in the faith of Jefus,poffeffed little clearness of understanding in that faith, and were encumbered with fo much rubbish of fuperftition as to be incapable of giving clear and effectual inftruction to their followers and admirers. And further, when the general mass of christians, even all the dignitaries affembled at Conftance, could do no more than acknowledge the neceffity of reformation, while many of them conftantly practifed the fouleft abominations, and were ready to burn in the flames as heretics any perfons, whofe knowledge, and zeal, and morals, and conduct, conveyed, by a laudable contraft, a cenfure on their own principles and practice. -The preciousness of real gofpel-light, and the duty of cherishing and obeying it, when it is once understood, was never more ftrikingly evinced.

Whether this account may be thought to bear too hard upon the character of the clergy at that time in general, and of the council in particular, let the reader judge when he has attended to a few extracts from a fermon of Bernard, a French abbot. This divine told the council, that, "with very few exceptions, they were an affembly of Pharifees, who made a farce of religion and the church, under the mafk of proceffions, and other external acts of devotion. "I am forry," proceeds he, "to say it, that in our days the catholic faith is reduced to nothing; hope is turned into a rash prefumption, and the love of God and our neighbour is quite extinct. Among the laity, falfehood bears the chief fway; and avarice predominates among the clergy, Among the prelates there is nothing but malice, iniquity, &c. At the pope's court there is no fanctity; law-fuits and quarrels being the felicity of that court, and impofture it's delight." He then exhorted them to make a real reformation, to punish the guilty, and to choose a good pope. This zealous preacher faw

not

not the root of all thefe evils, namely, the lamentable departure from chriftian principles; and, like many other declaimers against vice, he knew no remedy but the arguments of mere moral-fuafion and ex ternal difcipline. The power of the blood of Chrift, in purging the confcience* from dead works to ferve the living God, feems to have been generally unknown at that time; and, till men are brought to know fomething of their own native depravity, they are always too proud to fubmit to the rightcoufness of God.

We have already mentioned the beginning of the inteftine diftractions in Bohemia. Thefe proceeded to fuch a length as to produce scenes perfectly tragical. The university of Prague declared in favour of the communion in both kinds, and the greatest part of both the clergy and laity followed their decifion. Wencenlaus the king, more out of fear than good will to the Huffites, granted them a great many churches, in which they adminiftered the eucharist according to the fcriptural inftitution, and also entered every day into new engagements not to obey the council. By thefe means, many of the Bohemian clergy were ftripped of their revenues, and they ftirred up the friends of the church of Rome to oppofe the innovations. Vaft numbers. of highwaymen and banditti took the opportunity of this confufion to exercife all acts of violence and robbery with impunity. Wencenlaus, instead of exerting the requifite authority, abandoned Prague, retired to a caftle, and minded nothing but his pleasures, while his whole kingdom was in combuftion.

It was not probable that the council of Conftance fhould

fhould be able to reftore peace and good order to Bohemia: For they themselves, in a great measure had been the caufe of the exifting troubles. It is, however true, that they left no stone unturned in their endeavours to reestablish the corrupt cuftom of adminiftering the facrament in one kind only. By their order, Gerfon composed a treatise against the communion in both kinds, which was publicly read in the affembly; but which, in fact, was little calculated to compofe the differences. Confcious of the difficulty of fupporting his main point by the authority of fcripture alone, he observes, that in order to understand revelation aright, recourse fhould be had to human laws, decrees, and the gloffes of holy doctors. He maintains, that those, who prefume to interpret fcripture, contrary to what is taught in the fcripture, as DECLARED BY THE CHURCH, and obferved by the faithful, ought to be feverely punished, rather than dealt with by argument. The whole treatife was unworthy of the learning and fagacity of Gerfon, and deserved no notice here, except for the purpose of fhewing under what ftrong delufions thofe are permitted to lie, who love not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness. The judicious Lenfant, who is rarely liberal in his cenfures, breaks out on occafion of the last mentioned fentiment of Gerfon, in the following terms.-"I own, I don't understand Gerfon's logic on this occafion. He draws a very blunt and rafh inference; efpecially as it was the moft improper thing in the world he could fay to induce the Huffites of Bohemia to come to Conftance, whither they were fummoned."

The five nations,-for the Spaniards were now added to the French, the Germans, the English, and the Italians,-proceeded to elect a pope; and the choice fell upon Otho de Colonna, who took the name of Martin V. This happened in the latter

end

end of the year 1417. All these nations, on the day A. D. after the pope's coronation, concurred in a refo- 1417. lution to demand of the new pope the reformation of the church which he had promised to make after he should be elected. He gave them good words, but did nothing effectual. The Germans were uneafy at his delays, and fo were the French; though these, by joining with the Italians and the Spaniards, had caufed the deferring of the reformation till after the election of a pope. The anfwer, which Sigifmund gave to the French, was fevere, but juft. "When I urged you that the church might be reformed before the pope was elected, you would not confent. You would have a pope before the reformation. Go to him yourselves. I have not the fame power which I had while the See was vacant *." It is the office of history to do juftice to all characters; on which account it behoves us to declare, that Sigifmund, groffly perfidious as he had fhewn himself in regard to Hufs, appears to have been fincerely defirous of a partial reformation in the church. He had neither the knowledge nor the zeal, fufficient to lead him to any thing like an evangelical reformation; but, with many other popish princes, he wifhed to fet bounds to the tyranny of the pope, to reduce him from the state of a defpot to that of a limited monarch, to check his encroachments on the rights and property both of fovereigns and of fubjects, and to bring the church into a ftate of decorum and order. Sigifmund certainly intended all this; and if he failed of obtaining the bleffing of God even on his laudable purposes, the chriftian reader will recollect that this man perfecuted the church of God, lived wickedly, and hated the real principles of the gospel of Chrift. Before the election of Martin V., the emperor, with the Germans

* Lenfant, Vol. II. p. 207.

Germans and the English, was zealous that the reformation of the church fhould precede the election of a new pontiff; and Robert Halam, bishop of Salisbury, had diftinguished himself particularly in this point. He was the favourite of the emperor; but his death at Conftance gave a fatal blow to the defigns of those who were anxious to oppose the ambition of the Italians. Not only the French, but even the English, ftrenuous as they had been for the correction of abuses while Halam lived, deserted the emperor; and he was left in a minority with his Germans. The memorial of this laft nation deserves to be mentioned. They complained, that "the popes had affumed to themfelves the judgment of all causes both ecclefiaftical and civil;-that, by a horrid abufe even more scandalous than fimony, they taxed and rated crimes like merchandise; felling pardons of fins for ready money, and granting indulgencies altogether unufual; that they admitted perfons of licentious manners into facred orders, and that fince offices were become thus faleable, no one thought knowledge and virtue to be neceffary qualifications."

It is extraordinary, that any modern writers. should undertake to vindicate the papacy from the charges of proteftants, when it appears repeatedly, that nothing could be faid worfe of it by its enemies, than what was confeffed by the very members of the church of Rome. It is very true that the conduct of these members of the Romish church was in the main inconfiftent with their profeffions and declarations. With what face could thefe Germans charge Hufs with herefy, for faying the very fame things which they themfelves did? And why fhould Luther be condemned as too fevere against the practice of indulgencies, when he only reprefented that grand corruption in the fame light,