has it), almost beneath the shadow "Here wa that Charter sealed, wherein the crown But King John did not "give lib- THE WYCKLIFFE OAK. VOL. VII.-22 BISHOP BURNET. nobility, with thousands of their followersindeed, not one was intentionally permitted to escape the bloody revenge of Edward. And yet, the cause for which the noble De Montfort and his noble supporters died, triumphed even in their death-Edward was sufficiently acute to read aright the history of the misfortunes of his predecessors, and to comprehend that his subjects were English en, and could not be made slaves-hence, throughout his reign, the Magna Charta was the law of the land. That he was actuated, not by inherent goodness or justice, but CHAPEL OF LAMBETH PALACE. justice. King and nobles and perpe are one in purpose and interess, ad glory abroad crowns and com plements happines and prosperity at home. Henry V dies when his soc and heir is but the months old. A kg and disastrous Be gency follows, is ring which wonderful Joan of Arc wrests Orleats from the English and drives the htel enemy almost ertirely from French soil, Calais alote remaining in Br ish possession. At home the insurrec War of the Roses; when Henry VI. attains his majority he proves a weak rather than wicked king, so that the barons continue to rule and to purely by policy, the history of his barbarity and | tions of Jack Cade are followed by the celebrated fiendish inhumanity in Wales and Scotland fully His son, Edward II., however, followed not his wise course, and the barons and people drove him from the throne and permitted his murder. Edward III., a better man than either of his ancestors, was just, and ruled his own realm wisely and well. The Black Prince died before his father, and Edward was succeeded by Richard, son of the Black Prince. Richard, neither wise nor honest, was driven from the throne upon which his cousin, Henry of Derby, afterwards styled Bolingbroke, was placed, only to prove himself as unfit as Richard. He was succeeded by "Harry of Monmouth" as Henry V., and a happy reign. was the result of his wisdom, sound judgment and BASS-ROCK PRISON. scheme and fight for the JOHN BUNYAN. arising from their position. and their intellect, with so little desire for the improvement or exaltation of the people or even for their well-being in the state in which he found. them, as the founder of the Tudor dynasty." Having put down successive insurrections and placed himself firmly upon the throne, he applies himself steadily to erect his sovereignty into an absolute despotism, respecting the letter of the law only to violate and defy the spirit thereof; besides, he most skillfully robs the people of every penny that can be THE TOWER OF LONDON. wrested from them under color of law. This shrewd and unprincipled tyrant, oppressor and robber, crowns his acts of tyranny, oppression and robbery, by a suitable scheme for saving his very precious soul: he does not undo his bad doings or make restitution of his ill-gotten gains, but makes provision for his body's safe lodgment in a gorgeous tomb, and for his soul's welfare by the establishment of masses to be daily said or sung "for ever." "Having succeeded in circumventing all men with whom he had to deal Nothing in his lifetime, one could almost fancy he had practically arrived at the idea that he could circumvent God when he was about to die, and so reach heaven by his own way." Of this reign a writer in the Penny Cyclopadia some years ago, truly says: "This reign may be considered as the beginning of the modern history of England. that was then established has been greatly shaken since; all the changes that have since taken place have been little more than the growth and developement of the principles that were then called into action." Of Henry VII. a writer with equal truth tells us: "Assuredly, few men ever lived who combined in themselves at once so much external and internal power, RICHARD BAXTER. The introduction of a new influence, the Reformation, now affects and changes the whole aspect of affairs not only in England but throughout the so-called Christian world. In England, there had, long years, nay centuries, before, been outspoken opponents of the Pope, especially of papal interference in the internal government of the land, and encroachments upon the prerogatives of the crown; indeed even King John had had a warm and bitter conflict with the See of Rome, and though his pusillanimity had given Innocent III. the victory, succeeding kings from time to time braved the anger of the Pope in refusing to submit to undue tyranny. As early as the fourteenth century the great Wyckliffe had gone much farther-had assailed the teachings of the Roman Church, de www. "FREE-BORN" JOHN LILBURNE. its then luxuriant branches were wont to gather eager enquirers after truth to hear the godly man proclaim the pure religion of the Gospe But though Wyckliffe had a large fo lowing, his direct influence was very lineted; he was but breaking up the errorencrusted ground, the general sowing could not be yet, much less the har vest. And so was it also with John Huss and his glorious werk in the fifteenth cen tury. At last, however, the time has comethe Kingdom of Heaven is at hand"the ever-memorable sixteenth century has opened its imperish able record-the clouds are breaking nounced the head of that church as "the proud, | away, the true light is about to burst forth, to d worldly priest of Rome," and "Anti-Christ," and had committed the fearful sin and heresy of translating the Bible into the vernacular tongue. His old sipate the darkness of ages of error and supersti ALGERNON SIDNEY. but must keep to England and the Reformation there. Dr. Gilbert Burnet, the eminent theologian, historian, and Bishop of Salisbury, in his "History of the Reformation in England," evinces a singular insight into the motives, purposes and respective characters of the prominent actors in that greatest of revolutions; that the king, Henry VIII., was a bad, a wicked man, as well as a whole-hearted despot and a tyrant of the meanest type, no one who reads Bishop Burnet's narrative can question-that he was actuated by purely selfish impulses, seeking but to nourish his evil propensities and augment his own power, is perfectly clear-that he had no concep tion of the true character of the wonderful Reformation, no thought of God or His glory, his whole course makes evident. Truly, "God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform," and employs or "raises up" strange agents to carry out His purposes-and a stranger agent for prosecuting so grand and glorious a WYCKLIFFE'S OLD CHURCH AT LUTTERWORTH. work as the Reformation than Henry VIII. could not be conceived of. We need not repeat the story of Henry's quarrel with the Roman Pontiff, commencing with his shameless efforts for a divorce from Catherine, and growing hotter and more bitter until the power of the Pope was forever (except for a brief interval under Queen Mary) overthrown in, and cast out of, the British realm, and in its stead, though not at once, yet in God's good time, was established the peaceful and beneficent sway of the great Head of the Church, Christ Jesus. History tells us how Henry, fighting the papal tyranny with one hand, sought with the other to establish and exercise a no less arbitrary, no less unchristian tyranny over the consciences of his subjects. Religious persecution was no new thing in enlightened England-the followers of Wyckliffe, the Lollards as they were styled, had experienced all the superlative devilanishness of that most devilish of pe bugyming weas pe word ye word was at god i god mes pe word yis was myebug ayng at god alle pings wenu maad babyma: and dayonten byr was maad noping pat my pat was maad m him bashof and pelyt was pelt of men and bat schynen in derkuells derkuelle complendiden notit all spirits, religious bigotry. But that was under the old order FAC-SIMILE SPECIMEN OF THE OPENING VERSES OF THE FIRST CHAPTER OF JOHN, of religious affairs, and the Brit WYCKLIFFE'S VERSION OF THE BIBLE. ish authorities in so far as they |