Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1879-04-12

cause he did not believe that the bread and
wine of the sacrament, after conservation,
''were changed into the substance of the body
and blood of Christ.
But the Papa power had become too strong
" rooted in England to be overthrow in a
short space of time 1t was not until Henry
VIII was firmly seated upon the throne, in
the early part of the sixteenth century, that
the real struggle for supremacy between the
Pope and the crown of England began. All
that had been done before was but the work
of preparation for the great contest that fol-
lowed. 1t is remarkable fact in the Retor-
nation. that the instrument through which its
success was achieved was one of the wicked
est men of his time, was really Roman
Catholic at heart, continuing until his
death, and had his long and bloody
quarrel with the Pope because the
latter would not grant him divorce from
his first wife, Catharinc of Arragon. There
was no crime he would not pcrpetratc to fur
Their his ends but monster that he was he be
came in the hands of Providence the means
of freeing England from the domination of
the Roman Catholic hierarchy and the estab-
lishment of Professionalism wherever it now
exists His will could endure no restraint,
hence he rooted out the authority of the Pope
in his dominons. and assumed himself to-
wards the close of his career the powers
which the Pore had exercised in the kingdom.
What he had accomplished at the close of
his reign is summed up by the historian as
follows: "Thc principle of pricstly authori-
~ in religion, that tap-root of all superstition.
had unwittingly been destroyed for ever in
the reputation of the Pope. The monster
les had been swept away. The Church had
been made subordinate to the State, that is, the
nation. The clergy had been made amenable
to the same law a. othcrcitizcns. The images
which flledthe land had been cast down Grow
elling ceremonies that degraded religion had
been abolished. The pull pit had been restored
to its rightful prominence. Prayers in Eng
fish had taken the place of services in Latin.
which no one understood, and the Bible had
been spread before the people in their own
tongue. No reaction of lIcnry's later years
could undo these reforms, nor was their iniu-
ence restricted to his life. for through them,
age after age, the spirit Of religious liberty
has been preserved, and spiritual religion
promoted"
After Henry came the Protcctoratc then
the short reign of Edward VI, following
which came the rule of Bloody Mary" as
she was called because of the horrible pcrse-
cutions, the burnings and hangings inflicted
upon those who dared dissent from the teach
ings of Rome-tor in her reign the Pope re-
covered in some measure his lost power in
England. Gardiner and Bonner, minions of
the Pope. controlled her, and through them
she became the instrument OF the most
atrocious cruelties. Cranmer, Latimer and
Ridley persisted by her order at the stake.
The number burnt in the three years of the
persecution waged by her was not far from 800,
while great numbers had been thrown into
prison and died of hunger, cold and cruel
treatment, and many others had been whipped.
outraged and rackcd. But with the coming
VI EilIuDtth 10 int throhe TIC heioi
regained the ascendency, never again to lose
it. We have only touched upon a few promi-
nent points in history which relates the
origin and establishment OF one of the great
est religious triumphs the world has ever wit
messed.
The English Reformation How it came about,
and why should uphold il. Hy Cunningham
Geikie, d. ID. d. Appleton & CO., New York.