upon him a parting blessing upon the sea-shore. That nobleman is described as being adorned with the purest virtue, the richest gifts of nature, and the most valuable acquisitions of learning. Between him and the primate a lasting friendship had been contracted; and the latter, in some letters to the privy council, defended him from the charges of maladministration which had been brought against him.

It was a favourite object with the British government to complete the union of the churches of England and Ireland, by establishing the English articles and canons in the latter kingdom as the rule of doctrine and discipline. But this scheme was unwelcome to many of the clergy, who neither liked to sacrifice the independence of their church, nor to blot out that tinge of calvinism which the Irish articles diffused over them; and their character and influence entitled their sentiments to respectful consideration. In 1635, however, a compromise was effected. The archbishop conferred with lord Wentworth, and at length proposed to the convocation, with the approbation of the government, that the English articles should be adopted by the Irish church without abrogating its own; and that a rule of discipline should be formed out of the English canons, only with such alterations as that assembly should approve. On the subject of the former of these measures, the primate wrote to his friend, Dr. Ward:-"The articles of religion agreed upon in our former synod, anno 1615, we let stand as they did before. But for the manifesting of our agreement with the church of England, we have received and approved your articles also, concluded in the year 1562, as you may see in the first of our canons." This was as

much as the compiler of those articles could be expected to concede; and we are not surprised that he and most

of the bishops still continued to require candidates for ordination to subscribe them.

It seems, however, highly probable, that the opinions of archbishop Usher had for some time been changing on the deep subjects of election and predestination, and therefore that he was less averse to the reception of the English articles than at the time when he was appointed to compile a confession of faith for the church of Ireland. We learn from his letters written subsequently to that period, that he was persuaded that in the hot debates of those times both parties had erred from the truth, and that for his own part he had found satisfaction in "a middle course." He declares his belief that, through the price paid by our blessed Saviour, all men are placed within the reach of pardon. "All men," he says, " may be truly said to have interest in the merits of Christ, as in common, though all do not enjoy the benefit thereof, because they have no will to take it." "The virtue thereof is such," he observes, "that if all did take it, all without doubt should be recovered, but without taking it there is no recovery..... It may be truly said, that no man's state is so desperate but by this means it is recoverable." He declares that all do not obtain actual remission of their sins, because they do not seek it; but that God invites and entreats us all to be reconciled to Him; that "many, hearing [the Gospel of salvation] do not believe, or lightly regard it; and many that do believe the truth thereof are so wedded to their sins, that they have no desire to be divorced from them, and therefore they refuse the gracious offer that is made unto them. And yet, notwithstanding their [this] refusal on their part, we may truly say that good things were provided for them on Christ's part, and a rich prize was put into the hands of a fool, howsoever he had no heart to use it."-Prov. xvii. 16.

These sentiments, expressed in the year 1617, show that at that early period he had no liking for the more frightful positions of Calvin; and we learn, by the satisfactory testimony of several personal friends, that in his latter years he had altogether forsaken the tenets known by that name; and some published letters of Dr. Hammond's represented that the archbishop utterly and publicly disclaimed them.

Little remains to be added to the account which we have now given of this part of the primate's life. He constantly and earnestly preached the Gospel, and exemplified in his own character the instructions which he delivered. "The discourses," says his chaplain, Dr. Bernard, "which daily fell from him at his table, in the clearing of difficulties in the Scripture, and other subjects, especially when learned men came to visit him, were of great advantage to such as were capable of them. It often put me in mind of that speech of the queen of Sheba to Solomon Happy are these thy servants that continually stand about thee, and hear thy wisdom. And such was his humility that he would, in practical subjects, apply himself to the information and satisfaction of the poorest and weakest person that should desire it; nay, sometimes rather incline towards such than to others more learned; which strangers wondered at, as the disciples marvelled at our Saviour's talking with the poor woman at Samaria, and answering her questions rather than heeding of them. (John, iv. 27.)

"The order observed in his family as to prayer, was four times a day; in the morning at six, in the evening at eight, and before dinner and supper in the chapel, at each of which he was always present.

"On Friday in the afternoon constantly an hour in the chapel was spent in going through the principles of religion in the catechism, for the instruction of the

family. And every Sunday in the evening, we had a repetition of his sermon in the chapel, which he had preached in the church in the forenoon.

"In the winter evenings he constantly spent two hours in comparing of old manuscripts of the Bible, Greek and Latin, where about five or six of us assisted him, and the various readings of each were taken down by himself with his own hand."

About the begining of the year 1640, the archbishop was invited to England, with the hope that his character and influence might help to allay the storm which had been gathering so long, and which threatened to descend upon the kingdom in misery and sorrow. Willing to use such powers as he possessed in promoting public peace, he embarked with his wife and family, little thinking that he should never more return to his native land.

CHAPTER III.

HIS REVERSES.

From darkness here and dreariness

We ask not full repose;
Only be Thou at hand to bless

Our trial-hour of woes.

Is not the pilgrim's toil o'erpaid

By the clear rill and palmy shade?

And see we not, up earth's dark glade,
The gate of heaven unclose?

CHRISTIAN YEAR.

By a merciful providence, God so conducts the steps of his servants as to deliver them out of innumerable troubles; and a pious christian cannot look back upon his past journey through life without seeing reason to own

that many combinations of circumstances have brought blessings into his hands, although they might easily have been so arranged as to terminate in misery.

Archbishop. Usher had cause to be thankful that he was led into England at this time, and that his stay was protracted during many months; for he thus escaped the most dreadful scene of ferocious slaughter which the pages of modern history describe.

But we are a little anticipating the course of our narrative. Immediately on his landing, the primate set out with his family to London; where, finding himself in the midst of civil and religious discord, he soon proceeded to Oxford, hoping that peace might yet linger within the precincts of the University. In this expectation, however, he was disappointed; so, after enjoying the learned society of the place for a short period, he returned to the metropolis, resolving to exhort the people fearlessly, as well by preaching as writing, to be "loyal and obedient to their prince," while he endeavoured "to the utmost of his power to heal those breaches, and reconcile those differences, which were ready to break out both in church and state."

Soon after his return, the impeachment of lord Strafford came on; the archbishop frequently visited him in prison, and the earl consulted him about many parts of the defence which he intended to make at his trial.

When the bill of attainder passed the House of Lords, in May, 1641, the king, perplexed between the peril of refusing his assent and the injustice of granting it, sent for archbishop Usher and some other prelates. It was on a Sunday morning that the king's messenger came to the primate, while he was preaching in the church in Covent Garden. Descending for a moment from the pulpit, to learn what urgent affairs so unseasonably