These were chained in the churches, and few people could read, yet those few could read to their neighbors, and their neighbors could tell what they had heard. Henry perceived that the Bible was no more compatible with his despotism over the understanding and the conscience of the people, than it was with the despotism of the Pope.

Accordingly the Bible was by statute forbidden to be read in English in any church. No woman, or artificer, or apprentices, journeymen, husbandmen, or laborers, "were to read the New Testament in English. If any spiritual person should be convicted of maintaining anything contrary to the king's instructions already made, he should for the first offence recant; for the second bear a faggot; for the third be burned."

Thus stood the Reformation in England, when Henry was summoned away by death on the 28th of January, A. D. 1547. England was severed from the Popedom, with immense gain to its prosperity and political independence. It was indeed a mighty movement to transfer the supremacy of the Church from the Pope to the king; as no superstitious reverence belonged to the latter, such as kept the people in abject subjection to the infallibility and ghostly power of the former. But for the present, nothing was gained for civil or religious freedom. The English had lost in both these respects. But Henry could not live for ever. The seeds of truth, which he vainly strove to suppress, had taken root; and in the next age they began to yield their fruit. The laws which he designed for the purpose of establishing his tyrannical power, and of crushing the Reformation, afforded in the next age the means of pushing forward the Reformation with greater rapidity than the natural progress of truth. Of course, things were ready for a re-action in the next succeeding age; and the same supremacy, with the same laws enacted to sustain it, gave the bloody Mary power to carry England back once more to the bosom of Rome. So impotent is power to resist the progress of truth: so useless is violence to push forward reform faster than the truth itself makes progress.

Had the Church been severed from the State; with the Word of God, aside from tradition, the sole standard of faith and duty: had the hierarchy-that excrescence upon the simple institutions of Christ, not been in existence; had the people been free to follow the Word of God, calling" no man master,"-how swiftly, and how surely would the Reformation have spread over England! What untold sorrows; what tears; what burnings and blood might have been spared! Had it not been for the obstruction of hierarchical power, and Church authority and tradition, how many times would the incipient Reformation, which so often broke out in Italy, in France, and in Spain,-have gone

on to its completion! But the Inquisition, and the sword, though they could not resist the arguments of the witnesses, could yet destroy the witnesses themselves. Let the people guard their rights. Let them distrust the wisdom and kindness of those who would bring in the traditions, and ceremonies, and formularies of a usurping hierarchy,-as a safer bulwark of their liberties than the simple Word of God. THE WORD OF GOD; with no bond upon the conscience; no impediment upon the judgment, to compel men to interpret it according to the decisions of a pretended Catholic tradition;-this is the BEST FRIEND OF FREEDOM and of the rights of man; this is the best,-the only divine bulwark, of the truth. Let it be for Prelates and Popes to decry the exercise and even the right of private judgment, and to proclaim a human production, a prayer book-as a safer standard than the Word of God. Our fathers have taught us to "count nothing old that will not stand by the Word of God; and nothing new, that will." The Word of God, and no tradition: the Word of God, our immediate instructor, with no authoritative interpreter between to hush its voice or to enchain our understanding; THE WORD OF GOD-UNBOUND AND FREE!-this is our principle; the watchword of freedom : the watch-cry of everlasting truth.

IV.

REIGN OF EDWARD VI.

Persecutions stopped.

Doctrinal disputes revived. Book of Homilies. First service book: revised: never satisfactory to the Reformers. Supposed necessity of forming such a liturgy as to keep the Popish people in the Church. Discrepancy between the Articles and Offices. Prayer Book an equivocal standard: fairly quoted by each of two irreconcileable schemes. The question of a Liturgy. No right anywhere to impose one. Imposed not by the Church, but by Parliament and Council. Uniformity enforced. Reforming the Ordinal. Rise of the Puritans. EDWARD VI. came to the throne in the 10th year of his age, A.D. 1547, seventy-three years before the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.

The directorship of the faith and worship of the kingdom having been vested in the crown, it now fell into the hands of the Executive council, named by Henry VIII., and of the young king; who had been trained under instructors selected by Cranmer, and early imbued with the true principles of the gospel.

By all Protestant authorities, Edward VI. is regarded, for his enlightened views, his solid judgment beyond his years, and his conscientious regard for righteousness and truth, the wonder of his age. He was surrounded by a bright galaxy of Reformers. There was the meek and guileless Cranmer, whom the truth and the Spirit of God had led from the darkness of Popery to a discovery of the way of life through faith in Christ alone; and yet he had been so gradually led, that he always retained the confidence of that tyrant monster Henry VIII, who would in an instant have committed him to the flames, had he dreamed that his favorite was capable of ever exchanging the dogmas of popery for the doctrines of the Reformation. There, too, was the venerable and true-hearted Latimer, the zealous Hooper, the eloquent Ridley, and John Rogers, and Miles Coverdale; of whom the last three had been among those who fled into exile for conscience' sake, in the reign of Henry; and who were now welcomed back to their native land. There were also others whose names are to be had in high honor by

many

all who love the truth as it is in Jesus, and who know what the true gospel and religious liberty are worth.

These were good men and true Reformers; still they were men, and were surrounded with difficulties. Many of the great principles concerning the proper limit of civil or ecclesiastical power, and concerning the rights of conscience, had never been discussed. If, therefore, the Reformation was conducted, in some measure, on principles inconsistent with itself, that was the fault not so much of the Reformers as of the times. If in some respects they progressed too slowly to suit the more zealous; if in some respects they did not carry the Reformation so far as purity in doctrine and worship demanded, they themselves saw and deplored it; and had the times allowed, they would certainly have carried the Reformation further. They were by no means of the opinion of some at the present day, that all was done which a regard for purity in worship demanded; much less were they of the opinion of those who now lament that the Reformation was carried too far.

No sooner was King Henry in his grave than it appeared that a majority of those whom he had selected to compose the Executive Council during the minority of the young king, were strongly in favor of the Reformation; and that majority embraced the most important members, with Hereford the Protector, and Cranmer the Archbishop of Canterbury, at their head. The ample power put into their hands they determined to wield in favor of a Reformation, with as much energy as was consistent with prudence.

The persecution under the bloody six Articles, was stopped. The prison doors were thrown open. The exiles from the kingdom for conscience' sake were recalled. The reforming preachers opened their mouths once more. The defenders of Popery hurled back their defiance. Ridley preached against images; the people in some places began to remove them from the churches. Gardiner raised his voice in defence of the images, and vainly tried by legal prosecutions to crush those who ventured to destroy them. Ridley decried the use of such things as Holy Water, and consecrated candles. Gardiner wrote an elaborate "Apology for Holy Water," which he maintained might be made by the divine power, an instrument of much good." From the dispute about superstitious instruments and observances, the contest descended to the very foundations of faith; bringing into conflict the two great opposing schemes, Popery and the Reformation; justification by sacraments, masses, absolutions, and ceremonials, or justification by faith alone, to the exclusion of all account of any priestly interventions whatever. The council determined on a general visitation of all the

dioceses in the kingdom. The most eloquent and influential of the Reforming divines were appointed to accompany the visitors; to preach everywhere the great truths of religion, and to bring the people off from the old superstitions. Thirty-six injunctions were sent from the King, to be everywhere observed, requiring, among other things, the observance of the laws against the Pope's supremacy; directing the clergy to preach once a quarter against pilgrimages and praying to images; commanding that such images as had been abused with pilgrimages and offerings, should be taken down; forbidding processions about churchyards and all ringing of bells before high mass, save one; requiring all shrines, candlesticks, trindrills, rolls of wax, pictures, paintings, and other monuments of feigned miracles to be removed; requiring the churches each to be furnished with a Bible within three months; and within twelve months, with Erasmus's paraphrase of the New Testament, and enjoining the Bible to be read in all the churches.

A BOOK OF HOMILIES, consisting of twelve discourses on the topics most important at the time, and containing a vindication of the doctrines of the Reformation, was ordered to be left with every parish priest, who was enjoined to read these Homilies to the people.

When the Parliament met in 1547, they concurred in the line of policy pursued by the Council. The laws against Lollardism were repealed. The bloody statute of the six Articles was repealed. The Act giving to the King's proclamation the force of law, was repealed. This was indeed the dawning of liberty to the people of England.

The Council struck once more at superstitious ceremonies and customs; candles were no longer to be carried on Candlemas day; nor ashes on Ash-Wednesday; nor palms on Palm Sunday. All images were ordered to be removed from the churches.

These innovations amounted almost to a total change of the established religion. Indeed such it was designed to be. It was not the ceremony or the image alone that was concerned, but in these symbols the whole system of Popery was intended to be assailed. But the outward reform was now carried by the hand of power beyond the progress of light. The great body of the priests and the people had not yet understood the truth; and were not ripe for these external changes. The debate of words now began to reach the crisis of violence. The king thereupon issued his proclamation requiring these contentions to cease, and signifying his intention of soon having one uniform order throughout the realm. Till that order could be set forth, all manner of persons were forbidden to preach save by special license, either in the pulpit or otherwise.