[273] Oblatrabant sycophantæ. (Erasm. Ep. p. 329.) The slanderers howled. This irritation was not without a cause. The book, indeed, contained nothing but Latin and Greek; but this first step seemed to augur another--the translation of the Bible into the vulgar tongue. Erasmus loudly called for it.[274] "Perhaps it may be necessary to conceal the secrets of kings," he remarked, "but we must publish the mysteries of Christ. The Holy Scriptures, translated into all languages, should be read not only by the Scotch and Irish, but even by Turks and Saracens. The husbandman should sing them as he holds the handle of his plough, the weaver repeat them as he plies his shuttle, and the wearied traveller, halting on his journey, refresh him under some shady tree by these godly narratives." These words prefigured a golden age after the iron age of popery. A number of Christian families in Britain and on the continent were soon to realize these evangelical forebodings, and England after three centuries was to endeavour to carry them out for the benefit of all the nations on the face of the earth. [274] Paraclesis ad lectorem pium. Consolation to the pious reader. The priests saw the danger, and by a skilful manœuvre, instead of finding fault with the Greek Testament, attacked the translation and the translator. "He has corrected the Vulgate," they said, "and puts himself in the place of Saint Jerome. He sets aside a work authorized by the consent of ages and inspired by the Holy Ghost. What audacity!" And then, turning over the pages, they pointed out the most odious passages: "Look here! this book calls upon men to _repent_, instead of requiring them, as the Vulgate does, _to do penance_!" (Matt. iv. 17.) The priests thundered against him from their pulpits:[275] "This man has committed the unpardonable sin," they asserted; "for he maintains that there is nothing in common between the Holy Ghost and the monks--that they are logs rather than men!" These simple remarks were received with a general laugh; but the priests, in no wise disconcerted, cried out all the louder: "He's a heretic, an heresiarch, a forger! he's a goose[276] ... what do I say? he's a very antichrist!" [275] Quam stolide debacchati sunt quidam e suggestis ad populum. (Erasm. Ep. p. 1193.) How stupidly some of them raved to the people out of their pulpits. [276] Nos clamitans esse grues (_cranes_) et bestias. (Ibid. p. 914.) Calling out that we are cranes and brutes. [Sidenote: THE PRIEST'S ATTACK AT COURT.]