Bye-paths in Baptist history : a collection of interesting, instructive, and curious information, not generally known, concerning the Baptist denomination

Preface

nnHE footpaths of any country may be expected to yield -*- some glimpses, both of the land and the people, not obtainable along the dusty and well-beaten highway. It is sincerely hoped that this may prove equally true of these Bye-paths in Baptist History. That they occasionally cross the main roads, and now and then run parallel with them, is no more than other " Bye-paths " have done before them ; but care has been taken throughout to preserve, as much as possible, their distinctive character.

In the sketches thus given of the Early English Baptists, no attempt has been made to diminish their excellencies or to gloss over their defects. Their early and persistent advocacy of the broadest religious freedom (an honour of which none will now seek to rob them) ; their zealous regard for Scriptural precedents ; and their willingness to sacrifice all things in the maintenance of what they deemed to be the truth, commend them to the warmest sympathies and loving regard of their descendants. Nor should their disputatious and angular character ; their literal observance of customs now fallen into desuetude, and their vigorous and inquisitorial discipline, be

PREFACE.

judged apart from the ferment of the age in which they lived, their natural reaction against the commandments of men, and their steadfast desire that those who associated with them should live unblamahlc and unreprovable before God.

The author tenders his hearty thanks to the gentlemen who have kindly rendered him help in the preparation of this volume. He desires especially to mention Rev. W. Robinson, of Cambridge, who very cheerfully examined for him the Baker MSS. in the University Library of Cambridge ; Rev. J. C. Means, London, who permitted him the free use of the MS. Proceedings of the General Baptist Assemblies : Rev. R. Wallace, Tottenham, for the earliest extant Minute Book of the Particular Baptist Board ; and Dr. Underbill, London ; Dr. Underwood, Chilwell College ; Revs. W. Urwick, Hatherlow ; J. Jenkyn Brown, Birmingham ; R. Harris, Esq., Leicester ; J. Barlow, Esq., Accrington; T. Bayley, Esq., Lenton Abbey, Nottingham ; and many other friends, for their generous loan of rare and valuable books.

Contents

CHAPTEK I.

Early Traces of Baptists in Britain.

PACK

CHAPTER II. Ancient Baptist Churches in England

Hill Cliff e, near Warrington 21—2)5

Eythome, Kent 23—20

Booking and Braintree, Essex 26 — 28

CHAPTER IH.

Origin of the Baptist Denomination.

Smyth and the General Baptists 29 — 34

Spilsbnry and the Particular Baptists 34 — 37

The Six-Principle Baptists 37, 38

The Seventh-day Baptists 38—42

The Scotch Baptists 42—46

The New Connexion of General Baptists 46—52

COXTENTS.

CHAPTER IV. The Baptists and Liberty of Conscience

PAOE

Honourable Position of Baptists in the History of Religious

Freedom 52

Religious Peace ; or, a Plea for Liberty of Conscience. By

Leonard Busher 54 — 61

Persecution for Religion judged and condemned 61 — 63

A Most Humble Supplication 63 — 67

The Necessity of Toleration in matters of Religion 67 — 71

CHAPTER V. Persecution of Baptists in England

Baptists persecuted by every Dominant Party 72

Charles the Second (1660—1685) 91—99

CHAPTER VI. Baptist Confessions of Faith

Confessions were Expositions, or Apologies 104—106

Smyth's Confession 106—110

The London Confession ('; Faith of the Seven Churches ") . 110 — 117

Grantham's Confession 117 — 121

The Orthodox Creed 121-129

The Confession of the Assembly (of Particular Baptists] . . 129 — 133

The Somerset Confession 133 — 136

Articles of Religion (General Baptist, New Connexion) . . . 136 — 13S

CHAPTER VH.

Public Disputations on Baptism.

Why they arose 139, 140

Dr. Daniel Featley, in Southwark 140—153

Baxter and Tombes, at Bewdley 153 — 155

Tombes, with Vaughan and Cragge, a: Abergavenny . . . 155 — 160

Denne and Gunning, in London 161 — 166

The Portsmouth Debate 166—179

CONTENTS. vii

CHAPTER VIII. Local Associations and General Assemblies

PAGE

What led to the idea of Association 180—182

The Somerset Association 182 — 186

The Midland Association 186—192

General Baptist Assemblies 192 — 195

The Caffynite Controversy 195—197

The General Association 197—200

The First Particular Baptist General Assembly 200—207

The Second and Third Particular Baptist Assemblies . . . 207, 208

The Fourth Particular Baptist Assembly 208—210

The Fifth Particular Baptist Assembly 210—213

The London Association 213—217

CHAPTER IX. Officers of Baptist Churches

Elders, or Ministers 218—229

Messengers, or Apostles . 230 — 233

Deacons ; Helps in Government 231 — 238

Deaconesses 239, 240

CHAPTER X. Church Discipline

The Basis of it 241—243

Strictness of Discipline 243—248

The Treatment of Heretics 248—257

Wesleyanism 257 — 258

Amusements 258 — 260

Marrying out of Society 264—270

Domestic Life 270—272

Servants 273,274

Drunkenness 274 — 277

Money Matters 277—279

Miscellaneous Charges 279, 280

Dr. Wall's Commendation 281, 282

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XL Customs of the Early English Baptists.

PAGE

The Imposition of Hands 282—287

Washing the Feet of the Saints 291—293

Anointing the Sick 293—298

Casting Lots 298—301

Love-feasts 301,302

Maintenance of the Poor 302—309

Marriage Service 3'J9 — 314

Burying the Dead 315, 310

CHAPTER XII. About Singing

Early Notices of Singing 317—320

Outwitting Persecutors by Singing Psalms 320 — 322

Grantham on " The Duty of Thanksgiving " 322—330

Mr. Reach introduces Singing at Horsleydovm 331

Keach's Defence of Singing 331

" The Leader of the Opposition " — Isaac Mario w 333 — 335

Marlow's Strictures on Allen's Essay 335—339

E. H.'s " Scripture Proof " 339

Dr. Russell on Allen's Essay 340—342

Allen's " Vindication " 342—345

Claridge's Reply to Allen 346

General Baptists and Singing 347 — 349

CHAPTER XIH.

Miscellaneous.

Ministers' Clubs 350—361

Quaint Items about Ministers and Deacons 361 — 366

Catechising 366—368

Chapter I. Early Traces Of Baptists In Britain

11 r | iHE true origin of Anabaptists," says Mosheim, " is hid in J- the remote depths of antiquity." But there is no reason to doubt that as early as the Third Century Baptists already existed in Britain. At that period " no persons were admitted to baptism by the churches generally" — still to quote Mosheim — " but such as had been previously instructed in the principal points of Christianity, and had also given satisfactory proofs of pious dispositions and upright intentions." Coupling with this testimony the statement of Tertullian, the celebrated African writer, that in 209 "those parts of Britain into which the Roman arms never penetrated have yielded subjection to Christ," we are warranted in saying that the early British Christians were men holding the distinctive principles of Baptists.

We have no further trace of Baptists in these islands until the Fifth Century, although there existed, [during the interval, as we learn from various sources, a numerous, well-ordered, and nourishing Christian community. In the year 410, the Britons were not only harassed and oppressed by the Saxons, but were distracted by religious controversies. Pelagius, who had once been a monk at Bangor, in North Wales, succeeded in spreading the poison of his opinions among his fellow-

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BYE-PATIIS IN BAPTIST HISTORY.

countrymen. Among these opinions was the belief in the lawfulness and necessity of infant-baptism. Two zealous bishops from the Continent laboured to check the progress of Pelagius' opinions, and many wanderers were reclaimed and baptized in the river Allen, near Chester.

The third trace of Baptists in Britain is found in the time of Ethelbert. Again the Principality claims the honour of having sheltered and preserved, if it did not originate, some of the earliest Baptist confessors in this country ; but the claim rests upon an obscure passage in the Chronicle of the Venerable Bede, and upon a version of Bede's words found in Fabyan's New Chronicles of England and France, a book published in the time of Henry the Seventh, and which had the honour of being burnt in the following reign by order of Cardinal Wolsey. We give the story in which the passage occurs, and for two reasons : first, it reveals the Scriptural character of the Christianity of Britain before the time of Komish corruptions ; and secondly, it shows with what sturdy independence these early Christians rejected the arrogant pretensions of Rome.

But to the story of

Austin and the Monks of Bangor.

Austin, or Augustine, the abbot of a monastery founded in Rome by Gregory the Great (although the pope's title to the term is very questionable), was sent into England in 596 to convert the Saxons. The Abbot proceeded with becoming caution at the outset, lived in a humble and self-denying fashion, and revealed no part of his future policy. His success far exceeded his expectations. Camden tells us that multitudes confessed their belief in his doctrines, and, going into the water, were dipped in the name of the Trinity. So far there was a concession to what was known to have been the practice of the early British Churches. Gregory now sends Austin further help, chiefly monks, with one Mellitus as their abbot. They bring with them presents for King Ethelbert, an arch-

BYE-PATHS IN BAPTIST HISTORY.

bishop's pall for Austin, some copies of portions of the Scriptures, certain Romish devotional books, relics to be used in the consecration of new churches, and Gregory's very trenchant replies to Austin's puerile questions. With more liberality, or with more policy than Austin, Gregory, among other things, suggests that in settling the order of the new church which had been founded in England, Austin should not exclusively follow the example of Rome, but should select whatever was good, no matter where he might find it — a sentiment deserving of special notice as coming from the mouth of a Roman bishop. Austin now makes Canterbury the seat of the first English archbishopric ; becomes very zealous, with his new monkish staff of supporters, in winning over the Saxons ; sprinkles the heathen temples with holy water, at least such temples as he could obtain ; sanctifies them, after the Romish fashion, by making them the shrines of certain relics — bones and rags of Romish saints ; converts the said heathen temples into churches ; establishes festivals in honour of the saints whose relics are henceforth preserved in them, taking care, as Gregory also advised him, that the times and the ceremonies of these new festivals should be made as palatable as possible to the halfheathenish Saxons, so that they might be the more easily persuaded to substitute the new rites for the old.

Austin's ambition increases with his success. This " pretended apostle and sanctified ruffian," as Jortin styles him, with something of passionate abuse, lusts after the sole and undivided ecclesiastical sway over the whole island. But how was he to secure the realisatiou of his dreams ? A large and flourishing body of British Christians were now living in Wales, whither they had sought refuge from the cruelties of the Saxons. Undisturbed in their liberties and their worship in the fastnesses of Wales, they had waxed stronger and stronger. At Caerleon, in the south, and at Bangor-is-y-coed, in the north, large and flourishing monasteries, or, more properly speaking, missionary stations, were established. Bangor

b 2

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alone could number, in association with it, over two thousand " brethren." These societies had little in common with Romish monasteries, either of that age or of the following. The greater part of "the brethren" were married laymen, who followed their worldly calling, and those among them who showed aptitude for study and missionary work were permitted to give themselves to the reading of the Scriptures and holy services. All were maintained out of a common fund, and yet a large surplus was distributed in the shape of food and clothing to the neighbouring poor.

Austin's problem was this : how best to obtain ecclesiastical authority over these primitive British Christians ? Ethelbert suggested and arranged a conference with some of their leading men. The conference was accordingly held in Worcestershire, near what was still called, in the days of Bede, " Austin's Oak." The British clergy of the province adjoining were invited, and Deynoch, the distinguished abbot of Bangor, a man in great repute for his piety and learning, came with them. Austin opened the conference by stating his desire that, as good Christian men, the people in Wales should submit themselves to the Pope of Home, as the Father of fathers, and to himself as his duly accredited representative. Deynoch' s reply is every way remarkable : " We are ready to listen to the Church of God, to the Pope of Rome, and to every pious Christian ; so that we may show to each, according to his station, perfect love, and uphold him by word and deed. We know not that any other obedience can be required of us towards him whom you call the pope, the Father of fathers. But this obedience we are constantly prepared to render to him, and to every other Christian."

Nothing came of this conference, so far as Austin was concerned. The Welsh asked that, previous to deciding what further reply to give, a larger number of their own party might be present. A second conference was, therefore, determined upon ; but before attending it, the Welsh consulted a pious

BYE-PATHS IN BAPTIST HISTORY.

lierniit, who was held by them in the greatest veneration. " May we obey this Austin ?" asked the simple-minded Welsh. " Yes," answered the hermit, " if he be a man of God." " But how are we to know that ?" The hermit answered, "If he be meek and lowly in spirit, after the pattern of our Lord, he will himself, being a disciple of Christ, bear the Master's yoke, and put no heavier burden upon you. But if he be violent, and of overbearing spirit *. it is plain that he is not born of God ; and you will do well not to heed his words." Still the enquirers were not satisfied. Like so many others, they wanted some outward and visible sign by which to judge of Austin's character; and again they pressed the hermit to help them. " By what token, or sign, shall we know that he is a meek and holy man ?" The hermit, evidently with a shrewd guess at the sort of man they had to deal with in Austin, responded : " Permit Austin and his attendants to enter first the place of meeting. If, on your entrance, he should at once rise to receive you, he is a servant of Christ. But if he should still remain sitting, notwithstanding the size and character of your company, you cannot so account him." Of course Austin neither answered to the hermit's description of a disciple of Christ, nor showed the hermit's sign of courtesy and humility. He sat stiffly up in his chair of state when the Welsh entered, and at once proceeded to the business of the conference. But the Welsh were in no humour to enter upon any agreement, or even quietly to discuss its terms. The hermit had rightly divined the character of Austin, and the Welsh did not conceal their uneasiness in the prelate's presence. Austin first tries what can be done by concession. "We know, at Rome," said he, "that many of your customs are contrary to ours ; but if you will only consent to these three things, we will say nothing about the rest : (1) Alter your time of observing Easter ; (2) Administer baptism according to the custom of the Roman Church ; (3) And join with me in preaching to the Saxons." Still the Welsh hung back, little loth, by putting their necks under a foreign yoke, to lose their

BYE- PATHS IN BAPTIST HISTORY.

dearly-bought independence. Austin now changes his tone, and more than justifies the hermit's description of one " not born of God." Cajolery lias failed ; he will try menace. " Well, well," said Austin, with ill-concealed anger, " if you will not have my blessing, and be brethren, you shall have my curse, and the Saxon's sword." Whereupon the council abruptly broke up, the monks returned to their quiet homes, and Austin comes back to the Saxons to foment further ill-will between them and the Welsh. There is little doubt that, indirectly, Austin is responsible for the cold-blooded massacre by Ethelfrid of upwards of a thousand unarmed monks of Bangor, although, when the dastardly deed was done, the ambitious and revengeful Austin was slumbering in his grave.

Let us now turn, for a moment, to the passage in Bede's Chronicle, on account of which the claim already mentioned is set up by the Welsh. It runs as follows : " Ut ministerium baptisandi, quo Deo renascimur, juxta sanctas Eomanae Apostolicas ecclesiae, compleatis." (" That you shall duly administer the rite of baptism, by which we are born again unto God, after the manner of the holy Koman Apostolic Church.") From these words it is evident that there was a marked difference between the mode of administering baptism in use among the Welsh, and that generally adopted by the Roman Church ; but what precisely that difference was it is by no means easy to discover. Lingard, the Roman Catholic historian, gives an explanation which Hook, in his Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, contends that he has no actual warrant for making. Lingard says the difference lay in the necessity for confirmation after baptism. Baxter and others contend that it refers to the use in baptism of white garments, milk, and honey. But most Baptists argue that the difference was, not at all as to the mode of baptism, but as to the subjects who should submit to that ordinance. It is, unquestionably, true, as Gregory the Great tells us, that he himself, and others in Italy, administered baptism by trine immersion ("nos tertio mergi-

BYE -PATHS IN BAPTIST HISTORY.

mus"), but they also administered it to infants. Whether, however, this last was an actual point in dispute between Austin and the monks of Bangor, we cannot learn from the words of Bede. Dr. Evans and others with him, regard the collateral evidence on the question as distinctly pointing to this issue.

Perhaps the mode of baptism would have been the only question raised by the words of Bede, if D'Anvers had not pointed out that, in the translation of Bede's account given by Fabyan, the second condition of agreement laid down by Austin to the Welsh was this : " That ye given Christendom to children." D'Anvers therefore concluded that Austin wished to force infant baptism upon the Welsh, and this was evidently Fabyan \s opinion. Many writers since the days of D'Anvers have followed in his wake ; but, in our judgment, none have succeeded in making more than probable the early Baptist reputation of the Welsh people at the time- of the brave old Deynoch and the imperious and bigoted Austin.

The fourth trace we have in English history of the opposition of the people to infant baptism, is in

The Law of Ina.

Towards the close of the Seventh Century, Ina, a Saxon prince, endeavoured to settle the baptism question in a very summary manner. He enacted a law by which all infants, within thirty days of their birth, should be baptized. For any violation of this enactment the penalties were unusually severe. A fine of £80 in our money was imposed upon the parents who did not comply ; and in the event of the child dying unbaptized, their whole personal estate was forfeited. People who had thus to be compelled to have their infants baptized were no great sticklers for its observance.

The three following centuries were religiously as dreary in England as in other countries. They have been rightly called " the dark ages." During this period of gloom, Europe had still its own witnesses to the truth. Passing under different

BYE-PATHS IN BAPTIST HISTORY.

names — Paulicians, Vaudois or Waldenses, Albigenses, Berengarians, Arnoldists — these godly men kept alive some glimmer of light amidst all this darkness. There were many among them who were opponents of infant baptism. About the Eleventh Century they rapidly multiplied on the Continent, and in the following century came over to England in great numbers. We discover them by

Lanfranc's Opposition to the English Waldenses.

The simplicity of their lives (so different from the pomp and corruption of the Komish clergy of that period), and the purity of their doctrine, led to the rapid increase of their adherents in all parts of the country. Not only were their sentiments warmly adopted by the humbler classes, but also by many of the nobility and gentry of the chief towns and villages. The priests became alarmed, and preyed on the fears of William the Conqueror. It was presently enacted by that energetic Sovereign " that those who denied the Pope should not trade with his subjects." Nor was this all. The able and zealous Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, sought to check the progress of their opinions by publishing a book in opposition to the views held by Berengar and the Waldenses. In this treatise he roundly asserts that these sectaries, " by denying infant-baptism, oppose the general doctrine and universal consent of the Church." It is not on record, so far as we know, that these Waldenses or Berengarians, suffered any direct persecution from William the Conqueror and Lanfranc, although it is hardly probable that the act of William was allowed to remain a dead letter, or that Lanfranc contented himself with hurling words at their heads, if he had it in his power to use harder weapons.

The sixth trace of Baptists in England is found in

Gerard and his Companions.

We are entirely indebted for our information about these thirty men and women to the pens of monkish historians. It

BYE- PATHS IN BAPTIST HISTORY.

is well to remember this fact, since two important advantages are thereby gained : first, we are better able to test the actual value of their opinions of these so-called heretics ; and, secondly, we are forced to the conclusion, since such obviously prejudiced observers could find so little evil in them, that Gerard and his companions were very exemplary Christians.

Their story, as it has come down to us, is sadly too brief. In substance it is this. Henry the Second, King of England, showed, according to Roger de Hovendon, remarkable leniency to the Waldenses of Aquitaine, Poitou, Gascoigne, and Normandy. The Dutch and Flemish, on the other hand, treated them with the utmost rigour, and burnt many at the stake. Owing to some sudden outburst of persecution in Holland, a number of Waldenses, or as some think them, disciples of Arnold of Brescia, fled to England, hoping thereby to obtain a secure asylum from their cruel persecutors. In this, they were grievously disappointed. Henry was at this period in open rupture with Thomas a Beckett, but was still anxious to stand well with the Pope and the ecclesiastics generally. The poor fugitives, in avoiding Scylla, had fallen into Charybdis. They were presently made the convenient pretext for illustrating the soundness of the King's faith, and his devotion in all matters of doctrine to the "holy Roman Apostolic Church."

No very flattering picture of Gerard and his companions is given by the monks. " They were a company of ignorant rustics ;" which means, that they were persons in very humble life. " Their understandings were very gross and unimproved;" although the very reverse seems to be nearer the truth, judging from their general behaviour. " Their obstinacy and self-opinion were such, that the convincing of them by argument, and the retrieving them of their mistake, was next to an impossibility." In other words, they held firmly the opinions they had already received.

io BYE-PATHS IN BAPTIST HISTORY.

But what were their opinions ? Strange to say, these " ignorant rustics" did not believe in the Romish doctrine of purgatory. They rejected prayers for the dead. They regarded the invocation of saints as useless. On some points they held orthodox views ; but when they came to be examined on the seven sacraments of the Church, to the horror and confusion of their priestly questioners, they were grievously unsound. Marriage, said these men, was no sacrament. The sacrifice of the mass was an abomination. But worse still remained behind ; they rejected the baptism of infants ! What further proof was needed of their " gross and unimproved understandings ?"

" On their first landing in England," so the monks assure us, "they concealed their heterodoxy, and pretended other business." But there is no proof from any quarter that they were other than quiet and inoffensive foreigners, who went on with such work as they could obtain. The singularity of their religious opinions, however (for Rome was now in the ascendant), soon became known. The King, prompted by the clergy, whom he was anxious to conciliate, orders their arrest and imprisonment. After some time had elapsed, they are all brought before a synod of priests at Oxford. Gerard was their chief spokesman. "The rest," say the monks, "were altogether unlettered, and perfect boors in knowledge and conversation. Their language was high Dutch." We may perhaps discover in this last circumstance the one secret of their contempt for Gerard's companions. He alone of the whole party was able to converse freely in English.

Gerard was asked, " What were the opinions of himself and his friends?" To which he promptly replied, "We are Christians, and the doctrines of the Apostles are our only rule of faith." This was esteemed but a lame and insufficient answer by the Romish priests ; and again they return to the charge. It then came out, one by one, that they held the opinions already stated. " While they were sufficiently

BYE-PATHS IN BAPTIST HISTORY.

orthodox," say the monks, " about the Trinity and the Incarnation, on many other material points they were dangerously mistaken." The priests, seeing the respect paid by ^Gerard and his friends to the Scriptures, sought to convince them by ingeniously suggested texts, or " old odd ends stolen out of Holy Writ;" but they remained unshaken in their opinions. They were reasoned with. They were admonished. They were threatened. All was in vain. Again and again they were reminded by their priestly judges that " they would be punished for their incorrigibleness ; " and at last, say the monks, "they were so unhappy as to misapply that text of our Saviour's to their own case, ' Blessed are they that suffer persecution for righteousness' sake ; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' "

The end was now near. To prevent the spread of " the contagion of their opinions," the priests pronounced them incorrigible heretics, and delivered them over to the secular magistrate. Instigated by the priests, the King ordered them to be branded in the forehead with a red-hot iron ; to be whipped through the streets of Oxford ; and, after their clothes were cut short at their girdles, to be turned into the open fields, although it was the depth of winter. The inhumanity of this treatment was heightened by the fact that all persons, under the heaviest penalties, were forbidden to offer them any relief. Gerard and his friends were nothing daunted by this severity, but went forth through the city streets, singing as they went, " Blessed are ye when men shall hate you." There could be, however, but one end to their story. The whole company of men and women, with their faithful leader and guide, perished with cold and hunger.

It came out on their trial that only one convert had been won to their faith, a poor woman of humble life. No time was lost by the priests in hunting her out. She was put to the torture ; her strength failed her ; and, in the anguish of her body, she hastily recanted.

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Baptist opinions were held by many of The Lollards.

It should be remembered that the Paulicians, the Waldenses, the Picards, and the Paterines, were all sometimes designated by this general name. Whatever the origin of the name itself, it has never been questioned that great numbers of the Lollards held Baptist sentiments. It is stated by some early historians that about thirty years after the cruel treatment of Gerard and his companions, Henry the Second so far changed his policy as to permit a company of Waldenses to settle peacefully in Kent, as tenants of the Manor of Darenth, and that in the reign of Edward the Third, colonies of Lollards came into the county of Norfolk. Mosheim affirms that Peter Lollard himself visited this countiy in the early part of the fourteenth century, and contemporary historians speak of the wide prevalence of Lollard's opinions in England, even before the time of John Wycliffe. There is little doubt that they prepared the wajT for the general diffusion of that great Reformer's opinions. What

Wyclifie's Opinions on Baptism

were, it is now needful very briefly to state. Taking some

passages by themselves, it would not be difficult to claim

Wycliffe as a holder, in part, of Baptist opinions. " How

necessary the sacrament of Baptism is to the believer," says

Wycliffe, " may be seen by the words of Christ to Nicodemus,

* Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of

God.' And such, accordingly, is the authority from Scripture

on which believers are customarily baptized." Again, " Chrism

and other such ceremonies are not to be used in baptism."

Still further, " Baptism doth not confer, but only signify, grace

which was given before." Another passage declares, "that

those are fools and presumptuous which affirm such infants not

to be saved which die without baptism, and that all sins were

abolished in baptism." But on this last point Wycliffe contradiets himself, since, in another place, when speaking about a child dying unbaptized, he says, " I hold my peace as one dumb, . . . because it doth not seem to me clear whether such an infant would be saved or lost."