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And such was his spirit and popularity, that no man dared again serve him with a personal citation. Letters citatory were, therefore, twice affixed to the gates of Rochester Cathedral, and they were twice pulled down. Then the archbishop excommunicated him, cited him afresh, and called upon the secular power, on pain of the Church's censures, to assist him against the heretic.

Upon this, Lord Cobham, perceiving his extreme danger, wrote a paper, which he called his "Christian Belief," and went with it to the king, in hopes he might prevail to find favour from him. He commenced this document with the Apostles' Creed. He then explained more largely his opinions on those points especially for which he had been accused. He admitted, though doubtfully, a belief in purgatory : and, with respect to the sacrament of the altar, he declared that the body and blood of Christ were verily and indeed contained there, under the similitude of bread and wine. Had conciliation been the object of his persecutors, this guarded confession might have satisfied them; but they wished to drive him to a fuller avowal of what they called heresy, that they might condemn him. The king refused to receive this paper, and ordered it to be delivered to the ecclesiastical judges. Then Lord Cobham desired that he might purge himself, according to the ancient law, by the oath of a hundred knights and esquires, who would appear in his behalf. This proposal was rejected; and we can hardly wonder, though we may lament it, that, stung by the evident resolution to destroy him, he offered, with the spirit of his rank, and in accordance with the customs of his time, to defend his cause in single combat. But he always protested that he would refuse no correction ministered to him after the laws of God. Every offer was in vain; and the king permitted the citation to be served on him in his own presence. Lord Cobham immediately appealed to the pope; but his appeal being angrily disallowed, he was at once committed to the Tower.

On Saturday, September 23, 1413, he was brought by Sir Robert Morley, lieutenant of the Tower, to his îrst examination in the Chapter-house of St. Paul's, before the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishops of London and Winchester. Arundel, addressing bim, said, he had been justly excommunicated for certain heresies; yet, that if he meekly asked it, he should still have absolution. Lord Cobham replied by drawing a paper from his bosom, which, he said, contained a rehearsal of the faith that he would stand to. This he desired leave to read. It contained his opinion on the four points specially objected to him. In the sacrament, he believed a real presence of Christ, in the form of bread. With respect to penance, he thought that every man should forsake sin, and do due penance for his offences, with true confession, very contrition, and due satisfaction, according to God's law. As to images, he conceived the Church allowed them to remind unlearned men of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ; but that whoever gave that worship to them which is due to God, or put such trust in them as he should put in God, was guilty of idolatry. Pilgrimages he considered useless; for he who kept God's commandments would

be saved, though he never went on pilgrimage; and he who did not keep God's commandments could not be saved by pilgrimage. This writing he then delivered to the bishops. They commanded him to stand aside ; and, after a short deliberation, Arundel addressed him: "Come hither, Sir John. In this your writing are many good things contained, and right Catholic also; we deny it not: but ye must consider that this day was appointed you to answer to other points concerning those articles, whereof as yet no mention is made in this your bill. And therefore ye must yet declare us your mind more plainly." He then pressed him with the question, whether in the sacrament, after consecration, material bread remained or not; and also whether every Christian was necessarily bound to be confessed of his sins to a priest. Lord Cobham answered, that he would declare his mind no otherwise than he had already expressed it in his writing. "Sir John," said the archbishop, “beware what ye do. For if ye answer not clearly to those things that are here objected against you, the law of the holy Church is, that, compelled once by a judge, we may openly proclaim you a heretic." "Do as ye shall think best," replied the courageous nobleman; "for I am at a point." And to all further question, he merely bade them resort to his bill; for thereby would he stand to the very death. Arundel then declared to him what the Church of Rome, following, he said, the holy doctors, had determined in these matters, which determination all Christian men ought to follow. Lord Cobham replied, that he would gladly follow what the holy Church of Christ's institution had determined, or what God had willed him either to believe or do; but that the pope, with his cardinals and prelates, had lawful power to determine such matters as stood not thoroughly with God's word, that, he said, he could not affirm. The business of the day then ended by remanding him to the Tower till the next Monday,-a promise being made of sending him these points clearly determined in writing, that he might be perfectly ready to answer upon them.

The writing which they sent him declared it to be the faith and determination of the holy Church, that, after the words of consecration, neither material bread, nor material wine, remained; that every Christian man must confess to a priest; that Christ ordained St. Peter to be his vicar upon earth, and granted to the popes of Rome, as his successors, the same power which he had given Peter; and that it was meritorious to go on pilgrimage to holy places, and specially to worship holy relics and images approved by the Church of Rome. To each of these points the searching question was appended, "How feel ye this article?" Lord Cobham, on reading this paper, perceived, that, however he might reply, their uttermost malice was purposed against him: he therefore put his life into the hands of God, desiring simply his Holy Spirit to assist him in his next answer.

On Monday, Sept. 25, Lord Cobham was again brought forth to examination. The archbishop sat this day at the convent of the Dominican Friars within Ludgate. He was accompanied by the bishops of London, Winchester, and Bangor, with many canonists, doctors, and friars. A multitude of infe

rior priests and monks also attended, who, as the prisoner came in, insulted and mocked him, as a horrible heretic, and a man accursed before God. Two notaries were present to record the proceedings; and the archbishop caused them, and all the prelates and doctors, to be sworn upon a mass-book, that every man would faithfully do his office that day. Little could all the judicial pomp before which he stood, or the certainty of death, shake the martyr's constant mind: he was, however, moved, says one of the historians, "not to an unseemly anger, nor to aught unworthy of himself, but to an emotion, than which nothing nobler in its kind hath been imagined in fiction, or recorded in history." For when the archbishop began the tragedy by offering him absolution, if he would desire it in the way the Church requireth, "Nay, forsooth, will I not," he replied; "for I never yet trespassed against you, and therefore I will not do it." And with that he kneeled down on the pavement, holding up his hands towards heaven, and said, "I shrive me here unto thee, my eternal, living God, that in my frail youth I offended thee, O Lord, most grievously in pride, wrath, and gluttony, in covetousness, and in lechery. Many men have I hurt in mine anger, and done many other horrible sins good Lord, I ask thee mercy." With many tears he uttered this prayer; and then he stood up again, and said with a mighty voice, "Lo, good people, lo; for the breaking of God's law, and his great commandments, they never yet cursed me; but for their own laws and traditions most cruelly do they handle both me and other men. And therefore both they and their laws, by the promise of God, shall utterly be destroyed."

A deep sensation was produced by this awful appeal. But, in a short time, the archbishop and his company recovering themselves, and saying something to excuse their tyranny, proceeded to examine their victim concerning his belief. His reply was noble. "I believe fully and faithfully in the universal laws of God. I believe that all is true which is contained in the holy sacred Scriptures of the Bible. Finally, I believe all that my Lord God would I should believe." But this was not sufficient. They required an answer respecting the writing they had sent him in the Tower. With that bill Lord Cobham said he had nothing to do. Then they pressed him with what is justly called the "murderous question," concerning material bread. "I believe surely," he replied, "that it is Christ's body in form of bread." They asked him, whether it were only Christ's body after consecration, and no bread, or not? He said, "It is both Christ's body and bread." They inquired, what bread? was it material or not? He made answer, "The Scriptures make no mention of this word material, and therefore my faith hath nothing to do therewith. But this I say and believe, that it is Christ's body and bread." Then said they with one voice, "It is a heresy ;" and one of the bishops declared it "a heresy manifest, to say that it is bread after the sacramental words be once spoken, and not Christ's body only." "St. Paul," replied the noble martyr, "was, I am sure, as wise as you be now, and more godly learned, and he called it bread. Writing to the Corinthians, The bread that we break,

i. e. confess.

saith he, is it not the partaking of the body of Christ? Lo, he called it bread, and not Christ's body, but a mean whereby we receive Christ's body." St. Paul, they said, must be otherwise interpreted; for certainly it was a heresy to say that after consecration there was bread.

Arundel then referred to the writing which had been sent, containing what was clearly determined on this point by the Church of Rome and the holy doctors. "I know none holier," said Lord Cobham, "than is Christ and his apostles. And as for that determination, I wot it is none of theirs; for it standeth not with the Scriptures, but manifestly against them. If it be the Church's, as ye say it is, it hath been her's only since she received the great poison of worldly possessions, and not afore." And then he shewed how the Church had been seduced from the faith, so that her prelates, like Annas and Caiaphas, sitting in judgment upon Christ and his apostles, judged and condemned unjustly true Christian men. 'Once," he proceeded, "all the bishops of Rome were martyrs in a manner; but since that time, one hath put down another, one hath poisoned another, and one hath slain another, and done much more mischief besides, as all the chronicles tell. And let all men consider well this, that Christ was meek and merciful; the pope is proud and a tyrant. Christ was poor and forgave; the pope is rich and a malicious manslayer, as his daily acts do prove him. Rome is the very nest of antichrist; and out of that nest came all the disciples of him: of whom prelates, priests, and monks, are the body, and those piled friars are the tail."

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His judges quailed before the martyr's bold rebuke. In vain one after another had assailed him with taunt and sophistry: he was armed with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. They felt his superiority; and therefore, to make shorter work with him, one of the canonists took from his bosom a copy of the bill they had sent him, and required of him a definitive answer on each of the four points, respecting the sacrament, confession, the power of the pope, and pilgrimage, with image-worship. Faithfully and fully did he reply to each. And when at last he had de clared that he owed to images no service by the commandment of God, one friar Palmer asked him, "Sir, will ye worship the cross of Christ that he died upon?" "Where is it?" said Lord Cobham. "I put you the case, sir," said the friar, "that it were here even now before you." Then Lord Cobham answered, "This is a great wise man, to put me an earnest question of a thing, and yet he himself knoweth not where the thing itself is. Yet, once again I ask you, what worship I should do unto it?" He was told, "Such worship as Paul speaketh of; and that is this, -God forbid that I should joy, but only in the cross of Jesus Christ." Lord Cobham spread his arms, and said, "This is the very cross; yea, and so much better than your cross of wood, in that it was created of God; yet will not I seek to have it worshipped." "Sir," interrupted the Bishop of London, "ye wot well that he died on a material cross." "Yea," said Lord

Cobham; " and I wot also, that our salvation came not in by that material cross, but alone by him which died thereupon. And well I wot, that holy St. Paul

rejoiced in none other cross but in Christ's passion and death only, and in his own sufferings of like persecution with him, for the self-same verity that he hath suffered for before."

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The archbishop now thought it time to close the scene. "We once again require you," said he, remember yourself well, and to have none other manner of opinion in these matters, than the universal faith and belief of the holy Church of Rome is. And so, like an obedient child, return again to the unity of your mother. See to it, I say, in time; for yet ye may have remedy; whereas anon it will be too late." Then said Lord Cobham, "I will none otherwise believe in these points than that I have told you here before. Do with me what you will." 'Well, then," rejoined the archbishop," I see none other but that we must needs do the law: we must proceed forth to the sentence definitive, and both judge you and condemn you for a heretic." He then stood up and began, "In the name of God!.... In a certain case of heresy, and upon divers articles, whereupon.... Lord Cobham.... was detected, accused, and presented before us.... at the lawful denouncement and request of our universal clergy,.... we proceeded against him according to the law (God to witness), with all the favour possible. And following Christ's example in all that we might, which willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he might be converted and live; we took upon us to correct him, and sought all other ways possible to bring him again to the Church's unity, declaring unto him what the holy and universal Church of Rome hath said. . . . . And though we found him in the Catholic faith far wide, and so stiffnecked, that he would not confess his error, nor purge himself, nor yet repent him thereof; we, yet pitying him of fatherly compassion, and entirely desiring the health of his soul, appointed him a competent time of deliberation, to see if he would repent and seek to be reformed; but since that time we have found him worse and worse. Considering, therefore, that he is not corrigible, we are driven to the very extremity of the law and, with great heaviness of heart, we now proceed to the publication of the sentence definitive gainst him." Is not this a commentary on the inspired declaration," the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel ?"

After this preamble, Arundel proceeded to deliver the sentence itself. So fully had every thing been previously determined on, that the archbishop had brought this with him ready written. This iniquitous document began by taking Christ to witness, that his glory alone was sought for in these proceedings. It styled Lord Cobham a child of iniquity and darkness, and condemned him as a most pernicious and detestable heretic, committing him as such to secular jurisdiction, to do him thereupon to death. It furthermore excommunicated and denounced accursed, not him alone, but all who should in any way receive, defend, counsel, help, or maintain him. And this sentence was to be published and expounded from the pulpit, throughout every diocese in cities, towns, and villages; that upon the fear of it the people might fall from their evil opinions, conceived of late by seditious preachers.

When the archbishop had read this sentence, Lord

Cobham said, with a cheerful countenance, "Though ye judge my body, which is but a wretched thing, yet am I certain and sure, that ye can do no harm to my soul, no more than could Satan unto the soul of Job. He that created that, will, of his infinite mercy and promise, save it, I have therein no manner of doubt. And as concerning these articles before rehearsed, I will stand to them even to the very death, by the grace of my eternal God." And then, turning to the people and extending his arms, he said with a very loud voice, "Good Christian people, for God's love be well aware of these men; for they will else beguile you, and lead you blindfold into hell with themselves. For Christ saith plainly unto you, If one blind man leadeth another, they are like both to fall into the ditch." After this he fell down upon his knees, and lifting up his hands and eyes to heaven, he prayed, like Stephen, for his enemies: Lord God eternal! I beseech thee, of thy great mercy's sake, to forgive ny pursuers, if it be thy blessed will." He was then carried back to the

Tower.

But he

Not satisfied with condemning this excellent nobleman to an ignominious death, the prelates endeavoured to traduce his name among the people, many of whom were inclined to favour his opinions. A paper was put forth, pretending to be his abjuration. never did abjure, or deny his faith. And by the aid of his friends, he, from his prison, contradicted the false document, and had bills set up in different quarters of London, wherein he declared that he had never varied, in any point, from that confession of his belief which he had made before the clergy, and had taken care to have published at the time. His execution, it is said, was respited for fifty days; and in that interval he contrived, by what means we are not informed, to escape out of the Tower, and fled into Wales, where he continued about four years. Much pains were then taken to represent him as concerned in a treasonable conspiracy. It appears that the king was told that the Lollards had formed a plot for murdering him and his brothers at Eltham. He removed to Westminster, and was informed that they were assembling in the Ficket Field, behind St. Giles's, and were to be headed by Lord Cobham. The king marched thither in the middle of the night, with such forces as he could immediately collect, and found only a few persons, who, on being asked what they wanted there, said, The Lord Cobham." Many were thrown into prison, and thirty-nine, the chief of whom was Sir Roger Acton, were suspended by chains from a gallows, and in that manner burnt alive for heresy and treason. It is not easy to say for what purpose this midnight assembly took place; but, whatever might be the intentions of the persons present, Lord Cobham was not among them, and has been amply vindicated by the venerable martyrologist, John Fox, from the charge hence attempted to be fastened on him of treason. But the vengeance which had condemned him could not be satiated till the noble victim was actually destroyed. A large reward was offered for his apprehension. Long, however, was he faithfully sheltered and enabled to elude his persecutors. At last, by means of Lord Powis, he was discovered and taken, with circumstances of violence, in Wales, and then, in December 1417, con- ' veyed to London.

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And now we approach the last scene of his history. No mercy would be shewn him. Accordingly it was determined that he should be carried to the Tower, and from thence down through London, to the new gallows in St. Giles's, without Temple-bar, and there to be hanged, and burnt hanging. To him the faithful promises of the Lord were abundantly fulfilled. While his body was consuming in the flames, his spirit was rejoicing in God his Saviour. With his latest breath he uttered words of praise to Him, who

suffered him not, at his last hour, for any pains of

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death, to fall from him. He gained the victory. He overcame by the blood of the Lamb." And now he is one of that great company, whom no man can number, who stand upon Mount Zion, " clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands." If to have boldly

confessed Christ before his deadly enemies be a mark of his true servants,-if it be a blessed thing to be falsely evil-spoken of for the Saviour's sake,- if to die for the testimony of Jesus be glorious,-then Lord Cobham was happy. He was far more illustrious as a condemned criminal than when possessed of worldly wealth and honours. Let us, while we contemplate the power of Divine grace in his heart, be ready, after his example, to leave all and follow Christ. S.

CHRISTIANS THE TEMPLE OF GOD:

A Sermon,

BY THE REV. WILLIAM DODSWORTH, M.A.
Minister of Margaret Chapel, London.*
1 COR. iii. 16.

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that

the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" THE commemorations of the Church preceding the one which we this day observe lead us to contemplate the successive steps of the great work of redemption, as connected with the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. The commemoration on which we are now assembled leads us to contemplate the fruit of that work, in the gift of the Holy Ghost. Hitherto we have viewed the Saviour as the unspeakable gift of God, as humbling himself to be made of a woman : we have viewed him as a sufferer; as tempted; as entering into conflict with our enemies; as crucified through weakness, yet living again by the power of God; we have viewed him as a triumphant conqueror, ascending up on high, and leading captivity captive; and now we are summoned to view him as dispensing the fruits of his conflict and victory. He who first came amongst us as God's most precious gift, is now himself the giver; for "unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ; wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." We this day commemorate the giving of the Holy Ghost from our ascended Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

• Preached on Whitsunday, May 22, 1836.

I desire, then, under God's promised blessing, to call your attention to the nature and character of this gift, and to the ends for which it was bestowed.

We learn from many parts of Scripture, that the influences of the Holy Spirit have ever been attendant on the revealed know

ledge of God, in whatever measure and in whatever degree of clearness and fulness that revelation has been made. Those influences, we are sure, have always been indispensable to the rectifying of man's moral nature. Whatever, in any age of the world, can have laid claim to the character of good, can have proceeded but from one fountain, which is Ġod, and can only have been affected by one agency, which is that of the good Spirit of God. We find very early notice of this. When the Lord looked down on the wickedness of the antediluvian world, he made allusion to this agency,-"The Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man." Under the Jewish dispensation, we are told of the Israelites in the wilderness, "that they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit." Again, we find David, in a season of deep distress and contrition, imploring this heavenly gift, almost in as strong terms as if he had learned them in the school of Christianity: "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy liberating Spirit." And again, Ps. cxliii. 10, "Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy Spirit is good, lead me into the land of uprightness." The holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Of John the Baptist we are told, that "he should be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb ;" and of Simeon and Anna, that "the Holy Ghost was upon them." Thus clearly are we taught to attribute all holy influence, from the beginning of the world, to the power and agency of the Holy Ghost.

Still, however, we are taught, no less clearly and explicitly, that the Holy Ghost is given to the Church under the Christian dispensation, in a way in which this divine Person in the Holy Trinity was not given under any preceding dispensation. Thus we are told, during the ministry of our Lord earth, that the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." And we find our Lord himself most par

upon

ticularly referring to this gift as still future, in his last discourse to his disciples, as recorded by St. John in the xivth and following chapters of his Gospel. He even speaks of the promised presence of the Holy Ghost as more than a compensation for his bodily absence: xvi. 5. "Now I go my way to Him that sent me, and none of

you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But | nians, an exhortation not to quench the Spirit. because I have said these things unto you, These are but specimens: any one who is sorrow hath filled your heart. Neverthe- well acquainted with the Scriptures, will not less, I tell you the truth: it is expedient need to be reminded how this truth of the for you, that I go away; for if I go not presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church away, the Comforter will not come unto pervades the Apostolic Epistles. you: but if I depart, I will send him to you." And to this gift, as the great privilege of the Church during his absence, he continually refers throughout this discourse, as I need scarcely remind you. When Jesus, after he was risen from the dead, appeared to his assembled disciples, he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father; "which," saith he, "ye have heard of me; for John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." The fulfilment of this promise is recorded in the portion of Scripture appointed for the epistle of this day. And that it was a blessing designed not for the early disciples alone, nor to be confined to any one order of men, or to any one age, is manifest from the words of St. Peter, in the same chapter, Acts, ii. 38, 39: "Repent, and be baptized every one you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Here are terms employed which expressly intimate the perpetuity and universality, so far as the Christian Church is concerned, of the gift.

of

What, then, is this special gift of the Holy Ghost, which is thus exhibited to us as the peculiar distinction, as well as the supreme blessing, of the Gospel dispensation? If we attentively examine the New Testament, we shall find abundant and concurrent evidence, that the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is there dwelt upon, has reference to the part which the third Person in the ever-blessed Trinity takes in the work of man's redemption. In this point of view we are taught to regard this divine Agent not merely as the Spirit of God, but also as the Spirit of Christ. It is the Holy Spirit derived through union with Jesus Christ, and as continually communicated to us from him, that is thus set forth as the great Gospel privilege. Our Lord has spoken of that union, under the emblem of a vine and its branches, and under that of the body and its members: and that which constitutes the oneness of Christ and his Church, is the Spirit which dwells in both; just as in the tree, or in the human body, the oneness of the trunk with the branches, or of the head with the members, is preserved by one common life. Now, this is a blessing distinct from and far beyond any enjoyed by those before Christ came. It is the Holy Ghost coming to us, not in the way of gifts, or of influences, or of operations, but by a real and personal presence-such a presence, indeed, as compensates for the personal absence of Christ. And here we may observe, in passing, what a strong and indirect evidence is thus afforded of the true divinity of the Holy Spirit. Since none but God can be personally present with every Christian at once, who but He can take up his abode in many separate hearts at once; and so verify the words of Jesus, that it was expedient for us that he should depart?

In accordance with this, we find a very constant reference to the Church possessing this blessing in the Apostolic Epistles; and this, not so much in the way of direct and formal statement, as incidentally and mingled with other subjects, as a matter taken for granted as a well-known, acknowledged feature of the Gospel dispensation. Thus, to the Romans St. Paul speaks of the love of God being shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost given to them; of the Spirit of God dwelling in us; of their possessing the Such, then, is the great privilege of those first-fruits of the Spirit; of the Spirit making who, having been baptized into Christ, are intercession for us with groanings which united to him by faith-a privilege of which it cannot be uttered. To the Corinthians he is not too much to say, that if it had not been speaks of the Spirit having revealed to the clearly and expressly revealed in holy ScripChurch those things which the natural man ture, we should feel it to be almost presumptucould not know; and in the text, of Christians ous in us to aspire to-a privilege so great, that being the temple of the Holy Ghost: to the it is scarcely to be wondered at, that Christians Galatians, of Christians being led of the Spi- should find their minds almost oppressed with rit: to the Ephesians, of their being sealed the serious and reflective thought upon it; with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is and that Christians who will not reflect should the earnest of our everlasting inheritance: stumble at the belief of it-a privilege into the Philippians, of their enjoying the fel- volving such a mystery, that, as we might exlowship of the Spirit: to the Colossians, of pect, the carnal-minded and unbelieving will their love in the Spirit: to the Thessalo-reject it as folly, or scoff at it as delusion:

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