part of Europe; and in England the way had, in fome measure, been prepared for it by the exertions of Wickliff How boldly that eminent divine had attacked feveral of the capital doctrines of the church of Rome, hath appeared in former Articles; and he had ftill a number of followers in this kingdom, though they had been fo much perfecuted and depreffed that they did not now make any confiderable figure. These men would have their attention awakened by what was going forward abroad, and would derive no fmall degree of encouragement from what they heard of the new reformers. Additions, too, might hence be expected to be made to the converts from popery. Thofe who had paid no attention to Wickliff's opinions would have their curiofity raised by the controverfies which. Luther had oc cafioned; and the gratification of their curiofity would tend, in feveral inftances, to produce a conviction of the truth of his pofitions. All this was in fact fo much the cafe, that a revolution of no fmall importance was wrought in the minds of many of our countrymen.. Vari ous perfons, of confiderable eminence with respect to their fituation, rank, or literature, rofe fuperior to the ignorance and errors of their ancestors, broke the fetters of authority, and indulged a freedom of thinking concerning points of the greatest magnitude.

At first, however, the reformation was violently opposed by the chief governors of the nation. The king took an active part against it, and fuch was his zeal, that it int duced him to appear in a very peculiar light, which was that of a Royal Author. This was a character which print ces in general had for many ages ceafed to affume, and there had been no example of it in our own country, fince the days of Alfred; unlefs, with Mr. Walpole, we are dif pofed to affign that rank to Richard the Fifft, on account of his having compofed a fonnet, during his captivity, on his return from the Crufades. Henry the Eighth was cert tainly more capable of diftinguishing himself as a writer than moft of the monarchs by whom he had been preceded, because he had received a literary education, and was not unacquainted with the fchool-divinity

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Whether he was the real author of the Vindication of the Seven Sacraments, in oppofition to Luther, has indeed been called in queftion. Some have afcribed it to Sir Thomas More, and others, with greater probability to Fisher, bishop of Rochester. That the king had ample affiftance in the compofition of it, cannot reasonably be doubted; notwithstanding which, it might, perhaps, be in part his own production for unlefs his majefty had been known to poffefs a certain degree of learning, the work could not have been published under his name without a manifeft breach. of decorum.

When fovereign princes condefcend to prefent themfelves to the world under the character of authors, their writings, whatever imperfections may attend them, are fure of receiving a high tribute of applaufe. Nor is it a praife of a common kind which will be thought sufficient for fuch exalted adventurers in the republic of literature. The merit of Henry was fo great, that an extraordinary reward was thought proper to be conferred upon him; and accordingly, the Pope folemnly invefted him with the title of " Defender of the Faith." This was a title by which he was, no doubt, highly gratified; and it is a title that has been affumed by all his fucceffors. Henry himself afterwards deviated from it, in the fense in which it was originally beftowed; and in that fenfe it could not belong to any of our proteftant princes. Nevertheless, to be ftyled Defenders of the Faith is. ftill deemed a part of the prerogative of our monarchs, and is confidered as a jewel in the British crown. But the real propriety and value of fuch a title may juftly be queftioned: for what has a king to do with any particular faith? It is his proper business and duty equally to protect all his fubjects, without regard to their religious principles, provided they behave as peaceable members of fociety. With their theological tenets he fhould have no concern; it being fufficient for him to take care of their temporal fecurity and welfare, leaving their fouls to God and their own confciences.

Whatever degree of honour or applaufe king Henry the Eighth might derive from his performance, little effect was hence produced in controlling the progrefs of the new opinions. The dawning light was highly pleafing and, as it proceeded in its courfe, it became too forcible to be obfcured by the clouds which were endeavoured to be raised against it, either by our royal author or by any other theologian. A ftill greater and greater attention was paid to the principles of the Reformation; and the more they were examined, the more did they engage the affent of honeft and open minds. They were embraced too, by many perfons, with a zeal of which, at prefent, we have but a very feeble conception. Others, likewife, who had not the fpirit of confefforfhip or martyrdom in them, rejoiced in the diffufion of liberal fentiments, and in the oppofition to the tyranny of the church of Rome, It is poffible that men in high life, and of worldly views, might anticipate, in their imaginations, the benefits which might accrue to themfelves from the plunder of that church.

The most remarkable fact in the religious hiftory of this time is, that, at length, Henry himself, though at first fo ardent in his oppofition to Luther, and though always maintaining the fpeculative doctrines of the Roman Catholic faith, fhould be the founder of the Reformation in England. A fact fo extraordinary arofe from a concurrence of circumftances, with which fcarcely any of our readers can be unacquainted. Partly from fcruples of confcience, and partly from a defire of gratifying his paffions, the king wifhed to be divorced from his first wife, Catherine, who had been married to his brother Arthur. The Pope not readily complying with his folicitations for obtaining a divorce, he took another method of accomplishing his purpofe. The opinions of learned doctors and univerfities were fought for, and appealed to; and it was determined, by many decifions, that the marriage was contrary to the law of God. The refult of the affair was an abfolute quarrel with the court of Rome; which concluded in the total renunciation of the pope's fupremacy,

and in conferring upon Henry, by act of parliament, the title and prerogatives of fupreme head of the Church of England; a title and prerogatives that have ever fince been deemed a facred and effential part of the royal dignity. For feveral years, the two grand controverfies of the time, which employed the pens of the ablest men at home, and of many abroad, were concerning the validity of the king's marriage, and the foundations of papal or regal fupremacy. Thefe controverfies are now of little moment, and fcarcely any one thinks it worth his while to look into them. But they were of great importance at the period we are treating of; and, befides their importance in their own nature, they ferved to fharpen the human mind, to leffen its reverence for ecclefiaftical authority, and to prepare the way for freedom of enquiry on fubjects of the highest confequence..

The ftate of things, with refpect to religion, was very fingular, during the reign of Henry the Eighth, arifing from his peculiar character and opinions. By virtue of his fupremacy, he took upon him abfolutely to direct the faith of his fubjects; and those who did not fubmit to his dictates were expofed to perfecution. At the fame period, fuch as maintained the authority of the pope, and fuch as denied the doctrine of tranfubftantiation, were condemned to the scaffold or the ftake. It was a fin not to go fo far as the fovereign in religious opinion, and it was equally a fin to go beyond him. Such, too, was the capricioufnefs of the king, that his fubjects could never know, with certainty, when or where their faith was to be fixed. Sometimes he permitted a confiderable departure from feveral of the tenet of the Romish church, and fometimes he demanded a clofer adherence to them; and the people were expected to fashion their creed, without hesitation, according to his varying dictates.

Amidst all this abfurdity and tyranný of conduct, the knowlege of religion increafed. Important queftions could not be agitated, the fupremacy of the pope could not be abolished, the monafteries could not be diffolved, and other alterations introduced, without giving a great

agitation to the minds of men, and occafioning many per fons to pursue their fecret fpeculations much farther than the king thought fit to prefcribe. This difpofition was greatly cherished, in confequence of the tranflation of the Bible, first by Tindale, and afterwards by royal authority; and by the permiffion which Henry granted to all the subjects in his dominions, to read it without control or hazard, Nor was it a small effect that was produced by a greater frequency of preaching, and by a new mode of it which was now introduced,

Amidst the variety of theological debates, the number of writers in divinity would of course be multiplied; and accordingly a catalogue of them would be far more numerous than what has occurred in any preceding article. According to the principles they maintained, they may naturally be diftributed into two parties; thofe who opposed, and those who favoured the doctrines of the Reformation. Of the former fort the moft eminent were, John Fisher, bishop of Rochester, Edward Powell, John Longland, bihop of Lincoln, Cuthbert Tonftall, bishop of Durham, fir Thomas More, Edward Lee, archbishop of York, Robert Wakefield, Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, Richard. Smith, and cardinal Pole. Fisher has been noticed by us under the preceding reign. It is to be regretted that fo learned and excellent a man fhould have preferved fuch a bigotted attachment to the authority of the Roman See; but, at the fame time, the integrity of his character places him, in point of reputation, infinitely above many of his contemporaries, who, though fecretly entertaining fimilar principles, fubmitted to the tyranny of Henry, and complied with all his requifitions. This en comium is equally applicable to fir Thomas More, whom we shall have occafion to fpeak of hereafter, under a more agreeable character than that of a theological writer. Some of the perfons above mentioned, and particularly cardinal Pole, will come under review in a future article.

With refpect to the divines who were favourable to, or who fupported the Reformation, the chief were, Hugh Latimer, bishop of Worcester, William Tindale, John

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