before your Grace, but was invited to it; and would be willing, if I have incurred your displeasure, to give way to my superiors. I grant there are many more worthy of the room than myself; and if it be your Grace's. pleasure to appoint them preachers, I should be happy to bear their books after them. But if your Grace continues me, I must beg leave to discharge my conscience, and suit my subject to the audience." Though the King had looked very stern before Latimer thus expressed himself, he appeared quite satisfied with this answer, and even smiled upon the good Bishop.

The Popish party, however, soon after triumphed, by bringing their malicious intentions to bear. Six articles of faith were drawn up by the immediate direction of Henry the Eighth, which all persons were directed to subscribe on pain of imprisonment, and even, in many cases, of death. These articles were full of Popish errors, which Latimer detested: he therefore voted against them in parliament, preferring a good conscience to the favour of his Prince. Herein he imitated the faith of Moses, who accounted the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. This conduct obliged him to resign his bishopric; and it is said, that on coming home from the house of parliament, he threw off his robes, and jumping for joy, declared he felt lighter than for many years past.

Latimer now retired into the country, where he kept out of the way of controversy, and spent his time in doing good. But he was soon after obliged to go up to London, to seek for medical aid, on account of a violent bruise which he received through the fall of a tree. His enemies took this opportunity of laying hold of him, and determined to wreak their vengeance, cast him into the Tower, at the advanced age of seventy-one. Here he was treated as a criminal, left destitute, and confined for six years. Death was continually staring him in the face, and it is a wonder that he escaped at this time.

When, in the year fifteen hundred

and forty-seven, King Edward of blessed memory came to the crown, Latimer was set free from prison, and was very warmly pressed to accept the bishopric of Worcester again. His age and infirmities were however such, that he begged leave to decline the honour, and persevered in his refusal. At the express invitation of good Archbishop Cranmer, he was now persuaded to reside with him at Lambethpalace. Here he employed his time in acts of piety. He assisted in compiling the Book of Homilies, which contains throughout his sentiments on all the great doctrines and duties of religion.

He was now often called upon to preach before the King. His sermons were delivered in a public garden at Court, which had hitherto been used for the purpose of revelry or sinful mirth. He also preached very often in and about London. His preaching was marked by all its former simplicity, faithfulness, and energy. In the latter part of King Edward's reign, he obtained leave to preach in any part of the kingdom. Accordingly he went about with the zeal of an Apostle, from place to place, calling upon men every where to repent, and to seek the salvation of Christ. It was a favourite sentiment with him, that he should one day or other be called on to lay down his life for the sake of his great Master; but none of these things moved him, neither did he count his life dear unto himself, so that he might finish his course with joy, by a faithful discharge of his ministerial duties. What an example even to young ministers, is the zeal and courage of this aged and infirm old man! Oh! may many Latimers be raised up, by the divine blessing, in the Church which he loved, and of which he ranks among the brightest

ornaments.

up

When Queen Mary (best known by the name of bloody Mary) came to the crown, on the lamented death of good King Edward, the Popish party again triumphed. Mary was a furious bigot, and thought she could not do God greater service than by ridding the world of such men as Latimer and

his friends. He might, however, have escaped the fury of the Popish party, had he chosen to fly. But, like a valiant soldier of Christ, he rather chose to go on preaching as before, and spreading every where the great doctrines of the Reformation. This conduct soon procured him an order to appear before the Council at London. He chose to obey the summons, though an opportunity was still left him to escape." My friend," said he to the man who came for him, "you are a welcome messenger to me. And be it known to you, and to the whole world, that I go as willingly to London at this present time, to render an account of my doctrine, as ever I did to any place in the world." Latimer immediately set off on his journey, and as he passed through Smithfield, the place where so many holy martyrs perished in the flames for Christ's sake, he observed, that "Smithfield had long groaned for him." He was treated by the Council with much eruelty, and sent to the Tower. His great age and increasing infirmities rendered this second imprisonment worse than the first. The cold was very pinching to his body; death appeared also to be nigh at hand; yet he continued cheerful and happy.

One day, when it was a hard frost, and he was suffering all the severity of the cold without a bit of fire, he told the lieutenant of the Tower, in a smiling way, that if he were not

taken better care of, he should certainly escape by death out of his enemies hands. Many men would have poured forth a torrent of reproach at such savage treatment, but the good Bishop bore it with this christian meekness. That gracious Savior whose salvation he preached, and whose glory was his first object, supported him in the hour of trial. This light affliction, which was but for a moment, worked for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. After being confined for a long time in the Tower, Latimer was at length removed, on the tenth of April, fifteen hundred and fifty-four, to Oxford, together with Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Ridley, Bishop of

London, his friends and fellow-sufferers.

At Oxford, Mr. Latimer and his friends were called upon to dispute before the University, upon certain articles of faith sent down there by Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester.These were

1. Whether the real body of Christ be corporally present in the sacramental bread, after the words spoken by the priest.

2. Whether, after the words of consecration, there is any other substance in the bread and wine of the sacrament, than the real body and blood of Christ.

3. Whether the Catholic mass be a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the quick and the dead.

Several learned men were sent by the University of Cambridge to Oxford, to maintain these points against Latimer and his friends. The day of the disputation at length came. There was a sermon and mass performed before the University, at St. Mary's Church, in the morning. After this, they went in procession to ChristChurch. First went the quire in their surplices, following the cross; then the first year regents and proctors; then the doctors of law, and a beadle before them; then the doctors of divinity of both universities, the vicechancellor, and the prolocutors, preceded by many beadles. After them came the bachelors of divinity, the regents and non-regents. The bachelors of law and of arts followed. A great company of scholars and undergraduates closed the procession. After service, the commissioners, doctors, and many others, proceeded to dinner with the mayor and aldermen. They returned again to St. Mary's in the afternoon, when the disputation began. Archbishop Cranmer and Bishop Ridley were brought in one after another. Both denied the truth of the aforementioned articles, and argued most forcibly against them, showing how contrary they were to the testimony of the word of God. Last of all, Latimer was brought forward.He appeared before the court with a handkerchief and two or three caps

on his head, his spectacles hanging by a string to his breast, and a staff in one hand. In the other he had the New Testament. He was allowed to sit down, probably on account of his age and infirmities. The disputation went on for several days. Latimer and his friends were hissed at and mocked by the court on these occasions, and every unfair advantage was taken by their enemies. But God gave to his faithful servants a mouth and wisdom, which nothing could gainsay nor resist.

His last examinations were before White, Bishop of Lincoln, Brooke, Bishop of Gloucester, and others. After giving his reasons very forcibly for rejecting the two first of the aforementioned articles, he was questioned on the third, viz. Whether the Catholic mass be a sacrifice propitiatory for the sins of quick and dead. To which he replied, "No, no, my Lord; Christ made one perfect sacrifice for all the whole world, neither can any man offer him again, neither can the priest offer up Christ again for the sins of man, which he took away by offering himself once for all (as St. Paul saith) upon the cross; neither is there any propitiation for our sins, saving his cross only."

Again, the same question being put to him a second time, he replied "Christ made one oblation and sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and that a perfect sacrifice; neither needeth there to be any other, neither can there be any other propitiatory sacrifice."

The Bishop of Lincoln now exhorted Latimer to abjure his errors; to which he answered, that he would not deny his master Christ, nor his truth. Upon this the Bishop read aloud his condemnation.

He was taken back to prison, against the day of his martyrdom. From his prison he wrote thus to a pious woman, named Wilkinson, who had paid him much kind attention.

"If the gift of a pot of cold water shall not be in oblivion with God, how can God forget your manifold and bountiful gifts, when he shall say

to you, I was in prison, and ye visited me? God grant us all to do and suffer while we are here, according to his will and pleasure. Amen.

"H. LATIMER."

On the sixteenth of October, fifteen hundred and fifty-five, Latimer and Bishop Ridley, who had lived together in the same prison, and both, like Christ Jesus, witnessed a good confession, were brought forth upon the north side of the city of Oxford, over against Baliol College, to be burnt to death.

Latimer was dressed in a poor Bristol frieze frock, all worn, with his buttoned cap, and a handkerchief on his head, a new long shroud hanging over his hose down to the feet. The hearts of all men began to pity this great man, who a few years back had been a Bishop, but now was brought to such a desperate condition.

Yet in the sight of God, who seeth not as man seeth, Latimer never appeared so honourable as in this moment, when he came forth to die in the cause of Christ. As they passed by the place where Archbishop Cranmer was confined, Ridley looked up, hoping to have seen him at the window, but was disappointed. looking back, he saw Latimer behind him, and called out, "Oh! are you there?"-" Yes," said the venerable old man, " coming after you as fast as I can follow."

Then

At length they both came to the stake. Here Ridley embraced Latimer, and said, "Be of good heart, brother; for God will either, assuage the fury of the flame, or else strengthen us to abide it." Then he went to

the stake, kneeled down by it, kissed it, and most earnestly poured forth his soul in prayer. Behind him Latimer kneeled, calling upon God with equal earnestness.

Now came forward one Doctor Smith, who for the space of a quarter of an hour called upon these holy men to recant, that their lives might be saved. Ridley answered in the name of both, "So long as the breath is in my body, I will never deny my

Lord Christ, and his known truth." Then rising up, he said, "I commit our cause to Almighty God, who shall indifferently judge all." They now began to undress. All Latimer's clothes were taken away but his shroud: in this he stood forth, and seeming to rise above his age and infirmities stood quite upright, and appeared a most reverend figure.

Then the smith took an iron chain and put it round about both the holy martyrs, to fasten them to the stake. A faggot kindled with fire was then put at Ridley's feet. To whom Latimer thus called out: "Be of good comfort, brother Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as shall, I trust, never be put out." The fire now began to rise around them; upon which Ridley cried out, with a very loud voice, "Lord, Lord, receive my spirit!" Latimer cried out with equal earnestness, "O Tather of Heaven, receive my soul !" He then seemed to embrace the flames. Soon after, he breathed his last.

His dying words were wonderfully fulfilled. He did light up a flame in England which has never gone out. The friends of the Reformed Religion throughout the kingdom, instead of being daunted by his death and that of his companion in the flames, gathered fresh courage from the example which both had set them, of suffering fortitude and holy courage. Daily more and more were brought

over to the true faith of Christ.

Imitate the noble example of these holy martyrs. Never shrink, through the fear of man, from showing yourselves to be the servants of Christ. Fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life.

The great doctrine which these holy martyrs preached, was salvation through faith in the atonement of our crucified Saviour. On this foundation they built their exhortations to that holy and pure life, which is the calling of every servant of Christ. He died for us was their language), that we which live might no longer live unto ourselves, but unto Him who died for us and rose again.

FRENCH PHILOSOPHY,

DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

One naturally conceives of philosophers. as of a serious reflective class of men:

the subjects about which they are conver

sant are both grave and important; the investigation of truth necessarily demands the exercise of the severer powers of the understanding; and the results of their inquiries so nearly affect the happiness of the human race, that the alliance of frivolity with such pursuits exhibits an incongruity of ideas that would be ridiculous if it were not shocking; a confusion of images too monstrous to be comical. In who called themselves philosophers durperusing the works of the French writers ing the last age, the first feeling is a sort of distressing amazement, a kind of horrible surprise; such as overtakes us on

beholding an extravagance of nature, or which travellers are said to experience on entering the mansion of the Prince Palagonia in Sicily, who has crowded into his rooms every fantastic image which a depraved and unnatural fancy could as

sort. These men write of God; of creavirtue; of life, death, and eternity;-ideas tion, providence, redemption; of man and of which the very names are awful to which the mind approaches purified and chastised by reverence ;-and they are as merry as monkeys. They chatter and grin, and talk of the government of the universe, and jest a little, and come back with a light turn to the origin of morals, and then a clever story against priestcraft, and a merry pass at Providence, and adieu, mon cher philosophe! What Were they sane? Is it rational for beshall we say to reasoners such as these? ings who can think and feel, who hope, and fear, and suffer,-for mortal beings, who in a few years must mingle with the dust they tread, to sport with the things in which they are the most vitally concerned, and which may determine their happiness or misery for ever? Is it decent for a feeble creature, crawling upon the earth for a moment, and ready to sink under the pressure of the very atmosphere ways of his Creator, and clap or hiss as if he breathes, to canvass with levity the it were a scene at the opera? If this be the fruit of knowledge, indeed "ignorance is bliss." If this be philosophy, it is that of the petites-maisons.

possessed of some fixed principles, whe We always suppose philosophers to be ther right or wrong; a system, a centre of opinions. Else why do they think? what is the value of reflection, if they are exactly as ignorant as their neighbours? If philosophers therefore attack existing institutions or sentiments, though we may doubt their wisdom, we at least give them credit for wishing to substi

tute notions which they think sounder and more valuable. But the philosophers of France had no opinions at all; they were mere haters; they attacked every thing and recommended nothing. We have difficulties enough to perplex us upon any hypothesis; but these men, instead of applying their skill to unravel the entanglement, only wove new labyrinths in every direction. They contradicted one another, and they contradicted themselves:

"Chaos umpire sits,

And by decision more embroils the fray." Neither in the works of the philosophical writers of France considered as a body, nor in the productions of the individuals, is there any thing to be found worthy of the name of a religious and moral system; unless Helvetius's paradoxes, which they all laughed at, are to claim such a character. They dismissed, indeed, Revelation by general consent, as quite unworthy of the just ideas of a Deity; and having mastered so easily the great despot which had subdued mankind, it was to be imagined that they would open some peculiarly noble and comprehensive views of God and his government, and furnish a solution to some of the great moral questions that had so long distressed the contemplative part of mankind. How did they answer to these expectations? The more daring spirits, such as Diderot and Condorcet, shot up boldly into atheism; defied religion, and insulted morality. D'Alembert, more cool and cautious, seems to have oscillated long, but at last (as La Harpe tells us) judged that probability was in favour of the existence of a God. However, he had so little respect for his probable divinity, that he could sneer bitterly at the moral administration of the world; and declare, in one of his letters, that he was much of the same mind with Alphonsus, who said, that if he had been in the divine councils at the commencement of things, he could have shown how to make a better creation. Voltaire and Rousseau clung stoutly to their theism; but the former, who furiously assailed the Pentateuch, because it dishonoured God by the representations it gives of his character, has more passages in his writings of scandalous impiety and profaneness than could, we verily believe, be collected from all the works of Jews and Christians during three thousand years and the latter, though less impious, has done more to recommend licentiousness and confound all moral sentiments than perhaps any other author that ever lived. So it was in substance with the rest. They patronised negatives. And though our very instincts direct us to the attainment of knowledge, and truth has been the object most ardently pursued by the highest minds in every age, these

great masters of wisdom were content to live and die in a willing and senseless scepticism respecting every thing which best deserves to be investigated-which speaks in accents the most thrilling to our hopes and our fears.

Philosophers should be humble. Those, more especially, who question rather than decide, should recommend their doubts by a tone of caution and modesty. The new academy never dogmatized: but the philosophers of France were superior to precedent and authority. If a prize were offered to the most imperious, irritable, scornful, dogmatic, and polemical body that has ever existed among lettered men, the authors of the Encyclopædia would bear away the palm. Not their brethren the old Epicureans, not the followers of Abelard and Ockham among the schoolmen, not the pedants of the sixteenth century, not the colleges of the Jesuits or the doctors of the Sorbonne, could in such a contest maintain a rivalry with that illustrious fraternity. Touch but one of the brotherhood and all the corporation was in arms; neither virtue, nor talents, nor character, nor station could protect the miserable offender from the stings of the exasperated hive. Almost all who were not their friends were treated as their enemies; and their enemies were fools or hypocrites. They despised every thing and every body (themselves except. ed); and at last they despised one another. It is quite amusing to see how by continually living in their own little circle of antipathies they acquired the true sectarian spirit; and though they began with exclaiming against want of charity in the churchmen, learnt to discard even the appearance of charity towards all but men of their own party. It was thus towards Frenchmen, it was thus towards foreign

ers.

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Hume and Gibbon were tolerated, but Johnson was a superstitious dog;" and Mr. Burke complains that there was an air of contemptuousness about them which greatly detracted from the pleasure of their society. Among all the European communities they seem to have respected none but this country; and one of the principal reasons for this partiality ap pears to have been given by the learned Marquis de Condorcet, who tells us, that "the philosophy of Bolinbroke commented on by Pope, had established in England a system of rational theism, with morals suited to firm and reflective spirits." However, as Frenchmen are apt to ridicule without reason, so for once they applauded without knowledge: for Bolinbroke's pompous inanities never deceived any body but his scholar, who was frightened out of his wits when he heard they meant infidelity; and in spite of Bolinbroke, and of men much abler than he, Christianity has at all times been heartily