who loved the truth and desired nothing so much as to extend it . These men went everywhere , teaching in the market places , in the streets of the great cities , and in the country lanes . They sought out the aged , the sick , and the poor , and opened to them the glad tidings of the grace of God . As a professor of theology at Oxford , Wycliffe preached the word of God in the halls of the university . So faithfully did he present the truth to the students under his instruction , that he received the title of " the gospel doctor ." But the greatest work of his life was to be the translation of the Scriptures into the English language . In a work , On the Truth and Meaning of Scripture , he expressed his intention to translate the Bible , so that every man in England might read , in the language in which he was born , the wonderful works of God .
But suddenly his labours were stopped . Though not yet sixty years of age , unceasing toil , study , and the assaults of his enemies had told upon his strength and made him prematurely old . He was attacked by a dangerous illness . The tidings brought great joy to the friars . Now they thought he would bitterly repent the evil he had done the church , and they hurried to his chamber to listen to his confession . Representatives from the four religious orders , with four civil officers , gathered about the supposed dying man . " You have death on your lips ," they said ; " be touched by your faults , and retract in our presence all that you have said to our injury ." The Reformer listened in silence ; then he bade his attendant raise him in his bed , and , gazing steadily upon them as they stood waiting for his recantation , he said , in the firm , strong voice which had so often caused them to tremble : " I shall not die , but live ; and again declare the evil deeds of the friars ." --D ' Aubigne , b . 17 , ch . 7 . Astonished and abashed , the monks hurried from the room .
Wycliffe ' s words were fulfilled . He lived to place in the hands of his countrymen the most powerful of all weapons against Rome--to give them the Bible , the Heaven-appointed agent to liberate , enlighten , and evangelize the people . There were many and great obstacles to surmount in the accomplishment of this work . Wycliffe was weighed down with infirmities ; he knew that only a few years for labour remained for him ; he saw the opposition which he must meet ; but , encouraged by the promises of God ' s word , he went forward nothing daunted . In the full vigour of his intellectual powers , rich in experience , he had been preserved and prepared by God ' s special providence for this , the greatest of his labours . While all Christendom was filled with tumult , the Reformer in his rectory at Lutterworth , unheeding the storm that raged without , applied himself to his chosen task .
At last the work was completed--the first English translation of the Bible ever made . The word of God was opened to England . The Reformer feared not now the prison or the stake . He had placed in the hands of the English people a light which should never be extinguished . In giving the Bible to his countrymen , he had done more to break the fetters of ignorance and vice , more to liberate and elevate his country , than was ever achieved by the most brilliant victories on fields of battle . The art of printing being still unknown , it was only by slow and wearisome labour that copies of the Bible could be multiplied . So great was the interest to obtain the book , that many willingly engaged in the work of transcribing it , but it was with difficulty that the copyists could supply the demand .
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