on the weak, the timid, and the unthinking. But the divines to whom the examination of it was committed, entered upon that business with great deliberation and temper. As it was more easy in itself, as well as more consistent with the dignity of the church, to make concessions and even alterations with regard to speculative opinions, the discussion whereof is confined chiefly to schools, and which present nothing to the people that either strikes their imagination or affects their senses, they came to an accommodation about these without much labour, and even defined the article concerning justification to their mutual satisfaction. But when they proceeded to points of jurisdiction, where the interest and authority of the Romans were concerned, or to the rites and forms of external worship, where every change that could be made must be public, and draw the observation of the people, there the Catholics were altogether untractable, nor could the church either with safety or with honour abolish its ancient constitutions. All the articles relative to the power of the pope, the authority of councils, the administration of the sacraments, the worship of saints, and many other particulars did not in their nature admit of any temperament; so that after labouring long to bring about an accommodation with respect to these, the emperor found all his endeavours ineffectual. Being impatient however to close the diet, he at last prevailed on a majority of the members to approve of the following recess "That the articles concerning which the divines had agreed in the conference should be held as points decided, and be observed inviolably by all; that the other articles about which they had differed, should be referred to the determination of a general council; or if that could not be obtained, to a national synod of Germany; and if it should prove impracticable likewise to assemble a synod,

:

that a general diet of the empire should be called within eighteen months, in order to give some final judgment upon the whole controversy; that the emperor should use all his interest and authority with the pope to procure the meeting either of a ge neral council or synod; that in the mean time no innovations should be attempted, no endeavours should be employed to gain proselytes; and neither the revenues of the church nor the rights of monasteries should be invaded.

POPE CLEMENT VII.

He assumed this name upon his being raised to the papal dignity, but he was formerly known by the name of the Cardinal of Medici. His election was universally approved of. High expectations were conceived of a pope, whose great talents and long experience in business seemed to qualify him no less for defending the spiritual interests of the church, exposed to imminent danger by the progress of Luther's opinions, than for conducting its political operations with the prudence requisite at such a difficult juncture; and who, besides these advantages, rendered the ecclesiastical state more respectable, by having in his hands the government of Florence, together with the wealth of the family of Medici. He began with soothing Cardinal Wolsey, who had been disappointed in his hope of the papal chair, and who refused to accommodate the differences existing among the contending parties in Europe. He excelled his predecessor Adrian as much in the arts of government, as he was infe rior to him in purity of life or uprightness of inten tion. He was animated with the aversion which all popes naturally have to a council; but having gained his own election by means very uncanonical,

he was afraid of an assembly that might subject it to a scrutiny which it could not stand. He determined therefore, by every possible means, to elude the demands of the Germans, both with respect to their calling of a council to inquire into the religious disputes, and to reform the abuses of the clergy.

Though he was not deficient in policy, yet it was sufficiently tried; for, one time by Colonna, and another time by Bourbon, the city of Rome was assailed, and he made prisoner. He made his escape from confinement, but his pontificate was not distinguished by any thing great or memorable. Having refused Henry VIII. of England a divorce, in which he had long persisted, that haughty monarch renounced his supremacy, and soon afterwards Clement fell into a languishing distemper, which gradually wasting his constitution, put an end to his pontificate, the most unfortunate, both during its continuance, and by its effects, that the church had known for many ages.

BAYARD.

THE valour of this man was first conspicuous when the imperial army invested Mezieres. This was a place at that time of no considerable strength, but so advantageously situated, that by getting possession of it, the imperial army might have penetrated into the heart of Champagne, in which there was hardly any other town capable of obstructing its progress. Happily for France, its monarch, sensible of the importance of this fortress, and of the danger to which it was exposed, committed the defence of it to the chevalier Bayard; distinguished among his contemporaries by the appellation of "The knight without fear, and without reproach."

This man, whose prowess in combat, whose punctilious honour, and formal gallantry, bear a nearer resemblance than any thing recorded in history to the character ascribed to the heroes of chivalry, possessed all the talents which form a great general. These he had many occasions of exerting in the defence of Mezieres; partly by his valour, partly by his conduct, he protracted the siege to a great length, and in the end obliged the Imperialists to raise it with disgrace and loss.

His next appearance in the field of battle was less fortunate to him. Bonnivet, the admiral of France, and he, were opposed to Bourbon and Pescara on the banks of the Sessia. At the beginning of the charge, the admiral, while exerting himself with much valour, was wounded so dangerously, that he was obliged to quit the field, and the conduct of the rear was committed to Bayard, who, though so much a stranger to the arts of a court, that he never rose to the chief command, was always called, in times of real danger, to the post of greatest difficulty and importance. He put himself at the head of the men at arms, and animating them by his presence and example to sustain the whole shock of the enemies' troops, he gained time for the rest of his countrymen to make good their retreat. But in this service he received a wound, which he immediately perceived to be mortal, and being unable any longer to continue on horseback, he ordered one of his attendants to place him under a tree, with his face towards the enemy; then fixing his eyes on the guard of his sword, which he held up instead of a cross, he addressed his prayers to God, and in this posture, which became his character, both as a soldier and as a christian, he calmly awaited the approach of death. Bourbon, who led the foremost of the enemies' troops found him in this situation, and expressed regret and pity at the

sight. "Pity not me," cried the high-spirited chevalier, "I die as a man of honour ought, in the discharge of my duty; they indeed are objects of pity, who fight against their king, their country, and their oath." The marquis de Pescara passing soon after, manifested his admiration of Bayard's virtues, as well as his sorrow for his fate, with the generosity of a gallant enemy, and finding that he could not be removed with safety from the spot, ordered a tent to be pitched there, and appointed proper persons to attend him. He died, notwithstanding their care, as his ancestors for several generations had done, in the field of battle. Pescara ordered his body to be embalmed and sent to his relations; and such was the respect paid to military merit in that age, that the duke of Savoy commanded it to be received with royal honours in all the cities of his dominions; in Dauphine, Bayard's native country, the people of all ranks came out in a solemn procession to meet it.

ADMIRAL BONNIVET.

He was appointed to the supreme command, upon the desertion of Bourbon, and sent into the Milanese with an army thirty thousand strong. He did not owe this preferment to his abilities as a general; for of all the talents requisite to form a great commander, he possessed only personal courage, the lowest and most common. But he was the most accomplished gentleman in the French court, of agreeable manners, an insinuating address, and a sprightly conversation; and Francis, who lived in great familiarity with his courtiers, was so charmed with these qualities, that he honoured him on all occasions with the most partial and distin