ON Epitaphs my friend has bid me write;
In Epitaphs my soul has no delight:

Take Epitaphs thyself, and may'st thou speed!
In thy success I shall rejoice indeed :

And why?-Because I wish the Light success:
And may Jehovah condescend to bless

And prosper the attempt, when made by thee,
That his great name may thereby honoured be.
But if, when I this earthly scene forsake,
My friends remaining should a fancy take
A tablet to my memory to raise ;

Then let the words inscribed resemble these:

THE EPITAPH.

Here lie the mortal relics of J. D.

A man who humbly sought by faith to be
Clothed with the robe of righteousness divine,
And in his Lord's similitude to shine.

His chief desire was in Him to be found,
Whose love to fallen man did so abound,
That he, for our redemption, sin was made,
And, by his precious death, our ransom paid.
He trusted that his dust (which slumbers here)
Should, at the Saviour's call, once more appear
Informed with life, and fitted to endure,
In union with the soul for evermore.
He also hoped, in that tremendous day,
When this terrestrial globe shall pass away,
Through grace alone to be with them that sing
Immortal praise to Christ their heavenly King.

HENRY THE VIII. THE REFORMATION.

THE reign of Henry the VIII., which begun A. D. 1509, brought about one of the most singular and important changes which have ever taken place in the history of religion. This Monarch, when he ascended the throne, was by no means favourably disposed to the doctrines of the Reformation. He inherited much of that spirit of intolerance which was characteristic of the age in which he lived, and from which even the best men of his day were not exempt. At this period the great German Reformer, LUTHER, stood forward as the enemy of that Anti-christian authority which the Popes of Rome had usurped over men's consciences. Following in the footsteps of Wicklif, he resolutely shook off the yoke which ages of superstition had laid upon the shoulders of Christ's followers, and stirred up the nations of Europe to regain that liberty with which Christ has made his people free. England's Monarch did not at first sympathise with the

G

feelings which animated the breast of the Protestants. He appeared as the determined antagonist of Luther and his followers; and wrote a book to vindicate the claims of the Pope, which procured for him the title of Defender of the Faith.' But that Divine Providence which watches over the hearts of kings, and turns them as rivers of water, so ordered events that in a few years this powerful friend of the Romish interest became its fiercest and strongest enemy. Our limits here do not permit us to relate in detail the several workings of that political machinery which effected this remarkable change of opinions. It must suffice therefore to observe that the hypocrisy and intrigues of the Pope in that point which the King had made a matter of conscience, i. e. his divorce from Catherine, Princess of Arragon, at length opened his eyes to the real character and pretensions of the Papal claims. To what extent Henry's desire to free himself from what he thought an incestuous union, in having married his brother's widow, was governed by scriptural and honest motives, it is not easy to determine. Certain, however, it is that he did not act with any undue haste, nor without deliberation and council. Six years were suffered to elapse in fruitless negociations with the Pope, and in consulting the universities at home and abroad, who all decided upon the propriety of the separation he desired. At the end of this period the King resolved to take the law into his own hands, and thus virtually to set the proud spiritual potentate of Rome at defiance, by again marrying without that consent, or dispensation from his court, which had been so long asked for in vain.

The Queen who was now destined to engage the

affections of the Monarch was Anne Bullen, herself already a Protestant, and at length the mother of that queen Elizabeth, who became afterwards the bulwark of the Reformed Church, and the noblest and most illustrious of the female Sovereigns of England.

One step was undoubtedly gained for the cause of the Reformation by this event. The Pope was no longer acknowledged as the head of the Church in this country. The key stone of the arch which supported his authority was taken away, and henceforth was revived that old precedent of the civil ruler of the State being acknowledged as supreme in all matters relating to Church government, as in the case of Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon and Josiah,

But though the main principle which supported Popery in England was thus irrecoverably overthrown, there was one event but for which the foundations of the Reformation would have been but very insecurely laid. This event was the introducing the whole sacred volume of the Scriptures into our Churches; and this too, be it observed, not in the Latin language as before, but in the English tongue. By the influence of Cromwell, the King's Prime Minister, and of Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, a translation of the Bible*

*This translation was first published, A. D. 1535, by Coverdale; and, with some corrections, was the same as the great Byble set up by authority in the Churches in 1539. The version of the Psalms, retained still in our Common Prayer books, will give the reader an idea of the nature of the translation. The New Testament, and some of the books of the Old, had been translated before by Tindal. Tindal's New Testament was first published in Holland in 1526. Copies and editions of this book were multiplied and introduced into England, to the annoyance of the papists who did all in their power to vilify it as a corrupt translation. See an anecdote illustrating this in 'Light from the

was ordered to be set up in every parish Church of the kingdom, and this under the penalty of forty shillings, during every month for which they remained without one. An historian relates, that this measure was highly popular, and great numbers availed themselves of this privilege of reading or hearing the word of God. Such as had good voices,' he tells us, ' used to be reading it aloud a great part of the day. Many sent their children to school, and when they had learnt to read, they carried them to Church to read their Bibles; some began likewise to argue from them, particularly against taking away the cup in the communion, and the worship in an unknown tongue.'

Another most important change was effected in this reign, by the suppression of the monasteries and convents. These institutions, which had for their object the maintenance of a considerable number of monks and friars, were the strong-holds of superstition, and had become in many instances nurseries of vice rather than of virtue. The abominable frauds of the Romish Church hastened its downfall more than they had promoted its rise. A vial was shewn at Hales, in Gloucestershire, as containing a portion of Christ's blood, which suffered itself to be seen by no person in a state of mortal sin, but became visible when the penitent by his sufferings had obtained forgiveness. It was now discovered, that this was performed by

West,' No. 2, Vol. 3. It was, however, extensively read and circulated though prohibited by Act of Parliament in 1546. On the passing this act, the following remark was made by a poor shepherd in a spare leaf of another volume- When I kepe Mr. Latymer's shype, I bout thys boke, when the Testament was abrogated that shepeherdys might not rede hit, I prey God amende that blyndness.'-Lewis' History of Translation.