those that are His, is given in life, and in death." His last days he seemed to spend in almost continual prayer. Of his bodily organs, all affected with disease, his clear, bright, shining eye, lifted towards the heavens, could alone express the ardour of his soul. In the midst of his pains he feebly uttered, 'I held my tongue, O Lord, for it was thy doing.' Beza, (an eminent character of those times,) who was with him, heard him say, 6 Thou, Lord, hast bruised me, but it is quite enough for me that this is thy hand.' His final dismissal was most easy and peaceful, like one who quietly fell asleep. Not even a heavier breathing indicated the departure of his happy spirit."

The body of this great Reformer was interred in the common burying-ground of Geneva, A.D. 1564. The Genevese sorrowed as those whose master had been taken from their head.' Long after his death the Genevan Church shone in the light of gospel truth, and the pure doctrines of evangelical religion were held in it, and dispensed from it. But now the sacred fire upon its altars has gone out, or burns dimly indeed, and if ever it shoots into a flame, the cold waters of persecution quickly extinguish it. Arianism, that scourge of Christ's church, now prevails in Geneva: and not only the doctrines of their Reformer, but the doctrines of the Bible, are rejected, nay, insulted, in that once Christian place. The divinity of our Lord is denied: salvation through his blood rejected, or, horrid to repeat, ridiculed:

justification through faith in Him, and sanctification by His Spirit, forbidden to be once named in the churches. Morality, even such as the world acknowledges, is at as low an ebb as Christianity. The Sabbath is spent in idleness, revelries, and vice; the name of God is blasphemed ; and Geneva has exhibited scenes as revolting to the moralist as to the Christian. Alas! how has Geneva fallen! Who that has heard of her past glory, who that has seen her present state, would not long and pray for the up-raising of another Calvin's spirit, to restore her, through a blessing from on high, to the place from whence she has fallen. Oh that, ere it be too late, Geneva may "remember from whence she has fallen, and repent, and do the former works."

CENTURY XVI-XVII.

REFORMATION IN FRANCE.

THE doctrines of the Reformation found their way, more or less, through most of the countries of Europe, and every where met with those who willingly cast away the yoke of Papal bondage, and rejoiced in that "liberty wherewith Christ maketh His people free." In France, these doctrines found many converts, and to such a length had the Reformation been carried there, that it is said that at one time the half of France was Protestant. And if the blood of the martyrs be indeed the seed of the church, it were no marvel if the church there was large.

The conduct of Francis I. towards his Protestant subjects varied according to circumstances: at one time he protected, at another cruelly persecuted them. The history of the French Protestants is long and very interesting, but I can do little more than relate the leading heads of their story, with which I hope you will one day be better acquainted. During the reign of Francis, many

martyrs suffered, chiefly at Metz, Bourdeaux, Rouen, Meaux, Toulouse, and Paris. He died in 1547, and was succeeded by Henry II. a zealous bigot, and a cruel persecutor;-characters that we have generally seen go together. This monarch declared it his intention to root out heresy by violence; and his reign dismissed a large body of martyrs to receive the crown of life, which Paul believed Christ had laid up, not only for him, but also "for all those who love his appearing." At the coronation of the Queen, this inhuman prince burned to death a number of Protestants, and enjoyed the spectacle. Going into the Parliament of Paris, when the subject of heresy was debating, Henry heard two counsellors speak a few words in favour of the Reformers, and instantly ordered them to be apprehended, and proceeded against, declaring he would see their execution.' But before that day arrived, the eye that would have looked with delight on the martyrs' sufferings, was closed in death. Henry received a wound in the eye, in a tournament, while the trial of these counsellors was going on, of which he died, A. D. 1557.

Francis II. who succeeded him, is known as the husband of Mary Stuart, the unfortunate Queen of Scots. He only lived to the end of the next year, and then left the throne to his brother, the infamous Charles IX. and the chief government to his mother, the inhuman and unfeminine Catherine of Medicis, who had assumed the chief

authority in the kingdom. Two parties now appeared in France, which excited endless commotions, and involved the country in civil war : these were the Guises and the Bourbons,-names well known in French history. The Guises were noted enemies to the Reformed, as the Protestants in France were called, and the Bourbons were as friendly towards them. The French Protestants thus became a political party, and the circumstance was ruinous to them.

The French Protestants are best known at this period of their history by the name of Huguenots, which their enemies bestowed on them through contempt: they had, however, become a very considerable and important body, having been joined by some of the first people in France : among whom were Antony Bourbon, King of Navarre; his brother the Prince of Condé; Cardinal Chatillon, and Admiral Coligny; names which must cause the Roman Catholics of France to blush, and the Protestant while he sighs for their fate, to glory in their cause.

The enmity of the Duke of Guise and the Queen mother, to the Huguenots, produced a civil war; the latter headed by the Prince of Condé were defeated in an engagement that took place between the parties, and the Prince taken prisoner soon after this the Duke of Guise was assassinated, and thus the Protestant cause revived for a little by being delivered from their malignant enemy. In a short time, however, war was