After 10 years painful solitude, he was set at liberty, and passed the remainder of his life in academical repose, at Oxford, where he died 1294. In modern times this great and good man has had justice done to him, by the reverence and respect which are paid to him as the father of the inductive philosophy. 6. Thomas Aquinas, called the angelical doctor, was a native of Italy, and descended from a noble family. He studied in various places; but at length settled at Naples, where he led a life of exemplary chastity and devotion. He died in the year 1274. His writings, which are'numerous, prove him to have been a man of great learning and extensive knowledge. They consist of 17 folio volumes. His authority in religion became decisive in the Catholic schools. 7. Boniface VIII. Sec. 31. 8. John Wickliffe, Sec. 33, and onward. 9. Lord Cobham, Sec. 38. 10. John Huss, Sec. 39, and onward. 11. Jerome of Prague, Sec. 41. 12. John Ziska, Sec. 43. THE PERIOD VII. PERIOD OF THE REFORMATION WILL EXTEND FROM THE COM- Sec. 1. The year 1517, is generally assigned, as marking the era when the Reformation was begun by the Great Head of the Church, through the instrumentality of Martin Luther. This grand revolution, of which we are now to treat, arose in Saxony from small beginnings. It spread itself, however, with great rapidity, through all the European provinces, and extended its influence, more or less, to distant parts of the globe. From that memorable period, down to our own times, it may justly be considered as the main What is the extent of the Period of the Reformation? Sec. 1. When did the Reformation commence ? Through whose instrumentality? " spring, which has moved the nations, and occasioned many, if not most of the civil and religious revolutions that fill the annals of history. The face of Europe, in particular, was changed by this great event. The present age feels yet, and ages to come will continue to perceive, the inestimable advantages it produced. The history of such an important revolution demands, therefore, particular atten tion. Sec. 2. The religious state of the world, at the opening of the sixteenth century, fifteen years before the Reformation began, is ac3 knowledged by all historians to have been exceedingly deplorable. The nations of Christendom were still in thraldom to the papal power. Corruption, both in doctrine, and practice, prevailed to an extent before unknown. Scarcely any thing, on any side, pre>sented itself to the eye, which could properly be denominated evangelical. The Roman pontiffs were living, at this time, in all the luxury and security of undisputed power; nor had they the least reason, as things appeared to be situated, to apprehend any interruption of their peace and prosperity. They possessed a multitude of dignities, titles, honours and privileges, which they disposed of to such as would bow to their authority, and join in their praises. They not only gave law to the ecclesiastical world, but even kings and kingdoms were subject to their will. When monarchs gratified their desires, they suffered them to kiss their feet; but when they disobeyed their commands, they suspended all religious worship in their dominions, discharged their subjects from obedience, and gave their crowns to any who would usurp them. They were addressed by titles of blasphemy, and affected to extend their authority over heaven, earth and hell. In what country did it begin? Where did it spread? What effect had it upon Europe? Sec. 2. What was the religious state of the world at this time? How were the Roman Pontiffs living? By what means, did they preserve their authority? To what did this authority, in their view, If we look at the clergy, we shall find them partaking much of the character of their head. Like the pontiff, they looked with disdain upon the multitude. Possessing immense wealth, they awfully neglected their spiritual duties, and employed their treasures in administering to their lusts and passions. If they preached, nothing was to be heard of the vital doctrines of the gospel-nothing of the guilty character of man-nothing of repentance, and faith, and holiness-nothing of the merits of the Son of God; but the service was filled up with senseless harangues about the blessed Virgin, the efficacy of relics, the burnings of purgatory, and the utility of indulgencies. Public worship was performed in an unknown tongue. were filled with statues, and paintings, and various ornaments, designed to strike the senses and beguile the mind. Real religion was by every means kept from view. Knowledge was effectually proscribed. In short, the multitude were taught to adore the pontiffs as the spiritual vicegerents of God, and to look only to them, as holding the power of life and death. The churches Sec. 3. Deplorable, however, as was the state of Christendom in the respects mentioned, there were some circumstances, which about this time were favorable to a reformation. The first of these was a perceptible diminution of the influence of the court of Rome, in respect to a considerably numerous class of individuals, scattered over Europe. Lordly as the papal power carried itself, that power was evidently on the decline. Its zenith appears to have been, when, as already noticed, (Per. 6. Sec. 31,) the guilty Boniface VIII. occupied the papal chair. The quarrel which that pontiff had with Philip of France-the subsequent removal of the papal court from Rome to Avignon, (Sec. extend? What was the state of the clergy? What was the character of their preaching? How was public worship performed? What were the Churches filled with? What was the great thing taught to the multitude? Sec. 3. Were there any circumstances, at this time, favourable to a reformation? What was the first ? When was the power of the Roman pontiff, at its height? What circumstances, which have been mentioned in the former period, 34)-the still later schism which had led to the election of two popes, each of whom claimed infallibility at the same time, (Sec. 35,)—and, more than all, the decision of the council of Constance, that a general council was superior to even the pope, and could depose him, (Sec. 41,)—all had powerfully tended to open the eyes of reflecting individuals, and to lessen, in their estimation, the authority of the court of Rome. There were some, who no longer regarded the pope as infallible. They began to discover the cheat practiced upon the deluded minds of the multitude. Princes, too, no longer trembled, as they had done, at the thunders which sounded out against them from the throne of the pretended vicegerent of God. And even numerous were the individuals, who began to think that heavenly felicity might be obtained, without a passport to it from an emisary from papal Rome. Sec. 4. A second circumstance, at this time favourable to a reformation, was the general odium, which rested upon the clergy and the monkish orders. The clergy generally passed their lives in dissolute mirth and luxury; and squandered away, in the gratification of their lusts, the wealth which had been set apart for charitable and religious purposes. Nor were they less tyrannical, than voluptuous. They treated their people more like vassals, than rational and immortal beings, whose souls they had in charge. The necessary consequence of lives so dissolute, and of an assumption of power so unwarrantable, was the loss of public respect and esteem. Men cannot regard with complacency the licentious ambassador of the cross, nor respect his authority, when he manifests the spirit of the tyrant. The monkish orders, also, were, at this time, lying under a similar odium. They were considered by many, as cumberers of the ground; and occasional complaints against them, were heard on every side. They had broken through every restraint; had employed their opulence to the worst combined to lessen his influence? What effect had these things on princes and people? Sec. 4. What was a second circumstance favourable to a reformation ? What is said of the lives and conduct of the clergy? What of the monkish orders? |