castle upon Tyne. (Brand's History of Newcastle, vol. ii. p. 370, notes.)

Daniel Burgess, a nonconformist preacher at the beginning of the last century, alike famous for the length of his pulpit harangues, and for the quaintness of his illustrations, was once declaiming with great vehemence against the sin of drunkenness. Having exhausted the usual time, he turned the hour-glass, and said, "Brethren, I have somewhat more to say on the nature and consequences of drunkenness, so let's have the other glass, and then."

The witticism seems to have been borrowed from the frontispiece of a small book, entitled, "England's Shame, or a Relation of the Life and Death of Hugh Peters, by Dr. Wm. Young, 1663." Hugh Peters is here represented preaching, and holding an hour-glass in his left hand, in the act of saying, "I know you are good fellows, so let's have another glass."

PREACHING, BEFORE CRANMER'S TIME.

In the reign of Henry the Eighth, pulpit eloquence was little more than a gross attempt to exalt the power of the church, until Bishop Cranmer saw its abuse, and endeavoured to make it the vehicle of instruction. How much a reformation in preaching was wanting, may be judged of from the printed sermons of the times. In one of these discourses, the priest inveighing against irreverence to the ministers of religion, relates the following story: "St. Austin," says he, two women prating together in the Pope's chapel, and the fiend sitting on their necks, writing a long roll of what the women said. Presently letting it fall,

saw

St. Austin took it up; and asking the women what they had said, they answered only a few pater-nosters. Then St. Austin read the bill, and there was never a good word in it." In another sermon we are told, "That four men had stolen an abbot's ox. The abbot gave sentence and cursed them. Three of them were shriven, and asked mercy. The fourth died without being absolved; so that when he was dead, his spirit walked by night, and scared all who stirred from their houses after sunset. It happened, that once, as a priest went in the night with God's body to a sick man, the spirit met him, and told him who he was, and why he walked; and prayed the priest to tell his wife to make amends to the abbot, that he might absolve him; for he could have no rest till then. So this was done, and the poor soul at length went to rest." In a sermon upon the mass, a priest told his hearers, among other benefits arising from it, that "On the day they hear it, all idle oaths, and forgotten sins, shall be forgiven. On that day, they shall not lose their sight; nor die a sudden death; nor wax aged; and every step thitherward and homeward an angel shall reckon."

HOLY MAID OF KENT'S CONSPIRACY.

At the time of the noted imposture of the "Holy Maid of Kent," who pretended that God had revealed to her, that in case Henry VIII. should divorce Queen Catharine of Arragon, and take another wife during her life, his royalty would not be of a month's duration, but he should die the death of a villain; one Peto, who appears to have been an accomplice

in the imposture, was preaching before Henry at Greenwich, and in the same strain with the nun, did not scruple to tell his majesty to his face, that he had been deceived by many lying prophets, while himself, as a true Micaiah, warned him that the dogs should lick his blood, as they had licked the blood of Ahab. Henry bore this outrageous insult with a moderation not very usual to him; but to undeceive the people, he appointed Dr. Curwin to preach before him on the Sunday following; who justified the king's proceedings, and branded Peto with the epithets of rebel, slanderer, dog, and traitor." Curwin, however, was interrupted by a friar, who called him "a lying prophet, who sought to alter the succession of the crown ;" and proceeded so virulently to abuse him, that the king was obliged to interpose, and command him to be silent. Peto and the friar were afterwards summoned before the king and council, but were only reprimanded for their insolence.

UNPREACHING PRELATES.

The appointment of bishops and other ecclesiastics to lay offices, and more especially to places in the mint, during the reign of Edward VI., was severely censured by the intrepid and venerable Bishop Latimer, who denounced it boldly from the pulpit. In one of his sermons on the number of unpreaching prelates, he said, " But they are otherwise occupied; some in king's matters, some are ambassadors, some of the privy council, some to furnish the court, some are lords of parliament, some are presidents, and some comptrollers of mints. Well,

Is

well! Is this their duty? Is this their office? this their calling? Should we have ministers of the church to be comptrollers of mints? Is this a meet office for a priest that hath the cure of souls? Is this his charge? I would here ask one question: I would fain know who comptrolleth the devil at home at his parish, while he comptrolleth the mint? If the apostles might not leave the office of preaching to be deacons, shall one leave it for minting? 1 cannot tell you; but the saying is, that since priests have been minters, money hath been worse than it was before."

In another part of his discourse, the good bishop proceeds to ask, "Is there never a nobleman to be a Lord President, but it must be a prelate? Is there never a wise man in the realm to be a comptroller of the mint? I speak it to your shame, I speak it to your shame. If there be never a wise man, make a water-bearer, a tinker, a cobler, a slave, a page, the comptrollers of the mint. Make a mean gentleman, a groom, a yeoman; make a poor beggar, Lord President. Thus I speak, not that I would have it so, but to your shame, if there be never a gentleman meet nor able to be Lord President. For why are not the noblemen and young gentlemen of England so brought up in knowledge of God and in learning, that they might be able to execute offices in the commonweal? Yea, and there be already noblemen enough, though not so many as I could wish, to be Lord Presidents; and wise men enough for the mint. And as unmeet a thing it is for bishops to be Lord Presidents, or priests to be minters, as it was for the Corinthians to plead matters of variance before judges."

LAY PREACHER.

In the year 1555, a Mr. Tavernier, of Bresley in Norfolk, had a special license signed by King Edward the Sixth, authorizing him to preach in any place of his majesty's dominions, though he was a layman; and he is said to have preached before the king at court, wearing a velvet bonnet or round cap, a damask gown, and a gold chain about his neck. In the reign of Mary, he appeared in the pulpit at St. Mary's, Oxford, with a sword by his side, and a gold chain about his neck; and preached to the scholars, beginning his sermon in these words: "Arriving at the mount of Saint Mary's, in the Stony Stage where I now Stand, I have brought you some fine biscuits, baked in the oven of Charity, Carefully Conserved for the Chickens of the Church.” This sort of style, especially the alliterative part of it, was much admired in those days, even by the most accomplished of scholars; and was long after in great favour both with speakers and hearers.

At the time that Mr. Tavernier first received commission as a preacher, good preaching was so very scarce, that not only the king's chaplains were obliged to make circuits round the country to instruct the people, and to fortify them against popery, but even laymen, who were scholars, were employed for that purpose.