I THINK this is an early work of Wyclif's. It is certainly higher in tone and better in style than many in this volume. Especially to be noticed is the passage on p. 193, where the author, after inveighing against the heavy burden of ritual ordinances laid upon priests, returns upon himself with the warning that men must not abuse the freedom to which he exhorts them by making it an excuse for sloth, for that is the devil's snare. So, too, the complaint (p.194) that priests lead a lower life than their conscience dictates, for fear of hurting the sick conscience of their brethren, is a touch finer than is common in these polemical papers. How often may Wyclif's impetuous exhortations to revolt have been parried by such considerations as these?
The scribe who wrote the Corpus MS. (X.) made a curious blunder with this tract, as has been pointed out by Mr. Arnold, S. E. W. III. 507. Owing most likely to the displacement of some leaves in the MS. from which he copied, he transferred the last part of this tract to the end of "A Petition to the King and Parliament," while bringing the last part of the Petition to the end of this. As is often the case with him, he passed over the junction in happy unconsciousness that he was writing nonsense.
Copied from the Corpus MS. X. and collated with the Dublin MS. AA.
| Contemplation (so called) is made an excuse for not preaching | p. 188 |
| Contemplation to come in heaven after good life here | 189 |
| The devil prevents men from preaching by diverting their attention to singing in a tricky and artificial way | 191 |
| In a large choir a few sing and the rest stand dumb | 192 |
| The Ordinal of Salisbury interferes with preaching, for it burdens men with so many rites that they have no time for good works | 192 |
| Men who know better waste their time on services for fear of giving offence | 194 |
| Worldly business hinders preaching | 194 |
| Christ and his Apostles preached and did not administer alms | 195 |
