The Priest, the Puritan, and the Preacher

I have no doubt the name of Bishop Latimer is known to almost all who are here to-night. There are, probably, few who have forgotten that three hundred years ago there was such a queen of England as bloody Mary, and that men were burned alive in her reign because they would not desert Christ’s truth — and that one of these men was Bishop Latimer.

But I want young Englishmen to know these things better. I want them to become thoroughly familiar with the lives, the acts, and the opinions of the leading English reformers. Their names ought to be something better than hackneyed ornaments to point a platform speech, and rhetorical traps to ehcit an Exeter Hall cheer. Their jprincipks ought no longer

to be vague, hazy shadows, “looming in the distance,” but something clear, distinct, and •well-defined before your mind’s eyes. My desire is, that you may understand that the best interests of this country are bound up with Protestantism. My wish is, that you may write on your hearts that the well-being of England depends not on commerce, or politics, or steam, or armies, or navies, or gold, or corn; but on the maintenance of the principles of the English Reformation.

The times you live in call loudly for the diffusion of knowledge about Enghsh Church history. Opinions are boldly broached now-a-days of so startling a nature, that they make a man rub his eyes, and say, “Where ami?” A state of feeling is growing up ainong us about Eomanism and Protestantism which, to say the least, is most unhealthy. It has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished. Nothing is so likely to check this state of feeling as the production of a few plain facts. If you want to convince a Scotchman, they say, you must give him a long argument. If you -want to convince an Englishman, you must give him plain facts. Facts are the principal commodity I have brought here to-night. If any one has come to hear private speculations, or oratorical display, I am afraid he will go away disappointed; but if any one likes plain facts, I think I shall be able to supply him with a few.

Are any of you in doubt who is a true member of the Church of England? Are you perplexed by the rise and progress of what are foolishly called “Church views?” Come with me to-night, and pay a visit to one of the Fathers of the English Church. Let us put into the witness-box one of the most honest and out-spoken bishops of the days of the English Reformation. Let us examine the life and opinions of good old Latimer.

Are any of you doubting what is the true character of the Church of Kome? Are you bewildered by some of those plausible gentlemen who tell you there is no fundamental difference between the Anglican and Romish Churches? Are you puzzled by that intense

yearning after so-called Catholic principles which distinguishes some misguided churchmen, and which exhibits itself in Catholic teaching, Cathohc ceremonies. Catholic books of devotion, and Cathohc architecture? Come with me to-night, and turn over a few old pages in English history. Let us see what England actually was when Romish teachers instructed the English people, and had things all their own way. Let us see what the Church of Rome does when she has complete power. Let us see how she treats the friends of an open Bible, of private judgment, and of justification by faith. Let us see how the Church of Rome dealt with Bishop Latimer.

And now, without further preface, let me try to tell you something about —

I. Latimer’s times.

n. Latimer’s life, and

m. Latimer’s opinions.

L The times of Bishop Latimer deserve attentive consideration. It is impossible to form a just estimate of a man’s conduct unless we know the ciicumstances in which he is placed, and the difficulties with, which he has to contend. No one is thoroughly aware of the extent of our obligations to the noble band, of English Reformers who is not acquainted with the actual state of England when they began their work, and the amazing disadvantages under which their work was carried on.

Latimer was born in the reign of Henry VlL He lived through the reigns of Henry VIH, and Edward VI., and was put to death in the reign of Queen Mary. He began life at a period when Popery bore undisputed sway in this country. He witnessed the beginning of the breach between Henry VIII. and Rome, and the establishment of a transition state of religion in England. He lived to see the full development of Protestantism under Edward YI., and the compilation of a Liturgy and Articles very slightly differing from those we have at this day. Of each of these three periods I must say a few words.

The period of Latimer’s life when Popery was supreme in England, was a period of utter spiritual darkness. The depth of superstition

in wliicli our worthy forefathers were sunk is enough to make one’s hair stand on end. No doubt there were many Lollards, and followers of Wycliflfe, scattered over the land, who held the truth, and were the salt of the nation. But the fierce persecution with which these good men were generally assailed prevented their making much progress. They barely maintained their own ground. And as for the mass of the population, gross darkness covered their minds.

Most of the priests and teachers of religion were themselves profoundly ignorant of everything they ought to have known. They were generally ordained without any adequate examination as to learning or character. Many of them, though they could read their breviaries, knew nothing whatever of the Bible. Some, according to Strype, the historian, were scarcely able to say the Lord’s prayer, and not a few were unable to repeat the ten commandments. The prayers of the Church were in the Latin language, which hardly any body understood. Preaching there was scarcely any, and what there was was grossly unscriptural and unedifying. Quarterly sermons were prescribed to the cler<ry, but not insisted on. Mass, according to Latimer, was not to be omitted for a single Sunday; but sermons might be omitted for twenty Sundays together, and nobody found fault.

Huge nests of ordained men were dotted over the face of England in the shape of abbeys and monasteries. The inhabitants of these beautiful buildings were seldom very holy and self-denying, and were often men of most profligate and disreputable lives. Their morals were just what might have been expected from fullness of bread and abundance of idleness. They did next to nothing for the advancement of learning. They did nothing for the spread of true religion. Two things only they cared for; and those two were to fill their own pockets, and to keep up their own power. For the one purpose they persuaded weak and dying people to give money and land to the Church, under the specious pretence that they would in this way be delivered from purgatory, and

their faith proved by their good works. For the other purpose they claimed to hold the keys of the kingdom of heaven. To them confession of sins must be made. Without their absolution and extreme unction no man could be saved. Without their masses no soul could be redeemed from purgatory. In short, they were, practically, the mediators between Christ and man, and to injure them was the highest offense and sin. Old Fuller tells us, for example, that in 1489, a certain Italian got an immense sum of money in England by “having power from the Pope to absolve people from usury, simony, theft, manslaughter, fornication, and adultery, and all crimes whatsoever, except smiting the clergy, and conspiring against the Pope.” (i. 532, Tegg’s edition.) Such were Romish priests in Latimer’s youth, when Popery was last rampant in England. To say that they were generally ignorant, covetous, sensual, and despotic tyrants over the souls and bodies of men, is not saying one jot more than the truth.

Keep reading