confession, "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." The holy Martyrs have left an invitation to follow their blameless, their righteous example, whenever a like necessity may require. The champions of Protestantism in this your country, who, many of them, perished for Protestantism, are examples which you need not hesitate to follow. Could the dead hold converse with the living, the pious Bishops who refused not to undergo torments at the stake, Ridley, Latimer, Cranmer, would tell you that the sense of pain was swallowed up by the conscious, the unpretending triumph of their faith;-that they felt death to be not so much quitting life, as entering into a foretaste of celestial joys. Finally, this may be wished, but in a fallen world can scarcely be hoped for all that you may be true to your Religion, loyal to your King, -the blessings and the bulwark of England, the land, with so many amongst you, of your birth, and the scene of your this world's destinies. |