physician only attributed it to the fatigue he had undergone. Alas! it proved far otherwise. The fatal plague spot had made its appearance. Bradwardine was a dying man. But death had no terrors for him, for his whole heart was fixed in simple, child-like faith on that Saviour who had trod the dark valley before him. On the 26th August, 1349, he calmly fell asleep in Jesus' bosom, a very saint indeed. It is only by a life of holiness and unselfishness that we can hope for such a deathbed as Bradwardine's. O, may we all so live in this life, as to find in our last hour true peace as he did; so that, whether death come to us suddenly or not, we may be prepared to meet our Lord on His throne of judgment. A few words more before we bid farewell to this holy man. One fact I would have you carefully remember. Thomas Bradwardine was one of the chief pioneers of the Reformation. Up to this time the doctrines of the Roman Church (I mean those opinions which the popes made binding on all Christians) had met with little opposition, although, as you know, the pontiff's pretensions to universal sovereignty had been vehemently opposed. Bradwardine was one of the first to show, by able arguments, that those opinions were many of them new, false, and unscriptural. Yet, notwithstanding all this, he gained the respect of Pope Clement, who showed the good sense to appreciate and admire his high and noble character. Many men who in these days imagine that faith in Christ is the only doctrine that a Christian need believe, and who set aside the authority of the Church, and pay but little reverence to the sacraments, which Christ himself ordained, have claimed Thomas Bradwardine as the representative of their opinions. I cannot believe that in common fairness they can do this. Bradwardine certainly believed what they do, but a great deal more besides. He wished to revive again, whole and entire, the ancient Catholic faith, which had become obscured, and which combines the Scriptural doctrines of faith in Christ and obedience to His holy commandments. Though Bradwardine trusted devoutly in his Saviour, he was not like some who, in the pride of their hearts, imagine that the help He gives us in His ordinances are all idle superstitions. Following the example of Christ's holy followers of old, he "ceased not to teach and preach Christ Jesus."* But at the same time he knelt, as they did, "daily in God's temple, continuing stedfastly in the Apostle's doctrine, in breaking of bread and in prayers." Thomas Bradwardine, besides being one of the most enlightened men of his age, was deeply read and also very learned. All loved to honour him † Ibid. ii. 42. *Acts v. 42. "I with the title of Doctor Profundus, or the profound Doctor. His writings against heretical and false doctrine are full of able reasoning and sound faith, and at the time they were put forth, commanded the attention of all the learned men of Europe. I will conclude this notice of Bradwardine by a short passage from one of his sermons. I am sure you will admire the spirit of simple piety which pervades the discourse. think there cannot be any prayer more profitable or more efficacious, whether in prosperity or in adversity, whether concerning what one desires or what one would avoid, than that one may always be able to say, 'Thy will be done.' For this it will come to pass that one shall keep back nothing to oneself, and all one has to the Divine will; wholly desiring the glory and honour of God, and never one's own, whether in great things or small, fearing nothing, and caring for nothing, but gladly embracing, if need be, for the sake of God, the loss of riches, honour, and fame, disgrace, ridicule, persecutions, and whatever miseries, except the displeasure alone of Almighty God." The plague, or black death, which had proved so fatal to the good Primate Bradwardine, now raged with frightful violence throughout the land. A writer of the time tells us that its ravages were so terrible, that "almost half the people were swept away, insomuch that the living could scarcely bury the dead. Populous towns were in a manner uninhabited. In some of the monasteries, not above two out of twenty monks escaped, while the priests were reduced to so small a number, that in many parishes there was no pastor to officiate."* A proof that the clergy of the Church were active in administering to the sick and dying the comforts of religion. In the midst of these calamities, Pope Clement proclaimed a jubilee. Hoping that a pilgrimage to Rome might avert God's anger, and stay the plague, he promised to all who would devoutly journey thither, a full and free indulgence. In obedience to the Papal mandate, crowds flocked to the ancient city. The plague broke out there with renewed fury; thousands of pilgrims fell victims to its ravages, while thousands more began to doubt whether the Church of Rome was really infallible. Notwithstanding the vigorous and manly remonstrance sent by the King and people of England to Pope Clement, he still continued to extort large sums of money from the English Church, bestowing, as before, a number of the richest benefices on foreigners. Impoverished by the war, and depopulated by the plague, the nation was in no mood to submit quietly to * Walsingham. the Papal oppressions. Loud were the murmurs on all sides. Edward, strenuously supported by his prelates and people, acted with firmness and resolution. In the year 1350 he passed the famous law called the Statute of Provisors, which forbade any man to receive any provision or preferment from the Court of Rome, under penalty of fine and ransom to the King, at his will; and those foreigners who had received the income of English benefices, were commanded forthwith to forfeit their money to the King, on pain of imprisonment. In this wise act Edward was ably supported by Simon Islip, who had succeeded to the Archbishopric on the death of Bradwardine. Islip was a man of energy and good sense, and a strict disciplinarian. He made several wise and upright laws for the good of the Church, and at the same time took care to see that they were enforced. The reckless extravagance of the Court grieved the honest mind of the Archbishop, and, like Stratford, he boldly reproached the King for the thoughtless manner in which he wasted the public money. It was an unpleasant duty, but Islip did not shrink from it; nor did he preach to others what he was not prepared to practise himself. He cared nothing for outward parade or show; while all the arrangements of his palace were conducted with singular economy and simplicity. A simple life, like Simon's, is the best and surest argument against self-indulgence and waste, and is an argument which all understand. The Archbishop soon gained the respect of the people, and although at times his acts were severe, they were tolerated as coming from one who never spared himself. Complaints had reached the Archbishop's ears, that the punishments which the laws of the Church inflicted on offending priests were altogether insufficient. It was urged that priests, who had been guilty of heinous crimes, were so gently used that they grew worse and worse, so that their conduct became an open scandal to the whole of Christendom. The Archbishop dealt promptly and wisely with the evil, and, we must own, was not too indulgent to the offenders. He ordered that they should be imprisoned for life in the Bishop's jail, kept under constant and vigorous penance, and never again be restored to their former position, however penitent they might show themselves. Nor was the primate more indulgent with regard to their daily food. He ordered that every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, they should be fed only on coarse bread and water; on other days their diet was to be bread and weak beer. The luxury of the week was reserved for Sunday-it consisted of pulse, in addition to the other choice dainties. Thus was justice satisfied, and public dissatisfaction allayed. Now that I am speaking of Simon Islip, and the laws he passed for the good of religion, I must not forget to mention the reverence he showed for the Lord's day. I would have you observe, however, that laws for the due observance of this holy day had already been made by the Church, so that Islip was introducing no new thing when he ordained that these laws should be enforced. Men like Stephen Langton and Islip, who revive good laws that have become obsolete, are doing as great a benefit to their country as they who make new ones; although such men are often blamed for inventing foolish novelties. "The Canons of Church enact," says the Archbishop, "that all Sundays should be solemnly kept; that upon this day people are obliged to forbear working, and secular employments; to repair to their parish church; to entreat God Almighty's pardon for the omissions and other faults of the week past; to learn their duty from their pastor, and put up their prayers for the benefit of Church and State. But, unhappily," continues the Archbishop, "in some parts of my province, a scandalous and irreligious practice has got footing. The Lord's day is abominably profaned; markets are publicly kept on that day, and people are circumventing one another, when they ought to be at their devotions." Thus he significantly shows that neglect of the ordinances of religion is pretty sure to lead on to rebellion against lawful authority. For the people," says he, "meet on that day in great numbers against religion and law, and give occasion to routs and riots. So God is dishonoured on this Holy Festival by luxury, intemperance, and all kinds of license." London appears to have been the head-quarters of this evil; for the Primate's letter is addressed to the Bishop of that place—with orders, however, to send it to the rest of the prelates. He urges the Bishop, in conclusion, "to take effectual care to suppress these disorders, that the solemnities of religion may be duly observed, and the people retrieved to regularity and devotion."* This vivid description of the neglect of God's holy day among the lower classes in our great city, five hundred years ago, much resembles the sad state of things in our own time. But, unhappily, the evil has gone on increasing instead of diminishing; and we are suffering from the miseries which those who scorn the laws of the Church and the holy influence of religion have brought upon us. Those misguided men who would withhold from our poorer brethren the blessings which the Church so fully extends to them, and would lead them to regard with contempt the self-denying labour of Christ's ministers, well deserve the abhorrence of all good and honest Christians. The day * Collier, vol. iii. p. 124. must come when, at Christ's judgment seat, they will be called upon to answer for the souls of those they have so cruelly deceived. Archbishops had power in olden times to stem the tide of evil; but, unhappily, such is not the case now. Even if our Church has wise canons, she is powerless to enforce them, for her discipline has been trampled upon, and her ordinances neglected; and so she has well nigh lost all hold on the ignorant and unruly. All honour be to those holy men who are trying to revive her divine and wholesome authority. Such priests are worthy followers of that Blessed Master who went about doing good; for they strive to bring the wretched, and poor, and ignorant into the fold of the Good Shepherd. CHAPTER XXXI. EDWARD III. continued.-1362 TO 1376. ISLIP'S INJUNCTIONS CONCERNING THE FESTIVALS-HIS DEATH AND BURIAL— 66 ONE more wise measure I must mention, that Archbishop Islip put in force. He set his face against the superstitious multiplication of Holy Days, which the Church of Rome encouraged, and ordered his province to forbear working only on those Festivals which he, as Primate of the English Church, sanctioned. These Festivals were much the same as those which Simon Mepeham had ordered to be observed; therefore you see the English Church was slow to sanction any addition to her list of Holy Days. Archbishop Islip died in the year 1366, having gained the respect of the King and nation by his useful |