tholic Church was brought about. The incidents a attending this most important event are so truly interesting to Englishmen, that we shall give them in the words of Dr. Lingard, not being willing to trust our pen with the narration. In consequence of a royal message," writes the learned historian, “the lords and commons repaired to the court : "and, after a few words from the chancellor, Pole, in a long harangue, "returned them thanks for the act which they had passed in his favour, “exhorted thèm to repeal, in like manner, all the statutes enacted in "derogation of the papal authority; and assured them of every facility. "on his part to effect the re-union of the church of England with that "of Rome. The chancellor, having first taken the orders of the king "and queen, replied, that the two houses would deliberate apart, and "signify their determination on the following morning, at 365 1 "The motion for the re-union was carried almost by acclamation. "In the lords every voice was raised in its favour in the commons, "out of three hundred members, two only demurred, and these desisted "from their opposition the next day. It was determined to present a "petition in the name of both houses to the king and queen, stating, "that they looked back with sorrow and regret on the defection of the "realm from the communion of the apostolic see that they were ready “to repeal, as far as in them lay, every statute which had either caused "or supported that defection: and that they hoped, through the me"diation of their majesties, to be absolved from all ecclesiastical cen"sures, and to be received into the bosom of the universal church. sff On the following day, the feast of St. Andrew, the queen took her "seat on the throne. The king was placed on her left hand, the legate, "bat at greater distance, on her right. The chancellor read the peti"tion to their majesties: they spoke to the cardinal and he, after a "speech of some duration, absolved all those present," at and the whole nation, and the dominions thereof, from all heresy and schism, and all "judgments, censures, and penalties for that cause incurred and re"stored them to the communion of the holy church in the name of the "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen, resounded from every part of "the hall: and the members, rising from their knees, followed the king "and queen into the chapel, where Te Deum was chaunted in thanks"giving for the event. The next Sunday the legate, at the invitation "of the citizens, made his public entry into the metropolis and Gar“diner preached at St. Paul's cross the celebrated sermon in which He "lamented in bitter terms his conduct under Henry VIII.07 "all, who had fallen through his means, or in his company, to rise wit "him and seek the unity of the Catholic church. os si ni awon To proceed with this work, the two houses and the convocation "simultaneously presented separate petitions to the throne. That from "the lords and commons, requested their majesties to obtain from the "legate, all those dispensations and indulgences, which the innovations "made during the schism had rendered necessary, and particularly such "as might secure the property of the church to the present possessors "without scruple of conscience, or impeachment from the ecclesiastical "courts. The other, from the clergy, stated their resignation of all "right to those possessions of which the church had been deprived; "and their readiness to acquiesce in every arrangement to be made by "the legate. His decree was soon afterwards published io ludThat all cathedral churches, hospitals, and schools founded during the schism, should be preserved; 2. That all persons, who had contracted marriage within the prohibited degrees without dispensation, should re main married; 3. That all judicial processes made before the ordinaries, or an appeal before delegates, should be held valid; and 4. "That the possessors of church property should not, either now or "hereafter, be molested, under pretence of any canons of councils, deCrees of popes, or censures of the church; for which purpose, in virtue of the authority vested in him, he took from all spiritual courts "and judges the cognizance of these matters, and pronounced, beforehand, all such processes and judgments invalid and of no effect. D "In the mean time a joint committee of lords and commons had been actively employed in framing a most important and comprehensive "bill, which deserves the attention of the reader, from the accuracy "with which it distinguishes between the civil and ecclesiastical juris"dictions, and the care with which it guards against any encroachment on the part of the latter. It first repeals several statutes by name,” and then, in general, all clauses, sentences, and articles in every other” act of parliament made since the 20th of Henry VIII. against the supreme authority of the pope's holiness or see apostolic. It next recites the two petitions, and the dispensation of the legate and "enacts, that every article in that dispensation should be reputed good" "and effectual in law, and may be alleged and pleaded in all courts® spiritual and temporal. It then proceeds to state that, though the legate hath by his decree taken away all matter of impeachment, trouble, or danger to the holders of church property; yet, because "the title of lands and hereditaments in this realm is grounded on the "laws and customs of the same, and to be tried and judged in no other courts than those of their majesties: it is therefore enacted, by au̟thority of parliament, that all such possessors of church property "shall hold the same in manner and form as they would have done, had "this act never been made; and, that any person who shall molest such possessors by process out of any ecclesiastical court, either within or "without the realm, shall incur the penalty of præmunire. Next it "provides, that all papal bulls, dispensations, and privileges, not containing matter prejudicial to the royal authority, or to the laws of the "realm, may be put in execution, used, and alleged in all courts whatsoever and concludes by declaring, that nothing in this act shall be” "explained to impair any authority or prerogative belonging to the crown, in the 20th year of Henry VIII, that the pope shall have and "enjoy, without diminution or enlargement, the same authority and jurisdiction, which he might then have lawfully exercised; and that "the jurisdiction of the bishops shall be restored to that state, in which "it existed at the same period. In the lords, the bill was read thrice 66 in two days; in the commons, it was passed after a sharp debate on the third reading. Thus was re-established, in England, the whole "system of religious polity, which had prevailed for so many centuries "before Henry VIIIA boste poole si act DUO SAT .237005 The same writer observes, in a note on the 20th of Henry VIIIth,' "Most readers have very confused and incorrect notions of the juris "diction, which the pontiff, in virtue of his supremacy, claimed to ex❝ercise within the realm. From this act, and the statutes which it repeals, it follows, that that jurisdiction was comprised under the following heads: 1. He was acknowledged as chief bishop of the "Christian church, with authority to reform and redress heresies, errors, and abuses within the same. 2. To him belonged the institu"tion or confirmation of bishops elect. 3. He could grant to clergymen licences of non-residence, and permission to hold more than one "benefice, with cure of souls. 4. He dispensed in the canonical impe"diments of matrimony; and 5. He received appeals from the spiritual 66 courts." " We cannot pass over this memorable event, without taking a slight review of some of the causes which seem to have prepared the nation for so speedy and universal a revolution; one of which seems to have been the shortness of time, not more than twenty years, since England had renounced the religion to which she had now returned, and which had been her faith for above nine centuries. Another was probably, so far as the great body of the people were concerned, the deplorable state of misery and starvation to which the poor had been reduced by the dissolution of monasteries and religious houses, which it was hoped, no doubt, would be removed by the re-establishment of those receptacles of virtue and charity. To these facts we shall add the authority of witnesses who, in this case, being Protestants, must be above all exception; one of them assigns very natural reasons for the little satis faction which sensible and well disposed minds could find in such novelties; and the other sets forth, in a very impartial light, some argu ments, which," as he expresses himself, "may prevail on men of "much reason and more piety," to entertain a favourable opinion of the religion which the nation now embraced. The first acknowledges, "that the licentious and dissolute life of many of the professors of the gospel, and which was but too visible "in some of the more eminent among them; the open blemishes of some of the clergy, who promoted the reformation, contributed to "alienate the people, to raise a general aversion, and to make the na tion entertain as advantageous a notion of the religion they had quitted, as their prejudices had been strong against it: and to look upon « all the innovations that had been made as so many inlets into all man"ner of vice and wickedness." Bishop Burnet's History of the Reforma tion, vol. iii. p. 217. to them with an ill fluo don" The members of the Roman Catholic communion," says the other author, "whose authority I have pleaded, may say, that their religion was that of their forefathers, and had the actual possession of men's minds before the opposite opinions had even a name; and having continued in it through such a length of time, it would be objected that this was the effect of invention or design; because it was not likely that all ages should have the same purposes, or that the same doctrine should serve the different ends of several ages. This prescription, moreover, rests on these grounds; that truth is more ancient than falsehood; and that God would not, "for so many ages, have forsaken his church, and left her in error. To this antiquity of doctrine is annexed an uninterrupted succession of cc A grace, "their bishops from the apostles, and particularly of their superior bi"shop from St. Peter, whose personal prerogatives were so great, and "the advantageous manner in which many eminent prelates of other sees "have expressed themselves with regard to the church of Rome. This "prerogative includes the advantages of monarchy, and the constant "benefits which are derived from that form of government. Nor does "the multitude and variety of people, who are of that persuasion, their apparent consent with elder ages, and their agreement with one an"other, form a less presumption in their favour. The same conclu*sion (he says) must be inferred from the the differences which have arisen amongst their adversaries, and from the casualties which have hap"pened to many of them: from the oblique and sinister proceedings " of some who have left their communion; from the appellation of heretic and schismatic, which they fix on all who dissent from them." To these negative arguments he adds those of a more positive kind; viz. "the beauty and splendour of the church of Rome, her solemn service, "the stateliness and magnificence of her hierarchy, and the name of Catholic, which she claims as her own due, and to concern no other 5 sect of Christianity. It has been their happiness to be instrumental to the conversion of many nations. The world is witness to the piety “ and austerity of their religious orders; to the single life of their priests and bishops; the severity of their fasts and observances; to "the great reputation of many of their bishops for faith and sanctity, " and the known holiness of some of those persons, whose institutes the religious orders follow."-Dr. Jeremy Taylor on the Liberty of Prophecyinggil Istisqi and much more the necessity of such a measure; however, we will here quote the authority of a learned Protestant writer on the subject, and leave it to his own common sense to decide the point. "It is well known," says Grotius, speaking of himself, in his last reply to Rivet, written a short time before his death, that I have always wished to see Christians re-united in the same body; and I once "thought this conjunction might be begun by an union of Protestants among themselves. I have since perceived that this is impossible, "not only because the Calvinists are averse to all such agreements; 7fff but because Protestants are not associated under any one form of government, and therefore cannot be united in one body, but must ne❝cessarily be separated into other new sects and divisions. I, thereoff fore, and many others with me, plainly see that this concord of Protestants can never be effected, unless they are united to the Roman see, without which no common church government can take place: for which reason I wish that the separation, which has been made, effi and the causes of it, may cease. Now, amongst these, the canonical "primacy of the bishop of Rome cannot, as Melancthon himself confesses, be placed; for he judges that very primacy necessary, in order "to maintain and preserve unity.If th If this testimony is not sufficient to convince the reader of the necessity of having a supreme head to preserve unity in the body, let him consult Dr. bb to The reconciliation was concluded by a general pardon for offe offences against the queen, and among other prisoners discharged were, according to Stow, the late archbishop of York, sir John Rogers, sir Jame Crofts, sir Nicholas Throgmorton, sir Nicholas Arnold, sir Edward Warner, sir George Harper, sir William Sentlow, sir Andrew Dudley ana sir Gavin Carew, knights. These prisoners were set at liberty on the 18th of January, 1555, and it clearly shews that Mary did not then seek domineer over the rights of private judgment, and trample on the liberties of mankind." No, no, modern editors of Fox's Book of Mart was not Mary that sought to play the tyrant, but the pretended martyrs of John Fox, and their confederates at home and abroad, who, by their plottings and preachings, sapped the basis of social order and civil liberty, and compelled the Catholic sovereigns of Europe to resort to harsh measures to preserve the rights and privileges of mankind. We have seen that Poynet, bishop of Winchester, fled to the continent, after engaging in Wyatt's rebellion. Others of the reforming party betook themselves likewise to flight; some to Frankfort, and some to Geneva, where they practised their treasons under hand. Of these were Whittingham, Goodman, Scory, Wood, Knox, Joan Fox, Jewel Ho Sands, and Grindal, and they had not long been at the e first mentioned place, before they began to wrangle about the book of Common Prayer, and other matters, as well as to hatch up treason. When Whittingham, and divers others of a more violent humour says the author of The Survey of the pretended Holy Discipline came first "to Frankfort, they fell presently into a very special liking of the "Geneva discipline, as finding it to contain such rules and prac "tices as did greatly concur with their own dispositions, viz. that if bishops and princes refused to admit of the gospel, they might be used by their subjects as the bishop of Geneva was used, that is, Dr «POSED. And that every particular minister with a assistants, according to the platform of that discipline, was himself a bishop, and had as great an authority within his own parish as any bishop in the 66 world, might lawfully challenge, even to the excommunication of the "best, as well princes as peasants, &c. Howbeit, many there were, as "Dr. Cox, Dr. Horn, Mr. Jewel, with sundry others, who perceiving "the tricks of that discipline, did utterly dislike it." (p. 45, 46.) So in the History of the Troubles at Frankfort, p. 44, 45, we find Knox making use of the following language towards this country. "Oh, England! England! if thou wilt obstinately return into Egypt, that is, if thou contract marriage, confederacy, or league with such princes as do maintain and advance idolatry, such as the emperor, who is not "less an enemy to Christ than was Nero; if for the pleasure and friendship, I say, of such princes, thou return to thine old abominations be " " 66 i |