་ felf: what should you study for? why should you do this or that? your grace may anfwer them thus: what, firrah? I perceive you are weary of us: doth not God fay in fuch a place, that a king fhould fear God, that he may reign long? I perceive now, that thou art a traytor. Tell him this tale ' once, and I warrant you he will come no more to you.' In his fourth fermon he taxes the bishops. Thou shalt not,' fays he, addreffing himself to the king, be partaker of other mens fins. So faith St. Paul. And what is it to be a partaker of other mens fins, if it be not fo to make unpreaching prelates, and to fuffer them to continue ftill in their unpreaching prelacy? If the king fhould fuffer these things, and look through his fingers, and wink at them, 'fhould not the king be a partaker of other mens fins? And why is he not fupreme head of the church? What? is the fupremacy a dignity, and nothing else? is it not accountable? I think, verily, it will be a chargeable dignity, when account fhall be afked of it.-If the falt is unfavoury, it is good for nothing. By this falt is understood preachers. And if it is good for nothing, it fhould be caft out. Out ⚫ with them then; caft them out of their office. What should they do with cures, that will not look to them? -Oh, that a man might have the contemplation of hell; that the 'devil would allow a man to look into it, and fee its state, as he fhewed all the world when he tempted Chrift in the wilderness. On yonder fide, would the devil fay, are punifhed unpreaching prelates. I think verily a man might fee as far as a kenning, as far as from Calais to Dover, I warrant you, and fee nothing but unpreaching prelates.-As for 'them, I never look to have their good words as long as I live: yet will I speak of their wickedness, as long as I fhall be permitted to fpeak. No preacher can pafs it over in filence. It is the original root of all mifchief. As for me, I ' owe them no other ill-will, but to pray God to amend them. 'I would have them do their duty. I owe them no other ma⚫lice than this, and this is none at all.' In his fifth fermon he lashes the judges, and patrons of livings. If a judge,' fays he, fhould ask me the way to hell, I would fhew him this way: first, let him be a covetous 'man; then let him go a little farther, and take bribes; and laftly, let him pervert judgment. Lo, here is the mother and the daughter, and the daughter's daughter. Avarice is the mother; fhe brings forth bribe-taking, and bribetaking perverting of judgment. There lacks a fourth thing to make up the mess, which, fo God help me, if I were 'judge, judge, fhould be a Tyburn tippit. Were it the judge of the king's-bench, my lord chief-judge of England, yea, were it my lord chancellor himself, to Tyburn with him.-But one will fay, peradventure, you fpeak unfeemingly, fo to be against the officers for taking of rewards; you confider not the matter to the bottom: their offices be bought for great fums; now how fhould they receive their money again, but by bribing? You would not have them undone: fome of them gave two hundred pounds, fome five hundred, fome two ⚫ thousand; and how can they gather up this money again, but by helping themselves in their office.-And is it fo trow ye are civil offices bought for money? Lord God! who would have thought it! Oh! that your grace would feck through your realm for men meet for offices; yea, and give them liberally for their pains, rather than that they • Thould give money for them. This buying of offices is a making of bribery: for he that buyeth, muft needs fell. • You fhould feek out for offices, wife men, and men of activity, that have ftomachs to do their business; not milk-fops, · nor white-livered knights; but fearers of God; for he that feareth God, will be no briber.-But, perhaps, you will fay, we touch no bribes. No, marry? but my mistress, < your wife, hath a fine finger; fhe toucheth it for you; or elfe you have a fervant who will fay, if you will offer my mafter a yoke of oxen, you will fare never the worse: but I think my master will not take them. When he has offered them to the mafter, then comes another fervant, and fays, if you will carry them to the clerk of the kitchen, you will be remembered the better. This is a frierly fashion: they will receive no money in their hands, but will have it put upon their fleeves.' Thefe fpecimens are fufficient to give our readers a juft idea of this preacher's fpirit and freedom, and fhew what a noble zeal he exerted, upon all occafions, in the caufe of truth and religion. While he was thus difcharging the duty of a courtpreacher, a flander paft upon him, which being taken up by a low hiftorian of those times, hath found its way into these. The matter of it was this; that after the lord high admiral's attainder, and execution, Mr. Latimer publicly defended his death, in a fermon before the king; that he aspersed his character; and that he did it merely to pay a fervile compliment to the protector. The firft part of the charge, Mr. Gilpin admits, is true; but he is at fome pains to thew, that the fecond and third are falfe. After After the protector's death, he informs us, that he meets with no accounts of Mr. Latimer during the remainder of King Edward's reign, and thinks it probable that he retired into the country, and made ufe of the king's licence as a general preacher, in those parts where he thought his labours might be moft ufeful. In the beginning of Queen Mary's reign, while a fevere enquiry was carrying on in London against the reformed clergy, Mr. Latimer was in the country, where he continued preaching in his ufual manner, unaffected by the danger of the times. But he did not long enjoy this liberty. The bifhop of IVinchefter fent a meffenger to cite him before the council: he fet out immediately for London; and, as he paffed through Smithfield, where heretics were ufually burnt, he faid chearfully, This place hath long groaned for me. The next morning he waited upon the council; who having loaded him with many reproaches, fent him to the Tower. This was but a repetition of a former part of his life, only his treatment now was much more fevere, and he had more frequent occafions to exercife his refignation; a virtue which he poffeffed in a larger measure than almoft any other man. Notwithstanding this, the ufual chearfulness of his difpofition did not now fortake him; of which we have one inftance ftill remaining. A fervant leaving his apartment, Mr. Latimer called after him, and bid him tell his mafter, That unless he took better care of him, he would certainly efcape him. Upon this meffage, the lieutenant, with fome difcompofure in his countenance, came to Mr. Latimer, and defired an explanation of what he said to his fervant. Why, you expect, I juppofe, fir, replied Mr. Latimer, that I should be burned; but if you do not allow me a little fire, this frofly weather, I can tell you, I fhall first be ftarved. In the mean time the bishop of Winchefer, and his friends, held frequent councils on public affairs; and endeavoured to impofe upon the world, by making it believed, that reafon as well as power was on their fide. Accordingly it was given out, that the controverly between the papifts and proteftants fhould be finally determined in a folemn difputation to be held at Oxford, between the most eminent divines on each fide. And fo far the papifts acted honeftly: for Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, who were confeffedly the most eminent divines of their party, and were defigned for this employment, by the expectation of all men who wished well to truth, were appointed to manage the difpute on the part of the proteftants. They were, accordingly, taken out of the Tower, where they had all been REV. July, 1755. imprisoned, D imprifoned, and were fent to Oxford, where they were closely confined in the common prifon; deprived of every comfort but what their own breafts could adminifter. How free the difputation was likely to be, they might eafily imagine, when they found themselves denied the ufe even of books, and pen and ink. Their prifon-hours, however, were not spent in vain lamentations; their religion raised them above all human fufferings, and all mortal fears. Their chief refource,' fays Mr. Gilpin, was in prayer, in which exercife they spent great part of every day. Mr. • Latimer, particularly, would often continue kneeling till he was not able to rife without help. The principal fubject of his prayers was, that God would enable him to maintain the profeffion of his religion to the laft; that God would again reftore his gospel to England, and preferve the princess Elizabeth to be a comfort to this land.' Mr. Fox has preferved a conference, afterwards put into writing, which was held at this time between Ridley and Latimer. Some paffages from this conference Mr. Gilpin inferts, which fhew with what noble fortitude, and with what exalted fentiments, these two great reformers of religion were inspired. After this he gives a fhort account of the difputation, and of what followed upon it; to which, however, we must refer our readers. After informing us that Latimer went through his last sufferings with that compofure and firmnefs of mind, which nothing but a found faith, and a good confcience could produce, Mr. Gilpin concludes thus: Such was the life of Hugh Latimer, bishop of Worcester, one of the leaders of that glorious_army of martyrs, who introduced the reformation into England. He had a happy temper, formed on the principles of chriftian philofophy. Such was his chearfulnefs, that none of the accidents of life could difcompofe him. Such was his fortitude, that not even the fevereft trials could unman him. He had a colle ted fpirit, and on no occafion wanted a refource. He could retire within himself, and hold the world • at defiance. And a danger could not daunt, fo neither could ambition • allure him. Though converfant in courts, and intimate with princes, he preferved to the laft, a rare inftance of moderation, his primeval plainnefs. In his profeffion he was indefatigable: and that he might bestow as much time as poffible on the active part of it, he ⚫ allowed himfelf only thofe hours for his private ftudies, when • the the bufy world is at reft; conftantly rifing, at all seasons of the year, by two in the morning. How confcientious he was in the difcharge of the public • parts of his office, we have many examples. No man could perfuade more forcibly: no man could exert, on proper occafions, a more commanding feverity. The wicked, in ⚫ whatever ftation, he rebuked with cenforian dignity; and C awed vice more than the penal laws. He was not esteemed a very learned man, for he cultivated only useful learning; and that, he thought, lay in a very narrow compafs. He never engaged in worldly affairs, thinking that a clergyman ought to employ himself only in his profeffion. Thus he lived rather a good, than what the world calls a great man. He had not thofe commanding talents, which give fuperiority in bufinefs: but for honefty and fincerity of heart, for true fimplicity of manners, for apoftolic zeal in the cause of religion, and for every virtue, both of a public and private kind, that fhould adorn the life of a Chriftian, he was emi❝nent and exemplary beyond moft men of his own, or of any other time; well deferving that evangelical commendation, "With the teftimony of a good confcience, in fimplicity and "godly fincerity, not with fleshly wifdom, but by the grace "of God, he had his converfation in the world." R ART. V. Conclufion of the Natural Hiftory of Norway, continued from the Review for June, 1755, and the Appendix to our twelfth volume. H ITHERTO our natural hiftorian had treated of fuch animals only, as we may readily fuppofe to exist, and ac quiefce in his account of them; tho' a few of 'em may vary in fome refpects, or be differently circumftanced, from thofe we ordinarily fee, or converfe about. But in his chapter concerning uncommon fea-animals, there will be occafion, we apprehend, for many readers to extend their imagination to conceive, and to abftract their judgment from fome prepoffeffions and limitations, in order to admit, the reality of thofe animated beings; which, we confefs, all circumftances confidered, we think we have fome juft grounds for fubfcribing to ourselves. And here, had our bounds permitted us, we could gladly have prefented the curious with the greatest part of this chapter, in its neceflary amplitude, and with all its cogency of evidence: but the number of other writers rendering this extremely inconvenient, we muft content our D 2 felves |