SECT. I. enormous treasures, such ample possessions, so CENT. many castles and fortified towns, and had assumed XVI. such an unlimited and despotic authority, that they were in a condition to give law to the sovereign himself, to rule the nation as they thought proper; and in effect, already abused their power so far as to appropriate to themselves a considerable part of the royal patrimony, and of the public revenues of the kingdom. Such, therefore, was the critical state of these northern kingdoms, in the time of Luther, that it became absolutely necessary, either to degrade the bishops from that rank which they dishonoured, and to deprive them of the greatest part of those possessions and prerogatives which they had so unjustly acquired and so licentiously abused, or to see, tamely, royalty rendered contemptible by its weakness, the sovereign deprived of the means of protecting and succouring his people, and the commonwealth exposed to rebellion, misery, and ruin. gress of the France. XXXIV. The kingdom of France was not in- The rise accessible to the light of the Reformation. Mar, and progaret queen of Navarre, sister to Francis I. reforma the implacable enemy and perpetual rival of tion in Charles V. was extremely favourable to the new doctrine, which delivered pure and genuine Christianity from a great part of the superstitions under which it had so long lain disguised. The auspicious patronage of this illustrious princess encouraged several pious and learned men, whose religious sentiments were the same with her's, to propagate the principles of the Reformation in France, and even to erect several protestant churches in that kingdom. It is manifest from the most authentic records, that, so early as the year 1523, there were, in several of the provinces of that country, multitudes of persons, who had conceived the utmost aversion both against the doctrine G 4 XVI. SECT. I. CENT. doctrine and tyranny of Rome, and among these, many persons of rank and dignity, and even some of the episcopal order. As their numbers increased from day to day, and troubles and commotions were excited in several places on account of religious differences, the authority of the monarch and the cruelty of his officers intervened to sup port the doctrine of Rome by the edge of the sword and the terrors of the gibbet and on this occasion many persons, eminent for their piety and virtue, were put to death with the most unrelenting bar barity [y]. This cruelty, instead of retarding, accelerated rather the progress of the Reformation. It is nevertheless true, that, under the reign of Francis I. the restorers of genuine Christianity were always equally successful and happy. Their situation was extremely uncertain, and it was perpetually changing. Sometimes they seemed to enjoy the auspicious shade of royal protection; at others they groaned under the weight of persecution, and at certain seasons they were forgot, which oblivion rendered their condition tolerable. Francis, who had either no religion at all, or, at best, no fixed and consistent system of religious principles, conducted himself towards the protestants in such a manner as answered his private and personal views, or as reasons of policy and a public interest seemed to require. When it became necessary to engage in his cause the German protestants, in order to foment sedition and rebellion against his mortal enemy Charles V. then did he treat the protestants in France with the utmost equity, humanity, and gentleness; but so soon as he had gained his point, and had no more occasion for their services, then he threw off [y] See Beze, Histoire des Eglises Reformeés de France, tom. i. livr. i. p. 5.-Benoit, Histoire de l'Edit de Nantes, livr. i. p. 6.-Christ. Aug. Salig. Histor. August. Confession, vol. ii. p. 190. off the mask, and appeared to them in the aspect CENT. of an implacable persecuting tyrant [≈]. XVI. About this time the famous Calvin, whose SECT. 1.. character, talents, and religious exploits, we shall have occasion to dwell upon more amply 'in the course of this history, began to draw the attention of the public, but more especially of the queen of Navarre. He was born at Noyon in Picardy, on the 10th of July 1509, and was bred up to the law [a], in which, as well as in all the other branches of literature, then known, his studies were attended with the most rapid and amazing success. Having acquired the knowledge of religion, by diligent perusal of the holy scriptures, he began early to perceive the necessity of reforming the established system of doctrine and worship. His zeal exposed him to various perils, and the connections he had formed with the friends of the Reformation, whom Francis I. was daily committing to the flames, placed him more than once in imminent danger, from which he was delivered by the good offices of the excellent queen of [2] The inconsistency and contradiction that were visible in the conduct of Francis I. may be attributed to various reasons. At one time, we see him resolved to invite Melancthon into France, probably with a view to please his sister the queen of Navarre, whom he loved tenderly, and who had strongly imbibed the principles of the protestants. At another time, we behold him exercising the most infernal cruelty towards the friends of the Reformation, and hear him making that mad declaration, that, " if he thought the blood in his arm was tainted with the Lutheran heresy, he would have it cut off; and that he would not spare even his own children, if they entertained sentiments contrary to those of the catholic church." See Flor. de Remond, Hist. de la Naissance et du Progres de l'Heresie, livr. vii. [a] He was originally designed for the church, and had actually obtained a benefice; but the light that broke in upon his religious sentiments, as well as the preference given by his fatherlto the profession of the law, induced him to give up his ecclesiastic vocation, which he afterwards resumed in a purer church. SECT. I. CENT. of Navarre. To escape the impending storm, he XVI. retired to Basil, where he published his Christian institutions; and prefixed to them that famous dedication to Francis I. which has attracted universally the admiration of succeeding ages, and which was designed to soften the unrelenting fury of that prince, against the protestants [b]. And in the of Europe. XXXV. The instances of an opposition to the other states doctrine and discipline of Rome in the other European states, were few in number, before the diet of Augsburg, and were too faint, imperfect, and ambiguous to make much noise in the world. It however, appears from the most authentic, testimonies, that, even before that period, the doctrine of Luther had made a considerable, though perhaps a secret, progress in Spain, Hungary, Bohemia, Britain, Poland, and the Netherlands, and had, in all these countries, many friends, of whom several repaired to Wittemberg, to improve their knowledge and enlarge their views under such an eminent master. Some of these countries openly broke asunder the chains of superstition, and withdrew themselves, in a public and constitutional manner, from the jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff. In others, a prodigious number of families received the light of the blessed Reformation, rejected the doctrines and authority of Rome; and, notwithstanding the calamities and persecutions they have suffered, on account of their sentiments under the sceptre of bigotry and superstition, ☛ [h] This paragraph relating to Calvin, is added to Dr. Mosheim's text by the translator, who was surprised to find, in a History of the Reformation, such late mention made of one of its most distinguished and remarkable instruments; a man whose extensive genius, flowing eloquence, immense learning, extraordinary penetration, indefatigable industry, and fervent piety, placed him at the head of the Reformers; all of whom he surpassed, at least, in learning and parts, as he also did the most of them in obstinacy, asperity, and turbulence. 察 SECT. I. superstition, continue still in the profession of CENT. the pure doctrine of Christianity; while in other, XVL still more unhappy lands, the most barbarous tortures, the most infernal spirit of cruelty, together with penal laws adapted to strike terror into the firmest minds, have extinguished, almost totally, the light of religious truth. It is, indeed, certain, and the Roman catholics themselves acknowledge it without hesitation, that the papal doctrines, jurisdiction, and authority, would have fallen into ruin in all parts of the world, had not the force of the secular arm been employed to support this tottering edifice, and fire and sword: been let loose upon those who were assailing it only with reason and argument. CHAP. III. The History of the Reformation, from the time that the Confession of Augsburg was presented to the emperor, until the commencement of the war which succeeded the league of Smalcald. Augsburg to Charles I. CHAR HARLES V. arrived at Augsburg the 15th The conof June 1530, and on the 20th day of fession of the same month, the diet was opened. As it was prefented unanimously agreed, that the affairs of religion. should be brought upon the carpet before the deliberations relating to the intended war with the Turks, the protestant members of this great assembly received from the emperor a formal permis sion to present to the diet, on the 25th of June, an account of their religious principles and tenets. In consequence of this, Christian Bayer, chancellor of Saxony, read, in the German language, in presence of the emperor and the assembled princes, the famous confession which has been since |