per; 2. that the monks eat lard, and were permitted the use of flesh to sick and infirm brethren; 3. that the bishops adorned their fingers with rings; 4. that their priests were beardless; 5. that they confined baptism to a single immersion. Such were the trifles that were permitted to bring upon the church one of the most disastrous events with which she has ever been visited.

SECTION II.

1. “Who established the tax of Peter's pence, and what was the nature of that tax?"

Ina, king of the West Saxons, at the suggestion of Gregory II., first granted the household tax, called Peter's pence, in 725. It was at first a penny on each house, and was collected on the feast of St. Peter, in Vinculis; its original object having been the establishment and support of an English College, at Rome. In 794, Offa extended it over East Anglia and Mercia; Egbert did so for all England; and successive sovereigns, till Henry VIII., and increased the tax though the popes had long appropriated it to other purposes than that for which it had originally been levied.

2. "Mention some occasion when England was laid under interdict by the pope, and state the effects of that measure upon society."

See reply to question 2. Sec. III. His. England.

3. "How long did the Popish party remain in communion with the Church of England in the reign of Elizabeth, and under what circumstances did they separate themselves from it ?"

The Popish party continued in communion with the Anglican church till 1570, when they began to separate and form a distinct sect. They did this in consequence

of the sentence of excommunication pronounced against Elizabeth and her supporters, by Pius V. in 1569.

4. "State briefly the origin of the Reformation in England and its progress up to the reign of Edward VI."

The preaching of Wickliffe against the prevailing errors of the Roman church, and his translation of the Scriptures into English were the initiatory steps, or, at least, the germs of the English Reformation. But the proximate causes of the final and decisive repudiation of Papal corruptions and usurpation appear in the reign of Henry VIII. The refusal of compliance on the part of the Pope to that king's desire for a dissolution of his marriage with Catherine, produced a breach in the friendly relations of the English and Papal courts. The first result of this breach was, the suppression, by the king and parliament, of all the usurped privileges that the popes had heretofore enjoyed in England. In 1532-3 all the pecuniary claims of the court of Rome were declared illegal, and were forthwith abolished. Every branch of the Papal jurisdiction was at the same time suppressed; and 1534 provincial synods, at Canterbury and York, gave unanimous verdicts to the proposition for no longer recognizing the authority of the bishops of Rome in England. But these reformations, though great steps in the right direction, concerned discipline and church government only. The more important restitution of purity of doctrine was of more gradual growth. In 1537, and 1543, the king and convocation issued two manuals of doctrine, called respectively, "The Institution of a Christian Man,” and "The Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian Man;" in which many abuses were disclaimed. All monastic establishments were suppressed, and the revenues confiscated in 1540. From these vast funds, six

new bishoprics were endowed, but the greater portion of the enormous wealth was misappropriated. When Edward came to the throne in 1547, the reformers found full scope for the complete development of their views; and the church soon assumed a condition in respect to faith and practice from which the present differs but slightly. Images and relics were removed from churches; the communion in both kinds given to laity; and the liturgy in English compiled.

SECTION III.

1. “What do the articles affirm concerning the sufficiency of the Holy Scripture ?”

That they contain all things accessory to salvation. See Art. 6.

2. "What errors are guarded against in the definition of the two sacraments ?"

We reply to this question by a few extracts from Burnet, on the Articles.

* *

“The virtue of the sacrament being great in the worthy receiving excludes the doctrine of opus operatum (the very working of them) as effectually as if it had been expressly condemned; and the naming the two sacraments instituted by Christ, is upon the matter, the rejecting of all the rest. All sacramental actions are acceptable to God only with regard to the temper and the inward acts of the person to whom they are applied. The other extreme that we likewise avoid is that of sinking the sacraments so low as to be mere rites and ceremonies. *** They are not bare and naked remembrances and tokens, but are actuated and animated by a divine blessing that attends them."

* * *

3. "What authority is there from Scripture and antiquity for the use of a language 'understanded of the people,' in the services of the church?"

St. Paul, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, 14th chapter, 19th verse-and indeed through a greater part of the chapter-argues, expressly, against the use of an unknown tongue in the services of religious assemblies. Justin Martyr's APOLOGY, and many other writings of antiquity, imply, in a manner not to be misunderstood, the use of the language of the people, in the services of the church. An unwarrantable reverence for antiquity led Boniface, in the eighth century, to insist on the use of the Latin liturgy in the churches which he founded among heathen nations. Before the subversion of the Roman empire and its occupation by the northern invaders, Latin was, to a great extent, the common language of southern and western Europe. Some plea existed for endeavouring to preserve uniformity when most Europeans were, in one sense Romans; but this was no longer in force when new nations and new languages took the place of old Roman provinces. See Burnet, on Article xxiv.

4. " How many of the articles refer to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity? Quote one of these, giving proofs from Holy Scripture."

The first article distinctly enumerates the doctrines of the Trinity; the three following ones refer expressly to our Saviour, the second person of the Trinity; and the fifth declares the belief of the church in the divinity of the Holy Ghost, the third person in the blessed Trinity in Unity.

For Scripture authority for the first article, see 1 John, v. 7; Matt. iii. 16, 17; 2 Cor. xiii. 14; Matt. xxviii. 19. These are the chief texts in which the Trinity is mentioned altogether.

SECTION IV.

1. "State by what progressive steps the Holy Scriptures were rendered accessible to the people in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI.

In 1535 a Convocation determined on the preparation of an authorized version of the English Bible, to supply, in some degree, the great desire in the popular mind for the word of God. In the same year Miles Coverdale completed his translation, and obtained permission to dedicate it to the king. About the same time Lord Cromwell, vicar-general to the king, obtained a royal injunction commanding every incumbent of a parish church to provide a copy "of the Bible, both in Latin and in English, and to lay it on the choir for every man that would, to look and read therein." In 1537, the royal licence was given to the translation, which had been appointed and prepared under the auspices of the Convocation. The remainder of this question, and also the next, is answered in Appendix ii.

2. "When, and by whom, was our present authorized version of the Scriptures made?"

See Appendix i. Question 3.

3. "Give a short account of the origin of the book of Common Prayer, and the principal changes which it has undergone."

It con

Before the reign of Edward VI., the only advance towards the use of English in the public services of the church, was "the form of praying in their own tongue" provided in Henry VIII.'S PRINCE. tained the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, a Litany, almost the same as at present, together with prayers, hymns, and select passages of Scripture, for morning and evening service. This manual was published in 1545. Up to that date, the Roman