change of government. The noble strains of Spenser, Sidney, Barnes, and a host of true poets, all conformed to the popular taste; their compositions abound in allusions from which a creed of evangelical doctrine might be readily compiled. A cluster of minor poets, some of the purest water, join in the chorus of compliment to Scriptural truth, and thus the language of theology gained in gracefulness and expression.

Mingled with these, are many productions which breathe the true sentiments of devout hearts and enlightened minds. The following verses, from a piece by an anonymous writer in 1579, afford a fair specimen of this class of productions :—

"The Refuge of a Sinner.

Soyled in sinnes, O Lord! a wretched sinfull ghoste,

To Thee I call, to Thee I sue, that showest of mercie most:
Who can me helpe but Thou, in whom all healp doth rest?
My sinne is more than man can mend, and that Thou knowest best.
On whome then shall I call, to whom shall I make mone?
Sith man is mightlesse sin to cure, I seek to thee alone;
In Thee I knowe all might and power doth remayne,
And at Thy handes I am well sure mercie I shall obtain.
Thy promise cannot fayle, wherein I me repose;

To Thee alone (els to no man) my harte wylle sinne disclose :
The sinner Thou dost save, no Saviour els I finde;
Thou onely satisfied hast for the sinne of all mankynde,
The sacrifice whereof Thou offeredst once for aye,

Whereby His wrath for Adam's gylt Thy Father put awaye.'

The pulpit began to exhibit graces of style, as well as soundness in the faith. It lost in the vehemence of its utterances, but gained in beauty of composition.

* Parker Society, vol. ii., 508.

It argues much for the spirituality of preacher and hearers, when we find Edward Deringe at this period addressing them thus :-" "If our hearts cannot comprehend all the wisdom of God in the wind that bloweth, how he raiseth it up or maketh it fall again, how can we understand this wisdom of our uniting with Jesus Christ Only this can I say: God hath given us faith, in which we may believe it, and out of which such joy shineth in our minds as crucifieth the world, not us. How far our reason is from seeing it, it skilleth not; it is sufficient if we believe it. We believe in the Lord our God; yet we know not what is His countenance. We believe, and apprehend by hope, his glory; yet neither eye can see it, nor ear can hear it. We believe and see immortality; yet our heart cannot comprehend the height, the breadth, the length, the depth. We believe the resurrection of the dead; yet we cannot understand such excellent wisdom, how life is renewed in the dispersed and scattered bones and ashes."

The demand for religious instruction, which sprang up in the train of the English Bible, soon exceeded the means of supply. The beneficed clergy were too few, and many of them too ill-qualified, to satisfy the occasion. In this state of things, a number of educated men, possessing a desire to be useful in this respect, obtained episcopal licence without any cure. They were styled lecturers, and became greatly popular. The benevolent and wealthy landowners and merchants appointed and paid them. They did not exclude or supersede the services of the regular clergy, but came in aid of them.

Four of such lecturers were nominated for Lancashire, and similar proportions in other counties. Henry Smith, one of the most noted preachers of the age, testifies to the fervid religionism which now began to prevail. He says "The poor receive the gospel; the young men are more forward in the truth and more zealous than the aged, the son than the father, the servant than his master."

In 1599, Dr. Holland states that there were “in this realm 5,000 preachers, catechists, exhorters; God be praised, who increases the number of them." In the MS. returns of the bishops in 1603, it is stated that, besides the preachers, there are many honest ministers well able to catechize and privately to exhort, though they have not the gift of utterance, and audacity to preach in the pulpit."*

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But, notwithstanding these favourable tokens, it was soon discovered that the golden age of piety had not yet arrived. The fond hopes of the faithful, that the Queen's advent had ushered in the reign of religious peace, were soon destroyed. The squabbles about vestments, the rude interposition of royal authority in ecclesiastical matters, the ordinances against unlicensed preachers, the persecution for attendance at conventicles, the rough usage of the worthy Marian exiles,-all throw their shadows across the path of the historian.

The good citizens of London, about the year 1566, used on Saturdays to send to the house of old Father Coverdale, to know where he would preach on the morrow. * Haweis' Sketches, p. 306.

For though he was deprived of his living of St. Magnus for nonconformity, yet the authorities did not interfere with him in the prosecution of his lifelong and beloved work. He was now nearly eighty years of age, the last connecting link between the ante-Reformation struggle and the present; an eminent scholar,-one who had been in peril and exile for the Gospel,-a friendly, liberal, loveable old man,-an admirable preacher. His popularity gave offence to the ruling prelates; the good man was obliged at last to tell his friends that he durst not inform them of the place of his preaching, for fear of his superiors; and thus, in the midst of the light which he himself had so much helped to kindle, he died in comparative obscurity, in the year 1568, and was buried, amidst the sorrows of a vast crowd of people, in the chancel of St. Bartholomew's, behind the Exchange,-a place now unmarked save by the traffic of the world, but dear to the memory of all who love to contemplate the heroism of holiness.

In considering the historical development of religion since the dark ages, we must bear in mind that there have been four classes of reformers :-reformers before the Reformation-men who nourished faith and hope when action was impossible; reformers, who from timidity or worldly policy, repudiated public reformation; reformers who added action to conviction, and actually effected the Reformation; and, lastly, reformers of the Reformation itself,-men who would not, under the pretext of peace, accept any finality short of entire conformity to the Scriptures. It is our happiness to

know, that there have ever been, holy, eminent, devoted Christians in each of these classes. So infirm are we, even at the best, that the regenerating grace of God, and living faith in the Saviour, by no means produce uniform results, either in clearness of vision, depth of emotion, or courage in action.

The rise of the great religious parties, which still prevail in this country, may be traced back to the commencement of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. First, the Ritualistic, or high-church section; secondly, the Evangelical, or low-church;-the latter again divided into, first, those who accept the order and discipline enjoined by the State; secondly, those who, not denying the right of the State to ordain, yet object to its enactments, agitate for a change, and become Nonconformists. The last again subdivide, into first, such as desire the State to conform to their views; and, secondly, those who deny the right or province of the State to interfere with religion.

The first overt act of Nonconformity, was the hiring of Plumbers' Hall, in the City, for an assembly, and setting up there a separate communion. Those who were resolved on separation from the State Church had met secretly before; but this was a public act, and was followed by the breaking-up of their meeting, and apprehension of the leaders. The latter were brought before the Court of High Commission. The plea of the separatists was, that they entertained conscientious objection to the vestments of the established clergy. The whole question is made quite clear by the record of their