futing the heretic whom he afterwards had the gratification to burn.

The religion established by Henry VIII. was so far from being the reformed church of Luther or of Calvin, that he prided himself, in maintaining the Roman Catholic faith after he had shaken off the supremacy of the Pope. His ordinances indeed vibrated for a short time between the old and the new religion, as he listened more to Cranmer or to Gardiner; but the law of the six articles, which contains the creed he finally imposed on his people, maintains and confirms all the leading articles of the Roman belief. They were as follows:

First, That, in the sacrament of the altar, after the consecration, there remained no substance of bread and wine, but under these forms the natural body and blood of Christ were present. Secondly, That communion in both kinds was not necessary to salvation to all persons by the law of God. Thirdly, That priests after the order of priesthood might not marry by the law of God. Fourthly, That vows of chastity ought to be observed by the law of

God. Fifthly, That the use of private masses ought to be continued; which, as it was agreeable to God's law, so men received great benefit by them. Sixthly, That auricular confession was expedient and necessary, and ought to be retained in the Church.

The actual Reformation in England was the work of the Duke of Somerset, Protector, in the early part of the reign of Edward VI. In the first year of that reign, he sent visitors to persuade the people not to pray to saints, and to procure that images should be broken; that the mass and dirges, and prayers in a foreign language, should be taken away. By act of Parliament in the same year he prohibited speaking against giving the sacrament in both kinds; in that and the two following years he established the liturgy of the church of England. The law of the six articles was repealed. The Reformation in England was thus made by the crown and the aristocracy. The people, though agitated by religious disputes, seem to have been hardly ripe for so great a revolution. Insurrections of a serious nature took place in Devonshire, Norfolk, and elsewhere. The

preaching of the Roman Catholic priesthood produced so strong an impression, that all the means of authority were put in motion to counteract it. The clergy were first ordered not to preach out of their parishes without a license, which of course was granted only to the favoured sect; and this not proving sufficient, preaching was altogether prohibited *;—a singular step in the history of the Reformation!

On the other hand, Mary, on succeeding to the throne, found it an easy matter to revive the ancient worship. Nor did she hesitate to call frequent new parliaments, and each went beyond the former in the road of reconciliation. The first refused to re-establish the law of the six articles, but only one year afterwards, the nation was formally reconciled to the church of Rome, and thanked the Pope for pardoning their long heresy. He said, with equal candour and truth, that he ought to thank them for putting a rich nation again under his dominion.

* Burnet. Hist. Ref.

37

CHAP. V.

QUEEN ELIZABETH.

Sur ce sanglant theâtre, où cent heros périrent,
Sur ce trône glissant, dont cent rois descendirent,
Une femme, à ses pieds enchaînant les destins,
De l'éclat de son règne étonnait les humains.
C'était Elizabeth; elle dont la prudence,
De l'Europe, à son choix fit pencher la balance,
Et fit aimer son joug à l'Anglois indompté,
Qui ne peut ni servir, ni vivre en liberté.

Ses peuples sous son règne ont oublié leurs pertes;
De leurs troupeaux féconds leurs plaines sont couvertes,
Les guérets de leurs blés, les mers de leurs vaisseaux,
Ils sont craints sur la terre, ils sont rois sur les eaux.
Leur flotte imperieuse, asservissant Neptune,
Des bouts de l'univers appelle la Fortune,
Londres jadis barbare est le centre des arts,
Le magasin du monde, et le temple de Mars.

LA HENRIADE, chant 1.

QUEEN Elizabeth is the greatest of English perhaps of all modern sovereigns. In a pe riod remarkable for long and sanguinary wars, she made her name respected abroad, without

a waste of blood or treasure; and in a time of great political ferment, she maintained the most absolute authority at home, without any loss of the affections of her people. She obtained glory without conquest over foreign nations, and unlimited power without becoming odious to her own subjects.

The means by which results so extraordinary were obtained, comprise all the springs of her foreign and domestic policy. Three principal sources of her fame and success, however, may be discerned.

First. She made herself the head of the Protestant interest in Europe. To do this, it was not necessary to place herself in the front of a confederacy of belligerent powers. It was sufficient to give the sanction of the name of England, a rich and united kingdom, to the cause which she supported. The spirit and enterprise of her subjects, with some assistance from her, did the rest. By this policy, also, she pleased the popular feeling of her kingdom, and opened a channel in which all the restless action of her nobility and gentry might be borne out and find a current. The national fame was