78
The Great Controversy
the wife of the king, were among the converts. In many places there
was a marked reform in the manners of the people, and the idolatrous
symbols of Romanism were removed from the churches. But soon the
pitiless storm of persecution burst upon those who had dared to accept
the Bible as their guide. The English monarchs, eager to strengthen
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their power by securing the support of Rome, did not hesitate to sacri-
fice the Reformers. For the first time in the history of England the stake
was decreed against the disciples of the gospel. Martyrdom succeeded
martyrdom. The advocates of truth, proscribed and tortured, could
only pour their cries into the ear of the Lord of Sabaoth. Hunted as
foes of the church and traitors to the realm, they continued to preach in
secret places, finding shelter as best they could in the humble homes
of the poor, and often hiding away even in dens and caves.
Notwithstanding the rage of persecution, a calm, devout, earnest,
patient protest against the prevailing corruption of religious faith con-
tinued for centuries to be uttered. The Christians of that early time
had only a partial knowledge of the truth, but they had learned to love
and obey God’s word, and they patiently suffered for its sake. Like
the disciples in apostolic days, many sacrificed their worldly posses-
sions 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, pur-
chased 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
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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