Page 16 - 05 John Wycliffe

souls and bodies of millions were held

captive.

Again Wycliffe was called to defend the rights

of the English crown against the

encroachments of Rome; and being

appointed a royal ambassador, he spent two

years in the Netherlands, in conference with

the commissioners of the pope. Here he was

brought into communication with

ecclesiastics from France, Italy, and Spain,

and he had an opportunity to look behind the

scenes and gain a knowledge of many things

which would have remained hidden from him

in England. He learned much that was to give

point to his after labors. In these

representatives from the papal court he read

the true character and aims of the hierarchy.

He returned to England to repeat his former

teachings more openly and with greater zeal,