wanting.

Upon the death of Henry VIII., in 1547, Edward VI., his son by Jane
Seymour, ascended the throne, and during his minority a protector was
appointed in the person of his mother's brother, the Earl of Hertford,
afterward Duke of Somerset. Edward was a sickly youth of ten years old,
but his reign is noted for the progress of reform in the Church, and
especially for the issue of the _Book of Common Prayer_, which must be
considered of literary importance, as, although with decided
modifications, and an interruption in its use during the brief reign of
Mary, it has been the ritual of worship in the Anglican Church ever since.
It superseded the Latin services--of which it was mainly a translation
rearranged and modified--finally and completely, and containing, as it
does, the whole body of doctrine, it was the first clear manifesto of the
creeds and usages of that Church, and a strong bond of union among its
members.

OTHER WRITERS OF THE PERIOD.

_Thomas Tusser_, 1527-1580: published, in 1557, "A Hundreth Good Points of
Husbandrie," afterward enlarged and called, "Five Hundred Points of Good
Husbandrie, united to as many of Good Huswiferie;" especially valuable as
a picture of rural life and labor in that age.

Alexander Barklay, died 1552: translated into English poetry the _Ship of
Fools_, by Sebastian Brandt, of Basle.

Reginald Pecock, Bishop of St. Asaph and of Chichester: published, in
1449, "The Repressor of Overmuch Blaming of the Clergy." He attacked the
Lollards, but was suspected of heresy himself, and deprived of his
bishopric.

John Fisher, 1459-1535: was made Bishop of Rochester in 1504; opposed the
Reformation, and refused to approve of Henry's divorce from Catherine of
Arragon; was executed by the king. The Pope sent him a cardinal's hat
while he was lying under sentence. Henry said he would not leave him a
head to put it on. Wrote principally sermons and theological treatises.

Hugh Latimer, 1472-1555: was made Bishop of Worcester in 1535. An ardent
supporter of the Reformation, who, by a rude, homely eloquence, influenced
many people. He was burned at the stake at the age of eighty-three, in
company with Ridley, Bishop of London, by Queen Mary. His memorable words
to his fellow-martyr are: "We shall this day light a candle in England
which, I trust, shall never be put out."

John Leland, or Laylonde, died 1552: an eminent antiquary, who, by order
of Henry VIII., examined, _con amo