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 many others whose names are to be had in high honor by

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.

This was the origin of the first Service book or Liturgy of King Edward VI. A committee of divines, with Cranmer at their head, were appointed to reform the Offices of the Church. They began with the Eucharist. This, instead of a communion or commemoration of the death of Christ, had become "A sort of mystical ceremony, chiefly for the alleged purpose of delivering souls out of purgatory; and was claimed to be a real propitiatory sacrifice and offering of the body and blood of Christ, which the priest wrought for the forgiveness of sins." This was now changed into a communion in both kinds. In other respects the office of the mass was left very much " as it stood." Out of the Romish Missals of Sarum, York, Hereford, and Bangor (for Popery had never required a uniform liturgy in England), they compiled the Morning and Evening Service "almost in the same form as it stands at present."-[Neale.] From the same materials they compiled a Litany, "the same now used," except the petition to be delivered from the tyranny of the bishop of Rome and all his detestable enormities; which petition, in the review of the Liturgy under Queen Elizabeth, was struck out.

In the ministration of baptism, a cross was to be made on the child's forehead and breast: the devil was to be exorcised; the child was to be dipped (not immersed, as some pretend) three times in the font: on the right side, on the left, and on the breast, if not weak.

In the office of burial, the soul of the departed was to be recommended to the mercy of God; the minister was to pray that the sins which he had committed in this world might be forgiven; that he might be admitted into heaven and his body raised at the last day.

By the law of Parliament, all divine offices were to be performed according to this book from the feast of Whitsunday, 1549. "Such of the clergy as refused, or officiated in any other manner, should, upon the first conviction, suffer six months' imprisonment, and forfeit a year's profit of their benefices. For the second conviction, the offender was to forfeit all his church preferments, and suffer a year's imprisonment. Such as wrote or printed against the Liturgy were to be fined £10 for the first offence; £20 for the second; and for the third, forfeit all their goods and be imprisoned for life."

The people exhibited great unwillingness to give up their ancient rituals and to put it out of their power to observe them, the clergy were ordered to deliver up the articles which composed the gear of popish service; such as "antiphonals, missals, grails, processionals, legends, portuasses," and other things of like sort; of which we, in our simplicity, at the present day, scarcely know the uses or the names. "All who had in their