It is not too much to say that in the century preceding the Reformation England was quite openly looted in the interests of the papal curia. As a consequence there was great restlessness and many attempts were made to check the abuses of the papal jurisdiction by legislation.

If there had arisen in the English Church at this time a strong leader of the type of Luther or Calvin whose interests were predominantly theological, the discontent with Rome might have been turned in the same direction as on the Continent, and a revolution followed by the erection of an entirely new church might have taken place. Fortunately no such leader arose. Henry VIII had no interest in a theological revolution, but remained theologically a Catholic unto the end. His quarrel was with the papacy, and the parliament and convocation were content to follow his lead, and to declare their independence of Rome. This was a very simple matter to accomplish. Legislation was passed forbidding appeals to Rome and asserting the competence of the English Church to terminate all cases in her own courts, and the Roman jurisdiction was gone! The ecclesiastical side of the assertion of Anglican freedom was this: that "the Bishop of Rome hath no greater jurisdiction in England than any other foreign bishop." There was no need of a theo

logical revolution, neither the constitution nor the creed of the Church were touched, but the Reformation was accomplished.

The close of the reign of Henry VIII saw the English Church freed from the universal jurisdiction of Rome, in full control of its own affairs. Nothing that it had done separated it from the unity of the Catholic Church. Communion with Rome was in abeyance, but might be resumed at any time that Rome should consent to recognize the legitimate rights and powers of the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church, in fact, has never excommunicated Rome, nor withdrawn from its communion; the guilt of schism lies on the Roman side, and if unity was preserved, so far as the English Church was concerned, so was the entire Catholic constitution of the Church. Its creeds are unchanged, and no new articles have been added to them. It was still governed by a hierarchy consisting of bishops, priests, and deacons; it maintained the same worship and administered the same sacraments. The Church of England at the death of Henry VIII was the same church that it was at his accession, and nothing had been done to affect its Catholic character.

There had been begun in the last part of Henry's reign a revision of the devotional formularies of the church. The Bible had been translated

into English and set up in each church, and it was ordered that a chapter should be read from it after the Te Deum and Magnificat. The Litany was issued in English for use in church. Cranmer was occupied in translating and reforming the service books of the Church when the King died.

With the accession of Edward VI we enter upon a new stage in the Reformation. For the next century the question for the English Church was whether it was to be carried in a Protestant direction and lose its Catholic character, or whether it would be able to hold substantially the position it had taken before the accession of Edward. We must remember that while the King and convocation had held steadily to the Catholic belief and practice, England was not so isolated as to be uninfluenced by the Protestant Reformation on the Continent. The writings of the Continental reformers had wide circulation in England, notwithstanding the efforts of the government to prevent it. They influenced many, and the party which looked for guidance to the Continent came into power at the accession of Edward. The King himself was but nine years old, and the actual power fell into the hands of Somerset, and after his fall into those of Northumberland. The chief interest they had was in

plundering the Church. What property had been left by Henry VIII was speedily seized by the government of Edward VI. It is a sordid tale which fortunately it does not fall to us to retell.

The first prayer book of Edward VI was published in 1549, as we have noted. Archbishop Cranmer was at work on it before the death of Henry VIII. It was a book of great merit and all subsequent revisions of the Prayer Book except the first have looked back to it and worked nearer to it. It translated the old Latin services and simplified them. This they much needed, as in the course of centuries they had become very complex and unfitted for popular services such as the Prayer Book undertook to provide. The result was that the seven hours, which were essentially monastic services, were condensed into the Morning and Evening Prayer of the new book. The principal point of the new services was that they secured the continuous reading of the Psalter through the month and the reading of the whole Bible in the daily lessons. The principal service was that which had for its title in the new book "The Supper of the Lord and Holy Communion, commonly called the Mass." This was the revision of the Latin mass, retaining all its essential features as they had existed from the earliest times, only simplifying or omitting non

essential elements. The book is thoroughly Catholic in all its provisions. It retained the eucharistic vestments which were inherited from the past. The rubrics were much simplified, but there is no doubt that the traditional ceremonial would have continued in use except in case of priests of Protestant leanings, who no doubt would have discontinued much of it.

There was, of course, more or less opposition, both from conservatives who disliked change of any sort, and from the governing Protestant party who detested the whole theological position of the book. The latter party was soon able to make its power felt.

With the accession of Edward VI reformers from the continent began to come over to England in great numbers, with the benevolent intention of helping on the Reformation of the English Church. They had their natural allies in those whose interests lay in the direction of further plunder of the Church. The Protestant party thought that nothing had as yet been done in the way of reform and were most anxious for a further change in the formularies of the Church. The party of plunder had the greater success. What endowments had been left by their predecessors they seized. They plundered and dispersed the ancient libraries, selling them for old