hoping thereby to obtain the more easily his release. But it was not long before he determined to change his course. Possessed of the rank he had coveted, deceived by the promises of Charles, and probably ashamed also of the aid he had given to those tyrannical measures, by which the independence of Germany had been infringed and the Protestant cause almost ruined, he resolved to desert the Emperor, and to wrest from him the power so unjustly usurped.

By great cunning and caution Maurice was able to keep Charles in ignorance of his designs, until the moment for throwing off the mask arrived. He formed an alliance with the king of France, collected together under different pretences large bodies of troops, and then issued a proclamation setting forth his reasons for taking up arms. "These were three in number; that he might rescue the Protestant religion, maintain the constitution and laws of the empire, and save Germany from being subject to an absolute monarch, and deliver the Landgrave of Hesse from a long and unjust imprisonment." These professions brought to his standard all the friends of liberty, and all who resented the disgraceful and cruel treatment of one of the chief princes of the empire.

With the large and well appointed army thus assembled Maurice fell upon the Emperor, as he

lay at Inspruck, confined by the gout and totally unsuspicious of danger. Charles escaped in a litter, attended by his courtiers, some on such horses as were at hand, others on foot, and all in the utmost confusion. In the midst of the tumult the Landgrave and the Elector were set at liberty.

This blow was so vigorously followed up by Maurice, that the Emperor was soon compelled to sue for peace. Accordingly, on the 2d of August, 1552, a treaty was signed at Passau, in which the unmolested enjoyment of their religion was guaranteed to the Protestants. This treaty was formally recognised by a Diet assembled for that purpose at Augsburg in 1555, who passed a decree, by which "all who had embraced the Augsburg Confession, were pronounced free from all jurisdiction of the Pope, and were bidden to live securely under their own regulations. Liberty was also given to all Germans to join either the Lutheran or Romish Church, as they pleased, and all were declared to be public enemies of the empire, who should molest others on the ground of their religion."

With the ratification of this treaty we shall close this part of our Sketch; not because from this time all change and all dispute in regard to religious matters ceased, — but because by this transaction that object was secured, for which

the Reformers had been striving during the last half of a century. They were now released by law from the tyranny of Rome, and their separation from the Catholic Church was formally acknowledged.

While the events which we have recorded, were taking place in Germany, the Reformation was successfully prosecuted in Switzerland, and introduced to a greater or less extent into most of the countries of Europe. In Great Britain also opposition to the papal authority early showed itself, and England and Scotland withdrew from the Romish Church. The Reformation in these two latter kingdoms is, for many reasons, deserving of a separate notice; and the remainder of this volume will be devoted to a brief account of its rise and progress.

CHAPTER XIII.

REFORMATION IN. ENGLAND WICKLIFFE - JOHN HUSS THE LOLLARDS - WILLIAM SAÚTRÈ―JOHN BALBY-LORD COBHAM. 1234-1417.

As an introduction to the story of the Reformation in England, it will be well to look back for a moment, to a period much earlier than that of Luther; for the separation of the ecclesiatical affairs of the English Church, from the dominion of Rome, was facilitated by those who, probably, never dreamed, that such a result was, in part, to be brought about by their agency. Still, in the opposition of a single individual to the hard oppression and gross errors of the papal system, may be found, not only the commencement of that train of events, which ended in the destruction of the Pope's authority in England, but also the impulse which worked out the great change, already described, on the continent.

The eminent man referred to was John Wickliffe, who was born in a village of the same name on the river Tees, about the year 1324. Of the earlier part of his life, little is known. He was educated at Oxford, and from his diligent atten- tion to the study of Scripture, obtained the title of the Gospel Doctor; an honorable name in an

age, when, as he himself says, "it was no uncommon thing for men to call God Master, forty, three score, or four score years, and yet remain ignorant of his ten commandments."

Wickliffe first appeared as a Reformer in an attack upon the Mendicants, or Begging Friars. The indolent and luxurious lives of the monks who resided in the monasteries, and of the other regular clergy, brought great scandal upon the Church. To remedy this difficulty, the order of Mendicants was established in the 13th century, who bound themselves to a life of poverty and abstinence, and were favored by the Popes, with some peculiar privileges. They were exempted, for instance, from the jurisdiction of the bishops, and from the secular authorities; they might demand alms of every body out of the monasteries; they might preach, hear confessions, say mass, and perform other offices, any where, and without regard to the parish priests. The court of Rome rejoiced in this army of wandering dependents, thus raised up to increase its power and execute its commands. But it was not long before these new servants forgot their vows. As their numbers increased, they swarmed all over Christendom, and became ambitious of power and covetous of wealth. They interfered with the other clergy, obtained great political influence, insinuated themselves into the universities,