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ceived his surname (as was cuftomary in thofe times) from the place of his birth (Wickliffe in Yorkshire) which took place A. D. 1324. Oxford claims the honour of his education, and afterwards of feating him in one of her profeffors' chairs. Nor did the marks of her refpect ceafe with this honourable proof of it; for on his death in 1384 fhe gave this additional teftimonial of Wickliffe's worth, and of the fenfe which the university entertained of it: "that from his youth to the time of his death, his converfation was fo praife-worthy, that there was never any fpot or fufpicion noifed of him; that in his reading and preaching he behaved like a ftout and valiant champion of the faith; and that he had written in logic, philofophy, divinity, morality, and the fpeculative arts, without an equal." Difgufted with the fuperftitions and corruptions of the Church of Rome, and indig nant at the flavery and ignorance in which her wicked policy kept the mafs of mankind, he boldly ridiculed the one, and inveighed against the other; and both by his preaching, which was affiduous and energetic, and by his writings, which amounted to nearly two hundred volumes, he first laid the foundation of religious knowledge amongft"a people that had hitherto fat in darkness, and in the fhadow of fpiritual death." His principal artillery was levelled againft the doctrine of tranfubftantiation; the infallibility of the Pope; and the fupremacy of the Romish church. He contended alfo, that the New Teftament or Gofpel is a perfect rule of life and manners, and ought to be read by the people; that wife men fhould leave that as impertinent, which is not plainly expreffed in fcripture; that thofe are fools and prefumptuous, who affirm fuch infants not to be faved, who die without baptifm; that baptifm doth not confer, but only fignify grace; that it is unfcriptural to affert that all fin is abolifhed in baptim; and that the baptifm of water profiteth not, without the baptifm of the Spirit.* But although the feeds of the Reformation were thus fown by that great and good man, they notwithstanding did not ripen into fruit till a century and half after his death; when the defigns of Providence in this refpect were completed, and the bafis of that evangelical fyftem of faith and church difcipline, with which we are at prefent bleffed, was folidly laid. Henry VIIIth was the inftrument appointed by the unfathomable decrees of Divine Providence for effecting, in a principal meafure, this memorable event. It is evident, however, that this monarch was not impelled to the work by any motives either of piety or philanthropy. In the early part of life he had been a bigotted devotee of the Romish doc

* Lewis's Life of Wickliffe. Fuller's Church Hift. b. iv. p. 130. In addition to his preaching and writings in behalf of religious truth, Wickliffe adopted another method of diffufing fpiritual knowledge amongit the people, by tranflating into English and publishing the New Testament, about the year 1381. "This tranflation he made from the Latin Bibles then in common ufe, or which were usually at that time read in the church. The reaton of which feems to have been, not that he thought the Latin the original, or of the fame authority with the Hebrew and Greek text, but because he did not understand those languages well enough to tranflate them. He likewife chofe to tranflate word for word; as had been done before in the Anglo-Saxonic tranflation, without always obferving the idioms or proprieties of the feveral languages; by which means this tranflation in fuch places is not very intelligible to thofe who do not understand Latin." Lewis's Hift. Tranilat. Bible, 4, 5.

So far were the principles of religious reformation from making any progrefs in England between the death of Wickliffe and the reign of Henry VIIIth, that the most severe perfecutions followed the profeffion of fentiments adverfe to the Catholic faith; and acts of the moft fanguinary kind were paffed against the followers of Wickliffe. By an act of Henry Vth, in the early part of his reign, it is enacted, "that whatfoever they were who fhould read the fcriptures in the mother tongue, (which was then called Wickleve's -learning) they should forfeit land, cattle, life, and goods from their heirs for ever; and fo be condemned for heretics to God, enemies to the crown, and moft errant traitors to the hind."Emlyn's Collect. of State Trials, p. 48.

trine, and it is probable that the fame attachment to it continued till the conclufion of his reign; fo that he could not be actuated by "confcience towards God," in the measures which he took for the fubverfion of papacy in his kingdom; whilft the natural pride and cruelty of his difpofition, and the general tenor of his conduct, adverfe on all occafions to the fanctions of humanity, forbid us to imagine, that he entered upon the great and glorious work of reformation from "good-will towards men." So far, indeed, was the important event from originating in principles honourable to the memory of Henry, that it is probable his fubjects would have continued during the whole of his reign the flaves of popith superstition, had not the defire of revenge induced him to adopt a meature, which oppofed the prejudices of his education, and the convictions of his mind. It is well known that after Henry had lived nearly twenty years with his wife Catherine, his natural inconftancy (made still more criminal by the pretended fcruples of confcience under which it was veiled) induced him to move the Court of Rome for a divorce from this exemplary woman, that he might be enabled to efpoufe the unfortunate Ann Bulleyn, for whom he had conceived an unconquerable patlion. The Pope, however, fearful of offending the Emperor, Catherine's nephew, by a formal fanction of this iniquitous feparation, refufed, or at leaft delayed, complying with the king's requeft: which fo exafperated Henry, that he difclaimed the fupremacy of the Roman Pontiff; folemnly feparated himself and his dominions from the apoftolical fee; and affumed to himself the title of Sole and Supreme Head of the Church of England, next and immediately under Chrift. Happily for the interefts of true religion, Henry was, at the time of this quarrel, furrounded by wife and good men, who had long ardently wifhed for a reformation of the national faith. Of thefe, the venerable Cranmer, and the active Cromwell, were the leading characters; who wifely availed themfelves of Henry's indignation, and of the influence they at that time poffeffed in his efteem and opinion, to confirm his refolution of throwing off the Papal yoke, and to render this freedom from fuperftitious thraldom the means of diffufing a purer religion over their own country. With the king's fanction, therefore, and (it fhould feem) affiftance alfo, thefe able friends of the Reformation compiled without delay, both in Englith and Latin,t published and circulated, a fmall volume of devotional tracts, entitled the King's Primer; calculated to do away many of the erroneous notions, and to foften many of the fuperftitious prejudices, with which Popery had filled the minds of the people; as well as to infufe into them a knowledge of the fimple truths and fpiritual doctrines of the gofpel, and of the duties and obligations neceffarily refulting therefrom. So ardent and general was the defire for religious information, that the firft impreffion of the King's Primer was fpecdily difpofed of; and in the year 1535 another edition, on a larger fize, and enriched with many

In the beginning of his reign he was a most obedient fon of papacy, and employed his talents in writing against Luther, in defence of the feven facraments of the church. This book was magnified by the clergy, as the moft learned performance of the age; and upon prefenting it to the Pope, his Holinefs conferred upon the King of England, and his fucceffors, the glorious title of Defender of the Faith. It was voted in full confiftory, and figned by twenty-feven cardinals in the year 1521.-Neale's Hift. Puritans, vol. i. p. 8; Warner's Eccl. Hift. vol. ii. 228. P.

+ The Latin Primers were intended for the ufc of thofe who were killed in that tougue; and the English ones for thofe who were ignorant of it. In the king's injunctions, prefixed to the later Primers, all fchoolmafters are directed to teach this Primer or book of ordinary prayers unto their fcholars in English, and the youth cuftomably and crdinarily ufe the fame until they be of competent underftanding and knowledge to perceive it in Latin. At what (which) time they may at their liberty either ute this Primer in English, or that which is by our authority likewife made in the Latin tongue, in all points correfpondent unto this in English."

valuable additions, was put forth to gratify the public impatience for this popular manual. Of this fecond edition the contents are as follow: a godly preface; an exposition of the commandments, and of the creed; a confeflion; directions concerning prayer; an expofition of the Lord's prayer; a prayer to our Creator; prayers for various states of men; an office for all ftates; a differtation on good works; an exhortation to expect the cross, and to bear it patiently; matins, or morning fervice; lauds, or acts of praife; evenfong; the feven penitential pfalms; the litany; a contemplation on pfalm li.; a prayer to our Saviour; the hiftory of Chrift's paffion; a practical difcourfe on the paflion; inftructions for children; a catechetical dialogue; prayers against blindness and hardnefs of heart; various prayers and thankfgivings; the Dirige, or office for the fouls of the dead; commendations; and the collects, epiftles, and gofpels, throughout the year, with expofitions of them. This volume may be confidered as the parent of our prefent Book of Common-Prayer; for although, during the times of Popery in this country the forms of the Liturgy had always been in the hands of the laity, under the names of breviaries, miffals, and rituals; yet thefe being written in Latin, (an unknown tongue to the bulk of the community) and being full of idolatrous prayers, and fuperftitious fervices, were neither intelligible to the laity, nor could have furnished them with found doctrine, nor led them to right practice, had they been generally understood.† The royal authority enjoined either the public or private use of the volume of fervices called "the King's Primer." But this fanction was perhaps unneceffary for enfuring its free and general circulation, as the people themselves were fufficiently prepared for its favourable reception; a fact that was clearly evinced by its rapid fale; very many editions being called for in the courfe of a few years.

The zeal, however, of our pious reformers was not fatisfied with these firft fruits of their labours. In the fame year 1535, the whole Bible tranflated into English was given to the public, through the influence of

Breviaries contained matins, or morning fervice; lauds, or acts of praife; and vefpers, or evenfong. Mials, or mafs-books, contained the communion fervice, with the collects, epiftles, and gofpels, to be used throughout the year. The Rituals contained the occafional fervices; baptifm, matrimony, vifitation of the fick, form of burial, &c. Thefe books of liturgical fervices differed frequently from each other in the forms and arrangement of their contents, in different places. Thofe chiefly in ute in this kingdom, were the Breviaries, Miffals, and Rituals of Sarum, York, Lincoln, Hereford, and Bangor. "The Trident-Council (as is obferved in the notes at the end of Sparrow's Rationale) hrit endeavoured to bring the divers models into one shape, yet that order was not obeyed till anno 1568, under Pope Pius Vth, yet is not obferved to this day; the Spaniards in fome places keeping the Mozarabique form, the Premonflratenfes another, and fundry befides. Nay, that church hath altered the breviaries of Pius Vth, and new corrections have come forth under Clement VIIIth, 1598; and what hath been done fince I know not. But why the ufe of thofe five churches? Perhaps that was accidental, that the diverfities of them were more fignal than others; (fome hiftorians mention Ofmundus, the bishop of Salifbury, and chancellor, for the compiler of the ufe of Sarum, about anno 1070, or after) yet fince we read of no ufe of Canterbury, Winton, or Ely, perhaps thofe places obferved the true Roman Breviaries, and the other five above-mentioned were difcrepant dialects from the original Breviary. However they are called ufes and customs; not appointments from provincial fynods."

In the king's injunctions prefixed to the Primer, reafons of this nature are mentioned, as having occafioned the publication of that book. "As the youth (it obferves) by divers perfons are taught the Pater nofter, the Ave Maria, Creed, and Ten Commandments, all in Latin, and not in English, by means whereof the fame are not brought up in the knowledge of their faith, duty, and obedience, wherein no chriftian perfon ought to be ignorant; and for the avoiding of the adverfity (difference) of primer books that are now abroad, whereof are almoft innumerable forts, which minifter occation of contentions and vain difputations rather than edity, and to have one uniform order of all fuch books throughout all our dominions, both to be taught unto children, and alfo to be used for ordinary prayers of all our people not learned in the Latin tongue;" that therefore his Majefty has fet forth this Primer, &c.

Cranmer and his friends. The royal authority had previously been obtained to fanction and give currency to this impreffion of the holy fcriptures; and injunctions were publifhed by Cromwell, in the name of the King; which ordained, amongst other things, that "every parfon or proprietary of any parish church within the realm, before Auguft ift, fhould provide a book of the whole Bible, both in Latin and alfo in English, and lay it in the choir, for every man that would, to look and read therein: and thould difcourage no man from reading any part of the Bible either in Latin or English, but rather comfort, exhort, and admonifh every man to read it, as the Word of God, and the spiritual food of man's foul."f This glorious effort in behalf of religion was followed up in the enfuing year (1536) by the fettlement of "Certain Articles of Religion, to prevent diverfity of opinion both in matters of faith and worship, and to eftablifh unity in the Church of England;" which being agreed upon in convocation, were approved, confirmed, and ordered to be publifhed by the royal authority. Thefe articles conftitute the holy fcriptures, and the ancient creeds, the ftandard of faith and doctrine. They ftate and explain the foundations of belief, and the terms of covenant and grace. The three facraments, Baptifm, Penance, and the Eucharift, are alone enjoined, inftead of the feven impofed by the Romith church. The honouring or worthipping of angels is condemned; and the notions refpecting purgatory are corrected. Auricular confeflion and the corporal prefence are

The fanction for this tranflation had been obtained two years before, though the Bible was not completed till early in the year 1535, nor out of the prefs till the 4th of October in that year. Miles Coverdale, afterwards bithop of Exeter, was the tranflator; a man of extraordinary piety, deep knowledge of the fcriptures, and great activity in his profeffion. On the 19th of December 1533, the two Houfes of Parliament deputed Archbishop Cranmer to attend Henry with a petition " that the fcriptures fhould be tranflated into the vulgar tongue, by fome honeft and learned men, to be nominated by the king, and that they should be delivered to the people according to their learning."-Johnfon's Hift. English Tranflations of the Bible. Gardiner and all his party made a ftrenuous oppofition to the measure; but the weight of the arguments urged in its favour, and Queen Anne Bulleyn's fupport of the petition, inclined Henry to comply with it -Burnet. In the year 1537 another edition of the English Bibie was printed by Gratton and Whitchurch (either at Hamburgh or Marburg) under the licence of Henry, which bore the fictitious name of Thomes Mathewe; but was really edited by the learned John Rogers, employed for that purpose by Acrhbishop Cranmer. He feems to have made ufe both of Tyndall's tranflation (a partial but unauthorised one of the Bible, made in the early part of Henry's reign, which was condemned to be burnt at Smithfield) and of Coverdale's tranflation, and to have added a tew emendations of his own. In the year 1538 an injunction was published by the vicar-general, ordering the clergy to provide before a certain tettival one book of the whole Bibie, of the largeit voisme, in Engih, and to fet it up in fome convenient place in their churches, where their parithioners might most commodioufly refort to read it.-Lewis's Hift. Tranflations of the Bible. Other editions of the Bible alfo were published in Henry's reign; Cranmer's, or the great Bible, printed by Grafton and Whitchurch, in large folio, April 1539, cum privilegio ad imprimendum folum; with a beautiful frontifpiece prefixed, defigned by Hans Holbein. Taverner's Bible, printed by John Byddell in the fame year. Two privileged editions of Cranmer's Bible, 1540, printed by Edward Whitchurch; and one by Petyt and Redman, with a pious and fenfible prologue or preface by Archbishop Cranmer, in which he obferves, that "every man that cometh to the reading of this holy book, ought to bring with him firft the fear of Almighty God, and next a pious and ftable purpofe to reform his own felf according thereunto; and fo to continue, proceed, and proper from time to time, thewing himfelt to be a fober and fruitful hearer and learner; which it he do, he thali prove at length well able to teach, though not with his mouth, yet with his living and good example, which is fure the most lively and effectuous way of teaching." Another edition of Cranmer's Bible, printed by Grafton in May 1541. An edition of the Bible, fuperintended by Tonftal bishop of Durham, and Heath bishop of Rocheiter; printed by Gratton, in November of the fame year. And lastly, an edition of the Pentateuch only, after the copy of the first authorized edition, printed by John Day and William Serres, in 1544.

+ Neale's Hift. Puritans, vol. i. p. 35.

Our prefent Articles of Religion were fettled by convocation in 1562; ratified anew in 571; and finally confirmed in 1662.

left untouched; and juftification is declared to fignify the remiffion of fins, and a perfect renovation of nature in Chrift." In the fame year alfo, with the publication of "the Articles," appeared a feries of Injunctions, (framed, as is fuppofed, by Archbishop Cranmer) the object of which was to correct the abufes and corruptions of the clerical character, and to extinguish certain fuperftitious notions, rites, and practices, that ftill infected both clergy and laity.

The entuing year, 1537, was marked by fresh endeavours of the reformers to accomplish their great and falutary work. Cranmer, Latimer, and other prelates, (nominated as a committee for that and other purposes, by the convocation held in 1536) drew up and published a compendium of religious inftruction called "the godly and pious Inítitution of a Chriftian Man." This treatife, confifting of rules of faith and practice, revised, corrected, and augmented by the King, and ratified by the Parliament; continued to be in general requeft and ufe till the year 1543; when it was fuperfeded by an enlarged and improved edition of the fame work, altered, however, in matter and arrangement, and bearing the new title of "A neceflary Doctrine and Erudition for any Chriftian Man, fet forth by the King's Majefty of England,* &c." It was called the "King's Book," and defigned for a standard of Chriftian belief, and contained the following articles or treatifes:-" The declaration of faith. The articles of our belief, called the Crecd. The feven facraments. The ten commandments of Almighty God. Our Lord's Prayer, called the Pater Nofter. The falutation of the Angel, called the Ave Maria. An article of free-will. An article of juftification. An article of good works. Of prayer for fouls departed." In the year that followed the publication of this book, another ftep was made in the progrefs of reformation, as well as a fmall advance to the introduction of a national liturgy; namely, the printing and circulation of a form of proceffion, drawn up in the English tongue, entitled "An exhortation to prayer, thought meet by his Majefty and his Clergy to be read to the people; alfo a litany with fuffrages, to be faid or fung in time of the proceffions."†

Flattering, however, as this and other circumftances of Henry's conduct might be to the profpects of the reformers, yet the cruel caprice and childish inconfiftency of his difpofition were perpetually interrupting the progrefs of the work; and dictated fuch proceedings towards the close of his reign, as threatened the moft ferious injury to the interests of religion. Indeed, after he had effected his firft and principal objects, a feparation from the church of Rome, and the affumption of the fupremacy into his own hands, which he feems to have purfued with the utmost confiftency and zeal; it appears that his fervices towards a reformation of religion were rather accidental and capricious, than fteady and uniform, and refulted more from humour than from principle. Advances towards a purer faith, or retrogreffions into the corruptions of Popery, fluctuated with the ebbs and flows of royal favour; and according as Cranmer and Cromwell, Latimer and Shaxton, and other friends of the Reformation, were more or less in the confidence of the king, in the fame degree was his fupremacy exerted

*In the preface to this book (which was written by the king) mention is made of the reftriction that at this time was laid upon certain defcriptions of his fubjects, with refpect to reading the holy fcriptures. "Confonant whereunto, (fays he) the politic law of our realm hath now reftrained it from a great many, eteeming it fufficient for thofe fo retrained to hear and truly bear away the doctrine of fcripture taught by the preachers," &c. The prohibition to which this alludes torbade the public reading of the Bible to women, artificers, and apprentices entirely; and enjoined that none fhould have that privilege, unlels they had previously obtained the royal licence for that purpose.

+ Neale's Hiit. Purit. vol. i. p. 35. Burnet's Hift. Ref. vol. i. p. 331.

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