CH. II.] Bishop Bale's Character, Early Life, &c. 731 was one of the most zealous and decided anta- A.D. 1553. gonists of the Romish abuses in Ireland, and one of the most strenuous and laborious advocates of the reformed religion; his exertions on behalf of which rendered him peculiarly obnoxious to the enmity and persecution of the party who strove to maintain the pope's authority, and the peculiarities of his religion. He had been eduhis early catec first in the Carmelites' Convent at Norwich, life, &c. and afterwards at Jesus' College, Cambridge; at which time, according to his own confession, "ignorance and blindness had wholly possessed hin;" till betaking himself to the source of all trie knowledge, the written Word of God, he was converted from the error of his ways, and shook off the yoke of his former superstitious profession. In the reign of Henry VIII. he had been thrown into prison, first by Lee archbishop of York, and afterwards by Stokesly bishop of London, for preaching against the Romish religion; especially the invocation of saints, and the worshipping of images. He afterwards withdrew to the Continent, and lived for eight years in Germany, avoiding the persecutions to which persons holding his sentiments were subjected in the latter years of King Henry's reign. On the accession of Edward he returned to England, and after residing there for some time, was pro 732 Bishop Bale's account of the State of Religion [Book VI A.D. 1553, moted, by the king's own choice, to the bishopric in Ireland.* His dili episcopal office. Immediately after his consecration, Bishop gence in his Bale betook himself to Kilkenny, the place of his cathedral church, and his episcopal residence; and engaged in preaching the Gospel, in which practice he constantly persevered, notwithstanding the opposition and contradiction vhich assailed him from the greater part of his prebendaries, and from the advocates of the papay in general. For as yet the principles and pracices of the Reformation appear to have taken very faint hold of the minds of the people here; and even where the provisions of the English liturry were avowedly adopted, they were corrupted ly an intermixture of Romish superstitions. The Holy Communion of the Lord's Supper was accompanied with various unprofitable and vain ceremonies, such as "bowings and beckings, kneelings and knockings, the Lord's death, after St. Paul's doctrine, neither preached nor yet spoken of;" and the dead were bewailed with "prodigious howlings and patterings," as if the redemption by Christ's passion were not sufficient to procure quiet for the souls of the deceased, and to deliver them out of hell without these "sorrowful sorceries." These and many * Mant, i. p. 218. Ware's Bishops, 415. CH. II.] in Kilkenny, and of his own exertions there. 733 other superstitious usages of that period Bishop A. d. 1553. Bale censures in no very measured terms.* Of his own preaching he gives the following His preachaccount:- "I earnestly exhorted the people to ing, as described by repentance for sin, and required them to give himself. credit to the Gospel of salvation; to acknowledge and believe that there was but one God; and Him alone, without any other, sincerely to worship; to confess one Christ for an only Saviour and Redeemer, and to trust in none other man's prayers, merits, nor yet deservings, but in His alone for salvation. I treated at large both of the heavenly and political state of the Christian Church, and helpers I found none among my prebendaries and clergy, but adversaries a great number." He told them also "that their prayers for the dead procured no redemption to the souls departed; redemption of souls being only in Christ, of Christ, and by Christ; adding "that the priest's office, by Christ's straight commandment, was chiefly to preach and instruct the people in the doctrine and ways of God, and not to occupy so much of the time in chanting, piping, and singing." And further, he used every exertion to have the Book of Common Prayer intro * Vid. Mant, p. 223. This charge of Bale's was not altogether unfounded. Archbishop Browne complained in 1538 that he could not by any means induce any to preach the Word of God. And to this agrees the testimony of the lord chancellor of Ireland, in May, 1552, given at p. 728, sup. Vid. Mant, i. 131, 222. 734 Close of the Reign of King Edward VI. [Book VI. A. D. 1553. duced into the churches of his diocese, but found to his great vexation that the opposition of his clergy, added to other inevitable causes, rendered these endeavours unsuccessful. His labours of short con However, unassisted as he was by those whose tinuance. co-operation he might have looked for, he exerted himself so far as an individual could, in promoting the great work on which his heart was set; and continued diligently discharging his pastoral duties, and preaching constantly in his cathedral of Kilkenny, until after midsummer; "quietly setting forth Christ and salvation by Him alone, to his people," and labouring to withdraw them from the old superstitions. But the period of his labours was short; for he had scarcely occupied his place six months when the king died, and the work of reformation was altogether suspended for a time during the reign of his successor. Summary of the effects of this reign on religion. To sum up briefly the most important features of the reign of Edward VI., so far as our Church the state of was concerned, we may see that they were chiefly these: the establishment of the king's supremacy, displayed particularly in his appointment of bishops irrespectively of the pope's authority; the advancement of the work of reformation in the Church, by selecting judicious and suitable persons for the episcopal office; and the introduction of the English liturgy into Ireland; CH. III.] Accession of Queen Mary. 735 which latter arrangement at once exhibited the A.D. 1553. progress already made in the work of reforming religion, and the principles on which that reform was conducted, and at the same time tended to confirm the improvements made by recommending them thus to the judgment of all well-disposed, sensible, and pious Christians. CHAP. III. OF THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY, AND ITS EFFECTS UPON THE cession to persecution On the death of King Edward VI. his sister Mary's acMary came to the throne. The tyrannical pro- the throne ceedings of her reign are so generally known followed by that it seems needless to encumber this part of of the Reforour work by introducing any notice of them, so mers.. far at least as England is concerned. For the reader may well be supposed to have learned from other sources how many good and pious persons were by her authority, and at the instigation of the bishop of Rome, put to death in that country on account of their religion, and for having embraced the doctrines of the reformed faith; and how in particular the venerable Bishops Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, who had been most active in the work of libe |