~ ct V ^ >* ./.- 'V ' ^n ,.\ THE HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY; OR, DIVINE PROVIDENCE HISTORICALLY ILLUSTRATED THE EXTENSION AND ESTABLISHMENT instiantty. BY HOLLIS READ, A.M. AUTHOR OF THE CHRISTIAN BRAHMUN, AND LATE MISSIONARY OF THE AMERICAN BOARD. "That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, THAT IT IS MIGHTY." — Josh. iv. 24. J HARTFORD-.X: H. E. ROBINS AND 1851. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year J 849, By HOLLIfe &EAD, A.M. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut — -^•\/\/v\/\/>^\/vr^/N^- STEREOTYPED BY RICHARD H. HOBfiB, HARTFORD, CONN. PREFACE. " The history of the world is gradually losing itself in the history of the church." " The full history of the world is a history of redemption." " In no period of the history of redemption, not even when preparing the fullness of time for the Messiah's advent, has the providence of God been more marked than of late years, in its bearing on the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom." a The providence of God, in respect to this work," says another, " would form one of the most interesting chapters in the history of his government." u To the casual observer of Providence, to the ordinary reader of this world's history, the whole appears like a chaos of incidents, no thread, no system, no line of connection running through it. One course of events is seen here, and another there. Kingdoms rise on the stage one after another, and become great and powerful, and then pass away and are for- gotten. And the history of the church seems scarcely less a chaos than that of the world. Changes are continually going on within it and around it, and these apparently without much order." Yet all is not a chaos. The Christian student, with his eye devoutly fixed on the Hand of God, looks out upon the world, and back on the wide field of its history, and takes IV TREFACE. altogether a different view. What before seemed so chaotic and disorderly, now puts on the appearance of system and form. All is animated by one soul, and that soul is Provi- dence. The writer of the following pages believes his subject timely. Perhaps as never before, the minds of the most sagacious writers of our age are watching with profound and pious interest the progress of human events. The aim of the author has been to make the work historical, at least so abounding in narrative, anecdote, biography, and in the de- lineations of men and things in real life, as to commend it to the general reader ; and at the same time to reveal at every step the Hand of God overruling the events of history, to subserve his one great end : an attempt to contribute a mite to rescue history from the melancholy abuse under which it has lain almost to the present time. History, when rightly written, is but a record of providence ; and he who would read history rightly, must read it with his eye constantly fixed on the hand of God. Every change, every revolution in human affairs, is, in the mind of God, a movement to the consumma- tion of the great work of redemption. There is no doubt at the present time, a growing tendency so to write and so to understand history. And if the writer has contributed any thing to advance a consummation so devoutly to be wished, he will feel that he has not labored in vain. In the preparation of the following pages, the writer has felt his mind constantly burdened with the magnitude of the sub- ject. It has seemed too mighty to grapple with, and pain- fully conscious has he been of his inability to do it justice. Originating as it did, in the perplexity he felt, as a friend of Christian missions, in the inadequacy of any means now em- ployed, or likely soon to be employed, to secure the evangel- ization of the world, and in the many fluctuations of the mis- PREFACE. V sionary enterprise, he has been led to trace out the Divine agency, which has, in every age of Christianity, been em- ployed to carry forward the work. With his eye fixed on the hand of God, as engaged to consummate his plans of mercy through the cross, he has for the last seven years made his reading of history subservient to the work which he now ven- tures to offer to the public ; hoping he has struck out a course, and gathered a mass and variety of facts in illustration of his position, which, while it shall do something to magnify in the minds of his people the power and grace of God, to confirm their hopes, and give confidence in the sure and final triumph of the gospel, shall contribute something to aid abler pens to consummate what he has begun, Hartford, May, 1849. SOME OF THE AUTHORS CONSULTED. Hallam's Middle Ages. Robertson's Charles V., and his Ancient India. Guizot's History of Civilization. W. C. Taylor's Natural History of Society. Gibbon's Rome. Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella. Bancroft's History of United States. D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation. Edwards' History of Redemption. Titler's Universal History. American Encyclopedia. Mosheim's Church History Gessler's Church History. Hume's History of England. Allison's Modern Europe. Mills' Mohammedanism. Foster's Mohammedanism Unveiled. Milman's Church History. Harris' Great Commission. Smith's and Choules' History of Missions. Moffatt's South Africa. Williams' Missionary Enterprises. Missionary Herald — Reports of Benevolent Societies. Dr. Duff's India, and India Missions. Dr. Grant's Nestorians, and the Lost Tribes., Prof. Tholock — Dr. Baird — Bishop Wilson. Lorimer's Protestant Church of France. Bingham's Sandwich Islands. CONTENTS. Pag#. PREFACE. ......... . 3 CHAPTER I. Introduction. General illustrations of Providential Agency : Joseph— Moses- Esther — Daniel. History an exponent of Providence. Ezekiel's wheel. John's sealed Book. Pentecost. Persecution about Stephen— about Paul. Dispersion of the Jews. The Roman Empire. Introduction of the Gospel into Abyssinia- Iberia— Britain— Bulgaria. Our plan. Christianity progressive. CHAPTEE II. Art op Printing — Paper-making — Mariner's Compass. The Discovery of America, at precisely the right time: a new field for Christianity. First settlement. Romanists. None but Puritan seed takes deep root here. Character of the first settlers. Geographical position. Capabilities and resources of America. Language, Intelligence, Political supremacy. Coal. Steam. A cloud. - - • - 31 CHAPTER III. The Reformation. — General remarks — state of Europe and the world. The crusades — their cause and effect. Revival of Greek literature in Europe. The Arabs. Daring spirit of inquiry. Bold spirit of adventure. Columbus. The Cabots. Charles V. Henry VIII. Francis I. Leo X. Rise of liberty. Feud- Distribution of political power. 53 CHAPTER IV. The Reformation. Europe clamors for reform. Causes. Abuses. Boniface VIII. The Great Schism. Infallibility. Bad moral character of Popes— Alex- ander VI. Leo X. Elector of Saxony. Early Reformers. Waldenses— Nes- torians. The Reformation a necessary effect— a child of Providence. Martin Luther ; his origin, early education, history. Finds the Bible. His conversion. Luther the preacher— the Theological Professor— at Rome. "Pilate's stair- case. " Compelled to be a Reformer. His coadjutors. Opposition. Results. • Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Page. Japheth in the tents of Shem : or, the Hand of God, as seen in the opening a way to India by the way of the Cape of Good Hope. The posterity of Japheth. The Portuguese empire in the East — its extent and extinction. Designs of Provi- dence in opening India to Europe— not silks and satins, but to illustrate the evil of Idolatry, and the inefficacy of false religions and philosophy to reform men. The power of true religion. 85 CHAPTER VI. God in history. The Church safe. Expulsion of the Moors from Spain. Transfer of India to Protestant hands. Philip II. and Holland. Spanish invincible Armada. The bloody Mary of England. Dr. Cole and Elizabeth Edmonds. Cromwell and Hampden to sail for America. Return of the Waldenses and Henry Arnaud. Gunpowder plot. Cromwell's usurpation. Revolution of 1688. James II. and Louis XIV. Peter the Great. Rare constellation of great men. - 100 CHAPTER VII. God in Modern Missions.— Their early history. Benevolent societies. The Moravians. — English Baptist's society. Birmah Missions. David Bogue and the London Missionary Society. Captain James Wilson and the South Sea Mission. The tradition of the unseen God.— Success. Destruction of Idols.— Gospel brought to Rurutu— Aitutaki— Rarotonga— Mangaia— Navigators' Islands. - - 122 CHAPTER VIII. Modern Missions continued.— Henry Obookiah and the Sandwich Islands. Van- couver and the Council. Dr. Vanderkemp and South Africa. Africaner. Hand of God in the Origin of Benevolent Societies. Remarkable preservation of Missionaries. 136 CHAPTER IX. Hand op God in facilities and resources by which to spread Christianity. The supremacy of England and America : prevalence of the English language, and European manners, habits and dress. Modern improvements ; facilities for locomotion. Isthmus of Suez and Darien. Commercial relations. Post- Office. - 156 CHAPTER X. Hand op God in facilities and resources. General peace. Progress of know- ledge, civilization and freedom. The three great obstacles essentially removed, Paganism, the Papacy, and Mohammedanism. 176 CONTENTS. Ut CHAPTER XI. Page. The field prepared. General Remarks ; — First, Papal countries, or Europe ; their condition now, and fifty years ago. France — the Revolution — Napoleon. 1845, an epoch— present condition of Europe. Character of her monarchs. Cath- olic countries ;— Spain and Rome— Austria— France, an open field. France and Rome. Geneva. Benevolent and reforming societies. Religion in high places. Mind awake. Liberty. Condition of Romanism and Protestantism. • - • • 196 CHAPTER XII. Continued. Second, Pagan Countries. Paganism in its dotage. Fifty years ago scarcely a tribe of Pagans accessible. 1793, another epoch. Pagan nations, how accessible. Facilities. War. The effective force in the field. Resources of Providence in laborers, education, and the press. Toleration. Success. Kirshnuggar. South India. 221 CHAPTER XIII. The field prepared. Islands of the Pacific. Native agency. Liberality of native Churches. Outpouring of tl>e Spirit and answers to Prayer. The first Monday of January. Timing of things. England in India— her influence. Success, a cumulative force for progress. The world at the feet of the Church. 239 CHAPTER XIV. Mohammedan countries and Mohammedanism. The design, origin, character success, extent of Islamism. Mohammed a Reformer — not an Impostor. Whence the power and permanency of Mohammedanism 1 Promise to Ishmael —hope for him. The power of Islam on the wane. Turks the watch-dogs of Providence, to hold in check the Beast and the Dragon. Turkish reforms — Toleration— Innovations— A pleasing reflection. S CHAPTER XV. Hand of God in the Turkish Empire. The Turkish Government and Chris- tianity. Mr. D wight's communication. Change of the last fifty years. Destruc- tion of the Janizaries. Greek Revolution. Reform. Death of Mahmoud. The Charter of Gul Khaneh. Religious Liberty. Persecution arrested. Steam Navigation in Turkey. Providential incidents. Protestant Governments and Turkey. Their present Embassadors. Foreign Protestant Residents. Late ex- emption from the plague. 274 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER XYI. Page. Africa , the land of paradoxes— Hope for Africa. Elements of renovation— Anglo- Saxon iniluence — Colonizing— The Slave Trade and Slavery — Commerce. A moral machinery— education, the Press, a preached Gospel. Free Govern- ment. African Education and Civilization Society. The Arabic Press. African languages. 290 CHAPTER XVII. The Armenians— their history, number, location. Dispersion and preservation of the Armenians. The American Mission ; Asaad Shidiak ; exile of Hohannes. The great Revival. The Persecution, and what God has brought out of it. - -313 CHAPTER XVIII. The Jews. Providential features of their present condition, indicating their pre- paredness to receive the Gospel. 332 CHAPTER XIX. The Nestorians— their country, number, history. The Ten lost Tribes. Early conversion to Christianity. Their missionary character. The American Mis- sion among them. Dr. Grant and the Koordish mountains. The massacre. The great Revival— extends into the mountains. The untamed mountaineer. A bright day dawning. 351 CHAPTER XX. Europe in 1848. The Mission of Puritanism— in Europe. The failure of the ref- ormation. Divorce of Church and State. The moral element in Government. Progress of liberty in Europe ; religious Liberty. Causes of the late European movement. The downfall of Louis Philippe. What the end shall be. - - - -365 CHAPTER XXI. Remarkable providences— small beginnings and great results. Abraham. Joseph. Moses. David. Ruth. Ptolemy's map. Printing. The Mayflower. Bunyan. John Newton. The old marine. The poor Choctaw boy. The linen seller. Russian Bible Society. The little girl's tears, and Bible Societies. Conclusion. 283 A list of some of the Authors consulted. 403 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. CHAPTER I. Introduction. General illustrations of Providential Agency : Joseph— Moses— Esther- Daniel. History an exponent of Providence. Ezekiel's wheel. John's sealed Book. Pentecost. Persecution about Stephen— about Paul. Dispersion of the Jews. The Roman Empire. Introduction of the Gospel into Abyssinia— Iberia— Britain— Bul- garia. Our plan. Christianity progressive. " Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleih" — James, ii. 5. A young shepherd boy, as he tends his father's flocks on the hills of Palestine, dreams a dream. No strange event this, and, accustomed as he was to gaze on the starry concave, not strange that he should dream of the sun, moon and stars — or that it should have been interpreted of his future greatness, or that his brethren should on this account hate him — or that Joseph should be sold a slave into Egypt. Here seemed an end of the whole matter. The exiled youth would soon wear out in bondage, un- known and unwept; a disconsolate father go down to the grave mourning, and the posterity of Jacob cultivate their fields, and watch their flocks, forgetful that this out- rage to humanity ever disgraced the annals of their family history. But not so the mind of God. Joseph is en- slaved — accused of crime — thrown into prison. Yet in that dark cell is nourished the germ of hope to the church of the living God. Israel should grow up on the banks of the Nile, and spread his boughs to the river, and his branches to the sea. The eye of God was here steadily fixed on the advancement of his church. Again, something is seen floating amidst the flags of the river of Egypt. A. servant woman is ordered to bring it. It is an ark of rushes. Thousands of Hebrew chil- 12 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. dren had perished uncared for ; but now, as by accident, one is found and introduced into the palace of the king and to the court. He is educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and schooled in the discipline needful to make him a legislator and a military leader. With what care did God watch that little rush bark, and with what consummate skill order every event, till he had reared up Moses, and fitted him to act a more prominent part in the advancement of his cause than any mortal had acted before. Or, an obscure female is born in Persia. At an early age she is left an orphan. An uncle adopts her, and hopes she may yet solace his declining years. She is beautiful, lovely, modest — yet nothing points her out to any envia- ble station above the thousands of the daughters of Persia. To all human forethought she would live and die unknown as she was born. But the church of God is scattered throughout the hundred and twenty and seven prov- inces of Persia. Esther is a daughter of the captivity ; and God would raise up some guardian spirit to save his people from an impending danger, and honor them in the sight of the heathen. The palace of Shushan, and the gorgeous court of the Shah, shall stand in awe of Esther's God. By a singular train of circumstances the obscure orphan is brought to the notice of the king — finds favor, and is called to share with him the honors of his throne. And what deliverances she wrought for her peo- ple — how she brought them out from their long obscurity, and gave them notoriety and enlargement, and prepared the way for their restoration to their native land and to the Holy Hill of Zion, is known to all who have traced the hand of Providence in this portion of Sacred History. Again, a youth of nineteen years is carried captive to Babylon. But there was nothing singular in this. Thou- sands of every age and rank had been forced away from their native hills and valleys of Palestine, the victims of unsuccessful war. But the time had come when God would proclaim his name and his rightful claims to sover- eignty from the high battlements of the greatest of earthly potentates. Again he would magnify his church in the sight of all nations. Hence Daniel's captivity — hence PROVIDENCE AND HISTORY. 13 that youthful saint prayed and exemplified an enlightened, unbending piety, till the king and his court, the nobles and the people, publicly acknowledged the God of Daniel, and " blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to genera- tion." " Providence is the light of history and the soul of the world." " God is in history, and all history has a unity because God is in it." " The work of Redemption is the sum of all God's providences." In the following pages, an attempt is made to present, within prescribed limits, an historical illustration of the Hand of God as displayed in the extension and establish- ment of Christianity. And the author will compass his end in proportion as he may contribute any thing to a right apprehension of history — of the divine purposes in the vicissitudes and revolutions of human affairs, discern- ing in the records of all true history the one great end, " For which all nature stands, And stars their courses move." All veritable history is but an exponent of Providence ; and it cannot but interest the mind of intelligent piety, to trace the hand of God in all the changes and revolu- tions of our world's history. All are made beautifully to subserve the interests of the church ; atl tend to the fur- therance of the one great purpose of the Divine mind ; the glory of God in the redemption of man. He that would rightly study history must keep his eye constantly fixed on the great scheme of human salvation. History, however, has been written with no such intent. " The first thing that it should have shown is the last thing that it has shown. The relation of all events to God's grand design is by most historians quite overlooked." All past history is but the unravelling of God's eternal plan re- specting our race. The whole course of human events is made finally to subserve this one great purpose. The philosophy of history can be learned only in the labora- tory of heaven — with the eye fixed on the Hand that 2 14 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. moves the world, and the spirit in harmony with the great Spirit that animates the universe. It is only when we see God — Christ — redemption, in history, that we read it in the light of truth. "This is the golden thread that passes through its entire web, and gives it its strength, its lustre and consistency. " With beautiful propriety the Prophet Ezekiel prefaces his predictions with a striking delineation of Divine Provi- dence. Or rather God prepares the prophet's mind to become the vehicle of the most extraordinary series of predictions concerning his people, by a vision emblemat- ical of Providence. It came under the similitude of a " wheel," or a sphere made of a " wheel in the middle of a wheel." A whirlwind and a cloud appear in the north, illumined with a brightness as of fire. Out of the midst of the cloud appears the likeness of four living creatures ; each has four faces ; four wings, and hands under their wings ; straight feet like the ox ; and the four faces are severally like the face of a man, of a lion, of an ox and an eagle, denoting wisdom, strength, swiftness and obedience. Their wings are raised and joined one to another, and when they move they move " straight forward," as directed by the Spirit, and they turn not as they go. These may be taken to represent the ministers of Providence — angels, with ready wing to obey the behests of Heaven — intent on their er- rands of mercy or of wrath — turning neither to the right hand or the left ^subject to no mistakes, hindered by no obstructions — and all their movements directed by one great Mind. " Whither the Spirit w r as to go, they went ; they run and return as the appearance of a flash of lightning." By the side of these was a wheel or sphere, composed of a "wheel within a wheel." This may be regarded as an emblem of Divine Providence. The wheel had four faces — looked every way, moved every way ; was con- nected with the living creatures, and moved in perfect harmony with them; was full of eyes — never moved blindly or by chance ; its operations, though endlessly diversified in detail, were harmonious in action and one in their end, for all were guided by one great, controlling PROVIDENCE INCOMPREHENSIBLE. 15 Agent. The wheels had a regular, uniformly onward movement — no turning aside or turning back ; and so enormous were they in circumference that their " height was dreadful." And such is God's Providence — a scheme for carrying out purposes high as heaven, and lasting as eternity — vast, profound in the conception, sublime in result, and, like God himself, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. God is the soul of Providence. The general appearance of this singular mechanism was like unto the color of a beryl — azure — ocean-like. Providence like the ocean I — an apt and beautiful allusion. The ocean, broken only here and there by a few large patches of land sitting, as it were, on its heaving bosom, stretches from pole to pole, and from equator to equator; is all-pervading, never at rest, irresistible. It ebbs and flows ; has its calms and tempests, its depres- sions and elevations. Whether lashed into fury by the storm, or sleeping tranquilly on its coral bed, it is accom- plishing its destined end. It washes every land ; its va- pors suffuse the entire atmosphere; its waters, filtered through the earth, are brought to our door, and distribu- ted through every hill and valley. Common and useful as the ocean is, we are but par- tially acquainted with its utility, and so boundless is it that human vision can take in but a mere speck of its whole surface. We stand on its shore, or sit on some little floating speck on its bosom, and, 'save a little lake or pond that heaves in restless throes about us, the ocean itself lies beyond the field of our vision, shut out by the azure curtain of the encircling sky. And such is Providence — a deep, unfathomable deep — none but the omniscient eye can fathom it — none but in- finite Wisdom can scan its secret recesses ; so boundless, everywhere active, all-influential, that none but the infi- nite Mind can survey and comprehend its wonder-work- ing operations ; so mighty, all-controlling, irresistible, that nothing short of omnipotence can guide it. Like the sea, Providence has its flows and ebbs, its calms and tempests, its depressions and elevations. At one time we ride on the swelling bosom of prosperity. The tide of life runs 16 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. high and strong. The sunbeams of health and joy glisten in our tranquil waters, and we scarcely fear a disturbing change. Again the tide sets back upon us. Disappoint- ment, poverty, sickness, bodily or mental affliction, throw life aiul all its enjoyments in the ebb. We are tossed on the crested billow, or lie struggling beneath the over- whelming wave. Like the sea, Providence is not only the minister of the Divine mercy, but of the Divine dis- pleasure, executing judgments on the froward and disobe- dient : a minister of discipline, too, casting into the fur- nace of affliction, that it may bring out the soul seven times purified. We can see but little of its boundless surface, or sound but little of its unfathomable depths. " And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is able to. open the book and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book. And I wept. And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not : behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof/' This book was an ancient roll, composed of seven distinct parts — (the number seven de- noting universality ;) so rolled as to leave an end of each on the outside, which was sealed with a separate seal. The book was written within — reserved in the keeping of Him that sitteth on the throne — held in the right hand of Omnipotence — the understanding and unfolding of its secrets was committed only to the Son, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. None could " look thereon/' or take it from the right hand of Him that sitteth on the throne, but the Lamb that stood in the " midst of the throne." This is another apt and beautiful emblem of Divine Providence. As mediatorial King, the Lord Jesus Christ undertakes the unrolling of this mysterious scroll — the unfolding of the eternal purposes of Jehovah — the con- trolling of all events, and the ordering and overruling of all the vicissitudes and revolutions in human affairs, to the carrying out of the Divine purposes. It was a book of seven chapters, some of which are divided into sections HISTORY AND THE CHURCH. 17 as marked by the seven trumpets, the seven thunders and the seven vials of the seven last plagues. The Lamb takes the book — becomes the executor of the Divine will in his purposes of mercy to man : " Lo ! I come in the volume of the book as it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God." " And when he had taken the book/' and thereby engaged to execute the magnificent scheme of the Divine Mind, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof." Then follows, in awful succession, scene after scene in the sublime drama, till John had witnessed, in shadowy outline, as in a moving panorama before him, the great events, political and ecclesiastical, which should transpire in coming time — reaching forward to the end of the present dispensation or the full establishment of Messiah's kingdom. Holding in his hand the book of God's pur- poses, the Lamb rides forth, King and Conqueror, in the chariot of God's providences. In a word, the solution of the dark sayings of this book — the evolving of the Di- vine purposes concerning the scheme of grace, is to be sought in the progress and final triumph of ImmanueVs kingdom. Whoever will read the history of the world and of the church of God, with his eye fixed on the providential agency which everywhere overrules the events of the one to the furtherance and well-being of the other, will see all history illuminated by a light, and animated by a spirit, of which the mere chronicler of historical events knows nothing. He will feel that history has a sacred philoso- phy — that he is standing in the council chamber of eter- nity, reading the annals of infinite Wisdom and Mercy, as blended and developed in the great work of human re- demption. He will see in all history such a shaping of every event as finally to further the cause of truth. Events apparently contradictory often stand in the rela- tion of cause and effect. A Pharaoh and a Nebuchad- nezzar, an Alexander and a Nero, a Domitian and a Bor- 18 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. gia. Henry the VIII. and Napoleon, men world-renowned, yet oftentimes prodigies of wickedness, are in every age made the instruments and the agents to work out the scheme oi His operations who maketh the wrath of man to praise him. " Howbeit they mean not so." The Lord's portion is his people ; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in a waste, howling wilder! •s; he led him about, he in- structed him, he kept hiui as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings ; so the Lord alone did lead him. He has engraven him on the palms of his hands. By some anom- aly of nature a mother may forget her sucking child, but God will not forget his inheritance in Jacob. The earth changes ; the sea changes ; change is the order of all ter- restrial things. They appear and pass away, and we scarcely know they have been. But not so with the church of God. As He lives so she shall live. The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light ; a beautiful emblem of a superintending Providence over his church. And "he has never taken away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night." By his sleepless energy he has prepared the way before them, and led them by his own right hand. For their sakes he has made and unmade kings — formed and dissolved em- pires — cast down and discomfited enemies, and raised up friends. It shall be our delightful task to trace the footsteps of Providence in the extension and establishment of the church. While much has been done for the spread of the true religion by missionary effort, much more has been done through the direct agency of Providence. Illustra- tions crowd upon us unsought : a few of which, as iso- lated cases, shall be allowed to fill up our first chapter. 1. Peter and the Pentecost. I do not here refer di- rectly to the extraordinary outpouring of the spirit on that day, or to the great number of converts, but to the re- markable concurrence of circumstances, which made that a radiating point of the newly risen Sun of Righteousness PAUL IN ROME. 19 to most of the nations of the earth. Had not the Parthi- ans and the Medes, the Arabians and the dwellers in Mesopotamia — devout men out of every nation under heaven, been there, the influence of that occasion had been confined within a narrow province. But as the event was, the gospel flew as on the wings of the wind, through all the countries represented in Peter's assembly on that memorable day. And as the apostles afterwards trav- ersed those same regions, they found the glad tidings of Pentecost had gone before them as pioneers to their suc- cess, and harbingers of peace to welcome the more per- fect establishment of Messiah's kingdom. All this was purely providential — a conjunction of circumstances to bring about results which should be felt over the whole known world. 2. The persecution which arose about Stephen. Its im- mediate and obvious result was a cruel persecution against the whole church, scattering abroad the disciples through all the neighboring nations. The ultimate and more glo- rious result — the providential aspect and design, was that they should, wherever dispersed, go preaching the gospel. The converts of Pentecost now need to be reinforced, strengthened and encouraged; and they who had sat longer at the feet of the apostles, and learned the way of life more perfectly, were sent to strengthen the things that were ready to perish. Where was the smoking flax they fanned it to a flame ; where the flickering lamp, they replenished it from the horn of salvation. And the gos- pel, too, was by this means introduced and established in other regions. They that had long sit in the land of the shadow of death, light shined on them. 3. Paul's being carried prisoner to Rome. Rome was the imperial city, the metropolis of the world. Judea, the cradle of Christianity, was, on the other hand, but an insignificant province ; the Jews, a hated people, and the founder of Christianity, was contemned as a crucified malefactor. But Jesus of Nazareth shall be known and honored at Rome. Her seven hills shall be as the seven golden candlesticks to send the light of truth abroad. But with man this was impossible. There were Chris- tians in Rome ; yet Rome was a proud, pagan city. The 20 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. church and her envoys were equally in bad repute. Her excellencies were unknown, and her beauties, as dimly seen through the fogs of ignorance and prejudice, were unappreciated. But the religion of Calvary shall be honored at Rome — there shall be a church in the " house- hold of Caesar." That great pagan empire shall yield to the cross, and her proud capital shall be the radiating point of light. It is fit, then, that the prince of the apostles should go there — that his puissant arm should wield the sword of the Spirit amidst those giant powers of darkness — that his voice should be heard in the forum, and his eloquence plead in the palace of Caesar. But how can this be ? God had a way — Paul must be arrested in the midst of his successful mission in Asia Minor. This seemed a sore evil — no one could supply his place there. But the great Husbandman had need of him in another part of his vineyard. He must be arrested— -brought before a Roman tribunal — be accused — allowed an appeal to Cae- sar — and to Ccesar he must go. But he goes, though in chains, the embassador of heaven, the messenger of Christianity, to the capital of the empire, and to the palace of the monarch. He goes at the expense of a pagan government, in a government ship, under governmental protection, and for the express purpose of making a defence which shall lay a necessity on him to preach Christ and him crucified before the im- perial court. All this is providential. On this highest summit of earthly power, Paul kindled a fire whose light soon shone to the remotest bounds of the Roman empire. 4. The dispersion of the Jews was another providential interposition which contributed immensely to the wide and rapid spread of the gospel. Jerusalem had been di- vinely appointed the radiating point of Christianity. The gospel must first be preached at Jerusalem : then to the mongrel tribes of Samaria ; and thence, chiefly through the instrumentality of Jews, to the remotest parts of the earth. But the Jews were a people proverbially averse to mingling with other nations ; and how shall they become the messengers of salvation to a perishing world ? THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 21 A signal providence here interposed : Jerusalem is be- sieged by a Roman army ; her mighty ramparts are broken down ; her palaces demolished ; her gorgeous temple laid in ruins. The nation is disbanded, and the Jewish church is no more. The fold broken up, the sheep are scattered. They spread themselves over the plains of Asia, even to the confines of the Chinese sea. They wander over the hills, and settle down in the val- leys of Europe ; nor does the broad Atlantic arrest their progress to the new world. Wherever dispersed, they bear testimony to the truth of Christianity. Whether in Kamskatka or on the torrid sands of Africa, on the Co- lumbia or the Ganges, the Jew is everywhere a Jew — and the peculiarities which make him such, make him everywhere a preacher of righteousness. The bare fact of his dispersion was a living and palpable illustration of God's truth. If not a direct preacher of righteousness, he was at least verifying the predictions of a long line of prophets, and confirming the testimony of all former ages. Nothing so abundantly favored the propagation of the gospel as the dispersion of the Jews : " Through their fall salvation is come to the Gentiles." Their rejection was the occasion and the means of a wider and a richer diffu- sion of the gospel. Indeed, at every step of the progress of Christianity we meet a wonder-working Providence opening and pre- paring the way for the kingdom of God among the na- tions of the earth. 5. The extent and character of the Roman Empire, at this time, affords another notable instance. In the con- struction of that vast empire, God had, for near forty centuries, been preparing a stupendous machinery for the triumph of the truth over the superstition and ignorance, the learning and philosophy of the whole earth. It was the grand concentration of all that was good, and much that was bad, in the great monarchies which had gone before it. It was, indeed, a magnificent structure ; in ex- tent, covering nearly the whole known world, and in po- litical, intellectual, and moral height, overtopping all that had gone before it. The mighty monarchies which had gone before, were schools and vast workshops in which 2'2 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. to prepare materials out of which to build Rome. In polit- ical wisdom and the science of government, in the arts and sciences, in civilization and refinement, Rome drew much from the ever instructive past. In point of religion, too, she had gained much. Having adopted the mythologies of her predecessors, the lapse of time had shown her their indfficacy and nothingness ; and, consequently, long be- fore the coming of Christ, the state of religion was little more than the ridicule of the philosopher, the policy of the magistrate, and the mere habit of superstition with the populace ; and, of consequence, in a state as favora- ble as may well be conceived for the introduction and rapid spread of a new religion. Such, in a word, was the character, the extent, and facilities of communication possessed by the Roman Em- pire, as admirably to fit her to act the conspicuous part in the spread of the gospel for which Providence had prepared her. A nod from the Roman throne made the world tremble. What started with a Roman influence reached the bound- aries of that vast empire. # When, therefore, Paul brought the religion of Jesus into the forum and the pal- ace, into the schools of philosophy, and the chief places of learning, a blow was struck which vibrated through every nerve of that vast body politic. And we need not be surprised at the triumphant declaration of the great apostle to the Gentiles, that, in less than half a century after the resurrection, " verily their sound had gone into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." The universality and consolidation of the Roman Em- pire remarkably favored such a result. Narrow nation- alities had fallen. Rome was the world. When Chris- tianity became the national religion, it, in a sense, became the religion of the world. The observant reader of Gib- * Of the peculiar facilities afforded by the Roman Empire for the universal spread of the gospel, take, for an example, her national roads and posts. From Rome to Scotland on the west, and to Jerusalem on the east, a distance of four thousand Roman miles — and from the imperial capital through the heart of every province, there extended a national road by which even the remotest provinces were accessible. This furnished facilities before unknown for the communication of knowledge and the propagation of Christianity. To open and improve the facilities for intercommunication, is among the first measures for effecting, or for advancing the civilization of any country. Modern Europe received its first lessons here from the Saracens of the twelfth and following centuries. MADE TO SUBSERVE THE CHURCH. 23 bon cannot have overlooked the singular fact, that not only every new conquest added new dominion to Chris- tianity, but every defeat. The conquerors of Rome al- most invariably embraced the religion of the conquered. The strong arm of Jehovah made the Roman monarchy a mighty engine in the advancement of his truth. Under its benign auspices the Saviour was born. Au- gustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor, began his reign about twenty-four years before this event. The Roman Empire had now just reached its culminating point. Augustus was the emperor of the heathen world. Never before had Satan's kingdom attained to so gigantic a height in point of power, wealth, and learning. This was consummated but a year before the birth of Christ. Augustus having subdued his last enemy, the world was hushed into universal peace — a befitting time for the ad- vent of the Prince of Peace. The church was, at that time, brought exceedingly low — her enemies raised to the greatest height of glory and power — the four winds of heaven were stayed, and God's anointed came. Thus did God magnify the power of his church, and display the omnipotency of his truth, by bringing them in near connection with the prince of the power of the air when he was at the point of his greatest glory, and then overruling the honor and might of the enemy, to the furtherance of his own eternal scheme of mercy. The great worldly aggrandizement of the Roman Empire was, in a remarkable degree, made to subserve the rising cause of Christianity. 6. Unroll the map of history where you please, and you will meet, portrayed before you, the wonder-working Hand stretched out to protect his people, and to overrule men and events to the praise of his name, and the fur- therance of his gracious plans. The emperor, Antoninus, a persecutor of the Christian church, is warring with a barbarous people in Germany. His army is perishing with heat and thirst, and the enemy near. Being informed of a Christian legion in his army, who were said to obtain what they desired by their prayers, the emperor commanded them to call on their God for assistance. The entire legion fell on their knees 24 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. and besought the Lord for rain. Suddenly the sky was overcast — a terrific storm of thunder and lightning burst on their enemies. They were panic-struck and com- pletely routed, while a copious shower afforded the impe- rial troops ample refreshment. The heart of the empe- ror is turned to favor the new sect. The Christian's God and the gospel is known and honored in the high places of imperial Rome. A similar purpose was achieved at a later period by the conversion of the emperor Philip. There is light in Rome, while yet the British Isle is covered with pagan darkness. Caractacus, with his fam- ily and his father Brennus, is carried prisoner of war to Rome. They embrace the Christian faith, and, after seven years, return to their native island, accompanied by three Christian preachers, one a Jew, who introduced the religion of Calvary, in the first century. The mis- sion, sent at a later period by Gregory the great, was a child of the same Providence. Walking, one day, in the market-place, he saw some fine youths, of florid complex- ion, bound with cords and exposed to sale as slaves. Deeply interested in their behalf, he inquired whence they came. Being informed they were natives of Britain, and pagans, he gave his spirit no rest till a mission had been dispatched to that idolatrous island. When, in the reign of the emperor Philip, the church had rest, and her ministers had quiet and comfort at home, and the apostolic and missionary spirit was declining, yet a wide and effectual door was open to the heathen — ■ Providence had a resource little thought of: Barbarian invaders carry away among their captives several Christian bishops, who, contrary to their expectations, are forced to become missionaries and preachers in foreign lands, and are the instruments of the conversion of many, who had otherwise died in the region and shadow of death. In a little town on the gulf of Nicomedia lived an ob- scure inn-keeper. Constantius, a Roman embassador, returning from the court of Persia, lodges in the inn — be- comes enamored of Helena, the inn-keeper's daughter — ■ marries her, and the son of their union they call Constan tine. Constantius becomes a distinguished Roman gen- CONSTANTINE. 25 era], and is at length honored with the purple — divorces Helena, the wife of obscure parentage, and leaves her son to humiliation and disgrace. But he was a chosen vessel. He signalized his valor in war, and in peace showed himself worthy to be the son of a Roman Empe- ror. His father dies, and the army constrain him to ac- cept the imperial crown. On his way to Rome he en- counters his formidable rivals. Rallying for battle, he sees (he says,) in the air a cross, on which was written, by this coNauER. He becomes a Christian — makes a cross the standard of his army, under which he fought and conquered. He becomes the patron of the Christian church, and the royal defender of the faith. By exalting to the imperial dignity a decidedly Chris- tian prince, God makes bare his arm more conspicuously in the eyes of the nations. The church had been withering under ten cruel perse- cutions. Long, dark, and fearful had been her night. The morning dawned ; she hailed Constantine as her de- liverer. " The four winds of the earth" were restrained that they should " not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any green tree." The church had rest. Nothing that imperial power and princely munificence could do was wanting, to abolish idolatry, to erect churches, and to extend the dominions of Christianity. The Goths and Germans, the Iberians and Armenians, the refined Per- sian and the rude Abyssinian, the dwellers in India and Ethiopia, received, under the gracious reign of Constan- tine, the embassadors of peace and pardon, and were gath- ered into the fold of the good Shepherd. The danger now lay on the side of prosperity — and on this rock the newly launched vessel struck. Neverthe- less, her extension and unparalleled prosperity was an act of a wise and gracious Providence in the elevation of this Christian prince. Nothing can be more intensely interesting than the phasis of Providence at this particular epoch. While the gigantic fabric of pagan Rome is falling to decay — while the huge image of her greatness and glory is crum- bling to ruins, another kingdom is rising in all the beauty and^vigor of youth, deriving strength from every opposi- e 26 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. tion, towering above every human difficulty, bidding defi- ance to the gorgeous array of Roman power and Roman paganism, and soon waiving the triumphant banner of the cross over the ruins of imperial Rome. A mighty hand was at work, as surely and irresistibly undermining, and removing out of the way, the huge colossus of Rome, as he was, with the same onward and resistless step, rearing up that kingdom which should never end. There seemed inwrought, in the mind of the Roman army and the Roman w T orld, the impression that Constan- tine was a signal instrument, in the hands of God, to es- tablish the empire of Christianity throughout the earth — that "his commission was no less special than that of Moses, Joshua, or Gideon." A Tyrian merchant, in the 4th century, visits Abys- sinia with two lads. Meropius is attacked by the natives, and murdered. The boys, Frumentius and Edesius, are spared, presented to the king, and taken under his pat- ronage. In due time Frumentius is made prime minis- ter, and uses the advantages of his station to introduce Christianity. A church is established in that pagan land, of which he is afterwards constituted Bishop. And, what is a matter of no little interest, Christianity has lived in that country till the present day, a bulwark against the assaults of the Moslems, or the stratagems and cruelties of popery. How great a matter a little fire kindleth ! The Iberians, a pagan people bordering on the Black sea, take captive in war a Christian female of great piety. They soon learn to respect, then to revere her holy de- portment — and the more, on account of some remarkable answers to her prayers. Hence she was brought to the notice of the king, which led, eventually, to the conver- sion of the king and queen, and to the introduction by them of Christian teachers to instruct their people. Thus an- other portion of the great desert was inclosed in the gar- den of the Lord, through the gracious interposition of an Almighty Providence. Again, the sister of the king of the Bulgarians, a Scla- vonic people, is, in the ninth century, carried captive to Constantinople — hears and embraces the truth of the gos- pel ; returning home, spares no pains to turn her brother, TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED. 27 the king, from the vanity of his idols ; but apparently to no effect, till a pestilence invades his dominions, when he is persuaded to pray to the God of the Christians. The plague is removed — the king embraces Christianity, and sends to Constantinople for missionaries to teach his people : — and another nation is added to the territory of Christianity. Thus did the " vine brought out of Egypt/' which had taken deep root on the hills of Judah, spread its branches eastward and westward, till its songs of praise were sung on the Ganges and the Chinese sea, and echoed back from the mountain-tops of the farthest known west. In all its leading features, in all its grand aggressive movements and rich acquisitions, we trace the mighty, overruling hand of Providence. Christian missions did but follow, at a respectful distance, this magnificent agency of Heaven. Missions overcame their thousands, providen- tial interpositions their tens of thousands. He that sat upon the white horse, who is called Faithful and True, whose name is the word of God, rose forth victoriously to the conquest of the world. The Christian church is the favorite child of an ever- watchful Providence. In the further prosecution of the subject, the agency of Providence will be illustrated by means of a variety of historical events, connected, directly or indirectly, with the history of the church : such as the art of printing and paper-making. The invention of the mariner's compass. The discovery and first settlement of America. The opening to Christian nations of India and the East by the Cape of Good Hope. The reformation of the sixteenth century. The expulsion of the Moors from Spain. Trans- fer of India to protestant hands. The destruction of the Spanish invincible armada. Philip II., and Holland. The gun-powder plot. The usurpation of Cromwell. The hand of God in the origin and progress of modern missions. And the present condition of the world as pre- pared by Providence for the universal spread of the gospel. Such a view of history, it is believed, will magnify in the reader's mind the great moral enterprise which God, through his providence, is achieving in our world ; and conduct to the conclusion that Christianity has, from the beginning, had an onward progress OS BAITS OF GOD IN HISTORY. She has seen days of darkness, of persecution, of ap- parent retrogression, and sometimes has seemed almost extinct. She has had her nights, long and gloomy — her Winters, protracted and dreary. But is the night less conducive to man's comfort and prosperity, or the earth's fertility, than the day? In the morning man goes forth, in the dew of his youth, fresh to his labor ; and the earth, smiling through pearl-drop tears, appears in fresher beauty and vigor than before. Or is the winter a blank — or a retrograde move in nature ? It is a vicissitude that has its uses in the economy of the great whole, no less salutary and promotive of the, great good, than the freshness of spring, or the maturity of summer, or the full sheaf of auturgn. The dark days of the church have been days of prep- a ration. When eclipsed as to worldly prosperity — when crushed beneath the foot of despotism, or bleeding from the hand of persecution, she has been gathering strength and preparing for a new display of her beauties, and for a wider extension of her territories. A thousand years with the Lord is but as one day. Time is but a moment to eternity. The few generations of depression in Egypt, when the people of God were learning obedience, and gathering strength for their first exhibition as a nation and a church, was but a brief season to prepare for their future prosperity and glory. The night of a thousand years which preceded the morning of the glorious Refor- mation, and the more glorious events which were to follow, was no more than the necessary preparatory season for that onward movement of the church. A complete rev- olution was to transpire in the political affairs of the world — the ecclesiastical world was to be turned upside down — and the social relations of man to be changed. A thousand years was not a long time in which to effect such changes — changes, every one of which looked for- ward to the extension and establishment of the church. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. It matters not in what part of the meal it is put, or that the quantity of leaven is small, or that it is lost sight of in the mass. It works and fer- UNPROPITIOUS APPEARANCES. 29 merits, and pervades the whole mass. Yet no marked ef- fect is visible till the process is complete. Such is the process and the progress of Christianity. The apostles cast the leaven into the corrupt mass of human- ity. The fermentation began and has never ceased, and shall never cease till the whole immense mass of this cor- rupt world shall be leavened. It has been a steady, silent, irresistible process — always onward, though not always visible, and sometimes, seemingly, retrograde. It is pervading the whole lump, yet no marked effect shall appear till the process shall be complete. Kingdoms rise and fall — moral earthquakes shake the earth — commo- tions, unaccountable and terrific, follow on the heels of commotions — the leaven of Christianity seems lost in the fearful and general fermentation — the sun is darkened, the moon is covered in sackcloth, the stars fall from heaven — all human affairs are thrown into perturbation, and Christianity is, from time to time, scouted from the habitations of men; yet all this is but the silent, invisible, onward, restless workings of the leaven cast over the world from the hill of Calvary. Every revolution, every commotion, war, oppression, persecution, famine, pesti- lence, the wrath of man, and the rage of the elements, are, under the mighty hand of God, but parts of the great fermenting process, which the world is undergoing from the leaven of Christianity. Seasons of unpropitious appearances are, oftentimes, seasons of the most decided advancement — especially are they seasons of preparation for some onward and glorious progress. Above all these contending elements of hu- man strife, sits serenely the Majesty of Heaven, guiding them all to the furtherance of his cause. We may very justly regard the present advanced con- dition of the world, in the science of government, in phi- losophy and general learning, in social, national and sci- entific improvements, in the arts, in morality and religion, as a state of things providentially induced, to prepare the world for that yet more advanced condition which we denominate the millennium. We believe the world must, morally, socially, and politically, undergo very great changes before it will become a fit habitation for 3* 30 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. that Christianity which shall bless the earth in the days of her millennial glory. But these changes are not the work of a generation, but of centuries. And where is the century, or the year in any century, in which this work has not been going forward — and going forward as fast as. in the nature of things, and in consistency with the mode of the Divine working, could be ? The science of government is, necessarily, a science of slow progress. An entire century scarcely affords time for a single experiment ; and this experiment may be a failure, or, at most, may develop but a little progress to- wards the right. Half a score of centuries is but a mod- erate period in which to gather up the fragments of good which may have resulted from a series of experiments of this kind, and to form them into one. Modern liberty, though yet scarcely advanced beyond the gristle, is the growth of more than a thousand years. Indeed, she lay in embryo nearly that period before she saw daylight. And so it is in the formation and growth of other great features which shall characterize the period of Christian- ity's consummation on earth. Human improvement is the growth of centuries. It was needful, too, that, first of all, the disease, to be removed by the healing waters of Bethesda, should be known, and its evil be fully developed — that sin should have time to mature and bring forth its bitter fruits, and ex- hibit its hatefulness and ruin — that Satan should be al- lowed first to show what he can make of this earth and its resources, before the rightful Proprietor shall come, and by his all-pervading providence reduce confusion to order, bring light out of darkness, and good out of evil. Are we not right, then, in the suggestion that Chris- tianity has, from the beginning, had an onward progress ? When seemingly overwhelmed in the commotions of po- litical revolutions — when seemingly crushed beneath the ponderous foot of persecution, her real progress has not been arrested. These have been as the grinding of the corn, peparing it for the action of the leaven — the break- ing to pieces, and the removing out of the way, the things that shall be removed, and the establishing of those things which shall abide forever. CHAPTER II. Art of Printing— Paper-making— Mariner's Compass. The Discovery of America, at precisely the right time : a new field for Christianity. First settlement. Romanists. None but Puritan seed takes deep root here. Character of the first settlers. Geo- graphical position. Capabilities and resources of America. Language, Intelligence, Political supremacy. Coal. Steam. A cloud. u Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt ; thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. v — Psalms, Ixxx. 8 — 11. The next great event by which Providence most sig- nally lengthened the cords and strengthened the stakes of his spiritual Israel, was the Discovery of America. While this will be allowed to engross our attention in the present chapter, I must briefly notice a few prelim- inary steps by which Providence has wrought, and is still working, wonders in carrying on the work of human redemption. I refer to the invention of the art of print- ing, of paper-making , and the mariner's compass, and to the rise of correct views of astronomy. These, in the hands of God, have wrought marvels in the extension and establishment of the true religion. When, in the evolutions of time, the period had arrived that God would employ the agency of the press to extend and perpetuate his truth, the first crude idea of the pro- cess of printing is, divinely no doubt, suggested to a human mind. And how natural, yet purely providential it was. A man of Harlem, a town in Holland, four centuries ago, (1430,) named Laurentius or Lawrence Koster, is amusing himself in cutting some letters on the smooth bark of a tree. It occurs to him to transfer an impression 32 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. of these letters on paper. He thus impressed two or three lines as a specimen for the amusement of his chil- dren. Here was the whole art. An apparently acci- dental circumstance gave him the needed hint — from which his mind was sent out on the adventurous wings of invention — contriving a suitable ink — cutting whole pages of letters on blocks of wood, and transferring them thence on paper. Other minds were now put on the same track, and soon the theory of printing was so far made a practical art, that copies of the Bible were multiplied with such facility that the entire book was offered for sale, in Paris, for sixty crowns. The number and uniformity of the copies excited no small agitation and astonishment. The vender was thought a magician, and, but for his timely escape, would have been executed for witchcraft. There is not, perhaps, in the hands of Providence another so powerful an engine as the press for diffusing a knowledge of God and his law, and for carrying out the Divine purposes of mercy towards our world. Books are mighty things, whether for good or evil. And the art which multiplies and perpetuates books by tens of thou- sands daily, is an art of vast efficiency — capable of doing more to enlighten, reform, and bless the world, than any other. In this view, we cannot too devoutly admire the providential agency in the invention of the art of print- ing. But what is more especially to our present purpose is the fact, that the invention of an art of such impor- tance in extending the boundaries of truth and perpetua- ting its conquests, should be made at this identical time, (at the period of the general revival of learning in Europe and throughout Christendom,) and that the precious grant should be made to Christianity — and not only be early confided to Christian hands, no doubt pre-eminently for the propagation of religion, but the same Providence has kept it, even to the present day, almost exclusively the companion and handmaid of Christianity. And if we contemplate the power of the press, not only in the pres- ent and the past, but in the yet more important part it is destined to act in the spread of gospel truth, we shall THE PRESS : MARINER'S COMPASS. 33 admire anew the wonder-working hand; God working all things after the counsel of his own will. The influence of the art of printing, upon the condition of the world, can scarcely be exaggerated or exhausted ; "its influence upon all arts and all science — upon e very- physical, intellectual and moral resource — every social and religious interest — upon the intelligence and freedom, the refinement and happiness of mankind— upon all mind and all matter." A few years before the invention of the art of printing, the same inventive Providence gave birth to the science of navigation. There was navigation before, but till the discovery of the polarity of the magnet and the applica- tion of its properties, navigation was a mere coasting affair. The discovery was as simple as providential : some curious persons are amusing themselves by making swim, in a basin of water, a loadstone suspended on a piece of cork. When left at liberty they observe it points to the north. The discovery of this simple fact soon threw a new aspect over the whole world. Oceans, hitherto unknown and pathless, became a highway for the nations. Nations hitherto isolated, were brought into neighborhood. The wide realms of the ocean were now subjected to the dominion of man. Without this discovery the mariner had been still feeling his way along his native shore, afraid to launch out beyond the length of his line ; America had probably remained unknown, the islands of the sea undiscovered ; and all the world has gained, and vastly more that it shall gain from inter- national communication, from commerce, from immensely increased facilities for advancing learning, civilization, freedom, the science of government and religion, would be wanting. Without the mariner's compass, the work of the missionary and the Bible would be confined within the narrow limits of a coasting voyage or a land journey. When, therefore, the time approached that God would advance, by mightier strides than before, the work of civilization and Christianity, he discovered the nations one to another, through the agency of the mariner's compass; and put into the hands of his people the thou- 34 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. sand facilities which have followed in the wake of this one providential discovery. But I proceed to the topic which is chiefly to occupy the present chapter. TJie Hand of God as discernible in the discovery and first settlement of America. The time had arrived when God would give enlarge- ment to Zion. For this purpose he had reserved a large and noble continent — a land fitted, by its mighty rivers and lofty mountains, its vast prairies and inexhaustible mineral productions, to be a theatre for more extensive and grand developments of the scheme of redemption than had ever yet transpired. The old world had ceased to be a fit arena on which the divine purposes connected with the church should be carried out. Despotism had so choaked the rising germ of liberty, that no fair hope remained that she should there ever come to any consid- erable maturity. Ecclesiastical domination had so mo- nopolized and trampled down religious rights and free- dom, that it seemed vain to expect that religion, pure and undefiled, should, on such a soil, flourish, spreading her branches in all her native beauty and grandeur, and bringing forth her golden fruits. So sickly has she already become, that she could not stand, except as propped up by the civil power ; and so impotent as too often to be the sport of every changing wind of politics. And the institutions of caste — the usurpations of privileged orders, had so disorganized the natural order of society, so broken up social relations which God and nature approved, and introduced in their stead the most unnatural divisions in society, as to make the social institutions of Europe unsuited to that free and rapid progress of the truth which the divine purpose now contemplated. These had become thorns and briars to the rising growth of genuine piety. Religion can thrive and expand itself in all ils native luxuriance, only in the atmosphere of political xreedom and religious tolerance, and where social rights are not systematically invaded, and social intercourse trammeled by aristocratic pride. It is the nature of our religion to bind heart to heart, to make all one in Christ. Free, unbounded, disinterested benevolence is its genius. THE OLD WORLD AND THE CHURCH. 35 It is a kingdom above all the kingdoms of the earth, incorporating its subjects into a society of its own pecu- liar kind. They acknowledge one Lord, one faith, one baptism by the Holy Ghost. If social relations had become so deranged, or unnat- urally modified in the old world as no longer to afford a congenial soil to the growth of Christianity ; if the prevail- ing customs, maxims, principles, and habits of thinking, had become such as to preclude the expectation that re- ligion would there flourish in all her loveliness and vigor ; and if Despotism, religious and civil, stood up in array against its onward march and speedy victory, we see reason why God should transplant his choice vine into a soil unoccupied by such noxious plants, and more favora- ble to its growth and security. Such a soil was found in America, unoccupied, and where " the vine brought out of Egypt" might take deep root, " that the hills might be covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof be like the goodly cedars ; that she should send out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river." Here, somewhat analogous to there-commencement of religious institutions after the flood, the church was, as it were, re-established; here, again, an opportunity af- forded to remove the " hay, wood and stubble," on which the former building had been reared, and to build anew on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ being the chief corner-stone. Contemplate, then, the discovery of America, as one of those leading acts of Providence for the propagation and establishment of the truth. When God would enlarge the theatre on which to display the riches of his grace, he caused a spirit of bold adventure to move upon the face of the stagnant waters of Europe, which found no rest till it brought forth a new world. I am not here to dilate on the glory of this discovery, or the magnitude of many of its results. It had political and commercial bearings more magnificent than could then have been conceived, or than are at this late period understood by us. These, however, were no more than the incidental advantages of the main design of this event. America was now added to the known domains of the world, to 30 hand or god in history. >m for the church, and to become in its turn a fountain, from which should go forth streams of salvation to the ends of the earth. This I conceive to be the design of Providence in this discovery. The particulars which here demand our attention, are the time o£ the discovery; the manner of the first settle- ment o( this country : the character of the first colonists ; and the geographical position and capabilities of America. These all distinctly indicate the hand of God, and our future destinies in reference to the church. 1. The discovery of this country happened at the pre- cise time when the exigencies of the church demanded a new and enlarged field for her better protection, and for the more glorious development of her excellencies. When America had become sufficiently known and prepared to receive her precious charge, the reformation had done its work, and yet the church was but partially emancipated from the bondage of papal corruption. The reformed church of England and of Europe was, at that period, as far advanced, perhaps, towards the primitive simplicity and purity of the gospel, as could reasonably be expected on the soil w r here the principles of the reformation were laboring to take root. That soil was already pre-occu- pied and overrun with a growth hostile to those princi- ples. Though manumitted from the dark cells and galling chains of Romanism, religion found herself but ill at ease in her new relations. She was still laced tight in the stays of forms and liturgies, and compelled to move stiffly about among mitred heads and princely dignita- ries — to wear the gewgaws of honor, or shine in the bau- bles of vanity. Though hailed once more as the daughter of liberty, she neither breathed freely, nor moved un tram- meled, nor unencumbered, stretched forth her hand to wield mightily the sword of the spirit, to overcome prin- cipalities and powers, and to dispense her celestial gifts, till man shall be happy and the world free. It was at such a time that the " woman, clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars," having long, and in various ways, been persecuted by the great red dragon, of f seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his FIRST SETTLEMENT OP AMERICA. 37 heads/' had given to her the two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand, two hundred and three score days. And here, free, strong, lofty as the eagle, (our national banner,) she lives, and breathes, and moves, stable as our everlasting hills, extensively diffused as our far-reaching rivers, and free as our mountain air. Once it were enough that a persecuted church should find refuge in the straightened valleys of Piedmont and Languedock ; now she must have the valleys of the Connecticut, the Hudson, the Ohio, the Mississippi, and all the lofty hills and the rich vales that stretch out, in their varied beauty and luxu- riance, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Thus did God open an asylum for his oppressed people precisely at the time they needed it. # And thus, with a mighty hand, did he establish his church in this new world. 2. There were, too, many things connected with the first settlement of this country, which indicate the grand design of Providence in its discovery. Follow his foot- steps for a moment and you will see it. The leading design was, no doubt, a religious one — else why should the King of nations, who setteth up one and pulleth down another, have given preference to those arrangements which show religion and his church to have been the chief objects of his regard and agency. That it was so, a few facts will testify : It is known that the first discoverers of this continent were Roman Catholics. America was taken possession of and made subject to Catholic governments. Bearing in mind this fact, you will, with the greater pleasure, fol- low the wonder-working Hand which overturned and overturned till this once Roman Catholic country has been wrested, piece-meal, (as the wants of the reformed religion have required,) from the domination of Rome and the ghostly tyranny of the Pope, and given into the hands of Protestants, and made the strong hold of the • lt The Mahammedans," says M. Oelsner, " would have discovered America even centuries before Columbus, had not their fleet been wrecked in a tempest, after clear- ing the straits of Gibraltar.— Foster, vol II. p. 237. 4 38 RAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. doctrines of the reformation. Nearly the whole of North America has already been transferred. Nor is this all. Ir was not enough that it should become a Protestant country. It should grow up into a nation under the still more benign influences of Protestantism reformed. New England was to be the nursery, and Puritanism the spirit that should pervade this new world. And what a singular train of providences brought about so important, yet so unlikely an event. Nothing seemed more probable at one time, than that France would be the owner of New England — that these hills and valleys, now so healthful in moral vigor, would have languished under the crucifix and the mitred priest, and groaned beneath the heavy rod of the Roman pontiff. And New England might have been as notorious as a fountain of abominations and papal sorceries, as she now is as a radiating point of light, and intellectual and spiritual life. But mark the hand of God here. New England was early an object of desire with the French. As early as the year 1605, De Mont "explored and claimed for France, the rivers, the coasts and bays of New England. But the decree had gone out that the beast of Rome should never pollute this land of promise, and it could not be revoked. The hostile savages first prevent their settlement. Yet they yield not their pur- pose. Thrice in the following year was the attempt renewed, and twice were they driven back by adverse winds, and the third time wrecked at sea. Again did Pourtrincourt attempt the same enterprise, bnt was, in like manner, compelled to abandon the project. It was not so written. This was the land of promise which God would give to the people of his own choice. Hither he w T ould transplant the "vine" which he had brought out of Egypt. Here it should take root and send out its boughs unto the sea, and its branches unto the river.* At a still later period, a French armament of forty ships of war, under the Duke D'Anville, was destined for the destruction of New England. It sailed from Chebucto, in Nova Scotia, for this purpose. In the meantime, the * Bancroft's History of United States. NEW ENGLAND FOR THE PURITANS. 39 pious people, apprised of their danger, had appointed a day of fasting and prayer, to be observed in all the churches. While Mr. Prince was officiating in Old South Church, Boston, on this fast day, and praying most fervently that the dreaded calamity might be averted, a sudden gush of wind arose (the day, till then, had been perfectly clear,) so violently, as to cause the clattering of the windows. The reverend gentleman paused in his prayer, and looking around on the congregation with a countenance of hope, he again commenced, and with great devotional ardor, supplicated the Almighty to cause that wind to frustrate the object of their enemies. A tempest ensued, in which the greater part of the French fleet was wrecked. The duke and his principal general committed suicide — many died with disease, and thousands were drowned. A small remnant returned to France, without health, and spiritless, and the enterprise was abandoned forever. It is worthy of remark, how God made room for his people before he brought them here. He drove out the heathen before them. A pestilence raged just before the arrival of the Pilgrims, which swept off vast numbers of the Indians. And the newly arrived were preserved from absolute starvation by the very corn which the Indians had buried for their winter's provisions. And here we may note another providence : none but Puritan feet should tread this virgin soil, and occupy the portion God had chosen for his own heritage. Before the arrival of the Pilgrims, a grant had been given and a colony established in New England, called new Plymouth. But this did not prosper. A new and modified patent was then granted to Lord Lenox and the Marquis of Buckingham. But no permanent settlement was made. The hierarchy of England should not have the posses- sion. They to whom the Court of Heaven had granted it, had not yet come. It was reserved for the Puritans. Here should be nurtured, in the cradle of hardships, and perils from the savages, and from the wilderness, and suf- ferings manifold and grievous, a spirit which should nerve the moral muscles of the soul, and rear up a soldiery of 40 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. the cross made o( sturdier stuff, and animated by a purer spirit than the world had before known. " Had -New England/' says the historian of those times, "been colonized immediately on the discovery of the American continent, the old English institutions would have been planted under the powerful influence of the Roman Catholic religion. Had the settlement been made under Elizabeth, it would have been before the activity of the popular mind in religion had conducted to a cor- responding activity of mind in politics. The Pilgrims were Englishmen, protestants, exiles for religion, men disciplined by misfortune, cultivated by opportunities of extensive observation, equal in rank as in rights, and bound by no code but that which was imposed by religion, or might be created by the public will." " America opened as a field of adventure just at the the time when mind began to assume its independence, and religion its vitality." This continent seemed signalized from the first as the asylum of freedom. Nothing else would thrive here. Ecclesiastical domination and political despotism were often transplanted hither, and nourished by all the kindly influences of wealth and nobility ; they basked for a time in the sunshine of the court and the king, yet they were exotics, and never thrived. While it was yet the spring- time of Puritanism, its institutions taking root and send- ing up its thrifty germs, and giving promise of a sturdy growth, those strange vines already begun to look sear, and give no doubtful tokens of a stinted existence and a premature decay. Read the records of the first settle- ment of several of the colonies to this country — especially one in Massachusetts and another in Virginia, where strenuous attempts were made to introduce the peculiar institutions of the old world, and you will not fail to observe the singular fact that all such attempts were abor- tive. Providence had decreed this should be the land of toleration and freedom. The colonies which were not founded on such principles, either failed of success, or did not prosper till leavened with the good leaven of Puritan- ism — clearly indicating that Providence designed this to be a theatre for the more perfect development of his CHARACTER OF THE FIRST COLONISTS. 41 grace toman. It was Religion that built up the first nation in this wilderness, and it is only our moral pre- eminence and prospects that distinguish us from other nations.* 3. The character^ of the first colonists. There is per- haps nothing in which the hand of God is so conspicuous towards America, as in the selection of the materials with which to rear the superstructure of religion and govern- ment in this new world. God had been preparing these materials nearly three centuries. Wickliff was the father of the Puritans ; and from him followed a succession of dauntless advocates for the emancipation of the human mind from the power of despotism. The mighty spirits that rose at the time of the reformation were but the pupils of their predecessors. The principles so boldly proclaimed by Luther, and so logically and judiciously sustained by Calvin, were the principles matured and more fully developed, of Huss and Jerome — of many a revolving mind in England and on the continent. Puri- tanism is the reformation reformed. The principles which led to the settlement of New England, and which pervaded her colonies, and became the only principles on which Heaven would smile throughout this wide conti- nent, are but the principles of the reformation matured and advanced. Those extraordinary characters, who, for religion's sake, braved dangers incredible, endured sacrifices that seemed not endurable, and periled all things in these western wilds, were Heaven's chosen agents, to prepare a new and a wider field for the display of what Christianity can do to bless the world. Europe had been sifted, and her finest wheat taken to sow in this American soil. Her hills and dales had been again and again ransacked, to collect the choice few who should found a new state, and plant a new church. The Pilgrims were the best men, selected from the best portion of the best nation on the face of the earth. May we not, then, indulge the delightful hope that God has purposes of yet * The first colony in North America, save Mexico, was a Protestant colony, planted by Caspar de Coligni, as a city of Refuge for Protestants. It was destroyed expressly as Protestant. Thus was North America baptized by Jesuit priests with Protestant blood ; yet despite all the machinations of Rome, God has confirmed the covenant and made this land the asylum and home of Protestantism. — Bancroft, vol. I., pp. 61, 73. 4* 48 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. more moral grandeur to fulfill, in connection with this country ? Indeed, this idea seems to have been coupled with the earliest conceptions in the mind of Columbus, concerning an American continent. That great navigator is said to have been a diligent and devout student of the prophe- cies, and was actuated, in no small degree, in his adven- tures westward, "by the hopes he cherished of extending here the kingdom of Christ." And in the mind of his royal patroness, (Isabella of Arragon,) the conversion of the heathen to Christianity, was an object " paramount to all the rest."* It was a signal providence that prepared such mate- rials in the heart of England and in the bosom of the English church, preserved them and proved them in the furnace of affliction, while in their own land, and during their exile in Holland, and in their journeyings on the deep, and, finally, collected them on the iron bound coasts of New England, and formed them into one living tem- ple, fitly joined together, furnished and beautified as a model building for generations yet to come. The longer the world stands, the more profoundly will be revered the character of our Pilgrim fathers, and the more religiously shall we admire the Divine agency which so controlled events, that one of the first settlements in the new world should be composed of such characters, and should so soon gain a pre-eminence over all the other colonies, and so soon, too, and in all after time, exercise a controlling influence on the destinies of the whole country and of the world. For the institutions of this country, both civil and religious, were cast in the mould of Puritanism. Had any other of the colonies been allowed to stand in this relation to the whole, how different would have been the cast of American liberty and religion ! As it was, men of the most unbending integrity and untiring industry ; men humble and unob- trusive, yet courageous and immovable at the post of duty ; yielding when wrong, yet inflexible when right ; plain and frugal, yet intelligent and liberal; men who * Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. II. p. 496. INFLUENCE OF THE PURITANS. 43 had been nurtured in the school of persecution, and suf- fered the loss of all things, that they might breathe the uncontaminated air of freedom ; men who hated oppres- sion, abhorred ignorance and vice — who were, in their very souls, republicans and Christians — these were the men, chosen out by sovereign Wisdom, to control the destinies of the new world. And they have done it. The enterprise and intelligence, the undying love of liberty, the religious spirit — I may say, the population of our puritan colonies, have spread themselves over the whole continent. And what is worthy of special remark, these only prosper in our country. You look in vain over the wide expanse of our territory to find thrift and prosperity, temporal or spiritual, except under the auspices of a Puritan influence. Who people our wide western domains, and plant there the institutions of learn- ing and religion ? Who found our colleges and semina- ries, publish our books, teach our youth, sustain our benevolent enterprises, and go to pagan lands to make wretchedness smile, and ignorance speak wisdom ? By whose skill and industry rolls the railroad car over the length and breadth of our land, and whiten the ocean with canvas ? Who, if not the sons of the Pilgrims, nerved with the spirit of the Pilgrims ? Tell me in what propor- tion, in any section of our country, the people are leavened with the leaven imported in the May-flower, and I can tell you in what proportion they are an enterprising, prosperous, moral and religious people. Time shall expire, before the immeasurable influences of Puritanism on the destinies of our country and the world shall cease to act. Massachusetts and Mexico furnish a forcible illustra- tion of our idea. Mexico was colonized just one hundred years before Massachusetts. Her first settlers were the noblest spirits of Spain in her Augustan age ; the epoch of Cervantes, Cortes, Pizaro, Columbus, Gonzalvo de Cordova, Cardinal Ximenes, and the great and good Isa- bella. Massachusetts was settled by the poor Pilgrims of Plymouth, who carried with them nothing but their own hardy virtues and indomitable energy. Mexico, with a rich soil, and adapted to the production of every thing 44 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. which crows out of the earth, and possessing every metal used by man — Massachusetts, with a sterile soil and un- congenial climate, and no single article of transportation but ice and rock. How have these blessings, profusely given by Providence, been improved on the one hand, and obstacles overcome on the other? What is now the respective condition of the two countries ? In produc- tive industry, wide-spread diffusion of knowledge, public institutions of every kind, general happiness and continu- ally increasing prosperity ; in letters, arts, morals, re- ligion. — in every thing which makes a people great, there is not in the world, and there never was in the world, such a commonwealth as Massachusetts. And Mexico — what is she ? # But who ordered all the circumstances which brought about an event so unexpected, yet so influential as such a settlement of America ? And for what purpose — if not that he might here plant the glory of Lebanon and the excellency of Carmel and Sharon? Here he "prepared room before it, and caused it to take deep root/' 4. Again, we discover the wonder-working hand of Providence in the geographical position and resources of our country, as indicating her future destinies in refer- ence to the church and the world. There is much w r orthy of notice in our geographical position. This gives us peculiar advantages. We are separated, by the expanse of a wide ocean, from every principal nation on the face of the earth. We may live at peace w T ith all. The old world may be convulsed-— Europe and Asia be deluged in blood, yet not a clarion of war be heard west of the Atlantic, or a river tinged in all our wide domains. Here we may live safe from all those upheavings of revolution, which have, and which will continue to overturn and overturn, till the great fountains of error and despotism be broken up, and free institutions be planted on their ruins. Here we may direct all our energies, mental, physical, or moral, to the consummating of those stupendous plans of Providence in reference to this country. Far removed from the * See Waddy Thompson's Mexico. GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION AND RESOURCES. 45 lands where errors in religion and politics had become stereotyped in habit, and interwoven in the very warp and woof of social relations, we lack no opportunity in which to try the great experiment of Liberty. Such are our local advantages — such our institutions, that we may, unlike the people of any other nation, advance learning, establish and propagate religion, and subserve the general N interests of the church. Religion exists here untram- meled, free as the air we breathe, or the water we drink. This makes our nation more suitable than any other to become a fountain from which shall go out streams of salvation to the ends of the earth. But a yet more remarkable feature is to be found in the capabilities of our country, to become a mighty instru- ment in the hands of God for the universal spread of Christianity. I have referred to our facilities in free institutions, and freedom from the trammels of ecclesiastical organizations. The American church, if she will go forth in the vigor and simplicity of herself, would be like a young man pre- pared to run a race. She is admirably constituted to be Heaven's almoner to the nations. Pure Christianity is republican. The American soil is peculiarly adapted to produce that enterprise, freedom and simplicity, suited to extend religion and its thousand blessings to the ends of the earth. No church in the world is so constituted that it may put forth so great a moral power. We have only to employ the rare facilities of our position, to make us the most efficient instrument in the conversion of the world. But I referred more especially to the resources here prepared by Providence, for the accomplishment of the work in question — resources in territory, in soil, in popu- lation prospectively ; in wealth and language ; in learning and enterprise ; and in the power of steam. The present territory of the United States is equal to that of all Europe, exclusive of Russia. It is more than six times larger than Great Britain and France together ; and as large as China and Hindoostan united. And if we admit that our soil is not surpassed in fer- tility by any other, or our climate in salubrity, there 46 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. seems nothing to hinder America becoming as populous as any other portion of the world. Suppose it to reach the present ratio of population in Europe — 110 to the square mile — and there would teem on our vast territo- ries a population of 220 millions. Or should the density equal that of China — 150 to the square mile — our popula- tion would be 300 millions. That the soil of the United States is capable of supporting this number there can be no doubt. A European writer of credit has asserted that the " resources of the American continent, if fully developed, would afford sustenance to 3,600 millions of inhabitants, or four times the present population of the globe" — and that the actual population will not fall short of 2,000 millions — giving to the United States 270 millions. Nor is this merely what may be. The present rapid increase of our population is actually swelling our num- bers into these enormous dimensions. "And what is more surprising," says the writer just quoted, " there is every probability that this prodigious population will be in existence within three or four centuries. The imagina- tion is lost in contemplating a stateof things which will make so great and rapid a change in the condition of the world. We almost fancy it a dream ; yet the result is based on principles quite as certain as those which govern men in their ordinary pursuits. " # Our population is found to double every 23 years — say. for safety's sake, 25 years — and we have to look forward only 100 years, and our present ratio of increase gives us 288 millions ; or 125 years, and we have on our soil 576 millions; or 150 years, and we number more than the present population of the globe. Indeed, to take the result of 100 years (288 millions) as the ultimatum of increase to which the resources of our soil will allow our population to advance, and what a host have we here for the moral conquest of the world. And suppose this enor- mous population to be what, under the peculiar smiles of Heaven, they ought to be ; and what, in the singular dealings of God, they were designed to be ; and what, under the quickening and transforming power of the * De Toqueville. POWER OF THE PRESS. 47 Holy Ghost, they would be, and how grand their pros- pective influence on the regeneration of the world! Portray in your mind a nation of 288 millions, imbued with the principles of Puritan integrity, enterprise, deci- sion, self-denial, and benevolence ; her civil institutions so modeled as to leave Religion free as our mountain air, to invigorate the plants of virtue her,}, or to waft its bless- ings over the arid sands of Africa, or the snow-top moun- tains of Tartary ; her social relations unshackled by the iron chains of custom and caste ; her religion no longer laced in the stays of needless rites, liturgies, prelacy, or state interference ; the public mind enlightened by an efficient system of common education ; or you may, if you please, contemplate our nation as peculiarly fitted to bring to bear on the nations the power of the press, or to facilitate the world's deliverance by the unlimited scope of our navigation — from whatever point you look, you will find, in this land of the Pilgrims, resources laid up in store, by which Providence may, in his own set time, revolutionize the world. What means this curtailing of distances — this facility of intercourse between the remotest points of our own country and of the world, if He that worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, be not about to use it for the furtherance of the cause which is as the apple of his eye ? If the introduction of the Greek classics into Europe, drew aside the veil of the dark ages, and the invention of paper-making and of printing perpetuated the advantages of the Reformation, may we not expect that the application of the power of steam is destined to subserve a scarcely less important end, in the conversion of the world ? To appreciate the force of this, we need to contemplate in the same view, three collateral facts : the extensive prevalence of the English language, and its treasures of religious knowledge ; the present supremacy, on the political arena, of the nations who speak this language ; and the singular distribution of these immense deposits of coal, which are to supply the power to print and distri- bute books, and to convey them, by whom " knowledge shall increase/' over the broad world. 48 THE HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. Ours is the language of the arts and sciences, of trade and commerce, of civilization and religious liberty. It is the language of Protestantism — I had almost said, of piety. It is a store-house of the varied knowledge which brings a nation within the pale of civilization and Chris- tianity. As a vehicle of our institutions and principles of civil and religious liberty, it is "belting the earth/' push- ing east and west, and extending over the five great geo- graphical divisions of the world, giving no doubtful pre- sage that, with its extraordinary resources for ameliorating the condition of man, it will soon become universal. Already it is the language of the Bible. More copies of the sacred Scriptures have been published in the English language, than in all other tongues combined. And the annual issues in this language, at the present time, be- yond all doubt, far surpass those of all the world be- sides. So prevalent is this language already become, as to betoken that it may soon become the language of international communication for the world. # This fact, connected with the next, that the two nations speaking this language have, within a few years past, gained the most extraordinary ascendancy, holding in their hands nearly all the maritime commerce and naval power of the world, giving tone to national opinion and feeling, and sitting as arbiters among the nations, dictating terms of peace and war, and extending their empire over the nations of the East, holds out a glorious presage of the part America is destined to act in the subjugation of the world to Christ. I say America, believing that " Westward the star of empire takes its way ; The four first acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama of the day. Time's noblest offspring is the last." If it be a fact (and history proves it,) that wealth, * The New York Observer recently acknowledged the receipt of the following for- eign papers published ;.n English : Three published at Hong Kong and Canton, China. Ten or twelve in Hindoostan and the British East Indies. Four in Rome, (Italy.) and about the Mediterranean. Four in Liberia and Souih Africa. Twelve or thirteen in Australia and the Sandwich Islands. Four in Oregon, California and Northern Mexico, fcix or seven in Southern Mexico. POWER OF STEAM. 49 power, science, literature, all follow in the train of num- bers, general intelligence and freedom, we may expect that America will ere long become the metropolis of civilization, and the grand depository of the vast re- sources which Providence has prepared for the salvation of the world. The same causes which transferred the " sceptre of civilization" and the crown of knowledge from the banks of the Nile and the Euphrates, must, at no distant day, bear them onward to the valley of the Mississippi. But we must not overlook our third fact : the singular distribution of coal deposits. Coal, like the English language, like freedom, general intelligence, or piety, is protestant. In vain do you search the world over to find any considerable deposit of this agent, except where the English language is spoken, or where the protestant religion is professed. Hence the power of steam — as the power of the press and of com- mon education, three mighty transformers of nations — has been given to the people of God for the noblest of purposes. " Steam," says the London Quarterly, " is the acknowl- edged new element of advancement by which this age is distinguished from all which have preceded it. By its magic power, distance is set at nought ; and the produc- tions of the antipodes are brought rapidly together. Coal must, therefore, henceforth be the motor and metor of all commercial nations. Without it no modern people can become great, either in manufactures or the naval art!' As an illustration of this, if the digression may be allowed, the mighty transformations that are this day taking place in the countries about the Mediterranean, especially among the Turks, where lives the presiding genius of Moslemism, might be adduced. The paddle wheels of European intelligence and enterprise, are there daily breaking up the stagnant waters of oriental supersti- tion, ignorance and despotism. Not a steamer plows the waters from the pillars of Hercules to the sea of Japan, that goes not as a herald of civilization and Christianity to those benighted nations. And another fact : the English Steam Navigation 5 50 THE HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. Company is furrowing the broad Pacific amidst its thou- sand Islands, and along the western main of America. And, what is yet more in point, extensive beds of coal have been found on the western coasts of both North and South America, and also on the Atlantic side of the Isth- mus of Panama ; deposits stored away by the hand of the Great Disposer, ready, at the time of need, to generate a power that shall, at Heaven's bidding, convert the whole Pacific into one great highway for the nations to pass over.* Yet, w T hile indulging these pleasant anticipations, I have not lost sight of the cloud that at present darkens our atmosphere. When I speak of the tremendous power of the press for good, I am aware of its abuse. When I speak of American enterprise and zeal, I am not unmind- ful that we can scarcely, for any length of time, prosecute any good cause without making it a hobby, and riding it so far and so fast, as to cripple it for life, if not to kill it. We seem never satisfied in pursuing our plans of benevo- lence and reform, till we have driven ourselves, and all about us, into a swamp from which we can neither extri- cate ourselves nor be extricated. And when I speak of the stern principles which originated the first settlement of this country, and of the admirable institutions of our forefathers, and of our high pretensions to freedom, intel- ligence and piety, I bear in mind that we have proved ourselves unworthy our noble inheritance, and recreant to our good professions. But I am attempting to look beyond the cloud, which at present intercepts our vision, to those better things reserved for the second Israel. Despotism and anarchy may cover our land with a tem- porary gloom. So gross, indeed, have been our national sins, and so heaven-provoking our ingratitude, and our perversion of heaven's richest gifts, that we may expe- rience the divine rebuke, sore as death, yet the counsels of God shall not come to nought. He shall not, in vain, prepare such munitions of war, and provide such vast * The late discovery of immense beds of coal on Vancouver's Island deserves a more special notice. In the new contemplated route to the Indies, across the American continent and the Pacific, we are beginning to see the reasons why these vast deposits were placed there, and why they are brought to light just at this time. i OUR RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES. 51 resources for his work, and then not make them effectual in the subjugation of the world to his beloved Son. In the review of this subject, the mind naturally recurs to the great Disposer of events — what a display here of his sovereignty — of his power, wisdom and goodness — how incomprehensible his plans — how inflexible his de- termination to sustain and carry forward his cause — how infinitely foolish is all resistance. Such reflections are befitting as we read the providential history of our coun- try. Yet we ought here especially to bear in mind, 1. To what a rich inheritance we are born. One of Heaven's richest blessings, is a religious parentage. This is a patrimony more precious than fine gold. Our na- tional parentage was eminently religious. The differ- ence between a people starting into existence from bar- barism and ignorance, or amidst all the propitious circumstances which smiled on the first settlement of this country, is vast beyond calculation. We were born to a rich inheritance — to an undying love of liberty — to toleration — to a high state of intelligence — to the sternest principles of morality — to the unwavering practice of virtue. We ought, therefore, to be the most religious, free, happy, bevevolent people on the face of the earth. 2. Our responsibilities and duties correspond with ou? privileges. God expects much of us. He has made us a full fountain, that we may send forth copious streams to fertilize the desert around. He has embodied in our nation a moral power, and put into our hands a ma- chinery, which, if kept in operation, will not fail to make its power felt to the ends of the earth, till all nations shall be subjugated to Prince Immanuel. 3. America is the land of magnificent experiments — the land in which should be developed new principles and forms of government — a new social condition, and an advanced condition of the church — popular government, equal rights and a free church. Columbus added a new province to the world, new territory for civilization and religion to expand upon — and new domains on which should flourish a freer government and purer church than was practicable in the old world. Here God is solving certain great problems: can the church support herself? 52 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. Can a people govern themselves? Can society exist without caste ? In the great republic of North America, these experiments, which, in the old world, have resulted in so indifferent success, have been in successful progress three quarters of a century, and we hazard little, it is believed, in predicting their complete success. In no country have the ends for which governments are con- stituted, been better realized, or the designs of religion been more nobly carried out, yet the power of governing lies in the hands of the people, and the support and extension of religion is dependent on free contributions. 4. The tremendous guilt of our dereliction in duty. After all that God has done to make us such a nation — such a one as he has need of to win over the nations to himself, if we hold ourselves aloof from his great plans of mercy towards our world, and refuse the honor he would confer upon us, in making us the instruments of his will, we must expect he will withdraw from us the light of his countenance, and choose others more worthy of his favor. How ought we, then, to fear lest we displease God by our apathy, and be left to drink the cup of his indignation for our manifold sins. 5. The immense immigration to our country at the present time, is filling a page in the providential history of America, not to be overlooked. Had such immigra- tions taken place at any former period of our history, they would have ruined us. Every receding wave of the At- lantic, returns freighted with a new cargo of foreign pop- ulation. This heterogeneous mass now amounts to near half a million annually. At no former period could our young and forming institutions have sustained the shock of so huge a mass. What would have crushed the sap- ling, may not harm the sturdy oak. Perhaps we cannot meet unharmed the shock now : certainly not, unless our institutions are founded deep and firm in the basis of everlasting truth, and stand as a rock amidst the rolling waves. We do, however, indulge the hope that such is now the maturity and stability of our civil and religious institutions, that we may, with safety to ourselves, and great benefit to the surplus population of the old world, open wide our arms and receive them to our bosom. IMMIGRATION TO OUR COUNTRY. 53 And now that we are prepared to receive them, oppres- sion, famine, pestilence and revolution, conjoin to eject immense masses from Europe to seek an asylum in this new world. We cannot here too profoundly admire the wisdom of that Providence, which has hitherto delayed the full tide of immigration till we were able to bear it. What fear- ful responsibilities has God laid upon us ! What wisdom and virtue is needed in our national counsels ; what faith, and holiness, and prayer, in the church ! Millions of the papal world are, like an overwhelming tide, rolling in upon us, to be enlightened, elevated, Christianized, and taught the privileges and prerogatives of freemen — to say nothing here of the three millions of instruments placed in our hands by a system of unrighteous bondage, to " sharpen, polish, and prepare for the subjugation of another continent to the Prince of Peace." CHAPTER III. The Reformation.— General remarks— state of Europe and the world. The Cru« sades— their cause and effect. Revival of Greek literature in Europe. The Arabs. Daring spirit of inquiry. Bold spirit of adventure. Columbus. The Cabots. Charles V. Henry VIII. Francis I. Leo X. Rise of liberty. Feudalism. Distri- bution of political power. u All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing ; and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" — Daniel, iv. 35. So spake the monarch of Chaldea after he had been brought by a most signal interposition of Divine Provi- dence, to " bless the Most High, and to praise and honor Him that liveth forever" — another illustrious instance of the sovereignty of Providence in the extension of the 5* 54 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. true religion. God spake and it was done — He looked on the throne of the potent monarch, and it trembled; he touched the towering hills of Babylon's pride and power, and they vanished like smoke. The name of the God of Israel was proclaimed from the throne, from the palace and the court, and wafted on by princes, nobles, and people, throughout the vast dominions of the Chal- dean empire. So God has always shaped the destinies of nations, to suit the prosperity of his church ; turning the hearts of kings, princes, and people, to favor Zion as her need re- quire, or blotting out of existence the nation that should dare to raise its hand against the Lord's anointed ones. It is awfully grand to contemplate the exactitude with which the declaration has been verified : " I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee." And it is a remarkable fact, that no people or nation, since the call of Abraham, have lifted their hand to op- press or maltreat the true church, and not, in their turn, fallen under the ban of the Divine displeasure. Did La- ban prosper after he defrauded Jacob of his wages ? Did the Egyptians prosper after they began to afflict the peo- ple of God ? Was it well with the Moabites, who refused to let Israel pass, or to relieve their necessities with bread and water ? Where now are those mighty empires who once presumed to raise the arm of oppression against Is- rael ? Egypt, Moab, Ammon, the nations of Palestine — proud Babylon, imperial Rome ? So shall it be with the King's enemies. Has Spain ever prospered since she drew the sword of persecution against the seed of Jacob ? Has the white flag of peace since waved a truce to Heaven's indignation ? Where are those kingdoms, that, during the bloody reign of the Beast, devoured fifty mill- ions of the saints of the Most High ? — burning, torturing, impaling, butchering, without mercy, the unoffending children of God ? On the other hand, how was it with Abimelech, who proffered his generous hospitality to the patriarch Abra- ham ? How with the Egyptians, while they favored the heirs of promise ? And how went the world with Obed- REFORMATION OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 55 edom while the ark of the Lord found a resting place in his house ? How have the mighty wheels of Providence rolled on, crushing beneath them all that opposeth, and bearing aloft, far above the stormy atmosphere of earth, the pre- cious interests of Zion ! How have the inhabitants of the earth, the great, the noble, the wise, been reputed as nothing, while the sovereign Lord has done according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him, What doest thou 1 The next event selected by which to illustrate our gen- eral subject, is the Reformation of the sixteenth century. This is another of those great instrumentalities, cradled in the fifteenth century, which Providence employed, on the breaking away of the darkness of the dark ages, for the honor and enlargement of his church. "** r e should view this extraordinary event from three po its : Its causes and preliminary steps : The great transaction itself: Some of its general results. No attempt will be made to furnish a history of the Reformation, or to gauge the vast dimensions of its influ- ence on the world. I present it only as a magnificent scheme of Providence for the advancement of his church. 1. Causes and preliminary steps. That we may have some just idea of the origin and real character of the Re- formation, we shall needs take a brief survey of the civil, moral and religious condition of Europe and of the world, previous to this notable event. You cannot, without astonishment, read the history of those times. It would seem as if man had then yielded up the native dignity of manhood, and consented to pros- titute the nobility of immortal mind to the meanest pur- poses of ignorance, superstition, and crime. The history of the dark ages may be written in a word — it was an intellectual thraldom. The lamp of intelligence had been extinguished amidst the floods of barbarism, which swept, wave after wave, over the Romish church and empire. Hence that general corruption of religion which disgraced the church, and made the church disgrace the world — hence the vile brood of superstitions which over- 56 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. ran and spoiled the fair heritage of God, and the disgust- ing combinations of vice and crime which invaded the very temple of the church, not sparing the altar. Religion finds no rest in the bosom of ignorance. Cradle her there, and she pines and dies ; or, rather, in- stead of being the bird of paradise, fledged with angels' wings, and borne aloft with the eagle's strength, and plumed with a seraph's beauty, she becomes the loathsome reptile of superstition, without form or comeliness, with- out soul or spirit. A night of a thousand years had brooded over the earth. It was long and tempestuous, as if the light of moral day were extinguished forever, and the king of darkness had begun his final reign. Only here and there, over the wide expanse, glimmered the light of science, and the lamp of religion burnt but dimly amidst the gen- eral desolation. Despotism, religious and civil, crushed the energies of the immortal mind, and iniquity, like a flood deep and broad, submerged all Europe. Nearly all the learning that did exist, was confined to the clergy ; and yet they were so profoundly ignorant as to afford a subject of universal reproach and ridicule. In a council held in 992, it was asserted there was scarcely a person in Rome itself who knew the first elements of letters. In Spain, not one priest in a thousand could address a com- mon letter of salutation to a friend. In England, not a priest south of the Thames understood the common prayers, or could translate a sentence of Latin into his mother tongue. Learning was almost extinct. Its flick- ering lamp scarcely emitted a ray of light. And, as might be expected, this long and dreary night of ignorance generated a loathsome brood of supersti- tions. Controversies were settled by ordeal. The ac- cused person was made to prove his innocence by hold- ing, w r ith impunity, red-hot iron, or plunging the arm into boiling fluids, or walking, unharmed, on burning coals, or on red-hot plowshares. Nothing can surpass the wild fa- naticims of that period. To such a height did the phrenzy for a crusade to the Holy Land rise, that in one instance, (1211,) an army of ninety thousand, mostly children, and commanded by a child, set out from Ger- THE DARK AGES. 57 many for the purpose of recovering the Holy Land from Infidels. Again we meet with the " Brethren of the white caps/' dealing out vengeance and blood, in honor of the peaceful Lady of Loretto. Next arises a Jehu, who thinks he can in no way serve God so acceptably as by leading an immense rabble on a crusade against the clergy, monasteries, and the Jews, plundering, massacre- ing, butchering wherever they went; and all this, of course, for religion's sake. And as yet more character- istic of those times, and of the misguided zeal of unen- lightened piety, rose the Flagellants. This religious con- tagion, not, as usual, confined to the populace, spread among every rank, age, and sex. Immense crowds marched, two by two, in procession along the streets and public roads, mingling groans and dolorous hymns with :he sounds of leathern whips, which they applied without nercy to their own naked backs. The Bianchi wan- Jered from city to city, and from province to province, bearing before them a huge crucifix, and with their faces covered and bent towards the ground, crying, "miseri- cordia," " miser icordia ;" and what is not to be over- looked in these phrenzied religionists as identifying them with modern fanatics, a prominent article in their creed was, that all who did not join their craft and act as ab- surdly as themselves, were branded as heretics and en- emies. The legendary tales of those days are too absurd to re- peat, and, to save humanity a blush, we fain hope they did not gain any very general credence, even in those degenerate times. They show how faint the light of in- tellect may shine, and how groveling man may become. I mention but one more instance, which more strikingly illustrates the extreme debasement into which the human mind had fallen, and the hopeless corruption of the church. I allude to indulgences. The doctrine of pen- ance had long been taught in the church. Salvation was of works. But it did not sufficiently subserve the interests of a mercenary priesthood, that the poor delin- quent should go through five, ten, or twenty years of penance, or submit to some barbarous austerity. An ex- 58 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. pedient was devised, more agreeable to the penitent, more profitable to the priest. It was at length discovered that the sacrifice of Christ did much more than to reconcile God to man. It accu- mulated an inexhaustible treasury of merit in the church, left at the disposal of the Pope ! and that this accumula- tion is increased by the supererogatory merits of the saints, the reward of works over and above the obliga- tions of duty. It now only remained to label every sin with its price, and to add purgatory to the dominions of the Pope. Then the proclamation : — perjury, robbery, murder, in- cest, any thing you please ! if you will pay the price. Mendicants, friars, priests, bishops, now traverse the country, proclaiming an eternal amnesty with heaven, provided the Pope's coffers be filled, and his hirelings be well paid. Money now became the key which alone could open heaven and none could shut, or shut hell and none could open. The most scandalous sins which, ac- cording to the orthodoxy of more ancient Romanism, would have cost years of penance, might now be com- mitted for a few shillings. This was an improvement ol the thirteenth century ! The influence of this system on public morals cannot be mistaken. Virtue was scouted from the earth — at least she sought a hiding place in the caves and dens oi obscurity. And no marvel that the clergy were inde- cently idle, haughty, avaricious, and dissolute; and the common people sunk in turpitude still lower. Churches were filled with relics, the pulpit occupied by worthless priests, and the world, to all appearance, abandoned to the empire of sin. Nor was the civil condition of the world more prom- ising. Despotism had bound all nations fast in iron chains, and there was none to deliver. The Papacy in the west, and Moslemism in the east, had hushed to sleep the last throbbings of liberty. The Pope set his iron heel on the necks of kings, and made emperors hold his stirrup while he mounted his horse. The dark curtain of des- potism was drawn around the world; yet, during the long and dismal night, ever and anon a gleam of light THE CRUSADES. 59 breaks above the horizon — a morning star amidst the sa- ble drapery of the East. Expectant piety hopes the day is breaking ; and knowledge, long benighted, and freedom, sorely oppressed, inspire the hope of speedy relief. But in a moment, all is overcast. A cloud, darker than be- fore, gathers about the eastern sky. The first considerable event that moved these stagnant waters of ignorance and sin, was the quixotic expeditions of European nations to the East, called the Crusades. To the dormant mind of Europe, these were as if a burn- ing mountain were cast into the sea. They produced some light, more smoke, and much convulsion. They broke the spell of slavery, which had for more than six centuries manacled the human mind. Here was struck the death blow to mental despotism — here the work of emancipation begun, though in its details, strength and beauty, it was not completed for some centuries. Now men begun again to launch forth on the untried ocean of thought; and, unskilled as they were, and unfurnished with chart, rudder, and compass, no wonder some foun- dered. But we must look upon this great drama a little more particularly. Deluded by the idea that the end of the world was near, and burning with enthusiasm to deliver from the profane tread of infidels the land where the Prince of Life lived, taught, suffered, and died, and where still was the Holy Sepulchre ; and, indignant at the recital of the oppressions and cruelties inflicted on Christian pilgrims, all Europe was roused to raise the banners of the cross, and march to the rescue of the holy hill of Zion, and in vindication of the Holy Virgin. All sorts of motives, am- bition, avarice, love of adventure ; the promise of exemp- tion from debts, taxes, and punishment for crimes ; reli- gious zeal and bigotry, and the confident hope of heaven, stirred up the people of all ranks, ages, and sexes, to embark their lives and fortunes in these holy expeditions. Princes hoped to enlarge the boundaries of their empire, and add new stars to their crowns ; priests and popes hoped to reach farther and to extend wider the arms of their ghostly dominion ; and all classes hoped, by some means, to further their own interests, or minister to their gratifi- 60 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. cation. Six millions of souls, following the ignis-fatuus of an overheated imagination, were, from time to time, led out o( Europe to mark their pathway to the East with blood, or to whiten the hills and valleys of Palestine with their bones. Though visionary in the extreme, and prodigal of life and treasure, and unsuccessful in their professed object, yet. from all this confusion came order, from all this dark- ness, light, and from the most miserable combination of evil, was educed a lasting good. The fountains of the great deep were now broken up, the stagnations of igno- rance and corruption which had for centuries choked and poisoned all that attempted to live, and breathe, and move in them, began to heave and give signs of such coming commotion as must, ere long, purify their putrid waters. A spirit of enterprise from this time nerved the arm of every nation in Europe. A highway was opened to the nations of the East. The barbarity and ignorance of Eu- rope were brought into comparison with the greater in- telligence, wealth, and civilization of Asia. The bounda- ries of men's ideas were greatly enlarged. They saw in the advanced condition of the Orientals, the advantages which the arts and sciences, industry and civilization, give a people. In these they discovered the main spring of national greatness, and of social and individual com- fort and prosperity. They formed new commercial rela- tions ; acquired new ideas of agriculture — the handicrafts of industry were plied to minister to the new demands which an acquaintance with the East had created. They lost, too, amidst Asiatic associations, many of the super- stitions and prejudices which had so long kept the mind of Europe in bondage, and acquired new views in all the economy of life. And strange, if, on their return, they did not profit by the new T habits and information they had acquired. Here we date the early dawn of the day that should soon rise upon the nations. Ever and anon the darkness broke away, and light gleamed above the horizon. Learning began to revive ; colleges and universities were founded ; an acquaintance with the East had introduced REVIVAL OF LEARNING. 61 into Europe the Greek classics, which fixed a new era in its literature, as well as worked wonders in the progress of its civilization. For the Greek language had, for cen- turies, been the language of history, of the arts and sci- ences, of civilization and religion. Philo and Josephus chose to embalm the chronicles of their times in the Grecian tongue, that they might thus speak to more of the world's population than in any other language. And when Socrates and Aristotle reasoned and wrote in their mother tongue, they reasoned and wrote for the civiliza- tion and elevation of Europe, fifteen centuries afterwards. And when Alexander pushed his conquests eastward, and settled Greek colonies near the confines of India, (in Bactria,) he opened the way, through Christian churches planted in Bactria, for the introduction of the gospel, cen- turies after, in Tartary and China. The introduction of Greek literature into Europe did much to draw aside the veil of the dark ages. By this means the society, the ethics, the improvements of an- cient Greece, were now disinterred from the dust of ages, and transmitted, reanimated and nourished on the soil of modern Europe. And what, in the history of Providence, should not be here overlooked, the Arabs, the determined foes of Chris- tianity, were used as the instruments of preserving and transmitting that knowledge which, finally, became the regenerator of Europe. They were made to subserve the purposes of the truth, up to a certain point, when the privilege was transferred to worthier hands. At the period of which I am speaking, it seemed altogether prob- able that learning and the arts, the power of knowledge and the press, would be transmitted to future ages through the followers of the false prophet. For it was through them that learning revived, and the inventions and discoveries, which so effectually wield the destinies of the world, were divulged. In less than a century after the Saracens first turned their hostile spears against their foreign enemies, (the Greeks, at the battle of Muta, in 630,) their empire ex- ceeded in extent the greatest monarchies of ancient times. The successors of the prophet were the most 6 G2 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. powerful and absolute sovereigns on the earth. Their caliphs exercised a most unlimited and undefined pre- rogative — reigned over numerous nations, from Gibral- ter to the Chinese sea, two hundred days' journey from east to west. And, what is no less extraordinary, within about the same period, after the barbarous act of Omar, which consigned to the flames the splendid library of Alexandria, (640,) the world became indebted to the Sar- acens in respect to literature and science — though it was nearly two centuries more before they attained to their Augustan age. The court of the caliph became the resort of poets, philosophers, and mathematicians, from every country, and from every creed. Literary relics of the conquered countries were brought to the foot of the throne — hun- dreds of camels were seen entering Bagdad, loaded with volumes of Greek, Hebrew, and Persian literature, trans- lated by the most skillful interpreters into the Arabic lan- guage. Masters, instructors, translators, commentators, formed the court at Bagdad. Schools, academies, and libraries were established in every considerable town, and colleges w r ere munificently endowed. It was the glory of every city to collect treasures of literature and science throughout the Moslem dominions, whether in Asia, Af- rica, or Europe. Grammar, eloquence and poetry were cultivated with great care. So were metaphysics, phi- losophy, political economy, geography, astronomy, and the natural sciences. Botany and chemistry were cultivated with ardor and success. The Arabs particularly excelled in architecture. The revenue of kingdoms were ex- pended in public buildings and fine arts ; painting, sculp- ture, and music, shared largely in their regards. And in nothing did they more excel than in agriculture and metallurgy. They were the depositories of science in the dark ages, and the restorers of letters to Europe. Had not this course of things been arrested — had not a mandate from the skies uttered the decree, that the Arabian should no longer rule in the empire of letters, how different would have been the destiny of our race ! In- stead of the full-orbed day of the Sun of Righteouness, casting his benignant rays on our seminaries of learning, POWER OP SCIENCE AND THE ARTS. 63 they would have grown up under the pale and sickly hues of the crescent. The power of science and the arts, printing and paper-making, the mariner's compass and the spirit of foreign discovery, and the power of steam, (all Arabian in their origin,) would have been devoted to the propagation and establishment of Mohammedanism. The press had been a monopoly of the Arabian imposture ; and the Ganges and Euphrates, the Red sea and the Cas- pian, illumined only by the moon-light of Islam, would have been the channels through which the world's com- merce would have flowed into Mohammedan emporiums. But He that controlleth all events, would not have it so. These mighty engines of reformation and advancement should nerve the arm of truth; the press be the hand- maid of Christianity, to establish and embalm its doc- trines and precepts on the enduring page ; and the con- trol which men should gain over the elements, to facili- tate labor, contract distances, and bring out the resources of nature, be the handmaid of the Cross. Otherwise, Christianity had been the twin sister of barbarism ; and Moslemism and Idolatry had been nurtured under the fa- voring influences of learning, civilization, and the art of printing. It is worthy of remark, that the press, up to the present day, has been confined almost exclusively within the precincts of Christianity. And not only has Providence so interposed as to con- sign to the hands of civilization and Christianity, almost the exclusive monopoly of the press, but, under the gui- dance of the same unerring Wisdom, the future literature, as well as the society and government of the Gentile nations, is likely to descend to them through the purest Christianity. While science and literature are cultivated and honored by Christian nations, they are stationary or retrograde among Pagans and Mohammedans. This is giving Christianity immense advantages. For nearly the entire supply of books, schools, and the means of educa- tion, are furnished through Christian missions. Almost the only book of the convert from heathenism, is the Bible, or a religious book. Who but the Christian mis- sionary, form alphabets, construct grammars and diction- aries for Pagan nations, and thus form the basis of their 64 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. literature, and guide their untutored minds in all matters oi' education, government and religion ? In these things, how admirable the orderings of Providence. Christianity at once takes possession of the strong holds of society, and gives promise of permanency. For there is all the difference of civilization and barbarism, of religion and infi- delity, in the kind of literature a people have. If sup- plied by the enlightened mind, the pure heart, and the liberal hand of Christianity, it will be as a fountain of living waters. Another providential feature of the period now under review, was a spi?it of bold inquiry. As the time for the world's emancipation from the thraldom of the dark ages drew near, there was a singu- lar boldness for overstepping the wonted boundaries of thought. Ignorance and superstition had so narrowed the compass of men's ideas, that it had become a crime, — at least a heresy, for one to think further than his fa- thers had done. It is exceedingly interesting to trace the progress of the human mind from the eleventh to the six- teenth century. The inundation of the Roman empire, by northern barbarians, as completely extinguished the lamp of learning, as the light of religion. The dark ages were the winter season of the human mind. Though not annihilated, its activities were repressed, and it lay in a torpid state, awaiting its resuscitation on the return of spring. There seemed written on the furled banners of the returning crusaders, " Lo, the winter is past." Mind was uncaged. The holy wars had given to its domains an enchanting extension. The social sphere was en- larged, and, on every side, an opening field for all sorts of activity. Mind was now roused from its long sleep. Popery and despotism could not much longer enslave it. There now arose, for the carrying out of providential schemes, great and glorious, a class of bold thinkers, who quailed not before the thunders of the Vatican, nor recoiled to investigate maxims, doctrines or practices, because ven- erable for age, or disdained truth, because fresh with nov- elty. Years before Columbus launched his adventurous bark SPIRIT OF BOLD INQUIRY. 65 on the pathless Atlantic, or Martin Luther shook the foundations of Rome, there was a rousing up of the dor- mant mind of Europe, and a bold demand for truth. Fiction, romance, legends of saints, cloisters and ghosts could no longer suffice. Schools of learning, — the minds of the first scholars in Christendom were seized with an unwonted mania for investigation. And not only the universities and chief seminaries of learning, but the same spirit had crept into tribunals of justice, and halls of legislation, had looked into the windows of palaces, and seized on the minds of nobles and princes. Not only divines of the most profound erudition, but philosophers and eminent scholars of noble blood, as Reuchlin and Ulrich de Hutten, employed all their learning and wit to free the church and the world from the bondage of igno- rance and superstition. And, as coeval and co-extensive with this spirit of inqui- ry, Providence created an unaccountable spirit for bold adventure, which equally presaged some notable revolu- tion near. The flames of a restless ambition burned. There was an irrepressible desire of enterprise. The bold and adventurous spirit of Columbus, of the Cabots, of Amerigo Vespucci, of Charles V., Francis I., Henry VIIL, Leo X., was widely diffused through Europe. Spain, Portugal, Genoa, France and England, were struggling, who should first whiten an unknown sea with their can- vas, or reach farthest the arms of conquest. Dor- mant energies were aroused. Discovery was the mania of the day. And no wonder that an expectation, border- ing on certainty, was entertained, that some great change was at hand. Nor were the movements of Providence less conspic- uous at this time, on the great political arena. The wide domains of Christendom were crushed beneath the foot of the Pope. But the decree had gone out that the power of despotism should be broken. Modern liberty, paradoxical as it may seem, is the off- spring of Feudalism. As a strange, yet comely vine, it sprung up and grew for a time in the rugged villas of feudal barons. The process was this : The feudal system broke into pieces the before unbroken empire of 6* 66 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. despotism ; and though the feudal lords were despots in their little domains, yet each clan or tribe was inde- pendent one of another, and the germ of a half-civilized, halt- barbarous liberty, was all this time taking root in a rugged soil, ready to be , transplanted where it should grow more stately and gracefully, and bear a better and more abundant fruit. When this tree, or rather shrub, had flourished as long as it could on feudal ground, the Hand that ever protects all on earth, which pleases Him, broke down the system that first gave it birth, yet saved his chosen plant from the common ruin. The crusades struck the death-blow to the feudal sys- tem, and opened the way in Europe for the successful struggle of Liberty. This was the grand transition state from Despotism to Monarchy. In England, Liberty, long oppressed and abused, rose amidst the troubled waters of King John's tyranny, and they called her Magna Charta, — the keystone of Eng- lish liberty, the bulwark of constitutional law. This no- ble monument of indignant popular freedom against royal usurpation, bears date 1215. Next, the light of smothered liberty is seen gleaming up over the sable empire of Spain. It rises in Arragon as early as 1283. An instrument called the " General Privilege/' is granted by Peter III., in response to the pop- ular clamor for liberty, containing a series of provisions against arbitrary power, more full and satisfactory, as a basis of liberty, than the great Charter of England. And had we time to trace the connection, we might institute the inquiry, how far might this rising genius of liberty in Arragon have infused its spirit into Columbus and his adventurous cotemporaries, and induced the patronage he received from the throne ? Or what connection had this with the conquest of Grenada, and the expulsion of the Moors ? Or with the discovery of the great East by the Cape of Good Hope ? — three nearly simultaneous events, and each big with the destiny of the Church and the world. The same leaven is at work in Germany. The Empe- ror becomes elective ; checks are imposed on his power ; all matters of moment are referred to the States Gen- DISTRIBUTION OF POLITICAL POWER. 67 eral. Switzerland achieves her freedom in the beginning of the fourteenth century. Indeed, "free cities/' small re- publics, spring up in all parts of Europe, and, as in the early ages of mankind, the world was indebted to cities for civilization and political institutions, so again modern liberty was cradled m the bosom of the free cities of Europe. "It was not the monarchies, it was not the courts of the great princes, — it was the cities of north- ern Italy, which opened the way for the progress of improvement, and lighted the torch of modern civiliza- tion/' Thus was Providence politically shaping the world for the reception of Christianity, under the renovated form of the Reformation. And here we must not overlook the singular distribu- tion of political power, at the time of the Reformation. That the power might appear of God, and not of man, Providence gave this to four of the mightiest monarchs that ever wielded a sceptre. Henry VIIL, was on the throne of England ; Francis L, on that of France ; Charles V., Emperor of the kingdoms of Germany and Spain ; and Pope Leo X., the most powerful, politic and sagacious of the Popes, occupied the chair of St. Peter, and reached his sceptre over all the monarchs of Europe. But God employed none of them. And when they would have pounced upon, and torn to pieces the Daniel of Heaven's election, God shut the mouths of these lions, that they should not harm a hair of his head. But I pursue the subject no further at present. Let us pause and reflect; and we shall review this great transaction with increased admiration of the power and wisdom of God. In carrying out his vast plans, all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing before him ; he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou ? Who, then, would not fear thee, O God ? Who would not adore thee in the temple of thy power, and revere thee in thy matchless wisdom, and praise thee in thy un- speakable goodness ? How much reason has the saint to rejoice ! Standing on the eternal rock, he is safe. G8 HAND OP GOD IN HISTORY How much reason has the sinner to tremble ! He stands, he trifles beneath the rock that shall grind him to powder. " Be wise to-day, 'tis madness to defer." CHAPTER IV. The Reformation. Europe clamors for reform. Causes. Abuses. Boniface VHI, The Great Schism. Infallibility. Bad moral character of Popes— Alexander VI. Leo X. Elector of Saxony. Early Reformers. Waldenses— Nestorians. The Reforma- tion a necessary effect — a child of Providence. Martin Luther ; his origin, early ed- ucation, history. Finds the Bible. His conversion. Luther the preacher— the Theo- logical Professor— at Rome. " Pilate's staircase." Compelled to be a Reformer. His coadjutors. Opposition. Results. u All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing" The last chapter closed while yet speaking of the causes of the Reformation of the sixteenth century. These causes were numerous and multifarious. The crusades had broken up the stagnations of despotism — learning had revived — the art of printing was discovered — an ad- venturous spirit of discovery and conquest was abroad ; the science of navigation, made abundantly practical by the invention of the mariner's compass, brought the na- tions of the earth into neighborhood and acquaintance. There was, too, a bold spirit of inquiry among philoso- phers, divines, and every class of the literati, which de- manded reform. The inspiration of poetry breathed it. The spirit of the age boldly demanded immortal mind should be free. Mind is like the irrepressible spirit of liberty. You cannot chain it ; you cannot imprison it. Though for a time it may be reserved in chains of dark- ness, the day of emancipation must come, hastened on by the very galling of its chains, and the gloominess of its prison. The Reformation has been very justly denominated " a vast effort of the human mind to achieve its freedom. CAUSES OF THE REFORMATION. 69 Though its religious bearings were immense on the des- tinies of the world, it was more than a religious reform. It was an intellectual revolution. The most shameful abuses in the church, the degene- racy of the clergy not excepting popes, and the abused common-sense of the people, clamored for reform. The long repressed spirit of liberty, smothered beneath the rubbish of ignorance and superstition, yet now beginning to labor in her dark caverns, and to make all Europe heave, fearfully demanded, by her oft-repeated irruptions, that the foot of Rome should no longer crush the world. Causes were at work which made the Reformation neces- sary as an effect. The world was prepared for it. Ex- pectation was on the alert. The profoundest talents of the age were laboring to produce it. Suppressed, exiled, outraged piety began to emerge from her hiding places, to rise in the strength and beauty of her own dignity, and with a holy indignation to assert, and, in the name of Heaven, to demand, freedom for the sons of God. So clamorous, indeed, had Europe become for reform, that the pope, the clergy and a corrupt church were con- strained to acknowledge its necessity. Accordingly, the Council of Constance, assembled by the emperor, (1414,) attempted to lop off some of the monstrous excrescences of the church. Yet this same council consigned to the flames John Huss, the pious and learned reformer, of Bo- hemia. Though frustrated in the attempt at ecclesias- tical reformation, and deadly opposed to the popular re- form of Wicklif, Huss and Jerome, and though reform was re-attempted with no better success seventeen years later, in the Council of Basle, yet much was gained to the general cause of liberty and religion. The necessity and feasibility of reform had been freely discussed in the high places of the church and of the empire, and though op- posed and ostensibly arrested by the strong arm of Rome, facts were revealed, abuses exposed, principles established, which emboldened the potentates of Europe to proclaim against the usurpations of the Vatican. In France and Germany the famous Pragmatic Sanction of 1438 was made a law of the state, authorizing the election of Bish- ops, and the reform of the principal abuses of the church. 70 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. But, in further (racing out providential arrangements as at work, ecclesiastically > in bringing affairs to the de- sired crisis, we must go back a little. The remarkable fourteenth century, signalized as the generator of new ideas, new schemes and activities, opened in the darkest days of the Papal church. The " mystery of iniquity" was now consummated — Popery had found its acme. Boniface VIII. now occupied the papal chair. In arrogance, in spiritual pride, oppression and blasphemy, he was surpassed by none who had preceded him. He claimed that, as "vicar of Jesus Christ, he had power to govern kings with a rod of iron, and to dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel." Though he exalted himself above all that is called God, and spoke great swelling words of vanity, yet his end was nigh, and his judgment did not tarry. Taken prisoner by an emmissary of France, and treated with indignity and rudeness, he dies in the extremity of his rage and mortification. Says the historian, (Sismondi,) " His eyes were haggard ; his mouth white with foam ; he gnashed his teeth in silence. He passed the day without nourishment, and the night with- out repose ; and when he found that his strength was fail- ing, and his end was nigh, he removed all his attendants, that there might be no witness to his final feebleness and parting struggle. After some interval, his domestics burst into the room, and beheld his body stretched on the bed, stiff and cold. The staff which he carried bore the marks of his teeth, and was covered with foam ; his white locks were stained with blood ; and his head was so closely wrapped in the counterpane, that he was believed to have anticipated his impending death by violence and suffo- cation." Thus died the pretended vicegerent of God, the pattern of saints, the Head of the Church, and the almoner of Heaven's righteousness to dying men. From this hour the strong arm of Popery was weak- ened. The power of the church was much diminished by the removal of the Popedom from Rome to Avignon in France, and still more by the " Great Schism of the West," which occurred in 1378, and continued half a century. There were now two rival popes, and at one MORAL CHARACTER OF THE CLERGY. 71 time three, " assailing each other with excommunications, maledictions and all sorts of hostile measures" — not a little impairing their respective claims to infallibility, bringing into disrepute their ghostly characters, and effectually preparing the way for the abolition of their spiritual usur- pation. These things, together with the bad moral character of the clergy, from the Pope to the most beggarly mendi- cant — their affluence, avarice and luxury, had prepared the minds of the people to embrace the first opportunity to throw off the yoke of Rome. This consummation was rapidly hastened by the disgusting profligacy of Alexan- der VI. and the restless ambition and cruelty of Julius II. History rarely affords a specimen of so worthless a char- acter as that of Pope Alexander. His youth was spent in profligacy and crime ; he obtained the pontifical chair by the most shameless bribery ; his palace, while Pope, was disgraced by family feuds and bloodshed ; by bachanalian entertainments and licentious revelry ; by farces and in- decent songs ; and his death was compassed by the poison which he had prepared for one of his rich cardinals. Such was the Pope in 1492, on the very eve of the Refor- mation. Stations of dignity and trust were filled by men raised from obscurity and ignorance ; or by sons of noblemen, and not unfrequently by mere children. A child of five years old was made Archbishop of Rheims, and the see of Narbonne was purchased for a boy of ten years. Nor was the papal chair itself exempt from the same disgrace- ful sacrilege. Rome was one vast scene of debauchery, in which the most powerful families in Italy contended for the pre-eminence. Benedict IX. was a boy brought up in profligacy — was made Pope at twelve years old, and remained in the practice of the scandalous sins of his youth. Such abuses, crimes and usurpations, such despotism and corruption at the fountain head of the church, roused the indignation of princes and people not yet sunk below where the voice of a virtuous indignation reaches, and hastened on the Reformation. And mitred heads, and fulminating bulls, and all the array of the Scarlet Beast 72 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. could not silence the clamor. God was in it, confound- ing the wisdom of the wise, and giving understanding to babes. It has not failed to arrest the attention of historians that Leo X., though a man of consummate skill and policy in the management of public affairs, prompt, energetic, provident ; yet, in reference to Luther and the rising Reformation, he seemed bereft of his wisdom and accus- tomed energy, while they who were undermining his throne, and plucking the ghostly crown from his head, were endued with uncommon sagacity. In his attempts to crush Luther, and suppress the Reformation, nothing is so prominent as his hesitation, delays and mistakes. In the mean time the good WDrk was gaining ground ; the host of the Reformed ±~eceiving daily accessions ; the ball set in motion by an unseen Hand had gathered a power and velocity which kings and popes could not arrest. Here I would just notice another providence : it is the raising up and rightly disposing the heart of the Elector of Saxony. God fitted and used this noble prince for two great purposes : first, he gave him a controlling influence among the electors of the Emperor, which the Pope, deeply interested as he was in the election, could not af- ford to lose ; as he would, should he displease the Elector, " by proclaiming his bull of excommunication against Lu- ther : and, secondly, God gave his servant Luther a safe shelter beneath the wings of this excellent Prince. But there were other causes of the Reformation. We return, that we may again approach the great phenome- non of the sixteenth century through another series of providential arrangements. Dark as the dark ages were, the lamp of truth and pure religion was never suffered to be extinguished. Indeed, from the earliest corruptions of Christianity, God has not left himself without a succession of witnesses. In the sixth century lived Vigilantius, the vehement remon- strant against relics, the invocation of saints, lighted can- dles in churches, vows of celibacy, pilgrimages, nocturnal watchings, fastings, prayers for the dead, and all the mum- meries which had at that early period crept into the church. In the ninth century, Claudius, the pious Bishop EARLY REFORMERS. 73 of Turin, called the first Protestant Reformer, bore a noble testimony to the truth. Peter of Bruges, Henry of Lau- sanne, and Arnold of Brescia, raised their voices amidst the general corruption, and in various ways and with va- rious success pleaded for reform. # So did also the learned and fearless Bishop of Lincoln, Greathead, in the thirteenth century, and the excellent Thomas Bradwardine, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, and the noble Fitzralph, Archbishop of Armagh, whose light from time to time made visible the surrounding darkness. Nor may we pass unnoticed a noble band of confessors and witnesses for the truth, among whom we find the indefatigable Peter Pruys, Henry the Italian, Marsilius of Padua, John of Garduno, who was condemned by the Pope, 1330, and the learned, dauntless and persecuted Barengarius, who, after having withstood the storm of papal rage to a good old age, closed his testimony in 1088. These were some of the lights which shone amidst the darkness of the middle ages, and by which an ever watchful Providence preserved his truth from the general ruin.f- These, however, were but the casual outbreakings of pent up fires that should soon burst out and burn with an unquenchable flame. These were the lesser lights — the precursors of the approaching morning. At length the morning star arose. Wicklif appeared ; the arm of Providence, to pave the way for a glorious onward march of the work of redemption ; guilty of daring to think out of the beaten track of the dark ages ; guilty of question- ing the arrogant claims of a haughty, avaricious, corrupt priesthood, and guilty of publishing to the world the living oracles of God, and teaching the people their right and duty to read them. By his writings and lectures in the University of Oxford ; by his public instructions as pastor at Lutterworth, and his translation of the Scrip- tures for the first time into English, he laid an immovable • The fiery zeal of Arnold knew no bounds till he had carried the war of reform into Rome itself, and kindled a fire in the very seat of St. Peter, but which in its turn kin- dled a fire about him, in which he perished, and his party (the Arnoldists,) was sup- pressed. t The following are some of the sects, or Christian communities which stood up for the truth when the whole world had gone wandering after the Beast : The Novitians, Donatists, Paulicians, Cathari, Puritans, WcUdenses, Petrobrusians, Henricians, Ar- noldists, Paterines, in Italy. 7 74 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. foundation for the reform of the church. The leaven so effectually wrought in the University, as to merit the charge 01 heresy from Archbishop Arundel : " Oxford/' says he, " is a vine that bringeth forth wild and sour grapes, which being eaten by the fathers, the children's teeth are set on edge ; so that the whole province of Canterbury is tainted with a novel and damnable heresy :" an honora- ble testimony to the fidelity and influence of Wicklif. He had many zealous friends among the nobility, and even in the royal family ; which no doubt served as a shield to ward off the fiery darts of papal vengeance, and left our reformer to die a quiet death in the retirement of Lutterworth. The impression produced by Wicklif s character and labors, was tremendous on all ranks and ages. It was as the letting out of many waters. Mountains could not hedge it in, seas could not limit it. No sooner was this new light extinguished by popish virulence in England, than it begun to burn with redoubled splendor in Bohemia on the continent. Europe caught the light, and the cloud that had so long hung over Christendom began to scatter. And here again mark the finger of Providence : Queen Anne, the wife of Richard II., of England, a native of Bohemia, having herself embraced the doctrines of Wicklif, became, through her attendants, the instrument of circulating the books of the reformer in Bohemia. Who can doubt " whether she did not come to the king- dom for such a time as this." God called her to the throne of England, that, having learned the truth there, she might introduce it, with a royal sanction, in her own native land. Huss and Jerome of Prague, by this means caught the fire of the English reformer, raised the ban- ners of reformation, and ceased not, till a glorious mar- tyrdom put out their lamp, to devote their great learning and their immense influence in defence of abused truth. The execution of Huss as a heretic, furnishes a just though melancholy picture of the times of these early reformers. John Huss was Professor of Divinity in the University of Prague, and pastor of the church in that city ; a man as renowned for the purity and excellency BURNING OF HUSS. 75 of his Christian character, as for his profound learning and uncommon eloquence. But his light shone too bright for the age. He was charged with heresy ; arrested, thrown into prison — condemned to the stake. At the place of execution he was treated with the most barbarous indignity. Seven Bishops strip him of his sacerdotal dress — violently tear from him the insignia of his office — put on his head a cap on which three devils were painted, and the words arch-heretic written — burn his books before his eyes. In the meantime the fires of death are kindled. The undaunted martyr commends his spirit to Jesus, and, serene and joyful in the prospect of a glorious immortality, his happy spirit rises from the flames of wicked foes to the bosom of flaming seraphim, who adore and burn in the presence of the eternal throne. But this was not enough : with savage fury his execu- tioners beat down the stake, and demolished with clubs and pokers all that remained of his half consumed body. His heart, untouched by the fire, they roast on a spit, and his cloak and other garments are also committed to the flames, that not a memento might remain to his friends. Yea, more, they not only remove the ashes, but they scoop out the earth where he was burnt, to the depth of four feet, and throw the whole into the Rhine. But they could not extinguish the light of the Reformation. From this new starting point the wheels of Providence gathered strength, and rolled on the more rapidly as they approached the goal. From the flames that consumed these martyrs to the truth, there rose a light which shone throughout all Germany. A spirit of inquiry was roused in schools and universities, in the minds of the common people and among the nobility, which could not be repressed. Though often smothered in blood, it gathered strength — the surface heaved, the internal fires burned till the irruption came. But I shall do palpable injustice not to notice some whole communities which, during Zion's long and dreary night, kept their fires burning and their lamps trimmed, ready to meet the returning bridegroom. They were found among the mountains of the Alps ; in the valleys of Peidmont and Languedock ; in England, and over a 76 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. great part of Europe — known by the generic name of Lollards, vet denominated Waldenses, Albigenses, Cathari, Huguenots, from the valleys in which they resided, or from some distinguished leader. They had not bowed the knee to Baal — had endured persecutions such as make humanity blush — had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings — of bonds and imprisonments — were stoned, sawn asunder — tempted — slain — wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins, afflicted and tormented. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. Since the scenes which transpired on Calvary 1800 years ago, there has not been written so black a page of man's history. Yet their light shone, and guided many an earth- worn pilgrim heavenward. And when the morning dawned — when the strong voice of Wicklif, repeating but in louder notes the strains of Claudius, Bradwardine, and Berenger, proclaimed the approaching day — and the louder, and yet louder peals of Huss and Jerome, Reuchlin and Hutten, broke in upon the stillness of the night, these pious souls, (of whom the w r orld was not worthy,) these dwellers in the rocks and caves of the earth were watching every prognostication of the morning, and joyfully hailed the rising light. And no sooner were the banners of the Reformation unfurled, than they, as tried and loyal subjects, came to the help of the Lord. And during the same period, and for centuries since, the Nestorians have borne witness to the truth, and kept alive the fire of true religion in the East, in circumstances not very dissimilar from the Waldenses of the West. When dark clouds settled down on the whole land, there was light in Goshen — light amid the mountains of Kurdis- tan. And as now light returns upon the dark regions of Asia, do we not find them as ready to welcome the rising morning as were the dwellers among the Alps ? The church has already been vastly indebted to the Nes- torians in the work of propagating the gospel. Never has she had more valiant and successful Missionaries, and that, too, under circumstances the most unpropitious. Their missions form the connecting link between the missions of primitive Christianity and modern missions. TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE. 77 In the dark ages, (from the sixth to the fifteenth century,) we find their indefatigable missionaries among the rude, migratory tribes of Tartary, among the priest-ridden mill- ions of India, and the supercilious natives of China. We find them, too, among the barbarous nations about the Caspian sea. In the tenth century, a Mogul Prince and 200,000 of his subjects, were converted to Christianity. Their Prince was the celebrated Prester John. In 877, they had erected churches in all eastern Asia. But without pursuing this line of providential develop- ment further, what presage have we here that Zion's King was about to introduce a new dispensation of his grace ! He had fitted a thousand minds for the accomplishment of his purposes. Kings, emperors, councils, the literati, philosophers, poets, the church herself, all in their turn attempted a reform, and failed. Yet each did a work, and hastened a result. It was written in the records of Heaven that this should not be done by " might nor by power." The noble, the wise and mighty, should be set at nought — Goliath be overcome by the shepherd and his sling. The Bible should be the weapon by which to overcome the principalities and powers of sin, to demolish the strong-holds of the adversary, and to dislodge from their high places the unclean birds of the sanctuary : the Bible be the regenerator of the living temple, which should rebuild the sacred altar, and restore its fine gold. Hence the towering genius of Reuchlin, (the patron and teacher of the great Melancthon,) and the masterly mind of Erasmus, were now, by the hand of Providence, brought on the stage, the one to give Europe a transla- tion of the Old Testament, and the other of the New ; and both to employ their profound learning in defence of the truth. The sagacious eye of the world's wisdom could not but have seen that mighty events were struggling in the womb of Providence. The Reformation was a necessary consequence of what preceded. Internal fires were burn- ing, the earth heaving, and soon they must find vent. Had not the irruption been in Germany, it must soon have been elsewhere. Had not Luther led, it must ere long have been conducted by another. 7# 78 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. Thus did the mighty hand of God order every circum- stance — remove obstacles, provide instrumentalities for the work, displaying in all the different series of events which preceded the Reformation, and which, under God, were the causes of it, the stately steppings of Providence towards some magnificent result. Let us, therefore, briefly survey, 2. The great transaction itself. The Reformation was a great event — an event of great men, of great things and great results ; and the more closely it is scrutinized, the more it will appear to be the work of God. It is not my design to speak of the Reformation as a matter of History, but as a child of Providence. Were we to trace it in its progress, as we have in its preliminary steps, we should everywhere discern the finger of God. I shall rather speak of certain characteristic acts of the great drama, than of the drama itself. The whole is too large a field. From whatever point you view the Reformation, you find it the child of Providence. Look at the men who were called to be its conductors ; or to the formidable opposition it had to encounter ; or to its results, and you everywhere trace the footsteps of God. When God is about to do a great work he first pre- ares his instruments. He selects and qualifies the men y whom he will accomplish his purposes. So he did, as we have seen, when he was about to enlarge the bounda- ries of his church by adding to its domains the American continent. The bold spirit of adventure which charac- terized the latter part of the fifteenth century, was an elec- tric shock to all Europe — as if an earthquake had shaken the world, and raised from the midst of the ocean a great continent. Hence such men as Columbus, the Cabots, Gaspar Cortereal and Verrazzani. So, when He would cut the eo/d that bound this infant nation to her mother, and wean her from her mother's milk, and remove her from the tuition of aristocrats and church dignitaries, God raised up for the purpose such men as Franklin, Hancock, Lee, Adams and Jefferson, and nerved the arm of our immortal Washington. And so it has been in all the great outbreakings that have convulsed the £ LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 79 world to make way for the church. He prepared his instruments. It has been observed that great men appear in constella- tions. The truth is, they appear when, in providence, great occasions call for them. Great men are not only made by the times, but are endowed and moulded by the hand of God for the times. But nowhere do we find so marked a providence in the preparation of instruments as in the case of the Reformation. The leaders were all mighty men. Each was a host. Yet of all these mighties, Martin Luther was the mightiest. But whence these giants, who, if they raise their voice, the earth trembleth — who shake the seven hills of Rome, and on their ruins rear a superstructure which reached to the heavens ? Were they the scions of royalty — the sons of wisdom or of might ? No. Martin Luther was taken from the cottage of a poor miner. Melancthon, the pro- found theologian and elegant scholar of the Reformation, was found in an armorer's workshop. Zuinglius was sought out by Him who knoweth the path which " the vulture's eye hath not seen," in a shepherd's hut among the Alps. The history of Martin Luther is substantially the history of the Reformation. Would we come at once at the real genius of that great revolution, we must follow up the history of its controlling genius, from the time that little Martin was gathering sticks with his poor mother at the mines in Mansfeld, till he occupied the chair of Theology at Wittemburg, and was the most powerful and popular preacher of the day; or till he faced, single-handed and alone, the ravening beast of Rome at the Diet of Worms. Such as God made the instrument, such was the work. Though pinchingly poor, John Luther, the wood- cutter and the miner, resolved to educate young Martin. Thence forward mark his course. First, he was submitted to strict discipline and religious instruction under the roof of his parents. How much he was indebted to this, and how much the world, is not difficult to conceive. At an early age he is sent to school in the neighborhood of the mines. A new light had already broken in upon 80 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. the world, and the honest miner of Mansfeld determined that his son should share in its benefits. At the age of fourteen, we find him at the school of the Franciscans at Magdeburg, yet so poor that he was obliged to occupy his play-hours in begging his bread by singing. Here he first heard Andrew Proles with great zeal, preaching the necessity of reforming religion and the church. Next he is at Eisenach, still poor, yet persevering, and notwithstanding these, to common minds, insuperable difficulties, our young reformer made rapid strides in his studies, outstripping all his fellows. We come now to the second link of the providential chain : While begging his bread as a singing boy at Eise- nach, he was often overwhelmed with grief, and ready to despond. " One day in particular, after having been repulsed from three houses, he was about to return fasting to his lodging, when, having reached the Place St. George, he stood before the house of an honest burgher, motion- less, and lost in painful reflections. Must he for the want of bread give up his studies, and return to the mines of Mansfeld ?" Suddenly a door opens, a woman appears on the threshhold — it is the wife of Conrad Cotta, called " the pious Shunamite" of Eisenach. Touched with the pitiless condition of the boy, she henceforth becomes his patroness, his guardian angel, and from this time the darkness from his horizon began to clear away. Soon we find him a distinguished scholar in the University of Erfurth, his genius universally admired, his progress in knowledge wonderful. It now began to be predicted of him that he would one day shake the world. The hon- ors of the University thicken upon him. He applies himself to the study of the law, where he aspires to the highest honors of civic life. But God willed not so. He is one day in the Library of the University, where he is wont to spend his leisure moments. As he opens volume after volume, a strange book at length attracts his atten- tion. Though he had been two years in the University, and was now tw T enty years old, he had seen nothing like it before. It is the Bible. He reads and reads again, and would give a world for a Bible. Here is the third link. martin luther's early life. 81 Here lay hid the spark that should electrify the world — the golden egg of the Reformation. But where next do we find our distinguished scholar — our doctor of philosophy — our humble reader of the Bible ? Strange contrast ! He is an Augustine monk, cloistered in gloomy walls ; the companion of idle monks ; doorkeeper, sweeper, common servant and beggar for the cloister. But what brought him here ? He had read the Bible — was bowed to the ground as a sinner — and while in this state of mind he was literally smitten to the earth by a thunderbolt. This was the fourth link of the providential chain. From this hour he resolved to be God's. But how could he serve God but in a cloister ? The world was no place for him. He must be holy ; he will therefore work out his salvation in the menial services and solitude of monastic life. But the hand of God was in this. It was the school of Providence to discipline him for his future work. Here, too, he must learn the great lesson (justifi- cation by faith) which should revolutionize the church and the world ; here receive the sword that should de- molish the mighty fabric of Romish superstition, and separate from the chaotic mass of a corrupt religion, the church reformed. And where, in accordance with the genius of the age, could this be learned but in a convent ? From his youth up, Luther had believed in the power of monastic life to change the heart He must, as he bitterly did, learn its entire inefficacy. When he had learned this, when he was slain by the law, and lay, as supposed, literally dead upon the floor, a good " Annanias" appeared to raise him up and to con- duct him to the peace-speaking blood of Jesus, and, in Christ's stead, to tell him what he must do. This messen- ger is Staupitz, the vicar-general, who from this time becomes Luther's teacher in holiness, and his guide and patron in his glorious career of reform. This is the next link in the chain. Staupitz conducted him to Christ ; gave him a Bible ; introduced him to a professor's chair in the University of Wittemburg, and to the friendship of the Elector of Saxony, and brought out the reluctant Monk as a public preacher ; and, in a word, was the hand 82 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. of Providence to conduct Luther forward to the great result of the Reformation. Nor was it enough that Luther should serve a three years' apprenticeship in a convent. He must go to Rome — must trace up the corrupt stream to its fountain — must see what Romanism is at the seat of the Beast. His em- bassy to Rome was the next great providential movement which marked the early life of Luther. Here he beheld with his own eyes, the abominations of desolation stand- ing in the place where they ought not. Though he had more than suspected the corruption of the church, he still retained a profound veneration for Rome. He thought of Rome as the seat of all holiness ; the deep and broad well from which were drawn all the waters of salvation. Nothing but personal observation could cure him of this error. He found Rome the seat of abominations, the fountain of moral corruption. The profligacy, levity, idleness, and luxury of the priests, shocked him. He turned away from Rome in utter disgust and indignation. Nor was this all he learnt at Rome. It was here God instructed him more thoroughly in the perfect way. While performing some of the severe penances of the church, (as, for example, creeping on his knees up " Pi- late's staircase/') he had a, practical lesson of the inefficacy of works ; and the doctrine of justification by faith, seemed revealed to him as in a voice of thunder. And now was he prepared, on his return, to echo this voice from heaven till the very foundations of Rome should tremble. Soon after this, Luther was made Theological Profes- sor, or Doctor of the Scriptures. There was, in reference to the oath he was now required to take, another of those marked interpositions of Providence, to push him on in his work as a reformer. He was required to " swear to de- fend the truth of the gospel with all his might!' This, though it had often been taken as a mere matter of form, was now received in good earnest. Luther now felt himself commissioned by the University, by his Prince, and in the name of the Emperor, and by Rome herself, to be the fearless herald of the trutb; He must now, in OPPOSITION TO THE REFORMATION. 83 obedience to the highest authority on earth and of Heaven, be a Reformer* Thus did the Hand of God resuscitate a long and shame- fully abused oath, and snatch it from the hands of pro- fanation, and arm it with a power that none could gain- say or resist. Already has enough been said to develop the genius of the Reformation. I am not to give a history of it. It was the child of Providence — begotten, nourished, ma- tured by the plastic hand of Heaven. Were we to follow Luther from his first putting forth his " Theses" for public discussion, till he laid down his armor at the dread summons of death, the head and leader of a great reformed church, we should see him in the act of accom- plishing only what we have seen the hand of God prepar- ing him for. He was raised up, fitted and protected for this selfsame work.f Or were we to trace the history of his great coadjutors in the work, such as Calvin, Melancthon, Reuchlin, Hut- ten, Erasmas, Spalatin, Staupitz, Martin Pollich, Zuingle, or the other giants of those days, we should discover, in proportion as God deigned to use them, respectively, in the execution of his great plan, the hand of God, fitting each to his respective place, assigning each his work, and nerving the muscles of his soul for the great combat. Nor will it weaken our conviction that the Reforma- tion was a stupendous act of Providence for the ad- vancement of the true church and the spread of the true religion, if we notice the opposition it had to encounter, or on its final results. Both as to character and amount, this opposition was such as no earthly power could resist. The advantage was all against the Reformers. The errors, vices, super- * . — . — . — * D' Aubigne's History of the Reformation. t Not a few instances in his personal history illustrate the Divine care of him. De- termined to cut him off by stratagem, at a period when his popularity precluded the use of force, the Cardinal Legate and Pope's Nuncio, invited the great Reformer and his chief Saxon friends to a dinner ; when, according to previous arrangement, the Pope's representative should propose the exchange of the usual glass of wine, and that a deadly poison should be infused into the portion designed for Luther. The pompous Cardinal requested "the honor of drinking the learned and illustrious Doctor's health." The Cardinal's attendant presented the two glasses. But Luther's glass, as he raised it to his mouth, fell into his plate, and discovered the murderous potion. Thus the Hand of an ever watchful Providence delivered his chosen one from the snare of the fowler. 84 HAM) OF GOD IN HISTORY. stitions, impositions or crimes which they attacked, were nurtured in the very bosom of the church, and could challenge the authority of the highest powers in church or state ; while the Reformers were without power, either civil or ecclesiastical, the sons of obscurity, sought out, fitted, and distinguished in the work by a special Provi- dence. Like the first disciples, they stood against the world. 3. And the results are too well known to need to be made a subject of extended remark. It was a revolution that has cast a new aspect over the whole world. It is under the shadow of the wings of the reformed church, that civilization has spread and prospered ; that the printing- press has flourished and shed forth its leaves for the healing of the nations — that learning has prospered; the arts been cultivated and the sciences made to subserve the purposes of common life ; that enterprise has put forth its multifarious energies in the promotion of commerce, discovery, manufactures, and in the various forms of philanthropy and benevolence ; that the true science of government is better understood, and considerable ad- vancement made in the principles of freedom ; a broad and immovable basis laid for free institutions ; and re- ligion, pure and undefiled, has ventured to appear not only outside the cloister, or the sequestered valley, but on the wide arena of the world, in the face of Popes and inquisitors, in the face of nobles and kings, and boldly to assert its primeval claim to the earth. It was one of those vast movements of Providence, which, like angels' visits, are few and far between. It was one of those great deliverances, when Heaven deigns to inter- pose and give enlargement to Israel. We cannot review this vast transaction without in- creased admiration of an ever-working, ever-watchful Providence, working all things after the counsel of his own will, with none to stay his hand, or say unto Him, what doest thou. In concluding what I have to say on the Reformation, I may be indulged in one general remark : How grand and magnificent, then, must that work be which can so in- tensely engage the mind of the eternal God ! Such is the JAfHETH IN THE TENTS OF SHEM. 85 work of Redemption. The unwearied hand of Provi- dence has always been engaged, preparing for some future development of the glory of the body of Christ, which is the church. From Adam to Christ, the lines of Providence were all converging to the Incarnation. Every change and revolution was so shaped as to be preparatory to the advent of the Messiah. That first grand mark of consummation being reached, the next principal point of concentration is the Millenium, or the complete development of grace, and its victory over sin. Ever since Christ offered up the great sacrifice for sin, the whole energy of Providence has been engaged to ma- ture the great plan and gather in its fruits. Ride forth, then, victorious King, from conquering to conquer, till the kingdoms of this world become the king- dom of our Lord and of his Christ. CHAPTER V. Japheth in the tents of Shewn : or, the Hand of God, as seen in the opening a way to In* dia by the way of the Cape of Good Hope. The posterity of Japheth. The Portu- guese empire in the East— its extent and extinction. Designs of Providence in opening India to Europe— not silks and satins, but to illustrate the evil of Idolatry, and the inefficacy of false religions and philosophy to reform men. The power of true religion. " God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of SAem."— Gen. ix. 27. A remarkable prophecy, and remarkably fulfilled God has enlarged Japheth by giving his descendants, for a dwelling place, all Europe, Asia Minor, America, many of the islands of the sea, and the northern portions of Asia. Japheth has peopled half the globe. Besides his original possessions, and much gained by colonizing, he has greatly extended his dominions by conquest. The Greeks, the Romans, the English, have, successively, 8 86 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. "dwelt in the tents of Shem." At the present time, the offspring of Japheth, the English chiefly, wield the sceptre over scarcely less than two hundred millions of the seed of Shem. This is worthy of remark, especially in connec- tion with the fact, that Christianity has hitherto been confined, almost exclusively, to the posterity of Japheth. A line, encircling on the map of the world the nations descended from Japheth, incloses nearly all the Chris- tianity at present in the world. Before Christ, God com- mitted the riches of his grace to the posterity of Shem ; since, he has confined the same sacred trust to the chil- dren of Japheth. The mind of the reader has already been directed to one of the enlargements of Japheth — the possession of the American continent. I am now prepared to speak of an- other, an enlargement eastward, the discovery of the great East, by the Cape of Good Hope — another theatre on which should be acted the great drama of human sal- vation. When, in the fifteenth century, God was about to pu- rify and enlarge his church, when the King was pre- paring for a glorious onward march of the truth by pro- viding resources, men, means, and all sorts of facilities, an enlargement of territory was by no means the least providential desideratum. The church would soon need room ; new provinces, new continents, whither to trans- plant the " vine" of Calvary. But God never lacks ex- pedients. A spirit of bold adventure moves again over the face of the deep, and not only a new continent arises beyond the dark waves of the great Western sea, but, nearly at the same time, an old continent, scarcely more know T n, emerges from the thick darkness of paganism in . the far East. We have seen the church reformed and renovated, armed and strengthened for some grand onset upon the na- tions. And we have seen the field already opened west- ward, wide enough, and promising enough to engage all her renerved energies. But should the star of Bethle- hem, now just emerging from the darkness of the past centuries, shine only westward ? Should the vast re- gions, peopled by so many myriads of immortals, and once PASSAGE TO INDIA DISCOVERED. 87 cheered by the " star of the East," forever lie under the darkness of Paganism ? The good pleasure of Heaven is here, as always, indicated by the stately steppings of Providence. While the Reformation is yet developing in Europe, and its energies are being matured for an onward move- ment, just the time when mind is beginning to assume its independence, and religion its vitality, all the wealth, and wickedness, and woe, of the East, with its teeming mill- ions of deathless souls, are being laid open to the ameli- orating process of reformed Christianity. It shall be our business to trace the manner in which this has been done ; and to mark the hand of God as he has compassed such a result. It is not ours, however, to stop here to deplore, as we might, maris delinquency ', as a reason why these vast and populous regions have not, since having been made accessible, been sooner Christianized and blessed, but rather to admire God's efficiency in intro- ducing them to the West, and giving them into the hands of Christian nations at this particular time. The adventurous spirit of the fifteenth century made known and accessible to the Christian world all the rich and populous countries of southern and eastern Asia, from the river Indus to the island of Japan. And it is not a little remarkable that the efforts which the Portu- guese and Spaniards made to drive the Moors from their peninsula, were the beginning of these discoveries. As, from time to time, they pursued those native foes of the cross, back to Africa, and coasted about its shores, taking revenge for the long series of outrages they had suffered from the Moors, they so improved their maritime skill, and roused the enterprise of both monarch and people, that soon they are found pushing their adventurous barks southward, in attempts to find a south point to Africa. And, after many fruitless struggles, Dias finally doubled the Cape of Good Hope, in 1486, but made no important discoveries. This was reserved for Vasco de Gama, twelve years later. He visited India, formed commei- cial relations, and laid the foundation for an empire. Thus, while the territory of Mohammedanism was nai- rowing in Europe, and the progress of the Moors in 88 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. arts, sciences, and civilization, was forever arrested, vast dominions were added to Christendom, at least prospect- ively, in the East, as had been in the West. And though, for the present, uncultivated and unproductive, they are capable, under proper culture, of yielding an abundant harvest. The Portuguese were soon in possession of a magnificent empire. Its extent, opulence, and the splendor with which it was conducted, has scarcely a rival in the his- tory of nations. It stretched over one hundred degrees of longitude, from the Red sea to Japan, embracing the south of Persia, India, Birmah, China, and the numerous islands of the Indian archipelago. Not less than half the entire population of the globe were thus thrown into the arms of a nominally Christian nation. But the sceptre of this vast empire soon passes away, first to the Dutch, and then to the English. The French became competitors, playing no inconsiderable part in the game for Oriental kingdoms. But they were of Rome, and Rome should not rule there. Protestant England has, at length, become almost the sole owner of the once magnificent empire of the Portuguese. From the Red sea to Japan she has no rival. Much has been written on the commercial and territo- rial importance of India. The discoveries of De Gama were very justly regarded as commencing a new era in the world ; and history will never overlook the undoubted benefits of the new relations which were, from this time, formed between the West and the East. Yet the saga- city of the world has lost sight of the chief design of Providence in these discoveries. Was it simply that Eu- rope might be " replenished from the East/' and " please herself in the children of strangers," that the immense territories of India were laid at her feet ? Was it for silks and satins, for luxuries and gewgaws — for no higher objects than wealth and territorial aggrandizement, or more extensive commercial relations, that the King of nations made Europe master of Asia ? These are the things the world has so much admired in the nearer connection of Europe and Asia. History, eloquence, poetry, have wondered at these mere incidents THE EVIL OF IDOLATRY. 89 in the great scheme of Providence, overlooking the chief design, which we believe to be, first, and for a long series of years, to furnish a theatre on which to make certain im- portant developments, and to teach the church and the world certain important lessons ; and, secondly, to extend the triumphs of the Cross over all those countries. India affords to such as intelligently and piously watch the hand of God in his magnificent movements in the work of redemption, a subject for intense and interesting study. While developments in the progress of the church of a different character were transpiring in America — God transferring his church thither, and planting her in a more congenial soil, and giving her room to take root and grow, India was, and has continued to be, the theatre of developments not less interesting. She has stood for centuries the teacher of nations. On that theatre, God has all this time been teaching. 1. The evil of Idolatry. In the great mental and reli- gious revolution of the sixteenth century, God was pre- paring the sacramental host for a more formidable onset against the foes of Immanuel. On the one hand, he had allowed the enemy t<3 intrench himself in the strong- holds of the earth. The wealth, learning, philosophy, re- ligion of the earlie&t civilized, and the most fertile and populous portions of the globe ; their social habits, their every-day maxims, proverbs, and songs ; their principles of action and habits of thinking were surrendered to the foes of the cross. Centuries had riveted the chains ; and now sin stood as the strong man armed, frowning defi- ance on all who should question his right to the dominion of the earth. Idolatry was his strong-hold. On the other hand, the great King had come down to earth, and cleansed his temple, and enlarged the boundaries of the true Israel. The number of the faithful in Europe were vastly increased, and armed (by means of the Bible, edu- cation, the press, and the mariner's compass,) with a power before unknown. Colonies had been planted in this new Canaan, and here was maturing a rear guard, which may yet become the main army, and spread its wings eastward and westward, and become mighty to the pulling down of strong-holds. All seemed preparing 8* 90 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. for the conflict — the church to take possession of the earth. But mark here the way of the Lord. Centuries are permitted to elapse before these wide wastes are inclosed in the garden of our God. Not only must the church be better prepared to take possession — her numbers and ability be so increased that she may supply her new allies with the needed spiritual resources, and her active benev- olence and spirituality be such that her image may, with honor to herself and to her God, be stamped on the heathen world ; but, on the other hand, there must needs be an exhibition of the malady to be healed. It must be seen what a potent foe to truth Idolatry is — a great sys- tem of infidelity, ingeniously devised in the council-cham- ber of hell, and fatally suited to the desires of the human heart. The church, and the world too, must see what Idolatry is, in its power to enslave and crush immortal mind ; in its devices to deceive ; in its malignant influ- ences to dry up the social and benevolent affections ; in its withering blight on every starting germ of civilization and learning, and in the death-blow it strikes to every thing noble and virtuous. Hence the providential subjection of those vast regions of Idolatry to Christian nations. By this means, the church has had a fair and protracted opportunity to con- template Idolatry in all its odious features, and, at the same time, fairly to test her own professed principles and zeal for its abolition. Providentially, Christian men, of every condition in life, and for a long series of years, have resided among those pagan nations, and enjoyed every fa- cility to estimate the curse of Paganism, both in its bear- ing on this life, and the life to come. But the mere ex- posure of the evil is not all. 2. India affords a striking example of the inefficacy of philosophy to reform man in this life, or to save him in the next. Brahmanism and Bhoodism are refined and skillfully formed systems of Idolatry — the combined wis- dom of ages. Philosophy, metapSysics, worldly wisdom, were taxed to the utmost in their production. They pre- sent a fair specimen of what human reason can do. If these systems cannot ameliorate the condition of man INEFFICACY OF PHILOSOPHY. 91 here, and hold out hopes of a glorious immortality, no re- ligion of human origin can. But as the great experiment has been in progress some thousand years, and during the last three hundred and fifty under the eye of Christendom, what has been the result ? As a remedy for the moral maladies of man has it been efficacious ? Has the nation been reformed, or individuals ? Has it shed a ray of light on the dark path- way to the tomb, or raised a single, cheering hope beyond the veil of the flesh ? Where has it wiped the tear from sorrow's eye, or spoken peace to the troubled spirit, or supplied the wants of the needy, or opened the prison-doors to them that are bound? Where has it spread its fostering wings over the rising genius of civili- zation, nurtured the institutions of learning, or been the patron of virtue and morality ? Three and a half centu- ries (since the eyes of Europe have been on India,) have surely been a sufficient time — to say nothing of the thirty or forty centuries which preceded — to test the merits of a religion. And what has been the result ? It is stereotyped in the vices and superstitions, in the crimes and ignorance, in the debasement and corruption of those nations. In spite of the most scrupulous observ- ance of rites, and the most costly austerities, they have waxed worse and worse. In their religion, there is no principle of veneration. The more religion they have, the more corrupt they are. Nor has Mohammedanism been scarcely more success- ful. Incorporating more of truth, its votaries are not sunk so low as pagans, yet it has altogether failed of an- swering the end for which man needs a religion. India has, therefore, been made a theatre from which the nations might learn the inefficacy of philosophy and man's wisdom to produce a moral reformation. And more than this : Providence has been there teaching, 3. The inefficacy of a corrupt Christianity to renovate and bless a nation. As far back as history reaches, the thick darkness of the East has been made visible by the faint glimmerings of the light of truth. During all her long and melancholy alienation from the true God, India has, perhaps, never been without her witnesses for the 92 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. truth. To say nothing of many relics of patriarchal reli- gion, a large number of Jews, after the destruction of the first temple, and the conquest and captivity of the nation by Nebuchadnezzar, (588, B. C.,) yielding to the stern necessity of the conqueror's power, forsook their na- tive land — the lovely hills and smiling valleys of Pales- tine and Mount Zion, whose very dust they loved, and their temple, the beauty of the whole earth, and sought an asylum amidst the idolatrous nations of India. They carried with them the writings of the Old Testament, were accompanied with more or less of their religious teachers, established their synagogue worship, and be- came, in all things, Jewish communities, amidst a great pagan nation. These are known by the name of Black Jews, in distinction from the Jerusalem or White Jews. They are scattered throughout India, China, and Tar- tary. To Dr. Buchanan, who visited them in 1806 — 8, and to whom we are indebted principally for the few in- teresting items we have of their history, they gave a list of sixty-Jive places, where societies of Black Jews then resided, and among which a constant communication is kept up. Having been exposed to an Indian sun nearly twenty-four centuries, in complexion they are scarcely to be distinguished from the Hindoos. These voluntary exiles have, during this long period, been remarkably pre- served as a monument of the ancient economy. The Jerusalem or White Jews, for very similar rea- sons, bade a reluctant farewell to their native Judea, af- ter the destruction of the second temple, and the over- throw of the Jewish nation by the Romans under Titus. Says a narrative preserved among them, " A numerous body of men, women, priests and Levites, departed from Jerusalem and came to this land. There were among them men of repute for learning and wisdom ; and God gave the people favor in the sight of the king, who, at that time, reigned here ; and he granted them a place to dwell in, called Cranganore." Others followed them from Judea, Spain, and other places. Here they pros- pered a thousand years. Since that period, they have been made to participate in the bitter cup of their dis- persed brethren. Dissensions within, and wars without, THE SYRIAN CHRISTIANS. 93 have diminished and scattered them J yet they are to be found, at this day, at Cochin, where they worship the God of their fathers, in their synagogues, every sabbath day. They have the Old Testament and many Hebrew manuscripts. Thus has Providence, for nearly two thousand and four hundred years, preserved a succession of witnesses for the truth in the land of idols — not at the first, lights of great brilliancy, and growing more and more dim as the latter-day glory approached, and the great Light arose, but sufficient to keep alive, in the heart of a great nation of pagans, some idea of the true God. Nor is this all : another succession of witnesses, of a still higher order, has existed there ever since the age of the apostles, in the Syrian Christians. Tradition reports that St. Thomas first introduced the gospel into those distant regions, and there established the Christian church. They are called, to this day, St. Thomas Christians. Like the Jewish church, just alluded to, their light shone brightest at the first, but grew dimmer as the light of the Reformation shed its healing rays on the East. So numerous and flourishing were they in the fourth cen- tury, that they were represented, in the council of Nice, (325,) by their patriarch, or archbishop. On the arrival of Vasco de Gama, (1503,) he found more than one hundred flourishing Christian churches on the Malabar coast, and though sad havoc had been made by the emmissaries of Rome, there were, at the time of Dr. Buchanan's visit, fifty-five churches, and about fifty thousand souls, who had not acknowledged the suprem- acy of the Pope. The churches, in the interior especially, would not yield to Rome, but continued to receive their bishops from Antioch, as they had done from the first. They are a branch of the Nestorian Church, which is, at present, exciting a laudable interest, and which, in the early ages of Christianity, was favorably known in the history of the church for the establishment of missions in India, China, and Tartary. They have the Sacred Scrip- tures, and other manuscripts, in the Syriac language, and use, in divine service on Lord's day, the Liturgy formerly used by the church at Antioch; and it is their honest 94 HANS OF GOD IN HISTORY. pride that they date their origin back to that period, and to that land, where Christianity first rose, and to that particular spot where the disciples were first called Chris- tians. Their former glory has departed, and they are but the shadow of what they were ; yet, their light still flickers amidst the wide extended darkness of that land of deatk For centuries has this light shone on the surrounding darkness, w T hich has but ill comprehended it. These Christian communities bore a decided testimony in favor of the religion of Jesus, and, through successive genera- tions, exerted no inconsiderable influence in refining, lib- eralizing, and improving the moral condition of vast mul- titudes of pagans. In the ordering of an eventful Provi- dence, Christianity has had witnesses there from its ori- gin ; and systems of Idolatry have been modified to meet the advancing state of the human mind, under the benign auspices of the gospel.* From time to time, light has been breaking in from other quarters. The nations of Western Asia, have, from time immemorial, sustained commercial relations with India. An extensive trade was carried on through the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulph, and thence over land to the great emporiums of the West. Hence Chris- tian travelers, merchants, civil functionaries, and vari- ous classes of adventurers, traversed these vast regions of the shadow of death. Many of these, at different periods, settled in the country ; others were only sojourn- ers. All added something to the general stock of a knowledge of Christianity — a further monument to the truth of God, in these wide fields of Idolatry. The Armenians, the Greeks, the Venetians and Genoese, each contributed a share to scatter light and truth in the East. These were some of the agencies in operation before the discoveries of De Gama. And, what is worthy of special remark, they were effective just in proportion as they contained the salt of the pure religion. Their illu- * The ideas which the Hindoos have of an Incarnation, as discovered, particularly in the history of their god, Krishna, and, perhaps, all they know of the Trinity, has been smuggled into Hindooism from Christianity. ROMANISM IN INDIA. 95 mination was in proportion to the truth they embodied and illustrated. But it is time to turn to what may be termed the great effort to convert India to the Christian faith. We have said the Portuguese established a magnificent empire in the East, embracing all the southern portions of Asia. A leading feature in their government every where, was to establish their religion, to erect churches, support priests, and convert the natives, whether by persuasion or force. Thus were the banners of the Romish reli- gion fully, and for a long time, unfurled over more than three hundred millions of pagans. Every influence, (but light and love,) not excepting the horrors of the Inquisition, was used to swell the number of converts. Romanism has abounded in those countries. Tens of thousands of churches and priests, and millions of com- municants, have represented, — rather mzs-represented Christianity there, for three hundred years. And what has been the result ? Has not the leaven had time to work, and show what has been the efficacy of all that gorgeous array of the Romish faith and ritual, in ameliorating the temporal condition, and improving the moral state of myriads of converts to Rome ? We can bear personal testimony that, in India, there has probably been nothing gained by the change. It has been little more nor less than passing from one set of rites, usages and superstitions, to another, as worthless and debasing, and from the worship of one set of ima- ges to that of another. In general, Romanism imposes less restraint on the immoral, than Hindooism. It would, perhaps, be too much to say that India has received no good at the hands of Rome ; yet we may safely say, the experiment, so long and so extensively tried, when viewed in the light of renovating India, has been a complete failure. Nor has its influence been but neutral. The little good it may have effected, is no compensation for the gross misrepresentation it has made of the Chris- tian religion, and the consequent prejudice with which it has armed the Pagan mind against Christianity in any form. Never, perhaps, has the Romish church had a more 96 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. faithful or successful missionary in the East, than the Abbe Dubois. Yet, after a residence of thirty years, and having made ten thousand converts, he leaves in despair of ever seeing any favorable moral change in the Hin- doos, declaring that out of this immense multitude, he could recall but a single instance where he believed there was any moral renovation ; thus palpably conceding the complete impotency of Romanism, to raise, purify and bless a debased people. Providence, on a large scale, has here furnished a prac- tical illustration, that a spurious Christianity has not the power to renovate and raise to spiritual health and life a Pagan nation. Another lesson designed to be taught on the broad arena of Paganism beyond the Cape, is, that nothing short of spiritual Christianity, can renovate the great East. What Romanism has so signally failed to do, the Bible, in the hands of the living preacher, is nobly doing. Habits and usages, inveterate and formidable, have been changed; prejudices removed, and character, individual, and in whole communities, completely transformed. Pure Christianity has shown itself omnipotent there. Already we number hundreds of thousands of Protestant Christians, in India alone, many of whom give pleasing evidence of a moral change. And nothing but increased means and men, and the smiles of Heaven, are needed to increase these successes to any extent. We need no further guarantee that the gospel of Christ is potent enough to bring back to God, any and all those mighty nations of the East. Such are the points which have already been illustra- ted through the discovery of India. But this is no more than the beginning. India, and all the countries of the East, are to be, — are already being, converted to God. What a field ! What teeming millions of immortal souls ! De Gama introduced to Europe half the population of the globe. Would we, therefore, scan the chief design of Providence, in the event of these Eastern discoveries, we must anticipate the day when all their nations, tongues and people, shall be gathered into the fold of the great Shepherd. Then shall the God of Japheth indeed dwell FUTURE DESIGNS OF PROVIDENCE. 97 in the tents of Shem, and they shall be one fold, and the great purposes of Providence be consummated in adding to the domains of the true church, all those pop- ulous territories which have so long a time lain in bond- age to the prince of this world. If we may infer the future designs of Providence, from the past and the present, we shall entertain the most stupendous expectations of what is yet to transpire on that vast theatre. At one time we saw the empire of all the East, as by magic, laid prostrate at the foot of Rome. Then, in a little time, a sudden and unexpected revolu- tion transfers the vast possessions of the Portuguese into Protestant hands. From the time the Portuguese first gained a foothold in India, till their magnificent empire had passed away, and the English had supplanted them and become master of their dominions, was scarcely more than a single century. The transfer has supplied a marvelous chapter in the book of Providence. The ultimate design, we doubtless have not seen ; yet we have seen enough to raise our admiration. It is through Protestant England that those great and populous nations are opened for the entrance of the gospel. British rule, and admission and protection to the missionary, are co-extensive. A word and a blow, from the little Isle in the West, and Despotism and Idolatry loose the chains with which they had for so many centuries bound their stupid victims, and more than half the population of the globe are accessible to the embassador of the cross. The field is white for the harvest. Obstacles have been removed. Paganism is in its dotage. Unsupported by any state alliance, or any prop, save that of abstract depravity, it can offer no formida- ble opposition to the introduction of Christianity. The haughty followers of the Arabian prophet, too, have been humbled, and the power of their arm broken. The Romish Inquisition there has been silenced, and many a strong-hold of the Papacy demolished. The Bible has been translated into every principal language ; the press is established in almost every important position in the great field, so many radiating points of light and truth ; education is doing its work, preparing the minds of hun- 9 98 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. dreds of thousands to receive the healing influence of the words of truth. An acquaintance has been formed with the religions, the philosophy, the languages of these Pagan nations ; with their manners, customs, history, modes of thinking and reasoning. Dictionaries and grammars have been prepared, and a great variety of books. Schools have been established, — churches erected, and, indeed, an extensive apparatus is ready for the evangelical workman. Knowledge has been increased, the blessings of civilization, and the results of modern inventions and discoveries introduced, and, finally, the benign influences of Christianity have already, to a no inconsiderable extent, unfurled their banners over those lands of darkness and spiritual death. Among the 130,000,000, of India, there is scarcely a village which is not accessible to some, if not to all, the labors of the missionary. Or were we to contemplate the success which has already attended the very partial endeavors which have been made to convert India, we should still more admire the Hand that doeth wonders, and look that, at no dis- tant future, the great Gentile world shall pay their hom- age at the feet of their rightful Sovereign. Whole com- munities, — numerous, contiguous villages, as in the prov- ince of Krishnugar, South India and Ceylon, have cast away their idols, and professed allegiance to Christ. If we may take what is, as a presage of what shall be, — if we may judge what the building shall be, by an inspection of the foundation, — the superstructure from the vast amount of materials we see in the course of preparation, we must believe Providence has a stupen- dous plan yet to accomplish, in connection with the East. The intelligent and pious reader of history will re-peruse the record of God's dealings towards the Gentiles of Asia, — especially will he ponder with new interest, that single act of Providence, which, in the close of the fif- teenth century, opened a high- way between Europe and Asia, bringing the wants and woes of Asia to the very doors of Anglo-Saxon Christianity, to prefer their own claims for aid, and pouring the light and spiritual life of Truth, as a fertilizing river, over the vast deserts of Asia. GREAT DESIGN IN RESPECT TO INDIA. 99 The imperfect view which has here been taken of a subject which, of itself, cannot but interest the philosophi- cal historian' and the contemplative Christian, will, at least, leave on the mind of the reader the impression that God has some great design to accomplish, in respect to India : and it urges on every friend of humanity and of truth, the duty of following in the footsteps of Provi- dence, and doing those things which, as a matter of means, shall carry 0&t the magnificent plan of Him who worketh, and no man hindereth. The vast and pro- tracted preparation indicates such a design. Three cen- turies and a half have elapsed in preparation. What shall the end be ? Another obvious reflection is, that God takes time to carry on his work. Why has India so long been con- signed to waste and spiritual desolation ? It has been a field for observation and experiment. Sin must have its perfect work. In its worst forms, it must have time and space to luxuriate, — to go to seed, and yield its noxious harvest. It must be permitted to show what it can do, and all it can do. It must show itself. Finally, God here rebukes the impatience and distrust of his people. They murmur and faint, because wicked- ness and oppression abound, and God does not speedily avenge the cause of his elect, and bring wickedness to an end. God takes time. In the end, all shall be put in order. And, with the same propriety, it might be asked — why has Central and South America, some of the rich- est and most beautiful portions of our globe, been con- signed for so long a time, to waste and spiritual desolation; been allowed to be trampled under foot, and devastated by the Papal Beast ? Rome has been trying her experi- ment there, and after a fair trial for centuries, we see ivhat Rome can do. She has had the training of the aborigines of those countries all to herself, with every possible natural advantage ; and we do her no injustice, when we take their social, political, moral and religious condition, as a sample of the value of Romish missions, and of the transforming efficacy of Romish Christianity. New developments are now being made on the Ameri- 100 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. can continent, in respect to India and the great East. The present " California excitement/' seems to be another of the great pulsations of Providence, to open a passage through the whole breadth of our continent, to form a great commercial depot and thoroughfare on the Pacific, and open a new line of communication with the whole eastern world. It is an historical fact, often admired, that what is called the "India trade/' has never failed to enrich and aggrandize every western nation which has been able to secure it : and that every route through which this commerce and intercourse has passed, has been most signally benefited. Of the latter, the eye at once fixes on Palmyra, Balbec, Alexandria, Venice ; all ow r ed their grandeur, wealth and importance, to the rela- tions in which they stood to the India trade. We are yet to see whether another " Tadmor of the Desert," is not to spring up on the Pacific, — whether the stupendous bay of San Francisco is not to be the great depot of the Eastern trade, — whether a new route is not to be opened to this trade, and its advantages now be trans- ferred another step westward. CHAPTEE VI. God in history. The Church safe. Expulsion of the Moors from Spain. Transfer of India to Protestant hands. Philip II. and Holland. Spanish invincible Armada. The bloody Mary of England. Dr. Cole and Elizabeth Edmonds. Cromwell and Hampden to sail for America. Return of the Waldenses and Henry Arnaud. Gun- powder plot. Cromwell's usurpation. Revolution of 16§£. James II. and Louis XIV. Peter the Great. Rare constellation of great men. " The Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his in* heritance" <5fc. — Deut. xxxii. 9 — 14. Nothing can exceed the tender and unremitting care of God for his people. They are termed " his portion," " his inheritance/' " the apple of his eye." " He found THE CHURCH SAFE. 101 him in a desert land and in a waste howling wilderness ; he led him about ; he instructed him ; he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, flut- tereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings, so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him/' And what can surpass the beauty and richness of the idea that follows : " He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields ; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock ; butter of kine and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of wheat ; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape ?' expres- sions, though highly figurative, w 7 hich indicate the exu- berance of the Divine goodness, and afford convincing proof of his never-failing care. God will honor them that honor him. They that trust in him shall lack no good thing. That God has abundantly fulfilled such rich promises, that he has uniformly acted towards his people as his " portion," his " inheritance," the " apple of his eye," has already been illustrated. We have seen the arm of the Lord made bare to defend his inheritance in Jacob, and his hands open to supply their wants. I shall now ask you to follow me a little farther, and you shall see the same mighty arm still engaged on Zion's behalf, and the same exhaustless resources at her command. The Lord's portion is his people. I design, at present, to direct your minds to several historical events which strikingly illustrate the agency of Providence in the progress and establishment of the Christian church. I can no more than select from a great variety of Providential interpositions. Indeed, I may remark at the outset, that the very existence of the church supposes a ceaseless interposition of the Almighty arm. It is a standing miracle, not that there should be a nominal Christianity and a large and powerful Christian church, for all this might be in perfect consistency with worldly principles ; the wonder is, that a pure evangelical church should live in the world at all ; that she has been 9* 102 HAND OF GOD IN HISTORY. allowed a permanent foothold amidst the perverse gener- ations of men. The current of the world, the tide of human affairs, has always been opposed to her. Persecu- tions, wave after wave, have rolled over her ; yet she has stood as an immovable rock amidst the angry floods. Civil power, philosophy, history, science, poetry, fashion, custom, wit, have all in their turn been made engines to assail the impregnable fortress of Christianity. Intrigue has spared no wicked device to undermine her founda- tions ; cruelty and unrelenting hate have poured out the vials of their w '**tf ; * Bookkeeper process, lagnesium Oxide O .5 ~* g > Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: April 2005 PreservationTechnologies A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111 |V, . x A preservation i ecnnc 2 a WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRES j __ 111 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA QJ (724)779-2111 ">.