forcibly presented to his mind, it caused him much serious thought and meditation before he could persuade himself that he might innocently enter into the bonds of God's sacred institution. But truth and reason finally triumphed over prejudice; and Luther, in his forty-third year, led to the altar his charming "Ketha.”

In one of his works, written shortly after his marriage, he says: "I have advised, and still advise, people to leave the convents and monasteries, and come out into the true Christian order, so as to escape from the abominations of the mass and affected sanctity, -as chastity, poverty, obedience, by which they hope to be saved. For as laudable as it was in the infancy of the Christian Church to persist in a state of celibacy, it is equally worthy of detestation now by these institutions to deny the aid and grace of Christ; it is possible, indeed, to live in a state of celibacy and widowhood with chastity, independent of these detestable institutions."

Before Luther and his brave cotemporaries in the Reformation had left the stage of action, the celebrated Calvin, a man of extraordinary talent and learning, came forth to forward the glorious work which they had begun. In 1536 he was ap

pointed Professor of Divinity at Geneva, where, by his remarkable genius and eloquence, he soon raised up warm friends and bitter enemies. The latter, by their strong opposition, compelled him to flee from this post of honor after holding it a short time; but he soon returned, and pursued his labors with renewed and indefatigable zeal. He aimed to make a still further reformation in Church government, which had been so grossly abused by the authority of the pope, bishops, and magistrates, and to restore it to its primitive form. He maintained that a Church should be capable of governing itself without the authority of dignitaries, and enacted some very wise and salutary laws and regulations of a republican form.

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He restored the rite of excommunication, as practiced by the Church in its primitive purity. He also endeavored to reconcile the two opposing parties among the reformers, which were at such variance on account of the different views they entertained concerning the doctrine of the eucharist. He taught that those who receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper in faith, do partake of the body and blood of Christ, though in a spiritual sense. This was a medium between the doctrines of Luther and Zwingle; but the Lutherans declared they

would never compromise by yielding in the least point, and that a reconciliation could only be effected by the Zwinglians assenting to their views, which were, in the words of their leader Luther, as translated from his vernacular lan guage "As soon as the words of consecration are pronounced over the bread the body is there, however wicked be the priest who pronounced them." The Zwinglians, on the other hand, who believed that the bread and wine were nothing more than symbolical of the body and blood of Christ, were not ready to admit that anything more was effected by means of this institution than bringing to mind the sufferings of the Saviour. So Calvin did not succeed in bringing about a reconciliation between the two parties,-nay, it is truly deplorable that this great man, instead of making peace in the Reformed Church, as he desired, excited a still more alarming controversy, from his belief in that inconsistent doctrine which teaches that a just and merciful God had decreed, before the foundation of the world, that a certain portion of mankind should be eternally happy; and that the remainder, without any hope of escaping their doom, by the performance of every known duty, were to be damned, world without end.

CHAPTER V.

Then was the evil day of tyranny,
Of kingly and of priestly tyranny,
That bruis'd the nations long.-POLLOK.

THE pope was wide awake to all disturbances among the reformers, and endeavored artfully to use them to his own advantage. He eagerly seized upon every chance to strengthen his declining power and disregarded authority, and endeavored to suppress whatever tended to enlighten the minds of the people. Long and severe, indeed, were the trials through which the reformers had to pass; and at times the papal authority seemed to threaten them with sudden destruction.

During the reign of Mary, Queen of England, the pope and his adherents had a time of rejoicing and revelry; for, on ascending the throne, she had resolved to reinstate popery, which had been disregarded by her father, Henry VIII., and also by her brother, Edward VI. Having entered into an alliance with the pope, she appointed inquisitors, in accordance with his wishes, for the suppression of heretics

and heresy in all its forms. The reading of the Bible by the common people was strictly forbidden; marriage among the clergy, which had been rendered legal by an act of Parliament in the reign of Edward VI., was now not only prohibited, but even such as had already entered into this sacred union were compelled either to drive from their homes the partners of their bosoms, with their tender offspring, or be excommunicated as heretics. The Spanish counsels which this sanguinary queen received on entering into a marriage contract with Philip, Prince of Spain, rendered her still more austere and blood-thirsty. Hundreds of the reformers were put to the most cruel deaths during her wicked reign. Among those who perished at the stake, the names of Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer, the good, the venerable, and the renowned, will long be remembered. After this wretched woman had satiated her wrathful fury on the Protestants among her English subjects, she delivered to one Dr. Cole a commission, signed by her own hand, authorizing him to inflict the same cruelties on those living in Ireland. The doctor having proceeded as far as Chester, on his way to put this hellish decree into execution, stopped at the house of a Mrs. Edmonds, where