their relations, and attend to their respective duties. as husband and wife.

In their funeral ceremonies they are extremely ridiculous, but not more so than has been related in our historical accounts of other Heathens. When a person is taken sick, the priest is sent for, and he dances as if insane, two or three times round his bed. This is done in order to raise the spirit, and we may venture to affirm, that it has a strong connection with the practices of some of those people who are called Protestants. A few years ago a poor man died in London, and on his death-bed he declared, that he was bewitched, by imagining a mouse jumped over his stomach, and this mouse he considered as the devil.

Some religions require art to wind up the human passions to a state of enthusiasm, and innocent weakness falls a sacrifice to interested priests, or rather to designing villains. The man who is really and virtuously religious, has no occasion to make an ostentatious display of it; but it is the interest of the hypocrite to do so. The first knows he has none to do with but God; the second pays no regard to God, but looks for the praise of men.

In their funeral ceremonies these people are equally ridiculous, and indeed some of them are more so than any we have yet mentioned, only they are not so barbarous as those in Asia and Africa. When à man dies, the body is washed clean and wrapped up in a goat's skin, and then put into a wooden coffin, where it remains seven days, from the time of the death till the interment. During that time, the people meet together and get drunk in the most riotous manner, knocking each other down, just like what took place among the Greeks during their solemn dirges. When the seven days fasting is over, they proceed to the place of entertainment in the following manner. The priests walk before, singing their hymns, and are followed by all those who are called their students. Then come the relations of the deceased, walking in mournful procession. The corpse is carried behind the relations, and the procession is closed by the servants and other attendants. When they come to the grave, the priests mumble over some prayers, and then the body is laid in the grave. This, however, does not finish the cercmony, for all those who attend the funeral, throw flowers into the grave. The earth being laid upon the body, they all return home to the house of the deceased, and spend the whole night in such extravagancy, that sometimes before morning they get so drunk that they break each others limbs, and many

of those who come out sound in the morning, return home no better than cripples.

The regard these people have for their deceased relations, does not end with their interment; for notwithstanding all the nocturnal revels that take place after the funeral, yet they meet again, and erect a monument to perpetuate their respect to the person who was beloved by them in life. This is a natural and just sentiment, and nothing in the common or rather the vicious practices of this world can set it aside. Those who treat the ashes of their deceased relations with indignity, will never pay much regard to the living. The image of God is stamped upon man, and he who brutally abuses an human body, abuses the image of God. But we shall now take leave of the subject relating to the Heathen nations by suggesting the following reflections.

Are the Heathens left in a state of ignorance, are they without God in the world? Let us learn that our ancestors were once Heathens, and that we should have been the same now, had not the Divine goodness extended to us the blessings of the everlasting gospel.

Is Heathenism become a term of reproach? And are Heathens looked upon with contempt? Let Christians consider, that nothing can more endear them to the Divine Being, or exonerate them from the consciousness of guilt, as that of extending the blessings of redemption to their fellow creatures. Are unnatural crimes committed by the Heathens? Let Christians remember, that it is their duty to set them a fair example. Precepts are useful, but examples give a sanction to them. Is religion the grand monument of mercy? Then let us, who enjoy it endeavour to disseminate the beneficial consequences to the most distant nations. Is there a possibility of doing good? Let it be shewn in the care we take to enlighten the Heathen nations. And now having said so much of these people, we shall take our leave by wishing earnestly that the sun of righteousness may arise with healing under his wings. That the desire of all nations may trample upon his enemies, that men may be blessed in him, that all nations may call him blessed. High is the command of the Almighty, enlarged are his orders with respect to his moral government of this world, vindictive is his justice, but his mercy is in a manner unbounded. These considerations should reconcile us to all the works of an Omnipotent Being. God conducts the affairs of this lower world unknown to us, but we behold with admiration, when we consider the execution of every part of the beautiful design.

AN

HE consideration of events as flowing from causes apparently weak and insignificant, will at all times serve to prove, that there is a divine power by which this lower world is governed. The voluptuous and the ignorant suffer all these things to pass unnoticed, but the wise consider them, and draw such reflections from all the occurrences as make a lasting impression on their minds. History without reflection is nothing; but history properly improved becomes the grand ornament of human life. The historian who makes a real use of that science, goes on from one degree to another, till he is lost in admiration. The wonders of Providence appear to him as so many stupendous edifices, raised by hands unseen, and when he cannot comprehend the whole, he sits down in silence, acknowledging his ignorance, but at the same time desirous of knowledge.

The knowledge of history does not consist in the recital of facts, for that may be done by a fool, and a school boy can tell what had happened before he was born. This, however, is not history, but a bare recital of facts in the order of time in which they happened. History is an account of such events as have taken place on the theatre of this lower world; but in our endeavours to transmit them to the public in a proper manner, we must at all times remember that we are to blend instruction with entertainment; that is, we are to point out the causes which produced the events, and the consequences that followed. We are to consider the particular states of those countries of which we have been writing, we are to take in all the concomitant circumstances, and with modesty deliver our own opinions. We are to consider the difference of times and circumstances, and we are to compare the past with the present. By attending to these rules, we may become real historians, but if they are slighted we shall be left in a state of Egyptian darkness. This naturally leads us to say something concerning the reformation, and it shall be delivered with impartiality.

We have already treated the gradual progress of corruptions in the Christian church, from the reign No. 24.

of Constantine the Great, down to the age of Martin Luther. But having been obliged to shift the subject, we shall here proceed to give the reader an account of the reformation, and then describe the particular professions that have sprung from it.

Bishop Hall has a pretty observation in his account of Zechariah's vision in the temple, and it is, "When things are at the worst, God usually works a remarkable deliverance, or brings about an important change." Indeed, all violence leads to changes, for such is the state of human nature, such is the government of this world, that whatever is carried to a more than ordinary extreme, must soon have an end. Pagan darkness was such, when Christ came in the flesh, that the minds of men were totally clouded with it, and then the sun of righteousness broke forth in an illustrious manner to enlighten the nations.

But to pursue the idea; let us consider the state of the European nations previous to the times of Martin Luther, who, in the hands of Divine providence, was the happy instrument, assisted by some of the German princes, of opposing the whole power of the house of Austria, and all the machinations of the court of Rome. It is true, as Dr. Newton, the present bishop of Bristol, has observed, there never was an age since the death of Christ, in which some witnesses could not be found for the truth of the gospel. The doctrines taught by the famous Wickliff spread far and wide; and thirty years after his death, we find John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, condemned by the council of Constance, for teaching his opinions. Paul Craw, a Bohemian, having come over to Scotland for his personal safety, found himself exposed to the same dangers as at home; for he was burnt alive at St. Andrews. Learning was then beginning to revive, and the clergy began to be afraid of the downfal of their kingdom. They found the pillars beginning to shake, and they knew that their doctrines could not stand before the light of a rational enquiry. This filled them with so much resentment against all those who spoke their sentiments freely, that that they were immediately put to death. 7 D

But

But it was not learning alone that brought about the reformation; there were many political circumstances concurring in this great event, and some princes became the happy instruments of promoting true religion, although they themselves were men of no virtuous principles, but scandalous debauchees and arbitrary tyrants. The scandalous lives of the clergy were another' means to bring about the reformation, and while they were as it were asleep in the arms of carnal security; while they thought themselves beyond the power of being disturbed in their mansions; and, in a word, when they found they had domineered over the consciences of the people, and almost engrossed the civil power to themselves, they began to consider that the whole orders of priesthood were established on the most permanent basis, they found themselves roused a little from their stupidity, and they found that they had to do with very important adversaries, whom before they looked upon as contemptible.

Pope Leo X. when raised to the papal throne, found the revenues of the church exhausted, by the vast projects of his two ambitious predecessors, Alexander VI. and Julius II. and being in his own temper naturally liberal and enterprising, rendered him incapable of that severe economy which the situation of his finances required. On the contrary, his schemes for aggrandizing the family of the Medicis, his love of spiendor, his taste for pleasure, and his munificence in rewarding men of genius, involved him daily in a long train of expences; in order to provide a fund for which, every device that the fertile genius of priests could invent was tried.

Among others, he had recourse to the sale of indulgencies; a practice common enough in the church of Rome, but never before this time carried to such an extravagant height. But here we must explain this mystery of iniquity to our readers.

According to the doctrine of the Romish church, all the good works of the saints, over and above those which were necessary for their own justification, together with the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, are deposited in one inexhaustible treasury. The keys of this were committed to St. Peter, and to his successors the popes, who may open it at pleasure, and by transferring a portion of this superabundant merit to any particular person for a sum of money, may convey to him either the pardon of his own sins, or a release for any one with whom he is interested, from the pains of purga

tory.

These indulgencies were first invented in the eleventh century by pope Urban II. as a recom

pence for those who went in person on the wild enterprize of conquering the holy land. They were afterwards granted to those who hired a soldier for that purpose; and, in process of time, were bestowed on such as gave money for accomplishing any pious work enjoined by the pope. Julius II. had bestowed indulgenencies on all who contributed towards building the church of St. Peter's at Rome; and as Leo was carrying on that magnificent fabric, his grant was founded on the same pretension.

The promulgation of these indulgencies in Germany, together with a share arising from the profits in the sale of them, was assigned to Albert, elector of Mentz and archbishop of Magdeburgh, who, as his chief agent for retailing them in Saxony, employed one Tetzel, a Dominican friar, of licentious morals, but of an active spirit, and very remarkable for that sort of eloquence which serves to inflame the passions without leading the mind to truth, or guarding it against error. He, assisted by the monks of his order, executed the commission with great zeal and success, but with little discretion or decency; and though by magnifying excessively the benefits of these indulgencies, and by disposing of them at a very low price, they carried on for some time a lucrative and extensive traffic among the credulous multitude, the extravagance of their assertions, and the irregularity in their conduct, came at last to give general offence. The princes and nobles were irritated at seeing their vassals drained of so much money, in order to fill the treasury of a profuse pope. Men of piety regretted the delusions of the people, who being taught to rely for the pardon of their sins on the indulgencies which they purchased, did not think it incumbent on them, either to abound in faith or practice holiness. the most unthinking were shocked at the more than scandalous behaviour of Tetzel and his associates, who often squandered in drunkenness, gaming, and low debauchery, those sums which were bestowed in hopes of obtaining eternal happiness; and all began to wish that some check could be given to this scandalous commerce, no less injurious to society than destructive of true religion.

Even

As the form of these indulgencies, and the benefits which they were supposed to convey, are in general unknown in protestant countries, and but little understood at present in several places where the Roman catholic religion is established, we have here for the information of our readers, inserted the form of the absolution used by Tetzel.

May our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon thee, and absolve thee by the merits of his most "holy

"holy passion. And I, by his authority, that of his "blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and of the most holy pope, granted and committed to me in these parts, do absolve thee, first from all ecclesiastical censures, in whatever manner they have been in"curred, and then from all thy sins, transgressions, "and excesses, how enormous soever they may be, " even from such as are reserved for the cognizance "of the holy see; and as far as the keys of the holy "church extend, I remit to you all punishment you "deserve in purgatory on their account; and I restore you to the holy sacraments of the church, "to the unity of the faithful, and to that innocence "and purity you possessed at baptism; so that when "you die, the gates of punishment shall be shut, "and the gates of the paradise of life shall be opened; "and if you shall not die at present, this grace shall "remain in full force when you are at the point of "death. In the name of the Father, of the Son, "and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."

From perusing this, which is faithfully transcribed from Sechendorf, a popish writer, it will appear, that the terms which Tetzel and his associates made use of were so extravagant, that unless they had been well authenticated, we might have doubted of the truth of them. If any man purchased one of these indulgencies, his soul was to rest secure with respect to its salvation. The souls confined in purgatory were, as soon as the money was paid, set at liberty, and ascended into heaven. The efficacy of the indulgencies was to be so great, that the most heinous sins were pretended to be forgiven, and the person was to be freed from all manner of punishment, and even from the guilt which incurs it. This was, indeed, the carrying priestcraft to an unbounded height; but it led to the fall of its own greatness. Almost every man looked upon them with silent contempt, or with an honest indignation; they saw natural religion as it were trampled under foot, and the glorious fabric of the church made to appear worse than Heathenism was of old. They beheld an order of designing men, who had long trampled on the rights of private judgement, now attempting to deprive others of their natural faculties, and to make the very name of Christianity odious in the world, by attempting to raise money in consequence of practices which the most unenlightened Heathens would have been ashamed of.

Such was the favourable juncture, and so disposed were the minds of his countrymen to listen to his discourses, when Martin Luther first began to call in question the efficacy of indulgencies, and declaim against the vicious lives, and false doctrines of those who promulgated them. He was a native of Eisle

ben in Saxony, where he was born in 1483, and though of poor parents, had received a learned education, according to the state of knowledge in that age, during the progress of which he gave many indications of uncommon vigour and acuteness of genius. As his mind was naturally susceptible of serious impressions, and tinctured with somewhat of that religious melancholy which delights in the solitude and devotion of a monastic life, he retired into a convent of Augustine friars, and without suffering the entreaties of his parents to divert him from what he considered as his duty to God, he assumed the habit of that order.

There he acquired great reputation, not only for his piety, but for his love of knowledge and unwearied application to study. He had been taught the scholastic philosophy and theology, which were then in vogue, by very able masters, and wanted not penetration to comprehend all the merits and distinctions with which they abound; but his own. understanding, naturally sound and superior to any thing frivolous, soon became disgusted with these subtile and uninstructive sciences, and he sought for some more solid foundation of knowledge and of piety in the sacred scriptures. Having found a copy of the bible which had long laid neglected in the library of his monastery, he abandoned all other pursuits, and devoted himself to the study of it with so much eagerness and assiduity as astonished the monks, who were little accustomed to derive their theological notions from that source. The great progress he made in this uncommon course of study, augmented so much both the fame of his sanctity and his learning, that Frederick, elector of Saxony, having founded an university at Wittemberg on the Elbe, the place of his residence, Luther was chosen, first to teach philosophy, and then theology in the schools; and he was considered as the chief ornament of that society.

While Luther was in the height of his reputation, Tetzel began to publish indulgencies in the neighbourhood of Wittemberg; and to ascribe to them the same imaginary virtues, which in other places had been imposed on the credulity of the people. As Saxony was not more enlightened than other provinces, so Tetzel met with great success there. It was with the utmost concern that Luther beheld the artifices of those who sold, and the simplicity of those who bought the indulgencies. The opinions of many of the most ancient and subtile schoolmen, who had established the doctrines of indulgencies, were now falling into disrepute, and the scriptures, which Luther began to consider as the unerring standard of faith, afforded no countenance to a system

that

that was destructive of natural reason, and calculated to render the most important things in the Christian system, no better than a farce.

His warm and impetuous temper did not suffer him long to conceal such important discoveries, or to continue a silent spectator while he saw his countrymen deluded. From the pulpit in the great church at Wittemberg, he inveighed bitterly against the irregularities of those who published indulgencies. He went so far as to examine the nature of the doctrines they taught, and pointed out to the people the danger of relying for salvation on any other means than those prescribed in the word of God. The boldness and novelty of these opinions drew great attention, and being recommended by the authority of Luther's personal character, and delivered with a popular and persuasive eloquence, they made a deep impression on his hearers. Encouraged by the favourable reception of his doctrines among the people, he wrote to Albert, elector of Mentz, and archbishop of Magdeburgh, to whose jurisdiction that part of Saxony was subject, and remonstrated warmly against the false opinions, and wicked lives of the preachers of the indulgencies; but he found that prelate too deeply interested in their success to do any thing to hinder their progress.

His next attempt was to gain the approbation of men of learning, and for this purpose he published no less than ninty-five different propositions concerning the principles of theology. These he proposed not as points fully established of undoubted authority, but as subjects of doubt, inquiry, and disputation: He appointed a day on which the learned were invited to impugn them either in person, or in writing, and subjoined to the whole, solemn protestations of his respect for the apostolic see, of his submission to its authority, if the objections he had stated could be answered to his satisfaction. No opponent appeared at the time fixed, but the account of the propositions spread over Germany with the utmost rapidity; they were read with the greatest eagerness, and all admired the boldness of the man who had ventured to call in question the plentitude of papal power, and to attack the Dominicans, armed with all the powers of inquisitorial authority.

The friars of St. Augustine, Luther's own order, though addicted with no less obsequiousness than the other monastic fanatics, to the papal power, gave no check to the publications of these uncommon opinions. Luther had, by his piety and learning, acquired uncommon authority among his brethren. He professed, from motives unknown to us, the

highest regard for the authority of the pope, and probably his professions were, at that time, sincere; and as a secret enmity, excited by interest and emulation, subsists among all the monastic orders in the Romish church, the Augustinians were highly pleased with his invectives against the Dominicans, and hoped to see them exposed to the hatred and scorn of the people. Nor was his sovereign the elector of Saxony, the wisest prince at that time in Germany, dissatisfied with that obstruction which Luther threw in the way of the publication of indulgencies. He secretly favoured the attempt, and flattered himself that this dispute among the clergy might give some check to the exertions of the court of Rome, which the secular princes had long, though without success, been endeavouring to oppose.

Many zealous champions immediately rose to defend opinions on which the wealth, power, and grandeur of the church were founded, against the propositions advanced by Luther. Amongst these was Tetzel, a man whose character we have already described. He published an equal number of propositions with those of Luther, and they were defended by all the sophistry of false logic by Eckius, a divine belonging to the cathedral church of Augsburg; and Prianias, a Dominican friar, wrote against Luther with all the virulence of a scholastic disputant. But the manner in which they conducted the cause, did little honour to their argument. Luther attempted to condemn the doctrine as well as the practice of granting indulgencies, from arguments drawn from reason, or derived from scripture; but they produced nothing in support of them, except the sentiments of school-men, the conclusions of the canon law, and the decrees of the popes. The decisions of judges, so partial and degenerated, d not satisfy the people, who began to call in question even the authority of these venerable guides, when they found them standing in open opposition to the dictates of reason, and the determinations of the Divine law.

Mean while the novelties which appeared in Luther's doctrine, and seemed so much to engage all the attention of the people, did not alarm the court of Rome. Pope Leo X. fond of elegant and refined pleasures, intent upon great schemes of policy, a stranger to the clerical controversies, and apt to despise them, regarded, with the utmost indifference, the operations of an obscure friar, who, in the heart of Germany, carried on a scholastical disputation in a barbarous stile. Little did he apprehend, or Luther himself dream, that the effects of this quarrel would. be fatal to the papal see. Leo imputed the whole to

monastic