ivi^i/// /m\\^'\ uy y-T^'^ "^ • lirlf^^^-- ^i^^:i-i ^25^;-^ -~^^ ^ ^ ,,«w«.m.,t^ Shelf PRINCETON, N. J. % BR 305 .S62 1875 Spalding, M. J. 1810-1872 The history of the Protestant reformation T ^nT7r\Tiry-7wr;\ >iiff/ /M\\-^:^^ff/^ /PI W ^^ //r'/^\"''5ST^/r/yi\V*^ ///' WM :S' ^ THE HISTORY OF THE Protestant Reformation IN Germany and Switzerland, AND IN England, Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, France, and Northern Europe. In a Series of Essavs,- Revie-wing D'AuBiaNE, Menzel, Hallam, Bishop Short, Prescott, Rankb, Fryxell, anb Others. IN TWO VOLUMES By M. J. Spalding, D. D. Archbishop of Baltimore. "Vol. I. Reformation in Germany and Switzerland. Twelfth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. BALTIMORE: Published by John Murphy & Co. 182 Baltimore Street. Entered, according: to Act of Congress, in the year 18G0, by Rt. Rev. M. J. Si'ALDiNG, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of Kentucky. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S75, by JOHN MURPIl r, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washingtoyi. Preface to Volume I. About twenty years ago I published a Review of D'Aubigne's History of the Eeformation in Germany and Switzerland. The edition having been soon exhausted, I was often called on by friends to issue a second one ; but circumstances beyond my control long prevented me from acceding to their request. During the interval, several editions of D'Aubigne's work were published both in England and America, and two or more new volumes were added, containing the history of the German and Swiss Eeformation, and commencing that of England. No notice, however, was taken by the author, so far as I have been able to discover, of the facts and reasoning contained in the Eeview, though the latter was republished in Ireland, and pretty widely circulated. In preparing a second edition, I at first hesitated whether it would be worth while to pay any further attention to a writer, who is clearly so bitter a partisan, and so wholly unreliable as an historian. His pre- tended history is, in fact, little better than a romance. He omits more than half the facts, and either perverts or draws on his imagination for the remainder. This may seem a strong accusation ; but it is amply borne out by the authorities and specifications contained in the Eeview. Having started out, it would seem, with the pro-determination to paint the German Eeformers as saints, and the Eeformation as the work of God, he makes every thing bend to his preconceived theory. Still, as his work continued to be read, and perhaps bslieved by a con- siderable number of sincere persons, I decided to re-issue the Eeview in an -amended and considerably enlarged form, in order that those, who really wished to discover the whole truth in regard to the Eeformation, might have an opportunity to read at least some of the facts on the other side. But, at the same time, I thought it better to enlarge the plan of the work, and to embrace in it Essays on the rise and history of the Eeformation in all the other principal countries of Europe. This is done in the second Volume, in which is furnished a summary of the principal facts connected with the rise and progress of the Refor- mation in England, Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, France, and northern Europe. These Essays are mostly Eevicws of different Protes- tant works, and hence the style of the Reviewer, which has been adopted in the original publication, has been preserved throughout both Volumes. The range of the present publication is thus very wide ; and I feel that I have not been able, in so brief a compass, to do full justice to a subject, upon which so may learned volumes have bsen written on both sides. Still I am conscious of having honestly endeavored to do whatever I was able, to throw light upon a department of history so very important in itself and in its practical bearings, and so little understood among our separated brethren. iii IV PREFACE. M}' pi'incipal object has been, to condense within a brief space a con- sideriible amount of facts and authorities, which are sca.ttcred over many works not easily accessible to the mass of readers. Seeking to be useful rather than original, I have preferred to let others speak, whenever I thought their testimony would be likely to prove more weighty than my own words or reasoning. I have hence generally preferred Protestant to Catholic testimony; and the only merit I claim, besides that of an honest and earnest wish to promote the cause of truth, is that of some industry in collecting, and endeavoring to condense and knit together Protestant authorities, in regard to the character of the Keformers and of the Reformation. The testimony of such witnesses is not likely to be undervalued or impeached by those who are outside the Catholic Church. Prefixed to the first Volume, will be found an Introductory Essay on the religious and moral condition of Europe before the Keformation ; and to the second, a similar one on England during the centuries which pre- ceded the reign of Henry VIII. These general views are deemed import- ant for a better understanding and a more correct appreciation of the Reformation itself, the champions of which are in the habit of justifying it on the ground of alleged abuses and corruptions running through many centuries, and deemed incurable by any other means than that of total separation from the Old Church of our fathers I have also added, at the end of each Volume, some Notes containing valuable documentary evidence. The work, thus enlarged in the second edition, soon passed to a third ; and now the fourth edition is presented, with honest intent to the Ameri- can Public. If I shall succeed in bringing back even one honest inquirer from the mazes of error into "the One Fold of the One Shepherd," my labor will not have been wholly in vain. Baltimore, Easter Monday, 1SG5. Announcement of a New Edition. Archbishop Spalding had intended to issue a complete and uniform edition of all his works ; and he was occupied with this task when his last illness came upon him. The new and revised edition of the History OF THE Reformation, the Evidences of Catholicity, and the Mis- cellanea, which is now oflered to the Public, was prepared by Arch- bishop Spalding himself — the corrections and additions being from his own hand. To the Evidences of Catholicity, ^ as the reader will perceive, ho has added his Pastoral Letter on the Infallibility of the Pope ; and to the History of the Reformation, he has appended an Article entitled: Rorne and Geneva. The Life of Bishop Flaget and the Sketches of Kentucky, which Archbishop Spalding intended to re-write aud publisli in one volume, are not contained in the present edition of his works, since the corrections and additions, which it had been his purpose to make, are incomplete. Baltimorf., Sept. 8, 1875. GENERAL DIVISION. INTRODUCTION. Paob View op Europe before the Reformation, ... .11 PART I. Character of the Reformers, . 71 PART II. Causes and Manner of the Reformation, 102 PART III. Influence op the Reformation on Religion, . . . .221 PART IV. Influence op the Reformation on Society, 315 Contents of Volume I. INTRODUCTION. View of Europe before the Reformation, pp. 17-70. (Jtility of this retrospective view 17 The origin of European Governments 18 Tlie Northmen 18 Rome the Civilizer 19 Protestant testimony 20 The Pope and the Emperor , 21 Charlemagne 21 Guelplis and Ghibellines 24 Temporal power of tlie Pope 24 Three great facts 25 Freedom of the Church 26 Election of Bishops 27 Catholic munificence in middle ages 28 The Truce o! God 30 Question of Investitures 32 Horrible abuses 32 Gregory VII. and Henry IV 32 The Controversy settled 35 But its germs remain 36 Modern historic justice 38 Growth of Mammonism 39 Fourteenth and Fifteentli Centuries 40 Boniface VIII. and Philip the Fair 41 Faction and heresy 44 The new Maniclieans 44 The Flagellants 45 The Great Schism 46 The Papacy comes out of it unscathed 47 Catholic Reformation 47 Overcoming Scandals 49 The Hussites 50 Preponderance of Good over Evil 51 The Monasteries 52 Dr. Maitland's testimony 62 Dr. Roliertsou convicted of gross misrepre- sentations 53 Homily of St. Eligius 63 Ilis warning against idolatry and superstition 66 A model mediaeval Homily 57 St. Bernard and St. Vincent Ferrer 69 The Pragmatic Sanction 61 Its mischievous tendency 61 Letter of Pope Pius II 62 Preparation for the Reformation 63 Revival of Learning 63 Art of Printing 64 Italy leads the way 64 Testimony of Macaulay 64 The Humanists and Dominicans 66 The Pope and Liberty 66 Testimony of Laing 67 Summing up 67 Four conclusions reached 68 What we propose to examine and prove 70 PART L CHARACTER OF THE REFORMERS. CHAPTER I. Luther and the Other German Reformers, pp. 71-101. D'Aubigne's opinion 71 A reformed key 72 Luther's parents 72 His early training 73 A naughty boy : 73 Convents 74 Being " led to God," and " not led to God"... 74 He enters the Augustinian convent 74 Austerities 75 A "bread bag" 75 His faith and scruples 75 His humility and zeal 76 Luther a reformer 76 Grows worse 77 Becomes reckless 78 His sincerity tested 79 Saying and unsaying 80 Misgivings 80 Tortuous windings 81 How to spite tlie Pope 83 Curious incident 84 Melancthon and his mother 85 Luther's talents and eloquence 85 His taste 86 His courage and fawning 86 Ilis violence and coarseness 87 Not excusable by the spirit of his age 89 His lilasiiheniies 89 KecriiuiMatidti 89 Cliristiaii ooni]iliments 89 "Conference with the devil" 90 Which got the better of the argument 90 Luther's morality 91 Table-talk 91 His sermon on marriage 92 A Vixen 98 How to do "mi.schief to the Pope" 98 A striking contrast 98 How to fulfil vows 98 His marriage 98 Misgivings 98 Epigrams and satires 98 Curious incidents in his last sickness 99 Death-bed confession 100 His death 100 Tlie reformed key used 101 Character of the other reformers 101 via CONTENTS. PART II. CAUSES AND MANNER OF THE RET'ORMATION. CHAPTER II. Character of the Reformatiox — Theory of D'Aubigne Examined, pp. 102-109, The question stated 102 D'Aubigne's oijiiiion 102 Mother and daughter 103 ■ Argumentum ad lioniinem 103 Jumping at a conclusion 104 Second causes 105 Why Germany was converted 105 Why Italy and Spain were not 106 Luther and Mohammed 107 Reasoning by contraries 107 Why Trance continued Catholic... 108 CHAPTER III. Pretexts for the Reformation, pp. 110-128. Usual plea 110 Abuses greatly exaggerated 110 Three questions put and answered Ill Origin of abuses Ill Free-will unimpaired Ill Councils to extirpate abuses 112 Church thwarted by princes and the world.. 113 Controversy on Investitures 113 Extent of the evil 113 Sale of indulgences 114 St. Peter's Church 114 John Tetzel 116 His errors greatly exaggerated 116 Public penance 117 License to sin 118 Nature of indulgences 118 Tetzel rebuked and his conduct disavowed by Rome 118 Miltitz and Cardinal Cajetan 119 Kindness thrown away 119 Luther in tears ." 119 Efforts of Rome 120 Leo X. and Adrian \1 120 Their forbearance censured by Catholic writers 120 Their tardy severity justified by D'Aubigne.. 121 Luther's real purpose 122 The proper remedy 122 The real issue , 124 Nullification 125 "Curing and cutting a tlu-oat" 125 Luther's avowal 126 Admissions of the confession of Augsburg anil of Daim 127 Summing up 128 CHAPTER IV. The True Causes of the Reformation, and the Means by which it was Effected, pp. 128-167. Saying of Frederick the Great 128 What we mean to prove 129 Testimony of Hallam 1'29 Doctrines of Luther 131 Justification without works 131 Its dreadful consequences avowed 131 The " slave-will" 133 Man, a beast with two riders 134 Dissuasive from celibacy 134 An easy way to heaven 135 D'Aubigne's discreet silence 136 Testimony of the Diet of Worms on Lu- ther's doctrines 136 An old lady emancipated 13S Protection of princes 138 Srhlegel's testimony 139 Tlie reformers flatter princes and pander to their vices 139 Remarkable avowals of Menzel 139 The Reformation and state policy 140 The princes become bishops 142 A reformed dispensation > 142 Character of reformed princes 143 Their cupidity 143 Fed by Luther 143 Protestant restitution 143 Open violence and sacrilegious spoliaticm... 144 The modus operandi of the Reformation .... 1.54 Schlegel again 1<''6 Abuse of the press 158 A'ituperation and calumny 159 Policy of Luther's marriage 163 Apostate monks 163 Recapitulation 164 A distinction 165 The Reformation " a reappearance of Cliris- tianity" 166 CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. The Reformation in Switzerland — Zuricu, pp. 167-181. The Reformation in Switzerland more radi- cal tlian that in Germany 168 Yet like it 168 Sows dissensions 168 Zuingle warlike and superstitious 169 Claims precedency over Luther 169 Black or white 170 Precursory disturbances 171 Aldermen deciding on faith 172 How the fortress was entrenched 17? Riot and conflagration ; 172 Enlightenment 173 Protestant martyrs 173 Suppression of the Mass 174 tSnlemnilii of the reformed worship 175 I)ci\v?]riL;ht |iaL?aiiism 175 The Retoniuitioii and matrimony 176 Zuingle's marriage and misgivings 177 Romance among nuns 177 How to get a husband 178 Perversion of Scripture 179 St. Paul on celibacy 179 Recapitulation 180 CHAPTER YI. The Reformation in Switzerland — Berne, pp. 181-201. History by Louis De Haller 181 A standard authority 181 Berne the centre of operations 182 De Haller's point of view 182 His character as an historian 183 His authorities 183 Wavering of Berne 1S4 Tortuous policy 18.5 How she embraced the reform 18.5 The bear and the jjears 185 Treacherous perjury of Berne 186 Zuinglian council 186 Its decrees 186 Religious liberty crushed 187 Riot and sacrilege 187 Proceedings of Bernese commissioners 188 Downright tyranny 188 The minister Farei 189 His fiery zeal 189 An appalling picture 189 A parallel 190 Priests hunted down 191 Character of the ministers 192 Avowal of Capito 192 The glorious privilege of private judgment.. 192 How consistent! 193 Persecution of brother Protestants 194 Drowning the Anabaptists 194 Reformation in Geneva 194 Rapid summary of horrors 195 The Bernese army of invasion 196 Tlie sword and the Bible 195 Forbearance of Catholics 196 Affecting incident at Soleure 197 The war of Cappell 198 Points of resemblance 198 An armed apostle 199 A prophet quailing before danger 199 Battle of Cappell 200 Death of Zuingle 200 Triumph of Catholic cantons 200 Treaty of peace 200 CHAPTER VII. Reaction of Catholicity and Decline of Protestantism, pp. 201-220. Two parallel developments 202 The brave old ship 202 Modern Protestantism quite powerless 203 A "thorough godly reformation" needed.... 204 Qualities for a reformer 204 The three days' battle 204 The puzzle 205 A thing doomed 205 Which gained the victory? 206 The French revolution 206 Ranke and Hallam 208 The rush of waters stayed 208 Persecution 209 Protestant spice 209 The Council of Trent 210 Revival of piety 210 The Jesuits 211 Leading causes and practical results 212 Decline of Protestantism 212 Apt comparison 213 What stemmed the current? 213 Thread of Ariadne 214 Divine Providence 214 Reaction of Catholicity 214 Casaubim and (irotius 215 Why they were not converted 210 Ancient and modern Puseyism 216 .Justus Lipsius and Cassander 210 The inference 217 Slileii.lid passage of Macaulav 217 Calholicitv and eiili^ilitmiiient 219 The Clunrh indr.sti uctililr 219 General gravitation to Rome 220 The circle and its center 220 CONTENTS. PART III. INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON RELIGION. CHAPTER VIII. Influknce of the Reformation on Doctrinal Belief, pp. 221-244. The natiire of Religion 221 A golden chain 221 Question stated „ 222 Private judgment 223 Church authority 223 As many religions as heads 22-t D'Aubigne's theory 224 Its poetic beauty 224 Fever of logmachy 226 "Suns of libertv" 227 Tlie Bible dissected 227 A liydni-headed monster 228 Erasmus 229 "Curing a lame horse" 229 Luther puzzled 229 His plaint 229 His inconsistency 230 Missions and miracles 231 Zuingle's inconsistency 232 Strange fanaticism 233 Storek 233 Mlinzer 233 Karlstadt, and John of Leyden 233 A new delnge 234 Retorting the argument 235 Discussion at the "Black Boar'" 237 Luther and the cobbler 238 Discussion at Marburg 239 Luther's avowal 240 Breaking necks : 241 Melanothon's lament 241 The inference 241 Protestantism the mother of infidelity 242 Picture of modern Protestantism in Ger- many by Schlegel 244 CHAPTER IX. Influence of the Reformation on Morals, pp. 245-274. Two methods of investigation 245 Connection of doctrine and morals 245 Salutiirv indncnceof Catholic doctrines 240 Of cunfc-sioii 246 Objections answered 246 Of celibacy 249 Its manifold ad^-antages 250 Utility of the doctrines of satisfaction and indulgences 250 Of fasting 251 Of prayers for the dead 2.52 Of communion of saints 252 Sanctity of marriage 253 Divorces 253 Influence of Protestant doctrines 254 Shocking disorders 205 Testimony of Erasmus 255 Bigamy and polygamy 256 Mohammedanism 257 Practical residts 257 Testimonies of Luther, Bucer, Calvin, and Melancthon 258 The reformers testifying on their own work.. 259 Dollinger's researches 260 Character of Erasmus 269 John Reuchlin 270 Present state of morals in Protestant coun- tries 270 CHAPTER X. The Influence of the Reformation on Public Worship, pp. 274-287. General influence of the Reformation on worship 274 Audin's picture of it 275 Luther rebukes violence 275 But wavers 276 Giving life to a skeleton 276 Taking a leap 277 Mutilating the sacraments- 277 New system of Judaism 278 Chafing away the mists...... 278 Protestant inconsistencies 278 A dreary waste 279 No altars nor sacrifice 279 A land of inourning 279 Protestant plaints 280 And tribute to Catholic worship 280 A touching anecdote 281 Continual prayer 281 Vandalism rebuked 282 Grandeur of Catholic worship 282 Churclic-s always open 283 Pnjtcstiiiit worship 283 rhiiSuhbatliihiy 284 Getting up a revival "285 Protestant music and prayer 285 The pew system 285 The /(t.iliiiiiiulile religion 2S6 The two forms of worship compared 286 St. Peter's church 286 The fine .arts '28" CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XI. Influence of the Reformation on the Bible, on Bible Reading, and Bibli- cal Studies, pp. 288-314. Protestant boastings 288 Theory of D'Aubigne 289 Luther finds a Bible 289 How absurd! 290 The '-chained Bible" 290 Maitland's triumphant refutation 290 Seckenorf wesMS D'Aubigne 292 Menzel's testimony 293 The Catholic Church and the Bible 293 The Latin language 293 Vernacular versions before Luther's 295 In Germany 295 In Italy 297 In France 298 In Spain 298 In England 299 In Flanders 299 In Sclavonia 300 In Sweden 300 In Iceland 300i Syriac and Armenian versions 30O. Summary and inference 300 Polyglots 301 Luther's false assertion 302 Reading the Bible 303 Fourtli rule of the index 301 A religious vertigo remedied 304 More harm than good 304 Present discipline 306 A common slander 306 Protestant versions 306 Mutual compliments 307 Version of King James 308 Tlie Douay and Vulgate Bibles 309 Private interpretation 311 German rationalism 311 Its blasphemies 312 nationalism iu Geneva 314 PART IV. INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON SOCIETY. CHAPTER XII. Influence of the Reformation on Religious Liberty, pp. .'515-.344. Stating the question 31.5 Two aspects... 316 Professions 316 D'Aubigne's theory. 317 "Combating" ad libitum 318 Diversities and sects 320 Inconsistency 320 Early Protestant intolerance 321 The motlier and her recreant daughter 322 Facts on persecution of each other by early Protestants 322 Of Karlstadt 323 Luther the cause of it 32.3 Persecution of Anabaptists 325 Synod at Homburg ^•••- 326 Luther's letter 327 Zuingle -328 The drowned .Tew. 320 Calviiiistic intolerance 330 Persecution of Catholics 330 Diet of Spires 331 Name of Protestant 332 A stubborn truth 332 Strange casuistry 333 Convention at Smalkalde 333 Testimony of Menzel 339 Cujus Regio, ejus Kei.igio 339 Union of church and state 340 A bear's embrace 341 Hallam's testimony 342 Parallel between Catholic and Protestant countries 343 CHAPTER XIII. Influence op the Reformation on Civil Liberty, pp. 344-370. Boasting 344 Theory of government 345 Political liberty 3^? Four tilings guarantied 315 Pursuit of baii|iiness 34fi The Popes and liberty 347 Bights of property 348 Use made of confiscated church property... -349 The Attilaof tlie Reformation 350 Par iKiliile fiatrum 3.50 Spoliation of Catholics-.T 3.51 Contempt of testamentary dispositions 3.51 The jus manuale abolished 352 And restored 353 Disregard of life 3.53 And crushing of popular liberty 354 The war of the peasants 3!)4 Two charges made good 3.54 Grievances of the peasants 355 Drowned in blood 355 Romarkalile testimony of Menzel 355 Luther's .agency therein 3,50 Halting between two extremes 356 Result 356 Absolute despotism 361 Swiss cantons 3b|- D'Aubigne puzzled 3h3 Libertv, a mountain nymph 364 Tlie olil mother of republics 364 Seciiritv to character 365 Recapitulation '■^^ CONTENTS, CHAPTER XIV. The Reformation at Geneva, and its Influence on Civil and Religious Liberty, pp. 370-392. Character of Calvinism 370 Protestant historians 370 The " Hegisters" 371 Audin 372 Calvin's character 372 llis activity 373 His heartli'ssness 373 Luther and Calvin comp.ared 375 Early liberties of Geneva 376 The " Libertines" 378 Blue laws 379 Spy system 380 Persec\ition 380 Death of Gruet 380 Burning of Servetus ,381 llallam's testimony 386 Morals of Calvin 388 His zeal 389 His complicated diseases 389 His last will 390 His awful death and mysterious burial 390 A douceur 391 The inference 392 CHAPTER XV. Influence of the Reformation on Literature, pp. 393-428. Light and darkness 393 Boast of D'Aubigne 393 Two sets of barbarians 394 Catholic and Protestant art 395 The "painter of the Reformation" 396 Two witnesses against D'Aubigne 396 Schlegel 396 Hallam 396 "Bellowing in bad Latin" 399 Testimony of Erasmus 400 Destruction of monasteries 401 Literary drought 402 Luther's plaint 402 Awful desolation 403 An "iron padlock" 403 Karly Protestant schools 404 D'Aubigne's omissions 404 Birniiii;/ ziiil 404 Li-lit and Hame 406 Zeal for i,i;iiorance 406 Burning of libraries 407 Rothman aiihaniin('(laiiism 438 The Crusades 439 The Popes 439 Luther and the Turks 440 Luther retracts 441 Religions wars in Germany 443 Thirty Years' War 443 General peace 446 Disturbed by the Reformation 447 Comparison between Protestant and Catho- lic countries 447 Tribunal of the Reformation 462 NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. NoTF. A. — An Historical Account of the Opinions that the First Reformers have Given OF O.NE Another, and of the Effects of Their Preachino 463 Note B. — Luther's Conference with the Devil 470 Note C— Permission Granted to Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, by Luther and Other Re- formers, TO HAVE two Wives at Once 482 Kote D. — Rome and Geneva 495 THE REFOKMATION IK GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND, VIEW OF EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. [JxiiiiTr of this retrospective view — The origin of European Governments— The Northmen — Rome the Civilizer — Protestant testimonj^ — The Pope and the Emperor — Charlemagne — Guelphs and Ghibellines — Temporal power of the Pope — Three great facts — Freedom of the Church — Election of Bishops — Catholic munificence in middle ages — The Truce of God — Question of Investitures — Horrible abuses — Gregory VII. and Henry IV. — The Controversy settled — But its germs remain — Modern historic justice — Growth of Mammonism — Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries — Boniface VIII. and Philip the Fair — Faction and heresy — The new Mani- cheans — The Flagellants — The Great Schism — The Papacy comes out of it unscathed — Catholic Reformation — Overcoming Scandals — The Hussites — Preponderance of Good over Evil — The Monasteries — Dr. Maitland's testimony — Dr. Robertson convicted of gross misrepresentations — Homily of St. Eligius — His warning against idolatry and superstition — A model mediaeval Homily — St. Bernard and St. Vincent Ferrer — The Pragmatic Sanction — Its mischievous tendency — Letter of Pope Pius II. — Preparation for the Reformation- Revival of Learning — Art of Printing — Italy leads the way — Testimony of Macaulay — The Humanists and Dominicans — The Pope and Liberty — Testimony of Laing — Summing up — Four con- clusions reached — What we propose to examine and prove. The rapidity with which the revohition, called by its friend& the Reformation^ succeeded throughout a considerable portion of Europe during the first half of the sixteenth century, can scarcely be properly appreciated, or even fully understood, without referring to the moral and religious condition of Eur pe during the preceding centuries. Hence we can not VOL. I.— 2 ( 17 ) 18 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. probably furnish a more suitable introduction to our essaya on the history of the Protestant Reformation in Germany, than by attempting to present to our readers a rapid retro- spective view of European society during the period usually called the middle ages — extending from the fifth to the six teenth century. Our survey must necessarily be very brief and summary, and we shall confine ourselves to those events, or groups of facts, which may appear to have had the greatest influence on the coming religious revolution. While most of our remarks will be general, many of the facts we shall have to allege will be specially connected with mediaeval German history, and with the repeated and occasionally protracted struggles between the German emperors and the Popes. Without taking some such an historical retrospect, we will hardly be prepared to understand how the minds of Chris- tians, especially in Germany, become so suddenly ripe for revolt against the time-honored authority of the old Church, and particularly against that of the sovereign pontiffs, to whom they were so greatly indebted. The people who laid the foundations of almost all the modern European nations, and who shaped the great dynasties which have since resulted, after many vicissitudes, in the present settled — at least consolidated — governments of Europe, were mainly the descendants of the Northern hordes, who overran Europe in the fifth and following centuries. This is more particularly the case in regard to Germany, where the North- men established, with but slight modifications, their own peculiar laws and customs. In France, Italy, and Spain, these peculiar Germanic customs were modified, to a greater or less extent, by pre-existing laws and usages; some of which were retained when the original population had become amal- gamated with their conquerors. The Northmen, who thus shaped the destiny of modern Europe, were originally either downright heathens — like the Huns- -or else barbarians, with a slight tincture of Christi anity in the form of the Arian heresy — like a portion of the NORTHMEN ROME THE CIVILIZER. 19 Goths and Vandals. Little could certainly be expected from such men for the benefit of civilization. Their destiny seemed to be to destroy, not to build up. They annihilated the old pagan civilization, which, under the shadow of the victorious Roman eagles, had pervaded the greater portion of Europe ; — could it be reasonably expected that they would be able to build up, amidst its desolate ruins, with which they had strewn and cumbered the European soil, a newer and better condition of society? They needed civilizing themselves; — how could they hope to be capable of civilizing others ? In the deplorable state of wide-spread desolation and social anarchy which overspread Europe for two or three centuries, in consequence of the successive barbarian invasions and the fall of the Roman empire in the West, nothing that was merely Tiuman could possibly have saved European society from utter and irretrievable ruin. All civilization seemed utterly hope- less, and simply impossible. No merely human philosophy or legislation could have brought order out of such chaos, light out of such darkness. An element possessing more than earthly power and energy was imperatively needed ; and fortunately for humanity and civilization, this element was provided by the Church of Christ. The Church, and the Church alone, saved European society, and thereby rendered all subsequent civilization not only possible, but certain. Tlie Churcji founded by the Man-God, built upon a rock, having her foundation cemented by His blood, and firmly secured from falling away by His infallible promises, was alone able to meet the emergency, and to assure the prosperous future of European society. Tlie fierce barbarians had conquered pagan Rome, and had made the environs of its splendid capital a dreary marble wilderness, strewn with broken columns and shattered cor nices; but they could not conquer the Church, which had been established by the Son of the living God. On the con- trary, the Church conquered them. The victorious Roman eagles now lay trailing in the dust, but the Cross— the noblw 20 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. banner of tlie Church — was still erect*and waving victor ionslj? amidst the universal ruin and desolation. Nay, more; the Cross was carried in triumph from Christian Rome to the furthest fastnesses of the North, conquering the conquerors of pagan Rome, and thus becoming afterward their own cherished banner of victory. From the fifth to the twelfth century, an all-conquering and glorious, because bloodless and humanizing invasion, rolled from the South to the North, in compensation for the all-destroying invasion which had rolled from the North to the South. Thus Christian Rome nobly avenged the disasters which had overwhelmed the imperial city of the Caesars : she repaid evil with good, and scattered unutterable blessings among those who had brought ruin to her hearth-stone, and her once pagan altars. No fact of history is better attested, than that the Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church alone, Christianized, human ized, and civilized the various European nations, which now occupy the first place in civilization, and from which we in America are all descended. Intelligent and learned men of all shades of religious opinion have freely admitted this fact, without the acknowledgment of which, all modern history would, in truth, be wholly unintelligible, and would present a series of insolvable enigmas. This has been well understood and freely acknowledged by such men as Guizot, in France, Schlegel, Voigt, Hurter, Gorres, Miiller, Dollinger, and a host of others in Germany, Hallam, Roscoe, and Maitland, in England, and a multitude of other learned historians, who have laboriously investigated the subject of mediaeval history, and have given to the world, during the last half century, the result of their researches. These researches have proved as important to the cause of historic truth, as they have been honorable to the Church, from whose brow no one can now tear the laurel wreath of victory over barbarism, which has been placed upon it by the willing hands of her enemies themselves. The deliberate verdict of modern history is, that the Catholic Church has been the mother of civilization, and THE FOPE AND THE EMPEROR CHARLEMAGNE. 21 it cannot be set aside by either self-glorifying ignorance, or partisan prejudice. The history of the Eeibrmation in Germany, particularly, must be viewed in the light of this great ftict. No portion of Europe, probably, owed a greater debt of gratitude to Rome, than Germany. It was Christian Rome which sent to her the missionary apostles, who, armed with commissions from the Popes, successively converted her people, and who subse- quently labored with diligent and successful charity and zeal to soften their manners, to control their passions, to refoi-m their legislation, and to raise them ultimately to that high degree of civilization to which they subsequently attained. The Germans were indebted to Rome, and chiefly to the Roman pontiffs, for all the principal elements of their civili- zation, and for all that constituted their greatness as a people. How all this was lost sight of, or forgotten, at the period of the Reformation, and how the benelits of Rome were rr your salvation, than obtain the who'e word to your spiritual ruin. For I fear God, and therefore value but little the pride and pleasures of the world,"* Now mark the justice of modern history. In any event or emergency, the Popes are sure to be blamed. If they oppose a German emperor, it is nothing but ambition which prompts their action. If they strive earnestly against the intrusion into episcopal sees of unworthy men, it is all through sinister motives, and that they may extend the circle of their own power. If the men thus intruded, in spite of their sternest opposition, should give public scandal, still the Church and the Popes are in the wrong. — Why did not the Popes prevent it? Why did they allow scandals so enormous in the high places of the Church? In all these struggles, the Pope would seem to be never right, and the emperor never wrong; or if the case be so glaring that no sophistry can resist or even dim the evidence, then the Pope is condemned with faint praise, and the emperor is abs)lved with faint censure. Such is, in general, the spirit, and such the fairness of what, in modern times, is called history. Tliere are some honorable exceptions, indeed, but they ratLer confirm than weaken the rule. A few Protestant histori.'uis have the boldness to tell the truth without extenuatior; or * Epistolae, VI. T. Apud ^^)ist, ut sup. GROV/TH OF MAMMONISM. 39 partiality, wliile a far greater number tell it, if at all, timidly and by halves, mixing up much chaff of misrepresentation with a few grains of truth. Roscoe may be said, perhaps, to belong rather to the formei than to the latter class. He admits, what every one at all acquainted with history knows to be the fiict, that " the Popes may, in general, be considered as superior to the age in which they lived."* An American Protestant writer bears the following honorable testimony to the civilizing influence of t '. ( hurch in the middle ages."t " Though seemingly enslaved, the Church was in reality the life of Europe. She was the refuge of the distressed, the friend of the slave, the helper of the injured, the only hope of learning. To her, chivalry owed its noble aspirations ; to her, art and agriculture looked for every improvement. The ruler from her learned some rude justice ; the ruled learned faith and obedi- ence. Let us not cling to the superstition, which teaches that the Church has always upheld the cause of tyrants. Through the middle ages she was the only friend and advocate of the people, and of the rights of man. To her influence was it owing that, through all that strange era, the slav -s of Europe were better protected by law than are now the free blacks of the United States by the national statutes." As time rolled on, and European society was gradually moulded into form and became consolidated, the dangers which threatened the Church, instead of diminishing, seemed rather to increase. In proportion as men became richer and more attached to the world, the brightness of the faith was dimmed in their hearts, and the temporal gained the ascend- ant over the eternal. What chiefly distinguished the earlier portion of the middle ages, down to the close of the Crusades at the end of the thirteenth century, was the embodiment into the minds, hearts, and actions of the people, of the great truth, that the interests of eternity are paramount, and that those of time are as nothing in comparison therewith. That was the golden age of chivalry and the crusades, of noble * Life of Leo X., L 53., quoted by Fredet. Modern History, f In the North American Review for July, 1845. 40 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. impulses and disinterested deeds. It was followed by the age of mammonism, in which money and what money can procure were so highly prized as often to be preferred to all things else. And this spirit has gone on steadily increasing, even unto the present enlightened age. Beginning with the fourteenth century, we may trace its gradual development in each successive age down to our own, in which material interests threaten to absorb all others, and to swallow up every thing heavenly. A brilliant writer in the Dublin Review thinks that, in certain respects, the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were pre-eminently the ages of darkness. He says : " Of course, if darkness is synonymous with ignorance, the ninth and tenth may fairly lay claim to the title ; but if we take into the account what may be called the moral effects of darkness, namely confusion, perplexity, and dismay, the two centuries which immediately preceded the Eeformation may well rival, if not outdo their predecessors. The night of the tenth century was one which came in its right place, and gave promise of the dawn. But the epoch of which we speak was an eclipse, a very Egyptian darkness, worse than Chaos or Erebus, black as the thick preternatural night under cover of which our Lord was crucified. All at once, when the media3val glory of the Church was at its zenith, a century opens with the audacious seizure of Boniface VIII. at Anagni, and closes with the great Schism " Evidently the middle ages are gone or going. Cathedrals were still built, and Gregorian chants were sung. We are now in the very zenith of Gothic architecture and of Gothic music, but the real glory of mediaeval times is gone. That which constituted their real chai-acteristic, that which separates them off from modern times was not the outward form, but the inward spirit. Every breast in that rude feudal hierarchy, from the king and noble down to the franklin and the serf, was animated with the persuasion that the Kingdom of Christ was supreme over every thing earthly. This was the public opinion of the time, the spirit of the age. But it was fast passing ftway, and the Church had now to rule as best she might over disaffected and disloyal subjects, who watched her every step with jealousy and dis- trust "Can any thing further be needed to prove that the fourteenth century was a time of foarftil unsettloment ? The old landmarks were being re- moved. Poor humanity was losing its simple faith in the eternal lights BONIFACE VIII. AND PHILIP THE FAIR. 41 which had hitherto guided it for manj^ hundred years. It had embarked on a wide, ilhmitable ocean, and was beating about with an infinite void before it, and no star to guide its way."* In a .1 this there is, no doubt, considerable rhetorical flourish and no little exaggeration, but there is, withal, much of his- toric truth. It is certain, that the spirit of the Catholic middle ages underwent a great and most important change in the fourteenth and fifteenth centunes; that this period of transition was attended with much unsettledness of the popu- lar mind, and with many storms of popular passion ; and that the result of all this ferment was to pave the way for the event called the Reformation ; — which, in fact^ was not a reformation but a revolution. This was truly "a strange period and fruitful in storms;" "an unfortunate period, when a spirit of boldness and violence agitated all classes of society, and produced in every direction sanguinary disorders."! We may apply to it, in a qualified sense, what the Roman his- torian says of a certain disastrous period of Roman history : " It was fertile in vicissitudes, atrocious in wars, discordant in seditions, fierce even in peace."J The Roman pontiffs had now to contend, not with the German emperors alone, but also with the French kings. Young, ardent, and ambitious, Philip the Fair of France, a grandson of St. Louis, but totally unlike his sainted ancestor, could not brook the just rebuke of his vices and tyranny administered by the determined pontifl:', Boniface YllL; who, true to the traditions of the Papacy, had sought in vain to mediate between him and the kings of England and Aragon, with whom he was at war ; and who had also justly repri- * Dublin Review for March, 1858, Article, — The German Mystics of the Fourteenth Century, — a very remarkable production, brilliant and pictur- esque, but somewhat exaggerated. f The Ref')rmers before the Reformation, by Emile be Bonnechose, 1 rol. 8vo., Harpers, 1844, p. 37. I Opimum casibus, atrox proeliis, discors seditionitus, ipsa eliam pace soew m. Tacitus, Lib. I., c. 2. VOL. I. — 4 42 EUROPi: BEFORE THE REFORMATION. manded him for debasing the currency of France, and for overburdening his people and oppressing the Church with exorbitant taxation. The fiery monarch sent his emissaries to Anagni, where the Pope was then residing; and these, true to the spirit, if not to the letter of their instructions, heaped insults and outrages on the head of the venerable Boniface, and one of them, it is said, went so far as to add blows to insults. The aged pontiff, venerable no less for his learning and ability than for his virtues, sank under the cruel treatment thus inflicted on virtue by brute force, and he died soon afterward.* His sainted successor, the blessed Benedict XL, while preparing a bull of excommunication against the royal assassin, perished himself, probably fnjrn the effects of poison. f His second successor, Clement V., was a French- man, and he took up his abode at Avignon, in France ; where he and his successors remained for about seventy years — until 1378. Meantime, while the Popes resided at Avignon, Italy was in a ferment. The factions of the Guelphs and the Gliibellines were raging against each other with redoubled ferocity, and * Baron Macaulay, a prejudiced and therefore unexceptional)le vvitness, writes as follows in regard to Boniface VIII. and Philip the Fair : "But some- thing must be attributed to the character and situation of individuals. The man who bore the chief part in effecting this revolution was Philip the IV. of France, surnamed the Beautiful — a despot by position, a despot by temperament, stern, implacable, and unscrupulous, equally prepared for violence and for chicanery, and surrounded by a devoted band of men of the sword and of men of law. The fiercest and most high-minded of the Roman [)ontifF-4, while bestowing kingdoms, and citing great princes to his judgment-seat, was seized in his palace by armed men, and so foully out- raged that he died mad with rage and terror. 'Thus,' sang the great Florentine poet, 'was Christ in the person of his vicar, a second time seized by ruffims, a second time mocked, a second time drenched with the vinegar and the gall.' The seat of the Papal court was carried beyond the Al;)s, and the bishops of Rome became dependents of France. Then came the jrreat Schism of the West." — Miscellanies, American Edit., p. 404. f Sc thinks the writer in the Dublin Review, sup. cit. FACTION AND HERESY NEW MANICHEANS. 43 were making that beautiful land a fearful scene of chaos and bloodshed. The Ghibelline chiefs — the Villanis, the Castruccis and others — seized upon and ruled with a rod of iron Milan and the other chief cities of the North ; while the central Italian cities were filled with anarchy and bloody feuds by the rival factions struggling for and alternately ob- taining the mastery. The ferocious struggle was relieved b); the brilliant, but brief and evanescent attempt of " the Last of the Tribunes" — Rienzi — to rear the banner of popular fi ee- dom in the ancient city of the Csesars. In the midst of all this confusion, a new actor appears upon the agitated and bloody arena. The Popes at Avignon are called upon to contend, not merely with the hydra of faction in Italy, but with the hosts of the weak and unprincipled Louis of Bavaria, whom the German diet had elected emperor. Reading his character aright — as the event proved — Pope John XXIL, availed himself of his time-honored right as the pro- tector of the "Holy Roman Empire," and refused to confirm the election. Thus the Papacy had scarcely emerged from the fiery contest with the French monarch, before it was hurried into another, if possible, even more bitter and pro- tracted struggle with its hereditary adversary, the German emperor. Whether this contest was politic or not, or whethei it could have been avoided without sacrificing principle, and especially without sacrificing the interests of Italy over which the Popes felt it a sacred duty to watch, we are scarcely able at this distance of time to determine. Certain it is, that the newly elected emperor, true to the policy of his predecessors, sought to subvert Italian independence, and that the leaders of the Ghibelline faction, which had always been the most deadly foe of Italian peace and liberty, openly took sides with him in the contest. The pontiflP having refused to crown Louis, the latter set up an anti-pope to perform this ceremony, which was still deemed essential. He marched his army into Italy, where the blood stained Ghibelline leaders gave him a hearty welcome 44 EUROPK BEFORE THE REFORMATION. Whithersoever he went, his court and camp became the focus in which were concentrated all the elements of disaffec- tion, discord, and heresy, which were then floating over the> surface of European society. " The intellect of Italy lent its aid to the sword of Germany. Heretical canonists and apostate monks met Louis on his way. Marsilius of Padua broached theories such as those which afterward found favor in the eyes of Queen Elizabeth and James I. Opinions, which hitherto had only scandal- ized and agitated the schools and universities, were now backed by the swords of German troopers. Jansenist war-cries and appeals to future councils, were anticipated in the camp, where Bavarian cavalry mingled with the men-at-arms of Milan and Lucca. Excommunicated bishops placed on the head of Louis the iron crown of Lombardy in the basilica of St. Ambrose ; and in a few months, the whole mingled mass, made up of rival ambitions for the moment reconciled, national jealousies of long stand- ing laid aside, and all sorts of discordant elements welded together by one common hatred of the Church, rolled on toward Rome."* The prestige which surrounded a German emperor, who thus, in spite of the Pope, seized on the crown of Italy, flaunted his victorious banner in the face of the Papacy, and marched triumphant to the eternal city, brought to a head the mischievous factions and wild heresies which had hitherto, for more than a century, remained scattered, but had lain in a great measure hidden, over the different countries of Europe. The boiling cauldron of civil commotion and revolution al- ways brings the dross and the scum to the surface of society. The remnants of the old Manichean heretics, whose ranks had been broken and scattered by the crusade against the Albi- genses, nearly two centuries before, now came forth from their lurking places, openly preached their abominable doctrines, and unblushingly indulged in their licentious practices. They assumed different names in different places, but they were all marked with the general characteristics of that semi-pagan and ruinous heresy, which Manes had attempted to graft on the Christian system, as early as the third century. This de- * Dublin Review, Ibid. THE FLAGELLANTS THE GREAT SCHISM. 45 testable heresy liad infested different parts of Europe ever since the ninth century, traveling generally from East to West. Beguards, Paterins, Cathari, Fratricelli, Brethren of the Free Spirit, obscure and obscene Mystics of every hue and shade — from the openly obscene Fratricelli, to the more demure and decorous Waldenses — all were off-shoots from that impure root of Manicheism, which had produced the licentious and bloody Albigenses of the twelfth century. These restless sectaries overran a great portion of Europe in the fourteenth century. Along the banks of the Rhine, and in the interior cities of Germany and France, as well as in Northern Italy, marching in the train of the camp of Louis of Bavaria, they preached their wicked doctrines, and prac- ticed their wild or obscene fanaticism. They everywhere agitated the popular mind, and made it ripe for innovation. There was danger that, amidst the fearful commotions of the time, wild fanaticism would take the place of sober faith, dan- gerous mysticism, that of calm and enlightened piety. Says the writer, whom we have already quoted more than once : "After all this, we are not surprised to find among the Brethren of the Free Spirit, as they called themselves, still darker and more shameful errors ; and when the Black Death came down with all its horrors upon a popula- tion already half-crazed with fanaticism, and thrown off their balance by the dissensions which raged between the Church and State, then the wild wail of the Flagellants was heard over all the hubbub of sounds which mingled with the rushing waters of the Rhine. From all the villages around, and from scattered homes in sequestered valleys, thousands of men and women came in long procession through the streets of Strasburg and Cologne ; friars and priests forgot their dignity to join in the motley crowd under the com- mand of the layman who marshaled the array, while sober citizens, with their wives and daughters, laid aside their costly robes, to bare their shoulders to the scourge, and chimed in with the melancholy chant which called on all to mingle their blood with that of Jesus, to obtain mercy of God."* It is almost needless to say, that all these ebullitions of fanati- cism were almost as transitory as they were violent. Even that * Dublin Eeview, Ibid. 46 liUIlOPE BEFORE THE REFOll.MATlON. of the Flagellants, the most excusable of them all, as mingling with extravagance a deep faith in the necessity of uniting t)ui- personal sufferings with the atoning blood of Christ, for the expiation of our sins, was openly condemned by the Church, on account of its dangerous tendency. The Popes and the bishops everywhere set the seal of their condemna- tion on the doctrines and practices of the more dangerous fanatics; while the persuasive eloquence of the gentle Tauler, and the pathetic appeals of the blessed Henry de Suso, grad- ually calmed down the extravagant enthusiasm or fanaticism of the German Mystics along the banks of the Rhine. The fearful storm passed away almost as rapidly as it had gathered, and the Catholic atmosphere was again comparatively calm, if not unclouded. This danger had passed like a thousand others before, and the Church still stood in unimpaired vigor. Next came the Great Schism of the West, which lasted for nearly forty years, at the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century. It was occasioned by the return of the Popes from Avignon to Rome in 1378, and it was perpet- uated by the French cardinals, who were encouraged by the French court. As we have' elsewhere spoken somewhat at .cngth upon this deplorable epoch in Church History,* we shall not here dwell upon it, further than to remark on its in lluence on the minds of men in preparing them for the startling revolution of the sixteenth century.f * In the paper on the Great Schism, in the Miscellanea, p. 169, seq. f Miicaulay speaks as follows of the manner in which the imminent dan ger threatened by the Great Schism was averted : "The Church, torn by schism, and fiercely assailed at once in England and the German empire, was in a situation scarcely less perilous than at the crisis which preceded the Albigensian crusade. But this danger also passed by. The civil power gave its strenuous support to the Church, and the Church made some .show of reforming itself. The Council of (Constance put an end to the .schism. The whole Catholic world was again united mider a single chief, and rules were laid down which seemed to make it im- probable that the power of that chief would be grossly abused." — MiscelL snip. cit. p. 405 THE PAPACY UNSCATHED. 47 Tliere is but little doubt that the evils and abuses which then afflicted the Church were even greater and more deplorable than they became a century later, at the era of the Reforma- tion. The minds of men were then, if possible, even more un- settled, in consequence of the long-standing scandal of rival claimants to the Papacy contending for the tiara in the face of a shocked and startled Christendom. Yet in neither of the rival obediences^ did Catholic faith waver for a moment. The Papacy passed through this fiery ordeal unscathed, and it emerged from it, shorn somewhat, indeed, of its temporal con- sequence, but still as vigorous as ever in its divine strength. Nay, more so; for it was now thrown upon its own innate and inherent spirituality, in which lay the real source of its power, and the true secret of its divine vitality. Tlie human element of the Papacy was useful in its day ; it was even necessary for the saving of society from barbarism and anarchy. But new social and political organizations had arisen under its fostering auspices, and its day for mingling actively in political events was already passed, or was fast passing away. Catholics have, in all ages, accurately distin- guished between the accidental appendages of the Papacy, and its inherent divine character. Even in the hight of the Great Schism, not a Catholic voice was raised against the Pa- pacy itself — against its divine institution and vital necessity for the Church. The only controversy was a merely personal one : which of the rival claimants was fairly entitled to the place, or which was the true and lineal successor of St. Peter. Thus, in later days, our present illustrious pontiii' was, to the full, as much respected and as reverently obeyed while an exile at Gaeta, as when seated in the Vatican. Though there were crying abuses during the continuance of the Schism and at its close, and though the good and great of the Church cried out " for a reformation in the head and m the members," yet no one then appears even to have thought of attempting this ref(»rmation by a revolution out- tide the Church, instead of a reformation within. Sensible 48 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. and considerate men knew full well, that the former was tlie part of true wisdom, while the latter would be sheer madness, aggravating a hundred-fold the evil it was intended to heal. A sick man is not to be cured by abandoning him to his fate, with taunts and denunciation at his wickedness for being sick, but by remaining patiently with him, studying his symptoms, and applying the necessary remedies. " A sore throat may be healed by proper remedies, one that is cut, never," as an old writer quaintly remarks. The Church of the fifteenth cen- tury, with the proceedings of the reforming Council of Con- stance and that of Basle, — even after the latter had degener- ated into a schismatical conventicle, denouncing the Pope, and impiously setting up an anti-pope — might have taught the reformers of the sixteenth century a lesson of moderation ; for amidst all the excitement of the former, and with all the excesses of the latter, not a man in either of those ecclesiasti- cal conventions ever entertained a serious thought of severing the unity of the Church, by setting up a ref armed communion outside its pale. The schism caused by the conventicle at Basle was based on no doctrinal difference, and it was soon healed by the love of unity which was re-awakened in the bosom of the anti-pope himself. The schism of the sixteenth century was permanent, and it was based on doctrinal issues all wrong in themselves — as their transparent contradictions and perpetual variations abundantly proved — but what is more to our present purpose, all the more glaringly wrong, because outside of unity, and under the ban of the Church built on a rock, and secured from falling by the infallible promises of her divine Founder. Far from being appalled at the existence of abuses and scandals in the Church, or having their faith thereby weak- ened, enlightened Catholics expect them almost as a matter of course ; considering human frailty, and the fact that God has made man a free agent, and will not infringe his liberty of action. The grace of God is indeed strong, but it may be, and often is, resisted. God will compel no one either to ac- A CATHOLIC REFORMATION OVERCOMING SCANDALS. 49 cept His truth, or to be governed by His commandments. Hh will compel none into heaven against their own free wiL or without their own co-operation. Christ foretold that scandals should come, and we naturally look for them. What would have been thought of the disciple of Christ who should have abandoned His holy standard, and set up one in opposition, because of the scandal resulting, under the very eyes of Christ himself, from the treason of Judas? Would he have been viewed as a sound Protestant, or simply as an unreasoning madman ? To our minds, one of the most persuasive, if not strongest evidences that the Catholic Church is in reality the Church of Christ — " the pillar and ground of the truth" — is precisely her continued triumph over accumulated scandals and abuses, which would have crushed any merely human institution. Had not the Church and the Papacy been divine in origin, and divine in energy, the torrent of evils which overflowed society in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries would have overwhelmed the former, and the Great Schism would have ruined the latter. That, under such circumstances, with the princes of the world so often arrayed against the Church, and the masses of the people stirred up everywhere by the storms of fanaticism — with almost all the elements of society seem- ingly ripe for revolt, and prepared to rush in determined unison to the attack, she should still have conquered, and not only conquered, but become even stronger after, and seeming- ly in consequence of having passed through disasters which are so frightful to contemplate, even after the lapse of nearly •five centuries ; — this fact is, to our judgment, one of the most palpable and unanswerable arguments for establishing her superhuman origin, and her ever-enduring, because divine vitality. If the world, and the flesh, and the devil, all com- bined together, could have conquered her, they would surely have done so centuries ago. In fact, the wonderful vitality of the Church was nevei perhaps more strikingly exhibited than it wa? precisely at the VOL. I. — 5 50 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. close of the Great Schism, in the first quarter of the fifteeniL century. Then she put down the mischievous heresy of the Hussites, after having in the previous century put down the kindred or rather parent heresy of the Wickliffites or LolUirds in England. Her triumph in the fourteenth century over the numerous fanatical sects, to which we have already alluded, though truly wonderful, happening as it did during the con- tinuance of the Schism or immediately before, was almost as nothing compared with her triumph over the truculent Hussite system, which, if successful, would have destroyed both society and religion in Europe, and throughout the world.* For this heresy was based on principles which were utterly subversive of all law and of all government; on principles which were not a mere speculation or destined to remain a dead letter. Tliis is apparent from the civil wars which the Hussites stirred up throughout Bohemia, which covered that kingdom with ruins and stained its soil with the blood of its citizens, and which threatened to penetrate through Germany into Western Europe and to make the whole structure of European society a complete wreck. The fierce and trucu- lent spirit of this pestilent heresy is embodied in the fearful bequest of the Hussite leader, Ziska, who, dying amidst bloody civil wars which he and his master had caused, left his skin to be used on a war drum, the very sound of which might frighten his enemies ! f * The most prominent and dangerous principle of the heresies of both Wickliffe and Huss was that which declared, that no man who was in the state of mortal sin had any right to hold office, to govern, or to require obedi- ence from others, whether in Church or State. This principle plainly opened the door to anarchy, both civil and religious, and it was a direct encourage- ment and provocative to rebellion agtiinst constituted authority; for the rebel, whether in Church or State, had but to imagine and denoimce his rulers as sinners before God — a very easy thing — and then his reljellion was fully justified. f We have elsewhere treated this subject at some length, in special essays nn Huss and the Council of Constance. (Miscellanea.) We think that the HOLINESS OF 'AlE CHURCH THE MONASTERIES. 51 It is not to be supposed that during all • these terrible struggles with the powers of the earth and the hosts of dark- ness, and all these lamentable scandals, the sanctity of the Church was impaired. Very far from it. On the contrary, perhaps at no period of her history, before or since, has the holiness of the Church shone forth with greater lustre. Those scandals were but the shadows which served to bring out more clearly and prominently the lights in the picture of her sanctity. Her heavenly splendor gleamed forth the more brilliantly, precisely in consequence of the surrounding dark- ness. Wo to the world, had that light been extinguishf;d ! Mankind would have been left in utter and hopeless darkness. During the very worst period of her history, while bloody commotions and turbulent heresy were threatening her from without, and protracted schism was dividing her strength from within, she manifested an energy and a holiness of pur- pose, which baffled her enemies, encouraged her friends, and proved to all her heavenly origin and divine power. Notwithstanding scandals and defections from her ranks, the great body of the clergy and laity remained sound and faithful, even during the worst times. The Popes were far in advance of their age, and were, in general, men of pure lives and upright conduct in their public administration. The liionasteries, as in previous ages, continued to be the retreat of learned and pious men, who, after having become thor- oughly imbued with the spirit of God in holy solitude and contemplation, went forth from their retreats to instruct the people and to scatter among them that heavenly fire which facts therein developed, fully reftite the usual popular charges against the Council of Constance and the Catholic Church, and prove how pernicious and dangerous were the maxims promulgated by Huss, and sought by him and his disciples to be established by force. If Huss and Wickliflfe were suitable forerunnei-s of the German reformers, the latter certainly do not borrow any special lustre from the former. As we shall see, both sets of reformers were animated by the same unscrupulous and truculent spirit, and both succeeded in bringing about similar commotions in society. 52 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. was burning in their own hearts. As the candid Protestant, Dr. IMaitland, well remarks : •' Monasteries were beyond all price in those days of misrule and turbu lence, as places where (it may be imperfectly, but better than elsewhere) God was worshiped ; as a quiet and religious refuge for helpless infancy and old age, a shelter of respectful sympathy for the orphan maiden and the desolate widow ; as central points whence agriculture was to spread over bleak hills and barren downs and marshy plains, and deal bread to mllions perishing with hunger and its pestilential train ; as repositories of the learn- ing which then was, and well-springs for the learning which was to be ; as nurseries of art and science, giving the stimulus, the means, and the reward to invention, and aggregating around them every head that could devise and every hand that could execute ; as the nucleus of the city, which, in after days of pride, should crown its palaces and bulwarks with the crowning cross of its cathedral. This, I think, no man can deny. I believe it is true, and I love to think of it. I hope that I see the good hand of God in it, and the visible trace of His mercy that is above all His works. But if it is only a dream, however grateful, I shall be glad to be awakened from it ; not indeed by the j'elling of illiterate agitators, but by a quiet and sober proof that I have misunderstood the matter. In the meantime, let me thankfully believe that thousands of persons at whom Robertson and Jortin, and other such very miserable second-hand writers have sneered, were men of enlarged minds, purified affections, and holy lives — that they were justly reverencea by men — and above all, favorably accepted by God, and distinguished bj" the highest honor which He vouchsafes to those whom He has called into existence, that of being the channels of His love and mercy to their fellow- creatures."* In the learned work from which this is a quotation, Dr. Maitland, original documents in hand, scatters to the winds the injurious statements made by Dr. Robertson in his View of Europe introductory to his widely circulated and much read history of Charles V. He convicts the Scotch historian of grevious misstatement at almost every step. He shows * The Dark Ages. A series of essays intended to illustrate the state of religion and literature in the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries. By the Rev. S. R. Maitland, D. D., F. R. S., and F. S. A., sometime librarian to the late Archbishp of Canterbiuy, and keeper of the MSS. at Lamlieth. Third edition, London, 1853. Preflice, iv, v. UR. MAITLAND AND DR. ROBt:RT?ON. 5o also how Mosheim and McClaine,whom Kobertson calls ''his learned and judicious translator," were also guilty of frequent and unpardonable perversion and garbling of their authori- ties, which they nevertheless professed to quote from the original sources. The refutation is ample and it leaves noth- ing to be desired, so far as it goes. Our limits will not per- mit us to enter into many specifications ; yet we can not help referring to his well-merited castigation of Roberston in refer- ence to the quotation made by the latter from the well-known Homily on the duty of a Christian, by St. Eligius or St. Eloy, Bishop of Noyon, in France, in the seventh century. This is a pretty fair specimen of the manner in which " such miser- able second-hand writers" as Robertson and his numerous copyists, are wont to deal with the facts of history, whenever the Catholic Church is concerned. To prove his reckless assertion, that before the Reformation the whole duty of a Christian was regarded as being com- prised in certain merely external observances, which "were either so unmeaning as to be altogether unworthy of the Being to whose honor they were consecrated, or so observed as to be a disgrace to reason and humanity," Dr. Robertson, following Mosheim, alleges the Homily of St. Eligius. He culls here and there from the homily such extracts as suit his purpose, wholly omitting others in the context itself which would have clearly proved the precise contrary of his propo- sition! Mosheim had given the original extract from the homily, with marks indicating that passages had been omit- ted; while in the version as given by Robertson all such indications are carefully removed. White, in the Brampton Lectures ascribed to him, " goes a step further, and prints the Latin text without any break or hint of omission ;" while a previous writer — Jortin — had indicated in his translation but one out of at least seven such breaks in t]ie text. Now what will be thought of Mosheim, Robertson, and all their imita- tors, when it appears from the original homily itself — a large portion of which is translated by Dr. Maitland — that the 54 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. holy Bishop spoke in it of almost all the duties of man toward God and his neighbor, of the solemn promises made by every Christian at his baptism, of the necessity of keep- ing the commandments of God and of the Church, in order to be saved, of the obligation of guarding against pride, im- purity, and the other deadly sins; and in general, of all those things which the most enlightened Christian preacher of the present day would consider as embi-aced in the " whole duty of a Christian ?" Such being the case, what judgment is to be formed of the miserable partisans, like Mosheim and his copyists, who, pretending to write h'tstory^ pick out a sentence here and a phrase there from a discourse, tear them rudely from their connection, omit the most important parts, and then wind up with a flourish, that they have con- victed the mediaeval preacher of confining the whole duty of a Christian tc certain merely external observances, to which he had only incidentally referred in his homily? As Dr. Maitland proves, the extract furnished does not embrace more than about a one-hundredth part of the homily, and it does not present two consecutive passages together. To show that we do not exaggerate, we will present a some- what copious extract from the homily itself, which will serve the double purpose of convicting Dr. Robertson, Mosheim, Jortin, and many other Protestant writers, of the most griev- ous misrepresentation, and of showing in what the "whole duty of a Christian" was deemed to consist in the middle ages. The garbled extracts of Dr. Robertson are printed in italics. " It is not enough, most dearly beloved, for you to have received the name of Christians, if you do not do Christian works. To be called a Christian profits him who always retains in his mind, and fulfills in his action.s, the commands of Christ; that is, who does not commit theft, does not bear false witness, who neither tells lies nor swears falsely, who does not commit adul- tery, who does not hate any body, but loves all men as himself, who does not render evil to his enemies, but i-ather prays for them, who does not stir VL\) strife but restores peace between those who are at variance. For these precepts Christ ha.s deigned to give by his own mouth in the gospel, saying HOMILY OF ST. ELIGIUS. 55 'Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou sh.alt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not swear folsely, nor commit fraud ; Honor thy father and thy mother : and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' (Matt. xix. 18, 19.) And also, 'AH things what- soever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them : for this i.s the law and the prophets.' (Matt. vii. 12.) "And he has given )^et greater, but very strong and fruitftil (valde fortia atque fructifera) commands, saying, ' Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you,' and 'pray for them which despitefuUy use you and persecute you.' (Matt. v. 44.) Behold, this is a strong commandment, and to men it seems a hard one ; but it has a great reward ; hear what it is — ' That ye may be,' he saith, ' the children of your Father which is in heaven.' Oh, how great a grace ! Of ourselves we are not even worthy sei-vants ; and by loving our enemies we become sons of God. Therefore, my brethren, both love your friends in God, and your enemies for God ; for he that loveth his neighbor, as saith the apostle, hath ftilfiUed the law.' (Rom. xiii. 8.) For he who will be a true Christian, must needs keep these commandments ; because if he does not keep them, he deceives himself He, therefore, is a good Christian, who puts faith in no charms or diabolical inventions, but places all his hope in Christ alone ; who receives strangers with joy, even as if it were Christ himself, because he will say — ' I was a stranger, and ye took me in, and in- asmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' He, I say, is a good Christian, who washes the feet of strangers, and loves them as most dear relations ; who, according to his means, gives alms to the poor ; loJw comes frequently to church : who presents the oblation ivhich is offered to Qod upon the altar ; who doth not taste of his fruits hefore he has offered somewhat to God ; who has not a flilse balance or deceitful measures ; who hath not given his money to usury ; who both lives chastely himself, and teaches his sons and his neighbors to live chastely and in the fear of God ; and as often as ike liohj festivals occur, lives continently even with his own wife for some days previously, that he may, with safe con- sdeiice, draw near to the altar of Qod ; finally, who can repeat the Creed or tlie Lord's Prayer, and teaches the same to his sons and servants. He wlio is such an one, is, without doubt, a true Christian, and Christ also dwelleth in him, who hath said, 'I and the Father will come and make our abode with him.' (John xiv. 23.) And, in Uke manner, he saith by the prophet, ' I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.' (2 Cor. vi. 16.) " Behold, brethren, ye have heard what sort of persons are good Christians ; and therefore labor as much as you can, with God's assistance, that the Christian name may not be Msely applied to you ; but, in order that you may be true Christians, always meditate in your heart, on the commands of 56 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. Christ, and fulfill them in your practice; rede-em your souls from pum'shmeni while you have the means in your power; give alms according to your meant; maintain peace and charity, restore harmony among those who are at strife, avoid lying, abhor perjury, bear no false witness, commit no theft, offer ohla- , tions and yifts to churches, provide lights for sacred places according to your means, retain in your memory the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, and teach them to your sons. Moreover, teach and chastise those children for whom you are sponsors, that they may always live with the fear of God. Know that you are sponsors for them with God. Come frequently also to church ; humbly seek the patronage of the saints ; keep the Lord's day in reverence of the resurrection of Christ, without any servile work ; celebrate the festivals of the saints with devout feeling ; love your neighbors as yourselves ; what you would desire to be done to you by others, that do to others ; what you would not have done to you, do to no one ; before all things have charity, for 'charity covereth a multitude of sins ;' be hospitable, humble, casting all your care upon God, for he careth for you ; visit the sick, seek out the cap- tives, receive strangers, feed the hungry, clothe the naked ; set at nought soothsayers and magicians ; let your weights and measures be fair, your bal- ance just, your bvishel and your pint fair; nor must you claim back more than you guve, nor exact from any one usury for money lent. Which, if you observe, coming with security before the trihumd of the eternal Judge, in the day of judgment, you may say, ' Give, Lord, for we have given ;' show mere}'', for we have shown mercy ; we have fulfilled what thou hast commanded, do thou give what thou hast promised.' "* '^ Given by Dr. Maitland, in the work above quoted, p. Ill, seqq., where the greater portion of the homily is translated. It will be seen that he em- ploy's the words of the Protestant version in the scriptural quotiitions. In another place, (p. 150,) he fiirnishes an additional extract fi-om the homily, in which the holy bishop warns his people against all superstition and idol- atry, in the following imi^ressive language : "Before all things, however, I declare and testify unto you, that you should observe none of the impious customs of the pagans ; neither sorcer- ers, nor diviners, nor soothsayers, nor enchanters ; nor must you presume for any cause, or any sickness, to consult or inquire of them, for he who commits this sin immediately loses the sacrament of baptism. In like man- ner, pay no attention to auguries, and sneezings ; and, when you are on a journey, do not mind the singing of certain little birds. But, whether you are setting out on a journey, or beginning any other work, cross yourselves in the name of Christ, and say the Creed and the Lord's Prayer with faitb and devotion, and then the enemy can do you no harm. Let no Chiistian A MODEL MEDLEVAL HOMILY. 57 While on the subject of mediaeval homilies, we cannot re- frain from extracting one entire from Dr. Maitland.* It was delivered by the Foreman of the Goldsmith, the latter of whom had built a splendid monastery, and the former had been ordained priest, after having first become a monk. The people often visited his solitude to be edified by his vir- tues, and to profit by the words of simple, but touching elo- quence which fell from his lips. His homilies on such occa- sions were short, and to the purpose. The following is the one to which we referred above: "Brethren, hear what I say, with attention, and sedulously meditate on it in your hearts. God the Father, and His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave His precious blood for us, you must love with all your soul, and with all your mind. Keep your hearts clean from wicked and impure thoughts ; maintain brotherly love among yourselves ; and love not the things that are in the world. Do not think about what you have, but what you are. Do you desire to hear what you are ? The prophet tells you, saying, ' All flesh is grass, all the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field.' (Isaiah xl. 6.) Consider how short the present life is; always fearing, have the judgment of God before your eyes. While there is opportunity, redeem your sins by aljns and good works." This, for its brevity and comprehensiveness, may be viewed as a model sermon. We doubt whether, even at the present more enlightened day, any one could say more good things better, in so few words, and with so much simplicity and unc- tion. Probably the best possible vindication of our Catholic ancestors is that which is contained in their own words, so far as these have been preserved to us, and in such of their works — as, for instance, their noble cathedrals, hospitals, and monas- observe the day on which he leaves') or returns home, for God made all th« days. Let none regulate the beginning of any piece of work by the day, oi by the moon. Let none on the calends of January, join in the wicked and ridiculous things, the dressing like old women, oi- like stags, or othei- fooler- ies, nor make feasts lasting all night, nor keep up the custom of gifts and intemperate drinking." * Ibid, p. 93-4. 58 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. teries — as time and the Vandalism of the sixteenth centuij have spared to us. Digby and Maitland — the former a Cath olic and the latter a Protestant — ^have done much to give us an adequate idea of their usual trains of thought, and of their sometimes rude, but always earnest, simple, and eloquent man- ner of expressing them. As Dr. Maitland clearly proves, by numerous examples, they not only were well acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, but their very thoughts were wont to run in the channel of scriptural imagery, and their words were often little else but a tissue of scriptural quotations.* Take them all in all, they will compare most favorably with the men of the present day ; and in faith, piety, and love of God and their neighbor, as well as in disinterestedness, they will certainly bear off the palm. Let it, then, be borne steadily in mind, that the evils and scandals to wdiich we have referred above, and which we have not sought to conceal or even to palliate, were exceptional ; and that even after the original simplicity and fervor of the middle ages had greatly diminished, and their disinterested and sim- ple spirit of faith, as the all-moving and animating principle of action, had, in a great measure, passed away along with the age of chivalry and the crusades, there still remained in the great body of the Church — in the laity as well as in the clergy — the solid foundations of truth and virtue, which found forci- ble expression in the general popular horror of heresy, and in the general detestation of the obscenities of vice so unblush- ingly exhibited in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Though sorely tried by wild, but fortunately transient here- sies, and afflicted by grievous scandals during the two centu- ries immediately preceding the Reformation, the Church waa still sound, not only in her truth, which could never fail, but in the general faith and fervent piety of the great body of her clergy and members. This was clearly proved by the wonderful effects produced * Ibid, p 187, seqq., and p. 466, seqq. Sr. VINCENT FERRER THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION. 59 all over Europe, during this very period, by the preaching of that wonderful man of God — St. Vincent Ferrer — who came forth, like another John the Baptist from the wilderness, to preach penance, and to arouse into greater activity the faith and piety of the people. Whithersoever he went, vast multi- titudes hung upon his lips ; and the results of his preaching were most consoling to the afflicted Church. Such men as he, and his illustrious predecessor in the same career, St. Bernard of Clairvaux — were real reformers according to the true apos- tolic type; such reformers as the Church has been blessed with in all ages, and as she has always delighted to honor. Even the unscrupulous D'Aubigne, is compelled to do some measure of justice to the Catholic Church of the middle ages. He makes the following avowal ; which is invaluable, coming from so prejudiced a source:* " But first let us do honor to the Church of that middle period, which intervened between the age of the Apostles and the Reformers. The Church was still the Church, although fallen and more and more enslaved. In a word, she was at all times the most powerful friend of man. Her hands, though manacled, still dispensed blessings. Many eminent servants of Christ diffused during these ages a beneficent light ; and in the humble convent — the sequestered parish — there were found poor monks and poor priests to alleviate bitter sufferings." But if the Church was still enabled, through the divine pro- tection, to preserve pure the great body of her bishops and clergy, it was not surely from any aid which her pontiffs de- rived for this purpose, from the princes of the world. Tliis good result was obtained, not in virtue of the co-operation of the latter, but often in spite of their untiring opposition. It seemed to have become an almost settled policy of the Ger- man emperors, and subsequently of the French kings, to throw every possible obstacle in the way of the appointment of good, disinterested, and zealous bishops. They thwarted the Topes at almost every step in the continued and earnest endeavors of the latter to secure good pastors to the vacant sees. Tliey * Vol. I., p. 40, Edit, of Carter, 1843. 60 EUROPE BEFORE THE REtORMAIION. unscrupulously charged on the Popes the very crime of which they were themselves openly guilty — an avaricious grasping after the goods of the Church. When calumny failed, they had recourse to secret fraud and open violence; and they were always sure to find aiders and abettors among the higher clergy, several of whom their wicked and dangerous policy had already partially tainted. This unfortunate spirit was strikingly exhibited in the adop tion of what was called the Pragmatic Sanction, by the French king, Charles VII., in the year 1438, and in the persistent efibrts made by the French Parliaments and German Diets to carry out its mischievous provisions for more than a cen- tury , and all this in spite of the earnest protests and eloquent appeals of the pontiifs. The pro.visions of this instrument vir- tually annihilated the primacy of the Pope in France and wherever else they were adopted and acted on. While pro- fessing great reverence for the chair of Peter, and promising obedience to the Pope as his successor, the French monarch, Charles VII., more than two centuries in advance of le Grand Monarque, Louis XIV., — adopted a code of Galilean liberties, probably far more mischievous in their tendency than those contained in the subsequent Declaration of the Galilean clergy in 1682. And like Louis, Charles was backed in his war with the Pope, by a large body of the higher clergy of France ; who should surely have already seen and felt enough of the dangers of court influence, to beware how they contributed to increase its patronage. But a species of vertigo had seized on many minds in consequence of the late schism ; and this feeling of distrust of the Pope found ex- pression in the schismatical proceedings of the conventicle at Basle, which dared continue its sessions after the papal pro- hibition, in 1433, and even after it had been dissolved, in 1437, by the undoubted Pope Eugenius IV.* In spite of all * Eugenius issued a bull dissolving the Council, and ordering the bishojw to convene a^ain at Ferrara. ITS MISCHIEVOUS TENDENCY LETTER OF PIUS II. 61 canonical law, a schismatical remnant of the bishops still con- tinued to hold their sessions, and even went to the extreme length of attempting to depose the Pope, and thereby to origi- nate another fearful schism. The Pragmatic Sanction was nominally abrogated by the French king, Louis XL, in 1461 ; but this feeble or diplomatic monarch showed little disposition to compel his Parliament to repeal their previous enactments in its favor. Thus the evil went on almost unchecked for more than fifty years longer; until the Sanction was finally annulled by the General Coun- cil of Lateran, in a session held in 1515. Its final abrogation was fully agreed to by the French king, Francis L, in a con- ference held in the same year at Bologna, between him and Pope Leo X. How very mischievous this parliamentary enactment was, and how many evils it must have entailed on the Church in France, especially in the way of foisting unworthy, or worldly- minded and courtly bishops into many of its sees, may be in- ferred from the fact, that it gave to the French monarch and his Parliament almost unlimited control over all such appoint- ments, and forbade any interference therewith on the part of the Pope without their own previous consent. The king and his Parliament would be sure to appoint, not the best and the most holy men, but such as would be most likely to subserve their own worldly views, and to stand by them in their con- tests with the Pope. The spirit of the Pragmatic Sanction, with its manifold evils, extended also to Germany, and, to a greater or less extent, throughout all Christendom ; and we have not a doubt that it contributed as much perhaps, as any other single agency, to prepare the minds of men for the sub- sequent religious revolution of the sixteenth century. To exhibit still more clearly the true spirit and real tendency of the Pragmatic Sanction, we will here give an extract from a letter written on the subject by the renowned pontiff", Pius II., previously well known in the world of letters as -^neaa Sylvius : — 62 E ROPE HEFORE THE REFORMATION. "We ardently desire to see the nation of the Franks holy a^d without blemish ; but this cannot be, unless this stain or wrinkle of the Sanction be removed, the manner of the introduction of which you all know. It was certainly not received on the authority of a general council, nor by a decree of the Roman pontiffs, though no enactment on ecclesiastical matters can stand as valid without the consent of the Roman See We do not at- tach so much importance to the hearing of causes, the bestowal of benefices, and many other things which we are thought to value. This it is which fills us with anguish, that we witness the perdition and luin of souLs, and that the glory of a most noble king is thereby tarnished. For how can it be tolerated, that laymen should become the judges of the clergy ? That the sheep should hear and decide on the causes of their shepherds ? Is it for this that we are 'a royal and priestly race' ? We will not, for the sake of your honor, explain how greatly the sacerdatol authority has been impaired in France. This is well known by the bishops, who, at the beck of the secular power now draw, now sheathe the spiritual sword. But the Roman bishop, whose parish is the world, whose ecclesiastical territory is not bound- ed even by the ocean, has, in the kingdom of France, only so much jurisdic- tion as the Parliament may be pleased graciously to assign to him ! He is not permitted to punish the sacrilegious, the parricide, the heretic, though an ecclesiastic, unless with the previous consent of the Parliament, whose authority is so great in the opinion of some, as to shut the door against our ecclesiastical censures. Thus the Roman pontiff, the judge of judges, is sub- ject to the judgment of Parliament. If we admit this, we make the Church a monster, we introduce a hydra with many heads, and thereby totally ex- tinguish unity. This is a dangerous matter, venerable brethren, which would bring confusion into the whole hierarchy."* * Giesler. Text Book of Ecclesiastical Historj', Vol. III., p. 223-4, note. This prejudiced Protestant or infidel historian furnishes the original of the Letter to the French Bishops, as follows : " Cupimus sanctam esse Franconim gentem et omni carere macula : at hoc fieri non potest, nisi hgec Sanctionis macula seu ruga deponatur, qua3 que- modo introducia sit ipsi nostis. Certe non auctoritate generalis synodi nee Romanorum decreto pontiflcum recepta est, quamvis de causis ecclesiasticis tiactatus absque phicito Romanaj Sedis stare non possit Non pon- deramus causarum auditionem, non bcneficiorum coUationem, non alia multa quEB curare putamur. lUud nos angit, quod animarum perditionem ruinam- que cernimus, et nobilissimi regis gloriam labefiictari. Nam quo pacto tole- randum est clericorum judices laicos esse factos ? Pastorum causas ores c«)jj;noscere ? Siccine regale genus et sacerdotale sumus ? Non explicabimus, OTHER AGENCIES- -THE POPE AND LIBERTY. 63 Though abrogated by Francis L, the sph-it and the sting of the Pragmatic Sanction still remained. As we shall aee here- after, its spirit strongly influenced or rather infected the policy, and contributed to the misfortunes of this brilliant, but frivolous French monarch ; it subsequently led, step by step, to the bloody civil v,^ars brought upon France by the Hu- guenots; and finally its evil germs produced the poisonous tree of infidelity, which difiused its fatal and upas-like influ- ence over France in the awful revolution of 1792-3. The French monarchs sowed the seeds of Gallicanism — first undei Charles VII. in 1438, and then under Louis XIV. in 1682— and they reaped the final harvest of anarchy and revolution in 1792 ! History has its logic as well as philosophy. Besides the spirit of disunion and distrust of the Papacy, which had been kept alive for centuries, chiefly by the princes of the earth, other agencies also more immediately contributed to prepare the way for the Reformation in the sixteenth cen- tury, and to facilitate its success. Tlie revival of learning, and the invention of the art of printing, afibrded incidental aids to the spread of the new gospel. The former came from Italy ; the latter from Germany. The active Italian mind originated the intellectual movement, the more practical German mind seized on it, and scattered its thoughts over the earth on the wings of the press. Both the revival of honoris causa, quantum diminuta est in Gallia sacerdotalis auctoritas. Epis- copi norunt qui pro nutru Sfficularis potestatis spiritualem gladium nunc exercent, nunc recludunt. Prsesul vero Romanus, cujus parochia orbis est, cujus provincia nee oceano clauditur, in regno Francis tantum jurisdictionis habet, quantum placet Parlaraento. Non sacrilegum, non paricidam, non haereticum punire permittitur, quamvis ecclesiasticum, nisi Parlamenti con- sensus adsit, cujus tantam esse auctoritatem nonnulli existimant, ut censuris etiam nostris prnecludere aditurapossit. Sicjudcx judicum Romanus pontifex judicio Parlamenti subjectus est. Si hoc admittimus, monstruosam ecclesiam 6icimus, et hydram multorum capitum introducimus, et unitatem prorsus ^xtinguimus. Periculosa res h'«c est, venerabiles fratres, quae hieiarchiam omnem confundei-et." 64 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. letters and the art of printing were of Catholic origin ; the} were both abused, and treacherously turned, as powerful batteries, against the Church. That Europe was indebted to Italy for the preservation of the ancient learning in the middle ages, and for the revival of letters in the fifteenth century ; and that Italy, under the auspices of the Popes, was, during all those centuries, very far in advance of all other European nations, is freely admitted by such prejudiced English writers as Ilallam and Macaulay. The latter writes as follows on this important historical fact; and we feel confident that the length of the extract will be pardoned on account of the interest which attaches to the subject: "During the gloomy and disastrous centuries which followed the down- fall of the Roman Empire, Italy had preserved, in a far greater degree than any other part of Western Europe, the traces of ancient civilization. The night which descended upon her, was the night of an Arctic summer : — the dawn began to reappear before the last reflection of the preceding sunset had faded from the horizon. It was in the time of the French Merovingians, and of the Saxon Heptarch}^, that ignorance and ferocity seemed to have done their worst. Yet even then the Neapolitan provinces, recognizing the authority of the Eastern Empire, preserved something of Eastern knowledge and refinement. Roine, protected by the sacred character of its pontitEs, enjoyed at least comparative security and repose. Even in those regions where the sanguinary Lombards had fixed their monarch}', there was incom- parably more of wealth, of information, of physical comfort, and of social order, than could be found in Gaul, Brittain, or Germany." Under the auspices of the pontiffs, liberty, manufactures, and commercial prosperity were inaugurated; for Macaulay adds : " Thus literty, partially, indeed, and transiently revisited Italy ; and with liberty came commerce and empire, science and taste, all the comlbrts and all the ornaments of life. The crusades, from whicli the inhabitants of other countries gained nothing but relics and wounds, brought the rising commonwealths of the Adriatic and Tyrrhene seas a large increi\t;e of wealth, dominion, and knowledge. Their moral and their geograpliical position enabled them to profit alike by the barbarism of the West, and the civilization of the East. Their ships covered every sea. Their factories tTALY AND THE POPES MACAULAY. 65 rose on every shore. Their money changers set their tables in every city. Manufactures flourished. Banks were established. The operations of the commercial machine were facilitated by many useflil and beautiful inventions. We douVjt whether any country of Europe, our own perhaps excepted, have at the present time reached so high a point of wealth and civilization as some parts of Italy had attained four hundred years ago." . . . " Fortunately John -Villani has given us an ample and precise account of the state of Florence in the earlier part of the fourteenth ccntuiy. The revenue of the republic amoimted to three hundred thousand florins, a sum which, allowing for the depreciation of the precious metals, was at least equivalent to six hundred thousand pounds sterling ; a larger sura than England and Ireland, two centuries ago, yielded annually to Elizabeth — a larger sum than, according to any computation which we have seen, the Grand-duke of Tuscany now derives from a territory of much greater extent. The manufacture of wool alone employed two hundred factories and thirty thousand workmen. The cloth annually produced sold, at an average, for twelve hundred thousand florins ; a sum fairly equal, in exchangeable value, to two millions and a half of our money. Four hundred thousand florins were annually coined. Eighty banks conducted the commercial operations, not of Florence onl}^, but of all Europe. The transactions of these establish- ments were sometimes of a magnitude which may surprise even the con- temporaries of the Barings and the Rothchilds. Two houses advanced to Edward III., of England, upwards of three hundred thousand marks, at a time when the mark contained more silver than fifty shillings of the present day, and when the value of silver was more than quadruple of what it now is. The city and its environs contained a hundred and seventy thousand inhabitants. In the various schools about ten tho'usand children were taught to read ; twelve hundred studied arithmetic ; six hundred received a learned education. The progress of elegant literature and of the flne arts was pro- portioned to that of the public prosperity No tongue ever furnished more gorgeous and vivid tints to poetry ; nor was it long before a poet appeared who knew how to employ them. Early in the fourteenth century came forth the Divine Comedy, beyond comparison the greatest work of imagination which had appeared since the poems of Homer. The following generation produced, indeed, no second Dante ; but it was eminently dis- tinguished by general intellectual activity. The studv of the Latin writers had never been whoUy neglected in Italy.""" The literary sect of the Humanists arose in Italy about the middle of the fifteenth century. These new men of letters * Miscell. Am. Edit., p. 21 seqq. Keview of the Works of Macchiavelli. VOL. I, — 6 66 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. Bought to revive Greek literature, and the Platonian phi losophy in opposition to that of Aristotle, which had long obtained a firm foothold in the schools. They disparaged all barbarisms in style, and they valued a finely turned sentence conveying a sneer against the clergy more highly than a sound and orthodox sentiment conveyed in the more homely language of the school-men. The Dominicans were their special aversion, for two principal reasons: first, their theo- logians were usually more or less barbarous in their Latin ; and secondly, they had been appointed censors of books, and, in virtue of their ofiice, they were compelled often to condemn the works of the Humanists, in spite of their elegant Latinity. This last fact has special significance, when we reflect that Tetzel, the preacher of the Indulgences in Germany, was a Dominican ; and that Erasmus, the leader of the German Humanists, united with Luther in hurling at the devoted head of the Dominicans his polished but envemoned shaft of ridi- cule and invective. The early progress of the German Reformation was also facilitated by the over-indulgence, if not negligence of the Italian Humanists, who, with their great and munificent patron, Leo X., were at first inclined to look upon the contro versy between the Augustinian monk Luther, and the Domi nican monk Tetzel, as a mere " monkish squabble." Soon, indeed, they discovered their mistake ; but it was too late fully to check the evil. It was not a merely local or transient rebellion against Church authority which was at hand, but a mighty revolution, which was to shake Christendom to ita very centre ; and to endure, with its long and pestilent train of evils, with its Babel-like sound and confusion of tongues, with its first incipient and then developed infidelity, probably to the end of the world ! Another weapon which the German reformers wielded with terrible efiect against the Church, was their impassioned and reiterated declaration, that the Primacy of the Pope was sub- versive of all German liberty. All the contests between the TESTIMONY OF LAING SUMMING UP. 67 German emperors and the Popes during the middle ages were brought up again, exaggerated and distorted by passion,before the public mind, and the Germans were told that they must throw off the yoke of the Pope, if they would preserve their ancient franchises. This appeal to national prejudices was as successful as the basis on which it rested was wholly unfounded in the facts of history. The truth is, that the Germans owed almost every thing, their liberties included, to the interposition of the Popes checking the usurpations and despotism of their emperors. This is apparent from the fact, that they were really less free after than they had been before the Refor- mation. This we hope to prove hereafter. In the mean time, we invite attention to the following testimony on this subject, furnished by the Scotch Presbyterian writer, Samuel Laing, surely an unexceptionable witness. He is speaking of the past and present condition of Germany ; in reference precisely to the influence exercised by the Papacy on its liberty : '' The principle that the civil government, or State, or Church and State united, of a country is entitled to regulate its religious belief, has more of intellectual thraldom in it than the power of the popish Church ever exer- cised in the darkest ages ; for it had no civil power joined to its religious power. It only worked through the civil power of each country. The Church of Rome was an independent, distinct, and often an opposing power in every country to the civil power ; a circumstance in the social economy OF THE middle AGES, TO WHICH, PERHAPS, EUROPE IS INDEBTED FOR HER CIVILIZATION AND FREEDOM — ^for uot being in the state of barbarism and slavery of the east, and of every country, ancient and modern, in which the civil and religious power have been united in one government. Civil liberty is closely connected with religious liberty — with the Church being independ- ent of the State In Germany the seven Catholic sovereigns have 12,074,700 Catholic subjects, and 2,541,000 Protestant subjects. The twenty-nine Protestant sovereigns, including the four free cities, have 12,113,000 Protestant subjects, and 4,966,000 Catholic. Of these popu- lations in Germany, those which have tlieir point of spiritual government without their States, and independent of them— as the Catholics have at Rome — enjoy certainly more spiritual independence, are less exposed to the intermeddling of the hand of civil power with their religious concerns, 68 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. than the Protestant populations, which, since the Reformation, have had Church and State united in one government, and in which each autocratic sovereign is de facto a home-pope. The Church affairs of Prussia in this half century, tliosc of Saxony, Bavaria, and the smaller principalities, such as Anhalt Koihen, in all of which the State has assumed and exercised power inconsistently with the principles, doctrines, obsei-vances, and privi- leges of the Protestant religion, clearly show that the Protestant church or the continent, as a power, has become an administrative body of clerical functionaries, acting under the orders of the civil power or State."* From the foregoing summary view of the events affecting religion in Europe, during the centuries which preceded the Reformation, we draw the following conclusions, in the sound- ness of which we believe that every well-informed and impar- tial man will be disposed to concur with us : 1. That the amount and extent of the scandals and abuses complained of during this period have been greatly exaggerated ; and that the good more than counterbalanced the evil. Evil always excites more attention and makes more noise in the world than good; and what contemporary writers, even if they were otherwise good men, say of abuses, and of the per- sons to whom they are to be ascribed, will generally be found to^be highly colored ; especially if the writers, as is often the case, have their feelings enlisted as partisans on one side or the other. Feeling must be calmed down, excitement must pass away, and affairs must fully work themselves out, before a correct and reliable judgment can be formed on any series of events. 2. That these abuses and scandals generally originated in the world and its princes, not in the Church and its chief pastors ; most of them being due to the fact, that bad men were thrust into the high places of the Church by worldly * Notes of a Traveler on the Social and Political State of France, Prussia, Switzerland, Italy, and other parts of Europe, during the present century. By Samuel Laing, Esq., author of "A Journal of a Residence in Norway'" and " A Tour in Sweden." From the second London edition. Philadelphia. Cary & Hart, 1840. 1 vol. 8vo. p. 194. FOUR CONCLUSIONS REACHED. 69 mir.ded and avaricious princes in spite of the Popes, whose settled policy it was to protest with all their might against a line of conduct so very ruinous to the best interests of re- ligion. And such being clearly the case, it is most unjust to charge those scandals on the Church or on the pontifls. If the princes of the earth could have ruined the Church, they would have done so by their iniquitous and oppressive enact- ments. That they did not succeed in inflicting on her more than occasional and temporary wounds, we owe it to the divine vitality of the Church, and to the noble and dauntless oppo- sition of the Popes. 3. Tliat there was a lawful and efficacious remedy for all such evils, which consisted in removing their obvious cause, and' giving to the Popes their due power and influence in the nomination of bishops, and in the deliberations of general ecclesiastical councils, the judgments of which had hitherto been always viewed as final : that, in one word, reformation within the Church, and not revolution outside of it, was the only proper, lawful, and efficacious remedy for existing evils, and the one which had always been invoked by the wise and the good in all previous ages of Christianity. 4. Finally, that the fact of Christians having at length felt prepared to resort to the desperate and totally wrong remedy of revolution, was owing to a train of circumstances which had caused faith to wane and grow cold, and which now ap- pealed more to the passions than to reason, more to human considerations than to the principles of divine faith and tho interests of eternity. That the drama was strictly in accordance with its pro- gramme, and that the Protestant Reformation throughout Europe, both in its inception and in its consummation, was rather the working out of the three great concupiscences referred to by an inspired apostle, than of a sincere and earn- est love of truth, and of a real desire of reformation, will, unless we are greatly mistaken, sufficiently appear from the facts contained in the following pages. In regard to Germany 5 70 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. and Switzerland, we propose, in the first volume, to examine the following questions : 1. Whether the men who brought about the Reformation in Germany were such as God could or would have employed to do His work ? 2. Whether the motives which prompted, and the means which were employed to accomplish that revolution, were such as God could sanction ? 3. Whether the Reformation really efiected a reform m religion and in morals ? And 4, whether its influence was beneficial to society, by developing the principles of free government, and promotinjr literature and civilization ? PART I. CHARACTER OF THE REFORMERS. CHAPTERI. LUTHER AND THE OTHER GERMAN REFORMERS. D Aubigne's opinion — A reformed key — Luther's parents — His early train- ing— A naughty boy— Convents — Being "led to God," and "not led to' God" — He enters the Augustinian convent — Austerities — A "bread bag" — His faith and scruples — His humihty and zeal — Luther a reforraei — Grows worse — becomes reckless — His sincerity tested — Saying anJ unsaying — Misgivings — Tortuous windings — How to spite the Pope — Curious incident — Melancthon and his mother — Luther's talents and elo quence — His taste — His courage and fawning — His violence and coarse ness — Not excusable by the spirit of his age — His blasphemies — Recrim- ination— Christian compliments — "Conference with the devil" — Which got the better of the argument — Luther's morality — Table-talk — His ser- mon on marriage — A Vixen — How to do "mischief to the Pope" — A striking contrast — How to fulfill vows — His marriage — Misgivings — Epi- grams and satires — Curious incidents in his last sickness — Death-bed confession — His death — The reformed key used — Character of the other reformers. D'AuBiGNE compares the reformers to the Apostles;* and his favorite theory is, that the Reformation itself was but " the reappearance of Christianity."! Speaking of the life and character of Luther, he says " the whole Reformation was there,"! " The different phases of this work succeeded each other in the mind of him who was to be the instrument for it, before it was publicly accomplished in the world. The knowledge of the Reformation effected in the heart of Luther * B. ii, p. 118, vol. i. Our quotations from D'Aubigne are from the first American edition, in three volumes 12mo, to which two others Kive been since added, to which we i ay refer hereafter. f Pref. iv. t Vol. i. p. 118. (71) ising to keep silence in future as to the questions in contro versy. The good nuncio embraced him, wept with joy, and invited him to a banquet, at which he loaded him with caresses. While this affecting scene was enacted, Luther, in a private letter to a friend, called him "a deceiver, a liar, who parted from him with a Judas-like kiss and crocodile tears;"* and, in another letter, to Spalatin, he wrote: "Let me whisper in your ear; I do not know whether the Pope is Antichrist, or only his apostle,"f etc. And yet, in less than a month after this very time, on the 3d of March, 1519, he wrote to the Pope in these words of reverence and submission : " Most holy father, I declare it in the presence of God, and of all the world, I never have sought, nor will I ever seek, to weaken by force or arti- fice the power of the Roman church or of your holiness. I confess that there is nothing in heaven or earth that should be preferred above that church, save only Jesus Christ the Lord of all."J: The same man who wrote this, impugned the Primacy of the Pope the very same year in the famous discussion with Doctor Eck at Leipsic ! Was he — could he be sincere in all this? But, further, when on the 3d of October, 1520, he became acquainted with the bull of Leo X., by which his doctrines were condemned, he wrote these remarkable words : "I will treat it as a forgery, though I believe it to be genuine."§ The following evidence will greatly aid us in judging of the motives which guided Luther in pushing forward the work of the Reformation. What those motives were he surely was the best judge. Let us then see what himself tells us on this subject. Li his famous harangue against Karlstadt and the image breakers, delivered from the pulpit of the church of All * Epist. Sylvio Egrano, 2 Feb., 1519. •f Epist. Spalatino, 12 Feb., 1519. See Audin, Life of Luther, p. 91, and D Aubigne, vol. ii, p. 15-16. t Epist. i, p. 234. 5 D'Aubigne, vol. ii, p. 128. HIS MOTIVES. 83 Saints at Wittenberg, he plainly says that, if liis recreant disciples will not take his advice, " he will not hesitate to retract every thing he had either taught or written, and leave them ;" and he adds emphatically : " This I tell you once for all."* In an abridged confession of faith, which he drew up for his partisans, he says in a vaunting tone : " I abolished the elevation of the host, to spite the Pope ; and I had retained it so long to spite Karlstadt."t In the new form of service, which he composed as a substitute for the Mass, he says in a similar spirit : " If a council were to order the communion to be taken in both kinds, he and his would only take it in one or none ; and would, moreover, curse all those who should, in conformity with this decree of the council, communicate in both kiuds."J — Could the man be sincere who openly boasted of being governed by such motives ? We might continue to discuss the question of his sincerity, by showing how he said one thing to Cardinal Cajetan, and in the diet of Worms in 1521, and other things precisely con- tradictory to his friends, at the same time: how,, before Caje- tan, he appealed first to the universities,§ then to the Pope, better informed,]] and subsequently to a general council :*j[y and how, when all these tribunals had decided against him, he would abide by none of their decisions, his reiterated solemn promises to the contrary notwithstanding ! Did the Spirit of God direct him in all these tortuous windings of artful policy ? Do they manifest aught of the uprightness of a boasted apostle ? Do they not rather bespeak the wily heresiarch — an Arius, a Nestorius, or a Pelagius ? We say nothing at present of his consistency: we speak only of his sincerity and common honesty. No one has ever yet been found to praise his consistency. He was, confess- * "Non dubitabo funem reducere, et omnium qua3 aut scripsi aut docui palinodiam canere : hoc vobis dictum esto." Sarmo docens abusus non mani- bus, etc. f Confessio Parva. I Forma Missae. 5 1^'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 357. II Ibid., vol. i, p. 376. H Ibid., vol. i, p. 389, and again, vol. ii, p. 134 84 REFORMATION IN GFJIjNUNY. edly, a mere creature of impulse and of passion, constant in nothing but in bis batred of tbe Pope and of tbe Catboljc Cburcb. His inconsistencies would fill a volume, and a mere enumeration of tbem would swell tbis cbapter to an unwar- rantable lengtb.* But tbere is one incident in tbe private life of Lutber too curious to be passed over in silence. We give it in tbe words of M. Audin, witli bis references to contemporary- historians : "After the labors of the day, he would walk with Catharine" — the nun whom he had sacrilegiously wedded — " in the little garden of the convent, near the ponds in which colored fish were disporting ; and he loved to explain to her the wonders of the creation, and the goodness of Him who had made it with His hands. One evening the stars sparkled with unwonted bright- ness, and the heavens appeared to be on fire. ' Behold what splendor those luminous points emit,' said Catharine to Luther. Luther raised his eyes. 'What glorious light,' said he: 'it shines not for us.' 'Why not?' re plied Bora ; ' have we lost our title to the kingdom of heaven ?' Luther sighed — 'Perhaps so,' said he, 'because we have abandoned our state.* 'We ought to return to it, then,' said Catharine. 'It is too late — the CAR is sunk too DEEPLY,' added the doctor. The conversation dropped."! "We may here be pardoned for making a digression, to relate a somewhat analogous incident of Melanctbon, Luther's bosom friend and cherished disciple. Luther was wont to flatter him immoderately, and tbe grateful disciple repaid him with interest in tbe same gilded coin. When the latter bad finished his Scholia — or short commentaries — on the Epistles of St. Paul, Lutber said to him, after having read the work : "What matter is it whether it pleases you or not, if it pleases me? I tell you that tbe commentaries of Origen and Jerome, compared with yours, are nothing but absurdities."t Melanctbon, too, had bis misgivings. * Those who may be curious to investigate this subject still further will find abundant facts in Audin's Life of Luther. We direct the attention of such to the following pages : 81, 82, 85, 94, 95, 102, 110, 238, 239, 240, 291, 312, 354, 397, 398, 410, 430, 472, 511, etc., etc. + Georg Joanneck — Norma Vitae. Kraus — Ovicul. part ii, fol. 39, Apnd Audin, p. 382. t ^.pud Audin, p. 445. HIS BOLDNESS AND ELOQUENCE. 85 "He recalled to his mind the image of his old ftither, George Schwartzerde,f the smith, whose lively faith made him. rise often at night to offer up his prayer to God. He thought of the last prayer of his dying mother, who, raising her hands towards him, said : ' My son, it is for the last time you see your mother. I am about to die : your turn will one day come, when you must render an account of your actions to your Judge. You know that I was a Catholic, and that you have induced me to abandon the religion of mv fathers. Tell me now, for God's sake, in what religion I ought to die.' Melancthon answered: 'Mother, the new doctrine is the more convenient; the other is the more secure.' "f But the gentle and wavering Melancthon was kept in error by the fascination of his imperious master Luther, who, serpent-like, had coiled himself around his very heart- strings, and held him captive. Lutlier's intellectual attainments were of a high order. As a popular orator, few surpassed him whether in ancient or in modern times. Nothing could withstand the foamy torrent of his eloquence, or resist the effect of his withering invective : " When he preached, the people listened with trembling expectation tc the words which fell from his lips. His eye, which seemed to revolve in a fiery orbit — his large and seer-like forehead — his animated flgiire, especially when much excited — his threatening gesture, his loud voice which thun- dered on the ear — the spirit of inspiration with which he seemed possessed — all awakened either terror, or ecstatic admiration in his auditory." | An excellent judge, the great Frederick Von Schlegel, passes the following opinion on his mental powers. " In the first place, it is evident of itself that a man who accomplished so mighty a revolution in the human mind, and in his age, could have been endowed with no common powers of intellect, and no ordinary strength of character. Even his writings display an astonishing boldness and energy of thought, united with a spirit of impetuous, passionate, and convulsive * Schwarzerde means literally hla'-k earth. •f ^gidius Albertinus im 4. Theil des Deutschen Lust-Hauses, vol. V p. 143. — Apud Audin, p. 447, note. X Audin, p. 225. 6 86 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. enthusiasm. The latter quaHties are indeed not very compatible with a prudent, enlightened, and dispassionate judgment."* His indefatigable industry and untiring energy brought out all his mental resources. He was restless and uneasy in mind and heart : his spirit could never be still, after it had lost the peace it once possessed in the bosom of the Catholic Church. His mind was not elevated or refined ; it could not appreciate the beauties of art in Rome, which he visited during the splendid pontificate of Leo X. He seems to have gleaned nothing else from his journey to the eternal city but a few "house-wife stories or mendacious anecdotes."f Much has been said of his courage, and of his utter disre- gard of danger. That he was bold and daring, we do not pre- tend to deny. It however required but little courage to be bold in his interview with Cardinal Cajetan, or at the diet of Worms in 1521. With the safe-conduct of the emperor, and the cer- tain protection of the powerful elector of Saxony, he had little io apprehend. Besides, any man might become courageous, it least at times, who had a powerful party to sustain him in every thing, Luther was certainly most courageous where there was least danger. He is altogether a different charac- ter at the diet of Worms, and at Wittenberg. He could hurl defiance at Popes, emperors, and princes, when these were far off*, and he was out of their reach : but if he had any thing to fear from them, the scene changed altogether. He then became as obsequious and crouching, as he had before been bold and reckless. How meanly sycophantic was he on . all occasions to the elector of Saxony ! We will give one instance of this. When Henry VHL, of England, complained to the elector of Luther's outrageous insults to his royal majesty, the elector barely inti- mated the ftict in a very mild and indirect way to the reformer, i^'lthout even insinuating the propriety of the latter making any * Philosophy of History, vol. ii, p. 204. + See Audin, p. 135, for facts under this head. HIS SUBSERVIENCY TO PRINCES. 87 reparation. Luther at once seized his pen, and indited the fol- lowing singular amende honorable. " Most serene king ! most illustrious prince ! I should be afraid to address your majesty, when I remember how much I must have offended you in the book which, under the influence of bad advice, rather than of my own feelings, I published against you, through pride and vanity I blush now, and scarcely dare to raise my eyes to you — I, who, by means of these workers of iniquity, have not feared to insult so great a prince — I, who am a worm and corruption, and who only merit contempt and dis- dain If your majesty thinks proper that, in another work, I should recall my words, and glorify your name, vouch- safe to transmit to me your orders. I am ready and full of good will,"* etc. In fact, as we shall hereafter prove, Luther was indebted, in a great measure, to his sycophancy to princes for the success of his pretended Reformationf . His passions were violent, and he seems to have made little effort to govern them. His violence, in fact, often drove him to the very verge of insanity. His cherished disciple, Melanc- thon, deplored his furious outbursts of temper. " I tremble when I think of the passions of Luther: they yield not in violence to the passions of Hercules."J The weak and timid disciple had reason to tremble; for he testifies that Luther occasionally inflicted on him personal chastisement.§ If he thus treated his most intimate friends, what are we to suppose his conduct was towards his opponents and enemies ? * 0pp. Lutheri, Tom. ix, p. 234. Cochlaeus, p. 156, Ulenberg, p. 502. See Audin, p. 300. f Mr. Hallam, speaking of this letter of apology addressed by Luther to Henry VIIL, says : " Among the many strange things which Luther said and wrote, I know not one more extravagant than this letter, which almost justi- fies the supposition that there was a vein of insanity in his very remarkable ciiaracter." — Constitutional History of England, Harper's edition, 1857; j(. 45, note. I Melancthon Epist. ad Theodorum. { "Ab ipso colaphos accepi." — Epist. ad eundem. 38 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. In his conferences with Cajetan and Miltitz, and in hhs iettei to Leo X., as well as in his famous .speech at Worms, he acknowledged the violence of his writings : Still, instead of correcting this fault, it seems to have grown with his growth Witness the manner in which he replies to Tetzel. " It seems to me, at the sound of these invectives, that I hear a great ass braying at me. I rejoice at it, and should be sorry that such people should call me a good Christian."* He exhausts all the epithets of the coarsest ribaldry against his opponents, no matter how respectable these may have been. We can not pollute our pages with a tithe of his foul language. Behold the spirit that breathes in the following passage, in which he speaks of his theological antagonist Emser : " After a little time I will pray against him ; I will beseech God to render to him according to his works : it is better that he should perish, than that he should continue to blaspheme Christ. I do not wish you to pray for this wretch ; pray for us alone."f His adversaries are full of devils : if they die, the devil has strangled them ; " one foams at the mouth ; another has the horns and tail of Satan. This one is clad as Antichrist ; that man changed into a block. Oftentimes the same personage, in the same page, is travestied as a mule, a camel, an owl, and a mole."J What are we .to think, for instance, of the spirit of the following language, addressed to an assembly of his own disciples ! " My brethren, be submissive, and communicate only under one kind. If you do what I say to you, I will be to you a good master ; I will lie to you a father, brother, fi-iend. I will obtain graces and privileges from his majesty for you. If you disobey me, I declare that I will become your enemy, and do all the mischief possible to this city." ^ Volumes might be filled with extracts from Luther's writ- ings, replete with the coarsest vulgarity and the grossest * Luth. 0pp. Leipsic, xvii, 132. f Epist. ad Nicholas Hausman, 26 April, 1520. t Audin., p., 11,8. § Table Talk, p. 376. HIS COARSENESS. 89 obscenity : the specimens we have given are among the mild- est and least objectionable,* It is usual to excuse this coarseness of Luther by the spirit of the age in which he lived. This is scarcely a valid apology for one, who set himself up as a reformer of religion and of morals, and who claimed a divine commission to establish a new system of doctrine. Besides, we look in vain for any such examples of vulgarity among his chief opponents in the Catholic Church : Eraser, Eck, Cajetan, Erasmus, and the great Leo X., were far too refined to employ any such vulgar weapons. The reformers seemed to claim a special privilege in this way. Let us exhibit a few specimens of the manner in which some of those rival champions of reform, who dif- fered from Luther in their doctrinal views, spoke of the Saxon reformer. They returned railing for railing.f " This man," says one of his contemporary reformers, " is absolutely mad. lie never ceases to combat truth against all justice, even against the cry of his own conscience."J " He is puffed up," says another, " with pride and arro- gance, and is seduced by Satan."§ " Yes," re-echoes another, " the devil is master of Luther to such a degree as to make one believe that he wishes to gain entire possession of him." II The same brother reformer adds : " that he was possessed not by one, but by a whole troop of devils ;"T[ and that " he wrote all his works by the impulse and the dictation of the * For more instances consult the following pages of Audin, 136, 16?», 235, 237, 239, 240, 248, 273, 285, 287, 288, 299, etc., etc. f It was well for such men as these to turn refonners, and to cry out against the holj^ Catholic Church ! There was certainly great need of refor- mation, not of the Church, but of the coarse hypocrites who, reeking with vice and impurity, lifted up their voices to calumniate better men than them- selves— a device to avert suspicion from their own conduct ! I Hospinian. !j CEcolampadius. || Zuingle. IT Non obsessum ab uno spiritu, sed occupatum a caterva daemonum.— Jontra Lutherum. Apud Audin, p. 188. VOL, I. — 8 90 llEFORMATION IN GERMANY. devil, with whom he had dealings, and who in the struggle seemed to have thrown him by victorious arguments."* This last charge was not without foundation, Luther him- self relates his "conference with the devil" in full, and acknowledges, at the close of it, that he was unable to answer the arguments of Satan !f The devil, as was quite natural, argued against the lawfulness of private Masses, which Luther feebly defended : and so convincing were the reasons of his satanical majesty, that Luther wrote to his intimate friend Melancthon immediately after: "I will not again celebrate private Masses fore/er." J And he faithfully kept his prom- ise ! It was a favorite saying of his that, " unless we have the devil hanging about our necks, we are but pitiful specula tive theologians !"§ Can we wonder, then, at this compliment paid him by his brother Protestants of the church of Zurich : " But how strangely does this fellow let himself be carried away by his devils! How disgusting is his language, and how full are his words of the devil of hell !"|| If these sayings are hard, it is surely not our fault; Luther bore similar testimony of himself, and of his brother Protest- ants, who happened to differ from him ; and these did but retort on him similar compliments ! We are but the humble witnesses and historians of the conflict. The reformers are certainly unexceptionable witnesses of the characters of one * Contra Confessionem Lutheri, p. 61. For more testimonies of the kind, see Note A. at the end of this volume. t In his treatise De Missa private. See also Note B. at the end of the present volume, where we will give the Satanic interview in full. It is a document as curious as it is important, in forming an estimate of Luther's character, I " Sed et ego amplius non (liciam missam privatam in aeternum." — Ad Melancth. Aug. 1, 1521. 5 "Nisi dialx)lum habemus coUo affixum, nihil nisi speculativi theologi sumus." — CoUoquia Mensalia, fol. 23. Apud Audin, i, 366. TurnbuU's translation, two vols. 8vo, London. II Church of Zurich — Contra Confess. Lutheri. HIS MORALITY. 9 1 another. Is it likely that God selected such instruments tc reform Bis church? Luther's standard of morality was about as high as that of his good breeding. St. Paul tells us that a Christian's " conversation is in heaven ;"* Luther's, on the contrary, wah not only earthly, but often immoral and revolting in the ex- treme. He discussed, in all their most disgusting details, subjects which St. Paul would not have so much as " named among Christians."t His famous "Table Talk" is full of such specimens of the new gospel decency. Wine and women, the Pope and the devil, are the principal subjects of which the reformer liked to treat, when alone with his intimate friends, in private and unreserved conversation. For fifteen years — from 1525 to 1540 — he usually passed the evenings at the Black Eagle tavern of Wittenburg, where he met and conversed, over the ale-jug, with his bosom friends, Melanc- thon, Amsdorf, Aurifaber, Justus Jonas, Lange, Link, and Staupitz. His disciples carefully collected and published these con- versations of their "beloved master," as so many precious oracles from heaven, delivered by the mouth of the new apostle. Erasmus Albert, one of them, tells us, in a work against Karlstadt, that " these table discourses of the doctor are better than any sermons ;" and Frederick Mecum, another early Lutheran, calls them "affecting conversations, which ought to be diffused among the people."J The first editions of the work were published in German and in Latin, by Mathesius, Peter Rebstock, and Aurifaber, all zealous disci- ples of the reformer.§ If there was any indiscretion in thus revealing to the world the secret conversations of this "ale- pope of the Black Eagle" with his boon companions, their * Philippians, iii : 20. f Ephes. v : 3. \ Apud Audin, p. 386. \ The first edition was that of Eisleben, Luther's birth-place, in 1566, twenty years after his death. It was speedily followed by others, at Frank- fort on the Oder in 1567 and 1571; at Jena in 1591; at Leipsic in 1603 and 1700 ; at Dresden and again at Leipsic in 1723. 92 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. zeal is alone to blame for the exposure. The Table lalk, oi Tisch Reden^ as it is called in German, revealing as it does the heart of Luther in his most unguarded moments, is per- haps the best key to his real character.* We will not soil our pages with extracts from the Table Talk, revealing the moral turpitude of Luther. Those who may doubt the truth of the picture we have drawn, or who may feel a curiosity in such matters, are referred to the work itself — a ponderous folio of 1350 pages, besides an index, which alone would make a volume of considerable size.f Luther's immorality was not, however, confined to private conversations at the Black Eagle : he unblushingly and sacri- legiously exhibited it in the very sanctuary of God's holy temple. His Sermon on Matrimony, delivered in the German language, from the pulpit of the public church of All Saints at Wittenburg, enters into the most revolting details upon a most delicate subject. The perusal of that sermon, even in the French language — under the veil of which the translator of M. Audin has wisely thought proper to leave it partially concealed — is enough to raise a blush on the cheek of mod- esty! He preached this sermon in 1521, immediately after his return from the Castle of the Wartburg, where he had held his famous " conference with the devil ;" and it is worthy of such a master, if indeed the demon himself, who is said to have little taste for such matters, would not have blushed at the obscenity of his wanton disciple ! * Never, perhaps, was there a better or more striking illustration of the old Latin adage, in vino Veritas — in wine there is truth — than in these un- guarded and confidential conversations between Luther and his intimate friends. Though concealment was no characteristic element of Luther's character, even in his more sober moments, yet the whole depths of his heart were more fully unveiled over his cups, in which he appears to have indulged more and more as he advanced in years. Verily, he had now fully given up all those practices of penitential austerity concerning which he had been so scrupulous while a Catholic ! f M. Audin pnblisnes copious extracts from the work, p. 387, seqq. .^ HIS TABLE TALK. 93 "We may as well remark here, that it was in this same church, about the same time, that Luther delivered the wither- ing invective against Karlstadt and some other ultra reform- ers, who had torn down or defaced the statues and paintings of the church, during his absence at the Wartburg. The fol- lowing extract from this oration contains a boast characteristic of Luther : " I have done more mischief to the Pope, even while I slept, or was drinking beer with Philip and Amsdorf. than all the princes and emperors put together !"* We shudder while we record the following horrid bias phemies, taken from his Table Talk; and we should have refrained from publishing them, had he not set himself up as a reformer of God's Church, and in that garb seduced many from the faith. " May the name of. the Pope be d d : may his reign be abolished ; may his will be restrained ! If I thought that God did not hear my prayer, I would address the devil ."t Again: "I owe more to my dear Catharine and to Philip, than to God himself."J Finally : " God has made many mistakes. I would have given him good advice had I assisted at the creation. I would have made the sun shine incessantly; the day would have been without end."§ Could human wickedness or temerity have gone further than this ? 1| * 0pp. Lutheri, Tom. vii, Chytr. Chron. Sax. p. 247. t Table Talk, p. 213, Edit. Eisleben. t Ibid., p. 124. 5 Id. Ed. Frank, part ii, fol. 20. II In his Standard Library, Bohn publishes (in one volume 12mo, pp. 374, London, 1857,) what purports to be Luther's Table Talk. We are indebted for a copy of this production to our friend James Slevin, Esq., of Phila- delphia. It is said to be a reproduction of a translation made about the middle of the seventeenth century by one Captain Henry Bell, an English- man, who tells us a most marvellous story concerning "the miraculous preserving of Dr. Martin Luther's book, entitled CoUoquia Mensalia, or his Divine Discourses at his Table, etc." According to the account of this gal- lant romancer, he by chance found in Germany a copy of the precious book hidden away in a deep hole in the ground, this being the only copy that was left, all the rest having been burned by order of the Pope and the emperor ! He reverently cari'ied the book to England ; and when he was di'atory in the translation, a nocturnal apparition frightened him into com 94 REFORMATION UN GERMANY. It is not a litttle remarkable, that from the date of his coi> ference witli the devil, Luther's moral career was constantly downward ; until at last he reached the lowest grade of io famy, and became utterly steeped in vice. How strongly does his reckless conduct, after this period, contrast with his vigils, long prayers, and fasts, while an humble monk in the Catholic Church ! He himself draws the contrast in his own forcible manner. He tells us that while a Catholic, " he passed his life in austerities, in watchings, in fasts and praying, in poverty, chastity and obedience."* When he had abandoned Catho- licity, he says of himself, that he was no longer able to resist the vilest propensities,t and that, " as it did not depend upon him not to be a man, so neither did it depend upon him to be without a woman."J His immorality was generally known, and he himself often acknowledged it. " He was," says Slei- dan, a Protestant historian of the time, "so well aware of his immorality, as we are informed by his favorite disciple (Melancthon,) that he wished they would remove him from the office of preaching."§ In his Table Talk, he often avowed mencing the task, causing him " to fall into an extreme sweat !" See hia narrative in full, prefixed to Bohn's edition. He does not choose to tell us whether the apparition was "white or black" — a question which had seriously puzzled more than one reformer. Verily, some people arc prepared to betieve almost any absurdity, provided it only tally with their prejudices, and almost any marsel, provided it do not point in the direction of the truth. We have never seen a more stupid or clumsy imposture than this whole attempt to palm off on the public the dreams of a miserable, and it would seem, disreputable adventurer ; and we are surprised that such a man as William Hazlitt should have lent it his countenance. The book itself is a bad abridgment of Luther's Table Talk, with the more objectionable portions carefully left out. Only think of pub- lishing the immense folio of 1350 pages in a small 12nio volume! Yet there is no indication of its abridgment. * Tom. V, 0pp. Commentar. in c. i ad Gralatas v, 14. f " Carnis mea3 indomitae uror magnis ignibus, carne, libidine." Apud Audin, p. 355. I 0pp. Tom. v, fol. 119. Sermo de Matrimonio. 5 Sleidan, B. ii, An. 1520. HIS MARRIAGE. 95 the base passions which raged within him; but in language much too gross for our pages. He sometimes complained, that " the Wittenbergers who supply all the monks with wives, will not give me one."* Though he had made a solemn vow of chastity; and though the Holy Scriptures command us to fulfill our vows ;t yet he married Catharine Bora, a nun bound by similar sacred engagements !J He hesitated long before he took this step, and had some conscientious twitchings even while taking it: his conscience did not become wholly seared, until some time afterwards! While at the Wartburg in 1521 — a little before his satanical interview — he uttered the following exclamation r)f horror, on being shown some theses of his recreant dis- * See Meyer — Ehren Gedachtniss, fol. 26. f Psalm Ixxv : 12. I The Protestant historian of Germany, Wolfgang Menzel, speaking of Luther's marriage, says : " Luther, in defiance of the ancient prophecy, that antichrist would spring from the union of a monk and nun, wedded (A. D. 1525,) the beautiful young nun Catharine Von Bora, who brought him sev- eral children." Vol. ii, p. 249, edit. Bohn, London, 1853. He was not the first apostate priest who married at the period of the Reformation ; Karl- stadt, Bernhard, and others had preceded him in the reformatory race mat- rimonial. Ibid., p. 232. As we shall have occasion to quote Menzel frequently hereafter, we may as well remark here, that though occasionally candid in his statement of facts, he takes little pains to disguise his prejudice against the Catholic Church ; which circumstance renders his testimony the more unexception- able whenever it is favorable to the Church. One can hardly have patience while reading the flippant and stupid calumnies, which he heaps together on p. 218, seqq., of this second volume, in reference to the character of the Popes who preceded Leo X., the sale of indulgences, and the first move- ments of the Reformation in Germany. He assigns no authority whatever for his calumnious and almost incredible statements. Among other things, for instance, he says that the ignorance of the clergy " was countenanced by the Popes, who expressly decreed that out of ten ecclesiastics only one was to study !" P. 220. The Popes had always decreed precisely the contrary, as every one knows who has read history. This very Pontiff, Leo X., had enacted, that "thenceforth none should be raised to the priesthood but mec of ripe years, of exemplar}'^ conduct, and who had gone through a long course of atudy." See Audin, vol. i, p. 79, London edition. 96 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. ciple, Karlstadt, in which this man allowed wives to priesta and monks — "Good heaven! will our Wittenburg friends allow wives even to monks ! Ah ! at least they will not make me take a wife."* And again he says : "• The friars have of their own accord chosen a life of celibacy ; they are therefore not at liberty to withdraw from the obligations they have laid themselves under."t Three years later, in 1524, he said : " God may change my purpose, if such be his pleasure ; but at present I have no thought of taking a wife."J And yet, but a few short weeks elapsed before he espoused Catharine Bora ! That he had some misgivings on the occa- sion, would appear from these words of his letter to an inti- mate friend, Wenceslaus Link — " Away with your scruples : let the Lord be glorified. I have my little Catharine, I belong to Bora, and am dead, to the world "§ — and to con- science. To Kueppe, another boon companion, he wrote : " You know well what has happened to me. I am caught in the snares of a woman. God must have been angry with me and with the world." 1| Luther at first felt the degradation to which he had stooped, in violating his sacred vows. In a letter to his intimate friend Spalatin, immediately after his marriage, he says : " That he had made himself so vile and contemptible by these nuptials, that he hopes all the angels will laugh, and all the demons weep !"T[ Still this feeling soon gave way to a conviction, which he expressed in a con- fidential letter to another friend, "That God himself had inspired him with the thought of marrying that nun, Catha- rine de Bora ! !"** Could inconsistency and infatuation go further than this ? * At mihi non obtrudent uxorem. Lib. Epist. ii, p. 40. D'Aubigne iii, 26. Audin, vol. i, p. 337. f Ibid., p. 34 ; D'Aubigne, ib., p. 26, 27. X Epist. ii, p. 570, 30th Nov., 1524. \ Epist. Tom. ii, p. 245. Wittenb. edit. Seckendorf, 1. i, s. 63, clxx.xi'. II Ibid. Tom. ii, p. 903. Edit. Altenb. ^ Epistola Spaliitino. " Sic me vilem et contemptum his nuptiis feci, ut angclos ridere, et daemones flere sperem." ** Epist. Wenceslao Liiik HIS MARRIAGE. 97 The whole world was astounded, or at least greatly shocked at this conduct of the Saxon reformer. The Catholics viewed it as open sacrilege: many Protestants were saddened and scandalized. Among these was Melancthon, who deplored this conduct of his master in a letter to Camerarius ; but with singular inconsistency adds : " Wo, however, to him who would reject the doctrine, on account of the sins of the teacher !" The accomplished, but wavering Erasmus, viewed it but as another proof of his caustic remark, " That the tra- gedy of the Reformation ever terminated in the comedy of marriage," In a letter written on the occasion, he says: " This is a singular occurrence ; Luther has thrown off the philosopher's cloak, and has just married a young woman of twenty-six — handsome, well-made, and of a good family, but who has no dowry, and who for some time had ceased to be a vestal. The nuptials were most auspicious ; for a few days after the hymeneal songs were sung, the bride was delivered ! Luther revels, while a hundred thousand peasants descend to the tomb !"* The scandalous circumstance here developed may perhaps explain Luther's haste in the matter. All Germany was aroused by the tidings of Luther's mar- riage. His opponents, as well as those who were indifferent, * Epist. Danieli Manchis Ulmensi. Oct. 6, 1525. This letter of Erasmus has given rise to an animated controversy between the friends and opponents of Luther. Those who may wish to see both sides, are referred to Audin, p. 362, seqq. There seems to be little doubt, that the caustic censure of Erasmus had a basis in truth. See also Bayle's Dictionary, article Luther. The alleged retraction by Erasmus is believed by many to have been a for- gery. If Froben, who collected and published the Epistles of Erasmus, omitted the original passage in his letter to Daniel Ulm criminating Luther, he would scarcely have scrupled to interpolate this passage containing the alleged retraction. Besides, Luther's immorality was well known, and not concealed even by himself His conversation was habitually such as to indi- cate a corrupt heart. He had, moreover, a son Andrew, as he testifies in his Table Talk, though his name is not given in the list of his children fui- nished elsewhere, which is very suspicious. Finally, he speaks of an ille- gitimate child of his wife Catharine. See Audin, Ibid. VOL. I. — 9 98 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. laughed at liis expense through all the notes of tne gamut. Sonnets, epigrams, satires, epithalamia, and caricatures, poured in on his devoted head, like a hail storm, from every quarter. Among these, the best perhaps were those of Doc- tors Emser and "Wimpina. Tlie former extemporized a nuptial song, or epithalamium, in Latin verse, and set it to music : " Farewell ! cowl, prior, guardian, abbot : adieu to all vows : adieu to matins and prayers, fear and shame : adieu to conscience !"* The latter, in a wood-cut caricature, exhibited, in withering and ludicrous contrast, the marriage of Luther and the divine injunction : " Vow ye, and pay to the Lord your God" — Yovete, et reddite Domino Deo tuo.f Luther seems to have retired for a time from the pitiless peltings of the storm — "dead to the world, with his little Catharine" — but he again emerged from solitude, more reck- less and violent than ever. As Erasmus remarked, "mar- riage had not tamed him !" Indeed, it would seem that " his little Catharine" gave him no little trouble and annoyance. She sometimes played the part of the scold and the vixen. He used to call her — after the honey-moon, of course — "my master Ketha." J — Poor man ! Before he left the Catholic Church, he was temperate and abstemious: during the last twenty-one years of his life — from his marriage in 1525 to his death in 1546 — he was much given to the luxuries of the table, and drank beer copi- ously, if not to excess. Maimbourg and others tell us, that * Cuculla, vale, capa ! Vale, prior, custos, abba ! Cum obedientia, Cum jubilo. Ite vota, preces, horae, Vale timor cum pudore : Vale conscientia ! CocMoRUS in Act. Lutheri, fol. 118. f Psalm Ixxv: 12 ; Prot. vers. Ixxri: 12. The only answer Luther made to Wimpina, was this : " Let the sow grunt ! " \ "Dominus meus Ketha." HIS DEATH BEFORE AND AFTER. 99 DC lost the use of reason at many of the sumptuous banquets, in which he was wont to revel with his intimate friends ; and Seckendorf, his warmest admirer, admits that " he used food and drink joyfully, and indulged in jokes,"* even on the eve of his death. In fact, so little was he in the habit of re- straining his passions, or of concealing his vices, that they all stood out in bold relief, — strong even in death ! His death was in every respect worthy of the life he had habitually led since he had turned reformer. His last words contained a refusal to retract his errors, and a declaration that he wished to die as he had lived ! We will give a few incidents connected with his last moments. "I am ready to die," he said, " whenever it shall please God my Saviour ; but I would wish to live till Pentecost, that I might stigma- tize before the whole world this Roman beast, whom they call the Pope, and with him his kingdom." His pains be- coming very acute, he said one day to his nurse : " I wish there was a Turk here to kill me." Hear how he prays, while suffering: "My sins — death, the devil — give me no rest! What other consolation have I but thy grace, O God ! Ah ! let it not abandon the most miserable of men, the greatest of sinners!" Witness again the spirit of the following charac teristic prayer, in which the supplication for mercy is blended with hatred of his enemies: "O my God! how I would wish that Erasmus and the Sacramentarians did for a moment experience the pains that I suffer : then I would become a prophet and foretell their conversion."! After the sumptuous feast alluded to above, he gave vent to his humor in the following strain, the subject of which is the devil — his usual hobby: "My dear friends, we can not die, till we have caught hold of Lucifer by the tail ! I saw his back yesterday from the castle turrets."! * " Cibo et potu hilariter usus est ; et facetiis indulsit." Seckendorf, Com- mentar. de Lutheranismo. f For more facts of a similar kind, see Audin, p. 482, seqq. t Rareburgius, in his MS. Seckendorf, lib. iii, ^ 36, cxxxiv. 100 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. Tlie discourse subsequently turned on the study of the Scriptures, and Luther made the following declaration, wLich is valuable as a death-bed confession. "It is no trifle to understand the Scriptures. Five years' hard labor will be required to understand Virgil's Georgics : twenty years' expe- rience to be master of Cicero's Epistles: and a hundred years' intercourse with the prophets Elias, Eliseus, John the Baptist, Christ, and the apostles, to know the Scriptures ! — Alas! poor human nature!"* And yet the last twenty-nine years of his life had been devoted to the promulgation of the cardinal principle of his new religion, that every one was competent to understand the Scriptures by his own private judgment! Well may we exclaim — "Alas! poor human •luiture !" Such was, or rather became, Martin Luther, after he had loft the holy Catholic Church ! Compare his character then with what it was before that event ; and then apply D 'Au- bigne's test given above, and the conclusion is irresistible: that he was not a chosen instrument in the hands of God for reforming the Church, which " He had purchased with His blood." t Before he left the Church, he was, as we have seen, humble, patient, pious, devoted, chaste, scrupulous; after- wards, he was, in every one of these particulars, directly the reverse. Does God choose such instruments to do his work ? Was Moses, was Aaron, were the apostles such characters ? Luther, like the apostles, forsooth! They were humble, chaste, patient, temperate, and modest: he was proud, im- moral, impatient, and wholly shameless. They had a mission from God, and proved it by mirales : he had not the one, nor did he claim the other; though challenged on the subject, both by the Zuinglians and by the Anabaptists.J Therefore * Florimond Remond, b. iii, c. ii, fol. 287. Laign, vita Lutheri, fol. 4. f Acts XX : 28. X See Audin, p. 239. Stiibner, an Anabaptist, asked him to produce his miracles. He was silent, though a little before, he had made the very same challenge to Karlstadt, an I renewed it afterwards to the Zuinglians! CHARACTER OF THE REFORMERS. 101 God did not send him — and all of D'Aiibigne's canting theory falls of itself to the ground. What must the lock of the Reformation be, if Luther's personal character be the key, which suits its internal structure ? !♦■ would be easy to show, by unquestionable evidence, that the other reformers were not a whit better than Luther. We have seen already, what testimony they mutually bore to the character of one another ; and we shall probably have occa- sion to recur to the subject in the sequel of our essay : " The historian, Hume, has truly characterized the reformers as * fanatics and bigots;' but with no less justice might he have added, that they were (with one exception ■perhaps')* the coarsest hypocrites :f men, who, while professing the most high-flown sanctity in their writings, were in their con- duct, brutal, selfish, and unrestrainable ; who, though pretending, in matters of faith, to adopt reason as their guide, were in all things else, the slaves of the most vulgar superstition ; and who, with the boasted right of private judgment forever on their lips, passed their lives in a course of mutual re- crimination and persecution ; and transmitted the same warfare as an heir- loom to their descendants. Yet, ' these be thy Gods,' 0 Protestantism ! — these the coarse idols which heresy has set up in the niches of the saints and fathers of old, and whose names, like those of all former such idols, are worn like brands upon the foreheads of their worshipers."| Wlioever will read attentively the veridical history of the Reformation, will admit the truth of this picture drawn by the great Irish bard. * Melancthon. f Bucer admits the justice of this reproach. Epist ad Calvin. X " Travels of an Irish Gentleman," etc., p. 200, 201. Doyle, New York, 1835. 7 PART II. CAUSES AND MANNER OF THE REFOEMATION CHAPTER II. CHARACTER OF THE RE FORMATION— THEORY OF D'AUBIGNE EXAMINED. The question stated — D'Aubigne's opinion — Mother and daughter — Argu- mentnm ad hominem — Jumping at a conclusion — Second causes — Why Germany was converted — Why Italy and Spain were not — Luther and Mohammed — Reasoning by contraries — Why France continued CathoUc. We have seen what was the character of the chief instru- ments who brought about the Reformation in Germany ; we are now to examine what was the character of the work itself, and how it was accomplished. Were the reasons which were assigned, as the principal motives for this alleged reform in religion, sufficient to justify it, according to the judgment of impartial men ? Were the means employed for bringing it about such as would lead us to believe, that it was really a change for the better ; and were they such as God would or could have approved and sanctioned ? Finally, weighing these motives and these means, and making all due allow- ance for the condition of the times, was there any thing very remarkable in the rapid progress of the Reformation itself? We will endeavor to answer these questions in the following chapters. D'Aubigne, and those who concur with him, profess to believe, or at least endeavor to make others believe, that the Reformation was not only sanctioned by God, but that it was directly His work. He says : " Christianity and the Reformation are, indeed, the same revolution, but working at different periods, and in dissimilar circumstances. They differ >n sscondarj^ features — they are alike in their first lines, and leading charac- (102) n'S RAPID DIFFUSION. 103 teristics. The one is the reappearance of the other. The former closes the Did order of things — the latter begins the new. Between them is the middle aga. One is the parent of the other ; and if the daughter is in some respects inferior, she has, in others, characters altogether peculiar to herself."* In opposition to this flattering theory, we will endeavor to prove that the Reformation differs from Christianity, not only " in secondary features," but also " in its first lines and leading characteristics ;" and that, if the former was the daughter of the latter, she was a most recreant and degenerate daughter truly, with scarcely one lineament in common with her parent. Yerily, she had "characters altogether peculiar to herself," and she was not only " in some respects," but in almost every thing, not only "inferior" to, but the direct opposite, of her alleged parent ! According to our author, one of these " characters of the Reformation peculiar to itself," was " the suddenness of its action." He illustrates the rapidity with which the Reforma- tion was established, by the figure employed by our blessed Saviour to denote the suddenness of His second coming : "As the lightning cometh forth from the west and shineth to the east, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." " Christianity," he says, " was one of those revolutions, which was slowly and gradually prepared ;" the Reformation, on the contrary, was instantaneous in its effect : — " A monk speaks, and in half of Europe the power and glory [of the Church of Rome] crumbles in the dust ! "f This rapidity he views as a certain evidence, that the Reformation was assuredly the work of God. For " how could an entire people — how could 80 many nations, have so rapidly performed so difficult a work ? How could such an act of critical judgment [on the necessity and measure of the reform] kindle the enthusiasm indispensable to great, and especially to sudden revolutions 1 But the Reformation was a work of a very different kind ; and this, its history will prove. It was the pouring forth anew of that life which Christianity had brought into the world." J * D'Aubin^e, Preface, p. iv. f Ibid. t Tbid. ^04 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. We trust to make it appear in the sequel, that ihe rapiditv with which the Reformation was diffused, was the result of the pouring forth of a different spirit altogether. Meantime we would beg leave to ask D'Aubigne to answer this plain argument, specially adapted to the case as he puts it : if the suddenness of the Reformation be a proof that it was brought about by the " pouring forth anew of that life which Christi anity had brought into the world ;" would not the contrary feature of Christianity — its gradual operation* — be a conclu- sive evidence, that this latter system was not the work of God? And if this argument be not valid, what truth is there in D'Aubigne's entire theory? Would not his reason- ing, if reduced to the strict laws of logic, rather prove, on the contrary, if it proved any thing, that the Reformation, differing avowedly as it does in an essential feature from Christianity, was not effected by the agency of the Holy Spirit, but was the mere result of violent human passions, which usually bring about sudden revolutions, both in the religious and in the social system? It is curious to trace the further development of his favor- ite theory. "Two considerations will account for the rapidity and extent of this revolution. One of these must be sought in God, the other among men. The impulse was given by an unseen hand of power, and the change which took place was the work of God. This will be the conclusion arrived at by every one who considers the subject with impartiality and attention, and does not rest in a superficial view. But the historian has a further office to perform — God acts by second causes. Man}' circumstances, which have often escaped observation, gradually prepared men for the great transforma- tion of the sixteenth century, so that the human mind was ripe when the hour of its emancipation arrived."f Now, we have given no little attention to the subject, and we claim at least as much impartiality as our historian of " the great Reformation ;" and yet, with the facts of history before us, we can arrive at no such conclusion, but have * This we merely suppose with D'Aubigne, who assumes that such is the fact. t D'Aubigne, Preface, p. v. WHY ITALY WAS NOT CONVERTED. 105 reached one precisely contrary. And the reasoi.;? which have forced us to draw this hitter inference are so many and 80 cogent, that we are even under the conviction, that no one who will "consider the subject with impartiality and atten- tion, and does not rest in a superficial view," can fail to agree with us. In examining the secondary causes, by which God " gradu- ally prepared men for the great transformation of the sixteenth century," our historian assigns a prominent place to the cen- tral and commanding position of Germany. " As Judea, the birth-place of our rehgion, lay in the centre of the ancient world, so Germany was situate in the midst of Christian nations. She looked upon the Netherlands, England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Hun- gary, Bohemia, Poland, Denmark, and the whole of the north. It was fit that the principle of life should develop itself in the heart of Europe, that its pulses might circulate through all the arteries of the body the generous blood designed to vivify its members."* He alleges the following most singular reasons why Ger- many was prepared for embracing the Reformation : "The Germans had received from Kome that element of modern civiliza- tion, the faith. Instruction, legislation — all, save their courage and their weapons, had come to them from the sacerdotal city. Strong ties had from that time attached Germany to the Papacy."f — Therefore was she "ripe" for a rupture with Rome ! This connexion with Rome " made the reaction more powerful at the moment of awakening."| Again : " The gospel had never been offered to Germany in its primitive purity ; the first missionaries who visited the country gave to it a religion already vitiated in more than one particular. It was a law of the Church, a spiritual discipline, that Boniface and his successors carried to the Prisons, the Saxons, and other German nations. Faith in the ' good tid- •ngs,' that faith which rejoices the heart and makes it free indeed, had remained unknown to them." § — Therefore, when Luther and his brother reformers announced these "good * D'Aubigne Book i, p. 76. f Ibid., pp. 78, 79. t Ibid., p. 79. 5 Ibid., p. 78. 106 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. tidings" in all their purity for the first time — fraught too with endless variations and contradictions — The Germans were prepared for the " awakening." and received the gospel with enthusiasm!! Truly, our fanciful and romantic historian loves to reason by contraries, and to startle his readers by palpable absurdities ! No less curious is his reason for explaining why the Italians did not receive the new gospel : "And if the truth was destined to come from the north, how could the Itahans, so enHghtened, of so refined a taste and social habits, so delicate in their own eyes, condescend to receive any thing at the hands of the barba- rous Germans? Their pride, in fact, raised between the Reformation and themselves a barrier higher than the Alps. But the very nature of their mental culture was a still greater obstacle than the presumption of their hearts. Could men, who admired the elegance of a well cadenced sonnet more than the majestic simplicity of the Scriptures, be a propitious soil for the seed of God's word? A false civilization is, of all conditions of a nation, that, which Ls most repugnant to the gospel."* Those who have read Roscoe's " Life and Pontificate of Leo X.," will greatly question the accuracy of this picture of Italian civilization. "We shall prove in the sequel, that, both before and during the time of the Reformation, Italy did much more than Germany, to evidence her admiration " for the majestic simplicity of the Scriptures." At present we will barely renuirk, that the gist of D'Aubigne's theory consists in the assertion, that Italy was too enlightened, too refined in taste and social habits, too delicate in her own eyes, and conse- quently too proud and presumptuous to receive the new gos- pel ; while Germany, being on the contrary, less enlightened, less refined, and more corrupt in doctrine and morals, was a more genial soil — ;]'ust the one, in fact, which was most " ripe" for its reception, and most likely to foster its growth! We most cheerfully award to him the entire benefit of this novel and marvelous speculation on the most suitable means of dis- posing men's minds for the willing reception of gospel truth. * D'Aubigne, Book i, p. 84. WHY SPAIN WAS NOT CONVERTED. j 07 To confirm this singular theory still further, he thus accounts for the singular fact that Spain did not embrace Protestantism : " Spain possessed, what Italy did not — ^a serious and noble people, whose religious mind has resisted even the stern trial of the eighteenth century, and of the revolution (French), and maintained itself to our own days. In every age, this people has had among its clergy men of piety and learning, and it was sufficiently remote from Rome to throw off without difficulty her yoke. There are few nations wherein one might more reasonably have hoped for a revival of that primitive Christianity, which Spain had probably received from St. Paul himself And yet Spain did not then stand up among the nations. She was destined to be an example of that word of the divine wisdom, ' the first shall be last' "* Wliat a pity ! We have little doubt ourselves, that these were precisely some of the principal reasons, why Spain did not stand up among the nations who revolted against Catho- licity in the sixteenth century: and her having passed un- scathed through this fiery ordeal of reckless innovation, may also serve to explain to us, how she was enabled " to resist even the stern trial of the eighteenth century, and of the revolution." Her people were too " serious and too noble," their mind was too " religious," and their clergy had too much " piety and learning," to allow them to be carried away by the novel vagaries of Protestantism. Among the " various circumstances which conduced to the deplorable result" — of her remaining Catholic, D'Aubigne mentions her "remoteness from Germany," the '"''JiearV of Europe — "an eager desire after riches" in the new world — the influence of her "powerful clergy" — and her military, glory, which had just risen to its zenith, after the conquest of Grenada and the expulsion of the Moors. In reference to this last cause, he asks emphatically: "How could a people who had expelled Mohammad from their noble country, allow Luther to make way in it ? "f — This question is at least charac- teristic ! Was there then, in the ideas of the serious and noble Spaniards, so little difierence between Luther and Mo * D'Aubigne, Book i, p. 85. f Ibid., p. 86. 108 REFORMATION IN GERMMY. hammed ? And is our philosophic historian half inclined him self to think, that they were not so very far out in their logic " Few countries," he says, " seemed likely to be better disposed than France for the reception of the evangelical doctrines. Almost all the intellectual and spiritual life of the middle ages was concentrated in her. It might have been said, that the paths were everywhere trodden for a grand manifestation of the truth."* — Perhaps this very pre- servation of the intellectual and spiritual life of the middle ages, was a principal reason why France continued Catholic. A little ftirther on,f he continues : " The (French) people, of quick feeling, intelligent, and susceptible of generous emotions, were as open, or even more so than other nations, to the'*truth. It seemed as if the lleformation must be, among them, the birth which should crown the travail of several centuries. But the chariot of France, which seemed for so many generations to be advancing to the same goal, suddenly turned at the mo- ment of the Reformation, and took a contrary direction. Such was the will of Him, who rules nations and their kings." — We greatly admire his pious resignation to the will of God ! This sentiment may perhaps console him for his disappointment; " that the augury of ages was deceived," in regard to France.J He adds, in the same pious strain : " Perhaps, if she had received the gospel, she might have become too powerful ! " He winds up his affecting Jeremiad over France with these and similar passages : " France, after having been almost reformed, found herself, in the result, Roman Catholic. The sword of her princes, cast into the scale, caused it to incline in favor of Rome. Alas! another sword, that of the reformers themselves, in sured the failure of the effort fit»r reformation. The hands that had been accustomed to warlike weapons, ceased to be lifted up in prayer. It is by the blood of its confessors, not by that of its adversaries, that the gospel triumphs. Blood • D'Aubigne, Book i, p. 86. f IWd., p. 87. t Ibid. FAILURE OF REFORM IN FRANCE. 109 shed by its defenders, extinguishes and smothers it."* — That is, the Reformation sought to establish itself in France by violence and by force, and it signally failed !f Elsewhere, as we shall see, it was more successful in the employment of such carnal weapons. But Protestantism obtained sufficient foot- hold in France to do incredible mischief for a century and a half; and it sowed upon her beautiful soil the fatal seeds which, two centuries and a half later, produced the bitter fruits of anarchy, infidelity, and bloodshed, during the dread- ful " reign of terror !" Such is the theory of D ' Aubigne in regard to what we may perhaps designate the philosophy of the Reformation ; and we now proceed to its refutation ; — which is no difficult task, as in fact it sufficiently refutes itself. * D Aubigne, Book i. p. 87. f In our second volume, we shall have occasion to prove, we trust by abundant evidence, that this is strikingly true, and that D 'Aubigne is not far wrong in his appreciation of the unsuccessful effort to thrust the llefor matiou on France. 110 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. CHAPTER III. PRETEXTS FOR THE REFORMATION. Usual plea — Abuses greatly exaggerated — Three questions put and an- swered— Origin of abuses — Free-will unimpaired — Councils to extiipate abuses — Church thwarted by princes and the world — Controversy on In- vestitures— Extent of the evil — Sale of indulgences — St. Peter's Church — John Tetzel — His errors greatly exaggerated — Public penance — License to sin — Nature of indulgences — Tetzel rebuked and his conduct disavowed by Rome — Miltitz and Cardinal Cajetan — Kindness thrown away — Luther in tears — Efibrts of Piome — Leo X. and Adrian VI. — Their forbearance censured by Catholic writers — Their tardy severity justified by D'Aubigne — Luther's real purpose — The proper remedy — The real issue — Nullifica- tion— " Curing and cutting a throat " — Luther's avowal — Admissions of the confession of Augsburg and of Daille — Summing up. The usual plea fiir the Reformation is, that it was necessary for the correction of the flagrant abuses which had crept into the Catholic Church. These are, of course, greatly exaggera- ted and are painted in the most glowing colors, by D'Aubigne, and by other writers favorable to the Reformation. He dwells with evident complacency on the vices of one or two Popes, and of some of the Catholic bishops and clergy, both secular and regular, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. He represents the whole Church as thoroughly corrupt, and states that, but for the efforts of the reformers, religion would have perished entirely from the face of the earth. V^^e have al- ready seen how he compared the reformers, preaching up their new-fangled doctrines among the benighted Roman Catholics of the sixteenth century, to the apostles preaching the gospel to the pagans of their day ! And how coolly he as- sured us that the " Reformation was but the re-appearance of Christianity ! " We beg to record our solemn protest against the gross injustice of this entire view of the subject. But we are asked: — What? do you deny the existence of abuses in the Catholic Church? Do you deny, that those rilO) ORIGIN OF ABUSES. Ill abuses were great and wide spread ? Do you deny, that it was proper, and even necessary to correct them? — We deny none of these things : except that there is an implied exagger- ation in the second question. We admit the existence of the evil complained of, especially about the beginning of the six- teenth century ; and we deplore it, as sincerely at least, as do the opponents of the Catholic Church. A good cause can never suffer from candidly avowing the truth, and the whole truth. Let genuine history pronounce its verdict as to the real facts of the case ; and we at once bow to the decision. But what was the origin of the abuses complained of? what was their extent? and what was the adequate and proper remedy for them ? We will endeavor briefly to answer these three questions, which, we apprehend, go to the root of the matter under discussion. 1. It was not the intention of Christ, nor was it the design of the .Christian religion wholly to prevent the possibility of abuses. He willed, indeed, that all men should embrace His religion, and reduce its holy principles to practice ; in which case, there would have been no disorders nor abuses on the face of the earth, and the world would have been an earthly paradise, free from all stain of sin. But this state of perfec- tion could not have been effectually brought about, without offering violence to man's free will, which God, in His moral government of the world, has ever wished to leave unimpaired. Religion was freely offered to mankind, with all- its saving truths, its holy maxims, its purifying institutions, and its powerful sanctions of rewards and punishments in an after- life. Sufficient grace was also bounteously proffered to all, to enable them to learn and believe its doctrines, and to observe its commandments. But no one was com/pelled to do either. Even among the twelve chosen apostles, who were trained under the immediate eye of Christ, there was one " devil." Christ himself foresaw and distinctly foretold that scandals would come ; but He contented himself with pronouncing a 112 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. " woe on that man by whom the scandal cometh."* In Hi? spiritual kingdom, the Church, there was to be cockle, as well as the good wheat, and He willed " that both should grow until the harvest"! of the general judgment; in which only the final separation of the good and evil will take place. Noth- ing is more foreign to the nature of Christ's Church, than the proposition that it was intended only to comprise the elect and the just. The struggle between good and evil — between truth and error — between the powers of heaven and the " gates of hell" — is to go on until the consummation of the world: but Christ has pledged His solemn word, that " the gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church ; "J and that He will be with the body of His pastors and teachers " all days even to the consummation of the world."§ Abuses are accordingly known to have existed in all ages of the Church, even during her palmiest days. The writings of the earliest fathers — of St. Cyprian, of Tertullian, of St. Ambrose, and St. John Chrysostom — paint them in the most glowing colors. The Church never approved of them — she could not do so even for a day ; for Christ had solemnly promised to guard her, His own beloved and glorious Spouse, " without spot or wrinkle," from falling away from her fidel- ity by lapsing into or sanctioning error. She bore her con- stant testimony against them, and labored without intermission for their removal. Her eighteen general councils, one for each century, and her local ecclesiastical assemblies, almost with- out number — diocesan, provincial, and national, — what are they all but evidences of this her constant solicitude, and re- cords of her noble and repeated struggles for the extirpation of error and vice ? There is not an error that she has not proscribed ; not a vice nor an abuse upon which she has not set the seal of her condemnation. She was divinely commis- sioned for this purpose : and well and fully has she discharged the sacred commission. * Math, xviii : 7. f Ibid., xiii : 30. t Math, xvi : 18. 5 Ibid., xxviii : 20. INVESTITURES EXTENT OF THE EVIL. 113 Whenever she was not opposed nor thwarted in her heav- enly purpose by the wicked ones of the earth, error and vice disappeared before her, like the mist before the rising sun. But she had at all times to contend with numerous, and some- times, from the human point of view, with seemingly insur- mountable obstacles. This was particularly the case during the middle ages. The princes of the earth, especially in Ger- many, sought, during that whole period, to enslave the Church, and to make the bishops the mere subservient instruments of their worldly purposes and earthly ambition. This they en- deavored to efiect by making them their vassals, and by claiming a right to confer on them even the insignia of their spiritual office. The effect of this last claim was to render the appointment of bishops and of the higher clergy, as well as the exercise of their spiritual jurisdiction, but too often de- pendent on the corrupt policy or mischievous whims of the secular power. The Roman Pontiffs maintained an arduous contest, for centuries, with the emperors of Germany and with other princes, against this glaring and wicked usurpa- tion, fraught as it was with countless evils to the Church, which it attacked in the very fountains of her spiritual power. The question of Investitures was one of vital consequence, of liberty or slavery for the Church. After a protracted struggle the Pontiffs succeeded ; but their suc- cess was neither so complete nor so permanent as the friends of the Church could have wished. Emperors, kings, and princes, especially those of the Germanic body, had still far too nmch power in the nomination of bishops and of the clergy.* II. The consequences were most disastrous for the Church. Unworthy bishops were often intruded by the German empe- rors and princes into the principal sees. The example aod the influence of these were frequently baneful to the charac- * This, we think, we have already suflBciently established in the Intro- ductory cliapter to the present volume. VOL. I. 10 114 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. ter of the inferior clergy. Owing to the operation of these causes, the bishops and clergy of Germany, many of them, had greatly degenerated, about the beginning of the sixteenth century. Still there were many brilliant exceptions. The evil was by no means so general or so wide-spread as it is usually represented. We are yet free to avow that it is difficult to explain how such large bodies of the clergy abandoned the Church in many countries of Europe, in any other supposition than that they had sadly degenerated from primitive fervor. At the bidding of their prince, or at the prompting of their own self-interest, they, in an evil hour, abandoned that Church which they had promised to defend, and at whose altars they had been solemnly consecrated ! The abuse and alleged sale of indulgences afforded the principal pretext for the first movements of the Reformation. The Church had always maintained her power to grant indul- gences : she never sanctioned, in her official capacity, the abuses which, at some times and in some places, grew out of the exercise of this power. In the early centuries the canons imposed long and painful public penances on certain grievous transgressions. A canon of the general Council of Nice, in 325, had given to the bishops a discretionary power to remit the whole or a part of those penances, when the penitent manifested special fervor. Other councils made similar enact- ments. During the middle ages the rigor of the ancient peni- tential system was greatly softened down : and the penances themselves were often commuted into alms or other pious works. About the beginning of the sixteenth century, Leo X. de- termined to push forward to completion a project conceived by his predecessor Julius IL, of erecting in Rome a Christian temple, which should far surpass, in dimensions and magnifi- (;ence, any thing that the world had ever yet seen. The origination of the plan of St. Peter's church was an idea worthy the mind of these magnificent Pontiffs ; and its erec- tion, which 'hey commenced, is one among the noblest monu- INDULGENCES. 115 ments to their fame.* To promote an object so splendid, Leo promulgated a bull, in which he promised ample indulgences to all who would contribute to so laudable an undertaking. And, if there were no other proof of the utility of indulgences, the erection of that splendid temple, mainly due to them, is a monument which would go far towards removing every cavil on the subject. No one can enter that church without being forcibly impressed with the majesty of God and the gran- deur of the Christian religion. To borrow the idea of a modern poet, his soul, on passing its portals and casting a glance at its immense and almost sublime proportions and marvelous symmetry, becomes " as colossal as the build- ing itself!" Albert, archbishop of Mayence and Magdeburg, was ap- pointed by the Pontiff to carry out the intentions of the bull * Of Julius II. and Leo X. much has been written which is favorable, and much also that is unfavorable to their character as Pontiffs, if not as men. By some they have been represented as worldly-minded, and as being too much guided by earthly policy. Few, if any writers of respectability, no matter how prejudiced, have ventured a word against their moral character. Both were distinguished patrons of learning ; both were men of enlarged minds and liberal views. Even the prejudiced Menzel says of Leo, that "he was free from personal vices." — (Vol. ii, p. 219.) The eulogy pronounced on him by Roscoe, the liberal minded English Protestant historian of his pontificate, is well known. Of Julius II. this same writer says : " His vigor- ous and active mind corresponded with the restless spirit of the times, his ambition was not the passion of a groveling mind, nor were the advantages he sought of a temporary or personal nature. To establish the authority of the Holy See throughout Europe, to recover the dominions of the Church, to expel all foreign powers from Italy, and to restore that country to the dominion of its native princes, were the vast objects of his comprehensive mind. And these objects he lived to a great degree to accomplish." — (Ros- coe, Life, etc., of Leo X., p. 291 ; quoted in Dublin Review, for September, 1855.) If as a temporal prince he went to war, contrary to the example set him by his predecessors, it was for high and noble purposes ; to drive the foreign intruder from Italy, and to establish, along with Italian independence, the rights of his See and throne. It is refreshing to see Protestant writers like Roscoe and '' 'oigt stepping forth to defend the Roman Poniiifs. 116 REFORMATIOxN IN GERMANY. in Germany. He nominated John Tetzel, a Dominican friar, to be the chief preacher of the indulgences. We have no mission to defend the extravagances imputed to this man. To us it appears that much injustice has been done liim, and that his errors have been greatly exaggerated by his enemies. He seems to have been in the main a good man, with perhaps not an over stock of prudence or discretion. The magnificent terms in which he set forth the utility and efficacy of the in- dulgences should have been explained, in common justice, according to the well known doctrine and practice of the Church on the subject.* One thing is certain, that the abuses of which he is accused were not authorized by the Church or the Pontiff. Even D'Aubigne, surely an unexceptionable witness, tells us as much. He admits that, " in the Pope's bull, something was said of the repentance of the heart and the confession of the lips :" but he adds that " Tetzel and his companions cautiously abstained from all mention of these, otherwise their coffers might have remained empty ;"f and that this omission was in consequence of instructions from Archbishop Albert, " who forbade them even to mention conversion or contrition.''^ And yet, on the same page, he acknowledges that confession, which necessarily presupposes conversion and contrition of heart, was a prerequisite to the granting of the indulgence ! * Menzel says, that he carried about a money box, on which was written what has been elegantly done into English as follows : '•As the money in you pop, The souls from Purgatory hop." Ibid. p. 221. This retailing of vulgar gossip in doggerel verse, and without any sufficient authority, is unworthy a grave historian. The contribution of alms for a religious or charitable purpose was a usual condition for gaining Indulgences, which might profit not only the one who fulfilled all the conditions, but also, by way of suffrage or prayer, the souls suffering in purgatory. It is highly probable that Tetzel did not go further than this, and that most of the clamoi against him was raised by his enemies. t D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 214. f Ibid., p. 215. TETZEL. 117 " Confession being gone through (and it was soon dispatched), the faithful hastened to the vender."* We have strong reason to object to this term vender : the granting of the indulgence, even according to the avowedly unauthorized practice of Tetzel,f did not justify the idea of a sale or traffic, properly so called. The offering made on the occasion was entirely free : those who were unable to con- tribute any thing, still obtained the coveted boon ; and those who were able, contributed according to their ability or will, no fixed amount being determined. All that even D'Aubigne asserts on this subject is, that " an angry look was cast on those who dared to close their purse3."J When Protestant preachers take up collections at the close of their sermons, for the support of themselves, and of their wives and children, can it be said with propriety, that they sell their sermons for the amounts thus contributed, even should it happen that those sums more than equaled the value received, and that they cast angry looks on those who do not bestow? But the questors of indulgences did not go thus far, even according to the showing of our very prejudiced historian. He tell us, " that the hand that delivered the indulgence could not receive the money: that was forbidden under the severest penalties."^ He even admits, that, notwithstanding the boasted efficacy of the indulgences, public penance was still enjoined by Te.tzel and his associates, for offenses which had given public scandal. "If, among those who pressed into the confession- als, there came one whose crimes had been public, and yet untouched by the civil laws, such person was obliged, first of all, to do public penance."|| — Did this look like patronizing vice? .Was it not rather a salutary restraint on guilt, imposed * D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 215. f If such was really his practice, which is doubtful, t D'AubigntS vol. i, p. 216. ^ Ibid. II Ibid. True, he calls this a "wretched mummery," because Protesianis can not, or will not 'uiderstand or appreciate these works of penance! 118 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. as a condition for obtaining the indulgence? The vciy nature of the indulgence itself, and the conditi(>ns always required to obtain it, and clearly set forth in this very bull of Leo X., far from favoring sin, or being an incentive to its commission, necessarily operated as a powerful curb to passion and a stimulant to repentance and piety: its blessed effects being promised only to those who were truly penitent, and were desirous at least of becoming fervent. An indulgence is merely a sequel to the sacrament of penance : it removes only the temporal penalty, which may remain due, after the sin itself and the eternal punishment due to it have been already remitted: and, according to its very nature, it can not take effect, until all grievous sin has been already pardoned through sincere repentance and the sacrament of penance. It offers then, essentially, a most powerful inducement to re- pentance and amendment of life ; it gives no encouragement to lukewarmness. The acts of Tetzel were officially disavowed by the repre- sentative of the Roman court. In 1510, Charles Miltitz, the papal envoy, openly rebuked him for his conduct in the affair of the indulgences ; and even charged him with having been the occasion of most of the troubles which during the pre- vious two years had afflicted Germany.* He. however, con- demned the friar unheard, relying chiefly upon the exagger- ated representations of his enemies. He would not even allow the Dominican to defend himself against the grievous charges brought against him by Lutlier.f Among these was the accusation, that he had uttered horrid blasphemies against the Blessed Virgin Mary. In a letter t) Miltitz, Tetzel indig- nantly repelled this charge: but the spirit of the monk was broken ; and he died soon after, most pr:)bably of chagrin. Most writers of impartiality blame the cj'uluct of the papal These are not in accordance with their refined taste and exquisite sense of the amenities scattered along the way of salvation ! * D'Aubingne, vol. ii, p. IG. I See Audin, "Life of Luther," p. 80, 90. LUTHER S INSINCERITY. 119 envoy, who immoderately flattered Luther on the oi i hand, and sacrificed Tetzel on the other.* His motive, however, was a good one : to concihate Luther by removing all reason- able causes of complaint, and thus to heal the schism with which the refractory monk menaced the Church of God. But Miltitz did not know his man. All conciliation was entirely thrown away on him. The learned and amiable Car- dinal Cajetan, a year before, had made the attempt to win him by kindness, in the interview they had at Augsburg, Luther was afi'ected even unto tears by this goodness ; and, at the close of the conference, he addressed the cardinal nuncio in the following strain : " I return to you, my father ! , , . . I am moved. I have no more fear: ray fear is changed into love and filial respect ; you might have employed force, but you have chosen persuasion and charity. Yes, I avow it now ; I have been violent and hostile, and have spoken irreverently of the Pope. I was provoked to these excesses ; but I should have been more guarded on so serious a question, and, in an- swering a fool, I should have avoided imitating his folly. I am afi'ected and penitent, and ask for pardon, I will acknowl- edge my repentance to whoever wishes to hear it declared. For the future, I promise you, father, to speak and act other- wise than I have done : God will assist me ; I will speak no more of indulgences, provided you impose silence on all those who have involved me in these difficulties,"! He concludes this letter with the following sentence : " I beseech you then, with all humility, to report this whole affiiir to our holy father. Pope Leo X,, that the Church may decide on what is to be believed, and what is to be rejected,"^ And yet, but a few weeks later, he published an inflammatory tract, in which he complained bitterly of the severity of Cajetan, spoke harshly of the Pope, and appealed to a general council.^ We have already seen how, while he promised every thing to Miltitz, * See Audin, " Life of Luther," p. 89, 90. f Apud Audin, ibid., p. 81. X Ibid. { Lutheri Opera, Tom, i, fol. 217. Audin, p. 85, seqq, 120 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. he laughed, in letters to his private friends, at the "crocodii*^ tears" and "Judas-like kiss" of that weak and duped nuncio! The reformation of abuses in the matter of indulgences was but a pretext : the real motives of Luther and his parti- sans were very different, as the result proved. The Pope, through his legates, had done every thing that could have been reasonably asked for the removal of the evils complained of. If the court of Rome was guilty of any fault; it was that of excessive leniency to Luther, and of too great a spirit of conciliation towards his partisans.* This was especially true of the good Adrian VL, who succeeded Leo X. in the pontifi- cate, early in the year 1522.t He immediately set about the work of reform with great zeal, both at Rome and in Ger- many. He took from the questors the power of distributing indulgences. Li the diet of Nuremberg, in 1522, he ofiered, through his legate, Cheregat, to reform every abuse. J How were his advances met? They were repaid by * Pallavicino censures Leo X. for his excessive forbearance with Luther, and for having commissioned Doctor Eck to publish the bull against him in Germany. (Storia del Cone, di Trento cap. xxv.) Muratori joins in the censures: "Papa Leone, che ruminando alti pensieri di gloria mondana, e piu che agU aifari della religione agonizante in Gennania pensando all' in- grandimento della chiesa teraporale." (Annali, vol. x, p. 245.) Audin ably defends the Pontiff, p. 115. f Adrian was a Fleming, and he had been preceptor of Charles V., who had been elected emperor of Germany but a short time previously. The fifth general Council of Lateran, held under his predecessor Leo, had already done much towards eradicating abuses, of which its various canons are a satisfactory evidence. The assembled fathers with the Pontiff had the sagacity to discover and the boldness to strike at the very root of almost all the then existing disorders; namely the usurpation by the temporal \K)weT of the sacred rights of the Church to appoint her own bishops and clergy. In condemning the principles of the Pragmatic Sanction, they laid the axe at the root of the fatal tree, which had produced fruit so very poisonous to the atmosphere of the Church. But this was not the kind of reformation which the princes of the earth .sought or aimed at ! t '-Neuere Geschichte der Deutschen, von Karl Ad Menzel," a Protest- ant. T. i. Apuil A din, p. 280. PRETEXT TO GAIN TIME. 121 triumpuant insult and indignity. The diet, under Lutheran influence, drew up an inflammatory paper containing the famous Centum Gravamina — or "hundred grievances" — fraught with unfounded and highly exaggerated charges against Rome. And yet the good Pontifl:' did not return railing for railing. He still promised to do every thing in his power to remove all causes of reasonable complaint. This 'saintly Pontifi", " who thought not of evil, and of whom the world was not worthy," according to the testimony of a Pro- testant historian,* died of a broken heart after the return of Cheregat. All the poor of Rome followed his hearse, and bewailed • him : they said, " our father is dead!" While it passed, the people knelt down and burst into tears. Never had funeral pomp called forth so deep a feeling. f What, in fact, could Rome have done, which she did not do, to redress every reasonable grievance, and to carry out every necessary measure of reform ? Did the reformers ask for forbearance? Rome was perhaps too forbearing. Did they wish for a spirit of conciliation ? Rome descended from her lofty dignity, and met them half way ; and then they rudely repulsed her advances ! Even D'Aubigne praises the forbearance of Leo X., and the "equity of the Romish synod," which prepared the bull against Luther. J He adds : " In fact, Rome was brought into the necessity of having recourse to measures of stern severity. The gauntlet was thrown down, the combat must be to the death. It was not the abuses of the Pontiti^s authority, that Luther had attacked. At his bidding, the Pope was required to descend meekly fi'om his throne, and become again a simple pastor or bishop on the banks of the Tiber! "^ Had Luther sought only the truth, why did he so often consent to preserve silence, if the same obligation were im- posed on his adversaries? Was this conduct worthy the a})ostle of reform, and the boasted champion of the gospel * Adolph Menzel, supra. Tom. i, p. 3. Apud Audin, p. 282. f Audin, ibid. t D'Aubigne, vol. ii, p. 101. 5 Ibid., p. 97. This i' a most significant avowal. FOL. I. 11 122 REFORMATION IN SERMANf. in its purity ? If lie sought only truth, why did he not abide by the decisions of those numerous tribunals, to whose author- ity he himself had voluntarily appealed, as the most suit- able and final arbiters of the matters in dispute ? AVhy after- wards abuse them so intemperately, for having decided against him ? The truth is, the love of truth and the reform of abuses were but shallow pretexts ; the successive appeals just alluded to, were but crafty expedients to gain time: — ' the real object was separation from the Church, and the form- ing of a schismatical party, of which he would be the leader ; while his own immediate sovereign, the elector of Saxony, and the other German princes and nobles, would be enriched from the abundant spoils of the old Church, which was to be destroyed to make way for the new. As we shall show a little further on, all the facts of history point to this, as the only rational method of accounting for the movement and ex- plaining its success. Ill, One of those tribunals to which Luther had appealed — the general Council of Trent — subsequently adopted every possible measure, that discreet zeal could have asked, for the reformation of abuses. By far the larger portion of its decrees are devoted to the work of reformation.* On the subject of indulgences, the council employs this emphatic language: "Wishing to correct and amend the abuses which have crept into them, and on occasion of which, this signal name of indulgences is blasphemed by heretics, the holy synod enjoins in general by the present decree, that all wicked traffic for obtaining them, which has been the fruitful cause of many abuses among the Christian people, should be wholly abalislied."-|- The same decree recommends great * They are headed, de Reformatione, and make up, perhaps, more than three fourths of the whole matter of the council. t Sessio XXV. Dccret. de Indulg. " Abusus vero, qui in his irrepserunt, et quorum occasione insigno hoc Indulgentiarum nomen ab hsereticis blas- phematur, emendates et correctos cupiens, prgesenti decreto generaliter sta- tuit, pravos quiestus omnes pro his consequendis, unde plurima in Christiano pupulo abusuum causa fluxit, omnino abolendos esse." HOW TO REFORM THE CHURCH. 12o moderation in the granting of indulgences, and directs the bishops throughout the world diligently to inquire into and to refer all local abuses in this matter to provincial councils, which were to be thenceforth held every three years, and were to report their decisions to the Roman Pontiff. Could any wiser or more effectual measure of reform have been reasonably demanded ? Mr. Hallam, a witness whose authority will not be sus pected, bears ample testimony to the learning and merit of the Tridentine fathers. After having refuted at some length " a strange notion that has been started of late years in Eng- land, that the Council of Trent made important innovations in the previously established doctrines of the western Church : an hypothesis," he says, " so paradoxical in respect to public opinion, and, it must be added, so prodigiously at variance with the known facts of ecclesiastical history, that we can not but admire the facility with which it has been taken up ;" he thus continues : "No council ever contained so many persons of eminent learning and ability as that of Trent ; nor is there ground for believing that any other ever investigated the questions before it with so much patience, acuteness, temper, and desire of truth. The early councils, unless they are greatly belied (as is very probably the case,) would not bear comparison in these char- acteristics. Impartiality and freedom from prejudice no Protestant will attribute to the fathers of Trent ; but where will he produce these qualities in an ecclesiastical synod ? But it may be said, that they had but one lead- ing prejudice, that of determining theological faith according to the tradition of the Catholic Church, as handed down to their own age. This one point of authority conceded, I am not aware that they can be proved to have decided wrong, or, at least, against all reasonable evidence. Let those who have imbibed a different opinion ask themselves, whether they have read Sarpi through with any attention, especially as to those sessions of the Tri- dentine council which preceded its suspension in 1547." * The history of the Council of Trent by Cardinal Fallavicino, which Hallam acknowledges he never read, would greatly confirm this conclusion. All previous councils, both ge]\eral * Introduction to the History of Literature, vol. i, p. 277, note. 124 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. and local, had adopted measures for reform, marked witL similar wisdom and zeal. Many of the decrees of the general Council of Constance, in the beginning of the fifteenth cen- tury, as well as those of the Council of Basle,* towards the middle of the same century, had been distinguished by the same earnest solicitude for the correction of abuses. D'Au- bign^ is forced to admit this. " Had not gentler means been tried for ages ? Had they not seen council after council con- voked with the intention of reforming the Church !"t True, he adds, without however even the shadow of proof, that "all had been in vain."J He also asserts against all evidence, that Martin Y., who was chosen Pontiff at the Council of Constance, A. D. 1418, with the express stipulation, that he should carry out the measures of reform commenced by the council, subsequently refused to redeem his pledge.§ But did not this Pontiff convoke councils for the purpose successively at Pavia, Sienna, and Basle ? And was it his fault that his intentions were not fully carried out ? Was it not rather the fault of those, who, while always clamoring for reformation, were really averse to its being brought about in the only con- servative and effectual manner ? Unless all history is false, this is certainly the case. The controversy, in fact, did not turn so much on the neces- sity of reform, as on the means best calculated to bring it about. There were two ways of reforming abuses in the Church ; the one from within^ the other from without ; the one by gentle and legal means, the other by lawless violence. The Catholics were in favor of the former, the Protestants of the latter mode. The former wished to re- main in the Church, which Christ had commanded them to hear, and to labor therein for the extirpation of abuses ; the latter separated from the Church, and covered it * Before it degenerated into a schismatical conventicle, during the last sessions, especially after the tenth. + D'Aubigno, vol. i, p. 104, \ Ibid. \ Ibid. p. 56. Luther's avowal. 125 with obloquy, against the solemn injunction af its divine Founder. "Were not the Catholics right in urging this, as the only safe and eflectual method of reforming the Church ? Had they not clearly the sanction of all previous ages, which, following the precedent set them by the inspired Apostles themselves in the council at Jerusalem, had ever sought to proscribe error and to correct abuses, by legal enactments in general or particular councils ? And did not the Protestants, on the contrary, fol- low the precedent set them by the separatists and heretics of every age of the Church? What real diflerence is there, in the principle, between the Lutherans protesting against the decisions of the Council of Trent, in the sixteenth century, and the Arians, against those of the Council of Nice, in the fourtli ? Besides, were not reason and logic clearly on the side of the Catholics ? Which is the proper way to cure a sick pa- tient ; to remain with him, and to administer to him medicine or to separate from him, and to denounce him for his malady « AVhich is the preferable way to repair an edifice ; to remain within or near it, and to labor patiently to re-establish it in its former strength and beauty, or to leave it and bedaub its walls with mud and slime ? Finally, which would be the better patriot : he who would remain faithful to the republic, and patiently await the progress of legal enactments for the redress of grievances, or he who would nullify the union under pretext of those grievances ? Let the seal of public reprobation set upon a recent attempt of the kind — in which the principle of disorganization was precisely the same as that which urged the reformers to nullify the unity of the Church — answer this question. An old Protestant divine of the Church of England, illustrates the evil of separation from the Church, under pretext of reforming it, by the following quaint comparison : " You may cure a throat when it is sore^ but not when it is cutT"^ * South — Sermons ; vol. v, p. 946. Edit. London, 1737, quoted in tha Iniicable Discussion, by Bishop Trevern. 126 KEFORMATION IN GERMANY. Luther himself avowed the correctness of these principles about two years after he had cominenced his pretended Kef ormation. "That the Roman Church," he says, "is more honored by God than all others, is not to be doubted. St. Peter, St. Paul, forty-six popes, some hun- dreds of thousands of martyrs, have laid down their lives in its communion, having overcome hell and the world ; so that the eyes of God rest on the Roman Church with special favor. Though now-a-days every thing is in a wretched state, it is no ground for separating from it. On the contrary, the worse things are going, the more should we hold close to it ; for it is not by separation from it that we can make it better. AVe must not separate from God on account of any work of the devil, nor cease to have fellowship with the children of God, who are still abiding in the pale of Rome, on account of the multitude of the ungodly. There is no sin, no amount of evil, which should be permitted to dissolve the bond of charity, or break the unity of the body. For love can do all things, and nothing is difldcult to those who are united."* Sentiments almost worthy of a Gregory YIL, or of a Ber- nard! Had he persevered in them — had he not, with his accustomed duplicity or fickleness, substituted, almost innne- diately afterwards, a principle of hatred for that principle of love "■ which can do all things," the world might never have been cursed with the countless evils of schism and heresy. The sentiments of Luther just given were re-echoed even in the confession of Augsburg, the oflicial expositor of Lu- theran doctrines. f In the conclusion of its expositi(.)n of * Lutheri Opera Lat. torn, xvii, p. 224. Apud D 'Aubigne, ii, 18, 19. •j- In the conference at Augsburg, a large portion of the Lutherans, undei the leadership of Melancthon, sought for a return to unity through a recon- ciliation with the Holy See. Their efforts were, however, sternly opposed and rendered wholly abortive by Luther, who would hear of no reunion with Rome. When Melancthon urged the measure, by alleging the endless contradictions into which the champions of the new doctrines would other- wise fall, and by even venturing timidly to point out the doctrinal varia- tions and inconsistencies of Luther himself, his imperious master answered in the following characteristic strain : " My adversaries quote my contradictions to make a parade of their learn- ing: blockheads that they are ! IIow can they judge of the contradictions Df our doctrines, who do not understand the texts which clash with each LUTHERAN TESTIMONY. 127 faith, it is freely admitted, that the Roman Catholic Church had retained every article of doctrine essential to salvation, and that the abuses vrhich had crept in were unauthorized, and afibrded no sufficient cause for separation. '^ Such is the abridgment of our faith, in which nothing will be found con- trary to Scripture, or to the Catholic Church, or even to the Roman Church, as far as we can know it from its writei's. The dispute turns upon some few abuses, which have been introduced into the churches without any certain authority / and should there be found some difference, that should be borne with, since it is not necessary that the rites of the Church should be everywhere the same."* Even the Calvin- ist minister of Charenton, Daille, much as he hated the Cath- olic Church, makes a similar avowal. After having euume- rated those articles of his belief, which he is pleased to call fundamental^ he says : " Rome does not call in question the articles which we believe; it even professes to believe them. Who can deny, even in our day, that Rome admits the neces- sary articles T\ — Why then separate from her ? Hitherto we have treated of the origin and extent of the evils which afforded the reformers a pretext for the Reforma- tion ; and we have also endeavored to point out the only ef- fectual and proper means for correcting abuses, and for pre- serving the Church in that purity which the promises of Christ have guarantied to her, and to show what was the only other ? How can our doctrine appear to them otherwise than embarrassed with contradictions, when it demands and condemns works, rejects and authorizes the necessity of rites, honors and censures the magistracy, affirms and denies sin ? But why carry water to the sea ? Cum simul exigat et damnet opera, simul tollat et restituat ritus, simul magistratum colat et ar- guat, simul peccata asserat et neget ? Sed quid aquas in mare ?" Apud Audin, in loco. Epist. Melancthoni, 20 Jul. 1520. How, indeed, could any one be expected to reconcile these palpable con- tradictions of the arch-reformer ! * Art. xxi. Anno Dom. 1530. Confessio Augustana. See also Audin, vol. ii, p. 337, London edition, Turnbull's translation. f " Institut Chretiennes," 1. iv, ch. ii, and " La Loi fondee, part. iii. 128 BEFORMATION IN GERMANY. true method of solving the great problem of the sixteenth century. We will now proceed to examine the means really adopted by the reformers for that alleged purpose, as well tc exhibit the true motives which prompted and guided their action ; and through these we will endeavor to account for the rapidity with which the Reformation was diffused over a large ]>ortion of Europe. CHAPTER IV THE TRCE CAUSES OF THE REFORMATION, AND THE MEANS BY WHICH IT WAS EFFECTED. Saying of Frederick the Great — What we mean to prove — Testimony of Hallam — Doctrines of Luther — Justification without works — Its dreadful consequences avowed — The " slave-will " — Man, a beast with two riders — Dissuasive from celibacy — An easy way to heaven — D'Aubigne's discreet silence — Testimony of the Diet of Worms on Luther's doctrines — An old lad}' emancipated — Protection of princes — Schlegel's testimony — The refonners flatter princes and pander to their vices — Remarkable avowals of Menzel — The Reformation and state policy — The princes become bishops — A reformed dispensation — Character of reformed princes — Their cupidity — Fed by Luther — Protestant restitution — Open violence and sacrilegious spoliation — The modus operandi of the Reformation — Schlegel again — Abuse of the press — Vituperation and calumny — Policy of Lu- ther's marriage — Apostate monks — Recapitulation — A distinction — The Reformation "a reappearance of Christianity." We believe it was Frederick the Great of Prussia, who was the author of the well-known saying: "That pride and ava- rice had caused the Reformation in Germany, lawless love in England, and the love of novelty in France." Perhaps the greatest severity of this remark, is its strict historic truth. It, of course, was intended merely to designate the iirst and most prominent among a variety of other causes. William Cobbett has proved — and whatever may have been said by hia Qp])onents of his character and reliability as a witness, no one TESTIMONY OF HALLAM. 129 has yet disputed his facts or answered his arguments — that in England, the first cause alluded to above, was powerfully aided by cupidity, which fattened on the rich spoils of the Church, and by the reckless pride of ascendency, which rev- eled in, and was cemented by the blood of vast numbers of innocent victims, whose only crime was their conscientious adherence to the religion of their fathers. We will present a mass of evidence to prove, that in Ger- many, the Reformation, which was commenced in the pride of revolt, was fed and kept alive by avarice and licentious- ness, was propagated by calumny, by violence, and by pan- dering to the worst passions, and was consummated and ren- dered permanent by the fostering care of secular princes, without whose protection it would have died away and come to naught. Tliis is strong language ; but it is more than jus- tified by the facts of history: not indeed as those facts have been travestied, miscolored, and perverted by such partial writers as D' Aubigne ; but, as they are clearly set forth by contemporary historians, and as they appear in the original documents. We shall allege only such facts as are undoubted and clearly established from these sources. But before we adduce this evidence, let us see what a very learnedand enlightened modern Protestant historian thinks on this subject, to the investigation of which he has devoted much time and labor. Mr. Hallam gives us the result of his researches in the following passages, which we quote from his latest work : " Whatever may be the bias of our minds as to the truth of Luther's doc- trines, we should be careful, in considering the Reformation as a part of the history of mankind, not to be misled by the superficial and ungrounded representations which we sometimes find in modern writers (D' Aubigne for example). Such is this, that Luther, struck by the absurdity of the pre- vailing superstitions, was desirous of introducing a more rational system of religion ; or, that he contended for fi-eedom of inquiry, and the boundless privileges of individual judgment ; or, what others have been pleased to suggest, that his zeal for learning and ancient philosophy led hmi to attack thft ignorance of the monks and the crafty policy of the church, which with- 130 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. stood all liberal studies. These notions are merely fallacious refinements, as every man of plain understanding (except, perhaps, D'Aubigne) who ia acquainted with the writings of the early reformers, or has considered their history, must acknowledge."* In another place, the same candid Protestant historian has this remarkable passage : " The adherents to the Church of Kome have never failed to cast two reproaches on those who left them : one, that the reform was brought about by intemperate and caluminous abuse, by outrages of an excited populace, or by the tyranny of princes ; the other, that, after stimulating the most ignorant to reject the authority of their Church, it instantly withdrew this liberty of judgment, and devoted all who presumed to swerve fi-om the line drawn by law to virulent obloquy, and sometimes to bonds and death. These reproaches, it may be a shame to us to own, can, be uttered and can not be refuted." f After making this painful avowal, he enters upon a labored argument to prove that the Reformation could have succeeded by no other means !J The reformers, as we have seen, were not content with clamoring for the reform of abuses : they laid violent hands on the sacred deposit of the faith itself. Like Oza of old, they put forth their hands to the ark of God, mindless of Oza's awful fate!§ Under the plea that the Catholic Church had fallen into numerous and fatal doctrinal errors, and that the Reformation could not be thorough with- out the removal of these, they rejected many doctrines which the whole world had hitherto revered as the revelation of God ; and they substituted in their place new tenets, which they professed to find more conformable to the word of God. This is not the place to examine whether these new doctrines are true ; all that our plan calls for at present, is to inquire what those doctrines were, and what was their practical bear- ing on the work of the Reformation ? Were they really cal- * Introduction to the History of Literature. Sup. Cit. vol. i, p. 165. sec. 60-61. f Ibid., p. 200, sec. 34. As we shall have occasion to show a little further on, this avowal rests on the facts of sober history, as related by Protestants themselves. t Ibid. } 2 Kings (1 Samuel) vi: ft HORRID DOCTRINES OF LUTHER. 131 on'ated to exercise an influence beneficial to morals and to society ? Were they adequate means to reform the Church ? As it would be tedious to exhibit even a brief summary of all the contradictory tenets held by the early reformers, or even by the early Lutherans themselves, we must confine ourselves to tl^ose broached and defended by Luther, the boasted father and founder of the Reformation. And we shall state nothing for which we will not exhibit chapter and verse from his own writings.* The leading tenet of Luther's doctrine was, a belief in jus- tification by faith alone without works. This is the key to his entire system. Let us see the modest way in which he asserts this doctrine, one that he always styled a fundamental article. " Well, then, I, Dr. Martin Luther, an unworthy evangelist of our Lord Jesus Christ, do confess this article, 'that faith alone without works justifies in the sight of God ; ' and I declare that, in spite of the emperor of the Romans, the emperor of the Turks, the emperor of the Tartars, the em- peror of the Persians, the Pope, all the cardinals, bishops, priests, monks, nuns, kings, princes, nobles, all the world, and all the devils, it shall stand unshaken forever ! That, if they will persist in opposing this truth, they will draw upon their heads the flames of hell. This is the true and holy gospel, and the declaration of me. Doctor Luther, according to the light given to me by the Holy Ghost."f This declaration was made in 1531 ; and, according to D'Aubigne, who quotes Seckendorf, Luther's most ardent admirer, he received this new light of the Holy Ghost while visiting " Pilate's stair-case " J in Rome, a few years before he * Some of the modern editions of Luther's works have been greatly expurgated by his admirers. We shall quote fi-om the oldest and most authentic editions, those of Wittenberg, of Jena, of Frankfort, of Altenberg, of Leipsic, and Geneva. ~ That of Wittenberg was put forth by the imme- diate disciples of Luther. We generally quote through Audin or D'Aubigne, unless the contrary be indicated, in loco. f Glossa in Edict. Imperiale. Opera Lat. torn. xx. Apud D'Aubigne, i, 172. I Properly called the "scala santa," or "holy stairway;" from having been '>nce consecrated by the Saviour's footsteps, while he was entering into the pretorium, to be judged by Pilate. 132 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. turned reformer. This we, however, apprehend was an after thought. Certain it is that, to get rid of the conclusive argu- ment against this cardinal doctrine drawn from the Epistle of St. James, l.e rejected this Epistle "as one of straw;" and that, to confirm this his favorite principle still more, he boldly corrupted the text of St. Paul — (Romans iii: 28) "For we account a man to be justified by faith without the works of the law" — by adding the word alone SiiiQv faith : and that, when challenged on the subject, he made this characteristic reply: "So I will — so I order. Let my will stand for a reason."* — So much had he this doctrine at heart ! He pushed this tenet to the utmost extremes, and boldly avowed all the consequences which logically flowed there- from. With him, faith was every thing; works were no- thing. On the 1st of August, 1521, he wrote from the Wart- burg a letter to Melancthon, from which the following is an extract: "Sin, and sin boldly; but let your faith be greater than your sin. It is enough for us, through the riches of the glory of God, to have known the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Sin will not destroy in us the reign of the Lamb, although we were to commit fornication or murder a thousand times in one day."f In his " Treatise on Christian Liberty," which he sent along with a most brutal letter to Leo X.,J in 1520, "as a pledge of his filial piety and love," he lays down the following as doctrines founded on the gospel : " The incompatibility of faith with works, which he * "Sic volo, sic jubeo, stat pro ratione voluntas." He added : " I wish I had also said, ' without any of the works, of all laws ! ' " f " SufBcit quod agnovimus per divitias glorige Dei Agnum qui tolUt pec- catum mundi : ab hoc non avellet nos pcccatum etiamsi millies uno die for- nicemur aut occidamus." — Epist. Melanc. 1 Aug. 1521. Apud Audin, p. 178. X See this savage letter in Audin, p. 110, 111. It was written before the papal bull had been issued, shortly after his conference with Miltitz, in which he had given and received the kiss of peace ! ! This truculent epistle was dated April 6, 1520, whereas the bull of excommunication was dated on the 15th of June following. This is clearly proved by Roscoe and Audin. Sea Dublin Review, art. Luther, for Sept., 1855. HORRID DOCTRINES OF LUTHER. 133 regarded as so many sins ; the subjection of the creature to the demon, even when he endeavors to escape frcmhim; and his identification with sin, even when he rises towards his Creator, when his hand distributes alms, when his lips open tu pray, or invoke a blessing, and even when he weeps and re- pents, he sins : ' for,' says he, ' all that is in us is crime, sin, damnation, and man can do nothing good.' "* On the con- trary, sin is not imputed to those who have ftiith : " Because," says he, "although I have sinned, Christ who is within me has not sinned : this Christ, in whom I believe, acts, thinks, and lives in me, and alone accomplishes the law."-j- Another cardinal doctrine of Luther's, much akin to this, was the denial of free will, and the assertion that all our ac- tions are the result of stern fatalism. He wrote a work ex- pressly on "the slave will,"J and carried on a rude controversy with Erasmus on this subject. His principles in this respect are explicitly, openly, and unblushingly avowed. According to him, free will is incompatible with the divine foreknowl- edge. " Let the Christian know, then, that God foresees no- thing in a contingent manner ; but that He foresees, proposes, and acts from his eternal and unchangeable will. This is the thunder-stroke which breaks and overturns free will."§ God is thus plainly the author of sin, and Luther shrinks not from the avowal ! He maintains " that God excites us to sin, and produces sin in us:"|| and that "God damns some who have not merited this lot, and others before they were born. Tf * Apud Audin, p. 111. \ Ibid. See Epistola Lutheriana ad Leonem summum Pontificem. Liber de Libertate Christiana. Wittenb. 1520, 4to. I " De Servo Arbitrio," in opposition to the usual term, "hberum arbit rium." 5 De Servo Arbit. adv. Erasm. Roterod. Luth. 0pp. Lat. Jense, torn, lii, p. 170, seqq. II Opera, Jenfe, iii, 199. Wittenb. torn. fol. 522, 523. "Dass Gott die laenschen zur siinde antreibe, und alle laster in ihnem wiircke." H lliid. Jen* edit, iii, 207— Witt, vi, 534, 535— Altenb. iii, 249, 250. 9 134 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. Mail's nature, according to him, is thoroughly and radically corrupt: he is a mere automaton. "Man is like a beast of burden: if God sits in the saddle, he wills and goes whither- soever God wills ; ... if Satan ride him, he wills and goe ■ whither Satan directs : nor is it in his power to determine his rider — the two riders contend for obtaining and possessing him."* — This is truly a characteristic illustration of a most hideous doctrine ! In his famous speech at the diet of Worms, in 1521, he expressed his delight at the prospect that his doctrine would •produce discord and dissension : " You must know that I have well weighed the dangers that I incur, the displeasure that I cause, and the hatred which my doctrine will excite in this world. I delight to see the word of God bring forth discord and dissension. This is the lot of the Saviour, who says: 'I am come not to bring peace but the sword ; I am come to separate the son from the father.' "f — Was there ever a more fiendish joy, or a more glaring perversion of God's holy word ? He rejected continence with horror, and looked on the law of celibacy as an " awful blindness — a relentless cruelty of the Pope — a diabolical precept — an imposing of an obligation which is impossible to human nature." J In 1522 he wrote a letter to the knights of the Teutonic order, in which he urged them, by arguments pandering to the basest passions of the human heart, to rid themselves of this "diabolical" yoke. We almost shrink from transcribing the following passage from this appeal, which was alas ! too successful. " My friends, the * "Sic huraana voluntas in medio posita est ceu jumentnm : si msederit Deus, \ailt et vadit sicut vult Deus ; ... si insederit Satan, vult et vadit sicut Satan : nee est in ejus arbitrio ad utrum sessorem cunere, aut eum quserere, sed ipsi sessores certant ad ipsum obtinendum et possidendum." Opera, Jena3, iii, 176, 177. f Apud Audin, p. 163. D'Aubigne, ii, 235. t " Perinde f-icere qui continenter vivere instituunt, ac si quis excremenia vcl lotium colli ra natural impctum retinere velit." Luther. Contra falsa Edicta Ca3saris, T ii. ENCOURAGING SIN. ioO precept of multiplying is older than that of continence enjoined by the councils" (and he should have added, sanc- tioned by the most solemn vows, voluntarily made, the bind- ing obligation of which he himself had recognized but one year before*): "it dates from Adam. It would be better to live in concubinage than in chastity. Chastity is an unpardon- able sin; whereas concubinage, with God's assistance, should not make us despair of salvation."-(- He rejected in fact every doetrine, and abolished every practice of the Catholic Church, which was humbling to human pride, painful to corrupt nature, or which imposed a salutary restraint on the passions. Confession he rejected, as the " executioner of consciences."^ He eschewed monastic vows, fasting and abstinence, and proscribed good works and free will. In his new-fangled system of religion, the minis- ters of God were no longer bound to say Mass, or to read the divine office; this would have been an intolerable burden, incompatible with Christian liberty ! In fact, he was no great advocate for prayer at all — especially for frequent prayer : "For," he says, ""it is enough to pray once or twice; since God has said ' ask and you shall receive ;' to continue always in prayer, is to show that we have not faith in God."§ He forgot to mention that Christ had also said: "Pray always and faint not:" and St. Paul, "Pray without intermission." What, in fine, was left in his new system of Christianity to fulfill those essential conditions of discipleship, which our blessed Lord pointed out, when he said : " If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take itjp his cross, and follow me?"|| Or to imitate the example of St. Paul — whose great admirer Luther affected to be — when he said of =" Supra, p. 95. t " In statu scortationis vel peccati, Dei prassidio implorato, de Salute non il3speraiidum." — Ad Milites Ord. Teutonici, 0pp. Jenae, torn, ii, p. 211-216. I Consci intias carnificina. 5 Letter to Bartholemew Von Starenburg ; 1 Sept., 1523. — Audin, p. 20S II Matth xvi: 24. 136 REFORMATION IN GERiUNY. himself: "I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become reprobate?"* D'Aubigne, though he professes to give a very detailed history of the Reformation, found it convenient^ however, to forget, or at least to pretermit most of the facts related above ; which, however, are essential to the history ! But they did not suit his purpose, which was to persuade the world, that Luther and his associates were new apostles of God, and that the Reformation was but "the re-appearance of Christianity!" His whole view, in fact, of Luther's doc- trine, and of the entire Reformation, is a miserable perversion of history — an ill-contrived romance. His picture is no doubt viewed with delight by those for whose special benefit it was drawn ; but it is false in almost every light and shade ! Else why did he omit so many essential facts ?t What was the necessary tendency of these new doctrines of Luther ? Were they calculated to effect a reform in mor- als and religion ? Or was their influence on society essen- tially evil? To aid us in answering these questions, we will adduce the evidence of a contemporary oificial document of the Germanic empire — an extract from the decree of the diet of Worms in 1521 — which decree D'Aubigne professes to give us entire :J " The Augustine monk, Martin Luther, regardless of our exhortations, has madly attacked the holy Church, and attempted to destroy it, by writings full of blasphemy. He has shamefully vilified the unalterable law of holy marriage ; he has labored to excite the laity to imbrue their hands in the blood of their priests ;5 and, defying all authority, has incessantly excited the people to revolt, schism, war, murder, theft, incendiarism, and the utter destruction of the Christian faith. ... In a word, and passing over many =♦ 1 Corinth, ix : 27. t In this respect he is not alone, but as one of a class. In fiict, he is occasionally more candid than some other wntei-s of his school. \ Vol. ii, p. 261 seqq. 5 The Diet here cites Lutlier's works ; and D ' Aubigne furnishes the reference to the present works of the reformer. — Luther 0pp. Lat. xvii, 598. DIET OF WORMS. 137 jther evil intentions, this being, who is no man, but Satan amiself, under the semblance of a man in a monk's hood, has collected in one offensive mass all the worst heresies of former ages, adding his own to the number." Making all proper allowance for the circumstance that this document emanated from a body the majority of which was opposed to Luther, it still presents a satisfactory proof of the evil tendency of his doctrines, "Would the great Charles V., would the first princes of the empire, in an official document, have stated facts at random, and without sufiicient warrant ? They were surely competent witnesses of events passing under their very eyes ; they could scarcely be deceived, and they would scarcely have hazarded false and groundless state- ments which could have been so readily refuted. Moreover, it must not be lost sight of, that Luther had powerful friends at Worms, who showed every disposition to see justice done to him, and to prevent his being overcome by oppression. Besides the powerful Frederick of Saxony, four hundred nobles swore to stand by him, and two thousand people gath- ered around him for his defense, and escorted him to his lodgings.* He was certainly in little danger at Worms, and there was little wonder that his courage was aroused where he had clearly so little to fear. But, if the doctrines of Luther were certainly not adapted to the reformation of the Church, they were at least easy and flattering to human nature; and, under this point of view, they were powerful means of rapidly difiusing the pretended Reformation which was predicated on them. Lu- ther could hope, through their instrumentality, to gain over to his party the wicked of every class in society. To the corrupt among the priests and monks, he held out the induce- ments of getting rid of the painful duties of their state, of bidding adieu to vigils, to matins and to prayers, and of crowning their apostasy with fclie blooming garlands of hymen ! To the unmortified, — and these were a very large class — he * Menzel, sup. cit. ii, 230-1. VOL I.— 12 138 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. promised exemption from confession, from fasts and from long prayers. To the proud and presumptuous, — and their uum ber was legion — he offered the flattering principle of private judgment in matters of religion ; assuring them, that every one, no matter how stupid or ignorant, had an equal right, with the learned and the talented, to expound the Scriptures for himself. How consoling this assm'ance to the old lady, who, sitting in the chimney corner, had been hitherto content to con her prayers in private, to abide by the decisions of the Church, which Christ had solemnly commanded her to hear, under penalty of being reckoned "with heathens and publicans," and to leave the thorny paths of theological controversy to the more skillful and learned ! She awoke to a new life, her' eyes sparkling again with the joys of youth, and she no doubt burst forth into a canticle of praise to the Lord, for her emancipation from the degrading servitude of popery ! And, what bright careers of glory were opened to the ambjtion of young theological students in the universities, who, through the new doctrines, could hope to shine in the pulpit, and to settle themselves advantageously in the world, with their newly acquired wives and families : and all this without any very reznarkable sacrifice, or any great previous lab(jr in pre- paring themselves for the ministry ! Verily, as Melancthon had said to his dying mother : " The way of the reformers was more convenient" — and what mattered it, "if that of the Catholics was more safe !" This was a consideration of minor importance ; or of weight only at the hour of death ! And what thought they of death ? But the chief resource of Luther, for establishing and con- solidating his new religion, lay in the fostering protection of princes. He understood this, and he accordingly determined to gain them over to his party, T)y the most immoderate flat- tery, and by pandering to their worst passions. The great and moderate Frederick Von Schlegel assures us of this, and his testmiony, in itself valuable, is fully confirmed by the PROTECTION OF PRINCES. 139 facts and coiTobv>rated by that of all trustworthy historians, whether Catholic or Protestant : " Luther was by no means an advocate for democracy, like Zuinglius and Calvin,* but he asserted the absolute power of princes, though he made his advocacy subservient to his own religious views and projects. It was by such conduct and the influence which he thereby acquired, as well as by the sanction of the civil power, that the Reformation was promoted and consoli- dated. Without this. Protestantism would have sunk into the lawless anarchy which marked the proceedings of the Hussites, and to which the war of the peasants rapidly tended ; and it would have been inevitably sup- pressed, like all other popular commotions."! The whole history of the Reformation proves the justice of these remarks. Luther thoroughly understood his true policy in regard to princes, and he never failed to carry it out. Even as late as 1530, when Charles V. was about to enter Augsburg to attend the diet assembled there, he cher- ished hopes of gaining over this gi-eat emperor to his party. In his letters and other writings about this time, he painted Charles V. "as a man of God, an envoy of heaven, a new Augustus, the admiration and delight of the whole world'"^ But when the emperor published at that same diet his famous conciliatory decree, by which he merely allowed to the Prot- estants the free " enjoyment of their temples and creeds," but enjoined silence on them until the meeting of the general council, the whole scene suddenly changed. Charles was no longer "a new Augustus:" but "he and his counselors were not even men, but 'gates of hell' — judges who could not judge his cause, and to whom he would not give up a hair of his head."§ To understand better how Luther was able so successfully to avail himself of the political circumstances of the times, and to play off so skillfully the German emperor and the * We shall see in the sequel what kind of " advocates for democracy " they were. f Philosophy of History ; vol. ii, p. 205, 6 : edit. Appleton & Co., Ne^ York, 1841. t See the authorities quoted by Audin, p. 440. J Ibid. 140 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. German princes against the Pope, we must glance at the con dition of Germany in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and especially at its political relations with Italy and with the Roman Pontiffs. Without this view, it might be more or less diflScult to explain the rapid diffusion of the Reformation in Germany ; with it, the explanation becomes exceedingly easy, and our only wonder is, that the movement was not even more rapid and more general. The political condition of Germany at this time happened to be entirely favorable to Luther and his partisans. As we have already seen on the authority of Roscoe, Pope Julius 11. had, to a great extent, succeeded in driving the armies of the French and German invaders from the Italian soil. Faithful to the traditions of the Papacy, he had thrown the entire influence of his elevated position in the scale of Italian inde- pendence. It was but a renewal, in another shape, of the old struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines : the former of whom contended, under the auspices of the Popes, for the freedom of Italy ; the latter, under that of the German emperors, for foreign and especially for German domination over Italy. But, if Julius succeeded in securing the gratitude of the Italians, his action naturally provoked the enmity of the French, and more particularly of the Germans ; for he had expelled the armies of both from Italy. Accordingly, we find that Guicciardini, an hereditary Ghibelline and a digni- tary of the Germanic empire, was among the most bitter enemies of the Pontiff, whose character he has sought to ren- der infamous through his writings. The king of France and the emperor of Germany, foiled by the active vigilance of Julius in their ambitious designs on Italy, became the sworn enemies of the Pontiff, whose anathemas they had justly in- curred on account of their attempts to invade the rights of the Holy See. In 1510, Louis XII. of France proposed, and the emperor Maximilian of Germany accepted, the project of convening a schismatical council, the object of which was to POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY, AND STATE INTRIGUES. 141 depose the Pope, and to elect another who would be more pliable to their unhallowed policy. Such a council was actu- ally convened by the emperor at Pisa in the following year ; but it seems to have had no particular results, beyond giving forth an unmistakable indication of a growing disafi'ection towards the Holy See, and particularly towards the then reign- ing sovereign Pontiif. Maximilian, true to the traditions of Germany since the days of Barbarossa, still cherished his mad scheme of con- quering Italy. The Protestant historian of the house of Austria — Coxe — speaking of the religious condition and feel- ings of Germany towards the close of the fifteenth century, says: "The spiritual power of the Popes had gradully declined, and their authority had lost most of its influence. Germany had, in a public diet, declared itself independent of the Pope, and even the minor princes of Eu- rope disregarded or despised the thunders of the Vatican. At the same time, the dominions of the Roman See were nearly confined to the neigh- borhood of Rome, and of those ample possessions which had been granted or confirmed by the emperors, the principal part had been appropriated by powerful families."* After Julius had retrieved the tottering fortunes of the Roman principality, Maximilian of Germany and Louis of France united their councils and forces for the conquest of Italy; and in 1510, as Coxe tells us, the emperor "revived the ancient disputes between the Church and the Empire, by laying before the diet a list of grievances which the German nation had sufiered from the exactions and pretensions of the Popes."t These pretended exactions referred chiefly to the old disputes about Church patronage and the nomination to benefices, which had grown out of the controversy on Investi- tures ; in which, as we have already sufiiciently shown, the Popes were clearly in the right and the German emperors as clearly in the wrong. The rapacious princes of Germany * History of the House of Austria, i, 297 ; quoted in Dublin Review, for Sept. 1855. t Ibid. 142 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. wished to rule supreme both in Church and State ; and they were particularly sensitive on the subject of money going out of Germany to the Holy See, no matter how ancient had been the custcjni which authorized it, or how reasonable the motives m which it had originated. Thus, at the time of Luther's appearance on the arena of the Reformation, every thing was already ripe for the great rebellion which he meditated. The emperor, his supreme sovereign, was a declared enemy of the Papacy ; while his immediate prince, the elector of Saxony, was, moreover, strongly inclined, for other special reasons, to favor the new gospel, and to promote its interests to the utmost extent of his power. And we must bear in mind, that the elector was, after the emperor, at that time the most powerful prince in Germany. On the death of Maximilian, he had been selected to hold the reins of government, as vicar of the empire, until the election of the imperial successor, Charles V. ; and he moreover continued in this position of power and influence for nearly a year and a half afterwards — until the coronation of Charles in October, 1520.* Thus, at the very time that Luther was beginning his revolt, the empire was passing through a most critical crisis, and every thing was highly favorable to the designs of the reformer, whose powerful secret or open friends and patrons were, at the same time, enemies of the Pope and were clothed with supreme power in the state. As Coxe informs us, Maximilian, "far from opposing the first attacks of Luther against indulgences, was pleased with his spirit and acuteness, declared that he deserved protection, and treated his adversaries with contempt and ridicule."f He warmly recommended the refractory monk to the elector of Saxony, saying that " there might come a time when he would be needed."J * Maximilian had died miserably in January, 1519. j History of the House of Austria, i, 387, ibid. 1 Ranke, History of Popes, etc., i, 65, ibid. ART OF HIS THESES. ]43 Tliere was little seeming need for this recv)mmendation ; for Frederick was already his patron and protector, and he had already openly taken sides in his favor, by prohibiting Tetzel from preaching the indulgences within the boundaries of Saxony. It was he who gave Luther the hint to begin the bold crusade of denunciation against the papal preacher of the indulgences ; and the refractory monk understood full well that he incurred little risk in preaching against Tetzel under so ample a guaranty of protection.* The theses which Luther posted up on the doors of the church of All Saints at Wittenberg, on the first day of November, 1517, were drawn up with consummate art; and without boldly attacking the doctrine itself, they appealed with much tact to the passions of the German people, and to their old-time prejudices against the Holy See on the subject of money. Among them, for example, were these : " Why does not the Pope, who is richer than Croesus, build St, Peter's with Ms own money^ rather than with that of poor Christians?" — "Christians should be taught that he who gives to the poor, or assists the needy, does better than he who purchases indulgences,"! Such propositions as these comprised precisely the topics which would be the best calcu lated to excite popular interest and arouse popular feeling. They were also the very points which were most likely to prove acceptable to the elector, who had already refused to receive Tetzel, who strongly opposed every scheme which would in any manner cause money to go out of his territory, especially if it were directed towards Rome, and who panted himself after the rich spoils of the Church — which he, in fact, ' shortly afterwards sacrilegiously grasped. One who will be regarded by Protestants as an unexcep- tionable witness, Wolfgang Menzel, fully confirms tl e view which we have here presented. He says : * Ranke tells us that, " an alliance had been formed between the monk of Wittenberg and the sovereign of Saxony." History of the Reformation, A. D. 1517. f Apud Audin, in loco. 144 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. " The old emperor Maximilian had, exactly at that penod (A . D. 1518,^ opened a diet at Augsburg, at which several of the princes and cities com- plained of the sale of indulgences and of other ecclesiastical disorders ; and the emperor, deeming it politic to make use of Luther as a means of hum- bling the Pontiff, and of compelling him to retract some of his inordinate (! demands, refused to deliver him up, although he had been cited to appear at Rome."* The same prejudiced writer, in a single sentence, furnishes U8 with a key to all of Luther's movements, as also to explain the favor with which they were regarded by many of the princes of the German empire. He says, that. Luther " cher- ished an almost hihlichl reverence for the anointed of the Lord, hy whose aid he hoped to succeed in reforming the Church." t This, translated into popular language, simply means, that lie was devoted to the doctrine of the divine right of kings, and consequently opposed to all those modern ideas of popular freedom, of which he has been usually heralded forth as the champion. Never was there a greater popular delusion than that which holds that Luther was the advocate of popular liberty ; as we hope to show by incontestable evi- dence in the proper place. For the present, suflfice it to say, that he relied for success, not on the people^ but on the strong arm of the princes ; and that the latter warmly seconded his views, which were so evidently to their own advantage. Menzel, in fact, tells us as much, when he writes: " To the numerous nobility of the empire in Swabia, Franconia, and the Rhenish provinces, the opening Reformation presented a flivorable opportu- nity for improving their circumscribed political position, seizing the I'ich hinds belonging to the Church, and raising themselves to an equality with, if not deposing the temporal princes."]; Again ; speaking of the failure of the attempt made by Melancthon to bring about a reunion with the Catholic Church at the diet of Augsburg, and of the reason of the failure, he writes : * History of Germany, Bohn's edition, ii, 226. f Ibid., p. 233. t Ibid., p. 234. TESTIMONY OF MENZEL. 145 "A last attempt, made by Melancthon, and supported by Luther,* to bring about a general reformation in the Church by means of the Pope, with the view of securing the Church from the temporal princes, failed, owing to the extreme demoralization of the clergy,f and Luther was speedily reduced to silence by the princes intent upon the secularization of the Ushoprics."\ — That is, upon seizing by violence the property which supported the bishop- rics and appropriating it to secular, or what was the same thing, to their own uses. We must furnish one more extract from Menzel on this subject, which is more remarkable than any thing we have so far presented from his pages; as it candidly avows the carnal and wicked motives which prompted the princes of the earth to side with Luther and to oppose the Church of God, not only in Germany but elsewhere ; and as it dissi- pates forever the usually received and popular idea, that Luther was a champion of freedom. He is speaking of the period which immediately followed the suppression of the popular insurrections in Germany, usually called the war of the peasants — of which we shall treat more fully in a subse- quent chapter. " The defeat of the nobility and peasantry had crushed the revolutionary spirit in the people ; and the Reformation, stripped of its terrors, began to be regarded as advantageous by the princes. Luther also appeared, not as a dangerous innovator, but in the light of a zealous upholder of princely pmoer, the divine nght of ivhich lie even made an article of faith ; and thus, through Luther's well meant policy, the Reformation, the cause of the peo- ple (!), naturally became that of the princes, and consequently instead of being the aim, was converted into a means of their policy. In England Henry VIII. favored the Reformation for the sake of becoming pope in his own dominions, and of giving unrestrained license to tyranny and caprice. * He is here egregiously mistaken. Luther strongly opposed the recon- ciliation, as we have already shown. See his angry correspondence on the subject with Meiancthon and others in Audin. With his subserviency to princes, Luther would not have dared thwart them in their darling project of robbing the Church. f Brought about precisely by the corrupt usurpation of church patronage by the secular princes, as we have shown. See Introduction. t History of Germany, Bohn's edition, ii, p. 251. VOL. I. — 13 146 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. In Sweden, Gustavus Wasa embraced the Lutheran faith, as a wider mark of distinction between the Swedes and Danes, whose king Christiern lie had driven out of Sweden. His example was followed (A. D. 1527) by the grand-master Albert of Prussia, who hoped by this means to render that country an hereditary possession in his family. His cousin, the detestable Casimir Von Culmback, sought to wipe out the memory of his parricide by his confession of the new faith."* Thus, according to the open avowal of even the bigoted Menzel, the great German Reformation dwindles down into a mere affair of groveling avarice and of worldly ambition on the part of the princes; and Luther, the arch-reformer, the bold adversary of the Pope, and the vaunted champion of liberty, sinks down into the position of a mere crouching and subservient tool of rapacious and unprincipled men, who sought only their own interests, and who wished to lord it over their subjects with supreme power both in church and in state ! In casting off the yoke of Rome, the German peo- ple had another riveted on their necks, which was infinitely more galling ; and they have had to bear it ever since ! "We have already seen how meanly subservient Luther was on all occasions to his immediate sovereign, the elector of Saxony. This prince was the most powerful protector of the Reformation, and, as we shall see, he reaped a golden harvest for his protection. But he had another motive for defending Luther and his partisans. Luther and Melancthon were the principal professors in his newly founded and warmly cher- ished university of Wittenberg; and their varied learning and shining talents had attracted to it vast numbers of youth from all parts of Germany. At the period of the Reforma- tion, this university became the focus of the new doctrines, and the rendezvous of all who favored them. The attractive novelty, the stirring interest, the startling boldness of the newly broached theories of religion, together with the rude but overpowering eloquence of Luther, and the winning graces and versatile genius of Melancthon, rendered this new seat * History of Germany, Bohn's edition, ii, p. 248. LANDGRAVE OF HESSE 147 of learning famous throughout Germany. The powerful elec- tor could not but look with complacency on the men who -shed such lustre on an institution which he had erected, and the prosperity of which was identified with his own glory. This was one of the reasons which first inclined him to favor Lu- ther. It is not a little remarkable, too, that this same univer- sity of Wittenberg was erected chiefly from the proceeds of those very indulgences, the inveighing against which was the first movement of the Reformation ! A remarkable instance of Luther's mean subserviency to princes, is the permission which he and his chief partisans gave to Philip, landgrave of Hesse, to have two wives at once ! This fact is as astounding as it is undoubted. Philip had been married for sixteen years to Christiana, daughter of George, duke of Saxony ; and he had already been blessed with several children. According to Adolph Menzel, a Prot- estant historian, he was "violent and passionate, unfaithful and superstitious."* But he was a good Lutheran, nay, one of the most powerful friends of the Reformation ; and he read his Bible incessantly. He became enamored of Margaret Saal, a maid of honor to his sister Elizabeth. She proved inexorable, and the landgrave lost his appetite, and was seized with a fit of despondency. In this distress, he had recourse to his Bible : he opened it at the fifth chapter of Genesis, and, finding that Lamech had two wives at once, he resolved to imitate his example ! He, however, thought it advisable to seek counsel on a subject of so much importance — particularly to himself — from the principal reformers. Through Martin Bucer, a learned trformed theologian, and a devoted courtier and tool of himself, he proposed his case of conscience to the new apostles at Wit- tenberg. He stated his sad case very roundly and very simply, as became so godly and scrupulous a champion of the new gospel : " That he could not abstain from fornication, and that * Adolf Menzel, Neure Geschichte der Deutchen, torn. i. 148 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. he must expect eternal damnation unless he changed Lis life : that, when he espoused Christiana, it was not through inclina- tion or love : that the officers of his court and her maids of honor might be examined regarding her temper, her charms. and her love of wine : that he had read in the Old Testament how many holy personages, Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon, had many wives, and yet pleased God : and that, finally, he had resolved to renounce his licentious habits, which he could not do, unless he could get Margaret for his wife. He therefore asked Luther and Philip (Melancthon) to grant him what he requested." The case was plainly and fully stated ; and the answer was no less direct. It was divided into twenty-four articles, and was signed by the eight principal reformers of Wittenberg; Luther, Melancthon, Bucer, Anthony Corvin, Adam, I. Len- ingen, J. Vinfert, and D. Melanther. The twenty-first article runs as follows : " If your highness is resolved to many a second wife, we judge that it should be done privately, as we have said when speaking of the dispensation you have asked for. There should be no one present, but the bride and a few witnesses who are aware of the circumstance, and who would be bound to secrecy, as if under the seal of confession. Thus all opposition and great scandal will be avoided ; for it is not unusual for princes to have concubines, and although the people take scandal at it, the more enlightened will suspect the truth. We ought not to be very anxious about what the world will say, provided the conscience be at rest. Thus we approve of it. Your highness has then, in this writing, our approbation in all the exigencies that may occur, as also the reflections we have made on them." The marriage took place on the 3d of March, 1540, in the presence of Melancthon, Bucer, and other theologians. The marriage contract was drawn up by a Lutheran doctor, and duly signed by a notary public. Li this instrument Philip declares, " that he does not take Margaret lightly, or through contempt of the civil law ; but solely for other considerations, and because, without a second wife, he could not live godly, or merit heaven !"* Was there ever a more startling instance * See the Instrumentum Copulationis Philippi landgrave et Margaritae de JOHN, OF SAXONY. 149 ol utter depravity and of unprincipled Bycophaiicy ! Here, then, is a Protestant indulgence^ in the very worst sense attached to the term by Protestant writers ! And yet these men claimed to be sent by God to reform the Church ! !* By such unhallowed means as these did the reformers secure the protection of princes. What was the character of such of the latter as espoused the Reformation? "Were they men whose lives reflected honor on the new religion, and gave a pledge of the purity of the motives which had led to its adoption ? Let us see. We have already glanced at the character of some of these men, in company with Wolfgang Menzel. We will now speak of others. In the first place, there was John, elector of Saxony, who, according to Menzel,f was one of the most gluttonous princes of his age, fond of wine and of good cheer, and whose stomach, overcharged with excessive feeding, was supported by an iron circle. " He had enriched his sideboard — the best furnished in all Germany — with ves- sels of all sorts taken from the refectories of the monasteries, or the sacristies of the churches."J He accordingly embraced Saal, given in full by Bossuet, Variations, vol. i. See also Ad. Menzel, a Protestant, torn, ii, p. 179, 192 ; and Audin, p. 479. * Those who wish to see all the documents connected with this disgrace- ful proceeding, are referred to Bossuet's Variations, book vi, and to Bayle's Dictionary, art. Luther. They were kept hidden for a long time, until Charles Lewis, the elector palatine, published them to the world. There is no doubt whatever as to their genuineness. Hallam fully admits this, in his Constitutionsfl History of England. Bayle twits the reformers on their mean subserviency to the landgrave ; who, he shrewdly suspects, had thrown out "certain menaces" in case of their refusal to grant the asked for dispensation, and had made them certain munificent promises in case of their compliance. The latter he fully redeemed ; for after the death of Frederick, the electoi of Saxony, in 1525, he became the great Ajax of the Reformation party in Germany. D'Aubigne admits this. We consider the documents connected with this disgraceful affair of suffi- cient importance in a history of the Reformation, to authorize their being republished in full, which we do accordingly in note C. at the end of the present volume. + Ad. Menzel, Neuere Geschichte, torn, i, fol. 338. t Audin, p. 424. 10 150 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. with eagerness a religion which had abolished fasting, and which permitted him to indulge his favorite appetite without restraint. Then came thopioiis and scrupulous Philip, land- grave of Ilesse, whose troubled conscience was soothed by the panacea to which we have just alluded. This second great pillar of the Reformation had inscribed on the clothes of the domestics who served him at table, the initials V. D. M. I. J£.., signifying Verbum Domini manet in a^ternum — "the word of the Lord remaineth forever!" Lastly came Wolf- gang, prince of Anhalt, whose stupid ignorance was prover- bial: and finally "Ernest and Francis Lunenberg, who did not trouble their vassals to pillage the churches, but with their own hands despoiled the tabernacles of their sacred s^essels."* Such were the princes to whose patronage the Reformation was indebted for its first success and subsequent permanency ! To secure their cooperation and protection, which were essential to the triumph of his cause, Luther left no means untried. He recklessly appealed to the worst passions which sway the human bosom. He held out to them, as baits, the rich booty of the Catholic churches and monasteries. He said to them, in a publication entitled Argyrophilax /f " You will find out, within a few months, how many hundred thou- sand gold pieces the monks and that class of men possess within a small portion of your territory.''^ He acknowl- edged, in one of his sermons, " that the church ostensories made many converts to the new gospel."§ And M. Audin is entirely correct in his caustic remark: "That the con- vent spoils resembled the martyrs' blood, mentioned by * Audin, p. 425. f " Guardian of the Treasury." I "' Experieniini intra paucos menses, quot centum aureorum millia unius exif^viiB ditionis vestrte monachi et id genus homiiuim possideant." — Cf. CochhBus, p. 149. { " Vicle sind noch g'ut evangelisch, weil es noch Catholischo monstranzen gil>t." Ijuther, Pniod. xii, apud .lak. Marx., p. 174, and Ad. Meiizel, torn, i, pp. 371 -9. Apud Audin. THE SPOILS OF THE CHURCH. 15] rertiiillian, and brought forth daily new disciples to the Reformation."* It was cupidity, as we have already shown from W. Menzel, .hat induced Albert of Brandenburg to apostatize from the Catholic Church, " that he might plunder, with a safe con- science, the country of Prussia, which belonged to the Teu- tonic order" — of which order he was superior general — " and which he erected into a hereditary principality."! Francis Von Sickengen was another of these spoilers, who, at the head of twelve thousand men, "invaded the archbishopric of Treves, tracking his path by the blood he shed, the churches he pillaged, and the licentious excesses of his soldiery ."J He was but one of those powerful church robbers who, according to the testimony of an ancient historian, then converted Ger- many, once so powerful and noble, into a den of sacrilegious thieves.§ The candid Melancthon "avowed that in the tri- umph of the Reformation the princes looked not to the purity of doctrine, or the propagation of light, to the triumph of a creed, or the improvement of morals, but only regarded the proline and miserable interests of this world."|| The rich spoils of the Catholic Church and of the monas- teries not only induced many princes of the Germanic body to embrace the Reformation, but also caused them to perse- vere in the cause they had thus espoused. In the famous diet of Augsburg, in 1530, the conciliatory course of Melancthon, who there represented the reformed party, bade fair to heal the rupture, by reconciling the Protestants to the Catholic Church. But the Catholic theologians insisted on two things : that the married priests should abandon their wives, and that the Protestant princes should restore the goods of the Church * Audin, p. 345. f Rotteck, p. 93. Apud Audin. Ibid. J Ibid. 5 " Potentissima Germania et nobilissima, sed ea tota nunc unum latro- cinium est, et ille intei- nobiles gloriosior qui rapacior." — Campanus ad Freher-Script. German., torn, ii, p. 294, 295. II " Sie beciimmerten sich gar nicht um die lehre, es sie ihiien blosz uiu . die freiheit, und die herrschaft zu thun." — Apud Audin, p. 343. 152 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. Upon which they had seized. The former condition woiild probably have been complied with ; but, as Erasmus remarks. " the Lutheran princes would not hear any thing about resti- tution."* The same insurmountable difficulty interposed when, five years later, Rome made her last effort towards bringing back the Protestant party to the bosom of the Catho- lic Church. The benevolent labors of Cardinal Verger, legate of Paul III., in 1535, might not have proved wholly abortive, but for the indomitable insolence of Luther,t and the refusal of the princes of his party to disgorge their ill-gotten plunder. After all this, we can scarcely restrain a smile, on hearing the lamentations of Luther over the rapacity of the princes of his party, whom he himself had excited to the unholy work of spoliation, " To the d — 1," he cried out in a rage, " with senators, manor lords, princes, and mighty nobles, who do not leave for the preachers, the priests, the servants of the gospel, wherewith to support theiriv ives and children ! "J They were, it seems, more rapacious than even he could have desired. " They gave, with admirable gener- osity, the sacred vessels of the secularized monastery to the parish priest, provided, however, he had adopted Lutheran- ism. The rest went to their mistresses, their courtiers, their dogs, and their horses. Some, who were as greedy as the landgrave of Hesse, kept even the habits and sacerdotal vest- ments, the tapestries, the chased silver vases, and the vessels of the sanctuary ."§ They would not abide by Luther's seem- ingly reasonable rules for the partition of the confiscated property :|| and hence the enkindled wrath of the reformer ! He, indeed, occasionally condemned this rapacity in a voice )f thunder: he sometimes even clothed himself in the garb * " Res propemodum ad concordiam deducta est, nisi quod Lutherani principes nihil audire voluerunt de restituendo." — Erasm. Ep., p. 998. This Tonfirms the statement given above on the authority of Wolfgang Menzel. f For an account of the outrageous conduct of Luther to the legate, and of the whole negotiation, see Audin, p. 474, seqq. t Table Talk, citec" by Jak. Marx, p. 175. \ Audin, p. 346. || Ibid OPEN VIOLENCH AND SPOLIATION. 153 of a messenger of peace, and bewailed the lawless violence aud other sad disorders which he had himself occasioned, and even caused, by his frequent appeals to the lowest and most groveling passions. But he could not arrest the course of the turbid torrent of passion, which he himself had in the first instance caused to flow. As well might he have labored to turn back the waters of the Rhine ! Had he not, in one of his inflammatory appeals to the princes of the empire, used the following language ? — " There is Rome, Romagna, and the duchy of Urbino: there is Bologna, and the states of the Church ; take them : they belong to you : take, in God's name, what is your own?"* Had he not threatened them with the wrath of heaven, in case they did not seize on the property of the monasteries ?t Had he not, on almost every page of his works, made " a brutal appeal against the priests, a maddening shout against the convents ; in a word, had he not preached up the sanctification of robbery, the canoniza- tion of rapine ? "J Erasmus bears abundant evidence to the violence which almost everywhere marked the progress of the Reformation in Germany. We will give an extract from one of his writ- ings, premising the remark that he was an eye-witness of what he relates, and not at least a violent enemy of the reformers : " I like to hear Luther say, that he does not wish to take their revenues from the priests and monks, who have not any other means of support. This is the case probably at Strasburg. But is it so elsewhere ? Truly it is laughable to say : ' we will give food to those who apostatize ; let others starve if they please. Still more laughable to hear them protest that they do not wish to harm any one. What! is it no injury to drive away canons from their churches, monks from their monasteries, and to plunder bishops and abbots? — But 'we do not kill!' — Why not? Because your victims take the prudent precaution of running away. — 'We let our enemies live peaceably among us.' — Who are your enemies ? Are all Catholics ? Do our bishops and priests regard themselves as secure in the midst of you ? If you * 0pp. edit. Jense, torn, viii, fol. 209-248. A. D. 1545. Apud Audin. t " Grottloss seyen dienigen die diese giiter nicht an sich zogen, und sie bessei verwendeten, als die moncho. \ Audin, p. 349. 154 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. are so mild and tolerant, wherefore these emigi-ations, and these UiUltipIied complaints addressed to the throne ? . . . But then, why destroy the churches which they built ? "* It is curious to mark the mode of operating adopted by the pious reformers, while doing their godly work of violence and spoliation. We will furnish a few instances, out of many. " At Bremen, during Lent, the citizens got up a masquerade, in which the Popes, the cardinals, and nuns were represented. On the place of public execution they raised a pile, on which all these personifications of Catholicity were thrown, and burnt amidst shouts of joy. The remainder of the day was spent ii celebrating, by large libations, the downfall of popery.' "f " At Zwickau, on Shrove Tuesday, hare-nets were laid or the market-place ; and monks and nuns, hunted by the stu dents, fell into them, and were caught. At a short distance was the statue of St. Francis, tarred and feathered !" Tobias Schmidt, the cotemporary historian of this outrage, here ex- claims : " Thus fell, at Zwickau, ' popery,' and thus rose there the pure light of the gospel ! "J He assures us, in the same place, that " a band of citizens attacked the convent, whose gates they broke, and, when they had pillaged the chests and the treasures, threw the books about and broke the windows : "( the town authorities, meantime, standing looking on, with their arms crossed, in perfect composure, without even affect- ing indignation ! Similar scenes were enacted elsewhere. " At Elemberg, the pastor's house was given up for several hours to pillage ; and one of the students, who was a con- spicuous actor in this scene, which excited the laughter of the mob, clothed himself in priests' vestments, and made his entry on an ass into the church."|| * " In Pseudo-Evangelicos." Epist. 47, lib. xxxi. London, Flesher. t Arnold, 1. c. th. 2, bd. 16, kap. 6, s. 60. Apud Audin, p. 347. I " Also ist das Pabsthura abgeschaift und hingegen die evangelische reine lehre fortgeplanzt worden." Tob. Schmidt, p. 386. Ibid. } Ibid., p. 374. Apud Adin, p. 348. || See "Das resultat meinei wanderungen," etc. Von Julius Honinghaus, p. 339 ; and Audin, ibid. A LUTHERAN VISITATION. 155 We must also briefly state the tactics of Luther's second great patron, John, elector of Saxony, while gallantly attack- ing a monastery of poor monks, or a convent of defenceless women. The noble elector, who had succeeded Frederick, did not seek to stain his victory with blood ; he sought rather the spoils of war ! M. Audin compares him very appropri- ately to Verres, the rapacious Roman proconsul of Sicily, whom Cicero lashed with his withering invective. " The proconsul of Sicily was not more ingenious than Duke John of Saxony in plundering a monastery. Some days before opening the cam- paign, he was accustomed to send and demand the register of the house, and then he set out with a brisk detachment of soldiers. They surrounded the monastery ; the abbot was summoned, and the prince, holding the reg- istry in his hand, caused every thing contained in it to be delivered."* Wolfgang Menzel writes as follows of the "visitation" made by John of Saxony: " The elector John, Luther's most zealous partisan, immediately on his accession to the government of Saxony, on the death of Frederick the Wise, empowered Luther to undertake a church visitation throughout his dominions, and to arrange ecclesiastical affairs according to the spirit of the doctrine he taught. His example was followed by the rest of the Lutheran princes ; and this measure necessarily led to a separation from, instead of a thorough Reformation of the Church. The first step was the abolition of monasteries, and the confiscation of their wealth by the state, by which a portion was set apart for the extension of academies and schools. The monks and nuns were absolved fi'om their vows, compelled to marry and follow a profession, etc."t This illustrious example was duly followed up by the civil authorities at Rosteck, Torgau, and other places. An old chronicle of Torgau, printed in 1524, minutely describes the revolting particulars of a nocturnal excursion made to the Franciscan convent of the city, by Leonard Koep])e and some other young students, who made an open boast of their cruelty * Arnold, loc. cit. th> 2. Bd. 16, kap. 6, 568, cited by Honinghaus, supra. ■f History Germany, sup. cit. ii, 248. 156 REFORMATION LN GERMANY. and profligacy on the occasion.* At Magdeburg the magis- trates resolved to act more humanely. They put a stop to the work of plunder, and allowed the monks to remain quietly in their cells during the rest of their lives; "Pro- vided, however, they laid aside the religious habit, and em- braced the Reformation :"f and many of them, alas ! preferred apostasy to starvation ! Such as would not apostatize were, in most places, driven from their convents, " were reduced to beg their bread, and were the victims of heartless calumny. They seemed aban doned by all. Art was as ungrateful as mankind ; it forgot that it owed its progress to their labors. The people laughed when they saw them pass half naked, and had no word of pity, no sigh of compassion, for so many unfortunate crea- tures. Whither could they go ? The roads were not safe ; in those times there were knights who scoured the high-ways and hunted after monks, whom they took pleasure" — in making eunuchs — " for the greater glory of God !" J With all these facts before our eyes, can we wonder at the testimony borne by the diet of Worms, quoted above, as to the character and tendency of the Lutheran doctrines ? Even Protestants have acknowledged, that the Reformation was indebted mainly to this violence for its successful establish- ment in Germany and the countries of the north. We have already seen the testimony of Melancthon. Jurieu, the fa- mous Calvinist minister, acknowledges " that Geneva, Switz- erland, the republics and the free cities, the electors, and the German princes, England, Scotland, Sweden, and Denmark, got rid of ' popery,' and established the Reformation, by the aid of the civil power."§ A sweeping admission, truly, as candid as it is clearly founded on the facts of history ! The great Frederick Yon Schlegel has well observed, that • Arnold, ut siipra. f Marcheineke, th. 2, s. 41. Audin, ibid t Ulrich llutteii Iwasts of this. Epist. ad Ijutheruin, part ii, p. 128. Of. 4udin, p. 200. { Cf Jak. Marx. "Die Ursacheu der Schnellen ver TESTIMONY OF SCHLEGLL. 157 •' Protestantism was the work of man ; and that it appears in no other light, even in the history which its own disciples have drawn of its origin. The partisans of the Reformation proclaimed, indeed, at the ontset, that, if it were more than a human work, it would endure, and that its duration would serve as a proof of its divine origin. But surely no one will consider this an adequate proof, when he reflects that the great Mohammedan heresy, which, more than any other, de- stroys and obliterates the divine image stamped on the human soul, has stood its ground for full twelve hundred years; though this religion [imposture], if it proceed from no worse source, is at best a human work."* He says also : " That the Reformation was established in Denmark chiefly, though not exclusively, as in Sweden, by the sovereign power : in Iceland its establishment was almc>st the work of violence."t True, he indicates the opinion that Protestantism was introduced into other German countries " by the torrent of popular opinion :"J but we have already seen what kind of a torrent this was ; what ruins it left in its course ; how its turbid waters were swollen by the storm of the rude eloquence of Luther and his partisans, and how its maddening current was lashed into fury by the lawless pas- sions of the princes who espoused the cause of the Reforma- tion, and fattened on its spoils. We must again quote Wolfgang Menzel in regard to the practical operation of the new church, as organized in Ger- many, and the influence of the princes therein : " The whole system of the church was simplified. The sequestrated bishoprics were provisionally administered, and the affairs of the Lutheran church controlled by commissioners selected from among the refo -mers, and by the councils of the princes, Luther incessantly promulgating the doctrine of t/ie right of temporal sovereigns to decide all ecclesiastical questions. His inten- breitung der Reformation," p. 164 ; apud Audin, p. 343. The testimony of Jurieu is found quoted, with several others of the same kind, in Alzog'a Church History. * "Philosophy of History," ii, 218. f Ibid., p. 225. J Ibid., 224. 158 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. tion was, the creation of a counterpoise to ecclesiastical authority, ami he was probably far from imagining that religion might eventually Ije deprived of her dignicy and liberty by temporal despotism. Episcopal authority passed entirely into the hands of the princes."* Our sunmuiry of tlie means employed to promote the suc- cess of the Keformation would be incomplete, without advert- ing to one other cause which contributed, perhaps as much as any one of those already named, to produce this effect. We allude to the flagrant abuse of the press, which, during that period, poured forth a torrent of ridicule, invective, abuse, misrepresentation, and calumny against the Catholics, flooding all Germany with pestiferous publications. The vio- lence of the pulpit powerfully seconded that of the press. Luther himself thundered incessantly from the pulpit of All Saints at Wittenberg, as well as from those of the other prin- cipal cities of Saxony. He lashed, with his burning invec- tives, Popes, bishops, priests, and monks : wherever his words fell they were as a consuming fire. Indefatigable in his exer- tions, he published book after book, inflammatory pamphlet after inflammatory pamphlet, against the pretended abomina- tions of Rome. His books were eagerly sought after, and greedily devoured by the great and increasing numbers who had a prurient curiosity in such novelties, which to many were attractive, precisely in proportion to their novelty, and the startling boldness with which they were proclaimed. That " On the Captivity of Babylon," in which he painted the Pope as Antichrist, went rapidly through ten editions. Tlie annual book-fairs at Leipsic and Frankfort never before presented so animated a spectacle, or drove so brisk a busi- ness. The works of the champions of Catholicity — of Eck, Em Ber, Prierias, and Hochstraet — found not so ready a sale. They had not the overweening charm of novelty; they dealt not in such rude denunciations ; they were not so replete with History of Germany, ii, p. 249. THE BOOKSELLERS. 159 ridicule or vulgar conceits ! Even the veteran Erasmus, who had been not long before styled " the prince of letters," " the star of Germany," " the high-priest of polite literature ;" even the witty, and polished, and classical Erasmus could scarcely find purchasers for his Ilyperaspides and other works which he published, after he had at length consented to enter the lists with Luther. His glory suddenly faded, and the book-publishers for the first time complained of having to keep his works on hand unsold ! Many causes contributed to this result. In that period of maddening excitement, nothing whatever seemed to suit the popular palate which was not new and startling. The calm and dignified defence of truth — alas ! now grown antiquated and obsolete — could not cope with the exciting character and versatile graces of error. It has been ever so. Perverse hu- man nature has at all times been inclined to relish most what is most agreeable to its passions. It more readily believes what is evil than what is good, especially when the former is served up with the winning graces of rhetoric, and seasoned with sarcasm, ridicule, and denunciation. Besides, the press sent forth the works of the reformers neatly and correctly printed ; whereas those of the Catholics were often so clumsily executed as to excite ridicule and disgust. The principal booksellers had joined the reform jjarty, and many of the apostate monks had exchanged their former occupation of transcribing manuscripts, for that of type-compositors and proof-readers in the principal printing establishments. The press thus became almost wholly subservient to the Protest- ant party ; and the rebellious monks, treading in the footsteps of Luther, became the most zealous champions of the new opinions. A Catholic book which passed through the hands of the Protestant printers was generally mutilated, or at least print- ed with great negligence. Cochlseus and others complain of this injustice. He says, that the works of Catholics were often 80 badly printed, that they did more service to the Lu 160 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. theran party than to their own cause ; and that the Frankfort merchants openly laughed at their clumsy execution.* Froben, the great bookseller of Basle, made a splendid for tune by selling the works of Luther, which he reproduced in every form, and published at the cheapest rates. In a lette** to the reformer, he chuckles with delight over his success : " All your works are bought up ; I have not ten copies on hand : never did books sell so well."f Erasmus, in a letter to Henry VIII. of England, complains that " he could find no printer who would dare publish any thing against Luther. "Were it against the Pope," he adds, '^ there would be no dif- ticulty."J The great Cardinal Bellarmine, who, towards the close of the sixteenth century, undertook the herculean task of refut- ing the works of the reformers — a task which he executed in a most masterly and triumphant manner — assures us, " that there were few among the Protestant party who did not write something, and that their books not only spread like a can- cer, but that they were diffused over the land, like swarms of locusts."§ Books of every size, from the ponderous folio to the humbler pamphlet, were scattered through Germany on the wings of the press. And what were the weapons which these productions wield- ed with so great and deadly effect ? Were they those of sober truth and of sound argument? Or were they those of low abuse, scurrilous misrepresentation, and open calumny ? If there is any truth in history, the latter were put in requi- * "Ea tamen negiectira, ita festinanter et vitiose imprimebant, ut niajorem gratiara eo obsequio referrent Lutheranis quam Catholicis. Si quis eorura justiorem Catholicis operam impenderent, hi a cseteris in publicis meioati- bus Frankorordise ac aUbi vexabantur et ridebantur, velut papists ct sacer- dotum servi." — Cochl. p. 58, 59. Apud Audin. \ 0pp. Lutheri, torn, i, p. 388, 389. Ibid. I Epist. Erasmi, p. 752. For further particulars, see Audin. p. 337, seqq. 5 "Rari sunt apud adversarios qui non ahquid scribunt, quorum hbri iion jam ut cancer serpunt, sed velut agmina locustarum volitant." — 0pp. torn, i, de Oontrov. in Praefat. LOW CARICATURE AND RIDICULE. ICl gitiun much oftener than the former. Catholic doctrines travestied and misrepresented, Catholic practices ridiculed and caricatured, Catholic bishops and priests vilified and openly calumniated ; these were the means which the reformers employed with so murderous an effect.* And though all the sins of these first champions of the pre- tended reform should not in justice be visited on their chil- dren in the faith, yet truth compels the avowal that, in these respects at least, the latter have not proved recreant disciples. This is still the panoply of Protestant warfare. We wish from our hearts it were otherwise ! The poet's remark is true both of the first reformers and of their modern disciples, in the most of their writings against the Catholic Church : " A hideous figure of their face they drew, Nor hues, nor looks, nor colors true : And this grotesque design exposed to public view."f We shall here offer a few specifications, to prove that we have not done injustice to the character of the writings pub- lished by the early reformers. One means of attacking the character of the Catholics, was that of the Dialogue, invented by Ulrich von Hutten, one of the most unscrupulous writers * To calumny might be added forgery, which was not uncommon in the palmy days of the Reformation. In fact, Whitaker, a Protestant parson, says, in substance, that this was almost peculiar to the reformed party. We will allude to one notorious instance in Germany. Otho Pack, vice-chan- cellor of Duke George of Saxony, forged a pretended Catholic plot, which he professed to have learned by prying into the secrets of the duke. His forgery caused the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse to take up arms, which they however laid down when the falsehoods of this wretch were de- tected. Still the forgery, though thus exposed, was greedily seized up, and published all over Germany ; and there are j^et several writers who speak of the conspiracy it had fabricated as the leag-ue of Passau ! Titus Gates had a predecessor, it seems, in Germany, though he far surpassed him in wickedness. We must refer our readers to the pages of Audin for an ac- count of this curious affair ; vol. ii, p. 125, TurnbuU's translation, London edition. f Dryden. VOL. 7 —14: 162 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. of tilt reform party. It consisted in introducing, with dra- matic effect, the various distinguished men of both sides, the Catholic and the Protestant, and pretending to let them speak out their own respective sentiments. These dialogues were often acted on the stage, with great effect among the popu- lace. The Catholics were travestied, and made to appear in the most ridiculous light; while their adversaries were always victorious. Two of these principal scenic representations were designed to ridicule two of the chief champions of Catho- licity in Germany, Doctors Hochstraet and Eck. The lowest humor — with certain specimens of which we will not dare sully our pages — was employed against these distinguished divines.* The result was, that they became objects of con- tempt throughout Germany. Tliis was one way to answer their arguments, which it might have been difficult to answer in any other ! Every one, who has glanced at the history of those turbu- lent times, is familiar with the vulgar legends of the " Pope- Ass and Monk-Calf," published by Melancthon and Luther, and circulated with prodigious effect among the ignorant populace. The " Pope- Ass " was extracted from the bottom of the Tiber in 1494 ; and the " Monk-Calf," was discovered at Friburg, in Misnia, in 1523.-)- Lucas Kranach, a painter of the time, sculptured this vulgar conceit on wood ; and this illustration accompanied the description of the two non-des- cript monsters. What surprises us most is, that the tem- perate Melancthon should have lent himself to this low rib- aldry, which then passed current for wit. Erasmus and other cotemporary writers openly accused the reformers of gross calumny. The former alleged many palpa ble facts to justify his charge. * The curious are referred, for copious extracts from these " dialogues," to Audin, p. 196, seqq. f " Interpretatio duorum horribihum monstrorum," etc., per Philippuu? Melancthonem et Martinum Lutherum — inter 0pp. Luth. torn, ii, p. 302. THE APOSTATE MONKS. • 1G3 " Those people are profuse of calumnies. They circulated a report of a .laiion, who complained of not finding Zurich as moral after the preachmg of Zuinglius as before. ... In the same spirit of candor they have accused an- other priest of libertinism, whom I, and all other persons acquainted with him, know to be pure in v/ord and action. They have calumniated the canon because he hates sectaries ; and the priest, because, after having mani- fested an inclination to their doctrines, he suddenly abandoned them."* "We might fill a volume with specimens of the scurrilous abuse and wicked calumnies of Luther against the Popes, bishops, monks, and the Catholic priesthood ! We consult brevity, and furnish but one or two instances from his Table Talk, which abounds with such specimens of decency. " The monks are lineal descendants of Satan. When you wish to paint the devil, muffle him up in a monk's habit."f Else- where he says, " that the devil strangled Emser,"J and other Catholic clergymen. Luther's marriage was not merely a sacrilegious violation of his solemn vows ; it was also a master-stroke of policy. Through its influence, he secured the adherence and the per- severing aid of a whole army of apostate monks, who eagerly followed his example. Until he took this decisive step, mar- riage among the clergy and monks was viewed with ridicule, if not with abhorrence by the people. After his marriage, it became, on the contrary, a matter of boast. Priests, monks, and nuns hastened to " the ale-pope of the Black Eagle," to obtain this strange absolution from their vows plighted to heaven : and he received them with open arms, and granted them an Indulgence^ which never Pope had granted before ! Sacrilegious impurity stalked abroad with shameless front throughout Germany. The married priests became the most untiring friends of the reform, to which they were indebted for their emancipation * " In Pseudo-Evangelicos," Epist. lib. xxxi, 47. London, Flesher. f " Table TalV " p. 109, where he adds : " What a roar of laughter there must be in hell when a monk goes down to it ! " Was he thinking of him sd''? -See Audin, p. 305, and also p. 393. seqq. [Ibid. 164 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. from popery, and for tlifir vjives. "We liave seen them already in the book shops and the printing presses. Manv of their obtained their livelihood, by circulating Lutheran pamphlets through the country.* Others " took their stand near the church-gates, and often, during the divine offices, exhibited caricatures of the Pope and the bishops."! They carried on a relentless war against the Pope ; and it is remarked, that few, if any of these married priests and monks, ever repented, or. were softened in their opposition against the Catholic Church ! Luther thus, by his marriage, raised up a whole army of zeal- ous and efficient partisans, whose co-operation powerfully aided the progress of reform.^ Such then were some of the principal means adopted by the reformers and their partisans, for carrying out the work of the Reformation ! Were they such as God could have pos- sibly sanctioned ? Could a cause indebted to such means for its success be from heaven ? On the other hand, considering the corrupt state of society in Germany, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, can we wonder at the great success which attended a movement promoted by such unhallowed means as these ? We would be surpised, indeed, on the con- trary, if similar success had not attended it, under all the cir- cumstances of the case. The previous usurpations of Church patronage by the secular princes, contrary to the repeated and energetic protests of the Popes, had done its deadly work, by thrusting unworthy min- isters into the sanctuary ; and then, with rare inconsistency, the evils and abuses which necessarily ensued, were laid at the doors of the Popes who had done every thing in their power to prevent them ! We can not too often repeat it ; the ques- tion of investitures was the great vital question of the period of Church history preceding the Reformation. * " Infinitus jam erat numenis qui victum ex Lutheranis libris quaeritan- tes, in speciem bibliopolarum longe lateque per Grermaniae provincias vaosv- bantur." — Cochla3us, p. 58. .Apud Audin. + Ibid. t Of Audin, p. 337, seqq. SUMMING UP. 165 The distinctive doctrines of the Reformation, throwing off the wholesome restraints of the old religion, flattering pride and pandering to passion; the protection of powerful princes, secured by feeding their cupidity and catering to their basest passions ; the furious excitement of the people, fed by mad- dening appeals from the pulpit and the press, and made to revel in works of spoliation and violence; this excitement, lashed into still greater fury by the constant employment of ridicule, low raillery, misrepresentation, and base calumny of every person and of every thing Catholic ; and the marriage of so many apostate priests and monks, binding them irre- vocably to the new doctrines: — can we wonder that all these causes combined, and acting too upon an age and country avowedly depraved, should have produced the effect of rapidly diffusing the so called Reformation ? We do not, of course, mean to imply, that all who embraced the Reformation were corrupt, or were led by evil motives : we have no doubt that many were deceived by the specious appearance of piety. This was especially the case with the common people, who often followed the example and obeyed the teaching of their princes and pastors, without taking much trouble to ascertain the right. But we have intended to speak more particularly of the leading actors in the great drama; and to paint the chief parts these men played on the stage. Much less would we be understood, as indiscriminately and wantonly censuring Protestants of the present day. A broad line of distinction should be di*awn between the first teachers and even the first disciples of error, and those who have inherited it from them through a long line of ancestry. The latter might be often free from great censure, where the for- mer would be wholly inexcusable. The strong and close meshes which the prejudices of early education have woven around them; the dense and clouded medium, through which they have been accustomed to view the sun of Catholic truth ; the strong influence of parental authority and of family ties ; 11 166 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. and many such causes, combine to keep them in error. Be sides, history, which should be a witness of truth, has been polluted in its very sources: and the injustice which its voice has done to the cause of truth, has been accumulating for centuries. But can Protestants of the present day, notwith- standing all these disadvantages, hold themselves inexcusable, if they neglect to examine both sides of the question, and this with all the diligence and attention that so grave a subject demands ? To enable them to do this the more easily, was one princi- pal motive that induced us to undertake the review of the partial and unfounded statements of D'Aubigne, and of others belonging to the class of writers of which he is a popular representative. If it be thought, that our picture of the causes and manner of the Reformation, and of the means to which it chiefly owed its success, is too dark, we beg leave to refer to the facts and authorities we have alleged. If there be any truth in history, our painting has not been too highly colored. Had we adduced all the evidence bearing on the subject, the coloring might have been still deeper. We had to examine and refute the flippant assertions, that the reformers were chosen instruments of heaven for a divine work ; and that the " reformation was but the reappearance of Christianity." A " reappearance of Christianity," indeed ! It is, from the facts accumulated above, such a "reappearance," as darkness is of light ! Strip the Reformation of all that it borrowed from Catholicism, let it appear in its own distinctive charac- ter, in all its naked deformity ;• and it has scarcely one feature remaining in common with early Christianity. Did the Apos- tles preach doctrines which pandered to the passions of man- kind? Dicl they flatter princes, by oflering to them the plunder of their neighbors, and by allowing them to have two wives at once, to quiet their troubled conscience ? Did they employ the weapons of ridicule, sarcasm, and calumny against their adversaries? Did they excite their followers to deeds of lawless violence^ against the established order of ITS ESTABLISHiMENT m SWITZERLAND. 167 things ? Did they break their solemn engagements to heaven ? The reformers did all this, and more, as we have shown ; and yet they are still to be held up to our admiration, as the new and divinely chosen apostles of a Christianity restored to its original purity ! CHAPTER V. THE REFORMATION IN S WI T ZE RL AND— ZURICH. "The spirit that I have seen May be a devil ; and the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape." — Shaksi^eare. The Reformation in Switzerland more radical than that in Germany — Yet like it — Sows dissensions — Zuingle warlike and superstitious — Claims precedency over Luther — Black or white ? — Precursory disturbances — Aldermen deciding on faith — How the fortress was entrenched — Riot and conflagration — Enlightenment — Protestant martyrs — Suppression of the Mass — Solemnity of the reformed worship — Downright paganism — The Reformation and matrimony — Zuingle's marriage and misgivings — Ro- mance among nuns — How to get a husband — Perversion of Scripture — St. Paul on celibacy — Recapitulation. Before we proceed to examine the manifold influences of the Reformation, it may be well briefly to glance at the his- tory of its establishment in Switzerland. D'Aubigne devotes two whole books* to this portion of his history, which, as it concerns his own fatherland, is evidently a favorite topic with him. Our limits will not permit us to follow him through all his tedious and romantic details : we must content ourselves with reviewing some of his leading statements. After what we have already said concerning the causes and manner of the Reformation in Germany, it will scarcely be * Book viii, vol. ii, p. 267 to 400 : and book xi, vol. iii, p. 255>to 341. 1C8 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. necessary to dwell at any great length on that of Switzerland. The one was but a reappearance of the other — to use one of our author's favorite words. The same great features marked both revolutions, with this only diflerence: that the Swiss was more radical and more thorough, and therefore more to D'Aubigne's taste. Like the German, however, its progress was everywhere signalized by dissensions, civil commotions, rapine, violence and bloodshed. And like the German, it was also indebted for its permanent establishment to the in- terposition of the civil authorities. Without this, neither re- volution would have had either consistency or permanency. D'Aubigne himself bears unwilling testimony to all these facts, though, as usual, he suppresses many things of vital importance. We will supply some of his omissions, and avail ourselves of his concessions, as we proceed. The Reformation found the thirteen Swiss cantons united, and in peace among themselves and with all the world. It sowed disunion among them, and plunged them into a fierce and protracted civil war, which threatened rudely to pluck up by the roots the venerable tree of liberty which, centuries be- fore, their Catholic foi'efathers had planted and watered with their blood ! The shrines sacred to the memory of William Tell, Melchtal, and Fiirst, the fathers of Swiss independence, were attempted to be rudely desecrated : and the altars at which their foi'efathers had worshiped in quietness for ages were recklessly overturned. The consequences of this at- tempt to subvert the national faith by violence were most disastrous. The harmony of the old Swiss republic was de- stroyed, and the angel of peace departed forever from the hill? and the valleys of that romantic country. That this picture is not too highly colored, the following brief summary of facts will prove. The fourcantons of Zurich, Berne, Schatfhausen, and Basle, which fii-st embraced the Reformation, began very soon there- after to give evidence of their turbulent spirit. They formed a league against the cantons which still resolved to adhere to A FIGHTING APOSTLE. 109 the Catholic faith. One article of their alliance forbade any of the confederates to transport provisions to the Catholic cantons. Arms were in consequence taken up on both sides, and a bloody contest ensued. Ulrich Zuingle, the father ol the Reformation in Switzerland, marched with the troops ot the Protestant party, and fell, bravely fighting with them " the battles of the Lord," on the 11th of Oct., 1531 ! Did he, in this particular respect, give any evidence of that apos- toHc spirit, which D'Aubigne ascribes to him ? Did ever an apostle of the primitive and genuine stamp die on the field of battle, while seeking the lives of his fellow mortals? He was, moreover, as superstitious, as he was fierce. The histo- rians of his life tell us, that a little before the battle he was stricken with sad foreboding by the appearance of a comet, which he viewed as portending direful disasters to Zurich, and as announcing his own coming death. Our historian of the Reformation, though chary of the char- acter of Zuingle as an apostle, furnishes us with a little inci- dent which marks the warlike spirit of the Swiss reformer. " In Zurich itself," he says, " a few worthless persons, instiga- ted to mischief by foreign agency, made an attack on Zuingle in the middle of the night, throwing stones at his house, breaking the windows, and calling aloud for the ' red-haired Uli, the vulture of Glaris ' — so that Zuingle started from his sleep, and caught up his sword. The action is characteristic of the man."* Zuingle was at Zurich, what Luther was at Wittenberg. Each claimed the precedency in the career of the Reforma- tion. Mr. Hallam thus notices their respective claims : "It has been disputed between the advocates of these leaders to which the priority in the race of reform belongs. Zuingle himself declares, that in 1516, before he had heard of Luther, he began to preach the gospel at Zu- rich, and to warn the people against relying upon human authority. Bui that is rather ambiguous, and hardly enough to substantiate his claim. . . . Like Luther, he had the support of the temporal magistrates, the council ol * Vol. iii, p. 275. VOL. I. — 15 170 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. Zurich. Upon the whole, they proceeded so nearly with equal steps, and were so connected with each other, that it seems difficult to award either any honor of precedence."* We shall have occasion hereafter to refer at some length to the bitter controversy which raged between these two boasted apostles, the germ of which may perhaps be discovered in this early partisan struggle for precedence. They taught con- tradictory doctrines: one warmly defended, the other as warmly denied the real presence of Christ in the holy Euchar ist. Were they both guided by the spirit of God ? Can the Holy Spirit inspire contradictory systems of belief? If God was with Luther, He certainly was not with Zuingle; if he was with Zuingle, He certainly could not be with Luther. God is the God of order, and not of confusion ; and truth is one and indivisible, not manifold and contradictory. By the way, what a pity it is that D'Aubigne, while laud- ing the Swiss reformer to the skies could not settle the import- ant j9r6v?'(>^^.5 question which had so sadly puzzled Zuingle: — whether the spirit which appeared to him in his sleep, and suggested the text of Scripture by which he might disprove the real presence, was really black or white? How very gently he touches on this passage in the history of his favorite ! He merely gives vent to his surprise, by a note of admiration, that this circumstance should have " given rise to the asser- tion that the doctrine promulgated by the reformer was de- livered to him by the devil If Did not the reformer's own account of the visionj — of the nature of which he was cer- tainly the most competent witness — give rise to the suspi- cion, which afterwards grew into an assertion ? And did not his brother reformers openly make the embarrassing charge ? * History of Literature, sup. cit. vol. i, p. 163-4. He cites Gerdes, Histor. Evang. Reform, i, 103. f D'Aubigne, in. 272-3. I Ater fuerit an albus, nihil memini, soranium enim narro : " Whether it was black oi white, I remember nothing, as I relate a dream." — Wh}^ relate the dream at all, unless he attached some importance to it, as conveying Bome indication or augury of his mission ? Ibid. RIOTS AND COMMOTIONS. 171 Zurich was the first city of Switzerland which was favored with the new gospel. Our author treats in great detail* of the circumstances which attended its first introduction; as well as of the preliminary discussions, commotions, and riots, which were its early harbingers. We will present a few speci- mens of this truculent spirit. Leo Juda, one of the precursors of the new gospel, arrived in Zurich "about the end of 1522, to take the duty of pastor of St. Peter's church." Soon after his arrival, being at church, he rudely interrupted an Augustinian monk who was preach- ing. " ' Reverend father Prior,' exclaimed Leo, ' listen to me for an instant ; and you, my dear fellow-citizens, keep your seats — 1 will speak as becomes a Christian :' and he proceeded to show the unscriptural character of the teaching he had just been listening to. A great disturbance ensued in the church. Instantly several persons angrily attacked the ' little priest' from Einsidlen (Zuingle). Zuingle, repairing to the council, presented himself before them, and requested permission to give an account of his doctrine, in presence of the bishop's deputies ; — and the council, desiring to terminate the dissen- sions, convoked a conference for the 29th of January. The news spread rapidly throughout Switzerland."! After having given a very lengthy account of the confer- ence, which, as might have been anticipated, terminated in nothing, our author thus manifests his joy at the brighten- ing prospects of the gospel. " Every thing was moving for- ward at Zurich ; men's minds were becoming more enlight- ened— their hearts more steadfast. The Reformation was gaining strength. Zurich was a fortress, in which the new doctrine had entrenched itself, and from within whose inclosure it was ready to pour itself abroad over the whole confeder- ation ."J Our historian proceeds to tell us how the " Reformation gained strength," and how "the new doctrine entrenched * D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 238, seqq. f Ibid., p. 239. I Ibid., p. 254. 172 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. itself in the fortress;" to say nothing of the "enlightenment," of which we will treat hereafter. The "enlightened" council of Zurich decided in favor of the reformed doctrines, and resorted to force in order to suppress the ancient worship. Only think of a town council, composed of fat aldermen and stupid burgomasters, pronouncing definitively on articles of faith ! In reading of their high-handed proceedings, we are forcibly reminded of the wonderful achievements, in a some- what different field, of the far-famed Dutch governors and burgomasters of New Amsterdam, as fully set forth by Irving in his inimitable History of New York. The one is about as grotesque as the other. They of Zurich did not, however, belong to the class of Walter, the Doubter : they were perhaps too well satisfied with their superior wisdom and knowledge to entertain a doubt! Let us trace some of the further proceedings of this enlight- ened board of councilmen at Zurich. " Nor did the council stop here. The relics, which had given occasion to so many superstitions, were honorably interred. And then, on the further requisition of the three (reformed) pastors, an edict was issued, decreeing that, inasmuch as God alone ought to be honored, the images should be removed from all the churches of the Canton, and their ornaments applied to the relief of the poor. Accordingly twelve counselors — one for each tribe — the three pastors, and the city architect, with some smiths, carpenters, and masons entered the several churches ; and, having first closed the doors, took down the crosses, obliterated the paintings (the Vandals .'), whitewashed the walls, and carried away the images, to the great joy of the faithfiil (!) who regarded this proceeding, Bullinger tells us, as a glorious act of homage to the true God." In some of the country parishes, the ornaments of the churches were committed to the flames, " to the greater honor and glory of God." Soon after this the organs were sup- pressed, on account of their connection with many " supersti- tious observances, and a new form of baptism was established from which every thing unscriptural was carefully excluded."*— * D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 257-8. RELIGIOUS FORAGING. 173 Wliat enlightenment, and marvelous taste for music and the fine arts ! " The triumph of the Reformation," our author continues, "threw a joyful radiance over the last hours of the burgo- master Roush and his colleague. They had lived long enough ; and they both died within a few days after the restoration of a purer (!) mode of worship,"* — And such a triumph ! ! Be- fore we proceed to show by what means this purer mode of worship was established at Zurich, we will give, from our historian, an instance of one out of many of the scenes of riot and conflagration enacted by the faithful children of the Reformation. The passage details the proceedings of a party, which went out on a foraging excursion with the pious bailiflf Wirth. " The rabble, meanwhile, finding themselves in the neighborhood of the convent of Ittingon, occupied by a community of Carthusians, who were generally believed (by the foithful) to have encouraged the bailiflf Amberg in his tyranny, entered the building and took possession of the refectory. They immediately gave themselves up to excess, and a scene of riot ensued. In vain did Wirth entreat them to quit the place ; he was in danger of per- sonal ill-treatment among them. His son Adrian had remained outside of the monastery : -John entered it, but shocked by what he beheld within, came out iramediatel3^ The inebriated peasants proceeded to pillage the cellars and granaries, to break the furniture to pieces, and to hum the books." f This is D'Aubigne's statement of the affair: but the depu- ties of the Cantons found the Wirths guilty, and pronounced sentence of death on them. Our author views them as mar- tyrs, and tells us, J in great detail, how cruelly they were "mocked," how they were "faithful unto death," and how intrepidly the "father and son" ascended the scaffold ! His whole account is truly affecting. The Reformation is wel- come to such martyrs as these! He exclaims : " Now at length blood had been 8j»ilt — inno- cent blood. Switzerland and the Reformation were baptized with the blood of the martyrs. The great enemy of the gospel r'Aubigne, vol.iii,p.257-8. f Ibid., p. 264-5. J Ibid., p. 266, seqq. 174 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. had effected his purpose ; but in effecting it, he had struct a mortal blow at his own power. The death of the Wirtha was an appointed means of hastening the triumph of the Reformation."* — "The reformers of Zurich," he adds, "had abstained from abolishing the Mass when they suppressed the use of images ; but the moment for doing so seems now to have arrived"! He then relates the manner in which the Mass was sup- pressed, and the "purer worship" introduced in its place. " On the 11th of August, 1525, the three pastors of Zurich, accompanied by Megander, and Oswald, and Myconius, presented themselves before the great council, and demanded the re-establishment of the Lord's Supper. Their discourse was a weighty one, and was listened to with the deepest attention — every one felt how important was the decision which the council was called upon to pronounce. The Mass — that mysterious rite which for three (fifteen) successive centuries had constituted the animating principle in the worship of the Latin Church (and in all churches) — was now to be abrogated ; the corporeal presence of Christ was to be declared an illusion, and of that illusion the minds of the people were to be dispossessed ; sonic courage was needed for such a resolution as this, and there were individuals in the council who shuddered at so audacious a design."| The grave board of councilmen did not, however, hesitate long: they seem to have made quick work in this most im- portant matter. " The great council was convinced by his (Zuingle's) reasoning, and hesi- tated no longer. (How could they resist his reasoning, based as it was on the teaching of the spirit, black or wUte ?) The evangelical doctrine had sunk deep into every heart, and moreover, since the separation from Rome had taken place, there was a kind of satisfaction felt in making that separa- tion as complete as possible, and digging a gulf, (the Heformation was a gulf) as it were, between the Reformation and her. The council decreed that the Mass should be abolished, and it was determined that on the fol- lowing day, which was Maunday Thursday, the Lord's Supper should be celebrated in conformity with the apostolic model."^ " The altars disappeared," he continues ; " some plain tableo. covered with the sacramental bread and wine, occupied their * D'Aubigne, iii, p. 270. f loid., p. 271. t Ibid. \ Ibid., p. 272. SOLEMNITY OF THE NEW WORSHIP. 175 places, and a crowd of eager communicants was gathered around them. There was something exceed higly solemn in that assemblage."* — No doubt it was much more solemn than had been the Catholic worship! Our author thus describes the solemnity. " The people then fell on their knees : the bread was carried round on large wooden dishes or platters, and every one broke off a morsel for him- self; the wine was distributed in wooden drinking cups ; the resemblance to the primitive supper was thought to be the closer. (!) The hearts of those who celebrated this ordinance were affected with alternate emotions of wonder and joy."f — Truly there was much to excite wonder, if not joy ! In the same strain is the following passage : " Such was the progress of the Reformation at Zurich. The simple com- memoration of our Lord's death caused a fresh overflow in the church of love to God, and love to the brethren. . . . Zuingle rejoiced at these affecting manifestations of grace, and returned thanks to God, that the Lord's Supper was again working those miracles of charity, which had long since ceased to be displayed in connection with the Sacrifice of the Mass. ' Our city,' said he, ' continues at peace. There is no fraud, no dissension, no envy, no wrang- ling among us. Where shall we discover the cause of this agreement except in the Lord's good pleasure, and the harmlessness and meekness of the doctrine we profess?' " — He, however, spoils this beautiful picture by the following cruel sentence, which immediately follows : " Charity and unity were there — but not uniformity."| Our historian here refers to certain strange doctrines broached by Zuingle in this same year 1525, in his famous •' Commentary on true and false religions," addressed to Fran- cis L, king of France. He labors hard to defend the reform- er from the charge of Pelagianism, which his associates in ^he Reformation did not fail to make. But was it honest in him to conceal the notorious fact, that, in this same Commen- tary, Zuingle had placed Theseus, Hercules, Numa, Scipio, Cato, and other heathen worthies, in heaven among thecicct? This was something worse than Pelagianism ; it was down right paganism. Could "charity and unity" reign in the midst of the tiercest wranglings, of the most bitter civil feuds D'Aubigne, iii, p. 273 f Ibid. I Tbid., p. 27 i. 176 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. and dissensicns, and amidst the bloodshed of a protracted civil war? Yet these were the scenes amid which the Swiss Reformation revealed. "Such," then, "was the progress of the Reformation at Zurich !" In other places — at Berne and at Basle — its pro ceedings were marked by similar demonstrations. It was everywhere the same. Everywhere, it invoked the civil power, and everywhere it was established, as at Zurich, by the decisions of boards of town councilmen, and was enforced by violence. D'Aubigne himself alleges facts which prove all this ; and we deem it unnecessary to repeat them ; espe- cially as we purpose to devote another chapter to the Refor- mation in Switzerland, in which the facts establishing this view will be more fully set forth. (Ecolampadius was the chief actor on the Reformation stage at Basle. He was a learned and moderate man, the early friend of Erasmus, and, in some respects, the counterpart of Melancthon. The gospel light seems to have first beamed upon him from the eye of a beautiful young lady, whom, in violation of his solemn vows plighted to heaven, he espoused ; — " probably," as Erasmus wittily remarked, " to mortify him- self!" In the race of matrimony, at least, he could claim the precedency over many of his brother reformers. Yet the latter did not long remain behind. Matrimony was, in almost all cases, the denouement of the drama which signalized the zeal for reformation. Zuingle himself espoused a rich widow. A widow also caught Calvin, a little later. Martin Bucer, another reformer, who figured chiefly in Switzerland, far out stripped any of his fellows in the hymeneal career. He be- came the husband of no less than three ladies in succession : and one of them had been already married three times — all too, by a singular run of good luck, in the reformation line !* * For a full and humorous account of this whole matter, see " Travels of an Irish gentleman," eh. xlvi ; where the great Irish poet enters into the subject at length ; giving his authorities as he proceeds, and playing off his caustic wit on the hymeneal propensities of the reformers. THE COMEDY OF MARRIAGE. 177 It is really curious to observe, how D'Aubign6 treats this remarkable subject. Speaking of the Swiss reformers, he says : "Several among them at this period (1522) returned to the 'apostolic' usage *(!) Xyloclect was already a husband. Zuingle also married about this time. Among the women of Zurich, none was more respected than Anna Reinhardt, widow of Meyer von Knonau, mother of Gerold. From Zuingle's coming among them, she had been constant in her attendance on his ministry ; she lived near him, and he had remarked her piety, modesty, and maternal tenderness. Young Gerold, who had become almost like a son to him, contributed further to bring about an intimacy with his mother. The trials that had already befallen this Christian woman — whose fate it was to be one day more severely tried than any woman whose history is on record — had formed her to a sariousness which gave prominency to her Christian virtues. She was then about thirty-five, and her whole fortune consisted of four hundred florins.f It was on her that Zuingle (kind, sym- pathetic soul !) fixed his eyes for a companion for life."| Still he seems to have entertained serious misgivings at thus breaking his solemn vows : " He did not make his marriage public. This was beyond doubt a blame- able weakness in one who was in other respects so resolute (reckless?). The light he and his friends possessed on the subject of celibacy was by no means general. The wea,k might have been stumbled." ^ This last is a new phrase, introduced, we suppose, to unfold a new idea — that the people retained conscience longer than the boasted reformers, who misled them from the old paths. On this same subject, D'Aubigne treats us to some fine touches of romance, concerning nuns who embraced the Refor- mation, and then immediately, as a seemingly necessary sequel, got married ! We will give a few instances : "At Kdningsfeld upon the river Aar, near the castle of Hapsburg, stood a monastery adorned with all the magnificence of the middle ages, and in which reposed the ashes of many of that illustrious house which had so often given an emperor to Germany. To this place the noble families of * How very absurd ! Was St. Paul married ? Were any of the Apostles ever married, except St. Peter, of whose wife the Scripture says nothing after he became an Apostle ? She was probably dead. f A very large sura at that time. J D Aubigne, vol, ii, p 383. \ Ibid., D. 384. 178 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. Switzerland and of Suabia used to send their daughters to take the vail. . . . The liberty enjoyed in this convent had favored the introduction not only of the Bible (they had it already, and were even obliged to read por- tions of it daily by their rule), but the writings of Luther and Zuingle ; and soon a new spring of life and joy changed the aspect of its interior !"* A new spring of life and of joj was certainly thus opened to the nuns. They soon became tired of retirement and of prayer: they sighed for the flesh-pots of Egypt to which they had bidden adieu — for the "life and joy" of the world. Margaret Watte ville, one of them, wrote a letter to Zuingle, full of piety and of affection ; and declared that she expressed not " her own feelings only, but those of all the convent of Kbningsfeld who loved the gospel."f D'Aubigne accordingly tells us, that a " convent into which the light of the gospel had penetrated with such power, could not long continue to adhere to monastic observances. Mar- garet Watteville and her sisters, persuaded that they should better serve God in their families than in the cloister, solicited permission to leave it." J The council of Berne heard their prayer : the convent " gates were opened ; and a short time afterwards, Catharine Bonnsteten (one of the nuns) married William Von Diesbach."§ The nun Margaret Watteville was equally fortunate : she " was about the same time united to Lucius Tscharner of Coira."|| Such was almost invariably the denouement of the reformation plot. Our historian, in fact, views the sacrilegious marriages of the priests and nuns — against their solemn vows freely plighted to God at his holy altar — as the most conclusive proof of the progress of the Keformation ! Mark this curious passage : " But it was in vain to attempt to smother the Keformation at Berne. I made progress on all sides. The nuns of the convent D'lle had not forgot- ten Haller's visit. (This was a wretched apostate, who had held improper ilscourse in the convent, which drew upon him a sentence of perpetual ban- * D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 280, 281. f This letter is given in full. Ibid., vol. iii, p. 281, 282. I Ibid. 5 Ibid II Ibid., p. 285. ROMANTIC NUNH. 179 ':ment from the lesser council of Berne; which sentence was however mitigated by the grand council, which was content with merely rebuking him and his associate reformers, and ordering them to confine themselves in future to their own business and let the convents alone.)* Clara May, (one of the nuns) and many of her friends, pressed in their consciences (!) what to do, wrote to the learned Henry BuUinger. In answer, he said : ' St. Paul enjoins young women not to take on them vows, but to marry, instead of living in idleness under a false show of piety. (1 Tim. v: 13, 14). Follow Jesus in humility, charity, patience, purity, and kindness.' Clara, looking to heaven for guidance, resolved to act on the advice, and renounce a manner of life at variance with the word of God — of man's invention — and beset with snares. Her grandfather Bartholomew, who had served for fifty years in the field and council hall, heard with joy of the resolution she had formed. Clara quitted the convent,"f — and married the provost, Nicholas Watteville.J What an evidence of piety, " looking to heaven for guid- ance," is it not — to get married ! And what a perversion of Scripture was not that by Henry Bullinger, to induce those to marry who had taken solemn vows of devoting themselves wholly to God in a life of chastity! As this is a pretty good specimen of the manner in which the reformers " wrested the Scriptures to their own perdition,"^ we will give entire the quotation of St. Paul to Timothy, referred to by the " learned Henry Bullinger," including the two previous verses, which he found it convenient not to quote — probably because they would have convicted him of a most glaring perversion of God's holy word. 1 Timothy, chap, v, verse 11. " But the younger widows shun : for when they have grown wanton in Christ, they will marry; (this advice the re- formers took special care not to follow). Verse 12. ^^ Having damnation, because they have made void their first fa '•th, (by violating their vows to God). V. 13. "And withal, being idle, they learn to go about from house to house (as the escaped nuns did at the time of the Reformation): not only idle, but talkers also, and inquisitive, speaking things which they ought not. V. 14. " I will, therefore, that the younger (who had not taken vows} * Such at least is the statement of D'Aubigne — iii, p. 279. f Ibid., p. 284. I Ibid., p. 285. \ 2 Peter, iii: 16. 180 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. should marry, bear children, be mistresses of families, give no occasion to the adversary to speak evil." This passage of St. Paul speaks for itself, and needs no commentary. While the reformers were quoting St. Paul, with a view to induce the nuns to escape from their convents and to get married, why did they not also refer to the follow- ing texts : " But I say to the unmarried and to the widows : it is good for them so tn continue, even as /."* " Art thou bound to a wife ? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife ? Seek not a wife."] " But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife : and he is divided."| And why especially did they conceal the following texts, which had special reference to the nun who, '"having grown wanton in Christ, would marry, having damnation, because they had made void their first faith ?" " And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But she that is mar- ried, thinketh on the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Therefore, both he who giveth his virgin in marriage doeth well ; and he that giveth her not, doeth better." ^ Alas ! the carnal minded reformers understood little of this sublime perfection ! They could not appreciate it. They were satisfied with doing well ; nor did they even come up to this standard, any further at least, than to get married! Their case is suflSciently explained by St. Paul, in the sanie epistle from which the above texts are extracted. "But the sensual man perceiveth not the things that are of the spirit of God : for it is foolishness to him, and he can not under- stand : because it is spiritually examined."|| We will now proceed to show more fully, that the subse- quent developments of the Swiss Reformation corresponded •* 1 Corinth, vii: 8. f Ibid., verse 27. \ Ibid., verses 32, 33. { Ibid., verses 34, 38 11 1 Corinth, ii: l-i. HISTORY OF DE HALLER. 181 with its first beginnings at Zurich; and that, everywhere, throughout the Swiss confederation, it pandered to the worst passions, was established by intrigue, civil commotions and violence ; and that it openly infringed all previous ideas of popular rights and liberty. We shall hereafter devote a sep- arate chapter to the Calvinistic branch of the Reformation, established at Geneva. CHAPTER VI. REFORMATION IN S W I T Z E R L AND— BE RNE. ETistory by Louis De Haller — A standard authority — Berne the centre of operations — De Haller's point of view — His character as an historian — His authorities — Wavering of Berne — Tortuous policy — How she em- braced the reform — The hear and the pears — Treacherous perjury of Berne — Zuinghan council — Its decrees — ReHgious liberty crushed — Kiot and sacrilege — Proceedings of Bernese commissioners — Downright ty- ranny— The minister Farel — His fiery zeal — An appalling picture — A parallel — Priests hunted down — Character of the ministers — Avowal of Capito — The glorious privilege of private judgment — How consistent ! — Persecution of brother Protestants — Drowning the Anabaptists — Refor- mation in Geneva — Rapid summary of horrors — The Bernese army of invasion — The sword and the Bible — Forbearance of Catholics — Affecting incident at Soleure — The war of Cappell — Points of resemblance — An armed apostle — A prophet quailing before danger — Battle of Cappell — Death of Zuingle — Triumph of Catholic cantons — Treaty of peace. For most of the facts contained in this chapter, we are in- debted to De Haller, whose late work on the hist(^ry of the Swiss Reformation is a standard authority. So far as we know, his facts have never been disputed, nor his arguments answered.* * His work is entitled : Histoire de la revolution religieuse, ou de la re- forme Protestante dans la Suisse Occidentale. Par Charles Louis Do Hal- ler, ancien membre du conseil souverain, et du conseil secret de Berne, chev- 12 182 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. As we have already seen, Zurich was the first tity Id Switzerland which embraced the Reformation; or, as De Haller expresses it, she was "the mother and the root of all religious and political Protestantism in Switzerland."* She was nearly eight years in advance of Berne in the race of reform ; and it was through her influence mainly that the latter at length consented to accept the new gospel. But once Berne had embraced it, she far outstripped her pre- ceptor in religious zeal or fanaticism; and she took the lead in all the subsequent religioso-political aflairs of the country. Her central position, her rich and extensive territory, her untiring industry, and her adroit and unscrupulous diplomacy, gave her the ascendency over the other Protestant cantons, and made her the leader in every great enterprise. It was through her intrigues that Geneva was induced to receive the niw doctrines ; it was by her triumphant physical power that the Reformation was thrust down the throats of the good Catho- lic people of Vaud. Bernese preachers, escorted by Bernese bailiffs and spies, traversed all the north-western cantons, scattering dissension wherever they went, and establishing the new gospel, either by intrigue or by force, wherever they could. Cautiously and cunningly, but with an industry that never tired, and a resolution that never faltered, Berne pur- sued her Machiavelian policy; until, by one means or an- other, about half of the Swiss confederation was torn from Catholic unity, and bound, at the same time, by strong polit- ical ties to herself. Thus she became the great leader of the Protestant, as Lucerne has ever been that of the Catholic cantons of Switzerland. It is from this elevated point of view, that De Haller looks alier de I'ordre royal de la legion d'honneur, et de celui de Charles III. d'Espagne, etc. History of the religious revolution, or of the Protestant Reformation, in Western Switzerland. By Charles Louis De Haller, former member of the supreme and of the secret councils of Berne, Knight of the royal order of tlic legion of honor, and of that of Charles ITT. of Spain, etc. 4th edition. Paris, 188!). 1 vol. 12mo, pp. 436. * De Haller, p. 434 DE HALLER's point OF VIEW. 18S down upon the histoiy of the Swiss Reformation. Himself a Bernese, and, until he became a Catholic,* a I'ernese coun- selor as high in power and influence as he was in wisdom and talents, he was eminently qualified to write a history of the religious revolution in Switzerland. Candid and moder ate by nature, of an enlarged mind and comprehensive genius, his scrupulous veracity has not been denied even by his strongest opponents; while he certainly had every oppor- tunity to become thoroughly acquainted with the events he relates. He assures us in his preface, that his history "can not be taxed with exaggeration, for it has been faithfully de- rived from Historical Fragments of the city of Berne, com- posed by a Bernese ecclesiastic (Protestant); from the History of the Swiss, by Mallett, a Genevan Protestant ; from that of Baron d'Alt, a Catholic, it is true, but excessively reserved upon all that might displease the Bernese; and above all, in fine, from the History of the Reformation in Switzerland, by Ruchat, a zealous Protestant minister and professor of belles- lettres at the academy of Lausanne, to whom all the archives were opened for the composition of his work."f This last named writer, whom he quotes continually, was a most violent partisan of the Swiss Reformation ; and yet even he was compelled to relate a large portion of the truth, mixed up, as usual, with much adroit and canting misrepre- sentation. Thus, he asserts, among other things, " that the Catholic religion is idolatrous and superstitious, and that it can not be sustained but by ignorance, by interest, by vio- lence, and by fraud."J De Haller meets the injurious charge, not by asserting, but by proving^ from undeniable evidence, that the Swiss Reformation was established precisely by these identical means, and that it could not, in fact, have been established otherwise. He says : * For having become a Catholic, he was expelled from the council, prob- ably in order to prove Protestant love of liberty ! ■j De Jlaller, p. ix. X Quoted by De Haller, Pretace, p. x. 184 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. " Protestants of good faith — and there are many such among our separ- ated brethren — will judge for themselves, from a simple exposition of facts, whether it was ot rather their own reUgion which was introduced by igno- rance, interest, violence, and fraud : by ignorance, for it was everywhere th(- ignorant multitude that decided, without knowledge of the cause, upon questions of faith and discipline, and this was carried so far that even chil- fliei) of founuon years were called to these popular assemblies; by interest, for the robbery of churches, of temples, and of monasteries, was the first act of the Reformation ; by violence, for it was with armed force that altars were overturned, images broken, convents pillaged, and it became necessary to employ fire and sword, confiscation and exile, in order to make the new religion prevail over the ancient belief; by lying and hy fraud, for Luther and Zuingle formally recommended both to their followers as means of suc- cess, and their counsel has been followed with fidelity and perseverance even unto our own day. We will now pass on to the facts and the proof."* We defy any one to read attentively De Haller's work, witliout admitting that he has triumphantly proved all this, and even more, by facts and evidence derived mainly from Protestant sources. Our limits will not, of course, allow us to go into all the details of the evidence ; yet we hope to be able to furnish enough to convince any impartial mind that De Haller's position is entirely sound and tenable. But first we mtist glance rapidly at the manner in which the Reforma- tion was first introduced into Berne ; which, as we have already intimated, subsequently exercised so strong an influ- ence, both religious and political, on other parts of Switzer- land. It was slowly and cautiously that Berne embraced the new doctrines. Long did she resist the intrigues of the Zurichers, and the wily arts of their new apostle, Ulrich Zuingle. This man understood well the character of the Bernese ; their wary distrust of any thing new, their deeply seated self- '' Pref. X, and xi. He gives us in a note, besides some curious facts about Zuingle, the following passage from a letter of Luther to Melancthon, dated August SO, 1530 : "When we will have nothing more to fear, and when we shall be left in repose, we will then repair all onr present lies, our frauds, and our ads of virthnce." PEARS TO THE BEAR. 185 interest, and their dogged obstinacy in maintaining whatever they finally settled down upon. He well knew all this, and he acted accordingly. Writing to Berchtold Haller, the first herald of the new gospel at Berne, he advised moderation and caution ; " for," says he, " the minds of the Bernese are not yet ripe for the new gospel."* In a letter subsequently addressed to Francis Kolb, he uses this quaint language, alluding to the cantonal type of Berne — the hear : " My dear Francis ! proceed slowly, and not too rudely, in the business ; do not throw to the hear at first but one sour pear along with a great many sweet ones, afterwards two, then three ; and if he beg-in to swallow them, throw him always more and more, sour and sweet, pellmell. Finally, empty the sack altogether ; soft, hard, sweet, sour, and crude ; he will devour them all, and will not suffer any one to take them away fi-om him, nor to drive him away."f Zuingle understood his men, and his arts succeeded even beyond his most sanguine expectations. Berne vacillated for several years between truth and error ; her policy was waver- ing and tortuous; but at length she threw her whole influence into the scale of the Reformation ; and once she had taken her position, she maintained it with her characteristic obstinacy. Tliough her counsels were often uncertain, yet, in the main, she had continued faithful to the old religion up to the year 1527. On the 26th of January, 1524, we find her delegates uniting with those of the twelve cantons at Lucerne in a strong decree, unanimously passed, for the maintenance of Catholicity.^ Shortly afterwards, she listened with respect to the voice of the three Catholic bishops of Constance, Bale, and Lausanne, who strongly urged the cantons to remain steadfast in their faith, and who promised " that if, in lapse of time, some abuses had glided into the ecclesiastical state, they would examine the matter with unremitting diligence, and abolish the abuses with all their power."§ In 1525-6, the terrible revolt of the peasants took place in * Quoted by De Haller, p. 18. f Ibid., p. 18, note. X Ibid., p. 22. \ Ibid., p. 23. VOL. I. 16 180 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. Germany, and penetrated even into Switzerland. It had cer tainly grown out of the revolutionary principles broached by the reformers, and it was headed by Protestant preachers, as Ruchat, himself a preacher, admits in the following passage: " Having at their head the preachers of the reform^ they pil laged, ravaged, massacred, and burnt every thing that fell into their hands."* Sartorius, another Protestant historian of Germany, admits the same.f All social order was threat ened with annihilation by these wild fanatics, whose numbei was legion ; and Berne, appalled by the danger, made a tem- porary truce with her tergiversation, recoiled from the preci- pice, on the brink of which she had been standing, and fell back on her old vantage ground of conservative Catholicity On the 21st of May, 1526, her grand council published an edict for the preservation of the old religion, and its members bound themselves, hy a solemn oath^ to maintain it invi olate^X Yet, in the following year, Berne revoked this decree, violated this solemnly plighted oath, joined the Reformation, and lent her whole influence to its propagation throughout Switzerland ! Her wavering ceased all of a sudden, and her policy, hitherto tortuous and always unprincipled, now be came firmly settled. Not only she declared for the Reforma- tion, but she spared no labor, no intrigue, no money, — nothing, to make it triumph everywhere. It was mainly through her subsequent efibrts that the Reformation was fastened on a large portion of the Swiss republic. By what means this was accomplished, we have already intimated ; and now we will furnish some of the principal specifications and evidence bearing on the subject. The facts we are going to allege clearly prove this great leading feature of the Swiss Reforma- tion : — that it was only by intrigue, chicanery, persecution, and open violence, that it was finally established at the cit) * Quoted by De Haller, p. 23. f IT»id. \ Ibid., ch. iv, p. 27 seqq. ZUINGLIAN COUNCIL ITS DECREES. 187 of Berne and throughout the canton, as well as in all the other cantons where Bernese influence could make itself felt. In 1528, a conference, or rather a species of Zuinglian council was held at Berne, for tne purpose of deciding on the articles of faith to be adopted in the proposed refoi'ination. Zuingle was the master spirit of the assembly, at which very few Catholics assisted. Ten articles, or theses, were there adopted by the ministers ; but, though drawn up with studied ambiguity and vagueness, they were still signed only by a minority of the Bernese clergy, the majority still clinging to the old faith. Yet the Bernese grand council of state not only adopted and confirmed these articles, but enjoined their adoption on all the people of the canton. Pastors and curates were forbidden to teach any thing opposed to them; the Mass was abolished, altars were to be demolished, images to be burnt, and the four bishops of Switzerland were declared deprived of all jurisdiction ! Moreover, priests W'ere permitted to marry, and religious persons of both sexes to leave their convents ; the ministers were ordered to preach four times each week under penalty of suspension; and finally the council reserved to itself the right " to change this new religion if any one would prove to them any thing better by the Scriptures."* Such was the tenor of the famous Bernese decree, by which the new gospel was first established hy law. Nor did it re- main a dead letter. Violence, sacrilege, and robbery rioted throughout the canton. The churches of the Catholics were forcibly seized on, the altars were overturned, the beautiful decorations of paintings and statuary were defaced or broken to pieces, people were forbidden any longer to worship at the altars and shrines of their fathers; and very soon the whole canton presented the appearance of a country through which an army of Vandals and Huns had but lately marched. It is a certain and undoubted y«c^, that the Reformation y^slq forced * Quoted by De Haller, pp. 52, 53. ]88 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. upon the Bernese people, against the positive will of the ma- jority ! But the minority were active, untiring, revolutionary, and they had the civil authorities to back them ; the majority were often indifferent and negligent; their natural protectors, the more zealous among the clergy, had been compelled to fly ; and thus left alone, a flock without shepherds, the people were at length wearied out and harassed into conformity. To enforce the new religious law, commissioners were sent from Berne into all the communes of the canton, with instruc- tions to address the people, and to use every effort to induce them to embrace the new gospel. After their harangues, the matter was to be immediately put to the popular vote, boys of fourteen years being entitled to the privilege of suffrage ! If the majority went for the new gospel, even if this majority consisted but of one voice, the minority were compelled to abandon the old religion, and the Mass was declared publicly abolished throughout the commune ! If, on the contrary, the majority, as was often the case, in spite of every entreaty and threat, went for the old religion, the Protestant minority still remained free to practice publicly their worship. More- over, in this latter case, the vote of the commune was again taken by parishes, in order that those in which the majority were Protestants might be protected by the civil authority. Even if a commune voted unanimously in favor of Catholicity, the possibility of practicing their religion was taken away from the Catholics by the banishment of their priests, and the stationing amongst them of Protestant preachers ; or if their Bernese excellencies graciously allowed them to retain theit pastors, it was only for a time and until further orders !* We ask whether all this was not downright tyranny of the worst kind ; and whether our assertion made above was at all exaggerated ? But this is not yet all, nor even half. There were in Switzerland certain cities and districts under the joint government and control of Berne, Friburg and other Catholic * Quoted by De lialler, pp. 53, 54. TYRANNY AND VIOLENCE 189 cantons. To these Berne sent out her emissaries, both re- ligious and political. If they could be gained over to the new religion, they would probably throw off the yoke of their Catholic joint sovereigns, and fall solely under the govern- ment of Berne, to say nothing of the spiritual good which would accrue to their souls from the new gospel. Hence no money nor intrigue was to be spared to proselytize them. The fiery minister, Farel, armed with Bernese passports, and accompanied or sustained by Bernese deputies and bailifis, ran over these common cities and districts, with the impetu- ous fury of one possessed by an evil spirit. He stirred up seditions whithersoever he went, either against the old religion or against himself; and his progress was everywhere marked by conflagrations and ruins. In the bishopric of Bale, in several towns and communes belonging to the present can- ton of Vaud, in Soleure, and elsewhere, this furious fanatic and political firebrand agitated society to its very depths, and lashed popular passions into a fury which was entirely un- controllable. "Wherever the populace could be ^von over to his party, or even overawed into silence, he caused the Mass to be abolished, churches to be stripped, pillaged, and sacrilegiously desecrated, and altars to be overturned ! And the Bernese authorities not only calmly looked on, but they even sanc- tioned all these ferocious deeds, and cast the shield of their protection around the person of Farel.* Insurrections and violence everywhere marked the progress of the Reformation. Look, for instance, at the following graphic picture of Switzerland during the epoch in question, drawn by De Haller: " During the years 1529, 1530, and 1531, Switzerland found herself in a frightful condition, and altogether similar to that of which we are now wit- nesses, three centuries later. Nothing was seen everywhere but hatred, broils, and acts of violence ; everywhere reigned discord and division ; dis- cord between the cantons, discord in the bosom of the governments, discord between sovereigns and subjects, in fine, discord and division even in every * See De Haller, p. 71 seqq , for detailed proof of all this. 190 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. parish and in every family. The defection of Berne, at which trie Zurichera had labored for six years, had unchained the audacity of all the meddlers and bad men in Switzerland. On all sides new revolutions broke out ; — at Bile, at St. Gall, at Bienne, at Thurgovia, at Frauenfeld, at Mellingen, at Bremgarten, even at Gaster and in the Toggenburg, at Herissau, at Wettin- gen, and finally at Schatf housen. Everywhere they were brought about by a band of poltroons or at least of ignorant burgesses, both turbulent and factious, against the will of the intimidated magistrates, and of the more numerous and peaceable portion of the inhabitants who looked upon these innovations with horror, but whose indignation was arrested and whose zeal was paralyzed, as happens during our own days, by a pretended necessity of avoiding the effusion of blood, and preventing the horrors of a civU war. Thus one party declared an implacable war against their fellow-citizens and every thing that is sacred, while the other was condemned to suffer without resistance all manner of injuries, all manner of hostilities; and this state ol triumphant iniquity and of miserable servitude was qualified by the fine name of peace. Everywhere, except at Shaffhousen, a city which was always distinguished for its tranquillity and the peaceful character of its in- habitants, seditious armed mobs rushed of their own accoi'd to the churches, broke down the altars, burnt the images, destroj'cd the most magnificent monuments of art, pillaged the sacred vases as well as other objects of value, and put up for public sale at auction the sacred vestments : by such vandal- ism and by such sacrileges was the religious revolution of the sixteenth century signalized."* Just imagine that the United States were densely populated and filled with cities, and that the Catholic religion were that of the people ; but that a religious revolution had been efiected in one of our great cities, — say Philadelphia, — by violence, sustained by the civil authorities ; that there all our churches had been pillaged and desecrated, a part of them bui'ned down and the other part seized on for the Protestant worship ; that the frenzy spread, until similar scenes were enacted in half the cities and towns of our republic ; imagine, in a word, the Philadelphia riots, aggravated a hundred fold, extending through half the country, and keeping the people in a state of anarchy and civil war for more than twenty years ; imagine our hitherto peaceful republic broken up by discord, and * De Haller, pp. 62-64. INTOLERANCE AND INCONSISTENCY. 191 bathed in the blood of its citizens, until at last the fierce riot ers sit down in triumph amidst the ruins they had everywhere strewr around them ; and you will then have some faint con- ception of the rise, progress, and triumpli of the Protestant Reformation in a large portion of Switzerland ! Recent events, both in this country and in Switzerland, have proved that Protestantism has not yet lost all of its original fierce- ness, and that its turbulent spirit has not been yet entirely subdued by the onward march of refinement and civilization. As might have been anticipated, the Bernese met with fre- quent resistance in their efibrts to destroy the old religion, and to force the new one on the people. Popular insurrec- tions broke out at Aigle, and in the bailiwicks of Lentzburg, Frutigen, Interlaken, and Haut-Siebenthal, as well as in other places. How was this resistance met ? It was crushed by main force, probably with a view to demonstrate to all the world how sincerely the Bernese were attached to the great fundamental principles of the Reformation, — that each one should read the Bible and judge for himself! As De Haller says : " An edict of persecution was issued, which directed that images should be everywhere broken and altars demolished, as well in the churches as in private houses ; that priests who yet said Mass should be everywhere hunted ioton, seized on whenever they could be caught, and put in prison : that every one who spoke badly of the Bernese authorities should be treated in like manner ; for, says Ruchat, the Catholics of the canton and vicinity declaimed horribly against them. In case of relapse, the priests were out- lawed and delivered up to public vengeance : in fine, the same edict decreed punishment against all who should sustain these refractory priests (that is, all who remained faithful to the ancient religion), or who afforded them an asylum. A third edict of the 22d December, forbade any one to go into the neigboring cantons to hear Mass, under penalty of deprivation for those who held office, and of arbitrary punishment for private individuals."* Was ever tyranny and persecution carried further than this ? And yet this is but one chapter in the history of the Swiss Reformation. The same ferocious intolerance wae * De Haller, p. 57-58. 192 REFORMATION IN SWI'IZERLAND. witnessed wherever the Reformation made its appearance, in the once peaceful and happy land of William Tell. Did our limits permit, we might prove this by facts, as undeniable as they are appalling. Those Catholic priests who were not willing to betray their religion, or to sell their conscience for a mess of pottage, were everywhere thrown into prison or banished the country. They were succeeded by preachers, many of them fugitives from France and Germany, and most of them men of little learning and less piety, remarkable only for a certain boldness and rude popular eloquence or decla- mation. Men of this stamp, who had suddenly, and often without vocation or ordination, intruded themselves into the holy ministry, could not hope to win or secure the confidence of the people. Accordingly, we find the following candid avowal on the subject, in a confidential letter of the minister Capito to Farel, written as late as 1537. He says: " The authority of the ministers is entirely abolished ; all is lost, all goes to ruin. The people say to us boldly : you wish to make yourselves the tyrants of the Church, you wish to establish a new papacy. God makeu me know what it is to be a pastor, and the wrong we have done tlie Church by the lyrecipiiate and inconsiderate vehemence which has caused us to reject the Pope. For the people, accustomed to unbounded freedom, and as it were nourished by it, have spurned the rein altogether ; they cry out to us : we know enough of the gospel, what need have we of your help to find Jesus Christ ? Go and preach to those who wish to hear you."* The intolerance of the Protestant party was surpassed only by its utter inconsistency. The glorious privileges of private judgment, of liberty of conscience and of the press, were for- ever on their lips ; and yet they recklessly trampled them all under their feet ! Each one was to interpret the Bible for himself, and yet he who dared interpret it difi'erently from their excellencies, the counsellors of Berne, was punished as an enemy of the government ! The counter principle of a union of church and state, was even openly avowed and con- * Epistola ad Farel. inter epist. Oalvini, p. 5; quoted by De llaller, p. 99, note. CHURCH AND STATE. 193 stantly acted on. The council of ministers, held at Berne in 1532, subscribed a confession of faith drawn up by Capito, in which the following remarkable passages are found: " The ministers acknowledge that it is not possible for them to produce any fruit in their church, unless the civil magistrate lend his assistance to advance the good ivarh . . . Every Christian magistrate ought in the exercise of his power, to be the lieutenant and minister of God, and to maintain among his subjects the evangelical doctrine and life, so far at least as it is exercised out- wai'dly and is practised in external things* .... The magistrates should then take great care to preserve sound doctrine ; to prevent error and seduc- tion, to punish blasphemy and all outward sins affecting religion and con- duct, to protect the truth and good morals."f This forcibly reminds us of the doctrines of the nursing fathers^ so much spoken of, even in our American Presbyte- rian Confession of Faith. As some additional evidence of the love which the Swiss reformers bore to the liberty of the press and to that of conscience, read the two following extracts from our author : " The Bernese, who had talked so much about the liberty of conscience and that of the press while it was a question of establishing the reform, then sent deputies to Bale to complain of the libels which were there printed against the deputies of Berne, and they demanded that silence should be im- posed on the preachers unfavorable to the reform. Thus it is that the Pro- testants did not wish to allow liberty to any one, so soon as they became the masters. The Bernese deputation was, however, dismissed from Bnle without having attained its object."]; " In virtue of the freedom of conscience, the triumphant innovators re- moved all the Catholic counselors, and forbade any one to preach against what they called the reform. At Bale, in particular, the nobility were driven away, and the Catholic clergy, the chapter, and even the professors of the university, abandoned forever a city of which they were the ornament and the glory, and which owed to them its lustre and its very existence."} Those who are guilty of the unpardonable crime of adhering tenaciously and fondly to the time-honored religion of their fathers, were not the only ones who felt the smart of Protest- ant intolerance in Switzerland. Brother Protestants were * De Haller, p. 97. He quotes Ruchat. f Ibid. p. 100. t Ibid., pp. 58-59. \ Ibid., p. 64. VOL, I. — 17 194 REFORMATION m SWITZERLAND. also persecuted, if they bad the misfortune to believe eilbei more or less than their more enlightened brethren, who hap pened to be orthodox for the time helng. The Anabaptists, in particular, were hunted down with a ferocity which is al- most inconceivable. The favorite mode of punishing them, especially at Berne, was by drowning! This manner of death was deemed the most appropriate, because it was only baptizing them in their own way !* The rivers and lakes, which abound in Switzerland, often received the dead bodies of these poor deluded men. Sometimes, however, this mode of punishment was dispensed with in favor of others less re volting to humanity. Says De Haller: " Their Excellencies of Berne, not being able to convince the Anabaptists, found it much more simple to banish them, or to throw them into the water and drown them. These punishments having, however, rather increased their number, the council of Berne, being embarrassed, resorted to measures less severe, and acting under the advice of the ministers, published on the 2d of March, 1533, an edict announcing that the Anabaptists should be left in peace, if they would keep their belief to themselves, and maintain silence ; but that if they continued to preach and to keep up a separate sect, they should not be any longer condemned to death, but only to pei-petiud impris- onment on BREAD AND WATER ! This was certainly a singular favor. Catho lies, who are accused of so much intolerance, had never molested the Zuin- glians who had kept their faith to themselves, and even when these openly preached their doctrines fi-om the pulpit, they were not condemned either to death or to perpetual imprisonment on bread and water.f As we have already said, the progress of the Swiss Refor- mation was everywhere marked by intrigues, popular com- motions, mob violence, and sacrilege. So it was at Geneva, into which the Reformation was introduced in the year 1535, chiefly again through the intrigues of Berne. It was not Calvin who established the Reformation at Geneva ; he only reaped the harvest which had been sown by others. The fiery Farel, shielded with the panoply of Bernese protection and acting in concert with Bernese envoys, had already suc- ceeded in there subverting, to a great extent, the ancient • See De Haller, pp. 39, 69, et alibi passim. f Ibid, pp. 153-154. THE SWORD AND THE BIBLE. 195 faith. And by what means? We have not roon. for full details, for which we must refer our readers to a very nterest- ing chapter in De Haller's history.* Suffice it to say, that the whole city was thrown into commotion ; that the Catholic churches were violently seized upon, after having been first sacrilegiously defaced and desecrated in the hallowed name of religion ; that the Catholic clergy were hunted down and forced to fly the city ; that nearly half of the population was compelled to emigrate, in order to secure to themselves peace and freedom of conscience; that even after they had emi- grated, their property was confiscated and they were disfran- chised, in punishment of their having dared to leave the city ; that the harmless nuns of St. Clare, after having been long harassed and insulted by the mob, were also compelled to leave their home and seek shelter elsewhere ; that the Catho- lic cliurch property was seized upon by the reformed party; that, after having filled the whole city, and especially the churches, with the "abomination of desolation," Farel and his pious associates were able to assemble congregations and to preach, in only two out of the many Genevan churches of which they had obtained possession ; that even in these they o^^'ten preached to empty benches, so great was the horror which all these multiplied sacrileges inspired in the popular mind; and that, finally, the Reformation was established in Geneva by the great council, and afterwards by the swords and bayonets of the Bernese army, which entered the city in 1536 ! Such were the first fruits of the Reformation in Geneva. In the canton of Vaud, which was invaded and subdued by the Bernese army in the same year, the proceedings were, if possible, still more violent, and the policy still more truculent. Wheresoever the Bernese army marched, there the Reforma- tion was established by force of arms. The Bernese bore the sword in one hand and the Bible in the other; and they * De Haller, chap. xvi. 196 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. established the new gospel in Yaud pretty much after the Mohammedan fashion of proselytism ! De Haller proves all this by an array of evidence, which can neither be gainsaid nor resisted.* He proves it from the testimony of Ruchat, Mallet, Spon, and other Protestant historians. He furnishes facts, with names, dates, and specifications ;/«(??'« as clear as the noonday sun \ facts which we challenge any one to deny or contravene. And we ask, whether it be at all likely that a Reformation effected by such means, was, or could possibly have been, the work of God ? Could God have chosen such instruments and such means to effect His work? Could He smile on commotions, on riots, on robbery, on impurity, on broken vows, on sacrilege? Gracious heavens ! How much do those delude themselves, who still cling to the belief that the Reformation was the work of God ! Well may we address to them, and to all wlio may chance to read these pages, the emphatic words of St. Augustine prefixed to the title-page of De Haller's work: " Let those hear who have not fallen, lest they fall ; let those hear who have fallen, that they may rise ! "f If it be alleged, that the Catholics too sometimes resorted to violence and appealed to the sword ; we answer that they did so, almost without an exception, only in necessary self-defense. Their forbearance, amidst all the terrible outrages which we have briefly enumerated, was indeed wonderful. If they some- times repelled force by force ; if they flew to arms more than once in their own defense, it was surely competent for them to do so. Their lives were threatened, their property was mvaded, their altars were desecrated; and surely, when con- siderations such as these urged them to buckle on their good swords, they were not only excusable, but they would have been arrant cowards had they failed to do so. And no one * See De Haller, p. 271 seqq. and 321 seqq. f Audiant qui n a ceciderunt, ne cadant; audiant qui ceciderunt, ut surgant. TOUCHING ANECDOTE. 197 has ever yet dared to taunt with cowardice the brave moun taineers of Lucerne, Schwitz, Uri, Unterwald, and Zug, who inherit the faith, the country, and the unconquerable spirit of William Tell. The recent occurrences in Switzerland prove tliat this spirit has not flagged in the lapse of centuries, that Catholicity is not incompatible with bravery; and that soldiers who pray, both before and after battle, are under the special protection of the great God of battles ; though He, for His own wise and inscrutable purposes, may permit them sometimes to be overwhelmed by superior numbers. But whoever will read De Haller's history nmst be con- vinced, that the Swiss Catholics were much more forbearing and tolerant than the Swiss Protestants. The former, in general, allowed the latter the free exercise of their religion in places where these were in the minority; whereas there are, indeed, but few instances on record, where the latter accorded the same privilege to the former under similar cir- cumstances. Did our limits permit, we might go fully into the comparison, and prove the accuracy of our remark by undeniable evidence. But we must be content with a mar- ginal reference, *and with the following touching anecdote, the scene of which is laid in the city of Soleure. The Protestant party had sought to gain the ascendency in this place, by entirely overthrowing the Catholic religion. For this purpose they seized upon the moment when nearly all the members of the council were absent, for entering into a conspiracy to take possession of " the arsenal and of the Franciscan church, to surprise the priests in their beds,and to massacre all the Catholics in case of resistance."! The con- spiracy was, however, discovered to the avoyei\ or chief mag- istrate, left in charge of the city — Nicholas de Wengi ; and he took every prudent precaution against the meditated attack. On the 30th day of October, 1533, at one hour after midnight, the conspirators rushed to the assault; but they * De Haller, pp. 72, 150 note, 156, 272, etc. f Ibid., p. 157. 13 198 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. were amazed to find nearly half the city turned o.it ready tu receive them, and to defend themselves to the last extremity. After a sharp encounter, in which the arsenal was succes* sively taken and retaken, without, however, any effusion of blood, the conspirators were finally driven off. But, though beaten, these had not yet given up the contest. They retired beyond the bridge, and having intrenched themselves, began to insult the Catholics. Indignant, the latter rushed to the arsenal, brought a cannon to bear upon the Protestant in- trenchment, and fired one shot, but without effect. Just as they were preparing to fire another, the venerable avoyer Wengi rushed, out of breath, before the cannon's mouth, and exclaimed: "Beloved and pious fellow-citizens, if you wish to fire against the other side, I will be your first victim; con- sider better the state of things."* His interposition was effectual ; calm was restored ; and the insurgents left the city. We conclude this chapter, already long enough, by glancing rapidly at the war of Cappell in 1531, the first great religious war that ever was waged in Switzerland.! And we do this the more willingly, because it seems to us that there is a striking parallelism between this first and the last relig- ious war to which we have already alluded. In both, the Catholics acted strictly on the defensive ; in both. Lucerne was at the head of the Catholic party, in both, the genuine chil- dren of Tell proved themselves worthy of him, of their ances- tral glory, of their country. There is, however, this important diflerence in the two wars, that whereas in the first the Catho- lics were triumphant, in the last, after having performed prodi- gies of valor, they were finally overwhelmed by main force. In the beginning of the year 1581, the Protestant cantons, and especially Zurich, flagrantly violated the treaty concluded in 1529, by which the Catholic and Protestant cantons had * Ue Haller, p. 159. f There had been some troubles in 1529, which were, however, settled without much effusion of blood. THE WAR OF CAPPELL. 199 mutually promised not to molest or interfere with one an- other on account of religion. After having fomented troubles in various districts partly under the' control of the Catholic cantons, Zurich at length openly invaded the territory of St. Gall, and issued a decree forbidding the five neighboring Catholic cantons to trade with her subjects in corn and salt. The object of this embargo was, to cut off from the Catholic mountaineers the supplies which they had been in the habit of deriving by commerce from those living in the plains, and thereby to starve them into acquiescence in the glorious work of the Reformation ! Zuingle and the preachers openly clam- ored for the blood of the Catholics, in their public harangues in Zurich. Here is an extract from one of the great Swiss reformer's sermons, delivered on the 21st September, 1531: " Rise up, attack ; the five cantons are in your power. I will march at the head of your ranks, and the nearest to the enemy. Then you will feel the power of God, for when I shall harangue them with the truth of the word of God, and shall say : whom seek you, 0 ye impious ! then, seized with terror and with panic, they will not be able to answer, but they will fall back, and will take to flight, like the Jews on the mountain of Olives at the word of Christ. You will see that the artillery which they will direct against us, will turn against themselves, and will destroy them. Their pikes, their halberds, and their other arras, shall not hurt you, but will hurt them."* This discourse was printed and circulated ; but alas for the prophetic faculty of the reformer! The event falsified his prediction in every particular. And, as Zuingle himself marked the preparations the five cantons were making for the coming struggle, even his own heart ftiiled him ; and the lately inspired prophet of God dwindled down into a miser- able poltroon, overcome by terror, and pretending .to have had strange presentiments, and observed strange signs in the heavens ! Nevertheless, the Zurichers compelled him to march at tneir head to the village of Cappell, near the confines of the hostile cantons. * Quoted by De Haller, pp. 78, 79, note. 200 REFORMATION IN SWITZERLAND. Here the two armies encountered ; but fiery and fanatical as were the Zuinglians, they could not withstand the impetu- ous charge of the brave Swiss mountaineers. These carried every thing before them. The Zurichers took to flight in great disorder, with the loss of "nineteen cannon, four stands of colors, all their baggage, and of at least fifteen hundred men, among whom were twenty-seven magistrates, and fif TEEN PKEACHEKS."* Zuiuglc, the apostlc of Switzerland, fell, sword in hand, fighting the battles of the Lord, as never apostle had fought them before ! The Zurichers, however, recovered from their fright in a few days, and on the 21st of October,f " having been rein- forced by their allies of Saint Gall, of Toggenburg, of Tliur gavia, and even of the Grisons, of Berne, of Bale, and of Soleure, they again attacked the Catholics with very superioi forces ; but they were a second time defeated at the mountain of Zug, and took to flight in disorder, abandoning their artil lery, their money, and their baggage."J The Catholic army now marched in triumph almost to the very walls of Zurich, after having a third time defeated the Zurichers, and driven them from their position.^ The Zuing- lians, thus humbled by defeat, were now disposed to accede to the terms of peace proposed by the Catholic cantons. The treaty bound the Zurichers " to leave the five cantons, with their allies and adherents, from the present to all future time, in peaceable possession of their anGient^ true^ and undoubted Christian faitJi.^ without molesting or importuning them with disputes or chicanery, and renouncing all evil intentions, stratagems, and finesse ; and that, on their side, the five can- tons would leave the Zurichers and their adherents free in their belief; that in the common districts, of which the can- tons were co-sovereigns, the parishes which had embraced the * Quoted by De Haller, pp. 79, 80. f The battle of Cappell was fought on the 11th of October. t De Haller, p. 81. \ Ibid., p. 83. TWO PARALLEL DEVELOPMExNTS. 20] aew faith, might retain it if it suited them, that those which had not yet renounced the ancient faith would also be free to retain it, and that, in fine, those who should wish to return to the true and ancient Ghi'lstlan faith would have the right to do 80."* The Zurichers further bound themselves to pay or rather to restore to the five cantons, the money which the latter had expended in the difiiculties of 1529 ; and to replace, at their own expense, the ornaments destroyed or forcibly taken from the difierent churches during the preceding years. Thus terminated the war of Cappell. It left the Catliolics in the ascendant, and contributed more than any thing else to check the headlong progress of the Swiss Reformation. CHAPTER VII. REACTION OF CATHOLICITY AND DECLINE OP PROTESTANTISM. l.Vo parallel developments — The brave old ship — Modern Protestantism quite powerless — A "thorough godly reformation" needed — Qualities for a reformer — The three days' battle — The puzzle — A thing doomed — Which gained the victory ? — The French revolution — Ranke and Hallam — The rush of waters stayed — Persecution — Protestant spice — The Coun- cil of Trent — Revival of piety — The Jesuits — Leading causes and practical results — Decline of Protestantism — Apt comparison — What stemmed the current? — Thread of Ariadne — Divine Providence — Reaction. of Catholi- city— Casaubon and Grotius — Why they were not converted — Ancient and modern Puseyism — Justus Lipsius and Cassander — The inference — Splendid passage of Macaulay — Catholicity and enlightenment — The Church indestructible — General gravitation to Rome — The circle and its center. No fact in the entire history of the Reformation is perhaps more remarkable, than that which is presented by the speedy decline of Protestantism, on the one hand, and the no lese * De Haller, p. 85. 202 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. rapid reaction of Catholicity on the other. A rapid glance at the history of these opposite developments of the two systems of religion will throw much additional light on their respect- ive characters, and will serve to explain to us still more fully what w^e have been endeavoring thus . far to elucidate ; the character, causes, and manner of the Reformation. It is in accordance with a divine maxim, to judge the tree by its fruits ; and we propose, in the present chapter, to make a general application of this rule ; reserving, however, more special details on the subject to those which will follow. The Reformation swept over the world like a violent storm : and it left as many ruins in its course. It threatened to over- turn every thing, and bear down all things in its impetuous course. So rapid was its work of destruction, that its admirers and partisans confidently predicted th6 speedy downfall of the old religion, and the triumphant establishment of the new ones on its ruins. Even many of those w^io remained stead- fast in the ancient faith, though firmly relying on the solemn promises of Christ, yet trembled not a little for the safety of the Church. Jesus seemed to be asleep, while the tempest was so furiously raging on the sea of the world ; and His dis- ciples, who were in the good old ship of the Church tossed on the waves, like their prototypes of the gospel, "came to him, and awaked him, saying: 'Lord save us, we perish.' And Jesus said to them : ' Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?' Then rising up He commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm."* Such was precisely the phenomenon presented by the his- tory of the Church in the sixteenth century. Soon the storm of the Reformation had spent its fury, and settled down into " a great calm ; " the calm of indifierentism and infidelity on the lately troubled sea of Protestantism, and of peace and security on the broad ocean of Catholicism. When men's minds had had time to recover from the excitement produced by the first * St. Matthew, viii : 24-26. REACTION AND DECLINE. 20^ movements of the Keformation, they were enabled to estimate more justly the motives and causes of this revolution. Tlie result was, that many enlightened Protestants returned to the bosom of the Catholic Chih-ch ; while others, gifted with less grace, or indued with less moral courage, plunged madly into the vortex of infidelity. Thus Catholicity, far from being ex- tinguished, was, by a powerful reaction, speedily reinstated in its former position of impregnable strength ; while its ene- mies, so lately boasting of their victory, were weakened by division and soon dwindled away. Like the sturdy oak of the forest, which, instead of being thrown down by the storm, vanquishes its fury, and even sends its roots further into the earth in consequence of the agi- tation of its branches ; so also the tree of the Church, planted by Christ and watered with His blood and that of his count- less martyrs, successfully resisted the violence of the storm of Protestantism, and became, in consequence of it, more firmly and solidly fixed in the soil of the world — more strongly "rooted and founded in charity."* Nothing is more certain in all history than this wonderful two-fold development. Even D'Aubigne, surely an unexcep- tionable witness, admits its entire truth, however he may seek to disguise it by the thin mantle of sophistry. Speaking of the decline of modern Protestantism, he employs this emphatic lan- guage. "But modern Protestantism, like old Catholicism (!), is, in itself, a thing from which nothing can be hoped — a thing quite powerless. Something very difierent is necessary to restore to men of our day the energy which saves."t — So that, the experiment of Protestantism, notwithstanding all the noise it has made in the world, and all its loud boasting about hav- ing destroyed superstition and enlightened mankind, has still turned out a complete failure, even according to the explicit avowal of its most unscrupulous advocate ! It has been en lightening and saving the world now for full three hundred * Ephesians, iii : 17. f D'Aubigne, vol. i. Preface, p. ix. 2Ui REFORMATION IN GERMANY. years ; and in the end it has lost itself, and become "a thing quite powerless, from which nothing can be hoped ! " A new Reformation is now necessary to reform the old one, and to impart to it " the energy which saves." D'Aubigne, we presume, is to be the father of this new "thorough-godly" Reformation. We wish him joy of his new apostleship, and liope he may succeed better than his predecessors. lie has, we humbly think, all the qualities requisite for a reformer, according to the approved type of the sixteenth century : a smattering of learning, a sanctimonious air, in which he greatly excels some of his predecessors, a skill in sophistry, — which has, however, the admirable simplicity of not being always even specious ; and, to crown all, an utter recklessness of truth. We will here give a passage from his pages, which has the double merit of exhibiting the gist of his theory on our pres- ent subject, and of being a perfect curiosity of its kind. It is an attempt to answer a writer of the Port Royal,* who had compared the religious struggle of the last three centuries to a battle of three days' duration ; and who had accumulated evidence to prove that the infidel philosophers of France, who brought about the French revolution, had but carried out the principles broached by the reformers. Our author "willingly adopts the comparison, but not the part that is allotted to each of these days." He politely declines receiving the well deserved compliment, which the Frenchman was paying him with his most gracious bow. He says: " No, each of those days had its marked and pecuhar characteristic. On the first, (the sixteenth century) the word of God triumphed, and Rome was defeated ; and philosophy, in the person of Erasmus, shared in the defeat. On the second (the seventeenth century), we admit that Rome, her author- ity, her discipline, and her doctrine, are again seen on the point of obtaining the victory, through the intrigues of a llvr-famed society (the Jesuits), and the power of the scaffold, aided by certain leaders of eminent character, and others of lofty genius. The third day (the eighteenth century), human phi- * Port Royal, par Sainte Beuve, vol. i, p. 20. THE THREE DAYS' BATTLE. 205 losophy arises in all its pride, and finding the battle field occupied, not by the gospel, but by Rome, it quickly storms every intrenchment, and gains an easy conquest. The first day's battle was for God, the second for the priest, and the third for reason — what shall the fourth be ? "* Aye, that's the puzzle ! He piously hopes that it will he for "the triumph of Him to whom triumph belongs;"! that is, for his own new system of reformation, which is to be but the "reappearance'' of the old. But this is manifestly hoping against all hope ; for modern Protestantism, he confesses, is "a powerless thhigP It has settled down into indifference and an almost mortal lethargy, in all those countries where it was first established, and where the progress of enl"ghtenment has laid bare to the world its endless vagaries and ever growing inconsistencies — its hopeless powerlessness. Its tendency is necessarily downward ; it bears in its own bosom the seeds of death ; it must share the fate of all other merely human institutions, and must afford another verification of our blessed Saviour's prophetic declaration: "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up."J No human eloquence nor effort can prevent it from meeting this doom, the seal of which is already, in fact, branded on its forehead, D'Aubigne himself being our witness ! It is needless for us to dwell long in the examination of this pretty theory about the " three days' battle." The triumph which he ascribes to the Reformation on the first day was not real ; it was scarcely even apparent. Notwithstanding the premature shouts of victory raised by the reformed party, the old Church still retained a vast ascendency in point of num- bers, of extension, and also, as we hope to prove in the sequel, of intelligence. In compensation for her losses on the battle field of Europe, she gained great accessions to her numbers in the East Indies, in Asia, and in the new world, which her navigators had discovered and her missionaries had converted. When a portion of Europe spurned her voice, she " turned to * D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 304. f Ibid. \ St. Matthew, xv : 13. 20G REFORMATION IN GERiMANY. the Gentiles," and waved the banner of her cross in triumph over new worlds. She certainly then clearly gained the ad- vantage, even in the first day's battle. In the second, she was avowedly in the ascendant. During it, she, to a great extent, retrieved her losses, even in Europe itself. Of course, all the talk about " the intrigues of a far famed society and the power of the scaffold," is mere palaver. We shall soon prove it to be little better, on unquestionable Protestant authority. As to the scaffold, we hope to show hereafter,* by a mass of evidence which can not be answered, that it was much more frequently erected by those who raised the clamor for the emancipation of thought, than by those who continued to abide quietly in the old Church. In the third day's battle. Catholicity again triumphed. Tlie French revolution was, in fact, but the "reappearance" of the "great Reformation," in another and more terrific shape. The French infidels made at least as much noise about liberty of thought, and they inveighed as fiercely against the corrup- tions of the Catholic Church, as had been done by the re- formers two and a half centuries before. The former did little more, in fact, than catch up the Babel-like sounds of the latter, and re-echo them, in a voice of thunder, throughout Europe. But this mere human thunder was finally drowned by the divine thunder of the Vatican ! Rome conquered the refractory daughter, as she had conquered the refractory mother. If she alone "occupied the battle field," it was because the Protestants had retired from it ; had ingloriously fled, and left Christianity to its fate, during the continuance of this its fiercest struggle with infidelity ! Did Protestants win even one laurel in that ensanguined battle field ? Can they count even one martyr who fell a victim in that bloody effort to put down Christianity? The Catholic clergy were massacred in hundreds ; they poured out their blood like * In Chapter xii, "On the influence of the Reformation on Religious Liiberty." RANKE AND HALLAM. 201 watei, for the defense of religion. Did the French infidela attack Protestants ? If they did not — and they certainly did not — then how are we to explain this singular phenomenon, but on the principle of a sympathetic feeling? Men seldom go to battle agamst their secret or open friends and allies! • To show the rapid decline of Protestantism, after the first fifty years of its violent existence ; and to unfold the parallel reaction of Catholicism, we had intended to present a rapid analysis of what a famous living Protestant writer of Ger- many— Leopold Ranke — has abundantly proved on the subject, in his late "History of the Papacy during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries."* But Henry Hallam, another eminent Protestant writer of great research and authority, has antici- pated us in our labor. In his Introduction to the History of Literature, already quoted, he follows Ranke, and presents every thing of consequence, bearing on our present subject, which the eminent German historian had more fully exhibited, as the result of much patient labor and research. Hallam also adds to the recital many things of his own. His work has thus greatly abridged our labor, and we shall do little more than cull from its pages, and put into order, what may best serve to elucidate the matter in hand. We presume that no impartial man will question our authorities. The decline of Protestantism, and the reaction of Catholi- cism were intimately connected: they went hand in hand. The same causes that explain the one, will in a great measure account for the other ; with perhaps this exception, that Prot- estantism, like a,ll other merely human institutions, carried within its own bosom an intrinsic principle of dissolution; whereas Catholicity, on the other hand, had within itself, strongly developed, the principle of vitality and of perma- nency. These two opposite characteristics are, in fact, emi- nently distinctive of the two systems. * " Histoire de la Papaute pendant les xvi et xvii siecles." Traduite de I'Allemand par M J. B. Haiber. 4 vols. 8v'0. A Paris, 1838. 208 REFORMATION IN GKRMANY. According to Hallam, Protestantism began to decline, and Catholicity to gain ground, shortly after the middle of the sixtecinth century. The immediate disciples of the reformers, after the death of the latter, soon lost the fierce and warlike spirit originally manifested by those who had reared the ban- ner of revolt against Rome. The enthusiasm of the first on- slaught speedily died away, and the principle of hatred, which had originated the Reformation, was gradually weakened. A counter principle of love — the very essence of Christianity and of God himself — gradually gained the ascendant even in the bosom of many among those who, in a moment of fierce excitement, had been temporarily estranged from the Catho- lic Church. The consequence was, that vast bodies of Prot- estants re-entered its pale. Both Ranke and Hallam bear evidence to the truth of these remarks. The latter says : " This prodigious increase of the Protestant party in Europe after the middle of the century (xvi) did not continue more than a few years. It was checked and fell back, not quite so rapidly or completelj' as it came on, but so as to leave the antagonist Church in perfect security." After a te- dious apology for entering on this subject in a history of literature, he pro- poses " to dwell a little on the leading causes of this retrograde movement of Protestantism ; a fiict," he continues, " as deserving of explanation as the previous excitement of the Reformation itself, though from its more nega- tive character, it has not drawn so much of the attention of mankind. Those who tehold the outbreaking of great revolutions in civil society or in religion, will not easily believe that the rush of waters can be stayed in its course ; that a pause of inditference may come on, perhaps very suddenl}', or a reaction bring back nearly the same prejudices and passions (!) as those which men had renounced. Yet this has occurred not very rarely in the annals of mankind, and never on a larger scale than in the history of the Reformation !"* He then proceeds to assign some of the leading causes which, according to his view, "stayed the rush of waters" of the revolution, called by courtesy the Reformation. After speaking of the stern policy of Philip H. of Spain, and as- * Introduction to the History of Literature, etc., sup. cit. vol. i, p. 272. REACTION COUNCIL OF TRENT. 209 signing undue prominence to the inquisition, "wliieh soon extirpated the remains of heresy in Italy and Spain" — into which countries Protestantism never penetrated, at least to any extent, and therefore could not be " extirpated" — he next alludes to the civil wars in France between the Huguenots and the Catholics, and then conies down to Germany. " But in Bavaria, Albert V., with whom, about 1564, this reaction began ; in the Austrian dominions, Rodolph II. ; in Poland, Sigismund III.; by shutting up churches, and by discoun- tenancing in all respects their Protestant subjects, contrived to change a party once powerful, into an oppressed sect."* We hate persecution, no matter what is made the pretext for its exercise; but every candid man must allow that, in resorting to these measures of severity, the German Catholic princes did but repay their Protestant subjects in their own coin. If they took from them their churches, it must be borne in mind that those same churches were originally erected by Catholics, to whom they rightfully belonged, and that, in the first effervescence of the Reformation, they had been seized on violently by the Protestant party. They did but take back by law, what had been wrested from the right- ful owners by lawless violence, and what would not have been otherwise surrendered. If " they discountenanced their Protestant subjects," it was only after a long and bitter ex- perience of the troubles they had caused, of the riots and conflagrations they had brought about in the abused name of religion and of liberty, and of the utter fruitlessness of conciliatory measures. Besides, had not the German Protestant princes proceeded with still greater harshness • against their Catholic subjects, whose only crime was their calm and inoffensive adherence to the religion of their fathers? The account was certainly moru than balanced, as we shall show more fully hereafter.-} * Introduction to the History of Literature, etc., sup. cit. vol. i, p. '173. f In Chapter xii. VOL. I, — 18 210 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. These facts constitute at least extenuating circarastanceSj which a man of Mr. Hallam's moderate principles and love of historic justice should not have wholly concealed. But, we presume, he deemed it expedient to add a little Protestant spice to his narrative, in order to season for the palate of his English Protestant readers the otherwise insipid viands of admissions in favor of Catholicity. One leading cause of the reaction of Catholicity, according to him, was the promulgation and general adoption of the decrees of the Council of Trent. "The decrees of the Council of Trent were received by the spiritual princes of the empire (German) in 1566; 'and from this moment,' says the excellent historian who has thrown most light on this subject, 'began a new life for the Catholic Church in Germany.' "* We heartily concur in the truth of this remark. Divine Providence, which draws good out of evil, wisely brought about the Council of Trent, and watched over its protracted and often interrupted labors, till they were brought to a happy termination. This was, in fact, the only legal, as well as the only adequate remedy to the evils of the Church in the sixteenth century. The Tridentine canons and decrees for reformation exercised a powerful influence throughout Christendom. Through them, faith was everywhere settled on an immovable basis, local abuses disappeared, and piety revived. The Reformation was the indirect cause of all this good ; and in this point of view, if in no other, it may claim our gratitude. The revival of piety, through the influence of the Triden- tine Council, is thus attested by Mr. Hallam : " The reaction could not, however, have been effected by any efforts of the princes, against so preponderating a majority as the Protestant churches had obtained, if the principles that originally actuated them had retained their animating influence, or had not been opposed by more efHcacious resistance. Every method was adopted to revive an attachment to the ancient religion, insuperable by the love of novelty, or the power of argu- * Ranke, ii, p. 46. Hallam, Chapter x. THE JESUITS. 211 ment (!). A. stricter discipline and subordination were introduced iiuong the clergy : they were early trained in seminaries, apart from the senti- ments and habits, the vices and virtues (!) of the world. The monastic orders resumed their rigid observances." * Speaking of the important influence of the Jesuits in bringing about this Catholic renovation, he says: " But, flir above all the rest, the Jesuits were the instruments for regain- ing France and Germany to the Church they served. And we are more closely concerned with them here, that they are in this age among the links between religious opinion and literature. We have seen in the last chapter with what spirit they took the lead in polite letters and classical style ; with what dexterity they made the brightest spirits of the rising generation, which the Church had once dreaded and checked (!) her most willing and effective instruments. The whole course of liberal studies, however deeply grounded in erudition, or embellished by eloquence, took one direction, one perpetual aim — the propagation of the Catholic faith. . . . They knew how to clear their reasoning from scholastic pedantry and tedious quotation for the simple and sincere understandings which they addressed ; yet, in the proper field of controversial theology, they wanted nothing of sophistical (!) expertness or of erudition. The weak points of Protestantism they attacked with embarrassing ingenuity ; and the reformed churches did not cease to give them abundant advantages by inconsistency, extravagance, and passion.f At the death of Ignatius Loyola, in 1556, the order he had founded was divided into thirteen provinces besides the Roman ; most of which were in the Spanish peninsula, or its colonies. Ten colleges belonged to Castile, eight to Arragon, and five to Andalusia. Spain was for some time the fruit- ful mother of the disciples, as she had been of the master. The Jesuits who came to Germany were called ' Spanish priests.' They took possession of the universities : 'they conquered us,' says Ranke, 'on our own ground, in bur own homes, and stripped us of a part of our own country.' This, the acute historian proceeds to say, sprung certainly from the want of under- standing among the Protestant theologians, and of sufficient enlargement of mind to tolerate unessential differences. The violent opposition among each other, left a way open to these cunning strangers, who taught a doctrine not open to dispute."! He then proceeds to treat of tlie practical results brought * Ranke, ii, p. 46. Hallam, Chapter x, 5 8. f Ibid., ^ 10, where he cites Hospinian, Ranke, and Tiraboschi, the fli"st a declared enemy of the Jesuits. | Ibid., p. 274, ^ 11. 212 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. about by these causes. These were a rapid declension ;)f Protestantism, and a correspondent increase of Catholicism "Protestantism, so late as 1578, might be deemed preponderant in all the Austrian dominions, except the T3'rol.* In the Polish diets, the dissidents, as they were called, met their opponents with vigor and success. The eccle- siastical principalities were full of Protestants ; and even in the chapters some of them might be found. But the contention was unequal, from the different character of the parties ; religious zeal and devotion (!), which fifty years before had overthrown the ancient rites in northern Germany, were now more invigorating sentiments in those who secured them from ftu'ther innovation. In religious struggles, where there is any thing like an equality of forces, the question soon comes to be which party will make the gi-eatest sacrifice for its own faith. And while the Catholic self-devotion had grown far stronger, there was much more of secular cupidit}', lukewarmness, and formality in the Lutheran church. In very few j^ears, the effects of this were distinctly visible. The Protestants of the Catholic principalities went back into the bosom of Rome. In the bishopric of Wurtzburg alone, sixty- two thousand converts are said to have been received in the year 1586."f " The reaction," he continues a little afterwards, " was not less conspicu- ous in other countries. It is asserted ' that the Huguenots had already lost more than two-thirds of their number in 1580 ;'J comparativelj^ I presume, with twenty years before. And the change in their relative position is manifest from all the histories of this period At the close of this period of fifty years (A. D. 1600), the mischief done to the old Church in its first decennium (from 1550 to 1560) was very nearly repaired ; the proportions of the two rehgions in Germany coincided with those which had existed at the pacification of Passau. The Jesuits, however, had begun to encroach a little on the proper domain of the Lutheran church ; besides private conver- sions, which, on account, of the rigor of the laws, not certainlj'^ less intolerant than in their own communion, could not be very prominent, they had sometimes hopes of the Protestant princes, and had once, in 1578, obtained the promise of John, king of Sweden, to embrace openlj" the Piomish (I) faith, as he had ali'cady done in secret to Possevin, an emissary dispatched by the Pope on this important errand. But the symptoms of an opposition, verj^ formidable in a country which has never allowed its kings to trifle with it (except at the time of the Reformation), made this wavering monarch re- trace his steps. His successor, Sigismund, went further, and fell a victim to his zeal, by being expelled from his kingdom."^ — Here was Protestant toler- ation ! ♦ Ranke, ii, p. 78. f lb-, P- 121. t lb., p. 147. 5 Hallam, ib., p. 275, J 14 J THE GREAT CATHOLIC REACTION. 213 " This gi eat reaction of the papal rehgion," he proceeds, " after the shock it had sustained in the first part of the sixteenth century, ought forever to restrain that temerity of prediction so frequent in our ears. As women sometimes beheve the fashion of last year in dress to be wholly ridiculous, and incapable of being ever again adopted by any one solicitous for her beauty,* so those who affect to pronounce on future events are equally con- fident against the possibility of a resurrection of opinions which the major- ity have for the time ceased to maintain. In the year 1560, every Protest- ant in Europe doubtless anticipated the overthrow of popery ; the Catholics could have found little else to warrant hope than their trust in heaven. The late rush of many nations towards democratical opinions has not been so rapid and so general as the change of religion about that period. It is im- portant and interesting to inquire what stemmed this current. We readily acknowledge the prudence, firmness, and unity of purpose that, for the most part, distinguished the court of Rome, the obedience of its hierarchy, the severity of intolerant laws, and the searching rigor of the inquisition ; the resolute adherence of the great princes to the Catholic faith, the influence of the Jesuits over education : but these either existed tefore, or would, at least, not have teen sufficient to withstand an overwhelming force of opinion. " It must he acknowledged that there urns a principle of vitcditi/ in that relig- ion independent of its external strength. By the side of its secular pomp, its relaxation of morality (!), there had always been an intense flame of zeal and devotion. Superstition it might be in the many, fanaticism in a few ; but both of these imply the qualities which, while they subsist, render a rehgion indestructible. That revival of an ardent zeal through which th? Franciscans had in the thirteenth centurv, with some good, and much more evil effect (!), spread a popular enthusiasm over Europe, was once more dis- played in counteraction of those new doctrines, that themselves had drawn their life from a similar development of moral emotion."f Coining from the source it does, this is truly a vahmble avowal. After all the talk, then, about the "downfall of popery," after all the loud boasting and high pretensions of Protestantism, the experiment of three hundred years is be- ginning to convince all reasonable men of what they should have known before: that the Catholic religion "has a prin- ciple of vitality in her," after all, and that she is "indestruc- tible." It could not be otherwise : Christ himself had pledged * A very apposite comparison, truly, to illustrate the new religious fashions ' t Hallam, p. 275, 276, \ 15. 14 214 REFORMATION IN GERMANY his solemn word that " the gates of hell shall not prevail against his Church, built on a rock :"* and this simple promise solves the whole mystery which so sadly puzzled such men as Rank^ and Ilallam. It is the thread of Ariadne, which would have conducted them with security from the tortuous windings of the labyrinth of history, in which they appear to have been lost. It would have explained to them, among other things, why it is that in all the great emergencies of the Church, God has always raised up, as instruments to do his high behests, men and institutions just such as the exigency of the times de- manded. Thus, for instance, the Franciscans and Domini- cans (why did Mr. Ilallam omit the latter?) in the thirteenth century, and the Jesuits and St. Charles Borromeo, to pass over many more illustrious names, in the sixteenth ; together with St. Athanasius in the fourth century, St, Cyril, St. Leo, St. Chrysostom, and St. Augustine in the fifth, St. Gregory the Great in the end of the sixth, St, Gregory VII. in the eleventh, St. Bernard in the twelfth, St. Thomas Aqninas in the thir- teenth, and many others in various other ages, are all examples of this wonderful providence of God watching over the safety of his Church, which is "the pillar and ground of the truth."! The reaction in favor of the Catholic Church continued with redoubled force in the seventeenth century. " The progress of the latter Church " (the CathoHc), says Mr. Hallam, "for the first thirty years of the present (seventeenth) century, was as striking and uninterrupted as it had been in the final period of the six- teenth. Victory crowned its banners on every side The nobility, both in France and Germany, who in the last age had l)een the first to embrace a new faith, became afterwards the first to desert it. Many also of the learned and able Protestants gave evidence of the jeopardy of that cause by their conversion. It is not just, however, to infer that they were merely influenced by this apprehension. Two other causes mainly operated : one, to which we have already alluded, the authority given to the traditions of the Church, recorded by the writers called fathers, and with which it was found difficult to reconcile all the Protestant creed ; another, the intolerance of the reformed churches, both Lutheran and Calviiiistic, whicii gave as little '.latitude (less) as that which they had quitted."! V- St.Mattli w-: : IS f 1 'i'im. iii • IT). ! Ilallam. vol. ii, p. 30, \ 11 CASAUBON AND GROTIUS. 215 " The detections," (from Protestantism) he continues, " from whatever cause, are numerous in the seventeenth century. But two, more eminent than any who actually renounced the Protestant religion, must be owned to have given evident signs of wavering, Casaubon and Grotius. The proofs of this are not founded merely on anecdotes which might be disputed, but on their own language.* Casaubon was staggered by the study of the fatliers, in which (whom ?) he discovered many things, especially as to the Euchar- ist, which he could not in any manner reconcile with the tenets of the French Huguenots. Peiron used to assail him w^ith arguments he could not parry. If we may believe this cardinal, he was on the point of declar- ing publicly his conversion, before he accepted the invitation of James I. to England : and even while in England, he promoted the Catholic cause more than the world was aware." — After a feeble endeavor to impair the validity of this statement of Perron, he adds : " Yet if Casaubon, as he had much inclination to do, being on ill terms with some in England, and disliking the country, had returned to France, it seems probable that he would not long have continued in w'hat, according to the principles he had adopted, would appear a schismatical communion."t " Grotius," he says, " was, from the time of his turning his attention to iheology, almost as much influenced as Casaubon by primitive authority, and began, even in 1614, to commend the Anglican church for the respect it showed, very unlike the rest of the reformed, to that standard.| But the ill usage he sustained at the hands of those who boasted their independence of papal t3Tann3^ (!) ; the caresses of the Gallican clergy after he had fixed his residence at Paris ;5 the growing dissensions and virulence of the Protest- * In a very lengthy and learned note, he here accumulates evidence from the writings and correspondence of Casaubon, in support of the statement made in the text. He also speaks at length of the labors of the learned: Cardinal Perron. f Hallam, vol. ii, p. 30, 5 11. I Truly, as the wisest of men has said, there is nothing new under the Bun. Grotius, Casaubon, and many other learned Protestants, more than two hundred years ago, seem to have taken the identical ground now or lately occupied by the Puseyites in England. This will appear from a perusal of the copious notes of Hallam on their writings. (Ibid.) Speaking of the efibrt of Grotius to extract from the Council of Trent a meaning favorable to his own semi-catholic views, he says ; " his aim was to search for subtle interpretatioTis, by which he might profess to believe the words of the Church, though conscious that his sense w%as not that of the imposers. It is needless to say that this is not very ingenuous," etc. Perhaps the history of Grotius and Casaubon may serve to throw additional light on the end and aim of the Puseyite controversy. 5 It is remarkable that Grotius, persecuted by brother Protestants in Holland, found a peaceful shelter from the storm in Catholic France ! 21G REFORMATION IN GERMANY. ants ; the choice that seemed alone to be left in their communion between a fanatical anaichy, disintegrating every thing hke a church on the one hand, and a domination of bigoted and vulgar ecclesiastics on the other ; made hnn gradually less and less averse to the comprehensive and majestic unity of the Catholic hierarchy, and more and more willing to concede some point of uneeitain doctrine, or some form of ambiguous expression. This is abun- •lantly pei-ceived, and has been often pointed out, in his Annotations on the Consultation of Cassandcr, written in 1641 ; in his Animadversions on Rivet, who had censured the former treatise as inclining to popery ; in the Yotum pro Pace Ecclesiastic'), and in the Rivetiani Apologetici Discussio ; all which are collected in the fourth volume of the theological works of Grotias. These treatises display a vmiform and progressive tendency to defend the Church of Piome in every thing that can be reckoned essential to her creed ; and in fact he will be found to go further in this direction than Cassander."* But, alas ! neither Casaubon nor Grotins ever penetrated beyc»nd the threshold of the temple of Catholicity. Though they seem to have had light enough to know and to love the truth, yet were they not worthy the gift of faith, which is granted to those only who become "as little children" for Christ's sake. We have already seen by what circumstances the former was prevented from entering the Catholic pale. Of the latter Hallam says : " Upon a dispassionate examination of all these testimonies, we can hardly deem it-an uncertain question whether Grotius, if his life had been prolonged, would have taken the easy leap which still remained ; and there is some positive evidence of his design to do so. But, dying on a journe}', and in a Protestant countiy, this avowed declaration (in favor of Catholicity) Avas never made."f It is dangerous to tamper with the proffered grace of heaven, or to put off conversion ! The learned Lipsius went further ; lie was faithful to grace, and " took the easy (not so easy) leap" into the Catholic Church. Hallam tells us that he spent the latter years of his life "in defending legendary mi- racles, and in waging war against the honored dead of the * Hallam, vol. ii, p. 32-35, 5 13. Cassander was a Catholic theologian, who was commissioned by the emperor Ferdinand to wi'ite a work to conciliate the Protestant part}'. IMany think that, in executing this task, he had, through the best motives no doubt, conceded too much. He died in 1566, aged 53 years. -f Ibid., p. 35. J 16. CA HOLTC CHURCH INDESTRUCTIBLE. 217 Reformation!"* This remark was, of course, intended by the historian as an evidence of his own Protestant orthodoxy, and as a douceur to English bigotry. This unworthy viru- lence, however, but enhances the more the value of his pre- vious admissions in favor of Catholicity, which could have been wrung from him only by the sternest evidence of facts. Justus Lipsius was a prodigy of classical learning and erudi- tion. He became a most exemplary Catholic, and died at Louvain in 1606. We have now completed our rapid analysis of the facts connected with the decline of Protestantism on the one hand, and the reaction of Catholicity on the other. We have shown, on unquestionable Protestant authority, the existence and extent of both these parallel developments. Every candid man will easily draw the obvious inference from these re- markable results of the two opposite systems : which is, that Protestantism was a human, and Catholicity a divine institu- tion. We can explain the facts in no other way. To attempt to explain them on the principles of mere human philosophy is a miserable fallacy. If Protestantism was true, it would have conquered and endured; if Catholicity was false, it must have fallen. What is human is changeable, and liable to decline and decay; what is divine has the principle of vitality strong within it, and abideth forever. "By their fruits ye shall know them." We will close our remarks on this subject by a well- known avowal of another Protestant writer of great emi- nence, Thomas Babington Macaulay, whose testimony, though already often quoted, is too apposite to the matter in hand to be here omitted. The passage is taken from an article in the Edinburg Review on Ranke's History of the Papacy, another circumstance which would seem fairly to entitle it to a place m this chapter, "There is not, and there never was, on this earth, a work so weiJ deseiTing of examination as the Roman Cathohc Church. The history of * Hallara, vol. ii, p. 35, { 16, VOL. I. — 19 218 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. that Church joins together the two great ages of human civilization. Nc other institution is left standing which carries the mind back to the times when the suioke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon ; and when cameleopardg and tigers bounded in the Flavian amphitheatre. The proudest royal houses are but of yesterday, when compared with the line of the Roman Pontiffs. This line we trace back, in an unbroken series, fiom the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the nineteenth century, to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth ; and far beyon'.' '.he time of Pepin, the august dynasty extends until its origin is lost in the twilight of fable! (Was the apostolic age "the twi- light of fable?") The republic of Venice came next in antiquity. But the republic of Venice was modern when compared with the Papacy ; and the republic of Venice is gone, and the Papacy remains. The Papacy remains, not in decay, nor a mere antique, but full of life and youthful vigor. The Catholic Church is still sending for'th, to the furthest ends of the world, missionaries as zealous as those who landed in Kent with Augustine, and still confronting hostile kings with the same spirit with which she con- fronted Attila. 27(6 number of her children is greater than in any former age. Her acquisitions in the new world have more than compensated her for what she has lost in the old. Her spiritual ascendency extends over the vast countries which lie between the plains of the Missouri and Cape Horn, countries which, a century hence, may not improbably contain a population as large as that which now inhabits Europe. The members of her com- munion ai'e certainly not fewer than a hundred and fifty millions,* and it will be difficult to show that all the other Christian sects united amount to one hundred and twenty millions.f " Nor do we see any sign which indicates that the term of her long dominion is approaching. She saw the commencement of all the govern- ments, and of all the ecclesiastical establishments that now exist in tho world ; and we feel no assurance that she is not destined to see the end of them all. She was great and respected before the Saxon set foot on Britain — before the Frank had passed the Rhine — when Grecian eloquence still flourished at Antioch — when idols were still worshiped in the Temple of * The number of Catholics in the world has been variously stated. An official statistical account, lately published in Rome, makes the number 160,842,424. Malte Brun estimates it at above 164,000,000; and others have staled it at 180 or even 200,000,000. The Roman statement is perhaps the most to be relied on. It does not at least exceed ; it may even fall below the mark, in consequence of the probable incompleteness of the returns. |- This embraces the Greek and Oriental churches, and is still doubtless excessive. The total number of Protestants, including free-thinkers, etc., is not proU'ibly over 50,000,000. MACAULAY. 219 Mecca. And she may still exist in undiminished vigor, when some traveler fix)m New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's !" Truly splendid testimony to the vitality of the Catholic Church, coming, as it does, from the pen of a sworn enemy — of a Scotchman and a Presbyterian ! Speaking of the trite remark that, as the world becomes more enlightened, it will renounce Catholicity and embrace Protestantism, he says : " Yet we see that, during these two hundred and fifty years Protestantism has made no conquests worth speaking of. Nay, we believe, that as far as there has been a change, that change has been in favor of the Church of Rome. We can not therefore feel confident that the progress of knowledge will necessarily be fatal to a system, which has, to say the least, stood its ground in spite of the immense progress which knowledge has made since the days of Queen Elizabeth." He a little after adds : " four times since the authority of the Church of Rome was established in western Christen- dom, has the human intellect risen up against her. Twice she remained completely victorious. Twice she came forth from the conflict bearing the marks of cruel wounds, but with the principle of life still strong within her. When we reflect on the tremei\dous assaults which she has survived, we find it difficult to conceive in what way she is to perish ! " Yes — it must be avowed : the Catholic Church is indestruc- tible, and therefore divine ! You might as as well try to blot out the sun froiii the heavens, as to extinguish the bright light of the Catholic Church from the earth ! Clouds may, indeed, hide for a time the sun's disc from the eye of the beholder ; but the sun is still there, the same as when he shone forth before upon us with his most brilliant light : so also, the clouds of persecution and prejudice may cover for a time the fair face of the Catholic Church ; but the eye of faith penetrates those dark clouds, and assures us, that though partially con- cealed, she is still there ! And when those clouds will clear away, she will again shine out with a more brilliant and a more cheering light than ever ! He who said : " Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words shall not pass away," has also pronounced that "The gates of hell shall not prevail against her." Perhaps the most remarkable circumstance in the tendency 220 REFORMATION IN GERMANY. of modern society, is the general and manifest reaction iL favor of Catholicity throughout the world, and especially in Protestant countries. There seems to be a universal gravita- tion of all spirits towards Rome !* Germany, the first theater of the Reformation, seems to have led the way in this awaken- ing. Besides the works of Voigt, Hurter, and Ranke, which are well known, there are also : the Universal History and the Journeys of the Popes, by the great Protestant historian, John Miiller ; the History of the Princes of the House of Hohenstau- fen, by the famous Raumur ; the History of the Church, and the History of Italy, by M. Leo ; — not to mention a host of other works by eminent German Protestant writers of the day, all of which evidence, by their spirit and their disposition to do at least partial justice to the Popes and to the old religion, this wonderful resuscitation of Catholic feeling in Protestant Germany. England, Scotland, and the United States even, have participated, to a certain extent, in this movement. We trust that De Maistre's prophetic remark to the effect, that when sectarianism should have run through the whole circle of error, it would return again to the great Catholic center of truth, is on the eve of its fulfillment If What we will now proceed to prove in relation to the mani. fold influences of the Reformation, on religion and on society, will, we trust, throw additional light upon the matter we have treated in this chapter; and it may serve also greatly to ex- plain why it was that, after a brief storm of excitement, Catholicity so greatly reacted and Protestantism so suddenly declined. * See the Introduction to Ranke's History of the Papacy, etc., by M. Alexandre de Saint Cheron, page xv, seqq. f This was written about fifteen years ago ; and we are sorry to have to say, that the sanguine anticipations with which we then solaced ourselves have not been fully realized by the event. Still many have returned to the Catholic Church during this time, both in England and in Germany, as well as in the United States ; while, unhappily, others have imitated the dilatory tampering with divine grace which we have remarked in Casaubon and Qro- tiua. Let such beware ! FAKT 111. INFLUENCE OF THE .REFORMATION ON RELIGION. CHAPTER VIII. INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON DOCTRINAL BELIEF. "Who would ever have believed that the Reformation from the beginning would have attacked morality, dogma, and faith; or that the seditious genius of a monk could have caused so much disturbance ? " — Erasm. ( Epiat, Georgio Dud). "As long as words a different sense will bear, And each may be his own interpreter. Our airy faith will no foundation find, The word's a weathercock for every wind." — Dbyden. The nature of Eeligion — A golden chain — Question stated — Private judg- ment— Church authority — As many rehgions as heads — D'Aubigne's theory — Its poetic beauty — Fever of logomachy — "Sons of liberty" — The Bible dissected — A hjxlra -headed monster — Erasmus — "Curing a lame horse" — Luther puzzled — His plaint — His inconsistency — Missions and miracles — Zuingle's inconsistency — Strange fanaticism — Storck, Miinzer, Karlstadt, and John of Leyden — A new deluge — Retorting the argument — Discussion at the "Black Boar" — Luther and the cobbler — Discussion at Marburg — Luther's avowal — Breaking necks — Melancthon's lament — The inference — Protestantism the mother of infidelity — Picture of modern Protestantism in Germany by Schlegel. Religion is a divinely established system, which came down from heaven to conduct man thither. By the disobe- dience of Adam, man, originally created upright or at least constituted in a state of righteousness, fell from grace, and was, as it were, loosed from heaven, to which he had been previously bound by the most sacred ties of fellowship. Religion may be compared to a golden chain reaching down from heaven to earth, which, according to the etymological (221) 222 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. import of the term, hinds man again to heaven.* And to pursue the illustration a little further, as the loss of even one link would destroy the integrity of a chain, and would render it useless as a means of binding together distant objects ; so also, the removal of one link from the chain of religion, would destroy its integrity and mar its lofty purpose of binding man to his God. These links are united together in tliree divisions ; comprising severally the doctrines revealed by and through Jesus Christ, the moral precepts which He gave, and the sacraments and sacrifice which lie instituted. All these are as essentially and as intimately connected together, as are the several parts of a chain. " He that offendeth in one, is guilty of all :"t because by a single ofl'cnse he rebels against the authority from which the whole emanates. lieligion then consists of three parts: doctrines to be be- lieved, commandments to be observed, and sacramental and sacrificial ordinances to be received and complied with. The third department partakes of the nature of the other two: being partly doctrinal and partly moral. In other words, the Christian Religion embraces, as essential to its very nature and divine purposes, doctrines, morals, and worship: and we propose briefly to examine the influence of the pre- tended Reformation on each of these separately. Was this influence beneficial? Did it really reform Religion, as it purported to do ? D'Aubigne tells us : that " the reform saved Religion, and with it society." J We shall see here- after what it did for society; and we will now inquire whether it "saved Religion?" And first, what was its influence on the doctrines oi Chris- tianity? Did it teach them in greater purity, and integrity, or with greater certainty, than the Catholic Church had done? Did it shed on them a clearer or more steady light? Or did it, on the contrary, give out a very doubtful and * Some persons derive Inu woia Keiigiou irom the Latin re-ligo — to bind igain. f St. James, ii : 10. X D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 67. PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 223 uncertain light; leaving the minds of men in perplexity as to the tenets to be believed ; and permitting its disciples " to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine,"* on the stormy sea of conflicting human opinions? We shall see. It will not, however, be necessary to our inquiry, to examine the grounds which establish the truth of the various Catholic, or the falsity of the Protestant doctrines in controversy : all that will be requisite for our purpose, will be an investigation of the facts bearing on the historical question itself, as to the actual influence of the Reformation on this vital department of Religion. The great distinctive principle of the Reformation was its rejection of Church authority, and its assertion of the right of private judgment in matters of Religion. This is the key of the new system: this the proudest boast of those who afiected to bring about the "emancipation of the human mind." This is the cardinal principle of " Christian liberty," as asserted by Dr. Martin Luther, in a special work on the subject: this is the means he boastingly adopted for being rescued from the degrading "captivity of Babylon." f The Catholic Religion had taught that, in all matters of contro- versy, Christians were bound by the solemn command of Christ, "to hear the Church." J Church authority was the ultima ratio — last resort — of controversy, the great means of attaining to certainty in what we are to believe or to reject; the strong bond of union among Christians. Not that the Church meant to decide on every controverted point: she only decided where she found sufficient warrant in revelation .to guide her with certainty. In other matters — and they were numerous — she wisely abstained from any definition, and allowed her children a reasonable latitude of opinion, provided, however, their opinions did not either directly or * Ephesians, iv : 14. f See the two works of Luther, " De Christiana Libertate," and " l)e Captivitate Babylonica." t St. Matthew, xviii : 17. 224 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. indirectly infringe on the unchangeable principles of faith. This was hallowed and consecrated ground, which was not to be trodden by the rude foot of controversy. She said to the stormy billows of proud human opinion : " Thus far shall you come, and no further: and here shall you break yuur boiling waves ! " * "When the reformers cast off this yoke of Church authority, and said ''they would not serve" any longer, they had no al- ternative left, but to decide, each one for himself, what was the doctrine of Christ. Private judgment was thus necessa- rily substituted for the teaching of the Church : human opin- ion for faith. As men were differently constituted, they naturally took different views of the religion of Christ. Each one struck out a new system for himself; and soon, instead of the onelleligion which had been received with reverence for ages, the world beheld the novel spectacle of almost as many religions as there were heads among the Protestant party ! D'Aubigne's theory on this subject is as curious as it is lib- eral— in the modern sense of this term. He thus discourses on what he calls the diversities of the Reformation : " We are about to contemplate the diversities, or, as they have been since called, the variations of the Reformation. These diversities are among its most essential characters. Unitj^ in diversit}', and divei'sity in unity, is a law of nature, and also of the church. Truth may be compared to the light of the sun. The light comes from heaven colorless, and ever the same : and yet it takes different hues on earth, varying according to the objects on which it falls. Thus different fornmlaries may sometimes express the same Christian truth, viewed under diftcrent aspects. How dull would be this visible creation, if all its boundless variety of shape and color were to give place to an unbroken uniformity ! "f A beautiful theory truly, and aptly illustrated ! S j, then, " the different formularies " of Luther, openly asserting the * Job xxxviii : 12. "Hue usque venies et non amplius; ct hif con- fringes tumentes fiuctus tuos." t D' Aubignc, vol. iii, p. 235, in the introduction to the eleventh lx)ok, in which he treats of the controversies between the partisans of Zuingle and Luther. AS MANY RELIGIONS AS HEADS. 225 real presence of Christ in the holy Sacrament, and ol' Zuingle flatly denying this presence, "both express the same Christian truth viewed under different aspects!" These great cham- pions of Protestantism, as we have seen, mutually anathema- tized and denounced each other as children of Satan on this very ground^ awdi yet, in good sooth, they maintained "the same Christian truth under different aspects !" They plainly contradicted each other on many other important points, and the Wittenberg doctor would consent to hold no communion with him of Zurich ;* and yet they maintained " the same Christian truth !" Luther said to Zuingle, who proposed mu- tual communion at the close of the famous conference of Marburg, in 1528, "No, no: cursed be the alliance which endangers the truth of God and the salvation of souls. Away with you: you are possessed by a different spirit from ours. But take care : before three years the anger of God will fall on you !"t And yet D'Aubigne would have us believe, that they agreed as to the substance of" Christian truth!" Verily, he must think others as credulous as he himself seems to be ! And then, the charming illustration from the light of the sun ! It is almost a pity to spoil its poetic beauty ; though even a poet would lay himself open to the most severe criti- cism, were his figures no more appropriate or true to nature. D'Aubigne has taken more than even a poetic license. Does the light of the sun, no matter how diversified, reflect contra- dictory images "of the objects on which it falls?" Is it so very uncertain, as to leave us in doubt, as to the shape and color of external objects ? Does it make us the dupes of con- stant optical illusions ? The light which the reformers pro- fessed to borrow from heaven did all this. And then, does it fall much short of blasphemy, to maintain that God is indif- ferent as to whether we believe truth or error ; and that He delights in such a diversity of opinions as runs into open con- * In the conference of Marburg. See Audin, " Life of Luther," p. 415, 41(>. T Audin. ilV \. See also Luther's Ep. ad Jacobum, prajp. Bremens. 226 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DUCi'Ll^vE. tradictions ? And this too, when his well beloved Son came on earth " to bear testimony to the truth,'' and laid down His life to seal it with his blood ! And when the Saviour pronounced the awful declaration : " He that believeth not shall be condemned ;"* which declaration referred to the necessity of belief "in all things whatsoever he had com- manded !"t The doctrine of private judgment, broached by the re- formers, led to endless inconsistencies and contradictions. It was the prolific parent of sects almost innumerable. More than fifty J of these arose before the death of Luther! It was natural that it should be so: "These diversities were among the most essential features of the Reformation." § The tree was only bearing its natural fruits ; and the latter, according to the divine standard, are the best criterion whereby to judge of the former: "By their fruits ye shall know them." — " The Reformation, which promised to put an end to the reign of disputatious theology, had, on the con- trary, awakened in all minds a fondness for dispute, bordering on fanaticism : it was the fever of logomachy.|| Half a cen tury before, men indeed disputed ; but then the doctrine of the Church wiis not called into question: now however it was attacked on all sides. In each university, and even in every private house, Germany saw a pulpit erected for who- ever pretended to have received the understanding of the divine word." Tf This raging fever of disputation has continued to burn in the bosom of Protestantism even to the present day : it has not abated in the progress of ages. True, in Germany and on the continent of Europe, it has, to a great extent, lately cooled down into a state of mortal apathy — a more dangerous symptom far than the malady which it has superseded: but * St. Mark, xvi : 16. f The parallel passage in St. Matthew, ^xviii : 2ft I See Audin, p. 331. \ D'Aubigne, ut supra. II A war of words. % Audin, ibid., p. 190, 191. THE BIBLE WRKSTED. 227 elsewhere, it has left the patient in the saine restless and tossing condition, as formerly. Most of the reformers found in the Bible, that a priest who had made a solemn vow of celibacy to God, might and even ought to break it, by taking a wife. The first who made this consoling discovery, were Bernard of Felkirk, abbot of Remberg, and the aged Karlstadt, archdeacon of Wittenberg. The new light which had dawned upon them was hailed with ecstasy by the lovers of "Christian liberty" throughout Germany. Some went still further, and main- tained, Bible in hand, with Bucer, Capito, Karlstadt and other evangelists, that marriage was not indissoluble; and that a Christian could dismiss his wife, or even retain her, and take one or more others at the same time, after the ex- ample of the ancient' patriarchs. These styled themselves "the sons of liberty" — they should have said libertinism. We shall see, a little later, to what frightful consequences these horrid doctrines led ! "All the hallucinations of a disordered intellect were for a time ascribed to the Holy Ghost. Never had the divine wisdom communicated itself more liberally to the human mind ! The Bible was laid open, as an ana- tomical subject, on an operator's table, and every doctor came with his lance in hand — as afterwards did Dumoulin — to anatomize the word of God, and to seek the spirit, which before Luther had escaped the eye of Catho- licism. It was an epoch of glosses and commentaries, which time has not had the trouble of destroying, for they abounded with absurdity, and fell beneath the weight of ridicule which crushed them at their birth. There were new lights, who came to announce that they had discovered an iiTe- sistible argument against the Mass, purgatory, and prayers to the saints. This was simply to deny the immortality of the soul ! "* — This startling impiety was really maintained in full school at Geneva, by certain "new lights," who came from Wittenberg.f Menzel, the Protestant historian of Germany, freely admits * Audin, p. 192. f "Quidquid de animarum habetur imraortalitate, ab antichristo ad statu- endam suam culinam cxcogitatum est." Prateolus — Elench. voce Atbei, p. 72. See also Bayle's Dictionary, art. liUther. 228 INFLUENCE OF RI'^FORMATION ON DOCTRINE. that division was the essential heritage of the Reformation, whose unity it fatally marred, thereby frittering away ita strength. He says: "The Protestants, blind to the unity and strength resulting from the policy of the Catholics, weakened themselves more and more by division. The reformed Swiss were almost more inimical to the Lutherans than the Catholics were, and the general mania for disputation and theological ob- stinacy produced divisions among the reformers themselves. When, ir 1562, BuUinger set up the Helvetic Confession, to which the Pfalz also assented in Zurich, Basle refused and maintained a particular Confession."* From the earliest period of its history, " the hydra of the Reformation had a hundred heads. The Anabaptists believed with Miinzer, that without a second baptism, man could not be saved. The Karlstadtians preached up polygamy. The Zuinglians rejected the real presence. .Osiander taught that God had predestined only the elect. The Majorists taught that works were not necessary for salvation ; while the fol- lowers of Flaccus accused the Majorists of popery. The Synergists preached up man's liberty. The Ubiquitarians believed, that the humanity of Christ was, like His divinity, omnipresent. Some held original sin to be the nature, sub- stance, the essence of man ; while others regarded it as a mere mode of his being. All these sects boasted of the Bible, as a sufficient rule of faith ; they published confessions, composed creeds, and insisted on faith, as a condition of communion. Children of the same father, whom they had severally denied, they cursed and proscribed each other : they gave the name of heretic to, and shut the gates of heaven against, all their brethren in revolt, who happened to differ with them."-t Other fanatics preached up the community of goods, with Storck and the Anabaptists ; others with the prophets of Alstell, " the demolition of images, of churches, of chapels, and the adoration of the Lord on high places; "J and others, * History of Germany, II, 275. f Audin, p. 208, 209. See the authorities he quotes, 'bid., note. Idem , p. 331. A HYDRA. 229 the inutility of the law and of prayer. — The feverish spirit of innovation knew no rest; every day brought forth a new sect. And is it not so, even in our own age and country ? Erasmus thus hits off, in his own polished and caustic style, the extravagant inconsistencies of the Protestant rule of faith : " They ask : ' Do philosophy and learning aid us in understanding the holy books?' I reply: 'Will ignorance assist you?' They say: 'Of what authority are these councils, in which not perhaps a single member received the Holy Ghost ? ' 1 ask in reply : ' Is not the gift of God, pro- bably, as rare in your conventicles ? ' The Apostles would not have been be- lieved, had they not proved the truth of their doctrines by miracles. Among you every individual must be believed on his own word. When the Apos- tles lulled the serpents, healed the infirm, and raised the dead to life, peoj-le were forced to believe in them, though they announced incomprehensible mysteries. Among these doctors, who tell us so many wonderful things, is there one who has been able to cure a lame horse ? . . . . Give me mira- cles.— ' They are unnecessary : there have been enough of them : ' — the bright Ught of the Scriptures is not so very clear, since I see so many men wander in the dark. Although we had the spirit of God, how can we be certain that we have the knowledge of His word ? What must I believe, when I see, in the midst of contradictory doctrines, all lay claim to dogmatical infallibi- lity, and rise up with oracular authority against the doctrines of those who have preceded us ? Is it then likely that, during thirteen centuries, God should not have raised up, among the many holy personages he has given to His Church, a single one to whom he revealed His doctrine."* Luther was often saddened by the defection of his own dis- ciples, as well as grievously puzzled, when these played off on him the same arguments which he had used against the Pope. His cherished disciple Mathesius relates the mental anguish he endured, when, being at the castle of the Wart- burg in 1521, he heard of the revolt and strange doings of Karlstadt at Wittenberg. He yielded to dejection ; he seemed to himself to have been abandoned by God and by men : "His head grew weary, his forehead burned with the excite- ment of his mind, his eye grew dim — and he would open his * " De Libero Arbitrio." Diatribe, and Adolf Menzel, i, 140 15 230 IJSTf.UENCE OF REFORMATION UN DOCTRINE. window, and inhaling the ambrosial breeze, would endeavo) to forget the world and its wrongs ! "* But all his efforts to (j[uiet his own mind proved ineffectual: he chafed like a tiger in his cage. At length he resolved, against the advice of his friends, to leave the Wartburg, and to precipitate himself into the midst of his recreant disciples at Wittenberg. He harangued them for full two hours on the wickedness of their defection from his standard ; and concluded liis burning invective with the following memora- ble sentence: "Yes, if the devil himself had entreated me" — to remove the images from the church by violence — "I would have turned a deaf ear to him!"-|- Tlie reformer draws a graphic sketch of his own perplex ity in a letter to the "Christians" of Antwerjj, written in 1525. We will furnish a few extracts : " The devil has got among you : he daily sends me visitors to knock at my door. One will not hear of baptism; another rejects the sacrament of the Eucharist ; a third teaches that a new world will be created by God be- fore tlie day of judgment ; another, that Christ is not God : in short, one this, another that. There are almost as many creeds as individuals. There is no booby, who, when he dreams, does not believe himself visited by God, and who does not claim the gift of prophecy. I am often visited by these men who claim to be favored by visions, of which they all know more than I do, and which they undertake to teach me. I would be glad they were what they profess to be. No later than yesterday one came to me : ' Sir, I am sent by God who created heaven and earth ; ' and tlien he began to preach as a veritable idiot, that it was the order of God that I should read the books of Moses for him. 'Ah ! where did you find this commandment of God ?' 'In the gospel of St. John ! ' After he had spoken much, I said to him : ' Friend, come back to-morrow, for I cannot read for you, at one sitting, the books of Moses.' ' Good-by, master ; the heavenly Father, who shed his blood for us, will show us the right way through his Son Jesus. Amen !'.... While the Papacy Justed there were no such divisions or disfen- sions : the strong man peaceably ruled the minds of men ; but now one stronger is come, who has vanquished and put him to tliglit, and the former one storms and wishes not to depart. A spirit of confusion is thus among you, which tempts you, and seeks to withdraw you from the true path." * Matliesius. In Vit\ Lutheri, apud Audin, p. -09. f Soe the harangue in Au.l'n, p. 237, 238. LUTHER't; PERPLEXITY. 231 Ele concludes this strange epistle with tliese churaeteristic words : " Begone, ye cohort of devils, marked with the char acter of error : God is a spirit of peace and not of dissension.*'* But Luther could not succeed in exorcising the demons, whom his owti principle of private judgment had evoked from the abyss. True, he occasionally made trial of the good old Catholic specifics for this purpose ; but they proved utterly powerless in his hands. Thus, when pressed by the Anabap- tists, to prove infant baptism from the Scriptures — his only rule of faith — he had recourse to the good old Catholic argu- ment of Church authority founded on tradition ! He appealed to the testimony of St. Augustine and to the teaching of the Church during his day. — " But, it is objected," he says, " what if Augustine and those whom you call and believe to be the Church, erred in this particular ? But this objection can be easily impugned. If you do not admit the right, Qns) at least will you not admit the fact (factum) of this having been the belief of the Church? And to deny that this was the faith of the true and lawful Church, I deem most impious."t Another argument, which he employed to refute the Ana- baptists, was that drawn from the necessity of a lawful mis- sion to preach the gospel, and of miracles to confirm this mission, whenever it was not derived through the ordinary channels of the Church. In a sermon delivered at V/itten- berg against their prophets, in 1522, he employed this remark- able language : "Do you wish to found a new church ? — Let us see : who has sent you ? From whom have you received your mission ? As you give testimony of yourselves, we are not at once to beheve you, but according to the advice of * " Ein Briefe D. Martin Luther an die Christen zu Antorf " AVitten- berg, 1525, 4to. " Doct. M. Luther Briefe," tom. iii, p. 60. Cf Audin. i Objicitur vcro : quid si Augustinus, et quos ecclesiam vocas vel esse credis, in hac parte errirint? .... At eadem objectio facile impugnabitur. Si nonnis, tamen (actum proprie credendi in ecclesia ? Hanc autem confes- sioneni negare esse ecclesiaa illius verje et legitimae, arbitror impiissimum esse." — Epist. Melancthoni, l."^ January, 1522. 232 iNFLUt:::cK of reformation on doctrine. St. John, we must try you. God has sent no one into this world who was not called by man, or announced by signs — not even excepting his own Son. The prophets derived their title from the law, and from the prophetic order, as we do from men. I do not care for you, if you have only a mere revela- tion to propose : God would not permit Samuel to speak, except by the authoritv of Heli. When the law is to be changed, miracles are necessary. Where are your miracles ? What the Jews said to the Lord, we now say to you : ' Miister, we wish for a sign.' "* Luther often used this argument :t and yet, it might have been retorted with unanswerable force against himself. And it was retorted by Stiibner and Cellarius, two of the Anabaptist prophets, whom he had attacked. The answer of the Saxon reformer is not recorded :J perhaps he had none to give. According to Erasmus, the reformers never succeeded ever, "in curing a lame horse!" Luther himself, somewhat later, acknowledged, that' he had never performed any miracles, except that " he had sUqjped Satan in the face, and struck the Papacy in its core."§ — Astonishing miracles truly ! Luther was not alone, in thus inconsistently appealing to arguments which condemned both himself and his own cause. Many of the other principal reformers were driven to the same straits. In order to refute George Blaurock, an Ana- baptist enthusiast, Zuingle used the following argument: " If we allow every enthusiast or sophist to dilFuse among the people all the foolish fancies of his heated imagination, to assemble together disciples and make a sect, we shall see the Church of Christ split up into an infinity of foctions, and lose that unity which she has maintained at so great sacri- fices. It is necessary then to consult the Church, and not to listen to passion or prejudice. The interpretation of Scripture is not the right of individuals, but of the Church : she has the kej^s, and the power of unlocking the treas- sures of the divine word."ll * Apud Audin, p. 238. f As in lib. iii, c. iv. "Contra Anabaptistas ;" and elsewhere. \ In his letter to Spalatin, in which he relates his interview with Stiibnei and Cellarius, Luther is silent on this retort. Epist. Spalatino, 12 Ap. 1522 Yet the Anabaptist historians relate it. Cf. Audin, p. 239. 5 See Audin, p. 238, note, for authority for this feat. il Zuinglius. "De Baptismo," p. 72. — Cf Audin, p. 240. EXTRAVAGANT FANATICISM. 233 As might have been expected, Blaurock was nut satisfied with this appeal to authority. Bullinger* tells us, that he answered in a loud voice: "Did not you Sacramentarians break with the Pope, without consulting the Church which you abandoned — and that, too, a Church which was not of yesterday ? Is it not lawful for us to abandon your church, which is but a few days old ? Can not we do what you have done ? " — Zuingle was nonplussed ; and if even he made an attempt to reply, his answer is not recorded. We will give a few instances of the strange fanaticism to which this same principle of private judgment naturally led. We might fill a volume with such examples : but our limits will permit of only a few.f Listen, for instance, to this start- ling announcement of Storck in one of his sermons : "Behold, what I announce to you. God has sent his angel to me during the night, to tell me that I shall sit on the same throne as the archangel Gabriel. Let the impious tremble and the just hope It is to me, Storck, that heaven has promised the empire of the world. Would you desire to be visited by God ? Prepare your hearts to receive the Holy Spirit. Let there be no pulpit whence to announce the word of God : no priests, no preachers, no exterior worship : let your dress be plain ; your food bread and salt ; and God will descend upon you."J Miinzer, another Anabaptist, thus pleaded for the general division of property : " Ye rich ones of the earth who keep us in bondage, who have plundered us, give us back our liberty and possessions. It is not only as men that we now demand what has been taken from us : we ask it as Christians. In the primitive Church, the apostles divided with their brethren in Jesus Christ the money that was laid at their feet. Give us back the goods you unjustly retain. Unhappy flock of Jesus Christ, how long will you groan in oppres- sion under the yoke of the priest and the magistrate ?" — " And then the prophet suddenly fell into an epileptic fit : his hair stood erect ; perspiration rolled down his foce, and foam issued from his mouth. The people cried out: 'silence, God visits his prophet!' "5 * "In Apologia Anabaptist." P. 254.— Cf Audin, p. 240. t Those who wish to see more are referred to Catrou, Histoire du Fana- tisme, torn, i; to Me.shovius, Ottovius, and other writers. I See Audin, p. 230. 5 Ibid., p. 231. VOL. T.— 20 234 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. At the termination of his ecstasy, which continued foi some minutes, the prophet cried out at the top of his stenlo- rian voice : " Eternal God, pour into my soul the treasures of thy justice, otherwise 1 shall renounce thee and thy proph- ets."* A Lutheran havin<^ appealed to the Bible, — " The Bible ? Babel !" cried out Munzer.f What will be thought of this strange conceit of Karlstadt ? " Ono day, Karlstadt was seen running through the streets of Wittenberg with the Bible in his hand, and stopping the passers-bj^ to inquire of theiL the meaning of difficult passages of the sacred books : ' What are you about ?' said the Austin friars to him. 'Is it not written ' — answered the archdeacon — ' that the voice of truth shall be heard from the lips of infants ? I only accomplish the orders of heaven.' "| Who has not heard of the revolting obscenities of John of Leyden, and of the prophets of Munster? All of these im- pure extravagances, perpetrated, too, under the bright new light of the Reformation, and under its alleged sanction ! Who, in fine, that has even glanced at the history of this period, has not marked the endless extravagances, the absurd conceits, the astonishing fanaticism which marked almost every day of its annals ! Truly, then " the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the flood-gates of heaven were opened *,"§ and a new deluge flooded the earth, more destructive than that which had buoyed up Noah's ark ! For this destroyed only the bodies of men; that carried away and ruined men's souls. "The flood-gates of heaven" — did we say? No, the origin of those waters must be sought elsewhere. Luther himself aids us in detecting their source. We have seen above his opinion on the subject, in his letter to the Christians of Ant- werp. And in liis subsequent controversies with the Sacra- mentarians, after having spoken of their dissensions among themselves, lie said : "This is a great proof that these Sacra- mento-magists come not from God, but from the devil. "|| * Mcshovius, p. 4. Catron, sup. cit. f Ibid. | Ibid. 5 Genesis, vi : 11. 1| "An die Christen zu Reuthngen," 5 Januarj^, 1526 FANATICISM OF ANABAPTISTS. 235 And we have also seen how triumphantly Zuingle retorted the compliment on Luther and his branch of the lleformation. Can not we turn this, and all the other arguments employed by the several reformers to refute each other, against all of them? Can not we point to the numberless dissensions ol Protestants among themselves — dissensions perpetuated a hundred fold even unto the present day — to prove against them all, that their pretended lleformation, which always produced such fruits as these, is not and can not be from God, "who is not the God of dissension, but of peace?" Can not we ask them, whence they had their mission to re- form the Church ? And if they answer, " from heaven ;" ask them again to prove it to us by miracles ? How will they, how can they answer these arguments, which they themselves 80 often wielded against one another ? It will be curious to see how the modern Protestant histo- rian of Germany speaks of the Anabaptists and their extrav- agant excesses. We accordingly here present to our readers the following extracts from Menzel, who, it will be seen, sub- stantially confirms the statements made above, and adds some new facts: " The illiterate and the enthusiastic, however, far outstripped Luther in their ideas ; instead of reforming they wished to annihilate the church, and to grasp political as well as religious liberty, and it was justly feared lest these excesses might fiirnish Rome with a pretext for rejecting every species of reform. 'Luther,' wrote their leader, Thomas Miinzer, 'merely draws the word of God from books, and twists the dead letters.* Nicholas Storck, Miinzer's first teacher, a clothier, who surrounded himself with twelve apostles and seventy-two disciples, boasted of receiving revelations from an angel. Their rejection of infant baptism and sole recognition of that of adults as efficacious, gained for them the appellation of xAnabaptists. Karl- Btadt joined this sect, and followed the example already given by Bartholo- mew Bernhardi, a priest, one of Luther's disciples, who had married." .... " The Anabaptists, repulsed by Luther, encouraged by these precedents, drew near to Zuingle, and their leader, Thomas Miinzer, who had been ex- pelled from Wittenberg, went to Waldshut on the Ehins, where, counten- anced by the priest, Hubmaier, the greatest disorder took place. Zuingle de- clared against them, and caused several of them to be drowned [A. D. 1524"',, 236 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. but w «s, nevertheless, still regarded by Luther as a man who, under the cW . of spiritual liberty, sought to bring about political changes."* Of the insurrection in which Miinzer perished, lie says : " At the same time, in the summer of 1525, an insurrection, bearing a more religious character, broke out in Thuringia, where Thomas Miinzer appeared as a prophet, and preached the doctrines of equality and fraternity. The insurgents were defeated by Ernest, Count von Mansfield, whose brother Albert had conceded all their demands ; and afterwai'ds at Fulda, by Philip of Hesse, who, i-einforced by Ernest, the Duke George, and the elector John of Saxony, marched on Frankonhausen, the headquarters of the rebels, who, infatuated with the belief that heaven would fight for them, allowed them selves to be slaughtered whilst invoking aid from God. Five thousand were slain. Frankenhausen was taken and pillaged, and three hundred prisoners were beheaded. Miuizer was discovered in a hay-stack, in which he had secreted himself, put to the rack, and executed with twenty-six of his com- panions."! He writes as follows of the excesses committed at Ley den, which became the headquarters of the Anabaptists : " The most extravagant folly and license ere long prevailed in the city. John Bockelson, a tailor from Ley den, gave himself out as a prophet, and proclaimed himself king of the universe ; a clothier, named KnipperdoUing, and one Krechting, were elected burgomasters. A community of goods and wives was proclaimed and carried into execution. Civil dissensions en- sued, but were speedily quelled by the Anabaptists. John of Le3'den took seventeen wives, one of whom, Divara, gained great influence by her spirit and beauty. The city was, meanwhile, closely besieged by the expelled bishop, Francis von Waldeck, who was aided by several of the Catholic and Lutheran princes ; numbers of the nobility flocked thither for pastime, and carried on the siege against the Anabaptists, who made a long and vahant defense. The attempts of their brethren in Holland and Friesland to reheve them proved ineffectual. A dreadful famine ensued in consequence of the closeness of the siege ; the citizens lost courage and betrayed the city by night to the enemy. Most of the fixnatics were cut to pieces. John, Knip- perdoUing, and Krechting were captured, enclosed in iron cages, and carried for six months thi-oughout Germany, after which they were brought back to Munster to suffer an agonizing death. Divara and the rest of the principal fanatics were beheaded."| To illustrate this matter still further, and t ) show what • History of Germany, ii, 232-3. f Ibid., p. 243. | Ibid. p. 256. LUTHER AND KARLSTADT. 237 spirit originated and perpetuated the dissensions by which early Protestantism was torn into fragments, we will here ex- hibit a few specimens of the manner in which controversies among the reformers were then conducted. In 1524, Luther went to Jena, where he preached against the new prophets of the Anabaptists, whose arguments had been answered by their brother Protestants with the convincing weapons of fire and sword ! Tens of thousands of the vast multitudes, whom these fanatics had misled, had been butchered; still their spirit was not wholly subdued. Karlstadt, then pastor at Jena, feeling himself aggrieved by the violence of Luther's sermon, challenged him to an oral discussion. The challenge was accepted, and the tavern of the Black Boar, where Luther lodged, was the place appointed for the meeting. After some preliminary discussion, in which the two new apostles in- dulged in insulting personalities, Karlstadt maintaining that Luther had meant him in his sermon, and Luther calling on him for proof, telling him " if he saw the likeness in the pic- ture, it must have suited him," etc., the discussion proceeded after this wise: Karlstadt. — Well then, I will dispute in public, and I will manifest the truth of God, or my own confusion. Lnther. — Your own folly rather. Doctor. Karlstadt. — My confusion, which I shall bear for God's glory. Luther. — And which will fall back on your own shoulders. I care little for your menaces. Who fears you ? Karlstadt. — Whom do I fear ? My doctrine is pure ; it comes from God. Luther. — If it comes from God, why have you not imparted to others the spirit that made you break the images at Wittenberg ? Karlstadt. — I was not the only one concerned in that enterprise. It was done after a mature decision of the senate, and by the co-operation of some of your disciples, who fled in the moment of peril. Luther. — False, I protest. Karlstadt. — True, I protest. Karlstadt complained a little afterwards, that Luther had condemned him at "Wittenberg without previous admonition. This Luther flatly contradicted, stating that " he had brought 238 USFLUENCE OF EEFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. Philip and Pomoranius into his study," tor that purpose, hereupon Karlstadt became enraged, and exclaimed: "If you speak the truth, may the d — il tear me in pieces 1" The dis- cussion ended in nothing — as most discussions of the kind do. Luther challenged Karlstadt to write against him ; the latter accepted the challenge : Luther then gave him a gold florin as stake-money, and the compact was duly ratified, after the old German fashion, by twa overflowing bumpers of ale.* Never had the Black Boar of Jena been so crowded, or witnessed a spectacle of such stirring interest ! And such a spectacle ! From Jena Luther proceeded to Orlamunde, where he car- ried on a spirited controversy, in the presence of the town council, with a cobbler theologian, named Crispin, who had recently learned — thanks to the Reformation — how to apply his craft to interpreting, if not mending the Bible. The dis- cussion was long and animated ; Crispin supplying his lack of argument by a stentorian voice, and by furious gesticula- tions. The subject was the lawfulness of images; Luther defending, and Crispin objecting; and both appealing to the Bible. What was most mortifying to the reformer, the town council sided with the cobbler, and decided against the Wit tenberg doctor ! "'So then,' said Luther to the council, 'you condemn me ?' " ' Most assuredly ;' cried out Crispin — ' you and all who teach what is opposed to God's word.' "'A childish insult,' said Luther as he mounted the car. One of the chamtei-lains here caught hold of his garments, and said: 'Before you go away, master, a word with you on baptism, and the sacrament of the Eucharist.' " ' Have you not my books ?' said the monk to him. ' Read them.' " ' I have read them, and ray conscience is not satisfied with them ;' said the chamberlain. " ' If any thing displeases you in them write against me ;' said Luther : and he started off.' "f * See the whole discussion in Audin, p, 322, seqq. f Ibid , 329 THE REAL PRESENCE. 239 Luther himself rehites to us this adventure, and alsu gives to us the words of awful malediction with which the people greeted him, when he was leaving Orlamunde.* But the most interesting discussion of all, was that held at Marburg in 1528, on the subject of the holy Sacrament, be- tween Luther, Melancthon, Justus Jonas, and Cruciger, on the one part; and Zuingle, CEcolampadius, Martin Bucer, and Gaspard Hedio, on the other. Luther contended for the real presence of the body and blood of Christ along with that of the bread and wine; and Zuinglius maintained a figurative presence, or rather, no presence at all. This point was the greatest subject of contention among the early re- formers. " Li 1527, Luther counted already no less than eight different interpretations pf the text: 'this is my body!' Thirty years afterwards, there were no less than eighty- five!"! Rasperger, who wrote at a somewhat later period, reckoned no less than two hundred ! J A pretty good com- mentary this, on the principle of private judgment. It must surely be a good rule of faith, since it has thus led to those diveymties^ which D'Aubigne admires so much, and deems essential developments of the Reformation .§ One of Zuingle's chief arguments against the real presence, was based on the fact that this doctrine was held by the Catholic Church. Luther answered: Wretched argument I Deny then the Scripture also; for we have received it too from the Pope We must acknowledge that there are * 0pp. torn, i, edit. Jen^, fol. 467 ; edit. Witt, i, 214. Cf. Audin, p. 329. As he was leaving, the populace roared out after him : " May the devil and all his imps have you ! May you break your neck and limbs before you leave the city ! " f See Audin, p. 408, note, for an account of the principal interpretations ; most of them singular enough, even for those days of Bible mania. X Apud Liebermanu, Theologia Dogmat. De Eucharistia. 5 Bellarmine bears evidence that two hundred interpretations of the words : — this is my body — had been enumerated in a work published in 1577 ! — Controversiae vol. iii, cap. viii, de Eucharist, p. 195. Edit. VenctiiB, 1721— in 6 vols, folio. 240 INFLUENCE OF EEFORM.VilON ON DOCTRINE. great mysteries of faith in the Papacy ; yea, all tlui truths we have inherited : for it is in popery that we found the true Scriptures, true baptism, the true sacrament of the altar, the true keys which remit sin, true preaching, the true catechism, which contains the Lord's prayer, the ten commandments— that is true Christianity.* Precious avowal, coming, as it does, from the father of the Reformation — the most inveterate enemy of Rome! How it contrasts with many of his other declarations ? Why abandon the Catholic Church, if it taught all this, and held "true Christianity?" "Out of thy own mouth, I judge thee, thou wicked servant!" On another occasion, Luther had said: " Had Karlstadt or any other proved to me, five years ago, that there was nothing but bread and wine in the sacran)ent, he would have rendered me great service. It would have been a great blow to the Papacy : but it is all in vain ; the text is too plain."t It was perhaps too late : he had already taken his stand, and committed himself on the question. The conference on this subject at Marburg, was long and violent : instead of healing, it only widened the breach among the reformers. "We can furnish but one extract from the debate. To prove the figurative presence, Zuingle had appealed to Ezechiel's wheel, and to the famous text from Exodus, chap, xii : " For it is the phase, that is, the passover of the Lord," * 0pp. Lutheri, Jenje, fol. 408, 409. Audin, 410. " Profecto frivolum est hoc argumentum, supra quod nihil boni aedificatun sumus. Hoc enim pacto negare eos oporteret totam quoque Scripturam Sacram et prajdicandi oflBcium ; hoc enim totum a Papa habemus. Stultitia est hoc totum Nos autera fatemur sub Papatu phu-imum esse bom Christiani, imo omne honum Christianinii, atque etiam illinc ad nos devenisse. Quippe flitemur in Papatu veram esse Scripturam Sacram, verum baptis- mum, verum sacramentum altaris, veras claves ad remissionem peccatorum. verum praidicaiuli officium ; .... Dico insuper in Papatu veram Ohristiani- tatem esse, imo vero nudeum Ckristiani talis esse." t Lutheri 0pp. edit. Hall. tom. xv, p. 2448. Ad. Menzel, i, 269, 270. LUTHER AND ZUINGLE. 241 which text had been suggested to him by the nocturnal visitor of whom " he could not say whether he was black or white !"* Luther answered : " ' The pasch and the wheel are allegorical. I do not mean to dispute with you about a word. If is means signifies, I appeal to the words of Christ, who says : " This is my body." The devil can not get out of them {Da kann der Teufel nicht fur). To doubt is to fall fi'om the faith. Why do you not also see a trope in " he ascended into heaven ? " A God made man, the Word made flesh, a God who suffers — these are all incomprehensible things, which you must however believe under penalty of eternal damnation.' " Zuingle. — ' You do not prove the matter. I will not permit you to incur the begging of the question. You must change your note (_Ihr werdet mir anderes singen). Do you think that Christ wished to accommodate himself to the ignorant ? ' " Luther. — ' Do you then deny it ? " This is a hard saying," muttered the Jews, who spoke of the thing as impossible. This passage can not serve you. " Zuingle. — ' Bah ! it breaks your neck {Nein, nein, hruht each den Hals ab).' " Luther. — ' Softly, be not so haughty : you are not in Switzerland, but in Hesse ; and necks are not so easily broken here (Die Ealse brechen nicht also).' "f The wavering, but often candid Melancthon wept bitterly over the dissensions of early Protestantism. He had not the power to heal the crying evil, nor the courage to abandon tin system in which it originated. From many passages of his writings bearing on the subject, we select the following lament, in a confidential letter to a friend: "The Elbe with all its waves could not furnish tears enough to weep over the miseries of the distracted Reformation." J A learned German historian of the day, Dr Dollinger, has published an extensive work, replete with erudition, on the character of the German reformers, and the nature and tend- ency of the religious revolution which they brought about, as described by themseVes.§ We had intended to draw * Florimond Remond, and Schlussenburg, in proem. Theolog. Calvin. Zuingle's own words have been already quoted. t For an account of the entire discussion, taken fi'om Rodolph Collin, an eye and ear-witness, see Audin, p. 413, seqq. I Epist. lib. ii, Ep. 202. 5 The work was published at Ratisbon, in 1846-8, in three volumes, 8vo VOL. I. — 21 242 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. copiously from its pages ; but we luckily find the task already performed to our hands. The excellent condensed summary of its contents furnished by the Dublin Review* suits exactly the scope of our present essays; and hence, in this and the following chapters, we shall quote Dollinger from this sum- mary, under the appropriate heads. And here we present to our readers a view of the unsettledness of faith produced by the principle of private judgment, as certified by contem- porary Protestants writers themselves : " It is really painful to read the lamentations of the Protestant writers of those days, over the utter and inextricable confusion in which every doc- trinal subject had been involved by the disputes and contentions of the rival religions. ' So great,' writes the learned Christopher Fischer, superintendent of Smalkald, 'are the corruptions, falsifications, and scandalous contentions, which, like a fearful deluge, overspread the land, and afflict, disturb, mislead, and perplex poor simple common men not deeply read in Scripture, that one is completely bewildered as to what side is right, and to which he should give his adhesion.' Bartholomew Meyer, professor of theology at Marburg, declares that the 'last times,' predicted by the Lord and his apostles, have arrived, and that 'not only in morals, but also in the doctrine of the church, there is such confusion, that it may be doubted whether there IS a believer on earth.' An equally unimpeachable witness of the same period admits, that 'so great, on the part of mo.st people, is the contempt of religion, the neglect of piety, and the trampling down of virtue, that they would seem not to be Christians, nothing but downright savage barbarians.' Flacius lUyricus declares, that 'the llilsification of the doctrine of penance and justification had led to complete epicurianism.' Klopfer, the parish minister of Bolheim, in Wurtemberg, (1566) complains, that 'the greater number among them hold all that God has revealed in the Scripture, to be silly and idle things, old-world fiibles and tales.' Ratzenberger, an old friend and fellow-laborer of Luther, had long before complained that 'all true doctrine and religion was utterly extinguished in Germany ;' and the celebrated Selnecker was so impressed with a sense of the hopelessness Oi the evil, that he declared that many pious hearts gave up in despair : — ' T advised that things should be left to themselves, that it was not possible to change them, so completely had this spirit got the upperhand almost throughout Christendom.' " * Number for September, 1848. The writer furnishes references fw kfach quotation, which we omit. ENDLESS DIVISION, 243 Such then were the "diversities" of early Protestantism ! Such its endless maze of inconsistencies, contradictions, and absurdities! Such the bitter fruits of that tree of revolt which Luther planted in the centre of Germany : and which was watered by the blood of the slaughtered Anabaptists, of the hundred thousand men who fell in the war of the peas- ants, and of the countless multitudes, who perished in the thirty years' war ! Such was the influence of the Reformation on the doctrines of Christianity ! It found out one faith on the earth ; and it created a hundred new ones, all contradict- ing one another ! Before it came, mankind were of " one tongue and of one speech ;" after it had done its deadly work, there was a confusion of tongues on the earth, and men no longer understood each other. Does not St. Paul draw a lively picture of early, and even of modern Protestantism, when he speaks of those who are like "children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, in the wickedness of men, in craftiness, in which they lie in wait to deceive?"* Could a system which thus divided and unsettled faith — which produced all these disastrous results, be approved by heaven ? Let it not be said, that the Reformation did not produce all these bitter consequences. It is fairly responsible for them all. No effect ever followed more necessarily or more imme- diately from any cause, than these divisions followed from their first great, and their only cause, private judgment as the only rule of faith. This principle is responsible for still more evil results : it has led, by gradual, but by certain steps, to infidelity. History does not tell us of any at least consider- able body of men, who made an open profession of infidel principles, in Christian countries, during the first fifteen ages of the Church. But now, what is the state of that portion of the world, which on the continent of Europe professes Protestant Christianity? Infidelity is the order of the day * Ephesians, iv : 14. 244 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON DOCTRINE. both in Gernuiny and in Switzerland ; the two fatherlands of Protestantism. It is unnecessary to multiply proof on a mat- ter so unquestionable. Even D'Aubigne virtually admits, that the majority of Protestants have there passed over to the standard of rationalism, or the religion of men* — that is, to rank deism. And even where Protestantism still subsists, what is it, but a lifeless tree, the withered branches of which are stirred only by the breath of its own internal dissensions ? We will conclude this Chapter with the picture of Protes- tantism in modern Germany, drawn by the master-hand of Frederick Von Schlegel, whose mighty mind, disgusted with the endless mazes of Protestantism, sought refuge within the pale of Catholic unity. He is speakmg of the boasted bibli- cal learning of Germany, in w^hich he says " the true key of interpretation, which sacred tradition alone can furnish, was irretrievably lost, as the sequel has but too well proved!" He then adds : " This is nowhere so fully understood, and so deeply felt as in Protestant Germany of the present day, Germany, where lies the root of Protestantism, its mighty center, its all-ruling spirit, and its life-blood, Germany, where, to supply the want of the true spirit of religion, a remedy is sought sometimes in the external forms of liturgy,f sometimes in the pompous apparatus of biblical philology and research, destitute of the true key of interpretation ; sometimes in the empt}" philosophy of rationalism, and sometimes in the mazes of a mere interior pietism."]: * D'Aubigne, preface to vol. i, p. 9. f He here refers to the ordinances promulgated some years ago by the king of Prussia, for the reform of the Liturgy (Protestant). I i?hiioscpli> of History, vol. ii, p. 207. TWO METHODS OF INVESTIGATION. 245 CHAPTER IX. INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON MORALS. " This world is fallen on an easier way ; This age knows better than to fast and pray." — Dryden. Two methods of investigation — Connection of doctrine and morals — Salu- tary influence of Catholic doctrines — Of confession — Objections answered — Of celibacy — Its manifold advantages — Utility of the docti-ines of satisfac- tion and indulgences — Of fasting — Of prayers for the dead — Of communion of saints — Sanctity of marriage — Divorces — Influence of Protestant doc- trines— Shocking disorders — Testimony of Erasmus — Bigamy and poly- gamy — Mohammedanism — Practical results — Testimonies of Luther, Bucer, Calvin, and Melancthon — The reformers testifying on their own work — Bollinger's researches — Character of Erasmus — John Reuchlin — Present state of morals in Protestant countries. We have seen what was the influence of the Reformation on the doctrines of Christianity. We will now briefly ex- amine its influence on morals. Was this beneficial or was it injurious ? There are two ways to decide this question : the one by reasoning a priori on the nature and tendency of the respective doctrines of Catholicism and of Protestantism ; the other, which will greatly confirm the conclusions of the for- mer by facts showing what was the relative practical influence of both systems. We will employ both these methods of investigation. I. Doctrines have a powerful influence on morals. The former enlighten the understanding, the latter guide and direct the movements of the heart and will. These are of themselves mere blind impulses, until light is reflected on them from the understanding. A sound fiiith, then, illumin- ating the intellect, is an essential pre-requisite to sound morals guiding the heart, in the individual as well as in society, True, we are able, by the exercise of our free will, to shut our eyes to the light, and to Ci)ntinue acting perversely; but thi^ does not disprove the powerful influence, which the under- standing, enlightened by faith, has over our moral conduct. 16 246 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS What was the necessary moral influence of tliose doctrines of the Catholic Church, which the Reformation rejected ; and what that of those new ones which it substituted in the place of the old ? We speak only, of course, of the distinctive doc- trines of the two communions, not of the common ground which they occupy. The Reformation retained many of the great principles of Christianity, which, according to the testi mony of Luther himself, referred to above, it had borrowed from the Catholic Church. Among the doctrines, or impor- tant points of discipline which the reformers repudiated, the principal were : confession ; the celibacy of the clergy ; the doctrine of satisfaction, implied in fasting, purgatory, prayers for the dead, and indulgences ; the honor and invocation of saints ; and the indissoluble sanctity of marriage ; to say nothing of the real presence, which the greater portion of Protestants also rejected. We will say a few words on the moral influence of each of these doctrines. We may remark of them all, in general, that they had a restraining as well as an elevating eflect ; that many of them were painful to human nature, and opposed a strong barrier to the passions. Even Voltaire admitted the salutary moral influence of confession. He says : " The enemies of the Catholic Church, who opjjosed an institution so salutary, seem to have taken away from men the greatest possible check to secret offenses."* Another infidel, and a mortal enemy of Rome — * Annates de I'Empire, quoted by Robelot, in his work entitled : Influ- ence de la Picformation de Luther, sur la croyance religieusc, la politique, et le proves des lumieres. Par M. Robelot, ancien chanoine de I'Eglisa cathedrale de Dijon. A Lyon. 1822. 1 vol. 8vo, pp. 440. (Influence of the Reformation of Luther on religious belief, on politics, and on the progress of enlightenment. By M. Robelot.) This work was written in reply to the Essay on the Reformation which had been published by M. Villers, and had been rewarded with a prize by the infidel French Institute. Of this essay an unexceptionable witness, Ilal- lam, writes as follows : " The essay on the Influence of the Reformation by Villers, which obtained a prize from the French Institute, and has been ex- lolled by a very friendly but better informed writer in the Biographic Univer- UTlLrrV OF CONFESSION. 247 Marmontel — says: "How salutary a preservative for the morals of youth, is the practice and obligation of going tc confession every month ? The shame attending this humble avowal of the most hidden sins, prevents perhaps the com- mission of more of them, than all other motives the most holy taken together."* Nothing but stern truth could have drawn such avowals from such men. How many crimes, in fact, has not the practice of confes- sion prevented or corrected ! How much implacable hatred has it not appeased! How much restitution of ill-gotten goods, and how much reparation of injured character, has it not brought about ! How often has it not preserved giddy youth from confirmed habits of secret and degrading vice ! How much consolation has it not poured into bosoms torn by anguish, or weighed down by sorrow! What amount of good and salutary advice has it not imparted ! How often has it not prevented the sinner from being driven to the very verge of despair ! In a word, how much has it not contrib- uted to the preservation of morals in every portion of society, which felt its influence ! Tell us not, that confession may be abused by corrupt men, that it has been often made an instrument of unholy ambi- tion in the hands of the priesthood, and that it facilitates the commission of crime, by its oifer of pardon. These objec- selle, appears to me the work of a man who had not taken the pains to read any one contemporary work, or even any compilation which contains many extracts. No wonder that it does not represent, in the shghtest degree, the real spirit of the times, or the tenets of the reformers. Thus, ex. gr., ' Luther,' he says, ' exposed the abuse of the traffic of indulgences, and the danger of believing that heaven and the remission of all crimes could be bought with money ; while a sincere repentance and an amended life were the only means of appeasing divine justice.' (Page 65, English translation.) This at least is not very Uke Luther's antinomian contempt for repentance and amend- ment of life ; it might come near to the notions of Erasmus." — Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. In 2 vols. 8vo. Harper & Brothers ; New York, 1841. Vol. i, p. 166, note.- * "Memoires," torn, i, liv. i. Apud Robelot, ibid 248 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. tions are all based on unfounded suspicion, or on gross mis- apprehension of the nature of confession. At least, the evils complained of are very greatly exaggerated, and are not to be put in comparison with the' incalculable amount of good which this institution is calculated to effect, and which it has really accomplished. What good thing is there, which has not been abused ? Has not the Bible itself, abused by wicked men, been a source of incalculable mischief? And has not the Church guarded against abuses in the confessional, by the sternest enactments? One of these takes from the wicked priest all power of absolving an accomplice in crime ; and another requires the penitent to denounce the unfaithful min- ister to the proper authorities.* And then, how sacred and inviolable has not the seal of confession ever been ? History does not record a single in- stance of its violation, among hundreds of thousands of priests, in the long lapse of ages If How can the priest avail himself of the knowledge obtained through confession, in order to exercise political or any other undue influence, when he is bound by the most sacred obligation, sanctioned by the most severe penalties, to make no use whatever of the kriowl- edge thus acquired, outside of the confessional itself? Why reason from mere idle suppositions and mere vague possibili- ties, against the strongest evidences, and the most stubborn facts ? As to the other objection — that confession encourages the commission of sin — it is as puerile, as it is hackneyed. Ab- surdity is stamped on its very face. What? is it easier then to commit a sin which you know you have to confess to a fel- low man, than it would be to commit the same sin, without feeling any such obligation ? We would not be guilty of an * See the two bulls of Benedict XIV. on this subject. They begin Sn/-- ramentum and Apostolid. Another enactment to tlie same effect was made hy Pope Gregory XV., in the year 1622. See Liguori — '^ Homo Apostoh'^tis.'* "Tract, xvi, numo. 95, pcqq. and numo. 165, seqq. De complice et sollicit. * See the testimony of Marmontel to this effect. Memoires, lorn. iv. AND OF CELIBACY. 249 offence, forsooth, which we believed, at the time, we could expiate by a mere act of internal repentance, joined with confession to God ; and yet we would be encouraged to com- mit this same oflence, if we felt that, in addition to all this, we would be obliged to confess it to a priest ! The objection is predicated on a strange ignorance of human nature. The Catholic Church requires, for the remission of sin, all that Protestants demand ; and, over and above all this, it requires, as essential conditions to pardon, many very painful things — confession, restitution, works of penitential satisfaction — which Protestants do not require. Which system )-eally en- courages the commission of sin ? The people never could be induced to confess their sins to a married clergy. From the testimony of Burkard, Bishop of "Worms, it appears that the Catholic population of that city refused to go to confession to those priests, who, stimulated by the principles of the Reformation then just commencing, had broken their vows of celibacy by taking wives. Confes- sion and celibacy fell together. A married clergy never can command the respect, which has ever been paid to those who are unmarried. This is generally admitted by Protestants themselves, and it is even made a matter of censure against the Catholic clergy, who are accused of having too much in- fluence over their flocks ! The true secret of this influence lies in the greater abstraction from the world, in the greater freedom from worldly solicitude, and in the more spiritual character of an unmarried clergy. Does not St. Paul allege these very motives, in the strong appeal which he makes in favor of celibacy, in his first epistle to the Corinthians P Does he not advise the embracing of this state, both b}' word and by his own example ? Can the Catholic Church be blamed for having adopted his principles, and acted on his advice, in the matter of the celibacy of her clergy? Who can recount the immense advantages of. priestly celi- * Chapter vii. Read the whole chapter. 250 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. h'dcj to society ? Who can tell of all the splendid churches it has erected ; of the hospitals for the sick and the aftlicted, it has reared ; of the colleges it has built ; of the ignorant it has: instructed ; of the noble examples of heroic charity it has given to the world ; and of the pagan nations it has converted to Christianity ? Catholic Europe is full of noble monuments to religion, to literature and to charity, which an unmarried priesthood has built up ; and which a married clergy, " solic- itous for the things of the world, how they might please their wives," and support their children, would certainly never have erected ? To advert briefly to the last consideration named above ; can a married clergy, other things being equal, cope with one that is unmarried, in missionary labors among heathen na- tions ? With the incumbrance of their wives and children, can the former be as free in their movements, or be as zealous and disinterested ; can they mingle as freely with the people, labor as much, or succeed as well, in any respect as the lat- ter ? What say the annals of Protestant missionary enter- prise on this very subject? Can they point to one single nation or people converted to Christianity by their married preachers, notwithstanding the immense outlay of money for this purpose, and all the parade that is made about carrying the gospel to the heathen ? True, there are other weighty causes, which have also greatly contributed to this signal fail- ure of Protestant missions ; but the absence of celibacy in their missionaries is no doubt one of the chief causes. The doctrine of satisfaction was another strong Catholic barrier against vice, which the Reformation removed. The reformers could not api)reciate the utility of fasting, of vigils, and of other works of penance, undertaken for the expiation of sin. They had abolished the great sacrifice of the new law ; and they wished also to abolish all those painful obser- vances, w^iich could nourish and keep alive in the soul of the Christian that spirit of sacrifice, which might incline him "to deny himself, to take up his cross and to follow Christ." Both DOING PENANCE. 251 kinds of sacrifice were intimately connected ; and they both fell together. The reformers no longer taught their disciples, after the example of St. Paul, " to chastise their bodies and bring them into subjection," or "to fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in their flesh."* And yet, besides aiding in expiating sin, and rendering Christians more conformable to the image of the Saviour and of St. Paul, this doctrine was fraught with other almost in- calculable advantages to society. To expiate their sins, Catholics of the olden time not only "chastised their bodies," but they also bestowed abundant alms, and reared splendid institutions of learning and of charity. Many of the colleges and hospitals of Europe owe their erection to the operation of this principle. It is quite common to find in the testamentary dispositions of the pious founders of these noble institutions, this consideration expressed in such clauses as this : " For the expiation of my sins, I found this hospital or college." We have seen that St. Peter's church and the university of Wittenberg were both indebted for their erection mainly to indulgences, which were predicated on the necessity of satis- faction for sin. These are two instances, out of hundreds which might be stated, to show the beneficial influence of this doctrine on society.f Alas ! Charity hath grown cold, in those places particularly where this principle hath ceased to exist! Private interest, a fever for speculation, selfish and sordid avarice, have dried up those deep fountains of Catho- lic charity, which in the good old Catholic times so abundantly ii-rigated and fertilized the garden Catholic ! How manifold also are the advantages of holy fasting 1 How it elevates the mind,J fosters temperance, teaches us to * Colossians, i : 24 ; and 1 Corinthians, ix. f See " The Ages of Faith" by Kenelm Digby, which is full of such ev amples. I Vitia comprimit, inentem elevat, virtutem largitur et prsemia — Praef ad Missa. 252 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. restrain the passions, and to subdue the rebellious flesh 1 " Like another spring," according to the beautiful couipaneou of St. John Chrysostom,* '' it renews the spirit, and brings calm and joy to the soul." It also promotes health, and con- duces to longevity. Who has not remarked the great age to which the anchorites of the desert attained ? Malte Brun in- forms us, that of one hundred and fifty-two anchorites, who lived in different climates, and in different centuries, the aver- age age was seventy-six years.f By accustoming us to endure privation, fasting teaches us to bear patiently the necessary ills of life, and disposes us for great enterprises. In fact it is remarkable, that Moses and Elias approached the Deity to receive his special communications, only after the preliminary disposition of long fasting: and that Christ himself "fasted forty days and forty nights," ere he entered on his divine mission of mercy. How soothing, too, to the ^oul, is that sweet communion with the departed, which is kept up by the Catholic practice of praying for the dead? Even the stern Doctor Johnson felt the beauty and the force of this sympathy : he not only defended the practice, but he seems to have occasionally adopted it himself. He was not satisfied with merely dropping a tear, warm from his heart, over the grave of his departed mother ; but he, at the same time, wafted a fervent prayer to heaven for her repose.J And how elevating and useful, on the other hand, is that constant communion with heaven, which is kept up by the invocation of saints ! It powerfully stimulates us, not only to admire their super-eminent glory and to implore their aid; but also to imitate their virtues. The Offices of the Church keep up a constant round of aniversary celebrations of the virtues and triumphs of these heroes of Christianity ; whose virtues are thus always kept fresh in the minds of the faith- * St. John Chrysostom — " De excellentia Jejun." 0pp. T. ii. f " Precis de la Geographic," ii, 44. I See Boswell's Life of Johnsoa DIVORCFS. 253 fill, who are by this means powerfully excited to follow their example. Who does not perceive the highly beneficial influ ence of this practice on the tone and morals of society ? On the subject of marriage, the Catholic Churcii has neyer swerved in the least from the stern line of duty. She has ever defended its sanctity, and maintained its indissolubility. Many of her struggles with princes during the middle agea, were undertaken by her for the vindication of these sacred principles lying at the basis of the matrimonial contract, the well-spring of society. England was lost to the Church, be- cause the unwavering firmness of the Pope would not permit Henry VIII. to repudiate a virtuous wife, and tu wed another more to his royal taste. She has won imperishable honors in this battle field of conjugal unity and purity against lawless vice in high places, on which she has nobly and victoriously contended with the army of the passions. On this point, as we have seen, the reformers were very far from being so stern or unyielding. They not only allowed two wives to the landgrave of Hesse, but they permitted di- vorce for trivial causes ; and some of them even openly sanc- tioned polygamy, after the example of the patriarchs. What were the sad effects of their teaching on this subject, we shall see more fully in the sequel. It will suffice here to remark on one obvious result of this laxity of doctrine, in regard to the sacredness and permanency of the marriage contract. Before the Reformation, divorces were almost unheard of; great princes sometimes applied for them, but met with deter- mined resistance and a stern rebuke, on the part of the Church. Even at present, in Catholic countries, they are almost un- known. Is it so in those communities where the influence of the Reformation has been long or extensively felt ? Alas ! in these, men seem almost wholly to have lost sight of the divine injunction : " What God has united, let not man put asun- der."* Divorces have multiplied to a frightful extent. In * St. Matthew, xix : 6. 254 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON iMORALS. the United States, our legislatures and courts receive annually thousands of petitions for divorce : and what is more deplora- ble, they usually grant the prayer of the petitioners !* Is not this a lamentable evil, most injurious to society ? Whence does it originate, if not in the weakening of Catholic princi- ples in regard to the indissolubility of the marriage contract by the counter principles broached at the period of the Ref ormation ? A volume might be written on the salutary influence on society of those distinctive doctrines of the Church which Protestants have rejected.f But our limits permitted only the above rapid and imperfect sketch : and we must now pass on to the additional inquiry ; what was the moral influence of those new doctrines which the Reformation introduced? We have already seen what many of these doctrines were, and we have already been enabled to estimate, in a great measure, their probable eflect on the morals of society. But we will here give some further details on a subject so inter- esting and important. Luther's famous, or rather infamous sermon on marriage, preached in the public church of Wittenberg in 1522, in the plain vernacular language, gave great scandal, and was a source of incalculable moral evil throughout Germany. It openly pandered to the basest passions of human nature. It was busily circulated and greedily devoured by all classes, especially among those who were favorable to the Reforma- tion. Never was there a grosser specimen of unblushing lu- bricity : and its having been so much relished by the parti- sans of Luther, is a certain index of a very low standard of morality at that period. But this was not the only specimen of decency given by the " father of the Reformation." Many * The chancery court of Louisville granted sixty divorces in a single year ! And in many other places the case is still woi-se ; as, for instance, in Indiana. f Those who may wish to see more on this subject, are referred to Scotti Teoremi di Politica Christiana — ^an excellent Italian work, in 2 vols. 8vo TESTIMONY OF ERASMUS. 255 of his letters to his private friends are much too obscene to be exhibited, even in the original Latin. Yet they had a power ful eflect on the morals of the age. Luther openly invited the Catholic priests, monks, and nuns, who had vowed celib- acy, to break their vows, which he styled the " bonds of anti- christ." His soul overflowed with joy at the news of each new sacrilegious marriage. He would congratulate the in- fjinger of his vows, " on his having overcome an impure and damnable celibacy," by entering into marriage, which he painted as "a paradise even in the midst of poverty."* He wrote a work against celibacy and monastic vows, teeming with the strongest appeals to the lowest and basest passions. He openly urged princes to expel by force the religious from their monasteries. f Erasmus, an eye witness, paints the horrible disorders to which Luther's epistles, sermons and works against celibacy, naturally led. He represents certain cities of Germany as swarming with apostate monks, who drank beer to excess, danced and sang in the public streets, and gave in to all manner of scandalous excesses. He says of them : " That if they could get enough to eat and a wife^ they cared not a straw for any thing else."J "When they found not wives among the fe- male religious, they sought them in the haunts of vice. Wliat cared they for the priestly benediction ? They married each other, and celebrated their nuptials by orgies, in which the new married couple generally lost their reason."§ " Formerly " continues Erasmus, " men quitted their wives for the sake of the gospel ; nowadays, the gospel flourishes nosit, when a few succeed in marrying wives with rich dow- * "Paradisum arbitror conjugium, vel summa inopia laborans." Epist Nicholao Gerbellis, Nov. 1, 1521. f See his words quoted by Audin, p. 335, seqq. \ " Ainant viaticum et uxorem : ccetera pili non faciunt." Erasmi Epist p. 637. \ Audin p. 336, who quotes from Erasmus — loco citato. 25G INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. nes."* He caustically remarks, "that (Ecolampadius had lately married a beautiful young girl, he suspects, to mortify his flesh."t He also informs us, that these ex-mouKS, after having become the most zealous partisans of the Reformation, subsisted by open robbery of the churches and their neigh- bors, indulged to excess in drinking and in games of hazard, and presented a spectacle of the most revolting licentiousness.^ Luther had taught that " as in the first days of Christanity, the Church was forced to exalt virginity among the pagans, who honored adultery ; so, now, when the Lord had made the light of the gospel (!) shine forth, it was necessary to exalt marriage, at the expense of popish celibacy ."§ The apostate monks eagerly seized on this and similar teachings of the reformer ; and the above are some of the disorders which naturally ensued. But even they are not the worst. Bigamy was quite common among them, at least for a time. They defended it, too, on scriptural grounds. Luther was appealed to on the subject. In his reply, he wavers and hesitates, wishes each individual to be left to the guidance of his own conscience, and concludes his letter in these remarkable words : " For my part I candidly confess, that I could not prohibit any one, who might wish it, to take many wives at once, nor is this repugnant to the Holy Scriptures. But there are things lawful, which are not expedient. Bigamy is of the number." II Karlstadt went still further : he wished to make polygamy ohligatory, or at least entirely permissible to all. He said to Luther : " As neither you, nor I, have found a text in the sacred books against bigamy, let us be bigamists and triga- mists — let us take as many wives as we can maintain. ' Li- crease and multiply.' — Do you understand ? Accomplish the ♦ " Nunc floret evangelium, si pauci ducant uxores bene dotatas." — Erasmi Epist. p. 768. f Ibid., p. 632. X Ibid., p. 766. \ Luther 0pp. tom i, p, 526, seqq. II Epist. ad K. Bruck 13, Janu. 1524. "Ego sane fatcor me non posse prohibere si quis velit plures ducere uxores, nee repugnat Sacris Uteris ?' Luther's lament. 257 order of heaven."* This argument must have had great weight with lAither, as he had maintained that celibacy was impossible, and had himself alleged that very text from Genesis, to prove that marriage was a divine command obli- gatory on all! By the way, as Luther married only at the age of forty-two, what are we to think of the purity of his previous life, when he openly maintained such principles as these? They were well calculated, at any rate, to bring down the lofty standard of Christian morality to that of Moham- medanism : and, if they did not bring about this result, we certainly owe no thanks to the Reformation. How strongly these loose principlesof morality contrast with the stern teach- ings of the Catholic Church on marriage ! II. It was natural to expect, that the influence of such principles as these, as well as of those other distinctive doc- trines of the Reformation which we have already referred to,t should have been most injurious to public morals. And accordingly we find, from the testimony of the reformers themselves, and of their earliest partisans, that such precisely was the case. Luther himself assures us of this deterioration in public morals: "The world grows worse and worse, and becomes more wicked every day. Men are now more given to revenge, more avaricious, more devoid of mercy, less modest, and more incoiTigible ; in fine, more wicked than in the Papacy."! — ^^ another place he says, speaking to his most intimate friends : "One thing no less astonishing than scandalous, is to see that, since the pure doctrine of the gospel has been brought to light (!), the world daily goes from bad to worse."^ This is not at all astonishing, when we consider the nature and necessary tendency of that " pure doctrine." He draws the following dreadful picture of the morals of his time, after " the pure doctrine had been brought to light :" "The noblemen and the peasants have come to such a pitch, that they * Apud Audin, p. 339. f Supra, Chapter iii. I Luther in Postillfi sup. 1 Dom. Adventus. 5 Idem, Table Talk, fol. 55. VOL. I. — 22 258 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. boast and proclaim without scruple, that they have only to let themselves bo preached at ; but that they would prefer Ixiing entirely disenthralled from the word of Go 1 : and that they would not give a farthing for all our sermons put together. And how are we to lay this to them as a crime, when they make no account of the world to come ? They live as they believe : they are and continue to be swine : they live like swine and they die like real swine."* Aurifaber, the disciple and bosom friend of Luther, and the publisher of his Table Talk, tells us : " Luther was wont to say, that after the revelation of his gospel, virtue had become extinct, justice oppressed, temperance bound with cords, vir- tue torn in pieces by the dogs, faith had become wavering, and devotion had been lost."j So notoriously immoral, in fact, were the early Lutherans, that it was then a common saying in Germany, to express a day spent in drinking and debauch : " Hodie Lutheranice vivemus" — " To-day we will live like Lutherans."J In another place, Luther laments the moral evils of the Reformation, in the following characteristic strain : " I would not be astonished if God should open at length the gates and windows of hell, and snow or hail down (up ?) devils, or rain down on our heads fij e and brimstone, or bury us in a fiei'y abyss, as he did Sodom and Gomorrha. Had Sodom and Gomorrha received the gifts which have been granted to us — had they seen our visions and heard our instructions — they would yet be standing. They were a thousand times less culpable than Germany, for they had not heard the word of God from their preachers. And we who have received and heard it — we do nothing but rise up against God Since the downfall of popery, and the cessation of its excommu- nications and spiritual penalties, the people have learned to despise the word of God. They care no longer for the churches ; they have ceased to fear and to honor God." J Martin Bucer, another of the reformers, bears the followmg explicit testimony on the same subject : * Table Talk, super i, Epist. Corinth., chap. xv. f Aurifaber, fol. 623 ; and Florimond Remond, p. 225. t Bened. Morgenstern — Traite de I'Eglise, p. 221. { Luther Wercke Edit. Altenburg, tome iii, p. 519, Reinhard's ' Rofor flaations Predigten," tom. iii, p. 445. TESTIMONY OF THE REFORMERS. , 259 " The gi-eater part of the people seem to have embraced the gospel (!), only ill order to shake off the yoke of discipline, and the obligation of fasting, penances, etc., which lay upon them in the time of popery, and to live at their pleasure, enjojnng their lust and lawless appetite without control. They therefore lend a willing ear to the doctrine that we are justified by faith alone, and not by good works, having no relish for them."* The reformers ought surely to have known better probably than any one else what was the real tendency of the new gospel, and they certainly had no motive to exaggerate its evil results. John Calvin draws a picture, not much more flattering of the state of morals to his branch of the glorious Reformation. He states that even the preachers of the new doctrines were notoriously immoral: "There remains still a wound more deplorable. The pastors, yes the pastors themselves who mount the pulpit .... are at the present time the most shameful examples of waywardness and other vices. Hence their sermons obtain neither more credit nor authority than the fictitious tales uttered on the stage by the strolling player I am astonished that the women and children do not cover them with mud and filth."f Another leading reformer — Philip Melancthon — informs U8, that those who had joined the standard of the Reforma- tion at his day, " had come to such a pitch of barbarity, that many of them were persuaded that if they fasted one day, they would find themselves dead the night folio wing," J And Btill another early Protestant, Jacob Andreas, says: "It is certain that God wishes and requires of his servants a grave and Christian discipline; but it passes with us as a new Papacy, and a new monkery ."§ — And no wonder, after all the teaching on the subject of Luther and the other leading reformers ! We here subjoin an analysis of the testimony furnished by the reformers themselves, according to the learned and ac- curate DoUinger, on the practical moral results of their teachings, as witnessed by themselves in their own times * "De regno Christi." f Livre — sur les scandales — p. 128. t In vi, cap. Mathei J Comment, in St. Lucam. Chap. xxi. 260 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. If some of these testimonies are similar to those alread;^ given, the contirmation is still more forcible. As will be seen, the analysis is sufficiently thorough and searching, and its length will be pardoned to the great interest of the subject.* THE MORAL RESULTS OF THE REFORMATION. " Upon this head, few will be disposed to call in question the authority of our first evidence, the father of the Reformation himself With all his partiality for the child of his own labors, Luther is forced to admit, that it were no wonder if his beloved Germany 'were sunk in the earth, or utterly overthrown by the Turks and Tartars, by reason of the hellish and damn- able forgetfulness and contempt of God's grace which the people manifest ; nay, that the wonder is, that the earth does not refuse to bear them, and the sun to shine upon them any longer.' He doubts ' whether it should any longer be called a world, and not rather an abyss of all evils, wherewith those sodomites afflict his soul and his eyes both day and night.' ' Every thing is reversed,' he laments, ' the world grows every day the worse for this teaching; and the misery of it is, that men are noioadaijs more covetous, more hard-lieaHed, more corrupt, more licentious, and more wiclced, than of old under the Papacy.' ' Our evangelicals,' he avows, ' are now sevenfold more wicked than they were before. In proportion as we hear the gospel, we steal, lie, cheat, gorge, swill, and commit every crime. If one devil has been driven out of us, seven worse ones have taken their place, to judge from the conduct of princes, lords, nobles, burgesses, and peasants, their utterly shameless acts, and their disregard of God and of his menaces.' 'Under the Papacj'', men were charitable and gave freely ; but now, under the gospel, all almsgiving is at an end, every one fleeces his neighbor, and each seeks to have all for himself And the longer the gospel is preached, the deeper do men sink in avarice, pride, and ostentation.' So utterly, too, does he de.spair of the improvement of this generation of his disciples, that he 'often wishes that these Jilthij swine-bellies were back again under the tyranny of the Pope, for it is impossible that a race so savage, such a "people of Gomorrha,'" could be ruled by the peaceful consolations of the gospel' " It could hardly be expected, indeed, that Luther would himself attribute the universal depravity, the presence of which he thus frankly acknowledges, to the influence of his own gospel. But he can not, and does not conceal * We take this excellent summary from the Dublin Review for Septem ber, 1848, which gives also the proper references to DoUinger's German work. REFORMATION DESCRIBED BY THE REFORMERS. 261 that such was the popular impression regarding it ; and although, of course, he denounces the imputation as sinful and blasphemous, he admits that men ' loudly and complainingly attributed it all to the gospel, or, as they call it, the new learning,' and tauntingly demanded what was the good of all their fine preaching and instruction, if no one followed it, or was the better for it, nay rather, if they grew worse than they were before ; 'it would be better,' they said, 'if things had remained as they were.' Indeed, not to multiply evi- dence of a fact so notorious, he himself acknowledges that 'the peasants, through the influence of the gospel, have become utterly bej^ond restraint, and think they may do what they please. They no longer fear either hell or purgatory, but content themselves with saying, "I believe, therefore I shall be saved :" and they become proud, stiff-necked Mammonists, and accursed misers, sucking the very substance of the country and the people.' " These are but a few out of a host of similar avowals, which Dr. Bollin- ger has collected fi-om every portion of Luther's works. Lest it should be supposed they are confined to the earlier years of the Reformation, and regard only the state of the Lutheran body in the first phases of its forma- tion, we shall venture, even at the risk of being tedious, to select a few pas- sages, written during the last years of his life, not a whit less expressive than those alreadj^ produced. During the years 1540-6, Lutheranism may be truly said to have reached its culminating point, as far as regards the career of its founder. In a letter of his written to Hermann Bonn, (April 5, 1543,) he expresses his exultation at the completeness of his success — ' From Riga to Metz — from the foot of the Alps to the north point of the peninsula of Jutland ' — his realm had been gradually extended. The num- ber of crowned heads and of sovereign princes now in his following, was very great, and later years had notably increased the catalogue. Duke Otho, Henry, elector palatine of the Rhine, the duchess of Calenberg, Arch- bishop Hermann of Cologne, and the bishop of IMiinster and Osnabruck, were among his most recent adherents. Wolfenbiittel had just been added to the ranks by the ministry of Bugenhagen. The nobility and many of the lower classes in Austria, had begun to feel the contagion. The great body of the German nobility were, at least indirectly, favorers of the movement. Many of the noble chapters had passed over en masse, and others were but tottering in their allegiance. The imperial cities were for the most part Protestant ; and it seemed but a question of time to complete and perpetu- ate the conquest thus rapidly and systematically achieved ! " Such was the exterior history of the movement ; such was the external condition of the Ijutlierau communion during the later years of its founder's fife. But how hollow the triumph, and how unsubstantial the conquest which had been thus obtained ! "On Nov. lOth, 1541, Luther writes to one of his friends, that 'he had 17 262 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. almost abandoned all hope for Germany, so universally had avarico, usury, tyranny, disunion, and the whole host of untruth, wickedness, and treach- ery, as well as disregard of the word of God, and the most unheard of in- gratitude, taken possession of the nobility, the courts, the towns, and the villages ' In the March of the following year, he writes in much the same strain, adding, that ' his only hope is in the near approach of the last day ; — the world has become so barbarous, so tired of the word of God, and enter- tains so thorough a disgust for it.' On the 23d of July, he declares, that 'those who would be followers of the gospel, draw down God's wrath by their avarice, their rapine, their plunder of the churches ; while the people listen to instructions, prayers, and entreaties, but continue, nevertheless, to heap sin upon sin.' On an'^ther occasion, (October 25th, 1542,) he declares that ' he is tired of living in this hideous Sodom ;' that ' all the good which he had hoped to effect has vanished away ; that there remains naught but a deluge of sin and unholiness, and nothing is left for him but to pray for his discharge.' And in reality, not only did he wish for death as a boon to himself, 'that he might be released from this Satanical generation,' but he was even able calmly to see his little daughter Margaret, to wliom he was devotedly attached, die before his eyes. ' Alas !' he cried to the prince of Anhalt, 'we live in Babylon and Sodom. Every thing is growing worse each day.' And even in the very last hours of his life, .so bitterly did he feel the immorality and irreligiousness of the city which he had made the chosen seat and center of his doctrines, that he had actuall}'^ made up his mind to leave it forever. So sensible was he made of the connection between his doctrines and the moral condition of Wittenberg, that the thought of residence there became insupportable. ' Let us but fly from this Sodom !' he wrote to his wife a few months before his death ; ' I will wander through the world, and beg my bread from door to door, rather than embitter and disturb my poor old last days by this spectacle of the disorder of Wittenberg, and the fruitlessness of my bitter dear toil in its service.' It is a significant commentary on the fruitlessness of the mission to which he had devoted his life, that it needed all the influence of the elector to induce him to abandon his determination ! " Such is a faint outline of Luther's own report of the moral fruits cf his Reformation. It is but too well borne out in its worst details b}" his friends and fel!ow-laV)orers. The reader will perceive that we are drawing but lightly upon Dr. Bollinger's abundant and overflowing pages ; and for what remains, we must be even more sparing in our extracts. We shall only ol> serve that those which we mean to present are taken almost at random ; that it would have been easy to find hundreds of others equally striking ; and that the cfiect of all is grievously impaired 1)}' the broken and fragmentary form, in which, of course, they must appear in such a notice as the present. REFORMATION DESCRIBED BY THE REFORMERS. 263 " Few of the reformers dealt less in extremes than 'the mild Melancthon.' What, therefore, are we to think of the state of things which di-ew even from him the declaration, that ' in these latter times the world has taken to itself a boundless license ; that very many are so unbridled as to throiv off every bond of discipline, though al the same time they pretend that t/iey have faith, that they invoke God with true fervor of heart, and that they are lively and elect members of the church ; living, meanwhile, in truly cyclo- pean indiiference and barbarism, and in slavish subjection to the devil, who drives them to adulteries, murders, and other atrocious crimes ?' This class, too, he tells us, are firmly wedded to their own opinions, and entirely intol- erant of remonstrance. ' Men receive with avidity the inflammatory ha- rangues which exaggerate libeity and give loose rein to the passions ; as, for an example, the cynical, rather than Christian principle, which denies the necessity of good works. Posterity will stand amazed that a generation should have ever existed, in which these ravings have been received with applause.' 'Never in the days of our fathers,' he avows, 'had there existed such gluttony as exists now, and is daily on the increase.' ' The morals of the people, all that they do, and all that they neglect to do, are becoming every day worse. Gluttony, debauchery, licentiousness, wantonness, are gaining the upper hand more and more among the people, and in one word, every one does just as he pleases.' " ' Most of the preachers,' writes Bucer, ' imagine, that if they inveigh Gtoutly against the anti-christians [papists], and chatter away on a few un- important fruitless questions, and then assail their brethren also, they have discharged their duty admirably. Following this example, the people, as soon as they know how to attack our adversaries, and to prate a little about things far from edifying, believe that they are perfect Christians. Mean- while, there is nowhere to be seen modesty, charity, zeal, or ardor for God's glory ; and in consequence of our conduct, God's holy name is everywhere subjected to horrible blasphemies.' 'Nobody,' writes Althanier, in the preface of his Catechism, ' cares to instruct his child, his servant, his maid, or any of his dependants, in the word of God or his fear ; and thus our young generation is the very worst that ever has existed. The elders are worth- less, and the young follow their example.' ' The children,' says Culmaun, ' are habituated to debauchery by their parents, and thus comes an endlestj train of diseases, seductions, tumults, murders, robberies, and thefts, which unhappily, owing to the state of society, are committed with security. And the worst of all is, that they are not ashamed to palliate their conduct by the examples of Noah, Lot, David, and others.' " In one word, it would be as difficult to add to the catalogue of popular crimes enumerated by these men — 'contempt, falsification, and persecution of God's word; abuse of his holy sacraments; idolatry, heresy, simony, 2()4 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. sorcery, heathenish and epicurean life, indifference about God, absolute infi delity, disregard of public worship, ignorance of the first elements of religion. and the whole hideous deluge of shame and sin shamelessly committed against God's commandments, not the mere result of human weakness and frailty, but persevered in remorselessly and unrepentingly, and regarded by the majority of men as no longer sinful and disgraceful, but as downright virtues, and legitimate subjects of boast and self-gratulation ' — as it would to add to the evidence of the universal prevalence of such crimes which they supply, and for the truth of which they themselves challenge a denial. ' Take any class you please,' says Dietrich, ' high or low, you will find all equally degenerate and corrupt. What is more, there is no longer any social honesty to be found among the people. The majority persecute the gospel, and cling to the old idolatry. The rest, who have received God's word and gospel, are also lawless, insensible to instruction, hardened in their old sinful life, as is evident from the whoredom, adultery, usury, avarice, lying, cheating, and manifold wickedness which prevail.' " There is one branch of this subject which we do not approach without great repugnance, but which, nevertheless, it would be most unhistorical, as well as unphilosophical, to overlook, because there is none in which the working of the positive teaching of the reformers is so palpably' and unmis- takably recognized. We refer to the avowed and undeniable deterioration of public morality, — the indifference to the maintenance of chastity, to the observance of the marriage vow, and indeed to the commonest decencies of life, by which the spread of Lutheranism was uniformly and instantaneously followed. We can not bring ourselves to pollute our page with the hateful and atrocious doctrines of Luther (vol. i, pp. 428-9), of Sarcerius (p. 431), Dresser (p. 432), Bugenhagen (p. 434), and many others (p. 431), founded upon what they allege to be the physical impossibility of observing conti- nence, which results from the original constitution of the sexes as ordained by God ; but we are necessitated to allude to them, in order to establish beyond question the connection of these doctrines (which, it must be re- membered, were enforced by Luther chiefly in his German tracts and sermons addressed to the entire people) with the moral consequences which we shall proceed to detail, as briefly and as slightly as circumstances will pennit, in the words of the authorities collected in the pages before us. Nothing can be more revolting than the picture of universal and unrestrained depravity which they reveal. "'The youths of the present da)',' says Brentius in 1532, 'are hardly released from their cradles when they must take women to themselves, and girls, long before the_y are marriageable, begin betimes to think of men : priests, monks, and nuns marry in despite of every human law.' Four years earlier, the reformer of Ulm, Conrad Ian, complained that 'impurity and adultery were universal in the world that each one coiTupted his neigh- REFORMATION DESCRIBED BY THE REFORMERS. 2Go bor, that it was no longer reputed as a sin or a shame, but was even made subject of pubhc boast.' In 1537, Osiander complains, that 'so commonly, and, unhappil}^ in all places with so much impunity, were fornication and adultery practiced, that, revolting and unchristian as it is, wives and daugh- ters were hi^rdly secure among their own blood relations, where their virtue, honor, and purity should be most rigidly respected ;' and his colleague Link avows, that 'nowadays the vice of unchastity is made a subject of laughter and of amusement' Mathesius discovered a token of the approach of the end of the world in the prevalence of this vice. ' How universal was the practice of debauchery, adultery, fornication, incest, conjugal infidelity, we learn partly fi'om the criminal processes, the consistories, and the superin- tendents, partly from private intercourse. Assuredly either the last day is at hand, or there is some awful pestilence at our door.' — ' We Germans, nowadays,' says Sarcerius, in 1554, 'can boast but little of the virtue of chastity, and that little is disappearing so fast that we can hardly speak of it any more. The number who still love it are so small, that it would be matter not of surprise, but of absolute horror; and debauchery prevails without fear and without shame. The young learn it from the old ; one vice leads to another, and now the young generation is so steeped in every species of vice, that they are more experienced in it than were the oldest people in former times.'* liraunmiiller, minister of Wurtemburg in 1560, complains that ' bastardy is very common. Every one is so hardened, and so habituated to this diabolical vice, that it is not considered grievous, for it is as daily bread everywhere around. Almost every wife is unfaithful : and hence no one need wonder that the band of adulterers in these our days is more powerful and influential than it was in the days of our ancestors, or even of the heathens.' Again, five years later, Andrew Hoppenrod raised the same complaint in Mansfeld. 'We see and hear (alas! God help us!) that impurity and fornication have made frightful inroads among Christians, and have sunk their roots so deeply, that it is hardly any longer reputed a sin, but is rather gloried in as a noble and desirable thing, without sorrow or remorse of conscience.' In 1573, Christopher Fischer, superintendent * " We shall leave the following passage (which, strange to say, is from an old popular hymii) in its original German : ' Die funft Kunst ist gemeine, 1st Ehebruch, Unkeuschheit Das kann jetzt gross und kleine Hat man jetzund Beschied. Man schamt sich auch nichts mehre, Man halt's gar fur eine Ehre ; Niemand tliut es fast wehren ; Welchcr's jetzt treibet viel, Will sej'n im bessten Spiel.' " After all, one can hardly wonder at this, when one recollects the chorus of what is still popularly preserved as Luther's favorite chart : * Wer liobt nich Weiber, Wein, Gesang Er bleibt ein Narr sein Leben langl' * Who loves not women, wine, and song, He lives a fool his lifetime long I' " VOL. T.--23 266 INFLUEJvCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. in Brunswick, complains in like manner, that ' such is the prevalence ct whoredom and debauchery, that they are no longer looked on as sinful ; a jy one who has the opportunity thinks he does well in availing himself ol »/, fur the world does not pimish it ; and, as for adultery, so completely has .1 obtained the upperhand, that no punishment can avail any longer to Sk*p press it ! ' " — Vol. ii, pp. 435-7. " We can not venture to extend our extracts on this subject further. *( need only be added, that the frightful state of morality depicted in th««e pages is attributed without disguise, even by the Lutherans themselves, to the doctrines of Luther already alluded to. The reader will find at pa«os 4.38-40 (of Dollinger) a long and most remarkable extract from Czecano- vius, in which the connection is fully and freely admitted. Districts in which these crimes were utterly unknown, were scarcely initiated in the principles of the Refoi'mation till they became corrupted to the heart's core. A most remarkable example of this is Ditmarsen, a district in Holstein, in which the Catholic religion was abolished in 1532. So remarkable had this province been for the purity and simplicity of its population, that it was known under the name of Mar/jlaml [Marienland] ; cases of unchastity were so rare and unexampled, that the forfeiture of her virtue on the part of a female was visited with perpetual disgrace, and was generally atoned for by voluntary exile, and even in some cases by the suicide of the despairing de- faulter. Before Lutheranism had been established ten years, its own apos- tle, Nicholas Boje (in 1541), was forced to complain that 'public crimes — especially whoredom, adultery, and merciless, heathenish, Jewish, nay, Turkish usury — prevail so universally, that he was obliged to call God to witness, that neither preaching, teaching, instruction, menaces, nor the terror of God's wrath, and of his righteous judgments, was of any avail.' The practice of divorce, too, was, in every reformed country, an immediate con- sequence of the Reformation ; and if there were no other evidence of the connection between the introduction of the new religion and this frightful deterioration of morals, it would be found in the numberless laws against adulterj^ fornication, bigam)^ etc., which date from this period, and the fre- quent and flagrant convictions and sentences under these laws in every Prot- estant province of Germany. For abundant and convincing evidence of all this, we must refer the reader to the fifteenth section of the first volume, which is a mine of curious and most extraoi'dinary learning, but yet free from that coarseness and indelicacy in which learned writers too often feel themselves privileged to indulge in deaUng with such subjects. "Indeed, to add further testimonies would be but to weary and disgust the reader. We can say with truth, that to cull even these few from this mass of painful and revolting record, has been any thing but an agreeable task ; and that the reader who will be content to pursue the general inquiry further for himself, to read through the evidence of Amsdorf, Spalatin, Bu- REFORMATION DESCRIBED BY THE REFORMERS. 267 genhagen, Gerbel, Major, Flacius lUyricus, Brentius, Schnepf, Wesshuss Camerarius, and the numberless others whom the author's industry has accumulated, must make up his mind to encounter many shocking and dis heartening details, for which the popular representations of the social and religious condition of the great era of the Reformation will have but ill pre- pared him. " It must not be supposed that the testimonies which we have hitherto alleged, or the great mass of those collected by the author, describe the social condition but of a portion of Germany, under the Reformation. There is not a single locality which has not its witness. Saxony, Hesse, Nassau, Brandenburg, Strasburg, Nurnberg, Stralsund, Thorn, Mecklenburg, West- phalia, Pomerania, Friesland, Denmark, Sweden ; and all, or almost all, are represented by natives, or, at least, residents, familiar with the true state of society, and, if not directly interested in concealing, certainly not liable to the suspicion of any disposition to exaggerate, its shortcomings or its crimes. " Indeed, the connection between the progress of Lutheranjsm and this corruption of public morals, could not possibly be put more strikingly than in the words of John Belz, a minister of Allerstadt in Thuringia (1566) : 'If you would find a multitude of brutal, coarse, godless people, among whom every species of sin is every day in full career, go into a city where the holy gospel is taught, and where the best preachers are to be met, and there you will be sure to find them in abundance. To be pious and up- right (for which God praises Job) is nowadays held, if not to be a sin, at least a downright folly ; and from many pulpits it is proclaimed, that good works are not only xmncessary, but hurtful to the soul.' " Such then were the moral effects of the Reformation, ac- cording to the testimony of the reformers themselves. These new apostles professed indeed to refoTTn the Church in doc- trine and morals : they inveighed against the immorality of the Catholic priesthood, whom they abused and vilified beyond measure : they set themselves up as patterns for the world : but they forgot withal to reform themselves and their own disciples. They even went " daily from bad to worse." They were wholly unmindful of the admonition of the Saviour: " Let him that is without sin among you first cast a stone."* We subjoin to this copious evidence the following portrait- ure of the state of morals in Germany shortly after the begin- ning of the Reformation, drawn by one who will not be * St. John, viii : 7. 268 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. suspected, — Wolfgang Menzel. The horrible details wlueh he furnishes on this subject, indicate a condition of courtly and general depravity which would seem almost incredible ; but — alas ! the evidence is overwhelming. " The Protestants also allowed the opportunity offered to them by the emperor to pass unheeded, and, although they received a great accession in number, sank, from want of unity, in real power and influence. The rest of the German princes, Charles and Ernest of Baden, and Julius of Bruns- wick— Wolfenbiittel, the son of Henry the Wild — embraced Lutheranism. Austria, Bavaria, Lorraine, and Juliers remained Catholic. The reformers were devoid of union and energy, and oppressed by a sense of having abused and desecrated, instead of having rigidly prosecuted, the Reformation. " Was their present condition the fitting result of a religious emancipation, or worthy of the sacred blood that had been shed in the cause ? Instead of one Pope, the Protestants were oppressed by a number, each of the princes ascribing that authority to himself; and instead of Jesuits, they had court chaplains and superintendent-generals, who, their equals in venom, despised no means, however base, by which their aim might be attained. A new species of barbarism had found admittance into the Protestant courts and universities. The Lutheran chaplains shared their influence over the princes with mistresses, boon-companions, astrologers, alchymists, and Jews. The Protestant princes, rendered, by the treaty of Augsburg, unlimited dictators in matters of faith within their territories, had lost all sen.se of shame. Philip of Hesse married two wives. Brandenburg and pious Saxony yielded to temptation. Surrounded by coarse grooms, equerries, court- fools of obscene wit, misshapen dwarfs, the princes emulated each other in drunkenness, an amusement that entirely replaced the noble and gallant tournament of earlier times. Almost every German court was addicted to this bestial vice. Among others, the ancient house of Piast, in Silesia, was utterly ruined by it. Even Louis of Wurtemberg, whose virtues rendered him the darling of his people, was continually in a state of drunkenness. This vice and that of swearing even became a subject of discussion in the diet of the empire, [A. D. 1577,] when it was decreed, ' That all electoral princes, nobles, and estates should avoid intemperate drinking as an example to their subjects.' The chase was also followed to excess. The game was strictly preserved, and, during the hunt, the serfs were compelled to aid in demolishing their own corn- fields. The Jews and alchymists, whom it became tlie tkshion to have at court, were by no means a slight evil, all of them requiring gold. Astrology would have been a harmless amusement had not its professors taken advan- tage of the ignorance and .superstition of the times. False representations of the secret powers of nature and of the devil led to the belief in witch TESTIMONY OF MENZEL. 269 araft, and t ) the bloody persecution of its supposed agents. Luther's belief in the agency of the devil had naturally filled the minds of his followers with superstitious fears." .... " The Ascanian family of Lauenburg was sunk in vice. The same license continued from one generation to another ; the country was deeply in debt, and how, under the circumstances, the cujus regio was maintained, may easily be conceived. The Protestant clergy of this duchy were pi-overbial for ignorance, license, and immorality. " The imperial court at Vienna offered, by its dignity and morality, a bright contrast to the majority of the Protestant courts, whose bad example was, nevertheless, followed by many of the Catholic princes, who, without taking part in the Reformation, had thereby acquired greater independence."* Erasmus bus well described tbis cluinge fur tbe worse in tbe morals of tbose wlio embraced tbe Reformation : " Those whom I had known to be pure, full of candor and simplicity, these same persons have I seen afterwards, when they had gone over to the sect (of the gospelers,) begin to speak of girls, flock to games of hazard, throw aside prayer, give themselves up entirely to their interests ; become the most impatient, vindictive and frivolous ; changed in fixct from men to vipers. I know well what I say."f And again : "I see many Lutherans, but few evangelicals. Look a little at these people, and say whether luxury, avarice, and lewdness, do not prevail still more amongst them, than among those whom they detest. Show me one who by means of this gospel is be- come better. I will show you very many who are become worse. Perhaps it has been my bad fortune : but I have seen none who have not become worse by their gospel. "| The testimony of Erasmus is above suspicion, Tbougb be continued in tbe Catbolic Church, yet be was tbe early friend of Luther, Melanctbon and several others among tbe principal reformers ; and be bad himself contributed not a little — per- haps, however, only indirectly and unintentionally — to tbe success of the pretended Reformation. He was a mild, peace- able man, who liked bis ease more than any thing else in tbe world, and who sought to please both sides, but succeeded in pleasing neither. He bad joined in the outcry against the Catliolic priesthood and monks, and bad thereby no doubt * History of Germany, ii, 280-1. f Epist. Tractibus Germanise inferioris. I Idem. Epist. Anno 1526. 270 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. greatly aided in hightening the excitement against the Catholic Church. The proverb was current in Germany : that "Erasmus had laid the egg, and Luther had hatched it."* This saying perhaps expressed too much ; but yet, like most popular adages, it had some foundation in truth. The famous humanist lleuchlin seems to have been another of those waver- ing and uncertain characters, who can be moulded to alau.st any form according to circumstances. For three whole centuries, the lleformation has had full sway and perfect freedom of action throughout half of Ger- many and all of Northern Europe. What have been the practical results of its influence ? Wliat is the present moral condition of those Protestant countries where that influence has been least checked, and most extended and permanent? We will close this chapter, by presenting a few startling facts on this subject, from the works of two recent Protestant travel- ers, Bremner and Laing. Their authority in the matter will Bcarcely be questioned by Protestants. Themselves bitterly prejudiced against the Catholic Church, and enamored with the Reformation, they merely state what they saw and ascer- tained during a long residence in the countries which they respectively describe. Of the people of Protestant Norway, Mr. Bremner says : " The Norwegians can not, with justice, be described as more than ' indifierently moral,' for we always found amongst them a greater desire to take advantage of a stranger than in any other part of Europe."t In regard to chastity, he tells us that the statistical returns show that out of every five chil- dren which are born, one is illegitimate — the same proportion precisely, in this widely scattered and rural population, as in " the densely crowded and corrupted atmosphere of Paris." * " Erasmus hat das Ey gelegt, und Luther es ausgebr iitet." An oia Lutheran painting represented the reformers bearing the ark, and Erasmus dancing before it with all his might ! f " Excursions in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden," etc. By Robert Bremner. — 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1840. BREMNER AND LAING. 271 Mr. Laing confirms the statement, and tells us of one countr}? parish in particuhir where, "without a town, or manufactur- ing establishment, or resort of shipping, or quartering of troops, or other obvious cause," the proportion of illegitimate to legitimate children, in the five years from 1826 to 1830, was one in three.* Both these Protestant travelers tell us, moreover, that in Norway the Sunday is the usual day for dances, for theatrical and other public amusements ; and Mr. Laing accounts for this singular fact by the universally received interpretation, in \hepure Lutheran Church, of the Scriptural words, "and the evening and the morning made the first day." Those "pure Lutherans," going further than even the Jews of the straightest sect, keep the Sabbath from midday on Saturday to the noon of Sunday ! The Lutheran clergy, they likewise inform us, pay little attention to the instruction of the people. In proof of this gross negligence, they allege the fact, that in all Norway there are only three hundred and thirty-six par- ishes with resident clergymen, who seldom visit their scattered people. They also justly complain, that convicts are there treated more unmercifully than any where else. The picture they draw of the present moral condition of Sweden and Denmark is even still less flattering. Mr. Bremner tells us, that in the female house of correction at Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, he found thirty-eight prison- ers condemned for life, " nearly all of whom had been con- victed of the too frequent crime of child murder!" Mr. Laing enters at great length into the subject of Swedish morality. He states, and he proves from regularly avouched statistical returns, that Sweden is the most corrupt and demoralized * The works of Mr. Laing from which we borrow this and the following facts, are : " Journal of a Residence in Norway during the years 1834, 1835, 1836, made with a view to inquire into the moral and political economy of the country, and the state of the inhabitants," London, 1836; "A Tour in Sweden in 1838," London, 1839 ; and " Notes of a Traveler," London, 1842. These works are all ably noticed in the Dublin Review for May, 1843. 272 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON MORALS. country in Europe, and that Stockholm is the most debased citj! in the world. Here is his testimony, which has been often quoted : " It is a singular and embarrassing fact, that the Swedish nation, isolated from the mass of European people, and almost entirely agricultural or pas- toral, having, in about three millions of individuals, only fourteen thousand nine hundred and twenty-five employed in manufactories, and these not congregated in one or two places, but scattered among two thousand and thirty-seven factories, having no great standing army or navy, no external commerce, no afflux of strangers, no considerable city but one, and having schools and universities in a fair proportion, and a powerful and complete church establishment, undisturbed in its labors by sect or schism, is, not- withstanding, in a more demoralized state than amj nation in Europe, more demoralized even than any equal portion of the dense manufacturing popu- lation of Great Britain. This is a very curious fact in moral statistics." He proceeds to establish this singular fact by unquestion- able, because official statistical evidence. From this it appears that, in 1837, twenty-six thousand two hundred and seventy- five persons were prosecuted in Sweden for criminal ofienses, of whom twenty-one thousand two hundred and sixty-two were convicted, being one to every one hundred and fourteen of the entire population accused, and one to every one hun- dred and forty convicted of crimes of a heinous character. In 1836, the number so convicted was one out of one hundred and thirty-four of the whole population. Among the crimes in the rural population, there were twenty-eight cases of mur- der, ten of child murder, four of poisoning, thirteen of besti- ality, and nine of violent robbery: and the proportion was four-fold greater for the town and city population. England is bad enougli ; one would even have thought that England could scarcely be surpassed in crime of every description ; yet in Eno-land the proportion of the convicted to the entire popu- 'ation is only as one to one thousand and five. The amount of crime in Sweden is thus seven-fold greater than it is in England ! Is it because there the Keformation was more un- checked in its operations, and had therefore a freer field ? According to Mr. Laing, the proportion of illegitimate to PRUSSIA. 273 legitimate children, for all Sweden, is as one to fourteen ; and for the capital, Stockholm, it is as one to two and three- tenths ! In the same city one, out of every forty-nine of the inhabitants, is annually convicted of some criminal offense ! When these statements of Mr. Laing appeared, the Swedish government attempted to refute them, by a pamphlet pub- lished in London. This drew from him a Reply, in which he triumphantly established all the statements he had previously made, and exhibited, in the avouched statistics of the yeai 1838, others still more appalling : " The divorces of this year were one hundred and forty-seven ; the sui- cides one hundred and seventy-two. Of the two thousand seven hundred and fourteen children born in Stockholm that year, one thousand five hun- dred and seventy -seven were legitimate, one thousand one hundred and thirty- seven illegitimate, making only a balance of four hundred and forty chastp mothers out of two thousand seven hundred and fourteen, and the propor- tion of illegitimate to legitimate children, not as one to two and three-tenths, as he had previously stated, but as one to one and a half ! ! " Prussia is another country of Europe in which the Refor mation has had almost unchecked sway for three centuries. Mr. Laing discourses of its moral condition as follows — the " index virtue" of which he speaks is female chastity : " Will any traveler, will any Prussian say that this index virtue of the moral condition of a people is not lower in Prussia than in almost any part of Europe ? It is no uncommon event in the family of a respectable trades- man of Berlin to find upon his breakfast table a little baby, of which, who- ever may be the father, he has no doubt at all about the maternal grand- father. Such accidents are so common in the class in which they are least common with us — the middle class, removed from ignorance or indigence — that they are regarded but as accidents, as youthful indiscretions, not as dis- graces affecting, as with us, the respectability and happiness of all the kith and kin for a generation." In a note, he gives the following statistical facts on this subject : " In 1837, the number of the females in the Prussian population between the beginning of their sixteenth and the end of their forty-fifth year — that is, within child-bearing age — was two millions nine hundred and eighty- three thousand one hundred and forty-six ; the number of illegitimate chil 274 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON WORSHIP. dren born in the same year was thirty-nine thousand five hundred and one j BO that one in every seventy-five of the whole of the females of an age to bear children had been the mother of an illegitimate child.'' He adds: " Prince Puckler Muskau (a Prussian) states in one of his late publicationa (Siidostlicher Bildersaal, 3 Thel. 1841) that the character of the Prussians for honesty stands lower than that of any other of the German populations."* CHAPTER X. THE INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON PUBLIC WORSHIP. General influence of the Eeformation on worship — Audin's picture of it — Luther rebukes violence — But wavers — Giving life to a skeleton — Taking a leap — Mutilating the sacraments — New system of Judaism — Chasing away the mists — Protestant inconsistencies — A dreary waste — No altars nor sacrifice — A land of mourning — Protestant plaints — And tribute to Catholic worship — A touching anecdote — Continual prayer — Vandalism rebuked — Grandeur of Catholic worship — Churches always open — Prot- estant worship — The Sabbath day — Getting up a revival — Protestant music and prayer — The pew system — The fashionaUe religion — The two forms of worship compared — St. Peter's church — The fine arts. In nothing perhaps was the influence of the Reformation more pernicious, than in the changes which it caused to be introduced into public worship. It stripped the ancient Cath- oKc service of its beauty and simple grandeur : it dried up the deep fountains of its melody — hushed its organs, mufl^led its Angelus bells, and put out its lights. It rudely tore away the ornaments of its priesthood, stripped its altars, and chased away the clouds of its ascending incense. It did even more. It destroyed the beautiful paintings and sculptures, with which art, paying tribute to religion, had decorated the walls * That the rural population of England is not much, if at all better, in a moral point of view, than that of Sweden and Prussia, clearly appears from the late work of Joseph Kay, which was noticed in a late number of Brown- Bo I's Koview. SAD VANDALISM. 275 of the churches ; — and when it did not ruthlessly destroy, it entirely removed those sacred emblems of piety. Tearing them in shreds or breaking them in pieces, it gave them, in almost numberless instances, to the flames, and then scattered their ashes to the winds. And, as if these feats of Vandalism were not enough to prove its turning zeal for religion, it aimed a mortal blow at the very substance of worship : it abolished the daily sacrifice, removed the altars, and annihil- ated the priesthood. And then, exhausted with its labors, Protestantism lay down, and fell asleep amidst the ruins it had caused !* Audin gives the following graphic description of the eflPects of early Reformation zeal on public worship: " Throughout the whole of Saxony, no more canticles were heard ; no more incense, no more lights on the altars, no more organs combining their melody with the infant's hymn, or sacerdotal anthem. The church walls were bare ; the light had no longer to steal through the painted windows, for they had all been broken, under the pretext that they favored idolatry. The Protestant temple resembled every thing but the house of God. The magnificence and poetry of Catholic worship, the loss of which modern Protestants deplore, everywhere disappeared."! Luther at first disapproved of the intemperate zeal of Karl- stadt and of other hot-headed disciples, who, during his ab- sence from Wittenberg, had abolished the Mass, and removed by violence the paintings and statues from the church of All Saints. Yet his disapproval did not, it would seem, proceed so much from a horror of the act itself, as of the violence which had attended it ; and more particularly from the circum- stance, that this innovation had taken place without his hav- ing been previously consulted ! In his harangue against those new Iconoclasts, he said : " You ought to know that you are to listen to no one but to me. With the help of God, Doctor Martin Luther has advanced first in the new way ; * "Le Protestantisme fiitigue s'est endormi sur des mines ! — Exhausted Protestantism fell asleep amidst ruins." — Abbe De Lamennais. + Life of Luther, p. 331. 276 INFLUENCE OF RITORMATION ON WORSHIP. the others followed after him ; they ought to exhibit the docility of disci- ples, as their duty is to obey. It is to mo that God has revealed His word ; it is out of my mouth that it has proceeded free from all stain Was I at such a distance that I could not be consulted ? Am I no longer the source of pure doctrine ? .... It is neither commanded nor prohibited to keep images. I wish that superstition had not introduced them amongst us ; but however they ought not to be removed by tumult."* But Luther, however he might deplore, could not curb the destructive spirit of his disciples. He could not prevent them from wielding the weapons which himself had placed in their hands. He could not control the storm which he himself had put in motion. The work of destruction went on, till scarce a vestige of the venerable and time-honored Catholic worship remained behind. He himself was uncertain and wavering, as to the portion of Catholic worship he should retain. The people of Wittenberg murmured, when the chapter of the church of All Saints in that city abolished the Mass during his absence from the city. "Luther restored it: not however as a sacrifice, but as a mere popular symbol. He took from it the ofl'ertory and the. canon, and all the forms of sacrifice ; while he retained the elevation of the bread and wine by the priest, the sacredotal salutation to the assistants, the mixture of water and wine, and the use of the Latin language."t To enliven somewhat this mutilated skeleton of the old ser- vice, he retained many of the Catholic proses and hymns, uniting with them some compositions of the old German poets. " He himself composed some to replace our hymns aud proses, which are precious monuments of the poetry of the early ages of Catholicism. Those sweet and simple melodies which were by turns joyous and austere, gay and melancholy, according to the occasion, were now replaced, in the Protestant Churches by a monotonous drawl. The reformed church thus lost the poems, inspirations, and symbols of the Catholic muse."J The liturgy was not the only subject on which the reformer * Apud Audin, ibid. pp. 237, 238. f Audin, ibid. p. 333. I Ibid. For some beautiful and charming reflections on this subject, see an article " on Prayer and Prayer-books," in a late number of the Dublin Review. GOING TOO FAST. 277 hesitated. His whole career, in fact, is marked with hesitancy and doubt, as to what he should reject, and what he should retain, of the old Catholic institutions. He often found him- self in trying and difficult positions. His impatient disciples sought to drag him down the declivity of reform much faster than the sturdy monk wished to travel. Sometimes he list- ened to their clamors ; sometimes he sternly rebuked them for their over ardent zeal. Hence his perpetual inconsisten- cies. On the subject of auricular confession, he contradicted himself more than once : at times he i-ecognized its divine origin, and proclaimed its great utility to society : again he would call it the invention of Satan, and " the executioner of consciences."* He betrayed similar doubts and inconsisten- cies as to the number of the sacraments instituted by Christ. He stood on the brink of a precipice, and yielded at times to dizziness, ere he took the fatal leap from the summit-level of Catholicity, into the yawning abyss, the boiling and hissing noise of whose troubled waters already grated harshly on his ears 1 But his disci] lies were not so scrupulous. They boldly rejected five out of the seven sacraments, and even stripped the two they retained — Baptism and the Lord's Supper — of every life-giving principle. They did not any longer view them as the channels of grace, through which the waters of life eternal flow into the soul of the Christian. This principle they rejected with horror as a Popish superstition. They de- nied that the sacraments had, from the design and institution of Christ, any intrinsic efficacy whatever : they were the mere external symbols of a grace, which they were not the instru- ments of imparting. They were mere signs and figures, life- less in themselves, and useful and available, only through and in proportion to the faith and other acts, of the recipient. In fact they were brought down, in every respect, to a level with * Conscientiarum Carnificina — See his Treatise, De rati one coofitendu Tom vi, edit. Altenb. Tom. i, opp. edit. .Jena, 18 278 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON WORSHIP. the ancient Jewish types and figures; and like th(!m, tliey were mere "weak and needy elements."* Thus the Reforma- tion brought back Christianity into the shadowy region of carnal Judaism, under the pretext of restoring the Church to its primitive purity They were even inferior to these, in point of appropriate- ness and significancy, as mere figures. Was not the Jewish eating of the paschal lamb "of one year old and without stain," a much more lively and appropriate type of the death of Christ — " the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" — than the symbols of mere bread and wine? What aptitude is there, in fact, in bread to be a figure of flesh, or even in wine, which is often almost colorless, to be a figure of blood ? Had Christ intended a mere figure, would he not have selected more appropriate emblems? Did he mean to bring back the Christian religion, which he watered with his own blood, to the mere standard of Judaism — did he mean to lower it even beneath this standard ? Did he institute a religion, the distinguishing ordinances of which should contain nothing more substantial than the Jewish tropes and figures? Was it to be still enveloped in that dense mist, which had overhung the ark of the covenant, and the institutions of the Jewish religion ? Or did he not rise on the world, as " the Sun of Justice," to chase away those mists, which had darkened the twilight of the Jewish types, and to usher in the clear, cloudless day of living and breath- ing realities ? Luther retained, indeed, a belief in the real presence, blended, however, with the palpable absurdity of consub stantiation ; by which he maintained the simultaneous pres- ence of the substances of the bread and wine with the body of Christ. But even many among the disciples of the re- former have long since rejected this monstrous system. After six different modifications of their creed (mi the subject, to -* Galatians, iv : 9. NO SACRIFICE NO ALTAR. 279 suit the tastes or to meet the objections of the Sacrjimenta- riaiis, they seem at length to have substantially coalesced with their former opponents ; and the doctrine of the real presence has thus grown almost, if not entirely, obsolete among Prot- estants.* Thus, throughout almost the whole land of Prot- estantism, this beautiful doctrine, which gives a sublime character to the Catholic worship, and is a key to all its mag- nificent ceremonial, has been utterly banished. The Protest- ant church and worship are no longer ennobled and vivified by this life-giving presence of the Word made flesh. Christ is banished from his own holy temple: he is no longer in the midst "of the children of men," where He before delighted to dwell. And the domain of Protestantism presents, in its bleak and dreary waste, a sad proof of His absence ! It is a land "of closed churches and hushed bells, of unlighted altars and unstoled priests !"f ISTo — its condition is still more deplorable. It has not even " unlighted altars ;" it has no altars at all ! Its altars fell under the same Vandalic stroke which annihilated its sacri- fice : " Sacrifice and oblation is cut ofi" from the house of the Lord ; the priests, the Lord's ministers, have mourned ; the country is destroyed ; the land hath mourned."J — This land of mourning, from whicli even " the priests, the Lord's minis- ters," have been banished, has been reposing for " many days" "without sacrifice, and without altar, and without ephod, and without therapliim."§ Where is there to be found, in the land of Protestantism, that clean oblation foretold by God's holy prophet : " For from the rising of the sun, even to the going down, my name is great among the gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and * For a full and well Ayritten statement of these variations of Lutheran- ism on the subject of the Eucharist, and for an account of the singular manner of the coalition indicated in the text, see Moore's " Travels of an Irish Gentleman," etc., p. 202 and p. 193. f W. Faber, " Sights and Thoughts in Foreign Churches." t Joel, i : 9, 10. 5 Osea, iii : 4. 280 INFLUENCE OF REFOKMATION ON WORSHIP. there is offered to ray name a a clean oblation; for my name 18 great among the gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts?"* — Where that altar, which St. Paul assures us the early Chris- tians had : " We have an altar whereof they have no power to eat who serve the tabernacle ?"f Until Protestantism appeared, with its blighting influence on worship, who ever heard of a religion, Christian or even pagan, the very essence of which did not consist in an external sacrifice? In this respect the Reformation has protested against the unanimous voice of mankind. And we have already seen from what particular personage Luther first learned the reasons for this protest, and how eagerly he seized and acted on them. J With the sacrifice, the priesthood, and the altar, fell also the splendid worship with which they were connected. Prot- estants, even those of Germany, lately began to appreciate and to deplore this desecration of God's holy sanctuary, and this desolation of His once fruitful vineyard ; and their voice of wailing was re-echoed by the Puseyites in England. We will give a few instances of this splendid tribute paid, by late Protestant writers in Germany, to the substance and forms of the splendid old Catholic worship. Isidore, Count Von Loeben, exclaims : "Admirable ceremonial, replete with harmony! It is the diamond which glitters on the crown of feith ! Whoever has a poetic spirit must feel a tendency to Catholicism '."^ — Elsewhere he says: "The Catholic Church, with its ever open door, with its undying lamps, its joyful or mournful strains, its hosannas or its lamentations, its hymns, its Masses, its festivals and reminiscences, resembles a mother, who ever holds forth her arms to receive the prodigal child. It is a fountain of sweet water, around which are assembled multitudes, to imbibe vigor, health, and ]ife."ll Another German Protestant breaks forth into this exclam- ation : " How beautiful is its music ! How it addresses both mind and sense ! Those melodious notes and voices, those canticles which breathe so pure a * Malachy, i : 2 f Heb., xiii : 10. X Supra, Chapter L 5 In his Lotosbliitter, 1817. || Ibid., p. 1. BEAUTY OF CATHOLIC AVORSHIP. 281 spirituality, those clouds of incense, those chimes which a disdainful philoso- phy condescends to despise : all these please God. Architects and sculptors ! you have acted wisely, and ennobled your art, by raising churches to the Divinity."* Another, E, Spindler, thus praises a beautiful custom pe- culiar to Catholicity: " It is not only an ancient, but a beautiful custom, to encircle the graves of the dead on the first and second of November. The peasants of the vil- lages hasten to the cemeteries : they kneel by a wooden cross, or other such funeral ornaments. They think on the past, on the shortness of human life. Then the departed are crowned with flowers, to signify the life that will never end. The lamp burns to remind us of the light which shall never be obscured !"f Another relates the following touching anecdote : " I saw also a Franciscan kneeling before a fi-esco painting of Christ on the walls of the cloister, which was admirable for its truth and beauty of expression. On hearing me approach, he rose up. ' Father, that is really beautiful.' — ' Yes ; but the original is still more so,' said the monk, smiling. — ' Then why make use of a material image in prayer ?' — ' I see,' said he, ' that you are a Protestant ; but do you not see that the artist modulates and ennobles the fantasies of my own imagination ? Have you not always experienced that this faculty calls up a thousand different forms ? Permit me to prefer, when there is question of images, the work of a great master to the creation of my own fancy.' — I was silent," concludes the writer.J In one of his works,§ Clausen, another Protestant, pays the following willing tribute to the encouragement of continual prayer by the Catholic Church : " When a poor pilgrim, wearied with fatigue, but light of heart, kneels on the altar steps to thank Him who has watched over him during a long and perilous journey ; when a distracted mother comes into the temple to pray for the recovery of her son, whom the physicians have given over ; whei. in the evening, just as the last rays of the sun steal through the stained glass on the figure of a young female engaged in prayer, when the flickering lights of the tapers die away on the pale lips of the clergy, as they chaunt the praises of the Eternal ; — tell me, does not Catholicism teach us that life * Leibnitz, Syst. Theol., p. 205. f Zeitspiegel, 1791. X Ch. Fr. D. Schubart — Leben und Gesinnungen — Stuttgart. 1791. j P. 790. Apud Audin, p. 331. VOL. I. — 24 282- INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON WORSHIP. should be one Ions; prayer, that art and science ought to combine to gloiifj Grod, and that the Church, where so many canticles are simultaneously hymned forth, where devotion puts on all conceivable forms, has a right to our love and respect ?" Finally, another thus openly censures the intemperate Van- dalism of the reformers in destroying the most beautiful por- tions of Catholic worship : " How blind were our reformers ! While destroying the greater part of the allegories of the Catholic Church, they believed that they were making war on superstition ! It was the abuse they ought to have proscribed."* The fiimous Novalis in fact says, that " Luther was not acquainted with the spirit of Christianity."! — Thus have the children borne testimony against their fathers in the faith ! | It is related of Frederick IL, king of Prussia, that after having assisted at a solemn high Mass celebrated in the church of Breslau by Cardinal Zinzendorf, he remarked : "The Calvinists treat God as an inferior, the Lutherans, as an equal ; but the Catholics treat him as God." And though this is perhaps too strong an expression of opinion as to the difference existing between the Catholic and the Protestant forms of worship; yet this difference is very great and very gtriking, even to the most superficial or prejudiced observer. Who has not been impressed with the grandeur, the solemni- ty, and the noble dignity of the Catholic ceremonial ? Who has not felt a sentiment of reverence and of awe come over him, when, at the most solemn part of this service, the peal of the organ ceases, the voice of music is hushed, and, while clouds of incense are ascending, the priests, the ministers, and the people all fall prostrate in silent prayer before the altar, on which the Lamb is present " as it were slain ?" Who has not felt a thrill of rapturous emotion, when, after this solemn moment has passed, the music again breaks forth, * Fessler— Theresia 2, p. 101. f " Luther verkannte den geist des Christenthums." I For more testimonies of Protestants on this subject, see Jul. Honing- haus "Das Resultat meiner wanderungen" — AschafFenburg, 1835. DAILY SACRIFICE AND PRAYER. 283 mingling joyous with solemn notes, and pouring forth a stream of delicious melody on the soul ! Who has not been struck with the pathetic simplicity, the unction, and noble grandeur of the Gregorian chant, especially in the Preface and the Pater Noster ! And who has not marked the reverent awe with which Catholics are wont to assist at the service, as well as the general respect they pay to the church of God ! In Catholic countries, the church is ever open, inviting the faithful to enter at all hours, and to pour forth their joys or their sorrows before the altar. And in Rome particularly, enter any one of its three hundred and fifty churches at what hour you may, you will always find some persons kneeling, engaged in secret prayer. The Catholic worship is not con- fined to Sundays : it is the business of every day, and there is accordingly a special service for every day in the year. The constant round of festivals presents to the minds of the people, with dramatic efiect, the most interesting portions of sacred history, as well as the most stiking incidents in the lives of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints : and the neces- sary result is, to keep these things constantly fresh in the memory. Finally, the Catholic is bound by the law of his Church to assist at divine service, and to hear Mass every Sunday and festival of the year, and thus he comes con- stantly under all the strong beneficial influences of his reli- gion. And if, notwithstanding all these advantages, he is still sometimes recreant to the voice of conscience and of duty, it is surely from no lack of provision for his spiritual culture on the part of the Church. She shows herself, in every res- pect, the tender and solicitous mother. Do the multiplied forms of worship introduced by the Reformation possess these advantages ; or do they combine these happy influences ? To begin with the one last named : is it not a saddening reflec- tion, that in Protestant countries, no obligation is felt to at- tend divine service, even on Sundays? Take London for an example of this. According to Colquhoun's statistical views of that Protestant metropolis, out of nearly fifteen hundred 2S4 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON WORSHIP. thousand inhabitants, about one-third, or five hundred thous- and never attend church ; and another third attend it only occasionally ! Of the remaining third, who attend regularly, probably more than half are Roman Catholics. True, in our own country the case is somewhat different : but it is only because here Protestantism has not yet pro- duced, at least to the same extent, the evil fruits of religious indiflference and of infidelity, which it has never failed to yield in countries where it has been long established. But even heie it is daily producing them more and more ; and under its influence, each succeeding generation must necessa- rily deteriorate. Look at Boston and New York, where infi- delity has already boldly raised its standard. It is only by almost limiting religious service to the Sunday — miscalled the Sahhath — and by continued efibrts through the press and the pulpit to keep up an exaggerated and nearly Jewish feeling of reverence for this day among the people, that any thing like regular attendance on Sunday service is obtained. In fact, according to the gloomy ideas now generally at- tached by American Protestants of the stricter sects to the "Sabbath" day, the people after having labored constantly through the six days of the week, have no other place of so- cial gathering but at the meeting-house ; and they have no alternative but to repair thither, or to sit down moodily or inertly at home. And we have no doubt, that it is to this cause, and to the cutting off of all sources of popular amuse- ment, as much at least as to zeal for religious worship, that we are to attribute the frequenting of the Protestant places of public service in the United States, But is the usual Protestant service in itself either inviting or impressive? Has it any thing in it to stir up the deep fountains of feeling ; to call forth the music and poetry of the soul; to convey salutary instruction, or to awaken lively in- terest? We would not speak lightly or irreverently on a subject so grave: but with due deference to the feelings of our dissentient brethren, we jnust express the conviction, that THE PROTESTANT SERVICE. 285 their service is sadly deficient in solemnity, as m'cII as in feeling ; and that it possesses not one trait of either grandeur or sublimity. It has certainly not one element of poetry or of pathos. Generally cold and lifeless, it becomes warm only by a violent efibrt, and then it runs into the opposite extreme of intemperate excitement. Can its music, with its loud, multiplied, and discordant sounds, compare for a moment with the grave and solemn melody of the Catholic worship ? Can its long extemporaneous prayers, often pronounced by a minister dressed in his every- day attire, and occasionally, it may be, interrupted by the sharp amens and discordant groans of his hearers, compare, for solemnity and effect, with that which is poured forth by the priest at the altar, robed in the venerable uniform of eighteen hundred years' standing, and which is accompanied by those of the people uttered in the hushed stillness of secret devotion ? For our parts, we greatly prefer calm com- posure and sanctuary quietude in the church, to noisy prayer and almost boisterous excitement. The Lord does not usually communicate himself to His adorers in the whirlwind, or in the earthquake, or in the raging fire ; but in the breathing of the gentle breeze.* Again, in Catholic countries there is no pew system. The rich and the poor, the prince and the beggar, the refined princess and the lowly peasant girl, kneel side by side on the same pavement, and at the foot of the same altar. There is no distinction there in the house of God. Is it so in Protestant countries? Has not the pew system, with all its invidious distinctions of rank, with its luxurious and splendidly cush- ioned seats, more suited for lolling than for prayers, obtained universally wherever Protestantism has been established? And has not the natural and necessary efiect been, to intro- duce worldly notions even into the house of God; and to * See III. Book of Kings, chap, xix, v. 11, 12. In Prot. version, I. Book Elings. 28G INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION O.N WORSHIP. make chnrch-guing a matter of fashion and respectability ? Do not many people even inquire, before they embrace a religion which is the most respectable and fashionable church ? True, in countries where Protestants are most numerous, and where it would be difficult to support the Church other- wise, Catholics likewise have often borrowed the invidious Bystem from their neighbors: but candor will allow, that among them it is not pushed to the same extreme as among Protestants. It is, moreover, strongly counteracted in its evil tendencies by the spirit of their Church. The Catholic ceremonial was designed and planned on a grand and magnificent scale. Hence it is exhibited to the best advantage in the largest churches, and has the most impressive and sublime efi'ect in such temples as St. Mary Major's and St. Peter's at Rome. The Protestant service, on the contrary, is as contracted in its nature, as it is meagre in its details, and cold and unimpressive in its general efiect It is wholly out of place in a very extensive church. In St Paul's church, in London, it is confined to one segment of the centre aisle: the other portions of the church seem utterly useless. So it is in the splendid old cathedrals of England, Ireland, and Scotland, built by our Catholic forefathers on the grand scale of the Catholic worship, but now occupied as Protestant meeting-houses. In the Protestant service, almost every thing is for the ear, and almost nothing for the eye: in the Catholic, all the senses are addressed, and all are enchained. In nothing does the immense distinction between the Cath- olic and the Protestant forms of worship appear more strik- ingly, than in the marked difference in the structure, beauty, and ornaments of the churches in which they are respectively performed. "Where, for instance, in the whole land of Prot- estantism, will you find one church to compare in beauty and sublimity with St. Peter's at Rome ? It is an architectural monument as old as Protestantism, and, as a merely materia structure, much more stable and permanent than Protestant ST. Peter's church. 287 ism ! It has seen Inmdreds of sects arise, create excitement for a day, and then die away; while itself has continued in unfading beauty — the sublime emblem of unchanging and undying Catholicity ! Not one of its stones has started from its place : not one of its pillars has been shaken ; not one of its arches has been broken ! It stands bravely erect, in all the vigor and freshness of youth," a suitable type of the ever- blooming and virgin spouse of Christ, " without spot, without wrinkle, without blemish."* Enter its portals, and your soul expands with the noble building; and you involuntarily ex- claim: "Truly, this is the house of God and the gate of heaven 1" The fine arts have here been lavish of their trib- ute to religion and to God : and they speak silently, but elo- quently, of Christ, of His Mother, of His apostles, and of His saints. — Why have these lovely arts been banished from the Protestant churches ? " 0 when will the ages of faith e'er return, To gladden the nations again ? 0 when shall the flame of sweet charity bum, To warm the cold bosoms of men ? " When the angel of vengeance hath sheathed his sword, And his vials have drenched the land : When the pride of the sophist hath bent to the Lord. And trembled beneath His strong hand." Ephesians, chap. v. 288 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. CHAPTER XI. INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE ON BIBLE READING, AND BIBLICAL STUDIES. " By various texts we both uphold our claim, Nay, often ground our titles on the same ; After long labors lost and time's expense, Both grant the words, and quarrel for the sense. Thus all disputes forever must depend, For no dumb rule can controversies end." — Dryden. " Mark you this, Bassanio : The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose In religion what damning error But some sober brow can bless it. And approve it with a text."— Shakspeabk. Protestant boastings — Theory of D'Aubigne — Luther finds a Bible — '!(W absurd! — The "chained Bible" — Maitland's triumphant refutation — Seck- endorf versus D'Aubigne — Menzel's testimony — The Catholic Church and the Bible — The Latin language — Vernacular versions before Luther's — In Germany — In Italy — In France — In Spain — In England — In Flan- ders— In Sclavouia — In Sweden — In Iceland — Syriac and Armenian ver- sions— Summary and inference — Polyglots — Luther's Mse assertion — Reading the Bible — Fourth rule of the index — A religious vertigo rem- edied— More harm than good — Present discipline — A common slander — Protestant versions — Mutual compliments — Version of King James — The Douay and Vulgate Bibles — Private interpretation — German ration- alism— Its blasphemies — Rationalism in Geneva. OuK inquiry into the influence of the* Reformation on re ligion would be incomj^lete, without some examination into the extent of this influence on the Bible, and on the general diffusion and character of Biblical learning. It is one of the proudest boasts of the Reformation, that it rescued the Bible from the obscurity to which the Roman Catholic Church had consigned it; that it first translated the Bible into the ver- nacular tongues ; and thereby opened its hitherto concealed treasures of heavenly wisdom to the body of the people. These pretensions have been so often and so confident;ly re- LUTHER FINDS A BIBLE ! 289 peated, that they have passed current for the truth, even with many sincere and otherwise well-informed persons ; whose conviction on this subject is so strong, that it seems difficult to remove it even by most overwhelming evidence to the contrary. According to our historian of the Keformation, Luther owed his first conversion to Christianity to an accidental dis- covery of the Bible in the library of the university at Erfurth. Here is his curious statement on the subject ; — it will be borne in mind that Luther was then twenty years of age, and had been a student at the university of Erfurth for about two years : " One day he was opening the books in the library one after another, in order to read the names of the authors. One which he opened in its turn drew his attention : he had not seen any thing like it till that hour ; he reads the title, it is a Bible, a rare book, unknown at that time ! His interest is strongly excited ; he is filled with astonishment at finding more in this vol- ume than those fragments of the gospels and epistles, which the Church has selected to be read to the people in their places of worship every Sunday in the year. Till then he had thought that they were the whole word of God. And here are so many pages, so many chapters, so many books, of which he had no idea ! His heart beats as he holds in his hand all the Scripture divinely inspired. With eagerness and indescribable feelings he turns over those leaves of the word of God. The first page that arrests his attention, relates the history of Hannah and the young Samuel."* He then relates how the young Luther piously resolved to imitate the devotedness of the young Samuel ; and he con- tinues : " The Bible that had filled him with such transport was in Latin. He soon returned to the library to find his treasure again. He read and re- read, and then in his surprise and joy went back to read again. The first gleams of a new truth then arose in his mind. Thus has God caused him to find his holy word ! He has now discovered the book of which he is one day to give to his countrymen that admirable translation, in which the Ger- mans for three centuries have read the oracles of God. For the first time, perhaps, this precious volume has been removed from the place that it occu- pied in the library of Eifurth. This book, deposited on the unknown * D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 131. VOL. I. — 25 290 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. shelves of a dark room, is soon to become the book of hfe /or a whole ia^ tion. The Reformation lay hid in that Bible."* This was not, however, the only Bible he had the good fortune to find : for after he had entered the convent of the Augustinians at Erfurth, "he found another Bible fastened by a chain ."f D'Aubigne professes to borrow all this fine history from Mathesius, a disciple and an ardent and credulous admirer of Luther, and from Adam, another partial biographer of the reformer. The story is too absurd, and too clumsily con- trived even for a well-digested romance. What ? Are we to believe that Luther, at the age of twenty, did not know that there was a Bible, until he chanced to discover one in the library at Erfurth ? And that until then he piously believed, that the whole Scriptures were comprised in that choice selec- tion of gospels and epistles which were read on Sundays in the Church service ? He, too, a young man of great talent and promise, who had successively attended the schools of Mansfeld, Eisenach, and Magdeburg, and had already been two years at the university of Erfurth ! The thing is utterly incredible, and is stamped with palpable absurdity on its very face. Luther must have been singularly stupid indeed, had he remained thus ignorant. And then the idea intended to be conveyed by the chained Bible! Would the good monks have enchained it, unless it was in such demand with the people as to endanger its safety ? In that early period of the art of printing, books were much more scarce and more highly prized than at present; and perhaps then, as now, borrowed books were seldom returned to the owner. Dr. Maitland, a learned English Protestant writer, triumpl> antly refutes, and merrily laughs at the absurd and glaringly mendacious assertion of D'Aubigne, that the Bible was " an unknown book" before the days of Luther. We give an ex- tract from his refutation, which will be found both interesting and instructive, as well as amusing: * D'Aubigne, voL i, p. 132. f Ibid., p. 141. maitland's refutation. 291 " Is it not odd that Luther had not by some chance or other heard of the Psalms? — But there is no use in criticising such nonsense. Such it must appear to every moderately informed reader ; but he will not appreciate its absurdity until he is informed that, on the same page, this precious historian has informed his readers, that, in the course of the two preceding years, Luther had ' applied himself to learn the philosophy of the middle ages, in the writings of Occam, Scot (Scotus), Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas ;' --of course none of those poor creatures knew anything about the Bible ! "The fact, however, to which I have so repeatedly alluded is simply this — the writings of the Dark Ages are, if I may use the expression, made of the Scriptures. I do not merely mean that the writers constantly quoted the Scriptures, and appealed to them as authority on all occasions, as other writers have done since their day — though they did this, and it is a strong proof of their familiarity with them — but I mean that they thought and spoke and wrote the thoughts and words and phrases of the Bible, and that they did this constantly and habitually as the natural mode of expressing themselves. They did it, too, not exclusively in theological or ecclesiastical matters, but in histories, biographies, familiar letters, legal instruments, and documents of every description."* The English church historian, Mihier, has strangely enough fallen into the same absuid error as D'Aubigne. In the fourth volume of his work, p. 324, he thus relates the won- derful discovery of a Bible by Luther : " In the second year after Luther had entered into the monastery, he accidentally met with a Latin Bible in the library. It proved to him a treasure. Then he first discovered that there were moke Scripture passages extant than those which were read to the people: for the Scriptures were at that time very little known in the world." Whereupon Dr. Maitland comments as follows : " Really one hardly knows how to meet such statements ; but will the reader be so good as to remember that we are not now talking of the Dark Ages, but of a period when the jjress had been half a century in operation ; and will he give a moment's reflection to the following statement, which I * The Dark Ages ; a Series of Essays intended to illustrate the state of Religion and Literature in the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centurieb. By Rev. S. R. Maitland, D. D., F. R. S. and F. S. A , sometime Librarian tc the late Archbishop of Canterbury and Keeper of the MSS. at Lambeth Third edition. London, 1823. 8vo. P. 468, seq. 292 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. believe to 1x3 con-ect, and which can not, I think, be so far inaccurate as to affect the argument. To say nothing of parts of the Bible, or of lx)oks whose place is uncertain, we know of at least twentij different editions of the wJiole Latin Bible printed in Qermany only before Luther wiis horn. These had issued from Augsburg, Strasburg, Cologne, Ulm, Mentz (two), Basle (four), Nurenberg (ten) ; and were dispersed through German}-, I repeat, before Luther was born ; and I may remark that before that event there was a printing press at work in this very town of Erfurth, where more than twenty years after he is said to have made his 'discovery.' Some may ask what the Pope was about all this time ? Truly, one would think he must have been off his guard ; but as to these German performances, he might have found employment nearer home, if he had looked for it. Before Luther was born, the Bible was printed in Rome, and the printers had had the assurance to memorialize his Holiness, praying that he would help them off with some copies. It had been printed, too, at Naples, Florence, and Placenza ; and Venice alone had furnished eleven editions. No doubt we should be within the truth, if we were to say that, besides the multitude of manuscript copies, not yet fallen into disuse, the press had issued fifty dif- ferent editions of the whole Latin Bible ; to say nothing of Psalters, New Tes- taments, or other parts. And yet, more than twenty j^ears after, we find a young man who had received 'a very liberal education,' who 'had made great proficiency in his studies at Magdeburg, Eisenach, and Erfurth,' and who, nevertheless, did not know what a Bible was, simply because 'the Bible was unknown in those days ! ' "* D'Aiibigne in the course of his history repeatedly quotes Seckendorf, the biographer and great admirer of Luther. Did he never chance to read in the first book of this writer's "Commentaries on Lutheranism," a passage in which he states, that three distinct editions of the Bible, translated into German, were published at Wittenberg, in 1470, 1488, and 1490 : one of them thirteen years before the birth of Luther, another in the very year of his birth, and a third seven years thereafter ?t And all these in the immediate vicinity of Luther's birth place ; not to mention another edi- tion, which the same author assures us, J was published not far distant, — at Augsburg, in 1518, just one year after Luther * The Dark Ages, etc. Maitland. P. 469, note. ■}• Commentarii in Luther. Lib. 1, sec. 51. \ cxxv, p. 204 Quoted by Audin, p. 216. X Ibid. CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. 293 !iad turned reformer, and twelve years before he published the last portion of his own German version of the Bible ! How could D'Aubigne avoid seeing this passage in his own favorite historian : and if he saw it, what are we to think of his honesty in wholly concealing the fact, and even in stating what is plainly contradicted by it — that " the Bible was then an unknown book,'' and that Luther never saw it till his twentieth year? Mt.. zel, far more honest than D'Aubigne, tells us expressly that " before the time of Luther the Bible had already been translated and printed in both High and Low Dutch."* The Bible then an unknown book ! Who preserved this book during the previous fifteen hundred years? From whom did the reformers receive it ? Who kept it safe through all dangers; in the midst of conflagrations, wars,^ and the destructive torrents of barbarian incursion ? Who copied it over and again, before the art of printing? The Roman Catholic Church did all this : and yet flippant or dishonest writers still accuse her of having concealed this book of life from the people ! But for her patient labor, vigilant \ratch- fulness, and maternal solicitude, the Bible might have perisi:ed with thousands of other books : and still she was an enemy oi" this good book, and wished to keep it hidden under a bushel ! She had choice selections from it read to her people on every Sunday and festival of the year, even according to the enforced avowal of our unscrupulous and romantic historian of the Ref- ormation ; still she wished to conceal this treasure from the people ! A curious way of concealing it, truly ! But, perhaps, she preserved it in the Latin tongue only, and was opposed to its general circulation in the living languages of Europe. She did no such thing, as we shall presently see ; though even had she done this, she would not have concealed the Bible from the people. The Latin language continued to he that which was most generally understood, and even * History of Germany, vol. ii, p. 223. 19 294 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. spoken in Europe, until the reign of Charlemagne, in the beginning of the ninth century: and even for several centu- ries afterwards, while the modern languages were struggling into form, it was more or less generally known, and was not, properly speaking, a dead language. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, and for a long time afterwards, it was the only language of literature, of theology, of medicine, and of legislation. Most of the modern languages of Europe were formed from it, and were so similar to it both in words and in general structure, that the common people of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and even France, could understand the mother tongue without great difficulty. In Hungary, it had been the common language of the people since the days of king Stephen, in the latter part of the tenth century. It was, moreover, taught and studied in every school and college of Christendom, and it was the medium through which most other branches were taught. It was, then, at the time of the Reformation, a language which was very commonly under- stood in Europe. Therefore, even if the Catholic Church had given the Bible to the people only in the Latin Vulgate, she would not have concealed it : nor would it have remained " an unknown book." It is a notorious fact, that one of the first books published after the invention of the art of printing, was the Latin Bible.* The learned Protestant bibliographer, Dibdin, thus speaks of the earlier printed editions of the Latin Bible: "From the year 1462, to the end of the fifteenth century, the editions of the Lat'n BH>le nia}^ be considered hterally innumerable; and generally speaking only repetitions of the same text."f * Hallam proves, or believes that he proves, that it was the first book printed, probably in the year 1455. — " History of Literature," sup. cit. vol. i, p. 96. f The Library Companion, or the young man's Guide and the old man's Comfort in the choice of a Library. By Rev. T. F. Dib lin, M. A., F. R. S., Meml)er of the Academy of Rouen and Utro^ht. Second edition, London, 1825. Octavo, pages 899. P. 15. GERMAN VERSIONS. 295 Among the more ancient and valuable editions of the Latin version, he enumerates the following : "As thus ; at Mentz, in 1455 ; at Bamberg, 1461 ; at Rome, 1471 ; Venice, 1476 ; Naples, 1476 ; in Bohemia, 1488 ; in Poland, 1563 ; in Iceland, 1551 ; in Russia, 1581 ; in France, 1475 ; in Holland, 1477 ; in England, 1535 ; in Spain, 1477."* But it is a well ascertained fact, that long before the Refor- mation of Luther, the people of almost every country in Europe had the Bible already translated into their own ver- nacular tongues. Li most nations, there was not only one, but there were even many different versions. We begin with Germany, the theater of the Reformation. We have already seen the testimony of Seckendorf and of. Menzel on this subject. The Germans had no less than Jive different translations of the Scriptures into their own lan- guage ; of which three were previous to that of Luther in 1530 ;f and two were contemporary with, or immediately sub- sequent to it. The oldest was that made by Ulphilas, Bishop of the Mseso-Goths (now Wallachians), as early as the middle of the fourth century.J This version seems to have been used for several centuries by many of the older Gothic and German Christians. The second version was that ascribed to Charlemagne (beginning of ninth century) — probably be- cause it was made by some learned man under his direction. It was in the old German, or Teutonic dialect. Besides, there was a very old rhythmical paraphrase of the four gospels, much used in Germany from the time of the first emperor Louis .§ The third German version was a translation from the Latin * The Library Companion, etc., Dibdin, sup. cit. P. 16, note. This work is found in the valuable collection of Very Rev. E. T. Collins, of Cincinnati. to whom we are indebted for several authorities alleged in these pages. f Luther's translation was completed in this year; it was commenced about eight years previously. — See for all the fiicts and dates, Audin, 215-6, note. I See Home's Litroduction, vol. ii, p. 240-5. \ This was as early as the middle of the ninth century. 296 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. Vulgate by some person unknown, an edition of which wa8 printed as early as the year 14G6 : two copies of this edition are still preserved in the senatorial library at Leipsic. Be- fore the appearance of the German Bible of Luther, the ver- sion last named had been republished in Germany at least sixteen times : once at Strasburg, five times at Nurenberg, and ten times at Augsburg. These various editions often claimed to be new versions, in consequence of the improvements they professed to have introduced into the original version of 1466. This was particularly the case with the edition published at Augsburg in 1477, and also with that of Nurenberg in 1483, wliich latter was embellished with numerous wood-cuts. Thus, before the publication of Luther's translation, there had already appeared in Germany no less than three distinct versions of the whole Bible, the last of which had passed through at least seventeen different editions. Add to these the three editions of Wittenberg, mentioned by Seckendorf above, and not included in this estimate, and we ascertain that the Bible had already been reprinted in the German lan- guage no less than twenty times, before Luther's appeared.* In 1534, John Dietemberg published his new German translation from the Latin Vulgate at Mayence, under the auspices of the archbishop and elector, Albert. It passed through upwards of twenty editions in the course of a hun- dred years, four of which appeared at Mayence, and seven- * See Le Long, Bibliotheca Sacra, I, 354, seqq. Edit. Paris, 1723 ; also, David Clement, the Calviiiist Librarian of Prussia, Bibliotheque Curieuse, 9 vols. 4to, Gottingen, 1750; and second No. of the Dublin Review. Besides the German Editions indicated in the text, we have .since dis- covered at least seven more, mentioned by Joseph Kehrein, in his Zur Geschichte, or Supplementary Histoiy of the German Translations of the Bible Iwfore Luther's: he quotes Panzer, an unquestionable authoi-ity. These editions are as follows : two at Oologne, in 1470, and 1480; one at Lubeck, 14'J4 ; one at llaberstadt, 1522 ; one at Mayence, 1517 : one (adtlitional) at Strasbourg; and one at Basle, in 1517. Two of tliese old Editions may be seen in the West : one in the library of Bishop Luers, Fort Wayne — that o( Nurenborg, 1470 ; and the other in that of Fatlier Collins, Cincinnati — ©i Cologne, 1470. They are l)Otli beautiful specimens, and I'iehly illustrated See al.so, the 61st Catalogue of C. H. Beschen, Noordliiigen, 1860. ITALIAN VERSIONS. 297 teen at Cologne. The style of it was somewhat unpolished, but it was generally esteemed as a faithful translation. In 1537, another Catholic version appeared under the supervis- ion of Doctors Emser and Eck, the two learned champions of Catholicity against Luther. This version likewise passed through many editions. While on the subject of German Bibles, we may here re- mark, though it does not come exactly within our present plan, that Caspar Ulenberg published a new version in 1630 ; and that during the last forty years, several other new ver- sions have appeared in Catholic Germany, of which those of Schwartzel and Brentano are the most popular. The facts already stated clearly prove how uttej-ly un- founded, and how recklessly false is the statement of D'Au- bigne, that before the Reformation " the Bible was an unknown book !" They demonstrate triumphantly, that the Catholics of Germany were even more zealous in the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, than were the self-styled reformers, notwith- standing all the loud boastings of the latter and of their friends on the subject. But we will pursue this line of argument still further, and prove, on the unquestionable authorities referred to above, that other Catholic countries were not behind Germany in the sincere will to translate the Scriptures into the vernacular tongues, and to circulate them among the people. In fact, there is not a country in Europe in which the Bible had not been repeatedly translated and published long before the Reformation. In Italy, there were two versions anterior to that of Luther: that by the Dominican, Jacobus a Voragine, archbishop of Genoa, which version, according to the testimony of Sixtus Senensis,* was completed as early as 1290 ; and that by Nicholas Malermi, a Camaldolese monk, which was first printed simultaneously at Rome and Venice, in the year * Biblotheca sacra, torn, i, p. 397. 298 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. 1471, and which had passed through as iiiaiiy as thirteen dif ferent editions before tlie year 1525. This transhition wag afterwards reprinted eigJU times before the year 15G7, with the express permission of the Santo Uffizio^ or Holy Office at Rome. Almost simultaneously with that of Luther, there likewise appeared two other Italian translations of the Bible: that by Antonio Bruccioli* in 1532, which in twenty years passed through ten editions ; and that by Santes Marmochino, which was successively printed at Venice in 1538, 1546, and 1547. The oldest French version of the Bible was that by Des Moulins whose Bible Historyal — almost a complete transla- tion of the Bible — appeared, according to Usher, about the year 1478. A new edition of it, corrected by Rely, bishop of Angers, was published in 1487, and was successively re- printed sixteen different times before the year 1546 : four of these editions appearing at Lyons, and twelve at Paris. In 1512, Le Fevre published a new French translation, which passed through many editions. A revision of this version was made by the divines of Louvain, in 1550, and was sub- sequently reprinted in France and Flanders, thirty-nine times before the year 1700, f More recently, a great variety of new Catholic versions have appeared in France ; of which those by De Sacy, Corbin, Amelotte, Maralles, Godeau, and Hure, are the most celebrated. According to Mariana, the great Spanish historian, the Scriptures were translated into Castilian by order of Al- phonso, the "Wise. The whole Bible was translated into the Valencian dialect of the S]>anish, in the year 1405, by Boni- face Ferrer, brother of St. Vincent Ferrei-. This vereion was printed in 1478, and reprinted in 1515, lolth the formal con- * It is but fair to say, that this version was deemed inaccurate, and was subsequently suppressed by the competent authorities, witl> the consiMit of the autlior. Marmochino corrected its faults. \ It is thus a mistake to suppose, as Ranke and others seem to do, that ^jH Fevre was the author of the first French translation of the Bible. FRENCH AND OTHER VERSIONS. 299 sent of the Spanish Inquisition. In 1512, the Epistles and Gospels were translated into Spanish by Anibrosio de Mon- tesma. This work was republished at Antwerp in 1544, at Barcelona in 1601 and 1608, and at Madrid in 1603 and 1615. In England, besides the translation made by the venerable Bede in the eighth century, and that of the Psalms ascribed to Alfred the Great,* in the ninth, there was also another translation of the whole Bible into the English of that early period, which was completed about the year 1290 — long be- fore the version of Wickliffe in the fifteenth century. In the year 706, Adhelm, first bishop of Salisbury, accord- ing to the testimony of the Protestant biblicist Horn, trans- lated the Psalter into Saxon. At his persuasion, Egbert, bishop of Lindisfarne, also translated the four gospels. In the fourteenth century, a new English version of the whole Bible was made by John de Trevisa. In the year 905, Elfric, archbishop of Canterbury, translated into English the Penta- teuch, Joshua, Job, the Judges, Ruth, part of the books of Kings, Esther, and the Maccabees.f The Bible was translated into Flemish, as Usher J admits, by Jacobus Merland, before the year 1210. This version was printed at Cologne in 1475, and it passed through seven new editions before the appearance of Luther's Bible in 1530. The Antwerp edition was republished eight times in the short space of seventeen years. Within thirty years there were also published, at Antwerp alone, no less than ieii editions of the New Testament translated by Cornelius Kendrick in 1524, In the course of the seventeenth century, there also appeared in Flanders several new Catholic versions by De Wit, Laemput, Schum, and others. All these were repeatedly republished. 1 The venerable Bede died in 735, immediately after having finished his translation of St. John's Gospel, which seems to have completed his versiot of the Scriptures. f Cf Archbishop Kenrick's Theologia Dogmatica, vol. i, p. 426. t A learned Protestant historian, especially in regard to dates. 300 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. A Sclavonian version of the Bible was published at '>a- cow, in the beginning of the sixteenth century. As early as the fourteenth (;entury the Bible had been translated into Swedish, by the direction of St. Bridget. According to the testimony of Jonas Arnagriraus, a disciple of the distin- guished Tycho Brahe, a translation of the Bible was made in Tfeknd, as early as 1279. A Bohemian Bible appeared at Prague in 1 488, and passed through three other different edi- tions; at Cutna in 1498, and at Venice in 1506 and 1511. Finally, to complete this hasty summary of bibliographical facts, we may here state, as an evidence of the solicitude of Rome for the dissemination of the Bible, that many editions of Syriac and Arabic Bibles have been printed at Kome and Venice for the use of the oriental churches in communion with the Holy See. A translation of the Bible into Ethiopic was published at Rome, as early as 1548. The famous con- vent of Armenian monks, called Mechiteristi^ at Venice, so often visited by travelers, has more recently published exquis- itely beautiful versions of the Bible translated into Armenian. From this mass of facts — and we have not given all which might be alleged on the subject — it clearly appears that the Catholic Church had exhibited a most commendable zeal for the dissemination of the Scriptures among the people, long before the Reformation had been so much as heard of. This evidence of stubborn facts demonstrates how very silly are the assertions of those Protestant writers who, with D'Aubign^, would fain persuade the world that we are indebted to the Reformation for the knowledge and general circulation of the Scriptures. And yet prejudice or drivelling ignorance will probably still continue to re-echo this unfounded assertion. So tenaciously do men cling to the tales of the nursery, and persist in obstinately believing, against all evidence, wha^ ever is flattering to pride or prejudice ! Thus, before the appearance of Luther's version, in 1530, there had existed in the different countries of Europe at least twenty-two different Catholic versions, which, during the sev- POLYGLOTS. 30 J enty years intervening between 1460 and 1530, had passed through at least seventy editions : — or one for each year ! And, simultaneously with Luther's German Bible, there ap- peared a great number of Catholic versions, all of which, as well as those previously in existence, were frequently re- printed. And yet, in the face of all these facts, we are still to be told that the Catholic Church concealed the Bible from the people ! While on this subject, we may as well also remark that, of the four famous Polyglot Bibles, the three most ancient were published by Catholics. That by Cardinal Ximenes was published at Alcala in Spain, in six volumes, folio, in the year 1515 — two years before the commencement of the Reformation. That of Antwerp was published in 1572, and that of Paris in 1645 ; while the latest of all, and the only Protestant one, was published by Walton, in London, only in the year 1658 ! We say nothing of another Polyglot edition of the Psalms, by Giustiniani, an Italian, who seems to have been the first to conceive this splendid idea of illustrating the Scriptures by exhibiting, in parallel columns, the original Hebrew and Greek, with the most ancient and esteemed versions. His labor was, however, never destined to see the light; his manuscripts were lost in a shipwreck near Leghorn; and it was reserved to the magnificent Ximenes to be the first to carry out this great conception. He devoted many of the last years of his brilliant life to this great work. Valuable manuscripts in Greek and Hebrew were procured in remote places, and at immense expense: Ximenes himself collated these precious documents with the assistance of a body of learned men ; and he finally put the finishing hand to his herculean labor. To him are we indebted for the first great impulse thus given to biblical criticism and literature. It is also worthy of remark, that a learned Italian, Bernardo di Rossi, towards the close of the last century, by his single, unaided eflbr*;s. collected together more valuable ancient 302 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. Greek, and especially Hebrew, manuscripts of the Bible, than Walton had been able to do, with his immense resources and the co-operation of the British and of other governments.* It is also proper to state that, besides the version of the Bible into the vernacular tongues of Europe, referred to above, there were, about the time of the Ilefurmation, variou.? Latin versions made by Catholics immediately from the original Hebi'ew and Greek texts. Tlie^e were entirely dis- tinct from the Latin Vulgate of St. Jerome. The most famous were : — that by Santes Pagninus, published at Florence and Lyons in 1528, which was a translation from the Hebrew; awd that of the Old Testament by Cardinal Cajetan, which was a literal translation from the Septuagint.f It is also well known that Leo X., in order to promote biblical learn ing, encouraged the study of Greek and Hebrew at the very dawn of the Reformation, and before the reformers had done any thing of the kind. J Thus every department of biblical study was fully and extensively cultivated by the Catholic Church, both before and after the commencement of the Reformation. Catholic divines labored at least as much, and as successfully, in these studies, as did the reformers, and at a much more early period. Europe was filled with Bibles in almost every language, and especially in the Latin Vulgate and in the vernacular tongues. With all these undoubted facts before us, we will now be better able to form a correct judgment on the truth of the statement made by Martin Luther himself in his Table Talk. " Thirty years ago the Bible was an unknown book : the Prophets were not understood ; it was thought that they could not be transhited. I was * See Geddes' "Prospectus for a new Translation," etc., 4to. Also the works of Bernardo di Piossi, who died a few years ago. + Geddes, ibid. I This was but one of the many acts of the brilliant Pontiff, who ushered in tlie second Augustan age of literature. — See Roscoe. FOURTH RULE OF INDEX. 303 twenty years old before I saw the Scriptures : I thought that there was no other Gospel, no other Epistles than those contained in the Postilla."* The arch-reformer must either have been wondrously igno- rant of what was everywhere passing around him in the world, or he must have wilfully misstated the facts of the case. His character for knowledge, or for veracity, must suffer terribly; there is no alternative. We suspect, how- ever, that, like his admirer D'Aubigne, he was not very particular about the truth, when a misstatement would better serve his purpose. But we are still told that Catholics did not read the Bible, -that they were even prohibited to do so, before the Reforma- tion.— Who then, we would ask, purchased and read those SEVENTY EDITIONS of tlic Bible in the vernacular tongues, which, as we have seen, were published before Luther had circulated one copy of his German Bible? Were they read only by the priests? — But these all knew Latin, and had their Latin Bibles. Think you that booksellers would have pub- lished so many editions of a book, which was not readily sold and extensively read ? Would a new edition have been necessary each successive year, during the seventy which preceded the appearance of Luther's Bible, unless each edition, IS it appeared, had been eagerly sought and rapidly bought lip? Would any of our modern book publishers reprint seventy successive yearly editions of a work, which was not generally read ? But there was a prohibition by the Church to read the Bible. — When, where, and by whom was that prohibition made? The annals of history are wholly silent as to any re- striction of the kind having been made, before the flagrant abuses of the Bible by the reformers and their disciples seemed to require some such regulation, llie Church had, indeed, carefully guarded against the circulation of erroneous or inaccurate editions ; and the suppression of the Italian * Tisch-Redea, or Table Talk, p. 352, edit. Eisleben. Apud Audin, p. 390, 391, 304 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. ^■er8ion by Bruccioli is an evidence of this wise solicitude. But we nowhere find evidence of any restrictive law as to the reading of the Bible in the vernacular versions, until after the council of Trent had closed its sessions in 1563. A committee of learned divines, named by the council, then drew up a list, or Index, of prohibited books, prefaced by ten general regulations on the reading of them. The fourth rule of the Index permits the reading '^ of the Bible translated into the vulgar tongues by Catholic authors, to those only to whom the bishop or the inquisitor, with the ad- vice of the parish priests or confessors, shall judge that such reading will prove more profitable unto an increase of faith and piety, than injurious :" and it assigns, as a reason for this restriction, " that experience had made it manifest, that the permission to read the Bible indiscriminately in the vulgar tongues had, from the rashness of men ^ done more harm than good."* Some such regulation of discipline was deemed salutary and even necessary, at a time when, the landmarks of the ancient faith having been recklessly removed, the Bible was wantonly perverted to support a hundred contradictory sys- tems. In that period of religious vertigo, men, " having an appearance* indeed of piety, but denying the power thereof," were "always learning, and never attaining to the knowledge of the truth :"f " according to their own devices, they heaped up to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they turned away their hearing from the truth, and were turned to fables :"J they " were like children, tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the wickedness of men, in craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive :"§ and not understanding that in the Scriptures "are some things hard to be understood," they " wrested them to their own per- * "Cum experimento manifestum sit, si sacra biblia vulgari lingu'i passim sine discriminc permittantiir, plus inrle, ob hominum temeritatem detri- menti quam utilitatis oriri." Reo;uLa IV. •f 2 Tim., iii : 5-7. t Ibid., iv : 3, 4. { Ephes.. iv : 14. MODERN DISCIPLINE. 305 dition."* In this emergency, when the very substance of the faith was endangered, did it not behoove the Church, " which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth,"f to raise her warning voice, and to proclaim from the chair of Peter, with St. Peter himself, that all should "under- stand this Jlrst, that no prophecy of the Scripture is made by pi'ivate interpretation fX and to re-echo through the relig- ious world, thus shaken to its very base, the solemn command of Christ " to hear the Church," under the penalty of being reckoned "with heathens and publicans ?"§ This is precisely what the Church did ; and she thought that she was compelled to adopt this course by the glaring evils wrought through the working of the newly broached principle of private interpretation. The "rashness of men" perverting tlie Scriptures of God to their own perdition, was the cause of her enactment, restricting the reading of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongues. The principle of private interpretation, applied to the Scriptures, had evidently " done more harm than good ;" for, whereas the Bible manifestly contains and teaches but one religion, this principle had al- ready extracted from it a hundred contradictory religions. So that the Reformation is alone to be blamed for this restrict- ive policy on the part of the Catholic Church ; and Protest- ants should be the last persons in the world to reproach to her as a fault, what the "rashness" alone of their fathers in the faith occasioned, and even rendered necessary. But the enactment in question, besides not emanating directly from the council itself — having been made after the council had closed its sessions — contained a merely disciplin- ary regulation of a temporary character, which was not every- where received in practice, || and which has long since ceased * 2 Peter, iii : 6. f 1 Timothy, iii : 15. X 2 Peter, i : 20. \ St. Matthew, xviii : 17. II " Sed ea disciplina noii ubique obtinuit." — Archbishop Kcnrick, Theol. Dogmatica, vol. i, p. 429. In this learned and excellent work will be found many valuable facts, of which we have already availed ourselves, and od which we shall occasionally draw in the .sequel. VOL. I. — 2H 306 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. to be of binding force in any part of the Catholic Church The present discipline requires only, " that the version be approved, and illustrated by commentaries from the fathers and other Catholic writers."* Pope Pius VL, in a letterf to Anthony Martini, the translator of the Italian version, now generally used in Italy, praises him for his undertaking, and adds: "For these (the Scriptures) are the most abundant sources, which ougJit to he left open to every one, to draw from them purity of morals and of doctrine."! It is, then, plainly a slander to assert that the Catholic Church forbids the reading of the Scriptures. In the United States, Catholics have published at least as many editions of the Bible as any Protestant sect. These have appeared in every form, from Haydock's splendid folio Bible, in two vol- umes— an edition unequaled by any Protestant Bible in the country — down to the octavo and duodecimo editions.§ Sev- eral of these have been stereotyped : and they may be had in every Catholic book store in the country, and may be found in most Catholic families. In France, the great Bossuet dis- tributed himself no less than fifty thousand copies of the New Testament translated into French by Amelotte.|| In speaking of the influence of the Reformation on biblical learning, we must say a few words on the diiierent Protestant versions. These are as numerous, and almost as various, as the sects from which they have respectively emanated. The oldest is that of Luther, in which, as soon as it successively appeared, the learned Emser detected no less than a thousand glaring faults ! Luther became angry, and raged at this ex- * Archbishop Kenrick, Tiieol. Dogmatica, vol. i, p. 429. f Written April 1, 1778. | Inserted in frontispiece of the Douay Bible 5 We here refer to the old edition of Haydock. The new one recently published by Dunigan of New York, in one large volume, is the most com- plete and beautiful Bible we have ever seen in English. It is, in every i-e- spect, superior to the illustrated edition of the Harpers. [) Robelot, Influence, etc., p. 389. EARLY PROTESTANT VERSIONS. 307 posiire of his work hy bis learned antagonist, on whom he exhausted his usual vocabulary of abusive epithets. He said, among other pretty things, that " these Popish asses were not able to appreciate his labors."* Yet even Seckendorf gives ua to understand that, in his cooler moments, the reformer availed himself of Emser's corrections, and made many changes in his version.f Still, however, Martin Bucer, a brother reformer, says that " his falls in translating and explaining the Scriptures were manifest and not a few."J Zuingle, another leading reformer, after having examined his translation, openly pronounced it a corruption of the word of God,§ It has now grown almost obsolete, even in Germany itself. It is viewed as faulty and insufficient in many respects. In 183G, many Lutheran con- sistories called for its entire revision. || It would not be difficult to show that the translations made by the other leading reformers were not more unexception- able. Luther returned with interest the compliment which Zuingle had paid to his Bible. " QEcolampadius and the theologians of Basle made another version ; but, according to the famous Beza, it was impious in many parts : the divines of Basle said the same of Beza's version. In flict, adds Dumoulin, another learned minister, ' he changes in it the text of Scripture ;' and speaking * Seckendorf, Comm., 1. i, sect. 52, ^ cxxvii, p. 210. f Ibid., ^ cxxii. J " Lutheri lapsus in vertendis et explanandis Scripturis manifestos esse et non paucos." — Bucer, Dial, contra Melancthon. 5 See Amicable Discussion, by Bishop Trevern, i, 129, note. II See Audin, p. 215, for many authorities on this subject. Of Luther's version, Mr. Ilallam says : " The translation of the Old and New Testament by Luther is more renowned for the purity of its German idiom, than for its adherence to the original text. Simon has charged him with ignorance of Hebrew ; and when we consider how late he came to the knowledge of that or the Greek language, and the multiplicity of his employments, it may be believed that his knowledge of them was far from extensive." — Hist. Liter- at., i, 201. And in a note (ibid.) he says : " It has been as ill spoken of among (^alvinists as by the Catholics themselves. St. Aldegonde says it m fin-ther from the Hebrew than any he knows." — See Gerdes Hist. Ret Evang., iii, 60. 1 308 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. of Calvin's translation, he says that 'Calvin does violence to the letter of the gospel, which he has changed, making also additions of his own.' The ministers of Geneva believed themselves obliged to make an exact version ; but James I., king of England, in his conference at Hampton Court, declared that, of all the versions, it was the most wicked and unfaithful."* It is very difficult for men who have their own peculiar religious notions to subserve, to translate fairly the sacred text. An example of this is found in the manifestly sectarian rendering of the words haptism and baptize^ by immersion and immerse^ in the New Testament translated by George Campbell, James McKnight, and Philip Doddridge, and now more or less extensively used by the Reformers or Campbell- ites. We say nothing here of the gross perversion of the last verse of St. Matthew's Gospel, in this version.f The version of King James, on its first appearance in En- gland, was openly decried by the Protestant ministers, as abounding in gross perversions of the original text.J The necessity of this new translation was predicated on the noto- * Bishop Trevern. Amic. Discussion, i, 127, note. f Even this version does not, however, seem to satisfy the prurient taste for change nourished by these new religionists, who in conjunction with the Baptists are now busily engaged in what is called the revision movement. An animated and interesting controversy has thence arisen between them and the other Protestant sects in regard to the fidelity of the received version of King James, the numerous faults of which are imsparingly censured by the advo- cates of the new version. Thus, after boasting of the Bible as their only rule of faith for three centuries, the Protestants of the United States are not yet satisfied on the great question, whether they really have a faithful ver- sion of the written word ! This would be comical enough, were it not so very sad. Alas ! they are, " like little children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine." Oh ! that they would return to the bosom of the loving mothei- against whom their fathers so unhappily rebelled ! She would re- ceive them, and all dissension would cease in her harmonious household. t After speaking rather disparagingly of the English style of King James' version, Mr. Hallam very cautiously abstains from venturing an opinion on its fidelity : "On the more important question, whether this translation L: entirely, or with verj' trifling exceptions, conformable to the original text, it seems unfit THE DOUAY AND VULGATE. 309 nous corruptions of the sacred text by all the Protestant ver- sions in England during the previous seventy years. The chief of these were : Tyndale's, Mathews', Cranmer's, and the bishops' Bible.* Here, then, is an open avowal, that during all this time, when Protestantism was in its palmiest days in England, it had not yet ofiered to the people the pure word of God! And, as we bave just seen, King James' version did not much mend the matter. It was however repeatedly corrected : but even in its amended form, as now used by most English and American Protestants, it still abounds with grievous faults. Mr. Ward, in his Errata^ has pointed out a great number of these : — though candor compels us to avow, that this writer is not always judicious in his criticism, and that he frequently insists too much on mere trifles. Archbishop Ken- rick, in his Theology, proves by a reference to the original text, as edited even by Protestants, that tlie modern English version still retains at least five or six grievous perversions of the text, in matters too, afiecting doctrine. f The English Douay version, which is in general use among English and American Catholics, is a translation from the Latin Vulgate, which was rendered from the original Hebrew and revised from the original Greek by St. Jerome, towards to enter. It is one which is seldom discussed with all the temper and fi-ee- dom from oblique views which the subject demands, and upon which, for this reason, it is not safe for those who have not had leisure or means to ex- amine for themselves, to take upon trust the testimony of the learned." — Hist. Literat., sup. cit., vol. ii, p. 59. This silence is ominous in so learned an English Protestant. * For an account of these see Hallam. — Hist. Lit., vol. i, p. 201. f Theologia Dogmatica, vol. i, p. 427, seqq. Among these perversions, the most glaring are these ; Matth., xix : 11th, "All men can not receive, this say- ing," for " receive voV — Greek. \(..>novai : 1 Corinth., vii : 9. " If they can not contain," for do not contain — Gr., b.KpaTivnvrai; 1 Cor., ix : 5. "Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife" for a woman, a sister — Gr.. ade?.p)v ym'alm ; 1 Cor., xi : 27. " Eat this bread and drink," etc., for or drink — Gr., V, etc, etc. 20 310 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON Tlir: lUBLK. the close of the fourth century. Dating from u time preced ing by centuries the religious prejudices which have influ- enced Christians for the last three hundred years, the Vulgate is deservedly esteemed for its accuracy and impartiality, even by learned and intelligent Protestant writers. St. Jerome, moreover, had access to many valuable manuscripts which have since perished. Since his time the Hebrew has under- gone a revolution, by the introduction of the Massoretic points to supply the place of vowels, which were wanting in the original Hebrew language. The distinguished Protestant biblical critic, George Camp- bell, states these advantages of St. Jerome's position, and fully admits their force.* He also says of this ancient ver- sion : " The Vulgate may be pronounced on the whole a good and faithful version."! Another famous modern Protestant writer on biblical studies, says of it : " It is allowed to be in general a faithful translation, and sometimes exhibits the sense of Scripture with greater accuracy than the more mod- ern versions The Latin Vulgate preserves many true readings, where the modern Hebrew copies are corrupted.''^ A writer, whose biblical "Institutes" are often used as a text book in this country, says: "It is in genei-al skillful and faithful, and often gives the sense of Scripture better than modern versions."§ Thus Protestants did not after all, even according to theii own showing, make much of a reformation in the Bible, when they departed from that "faithful " translation, — the old Latin Vulgate, and gave us in its place their many crude or grossly faulty versions of the Bible. But did they succeed better in expounding, than they had succeeded in translating the Bible ? They have been at least prolific enough in this depart- * Dissert., torn, x, p. 354, Amer. edit., apud Arclibisliop Kenrick. — Theol. Dog., 1, p. 424. f Ibid., p. 358, apud eundera. I Home's Introduction, vol. ii, part i, ch. v, J 1, P- 281, 202. Apud Arch- bishop Kenrick, ibid., p. 423. } G(?rard, Institutes of Biblical Criticism. ^ iv, p. 269-70. A pud t und., ibid EXTRAVAGAISCE IN INTERPRETATION. 311 ment, having given us almost as many interpretations as tliej have heads. We could scarcely have asked for more variety ! Nor is the work of improvement on the previously ascer- tained meanings of the Bible yet completed: almost every day we hear of learned and intelligent preachers among Prot- estants striking new systems out of this good book !* One.f by a new method calculates to a nicety the very year and day when all prophecy is to be fulfilled, and the world is to come to a final end : another, J pretending that all Protestant sects have hitherto been in the dark as to the real meaning of the Bible, proposes that all creeds and commentaries be cast to the winds, and that every one hereafter explain it sim- ply as it reads : — that is, as he thinks it reads ! This last system, though it is clearly based on the original Protestant principle of private interpretation, to the exclusion of all church authority, is, for this very reason, one eminently calculated to multiply sects, and to render confusion even worse confounded. Let us see, in conclusion, what has been the practical ope- ration of this principle of private interj)retation, and what the general influence of the Reformation on biblical studies in Germany, the father-land, and first theater ot Protestantism. Has it been salutary or injurious ? It requires but little ac- quaintance with the present condition of German Protestant- ism, to be able to pronounce on its true character and real tendency. Rationalism is there in the ascendant. This s.ys- tem, which is little better than downright Deism, has frittered away the very substance of Christianity. The inspiration of the Bible itself, the integrity of its canon, the truth of its numerous and clearly attested miracles, the divinity and even the resurrection of (Jlirist, and the existence of grace, and of everything supernatural in religion ; have all fallen before the Juggernaut-car like of modern German Protestant exege- sis— or system of interpretation ! The Rationalists of Ger- * These new syslems are certainly out of the Bible. + Miller. | Alexander Campbell. 312 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. many have left nothing of Christianity, scarcely even its lile- less skeleton ! They boldly and unblushingly proclaim their infidel principles, through the press, from the professor's chair, and from the pulpit. And the most learned and dis- tinguished among the present German Protestant clergy have openly embraced this infidel system. Whoever doubts the entire accuracy of this picture of modei'n German Protest- antism, needs only open the works of Semmler, Damon, Paulus, Strauss, Eichorn, Michaelis, Teuerbach, Bretschnei- der, "Woltman, and others. The following extract from the sermons of the Rev. Dr. Rose, a learned divine of the church of England, and " Chris- tian advocate of the university of Cambridge," presents a graphic sketch of these German Rationalists : " They are bound by no law, but their own fancies ; some are more and some are less extravagant; but I do them no injustice after this declaration in saying, that the general inclination and tendency of their opinions (more or less forcibly acted on) is this : — that in the New Testament, we shall find only the opinions of Christ and the apostles adapted to the age in which they lived, and not eternal truths ; that Christ himself had neither the design nor the power of teaching any system which was to endure ; that, when He taught any enduring truth, as He occasionally did, it was without being aware of its nature ; that the apostles understood still less of real religion ; that the whole doctrine both of Christ and the apostles, as it was directed to the Jews alone, so it was gathered from no other source than the Jewish philosophy ; that Christ himself erred (!), and His apostles spread His err6rs, and that consequently no one of His doctrines is to be received on their authority ; but that, without regard to the authority of the books of Scripture, and their asserted divine origin, each doctrine is to be examined according to the principles of right reason, before it is allowed to be divine." We should be endless were we to attempt to give all the extravagances into which these German Protestant divines have indulged : yet we must give a few of the most glaring. Doctor Paulus, in his Scripture C(_)mnientaries, enters into a labored argument to prove that Christ was not really dead, but that he had merely suffered a fainting fit, from which he was recovered by the admission of fresh air into his sepulchre ! jde moves heaven and earth to prove, that no instance \s on GERMAN RATIONALISM. 313 record of a man dying on a cross in three hours ! ! He indulgea in similar absurdities about the resurrection of Lazarus ! When Christ is said to have walked on the sea, it is no miracle at all, says Doctor Paulus : for the Greek word may mean only that he walked hy the sea, or simply that he swam: and St. Peter's having been on the point of drown- ing, resulted merely from the not extraordinary circumstance that he was not so expert a swimmer as Christ ! Most of the cures spoken of in the Gospel, the Rationalists explain by the superior skill in medicine, which, they have ascertained, our Saviour learned during His infancy, while an exile in Egypt ; or they account for them by Dr. Mesmer's wonderful system of animal magnetism! According* to them, St. John did not really write the Gospel ascribed to him ; and as for the other three Gospels, they are merely a clumsy compilation from a previous common record, the existence of which they have detected, and which they assert was written in the Aramaic language ! This astonish- ing discovery, first made by the learned Michaelis, was im- proved on by Berthold and others, who maintained that not only the Gospels, but the Epistles of St. Paul, and the other Epistles also, are mere faulty translations from the original Aramaic! Thus, "instead of the good old-fashioned notion, that the New Testament is a collection of works composed by the persons whose names they bear, and who wrote under the immediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost, we must now believe, that the original narrator of the Gospel History was an unknown person ; and that the Gospels and Epistles are merely translations made by some persons whose names are lost, and who betray themselves by several blunders in the work which they undertook."* — At least all these explana- tions are natural enough : and those who maintain them, accord- ingly style themselves naturalists^ as well as Rationalists. f * British Critic, July, 1828. See also Dr. Puse^^'s "Historical Inquiry ;" and also Moore's " Travels of an Irish Gentleman," etc., p. ISfi, seqq., where this whole subject is ably and fully elucidated. f In viewing these extraordinary and almost incredible developments of VOL. I. — 27 314 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON THE BIBLE. Such then are the effects, present and palpable, of the Lleforination on the biblical literature of Germany ! The Reformation began by vaunting its zeal for the Bible : it has ended, in the very place of its birth, by rejecting the Bible, and by blaspheming Christ and His holy religion. Its results have not been more favorable to Christianity in Geneva, another great center of the Reformation, and another radiating point of the new gospel. Hear what the Protest- ant writer Grenus says on this subject: " The ministers of Geneva have already passed the unchangeable barrier. They have held out the hand of fellowship to deists and to the enemies of the faith. They even blush to make mention, in their catechisms, of origi- nal sin, without which the incarnation of the Eternal Word is no longer ne- cessary. 'When asked,' says Rousseau, 'if Jesus Christ is God, they do not dare to answer. When asked, what mysteries they admit, they still do not dare to answer A philosoi)her casts on them a rapid glance, and penetrates them at once — he sees they are Arians, Socinians.' "f He wrote from personal observation, made during a residence in Geneva. Recent travelers have confirmed his statement. The following epigram would seem to express pretty accurately the confession of faith adopted by modern German Protestants. "We now reject each mystic creed, To common sense a scandal ; We're more enlightened — yes indeed, The devil holds the candle !" If Luther may be credited, Satan "held the candle" at the very birth of the Reformation ; and we see no reason why he should not hold it at the funeral of German Protestantism ! If he presided at the baptism of the mother, why should he not assist at the funeral of the daughter ? the principle of private judgment, we are forcibly reminded of what St. Paul writes of the anciisnt philosophers, that they "became vain in their thoughts," and "thinking themselves wise, became fools." The sad aberrations of these learned German bibliomaniacs furnish palpable evidence of the absolute neces- sity of a divinely appointed guide in religious matters. i "Lettres de hi Montague." PAKT IV. INFLUENCE OP THE REFORMATION ON SOCIETY. CHAPTER XII. INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. Stating the question — Two aspects — Professions — D'Aubigne's theory — "Combating" ad libitum — Diversities and sects — Inconsistency — Early Protestant intolerance — The mother and her recreant daughter — Facts on persecution of each other by early Protestants — Of Karlstadt — Luther the cause of it — Persecution of Anabaptists — Synod at Homburg — Lu- ;her's letter — Zuingle — The drowned Jew — Calvinistic intolerance — Per- secution of Catholics — Diet of Spires — Name of Protestant — A stubborn truth — Strange casuistry — Convention at Smalkalde — Testimony of Men- zel — Cujus Regio, ejus Eehgio — Union of church and state — A bear's embrace — Hallam's testimony — Parallel between Catholic and Protestant countries. We have seen what was the influence of the boasted Ref- ormation on religion : we are now to examine how it afiected the less important interests of this world. Among these, liberty is the one which is, perhaps, the dearest to the human heart. The very name excites a thrill, and stirs the deepest feelings of the soul. Did the Reforma- tion really promote liberty ? Did it break the fetters of politi- cal bondage, and especially did it favor freedom of conscience ? Were those who came within the range of its influence ren dered more free, either religiously or politically, than they had been before? This is the important question which we now pi\)ceed to discuss. The question naturally presents two aspects ; and we begin with that which is religious, both because this involves higher interests, and because it forma the natural point of transition from the merely religious and ( 315 ; 316 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LffiERTY. Bpiritual, to the merely secular and temporal influence of the Reformation. Religious liberty guaranties to every man the right to wor ship God according to the dictates of his conscience, without thereby incurring any civil penalties or disabilites whatever. Did the Reformation secure this boon, even to its own vota- ries ? We shall see, A summary collection of the facts of his- tory bearing on this important subject will settle the question. The Reformation indeed boasted much in this particular respect. It professed to free mankind from the degrading yoke of the Papacy, and thereby to restore to them their Chris tian liberty. Men were told that those who professed the old religion were groaning under a worse than Babylonian captiv- ity, and that they who would rally under the banner of re- form would be brought back from exile into the beautiful land of Israel, there to worship in freedom and in peace near the Sion of God! The Pope was Antichrist; the Church was ruthlessly trampled under foot by his followers and espe- cially by his ministers ; the liberties of the world were entirely crushed. All men were invited to arise in their strength, to break their chains, and to be free ! The restraining influence of Church authority was to be spurned, as wholly incompati- ble with freedom, and each one was to be guided solely by his own private judgment in matters of religion. The Germans were told of the grievances they had had to endure in ages past from the court of Rome. Angry pas- sions, once excited by long forgotten controversies between the Germanic empire and the Roman Pontifls, were called up again from the abyss in which they had slumbered for cen- turies; and the Germans were implored, in the enticing name of liberty, to break ofi* all connection with Rome for- ever. In case they would do this, the Reformation promised that they should realize the brightest visions of freedom, and the blessing of true and independent manhood;* * Some one has remarked that the Germans remember a grievance of five CHURCH AUTHORITY AND PRIVATE JUDGMENT. 317 Such was the specious theory of the Reformation ; such is even at present the boasting speculation of Protestant writers gener- ally. M. Guizot, in his Lectures on Civilization in Modern Eu- rope, asserts, that through the Reformation was brought about " the emancipation of the human mind." According to D'Au- bigne, the Catholic Church had utterly destroyed all human liberty: " But as a besieging army day by day contracts its lines, compelling the garrison to confine their movements within the narrow inclosure of the fortress, and at last obliging it to surrender at discretion, just so the hier- archy, from age to age, and almost from year to year, has gone on restricting the liberty allowed for a time to the human mind, until at last, by succes- sive encroachments, there remained no liberty at all. That which was to be believed, loved, or done, was regulated and decreed in the courts of the Roman chancery. The faithful were relieved from the trouble of examin- ing, reflecting, and combating ; all they had to do was to repeat the formu- laries that had been taught them."* This is, to use the softest expression, an absurd exaggera- tion and a grotesque romance, which has not even the merit of resemblance — or what the French call vrahemblance — to the reality of the facts. What ! were men then, for fifteen hundred years, mere automata ? Did the obedience to the decisions of the Church stifle all rational liberty ? Had not Christ enjoined this very obedience on all, under the penalty of being ranked with heathens and publicans ?t Did Christ and the apostles leave it free for men to decide, by their private judgment, whether they would receive or reject the doctrines they taught? And in enjoining obedience on all, with the menace of eternal damnation to him who would not hundred years' standing almost as acutely as they do one of yesterday, whenever the memory of the former is revived. If true, this national trait of character may serve to throw some additional light on the excitement which was aroused in Germany by the violent harangues of Luther and his colleagues. The German temperament, though phlegmatic, is sufficiently enthusiastic when once fully aroused to a sense of wrong, whether present or long passed ; for the German poetic imagination seems to annihilate time and space. * D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 237. f St. Matthew, xviii, 318 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. believe,* did tbey intend to crusli all liberty ? Might not oui historian, with the very same, if not even with stronger reason, also taunt ilie'iT practice with being inimical to freedom, on the ground that it " relieved the faitliful from the trouble of examining, reflecting, and combating?" In what, in fact, consists the difference between the authori- tative teaching of the first body of Christ's ministers -the apostles, and that of the body of pastors who, by divine com- mission, succeeded them in the office of preaching, teacning, and baptizing, and who, in the discharge of these sacred duties, were promised the divine assistance "all days, e /en to the consummation of the world ?"t And if the latter was opposed to rational liberty, why was not the former? Be- sides, we learn, for the first time, that the Roman chancery decided on articles of faith: we had always thought that this was the exclusive province of general councils, and, when these were not in session, of the Roman Pontiffs, in whose doc- trinal definitions the great body of bishops always have con- curred. We had also, in our simplicity, believed that even these did not always decide on controverted points, but only in cases in which the teaching of revelation was clear and explicit ; and that, in other matters, they wisely allowed a reasonable latitude of opinion. But D'Aubigne has taught us better ! He would have us believe that Roman Catholics are bound hand and foot, body and soul, and that they are not allowed even to reflect ! They were certainly not allowed to "combat:" — this was the special privilege of the reformed party. The old Church wisely ordained that all the "combating" should take place, if at all, outside her pale : she would permit no wrangling nor sects within her own bosom. It is indeed curious to ob- serve, how D'Aubigne boasts of this glorious new gospel privilege of wrangling among discordant sects, as the very quintessence uf Christian liberty ! This precious liberty could * St Mark, xvi. f St. Matthew, xxviii. FREEDOM TO COMBAT. 319 not be enjoyed so long as a recognition of the conservative principle of Church authority held the religious world in re- ligious unity ; the reformers therefore determined to burst this bond of union, and to assert their pugnacious freedom " to combat" at will! He says: " The Eeformation, in restoring liberty to the Church, must therefore res- tore to it its original diversity (!), and people it with families united by the great features of resemblance derived from their common head, but varying in secondary features, and reminding us of the varieties inherent in human nature. Perhaps it might have been desirable that this diversity should have been allowed to subsist in the universal church without leading to sectarian divisions ; and yet we must remember that sects are only the ex- pression of this diversity."* Humiliating avowal ! Sects are therefore as essential char- acteristics of Protestantism, as are the "diversities" of which they are but th& expression! And Christian liberty neces- sarily carries sects along with it! St. Paul, a competent authority, reckons sects and dissensions with Tuurders and drunkenness; and he says of them all, that "they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God."t Thus, according to our historian, an essential element of the Refor- mation is, at the same time, an essential bar to entrance into the kingdom of heaven ! The Reformation is welcome to all the merit of having originated such a system of liberty as this! As well might its panegyrist have claimed for it, as essential to the liberty which it brought into the world, a license for murders and drunkenness ! A little further on, he thus glories in the shame of Pro- testantism : " True it is, that human passion found an entrance into these discussions (among Protestant sects), but while deploring such minglings of evil, Pro- testantism, far from seeking to disguise the diversity, publishes and proclaims it. Its path to unity is indeed long and difficult, but the unity it proposes is reaV^X Real in what ? Is there one common ground of unity which * D'Aubigue, iii, p. 238. f Gallatians, v : 20, 21. \ D'Aubigne, iii, p. 238 320 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. Protestantism has not recklessly trodden down and rendered desolate? Truly its path to unity "has been long and diffi- cult!" During three hundred years, its tortuous course has been seen winding in more than a hundred diffez-ent directions, and it has not yet led the weary wanderer to unity ! It has done precisely the contrary. It is a strange " path to unity," truly, which has always led to disunion. " Diversities and sects" have multiplied, and grown with the growth of Protestantism: they are avowedly its "essential features." There is scarcely one saving truth of revelation which Pro- testantism, in its ever downward career, has not frittered away. And yet we are to be told, that "the unity which i* proposed was real." If such was the case, it certainly nevei carried into eifect what it had proposed. The only principle of unity possible among Protestants, is an agreement to disagree. But we are prepared to prove, that they were not disposed to meet even on this doubtful and slippery ground of union. One would have thought, that when the Reformation emancipated its disciples from the duty of obedience to Rome, and proclaimed the principle of private judgment as the broad basis, the magna charta, of the new system of Christian liberty, that it would at least have guarantied to them freedom of thought and of judgment in matters of religion. Surely after having indignantly re- jected the principle of Church authority, as incompatible with liberty, Protestantism would not attempt to enthrone again this self-same principle, much less to impose it as an obligation on its own followers. Yet this course, absurd and inconsistent as it manifestly was, was the very one adopted, without one exception^ by the numerous sects to which the Reformation gave birth! If there be any truth in history, the reformers were them- selves the most intolerant of men, not only towards the Catholic Church, but towards each other. They could not brook dissent from the crude notions on religion which they - had broached. Men might protest against the decisions of INTOLERANCE OF LUTHER. 321 the Catholic Church ; but woe to them, if, folio wing out theii own private judgment, they dared protest against the self- constituted authority of the new-fangled Protestant sects. We have already given many proofs of this: but we here beg leave to submit the following additional facts. And we will allege little but Protestant authority, and the testimony of the reformers themselves.* Mr. Roscoe, whose pen has so glowingly depicted the bright literary age of Leo X., justly censures "the severity with which Luther treated those, who unfortunately happened to believe too much on the one hand, or too little on the other, and could not walk steadily on the hair-breadth line which he had presented." He also makes the following appropriate remark on this same glaring inconsistency : " Whilst Luther was engaged in his opposition to the Church of Eome, he asserted the light of private judgment with the confidence and courage of a martyr. But no sooner had he freed his followers from the chains of papal domination, than he forged others in many respects equally intolerable ; and it was the employment of his latter years, to counteract the beneficial efiects produced by his former labors."f The tyrannical and intolerant character of Luther, the father of the Reformation, is in fact admitted by all candid Protestants. We have already seen the testimony which his most favored disciple, Melancthon, bears to his brutal conduct even towards himself, whenever he timidly ventured to difler from him in opinion. The vile state of bondage in which the fierce reformer held his meek disciple is thus graphically painted in a confidential letter of Melancthon to his friend Camerarius : " I am in a state of servitude, as if I were in the cave of the Cyclops : and often do I think of making my e8cape."J Even Dr. Sturges, a most inveterate enemy of * We shall have occasion to furnish much additional evidence on tliis subject in our second volume, where we will treat of the Reformation in other parts of Europe. f Life and Pontificate of Leo X., in 4 vols. 8vo. J Epist. ad Camerarium 322 LNFLliENCE OF REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. Kome, grants that " Luther was in his manners and writings^ coarse, presuming, and impetuous."* The other reformers were little better than Luther in regard to charity and toleration. The Protestant bishop Warburton gives the following character of all of them: ^ "The other re- formers, such as Luther, Calvin, and their followers, under- stood so little in what true Christianity consisted, that they carried with them into the reformed churches, that very spirit of persecution (!) which had driven them from the Church of Rome."f As we shall soon see, the recreant daughters of Rome far outstripped their mother in intolerance. We have already proved, that it was not persecution, but other causes altogether, which drove them from Rome, and consummated their schism. Rome had indeed been inflexible on the subject of doctrines, upon which she could allow no compromise ; but she proceeded towards the reformers with so much mildness and moderation, as to have secured the admiration of even D'Aubigne, whose testimony on the subject we have already given. So far was she from persecuting them, that many Catholic writers have blamed, as excessive and injudicious, the mildness of her Pontiffs, and epecially that of Leo X. and Adrian VI. From an early period of its history, the Reformation was disgraced with the crime of persecution for conscience' sake. The oldest branch of it, the Lutheran, not only fiercely de- nounced, and even sometimes excluded from salvation, the reformed or Calvinistic branch; but it also endeavored to check by violence the fierce discord which raged within its own bosom. A learned Lutheran professor, Dr. Fecht, gives it as the opinion of his sect, " that all but Lutherans, and certainly all the reformed Calvinists were excluded from salvation.''^ The Lutheran Strigel was imprisoned for three years by his brother religionists, for maintaining that man * Reflections on Popery. f Notes on Pope's Essay on Criticism t See Dr. Pusey's " Historical Inquiry," sup. cit. HOW HE TREATED KARLSTADT. 323 was not a niorely passive instrument in the work of his con version. Hardenburg was banished from Saxony for having been guilty of some leaning towards the Calvinistic doctrines on the Eucharist. Shortly after Luther's death, the Lutherans were divided into two great sects, the ultra Lutherans and the Melancthonians, who mutually denounced each other, and even refused to unite in the rites of communion and burial. So far was the intolerance growing out of this controversy carried, that Peucer, Melancthon's son-in-law, was imprisoned for ten years, for having espoused the party of his father-in-law : and Cracau, another Lutheran, was plied with the torture for a similar offense ! Besides these two great Lutheran sects, there were also the Flaccianists and the Strigelians, the Osiandri- ans and the Stancarians, and many others, who all persecuted one another with relentless fury, Lutheranism was thus, from its very birth, a prey to the fiercest dissensions. Verily, they claimed and fully exercised the precious liberty of " combat- ing," so essential, according to D'Aubigne, to the Protestant idea of religious liberty.* The first who dared question the infallibility of Luther was the first to feel the heavy weight of his intolerant vengeance. A-udrew Bodenstein, more generally known by the name of Karlstadt, could not agree with him as to the lawfulness of images, the real presence, infant baptism, and some other topics. He had reached totally different conclusions, by fol- lowing his own private judgment in expounding the Scrip- tures. During Luther's absence from Wittenberg, he had sought to make proselytes to his new opinions in the very citadel of the Reformation. Luther caused him to be driven from Wittenberg, and hunted him down with implacable re- sentment, driving him from city to city of Germany ; till at last the unfortunate victim of his intolerance expired a miser- able outcast at Basle in Switzerland. * For more on this subject, see the authorities quoted by Moore — Travels of an Irish Gentleman, p. 172, seqq., and 192, seqq. ; to whom we are in- debted for many of the above quotations. 324 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. "When Karlstadt first left Wittenberg, he fled to Orlamunde a city of Saxony, in which he succeeded by intrigue in obtain- ing the place of pastor. Luther followed him thither ; and finding, as we have already seen, that he could not succeed in having him ejected from the city by popular clamor, he prevailed on his powerful patron, the elector of Saxony, to banish him from Saxony. Karlstadt received the sentence of his condemnation with a heavy heart. " He looked on Luther as the author of his disgrace, and filled Germany with his complaints and lamentations. He wrote a farewell letter to his friends at Orlamunde. The bells were tolled, and the letter read in the presence of the sorrowing church. It was signed : 'Andrew Bodenstein, expelled by Luther, unconvicted, and without even a hearing.' "* It is in vain for D'Aubigne, whose words we have just cited, to pretend that this persecution of Karlstadt was not brought about by Luther.f The testimony of Karlstadt, and of all Germany, to the sympathy of which he appealed, as well as the voice of all history, is against this hypothesis. So certain was it, that he owed his suflferings to the influence of Luther with the elector of Saxony, that, when wearied of his wanderings from city to city, he sought repose for his gray hairs in his native Saxony, he had only to invoke the sym- pathy of Luther. The sternness of the Saxon monk relented : he permitted Karlstadt to return to the neighborhood of Wit- tenberg; but only on condition that he should retract his errors, and cease to preach .J Karlstadt joyfully accepted the humiliating conditions : he resided for some time " in a kind of domestic exile at Remberg and Bergwitz — two small villa- ges, whence he could just see the steeples of Wittenberg."§ But he soon forgot his promise : he abandoned the agricul- tural pursuits in which he had been engaged, and, Bible in hand, sought again to disseminate his doctrines. Luther's * D'Aubigne, vol iii, p. 179. He cites Luther's Epist. ii, 558, edit, de Wette. f Ibid. I Gustavus Pfizer — " Martin Luther's Leiben," Ulenberg, and Ad. Men- cel — "Neuere Geschichte Deutchen," 1, 269. ^ Audin, p. 419. AND THE ANABAPTISTS. 325 flpirit of intolerance was again aroused ; and again was Karl- etadt banished, never more to return to Wittenberg. There were two other Lutheran theologians who shared his fate : Krautwald and Schwenkfeld, who were likewise forced to quit Saxony for having rebelled against the authority of the Saxon monk. In a letter to these conapanions in misfor tune, Karlstadt di-aws a lively picture of the dis'tress to which lie had been reduced by the intolerance of Luther : " I shall soon be forced," says he, "to sell all, in order to support my- self— my clothes, my delf, all my furniture. No one takes pity on me ; and I fear that both I and my child shall perish with hunger."* He also addressed a long letter of complaint against Luther, to Briick, the chancellor of Saxony :f but it was all unavailing. Luther was omnipotent at court, and Karlstadt perished in exile! — Why does D'Aubigne conceal all these important facts ? We are not at all astonished at it : his history is of the same unfair and partial character throughout. The cruel persecutions of the Anabaptists is another dark page in the history of the Reformation. To be sure, these sectarists taught many things subversive of all social order : such as polygamy and disobedience to all constituted author- ity. But their chief crimes, in the eyes of Luther and the reformers, were their rejection of Luther's authority, their pretensions to supernatural lights, and their protest against infant baptism, and baptism by any other mode than immer- sion. A little before the meeting of the diet at Augsburg in 1534, Rothmann, one of their principal prophets, had openly announced his principles in the streets of that city. The people were captivated by his bold eloquence, and seduced by the novelty of his doctrines.' In vain did the preachers of reform attempt tu argue with this enthusiast, who claimed immediate inspiration from heaven. The people cried out, in triumph; "Answer Rothmann: Catholics, Lutherans, Zuin- * Apud Audin, p. 420. f Ibid. 21 326 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. glians — you are all in the way of perdition. The only path tr heaven is that pointed out by our master : whoever walks not in it, will be involved in eternal darkness."* But the Lutherans did not think proper to answer his argu- ments. Both he and the Zuinglians had prepared a confes- sion of faith to be presented to the Diet. Luther and Me lancthon succeeded by their influence in preventing them from being even heard at the Diet. The former wrote to the latter from Coburg in a tone of triumph : " That all was de- cided; that the doctrine of Zuingle and of Rothmann was diabolical ; and that these sowers of discord, these ravenous wolves, who devastated the fold of Christ, should be ban- ished."! At this same Diet, the Lutherans sought for them- selves, not only liberty of conscience, but churches to worship in, and all the privileges of citizenship ; and still they would not allow their adversaries even to be heard ! And yet, as Audin well remarks, " Rothmann at Augsburg, was precisely what Luther had been at Worms."J The Lutherans 'carried out their intolerant principles in regard to the Anabaptists. On the 7th of August, 1536, a synod was convened at Homburg, to which deputies were sent by all the cities who had separated from Rome. The chief object of the meeting was to devise means for exter- minating the Anabaptists. Not one voice was raised in their favor. Even Melancthon, whom Audin styles " the Fenelon of the Reformation," voted for inflicting the punishment of death on every Anabaptist who would remain obstinate in his errors, or who would dare return from the place of banish- ment to which the magistrates might transport him. Fenelon would not luue been thus intolerant. " The ministers of Ulra demanded that heresy should be extinguished by fire and sword. Those of Augsburg said : ' If we have not yet sent any Anabaptist to the gibbet, we have at least branded their cheeks witli red iron.' Those of Tubingen cried out ' mercy for the poor Anabaptists, who * See Catron — Histoire de I'Anabaptisme, and Audin, p. 459. j Apud Audin, ibid. See the authorities he quotes, ioid. f Ibid., p. 46i. SYNOD OF HOMBURG. 327 are seduced by their leaders ; but death to the ministei-s of this sect.' The chancellor showed himself much more tolerant : he wished that the Ana- baptists should be imprisoned, where by dint of hard usage, they might be converted."* From this synod emanated a decree, from which we will present the following extract, as a specimen of Lutheran in- tolerence, officially proclaimed : " Whoever rejects infant baptism — whoever transgresses the orders of the magistrates — whoever preaches against taxes — whoever teaches the com- munity of goods — whoever usurps the priesthood — whoever holds unlawful assemblies — whoever sins against faith — shall he punished with death As for the simple people who have not preached, or administered baptism, but who were seduced to permit themselves to frequent the assemblies of the heretics, if they do not wish to renounce Anabaptism, they shall be scourged, punished with perpetual exile, and even with death, if they return three times to the place whence they have been expelled."f Philip, the pious landgrave of Hesse, professed to have some scruples of conscience on the severity of this decree: he consulted Luther on the subject.^ The monk answered him in a letter dated from Wittenberg, the Monday after Pentecost of the same year. He therein openly defended persecution on Scriptural grounds : " Whoever denies the doctrines of our faith — aye, even one article which rests on the Scripture, or the authority of the universal teaching of the church (!), must be punished severely. He must be treated not only as a heretic, but also as a blasphemer of the holy name of God. It is not neces- sary to lose time in disputes with such people : they are to be condemned as impious blasphemers." Towards the close of this letter, speaking of a false teacher, * Catrou, ut supra liv. i, p. 224, seqq., and Audin, p. 464. f Ibid. See also Gastius, p. 365, seqq. Menzel, ut supra, and Meshovius, 1. V, cap. XV, xviii, seqq., etc. I W. Menzel confirms this. Speaking of the same Diet of Augsburg in which the Lutheran confession of faitli which bears its name was presented, he says, that the landgrave of Hesse suddenly left the meeting, " filled with anger at the weakness of his friends in subscribing to the decree, by which the disciples of Zuingle were put under the ban of the empire." — Hist. Qar man}', vol. ii, p. 251. 328 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. he says : " Drive him away, as an apostle of hell : and if he does not flee, deliver him up as a seditious man to the execu- tioner."*— ^The landgrave's scruples were quieted, and Lu- ther's advice was acted on ! Such, then, were the tender mercies of the Keformation ! Such the notions of the reformers on religious liberty ! How diiferent were they from those specious principles of univer- sal liberty by which they had allured multitudes to their standard ! The other reformers were not a whit better than Luther in regard to toleration. D'Aubigne himself says, that at Zurich fourteen men and seven women "'were imprisoned on an allowance of bread and water in the heretics' tower."f True, he says, that this was done " in spite of Zuingle's entreaties •,"J but he gives no authority whatever for this statement. We know that Zuingle was almost omnipotent at Zurich, which was to Switzerland, what Wittenberg was to Germany. Had he really wished it, he might surely have prevented this cru- elty. He had indeed complained of Luther's intolerance, when he was the victim of its violence. In a German work published at Zurich in 1526, he had used this language in regard to the course pursued by Luther and his party : " See then, how these men, who owe all to the word, would wish now to close the mouths of their opponents, who are at the same time their fellow Christians. They cry out that we are heretics, and that we should not be listened to. They proscribe our books, and denounce us to the magistrates."^ But when Ms star culminated, he was as fierce a bigot, and as intolerant a tyrant, as those brother reformers whom he thus strongly denounced. Did he not die on the field of battle, fighting for his peculiar ideas of reform ? And did not the Protestants of Switzerland throw the poor Anabaptists into the Rhine, inclosed in sacks, and jeer them at the same * Luth. Comment, in Psal. 71. 0pp. Jenge tom. v, p. 147. Apud Audin, p 465. f D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 307. t Ibid. 5 Apud Audin, p. 411. CONVERTLNG A JEW ! 329 time with the inhuman taunt, " That they were merely bap- tizing them by their own favorite method of immersion."* This reminds us of a curious passage in the history of early Lutheranism, which we will here give on the authority of Florimond Remond, almost a contemporary historian.f Franz Von Sickengen, the chief actor in the scene we are about to present, was a disciple of Luther, who had dedicated to him his treatise on confession, written at the Wartburg, in 1521. " One day Franz was going from Frankfort to Mayence on the Maine. A Jew entered the boat, with whom Franz began to dispute. As he was not able to convince him by argument, he took him by the middle of the body, and threw him into the river ; for Franz was a man of extraordinary strength. Holding his victim suspended over the water by the hair, the following dialogue took place : 'Acknowledge Jesus Christ, or I will drown you.' — 'I acknowledge him to be my Saviour : 0 dear master, do not harm me ! ' — * Say that you wish to be baptized.' — ' Yes, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' Then Fjanz took some water, which he poured on the head of the Jew, while at the same time he pronounced the sacramental words : * I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' The poor Israelite now made a great effort to rise : he clung to the boat, believing that the time of his deliverance had arrived. The knight, however, struck him on the head with his gauntlet, saying, * Go to heaven, there is one soul more for paradise. Were I to draw the wretch out of the water, he would deny Chiist, and go to the devil.' Luther on this occasion praised the Z3al of Franz !" The Calvinists were at least as intolerant as the Lutherans. When the former gained the ascendency in a portion of Ger- many in which the latter had before been predominant, they roused up the people against the sons of the devil, the mild and charitable name which they gave the Lutherans. * As we have already seen, the Protestant historian of Germany, Wolf- gang Menzel, bears evidence to this fact, when he says, speaking of the Anabaptists : '' Zuingle declared against them, and caused several of them to be drowned (A. D. 1524) ; but was nevertheless regarded by Luther as a man who, under the cloak of spiritual liberty (!), sought to bring aliout political changes." — Vol. ii, p. 233. f " Hutteuus delarvatus," p. 4C)5. Apud Audin, p. 200. VOL. I.— 28 330 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. " They drove them from their posts, of which they took possessioa 'What a melancholy thing! More than a thousand Lutheran ministers were proscribed, with their wives and chikh-en, and reduced to beg the bread of charity,' says Olearius.* Calvinism could not tolerate Lutheran- ism. It had appealed to Prince Casimir, and expressed its petition in two Latin verses, in which the prince was left to choose, in extinguish- ing the rival creed, between the sword, the wheel, the water, the rope, or fire ! — " 0 Casimire potens, servos expelle Lutheri : Ense, rota, ponto, funibus, igne neca."f So inflexible were the early reformers and their disciples on the subject of persecution, that even the emperor of Ger- many and the authority of the whole Germanic body could not restrain their bitter intolerance against all who ventured to difier from their own peculiar ideas of reform. Protestants were resolved to persecute each other, though a Catholic power — the highest in the empire — interposed and com- manded peace. The diet of Nurenberg, in 1532, had pro- claimed a religious amnesty throughout Germany, The assembled princes wished to pour oil on the boiling waves of controversy, in order to still them : but the waves would not be quieted. The heads of the reformed party met at Cadan in the following year, and resolved to exclude from the peace, published by this diet, the Sacramentarians, the Anabaptists, and other heterodox (not Lutheran) sects, whom they declared they would not tolerate nor suffer to remain in the GOuntry.X If Protestants thus ruthlessly persecuted one another, we might naturally suppose that they were not more indulgent towards the Catholics, "We have already proved that the Keformation was mainly indebted for its success to system- atic persecution of the Catholic Church. Wherever it made * D. J. Olearius — "In den mehr als 200 Irrthiimer der Calvinisten.'* f Salzer — " In seinem Lutherischem Gegen-Bericht " — Art. iv, p. 385 Schlosser — "In der wahrheit," etc., chap, vi, p. 73. Hist., Aug. Confess. fol. 206, 207, 274, 275. Apud Audin, p. 330. I See Robelot — Iiitluenoe de la Reformation de Luther, p. 71. Sup. cit DIET OF SPIRES THE NAME PROTESTANT. 331 its appearance its progress was marked by deeds of vio lence. Like a tornado, it swept every thing before it ; and you might as easily trace its course by the ruins it left behind. Churches broken open and desecrated; altars stripped of their ornaments or pulled down ; paintings and statues destroyed ; the monasteries entered by mobs and pillaged of their effects; Catholic priests, monks, and nuns openly insulted and maltreated ; the property of the churches and monasteries seized on by violence, after having been often pillaged and plundered : these were some of the ruins which the Reformation caused ; these the sad trophies which it erected to celebrate its triumphs over the Catholic re- ligion ! In most places the Catholic worship was abolished, either by open violence, or by the high-handed tyranny of the secu- lar princes who had embraced the reform. In vain did Lu- ther in his cooler moments protest against these deeds of violence ; he himself, as we have seen, had evoked the storm, and he could not calm it; probably he did not even seri- ously wish this, for generally his language to his followers had breathed nothing but violence. This we have already shown. It is a remarkable fact, as certain as it is striking, that the reformers derived their very name of Protestants from this same unquenchable spirit of intolerance ! The diet of Spires in 1529 had made an effort to put a stop to the deeds of vio- lence by which the Reformation had desolated Germany. It had published a law, which, among other things of less im- portance, enjoined that the decree of the diet of Worms in 1521 should be observed in those places where it had been already received ; that where it had not been received, and the ancient religion had been changed in despite of it, things should continue in statu quo till the meeting of a general council, which was to decide on the matters in controversy ; that the celebration of the holy sacrifice of the Mass should be everywhere free ; and that the princes of the empire should '6^2 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. mutually observe peace, and should not molest each other or rhe score of religion.* In other words, the diet decreed that Catholics and Protest- ants should enjoy freedom of worship, and that neither should molest the other. Had the reformers been really the advo- cates of religious liberty, they could have asked no more. But they desired something else : their notions of Christian liberty were much more enlarged ! They desired freedom to pull down the Catholic altars, and to abolish the Catholic worship wherever they had the power to do so. Hence, they met immediately after the diet, and protested against this most equitable decree as " contrary to the truth of the gos- pel !"f — And hence their name of Protestants : a name which stamped on their foreheads a brand of intolerance, of which they were not ashamed !J A volume might be filled with undoubted facts proving the intolerant spirit of the early Protestants of the various na- tions of Europe against the Catholics. Wherever they ob- tained the power to do so, they invariably persecuted the Catholics by civil disabilities and corporal punishments ; and where they had not the power they excited disturbance and persecuted them by slander. We know of no exception to this remark. Unpalatable as it may appear, it is triumphantly established by the facts of history ; and we are not free to change the records of the past to pander to an over delicate * See Sleidan — ad annum 1529, lib. vi. Also Natalis Alexander, Hist. Ecclesiastica, torn. ix. fol. 79, edit Venitiis, 1778 ; and Lingard, History of England— Henry VIII. ; and Audin, p. 289. f Ibid. X In his Constitutional History of England, Hallam makes this same statement ; p. 64, note. — American edit., 1 vol. 8vo. He saj^s : " They declared, in the famous protestation of Spire, which gave them the name of Protestants, that their preachers having confuted the Mass by pas- sages from Scripture, they could not permit theirsuhjects to go thither ; since it would afford a bad example to suffer two sorts of service directly opposite to each other in their churches." He quotes Schmidt, Hist, des AUemanda vi, 394 ; ^\, 24. LUTHER DEFENDS SACRILEGE. 333 and vitiated taste. Out of a mass of evidence bearing on the subject, we will select some of the more prominent facts. "We have already alluded to the overture for peace made by the Catholics .'n the diet of Nurenberg, held in 1532. How was it received by the Lutherans? They rejected it with indignation, not only in the assembly at Cadan, but also through their organ, Urbanus Regius. Hear his language: " We must either have peace with the papists — that is, we must suf- fer the destruction of our faith, our rights, our life, and die as sinners — or we must have peace with Christ, that is to say, be hated by our enemies, and live by faith. Which shall we choose ? The rage of the devil, the hostility of the world, a struggle with Antichrist, or the protection of heav- en, and life through Christ ?"* Luther openly defended the violence by which the Catholic worship had been suppressed, and the monasteries seized upon and secularized. He was consulted on the subject, and this was his reply : " It is said that no violence should be used for conscience' sake ; and yet have not our princes driven away the monks from their asylum ? Yes : we must not oblige any one to believe our doctrine ; we have never done vio- lence to the consciences of others (!) ; but it would be a crime not to prevent our doctrine from being profaned. To remove scandal is not to force the conscience. I can not force a rogue to be honest, but I can prevent him from stealing. A prince can not constrain a highway robber to confess the Lord, but yet he has a gallows for malefactors." Strange casuistry! Curious theory of religious liberty! He continues: " Thus, when our princes were not certain that the monastic life and pri- vate Masses were an offense to God, they would have sinned had they closed the convents ; but after they have been enlightened, and have seen that the cloister and the Mass are an insult to the Deity, they would have been cul- pable had they not employed the power they had received to proscribe them."t In the famous convention at Smalkald, in 1536, the Prot- estant party decided on a recourse to arms to defend them-' * Seckendorf — "Comment, de Luth." lib. iii, p. 22. f Lvth. 0pp. edit. Wittenb., ix, 455. 334 INFLUENCE Of REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. selves ; that is, to be enabled to carry out their favorite plat of establishing the Reformation by violence on the ruins of Catholic institutions. They proclaimed that " it was an error to believe that they ought to tolerate among them those who opposed the reform."* In an imperial citation addressed to the citizens of Donauwert in 1605, they are reproached with having driven from their city, as atrocious malefactors,! those of their fellow citizens who had espoused Catholic wives, or embraced the Catholic religion.J Again, at a session of the famous congress of Westphalia, in March, 1647, Trautmans- dorf openly accused the Protestant party of having driven Catholic laymen from their dominions, after having confis- cated their property .§ This spirit of persecution has been perpetuated, with some modifications, even down to the present day. Erasmus had remarked of Luther that his savage nature had not been soft- ened down by the blandishments of matrimony ; and we may remark that the fierce intolerance of the early Reformation has not been much mitigated by the growing refinement of the age ! Even as late as the battle of Jena, in 1806, Catholics could not own property in Saxony, nor hold public ofiices, nor enjoy any of the rights of citizenship. || This was also the case in Prussia ; and in our own days, have we not seen a venerable octogenarian, the archbishop of Cologne, violently dragged from his palace by a band of soldiers, in the dead hour of night, and confined for years in a state prison, by order of the king of Prussia, and all this for no other ofiensc than that his conscience did not allow him to subscribe to the will of his royal master ? In the imperial city of Frankfort on the Maine, Catholics were not eligible to any municipal oflices. As la^t as the 20th of October, 1814, no others than Lutherans of the cou- ♦ See Robelot, ut sup., p. 71. f Atrocissime delinquentes. I Ibid. \ Ibid., p. 72. || Ibid., p. 70. PROTESTANT PERSECUTION. 335 fession of Augsburg were eligible to any civil office in the free city of Hamburg.* In Sweden it is strictly forbidden for any Protestant to embrace the Catholic religion, though Catholics are encouraged to become Protestants. No Catho- lic can there hold any office of trust or emolument. The same intolerant laws are in force in Denmark and Norway. In these kingdoms, religious persecution, in one form or other, has continued even to the present day. In many of the other Protestant kingdoms of Germany, the penal laws against Catholics were softened down after the Congress of Vienna, in 1815, had settled the general peace of Europe, Yet the re- finement of modern civilization has not been able wholly to exorcise the demon of intolerance. It still exists, to a greater or less extent in every Protestant country of Europe.f But the other day, when the Roman Pontiff nominated a bishop to attend to the spiritual wants of a large body of Catholics living in the kingdom of Denmark, the government organ at Copenhagen republished an old law of the kingdom, which made it a capital offense for a Catholic clergyman or bishop to cross the border! And when the celebrated De HaUer embraced the Catholic religion, in 1821, the grand council of Berne, in Switzerland, had his name stricken from the list of its members, and revived the old law of the canton by which no Catholic is eligible to office.J In one word, not to multiply facts, Protestants have been guilty of persecution in every country of Europe where they have had the power, not only against the Catholic Church, but against one another : and their intolerance, though greatly * See apud Robelot, ut supra. f But the other day, the indignation of all Europe was aroused by the banishment from Sweden of several helpless ladies, whose only crime was having followed their private judgment and conscience in embracing the Catholic religion. Baptists and other Protestant dissenters from Lutherans have also shared a similar fate. And this in the middle of the nmeteentb century ! \ See apud Robelot, ut supra. 336 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. mitigated, is still even at the present enlightened day far from being extinct. Catholics also, we must admit, have sometimes persecuted. Yet every impartial person must allow that the circumstances under which they persecuted were not so aggravated, nor so wholly without excuse, as those under which they were them- selves persecuted by Protestants. The former stood on the defensive, while the latter were in almost every instance the first aggressors. The Catholics did but repel violence by violence, when their property, their altars, and all they held sacred, were rudely invaded by the new religionists, under pretext of reform. Their acts of severity were often deemed necessary measures of precaution against the deeds of lawless violence, which everywhere marked the progress of reform They did but seek the privilege of retaining quietly the religion of their fathers, which the reformers would fain have wrested from them by violence. They were the older, and they were in possession.* Could it be expected that they would yield without a struggle all that they held most dear and most sacred ? These were extenuating circumstances, which, though they might not wholly justify their intolerance, yet greatly mitigated its malice ; while the reformers could certainly allege no such pretext in self-vindication. Perhaps the most remarkable feature in the Protestant governments of Europe is the union in them of church and state. This unhallowed union began at the period of the Reformation itself; and it subsists, with but slight modifi- cation, even down to our own days. In Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, and England, the king is at the same time the head of the state and of the church established by law. It is his province to regulate, in ultimate resort, every thing connected with the preaching of the word, the adminis- * In the Synod of Dort in 1618, the Gomarists used this very argument to justify their persecution of their brother Protestants, the Arminians !- f Sesa xvii.) Their possession had been, however, of very recent date. UNION OF CHURCH AND STATE. 337 tration of the sacraments, and the appointment of bishopa and pastors. Even in those cantons of Switzerland in which the Keformation obtained a footing, the legislative councils still claim a right to interfere in spiritual matters; and the Catholics of Argovia and other cantons have, not long ago, felt the smart of this intolerant interference. Every body knows the high-handed measures by which the late king of Prussia sought to unite into one " national church of Prussia" the two conflicting parties of religionists in his kingdom, the Lutherans and Calvinists. This political ma- neuver, to effect by force a compromise between two warring sects, displeased them both, as might have been expected; and many of the ejected ministers of both parties, but espe- cially of the Lutheran, sought shelter from the storm in foreign countries, and some of them on our own shores. The entire success of this attempt, made by the court of Berlin on the religious liberties of Prussia, proves conclusively, that there at least the Protestant church is but the creature of the state — meanly subservient to all its commands. Every one also knows, that the persecution of the Catholics of Belgium by the Protestant government of Holland led to the successful declaration of independence by the former government, more than a quarter of a century ago : and that after the declaration had been made good, the Belgians elected the Protestant Prince Leopold as their sovereign. Can the annals of Protestantism afibrd an example of liberality like this? At least, we have never heard of a Protestant com- munity voluntarily choosing a Catholic sovereign. If the Reformation was favorable to religious liberty, why, we ask, did it bring about a union of church and state in every country where it was established ? Why did it every- where persecute? It is curious to trace the origin of this mean subserviency of the various Protestant sects to the princes, under whose auspices they were respectively estab- lished. The reformers preached up freedom from the alleged VOL. I.— 29 338 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. tyranny of Rome: the people were seduced by this flattering appeal to their natural aversion to restraint ; and the Sefor- mation was thus effected in the manner which we have en- deavored to unfold. Once freed from the authority of Rome, the reformers threw themselves and their partisans, for pro- tection, into the arms of the secular princes who had espoused their cause ; and these gave them a bear's embrace ! They had escaped from an imaginary j they now fell into a real bondage. They had gone out of the dark land of Egypt, and had returned from the captivity of Babylon : but in the land of promise into which they led their exulting hosts of disenthralled disciples, they found other Pharaohs and other Nabuchadonosors, who lorded it over them with a rod of iron ! — " And the last state of these men was made worse than the first."* Luther soon perceived, that the only means of stemming the torrent of innovation, which he had let loose on the world, was to give unlimited power to princes in spiritual matters. Melancthon earnestly labored to retain the order of bishops ; but his unrelenting master could not brook this odious rem- nant of the Papacy. The result was, as Melancthon had foreseen, that for them he substituted other bishops — princes armed with the power of the sword. These were very far from being so scrupulous as had been their Catholic prede- cessors in the episcopal office ! After having seized and em- bezzled the property of the Catholic Church, they reigned supreme in church and state. They interfered in the minutest affairs of church government. It was by the importunities of \h& pious and scrupulous landgrave of Hesse, that Luther was induced, against his inclination, to suppress the elevation of the Host in the Mass.f Thus, as Audin well remarks, " the Reformation which was ushered into Germany by its apostles, as a means of forcing the people from the sacerdotal yoke, created a pagan monstrosity — hierophant and magis- * at. Matthew, xii : 45. f Jak. Marx., sup. cit., p. 177. CUJUS REGIO, EJUS RELIGIO. 339 tnite- -who with one arm regulated the state, and with the other, the church,*** The Protestant historian of Germany fully admits this. After the lines had been pretty well drawn between the Catholics and Protestants, the diet of Augsburg laid down and established the famous maxim, that in matters of religion each prince was supreme in his own dominions. This prin- ciple was embodied in the Latin motto : Cujus E-egio, Ejus Religio — literally, whose region^ his religion ! If this iron maxim, plainly destructive of the right of private judgment, weighed somewhat heavily on the Protestant subjects of Catholic princes, it operated much more oppressively against the Catholic subjects of Protestant princes. These were, by its action, compelled to abandon their time-honored religion at the mere bidding of their prince, whose religious caprices thus became the supreme law in religion as in government! In Catholic governments, on the contrary, it operated merely as a conservative policy, and it simply checked innovation on the established order of things. The maxim itself clearly proves that religious liberty, as we now understand the term, was very far from the thoughts and ideas of the German reformers and of their disciples. With these observations we subjoin the remarkable passage from Menzel :f " Every obstacle was now removed, and a peace, known as the religioutj peace of Augsburg, was concluded by the diet held in that city, A. D. 1555. This peace was naturally a mere political agi-eement provisionally entered into by the princes for the benefit, not of religion, but of themselves. Pop- ular opinion was dumb, knights, burgesses, and peasants bending in lowly submission to the mandate of their sovereigns. By this treaty, branded in history as the most lawless ever concerted in Germany, the principle ' cujus BEGio, EJUS RELIGIO,' — the faith of the prince must be that of the people, — •vas laid down. By it not only all the refcJrmed subjects of a Catholic prince were exposed to the utmost cruelty and tyranny, but the religion of each separate country was rendered dependent on the caprice of the reigning prince ; of this the Pfalz offered a sad example, the religion of the people ♦ Audin, p. 347 t History of Germany, vol. ii, p. 270. 340 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. beiiii thus four times arbitrarily changed. The struggles of nature and ol reason were powerless against the executioner, the stake, and the sword This principle was, nevertheless, merely a result of Luther's well-known policj', and consequently struck his contemporaries far less forcibly than after-generations. Freedom of belief, confined to the immediate subjects of the empire, for instance, to the reigning princes, the free nobility, and the city councilors, was monopolized by at most twenty thousand privileged persons, including the whole of the impoverished nobility, and the oligarchies of the most insignificant imperial free towns, and it consequently follows, taking the whole of the inhabitants of the empire at twenty millions, that, out of a thousand Germans, one only enjoyed the privilege of choosing his own religion." This usurpation of Protestant princes was afterwards again legalized, and it became a settled matter of state policy, at the congress of Westphalia in 1648, after the close of the Thirty Years' War. This congress recognized in the Pro'test- ant princes of Germany the jus reformandi, or the right to reform the churches existing within their dominions, accord- ing to their own judgment and good pleasure.* Thus, after a protracted struggle of more than a hundred years, during which oceans of blood had been poured out in the sacred name of liberty, Protestantism finally sunk down exhausted — a degraded slave — in the murderous embrace of earthly princes ! It was bound hand and foot, and could not move, but by the permission of its remorseless master ! The reformers were themselves the sole cause of this un- happy result. They had flattered princes, and had courted this very union, to which may be fairly traced the servile degradation of the sects they respectively founded. Tliey had invoked the power of the sword, not only against Cath- olics, but also against their brother religionists, who dared oppose their own schemes of reformation. Tliey had pro- claimed, that the right of suppressing heresy "belonged only to princes who alone could mow down the cockle with the BWord."t At the general assembly of the Protestant party * Jak. Marx — Audin, p. 347. f Ott. ad annum, 1536. Gastius, sup. cit., p. 365. Audin, p. 463. CHURCH AND STATE IN SAXONY. 341 at Homburg in 1536, the deputies of Lunenburg hai said: "The magistrate has the power of life and death over the heretics.'** Luther himself, in his defense of the enactments of this assembly, addressed to the landgrave of Hesse,-f had laid down this sweeping principle: " If then there takes place between Catholics and sectaries, one of those discussions in which each combatant advances with a text, it is the duty of the magistrate to take cognizance of the dispute, and to impose silence on those whose doctrine does not accoi-d with the holy books." — Could he con- sistently blame princes for afterwards tyrannically using the power which he himself had vested in them ? The history of the union of church and state in Saxony, will throw some light on its subsequent establishment in other Protestant countries. It was to meet the wishes and to carry out the suggestions of Luther, that John, elector of Saxony — naturally a weak and effeminate prince — first inter- fered in the affairs of the church. After he had entered, however, on his new spiritual functions, his ardent zeal car- ried him further than the monk had bargained for. " He determined to free himself fi'om the domination of the olergy (Pro- testant) ; and for that purpose found that the most eflBcacious means was to apply at once the reforming theories of Luther to the organization of parishes. A commission of ecclesiastics and laymen was accordingly named by the elector, who were charged to visit and administer the different districts. It was a real revolution. The church lost even its name ; it was turned into a pagan temple."| Let US also see what is the opinion of the Protestant Hallam on the influence of the Reformation on religious liberty. He surely is not prejudiced against the reformers, as we have already had occasion to see; and his opinion must therefore be of great weight with Protestants. We have already given some extracts from his latest work, bear- * Ott. ad annum, 1536, p. 86. f Referred to above, p. 328. \ Audin, p. 3,53. We have above quoted a passage from Menzel, which fi'Uy confirms this, and even goes further. 22 842 mi^'LUENCE OF REFORMATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. ing indirectly on the present subject. We add the following passages : " It is often said that the essential principle of Protestantism, and that for which the struggle was made, was something different from all we have mentioned; a perpetual freedom from all authority in religious belief, ot what goes by the name of the right of private judgment. But, to look more nearly at what occurred, this permanent independence was not much asserted, and still less acted upon. The Reformation was a change of masters; a voluntary one, no doubt, in those loJio had any choice; and, in this sense, an exercise, for the time, of their personal judgment. But no one having gone over to the confession of Augsburg or that of Zurich, was deemed at liberty to modify these creeds at his pleasure. He might, of course, become an Anabaptist or an Arian ; but he was not the less a heretic in doing so, than if he had continued in the Church of Rome. By what light a Protestant was to steer, might he a problem., which at that time, as ever aince, it would perplex a theologian to decide : but in practice, the law of the land which established one exclusive mode of faith, was the only safe, as, in ordinary circumstances, it was, upon the whole, the most eligible (!) guide."* In another place, speaking of the causes which brought about the decline of Protestantism and the reaction of Catho- licity, he says : "We ought to reckon also among the principal causes of this change, those perpetual disputes, those irreconcilable animosities, that bigotry, above all, and persecuting spirit, which were exhibited in the Lutheran and Cal- vinistic churches. Each began with a common principle — the necessity of an orthodox faith. But this orthodoxy evidently meant nothing more than their own belief as opposed to that of their adversaries ; a belief acknowl- edged to be fallible, 3'et maintained as certain ; rejecting authority in one breath, and appealing to it in the next, and claiming to rest on sure proofs of reason and Scripture, which their opponents were ready, with just as much confidence, to invalidate."! In conclusion, we may observe, that in regard to toleration, the Catholic countries of Europe at the present time compare advantageously with those which have been enh'g/itened by the Reformation for4the last three hundred years. There is not one Catholic government of Europe which now persecutes ■• "Histo-y of Literature," etc., vol. i, p. 200. f Ibid., vol. i, p. 278. CATHOLICf TOLERATION. 343 foi conscience' sake ; and on the other hand, there is scarcely one Protestant government which does not persecute, in one form or other, even at this day ! We have ah-eady seen what has been, and to a great extent is still, the policy of the latter in regard to religious liberty. Our assertion in regard to the former, can be easily substantiated. Belgium is Catholic, and Belgium allows equal political rights to Protestants with Catholics, and is at the same time, perhaps, the freest monarchy in Europe. The in- quisition has been long since abolished in Spain and Portugal, and these no longer persecute dissenters. France is Catholic, and France not only does not persecute, but she protects the Protestant religion, and pays its ministers even more than she allows to the Catholic clergy — which is but equitable, as the former have their wives and families to support ! Bavaria is Catholic; and Bavaria allows equal civil rights to Protestants as to Catholics. Austria is Catholic ; and Aus- tria adopts the same equitable policy. Bohemia is Catholic ; and Bohemia imitates the example of the other Catholic states : and the same may be said of Hungary, which, like Bohemia, is a dependency of the Austrian empire. Italy is Catholic ; and Protestants have places of worship and public cemeteries at the very gates of the eternal city itself. So far is this toleration carried, that but a few years since, a parson of the church of England, delivered a course of lec- tures against "popery" at Rome itself; and Dr. "Wiseman answered them. Poland — poor bleeding and crushed Poland, ims Catholic to its very hearts's core ; and Poland was seldom, if ever sul lied with persecution. Ireland was ever Catholic ; and Ire land never persecuted, though she had it in her power to dc 80 at three different times. Finally, it was the Catholic Lord Baltimore, and the Catholic colonists of Maryland, who, in 1648, first proclaimed on this broad continent, as a settled law, the great principle of universal toleration, while the 344 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON CIVIL LIBERTY. Puritans were persecuting brother Protestants in New En gland, and the Episcopalians were doing the same thing in Virginia !* CHAPTER XIII. INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVIL LIBERTY. " The most striking effect of the first preaching of the Reformation was that it ap- pealed to the ignorant; and though political liberty .... cannot be reckoned the aim of those who introduced it, yet there predominated that revolutionary spirit which loves to witness destruction for its own sake, and that intoxicated self-confidence which renders folly mischievous." — Hallam."+ Boasting — Theory of government — Political liberty — Four things guarantied — Pursuit of happiness — The Popes and liberty — Rights of property — Use made of confiscated church property — The Attila of the Reformation — Par nobile fratrum — Spoliation of Catholics — Contempt of testamentary dispositions — The jus manuale abolished — And restored — Disregard of life — And crushing of popular liberty — The war of the peasants — Two charges made good — Grievances of the peasants — Drowned in blood — Remarkable testimony of Menzel — Luther's agency therein — Halting betweei^^ two extremes — Result — Absolute despotism — Swiss cantons — D'Aubigne puzzled — Liberty, a mountain nymph — The old mother of republics — Security to character — Recapitulation. The friends of the Reformation have been in the habit of boasting, that to it we are indebted for all the free institutions we now enjoy. Before it, there was nothing in the world but slavery on the one hand, and reckless despotism on the other : • See Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 1, Mar3dand. About the same time, or perhaps a few years previously, Roger Williams, driven into the wilderness by the Puritans of Massachusetts, established the colony of Rhode Island, the charter of which granted free toleration, from which however, the Catholics were in all probability excluded, at least until a con- siderably later period. j " History of Literature," vol. i, p. 192. POLITICAL LIBERTY. 345 after it, came liberty and free government. In school-boy orations and Fourth-of-July speeches ; in sermons from the pulpit and in effusions from the press ; this assertion has been reiterated over and again with so much confidence, that many persons of sincerity and intelligence have viewed it as founded in fact. To such we would beg leave to present the following brief summary of evidence bearing on the subject. Let them read both sides ; and then will they be able to form an enlightened judgment. D'Aubigne asserts roundly : " The Reformation saved reli- gion, and with it society."* We have already seen what it did for religion : we will now examine what it did for society. Did it really save society ; or was society saved in sjplte of it? To narrow down the ground of the inquiry ; did it really contribute by its influence to check political despotism, and to protect the rights of the people ? Or, in other words, did it develop the democratic principle, and originate free institu- tions ? Were we to decide according to the measure of its boasting, it certainly did this and much more. It had liberty forever on its lips : it loudly proclaimed that one great object of its mission was to free mankind from a degrading servitude, both religious and political. But was its practice in accord- ance with its loudly boasting theory ? We shall see. Political liberty guaranties security to life, to property, to character, and to the pursuit of happiness : and it does this with the least possible restraint on personal freedom. The greater the security to these objects, and the less the restraint on individual liberty, the more free and perfect is the system of govornment. A well regulated democracy — where the people can bear it — best corresponds with this theory, and is therefore, with the condition just named, the best of all pos- sible forms of government. And the nearer others approxi mate to this standard, the more do they verge to perfection. Buch are the principles of our political creed : and by them ♦ D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 67. 346 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON CIVIL LIBERTY. as a test, we are willing to decide on the influence of the Reformation on free government. Did this religious revolu- tion provide greater security to life, property, honor, and the pursuit of happiness, with less restraint to individual liberty than had previously existed ? If it did, then was its influence favorable to liberty ; if it did not, then, however its advocates may boast, its influence was decidedly hostile to true civil liberty. We will stand by these principles, which we are sure our adversaries will not be disposed to reject, at least in this country. 1. We will begin with the object of government last named — security to men in ihe pursuit of happiness. Ko government is free, which does not guaranty this. The high- est, the most noble, and the only sure way of pursuing happi- ness, is by the path of religion. Without this, there is, and can be, no real or permanent happiness, either in this world or in the next. This, we think, will be admitted by all who are imbued with the very first principles of Christianity. Now, there is manifestly no freedom in this exalted pursuit, without the guaranty of i-eligious liberty. Hence, a system, which has sapped the very foundations of religious liberty, could not guaranty one of the greatest objects of all free gov- ernments— security in the pursuit of happiness. Now, we have already proved, that the Reformation did not secure, but rather destroyed religious freedom : therefore, the inference is irresistible, that it did not tend to promote free government. We will pursue this line of argument a little further. The Reformation cast off the religious yoke of the Pontiffs and of the Catholic Church ; and, in its place, it wore, solidly riveted on its neck, that of the princes who had espoused its cause. Was the exchange favorable to liberty ? Did the union of church and state, which necessarily ensued, secure to Protest- ants in Germany a greater amount of freedom than they had heretofore enjoyed ? The Pope was far off, and he generally interposed his authority only in spiritual matters, or in great emergencies of the state : the princes, who succeeded to his PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. 347 authority, were present, and they interfered in every thing, both in church and state. They were in fact supreme in both. When they chose to phxy the tyrant, who was to oppose their will ? The reformed party were powerless : they had given up themselves, bound hand and foot, into the power of their princes. The voice of the Roman Pontiffs, which had hitherto thundered from the Vatican, and stricken terror into the heart of tyranny, was now also powerless : the reformers themselves had drowned that voice in the maddening clamor of their op- position to the Pope. What resource had they left to meet and repel royal tyranny ? They had themselves, of their own accord, rendered powerless' the only arm which could protect them, or redress their grievances. The time has gone by, for men of sense and intelligence to clamor against the tyranny of the Roman Pontiffs. Protest- ants themselves are beginning to view these much abused men in a more favorable light than they did heretofore. They no longer paint them as the unmitigated tyrants who lorded it over the world for their own selfish purposes and unhal- lowed ambition ; but as the saviours of Europe, and the pro- tectors of its political rights trodden in the dust by tyrants. Such Protestants writers as Guizot, Yoigt, Ranke, Pusey, and Bancroft, have done at least a measure of justice to the Popes. The last named says, speaking of Pope Alexander III., who lived, A. D. 1167: He, " True to the spirit of his office, which during the supremacy of brute force .n the middle age, made of the chief minister of religion the tribune of the people and the guardian of the oppressed, had written, 'that nature having made no slaves, all men have an equal right to liberty.' "* We might quote many similar acknowledgments made by Protestant writers : but the fact we have asserted will scarcely be questioned, and we may refer in general to the works of the writers mentioned above for evidence in its support. Nothing * History of the United States, vol. i, p. 163. 348 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON CIVIL LIBERTY. is, ill fact, more certain than that the Popes of the middio ages labored assiduously to maintain the rights of the people against the tyranny of their princes. Whenever they struck a blow, it was generally aimed at tyranny, and well calculated to raise up the lower orders in the scale of society. The op- pressed of every nation found a willing and a powerful advo- cate in Rome. When the Roman Pontiffs threw around the people the broad shield of their own protection, it was more effectual towards their defense against the tyranny which had ground them in the dust, than had been the eagles which had perched on the Roman standard of old. For Germany par- ticularly, the deposing power, claimed by the Popes of the middle ages, was a broad segis thrown around the liberties of its people. When was that power ever exercised, but in be- half of the poor, the crushed, and the bleeding? And when was it evoked except against tyranny and an oppression no longer tolerable, or remediable by any other means? We know of few, if of any cases of its exercise, except under such circumstances as these. What would have become of the liberties of Europe in that period of anarchy and tyranny, but for the exercise of papal power ? No other authority was available : because no other voice would have been heard or respected, amidst the general din of war and the confusion of the times. And by destroying that authority, the reformers broke down the most effectual barrier against tyranny, and destroyed the greatest security to popular rights. 2. But perhaps the Reformation provided greater security for the rights of property, than had been made in the good old Catholic times ? — We have seen how the Protestant princes seized upon and alienated the vast property of the Catholic Church. They diverted it from its legitimate channels, and generally embezzled it for their own private uses. Neither the public treasury nor the people profited much by this sac- rilegious invasion of church property : it was generally spent m profligacy. SECURITY TO PROPERTY. 349 True, the Protestant princes, who became the heads of the reformed churches, promised, in some places, to employ at least a portion of the immense property thus seized on by violence, for the establishment of public schools and hospitals. But this promise was never carried into effect, at least to any great extent. Thus, in Sweden, a great portion of the church property was given to the nobles, as a reward for their co-ope- ration with the monarch — Gustavus Wasa — in carrying out his favorite project of reform : another large portion was an- nexed to the crown ; and the miserable remnant was doled out, with a niggardly hand, for the support of the episcopal body — which was there retained — of the inferior clergy, and of the charitable and literary institutions.* In Denmark, the monarch and the nobility shared the spoils.f In Germany, the avarice of the nobility swallowed up almost every thing, which had escaped the grasp of the per- jured monks, or the pillage of the infuriated mobs. We have already seen, how Luther himself lashed them, with his withering eloquence, for their sacrilegious avarice, which had left almost nothing of the ample patrimony of the Church, for the support of the reformed preachers and their wives ! We shall see, in the sequel, how he rebuked their parsimony, in not erecting and supporting public schools. The ejected Catholic monks and clergy were reduced to beggary, and had no alternative left, but to starve, or to ob- tain a livelihood at the price of apostasy. Alas ! too many of them adopted the latter alternative ! John Hurd, a coun- selor of the elector of Saxony, whose authority is cited by Luther in his appeal against the avarice of the princes, asserts that the Protestant nobility had squandered in licentiousness, not only the goods of the monasteries on which they had seized, but also their own private patrimony — so sadly de- moralized had they become.J * See Robelot, sup. cit, p. 177. f Ibid. We shall treat of this subject at some length in our second yd- ume \ Ibid., p. 178. 350 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON CIVIL LIBERTY. Many of these marauding princes were not content with the pillage of the church property within their own territory, but sallied forth with an armed band to devastate that of their neighbors. We have already adverted to the memorable exploits of many German princes in this way, and have seen how gallantly their armed bands put to flight whole troops of cowled monks and helpless women, in order to seize on their property ! "We have seen the excursion of the apostate Albert of Brandenburg, at the head of ten thousand armed men, into the territory of the Prince Bishop of Treves : and how their sacrilegious devastations there were like those of an army of Huns. This man, viewed by D'Aubigne as a saint, but more prop- erly called by his contemporaries, " the Attila of the Refor- mation,"* established a temporal principality, and laid the foundation of the present kingdom of Prussia, by his success- ful invasion and gigantic pillage of property belonging -to much better men than himself. He not only appropriated to his own private use the vast property belonging to the Teu- tonic Order, of which he was the general ; but he also, by the same lawless means, annexed to his territory all eastern Prus- sia. He was as treacherous and unprincipled, as he was avaricious and lawless. To promote the purposes of his am- bition, he passed from the camp of Henry H., to that of the Catholic Charles V. ; and though the treaty of Passau had guarantied to the Lutherans of the Confession of Augsburg the free exercise of their religion, he, at the head of his troops, ravaged the territories of the Protestant princes — thus reck- lessly sacrificing friends as well as enemies ! The Reforma- tion is welcome to all the credit its cause may derive from such saints as he and the landgrave of Hesse. Yet these two men were among its chief supports, and brightest orna- ments ; and their glory is intimately blended with that of the Reformation. * See Robelot, sup. cit., p. 206 WHOLESALE ROBBERY. 351 Bayle says to the reformed party, with caustic truth : " You forget every thing, when it is question of your interests."* The League of Smalkald, noticed above, had for one of its principal objects, to protest against the decisions of tlie im- perial courts, which had not granted entire liberty to the Protestant princes to pillage at will the property of the Catholics ! It is a remarkable fact, that most of the criminal prosecutions commenced in these courts were directed against the lawless violence of the Protestant nobility, and especially of the noted landgrave of Hesse.f Catholics could not be secure in their property, and even the protection of the em- peror was unavailing for this purpose in those times of lawless depredation and gospel zeal ! And be it remembered, that Catholics still formed the great body of the Germanic empire. Thus the Reformation succeeded in depriving, to a great extent, of their most sacred rights, the vast majority of the people. Was this course favorable to liberty, which is a mere name, without security to property? The truth seems to be, that the reformed party were so much attached to liberty, that they wished to monopo- lize it altogether, and have it all for themselves. No one else was deemed worthy to enjoy the precious boon ! But, perhaps, the most mischievous influence of the Refor- mation on the rights of property, was its reckless disregard of testamentary dispositions. The property which the Pro- testant princes thus seized on and alienated, had been — most of it — accumulated from pious bequests, made for special church and charitable purposes, by men on their death-beds. What right had the reformed party to interfere with these testamentary dispositions? What right had they to divert the property thus created, from the channels in which the abiding Catholic feeling of respect for the dead had caused it to flow for centuries? What right had they, above all, to * ffiuvres, torn, ii, p 621. La Haye, 1727, f See Eobelot, ut supra, p. 205, note. 352 LNFLUENCE OF REFORMATION 0-. CIVIL LIBERTY. squander, and to appropriate to their own unhallowed pur poses, wealth which had been hitherto applied, by the express will of those who had bequeathed it, to religious and charitable objects ? And what security was there any longer left for the rights of property, when even the sanctity of last wills and testa- ments was thus recklessly disregarded and trampled upon ? Had those charitable men of the good old Catholic times been able to rise up from their tombs, how they would have rebuked this sacrilegious alienation of the property they had left! True, some stop was put to this unhallowed wholesale sequestration of church property by the treaty of 1555; in which such property was declared sacred, and last wills were pronounced inviolable; and Robertson, the historian of Charles V., tells us, that, at this treaty, the Protestant princes themselves, after having at first opposed the article which checked their lawless violence, withdrew at length their objections, and acquiesced in its equity.* But the mischief had already been done, and they had already fat- tened on the spoils of the Church! Their forbearance was therefore not very wonderful, under the circumstances. But for the tumults caused by the Reformation, the rights of property would, in all probability, have been permanently settled throughout Germany, at the close of the fifteenth cen- tury. The frequent depredations committed by the feudal chieftains of the middle ages on the property of each other and of their vassals, had been already eflectually checked by the Emperor Maximilian, in an imperial law passed in 1405. This law of the empire abolished altogether what was called the jus manuale — or the right claimed by many lawless feudal sovereigns to take by force whatever they could lay their hands on ; and it established an imperial court of adju- dication, in which all points of contested jurisdiction were to be definitely settled, and all grievances from violations of the * History of Charles V., I. xi. Cited by Robelot, p. 181. PERSONAL FREEDOM. 353 law to be redressed. Germany enjoyed a profound peace foi many years after the enactment of this wise law : men breathed more freely ; might and riglit were no .onger synonymous terms ; the rights of property were re-estab- lished.* But this peace was, alas ! of but short duration. It was a calm, which preceded an awful storm. The violent preaching of Luther against emperors, princes, and bishops, aroused again into full activity the dormant passions of the lower orders. Hence the dreadful war of the peasants, with all its appalling horrors, its effusion of blood, and the desolation with which it afflicted Germany. Seven years only had elapsed since the commencement of the Reformation ; and the confusion of the middle ages returned. The rights of property, of life, and of liberty were again ruthlessly trampled under foot with impunity. Wholesale sacrilege, unheard of in the Catholic middle ages, now became the order of the day. Robbery began with the house of God ! The years 1524 and 1525 were awful years for Germany. The princes of the empire availed themselves of the general disorder, to commit all manner of excesses. No man's property, or liberty, or life was any longer safe. The tree planted by Luther at Wit- tenberg was bearing its bitter first fruits ! 3. The history of this war of the peasants sheds so much additional light upon the influence of the Reformation on the rights of the lower orders and the liberty of the people, that we will be pardoned for dwelling on it at some length. Our limits will however allow only a brief summary of the more prominent facts, and a rapid sketch of the leading features of that eventful struggle. It will be seen from this brief ex- amination that the Reformation provided no security what- ever, either for personal liberty, or for life itself. We deliberately charge on the Reformation two things : let, that it stimulated the peasants to revolt ; 2dly, that it * For a luminous view of this, see Eobelot, ut sup., p. 200, 201. VOL. I.— 30 354 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON CIVIL LIBERTY. used its powerful influence to crush that revolt by force, and to drown the voice of the poor peasants, crying out for redress of grievances, in their blood ! The result of the rebellion, thua stifled in their blood, was a weakening of the democratic principle, and a strengthening of the arm of power. At the close of the dreadful struggle, liberty lay crushed and bleed- ing, and despotism, armed with all its iron terrors, was trium- phant. We hope to make good these assertions by undeniable facts and unexceptionable evidence. A Protestant historian of Germany, Adolphus Menzel, candidly admits that Luther's doctrines were calculated to sow the seeds of sedition among the lower orders.* The violent appeal he had made to the people against the emperor and the princes of the empire, at the close of the diet of Nu- renberg, in 1522 — two years before the revolt of the peasants — was, in fact, nothing else but an open call to rebellion.f His words fell, like burning coals, on the inflammatory mate- rials which then abounded in Germany. The standard of revolt was everywhere raised : and on it was inscribed the talismanic word — liberty. Far from wishing to extinguish it, Luther fanned the flame with his breath. When the insur- rectionary movements were reaching his own Saxony, he addressed a pamphlet to the German nobility, in which he sided with the peasants, and openly charged the princes with being the cause of the revolt. He cried out: » " On you rests the responsibility of these tumults and seditions ; on you, princes and lords, on you especially, blind bishops and senseless priests and monks ! You, who persist in making yourselves fools, and opposing the gospel, although you know that it will triumph, and that you shall not pre- vail. How do you govern ? You only know how to oppress, to destroy, and to plunder, for the purpose of maintaining your pomp and pride. The people and the poor have got enough of you. The sword is raised over your heads, and yet you believe yourselves so firmly seated, that you can * "Neuere Geschichte der Deutchen" — Tom. 1, p. 169. + See extracts from this writing in Audin, p. 285, seqq. GRIEVANCES OF THE PEASANTS. 355 not be overthrown My good sirs, it is not merelj the peasants who rise up against you ; it is God himself who comes to chastise your tyranny. A drunken man must have a bed of straw ; a peasant will require some- thing softer. Go not to war with them ; you do not know how the affair will terminate."* This was an appeal worthy of an apostle of liberty — it was seized up with avidity by Miinzer and the other leaders of the revolt : all Germany was in arras. — How soon did Luther change his note, and preach up the extermination of these same peasants by fire and sword! Before we shoW this, how- ever, we must first see what were the principal grievances of which the peasants complained, and what were their de- mands. There is no doubt, that there was much fanaticism, and much extravagance in the whole insurrectionary movement of the peasants : but there is as little doubt, that most of their claims were founded in strict justice. Chrystopher Schapp- ler, a Swiss priest, drew up their manifesto, in which they demanded, among other things of less moment: "That they should pay tithes only in corn — that they should no longer be treated as slaves, since the blood of Jesus had redeemed them — that they should be allowed to fish and to fowl, since God had given them, in the person of Adam, dominion over the fishes of the sea and the fowls of the air — that they might cut in the forest wood for fuel and for building — that the labor should be diminished — that they should be permitted to possess landed property — that the taxes should not exceed the value of the property — that the tribute to the nobles, after the death of a father of a family, might be abolished, so that his widow and orphans might not be reduced to beggary — and finally, that if these grievances were not well founded, they might be disproved from the word of God."* * See Audin, p. 309, 310. ' ' f Catrou — Histoire du Fanatisme, torn. 1. Menzel, tom. 1, apud Audin, p. 311-2. See also Robertson's Charles V., in one vol. 8vo., American edit. p. 205-6. We will give the more detailed account of Menzel a little furthei oil. There are two Menzels, Wolfgang and Adolf— we refer to the former. 356 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON CIVIL LIBERTY. How was this declaration of grievances met by the re formed party? If they were really the friends of liberty they would at once have recognized the justice of most of these d(?mands, and would have urged the princes to grant them. At least consistency, if not justice, required that Lu- ther should have adopted this course. And yet he — the same Luther, whom we have just heard rebuking the tyranny of the princes, and justifying, nay, urging forward the peasants in their revolt — the very same man now changed his tactics, and loudly clamored for the blood of the peasants ! He met their challenge, in which they had triumphantly appealed to the Scriptures for their justification, and wrote a labored treatise to prove, from the word of God, that they were in the wrong ! In this reply to their statement of grievances, he said : " I know that Satan, under pretext of the gospel, conceals among you many men of a cruel heart, who incessantly calumniate me ; (was this tJm reason why he ahandoned Iheh- cause ?). But I despise them : I do not dread their rage. You tell me that you will triumph ; that you are invincible. But can not God, who destroyed Sodom, overcome you ? You have taken up the sword ; you shall perish by the sword. In resisting your magis- trates, you resist Jesus Christ." He then goes on to answer, from the Scriptures, their de- mands, one by one. Bible in hand, he defends tithes and even the enslaving of the poor peasants, who had demanded to be free : " You wish to emancipate yourselves from slavery : but slavery is as old as the world. Abraham had slaves, and St. Paul establishes rules for those whom the laws of nations reduced to that state." — As if conscious of his own treachery and utter inconsistency, he winds up his reply with these words : " On reading my letter, you will shout and exclaim, that Luther has become the courtier of princes : but before you reject, at least examine my advice. Above all, listen not to the voice of those new prophets who delude you. I know them."* What a change ! As Luther had anticipated, the peasants accused him, with justice, of perfidy to them, and of mean * Apud Audin, p. 312, 313. B.EVOLT AND SLAUGHTER OF THE PEASANTS. 357 sycophancy to princes. To prove the perfidy, Miinzer read to the assembled multitudes an extract from Luther's violent appeal against " the ecclesiastical order falsely so called,"* in which he had said : " Wait, my lord bishops, yea, rather imps of the devil ; Doctor Martin Luther will read for you a bull, which will make your ears tingle. This is the Lutheran bull — whoever will aid with his arms, his fortune, or his life, to devastate the bishops and the episcopal hierarchy, is a good son of God, a true Christian, and observes the commandments of the Lord." In his answer to Prierias, which it appears Miinzer had not seen, Luther had employed this terrible language : "If we hang robbers on the gallows, decapitate murderers, and burn heretics, why should we not wash our hands in the blood of those sons of perdition, those cardinals, those popes, those serpents of Eome, and of Sodom, who defile the church of God ?"f Luther's interposition in favor of order came too late: and it lost all its force by the manifest treachery and inconsistency with his previous declarations. The struggle went on; the hostile armies met on the memorable field of Frankhausen : the confederated princes were triumphant, and the peasants were butchered like sheep. Their prophet Miinzer fell mor- tally wounded : he embraced again the Catholic faith, and to his last breath accused Luther of having been the cause of all his misfortunes ! J " Such was the end of the war of the peasants. In the short time in which they were permitted to afflict society, it is estimated that more than a hundred thousand men fell on the field of battle, seven cities were dis- mantled, fifty monasteries razed to the ground, and three churches burned — not to mention the immense treasures of painting and sculpture, of stained glass and of beautifully written manuscripts — which wert' r-anihilated. Had they triumphed, Germany would have relapsed into );arbarism : literature, arts, poetry, morality, faith, and authority, would have been buried under * "Contra falso nominatum ordinem ecclesiasticum." Luth. 0pp., ed Wittenb., ii, fol. 120, seqq. f Osiander (a Protestant) Cent. 161, etc., p. 109. Audin, p. 213. f For a graphic description of this whole struggle, see Audin, p. 315, 23 358 ■ INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON CIVIL LIBERTY. the same ruin. The rebellion which Luther had caused, was the daughter of disobedience : her father, however, knew how to chastise her. If there was innocent blood shed, let it be on his head. ' For,' says the reformer, ' it is I who have shed it, bj' order of God ; and whoever has perished in this combat, has lost both soul and bod}^ and is eternally damned.' "* The voice of all history prockiims, that Luther was the cause of the insurrection of the peasants, and of their subse- quent slaughter. Even Protestant contemporary historians have accused him of all this. Osiander says : " Poor peasants, whom Luther flattered and caressed, while they were content with attacking th( oishops and the clergy! But when the revolt assumed another aspect, and the insurgents mocked at his bull, and threatened him and his princes — then appeared another bull, in which he preached up the slaughter of the peasants as if they were so many sheep. And when they were killed, how, think you, did he celebrate their funeral ? — By marrying a nun!" This reminds us of Erasmus' beautiful remark given above, that while Luther was reveling in his nuptials, "a hundred thousand peasants were descending to the tomb!" Hospinian, another Protestant writer, says, addressing Luther: ''It is you who excited the peasants to revolt."t Memno Simon, another Protestant, asserts the same thing.J Cochlseus, a Catholic historian of the time, estimates the number of the slaughtered peasants at one hundred and fifty thousand ; and says : " On the day of judgment, Miinzer and his peasants will cry out before God and his angels, ' ven- geance on Luther !'"§ * Tisch Reden, edit. Eisleb., p. 276. Luth. 0pp., edit. Jenaj. Tom. iii, fol. 130. Audin, p. 318. •f " Historia Sacramentar." pars 2, fol. 200. I Lib. de cruce. 5 Cochlseus — Defensio Duels Georgii, p. 63, edit. Tngolstadt, an. 1545, in4to. Wolfgang Menzel estimates the number of the slaughtered peasants at one hundred thousand ! He says : " Thus terminated this terrible struggle, during which more than one hundred thousand of the peasantry fell, and which reduced the survivors to a more degraded state of slavery." — History of Germany, vol. ii, p. 244. Bohn's edition menzel's account. 35S And liave we not heard Luther himself boldly avowing hit agency in the whole transaction, and even boasting of it, with a kind of fiendish exultation ? Had he not recommended the princes to have no pity on the peasants, and threatened them with the indignation of God, if they poured oil on their bleed- ing wounds ?* Had he not said : " Give the peasants oats ; and if they grow strong-headed, give them the stick and the cannon ball ? "f Tlie unexceptionable Protestant historian of Germany, whom we have just quoted, furnishes the following fuller account of the revolt of the peasants, of the detailed griev- ances for which they sought redress, and of Luther's agency in having them cruelly butchered, for no other crime than their having dared ask for a very moderate share of popular liberty : " The peasantry discovered extreme moderation in their demands, which were included in twelve articles, and elected a court of arbitration consisting of the Archduke Ferdinand, the elector of Saxony, Luther, Melancthon, and some preachers, before which their grievances were to be laid. " The twelve articles were as follows : — 1. The right of the peasantry to appoint their own preachers, who were to be allowed to preach the word of God from the Bible. 2. That the dues paid by the peasantry were to be abolished, with the exception of the tithes ordained by God for the mainte- nance of the clergy, the surplus of which was to be applied to general pur- poses and to the maintenance of the poor. 3. The abolition of vassalage as iniquitous. 4. The right of hunting, fishing, and fowhng. 5. That of cut- ting wood in the forests. 6. The modification of socage and average service. 7. That the peasant should be guarantied from the caprice of his lord by a fixed agreement. 8. The modification of the rent upon feudal lands, by which a part of the profit would be secured to the occupant. 9. The admin- istration of justice according to the ancient laws, not according to the new statutes and to caprice. 10. The restoration of communal property, illegally seized. 11. The abolition of dues on the death of the serf, by which the widows and orphans were deprived of their right. 12. The acceptance of the aforesaid articles, or their refutation as contrary to the Scriptures. " The princes naturally ridiculed the simplicity of the peasantry in deem- * Epist. Nich. Amsdorf, 30 Maii, 152.5. f Epist. to Kuhel, edit, de Wette, tom. ii, p. 669. SCO INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON CIVIL LIBERTY. ing a court of arbitration, in which Luther was to be seated at the side i>f the archduke, possible, and Luther himself refused to interfere in their afilvirs. Although free from the injustice of denying the oppressed condition of the peasantry, for which he had severely attacked the princes and nobility, he dreaded the insolence of the peasantry under the guidance of the Anabap- tists and enthusiasts, whom he viewed with deep repugnance, and, conse- quently, used his utmost endeavors to quell the sedition ; but the peasantry believing themselves betrayed by him, gave way to greater excesses, and Thomas Miinzer openly accused him of 'deserting the cause of liberty, and of rendering the Reformation a fresh advantage for the princes, a fresh meana of tyranny.' " The whole of the peasantry in southern Germany, incited by fanatical preachers, meanwhile revolted, and were joined by several cities. Karlstadt, expelled fi'om Saxony, now appeared at Rotenburg on the Tauber ; and the Upper German peasantry, inflamed by his exhortations to prosecute the Reformation independently of Luther, whom he accused of countenancing the princes, rose in the March and April of 1525, in order to maintain the twelve articles by force, to compel the princes and nobles to subscribe to them, to destroy the monasteries, and to spread the gospel. Mergentheim, the seat of the unpopular German Plospitallers, was plundered " This atrocious deed drew a pamphlet from Luther ' against the furious peasantry,' in which he called upon all the citizens of the empire ' to strangle, to stab them, secretly and openly, as they can, as one would kill a mad dog.'* The peasantry had, however, ceased to respect him." Such, then, were the tender mercies of the Reformation ! Such its regard for the lower orders ! Such its political code ! The poor peasants were first stimulated to take up arms to secure their freedom, and then butchered by tens of thou- sands! In their tomb was buried whatever of liberty re- mained in Germany. The princes became omnipotent : the revolt once crushed, no one dared any longer to raise his voice in defense of freedom ! The Reformation had halted for a brief space between two dreadful extremes : that of absolute and uncrontrolled despot- ism on the one hand, and that of dreadful anarchy on the other. It at first favored the latter, but soon it threw the * " Casper von Schwenkfeld said : ' Luther has led the people out of Egypt ^,the Fapacy) through the Red Sea (the peasant war), but has deserted them in the wilderness.' Luther never forarave him." Menzel, ibid. ABSOLUTE MONARCHY. 361 whole weight of its powerful influence into the scales of the former. The result has been, what might have been expected, absolute despotism and union of church and state in every country of Germany, where the Reformation obtained a solid footing ! Had the reformers been really the friends of human- ity and of liberty ; had they urged the princes to redress the just grievances of the peasants ; the issue of that struggle would have been very diflferent. The lower orders would have been raised in the scale of society, and free institutions, which have not blessed Germany since the days of Luther, would have been established on a solid and permanent basis. One of the most famous Protestant historians of the day, Guizot, once prime minister of France, tells us, in his Lectures on Civilization in Modern Europe: "that the emancipation of the human mind (by the Reformation !), and absolute mon- archy triumphed simultaneously throughout Europe."* All who have but glanced at the political history of Europe, in the sixteenth century, must at once see the truth of this start- ling remark. In the Protestant kingdoms of continental Europe, this rule suffers no exception : in all of them, absolute monarchy, in its most consolidated and despotic form, dates precisely from the period of the Reformation.! Witness Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, and, we may add, En- gland : for it is certain, that for one hundred and fifty years following the Reformation in England, the liberties of the people were crushed ; the privileges secured by the Catholic Magna Charta were wantonly trampled under foot ; and the royal prerogative almost swallowed up every other element of government. It was only at the period of the revolution, in 1688, that the principles of the great Catholic Charter were * Page 300 of Lectures, etc., American edit., 1 vol. 12mo. f In the year 1848 some ameliorations were obtained or promised, but they were generally of a transient character. Even in Sweden, of whose popular institutions we sometimes hear or read, the Lutheran religion ia firmly established by law, and a union of church and state in its /ery worst form exists, even down to the present day. VOL. I.— Si 362 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON CIVIL LIBERIT. again feebly asserted, and partially restored to their proper influence in the government.* In Cathclic countries, the necessity of strong measures of precaution against the seditions and tumults occasioned by the Reformation in every place where it had made its appear- ance, necessarily tended to strengthen the arm of the execu- tive : and in the general ferment of the times, the people willingly resigned most of the civil privileges they had en- joyed during the middle ages, in order, by increasing the power of their rulers, the more effectually to stem the torrent of innovation, and to avert the threatened evils of anarchy. Thus the political tendency of the Reformation, both directly and indirectly, favored the introduction of absolute systems of government throughout Europe. And thus do we clearly owe to the "glorious Reformation," the despotic governments, the vast standing armies, and we may add, the immense public debts and the burdensome tax- ation, of most of the European governments. Guizot's asser- tion is then well founded, both in the principles of political philosophy, and in the facts of history. We may however remark, that it was a strange " emancipation of the human mind" truly, which thus avowedly led to the "triumph of absolute monarchy throughout Europe!" It would seem that Switzerland at least was an exception to Guizot's sweeping assertion ; as absolute monarchy never was established in its cantons, even after the Reformation. But the reader of Swiss history will not fail to observe, that wherever Protestantism was established in that country, there the democratic principle was weakened, there the legislative councils unduly interfered in spiritual matters, and there des- potism thus often triumphed in the much abused name of liberty. Those cantons of Switzerland precisel}^ are the freest, * See an ablr^ essay on this subject in Nos. xv, xviii, xix, of the Dablin Review, " On A rbitrary Power, Popery, Protestantism ;" repubhshed in a Qeat 12mo volume by M. Fithian, Philadelphia, 1842, pp. 251. SWISS LIBERTY. 363 which have remained faithful to the Catholic religion. In them, you read of no persecution of Protestants for conscience' sake, of no attempts to unite church and state, and of little departure in any respect from the original Catholic charter of Swiss liberties. It is a remarkable fact, that the three cantons which first asserted Swiss liberty — those of Schweit?, Uri, and Unterwald — have all continued faithful to the Cath- olic Church, as well as to the good old principles of democ- racy bequeathed to them by the Catholic founders of their republic. D'Aubigne admits, and he is sadly puzzled to account for, this stern adherence of the oldest and freest Swiss cantons to the Catholic faith. He explains it in his own characteristic way, by appealing to the inscrutable ways of the Providence of God ! He says : " But if the Helvetic towns, open and accessible to ameliorations, were likely to be drawn early within the current of the Reformation, the case was very different with the mountain districts. It might have been thought that these communities, more simple and energetic than their confederates in the towns, would have embraced with ardor a docti'ine, of which the char- acteristics were simplicity and force ; but He who said — ' at that time two men shall be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left' — saw fit to leave these mountaineers, while he took the men of the plain. Perhaps an attentive observer might have discerned some symptoms of the difference, which was about to manifest itself between the people of the town and the hills. Intelligence had not penetrated to those hights. Those cantons which had founded Swiss liberty, proud of the part they had played in the grand struggle for independence, were not disposed to be tamely instracted by their younger brethren of the plain. Why, they might ask, should they change the faith in which thej^ had expelled the Austrians, and which had consecrated by altars all the scenes of their triumphs ? Their priests were the only enlightened guides to whom they could apply ; their worship and their festivals were occupation and diversion for their tranquil lives, and enlivened the silence of their peaceful retreats. They continued closed against religious innovations."* Sure enough : why should they change the religion which had sealed their liberties with its divine sanction, and the * D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 82, 83. 3 64 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON CIVIL LIBERTY. principles and the worship of which were so closely inter- woven with their most cherished patriotic reminiscences^ "Intelligence had not penetrated to those hights," indeed! Those mountaineers were not sujfficiently enlightened to per ceive, — what no one has yet perceived — that the seditions and tumults which everywhere marked the progress of the Refor- mation were favorable to liberty. They may well bless the day, in which they took the resolution to adhere to the faith of their patriotic forefathers : and, from their mountain hights, amidst " their peaceful retreats," they may look down with proud complacency on their "brethren of the plain" torn by civil factions and religious dissensions — persecuting and pro- scribing one another — all in consequence of their having had the "intelligence" to embrace the "glorious Reformation!" John Quincy Adams, the " old man eloquent," has offered a far more plausible solution of the difficulty which so sadly puzzled the mind of D'Aubigne. In a speech, which he made some years ago at Buffalo, he said that " liberty was a moun- tain nymph," who loved always to breathe the purest air, and to dwell in the most lofty situations, nearest to heaven ! The old Swiss cantons had an instinctive feeling of the truth of this beautiful and poetic thought. They loved liberty, and therefore they remained Catholic* Did our space permit, we might here show what were the political opinions of the various Catholic States of Europe, adopted under the influence of the Catholic Church, for cen turies before the Reformation was even heard of. We might prove, that the Catholic Church was the mother of republics ; and that during what are sometimes called the Dark Ages, every important principle of free government — popular repre- sentation, trial by jury, exemption from taxation without the consent of the governed, habeas corpus, and the great funda- mental principle, that all power emanates from the people — * 111 the next chapter, we will show the political thralldom of Geneva under Calvin. SECURITY TO CHARACTER. 365 were generally recognized and firmly established. We might moreover show, how almost every one of these sacred prin- ciples was successfully trampled on and abolished by that very Reformation, which is forever boasting its advocacy of free principles! But we have elsewhere devoted a special essay to this interesting and highly suggestive subject.* By comparing the political state of Europe in the good old Cath- olic times, with what it subsequently became, after the Refor- mation had done its work, the reader will be best enabled to ascertain and appreciate the influence of this latter revolution on civil liberty. 4. Enough has, however, been already established to enable the impartial reader to form an enlightened judgment on the real political influence of the Reformation. We have seen, that with liberty forever on its lips, it really trampled under foot almost every element of popular government: that it weakened, and in many cases for a long time entirely des- troyed all security to life, to property, and to the pursuit of happiness : and that withal, it everywhere imposed the intol- erable yoke of absolute despotism, with union of church and state, on the necks of its disciples. — And all this, after men had been seduced to its banner, by the enticing name of liberty which they read inscribed thereon ! But we have scarcely as yet alluded to the influence of the Reformation on one other essential element of free government — security to character. Did the Reformation provide more ample security to this — the dearest perhaps of all human rights — than had been insured during the Catholic times ? The Reformation, as we have already shown, created dis- sensions and sowed distrust among those who had been hith- erto united as brethren. It split up the religious world, till then composing but "one sheepfold under one Shepherd," into a hundred wai'ring sects. These carried on bitter con- * See the essay, On the Influence of CathoUcity on Civil Liberty, repub- lished in our Miso^Uanea. 366 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON CIVIL LIBERTY. troversies with one another, while all united in fiercely de- nouncing those who continued faithful to the religion uf their forefathers. Acrimonious denunciation, and pers )nal recrim- ination, with the most scurrilous abuse, became the order of the day under the new state of things. The arms of ridicule, of caricature, of misrepresentation, and of open calumny were constantly used, in the hallowed name of the religion of peace and love ! No man's character was any longer secure, especially if he had the independence to adhere to the ancient faith, and to call in question the infallibility of the new dog- matizers. — Does not every one recognize at once the truth of this picture ? And is it not true, to a great extent, even at the present day? What security then, we ask, did the Ref- ormation provide for character? Thus, the boasted Reformation trampled in the dust every important object of free government: security to life, to char- acter, to property, to the pursuit of happiness, to personal liberty. And still we are to be told, that to it we are indebted for all the liberty we possess ! In further confirmation of what has been already advanced in this and the preceding chapters, we will here furnish the testimony of the two recent Protestant travelers referred to above — Bremner and Laing — in regard to the present condi- tion of civil and religious liberty in Northern Europe, which has been for three centuries wholly under Protestant influence. Bremner assures us that the king of Denmark is '^ the most uncontrolled sovereign in Europe. We have looked for," he adds, "but can find no single check to the power of the king of Denmark. Laws, property, taxes, all are at the mercy of his tyranny or caprice." Tlie Danes boast much of the liber- ation of the peasants in 1660 : but Mr. Bremner says, " that this was not a liberation of any class in the kingdom, but the more complete subjugation of all classes to the crown ; and that the peasants remained and still remain in many parts of Denmark little better than serfs."* ♦ In the work cited above, chap. viii. — See DubUn Review for May, 1843 DENMARK AND SWEDEN. 367 Laing confirms this statement. The following is his re- markable language: " It is one of the most remarkable circumstances in modern history, that about the middle of the seventeenth century, when all other countries were advancing towards constitutional arrangements of some kind or other, for the security of civil and religious liberty, Denmark by a formal act of her states or diet, abrogated even that shadow of a constitution, and invested her sovereigns with full despotic power to make and execute law, without any check or control on their absolute authority. Lord Molesworth, who wrote an account of Denmark in 1692, thirty-two years after this singular transaction, makes the curious observation — ' that in the Romrm Cntlwlic re- Ugion there is a resisting prinripJe to absolute civil power, from the division of authority with the head of the Church at Rome ; but in the north, the Lutheran church is entirely subservient to the civil power, and the whole of die iwrthern people of Protestant countries, have lost their liberties ever since they changed their religion for a better.' .... 'The blind obedience which is de- structive of natural liberty, is, he conceives, more iirmly established in the northern kingdoms by the entire and sole dependence of the clergy upon the prince, without the interference of any spiritual superior, as that of the Pope among Romanists, than in the countries which remained Catholic' "* This observation of Lord Molesworth, startling as it maj appear, is clearly grounded in history; and Laing further confirms its truth in his interesting work on Sweden. He says: " The Swede has no freedom of mind, no power of dissent in religious opinion from the established church ; because although toleration nominally exists, a man not baptized, confirmed, and instructed by the clergyman of the establishment, could not communicate in the established church, and could not marry, or hold office, or exercise any act of majority as a citizen — would, in fact, be an outlaw ! " He then goes on to prove that there is in Sweden a most rigid form of inquisition, which annually, even at this day, severely punishes from forty to fifty persons for alleged ofiences against religion " The crime of ' mockery of the public service of God, or contemptuous For more on this subject, we refer the reader to the chapter Df our second volume on the Reformation in Denmark etc. * Work cited above, chap. viii. 368 INFLUENCE OF REFORMATION ON CI\IL LIBERTY. behavior during the same,' is the first in the rubric of the second class of crimes : that is, it comes after murder, blasplieni}', sodomy, but before per- jury, forgery, or theft. It is, evidently, a very undefined crime, but is vis- ited with punishment in chains for various terms of years, as a crime against the churcii establishment. Betvs^een 1830 and 1836, not fewer than two hundred and forty-two persons have been condemned to chains for this crime in Sweden. Who will say, that the inquisition was abolished by Luther's Eeformation ? It has only been incorporated with the state in Lutheran countries, and exercised by the church through the ecclesiastical department of government in the civil courts, instead of in the church courts. The thing itself remains in vigor ; Lord Molesworth was right when he said, that the whole of the northern people of Lutheran countries had lost their liberties ever since they changed their rehgion for a better." (worse ?) In Sweden, and, in fact, in all Northern Europe, the lower orders are but little better than slaves. The servant may be cudgeled by his master, and no matter how barbarously he be treated, provided he be neither killed nor maimed, he has no legal recourse! Laing himself tells us as much. " The servant has no right of action on the master for personal maltreat- ment, and during his time of service has no more rights than a slave." " These people," he adds, " are trained to obedience, and in that class, to consider nothing their own but what is left to them by the clergy and the government, to whom, in the first place, their labors, time, and property must belong. A country in this state, wants the very foundation on which civil liberty must stand — a sense of independence and property among the people." He sums up his remarks on the political and religious con- dition of Sweden as follows : " Such a state of laws and institutions in a country, reduces the people as moral beings to the state of a soldiery, who, if they fulfill their regimen- tal duties and military regulations, consider themselves absolved from all other restraints on conduct. This is the condition of the Swedish people. The mass of the nation is in a state of pupilage, living like soldiers in a regiment, under classes or oligarchies of privileged bodies — the public func- tionaries, clergy, nobility, owners of estate exempt from taxation, and incor- porated traders exempt from competition. Under this pressure in Sweden upon industry, property, liberty, free opinion and free will, education is but a source of amusement, or of speculation in science, without influence on private morals, or public affairs ; and religion, a superstitious observance of church days, forms, and ordinances, with a bhnd veneration for the clergy," etc AND PRUSSIA. 3GS The politico-religious condition of Prussia is not u whit more flattering. The serf system continued to prevail in this kingdom even up to the beginning of the present century ; and Laing assures us, that "the condition of these born-serfs" — the great body of the people — " was very similar to that of the negro slaves on the West India estate during the ap- prenticeship term, before their final emancipation." He proves that the so much vaunted system of common school education in Prussia, is little more than a powerful state engine to enslave the people. " This educational system is, in fact, from the cradle to the grave, nothing but a deception, a delusion put upon the noblest principle of human nature — the desire for intellectual development — a deception practiced for the paltry political end of rearing the individual to be part and parcel of an artificial system of despotic government, of training him to be either its instrument or its slave, according to his social station." He further demonstrates the utter political degradation of Prussia, by enlarging upon the apathy with which the royal fusion of the two Protestant sects into one by the late king of Prussia, was viewed by the mass of the population. He. proves at length that the Prussian is, in every respect, the veriest political and religious slave — bound hand and foot by government. Such then has been, from unexceptionable Protestant testi- mony, the practical influence of the Reformation on civil and religious liberty in those countries where that influence has been least checked, and longest exercised ! \^' '''' 370 REFORMATION IN GENEVA. CHAPTER XIV. THE REFORMATION AT GENEVA, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. Character of Calvinism — Protestant historians — The "Registers" — Audm — Calvin's character — His activity — His heartlessness — Luther and Calvic compared — Early liberties of Geneva — The "Libertines" — Blue laws — Spy system — Persecution — Death of Gruet — Burning of Servetus — Hal- lam's testimony — Morals of Calvin — His zeal — His complicated diseases — His last will — His awful death and mysterious burial — A douceur — The inference. The second great branch of the German Reformation was that established at Geneva bj John Calvin. Of all the re- formers, he was perhaps the most acute, learned, and talented. And he has succeeded, better perhaps than any of them all, in impressing his own stern and morose character on the sect he founded. Geneva was the center of his operations, as Wittenberg was of those of Luther, and Zurich, of those of Zuingle. Starting from Geneva, Calvinism soon spread through Switzerland, and it afterwards extended to France, Holland, Scotland, and England. Even on the soil of Ger many itself, it was soon able to dispute the supremacy with the sect previously established by Luther. We have deferred till now our account of the origin and progress of Calvinism, because we intend to view it chiefly in its bearing on the subjects treated of in the two last chapters — civil and re- ligious liberty. Besides, in point of time, it is posterior to the branches of the Reformation established respectively by Luther and Zuingle. Much additional light has been lately shed on the history of early Calvinism. Protestant as well as Catholic historians have labored with great success in this interesting field. Among the former, we mention as among the most distin- guished, Galiffe, Gaberel, and Fazy. These three learned RECENT PROTESTANT RESEARCHES. 371 Protestants hav^e al] greatly contributed to elucidate the his- tory of Geneva in the sixteenth century. The last named published in 1838 at Geneva, his Essay on the History of the Genevan Republic,* in which he enlarges on the influence of Calvinism on the destinies of the republic. The work of Gaberel, entitled Calvin at Geneva,t enters still more directly into the subject, and furnishes many additional details. But, for ability, and research into the history of early Cal- vinism, they are both perhaps surpassed by Galiffe. Hia three volumes of Genealogical Notices of Genevan Families,^ unfold much of the secret history of Geneva under the the- ocracy of Calvin. He has ferreted out and published to the world the famous Registers of the Genevan ecclesiastical consistory and cantonal council during the sixteenth century. These had been long lost to the world. The friends of Calvin seem to have carefully concealed them, out of respect to the character of their father in the ftiith. When, some years ago, Vemet requested the Genevan sec- retary of state, Chapeaurouge, to communicate to him the order of proceedings touching Servetus, the council of state, to whom the matter was referred, refused to grant the request. However, Calandrini, the syndic of Geneva, answered, that " the conduct of Calvin and of the council in that aflair were such, that they wished to bury it in deep oblivion,"§ But thanks to the indefatigable researches of Galiffe, and to the growing indifference of the ministers of Geneva for the mem- ory of Calvin, those long hidden records of the political and religious history of Geneva during Calvin's lifetime, have been at length revealed to the world. A Protestant has thus removed the dark veil which had hung over the cradle of Calvinism for centuries. * "Essai d'un precis de I'Histoire ie la Rep. Genevaise,"2 vols., 8vo. t " Calvin k Geneve," 8vo. 1836. I "Notices Genealogiques sur les Families Gcnevaises," 3 vols. 1831, 1836 5 The letter of the syndic is published in full by GaUffe in his " Notices,' sup. cit. 372 REFORMATION IN GENEVA. In his life of Calvin,* Audin has availed himself of the labors of all his predecessors in this interesting branch of re- ligious history. He had previously qualified himself for hia task by much patient labor and research. He assures us that there was not a library of any note in France or Germany which he did not visit.f In his travels, he discovered many letters of Calvin hitherto unpublished. Among these is his famous letter to Farel, which he found in the hand-writing of Calvin himself, in the royal library at Paris.J The publi- cation of this letter — which is of undoubted genuineness § — has rendered manifest what before was strongly suspected — the agency of Calvin in compassing the death of Servetus. In what we will have to say on the history of the Refor- mation at Geneva, we shall follow all these authors. More particularly will we avail ourselves of the fiicts disclosed by the learned and pains-taking Audin. Our plan does not of course require, nor will the limits of a single chapter permit, any very lengthy details on the history of early Calvinism. The character of this branch of the Reformation, is, in fact, nearly the same as that of those of "Wittenberg and Zurich, of which we have already treated at some length. Similar means were also adopted to bring it about. Its effects on so- ciety, as we shall endeavor to show, were also nearly the ?ame. John Calvin was born at Noyon, in France, on the 10th of Tuly, 1509, and he died at Geneva, on the 19th of May, 1564, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. The first feature which strikes us in his character, is his untiring industry and restless activity. Whether we view him as a student frequenting the schools of Paris, as a minister at Geneva, concerting with the ♦ " Histoire de la Yie, des Ouvrages et des Doctrines de Calvin " — Par Audin, auteur de "I'Histoire de Luther," — 2 vols., 8vo. Paris, 184:3. This (vork has been translated into English by the present distinguished bishop )f Richmond. Our quotations are from the original. f Introduction, p. 19. | Published in full, vol. ii, p. 313, seqq 5 See Ilallam — Hist of Literature, vol. i, p. 280. — Note. Calvin's character. 373 ministers Farel and Froment his plans for carrying out the Reformation, as an exile at Strasburg, intermeddlir g with the affairs of German diets and German reformers, or^ after his return to Geneva from the exile into which his own restless- ness had driven him ; — throughout his whole life, in fact, he is the same busy, intriguing, restless character. He was never asleep at his post ; he was always on the alert ; he toiled day and night in carrying out his plans. He was as cool and calculating as he was active. He seldom failed, by one means or another, to put down an enemy — and every opponent was Ms enemy — because he could seldom be taken at a disadvantage. His vigilance detected their plans, and his prompt activity generally thwarted them. Though very irritable, and inexorable in his anger, yet his passion did not cloud his understanding, nor hinder the carry- ing out of his deliberate purpose. In temperament he was cold and repulsive, even sour and morose. He mingled little with others, and was as reserved in his conversation as he •was fond of retirement and study. If he had any heart, he never gave evidence of the fact by the manifestation of feeling. At the death of his first and only child, he appears to have shed not one tear. In a letter to the minister Viret, he coldly informed him of the fact, and invited him to pay him a visit at Strasburg, telling him, as an inducement to come, "that they could enjoy themselves, and talk together for half a day."* He never manifested the least sympathy for those in distress, though in many cases he was himself the cause of their sufferings. Thus, when Ser- vetus, on hearing that he was condemned to the stake, gave way to his feelings in a burst of agony and tears, Calvin mocked at his distress by writing to one of his friends " that he bellowed after the manner of a Spaniard — mercy, mercy ."f * See Audin, Vie de Calvin, vol. i, p. 351, note, for Calvin's words. f "Ut tantum Hispanico more reboaret : Misericordia, misericordia ! " Tbid., vol. ii, p. 304. 24 374 REFORMATION IN GENEVA. Thus also, when Castalio, one of the most excellent men and accomplished scholars of his age, was on the very verge of starvation at Berne, whither he had repaired to escape Calvin's persecution at Geneva, the reformer had the cold- heartedness to remind him that he had fed at his table in Strasburg ; and, to do away with the effect of Castalio's argu- ments, which he found it difficult to answer, he even accused him of theft ! To the first charge Castalio answered, " 1 lodged with you, it is true, about a week .... but I paid you for what I had eaten. How cordially you and Beza hate me."* The charge of theft he indignantly repelled as fol- lows : " And who told that ? Your spies have deceived you. Reduced to the most frightful misery .... I took a hook, and went to gather the wood which floated upon the Rhine, which belonged to no one, and which I fished up, and burnt after- wards at my house to warm myself. Do you call this theft ?"t Castalio, thus hunted down by his inexorable enemy, literally died of hunger while struggling to maintain by his learning a wife and eight children. But he had had the misfortune to difler with Calvin on predestination while at Geneva, and the boldness to reprove him and his colleagues with an intol- erant spirit. — " Paul," he had told them, " chastised himself, you torment others ."J Calvin's personal appearance was an index to his character. He was of middle hight, of a lean and supple figure, with a contracted chest, with the veins of his neck full and promi- nent, his mouth well made and large, his lips bluish, his forehead expanded, bony, and furrowed with wrinkles, his eye restless, and, when he was excited, darting fire. His ceaseless labors caused him to become prematurely gray, and gave him a pale and cadaverous aspect. He was a man from whose ap})earance you would expect little that was not the result of hard labor. ♦ Castalio — Defensio, pp. 26, 40. — Apud Audin, ibid., vol. ii. p. 239. + Defens., p. 12, ibid. p. 240. I Ibid., p. 234. LUTHER AND CALVIN COMPARED. 375 What a contrast between him and Luther! Luther, a ci mature of impulse, a portly ex-friar, fond of good cheer, and never more at home than when conversing with boon companions at his favorite resort, the Black Eagle tavern: Calvin, meager, silent, and morose, shut up within himself, chilling all with his reserve — all head and no heart. In the pulpit the difference was equally marked. Luther spoke ex- temporaneously, and, without method or choice of words, bore down all before him by a torrent of passionate invective or boisterous declamation. Calvin was cold and unimpas- sioned, his diction was pure and polished, his thoughts clear and precise, and his whole manner calculated to make a more deep and lasting impression on his hearers. Calvin's was the eloquence of the head, Luther's that of the heart. But they agreed in one thing, if in little else : they both crushed the liberties of the people in the countries which were the respective theaters of their labors. Their profession of breaking the bonds of religious slavery, and of securing political freedom to the people, was all mere talk. It is too late in the day to hold them up as the champions of popular rights. The effect of the Reformation, both at Wittenberg and at Geneva, was obviously to weaken the democratic principle ; in both places the rights of the lower orders were ruthlessly trampled under foot. In Germany, Luther conjured up a storm which he could not control. We have already shown how he firet stirred up the people to revolt, and then clamored for their blood, and how completely he succeeded in destroying their liberties. Calvin also crushed the liber- ties of the people, but in a more insidious manner: he robbed them of their liberty in the name of liberty. A foreigner, he insinuated himself into Geneva, and, serpent-like, coiled himself around tlie very heart of the republic which had given him hospitable shelter, and had adopted him ; nor did he relax his hold so long as he lived. He thus stung the very bosom which had warmed him. That this language 376 REFORMATION IN GENEVA. is not too strong, the following plain statement of facts wiL sufficiently show. The cantons of Switzerland formed one of the many re- publics of the middle ages. They owed all their liberties, and even their very existence as a distinct government, to Catholics in Catholic times. William Tell, Melchtal, and Furst were the fathers of Swiss liberty. In 1307 was fought by these heroes the famous battle of Morgarten, which drove the Austrians from Switzerland, and secured Swiss independ- ence. The bishops of Geneva had been its earliest and greatest benefactors. They had more than once protected the rights of the city against the aggressions of the dukes of Savoy themselves. One of them — ^^Adhemar Fabri — as early as 1387, had written out the laws and privileges of the city; and the book was venerated as containing the magna charta of Genevan liberties. Those laws provided that the citizens had the sole right of inflicting capital punishment ; that none should be tortured without the consent of the people; that, from the rising to the setting of the sun, the citizens were the sole guardians of the city; that no agent of the duke or bishop could exercise any power during that time, and that the citizens alone had the right to elect their burgomasters.* Calvin soon trampled upon every one of these cherished popular privileges. At the instigation of the ministers Farel and Froment, Geneva had already cast ofi' the mild yoke of her episcopal court. Instead of it, she was doomed to wear, firmly riveted on her neck, the iron yoke of Calvin's consis- tory. This spiritual court of Calvin's devising gradually monopolized all power in Geneva. The hitherto free council of the burgomasters became a mere tool in its hands. "With its manifold appliances of preachers, elders, and spies, it pen- * Hottinger, Hist, des Eglises de la Suisse ; Audin, vol. ii, p. 15. Those laws are written in the quaint old Latin of that period, and they present a strange mixture of the old Savoyard Patois with the classical Latin. The Style is very similar to that of the English Magna Charta. GENEVA IN CATHOLIC TIMES. 377 etrated everywhere, and struck terror into every bosom. The pulpit was then a powerful instrument in the hands of the police. Every one trembled at the denunciation of the minis- ters, for it was almost sure to be followed by ulterior conse- qusnces in the social and civil order. Whoever will read Audin's book, and the Protestant his- torians referred to above, must be convinced of the truth of these remarks. Our limits will not allow copious details ; we must confine ourselves to some of the more prominent facts in support of the strong statement just made. In the beginning of the sixteenth century, Geneva was one of the great commercial centers of Europe. Occupying a central position between Italy, Germany, and France, it was a common mart for the goods of all these countries. The enterprising flocked thither from almost every part of Europe. It became also a city of refuge for all the uneasy and restless spirits, who, in consequence of religious or political intrigues, had been forced to leave their own country. The population of Geneva was, on this account, of a most motley character. Calvin was among the many French refugees who took shelter there. Before his arrival, the Reformation had been already begun through the agency of Fare! and Froment. Its course had oeen marked, as elsewhere, by pillage of the churches, by seizure of church property, by destruction of works of art, by robbery and sacrilege, and by massacres. La Soeur Jeanne de Jussie, a nun of St. Clare, an eye-witness of these horrors, and a suflerer by them, has left a most graphic description of them, and Audin has given us an abstact of her interesting work.* Such was the state of things when Calvin came to Geneva. Among its citizens, the mechanics and common laborers formed a numerous class. These constituted too a distinct political party, who viewed with an evil eye the ascendency acquired by Calvin and the other foreign refugees. Calvin * Audin. vol. i, p. 195 to 215. VOL. I. — 32 378 REFORMATIOxV IN GENEVA. could not brook them, and lie styled them sneeringly the party of the Libertines. The history of his protracted and bitter contest with them forms the matter of many long and highly interesting chapters in Audin's book.* The high-priest of Geneva could not bear them, because, in their evening- parties, they took the unwarrantable liberty of laughing at liim — at his cadaverous figure, his withered hands, and his nasal twang in the pulpit ; and because they had even gone 80 far as to call him " le renard Francois, or the French fox."f Besides, they had the unpardoiiable efl'rontery to drink healths, to dance, and otherwise amuse themselves when the labors of the day were over. Calvin's sour and morose tem- perament could ill brook this social cheerfulness, and espe- cially the witty or malicious sallies at his own expense. Besides, he was troubled with the asthma, and was subject to vertigo and headache. — And what right had those vulgar clowns to shock his nerves, or to disturb his sleep ? What right had they to their old and long-cherished national amuse- ments, if it was in the least displeasing to the humor of this splenetic stranger \ What right had they to sing, or to laugh at his peculiarities ? If it was not downright blasphemy, as the ministers more than once intimated from the pulpit, it was at least very impolite in them not to wear longer faces, at least while lie was in the city. Calvin determined to put down the Libertines ; and, the better to efiect his purpose, he procured the enactment of a body of laws, of which we will here give a few specimens. They show us what was the spirit, and what was the legisla tion of Calvinism from its very birth. "They punished with imprisonment the lady who arranged her hair with too much coquetry (the ministers were to judge), and even her chambermaid who assisted at her toilet ; the merchant who played at cards, the peasant who spoke too harshly to his beast, and the citizen who had not extinguished his lamp at the hour appointed by law."! — "Men were forbidden to dance * Audin, chapters i, vi, viii, and xv of vol. ii. f Ibid., vol. ii, p. 13, seq 4 Ibid vol. ii, p. 12. BLUE LAWS AND ESPIONAGE. 379 with women, or to wear figured hose, or flowered breeches."* — " Three tan- ners were put in prison for three days, on bread and water, for having eaten at breakfast three dozen pieces of pastry, which was great dissoluteness."f — " They forbade any one to have a cross, or any other badge of popery." — "A merchant who sold wafers marked with a cross was fined sixty sols, and his wafers were cast into the fire as scandalous."! " Woe to him who did not uncover his head at the approach of Calvin ; he was fined. Woe to him that gave him a flat contradiction ; he was brought before the consistory, and menaced with excommunication. ^ Woe to ths girl who presented herself to be married with a bunch of flowers in her bonnet, if her chastity was even suspected by the consistory. Woe to him who danced on the day of his marriage ; he was imprisoned for three days. Woe to the young married lady if she wore shoes according to the present fashion of Berne: she was publicly reprimanded." 1| This minute and vexatious Calvinistic legislation regulated even the number of plates which should appear on the table of the rich, and the quality of butter to be sold, etc.^ "All were ordered to eat meat on Fridays and Saturdays, under penalty of imprisonment : and the night-watch was ordered to proclaim that no one should make slashed doublets or hose, or wear them hereafter under penalty of sixty sols."** — " Chapius was put in prison for having persisted in calling his cliild Claud, although the minister wished to call iiin Abraham. Ho had said that, rather than do this, he would keep ■ his child fifteen years without baptism.ff He was kept in prison four days." — " One day a relation presented himself at the altar with a young girl of Nantes to be married. The minister, Abel Poupin, asked him : Will you be faithful to your wife ? The bridegroom instead of answering yes, only inclined his head. Hence great tumult among the assistants. He was sent to prison, obliged to ask pardon of the young lady's uncle, and condemned to bread and water."|| We might multiply facts of the kind, to exhibit still fur- ther the peculiarities of this singular code. The pious Cal- vinistic legislators who enacted the hlue laws of Conneo- ticQt could at least boast precedent if not common sense, for * Audin, vol. ii, p. 138, from Register of Geneva, 1522, July 14. t Ibid. Register, 13th, February, 1558. t Ibid., p. 173. { Ibid. Register, 31st Dec. 1543. II Reglement de Rolice, 29th July, 1549, ibid. If Ibid. ** Register, 16th April, 1543 Audin, vol. ii, p. 185. ft Register, 1546 ; ibid. tt Ibid., p. 186. 380 REFORMATION I^ GENEVA. their curious enactments. Tlie abo\ e, liowevex', are but small scraps of Genevese legislation under Calvin's theocracy. To understand fully the spirit of his laws, .vn all their length and breadth, you must read the criminal prosecutions of Berthel- lier, Gruet, Gentilis, Bolsec, Ami Perrin, Francis Favre, and Servetus, copious portions of which are spread before us by Audin, from the original documents. We may have occasion to refer to some of these a little later. To ferret out and punish the infractors of these singular laws, Calvin established a regular system of espionage. " He kept in his pay secret informers, in order to learn the secrets of fami- lies."*— " Besides these, there was another band of spies, the elders, recog- nized by law, who could penetrate once a week into the most mysterious sanctuary of domestic life, in order to report to the consistory .what they might see and hear."f — " In one single year, the consistory instituted more than two hundred prosecutions for blasphemy, calumny, obscene language, lechery, insults to Calvin, offenses against the ministers, and attempts against the French exiles."]: The liberties of the city were now totally crushed, and every one trembled for his life ! Tlie spies whom Calvin em- ployed were chiefly from among the most degraded of the French refugees ; and this odious practice was carried to such lengths that the citizens trembled at the approach of one of these sinister individuals. A curious instance of the proceed- ings of these miscreants is found in the Registers of Geneva. " Master Eaymond, a spy, was passing by the bridge, when he heard a voice saying ' Go to the devil ! ' — ' Who is that ? ' asked Raymond of Domi- nic Clement, who was present. Dominic answered : ' 'Tis a girl who is wishing the " Renard," or " Fox," at the devil' Raymond thought the man meant to insult him : ' You are a fox yourself,' says he to Dominic, who an- swered, ' I am as good a man as you are, and have not at least been banished from my country.' Dominic was denounced to the consistory, which shaiply reproved him. On his wishing to justify himself, Calvin silenced him, say- ing, ' Hush, you have blasphemed against God in saying I have not been banished.'"^ ♦ Audfn, vol. ii, p. 149. t ^Wd-, p. 150. t Ibid 5 Ibid., p. 167. CALVIN INEXORABLE AND BLOOD-THIRSTY. 381 Our historian furnishes us with a number of such facts. Every enemy of Calvin was closely watched, and could scarcely escape being denounced. Woe to him who smiled while Calvin was preaching, even though he treated his hear- ers as " letchers, blasphemers, and dogs." " Three persons who had smiled at a sermon of Calvin, on seeing a man fall from his chair asleep, were denounced, condemned to three days of imprisonment on bread and water, and to beg par- don."* These spies laid snares for the simple. " They asked a Norman who was going to Montpellier, whether he intended to change his religion." The Norman replied, " I dont think the Church is so narrowly bounded, as to hang from the girdle of M. Calvin." He was denounced and banished !f Talk of the Spanish Inquisition after this ! And yet these are not the darkest shades of the picture. Far from it. They are but mere trifles, when compared with the horrible facts developed in the criminal prosecutions alluded to above. Whosoever opposed Calvin, whether in religion or in politics, was hunted down and his blood was sought at his instigation. He never forgave a personal injury. In regard to his enemies, he was as watchful as a tiger preparing to pounce on its prey — and as treacherous ! This is strong language ; but it is more than justified by the official records of Geneva. We will present a few of the more striking facts in confirmation of our statement. How sanguinary, for instance, is the spirit breathed in this extract of Calvin's letter to the Marquis de Pouet ! " Do not hesitate to rid the country of those fanatical fellows (faquins), who in their conversation seek to excite the people against us, who blacken our conduct, and would fain make our belief pass as a revery : such monsters ought to he strangled, as I did, in the execution of Michael Servetus, the Spaniard."J His vindictive conduct towards Pierre Ameaux, a member of the Genevan council of twenty-five, is a fit commentary on this sentiment. At a supper, this man, inflamed with * Audin, vol. ii, p. 171. f Ibid., p. 179. f Ibid., p. 172. 382 REFORMATION IN GENEVA. wine, had said some hard things of Calvin. At his table, another man, Henry de la Mar, had also said, amidst the general applause of the guests: "That Calvin was a spiteful and vindictive man, who never pardoned any one against whom he had a grudge." — The next morning, Ameaux was cited before the council, where he excused himself on the ground that he was excited with wine. The council fined him thirty thalers — a large sum at that time. " On hearing of this sentence, Calvin arose, donned his doctor's dress, and escorted by the ministers and elders, penetrated into the hall of the council, demanded justice in the name of that God whom Pierre Ameaux had outraged, in the name of the morals he had sullied, and of the laws he had violated ; and declared that he would quit Geneva, if the man were not compelled to make the amende honorable — a public apology, bareheaded, at the city hotel," and in two other public places ! The council yielded ; and " the next day, Ameaux, half naked, with a torch in his hand, accused himself in a loud voice of having knowingly and wickedly offended God, and begged pardon of his fellow-citizens."* — What is to be thought of a man, who could thus crush a penitent and stricken enemy ! Had he aught of the spirit of that God-Man who " would not break the bruised reed ? " Henry la Mar, the other culprit, did not escape. He was dogged by Texier, one of Calvin's spies, who extracted from his lips, under an oath of secresy, some words disrespectful to his master. Texier came running to Calvin with the news, saying that he did not think himself bound by his oath, when the public good required the disclosure. " Calvin accused La Mar, caused him to lose his situation, and had him con- demned to prison for three days. The judges assigned as their reason, 'that he had blamed M. Calvin !'"f * See the whole account, from original documents, in Audin, vol. ii, p. 181, Beq., where also a number of similar facts are recounted. f Audin, vol. ii, p. 184, Calvin's persecution — death of gruet. 383 Of a similar character was the prosecution, commenced at the instance of Calvin, against Francis Favre, a veteran soldier of the republic, and a counselor of the city. He had been at a wedding where they had danced all the even- ing, and where he was accused by one of Calvin's spies of having used seditious language. Among the ten specifications alleged against him, were several things he had said against Calvin ; and the last and most grievous was, that he had, on being conducted to prison, cried out: " Liberty ! Liberty!! I would give a thousand dollars to have a general council ! " (of the burgomasters.) He was sentenced to beg pardon publicly. The veteran refused ; he was sent to prison for three weeks, and was then liberated only at the instance of a deputation from Berne.* Calvin also sought the life of Ami Perrin, the captain- general of Geneva. Perrin's wife had been guilty of dancing on the territory of Berne. Calvin sought to entrap Perrin by means of Megret, one of his hired spies. This miscreant denounced Perrin before the council ; and he was in conse- quence thrown into prison. Calvin thirsted for his blood. But the people loved Perrin. The council of the two hundred assembled to try him for his life. A reaction took place; Perrin was about to be liberated, and Megret was openly denounced. At this juncture, Calvin entered the council hall. The people received him with cries of " death to Cal- vin ! " Calvin waved his hand, addressed them, arid calmed their fury; but he barely succeeded by his eloquence in saving his own life If In reading these details, we are almost reminded of Marat and Robespierre haranguing the Jacobin clubs during the reign of terror. In fact, Calvin's reign in Geneva was truly a reign of terror ; and if during it, as much blood did not ♦ Audin, vol. ii, p. 189, seq. f Ibid., p. 196, seq. By his overweening influence, Calvin however suc- ceeded in having Perrin afterwards tried, when, though his life was spared, he was deprived of the place of captain-general ; ibid., p. 197, seq. 384 REFORMATION IN GENEVA. flow as during the French Revolution, it was not surely his fault. He combined the cruelty of Danton and Robespierre, with the eloquence of Marat and Mirabeau, though he was much cooler, and therefore more successful than any one of them all. Who will not be stricken with horror on reading of the cold-blooded cruelty with which he hunted down and com- passed the death of poor Gruet, the poet!* This unfortunate man was accused of having affixed a placard on Calvin's pul- pit at St. Peter's church, in which the reformer was severely handled. He was apprehended and his papers were seized. Among these, consisting of nothing but loose sheets, were found some scraps of poetry and other fugitive pieces, which were tortured into heresy and treason. He was plied with the torture by Calvin's creature, Colladon, every day for a whole month. They wished him to implicate Favre or Per- rin ; but though he cried out in agony of torture : " Finish me, I beseech you — I am dying;" he remained firm, and would not accuse them. The council pronounced sentence of death on him. Among the charges against him, the prin- cipal were : " That he had endeavored to ruin the authority of the consistory — that he had menaced the ministers, and spoken ill of Calvin — and that he had conspired with the king of France against the safety of Calvin and of the state."t Gruet died on the scafibld, but Calvin was not yet satisfied. He wished that his writings should be condemned, and he himself drew up a long form of condemnation of them, which was approved by the council.J Calvin alone is responsible for the blood of Gruet ; it still cries aloud to heaven against him! We might exhibit similar hard-heartedness and tyranny in his persecution of Bolsec,§ of Gentilis, of Berthillier,|| and * He was not poet enough to excite much envy. f Audin, p. 200, seqq. J This document, found at Berne in the handwriting of Calvin, is given in full by Audin, ibid., p. 244, seqq. { Ibid., vol. ii, p. 245, seqq. || Ibid., p. 347, seqq. BURNING SERVETUS. 385 ji others. But we are heart-sick of these horrors, and must hasten on. Yet we can not wholly pass over the well-known case of Servetus, to which Audin devotes two whole chap- ters,* and upon which he sheds much additional light. We will state only a few undoubted and prominent facts in this sad afikir. 1st. Servetus was burnt on the 27th of October, 1553 ; but as early as 1546 — seven years previously — Calvin had thirsted for his blood, as appears from these words, taken from his famous letter to Farel, written in that year: "If he (Serve- tus) come here (to Geneva), and my authority be considered, I will not permit him to escape with his life."f 2d. Pursuing this blood-thirsty purpose, he had denounced Servetus to the police of Lyons, where he then was. And when he (Servetus) had fled to Vienne, he very narrowly escaped — probably with the connivance of the Catholic clergy of Vienne — from the prison to which he had been consigned, at the instigation of ofiicers sent in quest of him in conse- quence of his denunciation, by Calvin's agents, at Lyons.J 3d. "When Servetus, fleeing from his enemies, passed through Geneva, Calvin denounced him and had him ar- rested, against all the laws both of God and of man.§ For Servetus was a stranger, only passing through Geneva ; || and he was not responsible to the Genevan tribunals for a crime which he had not committed within the Genevan territory ; and this, even supposing heresy to be a crime punishable by the civil laws. 4th. Though Servetus was a poor stranger, and though he begged for counsel to defend him, that right, not denied even to the meanest culprit, was refused him at the instance of Calvin.Tl * Audin, chapters xii and xiii of vol. ii, p. 258 to 324. t See the letter in full, ibid., vol. ii, p. 314, seqq. f Ibid., vol. ii, 285, seqq. } Ibid., p. 287, seqq. II Bancroft assigns this same reason : " Servetus did but desire leave to 3ontinue liis journey." Hist. United States, vol. i, p. 455. T Audin, vol. ii, p. 297. VOL. T.— 3.S 386 • REFORMATION IN GENEVA. 5th. After Servetus had lain in prison five weeks, a victim of disease and devoured by vermin, he wrote to the council, stating his situation, and begging for a change of linen. Tho council wished to grant his request, but Calvin opposed it, and he succeeded! Three other letters written during the following week from prison, in which Servetus begged for counsel, and asked that the charges against him should be specified and made known to him, were answered by silence.* 6th. When, on the morning of his execution, Servetus sent for Calvin, and begged his pardon, if he had ofiended him, Calvin answered him with cold-hearted cruelty.f We have seen above how he insulted his tears. Tth. The heartless cruelty of the minister Farel, who ac- companied Servetus to execution, is enough to make one's blood run cold at the bare reading of it.J 8th. The year after the execution of Servetus — in 1554 — Calvin published his famous work on punishing heretics,§ in which he justified the whole proceeding by the authority of Scripture ! Was this man sent to reform the Church of God ? He was worse than " the Caliph of Geneva," as Audin calls him — he was a very Nero ! Gibbon has well said of this transaction : '' I am more deeply scandalized at the single execution of Servetus than at the hecatombs (not true) which have blazed at auto da fes of Spain and Portugal." Hallam gives the following account of the burning of Ser vetus : " Servetus, having, in 1553, published at Vienna, in Dauphine, a new treatise, called Christianismi Restitutio, and escaping from thence, as he vainly hoped, to the Protestant city of Geneva, became a victim to the big- otry of the magistrates, instigated by Calvin, wJio had acquired an immense ascendency over that r^ublic."\\ — And in a note he brings abundant pnv^f of ♦ Audin, vol. ii, p. 299, seq. f See the whole conversation, ibid., p. 305 I Ibid., p. 304, seq. ^ De Haereticis Puniendis. U History of Literature, vol. i, p. 280. THE PLAGUE IN GENEVA. dO/ all this, alleging, among other things, the famous letter of Calvin to Farel, "published," he says, " by Witenbogart (a Protestant) in an ecclesiasicai history, written in Dutch." — In the same note he says : " Servetus, in fact, was burned not so much for his heresies, as for personal offense he had several years before given to Calvin Servetus had, in some printed letters, charged Calvin with man}^ errors, which seems to have exasperated the great (!) reformer's temper, so as to make him resolve on what he afterwards exe- cuted."— " The death of Servetus," he continues, " has perhaps as many circumstances of aggravation as any execution for heresy that ever took place. One of these, and among the most striking, is that he was not the subject of Geneva., nor domiciled in the cit}'^, nor had the Christianismi Res- titutio been published there, but at Vienne. According to our laws, and those, I believe, of most civilized nations, he was not amenable to the tribu- nals of the republic."* — He concludes the entire account with this sweeping accusation against all the early reformers in regard to intolerance : " Thus, in the second period of the Reformation, those ominous symptoms which had appeared in its earliest stage, disunion, virulence, bigotry, intolerance, far fi-om yielding to any benignant influence, grew more inveterate and in- curable."! We think that the above facts make good our assertion, that Calvin crushed the liberties of Geneva, political as well as religious. The following may serve to show us how sin- cere was his zeal for the salvation of souls. The plague broke out at Geneva in 1543. The ministers from the pulpit recommended prayer once a week to avert the scourge, and they appointed the Sunday week next following as the day for administering the sacrament of the Lord's Sup- per with the same intent.J The plague continued, and the ministers hid themselves, though hundreds were calling on them for spiritual succor in their dying moments ! The hos- pital was crowded with the dying. The council of state called on the ministers to send one of their number to assist the dying at the hospital, from which duty, however, they wished "to exempt Calvin, because the church had need of him!" The ministers met with Calvin, and agreed to decide by lot who was to go. One only, Geneston, offered to go, if * History of Literature, vol. i, p. 280. , Ibid., p. 281. X Register, etc., Audin vol. ii, p. 16. 388 REFORMATION IN GENEVA. the lot fell on him ! The others " confessed tliat God had not yet given them grace to have the strength and courage to go to the hospital !" And " it was resolved to pray to God to give them more courage for the future."* The result was that no one vs^ent to the hospital, except Chatillon, a young French poet, and another Frenchman, who fell a victim to the disease. Were these men true shepherds, or were they only mercenaries ? The answer may be found in the tenth chapter of St. John's Gospel. Calvin's morals have been discussed on both sides. Beza and his other friends have held him up as a model of per- fection; others, with Bolsec, have represented him as a monster of impurity and iniquity. The story of his having been guilty of a crime of nameless turpitude at Noyon, . though denied by his friends, yet rests upon very respectable 1^^ authority. Bolsec, a contemporary writer, relates it as cer- tain. Before his work appeared, it had been mentioned by Surius in 1558 ; by Turbes, who lived in the reign of Francis I.; by Simon Fontana in 1557; by Stapleton in 1558; by La Vacquerie in 1560-1; by De Mouchi in 1562; by Du Preau in 1567; and by Whitaker before 1570.t The learned and careful Protestant Galiffe, who had examined most thoroughly the archives of Geneva, uses this very plain language : j , . ^"The history of many of the reformer's colleagues is very scandalous, ' V^ ' i^/*ihe details of which can not enter into a work designed for both S3xes."j -^ Y The same writer tells us "that most of the facts related by the physician of JC ^ rtA Lyons (Bolsec) are perfectly true."^ In the introduction to the third volume of his JVotioes, he bears the following testimony to the state of morals at Geneva in Calvin's time: " To those who imagine that the reformer had done nothing that is not good, I will exhibit our Registers covered with entries of illegitimate chil- * Audin, Register of Council. t See ibid., vol. ii, p. 256. Note, . I Gahffe, Notices, torn, iii, p. 381. Note — quoted ibid. ( Ibid., p. 457, note. Audin, vol. ii, p. 257. Calvin's death and misterious burial. 389 (Iren — (these were exposed at all the corners of the city and country,) with prosecutions hideous for their obscenity, with wills in which fathers and mothers accuse their own children not only of errors, but of crimes, with transactions before notaries public between young girls and their paramours, who gave them, in the presence of their relatives, means of supporting their illegitimate offspring, with multitudes of forced marriages, where the delin- quents were conducted from prison to the church, with mothers who aban- doned their infants at the hospital, while they were living in abundance with a second hus])and, with whole bundles of processes between brothers, with multitudes (literally heaps, taa) of secret denunciations : and all this in the generation nourished b}^ the mystic manna of Calvin ! "* Truly, if the Registers prove ali this, we may conclude that Calvin stamped his own image upon his generation, and especially his heartlessness. Such facts as these, resting as they do upon the undoubted authority of the official records of Geneva, speak volumes in regard to the moral influence of that gloomy system of religionism which Calvin intro- duced into that city, as a substitute for the Catholic religion. They prove that the boasted austerity of the early Calvinists was little better than a sham, if it was not even a cloak to cover enormous wickedness. They exhibit their own favorite doctrine of total depravity in its fullest practical development ! The accounts published of the circumstances attending the last sickness and death of Calvin are various and contra- dictory. His disciple Beza, who wrote his life, represents his death as worthy of an apostle and of a samt. Yet even he, as we shall see, furnishes us with some particulars which would make us distrust the truth of this flattering picture. Tlie diseases which led to his dissolution were many and complicated. In a letter to the physicians of Montpelier, written a short time before his death, Calvin gives a full account of the maladies with which he was tormented. Among these, he mentions " the dropsy, the stone, the gravel, colics, hemorrhoids, internal hemorrhages, quartan fever, cramps, spasmodic contractions of the muscles from the foot * Galiffe, Notices, torn, iii, p. 15. Apud Audin, vol. ii, p. 174 25 390 REFORMATION IN GENEVA. to the knee, and, during the whole summer, a frightfu^ neuralgia or nervous afiection."* His malady increasing, he dictated his last will and testa- ment on the 26th of April, 15G4. The greater part of this curious instrument is devoted to a defense of his conduct and motives throughout life ! f He " protests that he has endeav- ored, according to the measure of grace given to him, to teach with purity the word of God, as well in his sermons as in his writings, and to expound faithfully the Holy Scrip- tures. And that, in all the disputes which he had had with the enemies of truth, he had employed neither chicanery nor sophistry, but had proceeded roundly (rondement) to main- tain the quarrel of God." In disposing of his effects, towards the close of his will, he thus speaks of his nephew: "As to my nephew David . . because he has been light and volatile, I leave him only twenty-five crowns (ecus) as a chastisement." On the morning of the 27th of May, at eight o'clock, he breathed his last, after having passed a night of horrible agony. The circumstances of his death and burial were hid- den and mysterious. His body was immediately covered, and his funeral was hastened : it took place at two o'clock in the afternoon of the same day. Beza,J his favorite disciple, thus writes on the subject : " There were many strangers come from a distance, who wished greatly to see him, although he was dead, and made instance to that effect But, to obviate all calumnies, he was put into the cofBn at eight o'clock in the morning, and at two o'clock in the evening was carried in the ordinary manner, as lie himself had directed, to the common cemetery, called ' Plein Palais,' without any pomp or parade, where he lies at the present day, awaiting the resurrection." The "calumnies" to which Beza refers were ^.robably th« public rumors spread through the city regarding the mannei of the reformer's death. * See his letter in Audin, vol. ii, p. 452, seq. f It is given in full by Audin, ibid., p. 456. seq. I Vie de Calvin, apud Audin. CHARACTER OF CALVEN. 391 "It was said that every one had boen prohibited from entering into his chamber, because the body of the deceased bore traces of a desperate strug- gle with death, and of a premature decomposition, in which the eye would have seen either visible signs of the divine vengeance, or marks of a shame- ful disease ; and that in consequence a black veil was hastily thrown over the face of the corpse, and that he was interred before the rumor of his death had spread through the city. So fearful were his friends of indiscreet looks !"* The mystery seems, however, to have been penetrated by Haren, a young student who had visited Geneva to take les- sons from Calvin. He penetrated into the chamber of the dying man, and he has furnished the following evidence of what he saw on the occasion. And we beg our readers to bear in mind that he was no enemy, but a partisan of Calvin, and that his testimony was wholly voluntary. " Calvin, ending his life in despair, died of a most shameful and disgust- ing disease, which God h:is threatened to rebellious and accursed repro- bates, having been first tortured in the most excruciating manner, and con- sumed, to which fact I can testify most certainly, for I, being present, saw with these eyes his most sad and tragical death — exitum et exitium."f In thus presenting to our readers a condensed and necessa- rily imperfect summary of facts, many of them extracted from the public and official acts of the Genevan council and consistory in the sixteenth century, we would not be under- stood as wishing to reflect upon the character or conduct of the present professors of Calvinistic doctrines, many of whom are men estimable for their civic virtues. It is not our fault that the truth of history will not warrant a better character of Calvin. He was the most subtle, the most untiring, and perhaps the most able enemy of the Catholic Church. He played a public and conspicuous part in the great religioso- political drama of the sixteenth century ; he was the founder of a sect more distinguished than any other, perhaps, for its * Audin, vol. ii, p. 464, seq. f Johannes Harennius, apud Petrum Cutzenum. We have endeavored to give above a literal translation of his testimony, of which the original is in Latin. Ibid. 392 REFORMATION IN GENEVA. inveterate opposition to Catholicity. Under these circura. stances, his life, acts, and whole character, are surely public property ; and truth and justice required that they should be given to the public. This is precisely what Audin, and the Protestant historians of Geneva, Galiffe, and Gaberel, have done ; and, treading in their footsteps, we have only given a brief abstract of the result of their labors.* Among the many proofs that the Catholic Church is the true Church of Christ, not the least striking is the fact, vouched for by authentic history, that all those who have left her bosom, and established religious sects, were men of either very doubtful, or of notoriously wicked and immoral charac- ters. It is contrary to the order of God's providence to have selected men of this stamp, to become the reformers of His Church. This would derogate from his sanctity, and would reflect upon a religion which could be established, or rpformed^ by such instruments. This principle being once admitted, the inference from it is obvious. Whenever a change in religion — call it reformation, or what you will — has been eflected uy men not remarkable for their sanctity, the fact of itself pre- sents strong presumptive evidence that the change is not from God. If the men who eSected it were notoriously flagitious, as most of the self-styled reformers of the sixteenth century certainly were, then the presumption grows into a moral certainty. Judged by this test, Calvinism was surely not the work of God. * See, in Appendix at the end of the volume, the paper entitled ROMB AND GENEVA— Note D. BOASTING THEORY OF THE REFORMATION. 393 CHAPTER XV. INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON LITERATURE. " The march of intellect I what know we now Of moral, or of thought and sentiment, Which was not known three humlred years ago? It is an empty boast, a vain conceit Of folly, ignorance, and base intent." Light and darkness — Boast of D'Aubigne — Two sets of barbarians — Catho- lic and Protestant art — The "painter of the Reformation" — Two wit- nesses against D ' Aubigne — Schlegel — Hallam — " Bellowing in bad Latin " — Testimony of Erasmus — Destruction of monasteries — Literary drought — Luther's plaint — Awful desolation — An "iron padlock" — Early Prot- estant schools — D 'Aubigne's omissions — Bitrning zeal — Light and flame — Zeal for ignorance — Burning of libraries — Rothman and Omar — Disputa- tious theology — Its practical results — Morbid taste — The Stagirite — Mutual distrust — Case of Galileo — Liberty of the press — Old and new style — Religious wars — Anecdote of Reuchlin — Italy pre-eminent — Plaint of Leibnitz — Revival of letters — A shallow sophism — A parallel — Great inventions — Literary ages — Protestant testimony — Dollinger's testimony of the reformers themselves. It is one of the proudest boasts of the Reformation that it gave a powerful impulse to literature and the arts. Before it, the world was sunk in utter darkness, both religious and literary ; after it, all was light and refinement. Before it, society remained stationary ; after it, every thing was in a state of progression and improvement. But for the Reformation, we would still have been immersed in worse than Egyptian darkness ; we would have had neither science nor literature ! Such is the proudly boasting theory which has been broached and maintained by many superficial admirers of the Reformation. D'Aubigne gravely asserts " that the Reforma- tion not only communicated a mighty impulse to literature, but served to elevate the arts, although Protestantism has often been reproached as their enemy."* He laments that " many Protestants have willingly taken up and borne this * Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 190, 394 INFLUENCE OF TEE REFORMATION ON LEARNING. reproach."* After devoting three pages to a tissue of gratii itous assertions and of special pleading to prove the " reproach unmerited," he winds up in this triumphant strain : " Thus every thing progressed — arts, literature, purity of worship, and the minds of prince and people "f If the Reformation caused "the arts and literature" to progress no faster noi better than it did " the purity of worship, and the minds of prince and people," we greatly fear, from the many stubborn facts already adduced to elucidate the character of this lat- ter progression, that the former was not rapid, nor even real. The Reformation ftivorable to the fine arts ! As well might you assert that a conflagration is beneficial to a city which it consumes, or that the incursions of the northern barbarians, in the fifth and sixth centuries, were favorable to architec- ture, painting, sculpture, and the other fine arts. AVherever the Reformation appeared, it pillaged, defaced and often burnt churches and monasteries ; it broke up and destroyed statues and paintings ; and it often burnt whole libraries. Its ruth- less vandalism spared none of the glories of the old Catholic art. Whatever was connected with the Catholic worship, or could serve as a memorial of old Catholic piety, was wantonly destroyed. The armies of Goths and Vandals, who overran Italy and sacked Rome fourteen centuries ago, did not manifest a more ruthless and destructive spirit than did the Lutheran army of the Constable Bourbon, in their wanton pillage of Rome in 1527, after the battle of Pavia. " Rome had been taken and pillaged b}^ the Constable Bourbon : his army, which was composed in good part of Lutherans, had filled the holy city with abominations. The soldiers of this prince had changed the basilica of St. Peter into a stable, and given papal bulls as litter to their horses. . . . They burned even the grass, and sold the ears of their prisoners for their weight in gold. The eternal city would have been destroyed, had not God cast on * D'Aubignr, voL iii, p. 190. + Ibid., p. 192 INFLUENCE ON ART. 395 it an eye of pity. He made use of the pe,itilence, which this horde of bar- barians had spread on its journey, to banish them from Italy."* Wolfgang Menzel furnishes the following summary account of the sack of the city :f " The Lancers ashamed of their conduct, demanded to be led against the Pope, and astonished Rome suddenly beheld the enemy before her gates. Charles de Bourbon was killed by a shot from the city. The soldiery, en- raged at this catastrophe, carried it by storm, A. D. 1527. The pillage lasted fourteen days. The commands of the officers were disregarded, and Frundsberg fell ill from vexation. The Lutheran troopers converted the papal chapels into stables, dressed themselves in the cardinals' robes, and proclaimed Luther Pope. Clement was besieged in the Torre di San Angelo and taken prisoner. The numbers of unburied bodies, however, produced a pestilence, which carried off the greater part of the invaders." Even the splendid creations of the genius of a Raphael, and of an Angelo, were not sacred in the eyes of this new northern horde. True, all this destruction took place in time of war; but its horrors had been increased tenfold by the religious fanaticism to which the Reformation had given rise. We shall have occasion to prove, in the sequel, that similar enormities were perpetrated in time of peace, and under the sole pretext of religious zeal. Thus the Reformation destroyed many of the noblest works of art : what did it build up in their place ? Did it produce architects like Fontana, Julio Romano, Bramante, Michael Angelo, and Bernini ? Did it rear edifices to compare with those splendid Gothic piles scattered over Europe by the genius of Catholic architecture in the Middle Ages ? Or in any thing that could vie with St. Peter's church at Rome? Did it substitute higher or nobler melody for the sublime Catholic music which it had proscribed ? Did it give birth to painters and sculptors who could rival Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, the two Caracci, Domenichino, Paul Veronese, Ra- phael, or Angelo ? * Audin, Life of Luther, p. 289, who quotes Gmcciardini — Sacco di Roma Cochlfeus, De Marillac, and Maimbourg, 1, i. T History of Germany vol. ii, p. 247. 396 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON LEARNING. D'Aubigiie indeed, boasts of the pictorial skill of Lucaa Kranach, Holbein, and Albert Durer.* We do not question the genius of the two last named : but it must be remembered that they learned their art and caught its inspiration in Cath- olic times. Their pencils were only occasionally employed on Protestant subjects. They were great artists before the Reformation began, and they continued to be pre-eminent in their profession in spite, rather than in consequence, of its in- fluence. As for Lucas Kranach, whom our author triumph- antly styles " the painter of the Reformation " he excelled chiefly in caricatures, in painting Pope-asses and mofik-calves, Popes surrounded by troops of demons, and priests and monks in all possible ridiculous garbs and attitudes. We are willing to concede to him the title which his eulogist has awarded, and which we consider not inappropriate. The Reformation is heartily welcome to all the credit it may have derived from his eminence in art. To show what was the influence of the Reformation on literature in general, we will adduce the testimony of two distinguished writers of the present century, against whose authority the flippant assertions of D'Aubigne will not weigh a feather with any enlightened or impartial man. Frederick Von Schlegel and Henry Hallam have both investigated this subject thoroughly, and have given to the world the result of their inquiry. The former may be ranked among the giants of modern literature; he has given a powerful impulse to learning and to Christian philosophy in Germany, and through- out the world. A German himself, and proud of his national literature, he has examined the subject of which we are treat- ing in all its bearings. Though his great mind had escaped from the vagaries and endless variations of Protestantism in which he was raised, and sought repose in the bosom of Catholic unity, yet it was as free from undue prejudice as it was indefatigable in its inquiry after truth. We have already * D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 192. SCHLEGEL AND HALLAM. 397 seen how greatly he admired the genius of Luther, it whose mind, however, he detected a tincture of insanity. In Lis writings, he speaks of the Reformation, always with caimnesa and dignified impartiality, sometimes even with praise of the good of which it may have been incidentally the occasion. Hallam was a Protestant, who, though generally impartial and accurate in his statements, was still sometimes betrayed into error by his ill concealed hostility to the Catholic Church. He has lately published a History of Literature during the sixteenth century, and the two centuries preceding and fol- lowing. The plan of this work necessarily called for a thorough investigation of the very subject of our present chapter ; and he has accordingly given his opinion of the literary influence of the Reformation with clearness and force. "We make these remarks, to show that both the witnesses whom we are about to bring up against D'Aubigne's theory, are weighty and unexceptionable. Schlegel very properly designates the epoch of the Refor- mation as the barbaro-polemic. " A third epoch now arose, which, from the general spirit of the age, and the tone of the writings which exerted a commanding influence over the times, cannot be otherwise designated than as the era of barbaro-polemic eloquence. This rude polemic spirit — which had its origin in the Reforma- tion, and in that concussion of faith, and, consequently, of all thought and of all science, which Protestantism occasioned — continued, down to the end of the seventeenth century, to prevail in the controversial writings and philosophic speculations both of Germany and England. This spirit was not incompatible with a sort of deep mystical sensibility, and a ctwtain orig- inal boldness of thought and expression, such, for instance, as Luther's writ- ings display ; yet we cannot at all regard in a favorable light the general spirit of that intellectual epoch, or consider it as one by any means adapted to the intellectual exigencies of that age."* He concludes his lecture on this epoch in the following words of just indignation: " When we hear the Middle Age called barbarous, we should remembei that that epithet applies with fiir greater force to the truly barbarous era of * '• Philosophy of History," vol. ii, p. 210, 211, edit, ut supra. 398 INFLUENCE OF THE RKFOrtMATIOlS ON LEARNING. the Reformation, and of the rehgious wars which that event produced, aud which continued down to the period when a sort of moral and political pacif- ication was re-established, apparently at least, in society and the human mind."* Hallam gives his opinion in still more explicit language. He says : " Nor, again, is there any foundation for imagining that Luther was con- cerned for the interests of literature. None had he himself, save theological ; nor are there, as I apprehend, many allusions to profane studies, or any proof of his regard to them, in all his works. On the contrary, it is probable that both the principles of this great founder of the Reformation, and the natural tendency of so intense an application to theological controversy, checked for a time the progress of philological and philosophical literature on this side the Alps."f A little further on, he thus treats of the general literary influence of the Reformation: "The first eflfects of the great religious schism in Germany were not favorable to classical literature. An all-absorbing subject left neither relish nor leisure for human studies. Those who had made the greatest advances in learning were themselves generally involved in theological controversy, and, in some countries, had to encounter either personal suffering on account of their opinions, or at least the jealousy -of a church (Protestant?) that hated the advance of knowledge. The knowledge of Greek and Hebrew was always liable to the suspicion of heterodoxy. In Italy, where classical literature was the chief object, this dread of learning could not subsist But few learned much of Greek in these parts of Europe without some reference to theology, especially to the grammatical interpretation of the Scriptures. In those parts which embraced the Reformation, a still more threatening danger arose from the intemperate fanaticism of its adherents. Men who interpreted the Scripture by the Spirit could not think human learning of much value in religion ; and they were as little likely to perceive any other advantage it could possess. There seemed, indeed, a considerable peril that, through the authoiity of Karlstadt, or even of Luther, the lessons of Crocus and Mossellanus would be totally forgotten. And this would very probably have been the case if one man, Melancthon, had not perceived * " Philosophy of History," vol. ii, p. 216. f " Introduction to the Literature of Europe, in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries," in 2 vols.; 8vo, vol. i, p. 165, edit. Harper A Brotliers, New York, 1841. TESTIMONY OF ERASMUS. 399 the necessity of preserving human learning as a bulwark to theology itself against the wild waves of enthusiasm."* In another place, he asserts that " the most striking effect of the first preaching of the Reformation was that it appealed to the ignorant."! He gives the following opinion in regard to the character of Luther's writings: " But from the Latin works of Luther few readers, I believe, will rise without disappointment. Their intemperance, their coarseness, their inele- gance, their scurrilitj^, their wild paradoxes, that menace the foundations of religious morality, are not compensated, so far at least as my slight acquaint- ance with them extends, by much strength or acuteness, and still less by any impressive eloquence. Some of his treatises, and we may instance his reply to Henry VIIL, or the book against 'the falsely named order of bishops,' can be described as little else than heUowing in bad Latin. Neither of these books displays, so far as I can judge, any striking ability." "It is not to be imagined," he continues, "that a man of his vivid parts fails to perceive an advantage in that close grappling, sentence by sentence, with an adversary, which fills most of his controversial writings : and in scornful irony he had no superior. His epistle to Erasmus, prefixed to his treatise De Servo Arbitrio, is bitterly insolent in terms as civil as he could use. But the clear and comprehensive line of argument which enlightens the reader's understanding and resolves his difficulties, is always wanting. An unbounded dogmatism, resting on the infallibility, practically speaking, of his own judgment, pervades his writings; no indulgence is shown, no pause allowed to the hesitating ; whatever stands in the way of his decisions — the fathers of the Church, the schoolmen and philosophers, the canons and councils — is swept away in a current of impetuous declamation : and, as every thing contained in Scripture, according to Luther, is easj^ to be under- stood, and can only be understood in his sense, every deviation from his doctrine incurs the anathema of perdition. Jerome, he says, far fi-om being rightly canonized, must, but for some special grace, have been damned for his interpretation of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. That the Zuinghans, as well as the whole Church of Rome, and the Anabaptists, were shut out by their tenets from salvation, is more than insinuated in numerous passages of Luther's writings. Yet he had passed himself through several changea of opinion. In 1518, he rejected auricular confession; in 1520, it was both useful and necessary ; not long afterwards, it was again laid aside. I hav« * " IntroducHon to the Literature of Europe," etc., vol. i, p. 181, J 19 t Ibid., p. 192, 5 12. 400 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON LEARNING. found it impossible to understand or to reconcile his tenets concerning faiih and works, etc."* "We might rest the whole case on the authority of the two learned witnesses just named: but we will proceed to show that their opinion is correct, because clearly founded on the facts of history, and on the testimony of writers contemporary with the Reformation itself. Erasmus was the most distin- guished literary character of Germany in the sixteenth cen- tury. He was an eye-witness of the earlier scenes in the great drama of the Reformation. He will scarcely be sus- pected, when it is known that he was the intimate friend and correspondent of Melancthon and of other leading reformers, towards whose party he was charged with leaning. He was certainly a competent judge of the literary influence of the change in religion, and he was not disposed to undervalue that influence, even after his rupture with Luther. The Reformation had been enlightening the world for about ten years, when Erasmus wrote : " Wherever Luther- anism reigns, there literature utterly perishes."t In the same year, 1528, he employed the following language in one of his letters : " I dislike these gospelers on many accounts, but chiefly because, through their agency, literature everywhere languishes, disappears, lies drooping, and perishes : and yet, without learning, what is a man's life ? They love good cheer and a wife ; for other things they care not a straw."J In a letter to Melancthon, he states that " at Strasburg the Prot- estant party had publicly taught, in 1524, that it was not right to cultivate any science, and that no language should be studied except the Hebrew."§ * Introduction to the Literature of Europe," etc., vol. i, pp. 197, 198, \ 26. f "Ubicumque regnat Lutheranismus, ibi literarum est interitus." Epist. mvi, anno 1528. Apud Hallam ut sup., vol. i, p. 165. \ " Evangelicos istos, cum multis aliis, tum hoc nomine praecipuo odi, quod per COS ubique languent, fugiunt, jacent, intereunt bonae literal, sine quibus Quid est hominum vita ? Amant viaticum et uxorem ; cajtera pili non fa- cmnt." — Epis. dccccxlvi, eod. anno. Apud Hallam, vol. i, p. 165. { Epist. 714 ad Melancthonem. DESTRUCTION OF MONASTERIES. 401 These grave charges of Erasmus were never answered, be- cause thej were, it would seem, too clearly founded in truth to admit of a reply. Had not Luther himself, the founder of the Eeformation, in his appeal to the German nobility, as early as 1520, openly taught that the works of Plato, Cicero, Aristotle, and of all the ancients, should be burnt, and that the time which was not devoted to the study of the Scriptures should be employed in manual labor?* And we shall soon see that many of Luther's disciples took him at his word, and that the early history of the Reformation more than justifies the accusations of Erasmus. One of the first efiects of the Reformation in Germany was the secularization and destruction of the monasteries, and the expulsion of the bishops from their sees. This measure of violence was of itself most disastrous to literature. In Cath- olic times there were flourishing schools established in all the principal monasteries, as well as near all the cathedral and many of the parochial churches. Literature had been ever cultivated under the shadow of the Catholic churches. Popes and councils, almost without number, had, during the Middle Ages, enforced the obligation of establishing such schools throughout Christendom.f In those Catholic institutions, reared in Catholic times, and by the express injunction of the Catholic Church, all the distinguished men of Germany in the sixteenth century had been educated : Reuchlin, Erasmus, Luther, Melancthon, (Ecolampadius, Bucer, Eck, Emser, Zuingle, and others. The Reformation was thus indebted to these very Catholic schools for all its leading champions. When the monasteries were destroyed, and the cathedral churches desecrated and dismantled, all those flourishing liter- ary institutions were abolished : and the funds for their support, accumulated by the liberality of previous ages, were devoured by the avarice of the reform party. Hundreds of * Epist. ad nobiles Germanicae, anno 1520. See Robelot, p. 358. • For more facts on this subject, we take the hberty to refer our readers to the essay on schools and universities in the Dark Ages, in our Miscellanea VOL. I.— 34 402 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON LEARNINQ. flourishing colleges and academies of learning were tliua destroyed at one stroke, No wonder "literature drooped and perished wherever Lutheranism reigned!" The foun tains of Catholic learning, ever open and flowing by the side of the Catholic Church and monastery, having been thus suddenly dried up, all Germany was made desolate with a literary drought and sterility. Did the Reformation, during the first fifty years of its history, give birth to even one great literary character, if we except those who had been reared under Catholic auspices ? If it did, we have yet to learn his name and his claims on the gratitude of mankind.* Luther himself was appalled at the extent of the desolation which his own recklessness had caused. In his own charac- teristic style, he poured forth a plaintive jeremiad, mingled with bitter invective and reproach against the leaders of the Protestant party. He lashed without mercy the avarice of the princes, who, after having devoured the substance of the Church and the funds of the Catholic schools, closed their purses, and refused to contribute to the erection of establish- ments to replace those they had thus wantonly annihilated. " Others," he says, " close their hands, and refuse to provide for their pas- tor and preacher, and even to support them. If Germany will act thus, I am ashamed to be one of her children, and to speak her language : and if I were permitted to impose silence on my conscience (!), I would call in the Pope, and assist him and his minions to forge new chains for us, to subject us to new tortures, and to injure us more than before." "Formerly," he continues, "when we were the slaves of Satan, when we profaned the blood of Christ, all purees were open. Money could be pro- cured for endowing churches, for raising seminaries, for maintaining super- stitions. Then nothing was spared to put children in the cloister, to send them to school ; but now, when we must raise pious academies, and endow the chui-ch of Jesus Christ — endow, did I say, no, but assist in preserving her, for it is the Lord who has founded this church, and who watches ovet * The first tliat we know of, are Scaliger, Casaubon, and Grotius, who flourished a hundred years after the beginning of the Reformation, the two last of whom were almost Catholics, as we have already shown. Of Tychc Brahe and Kepkr, we will speak a little further on. LITERARY DESOLATION. 403 her — now that we know the divine word, and that we have learned to honor the word of our Martyr-God, the purses are closed with iron padlocks ! No one wishes to give any thing! The children are neglected, and no one teaches them to serve God, to venerate the blood of Jesus, while they are joyfully immolated to Mammon. The blood of Jesus is trampled under foot ! And these are Christians ! No schools ! no cloisters ! ' The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen.' Nowadays, when these carnal men are secure from the apprehensions of seeing their sons abandon them, and their daughters enter the convent, deprived of their patrimonies, there is no one who cultivates the understanding of children! — 'What would they learn,' say they, ' when they are to be neither priests nor monks ?' "* He made a strong appeal to the Protestant princes of Germany, to induce them to found schools and academies. He told them that it was " their duty to oblige the cities and villages to raise schools, found masterships, and sup- port pastors, as they are bound to make bridges and roads, and to raise pub- lic edifices. I would wish, if possible," he adds, " to leave these men without preacher and pastor, and let them live like swine. There is no longer any fear or love of God among them. After throwing off the yoke of the Pope, every one wishes to live as he pleases. But it is the duty of all, especially of the prince, to bring up youth in the fear and love of the Lord, and to provide them with teachers and pastors. If the old people care not for these things, let them go to the d — 1. But it would be a shame for the govern- ment to let the j^outh wallow in the mire of ignorance and vice."f This attempt to compel the people to support, by heavy taxation, institutions which had been hitherto reared and maintained by Catholic charity, seems to have proved little acceptable either to princes or people. Luther's voice, which had been omnipotent when it preached up destruction and spoliation, now fell powerless, when it was at length tardily raised to enforce the necessity of liberal contribution for the rearing of institutions to replace those which had been wan- tonly destroyed. When his eloquence filled men's pockets, it was effectual for persuasion ; when it was employed to empty them, it was a different matter altogether : the purses of his hearers were closed with "the iron padlock" which he himself had constructed ! * See Ad. Menzel, (a Protestant,) ut supra, tom. i, p. 231. Apud Audin. f Luther, Werke, edit. Altenberg, tom. iii, 519. Picinhardt — Sammthche Reformations predigten, tom. iii, p. 445. — Ibid, 404 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON LEARNING. Few and feeble were the efforts made by early Protestant ism to rear schools and colleges. Erasmus bears evidence tc their utter failure even when they were made. He says : " These gospelers also hate me, because I said that their gospel cooled down the love of literature. In reply they point to Ni'irenbei-g, where the professors of polite literature are liberally rewarded. Be it so ; but if you ask the inhabitants, they will tell you that these professors have few scholars, and that the masters are as indisposed to teach, as the students to learn ; so that the scholars, no less than the professors, luill have to he paid for their attendance. I know not what will result from all these city and village schools ; hitherto I have not met with any one who profited by them."* It is curious to observe how D'Aubigne passes over alto- gether, or how very delicately he alludes to these stubborn facts in reference to the literary tendency of the Reformation. They did not suit his taste, and did not therefore come within the scope of his partisan history! He speaks with great praise of the effort made by Luther to have schools established throughout Germany by law ; but he carefully refrains from telling his readers of the literary desolation which Luther so strongly deplored, though himself had brought it about ! He omits entirely, or strives to palliate the destructive spirit of early Protestantism, which, with more than vandalic fury, swept away from the face of the earth schools and academies, and burnt monasteries and libraries, both public and private. A volume might be filled with instances of this violence : we will select a few by way of supplying somewhat the mani- fold omissions of our very romantic historian. When on his way to the diet of Worms, in 1521, Luther passed through the town of Erfurth, in the Augustinian con- vent of which place he had passed many years of his early life. The people received him with open arms. He made a most inflammatory harangue in the parish church, where he was wont to preach of old ; and so great was the effect of his eloquence, that "a few weeks after his departure, the popu'ace * "In Pseudo-Evangelicos." — Epist. xlvii, hb. xxxi, edit. London, F)*«h- er. — Ibid. BURNING BOOKS AND PAINTINGS. 405 made a furious attack on the residence of the canons, and de- stroyed every thing they met with — hooks, images, paintings, furniture, beds, the feathers of which fell, like a thick snow, on the streets, and obscured for a moment the brightness of the day."* This was but one out of a hundred examples of similar outrage, enacted not only under the eyes of Luther, but often with his connivance and consent. The work of destruction went on, until there was scarcely left in all Protestant Ger- many one of the many splendid monuments reared by the old Catholic literature and art. " Those illuminated manuscripts — those ancient crucifixes, carved in wood and ivory — those episcopal rings, the gifts of Popes and emperors — those rich vestments, painted glass, gold and silver ciboria — in a word, all the relics of the middle ages, which are exhibited in the rich museums of Germany, were in great part the property of the convents. To get possession of them, the monks were secularized. After three centuries, nothing better calculated to give us an idea of German art at that period has been thought of, than to exhibit the remains of those whom the reformers robbed when living, and calumniated when dead ! "f And yet these are but a scanty remnant of those vast liter ary and artistic treasures which the Reformation utterly destroyed ! In Switzerland, as elsewhere, violence was the order of the day. The Reformation triumphed amidst the ruins with which it everywhere strewed the earth ! "Zuingle ascended the pulpit, and declaimed against images, which, he said, were condemned by the law of Moses and the gospel, as this latter did not revoke the command of the Hebrew legislator. Not only were paintings and statues mutilated and destroyed wherever the Eeformation gained parti- sans, but the flames were fed by the manuscripts in which generations of monks had, in the solitude of their cloi.sters, endeavored to represent, in colors that time could not efface, the principal scenes of human redemption. Even in private houses the hammer's stroke fell on those painted windows which modern art endeavors unsuccessfully to revive."|; * Luthen 0pp., tom. i, fol. 70i, edit. Altenb. Apud Audin, p. 158. f Audin, p. 365. I Idem, ibid., p. 204. See als) Erasmus, lib. xix, epist. iv. 26 406 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION JN LEARNING. D'Aubigne furnishes us with a curious instance of thie destructive fanaticism at Zurich. The hero of the story is Thomas Plater, whom he euhigizes to the skies, though he feebly disapproves of his conduct in the incident in which he was the actor. " The light of the gospel quickly found its way to his heart (!). One morn ing, when it was very cold, and fuel was wanted to heat the school-room stove, which it was his office to tend, he said to himself: 'Why need I be at a loss for wood wlien there are so many idols in the church ? ' The church was then empty, though Zuingle was expected to preach (!), and the bells were already ringing to summon the congregation. Plater entered with a noiseless step, grappled an image of St. John, which stood over one of the altars, carried it oflF, and thrust it into the stove, saying, as he did so, ' Down with thee, for in thou must go.' Certainly neither Mj^conius nor Zuingle would have applauded such an act."* What ! when " the light of the gospel had found its way to his heart!" Who could blame him for following this light, and even for kindling it into a flame? Our author also informs us of the fanatical hatred of learning entertained by Karlstadt and the prophets, who headed the revolt of the peasants. " But soon after this, Karlstadt went to still greater lengths ; he began to pour contempt upon human learning ; and the students heard their aged tutor advising them, fi'om his rostrum, to return to their homes, and resume the spade, or follow the plow, and cultivate the earth, because man was to eat bread in the sweat of his brow ! George Mohr, master of the boys' school at Wittenberg, carried away by a similar madness, called from his window to the burghers outside to come and reinove their children. Where indeed was the use of their continuing thtir studies, since Storck and StiJbner had never been at the university, and yet were pro|)hets? A mechanic was Just as well, nay, perliaps better quahfied than all the divines in the world, to preach the gos[)el ! "f Who can calculate the mischief these doctrines did to literature? Who can estimate the literary treasures which were annihilated in the bloody war of the peasants, led on by men who openly avowed their nostility to all human * D'Aubigne, vol. iii, p. 253. f Ibid., p 61. HATRED OF LEARNING 407 learning? In the ravages of Germany, perjietral td ly the hostile armies, before the revolt was finally stifled in their own blood, scenes of destruction were enacted, which would have put to the blush the Gothic armies of old ! Another class of religionists, the Anabaptists, to whose fanaticism the principles of the Reformation had manifestly led, were no less inimical to learning. Having seized on the city of Munster, from which they had expelled the prince bishop, they issued an order to devastate the churches, which was accordingly done. They then went further. In the mad intoxication of triumph, " a manifesto, published by Roth- mann, decided that as there was only one book necessary to salvation — the Bible — all others should be burned, as useless or dangerous. Two hours afterwards, the library of Rudolph Langius, consisting almost entirely of Greek and Latin manu- scripts, perished in the flames."* The Caliph Omar, for a similar reason, had ordered the great library of Alexandria to be burned, A.D. 632. — A fine example truly, and faith- fully followed! But it was not merely by acts of violence that the Refor- mation injured the cause of literature; it brought into action many other influences highly prejudicial to the progress of learning. We shall briefly advert to some of the principal of these, and will begin with that already referred to by Hallam. The Reformation fevered the minds of men with religious controversy. It drew ofi" the votaries of literature from the academic groves and the Pierian springs, into the arid and thorny paths of disputatious theology. Though many of the theological disputants, who appeared on the arena at the period of the Reformation, obtained temporary credit for themselves and their cause by their writings, yet it is certain that the literary world, at least, would have been more bene- fited, had they devoted their mental energies to the prosecution * See Histoirc der. Anabaptistes, par Catrou, Liv. ii ; and Audin, p. 460, 408 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON LEARNING. of scientific studies. Tliere is no doubt, that from this cause the ranks of the literati, both among Catholics and Protestants, were much thinned; and that in consequence the ardor for literary pursuits was greatly abated. Had the world con tinued in religious unity, and had no acrimonious controversies arisen, such men as Luther, Bucer, Melancthon, Eck, Emser, and Bellarmine, might have been able to contribute their full share to the progress of letters. To show how this cause practically operated to the detri- ment of literature, we will furnish a few facts, selected almost at random from many of the same kind. We have seen how the fanaticism of the Anabaptists destroyed manuscripts and burnt an extensive library in the city of Munster. It is curi- ous to trace the beginning of this fanaticism, and to mark its influence on literature in that city. Before the appearance of Luther, Munster enjoyed peace and tranquillity, and culti- vated learning with great success. Shortly after the com- mencement of the Reformation, the scene changed altogether. Says Audin : "It suddenly became a citj' of trouble and disorder — was restless and uneasy under its obscurity, and aspired to be the rival of Wittenberg. It was a rich and commercial city, and had cultivated literature with success. Its university had merited the attention of the literary world. It loved antiquity, especially Greece, whose poets it publi.shed and elucidated. This was the passion until the disciples of Luther entered its gates, when this demi-classic city — half Greek and half Latin, by its morals and instincts- involved itself in theological disputes, and abandoned the study of Cicero and Homer, to become interpreter of the sacred volume. It is needless to say, that it found in these inspired writings many things that our fathers never droamed of. Then all the classic divinities abandoned Munster, as the swallows fly away in winter, only that they did not intend to return. In their place, an acrimonious and punctilious theology destroyed the pesuje of scholars, masters, and people. The revolutionary progress of sectarians is always the same."* Whoever will read attentively the history of the Reforma- tion, will be struck with the truth of this last remark. In * Audin, " Life of Luther," p. 458. HOSTILE INFLUENCE. 409 almost every city in Germany where the reformers made their appearance, they produced, to a greater or less extent, the same disastrous revolution in literary taste, which they effected in Munster. Even Charles Villers, one of the most unscrupulous advocates of the Reformation, admits that " the attention of the literary world was turned away, for more than a century (after the Reformation) unto miserable dis- putes about dogmas, and confessions of faith,"* Controversy was not only carried on between the champions of Catholicity and of Protestantism, but it raged violently in the bosom of the reform party itself. Men, who might have been of im- mense service to the republic of letters, thus wasted their energies in sectarian contentions. For more than six years a violent dispute was carried on between the Lutherans and Calvinists on the subject of the Eucharist, and at the close of it, they were more widely separated than ever. Leibnitz tells us, that a single controversy between two Protestant divines of Leipsic, on the peremptory period of repentance^ gave rise to more than fifty treatises in Latin and German.f The eagerness for religious controversy among the earlier Protestants of Germany, forcibly reminds us of the picture which St. Gregory of Nyssa draws of a similar rage of dispu- tation on the subject of the Trinity, among the sectarians of Constantinople under the Emperor Theodosius the Great. " If you wish to change a piece of money," says he, " you are first entertained with a long discourse on the difference of the Son who is born, and of the Son who is not born. If you ask the price of bread, you are answered, ' that the Father is greater, and that the Son is less ;' and if you ask, when will the bath be warm ? you are seriously assured, ' that the Son was created.' "J It is a singular fact, that notwithstanding the invectives oJ Luther against the philosophy of Aristotle, it was still retained * Essai sur I'lnfluence, etc., ut sup., p. 276. f Commercii Epist. Leibnitzian.a, Selecta Specimina — Hanovera&. 1805t Epist. xcv. \ Apud Robelot, p. 390, sup. cit. VOL. I. — 35 410 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON LEARNING. in most of the Protestant universities of Germany, and even made the standard of disputation. Melancthon published commentaries on the writings of the Stagirite, and the authority of the latter was greatly respected by the German Protestant universities, as late as the close of the eighteenth century. Ramus was refused a professorship at Geneva, be- cause he would not adopt the philosophy of Aristotle, which was still taught in this cradle of Calvinism.* "While Prot- estant Germany was thus sternly upholding the system of philosophy which Luther had decried and endeavored to ban- ish from Christendom, the new school of the Platonic phi- losophy was established in Italy, under the auspices of the Medici. All the invectives of the reformers against the subtle disputations of the schoolmen, who had adopted the Aristote- lian philosophy, thus recoiled on the heads of their own party. The mutual distrust and suspicion, which the Reformation sowed in the minds of men, constituted another serious ob- stacle to the progress of letters. Competition and emulation often elicit talent and promote improvement; but when this feeling degenerates into a suspicious jealousy and mutual hatred, it greatly retards advancement in learning. Whatso- ever new systems of literature or of philosophy were broached by one religious party, were often rejected, through a mere spirit of opposition, by the other. When mankind were united in religious faith, they worked in unison for the promotion of learning : when they were split up into religious parties, they often mutually thwarted and hindered one another. The endless variations and vagaries of Protestantism, on the one hand, led to a skepticism, which sneered at every system which savored of antiquity, no matter how well grounded ; and the cautious dread of innovation by the Catholic Church, on the other, caused her sometimes to view with sus^picion, at least for a time, new systems of philosophy which were sustained by respectable, if not conclusive arguments. * Beza, Epist. xxxvi, p. 202. Apud Robelot, p. 362. LITERARY JEALOUSY/ 411 An example of the former feeling — of skepticism — is given by the French philosopher Maupertuis, who tells us that it required a half century to satisfy the learned as to the truth of the principle of attraction, which was at first viewed as reviving a feature of the odious occult sciences, so extensively cultivated in previous centuries.* A remarkable instance of the dread of innovation on the part of the Catholic Church, is presented by the well known case of Galileo. The wanton abuse of the Scriptures, for the support of a thousand con- flicting opinions, by the disciples of the Reformation, had rendered every sj^ecies of innovation, which was attempted to be proved by their authority, an object of apprehension on the part of Rome. It may be confidently asserted, that, but for the distrust sowed by the Reformation, and for the attempt made by Galileo to prove his system, not merely as a specious theory but as incontestably true, by the authority of the written word, he would never have been molested. Some time before the days of Galileo, Cardinal Nicholas de Cusa had openly defended the system of Philolaus and Pythagoras, on the motion of the earth ; and no one then thought of opposing the theory on religious grounds. Nearly a century before Galileo, Nicholas Copernicus, a Catholic priest, had openly advocated the same theory : and he was not only not opposed, but Pope Paul Ill.f approved of the dedication to himself of his great work on the revolutions of the heavenly bodies.J How are we then to explain that a system, which was thus openly maintained for nearly a cen- tury by cardinals and prelates at Rome itself, where Coper- nicus had been professor of astronomy — and all this, without * Apud Robelot, p. 355. f A copy of the original work of Copernicus is preserved in the British Museum. It was printed at Niirenberg by John Petreius, at the expense of Nicholas Schomberg, the cardinal of Capua. In the beginning of the volume is printed a laudatory letter of the cardinal to Copernicus, dated Kome, 1st of November, 1536. I "De Orbium Coelestium Revolutionibus." Folio— 1543, p. 196. ■412 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON LEARNING. any opposition from the Roman court — was afterwards vie^ved with some suspicion, when too warmly advocated on scrip tural grounds by Galileo ? The reason is manifest : the wanton abuse of the Scriptures by the partisans of the Reformation had made Rome suspi clous of every thing which savored of novelty. Ambitious rivals, whom the literary fame of Galileo had eclipsed, had also represented his system in an odious and false light to the Roman court : they had painted it as opposed to the Scriptures, to the testimony of which Galileo himself on the other hand as confidently appealed. The whole issue was thus made on scriptural grounds. Rome took the alarm, and, without condemning the system of Galileo as false, enjoined fiilence on the disputants. Galileo remained in Rome from February to July, 1633, a space of more than five months, during which time he resided at the spacious palace of his special friend, the Tuscan ambassador, who was his surety during the trial. For only four days at most, even according to the testimony of Mr. Drinkwater, his Protestant historian, was he in nominal confinement ; being " honorably lodged in the apartments of the fiscal of the Inquisition."* The reckless abuse of the Scriptures by the Reformation, and the distrust thereby occasioned, are thus alone responsible for this temporary check to scientific improvement in the person of Galileo. But, on the other hand, as an offset to the case of the Italian philosopher, did not the Protestant astrono- mer, Tycho Brahe, invent, on scriptural grounds, a system, at variance with the Copernican, and now universally rejected, though then popular among Protestants ? And was not his great disciple Kepler, as well as himself, persecuted by Prot- estants, for his valuable discoveries in astronomy ?f * Drinkwater — Life of Galileo, p. 58, and p. 64. See on this subject an able article in the Dublin Review, lately republished in Cincinnati in pamph- let form. It exhausts the subject. f Kepler and Tycho Brahe, the former a German, the latter a Dane, were iptimate Iriends and associates. They were both employed as imperial GALILEO AND KEPLER. 413 Tlie authority of an unexceptionable witness, Henry Hal- [am, strongly coniirms the view just taken of the case of Gali- leo. He says : " For eighty years, it has been said, this theory of the earth's motion had been maintained, without censure ; and it could only be the greater boldness of Galileo in its assertion which drew down upon him the notice of the Church."* In a note,f he disproves the assertion of Drink- water — " that Galileo did not endeavor to prove his system compatible with Scripture ;" and adds : " it seems, in fact, to have been this over desire to prove his theory orthodox, which incensed the Church against it. See an extraordinary article on this subject in the eighth number of the Dublin E,eview."J Guicciardini, an ardent disciple of Galileo, in a letter dated March 4th, 1616, says, " that he had demanded of the Pope and the Holy Office to declare the system of Copernicus founded on the Bible." At Rome, Galileo was treated most kindly by the Pope and the cardinals, as he himself testifies in a letter to his disciple Receneri, written in 1633.§ The restrictions on the liberty of the press were also often injurious to the progress of learning. Protestant govern- ments in Europe have been, and are even at this day, deserv- ing of at least as much censure on this subject as those of Catholic countries. The supposed necessity for a censorship of the press, frequently originated in the wanton abuse of it astronomers by the Emperor Rudolph II., after having been but little appre- ciated, if not severely treated by their Protestant brethren in their own countries. Of Kepler W. Menzel writes as follows : " His discovery was condemned by the Tubingen university (Protestant) as contrary to the Bible. He was about to destroy his work, when an asylum was granted to him at Graetz, which he afterwards quitted for the imperial court. He was, not- withstanding his Lutheran principles, tolerated by the Jesuits, wlw Tcnew how to value scientific hiowledge. He was persecuted solely in his native country, where he with difficultj'^ saved his mother from being buVnt as a witch."— History of Germany, vol. ii, p. 308, note ; Bohn's edition. * History of Literature, etc., vol. ii, p. 248. f Ibid., p. 249. I See also the article Sciences Humaines in Bergier's Dictionarj'^, which sheds much light on this whole transaction. \ Published in the " Mercure de France," July 17, 1784. 414 INFLUKNCE OF THE REFORIIATION ON LEARNING. by those who had adopted the principles of the Reformation. But for the mutual distrust which this revolution caused to arise in the minds of men, the press would have been free, or at least much less restricted than it really was. "We, in fact, read of little or no restriction on the liberty of the press, until some time after the Refornjation ; though the art of printing had been in successful operation for more than half a century. Thus the Reformation is fairly chargeable, at least in a great measure, with having originated, or at least occasioned that very censorship of the press, which is so often the burden of the invectives of its partisans against the Catholic Church. But perhaps the most singular instance of the obstacles thrown in the way of literary improvement by the Reforma- tion, is that furnished by the obstinate resistance of the Prot- estant governments of Europe, to the change in the Calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIIL, in the year 1582. The correction of the Calendar was founded on the clearest and most incontestable principles of astronomy ; and yet, solely because the improvement emanated from Rome, England re- ''used to adopt it for one hundred and seventy years — until 1752 ; Sweden adopted the new style, a year later, in 1753, and the German states, the very cradle of the Reformation, only in 1776 ! As a distinguished writer has caustically re- marked, the Protestant potentates preferred " warring with the stars to agreeing with the Pope !" The long and bloody religious wars, which the Reformation caused in Germany, were another very serious hinderance to the progress of learning. These wars continued at intervals for nearly one hundred and fifty years, until the treaty of Westphalia in 1648; and they filled all Germany with wide- spread desolation. The war of extermination against the peasants, the bloody war against the Anabaptists, the wars of Charles V., and the Protestant princes of Gerriary; and finally, the terrible thirty years' war — from 1618 to 1648 — • between the Catholic party headed by the house of Austria, and the Protestant party led on chiefly by the kings of Swe- ITALY LEADS THE WAY ENGLAND BEHIND. 415 Jen ; made all Germany a scene of turmoil, confusion, and bloodshed. How many of the monuments of ancient litera- ture and art were swept away during all this bloody strife ! How many cities were desolated, libraries burnt, and men of eminence slain ! In the midst of a bloody civil war, with danger constantly at their very door, men had neither leisure nor inclination to apply to literary pursuits. Apollo courts peace : he seldom wears laurels stained with blood. We may safely affirm, that, for the reasons hitherto alleged, and more particularly the last, the Reformation retarded the literary progress of Germany for more than a century. Any candid man will be convinced of this, who will compare the literary history of Germany in the beginning of the sixteenth with what it became in the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century. At the dawn of the Reformation German literature was in a most promising condition. Greek Latin, and Hebrew learning had revived, and they were be ginning to be cultivated with success. Reuchlin, Budseus and Erasmus had filled Germany with literary glory. An anecdote of Reuchlin, related by D'Aubigne, may serve to give us some idea of the extent to which Greek literature was then carried in Germany. In 1498 — twenty years before the Reformation — he was sent to Rome as ambassador from the electoral court of Saxony. " An illustrious Greek, Argyropylos, was explaining in that metropolis, to a numerous auditory, the wonderfi.il progress his nation had formerly made in literature. The learned ambassador went with his suite to the room where the master was teaching, and on his entrance saluted him, and la- mented the misery of Greece, then languishing under Turkish despotism. The astonished Greek asked the German : ' Whence came you, and do you understand Greek?' Reuchlin replied : 'I am a German, and am not quite ignorant of your language.' At the request of Argyropylos, he read and ex- plained a passage of Thucydides, which the professor happened to have be- fore him ; upon which Argyropylos cried out in grief and astonishment : ' Alas ! alas ! Greece cast out and fugitive, is gone to hide herself beyond the Alps!'"* * D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 96. 416 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON LExVRNIN3. Had Argyropylos visited Germany a century later, he would have found that " fugitive Greece which had hid her- self beyond the Alps," had been ruthlessly driven from her cherished sheltei in Germany, by the myrmidons of the Reformation ! At the commencement of the Reformation, many German princes were liberal patrons of learning. Among these, the most conspicuous, were the Emperor Maximilian ; Frederick, elector of Saxony, who founded the university of Wittenberg in 1502; Joachim, elector of Brandenberg, who established the university of Frankfort on the Oder, in 1506 ; Albert, archbishop of Mentz; and George, duke of Saxony.* But the troubles occasioned by the doctrines of the reformers caused the German princes to turn their attention more to camps and battle fields, than to the seats of learning and the patronage of learned men. Italy had led the way in literary improvement. Hallam says : " The difference in point of learning between Italy and England was at least that of a century : that is, the former was more advanced in knowledge of ancient literature in 1400 than the latter was in 1500."j In another place, speak- ing of the relative encouragement of literature by Italy and Germany, he has this remarkable passage : " Italy was then (in the beginning of the sixteenth century), and perhaps has heen ever since, the soil where literature, if it has not always most flourished, has stood highest in general estimation." J — This avowal is the more precious as coming from a decided Protestant, and an Englishman. Speaking of the history of literature from the year 1520 to 1550, he pays the following just tribute to the literary ascend- ency of Italy: " Italy, the genial soil where the literature of antiquity had heen first cul- tivated, still retained her superiority in the fine perceptions of its beauties, and in the power of retracing them by sjiirited imitation. It was the land * See Hallam — History of Literature, etc., sup. cit., vol. i, p. 159. t Ibid., p. 145, } 8. I Ibid., p. 159, ^ 48. PROGRESS INTERRUPTED. 417 of taste and sensibility ; never surely more so, than in the age of Raphael as well as Ariosto."* Literary societies for the promotion of learning were formed much later in Germany than in Italy and France. It was only in 1617, that the " Fruitful Society," the first that ever existed in Germany, was established at Weimar.f The ex- ample of Italy would have been in all probability much sooner followed, had not the Reformation engaged the public atten- tion in other pursuits. The spirit of Reuchlin and of Erasmus had disappeared : their refined taste was superseded by that which Schlegel so happily designates the barbaro-polemic; and the result was the retarding of literary improvement in the deplorable manner which we have stated. From the dawn of the Reformation to the reign of Fred- erick the Great — a period of more than two hundred years — Germany was behind the other principal countries of Europe in learning: it required full two hundred years for her to recover from the rude shock her literature had received from the hands of the reformers! In 1715, the great Leibnitz feelingly deplored this literary desolation of his country.J He says in another place, that the relish for philosophical pursuits was so rare in Germany, " that he could not find any person in his country, who had a taste for philosophy and mathematics, and with whom he could converse."§ Even as late as 1808, Jacobi, another Protestant writer, draws a fright- ful picture of the moral and literary condition of the German Protestant universities during his time.|| Still, it is very common to find it boldly asserted from the pulpit and through the press, that the revival of letters in Europe was brought about by the Reformation ! Nothing could be more unfounded in fact, and, indeed, more utterly * History of Literature, vol. i, p. 173, ^ 1- f Mem., vol. ii, p. 172, I See his letter to M. Bigiion, 22d June, 1715 — Commercii Epist. Leib« nitz. Selecta Specimina. — Epist. xciv. — Apud Robelot. 5 Letter to M. de Beauval — ibid. Ep. xxv. II See his testimony in Robelot, p. 421, 422. 418 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON LEARNING. absurd, than this assertion. To Italy, under the fostering pro- tection of her Medici, her Gonzagas, her Estes, and, above all, of her Popes, and more especially of Nicholas V. and Leo X., do we in a great measure owe the revival of learning in Europe. All persons of any information admit this fact. Roscoe, an English Protestant, has written an extensive work to do honor to the pontificate of Leo X., which he proves to have been the golden age of learning.* Hallam also pays a splendid tribute to this second Augustan age of literature.f A light then shot up in Italy — in Rome its brightness was most dazzling — which illumined the whole world. Nor was this the first time that Rome had led the way in improvement and civilization. The literary impulse having been thus powerfully given, all Europe was rapidly advancing in learning. The progress was steady and healthy. On a sudden, the storm of the Reformation broke in upon the tranquillity of Europe, which was peacefully and calmly engaged in literary pursuits. The result was almost the same as that of a violent and long-con tinned storm on a beautiful garden, fragrant with flowers and rich in fruits. The fruits of previous toil were rudely shaken down ere they had become mature ; the flowers were blighted ; and the garden was changed into a desert ! — If literature was still preserved, it was in spite of the Reformation. The usual argument of those who maintain that the Refor- mation was the cause of the literary resurrection of Europe, is founded on a comparison of the condition of Europe before, with what it became, after the Reformation. Literature was in a more flourishing condition after than hofore the sixteenth century: therefore^ the Reformation caused the change for tlib better. Never was there a more shallow sophism. It belongs to the category: jpost Tioc^ ergo propter hoc.X To * Roscoe — Life and Pontificate of Leo X., sup. cit. f History of Literature, vol. i, p. 148, seqq. See also Audin, Life of Lu ther, p. 124, seqq. t "Aftt)- this : therefore on account of this." INVENTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS. 419 estimate aright the influence of the Reformation on learning, we should compare the literary state of Europe before it, with what it would have heen afterwards, if the Reformation had not intervened: or, more properly, we should compare the progress which Europe really made after the Reforma- tion, especially in Protestant countries, with what it would have made, but for the agitations caused by this revolution. Abiding by this fair test, we fearlessly assert, on the authority of the facts and evidence above adduced, that the literary influence of the Reformation was most disastrous.* We do not pretend to deny that Protestantism has produced many illustrious literary characters. Catholicism has produced at least as great men, and many more of them. Galileo and La Place may compare advantageously with Huygens and Newton : while Copernicus far outshines Tycho Brahe. The latter, though a Protestant, was encouraged chiefly by Catho- lic potentates of Germany. Among philosophers, if Bacon and Descartes were weighed in the balance, the latter would probably preponderate. It would lead us too far, to continue this comparison through all its details. But we may ask, whether the annals of Protestant literature can produce brighter names than Cardinal Ximenes, Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Herrera, and Calderon, in Spain; Bossuet, Fenelon, Racine, Moliere, and Legendre, in France ; Raphael, Michael * These remarks are made in the hypothesis, that the fact is as stated by the admirers of the Reformation; namely, that the literary condition of Europe was really and immediately improved in those countries where it gained a foothold. We may well deny this fact, particularly in regard to Germany, with which our present business principally lies. Comparing the literary state of Germany during the fifty years preceding Luther's revolt, with what it became during the fifty years following, there is no doubt that there was a remarkable falling off, both in literary taste and in literary progress. Instead of advancing, Germany clearly receded in the literary race, not merelj' for a half, but for more than a whole century after the Eeforn\ation. The facts alleged above clearly prove this ; else they have no meaning whatsoever. So that the theory which we are discussing is erroneoui in point of fact, as well as of logic. 420 LNFLUExXCE OF THE REFORMATION ON LEARNING. Angelo, Vidii, Tasso, Muratori, Tirabosclii, Boscovitch, and a countless host of others in Italy; rrp4erick von Schlegel, Moeller, Dbllinger, and Gbrres in Germany ; and Pope, Dryden, Lingard, and Moore in England and Ireland? These are but a few, selected almost at random, from the long list of Catholic literati. In regard to the older inventions which have proved of great and permanent utility to mankind, a far greater number was made by Catholics than by Protestants. The mariner's compass, gunpowder, the art of printing, clocks and watches, as well as steamboat navigation,* were all discovered or invented by Catholics. To them also belongs the glory of having discovered America, and of having first doubled the Cape of Good Hope and penetrated to the Indies. The micro- scope, the telescope, the thermometer, the barometer, were all invented by Catholics. The chief great discoveries in astron- omy— that of Jupiter's satellites, of spots in the sun, and of most of the new planets or asteroids — were made by Catholics. Modern poetry was first cultivated successfully in Italy by Dante and Petrarch ; and Blair himself admits, that in his- torical writing the Italians probably excel all other people. The paper on which we write, the general use of window glass and the art of staining it, the weaving of cloth, the art of enameling on ivory and metals, the discovery of stone coal, the sciences of galvanism and mineralogy; and many other inventions and improvements were first introduced by Catholics: most of them, too, in the "dark" ages. And it may be maintained on the faith of genuine history, that during the three hundred years preceding the Reformation, probably more great and important inventions were made, than during the three hundred centuries succeeding that revo- * Blasco de Garay, a Spaniard, made the first successful experiment in steam navigation, in the harbor of Barcelona, in the year 154:o. Eighty-five years later, Brancas followed up the discovery in Italy. — See "A Year in Spain," by an American Protestant, vol. i, p. 47, seq. Note — Edit. New York, 1830. PROTESTANT TESTIMONY. 421 lutioD. Still we are to be told, that we owe all our literature and improvement to the Reformation ! "We may here also remark, that the two greatest epochs of modern literature — that of Leo X. and of Louis XIV. — both occurred in Catholic countries and under Catholic auspices. The age of Frederick the Great, in Germany, was nearly allied in character with that which immediately followed it under the influence of the infidels of France : while the liter- ary glories of Queen Anne's reign in England, were equaled, if they were not surpassed, by those of the much earlier age of Ferdinand and Isabella, in Spain. It is a very common charge against the Catholic Church that she keeps her people in ignorance ; and to prove this ac- cusation, an appeal is made to the condition of Catholic coun- tries, in which, it is said, the common people are not educated. Let us see what a living author, and an unexceptionable wit- ness, because a Protestant and a Scotchman, says upon this very subject. He relates, too, what he himself saw and had full opportunities of examining. We allude to Laing, whose "Notes of a Traveler" are well known in the literary world. He writes : " In Catholic Germany, in France, and even in Italy, the education of the common people in reading, writing, arithmetic, music, manners, and morals, is at least as generally diffused and as faithfully promoted by the clerical body as in Scotland. It is by their own advance, and not by keeping back the advance of the people, that the popish priesthood of the present day seek to keep ahead of the intellectual progress of the community in Catho- lic lands : and they might perhaps retort on our Pi-esbyterian clergy, and ask if they too are in their countries at the head of the intellectual movement of the age ? Education is in reality not only not repressed, but is encouraged by the Popish Church, and is a mighty instrument in its hands, and ably used. In every street in Ptome, for instance, there are, at short distances, public primary schools for the education of the children of the lower and middle classes in the neighborhood. Rome, with a popula- tion of one hundred and fifty-eight thousand six hundred and seventy- eight souls, has three hundred and seventy-two primary schools,* with * This number is perhaps somewhat below the mark. According to the 27 422 INFLUENCE OF THZ REFORMATION ON LEARNING. four hundred and eiglity-two teachers, and fourteen thousand childrer attending them. Has Edinburgh so. many schools for the instruction of those classes ? I doubt it. Berlin, with a population about double that of Rome, has only two hundred and sixty-four schools. Rome has also her univer- sity, with an average attendance of six hundred and sixty students : and the papal states, with a population of two and a half millions, contain seven universities. Prussia, with a population of fourteen millions, has but seven." The value of this splendid testimony is greatly enhanced, when we reflect tluit ScotUind and Prussia are the boasted lands of common schools. Protestants, it would seem, can hoast more on what they have done for literature ; but Cath- olics can do more without making so great a parade. We will conclude this chapter with the able analysis of Dr. Dollinger's researches into the literary influence of the Ref- ormation, as presented by the Dublin Review, in the paper which we have already quoted. From its perusal the reader may gather what the reformers themselves and their own im- mediate disciples thought on this subject; and they surely must be considered unexceptionable witnesses, especially when they testify against themselves. THE INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON THE CONDI- TION OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. "To those who judge by the commonly received notions, this inquiry, we doubt not, will appear perfectly idle, perhaps absurd. To move a di/ubt upon the subject is to return to the first principles — to call evidence itself in question. The very name of the Reformation is popularly regarded as synonj^raous with enlightenment and progress, and from it is commonly dated the origin of what is called the great intellectual ^lovement of the modern world. How far the character is merited, let it be determined from the statements of the reformers themselves. " (1.) The Sciences and Profane Literature. — Perhaps it would be wrong to insist too much upon the testimony of Erasmus ; but it is impos- sible to read his indignant denunciations of Luther, as condemning the Crams, or Roman Almanac for 1834, Rome then had three hundred and eighty-one free schools ; and we presume the number has not since decreased, as we know the population has been steadily increasing. Many of tiiese schools are supported by private charity, while those of Protestant counliies ai'e maintained only by burdensome taxation DOLLINGER's AU.IIORITIES. 423 whole philosophy of Aristotle as diabolical, declaring ' all science, ^^^hether practical or speculative, to be damnable, and all the speculative sciences to be sinful and erroneous ;' his denunciation of Farel of Geneva as ' represent- ing all human learning as an invention of the devil ;' his furious tirade against the whole reforming body, as ' both publicly and privately teaching, that all human learning is but a net of the devil' — his reiterated assertions, that ' wherever Lutheranism flourishes, study begins to grow cold,' that 'where Lutheranism reigns, learning comes to ruin' — his contrasts of the Catholic and the Protestant seats of learning — without feeling that the pretensions of modern historians, as to the services rendered to learning by the Reformation, are not entirely bej^ond question. And, on a nearer examination, we find that these denunciations of Erasmus are liter- ally borne out by the facts. Melancthon himself, notwithstanding his own literary tastes, is found to admit their justice. Glarean, a Swiss reformer, maintains a long argument against a party of his fellow Lutherans, who held that * there was no need to study Greek and Latin, German and Hebrew being quite sufficient.' Gastius records the prevalence of a still more ex- travagant opinion among the evangelical ministers, (complusculos evangelii ministros,) ' that it was even unlawful for those destined to the preaching of the gospel to study any part of philosophy except the sacred Scripture alone.' In the Bostock university, the celebrated Arnold Bliren was suspected of infidelity, because he placed Cicero's philosophical works in the hands of his pupils, as a text-book ; and in Wittenberg itself, the Rome of Lutheranism, it was publicly maintained by George Mohr, and Gabriel Didymus, that 'scientific studies were useless and destructive (verderblich), and that all schools and academies should be abohshed.' And it is actually recorded, that in pursuance of this advice, the school-house of Wittenberg was con- verted into a bakery ! ' It is with reluctance,' writes the celebrated Brassi- kanus, one of Melancthon's disciples at Tiibingen, ' I am forced by truth to say, that a distaste for letters exists among men of genius, and to such a degree, even in the greatest cities of Germany, that it has become a mark of nationalism to hate learning, and an evidence of prudence and statesman- ship to condemn all study.' What must have been the evidence of the evi) to have extorted such an admission ! Under these influences science fell completelj' into disrepute. Nicholas Gerbel could not find ' any period in history where the sciences were at a lower ebb than the present.' ' In the last century, the least cultivated man,' writes Eusebius Menius, 'would have been ashamed not to be expert in mathematics and physics ; but nowadays one can not but see that (to our shame in the sight of posterity) these sciences are completely despised, and that, out of a great number of students, but few would ever know what once mere boys would have been perfectly familiar with.' And so universal and deep-rooted had this hatred of science become, 424 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON LEARNING. that 'from the rcvihngs of science, which echo in ahnost everj^ church in Germany, and the coarse invectives against which issue from the press,' Moller, in his commentary on Malachy, 'can anticipate nothing but the com plete downfliU of the sciences, the re-introduction of the most immeasurable barbarism into the Church, and unlimited license for daring spirits to deal with the Christian doctrine as they may think fit.' "(2.) Theological Studies. — The same distaste extended even to sacred studies. It will not b3 matter of surprise that Luther's hatred of the scho- lastics should have driven them at once and forever from the schools of the new learning. But it will sound oddl}^ in the ears of a Protestant of the present day, that the Scriptures themselves should have fallen into disrepute, even among students of divinity, and even in Luther^s own university of Wittenberg. Yet we learn from an unimpeachable witness, a professor at Wittenberg itself, that 'so great is the contempt of God's word, tliat even students of divinity fly from a close study and investigation of the Bible, as if they were sated and cloyed therewith ; and if they have but read a chapter or two, they imagine that they have swallowed the wliole of the divine wisdom at a draught;' and Melchior Petri, minister at Radburg, in 1569, 'is driven to confess that things have come to such a pass among Lutherans, that as Luther himself had set at naught the authorities of the entire of the fathers, so his disciples place their Father Luther far beyond, not merely the fathers, but even the Scripture itself, and rely exclusively upon him.' " The author enters minutely into the claim of priority in the foundation if schools of biblical criticism, and the introduction of the critical study of Scripture set up in favor of the reformers. Nor does it bear the test of in- vestigation a whit better than the claims which we have been discussing. Though we find so much stress laid by them upon the study of the Hebrew text, j-et it turns out that not a single edition of the Hebrew Bible was printed in Germany during this entire period. How few copies of the editions printed at (the still popish) Venice between 1518 and 1544, and of the Paris ones of Robert Stephens, found their way into Germany, may be inferred from the exceeding rarity of these editions ; and although the Basle edition of Sebastian Munster (1536) may have had somewhat more circula- tion, j'ct the first edition of the Hebrew text which appeared in Protestant Germany, dates near the close of the century after the commencement of Luther's career. In like manner, there does not appear to have been any edition of the Greek New Testament in Germany for forty years after the same period. Contrast with this disgraceful indifference, the sixteen editions of the Hebrew text printed in Venice alone before the 3'ear 1559, and the ten editions of the Greek text which appeared at Paris before 1551, and say to which side the priority in justice belongs ! Well may Dr. Dollinger, with such a contrast before him, appeal to Melancthon's lamentation 80 DECAY OF PROTESTANT UMVERSITIES. 425 fi«quently and so feelingly uttered over the 'total neglect of the original sources of divine learning.' " ' Alas ! ' exclaims Strigel, ' were pious Christians to shed as many tears as there is water in the Saal, they could not sufficiently deplore the downfall of Christian doctrine and discipline. Men not only turn with disgust and loathing from the word of God, but what is still more deplorable, they blush at the very name of "theologian," and abandon the study of theology to a few poor wretched men, apparently without talent or means to cultivate it, and betake themselves to more honorable and more agreeable pursuits.' "(3.) We need hardly dwell on the decay of Patristical Studies. The well-known principles of Luther on the subject of the authority of the fathers — his frequent declarations that the 'poor dear fathers lived better than they wrote' — his lamentations over the 'darkness on the subject of faith which pervades their writings;' their 'blindness;' the 'obscurity in which they have involved questions which are plain in the Scripture ' — the contempt, and indeed worse, which he displays for them, taken individually ; will prepare us for great extravagance in the same matter on the part of his followers. But we can not refrain from mentioning, as a curious example of the spirit of the time, that it was made a serious charge against a master at Augsburg, that he introduced Lactantius among his scholars as an intro- duction to the study of the fiithers, and that 'among the especial arts which Satan employs to undermine the authority of the man of God, Dr. Luther, the chief is described to be his withdrawing them from Luthei^s writings to those of the fathers, and of others who are far inferior to him.' "(4.) From the same principles of Luther will be understood without diflSculty the decline of Historical Stiulies also. Germany, in the early part of the sixteenth century, had produced a larger number of historians than perhaps any other in Europe. Wimpeling, Tritheim, Albert Kranz, Rhe- nanus, Peutinger, Cuspinian, and several others are enumerated by Dollinger. In the last seventy years of the same century, we find scarcely a single name on the Protestant side, with the exception of Sleidan, a clever but unscrupulous writer ; and the only historical writers of any note are those of the Catholic party — Gerhard van Roo, Dalrav, bishop of Olmi'itz, and Fabricius, rector of Diisseldorf " (5.) But it is from the character of the universities and other seats of learning, even more than from general statements like these, that we can most securely gather the intellectual condition of Germany. Upon this part of the subject the author appears to have bestowed exceeding care ; and if it be remembered how obscure and how scattered must have been the Bourees of such an inqtiiry, some idea may be formed of the difficulty of the performance. He passes in review the universities of Erfurth, Basle, Tubingen, Wittenberg, Leipsic, Rostock, Frankfort, and Heidelberg. Con- trasting their condition before and after the Reformation, and detailing in VOL. I. — 36 42 C INFLUENCE OF 'illE REFORMATION ON LEARNING. the words of ihc reformers themselves, many of them members of the com- munities they describe, their actual condition under the working of the new system, he traces to its immediate influence the corruption which most unquestionably did follow its introduction, so clearly and satisfactorily, that it would be impossible to entertain a doubt of the flict, even if it were not expressly admitted by the parties most interested in its concealment. The universities of Germany, without any exception, were described, in the year 1568, as 'remarkable for nothing but the pride, laziness, and unbridled liceritiousness of the professors,' and Camerarius (i, p. 484) often thought that 'it would be better to have no schools at all than such asylums of dishonesty and vice.' Wittenberg held a bad pre-eminence among them. Flacius Illyricus (p. 227) 'would rather send children to a brothel, than to the High School of Wittenberg.' No discipline or godliness was known there, and ''especially among Dr. Pinup's {Melanctlioii) disciples' whom people visiting the university, and expecting to find angels, discovered to be, in reality, living devils. Indeed, the students of this university were 'universally infamous (landriichig) for debauchery, gambling, impiety, blasphemy, cursing, drinking, and indecent language and behavior ;' and though the university authorities were well aware of the scandals, they were afraid to publish their shame by expelling the guilty, who constituted the majority. At Frankfort on the Oder (1562), the students were 'so wild and undi.sciplined, that neither professors nor townsmen were secure of their lives.' At Tiibingen, the 'habits of blasphemy, drunkenness, and debauchery,' which came under his own personal notice, called for the prompt and decided in- terference of Duke Christopher of Wiirtemberg in 1565. A few years later (1577), the students were represented in the magistrates' report to the senate as 'a godless race, like those of Sodom and Gomorrha :' and in 1583, a solemn visitation, for the sole purpose of staying or eradicating the noto- rious and habitual immorahty, was ordered by the public authorities of the city. The accounts of the imiversities of Marburg (p. 480), Konigsberg (p. 482), Leipsic (p. 573), Basle (p. 557), are precisely the same ; and in his report on the university of Rostock, Arnold Bui'en frankly avows, that, 'comparing the new generation with the old ones, every right-minded man complained, and the conduct of the members themselves evinced even more clearly, that a general deterioration of morals had taken place ; that crimes of every de- scription were day by day on the increase; that instead of the virtuous gravity and youthful modesty of foi-mor days, wanton levity and unbridled licentiousness liad been introduced ; and that things had come now to such a pass, tliat from the entire frame of society, and from the morals of every olass, simplicity, integrity, and purity had completely disappeared.' "In a short time this disrepute began to produce its effect upon the attendance of the pupils. The declaration of Illyricus is an echo of the GENERAL SUMMARY. 427 general feeling. Parents feared to send their children to such dens of im- morality : the numbers gi-adually diminished : the university of Basle, onct 60 flourishing, became a desert within a few )^ears : and at Erfurth, which at the outbreak of the Eeforniation had been in its highest reputation, the pupils, who in 1520 amounted to three hundred and eleven, fell to one hundred and twenty in 1522, then to seventy-two, and afterwards to thirty- four, till, in 1527, the entrances amounted to but fourteen ! " The writer concludes his review of Dbllinger's learned work, with the following general summary of the view of the Reformation taken by the reformers themselves, in regard to the influence of this great revolution on the interests of this world and on those of the next. The portraiture is, in- deed, a very sad one; but none the less reliable, because drawn by the early friends and admirers of the Reformation, whose testimony is alleged for each statement. " From the variety of these extracts, and the exceeding diversity of the sources from which they are taken, it will readily be believed that our diffi- culty has rather been to limit than to extend them. We had originally intended to pursue the inquiry on a similar plan through various other topics, as, — the scandalous lives of its ministers, and the contempt and hatred with which, as a class, they were regarded by their flocks — the weariness of spirit, the remorse, the longing after death, even the miserable end, in many cases, by their own hands, which it entailed upon those who were actively engaged in it — the repining after the good old times, the long- ing for the revival of popery, and the habitual reference, on the part of the people, of all the evils which had overwhelmed the world to the new gospel which had been introduced. But we have already more than wearied out the reader's patience by these painful and revolting extracts, nor shall we venture to pursue the Reformation into the 'lower deeps' of sin and wretch- edness to which it led. Even in the few, and perhaps ill-assorted extracts which we have hastily heaped together, there is enough and more than enough to fix its character as a movement claiming to be divinely dii'ected. We are ready to allow its claims to be tested by any reasoning man, no matter how deeply prejudiced in its favor, upon these admissions of its own most zealous founders. Let him but contrast in the light of this evidence, imperfect and fragmsntary as our narrow limits have made it, its great promise, with its small performance, its magnificent anticipations with its miserable results — let him follow it in its career through the various coun- tries where ;t found an entrance, and mark the fruits which it produced in each — where it promised peace and happiness, let him see it produce disor 428 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVILIZATION. der, insubordination, murder, rebellion, divisions of class against clat5S, san- guinary war ; where it promised piety, lukewarmness, impiety, blasphemy, irreligion ; where it promised purer morality, debauchery, fornication, drunk enness, revolting indecency in young and old ; where it promised all the social and domestic virtues, adulteries, divorces, bigamj', fraud, avarice, hard- heartedness to the poor ; where it promised the revival of true faith, confu- sion, skepticism, contempt of all religion, and utter unbelief; where it promised enlightenment, ignorance, barbarism, contempt of learning, and fimatical hatred of science ; — ^let him but remember how all this is attested by those to whose dearest and most cherished hopes the admission was as gall and wormwood, and we defy him to resist the direct and palpable con- clusion, that the finger of God was not in that unhappy movement — that the prestige of its success was hollow and unsubstantial, that its boasted advantages were a juggle and a delusion, that its lofty pretensions were but a silly mockery, and its very title a living and flagitious he." CHAPTER XVI. INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVILIZATION. Definition — Religion, the basis — Reclaiming from barbarism — British East India possessions — Catholic and Protestant conquests — Protestant mis- sions— Sandwich Islands — The mother of civilization — The ark amid the deluge — Rome converts the nations — Early German civilization — Moham- medanism— The Crusades — The Popes — Luther and the Turks — Luther retracts — Religious wars in Germany — Thirty Yeai-s' War — General peace — Disturbed by the Reformation — Comparison between Protestant and Catholic countries. To civiliBe, according to lexicographers, is ''to reclaim from a state of savageness and brutality." According to its more comnioh acceptation, however, the word Gwilisation implies more than a mere reclaiming from barbarism. It em- braces, as its more prominent constituent elements, enlight- enment of the public mind, good government conducted on liberal principles, a certain refinement in public taste and manners, and a gentleness and polish in social intercourse. COMPARATIVE CIVILIZATION. 429 The more fully and the more harmoniously these elements are developed together, the higher the state of civilization. There can be no doubt that religion lies at the basis of all true civilization. A mere glance at the past history and present condition of the world must satisfy any impartial man of this great truth. Those countries only have been blessed with a high degree of civilization which have been visited by the Christian religion. Those which have not had this visitation, or which have rejected it, are in a state of bar- barism, or at least of semi-barbarism. If Europe is more highly civilized than any other quarter of the globe, it is pre- cisely because she has been brought more fully under the softening and humanizing influence of Christianity. If Africa is the lowest in the scale, it is because her people have been to a very great extent excluded from, or have shut their eyes to the blessed light of the gospel. Asia occupies an intermediate ground between barbarism on the one hand, and a state of high civilization on the other. That poi'tion of her population which has never received the Christian religion, still continues in a state of unmitigated barbarism. That portion which once received, but has since in a great measure lost sight of, or rejected the doctrines of Christianity, may in general be pronounced to be in a state but half-civilized. No more striking proof of the soundness of these remarks can perhaps be given, than the incontestable fact that all western Asia, embracing Asia Minor, Syria, Pal- estine, Bythinia, Mesopotamia, and Armenia, which was, during the early ages of Christianity, in a high state of civil- ization, has since sunk into a state of semi-barbarism, after Christianity had been either extinguished or paralyzed in its influence by Mohammedanism. Constantinople, Antioch, and Ephesus, once the centers of civilization, and the radiating points of learning, are now the seats of barbarism — all their laurels withered, and all their glory fled, perhaps for ever ! Egypt and northern Africa were also, during the first ages of the Chv rch, far advanced in civilized life. But what is their 430 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVILIZATION. condition now, and what has it been for many centuries, since the overthrow of Christian institutions by those of IsUimism The daik night of barbarism still broods heavily over them, though a cheering twilight of the coming dawn is beginning to brighten in Algeria. And, in Europe, those countries pre- cisely have advanced the least in civilization w^hich — as Russia and other more northern nations — have been less fully and powerfully acted on by the principles of the Christian religion, as unfolded from its center. From the facts already established in the previous chapters, we may easily gather what was the influence of the Reforma- tion on these two leading elements of civilization — free gov- ernment and literary enlightenment. We think that evei'j impartial man who will take the trouble to weigh well the Protestant evidence already accumulated on those subjects,- will come to the conclusion that, so far at least as these are concerned, the inflluence of the Reformation was most injuri- ous. We would not, liowever, be understood as denying that Protestantism subsequently exercised, at least occasionally and to some extent, a beneficial influence on the progress of society. We freely admit that Protestants have done some thing for the social advancement of the human race : but we maintain that Catholics have done much more, and that with- out the Reformation, the world would have advanced much more rapidly in civilization than it has done with its co- operation. To begin with the first idea implied by the term — a reclaim- ing from barbarism — what nation or people, we would ask, has Protestantism ever reclaimed from a barbarous to a civil- ized condition ? What nation, or even considerable portion of a nation, has it ever converted from heathenism to Chris- tianity ? It has indeed caused many to abandon the old sys- tem of religion, and to embrace its own crude and new-fangled notions : but we have yet to learn that it has brought one entire heathen people into the Christian fold. Many barba- tma nations and tribes have been crushed or exterminated bj CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT CONQUESTS. 431 the onward marcli of its own peculiar system of exclusive civilization ; but not one^ so far as our information extends, has been converted to Christianity, or even ameliorated m social condition, through its agency. And yet Protestantism has had ample power in its hands for this purpose, as well as ample verge for its operations. With her almost unbounded power by sea and by land, En- gland, to say nothing of other Protestant governments, might, it would seem, have converted whole nations to Christianity, and thereby reclaimed them from barbarism. "With her vast power and influence in the East Indies, she might have made at least an effort to bring the teeming nations, with their tens of millions of inhabitants, which there acknowledged her sway, into the beautiful fold of Christian civilization. But what has she actually accomplished? Has she ameliorated the civil condition of the seventy millions whom she holds in political thralldom in the east ? Has she even made a seri- ous effort, in her political capacity, to bring about this result ? Have the obscene and wicked rites of paganism vanished be- fore her powerful influence ? She has indeed crushed or exterminated whole tribes by her arms, or ground them in the dust by her tyranny, and impoverished them by her exactions ! She has done much to render Christian civilization odious in their eyes : she has done little or nothing to render it amiable or attractive. She has lately goaded them to rebellion by her cruel exactions and selfish policy ; and then crushed out the insurrection by the strong arm guided by superior discipline. A lust of power and of money has been the all-absorbing principle of her policy : and its effects are visible in the abiding degrada- tion of the millions who unwillingly bow beneath her yoke. It is deemed unnecessary to multiply proofs to establish what must be apparent to every one who has even glanced at the history of the conquests and policy of England in her East India possessions. Her own writers and the oflicial acts of parliament have boldly proclaimed these iniquities to the 432 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVILIZATION. world : and no one will be so skeptical as to question theii truth, or to deny their enormity.* Happily, such has not been the case with Catholic con quests among barbarous nations. The first thing always thought of by Catholic sovereigns who established their power in heathen lands, was to introduce Christianity among the tribes whom they had subdued, and to bring about, through its agency, their gradual civilization. The Catholic missionary always accompanied the leader of Catholic mari- time discovery and conquest, to soften down the horrors of war, to pour oil into the wounds of the vanquished people, and to direct their attention to sublime visions of civilization, of Religion — of heaven. The Catholic cross was always reared by the side of the banner of Catholic conquest. And the result has been, that wherever Catholic conquest has ex- tended, there religion has been also established, and, through it, civilization has been gradually introduced. Whoever will read attentively the annals of Spanish and Portuguese voyages of discovery and conquest in America and thp Indies, will be convinced of the truth of this remark. Our countryman, Washington Irving, has done ample justice to this subject ; and we confidently appeal to the evidence his magic pen has spread before the world, for a triumphant proof of our assertion.f Our attention is often directed, with a sneer of triumph, to the inferior political condition of Span- ish America : but those who employ this common-place argu- ment, and who boast of their own .superior civilization and * Some modem writers, indeed, claim that England has accomplished much towards elevating the social condition of the people in the East Indies. But when you call on them for facts and specifications, they are able to pre- sent little but vague and unsatisfactory generalities. It is admitted on all hands, that very few of the natives ha^^e been converted to Chi'istianity. Such being the case, it is diflScult to sec wherein their alleged social improve- ment is to be found. f In his "Life of Columbus," 2 vols. 8vo. New York, 1831. See the evidence he alleges on our present subject, accumulated in a Review of Web- titer's Biniker Hill Speech, published in the Mii?cellanea. CONVERSION OF HEATHENS. 433 refinement, do not reflect, or would not have us reflect, that, whereas the Spaniards and Portuguese settled down and in- termarried with the aborigines, and used every effort to civil- ize them — in which they have partially succeeded; we in North America, with all our boasted superiority, have cir- cumvented, goaded into war, driven from place to place, and finally almost exterminated the poor Indians, the original proprietors of our soil.* Protestantism is heartily welcome to all the laurels of civilization it has won in this great Ameri- can field ! It is rather a remarkable coincidence that, in the very first year of the Reformation — 1517 — the first expedition of the Spaniards for the conquest of Mexico — that under Cordova — was undertaken. Two years later, in 1519, Hernando Cortes entered upon the great enterprise which actually achieved the conquest of Mexico, On his standard was inscribed the motto ; " Amici, crucem sequamur, et in hoc signo vince- mus" — "Friends, let us follow the cross, and under this banner shall we conquer." According to the account of the Spanish missionaries, who accompanied this expedition of Cortes, six Tnillions of Mexicans were received into the Catholic Church by baptism during the years intervening between 1524 and 1540 ; the very period in which the Refor- mation was progressing most rapidly in Europe. It is highly probable that, by this rem.arkable stroke of Divine Provi- dence, the Catholic Church thus gained probably almost as many new disciples in Spanish and Portuguese America alone, as she lost of old ones in Europe through the Reformation !f We must admit that Protestants have made great efforts to * See Bancroft's testimonies, and other evidences on the subject, collected ibid. f See article Dispatches of Hernando Cortes, in the North American Re- view for October, 1843. In his History of the Conquest of Mexco, Prescott quotes Father Toribio, who says that nine millions of converts were made within twenty years after the first advent of the Cathohc missionaries. See vol. iii, p. 2G7. VOL. I. — 37 434 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVILIZATION. convert heathen nations. Millions of money have been liber- ally bestowed for this benevolent purpose. Large bodies of missionaries, with their wives and families, have been annu- ally sent out by Bible and other Protestant societies, to evan- gelize and civilize heathen lands. Not only the expenses of this numerous corps have been liberally paid, but they have had handsome salaries, and often princely establishments. But what have they done, with all the money that has been expended, and all the; parade that has been made on the subject. Quid. Hie faciei tanto dignum promissor hiatu ?* Have they converted even one nation to Christianity? If they have, history is silent as to its locality.f Much was once said about the conversion of the Sandwich Islands by Ameri- can Protestant missionaries : but this has all turned out, like other similar schemes of conversion, a miserable failure. The first efiect of Protestant civilization in those islands was a re- duction of the native population by more than one half: the next was the enriching of the missionaries themselves — a very usual occurrence, by the way, and one which exhibits the chief advantage of those missionary enterprises : and the third was a most disgraceful persecution of brother Christian missionaries, so much so that a Catholic potentate felt himself called on to interfere.^ A distinguished modern writer has well remarked, that the Protestant sects have been ever doomed to sterility since their divorce from the only true spouse of Christ — the Catholic Church.§ On the other hand, what has the Catholic Church done for * Horace — Ars Poetica. " What will this boaster accomplish, after so much Uowing ?" f See most abundant evidence, chiefly from Protestants themselves, in Dr. Wiseman's " Lectures on the Catholic Religion," 2 vols. 12mo, vol. i, lect. vi. + Ibid. We have discussed this subject at some length in our Lectures on the Evidences of Catholicity. \ Count de Maistre — Du Pape, vol. ii. THE ARK IN THE DELUGE. 435 civilization I What nations has she converted to Christianity ? We may answer the question by asking another. What na- tion or people is there, of all those on the face of the earth who have entered the Christian fold, which she has not been mainly instrumental in converting and civilizing ? Is there even one? What says faithful history on the subject? During the first four centuries of Christianity, the principal nations of Europe, as well as many of those of Asia and Africa, had been converted by missionaries sent either directly by Rome, or at least in communion and acting in concert with the Roman See. The cross of Christ had been borne in tri- umph to the most remote extremities of the Roman empire, which then embraced almost all of Europe and a great por- tion of Asia and Africa. It had been planted even in the midst of people who were beyond the boundaries of the vast territory ruled by Rome. As early as the close of the second century, St. Iron sens, bishop of Lyons, could say in triumph that many barbarous nations in Germany and elsewhere, over whose heads* the Roman eagle had never been reared, had already received the gospel, although they were unlettered and unacquainted with the use of paper and ink. Tertullian, a writer who flourished in the beginning of the third century, could also say, in a defense of Christianity, addressed to the Roman emperor and senate, that Christians had already filled the villages, the towns, the cities, the castles, and the armies of the Roman empire, and that they had left only the temples of paganism to their idolatrous persecutors ! In the fifth and sixth centuries, a deluge of barbarism over- whelmed the Roman empire of the west, which was already /ast verging to its final downfall. The ancient Roman civil- ization was buried under its turbid waters. The ark of the Church alone rode out in safety the angry flood : and when its waters had subsided, the tenants of this ark, as had been done by those of its prototype of old, repeopled the earth. In it were preserved, together with Christianity, the seeds of a new civilization, more refined and elevated by far, than that which 436 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVILIZATION. had been swept from the face of the earth by the new deluge These were scattered broadcast over the soil of the world : the Church watered them with the tears of her maternal solici- tude, and, when they had sprung up, she nurtured the plants and brought them to maturity. Thus to her alone is due the credit of having rescued the world from barbarism, and of having again carefully collected and skillfully put together the scattered elements of the new civilization. All modern improvement dates back to this era, as certainly and as neces- sarily as do the existence and extension of the human race to the epoch of the deluge. We owe at least as much to the Church as we do to Noah's ark. The hordes of the north, who had trodden in the dust the haughty Roman empire, entered themselves, one by one, into the ample fold of the Church. The fierce conquerors will- ingly bowed their necks to receive the yoke of the conquered ! Christianity thus triumphed, like her divine Founder, by being seemingly conquered for a time. It is not a little remarkable, too, that all the nations of the north were subsequently con- verted by missionaries sent by Rome. Ireland was the first to enter into the Christian fold : and she became subsequently a principal instrument in the hands of Providence for converting the other northern nations. She bad never been conquered by the Roman legions, nor had she been instrumental in effecting the downfall of the Roman empire. Yet was she the first nation of the north that assumed the sweet yoke of Christ. In the beginning of the fifth century, A. D. 430, Pope Celestine I. sent St. Patrick into Ireland, and St. Palladius into Scotland.* Towards the close of the same century, in 496, St. Remigius baptized at Rheims, King Clovis and three thousand officers of his army, thus commencing successfully the conversion of the Francs, and consolidating the foundations of Christianity in France. * It is well known that among ancient writers Scots and Ilibemians were often convertible terras. NORTHMEN CONVERTED. 437 Near the close of the sixth century, A. D, 591, Pcpe St Gregory the Great sent St. Augustine and his forty com- panions into England. These converted the kingdom of Kent, and soon all England followed the example. In the seventh century, St. Kilian, sent by Pope Conon, preached the gospel in Franconia ; St. Swidbert and others evangelized Friesland, Brabant, and Holland ; and St. Kupert became the apostle of Bavaria. In the eighth century, St. Boniface, sent by Pope Gregory II. in 719, converted the Hessians and Thuringians, and suffered martyrdom at length in Friesland, in 755, with fifty-two of his companions. Saints Corbinian, Willibrord, and Yigilius were his co-operators in the apostleship. In the ninth century, St. Adalbert converted Prussia : and St. Ludger became the apostle of Saxony and Westphalia, and died bishop of Munster. In the same age, St. Anscarius, archbishop of Hamburg and Bremen, preached the gospel to the Danes, and planted Christianity in Sweden, about the year 830. About the same period, the two brothers. Saints Methodius -and Cyril, with the sanction of Pope John VIIL, converted the Sclavonians, the Russians, and the Moravians, and also Michael, king of the Bulgarians. In the tenth cen- curv, the faith was extended into Muscovy, Denmark, Goth- land, Sweden, and Poland. The Normans, with their Duke [lolla, were converted in 912 ; and the Hungarians, with their king, St. Stephen, embraced Christianity about the year 1002.* Thus all the nations of Europe were successively converted CO Christianity by the direct agency of the Roman Catholic Church, and by missionaries sent by Rome. Their civiliza- tion was a necessary sequel to their conversion. They were mdebted for both to Rome. This was especially true in rela- tion to the German nations. "We have seen above the avowal ()f D'Aubigne himself on this subject. As Audin well re- marks : " It was religion that had softened the savage manners of its inhabitants, cleared its forests, peopled its solitudes, and aided in throwing off the yoke * See Church historians, passim. 28 438 INFLUENCE OF THE B.EFORMATION ON CIVILIZATION. of the Koraans. Whatever poetry, music, or intellectual culture it possessed when Luther appeared, it owed to its ancient bishops. The feudal tree had first flourished on its soil. It had its electors, dukes, barons, who were often bishops or archbishops. Of all the European states, it was the one m which the influence of the Papacy had been most vividly felt."* He might have added that whatever of liberty it possessed, it had also derived from Rome. She had by her influence gradually abolished the serf system, had opened sanctuaries for the oppressed, had proscribed the trial by ordeal, and had substituted for it a more rational system of judicature. She had purified and elevated the old German jurisprudence by the wise provisions of her canon law ; and, by declaring the oppressed and crushed subject free from the obligation of his oath of allegiance to the oppressor, she had broken his bonds, and taught him his political rights. In a word, Rome was, for Germany more especially, the great center of civilization, and the point from which enlightenment had radiated through out her entire territory. The deluge of barbarian invasion having subsided, and the barbarians themselves having been converted to Christianity, a new and most appalling danger threatened European civil- ization, nay, the independence and the very existence of Europe. The Mohammedan imposture, commencing at Mecca in the year 622, had rapidly overspread a great part of Asia and Africa, and had penetrated into Europe, through Spain, as early as the year 711. In the east it menaced Constanti- nople, the capital of the Greek empire ; in the south and west it threatened still more nearly European independence. Mas- ters of northern Africa, of Spain, and of the Mediterranean, the followers of Mohammed were ready to penetrate into Eu- rope on all sides, with thescimitar inonehand, and the Koran in the other. The consequences of their successful incursion would have been, what they had been everywhere else, the ruin of literature and liberty, the destruction of Christianity and civilization, and wide-spread ruin and desolation. Wher- * Life of Luther, sup. cit., p. 343, 344. THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS. 43 G ever they had penetrated, they had blighted every flower, and plucked every fruit of the existing civilization. The once flourishing provinces of Asia and Africa, which had been forced to wear their degrading yoke, had already relapsed into a state of barbarism, from which, alas ! they are not yet recovered. In this emergency, what saved European civilization and independence ? What agency kept ofi" the impending sturm ? The Church and the Roman Pontiffs. The latter, by their influence, succeeded in arousing Europe from her lethargy, and in awakening her to a lively sense of the threatened danger. They persuaded Christians to bury their private feuds, to combine together for the first time in the common defense, and to rally in their united strength for the defense of the cross against the invading hosts marshaled under the crescent. Long and fiercely raged the struggle ; Christianity, civilization, enlightenment and liberty, and the cross, on the one hand, and Mohammedanism, barbarism, ignorance, despo- tism, and the crescent, on the other. The first check given to Mohammedan conquest was in the famous victory gained over the followers of the crescent by Charles Martel, at the head of the French chivalry, near Tours, in T32. The closing events of the protracted struggle were equally glorious for the Christian cause. The battle of Le- panto, in 1571, crippled the energies of the Turks, by destroy- ing their whole fleet ; and the relief of Vienna from the beleaguering Turkish army, in 1683, by the brave Sobieski, at the head of his thirty thousand Poles, drove the Mohamme- dans from Western Europe, and cut ofi" all hopes of any fur- ther European conquests by their armies. The Popes were the very life and soul of all these Chris- tian enterprises for repelling Turkish invasion. ' It was they who first conceived that master-stroke of policy which, through the crusades, carried the war into the enemies' country, and for centuries gave them enough to do at home, and thus pre- vented them from thinking of foreign conquests. It was they who united Europe, for the first time, in one great nationaJ 440 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVILIZATION. cause. It was Pope St. Pius Y. who deserved the chief credit for the signal naval victory at Lepanto. It was they who ennobled chivalry, and consecrated valor, for the defense of Christian Europe. It was they who nerved for battle the arms of the brave knights of Rhodes and Malta, and inspired the heroism of the Hunniades, of the Scanderbegs, of the Cids, of the Bouillons, of the Tancreds, and of many others, who won imperishable laurels in that world-wide struggle. But for their exertions, and the blessings of God, who had promised that " the gates of hell should not prevail against His Church built on a rock," Europe would in every human probability have become, what Asia and Africa had long been, a mere degraded province of a colossal Mohammedan empire, which would have bestrode the earth, and crushed beneath its weight every principle of civilization. Did the Reformation win any laurels in this contest? Did it strike one blow for the independence of Europe against the Turks ; who, when it first appeared, were at the very zenith of their power, and were assuming the most threatening atti- tude against Europe ? We will here present a few curious facts, which will show the spirit of early Protestantism on this subject. Among the articles which Luther obstinately refused to retract at the diet of Worms, in 1521, was this strange and impious paradox : " That to war against the Turks is to oppose God!"* In his fierce invective against the conciliatory de- cree which emanated from the diet of Nurenberg in 1524, he thus castigates the princes who had composed that diet: " Christians, I beg of you, raise your hands, and pray for these bhnd princes, with whom heaven punishes us in its wrath. Give not alms against the Turk, who is a thousand times wiser and more pious than our princes. Wliat success can such fools, who rebel against Christ and despise his word, hope in the war against the Turks ?"f * " Proeliari adversus Turcas est repugnare Deo." Assertio articulorum per Leonem damnatorum. 0pp. Lutheri, tom. ii, p. 3. Audin, p. 174. f Luther Werke, ch. xv, p. 2, 712. Adolph Menzel, tom. i, p. 155, seq, A.pud Audin, p. 286. See also Cochlaeus in Acta Lutheri, folio 116. LUTHER AND THE Tll.llS. 441 This warning was directed against the decree of the diol, which, alarmed by the menacing attitude of the Siibhme Porte, " had demanded and voted subsidies for the war against the Turks. The Catholics contributed, the Protestants refused : but the contributions of the Catholics were not suffi- cient to arrest the progress of Suleiman. At the head of two hundred thousand men, he advanced into Hungary, and on the 26th of September, 1529, he was about to plant his ladders against the walls of Vienna. This cowardly abandonment of their brethren is an ineffaceable stain on the Protestant party. At the approach of the enemy, who threatened the cross of Christ, all disunion should have ceased. The country was in danger; the Christian name was on the point of being blotted out from Germany ; and Islamism would have triumphed, had there not been brave hearts behind the walls which the treachery of their brethren had laid bare. Honor then to those valiant chiefs, Pliilip Count Palatine, Nicholas von Salm, William von Regendorf, and that population of aged men, of women, and of children, who, although suffering from famine, sickness, and pestilence — for all seemed united to overwhelm them — did not despair, but drove back to Constanti- nople the army of Suleiman. After God, they owed their success to their valor ; for the emperor, the empire, and the princes had abandoned them. Luther had cried aloud ' peace to the Tuiks ;' and his voice was more pow- erful than the cry of their weeping country, and of the cross of Christ. The reader must judge between the reformed and the Catholics, and say, in what veins Christian blood flowed."* Subsequently indeed, when the most imminent danger had passed, and Luther had little to apprehend from the emperor or the Catholic party, he retracted his wild paradoxes, and ceased to be the apologist of the Turks. But who thanked him for his tardy, if not compulsory advocacy of European independence against Turkish invasion ? All that it demon- strated was his own utter inconsistency in the whole affair, in which he did but act out his general character, — as a mere creature of impulse and of passion, guided by self-interest. That there existed not only a feeling of secret sympathy between Luther and the Turkish sultan, but that the latter was also aware of Luther's favorable inclinations, would appear from the following remarkable passage found in Menzel's History of Germany. The incident referred tc * Audin, p. 280. 290. 442 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVILIZATION. occurred after Luther had retracted and become reconciled with the emperor. The knowledge of this single fact sud denly arrested the progress of Suleiman's invading army ! " Suleiman had again presented himself on the frontier, at the head of an immense army, with the avowed intention of placing himself on the throne of the Western empire. All Germany flew to aims. The news of the termination of intestine dissension in Germany no sooner reached the sultan's ears, than he asked, with astonishment, ' Whether the emperor had really made peace with Martin Luther f ' And, although the Germans only mustered eighty thousand men in the field, scarcely a third of the invading army, he suddenly retreated."* Erasmus thus twits the Protestant party on their conduct in this whole afiair : "But you seem to forget that you refused to give Charles V., and Ferdinand, the subsidies necessary for the war against the Turks, according to the doctrine of Luther, who now however condescends to retract ! Have not the gospelers advanced the startling proposition, 'that it is better to fight for the unbaptized than for the baptized Turk,' that is, for the emperor? Is it not truly ridiculous ? "f It was something more than ridiculous — which was the strongest epithet the Batavian philosopher could employ — it was utterly treacherous and lamentable; and if European civilization was still saved, and European independence still preserved, we certainly owe no thanks therefor to the Refor- mation. If we are still free ; if we are not ground down by Turkish tyranny ; if we bow to the cross instead of the cres- cent; we certainly owe no gratitude for these results to the Protestant party. Their sympathies were manifestly more Mohammedan than Christian ; they would have rejoiced at the ascendency of Islamism, provided only the Pope and his adherents could liave been crushed and annihilated ! They shared in none of the laurels won for European independence and civilization, at Lepanto, under the walls of Vienna, in Hungary, in Poland, in Albania, or at Rhodes and Malta. Their chivalry could not be awakened, nor their sympathies * Menzel's History of Germany, vol. ii, p. 253, sup. cit. + "In Pseudo-Evangelicos." Epist.47, Lib. xxxi. — Edit, of London, Flesher THE GARDEN MADE DESOLAII!. 443 stirred up by any such brilliant achieverhents as these. And yet D'Aubigne gravely assures us, that "the Keformation saved religion, and through it society."* Deliver us from such a salvation as this.f We have already said something on the character of the bloody civil wars with which the Keformation desolated Ger- many. We compared the multitude of devastating armies, which it let loose on Europe, to those which had desolated her fair provinces in the fifth and sixth centuries. This parallel is not exaggerated : it is founded on the sad records of history. In reading of the dreadful tragedies enacted in the war of the peasants and of the Anabaptists, and more particularly in the Thirty Years' War, we are forcibly re- minded of the devastations which the early Northmen left in their course. Especially does the parallel hold good, in re- spect to the ravaging of Italy and Rome by the Lutheran troops under the Constable Bourbon, referred to above. Miinzer, Storck, and Stiibner strongly remind us of Attila, Totila, and Genseric. All were, if not " the scourges of God," at least, in another sense, the scourges of man and of society. They were all fierce wild animals, let loose for a time, to devastate the blooming garden of European civilization. The following address of Miinzer to his associates in rebel- lion we give, as one out of the many similar specimens of the infuriate Vandalism of the sixteenth century: " Are you then asleep, my brethren ! Come to the fight, the fight of heroes. All Franconia has risen up : the Master will now show himself : the wicked shall fall. At Fulda, in Easter week, four pestiferous churcJies were destroyed. The peasants of Klegan have taken up arms. Although you were but three confessors of Jesus, you would not have to fear a hun- dred thousand enemies. Draw, draw, draw — now is the time : the impious shall be chased like dogs. No mercy for those atheists : they will beset * D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 67, sup. cit. f In his History of the Reformation, Eanke endeavors to vindicate Luther, by alleging his opinions after he had become reconciled with the emperor. We have given his declarations made previously, when the danger to Ger many was the greatest. 444 INFI.UENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVILIZATION. you ; they will blubber like children — ^but spare them not. It is the com* mand of God by Moses. — Draw, draw, draw — the fire burns : let not the blood grow cold on j^our sword-blades. Pink, pank, on the ajivil of Nimrod let the towers fall under your stroke. Draw, draw, draw — now is the day : God leads you on ; follow Him."* Schiller, a German Protestant, has most graphically painted the horrors of the Thirty Years' War, and the desolation which it occasioned in Germany, The master hand of Shlegel thus traces its effects on German civilization : " Never was there a religious war so widely extended and so complicated in its operations, so protracted in its duration, and entailing misery on so many generations. That period of thirty years' havoc, in which the early civilization, and the noblest energies of Germany ivere destroyed, forms in his- tory the great wall of separation between the ancient Germany, which in the middle age was the most powerful, flourishing, and wealthy country in Europe ; and the new Germany of recent and happier times, which is now gradually recovering from her long exhaustion and general desolation ; and is rising again into light and life from the sepulchral darkness — the night of death, to which her ancient disputes had consigned her."f It thus required full two centuries for Germany to recover from the terrible blow to her civilization dealt her by the ruthless Reformation. Even Villers, the champion laureate of the Reformation, is compelled to admit, that " the Thirty Years' War left Germany in a sort of stupor — in a barbarism almost total."! We here subjoin from the Dublin Review the analysis of Dr. Dollinger's testimony, gathered from the early reformers themselves and their immediate disciples, in regard to the social effects of the Reformation in Germany. We need scarcely repeat, that this testimony is wholly unexception- able ; because the witnesses saw what they relate, and were favorable to the change of religion. * Luther Werke— Edit. Altenburg vol. iii, p. 134. Menzel, p. 200-2 — Apud Audin. •) Philosophy of History, vol. ii, p. 232, American Edit. I Essai sur ^'esprit et I'influence de la reform, de Luther, p. 274. — Apud Bobelot. 392. SOCIAL mFLUENCE. 445 THE SOCIAL RESULTS OF THE EEFORMATIOiN". "If every written evidence of the injury inflicted on society liy the preaching of the reformers had been lost or destroyed, the War of the Peasants, and the Anabaptist atrocities, would remain as indisputable monu- ments of its unhappy and fatal influence. It would be tedious to appeal to contemporary writers for proofs of the direct connection of this sanguinary outbreak with the first principles professed and preached by Luther. Al- though he himself disclaimed and denounced the misguided men who but carried out his principles too faithfully in practice, their proceeding was not only (as he himself admits in a passage already cited) vindicated by them- selves, but is recognized by numberless writers of the times, as the natural, if not the legitimate, consequence of Luther's teaching. But in truth, the whole framework of society is represented by the writers and preachers of that day as in a state of complete and hopeless dissolution ; class set against class, subjects against ruleis, peasants against nobles, poor against rich, flock against pastor. ' If you look around upon the society of the present day,' asks Burenius, ' what age or what rank will you find that is not changed, and grievously unlike to the generation that is gone by ? What rank or condition has not fallen away, and wandered far from the habits and insti- tutes of our forefathers ?' ' The father,' says Leopold Dick, ' is no longer safe from the son, the son from the father ; the daughter from the mother, nor the mother from the daughter — the citizen is not safe from his fellow- citizen, the rich man from the poor ; every thing is turned upside down, without discrimination and without order; so universally and so uncon- troUedly does deceit [ '» Siufi'oM ] nowadays pervade the world, bringing frenzy, strife, and contention in her train.' ' Such is the depravity of living,' says Joachim Camerarius, 'such the corruption of morals, such is the wretchedness and confusion, both public and private, of all ages, sexes, ranks, and conditions, that I fear all piety and virtue are at an end.' And in another place he declares that ' nothing is so daring as to be beyond the reach of their cupidit}^ or their violence. Neither reason, nor moderation, nor law, nor morality, nor duty, will serve as a restraint ; not even the fear of their fellow-men, nor the shame of posterity.' Even in Luther's time, the complaints of the ' insubordination, the arrogance, and the pride of the young, and in general of all classes,' had become most universal. They had grown so 'wild and licentious as to be utterly uncontrollable — indifferent to the authority of parents, masters, and magistrates.' ' Every one,' says Melancthon, ' strives with his neighbor to obtain unbounded liberty and unrestricted gratification of all his desires ; every one tries to gain money by every unjust act, pillages his neighbor for his own profit, takes from others to increase his own stores, and seek^ advantages for him.self in every way. 446 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVILIZATION. "We might pursue this through numberless other writers, but we have said enough to show the extent of the evil ; and we shall only add, that ^he great source from which it all flows, is discoverable even through the inter- ested declamations of the great reformer himself. ' The people,' he writes, * stick to the idea of the gospel.' " Eh !" say they, " Christ proclaims liberf.y for lis in the gospel, does he not ? Well tJien, we luill work no more, hut eat and make merry !" And thus every boor who but knows how to reckon five, seizes upon the corn-land, the meadows, and the woods, of the monas- teries, and carries every thing according to his own will, under the pretext of the gospel.' Here was the true root of the evil. It was all very well for Luther to express his 'mortification' [verdreusst] at these results. But results they were, and natural results, of his teaching. He had sown the wind, and we need not wonder that he reaped the whirlwind ; nor need we any longer be surprised at Brentius' good humored, though most cutting jest, that ' there was no need to warn Protestants against relying on good works, for they had not any good works to rely on.^ " From the facts hitherto alleged, the reader will be enabled to judge what was the relative influence on civilization of Catholicism and of the Reformation. He will also be able to gather the more immediate influence of the latter revolu- tion on civilization in Germany, its cradle and first theater of action. To estimate this influence, however, more nearly and more correctly, we must see what was the condition of Germany in regard to civilization before, and what it became immediately after, the change of religion. Before it, a general peace reigned : the elements of civil- ized life were all in a state of healthy growth and of rapid development : every thing bade fair for the inauguration of a very high state of refinement and civilization. For the devel- opment of these, peace is as necessary, as it is for the culti- vation of letters. D'Aubigne himself speaks of the great advantages to civilization of the general peace secured to Germany in 1496, by the wise policy of the Emperor Maxi- milian. He writes : "For a long time the numerous members of the Germanic body had labored to disturb one another. Nothing had been seen but confusion, quar- rels, wars incessantly breaking out between neighbors, cities, and chiefs. Maximilian had laid a solid basis of public order, by instituting the Imperial CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT COUNTRIES. 447 Chamber appointed to settle all differences between the states. The Ger- mans, after so many confusions and anxieties, saw a new era of safety and repose. The condition of affairs powerfully contributed to harmonize the public mind. It was now possible in the cities and peaceful valleys of Grer- many to seek and adopt amehorations, which discoi'd might have banished."* He continues, with not a little simplicity : " We may add, tliat it is in the bosom of peace, that the gospel loves most to gain its blessed victories."t He means this of course for the gospel of Luther — but did not this same gospel break in, with its accents of discord, and its fierce spirit of feud and blood- shed, upon the general peace, secured to Germany by a Cath- olic potentate, in Catholic times ? Did it not by its truculent war-cry, mar the lovely beauty of the peaceful scene he had just described ? Did it not ruthlessly rend with dissension that "public mind" which before so beautifully "harmon- ized ? " Did it not evoke from the abyss that fell spirit of "discord," which "banished from the cities and peaceful valleys of Germany" all relish for "seeking and adopting ameliorations" in the social condition? Did it not, for more than a century, tear and desolate society with civil feuds and bloody wars ? And is it not supremely ridiculous, as Erasmus says, to hear men of sense thus uttering absurdities which they themselves supply evidence for refuting? From the principles laid down by D 'Aubigne himself, it is almost intui- tively evident, that the Reformation of Luther was highly injurious in its influence on the progress of civilization. What have been the great results of Protestant and of Catho- lic influence on modern civilization? What is the present relative social condition of Catholic and of Protestant coun- tries in Europe ? In some respects, we are free to avow, the latter are far in advance of the former. They have adopted with more eagerness, and carried out with more success, what may be called the utilitarian system, which in fact owes its origin to the Reformation. They excel in commerce and speculation, in which they have greatly outwitted their more * D'Aubigne, vol. i, p. 76, 77. t Ibid. 448 INFLUENCE OF THE REFORMATION ON CIVILIZATION. simple, perhaps, because more honest neighbors. They far excel in stock-jobbing, and are adepts in all the mysteries of exchange. They surpass in banking, and they have issueo many more notes "• promising to pay," than their neighbors : though the latter, especially in Spain, seldom fail to pay without any "promises" to that efl'ect; nor have they ever been known to redeem their pledges by bankrupty or repudi- ation— an easy modern — shall we add Protestant ? — method to pay off old debts ! Protestant countries have also published more books on political economy and the " wealth of nations :" they have also excelled in manufactures and in machinery. But the modern utilitarian plan of conducting the latter, in England more particularly, has contributed not a little to impoverish and debase the lower orders of the people : — which, however, according to the doctrine of that most fashionable theory, is not at all opposed to the " wealth of nations ;" for this is entirely compatible with tlie general poverty of the masses ! But in enlightenment of mind, and in gentleness of man- ners, and in the general features and in the suavity of social intercourse, do Protestant countries in Europe — for we wish not here to speak of our own country, which is not strictly Protestant — really surpass Catholic nations ? We think not. We believe the balance, if fairly poised, would rather incline in favor of the latter. We have shown, that in point of gen- eral learning and enlightenment, Catholic countries compare most advantageously with those that are Protestant. This we think we have established on unexceptionable Protestant authority. In point of refinement and polish of manners. Catholic France is avowedly in advance of all other nations. The Spanish gentleman is perhaps the noblest and best type of elevated human nature. The warm-hearted, courteous, and refined politeness of Italy and Ireland, compares most favorably with the coldness and the blunt selfishness of En- gland, and we are tempted to add, of Protestant Germany and Northern Europe. PRESENT STATE OF CIVILIZATION. 449 lu a word, the south of Europe, which has continued under Catholic influence, will suffer nothing by being brought into comparison, in regard to all the features of refined inter- course, with the cold, calculating north, which has, to a great extent, embraced the doctrines of the Eeformation. Though not illumined with the new " northern light," which has fit- fully shone on the minds of the Protestants for three cen- turies, they are still, to say the least, as enlightened, as polished, as refined, and as highly civilized, as their more fortunate neighbors. The steady light of Catholicism, which shed its blessed rays on their forefathers, has been luminous enough to guide their footsteps in the pathway of true civilization. VOL. I. — 38 450 coNcrjTSTON. coNCLusioisr. We have now completed our task; how well, the public will best judge. We have examined the principal false state- ments of D'Aubigne ; and, in doing so, we have also glanced occasionally at his frequent inconsistencies and absurdities. To have followed him in detail throughout his tedious history, to have convicted him of unfair or false statements on almost every page, to have unmasked his hypocrisy and laid bare his contradictions, would have imposed on us an almost end- less labor. Yet this would have been really less difficult, perhaps, than the task we have performed. For it is much easier to grapple with an adversary, page by page, and sen- tence by sentence, than to cull out from his pages, and to refute, such general misstatements as are of most importance, and as cover the main ground of the controversy. The former method is a kind of light skirmishing ; the latter is a more serious and weighty species of warfare. A German Protestant historian of far more weight than D'Aubigne, furnishes us with the following appreciation of Luther and of his work, the Reformation : " He (Luther) died in sorrow, but in the conscientious belief of having faithfully served his God, and, although the great and holy work, begun by him, had been degraded and dishonored partly by his personal faults, although the Reformation of the church had been rendered subservient to the views of a policy essentially unchristian, the good cause was destined to outlive these transient abuses. The seeds, scattered by this great reformer, produced, it is true, thorns during his lifetime, and during succeeling centuries, but burst into blossom, as the storms through which the Reformation passed gradually lulled."* We leave this not very consistent, nor very candid state- ment of opinion to speak for itself. It will puzzle many to understand, how a work, which was thus marred both by the personal faults of Luther, and the essentially unchristian policy .of his more powerful adherents, could have been * Menzel, History of Grermany, vol. ii, p. 263. CONCLUSION. 451 "holy;" or how the seeds which, during Luther's lifetime, and for succeeding centuries^ avowedly produced only thorns, can be expected to burst into blossom ! If we are to judge the tree by its fruits, according to the rule laid down by Christ, we are bound, from these enforced admissions of the German historian, to come to the conclusion, that Luther's Reformation was not, and could not be, the work of God, but that it originated in a different source altogether. Though in the course of the preceding essay, we have been compelled to allege strong facts and to use plain language, yet we hope we have carefully abstained from employing any epithets unnecessarily harsh or offensive. God is our witness, that we have not meant wantonly to wound the feelings of any one. Deeply as we feel, and sincerely as we deplore, the evils of which the Reformation has been the cause — the unsettling of faith, the numberless sects, the bitter and acri- monious disputes, and the consequent rending of society into warring elements — yet do we feel convinced, that all these crying evils, which originated in a spirit of hatred and revolt, can be healed only by the contrary principle of love and charity. The bitter experience of three centuries has proved, that a re-union among Christians can not be brought about, but by a return to the bosom of the Catholic Church of those who, in an evil hour for themselves and for the world, strayed from its pale. It is only in the old paths, hallowed by the footsteps of martyrs, of saints, and of virgins, that perfect peace and security can be found. To all the lovers of unity, we would then say in the words of God's plaintive prophet : " Thus saith the Lord : stand ye on the ways, and see, and ask for the OLD PATHS, which is the good way, and walk ye in it ; and you shall find refreshment to your souls."* Refreshment and peace can be found no where else. All other expedients for re-establishing religious union on a solid * Jeremiah, vi : 16. 452 CONCLUSION basis have been tried in vain. It is only in communion with the Chair of Peter — the rock on which Christ built llis Church — that Christians can be secured in unity and peace. In conclusion, we republish the closing chapter of Audin's Life of Luther, in which he sums up with considerable learn- ing and ability, the general Protestant evidence bearing on the character of the Reformation in Germany. We extract it from the translation of TurnbuU, and we give it to the American public, not only because we deem it appropriate as a general resume on the subject, but because it is omitted in the American translation. It is entitled : THE TRIBUNAL OF THE REFORMATION. " We had intended to conclude our work by an examination into the influ- ence which the Lutheran Reformation has had on the morals, learning, arts, and polity of Germany and Europe. But such an inquiry would de- mand a volume rather than a chajjter ; besides, the subject has already been profoundly treated by Dr. Marx and Robelot. We ourselves, in proportion as the flicts of history appear to us, have endeavored to penetrate its causes, and judge of its effects. Nevertheless, it has seemed to us that a rapid analysis of the principal features of the Reformation, as traced by Protestant pens, which even the prejudiced reader can not reject, should find a place here ; and this evidence of dissentients must serve as a final judgment in favor of the Catholic historian. Once more, therefore, the Reformation shall judge itseE , " The Reformation was a revolution, and they who rebelled against the authority of the Church were revolutionists.* However slightly you look into the constitution of the Church, you will be convinced that the Reforma- tion possessed the character of an insurrection. f " What is the meaning of this fine -word. Reformation ? Amelioration, doubtless. Well, then, with history before us, it is easy to show that it was only a prostration of the human mind. Glutted with the wealth of which it robbed the Catholics, and the blood which it shed, it gives us, instead of the harmony and Christian love of which it deprived our ancestors, nothing but dissensions, resentments, and discords.J No, the Reformation was not * Bemerk. eines Protest, in Preussen iiber die Tzschirner' schen Anfein- dungen, etc., 1824, p. 52. | Steffens, quoted by Honinghaus, p. 354, torn. i. t Cobbett, History, etc., p. 4. AUDIN SUMMING UP. 455 an era of happir.ess and peace ; it was only established by confusion and anarchy.* Do you feel your heart beat at the mention of justice and truth ? Acknowledge, then, what it is impossible to deny, — that Luther must not be compared with the apostles. The apostles came teaching in the name of Jesus Christ their Master, and the Catholics are entitled to ask us from whom Luther had his mission ? We can not prove that he had a mission direct or indirectf Luther perverted Christianity ; he withdrew himself crim- mally from the communion in which regeneration was alone possible. | " It has been said that all Christendom demanded a reformation ; — who disputes it ? Itut, long before the time of Luther, the Papacy had listened to the complaints of the faithful. The Council of Lateran had been con- vened to put an end to the scandals which afflicted the Church. J The Papacy labored to restore the discipline of the early ages, in proportion as Europe, freed rrom the yoke of brute force, became politically organized, and advanced with slow but sure step to civilization. Was it not at that time, that the source of all religious truth was made accessible to scientific study, since, by means of the watchful protection of the Papacy, the Holy Scrip- tures were translated into every language ? The New Testament of Eras- mus, dedicated to Leo X., had preceded the quarrel about indulgences. || " A reformer should take care that, in his zeal to get rid of manifest abuses, he does not at the same time shake the faith and its wholesome institutions to the foundation, if When the reformers violently separated themselves from the Church of Rome, they thought it necessary to reject every doctrine taught by her.** Luther, that spirit of evil, who scattered gold with dirt, declared war against the institutions, without which the Church could not exist ; he destroyed unity.+f Who does not remember that exclamation of Melancthon : ' We have committed many errors, and have made good of evil without any necessity for it.'||: "In justification of the brutal rupture of Germany with Rome, the scandals of the clergy are alleged. But if at the period of the Reformation there were priests and monks in Germany whose conduct was the cause of regret to Christians, their number was not larger than it had been previously. When Luther appeared, there was in Germany a great number of Catholic * Lord Fitz William's Briefe des Atticus. In's Deutsche iibersetzt von Ph. Miiller, 1834, p. 33. f Bemerkungen eines Protestanten. I Novalis, Honinghaus, 1. c, p. 356. 5 Menzel, Neuere Geschichte, pp. 3, 5, et seq. II Scluockh, 1. c, torn, iv, pref If Vogt, Historisches Testament, torn. 5. ** Schrockh, 1. c, tom. ix, p. 1805. ff KirchhofF Anch einige Gedenken iiber die Wiederherstellung der Prot- eatpnt. Kirche, 1817. tt Melanch. lib. iv, cap. xix. 29 454 CONCLUSION. prelates whose piety the reformers themselves have not hesitated U admire.* " What pains they take to deceive us ! In books of every size they teach us, even at the present day, that the beast, the man of sin, the w of Baby- lon, are the names which God has given in His Scriptures to the Pope and the Papacy ! Can it be imagined that Christ, who died for our sins, and saved us by His blood, would have suffered that for ten or twelve centuries His Church should be guided by such an abominable wretch ? — that He would have allowed millions of His creatures to walk in the shadow of death ? — and that so many generations should have had no other pastor but Antichrist '?t "Luther mistook the genius of Christianity in introducing a new principle into the world ; the immediate authority of the Bible as the sole criterion of the truth.]: If tradition is to be rejected, it follows that the Bible can not be authoritatively explained but by acquired knowledge ; in a word, human interpretation based upon its comprehension of the Greek and Hebrew lan- guages. So, by this theory, the palladium of orthodoxy is to be found in a knowledge of foreign tongues ; and living authority is replaced by a dead letter ; a slavery a thousand times more oppressive tiian the yoke of tradi- tion. J Has any dogmatist succeeded in drawing up a confession of faith by means of the Bible, which could not be attacked by means of reason ?|1 This formula, that the Bible must be the ' unicum principium theologian,' is the source of contradictory doctrines in Protestant theology ; hence this question arises : ' What Protestant theology is there in which there are not errors more or less ?'1[ It was the Bible that inspired all the neologists of the six- teenth century ; the Bible that they made use of to persecute and condemn themselves as heretics.** When Luther maintained that the Bible contains the enunciation of all the truths of which a knowledge is necessary to salva- tion, and that no doctrine which is not distinctly laid down in the Bible can be regarded as an article of faith, he did not imagine that the time was at hand when every body, from this very volume, would form a confession for himself, and reject all others which contradicted his individual creed. This necessity for inquiry so occupies the minds of men at the present day, that the principal articles of the original creed are rejected by those who call themselves the disciples of Jesus.ff * Bretschneider, der Simonismus, p. 168. f Cobbctt. I Novalis, Fr. von Hardenberg's Schriftcn, 1826. } Schelling, Vorlesungen iiber das akadcniische Studium, p. 200. II Fischer, Zur Einleitung in die Dogmatik, p. 210. IT Von Langsdorf, Bliizzen der protest. Theol., 1820, p. 623. ** Jen^r's Allg. Literaturzeitung, 1821, Xo. 48. .ft Wix, Betrachtungen iiber die Zweckm-Lssigkeit, 1819. AUDIN SUMMING UP. 455 "But wh.it are we to understand by the Bible ? The question w£,? a dif- ficult one to solve even at the beginning of the Eeformation, when Luther, in his preflice to the translation of the Bible, laid down a difference between the canonical books, by preferring the Gospel of St. John to the three other evangelists ; by depreciating the Epistle of St. James as an epistle of straw, that contained nothing of the gospel in it, and which an apostle could not have written, since it attributes to works a merit which they did not pos- sess.* It was in the Bible that Luther discovered these two great truths of salvation, which he revealed to the world at the beginning of his apostle- ship — the slavery of marCs will, and the impeccahility of the believer. " It is said in Exodus, chapter ix, that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh. It was questioned whether these words were to be construed literally ? This Erasmus rightly denied, and it roused the doctor's wrath. Luther, in his reply, furiously attacks the fools who, calling reason to their aid, dare call for an account from God why He condemns or predestines to damnation inno- cent beings before they have even seen the light. Truly, Luther, in the eyes of all God's creatures, must appear a prodigy of daring, when he ven- tures to maintain that no one can reach heaven unless he adopts the slavery of the human will. And it is not merely by the spirit of disputation, but by settled conviction that he defends this most odious of all ideas. He lived and died teaching that horrible doctrine, which the most illustrious of his disciples, — among others Melancthon and Matthew Albert of Reutlingen, — condemned.! 'How rich is the Christian!' repeated Luther; 'even though he wished it, he can not forfeit heaven by any stain ; believe, then, and be assured of your salvation : God in eternity can not escape you. Believe, and you shall be saved ; repentance, confession, satisfaction, good works, aU these are useless for salvation : it is sufficient to have faith.'| " Is not this a fearful error, — a desolating doctrine ? If you demonstrate to Luther its danger or absurdity, he replies that you blaspheme the Spirit of Light. 5 Neither attempt to prove to him that he is mistaken; he will tell you that you offend God. No, no, my brother, you will never convince me that the Holy Spirit is confined to Wittenberg any more than to your person. II " Not content with maledictions, Luther then turns himself to prophecy ; * Menzel, 1. c, p. 165. f Plank, tom. ii, pp. 113-131. The work of Albert Reutlingen is en- titled, Vom rechten Branch der ewigen Vorschung Gotten wider die hoch- fahrenden Geister, fleischliche Klugheit und Fiirwitz : Aug., 1525. \ Luther, De Gaptivitate Babyl. \ V. Mathisson, Prosaische Schriflen II (Ecolamp. Antwort auf Luther's Vorrede zum Syngramma : E. Halle. tom. XX, p. 727. 456 CONCLUSION. he announces that his doctrine, which proceeds from heaven, will gain, on* by one, all the kingdoms of the world. He says of Zuingle's explanation of the Eucharist : ' I am not afraid of this fanatical interpretation lasting long.' On the other hand, Zuingle predicted that the Swiss creed would be handed down from generation to generation, crossing the Elbe and the Rhine. Prophet against prophet, if success be the test of truth, Luther will inevita- bl}' have to yield in this point.* " The Reformation, which at first was entirely a religious phenomenon, soon assumed a political character : it could not fail to do so. When people began to exclaim, like Luther, on the hoase-tops, 'the Emperor Charles V. ought not to be supported longer, let him and the Pope be knocked on the head ;' (Opera, Jense, tom. vii, p. 278;) that 'he is an excited madman, a bloodhound, who must be killed with pikes and clubs ;'f how could civil society continue subject to authority ? It was natural that the monk's viru- lent writings against the bishops' spiritual power should be reduced by the subjects of the ecclesiastical superiors into a political theory. When he proclaimed that the yoke of priests and monks must be shaken off, we might expect that this wild appeal would be directed against the tithes which the people paid to the prelates and the abbots.| The Saxon's doc- trine being based solely on the Holy Scriptures, the peasant considered him- self authorized in virtue of their text to break violently with his lord : hence, that long war between the cottage and the castle. This it was that made Erasmus write sorrowfully to Luther : ' You see that we are now reaping the fruits of what you sowed. You will not acknowledge the rebels ; but they acknowledge you, and they know only too well, that many of your disciples, who clothed themselves in the mantle of the gospel, have been the instigators of this bloody rebellion. In 3^our pamphlet against the peasants, you in vain endeavor to justify yourself It is you who have raised the storm by j'our publications against the monks and the prelates and you say that you fight for gospel liberty, and against the tyranny of the great ! From the moment that you began your tragedy, I foresaw the end of it.'^ " That civil war, in which Germany had to mourn the loss of more than a hundred thousand of her children, was the consequence of Luther's preaching. It is fortunate that, through the efforts of a Catholic prince, Dulie George of Saxony, it was speedily brought to an end. Had it lasted but A few years longer, of all the ancient monuments with which Germany was filled, not a single vestige would have remained. Karlstadt might then * Plank, 1. c. tom. ii, p. 764, note. ■)• Kern, Der Protestantismus und Kathol., p. 32. t Menzel, 1. c, toir. i, pp. 167-69. { Ibid., pp. 174-78. AUDIN SUMMIJNG UP. 457 have sat upon their ruins, and sung, with his Bible in his hand, the down- fell of the images. The iconoclast's theories, all drawn from the word of God, held their ground in spite of Luther, and dealt a fotal blow to the arts. " When a gorgeous worship requires magnificent temples, imposing cere- monies, and striking solemnities ; when religion presents to the eye sensible imagxis as objects of public veneration ; when earth and heaven are oeopled with supernatural beings, to whom imagination can lend a sensible form ; then it is that the arts, encouraged and ennobled, reach the zenith of their Bplendor and perfection. The architect, raised to honors and fortune, con- ceives the plans of those basilicas and cathedrals, whose aspect strikes ua with religious awe, and whose richly-adorned walls are ornamented with the finest efforts of art. Those temples and altars are decorated with mar- bles and precious metals, which sculpture has fashioned into the similitude of angels, saints, and the images of illustrious men. The choirs, the jubes, the chapels, and sacristies are hung with pictures on all sides. Here Jesus expires on the cross ; there he is transfigured on Mount Thabor. Art, the friend of imagination, which delights only in heaven, finds there the most sublime creations, — a St. John, a Cecilia, above all a Mary — that patroness of tender hearts, that virgin model to all mothers, that mediatrix of graces, placed between man and his Grod, that august and amiable being, of whom no other religion presents either the resemblance or the model. During the solemnities, the most costly stuffs, precious stones, and embroidery, cover the altars, vessels, priests, and even the ver}^ walls of the sanctuary. Music completes the charm by the most exquisite strains, by the harmony of the choir. These powerful incentives are repeated in a hundred different places ; the metropolises, parishes, the numerous religious houses, the simple orato- ries, sparkle with emulation to captivate all the powers of the religious and devout mind. Thus a taste for the arts becomes general, by means of so potent a lever, and artists increase in number and rivalry. Under this influ- ence the celebrated schools of Italy and Flanders flourished ; and the finest works which now remain to us testify the splendid encouragement which the Catholic religion lavished upon them. "After this natural progress of events, it can not be doubted that the Ref- ormation has been unfavorable to the fine arts, and has very much restrained the exercise of them. It has severed the bonds which united them to religion, which sanctified them, and secured for them a place in the veneration of the people The Protestant worship tends to disenchant the material imagin- ation; it makes fine churches, and statues, and paintings unnecessary; it ren- ders them unpopular, and takes from them one of their most active springs.* * Charles Villers, Essai sur I' Esprit et I' Influence de la Reformation, pp. 267-69. VOL. I.— 31) 458 CONCLUSION. " The peasants' war was soon succeeded b}"^ the spoliation of the monas- teries ; ' an invasion of the most sacred of all rit^hts, more important, m cer- tain respects, than liberty itself, — property.'* From that time not a day passed without Luther preaching up the robbery of the religious house* To excite the greed of the princes whom he wished to secure to his views, he loved to direct their attention to the treasures which the abbeys, cloisters, sacristies, and sanctuaries contained. "Take them,' he said; 'all these are your own, — all belong to you.' Luther was convinced, that to the value of the golden remonstrances which shone on the Catholic altars he was indebted for more than one conversion. In a moment of humor he said, ' The gentry and princes are the best Lutherans ; they willingly accept both monasteries and chapters, and appropriate their treasures.'! '' The landgrave of Hesse, to obtain authority for giving his arm to two lawful wives, took care to make the wealth of the monasteries glitter in the eyes of the church of Wittenberg, so that as the price of their permission he was willing to give it to the Saxon ministers.]: The plunder of church prop- erty preached by Luther, will be the eternal condemnation of the Protest- ants. Though Naboth's vineyard may serve as a bait or reward for apostasy, it can not justify crime. "A laureate of the Listitute has discovered grounds for palliating this blow to property. He congratulates the princes who embraced the Eefor- mation for having, by means of the ecclesiastical property, filled their coflfers, paid their debts, applied the confiscated wealth to useful establishments, clubs, universities, hospitals, orphanages, retreats, and rewards for the old servants of the state. J " But Luther himself took care, on more than one occasion, to denounce the avarice of the princes who, when once masters of the monastic property, employed its revenues for the support of mistresses and packs of hounds. We remember the eloquent complaints which he uttered in his old age against these carnal men, who left the Protestant clergy in destitution, and did not even pay the schoolmasters their salaries. He mourned then, but it was too late. Sometimes the chastisement of heaven fell, even in this life, on the spoiler ; and, Luther has mentioned instances of several of those iron hands, who, after having enriched themselves by the plunder of a monastery, church, or abbey, fell into algect poverty. || Besides, we will admit that Lu- ther never thought of consoling the plundered monks, by asserting, like Charles Villers, that 'one of the finest effects of these terrible commotions * J. J. Rousseau, Discours sur 1' Economie Politique, f Von beider Gestalt dcs Sacraments : Witt., 1528. I See the chapter of Audin's Life of Luther, entitled Bigamy of the land- grave of Hesse. ^J Charles Villers, Essai, p. 104. || Sympopiac, c. m AUDIN SUMMING UP. 45Q which unsettle all properties, the fruits of social institutions, is to substitute for them greatness of mind, virtues, and talents, the fruits of nature ex clusively.'* " If the triumph of the peasants in the fields of Thuringia might havt. been an irreparable misfortune to Germany and to Christianity, we can not deny that Luther's appeal to the secular arm, to suppress the rebellion, may have thoroughly altered the character of the first Reformation. Till then it had been established by preaching ; but from the moment of that bloody episode, it required the civil authority to move it. The sword, therefore, took the place of the word ; and to perpetuate itself, the Reformation was bound to exaggerate the theory of passive obedience.f One of the distin- guished historians of Heidelberg, Carl Hagen, has recently favored us with some portions of the political code in which Protestantism commands sub- jects tn be obedient to the civil power, even when it commands them to commit sin. J "Thus the democratic element, first developed by the Reformation, was effaced, to become absorbed in the despotic. It was no longer the people, but the prince who chose or rejected the Protestant minister. When the landgrave of Hesse consulted Melancthon, in 1525, as to the line he should pursue in the appointment of a pastor, the doctor told him that he had the right to interfere in the election of ministers, and that if he surmounted the struggles into which the word of God had involved him, he ought not to commit that sacred word but to such preacher as seemed best to him (ver- niinftigen) ; in other terms, observes the historian, to him whom the civil power thinks competent (den welchen die Obrigkeit dafiir halt). And Martin Bucer contrived to extend Melancthon's theory, by constituting the civil power supreme judge of religious orthodoxy, by conferring on it the right of ultimate decision in questions of heresy, and of punishing, if necessary, by fire and sword, innovators, who are a thousand times more culpable, ho says, than the robber or murderer, who only steal the material bread and slay the body, while the heretic steals the bread of life and kills the Boul.j " Intolerance then entered into the councils of the Reformation. It was no longer with the peasants that Luther declared war. Whoever did not believe in his doctrines was denounced as a rebel ; in the Saxon's eyes, the * Charles Villers, Essai, p. 103. f Carl Hagen, Neues Verhaltniss zu den offent. Gewalten, tom. 2, p. 151. J "So miisse der Unterthan gehorchen, auch wenn die Obrigkeit etwaa wider das Gebot Gottes befehle," 1, c, p. 155. i Carl Hagen, 1. c, pp. 152, 154, et seq. 4G0 CONCLUSION. peasant was only an enemy to be despised ; the real Satan was Karlstadt, Zuingle, and Krautwald.* " His disciples were no longer satisfied with plundering the monasteries, they desired to live in ease ; they must have servants, a fine house, a well- supplied table, and plenty of money.f We are initiated into the private life of the reformers by a zealous Protestant, a patrician of Nurenberg. " The struggle then was no longer with piety and knowledge, but with power and influence. Every city and town had its own Lutheran pope, t At Nurenberg, Osiander was a regular pacha. Those who among the Prot- estants endeavored to reprove his scandalous ostentation, were abused and maligned. 5 When he ascended the pulpit, his fingers were adorned with diamonds which dazzled the eyes of his hearers. || " The religious disputes which disturbed men's minds in Germany re- tarded, rather than advanced, the march of intellect. Blind people who fought furiousl}'^ with each other could not find the road to truth. These quarrels were only another disease of the human mind.TT Although printing served to disseminate the principles »f the reformers, the sudden progress of Lutheranism, and the zeal with which it was embraced, prove that reason and reflection had no part in their development.** " Villers has drawn a brilliant sketch of the influence which the Keforma- tion exercised over biblical criticism. It may be said that criticism of the Scripture text was unknown previous to the time of Luther ; and if by this is meant that captious, whimsical, and shufiiing criticism which De Wette has so justly condemned, — certainly so. But that which relates to lan- guages, antiquities, the knowledge of times, places, authors, — in a word, hermeneutics, was known and practiced in our schools before the Refor- * " Und nun erst habe man mit dem eigentlichen Satan zu karapfen. Luther an Joh. Hess, 22 April, 1526.— De Wette, tom. iii, p. 104. f Sunt apud nos concionatores bini, qui sub initium centum aureorum stipendio ac victu tanto pro se et famulis suis professi, caeterum quum vidis- sent, se jam populo persuasisse, centum quinquaginta exegerunt, ac paulo post ultra habitationem propriam et victum splendidum ducentos petiere aureos, aut se abituros sunt minati. t ..." Fast Jede Stadt und jeder ort hatte seinen lutherischen Papst." 5 Dienigen, welche sich iiber dieses Feilschen mit dera Worte Gottes aufhielten wurden von ihnen gescholten." — Ibid., p. 187. II . . . "Er tnig immer Ringe an den Fingern, selKst wenn erpredigte."— Epist. Enismi : Lond. Carl Hagen, 1. c, p. 188. 1[ Voltaire, Essai sur les moeurs des nations, quoted by Maleville, Dia- cours sur I' influence de la Reformation, p. 141. ** Hume. History of the House of Tudor under Henry VII., ch. iii. AUDIN SUMMING UP. 461 mation, as is proved by the works of Cajetan and Sadoletus, and a multitude of learned men whom Leo X. had encouraged and rewarded. We have seen besides, in the history of the Reformation, what that vain science has produced. It was by means of his critical researches that, from the time of Luther, Karlstadt found such a meaning of ' Semen immolare Moloch,' as made his disciple shrug his shoulders ; that Miinzer preached community of goods and wives ; that Melancthon taught that the dogma of the Trinity deprives our mind of all liberty ;* that at a later period Ammon asserted that the resurrection of the dead could not be deduced from the New Testa- ment ;f Veter, that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses ; that the history of the Jews to the time of the Judges is only a popular tradition ; Bretschneider, that the Psalms can not be looked upon as inspired ;| Augusti, that the true doctrine of Jesus Christ has not been preserved intact in the New Testament; 5 and Geisse, that not one of the four gospels was written by the evangelist whose name it bears. || "Since the days of Semler,. Germany presents a singular spectacle ; every ten years, or nearly so, its theological literature undergoes a complete revo- lution. What was admired during the one decennial period is rejected in the next, and the image which they adored is burnt to make way for new divinities ; the dogmas which were held in honor fall into discredit ; the classical treatise of morality is banished among the old books out of date ; criticism overturns criticism ; the commentary of yesterday ridicules thai of the previous day, and what was clearly proved in 1840 is not less clearly disproved in 1850. The theological systems of Germany are as numerous as the political constitutions of France, — one revolution only awaits another." IT ♦ Loci Theol., 1521. f Biblische Theologie, tom. iii, p. 367, (1841). J Bretschneider, Handb. der Dogmatik, tom. i, p. 93. { Theolog. Monatschr. No. 9. II Geisse Paradoxa iiber hochevichtige Gegenstande des christenthuma, 1829. IT Le Semeur, June, 1850. NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. NOTE A, Page 90. We here republish the condensed portraiture of the principal reformers drawn by themselves, as furnished by Bishop Trevern in his admirable work entitled, "An Amicable Discussion of the Church of England, and the Ref- ormation in general ; " Appendix, p. 52, seqq. Edition of Lucas, Baltimore. An Historical Account of the Opinions that the First Reformers have given of one Another, and of the Effects of their Preaching. LUTHER. He himself bears testimony that " while a Catholic, he passed his life in austerities, in watchings, in fasts and praying, in poverty, chastity, and obe- dience."* When once reformed, that is to say, another man, he says that : "As it does not depend upon him not to be a man, so neither does it depend upon him to be without a woman ; and that he can no longer forego the indulgence of the vilest natural propensities."! 1. " I burn with a thousand flames in my unsubdued flesh ; I feel myself carried on with a rage towards women that approaches to madness. I, who ought to be fervent in spirit, am only fervent in irapurity."| 2. " To the best of my judgment, thei-e is neither emperor, king, nor devil, to whom I would yield ; no, I would not yield even to the whole world."^ 3. " He was so well aware of his immorality, as we are informed by his favorite disciple, that he wished they would remove him from the oflBce of preaching." II 4. " His timid companion acknowledges that he had received blows from him, ah ipso cohphos accepi."^ 5. "I tremble (wrote he to the same friend), when I think of the passions of Luther ; they yield not in violence to the passions of Hercules."** 6. " This man (said one of his contemporary reformers), is absolutely mad. He never ceases to combat truth against all justice, even against the cry of his own conscience." ft 7. " He is puffed up with pride and arrogance, and seduced by Satan."|{ 8. " Yes, the devil has made himself master of Luther, to such a degree, as to make one believe he wishes to gain entire possession of him."^^ * Tom. V, In cap. I. ad Galat. v. 14. t Ibid., Serm. de Matritn., fol. 119. J Luth. Table Talk. § Idem. Resp. ad Maled. Reg. Ang. || Sleidan, Book ii, 152a if MelancthoQ, Letters to Theodore. ** Ibid. ft Hospinian, it CEcolampadius. §§ Zuinglius. (463) 164 NOTE A. " I wonder no more, 0 Luther (wrote Henry VIII. to him), that thou art not, in ijood earnest, ashamed, and that thou darest to hft up thy ejes either before God or man, seeing that thou hast been so light and so inconstant aa to allow thyself to be trans[)orted by the instigation of the devil to thy foohsh concupiscences. Thou, a brother of the order of St. Augustine, hast been the first to abuse a consecrated nun ; which sin would have been, in times past, so rigorously punished, that she would have been buried alive, and thou woul 1st have been scourged to death. But so far art thou from correcting thy fiiult, that moreover, shameful to say, thou hast taken her publicly to wife, having contracted with her an incestuous marriage and abused the poor and miserable .... to the great scandal of the world, the reproach and opprobrium of thy country, the contempt of holy matrimony, and the great dishonor and injury of the vows made to God. Finally, what is still more detestable, instead of being cast down and overwhelmed with grief and confusion, as thou oughtest to be, at thy incestuous marriage, 0 miserable wretch, thou makest a boast of it, and instead of asking forgive- ness for thy unfortunate crime, thou dost incite all debauched religious, by thy letters and thy writings, to do the same."* " God, to punish that pride of Luther, which is discoverable in all his works (sa3's one of the first Sacramentarians), withdrew his spirit from him, abandoning him to the spirit of error and of lying, which will always pos- sess those who have followed his opinions, until they leave them."f " Luther treats us as an execrable and condemned sect, but let him take care lest he condemn himself as an arch-heretic, from the sole fact, that he will not and can not a,ssociate himself with those who confess Christ. But how strangely does this fellow let himself be carried away by his devils ! How disgusting is his language and how full are his words of the devil of hell! He says that the devil dwells now and for ever in the bodies of the Zuinglians ; that blasphemies exhale from their insatanized, supersatanized, and persatanized breasts ; that their tongues are nothing but lying tongues, moved at the will of Satan, infused, perfused, and transfused with his infernal poison ! Did ever any one hear such language come out of an enraged demon ?l " He wrote all his works by the impulse and the dictation of the devil, with whom he had dealing, and who in the struggle seemed to have thrown him by victorious arguments." ^ " It is not an uncommon thing (said Zuinglius), to find Luther contra- dicting himself from one page to another. ... ;|| and to see him in the midst of his followers, you would believe him to be possessed by a phalanx of devils." 1[ Erasmus, the most learned man of his age, he who has been called the pride of Holland, the love and delight of Great Britain, and of almost every other nation,** wrote to Luther himself: " All good people lament and groan over the fatal schism with which thou shakest the world b}' thy arrogant, unbridled, and seditious spirit."ft "Luther (says Erasmus again,) begins to be no longer pleasing to his dis- ciples, so much so that thej^ treat him as a heretic, and affirm, that l;eing void of the spirit of the gospel, he is delivered over to the deliriums of a worldly spirit."||: * In Horim. p. 299. t Conrad Reis. Upon the Lord's Supper, B. 2. J The church of Zurich, against the Confession of Luther, p. 61. § Ibid. 1 T. II. Respons, ad Confess. Lutheri, fol. 44. H [bid., fol. 381. 4 ** Preface to the London Edition, year 1642. +t Epistle to Luther, 1626. n Epistle '(> Cardinal Sadolet, 1628. REFORMERS PORTRAYING THEMSELVES. 465 '• In very truth, Luther is extremely corrupt (said Calvin) ;* would to God he had taken pains to put more restraint upon that intemperance which rages in every part of him ! Would to God he had been attentive to dis- cover his vices."f Calvin says again, that, " Luther had done nothing to any purpose .... that people ought not to let themselves be duped by following his steps and being half-papist ; that it is much better to build a church entirely afresh "\ Sometimes, it is true, Calvin praised Luther so lar as to call him " the re- storer of Christianity."^ He protested, however, against their honoring him with the name of Elias. His disciples afterwards made the same protesta- tions. " Those (said they), who put Luther in the rank of the prophets, and constitute his writings the rule of the church, have deserved exceedingly ill of the Church of Christ, and expose themselves and their churches to the ridicule and cutting reproaches of their adversaries." || " Thy school (replied Calvin to Westphal the Lutheran), is nothing but a stinking pig- stye. ... ; dost thou hear me, thou dog? dost thou hear me, thou madman ? dost thou hear me, thou huge beast ?" Karlostadius, while retired at Orlamunde, had so far ingratiated himself with the inhabitants, that they must needs stone Luther, who had run over to rate him for his fixlse opinions respecting the Eucharist. Luther tells us this in his letter to the inhabitants of Strasburg : " These Christians attacked me with a shower of stones. This was their blessing : May a thousand devils take thee ! Mayest thou break thy neck before thou returnest home again." If KAELOSTADIUS. You shall have his portrait as drawn by the temperate Melancthon. "He was (says he), a brutal fellow, without wit or learning, or any light of com- mon sense ; who, far from having any mark of the spirit of God, never either knew or practiced any of the duties of civilized life. The evident marks of impiety appeared in him. All his doctrine was either judaical or sedi- tious. He condemned all laws made by Pagans. He would have men to judge according to the law of Moses, because he knew not the nature of Christian liberty. He embraced the fanatical doctrine of the Anabaptist immediately that Nicholas Storck began to spread it abroad .... One por- tion of Germany can bear testimony that I say nothing in this but what is tnie." He was the first priest of the reform who married, and in the new fangled Mass that was made up for his marriage, his fanatical partisans went so far as to pronounce this man blessed, who bore evident marks of impiety. The collect of the Mass** was thus worded : " Deus qui post logam et impiara sacerdotum tuorum coecitatem Beatum Andraeam Karlostadium e\ gratia donlre dignatus es, ut primus, nuli'i habits, ratione papistici juris, uxorem ducere ansus fuerit ; da. qufesumus, ut omnes sacerdotes. recept'\ sana mente, ejus vestigia scquentes, ejectis concubinis aut eisdem ductis, ad legitimi con- sortium thori convertantur : per Dom. nost. etc." The Lutherans inform us, that "it can not be denied that Karlostadius was strangled by the devil, considering the number of witnesses who relate t, the number of others who have committed it to writing, and even tho ♦ Cited by Conrad Schhissemberg. + Tlieol. Cal. 1. ii, fob 126. t See Florimond. § Ibid., p. 887. J In Adinon, de lib. Concord., ri. il Tom. ii, fol. 447, Sen. Germ. ** Quoted in Florimond. 4GG NOTE A. letters of the pastors at Basle.* He left behind him a son, Hans Karlostad- ius, who, renouncing the errors of his father, entered the communion of the Catholic Church." ZUINGLIUS. "I do not refuse (wrote Melancthon),f to enter upon a conference (at Mar- burgh) with fficolatnpadius ; for, to speak to Zuinglius is time lost. — It Ls not, however, a light undertaking, because their opinion is agreeable to many, who are desirous of touching the mysteries of God with their hand, and yet permit themselves to be conducted by their curiosity." Luther replying to the landgrave, said : " Of what use is this conference, if both parties bring to it an opinion already formed and come with the determina- tion of yielding in nothing. I know for certain that they are in error. These are the stratagems of the devil ; and this is the way that every thing goes worse and worse." " I can not (says Zuinglius of himself) conceal the fire that burns me and drives me on to incontinence, since it is true that its effects have already drawn upon me but too many infamous reproaches among the churches."! The printer at Zurich, said Lavatherus, made a present to Luther of the translation of Zuinglius : but he sent it back with abusive language. " I will not read (said he) the works of these people, because they are out of the church, and are not only damned themselves, but draw many miserable creatures after them. As long as T live I shal' make war upon them by my prayers and my writings." ^ Karlostadius's opinion upon the Eucharist seemed to Luther to be fooHsh ; that of Zuinglius fallacious and wicked, giving nothing but wind and smoke to Christians^ instead of the true body of Jesus Christ, who spoke of neither sign nor figure. || " The Zuinglians write that we look upon them as brethren ; this is a fic- tion so foolish and impertinent (proclaimed the Lutherans in full synod) that we can not be sufficiently astonished at their impudence. We do not even grant to them a place in the church, far from recognizing as brethren, a set of people, whom we see agitated by the spirit of lying, and uttering blasphemies against the Son of Man." If Brentius, whom Bishop Jewel called the grave and learned old man, de- clares that "the dogmas of the Zuinglians are diabolical, full of impiety, of corruptions, and calumnies ; that the error of Zuinglius upon the Eucharist drew along with it many others still more sacrilegious ;"** he predicted that the Zuinglians would soon show the heresy of the ISTestorians springing up again in the church of God ; " soon (says he), will the different articles of our religion disappear one after another, and to them will succeed the superstitions of the Pagans, the Talmudists, and the Mahometans."ft Luther openly declared that " Zuinglius was an offspring of hell, an asso- ciate of Arius, a man, who did not deserve to be prayed for . . . ." " Zuinglius, (said Luther) is dead and damned, having desired like a thief and a rebel, to compel others to follow his error."|t * Hist, de Coen. August, fob 41. + Quoted in FlcTimond. + In Parenoe.s ad Helvet, t. i, d. 113. 8 Scliliissumb. lib. ii, Theol. Calvin, qnnted in Florim., p. 96. I In Florim. p. 109. 1 Epitome Colloq. Maul. Brunse 1564, p. 82. ** Brentius in Recognitione Prophetaruni et Apost. in fine. t< In BuUingeri Coronide, an. 1544. Xl Tom. ii, fob 36, cited in Florim. REFORMERS PORTRAYING THEMSELVES. 467 " Many Protestants (testifies the Apologist of Zuinglius), have not scru- pled to pronounce that he died in his sins, and thus to send him to hell."* "Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the Sacra- mentarians, nor stood in the way of the Zuinglians, nor sat in the chair of the Zurichians. You understand what I mean."f CALVIN. Calvin, being obliged to leave France to disengage himself from law affairs, went to Germany and there sought out the greater part of those who were busy in disturbing the consciences and agitating the minds of men. At Basle he was presented by Bucer to Erasmus, who resorted to the pri- vate conferences without being induced to embrace the opinions of these innovators. Erasmus, after having conversed with hira upon some of the points of religion, exceedingly astonished at what he had discovered in his dispositions, turned towards Bucer and showing young Calvin to him, said : "I see a great plague rising in the Church against the Church ; video mag- nam pestem oriri in Ecclesia contra Ecclesiam." " Calvin, t am aware, is violent and wayward : so much the better ; he is the very man to advance our cause."|: Thus spoke a German who had taught him at Bourges, and who, together with Greek and Hebrew, had crammed him with the new doctrines of Germany. "Calvin, (said Bucer,) is a true mad dog. The man is wicked, and he judges of people according as he loves or hates them." Baudoin, expressing his disapprobation of the opinions of Bucer and Melancthon, said that he admired their modesty, but that he could not en- dure Calvin, because he had found him too thirsty for vengeance and blood ; propter nimiam vindictse et sanguinis sitim .... Baudoin, induced by Cas- sandre, had renounced the doctrine of Calvin. He was the most learned and renowned lawyer of his time ; he was born in the year 1520, and died ■ n 1573. See his Funeral Oration on Papyrius Masson. Paris, 1638. See ?>ibl. Mazarine. The intolerant and sanguinary spirit of this too celebrated man appears n one of his letters to his friend, the Marquis du Poet ; " Do not find fault with our ridding the country of these fanatics, who exhort the people by their discourses to bear up against us, who blacken our conduct, and wish :o make our faith be considered as an idle fancy. Such monsters ought to oe suffocated, as happened at the execution of Michael Servetus, the Span- iard." The original of this letter has been preserved in the archives of the Marquis du Montelimart. We are assured that M. de Voltaire received in 1772 an authentic copy of it, according to his request, and that, after he had read it, he wrote on the margin some lines against Calvin. " What man was ever more imperious and positive and more divinely infallible than Calvin, against whom the smallest opposition that men dared to make was always a work of Satan, and a crime deserving of flre."^ Calvin's erroneous opinions upon the Trinity excited against him the zeal of one, who in other respects held his Sacramentarian opinion ; " What de- mon has urged thee, 0 Calvin ! to declaim with the Arians against the Son of God?. . ..It is that Antichrist of the north that thou hast the impru- * Gualter in Apolog. Tom. i, oper. Zuingl. f )l. 18. + Luth. Epist. ad Jacob presbyt. J Wolmar. § J. J. Rousseau, Lettres de la Montaigne. 468 NOTE A. dence to adore, that grammarian Melancthon."* " Beware, Christian -ead- ers, above all, j'e ministers of the word, teware of the books of C»«vin. They contain an impious doctrine, the blasphemies of Arianism, as ir the spirit of Michael Servetus had escaped from the executioner, and according to the sj'stem of Plato had transmigrated whole and entire into Calvin."f The same author gave as the title to his writings : " Upon the Trinity, and upon Jesus Christ our Kedeemer, against Henry Sullinger, Peter Martyr, John Calvin, and the other ministers of Zurich and Geneva, disturbers of the Church of God." By teaching that God was the author of sin, Calvin raised against him all parties of the reform. The Lutherans of .Germany united to refute so hor- rible a blasphemy; "This opinion (said they), ought everywhere to be held in horror and execration ; it is a stoical madness, fatal to morals, monstrous and blasphemous."! " This Calvinistic error is horribly injurious to God, and of all errors the most mischievous to mankind. According to this Calvinistic theologian, God would be the most unjust tyrant. — It would no longer be the devil, but God himself would be the Father of lies."^ The same author, who was superintendent and general inspector of the Lutheran churches in Germany, in the three volumes he published against the Calvinistic theology, || never makes mention of the Calvinists without giving them them the epithets of unbelievers, impious, blasphemous, impos- tors, heretics, incredulous, people struck with the spirit of blindness, bare- faced and shameless men, turbulent ministers, busy agents of Satan, etc." Heshusius, after exposing the doctrine of the Calvinists, indignantly de- clares, that " they not only transform God into a devil, the very idea of which is horrible : but that they annihilate the merits of Jesus Christ to such a degree that they deserve to be banished for ever to the bottom of hell." IT The Calvinists themselves objected against this doctrine of their leader. BuUinger proves its erroneousness from Scripture, the Fathers, and the whole Church. " We do therefore (said he) prove clearly from Scripture this dogma taught everywhere since the Apostles' time, that God is not the author of evil, the cause of sin, but our corrupt inclinations or concupiscence, and the devil, who moves, excites, and inflames it."** And Chatillon, whom Calvin had for a long time taken into his house and fed at his table, was one of the first to take up the pen against his benefiictor and master, although he did it with all the deference due to this double title. " He is a false God (said he) that is so slow to mercy, so quick to wrath, who has created the greater part of men to destroy them, and has not only predestinated them to damnation, but even to the cause of their damnation. This God, then, must have determined from all eternity, and he now actually wishes and causes that we be necessitated to sin ; .so that thefts, adulteries, and murders are never committed but at his impulse ; for he suggests to men penerse and shameful affections ; he hardens them, not merely by simple permission, but actually and efficaciously ; so that the wicked man accomjilishes the work of God and not his own, and it is no longer Satan, but Calvin's God, who is really the father of Iies."f f * Stancharus de Mediot. in Calv. instit. No. 4. t Id. ibid.. No. 3. X Corpus Doctrina; Cliristianje. § Conrad. Rclilussemb. Calvin. Theolog. fol. 46 I Francfort. 1592. H Lib. de Present. Colli. Christ. 1560, in fine. ** Decad. iii, Serm. x. t+ Castcllioin lib. de Praedestin. ad Calvin. REFORMERS PORTRAYING THEMSELVES. 469 Calvin in his turn forgets not to reproach Chatillon with his ingratitude, and adds: "Never did any man carry pride, perfidy, and inhumanity to a higher pitch. He who does not know thee to be an impostor, a buffoon, an impudent cynic, and one ever ready to rail at piety, is not lit to judge of any thing." Towards the end of his reply, he dismisses him with the fol- lowing Genevan benediction : " May the God Satan quit thee : amen. Geneva, 1558." About 1558. appeared in London, a work written, or at least approved, by the English bishops, against the Oalvinistic sect of Puritans. Calvin and Beza are there described* as intolerant and proud men, who by open rebel- 'ion against their prince, had founded their gospel, and pretended to rule the churches with a more odious tyranny, than that with which they had so often reproached the Sovereign Pontiffs. They protest in the presence of the Almighty God, that, " amongst all the texts of Scripture quoted by Calvin or his disciples, in liivor of the church of Geneva against the church of England, there is not a single one, that is not turned to a sense unknown to the Church and to all the fathei-s, since the lime of the apostles ; so that were Augustine, Ambrose, Jerom, Chrysostom, etc., to return again to life and to see in what manner the Scripture had been cited by these Genevese doctors, they would be astonished that the world should ever have met with a man, so audacious and extravagant as to dare, without the least color of truth, to ill treat in such a way, the word of God, himself, his readers, and the whole world.'" And after declaring that from this Genevese source an impoisoned, seditious, and Catalinarian doctrine had been spread over Eng- land, they add : " Happy, a thousand times happy our island, if neither Enghsh nor Scot had ever put foot in Geneva, if they had never become acquainted with a single individual of these Genevese doctors !" The partisans of Calvin have attempted, and for his credit I wish they had succeeded in their attempt, to rescue his memory from the crime and disgrace of having the mark of infamy branded on his shoulder. " What must pass as an indisputable proof of the crimes imputed to Calvin, is that, after the accusation had been prepared against him, the church of Geneva, not only did not show the contrary, but did not even contradict the informa- tion, which Berthelier, commissioned by the persons of the same town, gave at Noyon. This information was signed by the most respectable inhabi- tants of Noyon, and was drawn up with all the accustomed forms of the law. And in the same information we see that this heresiarch, having been convicted of an abominable sin, which was always punished by fire, the punishment that he had deserved was, at the intercession of his bishop, mitigated into that of the fleur-de-lis .... Add to this, that Bolesque, having given the same information, Berthelier. who was still living in the time of Bolesque, did not contradict it, as, undoubtedly, he would have done, had he been able to do so, without going against the conviction of his conscience, and opposing the pulilic belief. Thus the silence both of the whole town interested in the affair and also of his secretary, is, on this occasion, an infallible proof of the disorders imputed to Calvin."f They were at that time so uncontested, that a Catholic writer, speaking of the scandalous life of Calvin, advances as a fact well known in England, that, "'the leader of the Calvinists had been branded with the fleur-de-lis, and had fled from his native ^x)wn ; and that his antagonist Wittaker, acknowledging the fact, * A Survey of the pretended holy discipline, page 44, by Bishop Bancroft t Card. Ric'ielieu, Traite, p. convert, liv. ii, pp. 319, 320. 30 470 NOTE A. merely replied by the following shameful comparison : Calvin has botn stig- matized, so has 8t. Paul, so have others also."* I find also that the grave and learned Doctor Stapleton,t who had every opportunity of gaining mfor- mation on this subject, having spent his life in the neighborhood of Noyon, speaks of this adventure of Calvin's in the terms of one who was certain of the fact. "'Inspiciuntur etiara adhuc hodie civitatis Xoviodunensis in Picar- \v>. scrinia et rerum gestarum monumenta : in illis adhuc hodie legitur Joan- aem hunc Calvinum sodomice convictum, ex Episcopi et magistrates indul- ge ntia, solo stigmate in tergo notatum, urbe excessissc ; nee ejus familiaa honestissimi viri, adhuc superstites, impetrare hactenus potuerunt, ut hujua facti memoria, quas toti fiimilise notam aliquam inurit, e civicis illis monu- mentis ac scriniis eraderetur."]: Moreover, the Lutherans of Germany equally speak of it as of a fact : " De Calvini variis fiagitiis et sodomiticis libidinibus, ob quas stigma Joannis Calvini dorso impressum fuit a magis- tratu, sub quo vixit."§ " And as for the affected silence of Beza, it is rep'ied, that the disciple having acquired notoriety by the same crimes and the same heresy as his master, he merits not the confidence of any one on this point." It is very possible and most easy to dissemble like Beza and others after him ; but, surely, it is hardly possible to flibricate at pleasure the account, that an eye-witness and that contemporaries have given us of the death of this man, an account which must excite compassion and terror in all who hear it. An eye-witness, who was then his disciple, gives the following information : II ''Calvinus in desperatione Aniens vitam obiit turpissimo et foedissimo morbo, quern Deus rebellibus et maledictis comminatus est, prius excruciatus et consumptus. Quod ego verissime attestari audeo, qui funes- tum et tragicum illius exitum his meis oculis proesens aspexi."1[ The Lutherans of Germany testify, " Deum etiam in hoc sceculo judicium suum in Calvinum patefecisse, quem in virga furoris visitavit, atque liornbiliter punivit, ante mortis infelicis horam. Deus enim manu su'i potenti adeo hunc hiigreticum pei'cussit, ut, dosperat'i salute, doemonibus invocatis, jurans, execrans, et Ijlasphemans misserrime, animam malignam, exhalarit ; vermibus circa pudenda in aposthemate seu ulcere foetentissimo crescentibus, ita ut nuUus assistentium fcetorem amplius ferre posset."** On this subject I find an account too curious to be omitted here. " The dean told me that an old canon, a fiimiliar friend of Calvin's, had formerly related to him the manner in which John Calvin died, and that he had learned it from a man called Petit Jean, who was Calvin's valet and who attended on him to his last expiring breath. This man after his master's death left Geneva, and went to reside again at Noyon. lie related to this canon that Calvin on his death-bed made much lamentation, and that often- times he heard him cry out aloud and bitterly Ijewail his ct)ndition, and that one day he called him and said: 'Go to my study, and bring from such a part. The Oflice of our Lady according to the use at Xovon.' He went and brought it ; and Calvin continued a long time praying to God from this office : he mentioned that the people of Geneva were unwilling to let many person-s vibit him in his illness, and said that he labored under many complaints, * Campian in tlic .3il reason, year 1581. + Born in ISI'.fi. He was. nearly thirty years of age when Calvin died, in 1564. X Pr'imi)fnar Catlioiic, pais. 32, p. 133. § Conrad. Sclilnsscmh. Calvin Theolojr., lib. ii. fol. 72. 1 .loan Ilaren. Apud Pel. Cntzaniiiun. *i See Diet, de Feller, art. Calvin, ** Conrad. Schlussemb., iu Theolog. Calvin, lib. ii, fol. 72. Francof. an. 1592. REFORMERS PORTRAYING THEMSELVES. 471 such as imposthumes, the rash, the piles, the stone, the gravel, the gout, consumption, shortness of breath, and spitting of blood ; and that he was struck by God, as those of whom the Prophet speaks, Tetigit eos in poste riora, opprobrium sempiternum dedit eis."* This recital agrees with that of Bolsec, who also cites the testimony of those who attended upon Calvin in his last illness. For after having spoken of the complaints mentioned by Beza, and of the lousy disease, about which Beza sa}'S nothing, he adds : " Those who attended upon him to his last breath have testified it. Let Beza, or whoever pleases deny it : it is, how- ever, clearly proved, that he cursed the hour in which he had ever studied and written : while from his ulcers and his whole body proceeded an abom- inable stench, which rendered him a nuisance to himself and to his domes- tics, who add moreover, that this was the reason why he would have no one go and see him." (Life of Calvin, Lyons, 1577, transl. from the Latin.) THEODOKE BEZA. Let us now pass on to Calvin's celebrated biographer. The Lutherans shall teach us in what esteem and value we are to hold him : " Who will not be astonished (says Heshusius) at the incredible impudence of this mon- ster, whose filthy and scandalous life is known throughout France, by his more than cynical epigrams. And yet you would say, to hear him speak, that he is some holy personage, another Job, or an anchoret of the desert, nay greater than St. Paul or St. John ; so much does he everywhere pro- claim his exile, his labors, his pui"ity, and the admirable sanctity of his life."f If we wish to refer the matter to one holding an elevated situation among the Lutherans : "Beza (says he to us) draws to the life, in his writings, the image of those ignorant and gross persons, who for want of reason and argument, have recourse to abuse, or of those heretics, whose last resource is insult and abuse .... and thus, like an incarnate demon, this obscene wretch, this perfect compound of artifice and impiety vomits forth his satiri- cal blasphemies."! The same Lutheran testifies that "after having spent twenty-three years of his life in reading more than two hundred and twenty Calvinistic productions, he had not met with one, in which abu.se and blas- phemy were so accumulated as in the writings of this wild beast. And if any one doubt of it, adds he, let him run over his famous Dialogues against Dr. Heshusius. No one would ever imagine they were written by a man, but by Beelzebub himself in person ; I should be horror-struck to repent the obscene lilasphemies, which this impure atheist puts forth on the gravest subjects with a disgusting mixture of impiety and buffoonery ; undoubtedly, he had dipped his pen in some infernal ink." * Remarques sur la Vie de J. Calvin, taken from the records of the chapter at Noyon, tlie personal examiniition that took place in 1614; by James Desmay, doctor of Sorbonne, vie. gen. of Rouen. This little work, dedicated to Lord Kay, earl of Ancaster, 1621, is to be found in the Biblifitheque du Roi. It is the part of candor to .sio-nify that I have not .seen a word about the famous fleur-de-lis in the work of Desmay, althoiigh he carefully made his inquiries in tliese places. I should be glad if that silence carried sufficient wci<;lit witli it (o destroy the very positive and public assertions of authors who wrote more than forty (jr fifty years before him. It appears that Desmay only examined the records of the chapter and not those of the town. Mor-pver, it was then eighty years after the sentence had been passed upon Calvin, and wcrare assured that his friends had succeeded in re- moving it fmm the records of the town. t Traduct.' de Florim. p. 1048. X Schlussemberg, in Tlieolog. Calvin, lib. ii, passim. 472 NOTE A. "Beza, who was a Frenchman, (says Florimond,)* and tho great buttress of Calvin's opinions, attacked L ither's version as impious, novel, and un- heard of.'" "Truly, (retorted the Lutherans,) it well becomes a French merry-andrew, who understands not a word of our language, to teach the Germans to speak German. MELANCTHON. Let us confine ourselves to the judgment passed upon him by those of his communion. The Lutherans declared in full synod : " That he had so often changed his opinions upon the supremacy of the Pope, upon justification by faith alone, upon the Lord's Supper and free-will, that all this his wavering inconstancy had staggered the weak in these fundamental questions, and prevented a gi-eat numter from embracing the confession of Augsburg : that b}^ changing and rechanging his writings he had given too much reason to the Episcopalians to set off his variations, and to the faithful to know no longer what doctrine to consider as true."f They add : " that this fiimous work upon the theological common places would much more appropriately oe called a Treatise upon Theological witticisms." Schlussemberg goes so far as to declare : " that being struck fi-om above oy a spirit of blindness and dizziness, Melancthon afterwards did nothing but fall fi-om one error into another, till at last he himself knew not what to believe."]: He says moreover, that : "Melancthon had evidently impugned the divine truth, to his own shame and the perpetual disgrace of his name." J (ECOLAMPADIUS. The Lutherans wrote in the Apology for their Lord's Supper, that CEco- lampadius, a fkutor of the Sacramentarian opinion, sjieaking one day to the landgrave, said : " I would rather have my hand cut off than that it should ever write any thing against Luther's opinion respecting the Lord's Sup- per." 1| When this was told to Luther, by one who had heard it, the hatred of the jjatriarch of the reform seemed inlmediately softened down. On learn- ing the death of (Ecolampadius, he exclaimed: "Ah! miserable and unfor- tunate CEcolampadius, thou was the prophet of thy own misery, when thou didst appeal_to God to exercise his vengeance on thee, if thou taughtest a false doctrine. May God forgive thee ; if thou art in such a state that he can forgive thee." While the inhabitants of Basle were placing the following epitaph on his tomb in the cathedral : "John CEcolampadius, Theologian .... first preacher of evangelical doctrine in this town and true bishop of the temple ;" Luther was positive and sure, and afterwards wrote on his side, that " the devil, whom fficolampadiuy emploj'ed, strangled him during the night in his bed. This is the excellent master (continues he) who taught him that there are contradictions in Scripture. See to what Satan brings learned men."ir * Flurimond, p. 96. t Colloq. Altenb., fol. 502, 503, year 1566. X Theol. Calvin, lib. ii,p. 91. § Ibid. p. 92. 1 See Florim., p. 175. il De Miss. priT . REFORMERS PORTRAYING THEMSELVES. 473 ociiiisr. This religious man, superior of the Capuchins, leaving Italy and his order, where he had acquired a great re[)utation for the austerity of his hfe and his distinguished talent in preaching, repaired to Peter Martyr in Switzerland, where, after striking acquaintance with the Sacramentarians, he went a step further and preached up Arianism. " He is become (wrote Beza to Didu- cius) a wicked lecher, a fautor of the Arians, a mocker of Christ and his Church."* 'Tis true that Ochin had, on his part, been equally severe upon the relig- ionists of Geneva and Zurich ; for in his dialogue against the sect of terres- trial Gods, he thus expressed himself in their regard " These people are desirous that we should hold as an article of faith whatever comes from their brain. He who does not choose to follow them is a heretic. AVhat they dream of in the night (an allusion to Zuinglius) is committed to writing, is printed and held as an oracle. Do not think that they will ever change. So far are they from being disposed to obey the church, that on the contrary the church must obey them. Is not this being popes ? Is it not being gods upon earth ? Is it not tyrannizing over the consciences of men ?" Such were the principal authors of the religious and political excitements that desolated the Church and the world in the sixteenth century. They were perfectly acquainted with each other ; they had seen one another, had conferred together in different conferences ; they labored with emulation, if not with unanimity, at the work, which they called reform. It is impossible at the present day to form respecting their doctrine, their characters and persons, more correct notions than those which tliey themselves entertained respecting them, and which they have transmitted to us. It would there- fore be unreasonable in us not to refer to the reciprocal testimonies they have borne to one another. Neither is it less true, that if we go by their own judgments, we can not but consider them as odious beings and unworthy ministers, whether they have mutually done justice to one another or have calumniated one another. In a word, the only point upon which they agree is to blacken and condemn one another, and it is but too certain that this point, in which they were all agreed, is also the only one upon which they were all right. You then who have just heard them revealing to the world their own turpitude, will you continue any longer to take them as your guides, your masters, your fathers in faith ? Hitherto you have only been taught to look upon them as extraordinary beings, endowed with sanctity, virtue, and all the gifts of heaven ; and with this persuasion, you felt proud to call your- selves their disciples and children. You now see your mistake ; you see what they were ; they have told it you themselves. ^ Believe them upon this point, and it is enough to make you abandon them on all others, and to abjure, since you can do it, a descent that must from henceforth be so dis- graceful and ignominious in your eyes. What could religion expect from such men? What profit could the world receive from their preaching ? What actually were the eftects pro- duced ? Here also they shall be our instructors. " The world grows worse and becomes more wicked every day. Men are now more given to revenge, * Florimond, p. 296. VOL. T. i'^ 474 NOTE A more avaricious, more devoid of mercy, less modest and more incorrigible ; in fine n.ore wicked than in tlie Papacy."* "One thing, no less astonishing than scandalous, is to see that, since the pure doctrine of the gospel has been brought again to light, the world daily goes from bad to worse."f The noblemen and the peasants are come to such a pitch, that they boast ind proclaim, without scruple, that they have only to let themselves be preached at, that they would prefer being entirely disenthralled from the word of God ; and that they would not give a fai'thing for all our sermons together. And how are we to lay this to them as a crime, when they make no account of the world to come ? They live as they believe : they are and continue to be swine : they live like swine and they die like real swine."t Calvin, after declaiming against atheism, which was prevailing above all in the palaces of princes, and in the courts of justice, and the first ranks of his communion. " There remains still (adds he) a wound more deplorable. The pastors, yes, the pastors themselves who mount the pulpit .... are at the present time the most shameful examples of waywardness and other vices. Hence their sermons obtain neither more credit nor authority than the fictitious tales uttered on the stage by the strolling player. And these persons are yet bold enough to complain that we despise them and point at them for scorn. As for me, I am more inclined to be astonished at the pa- tience of the people : I am astonished that the women and children do not cover them with mud and filth." ij ".Those whom I had known to be pure, full of candor and simplicity, (says one whom no one suspects,) these have I seen afterwards, when gone over to the sect (of the Evangelicals) begin to speak of girls, flock to games of hazard, throw aside prayer, give themselves up entirely to their interests, become the most impatient, vindictive, and frivolous ; changed in feet from men to vipers. I know well what I say."|| "I see many Lutherans, but few Evangelicals. Look a little at these people, and consider whether luxury, avarice, and lewdness do not prevail still more amongst them than amongst those whom they detest. Show me any one, who by means of his gospel is become better. I will show you very many that have become worse. Perhaps it has been my bad fortune ; but I have seen none but who are become worse by their gospel." if "Luther was wont to say that after the revelation of his gospel, virtue had become extinct, justice oppressed, temperance bound with cords, virtue torn in pieces by the dogs, feith had become wavering, and devotion lost."** It was at that time a sayins: in Germany, expressive of their going to spend a jovial day in debauch : ^'' Ho lie L'ttheranice vivemus : We will spend to-day like Lutherans."tf "And if the Sovereigns do not evangelize and interpose their authority to appease all these disputes, no doubt the Churches of Christ will soon be infested with heresies, which Avill ultimately bring on their ruin .... By these multiplied paradoxes the foundations of our religion are shaken, here- Hies crowd into the Churches of Christ, and the way is thrown open to ftthei.sm."JJ * Luther in Postilla sup. i, dom. advent. + Id. in Serm. Conviv. German, fol. 55. t Id. on tliL' 1st Ep. to the Corinthians, xv. § Liv. sur les -scandales, p. 128. II Erasin. Epist. to tie brettiren of Lower Germany. H Id Ep. a an. 1524. ** Aurifaber, fol. 628, v. Fhirim. p. 225. tt Bened. .Morgfenstern. Traite de I'Eglise, p. 221. tt Sturm, Ratio ineundae concord, p. 2, an. 1579. REFORMERS PORTRAYING THEMSELVES. 475 " Did any age ever witness persons of each sex and of every age give u{ themselves, as ours do, to intemperance and the fire of their passions ? . . . . (said one of the first witnesses of the reform). Men now receive as a divine oracle that saying of Luther's that it is no more possible for a person to restrain his desires than his saliva, nor more easy for man and woman to dispense with one another than for them to go without eating and drinking. Impossible, do you hear it sung on all sides, and in all tones, impossible not to sacrifice to Venus, when the time of life arrives."* " Do we not see at the present day (cries out another witness) youth even giving into debauch, and if they are withdrawn fiom it, loudly demanding to be married. The young women also, whether already fallen, or only as yet lascivious, are perpetually throwing in your face that impudent sentence of Luther's, that continence is impossible, seeing that Venus is not less necessary than eating ; according to the new fashion, children marry and from them no doubt are to spring the valiant champions who are to drive the Turk beyond the Caucasus."f " We are come to such a pitch of barbarity that many are persuaded that if they fasted one single day, they would find themselves dead the night following."! "It is certain that Grod wishes and requires of his servants a grave and Christian discipline ; but it passes with us as a new papacy and a new monkery.^ We have lately learned (say the religionists of our times), that we are saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ, without any other help than his merits and the grace of God." "And, that the world may know they are not papists and that they have no confidence in good works, they per- form none. Instead of fasting, they eat and drink day and night, they change prayers into swearing; and this is what they call the re-established gospel, or the reformation of the gospel, said Smidelin." "We are not to be astonished that in Poland, Transylvania, Hungary and other countries, many pass over to Arianism and some to Mahomet ; the doctrine of Calvin leads to these impieties." || "Certainly, to speak the truth, there is much more conscientiousness and uprightness among the greatest part of papists than among many Protest- ants. And if we examine past ages, we shall find more sanctity, devotion, zeal, although blind, moi-e charity and fidelity to one another, than is seen at present among us." If " Let them (the Protestants) I say, look with the eye of charity upon them (the Catholics) as well as severity, and they shall finde some excellent orders of government, some singular helpes for increase of godlinesse and devotion, for tlie conquering of sinne, for the pi'ofiting of virtue ; contrarie- wise, in themselves, looking with a lesse indulgent eye than they doe, they shall finde, there is no such absolute perfection in their doctrine and refor- mation."** This is enough, without adding to these testimonies, those of Capito, Bucer, and Melancthon, who may find place in the following letter, and * Sylv. Czecanovius de corrupt, morib. + Wigandus, de bonis at malis German. t Melancth. on the sixth chapter of St. Matthew. § Jacob Andraeus on St. Luke, ch. xxi, 1583. J Id. Preface contre I'Apol. de Danceu.s. TI Stubb's motive to good works, p. 43, an. 1596. ** A Rehition of the state of Rebgion and with what Hopes and PoHcies it hatb been framed and is maintained in tlie several states of the Western parts of the world. Sec. 48. By Sir Edwin Sanders, Printed London, 1605. 476 NOTE B. without transcribing- here upon England what is told us by Strype, Camden, Dugdale, and even by Henry VIII. in a declaration to his parliament* Such then were the first fruits of the Reformation ! and such we learn them to have been from its authors themselves, from its promoters and its first witnesses.! Their confessions, their lamentations, wrung from them b)' the extent and notoriety of the scandal, will eternally proclaim to the world, that with the reform were propagated vices and disorders ; that in the countries where it was adopted, and in proportion as it gained ground, devotions was seen to be weakened, piety extinguished, morals deteriorated, faith gradully lost in the multitude, and even among the ministers them- selves ; so much so that to this day, in the cradle and center of Calvinism, at Geneva, where they abound, you will scarcely find four or five, (I know it for certain,) who will consent to preach the divinity of our Saviour and teach it in their catechetical instructions. And yet there have been persons bold enough to hold out the progress of such a reform as a proof of the divine protection : as if we could acknowledge as its apostles such men as they have reciprocall)^ described themselves to be : as if it could take parts in disorders, smile upon the propagation of vice, and favor the decaying of faith and Christianity. NOTE B, Page 90. Luther's conference with the devil. 0:5° Id Turnbull's complete translation of Audin's Life of Luther, this entire conference is given in the Appendix in the original Latin. We here republish the substantially correct translation of the American edition. "I ONCE suddenly awoke about midnight: Satan began to dispute with me. ' Listen to me, learned doctor,' says he. ' During fifteen years you have daily celebrated private Masses. What if all those Masses have been * See Letters of Atticiis. pp. 64, 65 ; 3(1 edition, London, 1811. t I beg the reader to make also the following remarks : It is a fiict that, before the Reformation, infidels were scarcely known iu the world : it is a fact that thej are come forth in swarms from its bosom. It was from the writings of Herbert, Hobbes, Bloum, Shaftesbury, Bolingbroke, and Boyle, that Voltaire and his party drew the objections and errors, which they liave brought so generally in fashion in the world. According to Diderot and d'Ali-inliiTt, the first step that the untractahle Cathdlic takes is to adopt the Protestant principle of private judgment. He establishes him- self judge of his religion, leaves it and joins the reform. Dissatisfied with the incoherent doctrines he then discovers, he passes on to the Socinians, whose inconse- quences soon drive him into Deism: still pursued by unexpected difficulties, he throws himself into universal doubt, where still experiencing uneasiness, he at last resolves to take the last step, and proceeds to terminate the long chain of his errors in Atheism. Let us not forget that the first link of this fatal chain is attached to the funo.imeiital maxim of ])rivate julgment. It is ther-cfure historically correct, that the same priiicijjle that eivated Protestantism three centui-ies ago. has never ceased since that time to spin it out into a thousand diff(:.'cnt sects, and has concluU'd by covering Europe with that multitude of free thinkers, who place it on the vei-ge of ruin. When sects brget infidelity and by infi lelity revolutions, it is plain that the politi- cal aafety of tha states will only be secured by a return to religious unity. Luther's conference with the devil. 477 a horrible idolatry ? What, if the body and blood of Jesus Christ be not present there, and that yourself adored, and made others adore, bread and wine ?' I answered hiin, I have been made priest ; I have received ordina- tion at the bishop's hands ; and I have acted according to the command of my superiors, and through the obedience I owe them. Why could not I consecrate, since I have seriously pronounced the words of Jesus Christ, and have celebrated Mass with great devotion, as you know? ' All that is true,' answered Satan, ' but even the Turks and Pagans perform all their sacred functions through obedience, and religiously observe all their ceremonies. The priests of Jeroboam, also, zealously opposed the true priests, who were at Jerusalem. What, if your ordination and consecration were as invalid, as that of the Turkish and Samaritan priests is false, and their worships impious ?' '"You know, in the first place,' says he, 'that you had then neither knowledge of Jesus Christ, nor the true faith. In what regards fixith, you were no better than a Turk, for the Turks and all the devils believe the history of Jesus Christ ; that he was born, was crucified, and died, etc. But the Turk and we, reprobate spii'its, have no confidence in his mercy, and we do not regard him as our Saviour and mediator ; but we fear him as a severe judge. Such was your faith; you had none other, when you received the unction of the liishop ; and all those who gave or received it, had similar sentiments of .Jesus Christ. This is the reason that you with- draw from .Tesus Christ as a severe judge, and have recourse to the Virgin Mary and the Saints, and look on them as mediators between you and Jesus. Christ. No papist can deny that this is the reason why Jesus Christ has been deprived of his glory. You have, then, been ordained ; you have been tonsured; you have offered the Mass as Pagans and not as Christians. How, then, could you consecrate at Mass, or really celebrate it, since you had not the power of consecrating, which, according to your own doctrine, (S an essential defect ? " ' In the next place, you have been consecrated priest, and you have cele- brated Mass contrary to its institution, and to the design of .Jesus Christ in instituting it. He wished the sacrament to be distributed among the faithful, who should commimicate, and to be given to the Church to be eaten and drunk. In truth, the priest is established minister of the Church, to preach the word of God, and to dispense the sacraments, according to the words of Clu-ist at the Last Supper, and those of St. Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians, while speaking of the Lord's Supper. Hence, the an- cients called it "communion," because, according to the doctrine of Jesus Christ, the priest ought not alone receive the sacrament, but his Christian brethren should receive it with him. And you, for fifteen years, have always applied to yoiu'self the sacrament, when you celebrated Mass, and have not communicated it to others. Nay, it was prohibited to give them the whole sacrament. What a priesthood is that ? What a consecration ? What a Mass ? What sort of a priest are you, who have not been ordained for the Church, but for younself? It is certain that .Jesus Christ has not known, and does not acknowledge, such a sacrament and such an ordination. " ' In the third place, the thought and design of .Jesus Christ, as his words demonstrate, is, that, in receiving the sacrament, we should announce and commemorate his death. "Do this," says he, "in commemoration of me;" and, as St. Paul says, "until he comes." But you, who sa^v private Masses, have not even once preached and confessed Jesus Christ in all your Masses You have only taken the sacrament, and muttered, between your teeth, the 478 NOTE B. words of (.he institution for yourself alone. Was that the institutiou of Jesus Christ ? Is it by such actions that you prove that you are a priest of Jesiis Christ ? Is that to act like a Christian priest ; and have you beer, ordained for that ? '"In the fourth place, it is clear that the thought, the desif^n, and the institution of Jesus Christ were, that the rest of the faithful should communi- cate as well as the priest ; whereas, you have been ordained, not to dispense to them this sacrament, but to sacrifice. And, contrary to the institution of Jesus Christ, you have made use of the Mass, as of a sacrifice, for that is the obvious signification of the words of the bishop who ordained you. According to the ceremony of ordination, when he puts the chalice into the hands of him who has received the sacred unction, he says to him, "receive the power of celebrating and sacrificing for the living and for the dead." What is this perverse unction and ordination ? Jesus Christ has instituted the Supper to be the food and nourishment for all the Church ; to be pre- sented by the priest to all those who communicate with him ; and you make of it a propitiatory sacrifice before God ! 0 abomination which sur- passes all other abominations ! " ' In the fifth place, the design of Jesus Christ is, as has been said, that the sacrament should be distributed to the Church, tliat is, to the com- municants, to exercise and strengthen their faith, in the various assaults they suffer, as, also, to renew the memory of the benefits of Jesus Christ ; whereas, you regard it as a thing belonging to you, and which you can cele- brate without others, and which you can give to them gratuitously or for lucre. Tell me, can 3'ou deny that ? Have you rot been made priest in that manner, that is, without faith ? For you have received ordination con- trary to the design and institution of Jesus Christ — not that you might give the sacrament to others, but that you might sacrifice it for the living and the dead. You have not been ordained to be the minister of the Church. Moreover, you have never distributed the sacrament to others ; you have not preached Jesus Christ at Mass ; and consequently you liave done no- thing that Jesus Christ instituted. Have you then received ordination against Jesus Christ and his institution, to do every thing against him ? And if you have been consecrated and oi-dained by the bishops, contrary to Jesus Christ, your ordination is unquestionably impious, false, and antichristian. I maintain, then, that you have not consecrated at Mass, and that you have ofiered, and made others adore, simple bread and wine. " 'You see, then, that there is wanting in your Mass, first, a person who can consecrate, that is a Christian ; there is wanting also a person for whom you should consecrate, and to whom the sacrament is to be given ; that is to say, the Church, the body of the fliithful. " ' You stand there by yourself^ and you imagine that Jesus Christ insti- tuted for .you alone, the sacrament, and that j^ou need but speak, to conse- crate in the Mass the body and blood of Jesus Christ, although you are not t memterof Jesus Christ, but his enemy. There is wanting, in the third place, the end, the design, the fruit, and object for which Jesus Christ insti- tuted this sacrament. For Jesus Christ instituted it, to he eaten and to be drunk, to fortify the faith of his members, to preach and announce in the Mass, the benefits of Jesus Christ. Now the rest of the Church do not even know that you say Mass ; they learn nothing from yo>i, and receive nothing fi-om you ; but you alone silently eat by yourself and drink by yourself; and Ijeing an ignorant and faithless monk, you do not communi- cate with any one ; and according to the custom which prevails among you, Luther's conference with the devil. 479 you sell for money what you perform, as if it W'ere worth any thing. I^ then, you are not ca])able of consecrating, and ought not attempt it : if there be no person at Mass to receive the sacrament ; if you alter and desti-oy the institution of Jesus Christ ; — in fine, if you have been ordained merely for the purpose of doing every thing contrary to the institution of Jesus Christ, — what use is tliere in your ordination, and what do you do, while saying Mass and consecrating, but blaspheme and tempt God ? You are not a real priest, nor do you really consecrate the body of Jesus Christ. " ' I will draw a comparison for you. If any one baptizes, when there is no person to be baptized, as if some bishop, according to the ridiculous cus- tom of the papists, baptize a bell, which neither ought, nor can be baptized, tell me, is that a real baptism ? You must answer in the negative. For who can baptize that which does not exist, or can not receive baptism ? What baptism would it be, were I to pronounce in the air these words : " I baptize thee, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ;" and that I poured out water at the same time ? What would, in that case, receive the remission of sin, or the Holy Ghost ? Would it be the air or the bell ; it is obvious that there is no baptism there, although the words of baptism are pronounced, and the waters p(jured out ; because there is no person to receive baptism. The same thing occurs in your Mass, when you pronounce the words, and think that you receive the sacrament, whereas, you only receive bread and wine. For the Church, who is the person authorized to receive, is not there ; and you, who are an impious and incredulous man, are no more capable of receiving the sacrament, than the bell is capable of receiving baptism. Hence you possess nothing of the sacrament. You will, perhaps, tell me : — although I do not present the sacrament to the others that are in the Church, I nevertheless take it and receive it myself; and there are many amon* the rest of the fiiithful, who, although infidels, receive the sacrament, or baptism, and yet receive a true sacrament and a true baptism. Why, then, should there not be a true sac- rament in the Mass ? But it is not the same thing ; because in baptism, even when administered in urgent cases, there are at least two persons, he who baptizes, and he who is baptized ; and frequently many members of the Church. Moreover, the function of him who bajjtizes is such, that it imparts something to the other members of the Church ; and he deprives them of nothing to apply it to himself alone, as you do in the Mass. And all the other things done in baptism are according to the institution of Jesus Christ, but the Mass is against the institution of Jesus Christ. " ' In the second place, why don't you teach that you can baptize your- self? Why disapprove of such a baptism ? Why reject confirmation, if any one would confirm himself, as confirmation is among you? Why would the ordination be invalid, if any one were to ordain himself priest? Why would there be no extreme unction, if any one, in danger of death, would anoint himself, as the Catholics do ? Why would there be no mar- riage, if any one would marry himself, or offer violence, and say that this action would be marriage — for these are your seven sacraments ? If then, no one can administer any of your sacraments himself, why do you wish to reserve this sacrament for 3'ourself alone ? It is true, that Jesus Christ receivea himself in this sacrament, and every minister, when he distributes it to others, receives it also him.self But he does not consecrate for him.self alone. He takes it conjointly with others, and with the Church ; and all this is done conformably to the command of Jesus Christ. When I speak of consecration, I ask if any one can consecrate the sacrament for himself 480 NOTE B. only ; — ^because T know well that after the consecration, every priest can receive, as well as others ; for the communion and the table of the Lord is common to many. When I asked if any one could call and ordain himself) I knew well that after having been called and ordained he might follow his vocation.' " In this perilous contest with the devil, I attempted to repel the enemy with the arms to which I was accustomed under the Papacy. I objected to him the faith and intention of the Church, by representing to him, that it was in the faith and intention of the Church, that I had celebrated these Masses. It me damned ? And how do you know other things of the same kind, unless by the word of God ? " ' If, then, you are to learn from the word and commands of God, what the Church thinks of good or bad actions, ought you not much moie learn from the word of God, what she thinks of its doctrine ? Why, then, you blasphemer, do you disregard the clear words and the order of Jesus Christ in your private Mass ? And why do you make use of his name, and of the intention of the Church, to cloak your falsehood and impiety ? You deck out your own invention with this miserable coloring ; as if the intention of the Church could be contrary to the words of Jesus Christ ! What pro- digious boldness, to profane the name of the Church by so unblushing a falsehood ! " ' Since, then, the bishop has made you capable of celebrating Mass, by the unction he gave you, with the sole object, that by saying private Masses, you might do all that was opposed to the clear words and institution of Jesus Christ, — to the feelings, the faith, and public pi'ofession, of the Church, this unction is profane, and has nothing in it holy or sacred. It is even sti-11 more vain, more u.seless and absurd than the bapti.sm of bells.' And Satan, urging still more clo.sely this argument, .said : 'you are not then ordained ; yea have only offered bread and wine, like the Pagans, by a traftic, infamous in itself and injurious to God, you have sold your ministry to Christians, Luther's conference with the devil. 481 and served, not God, but your own cupidity. What an unheard of abomi- nation !' This is almost the summary of the dispute. " I Vjehold now the holy fathers, who laugh at me and exclaim : Is this the celebrated doctor, who is nonplussed and can not answer Satan ? Do you not know, doctor, that the devil is a lying: spirit ? Thank you, fiithers. I would not have known until now, learned theologians, that the devil was a liar, unless you had said so. In truth, if j^ou were obliged to suffer the assaults of Satan, and to dispute with him, you would never speak as you do, of the practice and traditions of the Church. The devil is a severe an- tagonist ; and he presses one so closely, that it is impossible to resist him without a particular grace of the Lord. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, he fills the soul with darkness and with fear; and unless he has to do with a man who is master of the Scripture, he easily overcomes him. It is true, he is a liar ; but he does not speak untruths when he accuses us : for then he conies to the combat with the double testimony of the law of God, and oar own conscience. I do not deny that I have sinned. I do not deny that my sin is great. I do not deny that I am liable to death and damnation !"* Audin adds : " Such is the narrative of this scene, in which Luther appears to much less advantage than at Worms. The devil shows himself in it to be a still worse logician that the Dominican at Leipsic — where, however, Satan, if we may credit Luther, spoke by his mouth. Here the master does not equal the disciple. Unless the reformer suppressed those overwhelming arguments by which the devil prostrated him, there is no tyro in theology who would not have refiited the satanic thesis. Luther had doubtless at hand some of those catechisms, which are yet to be found in every German fixmily. He could have confounded his adversary, had he opened the page in which the Church teaches, — that the priest, in celebrating the sacrifice of the Mass, applies the merits of it to all who hear it devoutly. And, then, Satan was as ignorant of history as he was of the catechism. We know not what answer he would have given to Luther, had the reformer inquired, where he had read that the Turks believed in the death of .lesus Christ ; whereas Mahomet, in the Koran, positively says, that God took up Jesus Christ, and that another was crucified in his place. Luther also was too sofl with his adversary." - * De Missa angular!, t. vi, Jonne, p. 81. 82.— T. vii, Op. Lutb. Wett. fol. 228. See Conference du diable avec Luther contre le saint sacrament de la Messe (par Paul Bruzeau) Paris, 1740.— Cochl. in act. fob 67, Math. cone. f. 32. Chuide, Defense de la Reformation, 2me partie ch. v. Prejnges legitimes par Nicole. Rruxelles, eh. ii. Refutation de la reponso d'un ministre Lutherien sur la conference du diable avec Luther. Bruxelles, 1682. Basnage Hist, des cglises reformees, t. iii ch. v. Bajle, Art. Luther. VOL. I.— 41 482 NOTE c. NOTE C, Page 149. PERMISSION GRANTED TO PHILIP, LANDGRAVE OF HESSE; BY LUTHER AND OTHER REFORMERS, TO HAVE TWO V^IVES AT ONCE. To show that there is not a shadow of doubt existing in regard to the truth of this disgraceflil proceeding, we here append the documents them- selves ; two of them entire in Latin and English, and the other as abridged by Bossuet, who, however, furnishes the Latin text of it in full. (History of the Variations of the Protestant Churches, vol. i, book vi, p. 179, seqq., and p. 205, seqq.) These documents were first published in 1679, by order of the Elector Charles Lewis, Count Palatine ; and the book containing them was M'ritten probably with a view to justify Luther against Bellar- mine ; with what success the reader of these papers may best judge. After having been carefully concealed for more than a century, this whole scandalous transaction was laid bare by Protestants themselves, professing to be the friends of Luther and of his Reformation. I._DOCUMENT ABKIDGED BY BOSSUET. 1. — Bncer sent to Luther and other heads of the Party to obtain leave for marrying a second wife — this Prince's in- struction to his Envoy. The landgrave of Hesse begins by setting forth how that, "since his last illness, he had reflected much on his state, and chiefly upon this, that a few weeks after his marriage he had begun to wallow in adultery : that his pas- tors had frequently exhorted him to approach the holy table, but he did believe he should there meet with his judgment, because he will not aban- don such a course of life."* He imputes to his wife the cause of all his disorders, and gives the reasons for his never loving her ; but, having a diffi- culty in explaining himself on these matters, he refers them to Bucer, whom he had made privy to the whole affiiir. Next he speaks of his complexion, and the effects of high living at the assemblies of the emjiire, at which he was obliged to be present. To carry thither a wife of such a quality as his own, would V)e too great an encumbrance. When his preachers remonstrated to him that he ought to punish adulteries and such like crimes, " How," said he, " can I punish crimes of which I myself am guilty ? When I ex- pose mvself in war for the gospel cause, I think I should go to the devil should I be killed there by the sword or mnsket-ball.f I am sensible that, with the wife I have, neither can I, neither will I, change my life, whereof I take God to witness ; so that I find no means of amendment but liy the remedies God afforded the people of old, that is to say polyg- Bmy.":f Inst, ;., N. 1, 2, lb. n. 3. + Ibid., N. 5. t Ibid., N. «. BIGAMY OF LANDGRAV-E OF HESSE. 483 2. — Scqnel to the instruction — the landgrave promises the le venues of monasteries to Luther if he will favor his design. He there states the reasons which persuade him that it is not forbidden under the i2;ospe>; and what deserves most notice, is his sayinjj, "that, to his knowledjro, Ijuther and Melancthon advised the kinp: of England not to break off his marria3;e with the queen, his wife ; but, besides her, also to wed another."* This, again, is a secret we were ignorant of: but a prince, so well informed, says he knows it; and adds, that they ought to allow him this remedy so much the readier, because he demands it only "for the sal- vation of his soul." " I am resolved," proceeds he, " to remain no longer in the snares of the devil ; neither can T, neither will I, withdraw myself but by this way ; wherefore T beg of Luther, of Melancthon, of Bucer him- self, to give me a certificate, that I may embrace it. But, if they apprehend that such a cei-tificate may turn to scandal at this time, and prejudice the gospel cause, should it be printed, I desire at least they will give me a decla- ration in writing, that God would not be offended should I marry in private ; and that they will seek for means to make this marriage public in due time, to the end that the woman I shall wed may not pass for a dishonest person, otherwise, in process of time, the church would be scandalized."f Then he assures them that "they need not fear lest this second marriage should make him injure his first wife, or even separate himself from her; since, on the contrary, he is determined on this occasion to carry his cross, and leave his dominions to their common children. Let them, therefore, grant me," continues this prince, "in the name of God, what I request of them, to th« end that T may both live and die more cheerfiilly for the gospel cause, and more willingly undertake the defense of it; and, on my part, I will do whatsoever they shall in reason ask of me, whether they demand the reve- nues of monasteries, or other things of a similar nature."! 3. — Continuation of it — the landgrave proposes to have recourse to the emperor, and even to the Pope, in case of refusal. We see how artfully he insinuates the reasons which he, who knew them so thoroughly, was sensible would have most influence on them ; and, as he foresaw that scandal was the thing they would most dread, he adds, "That already the ecclesiastics hated the Protestants to such a degree, that they would not hate them more or less for this new article allowing polygamy: but if, contrary to his expectation, Melancthon and Luther should prove inexorable, many designs ran in liis head — amongst others, that of applying to the emperor for this dispensation, whatever money it might cost him."5 This was a ticklish point — "For," continues he, "there is no likelihood of the emperor's granting this permission without a dispensation from the Pope, for which I care but little," .says he :|| " but for that of the emperor I ought not to despise it, though I should make but little account of that too, did T not otheiwise believe that God had rather allowed than forbidden what I wish for; and if the attempt I make on this side (that is upon * Inst., N. 6, et seq Ibid., N. 10. Ibid., N. lb 12. t Ibid., N. 12. t Ibid., N. 13. § Ibid., N. 14. [ Ibid., N. 15, et seq. 484 NOTE C. Luther) succeed not, a human fear urges me to demand the emperor's con- senl, certain as I am to obtain all I please, upon giving a round sum of money to some one of his ministers. But although I would not for any thing in the world withdraw myself from the gospel, or be engaged in any affair that might be contrary to its interest, I am, nevertheless, afiaid lest the imperialists should draw me into something not conducive to the inter- ests of this cause and party. I, therefore, call on them," concludes he, "to afford me the redress I expect, lest I should go seek it in some other place less agreeable ; desirous a thousand times rather to owe my repose to their permission that to all other human permissions, I desire to have in writing the opinion of Luther, Melancthon, and Bucer, in order that I ma)^ amend myself, and with a good conscience approach the sacrament. "Given at Melsinguen, the Sunday after St. Catharine's day, 1539. " Philip, Landgrave of Hesse." II,— DOCUMENT IN LATIN AND ENGLISH. THE CONSULTATION OF LUTHER AND THE OTHER PROTESTANT DOCTORS CONCERNING POLYGAMY. To the most serene Prince and Lord Philip Landgrave of Hesse, Count of Catzenlem- bogen, of Diets, of Ziegenhain, and Nidda, our gracious Lord, we wish above all thinEfs the Grace of God through Jegus Christ. Most Serene Prince and Lord, I. Postquam vestra Celsitudo per Dominum Bucerum diuturnas con- scientije suge molestias, nonnuUas simulqne considerationes indicari cu- ravit, addito scripto seu instructione quam illi vestra Celsitudo tradidit ; licet ita properanter expedire respon- sura difficile sit, noluimus tamen Dominum Bucerum, reditum utique maturantem, sine scripto dimittere. IL Imprimis sumus ex animo re- creati, et Deo gratias agimus, quod vestram Cclsitudinem difRcili morbo liberaverit, petimusque, ut Deus Cel- .situd^riem vestram in corpore et ani- mo confortare et conservare dignetur. TIT. Nam prout Celsitudo vestra videt, paupcrcula ct miscra Ecclesia est exigua et derelicta. indigens pro- bis Dominis Begentibus, sicut non dubitamus Deum aliquos conservatu- L We have been informed by Bucer, and in the instruction which your Highness gave him, have read, the trouble of mind, and the uneasi- ness of conscience your Highness is under at this present ; and although it seemed to us very difficult so speedily to answer the doubts pro- posed ; nevertheless, we would not permit the said Bucer, who was ur- gent for his return to your Highness, to go away without an answer in writing. n. It has been a suViject of the greatest joy to us, and we have praised God, for that he has recov- ered 3'our Highness from a danger- ous fit of sickness, and we pray that he will long continue this blessing of perfect health both in body and mind. III. Your Highness is not igno- rant how great need our poor, miser- able, little, and abandoned church stands in of virtuous princes and ru lers to protect her; and we doubt BIGAMY OF LANDGRAVE OF HESSE. 485 rum, quantumvis tentationes diversae occurrant. IV. Circa quasstionem qnam nobis Bucerus proposuit, hsec nobis occur- runt consideratione digna : Celsitudo vestra per se ipsam satis perspicit quantum difFerant universalem legem condere, vel in certo casu gravibus de causis ex concessione divin:'i, dispen- satione uti ; nam contra Deum locum non habet dispensatio. V. Nunc suadere non possumus, ut introducatur public c\ et velut lege sanciatur [)ermissio plures qnam unara uxores ducendi. Si aliquid hac de re prailo committeretur, facile intel- ligit vestra Celsitudo, id praecepti in- star intellectum et acceptatum iri, unde multa scandala et difficaltates orirentur. Consideret, quajsumus, Celsitudo vestra qu^m sinistre accip- eretur, si quis convinceretur banc le- gem in Germaniam introduxisse, quae aeternarum litium et inquietudi- num (quod tiniendum) futurum esset seminarium. VI. Quod opponi potest, quod co- ram Deo ajquum est id omnin ) per- mittendum, hoc certi ratione et conditione e.st accipiendum. Si res est mandata et necessaria, verum est quod objicitur ; si nee mandata, nee necessaria sit alias circumstantias op- ortet expendei'C, ut ad propositam questionem propius accedamus : Deus matrimoniuni instituit ut tantum duarum et non plurium personarum esset societas, si natura non esset cor- rupta ; hoc intendit ilia sententia : Erimt dun in came una, idque prima- tu.s fuit observatum. VII. Sed Lamech pluralitatem uxorum in matrimonium invexit, 31 not but God will always supply.her with some such, although from time to time he threatens to deprive her of them, and proves her by sundry temptations. IV. These things seem to us of greatest importance in the question which Buccr has proposed to us : your Highness sufficiently of 3'our- self comprehends the difference there is betwixt settling an universal law, and using (for urgent reasons and with God's permission) a dispensation in a particular case ; for it is other- wise evident that no dispensation can take place against the first of all laws, the divine law. V. We can not at present advise to introduce publicly, and establish as a law in the New Testament, that of the Old, which permitted to have more wives than one. Your High- ness is sensible, should any such thing be printed, that it would be taken for a precept, whence infinite troubles and scandals would arise. We beg 3^our Highness to consider the dan- gers a man would be exposed unto, who should be convicted of having brought into Germany such a law, which would divide families, and in- volve them in endless strifes and dis- turbances. VI. As to the objection that may be made, that what is just in God's sight ought absolutely to be per- mitted, it must be answered in this manner. If that which is just before God, be besides commanded and necessary, the objection is true : if it be neither necessary nor commanded, other circumstances, before it be per- mitted, must be attended to ; and to come to the question in hand : God hath instituted marriage to be a so- ciety of two persons and no more, supposing nature were not corrupted ; and this is the sense of that text of Genesis, " There shall be two in one flesh," and this was observed at the beginning. VII. Lamech was the first that married many wives, and the Scrip- 486 NOTE 0. quod de illo Hcriptura memorat tan- quam introductum contra priinam regulam. VIII. Apud infideles tamcn fuit consuetudine receptuin ; postea Abra- ham quoque et poster! ejus plures duxerunt iixores. Certiim est hoc postmodum le.iie Mosis permissum fuisse, teste Scrii)tur\ Denter. 2, 1. 1, ut homo hahei-ct duas uxores ; nam Deus fragih naturaD alifjuid indulsit. Cum ver>') principio et creation! con- sentaneum sit unic > uxore conten- tum vivere, hujusmod! lex est lauda- bihs, et ab P]cclesi t acceptanda, non lex huic contraria statuenda ; nam Christus repetit banc sententiam : Erimt duo in came una, Matth. xix, et in memoriam revocat quale matri- nionium ante hunianam fragilitatem esse debuisset. IX. Certis tamen casibus locus est dispensation!. Si quis apud exteras nationes captivus ad curam corporis et sanitateni, inibi alteram uxorem superinduceret ; vel si quis haberet leprosam; his casibus alteram ducere cum consilio sui Pastoi-is, non inten- tione novam legem inducendi, sed suae necessitati cousulemli, hunc nes- cimus, qui ratione damnare licerit. X. Cum igitur aliud sit inducere legem, aliud uti dis])ensatione, obse- cramus vestram Celsitudinem sequen- tia velit considerare. Prim) ante omnia cavendum, ne haec res inducntur in orbem ad modum legis, quam setiucnd! libei-a omnium sit potestas. Dcinde considerare dignetur vestra Celsitudo scandalura nimium, quod Kvan.i;elii liostes ex- clamaturi sint. nos similes esse Ana- ture witnesses that this custom was introduced contrary to the first Insti- tution. VIII. It nevertheless passed intc custom among infidel nations ; and we even find afterwards, that Abra- ham and his posterity' had many wives. It is also certain from Deu- teronomy, that the law of Mo.ses permitted it aftoiwards, and that God made an allowance for frail nature. Since it is then suitable to the crea- tion of men, and to the first estab- lishment of their .societ}^ that each one be content With one wife, it thence follows that the law enjoining it is praiseworthy ; that it ought to be received in the church ; and no law contrar}" theieto be introduced into it, because Jesus Chiist has re- peated in the nineteenth chapter of St. Matthew that text of Genesis, "There shall be two in one fiesh :" and brings to man's remembrance what marriage ought to have been ■ befoi'e it degenerated from its purity. IX. In certain cases, however, there is lOom for disjjcnsation. For example, if a mariied man, detained captive in a distant country, should there take a second wife, in order to preserve or recover his health, or that his own became leprous, we see not how M'e could condemn, in these cases, such a man as, by the advice of his pastor, should take another wife, provided it wei'e not with a de- sign of intioducing a new law, but with an eye only to his own particu- lar necessities. X. Since then the introducing a new law, and the using a dispen.sa. tion with respect to the same law, are two very ditfercnt things, we en- treat your Highness to take vidiat follows into consideration. In the first i)lace, aliove all things, care must be taken, that j)lurality of wives be not introduced into the world l)y way of law, for every man to follow as he thinks fit. In the second place, ninv it please your Hiahness to rellect on the dismal BIGAMY OF LANDGR.Vi: OF HFSSE. 48' baptistis, qui simul plures duxerunt uxores. Item Evangelicos earn sec- tari libertatem plures simul ducendi, quae in Turcia in usu est. XI. Item, principum fiicta latius spargi quam privatorum consideret. XII. Item, consideret privatas per- sonas, hujusinodi principum facta audientes, facile eadem sibi permissa ]3ersuadere, prout apparet talia fiicilr irrepere. XIII. Item, considerandum Celsi- tudinem vestram abundare nobilitate efferi spiritus, in qui multi, uti in aliis quoque terris sint, qui propter amplos pi-oventu.s, quibus ratione cathedralium beneflcioruni perfruun- tur, vald;^ evangelio adversantur. Non ignoramus ipsi magnorum nobi- lium valde insulsa dicta ; et qualera se nobilitas et subdita ditio erga Cel- situdinem vestram sit prsebitura, si publica introductio fiat, baud diflficile est arbitrari. XIV. Item Celsitudo vestra, quse Dei singularis est gratia, apud reges et potentes etiam exteros magno est in honore et respectu ; apud quos meriti est, quod timeat ne li£ec res pariat noininis diminutionem. Cum igitur hie nuilta scandala confluant, rogaraus Celsitudinem vestram, ut hanc rem maturo judicio expendere velit. XV. Illud quoque est verum quod Celsitudinein vestram omni modo rogamus et liortamur, ut fornication- epi et adulteriuni fugiat. Halniimus quoque, ut, quod res est, loquamur, longo tempore non [)arvum majrorem, qud intellexerimus vestram Celsitu- dinem ejusmodi impuritate oneratam, quam divina ultio, morbi, aliaque pe- ricula sequi possent. XVI. Etiam rogamus Celsitudin- em vestram )ie talia extra m-itriino- scandal which would not fiiil to hap pen, if occasion be given to the ene- mies of the gospel to exclaim, that we are like the Anabaptists, who have several wives at once, and tlif Turks, who take as many wives as they are able to maintain. XI. In the third place, that the actions of princes are more widely spread than those of private men. XII. Fourthly, that inferiors are no sooner informed what their supe- riors do, but thej" imagine they may do the same, and by that means licentiousness becomes universal. XIII. Fifthly, that your, High- ness's estates are filled with an un- tractable nobility, for the most part very averse to the gospel, on account of the hopes thev are in, as in other countries, of obtaining the benefices of cathedral churches, the reveiuies whereof are very great. We know the impertinent discourses vented by the most illustrious of your nobilitj', and it is easily seen how they and the rest of your subjects would be disposed, in case your Highness should authorize such a novelty. XIV. Sixthly, that your Highness, by the singular grace of God, hath a great reputation in the empire and foreign countries ; and it is to be feared lest (he execution of this ]»ro- ject of a double marriage should greatly diminish this esteem and re- spect. The concurrence of so many scandals obliges us to beseech your Highness to examine the thing with all the maturity of Judgment God has endowed you with. XV. With no less earnestness do we entreat your Highness, by all means, to avoid fornication and adul- tery ; and, to own the truth sincerely, we have a long time been sensibly grieved to see your Highness aban- doned to such impurities, which might be followed by the effects of the divine vengeance, distempers, and many other dangerous consequenc(s. XVI. We also beg of your High- ness not to entertain a notion, thai 488 NOTE C. nium, levin peccata velit festimare, sicut mundu.s hiec ventis tradere et parvi pendere soiet : Verum Dens impudicitiam sajpr severissitne puni- vit : nam poena diluvii tribuitnr re- gentum adultcriis. Item adnlterium Davidis est severuin vindiclaj divinje exemplum, et Pauliis stepiiis ait; Deus non inidetur. Adulteri non mtroihunt in regnum Dei : nam fldei obedientia comes esse debet, ut non contra eonscientiam agamns, 1 Ti- moth. iii. Si cor nostrum non repre- henderit nos, possumus lajti Deum invocare ; et Rom. viii. Si carnalia desideria spiritu mortificaverimus, vivemiis ; si autem secundimi car- uem ambulemus : hoc est, si contra eonscientiam, agamus, moriemur. XVII. HfBC referrimus, ut consid- eret Deum ob talia vitia non ridere, prout aliqui audaces feciunt, et ethni- cas cogitationes animo fovent. Liben- terquoque intelleximus vestram Cel- situdinem ob ejusniodi vitia angi et conqueri. Incambunt Celsitudini vestrte negotia totum mundum con- cernentia. Accedit Celsitudinis ves- trse complexio subtilis, et minimo robusta, ac pauci somni, unde merito corpori parcendum esset, quemadmo- dum multi alii facere coguntur. XVITL Legitur de laudatissimo Principe Scanderbego, qui multa prte- clara facinora patravit contra duos Turcarum Imperatores, Amuratliem et Mahumetem, ct Grix'ciam dum the use of vromen out of marriage is but a light and trifling fault, a.! the world is used to imagine ; since God hath often chastised impurity with the most severe punishment : and that of the deluge is attributed to the adulteries of the gi-eat ones ; and the adultery of David has afforded a ter- rible instance of the divine venge- ance ; and St. Paul repeats frequently, that God is not mocked with impu- nity, and that adulterers shall not enter into the kingdom of God. For it is said, in the second chapter of the first Epistle to Timothy, that obedience must be the companion of faith, in order to avoid acting against conscience ; and in the third chapter of the first of St. John, if our heart condemn us not, we may call upon the name of Gcd with joy : and in the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, if by the spirit we mor- tify the desires of the flesh, we shall live : but, on the contrary, we shall die, if we walk according to the flesh, that is, if we act against our own consciences. XVII. We have related these pas- sages, to the end that j^our Highnes.<5 may consider seriously that God looks not on the vice of impurity as a laughing matter, as is supposed by those audacious libertines, who enter- tain heathenish notions on this sub- ject. We are pleased to flnd that j'^our Highness is troubled with re- morse of conscience for these disor- ders. The management of the most important affairs in the world is now incumbent on your Highness, who is of a very delicate and tender com- plexion ; sleeps but little ; and these reasons, which have obliged so many prudent persons to manage their con- stitutions, are more than sufficient to prevail with your Highness to imitate them. XVITT. We read of the incompar- able Scanderbeg, who so frequently defeated the two most poweiflil em- perors of the Turks, Amurat 11. and Mahomet IT., and whilst alive, pre BIGAMY OF LANDGRAVE OF HE '.SE. 489 viveret, feliciter tuitus est, ac conser- Tavit. Hie suos milites sgepius ad castimoniam hortari auditus est, et dicere, nullam rem fortibus viris seque animos demere ac Venerem. Item qu .d si vestra Celsitudo insuper alteram uxorem haberet, et nollet pravis afl'ectibus et consuetudinibus repugnare, adhuc non esset vestrse Celsitudiiii consultum ac prospectum. Oportet unumquemque in externis istis suorum membrorum esse domi- num, uti Paulus scribit : Curate ut membra vestra sint arma justitia. Quare vestra Celsitudo in considera- tione aliarum causarum, nempe scan- dali, curaruni, labornm nc solicitudi- nuin, et corporis intirmitatis velit hanc rem a3qua. lance perpendere, et simul in memoriam revocare, qu d Deus ei ex moderns conjuge pul- chram sobolem utriusque sexus dede- rit, ita ut contentus hac esse possit. Quot alii in suo matrimonio debent patientiam exercere ad vitandum scandalum ? Nobis non sedet ani- mo Celsitudinem vestrara ad tam difficilem novitatem impellere, aut inducere : nam ditio vestrae Celsitu- dinis, aliique nos impeterent, quod nobis eo minus ferendum esset, quod ex praecepto divino nobis incumbat matrimonium, omniaque humana ad divinam institutionem dirigere, atque in e\ quoad possibile conservare, om- neque scandalum removere. XIX. Is jam est mos saeculi, ut culpa omnis in Prajdicatores confera- tur, si quid difflcultatis incidat; et humanum cor in summae et inferioris conditionis hominibus instabile, unde diversa pertimescenda. XX. Si autem vestra Celsitudo ab impudic'i vit I non aUstineat, quod dicit sibi irnpossibile, optaremus Cel- situdinem vestram in meliori statu served Greece from their tyranny that he often exhorted his soldiers to chastit}^, and said to them, that there was nothing so hurtful to men of their profession, as venereal pleasures. And if your Highness, after marrying a second wife, were not to forsake those licentious disorders, the "remedy proposed would be to no purpose. Every one ought to be master of his own body in external actions, and see, according to the expression of St. Paul, that his members be the arms of justice. May it please your Highness, therefore, impartially to examine the considerations of scan- dal, of labors, of care, of trouble, and of distempers, which have been rep- resented. And at the same time remember that God has given you a numerous issue of such beautiful children of lx)th sexes by the princess your wife, that you have reason to be satisfied therewith. How many oth- ers, in marriage, are obliged to the exercise and practice of patience, from the motive only oi" avoiding scandal ? We are far from urging on your Highness to introduce so difficult a novelty into your family. By so doing, we should draw upon ourselves not only the reproaches and persecution of those of Hesse, but of all other people. The which would be so much the less supportable to us, as God commands us in the min- istry which we exercise, as much as we are able, to regulate marriage, and all the other duties of human life, according to the divine Institutioi;, and maintain them in that state, and remove all kind of scandal. XIX. It is now customar)^ among worldlings, to lay the blame of every thing upon the preachers of the gos- pel. The heart of man is equally fickle in the more elevated and lower stations of life ; and much have we to fear on that score. XX. As to what your Highness says, that it is not possible for you to abstain from this impure life, we wish vou were in a better state before God i90 NOTE C. esse coram Deo, et secur'i conscienlia vivere ad propriae animaa salutem, et dilionum ac subditorum einolumen- tum. XXI. Quiid si denique vestra Cel- skiido oinnino concluserit, adhiic unam conjiiji;eni diicere, judicamus id secret) faciendum, ut superius de dispensatione dictum, nempe ut tan- tiim vestra; Celsitudini, illi persona3, ac pancis personis fidelibus constet Celsitudiiiis vestraj animus, et con- scientia sub sigillo confessionis. Hinc non sequunturalicujus momenti con- tradictiones aut scandala. Nihil enim est inusitati Principes concubinas alere ; et quamvis non omnibus e plebe constaret rei ratio, tamen pru- dentioros intelli.!ierent, et magis pla- ce ret ha^c moderata vivendi ratio, quam adulterium et alii belluini et impudici actus ; nee curandi aliorum sermones, si recte cum conscienti\ agatur. Sic et in tantuni hoc appro- bamus : nam cpiod circa matrimoni- um in lege Mosis fuit permissum, Evangelium non revocat, aut vetat, quod externum regimen non immu- tat, sed adfert a;ternam justitiam et seternam vitam, et orditur veram obedicntiam erga Deum, et conatur oorruptam naturam reparare. XXIT. Habet itaque Celsitudo vestra non tantum omnium nostrum testimonium in casu necessitatis, sed etiam antecedentes nostras considera- tiones quas rogamus, ut vestra Cel- situdo tanquam laudatus, sapiens, et Christiaiuis Princeps velit ponderare. Oramus quoque Deum, uL velit Cel- situdinem vestram duceie ac regere ad stiam laudem et vestrae Celsitu- dinis animse salutem. XXII I. Quod attinet ad consilium banc rem aputl Caj.sarem tractandi ; existimamus ilium, adulterium inter minora peccata numerare ; nam mag- that you lived with a secure con- science, and lalwred for the salvation of your own .soul, and the welfaie of your subjects. XXI. But after all, if your High ness is fully resolved to many a sec- ond wife, we judge it ought to be done secretly, as we have said with respect to the dispen.sation demanded on the same account, that '.s, that none but the person you shall wed, and a few trusty persons, know of the matter, and they, too, obliged to secrecy under the seal of confession. Hence no contradiction nor scandal of moment is to be apprehended ; for it is no extraordinary thing for princes to keep concubines ; and though the vulgar should be scandal- ized thereat, the more intelligent would doubt of the truth, and pru- dent persons would approve of this moderate kind of life, preferably to adultery, and other brutal actions. There is no need of being much con- cerned for what men will say, pro- vided all goes right with conscience. So far do we approve it, and in those circumstances only by us specified , for the gospel hath neither recalled nor forbid what was permitted in the law of Moses with respect to mar- riage. Jesus Christ has not changed the external economy, but added jus- tice only, and life everlasting, for re- ward. He teaches the true way of obeying God, and endeavors to repair the corruption of nature. XXII. Your Highness hath there- fore, in this writing, not only the ap- probation of us all, in case of neces- sity, concerning what you desire, but also the reflections we have made thereupon ; we beseech you to weigh them, as becoming a virtuous, wise, and Christian prince. We also beg of God to direct all for his glory and your Highness's salvation. XXIII. As to your Highness's thought of communicating tliis afKvir to the emperor tefore it be concluded ; seems to us that this prince counts BIGAMY OF LANDGRAVE 0? HESSE. 491 nopere yerendum, ilium Papistica, CardinalitiH, Italic 'i, Hispanic'i, Sara- cenic&. imbutinn fide, noii curaturuni vestrae Celsitudinis postulatum, et in propriuin omoluineiitmn vanis verbis sustentaturum, sicut iriteiligimus per- fiduin ac fallacem vinnu esse, moris- que Germanici oblitum. XXTV. Videt Celsitudo vestra ipsa, qund nuUis necessitatibus Chris- tianis sincere consulit. Turcam «init impei'turbatuni, excitat tantum rebel- liones in Gei'niani\ ut Biu'gundicam potentiam etferat. Quare optandum ut nuUi Christiani Principes illius infidis machinationibus se niisceant. Deus conservct vestram Celsitudi- nem. Nos ad serviendum vestrae Celsitudini sumus promptissimi. Da- tum Vittenbergaj, die Mercurii post festum Sancti Nicolai, 1539. Vestrse Celsitudinis parati ac subjecti servi, Martinus Luther. Philippus Melancthon. Martixus Bucerus. ■ Antonius Corvinus. Adam. Joannes Leningus. Justus Wintferte. DiONYSius Melanther. adultery among the lesser scirts of sins ; and it is very much to be feared lest his faith being of the same stamp with that of the Pope, the Cardinals, the Italians, the Spaniards, and the Saracens, he make light of your Highness's proposal, and turn it to his own advantage by amusing j'our Highness with vain words. We know he is deceitful and perfidious, and has nothing of the German in him. XXIV. Your Highness sees, that he uses no sincere endeavor to redress the grievances of Christendom ; that he leaves the Turk unmolested, and labors for nothing but to divide the empire, that he may raise up the house of Austria on its ruins. It is therefore ver}' much to be wished that no Christian prince would give into his pernicious schemes. May God preserve j'our Highness. We are most read}^ to serve 3'our High- ness. Given at Wittenberg the Wednesday after the feast of Saint Nicholas, 1539. Your Highness's most humble and most obedient subjects and ser- vants, Martin Luther. Philip Melancthon. Martin Bucer. Antony Corvin. Adam. John Leningue. Justus Wintferte. Denis Melanther. CEETIFICATE OF THE NOTAKY PUBLIC. Ego Georgius Nuspicher, accepta a Csesare potestate, Notarius publi- cus et Scriba, testor hoc meo chiro- grapho public (' qu ~;d hjnc copiam ex vero et inviolato originali proprii manu a Philippo Melancthone exar- ato, ad instantiam et petitionem mei clementissimi Domini et Principis Hassiae ipse scrii)serim, et quinque foliis numero except i inscriptione coraplexus sim, etiam omnia proprio et diligenter auscult'irim et contu I George Nuspicher, Notary Im- perial, bear testimony by this present act, written and signed with my own hand, that I have transcribed this present copy from the true original which is in Melancthon's own hand- writing, and hath been faithfully pre- serveil to this present time, at the rei]uest of the most serene Prince of Hesse ; and have examined with the greatest exactness every line and every word, and collated them with 492 NOTE C. leriin, et in omnibus cum original! et subscriptione nominum concordet. De quS, re tester propria manu. Georqiup jJ^uspicher, Notarius the same original ; and have founo them conformable thereunto, not only in the things themselves, but also in the signs manual, and have delivered the present copy in five leaves of good paper, whereof I bear witness. George Nuspicher, Notary. III.— DOCUMENT IN LATIN AND ENGLISH, Instrumentum Copulationis Philippi Landgravii, et Margaretae de Saal. In nomine Domini Amen. Notum sit omnibus et singulis, qui hoc pi.blicum instrumentum vident, audiunt, legunt, qu'id Anno post Christum natum 1540, die Mercurii mensis Martii, post meridiem circa secundam circiter, Indictionis Anno 13, potentissimi et invictissimi Ro- manorum Imperatoris Caroli-quinti, clementissimi nostri Domini Anno reginiinis 21, coram me infrascripto Notario et teste, Rotemburgi in arce comparuerint serenissimus Princeps et Dominus Philippus Landgravius Comes in Catznelenbogen, Dietz, Zie- genhain, et Nidil •, cum aliquibus suae Celsitudinis consiliariis ex unk parte ; et honesta, ac virtuosa Virgo Marga- reta de Saal, cum aliquibus ex sua consanguinitate ex alteri parte ; ilia intentione et voluntate coram me publico Notario ac teste publice con- fessi sunt, ut matrimonio copulentur ; et postea ante memoratus mens cle- mentissimus Dominus et Princeps Landgravius Philippus per Reveren- dum Dominum Dionysium Meland- rumsuEe Celsitudinis Concionatorem, curavit proponi fernxi' hunc sensum. Cum omnia aperta sint oculis Dei, et homines pauca lateant, et sua Celsi- tudo velit cum nominate virgine Mar- garet'i matrimonio copulari, etsi prior suae Celsitudinis conjux adhuc sit in vivis, ut hoc nc n tribuatur levitati et cariositati, ut evitetur scandalum, et The Marriage Contract of Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, with Mar- garet de Saal. In the name of God, Amen. Be it known to all those, as well in general as in particular, who shall see, hear, or read this public instru- ment, that in the year 1540, on Wednesday, the fourth day of the month of March, at two o'clock or thereabouts, in the afternoon, the thirteenth year of the Indiction, and the twenty-first of the reign of the most puissant and most victorious Emperor Charles V., our most gra- cious lord ; the most serene Prince and Lord Philip Landgrave of Hesse, Count of Catznelenbogen, of Dietz, of Ziegenhain, and Nidda, with some of his Highness's Counselors, on one side, and the good and virtuous Lady Margaret de Saal with some of her relations, on the other side, have ap- peared before me, Notary, and wit- ness underwritten, in the city of Ro- tenburg, in the castle of the same city, with the design and will pub- licly declared before me. Notary public and witness, to unite them- selves by marriage ; and accordingly my most gracious Lord and Prince Philip the Landgrave hath ordered this to be proposed bj' the Reverend Denis Melander, preacher to his Highness, much to the sense as fol- lows : — " Whereas the eye of God searches all things, and but little escapes the knowledge of men, his Highness declares that his will is to BIGAMY OF LANDGRAVE OF HESSE.. 493 nominatae virgini« et illius honestae consanguinitatis honor et faina non patiatur ; edicit sua Celsitudo hie co- ram Deo, et in suam conscientiam et animam hoc non fieri ex levitate, aut curiositate, nee ex aliqua vilipensione juris et superiorum, sed argeri aU- quibus gravibus et inevitabilibus ne- cessitatibus conscientiae et corporis, adeo ut irapossibile sit sine alia su- perinducta legitima conjuge corpus suura et animam salvare. Quam multiplicera causam ctiam sua Celsi- tudo multis praedoctis, piis, prudenti- bus, et Christianis Pr«dicatoribus antehac indicavit, qui etiam con- sideratis inevitabilibus caiisis id ipsum suaserunt ad sua3 Celsitu- dinis animge et eonscientiie con- sulendum. Quae causa et neces- sitas etiam Serenissimam Princi- pem Christianam Ducissam Saxoniae, suae Celsitudinis primam legitimam conjugem, utpot? alt\ principali pru- deutia et \r.k mente praeditam novit, ut suae Celsitudinis tanquam dilectis- simi mariti animae et corpori serviret, et honor Dei promoveretur ad gra- tiose consentiendum. Quemadrao- dum suse Celsitudinis hase super relata syngrapha testatur ; et ne cui scandalura detur eo quod duas con- juges habere moderno tempore sit insolitum ; etsi in hoc casu Chris- tianum et licitum sit, non vult sua Celsitudo i)ublice coram pluribus consuetas ceremonias usurpare, et pal am nuptias celebrare cum memo- rata virgine Margarets de Saal ; sed hie in privato et silentio in praesentia subscriptorum testium volunt invi- cem jungi matrimonio. Finito hoc sermone nominati Philippus et Mar- gareta sunt matrimonio juncti, et unaquaeque persona alteram sibi des- ponsam agnovit et acceptavit, adjunc- ta mutua fidelitatis promissione in nomine Domini. Et antememoratus princeps ac Dominus ante hunc ac- tum me infrascriptum Notarium re- quisivit, ut desuper unum aut plura instrumenta conficerem, et mihi etiam tanquam personie publicae, verbo ac wed the said Lady Margaret de Saal, although the princess his wife b3 still living, and that this action may not be imputed to inconstancy or curi- osity ; to avoid scandal and maintain the honor of the said Lady, and the reputation of her kindred, his High- ness makes oath here before God, and upon his soul and conscience, that he takes her to wife through no levity nor curiosity, nor from any contempt of law, or superiors ; but that he is obliged to it by such important, such inevitable necessities of body and conscience, that it is impossible for him to save either body or soul, with- out adding another wife to his first All which his Highness hath laiU before many learned, devout, prudent, and Christian preachers, and consulted them upon it. And these great men, after examining the motives repre- sented to them, have advised his Highness to put his soul and con- science at ease by this double mar- riage. And the same cause and the same necessity have obliged the most serene Princess, Christina Duchess of Saxony, his Highness's first lawful wife, out of her great prudence and sincere devotion, for which she is so much to be commended, freely to consent and admit of a partner, to the end that the soul and body of her most dear spouse may run no further risk, and the glory of God may be increased, as the deed writ- ten with this Princess's own hand suflBciently testifies. And lest occa- sion of scandal be taken from its not being the custom to have two wives, although this be Christian and law- ful in the present case, his Highness will not solemnize these nuptials iu the ordinary way, that is, publicly before many people, and with the wonted ceremonies, with the said Margaret de Saal ; but both the one and the other will join themselves in wedlock, privately and without noise, in presence only of the wit- nesses underwritten." — After Me- lander had finished his discourse, the 494 NOTE C. fide Principis adrlixit ac promisit, se omnia ha^c inviolabilittr semper ac firmiter servaturum, in prajsentia reverendorum piiedoctorum Domin- orum M. Philippi Melancthonis, M. Martini Buceri, Dionysii Melandri, etiam in prajsentia strenuorum ac prjcstantium Eberhardi de Than Electoralis Consiliarii, Hormanni de Malsborg, Hermanni de Hundelshau- 3en, Domini Joannis Fegg Cancel- larise, Lodolphi Schenck. ac honestae ac virtuostB Domina) Annte natae de Miltitz viduiti defuncti Joannis de Saal memorata3 sponsr, you perform those things, which you could not per- form were not God with you; nemo enim potest haec signa facere quce tufaciSf nisifuerit Deus cum eo. ^ IV. God can not impose upon man a religion which is incom- patible with his nature ; to suppose the contrary is to doubt the infinite wisdom of the Most High. Now, which, Protestantism or Catholicity, is the most adapted to our nature. This, Gentlemen, the following remarks will decide : 1, I maintain, in the first place, that man is necessarily an instructed being, that his mind left to its own force could never arrive at the knowledge of certain truths. Now, if there are any truths which are too elevated for the human * Du Doute, par M. Henri de Cossoles. * He who worketh miracles in My name can not at the same time speak ill of me. — St. Mark, ix, 38. '' St. John, iij, -A. 520 NOTE D. reason to grasp by itself, they are certainly these wiiich have reference to the supernatural order. However, these truths of a supernatural order Protestant- ism does not desire to teach, she offers them for free examina- tion, she says to each individual, giving him the Bible: read, reason, and decide for yourself. "All the societies separated from the Catholic Church," said Feuelon, " found their separation but upon the offer of making each individual absolute judge of the Scriptures, and of making him see that the Gospel contradicts the Roman Religion. The first step an individual is compelled to make in order to hearken to these sects, is to constitute himself judge between them and the Church which they have abandoned. Now, what ignorant woman, or what artisan, can say without appearing ridiculous and presumptuous, I am going to examine if the Catholic Church has well interpreted the text of the Scriptures?" ^ Permit me here to make a little digression. Can that igno- rant woman and that artisan be mistaken in their interpreta- tion, yes or no ? If they can, then Protestantism may be in error, and consequently it is not the true religion. If they cannot, you then declare that infallibility can exist in a human being, and why then do you proclaim that it is absurd, morally speaking, that the Pope should be infallible. Let us make now a supposition. Here is a man with a narrow, uninformed mind, but who, however, can read. He has an immortal soul, as precious in the sight of God as any other, and of course he has the same right to the truth. But now how will he acquire it? By himself? He is not capable, or he is infallible. By the teaching of a friend or a minister? But then he acquires his knowledge no longer by a free exami- nation, but by tradition. Thus there is no alternative, the ignorant must either give up all hope of ever knowing the truth, or tradition will replace free examination, and if it is thus, a free examination is not necessary; and if it is not neces- 1 LeUer on Religion, by Fenelon. ROME AND GENEVA. 521 sary, why adopt it as the fundamental principle of your religion, and reject tradition? Let us continue, and instead of an ignorant man, let us take the most learned in the world. Now there he is with the Bible and his reason and, as a good Protestant, rejecting of course tradition. But before he opens the Book, as a reason- able man, he projioses to himself this question: Why do I take this Book as a guide for my faith ? Because it is tlie inspi- ration of God. But how do I know it is an inspired work? It is not by myself; neither my reason nor a free examination could teach it to me, but it is a faith which has been trans- mitted. And if that belief has been transmitted to me, it is necessary, then, that I should take for my point of departure tradition. Thus again there is no alternative, tliis man is either compelled not to open the Bible at all, and, therefore, not to have any faith, or he must violate the fundamental principles of Protestantism to be a Protestant. These are tlie horrible contradictions to which Protestant- ism leads, in refusing to give to man what is most necessary to him, oral instruction. The Catholic Church, on the contrary, commands our rea- son to submit to revealed instruction ; she forbids our narrow minds to discuss what has been ordained by divine wisdom; she wishes us to accept a holy doctrine in crying with all our sincerity : Credo — I believe ! And do not say, that this sub- mission of the mind degrades man, since it elevates him to the divine region of eternal and infinite truths, whilst your pride or pedantry, Avhich wishes to discuss and decide all, condemns you to error. It is thus, that the doctrine of the Church is transmitted from generation to generation always pure, always intact, always true and always holy, as in the time of Jesus Christ. It is thus, that truth is in the reach of both the learned and the ignorant. It is thus, that the simplest child and the poorest woman, when they know their catechism, have more perfect ideas of the Divinity, than those which the most per- fect reason or the genius of Socrates and Plato can ever give, 522 NOTE D. and it is tlius that child and woman can cry from the depth of their hearts : "Confileor tlbi, Pater, Domine coeli et terrce, quia abscondisti hcec a sapientibus, et prudentibus, et revdasti ea parvuUs/' "I confess to thee, oh Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things from the great and prudent ones and revealed them to the little ones. ^ 2. Man, on account of the imperfections of his nature, is inclined to sin. And what does Protestantism do to raise up the poor fallen soul ? A man has fallen. What Protestant pastor will go to reclaim the lost sheep? What friendly hand will be stretched forth to aid him ? What voice will be raised to forgive him ? Poor miserable creature! He is condemned to a continual remembrance of his crime, to perpetual reproach, torment, and shame ! During the day he can find no repose ; at night no sleep ; unceasing remorse ! Horrible suffering which can only end with life. But in the Catholic Church there is a tribunal of mercy, where the sinner comes to throw himself at the feet of a spiritual father crying : Father forgive me ; I have sinned ! And then the hand of a Priest is raised over the head of the guilty to absolve him from his sins. Ah ! that revolution which is creating such excitement in England, that cry almost unanimous demanding a confessor, that enthusiasm with which the tribunals of penance have been erected in mnny churches, all attest how the conscience is oppressed, when the penitent can not find a place to pour forth his soul's sorrow, a voice to pardon, a hand to absolve. 3. " You must count on your weakness in temptation and also in grief," says the pious author of Consolation for the Suffering. ^ In fact, man is comdemned to misery, to tears and to suffering, and the soul without a support must succumb under the weight of its sufferings. Now what consolation or support does Protestantism offer to the afflicted ? Its temples are nearly always shut, and the ' Matthew, xi, 25, ami St. Luke, x, 21. = Rev. Abbe Nambride de Nigri. ROME AND GENEVA. 523 poor miserable sinner can not visit them to weep in silence: its churches are naked, empty, and more melancholy even than their silence and solitude! The sinner at least will find in his faith some hope of reward; but no, works are useless, and consequently patience, resignation, submission to the will of God, are acts null and without merit. And thus the poor heart must remain without consolation ; happy, if it does not fall into blasphemy and despair, which leads to suicide. And then if poverty is devoid of merit, the poor envy the rich ; if humility is worthless, those whose duty it is to obey will revolt against their masters, and confusion and ruin in society must follow. Oh! all of you who weep, all of you, who are poor, sorrow- ful, broken hearts, it is to the Catholic Church that you should come ; she alone pours the divine balm of consolation into every wound, lightens every burden, and comforts every heart. She opens her churches for you to pray, because she knows that man is always in need of aid and consolation, and that prayer is the best means to obtain these blessings. Then, the Church yet assists us by her faith. " Happy are those who weep, happy are those who suifer ; for theirs' is the kingdom of heaven." And the suffering heart knowing this, is resigned, it blesses its oppressors because it hopes for an eternal reward; the poor do not envy the rich, the feeble do not hate the powerful, and thus society is never troubled. 4. Man is governed by certain moral obligations. There is a secret voice within him, which tells him to act when he would do good, and which forbids him when he would do evil. But Protestantism says to its followers : faith alone is suffi- cient without works ; man is not in the least responsible for his actions. - Consider, for an instant, the perplexity of an honest and virtuous Protestant, who wishes to do something forbidden by the moral law and permitted by the doctrine of his religion. How will he reconcile a formal prohibition with a formal per- mission? How will he act ? "What part will he take? He does not know, and his heart remains in a cruel suspense and uncertainty. 524 NOTE D. The principles of the Catholic Church, on the contrary, arc perfectly conformable with the moral law ; they are, in fact, but a complement and perfection of the moral law. If you but do what the Church commands, you will be in perfect peace. Then, either the moral law comes from God, or it does not. • If it does not, will you explain by what natural causes, by what means purely human it is the same in all nations, in all places and all times? This you can never do. If it has its origin in Him, Protestantism has not; because the principles and doctrine of the Protestant Church are in contradiction with the moral law, and God can not contradict Himself. What ! Jesus Christ, who came upon earth to instruct man, to redeem the world, to console the afflicted, and to give us a moral law, could He, divinely perfect, establish a Eeligion in which divine teaching is rejected, the power to forgive sins denied, in which our .sufferings are not appeased^ and the . moral law is disregarded? Again, could God commit such errors ? Could He have purposes opposed to one another ? Who M'ould dare sustain an impiety evidently so absurd? And yet Protestantism leads to all this. 5. Let us then give the conclusion to which these facts must logically bring us. God can not impose upon man a Religion incompatible with his nature. Now, Catholicity is suitable to man's nature; Protestant- ism is not. Therefore, Catholicity is truly a divine Religion ; Protest- antism is not. V. Of all the religions that exist, there is and can be but one true one ; because truth is one. The true Church should naturally, and I might say neces- sarily, be hated by all the others, and should combat victori- ously against them all. ROME AND GENEVA. 525 JSTow, what Church is held in horror by all the sects, and struggles continually and victoriously against them? It is the Catholic Church. Therefore the Catholic Church is the true one. This universal hatred, which so plainly indicates^the truth and holiness of the Catholic Religion, can easily be proved. 1. Eighteen hundred years have passed, since Jesus Christ spoke to the Prince of the Apostles these memorable words : "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." ^ And, for eighteen hundred years, these words of our Saviour have each day been solemnly fulfilled.^ Hell has put all its infernal machinery in operation ; it has exercised all its rage, displayed all its hate; it has created tem- pests, excited revolts; but its rage and hate have produced no effect ; its tempests and revolts have broken powerless against the rock upon -which reposes the Catholic Church. If, however, at times the Church seemed to be perishing, anrl the faithful raised their hands towards heaven crying: " Dom'ine, salva nos, jjerimus ; Lord save us, we perish" ^ — God replied to them, " Why fear ye, quid timidl estis ? " ^ " And at His voice the winds and the sea were quieted, and there came a great calm, et facta est trrmquUlitas magna." * The preservation of the Church attested the greatness of the protection of God, in proportion as the danger was threatening. 2. For eighteen hundred years the Church has existed ; for eighteen hundred years the cry has been raised continually : " The Church is falling ! " " The Church is dying ! " Yet she remains full of life and vigor, erect among the ruins of thrones and the destruction of nations. She has seen the throne of the Caesars crumble into dust. She has seen the ineffective rage of Constantius, of Julian the Apostate, and of the Iconoclasts. She has seen the barbarous hordes of the ferocious Attila dispersed. She has seen the Huns, the Goths, the Visigoths, « Matth., xvi, 18. »Matth., viii, 25. a Matth., viii, 26. « Matth., viii, 26. 6 526 NOTE D. the Normans, the Lombards, and the Vandals successively disappear. She has seen the cimetar drop from the enfeebled hands of the Moslems. She has seen the crown fall from the head of the Henrys and the Fredericks. She has seen the formidable power of the Albigenses and the Waldeuses pass away. She has seen enkindled and extinguished all the succes- sive revolutions. She has seen the birth of all the heresies and of all the persecutions, and she has assisted at their death. Now, if all this is not a visible sign of the protection of God, I will ask you to explain in a manner merely human, how so much feebleness has conquered so much force? 3. The world lived in corruption, vice, and debauchery, and the Church came and told this degraded world : you gratify the flesh, you must mortify it ; you lived in pleasure, you must live in temperance ; you are voluptuous, be chaste ; you are proud, be humble ; you seek riches, desire poverty ; you contemn the poor, love them as your brothers ; you hate your enemies, love them as yourself. And the Avorld sub- mitted! In vain, during three centuries, the Caesars employed all their force to drown in blood the yet infant Church : the martyr's blood was a fruitful seed to produce Christians. And again, if this is not a visible mark of the protection of God, I will ask you to explain, in a manner merely human, how the conquest, not only of nations, but, what is far more difficult, of so many souls, was made by a few illitei'ate men armed with the cross alone ? Ah ! but it is not in this manner that Protestantism was established. That religion, in which according to Bucer's avowal, " nothing was sought so much as the pleasure of living in it according to one's fancy,'^ could never subdue by quiet- ing conscience except through violence. It was with fire and the sword, that the reformers and their disciples evangelized nations. 4. Now, Gentlemen, I defy you to find in history a single epoch, at which the Church had not to contend either against the hate of persecutors, of princes, of heretics, or of infidels. ROME AND GENEVA. 527 And do you think that, if the Catholic Church is not really a divine institution, she could have overcome so much hate? that, when the most powerful thrones crumbled into dust, she alone, without any human support or force, could have come forth victorious from so many combats ? And do you think that, if the Catholic Church is not really the true one, she could ha\ v3 survived those terrible wars waged against her by all false religions, sects, and heresies? The Ebionites, the Nazarenes, the Cerinthians, the Docetes, the Gnostics, the Montanists, and the Manicheans, have all passed away, attest- ing at the same time the impotency of their hate and the strength of the Church. After them, Arius, Macedonius, Pelagius, Nestorius, and Eutyches, attacked the Church, but their impotent hatred was but another proof of her veracity. 5. Even in our own days, is not the Catholic Church the hated object of all the sects, and of all the powers of the earth ? And in order to ruin her, do they not wish to destroy her visible foundation, the Papacy? Look at that august and venerable sovereign at the Vatican ? Seated upon the Pon- tifical throne, he extends his hand to bless the world, and the world curses him ; he loves the world, and the world hates him ; he desires to save the Avorld, and the world swears his ruin. How often have not the mountains of Italy heard the cry : "War against the Papacy, Rome or death ! and the echoes from all parts of the world have repeated the cry. But the Pope, calm and serene in the midst of the tempest, defied the revolution and convoked an CEcumenical Council. Who would have thought. Gentlemen, two years ago, when Pope Pius IX. made that magnificent appeal to the Bishops of the entire world, that at the time fixed, the 8th day of December, 1869, Rome would still be the Pontifical city, the bulwark of Catholicity ? Who would have thought that the Papacy would still remain erect, and that that feeble and aged man would still see the world at his feet? Impiety laughed at so much audacity : because it considered victory certain. To-day it is enraged: because it feels itself conquered. 528 NOTE D. Where is the boasting General, who, at the Congress of Geneva, declared so solemnly, the Papacy has fallen ? ^ He conceals his shame in some obscure retreat, now that his sword has been broken at Monte-Hotondo and Mentana. Did he not know, tluit God destroys the great as pots of clay, and that he crushes the proud as grapes in a press ? 6. You desire Rome : take it, . . . what stops you ? Does that old man without force, whose life is almost ended, frighten you? Do you fear that small bond, which has ranged itself under the standard of the Catholic Church ? Without doubt they are heroes; but you have thousands of soldiers and assas- sins, and you can crush those heroes by numbers, as at Castel- fidardo, and make martyrs of them.^ Do you fear France? But France is assuredly not invincible, and perhaps, not in- flexible : and then, there is so much hatred in France against the Pope. What stops you then ? You do not know your- selves, but I know : it is the hand of God. The past makes us sure of the future. Forty-five times the Popes have left Rome, and forty-five times they have re-entered it. And if God in His wisdom should permit His Church to suffer again such tribulations, if He wish that His Vicar should again go into exile, to seek among strangers that hospitality which his own people deny him, we will say with resignation : " Thy will be done Oh Lord ! fiat voluntas tua." And our saddened hearts will be consoled ; for God never deceives, and Jesus Christ has said : " And behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of time — et ecce ego vobisoum sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem SCBCUIL" ^ 7. It is easily seen, that there is not a Religion which depends less upon human power for jirotection than the Catholic Religion. 1 "The Papacy is declared abolished," words of Garibaldi. 2 Since the above was written, the Florentine government has wickedly repeated, and by overpowering force of arms completed the work of spoliation begun at Castel- fidardo; but the iniquity cannot be enduring. Two hundred million Catholics cannot, will not permit the Pope to remain long a prisoner, in the hands of his enemies. 3 St. Matth., xxviii, 20. ROME AND GENEVA. 529 Protestantism has for its support England, Prussia, Sweden, and Holland. The Greeks have for defense the sword of the Czars. Islaraisni is protected by the Sultans. Catholicity alone is left to itself, without any human pro- tection. Show me a single State, a single Prince who really defends it without reserve and through conviction ? There is not one. Nay, not only there are none to sustain it ; but you see directed against it the hate of kings and nations, who desire to destroy it by undermining its immovable base, the Papacy. And yet the Catholic Church stands always erect ; waving in the face of the world her victorious banner, the cross, and defying the wrath, the rage, and the hatred of ' lankind. When you see so much human power humbled by such feeble- ness, how can you not recognize the hand of God? And if God protects the Catholic Church, how is it you can not see that she is really the true Church, and the guardian of the pure doctrine of Jesus Christ? But I will conclude. Gentlemen. If I have spoken, it was not because I hoped to convince minds already convinced, but systematically incredulous. These words will perhaps sur- prise you ; however, I utter them not at hazard ; for I think that serious and instructed men, that ministers, above all, who have spent their lives in the study of the Gospel and of his- tory, and whose minds must have examined all religious ques- tions, can not be ignorant of the absurdities and contradictions which are found in Protestantism. If I have spoken, it was with the hope of showing to those who have heard your lectures, that your words i^ossess not the least truth, and that the applause, which you have attained, has been bought by vile abuse and base calumny. Again, if I have spoken, it was not because I was unable to contain my indignation ; for what is contemptible merits only contempt. But I considered it the duty of every good Catholic to show those who triumph at your lectures, and think that we have been astounded and confused by your sophistry, that it is not sufficient to falsify history to destroy the truth. 530 NOTE D. But as to yourselves, Gentlemen, remember that God will one day demand of you an account of the talent Avhich you have received, and if you have received much, that much will be demanded of you. Take care, God is the God of clemency and forgiveness ; but He is also the God who punishes. Take care, His anathemas are terrible. He who gives scan- dal, let him be anathema! He who deceives his brother, let him be anathema! He who disregards the truth, let him be anathema ! He who flatters the human passions, let him be anathema ! He who is proud, let him be anathema ! He who seeks human applause, in calumniating the Religion of God, let him be anathema ! In conclusion, let me ask of the God of mercies to open your eyes, touch your hearts, and give you the courage to defend what you have contended against, and to contend against what you have defended. This is my most fervent desire, my most ardent wish. Receive, Gentlemen, the assurance of my respect; and believe that these pages have not been dictated by passion or malice, but by the desire of destroying old prejudices, and of showing the truth to the poor souls who know it not. A Student of Law. Geneva^ 1870. END OP VOLUME I. THE HISTOKT OF THE Protestant Reformation. I N Germany and Switzerland. AND IN England, Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, France, and Northern Europe. In a Series of Essavs,- Reviewing D'Aubigne, Menzel, Hallam, Bishop Short, Prescott, Ranke, Frtxell, and Others. IN TWO VOLUMES. By M. J. Spalding, D. D. ARCHBisnop OP Baltimore. ATol. II. Reformation in England, Ireland, Scotland, the Nether- lands, France, and Northern Europe. Twelfth Edition, Revised and Enlarged, BALTIMORE: Published by John Murphy & Co. 182 Baltimore Street. Entered, according; to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by Rt. Rev. M. J. Spalding, in the Clerk's Office of tlio District Court of the United States for the District of Kentucky. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S75, by JOHN MURPIl r, in ihe Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Preface to Volume II. IN this Volume, I have endeavored to trace the history of the Protes* tant Heformation in the principal European countries outside of Germany and Switzerland. As, among these, England and its dependencies possess most interest for the American or English reader, more space in proportion has been devoted to the history of the Anglican Schism than to that of any other European country. Besides an introduction, in which the religious his- tory of England preliminary to the Eeformation is discussed, four Chap- ters arc devoted to the English Reformation, besides separate Chapters on the Reformation in Scotland and Ireland. The statements of the great English historian, Lingard, are shown to be substantially confirmed by ilallam, Macaulay, Eichop Short, Sir James Mackintosh, Agnes Strick- land, and other accredited Protestant historians; and, unless I am grcatlv mistaken, it will bo seen from the comparison of authorities, that not one important fact alleged by Lingard has ever been successfully contro- verted, even by the most determined opponents of the Catholic Church. The excellent Miss Strickland, in her Lives of the English and Scottish Queens, has incidcntly thrown much additional light on what may be called the internal history of the Anglican and Scottish Reformation. Though a decided Protestant, she has done justice to the memory of Mary of England and of Mary of Scotland : and also, in another sense, to Queen Elizabeth and John Knox. Availing herself with much indus- try and fidelity of her ample opportunities for investigation, she has published several new documents from the English State Paper Office ; and, what is still better and more commendable, she has dared tell a considerable portion of the truth, in spite of fashionable obloquy and stcrcolype misrepresentation. She has drawn, what might be called a Dcfjucrrcoiype Ulcncss of John Knox in his relations with Mary Stuart, whom the Scottish -reformer fiercely hunted to death in the name of the Religion of lovo ! In the Chapter on the fruitless attempts to thrust the Reformation on Ireland, I have endeavored to present, on the most unexceptional Pro- tcstnnt authority, together with a summary of the principal facts, a con- densed but somewhat detailed account of the truly infamous Penal Code enacted by the British parliament against the members of the ancient Church in that faithful Island, which, in spite of almost incredible hard- ships and the most atrocious persecutions, has preserved untarnished the precious jewel of faith bequeathed to her by St. Patrick. The Chapter on the Reformation in the Netherlands is a Review of Prescott's Philip II. ; and it presents an appreciation of the stern Spanish monarch and of his cruel lieutenant Alva, together with a portraiture of the atrocities committed against the Catholics by the Dutch Calvinists, who are shown to have raged more fiercely than Alva himself. The history of the French Huguenots, together with that of the great central iv PREFACE. tragedy in this history — the Massacre of St. Batholoinew — is sketched in the Chapter on the French lleformation, which is a llcvicw of Ranke's History of the Civil Wars of France. It will be seen, that Catholics have nothing whatsoever to fear from the verdict of history, even as the facts are furnished by Protestant historians, in the comparison between the cruelties committed by the French Ilugucnots and those charged on their opponents. Two Chapters are devoted to the Reformation in Northern Europe. These review the statements of the Protestant historians of Sweden, Pryxell and Geijer, and present a summary account of the manner in which the Reformation was introduced into Denmark, Norway, and Iceland. Here, as elsewhere, I have relied chiefly on Protestant autho- rity, copious extracts from which I have sought to interweave with the narrative. In the eight Notes appended to this Volume, the reader will find sev- eral useful and interesting documents confirmatory of the statements made in the text ; besides some brief Essays on important matter con- nected with the history of the Reformation in England and Scotland. To the lovers of historic truth I confidently present these Essays, com- posed with the sincere desire of exhibiting the Protestant Reformation in its true light. Those who have derived their information on this import- ant subject from prejudiced or partisan writers owe it to themselves, as well as to the cause of justice and truth, to examine the other side. Though I have written plainly, I trust that I have employed no lan- guage which may be justly construed qs harsh or offensive, and that I have sought to meet fairlj' and roundly, if summarily, the various issues of fact and argument presented by the great religious revolution of the sixteenth century. Balti.moiie, Easter Monday, lS65. Announcement op a New Edition. AncHBisnop Spalding had intended to issue a complete and uniform edition of all his worlcs ; and he was occupied with this task when his last illness came upon him. The new and revised edition of the IIistoky OF THE Refokmation, the Evidences of Catholicity, and the Mis- cellanea, which is now offered to the Public, was prepared by Arch- bishop Spalding himself — the corrections and additions being from his own hand. To the Evidences of Catholicity, as the reader will perceive, he has added his Pastoral Letter on the Infallibility of the Pope; and to the History of the Reformation, he has appended an Article entitled: Rome a7id Geneva. The Lifo of Bishop Flagct and the Sketches of Kentucky, which Archbishop Spalding intended to rc-writo and publish in one volume, arc not contained in present edition of his works, since the corrections and additions, which it had been his purpose ta make, are incomplete. Baltimore, t^cpt. S, lS7o. Contents of Yolume II. INTRODUCTION. England before the Reformation, pp. 17-58. Preliminary view useful 17 Earl.v rrlitjious history of England 18 EngliiiKi iiiilflitod for every thing to Rome... 18 Testimony of liishoj) Short 21 Her conversion tlirough St. Gregory the Great 23 The early British Churches 23 Their controversv with iSt. Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury 23 Morality of their Clergy 24 GiUlas 24 Massacre of British Monks 24 The Anglo-Saxon Church 25 St. Wilfrid 26 Testimony of Bishop Short 26 St. Dunstan 28 The Primacy recognized 28 Nomination of Bishops 29 Gruwini; en roachments of the Civil power... 30 Under tlu- .Vuf^lo-Saxon Princes 30 Anil uiiilcr till- Xiirnian Kings 30 Archbishi.ps of Canterbury 30 Lantiane and \\ illiani the Conqueror 31 William Rufiis and St.Anselm 33 Varied fortunes and persecution of St.An- selm 34 Two English Piime Ministers, Flambard and Cromwell, compared 34 General remarks and inferences 37 St. Thomas a Hecket 38 And St. Kdmund Rich 40 Increasiuf; assiimiitions of English Kings 41 Statute (it I'nivisors 41 And of Pra'iuuuire 41 Dr. Lingard reviewed 45 And Bisho]) Short quoted on Investitures.... 46 The Primacy always recognized 47 Superiority of the Bishops named by Rome.. 47 Protestant authority 48 Cardinal l^angton 48 And Lanfranc 48 Simon of Sudbury. 49 And William of vVykeham 49 Monastic Chronicles 50 Curious developments 50 And tragical incidents 50 Modern histiiric justice 53 The true key to the contests between Eng- lish Kings and Roman Pontiffs in mid- dle ages 54 Eve of the Reformation 54 Spirit of servility and slavery increasing 54 Recapitulation 55 CHAPTER I. Henry VIII. and Edward VI., pp. 59-119. The way now prepared The "pear ripe" Henry VIII. the founder of the English Reformation Two theories One of them refuted And the other defended Bishop Short And the B..nk of Homilies Wliat we ]iri)pose to examine Five (|uestions Was Henry sincere? Auspicious beginning of his reign Defender of the Faith The Divorce Henry's scruples Anne Boleyn Sir James Mackintosh and Miss Strickland.. The Sweating Sickness a test D'Aubigne's moral standard Heroism of Clement VII Noble answer of Campeggio Cardinal Wolsey Thomas Cromwell Was Henry licentious and cruel? Treatment of his six wives Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, and Catha- rine Howard Satanic cons])iracy Catharine Parr Was Henry a tyrant? Confiscation of monasteries Bishop Short testifies again Protestant testimony 84 Exorliitant taxation 86 Atrocious tyranny 86 Trampling on ancient Catholic liberties of England 86 Hallam's testimony 87 Means of Reformation 90 CromwelPs advice 91 Royal supremacy 91 Cromwell Vicar-General 93 Degradation of bishops 93 Testimony of Bishop Short 94 Imaginary and real despotism 94 Horrid butcheries 95 Fisher and More 95 Pole's brother and relatives 96 And his mother 96 The Friars Peyto and Elstow 98 Hallam's testimony 100 Bishop Short on Henry's murders 100 A system of espionage established 101 Curious examples 101 Froude's idea of law 102 His defending Henry VIII. and persecution.. 102 Character of the Anglican Reformation 103 The Six Articles 104 Catholics and Protestants butchered to- gether 105 Cranmer aids and abets 105 Edward VI ., 107 Reformation has now an open field 107 Cranmer and Somerset 107 Gradual Reformation 108 CONTENTS. Book of Common Prayer 108 And Articlfs of KcliHioii lOS Iniiuit-itioii cstablislied lO'.l Joan lioilKT iHiini'd lO'.l Ilcr answer tci C'raunier 110 Barbarous law ajjainst mendicants Ill PeojilH ojiposed to tlie new religion 112 Popular insurrections 112 Put down hy foreign soldiers 112 State of luiblie morals 114 Suppression of monasteries a master-stroke of policy 114 Analysis of Ilallam's testimony and rea«on- iuf; on this subject 115 The three concu|iiscence8 118 Conclusion 119 CHAPTER II. Mary; the Catholic Religion Restored, pp. 120-158. What Mary and Elizabeth did Mivcaulay's testimony Current opinion What we pi"opose to establish Mary's accession Conspiracy and rebellion The reformed preachers The popular enthusiasm Mary resolves to restore the ancient reli- gii"! Her constant devotion to it. Ridley's attempt to convert her Steps liy which the restoration was accom- lilished Deprived Catholic bishops reinstated The acts of Edward VI. on religion re- pealed A compromise with the Holy See concern- ing church property Solemn scene Cardinal Pole His address The old Church restored Chancellor Gardiner's last speech and death Th" (jueen's noble disinterestedness The spoilers retain their prey "Bloody Mary" The persecution The principle of intolerance generally avowed and acted on by early Protest- ants 1.30 The "original sin" of the Reformation IW Hallam and Miss Strickland 131 Number of victims 132 Causes which provoked the persecution 1.33 Political motives and action 134 Insurrections and rebellions 135 Mary not naturally cruel 1.36 Proofs of her clemency 136 Her merciful treatment of Elizabeth 137 Contrasted with the latters treatment of " Mary of Scots 1.37 Candid testimony of Agnes Strickland 137 Mary restored the Pritish Constitution to- gether with Catholicity 138 Mary's merciful treatment of Cranmer 139 The career of this man dissected 139 His seven recantations 141 His death 141 Macaulay's portraiture 145 Other provocations and palliating circum- stances 147 Bonner and Gardiner LW And other Catholic bishops 150 Miss Strickland's theory on the persecu- tion 151 Cardin.al Pole 154 Mary's difficulty with the Pope 157 Bishop Short's estimate of Mary 158 CHArTER III. Elizabeth — The A\glican Church Firmly Established by Law, pp. 159-207. Glance at the four reigns of Henry A'lII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth Elizabeth the real foundress of the Angli- can Church Four questions propounded The first question Temporal interests and political expedi- ency Elizabeth and the Pontiff. Stern consistency of the Papacy Elizabeth takes her stand Sir William Cecil Her insincerity and his intrigues Measures adopted for re-establishing Angli- canism Cecil's plan Firm opjiosition of the Catholic bishops Reiusiins for their alarm The queen crownet I'liilip 322 Tlio war-cry Vivent les Gueux ! 322 Matters precipitated by violence 322 Horrible excesses committed by i...- I'ru- testant party fully related by I'lescolt.... 323 The Iconoclasts and church spoilers 323 The preachers take the field — And stir up the people to violence — Churches and convents sacked 329 Awful riot at Antwerp 329 The Cutlicdnil plundered 325 Tlie " two tliieves" presiding over the work.. 325 Its lieautiful ornanient.s in ruins 325 The sacrilegious fury spreads over all Flan- ders 326 Four hundred churches demolished or sacked in Flanders alone 327 Awful desolation 328 Irreparable injury to the fine arts 328 What the " beggars" really meant and wanted 329 Their idea of religious liberty 330 Reaction 330 Tumults stopped 330 And an insurrection quelled 330 Impression made by these outrages on Pliilip 330 Duke of Alva the embodiment of his stern resolve 330 Execution of tlie Cutlicilic Counts Egmont and Iloorn, ami of ilontigny 330 William of Oran^je prudently flies 331 Menzel's account 331 Two inferences drawn 331 Glance at the subsequent events of the struggle 332 Queen Elizabeth meddling 332 Treasures of Alva seized by her 333 A general gloom in consequence of the troops being quartered on tlio people 333 And of the imposition of new taxes by Alva. 333 A calm before a storm 333 The struggle begins in earnest 333 Privateers scour the liritisli Channel 333 Alva recalled, and Recpusi ns appointed 333 Elizabeth coquetting with the insurgents... 334 Requesens succeeded by Don John of Aus- tria 33-1 The Spanish soldiery break through all re- straint, and sack Antwerp 334 General indignation 334 The Pacification of Ghent 334 Approved by Don John in the Perpetual Edict 334 Discontent of Orange 334 Tlie Spanish troops dismissed and recalled.. 334 The war recommences 334 The Netherlands become the battle-ground of Europe 334 The Catholic provinces compelled to sepa- rate from the Protestant 335 Outrages on their churches and themselves committed byCasimir,the allyofOrange.. 335 An army of Lutheran Huns — Alexander Farnese 338 Brilliant in the cabinet as in the field 337 Renews the Perpetual Edict 337 And attaches the Catholic Provinces to his government 337 Philip issues his ban against Orange 337 Who replies with a declaration of independ- ence 337 He is assas.sinated 337 Atrocities committed against the Catholics.. 337 Menzel and Motley 339 Dutch Catholics exterminated 339 Horrid excesses 339 "Better Turks than Papists" 339 Lutherans do not sympathize with their Dutch brethren....'. 340 The Catholic religion suppressed 340 Diplomacy of Orange 341 His character 341 The butcher Sonoy S42 His horrible barbarities 343 Orange screens him from punishment 344 Van der Marck, his predecessor in tlie butchery 344 He slays more than Alva 345 Testimony of Kerroux ■,.. 345 The subsequent history of the Dutch Re- public 345 Final result of the struggle 346 Gomarists and Arminian.s 346 King James I. of England intermeddling... 346 Synod of Dort 346 Grotius persecuted 346 The patriot Barnevelt beheaded 346 Many Protestants banished 346 Recapitulation 346 Fiiur conclusions reached 346 Religious liberty, as understood by the Dutch Calvinists 347 And as exhibited in their acts 348 CHAPTER VIII. Rkformatiox in France — The Huguenots, pp. 349-393. The whole history of the French Reforma- tion told in two sentences 350 Origin of the Huguenots 351 Calvin the founder and father of French Protestantism 352 Leopold Ranke's History of the French Civil Wars reviewed in this chapter 352 Lefevro d'Estaples the first forerunner of Reformation 352 A Humanist, like Erasmus 353 Ranke's portraiture ct' him 353 Ranke an intense I'mtestaiit 353 William ]5ri(;oniiet, Hishop of Moaux 353 The University of the Sorbonne 354 The delegation for examining matters of faith 355 Francis 1 355 His volatile character encourages the Hu- manists and the reformers 356 The Anabaptists in Paris 356 The state policy of Francis tortuous and unprincipled 356 His sister. Queen Margaret of Navarro, an open friend of the new gospelers 356 Her poetry and writings 356 The Concordat 356 And the grievous abuses which grew out of its perversion by the court 357 CONTENTS. Court patron!ip:e the real source of the evil... 357 Ruiikus testimony 358 Ki'iiiarks on the great question of Investi- tmcs 358 Hciny II., Fritncis II.. and Henry III 358 Tlie (iticcn re;;(Mit Catherine tie Meilicis 359 Henry of Navarre 3ti0 Calvin intriguing from Geneva 360 And Elizabeth from England 360 The contest fairly begins 360 Plots, intrigues, and threatened insurrec- tioas 360 Tortuous and unprincipled policy of Cath- erine 360 Conspiracy of Amboise 360 Account of Lingard and Ranke 361 Calvin's agency examined 362 Elizabeth at the bottom of it 362 Throckmorton's interview with Antoino de liourbon 362 IJanke's statement examined 362 Confirmation of Lingard's statement by Morley, in his Life of" Palissy the Potter".. .362 Lingard's authorities 364 Ranke sul)Stautially confirms Lingard and Murlc-y 364 The conspiracy defeated by Guise, and the IIui^ucnHt leailiTs executed 364 Eli/,;iiictli's (l..ulilr policy 365 Singular ilcchuaticni ot peacf .' 365 Warlike attitude of Conde 365 The more the Huguenots gain, the more tliey ask 366 Their liliertv secured, but they wish to crush that of iitliers 366 Who began the war? 366 Aftair at Vassy 367 Ranke on the Duke of Guise 307 The civil war breaks out 367 Elizal>eth aids the Huguenots, who deliver up to lier Havre and Dieppe 368 First caniiiaign 369 Battle of Dreux 370 The two commanding generals taken pri- soners 370 Guise and Culigny 370 Sic^e c,f Orleans 370 Assassinaliim of the Duke of Guise, brought about Ipv Coligny 370 Sudden iiacilieation 371 Elizalieth Inilcd .371 The pacification broken by the Huguenots.. 371 Attempt to seize the king at Monceanx 371 Its failure 372 The English ambassador implicated 372 Treaty of Bayonne a fabrication 372 Lingard, Hallam, Ranke, and Mackintosh alleged 372 Second civil war 372 The third one 373 Third general pacification 374 Marriage concluded between the King of Navarre, and the sister of Charles IX. of France 374 Massacre of St. Bartholomew 374 Lingard's account 375 And Ranke's 376 Dispatches of the papal nuncio at Paris settle the question of premeditation 377 Nundjer of victims 378 Religion had nothing to do with the massa- cre 379 The Pope 380 The Catholic bishops and clergy 380 Previous a)trocities committed by Hugue- nots 380 The Michelade 381 The ferocious Baron d'Adrets 382 His barbarities against Catholics 383 Events succeeding the massacre 385 The Huguenots seize Rochelle 386 Renewed pacifications 386 .\nd new civil wars 386 'I be Huguenot Confederacy 386 And the Catholic League 387 Assassination of Henry III 387 And accession of Henry IV 387 He becomes a Catholic on the advice of the Huguenots! 3S8 Publishes the Edict of Nantes 388 Its revocation by Louis XIV 388 Motives for the revocation 389 Did it impair tlic iimsperity of France? 390 Number of Iluguciidt exiles 390 Testimony of the Duke of Burgundy and of • Caveirac 391 Atrocities on both sides 391 Those of Huguenots began at an early period 391 D'Aubigne 391 The wool-comber Leclerc 391 Recapitulation 393 The French Reformation and the French Revolution 393 CHAPTER IX. The Reformation in Sweden, pp. 394-437. Keformation in Sweden the work of the crown 395 Gustaf Wasa its author 395 Conversion and civilization of Sweden 396 Its bishoprics 397 And early .sanctity .397 Upsala the metropolis 397 Union of Calniar 397 Sweden reluctant to submit 398 The Stures administrators 399 Contests and a compromise 399 The families of Sture and Trolle 400 The fend between them 400 Arehhishop Trolle dei)osed bv the diet 400 Bishop of Linkoiiing 401 The Po])e excommunicates all who were concerned 401 The tyrant Christian II 401 The "Blood Bath" of Stockholm 401 Bishop of Linkoping escapes 402 Gustaf AVasa, the deliverer of Sweden 402 His treachery in breaking his parole 403 His remarkable adventures in Northern Sweden 404 His eliKpient address from a tombstone 404 Popular enthusiasm 405 The army of independence 405 The Catholic bishops 405 Wasa intriguing with them and witli the nobles 405 Employs force when persuasion fails 400 His army of foreign mercenaries 405 He appoints new bishops, and reorganizes the diet 406 CONTENTS. XI He is efected king 406 Deciden to rob the Church 407 Turns reformer 407 The two brothers Olaus and Lawrence 408 Beginning the work of sacrilege 409 Wasa deposes and appoints bishops 409 The Anabaptists 410 The Archbishop of Upsala 412 The peasants and the Chapter of Upsala 413 Manoeuvring of Wasa to bend or oust the archbishop 414 He deposes him and expels him from Swe- den 415 The exile and death of the archbishop 416 Two bishops mocked and put to death 416 The foreign troops furnish the key to AVasa's position 417 Diet of Westeras 418 The Catholic religion abolished 419 And Wasa declared supreme in church and state 420 Diet of Orebro completes the work of de- struction 421 Lament of the people 422 Exile and death of Bishop Brask 422 An extraordinary pastoral visitation 423 Watching and preying 423 Wholesale confiscation 424 New archbishop consecrated 424 Rebellions 425 Sacrilege and taxation 426 Confiscation of church bells 426 The Dalmen 427 How disaffection was put down 427 The priests beheaded 428 How the popular grievances were redressed.. 428 Confirmatory testimony of Geijer 429 Wasa and Henry VIII. compared 432 Avarice of Wasa 433 His hard swearing 434 How he was relniked by the two brothers... 435 And how he punished them 436 The curse of sacrilege 436 Family of Wasa 436 His death 436 Immorality of Sweden 436 Testimony of Bayard Taylor 436 Conclusion 437 CHAPTER X. Reformation in Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, pp. 438-454. Reformation in these countries similar to that in Sweden 438 That of Denmark advised by Gustaf Wasa.. 439 Christian II 439 His attempt to introduce Lutheranism 439 His injustice to the Church 440 Humane provisions in his code of laws 440 The peasants liberated 441 The nobles enraged 441 He is deposed 441 Frederick I. begins the Reformation by crushing popular liberty 441 And by violating his solemn oath 442 Protestant testimony 442 His measures for this purpose 443 Contest after his death 444 Christian III. succeeds him 445 And completes the work of the Reforma- tion in Denmark 445 A Catholic confessor and martyr 446 The new church organization 440 Terrible penal laws against Catholics 446 Recapitulation 447 Norway 448 Determined opposition to the new gospel... 448 How it was quelled by force 449 Penal laws 450 Firmness of the monks 450 Norwegian independence destroyed 450 The Reformation and despotism triumph together 450 Religious liberty, as understood in Norway.. 450 The bishop of the North Pole 450 Interesting anecdote by Bayard Taylor 451 Iceland 451 Its discovery and conversion to Christianity.. 451 Its golden age 452 The great pestilence 453 Its annexation to Denmark 463 The Reformation introduced by violence.... 453 The last Catholic bi.shop put to death 453 Its two old Catholic sees abolished 454 Its decline since that period 454 The North and the South 454 Conclusion =., 454 NOTES AND DOCUMENTS. Note A. — Articles of Religion, and Book of Common Prater 45<) Note B. — Anglican Ordinations 459 Note C. — Instruments and Method of Torture under Elizabeth 473 Note D. — The Fate and Punishment of the Church Robbers 474 Note E. — Sanders on the Anglican Reformation 483 Note F. — Moral Character of John Knox 489 Note G. — Innocence of Mart, Queen of Scots 490 Note H.— The Coronation Oath of British Klnqs and Queens &Oft HISTOE Y OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION. INTRODUCTION. ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. Pbeliminary view useful — Early religious history of England — Eng land indebted for every thing to Rome — Testintiony of Bishop Short — Her conversion through St. Gregory the Great — The early British Churches — Their controversy with St. Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury — Morality of their Clergy — Gildas — Massacre of British Monks — The Anglo-Saxon Church— St. Wilfrid— And St. Dunstan— The Primacy recognized — Testimony of Bishop Short — Nomination of Bishops — Growing encroachments of the Civil power — Under the Anglo- Saxon Princes — And under the Norman Kings — Archbishops of Canter- bury— Lanfranc and William the Conqueror — William Rufus and St. Anselm — Varied fortunes and persecution of St. Anselm — Two English Prime Ministers, Flambard and Cromwell, compared — General remarks and inferences — St. Thomas A Becket — And St. Edmund Rich — Increas- ing assumptions of English Kings — Statute of Provisors — And of Prse- munire — The Primacy always recognized — Dr. Lingard reviewed — And Bishop Short quoted on Investitures — Superiority of the Bishops named by Rome — Protestant authority — Cardinal Langton — And Lanfranc — Simon of Sudbury — And William of Wykeham — Monastic Chronicles — Curious developments — And tragical incidents — Modern historic justice — The true key to the contests between English Kings and Roman Pontiffs in middle ages — Eve of the Reformation — Spirit of servility and slavery increasing — Recapitulation. A SUMMARY view of the religious condition of England before the Reformation would seem necessary, to enable us to understand how it was that, after the first quarter of the sixteenth century, almost the whole Island was so suddenly drawn away from the Catholic Church into the vortex of the VOL. II. — 2 ( 17 ) 18 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. new religious opinions. Of the English Catholic bishops of the time, but one stood firm and unyielding to the last ; all the rest showed themselves ready, however reluctantly, to do the bidding of Henry VIII., in opposition to the Pope and the Church. How is this singular fact to be accounted for and explained ? There must surely have been something sadly out of joint and grievously wrong somewhere, to bring about so sudden and so general a defection from the Church uf the English body of bishops. What that wrong was, our readers will probably be better able to pronounce, after they will have read the facts from previous English history, which will be contained in this Introduction. We do not, of course, propose to furnish a complete and a connected summary of the religious history of England before the Reformation; this would require one or even several volumes, to do the subject any thing like justice. We intend only to glance at such facts in this pi'eliminary history as may seem best calculated to throw light on the startling religious revolution of the sixteenth century. We shall number our remarks, and arrange them, in general, in chronological order. 1. There seems to be nothing more certain in all history, than that England was indebted to Rome for Christianity, and for all the numberless blessings which followed in its train. Near the close of the sixth century. Pope St. Gregory the Great sent thither St. Augustine and his band of fortj monks; who, under the auspices of that great and holy pontifi*, first converted Ethelbert, King of Kent, and many of his people, and subsequently extended their successful mis- sionary labors rapidly over the whole Island.* The present * In one of his letters, Pope St. Gregory the Great states, that at Christ- mas more than ten thousand of the pagan Saxons were baptized by St. Augustine and his colleagues : In solemnitate Dominicje Nativitatis plus quam decern niillia Angli ab eodem nunciati sunt fratrc et co-episcopo nostro baptizati. (Epist. Greg. L. VII. Epist. 30. Smith's Bede, app. viii.) Apud Lingard, Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon bhurch, p. 23, note Ameri- can edition, Fithian, Philadelphia, one vol., 8vo. THE CONVERSION OF ENGLAND. 19 Anglican church must necessarily derive its orders and its hierarchy — if at all from any ancient source — from the see of Canterbury; and this see was certainly established by Pope St. Gregory the Great. Its first incumbent — so consti- tuted by the Pontiff — was St. Augustine himself, whom he had sent out to become the apostle of England. No one, we believe, has ever ventured to deny this fact, or has been able successfully to avoid the inference fairly deducible therefrom. 2. The present Anglican church has manifestly no histori- cal connection whatsoever with the earlier British churches, of which some Anglican writers make so much account. It is not even pretended, so far as we are informed, that the former derives its orders from the latter; which, in fact, ceased to exist, as a distinct organization, not long after the conversion of England under Augustine and his immediate successors. Even the claim set up by some Anglicans, that these earlier British churches were founded without the agency of Rome, and that they existed not only in a con- dition of independence, but of antagonism to the See of Peter, rests upon no solid historical foundation whatsoever, riie best that can be said of this theory is, that it is a mere speculation, which may appear more or less plausible to itf friends — not certainly a proposition supported by solid reason ing based on ascertained facts. 3. When Christianity w^as first introduced into England is not known with any degree of certainty. The introduction evidently took place some time before the close of the second century. Nennius and other British writers tell us, that, late in the second century. Pope Eleutherius, acceding to the pious request of Lucius, a British king, sent out to England two missionaries, Fugarius and Damian;* whose preaching and ministrations, under the regular apostolic commission derived from the Chair of Peter, converted great numbers * Thesa names are diflferently written by various eariy authoi-s ; some ^ spparently retaining the British, and others the Latin form. 20 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. to the faith, and tlms laid the foundations of Christianity ic Enghmd.* What Tertullian says of "places among the Britons inaccessible to the Romans, but subject to Christ," tallies well with this account; for Tertullian wrote about that very time, or perhaps a little afterward ; and it was natural that, in his defense of Christianity addressed to pagans, he should refer to events which were recent and well- known. According to this highly probable interpretation of his words, it would appear, that the first apostles of England, after successfully preaching the gospel to the Britons who were then under the Roman dominion, carried the light of the faith among the neighboring tribes, inhabiting districts over which the Roman eagle had never soared. The testimony of a somewhat earlier writer than Tertullian — St. Irenseus, Bishop of Lyons — on which Bishop Hopkins and other Anglican writers insist so strongly, appears, from the interpretation given to it by Grabe, the learned Protestant editor of that father's works, to have nothing whatever to do * For a full and learned vindication of the fact, that England was, at least partially, converted to Christianity by missionaries sent out by Poi)e Eleutherius, at the instance of King Lucius, see Milner's History of Win- chester, vol. i. p. 30, English edition. The event took place probably between tlie years 176 and 180 of the Christian era; that is, ]>etween the election of Eleutherius and the death of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, both of whom are referred to by the Venerable Bede in his account of the matter. Archbishop Usher refers to two ancient medals struck in honor of the event, and the English historian, Camden, to still another. Our readers are aware that both these authorities are Protestant and decidedly Anglican in their prejudices. Speaking of the petition made to the Pontiff by King Lucius, Bede says: "Obsecrans, ut per ejus mandatum Christianus efficeretur; el mox effectum pite postulationis consecutus 6st. Beseeching that, by his (the Pontiffs) command, he might be made a Christian ; and immediately he obtained the olyect of his pious petition." The silence of Gildas on the subject is a merely negative argainient devoid of all force ; for what remains to us of his work, De Excidio Britanniiv;, is merely fragmentary, besides being rather a desultory discourse than a history prolessing to furnish a tiiU and connected account of events. THE EARLY BRITISH CHURCH. 21 with the conversion of the Britons ;* while all other earlj references to the subject seems to be very obscure and incon- clusive, entirely too much so to justify the airy fabric of con- jectures or fables which some learned Anglican writers have attempted to build up on them.f * Speaking of the unity of the Church and of its diffusion throughout the world, Irenjeus "enumerates the churches of Germany, the churches among the Hibernians, and the churches among the Celts." So says Bishop Hopkins, who understands the Britons as being designated under the name Celts. This is an unfounded supposition, refuted by Irengeus himself, who says (Lib. 1. adv. hger. Praef ) : " We live among the Celts " — thereby clearly implying that the name was given to the people of Southern France living about Lyons. " The Hibernians turn out to be Iberians, inhabitants of Spain," as appears from the third chapter of St. Irenasus' first book against heresies. See Archbishop Kenrick's "Vindication of the Catholic Church" in reply to Bishop Hopkins, p. 303. f See Dr. Lingard's Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, chap. 1, for more on this subject, which the learned and judicious historian may be said to have exhausted. The testimony of Eusebius, the father of Church History, to the effect that the apostles "passed the ocean and came to the Islands called the British," (Demonstrat. Evang., I. 7.) is vague and inconclusive. He gives no names nor specifications, and the sentence may have been a mere rhetorical amplification — the British Islands being then regarded as the ultima thiile. A subsequent historian — Thedoret — probably copied or imitated Eusebius, though his language is not at all definite, and may admit of a much wider interpretation. Both these writers lived hundreds of years after the apostolic days, and their merely general and vague allusions to a matter so remote affords no solid historical ground on which to rest a statement so important. If other documents ever existed on the subject, they have long since perished ; the only facts at all reliable are those referred 10 in the text. The Anglican bishop Short candidly admits the obscurity which hangs over the history of the early British churches, as well as the uncertainty of the theory, that has been broached at a comparatively recent period, that St. Paul or one of the apostles preached the Gospel in Britain. He says : " To him who seeks only for truths which may be usefiil for the formation of his own opinions, any considerable investigation of the records Avhich are left us can offer little beyond labor, accompanied with very trifling hopes of re ward." Aflcr quoting the general and rather vague passages from Eusebius, Theodoret. and others, usually alleged to prove that the apostles evangelized 33 22 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. 4. Tlie story that the ancient British churches were sub- jected by force to the see of Canterbury, through the agency of St. Augustine and his colleagues or of their immediate successors, is all a mere fabrication resting upon no evidence whatsoever; and it has been long since abandoned by all moderate and impartial writers, however a few violent par- tisans may still love to give it currency.* As the Venerable the British Isles, he remarks : " If these words are to be taken in their Uteral sense, little doubt can remain that the kingdom was converted to Christi- anity by the apostle to the gentiles ; yet such deductions must always be regarded with suspicion." Again, after stating all that is supposed to be known on the subject, he adds: "The whole of the history of the British church has been exhausted by Stilling-fleet in his Origines Britannicae ; and to any one who will examine that work, it will be apparent how little is known, and how unimportant that little is ; that is, unimportant as far as the present state of the world is concerned." The History of the Church of England, to the Revolution, 1688 ; by Thomas Vowler Short, D. D., Lord Bishop of St. Asaphs. Fourth American, from the third English edition. New York, 1855. In one vol., 8vo, pages 1, 2, and 8. As this is a standard work among Anglicans, we shall often have occa- sion to quote from its pages. Though the author takes no pains to disguise his prejudice against the Catholic Church, 3'et he is learned and more than usually candid for writers of his class. Thus, speaking of the Anglo-Saxon thurches, he says : "The P]nglishman who derives his blood from Saxon veins will be un- grateful, if he be not ready to confess the debt which Christian Europe owes to Rome ; and to profess that whenever she shall cast off these innovations of men (!), wliich now cause a separation between us, we shall gladly pay her such honors as are (hie to the country which Avas instrumental in bring- mg lis within the pale of the universal Church of Jesus Christ." Ibid., p. 9. * Such writers, for instance, as D'Aubigne, who evidently is more intent on establishing a theory, than on vindicating the truth of history. For this purpose, he makes no scruple in garbling Bedc, and malving the venerable historian say, in effect, the very contrarj'^ of what his language would in^jly, if fairl}' interpreted. He also quotes Wilkins, the Protestant historian of the English councils, to prove that St. Augustine was not only aware of the 'Var which proved so disastrous to the British Christians, but that he actively i)romoted it ! He forgot, however, to state, that St. Augustine had gone to his reward several yairs before! See D'Aubignr, History Refor- CONTROVERSY WITH ST. AUGUSTINE. 23 Bede declares, and as the whole tenor of the letters of St. Gregory the Great clearly proves, one of the principal lessons taught to King Ethelbert by St. Augustine and his missionary associates was^ that " the service of Christ ought to be volun- tary, not by compulsion."* St. Augustine indeed sought, by earnest expostulation, and by threatening the wrath of God in case of disobedience, to induce the prelates and clergy of the British churches to abandon their peculiarities of obser- vance in matters of discipline, to acknowledge his authority, and to re-enter the pale of Catholic unity, from which their remoteness from the other churches, together with their ignor- ance of what was passing in Christendom, as much perhaps as any other cause, had in a measure severed them. They proved obstinate, and the efforts of the English apostle thus proved abortive. He died in 605 ; and it was only in 613, eight years afterward, that a ferocious pagan king of Nor- thumbia — Edelfrid — stimulated by vengeance against the aiation, 5 vols, in one, 8vo. Edit. Carter, New York, 1854, p. 685, notes. * This is the testimonj^ of Bede, Eccl. Hist. L. 1. b. xxvi., quoted by Arch- bishop Kenrick in his Vindication, p. 305. We may as well here, as elsewhere, refer to the singular theory of Bishop Short in regard to the ancient Liturgy of the British churches. He says, (p. 4, and note) that it was derived from the Gallican Liturgy, which was itself probably "derived from St. John through Polj'carp and Irasneus." The differences between this and the Eoman service he states as follows : " These :;onsisted in a confession of sins, wherewith the service began ; in proper Prefixces, which were introduced for certain daj'S before the consecration ol the elements ; in several expressions which mark that the doctrine of trau- snbstantiation had not then been received ; and in the attention to singing paid in the Roman Church." AVhat he says, without any proof whatever, in regard to the doctrine of transubstantiation not being then received, may be simplj' denied, as opposed to the unanimous voice of all Christian antiquit}^, whether Roman or Greek, Gallican or. Oriental. The other "differences" must provoke a smile from every one who has even glanced at the Roman Missal, which has always contained those very things, especially "the attention to singing paid in the Roman Church!" 24 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. Britons for having given shelter to the heir of a rival claim- ant of his crown, as well as by the feeling of inveterate hatred which existed between the conquerors and the con- quered, invaded their territory in the fastnesses of Wales, conquered them in a great battle at Chester, and finding that the monks of Bangor were praying on a neighboring hill for the success of their British countrymen, caused his troops to rush upon and to massacre them by hundreds. Thus, St. Augustine had been already in his grave for fully eight vears, and he could not therefore possil^ly have had any thing to do with the expedition of the sanguinary pagan king ; who, on the other hand, was not likely to be at all influenced by Christian advice.* According to the testimony of Gildas, a contemporary writer and a countryman of the Britons, the British clergy were exceedingly profligate in their morals, and many of them were addicted to disorders which were a disgrace to the priestly character. They openly bought, or sacrilegiously seized upon the dignities of the Church ; they were ignorant and indolent ; and, in general, all ecclesiastical discipline was greatly relaxed among them.f It was the view of these cry- ing disorders which quickened the zeal of St. Augustine, and which induced the great Roman Pontifl' to extend his powers and jurisdiction over all England, in order to enable him efiectually to root out scandals so grievous and so glaring. * For a full account of all these transactions, with a temperate but tri- umphant vindication of St. Augustine, from the original authorities, see Lingard's Antiquities, etc., sup. cit., chap. 2. That St. Augustine was dead long before the massacre of the monks at Chester, is expressly asserted by Bede : Ipso Augustino jam multo ante temjMre ad coelestia regna sublato. Bede, p. 81. Apud Lingard, p. 43, note. The absence of this passage from the very imperfect Saxon version made by King Alfred, is no argument against its authenticity ; for it is generally admitted by the learned that this version was a mere abridgment. Its presence in the original Latin is quite suiRcient and satisfactory. See Ibid. t Ep. Gild. Edit. Gale, pp. 23, 24, 38. Apud Lingard, sup. cit, p. 41. MORALS OF THE CLERGY. 26 The British prelates and clergy did not wish to be reformed especially by a pi-elate who was acting with their Saxon con- querors lately convei-ted to Christianity. At a conference which was held with them on the borders of Wales, St. Au- gustine " reduced his demands to three : that they should observe the orthodox computation of Easter ; should conform to the Roman rite in the administration of baptism ; and join with him in preaching the Gospel to the Saxons. Each re- quest was refused, and his metropolitical authority contempt- uously rejected." * The result was such as we have already indicated. The British clergy were unwilling to be reformed by legitimate authority ; they obstinately refused to unite with the lawful pastors of the Church in preaching the Gos- pel to the Saxons, most of whom were still pagans. In consequence, they experienced the anger of God for their obstinacy, and they soon afterwards almost disappeared from the earth. The prophecy of St. Augustine was fearfully accomplished ! * Ibid., p. 42. The fact that the British clergy refused to acknowledge the authority of Augustine, is no sufficient proof that they rejected the pri- macy of the Pope. Church history abounds with examples of men who, while fully admitting the doctrine of the papal supremacy, refiised neverthe- less to comply with the commands of the actual Popes, on various pretexts which they ingeniously sought to reconcile with the admitted principle of faith. The facts alluded to in the text furnish a key for understanding the obstinacy of the British clergy. The recognition of St. Augustine's author- ity would have carried along with it, not merely the relinquishment of their old and long-cherished usages, or rather abuses, but also — what was much more difficult — the correction of their morals. That all of them were not, however, so immoral as Gildas would seem to imply, would appear from the fact, that St. Augustine earnestly invited their co-operation for the conversion of the Saxons. Bishop Short confirms the statement of Lingard in regard to the demands made by St. Augustine, and he adds : " The question about the time of ob- serving Easter was also discussed in the council of Whitby, where Oswi de- cided it in favor of the Roman method, because both parties agreed that St Peter kepi the keys of heaven, and that he had used the Roman method of computing (A. D. 6^4)." Sup. cit., p. 5. VOL. II. — 3 26 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. 5. Having thus founded the Anglo-Saxon CQurch, ^he Roman Pontiffs continued to watch zealously o^-er its inter- ests, and to exercise over it that apostolical jurisdiction which all antiquity recognized as inherent in their sacred office. Their primacy was openly and generally acknowl- edged in England by the Anglo-Saxon Christians, by princes and ])eople, by bishops and clergy ; and the examples of its exercise for the organization and regulation of the hierarchy, the reformation of morals, the establishment of sound disci- pline, and the correction of abuses, abound throughout the whole Anglo-Saxon period of English history, from the first advent of St. Augustine near the close of the sixth century, down to the Norman conquest after the middle of the eleventh. During this time, no less than eight Saxon kings devoutly made the pilgrimage to Rome, to receive the papal benediction ; and others, who were deterred from performing the journey by its anticipated difficulties, sent their ambassa- dors to do homage to the Chair of Peter in their name. The Popes repeatedly sent their legates into England, to regulate discipline, to settle disputes, and to preside over councils. Those who felt aggrieved appealed to Rome for redress, and the appeal was always heard and acted upon.* Thus St "Wilfrid, the holy and celebrated bishop of York * Bishop Short virtually admits all this. He writes : " That the Church of Home did, at an early period, try to extend its power where it could, is beyond all doubt ; that it did in after times obtain a spirit- ual supremacy in England is equally unquestionable. The Roman Catho lic, by proving the early date of these encroachments (!), touches not the broad principles which guided our church in throwing oif all foreign author- ity ; and the Protestants can never prove, by denying these points, that the Pope did not afterward possess the supreme power over the English church ; while both incur the danger of neglecting the pursuit of truth, in endeavoring to establish their own opinions We shall not be able to prove that our forefathers were Protestants, even if they had not then fully admitted the authority of the See of Rome." Ibid., p. 6. In proof of this last statement, he goes into an investigation (p. 9, seqq.^ yf the doctrines and discipline of the Anglo-Saxon church ; ft-ora which. ST. WILFRID AND ST. DDNSTAN. 27 when unjustly deposed by Tlieodore, archbishop of Canter- bury, flew to the Holy See for redress ; and he obtained it in full from the justice of Pope Agatho, who convened a coun- cil at Rome to assist him with their advice in determining on an affair of so much importance.* The prelates of the Anglo- Saxon church received, with reverent obedience, the decision of the sovereign Pontiff; and archbishop Theodore, having found out and ucknowleged his error, expostulated with the ^Northumbrian king to have the papal judgment executed by the restoration of St. Wilfrid to his see. But the anger of the wounded Northumbrian queen, whom St. Wilfrid had offend- ed, would not be appeased, and she and her husband, Egfrid, continued to pursue the holy prelate with undying hos- tility. It was only after the death of the king, that St. Wil- frid recovered his see, from which he was soon afterwards again ejected by Aldfrid, successor of Egfrid, at the instiga- tion of the prelate's enemies. Again he appealed to the Pope, who, after long deliberation, again restored him to his place. The same scenes are now re-enacted : Aldfrid, the Northumbrian king, refused the earnest application made to him for St. Wilfrid's restoration by Berthwald, the successor of Theodore in the see of Canterbury ; who, like his prede- cessor, had received with great respect, and was fully pre- pared to do every thing in his power to execute the papal decision. It was necessary to await the death of Aldfrid, before the mandate of the Pope could be effectually executed. Thus we see manifested, as early as the close of the seventh even as the facts are unfairly stated by himself, it would appear that " our forefathers "(Were any thing but Protestants. Thus, among other things, ho admits that " prayers and oblations for the dead were probably established in England fi"om the first." * St. Wilfrid was deposed at the instance of Egfrid, king of Northumber- land, who was instigated thereto by his unprincipled wife Ermenburga, whom St. Wilfrid had grievously offended by endeavoring to curb her vices, and to put an end to her grievous scandals. Bishop Short admits all the facts connected with the appeal of St. Wilfrid to the Pope. P. 5-6. 28 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. century, that evil spirit which prompted, not the bishops oi clergy, but the sovereigns of England, to interfere with the free- dom of the Church, to thwart the efforts of the Popes for its pro- per government, and to persecute its most saintly prelates. St. Wilfrid felt the sting of kingly persecution during twenty years of exile and tribulation ; but, in spite of sufferings so grievous and so protracted, he faltered not in his advocacy of sound doc- trine, in the practice of heroic virtue, and in his loyal alle- giance to the Chair of Peter. And, as we have seen, he triumphed at length over all opposition, and his brethren sus- tained him, while the Church has hallowed his name.* 6, If the attempt of temporal princes to tamper with the freedom of the Church, and to trammel and persecute such of her holy prelates as dared rebuke vice in high places, and * For a full account of the eventful life of St. Wilfrid, drawn from the original documents, and especially from the statements of his contemporar}^, the Venerable Bede, and of Eddius, the companion of his varied fortunes, see Lingard's "Anti(}. Anglo-Saxon Church," p. 106, seqq. For the life of another Anglo-Saxon saint, Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury, who so nobly rebuked the vices of King Edgar, who reformed the morals and re- stored the learning of the monks and clergy, and who was himself the vic- tim of much ol.)loquy and persecution from corrupt kings and queens whom he had the courage to rebuke, see the same distinguished historian. Ibid., p. 234, seqq. The chief instigator of the persecutions against this saintly man was an- other wicked woman — ^Ethelgiva — to whom he had given mortal offense by thwarting her improper intrigues with Prince Edwin, his own fovorite pupil. She afterwards suffered a horrible death from the enraged princes and people. Her forehead was branded with a hot iron, and she was ignominiously ban- ished the kingdom ; and returning afterwards was ci-uelly slain by the insur- gents who had risen in arms against her j'outhfxil roj'al lover. (Ibid., p. 237-8.) St. Dunstjin, like all the holy prelates who ever lived in England, always reverenced the Holy See; nor is the solitary instance of his opposing the execution of a papal decision, in the case of a nobleman who had de- ceived the credulity of the Pontiff bj false representations, a valid exception to the general tenor of his loyalty. His representations on the subject to the Holy See were respectful, and such as an huinl)le and sincere inferior maj' well make to an acknowlelged superior. See Ibid. EOYAL ENCROACHMENTS. 29 struggle valiantly for the independence of the Church and for purity among the clergy, had already done so much mis chief under the Anglo-Saxon dynasties, it was destined to accomplish much more evil under the Norman kings. Wil- liam of Normandy eflected the conquest of England in 1066 ; and from this epoch an entirely new order of things arose in England both in church and state. Instead of the numerous monarchs who had previously divided among themselves, or had but feebly administered the government of England, we now find the executive power in the hands of one vigorous sovereign. William often wielded the sceptre with an iron arm, and not unfrequently he sought to encroach upon the legitimate province of the Church, and to enslave her minis- ters. The encroachments of the Anglo-Saxon were, in gene- ral, as nothing, compared with the encroachments of the ISTorman kings : the former were comparatively few and harmless, while the latter were as frequent in their occur- rence as they were mischievous in their results. Yet tlie Anglo-Saxon state policy had unfortunately left the germ of the evil, which under the Norman rule was easily developed, until it produced its noxious fruits. The history of this pro- gressive development of royal encroachment is curious ; and as the subject is one of vital interest in its bearing on the Church, we shall be pardoned if we enter into some details. 7. In regard to the usages which had successively prevailed in the nomination of bishops under the Anglo-Saxon dynas- ties, we can not state them more clearly or succinctly than in the language of the learned author of the Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church. He begins his account with Theo- dore, the learned and zealous archbishop of Canterbury in the seventh century: By Theodore the discipline of the Saxon church was reduced to a more perfect form. The choice of bishops was secured to the national synods, in which the primate pi-esided and regulated the process of election. Gradu- ally it devolved to the clergy of each church, whose choice was corroborated by the presence and acclamations of the more respectable among the laity. 30 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. But the notions of the feudal jurisprudence incessantly undermined the free- dom of these elections. As it was dangerous to intrust the episcopal power to the liands of his enemy, the king forbade the consecration of the bishop elect, till the royal consent had been obtained ; and as the revenues of the church were originally the donation of the crown, he claimed the right of investing the new prelate with the temporalities of his bishopric. As soon as any church became vacant, the ring and crozier, the emblems of episcopal jurisdiction, were carried to the king by a deputation of the chapter, and returned by him to the person whom they had chosen, with a letter by which the civil officers were ordered to maintain him in the possession of the lands belonging to his church. The claims of the crown were pro- gressive. By degrees the royal will was notified to the clergy of the vacant bishopric, under the modest veil of a recommendation in favor of a particu- lar candidate ; at last, the rights of the chapter were openly invaded ; and before the fall of the Anglo-Saxon dynasty, we meet with instances of bishops appointed by the sovereign, without waiting for the choice, or solicit- ing the consent of the clergy."* 9, Kings seldom give up what they have once unlawfully grasped. And no where, perhaps, has the force of precedent been more felt or more frequently acted on than in England. The Norman kings began where the Anglo-Saxon kings had left o£F, and they successively encroached on the rights of the Church, especially in the matter of the election of bishops, until at last her freedom of action had well nigh disappeared. From the forcible thrusting of incompetent or unworthy men into the episcopal sees by the king, in spite of the protests of the clergy, the Church had occasionally suffered much under the later Saxon rulers. Abuses and scandals had abounded, as a necessary consequence of this unhallowed attempt of the secular power to lay violent hands on sacred things ; and the subsequent Norman conquest, with its horrors, was viewed by many as a just retribution of heaven on the degeneracy of morals among the Saxons. But the case was destined to be still worse under the Norman rule. 10. Fortunately for the Church, the first archbishop of Canterbury under the Norman dynasty was Lanfranc, an * Lingard, Ibid., p. 47-8. LANFRANO AND WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 3J Italian by birth, and a most learned, pious, and prudent man, who was not easily influenced by considerations of courtly policy, much less by those of flesh and blood. William the Conqueror entertained feelings of great respect and veneration for the character of his metropolitan, and he proved a steady friend and protector of the archbishop in his frequent strug- gles with the rapacious Norman barons. So long as Lanfranc lived, though the original Saxon bishops and clergy were often harshly dealt with by their haughty conquerors, yet the freedom of the Church in the appointment of her bishops seems not to have been, at least glaringly, violated by the crown. The vigor and unbending integrity of the archbishop rooted out abuses, restored ecclesiastical discipline, promoted learning, overawed disafiection, and checked the rapacity of the hungry adventurers who had came over in the train of the Conqueror. He rendered willing homage to the character and oflice of the sovereign Pontiff, from whom, like his pre- decessors, he had received the pallium, the badge of metro- political jurisdiction. William, though fierce and haughty, had many good quali- ties both of head and heart. The spirit of chivalry had tempered his native ferocity ; and though he could not well brook opposition, much less endure rebuke, yet he was in- clined to admire the boldness and courage of the man who dared thwart him in his royal will. According to Orderic, a contemporary historian, he refrained from seizing on the revenues of vacant bishoprics and abbeys, protected them from the rapacity of his barons, and " named a successor with the advice of the principal clergy."* He had a special vener- ation for the bold character and chivalrous bearing of his great contemporary. Pope St. Gregory VII., and though often blunt in his intercourse with the Pontiff, he seems never to have fully broken with him, and generally to have treated '■^ Apud Lingard, History of England, vol. ii, p. 71. Edit of D&linan Loudon, 1844. 32 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. him with as much respect as his haughty cliaracter would allow him to render to any man on earth. In return, Gregory commended him "■ for his attachment to the Holy See, for the zeal with which he enforced the celibacy of the clergy, and for his piety in not exposing to sale, like other kings, the vacant abbeys and bishoprics."* Still the Conqueror discovered in his conduct and in the spirit of his enactments, the germs of that unworthy supicion of Rome, which, under his successors, produced fruits so very disastrous to the English church. " He would not permit the authority of any particular Pontiff to be acknowledged in his dominions without his previous approbation ; and he directed that all letters issued from the court of Rome should, on their arrival, be submitted to the royal inspection :" and " so jealous was he of any encroachment on his authority, that without the royal license he would not permit the decisions of national or provincial councils to be carried into effect."f He even went so far in his jealousy of papal influence, as to require that no English bishop should visit Rome without his permission ! St. Gregory YII. expressed his just indignation at this petty tyranny in the following energetic language : " No one of all kings, even pagan, ever presumed to attempt so much against the Apostolic See."J Finally, though William recog- nized the regular ecclesiastical courts, yet " he forbade them either to implead or to excommunicate any individual holding in chief of the crown, till the nature of the offense had been certified to himself."§ 10. His son and successor William H., surnamed Bufus^ unhappily carried into full effect the insidiously encroaching spirit of these various enactments. He inherited the lunighty boldness of his father, without any, or hardly any, of his many good traits of character. He was extravagant, licentious, and reckless. He ascended the throne in 1087. So long as Lan- * Greg. VII. Epist. Lib. 1. 10. Ibid. f I^d. \ Epist. vii. 1. Ilnd. \ Eadmer, 6. Ibid. WILLIAM RUFUS AND ST. ANSELM. 33 franc lived, he was overawed into something like decorui by the influence of the words and example of the venerable pri mate. But after the death of the latter, two years later — ^in 1089 — he openly cast off all restraint, and recklessly trampled under foot all the laws even of common decency. To supply himself with money, for his own sensual gratification and for squandering among his guilty favorites, he seized without scruple on the revenues of the vacant benefices, and applied them to his own uses. That he might enjoy them the longer, he kept the bishoprics and abbeys vacant for years together, to the great injury of the faithful and detriment of the Church. Thus he forcibly kept the see of Canterbury without a pastor for four years — from the death of Lanfranc in 1089 to the ap- pointment of St. Anselm in 1093 ; and he would probably have protracted the widowhood of the piincipal English see to a much longer period, had not a dangerous illness overtaken him in the midst of his excesses, and awakened remorse in a heart not yet wholly dead to the principles of faith. Fearing the approach of death, he sent for the sainted monk Anselm, and gave his royal consent to his appointment to the prima- tial see.* Well knowing the fickle character of the king, and fully appreciating the difliculty and responsibility of the ele- vated position, the holy man at first refused the proffered honor. After much entreaty, he however finally consented to accept it, but only on condition that William would restore the church property upon which he had seized, and acknowledge Pope Urban II. as legitimate Pontiff. The sick king promised every thing with willing alacrity, and Anselm was accord- ingly consecrated. But, as the holy archbishop had feared, William well was not what William had been when sick. The fear of death * Like his friend and preceptor Lanfranc, St. Anselm was a Benedictine monk from the renowned monastry of Bee in Normandy, and he was also, like him, a native of Italy. He was born at Aosta, or Aouste, in Piedmont while Lanfranc was a native of Pavia, in Lcmbardy. 34 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. once removed, the king became even worse than before ; he forgot all his solemnly plighted promises, and plunged again into all his former excesses. lie refused to give up the church property and revenues, to allow the vacant benefices to bo filled, or to permit the convening of free ecclesiastical coun- cils, for re-establishing decaying discipline and correcting ex- isting abuses.* In vain did the zealous primate plead and expostulate with the unprincipled and infatuated monarch, who had now given himself up wholly to the guidance of his unscrupulous prime minister, Flambard. This reckless man had purchased his royal master's confidence by pandering to his worst passions. He played toward William II. the same unprincipled part which Cromwell afterwards acted towards Henry VIII. ; and with similar results, though fortunately not so disastrous to religion.f He was the first who had advised William to seize on the revenues of the Church, and in order the better to accomplish this purpose, to keep the sees and abbeys vacan.t duringdiis royal pleasure. Anselm continued firm, the king obstinate. The latter even * See Lingard, Hist. England, vol. ii, p. 100, for the original authorities ; Edit. Dolman, London. f Those fond of historical parallels may compare the two cases in all their bearings, as furnishing one out of a thovisand evidences that human nature is substantially the same in all ages, and that similar agencies generall}^ pro- duce similar results, making proper allowance for difference of times and circumstances. In the present instance, neither Henry nor William profited much by the riches of the Church on which they sacrilegiously seized. These were speedily squandered on unprincipled favorites or consumed in low debauchery, and the two monarchs remained in the end none the richer for the unholy seizure. The fate of both these courtly prime ministers who advised the sacrilege was similarly disastrous. Both perished suddenly and violently. Both monarchs also died miserably ; William by a violent and unprovided death while engaged in the chase, Henry on his bed, in- dec^d, but in the eyes of faith, in a manner probably still more fearful and terrible. History has its lessons, some of them fearftil ones indeed, but all of them profitable, if we would only learn wisdom from the treasured expe- rience of the past. PERSECUTION OF ST. ANSELM. 35 attempted to have the former deposed, on the ground that without the royal assent he had dared recognize Pope Urban II. ; whom he himself nevertheless had solemnly promised to acknowledge a short time before, and whom he actually did acknowledge very soon afterwards. During the controversy, the king won over to his side the bishop of Durham and some other prelates more courtly than courageous, who, however, declarsd that they were vested with no power to depose the holy archbishop, and could merely withdraw themselves from his obedience, on the ground of his having acknowledged Urban II. in anticipation of the royal recognition. The king would probably have succeeded in accomplishing his wicked purpose, but for powerful opposition from an unusual and unexpected quarter. The barons stood up nobly and reso- lutely in defense of their primate. The king then tried a new ex])cdient. He acknowledged Urban, and wrote him an obse- quious letter, in which he promised the Pontiff a rich pension, if he would consent to depose Anselm. The Pope spurned the bribe, and sternly refused his consent to the punishment of an innocent and holy man. Tired of the seemingly fruitless contest, Anselm left England in 1007, and betook himself to the feet of the sovereign Pontifl'. in order to disburden his conscience of the heavy responsibilitv which weighed upon it, and to obtain redress for the griev- ances of his afflicted church. If the Pope could not assist him in his overwhelming affliction, who could? There was no other means of redress left to him on earth against the injustice of his all-powerful and wholly unscrupulous persecutor. In his letter to the Pope, the holy prelate presented the follow- ing reasons for leaving the kingdom : " The king would not restore to my church those hmrls belonging to it which he had given away after the death of Lanfranc ; he even continue 1 to give more away notwithstanding my opposition ; he required of me griev- ous services, which had never been required of my predecessors ; he at imlle.^ the law of God and the canonical and apostolical decisions, by customs of bis own creation. In such conduct I couid not acquiesce without the loss 36 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. of my own soul : to plead against him in his own court was in vain ; for m one dared assist or advise me. This then is mj'^ object in coming to you, tc beg that you would free me from the bondage of the episcopal dignity, and allow me to serve God again in the tranquillity of my cell ; and that, in the next place, you would provide for the churches of the English, according to your wisdom and the authority of yo'ir station."* The Pope received the persecuted primate with open arms, but he would not consent to accept his resignation. Anselm remained in Italy for about three years, and he attended the synod held at Bari, and tne suDsequent one at Rome in 1099; both of which pronounced sentence of excommunication against laymen who would dure usurp the right of granting investiture for cathedrals and abbeys without a previous free and canonical election. In the meantime, his royal persecutor met with a sudden and violent death on the second of August, 1100 ; t and Anselm returnea to England in the following September. He was at first well received by the new king, Henry I., whom he had arreailv aided in securing the crown against the claims of his brotner Robert, duke of Normandy. But very soon afterwards, the ungrateful monarch lost sight of all gratitude, forgot all his good resolutions, and revived the claim to investitures, very simuar to that which had been so scandalously exercised by the late kmg. Anselm was again compelled to visit Rome in 1103, and to lay his grievances before Pope Paschal II. Tins Pontiff first condemned the king, but afterwards entered into an accommodation with him. * Eadmer, 43. Apud Lingard, Hist. England, vol. ii, p. 100, note. f Of William's continued rapacity, even to the very hour of his .sudden and unhappy death. Dr. Lingard bears the following testimony on the au thority of the original documents : " William kept the vacant bishoprics for several years in his own possess- ion ; and if he consented at last to name a successor, it was previously un- derstood that the new prelate should pay a &am into the exchequer propor- tionate to the value of the benefice." Again : "The king at his death had in his Viands one archbishopric, four bishoprn.&. and eleven abbeys, all of which had been let out to farm." (Hist. England, vol. ii, p. 94, note. He quotes Orderic 763, 774, and Bles. iii.) ST. THOMAS ABECKET. 37 in virtue of which Ansehn was allowed to return to England Here, after struggling to the last for the rights of the Church against royal rapacity and tyranny, he died liolily in 1109.* 11. We have given this rapid summary of well-known facts, in order to exhibit the growing spirit of royal encroach- ment on the legitimate province of the Church, which was actively at work in England at so early a period as the close of the eleventh century. Unhappily the case of St. Anselm is not a solitary one in English history. It was repeated, at least substantially, in almost every subsequent reign, down to the period of the lieformation. The Henrys vied with the Williams, and the Edwards and Richards with the Henrys, who should be most exorbitant in their claims to the seizure and administration for their own benefit of church revenues, and to the nomination to the vacant bishoprics and abbeys. This claim, and the intolerable abuses and scandals to which its exercise necessarily gave rise, constituted the most crying evil of the times, and the one which gave most uneasiness to the holy men of those ages ; precisely because it was the one which inflicted the most grievous injury upon the Church. It was the fruitful origin, not of a single evil, but of a whole series of scandals, which were sure to follow in the train of a bad appointment to a vacant bishopric or abbey. Whenever a mere creature of the king was thrust by royal influence into a bishopric, he was sure to neglect his own duties, and to ap- point other clergymen under him who were no better than himself; and thus the scandal was extended and perpetuated. * For all the facts and authorities on this subject, see Alban Butler, life of St. Anselm, Apl. 21, and Lingard in loco. The facts are, so far as we know, disputed by no one. Dr. Lingard thinks, that, in this settlement with the Pontiff, the king, while resigning the form, retained the substance of his mischievous claim. At any rate, he did not discontinue his encroachments on the rights of the bishops, nor his rapacity in seizing the revenues of the vacant benefices. He violated without scruple his solemn promises, and persisted in annoying St. An5c m to the hour of the saint's death. (Ibid., ii., p. 118.") 34 38 EUROPE BEFORE THE REFORMATION. 12. It is a remarkable fact, which is susceptible of the clearest proof, that all the greatest and best archbishops of Canterbury, under the Norman Kings, with the exception, per- haps, of Lanfranc, were more or less the victims of royal perse- cution, and that all of them were protected in their tribulation by the sovereign Pontiffs. From St. Anselm in the eleventh, down to St. Edmund Rich in the thirteenth century, we know of no exception to this statement ; unless, perhaps, it be Car- dinal Langton, who, aided by the barons whom he headed, was able to overcome the tyranny of King John, without the aid, and seemingly in spite of the Pope, whose vassal John had become. But in this contest, Langton was struggling for civil rights and franchises, not for the freedom of the Church.* 13. Every one is acquainted with the eventful career and glorious martyrdom of the brilliant and sainted Thomas A Becket, in the reign of Henry II. He was, in some respects, the Wolsey of the twelfth century, but he was composed of much sterner material, and was therefore far greater than Wolsey ; for he became, what Wolsey was not privileged to be, a martyr f:»r the freedom of the Church against royal encroach- ments and tyranny. At first he was, like Wolsey, a great favorite at court; then, like him, he fell into disgrace for hav- ing dared follow his conscience and do his duty. Made archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, he gave up, to a great extent, his worldly occupations, and applied himself diligently to the work of a Christian bishop. For resisting the king in the attempt of the latter to enforce the pretended customs of the kingdom, which either he or his immediate predecessors * That the Pope, Innocent TIL, though he at first was led by Mse repre- sentations, to side witli John against Langton and tlie barons, was really not opposed to the liberties secured by the Magna Charta at Runny mede which instrument was afterward so often confirmed and renewed with the full sanction of Ilonorius and subsequent Roman Pontiffs, must be apparent to all who have diligently studied the history of England. We have at- tempted to present a summary of the facts bearing on this case, chiefly from Hurter's Life of Innocent, in the appendi.x to the Miscellanea. ST. EDMUND RICH. 39 had but recently introduced, he lost favor, was forced to fly the kingdom, and was pursued with undying hostility by Henry's emissaries. The Roman Pontiff received the persecuted exile with parental kindness, fully sanctioned his noble resistance to royal tyranny, and employed every means in his power to soften the heart of the king. He succeeded at length in bringing about an accommodation, in consequence of which the archbishop returned to his see. But he returned only to die at the foot of his own cathedral altar by the hands of courtly assassins, who thought they would thereby ingratiate themselves into the royal favor. The fearful deed of blood and sacrilege filled all Christendom with horror, and the royal tyrant himself trembled on his throne when he heard of its horrible details. Filled with remorse, he expiated the crime, which he had only indirectly authorized, by assuming the humble garb of a penitent, and making a memorable pilgrimage to the tomb of the martyred archbishop, which he bedewed with his tears. There is a show of consistency, and a species of logic, in error as well as in truth, in crime as well as in virtue. Henry VHI. ruthlessly destroyed the tomb of ABecket, which admiring Christendom had erected and decked with the richest orna- ments, and which Englishmen had visited with growing rever- ence for nearly four centuries. He went further still in his insane indignation. He caused the venerable relics of the martyr to be exhumed and destroyed ! The boldness with which the martyr had withstood royal encroachment on the rights of the Church, commemorated and kept alive by the splendid monument over his remains, conveyed a standing reproach to his own sacrilegious rapacity, which he could not endure. The memory which it awakened of the royal penitent who had prostrated himself weeping thereat, with all Christendom reverently looking on the edifying and affecting scene, was too much for the eighth Henry, in com- parison with whose crimes, actual or meditated, those of the (Second Henry were as nothing. The times were, moreover, 40 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. eadly cliariged for the worse. The spirit of royai eucioacL ment had fearfully grown in strength and extension, and after having first attempted-r-alas ! but too successfully — gradually to undermine the freedom of church government by thwart- ing the Papacy for centuries, it was now prepared to sap the very foundations of the faith itself, and sacrilegiously to set up altar against altar ! 14. The case of St. Edmund Rich was almost a counterpart of that of St. Anselm and of St. Thomas, with this exception, that he did not die at home like the former, nor a martyr like the latter. After having been long heart-sick at the sight of evils which he could not remedy, he voluntarily withdrew from his see of Canterbury, the responsibilities of which his con- science could no longer bear ; and he retired to the continent, where he devoted himself to prayer for his afflicted flock, and where he died holily at Borins in Champagne, in 1242. King Henry HI., true to the encroaching spirit of his prede- cessors, had still persisted in keeping the sees vacant, or in filling them with his own creatures. To check the crying abuse, St. Edmund had obtained a bull from the reigning Pope Gregory IX., by the tenor of which he was liimself authorized to fill such sees, whenever they would be left vacant for more than six months. This measure irritated the king to such a degree, that the prudent or timid Pontiff, probably fearing greater evils, withdrew the bull some time afterward. The state of things which followed was such, as to render the holy archbishop's position no longer tolerable ; and finding himself like a lamb in the midst of wolves, he quietly withdrew from the scene of useless contention, to await in solitude and prayer the coming of .better times. But those did not come during his life-time; and he died in exile, a noble confessor of the faith, and another victim of royal encroachment on the liberties of the English church. 15. The spirit of royal aggression on the freedom of the Church, especially in the matter of elections to bishoprics and abbeys, instead of diminishing, went on steadily increasing GROWING ENCROACHMENTS. 4l after the death of St. Edmund. The rightful authority claimed by the Popes, as the universally acknowledged heads of the Church, to have a voice in the nomination of bishops and abbots, was clogged and hampered at almost every step by royal interference and opposition ; and the natural result was any thing but favorable to the character of many among the higher English clergy. The Popes never resigned, and never could resign their claim; however they may have occasionally and for a time let it lie in abeyance, for the sake of peace, or because they were hopeless of a favorable issue. Worried with the protracted and often useless contest, they sometimes entered into terms of accommodation with the English monarchs, who, however, generally abused the con- ciliatory temper of the Holy See, by making it an occasion of still further encroachment. Things went on in this way, until near the middle of the fourteenth century, when a series of enactments were passed by the English parliament, which were highly detrimental to the freedom and true interests of the Church, because they clearly trenched on the rightful prerogatives of the Papacy. We refer to the different statutes of Provisors and Praemunire, passed successively between the years 1343 and 1393, under Edward III. and Richard II. 16. Our present purpose does not require, nor will our limits permit a full and detailed account of these odious enactments. The following brief summary of the principal facts connected with them will suffice. They were leveled against the authority claimed by the Popes to issue what were called Letters of Provision for the filling of vacant benefices. Those persons who were named to execute such letters, and sometimes those also in whose favor they were issued, were QSkViQ^. provisors * The exercise of this right by the Pontiffs, though often quietly submitted to by the English kings, had * The term preemumre, as applied to a subsequent statute, was derived from the first word in the royal writ for inducting the candidate into ofBce : Pramunire facias — Forewarn, etc. However Fuller, quoted by D'Aubigne VOL. II. i 42 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. generally been viewed by them with more or less of disfavor, as being an encroachment on what they conceived to be the rights of the crown ; and the higher clergy, who were oi expected to be benefited by the royal })atronage, but too fre- quently sympathized with their monarch in the protracted struggle which ensued, and which came to a crisis in the fourteenth century. The acts of 1343 and the following years, under Edward III., forbade, under penalty of forfeiture, and subsequently of outlawry, the bringing into the kingdom of such letters of provision for vacant benefices, or of documents of any other description which should be deemed contrary to the rights of the monarch and of the realm ;* and provided that the elections to vacant sees and abbeys should be nominally free, but that the king should have the bestowal of the va- cant benefice whenever the Pope interfered, and the lay patron neglected to select the incumbent.f With this last enactment the clergy were greatly dissatisfied ; because while it professed to protect the freedom of election against the Pope, it really " abolished such freedom in favor of the king." The clergy began then to open their eyes, and to perceive whither the encroaching spirit of their kings was really tend- ing ; a lesson which it is a great pity they did not learn sooner, or better profit by at a later period. Every blow struck at the prerogatives of the Popes was one really leveled at their own dignity, and at their independence of royal ag- gression in the exercise of their spiritual functions. The Pontift' was the only person on earth who had the power or the will to shield them from the tyranny of their sovereigns, which afterwards, when this restraint was entirely removed, (p. 702, note), thinks the more obvious meaning of the term is to fence and foHifij the royal authority. We prefer the former i leaning, which is that ridopted by Lingard. * Rotul. Parliam. ii, p. lM-5. Apud Lingard, Hist England, vol. iv, p. 153 \ Statutes of Realm, I, 31G. Ibid. STATUTE OF PROVISORS AND OF PRiEMUNIRE. 43 actually crushed out all the remaining liberties of the English church, and rendered it the most abject slave of the crown. In the year 1375, a compromise was effected between Ed- ward III. and Pope Gregory XI., in the Concordat entered into at Bruges ; by which all previous penalties were remitted by the English king, and Gregory, without renouncing his claims, revoked all reservations and provisions made by him- self and his predecessors which had not yet taken effect.* This Concordat was but a temporary remedy for a permanent evil, which it palliated without removing. The noxious plant was indeed removed from sight, but its roots remained deep in the soil. In 1379, the controversy was revived, on occa- sion of the appointment by the Pope of Edward Bromfield to the vacant abbey of St. Edmund's.f After continuing for some months, the contest was finally settled by the translation of Bromfield to another benefice, in 1380. Pope Urban VI. confirmed the Concordat of Bruges, but he was unwilling to give up the right, so often claimed and exercised by his predecessors, to fill up such English benefices as had been previously held by cardinals and other prelates attached to the immediate service of the Holy See. The English parliament re-enacted the Statute of Provisors in 1383 ; but as its execution was made dependent on the dis- cretion of the crown, the king generally granted his royal license to such cardinals and Roman prelates as the Pontiff designated to fill vacant benefices ; and thus the re-enactment of the statute proved nugatory in practice. After the death of Urban VI., his successor Boniface IX. declared all the previous acts of the English parliament on this subject utterly void and of no eflect, as infringing the clearly established rights of the Holy See; and in 1391 he appointed Cardinal Brancaccio to a prebend in the church of Wells. Hereupon great popular eomriotion ensued in En- * See Lingard, vol. iv. p. 155. f Ibid., p. 224-5. 44 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. gland, tliough the appointment certainly presented nothing :hat was unusual. The parliament re-assembled in 1393 ; and amidst much excitement, and after an angry debate, the famous Statute of Praemunire was drawn up, though it was probably never regularly passed, but left to be carried out at the discretion of the king with the advice of his council.* By this statute, " it was provided that if any man pursue or obtain in the Court of Rome, or elsewhere, such translations, excommunications, bulls, instruments, or other things against the king's crown and regality or kingdom as aforesaid, or bring them into the realm, or execute them either within the realm or without, such person or persons, their notaries, pro- curators, fautors, and counsellors shall be out of the king's protection, their goods and chattels, lands and tenements shall be forfeited to the king, and their perons attached wherever they may be found." — " The prelates, however, de- clared, that it was not their intention to deny that the Pope could issue sentences of excommunication and translate bishops, according to the law of the holy Church ; but to do so in the cases proposed would be to invade the rights of the crown, which they were determined to support with all their power." f Another accommodation was soon after entered into with the Pontiff, by which provisions in favor of aliens (not Eng- lishmen), except cardinals, were entirely abandoned by the Holy See, and those in favor of natives were to be generally granted to such persons as had previously obtained the royal license.j Thus ended the controversy, evidently greatly to * It is not found in the Rolls of Parliament, but only in the Statutes of the I^alm (Lingard, Ibid., vol. iv, p. 228, and note). It met with great resistance in the House of Lords, and it was sent back to the Commons, who seem to have withdrawn it, leaving the king and his council free to modif)'' its enact- ments at will, or to let them remain a dead letter; as they, in foct, did gen- erally remain for more than a luindred years — up to the time of Henry VIII. f R. of Pari, iii, p. 304, Apud Lingard, Ibid., vol. iv, p. 227. t I^id , p. 229. DR. LINGARD REVIEWED. 45 the advantage of the English monarch, who gained the prin- cipal point, that of being able to thrust his own nominees, or creatures, into the vacant benefices, whether these were elect- ed by the clergy or nominated by the Pontiff; the election being often merely nominal, and the Pope generally approv- ing of the royal choice, which he seldom felt able to oj)pose.* 17. This result was certainly most disastrous to the English church; but the Popes had done all they could, and they were therefore not to blame for the evils which subsequently ensued ; among which the principal one was, that quite too many of the English bishops became courtiers, and were infected to a greater or less extent with worldly-minded- ness. The English kings would have it so, in spite of the Popes ; and the blame therefore should justly attach to the former, not to the latter. "We totally dissent from the opinion expressed by the great English historian in the following sin- gular passage — his facts are nearly always reliable, his infer- ences may occasionally be questioned : " In the obstinacy with which the Court of Eome urged the exercise of these obnoxious claims, it is difficult to discover any trace of that poHtical wisdom for which it has been celebrated. Its conduct tended to loosen the ties which bound the people to the head of their Church, to nourish a spirit of opposition to his authority, and to create a willingness to listen to the declamations, and adopt the opinions of religious innovators." J So far from being fairly charged with " obstinacy," the counter charge of too nmch conciliation might be preferred with much greater plausibility. The Popes pushed this spirit of compromise to the extremity of almost yielding the exercise of their clear and inalienable rights, as Dr. Lingard himself admits in the case of Paschal II. above referred to, and also in his concluding remarks on the negotiations which followed the passage of the Statute of Praemunire. Beset with diffi- culties, and fearing that greater evils might arise from oppos- ♦ Hist. England, Ibid. f Ibid., p. 157, J Ibid., vol. iv, p. 157. 46 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. ing too strenuously the headlong passions of the English monarchs, the policy of the Popes was generally mild and conciliating, sometimes it was even timid and un- decided.* 18. Yet, in spite of all the efforts of the English monarchs and of their subservient parliaments for centuries, the Popes, however conciliatory in the adjustment of details, never would or could resign the right^ inherent in the I*rimacy, to have a controlling voice in the nomination to the vacant bishoprics. This was indispensable, in order that they might be able to keep unworthy men from being numbered with the chief * It may be interesting to see how the Anglican bishop, Short, writes on this subject. He is probably almost, if not quite, as just to the Popes as Dr. Lingard. Speaking of William Eufus and St. Anselm, he says : " Wil- liam Rufus might have kept himself as independent as his father, had not his invasion of church property compelled Anselm to fly to Home for protec- tion. The quarrel about investiture was really one as to the power which it gave the king of selling his preferments." (Sup. cit., p. 24.) Again, treating of the general question between the Popes and the English mon- archs, he writes : "Most of the contests which took place concerned the property of the church, and might more justly be viewed as questions of civil right than as belonging to ecclesiastical matters. The church is a body corporate with spiritual functions, but possessed of temporal rights; the injustice generally arose with regard to the temporahties, ordinarily with respe6t to the appoint- ments ; and as the ecclesiastical body had no other means of defending its own rights than by spiritual thunders, the invasion of a right puiely tempo- ral (!) in its nature became a question of spiritual power, from the way in which the contest was carried on. The king kept a bishopric or abbey va- cant, and let the temporalities out to flirm. The church was injured by the want of a head, but the injustice was such as might have been remedied without any appeal to a foreign power, if the barons had maintained the rights of the church ; but when the church found no other remedy, her members ivere forced to seek for aid from any source which could afford it to them, and so put themselves under the protection of Rome." Ibid. The church was certainly not " in want of a head ;" the great evil was, that the king usurped the rights properly belonging to him who was the recognized head ; and the barons were often as bad as the king. SUPERIORITY OF THE ROMAN NOMINEES. 47 shepherds of the flock. Tliough sometimes compelled reluct antly to acquiesce in a state of things which thoj could not approve, yet they never relaxed their vigilance over the inter- ests of the English church ; and if its purity was generally preserved in spite of appalling difficulties, the result is due mainly to the Popes, not certainly to the rude and half-bar- barous English monarchs of the middle ages. 19. During the continuance of these protracted conflicts between the English sovei'eigns and the Roman Pontiffs, it is a remarkable fact that the Primacy of the latter was not im- pugned by king, parliament, or people. On the contrary, it was repeatedly acknowledged and openly proclaimed. Dis- tinctions were sometimes drawn between the spiritual juris- diction inseparable from the Primacy, and the particular claims set up by the Popes to influence or control the episcopal and abbatial nominations : and while the former was unanimously acknowledged, the latter were often op- posed, as involving matters of temporal interest. The dis- tinction was more selfish than logical; still it was made. Says Lingard : "Of the Primac)'' of the Pontiff, or of his spiritual jurisdiction, there was no question": both these were repeatedly acknowledged by the Commons in their petitions, and by the king in his letters. But it was contended that the Pope was surrounded by subtle and rapacious counselors, who abused for their own emolument the confidence of their master; that by their ad- vice he had 'accroached' to himself a temporal authority, to which, as it invaded the rights of others, he could have no claim ; and that when repeat- ed remonstrances had failed, it was lawful to employ the resources of the civil power in the just defense of civil rights." * 20. Certain it is, that the English prelates who were ap- pointed either directly by the Holy See, or with its full con- sent, were those precisely to whom England is most indebted. In general, they were immeasurably superior to those who were nominated by the king, after a sham election by the chapter, and an extorted approval from the Pope. What a * Hist. England, vol. iv, p. 156. 48 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. candid Protestant writer says of the clergy in Germany may apply, with still greater force, to those of England during the period of which we are speaking : " It can not be denied that, whatever the national writers may say to the contrar}^, the ecclesiastics appointed by the Pope were generally far superior, as regards both merit and conduct, to those nominated by the chapter or the bishops." * We think we have already sufficiently proved this, in what we have heretofore said of Lanfranc, St. Anselm, St. Thomas, and St. Edmund. We will merely add, that it was to the Pope, and in direct opposition to the twice declared wishes of the chapter of Canterbury supported by the English king, that the English church was indebted for the nomination to the English primacy of the great Stephen Langton, the cham- pion of Magna Charta. Mathew of Westminster, a monkish chronicler of the times, furnishes all the particulars of this interesting case, which of itself would show how much Eng- land is indebted to the Popes. f Again, the successor of Langton, St. Edmund Rich, was nominated by the Pope, who rejected Blunt, or Blundy, the candidate presented by the chapter of Canterbury with the sanction of the king. The chief ground for the rejection of Blunt was, that, contrary to the sacred canons, he already held a plurality of benefices. At the suggestion of Langton, the Pope had previously ordered a rigid visitation of the whole province of Canterbury, with a view to correct abuses, and especially to inquire into the conduct of the clergy, both secular and regular. In spite of monastic and royal opposi- tion, the visitation was rigidly carried out ; and it resulted in the removal of scandals, and in the correction of many abuses, which had crept in through human weakness and royal encroachment. Roger of Wendover, another monkish * Hist. Germanic Empire, vol. ii, ch. 3, in Cabinet Cyclopedia, apud Dublin Review, for October, 1858. i An interesting summary of the facts is given in the article of the Dub- lin Review, for October, 1858, already quoted. LANFRANC AND WYKEHAM. 49 chr jnicier, furnishes us all the particulars of this most wiso and salutary measure of discipline,* Speaking of Lanfranc, the first archbishop of Canterbury after the Norman conquest, the recent Protestant biographei of the English Judges, Mr. Foss, bears the following honor- able testimony : " He was not only willingly accepted by the monks and approved by the barons and people, but gladly confirmed by the Pope. He was accordingly consecrated in 1070, and on visiting Rome in the following year to receive the pall, he was welcomed with particular respect by his former pupil, Alex- ander II., who rose to give him audience, kissed him instead of presenting his slipper for that obeisance, and not satisfied with giving him the usual pall, invested him with that which he had himself used in celebrating Mass. On his return from Rome, he devoted himself strenuously to the duties of his ofiice, and labored successfully in reforming the irregularities and rude- ness of his clergy. His severity in depriving many occasioned considerable complaints, but the introduction of foreign scholars in their places contri buted eifectually to the enlightenment of the nation." f Of another archbishop of Canterbury, Simon of Sudbury, who was a favorite of the Pope, but was murdered by an English mob under Richard IL, Mr. Foss says : " The character of the archbishop, as represented by the historians, was such as to make him least liable to popular hatred. He was of a liberal, free, and generous spirit ; admired for his wonderftil parts, for his wisdom, his learn- ing, and his eloquence, and revered for the piety of his life, the charity he dispensed, and the merciful consideration he always exhibited." I The same candid Protestant writer speaks equally well of another of the Pope's bishops, the illustrious William of Wykeham, whom the king compelled to become chancellor. He held the seals for two years and a half; but " during that period, he had the happiness to restore the public tranquillity 80 efiectually, that parliament thanked the king for his good government ; and could he have been induced to remain in ofiice, it is probable that his wise councils might have checked * Dublin Review, ibid. f The Judges of England, etc. 6 vols. By Edward Foss, F. S. A., apud Dublin Review, for July, 1858. t Ibid. VOL. II. 5 50 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. the king's intemperance, and prevented the ftital consequences that followed." * 21. In reading the English monastic chronicles of the thir- teenth and fourteenth centuries, some of which have been recently published by the British government,! we are often shocked at the sneering or irreverent tone, in which they not unfrequently speak of the Holy See. They are usually found sympathizing with the royal pretensions, and in opposition to the claims of the Pope. They occasionally dismiss, with cold words or a passing sneer, the most atrocious acts of violence perpetrated against the ecclesiastical nominees of the Pontiff. Take, for instance, the following extract from Mathew of Westminster, for the year 1260 : "A prebendary of St. Paul's, dying beyond the Alps, the Pope imme- diately bestowed the prebend on another. The king, not being aware of this, bestowed the prebend on Lord John de Crakehall, his treasurer. When this was heard, a procurator, one of the secular clergy, was sent into Eng- land with writings from the Pope, to support the papal collation. And the archbishop of Canterbury, deciding on the case, as he was ordered to do, ascertaining at length that the papal donation preceded the Icing's appoint- ment in order of time, by his formal sentence adjudged the prebend to the Eoman before mentioned ; who after he was installed, endeavored to take possession of the principal mansions attached to the prebend in the city ; but he was denied entrance, on which account, yielding to violence and arms, he withdrew. And they who occupied the house, seeing this, presently followed him behind, and some one in the crowd of passers-by clove his head in two between the eyes, and escaped without being arrested by any one ; and a companion was treated in the same manner, while the slayer escaped ;" and although "aji investigation took place, tlie criminal could not be dis- covered." I The whole account looks very much like a criminal con id v- ance of the civil powers in two atrocious assassinations, un- * The Judges of England, etc., apud Dublin Review. Quoted already. f Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Mid- dle Ages. Published by the authority of her Majesty's Treasury, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls. London ; Longman, 1858 I Quoted by Dublin Review, for October, 1858, sup. cit. SINGULAR DEVELOPMENTS. 51 hlusliingly perpetrated at noonday in the streets of London, on a man too who was peaceably withdrawing, yielding qui- etly his acknowledged rights to " violence and arms !" These horrid crimes seem to have created but slight sensation at the time, else the investigation which is said to have taken place would have had some result. Here we may, more- over, see what was the character of some at least of the men whom the king thought proper to promote to the principal church-livings. This "Lord John de Crake- hall, the king's treasurer," was but one out of a vast num- ber of such creatures of the king, who were thus promoted to high dignities in spite of the Pope. He was a man of little virtue or integrity — a mere courtier. Here is another specimen exhibiting a similar spirit, from Capgrave, a chronicler of the fourteenth century — the occurrence belongs to the year 1315 : "At that time came into England two legates. As the manner of the Romans is, they ride with great solemnity into the North- country, for to make Lodewick Beaumont bishop of Durham, against the election of the monks who had chosen another : And though they were warned that they should not come there, j^et they rode till they came to Darlington. And sodeynly out of a vale rose a grete people — Capteyns Gilbert de Mydleton and Walter Selby. They laid hands upon them, and robbed them of all their treasure ; and Lodewick, whom they intended to make bishop, they led to a town called Morpeth, and compelled him to make a grete ransom. Then came the cardinals to London, and asked of the clergy eight pence in the mark" — by way of compensation for their loss. They were answered with a sneer, " that they gave them no counsel for to go so far North ! " * And yet these same men, who could treat with so much cold contempt and heartlessness the envoys of the Holy See thus grievously outraged in the discharge of their official duty, and who were so niggardly of their contributions even to the holy father himself when he called on them in his sore distress, were themselves the veriest slaves of the king, and * Dublin Review, ibid. 52 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. dared not resist his demands for money, no matter how fre- quent and how exorbitant these were. They were wholly at the mercy of their royal master ; and though they begrudged the miserable pittance of Peter pence to sup port the common father of the faithful in the discharge of his duties for the common good of Christendom, they would, with courtly cheerfulness, vote hundreds of thou- sands of pounds to a profligate monarch, who generally squandered the amount among his unprincipled favorites, or in low debauchery! Verily, the mischievous claim of the crown to interfere with the nomination of bishops and abbots was producing its legitimate, but most poisonous fruits. Thus, for example, in the reign of Edward L, we are told by Mathew of "Westminster, that the king demanded, and the clergy with apparent cheerfulness and unanimity granted one half of their annual revenues. A knight rose up in the midst of the convocation, and said : " My venerable men, this is the demand of the king, the moiety of the annual revenue of your churches. And if any one objects to this, let him rise up in the middle of the assembly, that his person may be recog- nized and taken note of, as he is guilty of treason against the king's peace. When they heard this, all the prelates were disturbed, and immediately agreed to the king's de- mands."* These courtly ecclesiastics were in mortal dread of the king, who seems to have ruled them with a rod of iron ; as the in- stance just furnished abundantly proves. Mathew furthei states, that before the extravagant tax of the king was voted by the terror-stricken clergy in the manner described above, the dean of St. Paul's ventured to the court with a view to expostulate with the monarch, and to induce him, if possible, to lower his demands, but that upon " coming before the king to deliver the speeches which he had conceived in his mind, * Quoted ibid. GROWING SERVILITY. 53 he became suddenly mute, and losing all the strength of his body, fell down before the king and expired."* 22. Such was the sad condition to which the successive royal encroachments on the proper domain of the Church, and on the just prerogatives of the Holy See, had reduced the bishops and higher clergy of England, as early even as the beginning of the fourteenth century. It is manifest, from all these facts, and from many others of a similar nature which might be al leged, that though the Pope's supremacy was openly and gen- erally recognized in theory, he was in efl'ect already shorn of many of the rights to its practical exercise which were indis- pensable for the proper government of the church in England. The royal pretensions had already absorbed almost every thing in the way of patronage, and had left but little real practical power to the Pontiffs, either to select good men for the bishop- rics, or to punish the worldly-minded and scandalous among the higher clergy and monks. As the late writer already quoted, energetically remarks : "The obstinate absurdity of ascribing to the Holy See all the evils in which they were compelled reluctantly to acquiesce, or at least to watch in silent anguish, is the fallacy which distorts most modern views of history ; and as it misled the Catholic chroniclers of that age, we can hardly wonder at its leading astray their modern Anglican editors. The truth is that the Pope, in the middle ages, was nearly powerless in the hands of princes. If thyy were ' ages of faith,' they were far more ages of force. And it is impossible to quote too often the remarliable phrase of Mr. Froude, which is the key to mediaeval history, that the authority of the Pope was but a name and a sham."\ This last expression, borrowed from the Protestant Froude, is doubtless much too strong. Throughout those ages, as we have already seen, the authority of the Popes was generally recognized ; and it was not only patiently submitted to, but reverently spoken of by all the good and virtuous of every country in Europe. But it is also lamentable to observe, that * Quoted ibid. ] In Dublin Pieview, for October, 1858. 35 54 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. the practice was not always in conformity with the theory, especially among those whose passions were curbed by the papal power. The haughty and but half civilized king or baron, who panted to lay sacrilegious hands on the treasures of the Churcli, and who, to carry out his design, wished to thrust into the richest livings such men as would be most ready to pander to his ungoverned appetites, was not likely to view with pleasure the exercise of a power, which alone could effectually thwart his wicked purpose, and protect the Church from his mischievous encroach- ments. And, unfortunately, it too often happened, that the wicked prince was powerfully aided by courtier pre- lates and monks, who expected to reap worldly advantage by pandering to his passions. 23. This fact furnishes the true key to the scandalous quar- rels of medioeval English kings with the Popes, which so often meet our eyes and shock our religious sensibilities in reading the chronicles of the middle ages. These were written mostly by monks, who had caught the rude spirit of the times, and had learned to argue in favor of their temporal lords. The latter could reward them with rich benefices, whereas the Popes could only restrain their vices and hurl anathemas at their heads from a distance. This contemptible courtier-spirit among the higher clergy went on steadily increasing, especially in England, from the twelfth to the sixteenth century ; when under Henry YIIl. it finally 'culminated in the most abject servility to the crown. The writer already quoted more than once very justly re- marks as follows on this growing degeneracy: " As we advance towards the Reformation, we see the spirit of slavery stealing over men's minds, taking its origin from a servile worship of the visible, einbodied in an earthly sovereignty The old English vigor ol intellect and character was becoming palsied beneath the heavy, chilling pres- sure of regal tyrann}^, and losing all its elastic energy and racy heartiness [n truth, these chronicles, taken altogether, throw a clear, strong light upon our English history : and the more that light is diffused, the more apparent will it be, tliat al! the abuses of the Church in that age arose from servility EV^ OF THE REFORMATION. 55 to royalty ; and from the virtual subjection of the episcopate to that spirit ol the world, which was afterwards formally embodied and enthroned, and still is so in the royal supremacy : in other words, all these mediaeval chronicles are witnesses for the Papacy." 24. From this rapid summary of foots showing the religious condition of England before the Reformation, especially in her relations with the Holy See, we draw the following con- clusions, the soundness of which few impartial men will be inclined to dispute : 1. That England was indebted to Rome for the boon of Christianity, and this in both epochs of her early religious history — the British and the Anglo-Saxon. Pope St. Eleu- therius in the second, and Pope St. Gregory the Great in the sixth century, sent out the apostolic men that labored success- fully for the conversion of her people ; who but for the effect- ive zeal of those holy Pontiffs might have continued for centuries longer to sit " in the region of the shadow of death." There is no clear or satisfactory evidence of any attempt to convert England before the days of Eleutherius ; and if there were Christians on the island at an earlier period, they must have been few in number, and history has left no record of their existence as an organized body. 2. That the present Anglican hierarchy, professing to derive its succession, as it certainly does, from Canterbury, and not from the British Christians of Wales, must necessarily refer back its origin to Pope St. Gregory the Great, who established the see of Canterbury, and who appointed its first incumbent. St. Augustine is thus clearly the first link in the chain of the Anglican succession, without which it could lay claim to no possible connection with the early Church. The present An- glican hierarchy must then derive its authority — if at all - - from the Pope through St. Augustine of Canterbury, else it ha^ no beginning nor succession whatsoever, even in appearance. 3. That throughout the entire period of the Anglo-Saxon and of the Anglo-Norman dynasties — for nearly a thousand years before the Reformation — the Primacy of the Holy Set 56 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. was fully and generally recognized by all classes in England; that its authority was appealed to by the greatest and- tbe best in all great emergencies ; and that, in a word, the Church in England regarded herself during all those centu- ries as being under the special protection and fostering caro of the lioman Pontiffs. This is manifest from the public acts of Saints "Wilfrid and Dunstan in the Anglo-Saxon period ; and of Lanfranc, St. Anselm, St. Thomas A Becket, St. Ed- mund, and many other great men during the Anglo-Norman. The Popes continued to send their legates to England down to the reign of Henry VIII. inclusively ; and amidst the tur- moil of those troubled times, and the storm of angry passions. the voice of Home continued to be heard and to be generally respected throughout the Island. The Pontiffs often made the English tyrants quail, in the midst of their actual or medi- tated oppressions and rapacity: and their authority proved a bulwark of strength to the good and virtuous, and a powerful shield to the oppressed. Though often thwarted by royal or princely chicanery and avarice, the Pontiffs were generally triumphant in the end, and they were always right in the principles which they upheld, for the vindication of the free- dom of the Church. This is the general verdict of English religious history, when viewed impartially, and in all its bearings. 4. That the numerous and protracted conflicts of the En- glish monarchs with the Popes, to which we have referred somewhat at length, do not prove the contrary of this conclu- sion, but rather serve to confirm its truth. The English kings and parliaments often sought to hamper in various ways the exercise of the Primacy, not to destroy the Primacy itself; which they clearly and repeatedly recognized, even while an- grily opposing its decisions. The Saxon was naturally a rude and intractable character, narrow and almost insular in his views, suspicious of the least shadow of encroachment on what he conceived to be his rights ; and though often liberal and even generous, yet in the main strongly wedded to his material SUMMING UP. 57 comforts and pecimiarj interests. Most of the contests in question grew ont of the intense English feeling, that money should not go out of the kingdom, nor aliens come in to share its emoluments whether in church or state, to the exclusion of natives. The mere ftict of our opposing — no matter on what personal grounds — the justice or expediency of a decision emanating from an authoritative tribunal, does not carry with it the denial of the right itself of the tribunal to adjudge the case. Thus, many politicians in this country oppose certain decisions of the Supreme court of the United States ; and yet, few, if any, deny the authority of the court itself. 5. That the best and brightest names in English ecclesias- tical history were precisely those of men who were friends of the Popes, and often, in consequence of this, the victims of royal persecution. These were men above this world, who preferred the spiritual to the material, heaven to earth, eter- nity to time. Such men were incapable of sacrificing con- science to expediency, or of becoming the pliant and subser- vient creatures of royal rapacity. Hence they were hated and persecuted by the world, represented by the English monarchs. 6. That most of the abuses and scandals which existed n the English church during the period preceding the Refor- mation, grew out of the encroachments of the civil power on the domain of spiritual rights, and out of the persistent claim set up by the English monarchs to thrust worldly-minded or unworthy men into the highest dignities of the Church, in spite of the energetic protests so often made by the Popes. The question of the nomination to bishoprics and abbeys was the vital issue of the times; and though it accidentally in- volved temporal emoluments and interests, it was primarily a religious question, fraught in its issues with life or death to the Church. But for the interposition of the Roman Pontifis to check this crying evil of overweening lay patronage, the En- glish church would have been, according to all human calcu- lations, utterly and irretrievably ruined. As it was, it re- ceived many grievous wounds from this poisoned weapon, 58 ENGLAND BEFORE THE REFORMATION. wielded so persistently, and often so fatally by the English monarchs. 7. We will add, that during the Anglo-Saxon period — and, a fortiori, during the Anglo-Norman — the same doctrines were held, and the same general usages of discipline connected with doctrine were observed, as we now see still held and observed by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world. In his learned work on the Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, Dr. Lingard has established this great fact by cumulative evi- dence, wliich no one can gainsay, much less refute. REFORMATION IN ENGLAND. CHAPTER I. HENRY VIII. AND EDWARD VI. Tlie way now prepared — The " pear ripe" — Henry VIII. the founder of the English Reformation — Two theories — One of them refuted — And the other defended — Bishop Short — And the Book of Homilies — What we propose to examine — Five questions — Was Henry sincere ? — Auspicious beginning of his reign — Defender of the Faith — The Divorce — Henry's scruples! — Anne Boleyn — Sir James Mcintosh and Miss Strickland — The Sweating Sickness a test — D'Aubigne's moral standard — Heroism of Clement VII. — Noble answer of Campeggio — Cardinal Wolsey — Thomas Cromwell — Was Henry licentious and cruel ? — Treatment of his six wives — Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, and Catharine Howard — Satanic conspiracy — Catharine Parr — Was Henry a tyrant ? — Confiscation of monasteries — Bishop Short testifies again — Protestant testimony — Exor- bitant taxation — Atrocious tyranny — Trampling on ancient Catholic liberties of England — Hallam's testimony — Means of Reformation — Cromwell's advice — Royal supremacy — Cromwell Vicar General — Degra- dation of bishops — Testimony of Bishop Short — Imaginary and real despotism — Horrid butcheries — Fisher and Moore — Pole's brother and relatives — And his mother — The Friars Peyto and Elstow — Hallam's testimony — A system of espionage established — Curious examples — Fronde's idea of /'aw — His defending Henry VIII. and persecution — Bishop Short on Henry's murders — Character of the Anglican Reformation — The Six Articles — Catholics and Protestants butchered together — Cranmer aids and abets — Edward VI. — Reformation has now an open field — Cranmer and Somerset — Gradual Reformation — Book of Common Prayer — And Articles of Religion — Inquisition established — Joan Bocher burned — Her answer to Crannier — Barbarous law against mendicants — People opposed to the new religion — Popular insurrections — Put down by foreign sol- diers— State of public morals — Suppression of monasteries, a master- stroke of policy — Analysis of Hallam's testimony and reasoning on this subject — The three concupiscences — Conclusion. "We are now better prepared to understand, how it was possible for Henry VHI. to succeed in so suddenly separating England from the communion of the Catholic Church. By (59^ 60 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY VIII. the gradual operation of the causes above referred to in the Introduction ; by the growing abuse of the royal patronage in the nomination of bishops, and by the silent but powerful influence on the popular mind of the principles contained in the statutes of provisors and proemunire, the higher clergy of England had become gradually more and more estranged from the Holy See, and more and more subservient to the king. The jealousy of Rome was slowly leading them to the brink of the frightful abyss of schism, into which they were now prepared madly to plunge. The only one who could protect them from the usurpations and tyranny of the king, in matters connected with the interests of the Church, was the Pope ; but the feeling of loyalty to the Pope had been waning for centuries, however strongly his Primacy itself had been recognized. The increasing worldly spirit among the higher clergy — itself a necessary consequence of the un- due influence of the crown in their nomination and appoint- ment— was fast preparing their minds for unlimited and unreasoning obedience to the commands of a tyrant, in things spiritual as well as in things temporal. "The pear was nearly ripe" — and Henry VIH. greedily plucked it at the flrst favorable moment. Tlie whole merit or demerit of having caused the separa- tion of England from the Catholic Church belongs fairly to Henry VHI. He was the real father of the English Refor- mation, which was peculiarly his own work, moulded accord- ing to his royal will, and made to his own image and like- ness. This fact is incontestable. But for him, there would been no schism, and consequently no Reformation in England — at least not then. At a subsequent period, an equally unscru- pulous English nonarch might have, indeed, availed himself of the growing disaflection to Rome, and brought about a schism ; but this is merely a speculation as to what might have possibly occurred, whereas we are dealing with the facts as they really took place. Had Henry rcuuiined Arm, there would have been no divorce from Catharine, and conse- THE FIRST THEORY REFUTED. 61 quently no Edward VI. and no Elizabeth, to cany out to its full length of heresy the fatal schism which he originated. The whole complexion of English history since the beginning of the sixteenth century would have been changed ; and in all human probability England would be Catholic to this very day. The apologists of the Anglican Reformation generally adopt one of two theories. One section of them, and per- haps the larger and more respectable, give up the character and acts of Henry VIII. as wholly indefensible, and say that the Reformation was a good thing brought about by a bad man ; while another section, comprising several ancient and some recent Anglican writers, of some respectability and weight with their own partisans, undertake the defense of Henry VIIL, and would have us believe that he was not half so bad a man as history usually paints him, and that his con- duct was generally prompted by conscientious motives, and governed, more or less, by sound principles.* The first of these theories is easily refuted. God does not employ the agency of wicked men to do His work, especially to introduce great changes for the better. Such a course were unworthy His sanctity, as it is clearly opposed to all the facts of sacred history. The instrument employed must be suitable to the work to be accomplished. Tliis is a sound maxim even in human policy and wisdom, and one who should contravene it would be justly deemed neither wise nor ordinarily prudent. With how much stronger reason is not the principle applica- ble to the operations of the all-wise and all-holy Godhead ? "Would it not be clearly incompatible with both His holiness and His wisdom to select wholly unworthy, and therefore wholly unsuitable and inadequate instruments to accomplish * Two modern champions of Anglicanism, Bishop Hopkins in America and Froude in England, would seem to incline to this theory ; from the pains they take to show that Henry VIII, was not half so bad as he is usu- ally represented. They herein adopt the only really logical course for de» fending the Anglican Reformation. 62 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY VIII. His great designs for the sanctification and salvatioj of men ? Would not this be clearly in opposition to the maxim laid down in the gospel by the Son of God himself: "By their fruits ye shall know them?" How could this be verified, if bad men could produce good fruits ? True, God may and does tolerate some bad ministers of His own chosen work among many good ones, where the or- dinary course of things is to be maintained, and no great re- formatory change, whether in doctrines or morals, to be introduced. Under such circumstances, the influence of the evil example of the wicked could not be so extensively perni- cious, being counteracted by the preponderating example and teaching of the good ; and the former would be thereby effect- ually restrained from circulating new or dangerous principles for the perversion of others. But the case is totally diflferent, where a new order of teaching and practice is to be intro- duced for the reformation of an entire people. Then we naturally expect to find the agents adapted to the nature of their work. — " Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ?"* Accordingly, we find that all the true reformers of whom we read in sacred and ecclesiastical history were men of God, and that most, if not all of them, were even gifted with super- natural powers. Such was the case with Moses who intro- duced the old law, such was the case with the Apostles who proclaimed the new. Miracles were the seals of their apos- tleship, and the unmistakable evidence before the people of their divine mission and authority to teach the revealed truths, and enforce the divine commandments. Without such gifts, we can scarcely understand how Christianity could have been established, or even one nation converted from paganism. The apostles of all the diflPerent nations, which were success- ively converted from paganism to Christianity, were men of this heavenly stamp, as all ecclesiastical histoiy pro * St. Mathew, vii : 16. THE SECOND THEORY MAINTAINED. 63 claims. Not one of them all was certainly a man of even doubtful character, much less openly wicked in his life and conduct. And the same may be said of those Christian reformers of popular morals, without reference to doctrinal changes, who have adorned the Church in every age of her eventful history. They were all men of the purest morals and of the highest type of sanctity. They practiced in their daily life what they so eloquently preached to others ; and God abundantly blessed their holy labors for His own honor and glory. A hundred examples of this might be alleged, while not a solitary in- stance of the contrary can be produced. It would lead us much too far to go into facts and specifications on this subject; but we may be allowed simply to refer to a few of such reform- ers in mediaeval or in more modern times as many Anglican writers, like Palmer and Pusey, are in the habit of looking up to with respectful reverence ; to such men, for instance, as St. Bernard, St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Francis de Sales. Until the advent of the Protestant Eeformation, such a thing as a true refor- mation in morals, and still more in doctrine, brought about by the agency of wicked men, was never even thought of as probable, or even as possible. This remarkable discovery, like many others, was reserved for more enlightened modern times ! It is clear, then, that the only logical, or even plausible de- fense of the Anglican Reformation consists precisely in the adoption of the second theory referred to above ; namely, that those who brought it about and perfected the work were good, at any rate, not bad men or women. This line of defense, of course, necessarily carries along with it the vindication of Henry VIII. and of his daughter Elizabeth ; the former of whom began, and the latter consummated the Anglican Reformation. But though the defense of such characters is manifestly a very diificult, if not a h ^peless task, it 64 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY VIU. 18 really the only vindication which is at all admis sible.* That Henry VIII. was, in fact, the real originator and fc'ander of the Anglican church, few impartial men will be disposed to deny. English history proclaims the fact in lan- guage too clear to admit of any misunderstandmg or doubt. The Anglican bishop Short, speaking of the gratitude Anglicans owe to God for having brought about the Reformation in England, says : " The chief mover of the Reformation in this country was a king brought up with a high respect and ad- miration for those doctrines which were combated by the reformers; who had publicly embarked in their defense and acquired the title of Defender of the Faith, etc." f A little further on, he candidly admits, that " the existence of the church of England, as a distinct body, and her final sep- aration from Rome, may be dated from the period of the divorce." J The same fact is attested by an authority which may be deemed almost, if not quite official and decisive ; we refer to the Book of Homilies of the church of England, issued origin ally by Cranmer and his associates in the reign of Edward VI., and indorsed as containing sound doctrine in one of the Thirty-Nine Articles. In these Homilies is found the follow- ing remarkable passage, highly eulogistic of Henry VIII., as *In his Constitutional History of England, (Edit. Harper. New York, 1857, p. 30, note,) Mr. Hallam rebukes a leading champion of Anglicanism — Sharon Turner — for having, "in his history of Henry VHL, gone upon the strange principle of exalting that tyrant's reputation at the expense of every one of his victims, to whatever party they may have belonged. Odit dam- natos. Perhaps he is the first, and will be the last, who has defended the attainder of Sir Thomas More." Burnet had previously set the example of unworthy adulation towards the royal tyrant ; and his spirit seems to have descended to the poet Gray, who sings of Henry, as " The majestic lord, Who broke tlie bonds of Rome." — Quoted Ibid. f History of the Church of England, sup. cit. p. 53. \ Ibid., p. 44 WHAT WE PROPOSE TO PROVE. 65 the great reformer whom God had raised up in Engla d and filled with his own spirit: "Honor be to God who did put light in the heart of his true and faztliful minister, of most famous memory, King Henry the Eighth, and give him the knowledge of His word, and an earnest aifection to seek His glory, and to put away all such superstitions and pharisaical sects by antichrist invented and set up against the true word of God and glory of His most blessed name, as He gave the like spirit to the most noble and famous princes Josaphat, Josias, and Ezechias."* .. "We willingly accept the issue as thus made by some of the strongest champions of Anglicanism, and we are fully pre- pared to abide the test which the issue involves. Though our purpose does not require, nor will our limits permit, a full, detailed, and connected account of the rise and progress of the Anglican Keformation, the history of which is probably already familiar to most of our readers, yet we hope to refer to a sufficient number of facts fully to apply the test, and to enable the impartial to form a correct judgment on the sub- ject. What we will have to say will be comprised in our answers to the following questions, which, if we are not mis- taken, cover the whole ground of the controversy : — I. Was Henry VIII. siticere, in the motives which he al- leged, and in the means which he employed for originating the AngHcan schism .' II. Was he licentious and cruel ? III. Was he a tyrant, and did he destroy English liberty ? IV. By what means, and through what agencies, did he bring about the Reformation ? V. Finally, what was the nature and what the real char- acter of the religious change or revolution called the Refor- t Book of Homilies ; Edition of C. Biddle ; Philadelphia, 1844, p. 52. This edition is indorsed by thirteen American Episcopal bishops, and by many of the more celebrated among the clergy. VOL. II.— 6 G6 ANGLICAN REFORMATION — RKIRY VIII. mation, begun under his reign, and continued under that of his son and successor, Edward VI. ? I. Was Henry VIII. sincere, in the motives which he alleged, and in the means which he employed for originating the Anglican schism ? '&' God only scarcheth hearts* and He alone can judge finally and with infallible certainty of the motives which prompt and govern the actions of men. Still we are not only not forbid- den, but we are even sometimes required to form a judgment on the motives which control the public acts of public men, especially when these acts have, or may have, a powerful in- fluence for good or for evil on faith and morals. Such is clearly the case in regard to Henry VIII. and the Reforma- tion which he originated. No event or revolution probably, whether in ancient or in modern times, has exercised a wider or more protracted influence on mankind, than the revolution called by its friends the Reformation^ of which the Anglican is so important a branch. In forming our opinion of men, we have a reliable standard — their acts. Judged by this criterion, Henry VIII. stands forth a man of strong and ungovernable passions, who was willing to sacrifice every thing for their gratification, and who boldly trampled down and crushed by the most unrighteous means all opposition to his imperious will. As a general rule, he did not play the role of the hypocrite ; this was little con- genial with his naturally bold, blunt, impetuous temperament. When, however, he did think it expedient to piit on the mask, it was so clumsily adjusted and so unskillfully worn, as to deceive no one. Pretension was not his element, and he betrayed himself at almost every step, whenever circumstan- ces led him to adopt this expedient for appearing what he was not. His whole history abounds with evidences going to W/\S HENRY VIII. SINCERE? THE DIVORCE. G7 confirm this estimate of his character, which has been very compendiously and suitably designated by the homely, but significant English word — hliiff. The commencement of his reign was auspicious, and it gave reason for anticipating a long and brilliant career for himself and a prosperous future for England. With a pre- possessing personal appearance, tempered with a dash of that mediaeval chivalry which was not yet dead, and with a mind adorned by the graces and enriched with the stores of an education rather above than below the average standard of the time, he bade fair to outstrip all the contemporary sove- reigns of Europe, Wedded to a virtuous woman of high lineage and lofty bearing, Catharine of Aragon — the aunt of the great Charles Y. — his kingdom was brought into close alliance with that of Spain, which was then, and for more than a century afterwards continued to be the most wealthy and powerful government of Europe. All eyes were turned upon the youthful sovereign, whose fervent attachment to the faith of his fathers was not the least among his many shining qualities. When Luther reared the standard of religious revolt, and launched forth his coarse tirades and virulent diatribes against the Papacy, the chivalrous Henry entered the arena of controversy, published his book in defense of the Seven Sacraments against the attacks of the German monk, and obtained from the reigning Pontiff Leo X., at whose feet he had laid his first literary offering, the honorable title of Defender of the Faith — Fidei Defensor — which his successors still retain, though scorning the religious faith for defending which it was bestowed. From Luther the royal champion received in reply a torrent of abuse, which greatly annoyed him, and caused him to prefer complaints to the Elector of Saxony. The latter compelled the audacious monk to write an apology, which, though marked by the lowest ser- vility, was nevertheless so unskillfully, drawn as to be but little better than the original insult. 68 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY VIII. Things went on in this way for eighteen years, during all which time Henry lived peaceably and happily with Catha- rine, against whose purity and loftiness of character, no one, no matter how much envenomed — not even Henry himself in all his subsequent recklessness of wickedness — has ever yet dared breathe a reproach. But Catharine was unfortunate in having no living male heir, an object naturally very desirable both to herself and her royal husband. Suddenly Henry's Gonsclenoe becomes alarmed, and he now discovers, apparently for the first time, that he had been living unlawfully for eighteen years with the widow of his deceased brother Arthur ! * His eyes had fallen on, and he * Henry was solemnly united in marriage with Catharine on the 6th of June, 1509, six weeks after the death of his fixther, Henry VII. His elder brother Arthur had died at the age of fifteen, in the year 1503 ; and the dispensation of Pope Julius II., authorizing Henry's marriage with Catha- rine, the widow of Arthur, had been in England already for six years ; so that Henry had full time to examine the matter of conscience before he freely chose, at mature age, pubUcly to wed Catharine. " If any doubt then oc- curred of the validity of the marriage, the last moment for trying the question was then come ;" says the author of the Memoirs of Henry YIII., quoted by Waterworth ("Historical Lectures," etc., on the Reformation in En- gland, in one vol. 8vo. Stereotype edit, of Fithian, Philadelpliia, 1842 ; p. 13.) An unimpeachable Protestant witness — Sir James Mackintosh — gives the following opinion of Henry's scruples : "Whether Henry really felt any scruple respecting the validity of his marriage during the first eighteen years of his reign, may be reasonably doubted. No trace of such doubts can be discovered in his public conduct till the year 1527. Catharine had then passed the middle age : personal infirmities are mentioned, which might have widened the alienation. Alx)ut the same time, Anne Boleyn, a damsel of the court, at the age of twenty- two, in the flower of youthful beauty, and full of graces and accomplish- ments, touched the fierce, but not unsusceptible heart of the king. One of her ancestors had been lord mayor of London, in the reign of Henry VII. ; her family had since been connected with the noblest houses of the kmg- doni ; her motlier was the sister of the Duke of Norfolk." He adds (ibid.) : ' The light which shone from Anne Boleyn's eyes might have awakened or revised Henry's doubts of the legitimacy of his THE SWEATING SICKNESS 69 had been captivated by the charms of the youthful and blooming Anne Boleyn, one of the queen's maids of honor, who had been educated amidst the gayeties of the brilliant French court, and had there acquired all the arts of an ac complished coquette. While she employed every female stratagem to encourage his unhallowed passion, she at first coyly repelled every advance which was not made on the condition of her becoming queen of England by lawful mar- riage with the king. This could be accomplished only by the death or divorce of Catharine ; and as the former was a doubtful contingency, if left to the ordinary course of nature, and as Henry was not yet trained to the line of conduct in which he subsequently became such an adept — the murder of his wives — the latter was evidently the only practicable course. Completely taken in the toils of a wicked and ambitious woman, Henry now bent his whole energies towards bringing about the divorce. This became his all-absorbing passion ; and he spared neither labor, money, nor intrigue, to accom- plish his darling object. Before his friends, especially "Wolsey and the clergy, he eloquently pleaded scruples of conscience ; to his parliament he alleged reasons of state policy, and the dangers to the realm of a disputed succession. His real motive was no doubt his own unbridled passion,* This was clearly established by the sequel, which is well known, and long union with the faithful and blameless Catharine. His licentious pas- sions, by a singular operation, recalled his mind to his theological studies." — History of England, p. 222. American edition, in one vol. 8vo. Carey, Lea, & Blanchard, Philadelphia, 1834. * The excellent Protestant authoress, Agnes Strickland, admits this. She says : "Meantime a treatise on the unlawfulness of his present marriage was compounded by the king and some of his favorite divines. How painfull^ and laboriously the royal theologian toiled in this literary labyrinth, is evinced liy a letter written by himself to the fair lady, tvhose bright eyes had afflicted him with such umvonted qualms of conscience, that he had been 3ti 70 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY "VIII. need not therefore be dwelt on in detail. We will, however, refer to one fact, bearing directly on the sincerity of Henry. During the pendency of the divorce, which lie was wont to call his great " secret matter," God spoke to his heart and conscience, in the startling but salutary language of the " Sweating Sickness ;" a malady which, from its previous ap- pearance and disastrous results in England, was peculiarly terrible in its influence on the simple Catholic faith of the inhabitants. This scourge was a providential test of faith and sincerity, which reached even to the throne of royalty. The king, as well as the vassal, deeply felt the influence of this touchstone of their loyalty to God. The conscience- smitten monarch now did, what might have been expected from a man who had not yet lost faith, and who wished to save his immortal soul. He quickly sent away Anne Boleyn, and recalled Catharine ; and this in spite of all his previous pretended sGruplfs of conscience about the sin of living with the relict of his deceased brother ! Not only did he recall Catharine, but he united with her in all her daily devotions ; he devoted himself seriously to the great work of preparing himself for a better world ; he went to confession every day, and to holy communion every week! Nay more, he now became reconciled with Wolsey, and exchanged with him friendly greetings.* fein to add the pains and penalties of authorship to the cares of government for her sake." — Lives of the Queens of England, vol. iv, p. 142. Edition of Lea & Blanchard, Philadelphia, 1847. We quote from this edition in the sequel. * If Anne was not actually his mistress at the time of tlic Sweating Sick- ness in 1528, she seems to have become such not long nfterwards, at least during the three j^ears previous to her marriage vc'xih the king. The mar- riage was hastened by the feet of her being suddenly found in a condition to give him an heir, the legitimacy of whose birth it was deemed important to place beyond doubt or cavil. The marriage was celebrated privatel\' by Dr. Rowland Lee in a chapel situated in a garret at Whitehall, on the 25th of Jonuary, 1533 ; dnring the pendency of the applictitior. for the divorce, and some time before Cranmer had pronounv/?d the previous marriage with HALLAM AND LINGARD. 71 His faith was thus revived, and he was apparently animated with the fervor of a saint, while apprehending the approach of death ; — what did he becoipe, so soon as the plague had disappeared and the fear of immediate death was removed ? He became — ^just what he had been before, only much worse ! Immediately after all peril had vanished, he again dismissed his lawful wife Catherine, — with whom he had daily prayed and confessed, and communed weekly while danger threat- ened— and recalled the unprincipled Anne Boleyn ! Does this look like the deed of a man acting sincerely and from conscientious scruples ? — Out upon such a conscience as this ! Catharine annulled. The king quieted the scruples of the chaplain, by falsel}'' assuring him that Pope Clement VII. had already granted the divorce, and that the papal decree was safely deposited in his closet ! — See the authorities quoted by Lingard, Hist. Eng., vol. vi, p. 188-89. Elizabeth was born a little over seven months after the date of the marriage. Hallam (Constit. History, p. 46, note) severely censures Lingard, for hav- ing asserted, on the authoritj^ of the French auibassadoi-, that Anne had been Henry's mistress for three years before her marriage with him ; though he adds : " It may not be unlikely, though by no means evident, that Anne's prudence, though, as Fuller says of her, ' she was cunning in her chastity,' was surprised- at the end of this long courtship." Yet ( p. 69, note) he again severely blames Lingard for not following more closely the authority of the French ambassador and of Carte who copied him, in portraying the character of Queen Mary ; though he clearly admits, that the French am- bassador was at the time the bitter enemy of Mary, and was constantly intriguing with Elizabeth for her overthrow ! Lingard was wholly wrong in following the French ambassador in the former instance, and he was again wholly wrong \xvnot following him in the latter! Such is the justice of English Protestant criticism, even in the ordinarily moderate and just Mr. Hallam. In general, however, Hallam quotes Lingard with respect, and follows him, even while occasbnally making a show of censuring him as an adroit partisan. It is also remarkable, that, even while objecting lo Lingard's statements or opinions, as in the case of his admii-able balanci.ig of evidence for and against Anne Boleyn's innocence (p. 29-30, note), he takes little pains to refute him, by answering his arguments, or even at- tempting to dissect his authorities. Lingard may be said to have passed almost unscathed through the severe ordeal of Hallam's criticism. He questions very few, and he refutes not one of his statements of fact. 72 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY VIII. It was all a sham — a mere pretense to blind others ', and it did not succeed in accomplishing even this ; for the mask was too thin and transparent.* * In what he calls his history of the English Reformation, D'Aubigne gives in full the correspondence which passed between Henr}^ and Anne about the time of the Sweating Sickness, which correspondence, he says, has teen preseiTcd in the Vatican. His desire to invest his pretended history with the interest of a romance, and to make heroes and heroines of all his char- acters who ever were privileged to lift their voices against Rome, would not allow him to forego the publication of such letters, which even he seems to have thought very questionable in their bearing on morals — for he remarks : " We are far from approving their contents as a whole, but we can not deny to the young lady to whom they are addressed the possession of noble and generous sentiments."— (History of the Reformation, one vol. 8vo, p. 810, American Edit.) A " young lady" who would receive and answer such let- ters from a married man, must have been singularly endowed with " noble and generous sentiments !" We fear that the moral theory of D'Aubigne is but little, if any thing more rigid, than was the actual practice of his hero — the founder of the Anglican Church. We can not refrain from extracting here what D'Aubigne tells us of an interview which took place between Henry VHI. and Wolsey on the sub- ject of the divorce, and of the influence which the Sweating Sickness had on the mind of the monarch. These extracts have the merit of being at least sufficiently graphic : " Wolsey now resolved to broach this important subject in a straightfor- ward manner. The step might prove his ruin ; but if he succeeded he was saved and the popedom with him. Accordingly one day, shortly before the Sweating Sickness broke out, says Du Bellay, (probably m June 1528) Wolsey openly prayed the king to renounce his design ; his own reputation, he told him, the prosperity of England, the peace of Europe, the safety of " the Church, — all required it ; besides the Pope would never gi'ant the di- vorce. While the cardinal was speaking, Henry's face grew black ; and be- fore he had concluded, the king's anger broke out. ' The king used terrible words,' said Du Bellay. He would have' given a thousand Wolseys for one Anne Boleyn. 'No other than God shall take her from me,' was his most decided resolution " His real conscience awoke only in the presence of death. Four of his attendants and a friar, Anne's confessor, as it would appear, falling ill, the king departed for Hunsdon. He had been there two days only when Powis, Oarew, and (IJarton, an i others of his court, were carried off in two or three HEROISM OF CLEMENT Vn. 73 In spite of the Sweating Sickness, the project for the divorce ^as prosecuted with untiring vigor, and with every possible expedient which unscrupulous diplomacy could devise. The foreign Catholic universities were diligently canvassed ; bribes were liberally proffered and bestowed ; trickery the most con- temptible was resorted to without scruple ; and still the an- swers, though some of them tavorable, were wholly unsatis- factory, because predicated upon a state of the case which the virtuous Catharine solemnly denied.* The envoys of Henry miglit influence, bribe, or deceive others ; they could not deceive, or move in the slightest degree the venerable Pontiff', Clement VII., who then sat on the Chair of Peter. Though inclined to do every thing in his power to favor his dear son Henry — Defender of the Faith — he could not consent, even for his sake, to trample under foot hours. Henry had met an enemy whom he could not vanquish. He quitted the place attacked by the disease ; he ren^oved to another quarter, and when the sickness laid hold of any of his attendants in his new retreat, he again left that for a new asylum. Terror froze his blood ; he wandered about pursued by that terrible scythe whose sweep might perhaps reach him ; he cut off all communication, even with his servants ; shut himself up in a room at the top of an isolated tower ; ate all alone, and would see no one but his physician : he prayed, fasted, confessed, became reconciled with the queen ; took the sacrament every Sunday and feast day ; received his Maker, to use the words of a gentleman of his chamter; and the queen and Wolsey did the same. ... At last the sickness began to diminish, and imu\e- diately the desire to see Anne revived in Henry's bosom. On the 18th of August she re-appeared at court, and all the king's thoughts were now bent on a divorce." — Hist. Reformation, p. 812-13. *They were predicated on the hj^pothesis, that Catharine's marriage with Arthur had been consummated, which Catharine solemnly and persistently denied. According to Cardinal Pole, Henry himself had acknowledged to Catharine's nephew, the emperor Charles V., that her assertion was coii-ect : "Tu ipse hoc fSissus es, virginem te accepisse, et Coesari fassus es etc." — (Pole, De Unitate Ecclesiai, apud Waterworth, sup. cit., p. 14, note.) Th« opinions of the universities which apparently pronounced for the divorce were, moreover, wholly valueless ; for the reason that they did not present FOL. n. — 7 74 ANGLICAN REFORMATION— HENRY VIII. the holy law of God, which forbids any Christian man to have more than one wife at a time.* He firmly refused to grant the divorce, both because it would have been wrong to do so, and because, at the same time, it would have been a flagrant outr9,ge on the sacred rights of the virtuous Catharine. In thus defending the right, he was fully aware that he periled much. England would probably be lost to the Church, through the lieadlong passions of the baffled king. Still his duty was clear and unmistakable, and he must fearlessly do it, even if all the world should go to ruin in consequence. The attitude of the JPontitf, though not an unusual one for the Papacy, thus certainly had in it elements of the sublime. It ignored the doctrine of expediency, and thought only of main- taining the right. All honor to Clement VII. for his noble heroism ! And let all men who prefer right to might, truth to error, virtue to vice, matrimonial unity and purity to polygamy and impurity, female innocence and dignity to overbearing male tyranny and oppression, applaud the righteous decision of the Pontiti*. England was, indeed, lost by it, or rather in consequence of it, fairly the opinions of the members. That of the Sorbonne, for instance, was obtained by the merest trickciy, while those of the Itahan universities were procured by open fraud and bribery. Henry's agents used freely monc}', threats, and the lowest arts of diplomacy to attain their end. For the authoi-ities, see Lingard — Henry VIII. Even Hallam, in his Con- stitutional History, (p. 45, note) speaks " of the venal opinions of foreign doctors of law," and expressly maintains, against Burnet, the bribery of the universities. * Even Luther was strongly opposed to the divorce, though he would not appear to have been so averse to Henry's having two wives at once, accord- ing to the famous indulgence which he and seven of his brother reformers had already granted to the scruples of Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, — that im- maculate fostering father of the German Eeformation. — (See Hallam, Con- Btit., Hist., p. 49, note.) Says Miss Strickland : "Anne, however, had her anxieties at this ci'isis, for the opinion of all Christendom was so much against the divorce, that Henry was disposed to waver. Luther himself declared, 'that he would rather allow the king to take two wives than dissolve the present marriage.'" — Queens of Euglan-l: vol. iv, p. 163. She quotes Lutheri Epist, Halse, 1717, p. 290. CAMPEGGIO WOLSEY AND CROMWELL. 75 to the Church ; but a signal and brilliant victory was gained for truth and virtue.* The stern resolution of Clement was communicated to his legate, the aged Campeggio. The Protestant historian Tytler so well describes what occurred at the last sitting of the court for trying the divorce, that we can not do better than report the scene in his own words :t ''On the 23d of July the legatine court met for the last time, and as it was generally expected by those ignorant of the intrigues at Rome that a deeision would be pronounced for the king, the hall was crowded. Henry himself was present, but concealed behind the hangings, where he could hear all that passed. When the cardinals had taken their seats, his majes- ty's counsel demanded judgment ; upon which Campeggio replied, that the case was too high and notable to be determined before he should have made the Pope acquainted with all the proceedings. ' I have not,' said he, 'come so far to please any man for fear, meed, or favor, be he king or any other potentate. I am an old man, sick, decayed, and looking daily for death. What should it then avail me to put my soul in danger of God's displeasure, to my utter damnation, for the fiivor of any prince or high estate in this world. Forasmuch, then, that I understand the truth in this case is very difficult to be known, and that the defendant will make no answer thereunto, but hath appealed from our judgment ; therefore, to avoid all iVijustice and obscure doubts, I intend to proceed no further in this matter until I have the opinion of the Pope, and such others of his council as have more experience and learning. Foi: this purpose,' he concluded, rising from his chair, ' I adjourn the cause till the commencement of the next term, in the beginning of October.' " During the pendency of the question concerning the divorce, Henry wavered more than once in his resolution. Wolsey, though he at first culpably favored the project in * " To all their remonstrances (of Henry's ambassadors) he (Pope Clement VII.) returned the same answer ; that he could not refuse to Catharine what the ordinary forms of justice required ; that he was devoted to the king, and eager to gratify him in any manner conformable with law and equity ; but that they ought not to require from him what was evidently unjust, oi they would find that, when his conscience was concerned, he was equallj insensible to considerations of interest or of danger. — (Lingard, History 0/ England, vol. vii, p. 147.) T Quoted by Waterworth, Lectures on the Reformation, p. 21-22. 76 ANGLICAN REFORMATION llEWUY VIII. order to please his royal master, was in the end firmly opposed to it, and he availed himself of every suitable occa- sion to avert the calamity. One of these occasions was the terror induced by the Sweating Sickness. Another was presented, when it became fully known in England, by the reports of Henry's Italian ambassadors, that Clement would never grant the divorce. Henry often declared that he would abide by the papal decision, and now he openly an- nounced his determination to give up the project forever. Anne Boleyn was alarmed, and she employed, alas ! with too much success, all her arts of blandishment to turn him from his purpose. She liad a powerful coadjutor in Thomas Cromwell, the son of a fuller in the vicinity of London, whom Wolsey had raised from his obscurity and employed in an honorable position in his own household. This man thought the present a favorable occasion for supplanting his noble benefactor, taking his place in the king's council, and thereby making his own fortunes. He succeeded but too well. Wolsey was disgraced, Catharine was divorced, and Anne became queen of England ; while Cromwell for a time attained a position and a power which even Wolsey had never possessed in his palmiest days. By what arts Cromwell succeeded in gaining the royal ear, in supplanting Wolsey, and in securing the divorce of Henry from Catharine and of England from the Catholic Church,* we shall see a little further on. Meantime, we must hasten on to the answer of the second question. * D'Aubigne very appropriately heads his final chapter — so far published —on the English Reformation, " The Two Divorces ; " thereby very prop- erly intimating, what is the fiict, that the divorce of Henry from Catharine led to the divorce of England from the Catholic Church. " There is a close relationship," he says, " between these two divorces. ' He displays consid- erable prudence also in closing his history at this early date ; for in con- tinuing it further, he would find much difiBculty in making heroes and saints of Henry, Cranraer, and other English reformers, and would moreover be greatly embarrassed in settling the riva ?laims of the various sections of WAS HENRY VUI. CRUEL AND LICENTIOUS? 77 II. Was Henry VIII. licentious and cruel ? This need not detain us long. Once separated from the ChurcTi, and rid of the curbing influence of Wolsey, Henry's passions knew no longer any restraints or bounds. He had divorced a virtuous wife, he soon tired of Anne Boleyn. At the instigation of the latter, he had pursued Catharine with every possible annoyance in her quiet and dignified retreat ; he had torn her only surviving child, Mary, from her com- pany, after having had her declared illegitimate by his par- liament; he had cruelly denied the dying request of the mother to see for the last time her beloved and only daugh- ter.* Catharine died, invoking a blessing on the head of her cruel husband; whose stern heart relented somewhat on receiving her dying message — but it was now too late. He had her buried with the solemnity befitting a queen of the royal house of Spain, and he, with all his court, went into mourning. Only Anne refused this tribute to the memory of her whom she had supplanted ; she arrayed herself in gay attire, as for a bridal, and openly declared that she was now indeed queen without a rival ! Short-lived triumph ! But four months elapsed, and she was herself divorced and brought to the block as an adulteress and as guilty of high treason. The supple Thomas Cranmer, whom Henry had made archbishop of Canterbury, was now as ready, at the bidding of his royal master, to divorce her as he had been before to divorce Catharine. On this occa- Anglicanism, especially ft'om his own " Evangelical " point of view. He may, perhaps, hereafter conclude to continue his history, but we suspect that both he and his readers will be content with what he has alreadj^ written. * Cardinal Pole, in his Apology addressed to Charles V., mentions this act of unheard of cruelty — of Henry refusing to be softened either by the en- treaties of Catharine or the tears of Mary into granting one flbnal interview between mother and daughter : " Cum hoc idem filia cum lacrymis postu- laret, mater vix extremum spiritum vitse ducens flagitaret, quod hostis nisi crudelissimus nunquam negasset, conjux a viro, mater pro filia, impetrare non potuit." — Apud Lingard, vol. vi, p. 236, note. 78 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY VIH. BioQ, he played the first of those solemn farces, for which hia euDsequent career was so distinguished. He solemnly pro nounced sentence involving two things which were wholly mcompatible with each other: that Anne had never been truly married to Henry, and yet that she was guilty of adul tery by matrimonial infidelity ! The subservient parliament accordingly declared her daughter Elizabeth illegitimate; and thus notwithstanding two marriages, the king was still without a legitimate heir. Whether Anne was really guilty or not, it is hard to determine, in the midst of conflicting testimony on the subject ; nor does it much matter now, as it certainly mattered little then. Guilty or innocent, her death was decreed by her royal husband or paramour; and he always found willing instruments to execute his decrees. He had cast his eyes on Jane Seymour, one of Anne's maids, and Anne, in a fit of jealousy, had been prematurely delivered of a dead male child. This was ofiense enough for Henry. " He had wept at the death of Catharine ; but, as if to dis- play his contempt for the memory of Anne, he dressed him- self in white on the day of her execution, and was married to Jane Seymour next morning."* Agnes Strickland graphically relates this occurence as follows : " While the last act of that diabolical drama was played out. which con- summated the destruction of poor Anne, it appears that her rival had the discretion to retreat to her paternal mansion, Wolf Hall, in Wiltshire. There the preparations for her marriage with Henry VIII. were proceeding with sufficient activity to allow her roj'al wedlock to take place the day after the axe had rendered the king a widower. Henry himself remained in the vicinity of the metropolis, awaiting the accomplishment of that event. The traditions of Richmond Park and Epping Forest quote each j lace as the locale of the following scene. On the morning of the 19th of May, Henry VIII., attired for the chase, with his huntsmen and hounds around him, was standing under a spreading oak, breathlessly awaiting the signal gun from •^he Tower, which was to announce that the axe had fallen on the neck of his once ' entirely beloved Anne Boleyn ! ' At last, when the bright sum- * Lmgard, Ibid., vol. vi, p. 250-51. henry's wives. 79 mer sun rode high towards its meridian, the sullen sound of tte death-gun boomed along the windings of the Thames. Henry started with ferocious joy. 'Ha, ha!' he cried with satisfaction, 'the deed is done! Uncouple the hounds and away.' The chase that day bent towards the west, whethei the stag led it in that direction or not. At nightfall the king was at Wolf Hall, in Wilts, telling the news to his elected bi'ide. " The next morning the king married the beautiful Seymour. It is com- monly asserted that he wore white for mourning the day after Anne Boleyn's execution ; he certainly wore white, not as mourning, but because he on that day wedded her rival." * His subsequent career of licentiousness and cruelty is but „oo well known. On the death of Jane Seymour after hav- ing given birth to Edward VI. ,t he negotiated a marriage with a German princess, Anne of Cleves. On her arrival in England, he was disgusted with her appearance, and he angrily inveighed against his ambassadors for having deceived him. At the persuasion of the wily Cromwell, he neverthe- less married her ; but he divorced her soon afterwards ; the pliant Cranmer, as usual, officiating in both cases. Crom- well's fate was sealed from that day. He had dared advise what proved to be disagreeable to the king, and his head soon rolled from the block. He was the first victim of his own law of attainder, by which much better men than himself in great numbers afterwards lost their lives, without a trial or even a hearing! Yain were all his entreaties for mercy, based on oyal devotedness and services rendered; his offense was leemed unpardonable by the relentless Henry. The next victim of the royal cruelty was his fifth wife, * Queens of England, vol. iv. p. 219. f Of Henry's feelings on the birth of Edward, while the life of the mother was in imminent danger, Miss Strickland writes as follows : " When the hour came in which the heir of England was expected to see the light, it was by no means 'the good hour' so emphatically prayed for in the ceremo- nial of her retirement. After a martyrdom of suffering, the queen's attend- ants put to Henry the really cruel question of ' whether he would wish his wife or infant to be saved.' It is affirmed, and it must be owned the speech is too characteristic of Henry to be doubted, that he replied, ' The child by aU means, for other wives could be easily found.' " — Vol. iv, p. 228. 80 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY VIII. Catharine Howard, of the noble house of Norfolk. He firbt married, then divorced her for the alleged crime of aduiiery, said to have been committed hefore the marriage ; and ho finally had her beheaded for the crime of treason, of which she certainly never had been guilty, even if the other charge had been made out — which it was not. But Henry and his sub- servient instruments stopped at nothing ; and on this occasion^ a new crime of constructive treason, which would operate backwards so as to reach the case of Catharine, was created by special act of parliament ! There is the strongest reason to believe, that Cranmer and the other leaders of the Protest- ant party cunningly contrived, and by false allegations basely accomplished the ruin of Catharine Howard, out of revenge for the fall of Cromwell, and through fear lest her influence and that of her family in favor of the Catholic Church might lead Henry back to the olden paths, and thus mar all their prospects for future advancement and fortune.* That the death of Catharine Howard was the result of a conspiracy of the reformers, with Cranmer at their head, would seem to be the opinion of the candid Miss Strickland, whose testimony will scarcely be impeached. We furnish the following extrgjcts on the subject from her interesting work : " Five years had passed away since these rival queens had vanished fi'om the arena, and yet the names of Anne and Katharine were still the watch- words of the warring parties, for Henry was again the husband of two living * See, on this subject, a strongly written paper reviewing Froude's History of England, in the Dublin Review for July, 1858, p. 476 seqq. The writer ably reviews the whole case, and furnishes abundant evidence to establish the fact, that "Cranmer was the prime mover in this satanic conspiracy against the poor queen ;" who, as the leader of the Catholic party, " was re- garded by the Protestant faction with inveterate aversion." The evidence is chiefly circumstantial, but it is very plausible ; and the whole plot tallies well with what is otherwise known of " the dialxilical craft and cruelty of Cranmer," who opportunely availed himself of tlie king's absence at the north to begin his machinations against his youthful and defenceless queen. henry's wives A DARK PLOT. 81 ft'ives of those names, and the legahty of his divorce fi'om the Protestant jueen, Anne, and his marriage with the Cathohc Katharine, was almost as nuch questioned by his Protestant subjects as his divorce from Katharine jf Arragon, and his marriage with Anne Boleyn, had been by the Cathohcs. Thus we see that Katharine Howard was regarded by the reformed party in much the same hght as Anne Boleyn had formerly been by the Catholics. It was fondly imagined by such of the former, who regarded Anne of Clevea as Henry's lawful queen, that he might be won to a reconciUation with her, if he could be convinced of the unworthiness of her fair successor to fill her place. " That the Duke of Cleves was so persuaded, we have shown in the pre- ceding memoir, and it is a fact that throws some light on the diplomatic tact with which the political leaders of that party had organized their plans for the downfall of Katharine Howard. " The early follies of Katharine were known to too many, not to have reached the persons most interested in destroying her influence with the king, and if they delayed striking the blow that was to lay her honors in the dust, it was only to render it more effectual. The ' snake was to be killed, not scotched.' "* Cranmer's agency in the dark plot is thus attested : " But on that fatal morrow, while Henry was at Mass, the paper that con- tained the particulars of the misconduct of her, whom he esteemed such a jewel of womanhood and perfect love to himself, was put into his hands by Cranmer, with an humble request that he would read it when he was in entire privacy.f The object of Cranmer in presenting the information against the queen to Plenry in the chapel was evidently to prevent the an- nouncement to the people of the public form of thanksgiving, which had been prepared by the bisnop. The absence of Katharine from her accus- tomed place in the royal closet afforded the archbishop the better opportu- nity of stiking this decisive blow." And again : " When this was reported to the king, he sent Cranmer to her in the morning with a deceitful assurance, that if she would acknowledge her transgressions, the king, although her life had been forfeited by the law, had determined to extend unto her his most gracious mercy." t * Queens of England, vol. iv, p. 299-300. She preserves the old spelling of Katharine. j- She quotes Herbert, Burnet, Rapin. t Ibid., p 304-5 82 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY VHI. Henry's sixth and last wife was Catharine Parr, who also narrowly escaped death at his hands for high treason, which consisted merely in her having ventured to differ from him in theological opinions ! Henry had even given the order for her arrest ; but Catharine was watchful and adroit, and hav- ing soon discovered her fatal mistake, had made so ample an apology for her heresy, mingled with so flattering an opinion of her royal husband's superior learning and almost divine discrimination in religious questions, that when the officers arrived to convey her to the tower, Henry drove them out rudely, after having loaded them with royal invective and abuse ! Catharine never more ventured to dissent from her lord, and she thus fortunately contrived to survive him. Out of six wives, Henry had divorced four, and led two to the block. The very announcement of this plain and unques- tioned fact is well calculated to create a shudder in the bosom of every honest and impartial man ; but what must be the spontaneous expression of indignant feeling among all honest men, if, entering into further details, we shall be able tc prove by the undoubted facts of history, that the divorce and murdev of his wives were not probably the greatest of the offenses com- mitted by Henry VHI. and his parasites, Cranmer, Cromwell, and others, against society, against liberty, and against even common justice and common decency ! III. Was Henry VHI. a tyrant, and did he destroy English liberty ? Most undoubtedly. All his acts prove it beyond the possi- bility of successful contradiction. The following undisputed facts and specifications establish the proposition so clearly, as to leave no doubt whatever on the subject. 1. Henry coveted the wealth of the monasteries, those venerable establishments which had been for centuries the nurseries of religion and learning, as well as the solace and support of the poor. In 1536, a bill was introduced into parliameat to give unto the king the property of all those DISSOLUTION OF MONASTERIES. 83 monastic establishments, whose annual revenue did not ex ceed two hundred pounds sterling.* The bill soon passed the house of lords, who were probably anticipating a rich harvest to themselves in the division of the spoils, but it encountered much opposition in the commons, who knew well with what veneration the people looked up to those establishments. In this emergency, as the candid Protestant historian Sir Henry Spelman informs us, Henry sent for the commons, and with a scowl told them that " he would have the bill pass or take off some of their heads." f Of course, the terror-stricken commons passed the bill without further demur; and from that time forward, their spirit seems to have been completely broken, and they became the pliant tools of Henry's will. To confiscate, at one blow, so vast an amount of property, required some decent or plausible pretext which would have weight with the people. For this reason Henry appointed a commission to inquire into the morals of the monks, under the direction of Cromwell ; and the commissioners, of course, reported in a manner satisfactory to their master. He thus "suborned the voice of calumny to sanctify the deeds of op- pression ; " for neither this inquiry, nor that which was instituted subsequently to accomplish the destruction of the larger monasteries, really elicited any thing material in the way of evidence, to prove that the morals of the monks were such as to require the suppression of their houses. The monks were sent adrift on the world, to live as best they * A very large amount at that time, equal to nearly if not quite twelve thousand dollars of our present money, it being estimated that money then was al30ut twelve times as valuable as now. From this fact, and from the confiscation of the larger monasteries which took place later in the same reign, we may easily gather what enormous wealth fell to the crown from these wholesale robberies. The king, however, soon squandered the whole of it, or distributed it among his courtiers, thereby strongly binding them to himself in a community of interests. Theii fortunes were thus made de- penilent on their maintenance of the religious changes, and hence their zeal- ous support of Henry's supremacy. f History and Fate of Sacrilege, p. 183, apud Lingard, vol. iv, p. 232, note 84 ANGLICAN REFORMATION — HENRY VIII. might; and the poor helpless nuns, with but a single gown a piece — the munificent gift of the crown which robbed them of all else — were driven out to live on the precarious charity of the faithful, or to starve. Meantime Henry and his rapacious courtiers parceled out among themselves the revenues and property thus sacrilegiously seized on, and the whole was soon absorbed, or dissipated in riotous living.* In his late History of the Church of England, the Angli- can Bishop Short devotes considerable space to the question regarding the dissolution of the monasteries, which he views as an act of wanton avarice on the part of the king and nobility, and as disastrous in its immediate influence on religion and learning. Following Fuller, he estimates the number of the smaller monasteries which were dissolved at * Much testimony, Protestant as well as Catholic, might be here alleged in proof of what is asserted in the text. We content ourselves for the present with the following : " This would not have satisfied the ends of himself (Henry) and his covetous and ambitious agents. They all aimed at the revenues and riches of the religious houses, for which reason no arts or contrivances were to be passed by that might be of use in obtaining those ends. The most abomi- nable crimes were to be charged upon the religious, and the charge was to be managed with the utmost industry, boldness, and dexterity. And yet, after all, the proofs were so insufficient, that, from what I have been able to gather, I have not found any direct one against any single monastery." — Hearne, Preliminary Observations to the View of Mitred Abbeys by Brown Willis, p. 84. Apud Lingard, Antiquities Anglo-Saxon Church, p. 245, note Speaking of the spoliation of the monasteries, D'Israeli says : " As the scheme was managed, therefore, it was a compromise or co-part nership of the king and his courtiers. The lands now lay the open prey of the hardy claimant or the sly intriguer ; crowds of suppliants wearied the crown to participate in that national spoliation. Every one hastened to urge some former sei-vice or some present necessity as a colorable plea for obtain- ing a grant of some of the suppressed lands. A strange custom was then introduced, that of ' begging for an estate.' .... " The king was prodigal in his grants ; for the more he multiplied the receivers of his bounties, the more numerous would be the staunch defend- ers of the new possessions." — (Amenities of Literature, 2 vols. 12mo. New York, 1845. Vol. i, p. 349.) BISHOP SHORTS TESTBIONY. 85 three hundred and seventy-five, yielding an annual income at that time of thirty thousand pounds, " besides a large sum aris- ing from plate and jewels ;" but he adds that " the mass of this wealth was quickly dissipated." Of the act for dissolving the smaller monasteries, he say^: "But it was easy to perceive that this alienation was but a step to the total dissolution of the monastic orders, and that the same avarice which had swallowed up the weaker bodies was only restrained from destroying the stronger by want of power."* The total number of monasteries dissolved, including the greater ones, was, according to the same writer, eleven hundred, which yielded an annual revenue of about one hundred and fifty thousand pounds — fully equal to the income derived from all the other church property in Eng- land.f Of the evil efiects which followed this wholesale confiscation of what had been accumulated during centuries by the pious liberality of the Catholic English, for the benefit of the Church and the poor, he candidly writes as follows : " The estates of which the Church was deprived, were thrown into the hands of those who could not be entitled to them upon any plea ; and while at the moment the nation was the loser, the court fiivorite alone derived advantage from the spoil. The poor were robbed of the rude hospitality with which the monasteries abounded ; they were no longer provided with' the same number of spiritual guides, who, with all their imperfections, must at least have equaled in point of information their lay contemporaries, and who, by being scattered through the country, must have furnished employ- ment to a large portion of the lower orders. The farmer lost a kind and indulgent landlord, whose place was frequently supplied by a griping spend- thrift ; at the hospitable board which his own farm supplied, he was always a welcome guest whenever he chose to partake of the liberalit}^ of the con- vent : the new proprietor, under whom he held, was occupied with the aifairs of the nation and the court ; and was scarcely known to him, but as the receiver of his hard-earned rents."f Finally the candid bishop adds : * P. 56, 5 202. f Ibid., p. 77, 5 258. Reduced to the standard value of our present money, this income would be about nine millions of dollars ! t Ibid., p. 75, 5 253 37 86 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY VHI. "But the irr'npdia* e of Henry — the supreme head of the church — he was placed over their heads, to rule them in the name of their sovereign ! On the ground that the king was the only fountain of all power, spiritual as well as temporal, and at the suggestion of the new vicar general, the powers of all the bishops were suspended by a circular from the sub- servient primate Cranmer, on pretext of an approaching visitation of their dioceses by Cromwell. The bishops reluct- antly submitted, and within a month they humbly sued for new faculties from the king, to enable them to govern their flocks ! In consequence " a commission was issued to each bishop separately, authorizing him, during the king's pleas- ure^ and as the king's deputy^ to ordain persons born witliin his diocese and admit them to livings ; to receive proof of wills ; to determine causes lawfully brought before ecclesias- tical tribunals ; to visit the clergy and laity of the diocese ; to inquire into crimes and punish them according to the canon law ; and to do whatever belonged to the office of a bishop, besides those things which, according to the sacred writings, were committed to his charge.- But for this indul- gence a most singular reason is assigned : not that the govern- ment of bishops is necessary for the Church, but that the king's vicar general, on account of the multiplicity of business with which he was loaded, could not be everywhere present, and that many inconveniences might arise, if delays and in- terruptions were admitted in the exercise of his authority." * The degradation of the episcopal body was now complete, thanks to the wily Cromwell and the unprincipled and time- * lor the sentence of suspension, see Collier, ii, Rec, p. 22 ; for the form of restoration, see Burnet, 1. Rec. iii, No. xiv. — Lingard, vol. vi, p. 230. 94 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY Vlll. serving Cranmer. The bishops had, hy their own act, dwin died down into mere temporary civil functionaries, holding their precarious powers at the will or caprice of their royal head, and of his lay vicar general. They had cast off the supremacy of the Pope; they had gained in its place the supremacy of a head much nearer home, the weight of whose little finger would press more heavily on them than that of the whole body, not merely of one Pope, but of all the Popes that ever reigned. They had rid themselves of the shadow of a distant and imaginary despotism ; they obtained, in its stead, the stern substance of an ever present and ever active tyranny, now wholly unrestrained, because the only effectual check on its encroachments was removed.* 3. Supreme now, both in church and state, Henry began to rage fearfully against all who had the manliness to dissent from the new order of things, and especially against those who, however quietly and timidly, dared reject his spiritual supremacy. The penalty awarded to the latter was the ter- rible death of a traitor, as had been solemnly declared by the parliament. Nor was the iniquitous act suffered to remain a * Bishop Short fully confirms all this. He writes : " Henry now suspended all the bishops from the use of their episcopal authority, during the visitation which he purposed to institute ; and after a time the power of exercising it was restored, by a commission to the follow- ing effect, which was granted to each of them on their petitioning for it : ' Since all authority, civil and ecclesiastical, flows from the crown, and since Cromwell, to whom the ecclesiastical part has been committed, is so occu- pied that he can not fully exercise it, we commit to you the license of or- daining, proving wills, and using other ecclesiastical jurisdiction, besides those things which are committed to you by God in holy Scripture ; and we allow you to hold this authority during our pleasure, as you must an- swer to God and to us.' It must be confessed that this commission seems rather to outstep the limits of that authority which God has committed to the civil magistrate ; but in this case there was no opposition raised on the part of the bishops, excepting by Gardiner, and when the suspension was taken ofBf, they continued to perform the usual duties of their office ; for the visitation was really directed against the monasteries." — History of the Church of England, p. 55, \ 201. This extract speaks whole volumes. FISHER AND MORE. 95 dead letter. Tlie tragedies enacted under this nev^ and un- heard of hiw of high treason, by which some of the best men of England were brought to the block, merely for adhering quietly and without disturbing any one, to the time-honored faith of their fathers, are such as to make our blood run cold, even after the lapse of three centuries. The venerable bishop Fisher, of Rochester, Henry's former tutor, and the favored counselor of his father, now in the seventieth year of his age, was cruelly butchered by order of his ungrateful pupil, merely because he would not subscribe to the new doctrine of the king's supremacy.* The learned and irreproachable chancellor More suflered the same death penalty for the same cause. Of the execution of these two truly great and vener- able men, the excellent and candid Agnes Strickland writes as follows, — we furnish also her authorities : — f " Fisher, bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More, refused to take this two-fold oath on scruples of conscience ; both had previously enjoyed a great degree of Henry's favor ; both had much to lose and nothing to gain by their rejection of a test which they regarded as a snare. They were the fast fi'iends of the persecuted and repudiated queen Katharine, and had incurred the animosity of her fair triumphant rival by counseling the king against forsaking the wife of his youth. " The resentment of Anne Boleyn is supposed to have influenced the king to bring these faithful servants to the scaffold under very fi'ivolous pretexts. The integrity of Sir Thomas More, as lord-chancellor, had been some time before impugned by Anne's father, the earl of Wiltshire, but, like pure gold from the crucible, it shone more brightly from the trial. | "When More's beloved daughter, Margaret Roper-, visited him in the Tower, he asked her, 'How queen Anne did?' 'In faith, father,' she replied, ' never better. There is nothing else in the court but dancing and sporting.' 'Never better !' said he ; 'alas ! Meg, alas ! it pitieth me to think * He was treated with every possible indignity. He was suffered to re- main in prison without necessary clothing and food, and afler his death, "his head was placed on London bridge, but the trunk, despoiled of the garments, the perquisite of the executioner, lay naked on the spot till evening." — Poll. Apolog. 96. — Lingard, vol. vi, p. 221. f Lives of Queens of England, vol. iv, p. 181-2. { Roper's Life of More ; Hoddesden ; More's Life of More. 96 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY Vdl. into what misery, poor soul, she will shortly come. Those dances of hera will prove such dances, that she will spurn our heads off like foot-balls, but it will not be long ere her head will dance the like dance.' — ' And how pro- phetically he spoke these words,' adds the kindred biographer ot More, ' the end of her tragedy proved.'* " When the account of the execution of this great and good man was brought to Henry while he was playing at tables with Anne, he cast his eyes upon her, we are told, and said, ' Thou art the cause of this man's death ; ' — then rising up, he left his unfinished game, and shut himself up in his chamber, in great perturbation of spirit.f " ' Had we been master of such a servant,' exclaimed the emperor Charles to the English ambassador, with a burst of generous feeling, '' we would rather have lost the fairest city in our dominions than such a counselor.' " Out of revenge for the refusal of his relative cardinal Pole either to sanction the divorce or accept the royal su- premacy, Henry had his brothers and nearest relatives arrested, and several of them executed as traitors ; J and to wound the absent cardinal in a still more tender part, he had the brutality to arrest, and afterwards to execute for treason his venerable mother, the countess of Salisbury, the last in a direct line of the noble race of the Plantagenets, and the nearest living relative of Henry himself! But neither the ties of blood, nor her advanced age — she was over seventy — could stay the bloody hand of the tyrant. She was beheaded; but with the spirit of the Plantagenets, she nobly refused to lay her head on the block, exclaiming: "My head never * More's Life of More ; and Roper's More. f More's Life of More. I Says Miss Strickland : " While Anne of Cleves was thus tormented and perplexed by the per- secutions of her unreasonable husband, terror was stricken into every heart by the execution of two of his nearest kinsmen, whom he relentlessly sent to the block on the 3d of March. One was the favorite companion of his youth, Courtenay, marquis of Exeter, the son of his aunt, Catharine Plan- tagenet ; the other was Henry Pole, lord Montague, the son of INIargaret Plantagenet, countess of Salisbury. The offense for which they suflTered was correspondence with Reginald Pole, (afterwards the celebrated cardinal,) whom Henry called his enemy." — Ibid., vol. iv, p. 256-7. She quotes Hall and Burnet. For a fuller account, see Lingard, Hist. England, vol. vi, p 285-6. COUNTESS C? SALISBURY. 97 committed treason ; if you will have it you must take it as you can." The scene which followed was too horrible to contemplate! Her last words were :" Blessed are they who suffer persecution for righteousness' sake ! " Her death was a murder — a downright butchery !* We must again quote Agnes Strickland, who enters into interesting details in regard to the trial and death of this venerable lady; — it will be seen that Cromwell, who was mainly instrumental in bringing about her condemnation., suffered himself before her, in virtue of his own iniquitous law of attainder: — " Cromwell produced in the house of lords, May 10, by way of evidence against the countess, a vestment of white sUk, that had been found in her wardrobe, embroidered in fi-ont with the arms of England, surrounded with a wreath of pansies and marigolds, and on the back the representation of the host, with the five wounds of our Lord, and the name of Jesus written in the midst. Cromwell persuaded the lords that this was a treasonable en- sign ; and as the countess had corresponded with her absent son, she was for no other crime attainted of high treason, and condemned to death with- out the privilege of being heard in her own defense.f The marchioness of Exeter was also attainted and condemned to death by the same illegal pro- cess, in direct opposition to the laws of England. Both ladies were, mean- time, confined in the Tower. " The lords, indeed, hesitated, for the case was without precedent ; but Cromwell sent for the judges to his own house, and asked them ' whether the parliament had a power to condemn persons accused without a hearing.' The judges replied,| ' That it was a nice and dangerous question, for law and equity required that no one should be condemned unheard ; but the parlia- ment being the highest court of the realm, its decisions could not be disputed.' When Cromwell, by reporting this answer in the house, satisfied the peers that they had the power of committing a great iniquity if they chose to do so, they obliged the king by passing the bill, which established a precedent for all the other murders that were perpetrated in this reign of terror. As an awfal instance of retributive justice, it is to be recorded, that Cromwell was himself the first person who was slain by the tremendous weapon of * See Pole's letter to the cardinal of Burgos, quoted by Lingard, vol. vi, p. 290, note. f Lingard ; Tytler ; Herbert ; Burnet ; Journals of Parliament. \ Parliamentary History, vol. iii, p. 143-4 ; Eapin ; Lingard ; Herbert. VOL. U. d 98 ANGLICAN REFORMATION Hli^^TRY Vm. despotism, with which, hke a iraitor to his country, he had furnished tli8 most merciless tyrant that ever wore the English crown. " Exactly one month after this villany, CromAvell was arrested by the duke of Norfolk at the council-board, and sent to the Tower, by the com- mand of the king, who, like a master-fiend, had waited till his slave had filled up the full measure of his guilt, before he executed his vengeance upon him.* " She was the last of the Plantagenets, and, with a spirit not unworthy of her mighty ancestors, refused to submit to an unjust sentence by laying her head upon the block. ' So should traitors do,' she said, ' but I am none, and if you will have my head, you must win it as you can.' A scene of horror followed, which was concluded by the ruffian minister of Hem-y's vengeance dragging the aged princess by her hoary hair to the block, where he ' slovenly butchered her, and stained the scaffold from veins enriched with aU the royal blood of England.' " f 4. Tliough among the monks of some of the greater monas- teries, which were not yet suppressed, there was obtained by dint of threats and promises an appearance of acquiescence in the new state of things, there still remained many mem- bers of the more rigid and secluded orders of the Carthu- sians, Brigittins, and Franciscan Observants, who had spirit and conscience enough not to bow to the unlawful commands of the king. Upon such men as these, separated from and entirely above this world, the wily arts and the terrible menaces of Cromwell and his associates were thrown away. The answer of the noble Friar Peyto to Cromwell — who had threatened to inclose him and his associate Elstow in sacks and to cast them into the Thames — is well known: "Threaten such things to the rich and dainty folk which are clothed in purple and fare deliciously. We esteem them not. We are joyful that for the discharge of our duty we are driven hence. With thanks to God, we know that the way to heaven is as short by water as by land, and therefore care not which way we go."J The three religious orders above named were then filled, * Queens of England, vol. iv, pp. 259, 260. f I\M., p. 30i) ; she quotes Acts of Privy Council, Hall, and Quthne. I Stowe, 543, apud Lingard, vol. vi, p. 218. INCREASING TYRANNY. 99 according to Pole,* with the most strict and pious ecclesiastics in England ; and as it was found that most of them shared in the noble sentiments of Peyto and Elstow, they were driven by violence from their monasteries ; and the priors of the three great charter houses of London, also refusing from con- scientious motives to take the oath of supremacy, were " sus- pended, cut down alive, embowelled, and dismembered" as traitors, after having earnestly plead in vain for the consola- tions of religion before their barbarous execution.-]- The jury had hesitated to convict men of so much acknowledged piety, and it required repeated threatening messages from the king, and even a personal visit from his vicar general, to shake their righteous resolution, and to induce them to bring in a verdict of guilty.J Thank God, that amidst the general defection, there was some independence, some faith, and some manliness left in England, though those who dared possess these exalted qualities were almost sure to fall victims to the royal despotism. Besides those who perished on the scaffold, hundreds of the monks were thrust into the prisons, where many of them died of hardship and of cruel treatment. 5. The new doctrine of the royal supremacy, to the exclu- sion of the Pope, proved so repugnant to the general sense and feeling of the people, that it was everywhere viewed with distrust and astonishment. " To dispel these prejudices, Henry issued injunctions that the very name Pope should be carefully erased out of all books employed in the public wor- ship ; that every school-master should diligently inculcate the new doctrine to the children intrusted to his care ; that all clergymen, from the bishop to the curate, slionM on every Sunday and holiday teach, that the king was the true head of the church, and that the authority hitherto exercised by the Popes was an usurpation, tamely submitted to by the care- lessness or timidity of his predecessors ; and that the sheriffs in each county should keep a vigilant eye over the conduct ♦ Pole; fol. ciii, apud Lingard, vol. vi. f Ibid. \ Ibid., p. 220 100 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY VHI. of the clergy, and should report to the council the names nc>t only of those who might neglect these duties, but also of those who might perform them indeed, but with coldness and indif- ference." * 6. In his Constitutional History of England, Mr. Hallam furnishes the following estimate of Henry's increasing despo- tism and blood-thirstiness, after he had severed England from the communion of the Catholic Church :f " But after the fall of Wolsey, and Hemy's breach with the Eoman See his fierce temper, strengthened by habit and exasperated by resistance, de- manded more constant supplies of blood ; and many perished by sentences which we can hardly prevent ourselves from considering as illegal, because the statutes to which they might be conformable, seem, from their temporary duration, their violence, and the passiveness of the parliaments that enacted them, rather like arbitrary invasions of the law than alterations of it. By an act of 1534, not only an oath was imposed to maintain the succession in the heirs of the king's second marriage, in exclusion of the princess Mary, but it was made high treason to deny that ecclesiastical supremacy of the crown, which, till about two years before, no one had ever ventured to assert. Bishop Fisher, the most inflexibly honest churchman who filled a high sta tion in that age, was beheaded for this denial. Sir Thomas More, whose name can ask no epithet, underwent a similar fate. He had offered to take the oath to maintain the succession, which, as he justly said, the legislature was competent to alter ; but prudentlj'^ avoided to give an opinion as to the supremacy, till Rich, solicitor-general, and afterwards chancellor, elicited in a private conversation some expressions which were thought sufficient to bring him within the fangs of the recent statute. A considerable number of less distinguished persons, chiefly ecclesiastical, were afterwards e.xecuted in »'irtue of this statute. The sudden and harsh innovations made by Henry in religion, . . . his destruction of venerable establishments, his tyranny over the recesses of the conscience, excited so dangerous a rebellion in the north of England, that his own general, the duke of Norfolk, thought it absolutely necessary to employ measures of conciliation."! * Lingard, vi, p. 216. — He quotes the act of parhament and Wilkins, Cone. f P. 27 ; American Edition, sup. cit. J The Anglican bishop Short furnishes the following compendious state- ment of the executions which occurred during Henry's reign, by his order: " Some urge two queens, one cardinal, (in procinctu at least — in intention) for Pole was condemned though absent ; one or two dukes ; marquises, earls, and ESPP3NAGE CURIOUS EXAMPLES. 101 7. Towards the end of his reign the king jecame more and more morose and tyrannical, and more and more sensitive in this delicate matter of his spiritual supremacy; and whosoever dared even whisper a doubt on the subject incurred imminent danger of meeting the doom of a traitor. The better to probe the minds of his subjects in reference to this new tenet of faith, a most minute, searching, and harassing system of espionage was organized throughout the kingdom, with Cromwell at its head, to inquire into the opinions and report to the king's council the careless words of the people of England, made use of in their most unguarded moments and when they were in the most confiding mood. From the most obscure laboring man up to the highest nobleman in the land, no man was safe ; — his next neighbor might be a spy in the pay of the govern- ment. The mutterings of old women, and the careless speeches of hostlers and grooms were alike reported. Mr. Froude gives us many curious examples of this in his recent History of England. We select two of these reports, as specimens of this vexatious system of tyranny. " A groom was dressing his master's horse when the hostler came in, and said there was no Pope, but a Bishop of Eome. And the groom said, he knew there was a Pope, and the hostler and they who held his part were strong heretics, and the hostler answered that the king's grace held of this opinion ; and the groom said that he was one heretic, and the king was another, and said moreover, that this business had never been, if the king had not married Anne Boleyn." * All honor to the noble independence of the honest groom, who no doubt spoke the general popular sentiment, how much soever he may have suffered for telling the truth ! The other example regards the abbot of Woburn Abbey : " In the spring of 1537, Woburn Abbey was in high confusion. The brethren were trimming to the times, anxious merely for secular habits, wines, and freedom. In the midst of them Robert Hobbes, the abbot, who earls' sons, twelve ; barons and knights, eighteen ; abbotts, priors, monkss and priests, seventy-nine ; of the more common sort, between one religion and another, huge multitudes.'" — (Hist. Ch. England, \ 227, note, p. 67.) * Quoted in Dublin Review, for July, 1858, p. 451. 38 102 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY VUI. in the past year had accepted the oath of supremacy in a momer of weak ness, was lying worn down with sorrow, unable to endure the burden of his conscience. On Passion Sunday, dying, as it seemed of a broken heart, he called the fraternity to his side, and exhorted them to charity^ and prayed them to be obedient to their vows. Hard eyes and mocking lips were all the answers of the monks of Woburn. Then, being in great agony, the ab- bot arose from his bed, and cried out, and said : ' I would to God, that it would please Him to take me out of this wretched world, and I would I had died with the good men that have suffered death for holding with the Pope.' Abbot Hobbes had his wish. Spiteful tongues carried his words to the council, and the law, remorseless as destiny, flung its meshes over him on the instant. He was swept up to London, and interrogated in the usual form, ' Was he the king's subject, or the Pope's?' He stood to his faith like a man, and the scaffold swallowed him up." * The " law " indeed ! And who made the law ? A remorse- less king and a terror-stricken and subservient parliament. Mr. Froude can not defend the atrocious tyranny and unut- terable cruelty of Henry in thus ferreting out and punishing with death men's secret thoughts and opinions, on the shallow plea that he had the law on his side, with such minions as Cranmer and Cromwell to execute its bloody enactments; while such a man as Russell was looking eagerly on, waiting for the death of the abbot and the dissolution of the Abbey of Woburn, to pounce upon it and make it all his own.f Out upon a law which made men traitors to their country because they would not prove traitors to their God. Out upon a law, which thus threw a close network of espionage over all England, and made a once free people a nation of trembling slaves, and which, not content with enslaving the body, sought also to degrade and enslave the soul ! " The slightest whisper of sedition was considered as sedition ; and sedition was construed as treason. Nay, a statute passed making it a capital offense for the hearer of aught seditious not to denounce the speaker! The tyrant, conscious that the nation was disgusted with his impious assumption of suprem * Quoted in Dublin Pieview; ibid. f Lord John llussell still holds Woburn Abbey and its ample lands. THE SIX ARTICLES. 103 acy, and yearned for the lost allegiance to Rome, set on foot by means of his minions, a detestable system of espionage, which made it almost as perilous to hear as to utter a word against his measures, which paralysed the voices of all but the few brave enough to die, making every man certain to feel that a whisper might betray him to death, and hushing the tongues of all into a terror-stricken silence, or moving them to a servile tone of adulation."* V. What was the character of the Reformation under Henry VlII, and under his successor Edward VI.? The answer to this is obvious. Those who, in the face of the facts so far stated, still maintain that the Anglican church reformed itself must be strangely forgetful of history, or con- tent with a very slight foundation for their theory. During the first period of its existence as a separate organization, the Anglican church was just what Henry VHI. and his subser- vient parliament chose to make it, neither more nor less. And the same may be said of its character during the subse- quent period. Its standard of belief and practice varied with the ebb and flow of royal or parliamentary orthodoxy in each succeeding reign. Under Henry particularly, the bishops and the convocation of the clergy had only as much to do with deciding as to the shape which the new church was to assume, as the king chose to give them. Tliis was about as much as the imperious master chooses to give to his trembling slaves, who are expected to hear and obey, nor to dare proffer advice as to what is best to be done without being first asked by their master ! Notwithstanding his defection from the Church, Henry was still attached to the ancient faith, and he decided to retain its principal articles, as well as the ancient 'worship. In 1536, he compiled, with the assistance of his theologians, a book of " Articles," which Cromwell presented for signature to the * Dublin Review — ibid. 104 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY Vm. convocation, and which the members, of course, subscribed without a word. These articles declare that a belief iu the three ancient creeds, the Apostles', the Nicene, and the Athanasian, is necessary to salvation ; that the sacraments of baptism, penance, and the holy Eucharist are the ordinary means of salvation ; and that the use of Masses, the honoring and invoking of saints, and the usual ceremonies of the pub lie service " are highly profitable, and ought to be retained."* The lay vicar general accordingly issued his injunction to the bishops and clergy, requiring that these articles should be explained to the people, should be accepted by all and be reduced to practice. This was followed by a fuller exposition of doctrine, entitled, " The Godly and Pious Institution of the Christian Man," issued by the convocation on the com- mand of the king. This document strongly denies the possi- bility of salvation out of the Catholic Church ; and it incul- cates slavish passive obedience to the king, in the same breath with which it denounces the papal supremacy.f A few years later, the famous Six Articles — the Bloody Six, as Mr. Froude calls them — were sanctioned by parlia- ment, after having been first duly approved by the royal head of the church, who had selected themj in place of jtiie, s presented by one section of the committee of convocation headed by Cranmer. They inculcated the real presence of Christ in the holy Eucharist, the sufficiency of communion under one kind, the celibacy of the clergy as obligatory by the divine law, the binding force of vows of chastity, the lawfulness of low Masses, and the obligation of auricular confession. • The penalties annexed to the rejection or viola- tion of these articles were terrible. Those who rejected the real presence were punished with death, without the privilege of abjuring; while the rejection of any of the other five articles was made a felony, with death for the second oftense. * Wilkins Concil. iii, 804, apud Lingard, vol. vi, p. 272-3. f Ibid, t It is even probable that Henry composed them himself, at least in sub- Btance. See Lingard, vol. vi, p. 292, note. CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS BUTCHERED. 105 The last clause in the act is singular: that persons contempt- uously refusing to confess at the usual times, or to receive the sacrament, shall for the first offense be fined and imprisoned, and for the second be adjudged felons, and suffer the punish- ment of felony.* Cranmer did not believe in all, if in any, of these six articles ; in direct opposition to two of them, and in contra- vention of his ow^n solemn priestly vows, he had secretly mar- ried a wife whom he still retained at his palace; yet he subscribed them all, and aided in their bloody execution. With his assistance, if not at his instigation. Catholics and Protestants were executed together ; the former perishing as traitors for denying the king's supremacy, and the latter being burned at the stake as heretics for rejecting either the real presence or some other article which the king and his parliament had chosen to adopt, as the faith of the new Anglican church for the time being. In one instance, three Catholics — Powel, Abel, and Featherstone — and three Prot- estants— Barnes, Garret, and Jerome — were coupled two and two. Catholic and Protestant, on the same hurdles, and were thus led out to execution If And if the bloody executions did not become more general, it was only because universal terror had stricken men with dumbness, and few dared even whis- per dissent. Such was the emancipation of the mind, and the freedom of thought which the Reformation first gave to England ! In such a state of things, can we wonder that the general popular discontent, so long kept down by a system of terror- ism, should at length, like a smothered volcano, break out into open insurrection? Atone time — in 1536, shortly after the suppression of the lesser monasteries — the whole north of England rose in rebellion, while the south was kept down by * Statutes of Realm, iii, 739-741, apud Lingard. Ibid, t See Ibid, p. 309, and note. The Catholics were hanged .ind quartered as traitors, the Protes tants burned as heretics. 106 ANGLICAN REFORMATION HENRY VIII. main ibrce. " From the borders of Scotland to the Lune and Humber, the inhabitants had generally bonnd themselves by oath to stand by each other for the love which they bore to Almighty God, His faith, the holy Church, and the mainten- ance thereof." This formidable insurrection, called the " Pil- g]'image of Grace," was finally suppressed, partly by threats and violence, and partly by a general pardon, with the solemn promise of the king to the insurgents that their grievances should be speedily heard and discussed in a parlia- ment to be assembled at York ; a promise which the king afterwards, however, violated without scruple.* The suppression of the northern insurrection was followed by that of the greater monasteries, which had hitherto been spared. A commission was appointed, under the presidency of the earl of Sussex, to examine into the conduct of the monks ; and as the commissioners made the inquiry with the express intention of suppressing these great houses, and of appropriating their lands and revenues to the king and to themselves, there could be from the very beginning but little doubt of its result. Guilty or innocent, the monks were to be expelled, because the king and his hungry lords wanted their property ! Thus, a most searching investigation was twice made into the conduct of the abbot and monks of Furness, but nothing was elicited to criminate them ; still the abbot was compelled by blandishments and menaces to relinquish the property to Henry by a regular deed, which his brethren also very reluctantly signed. And the same may be said of AVhal- ley and other great monasteries in the north of England. When threats failed, bribery was tried, and finally open vio- lence was used whenever it was found necessary.f So it happened that, by one unhallowed means or another, the whole vast property which the piety of ages had devoted to religion, to learning, and to charity, was swept away forever by sacrilegious avarice stimulating royal tyranny. * Lingard, p. 254, seqq. f See, for full de fails, ibid., vol. vi, p. 261, seqq THE BOY-KING AND CRANMER. 10*7 EDWARD VI. Henry died in 1547,* and he was succeeded by Edward VL, his son by Jane Seymour, who was only in his ninth year. During his reign, which lasted for only six years, the leaders of the new religion had full scope. The terrors inspired by the iron will of Henry had ceased, and Cranmer, who occupied the principal place and wielded the most influ- ence in the royal council, could now hope to mould to his own purposes the pliant disposition of the weak and sickly youth who nominally swayed the sceptre. He succeeded in this according to his utmost wishes. He controlled the spir- itual, while the king's uncle, the Duke of Somerset, as lord protector, ruled the temporal administration. The Reforma- tion had now a free and open field, and its leaders eagerly availed themselves of the golden opportunity. First, the older nobility, whose fortunes had been waning during the preceding reign, were now cast still more into the shade ; for a new set of hungry aspirants had their fortunes still to make. These new men looked with a greedy eye on the vast remaining property of the Church ; and to appease theii- avarice, many of the rich chantries, colleges, and free chapels which had escaped the rapacity of Henry, were now confiscated nominally for the king's, but really for their, bene- fit. Then the wily Cranmer proceeded to develop his real sentiments, before cautiously concealed, as to the nature and * Says Miss Strickland : "The will of Henry VIII. was as replete with seeds of strife for hia subjects, as the capricious acts of his life had been. This monarch, who had, on the suppression of the monasteries, desecrated so many altars, and scattered the funds of so many mortuary chapels, and endowed chantries, in utter disregard of the intentions of the founders, whose very tombs were often violated, left, by his will, six hundred pounds per annum for Masses to be said for his soul ! He had likewise enjoined his executors to ormg up his son in the Catholic faith ; by this he probably meant the cruel church of ih« six articles, which he had founded." — Queens of England, v 165. 108 ANGLICAN REFORMATION — EDWARD VI. measure of the Reformation to be established. The successive steps of his progress in reform are sufficiently curious. 1. He humbly petitioned the crown to be restored to the episcopal jurisdiction, which, according to his favorite theory, had wholly ceased with the death of the late king ; and most of the other bishops followed his obsequious example, 2. Through his influence, a visitation of all the dioceses of the realm was ordered, the visitors to be composed of laymen and clergymen, and during its continuance the jurisdiction of the ordinaries was to be suspended. 3. He composed the book of Homilies, and ordered every clerical incumbent of a church living to possess and use Erasmus' paraphrase of the New Testament. 4. The Mass was retained, for the present, until some hetter order of service could be devised. 5. The celibacy of the clergy was first attacked and then abolished by act of parlrament , and by the same authority communion under both kinds was enjoined, with some excep- tions. 6. In conformity with his well known opinion and practice, the parliament solemnly declared that all jurisdiction, both spiritual and temporal, is derived entirely from the king, and hence the election of bishops was withdrawn from the dean and chapters and vested wholly in the crown ; and the bishops, of course, became mere state officials.* 7. A year later, the Book of Common Prayer was com- pleted, and it was adopted by parliament in 1549, as having been dictated " by the aid of the Holy Ghost, with one uniform agreement," and as obligatory, instead of the Mass, through- out the kingdom, under the usual pains and penalties for non- con formity.f 8. Finally, the articles of religion, originally forty-two in number, were prepared by Cranmer and his colleagues, and * Stat, of Realm iv, 2. Apud Lingard, vol. vii, p. 24, seqq. ■f- For an account of the Book of Common Prayer, and of its varioas chan ges, see note A. at the end of the present volume. CRANMER REFORMING JOAN BOCHER BURNED. 109 adopted by the youthful king, who a short time before his death, ordered them to be subscribed by all clergymen pos- sessed of benefices. This headlong career of innovation, so speedily entered upon and so eagerly pursued by Cranmer, in total opposition to the sentiments which he had so recently avowed, and for which he had so lately aided in sending much better men than himself to the scafibld or to the stake, did not meet with gen- eral approbation. Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, would not consent to the change, and he even boldly accused Cranmer of insincerity and duplicity, in so soon abandoning the belief which he had avowed during the reign of Henry. He wrote to the vacillating prelate as follows : "Which if had been so" (if the doctrine in Henry the eighth's book had been erroneous) "I ought to think your grace would not, for all princes christened, being so high a bishop as ye be, have yielded unto. For-— obedire oportet Deo magis quam hominibus. (It is better to obey God than men.) And therefore, after your grace hath four years continually lived in agree- ment of that doctrine, under our late sovereign lord, now so suddenly after death to write to me that his highness was seduced, it is, I assure you, a very strange speech."* It was difficult to answer such an argument, and danger- ous to deal with so able an adversary. Accordingly, Gardiner was silenced by being sent to the Tower, where he remaine4 closely confined till the death of Edward, and the succession of Mary. Others who had the boldness to judge for them- selves, and to dissent from Cranmer, encountered an even sterner fate. Commissions were repeatedly issued by the royal council, appointing Cranmer and " several other prelates, and certain distinguished divines and civilians, inquisitors of heretical pravity."f The inquisitors apprehended and brought to trial many persons, both Protestant and Catholic. Among the former, was a poor, weak-minded fanatic Joan Bocher ; a woman who had deserved well of the Reformation * Strype's Cranmer. App., p. 74. See Lingard, vol. vii, p. 20, note, t Ibid., p. 72. 110 ANGLICAN REFORMATION EDWARD VI. by her previous zeal in the cause of the new doctrines. Ye* she was condemned to be burned as a 1. ere tic, and was ac- cordingly so executed a year later — in May, 1550. The reason of the delay was the reluctance of Edward to sign the death- warrant. The boy-king felt a sci'uple about sending the poor woman unprepared to the judgment seat of God, and thereby endangering her eternal salvation. It required all Cran- mer's eloquence to overcome the reluctance of the youthful monarch, and to harden his tender heart against the cry of pity ; but he succeeded at length in securing this result.* The archbishop seems to have had some personal feelings in the matter ; for at her trial and after her condemnation, Joan had twitted him and his colleagues with their inconsist- ency and duplicity, in the following energetic strain : "It is a goodly matter to consider your ignorance. It was not long ago that you burned Anne Askew for a piece of bread, (deny- ing the real presence) and yet came yourselves soon after- wards to believe and profess the same doctrine for which you burned her ; and now, forsooth, you will needs burn me for a piece of flesh, f and in the end will come to believe this also, when you have read the Scriptures, and understand them. 'J Such an argument as this could not well be answered but Jay the stake, the sight of which, however, did not change in the least, much less convert poor Joan. She cried out to the * Spe 'ous chapter, on the authority of Miss Strick- 'and. VOL. II. 15 170 ANGLICAN REFORMATION ELIZABETH. ing subjects nothing which they were not contented freely and frankly to offer.' " * '2. In the commons, as was already foreseen and carefully provided for, the bill to abolish the old and establish the new religion, passed without much, at least serious opposition ; in the lords, it passed only after a stormy debate. But what is more to our present purpose, in the convocation of the clergy, it experienced a most vigorous and unanimous, but fruitless opposition. This body presented to the house of lords u memorial, setting forth their full and unshaken belief in all the principal articles of the Catholic faith, with a solemn protestation, "that to decide on doctrine, sacraments, and discipline belonged, not to any lay assembly, but to he aw- ful pastors of the Church. Both universities subscribed the confession of the convocation, and the bishops unanhnously seized every opportunity to speak and vote against the measure."! To neutralize or overcome this opposition, Cecil adopted an expedient well worthy of his sagacity. He ordered a public dispute on religion between five Catholic bishops and three Catholic doctors on the one side, and eight Protestant minis- ters on the other. The lord keeper Bacon — a violent partisan of the new gospelers — was appointed to act as moderator; and the debates of parliament were suspended that all might be able to attend the discussion. The manifestly partial regulation was adopted, that on each day of the debate the Catholic side should have the opening and the Protestant the closing argument : and when, on the second day, the bishops objected to this unjust arrangement, and claimed equal pri- vileges with their adversaries, their request was sternly refused by Bacon ; whereupon the bishops refused to go on with the discussion, under disadvantages so manifest and * The hand of the adroit and wily Cecil is apparent in this speech, which 'vhile claimin": despotic power, seems to defer to the wishes of the people. Bee Strype, and D'Ewes, ii. t Wilkins, Ooncil. iv., 179. Ibid., p. 260. THE CHURCH ESTABLISHED BY LAW. ill glaring. This seems to have been precisely the i-eisiUL con- templated and desired by Cecil. Two of the most influential bishops — of Winchester and Lincoln — were committed to the tower, and the other six disputants on the Catholic side weie bound over to make their appearance daily, till judgment would be pronounced on them.* The desired object was now attained: the majority wa8 fully assured in the house of lords by the efiectual silencing of two strong voices ; and it was calculated with confidence, that the fear of similar punishment by the rest of the clergy would break, if not silence, the determined opposition in the convocation. The convocation does not seem to have yielded to the menace ; but such of its members as had a vote in parliament were utterly powerless to prevent the passage of the additional bill in favor of the new book of Common Prayer, which was adopted in the house of lords, however, only by the meagre majority of three ; nine temporal and nine spiritual lords — including all the bishops who could be in attendance — voting against its passage. 3. The bills passed on the subject of religion, in this first parliament under Elizabeth, provided for the repeal of all the * They attended daily for more than a month — from the 5th of April till the 10th of May, 1559 — and were then heavily fined. Strype, i, 87. Rec. 41. Foxe, iii, 822, etc. Ibid. Bishop Short is very unfair in his statement of this discussion. He omits many of the facts and distorts others. Following a document signed " by several of the privy council " republished by the partisan Burnet, he lays all the blame for breaking up the discussion on the Catholic bishops. Still he admits the fact of the harsh treatment of the disputants and the imprison- ment of the two Cathohc bishops ; "a step," he adds, "which, though it may possibly be defended, on the plea of their disorderly (!) conduct, can not but appear severe and vexatious." He says the Catholic bishops objected " in toto to thus allowing the laity to become judges in ecclesiastical aflfairs ; " which objection was reasonable enough. He concludes : " Thus ended the disputation, of which the result was such as might naturally have been ex- pected, in which all the passions are excited by its publicity, and no room left for quiet discussion ; and yet it was not tuithout its use." — History of the Church of England, p. 120-1, and note. 172 ANGLICAN REFORMATION ELIZABETH. laws restoring the Catholic religion enacted under the late reign, and for the revival of the acts of Henry VIII. against the papal supremacy, as well as of those of Edward VI. in favor of the reformed worship. The Book of Common Prayer, as amended by the committee of divines already referred to, was ordered to be everywhere used under the penalties of confiscation of property, of deprivation of oflSce, and n\timiite\ J rrf deatJi itself!* All spiritual jurisdiction, for the correction of heresies and abuses, was declared to be vested in the crown, and it might be delegated " to any per- son or persons whatever at the pleasure of the sovereign." The penalties for asserting the supremacy of the Pope were : forfeiture of all real and personal property for the first ofiense, perpetual imprisonment for the second, and the death of a traitor for the third ! Finally, all clergymen taking orders or having livings, all magistrates and inferior oflicers paid by the government, as well as laymen suing out the livery of their lands, or about to do homage to the queen, should, under penalty of deprivation, take the oath of supremacy, whereby they renounced all foreign ecclesiastical jurisdiction whatever within the realm, and acknowledged the queen as supreme head and governor of the church in England, in all things and causes spiritual as well as temporal. f 4. The creed of the new church, like its worship, had undergone various changes, and had been improved by various amendments in the previous reigns of Henry and Edward. Under Henry, the number of articles to be believed under penalty of death was reduced to six; under Edward, these six were all excluded, and forty-two were substituted in their place ; under Elizabeth, the matter of doctrine was still further reconsidered, and the number of articles was reduced to thirty-nine, as they stand to this day. They passed, with very little debate, in the convocation of 1563, which during * For more on the Book of Common Prajer and the AHicles of Religion we note A. at the end of this vohmie. I- suit. 1, Ehzabeth L Lingard, ibid., vii, 260. A LAV/ AND PARLIAMENT- CHURCH. 173 the previous four years had been duly expurgated and drilled into conformity by the government. The convocation waa still, indeed, through the royal clemency, permitted to as- semble simultaneously with the parliament ; without whose authority and that of the council, however, the clergy could accomplish nothing. Thus, in the present instance, the con- vocation wished also to make provision for the adequate sup- port of the inferior clergy, as well as to establish a code of ecclesiastical discipline ; but they were peremptorily ordered to pass over these matters, as not within their province, and to confine themselves to the exposition of doctrine. Thus again, the convocation labored hard to force these articles on the consciences of all, and to make the rejection of them a penal ofiense ; but the council opposed and defeated their design, as not then necessary against the Catholics, who were already completely at the mercy of the government, and as being offensive to the Protestant dissenters whom it was thought prudent to conciliate. All officials of the new church were, however, compelled to sign them under pain of depri- vation.* 5. Such was the sweeping and terrible legislation, by which, in a few short days, the religion and tlie worship which had been hallowed by reverent adoption and constant use, with but slight interruption, for nearly a thousand years in Eng- land, were ruthlessly swept away forever ! The work of destruction was evidently accomplished by laymen, headed by a \'dj-woman, against the solemn protest and united oppo- sition of the bishops and of the higher clergy of England. It was done by persons to whom Christ never certainly dele- gated any spiritual authority whatsoever, and who were there- fore evidently incompetent either to set up one church or to destroy another, to adopt one set of doctrines and one kind of worship, or to abolish another. It was done by men clothed with no spiritual authority, but armed with the caiiial * See for authorities Lingard, ibid, p. 318 seq. 174 ANGIJCAN REFORMATION ELIZABETH. weapons of civil power alone. Hence, they very appropn ately hedged their new church around with civil pains and penalties, and made the chief executive in temporals iti supreme head also in spirituals. It was thus manifestly a law and a parliament-church, from its very inception, and it could, by no possibility, be regarded in any other light. It was a novelty in legislation, before utterly unheard of in all Christian times, to declare the supreme spiritual jurisdiction and power vested in a woman ; and thus, while rejecting the Pope, really setting up a popess ; — clad, too, with power far more ample than ever Roman Pope claimed, or even thought of claiming!* 6. Of all the bishops, only one — Kitchin of Llandaff — could be prevailed upon to take the oath of supremacy, and he did it with reluctance, and only to retain his see. The rest were immediately deposed, and many of them imprisoned. f The * Of the nature of the headship over the church of England claimed by Elizabeth, we will speak more fully a little further on, when we will come tx) treat of the oath of supremacy. It will be seen, that what is here stated in the text is not too strong. Bishop Short says as much, in substance, in more than one place. Thus, among other instances of high-handed author- ity, he mentions her having suspended her primate, Grindal archbishop of Canterbury, for having dared write her a respectful letter of remonstrance on a matter purely ecclesiastical. See his Church History etc., p. l-tO-seq. f This is confirmed by Hallam, a moderately just, but prejudiced Angli- can writer, as appears particularly from his two elaborate chapters on the reign of Elizabeth ; in one of which he speaks of her treatment of Cath- olics, in the other of that of dissenters. He tells the truth by instalments, ► and with sundry qualifications and awkward interruptions, as an English orator often pauses in speaking, to recover his breath and collect his ideas ! He tells us that the number of Catholic bishops happened then " not to ex- ceed sixteen, one of whom was prevailed on to conform ; while the rest, refusing the oath of supremacy, were deprived of their bishoprics by the court of ecclesiastical High Commission." — Constit. History, p. 73. He admits (Ibid., p. 72) that all the bishops opposed the new religious establishment : " These acts did not pass without considerable opposition among the lords ; nine temporal peers, besides all the bishops, having protested against the bill THIRD QUESTION — ANGLICAN ORDINATIONS. 175 same may be said of the great body of the higher and more learned and pious of the clergy ; such as the deans, preben- daries, archdeacons, and leading members of the two uni- versities, who nobly preferred to the sacrifice of their con- sciences the loss of their places, and, as happened in naany cases, of their personal liberty. It was only among the lower clergy, who either dreaded the hardships of poverty or ex- pected another speedy change in religion, that the odious oath was taken by any considerable number. Still, with every effort to induce them to conform, and after repeated injunc- tions and commissions issued and appointed by the govern- ment, in order the more effectually to purge out the non- juring clergy, the number of vacancies was still so great in the parishes, that lay-teachers, mostly mechanics, had to be employed to read the new service.* This leads us to the third question: of Uniformity establishing the Anglican Liturgy, though some pains had been taken to soften the passages obnoxious to Catholics." Bishop Short confirms all this. Tie says : " During the whole of the debate on this act (of conformity) the strongest opposition was shown on the part of the Eoman Catholic bishops, wlw advo- cated the cause of civil liberty; being naturally adverse to opinions so much at variance with what they had lately professed, and which were at the same time likely to eject them from their preferments." .... "All the bishops, with the exception of one only, Kitchin of Llandaff, refused to do so (to take the oath of supremacy,) and were ejected from their sees to the number of fourteen." Sup. cit. p. 120-1. * Strype, i, 139 etc. Lingard, ibid., p. 265. Bishop Short speaks of the deplorable state to which the two universities of Oxford and Cambridge were reduced a year after Elizabeth's accession, and he quotes for this purpose Jewell and Bullinger, who declare the mem- bers "without piety, without religion, without a doctor, without any hope of hterature, etc." (p. 123, note.) The terrible system of wholesale confis- cation adopted during the reigns of Henry and Edward had done its sad work, which Mary could not repair during her short reign, though she labored to do so. Of Elizabeth's clergy the same Anglican prelate furnishep a very sad account. They seem, in general, to have been men of little learning and of less piety. Thus among the queen's injunctions, was one 176 ANGLICAN REFORMATION — ELIZABETH. III. Were the foundations of the new hierarchy, whiiih superseded the old, soUdly laid ; and are the claims set up by the Anglican bishops to vaUd orders and lawful jurisdic- tion even plausibly defensible ? This is a vital question for the Anglican church establish- ment. Its discussion has filled volumes on both sides. We can only furnish some of the principal facts, and state some of the chief points which have been made, referring our readers for fuller information to works wherein the subject is discussed in full. 1. Cardinal Pole, archbishop of Canterbury, died in July 1558, twenty-two hours after his relative, Queen Mary. This was opportune for the new religious establishment, and it became a matter of great importance to its interests to fill the vacant primatial see with a man who would be the best cal- culated to promote them. Elizabeth, the royal head of the new church, selected for the post Dr. Matthew Parker, who had been chaplain to her mother, and her own particular friend. But who was to consecrate him, and in what manner? forbidding the clergy to marry a woman, "without the consent of the master or mistress with whom she was at service, in case she had no relatives — a proof of the low rank held by the clergy." — (P. 121, note.) Thus again, the primate Parker wrote to Grindal, bishop of London, "desir- ing him not to ordain any more mechanics." — (P. 124.) Thus again, he quotes Gibson, afterwards bishop of London, to show the learning and abilities of the clergy in the archdeaconry of Middlesex in 1563 ; from whose statement it appears, that out of one hundred and eighteen clergymen, only three were learned in Greek and Latin, and eighty-eight were only moderately (mediocriter) or very slightly (parum aliquid) learned in Latin only; while thirteen knew no Latin at all, and three seem to have been complete know-nothings (indocti) ! — Gibson adds : " If the London clergy were thus ignorant, what must we imagine the country divines were?.' (P. 124 and note.) Elsewhere Short quotes from Bullinger's Decads a passage which may aid us in accounting for this sad degeneracy of Elizabeth's clergy : •' Patrons now-a-days search not the universities for a most fit pastor ; but they post up and down the country for a most gainful chapman : he that hath the big- Parker's consecration. 177 2. The difficulties in the way were naanit'uJd. All the Catholic bishops, except Kitchin of Llandaff, had been de- posed, and it could scarcely be expected that they would con- sent to consecrate an archbishop who belonged to the party which had supplanted them. The law of the 25th Henry YIII., which had been revived in the first parliament of Elizabeth, required the election of the archbishop to be con-' firmed, and his consecration to be performed by four bishops. If four could even be found to perform the ceremony, how should they do it ? The Catholic ordinal had been abolished in the present, and that of Edward VI., in the last reign ; so that there was actually left in existence no legal form what- ever for the consecration of a bishop. The difiicult case was referred by the council to six learned theologians and canon- ists, who decided that in such an emergency the queen, as supreme head of the church, had authority to supply all deficiencies !* 3. Accordingly, after having, as it would seem, first ap- plied in vain to an Irish Catholic archbishop, who was then gest purse to pay largely, not he that hath the best gifts to preach learned- ly." (P. 138.) ■ Hallam says (Constit. History, p. 73), on the authority of Burnet and Strype : " In the convocation of 1559, the queen appointed a general eccle- siastical visitation, to compel the observance of the Protestant formularies. It appears from their reports, that only about one hundred dignitaries and eighty parochial priests resigned their benefices, or were deprived." This number was for a single year, the first of Elizabeth ; and still it is, no doubt, far below the mark. Bishop Short states the number as one hundred and eighty-nine. (P. 122.) The members of the ecclesiastical visitation were court employees and partial witnesses, whose interest it clearly was, to make out as favorable a statement as possible to the new head of their church. Lingard and other historians place the number of the clergy, who were deprived or who resigned, much higher. Burnet, quoted by Hallam (Ibid., note,) says, that "pensions were reserved for those who quitted their benefices on account of religion." If so, and the pensions were not partial, Rnd not merely nominal — which we greatly suspect — it was an act of simple justice, not " a very liberal measure," as Hallam says it was. * See authorities, Lingard, ibid., p. 263. 178 ANGLICAN REFORM \TION ELIZABETH. a prisoner for his faith in the tower,* EHzabeth on the 9th ol ' September, 1559, issued a commission, with the requisite san- atory ckiuse, to Tunstal, bishop of Durham, Bourne of Bath and Wells, Pool of Peterborough, Kitchin of Llandaff, and Barlowe and Scorey, the deprived bishops of Bath and Chi- chester under Mary. The four first named Catholic prelates including even Kitchin, refused to act ; and the time having elapsed, another commission was issued in December follow- ing to William Barlowe, John Hodgkins, John Scorey, and Miles Coverdale, all reformed bishops, who had been deprived under the last reign. It is said, that these four, after having first confirmed his election,! proceeded shortly afterwards, (December, 17,) to consecrate Parker according to the rite prescribed in the repealed ordinal of Edward VI. Parker, as archbishop, then confirmed the election of two among those nominal prelates who had confirmed his own ; and he subsequently proceeded to consecrate all the other newly ap- pointed bishops. Parker is thus, plainly, the fountain of all subsequent epis- copal ordinations in the Anglican establishment; and if he was not himself validly consecrated, none of the present epis- copal bishops and clergy — all of whom derive their ordination from him — can claim to possess valid orders. 4. In regard to the validity of Parker's consecration, three principal difticulties were raised at the time by his opponents, and they have never been satisfactorily solved even to the present day. J 1. It was doubted whether Barlowe, the prin- * This fact is expressly stated by Sanders, a contemporary writer, in hia well known work on the Anglican Schism, to which we may refer more par- ticularly hereafter. f The majority of the chapter of Canterbury had refused to concur in the election of Parker. See Lingard, and his authorities. Ibid., p. 262. I Besides the difficulties mentioned in the text, there was another very embarrassing legal one which was raised, notwithstanding the sanatory clause in the commission for the consecration of Parker. We cannot better Ktate it than -o the words of Dr. Lingard. (Hist. England, note G, vol. viL) THREE DIFFICULTIES. 179 cipal consecrator, was himself validly consecrated. The Catholics at the time challenged their adversaries to produce evidence proving the fact of Barlowe's consecration, but they seem to have challenged in vain. "Neither Archbishop Bramhall, with all his industry ; nor Mason, with all his art ; nor Burnet, with all his researches ; nor Weston, with all his learning, could ever find out the useful document. So that Stephens, a learned Protestant clergyman, makes the following observation upon the cir- cumstance : ' It is a wonderful thing by what chance or providence it hap- pened, that Barlowe's consecration, who was the principal actor in this, should nowhere appear, nor any positive proof of it be found, in more than fourscore j^ears since it was first questioned, by all the search that could be made by so many learned and industrious and curious persons."* 2. The fact itself of Parker's consecration has been ques- tioned. It is a very suspicious circumstance, that no con- His statement is fully confirmed by Hallam, in his Constit. History, p. 76, and by Bishop Short (p. 123, note 2.) "A question wa.s afterwards raised, whether the new metropolitan, and the prelates confirmed and consecrated by him, were bishops according to law. When Home, the new bishop of Winchester, tendered the oath to Bonner, the latter i-efiised to admit his authority : he was not a bishop recognized by law, because he had been consecrated after an illegal form, and his consecrator had been consecrated himself in defiance of the statute of the 25th of Henry VIII. The question was argued before the judges of the court of Exchequer, who were unwilling, or forbidden to give judgment ; and to remedy every defect, it was enacted by the statute of the 8th of Eli- zabeth, c. 1, that all acts and things previously done by any person in any consecration, confirmation, or investing of bishops, in virtue of the queen's 'etters patent or commission, should be judged good and perfect to all in- tents and purposes ; and that all persons consecrated after the form in the ordinal of Edward VI. should be had to have been validly consecrated ; and that the same ordinal should be thenceforth observed. — Strype, i, 340, 493 ; Strype's Parker, 61 ; Statutes of Realm, iv, 484." Lingard repudiates the story of the " Nag's Head " consecration of Parker, of which "he could find no trace in any author or document of the reign of Ehzabeth." — Ibid. Of this we may have a word to say further on. * Great Question. Fletcher's Comparative View, p. 227-8. Dr. Lingard, indeed, says that Barlowe was consecrated according to the Catholic pontifi- cal, but he giveg no reference, and furnishes no proof. He also simply states the fact of Parker's consecration. 180 ANGLICAN REFORMATION — ELIZABETH. temporary Protestant historian relates it, and that not even Stowe, the intimate friend of Parker, says a word about it in liis elaborate history, where it would seem the important fact should have found place had it really occurred. It is also not a little curious, that the Lambeth Register, upon the authority of which the fact chiefly, if not entirely rests, should not have been discovered or produced for more than fifty years afterwards, though the validity, and it would seem, even the fact itself of the consecration, were questioned, at or near the time, by such able Catholic writers as Harding, Stapleton, Allen, Bristow, and Sanders.* Those who have maturely examined the question in all its bearings have, moreover, found what they believed to con- stitute strong evidences of forgery, both extrinsic and intrin- sic, in the Register itself, as discovered or produced for the first time by Mason, early in the seventeenth century. During the sixteenth century, as we have already seen, so much ira- * Bishop Short (p. 123) rejects the story of the Nag's Head consecration, as follows : " The story is, that when the bishops elect met at a tavern which bore that sign, and that Oglethorpe (Kitchin ?) refused to consecrate them, Scorey laid a bible on each of their heads, and bade them rise up bishops. This tale has been refuted as often as brought forward, and bears on its face this difficulty : that had this account been known to the enemies of the church of England, it is not likely that any delicacy on their pai-t should have delayed its publication for so long a period " — forty years. This argument is merely negative, and it has besides two edges, the sharper one of which is turned towards the Anglican champion. Ir we are to reject the account of the Nag's Head consecration, merely on the ground that we have no published account of it dating further back than forty years after the alleged occurrence, why should we not, a fortiori, reject the fact of Parker's consecration, of which no account was published earlier than Mason's — tihoutfifti/ -three years after the alleged fact? How account for this singular circumstance ? The Catholics were persecuted and could not publish their works in England ; not so the Protestants who were in power. Strype, whom Short quotes, is no authority, for he inerely followed Mason. See Archbishop Kenrick on Anglican Ordinations, for more on this lubject. TESTIMONY OF MCCRIE AND HALLAM. 181 portance was nt)t attached to episcopal consecratic n as in the following period. The Protestant bishops were then regarded, and in fact they regarded themselves, merely as agents and a Bort of spiritual bailiffs of the crown, upon which they depended for the exercise of all spiritual power, if not for the ver}'- fountain of the power itself. Such was the doctrine of Cranmer, and probably of all, or nearly all the leading An- glican reformers of the first half of the sixteenth century.* 3. A third, and even stronger objection to the validity of the consecration, even supposing it to have really taken place, was based upon the form used, which was that prescribed in the ordinal adopted in the latter portion of the reign of Edward VI. It was said, and with reason, that this form, besides being clearly illegal, f was not only incomplete, but * In his Life of Knox, McCrie, in answer to the claim set forth by many- hierarchical writers of the English church " that ordination by a bishop is "absolutely necessary," says : " The fiithers of the English Reformation were very far from entertaining such ridiculous and illiberal sentiments. Knox's call to the ministry was never questioned, but his services teadily accepted when he afterwards went to England. Archbishop Cranmer, in the reign of Edward YL, and all the Kshops in tlifi heginning of Mizal>eth's reign, corresponded with and cheerfully owned the foreign reformed divines as brethren and fellow-laborers in the ministry of the gospel. In the year 1582, Archbishop Grindal, by a formal deed, declared the validity of the orders of Mr. John Morrison, who had been ordained by the synod of Lothian, 'according to the laudable form and rite of the church of Scotland ' (says the instrument) — per generalem syno- dum sive congregationem illius comitatus juxta laudabilem ecclesise Scotise reformat?e formam ac ritum ad sacros ordines et sacro-sanctum ministerium permanuum impositionem admissus et ordinatus. Nos igitur formam ordi- nationis et prasfectionis tua3 hujusmodi modo prtemisso flictam, quantum in nos (sic) est et jare possumus, approbantes et ratifieantes etc. (Strype's Life of Grindal, Appendix, etc.) Whittingham, dean of Durham, was ordained in the English church of Geneva, of which Knox was pastor ; and Traverse, the opponent of Hooker, was oidained by a presbytery at iVntwerp. At- tempts were made by some high-flyers to invalidate their orders, and induce them to submit to re-ordination, but they did not succeed." — Life of John Knox, p. 42-3, note ; edition, New York, 1813. f Hallam fuUj admits the illegality of the early Anglican consecrationg. 43 182 ANGLICAN R INFORMATION ELIZABETH. radically defective ; that in its most important part it did not iDdicate the real nature of the office for which the incumbent was consecrated ; and that therefore it was wanting in what is clearly essential to the validity of the ordination. This ob- jection is still further strengthened by the well known fact, that the form alluded to was afterwards materially modified and amended, in this very particular^ by the Anglican church itself. But the amendment could not certainly be retrospective in its operation, so as to heal the radical defect Speaking of Horn's attempt "to drive Bonner to high treason" by compel- ling him to take the oath of supremac}^, and of Bonner's successful resist- ance he says : "Bonner, however, instead of evading the attack, intrepidly denied the other (Horn) to l)e a lawful bishop ; and strange as it may seem, not only escaped all further molestation, but had the pleasure of seeing his adversa- ries reduced to pass an act of parliament, declaring the present bishops to have been legally consecrated. This statute, and especially its preamble, might lead a hasty reader to suspect, that the celebrated story of an irregu- lar consecration at the Nag's Head tavern was not wholly undeserving of credit. This tale has, however, been satisfactorily refuted ; the only irregu- larity which gave rise to this statute consisted in the use of an ordinal which had not been legally' re-established." — Constit. History, p. 76. He does not tell us, how " it has been satisfactorily refuted ; " he gives us no authority whatever, for what must therefore rest on his own mere assertion. It is apparent, that there was someting sadly out of joint in Parker's consecration, which required for its remedy the healing act of par- liament ; and that this was something more than a mere legal technicality, may be suspected from the fiict recorded by Hallara, on the authority of Strype, (note, Ibid.,) that when the act was on its passage, "eleven peers dissented, all noted Catholics except the eail of Sussex." — Why did they dissent, if there was nothing but a legal flaw to heal ? It is a pity that there is not more satisfactory information contained in the documents which have been preserved, in reference to Parker's consecra- tion. The meagerness and unsatisfactory nature of all proceedings extant on this subject, is, of itself, a very suspiciovis circumstance, and we are left to our own conjectures. Have the original documents been mutilated or 8uppre.ssed ? Why, for instance, do not the records of parliament state the preci.se grounds on which those "eleven peers dissented?" This would Ihrnish a clue to unravel the whole mystery of Paiker's consecration. QUESTION OF JURISDICTION. 183 in the consecration of Parker, which defect it seemed, mure over, virtually to admit.* Whatever may be thought of each one of these objections taken separately, they are, when considered collectively, well calculated to raise at least a reasonable doubt on a subject, wnich should surely admit of no doubt whatsoever ; because it is vital to the very existence of the Anglican church estab- lishment. With so much uncertainty thus lying at its very foundations, how can any reflecting man trust in it as the work of God? How can any Christian, who values his eternal salvation, continue to cling to an establishment, which besides being evidently of merely human origin, rests for its most essential element — the ministry — on the most human, the most fallible, and the most doubtful basis ? Even admitting the validity of Parker's consecration, and that of the subsequent Anglican ordinations, it does not at all follow, that the Anglican clergy have lawful jurisdiction. Jurisdiction emanates from a lawfully constituted govern- ment, which has power to impart it, and which actually im- parts it to its duly appointed and accredited agents or minis- ters. In separating from the Catholic Church, and setting up a new and antagonistic church organization, the Anglican reformers forfeited all claim to jurisdiction from the Catholic Church which they repudiated, and which repudiated them, as a schismatic body. Clearly they could not derive their jurisdiction from the Catholic Church. Whence, then, did they derive it ? From Queen Elizabeth ? — But who gave her * For an elaborate, learned, and modern examination of the whole ques- tion, see the work of Archbishop Kenrick of St. Louis, " On Anglican Ordi- nations," second edition, to be had in any of our Catholic bookstores. See also note B. at the end of the present volume. In the last London edition of Dr. Lingard's History, revised by himself, the author, in a note at the end of the volume, enters at some length into the discussion of the form of ordination as prescribed in this earlier ordinal of Edward VI., showing its utter deficiency, and proving that his admission of the fact of Parker's consecration does not carry with it the belief in its validity. 184 ANGLICAN REFORMATION — ELIZABETH. the power to impart spiritual jurisdiction? From the parlia- ment?— But who made the British parliament the fountain of spiritual power? From themselves? — But how could they give what they had not ? From Christ ? — But Christ says : " He that heareth not the Church, let him be to you, as a heathen and a publican •," and addressing His first body of ministers, "He that hears you, hears me, and he that despises you, despises me, and he that despises me, despises Him that sent me." Christ evidently made His Church His only regular organ of communication with the world. His only channel and fountain of jurisdiction for the work of the ministry. He never promised spiritual power or jurisdiction to any who were separated from and at war with Him, by separating from and warring with His spouse — the Church. He said: "He that gathereth not with me, scattereth." Whence then, we repeat, did the Anglican hierarchy derive its spiritual jurisdiction? We come now to the last question referred to above : IV. Finally, were the means employed for establishing the new religious order, and for securing conformity with the new worship and obedience to the new organization, such as are consistent with the spirit of the gospel, and such as we would naturally look for in a change for the better ? This question has been already in part answered. We have shown that it was not the lawfully constituted spiritual authorities of the English church, acting in a lawful way— or in fact in any other way — but the temporal power alone acting in spite of the spiritual, which forcibly established the new church ; and that it was not, moreover, by spiritual pen- alties, but by the ruder carnal weapons of confiscation, im- prisonment, and death, that conformity with the new religious order was enforced. Mens' consciences were then reputed as nothing, religious freedom tvas wholly disregarded, spurned, and trampled upon from the very outset of Elizabeth's reign. FOURTH QUESTION STATED AND ANSWl.RED. 185 She, as head of the new church, and her parliament, as her servile organ, armed with its terrible code of pains and pen- alties, were paramount both in church and state ; and nc other authority dared even show itself, much less assert its claims to be heard. The reign of brute force, based on the consolidated union of church and state, was now at hand ; and it trampled in the dust all opposition. We supply the following additional summary of facts on a very painful sub- ject, which the pen almost shrinks from describing, and the bare contemplation of which causes a shudder, even after the lapse of three centuries.* . 1 — * In his Constitutional History of England, where he professedly discus- ses this whole subject fi'om the legal stand-point, Mr. Hallam fully confirms almost every important statement we have made above, with regard to the manner in which the Anglican establishment was firmly fixed on the necks of the reluctant and down-trodden English people. He furnishes an account of the famous acts of supremacy and conformity, passed in the first year of Elizabeth, and he says of them, that they " form the basis of that restrictive code "of laws deemed by some the fundamental bulwark, by others the reproach of our constitution ; which pressed so heavily for more than two centuries upon the adherents of the Romish (!) Church." (P. 72.) From his subsequent remarks, we infer that he himself regards them as 'a reproach," though his censure is not so strong as it should have been. He furnishes (Ibid, note) a copy of the Oath of Supremacy, in which every one was required to swear, that " the queen's highness is the only supreme Ijovernor of this realm, and all other her highness' dominions and countries, us well in all spiritual and ecclesiastical things or causes, as temporal." This was really to declare her not only an absolute monarch — as she really was — but a popess, in the fullest meaning of the term. The qualifying explanation, made in the injunctions to the ecclesiastical ^sitors appointed in 1559, did not at all mend the matter, so far at least as Catholics were concerned. It was intended to soothe not them, but the lender consciences of their most bitter enemies, the dissenters. It declared, as the meaning of the oath, that "her majesty neither doth, nor ever will challenge any other authority, than that which was challenged and lately u.rate defense of Knox, chiefly on the ground that Beatoun was a persecutor ! KNOX SANCTIONS THE DEED. 233 Knox not only defended the " godly deed," but he Bpoke of it in a tone of levity and even of mockery, which betokened great hardness of heart — to use the sc 'test expression. J [is biographer, indeed, endeavors to excuse him for this, on tlie ground that he was not able to restrain " his vein of humor ;" though he admits that " the pleasantry which Knox mingles with his narrative of his (Beatoun's) death and burial is un- seasonable and unbecoming."* Knox evidently thought that this assassination — as some of his friends said afterwards of his own famous sermon to prove that the Pope was antichrist — was going at once to the very root of the matter ! f 2. That the Scottish nobles who joined the Reformation were impelled to do so by the hope of plunder, and that they were instigated and aided to achieve their ends by the En- glish government, there can be little doubt. Some of them, as we have already seen, had been intruded into the richest and most influential benefices of the Church ; others hoped to build up their fortunes in a similar way. The former joined the reformers in order to secure to themselves and their posterity their ill-gotten goods ; the latter with the well- grounded hope to better their condition in the new order of things which was to arise on the ruins of the old. McCrie himself admits this in regard to the later movements of the Scottish Reformation, that is, when the struggle really began in earnest. Speaking of what occurred about the year 1540, he says :J * McCrie, note H., p. 417, in which he tries to answer Hume who had written : "It is very horrid, but at the same time somewhat amusing, to con- sider the joy, alacrity, and pleasure, which that historian (Knox) discovers in his narrative of this assassination." — A very humorous man surely was John Knox ! Almost as humorous as his master, John Calvin, who smiled while Sei"vetus was writhing in the flames ! f "Sum said, utheris hued the branches of papistry, bot he (Knox) straiketh at the rute." — Knox, Historie, etc., p. 70. Apud McCrie, p. 47, note. ; Ibid., p. 28. His argument to show that this was not the case at an earlier period is very ffteble and unsatisfactory. VOL. II — 20 234 SCOTTISH REFORMATION KNOX. "It has often been alleged, that the desire of sharing in the rich spoils ol the popish Church, together with the intrigues of the court of England, en- gaged the Scottish nobles on the side of the Reformation. It is reasonable to think that, at a later period, this was so far true."* 3. While Knox was in Scotland in 1555, the chief among the reformers met, on his suggestion, at Mearns, and there entered into the first Solemn League and Covenant, by which they bound themselves to renounce forever the communion of the old Church, and to defend to the last the doctrines of the new gospel. f When the " lords of the congregation " — as the reformed nobles were thenceforth called — learned of the marriage of their young queen Mary to Francis, dauphin of France, they met again, and entered into another covenant still more solemn and more stringent in its obligation than the first, by which they bound themselves to renounce forever "the synagogue of Satan," — the Catholic Church — and de- clared themselves sworn enemies to " its abominations and its idolatry." This occurred in December, 15574 What this covenant really meant, we shall hereafter see more in detail ; when it became known, it was regarded by the Catholic party as a declaration of war.§ * Mackintosh, a very prejudiced witness, cautiously admits this, even in regard to the Highland chiefs, whom we would suppose least accessible to motives so sordid and so foreign to their usually generous and chivalrous character : " They (the Highlanders) without difficulty followed the fashion of their chiefs, who were themselves partly tempted to assume the name of Protestants by the lure of a share in the spoils of the Church, and were possibly also influenced by the example of the southern barons, from whom the greater part of the Highland chiefs professed to derive their pedigree.'* —History of P^ngland, p. 323, Amer. Edit. f McCrie says that "this seems to have teen the first of those religious bonds or covenants, by which the confederation of the Protestants in Scot- 'and wa.s so frequently ratified." — P. 130. He quotes Knox, Historie, p. 92. t See Knox, Historie, 98-100, apud Lingard, vii, 272 ; and also McOrie in loco. 5 The new archbishop of St. Andrew's urged stringent measures against the new religionists, and called for the execution of the laws which harl been revived under the late regency of his brother. Walter Milne, an RELIGIOUS TOLERATION BURNING ZEAL. ' 235 The dowager queen mother had returned from France in 1551, and she was now regent of the kingdom for her daugh ter Mary. Finding the Protestant and Catholic parties arrayed against each other in deadly hostility, she interposed her authority, and endeavored, but ineffectually, to conciliate them. By her direction, the archbishop of St. Andrew's convened a council, in which the canons lately made for the reformation of abuses were confirmed, and those doctrines of the Catholic Church which had been most grievously mis- represented by the reformers were correctly but temperately stated. But conciliation was wholly thrown away upon the fiery Knox and his associates. ISTot only religious toleration, but the fullest religious liberty was promised them, over and over again; still they spoke in bitter mockery of the "syren song of toleration,"* and by religious liberty they meant the right to pull down the Catholic Church, to banish it forever from the kingdom, and to establish Calvinism, as the only form of religion which should be even tolerated in Scotland ! The following facts will place it beyond a reasonable doubt, that the Scottish reformers did not want religious liberty, but the privilege of religious domination ; that they wanted either all or nothing ! 5. Rejecting all conciliation, and not even waiting for the result of the council, the lords of the congregation, led on by Knox, established the Reformation at Perth on the 11th of May, 1559. How they did it, McCrie shall inform us : " Knox, who remained at Perth, preached a sermon in which he exposed the idolatry of the Mass, and of image-worship. Sermon being ended, the audience quietly dismissed ; a few idle persons only loitered in the church : when an imprudent priest, wishing either to try the disposition of the people, or to show his contempt of the doctrine which had been just dehvered, uncovered a rich altar piece decorated with images, and prepared to -Aslebrate Mass. A boy having uttered some expressions of disapproba- tion was struck by the priest. He retaliated by throwing a stone at the aggressor, which falling on the altar broke one of the images. This operated apostate friar, was thereupon seized and executed for heresy. This was LS unfortunate as it was lamentable. * See McCrie, p. 235. 236 SCOTTISH REFORMATION KNOX. like a signal upon the people present, who had taken part with the boy ; ami in the course of a few minutes the altar, images, and all the ornaments of the church were torn down, and trampled under foot. The noise soon col- lected a mob, who finding no employment in the church, by a sudden and irresistible (!) impulse, flew upon the monasteries; nor could they be re- strained by the authority of the magistrates and the persuasions of the preachers (!), (who assembled as soon as they heard of the riot,) until the houses of the grey and black friars, with the costly edifice of the Carthusian monks, were laid in ruins. None of the gentlemen or sober part of the congregation wei e concerned in this unpremeditated tumult ; it was wholly confined to the baser inhabitants, or (as Knox designs them) 'the rascall multitude.' "* This was not the first, as it did not prove to be the last, of those wonderful exhibitions, by which the Scottish re- formers signalized their hurning zeal. Before the wanton riot and destruction of property at Perth, and before Knox had returned from Geneva, many such scenes had been en- acted.f Now, these acts of violence and sacrilegious destruc- tion of all that had been held most sacred were of almost daily occurrence. "With the gospel in one hand, and the firebrand in the other," Knox and his brother preachers marched through Scotland, everywhere establishing the Ref- ormation in the light of burning churches and monasteries, with the noble monuments of art and learning which they contained. It will not do for McCrie to attempt to palliate the atrocious conduct of the mob at Perth and to excuse Knox. Who but he raised the siorm, which, it is said^ the preachers and magistrates could not calm? Who but he aroused "the rascall multitude" to do their sacrilegious work? Were they not doing his own work, and complying with the solemn injunction of the Calvinistic creed — still retained in the Presbyterian confession of faith — by forcibly "removing all false worship and all monuments of idolatry?" * M^Crie, p. 182. t The burning and pillage of churches and monasteries is complained of in the acts of the Council of Edinburgh, which was dissolved before Knox'a return to Scotlani. See Wilkins, Cone, iv, 208, seqq., apud Lingard, vii, 271. M^CRIE DEFENDING ENOX 237 According to his biographer, the following is the method adopted by Knox and his coadjutors for reforming the Church at St. Andrew's, and in other places ; — Knox had been dis- suaded by his friends from preaching in the Cathedral of St. Andrew's against the solemn prohibition of the archbishop, but he had persisted in his purpose in spite of all advice : — " This intrepid reply silenced all further remonstrance ; and next day Knox appeared in the pulpit and preached to a numerous assembly, without meeting with the slightest opposition or interruption. He discoursed on the subject of our Saviour's ejecting the profane traflBckers from the temple of Jerusalem ; from which he took occasion to expose the enormous corruptions which had been introduced into the Church under the Papacy, and to point out what was incumbent upon Christians, in their different spheres, for re- moving them. On the three following days, he preached in the same jjlace " (St. Andrew's); and such was the influence of his doctrine, that the provost, baillies, and inhabitants harmoniously agreed to set up the reformed wor- ship in the town : the church was stripped of images and pictures, and the monasteries pulled down. The example of St. Andrew's was quickly fol- lowed in other parts of the kingdom ; and in the course of a few weeks, at Crail, at Cupar, at Lindores, at Stirling, at Linlithgow, and at Edinburgh, the houses of the monks were overthrown, and all the instruments, which had been employed to foster idolatry and image-worship, were destroyed."* 6. In thus defacing or wholly destroying churches, and in razing to the ground the venerable monastic structures, with all their rich contents of paintings, and libraries, and archi- tectural ornaments, the Scottish reformers did an irreparable injury to the country, whose noblest ancient monuments they thus left masses of smoking ruins, and to mediaeval art and learning, whose invaluable productions they demolished, or ruthlessly consigned to the flames. The monasteries were, at the same time, the great public libraries of Scotland, as they were everywhere also in Europe. And yet, — would it be believed ? — the biographer of Knox, true to the spirit of Vis hero and of early Calvinism, not only defends this hor- rible Vandalism, but he seems even to rejoice and triumph * McCrie, p. 188. He quotes Knox, Historic, and a letter of the reformer written from St. Andrew's, June 23, 1559. The demolition began there on the 14:th of June. 238 SCOTTISH REFOAMATION KNOX. over the ruins with which Scotland was strewn oy Knox and his ruthless myrmidons! He says: "I will go further, and say that I look upon the destructioi; cf these monuments as a piece of good policy, wliich contributed materially to the overthrow of the Roman Catholic religion, and the prevention of its re-es- tablishment. It was chiefly by the magnificence of temples, and tho splendid apparatus of its worship, that the Popish (Church fascinated tha senses and imaginations of the people. There could not, therefore, have been a more successful method of attacking it than the demolition of these. There is more wisdom than many seem to perceive in the maxim, which Knox is said to have inculcated, ' that the best way to keep the rooks from returning, was to pull down their nests.' "* It may have been good "policy" and it was "successful;" but was it rigJitf On the same principle, it would be right for a robber to slay his victim, lest he should return after- wards and slay him! Does "the end justify the means?" Catholics are falsely charged with adopting this abominable maxim ; the early Protestants certainly acted upon it ; and McCrie defends their action ! Again he says : " Scarcely any thing in the progress of the Scottish Reformation has been more frequently or more loudly condemned than the demolition of those edifices upon which superstition (!) had lavished all the ornaments of the chisel and pencil. To the Roman Catholics, who anathematized all who were engaged in this work of inexpiable sacrilege, and represented it as in- volving the overthrow of all religion, have succeeded another race of writers (Protestant), who, although they do not, in general, make high pretensions to devotion, have not scrupled at times to borrow the language of their pre- decessors, and have bewailed the wreck of so many precious monuments, in as bitter strains as ever idolater did the loss of his gods. These are the warm admirers of Gothic architecture, and other reliques of ancient art ; some of whom, if we may judge from their language, would welcome back the reign of superstition, with all its ignorance and bigotry, if they could recover the objects of their adoration. f Among these Protestant writers, he mentions in a note Hutchinson, whose energetic language on the subject he quotes, as one out of many of a similar kind, though not the strongest: — "This abbey (Kelso) was demolished 1569, in * McCrie, p. 193. t Ibid., p. 190. TWO ARMIES IN THE FIELD. 239 consequence of the enthusiastic Reformation, which in its violence was a greater disgrace to religion than all the errors it was intended to subvert. Reformation has hitherto always appeared in the form of a zealot, full of fanatic fuiy, with violence subduing, but through madness creating almost as many mischiefs in its oversights, as it overthrows errors in its pursuits. Religion has received a greater shock from the present struggle to suppress some formularies and save some scruples, than it ever did by the growth of superstition."* 7. The queen regent complained, and most justly, of all these sacrilegious outrages, so destructive to the rights of the great majority of the nation who were still Catholics. She as- sembled the nobility, and laid before them the sad state of afiairs. "To the Catholics she dwelt upon the sacrilegious overthrow of those venerable structures which their ancestors had dedicated to the service of God. To the Protestants, who had not joined those at Perth, she complained of the destruction of the royal foundation of the Charter House, protested that she had no intention to offer violence to their Gonseiences, and promised her protection, provided they as- sisted her in the punishment of those who had been guilty of this violation of public oi-der. Having inflamed the minds of all against them, she advanced to Perth with an army, threatening to lay waste the town by fire and sword, and to inflict the most exemplary vengeance on those who had been instrumental in producing the riot."'!' The lords of the congregation armed also on their side, and then began, first before the walls of Perth, and subse- quently in other places, a series of skirmishes, manceuvrings, truces, parleys, reconciliations, and ruptures, the details of which are much too long for our limits.J The party of the regent again repeatedly promised to the Protestants entire * Hutchinson, History of Northumberland, etc., i, 265. Quoted ibid, p.l90. t McCrie, p. 183. ' \ Those who wish to read a clear and succinct statement of the %cts are referred to Lingard, vii, 273, seqq. 240 SCOTTISH RKFORMATION KNOX. freedom of religion, and these as often rejected the offer, and demanded that they should have, in addition, the right to remove "false worship and the monuments of idolatry" What kind of religious liberty Knox demanded at this pre cise juncture — as well as before and afterwards — is apparent from a letter which he then addressed to Mrs. Anne Locke: " At length they (the regent's party) were content to take assurance for eight days, permitting unto us freedom of religion in the mean time. In the whilk (which) the abbey of Lindores, a place of black monkes, distant from St. Andrew's twelve miles, we reformed: their altars overthrew we, their idols, vestments of idolatrie, and mass-books we burnt in their presence, and commanded them to cast away their monkish habits."* 8. The result of the eventful struggle betwen the two parties was, that after the lords of the congregation had quailed more than once before the " synagogue of Satan," and " the uncircumcised Philistines," and had been driven in disgrace from Edinbui'gh, England came to their aid ; while the queen regent in her turn received re-inforcements from France. Though Elizabeth had entered into a solemn treaty of peace with Mary, queen of Scots, who was still in France, she did not scruple to aid the Scottish insurgents with both encouragement and money. She sent two agents — Sadler and Croft — into Scotland to keep up their hopes of aid from England ; and she subsequently despatched an English army and fleet to the Scottish borders and to the mouth of the Frith. To the remonstrances of the French ambassador, Nouailles, Elizabeth "assured him of her determination to maintain the peace of Cateau, and as a proof of her sincerity, wished that the curse of heaven might light on the head of that prince who should be the first to violate it!"t — It must * Quoted from McCrie by Lingard, vii, 274, note. The letter was written June 23, 1559 ; it is given in full, with this passage, by McCrie from Calder- wood's Collection, in the Appendix, p. 544. The passage, however, which we have already quoted above, concerning the reforming process at St. Andrew's and in its vicinity, contains in substance all that Knox declares in this letter. f See Lingard, vii, 284-5, and his authorities. In this peace, which settled the affairs of Europe, England and Scotland were included. KIRK ESTABLISHED. 241 be remembered that the lords of the congregation, urged on by Knox, had already deposed the queen regent (Oct. 22, 1559), and were now in open rebellion. The assistance of England gave the superiority to the lords of the congregation, and they were thus enabled fully to carry out their purpose for establishing the Reformation in Scotland. Mr. McCrie tells the final issue of the struggle as follows : " The disaster which caused the Protestant army to leave Edinburgh, turned out to the advantage of their cause. It obliged the English court to abandon the line of cautious policy which they had hitherto pursued. On the 27th of February, 1560, they concluded a formal treaty with the lords of the congregation ; and in the beginning of April the English army entered Scotland. The French troops retired within the fortifications of Leith, and were invested by sea and land ; the queen regent died in the castle of Edin- burgh during the siege ; and the ambassadors of France were forced to agree to a treaty, by which it was provided that the French troops should be removed from Scotland, an amnesty granted to all who had been engaged in the late resistance to the measures of the regent, their principal grievances redressed, and a fi-ee parliament called to settle the other afiairs of the Icingdom."* A little further on, he says : " The treaty,! which put an end to hostilities, made no settlement respecting * McCrie, p. 218. f Mackintosh tells us that, among the stipulations of this treaty, one was, that "the most Christian king and queen, Francis and Mary, should fulfill all they had promised to the Scottish nation, so long as the nobles and peo- ple of Scotland fulfilled the terms to which they on their parts had agreed." (Mackintosh, Ibid., p. 324.) The cardinal of Lorraine, the French prime minister, often accused the Scots of not having observed their part of the treaty, being instigated to break it by the influence of Elizabeth. He said openly to Throckmorton, the English minister : " The Scots, I will tell you fi-ankly, perform no part of their duties ; the king and the queen have the name of their sovereigns and your mistress (Elizabeth) hath the obedience. They would bring the realm to a republic. Though you say your mistress has in all things per- formed the treaty ; we say the Scots, by her countenance, perform no part of the treaty." — Mackintosh, Ibid., p. 325. The continual intermeddling of Elizabeth in the affiiirs of Scotland was a constant source of annoyance and anguish to poor Mary, after her arrival in VOL. If. — 21 242 SCOTTISH REFORMATION — KNOX. religious differences ; but on that very account it was fatal to popery. The power was in the hands of the Protestants The parliament, when it met, had little to do but to sanction what the nation had previously adopted."* 9. How neatly and how delicately told ! The regent had repeatedly oflered them not only toleration, but religious liberty ; they had spurned her offer with scorn. How the nation had been previously led to "adopt" the Reformation, we have already seen. And now these men of violence and blood, whose principal grievances had been already redressed, coolly meet in parliament, without waiting for a legal com- mission from their sovereign, and having secured a majority by previous dextrous management and manoeuvring, establish hy law the new religion on the destruction of the old, the profession or exercise of which they undertake boldly to pro- hibit ! They thus proved to all the world that they had not been seeking after religious freedom, but rather religious domination and ascendency. The proceedings of this famous assembly may be summed up as follows : "1. An act was passed to abolish the papal jurisdiction in Scotland, and to provide punishment for any man who should presume to act under it.f the country, which the English queen really ruled much more than she her- self. Thus, to select one out of many examples of the kind, the English envoy " Thornworth was also instructed to expostulate with Mary on her displeasure against the earl of Moray': (more commonly written Murray) ; which was answered by a desire that there might be no meddling in the internal afEiirs of Scotland." (Mackintosh, Ibid., p. 335.) * McCrie, p. 220. f Mackintosh, a very prejudiced and therefore unexceptionable witness, sa3'^s in substance as much, though he was too cautious to enter into details : "A statute was passed to abolish the papal authority in Scotland." (P. 325.) This parliament was convened on the first of August, 1560. " The session began with a debate on the legality of the assembly, which was questioned on the account of the absence of any representative of the sovereigns, and of any commission from them. The express words of the commission justi- fied the majority in overruling the objection." (Ibid.) — If the sovereigns had issued no commission, how could "its express words" justify the ma- jority ? It would appear that the alleged promise of Monluc, the French INTOLERANT ACTS. 243 "2. The administration of baptism after the Catholic rite, and the cele- bration of Mass in public or in private, were prohibited under the penalty, both to the minister who should officiate, and to the persons who should be present, of forfeiture for the first offense, of banishment for the second, and of death for the third. "3. A confession of faith, framed by Knox and his associates after the Geneva model, was approved, and every existing law incompatible with the profession of it was repealed. "4. Every member of the convention who refused to subscribe to the new creed, was instant! tj expelled: an ingenious device to refuse justice to those Catholics, who under the late pacification claimed compensation for their losses during the war. After the exclusion, the names of the complainants were twice called ; neither the}'^ nor their attorne3^s were present to support their claims ; and it was declaimed that ' the lordis and nobilitie had don thair duetie conform to the articles of the peax (peace).' "5. The earls of Morton and Glencairn with Secretary Lethington, were commissioned to wait on the English queen, and to propose to her, in the name of the estates, a marriage with the earl of Arran, son to the presump- tive heir to the Scottish crown."* That this was substantially the action of the parliament of 1560, is apparent from the proceedings of that convened in 1567, seven years later, according to McCrie's own account: " On the 15th of December, Knox preached at the opening of the parlia- ment, and exhorted them to begin with the affairs of religion, in which case they would find better success in their other business. The parliament ratified all the acts which had been passed in 1560, in favor of the Protestant ambassador at the treaty, is here referred to ; but it does not appear that the sovereigns had ratified this promise, if it was really given. The legality of the assembly was often questioned in the sequel. The abolition of the papal authority carried with it the utter prohibition of the Catholic religion, and the forcible establishment of the Calvinistic Kirk as that of Scotland, to the exclusion of all religious liberty on the part of Catholics. Such was the freedom of religion which Knox coveted ! * Lingard, History of England, vii, p. 294-5. He quotes Keith, 151, 488 ; Haynes, 356 ; Knox, 239, 254-5 ; Spottiswood, 150 ; and Act. Pari. Scot. ii. 525, App. 605. Cecil seems to have been the main intriguer in ar- ranging the pr<:;liminaries of the convention, and especiall}' in suggesting the unworthy artifice by which the Catholics were defrauded of their claims. He had already prophecied that " the reparation would be light enough.' Ibid. 244 SCOTTISH REFORMATION KNOX. religion, and against popery. New statutes of a similar kind were added It was provided that no prince should be afterwards admitted to the exercise of authority in the kingdom, without taking an oath to maintain the Prot- estant religion ; and that none but Protestants should be admitted to any office, not hereditary nor held for life. The ecclesiastical jurisdiction, exer- cised by the diiferent assemblies of the church was formally ratified, and commissioners appointed to define more exactly the causes which properly came within the sphere of their judgment."* 10. This occurred after poor Mary, queen of Scots, bad been driven from Edinburgh, and while she was detained a prisoner at Lochleven. Knox now clamored for her blood, as he had been the chief cause of all her troubles and mis- fortunes. "Throckmorton, the English ambassador, had a conference with him, with the view of mitigating the rigor of this judgment ; but though he (Knox) acquiesced in the resolution adopted by the lords to detain her in prison, he retained his sentiment in favor of her trial and execution which would certainly have followed ; and after the civil war was kindled by her escape, repeatedly said, that he considered the nation as suffering for their criminal lenity ."f 11. Throckmorton's royal mistress — the Jezabel of England — was destined to become the executioner of her unhappy cousin of Scotland. How the latter was induced by her forlorn condition to seek shelter in England, or was decoyed thither with the hope of a hospitable welcome ; how she was then treacher- ously seized and forced to wear away her gentle heart in prison for nineteen long years; how she was tortured with slanderous accusations against her virtue, and haunted with phantoms of rebellion devised by her enemies to be laid to her charge, — of rebellion against her "dear cousin" Elizabeth — to whom she certainly owed no allegiance whatsoever ; how she was at length cruelty executed by order of Elizabeth who had previously tried to have her privately assassinated: — the whole sad history, with all its startling and harrowing inci- dents, is well known, and need not be here repeated in detaik * Life of Knox, p. 319. f I^id., 318. Mary's reception in Scotland. 245 It may be more to our present purpose, to refer to what happened previuuslj, in her brief but unhappy career in Scotland. 12. From the moment she had first entered Scotland, on the express invitation of the Protestant nobles,* she was tor- tured day and night by the lords of the congregation, insti- gated thereto by John Knox.f This holy man pursued the * McCrie, Ibid., p. 231. She arrived in Scotland on the 19th of August, 1561. Ibid. f Of her singular reception on the first night after her arrival in Scotland, Mackintosh says : " In the evening, however, they were annoyed by a multitude of 500 or 600 persons, who sung Psalms under the windows — an early and oifen- sive badge of their Calvinism — playing on sorry rebecks and unstrung fiddles, with such neglect of all harmony, that the Parisian connoisseurs thought it worth their while to criticize their performance. Next morning, the queen's chaplain narrowly escaped with his life from the hands of the fanatical rabble, who viewed him with horror 'as a priest of Baal.' ' Such,' said the queen, 'is the beginning of welcome and allegiance from my subjects ; what may be the end, I know not ; but I venture to foretell that it will be very bad.' " — (Hist. England, p. 330.) — The poor queen was not mistaken in her sad presentiment ! Those religious people were much too holy to have any regard to vulgar politeness or common humanity ! Mary had applied to Elizabeth for permission to pass through England on her way to Scotland, which request Elizabeth rudely refused, addressing her refusal to Mary's envoy "in a crowded court, with a loud voice, and in a tone of emotion;" whereupon Mary, taking the English ambassador Throck- morton aside, addressed him as follows : "My lord ambassador, I know not how far I may be transported by pas- sion, but I like not to have so many witnesses of my passion, as the queen your mistress was content to have when she talked to M. D'Oysell (her own envoy). There is nothing that doth more grieve me, than that I did so for- get myself as to desire of the queen a favor that I had no need to ask. You know that, both here and elsewhere, I have friends and allies. It will be thought strange among all princes and countries, that she should first ani- mate my subjects against me ; and now that I am a widow, hinder my re- turn to my own country. I ask her nothing but friendship. I do not trouble her state, or practice with her subjects ; yet I know there be in her realm that be inclined enough to hear offers. I know also that they be not of the same mind as she is, neither in religion nor in other things. Your queen says, I am young and lack experience. I confess I am younger than 47 246 SCOTTISH REFORiMATION KNOX. youtlifu], accomplished, and but lately widowed queen, with a persistent malignity which seems almost too monstrous to be credible. On the lirst Sunday after her arrival, she had preparations made for the celebration of Mass in Holyrood house: whereupon violent murmurs were excited, "which would have burst into an open tumult, had not the leaders interfered, and by their authority repressed the zeal (!) of the multitude," Knox seemed to acquiesce in this wish of " the leaders" to prevent an open breach of the public peace; but "having exposed the evil of idolatry in his sermon on the fol- lowing sabbath, he said that ' one Mess (Mass) was more fear- full unto him, than if ten thousand armed enemies wer landed in ony parte of the realme, of purpose to suppres the hole religioun.' "* , The godly man ! He could claim religious liberty for him- self, but he had no idea of allowing it to others, even to his own youthful queen ! And yet he and his associates were the very men who were forever ringing the cry of religious liberty and of "popish intolerance" throughout Scotland; and who, with this very cry on their lips, destroyed the Cath- olic churches and monasteries, and after first slandering, sup- pressed the Catholic worship !f she is. During my late lord and husband's time, I was subject to him ; and now my uncles, who are counselors of the crown of France, deem it unmeet to offer advice on the affairs between England and Scotland. I can- not proceed in this matter, till I have the counsel of the nobles and states of mine own realm, which I cannot have till I come among them. I never meant harm to the queen, my sister. I should be loth either to do wrong to others, or to suffer so much wrong to myself" — Apud Mackintosh, Ibid., p. 328. The whole heart and soul of Mary of Scots are in this speech. For queenly dignity, for delicate but telling satire, and for genuine eloquence both of the head and heart, as well as for noble simplicity, it is scarcely sur. passed by any thing we have ever heard or read. * McCrie, p. 234. f Even Mackintosh bears evidence to the moderation and justice of Mary's government of Scotland during the first years after her arrival. "Notwith- KNOx's IMPLACABLE HATRED. 247 13. "When poor Mary sent for Knox, after he had coarsely attacked from the pulpit her contemplated marriage with Darnley, he was unmoved by her tears, and he relentlessly mocked at her acute sufferings. If not directly privy to the brutal assassination of her faithful secretary, Rizzio, perpe- trated in her own chamber and before her very eyes, and when she was near her confinement,* Knox openly expressed his satisfaction at the horrid deed of blood, describing it as " an event which contributed to the safety of religion and the commonwealth, if not also his approbation of the conduct of the conspirators."! So implacable in his hatred was this newly modeled saint, that he persistently refused "to pray for her welfare and conversion, representing her as a repro- bate whose repentance was hopeless, and uttering impreca- tions against her." Such was the charge formally made against him in the General Assembly of the Kirk, which met in March, 1571 ; and his accuser promised to sustain it at the next Assembly, "if the accused continued his offensive speeches, and was then ' law-byding, and not fugitive accord- ing to his accustomed manner.' "J Knox repelled with scorn the last imputation — which his whole life had nevertheless standing the forebodings of Mary on her arrival, her administration was for several years prudent and prosperous. The Presbyterian establishment con- tinued inviolate, without any inquiry into the irregularities of its origin. The revolts against legal authority were overlooked ; and an act of oblivion was passed in the parliament of 1564." — Hist. England, p. 330. * She was in the sixth month of her pregnancy. f McCrie, p. 309 and note. In consequence, "it was deemed prudent for him to withdraw." — Ibid., 310. McCrie adds : " It does not appear that he (Knox) returned to Edinburgh, or, at least, that he resumed his ministry in it, until the queen was deprived of the government." — (Ibid., p. 310.) This is another of his flights when danger threatened his precious person ! In reply to King James VI., who denounced Knox for approving the assassination of Rizzio, "one of the va\n- isters said, ' that the slaughter of David (Rizzio), so far as it was the work of God, was allowed by Mr. Knox, and not otherwise.' Knox does not however, make this qualification." — Ibid., p. 309, note. I McCrie, ibid., p. 338. 248 SCOTTISH reformation — knox. proved true — but he still persisted in his determination not to pray for the queen.* 14. That Mary was innocent of the wicked charges made against her by unscrupulous and treacherous men ; that, like a lamb in the midst of wolves, she was the victim of their horrible and almost fiendish machinations ; that after having first murdered her favorite secretary, and next her husband, then forced her into a marriage with the infamous Bothwell, they finally forged a correspondence between her and Both- well, with a view to ruin her character, and deprive her of her throne and of her life : all this has, we think, been con- clusively demonstrated by many able writers, both Catholic and Protestant. This being the case, what are we to think of such men as were .implicated in those horrid scenes of treachery and blood If If history, at any rate in Christian times, any where presents a group of men as thoroughly wicked as Ruthven, Lindsay, Buchanan, Morton, Bothwell, Maitland, Murray, and Knox, we have nowhere become * .Life of Knox, p. 339. " 'He (Knox) had learned plainly and boldly to call wickedness by its own terms, a fig, a fig, and a spade, a spade.' He had never called her reprobate, nor said that her repentance was impossible ; but he had affirmed that pride and repentance could not long remain in one heart. He had prayed that God, for the comfort of his church, would oppose his power to her pride, and confound her and her assistants in their impiety : this prayer, let them caU it imprecation or execration, as they pleased, had stricken and would yet strike whoever supported her. To the charge of not praying for her, he answered : ' I am not bound to pray for her in this place, for sovereign to me she is not ! and I let them understand, that I am not a man of law that has my tongue to sell for silver or favor of the world.' " ■f Even after Mary was securely lodged in Elizabeth's English prison, her good cousin of England and her envoys were in constant dread of her queenly influence. Thu.« " White, a gentleman of Elizabeth's household, warned Cecil against permitting many to have conference with her. 'For besides,' said he, 'that she has a goodly personage, she hath withal an allur- ing grace, a pretty Scottish speech, and a searching wit, clouded {softened) with mildness.' " — Mackintosh, p. 362. A beautiful tribute, coming from an enemy ! Were these the reasons of Elizabeth's unquenchable jealousy and undying hatred ? MARY INNOCENT MURRAY AND MAITLAND. 249 acquainted with the fact.* There may have been particular cases of "total depravity" equaling single ones in this hor * Speaking of Murray and the other Scottish lords who had fled to Eng- land, Mackintosh says : " These gentlemen, the best of their time, were joined by the interest of the Reformation in unnatural union with the worst offspring of civil confusion, — with Morton, a profligate though able man ; with Ruthven, distinguished even then for the brutal energy with which he executed wicked designs ; and with the brilliant and inconstant Lethington (Maitland) admired by all parties but scarcely trusted by any." — (P. 337.) He closes his account of Rizzio's assassination, with the following : " To complete the narrative of an event sufficient to dishonor a nation, and to characterize an age, it may be added that the earl of Morton, lord chancel- lor of Scotland, commanded the guard who were posted at the entrance of the palace to protect the murderers from interruption." — (P. 338.) This Scottish historian of England labors hard to incriminate poor Mary, and to excuse or extenuate the conduct of her enemies and murderers. His texture of the facts and circumstances in her life is an ingeniously drawn but most unjust lawyer's brief, to make out her enormous guilt, and to exonerate the bad men by whom she was surrounded and ruined. Of Murray, particularl}^, he speaks in the highest terms of eulogy. We con- sider him by far the worst man of them all, even where the wickedness of his associates was so gigantic. The half-brother of the unfortunate queen, and wielding great influence, he might easily have protected her fi-om out- rage and danger, and it was plainly his duty to do so, in her forlorn condi- tion. But, on the contrary, he was ever on the side of her enemies, secretly when there was danger, openly when all was safe. He seems to have been the master intriguer against her character and her throne, and to have set the others on to do the work, keeping himself meantime cautiously out of view. Whenever any great deed of treachery or blood was about to be per- formed, he generally absented himself, but he was sure soon to return, to reap the profits of the adventure ! He was almost as bad as Cecil and Ehz- abeth of England. He met a bloody death from the private vengeance of one of the Hamiltons. McCrie, too, as was natural, defends Murray against "the cold manner in which Mr. Hume has spoken of him," and he is particularly pained "to think of the manner in which Dr. Robertson has drawn his character. The faint praise which he has bestowed upon him, the doubt which he has thrown over his moral qualities, and the unqualified censures which he has pronounced upon some parts of his conduct, have, I am afraid, done more injury to the regent's memory, than the exaggerated accounts of his adver 250 SCOTTISH REFOllMATIO:-; K.NOX. rible cluster ; but as a whole they stand forth unrivaled in fiendish wickedness ! Cecil and Walsingham in England may have equaled the Scottish Murray and Maitland in cun- ning duplicity and in well-planned treachery ; but where shall we lind the parallels to the others ?* saries." Note xx, p. 503-4. — Hume and Robertson were right ; and so are Miss Strickland, and other Protestant writers, who have had the candor to rescue this portion of history from the calumny which had clouded it. Instances of Murray's duplicity and treachery abound. Thus, when Mary was preparing to leave France for Scotland, " Maitland promised to betray to Cecil the plans and motions of Mary and her friends ; and the Lord James (Murray), having proceeded to France to assure his sister of his attachment and obedience, on his return through England advised Eliza- beth to intercept her on the sea and to make her a prisoner." — (Camden, i, 83. Keith, 163. Chalmers, from Letters in the State Paper office, ii, 288, apud Lingard, vii, 296.) This is fully confirmed by Agnes Strickland, in her interesting details of the whole treacherous affair. (Queens of Scotland, vol. iii, chap, vi, p. 167, seqq.) * A new light has been thrown on the sad history of Mary by the recent publication, in seven octavo volumes, of nearly five hundred new letters and state papers regarding her times, collected by the indefatigable industry of a Russian nobleman, the Prince Alexander LabanofF de Rostoif. Mr. Donald Mac Cleod, in his late highly interesting "Life of Mary, Queen of Scots," (1 vol. 12mo, 1857,) has availed himself of these new documents, and has fully vindicated the unfortunate queen from all the foul charges made against her b)' certain writers, among whom we regret to mention the great popular favorites Charles Dickens and W. M. Thackeray. This same writer has done justice to the character of her accusers, among whom, besides Knox, Murray and Buchanan stood forth pre-eminent. For full details, we refer our readers to this fi-esh and vigorous work. The indefatigable, excellent, and attractive Protestant authoress, Agnes Strickland, has made the exploration of this field, and the vindication of Mary a labor of love. Her extensive woi'k on "the Queens of Scotland," may, in fact, be said to have exhausted the subject, and to have rendered palpabU; and undeniable both Mary's innocence and the horrible and almost .ifendish guilt of her accusers ; both that of the Scottish lords of the Con- gregation who harassed, betrayed, and hunted her down, and that of her pitiless cousin Elizabeth, who welcomed her into England with a life-long prison and a bloody death. It is well that there is a great day of God's judgment, to revise and reverse the judgments of men on earth ! KNOX THE INSTIGATOR FORGERY. 251 15. But towering above all these secretly plotting or boldly acting bad men stands forth John Knox, alternately their agent and their tool, but never their dupe ; instigating them to almost every deed of treachery and blood ; aiding them to carry out their wicked designs, by stirring up the lowest pas- sions of the populace through his rugged but overpowering eloquence in the pulpit; and encouraging them with his secret applause or open eulogy whenever they had succeeded in accomplishing their bloody work ! Thus, as we have seen, he approved, even if he did not instigate the assassination of Beatoun and of poor Rizzio ; while he certainly was the prime mover in all the atrocious acts of cruelty towards the unhappy Mary herself. Sometimes, indeed, he rebuked the religious indifference, or lashed the vices of the lords of the congrega- tion, especially when the latter did not choose to be restrained by the rigid formalities and outward observances exacted by the newly established discipline of the Kirk: but, if they attended the kirk regularly and observed the rules of deco- rum in their public walk ; if they were fiery in their zeal for the new religion ; they were held up by him for imitation as saints, though their hearts were full of malice, their tongues of treachery, and their hands of blood. In the eyes of Knox, hatred of the Pope, like the mantle of charity, "covered a multitude of sins"; and if a man proved himself a good hater, he had already gone far towards attaining to his stand- ard of Christian perfection. 16. It could scarcely be expected that a man of Knox's principles would be very scrupulous as to the means which he deemed necessary for carrying out his cherished ends. He seems, in fact, to have acted almost habitually on the principle, that " the end justifies the means." He scrupled not Habitually to misrepresent the doctrines of the Cath- olic Church and to slander the character of the Catholic clergy ; and this, too, when he must have known better, f* r he had full opportunity to be well informed on the subject. There is nothing, for instance, more sublimely hypocritical "252 SCOTTISH REFORMATION KNOX. than the pious horror with which he was wont to denounce the ^'•idolatry of the Mass ;" for he knew well, that whatevei else there might be that was objectionable in this time-hal- lowed service of the Church, there could certainly be no idolatry; inasmuch as the adoration was plainly paid only to Christ the Man-God, believed to be really present on the altar. So far, in fact, did he carry his recklessness of truth, that he seems to have resorted occasionally even to forgery to secure his fixed purpose. Thus, when James Stuart, half- brother of Queen Mary — afterwards Earl of Murray — seemed to be tardy in joining the lords of the congregation in 1559, he scrupled not to forge a letter to him, in order to hasten his movements ! "At least Randall, the English agent, believed it a forgery : ' which ' — Randall says — ' I geese to savor to muche of Knox stile to come from Fraunce, though it will serve to good purpose.' "* The Englishman was evidently not more scrupulous than the Scot ; both seem to have acted on the belief that any means were good enough, provided they " served to good purpose." Speaking of forgery reminds us of the well known and often quoted testimony of the can- did old Anglican parson — Whitaker — one of the earliest de- fenders of Mary of Scots, who in his Vindication of the character of this unhappy queen, says : ■ " Forgery — I blush for the honor of Protestantism while I write — seems to have been peculiar to the reformed. I look in vain for one of these accursed outrages of imposition among the disciples of Popery."* The same Protestant writer draws the following not very flattering picture of the Scottish reformer, whom he calls " a fanatical incendiary, a holy savage, the son of violence and barbarism, the religious Sachem of religious Mohawks ; " while he very aptly designates Knox's contemporary and dear friend — Buchanan — " a serpent, — daring calumniator, — Levi- athan of slander, — the second of all human forgers, — and the * Sadler, i, 499, apud Lingard, vii, 280, note. * Vindication of Queen Mary, p. 65. CONFIRMATORY EVIDENCE. 253 first of all human slanderers."* It is well known that the fimous Dr. Johnson was wont to call Knox " the ruflBan of the Reformation."f He died at Edinburgh on the 24th of November, 1572, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. By MeCrie and other partial writers, his death is painted as that of a saint; by others who were his contemporaries, but were opposed to his new creed, it is represented as that of the hardened reprobate. 17. The facts hitherto alleged rest chiefly on the authority of McCrie, who in many important particulars is corroborated by Mackintosh. In order not to cumber the narrative or in- terrupt the current of events, we have hitherto abstained from making any considerable quotations from the latest and probably the most interesting and reliable writer on all that is connected with the history of Mary, queen of Scots ; we refer to Agnes Strickland. We now proceed to furnish from her lately published Lives of the Queens of Scotland such quotations as may be deemed most appropriate to illustrate this interesting period of Scottish history, and the character of Knox and his associate reformers, as well as of the people upon whom they brought to bear their powerful influence, for good or for evil. It is needless to repeat that Miss Strick- land is a Protestant, and that she has availed herself with singular industry and ability of the ample materials which were thrown in her way. Her candor and truthfulness few * Quoted by McCrie, p. 380-1 and note. He believes that Whitaker is not to be relied on, because he was a Jacobite — or warm friend of the Stuarts. Buchanan's picture is drawn to the life in the above sketch. t In regard to the moral character of Knox widely difterent opinions have been expressed by different writers, according to their respective creeds. By McCrie and writers of his class, who openly defend, or at least palliate all bis actions, no matter how atrocious these often were, he is represented as a saint, guiltless of all moral delinquency. By contemporary Catholic Vrriters, he is charged with almost every moral turpitude. We propose to discuss this question in Note F. at the end of this volume ; in which we shall republish McCrie's answer to the accusers of Knox, with our com< mems thereon. 254 SCOTTISH REFORMATION KNOX. impartial men will dispute.* The minuteness of her details and the graphic character of her descriptions throw much additional light on what may be called the inner life of the Scots, and particularly of John Knox and his colleagues during the period in question. 18. As in Geneva, so in Edinburgh, the early Calvinistic reformers enacted a series of most vexatious Blue Laws, under the efiects of which the people were sutiering on the arrival of their queen on the 20th of August, 1561. We will let oui authoress tell what occurred in consequence : " On her way to the abbey the queen was met by a company of distressed supplicants, called 'the rebels of the crafts of Edinburgh/'f who knelt to implore her grace for the misdemeanor of which they had been guilty, by raising an insurrectionary tumult on the 21st of July, about a month before her majesty's return — not against her authority, but to resist the arbitrary proceedings of the Kirk, and the provost and bailies of Edinburgh. The gloomy spirit of fanaticism had done much to deprive the working classes of their sports and pastimes. The May games and the flower-crowned queen had been clean banished ; but the more frolicsome portion of the com- munity, the craftsmen's servants and prentices, clung to the popular panto- mine of Robin Hood with miconquerable tenacity. It was to no purpose that the annual commemoration of the tameless Southron outlaw was de- nounced from the pulpit, and rendered .contraband by the session. A com- pany of merry varlets, in the spring of 1561, determined to revive the old observance, by dressing up a Robin Hood, and performing the play so called in Edinburgh, on his anniversary, which, unfortunately, this year befell on a Sunday. This was an oSense so serious, that James Kellone, the graceless shoemaker who enacted Robin, being aiTCsted, was by the provost, Archi- bald Douglas of Kilspindie, and the bailies, condemned to be hanged. The craftsmen made great solicitation to John Knox and the bailies to get him reprieved ; but the reply was : ' They would do nothing but have him hanged.' |; When the time of the poor man's hanging arrived, and the gib- bet was set up, and the ladder in readiness for his execution, the craftsmen, prentices, and servants flew to arms, seized the provost and bailies, and shut them up in Alexander Guthrie's writing-booth, dang (tore) down the gibbet, and broke it to pieces, then rushed to the Tolbooth, which, being fastened * For the satisfaction of the reader who may desire to investigate ths ■ubject still further, we will exhibit her authorities as we proceed. f Knox's History of the Reformation, \ Diurnal of Occurrents. TUMULT AT THE FIRST MASS. 255 from within, they brought hammers, burst in and dehvered the condemned Robin Hood, and not him alone, but all the other prisoners there, in despite of magistrates and ministers. "One of the bailies, imprisoned in the writing- booth, shot a dag or a horse pistol at the insurgents, and grievously wounded a servant of a craftsman, whereupon a fierce conflict ensued, which lasted from three in the afternoori till eight in the evening, during which time never a man in the town stirred to defend their provost and bailies. The insurgents were so far victorioua that the magistrates, in order to procure their release, were fain to promise an amnesty to them, being the only condition on which they would be allowed to come out of their booth.* Notwithstanding the amnesty, the offenders knew themselves to be in evil case, and took this opportunity oi suing, in very humble wise, for grace from their bonny liege lady, for their daring resistance to a most despotic and barbarous act of civic authority. The young queen was probably not sorry to have an opportunity of endear- ing herself to the operatives of her metropolis, by commemorating her return to her realm by an act of mercy, and frankly accorded her grace, on which Knox makes this comment: 'But, because she was sufficiently in- structed that all they did was done in despite of the religion, they were easily pardoned.' "f 19. On the first Sunday after her an'ival, the queen had the Mass celebrated in her chapel at Holyrood ; whereupon those holy men who had been so long clamoring for liberty of conscience enacted the following scandalous scene : "All things went on peacefully in Holyrood till the 24th of August. On that morning, being Sunday, Mary ordered Mass to be said in the Chapei Royal ; resolutely claiming for herself, and the Roman Catholic members of her household, the same liberty of conscience and freedom of worship which she had frankly guarantied to her subjects in general, without reservation or exceptions. The hearts of the leaders of the Congregation were wonder- fully commoved, when they learned that the queen, though she refi'ained from persecuting interference with their mode of worship, meant to go to heaven her own way. Patrick, Lord Lindsay, braced on his armor, and. rushing into the close at the head of a party of the church militant, brand- ished his sword, and shouted, ' The idolater priest shall die the death ! 'T They attacked the queen's almoner as he was proceeding to the chapel, and would have slain him, if he had not fled for refuge into the presence of hig * Diurnal of Occurrents, printed for the Banatyne Club, p. 66. f Lives of the Queens of Scotland, iii, 208-9. Edition of Harper and Brothers, New York, 1855. ' f Tytler. 256 SCOTTISH REFORMATION -KNOX. royal tuist'-ess. Mary, greatly offended and distressed at the occurrenoe, exclaimed. ' This is a fine commencement of what I have to expect. What will be tue end I know not, but I foresee it must bs very bad.'* She was resolute in her purpose, nevertheless. Her brother, the Lord James, when he visited her in France as the delegate of the lords of the Congregation, had eniiujied that she should enjoy the privilege of worshiping after her own uishio".. and nothing could shake her determination. She was, to use the emphatic words of Lethington respecting her religious opinions, 'an unper- suaded princess.' ' The Lord James, the man whom the godly did most reveren-^e, undertook to keep the chapel door,' while the queen was engaged in her devotions, which included an office of thanksgiving for her preserva- tion durinord! Says Miss Strickland : " Mary entered the council chamber in her regal capacity, but she never forgot the delicacy of her sex while there. ' In the presence of her council,' observes Knox, in whose opinion it was impossible for Mary to do right, 'she kept herself very grave ; for, under the deuil (mourning) weed, she could play the hypocrite in fiill perfection. But how soon,' continues he, 'that ever her French fillocks, fiddlers, and others of that band, gatt the house alone, there might be seen skipping not very comely for honest women.* Her common talk was, in secret, she saw nothing in Scotland but gravity, which repugned altogether to her nature, for she was brought up in joyous- ity — so termed she her dancing, and other things thereto belonging.' "f 21. Of the fiercely intolerant spirit which the reformers had introduced into Scotland, and of the almost fiendish malignity with which Knox and his associates pursued the accomplished young queen on the ground of her religion, the following is one among a hundred instances which might be alleged. The holy men of the Kirk seem to have suddenly become so enamored of religious liberty as to wish to keep it all to themselves, and to allow no one else, not even their youthful sovereign, a share in the precious boon ! " Scarcely had Queen Mary returned to her metropolis, when the re-elected provost Douglas of Kilspindie, and his brethren in office, attempted a most despotic and illegal act of persecution against some of their fellow-subjects, by issuing a proclamation imperatively enjoining 'all Papists,' whom they designated by the offensive appellation of idolaters, and classed with the most depraved offenders against the moral law, to depart the town, under the penalties of being set on the market cross for six hours, subjected to all the insults and indignities which the rabble might think proper to inflict, carted round the town, and burned on both cheeks, and for the third offense to be punished with death, f " If the fair cheeks of the Papist queen blanched not with alarm at the pain and disfigurement with which, in common with those of the obstinate adherents to her' proscribed fliith, they were threatened by her barbarous ♦ History of the Reformation, vol. ii. f Queens of Scotland, ibid., p. 231. I Town Council Register, 1561. HARD-HEARTEDNESS. 259 provost and bailies, it was haply because they tingled with indignation at the insulting manner in which she found herself classed with the vilest of criininals. Instead, however, of taking up the matter as a personal griev- ance, by insisting, like Esther, that she was included in this sweeping denunciation against the peo}ile of her own denomination, she treated it as an infringement of the liberties of the realm, and addressed her royal letter to the town council, complaining of this oppressive and illegal edict. She must, even had she been a member of the reformed congregation, have done the same, as a duty incumbent upon a just ruler of the people committed to her charge. Her remonstrance produced no other effect, than a reitera- tion of the same proclamation, couched, if possible, in grosser and more offensive language. Mary responded to this act of contumely by an order to the town council to supersede those magistrates by electing others. The town council, on this indication of the spirit of her forefathers on the part of their youthful sovereign in her teens, yielded obedience to her mandate. Mary then issued her royal proclamation, granting permission 'to all good and faithful subjects to repair to or leave Edinburgh, according to their pleasure or convenience.' — ' And so,' says Knox, ' got the devil freedom again, whereas before he durst not have been seen in daylight upon the common streets.' "* 22. When Knox had heard of the premature death of Mary's first husband, he had openly expressed his joy and thankful- ness to God for the sad occurrence, which he viewed as a righteous judgment on "idolatry." His "zeal against pa- pistry pleads his excuse with the majority of his readers, for sentiments and expressions which, if proceeding from a pa- pist, would be justly reprobated for coarseness and intolerance." The following is Knox's account of the young king's death : " For as the said king sat at Mass, he was suddenly stricken with an im- posthume in that deaf ear that would never hear the truth of God, and so was he carried to ane void house, laid upon a palliasse, unto such time as a cannobie was set up unto him, where he lay till the 15th day of December, (John reckons Inj old style) in the year of God 1560, when his glory perished, and the pride of the stubborn heart evanished in smoke."f The godlie in France," pursues Knox, " upon this sudden death, set forth in these verses ane admonition to kings." Tlie elegant verses to which he alludes refer, with much taste * Queens of Scotland, iii, 237-8. Knox, History, etc., p. 293. Arnot'a Edinburgh. \ Queens of Scotland, iii, p. 125. She quotes Knox, ii, 132 260 SCOTTISH REFORMATION KNOX. and delicacy, to the young king being afflicted witli " ane rotten ear." Yet the object of this ghastly humor of Knox was a mere boy, being only sixteen years, ten months, and fifteen days old.* It would appear from the following, that his Calviuistic co-religionists, even the Scottish nobility who were in imme- diate attendance on the queen's court, shared in his cruel hard-heartedness. Says Miss Strickland: " Mary requested her nobles to pay, at least, the trifling tribute of respect to her of wearing black on an anniversary attended with such painful recol- lections to her as the death of Francis ; but they churlishly refused to accord that conventional mark of sympathy to her grief ' She could not persuade nor get one lord of her own to wear the deuil for that day,' notes Randolph — 'not so much as the earl of Both well.' We shall have occasion to specify other instances of Bothwell's non-compliance with Mary's desire for the customs of her Church to be obsei-ved in her palace. Immediately after the service was over, Mary caused a proclamation to be made at the Mercat Cross by a herald, ' that no man, on pain of his life, should trouble or do any injury to the chaplains that were at the Mass :'f — and this time they got off in whole skins. Great exception was taken at her majesty's boldness in issuing such a proclamation on her own responsibihty, some of her subjects considering it a grievous infringement on their liberty to be denied the sport of breaking the heads of the said ecclesiastics." | 23, It would appear, that the greedy Scottish nobles who had espoused the cause of the Reformation in order to rob the Church, wished to retain all or nearly all the sacrilegious spoil in their own hands, and not to allow a fair proportion thereof to Knox and his reverend coadjutors in the ministry. The queen incurred additional odium with these ministers, in consequence of having given her sanction — probably she could not help it — to a measure adopted by the convention, which assembled in December, 1561, to settle the vexed question of church property. We will let our authoress relate the occurrence; — Knox's irrepressible "vein of humor" was now turned in another direction : — " Business of great importance occupied the attention of Queen Mary and her cabinet at the close of the year 1561. The convention appointed for the * Knox, ii, 132. f Keith, 207. J Queens of Scotland, ibid., p. 250. CHURCH PROPERTY KNOX ON DAKCING. 261 settlement of the church property met, December 15 ; and, after disputes which are too lengthy to be recorded here, consented to vest a third of the lands belonging to the Roman Catholic hierarchy and incumbents in the crown, out of which the queen was to pay the stipends of the Protestant ministers.* So little had the maintenance of these been cared for by these greedy lay impropriators, the lords of the Congregation, that they were, for the most part, in a state of miserable destitution, under the necessity of working with their hands for their daily bread, or soliciting the alms of those to whom it was their duty to dispense spiritual instruction. ' Two- thirds of the church property,' Knox sarcastically observed, 'had already been given to the devil, and the remaining third was by this new arrange- ment to be divided between God and the devil, and he expected to see the devil get two-tliirds even of that remnanff ' The ministers being sustained, the queen will not get at the year's end wherewithal to buy her a new pair of shoes,' said Lethington, with reference to the surplus calculated to remain to the crown. The most eminent of the political leaders of the reformed party were appointed by the queen to the oflflce of apportioning the stipends of the ministers. The paymaster named by her was no other than Wishart, laird of Pitarrow, brother of the martyr. Three hundred marks was the highest stipend their calculation offered to any minister ; but the average quota was one hundred only. Great was the lamentation and bitter the disappointment this arrangement created ; but, instead of blaming the wholesale plunderers who had applied the lion's share of the spoil to their own behoof) they raised an outcry against the queen and the paymaster. To the latter this reproachful proverb was applied, ' The good laird of Pitarrow was an earnest professor of Christ ; but the muckle devil receive the comp- troller, for he and his collectors are become greedy fiictors.' "I 24. We have already seen how grievously the cheerful temperament and gaiety of the youthful queen ofi'ended * Keith, Tytler, Robertson, Knox, f Queens of Scot, and Knox, ii, 310. I Knox, ii, 310. — Quoted ibid., p. 256-7. McCrie mentions the same oc- currence, in very much the same way. He gives the disinterested and amusing lament of Knox as follows : " Weall ! (exclaimed Knox, when he heard of this disgraceful arrangement), if the end of this ordour, pretendit to be takin for sustentatioun of the ministers, be happie, my jugement failes me. I sie twa pairties fi-eely gevin to the devill, and the third mon be devyded betwix God and the devill. Quho wald have thocht, that quhen Joseph reulled in Egypt, his brethren sould have travellit for victualles and have returned with emptie sakes into their families ? 0 happie servanda of the devill, and miserable servants of Jesus Christ, if efler this lyf thair wer no hell and heavin !" — Ibid, p. 249-50. 48 262 SCOTTISH REFORMATION KNOX. Knox. When, in spite of him, she ventured to dance occa sionally in her own palace, which was for her 4. species of prison beset by the prying spies of the Kirk, Knox kept nc longer any bounds in his public denunciation of her from the pulpit. The following is a specimen of one of his pulpit tirades, and of the spirit which he exhibited in his subsequent interview with the queen : "Mary completed her twentieth year in the beginning of December, 1563, and although she had attained that mature age, she continued to enjoy the exercise of dancing, a pastime to which her Scottish blood and her French education naturally disposed her. Unfortunately there were ill-natured spies and busy-bodies in her household, who were wont to report her sayings and doings to her formidable adversary, Knox, in a manner calculated to increase the prejudice with which his zeal against Popery taught him to regard her. Here is convincing evidence, from his own pen, of the manner in which he was irritated by those base tattlers : ' The queen returned to Edinburgli, and then began dancing to grow hot, for her friends began to triumph in France. The certaintj'' thereof came to the ears of John Knox, for there were some that showed to him from time to time the estate of things, and, among others, he was assured that the queen had danced excessively till after midnight, because that she had received letters that peisecution was began again in France, and that her uncles were beginning to stir their tails.'* Thus the young queen could not enjoy the recreation of a ball in her own palace without its being reported to Knox that she danced out of malignant glee, to celebrate a Protestant discomfiture in France. He was provoked to preach a sermon 'inveighing sore against the queen's dancing, and little exercise of herself in virtue and godliness.'} Mischief- making tongues there were in that court, to the full as actively employed in carrying aggravated and aggravating versions of Knox's sermon to the queen, as there had been in abusing his credulity with those absurd misrepresentations of the motives of her dancing which had excited his wrath. The result was, that Mary the next day summoned him into her presence, to answer for the disrespect with which he had spoken of her in his pulpit-l She received him, however, not in the council-room, surrounded by the stern formalities of offended majesty, with threats of racks and dungeons, as did her roj^al sister of England her contumacious preachers under similar provocations, but in her own bed-chamber, among her ladies, and in the presence of seve-al * Knox, History of the Keformation, ii, 331. f Randoliih to Cecil, December, 15, 1562— State Paper Office MS. I Knox, History of the Keformation, ii, 331. HIS INTERVIEW WITH MARV 263 of his intimate friends and congregation;il brethren, the earls of Moray and Morton, and Lord Lethington^ her Protestant ministers, and addressed a personal remonstrance to him on tlie impropriety of which he had been guilty 'in travailing to bring her into the hatred and contempt of her people' — adding, ' that he had exceeded the bounds of his text.' If she had not used the mildest language, John Knox would have been too happy to have quoted her own words in recording the story, we may rest assured. Bui Mary, whose desire was conciliation, reasoned with him gently and oflPered him an opportunity of explanation in the presence of his friends as well as his accusers. Whereupon the said Master John Knox favored her majesty with an extempore abridgment of his sermon. Now, although in his revised edition, it contained insinuated comparisons of herself to the daughter of Herodias and Herod both, with stern censure against 'princes who spent their time among tiddlers and flatterers, in flinging rather than hearing or reading God's word,' Mary prudently took none of these reproaches to herself She listened with imperturbable placidity, and appeared not to consider herself in the slightest degree referred to, in cases which her own conscience told her were irrelevant to her conduct and character."* 25. Notwithstanding the coarse rudeness of Knox, the queen still sought to win him by kindness ; and in order tc prevent his fiercely inveighing against her in public, she con- descended to beg him to become lier monitor in private, whenever he might have any thing to find fiiult with in her conduct. Knox refused the office, so gently and so delicately offered. The interview on the subject is thus graphically described by Miss Strickland : " It is not often that feminine gentleness is resisted by man, or queenly condescension rudely repulsed by a subject ; but Knox was a woman-hater by nature, and a defier of female authority from principle ; instead, there- fore, of obeying the meekly expressed desire of his youthful sovereign, to become her private monitor — a privilege few Christian ministers would have rejected — he told her, first, ' that her uncles were enemies to God and his son Jesus Christ ; and as to herself, if she pleased to frequent the public sermons, she need not doubt of hearing both what he liked and misliked in her and others. Or if it would please her to appoint any day and hour in which it would please her to hear him explain the doctrines taught publicly in the churches, he would gladly wait upon her. But,'f added he, 'to wait upon your chamber door or elsewho-e, and then to have no further liberty but to whisper my mind in your grace's ear, or to tell you what othe rs think * Queeiisof Scotland, ibid; and Knox, Hist, ii, 301, seqq. f Ibid., p. 334 264 SCOTTISH reformation — knox. or speak of jou, neither will my conscience nor the vocation whereto led hath called me suffer it. For, albeit at your grace's commandment I am here now, yet can not I tell what other men shall judge of me, that at this time of day 1 am absent from my book, and waiting upon the court.' — ' You will not (can not) always be at your book,' was Mary's brief rejoinder to this burst of spu-itual pride, and so turned away. ' Knox departed w»ih a reasonable merry countenance, whereat some Papists exclaimed, as ii sur- prised, ' He is not effrayed ! ' — ' Why should the pleasing face of a gc'itle- woman effray me ?'* he with unwonted gallantry replied ; ' I have looked to the faces of many angry men, and have not been effrayed beyond measure.' "j 26. Nothing could- mitigate, much less quench the fit rce intolerance of Knox and the Kirk. Here is another specirrien : " Fresh troubles and mortifications beset Mary in April, 1563, in conse- quence of the attempts of her Roman Catholic subjects to celebrate tQeir Easter festival. Triumphantly as the Reformation had been established in Scotland, a third at least of the people remained obstinate in their attach- ment to the ancient faith. It had not, therefore, been coiasidered desirable by the queen's Protestant cabinet to inflict the penalty of death denounced in the proclamations issued in her name against those who assisted at the Mass. The brethren of the Congregation, offended at this moderation, de- termined to take the law into their own hands, and having apprehended several priests in the west country, declared their intention ' of inflicting upon them the vengeance appointed by God's law against idolaters, without regard either to the queen or her council.'| ' The queen stormed at such freedom of speaking,' says Knox, 'but she could not amend it.' Her authority being too weak to interfere with the liberty of persecution, Mary condescended to try the powers of her persuasive eloquence on John Knox, whom, on the 13th of April, she required to come to her at Lochleven, where she then was. ' She travailed with him earnestly two hours before her supper, that he would be the instrument to persuade the people, and principally the gentlemen of the west, not to proceed to extremities with their fellow-subjects for the exercise of their religion.' He replied with an exhortation for her to punish malefactors, adding, ' that if she thought to delude the laws enacted for that object, he feared that some would let the Papists undei-stand that without punishment they should not be suffered to offend God's majesty so manifestly.' * Will ye allow that they shall take my sword in their hand?' asked Mary. Knox cited, in reply, the facts of Samuel slaying Agag, and Elijah Je/ebel's false prophets and the [iriests of * Queens of Scotland, iii ; and Knox, History of the Reformation, ii, 334. t Ibid., p. 304. I Ibid. p. 371. ANOTHER ESTERVIIIW WITH MARY. 265 Baal, to justify the sanguinary proceedings in contemplation. At this per- version of Scripture history into a warrant for cruelty and oppression Mary left him in disgust, and passed to her supper, while he related the particu • lars of the conversation to her premier, the earl of Moray.* "Unsatisfactory as the conference had proved to the queen, she neverthe- less sent Walter Melville and another messenger, before sunrise next morning, to summon Knox to meet her at the hawking, west of Kinross. Who of the youthful peers of Scotland did not envy the stern theologian that assignation for a private interview with their beautiful sovereign, in some secluded glen among the western Lomonds ? Assuredly the noblest among the princely bachelors who contended for her hand would have rejoiced to have changed places with Master John Knox on that occasion. Mary came to the trysting place, without a trace of the displeasure she had manifested, at their parting on the preceding evening, clouding the serenity of her features. Perhaps she had said her Paternoster to good purpose when she retired to rest, slept sweetly, and forgotten her wrath ; her spirits might be renovated, too, and her circulation improved by riding among the mountains, with her followers, in the fresh morning air. Master John Knox, who never gives her credit for one good feeling, insinuates that her amiable deportment proceeded either from reflection or deep dissimulation. Even by his account, she conducted herself most graciously, made no allusion to any cause of dispute between them ; took no offense at dry rejoinders and retorts uncourteous, but tried her utmost to conciliate his good-will ; — lost labor, alas ! toward one who despised her sex and disallowed her authority."! 27. When the queen received advantageous offers of mar- riage from various Catholic courts of Europe, Knox and his co-religionists took the alarm, apprehending danger to the ascendency of the Kirk, or rather fearing that such an alliance might deprive them of the luxury of persecuting all who ventured to dissent from the new church establishment. Knox on this occasion employed all his eloquence to induce the lords of the Congregation to take effectual steps to prevent any such matrimonial alliance : "'And now, my lords,' said he, 'to put an end to all, I hear of the queen's marriage.' Duckies (dukes), brethren to emperors and kings, strive all for the best game ; but this, my lord, will I say, note the day and bear witness, after whensoever the nobility of Scotland, professing the Lord lesus, consents that ane infidel — and all Papists are infidels — shall be head * Knox, History, ii, 372-3. f Queens of Scotland, ibid., p. 317 seqq. VOL. II. — 23 266 SCOTTISH reformation — knox. of your sovereign, ye do so far as in ye lieth to banish Clirist Jesus from this realm. Ye bring God's vengeance upon the country, a plague upon your- selves, and perchance ye shall do small comfort to your sovereign.'* These words and his manner of speaking, John tells us, were ' deemed intolerable ; Papists and Protestants were both offended, yea his most familiare disdained him for that speaking.' An exaggerated version of his sermon was instantly reported to her majesty, in terms calculated to ofiend and irritate her to the utmost ; and, in spite of her repeated experience of the folly of entering into personal discussion with him, she rashly inflicted upon herself the mortification of giving him ocular demonstration of the vexation it was in his power to inflict upon her. Lord Ochiltree and divers of the faithful bore him company to the abbey, when he proceeded thither after dinner, in obe- dience to her majesty's summons ; but none entered her cabinet with him but John Erskine of Dun. ' The queen, in a vehement fiime,' writes Knox, ' began to cry out that never prince was handled as she was. I have,' said she, ' borne with you in all your rigorous manner of speaking, both against myself and against my uncles ; yea, I have sought your flivor by all pos- sible means. I offered unto you presence and audience whensoever it pleased you to admonish me, and yet I can not get quit of you ; I avow to God I shall be once revenged.' And with these words," continues our historian, "scarcely could Marnock, her secret chalmer boy, get napkins to hold her eyes dry for the tears ; and the owling, besides womanly weeping, stayed her speech.' — No exaggeration, of course, is contained in this delicate picture of feminine emotion, except, perhaps, in the excessive requisition to the page for napery to staunch the floods of tears which ovei-flowed Mary's bright eyes on this occasion. One moderately sized handkerchief — and that a lady always has at hand — might have sufficed to wipe away all she shed on this occasion, one would imagine, even if she really wept as her adversary tells us, for naught, and behaved as like a petulant spoiled child as he describes. "Mary might have had somewhat to say in her defense, if she had enjoyed the opportunity of telling her own story. ' Thus it is. Madam, your grace and I have been at diverse controversies,' observed Knox, ' into the which I never perceived your grace to be ofiended at me.'f And this is bearing positive testimony to the patience she had shown on former occasions, under circumstances of no slight provocation. 'But when it shall please God,' ■continued he, ' to deliver you from that bondage of darkness and error in the which you have been nourished, for the lack of true doctrine, your majesty will find the liberty of my tongue nothing offensive. Without the preach- ing-place, Madam, I think few have occasion to be offended at me ; and there. Madam, I am not master of myself, but maun obey Him who com- * Historj ^f the Reformation in Scotland, ii, 386-7. f Ibid., p. 387. KNOX MOCKS AT HER TEARS. 26? mands me to speak plain, and to flatter no flesh upon the face of the csarth.' — 'But what have you to do with my marriage ?' asked the queen. In- stead of answering to the point, Knox told her, ' that God had not sent him to await upon the courts of princesses, nor upon the chambers of ladies, but to preach the evangel of Jesus Christ to such as pleased to hear it ; and that • it had two parts — repentance and faith ; and that, in preaching repentance, it was necessary to tell joeople of their faults ; and as her nobility were, for the most part, too aflfectionate to her to regard their duty to God and their country to do so, it was necessary that he should speak as he had done.' Mary reiterated her question, 'What have you to do with my marriage?' haughtily adding, 'Or what are you within this commonwealth ?' And now she got her answer in plain words. 'A subject biwn within the same, Madam,' said he, 'and albeit I neither be earl, lord, nor baron within it, yet has God made me (how abject that ever I be in your eyes) a profitable member within the same. Yea, Madam, to me it appertains no less to fore- warn of such things as may hurt it, if I foresee them, than it does to any of the nobility ; for both my vocation and conscience crave plainness of me, and therefore, Madam, to yourself I say that which I speak in public place. Whensoever that the nobility of this realm shall consent that ye be subject to an unfaithful husband,* they do as much as in them lieth to renounce Christ, to banish his truth from them and to betray the freedom of this realm, and perchance shall, in the end, do small comfort to yourself "'At these words,' continues Knox, 'owling was heard, and tears might have been seen in greater abundance than the matter required. John Er- skine of Dun, a man of meek and gentle spirit, stood beside, and entreated what he could to mitigate her anger, and gave unto her many pleasing words of her beauty, of her excellence, and how all the princes of Europe would be glad to seek her favor.'f — From this it is apparent that the manly heart of that good Christian gentleman was moved by the distress of his sovereign lady, who scarcely could have lifted up her voice and wept aloud, and shed such abundance of tears as to choke her utterance, without some great cause of provocation, of which John Erskine showed his disapproval, evidently by the kindly manner in which he interposed to soothe and com- fort her. Knox stood, however, unmoved, till the queen became somewhat more composed — or, to use his own words, ' while that the queen gave place to her inordinate passion.' Some reproach had been addressed to him, eitlier by her majesty, or more probably, as her emotion prevented her from speaking, by iiis friend Erskine, as appears from his considering it necessary to defend himself from the imputation of having taken pleasure in causing * Knox here clearly means a Roman Catholic, which her next spouse, Darnley, was. f Knox, History of the Reformation, 268 SCOTTISH REFORMATION KNOX. her tears. 'Madam,' said he, 'in God's presence I speak. I never delighted in the weeping of any of God's creatures ; yea, I can scarcely well abide the tears of my own boys whom my own hand corrects, much less can I re- joice in your majesty's weeping. But seeing that I have ofifered unto you no just occasion to be offended, but have spoken the truth as my vocation craves of me, I maun rather sustain, albiet unworthy, your majesty's tears, rather than I dare hurt my conscience or betray my commonwealth through my silence.' "* 28. The position of Maiy became daily more and more embarrassing. The constant intrigues of Elizabeth to stir up disaflfection or civil commotions in Scotland ; the treachery of her own counselors, and especially of her own illegitimate half-brother, the earl of Murray ; the thunderings from the pulpit of John Knox and the other ministers against her " idolatry : " all these things, together with the affair of her marriage and the future settlement of her kingdom, weighed heavily on her mind and heart, and the continued solicitude and anguish they induced often plunged her into serious ill- ness, so that her health and even her life was more than once endangered. In spite of the solicitations of Catherine, the queen dowager of France, she wisely decided not to embroil herself nor her kingdom in the rising quarrel between Eng- land and France. Still nothing could satisfy the discontented men of the Kirk, to whom her very existence seemed to cause intense pain. Knox even blamed her for the changes of the weather, in which his zeal or fanaticism discovered manifest signs of God's displeasure at her persistent " idolatry !" Says Miss Strickland : " Her sympathies were probably with France ; but she conformed her ac- tions to the wishes of her subjects.f It was, however, impossible for her ever to do right in the eyes of the party whom she intended to please by this line of policy. Not only her most innocent actions, but things over which no mortal ever possessed the slightest control — such as the state of the weather, and the appearance of meteorological phenomena — were ingen * Queens of Scotland — Ibid. Knox, Hist, of the Ref, p. 327, seqq. •)• Keith. Tytler. State Paper MSS. of the yeai- 1564 — Scotch (lorres- pondence. SIGNS AND WONDERS QUOTED AGAINST HER. 269 lously turned to her reproach, as well as alleged marvels which never did occur. The philosophic reader of the present age of practical science can scarcely fail of being amused at the following record of the superstition, th« ignorance, and prejudice of the sixteenth century, and the manner in which the passions of the uneducated were inflamed against Queen Mary by her eloquent adversary, John Knox : — '"God from heaven,' he says, 'and upon the face of the earth, gave decla- ration that he was offended at the iniquity that was committed, even within this realm ; for upon the 20th day of January there fell wet in great abund- ance, which in the falling freisit (froze) so vehemently that the earth was but one sheet of ice. The fowls, both great and small, freisit, and might not flee. Many died ; and some were taken and laid beside the fire, that their feathers might resolve.* And in that same month, the sea stood still, as was clearly observed, and neither ebbed nor flowed in the space of twenty- four hours. In the month of February, the 15 th and 18th days thereof, were seen in the firmament battles arrayed, spears and other weapons, as it had been the joining of two armies. These things were not only observed, but also spoken and constantly affirmed by men of judgment and credit. But the queen and our court made merry, and there was banqueting and ban- queting. The queen would banquet all the lords ; and that was done upon policy, to remove the suspicion of her displeasure against them, because they would not, at her devotion, damn John Knox. To remove, we say, that jealousj'^, she made the banquet to the whole lords, whereat she would have the duke amongst the rest. It behoved them to banquet her again ; and so did the banqueting continue till Eastren's Eve, and after. But the puir ministers were mockit, and reputed as monsters ; and the guard and the officers of the kitchen were so griping, that the ministers' stipends could not be paid.' "f 29. Knox was more than once taken to task in the Assembly of the Kirk for his virulent abuse of the queen from the pulpit. In such cases, he took little pains to soften, much less to retract his harsh language of denunciation. Here is a case in point : "At the Assembly of the church, which took place June 25th 1564, Lethington, who continued a nominal adherent of the Congregation, remon- strated with Knox, for calling the queen from the pulpit 'a slave of Satan,' and affirming 'that God's vengeance hung over the realm on account of hep impiety in continuing to practice the rites of her own religion.' The loyal part of the Assembly declared 'that such violence of language could nevel ♦ Hist. Reformation, vol. ii, p. 417. f Ibid., quoted ibid., iv, p. 35-6. 270 SCOTTISH REFORMATION XNOX. profit ; ' and the Master of Maxwell, who was a sincere reformed Christian, said in plain words, 'If I were in the queen's majesty's place, I would not suffer such things as I hear.' — Knox defended himself from the implied charge of intolerance in these words : ' The most vehement, and, as ye speak, excessive manner of prayer I use in public is this : 0 Lord, if thy pleasure be, purge the heart of the queen's majesty from the venom of idol- atry, and deliver her from the bondage of Satan, in the which she hath been brought up, and yet remains, for lack of true doctrine, etc.'* Lethington asked him ' where he found the example of such prayer as that ? ' — Knox replied in the words, ' They will be done, in the Lord's prayer ' — a strange perversion of the divine spirit of that most pure and perfect form of prayer. Lethington told him 'he was raising doubts of the queen's conversion.' — ' Not I, my Lord,' replied Knox, ' but her own obstinate rebeUion.' ' Wherein rebels she against God?' asked Lethington. 'In every action of her life,' retorted Knox, 'but in these two heads especially — that she will not hear the preaching of the blessed evangel of Jesus Christ ; and, secondly, that she maintains that idol, the Mass.' — ' She thinks not that rebellion, but good religion,' replied Lethington. " This was the simple fact as regarded Mary's unpopular and impolitic adhesion to the faith in which she had, unfortunately (!) for herself, been educated ; and that she did so against her worldly interests ought not to be imputed to her as a crime. ' Why say ye that she refuses admonition ? ' asked Lethington ; ' she will gladly hear any man.' — ' When will she be seen to give her presence to the public preachings ? ' asked Knox. ' I think never,' replied Lethington, 'as long as she is thus entreated.' — A lengthened disputation followed, on the question whether the queen should be still per- mitted to enjoy the liberty of her private worship, against which Knox strenuously protested. The Assembly, being much divided in opinion, desired to refer the decision to Calvin ; but as Knox objected to that manner of set- tling the dispute, the Assembly broke up unresolved."! 30. On the queen's marriage with Darnley, instead of popular acclamations, a tumult ensued, which lasted the whole night. This was evidently caused by the virulent invectives of Knox against her marriage with a Catholic prince, as Darnley pro- fessed to be ; though, in his case, there appears to have been little of religion beyond the mere profession. The morning after this popular commotion, she felt compelled to convene the burgesses and magistrates of the city, and she addressed * See the whole in Knox, History Reformation, vol. ii, p. 428. f Queens o^ Scotland ; v, 50-1 — Knox, Hist. Reformation, vol. ii. p. 4()1 TUMULT AT HER MARRIAGE. 271 them in a strain of eloquence which appears, for the time at least, to have soothed even their fierce intolerance. She frankly promised to others what she boldly demanded for her- self— freedom of conscience. Says Miss Strickland : "Instead of the acclamations usual on such occasions, a tumult took place, which lasted all night ; and the royal bride found herself under the neces- sity, at an early hour the next morning, of summoning the principal bur- gesses and magistrates into her presence, to inquire the cause of the riot. She exhibited no signs of anger, but wisely endeavored to soothe the irrita- tion which she suspectt d to arise from the natural apprehensions excited by her marriage with a Roman Catholic prince. She took that opportunity of repeating to them her reply to the demands which had been made to her by her Protestant subjects, and this she did in the mildest and most persuasive words she could devise. 'I cannot,' said she, 'comply with your desire that I should abandon the Mass, having been brought up in the Catholic faith, which I esteem to be a thing so holy and pleasing in the sight of God that I could not leave it without great scruples of conscience ; nor ought my con- science to be forced in such matter, any more than yours. I therefore en- treat you, as you have full liberty for the exercise of your religion, to be content with that, and allow me the same privilege. And again, as you have full security for your Uves and properties without any vexation from me, why should you not grant me the like ? As for the other things you demand of me, they are not in my power to accord, but must be submitted to the decision of the Estates of Scotland, which I propose shortly to con- vene. In the mean time, you may be assured I will be advised on whatever is requisite for your weal, and that of my realm ; and, as far as in me lies, I will strive to do whatever appears for the best.' — With this assurance they all declared themselves satisfied, and the tumult was appeased. So true it is that a soft answer turneth away wrath."* 31. Darnley had a much easier and a much more pliant conscience than his noble consort. To conciliate Knox and the Kirkers, he went to the kirk-preaching the Sunday fol- lowing the marriage ; and he there heard — what he richly deserved to hear — a fierce and coarse personal invective against himself from the implacable reformer ! The incident is somewhat amusing, while it is eminently characteristic of Knox : * Queens of Scotland ; iv, 155-6. 272 SCOTTISH REFORMATION KNOX. " Darnley, who, like his father, and probably acting by his advice, coca Bionally made his Popish principles bend to his political interests, and waa minded to play the popular, went in state on the following Sunday, August 19, to the High Kirk of Edinburgh to hear John Knox preach, a throne having l)een erected on purpose for his accommodation. Knox could not resist the opportunity of making a most offensive personal attack on his majesty in the face of the whole congregation, coupled with still coarser and more insulting language of the queen — taken for his text these words from the six-and-twentieth chapter of Isaiah : ' 0 Lord, our God, other lords than Thou have ruled over us.' By way of illustrating this portion of Scripture, Knox took occasion to speak of the government of wicked princes, ' who for the sins of the people, are sent as tyrants and scourges to plague them.'* Among other things, he said ' that God set in that room, for the offenses and sins of the people, boys and women,' and some other ' words which appeared bitter in the king's ears, as that God justly punished Ahab and his poster- it)^, because he would not take order with that harlot Jezabel.' Darnley must have been less than man to hear such expressions applied to his queen and wife without indignation. The length of the sermon, which detained him an hour and more longer than the time appointed aggravated his dis- pleasure, and so commoved him that he would not dine ; and being troubled with great fury, he past in the afternoon to the hawking."f 32. As we have already shown, the chief enemy of Mary and the arch-intriguer against her peace in Scotland was her own "dear cousin" Elizabeth of England.^ The "virgin * Knox, Hist. Ref , vol. ii, p. 497. f Queens of Scotland, Ibid., p. 163-4, J Though Elizabeth had a personal feeling of hostility against Knox, yet she not unfrequently used him, as a fit instrument for carrying out her in- trigues against Mary in Scotland. Says Miss Strickland, speaking of the cause of Elizabeth's repugnance to Knox : — " The reformed party in Scotland were in her pay, and subservient to her will, although her dislike to John Knox was unconquerable, having been provoked by his abuse of the English Liturgy, in the first place, and in the second, by his work, entitled, 'First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment (meaning the government) of Women.' It is true that this fulmination was published during her sister's reign, and was more especially aimed against the queen-regent of Scotland, and her daughter, the j'outhful sovereign of that realm, but Elizabeth considered, that the honor of the whole sex was touched in his book, and that all female monarcha were insulted and aggrieved by it. It was in vain, that he endeavored, by personal flattery to herself, to excuse his attack upon the folly and incapacity of womankind in general. He assured her, ' that she was an exception tc A DARK PLOT THE VICTIM HUNTED TO DEATH. 273 queen " pursued her with a malignity, which if we had not positive evidence to prove its human source, we should be in clined to ascribe to a satanical origin. Among numerous instances of this atrocious plotting, we present the following , — and if the plot herein referred to and triumphantly proved by Miss Strickland can be paralleled, for cold-blooded treachery and baseness, in all previous history, we are not aware of the fact. It will be seen that the infamous plot was hatched not long after the northern insurrection, while poor Mary was a close prisoner in England, and that the state paper on which the evidence of it rests is in Cecil's own handwriting. " The Scotch had sold her (Elizabeth's) fugitive rebel, the earl of North- umberland, into her hands, that she might execute her vengeance upon him ; and Elizabeth, in return, proposed, not to sell, but to resign their injured sovereign into the cruel hands of Morton and the regent Marr, to be dealt with in the way of justice — words which were tantamount to Cromwell's private memorandum ' to send such and such persons to London, to be tried and executed.' There was, indeed, to be the mockery of a trial ; but then the children or near kinsfolk of Morton and Marr were to be put into the hands of the English queen, as hostages, that, trial or not, the execution of Mary was to take place within four hours after she was given up to their tender mercies. " The details of this iniquitous pact, are clearly and succinctly related by Mr. Tytler, and the actual documents may be seen in the State Paper oflBce. The instructions for Killigrew, to whom the arrangement of ^ the great mutter,^ as it was . significantly termed by the diplomatic accomplices, was committed, are in Burleigh's own hand.* The monuments of history afford not a more disgraceful document ; nor has the light of truth ever unveiled a the sweeping rule he had laid down, that her whole life had been a miracle, which proved, that she had been chosen by God, that the oflBce which was unlawful to other women, was lawful to her, and that he was ready to obey her authority ;' but the queen was nauseated with the insincerity of adula- tion from such a quarter, and notwithstanding the persuasions of Cecil and Throckmorton, refused to permit him to set a foot in England on any pre- tense."— Queens of England, vi, 146. She quotes Strype, Tytler, and Lin gard. * MS. State Papers in September, October, November, December, 1572, and in 1573 274 SCOTTISH REFORMATION — KNOX. blacker mass of evidence, than the correspondence between Killigi-ew and Burleigh and Leicester, during the negotiation Mary had however, ceaseJ to be an object of alarm to the rebel lords ; and even her deadly foe, Mor- ton, the wily accomplice in Darnley's murder, would not undertake the office of the queen of England's hangman without a fee. Why should he and the regent Marr sell their souls for nought ? They demanded money of the parsimonious Elizabeth — a yearly stipend withal, no less than the amount of the sum it cost her majesty for the safe-keeping of her royal prisoner. The dark treaty was negotiated in the sick-chamber of the guilty Morton, with the ardent approbation of the dying Knox ; and, after nearly six weeks' demur, the regent Marr gave consent, but was immediately stricken with a mortal illness, and died at the end of twenty-four hours. Morton insisted on higher terms, and, more than that, an advantageous treaty and the present of three thousand English troops, under the com- mand of the earls of Huntington, Essex, and Bedford, to assist at the ex- ecution, otherwise he would not undertake it"* Finally, the poor victim of perisecution aud tyranny, after lingering for nineteen years in an English prison, to which she was driven by the relentless persecution and unmanly intrigues of John Knox and his religious colleagues in Scot- land, was put to death in a manner so very barbarous, that the recital excites a shudder of horror in every generous heart, even after the lapse of nearly three centuries. Our limits will not permit us to go into the details. A careful modern writer sums up the tragedy in the following brief sentences : " That one leading cause of her condemnation and death was her religion, is undeniable. Evidence has already been adduced, impUcating an arch- bishop of the new church.f Camden acknowledges this to have been one of the prevailing motives in the council, (p. 485) ; and the same cause was assigned by Lord Buckhurst, who had been deputed to announce to her her doom. What an insight into the character of the men who brought about the Reformation at this period, does Mary's history present, Leicester re- commended that the queen of Scots should be despatched by poison ; and Qnding Walsingham demur, sent a divine to convince him of its Christian ♦ Queens of England, vi, 283. She quotes Tytler's Scotland, Stat« Paper MSS., etc. t Archbishop Parker of Canterbury. See Hallam's Constitutional His lory, in loco, whore the same fact is stated. BUTCHERY OF MARY OF SCOTS. 275 lawfulness. (Camd. p. 485.) 'It appears, that Elizabeth really wished to ba relieved ft om killing her victim by her sign manual and warrant ; but she sought relief in ihe alternative of secret assassination. She caused the two .secretaries, Walsingham and Davison, to write to Paulet and Drury, to send them on the subject of privately despatching their prisoner. The two jail- ors, from integrity or prudence, rejected the suggestion. ' — Mackintosh, iii, p. 322. The frantic bigotry of the times is also horribly exhibited, in the conduct of the Protestant dean of Peterborough to the queen when on the scaffold. He preached, threatened, denounced eternal death, pursued her round the scafibld ; a monster, the very incarnation of that fiendish fana- ticism which, as much as policy, had pursued her to the death. The earl of Kent observing that she prayed with a crucifix in her hand, exclaimed, ' Madam, you had better leave such popish trumperies, and bear him in your heart.' She replied, ' I can not hold in my hand the representation of hi3 sufferings, but I must at the same time bear him in my heart.' When her head was severed from her body — ' So perish all her enemies,' subjoined the dean of Peterborough, to the usual words of the executioner; 'So perish all the enemies of the gospel,' replied the fanatical earl of Kent This scene is a miniature picture of the glorious Reformation."* * "Waterworth, Lectures on the Reformation, p. 401-2, note. On:;/" For more on the subject of Mary's innocence of the charges brought against, her, see Note G. at the end of the present volume. HISTORY OF THE PUOTESTANT REFORMATION. CHAPTER VI. REFORMATION IN IRELAND. Ireland a noble exception — England labors in vain to destroy her faith — Ireland compared with England, Scotland, France, Bavaria, and Austria — Progressive cruelty of English government — Successive steps taken to reform Ireland — Under Henry VIII. — Under Edward VI. — Attempts to thrust the new service on Ireland — Its fiiilure — Ileylin's testimony — Glaring inconsistency — Elizabeth trying to reform Ireland — Extracts from McGee — The terrible contests under Elizabeth's reign — The O'Neill — The revolt of Desmond — And of Tyrone — Wholesale confiscation — Confisca- tion of Ulster, Munster, and Connaught — The Deputy Mountjoy — Miss Strickland's testimony — McGee on martyred Irish bishops — The English Jezabel — The system of colonization — Rather one of extermination — Elizabeth's land partnership with Essex — The English penal laws en- forced in Ireland — Another more formidable code established — Its details furnished by Bancroft — A horrible picture — Other Protestant opinion and testimony — North American Review — Sidney Smith and Junius — Ire- land faithful to the last — The result summed up — Intolerance nobly rebuked — Conclusion. Among the nations of Europe in which the attempt was made to introduce the Reformation in the sixteenth century, Ireland stands forth a brilliant exception- to what may be regarded as the ordinary course of events elsewhere under similar circumstances. She was probably much more sorely tempted, and for a much longer time, than any other Euro- pean country ; but she remained firm and unshaken in her loyalty to the venerable Church of her fathers, while several other nations under much less grievous pressure, fell away either partially or wholly from the ancient faith. In England, as we have already shown, the government forced the Reformation on a reluctant clergy and people ; in Scotland, the people, after having been lashed into fury by 49 (277-) 278 REFORMATION IN IRELAND. the mad invectives of the preachers, marched tumultuously to Holjrood house, and forced the Reformation on the reluctant government: and in both cases the Reformation, introduced and sustained hy such means, fully succeeded. Not so in Ireland. The English government sought to thrust the Reformation on the Irish people by horrible penal enactments, and by systematic spoliation and violence for centuries, but it utterly failed to accomplish its purpose. While the church of England was established by system- atic terrorism and violence, and, as if mindful of its state origin, has ever since, with the instinct of self-preservation, been wholly subservient to the government which first awakened it into life; while "the fiery cross" of Calvin, which John Knox carried amidst tumult and bloodshed over the hills and valleys of Scotland, was upheld by the violence and sacrilege which originally reared it: Ireland, to her eternal honor be it said, stood firm as the rock amid perils and suflTerings, in comparison with which those of the English and Scottish Catholics, though protracted and grievous enough, counted almost as nothing. France, Austria, and Bavaria, indeed, stood firm also; but it nnist be remembered, that in all these countries, the weight of the government was thrown into the scale of Catholicity and against rising Prot- estantism: w^hereas in Ireland every thing was brought to bear, and continued to be arrayed for centuries, against the Hdelity of the people, who had no protection but in the vigor of their faith, and in the shield which heaven interposed between their weakness and the enormous power of their tormentors. Deprived of all human resources and succor, the Irish Catholics nevertheless triumjihed. and the Reforma- tion in Ireland proved an utter and signal failure. From au early period, Ireland was looked upon by Eng- land, not so much as an integral portion of the British em- pire, as a conquered province to be kept down by force, and to be plundered at will by its foreign rulers. Each successive English dynasty sought to outstrip its predecessor in measures IRELAND STANDS FIRM. 279 of severity against Ireland. The Tudors surpassed the Plan- tagenets in cruelty, and the Stuarts — if possible — the Tudors ; while Cromwell, bearing aloft his bloody banner, far surpassed them all, and, under the mask of religion, pushed his cruel- ties to the very climax of atrocity. At the head of his ferocious troopers — who were all saints as well as soldiers — this holy man, carried out Calvin's doctrine of the eternal and immutable "decree," by ruthlessly sacking the houses and towns, desecrating and destroying the churches, and butchering and burning the. persons of the Irish people, in- cluding men, women, and children !* He imagined that this was the most effectual, as it certainly was the most thorough method, for " removing the monuments of idolatry." — What right had those senseless Irish "Papists" to taint, with their idolatrous breath, the air breathed by men so holy as Crom- well's godly troopers ! Still, even Cromwell could not suc- ceed in shaking the fidelity of Ireland. He might possibly annihilate her people, he could destroy their faith in no other way. The history of the wrongs and persecutions of Ireland for conscience' sake is too well known, and its facts are too generally admitted on all hands, to require any very lengthy exposition. Besides, the details are so very sad, that we do not willingly dwell upon them. Hence our sketch shall be rapid, embracing only the principal points in the successive attempts to thrust the Reformation on Ireland.-f From first to last, the English government employed force and violence to induce the Irish clergy and people to accept the various phases of the Reformation, as these successively appeared in England; and from first to last, the Irish clergy * At Drogheda, for instance, the terror-stricken people, chiefly women and children, were burnt up in the church to which they had fled for shelter! f Those who may wish to see a fuller account are referred to the late ex- cellent publication of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, entitled : A History of the Attempts to establish the Protestant Reformation in Ireland, etc. Boston. Donahoe, 1853 We shall occasionally refer to this work in the sequel. 280 REFORMATION IN IRELAND. and the people in a body resisted, and finally triumphed in their determined opposition. This is the cardinal fact run- ning through the entire history of the efforts made by England to bring about the success of the Reformation in Ireland. 1. Henry YIII. determined to force the royal supremacy and his new religious system on Ireland. But it is certain that " His innovations in religion were viewed with equal abhorrence by the in- digenous Irish, and the descendants of the English colonists ;" that the par- liament which abolished the jurisdiction of the Pope was not the true rep- resentative of Irish opinion, but the mere echo of English feelings, — a miser- able body of mere creatures of the English court, which "one day con- firmed the marriage of the king with Anne Boleyn, and the next, in con- sequence of the arrival of a courier, declared it to have been invalid from the beginning ;" that it was impossible to enforce among the Irish people this parliamentary enactment ; and that " the two races combined in defense of their common faith," causing " repeated insurrections.''* " A parliament was summoned by Lord Gray, who had succeeded Skef- fington ; and, to elude the opposition of the clergy, their proctors, who had hitherto voted in the Irish parliaments, were by a declaratory act pro- nounced to be nothing more than assistants, whose advice might be received, but whose assent was not required. The statutes which were now passed were copied from the proceedings in England. The papal authority was abolished ; Henry was declared head of the Irish church ; and the first fruits of all ecclesiastical livings were given to the king."f Of all the Irish Catholic bishops, only one, and he a mere creature of Henry, who had been appointed on account of his mean subserviency to the policy of Henry's vicar general Cromwell, J gave his vote for the change of religion. This was Brown of Dublin, and he was a royal tool, more than a true Catholic bishop,§ The other bishops, in a body, with Cromer, archbishop of Armagh at their head, unanimously resisted the innovation ; which was so very odious to the Irish people ■* See Lingard, History of England ; vi, 323, seqq., for the authorities. t Irish Statutes, 28 Henry VHI. 12. Lingard, vi, 325-6. I Ibid. 5 He was an Enghshman, and he had ingratiated himself with Henry and Cromwell by the ready and ardent zeal with which he sought to pro- mote the cause of the divorce. He was appointed in 1535. See McGee 6up. (!it. p. 37 PROCESS FOR REFORMING IRELAND. 281 that they boldly took the field under Fitzgerald in defense of the ancient faith.* In 1541, Henry succeeded by dextrous management iu having himself declared king of Ireland ; and he very soon afterwards began that system of confiscation which was to be followed up by his successors, until little remained to be con- fiscated, whether in church or state. " Confiscation and Prot- estantism were born at a birth in the fertile mind of the newly elected king of Ireland." Archbishop Brown of Dub- lin and four others were appointed as commissioners of in- fpection and examination, and armed men attended them from church to church, hewing down the crucifix with their swords, and defacing the monuments of the dead. " There was not," says a contemporary annalist, " a holy cross, nor an image of Mary, nor other celebrated image in Ireland," with- in the reach of the reformers or near their fortresses, " that they did not burn." Say the Four Masters in their Annals : " They also made archbishops and subbishops for themselves ; and although great was the persecution of the Roman em- perors against the Church, it is not probable that so great a persecution as this ever came from Rome hither. So that it is impossible to tell or narrate its description, unless it should be told by him who saw it." It were tedious to go into the details of that wholesale system of sacrilege and confiscation which the eighth Henry inaugurated in Ireland ; besides that the subject will recur in the sequel. We may, however, here mention, that during this and the following reigns nearly six hundred Irish mon- asteries were confiscated ; to say nothing of churches violated * McGee, sup. cit. p. 37. Fitzgerald was apprehended and imprisoned, but his place was taken by the O'Neill, who was, however, defeated by Gray at Bellahoe. The father of Fitzgerald had been perfidiously committed to the London tower and beheaded, after having voluntarily surrendered on the promise of pai-don ; and along with him were beheaded his five uncles, who had been treacherously seized at a banquet by this same lord lieuten- ant Gray ! Ibid. VOL. II. — 24 282 REFORMATION IN IRELAND. and seized on far the new worship, and of shrines and sane tuaries sacrilegiously pillaged and destroyed. That the first attempt to introduce the Reformation into Ireland was a work of mere brute force, which was wholly unsuccessful, is ap- parent from the fact attested by Agard, an ofiicial of the English government, in a letter to the vicar general Crom- well : " Except the archbishop of Dublin, only Lord Butler, the master of the rolls, Mr. Treasurer, and one or two more of small reputations, none may abide the hearing of it (the king's supremacy), spiritual, as they call them, or temporal."* Such being the undoubted facts of history, as they stand recorded on the Irish Statute book and on the pages of con- temporaneous historians, we might well marvel at the coolness with which the Anglican writer Palmer relates the transac- tion, if we were not persuaded that a plain statement of the facts, as they really occurred, would have proved utterly fatal to his favorite theory, that the English and even the Irish Church reformed itself! He says :t "Henry VIII. caused the papal jurisdiction to be abolished in 1537 by the parliament (Irish). The bishops and clergy generally assented, and several reforms took place during this and the next reign." 2, When the new book of Common Prayer was adopted by statute as the law of the land under Edward VI., in the parliament of 1552, it was done with the provision that it should be introduced by force, in place of the Mass, into every diocese of the kingdom, including those of Ireland. The great majority of the Irish people could not, indeed, un- derstand English, and Cranmer and his brother reformers had been perpetually inveighing against what they designated the absurdity of having the service in an unknown tongue. But men who were determined to carry their point at all ♦ The authorities for the quotations in this and the preceding paragraph, may be seen in McGce's work, sup. cit. p. 39, seqq. In his Monasticon, Archdall "gives an incomplete list of five hundred and sixty-three Irish houses confiscated." — Ibid., p. 44, note. + Compendious Ecclesiastical History, p. 167. THE NEW SERVICE IN IRELAND. 283 hazards, were not to be stopped in their headlong course by any inconsistency, no matter how glaring. They had trans- lated the service into French for the benefit of their subjects of Jersey and Guernsey ; but they meant to do nothing of the kind for the Irish, whose language they hated and sought to abolish. Referring to this remarkable inconsistency of the Anglican reformers, the Protestant historian Heylin employs the following strong language — he is speaking of what oc- curred in the subsequent reign of Elizabeth : "There also passed an act for the uniformity of common prayer, etc., with the permission for saying the same in Latine, in such church or place, where the minister had not the knowledge of the English tongue. But for trans- lating it into Irish (as afterwards into Welsh in the fifth year of this queen) there was no care taken, either in this parliament, or in any following. For want whereof, as also by not having the Scriptures in their native language, most of the natural Irish have retained hitherto their old barbarous customes, or pertinaciously adhere to the corruptions of the Church of Rome. The people are required by that statute, under several penalties, to frequent their churches, and to be present at the reading of the English Liturgy, which they understand no more than they do the Mass. By which means the Irish were not only kept in continual ignorance as to the doctrines and devotions of the church of England, but we have furnished the papists with an excellent argument against ourselves, for having the divine service cele- brated in such a language as the people do not understand.* Was this attempt to thrust the new fangled Anglican service on the Irish people successful ? " By Brown, the archbishop of Dublin, and four of his brethren, the order was cheerfiiUy obeyed ; Dowdal, archbishop of Armagh, and the other pre- lates rejected it with scorn. The consequence was, that the ancient service was generally maintained ; the new was adopted in those places only where an armed force compelled its introduction. The lords of the council, to punish the disobedience of Dowdal, took from him the title of primate of all Ireland, and transferred it to his more obsequious brother the archbishop of Dubhn."t * Quoted by Waterworth, Historical Lectures on the Reformation, p. 352-3, note. f Lmgard, History of England, vii, 90. He quotes Leland, lib. iii. c. 8. Archbishop Dowdal left the country, but he was re-instated under Mary. The instruction to the lord deputy to have the service translated into Irish. 284 REFORMATION IN IREIAND. Thus was the new service introduced, or rather attempted to be introduced into Ireland. The new bishops whom Cran- mer sent over were Englishmen, and they were "providently accompanied by six hundred horse and four hundred foot, under Sir Edward Bellingham." But one of all the original Catholic bishops of Ireland, Myler Magrath archbishop of Cashel, was found to stain his soul with the awful guilt of apostasy from the faith of his fathers ; and so great was the indignation of his people thereat, that they rose in a tumult and compelled him to leave Cashel and fly into England. The new bishops were able to officiate only in those places in which they could be escorted and guarded by English soldiers, who amused themselves during intervals of leisure in pillaging the neighboring churches and sanctuaries.* Tlius, to give one specimen, they plundered the famous shrine of St. Kiaran at Clonmacnoise : "They took the large bells out of the steeple, and left neither large nor small bell, imago, altar, book, gem, nor even glass in a window in the walls of the church, that they did not carry with them ; and that truly was a lamentable deed to plunder the city of St. Kiaran, the patron saint."f 3. Under Mary, the old service was re-established amidst the general rejoicings of the Irish people, including even the obsequious courtiers of the English pale ; though during the two previous reigns these men had dared breathe only the language of servile compliance with the biddings of the En- glish court, which had lately become apparently the only fountain of divine inspiration! But subsequently, the same lord deputy Sussex, who had with seeming alacrity restored the Catholic worship under Mary, called another parliament to abolish it under Elizabeth, and to re-instate in its place the second edition, revised and amended, of the new Anglican service. What else soever the English monarchs may have until the natives could learn English, was never complied with, and it remained, as it was probably intended, a dead letter. * For more details, see McGee, sup. cit. p. 47, seqq. i Aunals of the Four Masters, ibid., p. 49. uote. ELIZABETH REFORMING IRELAND. 285 had to complain of in Ireland, they surely had no reason to blame the tardiness of their officials, whether lay or clerical, who dwelt under the shadowing protection of the Dublin castle ; for these and their dependents of the English pale were certainly compliant enough. But, fortunately, the great body of the Irish clergy and people were not to be changed backwards and forwards so easily. In this new Irish parliament, the second of Elizabeth, " It was enacted that the Irish should be reformed after the model of the English church : but both the nobility and the people abhorred the change ; and the new statutes were carried into execution in those places only where they could be enforced at the point of the bayonet."* 4. The opposition was not confined to mere words ; it exhib- ited itself in bold deeds. For now commenced, in earnest that memorable struggle between Irish right and English might, between the Irish champions of civil and religious freedom and the English hosts sustaining a most glaring op- pression, which continued with little intermission until the close of Elizabeth's long reign, and which cast a dark shadow on the sorrowful days which preceded her melancholy death.f English might finally conquered Irish right ; and Ireland, by the permission of an inscrutable Providence, was left a desert; but in the midst of this desert, there still bloomed, * Lingard, History of England, vii, 125-6. Irish Statutes, 2 Elizabeth, 1, 2, 3. Such being the indisputable facts of history, we can scarcely have patience with such men as Palmer, who coolly writes as follows : — "When Ehzabeth succeeded, the former laws were revived, the papal power again rejected, and the royal supremacy and the English ritual again introduced. These regulations were approved by seventeen out of nineteen Irish bishops in the parliament of 1560, and by the rest of the bishops and clergy who took the oath of supremacy, and remained in the possession of their bene- fices. The people also generally acquiesced, and continued to attend on divine service for several years." — Sup. cit. p. 167. f What most troubled Elizabeth during her last hours, was the thought of Ireland and of the failure of Essex, her last deputy there, together with that of her own waning popularity on aeoount of the execution of her favorite. 286 REFORMATION IN IRELAND. by the side oi the shamrock, the perennial tree of that blessed faith which St. Patrick had planted and watered with his tears.* 5. TVe can not go into the details of this melancholy con- test. Suffice it to say, that Shane O'Neill, the heir of Tyrone, first stood up valiantly for his rights, and proclaimed himself the champion of the ancient faith. His impetuous nature, or the goadings of the English, drove him into rebellion, to secure his rightful heritage, for which he had pleaded in vain at the court of Elizabeth: but his .army was defeated by the more disciplined English troops ; and having in his affliction sought refuge among the Scots of Ulster, he was basely assassinated by them, at the instigation of Piers, an English officer in the pay of the deputy.f His lands and those of his numerous adherents, comprising one half of Ulster, wero declared confiscated to the crown ; and by an act of parlia- ment the name and dignity of the O'Neill were declared abolished forever.J 6. The rebellion of the O'Neill was the signal for the breaking out of insurrections all over Ireland. The local * As had been the case under Edward, so now under Ehzabeth a batch of new parliamentary bishops was appointed ; who, however, now as then, were not able to enter their sees or exercise their functions outside the boundaries of the English pale, unless they were escorted by English troops ! The Irish chieftains who headed the various insurrections stood forth the champions of the old and legitimate Catholic bishops and clergy, whom the government sought to oust. Thus the new hierarchj' was able to gain a foothold nowhere, except at the point of the bayonet i 'or the names of Elizabeth's bishops, and details of their curious proceedings, see McGee, p. 57, seqq. f Mr. McGree says that " the deputy employed Piers, a spy, to assassinate him. Under pretense of peace, the assassin met him at McDonnell's of An- trim, procured a quarrel, stabbed him, and brought his head, 'pickled in a pipkin,' to Dublin ca-stle. For this service Piers had ' a thousand marks' from the queen." P. 57-8. We follow the statement of Lingard. I See Lingard, ibid. He quotes Camden, Rymer, and the Irish Statutes, ? Ehzabeth. WHOLESALE CONFISCATION. 287 chieftains, both of the English and the Irish pale, successively rained the banner of revolt ; but as, unhappily, they did not act in concert, and were more impetuous than well-disci- plined, they were subdued in detail. The usual sequel to every suppression of rebellion was a wholesale confiscatior of the property of the refractory chieftain and of his adherents and before the end of Elizabeth's reign perhaps half the lands of Ireland had been already declared forfeited to the crown ! After the suppression of the revolt of Desmond — in 1586 — he was attainted by parliament, and all the lands of his earl- dom, comprising nearly six hundred thousand acres, were confiscated, nominally for the benefit of the crown, really for that of Elizabeth's courtiers.* The rebellion — as it was called — of the gallant Tyrone, was probably the most formidable of all those which occurred under her disastrous reign. It continued, with various vicis- situdes of failure and success, for ten years, from 1593 until the queen's death in 1603 ; and it was then terminated only by a treacherous accommodation.! Throughout the whole period of the terrible struggle, Tyrone had pleaded in vain for religious toleration for himself and his co-religionists; which shows that liberty of conscience was a main element in the contest.^ * See Lingard, Ibid., p. 349. f Ibid., p. 383. This accommodation, which promised pardon to Tyrone and his followers, and a partial restoration of his lands, was hastily entered into by the deputy Mountjoy, after he had secretly learned — what was as yet unknown to Tyrone — that the queen was dying. Tyrone had previously — in 1599 — agreed to an armistice with Essex, who promised to intercede in his behalf with Elizabeth, not only for his pardon, but that his demand of religious toleration might be granted. — (Ibid., p. 355.) Elizabeth was so much displeased with this equitable action of her former favorite, that it was one chief reason of his subsequent execution. J It is a remarkable fact, that the only two Irish lord deputies under Elizabeth, who showed any disposition to conciliate the Irish people, to deal impartially with the native Irish and those of the pale, and to do any thing \ike even handed justice in their administration — Perrot and Essex — both 288 REFORMATION m IRELAND. 7. Of Elizabeth's treatment of Ireland, especially under th*« administration of her favorite deputy Mountjoy, the candid and excellent English Protestant lady, Agnes Strickland, writes as follows : " ' Ireland,' says Naunton, ' cost her more vexation than any thing else. The expense of it pinched her ; the ill success of her oflScers wearied her, and in that service she grew hard to please.' The barbarity with which she caused that country to be devastated is unprecedented, excepting in the extermination of the Caribs by the Spaniards. Henry VIII. had given him- self little concern with the state of religion in Ireland ; it remained virtually a Catholic country ; the monasteries and their inhabitants were not uprooted, as in England ; and the whole country persistently acknowledged the su- premacy of the Pope, through all the Tudor reigns, till Elizabeth ascended the throne "Ireland, which had acknowledged the English monarchs as suzerains, or lords paramount over their petty kings and chiefs, for several centuries, had scarcely allowed them as kings of Ireland for a score of years, now flamed out into rebellion against the English lord-deputy ; and this functionary, by the queen's orders, governed despotically, by mere orders of council, and endeavored to dispense with the Irish parliament. The taxes were forth- with cessed at the will of the lord deputy. The earl of Desmond, the head of the Fitzgeralds, and possessed at that time of an estate of six hundred thousand acres, aided by Lord Baltinglas, head of the Eustaces, whose family had for four generations filled the office of lords-treasurer or lords-deputy, and were ever closely allied with the Geraldines, resisted the payment of this illegal tax, and required that a parliament might be called, as usual, to fix the demands on the subject ; for which measure, these gallant precursors of Hampden were forthwith immured in a tower of Dublin castle. They sent messengers to Elizabeth, to complain of the conduct of her lord deputy ; for which presumption, as she called it, she transferred them to the more alarming prison of the Tower of London "The lord deputy Mountjoy (the Irish say by the advice of Spencer, the poet), the commander of the English forces, commenced that horrid war of extermination which the natives call ' the Hag's Wars.' The houses and standing corn of the wretched natives were burnt, and the cattle killed, wherever the English came, which starved the people into temporary sub- suflfered the death of traitors at her hands ! The case of Perrot is particu- larly striking in this respect, as it was his punishment of the guilty within the English pale which first excited the royal anger that resulted in his ac- cusation and death as a traitor. EXTERMINATION MARTYRED CATHOLIC BISHOPS. 289 mission. Wlien some of the horrors of the case were represented to the queen, and she found the state to which the sister Island was reduc(;d, she was heard to exclaim, ' that she found she had sent wolves, not shepherds, to govern Ireland, for they had left nothing but ashes and carcasses for her to reign over.' "* 8. That the desire of forcibly suppressing the Catholic religion in Ireland was one of the principal motives, which instigated the atrocities that marked the civil wars of this reign, is sufficiently apparent from the whole tenor of the facts. We content ourselves with the following extracted summary, which will also serve to show "how the Church reformed itself" in Ireland : " While the war against the Desmonds was raging in the South, under pretense of suppressing rebellion, no one could help seeing that in reality it was directed against the Catholic religion. If any had doubted the real objects, events which quickly followed Elizabeth's victory soon convinced them. Dermid 0' Hurley, archbishop of Cashel, being taken by the victors, was brought to Dublin in 1582. Here the Protestant primate Loftus besieged him in vain for nearly a year to deny the Pope's supremacy, and acknowledge the queen's. Finding him of unshaken faith, he was brought out for martyrdom on Stephen's Green, adjoining the city ; there he was tied to a tree, his boots filled with combustibles, and his limbs stripped and smeared with oil and alcohol. Alternately they lighted and quenched the flame which en- veloped him, prolonging his torture through four successive days. Still re- maining firm, before dawn of the fifth day they finally consumed his last remains of life, and left his calcined bones among the ashes at the foot of his stake. The relics, gathered in secret by some pious friends, were hidden away in the half-ruined church of St. Kevin, near that outlet of Dublin called Kevinsport. In Desmond's town of Kilmallock were then taken Patrick O'Hely, bishop of Mayo, Father Cornelius, a Franciscan, and some others. To extort from them confessions of the new faith, their thighs were broken with hammers, and their arms crushed by levers. They died with- out yielding, and the instruments of their torture were buried with them in the Franciscan Convent of Askeaton. The Most Reverend Eichard Creagh, primate of all Ireland, was the next victim. Failing to convict him in Ire- land of the imputed crime of violating a young woman, who herself exposed the calumny, and suffered for so doing, they brought him to London, where he is said to have died of poison on the 14th of October, 1585."t * Queens of England, vi, p. 353-4. For lengthy details of Mountjoy's atrocities, see McGee, sup. cit., p. 71, seqq. f McGee, sup. cit., p. 64. VOL. n. — 25 290 REFORMATION IN IRELAND. 9. Tlie results of all these desolating wars were most disas trous. Ireland was made a desert; her fields lay unculti- vated, and her people were starving. The attempt to force upon them a new religion, unheard of until it had been con- ceived in the brain of the corrupt tyrant Henry and of his Btill more mischievous and more wicked daughter Elizabeth, was now bearing its legitimate fruits. The new liturgy might, indeed, be read, wherever there were English bayonets enough to enforce the reading ; but the people would not listen to it, and at the rate at which extermination was now progressing, there would soon be likely to remain few if any people to hear it read, even on compulsion ! The poet Spenser was in Ireland at the close of Desmond's " rebellion," and he draws the following sad picture of the general popular misery by which its suppression was followed :* "Out of every corner of the woods and glynns they (the Catholic people) came creeping forth on their hands, for their legs could not bear them ; they spake like ghosts crying out of their graves ; they did eat dead carrions ; happy were they who could find them. In a short space there was none almost left, and a tnost populous and plentiful country was suddenly void of man and beast."f 10. What was now to be done for Ireland ? How were her fertile but now desolate lands to be again cultivated, and her famine-stricken and perishing people to be relieved, or * In his Report on the State of Ireland, p. 165, quoted by Lester (Protes- tant) in his Condition and State of England, in 2 vols., New York, 1843 — vol. ii, p. 92. t In the distribution of the confiscated lands in Munster among her cour- tiers, after the suppression of Desmond's rebellion, this same Edmund Spenser the poet received over three thousand acres ; but the man who re- ceived the largest share bore the very appropriate name of Butcher. To Francis Butcher and Hugh Wirth were assigned no less than twenty-four thousand acres ! — See the list apud McGee, p. 63. This was called the confiscation of Munster, which occurred, together with that of about one half of Ulster, during Elizabeth's reign. It was followed by that of the rest of Ulster, under her successor James I., and by that of Connaiight under Charles I. The instigator of this last was the despotic Stafford. Thus almost all Ireland was successively confiscated ! ATROCIOUS SCHEME OF COLONIZATION. 291 rather replaced? Tlie remedy was well worthy the wicked heart of the English Jezabel, and, like all her other remedies for the ills of Ireland, it was even worse than the disease itself. The wholesale confiscation was followed by a whole- sale system of colonization, as it was called. It would have been much more appropriately designated a system of or- ganized extermination. It consisted in parceling out among her greedy favorites the confiscated lands, on condition that they would colonize them with English tenants,, so as to have one family for every two hundred and forty acres.* This furnishes the key of that thoroughly wicked policy which Elizabeth inaugurated, which the Stuarts and Cromwell more fully carried out, and which has resulted in evils so wide- spread, so terrible, and so protracted for Ireland.! The idea, at least in its practical bearings and develop- ment, seems to have originated with the secretary Sir Thomas Smith, shortly after the suppression of Shane O'Neill's " re- bellion," in 15G94 But though the experiment was made in 1572, by an ample grant of the confiscated lands to the bas- tard son of the projector, it appears to have failed, chiefly on account of the stern opposition of the native proprietors, * This is probably the origin of that phrase, now become fashionable in tertain quarters in this free country : " No Irish need apply." f The result of the system was, that fully three-fourths — some say seven- eighths — of the landed property in Ireland passed into the hands of the in- gignificant Protestant minority, who lorded it over their Irish tenants with a rod of iron, and who have continued to do so to a great extent even down to the present day. The Irish landlord system is probably the most oppres- sive of all those that exist in the civilized world, hardly excepting even that of Russia. The recent commission for encumbered estates has considerably modified the above result, but the evil still remains. \ Others suppose that to Elizabeth herself belongs the merit of having originated this atrocious scheme of wholesale spoliation ; and that she encour- aged her officers and soldiers to put down the rebellion, with the prospect of having abundant lands distributed amongst them in case of success. At any rate, it was well worthy her heartless character, and she fully acted on the plan, whoever was its originator. 292 REFORMATION IN IRELAND. whc very naturally objected to being thus summarily ousted from their ancient possessions. It was subsequently tried again, on a much larger scale, by Elizabeth's favorite, Walter Devereux, earl of Essex, with whom she had entered into a regular business partnership. The contract between Essex and his mistress provided, " that each should furnish an equal share of the expense, and that the colony should be equally divided between them, so soon as it had been planted with two thousand settlers." But the natives again very properly objected ; Essex was thwarted by the lord deputy who dis- puted his powers ; he was not sustained by his royal partner in the concern ; and the result was, that, after ruining him- self by the preliminary expenses necessary for so brilliant a speculation, he utterly failed to establish his colony.* A third experiment was tried on a still more extensive scale, after the confiscation of Desmond's estates ; and this time it partially succeeded, the natives being now suificiently humbled and famine-stricken to consent, in considerable numbers, " rather than abandon the place of their birth, to hold of for- eigners the lands which had descended to them from their progenitors."! 11. While attempts were thus successively made to thrust the new religion on Ireland by force, the English penal sta- tutes against non-conformists were, as a matter of course, ex tended to the sister kingdom.J The Irish parliaments of those days, as we have already seen, were generally composed of the merest creatures of the English court, none others be- ing permitted to hold a seat therein, at least to have a voice in controlling the deliberations. The Irish parliament thus be- came a mere echo of the English. Under such atrocious ty- rants as Henry and Elizabeth, it could scarcely have been * See Lingard, viii, 127-8, for all the details, with the authorities. t Ibid., p. 350. I Ireland, previously regarded by England as a province, was declared to have risen to the dignity of a kingdom under Henry VIII., who, as we hav« seen, was chosen king. IRISH PENAL CODE. 293 any thing else ; as these rulers had succeeded in reducing to the most abject servitude even those sturdy parliaments of England, which in the good old Catholic days of Magna Charta had made the English monarchs tremble on their thrones. But now all had changed ; the blessed Reformation had emancipated the English people from "popish" thralldom, and given to them instead the priceless boon of abject and crouching political slavery! Of course, the Irish Catholics could not expect any immunity from the operation of the mer- ciless code of pains and penalties, with which the right of private judgment — the boasted heir-loom of the Reformation — was so amply guarded and jprotected in the sister kingdom ! And they neither expected nor received it, however much they might have desired the boon of exemption. The penal laws of England were enforced in Ireland, whenever and wherever it was possible to secure their execution. 12. But besides the penal code of England, another one much more galling and atrocious in its provisions was fastened upon Ireland. Its details are so very ferocious and horrible, a^ almost to stagger belief ; yet there they are, in all their hideousness, glaring at us from the pages of the English and Irish statute books ! No one can dispute them ; and the fact that most of them have been since repealed — ' though not all — is indeed a relief for the present, but no in- demnity for the past. They are a sequel to the earlier penal enactments already referred to, and they surpass even these in atrocity. They belong to the history of the attempted Reformation in Ireland, which would be wholly incomplete, in fact scarcely intelligible, without them. We might fill a volume, were we to enter into minute details in regard to this atrocious system of legislation. We must content our- selves with the following summary, which we believe to be entirely accurate, and to contain most of its enactments. We are indebted for it to our excellent American historian Ban- croft. We will be pardoned the length of the extract, on ac- count of the interest of the matter, and the unimpeachable 50 294 REFORMATION IN IRELAND. character of the witness, who furnishes his authorities as he proceeds.* "In addition to this, an act of the English parliament rehearsed the daa gei"S to be appreliended from the presence of popish recusants in the Irish parliament, and required of every member the new oaths of allegiance and supremacy and the declaration against transubstantiation. But not only were Roman Catholics excluded from seats in both branches of the legisla- ture ; a series of enactments, the fruit of relentless perseverance, gradually excluded ' papists ' from having any votes in the election of members to serve in parliament. " The Catholic Irish, being disfranchised, one enactment pursued them after another, till they suffered under a universal, unmitigated, indispensable, exceptionless disqualification. In the courts of law, they could not gain a place on the bench, nor act as a barrister, or attorney, or solicitor, nor be employed even as a hired clcik, nor sit on a grand jury, nor serve as a sherilf or a justice of the peace, nor hold even the lowest civil office of trust and profit, nor have anj'^ privilege in a town corporate, nor be a freeman of such corporation, nor vote at a vestry. If papists would trade and work, they must do it, even in their native towns, as aliens. They were expressly for- bidden to take more than two apprentices in whatever employment, except in the linen manufiicture only. A Catholic might not marry a Protestant — the priest who should celebrate such a marriage was to be hanged ; nor be * Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. v, p. 66, seqq. It will be seen that many of these laws were enacted at a comparatively recent period. Edmund Burke in his Fragment of a Tract on the Popery Laws, and in his other writings, furnislies substantially the same facts, but in a more ex- tended form and in a more technical style. He views the Irish penal code from the stand-point of the lawyer, rather than from that of the historian. — See Burke's Works, American Edit, in three volumes, 8vo, vol. ii, p. 402, seqq. In his Constitutional History of England, Hallam treats at considerable length the various penal enactments against Ireland, which were passed in the successive English reigns from Elizabeth to the Georges. He fully con- firms the statements of Bancroft and Burke. It is a remarkable fact, that probably the worst portion of the Irish penal code was enacted after the rev»lution in 1088. Under William of Orange and his successors, Ireland was scourged with greater ferocity than she had been under the Tudors or the Stuarts. With the cry of liberty forever on their lips, the whigs, who had expelled James II., because he sought to establish religious liberty in England, practiced themselves the most atnx;ious tyranny over Ireland. Hallam gives tJ*o odious details. IRISH PENAL LAWS. 295 a guardian to any child, nor educate his own child, if the mother declared nerself a Protestant ; or even if his own child, however young, should pro- fess to be a Protestant. None but those who conformed to the established church were admitted to study at the universities, nor could degrees be ob- tained but by those who had taken all the tests, oaths, and declarations. " No Protestant in Ireland might instruct a papist. Papists could not supply their want by academies and schools of their own ; for a Catholic to teach, even in a private family or as usher to a Protestant, was a felony, punishable by imprisonment, exile, or death. Thus ' papists ' were excluded from all opportunity of education at home, except by stealth and in violation of law. It might be thought that schools abroad were open to them ; but, by a statute of King William, to be educated in any foreign Catholic school was an unalterable and perpetual outlawry. The child sent abroad for edu- cation, no matter of how tender an age, or himself how innocent, could never after sue in law or equity, or be guardian, executor, or administrator, or receive any legacy or deed of gift ; he forfeited all his goods and chattels, and forfeited for his life all his lands. Whoever sent him abroad, or main- tained him there, or assisted him with money or otherwise, incurred the same liabilities and penalties. The crown divided the forfeiture with the informer ; and when a person was proved to have sent abroad a bill of ex- change or money, on him rested the burden of proving that the remittance was innocent, and he must do so be fore justices without the benefit of a jury. "The Irish Catholics were not only deprived of their liberties, but .even of the opportunity of worship, except by connivance. Their clergy, taken from the humbler classes of the people, could not be taught at home nor be sent for education beyond seas, nor be recruited by learned ecclesiastics from abroad. Such priests as were permitted to reside in Ireland were required to be registered, and were kept like prisoners at large within prescribed limits. All 'papists' exercising ecclesiastical jurisdiction, all monks, friars, and regular priests, and all priests not then actually in parishes and to be registered, were banished from Ireland under pain of transportation, and, on a return, of being hanged, drawn and quartered.* Avarice was stimulated to apprehend them by the promise of a reward ; he that should harbor or conceal them was to be stripped of all his property. "When the registered priests were dead, the law, which was made per- petual, applied to every popish priest. By the laws of William and of Anne, St. Patrick, in Ireland, in the eighteenth crntury, would have been a felon. Any two justices of the peace might call before them any Catholic, and make inquisition as to when he heard Mass, who were present, and what Catholic schoolmaster or priest he knew of; and the penalty for refusal to • This law was probably meant to show Protestant love of religious liberty ! 296 REFORMATION IN IRELAND. answer was a fine or a year's imprisonment. The Catholic priest, abjuring his religion, received a pension of thirty, and afterwards of forty pounds. And in spite of these laws, there were, it is said, four thousand Catholic clergymen in Ireland ; and the Catholic worship gained upon the Protestant, 80 attractive is sincerity when ennobled by persecution, even though the laws did not presume a papist to exist there, and did not allow them to breathe but by the connivance of the government ! " The Catholic Irish had been plundered of six-sevenths of the land by iniquitous confiscations ; every acre of the remaining seventh was grudged them by the Protestants. No non-conforming Catholic could buy land, or receive it by descent, devise, or settlement ; or lend money on it, as the security ; or hold an interest in it through a Protestant trustee ; or taka a lease of ground for more than thirty-one years. If, under such a lease, he brought his farm to produce more than one-third beyond the rent, the first Protestant discoverer might sue for the lease before known Protestants, making the defendant answer all interrogatories on oath ; so that the Catho- Uc fixrmer dared not drain his fields, nor inclose them, nor build solid houses on them. If in any way he improved their productiveness, his lease was forfeited. It was his interest rather to deteiiorate the country, lest envy should prompt some one to turn him out of doors. In all these cases the forfeitures were in favor of Protestants. Even if a Catholic owned a horse worth more than five pounds, any Protestant might take it away.* Nor was natural affection or parental authority respected. "The son of a Catholic landholder, however dissolute or however young, if he would but join the English church, could revolt against his father, and turn his father's estate in fee simple into a tenancy for life, becoming himself the owner, and annulling every agreement made by the father, even before his son's conversion. " The dominion of the child over the property of the Popish parent was universal. The Catholic father could not in any degree disinherit his apos- tatizing son ; but the child, in declaring himself a Protestant, might com- pel his father to confess upon oath the value of his substance, real aid per- sonal, on which the Protestant court might out of it award the son imme- diate maintenance, and after the father's death, any establishment it pleased. A new bill might at any time be brought by one or all of the children, for a fmther discovery. If the parent, by his industry, improved his property, the son might compel a new account of the value of the estate, in order to a new disposition. The father had no security against the persecution of his children, but by abandoning all acquisition or improvement." f * This was a strikhig illustration of the command : " Thou shalt not steal !" T For every statement above given, he quotes the acts of the several par- IRISH PENAL LAWS. 297 13. This atrocious penal legislation was mainly based on the hatred of the Catholic religion, and the wish to eradicate it from the minds and hearts of the Irish people. Its entire tenor and drift clearly establish this fact. And now we may ask with confidence of any impartial — we do not say Christian— but man^ what is to be thought of a religious Keformation attempted to be enforced by such means as these ? What are we to think of the sincerity of the men, who, while boasting that they were shedding abroad the blessed light of religious liberty, adopted such a code as this to induce religious conformity ?* liaments which passed these odious laws ; besides Burke on the Penal Laws, and other authorities. These we have omitted in order not to cum- ber our pages. Moreover any one of our readers who wishes to pursue the investigation may easily procure and consult Bancroft. In another place Bancroft adds : " The inhabitants of Ireland were four parts in five, certainly more than two parts in there, Roman Catholics. ... In settling the government, En- gland intrusted it exclusively to those of the ' English Colony,' who were members of its own church ; so that the little minority ruled the island. To facilitate this, new boroughs were created ; and wretched tenants, where not disfranchised, were so coerced in their votes at elections, that two-thirds of the Irish house of commons were the nominees of the large Protestant proprietors of the land." — Bancroft's History, vi, 66. * In an elaborate article on Ireland, published in the Metropolitan Record for March 12, 1859, we find the following condensed epitome of the Irish penal laws ; which from the foregoing more extended account will be found to be, in the main, accurate. We republish it in a note, for the benefit of those who may wish to see the principal of these atrocious laws at a single glance. "ON EDUCATION. 'If a Catholic schoolmaster, taught any person, Protestant or Catholic, any species of literature or science, such teacher was, for the crime of teach- ing, punishable by banishment ; and if he returned from banishment he was subject to be hanged as a felon. 'If a Catholic, whether a child or adult, attended in Ireland a school kept by a Catholic, or was privately instructed by a Catholic, such person, although a child in its early infancy, incurred a forfeiture of all its property, present or future. •If a Catholic child, however young, was sent to any foreign country for 298 REFORMATION IN IRELAND. Tl ere can evidently be but one opinion among all reason able and honest men, in regard both to the Reformation itself education, such infant incurred a similar penalty — that is, a forfeiture of all right to property present or prospective. ' If any person in Ireland made remittance of any money or goods for the maintenance of any Irish child educated in a foreign country, such person mcurred similar forfeiture.' "With respect to the Catholic church, which had shed so much lustre on the land, the reforming civilizers enacted : ' To teach the Catholic religion is declared a felony, punished hy trans- portation. * To be a Catholic, monk, or friar, punishable by banishment, and to re- turn from the banishment an act of high treason, to be punished by death. 'To exercise the functions of a Catholic bishop or archbishop, in Ireland, a transportable oifense, and to return from banishment, as such, an act of high treason, punished by being hanged and afterwards quartered by the executioner.' "Domestic happiness, family union, and fraternal love would, it waa thought, by Ireland's English rulei-s, be promoted by a code such as this : 'If a Catholic wife declared herself a Prostestant, she was immediately entitled to a separate maintenance and the custody of all the children. 'If the eldest son of a Catholic, no matter of what age, became a Protest- ant, he at once made his father a tenant for life of his own estate, and such son became absolute master of such estate. ' If any other child, younger than the eldest son, declared itself a Prot- estant, it at once became free from all control of the parent.' " Thus the wife, the heir at law, and all the other children, were, by stat- ute law, openly encouraged to rebel against the husband and father, and vio- late every principle of a Christian life. "catholics excluded from the government service, and EDMUND BURKE'S OPINION OF ENGLAND'S LAWS. " After an acquaintance of about five hundred years, the English govern- ment thought that her military, naval, and civil service, both in Ireland and abroad, could be best promoted by legislation, such as the following : 'Catholics were declared incapable of holding any commission in the arm)^ or navy, or serving even as private soldiers, unless they abjured that religion. ' Catholics were universally excluded from all oflBces under the state, and deprived of the right of voting at any election. 'Catholics were excluded fiom Parliament. OTHER PROTESTANT TESTIMONY. 299 and the means adopted to enforce it upon an unwilling and resisting population in Ireland. This opinion necessarily grows out of the facts themselves, contrasting as they do so glaringly with the professions of the men who unblushingly enacted those bloody laws. 14. It is not to be denied that, in England's treatment of Ireland, there was another element of bitterness infused into the cup of religious intolerance ; we refer to that which re- sulted from difference of race. This feeling, indeed, long preceded the sixteenth century ; but it was very greatly in- creased by the subsequent attempt to enforce the new religion in Ireland. If the Irish were scourged with rods before, they were scourged with scorpions after the Reformation — so called. An able American writer of the day places this matter in so clear a light, and confirms his views with so many apposite Protestant authorities, that we can not prob- ably do better than to furnish some extracts from his well- written paper.* Speaking of a statute passed under Henry VIII., he says : "In the twenty-eighth year of Henry VIII., a law was passed restraining the Irish from having themselves shorn or shaven above the ears, and from wearing coulins (long locks) on their heads, or hair on their upper lips, and prescribing for them a particular kind of rude dress, so that they should not presume under heavy penalties to dress like the English."! Of what took place after the Reformation, he writes as fol- lows : "After the Reformation, it did not require so much eflfort to keep the in- 'If any Catholic purchased for money an estate in land, any Protestant may take it from him without paying a farthing of the purchase money.' "Edmund Burke, speaking of the code, said : ' It was a machine of wise and elaborate contrivance, and as well fitted for the oppression, impoverish- ment, and degradation of a people, and the debasement in them of human nature itselfj as ever proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man.' " * In the North American Review, for January, 1858, art. Ireland, Past and Present. t The writer quotes Walker's Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bardii p. 134. 300 REFORMATION IN IRELAND. digenous and the English inhabitants of Ireland in mutual enmity. Sectarian animosity now proved a most useful auxiliary to British rule ; for the hatred of race had already grown too feeble. Hitherto the English inhab- itants of Ireland had been taught to hate the natives as an antagonistic, in- ferior race ; now they were taught to hate them as believers in a false creed. The title ' wild Irish ' was not suflBciently repulsive, till reinforced by the still more obnoxious stigma attached to the term ' Papist.' This was ac- cordingly adopted ; and among the first fruits of the Reformation for Ireland was a new set of penal laws against the Irish 'Papists.' In reference to these laws Secretary Hutchinson wrote, in his Account of Ireland, in 1773: " ' The Papists incur penalties for foreign education, yet are not allowed education at home : they can not be physicians, lawyers, soldiers. If they become traders and mechanics, they scarcely enjoy the rights of citizens. If farmers, they shall not improve, being discouraged by short limitation of tenure ; and yet there is complaint of the dullness and laziness of a people whose spirit is restrained from exertion, and whose industry has no reward to excite it.' " It was made a capital offense for the Irish to have schools or schoolmas- masters. If a schoolmaster was convicted of having taught, or attempted to teach any Irish person, young or old, the punishment for the first offense was transportation ; and if he ever returned from penal servitude, and re- peated the crime, the penalty was death ! Yet the people thus treated were abused for not being intelligent and enlightened ! Irish commerce was also placed under severe restrictions.' "* Burke was right in calling such a code " a horrible and im- pious system of servitude."f 15. With such feelings, followed by such legislation on the part of England, we do not at all wonder that gifted Prot- * North American Review, for January, 1858, art. Ireland, Past and Present. The writer quotes De Rebus Hibernicis, vol. ii, p. 366-71, and adds : " General Desgriny, who accompagnied Lauzun to Ireland in 1670, wrote to the French minister of war, as follows : ' La politique des Anglois a ete de tenir ces peuples cy comme des esclaves, et si bas, qu' il ne leur etoit permis d' apprendre a lire et a ecrire ' — The policy of the English has been to keep these people here lil-e slaves, and so low that it is not permitted to them to learn to read and write.' " — This was no doubt by way of con- clusively proving to the world the wonderful efficacy of Protestantism in emancipating the human mind from the degrading ignorance and thralldoiB of popery ! t Quoted ibid. IRELAND FAITHFUL TO THE LAST. 301 estant Irishmen, like Burke, Swift, Grattan, Curran, and Goldsmith, should have lashed English oppression, and pleaded earnestly and eloquently the cause of oppressed Ire- land ; or that this feeling of just indignation should have extended to generous minded English Protestants themselves; to such men, for instance, as Sydney Smith and the caustic writer of the Junius Letters. The former, in his famous Plimley Letters, clearly, eloquently, and wittily exhibited the atrocious injustice of England towards Ireland, and urged, not in vain, the necessity of an at least partial redress of her grievances, through the passage of the Catholic emancipation bill ; while the latter broke forth into the following character- istic strain of indignant invective, in his celebrated Letter to the King :* "The people of Ireland have been uniformly plundered and oppressed. In return they give you every day fresh marks of their resentment. They despise the miserable governor you have sent them, because he is a creature of Lord Bute ; nor is it from any natural confusion in their ideas that they are so ready to confound the original of a king with the disgraceful repre- sentation of him." 16. Of the subsequent history and sufferings of Ireland under the penal laws ; of her impatience under the galling yoke of the English Protestant ascendency, and her repeated efforts to free herself from its terrible pressure ; of its having been still more firmly riveted on her neck at each successive failure of insurrection ; of her partially successful struggles to stand erect, and to prosper temporally, in spite of all these long continued and terrible obstacles ; and of the circum- stances under which the grasp of oppression was finally somewhat relaxed by the action of the British parliament, reluctantly and at the eleventh hour sweeping away some of the more odious features of the terrible penal code under which she had groaned for centuries : of these and of other things our present scope does not allow, nor indeed require us to treat. Suffice it to refer to the general result, which * North American Kevlew, for January, 1858, sup. cit. 302 REFORMATION IN IRELAND. may be summed up in two words : that in the political rela tion, the national spirit of Ireland has never been entirely broken, and in the religious one, her faith has never been im- paired. After all the violent and protracted efforts of En- gland to pervert her from the ancient religion, seven-eighths of her children still cling to it with undying love. Faithful Catholic Ireland might be deprived of all else — of lands, of personal comforts, of political liberty ; but the hand of the spoiler and oppressor could never tear from her heart the jewel of faith, which she prized far above all earthly considerations. They might, and they did destroy her mon- asteries and seize upon her churches ; they might, and they did despoil her of all her church property, and impose upon her people the odious tithe-tax to support the clergy of a new- fangled church which she abhorred in her very soul ; they might, and they did slander her faith and endeavor to ruin her character by systematic denunciation of her alleged de- moralization ;* they mi^it, and they did banish her priests and schoolmasters and hunt them down, if they dared return, like so many wild beasts ; they might, and they did commit these and a thousand other indignities too tedious and too horrible to dwell on ; they never could seduce her from her allegiance to " the faith once delivered to the saints !" To this she clung in life and in death, and she loved it the more dearly, precisely in proportion to the amount of privation and suffering her children were made to endure on its account. Never, perhaps, in the history of mankind, has so wither- ing a rebuke been administered to all powerful and bitterly intolerant tyranny, as that which the unshaken constancy of * It has generally been stated by English Protestant writers, with a view to present an unfavorable impression of the influence of Catholicity on the Irish people, that crime has always been much more rife in Ireland than in Eng- land The subject is ably discussed in a late number of the Dublin Review ; and the result is by no means disparaging to Ireland, or flattering to Eng- knd. See also Joseph Kay's (Protestant) Report to the University of Cam- bridge, on the present utterly degraded moral condition of the masses of the English and Welsh population. CONCLUSION. 303 Ireland has administered to Protestant England. The only parallel to it, with which we are acquainted, is that presented by the heroic attitude of the early Christians towards per- secuting pagan Eome, during three centuries of patient mai- tyrdom, and of brilliant victory in the midst of the excruciat- ing tortures of death. We conclude this Chapter with the following eloquent pas- sage from the pen of an American Protestant writer :* "Ireland still has an existence as a nation. She has her universities and her literature. She is still the 'Emerald Isle of the ocean.' An air of romance and chivalry is around her. The traditionary tales that live in her literature invest her history with heroic beauty. But she has no need of these. Real heroes, the O'Neills, the O'Briens, and the Emmetts, will be remembered as long as self-denying patriotism and unconquerable valor are honored among men. In every department of literature she still takes her place. Where is the wreath her shamrock does not adorn ? Where the muse that has not visited her hills ? Her harp has ever kindled the soul of the warrior, and soothed the sorrows of the broken-hearted. It has sounded every strain that can move the human heart to greatness, or to love. What- ever vices may stain her people, they are free from the crime of voluntary servitude. The Irishman is the man last to be subdued. Possessing an elasticity of character that will rise under the heaviest oppression, he wants only a favorable opportunity and a single spark to set him in a blaze." * Lester, Condition and Fate of England, sup. cit. ii, 73-4. 0:^ For more Oh the church of England, as established by law, and as firmly riveted on the necks of the people by the CoRONAfiON Oath of the kings and queens of England and Ireland, see Note H. at the end of this volume. HISTORY OF THE PROTESTAiNT REFORMATION CHAPTER VII. REFOKMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. Interest which attaches to the subject — Prescott's Philip II. — His prejudices glanced at — The Netherlands in the sixteenth century — Their highly prosperous condition in commerce and manufactures — The new doctrines penetrate into the Netherlands — Policy of the emperor Charles V. — His edicts — He does not establish the Inquisition — His repressive policy fails — The Netherlands continue to flourish — Accession of Philip II. — View of the religious condition of Europe in the middle of the sixteenth cen- tury— The "fiery cross" of the Reformation — It everywhere brings about a union of church and state — Results in civil commotions — Which weaken the cause of liberty — Guizot's testimony — Character of Philip II. — The hereditary Spanish feeling beautifully portrayed by Prescott — Sublime sternness of Philip — We have no mission to defend him — Much less Alva — Philip's war with the Pope — Prescott's position reviewed — Church not responsible for Philip's policy — Case of Caranza — Philip defies the Council of Trent — His opposition to the Pope in matters trenching on the spiritual order — Nomination of bishops — The Pope and despotism — Good qualities in Phihp's character — The Catholic liberties of the Neth- erlanders — The struggle begins — Catholics and Protestants at first com- bine against Philip — The war-cry Vivent les Gueux ! — -Matters precipitated by violence — Horrible excesses committed by the Protestant party fully related by Prescott — The Iconoclasts and church spoilers — The preachers take the field — And stir up the people to violence — Churches and convents sacked — Awful riot at Antwerp — The Cathedral plundered — The " two thieves " presiding over the work — Its beautiful ornaments in ruins — The sacrilegious fury spreads over all Flanders — Four hundred churches de- molished or sacked in Flanders alone — Awful desolation — Irreparable injury to the fine arts — What the "beggars" really meant and wanted — Their idea of religious liberty — Reaction — Tumults stopped — And an msurrection quelled — Impression made by these outrages on Philip — Duke of Alva the embodiment of his stern resolve — Execution of the Catholic Counts Egmont and Hoorne, and of Montigny — William of Orange prudently flies — Menzel's account — Two inferences drawn — Glance at the subsequent events of the struggle — Queen Elizabeth nied- (304) PRESCOTT AS AN HISTORIAN. 305 iling — Treasures of Alva seized by her — A general gloom in consequence of the troops being quartered on the people — And of the imposition of new taxes by Alva — A calm before a storm — The struggle begins in earnest. — Privateers scour the British channel — Alva recalled and Ee- quesens appointed — Elizabeth coquetting with the insurgents — Eequesens succeeded by Don John of Austria — The Spanish soldiery break through all restraint, and sack Antwerp — General indignation — The Pacification of Ghent — Approved by Don John In the Perpetual Edict — Discontent of Orange — The Spanish troops dismissed and recalled — The war recom- mences— The Netherlands become the battle ground of Europe — The Catholic provinces compelled to separate from the Protestant — Outrages on their churches and themselves committed by Casimir, the ally of Or- ange— An army of Lutheran Huns — Alexander Farnese — Brilliant in the cabinet as in the field — Renews the Perpetual Edict — And attaches the Catholic Provinces to his government — Philip issues his ban against Orange — Who replies with a declaration of independence — He is assassi- nated— Atrocities committed against the Catholics — Menzel and Motley — Dutch Catholics exterminated — Horrid excesses — "Better Turks than Papists" — Lutherans do not sympathize with their Dutch brethren-^The jatholic religion suppressed — Diplomacy of Orange — His character — The butcher Sonoy — His horrible barbarities — Orange screens him from pun- nishment — Van der Marck, hie predecessor in the butchery — He slays more than Alva — Testimony of Kerroux — The subsequent history of the Dutch Republic — Final result of the struggle — Gomarists and Arminians — King James I. of England intermeddling — Synod of Dort — Grotius persecuted — The patriot Barnavelt beheaded — Many Protestants banished — Recapitulation — Four conclusions reached — Religious liberty, as under- stood by the Dutch Calvinists — And as exhibited in their acts. Public attention to the history of the Netherlands in the sixteenth century has been lately awakened in this country, by the publication of what has proved to be the last work of our great historian Prescott, who, alas ! lived not to complete his task. Many of the most graphic and interesting scenes' of his " History of the Reign of Philip the Second "* are laid in the Netherlands ; while the very nature of the combat which raged there is such, as to appeal strongly to our feel- ings both as patriots as religionists. * The work is in three volumes 8vo, published by Philips, Sampson, and Company, Boston, in 1855 and 1858. VOL. n.-26 306 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. As we shall frequently have occasion to quote this work lu the course of the present chapter, it may be well for the reader to bear in mind, that Prescott, though a man of enlarged mind and generous principles, does not always riae superior to the religious prejudices almost inseparable from * New England education, — so far at least as the Catholic Church is concerned. He occasionally grievously misrepresents our religious principles and practices, and in things, too, which are so very simple and obvious, and so generally known, that a much worse-informed man should have felt ashamed of making mistakes in regard to them. Thus, he seriously re- produces, as an unquestioned Catholic principle, the absurd and abominable maxim which has been already refuted a thousand times; "No faith to be kept with heretics!"* Again, he gravely imputes to Catholics the absurd idolatry of "adoring images !"t Finally — for we need not multiply ex- amples— he absurdly enough confounds the years of indul- gence with years of remission "of the pains of purgatory ,";| In the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Netherlands embraced all the countries bordering on the lower Rhine, and comprehended seventeen provinces, which occupied the whole of the territory now included in the kingdoms of Holland and Belgium ; besides Luxemburg, and what was formerly called French Flanders, comprising the two provinces of Artois and Hainault since annexed to France. These provinces were at that time probably in a more flourishing condition than almost any other portion of Europe. They teemed with the products of agricultural and mechanical industry. Man- * Prescott, Hist. Philip II., ii, 49. Of the sainted PontiflF Pius V. he says, that he "doubtless held to the orthodox maxim 'of no faith to be kept with heretics.' " t Ibid., p. 55. The priests deposited the image in the chapel .... "to re- ceive there during the coming week the adoration of the faithfiil." \ Diid., iii, 311. "The legate, after preaching a discourse, granted all orcsent a full remission of the pains of purgatory for two hundred years." Protestants should reat," our catechism sCt least, if nothing more ! THE EMPEROR CHARLES V. 307 ufactories were everywhere in successful operation ; and Bruges, Liege, and Valenciennes were then, what Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds now are. Commerce also flourished ; every sea was whitened with the sails of the adventurous Netherlanders, whose soil was too confined for their industry and enterprise. " Their fleets were to be found on every sea. In the Euxine and in the Mediterranean they were rivals of the Venetians and the Genoese, and they contended with the English, and even with the Spaniards, for superiority on ' the narrow seas' and the great ocean."* Antwerp was then the great commercial and banking cap- ital of Europe. Merchants from all nations, even from Turkey, flocked thither for purposes of commerce. The city had one hundred thousand inhabitants, while London had only one hundred and fifty thousand at the same time, " Antwerp, in short, became the banking-house of Europe ; and capitalists, the Rothschilds of their day; whose dealings were with sov- ereign princes, fixed their abode in Antwerp, which was to the rest of Europe in the sixteenth century what London is in the nineteenth, — the great heart of commercial circula- tion."f In manufactures particularly, the Flemings long preceded the English ; for in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the great woollen factories were located at Bruges and other Flemish towns, and the Flemings, who emigrated at that early period to England,, laid the foundations of the present great English manufactories-^ ^ This flourishing condition of commerce and manufactures necessarily brought into the Netherlands strangers from Ger- many and other adjoining countries, into which the doctrines of the "new gospel" had already penetrated. The immi- grants brought with them their newly conceived religious notions; and the infection was still further spread in these provinces through the custom which had prevailed, of send- mg the Flemish youth to the colleges of Germany and • Prescott, Philip TI., i, 369-370. + Ibid., p. 371. t I^id-, P- 369. 308 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. Geneva for the purpose of receiving a higher education. The result was that the new doctrines were introduced exten- sively into the country, at an early period of the sixteenth century. The emperor Charles V., himself a native of the Nether- lands, then held the sovereignty. He was specially attached to his countrymen, who warmly reciprocated the feeling. He rightly viewed the Netherlands as the most choice portion of his vast domains, and he spared no pains to develop the industry, and to stimulate the commerce of his dear Flem- ings. At this period of his career, particularly, he was a very worldly-minded prince, and he was generally prompted more by political than by religious motives. It was chiefly in the light of sound political policy, that he viewed the rise of the new doctrines among this people with distrust and un- easiness; and that he accordingly- determined to adopt at once measures of severity, to check or prevent the further spread of the new opinions, which had already obtained a strong foothold in French Flanders, as well as in the more northern provinces. Valenciennes, the capital of Hainault, was a favorite re- sort of the French Huguenots, whenever they desired to escape the difficulties in which their habitual turbulence involved them in their own country. " Thus the seeds of the Reformation, whether in the Lutheran or in the Calvinistic form, were scattered wide over the land, and took root in a congenial soil. The phlegmatic temperament of the northern provinces, particularly, disposed them to receive a religion which addressed itself so exclusively to the reason ; while they were less open to the influences of Catholicism, which, with its gorgeous accessories, appealing to the passions (!), is better suited to the lively sensibilities and kindling imagina- tions of the South."* Charles v., dreading "this innovation no less in a temporal * Prescott, Philipp TL, ;, 374. HIS POLICY OF REPRESSION. 309 than in a religious point of view," resolved to adopt a severe policy of repression. From March, 1520, to September, 1550. he issued edict after edict against the professors and preachers of the new gospel, until the whole number of such edicts reached eleven.* The frequent renewal of the edicts proved how very feebly they were executed, or rather that they were scarcely executed at all ; as Prescott himself freely ad- mits.f The odious name of inquisition was given by the indignant Flemings, both JProtestant and Catholic, to the tribunal established by the emperor for the checking of the growing heresy ; though Prescott himself proves that it was totally different from the odious Spanish Inquisition, and that the severities to which it gave rise were very greatly ex- aggerated.J The measures adopted were in themselves, in- deed, arbitrary enough ; but not being enforced, they proved* entirely ineffectual towards arresting the progress of the new opinions. During the last year of his reign, Charles V. con- fessed with regret " the total failure of his endeavors to stay the progress of heresy in the Netherlands."§ His edicts were intended more to frighten, than really to coerce by actual punishment the propagators of the new gospel. At any rate, in spite of them, the Netherlands continued to flourish under the administration of Charles. "His edicts in the name of religion were, indeed, written in blood. But * Prescott, Ibid., i, p. 375 ; yet p. 381, he says that these edicts were re- newed nine times. f Ibid., p. 381. X Ibid., p. 379-380. Some violent partisan historians have asserted, that no less than fifty thousand persons perished in the Netherlands for conscience' sake under the reign of Charles V. ! " This monstrous statement," says our historian, "has been repeated by one historian after another, with apparently as Uttle distrust as examination. It affords one among many examples of the facility with which men adopt the most startling results, when conveyed in the form of numerical estimates. There is something which strikes the imagination in a numerical estimate, which settles a question so summarily, in a form so precise and so portable. Yet whoever has had occasion to make researches into the past — that land of uncertainty — will agree tha» there is noth'ng less entitled to couridence." ^ Ibid., p. 383 51 310 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. the frequency of their repetition shows, as tUready remarked, the imperfect manner in which they were executed. This was still further proved by the prosperous condition of the people, the flourishing aspect of the various branches of in- dustry, and the great enterprises to facilitate commercial in- tercourse and foster the activity of the country. At the close of Charles' reign, or rather at the commencement of his suc- cessor's, in 15G0, was completed the great canal extending from Antwerp to Brussels, the construction of which had con- sumed thirty years, and one million eight hundred thousand florins."* On the accession of Philip II., the Reformation had already made considerable progress in the Netherlands, while in more than a third of Europe it had boasted of having achieved triumphs which seemed to augur the coming downfall of the old Church. Prcscott thus graphically describes the reli- gious attitude of Europe at this period : " The middle of the sixteenth century presented one of those crises, which have occurred at long intervals in the history of Europe, when the course of events has had a permanent influence on the destiny of nations. Scarcely forty years had elapsed since Luther had thrown down the gauntlet to the Vatican, by publicly burning the Papal bull at Wittenberg. Since that time his doctrines had been received in Denmark and Sweden. In England, after a vacillation for three reigns, Protests) ntism, in the peculiar form which it still wears, was become the established religion of the state. The fiery crossf had gone over the hills and valleys of Scotland, and thousands and tens of thousands had gathered to hear the word of life from the lips of Knox. The doctrines of Luther were spread over the noriliern parts of Germany, and freedom of worship was finally guarantied there t)y the treaty of Passau. The Low Countries were the ' debatable land,' on which the various sects of reformers, the Lutheran, the Calvinist, the English Protestant, contended for mastery with the established Church. Calvinism was embraced by some of the cantons of Switzerland, and at Geneva its apostle had fixed his head- quarters. His doctrines were widely circulated through France, till the * Prescott, Philip IL, i, p. 474-5. f As we have already seen, it was surely "Jtery" enough, though it was scarcely the "cross," unless, perhaps, in the sense of the corresponding ad- jective ! THE REFORMATION AND LIBERTY. 311 divided nation was prepared to plunge into that worst of all wars, in which the hand of brother is raised against brother. The cry of reform had passed even over the Alps, and was heard under the walls of the Vatican. It had crossed the Pyrenees. The king of Navarre declared himself a Protestant; and the spirit of the lleformation had insinuated itself secretly into Spain, and had taken hold, as we have seen, of the middle and southern provinces of the kingdom."* Wheresoever the lleformation had penetrated, and had up- lifted its "fiery cross," popnhir tumults and riots, resulting often in protracted civil wars, had everywhere marked its progress, and blood shed by brother armed against brother, in fratricidal strife, had everywhere stained the soil of Europe. Its career might have been traced by the dismantled or burning churches, the ruined monasteries, and the smoking libraries, which it usually left behind it, — the dismal trophies of its victory over the old religion. It had unsettled society, and it threatened the change or destruction of existing dynasties. No government any longer rested on a secure foundation ; what was strong to-day, inight be tottering to its fall on to- morrow. And the new political order which was to rise on the ruins of the old, how flattering soever to popular liberty were its promises, did not really result, at least in the vast majority of cases, in any greater extension of popular freedom. The political tendency was rather, on the contrary, in the opposite direction. To strengthen their paity, the reformers almost everywhere threw themselves, body and soul, into the arms, or rather under the feet of the new kings and princes who had acquired riches by the spoliation of the old Church, and had obtained increased political consequence and power by the protection oi the new gospelers. This protection generally consisted in that utter enslavement of religion, which so often results from the union of church and state, and which is almost always a necessary result whenever the spiritual as well as the temporal power is lodged in the same *• Prescott, Ibid., i, p. 469, 470. 312 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. hands.* This was invariably the case wherever the Refor mation triumphed in Europe !f As the learned Guizot — himself a son of the Huguenots and a Calvinist, so far as he has any religious opinions — tersely observes: "The emanci- pation of the human mind (through the Reformation !) and absolute monarchy triumphed at the same moment over Eun^pe in general."J There can be but little doubt, for instance, that the assump- tion of absolute power by Philip II. himself, was owing to the progress of the Reformation, and the apprehensions which its turbulence everywhere generated in the public mind. The Spanish cortes, so remarkable for their independent spirit and their resistance to tyranny in the good old Catholic times, would scarcely have so readily laid down their beloved and time-honored privileges — or Fueros — at the foot of his throne, had they not been led to believe that the arm of the executive should be strengthened, on account of the unsettled condition of Europe in the sixteenth century. They feared that unless strong measures of prevention against the entrance of the new doctrines were adopted in Spain, it would become, like * We know of but one exception to this reinark; and this is in the case of the mild sway which the Roman Pontiffs have held over their small territory for more than a thousand years. The cliief fault of the papal government is, that it is generally too lenient and paternal. This is so well understood, that a mere handful of tiery revolutionists, stimulated by foreign influence, and encouraged by the hope of impunity or pardon, can there so easily succeed in stirring up civil commotions ; as the events of the last ten years strikingly prove. The lenity of the Pontiff is abused by the wicked. f It was the case in England, Ireland, Germany, as we think we have already sufficiently shown, and it was so afterwards in the Netherlands them- selves, as we shall see. Nor can Switzerland and Scotland, where the new gospelers boasted most of their freedom, be pleaded as exceptions to the general rule. As we have already proved, the freedom which the Swiss and Scottish Protestants claimed, was that to persecute and crush out all religions opponents by the aid of the secular arm, to which they were them- selves wholly subsei'vient. I Lectures on Civilization, etc., lect. xiii, p. 300, American edition, in one v^olume 12 mo. CHARACTER OF PHILIP II. 313 many other European countries, a prey to internal dissensions ; m the midst of which the monarchy, towards whicli they cJierished feelings of filial reverence and veneration, might be weakened, if not destroyed. Accordingly, we find that during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, while otii'ir European governments declined in power, because distracted and divided by civil wars originating in religious dissensions, Spain, united under one strong government and professing but one religion, became the greatest power in the civilized world. It can scarcely be thought that so sagacious a prince as Philip II. was not fully aware of this obvious political tend- ency of the Reformation; and it could hardly be expected that a sovereign so stern and despotic in his disposition would look with unconcern upon the inroads which the new gospelers were making into his wide-spread dominions. He was the most powerful monarch of his time, and, unlike his father, he was a Spaniard, with all the hereditary feelings of his race, both religious and political, strong in his bosom. " The Romish (!) faith may be said to have entered into the being of the Spaniard. It was not merely cherished as a form of religion, but as a prin- ciple of honor. It was part of the national history. For eight centuries the Spaniard had been fighting at home the battles of the Church. Nearly every inch of soil in his own country was won by arms from the infidel. His wars, as I have often had occasion to remark, were all wars of religion. He carried the same spirit across »the waters. There he was still fighting the infidel. His life was one long crusade. How could this champion of the Church (Philip II.) desert her in her utmost need?"* Regardless of the lesson taught him by the utter failure of his father to repress by strong measures the growth of the new doctrines in the Netherlands, Philip II. decided at once to become the determined and uncompromising opponent of the Reformation, and even to stake his crown on the result. He came to this resolution, as much at least from political as from religious motives ; the two sets of motives seem, in fact, * Prescott, Philip II., i, 472. VOL. II. — 27 314 REFORMATIO^ IN THE NETHERLANDS. to lun^e been blended into one in his mind. Accoidingly, he revived the edicts of his father fur the suppression and pun- ishment of heresy, and for the re-establishment of the inqui- Bition ; and he ordered tliat henceforth those laws, which had been so long inoperative, should be strictly executed.* When his Flemish subjects subsequently rose up in arms in conse- quence of this severity, he, while consenting that the inquisi- tion should be abolished in the Netherlands, and that their other chief grievances should be redressed, disclosed his stern sentiments as follows — according to our historian : "" He de- precated fjrce, as that would involve the ruin of the country. Still, (if after his concessions they would not submit) he would march in person, without regard to his own peril, and employ force, though it should cost the ruin of the provinces, but he would bring his vassals to submission. For he would sooner lose a hundred lives, and every rood of empire, than reign a lord over heretics."! Again, when the emperor Maximilian ventured to expostu- late with him on the horrid cruelties perpetrated in the Netherlands by his lieutenant, the stern duke of Alva, he furnished the probable key to his entire policy in the reply he made to his imperial relative : " What I have done has been for the repose of the provinces, and for the defense of the Catholic faith. If I had respected justice less, I should have dispatched the whole business in a single day. No one acquainted with the state of affairs will find reason to censure * Prescott tells us that he revived the Edicts as nearly as possible in the language of his father, and that the inquisition which he re-established was that tribunal which Charles had established, not the dreaded Spanish Inqui- sition, the terrible phantom of which so long haunted the minds and imagi- nations of the Netherlanders : "Notwithstanding the name of "inquisitors," the new establishment bore faint resemblance to the dread tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition with which it has been often confounded." Vol. i, p. 377. + Prescott, Philip II., vol. ii, p. 49. Prescott labors to prove, that Philip was not sincere in making these concessions, but only granted them as a temporary expedient. HIS WAR WITH THE POPE. 315 my severity. Nor would I do otherwise tlian I have done, though I should risk the sovereignty of the Netherlands — no, though the world should fall in ruins around me !"* We certainly have no mission to defend the stern policy of Philip IL, much less the barbarous atrocities of Alva. But it would not be fair or just, to hold the Church responsible for the harsh despotism or cruel measures of Catholic sover eigns, even though these should set themselves up as hei chosen champions, and should profier their aid for the extir- pation of heresy. Philip II., though a strong Catholic, and though he occasionally consulted with the Pontiffs, neverthe- less seems to have followed the advice of the latter, only when it tallied with his own humor, or forwarded his own interests. His political ambition often carried it over his religious ortho- doxy. He was an obedient child of the Church, only, or chiefly, when obedience comported with his inclinations, or seemed likely to promote his stern and despotic policy. His very first war was declared and waged with fierceness against the Pope.f In this, he seems to have inherited the spirit of * Prescott, Philip IL, vol. ii, p. 235. — There was a touch of the sublime in this stern attitude. Prescott gives us, as usual, the original Spanish of the dispatch, which he remarks is almost a literal version from Horace's "justum et tenacem :" — " Si fractus illabatur orbis : — Impavidum ferient ruinte." f See a full account of it in Prescott's first volume. He thinks that the Pontiff was the aggressor, and that the war was forced on Philip. The facts and authorities, however, which he alleges, scarcely prove this. Speak- mg of Philip, he says : "From his position, Philip stood at the head of the Roman Catholic princes. He was in temporal matters what the Pope was in spiritual. In the existing state of Christendom, he had the same interest as the Pope in putting down that spirit of religious reform which had begun to show itself, in public or in private, in every corner of Europe. He was the natural ally of the Pope. He understood this well, and would have acted on it. Yet, strange to say, his very first war, after his accession, wan with the Pope himself. It was a war not of Philip's seeking." — Vol. i, p. 146. Now, it appears from the facts, even as alleged by Prescott himself, that Pope Paul IV. — formerly Caraffa, not a Venitian, as Mackintosh mistakes 316 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. his father, who had not only gone to war with the Pope, but had sent a body of fierce Lutherans under the command of the reckless Constable De Bourbon, to storm Rome, to des- poil and sack it worse than it had ever been sacked by Goth or Vandal, and to scatter its religious and classic glories to the winds. Nay more, he had seized on the venerable person of the Pontiff himself, and held him a close prisoner, until he was compelled by political motives to release him ! Still less is the Church fairly responsible for the alleged horrors of the Spanish Inquisition under Philip II. in Spain, (in his History of England), but a Neapolitan — really wished to have the Spaniards driven from Naples, and entered into an alliance with France for this purpose ; but that Alva, Philip's lieutenant in Naples, actually began hostilities. — Ibid., p. 166. The desire of the PontiflF to have the Spaniards driven out of Italy, where they clearly had little or rather no right to hold sway, was natural enough. Foreigners to the Italian soil, whether Spaniards, French, or Austrians, have always been the bane of Italy ; and the Pontiifs, as the oldest and most influential of the Italian princes, were naturally op- posed to all this foreign domination ; and they had struggled against it for centuries. Paul IV., 'though a very austere and holy man, as Prescott does not deny, was still an Italian prince, of the fiery Neapolitan temperament — somewhat Vesuvian ; and it is barely possible, that he may have spoken words to indicate a strong wish — not " sworn " as Prescott says — " to drive the barbarians from Italy." Alva's manifesto, before beginning the war, was a piece of dignified bravado and sham ; and his procedure after capturing the Papal towns — putting up a scutcheon " with a placard announcing that he held it only for the college (of cardinals), until the election of a new Pon- tiff"— was evidently a political manoeuver for "exciting feelings of distrust be- tween the Pope arid the cardinals." — (See Ibid., p. 168.) Philip had previously threatened to have a general council convened, in order to have the Pontiff deposed, and a new one, more pliant to his stern policy, elected. All honor, say we, as Americans, to the aged, yet "fiery," but certainly patriotic Caraffa. (he was over eighty), for seeking to drive the "barbarians " out of Italy ; whethei these were Spaniards, French, or Germans ! All honor to him, especially, for daring openly to brave the mighty Philip II., the most powerful sover- eign of Europe. The warfare, as it was conducted, was almost all on one Bide. Alva's veterans overran the Papal territory with little or very slight opposition. It was the war of* a giant with a feeble old man, whose soul was, however, much greater than that of his adversary. CASE OF CARANZA. 317 or for the stern purpose which was attributed to him, of in- troduciug this dread tribunal into the Netherlands** How little the imperious monarch really cared for the opposition of the Pope, or even for that of the whole Catholic Church, was rendered quite apparent to the world in the memorable case of Caranza, archbishop of Toledo and primate of Spain. On the 22d of August, 1559, this venerable man was dragged from his bed, at the hour of midnight, by the emissaries of the Inquisition, who conducted him to the prisons of the ter- rible tribunal at Valladolid. There he was kept in close con- finement for two years, under the suspicion of heresy. At first, he was afraid to appeal to the Pope, with whom Philip had been so lately at war ; and this apprehension continued even after he had learned the news of the death of Paul IV., Philip's late antagonist.^ So little safety was there in Spain, at this particular epoch, even for the highest dignitaries of the Church, and even for men who, like Caranza, had before stood highest in the royal confidence, if the mere imputa- tion of heresy happened to be fastened on them by the officials of the Inquisition ! Says Preseott : " At length the Council of Trent (then in session) sharing in the indigna- tion of the rest of Christendom, called on Philip to interfere in his behalf and to remove the cause to another tribunal. But the king gave little heed to the remonstrance, which the inquisitors treated as a presumptuous inter- ference (!) with their authority." J * Philip, during the early part of his reign — in 1561 — after having first sought and obtained the sanction of the Pontiff, carried out his measure — "in itself a good one, and demanded by the situation of the country " — of ad- ding thirteen new bishoprics to the four previously existing in the Nether- lands. The change was, however, regarded with suspicion, "as part of a great scheme for introducing the Spanish Inquisition into the Netherlands." " However erroneous these conclusions," Preseott continues, " there is little reason to doubt they were encouraged by those who knew their fallacy." — Vol. i, p. 496-7. — There were politicians, it would seem, in those days very similar to our own. f This PontifiF died on the 18th of August, 1559, four days before the arrest of Caranza. | Preseott, Philip II., vol. i, p. 441. 318 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. And it was only after a rigid confinement of seven years, and after Pope St. Pius V. — himself a Dominican like Ca- ranza — had " menaced both king and inquisitor with excom munication," that the prisoner was at length released and sent under a guard to Rome !* Thouffh an obedient son of the Church, when it suited hia purpose, Philip made no scruple of warring with the Pope, even in matters which seemed clearly to belong to the sphere of the papal prerogative. In Spain, as well as in his Italian dominions,! he claimed and exercised the right of nominating to the vacant bishoprics and benefices in spite of the papal protest. He evidently wished to keep the bishops and clergy wholly subservient to himself; and thus, without encroaching precisely on the domain of faith or denying the Primacy of the Holy See, to rule supreme both in Church and State. " There was no more effectual way to secure his favor, than to show a steady resistance to the usurpations (!) of Rome. It was owing, in part at least, to the refusal of Quiroga, the bishop of Cuen^a, to publish a papal bull without the royal assent, that he was raised to the highest dignity in the kingdom, as archbishop of Toledo. Philip chose to have a suitable acknowledgment from the person on whom he bestowed a fiivor ; and once when an ecclesiastic, whom he had made a bishop, went to take possession of his see without first expressing his gratitude, the king sent for him back, to remind him of his duty. Such an acknowledgment was in the nature of an homage rendered to his master on his preferment. Thus gratitude for the past and hopes for the future were the strong ties which bound every prelate to his sovereign. In a difference with the Roman See, the Castilian churchman was sure to be found on the side of his sovereign, rather than on that of the Pontiff. In his own troubles, in like manner, it was to the king, and not to the Pope, that he was to turn for relief The king, on the other hand, when pressed by those embarrassments with which * Philip yielded with great reluctance ; while the grand inquisitor Val- dez, " loth to lose his prey, would have defied the power of Rome, as he had done that of the Council of Trent." — Prescott, Philip II., vol. i, p. 442. f He held the duchy of Milan in the north, as well as the kingdom of Naples and Sicily in the south. His claim to nominate to vacant benefices in his Ihilian possessions was strongly but vainly resisted by Pope St. Pius V., who seems to have yielded only for fear of greater evils. — Ibid., vol. u\ page 445. CHU: CH NOT KESPONSIBLE. 319 he was too often surrounded, looked for aid to the clergy, who for the most part rendered it cheerfully and in liberal measure. Nowhere were the clergy so heavily burdened as in Spain. It was computed that at least one- third of their revenues was given to the king. — Thus completely were the different orders, both spiritual and temporal, throughout the monarchy, under the control of the sovereign."* This is another remarkable instance of a great truth, which strikes us in all modern history ; that royal encroachment on the liberty of the Church is usually accompanied with or fol- lowed by the weakening, if not the destruction of political freedom, which generally marches hand in hand with its twin-sister, religious liberty. The most despotic monarchs of Europe were those precisely, who resisted most persistently and successfully the authority of the Popes and of the Church. .Fhilip 11. was a man of far more steady morals and of much better princij)les than Henry VIII., but if he was not so ruthless a tyrant as his English brother, it was mainly be- cause he did not so fully enslave the Church of God, and because he still retained, along with the belief in the Primacy of the Pope, some wholesome apprehension of the dread thunders of the Vatican.f And yet this is the man, who is constantly held up to our view by a certain class of modern popular historians, as the fittest representative of the Catholic principle, and as the Church's chosen champion in the sixteenth century! And the Church which he enslaved, and the Popes with whom he * Prescott, Philip II., vol. iii, pp. 446-7. In thus usurping the right to control the nominations to Church dignities, Philip did but follow the example set him by his father, Charles V., of whom Prescott writes : " Thus in time the sovereign claimed the right of nominating all the higher clergy." — Ibid., vol. i, page 365. f We do not wish to be understood, as here instituting a comparison between these two sovereigns in any thing else except in their absolutism. Both a.s a man and a sovereign, and particularly in his moral character, Philip was a saint when compared with the English monster ; — viewing the former even in the unfavorable light in which our great American historias presents him. 320 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. warred, are still to be held responsible for his despotic, if not cruel administration ! This is historic justice, after the modern Protestant type ! "We confess that we have never entertained any partiality for the political character of Philip IL* We loathe despotism wherever we find it, whether the despot be Catholic or Prot- estant. And in the long contest between the Netherlands and the Spanish monarch, our sympathies have always been enlisted in favor of the former. Philip had succeeded in destroying all political liberty in Spain ; he signally failed in the attempt to destroy it in the Netherlands. The sturdy and prosperous burghers, who inhabited the wealthy provinces composing this portion of his dominions, could illy brook the violation of those ancient liberties, which had come down to them unimpaired from the good old Catholic middle ages ; a period when people were fortunately not yet sufiiciently enlightened, to relish the more modern luxury of absolute monarchies upheld by vast standing armies ! Each province of the Netherlands had its own special franchises and its own local deliberative assemblies; while * With all his despotism, Philip had some great and noble qualities. He was grand in his views, sober in victory, and imperturbable in misfor- tune. When intelligence of the miscarriage and almost total loss of the Invincible Armada reached him, he changed not a muscle nor twitched a nerve, but calmly thanked God that he was able with his resources to equip another ! He seems to have generally acted, with stern tenacity, on what he believed to be principle. As the consort of Mary of England, he appears to have complied faithfully with the stipulations of the treaty drawn up by Gardiner for securing English independence. Throughout his life, in fact, he seems to have been habitually governed by conscience. As monarchs went, in his days, he was probably more than ordinarily moral and religiousi in his conduct and deportment. The most poignant grief of his heart was no doubt the imbecility or raging insanity of his son and presumptive heir, Don Carlos ; but there is no satisfactory evidence that he had any, at least direct agency in the early death of Carlos. He was naturally reserved and stern, but it does not appear that he was wantonly cruel. His enemies generally exaggerated or fabricated his fiiults, and concealed his virtues; thus deepening the shades and striking out the lights of his portrait THE STRUGGLE BEGINS. 321 the whole confederation was controlled by a general congress, called that of the States General. Centralization of power, with merely nominal and down-trodden parliaments, were hitherto happily almost unknown to them. Throughout the reign of their beloved Charles V., they had struggled steadily for, and had substantially maintained their original rights. Tlie contest waxed fiercer still under his successor, Philip II.; until it finally broke out into actual rebellion, and resulted, after many vicissitudes, in a part of the provinces throwing off entirely the Spanish yoke, and securing their independence from all foreign control. And but for the truculent fanaticism of the Protestant party, the whole of the country would have become independent of Spain. This we shall show in the sequel. During the earlier period of this memorable struggle the Catholics took as active a part against Philip, as did the Protestants. The Catholic nobles stood shoulder to shoulder in the contest with those who were suspected to be favorable to the new opinions, or were open advocates of them; and the former heartily joined with the latter in protesting against the execution of the renewed edicts against the new religion- ists, as well as against the re-establishment of the Flemish inquisition. In the general objects of the successive popular movements, designated respectively as the Compromise and the Confederacy, they heartily sympathized with their non- Catholic brethren ; though they did not go to the extremes into which Brederode and the more radical leaders of the movement were precipitated, nor did they choose to join in the maddening popular shout of this faction — "Yivent LES GUEUX!"* * " Long live the beggars ! " Prescott gives us an interesting account of the origin of this celebrated party-cry (vol. ii, p. 12, seqq.). It arose from the circumstance, that when Margaret of Parma, the regent of the Nether- lands, expressed her apprehensions at the meeting of the Confederates, Bar- laimont, her prime minister, re-assured her, and declared that no danger waa to be apprehended, as "they were nothing but beggars." This remark waa overheard, and hence what was meant as a reproach was taken up by the leaders as a stirring motto for rallying the multitude. 322 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. If their patriotic feelings in favor of what they considered the national cause were subsequently greatly cooled down, it was owing to the horrible excesses in which the radical section of the Protestant party indulged; even after the excellent and able regent — Margaret of Parma — had already favorably received the petition for redress of grievances which the Confederates had presented, and after she had promised to use her influence with her royal brother to have all their reasonable demands granted.* Whether there was hope or .not, that Philip would finally acquiesce in the earnestly ex- pressed wishes of the regent, they should surely have had a little patience and awaited his decision. But they did ncit choose to wait. They temporarily injured their own cause by precipitating matters, and by a course of disgraceful vio- lence, the particulars of which we shall be pardoned for borrowing, at some length, from our American historian, who furnishes the details with his usual graphic elegance.f It will be seen that he tells the whole story of the rise and early progress of the Reformation in the Netherlands, with its various agencies, its violence, and its popular tumults : — "While Philip was thus tardily coming to concessions, which even th'm were not sincere,]: an important crisis had arrived in the affiiirs of the Neth- erlands. In the earlier stages of the troubles, all orders, the nobles, the com- mons, even the regent, had united in the desire to obtain the removal of certain abuses, especially the inquisition and edicts. But this movement, in which the Catholic joined with the Protestant, had far less reference to the interests of religion than to the personal rights of the individual. Under the protection thus afforded, however, the Reformation struck deep root in the soil. It flourished still more under the favor shown to it by the confed- erates, who, as we have seen, did not scruple to guaranty security of religious worship to some of the sectaries who demanded it. " But the element which contributed most to the success of the new re- ligion was the public preachings. These in the Netherlands were what the Jacobin clubs were in France, or the secret societies in Germany and Italy,— ♦ By a curious mfstake, Alzog in his Church History calls Margaret the sister of Charles V. (p. 585, sup. cit.) She was his natural daughter by a noble Flemish mother, and was therefore the half-sister of Philip II. ■V Prescott, Philip II., vol. ii, p. 52, seqq. J So he thinka THE ICONOCLASTS. 323 an obvious means for bringing together such as were pledged to a common hostility to existing institutions, and thus affording them an opportunity for consulting on their grievances, and for concerting the best means of redress. The direct object of these meetings, it is true, was to listen to the teachings of the minister. But that functionary, far from confining himself to spiritual exercises, usually wandered to more exciting themes, as the corruptions of the Church and the condition of the land. He rarely failed to descant on the forlorn circumstances of himself and his flock, condemned thus stealthily to herd together like a band of outlaws, with ropes, as it were, about their necks, and to seek out some solitary spot in which to glorify the Lord, while their enemies, in all the pride of a dominant religion, could offer up their devotions openly and without fear, in magnificent temples. " The preacher inveighed bitterly against the richly beneficed clergy of the rival Church, whose lives of pampered ease too often furnished an indifferent commentary on the doctrines they inculcated. His wrath was kindled by the pompous ceremonial of the Church of Rome, so dazzling and attractive to its votaries, but which the reformer sourly contrasted with the naked sim- plicity of the Protestant services. Of all abominations, however, the greatest in his eyes was the worship (!) of images, which he compared to the idolatry that in ancient times had so often brought down the vengeance of Jehovah on the nations of Palestine ; and he called on his hearers, not merely to re- move idolatry from their hearts, but the idols from their sight. It was not wonderful that, thus stimulated by their spiritual leaders, the people should be prepared for scenes similar to those enacted by the reformers in France and Scotland ; or that Margaret, aware of the popular feeling, should have predicted such an outbreak. At length it came, and on a scale and with a degree of violence not surpassed either by the Huguenots or the disciples of Knox. " On the fourteenth of August, the day before the festival of the Assump- tion of the Virgin, a mob some three hundred in number, .armed with clubs, axes, and other implements of destruction, broke into the churches around St. Omer, in the province of Flanders, overturned the images, defaced the ornaments, and in a short time demolished whatever had any value or beauty in the buildings. Growing bolder from the impunity which attended their movements, they next proceeded to Ypres, and had the audacity to break into the cathedral, and deal with it in the same ruthless manner. Strengthened by the accession of other miscreants from the various towns, they proceeded along the banks of the Lys, and fell upon the churches of Menin, Comines, and other places on its borders. The excitement now spread over the country. Everywhere the populace was m arms. Churches, chapels, ai d convents were involved in indiscriminate ruin. The storm, afler sweeping over Flanders, and desolating the flourishing cities of Valenciennes 324 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. and Tournay, descended on Brabant. Antw^erp, the great commercial capi tal of the country, was its first mark. " The usual population of the town happened to be swelled at this time by the influx of strangers from the neighboring country, who had come up to celebrate the great festival of the Assumption of the Virgin. Fortunately, the Prince of Orange was in the place, and by his presence prevented any molestation to the procession, except what arose from the occasional groans and hisses of the more zealous spectators among the Protestants. The priests, however, on their return, had the discretion to deposit the image in the chapel, instead of the conspicuous station usually assigned to it in the cathedral, to receive there during the coming week the adoration (!) of the faithful. " On the following day, unluckily, the prince was recalled to Brussels. In the evening some boys, who had found their way into the church, called out to the Virgin, demanding ' why little Mary had gone so early to her nest, and whether she were afraid to show her face in public' (!!). This was fol- lowed by one of the party mounting into the pulpit, and there mimicking the tones and gestures of the Catholic preacher. An honest waterman who was present, a zealous son of the Church, scandalized by this insult to his religion, sprang into the pulpit, and endeavored to dislodge the usurper. The lad resisted. His comrades came to his rescue : and a struggle ensued, which ended in both parties being expelled from the building by the officers. This scandalous proceeding, it may be thought, should have put the magis- trates of the city on their guard, and warned them to take some measures of defense for the cathedral. But the admonition was not heeded. "On the following day, a considerable number of the reformed party entered the building, and were allowed to continue there after vespers, when the rest of the congregation had withdrawn. Left in possession, their first act was to break forth into one of the Psalms of David. The sound of their own voices seemed to rouse them to fury. Before the chant had died away, they rushed forward, as by a common impulse, broke open the doors of the chapel, and dragged forth the image of the Virgin. Some called on her to cry ' Vivent les Oaeux ! ' while others tore oflF her embroidered robes, and rolled the dumb idol in the dust, amidst the shouts of the spectators. " This was the signal for havoc. The rioters dispersed in all directions on the work of destruction. Nothing escaped their rage. High above the great altar was an image of the Saviour, curiously carved in wood, and placed between the effigies of the two thieves crucified with him. The mob contrived to get a rope round the neck of the statue of Christ, and dragged it to the ground. They then fell upon it with hatchets and hammers, and it was soon broken into a hundred fragments. • The two thieves, it was remarked, were spared, as if to preside over the work of rapine AWFUL DESOLATION. 325 below ! " — (An admirable satire, this, on the destructive zeal of these new gospelers !) " Their fury now turned against the other statues, which were quickly overthrown fi-om their pedestals. The paintings that lined the walls of the cathedral were cut into s-hreds. Many of these were the choicest specimens of Flemish art, even then, in its dawn, giving promise of the glorious day, which was to shed a luster over the land. " But the pride of the cathedral, and of Antwerp, was the great organ, renowned throughout the Netherlands, not more for its dimensions than its perfect workmanship. With their ladders the rioters scaled the lofty fabric, and with their iniuk'nients soon converted it, like all else they laid their hands on, into a heap of rubbish. "The ruin was now universal. Nothing beautiful, nothing holy, was spared. The altars — and there were no less than seventy in the vast edi- fice— were overthrown one after another ; their richly-embroidered coverings rudely rent away ; their gold and silver vessels appropriated by the plunder- ers. The sacramental bread was trodden under foot ; the wine was quaffed by the miscreants, in golden chalices, to the health of one another, or of the Gueux ; and the holy oil was profanely used to anoint their shoes and san- dals. The sculptured tracery on the walls, the costly oiferings that enriched the shrines, the screens of gilded bronze, the delicately carved wood-work of the pulpit, the marble and alabaster ornaments, all went down under the fierce blows of the Iconoclasts. The pavement was strewed with the ruined splendors of a church, which in size and magnificence was perhaps second only to St. Peter's among the churches of Christendom. " As the light of day faded, the assailants supplied its place with such light as they could obtain from the candles which they snatched from the altars. It was midnight before the work of destruction was completed. Thus toiling in darkness, feebly dispelled by tapers, the rays of which could scarcely penetrate the vaulted distances of the cathedral, it is a curious circumstance — if true — that no one was injured by the heavy masses of tim- ber, stone, and metal that Avere everywhere fixUing around them. The whole number engaged in this work is said not to have exceeded a hundred men, women, and boys — women of the lowest description, dressed in men's attire. "When their task was completed, they sallied forth in a body from the doors of the cathedral, some singing the Psalms of David, others roaring out the fanatical war-cry of 'Vivent les Guetjx !' Flushed with success and joined on the way by stragglers like themselves, they burst open the doors of one church after another ; and by the time morning broke, the principal temples in the city had been dealt with in the same ruthless man- ner as the cathedral , " No attempt all this time was made to stop these proceedings, on the 62 326 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. part of mao-istrates or citizens. As they behold from their windows th« bodies of armed men hurrying to and fro by the gleam of their torches, and listened to the sounds of violence in the distance, they seem to have been struck with a panic. The Catholics remained within doors, fearing a general rising of the Protestants. The Protestants feared to move abroad, lest they should be confounded with the rioters. Some imagined their own turn might come next, and appeared in arms at the entrance of their houses, prepared to defend them against the enemy. " When gorged with the plunder of the city, the insurgents poured out at the gates, and fell with the same violence on the churches, convents, and other religious edifices in the suburbs. For three days these dismal scenes continued, without resistance on the part of the inhabitants. Amidst the ruin in the cathedral, the mob had alone spared the ro3'al arms and the escutcheons of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, emblazoned on the walls. Calling this to mind, they now returned into the city to complete the work, But some of the knights, who were at Antwerp, collected a handful of their followers, and, with a few of the citizens, forced their way into the cathe- dral, arrested ten or twelve of the rioters, and easily dispersed the remainder ; while a gallows erected on an eminence admonished the oflenders of the fate that awaited them. The facility with which the disorders were repressed by a few resolute men naturally suggests the inference, that many of the citizens had too much sympathy with the authors of the outrages to care to check them, still less to bring the culprits to punishment. An orthodox chronicler of the time vents his indignation against a people who were so much more ready to stand by their hearths than by their altars. " The fate of Antwerp had its effect on the country. The tiames of fanaticism, burning fiercer than ever, quickly spread over the northern, as they had done over the western provinces. In Holland, Utrecht, Friesland, — everywhere, in short, with a few exceptions on the southern borders, — mobs rose against the churches. In some places, as Rotterdam, Dort, Haar- lem, the magistrates were wary enough to avert the storm by delivering up the images, or at least by removing them from the buildings. It was rare that any attempt was made at resistance. Yet on one or two occasions this so far succeeded that a handful of troops sufficed to rout the Iconoclasts. At Auchyn, four hundred of the rabble were left dead on the field. But the soldiers had no relish for their duty, and on other occasions, when called on to perform it, refused to bear arms against their countrymen. The leaven of heresy was too widely spread among the people. " Thus the work of plunder and devastation went on vigorously through- out the land. Cathedral pa\(\ chapel, monastery and nunnery, religious houses of every description, even hospitals, were delivered up to the tender mercies of the reformers. The monks fled, leaving liehind tiiem treasures FOUR HUNDRED CHURCHES SACKED. 327 of manuscripts and well-stored cellars, which latter the invi lers sood emptied of their contents, while they consigned the former to the flames. The terrified nuns, escaping half naked, at dead of night, from their con- vents, were too happy to find a retreat among their friends and kinsmen in the city. Neither monk nor nun ventured to go abroad in the conventual garb. Priests might sometimes be seen hurrying away with some relic or sacred treasure under their robes, which they were eager to save from the spoilers. In the general sack not even the abode of the dead was respected ; and the sepulchres of the counts of Flanders were violated, and laid open to the public gaze. " The deeds of violence perpetrated by the Iconoclasts were accompanied by such indignities as might exjiress their contempt for the ancient faith. They snatched the wafer, says an eye-witness, from the altar, and put it into the mouth of a parrot. Some huddled the images of the saints to- gether, and set them on fire, or covered them with bits of armor, and, shouting ' Vivent les Qaeux,'' tilted rudely against them. Some put on the vestments stolen from the churches, and ran about the streets witli tiiem in mockery. Some basted the books with butter, that they might burn the more briskly. By the scholar, this last enormity will not be held light among their transgressions. It answered their purpose, to judge by the number of volumes that were consumed. Among the rest, the great library of Vicogne, one of the noblest collections in the Netherlands, perished in the flames kindled by these fanatics. "The amount of injury inflicted during this dismal period it is not possible to estimate. Four hundred churches were sacked by the insurgents in Flanders alone. The damage to the Cathedral of Antwerp, including its precious contents, was said to amount to not less than four hundi-ed thou- sand ducats. The loss occasioned by the plunder of gold and silver plate might be computed. The structures so cruellj^ defaced might be repaired by the skill of the architect. But who can estimate the irreparable loss occasioned by the destruction of manuscripts, statuary', and paintings? It is a melancholy fact, that the earliest efforts of the reformers were ever}'- where directed against those monuments of genius, which had been created and cherished by the generous patronage of Catholicism. But if the first step of the Reformation was on the ruins of art, it can not be denied that a compensation has been found in the good which it has done by bi'eaking the fetters of the intellect, and opening a free range in those domains of science to which all access had been hitherto denied (!). " The wide extent of the devastation was not more remarkable than the time in which it was accomplished. The whole work occupied less than a fortnight. It seemed as if the destroying angel had passed over the land, tnd at a blow had consigned its noblest edifices to ruin ! The method and 328 REFORMATION m THE NETHERLANDS. discipline, if I may so say, in the movements of the Iconoclasts, were as extraordinary as their celerity. Thej^ would seem to have been directed by some other hands than those which meet the eye. The quantity of gold and silver plate purloined from the churches and convents was immense Though doubtless sometimes appropriated by individuals, it seems not unfrequently to have been gathered in a heap, and delivered to the minister, who, either of himself, or by direction of the consistory, caused it to be melted down, and distributed among the most needy of the sectaries. We may sympathize with the indignation of a Catholic writer of the time, who exclaims, that in this way the poor churchmen were made to pay for the scourges with which they had been beaten." This account of the sacrilegious enormities perpetrated by the first champions of the Reformation in the Netherlands is 80 very graphic and complete, that we could not consent to its abridgment. The immediate and natural result of all this eacrilegious violence was, to alienate the Catholic nobles from the Confederation, to cool down the zeal of William of Orange himself, as well as that of his associate Protestant princes, and to produce a general reaction in favor of the regent, and even of Philip, whose tardy concessions had been thus cruelly requited. While horrible sacrilege was thus running riot throughout the Netherlands under the mask of religion, and while all social and civil order was thus openly threatened with destruction by an anarchy growing out of the fiercest religious fanaticism, it was obviously no suitable time to dis- cuss the nice questions of civil and religious rights. The nobles, both Catholic and Protestant, rallied at once to the standard of the regent ; and not only were the religious tu- mults stopped, and the leading rioters arrested and punished, but a formidable insurrection which soon afterwards broke out was successfully quelled. The arm of the executive was thus strengthened by the fanatical excesses committed under the alleged auspices of Margaret's opponents ; the edicts were renewed ; and the favorable solution of the great political difficulty in the Neth erlands seemed now further ofi' than ever. People could no\% see, at a glance, wl at was the real aim of the new gospelere THE SEQUEL ALVA. 329 and what was the real meaning they attached to the magic cry — "VivENT LEs GuEux!" — and to that religious freedom concerning which they declaimed with so much impassioned eloquence. The "beggars" wished to ruin every thing that had been previously held dear, both in Church and State ; and the religious freedom so loudly claimed consisted, in reality, in the liberty to insult the religion, demolish the churches, and trample down the sacred rights of better men than them- selves ! It was precisely the same species of liberty, which John Knox claimed in Scotland, and the Huguenots in France. On the stern mind of Philip the intelligence of these hor- rible excesses produced an impression, which may be readily imagined. He had tried — tardily indeed, and insincerely if you will — the way of concession, and he now saw to what concessions were likely to lead. He did not work himself into a passion — he never did* — but he quietly, yet sternly resolved to act. His whole action may be stated in one short but terrible word — Alva! Margaret of Parma was super- seded in the regency, and Alva appointed, with a strong vet- eran force to sustain him in the government. And if any thing can excuse or palliate the horrible atrocities committed by this man, it would be the still more horrible atrocities which had been previously perpetrated by those whom he came to put down and to punish with the strong arm. And it is this view of the case — as one of retributive justice — which Philip no doubt took, when he replied to the expostulations of the emperor Maximilian in the decided language which we have already quoted. But there was one atrocity committed by Alva, and fully sanctioned, if not expressly commanded by Philip, which no consideration can ever excuse or even palliate in the slightest * Prescott is inclined to discredit the statement, that when the news reached him, he exclaimed : " It shall cost them dear ; by the soul of my fe,ther I swear it, it shall cost them dear ! " — Ibid., vol. ii, p. 80. VOL. IL — 28 330 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. degree; and which, at the same time, goes further, perhaps, towards explaining the real nature and the true motives of Philip's stern policy, than any thing else in the entire history of this memorable struggle in the Netherlands. We refer to the judicial murder of the brilliant, the noble, the chivalric Catholic Count Egmont, and of the two noble Catholic broth- ers of the honored family of Montmorency, Counts Hoorne and Montigny. The two former, the very first Catholic nobles of the Netherlands, were executed at Brussels under Alva ; while Montigny, who had been sent by Margaret on an important embassy to Spain, was there detained for sev- eral years by Philip, and was finally secretly executed by or- der of the implacable monarch, on his hearing of the outbreak of the religious fanatics.* It is a remarkable fact, that the only nobles of the Nether- lands who were executed at this time of fearful reaction in popular feeling, and of still more fearful retribution on the part of the government, should have been zealous and devoted Catholics. William of Orange and his brother Louis would probably have shared the same fate, had they coveted the crown of political martyrdom. But William wisely judged, that vulgar discretion was far better, at least safer, than heroic but unprofitable valor. Accordingly, the " Silent One," to- gether with his brother, fled at the first apprehension of dan- ger, thus leaving his noble Catholic associates to bear the brunt of the king's indignation and that of his lieutenant who was approaching. Tliis was prudent, it was certainly not very generous or even creditable conduct. The modern Protestant historian of Germany — Wolfgang Menzel — tells us the incident of the flight of Orange in the following words : " He vainly warned his friends of the danger they incurred. The Counts Egmont and Iloorne remained incredulous, and WiUiam, unable to persuade the States to make a resolute opposition, before the mask was openly dropped * A full and highly interesting account of these executions is furnished by Prescott, who throws a new and somewhat romantic light over the hith erto mysterious fate of Montigny. Vol. ii. THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 331 by the king, resolved to secure his safety by flight. On taking leave of Eg- mont he said, 'I fear you will be the first over whose corpse the Spaniards will march !' Some of the nobles mockingly calling after him, as he turned away, 'Adieu, Prince Lackland!' — he rejoined, 'Adieu, headless Sirs!'"* These facts clearly establish two things : First, that the Catholics of the Netherlands were fully as much opposed to the encroachments of Philip on Flemish rights and franchises as were the Protestants, and that, in the first stage of the struggle at least, the Catholic nobility and influential men suffered fully as much for the cause of national liberty, if not even much more, than their brethren who favored the new gospel ; and second, that the contest was regarded by Philip in a political, fully as much at least as in a religious light. He could never pardon Egmont and Hoorne the crime of hav- ing contended so stoutly for the ancient Catholic liberties of the Netherlands, against his attempt to destroy them. Hence their tragical death, as traitors to the country — that is, to him- self. Neither our limits nor our purpose in this chapter permit or demand, that we should enter into lengthy details in re- gard to the great subsequent struggle for independence in the Netherlands. This struggle began in earnest soon after the bloody career of Alva, and it continued, with occasional inter- ruptions, for about forty years. We can merely glance at some of the principal events in the contest, and we will then close with some general remarks on its religious aspect and bearing.f 1. As we have elsewhere stated, Elizabeth of England, in time of profound peace with Philip H., seized on the Spanish ships which were bearing treasure and supplies to Alva in the Netherlands. This was of a piece with her usual tortuous * History of Germany, ii, 291. Bohn's Edition, sup. cit. f So far as the Netherlands are concerned, Prescott's history terminates with Alva's administration. This is deeply to be regretted, as the world would have been much interested in an account, from his graphic pen, of one among the most important struggles for independence in the annals of history 332 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. aud dishonest policy ; and as the end cannot justify the means, it was really but little better than higliway robbery, or rather piracy. Its immediate result was not merely eni' barrassing to Alva, but highlj injurious and oppressive to the Flemings themselves. The troops naturally murmured at not receiving their pay, and Alva felt constrained to quarter them on the people, who were thus compelled not only to bear the burden of supporting the Spanish soldiers, but also to endure their rudeness and insults. General popular dis- content necessarily ensued ; which was still further aggrava- ted by the arbitrary imposition of new taxes by Alva, without obtaining the previous consent of the States General. A sullen humor seized upon all classes. Catholic no less than Protest- ant ; the shops were closed in the principal cities and towns ; and the Netherlands were shrouded in the darkness, and hushed in the silence of the t-^mb! It was an ominous calm, preceding a dreadful storm. Meantime privateers, fitted out by tiie Flemish malcontents, cr-Tissd in the British channel against Spanish ships, armed with commissions from the prince of Orange. The count La Marque directed their operations from his headquarters at Dover in England, though Elizabeth was still a friend of Fi-lip ! She subsequently, however, " on the remonstrance of Philip, or in connivance with La Marque, ordered this oflBcer to quit her dominions."* In 1572, the privateers made a descent on the Belgian Island of Hom, and surprised the fortress of Brille ; on the battlements of which the standard of Flemish independence was unfurled. The inhabitants of Flushing shortly afterwards expelled the Spanish garrison, and sought and obtained aid from the French Huguenots and from the English government. The former sent them a large body of troops, the latter ten thousand pounds in money ; which seasonable succor was soon followed by a large body of English volunteers, with a goodly supply of ammunition Lingard History of England, vol. viii, p. 107. — He quotes Murdin, 210 NETHERLANDS AN EUROPEAN BATTLE GROUND. 333 and cannon. Many of the neighboring towns, under this en- couragement, soon threw oli' the Spanish yoke ; and the war of independence was now fairly begun.* 2. Alva was recalled in 1573, and he was succeeded by Requesens, Commendator of Castile, and a veteran diplomat ist. The new governor, after having first checked the insur gents, entered upon a new line of policy, widely different from that which had been pursued by his cruel predecessor. He sought to conciliate the malcontents, and he secured the kindly offices of Elizabeth to accomplish this purpose. But it was too late. The war had commenced, and Orange would heed neither the advice nor the remonstrances — real or feigned — of the English queen ; so long at least as the civil war con- tinued to rage in France, and he could nourish a reasonable hope of obtaining succor from the French Huguenots. After his hope of aid from this quarter had become faint from the untoward course of events in France, he sought to conciliate Elizabeth, and even promised to confer upon her the protec- torship of Holland and Zealand ; an offer which, after suitable deliberation, she deemed it impolitic to accept. On the other hand, in a communication to the Dutch deputies, she promised them her good ofiices, to reconcile them with their offended sovereign. f 3. Requesens died in 1576, and he was succeeded, in the following year, by the brilliant Don John of Austria, the hero of Lepanto, and natural son of Philip's father. In the interval between the death of Requesens and the arrival of Don John, great events occurred in the Netherlands. The badly paid and discontented Spanish army broke through all bounds of discipline, and sacked Antwerp. Whereupon all classes of the outraged people determined to adopt at once effectual measures to provide for their own safety. Catholics and Protestants combined as one man in the common cause. * Lingard, Ibid., vol. viii, p. 107. f Camden, Murdin, and Lodge, apud Lingard, viii, 110. 334 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. "Representatives from the clergy, nobility, cities, and districts of all the Catholic provinces, but Luxemburg, met the depu ties of the two Protestant states of Holland and Zealand ; and a confederacy, called the Pacification of Ghent, was formed, by which, without renouncing their allegiance to Philip, they bound themselves to expel all foreign soldiers, to preserve the public peace, to aid each other against every opponent, and to restore to its pristine vigor the constitution enjoyed by their fathers."* Don John, with the full approbation of Philip, subsequently ratified the Pacification, and dismissed the Spanish soldiery. But the prince of Orange was not satisfied with this ratifica- tion, which was known by the name of " the Perpetual Edict:" it clashed with the dream of ambition which " the Silent One" had long indulged, of being called to rule as sovereign over an independent people. In consequence of this and of other symptoms of disaflfection, the governor recalled his troops, and the war recommenced. 4. The contest now increased in dimensions and swelled in importance, and the soil of the Netherlands became, what it has frequently been since, the battle-ground of Europe. Hitherto the struggle had been mainly political, and Catho- lics and Protestants had cheerfully united in the cause of national freedom against Spanish oppression. The Catholics were still vastly in the majority ; and, as we have seen, fif- teen Catholic and only two Protestant provinces were repre- sented at the meeting which ratified the Pacification of Ghent. Now the lines between the two religious denominations were to be drawn, and Catholicity and Protestantism were to strug- gle for the mastery. Elizabeth, though she still wore the mask of friendship to Spain, secretly promised a large loan and an army of six thousand troops to the insurgents. The duke of Anjou, though a Catholic, brought to the aid of the States an * Camden, Murdin, and Lodge, apud Lingard, Ibid., vol. viii, p. 110. Du Mont, V, 279. ALEXANDER FARNESE. 335 urmy of ten thousand men, under the promise that, if success- ful, he would be permitted to carve out for himself an inde- pendent state in French Flanders. He, however, failed to accomplish any thing, and his army was soon disbanded. But the most formidable auxiliary of the prince of Orange was Casimir, brother of the elector Palatine. He crossed the Rhine with twelve thousand German troops, mostly Luther- ans, who marched, like an army of Huns, over the Catholic provinces, striking terror into the hearts of the inhabitants, filling the country with desolation and carnage, and leaving burning churches, ruined altars, and wailing widows and orphans in the track of their barbarous invasion.* The native Protestants united heartily with this ruthless foreign soldiery in discharging what their ministers had taught them was their sacred duty — putting down "•popish" idolatry, and thereby securing to themselves the precious boon of religious liberty ! By the side of the barbarities committed against the Catholics at this time and during subsequent periods of the great strug- gle, those of Alva himself, which were committed with rare impartiality upon Catholics and Protestants alike, are almost forgotten, or they are at least fairly counterpoised. This we hope to establish by incontestable evidence, a little further on. 5. John of Austria died in 1578, and he was succeeded by the great Alexander Farnese, son of Margaret of Parma, the first regent of the Netherlands under Philip. He was as able in the cabinet as he was brilliant in the field. He adroitly availed himself of the loud complaints of the outraged Catho- lic provinces, and solemnly renewed the Perpetual Edict approving the Pacification of Ghent, in May, 1579. This, it will be remembered, secured to them full religious liberty, together with the preservation of the ancient constitution of the States ; while the foreign troops were to be replaced by a native army. The Walloon or French provinces gladly * These ruthless soldiers were in the pay of England, and this was th« manner in which Elizabeth served her good brother of Spain ! See Lingard, Ibid., viii, p. 113. 336 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. accepted the boon, and became thenceforth firmly attached to Spain. Meantime William of Orange now detached the north- ern from the southern provinces, through a meeting of the States convened at Utretcht.* 6. The war still went on with but slight interruption. In 1580, under the able leadership of Farnese, the fortune? of Philip were once more in the ascendant, and the latter pub lished his famous ban against William of Orange, denouncing him as a traitor, and oflering a large reward for his head, or for the possession of his person. Orange replied by openly re- nouncing his allegiance, and inducing the Northern States to issue a formal declaration of independence. Four years later he was assassinated at Delft by Girard, a Burgundian adventurer, who was impelled to the atrocious deed by the hope of the promised reward, as well as by a certain fanati- cism of royalty, which caused him, even amidst the most excruciating tortures of the rack, to glory in having thus sum- marily executed one whom he deemed a traitor. f 7. We will here pause in our rapid narrative, in order to make good our assertion that the atrocities committed against the Catholics daring this memorable contest fully equaled, if they did not greatly overbalance the cruelties of Alva per- petrated, as we have already shown, upon Catholics as well as Protestants. We will for this purpose allege in evidence the testimony of two Protestant historians, the one German, the other American ; both of whom are bitterly opposed to the Catholic Church, and take little pains to conceal their prejudice. We refer to Menzel and Motley. J Their testi- * Du Mont, p. 322, 350. Lingard, ibid., p. 114-5. f Philip seems to have shed some tears over the man who had sacrificed his life in his service. Lingard, ibid., p. 125. I In his late work, " The Rise of the Dutch Republic." As an histonan, though not wantmg in industry and research, Motley is immeasurably behind Prescott. He is a partisan of the most decided character. He writes, it would seem, more to sustain a favorite thesis than to vindicate the "iober truth of history. His readers have very little opportunity to see the DUTCH CATHOLICS EXTERMINATED. 337 monj will scarcely be impeached; the less so, as it appears to be given only incidentally, and with apparent reluctance. "We begin with the German historian. Speaking of the rise of the Dutch Republic, after the relief of Leyden in 1575, Menzel says: " Holland was henceforth free. William was elected stadtholder by the people, but still in the name of their obnoxious monarch ; and the Calvin- istic tenets and form of worship were re-established, to the exclusion of those of the Gatholica and Lutlmrans. As early as 1574, the reformed preachers had, in the midst of dangei', opened their first church assembly at Dordrecht. The cruelties practiced by the Catholics were equaled hij those inflicted on the opposing party hy the reformers. William of Orange endeavored to repress these excesses, threw William Van der Mark, his lawless rival, into prison, where he shortly afterwards died, it is said, by poison,* and occupied the wild soldiery, during the short peace that ensued, in the re-erection of the dikes torn down in defense of Leyden. The most horrid atrocities were, nevertheless, perpetrated by Sonoi, hy 7vhom the few Catholics remaining in Holland were exterminated,^ A. D. 1577. A violent commotion also took place in Utrecht, but ceased on the death of the last of her archbishops, Frederick Schenck (cup-hearer) Van Tautemburg, A. D. 1580."|: After mentioning the defeat of the Dutch army under Mathias and Orange at Gemblours in 1578, by the bravery and skill of Alexander Farnese, Menzel adds : other side, though every one knows that most historical questions have two aspects, which the professed historian should give, or at least refer to. With Prescott prejudice is the exception; with Motley it is the rule. The works of the latter may have an ephemeral reputation ; those of the former are probably destined to immortality in our literature. * Who had him poisoned ? Was it owing to his cruelties against the Catholics, or to the fact of his being William's "rival," that he was im- prisoned and poisoned ? We strongly suspect that the latter was the real motive. f The infiimous Sonoi or Sonoy was a far more cruel and a much worse man than Alva; the atrocities of the Spaniard pale before those of the Dutchman. The number of Catholics "exterminated" in Holland by Sonoi was not small, but immense, for the Protestants had opened their "first church assembly" but three years before; unless, indeed. Van der Mark, the predecessor of Sonoi, had already well-nigh completed the cruel butchery, leaving only a gleaning of the bloody harvest to his successor. X History of Germany, sup. cit., vol. ii, p. 296 VOL. II. — 29 338 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. " Tnis misfortune again bred dissension and disunion among the Dutch j Mathias lost courage, and endeavored by his promises to induce the Catho lies to abandon the Spaniards, whilst the citizens of Ghent, with increased insolence, again attacJceJ monasteries and churches, committed crucifixes and pictures of the saints to the flames, and burnt six Minorites (Catholic friars) accused of favoring the enemy alive." Again : " The return of the Catholic priests to Ghent was a signal for a fresh popular outbreak, and the treaty so lately concluded was infringed."* Vain were all the efforts of William of Orange to tame the ferocity of the Protestants at Ghent, Bruges, and other cities of the southern provinces ; they claimed it as their in- defeasible right, and as one of the essential elements of religious liberty according to the new gospel light, to murder Catholic priests on sight, to destroy churches and monas- teries, and forcibly to put down Catholic worship. Of course, this persistent cruelty and persecution compelled the Catholics to throw themselves, against their inclination, under the pro- tection of Farnese, Philip's governor, under whose govern- ment they could hope to enjoy the boon of life and of religious freedom. But for this ferocious bigotry of the Protestant faction, William might, in all probability, have accomplished his darling object of seeing all the thrifty- provinces of the Netherlands again united in stern opposition to Spanish despotism. To show the spirit which animated the Dutch during the struggle, we may remark, on Menzel's authority, that Wil- liam's sailors — or, as they were called, Water Geuses or Gueux-\ — wore on their broad-brimmed hats "a half moon with the inscription: ' Liever Turcx dan Pausch' — Better Turkish than Popish! "J The Lutheran Protestants of Germany were not, it would * History of Germany, sup. cit., vol. ii, p. 299. f " Water-Beggars " — corresponding with the Gueux on land ; the Dutch ■eemed specially fond of the name. I Ibid.j p 296. — The acts of these men and of those whom they served were often accordingly more Turkish than Christian. THE CATHOLIC RELIGION SUPPRESSED. 339 seem, very enthuBiastic in their sympathy with their Calvin- istic brethren in Holland. Says Menzel: " The rest of Germany beheld the great struggle in the Netherlands with almost supine indifference. The destruction of the Calvinistic Dutch was not unwillingly beheld by the Lutherans. The demand for assistance addressed (A. D. 1570) by the Dutch to the diet at Worms received for reply, that Spain justly punished them as rebels against the principle, cujus REGio, EJUS RELiGio — ' The religion belongs to him who owns the territory.' "* What kind of religious liberty the reformers of the Neth- erlands really sought after, is apparent from the entire reli- gioso-political struggle which resulted in the establishment of the Dutch republic. Whenever and wherever the new gos- pelers were able to gain the ascendency, even partially and for a time only, they invariably established Calvinism as the law of the land, and suppressed, first by violence, and then by legislation, the ancient worship. Thus, according to Motley, in April, 1575, even before the declaration of independence, "certain articles of union be- tween Holland and Zealand were proposed, and six commis- sioners appointed to draw up an ordinance for the govern- ment of the two provinces. This ordinance was accepted in general assembly of both. It was in twenty articles." The prince of Orange was invited to assume the government in the king's name, as count of Holland, and he was invested by the Estates with ample powers for this purpose. Among the twenty articles of the confederated provinces one provided that "he was to protect the exercise of the Evangelical Re- formed religion, and to suppress the exercise of the Roman Religion^ without permitting, however, that search should be made into the creed of any person."f With the exercise of the "Roman Religion" suppressed by law, the last clause was evidently of no benefit whatever to Catholics, and it was at * History of Germany, sup. cit., vol. ii, p. 308. f Motley, Rise of the Dut/;h Republic, in three volume.^, 8vo, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1859. Vol. iii, p. 19-20. 340 RErORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. best a mere idle form, strongly tinctured with hypocrisy. So also was the amended clause, cunningly introduced by Or- ange on accepting the office of governor, in which he sub- stituted for the "Roman Religion" "the Religion at variance with the gospel ;" which practically meant the same thing, and was so understood.* Thus again, he tells us, that in 1581 "Edicts were pub- lished in Antwerp, in Utrecht, and in different cities of Hol- land, suspending the exercise of the Roman worship. . . . They were excited to these stringent measures by the noisy zeal of certain Dominican monks in Brussels, whose extra- vagant discourses were daily inflaming the passions of the Catholics to a dangerous degree. The authorities of the city accordingly thought it necessary to suspend, by proclamation, the public exercise of the ancient religion, assigning as their principal reason for this prohibition, the shocking jug- glery (!) by which simple-minded people were constantly deceived.'"! It is rare, indeed, that persecutors do not find some motive for their atrocious proceedings. In the present case, gross insult and glaring calumny were wantonly superadded to the violation of the most sacred rights, which the Catholics had inherited unchallenged from their forefathers for nearly a thousand years. The pretext that the "prince of Orange lamented the intolerant spirit thus showing itself,"J is all a mere sham. If his lamentation was sincere, why did he not use his all powerful influence with his co-religionists to pre- vent these systematic outbreaks of intolerant fanaticism? Why did he confine his pretended opposition to mere idle words, which savored more strongly of hypocritical cant than of honest intent ? We are in the habit of judging of men more by their acts than by their loords. Estimated by this unerring standard, we fear that the prince of Orange will not appear to have been so much the * Motley, Ibid., iii, p. 20. f Ibid, p. 503-4. % Ibid. THE BUTCHER BONOY. 341 immaculate hero and noble champion of civil and religious liberty, as Motley delights to paint him. His ' Rise of the Dutch Republic" Ib, in fact, little more than an expanded biography and an elaborate eulogy of Orange ; though he Bays, " this history is not the eulogy of Orange, although in describing his character it is difficult to avoid the monotony of panegyric."* Where he can not praise his hero without qualification, he takes special pains to excuse his conduct or his motives, even v^hen the former is disgraceful and the lat- ter are transparent. Thus, he excuses, as a pardonable strata- gem of war, the conduct of this prince in suborning John de Castillo, private secretary of Philip II., to send him copies of the most secret letters of the Spanish monarch If Thus again, he openly defends the atrocious conduct of Orange in marry- ing Charlotte of Bourbon, an ex-nun and ex-abbess of Jouarrs, while his lawful wife, Anne of Saxony, was still living ! J Orange was, in many respects, a great man, and he has in the main our sympathies in his protracted struggle for the independence of his country of Spanish domination. But that he was a man of tortuous policy, and of little moral or religious principle, we believe can be established by the acts of his life. As to his religion, it was moulded to the political exigencies of his situation. If he finally became a zealous Calvinist, it seems to have been, because the Dutch had embraced that particular form of the new gospel, and he could not hope to rule them without professing their religious opinions, which brooked no dissent. Bentivoglio paints his religious character in very few but graphic words : " He ap- * Motley, Ibid., p. 623. f Ibid. I Ibid., p. 21, seqq. The unfortmate Anne of Saxony was imprisoned for two years in the electoral palace of Saxony, " in a chamber where tho windows were walled up and a small grating let into the upper part of the door. Through this wicket came her food, as well as the words of the holy man appointed to preach daily for her edification." — (Ibid.) This "holy man " was a good Protestant minister ! No wonder she died a raving man- iac, two years after Orange had repudiated her ! 63 342 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. peai'8 to cliange his religion according to the fluctuations oi interest. From a child he was a Lutheran in Germany. Having passed into Flanders he exhibited himself as a Cath- olic. At the beginning of the insurrection he declared him- self a favorer of the new sects, without becoming an open professor of any; until at length he thought it best to follow that of the Calvinists, as being the one most opposed to the Catholic religion sustained by the king of Spain."* Motley furnishes us an account of some of the barbar- ous atrocities, perpetrated in 1575, against the Catholics of North Holland by the Protestant governor, Diedrich Sonoy.f But, as usual, he seeks to exonerate the prince of Orange, who, he says condemned these cruelties, and could not be "omnipresent." But when some of the remaining victims of Sonoy's barbarity were released by the Pacification of Ghent, and thereupon instituted legal proceedings against the monster, why did they fail to secure justice? Let our American historian give us the reason of this strange denial of justice. " The process languished, however, and was finally abandoned, for the powerful governor had rendered such eminent services in the cause of liberty, that it was thought unwise to push him to extremity."^ We will furnish an extract showing in what these unpunished cruelties consisted: "Sonoy, to his eternal shame, was disposed to prove that liuman ingenuity to infiict torture liad not been exhausted in the chainhers of the blood coun- cil (of Alva), for it was to be shown that reformers were capable of giving a lesson even to inquisitors in this diabolical science. Kopp, a man advanced in years, was tortured during a whole day. On the following morning he was again brou.iili', to the rack, but the old man was too weak to endure all the agonies whicli his tormentors had provided for hiili. Hardly had he been placed upon the bed of torture than he calmly ex()ired, to the great * Guerra di Fiandra, p. 11, 1. ii, 276, quoted by Motley, iii, 624, note. He endeavors to show that the prince's changes of religion were not prompted by interest, but liis reasoning will convince no one who is not predeter- mined to regard Grange as a hero and a saint. + Motley, Ibid, iii, 28, seqq. \ Ibid., p. 32. UNHEARD OF BARBARITIES. 343 indignation of the tribunal. ' The devil has broken his neck and carried him off to hell,' cried they ferociously. 'Nevertheless that shall not prevent him from being hung and quartered.' This decree of impotent vengeance was accordingly executed. The son of Kopp, however, Nanning Koppezoon, was a man in the fall vigor of his j ears. He bore with perfect fortitude a series of incredible tortures, after which, with his body singed from head to heel, and his feet almost entirely flayed, he was left for six weeks to crawl about his dungeon on his knees. He was then brought back to the torture- room, and again stretched upon the rack, while a large earthen vessel, made for the purpose, was placed upon his naked body. A number of rats* were introduced under this cover, and hot coals were heaped upon the vessel, till the rats, rendered furious by the heat, gnawed into the very bowels of the victim, in their agony to escape. The holes thus torn in his bleeding flesh were filled with red-hot coals. He was afterwards subjected to other tortures too foul to relate ; nor was it till he had endured all this agony, with a fortitude which seemed supernatural, that he was at last discovered to be human. Scorched, bitten, dislocated in every joint, sleepless, starving, perishing with thirst, he was at last crushed into a false confession by a promise of absolute forgiveness. He admitted every thing brought to his charge, confessing a catalogue of contemplated burnings and beacon-firings of which he had never dreamed, and avowing himself in league with other desperate Papists still more dangerous than himself. " Notwithstanding the promises of pardon, Nanning was then condemned to death. The sentence ordained that his heart should be torn from his living bosom and thrown in his face, after which his head was to be taken off" and exposed on the church steeple of his native village. His body was then to be cut in four, and a quarter fastened upon difierent towers of the city of Alkmaar ; for it was that city, recently so flimous for its heroic resist- ance to the Spanish army, which was now sullied by all this cold-blooded atrocitj\ When led to execution, the victim recanted indignantly the con- fession forced from him by weakness of body, and exonerated the persons whom he had falsely accused. A certain clergyman (Calvinist) named Jurian Epeszoon, endeavored by loud praying to drown his voice, that the people might not rise with indignation ; and the dying prisoner with his last breath solemnly summoned this unworthy pastor of Christ to meet him within three days before the judgment-seat of God. It is a remarkable and authentic fact, that the clergyman thus summoned went hoine pensively from the place of execution, sickened immediately, and died upon the ap- pointed day."f * "The rats were sent by th3 governor himself" — Motley, Ibid, p. 30 note t Ibid, iii, 30-1. 344 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. Such were the cruelties perpetrated in the name of rehgion and liberty, by a monster whom Orange screened from punish ment. Another one of his captains, the chief of the Sea- Beggars or Gueux de Mer, William Yan der March,* if not more cruel than Sonoy, made even more victims. It is esti- mated that in a single year, 1572, this inhuman monster *' killed with unheard of tortures more peaceable citizens and Catholic priests, than the duke of Alva had executed of rebels in the whole course of his administration."f He was towards the Catholics of Holland what the ferocious French Huguenot chieftain, D'Adrets, was towards the unfortunate Catholics of France, who fell into his hands during the civil wars of that kingdom. Another Protestant historian, Kerroux, in his abridged His- tory of Holland, takes a very different view from that pre- sented by Motley in regard to the responsibility for these barbarous atrocities. Speaking of the blood council estab- lished by Sonoy, he candidly says : " It is vain to seek for motives to excuse the proceedings of this horrible board of commissioners, which have left an eternal stain on the Dutch name ; and though Sonoy, the principal author of these bloody tragedies, was a stranger, yet the nation which dared not oppose him or punish him for their commission, will never free itself from the reproach of barbarism with which it voluntarily covered itself in the face of all Europe. It is pretended that whatever was then done was only to take away forever from the Catholics all pretext and desire of introducing a change into the govern- ment. It was an atrocious means, which no reason of state could ever jus- tify ; no more than it can excuse the unheard of cruelties perpetrated against people who were entirely innocent of the crimes of which they were accused, * By the French writers his. name is written De la March, or De la Marque. He commanded one among the first, if not the very fii-st fleet of privateers, which sailed under letters of Marque, in modern times. — Is the term derived fr )m his name ? — If so, it had a very ignoble origin. f See Feller's Historical Dictionary, article Ferdinand de Toledo. Van der Marck died afterwards from the bite of a mad dog ; " an end not inap- propriate to a man of so rabid a disposition." — Motley ; ibid., ii, 4 TS, Men- zel, as we have seen above, says that he died, "it is said of poison" in prison At any rate, he died a horrible death. PROSPERITY OF BELGIUM. 345 the frightful details of which we can not read without a shudder of horror, and without feeling emotions of indignation and hatred."* 8. The struggle at length closed in 1609, with a twelve years" amnesty between the parties, which practically resulted in a permanent peace ; thus securing the independence of the United Provinces. So far as religion is concerned, the result was only a very partial triumph for Protestantism, which, after all its boasting and all its violence, did not succeed in finally winning over to the banner of its republic probably more than one-half — if eveh half — of the original provinces of the Netherlands, and not half the population. Even at the present day, considerably more than two-thirds of the population comprised within the original limits of the country still remain Catholic. Nearly half the population of the seven northern provinces themselves, now constituting the kingdom of Holland, is Catholic ; while almost all the inhabitants of the remaining ten original provinces have always remained firm in their adherence to the ancient faith. And now, if we should be asked to point out, on the map of Europe, the most thrifty and flourishing population, we would instantly designate the kingdom of Belgium, and the neighboring Catholic territory which belonged to the original seventeen provinces of the Netherlands. There is more gen- eral thrift, and more widely diflused comfort among all classes of the population, and there is consequently less suffering among the masses ; and we will add, there is much more real popular liberty there, than in any other kingdom in Europe. Catholic Belgium is generally admitted to be now in a far more flourishing condition than its immediate neighbor, Prot- estant Holland. The Belgians still cling tenaciously to the ancient Catholic liberties of the old Netherland Confedera- tion, of which Flanders was the center and very heart; while Holland has, more than once, resigned these liberties in favor of absolute monarchy. * Abrege de 1' Histoire d' HoUande par Kerroux ; a Leyden, 1778, vol. ii, p, 350. Quoted by Feller, loco citato. 846 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. We conclnde the present chapter with the following geI^ eral remurks on the entire struggle and its results, viewed more particularly from the religious stand-point. 1. During the greater and more important portion of the contest for independence, the Catholics cordially united and co-operated with the Protestant party; and the first and noblest victims, and the only victims of the highest rank, inmiolated on the shrine of national freedom, were the very brightest flowers of Catholic nobility and Catholic chivalry. This we have seen. 2. So far as Keligion was concerned, the Catholic party generally stood on the defensive, while the other party as- sumed the aggressive. The Catholics stood uj) for their churches and their altars, which had been in their peaceable possession for nearly a thousand years ; while the new gos- pelers sought to oust them by violence, and to suppress what they slanderously and insolently called idolatry^ by destroy- ing churches and altars, or, by appropriating them to their own use, after having first purified them by pillage and fire. This too we have already sufiiciently shown. 3. The atrocities, taking into account even those of the cruel Alva who raged against Catholics as well as Protestants, were, at the most moderate calculation, very nearly balanced ; or if there was any difference, it was certainly in favor of the Catholic party. This also we think will be freely admitted by all who have read the facts stated— most of them on Prot- estant authority — in the foregoing sketch. 4. The result of the struggle was, that wheresoever the Protestant party gained the power, the Catholics were imme- diately robbed of their churches and church property, and were themselves generally persecuted by the intolerant ma- jority. Those Avho raised such a cry about religious liberty, while they were in the minority, had no sooner gained the ascendency, than they clearly proved hj their «(?^s,what kind of religicds liberty they were aiming to secure. In Holland they estublished Calvinism, as the compulsory religion of the RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AMONG CALVINISTS. 347 government, and they waged a terrible war of persecutioL against all dissenters, not merely Catholic but Protestant also ! All who are even slightly acquainted with the relig- ious history of Holland, since the close of the sixteenth cen- tury, know this to have been the case. All readers of history have learned the stirring incidents in the fearful contest be- tween the Gomarists and the Arminians * and know how very bitterly the former persecuted the latter, because, exer- cising their conceded right of private judgment, these could not see the doctrine of predestination in the same strong Cal- vinistic light as their more clear-sighted Protestant brethren. The Protestant Arminians were put down, and were not only strongly denounced, but condemned to the most severe pun- ishment, by the famous Calvinistic Synod of Dort — or Dor- drecht— held in 1G19. This was a sort of general council of Calvinism, which has never yet been known to tolerate dis- senters from its own rigid creed — whether these were Protest- ants or Catholics — whersoever and whensoever it has had the power to crush out opposition by the strong arm.f This synod was attended by delegates from the Calvinistic churches of Ge- neva, the Palatinate, and Scotland, besides two Anglican bish- ops sent out by James I., " the English Solomon and Defender of the Faith ! "J The assembled ministers condemned the leading Arminians — including such men as Grotius, Vorstius, Hagerbets, and Barneveldt — and not merely their doctrines but their persons. Grotius and Hagerbets were sentenced to im- prisonment for life; and "seven hundred families of Armin- * The latter, named after the distinguished Protestant theologian Armin- ius, were also called the Remonstrants ; while those of the other religious fiction were called anti-Remonstrants. •f This was fully established, on incontestable Protestant evidence, m the Oral Discussion between Hughes and Breckinridge, which see. I Janes took a singular part in the synod. He sided with the Gomar- ists, and even made orthodoxy a test of his political amity with the States ! His two bishops must have been sadly embarrassed in an assembly, which denounced prelacy to the full as strongly as it did Arminianism. 348 REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS. ians were driven into exile and reduced to beggary."* Gro tius luckily escaped ; but not so Barneveldt, one of the princi pal patriots and heroes of the war of independence, and the reputed leader of the Arminians. He was arrested shortly after the council by order of his rival Maurice, prince of Orange, who aspired to the sovereignty of the Netherlands ; and after a secret trial, in which he was no doubt falsely ac- cused of treachery to his country by favoring Spanish domi- nation during the late war, he was beheaded ! Such was religious liberty, as it was understood in that portion of the Netherlands in which Protestantism gained the ascendency If * See Lingard, History of England, ix, 131. f See Bi-andt, (Protestant) History of the Reformation in Holland. He is often quoted by Prescott and Lingard. He gives a detailed account of the terrible persecution of their brother Protestants by the Calvinists of Holland. flISTOIlY OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION. CHAPTER VIII. REFORMATION IN FRANCE — THE HUGUENOTS. The whole history of the French Reformation told in two sentences — Origin of the Huguenots — Calvin the founder and father of French Protestantism — Leopold Kanke's History of the French Civil Wars reviewed in this chapter — Lefevre d'Estaples the first forerunner of Eeformation — A Humanist, like Erasmus — Ranke's portraiture of him — Ranke an intense Protestant — William Briqonnet, bishop of Meaux — The University of the Sorbonne — The delegation for examining matters of faith — Francis I. — His volatile character encourages the Humanists and the reformers — The Anabaptists in Paris — The state policy of Francis tortuous and unprinci- pled— His sister, Queen Margaret of Navarre, an open friend of the new gospelers — Her poetry and writings — The Concordat — And the grievous abuses which grew out of its perversion by the court — Court patronage, the real source of the evil — Ranke's testimony — Remarks on the great question of Investitures — Henry II., Francis II., and Henry III. — The queen regent Catherine de Medicis — Henry of Navarre — Calvin intriguing from Geneva — And Elizabeth from England — The contest fairly begins — Plots, intrigues, and threatened insurrections — Tortuous and unprincipled policy of Catherine — Conspiracy of Amboise — Account of Lingard and Ranke — Calvin's agency examined — Elizabeth at the bottom of it — Throckmorton's interview with Antoine de Bourbon — Ranke's statement examined — Confirmation of Lingard's statement by Morley, in his Life of "Palissy the Potter" — Lingard's authorities — Ranke substantially con- firms Lingard and Morley — The conspiracy defeated by Guise, and the Huguenot leaders executed — Elizabeth's double policy — Singular declara- tion 0? peace! — Warlike attitude of Conde — The more the Huguenots gain, the more they ask — Their liberty secured, but they wish to crush that of others — Who began the war ? — Affair at Vassy — Ranke on the duke of Guise — The civil war breaks out — Elizabeth aids the Huguenots, who deliver up to her Havre and Dieppe — First campaign — Battle of Dreux — The two commanding generals taken prisoners — Guise and Co- ligny — Siege of Orleans — Assassination of the duke of Guise, brought (349) 350 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGUENOTS. about bj'^ Coligny — Sudden pacification — Elizabeth foiled — The pacifica- tion broken by the Huguenftts — Attempt to seize the king at Monceaux— Its failure — The English ambassador implicated — Treaty of Bayonnc a fabrication — Lingard, Hallam, Ranke, and Mackintosh alleged — Second civil war — The third one — Third general pacification — Marriage concluded between the king of Navarre, and the sister of Charles IX. of France — Massacre of St. Bartholomew — Lingard's account — And Ranke's — Dis- patches of the papal nuncio at Paris settle the question of premeditation — Number of victims — Religion had nothing to do with the massacre — The Pope — The Catholic bishops and clergy — Previous atrocities commit- ted by Huguenots — The Muhelade — The ferocious Baron d'Adrets — His barbarities against Catholics — Events succeeding the massacre — The Hu- guenots seize Rochelle — Renewed pacifications — And new civil wars — The Huguenot Confederacy — And the Catholic League — Assassination of Henry III. — And accession of Henry IV. — He becomes a Catholic on the advice of the Huguenots ! — Publishes the Edict of Nantes — Its revocation by Louis XIV. — Motives for the revocation — Did it impair the prosperity of France ? — Number of Huguenot exiles — Testimony of the duke of Burgundy and of Caveirac — Atrocities on both sides — Those of Hugue- nots began at an early period — Dr. Maitland — The Wool-comber Leclerc — Recapitulation — The French Reformation and the French Revolution. The whole history of the Reformation in France may be related in two sentences : The Calvinists sought by intrigue and by force of arms to gain the ascendency and to establish- their new religion on the ruins of the old ; but after a long struggle they signally failed, and France was preserved to the Church. Long and terrible was the contest between the turbulent Protestant minority and the determined Catholic majority, to settle the momentous question which should finally control the destinies of France ; for nearly a hundred years civil war, rendered still fiercer by the infusion of the element of religious zeal and fanaticism, raged with but brief intervals of pacification throughout the country, which it dis- tracted and rendered desolate. Finally, the Catholics, meeting intrigue with intrigue and repelling force by force, remained in the ascendant, and the Protestant party, once so aspiring, dwindled down into an insignificant fraction of the popula- tion. This is the whole story briefly summed up; as we ORIGIN OF THE HUGUENOTS LEFEVRE d'eSTAPLES„ 351 think will be sui£ciently proved by the facts contained in the present chapter. The Calvinists of France were called Huguenots^ probably from the name taken by their brethren in Switzerland and Geneva, when these banded together by oath against the duke of Savoy and the Swiss Catholics, and were thence called Eidgenossen — or bound together by oath — a name which the French changed into Eguenots or Egnots^ and later into Huguenots.* The name itself thus marked the Genevan origin of the sect. Calvin, himself a Frenchman and a ref- ugee in Switzerland, may be justly regarded as the founder and father of the French Huguenots. From his home at Geneva, he sent out his missionaries into France, eagerly watched their progress, encouraged them by frequent letters, directed and controlled their movements ; in a word, his rest- less activity and over-shadowing influence was felt every- where ; and he continued to be the very life and soul of French Calvinism till his death, in May, 15G3. This is freely admitted by Ranke,f who, however, says that Calvin did not encourage violence, but rather recommended prudent and forbearing zeal. This may have been, and probably was the case during the earlier period of the movement, when caution was the best policy, and violence would have wholly defeated the purpose of the shrewd and calculating reform- er ; it certainly was not the policy recommended and adopted after the middle of the sixteenth century, when the new re- ligionists had already become sufficiently powerful to enter the lists with their adversaries, through political intrigues in the ♦See Lingard, History of England, vii, 308, note, and other historians passim. Other origins of the name are given, but this seems the most probable. f Civil Wars and Monarchy in France, in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries ; a History of France chiefly during that period. By fjeopold Ranke, translated by M. A. Garvey. One vol., 12mo, New York, Harper and Brothers, 1853. The title is a misnomer, so fiir as the seventeenth cen- tury is concerned, the present volume embracing only the sixteenth. 3b'2 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGUENOTS. cabinet or open force in the field. This we shall see in the proper place. According to Ranke, Master Jacob Lefevre d'Estaples " may be regarded as the patriarch of the Reformation in France."* He had studied in Italy, and he belonged to the same school as Erasmus, being like him a Humanist. With this literary sect, an elegantly turned Latin or Greek sentence, or a refined classical witticism, was regarded as vastly prefer- able to an orthodox definition or a sober declaration of faith clad in homely language ; and the special objects of theii aversion were the barbarous Latin and the severe dialectic method adopted by the Schoolmen. The recent revival of the ancient Latin and Greek learning in Italy had originated this new school, and given prominence and influence to its leading spirits. The weapon which the Catholic Church had disin- terred from the rubbish of ages, and which she had burnished in her own armory, was thus eagerly seized upon by her ad- versaries, and turned against her own bosom. Even such of the men of the new learning as did not openly abandon her fold and join the ranks of her opponents, often inflicted on her more extensive injury than those who were her declared enemies. By the freedom of their writings, and by their covert or open sneers at her religious observances, couched in epigrammatic periods and elegant language, they paved the way for bolder s'drits who halted not half-way, but openly threw otf her yoke, and set up a new religion for themselves. Such a forerunner of the Reformation was Erasmus, the philosopher of Rotterdam, and such also, we suppose, was Lefevre of France. Neither seems to have formally aban- doned the Church. Says Ranke : " Lefevre wa-s a man of insignificant, almost despicable appearance ; but the extent and solidity of his acquirements, his moral probity, and the mild- ness and gentleness which breathed throughout his whole being, invested him wMh a higher dignity. When he looked around upon the world, it appeared to him, both near and far, to be covered with the deep gloom of supersti- * Ranke, Civil Wars in France, etc., p. 132. BISHOP BRICONNET FRANCIS I. OF FRANCE. 353 tion (!), but that with the study of the original records of the faith, there was associated a hope of reformation, which he told his most trusted pupils they would live to witness. He himself proceeded in his course with a cir- cumspection, amounting almost to hesitancy. He could not wean himself from the practice of kneeling before the figures of the saints, and sought for arguments to defend the doctrine of purgatory : in the province of learning alone had he courage ; there in a critical dispute, he ventured first to re- nounce a tradition of the Latin Church in favor of the opinions of the Greek ; even in the most advanced age which man is permitted to attain, he commenced a translation of the Bible, which forms the basis of the French version of the Scriptures ; when he wrote it, he had already passed his eightieth year."* According to our historian, William Briconnet, bishop of Meaux in France, was an old friend of Lefevre, whom he wil- lingly entertained in his episcopal palace, together with Farel, Houssel, and Aranda, Lefevre's favorite disciples. These men of the new opinions succeeded in stirring up the bishop to disembarrass himself of the regular parish priests and of " the chattering monks," and to engage instead of them their own services in the sacred ministry. This violent displacement of the old and intrusion of the new pastors created, of course, a great commotion among the people, and caused an appeal to be made to the higher ecclesiastical courts. The new opin- ions thus broached at Meaux, together with the new pastoral arrangements growing out of them, were referred to the ad- judication of the celebrated Parisian university of the Sor bonne, which had already condemned the errors of Luther, and had stood forth for more than two centuries as one of the most unflinching champions of Catholic orthodoxy. A spe- cial committee, or delegation for matters of faith, was soon appointed by the Sorbonne, to examine and report on the new opinions. " This delegation continued, with many renewals, for more than half a century, and offered to Protestantism an opposition little less important than * Ranke, Civil Wars, etc. It will be seen that Ranke is a thorough Prot- estant, which renders his testimony to fiicts favorable to the Church the more unexceptionable ; a circumstance we beg the reader to bear in mind, as we shall have fre(iuent occasion to quote him in this chapter. VOL. II. — 30 354 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGUENOTS. that of the Papacy at Rome itself. Their efficiency was owing to the fad that heresy was regarded as a civil crime ; and that the parliament which exercised the criminal jurisdiction, held the judgment of the Sorbonne, in relation to heretics and heretical books, as decisive and final. Lefevre, al- ready suspected on account of the Greekish tendency of his opinions, was now in addition looked upon as a Lutheran. He retired to Meaux, in order to escape being treated as a heretic ; but there his activity and that of his discijiles was not to be endured. The monks, who complained of the bishop, found attention to their complaints in the parliament. The Sorbonne condemned some of the articles, as connected with the innovation which had been adopted there, and demanded their recall. The society of the reform- ers could not long withstand their united power — it was totally broken up and dispersed. The bishop now bethought himself, that it was time for him in some measure to re-establish his reputation as a faithful Catholic, and for the rest he took shelter in his mystic obscurity."* Notwithstanding this temporary check, the time and cir- cumstances were very propitious for the diffusion of the new opinions in France. During thirty-two years in the first half of the sixteenth century — from 1515 to 1547 — the French throne was occupied by the gay and brilliant Francis I. ; a man who blended but little religious or moral principle with that dash of mediaeval chivalry which distinguished his char acter. A zealous patron of learning, he favored the Human- ists, and at first cared but little whether their religious senti- ments were orthodox or not. He "loved neither the parlia- ment nor the Sorbonne, with which he had a fierce dispute on account of his Concordat. The monks, however, he liked least of all, and had long entertained a project of founding a philosophical institution, and placing at its head Erasmus, the most distinguished opponent of their method of thinking and their manner of teaching."! He accordingly took the men of the new opinions under his special protection ; and it * Ranko, Civil Wars, etc., p. 135. The bishop of Meaux, who was a Humanist and a great encourager of learning, was probably surprised into an encouragement of the new religious opinions ; but when he saw their tendency, he retraced his steps, and continued a faithful Catholic prelate to his death. t Ibid. HIS POLICY UNPRINCIPLED. 355 was only after these had grown bold enough to attack the warmly cherished Catholic doctrine of the real presence in holy Eucharist, and to affiliate secretly with the Anabaptists, who had recently sprung up in Paris itself, and who aimed at nothing less than the total subversion of the existing order of things both in Church and "State, that his eyes were at length opened, and he abandoned the new gospelers to the fate which awaited them in accordance with existing laws.* The state policy of Francis I. was tortuous and unprinci- pled. He scrupled not at the employment of almost any means which were deemed most efficacious for securing his ends. lie inaugurated that mischievovs French policy — which has been kept up to a greater or less extent to the present day — of forming alliances with the German Protest- ants, and even with the grand Turk himself, against Catholic sovereigns, whenever it was likely that a temporary advan- tage would be thereby secured. He would probably have had little scruple to enter into a league, offensive and defensive, with the arch-enemy himself, if he had thought it would serve him in his life-long struggle with his great rival, Charles V.! This reckless policy of the French court did more to promote the Reformation in Germany and elsew^here, than almost any other single cause with which we are acquainted. His sister. Queen Margaret of Navarre, was a still more un- disguised friend and patroness of the men of the new doctrines. When these were compelled to abandon Paris and Meaux, she gave them shelter and protection in her own court ; and under her auspices, the new gospel was rapidly propa- gated throughout the territory of Beam. The queen was not only a patroness of the Humanists, but she was herself an authoress. She wrote poems of mystic import, and com- posed a work in prose, published only after her death, which seems to have been much more elegant in diction than chaste in language or sentiment.f Such as she was, her influence * See Ranke, Civil Wars, etc., p. 137-8. + Her poetry was in the style of that of Zinzendorflf and other modem 356 REFORMATION IN FRANCE — THE HUGUENOTS. was thrown entirely into the scale of the Reformation; though it does nut appear that she formally abandoned th« communion of the Church. The abuses, which had unfortunately crept into the church of France at this period, afforded a fertile theme for denunciation to the new gospelers. No 'doubt these abuses are greatly exaggerated by Ranke, and they were still more so by the fiery preachers who clamored for reform. Still they were grievous enough, though the Church and the Papacy were certainly not fairly responsible for them. They grew out of the Concordat, which Francis had wrung from the reluctant Pontiff, and which the court abused for its own vile political purposes. The Sorbonne protested against this treaty with the Pope, and we do not at all wonder at the opposition and indignation which all good Catholics so boldly expressed, on occasion of the enormous abuses which grew out of it, if the following picture of them drawn by Ranke be correct ; as we fear it is — at least substantially : — " The Concordat which placed the presentation of the ecclesiastical bene- fices so entirely in the hands of the king, produced the most ruinous and corrupt effects. The king rewarded with them services rendered in his own house, and in court or in war, and gave them to the younger children of the nobility as means of living ; many persons received them in the name of their children ; an Italian is mentioned who drew from the property of the Church an annual income of ten thousand ducats in the name of his little son, and after his death his right passed to his wife. All, however, did not think it necessary to inscribe in another name the benefices which they re- ceived ; there were soldiers who possessed rich abbacies in their own name, and at the same time were leading their companies of foot. Many, too, who were totally unqualified undertook themselves the administration of the oflBces they had obtained. Men who 5^esterday were engaged in mercantile affairs, or who were courtiers or soldiers, were seen to-day in the episcopal state and ornaments, or officiating as abbots. Personal merit, a good moral reputation, even mere scholarship, were not required or looked for ; all de- pended upon the relation in which men stood to the court. What was to German mystics, hurtful to few, because well-nigh unintelligible. Her prose — the Heptameron, or seven days — is probably as gross as even the Decam- eron of Boccaccio ! Ranke very discreetly says nothing of this last production HENRY II. AND THE CARDINAL DE LORRAINE. 357 be said, when ever: the mistress of the king, the duchess of Valentinois, had m her hands the di stribution of the ecclesiastical benefices."* This presents another striking evidence, out of the hundreds which ecclesiastical history exhibits to our view, to establish the important ftict, that most of the abuses which have at various times atHicted the Church have grown out of the usurpations of the temporal power, which, in spite of the Roman Pontiffs, persisted in thrustingits own creatures into the higher ecclesiastical dignities. And yet, it is fashionable among our modern historians to blame the Church and the Popes for evils which these not only did not sanction, but against which they protested with all their might ! The proper and only effectual remedy for the abuses complained of would have been, to lay the axe at the root of this poisonous tree of royal patronage — or rather usurpation — and stoutly to uphold the Pontiffs in the exercise of their legitimate and undoubted pre- rogative, to appoint suitable persons to the principal and more responsible ofhces of the Church. But this would not have suited the policy of those fawning worshipers at the foot of the throne, who, in their blind hatred of the Papacy and their abject servility to the temporal power, seemed practically to have adopted the principle, that the king can never do wrong and the Pope can never do right. Since the Popes have be- come comparatively free and untrammelled in the nomina- tions of bishops, the Church has had few scandals of this kind to deplore, and the great body of the Catholic clergy all over the world have been generally irreproachable in their morals. This fact alone speaks whole volumes. Francis I. died March 1, 1547, and he was succeeded by his son Henry II., whose wife was the famous Catherine de Medicis. Henry took a decided stand in favor of the old Church, and he was throughout his reign a determined op- ponent of the new doctrines, which, however, still continued * Eanke, Civil Wars, etc., p. 158-9. He quotes Soranzo. This Concordat was probably the successor of the Pragmatic Sanction, which was if po.ssible, even still worse. 64 3&8 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE IIUGl L'NOTS. silently to advance, especially in the southern and western portions of the kingdom. Calvin from Geneva became much alarmed ; when suddenly his sorrow was turned into joy, by the sudden death of the king from an accident at a tourna- ment, on the i^Gth of July, 1559: — "The Protestants recognized in this event the almost visible judgment of God, though as flir as they were concerned, they could not expect that ita consequences would be llivorable to them. The successor of Henry, Fran- cis II., who was still a boy, gave his entire power into the hands of a man whom they regarded as their fiercest adversary — the cardinal of Lorraine, of the house of Guise."* The cardinal, however, did not long hold his responsible position. Francis 11. died suddenly at the close of the fol- lowing year.f Then came the period of intrigue, of turbu- lence, and of civil commotions, which marked the real, it not always nominal regency of Catherine, the queen mother, under the reigns of her two remaining sons Charles IX. and Benry III. The cardinal of Lorraine soon found that Cathe- rine would not brook his overshadowing influence ; and the reformers, who had been busily intriguing against him at court, soon had the satisfaction to believe, or to hope, that they had achieved a triumph. Says Ranke : "But the cardinal had miscalculated still more upon the queen mother. She longed for the moment when the domination of the Guises should come to an end; it was barel}^ tolerable, only because it was in p-cordance with the wishes of Francis II , and therefore not to be avoiled. She intended to show the Guises that the public hatred excited by the last reign was directed, not against her, but against themselves. ' When all was lost,' said Beza, 'behold the Lord our God aroused himself' An alteration followed in the aspect of affairs, not suddenly but by degrees, and on that account the more decided. The idea of Calvin prevailed over that of the cardinal.''^ Catherine now appeared before the council, "leading by the hand the eldest of her surviving sons, upon whom the succession to the throne had devolved; this was Charles IX., who was then in his eleventh year. . . . The council resolved * Ranke, Civil Wars, etc., p. 167. f Rec. 5th, 15G0. t I'^'c^. :• 187. CATIIKRINE DE MEDICIS HER TORTLOUS POLICY. 359 that the opinion of the first prince of the blood, the king of Navarre, ought to be heard in all matters. This was exactly what Calvin had wished for, and what he had contemplated as the result of a great demonstration, but which now came to pass spontaneously."* The king of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV., was looked up to as the natural leader and protector of the Huguenots, which leadership he had inherited with the royal blood from his mother Queen Margaret. No wonder Calvin was rejoiced ; but the course of subsequent events did not come up to his confident expectations. Many and intricate were the plots and counterplots, the conspiracies and civil commotions, which followed ; persistent and violent were the efforts of the Huguenot chieftains to control the supreme power of the kingdom. For this purpose they resorted without scruple to treasonable intrigues and alliances with Elizabeth of England ; and they gladly accepted the aid in men and money which she sent them, to enable them to come off victorious in their Btruggle against the sovereign and government of their own country. In the end, however, they were completely foiled, and the Catholic party remained in the ascendant. They inflicted desperate wounds on France ; they could not suc- ceed, even with the aid of England and the sympathy and subsequent assistance of their brethren in Germany, in dis- membering it, in destroying its nationality, or even in per- manently revolutionizing its government. During the continuance of these contests, the queen mother Catherine pursued a tortuous and unprincipled policy. She coquetted alternately with the leaders of both parties, now favoring the king of Navarre and his associates Conde and Coligny, now upholding the cause of the Guises who were the principal Catholic champions. Her policy seems to have been, to play off the two parties against each other, in order thereby to strengthen her own influence and to retain the supreme power in her own hands. * Kanke, Civil Wars, etc., p. 188. 360 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGUENOTS. Our limits will not permit us to go into lengthy details ir regard to the exciting transactions which marked this period of French history. We will furnish instead the terse, succint, impartial, and accurate account of them given by the great his- torian of England, Dr. Lingard, together with his authorities ; remarking as we proceed on any substantial discrepancies which may be found between his statements, and those of Ranke and of other historians favorable to the Huguenots.* 1. The first movement in the politico-religious drama, which was destined to drench the French soil in the blood of its citizens, was made by the Huguenots as early as 1550, during the reign of Francis H. It is known in history as the conspiracy of Amboise. It was a treasonable attempt of the Huguenot leaders to seize on the government, under the pretense of resisting the usurpation of the Guises. It was probably con- cocted at Geneva under the eye of Calvin ; it was certainly instigated by Elizabeth of England. Says Lingard : " The principal inducement of Elizabeth to intermeddle with French af- fairs was her knowledge of the projects cherished by the factions in France. Scarcely was the corpse of Henry II. laid in the grave, when Cecil under- took to excite in that country dissensions, similar to those which he had fomented in Scotland, by arming the princes of the blood, and the reform- ers, against their new monarch, Francis II. By his instructions, Throck- morton solicited a private interview with Antoine de Bourbon, the titular king of Navarre, who was known to favor the reformed doctrines. They met in the town of St. Denis at the hour of midnight. The ambassador, in general terms, stated to the king ' the esteem of the queen for his virtues, her wish to form an alliance with him for the honor of God and the advance- ment of true religion, and her hope that, by mutuall}^ assisting each other, they might prevent their enemies from taking any advantage against God, or his cause (!), or either of themselves as his ministers (!). Though Antoine understood the object of this hypocritical cant, he answered with caution : 'that he should be happy to have so illustrious an ally in so sacred a cause, but that for greater security he would correspond directly with the queen * Lingard goes straight to the point, and in one page he furnishes more facts, much better related and far better put together, than Eanke does in five. Ranke is somewhat of a transcendental philosopher, and he must needs give us his often tedious reflections as he proceeds with his storj'. CONSPIRACY OF AMBOISE RAKKe's VERSION. 361 herself.'* In a few days the young king intrusted to the duke of Guise and the cardinal . of Lorraine, the uncles of his queen, the chief offices in the government. The ambition of the princes of the blood was disappointed ; and Antoine, king of Navarre, and Louis, prince of Conde, Bourbons of the house of Vendome, formed an association with Coligny, admiral of France, d'Andelot, colonel of the French infantry, and the cardinal of Chatillon, three nephews of the Constable Montmorency. Together they could com- mand the services of about three thousand men of family, and of the whole body of reformers in France, to whom they had long been known as friends and protectors. ' It was to inform the queen of their views and resources, that Throck- morton had come to England ; and he was followed by Renaudie, a gentle- man of Perigord, the devoted partisan of the prince of Conde, who, to save the lives of the chiefs in the event of failure, had accepted the dangerous post of appearing at first as the leader of the insurgents. That adventurer soon returned, the bearer from Elizabeth of wishes for their success, and promises of support ; Calvin from Geneva sent emissaries and letters to his disciples in France ; men were secretly levied among the professors of the new doctrines in every province ; and a day was appointed when they should rendezvous in the vicinity of the court, surprise the king and queen, the cardinal and the duke of Guise, and place the government in the hands of the princes of the blood."f Kanke admits the fact of the conspiracy, and also that the subject was discussed by Renaudie and the other Huguenot exiles at Geneva: J but he affects to believe that considerable obscurity rests upon the nature of the plot itself, and the pur- poses of the conspirators, and he denies that Calvin concurred in the movement. Yet he admits that Renaudie, on his return from Geneva, assured his followers, that, "according to the judgment of the German theologians and jurists, the undertaking was perfectly lawful."§ It is probable that Cal- * Forbes, i, 174, 212. f Lingard, History of England, vii, 287-8. " In the council held at La Ferte it was deliberated whether they should entirely rid themselves of the royal family and the Guises ; but the majority decided that assassination would throw too much discredit on the party, and rouse all France against them. Capefigue, ii, 107. He quotes Brulart's Journal. Vie de Coligny, 20. De Thou, i, xxiv. Matthieu, i, iv, p. 213. Le Labourer, i, 512." f Ranke, Civil \rars, etc., p. 175, seqq. \ Ibid., p. 176, VOL. II. 81 362 REFORMATION IN FRAxNCK THE HUGUENOTS vin's oppositit)!! was an after-thought — when the conspiracy had failed, — or that he played as usual a double game. The Huguenots would scarcely have ventured on so important a step without his advice. It is well known, that they consulted him on all important occasions, and that they generally fol- lowed his counsel. He was, in fact, their real prime minister, in opposition to the one who conducted the French govern- ment at home. As Ilanke asserts roundly, that " he (Calvin) and his fol- lowers (in France) might have wished for peace," but " their antagonists (the French Catholics) needed, demanded, and began the war ;"* the origin and objects of this conspiracy of Amboise, which took place more than two years before the actual breaking out of the Civil Wars in France, assume an historical importance which would not otherwise attach to them. Chance has thrown in our way an interesting and unexceptionable testimony upon this subject, which we will be pardoned for republishing in full. It is interesting, be- cause it contains a graphic picture, drawn by a friendly hand, of the principal Huguenot leaders ; and unexceptionable, be- cause furnished by a warm advocate of the Huguenot cause and movements. We refer to Morley's account, in his Life of Palissy, the Potter. "Whoever might head the great party of malcontents created by what was called the usurpation of power by the House of Guise, the men to whom the Huguenots looked up as their own chiefs were the three brothers Coligny, D'Andelot, and Chatillon. Of Coligny and D'Andelot we have already spoken. Admiral Coligny was a man stubborn, taciturn and inflexible of purpose ; D'Andelot was not less steadfast and intrepid and only a few de- grees less sombre and reserved. Both, says Brantome, being so formed by nature that they moved with difficulty, and on their faces never any sudden jhar)go of countenance betrayed their thoughts. Very useful to them there- fore was the alliance of their brother, who possessed by nature a more pli- able surface to his character, and had increased its elasticity by education. This brother Cardinal de Chatillon, bishop of Beauvais, had a mild, engaging * Ranke, Civil Wars, etc., p. 207. PALISSY, THE POTTER. 363 ■w&y, and so much tact in addressing those with whom he had to deal that he knew how to avoid all those disagreeable collisions of opinion, which would have checked the course of his more hard-minded associates. When negotiation was required, therefore, Chatillon with his insinuating, courtlj habits proved a most efficient helper to his party. "At La Ferte, on the frontier of Picardy, the malcontents assembled at a chateau belonging to the prince of Conde who was a Bourbon, brother to Anthony, king of Navarre. The prince of Conde was a man given to ease and pleasure, who did not keep one mistress the less for having adopted the reformed opinions in religion. At this meeting, Coligny showed that there were in France two millions of reformers capable of bearing arms. It was resolved to strike a great and final blow at the dominant Guise faction. Troops were to be levied secretly throughout France, captains were to be appointed over them, and they were to be brought quietly from all parts to concentrate at Blois, for there the king would rusticate in the succeeding spring and endeavor to recruit his feeble health. The exact service to be done by them and their precise destination were to be kept secret from the troops ; but Calvinists were to be levied, on the understanding that they were to strike a sure blow for the freedom of their religion, political malcon- tents were to be told that they were to secure the triumph of their party. The real intention was to break out suddenly at Blois with overwhelming force, to decoy the Guises — the king's uncles and his chosen though obnoxious ministers — out of the royal presence, to imprison them, and institute against them public prosecution. The princes of the blood and the ancient officials, with Montmorency of course at their head, were thus to be placed, where they believed they had a right to be, at the head of state affairs, and the party of the Guises would be most effectually crippled. " This plot which is called the conspiracy of Amboise, was kept duly se- cret by its first promoters. None of them would venture to commit him- self by assuming the post of leader in an enterprise which, even when seen through the mists of faction in those days of enterprise, could not have appeared very noble to an honest man. An ostensible leader was required, also, who should be notoriously bold and able, while at the same time he was not provided with a set of principles too inconveniently definite. Captains and soldiers were to be tempted out of many regions of opinion, and a leader was required who should be distasteful to none. " The required chief was found in a reckless roving soldier named Re naudie, a man sprung from a good house in Perigord. Renaudie received a detailed plan of the whole enterprise, in which provisions had been made beforehand for a long series of contingencies. He was instructed to say, that, when the time should be ripe, the prince of Conde would assume the lead of the movement, to which the people were invited. The name of the queen 304 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGUENOTS. mother was by some unfairl}^ used as a consenting party to the enterpnau and she, it was said, would never have sanctioned treason. "Finally, to prop all sinking consciences, theologians and juriconsults, chosen judiciously, were requested to supply, and did sujtplj^ attestations that no law human or divine would be violated by the proposed move in the game of politics."* 2. The results of the conspiracy are stated by the English historian as follows, — and the statement is substantially con firmed by llauke : — " In a few days the conspiracy in France burst forth, but was defeated at Amboise by the vigilance and rigor of the duke of Guise. Conde and Co- ligny, to escape suspicion, fought against their own party ; Ilenaudie per- ished in the conflict, and most of the other leaders were taken and executed. At this intelligence, Elizabeth began to waver ; and her hesitation was kept alive by the arrival of Montluc, the French ambassador ; but Throckmorton urged her not to forfeit the golden opportunity offered by the prospect of a civil war in France ; and the lords of the council solicited permission to commence hostilities on the following grounds : because it was just to repel danger, honorable to relieve the oppressed, necessary to prevent the union of Scotland with France, and profitable to risk a small sum for the attain- ment of that, which afterwards must cost a greater price.f The day after the presentation of this memorial appeared a most extraordinary state paper, entitled a declaration of peace, but intended as a justification of war. It made a distinction between the French king and queen, and their ministers. The former were the friends of Elizabeth, who strictly forbade any injury to be offered to their subjects ; the latter were her enemies ; and to defeat their ambitious views, she had taken up arms, and would not lay them down till she had expelled every French soldier from the realm of Scotland."| * "Palissy, the Potter, by Henry Morley"; in two volumes, 12mo. Boston. Ticknor, Reed & Fields, 1853. Vol. i, p. 268, seqq. Palissy was one of the most zealous among the early Huguenot saints, and Morley is the willing defender of the Huguenot movements. The work is found in the select and extensive private library of Very Rev. E. S. Collins of Cin- cinnati, to whom we have been more than once indebted for valuable refer ences and information. i Forbes', vol. i. p. 390, 396. t Lingard, History of England, vii, p. 289, 290.— Haynes', vol. i, p. 268. " It is a poor revenge " said the cardinal of Lorraine to Tlirockmorton "that hath been used of late by your proclamation in England against my brother and me ; but we take it that it is not the queen's doing, but the persuasiaa WARLIKE DEMONSTRATION OF CONDE. 3C5 3. Here then we have, on the most unexceptionable author- ity, a solution of the important question — who instigated, and who really began the civil wars in France. Ranke himself admits, that the Huguenots employed the arm of the flesh by allying themselves with a political faction, and that their haughty bearing and open menaces contributed greatly to kindle the flames of civil war ; and it is not a little remark- able that the passage occurs immediately before that in which he asserts that the Catholic party " needed, demanded, and hegan the war ! " He says : " The essence of the matter is misapprehended by those who attribute the success of the Protestant movement to the political faction, though it is un- deniable, that the former had formed a union with the latter, and was en- couraged by it, and wore, so to speak, its colors. This was seen in the support which the prince of Conde, the most distinguished leader of the re- formers, received at this time (before the outbreak of hostilities) in the cap- ital. The citizens were disarmed, because a tumultuary outbreak was appre- hended. The prince was surrounded with armed troops of his co-religionists, who accompanied him through the streets (of Paris) in rank and file, as he went to a preaching or returned from one. It was computed that there were twenty thousand Huguenots in the city, and it was feared that, in union with them, he would endeavor, by a sudden coup de main, to make himself master of it, and that the same would be attempted in other cities also. In all probability he did not think of such a scheme, yet the jealousy of his antagonists was so powerfully excited, that it was believed and asserted that religious zeal and political antipathy had united themselves for a common hostihty."* When the Catholics were disarmed, while the Protestants were armed and paraded the streets in a menacing attitude, there was certainly some ground for the jealousy which was aroused. And be it remembered, that at this very time the religious rights and liberties of the Huguenots had been sol- of three or foure about her ; and, as I trust to see shortlye that she will be better advised, so we hope that ere it be long, she will put her hand to punysh them for giving her such advice." — Forbes, i, 423. — " The original of the proclamation is in Cecil's hand writing." — Lingard, Ibid. * Eanke, Civil Wars, etc., p. 206. 366 REFORMATION IN FRANCE — THE HUGUENOTS. emnly guarantied by the government, so that they had no just cause for complaint or hostility,* In general, it may be remarked, that the Huguenots aa sumed" the most hostile attitude precisely at the time when their demands had been most fully granted by the dominant majority ! Every successive pacification, which healed up for a time the nine or ten civil wars which they successively stirred up in France, was almost sure to be followed by an increase of haughtiness in the bearing of the Iluguenot fac- tion. The more they received, the more they claimed. The fact is, that, like their brother Calvinists elsewhere, they understood by religious liberty the right of seizing on or des- troying Catholic churches, " removing the monuments of idolatry," and ruling supreme both in Church and State ! No one can carefully read the history of France, as written by men of all shades of religious opinion, without coming to this conclusion. Writers favorable to the Huguenots usually ascribe the actual breaking out of hostilities to the afiair at Vassy, which occurred on the first of March, 1562, and in which about sixty of the Huguenots were slain in an affray by the followers of the duke of Guise. But those who maintain this position entirely forget the previous conspiracy of Amboise, as well as the men- acing attitude of Conde in Paris, to omit several other similar circumstances. They forget also that, in this particular affray, the accidental collision between the two parties was provoked by the Huguenots themselves. Kanke himself tells us, that the duke of Guise, passing through the town, wished to speak with some of his own subjects who were assembled with the Huguenots in a religious meeting ; but that, as he declared in his letter on the subject, his application was received by the enraged religionists with a volley of stones ; whereupon the deplorable aliray and loss of life ensued.f * This is admitted on all hands. t . Ranke, Civil Wars, etc., p. 211, and note. — In the text, he gives a dif WHO BEGAN THE WAR? 367 The duke of Guise was an impulsive, but a generous and chivalric man, not disposed to wanton cruelty. " In himself this gallant soldier was not disposed to deeds of violence. He is represented as rather of a quiet and even phlegmatic temper- ament ; he was praised for the mildness he exhibited towards conquered enemies, and for the self-control with which he sought to rectify any injustice that might have been committed ; and was thought to know, in a superior degree, the duties of man to man, and what became them."* 4. The first civil war broke out in 1562. Its principal causes and incidents are accurately and summarily unfolded in the following extract, the length of which will be pardoned on account of its interest : " The failure of the attempt to surprise the court at Araboise had broken their projects ; and the origin of the conspiracy was clearly traced to the king of Navarre and his brother the prince of Conde. An unexpected event not only preserved these princes from punishment, but revived and invigor- ated their hopes. Francis II. died, and the queen mother Catherine of Me- dicis, being appointed regent during the minority of her son Charles IX., sought their aid to neutralize the ascendency of the house of Guise. The prince of Condc vs^as released from prison, and admitted to the council ; his brother, the king of Navarre, obtained the office of lieutenant-general of the kingdom. The queen's next object was to pacify, if she could not unite, the two great rehgious parties which divided the population of France. In this she was ably seconded by the chancellor de 1' Hospital ; and the edict erent, but obviously inconsistent and self-refuting statement ; in the note, he refers to the letter of Guise. Lingard says : " The French reformed writers generally ascribe the war to an affray, commonly called by them the Massacre of Vassy, in which about sixty men were slain by the followers of the duke of Guise. But 1st, there is every reason to believe that this affray was accidental, and provoked by the reli- gionists themselves. See La Popelin, vol. iv. p. 283 ; and the declaration of the duke on his death-bed, preserved by Brantome, who was present, both at Vassy and at his death. 2d. The affray happened on March 1st ; yet the Calvinists at Nismes began to arm on the 19th of Februar)', at the sound of the drum. They were in the field and defeated De Flassans on March 6 th. See Menard, Histoire de Nismes, iv. Preuves, vi." Lingard, vol. vii, p. 310, note. * Ranke. Civil Wars, etc., p. 210. 368 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGUENOTS. of January, 1562, both suspended the execution of all penal laws on the score of religion, and granted to the Calvinists ample liberty for the exercise of their worship. But the minds of men were too fiercely exasperated by mutual injuries to listen to the voice of moderation. Nothing less than the extirpation of what they termed idolatry could satisfy the fanatics among the reformers : and b}" the zealots of the opposite party the smallest conces- sion to the new religionists was deemed an apostasy from the faith of their fathers. It was impossible to prevent these factions from coming into colli- sion in different places : riots, pillage, and bloodshed were generally the con- sequence ; and the leaders on both sides began to prepare for the great con- flict which they foresaw, hy associations within, and confederacies without, the realm. " On the one hand Conde, Coligny, and d'Andelot, encouraged by the ad- vice of the English ambassador Throckmorton, who continually urged them to draw the sword against their opponents,* claimed pecuniary aid of Eliza- beth, and dispatched envoys to levy reisters and lansquenets among their fellow religionists in Germany : On the other, Montmorency, the duke of Guise, and the Marshall St. Andre entered into a solemn compact to support the ancient creed by the extirpation of the new doctrines ; solicited for that purpose the co-operation of the king of Spain ; and sought to draw to their party the Lutheran princes of Germany. At first the queen regent, more apprehensive of the ambition of the duke of Guise than of that of the prince of Conde, had offered to the latter the support of the ro3ral authority ; but the king of Navarre had been gained over to the Catholic cause. Cath- erine and her son were conducted by him from Fontainbleau to Paris; and from that hour they made common cause with those among whom fortune rather than inclination had thrown them. In a short time the flames of war burst out in every province in France. If the lieutenant- general secured Paris for the king, the prince of Conde fortified Orleans for the insurgents. Each party displayed that ferocious spirit, that thirst for vengeance, which distinguishes civil and religious warfiire : one deed of un- justifiable severity was requited by another ; and the most inhuman atroci- * " Throckmorton informs us, in one of his letters, that the duke charged him to his face with being ' the author of all the troubles ; ' and therefore required him to help to bring them out of trouble, as he had helped to ' bring them into it' In his answer the ambassador did not venture to deny the charge. Forbes ii, 255-257 Nos divisions, lesquelles Trockniorton avoit fomentees et entretenues longuement par la continuelle fre(iuentation et intelligence qu'il avoit avec I'admiral et ceux de son parti il fit «ntrer sa maitresse en cette partie, dont elle m'a souvent dit depuis, qu'elle B'estoit repentie, mais trop tard. Castelnau, Mem. xliv, 50." CIVIL WAR BREAKS OUT BATTLE OF DREUX. 369 ties were daily perpetrated by men, who professed to serve under the ban- ners of religion, and for the honor of the Almighty. " Though the Calvinists were formidable by their union and enthusiasm, they did not form more than one hundredth part of the population of France. Still the prince cherished strong hopes of success. He relied on the resour- ces of his own courage, on the aid of the German and Scottish Protestants, and on the promises of Throckmorton. His envoys, the Vidame of Chartres, and De la Haye, stole over to England, visited Cecil in the darkness of the night, and solicited from the queen a reinforcement of ten thousand men, with a loan of three hundred thousand crowns."* The Huguenot envoys succeeded. A formal treaty was negotiated with Elizabeth, in which she bound herself to send men and money to aid her brave allies in their struggle for the mastery in France ; and these agreed to deliver up to her the two French harbors of Havre and Dieppe, the former of which, the key of the French kingdom, she was to retain as a pledge for the restoration of Calais. This treasonable meas- ure aroused general indignation throughout France against the Huguenot leaders, and especially the prince of Conde, who had been the principal actor in the infamous negotiation. All eyes were turned to the duke of Guise, and he was called on to save the country from foreign invasion in alliance with domestic treason. " The duke of Guise had expelled the En- glish from the last strong-hold (Calais) which they possessed in France ; his opponent (Conde) had recalled them into the realm, and given them two sea-ports in place of the one which they had lost."t The result was a general burst of patriotic enthusiasm. Nobles and people flocked with eagerness to the royal stand- ard ; Rouen, the chief strong-hold of the Huguenots, was be- seiged and taken by assault; two hundred Englishmen who had hastened to its relief perished in the breach ; and in an important battle fought at Dreux, the Huguenot forces were routed, and Conde himself was made prisoner ; though, as an offset, the Constable Montmorency, and the gallant commander * Lingard, History of England, vii, 308, seqq. J Ibid., vii, 312. 370 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGUENOTS in chief of the Cathohc army, fell into the hands of the insur gents. The supreme command now devolved on the duke of Guise on the one side, and on Coligny on the other ; the two most decided and intractable leaders and representatives of the contending parties. Coligny retired to Orleans which was strongly fortified, and Guise immediately laid seige to that city. Meantime Normandy was ravaged by the German mercenaries, whom the Huguenots had brought into France to aid them in fighting against their own government. "While the admiral (Coligny) gave the plunder of Normandy to his Ger- man auxilliaries, the royalists formed the siege of Orleans, the great bulwark of their ojiponents. Its fall was confidently anticipated, when Poltrot, a deserter from the Huguenot army, and in paj'^ of the admiral, assassinated the duke of Guise.* The death of that nobleman was followed by a sudden and unexpected revolution. Conde aspired to the high station in the gov- wnment to which he was entitled as first prince of the blood ; and the Catholics feared that the English, with the aid of Coligny, might make im- portant conquests in Normandj^ The leaders on both sides, anxious for an accommodation, met, were reconciled, and subscribed a treaty of peace, by which the French religionists promised their services to the king, as true and loyal subjects, and obtained in return an amnesty for the past, and the public exercise of their religion for the future, in one town of every bailiwic in the kingdom,! ^i^^h the exception of the good city of Paris. This pacifi- cation was eagerly accepted by the gentlemen, the followers of Conde : it was loudly reprobated by d'Andelot, the ministers, and the more fimatic of the party."! The tide of war now turned, and Elizabeth of England had to pay dearly for her un.worthy duplicity. The English under ♦ " The two apologies of Coligny prove, that if he did not instigate the assassin, he knew of, and connived at, the intended assassination. See Pettitot's Collection, xxxiii, 281." t " Forbes, 339, 350-359.— Castelnau, 233-240, 245." I Lingard, Hist. England, vii, 320-1. Of Coligny 's complicity in the base assassination of the duke of Guise Ranke says : " Coligny guarded himself from giving the fanatic any encouragement ; but, on the other hand, he did not prevent him, considering it sufficient that he had warned the duke of a similar attempt formerly." He adds : " Even in the churches (Calvinistic) the act was spoken of as a righteous judgment of God." — P. 219. TREATY OF BAYOKNE, A FABRICATION. 371 the earl of Warwick were driven ignominiously fi'oni Havre, and Throckmorton, her officiating minister in France was thrown into prison ; and even after his subsequent release, he was never more allowed to show himself at the French court. 5. The Pacification which had thus secured the blessing of peace to the hostile parties in France was not of long dura- tion. The Huguenots, under the leadership of Conde, broke it by a base and unprovoked attempt, in time of peace, to seize upon the French king and court at Monceaux, near Meaux. Luckily, tlie treacherous attempt was defeated by the timely discovery of the plot: "the king escaped with difii- culty to Paris in the midst of a body of Swiss inftmtry, who, marching in a square, repulsed every charge of the Huguenot cavalry. The English ambassador Norris had been deeply implicated in the arrangement of tliis atrocious, and in reality unprovoked attempt : but though the queen (Elizabeth), as a sovereign, condemned the outrage, Cecil required Norris to ' comfort ' the insurgents, and exhort them to persevere."* This occurred in September, 1567 ; and the pretext for the outrage was, that, as Conde affected to believe, a compact had been entered into more than two years previously,! at the Conference of Bayonne, between the French and Spanish courts, by which the Protestants of France were to be de- prived of their religious liberties. That it was a mere pre- text, encouraged by the intrigues of the prince of Orange and of the English ambassador, and deriving force from the recent arrival in the Netherlands of the duke of Alva, appears now to be generally admitted. The Conference of Bayonne, held in June, 15G5, turns out to have been nothing more than a family meeting between Catherine, the queen mother, and her daughter Isabella, the consort of Philip H. of Spain ; and the full account of it, with all the papers, furnished by * Lingard, History England, vol viii, p. 61. He quotes Cabala, Davila, and Castelnau. f In June, 1565. Ranke, Ibd., p. 226. 372 REFORMATION IN FRANCE — THE HUGUENOTS. the researches of Von Raiimer, filling more than a hundred pages of printed matter, renders it certain that no such com- pact as that alleged by the Huguenot conspirators was ever even in contemplation.* Even Ranke, though he pretends that some such overtures were made by the duke of Alva, freely admits that both Catherine and her son Charles IX. rejected them with a decision approaching to contempt, and that "both par- ties separated from each other with coolness."f Thus, by the fault of the Huguenots alone, civil war broke out for the second time in the heart of France. The insur- gents under Conde besieged the king in Paris ; but they were defeated at St. Denis by the Constable Montmorency, who however lost his life in the engagement. In the spring of 1568, another pacification was concluded ; and the Hugue- nots availed themselves of it to fly to the succor of the prince of Orange, who was sorely pressed by the veteran troops of Alva in the Netherlands. Notwithstanding this timely suc- * For the documents, see Lingard, History of England, viii, p. 60, note. f Kanke, Civil Wars, etc., p. 227. In his Constitutional History of England (p. 87, note ; Amer. Edit.), Hal- lam says : *' I do not give any credit whatever to this league, as printed in Strype, (i, 502,), which seems to have been fabricated hy some of the qiieen^a (Elizabeth's) emissaries." — This is a terrible thrust at the febrication and forgery, which seem to have been systematically pursued by Cecil and the other servants of this queen, no doubt with her connivance or countenance ! Hallam goes on to say, that there had been, " not perhaps a treaty, but a verbal agreement between France and Spain at Bayonne some time before." But for this statement he gives no evidence whatever ; and the testimony of Ranke proves that this too was a fabrication, so far at least as France is made a party to it. Sir James Mackintosh is more credulous than Hallam and Ranke, but Mackintosh is very strongly prejudiced. When, a little later, the French and Spanish ambassadors openly charged Elizabeth with aiding the insurgents in France and the Netherlands, "some- times she had recourse to evasions, sometimes she justified her conduct by fairly alleging the supposed league for the extirpation of Protestantism. But when she was called upon for proof of the existence of such league, she could produce only conjecture and report." Lingard, Ibid., viii, 64, note. H« quotes numerous dispatches of Fenelon, the French ambassador. MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. 373 cor, Orange was, however, defeated and his army di(i- persed. 6. Now ensued the third civil and religious war in Franco. "The princes of Orange and Conde had constantly acted in concert ; and the former had no sooner retreated from Bel- gium, than the flames of war burst out for the third time in the heart of France."* This was in the summer of 1568. Two decisive battles followed, in both of which the Hugue- nots were defeated. At Jarnac their great leader Conde fell ; and at Montcontour, their chief hope Coligny was totally de- feated by the duke of Anjou ; while another leader, D'Ande- lot, brother of Coligny, died of an infectious fever. Such were the events of the years 1568 and 1569. In 1570, a general edict of pacification was published ; and as all parties were now heartily tired of these perpetual civil wars, there seemed to be a reasonable hope that this peace would be permanent. Though the preceding details are somewhat lengthy, we have deemed them necessary for the proper understanding of the great tragedy of the St. Bartholomew massacre in 1572, to which we now come. 7. In order still further to cement the bonds of peace, a marriage was concluded, after this third pacification, between the king's sister and the king of Navarre, who was by far the most influential, though not always the most active and e£B- cient of the Huguenot leaders. Coligny and the rest of the Huguenot chiefs came to Paris to assist at the auspicious wed- ding, which was forever to banish civil commotion from France. There is not a doubt, as Ranke himself freely ad- Jiits, that the king Charles IX. was entirely sincere, both in the love of peace which animated him in bringing about the marriage, and in his friendly intentions in inviting the Hugue- not chieftains to be present at the ceremony. There is as little doubt, that the deplorable and detestable massacre which * Lingard Ibid., viii, p. 63. 65 374 REFORMATION IN FRANCE ^THE HUGUENOTS. ensued was the result of no premeditated design on his part; that it occurred solely from the unforeseen circumstances which arose in Paris after the chiefs had been already for many days in the city; and that even then, it was mainly owing to the unprincipled machinations of the queen mother, who was as unscrupulous as she was adroit in the manage- ment of affairs. We will first give the account of the mas- sacre, as furnished by Dr. Lingard, and as triumphantly defended by him against the strictures of the Edinburgh Re- view; then we will show wherein Ranke differs from him in the statement of the facts ; and finally we will add some reflec- tions of our own. Our readers may be, perhaps, surprised to find the English and German historians agreeing in all material points. "The young- king of Xavarre was the nominal, the Admiral Coligny the real leader of the Huguenots. He ruled among them as an independent sovereign ; and, what chietly alarmed his opi)onents, seemed to obtain grad- ually the ascendei.cy over the mind of Charles. He had come to Paris to assist at the mairiage of the king of Navarre, and Avas wounded in two places by an as.sassin, as he passed through the streets. The public voice attributed the attempt to the duke of Guise, in revenge of the murder of his father at the siege of Orleans ; it had proceeded, in reality (and was so sus- pected by Coligny himself), from Catherine, the queen mother. The wounds wei'e not dangerous ; but the Huguenot chieftains crowded to his hotel ; their threats of vengeance terrified the queen ; and in a secret council the king was persuaded to anticipate the bloody and traitorous designs attributed to the friends of the admiral. The next morning, by the royal order, the hotel was forced : Coligny and his principal counselors pcri.shed ; the popu- lace joined in the work of blood ; and every Huguenot, or suspected Hugue- not, who fell in their wa)',was murdered. Several days elap.sed before order was finally restored in the capital ; in the i^rovinces the governors, though instructed to prevent similar excesses, had not always the power or the will to check the fury of the people, and the massacre of Paris was imitated in several towns, principally those in which the passions of the inhabitants were inflamed by the recollection of the barbarities exercised amongst them by the Huguenots during the late wars. "This bloody tragedy had been planned and executed in Paris with so much expedition, that its authors had not determined on what gi'ound to justify or palliate their conduct. In the letters written the same evening lingard's account. 375 to the governors of the provinces, and to the ambassadors of foreign courts, it was attributed to the ancient quarrel i>,nd insatiate hatred which existed Oetween I he princes of Lorraine and the house of Coligny.* But as the duke of Guise refused to take the infamy on himself, the king was obliged to ac- knowledge in parliament, that he had signed the order for the death of the admiral, and sent in consequence to his ambassadors new and more detailed instructions. In a long audience, La Motte Fenelon assured Elizabeth that Charles had conceived no idea of such an event before the preceding eve- ning ; when he learned, with alarm and astonishment, that the confidential advisers of the admiral had formed a' plan to revenge the attempt made on his life, by surprising the Louvre, making prisoners of the king and the royal family, and p .tting to death the duke of Guise, and the leaders of the Cath- oUcs ; that the plot was revealed to one of the council, whose conscience re- volted from such a crime ; that his deposition was confirmed in the mind of the king, by the violent and undutiful expressions uttered b}^ Coligny in the royal presence ; that, having but the interval of a few hours to deliberate, he had hastil}"^ given permission to the duke of Guise and his friends to execute justice on his and their enemies ; and that if, from the excited passions of the populace, some innocent persons had perished with the guilty, it had been done contrary to his intentions, and had given him the most heartfelt sorrow. The insinuating eloquence of Fenelon made an impression on the mind of Elizabeth : she ordered her ambassador to thank Charles for the communication ; trusted that he would be able to satisfy the world of the uprightness of his intentions ; and recommend-ed to his protection the persons and worship of the French Protestants. To the last point Catherine shrewdly replied, that her son could not follow a better example than that of his good sister the queen of England ; that, like her, he would foice no man's conscience ; but, like her, he w^ould prohibit in his dominions the ex- ercise of every other worship besides that which he practised himself "f The " violent and undutiful expressions uttered by Coligny in the royal presence," to which the French ambassador re- ferred, are probably those which Ranke furnishes, and which are highly important as having been the immediate occasion of the attempt on the part of Catherine to have him secretly assassinated. Coligny attended regularly the king's council; and, in fact, much to the chagrin of Catherine, he seemed to have obtained almost unlimited influence over her weak- minded son. In concert with the prince of Orange, Coligny * Digges,264, f Lingard, Hist. England, viii, 96, seqq. Digges, 244-246. 376 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGJENOTS. earnestly urged the council to declare war against Spain, towards which the French court was then hostile. The queen mother and the duke of Anjou, the king's brother, warmly opposed the project as imprudent and impolitic, and they finally defeated it; whereupon Coligny was enraged, and ex- claimed: "Madame, the king now withdraws from a war which promises him advantages; God forbid, that another should break out, from which he may not be able to with- draw ! " His words were taken as implying a threat of a new civil and religious war in France.* As we have said, ilanke agrees with Lingard in all sub- stantial points. He admits, that if the attempt on Coligny's life had been successful, the whole affair would probably have ended then and there : " The majority of those who were near the event have asserted, that if the admiral had been killed on this occasion, the queen would have been satisfied with the one victim ; but he had escaped, and was now for the first time in a position to become truly formidable. The Huguenots crowded around him with redoubled zeal, and demanded justice : their requisitions sounded like threats proceeding from a confident knowledge of their power. The general suspicion soon fixed upon the most important and real origi- nator of the deed. Certain expressions came to her ears one evening at sup- per ; they were probably exaggerated, but at any rate they gave her grounds for apprehension on her own account. The consideration of the personal and general danger, incurred by the deed already perpetrated, excited her still further to the designs of blood and violence which had lain latent in her mind. The Huguenots were in her hands ; it was only necessary for her to will it, and they were all destroyed. It has always been the general opin- ion, that Catherine de Medicis had for years been preparing every thing for this catastrophe ; that all her apparent favors to the Huguenots, all her treaties and conclusions of peace, were simply so many guileful pretexts in order to win their confidence, that she might then deliver them over to de- struction. Against this supposition, however, it was observed long ago, that * Ranke, Civil Wars, etc., p. 268. Ranke supposes that Coligny referred to a new war about to break out in Flanders, " which, j'n one way or other, might have implicated France;" — but the supposition is too unfounded, if not absurd to m( rit serious attention. No doubt Catherine was right in her interpretatioD of the fierce admiral's threatening language. ranke's account. 377 a stratagem laid so long beforehand was contrary to the nature of French modes of proceeding, and is, in itself, nearly impossible. We have ourselves seen, as we have proceeded, many circumstances which render it extremely improbable."* That the massacre was wholly unpremeditated seems to be now fully settled, since the publication by Mackintosh of the secret dispatches of Salviati, the Papal nuncio to the French court.f While substantially admitting all this, as we have seen, Ranke still thinks that Catherine had previously contemplated the design upon the admiral, " as a possibility ;" that is, that she had an old score of injuries to settle with him, and, in inviting him to the nuptials, vaguely contemplated as "possible" the contingency of her having an opportunity to wreak her vengeance on him.J This really amounts to nothing in the way of premeditation, and the alleging of a conjecture so very vague is unworthy a grave historian. Though Catherine certainly had received many grievous in- juries from Coligny and his partisans, the German historian does not prove, or even venture to assert, that she conceived any definite purpose beforehand to be avenged on him on occasion of the nuptials, — which is the very point in contro- versy. Another discrepancy consists in the statement by Ranke, that " oral orders were carried from town to town with the swiftness of the wind, authorizing the rage of fanaticism everywhere." This he does not prove, while he admits imme- * Ranke, Civil Wars etc., p. 269, 270. f See note E. appended to Lingard's eighth volume, where the testimony is given in full. It is regarded as conclusive. \ See Ranke, Civil wars etc., p. 273. After saying that Charles was un- doubtedly sincere, he adds : " Catherine was different. That she had from the beginning a design against the admiral, connected with the invitation to the nuptials, is in the highest degree probable, yet the design was contem- plated rather as a possibility, and expressed rather as a justification." — This theory, besides being wholly unsustained by evidence, is s^^arcely consistent with his previous statement of the flicts ; all of which may be, on the othei hand, satisfactorily explained witliout it, and even better explained. VOL. II. — 32 378 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGUENOTS. diately afterwards, that "" from time to time the flame broke out afresh, even after orders were issued to restrain it."* Ac cording to what we believe to be the most reliable accounts, these orders restraining the massacre were issued immedi- ately; and the partial nuissacres which took place in other towns were caused, in spite of them, by popular excitement and the memory of old wrongs received from the Ilugue- nots.f Ranke estimates the number of the victims at twenty thousand. This is no doubt a grievous exaggeration. There is nothing more fallacious than the attempt to estimate in such cases in round numbers. " The reformed martyrologist (Foxe) adopted a measure for ascertaining the real number, which may enable us to form a probable conjecture. He procured from the ministers in* the difi:erent towns where the massacres had taken place lists of the persons who had suffered, or were supposed to have suffered. He published the result in 1582 ; and the reader will be surprised to learn, that in all France he could discover the names of no more than seven hundred * Rankc, Civil Wars etc., p. 278. f The excellent Miss Strickland, while taking the erroneous view that the massacre was prompted by religious fanaticism, admits that the murderous spirit of intolerance in England, especially that which clamored for the blood of Mary of Scots, was equally great and detestable. She writes : " Not more atrocious, however, was the ruthless fimaticism, which prompted the butcher-work by which the day of St. Bartholomew was forever ren- dered a watchword of reproach against Catholics, than the murderous spirit of cruelty and injustice which led the professors of the reformed faith to clamor for the blood of the captive Mary Stuart as a victim to the manes of the slaughtered Protestants. Sandys, bishop of London, in a letter to Bur- leigh, inclosed a paper of measures, which he deemed expedient for the good of the realm, and the security of his royal mistress at that crisis, beginning with this startling article, ' Forthwith to cut off the Scottish queen's head.' Burleigh endeavored to prevail on Elizabeth to follow this sanguinary coun- sel, telling her ' that it was the only means of preventing her own deposi- tion and murder.' It is easy at all times to persuade hatred that i cvenge is an act of justice."— Queens of England, vol. vi, p. 282. — She quotes Ellis' Royal Letters, 2d series, vol. iii, p. 25. THE POPE AND CLERGY. 379 and eighty-six persons. Perhaps, if we double this number, we shall not be far from the real amount."* It is quite certain, that religion had little, if any thing whatever, to do with the raassacre.f The queen mother had favored the Huguenot leaders, perhaps fully as much as she had the Catholic. As we have seen, her tortuous state policy inclined her to throw her influence alternately in the scale of Guise and of Conde, accordingly as each of these lead- ers successively gained the ascendency, and threatened her own paramount control of the king and the government. At this particular period, the policy of the French court was moreover specially directed against Philip of Spain, and it strongly favored the cause of the prince of Orange and of the Dutch insurgents. Since the days of ^^vancis I., the French government had repeatedly formed alliances with the German Protestants against their Catholic emperor ; and if its policy was guided by religion at all — which it seldom was — it would appear from its acts that it favored the Protestant almost as often and as much as it did the Catholic party. Hence all the clamor about the massacre having originated in religious excitement and intolerance is not only without any solid foundation in the facts of history, but against all verisimilitude. The Catholic bishops and clergy did whatever was in their power to restrain popular violence during this period of ter- rible popular excitement ; J and it is not even pretended, that * Lingard, Note to vol. viii. Such a partisan as Foxe would scarcely have made the number less than it was. f Thuanus testifies, that on the day of the massacre the king issued an edict, in which he declared that what had been done had been ordered by himself, not through hatred of religion, but to provide for his own safety : "non religionis odio, sed ut nefari^e Colinii et sociorum conjurationi obviam iret." Quoted by Milner, Letter iv, to a Prebendary. I Thus, according to Maimbourg, quoted by Milner, Henuyer, a Domi- nican, bishop of Lisieux, nobly sheltered his Protestant " flock," saying : " It is the duty of the good shepherd to lay down his life for his sheep, not to let them be slaughtered before his fiice. These are my sheep, though they have gone astray ; and I am resolved to run all hazards in protecting them." 380 REFORMATION IN FRANCE — THE HUGUENOTS. they had any agency whatever in bringing about the massa- cre. If the Pope ordered a Te Deum to be sung at Rome on first learning the intelligence, it was only because he had received such a version of the affair as led him to believe, that the Huguenots were only anticipated in their bloody de- signs by the vigilance of the French court, which by its prompt measures of severity was thus saved from utter de- struction. Such a version of the tragedy was, in fact, imme- diately sent out to all the foreign courts ; and the antecedents of Coligny and his party rendered the story not at all improb- able. It was only at a later period, that the true facts of the case came to light.* Though nothing could greatly palliate, much less justify this atrocious massacre, yet there are obvious circumstances connected with it which should not be lost sight of by those who wish to form a correct and impartial judgment. There had been great provocations from the other side. Three times had the Huguenots risen in arms against their sovereign and his government, and they had fought his armies in four pitched battles ; in all of which they had been indeed de- feated, but not without great effusion of blood on both sides.f They had treacherously delivered up to the inveterate and hereditary enemy of France two of her principal sea-ports. which were the keys of the kingdom. They had basely as sassinated the noble duke of Guise, who was very dear ti- the French people, from the fact of his having nobly driver* the English from Calais, their last foothold in France. Twice had they attempted, by base treachery, to seize upon * The learned Pagi, in his Life of Gregory XIII., the then reigning Pon- tiff, informs us that, on the representation of the French ambassador, ho viewed the deed as a necessary act of self-defense of the French court against the machinations of Coligny, and therefore ordered the thanksgiving, not for the massacre, but for the preservation of the royal family : " Actis publico Deo gratiis de periculo a Colinii conjuratione evitato." — Brev. Grest. Horn. Pont, vi, 729 — apud Milner, loco citato. ■f The battles of Dreux, St. Denis, Jarnac, and Moncontour. PROVOCATIOiNS GIVEN BY HUGUENOTS. 381 and make prisoners of the French king and court, that thus they might be able to grasp the sovereign power of the state, and wield it for their own purposes.* They had, when tempo- rarily in power, disarmed the inhabitants of Paris, and in a menacing attitude paraded the streets fully armed, under their leader Conde; and this too in time of profound peace. They had, in the civil wars, butchered priests, desecrated churches, invaded monasteries, and slaughtered unarmed Catholics by thousands, in the various towns which they had taken by assault, or where they happened for the time to be in power. Five years before — in 1567 — they had, on St. Michael's day, committed a horrible massacre on the Catholic people of Nismes.f As Davila writes, " upon the death of Francis II., when liberty of conscience was granted them, besides burning down churches and monasteries, they had massacred people in the very streets of Paris." " Heylin relates, that in the time of a profound peace, these same people taking offense at the pro- cession of Corpus Christi performed in the city of Pamiers, fell upon the whole clergy who composed it and murdered them ; and that they afterwards committed the same outrages at Montauban, Rodez, Valence," and other places.^ * Once at Amboise, and again at Monceaux near Meaux. f This terrible massacre was called the Michelade, from the fact of its having occurred at Michaelmas. Though it is studiously lost sight of by Prosestant writers, it may be viewed as a fair oflF-set to the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Though this was the greatest outbreak of the Huguenots against the Catholics of Nismes, it was not the only one ; for another mas- sacre of a similar kind occurred in this city two years later — 1569. See Lingard's Vindication, in answer to the Edinburgh Eeview ; vol. viii of his History of England, American Edition. To show the desperate ferocity of the Huguenots, we will mention an- other curious instance. In the third civil war which they stirred up in France in 1568, Briquemaut, the principal Huguenot chief, was in the habit of wearing a necklace composed of the ears of assassinated priests ! ! See Alzog, Hist. Church, etc., p. 583. I Hist. Presb. 1. ii, quoted by Milner, sup. cit., to whom we are also in» debted for the testimony of Davila. 382 REFORMATION IN FRANCE — THE HUGUENOTS. Tliey bad committed all these and many other cruel atroci ties ; and though these bloody crimes do not certainly excuse the lawless massacre in which some of their leaders fell, yet they considerably palliated its enormity, so far at least as to prove, that the Huguenots were not the only sufferers, much less the innocent victims of an unprovoked persecution, as their partial friends sometimes chose to represent them.* As one out of many examples of the ferocity with which the Huguenots raged against the Catholics, during the civil wars preceding the massacre of St. Bartholomew, we will here present a brief sketch of the barbarities perpetrated by one of their most active military chieftains, the famous — or * The injury which the violence of the Huguenots in France did to learn- ing is incalculable ; and it is the more to be regretted, as the loss is irre trievable. We condense the following facts on this subject from Maitland's learned work on the Dark Ages: (p. 231, seqq., London Edition.) Martene, in his " Literary Journey " in quest of ancient manuscripts, had occasion almost everywhere to lament the wanton destruction of the most valuable of them in the French monasteries by the illiterate and fanatical Huguenots, who, in the sixteenth century, overran and sacked a great portion of France with a destructive fury unequaled since the invasion of the bar- barians in the fifth and sixth centuries. At the monastery of St. Theodore, near Vienne, the monks willingly communicated to the literary traveler " what the fury of the heretics had left to them of ancient monuments ; foi those impious men in 1562 had burned all the charts." — L Voyage Liter- aire, 252, apud Maitland, p. 231. At Tarbes, the same sad spectacle was presented, " the cathedral church and all the titles having been burnt by the Calvinists who throughout the whole of Beam and Bigorre had left mourn- ful marks of their fury." — Ibid. In the still more ancient abbey of St. John at Thouars " the ravages made by the Calvinists during the past century have dissipated the greater part of the (literary) monuments." — Ibid. The same scene of desolation met the view of the antiquary at Grimberg, Dilig- hem, and other places. Of the desolation at the monastery of Ferte near Meaux, the learned Ruinart speaks as follows : " We hoped perhaps to find there something in the archives, .... but we were answered that the charts of the monastery had been entirely burned b}'^ the Calvinists." — Ibid., p. 232. Mabillon, the famous Benedictine, bears similar testimony in regard to the manuscripts of the monastery of Fleury, where the fury of heresy had left but a small remnant of the vast collection of ancient books.- -Ibid. BARON d'adrets. 383 rather infamous — Baron D'Adrets. He joined their ranks it the first civil war of 1562, out of hatred to the duke of Guise who had oflfended him. His career was signalized by the celerity and success of his movements, but still more by the horrid sufferings which he inflicted upon the Catholic party. He took successively Valence, Vienne, Grenoble, and Lyons ; and he everywhere raged, like a wild beast, against con- quered foes. He burned, sacked, and slaughtered, with a fe- rocity which excited the disgust of even his own moi-e humane officers. His very appearance was so ferocious, as to strike terror into the most stout-hearted. After having taken the strong fortresses of Mornas and Montbrison, it was his favorite amusement after dinner, to see his Catholic prisoners leap from the battlements into the surrounding moats, where their bodies were received on the upraised pikes of his soldiers ! "He was, in regard to the Catholics, what Nero had been in regard to the early Christians. He sought out and invented the most novel punishments, which he took pleasure in seeing inflicted on those who fell into his hands. This monster, wishing to make his children as cruel as himself, forced them to bathe in the blood of the Catholics, whom he had butchered ; and these barbarities met with the approbation of the chief of the party ! The Admiral Coligny said, that it was necessary to employ him, as a furious lion, and that his services over- balanced his insolence." "He died February 2, 1585, abhorred by the Catholics, and despised by the Huguenots themselves."* We may as well insert here, as elsewhere, what Maitlaiid, whom we have already quoted, further says and proves con- cerning the destructive spirit of the French Huguenots. It will be seen that their National Synod officially indorsed this Vandal-like spirit exhibited in the wanton destruction of valuable ancient manuscripts. * Feller, Histor. Diet., who quotes two French lives of D'Adrets; one by Allard, Grenoble, 1(575, the other by C. J. Martin, published in 1803. 384 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGUENOTS. " It seems worth while to add two instances, one EngHsh and the othei French, of the destruction of MSS. by those who were their guardians, and who seem to have been influenced by religious (if one ought not rather to say party) feeling. It is the more necessary, because it is hard to conceive of such things ; and the circumstances of the latter case in particular lead one to apprehend that the matter "was not the act of a stupid fanatical indi- vidual, but a practice encouraged by those who had it in their power to do, and certainly did, much mischief; and that not only openly, but by private means, less easily detected. " Henry Wharton, in the preface to his Anglia Sacra, after stating the impossibility of rivaling works of a similar nature which had been published respecting France and Italy, owing to the destruction of manuscripts at the suppression of monasteries etc., says : that he had met with a case in which a bishop, avowedly with the design of getting rid of Popery, had burned all the registers and documents belonging to his see.* He does not name him ; ind, without inquiring who he was, we will charitably hope that he acted in stupid sincerity, and was the only English prelate that ever did such a thing, or anything like it. " But there is a French story, more surprising and pregnant, and form- ing a valuable commentary on many sad passages in Martene's Literary Tour, which might otherwise be thought to bear marks of prejudice against the Protestant party. But this fact coming as it does from themselves, is beyond suspicion ; and it is briefly as follows : At the 'Quatrieme Synode National des Eglises Reformees de France, tenu a Lion le iii Aout, 1563, I'an III. du regne de Charles IX. Roi de France, Monsieur Pierre Viret, alors ministre de I'Eglise de Lion, elu pour modera- teur et pour secretaire' — among the ' Faits particuliers ' which were discussed and decided. No. xlvii, is thus stated ; — ' Un Abbe parvenu a la connois- sance de I'Evangile aiant abatu les Idoles, hrule ses Titres, pourveu aux besoins de ses moines, sans qu'il ait permis depuis six ans qu'il se soit chante Messe dans son Abbaye, ne fait aucun exercice du service de I'Eglise Ro- maine, mais au contraire s'est toujours montre fidele, et a porte les armea pour maintenir VEvangile. On demande s'il doit etre recu a la Cene? Reponse. Oui,' "f * Comperi enim Episcopum quendamante centum et quod excurrit annos avitae superstitionis delendse praetextu, omnia ecclesiae suae monume ita et Registra igni tradidisse," — Vol. i, p. 10. t Aymon, Synod. National. Tom. i, p. 45. — " At the fourth National Synod of the Reformed Churches of France, held at Lyons, the lOth of Au- gust, 1563, in the third year of the reign of Charles IX., king of France Monsieur Peter Viret, then minister of the church of Lyons having been elected moderator and secretary ; among the ' particular facts ' or cases SUCCEEDING EVENTS. 385 " We cannot here indulge any such charitable h(.»pe as that which I sug- gested in the preceding case ; for the point which seizes our attention is not the act of the individual, but the approbation of the National Synod. The matter is quaintly entered in the index, and in plainer terms than those in which it was submitted to the assembled divines. "Abbe requ a la Gene pour avoir bride ses Tetres, abatu les Images de I'Eglise de son couvent, et joojic les armes pour maintenir les predicateurs Beformees, p. 45."* 8. Our summary of facts connected with the remaining his- tory of the Huguenots must be necessarily very brief. After the massacre, these religionists took shelter in the town of Ro- chelle, which they strongly fortified and held successfully against the besieging royal army under the duke of Anjou. From this important sea-port they kept up a constant communi- cation with England. The duke of Anjou having been after- wards chosen king of Poland, a new edict of Pacification was published in 1573, which held out the promise of a general peace : but the prospect was soon blighted by the plots and counterplots of the contending factions. Charles IX., whose health had been long declining, died of consumption on the 30th of May, 1574, after having appointed his mother regent of the kingdom. His death was the signal for renewed civil commotions. The Huguenots and a portion of the Catholic leaders wished to place the duke of Alencon on the throne; while the queen regent was firm in maintaining the right of the elder brother, now king of Poland. She succeeded in her purpose, and the new king took the name of Henry HI. Alencon with the which were discussed and decided, No. xlvii, is thus stated : ' An abbot having come to the knowledge of the gospel, having broken down the idols, burnt his titles (the MSS. registers of the monastery), and provided for his monks without having permitted Mass to be sung in his abbey for six years, performed no act of service of the Roman Church, but on the contrary has always shown himself /rt/^/?/«/, and has borne arms to maintain the gospel. It is asked whether he should be admitted to the Supper ? — Answer : Yes." * " Abbot received to the Supper, for having burnt his registers, broken the images in the church of his convent, and bo7-ne arms to sustain the re- formed preachers." VOL. 11.-33 386 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGUENOTS. king of Navarre now joined the malcontents, and tlie flames of civ il war were again lighted up all over France. Meantime two great confederacies were organized. The Huguenots bound themselves together by the most solemn engagements, and established a council of state at Millaud, which was vested with the most ample power " to appoint counselors, to determine the quota of men and money to be raised in each district, and to act as an independent authority in the heart of France." Having failed to secure the assist ance of England, the malcontents shortly afterwards agreed to another l*acitication in which their principal rights were satisfactorily secured ; and the king of Navarre and Alencon returned to their allegiance. Like all previous ones, this Pacification was short-lived. The establishment of a sort of independent government in France by the Ilnguenots, through their confederacy of Mil- laud, naturally led to counter combinations. A great Cath- olic league was formed, which pervaded almost all the provinces, and in which the subscribers pledged themselves " to maintain the ascendency of the ancient faith, and to pro- tect, at the hazard of their lives and fortunes, the Catholic worship, the clergy, and the churches, against the hostile attempts of their enemies."* The new king placed himself at the head of the Catholic league. Another religious war ensued, followed by the usual short-lived Pacification ; and the Protestants " ultimately recovered the chief of the conces- sions which had b^en revoked."! 9. Things went on in this troubled state, until Henry IH. was assassinated by a fanatic, in 1589, Then the civil war recommenced; and it ended with iirmly settling on the throne the darling of the Huguenots, the king of Navarre, who took * Lingard, Hist. England, viii, p. 104-5. The instrument is found in Daniel's History of France, xi, 62. Its pnncipal clauses prove that the Cath- olic majority sought to defend their altars and clergy from the violence of the Huguenots, who were so ardently in lOve v?ith relii^ious liberty as to seek to have it all to themselves, and to allow none to iheir neiffhoors i + Ibid HENRY IV. BECOMES CATHOLIC. 387 the name of Henry IV., and who has been honored with the name of the Great. Henry on his accession became a Cath- oHc; and, strange as it may appear, he was urged to take this step by his own leading Huguenot partisans, who repre- sented to him, that he might have more influence and serve their cause better as a Catholic than as a Protestant ! " All the constituted authorities of the kingdom were Catholic, the excep- tions being so few as to make no essential difference. And was not the Catholic Church, after all, in reference to doctrine, order, and usage, the same ancient Church which it had ever been ? No one could deny the cor- ruption of morals and the abuses of discipline which prevailed among the clergy ; these, however, it was not for the Huguenots to reform, but for him, the king, the temporal head of the Church. Perhaps God had raised him up to re-establish the general unity once more ; but before he could inter- fere with the Church, he must again stand forth as the eldest son of the Church."* 10. Once firmly seated on the throne, Henry IV. published in favor of his former co-religionists the famous Edict of Nantes. This was in 1598; the same year in which occurred the death of Philip II. of Spain, who had so earnestly op- posed his accession to the French throne. The Edict not only guarantied to the Huguenots the fullest religious liberty, but it gave them, moreover, extensive civil and religious pri- vileges, and even recognized them as a distinct organization and power in the state. The subsequent revocation of this Edict — nearly a hundred years later, in 1G85, by another French monarch, Louis XIV., who has also been dignified with the name of Great — has given rise to a torrent of abuse and invective against the intolerance of the Catholic Church on the part of certain partisan writers, who imagine that the Church is responsible for whatever Cath(>lic sovereigns may chance to do, even if their action should be against her own spirit and her own interests. Without defending the justice, or ♦'Ranke, Civil Wars etc., sup. cit., p. 473. It was precisely this "inter- ference with the Church " by its " eldest son " which had produced all the evils and abuses in France ; as we have already shown on the authority of Ranke himself! 388 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGUENOTS even the policy of the revocation, we will here state a few facts bearing on it, which, together with those already referred to, may. tend to modify in a considerable degree the harsh judgment formed by some in regard to this subject. 11. Henry lY., like his predecessor, fell by the dagger of an assassin, in 1610 ; and he was succeeded by Louis XIII., who reigned until 1643, with the great Cardinal Richelieu as his prime minister. Immediately after the death of their great protector, the Huguenots again grew restive and tur- bulent, and not long afterwards they broke out into open war against their own government. From 1617 to 1629, they stirred up no less than three additional civil wars in France ; which, like the previous ones, were generally ended with a Pacification guarantying to them all their privileges. At each new outbreak, they, of course, as a pretext for taking up arms, charged that the Catholics had violated their legal rights secured to them by the Edict; while, on the other hand, the Catholic party maintained, that, in almost every instance, they had been the first to break the conditions under which the privileges of the Edict were accorded. Caveirac, who has made diligent and ample researches on the subject, and has published them to the world, proves that no less than two hundred decrees were issued by various sue ceeding French governments, with a view to curb the ever encroaching spirit of the Huguenots, whose demands seemed to grow with the amount of concessions made them.* They greatly exaggerated their claims to importance and to influ- ence in the government, which they wished to control for their own purposes, though they were so very small a minority of the French population. They seem to have aimed, in fact, at little less than becoming an imperium in imperio — a dis- tinct and independent government in the heart of the French monarchy. They sought to secure this species of independ- ence, particularly during the bloody civil war which termi- * Quoted by Fredet — Modern History ; note 0. EDICT OF NANTES AND ITS REVOCATION. 389 nated in the capture of their great strong-hold Rochelle, which was accomplished by the genius of Eichelieu. They were then, as previo"sly, in open league with England, and English troops with an English navy came openly to their assistance.* After the fall of Rochelle in 1629, their power was broken, and their organization greatly weakened. Still the old spirit of disaffection and turbulence remained. Their sympathies continued to be evidently more English and Ger- man than French ; and they still kept up their intrigues with foreign Protestants, with a view to subvert the constitution of their country, and thereby to regain their long coveted ascendency. Under all these circumstances, we do not so much wonder at tlie revocation of the Edict of Nantes, as at the fact of its having continued so long in existence. The chief reason for the delay was, probably, the distracted and enfeebled condition of the kingdom in consequence of the numerous civil wars : but when the French monarchy be- came again strong under the long and able administration of Louis XIV., the hesitancy ceased, and by the severe measure of revoking the Edict, the "grande monarque" thought to unite and consolidate his government, by depriving the mal- contents of the power to provoke new civil wars.f It is, we beJieve, quite a mistake to suppose that the ma- terial prosperity of France was impaired by the revocation of the Edict. On the contrary, France had never been so united, so powerful, and so prosperous at any previous period of her history, as she became at this precise time, and as she * This fleet ascended the Loire, and landed troops in the interior of France. f By the edict of revocation, such Huguenot ministers as refused to abjure within two months, were ordered to leave France ; bnt the great body of the Protestants were allowed, and even encouraged to remain and enjoy their property and rights under the protection of the law, " without being troubled and vexed on account of their religion." Orders were, moreover, promptly issued to check the violence with which the Huguenots were treated in some places ;. and in a special letter to the Intendants of the pro- vinc<»s, the king strongly ui-ged moderation and mildness. See Ibid. 50 390 REFORMATION IN FRANCE THE HUGUENOTS. continued to be long afterwards. By it she was delivered from the blighting curse of continual civil commotions and wars, which had distracted her government, and rendered her beautiful soil desolate for more than a hundred years. Tiie number of the Huguenots who followed their ministers into exile has been greatly exaggerated. Hume flippantly sets it down as exceeding half a million ; while other Protestant writers reduce it to two hundred thousand. The duke of Burgundy, the favorite disciple of Feiielon, after careful research, estimates it at sixty-eight thousand ; — a less number than had probably fallen in a single one of the nine or ten civil wars which the Huguenots had provoked. The Calvin- ists of greater substance and influence, in general, remained in France. The duke of Burgundy presents the following view of the whole subject: " I do not speak of the calamities produced by the new doctrines in Ger- many, England, Scotland, Ireland, etc. I speak of France. Xor shall I enumerate one by one the evils of which it was the theatre, and which are recorded in so man}'- authentic documents : the secret assembhes ; the leagues formed with foreign enemies ; the attempts against the government ; the seditious threats, open revolts, conspiracies, and bloody wars ; the plundering and sacking of towns ; the deliberate massacres and atrocious sacrileges : — suffice it to say, that from Francis I. to Louis XIV., during seven successive reigns, all these ev'h an 1 many others, wifh more or less violence, desolated the French monarchy. This is a point of h'stor}^, which, although it may be variously related, can neither be denied nor called in question ; and it is from this capital point that we should start in the poli- tical examination of this grand affair."* 12. No doubt, many atrocities were committed on both * Memoires, etc., quoted ibid. Some have asserted, that Louis XIV. had no right to recall the Elict issued by his predecessor. The great Protestant jurist Grotius took a different view of this question. His words are : "Xo- rint illi qui reformatorum sibi imponunt vocabuluni, non esse ilia foedera, sed regum edicta, ol) publicim facta utilititein, et rein-i'iHia, si aliud regi- bus publica utilitas suaserit." — Rivet. Apol. Diiciissio, p. 20. Quoted ibid. — "Let those who take to themselves the ni:n3 of reformed know, that these are not rompads, but edicts issued for i\\i public good, and revocable, if the public utility induce kings to revoke them." THE WOOL-COMBER LECLERC d'aUEIGNE. 391 sides by the contending parties, during the protracted civil wars of France stirred up and kept alive by religious en- thusiasm or fanaticism. But it is manifestly unfair to sup- pose that the Huguenots were always the injured and per- secuted party, because they were in the minority. This is apparent from the facts already stated. For one St, Barthol- omew massacre, we have from five to ten on the other side, which if not so public or atrocious, nevertheless betray the same blood-thirsty and intolerant spirit. It is stated, for in- stance, that in the province of Dauphine alone, the Hugue- nots burnt nine hundred towns and villages !* Nor should it be forgotten, that throughout the contest the Catholic party stood on the defensive, and aimed to maintain the ancient and long established order of things ; while their opponents sought by violence to introduce new institutions on the ruins of the old, both in Church and State.j- They * Those who wish to see a full account of all these odious transactions, with the documents at length, are referred to Caveirac, Dissertation sur le St. Barthelemi ; Daniel, Histoire de France ad an. 1572, and passim, quoted by Fredet, ibid., note P.; and to Lingard's note to vol. viii of the American edition of his History. Both sides of the discussion on the St. Bartholo- mew massacre are presented with reasonable fairness in the London Penny Cyclopedia. f Wherever the Huguenots succeeded in gaining a foothold in France, they immediately set about the work of pulling down or desecrating the Catholic churches and monasteries, or at least in greatly disturbing the Catholic worship. That this was the case at a later period, is generally understood, and will scarcely be denied. But that it was so from the very beginning of the French Reformation, may not be so generally known. We will here present a curious instance of this ardent zeal for "removing the monuments of idolatry," from that most veracious historian of the Protest- ant Reformation — D'Aubigne. The incidents referred to occurred as early as 1523 : the first having taken place at Meaux, of which city Bri^onnet, a refuted friend of the new gospelers was bishop ; the second at Metz. The account is also a pretty fair specimen of the bold hypocrisy and contempt- ible cant with which this romantic historian is wont to regale his readers : "The wool-comber Leclerc began to visit from house to house, confirming the disciples. But not stopping short at these ordinary cares, he would fain have seen the edifice of popery overthrown, and France, fr^m the 392 REFORMATION IN FRANCE — THE HUGUENOTS. signally failed in accomplishing this purpose ; and no im partial man, who calmly reviews the whole series of traus- midst of these ruins, turning with a cry of joy towards the gospel. His unguarded zeal may remind us of that of Hottinger at Zurich, and of Carl- stadt at Wittenberg. He wrote a proclamation against the antichrist of Rome, announcing that the Lord was about to destroy him by the breath of his mouth. He then boldly posted his placards on the gates of the cath- edral. Presently all was in confusion around that ancient edifice. The faithful were amazed ; the priests exasperated. What ! a fellow whose em- ployment is wool-combing dares measure himself with the Pope ! The Franciscans were outrageous, and demanded that this once at least a terrible example should be made. Leclerc was thrown into prison." Leclerc left the uncongenial city of Meaux, where his luminous parts were not duly appreciated, even by the bishop Briuld have CONCLUSION. 393 actions, can either be surprised at, or can even greatly regret their failure. All the glories of France were closely bound up with the interests of the Catholic religion. In conclusion, we venture the opinion, that the French re- volution of the last century was the final result of the un- eettledness of faith caused by the protracted wars of religion, and of " that atheism" which, according to Ranke,* "was springing up amid the confusion of religious strife," as early as the close of the sixteenth century, Voltaire succeeded Calvin ; both were Frenchmen, and both were animated with the same undying hatred of the Catholic Church ! Says Macaulay : "The only event of modern times which can be properly compared with the Eeformation, is the French revolution ; or, to speak more accurately, that great revolution of political feeling which took place in almost every part of the civilized world during the eighteenth century, and which ob- tained in France its most terrible and signal triumph. Each of these mem- orable events may be described as a rising up of human reason against a caste. The one was a struggle of the laity against the clergy for intellect- ual liberty (!) ; the other was a struggle of the people against the privileged orders for political liberty." f torn down the images which God ordered to be placed in the temple of Solomon ! Here is the latest outbreak of his zeal : "Leclerc arose, approached the images, took them down and broke them in pieces, indignantly scattering their fragments before the altar. He doubted not that the Spirit of the Lord had excited him to this action, and Theodore Beza thought the same. After this, Leclerc returned to Metz, which he en- tered at daybreak, unnoticed save by a few persons as he was entering the gates." — History of the Reformation, pp. 458, 463. Am. Edit, 1 vol. 8vo New York, 1851. * Civil Wars, etc., p. 473. f Review of Nares' Memoirs of Lord Burghley, Miscell., p. 173. HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION. CHAPTER IX. THE REFOKMATION IN SWEDEN. Reformation in Sweden the work of the crown — Gustaf Wasa its author — Conversion and civilization of Sweden — Its bishoprics — And early sanc- tity— Upsala the metropolis — Union of Calmar — Sweden reluctant to submit — The Stures administrators — Contests and a compromise — The families of Sture and Trolle — The feud between them — Archbishop Trolle deposed by the diet — Bishop of Linkoping — The Pope excommunicates all who were concerned — The tyrant Christian II. — The " Blood Bath" of Stockholm — Bishop of Linkoping escapes — Gustaf Wasa, the deliverer of Sweden — His treachery in breaking his parole — His remarkable adven- tures in Northern Sweden — His eloquent address from a tomb-stone — Popular enthusiasm — The army of independence — The Catholic bishops — Wasa intriguing with them and with the nobles — Employs force when persuasion fails — His army of foreign mercenaries — He appoints new bishops, and re-organises the diet — He is elected king — Decides to rob the Church — Turns reformer — The two brothers Olaus and Lawrence — Beginning the work of sacrilege — Wasa deposes and appoints bishops — The Anabaptists — The archbishop of Upsala — The peasants and the Chap- ter of Upsala — Manoeuvring of Wasa to bend or oust the archbishop — He deposes him and expels him from Sweden — The exile and death of the archbishop — Two bishops mocked and put to death — The foreign troops ftirnish the key to Wasa's position — Diet of Westeras — The Catholic ReU- gion abolished — And Wasa declared supreme in church and state — Diet of Orebro completes the work of destruction — Lament of the people — Exile and death of Bishop Brask — An extraordinary pastoral visitation — Watching and preying — Wholesale confiscation — New archbishop conse- crated— Rebellions — Sacrilege and taxation — Contiscation of church IjcUs — The Dalmen — How disaffection was put down — The priests beheaded — How the popular grievances were redressed — Confirmatory testimony of Geijer — Wasa and Henry VIII. compared — Avarice of Wasa — His hard swearing -^IIow he was rebuked by the two brothers — And how he pun- (394) CONVERSION OF SWEDEN. 396 ished them — The curse of sacrilege — Family of "W asa — His death — Im- .morahty of Sweden — Testimony of Bayard Taylor — Conclusion. The history of the Reformation in Sweden does not present any great exception to the general laws which governed the movement elsewhere; with this difference, however, that in Sweden it was, as in England, wholly and exclusively the work of the crown. Gustaf Wasa,* the liberator of Sweden from the Danish yoke, and the founder of the Swedish moni archy in modern times, was the main spring, and the \ ery life and soul of the Swedish Reformation, which moved at his bidding, and was moulded entirely to his will. He began the work by cunning intrigue and under false pretenses, and he ended it with general spoliation of the Church, and open violence to the consciences of his people. After having shaken off the Danish yoke, he became, chiefly through the means of the Reformation, supreme both in church and state ; and though the semblance of the ancient Catholic diets of the kingdom was still kept up, yet the different orders of the state had but little real power, and every thing was forced to bend to his own iron will. In Sweden, as much probably as anywhere else, the Reformation resulted from the working of the three great concupiscences, mentioned by the inspired apostle as controlling the world. All this we expect to estab- lish by unexceptionable Protestant authority.f * We preserve the old Swedish spelling as given by the historian of Sweden — Fryxell, infra cit. The name is more usually written Gustavus Vasa. f We shall rely chiefly on the authority of the " History of Sweden, translated from the original of Anders Fryxell, by Mary Howitt ; " in two vols., 12mo, London, 1844 ; for a copy of which we are indebted to the very Eev. E. T. Collins V. G. of Cincinnati. The author is a Swede and a Lu- theran, with strong religious prejudices in favor of the Reformation ; yet withal he is candid enough not wholly to conceal or grossly to misstate the principal facts. We mention this circumstance, that our readers may be the better able to appreciate his testimony, and to draw the line of distinc- tion between his opinions and his facts, in the passages which we shall have occasion to quote. 396 REFORMATION IN SV/EDEN. The early history of Sweden is involved in no little ob scurity. The Swedish peninsula was a part of that ancient Scandinavia, which in the fifth and following centuries of the Christian era, poured its teeming hordes of barbarians over the more inviting provinces of Southern Europe. Like all the other Germanic and Northern tribes, its people were indebted for Christianity and for all consequent civilization to the Catholic Church and to the Roman Pontiffs. St. Anskarius, a monk of Corbie in Westphalia, may be said to have been the first apostle of Sweden, though he was not able to extend his labors far into the interior of the country. In the eleventh century, David, Stephen, and Adelward, Anglo-Saxon monks, under a regular commission from the Sovereign Pontifl", carried the light of the gospel into Sweden. Of these Adelward was appointed the first bishop of Skara. They were followed, in the twelfth century, by St. Henry, the martyr-bishop of Upsala, who was also the apostle of the neighboring Finlanders ; and by Nicholas Breakspear — after- wards Pope Adrian IV. — who converted the Norwegians. Eric, the sainted Swedish king, contributed much, by his holy example and royal influence, towards diffusing through- out his kingdom and firmly establishing Christianity, for which he fell a willing martyr, while assisting at the holy sacrifice of the Mass in the Cathedral of Upsala. This ancient city had been the principal seat of pagan superstition in Scandinavia. The idols of Odin,* Thor, and Frey were there enshrined and worshiped by their devotees, who flocked thither from all the neighboring countries of the North. These were removed by the Christian missionaries, and the cross was reared in triumph on the site of the statue of Oiin. Thenceforth Upsala became the centre of the Chris- tian Religion in Sweden ; and under Stephen, its sixth pre- late, it was raised by the Sovereign Pontiti* to the dignity of * Or Wodin. As is well known, the names of our days, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, are derived from these three Scandinavian deitieg, Wodin, Thor, and Frey. UNION OF CALMAR. 397 an archiepiscopal see, having under it six suffragan bishop- rics : Linkoping, Stregnes, Westeras, Skara, Yexio, and Abo in Finland.* At a period when society was struggling into form, and when might and right were often convertible terms, these seven sees became the conservative centres of the new order and civilization ; and the bishops by the general consent and through the liberality of pious princes became influential and powerful members of the body politic. In the course of time they were made princes, and they had their strong castles and retainers, viewed as necessary elements of that feudal system, which originating in the fastnesses of the North, lingered there longer than anywhere else in Europe. The northern states continued in a state of perpetual agi- tation and civil feuds until near the close of the fourteenth century, when the genius of Margaret, called the Semiramis of the North, united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Swe- den, and Norway into one under her own powerful sceptre. This Union was accomplished by the treaty of Calmar, in 1397. It was not, however, destined to be of long continu- ance. The successors of Margaret had little of her talents or skill in government, and the powerful confederacy was soon * Originally there were as many as nine bishoprics in Sweden alone, besides that of Finland ; exhibiting the vigor of the early Swedish faith. In the course of time, however, three of them were suppressed as unneces- sary. The early Swedish church numbers twentj^-three canonized saints ; one of whom was a king, — St. Eric, — and ten were bishops. Among the holy women who adorned Sweden with their virtues were St. Mechtildes, who flourished in the thirteenth, and St. Brigit or Birgit, who flourished in the fourteenth century. St. Brigit caused her pious and learned secretary Mathias to translate the Scriptures into Swedish in the year 1352. This translation is still extant, a monument of Catholic zeal for the difi"usion of the Scriptures in the middle ages, and a signal rebuke to heretical calumny in modern times. See for these and other interesting facts, the work of the learned Dr. Theiner published some years ago, in Rome, entitled :"0n the Efibrts made by the Holy See in the last three centuries, to brii\g back tb-« people of the North to the Unity of the Catholic Church." See also a Re vifw of this work in the Universite Catholique, vol. x. 398 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. frittered away by disunion and intestine ivars. Norway. because weaker, continued longer in the Union, as a depend- ency of Denmark, than did Sweden, which had always re- garded the Union with a suspicious eye. From its very date, there had been two antagonistic parties in Sweden ; the one favoring the connection, the other opposing it, and standing up for Swedish independence. From and during the last quarter of the fifteenth century, Sweden was virtually inde- pendent of Denmark, having her own governors, under the modest name of administrators. Of these, the most distin- guished belonged to the ancient and illustrious Swedish family of Sture ; of whom three, Sten Sture the Elder, Swante Sture, and Sten Sture the Younger, successively held the reins of government, almost down to the end of the first quarter of the sixteenth century, when our history of the Reformation opens. Unfortunately for the cause of Catholicity in Sweden, the Catholic bishops at this period belonged to the party which favored the Union of Calmar. Whether it was from 1;he general conservative spirit of the Catholic Church, based on a respect for the obligation voluntarily assumed by Sweden in the solemn treaty stipulations there made, or from the fact that many of the bishops were of Danish families, and had been invested with their episcopal dignity by the Danish crown, or from both causes combined, the Swedish prelates were generally favorable to Denmark ; and their influence in the diets, combined with that of many among the leading nobles imbued with similar feelings, possessed great weight in controlling the course of events. This was particularly unfortunate, at a time when Sweden was on the eve of east- ing ofi" the yoke of the Danish tyrant Christian II., and as- serting her own independence. The struggle was precipitated by the death of the admin- istrator Swante Sture, which occurred suddenly in 1512. His followers concealed his death, and wrote to the governors of the different castles in his name, instructing them to hold ARCHBISHOP TROLLE DLPOSED. 399 Jieir fortresses in the name of his son,* Sten Sture the Younger. The bishops and the older nobles opposed the appointment attempted to be thus irregularly and clandes- tinely made. The feeling more or less general was, that the Stures had held the administratorship long enough, and that they should now allow it to pass into the hands of the Trolles, or of some other noble family. After much agitation, and many animated discussions in successive diets, the aflair was finally compromised by the election of the younger Sture, on condition that Gustaf Trolle, the son of Erick Trolle his competitor, should be chosen archbishop of Upsala. Trolle was then in Rome, and the Pontiff ratified the compromise, accepting at the same time the willingly proffered resignation of Jacob Ulfson the aged archbishop, who retired to the quiet of private life. The new archbishop arrived in Sweden in 1515, and he was solemnly installed in his cathedral by the retiring incumbent. As we have already intimated, the families of the Stolles and the Stures were rivals, and were at the head of the two political factions which had long agitated Sweden, The feud was not calmed, but it rather became embittered by the com- promise. Both parties probably went too far, as is generally the case in such contests ; but, if we may believe our Luther- an historian of Sweden, Trolle was haughty and unyielding, while Sture, the administrator, sought to remove the agitation by conciliation. But the facts, even as stated by himself, clearly prove, that if the latter began by the way of concilia- tion, he ended by that of open violence. He declared war against the refractory archbishop, and had him apprehended and arraigned as a traitor before a diet at Stockholm, where he was deposed and degraded from his ofiice. The arch- bishop protested against the competency of the court, com- posed of nobles and bishops, which sat to try him ; and he * The usually accurate writer of the article in the Dublin Review, for September 1845, reviewing Fryxell's History of Sweden, calls him the nephew of Swante. He was his son, as Fryxell states, ii, 5. 400 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. appealed to the judgment of the Sovereign Pontiff. But his appeal was not heeded. "He was obliged with a solemn oath to resign his archbishopric, and was confined in Wester- as Cloister, whence he was further obliged to write to. the chapter of Ucsala to cor firm his abdication, and beg them to choose a new archbishop : at last he received permission to go home to his father's estate Ekholm, and remain there."* His castle of Stake was demolished, and he subsequently escaped with difficulty to Denmark. That the entire proceeding, even with the mitigating cir- cumstances alleged in its defense, was one of violence and against all law and precedent, is suflSciently apparent. The bishops, the only competent judges of the case besides the Pope, did not sign the decree of the states of their own free will, but rather under compulsion. This was the case at least with the most distinguished among them all, Hans Brask, bishop of Linkoping, who, " when he was to place the great wax seal by his name, unremarked, slipped a little paper un- der it, on which he had written these words: 'This I do by compulsion.' "f That political considerations were at the bottom of the whole movement, is even more certain. The Pontiff afterwards excommunicated all who had taken part in the violent deposition of the archbishop ; but that he sought, at the same time, to promote peace in the kingdom, and to prevent the bishops from interfering in the political administration, is apparent from his previous answer to Sture, who had complained of the refractory conduct of the archbishop. " The Pope replied, by warning Trolle and the whole Swedish clergy, ' not to set themselves up contrary to temporal government, but with humility attend to their own duties.' However, Gustaf Trolle heeded neither Pope nor administrator."! — If tliis be true, the archbishop was certainly 80 far in the wrong ; but clearly neither the Pope nor the Church was fairly responsible for what ensued. * FryxelL History of Sweden, ii, 15. f Ibid. f Ibid., p. il. "the blood bath." 401 The plot now thickened. Availing himself of the dissen- sions in Sweden, the Danish king Christian, or Christiern II. came over on the ice with a powerful army, in the winter of 1520-1, and by overwhelming force bore down all opposition. Sten Sture, the administrator, perished in the conflict ; and after eight months' siege, Stockholm opened its gates to the conqueror, who was now prepared eflfectually to enforce the Union of Calmar. But Christian was a bloody tyrant, and instead of endeavoring to heal dissension by conciliation, he established a reign of terror such as Sweden had never before witnessed. In November, 1521, he was solemnly crowned, and his Swedish reign was inaugurated by a bloody tragedy, in which the principal nobles and several of the bishops, who had been invited to the coronation banquet, were treacherously butchered. This butchery is called by the Swedish historians "the Blood Bath." Hans Brask, the bishop of Linkoping, saved his life, only by exhibiting the paper concealed under his seal to the paper deposing the archbishop of Upsala. This treacherous and inhuman massacre, while it rendered the Swedish church desolate, carried sorrow into the families of the principal Swedish nobles, many of which had to la- ment the bloody death of their heads. As the people re- turned to their homes from the sanguinary banquet and carried the sad tidings to their distant homes, a general gloom with a universal panic overspread the land. The Danish ascendency was thus secured amidst ominous silence and wide- spread desolation ; but the quiet preceded a storm, which was soon to sweep away the Danish power from Sweden for- ever. A deliverer was at hand, and he was Gustaf Wasa, belonging to one of the oldest families of Sweden. Our present scope does not require or allow us to enter into the interesting details of the Swedish war of independence ; which, so far as it was a war of freedom against tyranny, has our most hearty sympathy. Our business with Gustaf Wasa is not so much with his political relations to his country as VOL, II, 34: 402 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. its deliverer from the Danish yoke, as with his subsequent assumption of the right to change its religion, to sever it from its time-hallowed communion with the holy Catholic Church, and to make himself its supreme head in spirituals as well as in temporals. Had he not overstepped the limits of his own proper sphere of action, and laid sacrilegious hands on the sanctuary of God, his character might perhaps pass the ordeal of historical scrutiny, not indeed as unstained with crime, but at least as not much worse than that of his contempora- ries. But when he set himself up as a religious reformer, and availed himself of the power which his position gave him to despoil and enslave the Church, and to make it the mere creature of his own royal will, we have a right to inquire into his antecedents, into the motives which prompted his action, and into the manner in which he accomplished his work. Taken off — by treachery as we are told by Fryxell — to Denmark among other hostages in 1518, he was imprisoned by Christian IL, who however shortly afterwards released him at the instance of his relative, Sir Erick Baner, who stood surety to the king for his safe keeping, in the sum of six-thousand rix-thalers.* By his kind friend and surety, Gustaf was taken over to Kallo, " Where he was well received, and enjoyed much freedom. ' I wiU not cause you to be strictly guarded,' said Sir Erick, ' neither will I put you in confinement. You shall eat at my table, and go where you please ; only faithfully promise me not to make your escape, nor journey anywhere unknown to me.' To this Gustaf bound himself both by writing and word of mouth, and thus gained liberty to go where he pleased within six miles of Kallo. In the beginning he was always accompanied by a guardian ; but gradually gaining more and more of his relation's confidence, he was at last left entirely to himself."* IIow did Wasa repay this confidence ? We grieve to state, that he began his public career by an act of treachery to his * About $3,000, equal to about $36,000 of our present money, f Fryxell, History of Sweden, vol. ii, p. 62. WAS A HIS ADVENTURES AND ELOQUENCE. 403 friend and relative, wholly inexcusable under any (nrcum- stances. He broke his solemnly plighted parole, and in the summer of 1519, he secretly fled through Holstein to the free city of Lubeck. His surety followed him, and earnestly pleaded with him to return, and not leave him to bear the brunt of the king's resentment, besides being moreover com- pelled to pay the heavy penalty to which he was bound as his surety. Gustaf would listen to neither entreaties nor threats, and he put off his confiding relative with the vague promise of repaying the money when able, on his return to Sweden. In Lubeck, Gustaf Wasa "first became acquainted with the new doctrines which Luther at that time began preaching in Germany, all of which proved gi eatly to tlie advantage of his country when he became sovereign,"* — As we shall soon see, the "new doctrines" proved much more advantageous to himself than "to his country." After remaining for eight months at Lubeck, "Wasa returned secretly to Sweden in 15:^0, at the very time that Christian's army was marching to its conquest. Narrowly escaping with his life from the South of Sweden, he fled to the fastnesses of the North, where he passed through a series of adventures, and made a number of thrilling hair-breadth escapes, which strongly remind us of the adventures of Charles Stuart in the Scottish highlands, so graphically painted by Chambers.f Distrust and treachery seem to have met him at almost every step. The Danish officials everywhere dogged his footsteps ; and flying from place to place, and knowing not whom to trust amid the general panic, he was often tempted to give up the cause of independence as hopeless. At length he found himself on Christmas day at Mora, a populous village on the northern borders of lake Siljau, and he accompanied the people to the solemn High Mass. At the * Fryxell, ibid., p. 63. f In his "Rebellion in Scotland "—one of the most thrillingly intero»* ing books it. the English language. 104 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. close of the service, lie mounted upon a tomb-stone in the adjoining cemetery, and delivered an impassioned patriotic harangue to the assembled multitude. Young, athletic, and eloquent, his words made a deep impression on the popular mind. Aroused to enthusiasm, the people ran to the steeple and rang the church bells, the usual tocsin for great emerg- encies of alarm and danger. The numbers of the brave and ' patriotic peasantry rapidly increased ; and there, on a Christ- mas day, after a soul-stirring appeal from a Catholic tomb- stone, with the ringing of the venerable Catholic church bells, Swedish patriotism was re-awakened, and the nucleus was formed of that rude but energetic and conquering army, which rolled on in its swelling numbers and growing enthusi- asm from North to South, until it bore down all opposition, crushed the armies of the Dane, and delivered Sweden for- ever from a foreign yoke ! As yet, none of the bishops had declared for Wasa. One reason for this was, that most of them had been butch- ered with the nobles at the terrible Blood Bath of Stock- holm ; and another was, that the deposed archbishop Trolle had already returned, and together with another noble had been intrusted by the Danish crown with the administration of the kingdom. Gustaf Wasa determined to gain over to his cause the most learned and influential member of the episcopal body, Hans Brask of Linkoping, of whom we have already spoken. He succeeded in this purpose ; and at the diet of Wadstena, after coquetting with the assembled repre- sentatives and pleading that he was unworthy of so high an office, he was iinii\]j prevailed on to accept the post of chief executive, under the modest title of administrator. He was as adroit a politician in the cabinet, as he was an able general in the iield Aiming steadily at the supreme power, he moved on towards his object steadily but cautiously, always alleging his own unworthiness, and frequently threatening, when thwarted, to abandon the government altogetlier and leave the ungrateful Swedes to their fate. WASA ELECTED KING AND TURNS REFOEMEK. 405 Yet when such coquettish cajolery failed of its t'jB'ect, he had no scruple whatever to resort to force, and to carry out his measures by open violence. He had brought into the country a strong body of foreign mercenaries, chiefly German Lutherans; and he di I not hesitate to avail himself of this powerful engine of oppression, whenever persuasion failed with the refractory nobles and people, who had inherited a strong prejudice in favor of liberty from their Catholic ances- tors. All this we shall soon see, especially \vhen we shall have occasion to show how the Reformation was introduced into Sweden. Meantime the seige of Stockholm, which was still held by the Danish garrison, went slowly on. Gustaf might probably have taken the city at once ; but it did not suit his purpose to be in a hurry. He wished to accustom the people to his sway, and to prove to them how necessary he was to their safety. He desired also to have time to pre- pare the way for more effectually carrying out his subsequent designs. To be able to succeed in this ulterior purpose, it was necessary to reorganize the elements of the old Swedish diets, which without a thorough remodeling would probably have presented a sturdy resistance to his darling scheme of becoming an absolute king. Circumstances favored him. The members of the diets had been greatly diminished : the Blood Bath of Stockholm had already done its work with the bishops and nobles. As our Lutheran historian himself tells us : " Scarcely was there a bishop or a senator in the country till very lately, that is, till the autumn of 1522, when new bishops had been appointed bv Gustaf, viz. ]\Iaster Knut in Upsala to replace Gustaf Trolle ; Magnus Sommar in Strangnas, after Beldenack ; Harold Stromfelt in Skara, in the room of Didrik Slaghok ; and Peter Sunnanwader in Westeras to replace Otto Swinhufwud lately dead ; who all Vjecame famous in the history of Gustaf's reign. The senate was also furnished with new members in the diet held at Strangnas."* In this diet of Strangnas, thus fully reorganized and tilled with his own particular friends, Gustaf Wasa was chosen king * Fryxell, History of Sweden, vol. ii, p. 111. 57 406 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. of Sweden in June, 1523. His newly created bisli ops were among the loudest in demanding his election, which vas warmly seconded by the people whose idol he had now be- come. Gustaf as usual, played off the arts of a consummate diplomat. — " He was already weary of the labors he had undergone, and they could choose from the old knights who were present." — None of these daring to think of accepting the dignity, for fear of his head, Gustaf was at length pre- vailed upon reluctantly to accept the royal crown, after the argent entreaty of the Papal legate, John Magnus, whom he afterwards had appointed archbishop of Upsala.* Having now secured his object, there was no longer any valid reason for delaying the taking of Stockholm; the gates of which were accordingly freely opened to him on the 21st of June of the same year, a few days after his election. He made his entry in great state, and immediately repaired to the "High Church," where he prostrated himself in thanks- giving before altars which he was so soon, and which he even then probably intended, to subvert! But the wary monarch had not yet sufficiently moulded the popular mind, and es- pecially the character of the episcopal body, to his mind ; and he accordingly delayed his coronation, until entire sub- serviency could be obtained, and he would be required to take no inconvenient oaths.f Being now firmly seated on the throne, Wasa, who had long cast a covetous eye on the possessions of the Church, soon began seriously to devise ways and means for accom plishing his settled purpose, which was to enrich himself by seizing on the rich property that had been accumulated by the generous piety of ages towards the sup])ort of the clergy and the poor, and the splendor of divine worship. He could not hope tosucceed in carrying out this sacrilegious design, without first shaking the deeply seated reverence of his people for the ancient Religion and iov the persons of their chief * See the whole scene, which is an exceedingly rich one, in Fryxell, History of Sweden vol. ii, p. Ill, seqq. ] Ibid THE TWO BROTHERS. 407 pastors ; and he accordingly determined first gradually to undermine the foundations of the stately fabric which it waa his darling object entirely to subvert. If he could once ni- fect the popular mind with the new opinions, and degrade the episcopal character in the eyes of the people, he need entertain no reasonable doubt of ultimate success. He determined to labor for this double object, as a necessary preliminary to the thorough work of spoliation which he had in view. As we have already seen, he had been himself infected at Lubeck with the taint of the new gospel ; but as yet, while all Sweden was Catholic, he had not dared avow his partial- ity for Lutheranism, and he still passed himself off as a zeal- ous Catholic. To begin the work of undermining, he now cordially received at court and loaded with honors the two brothers Olaus and Lawrence, sons of Peter, a rich smith in Orebro ; who having begun their education in the Carmelite convent of their native town, had been sent by their wealthy parents to Germany to complete their education. They had become the zealous disciples of Luther in Wittenberg, and they now returned to Sweden brim full of the new gospel. They arrived in 1521, just in time to attend the funeral of their father ; but they had become suddenly much wiser than their mother, and they openly thwarted her purpose of hav- ing their deceased parent buried, according to his dying re- quest, by the Carmelites, or of allowing these pious monks, with whom they had received their own early education, to celebrate Masses for the repose of his soul, as he had also provided in his will. The tears of the weeping mother were unheeded, and the Carmelites were rudely driven off from the funeral cortege. These wise sons tauntingly asked their sorrow-stricken mother : " If she understood the Mass in Latin, or what she thought of it. She answered : ' I do not understand it ; but while I listen to it, I pray God that he will accept their prayers which I doubt not He will.'"* A * Fryxell. History of Sweden, ii, 118. 408 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. simple, but eloquent answer, -wliicli would have moved any one but two such rude and heartless boys, wLo were evi- dently totally unworthy of such a mother. The brothers were very unlike one another. Both dis- ciples of Luther, one resembled his master in volubility and coarseness, while the other was more like the gentler Melanc- thon : "Olaus the elder was bold, lively to an excess, perhaps bordering on vio- lence ; active, determined, learned, capable of defending his principles by his pen, still moie so by his speech. Lawrence the younger was milder, though not less zealous, a less eloquent speaker but a greater author, and more learned than his brother ; neither was to be moved from what he considered right. They were promoted by Luther in 1518 to the grade of magister (master), Olaus being twenty-one, and Lawrence nineteen years old. The elder had accompanied Luther on a tour of inspection through the churches and schools of north Germany, by which he profited much. Such were the men with whose assistance Gustaf Wasa introduced the Lutheran reform into Sweden."* The insincerity of Wasa, and the cunning and unprincipled manner in which he conducted the work of gradually under- mining the faith of Sweden, are unfolded in the following passage of the candid Lutheran historian : " The dauntless Olaus Petri had presented himself at the diet held at Strangnas in 1523, and sought to expose the errors of popery before the states. It caused much excitement, and reached the king's ears, who called for Olaus and his patron, the venerable and learned Laurentius Andrese. They must now explain their sentiments before him, and it was impossible for him not to approve what agreed so well with his own convictions and advaritage ; but he did not express himself openly yet for some time, fearing by gaining the name of a heretic to draw on himself the detestation of priests and people ; he therefore appeared to take no part in these relig- ious quarrels, but j)rotected the new doctrines secretly, and, for their furtliei dissemination, placed Lawrence as doctor of theology at Upsala, Olaus as preacher in the High Church of Stockholm, and Laurentius Andreas he nominated his own private secretary. Thus these three, each in his own province, were enabled to labor in the cause of truth (error ?)"f Each of these men discharged the office assigned him with * Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, 117-8. f Ibid., 119. WASA DEPOSES BISHOPS. 409 a zeal worthy a better cause. In the High Church of Stock- holm a pulpit was built for Olaus " shaped like a basket, from which he with bold words and youthful zeal, set forth the errors and deceits (!) of popery ;" while his milder and more learned brother duly indoctrinated with the new herepy the numerous candidates for the sacred ministry who frequented the ancient university of Upsala. No wonder the Catholic bishops, and others who had the interests of the ancient faith at heart, took the alarm. Bishop Brask earnestly besought the king not to countenance the new teachers, lest he should lose the good name of a Christian prince ; but the king in his answer assumed the lofty tone of an impartial protector of all his subjects alike, without regard to their religious opinions. How little he was sincere in this, the sequel clearly proved ; but even at the time he deceived no one. Says Fryxell : " In spite of this assumed impartiality, Brask was not slow to perceive the king's leaning towards the Lutherans ; but he neither could, nor dared un- dertake any thing farther."* Having thus set his instruments to work, Wasa next took one step forward in his great scheme of robbing the Church. At the diet of Stragnas, in 1523, he called upon the estates to pay his large body of foreign mercenaries, who were now lying idle, and were clamoring for the remainder of their wages. Wasa proposed that the clergy should make up the deficit out of their revenues, but the clergy naturally objected to a tax which was unusual, and which, they foresaw, was but the beginning of a system of wholesale spoliation. Here- upon the king wrote a letter to Brask, "full of severity and threats ;" and the prudent prelate at length yielded, probably to avert greater evils.f His next step in advance was, to depose an obnoxious bishop, and to have a new archbishop appointed for Upsala. He did both with a high hand. Among the new bishops whom he had caused to be named, one M^as accused of sowing dissaflection ; this was Peter Sunnanwader of Westeras. The * Fryxell, History of Sweden, i 121. f Ibid.. 122. VOL. II. — 35 410 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. king, accompanied by some senators immed ately ludu to Westeras, summoned before him the trembling chapter of the cathedral, ordered them to depose Peter at once, and to nom- inate in his stead Petrus Magni. The canons hesitated, but the king peremptorily commanded them to decide, and they tremblingly obeyed. He then rode straight back to Stock- holm, and ordered before him the canons of Upsala, whom he directed to nominate a new archbishop in place of Knut whom he had already deposed. "He was obeyed, and the choice fell on John Magnus, the papal legate, whom the king had proposed to them."* The Church in Sweden had found a master, who lorded it over her bishops with a military despotism, before entirely unheard of in the spiritual domain. All were stricken with consternation at these high-handed measures ; but the end was not yet. In 1524, Wasa left Sweden, to hold a conference with the Danish King Frederick at Malmo, on subjects connected with the mutual relations of the two kingdoms. During his ab- sence important events occurred. Urged on by the zealous Bishop Brask, the new archbishop of Upsala summoned be- fore his chapter the two brothers Olaus and Lawrence, and as they proved obstinate in their adherence to the new gospel, he excommunicated them. Brask cordially co-operated with the metropolitan, and not only denounced the new doctrines in his diocese, but established a press whence he caused to be issued a number of publications against the errors of Luther, which he disseminated through the country.f Meantime, the violent appeals of Olaus were producing their legitimate fruits at Stockholm. The cry of gospel-lib- erty raised by him was taken up by some Anabaptists who had lately arrived from Germany ; and a popular commotion ensued, which threatened to destroy all social order and to in- troduce universal anarchv : in a word to make of Stockholm * Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, 122-3. \ Ibid., p. 138. THE ANABAPTISTS. 411 what the Auabaptists were then making of Ley den and other cities. " They pretended to be impelled by the Spirit ; they shouted xnd screamed, and finally succeeded in exciting the lower orders to uproar. A disgraceful tumult followed : shoe-makers, tanners, and others, often the most ignorant and vicious of their class, also imagined, or wanted to make others imagine, that they too were impelbd by the Holy Ghost. These new apostles pre- sented themselves in the churches ; but no one could recognize the doctrines of Christianity in the anger and violence with which they preached. The people, stirred by their discourses, wildly stormed both churches and con- vents, tore down their images and ornaments, and dragged them about in the mud of the streets. Olaus and his colleagues hastened out and sought to quiet the uproar ; but the excited and raging multitude heeded not their words. The more sensible part of the community looked on these excesses with horror ; and began to fear for the liberty of conscience in matters of religion which had lately been introduced in the countiy But the peasants who happened to be in town were most wrathful ; they hurried with horror out of Stockholm as a Gomorrah of iniquity, describing to the other peasants with bitterness and detestation what the}^ had witnessed, and in their ignorance laying the whole blame on the doctrines of Luther. Up- land seemed on the point of insurrection ; the peasants threatened that they would march to Sto.kholm, and clear the town and country of Lutherans and heretics."t The peasants were not far wrong in laying the blame on the doctrines of Luther; there was, on the contrary, an irre- sistible logic in the "ignorance" with which they reasoned. For if every man had a clear right to judge for himself in religious matters, why had not the shoe-makers and tanners as valid a right as any others ? In what was their right to preach inferior to that of Olaus and the other self-constituted apostles of the new gospel? On his return, the king was filled with consternation at the popular tumults, which threatened the stability of his newly established throne. He arrested and threw into prison the Anabaptist leaders, whom he afterwards sent out of the country, with the significant threat, " that it should cost them their lives if they ventured ever again to set foot on Swedish * Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, p. 139. 412 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. ground." Olaus and bis Lutheran colleagues were also se- verely rebuked by him for their too great indulgence towards men, who after all did but follow out the principle of private judgment which those new apostles had so boastingly pro- mulgated. To still the popular tempest, Wasa came down from his throne and associated with the people, having a gra- cious smile and a bow for the lowest: he stopped them in the streets, asked concerning their complaints, played the part of Absalom when the latter was meditating treachery against the throne of his father.* — Wasa certainly knew well how to act his part, both in comedy and in tragedy ; but especially in the latter. The end was now fast approaching. At Christmas, 1524, Wasa visited Upsala to sound the dispositions of the new archbishop, whom he had lately caused to be appointed in so summary a manner. He soon found, however, to his sorrow that John Magnus, though a timid and courtly man, was not likely to become his ready and compliant instrument. He would do every thing to oblige the king, except to sacrifice his conscience, by abandonmg the faith "once delivered to the 8aints."t Upon discovering this unpleasant truth, the king put in requisition all his arts to seduce the archbishop, or to * The Lutheran historian calls this acting of Wasa, making his Ericks- gata. Fryxell, Ibid., ii, p. 140. f Of the archbi.shop's character Fryxell says : "The lately elected archbishop John Magnus was a learned man of a mild and gentle disposition. He loved his country much, and its deliverer not less, for whose high qualities he entertained the greatest veneration, though mixed with fear and some ill will when he discovered that the king was laboring to overthrow the old Religion. Brask incessantly incited him, as the chief prelate of Sweden, to set a bound to the royal encroachments, but the archbishop could never bring himself openl}' to venture on so haz- irdous an attempt, and was obliged for his cowardice to endure many a «hari reproof from the bolder bishop. It was not that John Magnus ap- proved of the king's proceedings ; he was devoted to the Roman Catholic Religion in heart and soul, and tried to counteract them as much as his ti- midity permitted." — Ibid., p 144. THE ARCHBISHOP OF UPSALA. 413 degrade him m popular estimation ; or, if all else failed, to drive him from his see. His first manoeuvre was to have a public disputation on religion held in his presence at Upsala ; his constant companion and theologian, the violent Olaua taking the Luthern side, and Peter Galle, a learned theologian, the Catholic. The discussion being held under the eye of the terrible king was scarcely free, and it terminated, as such wordy contests generally do, in nothing. The disputants "grew louder and more violent; and the king then ordered them to finish, and caused the chief points which had been discussed to be committed to paper," We may easily imagine how full, fair, and impartial was the report of the discussion, made and circulated under such auspices ; but it had precisely the effect it was meant to produce, — to weaken the hold which the ancient faith had on the minds and hearts of the people.* Determined, if possible, to bend the archbishop to his will, Wasa went again to Upsala in May, 1526.f He was accom- panied by a retinue of two hundred splendidly accoutred horsemen. Halting upon one of the mounds of old Upsala, he addressed the assembled multitudes in an harangue teem- ing with coarse invectives against the clergy, and especially the monks. He evidently coveted their wealth, and the simple-minded people discovered it at a glance. "But the peasants began to shout otft and to cry 'that they might be per- mitted to keep their monks, since they were willing to support them : they had heard that they were to be robbed of the Latin Mass and their old faith ; that the secretary ' Master Lajs ' was certainly the cause of all this ; they therefore wanted to get him out of the town and punish him.' Gustaf smiled, and asked them if they knew 'Master Lars?' They answered: 'no, not we ; but if we had him here with us on the common, we should presently make better acquaintance.' "I * See Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, p. 141. f He had previously summoned the archbishop before him at Stockholm, and administered to him a sharp and unmerited i*ebuke on his supposed love of pomp ! The timid prelate was like a lamb before the wolf ! See an ac- count of the curious interview. Ibid., p. 145. | Ibid., p. 146. 414 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. This secretary of Wasa was Lars Andersson,* wh:i com bined the unprincipled cunning of the English Cranmer witb the crouching servility of the English vicar general Crom well. No wonder the people cordially disliked him, and sought to make his nearer acquaintance on the common ! The royal reformer next presented himself in new Upsala. where " to make sport of the archbishop," he publicly placed a garland on his head constituting him May-King ! He next passed a rude insult on the venerable prelate at a jmblic banquet : "At the end of the repast, the archbishop with a full cup in his hand turned towards the king, and said : ' Our gi-ace drinks to your grace.' Gus- taf answered : ' Thy grace and our grace cannot find room under the same roof ; ' — to which the archbishop had nothing to answer, but the company burst into a loud laugh."f Tlie king next visited the archepiscopal chapter, and came at once and bluntly to the point, to which all this cunning manoeuvring was evidently tending. lie asked the canons to tell him the origin of their privileges : " Peter Galle stood up, and answered (more cautiously than wisely) in the name of his companions : ' That the holy Church had received her privile- ges from Christian emperors, kings, and princes : goods and lands had, on the other hand, been presented to churches and convents hy pious souls, which gifts had afterwards been confirmed by kings and princes, so that they should remain inalienable and ever the same.' 'But,' observed the king, 'have not kings and princes the right to recall such privileges, foi which they find no ground in Scripture, but which have been extorted by denunciations of purgatory and more of the sort, which can never be proved by holy writ?' Peter Galle not replying, the king turned to the archbishop begging him to answer, but neither did he speak."| They no doubt thought it a bootless task to contend with the royal ruffian, whose purpose was already fixed, as they but too plainly perceived. The sequel is so well told by the Lutheran historian, that we can not do better than transcribe his words : ♦ Called by Fryxell Laurentius Andreae — his name in the Ijatinizwl form. t Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, p. 147 | Ibid. THE archbishop's EXILE AND DEATH. 415 " King Gustaf perceived but too well, that so far from having a friend in the archbishop, he was, on the contrary, counteracted by him, as much as so weak and timid a man could venture to do. He called for him, therefore, and declared to him that he would never recognize him as archbishop; he might therefore look after some other employment, and leave the country, for he was never more to return to Upsula. John, not daring to resist such a positive order, sailed away as soon as he had collected his most precious effects He remained long in Poland, in the hope of being recalled and reinstated in his office, but never took part in the many conspiracies which were set on foot against Gustaf by fugitive Swedes ; on the contrary, he sought in many instances to further his and Sweden's weal to the best of his ability ; but all the time urged che king, according to his own heart's convic- tion, to re-embrace the Roman Catholic faith. When he found his efforts vain, he set out for Rome, seeking help, but finding none. He died at last in poverty in a hospital of that city in 1544."* Thus died the last Catholic archbishop of Upsula ; a holy man worthy of better times and of a happier lot. We are reminded of the lamb pleading in vain for mercy before the hungry wolf, whenever we consider his meek relations with the tyrannical Wasa.f But the degradation of the episcopal body was not yet com- plete. The two recently deposed prelates, Knut and Sunnan- wader, were now brought up for trial before the temporal lords, the king himself appearing as their principal accuser, and charging them with having been engaged in stirring up the recent revolt in Dalgarna. Whether they were guilty or not, we have no means of ascertaining, nor, with such an ac- cuser and under such circumstances, did their guilt or inno- * Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, p. 149. f I'he wi'iter on the Swedish Reformation in the Dublin Review scarcely does justice to the rude despotism of Wasa, in saying that, to get rid of him, he sent the archbishop " as it were on a special embassy to the Polish court," with the promise "that his dispatches should be forwarded to him at Dant- iic." Wasa seems to have adopted no such expedient of politeness, but rudely expelled him from the kingdom. Fryxell indeed tells us that the archbishop alleged something of the kind after his departure, — which, con- sidering hi ^ sincere and truthful character, is scarcely credible ; unless, indeed, the amiable prelate wished by thif- expedient to excuse the king. 416 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. cence matter mucli with the judges. They were, of coursei, found guilty of treason, and condemned to death. " The two seditionaries (?) were forced to make a degrading entry into Stockholm, riding backwards on poor half-starved horses, dressed in ragged palls, Master Knut wearing a bark mitre on his head, Peter Sunnanwader a crown of straw, and a wooden sword by his side. Crowds of people in dis- guise followed them, mocking and teasing the unfortunates. The procession passed through some of the principal streets of the town, and stopped at last on the great square, where they were led to the whipping-post, and made to drink with the executioner, hooted at and derided by the mob all the while. Shortly after this ungenerous tieatment, they were both con- ducted to the place of execution, beheaded and impaled : Peter Sunnanwader in Upsala, 18th Feb., 1527, and Master Knut three days later in Stockholm. The fame of these proceedings spread, like wild-fire, through the kingdom. Gustaf had ordered the ignominious procession through Stockholm, to de- crease the reverence of the people for their bishops ; but it was interpreted as an ungenerous victor's mockery over the vanquished ; and the execution itself excited yet greater displeasure. Such an attempt against such men was extraordinary, nay unheard of. The priests represented the criminals as the fallen defenders of the clerical freedom ; the friends of the Stures as innocent victims of their devotion to that family ; and the Roman Catholics as martyrs to the true faith, sacrificed by the hand of a heretic and godless king ; in which sentiments the clergy sought to maintain the people to the utmost of their power. It was related that strange signs wei-e seen in the sky at Sunnanwader's execution ; and a failure of the crops, which happened the same yeai", was accounted as a punishment of heaven It was no wonder if the discontent became general, and the misguided (!) people ex- pressed both displeasure and hatred against the sovereign they had once so much loved."* All this was a part of the settled programme in the cun- ningly devised drama of the Swedish Keformation. As to the discontent and murmurs of the people, Wasa heeded them not, so long as he had his well trained and powerful body of foreign troops at his back. With such aid he had no doubt of being able fully to sustain himself, and to crush out all opposition, if necessary in the blood of his own peo- ple. These foreign mercenaries were, in fact, the real key of his position. He played them off on all occasions, whether to ca- * Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, p. 154-5. THE DIET OF WESTERAS. 417 jole his people, and especially the clergy, out of their money, oi to threaten them into servile compliance with his will. Thus, "At the meeting held at Wadstena in 1521, it was determined that the foreign cavalry should be quartered in the cloisters ; at the meeting of Stock- holm (12th Jan., 1525), that the tithes of that year should be employed to pay oif the foreign soldiery. The priests opposed it, but the king clearly proved that these expenses were necessary, and the nobility, citizens, and peasants, glad at not having to pay themselves, were well satisfied that the priests should do it. This bait Oustaf often employed, to get the whole of the people on his side against the prelates of Rome."* It is not to be denied that Wasa was an adroit, as he cer- tainly was a most unprincipled tactician. He had so man- aged every thing, that the plot was now ripe for execution, and the day was at hand for the total subversion of the Cath- olic Religion in the kingdom. Among all the prelates, there remained only the venerable Brask of Linkoping from whom he dreaded any serious opposition to his favorite design ; and him he had no doubt of being able to control. Accordingly, in the midsummer of 1527, a diet was convened at Westeras. The haughty and tyrannical course adopted by the king had already inspired such alarm among the bishops and clergy, that " even proud Bishop Brask wrote to Ture Jonsson Roos ' that he would rather be dead than fall under his grace's (king Gustaf's) displeasure.' "f No wonder, then, that " The Roman Catholics anticipated little gain fi"om this diet. It was with the utmost repugnance that Bishop Brask saw that their faith was to be discussed before the people ; . . . . and that this was to be done in the pres- ence of the king was a circumstance still more alarming to him; for though a bold and wise man, Brask had, like the rest, experienced how Gustaf by his look, his voice, his words and gestures, had such an influence over the minds of the people that none dared or were able to speak in his presence, much less to resist his will."t Under such circumstances, the proposed discussion of Re- ligion before the diet was little better than a solemn farce and a hollow mockery ; for with the overweening influence and overbearing manner of a king now openly favoring the Luther- * FryxeU, Ibid., p. 142. f Ibid., p. 123. J Ibid., p. 156 418 . REFORMATION IN SV/EDEN. ans, little fairness and still less freedom could be expected ii> the debate. Still more to humble the bishops, Wasa more over passed an open insult on the whole episcopal body, by assigning them, contrary to immemorial usage, the second place at the grand banquet given to the members before the opening of the diet. " The prelates, who had hitherto sat above the senators, saw themselves with rage thus removed lower ; however, none ventured to expose himself to the king's anger ; they were silent and obliged to make the best of the places assigned them."* " The following day they assembled in the cathedral at the summons of Brask, and the doors being shut, that no stranger might glide in amongst them to betray their counsel, the question was proposed how they were to conduct themselves now, when by so many previous events, and lastly by the disgrace which had been put upon them at the royal banquet, it was clear to perceive that the king had serious intentions on their propert}', power, and privileges. To this the bishops of Strangnas and Westeras (re- cent nominees of Wasa) answered, that 'they were well satisfied, poor or rich, how the king would have them, for had they little to receive, they had likewise little to bestow.' This complying speech highly incensed Bishop Brask. ' Ye are madmen,' he exclaimed, ' if ye permit such a thing ! If King Gustaf will take from us, let him do it by force, not with our own free will and consent ; in that manner we retam our right to complain before our Holy Father in Rome. Let each one take good heed how he abandoned the Pope. Many kings and princes have taken the same in hand, as this one is now doing ; but they have all been scorched by the thunder-bolts of papal excommunication ; and the persecuted clergy have got what was theirs quietly back again. But should we fall from Rome, which is our sheet- anchor and defense, we fall into fire and thorns on every side. The Holy Father will excommunicate us, and the king here at home will count us little better than slaves ; so that we may not venture to speak a word for the freedom and rights of the Church."t The timid were reassured by this zealous appeal, and they all entered into a solemn written agreement and pledge to resist the new doctrines to the end ; " but such was tJieir dread of the king, that they buried the parchment under a stone in the floor of the church ; and it was not till fifteen * Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, p. 156-7. f Ibid., p. 157-«. MANJIUVRING AND VIOLENCE. 419 years afterwards that it was sought for, and and again saw the light."* At length the deed was done, and the act was passed which despoiled the churches of their property, severed Swe- den from Catholicity, and made the king supreme head of the Swedish church in spirituals as well as in temporals. The most important articles of this celebrated act of "Westeras were as follows : "1. That the superfluous riches and revenues of the bishops, the churches, and convents should be apphed to the use of the kingdom and the crown. 2. AVhat property before the time of Charles VIII. (about the year 1445) had been bestowed upon churches and convents should return to the crown. 3. What since the time of Charles VIII. had been given to churches and convents, sold, or pledged, should be resumed or redeemed by those who could prove themselves to be the nearest heirs of the same. 4. The pure word of God(!) should be preached in all churches of the kingdom ; and in a separate determination, called Westeras Onlinantla, it was fixed that bishops, deans, etc., should be nominated by the king without the ad- vice of the Pope ; that the king should depose unqualified clergymen ; that priests in worldly affairs should appear before temporal tribunals ; that mulcts (fines) should fall to the king and not to the bishops ; that the inher- itance of priests should fall to their nearest relatives, instead of to the bish- ops ; that the Bible should be read in schools, etc."f We cannot, and need not give a more detailed account than the above of the tortuous manoeuvring by which Wasa thus brought all the orders of the kingdom to his feet, and had himself made virtually an absolute despot, with a standing army of foreign mercenaries to enforce obedience to his will. Suffice it to say, that the diet of Westeras was not a free as- sembly ; that the king came to it with his hungry Lutheran soldiery at his back to overawe the deliberations ; that when on the very first day, both the bishops led by Brask, and the * Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, p. 157-8. f Ibid., p. 166-7. The writer in the Dublin Review makes an important mistake in omitting the second clause given above, or rather combining it with the third, in such a way as to limit the confiscation of church property to that which had been acquired since the reign of Charles VIII. 420 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. nobles led by the venerable Ture Jonsson Roos the oldest of their number, sternly opposed the wholesale spoliation of the Church and the sweeping innovations in religion, "Wasa ab- ruptly left the hall, and declared that he would no longer be king over so ungrateful a people, worked himself apparently into a towering rage, and called on the estates to refund him all the money he had advanced for the defense of the coun- try ; that for three days he surlily kept his own apartments, resisted entreaty after entreaty from the diet that he would still vouchsafe to retain the crown : and that finally, only on the fourth day, when both bishops and nobles had become sufficiently humbled, and when the peasants, no doubt at the king's instigation, were openly clamoring for their blood in case they held out any longer, he consented to appear again before the diet, and, surrounded by his guards, promised to continue to act as their king, but only on condition of their passing all the acts he required, to make him supreme in church and state. The humbled estates, amidst the violent clamor of the peas- ants, now voted every thing at once, with outstretched hands and with seeming alacrity. Some of the newly created bish- ops, his own creatures, had already abandoned the cause of their brethren, to whom they had so solemnly plighted their faith at the memorable meeting in the cathedral ; the vener- able Brask hung his head in sorrow and humilation, and si- lently submitted to an outrage upon all rights human and divine, which he had striven in vain to prevent. The bish- ops were compelled by force to give up their castles, along with their property ; and when Wasa had thus obtained all he wanted, he abruptly dismissed the diet. Says Fryxell : " The diet of Westeras did not last very long ; scarce eight days passed ere it was closed ; but never at any diet has more been executed ; never have any resolutions brought about a more complete change. The whole tremendous power of popery (!) in all its members was crushed. Deprived of their riches, their privileges, their great consideration, they (the clergy) were open to the continued and often unjust exactions of the crown and the nobility, to the attacks of the Lutheran priests, and left without power to THE CATHOLIC RELIGION ABJLISHED. 421 protect themselves from the encroachments of enemies on every side. The crown of Sweden, which before had been utterly impoverished and unable to pay half its expenses, became rich at once ; the king formerly, in most respects, compelled to act according to the will of the bishops and clergy {and the people) now acquired a much wider (more despotic) rule ; the peasants felt a great alleviation in their taxes ; but the nobility gained the most : for countless estates were redeemed or resumed (robbed) from churches and convents. Gustaf, himself descended from the chiefest and wealthiest families, did not in this respect curtail aught from his own pi-ivileges(!), but received large property which has since been known by the name of the Qustavian entail. It often happened afterwards, that the nobles appropri- ated by force fields and possessions of the church, etc."* Gustaf, indeed, rebuked their rapacity ; but they were only acting in accordance with his spirit, if not copying his ex- ample. This passage accounts satisfactorily for the whole afiair, singularly enough called the Reformation in Sweden I Its chief effect, as well as its great aim, was to enrich the king and the nobles at the expense of the Church, which it sacri- legiously despoiled and ruthlessly enslaved. The work of destruction begun at Westeras was completed in the suc- ceeding diet of Orebro, held in the beginning of 1529, the same year that the Lutherans issued their famous protest at the diet of Spires in Germany. At the diet of Orebro the venerable sacrifice of the Mass was abolished, and the new- fangled service composed by Glaus was substituted in its place. General discontent followed this vital innovation in worship. The older Catholic priests, who had not yet' been tainted, " Lamented that the good old times were passed, and wished that they were lying deep enough under the soil, that they might not be forced tc witness the evil and mischief which were spreading over the world. A great body of the common people joined with these, particularly women and old people, crying and lamenting over these novelties, and the boldness of their impious sovereign."! These poor people lamented in vain ; their " impious sov * Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, 168-9. f Ibid., 179. '58 422 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. ereign" had a heart as hard as the coin he loved so well. They were soon left " like sLccp without a shepherd ;" such of their faithful pastors as could not be compelled to conform to the new order of things were deprived of their places, were driven into exile, or were made to eke out their living in their old age as best they might, or else to starve ; while the people themselves were forced into conformity at the points of those formidable foreign bayonets which the royal reformer knew so well how to employ, in order the more ef- fectually to establish the precious right of private judgment in matters of religion ! The venerable Bishop Brask was forced to leave Sweden, and to bury his sorrows in a foreign land, where his gray hairs went down in affliction to the tomb. "In Dantzic he met the deposed archbishop John INIagnus, and both labored there a while on the conversion of Gustaf. from the Lutheran faith. When John Magnus removed to Italy, Brask remained some time in the Olivet cloister near Dantzic ; and his last years were passed further in the interior of Poland in a monastery called Landan. Like John, he never bore any part in any of the conspiracies which were carried on against Gustaf; but he wrote frequently to his friends in Sweden, exhorting them faithfully and earnestly to remain true to the faith of their fathers, the doctrines of the old Catholic Church. Faithful himself to these doctrines, for which he had sacrificed all, he ended his days in the above mentioned monastery, A. D, 1538."t Having now become supreme head of the Swedish church, Wasa entered at once on the vigorous discharge of his new pastoral functions. His first duty was to make a regular visitation of the dioceses, which his terror-stricken diet and his own good sword, together with that of his faithful foreign troops, had committed to his spiritual jurisdictiDn. Such a visitation the Christian world probably never witnessed be- fore; it was very much like that which was made by Mo- hammed with the Koran in one hand and the scimitar in the other ! Surrounded and supported by a strong body of cav * Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, 171. AN EXTRAORDINARY VISITATION. 423 airy, to give the greater effect to his pastoral advice, he traversed the country, carrying with him Glaus and other Lutheran preachers ; whose words must have been very eloquent and impressive indeed, under the imposing circum- stances of this most extraordinary visitation. While these preached and pruj/ed, Wasa watched with his cavalry, ready at a moment's notice to swoop down upon the refractory, and to give them a practical evidence of that blessed religious liberty, which he had just inaugurated. But he watched more particularly over his own pecuniary interests. Whithersoever he came, his first care always was to ask for the charters and deeds of the churches, convents, and monasteries. These he scrutinized narrowly, and woe to the clerical proprietor or religious corporation, if his eager glance detected a single flaw in the instrument ! Many of the charters of such institutions had perished in the course of time, or by the violence of civil commotions and foreign wars. Of course, all such property was confiscated to the crown without mercy, and no prescription, even from time immemorial, was of any avail against the royal rapacity. What with titles pronounced defective, and with those which had perished, the amount of confiscation was immense. " So sweeping was the eflfect of the royal scrutiny, and so wholesale the confiscation, that in this one journey the Protestant historian assures us that no fewer than sixteen thousand manor farms were alienated to the crown. The lion's share he kept himself; the remainder he divided among his followers ; soldiers, courtiers, favorites, — every one who had proved him- self the servile and obsequious minion of the royal will came in for his portion of the sacrilegious plunder. The clergy who consented to embrace the new religion, were allowed to retain their property for a time. Those who spurned the proffered bribe, and preferred poverty and exile to riches and aposta.sy, had to leave their native country, and many years afterwards were to be seen begging their bread from door to door through the continent of Europe."* Hitherto the king had delayed his coronation, chiefly because, intending to sweep away the Catholic Church fron: ♦ Paper in the Dublin Review, supra cit. 424 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. Sweden and to confiscate its property, he did not wis. to bo hampered with the customary oath to protect its rigLts and privileges.* Now all obstacles having been removed ; the good Archbishop Magnus, and the zealous Bishop Brask hav- ing been expelled the kingdom, and the other prelates having been duly drilled into silent acquiescence, if not submission ; he determined to delay no longer an event so important. Accordingly, as a preliminary step, he now appointed Lau- rence Petri, brother of Olaus, archbishop of Upsala; and through the management and false promises of his wily chancellor, Lars Andersson, he finally succeeded in inducing first the bishop of Westeras, and then the bishops of Abo, Scara, and Stregnes, all his own creatures, to perform the ceremony of consecration. f The consecration having been duly performed by bishops having undoubtedly the episcopal character themselves, though uncanonical and unlawful, was certainly valid, and thus the present Swedish Lutheran bishops, unless the right -of consecration has since been materially altered, are invested with the episcopal character ; though being severed from the communion of the Church, they have not canonical jurisdiction or any lawful authority whatever. Every thing having been thus prepared, the king was solemnly crowned a week afterwards, on the 12th of January, 1528,J The new archbishop, of course, took to himself a wife, as his brother Olaus had done before; and as all the clergy were expected to do afterwards, if they would give in- * See Fryxell,. History of Sweden, ii, 175. f The consecrating prelates were simple enough to believe the solemn promise made them in writing by Andersson and the archbishop elect, that they would, immediately after the ceremony ask and obtain from Rome a confirmation of what had been done ; which, o' course, they neither did, nor intended to do. See Messanius, Scandic Chunology, quoted by Dublin Review, Ibid. I Ibid. The Reformation in Sweden was thus, far more adroitly managed than that in Ensland SACRILEGE AND REBELLION. 425 doubted evidence of their sincere attachment to the new gospel ! The giving of wives to the clergy, and the putting of money into the purses of the kings and nobles, were every where among the first and most precious fruits of the Refor- mation. Without these two necessary adjuncts, it would have been incomplete, and comparatively worthless. The good people of Upsala, who had been so long accus- tomed to witness the virtues of John Magnus and of other holy Catholic archbishops, were greatly startled and scan- dalized at seeing their new archbishop leading his wife into their venerable cathedral. The same feeling of indignation had been even more openly displayed at Stockholm a few years previously, when Olaus was publicly married in the High Church, in which he was officiating. Says the Lutheran Fryxell : '•A general murmur was heard; the ignorant (!) populace threatened to kill the foreign heretics and depose the apostate king."* As innovation after innovation. came successively to light, the popular indignation grew stronger and stronger, until at last it broke out into open and repeated civil commotions and insurrections. Three times in succession did the hardy people of Dalarna, called the Dalmen, who had been among the first to raise the banner of Swedish independence, break out into open revolt, in which they were joined by other provinces; while the people of almost the whole country sympathized with their cause, as they shared in their griev- ances. Almost the entire subsequent reign of Wasa was dis- turbed by these repeated rebellions of his subjects, outraged and aggrieved in their dearest feelings and most sacred rights, civil and religious. At first, he had cajoled them into acquiescence, by prom ■ ising them exemption from taxation, after he could obtain the rich property of the Church, which, he alleged, would be amply sufticient to defray the expenses of the government. * Fryxell, Ibid., p. 143. VOL. II. — 36 426 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. But he had no sooner attained his object, and become en ■ riched by sacrilegious robbery, than the people were made to Bee and feel how deceptive were his promises. The richei Wa&a became, the heavier grew the burdens which he im- posed on his people. Thus it is, that sacrilege hardens the heart, curses the one whp has dared grasp its spoils, and ex- tends its fatal blight over all who come under its withering influence! The whole history of the Reformation, in every country in Europe, affords a striking evidence of this appall- ing truth. At length, the last blow was struck in this system of grow- ing extortion and high-handed tyranny. The king was in- debted to the people of Lubeck, and though he had money enough in store to pay the debt without feeling it, he deci- ded to confiscate the church plate and even the church bells f(tr this purpose! In 1530 it was determined that the "su- perfluous bells " of the town churches should be given up for the payment of this debt ; and the amount thus realized, not having been found suflicient, it was resolved in 1531, " that the same tax should likewise be claimed of the country parishes."* The people might, perhaps, have borne with even heavier burdens ; this touched them in their most ten- der feelings and in the most hallowed reminiscences of the past, and it was therefore viewed as wholly unbearable. That the church bells, which had rung out merrily at wed- dings, and sadly at funerals, which had called them to the joyful festivals of religion, and which had sent forth their solemn peals as a tocsin, to arouse their patriotism and call them to arms to repel the invader and struggle for their threatened rights; — that those sacred bells, which cheered them in the present, and called up the most sacred recollec- tions of the past, should be thus summarily and sacrilegiously confiscated, was more than they could patiently endure. The * Fryxoll, History of Sweden, ii, p. 196. Where there were more be) la than one, the second in size was to be given up; where there was but one, it must be redeemed at half its value. Ibid. EOW TO REDRESS GRIEVANCES. 427 oe.ls once more sounded forth — for the hist time alas! — the thrilling tocsin, and the Dalmen, with other brave peasants, rushed to arms. But vain was their struggle. Wasa had not money enough to pay the Lubeckers, but he had quite enough to pay, and even richly to reward his foreign sol- diery, whom he systematically employed to crush out the liberties of his people. Treacherous promises, followed by open violence ; these were the means he adopted to redress the grievances of his subjects ! We can not go into details on this fruitful topic, and must refer our readers to the interesting pages of the Lutheran historian.* Still we may briefly allude to the summary way in which Wasa put down these wide-spread popular commo- tions. On one occasion he collected fourteen thousand sol- diers, and rode at their head into the valleys of Dalarna. The people were summoned, and ordered to state their grievances. They did so. They assembled, "guilty and innocent," in vast multitudes in the plain ; when they were at once sur- rounded by the soldiers, and loaded cannon were pointed at their serried masses, " the king himself in glistening armor, surrounded by the counselors and body guard, taking his place in front of the assembly." The "assembly" was, of course, a free one; 'the poor Dal- men might calmly state their grievances, and confidently look for redress ! The trembling people were addressed by one of the lords, who reproached them with their ingratitude, and told them that they had been guilty of having " a disobedient heart towards the king," and of having used " contemptuous and slanderous expressions" against him; and that "unless they now immediately humbled themselves and promised amendment, they merited nothing but that his grace should not permit one of them to quit the place with life," On the demand of the king, they gave up those who were pointed out as ringleaders in the disaflection, " mostly Catholic priests ;" and after these had been summarily condemned to * Fryxell, History of Sweden, li, 176, 181, 196, 210, seqq. 428 RliFORMATION IN SWKDEN. death on the spot, and " the executioner had advanced and struck ofl" their heads," the terror-stricken peasants " fell on their knees, imploring the king's mercy for God's sake ;" where- upon the wrath of Wasa was appeased. He pardoned them, on their solemnly renewing their oath of allegiance, and he continued his journey through Helsingland and Gestrickland, where " he restored peace and quietness " by similar means !* In another of his triumphant progresses through the king- dom, Wasa summoned the peasants of Upland to meet him at Upsala. "The king, in glittering armor, sat on horseback on one of the mounds, surrounded by the chief lords of the kingdom, and accompanied by a great body of men at arms. The peasantry stood before him, and according to his custom he harangued them himself They showed themselves perverse and unmanageable. He at last asked them, 'why so many among them were perverse and contumacious ?' No answer was heard, but a muttering and grumbling amongst the whole assembly, accompanied here and there by a threat or angry word. Then the king's blood began to boil ; he drew out his sword, brandished it before their eyes, bounded forward on his horse, and said : ' I will no longer endure your evil tongues ; I would rather have your blows. Therefore take courage and begin ; I with my companj" will try which can master the field !' — The terrified peasants then fell on their knees, and promised never again to resist his will."f Finally, after the Dalmen had at length submitted, and obtained pardon from the king, the latter treacherously fell upon them with his foreign army, again brought them trem- blingly to their knees by the brutal threat, that " he would hold such a muster with them that from this day forth neither dog nor cock should be heard throughout the land," made them deliver up " the culprits," and did not let them rise till they had said "yes" to all his demands. J It was by such gentle and persuasive means as these, that the Reformation was introduced into and firmly established * Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, 176, seqq. * Ibid., p. 199-200. This challenge of Gustaf to an unarmed multitude was, under the circumstances, very brave and chivalrous I t Ibid., p. 211-2. TESTIMONY OF GEIJER. 429 iu Sweden ! In the light of such undoubted facts as the above, attested even by the partial Lutheran historian of Sweden, every one may be able to decide at once whether it was the work of God, or the work oi human passion rioting in sacrilegious spoliation and in popular oppression. No im- partial man can hesitate a moment as to the opinion which he must necessarily form in accordance with the facts. In further confirmation of the facts thus far alleged, we will here present extracts from the pages of another recent accredited Protestant historian of Sweden — Geijer — whose testimony will scarcely be impeached.* Speaking of the character of Wasa, especially in his rela- tions with the venerable Bishop Brask, the royal historio- grapher of Sweden writes as follows : " Those who wish to study his character in this phase from its earhest disclosure, may be referred to the correspondence with Bishop Brask, as one of the main sources for the history of the first years of his reign. This prelate was beyond comparison the most influential, as well as the most sagacious and best informed man of his day in Sweden ; in his way the upright friend of his country, for whose economic prosperity he formed pro- jects which Gustavus himself and subsequently others of Sweden's distin- guished men again revived ; a friend too of Swedish liberty, as he himself understood it, and as he explains it in letters to his friend Thure Jonson, 'that the freedom of the realm depended on the Church and the baronage ;' for which reason he opposed, and afterwards censured, the government of the Stures. He treated the young king from the beginning with a fatherly superiority, styling him administrator and ' dear Gustavus,' and accepting in return the title of ' gracious lord ' Shortly after the royal election, he ob- tained a confirmation of all the privileges of his bishopric and church. But he was soon destined himself to feel the force of the king's saying to the last Catholic archbishop, Joannes Magnus, — ' Thy grace and our grace have .tot room beneath one roof' With the aggressions of Gustavus on the * This work is entitled : " The History of the Swedes, by Eric Gustavus Geijer, Historiographer Eoyal of Sweden, etc. Translated from the Swedish, with an Introduction and Notes, by J. H. Turner, Esq., A. M. The first portion, (comprising the first three volumes of the original) fi-om the earliest period to the accession of Charles X. London, Whittaker & Co., Ave Maria Lane." 430 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. clei^'', began the prelate's opposition ; and with every impediment thiown in his way, the king went one step further, as if he were bent on reducing his most powerful adversary to extremities, so that the 'atter at length determined, after the example of Joannes Magnus, to quit the kingdom. But he was first to see the hierarchy of Sweden completely overthrown. Presages of its downfall were already fast accumulating."* How the royal reformer quoted Scripture, is thus told by the Swedish historiographer : " Olave (Olaus) Peterson, although a priest, entered into wedlock at Stock- holm in 1525. 'He will defend this by God's law,' writes the king tc Bishop Brask. Accordingly, he vindicated his conduct in a published tract ; nor did his example want imitators in the order to which he belonged. In the capital the Latin Mass was abolished b)^ a resolution of the magistrates. At the fair of St. Eric's day, 1526, Gustavus himself, sitting on horseback on one of the barrows of Upsala, discoursed to the people who stood around, on the uselessness of the Latin service and the monastic life. Then repair- ing to the chapter, he demanded of them, ' by what right the Church held temporal power, and whether any ground for its privileges was to be found in Holy Scripture ;' — the New Testament, translated by Laurence Ander- son, having been printed this year at the king's instance. On the other hand, he confirmed the privileges of knighthood and nobility at the baronial diet held at Wadstena."f How W^asa confiscated the monastic and church property is unfolded in the following passages : " He now sought to acquire an ally against the Church, and showed the nobility what they might gain by the reduction of the conventual estates, preferring himself, before the council, a claim to the monastery of Gripsholm, as heir of its founder, Steno Stur^ the elder. His allegation was, that the consent which his father gave to its foundation had been extorted. Shortly afterwards, grounding himself on the voluntary cession of the monks, he sequestered the convent without waiting for the declaration of the council. An explanatory letter was issued to all the provinces, intended, in his own words, to obviate evil reports, for which end the transaction is represented almost as an instance of royal generosity. At the same time he wrote to Bishop Brask, who had undertaken to make an inventory of the appurten- ances c'" Nydala abbey, ' that he, the king, would himself take order regard- ing tu^ monasteries;' which was indeed performed in such a flxshion that one after the other was brought under his own management. The secular fiefs of the bishops were confiscated, and the fines at law due to them were * Geijer, History of the Swedes, p. 114, 115. f Ibid. TESTIMONY OF GEUER. 431 collected by the king's bailiffs, all complaints on this head being set at nought. No further regard was paid to the spiritual jurisdiction ; on the contrary the king adjudicated even in ecclesiastical causes, gave to monks and nuns who wished to quit their convents letters of protection, and de- clared excommunications invalid. He appointed and deposed priests by his own authority, and assumed the episcopal right of taking the effects of those who died intestate, doing this even in some cases where the parties had left a will, and sharing their revenues with them at his good pleasure.* "All was yet in mould, nothing had reached its appointed goal, and least accurately defined were the new relations of the Church towards the State. Hence the Recess of Westeras, on which these were grounded, underwent in practice continual alterations. By its provisions, the revenues of bishop- rics, canonries, cathedrals, and convents, were so far committed to the king's discretion, that he was free, after reserving to the holders and masters such a proportion as was required for their due maintenance, to apply the residue for the behoof of the crown. Nevertheless, the confiscation of the estates appertaining to these foundations was not the immediate result. The king was content with the payment of a fixed rent in money, adjusted by com- pact with the bishops, chapters, and monastic priors, whether clerical or laical. Gradually this arrangement was changed, and it completely ceased after the hereditary settlement. The king sequestered the episcopal estates, and the incomes of the bishops were paid instead out of the two-thirds of the tithes, which by the Westeras Recess were vested in the crown. The like befell with the estates of the canons as well as with their dwelling houses in the towns, which escheated to the crown, as the incumbents of canonries died off or were removed to benefices in the country. In the same manner the remaining conventual estates were appropriated, as the monastic life was by degrees dropped, so that at last only some few aged nuns were to be found in the convents of Wadstena, Skenninge, Nadendal, and Skog, who were supported by the king. By different ordinances in 1545 and the two following years, all other ecclesiastical estates, not comprehended under the denominations already mentioned, were transferred to the state, the in- ferior clergy being indemnified out of the proceeds of the crown-tithes."f Tliat Wasa panted to be an absolute monarch by divine right, sufficiently appears from the following : "Gustavus commonly showed that he entertained the most exa'-ted notions of the powers of his royal office, and though he ascribed its origin to God and the people, to judge from his favorite saying and his last words, yet the divine right appears to have had the preference at one pefiod of hia * Ibid. + Ibid, p. 128. 432 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. life. ' In the name of the Holy Trinity,' he said, when the council in the year 1540 swore obedience unto him, upon his bare sword, as an hereditary sovereign, ' and out of the Divine strength and power of Almighty God, which is bestowed upon us and all the royal and princely lords, heirs of our body, fi-om generation to generation, to rule and dispose over you and all our sub- jects upon earth, we hold this sword of righteousness over you to witness ; herewith swear.' Immediately thereafter he styled himself king hereditary, without waiting for the formal act of settlement subsequently passed at Westeras."* Finally, his groveling and hard-hearted avarice is thus portrayed by Geijer: " With aU his kinsmen the king had controversies as to the inheritance of property. He regarded himself, moreover, as heir-general to all the plate and movable goods of the churches, convents, and ecclesiastical foundations, rot forgetting even copper kettles and tin cups, took the place of bishops as co-heir to all clerical estates, and was not content with the smallest share. When vacancies occurred, he applied to his own use in many cases the revenues of the greater benefices, paying the inferior clergy himself. In addition to these matters of gain, he engaged personally in the pursuits of agriculture, mining, and trade in all the productions of the country, more largely than any of his subjects, and by these means amassed great wealth. To his bailiffs he was a terror, and thus, like himself, in questions of prop eriy, they were by no means scrupulous. At Salberg, where, as usual in the greater mines, there was an as3^lum for all except atrocious criminals, a weekly payment of two pence (ore) to the king was exacted even from loose females, who herded there for their roguery and dissolute living."f Gustaf Wasa preceded Henry YIIL by a few years, in carrying out the work of the lieformation ; and though he was not probably so bad a man as his English brother, yet there are many points of resemblance in the character of the two royal reformers, as well as in that of the work accom- plished by both. Both began their reigns well, as the idols of the people, and both ended them badly, as objects of popular detestation. Under both reigns, there was popular liberty at the beginning, and popular slavery at the end. Both made themselves supreme heads of the Church i i t c r respective kingdoms by fraud and violence ; and both, by • &eijer, History of the Swedes, p. 130. f Ibid., p. 132-3. WASA AND HENRY VIII. 433 and through this sacrilegious usurpation of spiritual sov- ereignty, succeeded in crushing the liberties of the people, and in establishing an unmitigated royal despotism. Both fattened, with their courtiers, on the spoils of the Church, which were at the same time the patrimony of the poor ; and both were cursed in themselves, in their children, and in their kingdoms by the sacrilegious spoliation. Both set up lay vicar generals, to lord it over the bishops and clergy, and to be the organs and depositories of the royal supremacy. Both were married several times — Henry six and Wasa three times — ; and while Henry divorced four and legally butch- ered two of his consorts, Wasa was accused of having brought about the death of his first wife by a blow on the head in- flicted with a hammer.* Both imposed additional burdens on their people, after having grown rich themselves on the confiscated property of the Church ; and both put down in- surrections, caused by their own tyrannical innovations and oppressions, by the strong arm of military force. If Wasa employed foreign soldiery, Henry's immediate successor did the same, and for the same purpose. But, in one respect, there was a marked difierence in the character of the two. While Henry was free-hearted and generous, and squandered with a lavish hand his ill-gotten spoils among his mistresses and courtiers, Wasa was hard, avaricious, and griping to the last ; constantly accumulating and seldom spending his treasures. " His children were kept strictly. Hams and butter were sent from the country for the supper of the princes at Upsala ; the queen herself sewed their shirts, and it was considered a great present, if ever one of the prin- cesses got a blank rixthaler. Gustaf's love of money seduced him to several * The Lutheran historian informs us, that "such was the rumor which was spread, and finally reached Gustaf's ears ; but it is nowhere related that he ever took the least pains to refute so base a calumny." — Vol. ii, 225. Any one acquainted with the impetuous and sturdy character of Wasa will be inclined to regard his silence under the circumstances as ominous of conscious guilt. VOL. II. — 37 434 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. injustices, which, however, in those days were not so striking as now. He sometimes permitted parishes to remain without rectors, having them ad- ministered by vicars, and appropriated their returns to himself. He forbade the export of cattle to his subjects in general, buying them himself at a low price from the peasants, and selling them abroad at a great profit. Thia last circumstance was one of the chief causes of the Dacke Feud.* Several -things of this kind which are less creditable to him are related ; but the people overlooked them for the sake of his many virtues.f They also knew that this money was not uselessly squandered. Herr Eskill's hall, and the other vaulted chambers of the treasury, were full of good silver bullion at the king's death."J Like Henry VIII., and unlike any genuine apostle of the true religion, Wasa was violent in his temper, and addicted to much hard swearing whenever his anger was aroused. So scandalous, in fact, had this practice at length become, that even Glaus, the court preacher, declaimed against it from his "basket-like pulpit" in the High Church of Stockholm. Here- upon Wasa was naturally indignant, and he not only rebuked the preacher, but, in his newly acc^uired character of head of the Swedish church, he wrote to his brother, the archbishop of Upsala, ordering him, " that from this day, no step is to be taken in the Reformation, and nothing printed unknown to us;" and adding significantly: "and you, archbishop, take you especial heed to yourself, if you wish to avoid dlsa- greeahles ! "§ The courtly archbishop was accordingly very careful. Still he met with "disagreeables" at the hands of his imperious master. A year later, he was called upon to pass sentence of death on his own brother Olaus, and even to sign his death warrant. Along with Olaus, the wily and unscrupulous chancellor and lay vicar general Lars Andersson was also * A protracted civil war, in which the king triumphed as usual over the just rights of his people. f- How they were forced "to overlook them," we have already seen. It was certainly not out of regard for his "many virtues" but through fear of his overbearing and all crushing despotism. ) Fryxell, History of Sweden, ii, p. 246-7. } Ibid., p. 230-1. THE CURSE OF SACRILEGE. 435 condemned to death. The latter escaped the p(nialty by sac- riiicing all his property for the benefit of the king, and living ever afterwards in retirement ; Olaus did not come oflF so easily, as the king's anger was greatly excited against him. Says the Lutheran historian : "At last, when the burghers of Stockholm united in imploring the pardon of their minister, and presented five hundred Hungarian guldens as a ransom for him, Gustaf permitted himself to be moved. Olaus received mercy, and after the lapse of three years was even restored to his office."* Thus, as happened even more strikingly in England, the chief instruments of the king in despoiling the Church and introducing the Reformation, met with accumulated misfor- tunes and a sadly clouded fate, as a just requital for their manifold treachery and sacrilege in the past. But the curse of sacrilege fell even more heavily on the royal reformer him- self. His eldest son Erick, the heir apparent to the throne, was little better than a madman. Again, his daughter Cecilia, by her open and shameless profligacy, even during his life- time, brought bitterness to his declining years ; while, to fill up the cup of his domestic alflictions, another son, Magnus, became a confirmed idiot. " The temper of Gustaf became each day more harsh and violent ; and on his death-bed, even his own children could scarce remain an hour in his com- pany."! But the worst and most abiding curse of sacrilege fell on unfortunate Sweden herself, which through its blighting influ- ence was permanently severed from the Church and tainted with heresy. In the subsequent history of this ill-fated king- dom, a fitful splendor has occasionally gleamed up, like a meteor, from the incursions of its fierce and half mad sover- * Fryxell, Ibid., p. 230-1. The honest burghers knew well that Wasa's heart lay where his treasure was ! Olaus and Andersson were accusen, iustly or unjustly, of having been privy to an attempt to assassinate \he Jcing. f Dublii Review, sup. cit. 436 REFORMATION IN SWEDEN. eigDs into the territories of their neighbors ;* but with these transient exceptions, it has since continued in a very depressed and sadly fallen condition, even in a temporal point of view. And at present, Sweden is, perhaps, the least enlightened, the least tolerant, and certainly, in a moral point of view, the most thoroughly degraded and debased Christian country of Europe. It is the only European country, in which intolerance is now carried to the length of punishing with exile and con- fiscation of property all who dare abandon the Lutheran for the Catholic religion. Tlie Scottish Protestant historian Laing has long since settled the question of its surpassing immorality. From the more recent statements of our own distinguished traveler, Bayard Taylor, we infer that its moral condition has not ma- terially improved since Laing wrote his account, some sixteen years ago. Speaking of the capital, Stockholm, Taylor says : "It has been called the most licentious city in Europe, and, I have no doubt, with the most perfect justice. Vienna may surpass it (we doubt this) in the amount of conjugal infidelity, but certainly not in general incon- tinence. Very nearly half the registered births are illegitimate, to say nothing of the illegitimate children born in wedlock. Of the servant girls, shop- girls, and seamstresses in the city, it is very safe to say that not ten out of a hundred are chaste ; while, as rakish young Swedes have informed me, many girls of respectable parentage, belonging to the middle class, are not much better. The men, of course, are much worse than the women, and even in Paris one sees fewer physical signs of excessive debauchery. Here, the number of broken down young men, and of blear-eyed, hoary-headed sinners, is astonishing. I have never been in any place where licentiousness was more open and avowed ; and yet, where the slang of sham morality is more prevalent. There are no houses of prostitution in Stockholm, and the city would be scandalized at the idea of allowing such a thing. A few years ago two were established, and the fact was no sooner known, than a virtuous mob arose and violently pulled them down ! "f * Like Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII. f Northern Travel ; Summer and Winter Pictures of Sweden, Denmark, and Lapland, by Bayard Taylor. New York, 1858. On the appearance or his strictures, the Swedish papers commented on them as exaggerated CONCLUSION. 437 Verily, the tree of the Protestant Reformation has borne its legitimate, but most bitter fruits in Sweden !* The author, in a note (Ibid.), defends them as strictly within the bounds of truth, and, if at all inaccurate, rather below than above the mark ! We dare not republish certain open and glaring exhibitions of shameless licen- tiousness, which the distinguished American traveler witnessed in Stock- holm. * Under John, the second son and successor of Wasa, whose reign began in 1577, efforts were made to bring back Sweden to the communion of the holy Catholic Church. Catherine, the king's wife, a Catholic and daughter of Sigismund king of Poland, zealously labored to bring about the reconcil- iation. At her instance. Pope Gregory XIII. sent the celebrated Cardinal Hosius into Sweden, with several learned and zealous Jesuit Fathers. Every advance was made which charity and zeal could devise ; but the mis- sion utterly failed. The Lutherans took the alarm, and raged fiercely against the Catholic envoys ; the king became alarmed and he vacillated. The result was that they had to leave the kingdom. Subsequently, a F^we- dish queen became a Catholic ; but, probably in consequence, abdicated ♦he ^rown, and went to E^me, where she finally died. See Theiner's y ^K, tbove quoted. 59 UISTORY OF THE PROTESTAiNT REFORMATION. CHAPTER X. REFORMATION IN DENMARK, NORWAY, AND ICELAND. Reformation in these countries similar to that in Sweden — That of Den- mark advised by Gustaf Wasa — Christian II. — His attempt to introduce Lutheranism — His injustice to the Church — Humane provisions in his code of laws — The peasants liberated — The nobles enraged — He is de- posed— Frederic I. begins the Reformation by crushing popular liberty — And by violating his solemn oath — Protestant testimony — His measures for this purpose — Contest after his death — Christian III. succeeds him — And completes the work of the Reformation in Denmark — A Catholic confessor and martyr — The new church organization — Terrible penal laws against Catholics — Recapitulation — Norway — Determined opposition to the new gospel — How it was quelled by force — Penal laws — Firmness of the monks — Norwegian independence destroj^ed — The Reformation and despotism triumph together — Religious liberty, as understood in Norway — The bishop of the North Pole — Interesting anecdote by Bayard Taylor — Iceland — Its discovery and conversion to Christianity — Its golden age — The great pestilence — Its annexation to Denmark — The Reformation introduced by violence — The last Catholic bishop put to death — Its two old Catholic sees abolished — Its decline since that period — The North and the South — Conclusion. The history of the Reformation in these northern countries need not detain us long. In all of them, the religious revo- lution was closely modeled after that which occurred ahout the same time in Sweden. Here, as there, it was the work of violence and of spoliation of the Church ; and here, even more than there, it was consummated by the government on the ruin of all the time-honored liberties and the dearest rights of the people. (438) CHRISTIAN II. 439 I. DENMARK. 1. The near resemblance in the cliaracte -istics presented respectively by the Swedish and Danish Keformatiuns might be inferred a priori from the fact, that the latter was prompted by the advice, and was carried out in conformity with the suggestions of the Swedish reformer — Gustaf Wasa."" We must content ourselves with a very brief summary of the principal facts.f The first sovereign who appears to have conceived the pro- ject of introducing the Reformation into Denmark was the same tyrant Christian, or Christiern II., who had pre- tended, so much zeal for the Catholic religion in the com- mencement of his contest with Sweden. This prince appears to have been guided by no principle of conscience, and his policy was regulated entirely by his own selfish interests. Thus, when it was question of subduing Sweden, he hastily patched up a peace with the papal leijate, whose influence he deemed important, if not necessary for securing the object he then had in view. But after the horrible massacre at Stock- holm, in which bishops and nobles fell victims to his treach- erous cruelty, he deemed his power suflBciently secure ; and he then sought to overthrow the Catholic Church in Denmark, in order thereby to increase his power by seizing on the wealth of the Church. The principles of Luther seemed favorable to his cherished design of reigning supreme and unrestrained both in Church and State. Accordingly, he placed a disciple of the reformer — one Martin — over the church of Copenhagen, in order to prepare the minds of the people for the contemplated change in religion. The nobles, * Fryxell vouches for this fact — History of Sweden, ii, 224. f In doing this, we shall have occasion to quote from a well written and somewhat detailed, though prejudiced history of Denmark found in the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, article, Denmark ; an authority which will hardly be suspected of partiality to Catholicity, or of enmity to the Reformation Some of the chief facts are confirmed by Fryxell. 440 REFORMATION IN DENMARK. the clergy, and the people earnestly protested against the scandalous innovation; but he persisted in his mischievoua design, and even had recourse to violence. He arrested and put to death the archbishop Lund, and he published a law which forbade unmarried ecclesiastics to purchase property, and contained other provisions that trenched on the rights or greatly restricted the immunities of the clergy. The result was his expulsion from the throne by a general movement of all the orders composing the states of the king- dom.* After many strange wanderings and vicissitudes, the tyrant was finally consigned to a Danish prison, where he inhabited for many years a cell which was walled up, with a mis-shapen dwarf as his only attendant ! He had been the vile slave of his concubine's mother throughout his reign ; having been guided in his state policy mainly by her wily and unscrupulous suggestions. He perished by a death more terrible even than that which he had so often inflicted on others ! Though Christian H. is generally and no doubt justly painted as a cruel and remorseless tyrant, yet it is certain that towards the close of his reign, in 1521, he published a code of laws containing some very wise and humane provi- sions ; which circumstance, strange as it may appear, strongly contributed to hasten his deposition and flight. This code provided for abolishing the impious and wicked practice, which had hitherto prevailed in Denmark, of buying and selling poor farmers, and thereby making a traflic of Chris- tians, and reducing the peasantry to an abject slavery. Under its humane enactments, the peasants, when maltreated by one landlord, had the right to flee elsewhere for shelter and protection. The code also forbade, under the most stringent penalties, the inhuman usage of the Danish wreck * See Alzog, Histoire Universelle de I'Eglise; 1 vol. 4to, Tournai, 1851, p. 567. He quotes Erico Pontoppidano, Precis de I'hist. de la Peforrae en Danemarke ; Munter, Holberg, and other historians. Fryxell also says that Christian "encouraijed the , without the need of any episcopal consecration, suffices to make men bishops. This translation was suf-; fered, too, to remain in the approved vei'sions of the Bible until the reign of James the First, when the ancient letter, — "imposition of hands," — was again restored to ihc sacred text. The circumstance of the perverted, but artful expedient, serves forcibly to point out the sentiments of the men who used it. FLETCHER ON ANGLICAN ORDINATIONS. 463 attempt, she now, therefore, applied to the aforesaid prelates. She issued a commission, directed to the followinq: individuals, — Tiinstal, Vjishop of Dur- ham ; Bourne, of Bath ; Pole, of Peterborough ; and Kitchin, of Llandaff, — -joining to them, in the instrument, Barlow, moreover, and Scorey ; and directing them to consecrate Dr. Matthew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury. But the four former, just like the venerable Creagh, resolutely declined the oflSce. Not even could Kitchin himself, with all his mean obsequiousness, be induced to perform it. Wherefore, hopeless of success from any of the ancient prelates, she now issued another commission, addressed to William Barlow, John Scorey, Miles Coverdale, and John FTodskins ; empowering these to consecrate, as archbishop of Canterbury, Doctor Matthew Parker. These men, therefore, according to the testimony of fJie Lambeth register, — performed the important action. The ceremony took place, says the same instrument, upon the 17th of December, anno 1559. Thus was created and organized, the present hierarchy of the established church ; thus were laid the foundations of its ))astoral power ; and thus, also, say its defenders, its ministers are now portions of those hallowed links, which constitute the apostolic chain. But, alas — such is, forever, the fate of religious innovations, scarcely had the above act taken place, (if| indeed, it ever did take place,) when a series of doubts and apprehensions, founded upon a great variety of motives, began to agitate the public mind. The Catholics, who still formed the far larger portion of the nation, unanimously denied, not only the competency of the aforesaid men to perform the act of episcopal consecration, — but they denied even, that they had ever, themselves, received such consecration. They contended that Barlow, the chief acting consecrator (as it was alleged) on the eventful occasion, was no bishop. Such was the language of the Cath- olics ; who loudly, at the same time, and incessantly, called upon their Prot- estant antagonists to produce, — if the fact were really true — some attestation or other to evince it : — as to evince it, was certainly of the most vital moment to the church of England. — But, so it is : — the attestation was sought for, and has been sought for, till the present day, — in vain. Neither Archbishop Bramhall, with all his industry ; nor Ma.son, with all his art ; nor Burnet, with all his researches ; nor Warton, with all his learning, could ever find out the uj?eful instrument. So that Stevens, a learned Protestant clergy- man, makes the following observation upon the circumstance : "It is a won- derful thing, by what chance, or providence it happened, that Barlow's consecration, who M^as the principal actor in this, should nowhere appear ; nor any positive proof of it be found, in more than fourscore j'ears since it was first questioned, by all the .search that could be made by so many learned, and industrious, and curious persons." (Great question.) The thing is, indeed, certain, that the supposed consecration of Barlow is one of those facts, which not all the diligence, nor all the ingenuity of the estab- lished clergv have, ever yet, been able to evince satisflictorily ; — a circum- stance, surely, which .should seem to merit very serious consideration. For, if Barlow, the consecrator, were not- himself a bishop, — then neither could he make Parker, the conserrnted, such : — since, according to the received orinciple of the church of England, it is only a bishop that can make a bishop.* * A circumstance, too, which possibly ini^lit have increased the unwillinofnoss of the public to believe in the consecration of Barlow, was the well known opinion, which this man had liimself lono: entertained, and publicly avowed, upon the suliject of episcopal ordination. It was his professed doctrine, declared solemnly before the 464 NOTE B. Anothei consirleration, which, at least equallv ^^nth the preceding, exciteJ a great deal of suspicion, not only in the minds of Catholics, but also amongst multitudes of thinking ProteRtants, was this, — -that even the very action itself of the alleged consecration of Parker was very generally disbelieved — as it certainly does now appear to be a very dark and mysterious ques- tion. "If," said the public, "a ceremony of such infinite importance have really taken place, how then comes it, that there are no undoubted evidences to attest it? — no witness to vouch for it? How comes it, that it has not been generally known and noticed ?" Hence, the Catholic writers of that period, — men, too, the most acute and learned ; men who watched every occurrence, and pryed into every event, in the new order of things ; men, moreover, who were, some of them, personally acquainted with the newly- appointed bishops, (they were such men as Harding, Stapleton, Allen, Bris- tow,) all loudly declared that the whole transaction was an empty fiction. — They defied their antagonists, — Jewell, Horn, etc., — to prove the contrary. "You say," observed Harding to Jewell, "that you are a bishop by the consecration of the archbishop (Parker). But, pray, how was the archbishop himself consecrated ? Your metropolitan, who should give authority to all your consecrations, had, himself, no consecration." To these challenges, — at a time, when, if ill-founded, it was most ea.sy, and certainly most important, to have refuted them, — no satisfactory answered was returned. — The circum- stance, too, is singular, that the alleged act of the consecration of Parker is not noticed by. any Protestant writer, or historian, of that period, — not even by Stowe himself, the warm friend and confidant of the prelate. I do not say that this silence was sufficient to authorize the conclusion that the ceremony did not take place. But, it was enough to excite, — as it did, and forever must excite, — very strong suspicions upon the subject. A third consideration, which again in the eyes of multitudes contributed to lessen theii- confidence in the first Protestant ordinations, was the circum- stance that they were completely «??.OT??on/ra7 ; — and indeed not only this, but even ilh(jril too. They were uncanonical, because they were adminis- tered without the consent, both of the metropolitan, and of the bishops of the province ; — or rather, in direct opposition to the will of both of them. They were uncanonical, because neither Barlow nor his fellow-consecrators, assembly of bishops, etc., which was held at Windsor, in the first year of the reign of Edward VI., — that episcopal consecration is an useless ceremony: and that the king's nomination suffices, alone, to make a bishoj). This is a fact, which both Burnet, in his History of the Reformation, and Stillingfleet, in his Irenicon, each of them admit. Tlie thing, no doubt, was calculated to increase the public suspicion, respecting the man's own consecration. For, if he had been really consecrated, he would not, they conceived, have thought and spoken as lie had done. The opinion, too, might liavo been somewhat confiimed by tlie consideration of the well known fact, that, although both Latimer and Ridley had acted as bishops, and sat in parlia- ment as sucli, yet they had not, either of them, received any other consecration, save that of priesthood. Tlius, Foxe relates in his Mavtyrology, that when these men, pre- viously to their execution, were solemnly degraded by the spiritual powei', tlie offici- ating minister on the occasion,— Dr. brooks, the bishop of Gloucester,— ''declared them degraded, not from the episcojial character, because they had never received it, but only from their priestly character." Tlie situation of Barlow was, probably similarto theirs. If bishop, he was only such by princely nomination. "Eveii Cromwell," says Towgood, "the vicegerent of Henry, could make bishops." It would seem as if Bishop Bancroft himself, at the beginning of the reign of James, entertained no very strong conviction of the episcopal character of Barlow. For, when pressed by Dr. Alabaster, on the subject of Parker's consecration, his rei)ly WIS : " I hope, in case of necessity, a priest may be sufficient for to ordain a bishop." FLETCHER ON ANGLICAN OKDINATIONS. 465 (supposing these men to have really performed the act ; and to have been really, at the same time, bishops) possessed, at the period of the supposed ceremony, one particle of canonical jurisdiction. They were even, at that period, themselves under the sentence of canonical deposition from every religious function. — I have said, too, that these first ordinations, besides being uncanonical, were, moreover, illegal. This indeed is certain. Be- cause the first consecrators, when they are supposed to have performed the solemn act, were then actually laboring under the sentence of legal depriva- tion by the state itself. The case was this : — the laws of Mar}^, which had repealed the ordinal of Edward, were still in force ; not having bt;en, as yet, altered by the authority of the parliament. The oi'dinal of Edward had been repealed and condemned in the year 1553, — the first of Mary. This repeal and condemnation continued still the standing law of the nation, until the year 1562, — the third of Elizabeth. And it was during the above inter- val, that Parker's presumed consecration, as well as that of a ^q\\ other prelates, are supposed to have taken place ; and that these men did actually take possession of the sees of their Catholic predecessors. — So that the whole transaction is thus replete with objections, — a breach of the canons, which it violated ; and an outrage of the laws, which it infringed. Insomuch that our historians tell us, that the newly-intruded bishops began, them- selves, to be uneasy. "It was doubted," says Neale, "whether Parker's consecration was canonical : 1st, because the persons engaged in it had been canonically deprived, and were not yet restored ; 2ndly, because the conse- cration ought to have been directed according to the statute of the 25th of Henry VIII. ; and not according to the form of King Edward's ordinal ; inasmuch as that book had been set aside in the last reign, and was not yet restored by parliament. These objections made the new bishops uneasy. They began to doubt of the validity of their ordination."* Indeed, induced by the above considerations, as well as by many others, which I have not cited, there were several Protestant writers ; — and these, too, very distinguished members of the established church, — who fiiirly gave up the pretended claim ; going even so far as to throw ridicule upon the * We may trace a similar kind of diffidence pervading the minds of the queen's judges, even some time after the consecration, or supposed consecration, of the new prelacy. Bonner had refused to take the oath of supremacy, which had been tendered to him by Horn, the presumed bishop of Winchester. His refusal was founded upon the plea, that Horn was not really a bisliop ; nor, therefore, properly empowered to enquire, or tender such an oath. The case e.xcited great attention. It was first tried m the public court ; and then referred to the consideration of all the judges. These, having long deliberated upon it, decided that the plea of Bonner should be received, and the case be again committed to a jury, in the county of Surrey. However, here, Heylin informs us, the government interfered ; and commanded, — deeming the thing more prudent,— "that the decision of the point should be referred to the following parliament, for fear that such a weighty matter might miscarry." Here, then, the business appears to have stopped. For Bonner, although so peculiarly hateful to the Protestants, was no more molested. However, it was in the ensuing parliament, (8 Eliz. ) that in order in some degree to check the growing scandal, the new bishops were declared, at all events, "legal bishops;" — whence they long bore the name of "parliamentar}' bishops." And not only did this diffidence prevail during the earlier periods after the first organization of the new religion, — it continued, we find, — and this, again, amongst the Protestants, — even so late as in the reign of tlie first Charles. Tluis, Panzani, the papal envoy at this prince's court, and who from his intercourse with tiie cliief no- bility was peculiarly competent to know their sentiments, informs us in his Memoirs, that " nearly all the principal nobility who died — although reputed Protestants — dierf Catholics." 4G6 NOTE B. notion of a Protestant church deriving orders from the Church of Rome Such were Whittaker, Fulke, Sutclili', etc. "I would not have you think," Bays the former writer, " that we make such reckoning of your orders, as tc hold our own vocation unlawful without them. And therefore keep your orders to yourselves." The language of Fulke is similar to this. " You are much deceived," he says, in his repl)^ to a counterfeit Catholic, "you are much deceived, if you think we esteem your offices of bishops, priests, and deacons, any better than laymen ; and you presume too much to think that we receive your ordering to be lawful. Again, with all our hearts, we defy, abhor, detest, and spit at your stinking, greasy, antichristian orders." (Re- tentive.) Surely it is not thus that these men would have written, if they had conceived that the hierarchy of their church had dei-ived its commission, and received its sacred character through the medium of the ancient pastors. The doubts, the misgivings, and apprehensions which thus pervaded the feelings of the public, were peculiarly injurious to the new order of things; and might even, unless they had been arrested, have proved fatal to it. Elizabeth .and her ministers were feelingly sensible of this : and they accord- ingly devised a variety of expedients to stay the growing evil. Amongst other contrivances for this purpose, they issued a proclamation, wherein they caution the public against " the slanders " cast upon the new order of the epi.scopacy; assuring them that "the same evil speech and talk is not grounded upon any just matter or cause." This, no doubt, was charitable. But, as such assurances did not suffice to allay the the general discontent, a remedy more effectual was now resorted to. It was this : — clothing her- self in the mantle of that spiritual omnipotence which the laws had con- ferred upon her, and addressing a commission to the newly-created pastors, — Elizabeth solemnly tells them that she now, by virtue of her supreme power, dispenses with every defect, and supplies for every deficiency which may have attended their ordination. " We supply" says she to them, "by our supreme royal authoritj^, whatever is wanting or shall be wanting, in order to the performance of the premises ; either in the things which shall be done by you, or in any one of you, your condition, state, or power, etc. — the circumstances of Ihe time ami the urgency of affairs rendering it necessary." Such was the contrivance ; such the panacea, designed by the ingenuity of Elizabeth and her ministers to remove the doubts, and to appease the appre- hensions of the public, on the score of the new-formed hierarchy. If seri- ously considered, the scheme was rather calculated to hjghten suspicion than to allay it. Accordingly, it did not allay it. The doubts, and fears, and suspicions, of of the public still remained unabated. AVherefore, she had now recour.se (this was in the eighth year of her reign) — she had now recourse to a bet- ter, because a somewhat stronger, expedient. She procured an act of par- liament to be passed, to give an additional force and sanction to the preceding mandate. In this she again declares to the nation that, " by her supreme power .and authority, she h.as dispensed with all causes, and doubts, of any imperfections, or disabilities, that can, or may, in an}' wi.se, be objected .ag.ainst the same, etc. So that it is and ma}- be very evident and apparent, that no cause of scruple, ambiguity, or doubt, can, or m.ay, justly be cbjected against the said elections, confirmations, or consecrations. Wherefore, be it now declared, and en.acted, that all persons that have been or shall be m.ade, ordered, or consecrated, archbishops, bishops, etc., afler the form and order prescribed in the said order and form, how archbishops, bishops, etc., should be consecnated, — be in very deed, archbishops, bishops, FLETCHER ON ANGLICAN ORDINATIONS 467 etc., — any statute, law, canon, or other being, to the contrary, notwithstand- ing." Such is the act, or i-ather abstract of the act, provided by the policy of Elizabeth, for the security of the established church ; for the confirmation of its pastors ; and for the removal of the public scruples. " It was thus," says Heylin, speaking of the above law, — " it was thus that the church is strongly settled upon its natural pillars." How far the singular measure may have removed, or is calculated to re- move, the scruples of the Protestant mind, it is not for me to say. Neale tells us, that "it removed the scruples of the bishops." (It put these men, let the reader observe, in possession of the privileges and temporal preroga- tives of their Catholic predecessors : — which, no doubt, was not a little calculated to cure their scruples.) But, is the act itself really of such nature, as to suffice to allay the doubts and to satisfy the misgivings of a prudent man ? I think not. It admits the defects to which the public had ob- jected : only, it dispenses with them. But, then, by what authority ? By the authority of a female, assuming to herself far more than papal power ; and by the sanction of a set of legislators, invested with no spiritual char- acter, but created only for the enactment of temporal, and human laws. To my feelings, the circumstance appears less calculated to appease old ap- prehensions, than to inspire and awaken fresh ones. The apprehensions, indeed, still continued general. The Catholics pressed rary, but he may be said to have been almost an eye-wit 488 NOTE E. ness of the transaction which he records ; for he was then professor of car »d law in the university of Oxford. We pubUsh the testimony tirst in Latin, and then in an English trans- lation. " Sod cum ipsi superintendentes creandi essent, nee a Cathohcis episcopis impetrare potuerint ut ipsis manus admoverent, nee inter se aut tres,autduos episcopos, nee ullum prorsus perfidias suae Metropolitanum ab aliis episcopis ordinatum haberent, cujus vel manu vel consensu consecrari possent; nee etiam ad vicinas Lutheranorum aut Calvinistarum ecclesias se contulerunt ut indc mutuas episcoporum (qui forte nee ibi erant) operas peterent. In- stabant quidem multum apud quemdam archiepiscopum — Hibernum, quem tunc in careers Londinensi in vinculis habebant, ut illis in hac necessitate succurreret, ipsi libertate et praemiis propositis, si vellet istorum ordinationi praeesse ; sed vir bonus nuUo modo adduci potuit ut hajreticis sacras manus imponeret, vel alieno peccato communicaret. Atque ita, cum omni legitiina ordinatione desHtuti vuhjo dicerentur, et ipsis legibus Anglicanis vere proba- rentur non esse episcopi, brachium saeculare invocare coacti sunt, ut laicalis magistratus confirmationem in futuris comitiis acciperent. Quorum auctori- tate, si quid minus rite et legaliter in priori inauguratione gestum esset aut omissum ipsis condonaretur, idque postquam episcopali officio et cathedra, SINE ULLA EPISCOPALI* coNSECRATiONE, aliquot annos functi essent. Ilinc nomen illis impositum, ut Episcopi Parliamentarii dicerentur." — Edition above referred to, p. 349. TRANSLATION. " When these overseers (bishops) were to be created, they were not able to persuade the Catholic bishops to impose hands on them, and not having among themselves three or two bishops or any metropolitan ordained by other bishops of their party, who might consecrate them, or consent to their consecration, neither had they recourse to the neighboring Ijutheran or Calvinist churches to obtain thence the aid of bishops (who perhaps were not there). They were very urgent with an Irish archbishop, v»iio was then confined in prison ; and offered him liberty and recompense, if he would im- pose hands on them. But the good man would not consent to impose hands on heretics, or be implicated in their guilt. And thus, as they were commonly reputed to be destitute of all lawful ordination, and by the very laws of England were proved not to be bishops, they were obliged to implore the arm of the civil power, that they might obtain the sanction of the lay magistrate, in a subsequent parliament. By authority of which, whatever * In the edition used bj Archbishop Kenrick of St. Louis, in his Anglican Ordina- tions, p. 63-4, this word Episcopali is not found : it strengthens the testimony. There IS also found another slight discrepancy, which does not however affect this. MORAL CHARACTER OF JOHN KNOX. 489 had been done irregularly, or unlawfully, or whatever had been omitted in their inauguration, might be pardoned them ; and this, after they had dis- charged the episcopal office and occupied sees some years, without any EPISCOPAL CONSECEATION. Hence they obtained the name of Parliamentary NOTE F Page 253. MORAL CHARACTER OF JOHN KNOX. The moral character of John Knox was sharply canvassed, both during his lifetime and shortly after his death. Those who were opposed to him in religion almost, if not quite uniformly represented him as a most profli- gate and abandoned man, whose stern religion was but a cloak for his gross sensuality ; while some of his co-religionists have painted his character as blameless, and his life as one of austere and active zeal. We purpose, in this Note, to exhibit both sides of the controversy, and for this purpose to republish so much of McCrie's Note QQ, at the end of his volume, (p. 495, seqq.,) as has direct reference to the character of Knox ; interspersing the defense with a running commentary of our own. " ' C'est rendre sans doute (says Bayle) quelques service a la meraoire de Jean Knox, que de fair voir les extravagances de ceux qui ont dechire sa reputation.' And, having referred to the 'gross and extravagant slanders' of one writer, he adds, 'this alone is a sufficient prejudice against all which the Roman Catholic writers have published concerning the great reformer of Scotland.' Diet. art. Knox. If Mons. Bayle could speak in this manner upon a quotation from one author, what conclusion shall we draw from the following quotations ?" Bayle, besides being comparatively a recent writer, was an infidel or a skeptic ; and his authority amounts to very little, especially when, as in the present instance, it consists in the enunciatiation of a mere opinion. He was, in one sense, a Protestant like Knox, the only difference being, that he carried his protest considerably further. His opinion presents another striking evidence of that sympathetic feeling which exists among dissenters and errorists of every class. They all defend one another ; but the defenso of a Christian by an infidel is any thing but complimentary to the former. The writer to whom Bayle refers, as having uttered a slander against Knox, was the contemporary historian Thevet, an ex-monk, who however had not, it would seem, abandoned the Catholic fjiith. Bayle rejects his testimony, but without alleging any other ground for so doing than that he misspelt the name of Knox ! A foreign, and especially a French writer rery naturally fall* into Such blunders even at the present day. We will 490 NOTE F. republish an extract from the testimon}' of Thevet, who speaks of the con fusion which Knox and his disciples had caused in Scotland during These twelve years past," and was therefore a contemporary entitled to soma credit; the more so, as the kingdoms of France and Scotland were then in intimate relations with each othei-, on account of the Smttish queen having married the Frcmch dauphin. Thevet writes thus of Knox : '•This firebrand of sedition, who delighted in nothing but broils and tumults, could not be content with barely following the steps of Luther, Zuingle, Farel, and less still those of his master Calvin, who had not long before delivered him from the gallies of the prior of Capua, where he had been three years for his crimes, unlawful amours, and ahominahle fomirations ; for he used to lead a dissolute life in seceral shameful and odious places ; being also found guilty of the parricide and murder committed on the body of James Beton, archbishop of St. Andrew's, etc." — Ba3'le's Historical and Critical Dictionary, Art. Knox. Edit. London ; 1738, in ten vols., folio. In the same article, Bayle states that IMorcri charged Knox with almost every crime against chastity, following in this respect the annalist Spon- danus, who ad an. 1559, says that " Knox, a priest and an apostate monk, who was a debaucher of several women, and of his own step-mother, and a magician, returned to Scotland in 1559, well provided with instructions from Calvin ;" and that in Scotland he everywhere caused tumults, sacrilege, and violence. Bayle adds : " The misfortune is, that the English episcopalians agree with the papist writers, in representing him as an apostle who established his Reformation with fire and sword, and who taught the most seditious doctrines." — Ibid. In the notes he furnishes many authorities on this head. The evidence of Christian contemporaries, who were cognizant of the facts, is much more valuable for forming a correct opinion than that of Bayle. McCrie alleges and attempts to refute three such witnesses : Archibald Hamilton, Nichol Burne, and James Laing, besides one nearly contemporary — Alexander Baillie. All of these were Scots, and therefore they may be supposed to have been sufficiently acquainted with Knox, and Avith the stirring events in which he was so prominent an actor. Of the first witness, Hamilton, McCrie writes : " The first writer who seems to have attacked Knox's character, after his death, was Archibald Hamilton, whose hostility against him was inflamed by a personal quarrel, as well as by political and religious considerations. (Sec above, p. 345.) His book show^s how much he was disposed to recom- mend himself to the papists, by throwing out whatever was most injurious to his former connections. But there were too many alive at that time to refute any charge which might be brought against the reformer's monil character. According! v. wlien lie aimed the most envenomed thrust at his reputation, Hamilton masked it under the name of an apprehension or sur- mise. Having said that, upon the death of Edward VI. ' he fled to Geneva with a noble and rich ladv,' (which by the bye is also a falsehood) he adds in MORAL CHARACTER OF JOHN KNOX. 491 a parenthesis 'qua simul et filia matris pellice familiariter usus fuisse puta batur.' De Confusione Calvinianae Secta?, p. 65, a. Parisiis 1577. What Hamilton insinuated as a mere sicnnise, his successors soon converted into undoubted certainty.^' Archibald Hamilton was of a noble family, and he had been induced at first to join the reformed party. But he soon became disgusted with the coarseness of Knox's invectives against poor Mary of Scots, and he absented himself from his preaching. His brother Robert was a minister of the Kirk at St. Andrews, and he was himself a distinguished professor in the univer- sity, where " his influence -n as great." (McCrie, p. 345.) He brought the matter of Knox's preaching before the university ; but Knox, while willing to converse privately with the professors, entered " a protestation " against their jurisdiction, and appealed to the regular church courts. He (Knox) wrote a letter to the general assembly, which met in August, 1572 ; in which he expressed himself strongly, if not coarsely, against the church being placed " under the bondage of the universities." Hamilton soon afterwards left Scotland, where his residence was no longer agreeable, or perhaps safe ; and going to France, he re-entered the Catholic Church, and published his work above quoted. That he was a respectable and competent witness, no one will deny ; that his prejudices against Knox would scarcely have led him so far as to cause him deliberately to bear false witness against him, few will be disposed to assert. His book was published but five j^ears after the death of Knox, which occurred Xov. 24th, 1572. (McCrie, p. 369.) His testimony is much stronger than it suits the purpose of McCrie to ad- mit. He asserts positively, that Knox "fled to Geneva with a noble and rich lady ; " and he adds, as the current opinion and , belief at the time, that he lived criminally both with her and her daughter ! This appears to be the force of the term ^;eth replied : " That she would take time to consider the demand ; but thought it would be best for some arrangement to be made, whereby her good sister, the queen of Scotland, who considered she had cause to be mi.scontented with hor subjects, and they disliking her government, might live a private and peaceful life, by resigning her crown to her son." 504 NOTE G. Such then was the end contemplated by all this int'i(;ate plotting between Murray and tlie English court ! The secret is here revealed by Elizabeth herself. But vain were all their efforts to induce Mary to resign in favor of her infant son : she positively refused, and said with queenly dignity . " For I am resolutely determined rather to die, and that the last word 1 shall speak in life will l)e that of a queen of Scotland." (Ibid., p. 283. Sne quotes State Papers, printed in Goodall's Appendix, and L'.ilianoff) Finally, when it was found that all efforts to induce Mary to resign, and thus to secure the regency permanently to Murray, had failed, Elizabeth abruptl}^ broke up the conference at Westminster, on the 10th day of Janu- ary, 15G9, with the following significant declaration to Murray and his coadjutors ; " That forasmuch as there had been nothing deduced against them as yet that might impair their honor and allegiance, so, on the other part, there HAD BEEN NOTHING SUFFICIENT PRODUCED NOR SHOWN BY THEM AGAINST THEIR SOVEREIGN, WHEREBY THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND SHOULD CONCEIVE OR TAKE ANY EVIL OPINION OF THE QUEEN, HER" GOOD SISTER, FOR ANY THING SHE HAD YET SEEN." (Ibid., p. 285. Quotcs Goodall's Appendix. Laban- off Chalmer's Life of Queen Mary, and Bell's Life of the same.) This final judgment settled the whole matter. Maiy was acquitted by a court composed of her most bitter and implacable enemies. The fiimons casket of letters was ignored or shelved, and nothing was proved to induce Queen Elizabeth " to conceive any evil opinion of her good sister." Inno- cence in chains triumphed over guilt enthroned ; and the vile slanderers and forgers received a rebuke which must have nearly touched their sensi- bility, if they had any left. But withal, Mary's enemies have attained their object. Murray and his associates returned in triumph to Scotland, to hold the reins of powei' in the name of their puppet-king. Mary is indeed acquitted, but Mary is con- signed to a life-long prison, from which she is to pass to a bloody death on the scaffold. Such is human justice ! Such were tlie tender mercies of Elizabeth of En"land ! THE CORONATION OATH. 505 NOTE H, Page 303. THE CORONATION OATH OF BRITISH KINGS A^D QUEENS. (];^ For the follow^ing interesting, because official accounts of the coronation ceremony, and of tlie oatli taken by English kings and queens for a century and a half past, we are indebted to an esteemed friend, as distinguished for his love of historical and literary research as for his skill and success in business, •who, however, forbids us to mention his name. It will be seen that the kings and queens of England cannot themselves enjoy freedom in matters of religion ; and that if Queen Victoria, following her private judgment and conscientious convictions, should now dare embrace the religion of her Catholic forefathers, she would, by the very act, not only break her Corona- tion Oath, but forfeit her title to the crown ! "In the year of our Lord 1534, King Henry VIII. and his parliament, — not Christ, nor any of his apostles' successors, — but King Henry VIII. and his parliament marked out the boundary, and laid the foundation of the new church of England. Just 1501 years after the church of Christ, ' built upon the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself, being the chief corner stone (Eph. ii : 20) ' had been established." — Short's History of the Prot- estant Reformation, p. 65. The clergy of the church of England, says Blackstone, "derive all their title from the civil magistrate ; they look up to the king as their head, to the parliament as their laivgiver, and pride themselves in nothing more justl}^, than in being true members of the church emphatically ht/ law estab- lished."— Commentaries, B. iv, p. 104. " The name now given to the church of England, is the 'established church.' This ever was, and ever will be, its true, proper, and distinctive name. It is not pretended that it was founded by Christ, or by his apostles, but by law, that is by acts of parliament." — History Prot. Reformation, p. 65. To perpetuate this establishment. Statutes, Declarations, and Oaths were formed. The declaration and oath of Queen Anne, 23d April, 1702, was as follows : " The sermon being ended, the archbishop goeth to the queen, and standing before her, asketh her : "'Is your majesty willing to make the declaration'? — And the queen answering, 'I am willing.' The archbishop being ready with the said decla- ration written on a roll of parchment, and reading it as follows : " ' I, Anne, by the grace of God, queen of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, etc., do .solemnly and sincerely, m the presence of God profess, testifie, and declare that I do believe, that in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper there is not any transubstantiation of the elements of bread VOL. II, — 4b 506 NOTE H. and wine into the body and blood of Christ, at, or after the consecration thereof, by any person whatsoever. 2. That the invocation or adoration of the Virgin Mary or any other saint, and the Sacrifice of the Mass, as they are now used in the Church of Rome, are superstitious and idolatrous. 3. And I do solemnh', in tlie presence of God, profess, testifie, and declare, that I do make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the words read to me, as they are commonly understood by English Protestants, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation whatso- ever, and without any dispensation already granted me for this purpose by the Pope, or any other authority or person whatsoever, or without any hope of any such dispensation from any person or authority whatsoever, or with- out thinking that I am or can be acquitted before God, or man, or absolved of this declaration, or any part thereof, although the Pope, or any other person or pei'sons, or power whatsoever, should dispense or annul the same, or declare that it was null and void from the beginning.' " The queen makes and audibly repeats and subscribes the same. " Then the archbishop administers the Coronation Oath, asking her : 'la your majestic willing to take the oath ?' " And the queen answering, ' I am willing,' the archbishop ministereth these questions, and the queen, having a book in her hands, answers each question severally as foUoweth : "Archbishop. — 'Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this kingdom of England, and the dominions thereto belonging, according to the statutes in parliament agreed on, and the laws and customs of the same ?' "Queen. — 'I solemnly promise so to do.' "Archbishop. — 'Will you to your power cause law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgments ?' "Queen. — 'I will.' "Archbishop. — 'Will j^ou, to the utmost of your power, maintain the laws of God, the true profession of the gospel, and the Protestant reformed religion established by Jaw; and will you presei've unto the bishops and clergy of the realm, and to the churches committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain to them, or any of them ?' " Queen. — ' All this I promise to do.' '* Then the queen arising out of her chair supported as before, and assisted by the lord great chamberlain, the sword of state being carried before her, shall go to the altar, and there make her solemn Oath, in the sight of all the people, to observe the promise, laying her right hand upon the holy gospel in the great Bible which was before carried in the procession, and is now brought from the altar by the archbishop, and tendeied to her as she kneels upon the steps, and saying these words : " ' The things which I have before promised, I will perform and keep, so help me God.' Then the queen kisseth the book." — Book of the Court, p. 417-419. London, 1844. The Coronation of King George the Third and of Queen Cliarlotte took place on the 22d of Sept., 1761. Dr. Drummond, bishop of Salisbury, preached the sermon ; which being ended, his majesty read the usual decla- ration and took and subscribed the Coronation Oath, as above. — See Taylor's Glory of Kegality, p. 187, 292. London, 1820. The fc llowing is a copy of the oath from the statutes : — THE CORONATION OATH. 507 " Oath to Ijc administered to every king and queen at the time of theii coronation : — " Archbishop or bishop shall say : " ' Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this king- dom of England and the dominions thereunto belonging, according to the statutes in parliament agreed on, and the laws and customs of the same ? " The king and queen shall say : " ' I solemnly promise so to do.' " Archbishop or bishop : " ' Will you to your power, cause law and justice, in mercy to be executed in all your judgments?' " King and queen : ' I will.' " Archbishop or bishop : ' Will you, to the utmost of your power, main- tain the laws of God, the true profession of the gospel, and the Protestant reformed religion, established by law ? And will you preserve to the bishops and clergy of this realm and to the churches committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain to them, or any of them?' " King and Queen : ' All this I promise to do.' " After this the king and queen, laying his and her hand upon the holy gospels, shall say : " ' The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep ; so help me God !' " Then the king and queen shall kiss the book." — Abridged Statutes, p 426; Dublin, 1736. The coronation of " her most sacred majesty Queen Victoria " took place in the Abbey Church of Westminster on Thursday, June 28th, 1838. As pub- Ushed by authority of the earl marshal, the ceremony was as follows. " The sermon being concluded (and her majesty having on Monday, the 20th of November, 1837, in the presence of the two houses of parliament, made and signed the Declaration,) the archbishop of Canterbury, advancing towards the queen, and standing before her, says : ' Madam, are you willing to take the Oath usually taken by your predecessors ?' " Queen. — ' I am willing.' " Archbishop. — ' Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the domin- ions thereunto belonging, according to the statutes in parliament agreed on, and the respective laws and customs of the same ?' " Queen. — ' I solemnly promise so to do.' "Archbishop. — 'Will you to your power, cause law in justice and mercy to be executed in all your judgments ?' "Queen. — 'I will.' " Archbishop. — ' Will you to the utmost of your power, maintain the laws of God, the true profession of the gospel, and the Protestant reformed religion, established by lawf And will you maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof as by law established, within the kingdoms of England and Ireland, the dominion of Wales, and the town of Berwick, upon- Tweed, and the territories thereunto belonging before the union of the two kingdoms (of England and Scotland) ; and will you preserve unto the bishops and i-lergy o*" England and Ireland, and to the churches there committed to thaii 508 NOTE H. charge, all such rights an^I privileges as by law do or shall appertain unto them or an 3^ of them ?' "Queen. — 'i\ll this 1 promise to do.' " Her majesty will then arise from her chair ; and, attended by her sup- porters, and the lord great chamberlain, the sword of state alone being borno before her majestj^, will go to the altar, where, kneeling upon the cushion placed on the steps, and laying her right hand on the holy gospels, tendered to her majesty by the archbishop, will take the Coronation Oath : " ' The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep, so help me God I' "She then kisses the gospels, and to a transcript of the Oath sets her sign-manual, the lord great chamberlain of the household holding a silver standish for that purpose, delivered to him by an officer of the jewel-office." —Book of the Court, p. 467. Coronation Manual, p. 111." EELIGIOUS DESTITUTION. To show the present pitiable religious condition of England under the operation and influence of the law and parliament church, hedged in still further, as this state establishment is, by the oath of the British sovereigns binding them to uphold it with all their executive authority, we here append an extract from the January number of the Westminster Review for 1860. It will be seen from the unimpeachable facts and figures here exhibited, that, after all that has been said and written in fiivor of the Anglican Refor- mation, and after the latter has been reforming England for three centuries, nearly if not quite one-half of the English people are now in a state of frightful irreligion, but little removed from downright paganism ! " We quote from an extract which appeared in the Times of November 5th : ' There is an alai'ming picture presented of the irreligion in which large masses of the population are steeped. For example, in Southwark there are sixty-eight per cent, of the people who attend no place of worship ; in Lambeth, sixty and one-half; in Sheffield, sixt3''-two ; in Oldham, sixty- one and one-half; in Galeshead, sixty ; in Preston, fifty-nine ; in Brighton, fifty-four; in the Tower Hamlets, fifty-three and one-half; in Finsbury, fifty-three ; in Salford, fifty-two ; in South Shields, fifty-two ; in Manches- ter, fifty-one and one-half; in Bolton, fifty one and one-half; in Stoke, fifty- one and one-half; in Westminster, fift}" ; and in Coventry, fifty. Of the aggregate population of the sixteen places named, the average proportion who never enter a place of worship is fifty-three per cent., and of the remaining forty-seven per cent., how few are real Christians !' " The select committee of the hou.se of lords ' appointed to inquire into deficiency of means of spiritual instruction and places of divine worship in the metropolis, and in other populous districts in England and Wales,' would have inferred, that the non-attendance on public worship, and the misery and degradation of the great masses of the people in the metropolis , and other large towns arise from the paucity of churches, from the deficiency RELIGIOUS DESTITUTION. 509 of church means. But the inference to be drawn from Mr. Horace Mann'a very impartial summary respecting the extent and causes of the absence of the people from public worship are, as we have already pointed out, very different. It appears from his statistics, that there were absent fi-om the available means of religious worship on the census Sunday, five million, two hundred and eighty-eight thousand, two hundred and ninety-four persons able to have attended once at least, and who neglected to do so. The pro- portion of persons ahh to have attended one and the same service on Sundays — that is, not reasonably prevented by age, sickness, and necessary avoca- tions— is estimated at fifty-eight per cent, of the population, and the propor- tion able, without physical hindrance, to attend some one religious service, is taken at seventy per cent, of the population. If seventy per cent, had attended, their number would have been twelve million, five hundred and forty-nine thousand, three hundred and twenty-six, but there was only an aggregate of attendance, at the three services in all places of worship, amounting to seven million, two hundred and sixty-one thousand and thirty- two. Some of these were no doubt attendances by the same persons on more than one service ; on the other hand, some who were absent on that day might at other times attend. But were there means of more persons attending then? The total number of sittings within reach, when the churches and chapels were open, was twenty million, two hundred and twenty-six thousand, seven hundred and ninety-seven ; so that it is tolerably certain that the five million, two hundred and eight3^-eight thousand, two hundred and ninety-four who every Sunday neglect religious ordinances, do so of their own free choice, and are not compelled to be absent on account of a deficiency of sittings. (Alii'idged Eeport, p. 89.) It is still more worthy of remark, that out of a total of ten million, two hundred and twelve thousand, five hundred and sixty-three sittings in all places of wor- ship, four million, eight hundred and ninety-four thousand, five hundred and ninety-four are described as free, and the fact of the other sittings being iictually paid for, indicates that they are principally the free sittings which ar^ anocoupied." THE END. "^7/7' Date Due «SY1,"'^3 FE 1 q 30 ^ ^^/^ \WMK^. "^jm y-