WYANDOTTE CAVE 



6306 



WYCLIFFE 



commission plan of government in 1911. Ger- 

 mans comprise about one-fourth of the popu- 

 lation, which increased from 8,287 in 1910 to 

 9,609 in 1916 (Federal estimate). 



Along the western bank of the river, at a 

 depth of about 1,800 feet beneath the city, lies 

 a bed of rock salt estimated to be from 200 to 

 300 feet thick. It is the principal resource of 

 the leading industrial plants of the city, which 

 make soda ash, caustic soda, bicarbonate of 

 soda and concentrated lye. About two miles 

 south of Wyandotte there are large quarries of 

 limestone, which is combined with salt in mak- 

 ing alkalies, but these quarries are owned by a 

 Detroit alkali manufacturing company, and the 

 limestone used in Wyandotte comes from Al- 

 pena. About 3,100 people are employed in this 

 industry here. There are also extensive salt 

 works, boat-building yards, fur-rug and coat 

 factories, and manufactories of chemical dye- 

 stuffs, motor trucks, trunks and bags. Wyan- 

 dotte has a city hospital and an $18,000 Car- 

 negie Library, constructed in 1914. C.H.M. 



WYANDOTTE CAVE, a picturesque natural 

 cavern situated in the vast limestone region of 

 the Ohio River, five miles northeast of Leav- 

 enworth, Ind., in Crawford County. Its re- 

 markable stalactite formations excel in beauty 

 and number those of Mammoth Cave, the 

 only larger cave in America. The twenty-three 

 miles of underground passages and large cham- 

 bers which have been explored in the Wyan- 

 dotte are noted for such wonders as the Monu- 

 ment Mountain, a collection of stalagmites 175 

 feet high, standing on the floor of Mammoth 

 Hall, which is 350 feet long and 245 feet high, 

 and the beautiful Pillared Palace, with varied 

 clusters of stalactites hanging from its ceiling. 



WYCLIFFE, or WICLIF, wik'lij, JOHN (about 

 1320-1384), an English reformer, popularly 

 called the "Morning Star of the Reforma- 

 tion," and the first man to begin a systematic 

 translation of the entire Bible into English, 

 was born probably near Richmond, in York- 

 shire. After studying at Oxford and becoming 

 master of Balliol College about 1360, he held 

 several rectories, followed by a wardenship of 

 Canterbury. Much of his early life is clouded 

 in uncertainty, but it is known that his fame 

 was early established in university circles. 



Wycliffe won royal favor, and appeared as 

 a supporter of the anti-Papal policies advo- 

 cated chiefly by John of Gaunt. In 1374 he 

 was named on a commission dispatched to 

 Bruges to investigate certain Papal systems 

 and settle with the representatives of Pope 



Gregory XI disputed points of ecclesiastical 

 authority. Soon after his return to England 

 he made a definite attack on the established 

 order of the Church, its corruption and the 

 follies of its clergy, claiming that the Church 

 had a right to refuse to pay the tribute de- 

 manded by the Pope. Because of the ecclesi- 

 astical abuses regarding the right of property, 

 Wycliffe sustained the superior power of civil 

 authority. 



Opposed the Church. More and more defi- 

 nitely his ideas began to take form, and by 

 1375 he developed the thought which became 

 the guiding principle of all his acts: that each 

 individual Christian may claim immediate de- 

 pendence upon God, without intervention of 

 clergy, each individual having the right to 

 take the Bible and reason as the foundations 

 of his belief. In 1377 Pope Gregory XI issued 

 five bulls against him because of his alleged 

 heretical opinions. England, however, did not 

 sanction this external authority, and Wycliffe 

 was allowed to go free, enjoying the protection 

 of the government he aimed to sustain. In 

 two treatises, De Dominio Divino and De Civili 

 Dominio, he set forth his views, emphasizing 

 individual rights and the needs for separating 

 religious and temporal power. Gradually he 

 became attracted to doctrines which bear a 

 marked resemblance to those later sustained by 

 Martin Luther. 



Version of the Bible. With the peasants' re- 

 volt of 1381 he seemed to realize the impor- 

 tance of directing his appeals to the common 

 people, and at this time also felt the need of 

 giving the Bible to the people in their common 

 tongue. He set about to make a systematic 

 translation of the Vulgate version into the 

 English of their everyday life, but it is doubt- 

 ful that Wycliffe himself did a large part of 

 the actual work of translation. The impor- 

 tance of this task cannot be overestimated. It 

 set the standard of English prose, and gave the 

 people direct access to the very source from 

 which all religious ideas had been received. 

 "Poor priests," as they were called, were sent 

 out on foot, under conditions similar to those 

 of the Apostles of old, to tell the people di- 

 rectly the message of the Bible, chiefly as they 

 had heard it from the lips of their master, 

 Wycliffe himself. Here was the teaching of 

 Christianity directed to practical, everyday life, 

 and its influence for good was far-reaching. 

 His fundamental work was the practical appli- 

 cation of his principles to the many evils that 

 existed in his day. 



