Our Little Lady | Page 6

it was from his trade; he was Robert the Smith, or
John the Carter. Sometimes it was from the place where he lived; he
was Robert at the Mill, or John by the Brook. But sometimes it was
from something about himself, either as concerned his person or his
ways; he was Robert Red-nose, or John White-hood, or William
Turn-again. This is the way in which all surnames have grown. Now, as
Bishop Copley's soul lodged well (as Queen Elizabeth said of Lord
Bacon), in a large head and massive brow, people took to calling him
Great-head or Grosteste; and it is as Bishop Grosteste, not as Bishop
Copley, that he has been known down to the present day.

I have said that he was a peculiar man. He was much more peculiar, at
the time when he lived, than he would have been if he had lived now.
Saint Peter told bishops that they were not to be lords over God's
heritage, but to be ensamples to the flock; but when Bishop Grosteste
lived, most bishops were very great lords, and very poor examples.
Bishops, and clergymen too, were fond of going about in gay clothes of
all colours, playing at games, and even drinking at ale-houses. Many of
them were positively not respectable men. But Bishop Grosteste and
his chaplain were dressed in plain black, and they were of the few who
walk not according to the course of this world. To them, "I like" was of
no moment, and "I ought" was of great importance. And what other
people would say, or what other people might be going to do, was a
matter of no consequence whatever.
Such men are scarce in this follow-my-leader world. If you are so
fortunate as to be related to one of them, take care you make much of
him, for you may go a long way before you see another. With most
people "I like" comes up at the top; and "What will people say?" comes
next, and often pretty near; but "What does God tell me to do?" is a
long way off, and sometimes so far off that they never come to it at all!
Bishop Grosteste lived in one of the darkest days of Christianity. Thick,
dense ignorance, of all kinds, overwhelmed the masses of the people.
Books were worth their weight in gold, there were so few of them; and
still worse, very few could read them. When we know that there was a
law by which a man who had been sentenced to death could claim
pardon if he were able to read one verse of a Psalm, it gives us an idea
how very little people can have known, and what a precious thing
learning was held to be. Even the clergy were not much wiser than the
rest, and they were generally the best educated of any. Most of them
could just get through the services, not so much by reading them as by
knowing what they had to say; and they often made very queer
blunders between words which were nearly alike. A few, here and there,
were really learned men; and Bishop Grosteste was one of them. He
had learned "all that Europe could furnish," and he knew so much that
the poor ignorant people about him fancied he must have obtained his
knowledge by magic. But far better than all this, Bishop Grosteste was

taught of God. His soul was like a plant which grew up towards the
light, and Jesus Christ was his Sun.
In this day of full, brilliant Gospel light, we can hardly imagine the
state of affairs then. Perhaps one fact will help us to do it as well as
many. In every house there was an image set up before which all
prayers were said. Sometimes it was a crucifix, sometimes an image of
the Virgin Mary, sometimes of some other saint--for the saints, male
and female, were a great crowd. But the crucifix or the Virgin Mary
were generally preferred; and why? Because the poor worshippers
fancied that the crucifix had more power than the image of a saint, and
that the Virgin was able to look after her own candle! A torch, or in
later times a candle, was always burning in front of the image; and of
course if the image could keep it alight, it was much less trouble to the
worshipper!
But had they no common sense in those days? Well, really, it looks
sometimes as if they had not. When men once turn aside from God's
Word, it is impossible to say to what folly or wickedness they will not
go. "The entrance of Thy words giveth light; yea, it giveth
understanding unto the simple."
Very few bishops then living would have