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and conduct. He opposed the Pope, but he persecuted and put to death those who held the reformed doctrines. He consented to the distribution of the Bible, but he felt no love for scriptural truth. He studied religion as a theory, but he never endeavoured to bring it into his daily life as a matter of practice. And though, at Cranmer's request, he gave a sign of dying in the faith of Christ, yet this was but an unsatisfactory evidence that all was right with him at death, when he had given so little proof of any real change effected upon his heart and conduct during life.

And now we turn to the reign of another and a very different king,-that of young Edward VI, Henry's only son, and his successor on the throne. Edward was not more than nine years of age when his father died, and a number of executors had been appointed by Henry to take charge of the Government during his son's minority. One of these was Archbishop Cranmer, who, you already know, was one of the great promoters of the Reformation. The young king's uncle, the Duke of Somerset, afterwards became Protector, and had the chief management of affairs. He too was a friend of the Reformation, and he took care that all those who had any thing to do with Edward's education should hold the same views that he did. The young king indeed,

already showed that he himself loved those truths which were now, in the good Providence of God, gaining ground so rapidly in the country. He had early learnt to read and to value the Bible, and he was preparing to rule his kingdom in accordance with the precepts of that sacred book.

Edward showed his love for the Bible at a very early age. It is said that, one day, he wished to take something from a shelf above his reach, and an attendant offered him a large Bible to stand upon. But Edward refused it, saying that it was not right to trample under foot, that which ought to be cherished in the heart. When he became king, he showed this love for God's word still more decidedly.-At the time of his coronation, three swords were borne before him, according to the custom on such occasions. The little king, turning to those about him, said that he wished for a fourth sword,--one that was better and far more necessary than all the rest; and when he was asked to explain himself, he replied, that he meant, "The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;" and desired that the Bible might be brought to him. This was indeed a good beginning of the reign of the young king. He reminds us of the youthful Josiah king of Judah, of whom, you know, it was said, that "his heart was tender," and that "he did

that which was right in the sight of the Lord.” These two young kings acted upon the same principle; they were actuated by the same motives; and they may be said to have performed almost the same work in their respective kingdoms,—the work of promoting the cause of true religion in the land, and of abolishing idolatry, the idolatry of heathenism, which had crept into Judah, and the idolatry of Popery, which had, for so many years, spread over England.

The cause of the Reformation now went on prosperously. The superstitious practices of Popery were put down; the Bible was publicly and generally read; a new liturgy was compiled; the morning and evening prayers, very much in their present form, were read in the churches in the English language; and sermons were preached by good men, setting forth the truth so plainly that the common people were able to understand it. Oh, what happy days those were for England, and how thankful we should feel, as we read of this blessed change, to that God who had ordered all things so wisely and mercifully for the introduction of the truth into our land! But opposition was not yet at an end; the struggle was not yet over; and, as we shall soon see, martyrs were again to suffer and to die, ere the glorious work could be fully accomplished.

In the beginning of Edward's reign, a war was carried on against Scotland. The king of Scotland, James V, was dead, and he had left as his successor, a daughter named Mary, who was as yet too young to govern alone. A plan was formed by the Protector Somerset, which, it was thought, would prove a good one for both England and Scotland ;-it was that Mary should be married to the young English king, and that the two countries should thus be united, and have one form of government and one religion. But the Scotch objected to this union; and as Mary's relations were papists, they wished the young queen to be brought up in the Roman Catholic religion, and to marry a prince professing that faith, instead of the king of England. War followed these disputes; the Scotch were defeated in a battle which took place at Pinkey, and a great number of them were killed. It was afterwards arranged that Mary should be sent to France for education, and that she should marry the French prince, Francis. You must not forget this young queen, as we shall hear more of her history at some future time.

Another painful event in this reign was the execution of the Protector Somerset. He was, in the main, an amiable and well-intentioned man; but some of his acts gave offence, and

a party led on by the Duke of Northumber land was formed against him. He was accused of treason, condemned, without sufficient evidence, and then beheaded, to the great grief of the people, by whom he was much beloved.

A few years had passed away since Henry's death. Young Edward was daily advancing in piety, and learning, and wisdom; and there was every reason to hope that, if spared, he would one day become a bright ornament to his country, and a great blessing to the people whom he ruled. But the ways of God are not as our ways. He often sees fit to blight our hopes, and to take away the best men, the most useful, and those who seem to us the most necessary, at the very time when we are inclined to think they can least be spared. We cannot always tell why it is so. It may be to teach us our dependence upon God,-to show us that it is not to man, nor to any son of man, that we are to look for guidance; but to Him,, and to Him alone. At all events, we know that He acts wisely and rightly in all He does; and it is our duty in such cases, however painful and mysterious they may appear, to submit calmly to His will, and say, "Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight."

You will be prepared, from what I have just