flagrant actions were dictated by expediency and strong necessity, and that he did no more than remove those obstacles which stood in the way of his ambition. Even if this were admitted, it furnishes no adequate plea, no sufficient vindication. For, unless we admit the odious maxims, "let us do evil that good may come," and " the end will sanctify the means;" however desirable his elevation to the throne might in itself be, to pursue that object by dissimulation and, treachery, by injustice and cruelty, by assassination and murder, could admit of no excuse. The adoption of such measures must ever render his memory infamous. That he was endowed with pre-eminent talents cannot be denied-talents equally fitted for the cabinet and the camp-and which, had he not prematurely fallen in battle, would probably have rendered him superior to his enemies but how lamentable is it, when talents of the first order are thus prostituted and abused, and when, instead of rendering their possessor a public blessing, they serve but to increase his capacity of doing ill by enabling him to inflict greater miseries on mankind! Not for such purposes were they bestowed by the Supreme Author of our being; nor can they, without the utmost degree of guilt, be prostituted to such an end.

But even this wretched plea of expediency and necessity utterly fails; for the event proved that nothing could be more impolitic as well as unjust, than the wanton sacrifice of lord Rivers and his illustrious relatives,-the unblushing murder of lord Hastings,—and the private assassination of the two young princes who had been confided to his care; all of which crimes were manifestly perpetrated by his authority. After such treacherous deeds, who could be expected to place confidence in his treacherous promises, his fawning smiles, or his most solemn and oft-repeated oaths? What wonder that those who had been the most servile instruments of his sanguinary ambition, distrusted, hated, and ultimately conspired against him? The truth is, sound policy and justice can never be separated: crafty devices will not ultimately succeed: or, to adopt a wellknown adage, "Honesty is the best policy."

The end of the duke of Buckingham was precisely that which his time-serving and treacherous conduct me

rited. He was not worthy of the honour of pulling down from his usurped throne the tyrant, whom he had been the base instrument of exalting, and whose most iniquitous measures he had both advised and defended. It was a just act of retributive vengeance that constrained him to eat of the fruit of his doings," and to drink of the cup of bitterness which he had mingled for others. Faithless himself, what could he expect but perfidy from others? "With what measure ye mete," said He who spake as never man spake, "it shall be measured to you again."

The success which attended the earl of Richmond was so rapid and complete, as to exceed the most sanguine hopes of his partisans. Who hath despised the day of small things?" What great effects are sometimes produced by apparently trifling causes? How feeble are oft-times the instruments employed by the Sovereign Ruler of nations and Supreme Head of the church, in accomplish. ing the designs of his providence and the wonders of his grace! Let us learn from the great error which cost Richard his life and crown, never to trifle with danger, because it seems distant and doubtful,―to guard against presumption and self-confidence, and to "hold fast that which we have, that no one take our crown." "Be not

high-minded, but fear." "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall."

ESSAY VII.

A Cursory View of the State of Religion and Learning in England during the Fifteenth Century.

FEW are the ecclesiastical or literary records of this age which are worth preserving. As it is sometimes seen, that the darkest hour of the night is that which immediately precedes the dawn of day; so is it apparent, that the period which ushered in the light of the Reformation,

was the most benighted and dreary in all the annals of the English monarchy. The same causes which had previously operated to obstruct the progress of truth and science, still existed in full force: together with the additional difficulties, which a furious, a sanguinary and a long-protracted civil war presented.

The sovereigns of the rival houses of York and Lancaster felt themselves so insecure in the possession of the throne, that they were ever anxious to enlist the clergy on their side. To this circumstance it is to be attributed, that privileges were granted to the ecclesiastical orders during this perturbed period, which the haughtiest and most ambitious prelates of preceding ages were unable to secure. Availing themselves of the foreign or intestine wars, in which the successive sovereigns were engaged, the clergy solicited and obtained that exemption from civil authority, which had long been the object of their ambition. They were not content with occupying a prominent place in the royal councils-with possessing a preponderating weight of influence in state affairs-and with securing to themselves the possessions of the church, amidst the anarchy and confusion of a tempestuous age; but they aspired to become perfectly lawless, by emancipating themselves from the bonds of civil government. In the reign of Edward IV. they obtained a royal charter, which prohibited all civil magistrates from taking cognizance of "any treasons, murders, rapes, robberies, or other crimes committed by archbishops, bishops, priests, deacons, or any person in holy orders." The consequences of this general license was, that the most ignorant and vicious characters took orders, for the sake of the indulgence and shelter it afforded to their crimes; and the whole kingdom was speedily filled with multitudes of priests, who neglecting their cures, spent their ample revenues in debauchery and riot.

During a part of the period which this essay embraces, no small stir was made throughout Christendom by the contending claims of two rival popes; each of whom had his zealous defenders among the sovereigns of Europe; each of whom laid claim to supremacy and infallibility; and each of whom hurled the anathemas of the church

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against his antagonist. It might have been expected that so disgraceful a contest, would have shaken the confidence of the most infatuated devotees of the papal church, and broken the spell by which they had been long bound. But superstition, like prejudice, neither eyes nor ears." The vices, the intolerance, and the fierce contentions of the ecclesiastical orders, were alike ineffectual to scatter the delusions, which held in bondage the mass of the people, though they were some (and, it may be hoped, the number was not small,) who refused to bow the knee to Baal."

If such were indeed the prevailing character of the clergy of that age, and such the low estate of the established religion, we cannot wonder at the rapid, though silent and secret spread of the doctrines of Wickliffe; nor are we surprised at the zeal with which the Lollard ministers inveighed, both in their preachings and writings, against the scandalous vices of the ecclesiastical orders. It is manifest from the alarm expressed by the Roman court at the increase of these reputed heretics both in England and Bohemia, and the determined efforts of the hierarchy to obtain sanguinary laws against this devoted sect, that the doctrines of the Reformation had already taken deep root, and threatened to undermine the whole fabric of papal authority. Allusion has been already made to the infamous burning edict, (passed A.D. 1401,) and to some of its earliest victims *. It has been stated, that under the sanction of this barbarous decree, William Sawtrey, rector of St. Oswyth's, London-Thomas Badby, an obscure layman, but yet an heroic confessorand, in the following reign, lord Cobham, the most zealous patron of this rising sect, were sacrificed to the fury of their persecutors. To this truly honourable list may be added several others, who witnessed a good confession, and received the crown of martyrdom during the fifteenth century. One of these who claims distinct notice, was William Thorpe, a clergyman of uncommon learning and exemplary piety, who propagated the doc

• Vid. Period V. Essay 1. p. $42.

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trines of Wickliffe with great zeal in many parts of England, and openly defended them by his writings. His reputation was so great, that his adversaries feared to proceed hastily to his condemnation. Several public disputations were held in the archbishop's court, in all of which the Lollard minister proved triumphant: but his success only incensed his adversaries, and made them more bent on his destruction The time and manner of his death is not certainly known; but he is supposed to have perished in a loathsome dungeon at Saltwood, which had already proved fatal to several of his companions in suffering. Soon after the fall of lord Cobham, a considerable number of Lollards of inferior rank were condemned to death; among whom were, W. Taylor, a clergyman, burnt in Smithfield, for maintaining that "to pray to any creature was idolatry"- Father Abraham of Colchester, John White and John Waddon, Lollard priests-all of whom perished in the flames, as obstinate heretics.

It is not surprising, if some were induced by the fear of suffering, to abandon the profession they had once made. Reginald Pococke, Bishop of Chichester, who had been promoted to that see by the favour of Humphry, the good duke of Glocester-in defiance of the remonstrances of the clergy, who had long suspected him of heresy was an example of this dereliction of principle. This prelate flourished about A. D. 1457. The heretical tenets of which he was accused by his adversaries, and which he publicly recanted, in order to save his life, were the following: "that it is not necessary to salvation "to believe that Christ descended into hell-that the body "of Christ is not materially present in the Eucharist-and "that all Christians are not bound to believe and practise "whatever has been decreed in general councils." But though his recantation of these Protestant doctrines saved him from the flames, he was deprived of his ecclesiastical dignities, and spent his remaining days in ignominious solitude.

The preceding are the principal facts which have been preserved relative to the state of religion in England, during the administration of the rival houses of York and Lancaster. It cannot be doubted that during so long a period, many more might have been collected