from every quarter known and accessible to him, and has endeavoured to communicate it whole and unimpaired, with faithfulness and truth. Upon the subjects which he has here attempted to delineate, he has looked with unalloyed pleasure, as he traced out their several features. He has followed with admiration the course of Bernard Gilpin, first working his way to the truth, and then diligently spreading its light over his parish and a wide tract of surrounding country,of De Mornay, the christian soldier, devout in the camp and the council chamber, no less than in the domestic circle,—of Bedell, firm in carrying forward his matured schemes of reformation, yet so holy and blameless as to disarm opposition, and to gain universal honour and love, -and of Horneck, devoted as a pastor, weaned from the world as a disciple of Christ, and abounding in self-denial, piety, and good works. He trusts that feelings of like interest may be awakened in the minds of his readers, and that they may be induced to follow the footsteps of these holy men, in seeking to be partakers of eternal glory. And he is persuaded that long after his own name shall have been forgotten, and when the thread on which he has strung these precious pearls shall have perished, the pearls themselves will be treasured up by the church, and recommended, after a more worthy manner, to the reverence and imitation of mankind. PORTSMOUTH, P R. B. H. CONTENTS. LIFE OF BERNARD GILPIN. Page THE LIFE OF THE REV. BERNARD GILPIN. 1517-1583. CHAPTER I. PROGRESSIVE DETECTION OF THE ERRORS OF POPERY. Seeking this Alone, the approbation of his God, peace, POLLOK'S Course of Time. THE progress of the Reformation in England affords an interesting and important study to every protestant, inasmuch as it exhibits the cautious yet determined steps by which the truths revealed in the Word of God, and believed by the primitive church, were rescued from that oblivion into which they had fallen during a long and dismal season of spiritual darkness. Not less attractive and profitable is that portion of the same field of inquiry which belongs to the province of the biographer. There the first dawning and the subsequent expansion of the same glorious light may be traced in the minds of such individuals as were intent upon applying the test of Holy Scripture to every doctrine proposed for their acceptance. And, where sufficient memorials exist to show the practical operation of their principles, after their VOL. II. B emancipation from superstition and falsehood, and to hold out salutary examples meet for the disciples of Christ to follow, their history naturally becomes still more worthy of serious and respectful consideration. Such is the nature of the ensuing memoir. The records of the early life of its subject illustrate his deliverance from popery, and show how he was led on, step by step, to a cordial reception of the doctrines of the Reformation. They then set forth his complete devotion to the service of his divine Master, and distinguish him as one of the brightest of those stars which, with light reflected from above, shed their rays upon our native land at that memorable era*. Bernard Gilpin was born at the family seat, Kentmirehall, in the county of Westmoreland, in 1517, a year memorable in the annals of the church, as being that in which Luther began to preach against the corruptions of the popish religion. He was one of the youngest of several children of Edward Gilpin, whose elder brother had fallen in the battle of Bosworth Field, leaving him to succeed to the property which had been conferred upon their forefathers in the reign of king John. It is related that, at a very early age, the indignation * The materials from which the following account has been composed were supplied, first, by William Freake's translation of Bishop Carleton's Life of Bernard Gilpin, first published in 1629, and lately reprinted in Dr. Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Biography, vol. iv.; secondly, by the Life of Bernard Gilpin, by the Rev. William Gilpin, Prebendary of Salisbury, and Vicar of Boldre, in the New Forest. Bishop Carleton, having been brought up by Mr. Gilpin, had most favourable opportunities of collecting the information which he gives respecting his admirable patron. The author of the second memoir was a collateral descendant of Bernard Gilpin, and, in preparihg his Life, availed himself of the letters and various notices treasured up by the family; he likewise obtained further memorials from other quarters. In a few instances, where the original letters have been lost, Carleton's version has supplied the deficiency; of which a due acknowledgment will be found. |