When he and his fellow sufferer were ready, they were both fastened to a stake with an iron chain. They then brought a fagot ready kindled, and laid it at Ridley's feet; to whom Latimer said, "Be of good comfort, master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out." After which recommending his soul to God, and the flames speedily reaching him, he quickly expired, apparently without much pain.

But it was not so with Ridley; for by some mismanagement on his side of the stake, the wind blew the flames from the upper part of his body, and his legs were consumed before the fire approached the vital parts. This caused him to endure dreadful torments, till the blaze caught some gunpowder, which had been tied about their waists, and had hastened Latimer's death. The chain then loosening, his body fell at the feet of him, whose animating precepts and noble example had so eminently contributed to enable him to sustain this fiery trial.

"Such," says Gilpin, 66 was the life of Hugh Latimer, bishop of Worcester; one of the leaders of that glorious army of martyrs, who introduced the Reformation in England. He had a happy temper, formed on the principles of christian philosophy. Such was his cheerfulness, that none of the accidents of life could discompose him. Such was his fortitude, that not even the severest trials could unman him. He had a collected spirit,

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and on no occasion wanted a resource; he could retire within himself, and hold the world at defiance.

And as danger could not daunt, so neither could ambition allure him. Though conversant in courts, and intimate with princes, he preserved to the lást, a rare instance of moderation,-his primeval plainness.

:

In his profession he was indefatigable and that he might bestow as much time as possible on the active part of it, he allowed himself only those hours for his private studies, when the busy world is at rest; constantly rising, at all seasons of the year, by two in the morning.

How conscientious he was in the discharge of the public parts of his office, we have many examples. No man could persuade more forcibly; no man could exert, on proper occasions, a more commanding severity. The wicked, in whatever station, he rebuked with censorian dignity; and awed vice more than the penal laws. He was not esteemed a very learned man; for he cultivated only useful learning; and that he thought lay in a very narrow compass. He never engaged in worldly affairs, thinking that a clergyman ought to employ himself only in his profession. Thus he lived rather a good, than what the world calls a great man. He had not those commanding talents, which give superiority in business: but for honesty and sincerity of heart, for true simplicity of manners, for apostolic zeal in the cause of religion,

and for every virtue both of a public and private kind, that should adorn the life of a christian, he was eminent and exemplary beyond most men of his own, or of any other time; well deserving that evangelical commendation, "With the testimony of a good conscience, in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, he had his conversation in the world."

From the preceding narrative the reader will have fully inferred the primitive and excellent character of its subject; his uniform simplicity of manners, his indefatigable professional activity, his cheerfulness and fortitude upon the most trying occasions, and his inflexible adherence to what he deemed his duty. Learning he cultivated, with a view not to its depth, but to its utility. As to his sermons, which are still extant, Gilpin observes, "They are far from being exact pieces of composition. Elegant writing was then little known. Some polite scholars there were, Cheke, Ascham, and a few others, who from an acquaintance with classical learning, of which they were the restorers, began to think in a new manner, and could treat a subject with accuracy at least, if not with elegance. But in general the writers of that age, and especially the churchmen, were equally incorrect in their composition and slovenly in their language. We must not therefore expect, that Latimer's discourses will stand a critical inquiry. They are, at best, loose, incoherent pieces. Yet his simplicity and low fa

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miliarity, his humor and gibing drollery, were well adapted to the times; and his oratory, according to the mode of eloquence of that day, was exceedingly popular. His manner of preaching, too, was very affecting; and no wonder; for he spoke immediately from his heart. His abilities, however, as an orator made only the inferior part of his character as a preacher. What particularly recommends him is, that noble and apostolic zeal, which he exerts in the cause of truth. And, sure, no one had a higher sense of what became his office; was less influenced by any sinister motive; or durst with more freedom reprove vice, however dignified by worldly distinctions."

Goldsmith, in his History of England, observes :"Of all the prelates of that age, Latimer was the most remarkable for his unaffected piety, and the simplicity of his manners. He had never learned to flatter in courts, and his open rebuke was dreaded by all the great who at that time too much deserved it. His sermons, (a few of which remain to this day) show that he had much learning and much wit; and there is an air of sincerity running through them, which is not to be found elsewhere."

"The discourses of Latimer," says Watkins, "like those of Chrysostom, exhibit a faithful portraiture of the national manners, and though far enough from aiming at the higher qualifications of oratory, they have charms that gave them in the delivery a

fascinating influence, of which even the lapse of near three centuries has not deprived them.

Latimer's sermons were wholly levelled at the prevailing corruptions; and the manners of the English nobility and gentry at that time were of a description that fully called for such an honest monitor, who spared neither high nor low, but laid open the depravity of all ranks, with apostolic zeal and sincerity.

The wit of Latimer is admitted, and he undoubtedly introduced it pretty freely into the pulpit. But every story told by him had a point of instruction, and therefore could not be considered as a mere stroke of humor. His anecdotes were not only admirably suited to the subject, but were well calculated to make an impression upon minds little accustomed to formal reasoning, or to an examination of the Scriptures, with which indeed few at that time were acquainted. The preaching of Latimer was entirely of a practical nature, and few, if any, have exceeded him in dissecting the human heart and laying open its secret springs of evil. This he did with much plainness, pungency, and pathos, that none but those who were lifted up with pride or sunk in depravity ever departed from his sermons without an humbling sense of their infirmity. The effect of his powerful exhortation to restitution was witnessed in the repentance of John Bradford; and that excellent scholar, Sir John Cheke, instead of being offended with what has