neither suit nor service; for so much as I know him by the Scripture to be the great Antichrist, the son of perdition, the open adversary of God, and the abomination standing in the holy place." Upon hearing this the king was greatly offended, and ordered the clergy to proceed against him to the utmost.

Cobham immediately shut himself up in his castle and defied, for a time, his persecutors. But the archbishop passed sentence of excommunication against him, and as he was supported by the king, Cobham found that nothing was to be gained by resistance. He therefore changed his course of action, and writing a statement of his belief, presented it to Henry, beseeching him to regard it with mercy. This paper had no effect to soften his judges. He was seized and brought to trial. His intrepid spirit would make no concessions. He was reviled and insulted, and engaged in many debates with his enemies, but he remained firm and constant in his adherence to the opinions of Wickliffe. On one occasion, Arundel offered him absolution, if he would humbly desire it:-"Nay forsooth, will I not," he replied, "for I never yet trespassed against you, and therefore I will not do it!" He then knelt down and lifting his hands, cried out, "I shrive me here unto Thee, my eternal God, that in my youth I offended thee, O Lord, most griev

ously in pride, wrath, covetousness, and gluttony! Many men have I hurt in mine anger, and done many other horrible sins! Good Lord, I ask Thee mercy!" After uttering this prayer, he again stood up and addressed the assembly, "Lo good people! for the breaking of God's law and his commandments they never yet cursed me! But for their own laws and traditions most cruelly do they handle me and other men. And, therefore, both they and their laws, by the promise of God, shall utterly be destroyed!"

This bold conduct only exasperated his persecutors, and he was soon afterward condemned to death. By some means or other, Cobham escaped from the Tower before the day appointed for execution. There is reason to believe that the Lollards rallied around him, and formed a conspiracy against the king. This part of his history is, however, very obscure. He kept concealed during four years; at last he was discovered in Wales. He was determined to defend himself to the last, and not to be taken alive; but a woman disabled him by breaking his legs with a stool. He was carried to London and burnt in St. Giles's Fields in 1417, praising God with his latest breath.

Many other instances of martyrdom, extending through several reigns, might be recited; but these are sufficient to show the relentless spirit

of persecution, with which all who ventured to deny the pretensions of the Pope were visited, and to give some idea of the courage which animated the Reformers. The sufferings of the heretics were undoubtedly beneficial to the cause of truth. When the people beheld the anxiety of the Papists to put an end to inquiry, and the firmness with which their victims met death, they became curious to learn more of that new doctrine, so alarming to the clergy and so comforting to its professors; and the consequence was, that persecution did more to increase, than to diminish, the numbers of the Lollards.

STRUCTION OF THE POPE'S SUPREMACY IN ENGLAND-PERSECUTION. 1509-1534.

WICKLIFFE'S translation of the Bible and the labors of the Lollards lessened the attachment of many of the people to the Romish Church, and in some measure prepared the way for the destruction of its authority in England. The demand for a reformation grew continually louder, until it was partially answered from a quarter, whence little aid was to have been expected. The caprice and passion of a tyrannical monarch were made to some extent instrumental in the promotion of religious truth and liberty. To continue our history, therefore, we must enter a new field, and from the occurrences and intrigues of the long and despotic reign of Henry VIII. endeavour to select those incidents which mark the progress of the Reformation.

Henry VII. having been penurious and oppressive in his habits and temper, the elevation of his son to the throne in the year 1509, was hailed as a joyful event. The young prince appeared to be as generous in his feelings, as he

was commanding in his person and accomplished in his manners. He was prodigal in his expenditures, liberal in his tastes, and although of a choleric disposition, he seemed on the whole to be good natured and under the influence of a sense of justice. The passions which in after times made him a tyrant had not yet showed themselves. Previous to the death of his father he took no part in political affairs, his time being devoted to literature and theology. At the commencement of his reign he was a strong papist, and in 1522 published a book in answer to Luther's treatise on the Babylonish Captivity. This performance was sent to the Pope, with great pomp, who received it graciously, and bestowed upon its author the appellation of Defender of the Faith, a title still retained by the kings of England, although in a very different sense from that in which it was granted.

The early promise which Henry gave of being a faithful supporter of the Romish Church and a good sovereign was soon disappointed. Not many years had elapsed, before he began to exhibit a most selfish, capricious, and vindictive temper, which regarded neither the sanctity he had ascribed to the Pope nor the lives of his own subjects. This tyrannical disposition first showed itself in his efforts to put away his queen, Catherine of Arragon, who had formerly been