tions that the world was Catholicized, and the adherents of the biblesystem may be assured, that all their efforts to un-Catholicize them, by forcing the bible upon the people, will prove futile. The king was pleased with the holy lives of these missionaries, so much is example above precept in captivating the human mind; he gave them permission to preach to the people, and he even received the waters of regeneration himself. On receiving the grace of baptism, Ethelbert became a new man; he permitted the holy missionaries to build and repair churches every where, and he afforded them every assistance in this pious work his kingly prerogative allowed him. Having thus far succeeded, St. Augustin went to Arles, where he was consecrated bishop, and on his return to Britain he dispatched two of his fellow-labourers to Rome, to solicit a further supply of workmen to cultivate the vineyard he had thus planted. The good pope Gregory sent him over several of his own disciples, among whom were Mellitus, the first bishop of Rochester; Paulinus, the first archbishop of York; and Rufemanus, the third abbot of Augustin's. "With this colony of new missionaries," writes our countrymen, venerable Bede, "the holy popę "sent all things in general for the divine worship and the service of the church, viz, sacred vessels, altar-cloths, ornaments for churches, and "vestments for priests and clerks; relics of the holy apostles and martyrs, and many books."

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We have thus shewn how the Christian religion was introduced amongst our Saxon ancestors; it now remains to prove what that system of religion was. This is a point which Fox and his modern editors gloss over, though it is the most essential of any, to come at th knowledge of truth. Gildas and Bede testify, that the faith which was planted by St. Augustin was the same that was held at Rome, and that our ancestors, like the primitive Christians, were ever watchful to preserve it pure and untainted, Thus, when Arianism shot its baneful sprouts, it was immediately detected and extirpated. Pelagianism had no sooner infected the church, than recourse was had to the proper authorities, who checked the growing evil, and eventually eradicated it, Now this faith, thus carefully preserved, is the same as that preached by the apostles of Christ, and followed by the Catholics of this day. The Saxons on embracing Christianity, admitted infant baptism, for which there is no warranty of scripture, and therefore must be followed from tradition. They believed in seven sacraments, though the church of England now admits of only two. They held confession, absolution, transubstantiation, purgatory, the invocation of saints and angels, prayers for the dead, the mass, celibacy, and, in short, every article of faith, and discipline of the church, rejected at the so much vaunted event called the Reformatiom. Let the reader now refer back to the beginning of our first volume, and it will there be seen, that all these points of doctrine were held and taught by the fathers of the Catholic church in every age, from the apostles to the period of the conversion of our island by St. Augustin, and we shall shew in the course of our work that they were maintained with undeviating accuracy till Luther began his work of infamy and delusion. Since which they have remained unaltered the creed of Catholics, and will remain to the end of time, a testimony of the promise of Christ, that his words should not fail,

The" few plain Christians" have represented the Catholic religion, or Popery, as they call it, as inseparable from persecution-a blood thirsty system of cruelty and intolerance; it will not be, therefore, irrelevant to our purpose if we lay before the reader a short outline of the character of our Saxon ancestors when under the influence of Paganism, and the change which took place in their manners after they submitted to the benign precepts of the Catholic faith. This outline we will not trust to our own pen, but give it in the words of an elegant and classical writer of the present day, who has made the ancient history of this country his peculiar study. The Rev. Dr. Lingard, in his Antiquities of the Saxon Church, writes thus:-" By the ancient writers, "the Saxons are unanimously classed with the most barbarous of the "nations, which invaded and dismembered the Roman empire. Their "valour was disgraced by its brutality. To the services they generally preferred the blood of their captives; and the man, whose life they "condescended to spare, was taught to consider perpetual servitude "as a gratuitous favour. Among themselves, a rude and imperfect "system of legislation intrusted to private revenge the punishment of "private injuries; and the ferocity of their passions continually multiplied these deadly and hereditary feuds. Avarice and the lust of sen"sual enjoyment had extinguished in their breasts some of the first feelings of nature. The savages of Africa may traffic with Europeans "for the negroes whom they have seized by treachery, or captured in open war: but the more savage conquerors of the Britons sold with"out scruple to the merchants of the continent, their countrymen, and even their own children. Their religion was accommodated to their manners, and their manners were perpetuated by their religion. In "their theology they acknowledged no sin but cowardice; and revered no virtue but courage. Their gods they appeased with the blood of "human victims. Of a future life their notions were faint and wavering and if the soul were fated to survive the body, to quaff ale out " of the skulls of their enemies was to be the great reward of the vir"tuous: to lead a life of hunger and inactivity the endless punishment "of the wicked.

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"Such were the Pagan Saxons. But their ferocity soon yielded to "the exertions of the missionaries, and the harsher [features of their "origin were insensibly softened under the mild influence of the gospel. "In the rage of victory they learned to respect the rights of humanity. "Death or slavery was no longer the fate of the conquered Britons ; "by their submission they were incorporated with the victors; and "their lives and property were protected by the equity of their Chris"tian conquerors. The acquisition of religious knowledge introduced $6 a new spirit of legislation: the presence of the bishops and superior "clergy improved the wisdom of the national councils; and laws were " framed to punish the more flagrant violations of morality, and prevent "the daily broils which harrassed the peace of society. The humane "idea, that by baptism all men become brethren, contributed to me"liorate the condition of slavery, and scattered the seeds of that libe"rality, which gradually undermined, and at length abolished so odious "" an institution. By the provision of the legislature the freedom of the "child was secured from the avarice of an unnatural parent; and the

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"heaviest punishment was denounced against the man, who presumed to sell to a foreign master one of his countrymen, though he were "a slave or a malefactor. But by nothing were the converts more distin« guished than by their piety. The conviction of a future and endless "existence beyond the grave elevated their minds, and expanded their "ideas. To prepare their souls for this new state of being, was to many the "first object of their solicitude: they eagerly sought every source of in"struction, and with scrupulous fidelity practised every duty which they "had learnt. Of the zeal of the more opulent among the laity, the numerous churches, hospitals, and monasteries which they founded, << are a sufficient proof: and the clergy could boast with equal truth of "the piety displayed by the more eminent of their order, and of the na"tions instructed in the Christian faith, by the labours of St. Boniface "and his associates. In the clerical and monastic establishments, the "most sublime of the gospel virtues were carefully practised: even kings descended from their thrones, and exchanged the sceptre for "the cowl. Their conduct was applauded by their contemporaries : " and the modern, whose supercilious wisdom affects to censure it, must "at least esteem the motives which inspired, and admire the resolution "which completed the sacrifice. The progress of civilization kept equal 66 pace with the progress of religion; not only the useful but the agree"able arts were introduced; every species of knowledge, which could "be attained, was eagerly studied; and during the gloom of ignorance, " which overspread the rest of Europe, learning found, for a certain pe"riod, an asylum among the Saxons of Britain. To this picture an ingenious adversary may indeed oppose a very different description."He may collect the vices which have been stigmatized by the zeal of "their preachers, and point to the crimes which disgraced the charac"ters of some of their monarchs. But the impartial observer will ac"knowledge the impossibility of eradicating at once the fiercer passions " of a whole nation; nor be surprised, if he behold several of them relapse into their former manners, and on some occasions unite the ac❝tions of savages with the profession of Christians. To judge of the 66 advantage which the Saxons derived from their conversion, he will "fix his eyes on their virtues. They were the offsprings of the gospel; "their vices were the relics of paganism."

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To give an instance of the power and efficacy of the Catholic religion to reclaim sinners from their evil ways to the paths of rectitude and virtue, of whatsover rank and condition they may be, we will here quote a fact related by the above learned author, in his valuable History of England." Ethelbert (writes the historian) died in 616. The crown "devolved upon his son Eadbald, the violence of whose passions had nearly replunged the nation into that idolatry from which it had just emerged. The youth and beauty of his stepmother, the relict of Ethelbert, induced him to take her to his bed; and when the mis"sionaries admonished him to break the unnatural connexion, he aban"doned a religion, which forbade the gratification of his appetites. At "the same time the three sons of Saberet, (their father was dead) re"stored the altars of the gods, and banished from their territory the bishop Mellitus. With Justus of Rochester he retired into Gaul : "and Laurentius, the successor of Augustin in the see of Canterbury,

"had determined to follow their footsteps. On the morning of his in"tended departure, he made a last attempt on the mind of Eadbald. "His representations were successful. The king dismissed his step"mother and recalled the fugitive prelates. The sincerity of his con" version was proved by his subsequent conduct: and Christianity, supported by his influence, assumed an ascendancy which it ever after"wards preserved."-Here then we have a striking effect of the influence of religion on the mind, when supported by the voice of spotless ministers. How different was the conduct of this Christian and Catholic bishop to that of a modern prelate of London, who on a memorable occasion asserted in his place in parliament that a king of England could do no wrong.

The Catholic religion being thus established in our island, a regular hierarchy was founded for the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs, and the preservation of true doctrine. Thus, when any dispute occurred, or any grievance was complained of, recourse was had to the regular authority; from the suffragan bishop the matter was carried to the metropolitan, either of Canterbury or York, who, if need required, summoned a provincial synod to discuss the point, and the decision was submitted to the pope as the supreme head of the universal church. By these means the Catholic religion was preserved entire for the space of nine hundred years, until Henry the eighth severed the branch from the parent stock, and made himself head of a separate church, which had no other claim to jurisdiction than what the lay power of the state granted to it. During the period of Catholicism, the spiritual authority of the Church was quite distinct from the authority of the state. The king and nobles were obliged to submit to the same discipline as the peasant and the beggar, because the Church being a kingdom of another world, knows no distinction in her system of morality between the monarch and the vassal. With these remarks we shall proceed in our Review of the work before us.

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"BOOK VIII.

CONTAINING A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION, AND THE REMARKABLE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH PRECEDED IT, FROM THE TIME OF "6 WICKLIFFE TO THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY.

"SECTION I.

PARTICULARS RELATIVE TO THE GREAT ASCENDANCY OF THE POPES 66 THROUGHOUT CHRISTENDOM, IN THE MIDDLE Ages.

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Fox'commences this section with the following string of assertions :"In the introduction will be found an account of the rise and progress of popery, from the commencement of its usurpations to the "tenth century. From this period, till the reformation was attempted by Wickliffe, the abominations of these arch and unchristian heretics "increased with rapid strides, till at length all the sovereigns of Europe were compelled to do them the most servile homage. It was in the "reign of Edgar, king of England, that monks were first made spiritual ministers, though contrary to the decrees and custom of the church;

"and in the time of this sovereign they were allowed to marry, there "being no law forbidding it, before the papacy of Gregory VII.

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"To relate the tyrannical innovations upon the religion of Christ "during the space of more than three hundred years, would be the "province of a writer on church history, and is quite incompatible with "our limits. Suffice it to say, that scarcely a foreign war or civil broil convulsed Europe during that period, which did not originate in the in"fernal artifices of popes, monks, and friars. They frequently fell vic"tims to their own machinations; for, from the year 1004, many popes "died violent deaths: several were poisoned; Sylvester was cut to pieces "by his own people; and the reigns of his successors were but short. Benedict, who succeeded John XXI. thought proper to resist the em"peror Henry III. and place in his room Peter, king of Hungary; but "afterwards being alarmed by the success of Henry, he sold his seat to "Gratianus, called Gregory VI. At this time there were three popes in "Rome, all striving against each other for the supreme power, viz. Bene"dict IX. Sylvester III. and Gregory VI. But the emperor, Henry, coming to Rome, displaced these three monsters at once, and appointed "Clement the Second, enacting that henceforth no bishop of Rome "should be chosen but by the consent of the emperor. Though this "law was necessary for public tranquillity, yet it interfered too much "with the ambitious views of the cardinals, who accordingly exerted "themselves to get it repealed; and failing in this, on the departure of "the emperor for Germany, they poisoned Clement, and at once vio"lated the law by choosing another pope, without the imperial sanction. "This was Damasus II. who being also poisoned, within a few days "from his appointment, much contention took place. Whereupon the "Romans sent to the emperor, desiring him to give them a bishop; upon which he selected Bruno, a German, called Leo IX. This pope was poisoned, in the first year of his popedom.

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"After his death Theophylactus made an effort to be pope, but Hil"debrand, to defeat him, went to the emperor, and persuaded him to assign another bishop, a German, who ascended the papal chair under "the title of Victor II. The second year of his рарасу, this pope also "followed his predecessors, like them being poisoned.

"On the death of Victor, the cardinals elected Stephen IX. for pope, "contrary to their oath, and the emperor's assignment. From this “period, indeed, their ascendancy was so great, that the most power"ful sovereigns of Europe were obliged to do them homage; and "Nicholas, who succeeded Stephen, established the Council of the "Lateran. In this council first was promulgated the terrible sentence "of excommunication against all such as do creep into the seat of "Peter by money or favour, without the full consent of the cardinals; ss cursing them and their children with the anger of Almighty God; "and giving authority and power to cardinals, with the clergy and "laity, to depose all such persons, and call a council-general, wheresoever they will, against them. Pope Nicholas only reigned three years and a half, and then, like his predecessors, was poisoned.”pp. 121, 122.

In what part of the introduction the rise and progress of Popery are to be found we have not been able to discover. There is no precise