any sacrificed their worldly possessions for the cause
of Christ. Those who were permitted to dwell in their homes, gladly
sheltered their banished brethren; and when they too were driven forth,
they cheerfully accepted the lot of the outcast. Thousands, it is true,
terrified by the fury of their persecutors, purchased their freedom at the
sacrifice of their faith, and went out of their prisons, clothed in
penitents' robes, to publish their recantation. But the number was not
small--and among them were men of noble birth as well as the humble and
lowly--who bore fearless testimony to the truth in dungeon cells, in
"Lollard towers," and in the midst of torture and flame, rejoicing that
they were counted worthy to know "the fellowship of His sufferings."

The papists had failed to work their will with Wycliffe during his life,
and their hatred could not be satisfied while his body rested quietly in
the grave. By the decree of the Council of Constance, more than forty
years after his death his bones were exhumed and publicly burned, and the
ashes were thrown into a neighboring brook. "This brook," says an old
writer, "hath conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into
the narrow seas, they into the main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wycliffe
are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world
over."(124) Little did his enemies realize the significance of their
malicious act.

It was through the writings of Wycliffe that John Huss, of Bohemia, was
led to renounce many of the errors of Romanism, and to enter upon the work
of reform. Thus in these two countries, so widely separated, the seed of
truth was sown. From Bohemia the work extended to other lands. The minds
of men were directed to the long-forgotten word of God. A divine hand was
preparing the way for the Great Reformation.

6. HUSS AND JEROME.

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The gospel had been planted in Bohemia as early as the ninth century. The
Bible was translated, and public worship was conducted, in the language of
the people. But as the power of the pope increased, so the word of God was
obscured. Gregory VII., who had taken it upon him to humble the pride of
kings, was no less intent upon enslaving the people, and accordingly a
bull was issued forbidding public worship to be conducted in the Bohemian
tongue. The pope declared that "it was pleasing to the Omnipotent that His
worship should be