Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.

to occupie hem in siche bissynes, and if þai falle aftir bi losse of lordis goodis; þan saiþ þe lawe, it is not worþi þat þai be holpen and socoured of holy chirche, siþ þorou hem holy chirche is sclaundred. And saynte gregori wrote to þe defen|soure of rome in þis maner: "It is tolde to vs þat oure moost reue [page 49b] rent broþer basile þe bischop is occupied in seculer causis, and kepiþ vnprofetably moote hallis; whiche þinge makiþ hym foule and distryeþ þe reuerence of presthode. Þerfore a-noone as þu hast ressayvid þis maundement, co[m]pell hym wiþ scharp execucion to turne aȝen. So þat it be not lefulle to þe by noone excusacion to tarye it fyve days; lest if in eny maner þu suffir hym eny langer to tary þer-inne, þu to be coupable wiþ hym anentis vs." And so bischoppis & oþir prelatis ben holden to teche and enforme lordis to wiþdraw hem fro þis synne, and scharply to repreue prestis and curatis vndir hem þat þai ocupie no seculer office. Þis is prouyd þus. þe holy prophete Ezechiel saiþ: "If þe [page 50] wayte or þe wacche-man se ennemys cum, and if þe peple be not warnyd & kepe not hem sijlfe, but ennemys cummen & sle þe peple; þen saiþ god þat þe pepille is take in her wickidnes. And of þe waite þat schuld have blowe in his horne wille god axe acountis and reknynge of þe blode and of þe deþe of þe peple." But now to goostly vndirston[din]ge euery bischop schuld be a waite or a waccheman, to telle & to warne byfore to alle þe peple by his goode lyvynge and techynge þe perelle of synne. And þis is þe reson whi bischoppis and oþir prelatis & prestis schulde not be occupied wiþ worldly nedis and causis; For siche occupacions and chargis maken prestis slepynge & slumbrynge in synne. And þerfore it is grete perelle to lordis to make [page 50b] ouer hem goostly waytis and wacchemen, as bischoppis, persones and vikers, þat ben slepers & slombreris in lustis of þe fleysch, & blyndid wiþ poudir of couetise of worldly riches, and so occupied in worldly nedis þat þai neiþer kan ne may kepe hem sijlfe, ne noone oþer man. For of þis perelle & siche oþir a prelate þat haþ witt and kunnynge schuld scharply
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Title
The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 395
Publication
London,: Pub. for the Early English text society, by Trübner & co.,
1880.

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"The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/aeh6713.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 17, 2025.
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