repetition of
miracles and visions. The imitation of Paganism was supplied by a pure
and spiritual worship of prayer and thanksgiving, the most worthy
of man, the least unworthy of the Deity. It only remains to observe,
whether such sublime simplicity be consistent with popular devotion;
whether the vulgar, in the absence of all visible objects, will not
be inflamed by enthusiasm, or insensibly subside in languor and
indifference. II. The chain of authority was broken, which restrains
the bigot from thinking as he pleases, and the slave from speaking as he
thinks: the popes, fathers, and councils, were no longer the supreme
and infallible judges of the world; and each Christian was taught
to acknowledge no law but the Scriptures, no interpreter but his own
conscience. This freedom, however, was the consequence, rather than
the design, of the Reformation. The patriot reformers were ambitious of
succeeding the tyrants whom they had dethroned. They imposed with equal
rigor their creeds and confessions; they asserted the right of the
magistrate to punish heretics with death. The pious or personal
animosity of Calvin proscribed in Servetus the guilt of his own
rebellion; and the flames of Smithfield, in which he was afterwards
consumed, had been kindled for the Anabaptists by the zeal of Cranmer.
The nature of the tiger was the same, but he was gradually deprived of
his teeth and fangs. A spiritual and temporal kingdom was possessed by
the Roman pontiff; the Protestant doctors were subjects of an humble
rank, without revenue or jurisdiction. _His_ decrees were consecrated
by the antiquity of the Catholic church: _their_ arguments and disputes
were submitted to the people; and their appeal to private judgment was
accepted beyond their wishes, by curiosity and enthusiasm. Since the
days of Luther and Calvin, a secret reformation has been silently
working in the bosom of the reformed churches; many weeds of prejudice
were eradicated; and the disciples of Erasmus diffused a spirit of
freedom and moderation. The liberty of conscience has been claimed as
a common benefit, an inalienable right: the free governments of Holland
and England introduced the practice of toleration; and the narrow
allowance of the laws has been enlarged by the prudence and humanity of
the times. In the exercise, the mind has understood the limits of its
powers, and the words and shadows that might amuse the child can
no longer satisfy his manly reason. The