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^ art of printing , its circulation and influence were necessarily very limited . Amongst Wickliffe ' s followers it is gratifying to distinguish the father of English poetry , Geoffrey Chaucer , who was deeply imbued with the
spirit of his great contemporary : and the readers of the " Canterbury Tales " may trace no small portion of the humorous , but poignant satire which pervades that celebrated production , to his concurrence in Wickliffe ' s attacks upon the Vices and corruption of the clergy . _ _ ¦ .
The seeds of Reformation thus early scattered were not lost , and the adherents to the new opinions , though labouring- under complicated disadvantages , and vexed with grievous persecution , continued to pave the way for that illustrious aera , which
released a considerable portion of the Christian world from the despotism of the papal chair , and established principles which , in their full development , ensure to every man that
intellectual liberty which is the dignity of his nature ; and whicli , sustained and protected by its mighty weapon , the press , can never be again surrendered without the grossest and most inconceivable degeneracy .
Unfortunately for the cause of Reformation in this country , the immediate motives of the ruling power were vindictive and mercenary , aiming rather at the transfer than the
annihilation of papal usurpations * The prejudices of a large portion of the clergy and people , were at the same time decidedly favourable to the ancient formularies of the Church . The
' * Rules of Scripturewere indeed held out , " by his Majesty ' s will and pleasure , ' as the true standard of Reformation ; but towards the close of Henryts capricious reign , there was little peace to those who ventured to resort u to the law and to the
testimonT . " , The short retgn- of liis son , Edward , was more auspicious to the cause at Reform , though its enlightened friends had to struggle with manydifficulties , and particularly the deplorable
ignorance of the greater proportion of the parochial clergy . The establishment of the Liturgy did not take place without opposition , and both the King and his Bishops Cranmer , Latimer , Ridley and Hooper , in different de-
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grees , concurred with the celebrated Professors Peter Martyr and Martin Bucer , and other learned divines , in ¦ manifesting their zeal for a further Reformation . The clerical vestments
were a very general object of disgust , and Bucer and Martyr , with many others , declined the use of the surplice . The famous Dr . Thomas Sampson , subsequently one of the leading Puritans , was permitted to except against the habits at his ordination , by Cranmer and Ridley , who ,
however , upon Dr . Hooper ' s nomination to the bishopric of Gloucester , disgraced themselves by insisting upon his assuming , at his consecration , " the old symbolizing popish garments / ' which his learning and good sense united in pointing out as the " inventions of Antichrist , " and
inconsistent with the simplicity of th . e Christian religion . Upon the whole , it is impossible to deny that , during this reign , the weight of learning and talents decidedly lay on the side of those who were either open Nonconformists to the ceremonies of the
Church , or were sincerely desirous of a further reduction of the number of those relics of Popery . During the bigoted and sanguinary , but providentially short reign , of Mary , many of the most learned and eminent divines sought refuge on the Continent from the resentment of the
common adversary of Protestants * and in their exile imbibed more rooted objections to that partial Reformation , which had hitherto obtained in their native country : and when Elizabeth had become the supreme head terrestrial of the revived Church of
England , it is said , in particular , that " they dealt with the Queen to let the matter of the habits fall /* These attempts at a more liberal compre ? hension , were speedily answered by the Act of Uuiformitv . which imthe Act of Uniformitywhich
im-, posed the Prayer-Book , with its decent array of rites and ceremonies , and protecting penalties , upon Mjr faithful subjects , and reserved to her Majesty the power of ordaining and
publishing " such further ceremonies or rites , as might be most for the advancement of God ' s glory , the edifying of his church , and the duerever rence of Christ ' s holy mysteries ana sacrament * . " The steady rigour with which the Q ueen wielded the power ®
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26 Cause of Nonconformity , as connected with Literature .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1819, page 26, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1768/page/26/
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