ense influence of his preaching in the native
tongue, and the power of his Lollards to stir the souls of the common folk,
are too well known historically to need repetition. Though a university man
and a profound scholar, he sides with Langland, and his interests are with
the people rather than with the privileged classes, for whom Chaucer
writes. His great work, which earned him his title of "father of English
prose," is the translation of the Bible. Wyclif himself translated the
gospels, and much more of the New Testament; the rest was finished by his
followers, especially by Nicholas of Hereford. These translations were made
from the Latin Vulgate, not from the original Greek and Hebrew, and the
whole work was revised in 1388 by John Purvey, a disciple of Wyclif. It is
impossible to overestimate the influence of this work, both on our English
prose and on the lives of the English people.

Though Wyclif's works are now unread, except by occasional scholars, he
still occupies a very high place in our literature. His translation of the
Bible was slowly copied all over England, and so fixed a national standard
of English prose to replace the various dialects. Portions of this
translation, in the form of favorite passages from Scripture, were copied
by thousands, and for the first time in our history a standard of pure
English was established in the homes of the common people.

As a suggestion of the language of that day, we quote a few familiar
sentences from the Sermon on the Mount, as given in the later version of
Wyclif's Gospel:

And he openyde his mouth, and taughte hem, and seide, Blessid ben pore men
in spirit, for the kyngdom of hevenes is herne.[91] Blessid ben mylde men,
for thei schulen welde[92] the erthe. Blessid ben thei that mornen, for
thei schulen be coumfortid. Blessid ben thei that hungren and thristen
rightwisnesse,[93] for thei schulen be fulfillid. Blessid ben merciful men,
for thei schulen gete merci. Blessid ben thei that ben of clene herte, for
thei schulen se God. Blessid ben pesible men, for thei schulen be
clepid[94] Goddis children. Blessid ben thei that suffren persecusioun for
rightfulnesse, for the kyngdom of hevenes is herne.[95] ...

Eftsoone ye han herd, that it was seid to elde men, Thou schalt not
forswere, but thou schalt yelde[96] thin othis to the Lord. But Y seie[97]
to you, that ye swere not for ony thing;... but be youre worde, yhe, yhe;
nay, nay; and that that is more than th