our fathers believed." And yet full time for re- temporalities of the church, took charge of its ply had been given, as the meeting for ratifica- revenues, and administered the funds collected tion had been adjourned till the 17th of August. for the poor. No person was received into the On witnessing this strange apathy of the Popish first and most important of these offices, until he prelates, when they might have obtained at least received a vocation or call, which consisted in a safe hearing, the earl-marischal rose and said, "election, examination, and admission," the right "It is long since I had some favour to the truth, of which was stated to lie in the congregation, but, praised be God, I am this day fully resolved: who were made the judges of his "gifts, utterfor seeing my lord bishops who, for their learn- ance, and knowledge," and his fitness to be their ing, can, and for their zeal they owe to the truth, spiritual teacher and guide. Hence the continual would, as I suppose, gainsay anything repugning resistance to the imposition of patronage upon the to the same, yet speak nothing against the doc- Kirk of Scotland, and the dissents which it aftertrine propounded, I cannot but hold it the very wards occasioned. As the Reformed church truth of God, and the contrary to be deceivable could only muster twelve ministers previous to doctrine." Before the votes were taken, the con- the meeting of the first general assembly, seven fession was again read and considered, article by of these were placed in the most important and article, after which it was ratified, and the Papal populous towns, while the other five, under the jurisdiction was abolished. name of superintendents, were appointed to the charge, not of a single parish, but a whole district, generally comprehending an entire county. Even here, however, the principle of Presbyterian parity was carefully maintained, and the danger of episcopal rule avoided. The ordination of a superintendent, so long as the office was continued in the church, did not differ from that of the other ministers; his function was one of toil and travel, but not of emolument; and he was equally liable, with the ordinary ministers, to censure, or even to deposition, by the church courts. Another temporary office which the paucity of ministers occasioned, was that of the Reader, and filled by some person who, in that age of defective education, was able to read the Scriptures to his more ignorant neighbours, whom he assembled for the purpose. If he was so much advanced in religious knowledge and natural talent as to be able to accompany his reading with exposition, he was then termed an Exhorter, and might be finally admitted to the ministry. The advance of education and the multiplication of a regular clergy, however, at length made both superintendent and reader unnecessary, and therefore these offices were abolished. This important affair being settled, the second part of the petition, which concerned the purity of worship and reformation of discipline, remained next to be considered; and for this purpose the first meeting of a General Assembly, held by the Church of Scotland, was convened on the 20th of December. The task of drawing up the form of church polity was committed to those who had penned the confession; and on the 15th January of the following year their work was completed, and ratified by the general assembly, under the title of the "First Book of Discipline." But it was not received with the same cordiality as the confession had been; and for this two causes have been assigned. The first arose from the strictness of life and manners enforced by the new code, which bore hard upon the licentiousness of many, especially among the upper classes. The second was from the demand which it made upon the confiscated property of the old church for the establishment of schools and colleges, and support of the poor. Although the Book of Discipline, therefore, was subscribed by the greater part of the nobility and barons, members of the privy council, it was not formally ratified by the council itself. As it embodied the fundamental principles of the Scottish Reformation, and was the origin of the Second Book of Discipline, an abstract of these principles may here be briefly stated. The permanent office-bearers of the church were specified, as-1. The Minister, whose office, as in other churches, was to preach, administer the sacraments, and attend to the spiritual welfare of his congregation. 2. The Doctor or Teacher, who taught theology in the schools and colleges, or who was set apart to interpret and illustrate Scripture, and confute religious errors. 3. The Ruling-Elder, who aided the minister in ecclesiastical discipline and government: and, 4. The Deacon, who superintended the In the government of the church and administration of its discipline, there were four separate courts. The first was that of the Kirk-session, belonging to each congregation, and composed of its minister, elders, and deacons, that met regularly once a-week, or oftener, if occasion required. Next was the meeting called the Weekly Exercise, or Prophesying, held in every chief town, and composed of the ministers, exhorters, and other educated persons of the surrounding parishes, who assembled for expounding the Scriptures, and promoting mutual edification. These assemblies afterwards constituted the das sis or regular presbytery. Still ascending in the scale, was the Provincial Synod, composed of the ministers and delegated elders of one or more counties, that assembled twice a-year, and where, the wonderment and byword of Europe, were to at first, the superintendent of the district acted be superseded by the strict rule of a Christian as convenor or moderator. And lastly, there was life, and a walk and bearing consistent with those the General Assembly, composed of ministers and religious privileges to which they laid claim. In elders commissioned from every part of the king- all this, we may read a full apology for the exdom, and which generally met twice, and some-cessive strictness with which the early Scottish times even thrice a-year. Through these different courts every doubtful case was so thoroughly <ifted, that a satisfactory result was generally obtained, and an error in doctrine, however subtile, could scarcely escape undetected and undenounced. This fact was distinctly stated by King James himself to an English ecclesiastic, who was expressing his wonder that so seldom heresy had troubled the good people of Scotland. "I'll tell you how, man," replied this royal solver of difficulties, with more than his wonted wisdom: "if it spring up in a parish, there is an eldership to take notice of it; if it be too strong for them, the presbytery is ready to crush it; if the heretic prove too obstinate for them, he shall find more witty heads in the synod; and if he cannot be convinced there, the general assembly, I'll warrant you, will not spare him." As the Scottish Reformers were aware that the general neglect of ecclesiastical discipline in the Romish church had been a fruitful source of its crimes, and the principal cause of its downfall, their chief care was to restore the apostolic rule to its primitive importance. "As no commonwealth," they said in their preamble, "can flourish or long endure without good laws, and sharp execution of the same, so neither can the kirk of God be brought to purity, neither yet retained in the same, without the order of ecclesiastical disipline, which stands in reproving and correcting of the faults which the civil sword either doth neglect or may not punish." Its impartial character and universal application were also thus stated:-"To discipline must all the estates within the realm be subject, as well the rulers as they that are ruled; yea, and the preachers themselves, as well as the poorest within the kirk." It was upon these just but stringent principles that they specified the offences which lay within the cognizance of the church courts, and the penalties with which they should be visited. And, truly, the labour to be encountered was not a small one. The old Romish hierarchy, still struggling for the mastery, was to be suppressed; its abettors were to be watched and coerced; and the religious rites, as well as superstitious observances which Popery had naturalized among the people during a course of centuries, and converted by such usage into a portion of their domestic and festive life, had to be eradicated. And even this was not the worst. The ferocity, sensuality, and lawlessness of a community whose desperate recklessness in crime had made them church was ruled according to her First and Second Books of Discipline. We wonder at, and occasionally we denounce their excessive severity: but we should previously take into account the state of society for which they legislated, and the prevalence of those offences which they condemned and punished. We should also call to mind the immense moral change which this strict ecclesiastical legislation effected in so short a period of time upon the Scottish character and habits. How different were the people of the seventeenth century in Scotland from those of the sixteenth! This Reformation, as it so greatly differed from that of other countries, had also its origin in peculiar circumstances. In Germany, the sovereign princes, and in England a despotic king, threw themselves into the front of the movement, and were thus enabled to impart to it that monarchical character which Protestantism has retained in these two countries. In Scotland, on the contrary, the Reformation commenced among the people, and was carried onward not only independent, but often in spite of the royal authority. It was natural, therefore, that it should possess throughout an essentially democratic or republican character. Its first champions were the inferior barons and clergy, by whom the danger was braved and the battle fought; and it was only when the cause was popular, and promised to be successful, that the higher nobility unfurled their banners, and assumed the leadership of the conflict. This was done when the only choice that remained to them was, to be the leaders of such a national rising or its victims. Had they resisted, or even stood still, they would have been borne down and crushed beneath that resistless popular movement, which was now a stronger element of the national character, than the old cherished feudalism, or even the pride of national independence. Scarcely, however, had the Scottish Reformation been impersonated in its kirk, than the hostility of such selfish supporters began most distinctly to manifest itself. The Romish church being overthrown, an immense portion of the wealth of the country would revert to the common treasury, and might be made available for public purposes. These, as contemplated by Knox and his brethren, were the maintenance of the clergy, the establishment of schools and colleges, and the support of the poor. But such a scheme of allotment was odious to the nobility, who looked upon the wealth of the overthrown ingly and irregularly paid. Such was the comchurch as so much plunder which should fall to mencement of that poverty of the Scottish kirk the strongest hand; and, accordingly, a scramble which has continued with little modification to for church lands and revenues commenced among the present day. On this unfair partition of the them, in which the disinterested scheme of the ecclesiastical revenues, John Knox might well Reformer was laughed to scorn, and all but utterly exclaim, as he did, "If the end of this order, predefeated. The poor, with whom Scotland, more tended to be taken for the sustentation of the than any other country, at this time abounded, ministers, be happy, my judgment fails me! I were left to their shifts as before, so that until see two parts freely given to the devil, and the the union of the two kingdoms in 1706, Scotland third part must be divided between God and the continued to be a land overrun and eaten up with devil. . . . To these dumb dogs the bishops, paupers. Such also was the fate of that splendid 10,000 is not enough; but to the servants of Christ, scheme of national education which Knox so ar- that painfully preach the gospel, 100 marks must dently contemplated. He had already seen and suffice! How can that be sustained?" announced the large intellectual character of his countrymen, and the development of which it was susceptible; and anticipating from this a happy futurity for Scotland, he had pleaded for the establishment of a well-endowed university in every city, and an academy in every town. But the stinted educational institutions were left just as the Reformation had found them; and those pupils who were dissatisfied with such a scanty training, were still obliged to repair to the colleges of France, Holland, and Italy. But it was in the miserable allowance for the support of the new national church that the avaricious spirit of the men in power was chiefly manifested. As the Reformed ministers had at first lived upon their own private resources, or upon the benevolence of their flocks, and as they increased so rapidly that the six ministers which the church could muster in 1560 had grown into 252 in 1567, an application was made to the privy council for the support of a regular clergy in all time coming. The arrangement made on this occasion by the council was, that the ecclesiastical revenues should be divided into three parts, of which two should be given to the ejected Popish clergy, and the third part be divided between the court and the Protestant ministers. In this way, the two-thirds given to the Popish ecclesiastics, and which was to last only during their lives, was finally absorbed by the nobles, who, on the death of the incumbents, appointed creatures of their own to the livings, of which they themselves drew the revenues. As for the remaining third, which was to be divided between the court and the Protestant ministers, it is easy to surmise how the latter body were likely to fare in a money contest with the former. The officers appointed by the privy council, who, under the title of the "Court of Modification," were to divide this third into two portions, and allot to each minister a stipend according to the circumstances in which he was placed, were so anxious to gratify the queen and lords, and so careless of the interests of the clergy, that the latter received a most inadequate allowance, which was also most grudg The bishops, as they had not been formally deprived by parliament, still retained their sees at the Reformation, and their successors continued to be appointed; but as such an order was incompatible with the nature of a Presbyterian church. the general assembly soon began to labour for its suppression and utter extinction. In 1574 it was therefore enacted, that the jurisdiction of bishops should not exceed that of superintend ents. In 1576, the assembly declared the title of bishop to be common to every one that had a particular flock over which he had an especial charge. In the year following, they ordained that all bishops should in future be called by their own names, instead of by those of their dioceses. In 1580 they unanimously voted Episcopacy to be unscriptural and unlawful; and in 1592, the Presbyterian form of the government of the church by general assemblies, provincial synods, presbyteries, and kirk-sessions, received the full sanction of parliament. But every step thus won was a struggle against the court and the ruling powers. Such was especially the case when James VI. ascended the Scottish throne The arbitrary spirit of this royal pedant and polemic, and his principles of king-craft, naturally made him the enemy of a church so independent as that of Scotland, while his prospects of the English crown made him desirous to identify the churches of both kingdoms, that he might reign over them with undisputed pre-eminence. "The bishops will govern the church, and I the bishops," was the favourite sentiment he expressed, and the purpose for which he wrought, in all his subsequent efforts to evert the whole system of Presbyterian polity, and establish Episcopacy in its room. It was in vain that these attempts were resisted by Andrew Melvil, the Beza of Scotland, and worthy successor of John Knox; for Epis copacy, fortified as it was both by king and court, and backed by the example of England, had obtained a stronger political hold than even the worn-out system of Popery which had been so lately overthrown. Melvil fled into exile to avoid a worse doom; and James, thus rid of the most formidable of his opponents, carried on his measures with a higher hand than ever. The character of his hostility, and the despotic spirit with which it was animated, were fully evinced by the acts passed by a subservient parliament, commonly called the "Black Acts of 1584." On this occasion, the lords of the articles had been sworn to secrecy in preparing the measures that were to be laid before it; and when the members assembled, the parliament was held with closed doors, as if it had been a meeting of conspirators. The acts that were passed on this occasion were worthy of such an assembly. To decline the judgment of the king or privy council in any matter was declared to be treason; by which, the royal supremacy in matters ecclesiastical as well as civil, was established. All subjects were prohibited from convening any assembly except the ordinary courts, for the purpose of consulting or determining on any matter of state, civil or ecclesiastical, without the special commandment and license of his majesty and thus, presbyteries, synods, and general assemblies had no right to meet without an express civil warrant. The rule of bishops over the church, and that of the king through the agency of the bishops, was finally confirmed by enactments which gave to the prelates, and such as the king might appoint, the right to settle all ecclesiastical matters within their dioceses, and which strictly declared that none should presume in public or private, by sermons or conversation, to censure the conduct of the king, his council, and proceedings, under the penalties of treason. Such were the laws enacted in 1584, a year memorable in the history of the Church of Scotland, and by the rigid and arbitrary execution of which its liberties, its very existence would have speedily been extinguished. Events afterwards occurred by which James was obliged to modify or rescind the greater part of these obnoxious clauses--but it was in seeming only; and this lenity only continued until he had strengthened himself with the English throne and its obedient hierarchy, when he found that he might legislate for the obnoxious northern church as he pleased, as well as requite it for all the opposition he had encountered. The events by which these various changes were occasioned have already been recorded in the civil department of our history.' made by these two parties to assert the most sacred of human rights, attacked by the most odious tyranny. "The explanation of these circumstances which has generally been given, is very simple, but by no means satisfactory. The power of the crown, it is said, was then at its height, and was in fact despotic. This solution, we own, seems to us to be no solution at all. It has long been the fashion-a fashion introduced by Mr. Hume-to describe the English monarchy in the sixteenth century as an absolute monarchy. And such unAndoubtedly it appears to a superficial observer. . . . "The history of the Reformation in England is full of strange problems. The most prominent and extraordinary phenomenon which it presents to us is the gigantic strength of the government, contrasted with the feebleness of the religious parties. During the twelve or thirteen years which followed the death of Henry VIII., the religion of the state was thrice changed. Protestantism was established by Edward; the Catholic was restored by Mary; Protestantism was again established by Elizabeth. The faith of the nation seemed to depend on the personal inclinations of the sovereign. Nor was this all. established church was then, as a matter of course, a persecuting church. Edward persecuted Catholics-Mary persecuted Protestants-Elizabeth persecuted Catholics again. The father of those three sovereigns had enjoyed the pleasure of persecuting both sects at once, and had sent to death on the same hurdle the heretic who denied the real presence and the traitor who denied the royal supremacy. There was nothing in England like that fierce and bloody opposition which, in France, each of the religious factions in its turn offered to the government. We had neither a Colligny nor a Mayenne; neither a Moncontour nor an Ivry. No English city braved sword and famine for the Reformed doctrines with the spirit of Rochelle, or for the Catholic doctrines with the spirit of Paris. Neither sect in England formed a League. Neither sect extorted a recantation from the sovereign. Neither sect could obtain from an adverse Sovereign even a toleration. The English Protestants, after several years of domination, sank down with scarcely a struggle under the tyranny of Mary. The Catholics after having regained and abused their old ascendency, submitted patiently to the severe rule of Elizabeth. Neither Protestants nor Catholics engaged in any great and well-organized scheme of resistance. A few wild and tumultuous risings, suppressed as soon as they appeared-a few dark conspiracies, in which only a small number of desperate men engaged-such were the utmost efforts "The truth seems to be, that the government of the Tudors was, with a few occasional deviations, a popular government, under the forms of despotism. The Tudors committed many tyrannical acts. But in their ordinary dealings with the people, they were not, and could not safely be tyrants.. "It cannot be supposed that a people who had in their own hands the means of checking their princes, would suffer any prince to impose on them a religion generally detested. It is absurd to suppose that if the nation had been decidedly attached to the Protestant faith, Mary could have re-established the Papal supremacy. It is equally absurd to suppose that if the nation had been zealous for the ancient religion, Elizabeth could have restored the Protestant church. The truth is, that the people were not disposed to engage in a struggle either for the new or for the old doctrines. In plain words, they did not think the difference between the hostile sects worth a struggle. There was undoubtedly a zealous Protestant party and a zealous Catholic party. But both these parties, we believe, were very small. We doubt whether both together made up, at the time of Mary's death, a twentieth part of the nation. The remaining nineteen-twentieths halted between the two opinions, and were not disposed to risk a revolution in the government, for the purpose of giving to either of the extreme factions an advantage over the other.”—Macaulay, Burleigh and his Times. CHAPTER XXI.-HISTORY OF SOCIETY. FROM THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VII. (A.D. 1485), TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH (A.D. 1603). Increase of the royal authority by the suppression of feudalism-Absolute rule of the Tudors-Their despotic enactments-Reaction on the succession of the Stuarts-The courts of Star Chamber and High CommissionProgress of the national commerce-Countries over which it extended-Commercial ports of England-Discovery of America-Its effects on English commercial enterprise-Introduction of foreign workmen and manufactures-Improvement of the national navy--Laws against usury-Trade with the Netherlands-Establishment of the Royal Exchange in London-English maritime discoveries-Colonization of new countries -State of commerce in the reign of Elizabeth-Internal traffic of the country-English fairs-Agricultural progress-Farms and their occupants-Modes of living among the agricultural classes-Improvement of their condition-Causes of the improvement-Architecture of the period-Introduction of the Tudor style-Its peculiarities-Noble mansions-Their chief characteristics-Mansions of the aristocracy-Their retinues and furniture-Meals and banquets-Increased refinement and splendour of a feast-Table observances-Introduction of coaches into England-Dress and personal ornaments of the Elizabethan period-Rich and extravagant style of aristocratic life-Rapiers as part of costume-Growth and state of London-Its streets—Its buildings-Furniture of the houses-London 'prentices-Civic banquets-Style of domestic life in LondonUse of tobacco-Public sports and games-Various modes of hunting-Horse-races-Cock-fighting-Bearbaiting-Bell-ringing-In-door sports-Dancing-Card-playing-Merelles-Games with dice, &c.--Festivals -Joyous observances of May-day-The Maypole-War of Puritanism against maypoles-The play of Robin Hood-Observances of St. Valentine's Day-Of New Year's Day-Anniversaries of the national saints-Other saints' days-Observances of Midsummer Eve-Ceremony of setting the watch-Defective lighting of the streets of London-London watchmen of the period-Celebration of Easter-Easter holidays-ChristmasLord of Misrule-Christmas excesses-King of the Bean-Pope of Fools-Boy Bishop-Plough Monday-Progress of learning-Establishment of new colleges-Effects of the Reformation on learning-Learned men of England-Learned ladies-English poets of this period-Stephen Hawes-Alexander Barklay-John Skelton -William Roy-John Heywood-Lord Surrey, and Sir Thomas Wyatt-Other poets-Edmund SpenserHis poetry. Condition of Scotland-State of its commerce-Of its ship-building-Style of living of the Scottish aristocracy-Their castles-Domestic life of the Scots-Costume-Slow progress of refinement in Scottish living Sports of Scotland-Miracle and mystery plays-Active gaines-Football, &c. - Penny weddings -Funeral observances-Progress of learning in Scotland-Establishment of King's College, Aberdeen-Of Edinburgh university-High School of Elinburgh-Course of instruction at the universities-Learned Scots of the period-Erskine of Dun-John Knox-Andrew Melvil-George Buchanan-Scottish poets-William Dunbar-Gawin Douglas-Sir David Lindsay-James V. Condition of Ireland-Unchanged state of the people-Their barbarisin confirmed by the English conquest-Continued rebellion of the Irish-Their love of news and gambling-Their modes of warfare-Sufferings endured in their revolts-Classes of Irish societyTheir chiefs-Mole of electing an inaugurating a chief-Brehon laws-The Eric-Style of living among the chiefs-Cosherings-Coign and livery - Patriarchal system of their government-Fosterships-Office of foster-father-Fileas or bards-Their poetry-Irish schools-Priests-Gallowglasses and kerns-Their modes of warfare and their weapons-The tie of gossipred-Domestic life of the Irish-Their costume-Cookery and diet-Strange and barbarous dishes-Their drinks. HE first effect of the suppression of feudalism in England was the increase of the royal authority. This was the inevitable result of the destruction, or, at least, the suspension, of that middle or balancing power by which the despotism of the king and the democracy of the people had been alternately held in check. The conflict now lay between the monarch and his subjects-between the one man who ruled with unchecked and unlimited authority, and the masses who had not yet fully learned their own power, or the mode of using it. In this way, the one man was more than a match for the many. But, besides this, the restoration of the old nobility, or the creation of a new, was an exercise of regal authority of which the Tudor dynasty could largely avail themselves, in surrounding their throne, not with a hostile and rival, but a grateful and subservient aristocracy; for the new nobles were not slow to learn, that the same power which had made, could also unmake them at pleasure. But a third source of power which the new dynasty possessed, lay in the transition state which the religion of the country was now undergoing, and the apprehension of a coming change. Was the long established creed of England to be established in greater permanency than ever; or be left to struggle unaided against that formidable Lollardism, which was so soon, under the name of Protestantism, to shake every kingdom of |