sketches of the lives of some of the most eminent reformers.

it will not be inappropriate to devote a few pages of this work to a brief detail of the lives of some of those men who first stepped forward, regardless of the bigoted power which opposed all reformation, to stem the tide of papal corruption, and to seal the pure doctrines of the gospel with their blood. among these, great britain has the honor of taking the lead, and first maintaining that freedom in religious controversy which astonished europe, and demonstrated that political and religious liberty are equally the growth of that favored island. among the earliest of these eminent persons was

john wickliffe.

this celebrated reformer, denominated the morning star of the reformation, was born about the year 1324, in the reign of edward ii. of his extraction we have no certain account. his parents designing him for the church, sent him to queen's college, oxford, about that period founded by robert eaglesfield, confessor to queen philippi. but not meeting with the advantages for study in that newly established house which he expected, he removed to merton college, which was then esteemed one of the most learned societies in europe.

the first thing which drew him into public notice, was his defence of the university against the begging friars, who about this time, from their settlement in oxford in 1230, had been troublesome neighbours to the university. feuds were continually fomented; the friars appealing to the pope, the scholars to the civil power; and sometimes one party, and sometimes the other, prevailed. the friars became very fond of a notion that christ was a common beggar; that his disciples were beggars also; and that begging was of gospel institution. this doctrine they urged from the pulpit and wherever they had access.

wickliffe had long held these religious friars in contempt for the laziness of their lives, and had now a fair opportunity of exposing them. he published a treatise against able beggary, in which he lashed the friars, and proved that they were not only a reproach to religion, but also to human society. the university began to consider him one of her first champions, and he was soon promoted to the mastership of baliol college.

about this time, archbishop islip founded canterbury hall, in oxford, where he established a warden and eleven scholars. to this wardenship wickliffe was elected by the archbishop, but upon his demise, he was displaced by his successor, stephen langham, bishop of[465] ely. as there was a degree of flagrant injustice in the affair, wickliffe appealed to the pope, who subsequently gave it against him from the following cause: edward the third, then king of england, had withdrawn the tribute, which from the time of king john had been paid to the pope. the pope menaced; edward called a parliament. the parliament resolved that king john had done an illegal thing, and given up the rights of the nation, and advised the king not to submit, whatever consequences might follow.

the clergy now began to write in favour of the pope, and a learned monk published a spirited and plausible treatise, which had many advocates. wickliffe, irritated at seeing so bad a cause so well defended, opposed the monk, and did it in so masterly a way, that he was considered no longer as unanswerable. his suit at rome was immediately determined against him; and nobody doubted but his opposition to the pope, at so critical a period, was the true cause of his being non-suited at rome.

wickliffe was afterward elected to the chair of the divinity professor: and now fully convinced of the errors of the romish church, and the vileness of its monastic agents, he determined to expose them. in public lectures he lashed their vices and opposed their follies. he unfolded a variety of abuses covered by the darkness of superstition. at first he began to loosen the prejudices of the vulgar, and proceeded by slow advances; with the metaphysical disquisitions of the age, he mingled opinions in divinity apparently novel. the usurpations of the court of rome was a favourite topic. on these he expatiated with all the keenness of argument, joined to logical reasoning. this soon procured him the clamour of the clergy, who, with the archbishop of canterbury, deprived him of his office.

at this time, the administration of affairs was in the hands of the duke of lancaster, well known by the name of john of gaunt. this prince had very free notions of religion, and was at enmity with the clergy. the exactions of the court of rome having become very burdensome, he determined to send the bishop of bangor and wickliffe to remonstrate against these abuses, and it was agreed that the pope should no longer dispose of any benifices belonging to the church of england. in this embassy, wickliffe's observant mind penetrated into the constitution and policy of rome, and he returned more strongly than ever determined to expose its avarice and ambition.

having recovered his former situation, he inveighed, in his lectures, against the pope—his usurpation—his infallibility—his pride—his avarice—and his tyranny. he was the first who termed the pope antichrist. from the pope, he would turn to the pomp, the luxury and trappings of the bishops, and compared them with the simplicity of primitive bishops. their superstitions and deceptions were topics that he urged with energy of mind and logical precision.

from the patronage of the duke of lancaster, wickliffe received a good benefice; but he was no sooner settled in his parish, than his enemies and the bishops began to persecute him with renewed vigor.[466] the duke of lancaster was his friend in this persecution, and by his presence and that of lord percy, earl marshal of england, he so overawed the trial, that the whole ended in disorder.

after the death of edward iii. his grandson richard ii. succeeded, in the eleventh year of his age. the duke of lancaster not obtaining to be the sole regent, as he expected, his power began to decline, and the enemies of wickliffe, taking advantage of this circumstance, renewed their articles of accusation against him. five bulls were despatched in consequence by the pope to the king and certain bishops, but the regency and the people manifested a spirit of contempt at the haughty proceedings of the pontiff, and the former at that time wanting money to oppose an expected invasion of the french, proposed to apply a large sum, collected for the use of the pope to that purpose. the question was submitted to the decision of wickliffe. the bishops, however, supported by the papal authority, insisted upon bringing wickliffe to trial, and he was actually undergoing examination at lambeth, when, from the riotous behaviour of the populace without, and awed by the command of sir lewis clifford, a gentleman of the court, that they should not proceed to any definitive sentence, they terminated the whole affair in a prohibition to wickliffe, not to preach those doctrines which were obnoxious to the pope; but this was laughed at by our reformer, who, going about barefoot, and in a long frieze gown, preached more vehemently than before.

in the year 1378, a contest arose between two popes, urban vi. and clement vii. which was the lawful pope, and true vicegerent of god. this was a favourable period for the exertion of wickliffe's talents: he soon produced a tract against popery, which was eagerly read by all sorts of people.

about the end of the year, wickliffe was seized with a violent disorder, which it was feared might prove fatal. the begging friars, accompanied by four of the most eminent citizens of oxford, gained admittance to his bed-chamber, and begged of him to retract, for his soul's sake, the unjust things he had asserted of their order. wickliffe surprised at the solemn message, raised himself in his bed, and with a stern countenance replied, "i shall not die, but live to declare the evil deeds of the friars."

when wickliffe recovered, he set about a most important work, the translation of the bible into english. before this work appeared, he published a tract, wherein he showed the necessity of it. the zeal of the bishops to suppress the scriptures, greatly promoted its sale, and they who were not able to purchase copies, procured transcripts of particular gospels or epistles. afterward, when lollardy increased, and the flames kindled, it was a common practice to fasten about the neck of the condemned heretic such of these scraps of scripture as were found in his possession, which generally shared his fate.

immediately after this transaction, wickliffe ventured a step further, and affected the doctrine of transubstantiation. this strange[467] opinion was invented by paschade radbert, and asserted with amazing boldness. wickliffe, in his lecture before the university of oxford, 1381, attacked this doctrine, and published a treatise on the subject. dr. barton, at this time vice-chancellor of oxford, calling together the heads of the university, condemned wickliffe's doctrines as heretical, and threatened their author with excommunication. wickliffe could now derive no support from the duke of lancaster, and being cited to appear before his former adversary, william courteney, now made archbishop of canterbury, he sheltered himself under the plea, that, as a member of the university, he was exempt from episcopal jurisdiction. this plea was admitted, as the university were determined to support their member.

the court met at the appointed time, determined, at least to sit in judgment upon his opinions, and some they condemned as erroneous, others as heretical. the publication on this subject was immediately answered by wickliffe, who had become a subject of the archbishop's determined malice. the king, solicited by the archbishop, granted a license to imprison the teacher of heresy, but the commons made the king revoke this act as illegal. the primate, however, obtained letters from the king, directing the head of the university of oxford to search for all heresies and the books published by wickliffe; in consequence of which order, the university became a scene of tumult. wickliffe is supposed to have retired from the storm, into an obscure part of the kingdom. the seeds, however, were scattered, and wickliffe's opinions were so prevalent, that it was said, if you met two persons upon the road, you might be sure that one was a lollard. at this period, the disputes between the two popes continued. urban published a bull, in which he earnestly called upon all who had any regard for religion, to exert themselves in its cause; and to take up arms against clement and his adherents in defence of the holy see.

a war, in which the name of religion was so vilely prostituted, roused wickliffe's inclination, even in his declining years. he took up his pen once more, and wrote against it with the greatest acrimony. he expostulated with the pope in a very free manner, and asks him boldly, "how he durst make the token of christ on the cross (which is the token of peace, mercy and charity) a banner to lead us to slay christian men, for the love of two false priests, and to oppress christendom worse than christ and his apostles were oppressed by the jews? when, said he, will the proud priest of rome grant indulgences to mankind to live in peace and charity, as he now does to fight and slay one another?"

this severe piece drew upon him the resentment of urban; and was likely to have involved him in greater troubles than he had before experienced, but providentially he was delivered out of their hands. he was struck with the palsy, and though he lived some time yet in such a way, that his enemies considered him as a person below their resentment. to the last he attended divine worship, and received[468] the fatal stroke of his disorder in his church at lutterworth, in the year 1384.

martin luther.

this illustrious german divine and reformer of the church, was the son of john luther and margaret lindeman, and born at isleben, a town of saxony, in the county of mansfield, november 10, 1483. his father's extraction and condition were originally but mean, and his occupation that of a miner: it is probable, however, that by his application and industry he improved the fortunes of his family, as he afterward became a magistrate of rank and dignity. luther was early initiated into letters, and at the age of thirteen was sent to school at madgeburg, and thence to eysenach, in thuringia, where he remained four years, producing the early indications of his future eminence.

in 1501 he was sent to the university of erfurt, where he went through the usual courses of logic and philosophy. when twenty, he took a master's degree, and then lectured on aristotle's physics, ethics, and other parts of philosophy. afterward, at the instigation of his parents, he turned himself to the civil law, with a view of advancing himself to the bar, but was diverted from this pursuit by the following accident. walking out into the fields one day, he was struck by lightning so as to fall to the ground, while a companion was killed by his side; and this affected him so sensibly, that, without communicating his purpose to any of his friends, he withdrew himself from the world, and retired into the order of the hermits of st. augustine.

here he employed himself in reading st. augustine and the school men; but, in turning over the leaves of the library, he accidentally found a copy of the latin bible, which he had never seen before. this raised his curiosity to a high degree: he read it over very greedily, and was amazed to find what a small portion of the scriptures was rehearsed to the people. he made his profession in the monastery of erfurt, after he had been a novice one year; and he took priest's orders, and celebrated his first mass in 1507. the year after, he was removed from the convent of erfurt to the university of wittemberg; for this university being just founded, nothing was thought more likely to bring it into immediate repute and credit, than the authority and presence of a man so celebrated, for his great parts and learning, as luther. in 1512, seven convents of his order having a quarrel with their vicar-general, luther was chosen to go to rome to maintain their cause. at rome he saw the pope and the court, and had an opportunity of observing also the manners of the clergy, whose hasty, superficial, and impious way of celebrating mass, he has severely noted. as soon as he had adjusted the dispute which was the business of his journey, he returned to wittemberg, and was created doctor of divinity, at the expense of frederic, elector of saxony;[469] who had often heard him preach, was perfectly acquainted with his merit, and reverenced him highly. he continued in the university of wittemberg, where, as professor of divinity, he employed himself in the business of his calling. here then he began in the most earnest manner to read lectures upon the sacred books: he explained the epistle to the romans, and the psalms, which he cleared up and illustrated in a manner so entirely new, and so different from what had been pursued by former commentators, that "there seemed, after a long and dark night, a new day to arise, in the judgment of all pious and prudent men." the better to qualify himself for the task he had undertaken, he applied himself attentively to the greek and hebrew languages; and in this manner was he employed, when the general indulgences were published in 1517. leo x. who succeeded julius ii. in march, 1513, formed a design of building the magnificent church of st. peter's at rome, which was, indeed, begun by julius, but still required very large sums to be finished. leo, therefore, 1517 published general indulgences throughout all europe, in favour of those who contribute any sum to the building of st. peter's; and appointed persons in different countries to preach up these indulgences, and to receive money for them. these strange proceedings gave vast offence at wittemberg, and particularly inflamed the pious zeal of luther; who, being naturally warm and active, and in the present case unable to contain himself, was determined to declare against them at all adventures. upon the eve of all-saints, therefore, in 1517, he publicly fixed up, at the church next to the castle of that town, a thesis upon indulgences; in the beginning of which, he challenged any one to oppose it either by writing or disputation. luther's propositions about indulgences, were no sooner published, than tetzel, the dominican friar, and commissioner for selling them, maintained and published at francfort, a thesis, containing a set of propositions directly contrary to them. he did more; he stirred up the clergy of his order against luther; anathematized him from the pulpit, as a most damnable heretic; and burnt his thesis publicly at francfort. tetzel's thesis was also burnt, in return, by the lutherans at wittemburg; but luther himself disowned having had any hand in that procedure. in 1518, luther, though dissuaded from it by his friends, yet, to show obedience to authority, went to the monastery of st. augustine, at heidelberg, while the chapter was held; and here maintained, april 26, a dispute concerning "justification by faith," which bucer, who was present at, took down in writing, and afterward communicated to beatus rhenanus, not without the highest commendations. in the meantime, the zeal of his adversaries grew every day more and more active against him; and he was at length accused to leo x. as a heretic. as soon as he returned therefore from heidelberg, he wrote a letter to that pope, in the most submissive terms; and sent him, at the same time, an explication of his propositions about indulgences. this letter is dated on trinity-sunday, 1518, and was accompanied with a protestation, wherein he declared, that "he did[470] not pretend to advance or defend any thing contrary to the holy scriptures, or to the doctrine of the fathers, received and observed by the church of rome, or to the canons and decretals of the popes: nevertheless, he thought he had the liberty either to approve or disapprove the opinions of st. thomas, bonaventure, and other school-men and canonists, which are not grounded upon any text."

the emperor maximilian was equally solicitous with the pope about putting a stop to the propagation of luther's opinions in saxony; troublesome both to the church and empire. maximilian, therefore, applied to leo, in a letter dated august 5, 1518, and begged him to forbid, by his authority, these useless, rash, and dangerous disputes; assuring him also, that he would strictly execute in the empire whatever his holiness should enjoin. in the meantime luther, as soon an he understood what was transacting about him at rome, used all imaginable means to prevent his being carried thither, and to obtain a hearing of his cause in germany. the elector was also against luther's going to rome, and desired of cardinal cajetan, that he might be heard before him, as the pope's legate in germany. upon these addresses, the pope consented that the cause should be tried before cardinal cajetan, to whom he had given power to decide it. luther, therefore, set off immediately for augsburg, and carried with him letters from the elector. he arrived here in october, 1518, and, upon an assurance of his safety, was admitted into the cardinal's presence. but luther was soon convinced that he had more to fear from the cardinal's power, than from disputations of any kind; and, therefore, apprehensive of being seized, if he did not submit, withdrew from augsburg upon the 20th. but, before his departure, he published a formal appeal to the pope, and finding himself protected by the elector, continued to teach the same doctrines at wittemberg, and sent a challenge to all the inquisitors to come and dispute with him.

as to luther, miltitius, the pope's chamberlain, had orders to require the elector to oblige him to retract, or to deny him his protection; but things were not now to be carried with so high a hand, luther's credit being too firmly established. besides, the emperor maximilian happened to die upon the 12th of this month, whose death greatly altered the face of affairs, and made the elector more able to determine luther's fate. miltitius thought it best, therefore, to try what could be done by fair and gentle means, and to that end came to some conference with luther. during all these treaties, the doctrine of luther spread, and prevailed greatly; and he himself received great encouragement at home and abroad. the bohemians about this time sent him a book of the celebrated john huss, who had fallen a martyr in the work of reformation; and also letters, in which they exhorted him to constancy and perseverance, owning, that the divinity which he taught was the pure, sound, and orthodox divinity. many great and learned men had joined themselves to him. in 1519, he had a famous dispute at leipsic with john eccius. but this dispute ended at length like all others, the parties not the least[471] nearer in opinion, but more to enmity with each other's persons. about the end of this year, luther published a book, in which he contended for the communion being celebrated in both kinds; which was condemned by the bishop of misnia, january 24, 1520. while luther was labouring to excuse himself to the new emperor and the bishops of germany, eccius had gone to rome, to solicit his condemnation; which, it may easily be conceived, was now become not difficult to be attained. indeed the continual importunities of luther's adversaries with leo, caused him at length to publish a formal condemnation of him, and he did so accordingly, in a bull, dated june 15, 1520; this was carried into germany, and published there by eccius, who had solicited it at rome; and who, together with jerom alexander, a person eminent for his learning and eloquence, was entrusted by the pope with the execution of it. in the meantime, charles v. of spain, after he had set things to rights in the low countries, went into germany, and was crowned emperor, october the 21st, at aix-la-chapelle. the diet of worms was held in the beginning of 1521; which ended at length in this single and peremptory declaration of luther, that "unless he was convinced by texts of scripture or evident reason (for he did not think himself obliged to submit to the pope or his councils,) he neither could nor would retract any thing, because it was not lawful for him to act against his conscience." before the diet of worms was dissolved, charles v. caused an edict to be drawn up, which was dated the 8th of may, and decreed that martin luther be, agreeably to the sentence of the pope, henceforward looked upon as a member separated from the church, a schismatic, and an obstinate and notorious heretic. while the bull of leo x. executed by charles v. was thundering throughout the empire, luther was safely shut up in the castle of wittemberg; but weary at length of his retirement, he appeared publickly again at wittemberg, march 6, 1522, after he had been absent about ten months. luther now made open war with the pope and bishops; and, that he might make the people despise their authority as much as possible, he wrote one book against the pope's bull, and another against the order falsely called "the order of bishops." he published also, a translation of the "new testament" in the german tongue, which was afterward corrected by himself and melancthon. affairs were now in great confusion in germany; and they were not less so in italy, for a quarrel arose between the pope and the emperor, during which rome was twice taken, and the pope imprisoned. while the princes were thus employed in quarrelling with each other, luther persisted in carrying on the work of the reformation, as well by opposing the papists, as by combating the anabaptists and other fanatical sects; which, having taken the advantage of his contest with the church of rome, had sprung up and established themselves in several places.

in 1527, luther was suddenly seized with a coagulation of the blood about the heart, which had like to have put an end to his life. the troubles of germany being not likely to have any end, the emperor[472] was forced to call a diet at spires, in 1529, to require the assistance of the princes of the empire against the turks. fourteen cities, viz. stratsburg, nuremberg, ulm, constance, retlingen, windsheim, memmingen, lindow, kempten, hailbron, isny, weissemburg, nortlingen, s. gal, joined against the decree of the diet protestation, which was put into writing, and published the 19th of april, 1529. this was the famous protestation, which gave the name of protestants to the reformers in germany.

after this, the protestant princes laboured to make a firm league and enjoined the elector of saxony and his allies to approve of what the diet had done; but the deputies drew up an appeal, and the protestants afterwards presented an apology for their "confession"—that famous confession which was drawn up by the temperate melancthon, as also the apology. these were signed by a variety of princes, and luther had now nothing else to do, but to sit down and contemplate the mighty work he had finished: for that a single monk should be able to give the church of rome so rude a shock, that there needed but such another entirely to overthrow it, may be well esteemed a mighty work.

in 1533, luther wrote a consolatory epistle to the citizens of oschatz, who had suffered some hardships for adhering to the augsburg confession of faith: and in 1534, the bible translated by him into german was first printed, as the old privilege, dated at bibliopolis, under the elector's own hand, shows; and it was published in the year after. he also published this year a book "against masses and the consecration of priests." in february, 1537, an assembly was held at smalkald about matters of religion, to which luther and melancthon were called. at this meeting luther was seized with so grievous an illness, that there was no hope of his recovery. as he was carried along he made his will, in which he bequeathed his detestation of popery to his friends and brethren. in this manner was he employed till his death, which happened in 1546. that year, accompanied by melancthon, he paid a visit to his own country, which he had not seen for many years, and returned again in safety. but soon after, he was called thither again by the earls of mansfelt, to compose some differences which had arisen about their boundaries, where he was received by 100 horsemen, or more, and conducted in a very honourable manner; but was at the same time so very ill, that it was feared he would die. he said, that these fits of sickness often came upon him, when he had any great business to undertake; of this, however, he did not recover, but died february 18, in his 63d year. a little before he expired, he admonished those that were about him to pray to god for the propagation of the gospel; "because," said he, "the council of trent, which had sat once or twice, and the pope, will devise strange things against it." soon after, his body was put into a leaden coffin, and carried with funeral pomp to the church at iselbein, when dr. jonas preached a sermon upon the occasion. the earls of mansfelt desired that his body should be interred in their[473] territories; but the elector of saxony insisted upon his being brought back to wittemberg, which was accordingly done; and there he was buried with the greatest pomp that perhaps ever happened to any private man. princes, earls, nobles, and students without number, attended the procession of this extraordinary reformer; and melancthon made his funeral oration.

we will close this account of the great founder of the reformation, by subjoining a few opinions, which have been passed upon him, by both papists and protestants. "luther," says father simon, "was the first protestant who ventured to translate the bible into the vulgar tongue from the hebrew text, although he understood hebrew but very indifferently. as he was of a free and bold spirit, he accuses st jerom of ignorance in the hebrew tongue; but he had more reason to accuse himself of this fault, and for having so precipitately undertaken a work of this nature, which required more time than he employed about it. there is nothing great or learned in his commentaries upon the bible; every thing low and mean: and though he had studied divinity, he has rather composed a rhapsody of theological questions, than a commentary upon the scripture text: to which we may add, that he wanted understanding, and usually followed his senses instead of his reason."

this is the language of those in the church of rome who speak of luther with any degree of moderation; for the generality allow him neither parts, nor learning, nor any attainment intellectual or moral. but let us leave these impotent railers, and attend a little to more equitable judges. "luther," says wharton, in his appendix to cave's historia literaria, "was a man of prodigious sagacity and acuteness, very warm, and formed for great undertakings; being a man, if ever there was one, whom nothing could daunt or intimidate. when the cause of religion was concerned, he never regarded whose love he was likely to gain, or whose displeasure to incur." he is also highly spoken of by atterbury and others.

john calvin.

this reformer was born at noyon in picardy, july 10, 1409. he was instructed in grammar learning at paris under maturinus corderius, and studied philosophy in the college of montaign under a spanish professor. his father, who discovered many marks of his early piety, particularly in his reprehensions of the vices of his companions, designed him at first for the church, and got him presented, may 21, 1521, to the chapel of notre dame de la gesine, in the church of noyon. in 1527 he was presented to the rectory of marieville, which he exchanged in 1529 for the rectory of pont l'eveque, near noyon. his father afterward changed his resolution, and would have him study law; to which calvin, who, by reading the scriptures, had conceived a dislike to the superstitions of popery, readily consented, and resigned the chapel of gesine and the rectory of pont[474] l'eveque, in 1534. he made a great progress in that science, and improved no less in the knowledge of divinity by his private studies. at bourges he applied to the greek tongue, under the direction of professor wolmar. his father's death having called him back to noyon, he stayed there a short time, and then went to paris, where a speech of nicholas cop, rector of the university of paris, of which calvin furnished the materials, having greatly displeased the sarbonne and the parliament, gave rise to a persecution against the protestants, and calvin, who narrowly escaped being taken in the college of forteret, was forced to retire to xaintonge, after having had the honour to be introduced to the queen of navarre, who had raised this first storm against the protestants. calvin returned to paris in 1534. this year the reformed met with severe treatment, which determined him to leave france, after publishing a treatise against those who believe that departed souls are in a kind of sleep. he retired to basil, where he studied hebrew: at this time he published his institutions of the christian religion; a work well adapted to spread his fame, though he himself was desirous of living in obscurity. it is dedicated to the french king, francis i. calvin next wrote an apology for the protestants who were burnt for their religion in france. after the publication of this work, calvin went to italy to pay a visit to the duchess of ferrara, a lady of eminent piety, by whom he was very kindly received.

from italy he came back to france, and having settled his private affairs, he proposed to go to strasbourg or basil, in company with his sole surviving brother, antony calvin; but as the roads were not safe on account of the war, except through the duke of savoy's territories, he chose that road. "this was a particular direction of providence," says bayle; "it was his destiny that he should settle at geneva, and when he was wholly intent upon going farther, he found himself detained by an order from heaven, if i may so speak." at geneva, calvin therefore was obliged to comply with the choice which the consistory and magistrates made of him, with the consent of the people, to be one of their ministers, and professor of divinity. he wanted to undertake only this last office, and not the other; but in the end he was obliged to take both upon him, in august, 1536. the year following, he made all the people declare, upon oath, their assent to the confession of faith, which contained a renunciation of popery. he next intimated, that he could not submit to a regulation which the canton of berne had lately made. whereupon the syndics of geneva, summoned an assembly of the people; and it was ordered that calvin, farel, and another minister, should leave the town in a few days, for refusing to administer the sacrament.

calvin retired to strasbourg, and established a french church in that city, of which he was the first minister: he was also appointed to be professor of divinity there. meanwhile the people of geneva entreated him so earnestly to return to them, that at last he consented and arrived september 13, 1541, to the great satisfaction both of[475] the people and the magistrates; and the first thing he did, after his arrival, was to establish a form of church discipline, and a consistorial jurisdiction, invested with power of inflicting censures and canonical punishments, as far as excommunication, inclusively.

agency of calvin in the death of michael servetus.

it has long been the delight of both infidels and some professed christians, when they wish to bring odium upon the opinions of calvin, to refer to his agency in the death of michael servetus. this action is used on all occasions by those who have been unable to overthrow his opinions, as a conclusive argument against his whole system. calvin burnt servetus!—calvin burnt servetus! is good proof with a certain class of reasoners, that the doctrine of the trinity is not true—that divine sovereignty is anti-scriptural,—and christianity a cheat. we have no wish to palliate any act of calvin's which is manifestly wrong. all his proceedings, in relation to the unhappy affair of servetus, we think, cannot be defended. still it should be remembered that the true principles of religious toleration were very little understood in the time of calvin. all the other reformers then living, approved of calvin's conduct. even the gentle and amiable melancthon expressed himself in relation to this affair, in the following manner. in a letter addressed to bullinger, he says, "i have read your statement respecting the blasphemy of servetus, and praise your piety and judgment; and am persuaded that the council of geneva has done right in putting to death this obstinate man, who would never have ceased his blasphemies. i am astonished, that any one can be found to disapprove of this proceeding." farel expressly says, that "servetus deserved a capital punishment." bucer did not hesitate to declare, that "servetus deserved something worse than death." the truth is, although calvin had some hand in the arrest and imprisonment of servetus, he was unwilling that he should be burnt at all. "i desire," says he, "that the severity of the punishment should be remitted." "we endeavoured to commute the kind of death, but in vain." "by wishing to mitigate the severity of the punishment," says farel to calvin, "you discharge the office of a friend towards your greatest enemy." "that calvin was the instigator of the magistrates that servetus might be burned," says turritine, "historians neither any where affirm, nor does it appear from any considerations. nay, it is certain, that he, with the college of pastors, dissuaded from that kind of punishment."

it has been often asserted, that calvin possessed so much influence with the magistrates of geneva, that he might have obtained the release of servetus, had he not been desirous of his destruction. this however, is not true. so far from it, that calvin was himself once banished from geneva, by these very magistrates, and often opposed their arbitrary measures in vain. so little desirous was calvin of procuring the death of servetus, that he warned him of his danger[476] and suffered him to remain several weeks at geneva, before he was arrested. but his language, which was then accounted blasphemous, was the cause of his imprisonment. when in prison, calvin visited him, and used every argument to persuade him to retract his horrible blasphemies, without reference to his peculiar sentiments. this was the extent of calvin's agency in this unhappy affair.

it cannot, however, be denied, that in this instance, calvin acted contrary to the benignant spirit of the gospel. it is better to drop a tear over the inconsistency of human nature, and to bewail those infirmities which cannot be justified. he declares he acted conscientiously, and publicly justified the act. cranmer acted the same part towards the poor anabaptists in the reign of edward vi. this doctrine they had learned at rome, and it is certain, that, with a very few exceptions, it was at this time the opinion of all parties. the author of the memoirs of literature says, "if the religion of protestants depended on the doctrine and conduct of the reformers, he should take care how he published his account of servetus; but as the protestant religion is entirely founded on holy scripture, so the defaults of the reformers ought not to have any ill influence on the reformation. the doctrine of non-toleration, which obtained to the sixteenth century, among some protestants, was that pernicious error which they had imbibed in the church of rome; and i believe, i can say, without doing any injury to that church, that she is, in a great measure, answerable for the execution of servetus. if the roman catholics had never put any person to death for the sake of religion, i dare say that servetus had never been condemned to die in any protestant city. let us remember, that calvin, and all the magistrates of geneva, in the year 1553, were born and bred up in the church of rome: this is the best apology that can be made for them."—biographia evangelica, vol. ii. p. 42.

the apostles john and james would have called down fire from heaven; calvin and cranmer kindled it on earth. this, however, is the only fault alleged against calvin; but "let him that is without sin cast the first stone."

"it ought, however," says a sensible writer, "to be acknowledged that persecution for religious principles was not at that time peculiar to any party of christians, but common to all, whenever they were invested with civil power." it was a detestable error; but it was the error of the age. they looked upon heresy in the same light as we look upon those crimes which are inimical to the peace of civil society; and, accordingly, proceeded to punish heretics by the sword of the civil magistrate. if socinians did not persecute their adversaries so much as trinitarians, it was because they were not equally invested with the power of doing so. mr. lindsay acknowledges, that faustus socinus himself was not free from persecution in the case of francis david, superintendent of the unitarian churches in transylvania. david had disputed with socinus on the invocation of christ, and died in prison in consequence of his opinion, and some[477] offence taken at his supposed indiscreet propagation of it from the pulpit. "i wish i could say," adds mr. lindsay, "that socinus, or his friend blandrata, had done all in their power to prevent his commitment, or procure his release afterwards." the difference between socinus and david was very slight. they both held christ to be a mere man. the former, however, was for praying to him; which the latter, with much greater consistency, disapproved. considering this, the persecution to which socinus was accessary was as great as that of calvin; and there is no reason to think, but that if david had differed as much from socinus, as servetus did from calvin, and if the civil magistrates had been for burning him, socinus would have concurred with them. to this it might be added, that the conduct of socinus was marked with disingenuity: in that he considered the opinion of david in no very heinous point of light; but was afraid of increasing the odium under which he and his party already lay, among other christian churches.

it was the opinion, that erroneous religious principles are punishable by the civil magistrate, that did the mischief, whether at geneva, in transylvania, or in britain; and to this, rather than to trinitarianism, or unitarianism, it ought to be imputed.

the inflexible rigour with which calvin asserted, on all occasions, the rights of his consistory, procured him many enemies: but nothing daunted him; and one would hardly believe, if there were not unquestionable proofs of it, that, amidst all the commotions at home, he could take so much care as he did of the churches abroad, in france, germany, england, and poland, and write so many books and letters. he did more by his pen than his presence; nevertheless on some occasions, he acted in person, particularly at frankfort, in 1556, whither he went to put an end to the disputes which divided the french church in that city. he was always employed, having almost constantly his pen in his hand, even when sickness confined him to his bed; and he continued the discharge of all those duties, which his zeal for the general good of the churches imposed on him, till the day of his death, may 27, 1564. he was a man whom god had endowed with very eminent talents; a clear understanding, a solid judgment, and a happy memory: he was a judicious, elegant, and indefatigable writer, and possessed of very extensive learning and a great zeal for truth. joseph scaliger, who was not lavish of his praise, could not forbear admiring calvin; none of the commentators, he said, had so well hit the sense of the prophets; and he particularly commended him for not attempting to give a comment on the revelation. we understand from guy patin, that many of the roman catholics would do justice to calvin's merit, if they dared to speak their minds. it must excite a laugh at those who have been so stupid as to accuse him of being a lover of wine, good cheer, company, money, &c. artful slanderers would have owned that he was sober by constitution, and that he was not solicitous to heap up riches.[478]

that a men who had acquired so great a reputation and such an authority, should yet have had but a salary of 100 crowns, and refuse to accept more; and after living 55 years with the utmost frugality, should leave but 300 crowns to his heirs, including the value of his library, which sold very dear, is something so heroical, that one must have lost all feeling not to admire. when calvin took his leave of strasbourg, to return to geneva, they wanted to continue to him the privileges of a freeman of their town, and the revenues of a prebend, which had been assigned to him; the former he accepted, but absolutely refused the other. he carried one of the brothers with him to geneva, but he never took any pains to get him preferred to an honourable post, as any other possessed of his credit would have done. he took care indeed of the honour of his brother's family, by getting him freed from an adultress, and obtaining leave for him to marry again; but even his enemies relate that he made him learn the trade of a bookbinder, which he followed all his life after.

calvin as a friend of civil liberty.

the rev. dr. wisner, in his late discourse at plymouth, on the anniversary of the landing of the pilgrims, makes the following assertion:—"much as the name of calvin has been scoffed at and loaded with reproach by many sons of freedom, there is not an historical proposition more susceptible of complete demonstration than this, that no man has lived to whom the world is under greater obligations for the freedom it now enjoys, than john calvin." in a note appended to the sermon, dr. wisner gives the following testimonies, from history, of the truth of this proposition—testimonies which deserve the more attention, as they come from calvin's opposers. we copy the note from the boston recorder.

"it may not be unacceptable to the reader, to add a few particulars in confirmation of the statement in reference to the influence of calvin in forming the opinions and character of the puritans, and thus contributing to the discovery and establishment of the principles of religious and civil liberty.

"the peculiarities of the religious doctrines of the puritans had an important influence in producing in them determined and persevering resistance to arbitrary power, and a successful vindication of their religious and political rights. the fact is sufficiently illustrated in the quotation in the sermon from the edinburg review. it is admitted by hume, and by all, whatever their religious opinions, who have thoroughly investigated the springs of action in those discoverers, and founders of religious and civil freedom. but the doctrinal views of the puritans were derived from calvin.

"their disapprobation of the rites and ceremonies enjoined by the english government was a prominent means of leading them to the discovery, and stimulating to the successful vindication of the principles of religious and civil liberty. and that disapprobation may be[479] directly traced to the influence of calvin. with him many of the leading puritan divines studied theology, and were taught the importance of laying aside the whole mass of popish additions to the simplicity of apostolic worship. when the difficulties arose among the exiles at frankfort, in mary's reign, about the use of king edward's liturgy, they asked advice of calvin, "who having perused the english liturgy, took notice, 'that there were many tolerable weaknesses in it, which, because at first they could not be amended, were to be suffered; but that it behooved the learned, grave, and godly ministers of christ to enterprise farther, and to set up something more filed from rust, and purer.' 'if religion,' says he 'had flourished till this day in england, many of these things would have been corrected. but since the reformation is overthrown and a church is to be set up in another place where you are at liberty to establish what order is most for edification, i cannot tell what they mean, who are so fond of the leavings of popish dregs.'" when the conformist party had triumphed at frankfort, they "wrote to mr. calvin to countenance their proceedings; which that great divine could not do; but after a modest excuse for intermeddling in their affairs, told them, that, 'in his opinion, they were too much addicted to the english ceremonies; nor could he see to what purpose it was to burden the church with such hurtful and offensive things, when there was liberty to have simple and more pure order.'" the puritan part of the exiles retired to geneva, and there prepared and published a service book, in the dedication of which they say, that "they had set up such an order as, in the judgment of mr. calvin and other learned divines, was most agreeable to scripture, and the best reformed churches. and when, subsequently, the important step was taken, by several puritans in and about london, of breaking off from the established churches and setting up a separate congregation, they adopted for use, (as they say in their 'agreement' thus to separate) a book and order of preaching, administration of sacraments and discipline, that the great mr. calvin had approved of, and which was free from the superstitions of the english service."—neal, i. 152, 153, 154, 155, 252.

but most important of all, in its influence on religious and civil liberty, was the attachment of the puritans to a popular church government. and of the origin of this system, we have the following account from 'the judicious hooker,' prefixed to his famous work on ecclesiastical polity, written expressly against it. "a founder it had, whom, for mine own part, i think incomparably the wisest man that ever the french (protestant) church, did enjoy, since the hour it enjoyed him. his bringing up was in the civil law. divine knowledge he gathered, not by hearing or reading, so much as by teaching others. for thousands were debtors to him, as touching knowledge in that kind, yet he to none, but only to god, the author of that most blessed fountain the book of life, and of the admirable dexterity of wit, together with the helps of other learning, which were his guides. two things of principal moment there are, which have deservedly[480] procured him honour throughout the world; the one, his exceeding pains in composing the institutions of the christian religion; this other, his no less industrious travels for the exposition of holy scripture, according to the same institutions. in which two things, whosoever they were that after him bestowed their labour, he gained the advantage, of prejudice against them if they gainsayed, and of glory above them if they consented. of what account the master of sentences was in the church of rome, the same, and more, among the preachers of the reformed churches, calvin had purchased; so that the perfectest divines were judged they who were skilfulest in calvin's writings; his books being almost the very canon to judge both doctrine and discipline by."

"these statements are confirmed by abundant testimony from writers of authority who had no good opinion of calvin or his principles. says hume, (history of england, iii. 57,) "these disputes [about ceremonies, &c.] which had been started during the reign of edward, were carried abroad by the protestants who fled from the persecutions of mary; and as the zeal of these men had received an increase from the pious zeal of their enemies, they were generally inclined to carry their opposition to the utmost extremity against the practices of the church of rome. their communication with calvin, and the other reformers who followed the discipline and worship of geneva, confirmed them in this obstinate reluctance; and though some of the refugees, particularly those who were established at frankfort, still adhered to king edward's liturgy, the prevailing spirit carried these confessors to seek a still further reformation."

"the celebrated dean swift, in a sermon preached on what tories and high churchmen in england, have styled, "the martyrdom of king charles i." makes the following statements:—upon the cruel persecution raised against the protestants under queen mary, among great numbers who fled the kingdom to seek for shelter, several went and resided at geneva, which is a commonwealth, governed without a king, where the religion contrived by calvin is without the order of bishops. when the protestant faith was restored by queen elizabeth, those who fled to geneva returned, among the rest, home to england, and were grown so fond of the government and religion of the place they had left, that they used all possible endeavours to introduce both into their own country; at the same time continually preaching and railing against ceremonies and distinct habits of the clergy, taxing whatever they disliked as a remnant of popery; and continued exceedingly troublesome to the church and state, under that great queen, as well as her successor, king james i. these people called themselves puritans, as pretending to a purer faith than those of the established church. and these were the founders of our dissenters. they did not think it sufficient to leave all the errors of popery; but threw off many laudable and edifying institutions of the primitive church, and at last even the government of bishops, which, having been ordained by the apostles themselves, had continued without[481] interruption, in all christian churches, for above fifteen hundred years. and all this they did, not because those things were evil, but because they were kept by the papists. from hence they proceeded, by degrees, to quarrel with the kingly government, because, as i have already said, the city of geneva, to which their fathers had flown for refuge, was a commonwealth, or government of the people." having thus stated the foundation and principles of puritanism, the dean proceeds with an account of its growth till the breaking out of the civil war, and concludes the narrative as follows: "that odious parliament had early turned the bishops out of the house of lords, in a few years after they murdered their king; then immediately abolished the whole house of lords; and so, at last obtained their wishes of having a government of the people, and a new religion, both after the manner of geneva, without a king, a bishop, or a nobleman; and this they blasphemously called, 'the kingdom of christ and his saints.'"

"in the same way, dryden traced the origin of republicanism in england, as appears from his political poem called the hind and the panther; in which he characterizes the romish church under the name of the hind, the english church under that of the panther, and the presbyterian under that of the wolf. in the following extract, the 'kennel' means the city of geneva; the 'puddle' its lake, and the 'wall' its rampart.

"the last of all the litter scap'd by chance,

and from geneva first invested france.

some authors thus his pedigree will trace;

but others write him of an upstart race,

because of wickliffe's brood no mark he brings

but his innate antipathy to kings.

* * * * *

what though your native kennel still be small,

bounded betwixt a puddle and a wall?

yet your victorious colonies are sent,

where the north ocean girds the continent.

quicken'd with fire below, your monster's breed,

in fenny holland, and in fruitful tweed;

and like the first, the last effects to be

drawn to the dregs of a democracy.

* * * * *

but as the poisons of the deadliest kind

are to their own unhappy coasts confined,

so presbyt'ry and pestilential zeal,

can only flourish in a commonweal."

[482]

the life of the rev. john fox.

john fox, was born at boston, in lincolnshire, in 1517, where his parents are stated to have lived in respectable circumstances. he was deprived of his father at an early age; and notwithstanding his mother soon married again, he still remained under the parental roof. from an early display of talents and inclination to learning, his friends were induced to send him to oxford, in order to cultivate and bring them to maturity. during his residence at this place, he was distinguished for the excellence and acuteness of his intellect, which was improved by the emulation of his fellow-collegians, united to an indefatigable zeal and industry on his part. these qualities soon gained him the admiration of all; and as a reward for his exertions and amiable conduct, he was chosen fellow of magdalen college; which was accounted a great honour in the university, and seldom bestowed unless in cases of great distinction. it appears that the first display of his genius was in poetry; and that he composed some latin comedies, which are still extant. but he soon directed his thoughts to a more serious subject, the study of the sacred scriptures: to divinity, indeed, he applied himself with more fervency than circumspection, and discovered his partiality to the reformation, which had then commenced, before he was known to its supporters, or to those who protected them; a circumstance which proved to him the source of his first troubles.

he is said to have often affirmed, that the first matter which occasioned his search into the popish doctrine, was, that he saw divers things, most repugnant in their nature to one another, forced upon men at the same time; upon this foundation his resolution and intended obedience to that church were somewhat shaken, and by degrees a dislike to the rest took place.

his first care was to look into both the ancient and modern history of the church; to ascertain its beginning and progress; to consider the causes of all those controversies which in the meantime had sprung up, and diligently to weigh their effects, solidity, infirmities, &c.

before he had attained his thirtieth year, he had studied the greek and latin fathers, and other learned authors, the transactions of the councils, and decrees of the consistories, and had acquired a very competent skill in the hebrew language. in these occupations, he frequently spent a considerable part, or even the whole of the night, and in order to unbend his mind after such incessant study, he would resort to a grove near the college, a place much frequented by the students in the evening, on account of its sequestered gloominess. in these solitary walks, he has been heard to ejaculate heavy sobs and sighs, and with tears to pour forth his prayers to god. these nightly retirements, in the sequel, gave rise to the first suspicion of his alienation from the church of rome. being pressed for an explanation of this alteration in his conduct, he scorned to call in fiction to his[483] excuse; he stated his opinions; and was, by the sentence of the college convicted, condemned as a heretic, and expelled.

his friends, upon the report of this circumstance, were highly offended, and especially his father-in-law, who was now grown altogether implacable, either through a real hatred conceived against him for this cause, or pretending himself aggrieved, that he might now, with more show of justice, or at least with more security, withhold from mr. fox his paternal estate; for he knew it could not be safe for one publicly hated, and in danger of the law, to seek a remedy for his injustice.

when he was thus forsaken by his own friends, a refuge offered itself in the house of sir thomas lucy, of warwickshire, by whom he was sent for to instruct his children. in this house he afterwards married. but the fear of the popish inquisitors hastened his departure thence; as they were not contented to pursue public offences, but began also to dive into the secrets of private families. he now began to consider what was best to be done to free himself from further inconvenience, and resolved either to go to his wife's father or to his father in-law.

his wife's father was a citizen of coventry, whose heart was not alienated from him, and he was more likely to be well entreated, for his daughter's sake. he resolved first to go to him; and, in the meanwhile, by letters, to try whether his father-in-law would receive him or not. this he accordingly did, and he received for answer, "that it seemed to him a hard condition to take one into his house whom he knew to be guilty and condemned for a capital offence; neither was he ignorant what hazard he should undergo in so doing; he would, however, show himself a kinsman, and neglect his own danger." if he would alter his mind, he might come, on condition to stay as long as he himself desired; but if he could not be persuaded to that, he must content himself with a shorter stay, and not bring him and his mother into danger.

no condition was to be refused; besides, he was secretly advised by his mother to come, and not to fear his father-in-law's severity; "for that, perchance, it was needful to write as he did, but when occasion should be offered, he would make recompense for his words with his actions." in fact he was better received by both of them than he had hoped for.

by these means he kept himself concealed for some time, and afterwards made a journey to london, in the latter part of the reign of henry, viii. here, being unknown, he was in much distress, and was even reduced to the danger of being starved to death, had not providence interfered in his favour in the following manner:

one day as mr. fox was sitting in st. paul's church, exhausted with long fasting, a stranger took a seat by his side, and courteously saluted him, thrust a sum of money into his hand, and bade him cheer up his spirits; at the same time informing him, that in a few days new prospects would present themselves for his future subsistence.[484] who this stranger was, he could never learn, but at the end of three days he received an invitation from the dutchess of richmond to undertake the tuition of the children of the earl of surry who, together with his father, the duke of norfolk, was imprisoned in the tower, by the jealousy and ingratitude of the king. the children thus confided to his care were, thomas, who succeeded to the dukedom; henry, afterwards earl of northampton; and jane who became countess to westmoreland. in the performance of his duties, he fully satisfied the expectations of the dutchess, their aunt.

these halcyon days continued during the latter part of the reign of henry viii. and the five years of the reign of edward vi. till mary came to the crown, who, soon after her accession, gave all power into the hands of the papists.

at this time mr. fox, who was still under the protection of his noble pupil, the duke, began to excite the envy and hatred of many, particularly dr. gardiner, then bishop of winchester, who in the sequel became his most violent enemy.

mr. fox, aware of this, and seeing the dreadful persecutions then commencing, began to think of quitting the kingdom. as soon as the duke knew his intention, he endeavoured to persuade him to remain; and his arguments were so powerful, and given with so much sincerity, that he gave up the thought of abandoning his asylum for the present.

at that time the bishop of winchester was very intimate with the duke (by the patronage of whose family he had risen to the dignity he then enjoyed,) and frequently waited on him to present his service when he several times requested that he might see his old tutor. at first the duke denied his request, at one time alleging his absence, at another, indisposition. at length it happened that mr. fox, not knowing the bishop was in the house, entered the room where the duke and he were in discourse; and seeing the bishop, withdrew. gardiner asked who that was; the duke answered, "his physician, who was somewhat uncourtly, as being new come from the university." "i like his countenance and aspect very well," replied the bishop "and when occasion offers, i will send for him." the duke understood that speech as the messenger of some approaching danger; and now himself thought it high time for mr. fox to quit the city, and even the country. he accordingly caused every thing necessary for his flight to be provided in silence, by sending one of his servants to ipswich to hire a bark, and prepare all the requisites for his departure. he also fixed on the house of one of his servants, who was a farmer, where he might lodge till the wind became favourable; and every thing being in readiness, mr. fox took leave of his noble patron, and with his wife, who was pregnant at the time, secretly departed for the ship.

the vessel was scarcely under sail, when a most violent storm came on, which lasted all day and night, and the next day drove them[485] back to the port from which they had departed. during the time that the vessel had been at sea, an officer, despatched by the bishop of winchester, had broken open the house of the farmer with a warrant to apprehend mr. fox wherever he might be found, and bring him back to the city. on hearing this news he hired a horse, under the pretence of leaving the town immediately; but secretly returned the same night, and agreed with the captain of the vessel to sail for any place as soon as the wind should shift, only desiring him to proceed, and not to doubt that god would prosper his undertaking. the mariner suffered himself to be persuaded, and within two days landed his passengers in safety at nieuport.

after spending a few days in that place, mr. fox set out for basle, where he found a number of english refugees, who had quitted their country to avoid the cruelty of the persecutors, with these he associated, and began to write his "history of the acts and monuments of the church," which was first published in latin at basle, and shortly after in english.

in the meantime the reformed religion began again to flourish in england, and the popish faction much to decline, by the death of queen mary; which induced the greater number of the protestant exiles to return to their native country.

among others, on the accession of elizabeth to the throne, mr. fox returned to england; where, on his arrival, he found a faithful and active friend in his late pupil, the duke of norfolk, till death deprived him of his benefactor: after which event, mr. fox inherited a pension bequeathed to him by the duke, and ratified by his son, the earl of suffolk.

nor did the good man's successes stop here. on being recommended to the queen by her secretary of state, the great cecil, her majesty granted him the prebendary of shipton, in the cathedral of salisbury, which was in a manner forced upon him; for it was with difficulty that he could be persuaded to accept it.

on his resettlement in england, he employed himself in revising and enlarging his admirable martyrology. with prodigious pains and constant study he completed that celebrated work in eleven years. for the sake of greater correctness, he wrote every line of this vast book with his own hand, and transcribed all the records and papers himself. but, in consequence of such excessive toil, leaving no part of his time free from study, nor affording himself either the repose or recreation which nature required, his health was so reduced, and his person became so emaciated and altered, that such of his friends and relations as only conversed with him occasionally, could scarcely recognise his person. yet, though he grew daily more exhausted, he proceeded in his studies as briskly as ever, nor would he be persuaded to diminish his accustomed labours. the papists, forseeing how detrimental his history of their errors and cruelties would prove to their cause, had recourse to every artifice to lessen the reputation of his work; but their malice was of signal service, both to mr. fox[486] himself, and to the church of god at large, as it eventually made his book more intrinsically valuable, by inducing him to weigh, with the most scrupulous attention, the certainty of the facts which he recorded, and the validity of the authorities from which he drew his information.

but while he was thus indefatigably employed in promoting the cause of truth, he did not neglect the other duties of his station; he was charitable, humane, and attentive to the wants, both spiritual and temporal, of his neighbours. with the view of being more extensively useful, although he had no desire to cultivate the acquaintance of the rich and great on his own account, he did not decline the friendship of those in a higher rank who proffered it, and never failed to employ his influence with them in behalf of the poor and needy. in consequence of his well known probity and charity, he was frequently presented with sums of money by persons possessed of wealth, which he accepted and distributed among those who were distressed. he would also occasionally attend the table of his friends, not so much for the sake of pleasure, as from civility, and to convince them that his absence was not occasioned by a fear of being exposed to the temptations of the appetite. in short, his character as a man and as a christian, was without reproach.

of the esteem in which he was held, the names of the following respectable friends and noble patrons, will afford ample proof. it has been already mentioned that the attachment of the duke of norfolk was so great to his tutor, that he granted him a pension for life; he also enjoyed the patronage of the earls of bedford and warwick, and the intimate friendship of sir francis walsingham, (secretary of state,) sir thomas, and mr. michael hennage, of whom he was frequently heard to observe, that sir thomas had every requisite for a complete courtier, but that mr. michael possessed all the merits of his brother, besides his own, still untainted by the court. he was on very intimate and affectionate terms with sir drue drury, sir francis drake, dr. grindal, archbishop of canterbury, dr. elmar, bishop of london, dr. pilkington, bishop of durham, and dr. nowell, dean of st. paul's. others of his most intimate acquaintances and friends were, doctors umphrey, whitaker, and fulk, mr. john crowly, and mr. baldwin collins. among the eminent citizens, we find he was much venerated by sir thomas gresham, sir thomas roe, alderman bacchus, mr. smith, mr. dale, mr. sherrington, &c. &c. &c.

at length, having long served both the church and the world by his ministry, by his pen, and by the unsullied lustre of a benevolent useful, and holy life, he meekly resigned his soul to christ, on the 18th of april, 1587, being then in the seventieth year of his age. he was interred in the chancel of st giles', cripplegate; of which parish he had been, in the beginning of elizabeth's reign, for some time vicar.[487]

the lord had given him a foresight of his departure; and so fully was he assured that the time was just at hand when his soul should quit the body, that (probably to enjoy unmolested communion with god, and to have no worldly interruptions in his last hours) he purposely sent his two sons from home, though he loved them with great tenderness; and before they returned, his spirit, as he had foreseen would be the case, had flown to heaven.

his death occasioned great lamentations throughout the city, and his funeral was honoured with a great concourse of people, each of whom appeared to bewail the loss of a father or a brother.

in his able martyrology he has elaborately treated of the vices and absurdities of papal hierarchy, of which the following is a brief enumeration.

errors, rites, ceremonies, and superstitious practices, of the romish church.

traditions.] the church of rome having deprived the laity of the bible, substitutes in its stead apostolic and ecclesiastical traditions; and obliges her disciples to admit for truth whatever she teaches them: but what do the holy scriptures say? "why do ye transgress the commandment of god by your tradition?" matt. xv. 3, 9, &c. they also command us "to call no man master (in spiritual concerns;) to try the spirit, and beware of false teachers."

prayers and divine services in latin.] the roman catholics will not interpret the scriptures otherwise than according to the sense of holy mother church, and the pretended unanimous consent of the fathers: they assert also, that the scriptures ought not to be read publicly, nor indifferently by all; and, that the common people may be enslaved by gross ignorance, they perform public worship in an unknown tongue, contrary to the rule laid down by the apostle, "that all things should be done to edification." st. paul says, "if i pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful."

seven sacraments.] two only were instituted by christ, to which the romish church has added five more, making in all seven, necessary to salvation, namely, the eucharist, baptism, confirmation, penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony. to those two which christ instituted, she has added a mixture of her own inventions; for in the sacrament of baptism, she uses, salt, oil, or spittle; and in the sacrament of the lord's supper, the laity have only the bread administered to them; and even that not after the manner ordained by christ, who broke the bread and gave it to his disciples; instead of which the church of rome administers to her members not bread, but a wafer, and the priests only drink the wine, though our blessed lord said, "drink ye all of this." matt. xxvi. 27.

the mass.] roman catholics believe it to be a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice, and therefore call it the sacrament of the altar; whereas, the death of christ was a full and complete sacrifice,[488] "in which he hath, by one suffering, perfected for ever them that are sanctified. he himself is a priest for ever; who, being raised from the dead, died no more; and who, through the eternal spirit, offered himself without spot to god." paul's epist. to the hebrews, ch. ix. 10. it was on account of this gross absurdity, and the irreligious application of it, that our first reformers suffered, and so many were put to death in the reign of queen mary.

transubstantiation.] roman catholics profess, that in the most holy sacrament of the lord's supper, there is really and substantially the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of christ, and that the whole substance of the bread is turned into his body, and the whole substance of the wine into his blood; which conversion, so contradictory to our senses, they call transubstantiation, but at the same time they affirm, that, under either kind or species, only one whole entire christ, and the true sacrament, is received. but why are those words, "this is my body," to be taken in a literal sense, any more than those concerning the cup? our saviour says, "i am the true vine, i am the door." st. paul says, "our fathers drank of the rock that followed them, and that rock was christ;" and writing to the corinthians, he affirms, that, "he had fed them with milk." can these passages be taken literally? why then must we be forced to interpret our saviour's words in a literal sense, when the apostle has explained the intention of the sacrament to be "to show forth the lord's death till he come!"

purgatory.] this, they say, is a certain place, in which, as in a prison, after death, those souls, by the prayers of the faithful, are purged, which in this life could not be fully cleansed; no not by the blood of christ: and notwithstanding it is asserted in the scriptures, "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 john i. 9. this place of purgatory is in the power of the pope, who dispenses the indulgences, and directs the treasury of his merits, by which the pains are mitigated, and the deliverance hastened. for the tormented sufferers, in this ideal inquisition, his monks and friars say masses, all of whom must be paid for their trouble; because, no penny, no pater-noster; by which bubble the church of rome amasses great wealth.

idolatry and creature-worship.] in all the romish worship the blessed virgin is a principal object of adoration. she is styled the queen of heaven, lady of the world, the only hope of sinners, queen of angels, patroness of men, advocate for sinners, mother of mercies, under which titles they desire her, by the power of a mother, to command her son. in some prayers, they invoke god to bring them to heaven by the merits and mediation of the virgin mary and all her saints, and that they may enjoy perpetual soundness both of body and mind by her glorious intercession. hence it might be imagined by a papist, that the sacred writings were full of encomiums on this pretended mother of god; whereas, on the contrary, we do not find christ in any part of scripture called the son of mary, nor that he[489] at any time calls her mother; and when the woman cried, "blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that thou hast sucked." "yea, (returns our lord) rather blessed are they that hear the word of god, and keep it." nor does our saviour own any relation but that of a disciple; for when his mother and brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, jesus answered, "who are my mother and brethren?" and looking round upon his disciples, he saith, "behold my mother and my brethren; for whosoever shalt do the will of my father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, sister, and mother." of the same nature are their prayers to other saints and angels, by which they derogate from the honour of our christ, and transfer his offices to others; though the scriptures expressly assert, there is but one mediator between god and man. nor must we omit under this head the idolatry of the mass, in the elevation of the host. thus is the second commandment infringed, which the romish church has endeavoured as much as possible to suppress, and in many of their little manuals it is altogether omitted.

papal sovereignty.] this is politically supported by a pretended infallibility; auricular confession, founded upon the priest's power to forgive sins; indulgences; pretended relics; penance; strings of beads for ave-marys and pater-nosters; celibacy; merits and works of supererogations; restrictions; monkish austerities; religious vows and orders; palms; candles; decorated images; holy water; christening of bells; hallowed flowers and branches; agnus dei; oblations; consecrations, &c., &c.

ludicrous forms and ceremonies.] at the feast of christmas, the roman catholics have exhibited in their churches a cradle, with an image of an infant in it, which is rocked with great seeming devotion; and on good-friday they have the figure of our saviour on the cross, and then they perform the service which they call the tenebres; having abundance of lighted candles, all of which they extinguish one by one, after which the body is taken down from the cross and put into a sepulchre, and men stand to watch it.

cruel maxims.] papists hold that heretics may not be termed children and kindred; that no faith is to be kept with heretics; and that it is lawful to torture or kill them for the good of their souls.