The greatest part of those, who had the resolution to dispute the authority of this Imperial Creed, were obliged to submit to it by the force of arms, and hence arose deplorable scenes of violence and bloodshed, which involved the empire in the greatest calamities. Maurice, elector of Saxony, who, for some time, had held a neutral conduct, and neither declared himself for those who rejected, nor for those who had adopted the rule in question, assembled, in the year 1548, the Saxon nobility and clergy, with Melancthon at the head of the latter, and, in several conferences held at Leipsic and other places, took counsel concerning what was to be done in this critical affair. The deliberations, on this occasion, were long and tedious, and their result was ambiguous; for Melancthon, whose opinion was respected as a law by the reformed doctors, fearing the emperor on the one hand, and attentive to the sentiments of his sovereign on the other, pronounced a sort of a reconciling sentence, which he hoped would be offensive to no party. He gave it as his opinion, that the whole of the book called Interim could not, by any means, be adopted by the friends of the Reformation; but he declared, at the same time, that he saw no reason why this book might not be approved, adopted, and received, as an authoritative rule, in things that did not relate to the essential points of religion, in things that might be considered as accessory or indifferent.' This decision, instead of pacifying matters, produced, on the contrary, new divisions, and formed a schism among the followers of Luther, of which farther mention shall be made hereafter, in the history of the church established by that reformer. I shall only observe, that this schism placed the cause of the reformation in the most perilous and critical circumstances, and might have contributed either to ruin it entirely, or to retard considerably its progress, had the pope and the emperor been dexterous enough to make the proper use of these divisions, and to seize the favourable occasion that was presented to them, of turning the force of the protestants against themselves.

The project of a

V. Amidst these contests Paul III. departed this life council at Trent in the year 1549, and was succeeded, the year following, renewed. by Julius III., who yielding to the repeated and importunate solicitations of the emperor, consented to the assembling a council at Trent. Accordingly, in the diet of Augsburg, which was again held under the cannon of an Imperial army, Charles laid this matter before the states and princes of the empire. The greatest part of the princes gave their consent to the convocation of this council, to which also Maurice, elector of Saxony, submitted upon certain conditions. The emperor then concluded the diet in the year 1551, desiring the assembled princes and states to prepare all things for the approaching council, and promising that

By things indifferent, Malanethon understood particularly the rites and ceremonies of the popish worship, which, superstitious as they were, that reformer, yielding to the softness and flexibility of his natural temper, treated with a singular and excessive indulgence upon this occasion.

8 Maurice (who was desirous of regaining the esteem of the protestants of Saxony, which he had lost by his perfidious behaviour to the late elector John Frederick, his benefactor and friend) gave his consent to the reestablishing the council of Trent upon the following conditions:-1st, That the points

of doctrine, which had been already decided there, should be re-examined and discussed anew. 2dly, That this examination should be made in presence of the protestant divines, or their deputies. 3dly, That the Saxon protestants should have a liberty of voting as well as of deliberating, in the council. And 4thly, That the pope should not pretend to preside in that assembly, either in person or by his legates. This declaration of Maurice was read in the diet, and his deputies insisted upon its being entered into the registers, which the archbishop of Mentz, however, obstinately refused.

he would use his most zealous endeavours towards the promoting moderation and harmony, impartiality and charity, in the deliberations and transactions of that assembly. Upon the breaking up of the diet, the protestants took the steps they judged most prudent to prepare themselves for what was to happen. The Saxons employed the pen of Melancthon, and the Wurtembergers that of Brentius, to draw up confessions of their faith, that were to be laid before the new council. Besides the ambassadors of the duke of Wurtemberg, several doctors of that city repaired to Trent. The Saxon divines, with Melancthon at their head, set out also for that place, but proceeded in their journey no further than Nuremberg. They had received secret orders to stop there; for Maurice had no intention of submitting to the emperor's views; on the contrary, he hoped to reduce that prince to a compliance with his own projects. He therefore yielded in appearance, that he might carry his point, and thus command in reality.

Maurice disconcerts the schemes of the emperor.

VI. The real views of Charles V. amidst the divisions and troubles of Germany, which he fomented by negotiations that carried the outward aspect of a reconciling spirit, will appear evidently to such as consider attentively the nature of the times, and compare the transactions of this prince, the one with the other. Relying on the extent of his power, and the success that frequently accompanied his enterprises, with a degree of confidence that was highly imprudent, Charles proposed to turn these religious commotions and dissensions to the confirmation and increase of his dominion in Germany, and by sowing the seeds of discord among the princes of the empire, to weaken their power, and thereby the more easily to encroach upon their rights and privileges. On the other hand, ardently desirous of reducing within narrower limits the jurisdiction and dominion of the Roman pontiffs, that they might not set bounds to his ambition, nor prevent the execution of his aspiring views; he flattered himself that this would be the natural effect of the approaching council. He was confirmed in this pleasing hope, by reflecting on what happened in the councils of Constance and of Basil, in which the lust of papal ambition had been opposed with spirit, and restrained within certain limits. He also persuaded himself, that by the dexterity of his agents, and the number of the Spanish and German bishops that were devoted to his interests, he should be able to influence and direct the deliberations of the approaching council in such a manner, as to make its decisions answer his expectations, and contribute effectually to the accomplishment of his views. Such were the specious dreams of ambition that filled the imagination of this restless prince; but his views and projects were disconcerted by that same Maurice of Saxony, who had been one of the principal instruments of that violence and oppression which he had exercised against the protestant princes, and of the injury he had done to the protestant cause.

A war kindled

between the em

VII. The most considerable princes, not only of Gerperor and Mau- many, but even of all Europe, had, for a long time, addressed rice of Saxony. to the emperor their united entreaties for the deliverance of Philip, landgrave of Hesse, and John Frederick, elector of Saxony, from their confinement; and Maurice had solicited with peculiar warmth and assiduity, the liberty of the former, who was his father-in-law. But all these solicitations produced no effect. Maurice, perceiving at length that he was duped by the emperor, and also convinced that this ambitious monarch was forming insidious designs upon the liberties of Germany, and the jurisdiction of its princes, entered, with the utmost secrecy and expedition, into an alliance with the king of France and several of the German

princes, for the maintenance of the rights and liberties of the empire. Encouraged by this respectable confederacy, the active Saxon marched a powerful army against the emperor in the year 1552; and that with such astonishing valour and rapidity, that he surprised Charles at Inspruk, where he lay with a handful of troops in the utmost security, and without the least apprehension of danger. This sudden and unforeseen event alarmed and dejected the emperor to such a degree, that he was willing to make peace on almost any conditions; and consequently, in a little time after this, he not only concluded at Passau, the famous treaty of Pacification with the protestants, but also promised to assemble, in the space of six months, a diet, in which all the tumults and dissensions that had been occasioned by a variety of sentiments in religious matters should be entirely removed. Thus did the same prince, who stands foremost in the list of those that oppressed the protestants, and reduced their affairs to the greatest extremities, restore their expiring hopes, support and render triumphant their desperate cause, and procure them a bulwark of peace and liberty, which still remains. Maurice, however, did not live to see this happy issue of his glorious expedition; for he lost his life the year following, by a wound received at the battle of Siverhausen, while he was fighting against Albert of Brandenburg.i

The diet of Augs

burgh and the peace of religion.

VIII. The troubles of Germany, with several other incidents, rendered it impossible to assemble the diet which the emperor had promised at the pacification of Passau, so soon as the period mentioned in the articles of that treaty. This famous diet met, however, at Augsburg, in the year 1555, was opened by Ferdinand in the name of the emperor, and terminated those deplorable scenes of bloodshed, desolation, and discord, that had so long afflicted both church and state, by that religious peace, as it is commonly called, which secured to the protestants the free exercise of their religion, and established this inestimable liberty upon the firmest foundations. For, after various debates, the following memorable acts were passed, on the 25th of September: that the protestants who followed the confession of Augsburg should be for the future considered as entirely exempt from the jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff, and from the authority and superintendence of the bishops; that they were left at perfect liberty to enact laws for themselves, relating to their religious sentiments, discipline, and worship; that all the inhabitants of the German empire should be allowed to judge for themselves in religious matters, and to join themselves to that church whose doctrine

As this treaty is considered by the German protestants as the basis of their religious liberty, it will not be amiss to insert here some of its principal articles. By the three first articles it was stipulated, that Maurice and the confederates should lay down their arms, and should lend their troops to Ferdinand to defend him against the Turks, and that the landgrave of Hesse should be set at liberty. By the fourth it was agreed, that the rule of faith called Interim should be considered as null and void; that the contending parties should enjoy the free and undisturbed exercise of their religion, until a diet should be assembled to determine amicably the present disputes (which diet was to meet in the space of six months); and that this religious liberty should continue always, in case that it should be found im

possible to come to a uniformity in doctrine and worship. It was also resolved that all those who had suffered banishment, or any other calamity, on account of their having been concerned in the league or war of Smalcalde, should be re-instated in their privileges, their possessions, and employments; that the Imperial chamber at Spires should be open to the protestants as well as to the catholics; and that there should be always a certain number of the Lutheran persuasion in that high court.

Albert, marquis of Brandenburg, after the pacification of Passau, to which he refused to subscribe, continued the war against the Roman Catholics; and afterwards committed such ravages in the empire, that a confederacy was formed against him, at the head of which Maurice was placed.

and worship they thought the purest, and the most consonant to the spirit of true Christianity; and that all those who should injure or persecute any person under religious pretexts, and on account of their opinions, should be declared and proceeded against as public enemies of the empire, invaders of its liberty, and disturbers of its peace. The difficulties that were to be surmounted before this equitable decision could be procured, the tedious deliberations, the warm debates, the violent animosities, and bloody wars, that were necessary to engage the greatest part of the German states to consent to conditions so agreeable to the dictates of right reason, as well as to the sacred injunctions of the gospel, show us, in a shocking and glaring point of light, the ignorance and superstition of these miserable times, and stand upon record, as one of the most evident proofs of the necessity of the Reformation.

The reformation

IX. While these things were transacting in Germany, gains ground in the friends of genuine Christianity in England deplored the England. gloomy reign of superstition, and the almost total extinction of true religion; and, seeing before their eyes the cause of popery maintained by the terrors of bloody persecution, and daily victims brought to the stake, to expiate the pretended crime of preferring the dictates of the gospel to the despotic laws of Rome, they esteemed the Germans happy, in having thrown off the yoke of an imperious and superstitious church. Henry VIII. whose personal vices, as well as his arbitrary and capricious conduct, had greatly retarded the progress of the reformation, was now no more. He departed this life in the year 1547, and was succeeded by his only son Edward VI. This amiable prince, whose early youth was crowned with that wisdom, sagacity, and virtue, that would have done honour to advanced years, gave new spirit and vigour to the protestant cause, and was its brightest ornament, as well as its most effectual support. He encouraged learned and pious men of foreign countries to settle in England, and addressed a particular invitation to Martin Bucer and Paul Fagius, whose moderation added a lustre to their other virtues, that, by the ministry and labours of these eminent men, in concert with those of the friends of the reformation in England, he might purge his dominions from the sordid fictions of popery, and establish the pure doctrines of Christianity in their place. For this purpose he issued out the wisest orders for the restoration of true religion; but his reign was too short to accomplish fully such a glorious purpose. In the year 1553, he was taken from his loving and afflicted subjects, whose sorrow was inexpressible, and suited to their loss. His sister Mary, the daughter of Catharine of Arragon, from whom Henry had been separated by the famous divorce, a furious bigot to the church of Rome, and a princess whose natural character, like the spirit of her religion, was despotic and cruel, succeeded him on the English throne, and imposed anew the arbitrary laws, and the tyrannical yoke of Rome, upon the people of England. Nor were the methods she employed in the cause of superstition better than the cause itself, or tempered by any sentiments of equity or compassion. Barbarous tortures, and death in the most shocking forms, awaited those who opposed her will, or made the least stand against the restoration of popery. And, among many other victims, the learned and pious Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, who had been one of the most illustrious instruments of the reformation in England, fell a sacrifice to her fury. This odious scene of persecution was happily concluded in the year 1588, by J See Jo. Schilten Liber de Pace Religiosa, Lehmann Acta publica et originalia de Face published in 4to, in the year 1700; Christ. Religiosa, Francof. 1707,

1558

the death of the queen, who left no issue, and, as soon as her successor, the lady Elizabeth, ascended the throne, all things assumed a new and a pleasing aspect. This illustrious princess, whose sentiments, councils, and projects breathed a spirit superior to the natural softness and delicacy of her sex, exerted this vigorous and manly spirit in the defence of oppressed conscience and expiring liberty, broke anew the despotic yoke of papal authority and superstition, and delivering her people from the bondage of Rome, established that form of religious doctrine and ecclesiastical government which still subsists in England. This religious establishment differs, in some respects, from the plan that had been formed by those whom Edward VI. had employed for promoting the cause of the reformation, and approaches nearer to the rites and discipline of former times; though it is widely different and in the most important points entirely opposite to the principles of the Roman hierarchy.

X. The seeds of the reformation were very early sown In Scotland. in Scotland, by several noblemen of that nation, who had resided in Germany during the religious disputes that divided the empire. But the power of the Roman pontiff, supported and seconded by inhuman laws and barbarous executions, choked, for many years, these tender seeds, and prevented their taking root. The first and most eminent opposer of the papal jurisdiction, was John Knox, a disciple of Calvin, whose eloquence was persuasive, and whose fortitude was invincible. This resolute reformer set out from Geneva for Scotland, in the year 1559, and in a very short space of time, inspired the people, by his private exhortations and his public discourses, with such a violent aversion to the superstitions of Rome, that the greatest part of the Scottish nation abandoned them entirely, and aimed at nothing less than the total extirpation of popery.m From this period to the present times, the form of doctrine, worship, and discipline, that had been established at Geneva by the ministry of Calvin, has been maintained in Scotland with invincible obstinacy and zeal, and every attempt to introduce into that kingdom the rites and government of the church of England has proved impotent and unsuccessful."

It will not be improper to insert here the character of this famous Scottish reformer, as it is drawn by the spirited, accurate, and impartial pen of Dr. Robertson in his History of Scotland, book VI. "Zeal, intrepidity, disinterestedness (says that incomparable writer) were virtues which he possessed in an eminent degree. He was acquainted, too, with the learning cultivated in that age; and excelled in that species of eloquence which is calculated to rouse and to inflame. His maxims, however, were often too severe, and the impetuosity of his temper excessive. Rigid and uncomplying himself, he showed no indulgence to the infirmities of others. Regardless of the distinctions of rank and character, he uttered his admonitions with an acrimony and vehemence more apt to irritate than to reclaim. This often betrayed him into indecent and undutiful expressions with respect to the queen's person and conduct. Those very qualities, however, which now render his character less amiable, fitted him to be the instrument of Providence for advancing the reformation among a fierce people, and enabled him to face dangers, and to surmount opposition, from which a person of

a more gentle spirit would have been apt to shrink back. By an unwearied application to study and to business, as well as by the frequency and fervour of his public discourses, he had worn out a constitution naturally strong. During a lingering illness, he discovered the utmost fortitude, and met the approaches of death with a magnanimity inseparable from his character. He was constantly employed in acts of devotion, and comforted himself with those prospects of immortality, which not only preserve good men from desponding, but fill them with exultation in their last moments." The earl of Morton, who was present at his funeral, pronounced his eulogium in a few words, the more honourable for Knox, as they came from one whom he had often censured with peculiar severity: "There lies he who never feared the face of man."

See Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. i. p. 165, 232, 234, 569; Calderwood's History of Scotland's Reformation, published in folio at London, in the year 1680; Georg. Buchanani Rerum Scoticar. Hist. lib. xvi. p. 313, edit. Rudimann. folio; Melvil's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 73.

The indignation of the people, which