mean, not that idle and boisterous folly 
 which usually bears the name, but the 
 rational gaiety, which, springing from a 
 guiltless heart, and emanating from gra- 
 titude for acknowledged benefits, is at 
 once the offspring of innocence, and the 
 essence of religion." 
 
 Alice replied, " I fully share the joy 
 which your presence has inspired ; but I 
 need scarcely say that a simple maiden is 
 ill prepared to hold conversation in pre-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 103 
 
 sence of a teacher so learned ; and, there- 
 fore, I am silent from dread, that speaking 
 I should but expose mine ignorance, and 
 give offence." 
 
 " Methinks, thy bashfulness doth go 
 too far. I would not woo thee to a for- 
 mal disquisition; for, truth to tell, I never 
 wished to find a skilful doctor in a wo- 
 man's coif. But I do hope your converse 
 shall enliven many an hour. Thou art, 
 peradventure, aware my coming here is 
 in part to fulfil a promise made to thy 
 father, to bear thee to Bohemia, and there 
 adopt thee as my own daughter. Though 
 kindness here has afforded an asylum from 
 which want is excluded, it cannot give 
 that security from the enemies of thy 
 brave father which thou mayest find 
 with me." 
 
 Alice expressed gratitude, but felt pain 
 at the idea of leaving her native country, 
 and of being so widely separated from 
 her father. Whittington regretted the 
 proposed removal of Alice, but was con- 
 f 4<
 
 10* THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 soled by the hope that superior protection 
 would be hers with John Huss, from the 
 great influence which he had acquired 
 over his countrymen. 
 
 The Bohemian did not confine his pro- 
 posal to Alice, but wished her brother to 
 accompany him also. This, he hinted 
 rather mysteriously, was for a purpose 
 which he was not at liberty then to ex- 
 plain, but one in which Edward himself 
 was largely interested. The young man 
 objected to leave England while his father 
 was in such perilous circumstances ; but 
 assured by Huss that what he contem- 
 plated might prove of essential service 
 to the Lord Cobham, and would probably 
 detain him but a short time on the Conti- 
 nent, Edward offered no farther oppo- 
 sition. It was agreed, subject to the de- 
 cision of his father, that he should accom- 
 pany Alice to Bohemia. To obtain Lord 
 Cobham's consent, Huss desired to be 
 conducted to him without delay ; and 
 proposed setting out for the place where
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 105 
 
 Edward had stated his father to be 
 concealed, on the next morning. This 
 was objected to, as travelling by day 
 might expose them to be watched and 
 tracked ; but Edward declared himself 
 ready to set forward on the following 
 night. Huss approved of his caution, 
 and Mr. Whittington undertook to have 
 two horses saddled for them, by the time 
 at which it was proposed that they should 
 depart. 
 
 f o
 
 106 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 " There are old men yet dwelling in the village 
 where I remain, which have noted three things to 
 be marvellously altered within their sound remem- 
 brance. One is the multitude of chimnies lately 
 erected ; whereas, in their young days, there were 
 not above two or three, if so many, in most upland- 
 ish towns of the realm ; (the religious houses and 
 manor places of their lords always excepted, and, 
 peradventure, some great personage) ; but each 
 made his fire against a reredosse in the hall, where 
 he dined and dressed his meat.'' 
 
 HOLLINGSHED. 
 
 The promised visit of John Huss, was 
 that to which Edward had long looked 
 forward with impatient hope. His vast 
 importance in Bohemia, and the reverence 
 with which his name was always men- 
 tioned in England, as a successful labourer 
 in the cause of reform, so far as the
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 10? 
 
 church was concerned, inclined Edward 
 to regard it as a felicity to have beheld 
 that far-famed man. To see his sister 
 placed under the powerful protection of 
 the Bohemian pastor, was that which he 
 could most desire, »s, while it ensured her, 
 as he doubted not it would, perfect safety 
 and comfort, it would relieve the friendly 
 Whittington from a charge which he had 
 already borne for a considerable period ; 
 and still more, from the risk to which his 
 kindness exposed him, by arraying against 
 him the fierce and exasperated enemies 
 of Lord Cobham. But when he reflected 
 that yielding his consent, he must be so 
 far removed from his father, that in no 
 emergency could his assistance be calcu- 
 lated upon, and cut off from all inter- 
 course with his English friends, except by 
 letter, (in those days a very tedious, 
 doubtful, and dangerous mode of com- 
 munication,) his heart was torn with no 
 common pang. 
 
 It ought to be added, that anxiety for 
 f 6
 
 103 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 his father and his friends, was not the 
 only feeling that disturbed him. His 
 thoughts were never long absent from 
 Matilda. Though calamity had thrown 
 him to such a vast distance from the ob- 
 ject of his love, that he could aspire to 
 her hand no more; though the most flat- 
 tering day dream in which a youthful 
 heart might indulge, could hardly suggest 
 a possibility of regaining the envious 
 height from which he had fallen, yet it 
 seemed an aggravation of affliction, before 
 sufficiently great, that he should now be 
 doomed no longer to breathe the same 
 air, and tread the same soil with the mis- 
 tress of his affections. In England, de- 
 nied the happy triumph which he had 
 thought his own, — forbidden to claim 
 that hand to which he was formerly in- 
 vited to aspire, — though the object on 
 which his best affections had long been 
 irrevocably fixed was no more permitted 
 to avow that* he still retained her love, 
 favouring circumstances might enable her
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 109 
 
 to assure him that he was still regarded 
 as entitled to her pity and esteem. This, 
 if but little to what he had once en- 
 joyed, was in the lover's fond ima- 
 gination of such importance, that he 
 could not easily conceive any advantages 
 to be gained by a visit to Bohemia, that 
 would compensate for the sacrifice which 
 he must make to obtain and secure them. 
 Huss rose early in the morning, and 
 appeared refreshed in body and in mind. 
 The day was wet and chilly, and, in con- 
 sequence, a fire was lighted. It was made 
 of wood and coals, which were supplied 
 from time to time with the aid of an 
 enormous pair of tongs, or tangs, as they 
 were then called, and which were occa- 
 sionally made to perform the office of a 
 poker. The wood and coals were not 
 deposited in a grate or stove, such articles 
 not being then in use, but laid on the 
 hearth. Whittington thought it necessary 
 to offer something like an apology for al- 
 lowing of the introduction of so erTemi-
 
 110 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 nate a piece of luxury, as a chimney 
 was thought to be by the admirers of 
 old English habits, at the commencement 
 of the fifteenth century. 
 • " It may be, learned sir," he began, 
 " that you suspect, because I admit into 
 common use the fire-place, which some do 
 think ridiculous refinement, that I give 
 into all the affected follies which mark 
 the sparksome gallants of this inglorious 
 age. In that you will do me wrong. I 
 like not their fantastic ways. I still dine at 
 the good old fashioned hour often, that I 
 may have wherewithal to sustain my frame 
 through the day ; while others think it 
 a most goodly and polished thing not to 
 eat their dinner till high noon, when half 
 their toil is over, and others even put it 
 off an hour beyond ; so that workmen, 
 and people of the common sort, now ac- 
 tually dine before their masters and those 
 of superior condition, which no man ever 
 could have thought he should live to see. 
 You find not in my house a gay display
 
 THE LOLLARDS. Ill 
 
 of splendid pewter platters, as some 
 have ; — hollowed too, they say is now 
 fast becoming the mode, so that that off 
 which men eat, in some sort resembles 
 the cups from which they drink. I still 
 adhere to the treene> nor think my meat 
 retains its proper flavour, but when I eat 
 it from the wood; and for my beds, your- 
 self can testify, you have not found a pil- 
 low stuffed with feathers, which some 
 voluptuaries claim to revel on, but a true 
 log of honest English oak, on which the 
 head that is sound within, I know, prefers 
 to rest." 
 
 " Your fare," said Huss, " is hospita- 
 ble, is good, and is not chargeable with 
 the phantasies which you justly con- 
 demn. " 
 
 " But for the chimney," Whittington 
 returned, " since I became advanced in 
 years, I have been afflicted with an 
 asthma, and ill endure the fumes of 
 smoke, which, albeit some say it re- 
 moves many complaints and maladies, is
 
 112 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 no good doctor for a cough, and there- 
 fore, I indulge me in the luxury of a 
 chimney as you remark, by means of 
 which I breathe so much more at my ease, 
 that, trust me, I should not vastly be sur- 
 prised, though you may smile at the idea, 
 ii\ (in the course of years I mean,) 
 they should become common in the 
 houses of aged men, affected as I am." 
 
 " I much incline to think," replied the 
 Bohemian, " they would be found com- 
 forting to all who are so affected; but 
 rich as this famed isle is said to be, its 
 wealth must be enormously increased ere 
 that can come to pass, — ere all who 
 suffer from catarrhs or asthmas can find 
 the means of indulging in such splendid 
 convenience." 
 
 The conversation was interrupted by 
 the introduction of breakfast. A flaggon 
 of wine was placed near John Huss, a 
 quart of home-brewed ale by the master 
 of the house ; a bowl of milk occupied 
 the centre of the table ; and a cup or
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 113 
 
 horn was placed for each person to help 
 himself to that which he preferred to 
 drink. Brown bread was supplied, and salt 
 fish, and part of a chine of beef, boiled, 
 completed the preparations for the morn- 
 ing's repast. 
 
 " This land of England," said the Bo- 
 hemian, " is renowned abroad for its 
 good cheer, and most especially for its 
 fat oxen ; and, truth to say, the sample 
 now before me proves that such praise is 
 not unwisely given." 
 
 " Alas !" said Whittington, with a sigh, 
 " England, 1 fear, will never be again 
 what England has been. Time was, in- 
 deed, our lands were fitly cultivated, and 
 English beef would cause the foreigner 
 to marvel : but grieved am I to say, in 
 latter years we have degenerated." 
 
 " This surpriseth me. To what can 
 you ascribe this falling off?" 
 
 " To vanity. We grow too proud to 
 imitate our wise progenitors. In good 
 King Edward's reign, the peasant dared 
 not to think of rearing his son, but to
 
 114 THE LOLLARDS, 
 
 that industry to which himself was bred. 
 Thus we had ever labourers in abun- 
 dance; but now, our saucy clowns must 
 make their youth more potent than 
 themselves, and every now and then, for- 
 sooth, we find the ploughman's son has 
 left his father's cot, to come back some 
 day, and make the village stare at the 
 spruce lorimer # or upstart fletcher."t 
 
 " Was not this," enquired Huss, "for- 
 merly the case ? It seemeth but natural 
 that man should labour to advance his 
 offspring, and addicted as the English are 
 to commerce, it doth not move my won- 
 der that enterprises like those of which 
 you speak, should frequently be made in 
 this land of freedom." 
 
 " Such licentiousness," returned the 
 English patriot, " hath not always been 
 permitted, nor hath it now the sanction 
 of our laws. But sad is the truth which 1 
 must speak, the laws are not enforced (save 
 those which favour the abominations of 
 the church) with sufficient vigour. Eight 
 * Saddler. f Arrow-maker.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 115 
 
 or nine years since, a show was made 
 of reviving the old statute, and it was 
 re-enacted, ' that no man or woman, 
 of whatsoever state or condition they 
 might be, should put their son or daugh- 
 ter,' (I repeat to you the very words of the 
 said statute,) 'of whatsoever age he or she 
 may be, to serve as an apprentice to no 
 craft or labour, within any city or bo- 
 rough within the realm, unless they have 
 rent or land to the value of twenty 
 shillings at the least.' " 
 
 " And what was the penalty accruing 
 on the violation of this law ?" 
 
 " Parents of this sort were ordained to 
 such labours as the estates did require, 
 upon pain of one year's imprisonment, 
 and to make fine and ransom at the 
 King's will." 
 
 " I much question if a law like that 
 would contribute to the public weal." 
 
 " A wise, discreet, and thoughtful man 
 as thou art, need not be told ' the pud- 
 ding's proof isf bund in the eating thereof.'
 
 116 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 Now to the proof, I do remember when 
 this law was young, that is, perhaps, some 
 forty years ago, and this I can avouch, 
 that much benefit thence arose, and long 
 it was not ere such abundance was pro- 
 duced, that that same statute which did 
 pass to keep the prices of provisions 
 down, as they should not too largely 
 drain the subjects of this kingdom, was 
 wholly set at nought." 
 
 The Bohemian, though not much in 
 the habit of giving his attention to mat- 
 ters of political economy, felt his curiosity 
 excited to learn the effect of laws like 
 those which Whittington had described, 
 and the question which this prompted, re- 
 ceived an answer setting forth, that in the 
 reign of Edward the Second, it being 
 then a time of grievous famine, the par- 
 liament declared the highest prices at 
 which provisions might lawfully be sold. 
 The best stalled ox might not cost more 
 than forty-eight shillings ; a fat wether 
 with the wool on, five shillings ; or shorn,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 117 
 
 three shillings and sixpence halfpenny 
 might be demanded ; a fat hog, fit to be 
 made into bacon, might be sold for ten 
 shillings. 
 
 These prices Huss regarded as enor- 
 mous, and such as could only be thought 
 of in time of famine. No nation on the 
 face of the earth (so it appeared to him), 
 could endure such extravagant charges 
 in ordinary times, and for a long con- 
 tinuance. 
 
 " I grant you," Whittington replied, 
 " that this law was passed in time of fa- 
 mine; but take you with it this, that these 
 same prices were fixed to be a maximum, 
 as that more should not be demanded; to 
 the which, from naming them, methinks 
 it is most clear, that those who made that 
 statute did look forward. But mark the 
 result which in the following reign did 
 presently ensue, from that famed statute, 
 which put down, and with a potent arm, 
 the restless fancy for unseemly chang- 
 ing, which led the sower or the cattle-
 
 118 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 tender, though he received not one 
 shilling rent, to send his boy to learn the 
 weaver's art, or pick up the cordwainer's 
 trade, expecting he in time would sure 
 become — in what mad hopes vain mor- 
 tals do indulge ! — a wealthy cobbler." # 
 
 " But what," said Huss, who began to 
 think his host more than sufficiently 
 diffuse, " what was the effect produced 
 by this same law ?" 
 
 " You mind me well of what I wish to 
 mention — Labourers being plentiful, an 
 ox might be purchased for fourteen shil- 
 lings, — a sheep for two and ten pence, 
 all unshorn ; a hog for four and sixpence ; 
 and wheat and oats were also then so 
 
 * " Cordwai?ie?s. — This fraternity was incorpo- 
 rated by letters patent of Henry the Fourth, Anno 
 14-10, by the name of Cord l waine?s and Cobblers , 
 the latter whereof at that time was no despicable 
 epithet as at present ; for the genuine meaning 
 thereof then was, that it not only signified a shoe- 
 maker, but likewise a seller or dealer in shoes, for it 
 does not appear that the word shoemaker was then 
 in use.*' 
 
 Maitland.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 119 
 
 cheap, that none of the impoverishment 
 at present seen was visible, and labourers 
 paid two-pence by the day, or two-pence 
 halfpenny as sometimes chanced, might 
 live in comfort and abundance. Now 
 things are different j and a sheep unshorn 
 will cost you what was Edward's famine 
 price, and for the chine of which we 
 have partaken, I pay no less than fifteen 
 pence the stone." 
 
 " Such," remarked the Bohemian, 
 " are the sad and ever-varying changes 
 of this transient being, doubtless intended 
 to exercise our patience." 
 
 " From that, though still I must defer 
 to you, 1 feel disposed to differ. To me 
 it is not clear that Providence ordain? 
 the wrongs done by man. Much of 
 what we endure is caused by the taxes 
 which are imposed, beneath which the 
 people of England must groan till by some 
 means the rapacity of the churchmen 
 shall be abated. The King should 
 resume the grants which his ancestors
 
 120 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 have unwisely made to the clergy ; thus 
 might he replenish his coffers, and yet 
 spare his people." 
 
 " But can he do so according to law ?" 
 " Assuredly his highness may. His 
 father did before him ; and if those grants 
 which have been made to the injury of 
 his estate, be not recalled or suspended, 
 the nation's ruin must speedily ensue, for 
 it can in no wise be borne. Largely in- 
 debted as the crown is at this present, 
 you cannot but be marvellously as- 
 tonished that total ruin has not already 
 fallen on this entire realm, when I men- 
 tion, — you scarcely will believe the fact, 
 but lie I will not — that the King of 
 England, — so I may say the land of 
 England, oweth no less than — I know 
 it will surpass all credence — a hundred 
 thousand pounds !" 
 
 The surprise of Huss at hearing that 
 
 England could sustain a national debt of 
 
 such vast magnitude, was as great as 
 
 Whittington expected it would prove. 
 
 11
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 121 
 
 The latter went on : — " This evil must 
 find a remedy, or this great land will fall 
 to utter decay. Our sovereign must be 
 manfully reminded of his duty by his 
 Commons. We should tell him (for 1 
 am forced, as peradventure you have 
 heard, to be one of the Commons body,) 
 as we did King Richard, ' we have a con- 
 stitution, and it was not many ages since 
 experienced, that if the king, through any 
 evil council or weak obstinacy or con- 
 tempt of his people, shall alienate himself 
 from them, and refuse to govern by the 
 laws and statutes of the realm, according 
 to the laudable ordinances and their 
 faithful advice, but will throw himself 
 into wild designs, and stubbornly exer- 
 cise his own singular and arbitrary will ; 
 that from that time it shall be lawful for 
 his people to depose that king from his 
 throne !' " 
 
 " And used you such language as this 
 to your rightful king ?" 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 122 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " Aye, by my holy dame did we, and 
 it brought the king from a froward 
 turn to a better temper, so that he did 
 grant our petitions, and soon, behold, the 
 Bishop Arundel — then of Ely — became 
 Lord Chancellor instead of the Earl of 
 Suffolk." 
 
 By this time breakfast was over, and 
 Whittington, engaged as he had been in 
 conversation, was surprised to find that 
 notwithstanding it was nearly seven 
 o'clock, he was still seated at the table. 
 He now gave directions to have the next 
 and most important meal of the day 
 ready between ten and eleven, remarking 
 by the way, " when four hours be past 
 after breakfast, then a man may safely 
 taste his dinner." 
 
 Whittington took the Bohemian Re- 
 former to the dwellings of several of his 
 friends, whose opinions in matters of faith 
 coincided with those of WicklifFe ; and 
 from these Huss obtained certain tracts
 
 THE LOLLARDS 123 
 
 written by that distinguished man, which 
 he regarded as invaluable. 
 
 Edward, in the mean time, was occupied 
 in making preparations for their jour- 
 ney. It did not then enter into the 
 calculation of a man who was about to 
 move to a considerable distance from his 
 home, that the comforts he might re- 
 quire could be abundantly supplied by 
 the inns he must pass in his road. A 
 flaggon of ale, and permission to recline 
 on a settle, or at best a straw pallet, with 
 a coverlid of dogswaine or hopharlots, 
 (coarse substances of the rug kind,) 
 were all that could be expected. For 
 himself Edward required but little ac- 
 comodation, and the plain and simple 
 habits of the Bohemian, called for no 
 extensive arrangements. All then was 
 ready for their departure, before five 
 o'clock, the hour of supper in Mr. 
 Whittington's family. At that meal 
 Mrs. Wbittington, who had been at 
 Leicester when Huss arrived, presided. 
 g 2
 
 124 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 When it was ended, after a short time 
 given to devotional exercises, Huss and 
 Edward, by desire of their host, sought a 
 few hours repose. They arose about nine 
 o'clock, and their horses were led forth. 
 The night was favourable for persons 
 wishing to escape recognition \ the gloom 
 was most profound, and the perfect 
 silence that prevailed, satisfied the Bohe- 
 mian and his friends that their motions 
 were unobserved, and that all who might 
 have been disposed to notice them at an 
 earlier hour, were buried in sleep. 
 
 The parting words of affection were 
 soon exchanged, and the last embrace 
 given. The hopes expressed for the 
 happy accomplishment of their expedi- 
 tion, were not unmingled with apprehen- 
 sion, and Alice, while eagerly availing 
 herself of the opportunity which it pre- 
 sented, of sending her fond regards to 
 her father, shuddered at the thought 
 that it was perhaps for the last time that 
 she gazed on her brother. Edward
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 125 
 
 hastened to terminate this scene, and 
 affecting an air of indifference, expressed 
 joy at finding the night so dark and dry, 
 and urged his horse forward at a round 
 trot, closely followed by the Bohemian. 
 
 G 3
 
 126 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 " It was the manner in those days that the 
 murtherer onely, and he that gave the death's 
 wound should flye, and he was called in Wales a 
 Llawrudd, which is a Red- hand, because he had 
 blooded his hand." 
 
 '< They had their alliance, partisans, and friends 
 in all the countreys round thereabouts, to whome, 
 as the manner of the time was, they sent such of 
 their followers as committed murther or man- 
 slaughter, which were safely kept as very precious 
 Jewells." 
 
 Wynne's Life of the Gvoedir Family. 
 
 The road was dreary, and the journey 
 fatiguing, but Huss, despising bodily pain, 
 rode cheerfully on, rejoicing in the hope 
 of soon seeing his ancient friend. Agree- 
 ably to the plan laid down at Lutterfbrth, 
 they advanced with all the speed of 
 which their horses were capable during
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 127 
 
 the hours of darkness, and courted repose 
 through the greater part of the day. 
 Edward was frequently lost in me- 
 lancholyabstraction, which his companion 
 failed not to observe. He applied him- 
 self to dissipate the gloom that over- 
 hung the spirits of the young man, 
 sometimes by arguing on the folly of 
 suffering the cares of life to produce 
 despondency, and sometimes by quoting 
 and commenting on the passages of 
 Scripture best calculated to administer 
 consolation to a troubled bosom. 
 
 This he conceived to be his duty. He 
 hoped the spiritual considerations which 
 he pressed on his friend would not be 
 useless, but he had seen enough of the 
 world, to know that there were objects 
 vastly inferior indeed to the subjects 
 of his meditations, which were still 
 so alluring, that the remote prospect 
 of gaining them might best assist in 
 tranquillizing the mind which calamity 
 had disturbed. Under this impression 
 g 4
 
 128 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 he again declared it to be his confident 
 belief that once arrived, he could speedily 
 point out a way by which Edward might 
 raise himself above the difficulties to 
 which, from the loss of fortune, he was at 
 present exposed ; and he conjured him 
 not to deny himself the solace of that 
 joy, which the hope of finding himself in 
 a condition to help those who were 
 dear to him, might reasonably inspire. 
 
 It was on the fifth day after their 
 departure that they found themselves at 
 twilight, on the margin of the Dee, and 
 nearly opposite the ancient city of Ches- 
 ter. The retreat to which Lord Cobham 
 had fled, was situated near Holywell, 
 and though the road to it was circuitous 
 and intricate, the travellers hoped to 
 greet him before the opening of a new 
 morrow. They were leaving the hovel 
 in which they had reposed since the 
 morning, and Huss had already mounted 
 his horse, when the attention of Edward 
 was arrested by the appearance of a short
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 129 
 
 thickset man, who had sought the same 
 resting place, and who had not before 
 challenged particular observation. There 
 was an expression of settled ferocity in 
 his countenance, which the gloom of the 
 evening seemed to aggravate rather than 
 to veil, and while the eyes of Edward 
 were involuntarily rivetted on this un- 
 expected apparition, though little accus- 
 tomed to such impressions, he felt as if 
 the gaze of a demon had rested on him in 
 return. 
 
 Advancing with an air of reckless in- 
 difference, the being who had so strongly 
 attracted observation came almost close 
 to him and accosted him. 
 
 " Well ! — have you looked your fill ? 
 I suppose you are now satisfied that you 
 shall know me again, when next we 
 chance to meet.' 1. 
 
 The harsh tone in which these words 
 
 were spoken, astonished Edward as much 
 
 as the words themselves. Though his 
 
 attention had been occupied, and his 
 
 G 5
 
 ISO THE LOLLARDS, 
 
 looks fixed, he knew not why, on the 
 ruffianly individual who stood before 
 him, he was unconscious that there was 
 anything in his manner, which the most 
 cautious prudence, anxious to avoid 
 giving offence, would have schooled, or 
 endeavoured to repress. Confused at 
 finding that the feelings inspired in his 
 bosom had transpired, although he had 
 abstained from speaking, he was em- 
 barrassed what answer to give, and irreso- 
 lute how to act, he continued silent. 
 
 " Have you scanned me sufficiently 
 yet ?" demanded the stranger, with in- 
 creasing impetuosity. 
 
 u You speak," said Edward, " like one 
 who has been injured. I meant not to 
 disturb you, and hoped at least that I 
 might look towards the place where you 
 stood, without offence." 
 
 " At least you thought you might do 
 it without fear of resentment. Doubt- 
 less you expected to frown me into no- 
 thing, believing that the scorn your inso-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 131 
 
 lent presumption dared to wear, when 
 first we met, might be continued with 
 impunity." 
 
 " I know not," replied Edward, " of 
 what sins against decorum and humility 
 I might have been charged at the period 
 to which you refer, for it lives not in my 
 memory; neither have I any knowledge 
 of the fact that we have met before." 
 
 " Indeed ! — Is mine that common- 
 place countenance, that it can be seen 
 and not remembered? Till now, I did 
 believe a wolf might as well seek to hide 
 from the pursuing shepherd, by mingling 
 with the flock he lives to prey upon, as 
 that the Llawrudd of Ap Griffith's man- 
 sion, could mix among the rest of human 
 kind with chance of passing for a com- 
 mon clown. Such dissembling will not 
 do with me. Or treachery or fear leads 
 you to this. I knew the moment that 
 your lowering eye had fallen on me, that 
 you had recognized the Red-hand, whom, 
 when younger and more honest, you ever 
 g 6
 
 132 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 spurned with undisguised scorn, as 
 though some grovelling toad had crossed 
 your path, whose venom you did loathe, 
 while you despised his weakness." 
 
 " With whatever feelings I might once 
 behold you, I knew you not now, nor 
 was it in my thoughts, either to court 
 your alliance, or to pursue your crimes. 
 If unfavourable remembrances of you 
 recur to my mind, it is yourself have 
 revived them. This matters not. We 
 are not needful to each other. Choose 
 you your way, and I by seeking mine, 
 will prove, at least, to your contentment 
 that I desire not to dog your steps, and 
 seek out your retreat." 
 
 " Rightly you judge that were no 
 pleasant sport, if life retains its value in 
 your eye. How well my dagger sped 
 among the Kyffins, you heard while re- 
 siding with Ap Griffith ; and it is natural 
 for you to guess, I wear my weapon 
 still." 
 
 ." It boots not thus to talk. I sought
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 133 
 
 you not — I knew you not, till yourself 
 disclosed your quality ; and knowing 
 you, I seek no further converse with a 
 wretch who stabs for hire.'* 
 
 " Why, take your course, or tell me 
 ere you go, as once you ventured to 
 declare, that the very mark of Cain is set 
 upon me. If stabbing be my calling, 'tis 
 a trade I need not blush to own in times 
 like these. Where mobs of stabbers pil- 
 lage and destroy under the orders of 
 some royal bravo, they are called heroes. 
 I am myself an army, and if they are not 
 misnamed, may claim to be called hero 
 as well as any of them. ,, 
 
 " Be it so. I care not what you call 
 yourself or what name others may be- 
 stow upon you ; 'tis sufficient that I 
 know what you are ; and now, without 
 more speech, am well content that we 
 should part for ever." 
 
 " That," replied the Laurudd, "will an- 
 swer well the purpose of one of us ; but 
 it may possibly chance that I shall not be
 
 134 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 that one. You might have made me 
 yours ; — my steel could have found out 
 your deadliest foe." 
 
 " I want not its aid," said Edward, 
 " in any quarrel of mine." 
 
 " Ere long, perhaps, you may confess 
 its power, and wish, too late, the hand 
 that grasps it battled on your side." 
 
 " Begone. — Your braggart tongue 
 compels resentment, and enforces me to 
 tell you, that this insolence continued, 
 not even your boasted dagger may prove 
 sufficient to protect its wretched owner. 
 Put me further to the proof, and you 
 shall find that though slow to threaten, 
 I wear an arm capable of making a 
 bolder, braver villain bite the dust, than 
 ever wore your doublet." 
 
 The menacing tone in which these 
 words were uttered, rather abated the 
 daring of the outlaw. He paused for 
 some moments before he spoke, and at 
 length murmured, — 
 
 m Why, this is well. — Dog should not
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 135 
 
 prey on dog ; but if it must be so, con- 
 tent. I did think that you, whatever was 
 once your foolish pride, might now have 
 better understood life's chances, than 
 thus to shrink with childish abhorrence 
 from the fraternity of an outlaw. A 
 price, indeed, is put on Roderick's head, 
 but one still higher has been set on some 
 to whom he has become a neighbour. A 
 time may yet arrive, when even a Red- 
 hand will not be despised as the ally of 
 justice." 
 
 Edward made no reply. He turned 
 to Huss, who had gone forward a short 
 distance, but on finding him detained 
 by the ruffian, had returned time enough 
 to hear the latter part of their conversa- 
 tion. Both were alarmed at the last words 
 which had fallen from the Red-hand, as 
 they seemed but too distinctly to indicate 
 that he knew, or at least suspected, Cob- 
 ham to be concealed in that neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 " Truly it is a melancholy thing,"
 
 136 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 said Huss, " that one so bland, and so 
 accomplished as my ancient friend, your 
 brave father, should have no better re- 
 source than hiding among such rude and 
 uncivilized beings, as all those appear 
 whom I have seen since we have been on 
 the borders of Wales. Trust me, I 
 scarcely can persuade my reason, that they 
 belong to the same race which I have 
 lately beheld in other parts. How mighty 
 the difference between the aspect of this 
 fierce-looking marauder, with his un- 
 masked face, uncombed hair, untrimmed 
 beard, slouched bonnet, soiled doublet, 
 and worn-out sandals, from the gay gal- 
 lants I did see in London as I passed 
 through, with beards so nicely fashioned 
 and perfumed, and hats so elegantly 
 turned up in fronts with hair combed 
 down over their foreheads, as if they 
 desired to hide from all the world the 
 part which received the sign of the 
 cross in their baptism. Then see what 
 noble cloaks they wear \ and then the
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 137 
 
 gorgeous boots with beaks that almost 
 reach up to the knee, and are fastened 
 thereto with a silver chain." 
 
 <5 The contrast must astonish. How 
 would they gaze in London, could this 
 same fellow in his present gear, be drop- 
 ped among these studiers of fashions 
 some gay day, when they fill the walks 
 of Paul's." 
 
 " But," said Huss, "I understood not 
 well how this strange man became known 
 to you." 
 
 Edward explained. On a visit at the 
 Castle of Owen ap Griffith, who had 
 been one of his father's friends in the 
 day of his prosperity, he had seen the 
 ruffian with whom they had just parted. 
 Having distinguished himself by assas- 
 sinating several Kyffins, who were at 
 variance with the clan of the Trevors, he 
 was sent by the latter to Ap Griffith, that 
 residing near him, he might be secure 
 from the vengeance of the Kyffins. To 
 afford a shelter to such persons, was then
 
 138 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 but a common act of courtesy, which the 
 head of one family thought it no degra- 
 dation to solicit of another, and the mur- 
 derer so received, it was common to 
 treat as a personage of some impor- 
 tance. Thus Roderick was honoured 
 with great consideration, while in the 
 Castle of the Ap Griffiths. Presuming 
 on this, he had been disposed to put 
 himself on a familiar footing with Ed- 
 ward, who at once disdainfully repulsed 
 him, and left the residence of Ap Grif- 
 fith, indignant at having been exposed 
 to the advances of one of the Red-hands' 
 calling. 
 
 The friends journeyed on, and having 
 passed to the left of Flint Castle, they 
 again turned towards the Dee. The river 
 had overflowed its usual limits, and Ed- 
 ward found that the path he had purposed 
 taking, was almost wholly concealed by 
 water. This occasioned them much em- 
 barrassment and loss of time, and the 
 night was far advanced, before the trav-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 139 
 
 ellers found themselves in a situation 
 favourable to their hopes. Having passed 
 the dreary causeway, they explored the 
 windings of a narrow road, which the 
 rains that had lately fallen had made a 
 perfect swamp, and emerging from this 
 they ascended a rising ground, where 
 the harder soil enabled them to proceed 
 with more celerity. As they approached 
 the highest point, the moon, then in the 
 wane, rose pale and lustreless, shedding a 
 dim ray on the scenes around, and ena- 
 bling them to discern in the distance, the 
 bold outline of the mountainous country 
 before them. 
 
 But an object of greater interest caught 
 the view of Edward. He perceived a tree 
 which grew on the summit of a hill, 
 steep, but of moderate elevation, and 
 surmounted by a small cottage, in which 
 Lord Cobham had taken up his abode. 
 
 " At length, my honoured friend," 
 said he, " 1 may congratulate you — " 
 
 He started, for he thought that he
 
 140 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 heard the step of a pedestrian. The same 
 sound had more than once struck on his 
 ear before. He looked round, and the whole 
 of the lane was then so far illuminated 
 by the increasing light of the moon, that 
 he was satisfied his alarm was groundless. 
 
 " I congratulate you," said he, "for 
 now with delight I behold the spot 
 where terminates our journey — the spot 
 where — " 
 
 Here he perceived the shadow of a man 
 by the side of his own, and was certain 
 that he was watched. He had sufficient 
 command of himself not to turn on the 
 instant, but perceiving that the lurker 
 was listening, he continued his speech in 
 the hope of misleading him. 
 
 " The spot," he resumed, in a louder 
 tone, " where the well of Holy St. 
 Winifred for ever flows, to cool with its 
 pure and grateful waters the parched 
 mouth of the devout pilgrim, and to re- 
 store health to the afflicted, who believe 
 in the miraculous virtue of the saint."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 141 
 
 cc Verily," Huss rejoined, " you speak 
 with unseemly admiration of this said 
 Winifred and her spring. As soon should 
 I have thought to hear you tell of the 
 virtues of the holy blood at Hales, to 
 which, (although as I am well-informed 
 the body of a duck from time to time 
 supplies it), so many pious Christians send 
 a groat each year, who would not give a 
 single mite to cheer a dying brother, still 
 pretending their incomes are too small, 
 and their estate too lowly to bear such 
 charges." 
 
 This speech was not that which Edward 
 could have wished to hear at that moment, 
 tending, as it did, to counteract the im- 
 pression which it had been his object to 
 make on the listener. But he was 
 still more annoyed, as the Bohemian 
 proceeded : 
 
 " It was my hope when you began to 
 speak, that you were on the point of 
 saying, you even then could point my
 
 142 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 longing eye to where Lord Cobham so- 
 journs. For that same well, which lying 
 legends have made famous — " 
 
 " That holy well, I hope we yet shall 
 gain, if not before, by earliest peep of 
 day," cried Edward, raising his voice in 
 the hope that his companion might not 
 have been heard; and that the man, whom 
 hestillperceivedasthey descended through 
 a woody winding lane which led towards 
 the holy well, would suppose them to be 
 pilgrims. Huss turned round upon Ed- 
 ward, more than ever surprised at the 
 tone which he had taken ; when the lat- 
 ter, checking his horse, and addressing 
 the individual he had before seen, and 
 whom, though not so close as he had been, 
 he could discover endeavouring to elude 
 observation, by crouching under the 
 bushes which grew on the left of the 
 travellers, he demanded — 
 " Who goes there ?" 
 No answer was returned j and before 
 the enquiry could be repeated, the un- 
 11
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 143 
 
 known had plunged into a thicket, and 
 was no longer visible. 
 
 Edward had not looked towards him 
 while he was in a situation to see 
 the figure if not the face of the indi- 
 vidual distinctly, conceiving it to be 
 policy, by affecting unconsciousness of his 
 presence, to hold a conversation which 
 might induce him to believe that the ob- 
 ject of their journey was merely to drink 
 at the spring of Saint Winifred. After- 
 wards, the lurker was too much con- 
 founded with the gloom to which he had 
 retreated, to be recognised with any de- 
 gree of certainty. Edward could not, how- 
 ever, but believe that it was the Red-hand. 
 Little as he had seen of his late follower, 
 he thought he could distinguish the air 
 of reckless effrontery which marked the 
 deportment of Roderick ; and when he 
 recalled the parting threat of the despe- 
 rado, it seemed not improbable, that by 
 his superior knowledge of the country, 
 he had removed himself thus far from the
 
 144 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 place where he had first been seen. This 
 he might have done with the intention of 
 ascertaining their real destination, which 
 both Edward and the Bohemian feared 
 he rightly guessed to be the present 
 abode of Lord Cob ham. 
 
 " I mentioned the spring of Saint Wi- 
 nifred, as I did," said Edward, when 
 having urged their horses to unwonted 
 speed, they found themselves at a consi- 
 derable distance from the spot where 
 they halted, " to make that listener con- 
 clude we were about to hie thither as pil- 
 grims, for purposes of devotion, or as 
 patients to recover health, for I discovered 
 him just as I was about to direct your 
 eye to the dwelling of my father." 
 
 " Your cunning was commendable, but 
 I, unknowing your intent, have marred 
 it. It seemeth then, that we are close 
 upon the residence of him we seek. This 
 glads me." 
 
 " We have been nearer to it than we 
 are at present. To baffle him who
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 145 
 
 watched us, I have come beyond the 
 point at which we ought to have dis- 
 mounted. Now being very near the 
 place I named, my counsel is that we 
 go on, and take refreshment at the 
 well. There is one who abideth near to 
 tend all comers, who will take our horses 
 into his keeping. On foot we will re- 
 turn, and that by day-light. So shall we 
 better see if we be dogged ; and as pe- 
 destrians, we can make our way in these 
 wild parts where horses cannot travel." 
 
 The Bohemian approved of the sug- 
 gestion, and now entering Holywell, they 
 took their way to the far-famed spring 
 said to have been furnished by the intre- 
 pid virtue of St. Winifred, whose sancti- 
 fied career, according to the legend, was 
 not to be terminated even by the process 
 of beheading, which in other cases has 
 furnished a very efficient check to the 
 finest enthusiasm. Descending the hill 
 which the head ot the saint had con* 
 secrated by its rolling, they approached 
 
 vol. i. * H
 
 146 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 the hallowed spot in the valley formerly 
 called Sych Nant, where the said head 
 was arrested in its course, again to grace 
 the shoulders from which it had been 
 detached, and saw the chapel dedicated 
 to St* Winifred's glory, and the copious 
 and transparent stream said to possess 
 such miraculous virtue, that the sick, the 
 lame, and the blind had only to drink 
 thereof, in order to be perfectly restored. 
 Here were seen the crutches, and other 
 aids by which the tottering patient had 
 approached the healing pool, hung up in 
 the small uncouth building of stone, raised 
 over the spring, as grateful memorials 
 of the cures performed. Whether John 
 Huss and his companion believed that 
 the decorations alluded to had been thus 
 obtained, or supposed them to have been 
 supplied by those who profited from the re- 
 sort of pilgrims and patients to Holywell, 
 it is not our purpose to enquire ; but 
 cheaply as they might hold the miracles 
 recorded of the saint, having given their 
 11
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 147 
 
 horses to the then distributor of her 
 bounty, they rendered a willing tribute to 
 some of the virtues of the spring, by in- 
 dulging in repeated draughts. The first 
 rays of the sun brightened the summits 
 of the neighbouring mountains, and enab- 
 led them to distinguish through the trans- 
 parent ever-bounding wave, the red spots 
 on the stones below, said to have been 
 contributed by the blood of Saint Wini- 
 fred, and which to this day may be seen. 
 To the sacred character assigned to these 
 appearances, John Huss and Edward 
 paid but little reverence, but they gazed 
 with devout admiration on the stupen- 
 dous works of Nature, which rose in 
 primitive magnificence before them, and 
 refreshing themselves with what remained 
 of their provision, while contemplating 
 the romantic scenery around them, the 
 prayer of gratitude ascended from " na- 
 ture up to nature's God." 
 
 h 2
 
 148 THE LOLLABOS. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 I am hushed 
 
 " As a spent wave, and all my fiery powers 
 " Are quenched.'' 
 
 Lee, 
 
 After resting for two hours, the morning 
 being beautifully fine, they left the spring, 
 and retrod part of the ground which 
 they had recently passed over. Fre- 
 quently did they turn to ascertain whe- 
 ther their progress was watched, but 
 nothing occurred to excite alarm or sus- 
 picion. Edward left the road, and pro- 
 ceeded through a series of bye-paths, 
 which, from the frequent turnings they 
 presented, made it impossible for any one 
 to witness their advance without coming 
 so close as to expose himself to their ob- 
 servation. The w r ay was considerably 
 lengthened by this precaution j but Ed-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. I4«9 
 
 ward was young and felt not fatigue, and 
 the Bohemian was too much occupied with 
 the thought that the moment was almost 
 at hand when he should behold his 
 friend, to regard as a hardship that ex- 
 ertion which had for its object the secu- 
 rity of Lord Cobham. 
 
 The travellers again approached the 
 Flint road, if the rugged, neglected, and 
 solitary way from Holywell to Flint Cas- 
 tle deserved that name. Edward saw 
 the tree on which his eyes had been fixed 
 that mornings when his speech was so 
 disagreeably interrupted by the listener, 
 whom he suspected to be the Red-hand. 
 He used no congratulations now as he 
 had done before ; but looking round with 
 extreme caution in every direction, and 
 perceiving nothing to create new alarm, 
 he led the way to a steep hill, at the foot 
 of which a cottage appeared ; while at 
 the top, a smaller erection met the eye. 
 The elevation on which the latter dwel- 
 ling rested, presented a front of almost 
 h 3
 
 150 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 perpendicular steepness, and the hut 
 there established was so immediately over 
 the cottage below, that a stone dropped 
 from the one must inevitably have fallen 
 on the roof of the other. As they ap- 
 proached they heard a loud barking, and 
 a man in the dress of a labourer appeared 
 at the entrance of the lower cottage. At 
 the same instant a mastiff sprang furi- 
 ously forward, but instantly checked his 
 career, and submissively approached Ed- 
 ward. The stern countenance which the 
 man had worn when he first presented 
 himself, was dismissed as speedily as the 
 boisterous rage of his follower ; and Ed- 
 ward was saluted with a friendly welcome. 
 He then applied a whistle to his mouth, 
 which he blew twice. This was to indi- 
 cate to Cobham that friends were coming, 
 and Edward and the Bohemian began to 
 ascend the narrow path, which wound 
 round the hill — the only one by which 
 the retreat of their friend and father 
 could be gained*
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 151 
 
 It was the local peculiarities which 
 have been described, that induced Lord 
 Cobham to fix his abode here. Among 
 those who had embarked in that cause 
 which had so fatally marred his earthly 
 prospects, was the owner of these two 
 cottages, the occupant of the lower 
 one. As a breeder of cattle, he had ac- 
 quired a small property, and his enthusi- 
 astic attachment to those principles of 
 which Cobham was the advocate, led him 
 to offer that asylum which the latter 
 thought it adviseable to accept. Evans, 
 that was the name of the proprietor, had 
 been some years in London, at the time 
 when Arundel made his most determined 
 attack on Lord Cobham and the Lol- 
 lards ; and the scenes which he then wit- 
 nessed in the metropolis made him anx- 
 ious to regain his former abode, on the 
 banks of the Dee. To take with him 
 that leader whom he had so much ad- 
 mired, seemed to him the very consum- 
 mation of happiness — to be his sentinel 
 h 4
 
 152 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 or guard, the highest honour to which 
 devout ambition might aspire. He, there- 
 fore, set forth the advantages of the situ- 
 ation to Lord Cobham, in the most glow- 
 ing terms: he explained to him that a 
 signal from the lower cottage could an- 
 nounce at any moment, approaching 
 peril, and indicate whether it had become 
 necessary to fight or to fly ; while from 
 the cottage on the hill a sign might be 
 made which would elude all observation, 
 by which, should his enemies contrive to 
 baffle the vigilance that would be con- 
 stantly exerted below, assistance might 
 easily be summoned at any hour of the 
 day or night. Cobham felt the kindness 
 which prompted this offer. The situation 
 appeared favourable to concealment \ the 
 person by whom it was offered could re- 
 turn to his former dwelling without excit- 
 ing observation or surprise ; and he him- 
 self need hardly ever be seen, till some 
 improvement had taken place in his cir- 
 cumstances. These considerations de«
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 153 
 
 termined him to avail himself of the kind 
 proposal. He accordingly took up his 
 abode at the spot to which Edward had 
 conducted the Bohemian. 
 
 The signal which announced approach- 
 ing friends, was heard by the exile. He 
 advanced from the cottage, and descend- 
 ed the winding path a few steps, till he 
 came to a part where it was so narrow, 
 that one man could not advance without 
 difficulty ; and where the branches of a 
 tree which had been trained across, came 
 so low, that without stooping, a human 
 being of the ordinary stature could not 
 get forward at all. He came thus far, as 
 well from impatience to see his friends, 
 as from a cautious desire to be upon his 
 guard against enemies, who might by 
 any chance have possessed themselves of 
 the signal which it had been concerted 
 between him and Evans, should be given 
 to announce the character of those who 
 might interrupt his solitude. 
 
 To see a friend, was to Lord Cobham 
 h 5
 
 154t THE tOLLATim* 
 
 no common joy. The place of his con- 
 cealment had been communicated to but 
 few of those with whom he was most in- 
 timate ; and of that few, not more than 
 two individuals had found leisure to visit 
 him. Edward had several times ventured 
 from Lutterworth, and he was expected 
 to arrive at about this period. Lord 
 Cobham, on hearing the signal of Evans, 
 instantly concluded it was his son who 
 was about to appear ; he saw with true 
 delight that it was indeed Edward, but it 
 were vain to attempt description of the 
 rapturous glow which pervaded his bo- 
 som, when he recognised in the com- 
 panion of the youth, his esteemed friend, 
 the revered and celebrated Bohemian, 
 John Huss. 
 
 They embraced and gazed on each 
 other in perfect silence. The sincere joy 
 which was felt by each, could not at once 
 descend to expression. Tears filled the 
 Bohemian's eyes; and Cobham, though 
 the pride of the soldier forbade him to
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 1.55 
 
 give vent to his feelings in that way, 
 could with difficulty refrain from indulg- 
 ing in the luxury. 
 
 Huss observed the struggle of Cobham 
 against the weakness of nature, and on 
 that subject first broke silence. 
 
 " I cannot choose but weep, and you, 
 perhaps, contemn this childish softness ; 
 but with me, tears grow on rapture, faster 
 than on pain. To meet a friend so be- 
 loved, after so long an absence, images 
 to me the bliss congenial spirits will ex- 
 perience, when they shall freely mingle 
 in the skies, triumphant over the last 
 enemy — death. Yet I do not know, that 
 all is joy which swells my agitated bosom. 
 Though I have been a minister of peace, 
 and never loved what men call glorious 
 war, it pains me to reflect how changed 
 your situation since we met ; while I see 
 beneath that peasant's garb, he who once, 
 in all the warrior's gay attire, appeared 
 before me, fresh from the scene of his 
 triumph, the capital of France." 
 h 6
 
 156 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " 'Tis true," said Cobham, " I no 
 longer wear the glittering trappings which 
 were then my pride, and not less changed 
 is my fortune than are my garments. Then, 
 crowned with victory, I was returning 
 to receive those honours which my ap- 
 plauding sovereign panted to bestow ; 
 now, pursued by obloquy, I am chased 
 like a wild beast whom it is thought 
 virtue to destroy, and the son of that 
 sovereign who held he mainly owed his 
 crown to me, dooms me to die, and 
 brands me with a malefactor's name." 
 
 " Such are the ills which mortals must 
 endure, to prove their courage and their 
 faith. Thrice happy still, since threat- 
 ened with such dire calamities, your 
 heart remains the same." 
 
 " My present fortune I must needs 
 regard as a cloud — an awful cloud that 
 overhangs my prospects ; but it will pass 
 away, and one bright ray of sunshine 
 breaks through its gloom, since I am not 
 denied to see my ever-honoured Bohe- 
 17
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 157 
 
 mian friend on British ground. I did 
 indeed expect, from the kind letters 
 which cheered me when calamity first 
 assailed my family, that you would en- 
 deavour to see my helpless offspring, but 
 I doubted if you would get the letter 
 directing you how to seek them so soon. 
 Then I did fear, if safely you arrived at 
 Lutterworth, you would want strength 
 to sustain the additional fatigue of jour- 
 neying hither through paths so rugged, 
 and through hordes of men so desperate, 
 wild and daring, as are those who har- 
 bour in the vicinity of this poor hut." 
 
 "And did you think I dared not brave 
 those ills for a brief season, in the midst 
 of which, you have adventured to estab- 
 lish your abode ? The perils that await 
 the traveller, or on the land or mighty 
 waters, I view without alarm, and care 
 not where Death happens to overtake 
 me, nor what manner of form he may 
 wear, most happy when my task is ended, 
 to claim emancipation from these fleshy
 
 158 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 trammels, and return to my eternal 
 home." 
 
 He spoke with animated enthusiasm, 
 his eyes were lifted towards the Heaven 
 he contemplated, glistening bright with 
 the sacred hope that warmed his heart. 
 
 " Your mind," Cobham remarked, 
 " is, I perceive, as much detached from 
 worldly objects, as when we formerly 
 met." 
 
 " Yes, I have not those ties to restrain 
 me, which bind the many to this world 
 of sorrow. These have been spared — 
 I once had said, denied me. There was 
 a time when this dull orb appeared as 
 fair to me, as now it shines to those 
 whom I must pity, and dreams, vain 
 dreams of happiness on earth, pervaded 
 all my bosom." 
 
 Cobham enquired if these had not been 
 interrupted by calamity. 
 
 Huss paused, and labouring to repress 
 the emotion which the question inspired,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 15Q 
 
 with an air of assumed composure he 
 replied,— 
 
 " I know not whether I should so 
 consider that, which calling my thoughts 
 from low concerns, enabled me to give 
 my undivided mind to sacred cares. 
 But, O ! whatever reason may pronounce 
 it, now mellowing time has tempered 
 frantic passion, I found it through a long 
 and mournful season, severest misery." 
 
 " This do I think you hinted once 
 before, exciting curiosity which you de- 
 clined to gratify." 
 
 " I doubt it not, for though the tale 
 be briefj till many winters had passed 
 away, after that period of which I speak, 
 I dared not trust my tongue with speech, 
 while memory by retracing renewed the 
 burning, bleeding wounds my heart had 
 sustained." 
 
 Lord Cobham interrupted the Bohe- 
 mian, to request him not to inflict that 
 pain upon himself now. 
 
 " Now," replied Huss, " thanks be
 
 160 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 to 'Him who chasteneth those he loveth/ 
 my soul, become familiar with its woe, 
 has won from growing age tranquillity. 
 I, in my youth, as happens to most mor- 
 tals, became enamoured of a fellow crea- 
 ture. Elgiva's beauty excited wonder, 
 her gentleness and intelligence wrought 
 up admiration to love. No eyes so brilliant 
 had ever sparkled in Bohemia : at least 
 I thought so — 'twas a lover's phantasy ; 
 and fondness while I gazed upon her 
 face became almost idolatry. I half 
 believed she was, indeed, celestial, and 
 that earth could claim no share in that 
 seraphic form. Oftentimes, in the words 
 of your modern poet Gower, for English 
 is a language I do love, and poesy hath 
 ever charms for me, I would exclaim, in 
 the transport of a lover : 
 
 " — If it so befalle among, 
 That she carol upon a song, 
 Whan I it hear I am so fedd, 
 That I am fro* miself so ledd 
 As though I were in Paradis t 
 For certes as to myn avis,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. l6l 
 
 Whan I hear of her voice the Steven, 
 Me thinketh it is a blisse of heven." 
 
 Cobham listened with profound atten- 
 tion, and Edward, in the description of 
 the Bohemian's feelings, recognised those 
 himself had proved for Matilda. The 
 narrator proceeded. 
 
 " How awfully were my wandering 
 thoughts recalled to the truth ! — Love 
 answered love j Elgiva's vows were given 
 for mine. No sordid parent opposed our 
 hopes, or sought to prevent our union. 
 The day was fixed for the celebration of 
 our nuptials, and had nearly arrived, 
 when a fatal malady assailed Elgiva, and 
 her life was considered in danger. Youth 
 seemed to triumph over sickness — the 
 roses were again reinstated in her cheeks 
 — and I exulted in her perfect res- 
 toration, which 1 deemed beyond all 
 question. One summer's evening I 
 sought her father's house. She had 
 walked forth. I followed to overtake, 
 but found her not. She came not home
 
 162 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 that night : alarm was felt, for she was 
 wholly unattended, and had gone out 
 by stealth. Though her health had 
 continued to improve, her spirits had 
 seemed to decline ; strange sounds were 
 heard to escape from her lips, and her 
 mind was thought deranged ; but then 
 she became calm, and though silent and 
 melancholy, was perfectly collected." 
 
 " And when did she return ?" en- 
 quired Cobham. 
 
 " She returned no more. Enquiry 
 was long useless, but at length chance 
 directed me to a rustic on the borders of 
 the Black Forest. He, about a fortnight 
 before, had been disturbed by the howl- 
 ings of a frantic female, who had entered 
 the woody maze with that horrible noise, 
 which persons bitten by a rabid animal 
 are known to make. The awful truth 
 burst on my startled senses. A favorite 
 dog had recently been destroyed as mad, 
 and 1 rightly concluded that he had 
 caused the derangement of his kind, in-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 163 
 
 cautious mistress. My skill in surgery, 
 1 flattered myself, might restore the dear 
 one. I plunged into the darkest mazes 
 of the forest, sought her on all sides, but 
 the search was fruitless. Often bewildered 
 in the dreary labyrinth, I strove in vain 
 to extricate myself, and passed the night 
 in the woods. This melancholy toil occu- 
 pied me for many days ; at length it ter- 
 minated, and I saw Elgiva." 
 
 " You found her ! " exclaimed Ed- 
 ward, " and did she live ? " 
 
 " No ; life had fled. No ruffian dag- 
 ger, no prowling wolf had marred that 
 beauteous form, but awful was the change 
 which I remarked. The livid hue, the 
 haggard sharpness of death, made me 
 recoil with wonder from that counte- 
 nance, in which the freely-circulating 
 blood had lately mantled. All those 
 charms had vanished, which I had dreamed 
 were permanent as rare. Her eyes were 
 open, but the radiant blaze of mild 
 etherial light and beaming love which
 
 164 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 once dwelt in them, and which I had gazed 
 upon, till half persuaded they were no 
 other than twin stars from Heaven sent 
 down to decorate a mortal brow, w r as 
 seen no more. On the sunken orbs 
 the hateful mildew had presumed to 
 settle, as if to triumph in their perished 
 lustre, and on her lips, now frightfully 
 pale, it rested. I kissed them, but 
 the clammy touch of death startled 
 me j I will not dwell upon the awful 
 picture." 
 
 " And did you never learn aught re- 
 specting the manner of her death ? But," 
 added Cobham, " the question is perhaps 
 an idle one, for after your description of 
 the circumstances that were almost im- 
 possible." 
 
 " No eye beheld the fair one breathe 
 her last ; but a letter was found in her 
 bosom, which told, that knowing well the 
 horrible character of the malady which 
 was coming over her, she took the 
 resolution of flying from all her friends,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 165 
 
 lest in the coming paroxysms she might 
 injure those whom she most valued. Me 
 she named with all that fervent love, of 
 which I had long been the favoured 
 object, and praying for my happiness on 
 earth, hoped to rejoin me in her native 
 heaven." 
 
 Here the Bohemian paused, while 
 exclamations of wonder and compassion 
 burst from the lips of his sympathizing 
 auditors. He went on. 
 
 <c I will not seek to tell, for every 
 language which Babel's ruin gave this 
 joyless world, would prove unequal to 
 the needless task of painting the emo- 
 tions which I experienced in that terrific 
 hour. How this weak frame sustained 
 such fearful throes, as those which fol- 
 lowed the knowledge of Elgiva's death, I 
 but imperfectly comprehend. Reason 
 long trembled on her seat, and sometimes 
 I have madly climbed the mountain, to 
 lift my body nearer to the sky which she 
 inhabited, and from its towering sum-
 
 166 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 mit thought to hear, mixed with the 
 sounds of angels' golden harps, the music 
 of that voice ascend in heaven, which 
 breathed divinest melody on earth." 
 
 " I marvel not, that you were thus 
 disturbed," said Cobham ; " a love so 
 ardent, terminated in such woe, might well 
 provoke and justify excess." 
 
 <c Sometimes my frenzy has gone so 
 far that I have believed I heard her call 
 me : and once her voice came so dis- 
 tinctly to my ear, that I replied, — « I 
 come, Elgiva,' and with a spring, I sought 
 to leap from the stupendous height on 
 which I entertained these reveries. Just 
 then it fortuned that my friend Hierom 
 was at hand. He forcibly restrained, 
 and by reminding me that prematurely 
 seeking to rejoin Elgiva, the suicide I 
 contemplated must extend our separa- 
 tion, from a few short years to all 
 eternity ; — my mind revived, led by 
 religion back to reason." 
 
 Cobham again expressed his sense of
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 16? 
 
 the severe trial which the Bohemian had 
 endured. — The latter replied, — 
 
 " 'Twas sad — it was a fearful visi- 
 tation, but, doubtless, sent for purposes of 
 good. Schooled by calamity, I have 
 been enabled to give my whole soul to 
 higher duties which claimed my care, and 
 scarcely known one rebellious throb. 
 Through the full maturity of life, I have 
 tasted much of the repose of age. Grief 
 and unremitting study, have made upon 
 my health and strength those inroads, 
 which twenty added years, were circum- 
 stances different, would hardly have ac- 
 complished y so that at forty I in truth 
 conceive myself as old in constitution, 
 as many who have numbered sixty 
 summers." 
 
 Huss now apologised for dilating so 
 much on his own sufferings, and the 
 conversation turned on the persecution 
 which the Lollards had experienced 
 generally in England, and the fierce hos- 
 tility which had pursued Cobham in 
 * h 12
 
 168 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 particular, Edward undertook to return 
 to Holywell to see the horses safely 
 bestowed for the night, and it was re- 
 solved that the visit should be prolonged 
 till the evening of the following day, by 
 which time Cobham would be able to 
 furnish a supply of provisions, sufficient 
 to subsist them till they again saw 
 Leicestershire.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 169 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 et Ther be thre estates of men that be knovven in 
 thre maners, that is to witt, the pacient is not 
 knowen but in his adversite, and in his ire ; the 
 valiaunt man is not knowen but in werre ; and the 
 frende is not knowen but in necessite." 
 
 Anthony Wydville, Earl Rivers. 
 
 When friends, long separated by un- 
 toward circumstances, are at last brought 
 together, great is the luxury they find in 
 freely unbosoming themselves, and fully 
 explaining to each other their views with 
 respect to matters but imperfectly dis- 
 cussed before. There are few who 
 not in this manner felt their minds re- 
 lieved at gaining an opportunity of cor- 
 recting what had been misunderstood, 
 and of guarding against those doubts 
 which letters intended to be most ex- 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 170 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 plicit, frequently occasion. If this satis- 
 faction is even now derived from an 
 interview with a friend, long known but 
 as a correspondent, it will easily be con- 
 ceived how immense the gratification 
 which men like Cobham and Huss en- 
 joyed from meeting, at the period when 
 those events occurred which form the 
 subject of this narrative. li\ where the 
 most unrestricted correspondence can 
 take place, favoured by all the facilities 
 which arrangements of modern date afford 
 for the exchange of letters, a difficulty is 
 sometimes felt in communicating all that 
 it is desired to impart, how prodigious 
 was the inconvenience in those days, 
 when letters could only be sent by chance 
 messengers, who frequently travelled by 
 routes the most circuitous and were too 
 much occupied in attending to their own 
 affairs, to pay great attention to the 
 wishes of those who charged them with 
 the delivery of their epistolary pro- 
 ductions.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 171 
 
 Huss and Cobham, made the best use 
 of the interview which they had been 
 fortunate enough to obtain, and their 
 conversations were but little interrupted 
 by their repasts or their repose. The 
 assurances which the Bohemian gave on 
 the subject of the advantages which 
 might result to Edward from accompany- 
 ing him to Prague, though he professed 
 inability to explain himself fully, made 
 Cobham not only willing, but anxious 
 that he should go. For himself he had 
 little apprehension, and considered that 
 the dangers which surrounded him were 
 not great ; as he was persuaded that the 
 wild and lawless conduct of the bor- 
 derers in the neighbourhood of his 
 retreat, since it tended to discourage 
 those who were most disposed to seek 
 his life from directing their inquiries 
 that way, contributed to his safety. The 
 listener observed by Huss and Edward 
 on their way, gave him no alarm, 
 as he doubted not it was the object of 
 i 2
 
 172 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 the lurker merely to discover whether 
 or not the travellers were Chester-men, 
 and whether their journey was in any way 
 connected with an enterprise which had 
 been undertaken a few days before from 
 that city against a Welch chieftain, 
 whose dependants had plundered some 
 of the townsmen. The words of the 
 Red-hand seemed to him only to indicate 
 a knowledge of that which had been 
 noised over the whole kingdom, by the 
 large reward offered for the apprehen- 
 sion of the heretic and traitor, as he 
 was called by the priests and their 
 adherents. He finally declared that, ex- 
 clusive of his wish to remain in Wales, 
 that he might be ready to present him- 
 self to his friends at a short notice if 
 necessary, he was satisfied that, concealed 
 where he was, he ran less risk of detec- 
 tion, than he must be exposed to in any 
 other place ; and the especial care which 
 had been taken to look out for him at all 
 the ports, convinced him that to attempt 

 
 THE LOLLARDS. 173 
 
 crossing the sea would be at once to 
 throw himself into the hands of his 
 pursuers. 
 
 " There is," said Huss, " no small 
 similitude in the persecutions and trials 
 to which we have been exposed ; but I, 
 although suspended in mine office, and 
 for a season withdrawn from being use- 
 ful, am still abundantly protected in my 
 own land from the base violence which 
 assails your life. Truly, it seemeth all 
 too plain, that the words which Wick- 
 liffe spoke in his time, ' Freres keepen 
 not correption of the Gospel against 
 their bretheren that trespassen, but 
 cruelly don them to painful prison,' 
 might again be uttered here with like 
 truth and appositeness." 
 
 u Nay, their evil rage blazeth up with 
 more of fury than aye was known be- 
 fore. That pride which is most unmeet 
 in Christian pastors who still profess to 
 follow, and at a humble distance imitate, 
 Him who when below was meekest of the 
 i 3
 
 174 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 meek, since I have dared to wound it, 
 pursues my life with deadliest vengeance. 
 First I offended by favouring a plan, 
 which wisely counselled the King to 
 make resumption of the Churches' pro- 
 perty, now hugely overgrown. But not my 
 least offence is this, that I adventured 
 to contemn the pomp, in which those who 
 teach that all worldly homage is naught, 
 have scrupled not to revel themselves/' 
 
 " I knew not that," said the Bohemian. 
 
 " 'Tis even so; for I presumed to laugh 
 when the late Bishop Arundel suspended 
 the bells and organs of divers churches 
 because the ringers, as he passed along, 
 the cross being borne before him, sent 
 forth no merry peals from out their 
 steeples, as he considered the ' comely- 
 ness of the see of Canterbury' required." 
 
 " But was this one of the charges pre- 
 ferred against you at Paul's ?" 
 
 " Not in right form, as others were ; 
 but I was reproached with it, though 
 what I said amounted to but this, — that
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 175 
 
 I did marvel why the trumpeters whocame 
 not in his way, were not all shent, for 
 that their harmony was wanting, and I 
 (perhaps it was too lightly said) averred 
 'twas hard on the poor organs, that 
 they should be silenced in their choirs, 
 because the bells, upon a certain day, 
 with whom these organs could have no 
 concern, were quiet in their steeples." 
 
 " But," said the Bohemian, " still 
 greater offence I guess you gave, deny- 
 ing that the pilgrimages were beneficial 
 to true Christians." 
 
 " Yea, it was thought a fearful blas- 
 phemy that I uttered, when I said the 
 pilgrims did often most unseemingly 
 tramp along, indulging in lewd songs, 
 sung to the bagpipe's strains, and falling 
 into many kinds of vice, which haply 
 would have been avoided if at home 
 they had tarried: and for the wealth dis- 
 bursed in these marchings, and given at 
 Becket's or the Virgin's shrine, I there, 
 even in that room at Paul's, which they 
 i 4
 
 1?6 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 do call Caiaphas his Chamber, declared, 
 much better in my judgment it had 
 been, to give it to the impotent and 
 poor, whom they might find without 
 such lengthened journeyings." 
 
 " Then you transgressed, so to me it 
 was reported, because you thought no 
 crucifix claimed worship, and would not 
 make a cross your wooden god," 
 
 "That was when to the convent within 
 Ludgate I had been taken. There was 
 a crowd of bishops, doctors, friars, and 
 with them a troop of bell-ringers, parish- 
 clerks, and pardoners, who ever and 
 anon, with shouts and scoffings, tried to 
 abash and put my spirits down, still 
 calling when my answers ended — * That 
 is a heresy, so note it well.' " 
 
 " What said they of their images ? M 
 
 " Why truly one did ask me why I 
 should think it needful to object to 
 worshipping good images. * O !' quod 
 I, « right well I would honour them, 
 by wiping off the dust which grimed
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 177 
 
 their faces, because a towel, I sus- 
 pect, for them, were better than a 
 prayer.' Then Friar Palmer asked, 
 if I would worship the real cross ? 
 1 Where is it,' questioned I. He an- 
 swered not to this, but called upon me 
 then, to suppose it there — * How pass- 
 ing wise/ quod I, 'this holy man is, who 
 deigns to question me about a thing, the 
 which he cannot tell me where to seek 
 it! But still I fain would learn, what 
 worship I should pay to it.' " 
 
 " Replied they to you then ?" said 
 Huss. 
 
 " A clerk eked the learned Friar 
 out, and forthwith said that I should 
 yield such worship as Paul sanctioned, 
 when he did desire, he might rejoice 
 but only in the cross. ' Yea,' said I 
 then, 'but never did he mean his joy 
 was in the piece of very wood;' and hav- 
 ing pointed to my form, I that same 
 moment stretched my arms out thus, 
 i 5
 
 178 THE LOLLARDS, 
 
 4 and this/ said I, « which now you see be- 
 fore you,' meaning myself while standing 
 in that form, « is a living cross, and better 
 far than that of which you speak, because 
 the great Creator of the world did make 
 it ; yet claim I not that you should wor- 
 ship it : why then expect that I should 
 bow to a mere log of lifeless wood, 
 carved out and coloured by a mortal's 
 fancy.' " 
 
 " Spoke they then of the pope ?" 
 Huss enquired. 
 
 " They did ; and thus I answered. — 
 'The pope and you make up the monster, 
 Antichrist ; the begging friars and cheat- 
 ing pardoners do form his wagging tail.* 
 Thereat, the troop of that quality who 
 thronged the hall again called out with 
 might and main, ' O ! shocking heresy :' 
 so did that seem to them, which went to 
 touch their purses and extortions. But 
 little more, I will not rehearse it, was 
 said, and then they read the sentence 
 they had resolved to pass."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 179 
 
 %< It was the Bishop Arundel who 
 read it." 
 
 " He was the man," said Cobham, 
 " and awful was the judgment that en- 
 sued. The hand of the Avenger soon 
 appeared, and an unknown malady as- 
 sailed his life. His speech did suddenly 
 fail him ; for that same tongue which 
 read the iniquitous sentence passed on 
 me, became so swollen, that it in vain 
 essayed to articulate a prayer for miti- 
 gation of the fearful doom, pronounced 
 against its owner." 
 
 " This I did hear of, and, trust me, I 
 failed not to make it known through all 
 Bohemia. Thus, at the end, will the jus- 
 tice of the Mighty One be known. Suf- 
 ficient is it for us to know, that in due 
 time his mercy shall be triumphant ; and 
 still confiding in that, though all mankind 
 were leagued against me, I should not 
 fear their malice. While living here, ad- 
 hering to the right, so I can feel that 1 
 perform my duty, I know myself supe- 
 i 6
 
 180 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 rior to calamity ; and all the terrors ty- 
 rants, popes, or priests would wake, with 
 sword or flame, or agonizing wheel, I 
 laugh to scorn." 
 
 Animating each other to constancy 
 and courage in the cause they had es- 
 poused, the two Reformers found their 
 hours glide with unwonted swiftness. 
 Sometimes they were silent for a space, 
 not because the topics on which they 
 wished to converse were exhausted, but 
 because each, fearful that something he 
 desired to impart had escaped his recol- 
 lection, wished to recall it, lest the golden 
 opportunity of communicating it while 
 they were together should be lost ; but 
 the subjects which occurred to each were 
 so numerous, that if instead of two days, 
 they could have passed as many months 
 under the same root', they would not have 
 been weary of each other's society. 
 
 The evening fixed for their departure 
 had arrived. Edward, yielding to the 
 united wishes of his father and the Bohe-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 181 
 
 mian, agreed to accompany the latter to 
 Prague. 
 
 " And now," said the Bohemian, 
 throwing himself into the expanded arms 
 of Cobham, " we must part." 
 
 "Yea," returned the latter; •« but the 
 fond recollection of this visit shall never 
 part from me. Thy spirit shall seem 
 to linger here, and communicating with 
 mine, shall brighten the hours of solitude 
 with its imagined presence." 
 
 He then embraced his son, and charged 
 him with messages of love to Alice, and 
 the hospitable Whittington ; after which, 
 addressing himself to the immediate 
 wants of Edward and Huss, he spoke to 
 this effect . 
 
 " Provisions I have ready for your use. 
 Here is some salmon salted, and, besides, 
 good mutton ; and I moreover have pro- 
 vided this little cage for half a dozen 
 hens, which, should fit season offer, when 
 the palate is wearied of other victuals, 
 may stand you in good stede, only take
 
 182 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 care of this small pouch of mele seed, 
 which shall sustain them, till you desire 
 to feed on them. Now, when you do con- 
 clude your present journey, and shall 
 prepare yourself to cross the seas, I 
 counsel you procure so many more, or 
 even get a larger number, for Alice is 
 young and tender, and such things for 
 her may be full necessary. Take knives 
 sufficient too, and such small japes which 
 may be scarce ; for being in a ship is 
 much unlike a man's well-garnished home 
 on land. I found the 'vantage of such 
 advice, when in my youth I went, with 
 others like me, on a pilgrimage, and 
 sailed from Venice to Port Jaffa." 
 
 "That might enlarge your knowledge," 
 Huss remarked ; " but you had easier 
 done so, by reading Ebn Haukal, who, 
 though an infidel, has told much truth -> 
 Vincentius Belovacensis, or Scherifal Edri- 
 si's narrative ; or those of your own coun- 
 trymen, Roger Bacon and Mandeville. 
 But thriftless is it to talk of this ; and
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 183 
 
 he who tends our horses may impatiently 
 expect us, seeing the appointed time has 
 arrived." 
 
 Edward concurred, and set forth the 
 importance of getting as far from that 
 spot as possible, under cover of the first 
 night. All felt the necessity of parting, 
 yet all hesitated to utter the last word. 
 
 "Farewell ! — Farewell !" said Cobham, 
 making a great effort at firmness. " So 
 sweet has been our communion here, so 
 vast the joy of our meeting, that I will 
 not forego the hope that we may again be 
 permitted to approach each other." 
 
 " We shall meet again," said Huss ; 
 and then as if all the perils to which both 
 were exposed had been suddenly dis- 
 played to his view, he added in a firm but 
 solemn tone — " we shall meet again, but 
 not on earth." 
 
 Cobham replied, with equal solemnity, 
 while the sublime subject of his contem- 
 plation gave unusual brightness to his 
 eye and animation to his countenance — 
 
 " How great ! — how boundless then
 
 184 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 our joy, performed the task imposed upon 
 us here, and freed our souls from all the 
 grovelling habits connected with morta- 
 lity, to meet in a better world 1 There, as 
 our bardling, Richard Rolle, hath happily 
 worded it — 
 
 " There is lyf withoute ony deth, 
 And there is youth withoute ony elde ; 
 And there is alle manner welthe to welde, 
 And there is reste withoute ony travaille, 
 And there is bright somer ever to se, 
 And there is never wynter in that countree." 
 
 " Right," said Huss ; " and as we in 
 manhood have often laughed full merrily 
 at the little woes which erst afflicted us 
 in infancy, even so shall our matured 
 spirits, removed into a more goodly state 
 of being, smile at recalling the brief 
 sorrows of our spiritual childhood, when 
 we were only mortal men." 
 
 They again embraced ; and Edward 
 descended the hill, followed by the Bo- 
 hemian, and striking into the paths by 
 which they had approached, both were 
 instantly concealed from the view of 
 Cobham.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 18.5 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 " Soe bloody and irefull were quarrells in those 
 days, and the revenge of the sword at such liber- 
 tie, as almost nothing was punished by law, what- 
 soever happened." 
 
 Wynnes History of the Gwedir Family. 
 
 Having reclaimed their horses, unob- 
 served, as they had reason to believe, by 
 every human eye, but. that of the man 
 to whom the animals had been confided, 
 they mounted and set forward. 
 
 Edward knew little of that part of the 
 country, but he thought his knowledge 
 would suffice to conduct them towards 
 Chester, without taking the same route 
 by which they had passed to Holywell. 
 This he was desirous of avoiding, for 
 though he had no reason to suppose that 
 the Red-hand, if. indeed it was the
 
 186 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 Red-hand whom he had seen near the 
 dwelling of his father, had any fixed 
 residence near, he judged it not unlikely 
 that the same motive which prompted 
 him to lurk there on the night but one 
 preceding, might still keep him on the 
 watch. 
 
 The melancholy, which the moment 
 that saw the Bohemian separated from 
 Cobham had thrown over the mind of 
 the former, began to give way to plea- 
 surable reflections, arising from the suc- 
 cess which had thus far attended his 
 journeyings. 
 
 " While life and recollection remain 
 mine," he exclaimed, " I shall ever 
 think with much delight on the happiness 
 which I have tasted in the society of him, 
 whom we have just left, but whom in 
 our wanderings it may be little prudent 
 to name. I rejoice also to have seen the 
 holy book traced in the very hand-writing 
 of Wickliffe, of which you possess so 
 marvellously excellent a copy. Great
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 187 
 
 was the patience and the skill employed 
 in turning the Scriptures out of He- 
 brew, which vastly learned clerks alone 
 may read, into a language like that of 
 England, in which I find the strength of 
 so many other tongues combined." 
 
 " So J consider it," replied Edward. 
 " Taken originally from the Old Ger- 
 man, the very defeats which our arms have 
 at different whiles sustained, have proved 
 the triumph of our speech, and enriched 
 our utterance > so that now our language 
 unites the Old English, the Saxon, and 
 Norman-French, as doth the French the 
 Latin-German and the Old Gallic." 
 
 " Or," added Huss, " as the Spanish 
 doth Latin, Gotish-German, and Saracen 
 or Morisquo ; and the Italian the Latin 
 and Gotish-German." 
 
 " And I," resumed the youth, " have 
 often thought much benefit this realm of 
 England doth owe to the efforts of Wick- 
 liffe, speaking simply in relation to the 
 richness with which he hath endowed its
 
 188 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 language, and putting aside for this sea- 
 son, the important truths which by his 
 care are placed within the reach of many 
 of his countrymen. Sometimes I have 
 delighted to trace the various changes 
 through which the prayer of our Lord 
 hath passed in this island, ere it attained 
 that elegant perfection of wording in 
 which we now behold it clothed." 
 
 " The self-same thing hath often struck 
 me, while studying your tongue, and I 
 have traced it from the Gothic, in which 
 it beginneth « Atta unsar thu in himi- 
 nam, veihnai namo thein ; ■ to the Saxon 
 which openeth thus ' Faeder ure thu the 
 eart on heofenum, si thin nama gehal- 
 god." 
 
 " Or, as some have it," interrupted 
 Edward, < Vren Fader thic arth in heof- 
 nas, sic gehalgud thin noma.' " 
 
 " Right, Edward; the rendering I re- 
 peated is more modern by two hundred 
 years, than that of which you have re- 
 minded me. The next to the one which
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 189 
 
 I mentioned was that of 1130, which 
 opens with « Fader me the art in heofone, 
 sy gebletsob name thin.' After this stands 
 the version sent by the English Pope 
 Adrian, from Rome, in rhyme, which 
 came here, I think, at or before the time 
 of Cceur de Lion, and did commence in 
 this way — 
 
 " Ure fader in heaven rich, 
 Thy name be halyed everlich : M 
 
 This, Edward remarked, was somewhat 
 varied in the time of John j the two first 
 lines being 
 
 " Fadir ur that is in heven 
 Halud be thi nam to revene : '' 
 
 and in the reign of Henry the Third, 
 still continuing in rhyme, it was made to 
 begin, 
 
 " Fader that art in heavin blisse, 
 Thin helge nam it wurth the blisse ; " 
 
 " But O ! how far short," he ex- 
 claimed, " doth this fall of the worthy
 
 190 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 elegance conferred by the majestic mo- 
 dern prose of Wickliffe. 'Our Fadyr, 
 that art in heaven, hallooed be thy name, 
 thy kingdom com to — ' " 
 
 " Be thy will done, soe in heaven and 
 in erth," continued the Bohemian, who 
 now perceived that their way was ob- 
 structed, and their persons surrounded 
 by armed men. Edward beheld, while he 
 was yet speaking, the danger which 
 awaited them, and saw that flight and 
 resistance were equally impossible. 
 
 " What be ye," demanded a voice, 
 whose owner could not be seen, from the 
 pitchy darkness which enveloped him, 
 standing as he did beneath a small pro- 
 jecting crag." 
 
 «? We are travellers," replied Edward. 
 
 " And what seek ye ?" 
 
 " We seek to return to our homfes, 
 having performed the errand on which 
 we ventured forth." 
 
 " What was the errand of which ye 
 speak ?" enquired the same voice. 
 11
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 191 
 
 " To visit — '* said Huss. 
 
 " We have been," said Edward, in- 
 terrupting his friend from an apprehen- 
 sion that his speech would not be suffi- 
 ciently guarded, " We have been to 
 Holy Well j there, having drunk at the 
 fair spring of Saint Winifred, we now 
 direct our steps homeward, and would 
 fain arrive — " 
 
 " Where ?" several voices eagerly 
 demanded. 
 
 " At the ancient city of Chester." 
 
 A shout followed these words. Edward 
 and the Bohemian, confounded at what 
 they heard, yet not understanding its 
 import, remained silent. When the shout 
 had subsided, the person who had accosted 
 them before, exclaimed, with an air of 
 triumph, " O ! then ye be Chester men !" 
 
 This was followed by another shout, 
 the meaning of which was as little under- 
 stood by the captives, (such Edward and 
 Huss may now be called,) as that which 
 preceded it had been ; and, in the con-
 
 192 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 fusion of the moment, neither had suffi- 
 cient presence of mind to recollect the 
 animosity which Cobham had described 
 as arming the inhabitants of Chester 
 against the fierce inhabitants of the bor- 
 ders of Flintshire ; and no effort was 
 made on their part to offer any explana- 
 tion which might remove the idea, that 
 they were Chester men. 
 
 But had such an attempt been thought 
 of, it is more than probable that it would 
 have been of no avail. The exultation 
 which barbarians feel when they think 
 they have surprised an enemy, is so 
 sweet, that they are reluctant to sur- 
 render it to the conviction that he 
 is no enemy on whom they propose to 
 wreak that vengeance in which they 
 pant to indulge. The furious threats 
 breathed, and the joyous exclamations 
 which burst from the ferocious band, de- 
 nied the Bohemian, and his brother in 
 misfortune, an opportunity of undeceiv- 
 ing those who surrounded them j and,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 193 
 
 when something like silence was restored, 
 they did not very clearly understand the 
 speech, which the leader, who had pre- 
 viously taken upon himself to examine 
 them, thought it right to address them, 
 and which ran thus : — 
 
 %i Right glad are we to see ye, men of 
 Chester. You come in good season to 
 witness the departure of a townsman, or 
 peradventure to accompany or follow 
 him. Now shall ye see that the true- 
 hearted men of Mold, are not so awed 
 by your saucy expedition, but they dare 
 to execute, and on your leader, the jus- 
 tice which they promised." 
 
 With these words the bridles of the 
 travellers were seized, and their horses 
 made to advance in the midst of the 
 party which had surprised them. 
 
 " Fear not, my brother," said Huss, in 
 a calm and collected tone ; " though we 
 seem to be in the power of cruel men, 
 we still remain in the hands of Him, 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 194 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 whose all-seeing eye piercing the dim veil 
 which now dwells on the face of nature, 
 beholds our mishap, and will interpose in 
 his own good time." 
 
 Edward perceived those about him lis- 
 tened for his answer, and he accordingly 
 replied aloud, — 
 
 " I nothing fear. Perceive you not 
 we are mistaken for other men, whom 
 haply we resemble. These being speedily 
 taken, will doubtless gain us liberation ?" 
 
 No notice was taken of this conversa- 
 tion, and the party advanced in silence. 
 On their way, Huss and Edward per- 
 ceived that they were the subject of an 
 animated discussion between two of 
 the band, which, however, they but im- 
 perfectly heard. The expressions which 
 reached them were to this effect : — 
 
 " They will tell what they have seen." 
 
 " Be it so; so shall the fame of our 
 darings intimidate and prevent new at- 
 tacks."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 195 
 
 " But the fuller the revenge, the 
 greater shall be the terror it will spread." 
 
 " That I question not, but answer me 
 this : how shall the tale be told without 
 mouths to tell it ? " 
 
 " Their severed bleeding heads, and 
 mute mouths, will better make it known 
 than the most cunning tongue that ever 
 fashioned phrase." 
 
 " And who shall be the bearer of them, 
 I would know ? Would'st thou under- 
 take the office ? — The load, I trow, 
 would ' i% be heavy going thither, but thou 
 would have another head to bring back — 
 The head which thou wearest on thy 
 shoulders, I guess, would be packed in 
 thy sack." 
 
 c< There needs not any one to carry 
 them into town. They may be so dis- 
 posed that " Here his voice fell so 
 
 low, (or was interrupted by the roaring 
 
 of the wind,) that they heard no more 
 
 for some minutes. His conclusion, how- 
 
 k 2
 
 196 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 ever, was sufficiently audible — " So let 
 them die." 
 
 " Nay, hang them, if you list," replied 
 the other, in a mild and conciliating tone, 
 as if he felt disposed, from a love of 
 peace, to give up the point to his fiercer 
 opponent ; " I will not churlishly jar for 
 such a trifle." 
 
 They continued their journey through 
 paths unknown to the captives, and at 
 length reached a strong stone building, 
 enclosed by a thick wall, and present- 
 ing the formidable aspect of a castle. 
 Little time was allowed to Edward and 
 his friend to make observation on the 
 exterior of this edifice, which they rightly 
 concluded to be the head-quarters of the 
 marauders who were masters of their 
 fate. A signal from the arriving body 
 was promptly answered by those within, 
 and admission given. They passed into an 
 apartment, in the midst of which was a 
 fire, near which two men were reclining*
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 197 
 
 ■who had just been awakened by the 
 return of the other members of the ban- 
 ditti, as without a violation of truth, this 
 fraternity may be denominated. From 
 this they were conducted up a stone 
 staircase, and through a small closet, 
 into a spacious apartment, which was fre- 
 quently the hall of feasting on one day, 
 and the scene of execution, or rather of 
 murder, on the next. 
 
 " And now shall ye know, ye good 
 men of Chester, the hearts of the men on 
 whom ye have dared to make war," cried 
 one to whom all the others seemed to look 
 up as to their leader, and who was no other 
 than the celebrated Reinalt ab Meredydd 
 ab Gruffyd, or Griffith. He was of mid- 
 dle stature, and well made, but his 
 countenance, exposed unceasingly to the 
 weather, wore a dark tawny hue, and 
 an habitual frown, gave it an expres- 
 sion of fierceness, which accorded well 
 with his lawless habits, while his small 
 k 3
 
 198 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 piercing grey eyes glistened with equal 
 shrewdness and ferocity. 
 
 The two persons, whose conversation 
 had been listened to by Huss and Ed- 
 ward, had reported to him the course of 
 their proceedings, and the manner in 
 which they had Surprized the captives 
 now before him. He gazed exultingly 
 on them, and went on : 
 
 " What think you, because the race of 
 Ab Grunydbe few in numbers, that they 
 may be safely hunted down ? — and hope 
 you, when their pursuers fall into the toils 
 prepared for them, that we fear to use 
 the advantage we have gained, lest, for- 
 sooth, it should not pleasure you ? Never 
 believe it : — pursue your course — hunt 
 us from the face of the earth if you can 
 — spare us not when you conquer — 
 expect not to be spared when you are 
 overtaken by defeat." 
 
 Edward attempted to inform the out- 
 law that he was mistaken, in supposing 
 that he had two Chester men in his
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 199 
 
 power. But he in vain solicited his 
 attention. Occupied with the comple- 
 tion of a darling scheme of vengeance, 
 Gruffyd listened not to the speaker. 
 His eyes, and with them his thoughts 
 rested on another object which now, in 
 obedience to a signal that he had passed, 
 was forced into the hall. This was the 
 mayor of Chester, who had headed a 
 party of his fellow-townsmen in an attack 
 made on the sept of Ab Gruffyd, to re- 
 venge an outrage sustained from the lat- 
 ter at the preceding fair. In ancient times 
 the law was too feeble to restrain the tur- 
 bulence of those who resided so far from 
 the seat of government ; and the Welsh, 
 sore from the punishment inflicted on 
 them, in consequence of the insurrection 
 in which Owen Glendower lost his life, 
 glowed with indescribable rage at the 
 very mention of the English, or, which to 
 them was the same thing, of the Saxon 
 name. The Chester men, robbed at Mold 
 Fair by the adherents of Ab Gruffyd, 
 k 4
 
 200 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 were anxious to revenge the insult, and 
 the wrongs which they had sustained 
 from those with whom they were almost 
 constantly embroiled. They, in conse- 
 quence, crossed the Dee in considerable 
 force, confident of accomplishing their 
 object, and of inflicting exemplary chas- 
 tisement on the robbers. But the artful 
 arrangements of Ab Grufryd baffled all their 
 plans ; and divided and attacked at great 
 disadvantage, they were obliged to seek 
 safety in flight. Their leader happened 
 to be taken, and he it was that was 
 now brought forward, to be dealt with 
 according to the outlaw's ideas of jus- 
 tice and policy. The faint unassured 
 glimmer of approaching day, was at 
 this moment just perceptible, but the 
 gloom was still so great, that the torches 
 which threw their red glare over the 
 sad countenance of the intended vic- 
 tim, were absolutely necessary to light 
 the hall. 
 
 " I promised yesternight," he thus
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 201 
 
 accosted the mayor, " that all your 
 troubles should know pause soon after 
 this morning's dawn, and luckily hath it 
 chanced, that two of your townsmen 
 have come hither to see that Reinalt 
 keeps his word, though much I doubt if 
 they will ever report it ; first because you 
 Chester men deal little in the truth ; and, 
 secondly, because, as 1 have no power to 
 make them do so, it may seem good to 
 me to do that which is in my power, and 
 which is the next desirable thing, pre- 
 vent them from telling more lies, by giv- 
 ing their necks to a halter." 
 
 " Man of sin," cried Huss, " you err 
 most fearfully. I, simple as I am, will 
 undertake to propound that you are in 
 utter darkness on this subject. In the 
 first place you have no right over the 
 life—" 
 
 " Stop a fool's tongue, and be silent," 
 cried Ab GrufTyd, with a look of mingled 
 wrath and scorn. 
 
 K 5
 
 202 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " And must I then be silent ? " 
 
 " Peace, Saxon," roared the chief, and 
 the command was fiercely reiterated by 
 all around him. Huss was nothing awed 
 by the menacing tones and angry looks 
 which burst on his ear, and met his eye 
 in every direction, and was about to pro- 
 ceed, when the loud voice of Ab Gruffyd, 
 who again addressed the Mayor, arrested 
 his attention, while it satisfied him that a 
 new effort to obtain a hearing would be 
 useless, or worse than useless. 
 
 " Now, mayor of Chester," said the 
 chief, " look on that iron," pointing to 
 a strong staple fixed in one of the enor- 
 mous joists, which supported the flooring 
 of the apartment above ; " look on that, 
 and if you have any thing to say in the 
 way of recommending your soul to God 
 or devil, say it strait. Let it be brief; 
 and breathed with speed, or you must 
 take it with you to the worms ; for before 
 time shall have passed away, which
 
 THE LOLLARDS. c 203 
 
 might suffice for counting thrice a hun- 
 dred, it will be tried whether or not that 
 said iron can sustain your weight." 
 
 The unhappy man unclosed his parched 
 lips, as if to address his cruel enemy -> 
 but in the same instant the convic- 
 tion that it could be of no avail came 
 over him, and he franticly raised his 
 eyes to Heaven. A sickly paleness had 
 overspread a countenance naturally florid. 
 He looked as if his blood had suddenly 
 become stagnant from horror, and cold 
 perspiration hung on his brow. He at- 
 tempted a prayer, but his trepidation was 
 so great that he could not withdraw his 
 thoughts from the scene in which he was 
 thus mournfully conspicuous. Lost to 
 every hope of life, he was not resigned to 
 die, and while attempting to implore the 
 mercy of his Creator, he started every 
 moment, at the slightest movement in 
 the hall. 
 
 One of the band now carelessly passed 
 one end of the halter through the 
 k 6
 
 l 204f THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 staple, and the word was given to 
 dismiss the sufferer from life. As the 
 noose was forced over his head, he 
 eagerly applied himself anew to his de- 
 votions, raising his clasped hands to a 
 level with his face. He was again inter- 
 rupted, and his hands were seized and 
 tied behind him. The rope then was 
 drawn from the extremity, and made so 
 nearly tight as not to admit of the slight- 
 est inclination of the head. Trembling 
 with horrible emotion, the unhappy being 
 glanced round the hall, and his streaming 
 eyes rested with imploring earnestness on 
 those of John Huss. The Bohemian 
 stepped forward, and exclaimed in a loud 
 but collected tone, — 
 
 " Hurry not a fellow creature, thus. 
 He is not yet fitted for his passage. 
 Give permission, that I may assist him 
 with a prayer before his departure." 
 
 " Send it after him," cried a hoarse 
 voice near him j and the unfortunate 
 mayor was that instant drawn up to the
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 205 
 
 ceiling, or rather to the top of the apart- 
 ment, for ceiling there was none. 
 
 A shout of savage delight burst from 
 the 'vengeful band, as the body of the 
 Chester magistrate was suspended from 
 the centre of the hall ; and when this 
 subsided, the ruffian, who had before re- 
 plied to John Huss, took an opportunity 
 of continuing his speech. 
 
 " If you like it, you may send your 
 prayer before him; for if you speed it 
 now, it will get to Heaven ere he has 
 finished dancing here." 
 
 This brutal allusion to the struggles of 
 the dying man, called forth the risibility 
 of those who stood nearest to Huss. He, 
 however, heard it not, for his mind was 
 actually engaged at that moment, as the 
 outlaw had sneeringly advised that it 
 should be. But the attention of Edward 
 was instantly fixed on the wretch, iri 
 whom he then recognised the Red- 
 hand, and saw that the recognition was 
 mutual. 
 
 Grufryd gazed stedfastly on the last
 
 206 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 motions of the unfortunate sufferer, and 
 watched with a curious eye the progress 
 of his dissolution. When the mayor had 
 ceased to move, he looked round for those 
 whom he considered to be the townsmen, 
 if not the kindred of the murdered ma- 
 gistrate, and addressed them in the same 
 tone as before. 
 
 " Behold the fate of your leader. He 
 boastfully threatened when he last left 
 Chester that he would root out and ex- 
 tirpate the brigand, so did he presume 
 to call Ab Gruffyd : but he pays the pen- 
 alty of his daring, and first sleeps the long 
 sleep. It is now to be considered which 
 will be better vengeance, to send you 
 forth to tell how he has fared, or to give 
 each of you a like promotion." 
 
 " We are in your power," said Huss, 
 " and can in no case offer resistance. 
 After what we have witnessed, you may 
 kill, but cannot take us by surprise. 
 We know how little we have to expect 
 from your justice or your mercy." 
 11
 
 THE LOLLARDS. £07 
 
 " Let down that carcase," cried Ab 
 GrufTyd, " and clear the noose for 
 another neck." 
 
 The halter which had been made fast 
 at the farther end was loosened, and the 
 dead body lowered. As it descended, 
 the ghastly purple hue, which the last 
 convulsions had spread over the visage of 
 the dying man, attracted the chief's no- 
 tice. He pointed to it, and said, address- 
 ing himself to Huss, — 
 
 " Look ye on this, my master. Even 
 this complexion I can bestow, in a few 
 brief moments, to recompense a saucy 
 tongue. " 
 
 " That did I know ;" replied the un- 
 dismayed Bohemian. u You can indeed, 
 array this faded countenance in the 
 purple livery of agony and death ; but 
 while my heart tells me that I have done 
 no wrong, there is one aspect which you, 
 with all these bravos at your back, can 
 never put on me." 
 " And what is that ? M
 
 208 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 V The pallid hue of fear." 
 
 " Art sure of that ?" enquired AbGruf- 
 fyd. Then turning to those who had 
 been occupied in extricating the lifeless 
 victim from the rope in which he pe- 
 rished, he directed them to put the noose 
 over the head of John Huss. 
 
 The stern mandate was obeyed. The 
 Bohemian stroked up his beard to give 
 the rope free passage to his neck. A 
 part of the beard of the former sufferer 
 adhered to it. He saw it, but made no 
 remark, and hastily turned to speak to 
 Edward, who that moment addressed the 
 chief. 
 
 " Beware ! beware Ab Grufiyd, or you 
 will do that which even yourself shall 
 repent, when it is all too late." 
 
 " That will I risk. Think you my 
 course is to be impeded by threatenings ?" 
 
 " I threaten not. But when you shall 
 know that I and my companion are not 
 the men you take us for, are not men of 
 Chester, then shall you repent that you 
 did deal so hardly by us."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 209 
 
 " And be ye not men of Chester then ? 
 Is this a shuffle, or have I been already 
 imposed upon?" 
 
 " When we first questioned them, they 
 fairly owned that they were on their way 
 to Chester," said one of the party who 
 had brought them in. 
 
 " I deny not that," Edward replied j 
 " but I did never say that we proposed to 
 tarry there. We journey on to Chester, 
 but only to pass through to parts more 
 distant." 
 
 u Were ye not followers of that daring 
 boaster, whom I have made a banquet 
 for the crows ?" 
 
 " This unhappy man, who has fallen 
 before the tempest of your wrath, was 
 never seen by either of us till we came 
 hither." 
 
 " What be ye, then ?" 
 
 " Strangers, who having been to the 
 spring of St. Winifred, would now return 
 to our distant homes." 
 
 " If such ye be, and nothing more, ye 
 are not worth our notice, nor would we
 
 210 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 spend that time in hanging ye, which we 
 have other calls upon. Does no man 
 know that these be Chester men, and fol- 
 lowers of that noble leader ?" 
 
 As he spoke, he pointed scornfully to 
 the corpse. No answer was returned. 
 
 " Can no man speak aught about 
 them ?" he again demanded — " Can no 
 man tell of either of these knaves, who 
 he may be in very truth ?" 
 
 " That can I," said the Red-hand, 
 who now stepped forward. " When they 
 would palm themselves on you for pil- 
 grims, who seek the holy stream of good 
 St. Winifred, believe them not. This 
 sparksome younker, I knew years since, 
 when I sojourned a while with your 
 proud kinsman, Ap Griffith." 
 
 " And who is he ?'* 
 
 " He is an Oldcastle, the son of him 
 they call Lord Cobham." 
 
 " Then it seems plain he is no Chester 
 man. Since it is so, let them begone." 
 
 " Not so. — Let me remind you first
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 211 
 
 that for the father of this stripling, a 
 large reward is offered. It is, methinks, 
 past doubt that the cub must know the 
 old fox's hiding place. Compel him 
 then, at point of sword, incontinently to 
 conduct us to it." 
 
 " Small gain would thence arise me- 
 thinks. Perhaps indeed when we should 
 render him, the proffered marks would 
 honestly be paid by those appointed to 
 receive him ; and that done, the bringer 
 might obtain the further boon of being 
 hung up at the castle-gate." 
 
 * No, Ab Gruffyd, his capture would 
 gain pardon for thrice our number, though 
 we had hanged a mayor a day for months 
 together ; and, take heed, the reward is, 
 if I mind it right, a thousand marks." 
 
 " I'll none of it. Since Cobham is 
 thus pursued, we are in little danger from 
 his son. An outlaw like ourselves, we 
 will not harm him." 
 
 " But the thousand marks ! Will you 
 not have them?"
 
 212 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " Away. — Of all, thou art the last 
 that ought to urge this business on mine 
 ear. Stained as thy dagger oft has been 
 with blood, wilt thou become appendage 
 to the law ? Thy avarice disgusts while 
 it astonishes, since, not contented with 
 the Red-hand's hire, thou wouldst be 
 striving for the hangman's fee." 
 
 These words produced a laugh at the 
 Red-hand, who retired to conceal his 
 discomfiture. The halter was removed 
 from the neck of the Bohemian, who saw 
 it taken from him without evincing the 
 slightest emotion of joy or surprise. The 
 serenity of his countenance through this 
 scene won the admiration of Grufryd, 
 who now spoke to him and to Edward, 
 in milder terms. To the latter he re- 
 marked that his fowls had been appro- 
 priated by those who brought him 
 there, and had by that time been killed 
 and eaten. He added, as if to apologise 
 for this seizure, that it had been con- 
 cluded those to whom they belonged
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 213 
 
 would have no inclination to eat again ; 
 but since this had chanced otherwise, 
 they should be well supplied from the 
 stores of the castle. Such provisions as 
 he possessed he proffered to them in 
 abundance, and then having told them 
 their horses were ready, he gave them 
 the choice of remaining there to rest 
 themselves, or of departing forthwith. 
 They chose the latter course, anxious to 
 quit, without delay, the theatre of a crime 
 so atrocious, as that which they had 
 seen perpetrated. Rendering brief ac- 
 knowledgements for the alternative sub- 
 mitted to them, they at once prepared 
 for their retreat, determined to pur- 
 sue their journey, though it was broad 
 day, rather than remain longer in the 
 power, and in the society of a band of 
 assassins. 
 
 As they quitted the hall, the Bohe- 
 mian preceded Edward. The Red-hand 
 interposed his form between them. Fury 
 glared in his eye, while accosting Ed-
 
 214 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 ward, he took leave of him with these 
 words : — 
 
 " So, then, ye 'scape this time ! Be it so; 
 but I shall not always watch your foot- 
 steps in vain. Perchance, ere you finish 
 your journeyings, you will again have 
 cause to remember me, and to rue the 
 hour when you scorned Roderick the 
 Red-hand." "
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 215 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 " Low fear 
 " Becomes the guilty, not the accuser : then 
 " Shall I, none's slave, of high-born or rais'd men 
 M Fear frowns ?" 
 
 Dr. Donne. 
 
 The travellers were detained at Chester; 
 first by suspicions directed against them- 
 selves, and next by the numerous in- 
 terrogatories which they had to answer, 
 after they had communicated the me- 
 lancholy particulars of the scene they had 
 been compelled to witness. Edward 
 concealed his name, and when permitted 
 to depart, they had recourse to the pre- 
 cautions observed before their capture, 
 and at length closed their journey with- 
 out further interruption.
 
 216 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 After resting for a few days, Huss 
 became anxious to quit Lutterworth. 
 The main objects of his journey were 
 accomplished, and he earnestly urged the 
 importance of their immediate departure 
 for Prague. 
 
 Mr. Whittington announced it to be 
 his intention to accompany them to the 
 capital, to which they were in the first 
 instance to proceed. His wife was some- 
 what disturbed by the resolution he had 
 come to, but it was not to be shaken. 
 Anxious to use his best efforts to pro- 
 cure an act of resumption^ he had pre- 
 pared a bill or petition, which he was 
 determined to submit to the Parliament 
 on its next assembling at Leicester ; 
 and it was now his wish to go to London, 
 in order to get the advice and assistance 
 of his friend Fortescue, a young lawyer, 
 who was considered to be a man of very 
 promising talents. 
 
 " In prosecutiug this matter," said he, 
 " which I have so much at heart, I am
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 217 
 
 afraid of failure through some error into 
 which I may ignorantly fall ; seeing I 
 cared not sufficiently to obtain learning 
 in my youth, and, therefore, I do crave 
 the aid of some one better read than I 
 am, to determine me if that which I have 
 drawn up on this great occasion be pro- 
 per. Methinks it would be best coura- 
 geously to follow the precedent set in 
 the reign of Richard, the second of that 
 name, when it was fairly stated, as you 
 will find it in the Rolls of Parliament, 
 that if his Highness then upon the throne 
 1 were reasonably governed in his ex- 
 pences both within and without the 
 realm, he would have little need to 
 charge his Commons, who even then 
 considered themselves to be too much 
 impoverished.' *' 
 
 The member of parliament then pro- 
 ceeded to read that petition which he 
 had drawn up, and which if adopted 
 would, as he flattered himself, remove 
 all the grievances of which the na- 
 
 VOL. I. h
 
 218 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 tion had to complain. It began thus : 
 " Prayen the Commons, in this youre 
 present parliament assembled, to consider 
 that youre chancellore of youre reaume 
 of England, youre tresorer of England, 
 and many of the lords of youre counseill 
 by your high commandment shewed, 
 being thus called upon, and declared the 
 state of youre reaume, which was that 
 ye were indetted in one hundred thou- 
 sand pounds, which is grete and grev- 
 ouse, and that youre livelode in yearly 
 value to youre high and notable estate to 
 be kept, and to paie your dettes well 
 noght suffice ; therefore must your high 
 estate be relieved." 
 
 It then set forth, that it had been also 
 declared, that the expenses necessary to 
 the household of the king surpassed the 
 provision made. 
 
 ** And now — now," said Whitting- 
 
 ton, " go I on to tell the king some 
 
 wholesome truths, as thus : « Also please 
 
 it your highness to consider that the 
 
 12
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 219 
 
 Commons of youre said reaume, been as 
 well willed to their pore power, to re- 
 leving of youre highness, as ever were 
 pepie to any kyng, of youre progeni- 
 tours, that ever reigned in youre said 
 reaume of England, but youre said Com- 
 mons been so empoverished.' " 
 
 " Shall you not touch on the causes 
 of their being so impoverished ? " 
 
 " Attend ye 'empoverished, what 
 
 by taking of vitaile to your household, 
 and other things in youre said reaume, 
 and noght paid fore, and the quinszisme 
 by youre said Commons, afore this tyme 
 so often graunted.' " 
 
 " May not his highness take offence, 
 to be so reminded of the grants made to 
 him by his people ? " enquired the Bohe- 
 mian. 
 
 " Strong truths must be spoken in 
 times like those in which we live," re- 
 plied the political reformer ; " and I stop 
 not at that which you have heard, but 
 further I would say, — ' And by the 
 l 2
 
 WO THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 graunt of tonnage and poundage, and 
 by the graunt of the subsidie upon the 
 Wolles, and other grauntes to you re high- 
 ness, and — ' now observe ye, comes the 
 boldest part of all, « and for lakke of 
 execution of justice, that youre pore 
 Commons been full nighe destroued, and 
 if it shuld continue lenger in such grete 
 charge, it cowde noght in oney wyse be 
 hade or borne.' " 
 
 " Really," said Edward, " I fear this 
 part of your petition will be thought to 
 breathe a threat." 
 
 Whittington, as commonly happens 
 with those who submit what they have 
 written to their friends, was too much 
 occupied with the merits of his own per- 
 formance, to lend an attentive ear to the 
 criticisms which it called forth, and 
 merely remarking that he saw nothing in 
 the world that could be omitted, he con- 
 tinued the reading of the paper, which 
 went on to recommend to the king that 
 he should " resume, seise and reteine '*
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 221 
 
 in his possession all " honours, castelles, 
 lordshippes, townes, towneshipps, man- 
 nours, londs, tenements, wastes, rentes, 
 reversions, fees, feefermes and services, 
 with all their appurtenances in Englonde, 
 Wales, and in the marches thereof; 
 Irlond, Guysnes, Caleys, and in the 
 marches thereof; as also the like in the 
 Dutchie of Lancastre, as they were at 
 the time of their being granted." 
 
 " But," enquired Huss, " why coun- 
 sel you not his highness to make an espe- 
 cial resumption of the goods of the lazy, 
 luxurious, overgorged clergy ? " 
 
 u I deemed it not discreet to put them 
 in the front. Nathless, after calling on 
 the king to resume ' his letters patent, 
 his grants of herbage, pannage, fishing, 
 pasture ; ' then point I to the possessions 
 « granted to any abbot, priour, deane, 
 chapitre, maistre, or wardeyne of college, 
 fraternity, crafte or gilde, and pray him 
 to make the same to be voide and of 
 noone effect.' " 
 
 l 3
 
 222 THE LOLLARDS, 
 
 " There you strike a formidable blow 
 at the evil." 
 
 " Nor stop I there, but aiming more 
 directly at the churchmen* this following 
 do I add : ' And over that, that all 
 grauntes and relesses made by you, syth 
 the first day of your reigne to oney abbot, 
 priour, covent, or to oney other persone 
 or persones, for discharge or quytclayme 
 of oney corrodies or corody, pensione or 
 pensiones, dismes spirituelles, or quin- 
 zismes, dismes temporells, rentes, or ser- 
 vices, or oney other charge, be voide and 
 of noone effect.' " 
 
 " I fear," said Huss, " that the pro- 
 ceeding you purpose, albeit it may be 
 highly commendable in the main, will be 
 found in some cases to press with much 
 severity on divers persons." 
 
 " But for that, in all meritorious cases, 
 I have a remedy in savings to be made 
 in favour of each sufferer. The annual 
 pensions of those capitaines and leaders 
 who have done the state good service,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 223 
 
 although several of those brave com- 
 manders receive yearly well nigh fifty 
 pounds each, I mean not to touch \ the 
 grants to colleges I would % spare ; and I 
 propose to suggest a saving for the lord 
 chancellor, treasurer, privy-seal, justices, 
 barons of the exchequer, sergeants at 
 law, attorney and officers in the king's 
 courts of record, for accustomed wages, 
 rewards or clothing." 
 
 To give this his favourite plan all the 
 perfection that friendly criticism and 
 learned comment could supply, Mr. 
 Whittington had long meditated a jour- 
 ney to London. But the appalling dan- 
 gers and difficulties, then regarded as 
 inseparable from such an expedition, had 
 deterred him from giving effect to his 
 intention. The opportunity which now 
 offered of travelling all the way in com- 
 pany, favoured his views, and he purposed 
 remaining in the metropolis till parlia- 
 ment should next be summoned to meet, 
 when he calculated so many of his friends 
 l 4
 
 224 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 would be on the road to Leicester ; that 
 the dangers to be apprehended under 
 other circumstances, would vanish, or at 
 any rate be greatly diminished. 
 
 The necessary preparations were made 
 with all practicable expedition. But a 
 journey from Leicestershire to London 
 was not quite so easily performed in the 
 early part of the fifteenth century, as it 
 may be now. It was not merely putting 
 a few trifles into a portmanteau, and 
 taking a place in the stage-coach that 
 passed every day, that would complete 
 the arrangements requisite for such a 
 trip, and secure the party in ten or 
 twelve hours, an arrival at the Bull and 
 Mouth, or at the White Horse, Fetter 
 Lane. The convenience of a swiftly- tra- 
 velling vehicle, open to every one, had 
 not then been thought ofi for even 
 coaches had not been invented. Such a 
 journey could only be performed within 
 any moderate time, on horseback ; and 
 in this way, various circumstances made
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 2&5 
 
 the progress of the traveller very slow. 
 In the first place the roads were bad, 
 and much more circuitous than at pre- 
 sent ; in the next, the cattle, from the 
 injudicious manner in whraThorses were 
 then managed and trained, were inca- 
 pable of exertions like those which are 
 ordinarily imposed upon them now j and, 
 in the third place, the inns were such 
 miserably unprovided hovels, that the 
 traveller found it necessary to take pro- 
 vision with him for the whole of his 
 journey ; or, at least, for so much as would 
 bring him to the residence of a friend, 
 or to some populous town on a market- 
 day. It ivas, therefore, indispensable for 
 him to prepare a stock of food, and the 
 inconvenient burden which it formed, 
 precluded him from getting forward but 
 at a very cautious pace. 
 
 There were yet two other sources of 
 
 delay to be encountered, before those 
 
 whose proceedings are the subject of this 
 
 narrative, could quit Lutterworth. In 
 
 L 5
 
 ■rS*&. 
 
 3P' 
 
 226 THE LOLLARDS* 
 
 the first place, it was necessary for Mr, 
 Whittington to take a formal leave of 
 all his friends in that part of the country. 
 Neglecting y^lo this would have been 
 considered tne^&eigjit of unkindness as 
 well as of rudeness, when he was on the 
 eve of undertaking a journey, from 
 which as they would have expressed 
 themselves, " God, he alone knew if it 
 would ever be his fortune to return ;"" 
 and then before venturing on so formid- 
 able an expedition, it was thought but 
 prudent that a man in his circumstances 
 should make a will. These forms and 
 precautions were satisfied and taken as 
 rapidly as circumstances would admit, but 
 not so rapidly as Mr. Whittington could 
 have desired. His friends, when told of 
 his anxiety to perfect his petitions, under 
 the auspices of Mr Fortescue, approved 
 of his ideas and considered that which 
 he wished to recommend to Parliament 
 would be equally beneficial to the king 
 and his people j but, nevertheless, the
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 2#7 
 
 majority of them were of opinion — and 
 some few were frank enough to express 
 it — that he would never think of expos- 
 ing himself to the manifold perils of a 
 journey to London, merely for the pur- 
 pose of serving his country, if he were 
 not half mad. 
 
 It is not improbable that some were 
 put on making this fair avowal of their 
 sentiments by Mrs. Whittington, who 
 had been opposed to his project from the 
 first, and whose uneasiness had much 
 increased, as the day of their departure 
 drew nigh. Though not young, they 
 were warmly attached, and they had so 
 seldom been parted for more than a day 
 or two, that the lengthened separation 
 which a visit to the metropolis must 
 occasion, was contemplated by both with 
 pain, but by the wife with infinite alarm. 
 She commiserated the silent sorrow 
 which sat on the brow of the interesting 
 Alice, whom she had seen once as gay as 
 l 6
 
 228 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 she was beautiful; she wished Edward 
 and the Bohemian safe at their journey's 
 end ; but her feelings were most acute, 
 when she sugered her mind to dwell 
 on the dangers and hardships to which 
 her lord was about to expose himself. 
 Her alarm produced some uneasiness on 
 his part, but he had gone too far to 
 recede; and now, having signed his will 
 in the presence of proper witnesses, and 
 taken leave of his friends and relations, 
 he had only to bid his anxious consort 
 farewell. On this trying occasion (such 
 did they consider it) the lady burst into 
 tears, and then fainted. Whittington, by 
 an extraordinary effort of fortitude, pre- 
 served much of his usual serenity, though 
 it was evident to all present that his 
 firmness was somewhat shaken. He, 
 however, soon rallied sufficiently to con- 
 sole the reviving Mrs. Whittington, by 
 expressing a lively, but not too con- 
 fident hope, for that would have ap-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 229 
 
 peared presumptuous, that she would see 
 him return in safety j and so this weighty 
 matter terminated. 
 
 It was not thought advisable that 
 Edward or his sister should travel by 
 night. Now that they no longer wanted 
 a home in England, and that the course 
 they pursued could not lead to the dis- 
 covery of Lord Cobham, no adequate 
 reason suggested itself for denying the 
 advantages of daylight to any of the 
 party on their road to London. It was, 
 however, arranged that Edward should 
 not lead the way. Whittington desired 
 that himself and the Bohemian should 
 go forward with Alice, and be followed 
 by Edward at a moderate distance. 
 Acting thus, should any danger arise, 
 they persuaded themselves, that it would 
 be in their power to give him, by signal, 
 such timely notice of its approach, as 
 would enable him to provide for his 
 safety by retreat. Still they were of
 
 230 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 opinion that there was little cause for 
 fear, as the reward offered for the father 
 could only cause pursuit of the son with 
 a view of tracing his steps to the abode 
 of Lord Cobham, and in this case the 
 enemies of the Lollards could only be 
 baffled and misled by their own activity. 
 But comfortable as this reflection was, 
 a dread lurked behind, lest the perjuries 
 which had placed one guiltless individual 
 in jeopardy, should now be directed 
 against the offspring of that individual. 
 They were, therefore, decidedly of opinion 
 that the arrangement which had been 
 devised ought not to be laid aside. The 
 Bohemian enforced this, by remarking 
 that their confidence in the Eternal, ought 
 not to induce them to neglect endeavour- 
 ing to provide for their own safety. 
 " Though," added the pastor, " no man 
 born of a woman can feel more potently 
 than I do, that when all human pru- 
 dence can no more avail, we ought not
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 231 
 
 to despair. This hath but recently been 
 seen in mine own case, and truly may 
 I say it in the words of the holy book 
 as englished by WicklhTe — 'for he that 
 is mighti hath don to me grete thingis, 
 and his name is holy. 9 "
 
 232 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 " O ! my Maria, 
 " I am whipp'd, and rack'd,and torn upon the wheel 
 " Of giddy fortune ; she, and her minions, 
 " Have got me down, and treading on my bosom 
 " They cry, Lie still." 
 
 Marlowe. 
 
 I hey quitted Lutterworth in the order 
 agreed upon, and encountering no obsta- 
 cle in their journey, closed their first 
 day's march at Northampton. Here they 
 were fortunate enough to find an inn so 
 capable of accommodating travellers, that 
 a good flock bed was obtained for Alice, 
 it being previously agreed that a penny 
 should be paid for the use of it ; and 
 rushes and clean straw were abundantly 
 supplied to all. It was matter of exul- 
 tation that they had procured so good a 
 lodging for Alice, though Mr. Whitting-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. c 233 
 
 ton could not help inveighing against the 
 avarice which extorted the sum mentioned 
 above, merely for a lodging. That rest 
 should be charged for, as ale was, ap- 
 peared to him a monstrous innovation ; 
 but he philosophically consoled himself 
 with the reflection, that an extortion so 
 extravagantly out of the way, must of 
 necessity work its own remedy, as it was 
 not likely that the innkeeper would very 
 soon enjoy a repetition of his present 
 success, for but few travellers could pass, 
 whose means were so abounding, as to 
 admit of their sacrificing any part of 
 their substance by paying for their sleep. 
 They re-commenced their journey at 
 an early hour on the following morning, 
 and had advanced some miles without 
 interruption, when they perceived a single 
 horseman coming towards them. He sa- 
 luted them courteously, but hastily, when 
 happening to fix his eyes on Alice just 
 as he was passing, he checked his animal, 
 and accosted her :
 
 234. THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " Lady, I fear you will think it little 
 behoveful in me, thus steadily to gaze i pon 
 a face I have not seen before, but I have 
 two excuses handy. In the first place, it 
 may be allowed that I say, where eyes so 
 bright and features so divinely-—" 
 
 " Stranger," said Huss, " it is not well 
 that you should thus delay a maiden 
 on her road, to fill her modest ears with 
 idle flattery." 
 
 " I crave your pardon, father. By my 
 body's faith ! methinks you lose no time 
 to blame. With you, rebuke lingers not 
 far behind offence." 
 
 " I would admonish," said the Bo- 
 hemian, " to guard your vanity from 
 giving offence." 
 
 " But for the interruption you sup- 
 plied, I had ere this, spoken to this young 
 fair one on matters of some import to her 
 happiness ; unless, but that I think can- 
 not be, I do mistake her. I guess you 
 are the daughter of Lord Cobham."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 235 
 
 " This greeting startled the party. 
 They would gladly have conferred to- 
 gether, as to the answer which it might 
 be fit to give ; but this could not be done ; 
 and Huss, therefore, interposing his horse 
 between the stranger and Alice, replied 
 with some severity, — 
 
 " She is not to be idly questioned by 
 one unknown to her. Whoever she may 
 be, her right to pass on this the king's 
 highway is not to be disputed." 
 
 " Why, that is true, and since you will 
 not let me speak in my own way, 1 must 
 perforce make known my wish as briefly 
 as I can. Convinced this is the daugh- 
 ter of Lord Cobham, I fain would ask 
 of her brother. Him I must find if 
 possible, this day ; and if he late 
 hath shifted his abode, trust me, you had 
 as good direct me to w T here he now 
 abideth." 
 
 Edward, who pursuant to their original 
 plan, had remained considerably in the 
 rear, was so occupied with his own me-
 
 236 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 ditations, that he observed not the halt 
 which had taken place, and was rapidly 
 coming up to his friends, without per- 
 ceiving them or the signal for retreat, 
 which they thought it right to make. 
 He was within a very few yards of them, 
 when it was repeated. That instant he 
 turned about, but it was too late to escape 
 recognition. The stranger sprung for- 
 ward ; and Edward finding that he was 
 pursued, urged his horse to its greatest 
 speed. 
 
 The expedition with which the young 
 man fled, seemed to cause the supposed 
 enemy a momentary embarrassment. He, 
 however, saw that he must lose the object 
 of his enquiry altogether, unless he could 
 overtake him. He, therefore, spurred 
 his horse forward, and rapidly gained 
 ground on Edward, till he got so near 
 that he could be heard by the fugitive, 
 whose alarm he now attempted to dis- 
 sipate. 
 
 U Tarry !«— Whither away so fast ? —
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 23J 
 
 What a plague dost take me for ? Stop, 
 Ned. — Dost not know me ? Never fly 
 from an old school-fellow ; never fear in- 
 jury from your brother Oxonian." 
 
 These words at once arrested Edward. 
 He had felt that he must inevitably be 
 overtaken ; and it was a great relief to 
 him, to find that his pursuer was no other 
 than Octavius. From him, though they 
 had never been united by intimate friend- 
 ship, he had little to dread in the shape 
 of hostility, and nothing from treachery. 
 He, therefore, slackened his pace. 
 
 " I joy to see thee," cried Octavius, 
 11 and I do trust that thou wilt not be 
 sad, thus to have fallen in with me. I 
 bring thee no bad tidings, man ; but turn 
 thy steed, and let us rejoin thy friends." 
 
 " Then I suppose we must part, for we 
 seem to be journeying different ways." 
 
 "Thy way is mine, man ; for I am sent 
 express to seek thee — nay, never change 
 colour ; dost think I am an espial — and 
 on thee, Ned ?"
 
 288 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " I did you no such wrong ; but the 
 hearing that you came express to seek 
 me, might warrant some surprise." 
 
 u True ; and so might the manner in 
 which I found thee. Trust me, Ned ; 
 thy sister is much like thee — a marvel- 
 lously handsome likeness, mind me. 
 Thou, for a man, art well enough to pass ; 
 but thy sister is loveliness itself; andyet so 
 resembling thee, that when I looked upon 
 her, (having been thinking of her as well 
 as of you), I knew she must be relation 
 of thine, rightly judged you might not 
 be far off, and so accosted her." 
 
 " But what may your errand be, since 
 you were dispatched to seek out me ? By 
 whom were you sent ?" 
 
 " Marry, I late left Chichely, who 
 thinks thee so excellent a heretic, that he 
 would fain make use of thee in Smith- 
 field, to enlighten the world; conceiving, 
 that you being well stacked up with fag- 
 gots, might furnish to the Lollards, as
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 239 
 
 well as to the true sons of the church, a 
 very edifying blaze." 
 
 " And what would Chichely with me ?" 
 
 * Have I not told thee — that is, as I 
 guess, for I am not his messenger." 
 
 " Nay, if you were, seeing he has long 
 been the friend of your family, it no- 
 thing would surprize me — you being 
 orthodox." 
 
 " I being orthodox ! " — cried Octa- 
 vius ; — " now you would twit me with 
 my former sinnings. — I am thought 
 faithful to the church, because I am too 
 indolent to differ from it. Nature hath 
 given me, I thank her, a tolerable set of 
 limbs, but she hath not vouchsafed to 
 provide me with that capacity which you 
 possess, to study law, physic, and divinity. 
 You excel in each, and I gratefully re- 
 member when I broke my leg by jump- 
 ing from Joan Wotton's window, you 
 aided me so well, that no barber surgeon 
 could have tended me better." 
 
 " Name not that."
 
 240 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " I wish to say but this, I am that 
 common fellow, that I must go the beaten 
 track. A feather on the stream, I float 
 wherever the tide may bear me, and this, 
 perhaps, it is that keeps my faith firm, 
 and so protects my fortune from some of 
 the perils that otherwise might endanger 
 it, such as it be." 
 
 By this time they had turned their 
 horses, and were pursuing the track of 
 Alice, Whittington and Huss. Octavius 
 continued to sport with the curiosity of 
 Edward, till perceiving the latter had 
 become somewhat impatient for an expla- 
 nation, he took a graver tone. 
 
 " I came from one whose beauty might 
 warm an anchorite." 
 
 Edward started at this beginning, for 
 when beauty was mentioned, his thoughts 
 were never long in travelling to Matilda. 
 
 " Before I say more, I ought to invite 
 your congratulations, for I am to be the 
 husband of the fair one I am about to 
 name. — I come from the daughter of 
 Sir Thomas Venables."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 24J 
 
 " From Matilda ? " 
 
 " Even from Matilda. — Is she not an 
 angel ? " 
 
 At any period of his life Edward would 
 have greedily listened to the praises of 
 Matilda's beauty, but at this moment 
 one single idea occupied his mind : the 
 question which Octavius had put passed 
 unheeded, and he faltered in a low 
 tone, — 
 
 " Are you to be her husband ? " 
 
 "I am. — You seem surprised; but 
 why not give me joy? Did you ever see 
 a fairer object? — how exquisite her 
 figure ! — how noble her mien ! — how 
 rich the ruby of her lip ! — how dazzling 
 bright the lustre of her eye ! The first 
 moment that I gazed upon her, I thought 
 I had never seen so magnificent an ob- 
 ject, but her charms gained new splen- 
 dour in my view, when pity made her 
 speak of your misfortunes, and heavenly 
 benevolence prompted her to make me 
 the messenger of her good will." 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 242 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " And have you then the happiness to 
 possess the affections of Matilda ? " 
 
 li Maidens you know — such is the 
 foolish fashion of our country, — are not 
 expected to speak honestly their minds. 
 They sharpen love in others, by seeming 
 coldly insensible themselves. But I 
 think I have no reason to complain, hav- 
 ing known her for so short a time ; since, 
 besides that she seems less appalled at 
 my presence than formerly, she has, al- 
 ready, from her growing regard, selected 
 me as one entitled to her confidence to 
 seek out you. This springs from kind- 
 ness for your father." 
 
 " Said she it was from kindness for my 
 father?" 
 
 " I think so. I know we spoke of the 
 misfortunes of Lord Cobham, and of your 
 evil plight in consequence ; and then she 
 asked me if I would be her courier to 
 seek you out, and bear that to you which 
 might relieve your grief." 
 
 With these words he presented a small
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 243 
 
 packet. Edward was silent, for he 
 feared to attempt speech, lest he 
 should betray all the torturing emotion 
 which wrung his heart. Octavius saw 
 his affliction, and guessed the cause 
 of it. 
 
 " Why, Ned," said he, " a tear is 
 trembling in your eye. I thought not 
 to see your philosophy so worsted. Much 
 do I fear — and now it strikes upon my 
 brain, some one has named it to me, that 
 you have loved Matilda." 
 
 " I crave your pardon. You, who 
 know her value, may best excuse my sor- 
 row for her loss." 
 
 " By the true faith, I am sorry for it 
 — sorry that this is added to your other 
 calamities ; and rich as is the prize, may 
 shame be mine if I would not relinquish 
 the hope of gaining it, could you profit 
 by the sacrifice." 
 
 Edward turned his head aside, but 
 made no answer. The air of sincerity 
 
 M 2
 
 244 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 which marked the deportment of Octa- 
 vius touched him, and, added to the 
 other emotions excited in his bosom, pro- 
 duced sensations so mingled and so 
 acute, that he had no power to embody 
 them in language. Octavius was affected. 
 To triumph over a friend, and a friend 
 so reduced by misfortunes as he knew 
 his old fellow-student to be, was painful ; 
 yet to give up Matilda was that for which 
 he was not prepared, and when this idea 
 crossed his mind, he could not refrain 
 from saying, — 
 
 " But, Ned, I know yours is not that 
 currish soul, that would seek (like the 
 dog of which old iEsop tells,) to debar 
 another from what you cannot enjoy 
 yourself. Could I control circumstan- 
 ces, your situation should be very dif- 
 ferent ; but seeing what has chanced, it 
 were folly for me to give up my own 
 good, without the prospect of bettering 
 your condition."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. %&Q 
 
 m I have no right to ask it." 
 " Nor reason to wish it, so doth it 
 appear to rne. — Were there a hope — " 
 
 " This only would I solicit, that no 
 compulsion where you are concerned shall 
 be used towards Matilda." 
 
 *' That will I most religiously pro- 
 mise. If with the advantages of being 
 often with her, and licence to persuade, 
 I cannot succeed, then will I leave her 
 for some better man. If I do not make 
 her love me, I will never suffer that she 
 shall be constrained to endure — " 
 " But this her friends might attempt." 
 " Then it shall be for another, and 
 not for me. If I cannot prevail with 
 herself, it is not the consent of fifty fa- 
 thers that shall suffice j for he who claims 
 a woman merely by virtue of her parent's 
 calculations, woos not a wife, but springs 
 upon a victim." 
 
 " I thank you for this generosity." 
 " Then, by the mass, you do a foolish 
 thing," cried Octavius ; " for in what 
 m 3
 
 246 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 I promise, there is policy, but not a whit of 
 generosity. The plodding, sordid lout, 
 who acts that part which I will not act, 
 though scorned at first for his meanness, 
 is generally an object of pity in the end, 
 with those who know not, or who forget 
 his depravity. I shall succeed with Ma- 
 tilda herself. My front is well nigh 
 as good as yours : women trouble not 
 themselves about the rest ; and, seldom 
 estimating a man for his intrinsic value, 
 know not the difference between a shal- 
 low-pated trifler like me, and a scholar 
 and philosopher like you." 
 
 Edward might at one time have felt 
 flattered by such a compliment, and 
 blushed to receive it. But his heart was 
 too much occupied to recognise or think 
 of it in this instance, and he made no 
 reply. They now were fast gaining 
 ground on Whittington and the Bohe- 
 mian, whom they saw waiting to be over- 
 taken, rightly judging from the amicable 
 manner in which Octavius and his old
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 247 
 
 fellow-student rode together, that their 
 alarm had been groundless. On coming 
 up with them, Octavius apologised for 
 the confusion he had created in their 
 little troop, of which he begged to be 
 admitted a member. To this no objec- 
 tion could be started, and he, having 
 performed the task assigned to him, con- 
 sidered himself fortunate in having an 
 opportunity of retracing his steps in such 
 society. 
 
 When they halted, Edward retired from 
 the observation of his friends, to open 
 the packet of which Octavius was the 
 bearer. He found in it a letter which 
 described to him the new severities to 
 which it was proposed to subject the 
 Lollards, and prayed him to take the 
 most effectual means to provide for his 
 own safety, and for that of his father. It 
 supplicated him to accept, in furtherance 
 of that object, a sum of money which 
 accompanied the letter. This request 
 was most earnestly enforced, and with it 
 m 4
 
 248 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 another that he would not deny her the 
 felicity of aiding him in a similar way, as 
 circumstances might require or opportu- 
 nity offer. The joy of doing this, she 
 added, was the only one that remained 
 to her in connection with his name. He 
 also found a gem of remarkable brilliancy, 
 which she prayed him to accept, and to 
 consider when he looked upon it that his 
 character was in her estimation, spotless, 
 and radiant as that jewel ; and breathing 
 on it he would see, in the rapidly vanish- 
 ing cloud thus thrown on it, how promptly 
 the calumnies which might assail his 
 fame should be dismissed from her mind. 
 Of the noble conduct of Octavius, she 
 spoke in terms of the w-armest praise, 
 and her letter closed with the assurance, 
 that whatever untoward circumstances 
 might continue to oppose their love, he 
 should ever possess her sincerest esteem. 
 The tender anxiety manifested for his 
 welfare by Matilda, affected Edward, and 
 awoke the warmest transports of grati-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 249 
 
 tude. But the praise which he found 
 heaped on Octavius, alarmed the jealousy 
 of the lover ; and the distinction which 
 she took, at the conclusion of her letter, 
 between love and esteem, seemed to in- 
 dicate that her mind was, in some mea- 
 sure, reconciled to regard another as her 
 future husband. Looking at this, he 
 could not but think that Octavius might 
 be justified when he anticipated a perfect 
 triumph. A fiery heat succeeded to the 
 genial glow which had at first warmed 
 his bosom, but reflection succeeded ; and 
 when he considered how hopeless his own 
 situation, he doubted whether the course 
 which true love should dictate to one in 
 his circumstances, would not urge him 
 to favour the suit of his rival, that the 
 mistress of his affections might be se- 
 cured from the importunities of less 
 worthy aspirants. 
 
 Continuing their journey, the next day 
 brought the travellers to St. Alban's. 
 Here it became necessary that they 
 m 5
 
 250 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 should make a short stay, to give Alice 
 time to recover from the indisposition 
 which had seized her, through the fatigue 
 she had experienced. Octavius went on, 
 impatient to announce to Matilda how 
 successfully he had executed his mission, 
 and bearing those acknowledgments 
 which Edward thought it wise to send 
 by such a messenger. Octavius reiter- 
 ated his former declarations at parting, 
 and endeavoured to console his old fel- 
 low-student, with the assurance that if 
 he succeeded in carrying Matilda, as he 
 should ever consider himself to have 
 been enriched at his friend's expense, 
 his fortune should ever be at that friend's 
 command. 
 
 Having rested two days at St. Alban's, 
 they rose at a very early hour on the 
 third day, and proceeded on their way. 
 Anxious to reach London before its 
 close, Whittington pressed them to allow 
 of the least possible delay on the 
 road. They advanced with the same
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 251 
 
 caution as when they commenced their 
 journey, but met with no new incident 
 to disturb them. The sun was about to 
 set, when Whittington remarked with 
 great satisfaction, that they now ap- 
 proached the end of their journey. 
 
 " I purpose not," said he, " to go 
 into the close and crowded city to reside, 
 while I remain from home, but in this 
 fair and salubrious — this gay and smiling 
 spot, — here, at Saffron Hill, will I abide. 
 My friend Stephen Haggerston hath a 
 goodly house, where for the present we 
 may all be kindly entertained. Here I 
 shall be at a moderate distance from the 
 metropolis, and a walk through the mea- 
 dows of the Old-burne will speedily take 
 me thither." 
 
 They advanced on the hill, which then 
 was decorated with a few fanciful dwell- 
 ings, belonging to persons of opulence, 
 who were led by a taste for rural scenes 
 and open views, to establish themselves 
 there j and, at the time when Whitting- 
 m 6
 
 £52 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 ton spoke, they saw the buildings of 
 Clerkenwell. 
 
 " There seemeth a fair place of wor- 
 ship," said the Bohemian, pointing to the 
 Church ; " what may it be entitled ?" 
 
 " That," replied Whittington, " is the 
 church, and the large building adjoining 
 it, and of which in truth it formeth a 
 part, is the Priory of Clerkenwell. Look 
 ye lower, and some little space from 
 where the hill begins abruptly to decline, 
 you see a modern erection. That pro- 
 tects the celebrated spring by which our 
 parish clerks, with others who aid their 
 doings, assemble at divers' stated times 
 to enact moralities and mysteries, of 
 which, no doubt, ye have heard." 
 
 " I have, but it pleaseth me not. 
 There shall ye see, so I have heard, the 
 whole creation of the world pictured, and 
 mimicked, and mortal men do then pre- 
 tend to be angels and even the very God- 
 head." 
 
 " With you," said Whittington, " I
 
 THE LOLLARDS. %58 
 
 think it lacketh meet solemnity, for 
 often doth it happen that those who can 
 best enact, are neither holy nor dis- 
 creet men. When lately I was there 
 to see them, he who was clepid the 
 Angel Gabriel, was found so top-heavy 
 from drink, that he reeled and almost 
 knocked down the Deus Paler of the 
 mystery, who being no over-sober per- 
 sonage himself, did curse and swear so 
 profanely, thus to be staggered, that my 
 brother Sir Richard, then Lord Mayor, 
 was well minded to send his godship to 
 the gaol of Newgate." 
 
 " More needs not to prove that such 
 rites are but folly, and serve not the 
 cause of religion. " 
 
 "But," said Whittington, recurring to 
 his favourite topic, "is not this a delightful 
 scene, and doth it not command a view 
 of many pleasing objects ? Lower down, 
 those tall Elms, mark the jpot where 
 the Skinners' Well is found, where
 
 254} THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 that craft do repair to enact, at times, 
 mysteries of their own, after the manner 
 of the parish-clerks. \ How noble looketh 
 the vast square tower of Paul's, which 
 seemeth lord over all the neighbouring 
 churches, whose tops are now seen. How 
 gay is this hill which we now stand upon, 
 and what a beauteous verdure decketh, 
 late as is the season, that, which holds the 
 Priory on its summit ! Then, further 
 south, mark you another noble building? 
 That is the hospital of St. John of 
 Jerusalem, and leading from it, city- 
 wards, behold the mills which belong 
 to the fraternity, and which are worked 
 by means of that brook which windeth 
 along in the valley. Turn-mill brook is 
 it called, and you may almost see it join 
 the river of Wells, while the Oldbourne 
 is hastening from the west to meet and 
 unite with it. Then near the place of 
 their junction, ye must observe a mighty 
 edifice adorned with much modern work-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. Q55 
 
 manship and cunning. That standeth 
 hard by the Old-burn e, and is the palace 
 of the Bishop of Ely. It was thus hand- 
 somely set forth by Bishop Arundel, 
 when he did fill that See. Looking at 
 so costly a pile, and its spacious gardens, 
 and at the other objects which I have 
 turned your eyes to, and contemplating 
 these shady retreats, while ye survey at 
 so small distance the whole extent of 
 London, say have ye often seen an emi- 
 nence commanding in its prospects so 
 much of the gallant magnificence of art, 
 and possessing in itself so largely the 
 marvellous beauties of nature, as this 
 same right famous Saffron Hill !" 
 
 The place on which they stood, at that 
 period merited the praises which it 
 received from the admiring Whittington, 
 and the smiling village of Holborn or 
 Oldburne, as seen from it, built irregu- 
 larly, but beautifully diversified with 
 gardens attached to the houses — adorned
 
 256 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 with arbors, May-poles, and grottos, was 
 most interesting. The meadows appro- 
 priated to the exercise of archery, pro- 
 vided with butts, and seats for the 
 umpires, heightened the variety and com- 
 pelled Huss to admire, not less than his 
 friend did, the surrounding scenery.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 257 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Sic visum superis it seems, 
 
 Who only give me, golden dreams, 
 
 And though Hope's fairy fingers mark 
 
 Out future purses in the dark, 
 
 Yet stern Distress, a rogue unpleasant, 
 
 Like bailiff stands to point the present." 
 
 Dermody. 
 
 Not all the delights of Saffron Hill, 
 backed by the most endearing hospita- 
 lities, could divert the Bohemian from 
 his purpose, or induce him to delay his 
 departure for many days. He had 
 possessed himself of as much spiritual 
 information, or manna for the soul, as he 
 would sometimes call it, as he could 
 hope to obtain ; he had seen his friend 
 Lord Cobham, and he had made those 
 arrangements with respect to the son 
 and daughter of his friend, which he
 
 258 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 hoped would secure their future com- 
 fort, and now, his duty, appeared to him 
 imperatively to require his speedy return 
 to Prague. 
 
 Huss, therefore, soon took leave of 
 Whittington, and while that personage 
 pursued his political reforms, set out 
 on his journey, accompanied by Edward 
 and Alice. The latter, in quitting her 
 native country, felt cheered and com- 
 forted, by the presence of her brother. 
 This was a happiness on which she had 
 not calculated, when the idea of provid- 
 ing her with an asylum in Bohemia, 
 was first mentioned, and her situation was, 
 therefore, much less painful than she had 
 expected it would prove, on parting 
 from her English friends. Edward, 
 though he knew how to value the society 
 of his sister, and though he rejoiced in 
 the opportunity of watching over her 
 safety, was much depressed by the 
 peculiarities of his lot. He wished to 
 behold Matilda before he left England,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. c 259 
 
 and more than once at nightfall, he 
 directed his steps to Charing, in the vain 
 hope that being near the mansion of 
 which she was an inmate, some incon- 
 ceivable accident might afford him the 
 felicity of seeing and of speaking to her ; 
 though had the fond dream been realised, 
 he knew not how he could profit by it — 
 he knew not what he could say, — that 
 she was interested in hearing, or that it 
 would be advantageous for him to com- 
 municate. While he tarried, wildly de- 
 siring access to her, he trembled lest 
 she should appear ; and when the late- 
 ness of the hour dismissed the last ray of 
 expectation, he retired almost as much 
 relieved as mortified, by the disappoint- 
 ment. 
 
 The deepest melancholy oppressed his 
 spirits, while from the deck of the vessel, 
 in which the Bohemian and Alice with 
 himself were embarked, he gazed on the 
 receding shores of England. He con- 
 templated the varieties of woe which he
 
 260 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 had been fated to experience, the per- 
 secution which a revered father had 
 endured, the ruin which had descended 
 on all connected with him — and the con- 
 sequent rupture of those engagements, 
 which through a series of happy years 
 he had been encouraged to hope, would 
 prove as permanent, as they were de- 
 lightful. The sullen murmur of the 
 ocean, reminded him of the distance 
 which already intervened between him 
 and the being so devotedly loved, and 
 his heart sickened at the reflection, that 
 the distance was still to be increased, 
 and that even if the views of Huss 
 should be realized, of which after the 
 mortifications he had known, he enter- 
 tained some doubt, he could not speedily 
 return to England even as the destitute 
 fugitive, that left it. 
 
 Such reflections occupied his mind on 
 the voyage ; nor could all the soothing 
 attentions of the Bohemian, dissipate the 
 cloud of sorrow which hung over his
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 26 1 
 
 mind. He felt the kindness of Huss, 
 and lamented that he could not res- 
 pond to it by wearing a more cheerful 
 aspect ; but while his restless thoughts 
 incessantly reminded him of the decline 
 which his fortunes had experienced, and 
 pointed to the mysterious future, he found 
 this impossible. 
 
 Arrived in Prague, the joy which the 
 return of Huss inspired in the whole po- 
 pulation gave him sincere satisfaction, as 
 it assured him that, placed under the 
 care of a man so truly virtuous, who was 
 himself the object of such peculiar kind- 
 ness, the comfort and safety of Alice 
 were thenceforward sufficiently provided 
 for. 
 
 Among those who were most rejoiced 
 at the re-appearance of Huss, were the 
 Baron de Chlume, Hierom or Jerom of 
 Prague, as he is commonly called, and 
 Eugene de Marie. The last mentioned 
 personage was a young man, who had 
 studied at the University under Huss.
 
 262 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 He was a Frenchman, and was now in 
 the bloom of youth. His friends had in- 
 tended him for the Church, but he had 
 disappointed their wishes ; not because 
 he entertained those conscientious ob- 
 jections to the doctrines of the Roman 
 Catholic church, that had made the Pope 
 and his supporters the enemies of his old 
 preceptor ; but, because his active spirit 
 preferred the nobler profession (as he 
 considered it,) of arms. A very good 
 Catholic himself, he thought Huss had 
 fallen into some errors which he would 
 do well to abjure ; but he respected him 
 sincerely as a good man ; and when he 
 heard of the suspension of the Bohemian, 
 and of his forced retirement from his 
 public labours, he hastened to Hussinez, 
 to console him under his misfortune. 
 There informed of the voyage which 
 Huss had made to England, de Marie 
 had repaired to Prague, to await his return. 
 Edward and Alice were received with 
 the utmost cordiality by the friends of 
 11
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 263 
 
 the pastor, and could hearty welcomes 
 and kind greetings have removed all 
 cause for grief, the brother and sister had 
 been happy. But Edward still sighed 
 for the condition in which he found him- 
 self. He panted for the arrival of that 
 moment when he might boast that he 
 could live by his own exertions : when, 
 as the Bohemian had given him cause to 
 hope, he might be enabled to assist those 
 who were dear to him, from the fruits of 
 his own industry. Situated as he was at 
 Prague, this seemed unnecessary ; wealth 
 would have been useless ; but still he re- 
 gretted that the Bohemian had not justi- 
 fied the expectations he had encouraged, 
 for to Edward the most splendid depend- 
 ance would have been irksome. 
 
 His skill, which Huss had praised as 
 a transcriber of the Scriptures, had pro- 
 cured him many applications for copies 
 of the Gospels, and of different books and 
 chapters in the Bible. The sum paid for 
 these by purchasers, for something like a
 
 264 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 regular price had been established among 
 that numerous class to which Edward and 
 his father belonged, was considerable ; 
 but yet the labour was so great, that with 
 all the celerity which he had acquired, 
 he found in this mode of occupying him- 
 self but a very inadequate resource. It 
 was however his only one, and he deter- 
 mined resolutely to apply himself to it, 
 even while he remained at Prague. The 
 Bohemian, one day, surprised him thus 
 employed. 
 
 " What ! is it even so," exclaimed 
 Huss. " Are you labouring, and in se- 
 cret ! I thought not to see you so occu- 
 pied, for I expected that your curious 
 youth, being in a foreign land, would 
 claim a longer respite from toil than you 
 have enjoyed, and so I designed not yet to 
 speak to you of that which prompted me 
 to bring you hither. But since it is not 
 so ; since prudence denies that repose 
 and recreation which I suspected you 
 would crave, it is fitting that I direct you
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 2()5 
 
 to the most beneficial mode of using 
 those talents, with which you are gifted." 
 
 Joy sparkled in the eyes of the young 
 man while Huss was speaking, and he 
 listened to the remainder of his friend's 
 address with the most eager attention. 
 
 <c I have now," continued Huss, " to 
 unfold that, which, without the consent 
 of another, I had no right to impart. 
 There is a man living in this city, who is 
 possessed of an art so extraordinary, that 
 while I tell of it, I am well aware thou 
 wilt almost doubt whether such thing be 
 possible. It is an art, which, when de- 
 scribed, will strike thy senses to resemble 
 potent magic. Start not, young man, for 
 sure thou canst not think that ever I 
 would sanction those fearful efforts, by 
 which the powers of darkness are in- 
 voked, and the great enemy of man 
 wooed to be his ally. Yet what wouldst 
 thou think, thou, who knowest so well 
 what weeks and months of painful labour 
 are requisite to produce a single copy of 
 
 VOL. I. n
 
 266 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 the New Testament, and how great the 
 toil, to write fairly in legible characters, 
 the Gospels of the Evangelists; what 
 wouldst thou think, I enquire, if power 
 were given thee to multiply transcripts 
 so fast, that one short hour, should enable 
 thee to outstrip the present labour of a 
 week ?" 
 
 " I comprehend you not. How loaves 
 and fishes once were multiplied by Him, 
 who, though he wore the aspect of man, 
 was God, I oft have read ; but the days 
 in which such miracles were to be wit- 
 nessed have passed from us, and can re- 
 turn no more." 
 
 " It is no miracle ; and yet it is mira- 
 culous that human intelligence should be 
 competent to perform a feat so wondrous 
 without a miracle. But this is truth, 
 that copies may be multiplied from one, 
 so that a hundred, and as I think more, 
 you may produce in less time than it now 
 costs you to write a single transcript." 
 
 " I cry your grace, for, as you did sur-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 26/' 
 
 mise, this seemeth most incredible. Still 
 I am certain that a grave and holy man, 
 as I know you are, would not tell this, 
 unless he believed it ; but if I may 
 adventure to say all that I think, I can- 
 not help suspecting — " 
 
 " That my penetration has been im- 
 posed upon," interrupted the Bohemian. 
 " Be this thy belief for awhile. Thou 
 shall soon be undeceived. But answer 
 me this : if such an art were taught, what 
 wouldst thou think of it ?" 
 
 " I know the foe of all our race can- 
 not endure the truth, and, consequently, 
 cannot approach that book which con- 
 taineth the word of God. Yet it galls my 
 reason sorely, to be told that powers so 
 mighty have been confided to mortal man." 
 
 " But what wouldst thou think of that 
 art? I ask the question as a worldly 
 man ; what would be its value, if thou, and 
 thou alone, of all thy country, hadst it in 
 thy keeping ? What gain would it be to 
 thee, I demand ?" 
 
 N 2
 
 268 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " It would be like a shower of gold 
 poured into my abode, or a mine of 
 wealth transferred to my ownership." 
 
 <c It will be thine. A man there is, 
 who in his need, devised a plan for mak- 
 ing wood and metal plates ; on which he 
 contrived to arrange words and sentences, 
 and chapters ; and then to produce their 
 impression in ink, on paper. But his po- 
 verty precluded him from gaining ad- 
 vantage by this his invention. To me, 
 then, he applied for money and aid, 
 wherewithal he might bring it to per- 
 fection. He has succeeded admirably. 
 I, seeing thy skill in copying, felt that 
 nought was needful to enrich thee, but 
 to give thee possession of this rare mys- 
 tery. Therefore did I bring thee hither ; 
 and he, in gratitude for the timely aid 
 which 1 was enabled to afford, hath con- 
 sented that I should disclose it to thee ; 
 and he will even instruct thee in the same, 
 so thou consentest to the two ponditions 
 which he has coupled with his assent to 
 my entreaty."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 269 
 
 M Those conditions," said Edward, 
 ** must indeed be hard, if they are such 
 as I must reject, where so mighty a boon 
 is offered." 
 
 " They are not hard," replied Huss. 
 " The first it would for a long time be 
 impossible, or well nigh impossible for 
 thee to sin against ; for the second, thou 
 shalt be bound to observe it by regard 
 for thine own interest. — Not to detain 
 thee longer, he requireth that thou forth- 
 with do make a covenant, that never 
 shalt thou essay to apply the art, which 
 thou art soon to learn, to aught in the 
 German tongue ; and never to disclose 
 to any one, the means by which thou 
 shalt be enabled to perform what must 
 appear so passing wonderful." 
 
 Edward's bosom glowed with transport, 
 when he found that the terms were of such 
 a character, and unhesitatingly agreed to 
 give all possible security on both points. 
 That same day the Bohemian required 
 Hoffmann, (the person of whom he 
 n 3
 
 270 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 spoke), to perform what he had pro- 
 mised. On visiting his residence, they 
 learned that Hoffmann was from home ; 
 but Huss, resolute to accomplish his 
 purpose, ceased not to seek him in 
 every part of the city. The search was 
 for some hours useless, but by acci- 
 dent they met in the evening in the 
 street, just as Huss, disheartened by dis- 
 appointment, was returning to his own 
 dwelling. 
 
 Hoffmann accompanied Huss to his 
 house. Conducted by the Bohemian 
 to his study, which was also his bed- 
 chamber, he was requested to make 
 the promised disclosure. He did not 
 immediately reply, but gazed steadfastly 
 for some moments on the countenance of 
 Edward, as if he sought to read there, 
 whether he could, with safety, confide a 
 secret of such importance to one so 
 young. The result of this scrutiny was 
 not unfavourable to the hopes of the can- 
 didate for knowledge, and he replied in
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 271 
 
 the following terms to the application 
 which had been made to him. 
 
 " Not only gratitude for the important 
 benefits which you have rendered unto 
 me, but an earnest, anxious desire to pro- 
 mulgate those truths, which it is the 
 object of this young Englishman to make 
 more generally known, by means of the 
 art which he would acquire, incline 
 me to compliance with your wishes. But 
 is he prepared to take the oath, which I 
 have already declared that it is my re- 
 solution to exact from him to whom I 
 entrust the mystery, which now is in my 
 keeping?" 
 
 " Name you the oath to him," said 
 Huss, " and he shall answer for himself." 
 
 " I call upon him then to swear by the 
 Creator of the universe ; — by the Sa- 
 viour of man ; — and by the Holy Spirit ; 
 — in a word, by the Sacred Trinity, that 
 neither the hope of reward, not the fear 
 of punishment, that neither the greatest 
 good on earth shall induce, nor the most 
 n 4<
 
 272 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 fearful calamity that can be endured by 
 frail humanity extort, disclosure of the 
 secret I reveal to him." 
 
 The solemn tone in which Hoffmann 
 spoke, and the awful names which he had 
 demanded should be invoked, startled 
 Edward, and, turning to the Bohemian, 
 he demanded if it were fitting that he 
 should take the oath. 
 
 Huss answered, " Albeit I am not 
 convinced that it is necessary, and, there- 
 fore, had rather that it had not been 
 demanded ; yet it doth seem but reason- 
 able, that he who is the master of such a 
 mystery should also be master of the 
 terms on which it shall be imparted to 
 another, and may with reason claim assur- 
 ance, if he give to a fellow-creature that 
 which is undoubtedly his to give, that 
 the man so entrusted, shall not do what 
 may be to the prejudice of his benefactor. 
 Therefore I think the oath proposed, is 
 one that you may take." 
 
 Edward expressed his readiness to 
 comply with the demand of Hoffmann,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. Tjf3 
 
 who repeated the oath, dwelling with 
 strong emphasis on the words which 
 went to bind him to whom it was ten- 
 dered, to despise rewards and punish- 
 ments, if these should be resorted to with 
 a view of obtaining the revelation of a 
 secret so important. Edward pronounced 
 the words after him, in a manner which 
 satisfied Hoffmann that their import was 
 well understood, and that the oath was 
 taken by one on whom it would be 
 binding. 
 
 Satisfied on this head, he proceeded 
 to describe the art he had studied and 
 laboured to perfection: that of printing 
 from plates of metal, or blocks of wood. 
 These, he remarked, would afford the full- 
 estopportunities for displaying the elegant 
 taste and judicious arrangement, by which 
 Edwards manuscripts were said to be 
 distinguished. He took Edward to his 
 own house, and displayed before him the 
 whole of his ingenious apparatus. To 
 describe the surprise of Edward at what 
 N 5
 
 274 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 he saw, would be equally difficult and 
 superfluous, and no language can convey 
 an adequate idea of the benevolent joy in 
 which the virtuous spirit of Huss revelled, 
 when he saw all that he had regarded as 
 most intricate and perplexing, appeared 
 to Edward perfectly simple and easy. 
 Hoffmann was surprised at the intelli- 
 gence he remarked in his pupil, and 
 hesitated not to affirm that a very brief 
 period would give him all the theoretical 
 knowledge, and practical dexterity ne- 
 cessary. 
 
 The printer had so much to tell, and 
 to show, and Edward was so deeply 
 interested in all that he undertook to 
 reveal, that hour after hour stole imper- 
 ceptibly away, while he was thus en- 
 gaged, and it was midnight before he 
 retired. On getting home with Huss, 
 the Bohemian repaired to his chamber. 
 When leaving it, he had fastened the 
 door, and it was found still secured ; but 
 the moment he entered a gust of wind
 
 THE LOLLARDS. TJ5 
 
 almost extinguished his lamp. It came 
 from a window near his bed, which he 
 recollected had been closed when he was 
 last in the room. On removing the cur- 
 tains of his couch, it appeared as if some 
 one had recently lain there, and the print 
 of feet on one side indicated that the 
 person, whoever it was, had passed 
 thence to the window. Nothing had 
 been purloined, and he was puzzled to 
 guess who could have been there ; and 
 what could have induced the individual, 
 whoever he might be, to make his exit 
 but by the door. Suddenly it struSk 
 him that possibly some one had been 
 there concealed, at the moment when 
 Hoffmann was confiding to Edward the 
 particulars of his invention. For a mo- 
 ment he suspected that the party had 
 concealed himself for the purpose 
 of listening \ but this idea he imme- 
 diately repelled as extravagant. He 
 himself had not known that Hoffmann 
 would be there, at the hour which he had 
 n 6
 
 2?6 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 taken him to his study, and it was, there- 
 fore, impossible for any man to have 
 repaired thither, for the purpose of over- 
 hearing their conversation. Consoled by 
 this reflection, he deemed what had at 
 first startled him, to be unworthy of fur- 
 ther consideration, and dismissed it alto- 
 gether from his mind.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 277 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 " Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes, 
 " And pause a while from learning to be wise ; 
 " There mark what ills the scholar's life assail. ,, 
 
 Dr. Johnson. 
 
 Moffmann was not deceived, when he 
 anticipated that little instruction would 
 be necessary to teach Edward all that he 
 had occasion to learn. One part of his 
 task, and not the least important part, 
 was to suggest to Edward the various 
 ways in which he might occasionally 
 avail himself of the labour of others, 
 without initiating those employed into 
 the secrets of the art, and without con- 
 fiding to them the object in view. To 
 effect this was difficult, but if not effected, 
 all that Hoffmann taught was useless.
 
 278 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 To multiply copies of the Gospels in 
 English, as he proposed to do, would, if 
 discovery took place, subject him to the 
 severest penalties. Desirable therefore 
 as it might be, that in some instances his 
 efforts should be aided by the vigour and 
 ingenuity of others, it was most essential 
 that he should guard with unremitting 
 vigilance against detection. This was 
 not less necessary for the preservation of 
 his own life, than to keep his oath in- 
 violate. 
 
 Hoffmann had previously had to con- 
 tend with these difficulties, and the same 
 genius which compassed so mighty an 
 invention, enabled him to triumph over 
 those circumstances which endangered 
 the advantages he had calculated on 
 realising, in the event of success. Edward, 
 guided by him, and liberally supported 
 by John Huss, who spared no sacrifice, 
 soon rejoiced in seeing so much already 
 accomplished, that he felt no fear, — no 
 doubt, that his own unassisted efforts
 
 THE LOLLARDS. . 279 
 
 would be equal to the rest. But that no 
 apprehension should remain, Huss be- 
 sought him to rest some months longer 
 in Prague, and to make his first perfect 
 experiment there. To this Edward 
 consented, and, not to enlarge on the 
 subject by a technical description of the 
 means, in every instance he surpassed his 
 own most sanguine expectations, as well 
 as those of his friends. He could now 
 produce on plates or blocks, the exact 
 resemblance of what he had written on 
 paper, and then transfer to paper, what 
 he had traced on the harder substances. 
 To transcribe the Scriptures entire, 
 claimed so much time and labour, that 
 in England a whole Bible cost a sum 
 which but few could afford to pay. But 
 as its value became more and more ap* 
 predated, those who could not purchase 
 the whole, would make an effort to pos- 
 sess themselves of a part. Among the 
 numerous body of Lollards, the four 
 Gospels were in constant demand, and
 
 280 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 the acknowledged excellence of those 
 produced from the pen of Edward Old- 
 castle, had caused him to receive many 
 applications, to which he could not 
 possibly attend. Pious persons, who 
 had not the means of obtaining all the 
 books of the evangelists, would endea- 
 vour to rest satisfied with one of them, 
 and the gospel of Saint Luke, from its 
 superior length, was particularly sought 
 after. Provided with copies of this, Ed- 
 ward could feel at no loss for a resource 
 on his arrival in England, but there was 
 some risk in transporting them ; and he 
 had as good reasons for dreading a parti- 
 cular inspection of his effects, when he 
 should touch the shores of his native 
 land, as many modern voyageurs have, 
 when on landing they find their persons 
 and baggage, on their way to the custom 
 house. 
 
 There was no longer any motive for 
 the prolongation of Edward's stay at 
 Prague, and sincerely grateful to the
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 281 
 
 generous Bohemian for the benefits con- 
 ferred on himself, and, if possible, still 
 more sensible of the kindness extended 
 to Alice, he took leave of Huss and his 
 friends. It was not without a throb of 
 exquisite pain, that he embraced Alice 
 for the last time. Her ripening years 
 had given a finish to her charms, which 
 he had never anticipated ; and remem- 
 bering to what she had been born, and 
 what prospects might then have open- 
 ed on one like her favoured by na- 
 ture, but for the persecution of which 
 her father and herself were the victims, 
 not all the comforts that surrounded her, 
 could reconcile him to the reflection that 
 he was obliged to leave a sister so fondly 
 beloved in a foreign land, dependant on 
 the bounty of one in no way connected 
 with her by ties of blood. But to in- 
 dulge in such reflections was worse than 
 useless ; and, resolutely dismissing the 
 unavailing tear, he hastened to depart. 
 Alice mourned the absence of her
 
 282 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 brother, though his unremitting industry, 
 the peculiar character of which was kept 
 secret even from her, had seldom allowed 
 her the enjoyment of his society, while 
 Edward continued at Prague. Still to 
 know that he was near her had been 
 comfort, and now to feel that she had no 
 longer a single relative on that continent 
 to which she had been conveyed, w r as 
 pain. Huss sought to inspire hope, nor was 
 the attempt long unsuccessful. The ani- 
 mated piety of his life was well calculated 
 to impart that consolation, which can 
 best sustain a troubled spirit. Early 
 sorrow, sedentary labours, long continued 
 and incessant meditation had given him 
 the venerable appearance of age. But 
 his voice was clear and melodious, and 
 when, as was sometimes his custom, in 
 imitation of David, he took the harp and 
 accompanied himself, while he sung the 
 strains of the Israelitish monarch to its 
 solemn sounds, the bold but sweetly 
 blended harmonies, that filled her ears —
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 283 
 
 the grave and dignified figure that met 
 her eyes, and the glow of sacred enthu- 
 siasm which animated the revered pastor, 
 while he celebrated the mercies of his 
 Creator, seemed, to the view of Alice, 
 fully to realise the ideas of the Bohemian 
 himself, and she could almost fancy that 
 she saw before her the psalmist of the 
 chosen people, and the peculiar favourite 
 of his God. 
 
 Considering life as valueless for it- 
 self, and only important as being the 
 passage, or vehicle, by which the human 
 race were appointed to be conveyed to 
 an eternal state, without reproaching any 
 occasional dejection that he remarked, 
 Huss mildly exposed the weakness which 
 could entertain it. The calamities to 
 which mortals were exposed, he likened 
 to the gales which annoy the traveller on 
 the seas, but always insisting that the 
 heart, faithful to its duty, was secure of 
 gaining its destined port, and certain one 
 day to repose in a blessed haven. For
 
 £84 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 persecution on account of religious opin- 
 ions he held it to be as ridiculous as it 
 was wicked, ever grateful to that Being, 
 who had provided that no effort of ty- 
 ranny — no bolts, no chains, should be 
 able to cut off the communication be- 
 tween the creature and the Creator, and 
 taught the humble spirit to bound from 
 earth to Heaven there to claim the 
 rewarding smile, and needful aid, of the 
 Deity it adored. 
 
 A sweet repose grew on the reason- 
 ings, and yet more on the example, urged 
 and supplied, by the language and the life 
 of the Bohemian. The regrets of Alice 
 were insensibly diminished, and she gave 
 herself up to all the tranquil delight, 
 which such a holy calm was well calcu- 
 lated to bestow. The society of Jerome 
 of Prague tended to sustain the impres- 
 sions made on the mild spirit of Alice, 
 and the generous ardour of De Marie, 
 who was their frequent guest, formed not 
 the least interesting feature of their so-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 285 
 
 cial circle. On Alice the eyes of De 
 Marie sometimes rested with an expres- 
 sion of admiration, that seemed to ab- 
 sorb his every thought. It escaped not the 
 observation of Huss, who, highly as he 
 thought of the principles of his pupil, 
 had still too much suspicion of his youth 
 to rejoice in what he saw, or to suffer his 
 prudence to be disarmed by his confi- 
 dence, so far as to sanction the reception 
 of De Marie's visits by Alice, when he 
 himself was not present. But wherever 
 she went, the young Frenchman would 
 follow ; and when Huss climbed the 
 mountains to gaze on the romantic scenes, 
 which were thence to be viewed in the 
 neighbourhood of his native village, the 
 assisting hand of De Marie was always 
 ready, to diminish the difficulties and 
 fatigue of the ascent to Alice. Once, 
 when thus occupied, the Bohemian being 
 somewhat behind his pupil, while a tear 
 of rapture, prompted by the situation in 
 which he then found himself, beamed in
 
 286 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 the eye of De Marie, he could not help 
 softly exclaiming, — 
 
 " O ! that it were always so ! — O ! 
 that the rugged paths which Alice is 
 destined to know, might ever thus be 
 surmounted by the blissfully accorded 
 aid of De Marie." 
 
 Alice shrunk from the warm pressure 
 of his touch, and the pastor approached. 
 She made no reply, and De Marie nei- 
 ther at that time, nor in their future 
 interviews, offered explanation. Indeed 
 he had but few opportunities of doing 
 so, had he thought it necessary, as the 
 vigilance of the Bohemian was such that 
 they were seldom left alone for a mo- 
 ment. De Marie's conversation was always 
 lively and interesting to Alice, and she 
 felt perfectly unembarrassed in his pre- 
 sence, never suspecting that which Huss 
 firmly believed, that many of Eugene's 
 visits might be placed to her account. 
 
 But the repose which she tasted was 
 not to be of long duration, and her pro-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 287 
 
 tector was doomed to experience storms 
 in his passage through life, and in 
 that part of it which yet remained 
 to be performed, more tremendous in 
 their character than any to which he 
 had believed himself exposed. The 
 opinions and exemplary life of John 
 Huss, had gained him great popularity 
 and many friends ; but among those 
 attached to the system then acted upon 
 by the church of Rome, he found not a 
 few enemies. For a time the opinions 
 and writings of WicklifFe had been 
 treated with contempt, but the powerful 
 effect which they produced on the minds 
 of the many about this period, had caused 
 their opponents to change their ground, 
 and what had hitherto been laughed at, 
 as silly extravagance, was now denounced 
 as horrible heresy. A bull, issued by 
 the Pope on this subject, had been pro- 
 mulgated by Sbinco, the Archbishop of 
 Prague, and accompanied by a rescript 
 of his own, ordering all who possessed
 
 288 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 the works of Wicklifre to bring them to 
 him. This was done. The owners, ex- 
 pecting that they were only to be 
 examined, were highly exasperated at 
 seeing them committed indiscriminately 
 to the flames. Loud complaints were 
 raised against Alphabetarius,or the ABC 
 doctor, as in derision of his ignorance, 
 Sbinco was called, and the Gospellers — 
 that name had been given to those who 
 favoured the doctrines of John Huss, — 
 sought to revenge themslves by burning 
 the rescript of the Archbishop in the 
 High Street, with every mark of con- 
 tempt that strong indignation could 
 devise. Such a proceeding was too vio- 
 lent to meet with the approbation of 
 Huss, but the friends of Sbinco, neve**- 
 theless, gave him credit for being its 
 author. The death of Pope Alexander 
 took place about this time. He was 
 succeeded by Balthasar Cosa, who left 
 the arrangement of religious affairs, in 
 most cases, to the Cardinal Columna. 
 , 11
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 289 
 
 This priest, disturbed by the progress of 
 those doctrines which had found an able 
 advocate in the Bohemian pastor, ordered 
 Huss to appear before him on a day 
 which he appointed. The reformer was 
 well aware that obedience to this man- 
 date was likely to compromise his safety, 
 and was not so regardless of life as to 
 rush forward to court danger. He 
 claimed the interference of the Prince 
 Winceslaus, who was prevailed upon to 
 send ambassadors to the Pope, to pray 
 that the personal attendance of the pas- 
 tor might be dispensed with. To give 
 effect to these representations, and at the 
 same time to mark clue respect for the 
 authority of the Cardinal, Huss sent with 
 the ambassadors three proctors to act as 
 his representatives, who were enjoined 
 to hear and to answer, that which might 
 be objected to the supposed heresies 
 of their master. These individuals met 
 with a very ungracious reception at 
 Rome. Immediately on their arrival 
 vol. i. o
 
 290 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 they were committed to prison, and 
 their master, without further enquiry, 
 received sentence of excommunication. 
 In consequence of this, Huss had been 
 precluded from following up his the- 
 ological labours, in public, as he had 
 been accustomed to do, though it was 
 impossible for one of his active turn to 
 remain idle. His popularity continued 
 to increase, and on one occasion an alarm- 
 ing riot was quelled by his influence. 
 Calumny itself could impute no miscon- 
 duct to Huss in this instance, but the 
 power which it was seen that he pos- 
 sessed, gave alarm to some, who had 
 previously been disposed to view his ex- 
 ertions with favour, and Winceslaus 
 was at length persuaded to banish him 
 from Prague. The seclusion thus 
 imposed upon Huss, left him leisure 
 to visit England, and also enabled him 
 to produce several papers in support 
 of his opinions. These were directed 
 against indulgences, the abuse of ex-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 291 
 
 communications, and unlimited obe- 
 dience to the see of Rome. Though 
 highly applauded by his friends, they did 
 not have the effect of diminishing the 
 number of his enemies, or of rendering 
 their hostility less virulent than it was 
 before. 
 
 It has been seen that the banishment to 
 which Huss had been sentenced, had not 
 the effect of removing him from the city 
 of Prague for a very long period. His 
 zeal was augmented by the opposition he 
 had experienced, and, perhaps, his cour- 
 age was confirmed by the impunity which 
 for a season he enjoyed, after he had 
 ventured to disobey the mandate of 
 Winceslaus. But he did not long re- 
 main unmolested. The counsel of Con- 
 stance, was at this period about to 
 commence its labours, and Huss was 
 summoned, in the name of the Pope, to 
 appear before it. After the treatment 
 which his proctors had met with, when 
 they presented themselves at Rome to 
 o 2
 
 QQZ ?HE LOLLARDS. 
 
 explain away the errors imputed to the 
 Bohemian pastor, it is not improbable 
 that this new call on him to go in person 
 to defend his doctrines, would have been 
 wholly disregarded, if the Emperor 
 Sigismund had not intimated to him, 
 through some of his household who were 
 dispatched to Prague, that it appeared to 
 him of importance that Huss should 
 attend the council, to clear himself of 
 the charges which had been preferred 
 against him. Right well did the Bohe- 
 mian comprehend, that the recommend- 
 ation of so potent a monarch must be 
 viewed as a command, and met, either 
 by prompt acquiescence, or sudden flight. 
 The latter course he could not easily 
 take ; and when he considered the 
 scandal which it would be the means of 
 ■throwing on all his followers, as well as 
 on the tenets which he had espoused, he 
 felt that he had no alternative ; and, in 
 consequence, signified his readiness to 
 present himself to the council, provided
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 2Q3 
 
 the Emperor would give him a safe con- 
 duct. This was promised, and lie was 
 assured, that he might at once dismiss all 
 apprehensions, respecting his personal 
 security. 
 
 Nothing remained but that he should 
 prepare for his journey to Constance. 
 He determined that Alice should go with 
 him. Sad forebodings made her anxious 
 to dissuade, if possible, her revered friend 
 from acting on the resolution which he 
 had been induced to adopt. She knew 
 something of the rancorous enmity, 
 which pursued his footsteps even in Bo- 
 hemia, and she trembled to reflect on the 
 perils which might surround him, when 
 his enemies there, should be joined to 
 their friends at Constance. She had 
 beard of the punishment by fire, being 
 in some instances promptly resorted to 
 by the adherents of the Pope, to repress 
 heresy ; and, in imagination, she already 
 saw the good Bohemian, an insulted vic- 
 tim, conducted to the fatal stake. She 
 o 3
 
 c 294> THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 thought not of the melancholy and des- 
 titute situation in which she herself must 
 be placed, if cruelty should take this 
 course, bereft, as she would then be, of 
 her only stay, of the only friend whose 
 fostering care she could claim, and left a 
 stranger in a foreign country. Alice only 
 thought of the terrific sufferings to which 
 Huss went to expose himself; but he, 
 when this subject was pressed on his at- 
 tention, mournfully revolved in his mind 
 all the fearful perils to which, in the case 
 imagined, his young and lovely charge 
 must be exposed. He persuaded him- 
 self that it was folly to entertain such 
 fears j and dismissing them from his own 
 mind, he applied himself to discharge 
 them also from that of Alice. In this he 
 did not succeed to the extent of his 
 wishes \ though the promise which he had 
 obtained of a safe-conduct from Sigis- 
 mund, afforded her some consolation* 
 But Alice doubted that this promise 
 would not be fulfilled. In this instance
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 295 
 
 her alarm proved ill-founded, as shortly 
 afterwards the promised document was 
 received. It was written in the Latin and 
 German languages ; and in order that a 
 just idea may be formed of the value of 
 imperial protection in that age, it may be 
 proper here to insert a translation of that 
 paper, to which Huss attached so much 
 importance ; and which, for his personal 
 safety, he had thought it absolutely 
 necessary to obtain, before he placed him- 
 self within the grasp of the priests and 
 others, who were to form the council of 
 Constance. It ran as follows : 
 
 " Sigismund, by the grace of God, 
 king of the Romans, of Hungary, Den- 
 mark, Croatia, &c. To all Princes, as 
 well ecclesiastical as secular, Dukes, Mar- 
 quises, Earls, Barons, Captains, Boro'- 
 m asters, Judges and Governors, Officers of 
 towns, Burgesses, and villages ; and unto 
 all rulersof thecommonalty; and generally 
 to all the subjects of our empire, to whom 
 o 4
 
 296 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 these letters shall come, grace and all 
 goodness. 
 
 " We charge and command you all, 
 that you have respect unto John Huss, 
 the which is departed out of Bohemia, to 
 come unto the general council, the which 
 shall be celebrated and holden very 
 shortly, at the town of Constance. The 
 which, John Huss, we have received tin* 
 der our protection, and safeguard of the 
 whole empire, desiring you that you will 
 cheerfully receive him when he shall come 
 towards you ; and that you entreat and 
 handle him gently, showing him favour 
 and good-will ; and showing him pleasure 
 in all things as touching the forwardness, 
 ease, and assurance of his journey, as 
 well by land as by water. Moreover, we 
 will, that he and all his company, with 
 his carriage and necessaries, shall pass 
 throughout all places, passages, ports, 
 bridges, lands, governances, lordships, 
 liberties, cities, towns, burgesses, castles, 
 villages, and all other your dominions*
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 297 
 
 without paying of any manner of impo- 
 sition or dane money, peage tribute, or 
 any other manner of. toll, whatsoever it 
 be. We will also, that you suffer him to 
 pass, rest, tarry, and to sojourn at liberty, 
 without doing unto him any manner of 
 impeachment, or vexation, or trouble ; 
 and that if need shall so require, you do 
 provide a faithful company to conduct 
 him, withal for the honour and reverence 
 which you owe unto our Imperial Majes- 
 ty. Given at Spire, the ISth of October, 
 in the year of our Lord God, 1 ill,"
 
 298 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 / 
 
 " Let me indear thee once more to my bosom, 
 " Groan an eternal farewell to thy soul." 
 
 Lee. 
 
 Before John Huss took his departure 
 from Prague, he thought it right to pre- 
 pare public notices, setting forth the oc- 
 casion which demanded his presence at 
 Constance. Bills were accordingly posted 
 in different parts of the city, and on the 
 gates of the king's palace, announcing 
 that he was about to appear before the 
 general council, to vindicate the opinions 
 he had held \ and calling on all those 
 who had aught to charge against him, to 
 meet him at Constance. 
 
 The publicity thus given to the inten- 
 ded expedition of the pastor, and the in-
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 299 
 
 trepidity with which he prepared to meet 
 his enemies, created a great sensation 
 throughout all Bohemia. Thousands as- 
 sembled to see him leave that city in 
 which he had been so greatly distin- 
 guished, and the applause and consoling 
 assurances which he received, it seemed 
 to him, presaged a happy issue to the 
 experiment he had resolved to make, and 
 a return as triumphant, as his present 
 departure was public. 
 
 He took leave of all classes with an air 
 of perfect serenity, though inwardly much 
 affected by the kindness of which he saw 
 himself the object. By far the greater 
 number of those who attended to bid 
 him adieu, endeavoured to smother their 
 regret, by expressing a confident hope 
 that they should soon behold him again, 
 more happy and more exalted than he 
 had yet been. But one of his followers, 
 a humble artisan, made himself conspi- 
 cuous in the crowd, by taking a different 
 course. Earnestly pressing the hand of 
 o 6
 
 800 THE LOLLARDS, 
 
 the Reformer, he kissed it, while a tear 
 stood in his eye, and still clasping it, as 
 reluctant to relinquish his hold, from the 
 lively apprehension that he would have 
 no opportunity of so testifying his love 
 again, he exclaimed : — 
 
 " God be with you I — God be with 
 you ! for I think verily, my dear and 
 good master John, that you shall not re- 
 
 turn to us again. 
 
 " Thy kind anxiety," Huss replied, 
 " carries thee too far. So doth it my 
 good and holy friend, Jerome ; who saith 
 it is his conviction that I shall never pass 
 safe from the Council." 
 
 " I do believe it," said the poor man, 
 ". and my eyes now gaze on thee with 
 greediness ; believing, as I do, that it is 
 the last time they shall be feasted with a 
 view of thy earthly form." 
 
 There was an expression in the coun- 
 tenance and manner of the man, that 
 gave his words importance. A feeling 
 that they were prophetic, came over
 
 THE LOLLARDS. SOI 
 
 Huss ; and Alice, who heard them, trem- 
 bled while he spoke. The pastor re- 
 marked it, and anxious to remove the 
 impression which he perceived they had 
 made on the daughter of his friend, he 
 said : — 
 
 " You do not well. Such fears are 
 idle. He who made me, should such be 
 his high pleasure, can preserve my life 
 at Constance : — should he will the con- 
 trary, dost thou think I could escape by 
 tarrying here ?" 
 
 This was perfectly unanswerable ; but 
 feeling in the man who had accosted him, 
 was still too potent to be controlled by 
 reason. 
 
 11 Rebuke me not," he cried. " Let 
 not a reproving sound be the last that 
 mine ear shall drink from thy lips ; — for 
 this I do feel is the last time that we shall 
 meet. The king, not of Hungary, but 
 of Heaven reward you, with all blessings 
 for the faithful doctrine, which I have 
 received from your ministry."
 
 302 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 Huss spoke with his accustomed kind- 
 ness, and the artisan, still weeping, retired 
 among the crowd. Many of the inhabit- 
 ants of Prague, accompanied their re- 
 spected pastor some miles on his road, 
 and the Baron de Chlume, and several 
 Bohemian noblemen determined on going 
 with him to Constance. 
 
 Notices like those which Huss had put 
 up in Prague, were published in all the 
 towns through which he passed, and 
 affixed to all the cathedrals. He felt 
 that he was now fairly embarked in the 
 cause ; — that the eyes of the whole 
 Christian world were fixed on the strug- 
 gle, and he determined that the opinions 
 he had avowed, should not be discredited 
 by his shrinking from refutation or at- 
 tack. Strong in the conviction that he 
 went forth as the champion of truth, 
 without arrogating to himself extraordi- 
 nary powers, he was inwardly rejoiced by 
 cheering visions, of a happy result, and 
 by a hope that, in the awful hour of trial,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 803 
 
 he should find himself competent not only 
 to the task of defending himself, but to that 
 of satisfying those who imputed errors to 
 him, that they themselves were in error, 
 and thus convert his most implacable 
 enemies into sincere friends. 
 
 The safe-conduct which was granted 
 by the Emperor, did not reach Huss, 
 till he was already on the road to Con- 
 stance. He had some misgivings on this 
 subject before he set out, though his own 
 integrity forbad him to suspect that, 
 being promised, it was not intended to 
 be given. But when he found it in his 
 possession, it afforded him comfort which 
 he had not previously enjoyed, as it gave 
 him the most perfect assurance that 
 the professions which had been made by 
 those who had come to him from Sigis- 
 mund, were made in sincerity. 
 
 Arrived in Constance, he found the 
 influx of strangers so great, that he at 
 first anticipated some difficulty in find- 
 ing a lodging. But the reputation of
 
 301« THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 his piety was of service to him, and a 
 widow, who held a house in St. Gall's 
 Street, in that city, besought him to take 
 up his residence under her roof. 
 
 He had been welcomed in every town, 
 in a much more public way than his un- 
 ambitious mind could approve, and it 
 was a relief to his peaceful spirit to find 
 himself once more in a private house, and 
 alone with Alice. 
 
 " Dearest," said he, " I feel such 
 luxury in being left to myself, that were 
 it not imposed on me as a duty, I never 
 more would meet the public gaze." 
 
 " Would that you could avoid it !" 
 said Alice ; and while she spoke, the 
 satisfaction which beamed from her eyes, 
 contrasting their present peaceful situa- 
 tion with the scenes which they had 
 lately known, made him feel, more than 
 before, the value and importance of his 
 present respite. He replied, — 
 
 " Thy loved society is now so sweet, 
 ~- so precious are these fleeting happy
 
 THE LOLLARDS. oU5 
 
 minutes, that my harassed spirit seems 
 to cling to them, as though they were 
 rare gems adorning the wings of time, 
 which it would fain despoil of them, and 
 keep for ever here. I will not think that 
 they are nearly the last that shall glad 
 me in my earthly wanderings, but it is 
 meet that you should well remember this 
 may be. No mortal can unfold the aw- 
 ful future ; and, peradventure, a few short 
 weeks may destine me, unworthy as I 
 am, to wear the crown of martyrdom." 
 
 <( Then fly this place — haste from this 
 hated Constance. " 
 
 " That must not be. — .What, shall my 
 fainting spirit betray the mighty cause 
 at issue? — Never. I do trust, less for 
 my own sake than for thine, that my 
 mortal life will yet be spared awhile, 
 But we must ever remember that the 
 saints have heretofore passed to the 
 joys of eternal life, through many tribu- 
 lations. Some have been cut and chop- 
 ped to pieces ; some have had thei*
 
 306 THE LOLLARDS, 
 
 eyes bored through, some have been 
 roasted, some flayed alive, some buried 
 quick, some stoned, some crucified, some 
 ground between mill-stones," 
 
 " This I know ; and, therefore, do 1 
 think it cannot be a sin to fly." 
 
 <c My word is given that I will vindi- 
 cate before the council whatever I have 
 taught j but rest thee cheerful, Alice, 
 hoping all the best, yet not wholly for* 
 getting to fortify thy mind against weak- 
 ness, should the very worst befal. My 
 cause is that of truth, is that of Heaven, — 
 is that which ultimately must prevail. 
 The glory may be reserved for some 
 more deserving instrument, but in me it 
 were sin and folly to despair." 
 
 He then applied himself to give Alice 
 such directions for the regulation of her 
 conduct, as he thought her youth and 
 inexperience demanded from him. He 
 warned her especially against lending a 
 ready ear to the vain praise of which 
 she might find herself the object, in those
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 307 
 
 moments when she might chance to 
 be without his protection. He cau- 
 tioned her against De Marie: " Not," 
 said he, " that I deem him other than 
 sincere and just, but I know the fiery 
 rage of youth, and know that it is all too 
 often seen that virtuous principle, op- 
 posed to passion and inviting opportunity* 
 is but a feeble combatant." 
 
 The streets of Constance became 
 every day more crowded. Princes, 
 Dukes, Archbishops, Earls, Bishops, Ab- 
 bots, and Doctors, continued to arrive in 
 rapid succession every hour. Their at- 
 tendants were numerous, and these were 
 necessarily followed by many meaner 
 personages, who sought employment and 
 profit, by labouring for the comfort of 
 their superiors. Notwithstanding the so- 
 lemnity of the occasion, there were not 
 wanting those whose presence, according 
 to the ideas of modern times, could only 
 be wanted to swell the revelry and dis- 
 sipation of a mirthful holiday. That
 
 308 THE LOLLARDS* 
 
 cooks would be invited, may be very 
 easily conceived. That barbers, also, 
 should be in some request, can be ac- 
 counted for, and it excites no great sur- 
 prise, that six hundred of them were 
 engaged at Constance ; but it seems not 
 a little singular that minstrels and jesters 
 should be found at a general meeting of 
 the fathers of the church. These, for 
 the most part, accompanied those noble- 
 men, of whose household they formed a 
 part. But still it is remarkable that 
 their presence was not dispensed with at 
 this juncture, when the prelates of all 
 Christendom were invited to assemble, 
 for the purpose of deciding on questions 
 of the last importance to the church. 
 
 Such persons, however, were there, and 
 in considerable numbers, and the con- 
 course of strangers from various parts 
 was so immense, that it is estimated Con- 
 stance at that period contained more 
 than sixty thousand visitors. The con- 
 fusion which must prevail at such a time
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 300 
 
 may be easily conceived. Not to weary 
 attention with unimportant details, we 
 hasten to the opening of the Council. 
 
 The Council had been called to deter- 
 mine on the pretensions of three indivi- 
 duals, each of whom claimed to exercise 
 the functions of the head of the church. 
 These were Balthasar Cosa, called John 
 XXIII., Peter de Luna, called Benedict 
 XIII., and Angeius Corarius, called 
 Gregory XII. The dissensions created 
 by these rivals had long disturbed the 
 church, and it was now proposed to ter^ 
 minate the discord which had sprung 
 from this -fruitful source of contention. 
 It was by virtue of a bull from John, 
 that the council was held. He had been 
 anxious that it should not assemble at 
 Constance, but disappointed in this, he 
 thought it wise to submit with a good 
 grace to a decision which he could not 
 control ; and he accordingly opened its 
 first session, by admonishing those who 
 were to decide on his claim to the ponti*
 
 310 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 ficate, to avoid all tumult, wrangling, and 
 clamorous talk, — to unite in order to 
 extirpate all heresies, and especially those 
 of Wickliffe, and to abstain from unpro- 
 fitable disputes. The council then pro- 
 ceeded to appoint its officers and its 
 presidents, and thus engaged, it gave the 
 Pope (if that title may be given to one, 
 which was claimed by three,) a sample of 
 the harmony which his advice promoted. 
 France, Italy, Germany, and England, 
 had sent representatives to Constance. 
 John, the patriarch of Antioch, was pro- 
 posed as president for France ; Anthony, 
 Archbishop of Rigen, as president for 
 Italy; Nicholas, Archbishop of Gene- 
 suensis, as president for Germany ; and 
 Nicholas, Bishop of Bath, for England. 
 When this nomination of the presidents 
 came under the consideration of the 
 council, the Patriarch of Antioch thought, 
 fit to object to the appointment of a 
 president for England as the represent- 
 ative of a fifth nation, in the council.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 311 
 
 Not opposing the arrangement as a 
 temporary one, the president for Spain 
 being absent, he gave it as his opinion 
 that when a prelate from that country ar- 
 rived, England must be regarded as re- 
 presented by the president for Germany. 
 The Bishop of Bath was highly offended 
 at this indignity, but the patriarch, aware 
 that any slight thrown on England 
 would be most grateful to the king his 
 master, serenely pursued his object, sup- 
 porting himself on one of the decretals 
 of Pope Benedict XII., which divided 
 the papal dominion into four general 
 parts. The first contained France* 
 Navarre, Dauphiny, Burgundy, Savoy, 
 and Provence ; in the second were in- 
 cluded Germany, England, Hungary, 
 Bohemia, Poland, Norway, Denmark, 
 Sweden, and Scotland ; the third com- 
 prehended the kingdoms of Castile, 
 Leon, Arragon, and Portugal; and to the 
 fourth were allotted Apulia, Calabria,
 
 312 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 Terra di Lavoro, Tuscany, Sicily, Sar- 
 dinia, Corsica, Cyprus, and Sclavonia. 
 
 This, the Bishop of Bath contended, 
 had little to do with the matter then 
 under consideration. The design of Pope 
 Benedict, in the decretal quoted, was not 
 to divide Christendom into four great 
 portions, but only to assign to his visitors 
 the several countries in which they 
 should make their visitation; and it was 
 clear, that he never meant to reckon 
 England as a part of Germany, since, in 
 that very decretal, the Provinces of Canter- 
 bury and York, and of Armagh, Dublin, 
 Cassels, and Tuam, in Ireland, and the 
 Province of Scotland, were not placed 
 among those of Germany. He added, 
 it was not the way to ensure a happy 
 termination of their councils to com- 
 mence by creating discord, and by at- 
 tempting to deprive England of her rank 
 as a nation. 
 
 The French prelate replied: — il I 
 deny not that England is a nation and a
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 313 
 
 kingdom, but yet I cannot allow that it 
 has a right to represent a fourth or a 
 fifth part of Christendom, so that it shall 
 be held equal in authority with Italy, 
 Germany, Spain, or France. Know ye 
 not that France containeth eleven sees 
 of Archbishops, and a hundred and one 
 cathedral churches ? Much wrong, then, 
 were done to so mighty a nation, were 
 an island like England, treated as its 
 equal in dignity, which surpasseth not 
 in greatness, one of the provinces of 
 France." 
 
 " I will concede before this high as- 
 sembly," retorted the English Bishop, 
 " that wrong were done, if England were 
 treated as the equal of France, and it is 
 only in the spirit of Christian humility, 
 that I could consent to waive its supe- 
 riority. Well is it known to all the 
 world, that England had antiently, and 
 hath now, under its dominion, many 
 lands, each of which is not less con- 
 siderable than France. Besides duke- 
 
 vol. i. p
 
 314 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 doms and islands, claims not the British 
 crown eight kingdoms, three of which, 
 England, Scotland, and Wales, form the 
 island of Great Britain ? To these, 
 with others which I will not pause to 
 mention, are to be added the potent isle 
 and kingdom of Man, and the territory 
 of John, Prince of the Orcades." 
 
 " It cannot be disputed," said the 
 Frenchman, "thatEngland is vastly above 
 France in power and dominion, if we 
 reckon as hers all the kingdoms which, 
 like Scotland, have a monarch of their 
 own, and who are commonly the potent 
 enemies of the British king." 
 
 " And if all are to be subtracted who 
 do not immediately acknowledge their 
 king, from the greatness of their nation, 
 then take you Province, Dauphiny, 
 Savoy, Burgundy and Lorrain, from 
 your France, as not being properly 
 numbered among the French king's do- 
 minions. Comparisons are odious, but 
 since the Patriarch of Antioch begins,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 315 
 
 'tis fit that I do state that the antiquity 
 of England, the majesty of its kings, the 
 dignity of its clergy, and the riches 
 of its people, give it superiority over 
 France. France, if we speak in strict- 
 ness, has but two episcopal sees, Rheims 
 and Sens, and twenty dioceses, and but 
 sixty are found in all the French do- 
 minions, while, in the kingdom of Eng- 
 land alone, we find two large provinces, 
 Canterbury and York, twenty-five dio- 
 ceses, and in all our lands the mighty 
 number of one hundred and ten. In 
 the proper kingdom of France, there are 
 but six thousand parishes ; in England 
 there exceedeth fifty-two thousand, the 
 same being richly endowed, besides 
 cathedral and collegiate churches, mo- 
 nasteries, and hospitals." 
 
 Though in modern times, English am- 
 bassadors may not have found the topics 
 here urged very serviceable to their 
 diplomacy, the mention of them by the 
 Bishop of Bath, and especially his nam-
 
 S16 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 ing the mighty kingdom of the isle of 
 Man, as being under the controul of 
 England, impressed the council with a 
 high sense of the dignity and importance 
 of the king of that nation, and the 
 patriarch found it necessary to make a 
 new exertion, in order to establish the 
 superior dignity of France. 
 
 " I little thought," he said, " when 
 we so latelv were admonished to shun all 
 idle words and vain disputes, that Eng- 
 land would consume so much of your 
 good time, by childish efforts to make 
 herself seem like France important. 
 The Bishop of Bath forgetteth when so 
 he speaks, our vine-spread plains, our 
 fruit-surmounted hills ; he forgetteth 
 how different these from aught that 
 meets the sight on the bleak shore of 
 England, (the which he must have read, 
 for I know his learning great,) is proved 
 by the form of its shore, now prominent, 
 now indented, still answering to the 
 opposite coast, was once a part of France,
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 317 
 
 but broken therefrom by kind Nature, 
 who would not see so vast, so fair a 
 picture as our land presents, marred by 
 a little, vile and worthless blot, like 
 Britain." 
 
 " Indeed !" exclaimed the Bishop of 
 Bath, with energy, " if that were true 
 which is a foolish fable, it had been well 
 for France, had that same blot been 
 borne to some greater distance, or in the 
 sea engulphed ; for even where it is, we 
 sometimes have beheld it mar the picture 
 of which mention hath been made. It 
 may be verity that England comprehend- 
 ed! fewer acres than France, nor doth 
 her soil produce redundancy of luxury. 
 No mighty tracks of useless land she 
 boasts, which claim defence, instead of 
 yielding strength ; but she is rich in all 
 that freemen want, rich in her crops, 
 her flocks, her mines, and men ; and she 
 sends forth, you have not now to learn, 
 such swords and hearts, as France could 
 never match." 
 
 p 3
 
 318 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " But both of which," said the pa- 
 triarch, " she well knows how to break." 
 
 " The knowledge then is new to her," 
 returned the English prelate, " or with 
 most exemplary charity she has forborne 
 to use it. It served her little on Cres- 
 sy's plain, and Poictiers's blood-stained 
 field. Shall I remind my Lord of An- 
 tioch, how then your routed recreant 
 cohorts fled, from numbers far inferior, 
 even like sheep before the gallant mastiff, 
 forsaking all that warriors should defend, 
 their prostrate country and their captive 
 king ? Now speak again disparagingly 
 of England, if you list, remembering, as 
 you must, how great her power, how vast 
 her influence ^ and, remembering too, 
 how oft when France ventured to assail, 
 her enmity hath been chastised, her 
 pride shipwrecked on the Heaven-defen- 
 ded shores of England." 
 
 " The Heaven-defended shores of 
 England !" the patriarch exclaimed, con- 
 temptuously, repeating the words of his
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 319 
 
 antagonist. " 'Tis true, that England 
 has sometimes found opportunity to gra- 
 tify her taste, for despoiling all that is 
 fair and noble. A host of English gnats, 
 have in times past, surprised the Gallic 
 lion sleeping. Compassion forbids me to 
 tell what has followed. But when your 
 idle tongue dare talk about your Heaven- 
 defended shores, I half suspect we speak 
 of different places. Mean you that Eng- 
 land which Rome conquered — that was 
 the common fate of the world, but which 
 the Romans abandoned, as too worthless 
 to retain ; that England, which then 
 changing masters, was now enslaved by 
 the Saxons, now tributary to the Dane, 
 and which was next conquered by one 
 dutchy of the realm of France ; and con- 
 quered in such sort, that not an atom 
 of your soil remained unsubdued ; that 
 even your language but half survived ; 
 and all that remained to the Heaven -de- 
 fended shores of England, was their name, 
 and that was spared, because the con- 
 p 4
 
 320 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 queror, (being a man of small taste), 
 chose to wear it." 
 
 " Right glad am I to see that it is 
 needful to travel back so many ages, to 
 find the time when England was van- 
 quished. " 
 
 " Methinks you need not marvel at 
 that, seeing that your England was so 
 steeped, so absorbed in conquest, that it 
 has but newly obtained importance 
 enough to make it an object worth 
 re-conquering. The Norman progeny 
 still wears its crown. The blood of 
 France still governs you ; at first but 
 bastard blood, yet let me not be under- 
 stood to say it was not good enough to 
 govern Englishmen." 
 
 " And doubtless," said the Bishop of 
 Bath, " of that blood France has such 
 store, that she could people all the thrones 
 of Europe with it, yet still retain sufficient 
 for her own land, and have to spare. But 
 if to come from Norman William's loins 
 be deemed disgrace, go tell your master
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 321 
 
 so, and flout his pedigree, for intermar- 
 riages have given his race as large a rule 
 in France, as they possess in England. 
 Then take your scoffings back again, 
 which to this high assembly needs must 
 prove, more than could words of mine, 
 how irrational your arrogance, which in 
 aught would extol France above England ; 
 that England which Pope Innocent sighed 
 to see ; which the holy monk Brithwald 
 heard a voice, not human, proclaim to be 
 God's own kingdom, and which renowned 
 and famous isle, ' had the Omnipotent 
 fashioned the world round like a ring to 
 wear upon his finger, would have been 
 the brightest gem in it.*." 
 
 The other members of the Council 
 now interfered. Petrus de Alliaco, Car- 
 dinal of the Camera, favoured the pre- 
 tensions of the French Prelate, as did 
 others of its members ; but, after some 
 deliberation, it was decided that England 
 should be recognised as a fifth nation ; 
 and the Bishop of Bath, who knew the 
 p 5
 
 32% THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 sentiments of the king, his master, sat 
 down exalting in the reflection, that a 
 triumph over the French Prelate in that 
 assembly, would be thought hardly less 
 important than a victory in the field. He 
 affected the most perfect composure, as if 
 the result was but a matter of course ; 
 but sometimes his joyous glance would, 
 in spite of himself fall on his late oppo- 
 nent, and banquet on the gloomy chagrin 
 which overspread the countenance of the 
 patriarch of Antioch. 
 
 But if such discordant feelings, existed 
 among the members of the Council on 
 some points, there were others on which 
 no difference could arise. Whatever dis- 
 tinction the pride of one might claim over 
 another, all were fully resolved to pursue 
 tne heresies of Wickliffe ; and, conse- 
 quently, all were well disposed to unite 
 for the purpose of accomplishing the de- 
 struction of John Huss.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 3 l 28 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 « O ! give me patience to endure this scourge, 
 
 " Thou that art fountain of that virtuous stream ; 
 
 " And though contempt of witness, and reproach, 
 
 " Hang on these iron gyves, to press my life 
 
 " As low as earth, yet strengthen me with faith, 
 
 M That I may mount in spirit above the clouds." 
 History of Sir John Oldcastle. 
 
 Huss had expected that he should be 
 brought to his trial immediately. But 
 the question respecting the pretenders to 
 the pontificate was first to be disposed 
 of, and he learnt with regret that he 
 must remain some months in Constance. 
 To him it appeared sinful to suffer so 
 much time to be consumed in indolence, 
 and surrounded as he knew himself to 
 be by spies, and persons whose sole busi- 
 ness at Constance was to give evidence 
 p 6
 
 324 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 against him, he had the courage to 
 preach, and to labour as zealously in that 
 cause to which he had devoted himselfj 
 as he had ever done elsewhere. 
 
 He soon received a message from the 
 Pope, commanding him to desist. This 
 he neglected to obey, and for that offence 
 lie was promptly deprived of his liberty. 
 His friend, the Baron de Chlume, made 
 a representation to the Pope, complain- 
 ing of the severity with which he had 
 been treated, but without producing any 
 good effect. On the arrival of Huss, 
 the same nobleman had waited on His 
 Holiness (Balthasar Cosa, or John XX III.) 
 to obtain from him a confirmation of the 
 safe conduct granted by the emperor; 
 and, on that occasion, he gave the re- 
 markable answer, that even though the 
 Bohemian had killed his (Pope John's) 
 own brother, he would suffer no injury 
 to be done to him while he remained at 
 Constance. The baron did not scruple 
 to remind him of this, but, instead of
 
 THE LOLLARDS, 325 
 
 inducing him to mitigate the severity 
 with which Huss had been treated, it 
 only called forth expressions of displea- 
 sure, with an intimation that the safe 
 conduct of the emperor, was not to be 
 held of sufficient force to protect a here- 
 tic, when given without the privity and 
 concurrence of the pontiff! 
 
 Huss now saw the gloom around him 
 increase daily. Every circumstance that 
 transpired brought conviction to his mind, 
 that the object of those who had caused 
 him to repair to Constance, was not en- 
 quiry but vengeance. Though he had 
 contemplated death, as that which might 
 by possibility be the punishment awarded 
 against him, it had ever appeared ex- 
 tremely improbable, that the council 
 would deal so severely with one whose 
 popularity was known to be so great. 
 Strong in his own integrity, because 
 he knew that many of the charges 
 preferred against him were false, he flat-
 
 826 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 tered himself that he should be able to 
 prove that they were so. 
 
 But he found that charges were to be 
 brought against him, which he could only 
 oppose with his simple denial. Michael 
 de Causis and Stephen Palletz, two Bo- 
 hemians, who had long been most hostile 
 to him, were ready to prove him to have 
 counselled those he taught, that after the 
 manner of Moses, they must resist with 
 the sword, all who should gainsay the 
 doctrines they espoused. The vehement 
 zeal, which he found raging against the 
 name and memory of Wickliffe, satisfied 
 him that it would be regarded as a most 
 meritorious action, to shed the blood of 
 a preacher who was considered to be 
 the chief of his disciples. 
 
 The voice of popular applause, which 
 had hitherto sustained him, and which 
 had seemed to secure him from danger, 
 was now heard no more, or heard but to 
 be contemned and reprobated ; yet calm 
 11
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 3Sf 
 
 and unappalled, the reformer only re- 
 gretted that the day was still remote, 
 which would confront him with his ene- 
 mies, and the lively assurance of happi- 
 ness beyond the grave would have lifted 
 him superior to all that malice could 
 accomplish, but for one care that pressed 
 heavy on his heart. He could not reflect 
 with tranquillity on the very exposed 
 situation in which Alice would be left, 
 if his enemies succeeded in condemning 
 him to the flames ; and this thought gave 
 additional bitterness to the indignities 
 now heaped upon him. 
 
 At first he was sent to the Chapter 
 House of the great church, but after 
 eight days confinement, he was removed 
 to the abbey of the jacobines on the 
 banks of the Rhine, and there confined 
 in a damp and loathsome dungeon. Here 
 several friars, coming to see him under 
 charitable pretences, had the meanness 
 and the cruelty, by affecting ignorance 
 on certain disputed points, to endeavour
 
 328 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 to entrap him into new offences against 
 the church. This attempt was defeated 
 by the penetration of the Bohemian, and 
 he was relieved from the presence of in- 
 truders so unwelcome. De Marie and 
 the Baron de Chlume, had visited him in 
 his confinement, as often as they were 
 permitted to do so. He acknowledged 
 their kindness in following him to his 
 dismal cell, with tears of unaffected gra- 
 titude. But he was somewhat disturbed 
 by the eagerness with which De Marie 
 always sought to change the conversa- 
 tion, that he might speak of Alice. To 
 De Chlume he expressed his thoughts 
 on this subject, when they were alone, 
 and the baron, in compliance with his 
 earnest representations, engaged to with- 
 draw Alice from the widow under whose 
 care she had till now remained, and place 
 her in the house of an elderly female to 
 whom he was related, who resided in the 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 The miserable captivity to which Huss
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 3<2Q 
 
 was doomed, destroyed his health, and 
 iiis life was considered to be in danger. 
 In the opinion of some of the members 
 of the Council, this circumstance made 
 it necessary to expedite his process, lest 
 he should die while yet his heresies were 
 not sufficiently punished, and he was 
 accordingly summoned before them. The 
 messenger found Huss so ill, that he could 
 with difficulty sit up in his bed. He 
 told the person sent on this cruel errand 
 that he was not in a state to defend him- 
 self, nevertheless he would make the 
 attempt, if he might be allowed the as- 
 sistance of an advocate. He was told 
 that he claimed an indulgence which 
 could not be conceded, as it was for- 
 bidden to advocates to plead for heretics. 
 It was in vain he argued that not being 
 convicted of any heresy, he came not as 
 yet under that description. The answer 
 he obtained came to this, that the order 
 could not be recalled, and no advocate, 
 seeing all were prohibited from defend-
 
 330 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 ing heretics, could in any case interest 
 himself for him. 
 
 But the very strong hold which the 
 contentions of the rival popes, took on 
 men's minds at this time, interposed that 
 delay which the enemies of Huss were 
 unwilling to accord \ and their malice at 
 length put on the garb of humanity, and 
 sent a physician to his relief. The pre- 
 tence, was, to save his life — the motive, 
 to guard against the escape of a victim, 
 from the terrible punishment reserved 
 for offenders against the church. 
 
 The nobles of Bohemia, at the instance 
 of the Baron de Chlume, addressed a 
 memorial or petition to the Council, on 
 the subject of the imprisonment of Huss, 
 in which they complained of the little 
 regard had for the safe-conduct granted 
 by the emperor ; and further showed 
 that the heretics condemned at the 
 council of Pisa, in 1410, were treated 
 with less rigour, after condemnation, 
 than he had experienced even before
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 331 
 
 being put on his defence. Their argu- 
 ments were replied to by the Bishop of 
 Luthonis, and this produced an answer 
 from the nobles, which they followed up 
 by a new supplication in behalf of Huss. 
 These representations were but little at- 
 tended to ; but, after a time, the subject 
 of them was led to hope that they oper- 
 ated in his favour, as it was announced 
 to him that he was to be removed from 
 the prison in which he had till now lan- 
 guished, to the castle of Gottlebien. 
 
 He deceived himself. It was night 
 when he was removed, and the ceil now 
 destined for him was nothing better than 
 that from which he had been taken. A 
 groan, that seemed to be extorted by the 
 most intolerable agony, burst on his ear 
 as he passed the iron door. Those who had 
 conducted him thither, turned towards 
 the wretch from whom it came, and, with 
 an air of horrid mockery, exhorted him 
 to proceed with his melody, and instruct 
 the captive now introduced, how to bear
 
 332 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 his share in the concert. Huss looked 
 round, and as the lights borne by his 
 unfeeling attendants, flashed on the enor- 
 mous pillars, which sustained the fabric 
 he saw, beneath a low Saxon arch, 
 the figure of a man seated on the ground. 
 The wretched being he looked upon, con- 
 cealed his face with his hands, as if from 
 long incarceration, his enfeebled organs 
 of vision were incapable of sustaining the 
 glare, which now illumined the dreary 
 abyss. Huss was chained to the wall, 
 and those who had brought him there 
 retired. 
 
 Another groan resounded through the 
 cell : Huss started with emotion, and 
 would have hastened to his fellow-pri- 
 soner had not the chain restrained him. 
 The effort to spring forward made a 
 noise, which caught the ear of the other 
 captive. 
 
 "Is any other unfortunate in this 
 abode of sorrow ?" he enquired, in a 
 faint and faultering tone.
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 333 
 
 Huss replied, " Yea, my brother, you 
 pine not alone." 
 
 " I am sad to hear it ;" said the other. 
 A sigh followed, and he was silent. 
 
 In the midst of his own sufferings, the 
 Bohemian felt for those of his neighbour. 
 He desired to know for what often ce he 
 had been confined ; but first he enquired 
 what torture he sustained, that had 
 caused the appalling groans which he had 
 heard. 
 
 " I am weak ;" was the reply, " and 
 fortitude, if not hope, is exhausted. I 
 am chained by the leg, and the iron 
 which grasps me is made purposely so 
 tight, that it inflicts indescribable pain." 
 
 " And have you been long in this 
 dungeon ?" 
 
 " Nearly four months." 
 
 " And for what imputed offence ?" 
 
 " For obeying the dictates of con- 
 science — for believing the word of the 
 Eternal, in opposition to the fantasies of 
 men. I am accused of heresy."
 
 334 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " Who is your accuser ?" 
 
 " I love not to name the man ; for 
 Christian charity fails me when I think of 
 him ; — I was placed here by Michael de 
 Causis." 
 
 " Truly," exclaimed John Huss, " we 
 are in all respects brothers in calamity; 
 for he also is one of my accusers." 
 
 " Indeed ! — then possibly — but no, 
 I cannot be so happy. — Yet if it were 
 so, it would be but additional affliction ; — 
 you may possibly be that good man, John 
 Huss." 
 
 " Huss is my name." 
 
 " And blessed be that name for ever," 
 the other responded with energy. "It 
 was you who first opened my eyes, and 
 what you have taught, has sustained my 
 sinking soul, even in the gloom of this 
 dungeon. To you do I owe all that I 
 have known of comfort, through the 
 long weeks and months that I have 
 counted, in solitude and darkness." 
 
 " 1 render thee immortal thanks, O
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 335 
 
 Father of the universe Iff cried Huss, 
 with uplifted eyes, " for that even here, 
 mine enemies are defeated ; and for that 
 this moment, which they designed to be 
 one of aggravated bitterness, is made one 
 of purest joy." 
 
 " You taught me the value," said the 
 other inmate of the dungeon, " of those 
 truths which are called WicklinVs here- 
 sies. He was truly a saint — his opinions 
 will stand the test of time." 
 
 " I never did embrace the whole of 
 them, but many I think are good ; how- 
 ever that idol, the God of the earthy as he 
 would be considered — 
 
 " You mean the Pope." 
 
 " Yea, however he may regard them, I 
 deem them good, and believe them to be 
 opposed but by those whose rapacity, 
 pride, indolence, and impiety, throw 
 scandal on the church." 
 
 " And for WicklhTe himself, whom 
 dead, they now seek to punish, he was a 
 pious man."
 
 336 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " He was such as the world has sel- 
 dom seen ; and earnestly I hope my soul 
 may pass to that place where his reposes." 
 
 " We are happily of accord," Huss 
 was answered by his companion ; " and 
 though I am sad that you are a captive 
 like me, yet do I exult that you have 
 been brought hither at this time. I have 
 for months past meditated escape. I am 
 provided with tools to extricate myself 
 from my bonds, and thou shalt be com- 
 panion of my flight." 
 
 " Not so," replied Huss. " I must 
 face mine enemies, however great their 
 numbers and their power ; or I shall seem 
 to abandon that which is vastly more 
 important than my life." 
 
 " But remaining here, you must be 
 sacrificed to the rage of your foes." 
 
 " I do believe it. This I do think 
 hath been revealed to me, but it hath 
 also been unfolded, that my death shall 
 not be that of the cause in which I am 
 engaged j for I remember I dreamed in
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 337 
 
 Prague, that I was painting images of 
 God, when, lo! the pope and his cardi- 
 nals did come and blot them out, and put 
 me down. But other painters thereupon 
 arose, and made such innumerable 
 goodly pictures, that the utmost efforts 
 the pope could make, with all his crew, 
 to blot them out, were useless. I deem 
 this to denote that my poor labours 
 soon shall terminate, but that other 
 abler labourers will arise to forward the 
 good work, who shall triumph over all 
 opposition." 
 
 " But will they not triumph all the 
 sooner, if you remain to aid them for a 
 longer period ?" 
 
 " I know not that. It may be that 
 my death will serve the cause more than 
 my life. Can you forget that flight will 
 seem to indicate that in my judgment 
 those principles which I came to uphold 
 and vindicate, are not to be defended." 
 
 " Not so ; but it will appear that not 
 being left at liberty to prepare for your 
 
 VOL. I. Q,
 
 338 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 defence, your safe-conduct being violat- 
 ed, and your life in danger, you exer- 
 cised the right which belongs to all 
 created beings, that of providing for 
 your own safety." 
 
 There is in human nature a lingering 
 love of existence, that ensures, in almost 
 every case, a favourable hearing for argu- 
 ments in favour of preserving life. John 
 Huss experienced this, while listening 
 to his fellow captive. He could fairly 
 plead that it was not a selfish feeling that 
 inclined him to prolong his days, but 
 anxious care for another who would be 
 left a destitute stranger when he was no 
 more ; yet it may be doubted whether in 
 the absence of such a plea, he would not 
 have listened to reasons so cogent as 
 those which had been pressed on his atten- 
 tion. He replied, — 
 
 " That which thou hast said is not 
 unworthy of consideration. I expected 
 to be placed in a situation widely differ- 
 ing from that in which I now find myself;
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 339 
 
 and did I not fear my motives will be 
 thought other than they are — " 
 
 " Can you not explain them to the 
 world?" was the instant reply; "and 
 will not what you report meet with as 
 much credit as aught that may be said 
 by others, seeing it is notorious to all 
 that you have been imprisoned before 
 condemnation ?" 
 
 " Questionless that is a truth, and I 
 do not think it will be unlawful for me 
 to pass away under such circumstances, 
 notwithstanding Paul and Silas would 
 not quit their prison, when its walls 
 could no longer restrain them." 
 
 " You consent then to fly with me." 
 " I do, — but where are the means ?" 
 " Listen to me. The instrument 
 which I now apply to the fetter which 
 has so sorely tried my weakness, will 
 soon relieve me from its thraldom." 
 
 " How shall we then burst these 
 walls ?"
 
 340 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " You shall hear. Above your head 
 there was a small hole in the wall, 
 through which I used to see the torches 
 gleam. Its use I suspect was formerly 
 to convey to listening spies the conver- 
 sations of those who might be immured 
 here. Before my fetter was prepared, 
 I enlarged the hole, by removing a 
 stone of such a size that a man not being 
 too large might pass by the space which 
 it occupied. The stone I made my 
 seat, and it hath not been observed, and 
 for the hole, bread spared from my scant 
 allowance thrust therein, and a cement 
 which I made of the dry mortar that 
 strewed my cell, hath concealed the breach, 
 which however can be re-opened pre- 
 sently. Once out of this dungeon, I shall 
 pass with ease to an unguarded postern. 
 A cart laden with straw has waited for 
 me many nights \ I doubt not it is there 
 now. In this we can both pass off with- 
 out being seen."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 341 
 
 Huss attempted to start objections to 
 this plan, but his more sanguine compa- 
 nion made light of every difficulty which 
 he suggested, speedily relieved him- 
 self from his fetter, and clasped the 
 Bohemian in his embrace, who witli 
 equal satisfaction and astonishment felt 
 his own chain fall off' in the next 
 moment. 
 
 " What now," exclaimed his active 
 companion, " shall Michael De Causis 
 say, when he finds we are no longer 
 prisoners ?" 
 
 " Truly I fear," Huss replied, — " 1 
 speak it not from hatred, — that it will 
 be a sore disappointment if we get free, 
 both to him and his fellow-labourer in 
 evil, Stephen Palletz." 
 
 It was now suggested that it would be 
 imprudent to make the attempt before 
 midnight. Engaged in conversation, 
 time passed rapidly, and the hour of 
 twelve having arrived, further delay was 
 deemed unnecessary. 
 Q 3
 
 342 THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " Now then," said the planner of the 
 escape,- " all is ready. Mount by my 
 shoulders. You will feel the place with 
 your hands, — push out the bread and 
 mortar which I mentioned, and force 
 your way through." 
 
 " Nay," replied the Bohemian, " that 
 must not be. Peradventure you will be 
 unable to follow, seeing no one will 
 remain to assist you in like manner. Go 
 you first. If one must remain behind, 
 it surely shall be me, whose cunning 
 sufficed not to project this enterprise." 
 
 " Fear not," the other returned. " 1 
 am more accustomed to climb than you, 
 and the means by which I mounted to 
 remove the stone will enable me to 
 follow. Never pause, I pray you, but 
 ascend." 
 
 While he spoke, he almost compelled 
 Huss to do as he had directed. Mounted 
 on his shoulders, the Bohemian found no 
 difficulty in making his way. He was
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 34<3 
 
 in the act of passing through the breach, 
 when his companion enquired, — 
 
 " Shall I lift you further?" 
 
 " No, I thank thee. The aid thou 
 hast given is enough." 
 
 " It is enough \** was repeated in a 
 voice differing from that of the person 
 with whom he had previously spoken. 
 
 " Didst thou speak ?" asked Huss. 
 
 « No." 
 
 " Yet methought I heard some one 
 repeat close to rne, ' It is enough.' " 
 
 " Indeed!" was the exclamation of 
 his companion. 
 
 " Mine ears must have deceived me;" 
 Huss remarked. 
 
 <c Your ears deceived you not," re- 
 joined the voice he had previously heard; 
 — " It is enough." 
 
 Lights approached, and Huss now per- 
 ceived that Stephen Palletz awaited his 
 approach, attended by several soldiers, 
 who, with himself, had been listening to
 
 344. THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 the conversation which passed in the 
 dungeon. 
 
 " We are lost ! — God's will be done !'■ 
 he exclaimed as he sunk back into the 
 cell. 
 
 The door opened, and those he had 
 seen without entered. However deplor- 
 able his own situation, he did not forget 
 his companion in woe. He turned to 
 him in speechless sorrow, but with a 
 look of sincere commiseration for the 
 cruel disappointment he believed him to 
 have sustained, when with astonishment 
 and horror, which no language can 
 depict, his eyes fell on the well-known 
 countenance of Michael De Causis. 
 
 " By the help of the Almighty,*' cried 
 the indurated wretch, affecting piety, 
 while he gazed with savage exultation on 
 his guiltless victim, " we shall soon burn 
 this pestilent heretic, f It is indeed 
 enough.' He has said and done suf- 
 ficient."
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 84*5 
 
 A laugh burst from the surrounding 
 riends while he spoke, and the mournful 
 truth flashed on Huss that it was his 
 bitter foe, De Causis, who had claimed 
 his pity, and pretending to be himself an 
 object of persecution, had led him to 
 speak in the hearing of witnesses sta- 
 tioned to catch aught that might make 
 against him ; and to misrepresent what 
 might be harmless. The ready prepared 
 fetters with which they proceeded to load 
 his emaciated frame, announced that the 
 proposal to escape was but a base artifice 
 to discredit him, and to furnish a pretext 
 for subjecting him to additional rigour. 
 
 " O traitor ! traitor !" sighed the be- 
 trayed pastor, " I will not reproach 
 thee. I leave thee to Him whom thou 
 canst not escape ; but whose mercy, see- 
 ing that it is boundless and inexhaustible, 
 may extend even to wretches like thee." 
 
 " We have now ample proof of all that 
 we would establish," vociferated Palletz.
 
 84.fi THE LOLLARDS. 
 
 " This pious stratagem will relieve the 
 church from its most deadly foe." 
 
 " Yes, accursed heretic," added De 
 Causis, " no cloke can longer hide thy 
 depravity ; — thou hast only to think of 
 preparing for the stake." 
 
 Huss was chained by the leg to the 
 wall, and by a ring passed round his 
 waist to the earth. But he had had time 
 to collect his thoughts, and standing- 
 erect among his persecutors, he surveyed 
 them with an air of calm disdain, that 
 made them shrink, abashed at their own 
 littleness ; and to the last brutal taunt of 
 the perfidious Michael, and the revilings 
 of his associates, he serenely replied, — 
 
 " I deign not to expostulate with 
 beings that disgrace God's creation as ye 
 do. May ye repent before it be too late ! 
 For myself I ask no favour, and expect 
 no mercy. Pay this Judas the price of 
 my blood, and as I fear, of his salvation. 
 Thanks be to Him who strengthens those
 
 THE LOLLARDS. 347 
 
 who fear Him, I am nothing dismayed, 
 and am even prepared, joyfully to hail 
 the hour when your unhallowed rage 
 shall light the fire, and lead me to my 
 doom." 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 London ; 
 
 Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode, 
 
 New-Street-Square.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOI9-URBANA