given to those who renounce the communion of the church of Rome.

An attempt to bring to a termination the disputes which had produced such divisions in the empire, was now made by Charles, who was returning to Germany with the intention of being present at the approaching diet at Augsburg. As the emperor remained hitherto uninformed with reference to the peculiar sentiments of the reformers, the Elector of Saxony ordered Luther and his friends to commit to writing the principal articles of their religious system, and the grounds of their dissent from the church of Rome. Luther, therefore, delivered to the Elector of Torgaw, seventeen articles, which were afterwards called the Articles of Torgaw.

These articles were ex

tended by Melanchton, in a manner which illustrated the elegance and perspicuity of his mind; and afterwards formed the confession of Augsburg.

The alarm which Clement VII. expressed with reference to the spread of the Lutheran tenets, was by no means unfounded, as some of the most considerable provinces in Europe had cast off the Roman yoke. Soon after Luther's rupture with Rome, one of his disciples whose name was Olaus Petri, proclaimed

religious liberty in Sweden. The exertions of this missionary were powerfully seconded by Gustavus Vasa Eriscon, a prince of extraordinary public spirit. In the year 1527, the reformed religion obtained at once a complete triumph, and a permanent establishment.

Denmark also, received the light of the Reformation so early as the year 1521. For this advantage it appears to have been indebted to Christian or Christiern II. who expressed an earnest desire to have his subjects instructed in the principles of Luther. His sole object, however, in favouring the principles of the Reformation, was the gratification of his ambition in destroying the influence of Rome in his dominions, and rendering himself supreme in church and state. Upon the deposition of Christiern, the cause of the Reformation found a more enlightened friend in the person of his uncle Frederick, Duke of Holstein and Sleswick, who was placed on the throne of Denmark. The glorious work of effectually destroying superstition, was however reserved for Christiern III. a prince of distinguished piety and prudence.

In the kingdom of France, the Reformation dawned auspiciously under the patronage of Margaret, Queen of Navarre, sister to Francis I.

the formidable rival of Charles V. The situation of the friends of the Reformation was, however, extremely precarious. Sometimes reposing in the shade of royal protection, at others exposed to the scorching rays of persecution, they had nothing to confide in but their principles, which, however, yielded them solace and support.

About this time the famous Calvin, whose life will form the principal subject of the following pages, began to excite the attention of the public, and to attract the favourable notice of the Queen of Navarre. His zeal exposed him to various perils, from which he was rescued by the good offices of his illustrious friend, the Queen of Navarre. With the intention of digesting and elucidating the principles of the friends of the Reformation, he published his Christian Institutions, to which he prefixed that famous dedication to Francis I. the object of which was to soften the rigour of that prince against his protestant subjects.

Charles V. having arrived at Augsburg on the 15th of June 1530, the diet was opened with great solemnity on the 20th day of the same month. On the 25th of June, Christian Bayer, Chancellor of Saxony, read, in presence of the emperor and the princes assembled, the celebrated confession which has since been dis

C

tinguished by the denomination of the Augsburg Confession. The creatures of the Roman pontiff who were present, employed John Faber, afterwards Bishop of Vienna, to compose a refutation of the confession. The arguments employed by Faber were soon refuted in the most satisfactory manner by Melanchton, who afterwards extended his answer, and in the year 1531, published it under the title of A Defence of the Confession of Augsburg.

A severe decree being issued out against the protestants on the 19th day of November, by the express order of the emperor; the Elector of Saxony and the confederate princes formed an alliance at Smalcald, for the purpose of defending themselves vigorously against the encroachments of Rome. Into this confederacy they invited the kings of England, France, and Denmark, with several other states and republics.

Two remarkable events which occurred at this period, produced respectively the most important results, with reference to the Reformation. In the year 1533, a certain number of anabaptists settled at Munster, a city in Westphalia, where, under the pretext of being invested with a divine commission, they attempted to lay the foundations of a new govern

ment, or a holy and spiritual empire. Having succeeded in overturning all the political institutions in Munster, they proceeded to erect a new republic, the administration of which they committed to John Bockholt, a taylor, and, a native of Leyden. Their triumph, like that of the wicked in general, was short, for in the year 1535, the city was besieged and taken by the Bishop of Munster; when this fanatical king, and his associates, were put to death in the most ignominious manner. While it is impossible to contemplate the conduct of these fanatics, without feeling the glow of indignation; it is important to guard against a disposition to transfer our disgust to those who are distinguished by the same denomination in the present day. Justice, however, requires us to confess, that they are as far removed from every thing offensive in the conduct of the fanatics of Munster, as they are agreed with them on the article of baptism. It would indeed be equally just to reproach the present Americans, on the ground of the character and circumstances of their remote ancestors.

The cause of the Reformation received upon the whole, a considerable accession of strength from the ambiguous support of Henry VIII. King of England, who was the principal agent in delivering his dominions from papal juris