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church, which appoints proper selections for the second as well as the first lesson; and, with the superficial notions about edification which generally prevail, this has been thought a great improvement. People think nothing of the silent witness which is borne against the coldness of Christian devotion,' nor consider how much less of the New Testament the American system would make known to vast numbers, who hear no more of Scripture than what is read in church on Sunday; to say nothing of the very striking and instructive combination in which our second lessons often present the Old Testament and the New, -a combination the more striking, from being undesigned, as well as more varied and extensive than it could be under any form of previously contrived connection. Let it be considered how intimately acquainted regular church-goers become with the Psalms, solely by their constant recitation in monthly course, and we shall see how much advantage may be derived, in a lower degree, from the ever-varying order of our second lessons,—how, in no very long time, even persons who cannot read would become familiar with the whole New Testament. There was a time when “hearing” was the only means which many possessed of becoming acquainted with the Scriptures; and we do not know what may be again-what may be even now. Neither the salvation of the world, nor the knowledge of divine things, as some seem to think, is absolutely dependent on ability to read the Bible. Many a saint who never read a word of it will shine as the sun in the

kingdom of the Father. The teaching of the church points out the way of heaven to the most ignorant, and would guide him in it by the light of God's holy word, which she spreads out before him. This is the special excellence of our annual course, that which renders it a service perpetually applicable, and universally edifying to all states and conditions of men.

In all ages of the Church the practice has been to mingle Psalms with the lessons, either reading them alternately or else reciting first all the Psalms of the office, and reading the lessons on their conclusion. In the Roman offices the Psalms are followed by the lessons, and between the lessons is interposed a "respond," or responsory, so called, says Bona, from its responding, or answering to the subject of the lesson. Each Psalm, again, or, in certain offices, every three Psalms, are preceded and followed by an antiphon or anthem, being, for the most part, a verse from the Psalm, serving to fix the attention upon some particular meaning of it, or its special reference to the service of the day. It cannot be denied that the responds, though spoken of rather slightingly by our compilers, are in general eminently beautiful, and serve to give a turn more decidedly devotional to the reading of the Scriptures, as well as an application more personal, than our method.

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In the ancient order of divine service, referred to by the preface of our compilers, already mentioned, the offices were distributed among the seven canonical hours; and in the night, or as it had practically become, the early morning or matin service, occurred the lessons; the other hours having, besides three Psalms each, only a verse or two of Scripture, called the "little chapter." The night service, on Sundays and certain festivals, consisted of three nocturns, composed each of three Psalms, with their antiphons, and three lessons, with their responds, with suitable hymns, versicles, and prayers. There were, thus, nine Psalms and nine lessons, but frequently only four of these lessons were from Holy Scripture, the rest being extracts from the Fathers, explanatory of the Scripture lections, or enforcing the doctrine and duty contained in them; -a very good and useful arrangement, had the lessons of Holy Writ not been so much curtailed of their fair proportions as to amount in all only to a few verses; so that the complaint of the compilers of the English service book is more than borne out by the practice of former times, which practice itself seems to have been an innovation upon the theory of the Breviary service: commonly, when any Book of the Bible was begun, after three or four chapters were read out, all the rest were unread, and, in this sort, the Book of Isaiah was begun in Advent, and the Book of Genesis in Septuagesima; but they were only begun and never read through. After this sort were other books of Holy Scripture used." Our course of lessons follows precisely the order of the old service, as to the Sunday lessons, and is certainly an improvement upon it, in point of quantity, though it originally wanted that nice adaptation to the various seasons of the Christian year which it has obtained by the appointment of the Proper Lessons, which the Breviary always possessed, however deficient in other respects. And, after all, the boast of our compilers can be made good only so far as the daily service is kept up. Without that, neither the whole Bible nor the greater part thereof will be read over once every year."

C.

LIFE AND TIMES OF JOHN HAMILTON, THE LAST ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF ST. ANDREW'S. A.D. 1546-1571.

(Continued from p. 213.)

ABOUT the same time (1552) an event occurred in the personal history of the primate which may be thought deserving notice. He had fallen into a dangerous and painful asthma, and, unable to obtain relief from the Scotch, German, or French physicians, he sent to Milan for the celebrated Cardan, a man who united in his profession the pretensions of the astrologer with the skill of the physician. This person remained with the primate eleven weeks, at his residence of Monimeal, in Fife,

and gave him such directions as within two years restored him to his former health; but it was generally believed that he owed more to the magical power than to the medical skill of the Italian. The latter is said to have given him a forcible proof of his astrological foreknowledge by assuring him that he would one day be hanged! but, like most stories of the kind, the prophecy does not seem to have been divulged till the event had confirmed it. At any rate, Cardan was not always a true prophet, for, when he visited the court of Edward VI., on his return to Italy, he calculated the nativity of that prince, and promised him a long life, though he died the very next year. Randolph, who was at this time ambassador in Scotland from the English court, in a letter to Cecil, tells him jestingly of Cardan's "hanging up the archbishop by the heels, and feeding him with young whelps, and also that he had accommodated him with the use of a devil for nine years, neither more nor less." This ridiculous story may at least serve to show the current opinion then entertained of Cardan's pretensions, and of Hamilton's credulity.

But Cardan himself, who is a voluminous writer, has left us some account of his visit to, and cure of, the primate, which, as it is curious, I will here translate. "The most illustrious John Aumulthon, archbishop of St. Andrew's, had been oppressed for ten years with a difficulty of breathing, which would occasionally attack him with extreme severity for many days at a time. When his own physicians had tried every thing without effect, he consulted those of the king of France, and of Charles V., with no better success. He was then advised to send for me, which he did, remitting 200 crowns for my journey. His wish was, that I should meet him at Lyons, where I was to receive 300 crowns more; and, if he could not conveniently come as far as that city, that I should proceed to Paris, where he would be sure to meet me. I therefore consented, and, confident in my skill, repaired to Lyons, but found no one there. After waiting forty-six days, the archbishop's own physician, William Casanatus, arrived, and begged that I would go on, not only to Paris, but all the way to Scotland. At first I refused, but at length, overcome by his entreaties, I went with him. When I arrived, I found the physician of the medical institute of Paris attempting, but in vain, to cure the archbishop. I pointed out to this gentleman the cause of his failure: this made the archbishop angry with him, and that made him angry with me, and this anger increased the more my efforts succeeded; so that, after seventy-five days, finding my situation disagreeable, I asked, and with difficulty obtained, permission to return home; but not without leaving such directions with the patient as completely cured him within two years from that time. When he was satisfied that he was in a fair way of recovery, he sent to me Michael, his chief chamberlain, who proposed to deduct from my fee what was due to the French physician, but to this I would by no means consent. The archbishop's illness cost 1800 gold crowns; of which 1400 fell to my share."1

While Hamilton was suffering from the effects of this disorder, which was thought to be incurable, the Pope appointed Gavin Hamilton,

1 Vol. I. p. 32, 109.

abbot of Kilwinning, to be his coadjutor and successor in the see; but that appointment was cancelled after his recovery.

Meantime, the reformers, who had assumed the title of "the congregation of Christ," (most of whom shared largely in the plunder of the church after the Reformation,) were carrying things with a high hand, declaring themselves the true church of God, and denouncing their opponents as "the antichristian members of Satan," "the pestilent prelates and their shavelings;" and openly avowing that in seeking their end, they would employ the co-operation of government when it could be obtained, but that they would utterly disregard its injunctions, and even act in defiance of it, whenever it opposed what they maintained to be the cause of truth. These reforming barons and preachers judged it more politic and easy to be the aggressors, and fight for the establishment of their creed, than to submit to the more self-denying and scriptural alternative of suffering for it. No stronger evidence can be given of the light in which they viewed themselves and their Roman Catholic brethren than the prayer which John Knox offered up for Queen Mary, in his public ministrations: "O God, if thy good pleasure be, purge the heart of the queen's majesty from the venom of idolatry, and deliver her from the bondage and thraldom of Satan into which she has been brought up, and yet remains for lack of true doctrine." The throne of mercy is the last place to which we should carry our uncharitable judgment of our fellow-sinners.

But, in the times we are reviewing, errors were committed on all sides, and both parties seemed ordained by Providence to punish each other for their sins. The primate now resorted to a very cruel and impolitic method of restraining the new opinions. He caused Walter Mill, an aged priest, to be tried and burnt at St. Andrew's, for having adopted them. This was in 1558; and the very next year, the cathedral and monasteries were destroyed by the populace, a proof that this sanguinary measure defeated its own object.

The following are some of the particulars of this martyrdom as given by Fox in his Book of Martyrs:-" In the year of our Lord 1558, in the time of Mary, duchess of Longaway (Longueville), queen regent of Scotland, and the said John Hamilton being bishop of St. Andrew's, and primate of Scotland, this Walter Mille, (who in his youth had been a Papist,) after that he had been in Almaine, and had heard the doctrine of the Gospel, returned again into Scotland, and, setting aside all papistry and compelled chastity, married a wife, which thing made him, unto the bishops of Scotland, to be suspected of heresy; and after long watching of him, he was taken by two Popish priests, one called Sir George Strachan, and the other, Sir Hugh Curry, servants to the said bishop for the time, within the town of Dysart in Fife, and brought to St. Andrew's, and imprisoned in the castle thereof. He being in prison, the Papists earnestly travelled and laboured to have seduced him, and threatened him with death, and corporal torments, to the intent they might cause him to recant and forsake the truth. But, seeing they could profit nothing thereby, and that he remained still firm and constant, they laboured to persuade him by fair promises, and offered unto him a monk's portion for all the days of his life in the abbey of Dunfermline, so that he would deny the things he had taught, and grant

VOL. II.

2 I

that they were heresy; but he, continuing in the truth even unto the end, despised their threatenings and fair promises.

"Then assembled together the bishops of St. Andrew's, Moray, Brechin, Caithness, and Athens, the abbots of Dunfermline, Lindores, Balindrinot (Balmerino ?), and Cupar (Angus), with doctors of theology of St. Andrew's, as John Cresson, black friar, and dean John Winram, sub-prior of St. Andrew's, William Cranstoun, provost of the old college, with divers others, as sundry friars, black and grey: these being assembled, and having consulted together, he was taken out of prison, and brought to the metropolitan church, where he was put in a pulpit before the bishops, to be accused, the 20th day of April. Being brought into the church, and climbing up into the pulpit, they, seeing him so feeble and weak of person, partly by age and travel, and partly by evil intreatment, that without help he could not climb up, they were out of hope to have heard him for weakness of voice; but, when he began to speak, he made the church to ring and sound again, with so great courage and stoutness, that the Christians which were present were no less rejoiced than the adversaries were confounded and ashamed. He being in the pulpit, and on his knees at prayer, Sir Andrew Oliphant, one of the bishop's priests, commanded him to arise, and to answer to his articles, saying on this manner, Sir Walter Mille, arise and answer to the articles, for you hold my lord here over long.' To whom Walter, after he had finished his prayer, answered, saying, 'We ought to obey God rather than men; I serve one more mighty, even the omnipotent Lord; and when ye call me Sir Walter, call me Walter, and not Sir Walter; I have been over long one of the pope's knights. Now say what thou hast to say.'-[Here follows the examination, which I omit because of its length, and its resemblance to similar examinations.]

"These things rehearsed they of purpose, with other light trifles to augment their final accusation, and then Sir Andrew Oliphant pronounced sentence against him, that he should be delivered to the temporal judge, and punished as an heretic, which was, to be burnt. Notwithstanding, his boldness and constancy moved so the hearts of many, that the bishop's steward of his regality provost of the town, called Patrick Learmond, refused to be his temporal judge, to whom it appertained if the cause had been just. Also the bishop's chamberlain, being therewith charged, would in no wise take upon him so ungodly an office. Yea, the whole town was so offended with his unjust condemnation, that the bishop's servants could not get for their money so much as one cord to tie him to the stake, or a tar barrel to burn him, but were constrained to cut the cords of their master's own pavilion to serve their turn.

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Nevertheless, one servant of the bishop's more ignorant and cruel than the rest, called Alexander Simmerwaill, enterprising the office of a temporal judge in that part, conveyed him to the fire, where, against all natural reason of man, his boldness and hardiness did more and more increase, so that the Spirit of God, working miraculously in him, made it manifest to the people that his cause and articles were most just, and he innocently put down.

"Now when all things were ready for his death, and he conveyed with armed men to the fire, Oliphant bade him pass to the stake; and he

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