in Ireland, they have on Dr. Paley's theory a right to be established. "If the dissenters from the establishment become the majority of the people," says that philosopher, "the establishment itself ought to be altered or qualified." But the Protestant Episcopal church in Ireland does not, perhaps, comprise much more than a sixteenth part of the Irish people, and, therefore, such a change is politically inevitable. Sir Robert Peel is a far-sighted statesman, and he proposes, we imagine, to prepare for it by such measures as are now contemplated. To avert, then, the calamity of a popish establishment, Protestants must speedily consent to have no establishment at all, and emulate the devotedness of the Russians, who, to save the empire, burned their own venerated Moscow rather than provide winter quarters for the legions of Napoleon within its walls. An establishment of the Protestant religion is no part of Protestantism; is only considered as the means of inculcating it. But there has arisen a state of things in Ireland, which not only renders the teaching of Episcopalian Protestants inoperative, but which threatens to employ the resources which the state has appropriated for its use, to its very subversion. We earnestly entreat our evangelical brethren of the Church of England to connect this fact with the semi-popish movements in their own communion, and to say whether they had not better consent to have no establishment at all, lest, in a few years, we have a popish establishment.

FINALLY, it must be obvious to all evangelical Christians, that in this country the Protestantism of party is at an end. The Whigs appropriated that time-hallowed name to themselves whilst it served their purpose, and then their Tory opponents won royal favour and popular support by shouting at the top of their voices "No Popery" too. And now we see both the Whigs and Tories, at the bidding of a time-serving expediency, prepared to sacrifice Protestantism itself to patronage and place. We have no faith in worldly politicians of any class, as the advocates and defenders of the truth. Our only hope, under God, is in the zeal and union of earnest, spiritual Christians"the sacramental host of God's elect"-and we would say "To your tents, O Israel!" Rome has now her Jesuit emissaries throughout the empire-and their underlings secretly do her bidding in all departments of society. The church, the court, the parliament, the universities, and the journals are all tainted by their fatal influence. We, therefore, entreat our readers of every class not to be discouraged by the ribaldry of the newspapers, the contempt of the liberals, or the coldness of their parliamentary representatives; but to act worthy of their fathers, and to leave no effort untried to awaken the sleeping energies of all true Protestants to one great national and triumphant resistance of this most unprincipled effort, and to prove to the world that the Reformation of England was not achieved in vain.

4, 1549. Fagius and Bucer leave Strasburg for England.

4, 1550. John Knox defends himself before Tonstall.

4, 1819. Great earthquake in Chili.

5, 1556. Conrad Pellican, Hebrew professor at Zurich, died.

5, 1729. David Nitschman died in prison at Olmutz.

5, 1811. Robert Raikes, the founder of Sunday-schools, died.

11, 1612. Edward Wightman burnt at Lichfield by "Bishop" Neile.

11, 1708. Francis Tallents, of Shrewsbury, (ejected in 1662,) died.

12, 1667. Philip Henry bereaved of his first-born son.

13, 1525. The Lord's supper substituted for the mass at Zurich.

13, 1829. Catholic emancipation passed.

16, 1742. The first Indian baptism at Shekomeko. Tschoop baptized.

17 and 18, 1521. Luther appeared before the diet of the empire at Worms.

,, 20, 1695. John Howe's Letter to Mr. Spilsbury, respecting the dissensions at

,, 24, 1547.

The victory of Charles V. over John Frederick, "the magnanimous," elector of Saxony, at the Mühlberg.

,, 26, 1654. John Shuttlewood ordained.

,, 26, 1660. Philip Henry married.

,, 26, 1843. The Lancashire Independent College opened.

,, 30, 1662. Queen Mary II. born.

The present list adds two to the instances of providential visitations

noticed in our March paper. We refer to the reflections there offered as equally suitable to these. It is to be feared that the daily and hourly care of Him in whom "we live and move and have our being," is, like all the blessings of His providence, too generally overlooked as a thing of course. But true religion will endeavour to keep the Author of our mercies continually in mind, and cherish an habitual spirit of dependence upon Him and resignation to His will.

This month also reminds us of some interesting facts connected with the history of the Reformation. The earliest of these is the appearance of Luther before the imperial diet at Worms. The history of this transaction is well told by D'Aubigné, History of the Reformation,

book vii., especially chapters 8 and 9. It is one of the finest instances of moral courage recorded in history. The better qualities of Luther's mind-his love of truth, his fortitude, and his constancywere on this occasion fully drawn out, along with a temper and moderation too unusual with him, and which adorned without impairing. them. On the 17th of March, (his first appearance before the diet) he admitted his authorship of various works which bore his name, and craved that he might reply as to his willingness to retract them and their contents, "without doing prejudice to the word of God." On the following day he delivered his explicit answer, first in German, and afterwards in Latin; and concluded his defence with the memorable confession :

"Since your most serene majesty, and your high mightinesses demand a simple, clear, and explicit answer of me, I will give it. I cannot submit my faith either to pope or councils, since it is as clear as the day that they have often fallen into error, and even into great contradiction with themselves. If then I am not convinced by testimonies from Scripture, or by evident reasons; if I am not persuaded by the very passages I have cited; and if my conscience be not thus made captive by the word of God, I can and will retract nothing for it is not safe for the Christian to speak against his conscience.' Then casting a look round on the assembly before which he stood, and which held his life in its hands, he said: HERE I TAKE MY STAND. I CAN DO NO OTHERWISE SO HELP ME GOD! AMEN!'"D'Aubigné, book vii. ch. 9.

:

Considering the object which we have in view in preparing these papers, we cannot suppress the very impressive and valuable statements of D'Aubigné respecting the true and hidden source of Luther's fortitude. He had been cheered by many of his friends, and by some even who had not embraced his principles, but who admired his courage, on his way to the diet. Vast numbers had welcomed him to Worms with acclamations. Ulrich von Hütten had written from Ebernberg to encourage him, and Bucer had come from the same place to remain with him while he was in the city. "But," says D'Aubigné—

"Luther sought his strength elsewhere than among men. He who, when attacked by enemies, holds the buckler of the faith,' he said one day, 'is like Perseus holding the Gorgon's head: whoever beheld it was a dead man. Thus ought we to present the Son of God to the ambuscades of the devil.' He had some moments of uneasiness on that morning, during which God's face was veiled from him. His faith drooped, his enemies multiplied before him, his imagination was struck with the fearful prospect. . . . His soul was like a ship tossed about and shivering in the most violent tempest, now sinking into the abyss, now heaved up into the heavens. In that hour of bitter anguish, in which he drank of Christ's cup, and which was for him a Garden of Gethsemane, he flung himself on his face upon the ground, and uttered those broken cries, whose meaning would be inconceivable by us, did we not consider the depth of anguish out of which they rose to God. God Almighty! Eternal! How terrible is the world! how it gapes to swallow me up! and how little confidence I have in thee! . . . How weak is the flesh, and how strong is

N. S. VOL. IX.

thine . . . . Unchanging All that pro

Satan ! If it is in what is strong in the world's thought I must put my trust, I am undone. . . . The bell is cast . . the judgment is pronounced! O God! O God! O thou my God . . . aid me against all the wisdom of the world! Do so: thou must do so thou only. . . for it is not my work, but thine. I have here nothing to do: I have nothing to strive about with these great ones of the world. I too would fain pass happy, tranquil days. But the cause is and it is just and eternal. O Lord, be thou my aid. Faithful God! God! I rely on no man. It is in vain. All that is of man totters. ceeds from man fades away. O God! O God!... hearest thou not... My God! art thou dead? . . No! thou canst not die thou but hidest thyself. Thou hast chosen me for this work: I know it. Then act, O God!-Keep thee by my side for the name of thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ, who is my defence, my buckler, and my fortress.'

"After a moment of silent struggling, he continues thus-Lord! where art thou? O my God! where art thou? O my God! where art thou? . . . Come! come! I am ready . . . I am ready to quit my life for thy truth. . . patient as a lamb: for the cause is just, and it is thine. I will not withdraw from thee now, nor in all eternity. . And though the world should be filled with devils,-though my body, which is yet the work of thy hands, should be forced to bite the dust . . . to be stretched on the ground. . . cut in pieces. . . reduced to powder . . . my soul is thine. Yes, I have thy word as a warrant for this. Thine is my soul. will dwell eternally near thee. Amen. O God, help me. Amen!"

66

It

This prayer," D'Aubigné truly says, "unfolds to us Luther and the Reformation. History here raises the veil of the sanctuary, and shows us the secret place, where courage and strength were communicated to this humble and insignificant man, who was God's instrument in piercing the souls and thoughts of men, and in beginning the new times. Luther and the Reformation are here taken in the fact. We discover their secret springs. We perceive wherein lay their power. This cry of one who sacrifices himself to the cause of truth, is to be found in the collection of papers relative to the appearance of Luther in Worms, (No. XVI.,) amongst the safe-conducts and other documents of that kind. Some one of his friends no doubt heard it, and preserved it to us. In our judgment, it is one of the most beautiful documents of history."-D'Aubigné, book vii. ch. 8.

The 19th of April, 1529, is celebrated for the "protest" whence the evangelical reformers of Germany, in the first instance, and subsequently all who deny the ecclesiastical authority of Rome, have derived the name of Protestants. Though the name is become thus general, it is still in Germany frequently restricted to the Lutherans, or those who adhere to the Augustan confession, as distinguished from the Reformed, who hold more simple views respecting the Lord's supper. Melancthon was one of the principal Lutherans who appeared at Spires; and he died on the same day of April, 1560, thirty-one years after this remarkable occasion.

The next event we notice is the substitution of the Lord's supper for the mass at Zurich, which took place April 13, 1525. We must refer for the particulars to D'Aubigné, who narrates a very singular dream, which Zwingle is said to have had on the night of the 11th, after a vehement discussion of the propriety of such a step before the council, and the passing of a decree in favour of it. He dreamed that

he was disputing with Am-Grüt, and that he could not reply to his principal objection. Suddenly, an individual appeared before him, and said, "Why dost thou not cite Exod. xii. 11—'ye shall eat it in haste, it is the Lord's passover?'" Zwingle awoke, sprang out of bed, took up the Septuagint version, and found in it the same word, σT, (is) the meaning of which, in this place, it is universally admitted, can only be "signifies." Zwingle having said, when describing this dream, that he did not recollect whether the individual who gave him the suggestion was dark or light, his adversaries took occasion to ascribe it to the devil. But were this objection as reasonable as it is otherwise, the argument is a sound one, for the Scripture cannot be broken. Accordingly, after a sermon from the text by Zwingle, on the morning of the 13th, the altars having disappeared to make way for the simple tables covered with bread and wine, the deacons read the passages of Scripture relating to the sacrament; and the pastor addressed an earnest exhortation to the flock, calling on all those who by persisting in sin could pollute the body of Jesus Christ, to withdraw from that holy supper. The people knelt down, bread was brought on large wooden platters, and every one broke off a morsel. The wine was passed round in wooden cups. "Thus," says D'Aubigné, "the simple celebration of the Lord's death seemed to diffuse again the love of God, and the love of the brethren through the church. The words of Christ Jesus were again spirit and life.”

mass.

It is something of a coincidence, that the occasion of Knox's summons to appear before Tonstall, was his preaching against the He had been sent down by King Edward's privy council to preach at Berwick-upon-Tweed, and his uncommon zeal soon brought him into trouble. He pleaded his cause so successfully, however, on the 4th of April, 1550, before Tonstall and the clergy of the diocese, that he was relieved from further persecution on the subject. An account of the transactions may be found in M'Crie's Life of Knox, and Middleton's Memoirs of the Reformers, vol. ii.

The arrival of Bucer and Fagius in England, reminds of the gracious care which God takes of his church even in times of the greatest perplexity, and shows how even persecution may be made subservient to the cause of truth. The reverses of the Protestants, through the victory obtained by Charles the Fifth over the elector of Saxony, and the submission of the landgrave of Hesse Cassel, occurring just about the time of Edward the Sixth's accession to the English throne, many Protestants sought refuge in England, and Cranmer was enabled to obtain the assistance of several very distinguished foreign divines in the reformation of this country. Bucer was appointed professor of divinity at Cambridge, and devoted himself to the exposition of the New Testament. Fagius, who was a distinguished Hebrew scholar, was to have expounded the principal books of the Old Testament.