and burnt, because in making his will he had consigned his soul to Christ, without mentioning the saints or purgatory. Harding, Hewett, and Frith, were subsequently also burnt. Frith was a young man of considerable note, who, from his character for learning and piety, was removed from Cambridge, to the cardinal's college in Oxford. He wrote a book against the corporal presence, which was answered by sir Thomas More; and while in confinement, and without books, he replied to his opponent. He had moreover impugned the doctrine of purgatory, against which the attacks had of late become frequent; for it is obvious that they who controverted the papal supremacy must either be prepared to destroy this appalling weapon of superstition, or have been contented to find themselves deserted by the mass of society, who would hardly bear patiently the thunders of the Vatican, while they were labouring under the dread of those penal fires from which the pope could free them.

§. 171. *In the Supplication of the Beggars, a witty production by Simon Fish, of Gray's Inn, the source of the Romish superstitions is stated to be the belief in purgatory; and the remedy which the author recommends is not the enactment of new laws, but the disclosing of the hypocrisy of its votaries. The church, he argues, has been able by power or policy Strype's

his anxiety about his wife, and Latimer's consolation. Eccl. Mem. v. 372.

a This work is printed at length in Fox.

*Fox, ii. 229, &c. Burnet, i.

to obviate the effects of all laws, but that, by going to the root of the error, the evil might be easily eradicated. The other attacks are directed against the obvious vices of the clergy, which are very fully described. This work, by some accident, found its way into the hands of the king himself; but the wit which it contained saved the author from any harm. Another work, of nearly the same date, but which is a very superior production, is denominated the Practice of Prelates b. In it the tyranny of the clergy is strongly painted. They are described as possessing in all their establishments gaols, and instruments of torture. He who was once within their keeping was never allowed to escape, lest he should convey to the world unseasonable reports of what he had there seen. The papal supremacy is attacked on the same grounds of scripture as would now be employed, and with much perspicuity; the existence of purgatory is denied. It is stated, that in the universities they were not permitted to study the word of God, till their minds had been perverted with some years' previous study, with which they were "clere shutt out of the under'standinge of scripture;" that auricular confession was made the tool of political intrigue; and that Wolsey used Longland as a spy and instrument about the king. The reasoning is generally correct and sound, though there are some points in which

66

b The Practice of Papistical Prelates, made by William Tyndal 1530, edited by Fox in Tyndal's works, fol. 1573, reprinted in the works of the reformers.

we should hardly now agree with the writer; but the spirit of the book is excellent, and the address, towards the end of the preface, to the true servants of Christ, not to resist, but to endure persecution, is quite apostolical.

§. 172. Such writings, when viewed in combination with the condition of public affairs, prove that the seeds of the reformation were now securely sown. But there was still the utmost need of the fostering hand of God, to secure what he had planted, against the rude assaults of superstition, and the vices incident to human nature. The papal supremacy was indeed suppressed, so that men might safely exercise their powers of reasoning, in disproving the grounds on which that authority was built. But the supremacy of Henry was little better, in point of freedom of discussion; for he by no means allowed to others that liberty of seeking the truth, which circumstances had induced him personally to adopt but these great events, by exciting an universal sensation, had taught the people to reason for themselves, and to ground their own belief on the dictates of holy writa; and the discussions arising from the attacks of their enemies made it necessary for the church of Rome to argue, as well as to

a It was an observation of Robert Whitgift, abbot of the black canons, at Wellow near Grimsby in Lincolnshire, and uncle to the archbishop, that they and their religion could never continue; for that he had read the whole scriptures over and over, but could never find therein that their religion was founded by God. Wordsworth's Eccl. Biog. iv. 318. Whitgift's Life, by sir G. Paule.

punish; and in this species of encounter, the superior abilities of even sir Thomas More could not conceal the weakness of the cause.

§. 173. Many of the remedies, too, to which the friends of the established religion had recourse, convinced men, that their spiritual guides were not the ministers of good-will and peace; and the very necessity of rigorous persecution, while it proves the unsoundness of the cause, has always the tendency of more widely diffusing the tenets against which it is directed. How, moreover, can the world imagine, that the doctrines of Christ form the belief of men who were ever anxious to destroy copies of the scriptures? A very ludicrous instance of the inutility of such attempts is related of Tonstal, bishop of London, who, when in Flanders, took some pains to procure for the flames as many of Tyndal's New Testaments as he could. Tyndal was aware of some errors in the first edition, and gladly therefore allowed the bishop to purchase all the copies which were left, for the purpose of finding the necessary means for publishing a second, and more correct one. These, which were thus bought, were carried into England, and burnt in Cheapside; and when Constantine, who had assisted Tyndal, had brought over a large supply of the new edition, he was seized and examined before sir Thomas More, who was particularly eager to discover those who had enabled them to undertake so expensive a work, and promised to shew kindness in case this information were readily communicated. The discovery that Tonstal

had most effectually befriended the publication, naturally excited a great laugh.

$. 174. In reviewing the reformation at this point of its history, the English protestant cannot withhold the tribute of thanksgiving to the Author of all good, from whom this deliverance sprung, nor fail to remark its progress, so contrary to the expectations of human foresight. He will observe, that the chief mover of the reformation, in this country, was a king brought up with a high respect and admiration for those doctrines which were combated by the reformers; who had personally embarked in their defence, and acquired the title of Defender of the Faith ; which *, if the vicar of Croydon may be believed, he valued more than London, and twenty miles about it, and who retained his predilection for most of his opinions even to the end of his life : that one of the greatest patrons of literature, from which the reformation gained very important assistance, by enabling men to examine the basis on which the papal fabric was constructed, with his dying breath urged the king to beware of, and to reduce the Lutheranst; and that he again, who by his writings and severe activity, fanned the flame of discussion which ultimately convinced the nation, laid down his life an honoured victim to that cause, which he had greatly, though unwillingly, contributed to overthrow: that the character of the pope, who by his intemperate and illegal haste in

* Practyce of Prelates, fol. K. 4. Strype's Mem. i. 62. + Cav. Wolsey, 543.