the Reformation, he could not discern the incalculable advantages it was procuring for futures ages; and instead of looking forward to the success of the reformers, for terminating the struggle which agitated the Christian world, he could see no safety but in stopping their progress. He imagined that a full acknowledgment of the authority of the clergy, and a unanimous submission to the decisions of the pope, would prove the most effectual means of restoring tranquillity; and therefore regarded the suppression of heresy as the first and most urgent care. Not duly considering the insurmountable obstacles presented by the arrogance and obstinacy of the priesthood, he flattered himself that, in a period of general quiet, the corruptions of the church might be corrected without danger. Impressed with these sentiments, and connected as he was with the principal supporters of popery in England, he could not remain a silent spectator of the contest. Luther and his followers were already industriously availing themselves of the assistance of the press for disseminating their opinions, and he resolved to take upon himself the task of replying, as the most effectual manner in which he could serve the cause of the church. But his theological knowledge was by no means equal to his eloquence. He was imperfectly

acquainted with the history of the church, and had adopted the religion of his education without duly examining the foundation of his opinions. Proving, with these disadvantages, a very unequal match for Luther and the other reformed divines, he was beset by arguments he knew not how to answer, and grew angry when he should have begun to doubt; endeavouring to hide the defects of his reasoning, in the positiveness of his assertions and the violence of his invectives. The abusiveness of his controversial tracts exceeded the usual coarseness of the age; and it was said of them, that they ought only to have procured him the reputation of being more expert than any other man in Europe, at calling bad names in good Latin. Notwithstanding this defect, the easiness of his style, his humorous allusions, and a happy art of placing his own opinions in the most favourable light, while he held up those of his adversary to detestation or ridicule, gained attention, and his tracts became extremely popular*.

While his mind was thus heated with controversy, and his passions excited by the applause of the papists on one hand, and the abuse of the protestants on the other, the power

Macdiarmid, p. 72-76

vested in him as lord chancellor, unfortunately afforded an opportunity of displaying his zeal in a still more exceptionable manner. It was his office to preside in the court of the Starchamber, before which those accused of heresy were then often brought, and he was by this means enabled to exercise much severity against the favourers of the Reformation. He is said to have caused a gentleman of the Temple to be whipped in his presence, for refusing to disclose the names of such of his fellow Templars as inclined to the new opinions. The unfortunate gentleman was afterwards conveyed to the Tower, where we are told that More looked on, and saw him put to the rack. Various other acts of cruelty were laid to his charge by the protestants, who regarded him as one of their chief persecutors*.

About the time that Leo the Tenth condemned the doctrines of Luther, while the controversy between that reformer and the church was yet in its infancy, and doubtless before the bitterness of party spirit had been excited in the mind of Sir Thomas More, his daughter Margaret was married to William Roper. There seems to have been such perfect harmony of opinion and affection between the father and daughter, that it would be difficult to account

* Macdiarmid, p. 77.

for her marrying a zealous protestant, after More had engaged in the controversy. Roper is represented as a young man of pious feelings, who, like his father-in-law, was in early life much addicted to the practice of those austerities considered as meritorious by the church of Rome. Wearied, and at length disgusted, by the penances which constituted so essential a part of the religion of his education, he sought acquaintance with the writings of Luther, and soon fancied himself a convert to doctrines which instructed him to throw off the bondage that had oppressed him. His story affords a striking proof how little advantage is to be gained by a change of opinion, even when that change is for the better, unless the heart is also prepared to submit to that humbling and purifying influence which alone can effect a réal conversion. The enthusiasm of Roper's character took another direction, and as he had formerly imagined that the favour of Heaven was to be purchased by many prayers, long fastings, and rigorous mortifications of the body; so he now fancied true religion to consist in the admission of certain points of doctrine, especially in this, that man is justified in the sight of God by faith only; that if he can once believe that Christ died for him, it is sufficient.

We are told that Roper procured a Lutheran Bible, and spent all his leisure time in read

ing it; but he might there have found that faith, in the sense in which that word is used in Scripture, implies belief of such a kind as to influence the conduct and affections. We not only read, that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life*; but we also read, that he was given us for an example; and that whoever professes to be his disciple, ought himself so to walk even as he walkedt. Thus it appears that the imitation of our Lord is an essential part, or accompaniment, of Christian faith, and therefore a man is justified by faith, because, when this active principle assumes the direction of his conduct, it brings his character into a holy conformity to the precepts and example of his Divine Master.

But to return to Roper. The notion he imbibed of faith and justification, seems not to have directed his attention to the state of his own heart; but to have filled his head with ideas of the great good he might effect, by disseminating his new opinions among the people. There was nothing he desired so ardently as to exhibit his eloquence and zeal in the pulpit; but though restrained from this, his unguarded conversation