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Newark. Stephen observed these | encroachments with alarm, and resolved to check their progress. He availed himself of a quarrel between the dependants of the former prelate, and those of the Earl of Britanny, as a pretence for preventing the further erection of fortifications by the clergy, as well as for possessing himself of those already erected. He accordingly imprisoned these bishops, and seized their fortresses.

But such was the interested attachment of the clerical fraternity such their unity of design and similarity of spirit, that to make one or two the object of attack was to alarm and enrage the whole. This bold, but impolitic, measure of Stephen, roused the indignation of his brother, the Bishop of Winchester, who holding the legantine commission, was more influenced by pride and thirst for dominion, than piety or fraternal affection. Resenting the indignity and pretended impiety of the King, he called a synod at Westminster, on the 30th of August, A. D. 1139, and contended, that the punishment inflicted on the two bishops, was such as none but a spiritual court could inflict. The synod, anxious to improve the present, dared to cite the King before them to account for his conduct; who, unlike a monarch, degraded himself by sending a deputy to accuse the two prelates of treason and sedition, and defend his recent measures. The synod refusing to attend to the case till the castles were restored, and the Bishop of Salisbury avowing his intention of appealing to the Pope, the King terminated the affair, by showing an inclination of ending the dispute in a more prompt and decided manner. Soon after, the Empress Matilda, doubtless hearing of Stephen's perplexities, as well as encouraged by many, and secretly even by the legate himself, arrived in England, and after many useless negociations for peace, the adherents of the Empress, and Stephen, with his troops, met in the vicinity of Lincoln castle; and, on the 2d of February, 1140, engaged each other, when the royalists were beaten, and the King made a captive. Matilda was too well

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acquainted with the nature Popery and its priests, to suppose her success was great till their favour was secured; and the more so, as she had reason to suppose the legate had rather intended to humble than ruin his brother. On the 2d of March she held a conference with him, in a plain near Winchester, and on her promising that he should conduct the administration, and fill all vacant bishoprics and abbies, the allowance of which terms was guaranteed on her part by several nobles, he cautiously consented to acknowledge her right, as long as she should observe these conditions. They then proceeded in procession to Winchester, where, in the presence of many witnesses, he cursed her enemies, and blessed her friends.

The Empress, anxious at any rate to possess the crown, consented to receive it from the clergy; for which crafty purpose, the legate called a synod, at which he delivered a most hypocritical address, pretending still affection for his captive brother, but more for his heavenly Father, who had resigned the King to the hands of his enemies. He boldly declared, that it chiefly belonged to the clergy to elect kings, and that he had convened them for that purpose, and that having sought the direction of God, he now proposed Matilda, the only descendant of Henry, as their queen; to which the assembly consented, except the deputies from London, the only lay-men present, who objected: but the legate evaded their scruples. Yet, not long after, we find this very man instigating the Londoners to revolt, and besieging Matilda at Winchester; and, so precarious was her situation, that she thought it safe to retreat.

How transitory is human greatness! Eugenius III, on succeeding to the Papacy, deprived the Bishop of Winchester of the legantine commission, and gave it to his rival, the Archbishop of Canterbury: and thus humbled his increasing arrogance, and arrested his treachery. The new Pope calling a council, and intent, like his emissaries, upon the augmentation of the ecclesiastical influence, refused to the

Pope Clement V. deposed Henry V. Emperor.

English church the accustomed now part of the Canon Law, the folright of choosing its own represen-lowing decree:-" We declare and tatives. Stephen, who had for some pronounce it, as necessary to salvatime obtained his liberty, and re- tion, that all mankind be subject to sumed his imperfect government, the Roman Pontiff.” tho' depressed, had not lost all spirit, disallowed the attendance of the deputies of the pontiff's appointment; which roused his anger, and Induced him to place the King's party under an interdict, from the terrors and alarms of which, the King could only extricate himself by humiliating submission.

The youth who wisely reads his Bible, scarcely needs to be reminded, that Christianity teaches and enforces the very reverse of all this. It uniformly recommends the exercise and practice of that genuine charity, which" suffereth long and is kind; which doth not behave itself unseemly, which seeketh not her own, but beareth all things.'

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H.S.A.

Pope John XXII. deprived the Emperor Lodovick.

Pope Gregory IX. deposed the Emperor Wenceflaus.

Pope Paul III. deprived Henry VIII. of England.”

Vide Dr. Chandler's sermon. Nov. 5, 1714, page 20.

Popish Imposture in England. In Burnet's History of the Reformation it is said, that in the year 1536, in the reign of Henry VIII, "They discovered many impostures about relicks, and wonderful images, to which pilgrimages had been wont to be made. At Reading they had an angel's wing, which brought over

REFORMATION ANECDOTES, the spear's point that pierced our

Sovereign Princes excommunicated,

"Pope Zachary I. deposed derick, King of France. Pope Gregory VII. Henry IV. Emperor.

deposed

Saviour's side: as many picces of the cross were found, as joined together, would have made a big cross. The Rood of Grace at BoxChil-ley, in Kent, had been much esteemed, and drawn many pilgrims to it: it was observed to bow, and roul its eyes; and look at times well pleased, or angry; which the credulous multitude imputed to a Divine Power; bnt all this was discovered to be a cheat, and it was brought up to St. Paul's Cross; and all the springs were openly shewed, that governed its several motions. At Hales, in Glocestershire, the blood of Christ was shewed in a vial; and it was believed that none could see it who

Pope Urban II. deposed Philip, King of France.

Pope Adrian IV. deposed William, King of Sicily.

Pope Innocent III. deposed Philip, Emperor.

Pope Gregory deposed Frederick II.

Pope Innocent IV. deposed King were in mortal sin: and so after John of England. Pope Urban IV. deposed phred, King of Sicily.

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good presents were made, the deluded pilgrims went way well satisfied if they had seen it. This was the blood of a duck renewed every week, put in a vial very thick of one side, as thin on the other; and

either side turned towards the pilgrim, as the priests were satisfied with their oblations: several other such like impostures were discovered, which contributed much to the undeceiving the people."

Abridg. p. 209.

After

Pilgrimages to Canterbury. "The richest shrine in England was Thomas Beckets at Canterbury, whose story is well known. he had long imbroiled England, and shewed that he had a spirit so turned to faction, that he could not be at quiet; some of Henry the Second's officious servants killed him in the church of Canterbury: he was presently canonized, and held in greater esteem than any other saint whatsoever; so much more was a martyr for the Papacy valued, than any that suffered for the Christian religion: and his altar | drew far greater oblations, than those that were dedicated to Christ, or the blessed Virgin; as appears by the accounts of two of their years. In one, 31. 2s. 6d.; and in another, not a penny was offered at Christ's altar. There was in the one, 631. 5s. 3d.; and in the other, 41. 18. 8d. offered at the blessed Virgin's altar. But in these very years there was, 8321. 128. 3d. and 9641. 6s. 3d. offered at St. Thomas's altar. The shrine grew to be of inestimable value. Lewis the Seventh of France came over in pilgrimage to visit it, and offered a stone, valued to be the richest in Europe. He had not only one holyday, the 29th of December, called his Martyrdom; but also the day of his Translation, the 7th of July, was also a holy-day; and every 50th year there was a Jubily, and an Indulgence granted to all that came and visited his tomb: and sometimes there were believed to be 100,000 pilgrims there on that occasion. It is hard to tell, whether the hatred to his seditious practices, or the love of his shrine, set on King Henry [VIII.] more to unsaint him. His shrine was broken, and the gold of it was so heavy, that it filled two chests, which took eight men a piece to carry them out of the church; and his skull, which had been so much worshipped, was proved to be an imposture; for the true skull was with the rest of his bones in his coffin; his bones were either burnt, as it was given out at Rome; or so mixed with other bones, as our writers say, that it had been a mi

racle indeed to have distinguished them afterwards."

Burnet's Abridg. p. 201.

Revenues of the Church of Rome in the 16th Century.

"The Church had found means to ingross the greatest part of the treasure of the western world into their own hands; and had not a stop been put to their encroachments, in a little while more, they would have inslaved and impoverished all mankind that owned their usurpation.

"Nor need we wonder at this, considering how many hands were employed: the grand fisherman at Rome, had a multitude in every country to angle partly for him, and partly for themselves. Alsted reckons above 100 years ago, that there were then at least 225,044 monasteries in Christendom; and if you allow 40 persons to an house, the number will be more than nine millions. Now all these, and the rest of the ecclesiasticks, which like locusts had overspread the face of the earth, lived upon the plunder of the people: and besides, they had a thousand little tricks, and devices to get money; they could sell a dead man's bones at a vast sum; Austin's particularly (that were | translated from Hippo to Sardinia,) were purchased at 100 talents of silver, and a talent of gold: and having almost an infinite variety of ware, which they put off at no small rate, taking advantage of the superstition and credulity of their silly chapmen, it strangely enriched them: their own poet Mantuan acknowledges, that all things were set to sale at Rome: not only temples, priests, and altars, but heaven and God.

"In the time of our Henry III. it was reckoned, that the pope's revenue out of England exceeded the king's; and some who have endeavoured to make the estimate, tell us, that there went 60,000 marks yearly out of this land to Rome. Some have computed, that the tenths and first-fruits only in England paid to the clergy, amounted to more than 20,000l. per annum."

Bennet's Memorial of the
Reformation, p. 31.

JANE LAYCOCK.

Obituary.

JANE LAYCOCK was born at Upper-Shaw-Booth, near Luddenden, in the parish of Halifax, June 30, (O. S.) 1737. Her parents, William and Sarah Davison, were regular, attendants on the ministry of the Rev. Mr. Smith, of Mixendenchapel. Jane considered her parents as possessed of true piety. When her father lay on his death-bed, Mr. Smith observed to him, "I have not a more upright Christian comes into my chapel." To this Mr. Davison replied, “I fear you have not a greater hypocrite." These fears were, by all who knew him, considered as groundless: but the best of men have their fears. Jane was, at an early age, instructed by her parents to maintain an inviolable regard to truth. This preserved her from many of the extravagancies of youth. In her youth, our friend was warmly impressed with the worth of her soul, under the ministry of that indefatigable labourer in the Lord's vineyard, the Rev. G. Whitfield; she also attended regularly on the ministry of the Rev. W. Grimshaw, of Haworth. These apostolic men, Jane heard at every opportunity: she was diligent, serious, and exemplary in all her conduct. In 1769, she lived with Mr. Thomas Hill, of Wilsdon-Hill: at this périod it pleased God to visit her with an alarming affliction. Her hopes, which it appears rested upon her own good works, now all forsook her, and fled. She thought death was at hand, and had no doubt but her soul would be lost for ever. All was dark as darkness itself; but it pleased her heavenly Father to lead her to the Lamb of God. Her own vileness was clearly discovered, and a sight of the Saviour from sin was unspeakably precious. She now became concerned at the apprehensions of recovery, lest she should again return to folly. Mrs. Hill relieved her anxious mind by obser

ving, “ O Jane! if you should live 30 or 40 years more, God can keep you from sin, and take you to heaven as well then as now: do not dispute him, he is faithful." She was soon after led to rejoice in the hope, that he who had begun a good work, would also perfect it.

In 1772, Jane was married to Jonas Laycock; and continued his wife for sixteen years. During this period of her life, this good woman resided at Heaton, near Bradford, and with her husband constantly attended on the public ministrations of the Rev. W. Crabtree. The labours of this holy man of God were rendered of lasting profit to her mind. These years of her life were spent in great conjugal happiness; but in the year 1788, a painful pro vidence bereaved her of her hus band, and she was left a widow, After having spent thirteen years in her widowhood state, she was again married in 1801, to a person of the same name as her former husband, Jonas Laycock. Perhaps the piety of our late friend never appeared more evidently in exercise than now. For many years her latter husband was entirely deprived of his sight, and was not a little fretful in his situation; but by attentions the most assiduous, Jane strove to smooth his asperities, to cheer his solitude, and to alleviate his bur dens. Humble, obliging, courteous, and gentle, she watched over her partner with the tenderest care; spent the little she had collected whilst a widow, on his support, and cheerfully laboured to prevent his necessities. Prior to this period, Jane and her husband had become residents at Shipley, near Bradford. At the Baptist chapel in this village she constantly attended; and in a few years after her second marriage, was again left a widow. But though a widow, and in great poverty, her mildness of temper, and godly simplicity, procured so many friends, that her wants were sup

re

plied abundantly, and all the com- | Lord's-day afternoon, November 16, to an auditory truly impressed that an exemplary Christian was moved from us to her Father's kingdom. Shipley.

66

SARAH TITLEY.

J. M.

traces of a mind deeply impressed with a sense of the reality and importance of divine things. She read such pious books as were suited to her years, such as Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Janeway's Token for Children, and Rowland Hill's Village Dialogues with great attention, but manifested a still greater delight in her Bible than in any of them, often repeating that line of a hymn she had been taught

forts of life freely imparted. The writer of this paper could mention, were he not expressly forbidden, by the modest benevolence which covets concealment, instances of attention and profuse kindness to this poor woman, of a pleasing kind. In the year 1816, our aged friend first expressed her strong desire to become a member of the Baptist SARAH TITLEY, of Bradford, church at Shipley. At the proposal, Yorkshire, died on the 23d of July, the pastor of that church hesitated: having entered the twelfth year of Jane was in her 80th year, so feeble her age. She was a child of great as to be almost incapable of standing simplicity and thoughtfulness, comalone, and on the brink of the grave.bined with what was amiable and The good woman saw his hesitation, engaging; and when about eight and rebuked his timidity by the fol-years of age, she discovered evident lowing remarkable words, Are you afraid that I should die in the water? If I should do so, I shali be as near heaven there as on my bed; and, surely, it cannot be unhappy to die in the way of duty! I must be baptized: unless you will not baptize me; it is my duty to follow my Lord!" Accordingly she was baptized, August 9, 1816. To her this was a day of triumph; though weighed down with infirmities, she rejoiced in the God of her "Precious Bible! what a treasure!" salvation. Her mind, however, was not always serene; she had fears, She often expressed to her mother and sometimes mourned in dark-her fears that her soul would be ness: yet for more than a year she maintained this conflict in hope; but in September, 1817, she was finally released from all her fears, and was never after harassed by them. She then remarked, "I believe God has given me true faith; and that he will never leave me, nor forsake me. I am also persuaded, he will never suffer my mind to be beclouded again, but will keep me to the end. He has done much for me, both for soul and body; I am truly thankful! Oh what friends have I had: how am I blessed! I have done nothing in word, or in deed, that can recommend me to God. 1 am a poor sinner, but I trust in the Lord Jesus: he alone is my hope, my only Saviour, and my portion. Thus lived, and thus died, Jane Laycock, November 4, 1817. Genuine piety made her happy in affliction, honourable in poverty, and triumphant in death. Her pastor preached her funeral sermon on

gathered with sinners, and wished to know whether Jesus Christ would save her; and on being told that he came into the world to save sinners, and would save all that saw their need, and who applied to him for salvation, the information gave her great satisfaction. She discovered a strong and increasing attachment to godly people, and was particularly fond of an aged member of the church to which her parents belong.

From this period to the commencement of her illness she continued to give proofs of the same pious temper, while she discovered no traces whatever of affectation or singularity in her general deportment, except what lay in a serious guard against whatever was evil. She was an attentive hearer of the word, and when any thing was ad vanced by the preacher particularly suited to her age and circumstances, it seldom failed to make a manifest

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