be instructed by us." Catherine cautiously replied, that she objected only that she might be benefited by his superior knowledge. "Is it so, sweet heart?" said the king; "and tended your arguments to no worse end? Then are we perfect friends again." After this interview, Gardiner lost his influence, and was never restored to the royal favor whilst Henry lived.

Henry VIII. had occupied the throne almost half of a century; but his life now drew near to its close. He died on the 27th of January, 1547, having been one of the most powerful, despotic, inconsistent and cruel monarchs that ever wore a crown. He left the religious affairs of his kingdom in an unsettled state. The creed of the church was neither that of the Protestants nor Papists, but a strange mixture of the doctrines of both, which no one probably except its royal maker ever believed. It remained for others to arrange the discordant materials bequeathed them by the capricious Henry, and to complete the unfinished work.

CHAPTER XVIII.

EDWARD VI.-SOMERSET

PROGRESS OF THE RE

FORMATION-JOAN BOCHER - NORTHUMBERLANDDEATH OF EDWARD VI. 1547-1553.

AFTER the death of Henry VIII. his son Edward VI. then but little more than nine years of age ascended the throne. "With his mother's gentleness and suavity of disposition, this young prince inherited his father's capacity and diligence and love of learning." His preceptors were selected from among the Reformers; and he was early remarkable for the purity of his character and his unaffected piety. At his coronation, when, according to custom, three swords were brought to be carried before him, he observed that there was one yet wanting, and called for the Bible. "That," said he, "is the sword of the spirit, and ought in all right to govern us, who use these for the people's safety by God's appointment. Without that sword we are nothing and can do nothing. Under that we ought to live, to govern, and to perform all our affairs. From that alone we obtain all power, virtue, grace, salvation, and whatsoever we have of divine strength." One who was about the person of the youthful monarch, de

scribes him as, "the beautifullest creature that lived under the sun; the wittiest, the most amiable, and the gentlest thing of all the world."

Edward, however, was a mere boy, and the government of his kingdom was carried on by others. During the first years of his reign, his uncle, the Duke of Somerset, was appointed the Governor of the king and the Protector of the realm. This nobleman was favorably disposed towards the Reformation, and encouraged Cranmer and the rest of the Protestant clergy in their efforts to destroy the remnants of Popery in England. The changes begun by Henry were finished, and new innovations were introduced. All acts which countenanced the Romanists were annulled. The law of Six Articles was repealed; priests were allowed to marry; the images were removed from the churches; the doctrine of the real presence was given up; auricular confessions were abolished, and a book of Common Prayer was prepared for the use of the people.

These and like innovations were proposed by some of the Protestants from pure motives; but this remark cannot be applied to its full extent to Somerset or many of his coadjutors. However much we may have occasion to rejoice at the progress made by the Reformation at this period, it cannot be denied that it was effected

in many instances by unjust means and for wicked ends. In monarchical governments, during a long minority, it has usually happened that the nobility have been busy with intrigues to increase their own wealth and power; this was the case in the reign of Edward VI. To enrich themselves by the plunder of the Church was the chief object of the Protector and his party. The Cathedrals were stript of their ornaments; the Monasteries were torn down and their lands bestowed upon the nobles; even the libraries, with their valuable manuscripts, did not entirely escape the general havoc. "Private men's halls were now hung with altar cloths; their tables and beds covered with the priests' vestments, instead of carpets and coverlits. It was a sorry house which had not somewhat of this furniture, though it were only a fair cushion covered with such spoils, to adorn their windows or make their chairs have something in them of a chair of state."

Such shameless proceedings were a source of grief to the sincere friends of reform, and were regarded with sorrow by the young king. On one occasion, after the nobles had been carrying on their work of plunder to an enormous extent, the Lord Admiral, a brother of the Protector, had the hardihood to propose, that the bishops should be deprived of the most of their revenues,

on the ground that they ought not to be troubled with temporal concerns. Edward understood his purpose, and answered him with great severity; -"You have had among you," said he, "the commodities of the abbeys which you have consumed, some with superfluous apparel, some at dice and cards and other ungracious rule; and now you would have the bishops' lands and revenues to abuse likewise ! Set your hearts at rest; there shall no such alteration be made while I live!"

Under rulers so destitute of principle, and amid such great revolutions in the religious institutions of the kingdom, we should naturally expect to find the people at large in a most wretched condition. This was the fact. Notwithstanding the many exceptions, produced by the labors of the most learned and pious among the clergy, the general character of society was sadly depraved. Controversy and intrigue, amongst the different parties, usurped the place of practical religion, and immorality and wickedness of all kinds every where abounded. Licentiousness, oppression, pride, covetousness, and a hatred of all religion, according to the most eminent preachers of the day, were widely spread among all the people; chiefly those of a higher rank; "and the sins of England," says Burnet, "did call down from heaven