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country had the honour of giving birth to the famous Martin Luther; whofe eyes were first open'd, and his zeal awaken'd, by the scandalous and barefac'd traffic of Indulgences. The detection of one abuse pav'd the way for that of others; till at length he was led on to a denial of their fundamental tenet of the Pope's infallibility: a tenet which he fhew'd to be equally repugnant to found reason, and to genuine Chriftianity. In fhort, fuch was his ability, and fuch his intrepidity, that he compleatly tore off the mask which had fo long conceal'd the horrors of this corrupt Communion, and expos'd it's deformity to open view. The progrefs of thefe new principles upon the Continent, the wars they occafion'd between their abettors and oppofers, together with the ftates and kingdoms by which they were finally embrac'd or rejected; all these are points foreign to the pur pofe of my plan; which is confin'd to the efta• blishment and fettlement of our own church. I mean to fhew you, that although this kingdom had not the honour of leading the way, and of appearing among the first Reformers; yet fuch was her good fenfe and moderation, as justly to merit the praise of having conftituted the most pure and truly primitive Church at this day existing in the world: a Church, approaching as near as any

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man inftitution can approach, to the fcriptural description in the Text, of a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any fuch thing.

At the period of time, when the Reformation preach'd by Luther was making a rapid progress in Germany, the Throne of this kingdom was. fill'd by Henry the eighth, the most abfolute and imperious of all the Tudor family: a race far more arbitrary than any of their ill-fated fucceffors of the Stuart line. The principles of liberty, which at this day fo eminently diftinguish our glorious conftitution, were then but feebly felt by the Subject; and the leading features in the character of the Monarch were pride, luft, caprice and cruelty. Bigoted to the religion of his Ancestors, and incens'd at what he deem'd the infolent bold. nefs of a private Prieft, in controverting the opinions of his fuperiors, he enter'd the lifts as a champion against Luther; and compos'd, or at least publish'd a Treatife, in oppofition to his doctrines: in grateful return for which work, the Pope conferr'd upon him that title, which still remains annex'd to the British Crown, of Defender of the Faith. Not long afterwards, in a quarrel with a fucceeding Pope, for thwarting him in his favou

rite scheme of a divorce from his lawful wife, in order to enable him to marry another woman, on whom he had fix'd his affections; he fuddenly renounc'd the Papal Supremacy, and declar'd himfelf fupreme Head of the Church, within his own dominions. He proceeded farther to fupprefs the numerous Religious Foundations throughout the Realm, feizing their temporalties into his own hands; and lavishly fquandering many of them upon his Courtiers and Favourites. Still amid all this rapacious violence, he pertinaciously adher'd to most of the capital errors of Popery; and expecting his Subjects to conform implicitly to his own notions, he procur'd the enaction of the famous, or rather infamous Law of the fix Articles; which awarded the punishment of death, to all who should dare to deny Transubstantiation, with fome other equally falfe and pernicious doctrines: fo that England now beheld both Proteftants and Papifts burning at the stake, the indifcriminate victims of the Tyrant's capricious rage; while the former could not in confcience fubfcribe to the fix Articles, nor the latter confiftently abjure the Pope's fupremacy. The confin'd limits of my plan will barely fuffer me to add, that when death had free'd the nation from this fanguinary yoke,. the business of Reformation proceeded profperously

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during the mild, but fhort reign of his fon and fucceffor Edward the fixth: but being ftill incompleat, fuffer'd a rude fhock, amounting to little less than utter destruction, under the bloody Mary: after whofe decease it at length attain'd its perfect establishment under the benign aufpices of the glorious Queen Elizabeth. This may be enough for the historical deduction; my principal scope being to fhew you not fo much the means whereby it was perfected, or the progreffive steps which led thereto; as the grounds whereon it was establish'd, and the precife point, at which it stop'd.

It seems neceffary to remark here, that during the time that interven'd between the firft beginning of the Reformation in Germany, by the preaching of Luther, and it's reception here, and the final fettlement of the Church of England, many able and learned Divines had distinguish'd themfelves by their active oppofition to the Church of Rome; though differing from Luther, and from each other, on several points both of doctrine and difcipline. One of the principal of these was the famous John Calvin; of whofe particular notions in divinity, and more especially respecting Church government, it were both tedious and fuperfluous

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to give you a detail. Suffice it to fay, that fuch was his influence as to induce many ftates of Europe to adopt his tenets: in fo much that among the Proteftant Powers on the Continent the principal diftinction at this day fubfifting is that of Calvinifts and Lutherans. Nay even in our own Ifland, the northern part tall'd Scotland, which at the Era of the Reformation was a diftinct kingdom from England, chose to abide implicitly by the opinions of Calvin; and had their National Religion confirm'd to them inviolate at the Union of the two kingdoms, in the beginning of the present Century. And one of Calvin's favourite maxims being a kind of Republican Equality among Chriftian Minifters, confequently wherever his notions were adopted, the ancient Hierarchy, including a fubordination of ́ranks and degrees in the Church, was rejected; the fuperior order of Bifhops was abolish'd; and the care of fpirituals being committed folely to Priefts and Lay Elders, both of which are comprehended in the term Prefbyter; thence originated the denomination of Prefbyterian, or Low Church, in contradiftinction to the Epifcopal, or High Church.

It were easy to shew from history the concurrence of caufes and events which operated upon our now fellow-fubjects of Scotland to induce them

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