SECT. I.

CT.only concluded at Passau the famous treaty of XVI Pacification with the protestants [d], 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 [e].

VIII. The

[d] 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 impossible to come to an 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 Smalcald, should be re-instated in their privileges, their possessions, and employments; that the Imperial chamber at Spire 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.

[e] 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.

SECT. I.

and the

VIII. The troubles of Germany, with several c E N T. other incidents, rendered it impossible to assem- XVI. ble the Diet, which the emperor had promised at the pacification of Passau, so soon as the period The Diet of mentioned in the articles of that treaty. This Augsburg, famous Diet met, however, at Augsburg, in the peace of year 1555, was opened by FERDINAND in the religion. 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 pontif, 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 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 [f]. The difficulties that were to be surmounted before this equitable decision could be procured, the tedious deliberations,

the

[f] See Jo. Schilteri Liber de Pace Religiosa, published in 4to. in the year 1700.-Christ. Lehmanni Acta publica et ariginalia de Pace Religiosa. Francf. 1707.

XVI.

SECT. I.

CENT. the warm debates, the violent animosities and Ser. I bloody wars, that were necessary to engage the greatest part of the German states to consent to conditions so agrecable to the dictates of right reason, as well as to the sacred injunctions of the gospel, shew 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.

mation

gains ground

in Ingland.

The Refor- IX. While these things were transacting in Germany, the friends of genuine Christianity in Englund deplored the 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 domi

XVI. SECT. I.

nions from the sordid fictions of popery, and es- C EN T. tablish 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 British 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 1558, by 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,

SECT. I.

CENT. Rome, established that form of religious doctrine XVI. 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.

In Scotland.

X. The seeds of the Reformation were very early sown 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 pontif, 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 [g], a disciple of CALVIN, whose eloquence

[g] It will not be improper to insert here the character of this famous Scottish Reformer, as it is drawn by the elegant, spirited, accurate, and impartial pen of Dr ROBERTSON, in his History of Scotland, book VI. "Zeal, intrepidity, dis"interestedness (says that incomparable writer) were virtues "which he possessed in an eminent degree. He was ac

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66

quainted, 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 shewed 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 re"claim. This often betrayed him into indecent and undu"tiful expression with respect to the queen's person and conduct. Those very qualities, however, which now rendered 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