The exception to this peaceful policy was with regard to Scotland. The protector desired to secure the marriage between their youthful queen Mary and king Edward, when they should arrive at a suitable age, as contemplated by the late king, and to prevent her alliance with France. He sought to enforce this by arms, and invaded Scotland with a powerful army. The Scots were defeated at Pinkey, near Edinburgh, on September 10th, 1547, by Somerset, who did not fully follow up the victory, partly to avoid exasperating the Scottish nation, partly from the necessity of counteracting the ambitious intrigues of his own brother, Sudley, the lord admiral. That turbulent spirit sought an alliance with the princess Elizabeth, when only fourteen. Being disappointed by the interference of the council, he prevailed upon Catherine Parr, the widowed queen of Henry VIII., to marry him very soon after the king's death. Her haste in this matter was blamable, though, in many respects, the situation of an unprotected female of rank, rendered an alliance with one possessed of power desirable, if not absolutely necessary. A question of precedence between her and the duchess of Somerset stirred up strife. Some consider the quarrel between the protector and his brother to have been aggravated, if not caused, by the animosities of their wives; but there were other causes; among them, the admiral complained that the protector interfered to prevent some acts of oppression against his inferiors. Somerset declared to the admiral, in a letter dated September, 1548, that it was his duty and office to receive poor men's complaints, and procure them redress, and that he would not refuse this, though against his brother. Catherine Parr died little more than a year her marriage, having recently given birth to a daughter. There appears full reason to believe that her end was hastened by the unkindness of Sudley. Being at liberty to form a new union, Sudley made another attempt to gain the princess Elizabeth, or even Mary. Again disappointed, he sought to render the king dis

after

to

satisfied with those about him, and tried to lead him to habits of expense, the sure road to profligacy. His unquiet spirit led him to other violent measures, all tending to subvert the government, though without any precise prospect of advantageous results to himself. He evidently planned some sort of insurrection, and desired the superintendent of the mint at Bristol prepare him a large sum of money, including base coin. Such proceedings led to his arrest and committal to the Tower, in January, 1549. He was tried and condemned as a traitor; and though he was the king's uncle, and brother to the protector, they joined the council in directing his execution. The proceedings of those times exhibit an indifference to the ties of relationship, and recklessness in the shedding of blood, which shows the satanic influence under which the nations had long groaned. This evil-minded man followed his wife to the tomb within six months after her decease. His deeds show of what manner of spirit he was. She has left more pleasing memorials in her prayers, and in her little work, "The Lamentation of a Sinner:" one extract from the latter will show that if there was evil, there was also good in that day, among those of the highest rank: If I should hope, by mine own strength and power, to come out of this maze of iniquity and wickedness, wherein I have walked so long, I should be deceived. For I am so ignorant, weak, blind, and feeble, that I cannot bring myself out of this entangled and wayward maze; but the more I seek means and ways to wind myself out, the more I am wrapped and tangled therein. Therefore, I will first require and pray the Lord to give me his Holy Spirit, to teach me to avow that Christ is the Saviour of the world, and to utter these words, the Lord Jesus;' and finally to help mine infirmities, and to intercede or entreat for me.'

The protector had reason to lament the fall of his brother: from that time his own course was a troubled one, till he also fell a victim to political intrigues. God

frequently marks such conduct by results which cannot be mistaken. The disagreement between the brothers, that led to the execution of the admiral, seems to have been fomented by the French rulers, to cause, if possible, such civil commotions in England as might aid their domination in Scotland. For one brother thus to destroy the other, was not unaptly compared by a contemporary historian to the right hand cutting off the left.

A more pleasing subject may now be resumed-the progress of the Reformation. To this Cranmer had directed his active energies, with the full concurrence of the protector. The people, in general, desired deliverance from many of the remains of popery, though, as in every religious reformation, from the first establishment of Christianity, the inhabitants of towns were far advanced before the villagers and people of secluded districts. Injunctions were sent forth early in this reign, ordering that certain superstitious observances should be discontinued; that the clergy should preach the truths of Scripture; and that the English Bible, and the paraphrase of Erasmus, should be placed in every church, for the people to read. In the first year of this reign, the Consultations of Herman," prince archbishop of Cologne, respecting the Reformation, were printed in English, under the direction of Cranmer and the protector, with a view to prepare the public mind for the abolition of the mass, and other public services of the church of Rome.

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Those of the clergy unable to make sermons were furnished with that inestimable treasure, the Book of Homilies, to read to their congregations. In this work, set forth by authority, and confirmed by subsequent declarations, is the best exposition of the doctrines taught by the reformers of the English church. It is wrong to argue upon a word or phrase in any of her formularies, while we have this book to resort to for full explanations, in language intelligible even to the plain unlettered reader. But the importance and value

of the Homilies are too much forgotten, while those opposed to the true interests of the church of Christ have studiously endeavoured to cast them into the shade.

Bishop Gardiner soon showed his sense of the importance of these Homilies. He decidedly objected to them, especially to the Homily on Salvation, attributed to Cranmer himself. He was abetted by many who were attached to the old religion, as they called it; and conducted the opposition in the same turbulent spirit he had previously manifested. It is to be regretted that Cranmer and his associates met this conduct with much of the spirit they had imbibed in the school of popery. Although well assured that they were engaged in the cause of Christ, and that the truth must prevail, they could not be satisfied to leave the matter in the hands of their Lord and Master. They saw, on the one hand, turbulent men endeavouring to restore error by human devices; they saw, on the other hand, over-zealous spirits, excited by these efforts to measures injurious to the cause of reformation and truth. Instead of leaving the right state of matters of religion to be brought about by the course of events, under the all-wise hand of Providence, they sought to enforce uniformity by legal enactments, and the interference of temporal power. Thus, though they did not adopt the bloody and violent course of popish policy, they gave Gardiner and Bonner the aspect of sufferers for conscience' sake, although they were notoriously devoid of all conscientious feelings whatever. Gardiner played his game the best for his own purposes. He disputed about theological topics, while he really sought to excite turbulence, using, in coarse and in irreverent phraseology, language resembling the expressions of infidels, showing that he had no real regard for sacred things. He proceeded, till imprisoned and deprived of his bishopric, shut up in the Tower, and forbidden the use of his books and writing materials. Foxe has faithfully recorded Gardiner's arguments. Though his theological views must he condemned, we must regret the

sufferings inflicted on him; but, in the next reign, he visited them on his opponents with far more intense severities.

Bonner can hardly be called a sufferer for religion: though soon released, his turbulent, seditious conduct caused him to be again imprisoned. He wrote from his prison in the Marshalsea to his friends for pears and puddings, concluding with the following words, too characteristic of the man to be omitted: If amongst you I have no puddings, then must I say, as Messer our priest of the hospital said to his mad horse in our last journey to Ostia, To the devil, to the devil, to all the devils with you.' Such a quotation prepares the reader for the conduct of the wretched being, who was foremost in the persecutions of the following reign. He dates his letter, "On the Feast of All Souls." Some in our days affect this style; let them see who was one of the latest characters in the Church of England that used it!

Other, and more laudable proceedings, were carried forward by Cranmer and his associates. Commissioners, attended by able preachers, were sent to visit the different parts of England. The act of six articles, and two statutes against the Lollards, were repealed. Private masses were forbidden ; that leading falsehood, the great source of power and profit to the church of Rome, expiatory sacrifices for the dead, was thus done away. The term "sacrament of the altar" was discountenanced, as a common, but unscriptural name for the Lord's Supper, of which all the congregation were now to partake. This was important, for by the use of the term "altar," the notion of a sacrifice, as taught by the church of Rome in its mass service, was kept up, with all the unscriptural views respecting the priesthood, and the idolatries of popery. "The Lord's table" is the scriptural term, 1 Cor. x. 21; this was adopted by the Reformed church; it implies a holy communion, and involves considerations of importance.

Bonner was displaced from his see; he had acknow