TH 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OP THE 
 
 CHURCH OF CHRIST, 
 
 FROM THE DAYS OF T^rffe kft>STLES, TO THE YEAR 1551, 
 
 ABRIDGED 
 
 FROM THE FIVE FIRST VOtUMES OB 
 
 MILNER'S CHURCH HISTORY. 
 
 II 
 
 BY REV. JESSE TOWNSEND, A. B, 
 
 UTICAt 
 
 PUBLISHED BY CAMP, MERRELL & CAMP, 
 
 At their Theological Bookstore, one door west of the Post-Office, 
 Genesee Street. 
 
 JKEBBHtL AJfD CAMP, PBISTHW. 
 
If 
 
 :\*orllern District of New York, to wit: 
 
 BE it remembered, that on the fifteenth day of February, in the fortieth 
 year of the Independence of the United States of America, TALCOTT CAW, ITIA 
 MKRRELL 6? GEORGE CA>IP, of tlie said district, have deposited in this office the 
 title of a book the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words follow- 
 ing, to wit : 
 
 "The History of the Church of Christ, from thedavs of the Apostles, to the 
 year 1.551, abridged from the five first volumes of Milner's Church History. 
 By Rev. JESSE TOWNS END, A I{." 
 
 In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States entitled. "An 
 act for the encouragement of learning, by securing 1 the copies of Maps, Charts 
 and Book*, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times 
 therein mentioned," and also to an act entitled, "An act supplementary to an act, 
 entitled an act ior 'he encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of 
 Maps, Charts and Bm-ks, to the au'hors and propr.etors of such copies, during 
 the t niv -.herein mentioned, and ext-iuLng the benefits thereof to the arts of 
 g, engraving and. etching historical an 1 other prints. 
 
 RICHARD R LANSING, Clerk 
 of the Northern District of New York, 
 

 
 
 
 TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 THE publishers are bound to offer an apology for 
 some delay in the publication of the ABRIDGMENT OP 
 MILNER. The only one they can offer is, that the oc- 
 currence of events unforeseen and uncontrollable by 
 them, has rendered ineffectual their strenuous exer- 
 tions to ensure its earlier appearance. 
 
 WHILE they regret the necessity of any excuse, 
 they trust, this, in the estimation of the candid ancj 
 generous, will be sufficient. 
 
 HISTORIES of the church have always been re- 
 garded as most interesting and valuable works. The 
 multitude of marvellous events that have happened to 
 it, its vicissitudes, its dangers and sufferings, its dis- 
 asters and successes, its miraculous preservation and 
 progress, cannot fail to excite the wonder and admi- 
 ration of mankind, the poignant regret and grief of its 
 enemies, the lively joy and gratitude of its friends. 
 To become acquainted with these facts must be an 
 object of peculiar and earnest desire with all true be- 
 lievers in Christianity. The size and expense of gen- 
 eral histories of the church, have locked up their 
 abundant treasures from many readers whose piety 
 made them especially anxious to acquire a portion of 
 those exhaustless riches, 
 
iv 
 
 IN this Abridgment, it has been a principal object 
 to retain the material and most interesting facts, that 
 the value of the original work might be preserved, 
 and the price and size so reduced that the former 
 should not surpass the ability of those who are desir- 
 ous to purchase, and the latter not require more time 
 and attention in perusal than they can easily bestow. 
 These objects they hope will be fully accomplished, 
 and the work in its present form prove extensively 
 useful. That it may be satisfactory to the public, and 
 beneficial to the interests of religion, is the sincere 
 
 desire of 
 
 THE PUBLISHERS, 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 I have examined TOWNSEND'S ABRIDGMENT, and in my opinion, it 
 is executed in such a manner, as will render it an acceptable and useful 
 work to the public,, 
 
 HENRY DWIGHT, Pastor 
 of first Presbyterian Church Utica, JV. Y. 
 
 From my acquaintance with the Rev. Mr. DWIGHT, I most cheer- 
 fully give my name, if it will aid in the more general diffusion of the 
 Abridgment ojf Milner's Church History. 
 
 AZEL BACKUS, D. D. 
 
 President of Hamilton College. 
 
 I have examined a part of Townsend's Abridgment, and cheerfully 
 concur in opinion with the Rev. Mr. Dwight and Doctor Backus, ex- 
 pressed in the above recommendations. 
 
 ASAHEL S. NORTON, D. D. 
 Pastor of the fast Congregational Church, Clinton JV. Y. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THIS Abridgment of MILNER'S CHURCH HISTORY, Is 
 designed for (he use and benefit of such families as may not 
 feel themselves able to purchase, or may not have time to 
 read the entire work. 
 
 THE principal facts there detailed, are here presented to 
 the public in a condensed form, mostly in the language of 
 the author. 
 
 THE progress of truth and its salutary influence on a 
 world ruined by sin ; the consolations which result from a 
 life of true holiness, and the faithfulness of Zion's King in 
 the means used to support his cause in the world, are here 
 exhibited. The saints are seen in sackcloth* with their 
 hearts fixed, trusting in God : errors in their various forms 
 and deleterious nature, are noticed, and the blood of the 
 martyrs is seen to be the seed of the church. 
 
 MAY all, who shall read this abridgment, be excited, by 
 the Holy Spirit, to live to the glory of Him, who has said 
 to his church ; FEAR NOT, LITTLE FLOCK, IT is TOUR FA- 
 CER'S GOOD PLEASURE TO GIVE YOU THE KINGDOM." 
 
 J. T. 
 
 Utica, Feb. 10. 1816, 
 
CENTURY I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A SUMMARY VIEW OF THE CHURCH, SO FOR AS IT MAY 
 BE COLLECTED FROM THE SCRIPTURE. 
 
 SECTION L 
 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 A HAT "repentance and remission of sins should 
 be preached in the name of Jesus Christ, beginning 
 at Jerusalem ;" is a text which shows what the Chris- 
 tian religion is, and where we are to look for its com- 
 mencement. We are to describe the rise of a dispen- 
 sation, the most glorious to God, and the most benefi- 
 cent to man. In Judea alone something of the wor- 
 ship of the true God, and of the forms of the Mosaic 
 economy subsisted, but greatly obscured and corrupt- 
 ed with Pharisaic traditions, and Sadducean pro- 
 faneness. Of that religion, which consists in repen- 
 tance and remission of sins, they were totally igno- 
 rant. The great body of the Jewish nation knew not 
 that men need to be made new creatures, and to re- 
 ceive the forgiveness of sins by faith in the sacrifice of 
 the Lamb of God. Some there were, however, who 
 implicitly rested on the God of Israel, and trusted in 
 the Redeemer that was to come ; such were Zachari- 
 as, Simeon and Anna. 
 
 This dark season was chosen by Him "who hath 
 put the times and seasons in his own power," for the 
 exhibition of the Light of Life. 
 
10 
 
 But few souls were converted during Christ's 
 abode on earth. The five hundred brethren, who all 
 saw him at one time, after his resurrection, seem to 
 have been the sum total of his disciples. 
 
 The first Christian Church was erected at Jerusa- 
 lem. As repentance and remission of sins were the 
 leading doctrines of Christ's religion, the most ample 
 room had been made for them by the completion of 
 his redemption. He had offered himself a sacrifice 
 for the sins of men, " was risen" from the dead " for 
 p*r justification," and in the sight of his disciples had 
 just ascended up to heaven. That the gospel, the 
 good news of reconciliation to God, for penitent sin- 
 ners, should begin at Jerusalem, the scene of so much 
 wickedness perpetrated, and of so much grace abu- 
 sed, evinced the Divine goodness, and displayed the 
 grand purposes of the gospel to be, to justify the un- 
 godly, and to quicken the dead. 
 
 By command from their Divine Master, the Apostles 
 remained at Jerusalem waiting for the promised Holy 
 Spirit, in mutual charity, and in the fervent exercise 
 of prayer and supplication. During this interesting 
 crisis, they elected Matthias to fill the place from 
 which Judas by transgression fell. 
 
 The day of Pefiticost was the eta of the Divine visit- 
 ation. They were filled with the Holy Ghost, and be- 
 gan to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them 
 utterance. By this they were prepared to propagate the 
 gospel ; and this was an attestation of its truth. Jews, 
 devout men, out of every nation under heaven, then 
 dwelling at Jerusalem, with amazement, heard these 
 Gallileans speak, each in his own language. But 
 some derided the apostles as intoxicated with new 
 w r ine. The zeal of Peter was now excited t6 preach 
 both to those who admired and to those who scoffed. 
 The design of his sermon was to beget a conviction 
 of sin in his hearers, and to bring them to look to Je- 
 sus, through whom alone salvation is exhibited to sin- 
 ful men. It pleased God to crown his preaching with 
 success. Multitudes were pricked in their hearts-, 
 found themselves guilty of having murdered the Christ 
 
11 
 
 of God, and anxious to know what they should do. 
 Peter's direction to them was ; " Repent and be bap- 
 tized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, 
 for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Ho- 
 ly Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your 
 children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as 
 the Lord our God shall call." 
 
 Thus the doctrine of repentance and remission of 
 sins in the name of Jesus, began at Jerusalem. 
 
 They, who gladly received the word which Peter 
 preached, were baptized, " and the same day there 
 were added unto them about three thousand souls." 
 These appear tq have been fully converted to Chris- 
 tianity ; for we are assured, " they continued steadfast- 
 ly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in 
 breaking of bread, and in prayers." 
 
 Here we see the regular appearance of the first 
 Christian church. A church that understood and be- 
 lieved the apostolic doctrine of repentance and remis- 
 sion of sins in the i^ame of Jesus Christ. A church 
 that continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and 
 fellowship. They regarded their pastors as those 
 whom God had made instruments of their conversion. 
 They manifested their faith by their obedience to the 
 command of Christ relative to the Lord's supper, and 
 were devout and prayerful. 
 
 " And all that believed were together, and had all 
 things common, and sold their possessions and goods, 
 and parted them to all men, as every man had need." 
 Mutual charity proved how soon the operations of Di- 
 vine grace had loosened their affections from a love of 
 this world, and that they had chosen God for their 
 portion. This was a happy season of religious revival, 
 for "the Lord added to the church daily such as 
 sliouldbe saved." 
 
 Soon after this, a miracle, wrought by Peter and 
 John, OH a lame man, a well known beggar, above for- 
 ty years old, gave a further attestation to their doc- 
 ^rine ; and prepared the way for Peter to preach to 
 the admiring multitudes the same doctrine of repen- 
 tance and remission, and to point them to Jesus for 
 
pardon and salvation. In this St. Peter exalts the 
 Lord Jesus as the Holy One, and the Just, the Prince 
 of Life ; shows them their guilt in their having prefer- 
 red Barrabas, a murderer, to him, disclaims all merit in 
 himself and his colleague in the miracle just wrought, 
 and shews that God had glorified his Son Jesus, and 
 that it was through faith in his name, the wonderful 
 cure had been performed ; exhorts them to repentance 
 and conversion, and shows them that " there is none 
 other name" than that of Jesus "under heaven given 
 among men whereby we must be saved." 
 
 The signal for persecution was now raised by the 
 magistrates of Jerusalem, who were enemies to all 
 practical godliness. The two apostles were imprison- 
 ed that evening ; but their examination was deferred 
 until the next day. 
 
 To the interrogatories put to him by the court of ex- 
 amination, Peter frankly answers, that the miracle had 
 been " wrought in the name of Jesus, whom ye cru- 
 cified, whom God raised from the dead," and boldly 
 rebukes them for their contempt of him, who is the 
 only Savior. The wisdom and boldness, of these two 
 unlettered fishermen, struck the court with astonish- 
 ment. But finding no present opportunity to gratify 
 their malice, on account of the splendor of the miracle, 
 they dismissed them with a strict charge to be silent 
 in future concerning the name of Jesus. With this 
 charge the apostles ingenuously confessed they could 
 not comply, because they must obey God rather than 
 men. 
 
 The apostles returning and reporting all these things 
 to their company, they all with united supplication 
 entreated the Lord to grant them boldness to perse- 
 vere, notwithstanding the menaces of his and their 
 enemies. They were filled with the Holy Ghost and 
 enabled to proceed with calm intrepidity. 
 
 At this season, brotherly love and the most perfect 
 unanimity happily prevailed among the Christians. 
 Divine grace was largely diffused among them. The 
 poor lacked nothing; the richer brethren converted 
 their possessions into money, and left the distribution 
 
IS 
 
 of the whole to the discretion of the apostles. But 
 the wheat among the tares now began to appear. 
 There was one Ananias among the disciples, whose 
 conscience had been so far impressed, as to respect 
 that doctrine and fellowship to which he had joined 
 himself; but whose heart was never divorced from 
 the love of the world. A regard for his reputation in- 
 duced him to sell his possessions with the rest ; but 
 the fear of poverty and the want of faith in God, dis- 
 posed him to reserve a part of the price, while he 
 brought the other to the apostles. Peter upbraided 
 him with being under the influence of Satan, in lying 
 to the Holy Ghost ; shewed him that the action was 
 not committed against man, but against God, that the 
 guilt of his hypocrisy was hereby aggravated ; that he 
 was under no necessity of selling his property, or of 
 laying it at the apostles- feet when sold, and that 
 nothing could be said to extenuate his baseness. Im- 
 mediately the unhappy man fell down dead ; and 
 about three hours after, his wife Sapphira, who had 
 been partaker of her husband's guilt, was made a 
 similar monument of Divine justice. 
 
 Such a proof of the discernment of spirits, and of 
 the power of punishing hypocrisy, resting in the gov- 
 ernors of the church, rilled all who heard these things 
 with awe. The Lord had now shewn his holiness as 
 well as his grace : and the love of the world, was a se- 
 cond time punished by a signal interposition of hea- 
 ven. Multitudes of both sexes were now added to 
 the church, chiefly of the common people. 
 
 At the progress which the gospel was thus making, 
 the rage of the high priest and his party, all of whom 
 were of the sect of the Sadducees, was greatly excited. 
 Their first step was to imprison the apostles. But 
 God by night, sent his angel and set them free, and 
 bade them preach in the temple. The next morning, 
 a full Sanhedrim \vas convened, and the apostles 
 were sent for. They were not, however, found in con- 
 finement, but preaching in the temple, and in a gentle 
 manner were conducted before the court. The high 
 priest upbraids them with their disobedience to his 
 
14 
 
 former injunction of silence, to whom they again an- 
 swer, "they ought to obey God rather than men." 
 They bore witness to the resurrection of Christ, and 
 declared that " God had exalted him with his own 
 right hand to be a Prince and Savior, to give repen- 
 tance to Israel, and forgiveness of sina," and that " the 
 Holy Ghostj whom God bestows on those who obey 
 him, witnessed" the same thing. Thus these first 
 Christians did, with the most pungent plainness, lay 
 open the gospel, and exhibit it as something extreme- 
 ly different from a mere system of morals, though it 
 included all good morality in its nature. 
 
 The spirit of persecution was now about to burst 
 forth in violent counsels. But Providence made use 
 of the counsel of Gamaliel, a judicious, learned, res- 
 pectable man, though as far as appears, a man of the 
 world, and a hater of Christianity, to prolong the lives 
 of the apostles. They were dismissed, but not with- 
 out stripes, and a severe charge no more to preach in 
 thq name of Jesus. They ceased not, however, to 
 " teach and preach Jesus Christ, and rejoiced that 
 they were accounted worthy to suffer shame for his 
 
 name," 
 
 The church was now much enlarged ; an increase 
 of ministerial labor devolved upon the apostles : dis- 
 satisfaction in the mean time arose in the minds of 
 some, from a supposition that, in the daily supply of 
 the poor, relief had not, by the apostles, been equally 
 ministered to the widows. Seven coadjutors were 
 chosen to see to an equal ministration to the poor, ancl 
 the apostles were left free to give themselves continu- 
 ally to prayer and the ministry of the word, The love 
 of Christ then ruling in the hearts of his people, the 
 multitude consented with pleasure. Many of the 
 priests now obeyed the gospel, and Jerusalem saw, con- 
 tinually large accessions made to the church. 
 
 The enemies of Christianity could not be at rest, 
 Stephen, one of the seven who had been chosen to as- 
 sist the apostles, in relieving them from the daily min- 
 istration to the poor, a man most distinguished for his 
 piety, was accused of blasphemy against Moses and 
 
15 
 
 against God ; and brought to make his defence before 
 the Sanhedrim. In his defence, he boldly rebuked 
 the Jews and labored to bring his audience to a deep 
 conviction of their sin in having been the murderers of 
 the Prince of Life, and to leave them no hope in their 
 own righteousness. Behold the contrast between the 
 spirit of the world and the spirit of true Christianity ! 
 His enemies " were cut to the heart, and gnashed on 
 him with their teeth." He, " full of the Holy Ghost, 
 looked up steadfastly to heaven, and saw the glory of 
 God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God," 
 and what he saw, he openly confessed. Their malice 
 burst into a flame. " They cried out with a loud 
 voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with 
 one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned 
 him," while he called upon his Divine Master, " Lord 
 Jesus receive my spirit." He kneeled down, and cri- 
 ed with a loud voice, " Lord, lay not this sin to their 
 charge." And having thus shewn the constancy of 
 his faith, and the ardor of his benevolence, " he fell 
 asleep." Real faith in Christ, and real charity to 
 men, were here a glorious exemplification of the true 
 spirit of Christianity. Stephen was buried with great 
 lamentation by the church, and a considerable num- 
 ber soon after suffered. 
 
 The spirit of persecution now raged with unrelent- 
 ing fury. Saul of Tarsus, a young man of an active, am- 
 bitious spirit, educated at Jerusalem under Gamaliel, 
 and pre-eminently versed in Judaical learning, distin- 
 guished himself as a most bitter persecutor. He took 
 care of the clothes of the witnesses employed in ston- 
 ing Stephen, and made havoc of the church, entering 
 into every house, " and haling men and women, com- 
 mitted them to prison, and when they were put to 
 death, he gave his voice against them." In truth the 
 disciples seemed now to be left to the rage of men, 
 disposed to shew them no mercy, and a superficial ob- 
 server might have supposed, that the fate of Theudas 
 and Judas, mentioned by Gamaliel, was going to at- 
 tend the Christians. Men had not yet learned that 
 the " blood of the martyrs \va the seed of the church," 
 
16 
 
 The religious worship of the disciples must have suf- 
 fered a grievous interruption. They were all in a 
 perilous condition. The apostles alone stood their 
 ground, and by the watchful care of their God, were 
 preserved. The dispersed Christians preached the 
 word wherever they went. And thus this persecution 
 was the first occasion of the diffusion of the gospel 
 through various regions, and what was designed to an- 
 nihilate it, was overruled to extend it exceedingly. 
 But we shall confine ourselves in this section to the 
 church of Jerusalem. 
 
 Saul, zealous for persecution, was vexed to hear, 
 that a number of the Christians had escaped to Da- 
 mascus, an ancient city of Syria, and procured a 
 commission from the high priest to bring them bound 
 to" Jerusalem. On his way, when near to Damascus, a 
 sudden light from heaven, exceeding that of the sun, 
 arrested the daring zealot, and struck him to the 
 ground. At the same time, a voice called to him, 
 " Saul, Saul, w r hy persecutest thou me ?" And he 
 said, Who art thou, Lord ; and the Lord said, " I am 
 Jesus, whom thou persecutest : it is hard for thee to 
 kick against the pricks." The will of this bitter per- 
 secutor was broken for the first time, and, "Lord, 
 what wilt thou have me do," was his cry. 
 
 He was directed to go into Damascus, where, after 
 having remained three days without sight and with- 
 out food, by the particular direction of a vision from 
 the Lord Jesus, Ananias, a disciple of Damascus, was 
 sent to him with the tidings of peace. He receiv- 
 ed his sight and was filled with the Holy Ghost, was 
 baptized, and soon refreshed both in mind and body. 
 From that time till his death, he was engaged in the 
 service of Jesus Christ, in a course of labors in the 
 church, with unparalleled success. - This is he who 
 is commonly known by the name of St. Paul, and his 
 memorial is blessed forever. Particularly commis- 
 sioned to preach to the Gentiles, he entered with the 
 greatest penetration into the nature of Christianity, 
 became one of its most able advocates and zealous 
 supporters, and travelled extensively for its propaea- 
 
17 
 
 lion. Having preached Christ for three years abroad, 
 he went up to Jerusalem, not to join himself to his 
 former friends in persecution, but to join himself to 
 the church, The church, after receiving particular 
 information of his genuine conversion, received him 
 cordially. Gladly would he have remained at Jeru- 
 salem ; but the Lord by a vision assured him that the 
 Jews would not receive his testimony, and that the 
 great scene of his labors was to be among the Gen* 
 tiles. 
 
 The unconverted Jews sought his life, but by the 
 address of his Christian brethren, he was safely con- 
 ducted to his native city of Tarsus. The fury of per- 
 secution now subsided, the Lord gave rest to his 
 church and the disciples, both at Jerusalem and else- 
 where, " walked in the fear of the Lord, and in the 
 comfort of the Holy Ghost." Where these are united^ 
 excesses of all sorts are prevented, and inward joy and 
 outward obedience demonstrate that there Christ 
 reigns indeed. Yet so slow are men to receive new 
 divine truths, especially those which militate against 
 old prejudices, that the Christians of Jerusalem con- 
 tended with Peter on account of his intercourse with 
 the Gentiles of Csesarea. Peter with great meekness 
 reasoned with his bigoted brethren, convinced them 
 by evident proofs that the grace of God was vouch- 
 safed to the Gentiles, and that it was lawful to have 
 communion with them. They glorified God, saying, 
 " Then hath God, also to the Gentiles, granted repen- 
 tance unto life." Evert a converted Jew, now admits 
 with difficulty, that the grace of God may visit a 
 Gentile, 
 
 The visits of Paul to Jerusalem seem to have been 
 but short. In one of these the grace of God shone 
 bright, in the alms of Gentile converts sent by him to 
 the Jewish Christians aiilicted with a famine in the 
 days of Claudius Caesar. His companion to Jerusa- 
 lem was Barnabas, whose liberality in the beginning 
 had been so eminent. Having discharged this ser- 
 vice, they both returned to minister to the Gentiles, 
 
18 
 
 The civil power of Judea was now in the hands of 
 Herod Agrippa, a person of considerable talents, and 
 full of specious virtue, but a persecutor of the church 
 of Christ. Of this persecution, James, the son Zebe- 
 dee, was the first victim ; who was slain with the 
 sword, the first of the apostles, who departed from the 
 church below, to join that which is above. 
 
 Herod, finding this act popular, sought to despatch 
 Peter also. But God had reserved him for more ser- 
 vices. Though irriprisoned and strictly guarded, with 
 a view to his being publicly executed, after the pass- 
 over, when the concourse of Jews at Jerusalem was 
 very large, yet was he miraculously preserved. 
 
 A spirit of earnest, persevering prayer, on his behalf 
 was poured on the church of Jerusalem, and on the 
 night before his intended execution, an angel was sent 
 for his deliverance from prison. Jie then gladly re- 
 paired to his praying Christian friends, who received 
 him with great joy, and he informed them of the 
 Lord's wonderful interposition in his favor. After thi* 
 he retired to a place of concealment. 
 
 Little did Herod apprehend that his own death 
 should precede that of his prisoner. On a public oc- 
 casion, in which he appeared in great splendor, he de- 
 livered an oration, so pleasing to his audience, " that 
 they shouted, it is the voice of a god and not of a man." 
 'That moment he was smitten with an incurable dis^ 
 /ease by an angel, because he " gave not God the glo- 
 ry." Thus he fell, a warning to princes not to seek 
 glory in opposition to God. 
 
 The next memorable circumstance in the mother 
 church was "the first Christian council." The many 
 thousands, in whose hearts God had erected his king- 
 dom, though in the midst of one of the most wicked 
 nations in the world, had now lived about twenty 
 years, in great unanimity and charity, "keeping 
 the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." But at 
 length their peace and harmony were interrupted by 
 some Christian Jews, who urged upon the Gentile con- 
 verts the necessity of circumcision, and of obedience 
 to the whole of the Mosaic ceremonial, in order to sal- 
 
19 
 
 nation. In this they practically averred, that the grace 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, was not sufficient for man's 
 salvation, that the favor of God was, in part at least, to 
 be purchased by human works, and that they by their 
 ritual observances contributed to their acceptance with 
 God. In this an attempt was made to corrupt the 
 simplicity of the faith, by which Christians had hith- 
 erto rested with complacency on Jesus alone, had en- 
 joyed peace of conscience, and been constrained to 
 obedience by love. This growing evil, the apostles 
 Paul and Barnabas, after no small fruitless altercation 
 with the zealots, sought to counteract, by referring the 
 full consideration of the question to a council of apos- 
 tles and elders at Jerusalem. 
 
 At the council Peter argued, that as God had select- 
 ed him to preach to the Gentiles, and had given great 
 success to his preaching among them, in purifying 
 their hearts by faith, and in shedding down upon them 
 the Holy Ghost, no less than upon the Jews, God 
 had unequivocally decided, that the yoke of ceremo- 
 nial observances was not to be imposed on them, as 
 necessary to their salvation. Paul and Barnabas also 
 gave full proof of the divine grace vouchsafed to the 
 Gentiles. James, who seems to have been the stand- 
 ing pastor of Jerusalem, confirmed the same argument, 
 by the prophets of the Old Testament, agreeably to 
 Peter's declaration of the mercy of God in visiting 
 the Gentiles. He gave his opinion, that the Gentiles 
 should no lohger be molested with sentiments subver- 
 sive of the grace of God, and tending to teach them 
 dependance on human works, instead of the merits of 
 Christ for salvation. Only he recommended, that the 
 council should direct them to abstain from pollutions 
 of idols, and from fornication, and from things stran- 
 gled, and from blood. For the Jews, dispersed through 
 Gentile cities, and who heard Moses read every Sab* 
 bath day, required these precautions. 
 
 A letter was sent according to these views, nor does 
 it appear there was one dissenting voice in the coun- 
 cil. The result of this council among the Gentile 
 converts, appears to have had a most salutary eflo<;t. 
 
20 
 
 The tenor of this result was, that none were required 
 to live in Mosaic observances, as necessary to sal- 
 vation: that dependance for salvation was to be pla- 
 ced, solely on the atoning blood and justifying righ- 
 teousness of Jesus Christ. From the Acts of the apos- 
 tles, and from their epistles it appears, that they 
 regulated their religious instructions and practices 
 agreeably to this prudent and excellent result, where- 
 ever they went. The inveteracy and self-righteous 
 spirit of those who adhered to Mosaic observances, 
 their opposition to the soul-humbling, apostolic doc- 
 trine of justification by faith alone, and the zeal, faith- 
 fulness and success of the apostles, we have stated 
 in the Acts of the apostles, and in their epistles. Ta 
 these the reader is referred for particular information. 
 From the same source we learn too that the church 
 at Jerusalem did not uniformly maintain its first love, 
 but even in the apostles' day experienced a 
 of declension, 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Judea, Galilee and Samaria. 
 
 1 HE holy land was divided into three provinces, 
 Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. ' In all these, Christian 
 churches were early planted. These, most probably,, 
 followed the example of the .parent church at Jerusa- 
 lem, both in its first love and auspicious progress, and 
 also in its unhappy declension. 
 
 Samaria, though situated between Judea and Ga- 
 lilee, was distinguished from them both in its polity 
 and religion. Its inhabitants occupied a great part of 
 the district which had belonged to the tribes, whom 
 the kings of Assyria had carried into captivity. 
 They mixed the worship of Jehovah with their idols, 
 vainly boasted of their relation to Jacob, professed to 
 regard the law of Moses, and depreciated the rest of 
 the Old Testament. 
 
21 
 
 They were extremely corrupted in their religious 
 views and practices. 
 
 This people the divine Savior pitied, and visited 
 them himself, when some sinners were converted. But 
 the effusions of his kindness toward this unhappy peo- 
 ple appeared most conspicuous, in blessing the minis- 
 try of Philip to their spiritual good. Philip, one of the 
 eleven, spoken of in the sixth chapter of Acts, driven 
 from Jerusalem by persecution, was directed to go to 
 Samaria. There he preached Christ, and the gospel 
 entered the hearts of many, so that " there was great 
 joy in that city." Though the inhabitants were a 
 simple and ignorant people, yet when the spirit of 
 God was greatly poured out upon them, under Phi- 
 lip's preaching, none received the gospel with more 
 cordial pleasure. Superstition and diabolical delu- 
 sions vanished ; and numbers of both sexes were bap- 
 ^ized. 
 
 Simon, the sorcerer, who had for a long time de- 
 ceived this people with his sorceries, though a stran- 
 ger to the nature and power of Christ's religion, was 
 convinced that Christianity in general was true, be- 
 came an historical believer and was baptized. 
 
 The apostles, hearing of the happy success of the 
 gospel at Samaria, sent thither Peter and John, who 
 prayed that the Holy Ghost might be imparted 
 through the imposition of hands. Their prayer was 
 answered. The Spirit was communicated, not only 
 in extraordinary gifts, but also in an effusion of the 
 same holy graces, which had . appeared in Judea. 
 By the former the attention of Simon was attracted. 
 His avarice prompted him to attempt to purchase the 
 power with money ; in expectation that if possessed 
 of the supposed secret, he could soon acquire vast 
 wealth. Peter, who at once saw his covetousness and 
 ignorance, rebuking him in the severest manner, as- 
 sured him his heart was altogether wrong, and that 
 notwithstanding his baptism arid profession of Chris- 
 tianity, his state was accursed, and exhorted him to 
 repent and to seek divine forgiveness. Here we see 
 how singularly remote the religion of Jesus is from all 
 
worldly plans and schemes, and what an awful differ- 
 ence there ever is between a real and nominal Chris- 
 tian. The conscience of Simon felt the reproof: he 
 begged the apostle's prayers, but it does not appear 
 he ever prayed for himself. 
 
 Peter and John preaejied through many Samaritan 
 villages, and then returned to Jerusalem. 
 
 Thus, converted Jews and converted Samaritans, 
 who, while unregenerated, had disagreed in rites, 
 were now united in Jesus, and while each felt the 
 game obligations to grace, learnt for the first time the, 
 sweets and comforts of mutual charity. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Ethiopia. 
 
 JL HE persecution which had driven many of the re* 
 al friends of Christ from Jerusalem, wa's overruled to 
 the furtherance of the gospel. After Philip had fin- 
 ished his work at Samaria, he was, by an extraordi- 
 nary commission, ordered to travel southward toward 
 the desert. He soon learnt for what intent ; he fell in 
 with an Ethiopian eunuch, a minister of Candace, 
 queen of the Ethiopians, who had been worshipping 
 at Jerusalem, and was returning home in his chariot, 
 and reading the prophet Esaias. The adorable pro- 
 vidence of God directed him, at that particular time, 
 to the fifty-third chapter, which gives so clear a de- 
 scription of Christ crucified. Philip asked him if he 
 understood what he was reading. The man, confess- 
 ing his ignorance, desired Philip to come and sit with 
 him. The evangelist took the opportunity of expound- 
 ing the gospel to him through the medium of the pas- 
 sage he was then reading, which at once lays open 
 the guilty and miserable state of man, his recovery 
 only by the grace of Jesus Christ, the nature, end and 
 efficacy of his death and resurrection, and justification 
 before God, by the knowledge of hira. God gave ef~ 
 
23 
 
 ficacy to the truths explained, brought hifri to see and 
 feel his guilt -::.r.d wickedness, to discover the remedy 
 provided for divine acceptance, and as soon as he 
 came to a certain water, he desired to be baptized. Phi^ 
 Hp, assuring him there was no impediment, if he was* 
 sincere in the faith of Christ, the humbled applicant 
 professed that he believed that the Jesus of Nazareth, 
 whom Philip had preached to him, was indeed the 
 Son of God prophesied of in Isaiah, and answered 
 the character of Savior there given him. Philip then 
 baptized him. 
 
 . Though Philip, by the spirit of the Lord, was im- 
 mediately taken from him, yet he went on his way, 
 to his own country rejoicing. This joy, had doubt- 
 less^ a solid and powerful cause, arising from a spirit- 
 ual, internal work, humbling him for sin, and com- 
 forting him, in a view of the truths which he had just 
 heard explained, with forgiveness by Christ. The 
 Eunuch, thus enlightened and rejoicing in God, when 
 he returned home, did probably use his influence to 
 plant the gospel among his own countrymen. We 
 have, however, no scripture light on this subject. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Ccesarea. 
 
 V//ESAREA,-. situated in the confines of Syria and 
 Judea, was the residence of the Roman Governor, a 
 city of great importance. 
 
 Philip, after he was caught away from the Eunuch, 
 was found at Azotus : " and passing through he 
 preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea." 
 Here he was stationary many years. Toward the 
 conclusion of the period of about thirty years, which 
 takes in the history of the Acts, we find him still fix-^ 
 ed in the same place, with four virgin daughters, 
 where he entertained St. Paul in his last journey to 
 Jerusalem. Here we may well suppose he did not 
 
24 
 
 gpend his time in idleness and inactivity, but with zeal 
 and engagedness for the good of souls. 
 
 In this city the grace of God was displayed in the 
 conversion of Cornelius ; the history of whom, and 
 the method taken by the grace of God for his in- 
 struction, and the spiritual good of other Gentiles in 
 that city, the reader may see at large in Acts, tenth 
 chapter. In these instances of Gentile conversion, 
 Christian Jews were taught that Jesus had a chosen 
 people among the Gentiles, whom he had come to 
 seek and to save, and that Gentile converts were to 
 be by them received as fellow-heirs of the grace of 
 God. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Antioch ttnd some other Asiatic Churches, 
 
 1 HE good effects which Providence brought out 
 of Stephen's persecution were great. Many, who fled 
 from persecution, disseminated the gospel in Gentile 
 regions. Some travelled as far as Phenice, Cyprus 
 and Antioch, still preaching only to Jews- At length, 
 some Cypriot and Cyrenian Jew r s ventured to break 
 through the pale of distinction, and at Antioch, the 
 metropolis of Syria, preached the Lord Jesus to the 
 Gentiles. These were called Grecians, because the 
 Greek language here prevailed. The Lord, willing to 
 overcome effectually the reluctances of self-righteous 
 bigotry, caused the idolaters to feel the sanctifying 
 power of divine grace accompanying the gospel, and 
 great numbers to turn to him. The mother church, 
 hearing of this, sent Barnabas, whose piety and charity 
 w^ere renowned, to carry on and propagate a work, 
 which required more labourers. Salvation, by the 
 grace of Christ, thus exemplified on persons, whose 
 Jives had hitherto been involved in Paganism, and ev- 
 idenced in a manner hitherto unknown, cheered the 
 benevolent heart of this devout missionary: with a 
 
most pleasing prospect of usefulness. Finding many 
 converts, he exhorted them to perseverance, and the 
 addition of believers was still so large, that he began 
 to look out for a coadjutor. He sought for Saul, then 
 laboring at Tarsus, perhaps with no great success ; 
 " for a prophet is not honored in his own country," 
 and brought him to Antioch. This populous city em- 
 ployed them a whole year. Christian societies, con- 
 sisting in a great measure of Gentiles, were here regu- 
 larly formed. And here the followers of Christ were 
 first called Christians. A name given them, probably, 
 by their adversaries, by way of contempt. But a 
 name now honorable to all who maintain the real 
 character t)f disciples of their divine Master. 
 
 That the faith of the Christians of Antioch was sig- 
 nally operative, and that they rejoiced in the prospect 
 of heavenly treasures, they manifested by contribut- 
 ing cheerfully to the relief of their poor brethren of 
 Jerusalem distressed by a famine. The Holy Ghost 
 now called Barnabas arid Saul to other labors ; and 
 Seleucia, in the neighborhood, was their first destina- 
 tion. Thence they passed to the fertile and pleasant 
 island of Cyprus. 
 
 From Salamis, the eastern point of the island, 
 to Paphos the western, they spread the glacl tidings 
 of the gospel. In this last place they found Elymas, 
 a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet, with Sergius 
 Paulus, the Roman governor of the island. The 
 governor being a man of sense and candor, sent for 
 Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of 
 God. The good effects of their labors, the sorcerer 
 endeavored to prevent ; till Paul, full of holy indigna- 
 tion at his diabolical malice, was enabled miraculous- 
 ly to strike him blind for a season. Sergius was as- 
 tonished " at the doctrine of the Lord," and com- 
 menced a Christian from that hour. 
 
 The two apostles sailed now to the adjoining con- 
 tinent, and arrived at Perga in Pampriylia. John 
 Mark, who had thus far attended them as minister^ 
 here left them and returned to Jerusalem. 
 
26 
 
 Antioch in Pisidia was the next scene of their labors. 
 There, on the Sabbath day, they attended the Jew- 
 ish synagogue, and Paul, having been invited by the 
 rulers to give a word of exhortation, addressed the au- 
 dience with such instructions as tended to beget in 
 them a conviction of sinfulness, and to give testimony 
 to Jesus, concluding with a remarkably plain decla- 
 ration of the grand doctrine of justification by faith in 
 Jesus only, and a solemn warning against the dreadful 
 consequences of hardness of heart, and of contempt 
 of the divine message. The Gentiles, powerfully im- 
 pressed with the news, desired to hear more of the 
 subject the next Sabbath. Many Jews and proselytes 
 were converted ; and almost the whole city came next 
 Sabbath to hear. The envy of the infidel Jews Avas 
 hereby excited against Paul, and was manifested in 
 most decided and virulent opposition. The two apos- 
 tles boldly assured them, that though it was their du- 
 ty to carry the news of salvation to them first, yet as 
 they despised God's gift of eternal life, they would 
 now turn to the Gentiles. The Pagans, feeling that 
 they had no righteousness to plead before God, thank- 
 fully embraced the gospel, and believed, in great num- 
 bers. 
 
 In Pisidia the apostles proceeded with vast success, 
 till a persecution stirred up by the Jews, induced some 
 self-righteous ladies, in conjunction with the magis- 
 trates, to drive them out of their coasts. And they 
 came to Iconium, the northern extremity of the coun- 
 try. The disciples whom they left, though harrassed 
 with persecution, "were filled with joy and with the 
 Holy Ghost." The ministry of these two apostles at 
 Iconium, where they continued a long time, was bles- 
 sed to the conversion of a great multitude both of Jews 
 and Gentiles. The unbelieving Jews, who were Uni- 
 tarians in sentiment, exerted their usual malevolence 
 and filled the Gentiles with the strongest prejudices 
 against the Christians. They labored, notwithstand- 
 ing all their knowledge of the law of Moses and the 
 prophets, to prevent their Pagan neighbors from being 
 instructed in airy thing whitsh deserved the name of 
 
27 
 
 religion, and persecuted with unceasing acrimony two 
 of their own countrymen, who agreed with them in the 
 profession of the worship of the one living and true 
 God. They evidently preferred to have their Pagan 
 neighbors remain buried in the depths of the most 
 senseless idolatry in worship, and of vicious profliga- 
 cy of life, rather than to have them brought over to 
 the real Christian religion, the hearty renunciation of 
 their own righteousness, and an humble dependance 
 on the atoning blood and justifying righteousness of 
 Jesus Christ. In this they exhibited the practical na- 
 ture of real Unitarianism, as it stands unconnected 
 with the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. In this 
 city, the preaching of Paul and Barnabas excited a 
 variety of speculations. The Gentiles were divided, 
 and part ranged themselves with the Jews, and part 
 with the apostles. The former, for the present, had 
 the advantage, because they had the arms of vio- 
 lence and persecution, which Christian soldiers can- 
 not use. 
 
 The apostles aware of their designs, " fled unto 
 Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lyeaonia, and into the re- 
 gion that lieth round about : and there they preached 
 the gospel." At Lystra, a poor cripple, who ne- 
 ver had the use of his feet, with the most respectful 
 attention heard Paul preach, and was brought to be- 
 lieve there was virtue in the name of Jesus Christ to 
 heal him. To confirm him in his infant views of the 
 Christian religion, to attest the truth, and to convince 
 men that Jesus was both mighty and benevolent, 
 Paul was enabled by a word to restore the man to the 
 full use of his limbs. Immediately these poor idola- 
 ters concluded, that the gods were come down to 
 them in the likeness of men. Through this whole 
 country of Asia Minor, the Greek Literature, and with 
 it the numerous fables of Hellenistic vanity, abound- 
 ed. They had heard of Jupiter and Mercury, parti- 
 cularly as visiting mankind ; and now Barnabas, whose 
 figure of the two was the most majestic, must be Ju- 
 piter, and Paul, as the more eloquent speaker, must 
 be Mercury, the classical God of eloquence. The 
 
28 
 
 priest of Jupiter brought oxen and garlands to the 
 gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. 
 It was a grievous circumstance ; but an opportunity 
 was hereby given to the apostles to demonstrate the 
 Spirit of real godliness. The humble teachers of the 
 gospel, rent their clothes, ran in among the people, and 
 expostulating with them on the absurdity of their con- 
 duct, assured them they were no more than men like 
 themselves, and that the object of their preaching to 
 them \vas, to turn them from their idolatrous practices, 
 to the worship of the living God, the maker of heaven 
 and earth. Thus faithfully did they preach conviction 
 of sin to the Lycaonians, and with difficulty prevented 
 the actual performance of the sacrifice, which would 
 have given them more pain than the persecution 
 which followed. 
 
 Jews, who came from Antioch and Iconium, soon 
 persuaded the fickle multitude to harbor the worst 
 opinion of Paul and Barnabas, and to persecute them. 
 In a tumult Paul was stoned and dragged out of the 
 city, as dead; but while the discipfes stood round 
 about him, he rose up, miraculously restored, and 
 came into the city, and next day departed with Bar- 
 nabas to Derbe, There many were converted, and 
 the persecuting spirit intermitting, they visited again, 
 in circuit the regions of Pisidia, and Lycaonia, en- 
 couraging the disciples to persevere in the faith of Je- 
 sus in confidence of divine support, and in full expec- 
 tation of the kingdom of heaven, into which real chris- 
 tians must not expect to enter without much tribula- 
 tion. 
 
 Having ordained some of the brethren to minister 
 in every church, and having solemnly recommended 
 pastors and flocks to the care of that gracious Lord, 
 on whom they had believed, they returned through 
 Pamphylia, preached again at Perga, and from Attalia 
 sailed to the great Antioch, whence they had been, by 
 the prayers of the church, recommended to the grace 
 of God for the work which they had fulfilled. The 
 Christians of Antioch now rested on Christ alone, and, 
 manifested their faith and love by acts of filial obedi- 
 
29 
 
 ence. Here Paul and Barnabas spent some time, and 
 were instrumental of great consolation to their Chris- 
 tian brethren ; afterward they were about to visit again 
 the Asiatic churches. Barnabas proposed to take 
 Mark with them, but Paul, remembering his former 
 desertion, thought him unfit for the work. The con- 
 sequence was Paul and Barnabas separated ; Barna- 
 bas with Mark sailed to Cyprus. Paul took Silas for 
 his fellow laborer, and went through Syria and Silicia 
 confirming the churches. 
 
 In Lycaonia he found the pious Timothy, whom he 
 took as an associate, and confirmed the Gentile con- 
 verts every where in Christian liberty: thus were the 
 churches established in the faith, and daily increased 
 in number. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Galatia. 
 
 -IN this country the grossest idolatry had reigned ; but 
 here the grace of God accompanying the ministry of 
 Paul among them had a wonderful effect, to turn great 
 numbers of vile idolaters from their vanities to the 1 
 love of the truth in Jesus Christ. And several church- 
 es were planted among them, formed almost, if not 
 entirely, of Gentiles. These understood and received 
 the apostolic doctrine, that justification is attainable 
 only by faith in Christ crucified. They received 
 the spirit of adoption, by which they rejoiced in God 
 as their Father, and cheerfully suffered much persecu- 
 tion for the name of Christ. But on Paul's leaving 
 them, with the most pleasing hopes of their spiritual 
 growth and steadfastness in the great doctrines which 
 he had taught them, certain Judaizing teachers sought 
 to pervert them from the simplicity of the gospel way 
 of life and salvation by faith in Christ's name, by urg- 
 ing upon them circumcision and various other Mosaic 
 rites, as necessary to their salvation. These teachers 
 endeavored to alienate the 'affections of the Gentile 
 
30 
 
 converts of Galatia from Paul, and to foster among 
 them a self-righteous spirit, by endeavoring to bring 
 them not to depend on Christ alone for salvation. 
 Paul having learned what was taking place at Gala- 
 tia in his absence, addressed to them a very plain and 
 affectionate letter, in which he warns them of their dan- 
 ger from Judaizing teachers, and asserts that if they 
 mixed circumcision, or any work of the law, with 
 Christ, in the article of justification, Christ would be 
 of no effect to them ; that Christ must be their whole 
 Savior, if they were saved by him ; law and grace 
 in this case being quite opposite. He urges that the 
 doctrine they were embracing would but foster a self- 
 righteous spirit, void of love to God and man, and 
 make them no better, in their spiritual state, than 
 they were while idolaters ; that if they cherished this 
 spirit, they would not experience the liberty of the 
 gospel, but be mere slaves in religion, still unconvert- 
 ed, and merely self-righteous, and that the gospel is 
 entirely distinct from any thing which mere man is 
 apt to teach or ready to embrace. In the historical 
 part of the epistle, he vindicates his own apostolic 
 character, and with clear argument and strong dic- 
 tion, inculcates the all important article of justifica- 
 tion, and presses the necessity of continuing in it, to 
 be benefitted by it. He appeals to their own experi- 
 ence of the happy fruits of the gospel, which they 
 had felt, and represents himself as travailing in birth 
 for them, till Christ be formed in them. From their 
 readiness to listen to Judaizing teachers, he had just 
 reason to be doubtful of their state, and therefore he 
 manifests his great desire to visit them, and give them, 
 in their perilous condition, personal instruction. Their 
 evil advisers were so mischievous to their souls, that 
 he wishes them to be cut off, and assures them that 
 the divine vengeance would overtake them. He in- 
 forms them that the persecution, which he himself en- 
 dured, was on account of this very doctrine, which 
 he was defending; that this being lost, the gospel 
 becomes a mere name, and Christianity is lost in the 
 group of common religions. 
 
31 
 
 There is reason to hope that the best effects attend- 
 ed this epistle ; for in his epistle to the Corinthians we 
 find St. Paul exhorting his brethren of Corinth to use 
 the same plan for the relief of the poor saints, 
 which he had suggested to the Galatians. From 
 this it appears that he still had influence in Ga- 
 latia, and that the Judaical perversion was over- 
 come. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 PhilippL 
 
 JL HIS city, though originally Macedonian, and nam- 
 ed from Philip the father of Alexander, was then a 
 Roman colony, inhabited by Roman citizens, and regu- 
 lated by Roman laws and customs. Paul and Silas were 
 determined, in their visit to this city, by a nightly vis- 
 ion, in which there stood a man of Macedonia, before 
 Paul, saying, " Come over into Macedonia and help 
 us." Here, these two apostles spent a few days with 
 little prospect of success. But on the Sabbath they 
 went out of the city by a river-side, where prayer was 
 wont to be made, and sat down, and spake unto the wo- 
 men who resorted thither. One of them was Lydia, 
 a person of some property. Her heart the Lord open- 
 ed to attend to the things spoken of Paul. She was 
 baptized, and her household, and with affectionate 
 importunity prevailed on the apostle and his compan- 
 ions to make her house their home in Philippi. Here 
 we have the commencement of the Philippian church. 
 Satan, vexed at the prospect, employed a girl posses- 
 sed with a spirit of Python, a diabolical spirit, to 
 bring, if possible, the gospel into contempt. She 
 constantly followed the Christian preachers, and bore 
 them the most honorable testimony, " saying, these 
 men are the servants of the most high God, which 
 shew unto us the way of salvation." Paul was griev- 
 ed, being fully sensible of the ill effect, which a sup- 
 
32 
 
 posed union between Christ arid Python must 
 sion in the minds of men ; and was enabled miracu- 
 lously to eject the demon. The proprietors of the 
 girl, who had made a traffic of her oracular powers, 
 finding that she was dispossessed of the demon, 
 wreaked their vengeance on Paul and Silas, and by 
 slanderous accusations induced the magistrates to 
 scourge them severely, and to commit them to prison* 
 The jailer thrust them into the inner prison, and fas- 
 tened their feet in the stocks. But the enemies of 
 the truth cannot prevent the consolations of the Holy 
 Ghost, from being communicated to the people of God 
 united in affliction. " At midnight, Paul and Silas 
 prayed and sang praises to God ;" and the Lord caus- 
 ed a great earthquake, which opened all the doors of 
 the prison, and loosed every one's bonds. The jailer 
 " awaking out of sleep, and seeing the prison doors 
 open, drew his sword, and would have killed himself, 
 supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul 
 cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm ; 
 for we are all here.'* Struck with horror at the 
 thought of the world to come, to which he had been 
 hastening in all his guilt, he came trembling, and fell 
 down before Paul and Silas, " brought them out, and 
 said, sirs, what must 1 do to be saved." The answer 
 was plain and direct, such, as in every like case of en- 
 quiry, ought to be given: "Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house." They 
 then instructed him and his household in the nature 
 of the gospel, and opened to him the doctrine of for- 
 giveness by the blood of Christ. His conversion ap- 
 pears to have been sound. His ready submission to 
 baptism, his affectionate treatment of those who had 
 just before been the objects of his severity, and his 
 joy in the Lord, evinced that he was turned from Sa- 
 tan to God. His whole family shared with him in the 
 same blessings. 
 
 In the morning, the magistrates sent an order for 
 the dismission of the prisoners. But Paul thought it 
 not inconsistent with Christian meekness, to demand 
 from them an apology for their illegal behavior to 
 
33 
 
 Roman citizens ; for such it seems Silas was, as well 
 as Paul. The magistrates, alarmed, came personally 
 to make concessions, which were easily accepted* 
 Being dismissed from prison, they entered into Ly- 
 dia's house, comforted the brethren, and left Philippi 
 for a season. 
 
 Some years after, the apostle again visited this peo- 
 ple, and found them still in a flourishing state. 
 
 Such was the work of God at Philippi. A considera- 
 ble number of persons, once worshippers of idols, de- 
 voted to the basest lusts, and sunk in the grossest ig- 
 norance, were brought to the knowledge and love of 
 the true God, and to the hope of salvation by his Son 
 Jesus. In this faith and hope, they persevered 
 amidst a severe persecution, steadily brought forth 
 the fruits of charity, and lived in the joyful expecta- 
 tion of a blessed resurrection. 
 
 SECTION VIIL 
 
 Thcssalonica. 
 
 OF Amphipolis and Apollonia, the next cities of Ma- 
 cedonia through which St. Paul passed, nothing par- 
 ticulars recorded. But at Thessalonica, a city re-built 
 by Philip of Macedon, and deriving its name from 
 his conquest of Thessaly, a church was formed inferi- 
 or, in solid piety, to none in the primitive times. Here 
 Paul followed his usual custom of preaching first to 
 the Jews in their synagogue, and spent the first three 
 Sabbaths in pointing out the evidences of Christianity. 
 The custom of the Jews, in allowing any of their 
 countrymen to exhort in their synagogues, gave the 
 apostle an easy opportunity of preaching to this peo- 
 ple, till their usual enmity began to exert itself. 
 Some of the Jews were, however, converted ; and a 
 great multitude of devout Gentiles, who used to attend 
 the synagogue, " and of the chief women not a few." 
 
34 
 
 The restless, unconverted Jews were not ashamed 
 to join with the most profligate Pagans in persecuting 
 the new converts to Christianity, and decent hypo- 
 crites and open sinners were now seen united in op- 
 posing the church of God. They assaulted the house 
 of Jason, by whom, Paul and his companions were 
 entertained. Precautions having been used to secrete 
 them, Jason and some other Christians were brought 
 before the magistrates, and calumniated with the 
 usual charge of sedition. The Roman governors 
 were, however, content with exacting a security from 
 Jason and his friends, for the peace of the state. 
 But the apostle knew too well the malice of the Jews 
 to trust to their moderation, and therefore was obliged 
 abruptly to leave the infant church, which appears, 
 however, not to have been without pastors, whom, he 
 charges the brethren, in an epistle soon after address- 
 ed to them, to honor and obey. 
 
 The growth of this church in godliness was soon re- 
 nowned through the Christian world. Their persecu- 
 tion appears to have been grievious, and hence the 
 comfort of God their Savior, and the prospect of the 
 invisible world, became more and more precious to 
 them. The apostle made two attempts to return to 
 them, but was as often disappointed by the malice of 
 Satan. To strengthen and comfort them, he sent 
 Timothy to them. From him, on his return, he learnt 
 the strength and constancy of their faith and love, 
 and their unshaken attachment to him, and affection- 
 ate remembrance of him. They appear to have felt 
 the love of God in the strongest manner, and to have 
 exercised it towards all around them. 
 
 To them the apostle wrote two affectionate epistles, 
 in which he gave them much important instruction. 
 Afterward he visited them and gave them much ex- 
 hortation. 
 
SECTION IX. 
 Berea and Athens. 
 
 Jb ROM Thessalonica, Paul was conducted to Berea 
 a city of Macedonia. Here also was a Jewish syna- 
 gogue, and here the preaching of the cross was, for the 
 first time candidly received by the Jews. " They re- 
 ceived the word with all readiness of mind, and 
 searched the scriptures daily, whether those things 
 were so. Therefore many of them believed : also ho- 
 norable women which were Greeks, and of men not a 
 few." The rage of the Thessalonian Jews soon, 
 however, disturbed this pleasing scene and stirred up 
 a persecution, which obliged the Christians to use 
 some art to secure the apostle's life. His conductors, 
 at first, took the road toward the sea, which might 
 lead the persecutors to suppose he had quitted the 
 continent. They then brought him safe to Athens, a 
 city of Greece, renowned for taste and science, the 
 school in which the greatest Romans studied philoso- 
 phy. Here, while waiting for the arrival of Silas and 
 Timothy, he beheld the monuments of the city with 
 other eyes than those of a scholar and a gentleman. 
 He saw, that even the excess of learning brought men 
 no nearer to God : that no place was more given to 
 idolatry. In the midst of classical luxury, he saw his 
 Maker disgraced, and souls perishing in sin. Com- 
 passion for them, and indignation at their idolatry and 
 refinement in sin, swallowed up all other emotions* 
 He felt the worth of souls, and laid open the reasons of 
 Christianity to Jews in their synagogue, and to Gen- 
 tile worshippers who attended the synagogue, and 
 daily to all persons whom he met in the forum. 
 Among the Pagan philosophers,' the Epicureans and 
 the Stoics, were two opposite sects. The former plac- 
 ed the chief good in pleasure, the latter in virtue/ 
 These were correspondent to the two chief sects among 
 the Jews, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, and 
 
36 
 
 indeed to the dissipated and the self-righteous, who 
 substitute their own reason and virtue in the room of 
 Divine grace and influence. As these will in any age 
 unite against the real friends of Jesus Christ, so it was 
 here. To them the apostle appeared a mere babbler ; 
 " a setter forth of strange Gods." Jesus and the res- 
 iirrection, which he preached, were ideas from which 
 their minds were so abhorrent, that they took them for 
 new gods. 
 
 It belonged to the court of Areopagus to take cog- 
 nizance of things of this nature. This court had un- 
 justly condemned to death the famous Socrates for 
 his having honestly rebuked vice and improbity. St. 
 Paul's escape from condemnation here, was owing to 
 circumstances. This court, under the tolerating max- 
 ims of its Roman superiors, seems now to have had 
 only the privilege of examining tenets as a synod, 
 without the penal power of magistracy. 
 
 Paul, in his defence before this court, diplayed the 
 native greatness of his mind, and the sanctified good- 
 ness of his heart. In language and by arguments strict- 
 ly classical, he reproved their idolatry and announced to 
 them so much of the gospel as was adapted to their 
 very, ignorant state. In this, though himself a prisoner 
 at the bar, he labors to beget in the minds of the court 
 a conviction of sin, and to prepare them to receive 
 gospel mercy. A few believed in reality and with 
 steadfastness, among whom was Dionysius, a member 
 of the court, and a woman named Damaris. These, 
 Paul having left to the care of that gracious God, who 
 had opened their eyes, departed from a city as yet too 
 haughty, too scornful, and too indifferent, concerning 
 things of infinite moment, to receive the gospel. The 
 little success at Athens evinces, that a spirit of literary 
 trifling in religion, where all is mere theory, and the 
 conscience is unconcerned, does effectually harden 
 the heart. 
 
37 
 
 SECTION X, 
 
 Corinth. 
 
 THIS was at that time the metropolis of Greece. 
 Its situation on an isthmus rendered it remarkably 
 convenient for trade. It was the residence of the Ro- 
 man governor of Achaia, the name then given to all 
 Greece, and it was full of opulence, learning, luxury, 
 and sensuality. Hither the apostle came from Athens, 
 and labored both among the Jews and the Gentiles. 
 Here Providence gave him the acquaintance of 
 Aquila and his wife Priscilla, two Jewish Christians, 
 lately expelled from Italy, with other Jews, by an 
 edict of the emperor Claudius. With them he wrought 
 as a tent maker, being of the same occupation : for 
 every Jew, whether rich or poor, was obliged to fol- 
 low some trade. After the arrival of Silas and Timo- 
 thy, the apostle, with much vehemence, preached to 
 his countrymen ; but the only returns he met with, 
 were opposition and abuse. The apostle was un- 
 daunted. He shook his raiment, told them he was 
 clear of their destruction, would leave them, and ap- 
 ply himself to the Gentiles in the city. With this de- 
 nunciation, he left the synagogue, and entered into the 
 house of one Justus, a devout person, well affected to 
 the gospel. Crispus also, the ruler of the synagogue, 
 with his whole family, received the truth. Though 
 we hear of no more Jewish converts made here, yet 
 many Corinthians were converted. And a gra- 
 cious vision from the Lord, informing that he 
 
 much people in this city, encouraged the apostle- 
 to stay here a year and a half. After his departure. 
 Appollos, a zealous and eloquent Alexandrian Jew, 
 came to Corinth, and was made a powerful instru- 
 ment of building up this church, and of silencing the 
 opposition of the Jews. We first hear of this man at 
 Ephesus, speaking and teaching diligently the things 
 of the, Lord, knowing no more of Christianity than 
 
38 
 
 what was contained in the system of John the Baptist, 
 till instructed more perfectly in the way of life through 
 Jesus Christ, by Aquila and Priscilla. From Ephe- 
 sus he passed on to labor at Corinth; where "he 
 mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shew- 
 ing by the scriptures, that Jesus was Christ," 
 
 St. Paul appears, so far as circumstances admitted, 
 to have kept up a constant correspondence with the 
 churches. The care of them, as he says, came daily 
 upon him. The Corinthians wrote to him to ask his 
 advice on some cases of conscience, by which he 
 learnt that a variety of evils and abuses had crept in 
 among them. Perhaps no church was more numer- 
 ous, and none less holy in the apostolic age. They 
 were proud of gifts, contentious, self-conceited, and 
 warm partizans for Paul, Apollos and other teachers, 
 and by the indulgence of this spirit, shewed how little 
 they had learnt of true wisdom. The apostle wrote 
 them two faithful and pungent epistles, in' which he 
 endeavors by many weighty considerations to bring 
 them to live and act in character as the affectionate 
 friends and humble followers of Christ. 
 
 Among the Corinthians, there was so much con- 
 formity to the world, that they were very little expos- 
 ed to persecution ; they were even invited by their idol- 
 atrous neighbors, to partake of their idol-feasts, and 
 there were some who complied. This wordly con- 
 formity the apostle sharply rebukes. Among them 
 were false apostles, who, by pretending to instruct 
 gratis, sought to depreciate Paul as a mercenary per- 
 ,son. Hence, while he rebukes the evils of this peo- 
 ple, he observes, that he labored among them freely, 
 which the false apostles pretended to do. He pro- 
 ceeds to correct an abuse which obtained in their as- 
 semblies, in the article of decency of dress, and an- 
 other much worse, the profanation of the Lord's sup- 
 per. He insists also, on the correction of their abuse 
 of spiritual gifts, particularly those of languages. It 
 appears that love among the Corinthians was low, and 
 that they, in some respects, prized gifts more highly 
 than grace itself. There were some in this outwardly 
 
39 
 
 flourishing, but inwardly distempered, church, who 
 even denied the resurrection of the body, which gave 
 occasion to the apostle to illustrate that important ar- 
 ticle of our holy religion. 
 
 But notwithstanding all the corruptions which so 
 much abounded in this church, the apostle mentions 
 a very common effect which attended the faithful 
 preaching of the gospel even at Corinth. If an igno- 
 rant idolater came into their assemblies, he was so 
 penetrated with the display of the truth as it is in Je- 
 sus, that he could not but discover the very secrets of 
 his soul, would prostrate himself in the worship of 
 God, and report that God was in them of a truth. 
 
 It appears that the two epistles which the apostle 
 wrote them, had a happy effect ; that many of this 
 church were truly recovered to a state of affection and 
 practice worthy of Christianity. 
 
 SECTION XL 
 
 Rome. 
 
 OUR first accounts of the Roman church are very 
 imperfect. This church, however, at an early period, 
 appears by no means insignificant, either for the num- 
 ber, or the piety, of its converts. Their faith was spo- 
 ken of throughout the whole world. The epistle, 
 which St. Paul addressed to them, will, while the 
 world endures, be the food of Christian minds, and 
 the richest system of doctrine to scriptural theologi- 
 ans. By the distinct directions which he gives for 
 the maintenance of charity between Jews and Gen- 
 tiles, it appears there must have been a considerable 
 number of the former among them. Many of these, 
 as persons of note, and eminent for real piety, in this 
 epistle, he salutes by name, in the most kind and af- 
 fectionate manner. 
 
 Paul had long wished, and even projected a visit to 
 this church. He did not f hawever, expect that his 
 
40 
 
 journey thither should at last be at Caesar's expense* 
 He was confident it should be " in the fulness of the 
 blessing of the gospel of Christ." And he entreats 
 the prayers of the Romans, that he may be delivered 
 from the infidel Jews, and be acceptable in his minis- 
 try to his believing countrymen at Jerusalem, whither 
 he was then hastening ; that " he might come to them 
 with joy by the will of God," and be with them re- 
 freshed. Thus did Christians in those days entreat 
 the prayers of their brethren throughout the world, and 
 sympathize with one another. Their prayers were an- 
 swered. Paul was saved from Jewish malice, was ac- 
 ceptable to Jewish converts, " who had compassion 
 on him in his bonds," and was conducted safe to Rome. 
 His two years imprisonment at Rome, the apostle em- 
 ployed in receiving and faithfully instructing, without 
 molestation, all who came to him. On account of his 
 imprisonment and examination, the nature of the gos- 
 pel became a subject of enquiry in Nero's court, and 
 some of the tyrant's family hopefully became chris- 
 tians indeed. The indulgences granted to Paul as a 
 Roman citizen, encouraged many preachers at Rome 
 and its vicinity, to make greater exertions than before 
 they had dared to do, for the good of souls. 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 Colosse. 
 
 A HIS city of Phrygia was in the neighborhood of La- 
 odicea and Hierapolis, and all three seem to have 
 been converted by the ministry of Epaphras the Co- 
 lossian, a companion and fellow-laborer of Paul, who 
 attended him at Rome during his imprisonment there, 
 and informed him of the sincerity and fruitfulness 
 of their Christian profession. But the apostle, in his 
 epistle to his brethren of Colosse, knowing some of 
 the dangers of their station to which they were expos- 
 ed, cautions them against philosophy and vain deceit, 
 
41 
 
 against Judaical dependancies and rites, and against il- 
 legitimate humility and self-righteous austerities, as 
 carrying the appearance of wisdom and goodness, but 
 really leading only to extravagant self-estimation ; cal- 
 culated to draw the mind from that simplicity of de- 
 pendence on Christ, which is the true rest oT the soul, 
 and the right frame of a Christian. For the entire 
 beauty of this epistle the reader is referred to the epis- 
 tle itself. 
 
 SECTION XIIL 
 
 / 
 
 The seven Churches of Asia. 
 
 his departure from Corinth, Paul visited Ephe- 
 sus, one of the seven churches of Asia, and first ad- 
 dressed by St. John in the book of Revelation. His 
 stay was short, but the impression made on his hearers 
 must have been remarkably great, as they pressed his 
 longer continuance among them. He left, however, 
 Aquila and Priscilla with them, whose labors were 
 afterwards assisted by Apollos. 
 
 Paul himself, returning to Ephesus, baptized in the 
 name of Jesus about twelve disciples, who had hither- 
 to received only John's baptism. From this circum- 
 stance we learn, that from the first preaching of the 
 Baptist nothing had been done in vain. The imper- 
 fect elements of that harbinger of Christ had paved 
 the way for clearer discoveries, and a variety of prepa- 
 ratory works had tended to ripen the Church of God 
 into the fulness of light and holiness. 
 
 Paul preached three months in the Jewish syna- 
 ogue at Ephesus, till the usual perverseness of the 
 ews induced him to desist, and to form the new con- 
 verts into, a distinct church. One Tyrannus lent the 
 apostle his school for two years, in which he daily 
 ministered. And the whole region of Asia Proper had 
 at different times an opportunity of hearing the gospel. 
 The word of God wonderfully triumphed at .pphe- 
 sus. The work of conversion there was deep, vigor- 
 
 g 
 J 
 
42 
 
 , and soul-transforming to a great degree. Many, 
 Struck with horror at the recollection of former crimes^ 
 made an open confession ; and many, who had dealt 
 in the abominations of sorcery, now manifested their 
 sincere detestation of them, by burning their books 
 before all men, the price of which amounted to a large 
 sum. " So mightily grew the word of God, and pre- 
 vailed." 
 
 The spiritual power of Jesus was never seen in a 
 stronger light since the day of Pentecost ; and the venal 
 priesthood of Diana, the celebrated goddess of Ephe- 
 sus, apprehending the total ruin of their hierarchy, 
 with their devotees, made a violent effort to support 
 their sinking superstition, and set the whole city into 
 an uproar. But the prudent and eloquent harangue 
 of a magistrate, called the town- clerk, was the pro- 
 vidential instrument of Paul's preservation and de- 
 liverance. He calmed the spirit of the Ephesians, 
 and silenced the uproar ; after which Paul affection- 
 ately embraced the disciples, and left Ephesus. He 
 left pastors to superintend that and the neighboring 
 churches. But he foresaw with grief, as he afterward 
 told these pastors in a very pathetic address, when he 
 had sent for them to Miletus, that their present puritj 
 would not continue unstained. Wolves would enter 
 \mong them, to devour the flock, and among them- 
 selV r es heretical perverseness would find countenance, 
 and ^roduce a pernicious separation. To prevent 
 these e v ^ s tne apostle exhorted them to the persever- 
 ing dischv ar S e f a ^ the duties of a holy life and con- 
 versation. 
 
 What the L ' os P e l really is, both as to doctrine, and 
 duly, may be cc ~^ ecte d w ^ tn tne greatest certainty, in 
 the excellent Enj ^ e wn * cn P au ^ wrote to this church, 
 containing a most a >mirable S 7 stem of divinity, suit- 
 ed to the instruction o> * every * church in eyer ^ a S G ' 
 
 In PaulV absence fro* ' ^ ? UtC ^ Ti ^ th ^. a P~ 
 pears to have been the cL paSt r * ^ rom 1 the dir f - 
 tions which he smve Tim rffc concennng the regula- 
 tion of public worsh^ a ? T ^aracter and conduct 
 of chu^ o -clesiastical polity 
 
43 
 
 had taken a firm root in this church. From the vis- 
 ion 1 which St. John received in the isle of Patmos 
 from the Lord Jesus Christ, and the several charges 
 there given him to be addressed to the seven church- 
 es of Asia, descriptive of their spiritual state at that 
 time, and giving suitable directions to each of them ? 
 it appears, that the Ephesians were then still alive in 
 the faith. This was near the close of the first century. 
 They patiently bore the cross, ever attendant on the 
 real faith of Jesus, and labored in good works with- 
 out fainting. They had, however, declined from the 
 intenseness of that love, which they had at first exhi- 
 bited. Their hearts panted not after Christ with that: 
 steady ardour with which they had formerly been an- 
 imated. Though they had still the marks of health 
 remaining, their vigor had much abated. In this they 
 justly deserved blame. True zeal and true charity 
 should ever grow, as the understanding has opportu- 
 nity to improve. The ill effects of this decline, grad- 
 ually paved the way, by the influence of their exam- 
 ple on the rising generation, to unchurch this people, 
 and for the desolation in which this very region now 
 remains under Mahometan wickedness and ignorance. 
 
 The church of Smyrna was next addressed. It was 
 once in a state of great purity of doctrine, and holiness 
 of heart and life. Though poor in wordly circum* 
 stances, its members were rich in grace. Attempts 
 were, however, now making to introduce Judaical cor- 
 ruptions among them, by those who were of the syna- 
 gogue of Satan. They were reminded that a severe 
 persecution was soon coming upon them, which should 
 last some time, and they were exhorted to continue 
 faithful unto death, with the assurance that the crown 
 of life should be the reward of their fidelity 
 
 The church of Pergamus was approved. of in gene- 
 ral. They lived in the midst of a very impious peo- 
 ple, who in effect worshipped Satan himself, and did 
 all in their power to support his, kirigdom. Yet was 
 the zeal of this church firm and steady. They did 
 not, however, pass without some blame. There 
 were some among them, who acting like Balaam of 
 
44 
 
 old, were employed, by Satan, to entice some of this 
 church to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to com- 
 mit fornication ; two evils often closely connected. 
 Some went even into the abomination of the Nicolai- 
 tans. These are exhorted to repent, from the fear of 
 divine vengeance. On the whole, with a few excep- 
 tions, the church of Pergamus was pure and lively, 
 and upheld the standard of truth, though encircled 
 with the flames of martyrdom. One from their num- 
 ber received the crown of martyrdom while adher- 
 ing to the truth as it is in Jesus, Concerning this 
 church Christ testifies ; " I know thy works, and 
 where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is ; and 
 thou boldest fast my name, and hast not denied my 
 faith even in those days, wherein Antipas was my 
 faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Sa- 
 tan dwelleth." 
 
 The church in Thyatira was also addressed, and re- 
 presented in a thriving state. Charity, active services, 
 patient dependance on God, and a steady reliance 
 on the divine promises marked their works. Their last 
 works are represented to be more than their first. But 
 a few things are alleged against this church. They 
 suffered an artful woman to seduce some into wicked 
 practices. Her allegorical name was Jezebel, doubt- 
 less from her near resemblance in practice to the wife 
 of Ahab, who exerted all her influence to promote idol- 
 atry in Israel. Our Lord informs them, that he gave 
 her space to repent, but to no purpose, and there- 
 fore now denounces severe threatenings against her 
 and her associates, at the same time vindicating his 
 claim to divine worship by the incommunicable title 
 of Him who searches the hearts, and declaring that 
 he would make himself known to be such in all the 
 churches. On those, who had kept themselves unspot- 
 ted from these evils, he declares he would put no 
 other burden; only he exhorts them to hold fast 
 what they already had to the day of judgment. 
 
 The church of Sardis presents us with an unpleas- 
 ant spectacle. They are spoken of as in a very droop- 
 ing condition. They had neglected that course of 
 
45 
 
 prayer and watchfulness, which is necessary to pre 
 serve the divine life in vigor ; and their works were now 
 only faintly distinguishable from those of persons al- 
 together dead in sin. Some good things however re- 
 mained in them, which yet were ready to die ; but 
 their lives brought no glory to God, nor benefit to the 
 cause of Christ, and could scarce prevent its being 
 scandalized in the world. A few names, indeed, there 
 were in Sardis on whom Jesus looked with complacen- 
 cy ; they had not defiled their garments ; but most of 
 the Christians there were deeply stained by corrup^ 
 tion, probably by uniting with the world in their wick^ 
 ed practices. All here are called upon to live near 
 to God, with the assurance that if they thus do they 
 shall be crowned at last as the real friends of Christ. 
 
 Philadelphia is highly extolled. They were a hum- 
 ble, charitable, fervent people, deeply sensible of their 
 weakness, and fearful of being seduced by Satan and 
 their own hearts. To them, having a little strength, 
 a promise of strong support is given, because they had 
 maintained true patience in suffering. 
 
 The religion of Christ bids us to be cool in our af- 
 fections but only to worldly things ; the lukewarm state, 
 therefore, of Laodicea is highly blamed. The Laodi- 
 ceans were satisfied with themselves and desired no 
 higher attainments. They had learnt to maintain, in 
 easy indolence an orthodoxy of sentiment without 
 any awakened and affectionate attention to the real 
 activity of vital piety. 
 
 Such was the situation of the seven churches o(* 
 Asia. " He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spi- 
 rit saith unto the churches." 
 
CHAPTER. II. 
 
 The remainder of the first Century. 
 
 JL HE apostles in general appear not to have left Ja- 
 dea, till after the first council held at Jerusalem. 
 Probably the threatening appearances of its desola- 
 tion by the Romans, hastened their departure into 
 distant regions. Before the close of this century the 
 power of the gospel appears to have been felt through- 
 out the Roman empire. I shall divide this chapter 
 into four parts, and review, first, the progress and per- 
 secution of the church. Secondly, the lives, charac- 
 ters, and deaths of the apostles. Thirdly, the heresies 
 of this period. And, lastly, the general character of 
 Christianity in this first age. 
 
 It was about the year of our Lord 64, that the city 
 of Rome suffered a general conflagration. The author 
 of this appears to have been Nero. He, however, en- 
 deavored, by every measure, to fix the odium of this 
 horrid deed upon the Christians at Rome, and thereby 
 to excite against them a spirit of persecution. They, 
 though actuated by the purest benevolence, by call- 
 ing upon their neighbors to repent and believe the 
 gospel, and thus to flee from the wrath to come, had 
 excited the bitter resentment of the opposers of the gos- 
 pel. Thus the Christians at Rome, by their exertions 
 lor the spiritual and eternal good of their heathen 
 neighbors, had incurred the hatred of Nero and oth- 
 ers inimical to a life of holiness. When the city was 
 burnt, the Christians were charged by Nero with hav- 
 ing been the incendiaries. The minds of the opposers 
 of Christianity were hereby greatly exasperated against 
 them, and a bitter persecution immediately ensued. 
 The Christians were seized, were covered with skins of 
 wild beasts and torn by dogs, were crucified, and set on 
 fire, that they might serve for lights in the night time. 
 Nero offered his garden for this spectacle, and exhibr 
 
47 
 
 itccl the games of the circus. It appears from weft 
 authenticated history, that Nero ordered some of tha 
 Christians to be covered with wax and other combus- 
 tible materials; and that, after a sharp stake was put 
 under their chin, to make them continue upright, they 
 were burnt alive to give light to the spectators. It is 
 probable that this persecution was not confined to 
 Rome, but that it extended to other parts of the Ro- 
 man empire. The church in Spain appears at this 
 time to have had her martyrs. 
 
 Three or four years were probably the utmost ex- 
 tent of this tremendous persecution, as in the year 68 
 the cruel tyrant was himself, by a dreadful exit, sum- 
 moned before the Divine tribunal. He left the Ro- 
 man world in a state of extreme confusion. Judea 
 partook of it in an eminent degree. About forty years 
 after our Lord's sufferings, wrath came on the body of 
 the Jewish nation to the uttermost. But before the 
 destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies, the 
 Christian Jews, warned by a divine command, fled from 
 that devoted city, to Pella, a village beyond Jordan ; 
 where they were saved from the destruction which 
 soon after overwhelmed their countrymen. 
 
 The death of Nero, and the destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem would naturally occasion some respite to the chris- 
 tians from their sufferings ; and we hear no more of 
 their persecuted state, till the reign of Domitian, the 
 last of the Flavian family, who succeeded to the em- 
 pire in the year 81. He does not appear to have ra- 
 ged against the Christians, till the latter end of his 
 reign. Indeed, in imitation of his father Vespasian, he 
 made enquiry for such of the Jews as were descended 
 from the royal line of David. His motives were evi- 
 dently political. But there wanted not those who 
 were glad of an opportunity of wreaking their malice 
 on Christians. Some persons were charged with be- 
 ing related to the royal family, who were brought be- 
 fore the emperor. They appear to have been related 
 to our Lord, grandsons of Jude the apostle, his cousin. 
 Domitian asked them, if they were of the family of 
 David,, which they acknowledged. He then enquired 
 
48 
 
 what possessions they had. They laid open their po- 
 verty, and owned that they maintained themselves by 
 their labor. The truth of their confession was eviden- 
 ced by their hands, and their appearance in general. 
 Domitian then interrogated them concerning Christ 
 and his kingdom, when and where it should appear. 
 They answered, like their Master, when questioned by 
 Pilate, that his kingdom was not of this world, but 
 heavenly ; that its glory should be at the consummation 
 of the world, when he should judge the quick and the 
 dead, and reward every man according to his works. 
 Poverty is sometimes a defence against oppression, 
 though it never shields from contempt. Domitian was 
 satisfied, that his throne was in no danger from Chris- 
 tian ambition, and the grandsons of Jude had the hon- 
 or of being dismissed with the same sort of derision, 
 with which their Savior had been by Herod. Thus 
 had the son of God provided for his relations ; they 
 were poor in worldly circumstances, but rich in faith, 
 and heirs of his heavenly kingdom. 
 
 As Domitian improved in cruelty, toward the end 
 of his reign, he renewed the horrors of Nero's persecu- 
 tion. He put to death many persons accused of athe- 
 ism, the common charge against Christians, on account 
 of their refusing to worship the Pagan gods. Among 
 these was the consul Flavius Clemens, his cousin, who 
 had espoused Flavia his relation. Some were spoil- 
 ed of their goods, and Domitilla herself was banished 
 into the island of Pandataria. These two noble per- 
 sons, appear to have been genuine Christians, distin- 
 guished for eminent piety, and for their contempt of 
 secular ambition, and the vices of the imperial court. 
 
 In the year 96, Domitian was slain, and Nerva, the 
 succeeding emperor, published a pardon, for those 
 who were condemned for impiety, recalled those who 
 were banished, and forbad the accusing of any person 
 tvn account of impiety or Judaism. Others, who were 
 under accusation, or under sentence of condemnation, 
 now escaped by the lenity of Nerva. Domitilla, how- 
 ever, still continued in exile, probably because she 
 was a relation of the late tyrant. Doubtless she was not 
 forsaken of bar God and Savior. 
 
49 
 
 II. I am now to review the lives, characters and 
 deaths of the apostles. 
 
 The first of the twelve apostles, who suffered mar- 
 tyrdom, we have seen, was James the son of Zebedee, 
 who fell a sacrifice to Herod Agrippa's ambitious desire 
 of popularity. I recall him to the reader's memory on 
 account of a remarkable circumstance attending his 
 death. The man, who had drawn him before the 
 tribunal, when he saw the readiness with which he 
 submitted to martrydom, was struck with remorse, 
 and, by one of those sudden conversions, not infre- 
 quent amidst the remarkable out-pourings of the Spi- 
 rit, was himself turned from the power of Satan to 
 God, and confessed Christ with great cheerfulness. 
 They were both led to execution, and in the way the 
 accuser requested the apostle's forgiveness, which he 
 soon obtained. James turning to him answered, 
 " Peace be to thee," and kissed him, and they were 
 beheaded together. The efficacy of divine grace, and 
 the blessed fruit of holy example, are both illustrated 
 in this story, of which it were to be wished we knew 
 more than the very scanty account which has been 
 preserved. 
 
 The other James was preserved in Judea to a 
 much later period. His martyrdom took place about 
 the year 62, and his Epistle was published a little be- 
 fore his death. He always resided at Jerusalem. On 
 account of his singular innocence and integrity, the 
 name of Just was generally given him. Many Jews 
 respected the man, and admired the fruits of the gos - 
 pel in him. It appears from well authenticated hia- 
 tory, that the Jews thought it a pitiable thing that so 
 good a man should be a Christian. His firm adher- 
 ence to Jesus Christ and to the doctrines of the cross, 
 "was, however, their abhorrence. Paul's escape from 
 their malice by appealing to Caesar had sharpened 
 their spirits, and on James, who was merely a Jew, 
 and could plead no Roman exemptions, they were 
 determined to wreak their vengeance. Festus dying 
 president of Judca, before his successor, Albinus, ar- 
 rived, Ananias, the high-priest, a Saducee, and a mer* 
 
50 
 
 cilcss persecutor, holding, in the interior, the supreme 
 power, called a council, before which he brought 
 James, with some others, accusing him of breaking 
 the law of Moses. But it was not easy to procure his 
 condemnation. 
 
 The great were uneasy on account of the vast in- 
 crease of Christian converts by his means, and endeav- 
 ored to entangle him by persuading him to mount a 
 pinnacle of the temple y and to speak to the people as- 
 sembled at the time of the passover, against Christian- 
 ity. James, being placed aloft, delivered a frank con- 
 fession of Jesus, as then sitting at the right hand of 
 power, and who should come in the clouds of heaven. 
 Upon this Ananias and the rulers were highly incensed. 
 To disgrace his character was their first intention. 
 This had failed. To murder him was their next, and 
 this attempt was of much more easy execution. Cry- 
 ing out, that Justus himself was seduced, they threw 
 him down and stoned him. The apostle had strength 
 to fall on his knees, and to pray, " I beseech thee, Lord 
 God and Father, for them ; for they know not what 
 they do." One of the priests, moved with the scene, 
 cried out, " Cease, what do you mean ? This just man 
 is praying for you." A person present with a fuller's 
 club beat out his brains, and completed his martyr- 
 dom. 
 
 Simeon, the son of that Cleopas mentioned by St. 
 Luke, as one of the two who went to Emmaus, and 
 who was theibrother of Joseph, our Lord's reputed fa- 
 ther, was appointed, in the room of James, a pastor of 
 the church of Jerusalem, where he continued at the 
 end of this century. 
 
 Paul the apostle seems to have labored with un- 
 wearied activity from about the year 36 to the year 
 68, that is, from his conversion to the period in which 
 St. Luke finishes his history. Within this period, he 
 wrote fourteen Epistles, which will be the blessed 
 means of feeding the souls of the faithful to the end of 
 time. His pungent preaching at Rome, and his de- 
 fence of the gospel before the Roman court, were at- 
 tended with some fruits of saving conversion. A cup- 
 
51 
 
 bearer and a concubine of Nero, Chrysostom informs 
 us, were, by means of Paul's preaching, and his de- 
 fence before the Roman court, converted to the Chris- 
 tian faith. This, it appears, excited Nero's resentment 
 and rage ; and we are assured that Paul was event- 
 ually slain with the sword by Nero's order. Before 
 the conversion of Paul, we find him hurried, by his 
 Pharisaic haughtiness and fiery temper, into a very 
 sanguinary course of bitter persecution against the 
 .church of Christ; after his conversion we see the 
 work of divine grace wonderfully exemplified in him, 
 for about 30 years ; we see him living the friend of 
 mankind, continually returning good for evil, an ex- 
 ample of patience and benevolence, though posses- 
 sing a taste, <a spirit and genius which might have 
 shone among the greatest statesmen and men of let- 
 ters that ever lived, yet steadily attentive to heavenly 
 things, devotedly engaged to build up the Redeem- 
 er's kingdom in the world, and to bring souls to glory. 
 
 Amidst the constant display of every godly and so- 
 cial Virtue, we leani from his own account that he 
 ever felt himself, " carnal, sold under sin, 1 ' and that 
 sin dwelt in him continually. From his writings we 
 learn what is the depth of human wickedness ; and not 
 one of the apostles seems to have understood so much 
 as he did, the riches of divine grace, and the peculiar 
 glory of the Christian religion. The doctrines of elec- 
 tion, justification, adoption, of the priesthood and of- 
 fices of Christ, and of the internal \vork of the Holy 
 Ghost, as well as the most perfect morality, founded on 
 Christian principles, are most beautifully brought into 
 view in his writings. 
 
 It appears from well authenticated history, that, 
 when Paul was put to death, under Nero, Peter suffer- 
 ed with him by crucifixion with his head downward, a 
 kind of death which he himself desired, most proba- 
 bly, from an unfeigned humility, that he might not 
 die in the same manner as his Lord had done. 
 
 Peter's wife had been called to martyrdom a little 
 before himself. He saw her led to death, and rejoiced 
 at the grace of God vouchsafed to her, and addressing 
 
52 
 
 her by name, exhorted and comforted her with, "Re- 
 member the Lord." Peter seems to have lived long in 
 a state of matrimony, and by Clement's account, was 
 industrious in the education of his children. San- 
 guine in his attachments, he appears to have been a 
 plain, honest, open hearted, active follower of Jesus 
 Christ ; in grace and supernatural wisdom, made only 
 inferior to Paul, and an instrument of the greatest good 
 in the conversion of many precious souls. In early 
 life he was remarkable for the forwardness of his tem- 
 per, but afterward, by grace was made eminent for 
 his unfeigned humility. He, who wrought effectual- 
 ly in Paul, for the conversion of the Gentiles, was 
 mighty in Peter, for the conversion of very many 
 among the Jews. 
 
 Mark was sister's son to Barnabas, the son of Mary, 
 a pious woman of Jerusalem. He appears to have 
 been instructed in Christian principles from early life. 
 His views of religion seem to have been at first, faint, 
 and his disposition naturally languid and indolent. 
 We are told by Epiphanius, that Mark was one of 
 those who was offended at the words of Christ re- 
 corded in the 6th chapter of John, and that he then 
 forsook him, but was afterward recovered by means of 
 Peter. 
 
 After our Lord's ascension, he attended his uncle 
 Barnabas with Paul ; but soon left them and return- 
 ed to Jerusalem. Barnabas afterward took him to 
 Cyprus. Though languid at first, he at length be^ 
 came more vigorous. Even Paul himself, who had 
 been so much offended with him, declares, " He is 
 profitable to me for the ministry." From the epis- 
 tle to the Colossians it is evident that he was with 
 the apostle Paul in hjs imprisonment at Rome. This 
 was in the year 62. His gospel was written by the 
 desire of the believers at Rome, about two years af- 
 ter. I know not when to fix the time of his coming 
 to Egypt. But he is allowed to have founded the 
 church of Alexandria, and to have been buried there. 
 The society of Barnabas, Paul and Peter, at different 
 iirrjes, was evidently very useful to him* His natural 
 
53 
 
 indolence needed such incentives. It was the grace 
 of God which roused him to activity. 
 
 Of the labors of eight apostles, nothing, important is 
 recorded. Of John, a few valuable fragments may be 
 collected. 
 
 About the year 50, he attended the council at Jeru- 
 salem. Asia Minor was the great theatre of his min- 
 istry, particularly Ephesus, the care of which church 
 remained with him after the decease of the rest of the 
 apostles. While resident at Ephesus, once going to 
 bathe, and perceiving Cerinthus in the bath, he came 
 out hastily. " Let us flee," says he, " lest the bath 
 should fall , while Cerinthus, an enemy of truth, is with- 
 in." Thus he showed his abhorrence of his corrupt 
 ind heritical sentiments, by shunning his society in 
 such a manner as to manifest his pointed disapproba- 
 tion of error. 
 
 The primitive Christians were indeed more careful 
 to avoid the society of false professors than of open 
 unbelievers. With the latter, they had at times some 
 free intercourse ; with the former they refused even to 
 eat. If we believe, those who labor to ruin souls by 
 propagating antichristian views, to be exceedingly dan- 
 gerous members of society, and not in the smallest 
 degree to be countenanced, by any acts of familiarity, 
 w ; e can easily perceive why St. John took the method 
 which he did, to manifest his abhorrence of the cor- 
 rupt and detestable errors of Cerinthus. 
 
 Tertullian tells us, that by order of Domitian, John 
 was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, and came out 
 without being hurt. This must have happened, most 
 probably, during the latter part of his reign. This 
 miracle, however, softened not the heart of Domitian, 
 who probably supposed the apostle fortified himself by 
 some magical incantations. The cruel persecutor 
 banished him into the solitary isle of Patmos, where 
 he was favored with the visions of the Apocalypse. 
 After Domitian's death John returned from Patmos 
 and governed the Asiatic churches. There he remain- 
 ed till the time of Trajan. While on a tour of visiting- 
 the churches, John, observing a remarkably handsome 
 
54 
 
 young man, warmly recommended him to the care of 
 a particular pastor. The young man was baptized, 
 and for a time lived as a Christian. But being gradu- 
 ally corrupted by bad company, he grew idle, in- 
 temperate, and at length so dishonest, as to become a 
 captain of a band of robbers. Some time after, John 
 had an occcasion to enquire of the pastor concerning 
 the young man, who told him, that he was now dead to 
 God, and inhabited a mountain over against his church. 
 John, in the vehemence of his charity, went to the 
 place, and exposed himself to be taken by the robbers. 
 " Bring me," says he " to your captain," who beheld 
 him coming. As soon as the young man knew the 
 apostle, he was struck with shame and fled. The 
 aged apostle following cried, "My son, why flyest 
 thou from thy father unarmed and old ? Fear not, as 
 yet there remaineth hope of salvation." Hearing this 
 the young man stood still, trembled, and wept bit- 
 terly. John prayed, exhorted, and brought him back 
 to the society of Christians, nor did he leave him, till 
 he found him fully restored by divine grace. 
 
 Another story of St. John, short, but pleasing, is, 
 that being now very old, and unable to say much in 
 Christian assemblies, "Children, love one another," 
 was his constantly repeated sermon. Being asked 
 why he told them only one thing, he answered that no- 
 thing else was needed. This story rests on the testi- 
 mony of Jerom ; it shows the spirit of the age, and 
 its truth" is allowed. 
 
 John lived three or four years after his return to 
 Asia, having been preserved to the age of an hundred 
 years for the benefit of the church, a pattern of preem- 
 inent chanty and goodness. 
 
 Of the apostle Barnabas, nothing is known, except 
 what is recorded in the Acts. Honorable mention is 
 there made of his character, and a particular descrip- 
 tion of his labors with St. Paul. It is a great injury 
 to him, to suppose the Epistle, which goes by his 
 name, to have been his. 
 
 We have no ecclesiastical work, exclusive of the 
 scriptures, except Clement's Epistle to the Corinthi- 
 
55 
 
 ans which does any peculiar honor to the first centu- 
 ry. Clement is he whom Paul calls his fellow-la- 
 borer, and whose name he declares to be in the book 
 of life. He long survived Paul and Peter, and was, no 
 doubt, a blessing to the Roman church, over which he 
 presided nine years. His Epistle was read in many of 
 the primitive churches, and was admired exceedingly 
 by the ancients. From this Epistle it appears that St. 
 Paul's two Epistles to the church of Corinth had been 
 abundantly useful, and that the apostle had reason to 
 rejoice in the confidence which he reposed in the sin- 
 cerity that prevailed in many of them, notwithstand- 
 ing the evils which he censured, as existing in that 
 church. From the Epistle of Clement, it, however, ap- 
 pears, that the Church of Corinth had, during this cen- 
 tury, much trouble from restless and ambitious persons 
 who endeavored to depreciate the real worth of their 
 godly pastors, and to raise their own characters upon 
 the ruin of the reputation of those who justly merited 
 the highest estimation and confidence. These Cle- 
 ment faithfully reproves. He exhorts Christ's flock to 
 live in peace with all their pastors. 
 
 III. The heresies of this century are now to be no- 
 ticed. The reader will not expect that I should soli- 
 citously register the names, and record the opinions 
 and acts of those, who are commonly called heretics. 
 I have only to view them in one single light, as they 
 deviated from the spirit of the gospel. In this let us 
 keep steadily in view what the gospel really is : that 
 unfeigned faith in Christ, as the only Savior of sin- 
 ners, and the effectual influence of the Holy Ghost, in 
 recovering souls altogether depraved, are its leading 
 principles. 
 
 When the out-pouring of the Spirit began, these 
 things were taught with power, and no sentiments 
 which militated against them, could be supported for a 
 moment. As, through the prevalence of human cor- 
 ruptions and the craft of Satan, the love of the truth 
 was lessened, heresies and various abuses of the gospel 
 appeared ; and in estimating them, we may form some 
 idea, of the declension, which, towards the end of this 
 
66 
 
 century appeared in the church made up of Jews and 
 Gentiles. 
 
 The epistolary part of the New Testament affords 
 but too ample proof of corruption. From these we 
 learn how prone the human heart is to undervalue the 
 mediation of Jesus, and the glory of divine grace, in 
 the gospel plan of salvation, and to lean to the self-flat- 
 tering schemes of a self-righteous spirit. 
 
 The heresies which appeared in the apostolic times 
 were two, the Docetse and the Ebionites. 
 
 The Docetae, or Gnostics, as they are sometimes call- 
 ed, held that the Son of God had no proper humanity, 
 and that he died only in appearance on the cross. 
 
 The Ebionites, for the most part, while they ac- 
 knowledged the excellence of the character of Jesus 
 Christ, considered him a mere man, descended from 
 Mary and her husband Joseph. With such low ideas 
 of the Redeemer's person, they denied the virtue of 
 his atoning blood, and labored to establish justifica- 
 tion by the works of the law. To be consistent with 
 themselves, they rejected the divine authority of St 
 Paul's Epistles and accused the apostle of being an 
 Antinomian. 
 
 These two heritical schemes, the one opposing the 
 humanity of Christ, and the other denying his Divin- 
 ity, were the inventions of men leaning to their own 
 understandings, and unwilling to admit the great mys- 
 tery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. 
 
 The primitive Christians held, that the Redeemer 
 was both God and man, equally possessed of the real 
 properties of both natures ; and no man, willing to 
 take his creed from the New Testament, ever thought 
 otherwise ; the proofs of both natures in one person, 
 Christ Jesus, being, nearly, equally diffused through 
 the sacred books. The fifth verse, in the ninth chap- 
 ter to the Romans, expressing both, establishes this 
 great fundamental doctrine of our most holy reli- 
 gion. The only difficulty in this subject is, for man 
 to be brought to believe, on divine authority, that 
 doctrine, the ground of which he cannot comprehend. 
 Proud men, uuacquianted with that internal misery 
 
57 
 
 and depravity of our nature, which renders a complete 
 character, like that of Christ, so Divinely suitable to 
 their wants, and so exactly proper to mediate between 
 God and men, were soon willing to oppose the doc- 
 trine of the incarnation of Jesus Christ : as there were 
 two ways of doing this, by taking away one or other 
 of the two natures, we see at once the origin of the 
 two sects before us. The doctrine of the atonement 
 was opposed by the Docetae, in their denial of the re- 
 al Divinity of Jesus Christ, and by the Ebionites, in 
 their denial of his Divine nature, which stamps an in- 
 finite value on his sufferings. 
 
 The memoirs of these heretics, inform us of some 
 who professed an extraordinary degree of sanctity, to 
 be abstracted altogether from the flesh, and to live in 
 excessive abstemiousness. This shows that they deni- 
 ed the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and 
 grounded their hopes of eternal life on their own self 
 righteous doings. Others, again, as if to support their 
 Christian liberty, lived in sin with greediness, and in- 
 dulged themselves in all the gratifications of sensuality. 
 By these two heresies, toward the close of this century, 
 the Jewish and the Gentile converts were considerably 
 corrupted. Jerom informs us that John wrote his gos- 
 pel by the desire of the pastors of the Asiatic churches 
 with a particular design to counteract Cerinthus and 
 Ebion, who were coadjutors in this heresy. The very 
 beginning of his gospel is indeed expressive of the 
 grand design of the whole. It is an authoritative dec- 
 laration of the proper Deity of Jesus Christ. The par- 
 ticular assurance which John gives us of the real death 
 of his Master, and of the issuing of real blood and wa- 
 ter from his side, evidently implies that he was zeal- 
 ous to obviate the error of the Docetae. We are not 
 to understand his laying so great a stress on Jesu 
 Christ's having come in the flesh in any other light. 
 
 While St. John lived, these heretics were much 
 discountenanced ; and those who embraced their sen- 
 .timents, were always considered as perfectly distinct 
 from the Christian church. Doubtless they called 
 themselves Christians, and so do all heretics, for olnr- 
 
58 
 
 reasons ; and for reasons as obvious, all, who are 
 tender of the fundamental principles of the gospel^ 
 should not own their right to the appellation. 
 
 It does not appear from any evidence, which I can 
 find, that these men were ever persecuted for their re- 
 ligion. Their doctrines pleased the carnal mind too 
 well to excite a spirit of persecution ; from which we 
 infer that they were not according to the word of God, 
 and real godliness. " They spake of the world, and the 
 World heard them.'* 
 
 IV. We are now to consider the general character 
 of Christianity in this first age. 
 
 The divinity of Christ, the atonement, justification 
 by faith, regeneration by the Holy Ghost, and election^ 
 were doctrines of the primitive church, in view and be- 
 lief of which the grace of God was so richly and glo- 
 riously displayed in the saving conversion of many 
 souls in the first century. 
 
 In this century, a revolution took place, in the hu- 
 man mind and in human manners, the most astonish- 
 ing that was ever seen in any age, and was effected 
 against the united opposition of all the powers then in 
 the world ; and this too, not in countries rude or un- 
 civilized, but in the most humanized, the most learn- 
 ed, and the most polished part of the globe, within the 
 Roman empire ; no part of which was exempted from 
 its effects. This empire, within the first century, seem* 
 to have been the proper limit of Christian conquests. 
 
 And what was the change ? It was from bad to good. 
 The religious and moral principles of both Jews and 
 Gentiles r were, before their conversion, grossly bad. 
 The idolatries, abominations and ferocity of the Gen- 
 tile world, must be allowed not to have been less than 
 they are described in the first chapter to the Romans. 
 The writings of Horace and Juvenal prove, that th& 
 picture, painted by the apostle, is not overdrawn. The 
 extreme wickedness of the Jews cannot be denied. 
 
 In this revolution, are thousands of men, turned from 
 sin to holiness, many in a very short space of time*, re- 
 formed in understanding, in inclination, in affection ; 
 knowing, loving, and confiding in God ; from a state of 
 selfishness, converted into the purest philanthro- 
 
53 
 
 pists ; living only to please God, and to exercise kind* 
 ness toward one another; recovering really, what phi- 
 losophy only pretended to, the dominion of reason over 
 passion, unfeignedly subject to their Maker, rejoicing 
 in his favor amidst sufferings, and serenely waiting for 
 their dismission, to a land of blissful immortality. Is 
 not the hand of God visible in all this ? Nothing, sure- 
 ly, Irat special and efficacious grace, in the effusion 
 of the Holy Spirit, could have effected this glorious 
 change and reformation. 
 
 But the Christian church was not in possession of 
 any external dignity or secular power. No one na- 
 tion as yet was Christian, though thousands of individ- 
 uals were so, but those chiefly of the middling and 
 lower ranks. 
 
 In doctrine, they all worshipped the one living and 
 true God, who made himself known to them in three 
 persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; each of these 
 they were taught to worship by the very office of bap- 
 tism performed in the name of the Father, the Son, 
 and the Holy Ghost. And the whole economy of grace 
 so constantly reminded them of their obligations to the 
 Father who chose them to salvation ; to the Saviour 
 who died for them, and to the Comforter who support- 
 ed and sanctified them, and was so closely connected 
 with their experience and practice, that they were 
 perpetually incited to worship the Divine Three in One, 
 They all agreed in feeling conviction of sin, of help- 
 lessness, of a state of perdition ; in relying on the 
 atoning blood, perfect righteousness, and prevalent in- 
 tercession of Jesus, as their only hope of heaven. 
 Regeneration by the Holy Ghost was their common 
 privilege, and without his constant influence, they 
 owned themselves wholly inclined to sin and vanity. 
 Their community of goods, and their love-feasts, 
 though discontinued at length, probably because 
 found impracticable, demonstrated their superlative 
 charity and heavenly-mindedness, Yet a gloomy 
 cloud hung over the conclusion of this century. 
 
 The first impressions, made by the out-pouring of 
 the Spirit, are generally the strongest and the most 
 decisively distinct from the spirit of the world* * 
 
68 
 
 Hence the disorders of schism and heresy, whose ten- 
 dency is to counteract the pure work of God. 
 
 The first Christians, with the purest benevolence to- 
 ward the persons of heretics, gave their errors no quar- 
 ter, and discountenanced them by every reasonable 
 method. The heretics, on the contrary, endeavored 
 to unite themselves with Christians. This they did, 
 with a view, no doubt, to obtain a more extensive cir- 
 culation of their errors, under the cloke of their being 
 still in fellowship with those, whose real piety and 
 soundness in the faith, could not be doubted.- 
 
 CENTURY II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The History of Christians during the Reign of Trajan 
 
 L HE master of the Roman world, in the beginning 
 of this century, was. the renowned Trajan. His pre- 
 decessor Nerva had restored the Christian exiles, and 
 granted a full toleration to the church. Hence the 
 last of the apostles had recovered his station at Eph~ 
 esus, and slept in the Lord, before the short interval 
 )f tranquility was closed by the persecuting spirit of 
 Trajan, who had a confirmed prejudice against chris- 
 tians, and meditated the extinction of the name. 
 
 During his reign, many Christians, in Bithynia, suf- 
 fered martyrdom, merely because they would not ab- 
 jure Christ and join with the idolatrous heathen in 
 their idol worship. It appears from the letter of Pli- 
 ny, governor of Bithynia to Trajan his master, in which 
 he desires to be informed what course to take with 
 Christians in that province, and from the answer to 
 that letter, by Trajan, that, at that time, the Christians 
 in that province were very numerous, and that they 
 were most exemplarily pious, and inoffensive in their 
 , Jives, and conversation : but that, notwithstanding all 
 
61 
 
 their peaceable demeanor, they were sorely persecu- 
 ted, and many suffered death because they would 
 not renounce Christ as their Savior, nor forsake the re- 
 ligion of the gospel. This was about the year 106. 
 
 In Asia, Arrins Antoninus persecuted with extreme 
 fury. Concerning the peculiarly afflicted state of the 
 Asiatic Christians, it is related by Tertullian, that the 
 whole body of the brethren, wearied with constant 
 hardships, presented themselves before his tribunal.* 
 He ordered a few of them to execution, and said to 
 the rest, " Miserable people, if you choose death, you 
 may find precipices and halters enough." 
 
 I am willing to believe, that the Christians hoped to 
 disarm the persecutor by the sight of their numbers. 
 - One of the most venerable characters at this time 
 was Simeon, who had, after the death of St. James, 
 been invested with the pastoral office over the church 
 at. Jerusalem. Jerusalem indeed was no more, but 
 the church still existed in some part of Judea. 
 Some heretics accused Simeon as a Christian, before 
 Atticus, the Roman governor. He was then 120 years 
 old, and was scourged many days. The persecutor was 
 astonished at his hardiness, not moved with pity for 
 his sufferings ; at last he ordered him to be cruciiied. 
 
 It was in the year 107, that Ignatius, bishop of An- 
 tioch ? suffered death for the faith of Jesus. On the 
 death of Euodius, about the year 70, he had been ap- 
 pointed in his room by the apostles, who were then 
 alive. He governed the church during this long peri- 
 od. Nor was it a small indication, of the continued 
 grace of God to that city, to have been blessed so 
 long with such a luminary. Ignatius appears to have 
 been of a spirit truly apostolic ; much given to prayer 
 and fasting; by the steadfastness of his doctrine and 
 labours opposed to the floods of the adversary ; faith- 
 ful and clear in his exposition of the Holy Scriptures^ 
 not counting his life clear to him for the testimony of 
 Jesus : he even desired martyrdom for the name of his 
 Redeemer. And by Trajan, when visiting Antioch, on 
 his way to the Parthian war, he was ordered to Rome,, 
 fiere to be thrown to the wild beasts for the entertain- 
 
62 
 
 jnent of the people, where he was speedily 
 
 A few bones only were left, which were carefully prer 
 
 served, and afterwards buried at Antioch. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The History of Christians during the Reigns ofAdria/t 
 and Antoninus Pius. 
 
 ARAJAN died in the year 1 1 7. He did not live to 
 return from his military expedition into the East. 
 His successor Adrian, appears never to have issued 
 any persecuting edicts. But the iniquity of his pre- 
 descessor survived, and Adrian's silent acquiescence 
 for a time, gave it sufficient scope to exert itself in 
 acts of barbarity. 
 
 In the mean time, the gospel spread more and more. 
 A number of apostolical persons demonstrated by 
 their conduct, that the spirit, which had influenced the 
 apostles, rested upon them. Filled with divine chari- 
 ty, they distributed their substance to the poor, and 
 travelled into regions which as yet had not heard the 
 sound of the gospel ; and having planted the faith, they 
 ordained other persons as pastors, committing to them 
 the culture of the new ground, and passed on to other 
 countries. Hence numbers, through grace, embraced 
 the doctrine of salvation, at the first hearing, with 
 much alacrity. It is natural to admire here the pow- 
 er of grace in the production of so pure and charitable 
 a spirit, to contrast it with the illiberal selfishness- too 
 prevalent even among the best in our days, and to re- 
 gret how little is done for the propagation of the gos- 
 pel through the world, by nations whose aids of com- 
 merce and navigation are so much superior to those 
 enjoyed by the ancients. One advantage indeed thes^ 
 Christians possessed, which we do not. They were 
 all one body, one .church, of one name, and cordially 
 loved one another as brethren. There were indeed 
 jnany heretics \ but real Christians did. Rot admit tfieuft 
 
into their communities. The line of distinction was 
 drawn with sufficient precision, and a dislike of the 
 person or offices of Christ, and of the real spirit of ho- 
 liness, discriminated the heretics : and separation from 
 them, while it was undoubtedly the best mark of be- 
 nevolence to their souls, tended to preserve the faith 
 and love of the true Christians in genuine purity. 
 
 Among these holy men, Quadratus was much dis- 
 tinguished. In the pastoral charge of the church at 
 Athens, he succeeded Publius, who had, in this, or the 
 foregoing reign, suffered martyrdom. He found the 
 flock in a Dispersed and confused state, their public 
 assemblies deserted, their zeal grown cold and languid, 
 their lives and manners corrupted ; and they seemed 
 likely to apostatize from Christianity. Quadratus la- 
 bored to recover them with much zeal and with equal 
 success. Order and discipline were restored, and with 
 them the holy flame of godliness. 
 
 In the sixth year of his reign, Adrian came to Athens, 
 and was initiated in the Eleusmian mysteries. By 
 this he manifested his fondness for Pagan institutions, 
 and a spirit hostile to Christianity. The persecutor* 
 proceeded with sanguinary vigor; when Quadratus 
 presented to the emperor an apology for Christianity, de- 
 fending it from the calumnies of its enemie^ ; in which 
 he particularly took notice of our Savior's miracles, 
 his curing diseases, and raising the dead 5 some in- 
 stances of which, he says, were alive in his time. 
 
 Aristides, a Christian writer, at that time, at Athens, 
 apologized to the emperor on the same subject. The 
 good sense of the emperor was at length roused t da 
 justice to his innocent subjects. Also Serenius Gra- 
 nianus, pro-consul of Asia, wrote to the emperor, stating 
 that, to him it seemed unreasonable, the Christians 
 should be put to death, merely to gratify the clamors 
 of the people, without trial and without any crime prov- 
 ed against them. This appears to be the first instance 
 that any Roman governor dared publicly to advance 
 ideas contrary to Trajan's iniquitous maxims, which 
 inflicted death on Christians as such, abstracted 
 guilt. This goes to provo, that the severe su 
 
64 
 
 ings of cliristians in Asia, which were very remarkable, 
 were owing more to the active and sanguinary spirit 
 of persecution itself, which from Trajan's example, 
 had become very fashionable, than to any explicit re- 
 gard to his edicts. We have Adrian's rescript addressed 
 to Minucius Fundanus, the successor of Granianus, 
 whose government had nearly closed when he wrote 
 to the emperor. 
 
 To Minucius Fundanus. 
 
 " I have received a letter written to me by the very 
 ^illustrious Serenius Granianus, whom you have suc- 
 " ceeded. To me then the affair seems by no means 
 " fit to be slightly passed over, that men may not be 
 44 disturbed without cause, and that sycophants may 
 " not be encouraged in their jodious practices. If the 
 " people of the province will appear publicly, and 
 K make open charges against the Christians, so as to 
 " give them an opportunity of answering for them- 
 w selves, let them proceed in that manner only, and 
 " not by rude demands and mere clamours. For it is 
 " much more proper, if any will accuse them, that you 
 " should take cognizance of these matters. If any then 
 " accuse them, and shew that they commit any thing 
 " against the laws, do you determine according to the 
 " nature of the crime. But, by Hercules, if the charge 
 " be a mere calumny, do you estimate the enormity of 
 K the offence, and punish it as it deserves." 
 
 This evidently shows, that it was the intention of 
 the emperor to have prevented Christians as such from 
 being punished : if they demeaned themselves peacea- 
 bly and were obedient to the laws of the empire, they 
 should not be punished merely for being Christians. 
 But, though no persons were more innocent, peacea- 
 ble, and well disposed than they, yet the enmity of 
 men's minds against real godliness, so natural in all 
 ages, laid them under extreme disadvantages, un- 
 known to others, in vindicating themselves from un- 
 just aspersions ; and this forms, indeed, one of the 
 most painful crosses which good men endure ija this 
 
65 
 
 life. One of these disadvantages was, the many he* 
 retics, who, wearing the name, did not live the lives 
 of Christians, but were guilty of the most detesta- 
 ble enormities. These enormities were indiscrimi- 
 nately charged by the Pagans on Christians in gener- 
 al* This circumstance, in addition to other still more 
 important reasons, rendered them Careful in preserv- 
 ing the line of separation distinct ; and by the purity of 
 their lives, they were enabled gradually to overcome 
 all uncandid insinuations. 
 
 There is extant also a letter of Adrian, in which he 
 speaks of the Christians as very numerous at Alexan- 
 dria, and of Christian bishops, in a manner, as consid- 
 erable as the priests of Serapis. Since St. Mark's 
 time, it is evident, though we have scarce any partic- 
 ular accounts, that the gospel must have flourished 
 abundantly in Egypt. 
 
 But the same equitable rule of government, which 
 forbade Adrian to punish the Christians, led him to be 
 very severe against the Jews; for now appeared Bar- 
 chochebas, who pretended to be the star, prophesied of 
 by Balaam. This miserable people, who had rejected 
 the true Christ, received the imposter with open arms ; 
 who led them into horrid crimes, and among the rest, 
 into a cruel treatment of the Christians. The issue of 
 the rebellion was the entire exclusion of the Jews from 
 the city and territory of Jerusalem. 
 
 Adrian, after a reign of 21 years, was succeeded by 
 Antoninus Pius, who appears to have been, at least in 
 his own personal character and intentions, always guilt- 
 less of Christian blood. It was very difficult for the 
 enemies of Christ to support their persecuting spirit, 
 with any tolerably specious pretentious. The abom- 
 inations of heretics, whom ignorance and malice will 
 ever confound with real Christians, furnished them 
 with some. These were, probably, much exaggera- 
 ted. Whatever they were, the whole Christian church 
 was accused of them. Incest and the devouring of 
 infants were charged upon them, and thus a cloke was 
 afforded for the barbarous treatment of the best of 
 mankind, till time detected the slanders, and men 
 i 
 
66 
 
 fecame ashamed to believe what was in its own na^ 
 ture improbable and supported by no evidence. At this 
 time it pleased God to endow some Christians with 
 the power of defending his truth by the manly arms 
 of rational argumentation. Justin Martyr presented 
 his first apology to the emperor Antoninus Pius, about 
 the third year of his reign, A. D. 140. He was of that 
 class of men who in those days were usually called 
 philosophers. The information and arguments which 
 this apology contained, were not in vain. Antoninus 
 ivas a man of sense and humanity, open to conviction, 
 and uneorrupted by the vain and chimerical philoso- 
 phy of the times, and desirous of doing justice to all 
 mankind. 
 
 Asia, Propria was still the scene of vital Christianity 
 and of cruel persecution. The Christians, of that coun- 
 try, charged by their Pagan neighbors, with being the 
 procuring cause of some late tremendous earthquakes, 
 applied to Antoninus complaining of the many inju- 
 ries which they sustained from the people of the coun- 
 try. We have both in Eusebius, and at the end of 
 Justin's first apology, the edict sent to the common 
 council of Asia, every line of which well deserves our 
 attention. 
 
 The Emperor to the Common Council of Asia. 
 
 " I am quite of opinion, that the gods will take care 
 * to discover such persons. For it much more cori- 
 " cerns them to punish those who refuse to worship 
 " them than you, if they be able. But you harass and 
 "vex thenij and accuse them of atheism and other 
 "crimes, which you can by no means prove. To 
 u them it appears an advantage to die for their religion, 
 " and they gain their point, while they throw away 
 " their lives, rather than comply with your injunctions. 
 "As to the earthquakes, which have happened in past 
 " times, or lately, is it not proper to remind you of 
 " your own despondency when they happen, to desire 
 :< you to compare your spirit witk theirs, and observe 
 "how serenely they confide in God ? In such seasons 
 
67 
 
 seem to be ignorant of the gods, and neglect their 
 " worship, and you live in the practical ignorance of 
 4<: the Supreme God himself, and you harass and perse- 
 "cute to death those who do worship him. Concerning 
 "these men, some others of the provincial governors 
 " wrote to our divine father (Adrian) to whom he return* 
 " ed answer., that they should not be molested, unless 
 " they appeared to attempt something against the Ro- 
 " man government. Many also have signified to me 
 " concerning these men, to whom I have returned an 
 ^answer, agreeably to the maxims of my father. 
 "But if any will still accuse any of them as such 
 " (as christians) let the accused be acquitted, though 
 "" he appear to be a Christian, and let the accuser be 
 " punished." 
 
 This was set up at Ephesus in the common assem* 
 bly of Asia. 
 
 Eusebius informs us, that this was no empty edict, 
 but was really put in execution. Nor did this empe- 
 ror content himself merely with one edict. He wrote 
 to the same purport to the Larisseans, the Thessaloni- 
 ans, the Athenians, and all the Greeks. 
 
 As this prince reigned 23 years, such vigorous meas- 
 ures must have had their effect. And we may fairly 
 conclude that during a great part of his reign the Chris- 
 tians were permitted to worship God in peace. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Justin Martyr* 
 
 A HIS great man was born at Neapolis in Samaria, 
 anciently called Sichem. His father was a Gentile, 
 probably one of the Greeks, belonging to the colony 
 transplanted thither, who gave his son a philosophical 
 education. In his youth he travelled for the improve- 
 ment of his understanding, and Alexandria afforded 
 him all the entertainment which an inquisitive mind 
 derive from the fashionable studies. He sought, 
 
68 
 
 happiness first in the manner prescribed by the stoics, 
 but finding that he could learn nothing of God, nor ob- 
 tain true happiness by those pursuits, he betook himself 
 to a peripatetic, whose anxious desire of settling the 
 price of his instructions, convinced Justin, that truth 
 did not dwell with him. At length, having applied 
 himself to a Platonic philosopher for instruction, with 
 a plausible appearance of success, he gave himself up 
 to retirement and meditation. Walking near the sea 
 he was met by an aged person of a venerable appear- 
 ance, whom he beheld with much attention. "Do 
 you know me ?" says he ; when Justin answered in the 
 negative, he asked him why he surveyed him with 
 such attention ? " I wondered," says he " to find any 
 person here." The stranger observed that he was 
 waiting for some domestics ; " but what brought 
 you here ?" says he. Justin professed his love of pri- 
 vate meditation. The other hinted at the absurdity 
 of mere speculation, abstracted from practice, pointed 
 him to the unsatisfying nature of the Pythagorean and 
 Platonic philosophy, recommended to him the study 
 of the writings of the Hebrew prophets; gave him 
 some views of Christianity, in its nature and evidences,, 
 and added, " Above ail things, pray that the gates of 
 light may be opened to thee ; for they are not discern- 
 ible, nor to be understood by all, except God and 
 his Christ give to a man to understand." " The man 
 having spoken these things and much more, left me," 
 says Justin, "directed me to pursue these things, and 
 I saw him no more. Immediately a fire was kindled 
 in my soul, and I had a strong affection for the proph- 
 ets, and those men who are the friends of Christ, and 
 weighing within myself his words, I found this to be 
 the only sure philosophy." We have no more partic- 
 ulars of the exercises of his soul in religion. His con- 
 version took place some time in the reign of Adrian. 
 
 Coming to Rome in the time of Antoninus Pius he 
 there wrote a confutation 9!' the heretics. About the 
 year 140, Justin published his excellent apology for 
 the Christians, addressed to Antoninus Pius, which ap- 
 pears to have had a considerable influence on the 
 
69 
 
 mind of that prudent emperor, with respect to the 
 Christians. In this, he shows that the faults of any 
 who bore the Christian name were not to be charged 
 upon the whole body, and illustrates the real nature of 
 Christianity, by showing the happy effects which it 
 then had on mankind. He shows, that, though he- 
 retics were fond of the Christian name, they were 
 not persecuted, and there wns nothing in their spirit 
 and conduct which provoked persecution. He shows 
 that the small number of Jewish converts, compared 
 with the whole body of the nation, was no objec- 
 tion to the genuineness of Christianity, but strictly ac- 
 cording to the prophecies of the Old Testament. 
 He likewise describes the holy customs of the primi- 
 tive Christians in public worship, and in the adminis- 
 tration of the sacraments, to show the falsity of the 
 charges generally urged against them. Justin pre- 
 sented his second apology for Christianity to Marcus 
 Antoninus Philosophus, the successor of Pius, a deter- 
 mined enemy to Christians. He hoped to have soft- 
 ened the mind of the emperor towards Christians, but 
 in vain. Shortly after this Apology, which was re- 
 plete with the great truths of the gospel, and expres- 
 sive of an heroic spirit in the cause of Christ, he, hav- 
 ing been apprehended, with six of his Christian com- 
 panions, was brought before a Roman prefect, and 
 examined as to his real sentiments. Justin frankly 
 owned himself a Christian, and expressed his firm at- 
 tachment (o Jesus Christ as his Savior, and his raised 
 hopes of future blessedness through him, and his fixed 
 determination not to sacrifice to idols. His compan- 
 ions assented to the same, and showed themselves fix- 
 ed and settled in the Christian faith. The prefect, see- 
 ing Justin and his companions firm in their profession,, 
 and resolutely determined not to renounce the Chris- 
 tian religion, pronounced upon them the following sen- 
 tence : " as to those who refuse to sacrifice to the gods,, 
 and to obey the imperial edicts, let them be first scourg- 
 ed, and then be beheaded according to the laws." 
 
 The martyrs rejoiced and blessed God, and being 
 led. back to prison were whipped and afterwards be- 
 
70 
 
 headed. Their dead bodies were decently interred by 
 Christian friends. 
 
 Thus slept in Jesus the Christian philosopher Justin, 
 about the year 163; and about the third or fourth year 
 of the reign of Marcus. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Emperor Marcus Antoninus and his Persecution o/ 
 the Christians. 
 
 MARCUS ANTONINUS succeeded Pius in the 
 year 161, and soon after commenced the persecution 
 against Christians, in which Justin and his friends were 
 slain. Marcus was a prince in his general character, 
 considerate, humane, and benificent to the rest of 
 mankind, and yet during the whole of his reign, which 
 continued 19 years, an implacable persecutor of chris- 
 tians. But why ? It was not from an ignorance of their 
 true character; but from settled opposition of heart 
 to the holiness of the gospel, which in its nature is 
 not only opposed to vice, in all its varieties, but ut- 
 terly inconsistent with the religion of those philo- 
 sophers, who form a system from natural and self- 
 devised sources, in contempt of the revealed will of 
 God, and the influence of his Holy Spirit. This re- 
 ligion is pride, and self-importance ; it denies the fall- 
 en state of man, the provision and efficacy of grace, 
 and the glory of God and the Redeemer, and is ever 
 opposed to Christianity. The enmity of this prince 
 to Christians, was, in this way, grounded in opposition 
 to true holiness. He fancied that he carried God 
 within himself. To be good and virtuous was, ac- 
 cording to his self-sufficient ideas, perfectly in the 
 power of man. It was only to follow nature. With 
 these views, he could not be humble, nor pray ear- 
 nestly, uor feel his own internal wickedness and mis- 
 ery, nor bear the idea of a Savior and Mediator. 
 His philosophic pride was wounded by the cbctriflee 
 
71 
 
 6f the cross, and he sought revenge. This is the phi- 
 losophy of which the apostle warns us to beware. 
 
 The sufferings of the Christians, during the reign of 
 this persecuting prince, were great. This appears 
 from an address made to Marcus, by Melito of Sardis, 
 published about the year 1 77. A part of this address 
 deserves to be quoted on account of the justness of the 
 sentiments, and the politeness with \vhich they are 
 delivered. " Pious persons, aggrieved by new edicts, 
 published throughout Asia, and never before practised, 
 now suffer persecution. For audacious sycophants, 
 and men who covet other persons' goods, take advan- 
 tage of these proclamations openly to rob and spoil 
 the innocent by night and by day. If this be done 
 by your order, let it stand good ; for, a just emperor 
 cannot act unjustly, and we will cheerfully carry away 
 the honor of such a death ; this only we humbly crave 
 of your majesty, that, after an impartial examination 
 of us and our accusers, you would justly decide 
 whether we deserve death and punishment, or life and 
 protection. But if these proceedings be not yours, 
 and the new edicts be not the effects of your personal 
 judgment, edicts which ought not to be enacted against 
 barbarian enemies, in that case we entreat you not to 
 despise us, who are unjustly oppressed." He after- 
 wards reminds him of the justice done to Christians 
 by his tw r o immediate predecessors. 
 
 From this account it appears, that the out-pouring 
 of the spirit of God still continued to produce its ho- 
 ly fruits; that Marcus, by new edicts, commenced the 
 persecution, and carried it on with merciless barba- 
 rity in those regions which had been relieved by 
 Pius. 
 
72 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 < 
 
 Martyrdom of Poly carp. 
 
 Jt OLYCARP had been familiarly conversant with 
 the apostles, and had received the government of the 
 church of Smyrna from those who had been eye-wit- 
 nesses and ministers of our Lord, and taught continu- 
 ally the doctrines which he had received from them. 
 He appears to have presided over this church 74 years, 
 and to have lived to an age extremely great. He cer- 
 tainly long survived his friend Ignatius, arid was re- 
 served to surfer by Marcus Antoninus. 
 
 Some time before this he came to Rome, where all 
 the errors of Marcion had taken deep root, and was 
 successfully employed in reclaiming many from that 
 heresy. It was not in Marcion's power to undermine 
 the authority of this venerable Asiatic. To procure a 
 seeming coalition was the utmost he could expect, and 
 it was as suitable to his views to attempt this, as it was 
 to those of Poly carp to oppose it. Meeting him one 
 day in the street, he called out to him, "Polycarp, own 
 us." "I do own thee," answered the zealous Polycarp, 
 " to be the first-born of Satan." An answer showing 
 in what light he viewed the conduct of this arch-deni- 
 er of the real Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 The holiness of Polycarp's life, and the firmness with 
 which he withstood the soothing errors of his day. 
 which suited and fed the pride of the human heart, 
 roused the enemies of Christianity to persecute him 
 unto death. 
 
 When apprehended by his enemies, and before the 
 Roman proconsul, every attempt which could be made 
 to bring him to reproach Christ and to renounce his 
 religion was used. To all this the suffering Polycarp re- 
 plied, " 80 and 6 years have I served him," meaning 
 Christ, " and he has never wronged me, and how can 
 I blaspheme my King who hath saved me ?" By the 
 vehement importunity of the infidel multitude, of 
 
73 
 
 Gentiles and Jews, who dwelt at Smyrna, demanding 
 that he should be burnt alive, Poiycarp was condemn- 
 ed to the flames. While the preparations for his aw- 
 ful execution were making, he engaged in the most 
 solemn and devout prayer, and with confidence and 
 affection committed his soul to the care and keeping 
 of Christ his Redeemer. The materials were placed 
 around him, and when he had finished his prayer, and 
 pronounced Amen aloud, the officers communicated 
 the fatal fire. A great flame burst forth, formed an 
 arch, and was as a wall round about the body of the 
 martyr. This illustrious Christian stood in the midst, 
 not as burning flesh, but as gold and silver well refined. 
 One of the officers, enraged at the astonishing sight, 
 thrust him with his sword and at once ended his life 
 and sufferings. His body was afterwards burnt. The 
 credit of this account rests on the particular testimony 
 contained in an Epistle written in the name of Poly- 
 carp's church at Smyrna. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne. 
 
 V IENNE and Lyons were early visited with tlie light 
 of the gospel. In each of these cities a church was 
 early planted. Probably they were founded by some 
 Asiatic Greeks. 
 
 The flame of Antoninus' persecution, reached these 
 cities. How much they had been blessed with evan- 
 geliqal light and love, the accounts, which we have of 
 their sufferings in the cause of Christ, fully evince. 
 The calamities which they endured, and the manner 
 they sustained them, appear by the following Epistle 
 of the churches of Vienne and Lyons to the brethren 
 in Asia and Phrygia. 
 
 "The servants of Christ, sojourning in Vienne and 
 Lyons in France, to the brethren in Asia Propria and 
 Phrygia, who have the same faith and hope of re~ 
 
74 
 
 demption with us, peace, and grace, ancl glory from 
 God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 
 
 We are not competent to describe with accuracy, 
 nor is it in our power to express the greatness of the 
 affliction sustained here by the saints, the intense an- 
 imosity of the heathen against them, and the compli- 
 cated sufferings of the blessed martyrs. The grand 
 enemy assaulted us with all his might, and by his first 
 essays exhibited intentions of exercising malice with- 
 out limits and without controul. He left no method 
 untried to habituate his slaves to his bloody work, and 
 to prepare them by previous exercises against the ser- 
 vants of God. Christians were absolutely prohibited 
 from appearing in any houses, except their own, in 
 baths, in the market, or in any place whatever. The 
 grace of God, however, fought for us, preserving the 
 weak and exposing the strong, who like pillars, were 
 able to withstand him in patience, and to draw the 
 whole fury of the wicked against themselves. These 
 entered into the contest, sustaining every species of 
 pain and reproach. What was heavy to others, to 
 them was light, while they were hastening to Christ, 
 evincing indeed, that the sufferings of this present time 
 are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be 
 revealed in us. The first trial was from the people at 
 large; shouts, blows, the dragging of their bodies, the 
 plundering of their goods, casting of stones, and the 
 confining of them within their own houses, and all the 
 indignities which may be expected from a fierce and 
 outrageous multitude, these were magnanimously sus- 
 tained. And now, being led into the forum by the 
 tribune and the magistrates, they were examined be- 
 fore all the people, whether they were Christians, and, 
 on pleading guilty, were shut up in prison till the ar- 
 rival of the governor. Before him they were at length 
 brought, and he treated them with great savageness of 
 manners. The spirit of Vettius Epagathus, one of the 
 brethren, was roused ; a man full of charity both to 
 God and man, whose conduct was so exemplary, 
 though but a youth, that he might justly be compar- 
 ed to old Zacharias ; for he walked in all the com- 
 
75 
 
 mandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless, a 
 man ever unwearied in acts of beneficence to his 
 neighbors, full of zeal towards God, and fervent in 
 spirit. He could not bear to see so manifest a per- 
 version of justice ; but, being moved with indigna- 
 tion, he demanded to be heard in behalf of the breth- 
 ren, and pledged himself to prove that there was noth- 
 ing atheistical or impious among them, those about the 
 tribunal shouting against him, for he was a man of 
 quality, and the governor being impatient of so equit- 
 able a demand, and only asking him if he were a Chris- 
 tian, and he confessing in the most open manner, the 
 consequence was, that he was ranked among the" mar- 
 trys. He was called, indeed the advocate of the chris- 
 tians ; but he had an advocate within, the Holy Spirit, 
 more abundantly than Zacharias, which he demon- 
 strated by the fulness of his charity, cheerfully laying 
 down his life in defence of his brethren ; for he was, 
 and is still, a genuine disciple of Christ, following the 
 Lamb whithersoever he goeth. The rest began now 
 to be distinguished. The capital martrys appeared 
 indeed ready for the contest, and discharged their 
 part with all alacrity of mind. Others appeared also 
 unready, unexcercised, and as yet weak, unable to sus- 
 tain the shock of such a contest : of these, ten in num- 
 ber lapsed, whose case filled us with great grief and 
 immeasurable sorrow 7 , and dejected the spirits of those 
 who had not yet been apprehended, who, though they 
 sustained all indignities, yet deserted not the martyrs 
 in their distress. Then we were alt much alarmed, be- 
 cause of the uncertain event of confession, not that we 
 dreaded the torments with which we were threatened, 
 but because we looked forward unto the end, and flar- 
 ed the danger of apostacy. Persons were now appre- 
 hended daily of such as were counted worthy to fill 
 up the number of the lapsed, so that the most excel- 
 lent were selected from the two churches, even those 
 by whose labor they had been founded and establish- 
 ed. There were seized at the same time some of our 
 heathen servants, (for the governor had openly order- 
 ed us all to be sought for) who by the impulse of Sa- 
 
76 
 
 tan, fearing the torments which they saw inflicted on 
 the saints, on the suggestion of the soldiers, accused 
 UB of eating human flesh, and of unnatural mixtures, 
 and of things not fit even to he mentioned or imagined, 
 and such as ought not to be believed of mankind*' 
 These things being divulged, all were incensed even 
 to madness against us ; so that if some were formerly 
 more moderate on account of any connexions of blood, 
 affinity, or friendship, they were then transported be- 
 yond all bounds with indignation. Now it was that our 
 Lord's word was fulfilled, " The time will come when who- 
 soever killeth you will think that he doeth God service" 
 The holy martyrs now sustained tortures which exceed 
 the powers of description ; Satan labouring, by means 
 of them, to extort something slanderous to christanity. 
 The whole fury of the multitude, the governor, and the 
 soldiers, was spent in a particular manner on Sanctus 
 of Vienne, the deacon, and on Maturus, a late convert 
 indeed, but a magnanimous wrestler, and on Attalus 
 of Pergamus, a man who had ever been the pillar and 
 support of our church, and onBlandina, through whom 
 Christ shewed, that those things, that appear unsight- 
 ly and contemptible among men, are most honorable 
 in the presence of God, on account of love to his name 
 exhibited in real energy, and not boasting in pompoua 
 pretences. For while we all feared, and among the 
 rest her mistress, according to the flesh, herself one of 
 the noble army of martyrs, was afraid that she would 
 not be able to witness a good confession, because of the 
 weakness of her body, Blandina was endued with so 
 much fortitude, that those who successively tortured 
 her from morning to night, were quite worn out with 
 fatigue, and owned themselves conquered and ex- 
 hausted of their whole apparatus of tortures, and were 
 amazed to see her still breathing, whilst her body was 
 torn and laid open, and confessed that one species of 
 torture had been sufficient to despatch her, much more 
 so great a variety as had been applied. But the bles- 
 sed woman, as a generous wrestler, recovered fresh 
 vigor in the act of confession ; and it was an evident 
 refreshment, support, and an annihilation of all ber 
 
77 
 
 pains to say "lam a Christian and no evil is committed 
 " among us. 
 
 "In the mean time Sanctus, having sustained, in a 
 manner more than human, the most barbarous indig- 
 nities, while the impious hoped to extort from him 
 something injurious to the gospel, from the duration 
 and intenseness of his sufferings, resisted with so much 
 firmness, that he would neither tell his own name, nor 
 that of his nation or state, nor whether he was a free- 
 man or a slave ; but to every interrogatory he answer- 
 ed in Latin, " I am a Christian." This he repeatedly 
 owned was to him both name, and state, and race, and 
 every thing, and nothing else could the heathen draw 
 from him. Hence the indignation of the governor and 
 the torturers was fiercely levelled against him, so that 
 having exhausted all the usual methods of torture, 
 they at last fixed brazen plates to the most tender 
 parts of his body. These were scorched of course, and 
 yet he remained upright and inflexible, firm in his con- 
 fession, being bedewed and refreshed from the heav- 
 enly fountain of the water of life. His body witnessed 
 indeed the ghastly tortures which he had sustained, be- 
 ing one continued wound and bruise, altogether con- 
 tracted, and no longer retaining the form of a human 
 creature ; in whom Christ suffering wrought great won- 
 ders, confounding the adversary, and shewing, for the 
 encouragement of the rest, that nothing is to be feared 
 where the love of the Father is ; nothing painful where 
 the glory of Christ is exhibited. For while the impious 
 imagined, when after some days they renewed his tor- 
 tures, that a fresh application of the same methods of 
 punishment to his wounds, now swollen and inflamed, 
 must either overcome his constancy, or, by despatching 
 him on the spot, strike a terror into the rest, as he 
 could not even bear to be touched by the hand, this 
 was so far from being the case, that contrary to all ex- 
 pectation, his body recovered its natural position in 
 the second course of torture ; he was restored to his 
 former shape and the use of his limbs ; so that, by the 
 grace of Christ, it proved not, a punishment, but a 
 
 cure ! 5) 
 
Biblias, a woman, who had denied Christ, was led 
 to the torture, and though at first she accused the chris- 
 tians of horrid impieties, yet in the midst of her tor- 
 tures, being admonished by a temporary punishment 
 of the danger of eternal fire in hell, she recovered from 
 her apostacy, professed herself a Christian, and wag 
 added to the army of martyrs. 
 
 Many Christians were thurst into the darkest and 
 most noisome parts of the prison, where they suffered 
 all the indignities which diabolical malice could inflict 
 Many were suffocated. Others, though greatly afflict- 
 ed, remained alive, strengthened by the Lord, and 
 comforted and encouraged one another to constancy 
 in the christain faith. 
 
 Pothinas, bishop of Lyons, upwards of ninety years 
 of age, very infirm and asthmatic, panting after mar- 
 tyrdom, was called to suffer. After a great variety of 
 abuse, both from the populace and the magistrates, he- 
 was thrown into prison, and after two days expired. 
 
 Those, who had denied Christ, were not by their de- 
 nial of him exempt from persecution. But in their 
 sufferings they had not the supports which others, who 
 stood firm in the faith, experienced. They went to 
 execution with guilt depicted in their countenances, 
 dejected, spiritless and forlorn. The heathen insulted 
 them as cowards and poltroons, and treated them as 
 murderers : thus seeking to save their lives they lost 
 them, and failed of receiving the consolations of the 
 religion which they had renounced. 
 
 The heathen denied the rites of interment to those 
 who suffered martyrdom. After having treated them 
 with many indignities, they burnt themto ashes, and 
 to prevent their resurrection, and to deter others from 
 the hope of a future life, cast their ashes into the river 
 Rhone ; adding, " Now let us see if they will rise again, 
 and if their God can help them and deliver them out 
 of our hands." 
 
 In all their great sufferings, those martyrs were 
 humble, peaceable, meek and patient ; evincing that 
 they felt the power of religion, and that they loved 
 Savior, and had the special supports of his spirit.* 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The State of Christians under the reign of Commodus^ 
 and the story of Pereginus. 
 
 A HE reign of Commodus is remarkable for the 
 peace granted to the church of Christ through the 
 world. The means used by Divine Providence for this 
 purpose are more marvellous. Marcia, a woman of low 
 rank, was the favorite concubine of this emperor. She. 
 had a predilection for the Christians, and employed 
 her interest with Commodus in their favor. Though 
 Commodus was extremely vicious and profligate, yet 
 under his reign God gave his church a breathing time 
 of twelve years. The gospel now flourished abundant- 
 ly, and many of the nobility of Rome, with their whole 
 families, embraced it. The envy of the great was 
 hereby excited. The Roman senate felt its dignity 
 defiled by innovations, in their view, extremely con- 
 temptible, and to support their injured honor, had re- 
 course to persecution. 
 
 Apollonius, a person renowned for learning and 
 philosophy, at that time in Rome, was a sincere chris- 
 tian. He was accused by an informer before Peren- 
 nis the judge, a person of considerable influence in 
 the reign of Commodus. According to the law of An- 
 toninus Pius, which had been revived by Commo- 
 dus, requiring that the accusers of Christians should 
 be put to death, Perennis, sentenced the accuser, and 
 his legs were broken. In this, he obeyed the dictates 
 of the law ; in what follows, he obeyed the dictates 
 of his own malice, or rather that of the senate. 
 The prisoner was required to give an account of his 
 faith before the senate and the court. He complied, 
 and delivered an apology for Christianity, and by a de- 
 cree of the senate was beheaded. This is perhaps the 
 only trial we read of in which both accuser and accu- 
 sed suffered judicially. Eusebius observes, that the 
 laws,, commanding Christians, who had been present- 
 
80 
 
 fcd before the tribunal, to be put to death, were still in 
 force. But Adrian, or certainly Antoninus Pius, had 
 abrogated this iniquitous edict of Trajan. Under 
 Marcus it might have been revived, for he was very 
 bitter in his feelings against religion. Now Commo- 
 dus, by menacing persecutors with death, might have 
 supposed, he had hereby sufficiently secured the live* 
 of Christians. Yet, if a formal abrogation of the law 
 against them had been neglected, one may see how 
 Apollonius come to suffer, as well as his adversary. 
 This distinguished man lost his life by vindicating that 
 cause which is able to secure to him eternal life, and ad- 
 hered to HIM who keeps by his power, through faith in 
 his name, unto salvation, all who put their trust in him. 
 There is a remarkable story of one Peregrinus, in 
 the works of Lucian, which, as it falls in with this cen- 
 tury, and shows the character of Christians, who then 
 lived, deserves here to be introduced. " In his youth 
 he fell into shameful crimes, for which he was near 
 loosing his life in Armenia and Asia. I will not dwell 
 on those crimes ; but I am persuaded that what I am 
 about to say, is worthy of attention. There are none 
 of you but know, that being chagrined that his father 
 was still alive after being turned of sixty years of age, 
 he strangled him. The rumor of so black a crime be- 
 ing spread abroad, he betrayed his guilt by flight. He 
 wandered about in divers countries to conceal the 
 place of his retreat, till, upon coming into Judea, he 
 learnt the admirable doctrines of Christianity, by con- 
 versing with pastors and teachers. In a little time 
 he shewed them that they were but children com- 
 pared with him ; for he became not only a proph- 
 et, but the head of their congregation : in a word, he 
 was every thing to them ; he explained their books 
 and composed some himself; insomuch that they 
 spoke of him as a god, and considered him as their 
 law-giver and ruler. However, these people adore 
 that Great Person who had been crucified in Pales- 
 tine, as being the first who taught men that religion. 
 While these things were going on, Peregrinus was 
 apprehended and put in prison on account of his being 
 
& Christian. This disgrace loaded him with honor , 
 the very thing he ardently desired, made him more 
 reputable among those of that persuasion, and furnish- 
 ed him with a power of performing wonders. The 
 Christians, grievously afflicted at his confinement, used 
 their utmost endeavors to procure his liberty ; and as 
 they saw they could not compass it, they provided 
 abundantly for all his wants, and rendered him all im- 
 aginable services. There was seen, by break of day, 
 at the prison-gate, a company of old women, widows 
 and orphans, some of whom, after having corrupted the 
 guard with money, passed the night with him ; there 
 they partook together of elegant repasts and entertain- 
 ed one another with religious discourses. They cal- 
 led that excellent man the new Socrates. There came 
 Christians, deputed even from many cities of Asia, to 
 converse with him, to comfort him, and to bring him 
 supplies of money ; for thfe care and diligence which 
 the Christians manifest in these junctures, are incredi- 
 ble ; they spare nothing in these cases ; they sent 
 therefore large sums to Peregrinus, and his confine- 
 ment was to him an occasion of amassing great riches ; 
 for these poor creatures are firmly persuaded they 
 shall one day enjoy immortal life ; Therefore they dis- 
 pise death with wonderful courage, and offer them- 
 selves voluntarily to punishment. Their first Law- 
 giver has put it into their heads that they are all breth- 
 ren, since they separated from us, they persevere in 
 rejecting the gods of the Grecians, and worshipping 
 that Deceiver, who was crucified; they regulate their 
 manners and conduct by his laws ; they despise, 
 therefore, all earthly possessions, and enjoy them in 
 common. Therefore if any magician or juggler, any 
 cunning fellow who knows how to make his advan- 
 tage of opportunity, happens to get into their society, 
 he immediately grows rich ; because it is easy for a 
 man of this sort to abuse the simplicity of these silly 
 people. However Peregrinus was set at liberty by the 
 president of Syria, who was a lover of philosophers 
 and its professors, and who, having perceived that this 
 man courted death out of vanity and fondness for re- 
 
82 
 
 fiown, released him, despising him too much to have* 
 a desire of inflicting capital punishment on him. Per- 
 egrinus returned into his own country, and as some 
 were inclined to prosecute him on account of his par- 
 icide, he gave all his vvealthto his fellow citizens, who, 
 being gained by this liberality, imposed silence on 
 his accusers. He left his country a second time in 
 order to travel, reckoning he should find every thing 
 he wanted in the purses of the Christians, who were 
 punctual in accompanying him wherever he went, 
 and supplied him with all things in abundance. He 
 subsisted in this manner for some time ; but having 
 done something which the Christians abhor, (they saw 
 him, I think, make use of some meats forbidden among 
 them) he was abandoned by them ;. insomuch that 
 having not any longer the means of support, he would 
 fain have revoked the donation he had made to his 
 country." 
 
 The native place of this extraordinary man was Pa- 
 rium in Mysia. After his renunciation of Christianity 
 he assumed the character of a philosopher. In that 
 light he is mentioned by several heathen authors; and 
 this part he acted, till the time of his death, when, in 
 his old age, he threw himself into the flames, probablj 
 because suicide was honorable in the eyes of the Gen- 
 tiles, and because Empedocles, a brother philosoph er f 
 had thrown himself into the volcano at Mount ./Etna. 
 
 A remark or two must be made on the write/, the 
 hero, and the Christians of those times. 
 
 It is to be remembered that the railleries, cavils 
 and insinuations against them in this narrative, come- 
 from a rancorous enemy; from Lucian, a learned hea- 
 then, who manifested a malignant hatred against Chris- 
 tians and their holy religion. 
 
 Peregrinus is no uncommon character. His early 
 life was nothing but evil, afterward he assumed, mere- 
 ly for selfish purposes, something of the garb and 
 appearance of Christianity, which he wore with con- 
 summate address, and imposed on genuine chris- 
 tians of undoubted discernment. The savage heart 
 of Lucian seems to have rejoiced in the imposi- 
 
83 
 
 fions of Peregrinus, and particularly that he was able 
 to deceive so long and so completely. He does not 
 appear to have mourned over his superlative wicked- 
 ness, but to have rejoiced in it. 
 
 Peregrinus lived long enough to appear a complete 
 impostor, and to be universally rejected by the breth- 
 ren. He afterward became a professed philosopher. 
 What is called philosophy is consistent with hypocrisy, 
 and his dreadful end should be awfully instructive to 
 mankind. 
 
 Yet, what is there in all this account of the chris- 
 tians, discolored as it is by the malignant author, which 
 does not redound to their honor ? While Peregrinus 
 made a creditable profession of religion, they received 
 him with cordiality ; they did not pretend to infallibi- 
 lity. Their conduct toward this base impostor, surely 
 deserved high applause, rather than censure. Their 
 liberality, zeal, compassion, brotherly love, fortitude, 
 and heavenly-mindednes?, appear, from this narra- 
 tive, to have been exceedingly great. It is also evi- 
 dent that Christians were then in morals much superi- 
 or to the rest of mankind ; and it is lamentable that 
 Lucian, who could relate this, had not the wisdom 
 to make a profitable use of it for himself, 
 
 CHAPTER Till. 
 
 Some account of Christian Authors who flourished iv 
 this Century. 
 
 IT may throw some additional light on the history of 
 Christian doctrine and manners in this century, to give 
 a brief view of its eminent writers. Some of the most 
 renowned have already been noticed ; a few more of 
 great respectability shall be deferred to the next cen- 
 tury, because they out-lived this, 
 
 Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, lived under the reigu 
 of Marcus Antoninus and his son Comraodus. He 
 wrote to the Lacedemonians concerning the doctrine 
 f the gospel 5 and an exhortation to peace and unity; 
 
84 
 
 also, to the Athenians ; by his testimony we learn 
 Dionysius, the Areopagite, was the first bishop of Ath- 
 ens. In his letter to the Christians in Crete he highly 
 commends Philip the bishop, and guards them against 
 errors. In his Epistle to the churches of Pontus, he 
 directs that all penitents should be received who re- 
 tijrned to the church, whatever their past crimes may 
 have been, even if guilty of heresy itself. From 
 these Epistles we infer that Corinth was singularly 
 blessed with the labors of so faithful and zealous a 
 pastor, and that gospel-discipline was as yet admin- 
 istered with much strictness in the churches, and that 
 purity of doctrine, as well as of life and manners, was 
 still considered to be of high importance. 
 
 From his Epistle to Pinytus, bishop of the Gnossians 
 in Crete, advising him not to impose on the Christians 
 the heavy burden of the obligation, to preserve their 
 virginity, it appears that monastic austerities were be- 
 ginning to appear in the churches, and that the best 
 men, after the example of the apostles, endeavored to 
 control them. Pinytus, in his reply, manifests his 
 knowledge of true godliness by requesting Dion} sins 
 to afford his people more solid nourishment, and to send 
 frequent letters to him which might fill his cougrega- 
 Jion, lest being always fed with milk, they should re- 
 main in a state of infancy. 
 
 In his letter to the Romans, addressed to Sotcr 
 their bishop, he recommended to them a charitable 
 custom, which, from their first plantation, they had 
 always practised, which was to send relief to diverse 
 churches throughout the world, and to assist particu- 
 larly those who were condemned to the mines: a 
 strong proof, both that the Roman church continued 
 opulent and numerous, and also that they still partook 
 much of the spirit of Christ. 
 
 Theophiius, of Antioch, was brought up a Gentile, 
 was educated in all the knowledge then reputable in 
 the world, and was a man of considerable parts ajid 
 learning. His philosophic turn of mind long impeded 
 his reception of the scriptural doctrine of the resurrec- 
 tion, and consequently of the gospel itself. But the 
 grace of God, while it convinced him, of fris i 
 
85 
 
 to dispel his own doubts, effectually instructed his un- 
 derstanding. He was valiant against the fashionable 
 heresies of the times in which he lived. After having 
 been bishop of the church of Antioch 13 years, he died 
 in peace about the second or third year of Commodus. 
 
 Melito, bishop of Sardis, gives us a catalogue of the 
 sacred books of the Old Testament. The most of his. 
 writings are lost. In one extant, he declares, that 
 the Christians do not adore insensible stones, but that 
 they worship only one God, who is before ail things 
 and in all things, and Jesus Christ who is God before 
 all ages. Melito died and was buried at Sardis. 
 
 Bardasanes, of Mesopotamia, was renowned for 
 learning and eloquence. A remarkable passage from 
 him, preserved by Eusebius, shows the great pro- 
 gress and energy of Christianity, in this century. 
 
 " In Parthia," says he, " polygamy is allowed and 
 practised, but the Christians of Parthia practise it not. 
 In Persia the same may be said with respect to incest 
 In Bartria, and in Gaul the rights of matrimony are 
 defiled with impunity. The Christians there act not 
 thus. In truth, wherever they reside, they triumph, 
 in their practice, over tr^e worst of laws and the worsi 
 of customs." 
 
 Miltiades distinguished himself by writing in de- 
 fence of Christianity. He assures, us that the mirac- 
 ulous influences of the Holy Spirit had not ceased at 
 that time, but wer very common in the Christian 
 church. 
 
 Athenagoras, toward the latter end of this century^ 
 wrote an apology for the Christian religion. His testi- 
 mony to the doctrine of the Trinity, in this apology 
 expresses something more than a speculative belief of 
 it, and that he considered it to be essential to practical 
 godliness. From his representation of the faith and 
 practice^ of real Christians, in his day, it appears, that 
 they found, in their view of the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, and of the truths of the gospel, which are so 
 closely interwoven with the doctrine of the Trinity, 
 something which warmed their hearts, and raised, their 
 Affections from earth tQ heaven,. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Heresies and Controversies of this Century review- 
 ed, and some Account of the Progress of Christianity 
 during the course of it. 
 
 A HE first heretics of this century were those who 
 opposed or corrupted the doctrine of the real and 
 proper Divinity of Christ. Victor, bishop, or pastor, 
 of the church of Rome, near the close of the cen- 
 tury, excommunicated Theodotus, the father of 
 this apostacy, who denied the Divinity of Christ, be- 
 cause he first affirmed Christ to be only man. It ap- 
 pears that a denial of the Deity of Christ could not 
 find a patron, that was suffered to remain in the 
 church, in the course of the first two hundred years.* 
 Every Christian, of any eminence for judgrnent and pi- 
 ety,^ unequivocally held an opposite language. 
 
 This Theodotus was a citizen of Byzantium, a tan- 
 ner, but a man of parts and learning. In his specula- 
 tions, he felt himself important enough to dare to be 
 singular, and revived the heresy of Ebion. He was- 
 brought with some Christians before persecuting ma- 
 gistrates. His campanions honestly confessed their 
 Lord and suffered. He was the only man of the com- 
 pany who denied him. In truth he had no principles 
 strong enough to induce him to bear the cross. The- 
 odotus lived still a denier of Christ, and being after- 
 ward upbraided for denying his God, u INTo" says he, " I 
 have not denied God, but man, for Christ is no more." 
 His heresy hence obtained a new name, that of the 
 God-denying apostacy. 
 
 Toward the close of this century, the controversy 
 concerning the proper time of the observation of Eas- 
 ter, was unhappily revived. Synods were held con- 
 cerning it, and uniformity was attempted in vain 
 throughout the church. Victor, of Rome, with much 
 arrogance and temerity, inveighed against the Asiatic 
 churches, and pronounced the sentence of excojmnuni- 
 
87 
 
 cation. This contention was, however, with much dif- 
 ficulty, ended by the prudent measures used by Tre- 
 nseus, bishop of Lyons, who rebuked the uncharitable 
 spirit of Victor, and pressed upon all concerned the 
 great duty of Christian love and unity. 
 
 That this controversy should appear to be a matter 
 of such great moment, at this time, proves that the 
 power of true godliness had already suffered consider- 
 able declension. When faith and love are simple, 
 strong, and active in an eminent degree, such subjects 
 of debate are ever known to vanish as mists before the 
 sun. 
 
 The Montanists, an heretical sect, gave the church 
 of Christ much trouble. Their leader, Montanus> first 
 began his frantic career in Phrygia. He pretended 
 to prophecy, that he was the Paraclete, or Comforter, 
 whom Christ, at his departure from earth, promised 
 to send to his disciples to lead them into all truth. 
 He declared himself sent with a divine commission to 
 give to the moral precepts, delivered by Christ and his 
 apostles, the finishing touch, which was to bring them 
 to perfection. He urged many things not inculcated 
 in the word of God, gave it as his opinion that whate- 
 ver savored of polite literature, should be banished 
 from the Christian church. The followers of Monta- 
 nus took upon them to revile every church under hea- 
 ven, which did not pay homage to their pretended 
 inspirations. Few of the Phrygians were seduced. 
 The faithful, throughout Asia, in frequent synods, ex- 
 amined and condemned the heresy. 
 
 The deceit of philosophy formed the last corruption 
 0f this century. This appeared at Alexandria, which 
 was then highly renowned for learning. There, cer- 
 tain philosophers, who called themselves Eclectics^ ap- 
 peared. They pretended to confine themselves to no 
 particular set of rules, but to choose what they judged 
 most agreeable to truth from different masters and 
 sects. Their prominent sentiments were, that all reli- 
 gions, vulgar and philosophical, Grecian and Barbari- 
 an, Jewish and Gentile, virtually meant the same thing. 
 The most famous of these philosophers was Ammonias 
 
88 
 
 Sacas, ah Alexandrian teacher. Plato was his 
 cipal guide. Saccas was an ambiguous character, a 
 kind of Pagano-christian. These philosophers appear 
 to have complimented Christianity with some respect- 
 ful attention, and yet studiously to have avoided the 
 cross of Christ, and the precise peculiarities of the 
 gospel, to preserve their credit with the world. 
 
 Under the fostering hand of Ammonius and his fol- 
 lowers, fictitious holiness was formed into a system, 
 and generated the worst of evils under the form of em- 
 inent sanctity. That man is altogether fallen, that he 
 is to be justified wholly by the faith of Christ, that his 
 atonement and mediation alone procure us access to 
 God and eternal life, that holiness is the effect of Di- 
 vine grace, and is the proper work of the Holy Spirit 
 on the heart of man ; these, and if there are any other 
 similar evangelical truths, as it was not possible to 
 mix them with Platonisrn, faded gradually of them- 
 selves in the church, and were at length partly denied, 
 and partly forgotten, 
 
 By the ambitious intrusions of self-righteousness, 
 argumentative refinements, and Pharisaic pride, the 
 Spirit of God was grieved, and godliness, in the pro- 
 fessed friends of Christ, began in this century to decay. 
 Yet the effects of the first out-pouring of the Spirit, and 
 some rich communications of the same Spirit, will 
 appear in the third century. 
 
 CENTURY IIL 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Irenceus. 
 
 .OEFOfiE we proceed with the orderly course of 
 events in the third century, it may be convenient to 
 continue the accounts of authors belonging to the last r 
 whose deaths happened in this. We meet with four 
 
89 
 
 telebrated men of this description ; Irenseus, Tertulii- 
 an, Pantaenus, and Clement of Alexandria. 
 
 Irenseus, was instructed in Christianity by Papias, 
 bishop of Hierapolis, and the renowned Poly carp, both 
 disciples of St. John. After the death of Pothinus, 
 he succeeded him in the pastoral charge of the church 
 of Lyons. Never was any pastor more severely tried 
 by a tempestuous scene. Violent persecution with- 
 out, and subtle heresies within, called for the exertion, 
 at once, of consummate dexterity and magnanimous 
 resolution. Irenaeus was favored with a measure 
 of both, and weathered the storm. But heresy prov- 
 ed a more constant enemy than persecution. The 
 multiplication of it, in endless refinements, induced 
 him to write his book against heresies, which must 
 have been at that time a very seasonable work. The 
 beginning o r the third century was marked with per- 
 secution under Septimius Severus, the successor of 
 Julian. In this, we are informed, Irenseus was put to 
 death, and with him, almost all the Christians of the 
 populous city of Lyons. 
 
 It is no small instance of charity and deep humility 
 in this great man, that for the love of 3ouls, he labor- 
 ed long among the Gauls while they were mere bar- 
 barians, learned their rude dialect and conformed 
 to their rustic manners, to bring them to a knowl- 
 edge of salvation by Jesus Christ. His labors among 
 diem were doubtless of the most solid utility. 
 
 He agrees with all the primitive Christians in the 
 doctrine of the Trinity, and makes use of the 45th 
 Psalm particularly to prove the Deity of Jesus Christ. 
 He is no less sound and clear in his views of the in- 
 carnation; and in general, notwithstanding some phi- 
 losophical adulterations, certainly maintained all the 
 essentials of the gospel 
 
 M 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Tertullian. 
 
 AHE Roman province of Asia, in the second centu- 
 ry, abounded with Christians. Of the manner of the 
 introduction of the gospel into that province, and of 
 (he proceedings of its first planters, we have no ac- 
 count. The famous Tertullian, the first Latin writer 
 of the church, whose works have come down to us, 
 flourished at Carthage, in the latter part of the second 
 and in the beginning of the third century. In his day 
 the subtle spirit of self-righteousness appears to have 
 overspread the African church. But little matter of 
 useful instruction is to be found in Tertullian's large 
 collection of treatises, ail professedly on Christian sub- 
 jects. Most of his precepts carried rather a stoical 
 than a Christian appearance. He embraced the her- 
 esy of the Montanists, joined them, wrote in their de- 
 fence, and treated the body of Christians, from whom 
 he separated, with much contempt. His views of the 
 Trinity, were, however, very clear and sound. He 
 speaks of the Trinity in Unity, " Father, Son, and Ho- 
 ly Ghost, yet one God." He speaks of the Lord Je- 
 sus Christ as both God and man, Son of man and Sore 
 of God, and called Jesus Christ. He speaks also of 
 the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Sanctifier of those 
 who believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He 
 testifies that this rule of faith had obtained from the 
 beginning of the gospel. His Montanism lessens not 
 the credibility of his testimony as to these things. 
 
 Tertullian wrote an apology for Christianity, in 
 which he gives a view of the manners and spirit of the 
 Christians of his time. A few quotations may illus- 
 trate the subject, and shew the nature and effect of re- 
 al Christianity; - 
 
 " We pray," says he, " for the safety of the emperor, 
 Co the eternal God, the true, the living God, whom em- 
 
yerors would desire to be propitious to them above all 
 others who are called gods. We, looking up to heaven 
 with out-stretched hands, because they are harmless ; 
 with naked heads, because we are not ashamed ; with- 
 out a prompter, because we pray from the heart ; we 
 constantly pray for all emperors, that they may have 
 a long life, a secure empire, a safe house, strong ar- 
 mies, a faithful senate, a well moralized people, a qui- 
 et state of the world, whatever Caesar would wish for 
 himself in his public and private capacity. I cannojt 
 solicit these things from any other than from Him, 
 from whom, I know,, I shall obtain them, because he 
 alone can do these things, and I am he who may ex- 
 pect them of him, being his servant, who worship him 
 alone, and lose my life for his service. Thus then let 
 the hoofs pierce us, while our hands are stretched out 
 to God, let crosses suspend us, let fires consume us, 
 let swords pierce our breasts, let wild beasts trample 
 upon us. A praying Christian is in a frame for endur- 
 ing any thing. Act in this manner, ye generous rulers ; 
 kill the soul who supplicates God for the emperor. 
 Were we disposed to return evil for evil, it were easy 
 for us to e/eoge the injuries which we sustain. But, 
 God forbid, that his people should vindicate them- 
 selves by human fire, or be reluctant to endure that 
 by which their sincerity is evinced. Were we dispos- 
 ed to act the part, I will not say of secret assassins, 
 but of open enemies, should we want forces and num- 
 bers ? Are we not dispersed through the world ? It is 
 true we are but of yesterday, and yet we have filled 
 all your places, cities, islands, castles, boroughs, coun- 
 cils, camps, courts, palaces, senate, forum. We leave 
 you only your temples. To what war should we not 
 be ready and well prepared, even though unequal in 
 numbers, we who die with so much pleasure, were it 
 not that our religion requires us rather to suffer death 
 than to inflict it ? Were we to make a general seces- 
 sion from your dominions, you would be astonished 
 at your solitude. We are dead to all ideas of hon- 
 or and dignity ; nothing is more foreign to us thau 
 political concerns. The whole world is our republic, 
 
92 
 
 We are a body united in one bond of religion, 
 cipline and hope. We meet in our assemblies for 
 prayer. We are compelled to have recourse to the Di- 
 vine oracles for caution and recollection on all occa- 
 sions. We nourish our faith by the word of God, 
 we erect our hope, we fix our confidence, we strength- 
 en our discipline by repeatedly inculcating precepts, 
 exhortations, corrections, and excommunication^ when 
 it is needful. This last, as being in the sight of God, 
 is of great weight, and is a strong prejudice of the fu- 
 ture judgment, if any behave in sa scandalous a man- 
 ner as to be debarred from holy communion. Those 
 who preside among us are elderly persons, not distin- 
 guished for opulence, but worth of character. Every 
 one pays into the public chest once a month, or when 
 he pleases, and according to his ability and inclination ; 
 for there is no compulsion. These are, as it were, the 
 deposits of piety. Hence we relieve and bury the 
 needy, support orphans and decripped persons, those 
 who have suffered shipwreck, and those, who, for the 
 word of God, are condemned to the mines, or impris^ 
 onment. This very charity of ours has caused us to 
 be noticed by some ; see, say they, how they love one 
 another." 
 
 Tertullian afterwards takes ijotice of the great rea- 
 diness with which Christians paid the taxes to gov- 
 ernment, in opposition to the spirit of fraud and deceit, 
 with which so many acted in these matters. But I 
 must not enlarge ; the reader may form an idea of the 
 purity, integrity, heavenly-mindedness, and passive- 
 ness under injuries, for which the first Christians were 
 so renowned* 
 
93 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ' Pant&nus.' 
 
 A LEXANDRIA, the Metropolis of Egypt, piqued it- 
 self on its superior erudition. From the days of St. 
 Mark, who first planted the gospel in this city, a Chris- 
 tian catechetical school appears to have been support- 
 ed here. Pantaenus was the first master of it of whom 
 we have any account. He had received by tradition 
 the true doctrine, from the apostles, Peter, James, 
 John, .and Paul ; but his religious views were unques- 
 tionably clouded with the system of Ammonius Sac- 
 cas, which embraced all sorts of sentiments, as virtu- 
 ally meaning the same thing. For ten years he labo- 
 riously discharged the office of catechist in this school, 
 and freely taught all who desired him. 
 
 Some Indian ambassadors,, from what part of India 
 they came, it is not easy to determine, entreated Deme- 
 trius, then bishop of Alexandria, to send them some wor- 
 thy person to preach the faith in their country. Pantae- 
 nus was fixed on as the person. He freely complied 
 with this calk In the discharge of this mission, his 
 hardships must have been great. His labors among ig- 
 norant Indians, where neither fame, nor ease, norprofij, 
 were attainable, clearly evinced that he was possessed 
 of the spirit of the gospel. What success attended his 
 mission, we are not informed. We are told, he found 
 in India the gospel of St. Matthew, which had been 
 carried thither by the Apostle Bartholomew, who had 
 first preached among them. I mention this, but much 
 doubt the truth of it He lived to return to Alexan- 
 dria, and resumed his catechetical office. He died not 
 long after the commencement of the third century*. 
 He used to instruct more by word than by writing. 
 Candor requires us to look upon him as a sincere Chris- 
 tian, though his views appear to have been some what 
 confused by that philosophy which had contaminated 
 most of the learned at Alexandria. 
 
94 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Clemens Alexandrinus* 
 
 was of the Eleciic sect, a scholar of 
 and of the same philosophical cast of mind. He aS'- 
 cribed too much to the wisdom of this world, and did 
 hot duly consider that "the world by wisdom knew 
 not God." He succeeded his master Pantcsnus in the 
 catechetical school, and under him were bred the fa- 
 mous Origen, Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, and 
 other eminent men. 
 
 Fancying that Gentile philosophy had first taught 
 him true wisdom, he says, that as the husbandman 
 first waters the soil and then casts in the seed, so the 
 notions he derived from the writings of the Gentiles, 
 served first to water and soften the earthy parts of the 
 soul, that the spiritual seed might be cast in, and take 
 vital root in the minds of men. This is however not 
 a Christian dialect, but mere Gentilism. It is not 
 grounding our religion on the truth of Divine revela- 
 tion, but on that philosophy which feeds the pride of 
 the depraved heart, and lulls it into security in self- 
 righteousness, by the blandishments ofmere reason ; 
 ''vain man would be wise." 
 
 Besides the office of catechist, Clemens was made 
 presbyter in the church of Alexandria. During the 
 persecution under Severus, he appears to have visited 
 the East, and to have had some intimacy with Alexan- 
 der, bishop of Jerusalem. From Jerusalem, he went 
 to Antioch, and afterward returned to his charge at 
 Alexandria. The time of his death is uncertain. The 
 philosophy, to which he was so much addicted, must 
 have darkened his views of some of the most precious 
 truths of the gospel, particularly the doctrine of justifi- 
 cation by faith in Jesus Christ. Amidst all his confu- 
 sed ideas of Christian doctrines, he appears to have had 
 some correct sentiments concerning the Redeemer, 
 a,nd the way of life quid salvation through him. The 
 
95 
 
 danger of admitting the pestilent spirit of human self- 
 sufficiency, to dictate to us what to believe and what 
 to practise in the infinite concerns of religion, is awful-* 
 Jy great. 
 
 CHAPTER T. 
 
 The affairs of the church during the reign of Severus 
 and Caracaila. 
 
 1 HE lives of the four persons, we have reviewed, 
 seem proper to be prefixed to the general history of 
 the third century, partly, because they were studious 
 men, not very much connected with the public state 
 of Christianity ; partly, because their views and taste 
 in religion being known, may prepare the reader to 
 expect that unhappy mixture of philosophical self- 
 righteousness and superstition, which much clouded 
 the light of the gospel in this century 
 
 Severus, though in his younger days, a bitter perse- 
 cutor of Christians at Lyons, \vas yet, through the in- 
 fluence of the kindness he had received from Procu- 
 lus, favorably disposed toward them. Proculus, a 
 Christian, had cured him of a disorder by the use of 
 oil. Severus felt the kindness, and kept him in his 
 palace till his death. It was not till about the tenth 
 year of his reign, which falls in with the year two hun- 
 dred and two, that his native ferocity of temper broke 
 out afresh, in kindling a very severe persecution against 
 the Christians. Having just returned victorious, from 
 the East, the pride of prosperity induced him to forbid 
 the propagation of the gospel. Christians still thought 
 it right to obey God rather than man. Severus would 
 be obeyed, and exercised the usual cruelties. Perse- 
 cution raged every where, particularly at Alexandria. 
 Thither, the Christians were brought, from various 
 parts of Egypt, to suffer, and expired in torments. Of 
 this number was Leonidas, father of the famous Origen. 
 He was beheaded and left his son very young. Great 
 numbers now suffered martyrdom. * Young Origea 
 
96 
 
 panted for the honor and needlessly exposed himself 
 to danger. His mother checked his imprudent zeal, 
 at first, by earnest entreaties ; but perceiving him bent 
 on suffering with his father, who was then closely con- 
 fined, she very properly exercised her motherly author- 
 ity by confining him to the house, and hiding from 
 him all his apparel. Origen's vehement spirit now 
 prompted him to address a letter to his father, in which 
 he thus exhorts him, " Father, faint not, and do not be 
 concerned on our account.' 5 This ardent youth had 
 been carefully instructed in the scriptures by his pious 
 father, who gave him daily, a task out of them to learn 
 and repeat. While in this employment Origen. strove 
 to investigate the abstruse sense of the holy word, and 
 often asked his father questions beyond his ability to 
 solve. The father checked his curiosity, reminded 
 him of his imbecility, and admonished him to be con- 
 tent with the plain, obvious and grammatical mean- 
 ing ; but inwardly rejoiced that God had given him 
 such a son. His rejoicing should have been, perhaps 
 it was, with trembling ; and Origen's early loss of such 
 a father, who was probably more simple in Christian 
 faith and piety than he himself ever was, might have 
 been an extreme disadvantage to him. 
 
 Origen early possessed that presumptuous spirit 
 which led him afterwards to philosophize so danger- 
 ously in the Christian religion, as never to content him- 
 self with plain truth, but to hunt after something sin- 
 gular and extraordinary 5 though it must be acknowl- 
 edged his sincere desire of serving God appeared from 
 early life ; nor does it ever seem to have forsaken him, 
 so that he may be considered a child of God from ear- 
 
 At the age of seventeen he was left an orphan. 
 His father's estate was, by the emperor, confiscated : 
 But Providence gave him a friend, in a rich and godly 
 matron, who also supported in her house a person no- 
 ted for heresy. Her motives for this we cannot assign. 
 Origen, though obliged to be in his company, could 
 not be prevailed on to join with him in prayer. Hav- 
 acquired all the learning; his master could 
 
97 
 
 give him, and finding that the business of catechizing 
 was deserted at Alexandria, he undertook the work 
 himself, and several Gentiles heard him and became 
 his disciples. He was now in his eighteenth year, 
 and in the heat of the persecution distinguished hirn- 
 seJf by his attachment to the martyrs, not only those 
 of his acquaintance, but in general those who suffered 
 for Christianity* Such, as were fettered in deep dun- 
 geons and close imprisonment, he visited, was present 
 with them after their condemnation, boldly attended 
 them to the place of execution, openly embracing and 
 saluting them, at the great peril of his own life. He 
 was frequently exposed to imminent danger, and sol- 
 diers were commanded to watch about his house, be- 
 cause of the multitudes that crowded thither for in- 
 struction. As the persecution increased, he found his 
 life in danger, could not pass the streets of Alexandria 
 in safety, often changed his lodgings, and was every 
 where pursued ; yet his instructions had great effect y 
 and his zeal incited numbers to attend to Christianity. 
 
 He now appropriated his school wholly to religious 
 instruction, and maintained himself by the sale of the 
 profane books which he had been wont to study. 
 Thus he lived, many years, an amazing monument of 
 industry and self-denial. Not only the day, but the 
 greater part of the night was devoted to religious study, 
 and he practised, with literal conscientiousness, our 
 Lord's rules of not having two coats, nor shoes, nor 
 providing for futurity* With cold, nakedness and pov- 
 erty 5 he was familiar, offended many by his unwilling- 
 ness to receive their gratuities, abstained from wine, 
 lived many years without the use of shoes, and was 
 so abstemious as to endanger his life. Many imitated 
 his excessive austerities, and were honored with the 
 name of philosophers, and some of his followers pa- 
 tiently suffered even martyrdom. 
 
 The judgment of these 'Alexandrian Christians ap- 
 pears not to have been very solid. A strong spirit of 
 self-righteousness, connected with a secret ambition, 
 too subtle to be perceived by those who were the 
 dupes of it, led to many austerities, which in their 
 
 N 
 
93 
 
 estimation appertained to religion, but were nothing 
 more than will-worship^ the mere exuberances of a 
 zeal which is not according to knowledge ; yet may 
 we hope there was some real piety among them. 
 
 An action performed about this time by Origert il- 
 lustrates his character, in the strongest manner. 
 Though much disposed to consider the scriptures as 
 allegories, yet in one passage he followed the literal 
 sense too closely. " There are some who have made 
 themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake." 
 Being much conversant among women as well as men, 
 in his work of catechising and expounding the scrip- 
 tures, he w r as thus desirous of preventing all tempta- 
 tions, and avoiding the slanders of infidels. But though 
 he practised this upon himself, he took all possible pains 
 to conceal the fact from his familiar friends. 
 
 One cannot but be astonished at the strong self-righ- 
 teous maxims and views which were in the church ; but 
 who, except those that are lost to all sense of goodness, 
 will not revere the piety of his motives and the fervor of 
 his zeal ? It could not, however, be concealed. De- 
 metrius, his bishop, at first encouraged and commend- 
 ed him ; afterwards, through the power of envy, on 
 account of his growing popularity, he published the 
 fact abroad with a view to calumniate him. Howev- 
 er, the bishops of Csesarea and Jerusalem protected 
 and supported him, and ordained him a presbyter in 
 the church. Day and night he continued still to la- 
 bor at Alexandria. But it is time to look into other 
 parts of the Roman empire, and take a more general 
 view of the effects of the persecution. 
 
 Alexander, a bishop in Capadocia, confessed the 
 faith of Christ, and sustained a variety of sufferings, 
 and yet by the providence of God was delivered, and 
 travelled afterwards to Jerusalem. 
 
 In Africa too, persecution raged, during the time of 
 Severus. Twelve persons were brought before Sater- 
 ninus, the pro-consul, at Carthage, the chief of whom 
 were Speratus, Narzal, and Cittin, and three wonaen, 
 Donata, Secimda, and Vestina. The pro-consul said 
 to, them all, "You may expect the emperor our mas- 
 
99 
 
 ter's pardon, if you return to your senses, and observe 
 the ceremonies of our gods." To which Speratus 
 replied, "We have never been guilty of any thing 
 that is evil, nor been partakers of injustice. We 
 have even prayed for those who persecute us unjust- 
 ly ; in which we obey OUR EMPEROR,* who prescri- 
 bed to us this rule of behavior. Saturninus an- 
 swered, " We have also a religion that is simple, we 
 swear by the genius of the emperors, and we offer up 
 vows for their health, which you ought also to do." 
 Speratus answered, " If you will hear me peaceably, I 
 will declare unto you the mystery of Christian simpli- 
 city." The pro-consul said, " Shall I hear you speak 
 ill of our ceremonies? rather swear all of you, by the 
 genius of the emperors our masters, that you may en- 
 joy the pleasures of life." Speratus answered, " I 
 know not the genius of the emperors. I serve God, 
 who is in the heavens, whom no man hath seen, nor 
 can see. I have never been guilty of any crime pun- 
 ishable by the public laws ; if I buy any thing, I pay 
 the duties to the collectors ; I acknowledge my God 
 and Savior to be the Emperor of all nations; I have 
 made no complaints against any person, and therefore 
 they ought to make none against me." The pro-con- 
 sul, turning to the rest, said, "Do not ye imitate the 
 folly of this mad wretch, but rather fear our prince 
 and obey his commands." Cittin answered, "We 
 fear only the Lord our God, who is in heaven." The 
 pro-consul then said, " Let them be carried to prison, 
 and put in fetters till to-morrow," 
 
 The next day, being seated on his tribunal, 
 he caused them to be brought before him, and said 
 to the women, " Honor our prince, and do sacrifice 
 to the gods." Donata replied, " We honor Caesar as 
 Caesar ; but to God we offer prayers and worship^" 
 Vestina said, " I also am a Christian.*' Secunda said, 
 " I also believe in my God, and will continue stead- 
 fast to him ; and as for your gods, we will not serve and 
 adore them." The pro-consul ordered them to be 
 separated; then having called for the men, he said to 
 
 * Christ, 
 
loo 
 
 Speratus, " Perseveres! thou in being a Christian ?" 
 Speratus answered, " Yes, I do persevere ; let all give 
 ear ; I am a Christian ;" which being heard by the rest 
 they said, " We also are Christians." The pro-con- 
 sul said, " You will neither consider nor receive mer- 
 cy." They replied, " Do what you please, we shall 
 die joyfully for the sake of Jesus Christ." The pro- 
 consul asked, " What books are those which you read 
 and revere ?" Speratus replied, " The four gospels of 
 our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Epistles of the 
 apostle St. Paul, and all the scripture that is inspired 
 of God." The proconsul said, " I will give you three 
 days to come to yourselves." Upon which Speratus 
 answered, " I am a Christian, and such are all those 
 who are with me, and we will never quit the faith of 
 our Lord Jesus ; do, therefore, what you think fit." 
 
 The pro-consul seeing their resolution, pronounced 
 sentence against them, that they should die by the 
 hands of the executioner, in these terms ; " Speratus, 
 &c. having acknowledged themselves to be Christians, 
 and having refused to pay due honor to the emperor, 
 I command their heads to be cut off." This having 
 been read, Speratus and the rest said ; " We give thanks 
 to God, who honoreth us this day, with being received 
 as martyrs in heaven, for confessing his name." They 
 were carried to the place of punishment, where they 
 fell on their knees all together, and having again given 
 thanks to Jesus Christ, they were beheaded." 
 
 At Carthage four young catechumens were also sei- 
 zed, Revocatus and Felicitas, slaves to the same mas- 
 ter, with Secondulus, and also Vivia Perpetua, a lady 
 of quality. She had a father, a mother, and t wo^broth- 
 ers, of whom one was a catechumen ; she was mar- 
 ried ; had a son at her breast, and was about 22 
 years of age. To these five, Satur voluntarily joined 
 himself by an excess of zeal too common at that time. 
 While they were in the hands of their persecutors, the* 
 father of Perpetua, himself a Pagan, but full of affec- 
 tion to his favorite offspring, importuned her to fall 
 from the faith. His entreaties were in vain. Her pi- 
 ous constancy appeared to him an absurd obstinacy.. 
 
101 
 
 and in his rage he gave her rough treatment. While 
 under guard, before they were confined in prison, these 
 catechumens found means to procure baptism, and 
 Perpetua's prayers were directed particularly for pa- 
 tience under bodily pains. They were then put into 
 a dark dungeon. Perpetua's concern for her infant 
 was extreme, Tertius and Pomponius, two deacons 
 of the church, obtained by money that they might go 
 out of the dark dungeon, and for some hours, refresh 
 themselves in a more commodious place, where Per- 
 petua gave the breast to her infant, and then recom- 
 mended him carefully to her mother. For some time 
 her mind was devoured with concern for the distress 
 she had brought on her family, though it was for the 
 sake of a good conscience, but in time her spirit was 
 more composed, and her prison became a palace. 
 
 Her father, some time after, came to the prison, 
 overwhelmed with grief, which, in all probability, was 
 augmented by the reflections he made on his pas- 
 sionate behavior to her at their last interview. " Have 
 pity, my daughter," says he, a on my grey hairs; have 
 pity on your father, if I were ever worthy of that name ; 
 if I myself have brought you up to this age, if I have 
 preferred you to all your brethren, make me not a re^ 
 proach to mankind, respect your father and your aunt, 
 (these, probably, were joined in the interests of pagan- 
 ism, while the mother appears to have been a Chris- 
 tian, otherwise his silence concerning her seems 
 hardly to be accounted for ;) have "compassion on 
 your son, who cannot survive you ; lay aside your 
 obstinacy, lest you destroy us all for if you perish, 
 we must all shut our mouths in disgrace." With 
 much tenderness he kissed her hands, threw himself 
 at her feet, weeping and calling her no longer his 
 daughter, but his mistress. He was the only one in 
 the family who did not rejoice at her martyrdom. Per- 
 petua, though inwardly torn with filial affection, could 
 offer no other comfort than to desire him to acquiesce 
 in the Divine disposal. 
 
 The next day, they were all brought before the court, 
 and examined in the presence of vast crowds. There 
 
102 
 
 her unhappy father appeared with his little grand- 
 son, and taking Perpetua aside, conjured her to have 
 some pity on her child. The procurator, Hilarian, 
 joined in the suit, but in vain. The old man then at- 
 tempted to draw his daughter from the scaffold. Hi- 
 larian ordered him to be beaten, and a blow, which 
 he received with a staff, was felt by Perpetua very se- 
 verely. 
 
 Hilarian ordered them to be exposed to the wild 
 beasts. They then returned cheerfully to their prison. 
 Perpetua sent tbe deacon, Pomponius, to demand her 
 child of her father, which he refused to return. The 
 health of the child, we are told, suffered not, nor did 
 Perpetua feel any bodily inconvenience. 
 
 Secondulus died in prison. Felicitas was eight 
 months gone with child, and seeing the days of the 
 public shews to be near, was afflicted lest her execu- 
 tion should be deferred. Three days before the spec- 
 tacles, her companions joined in prayer for her. 
 Presently after, her pains came upon her, and she 
 was delivered of a child, but with much difficulty. - 
 One of the door-keepers, who perhaps expected to 
 have found in her a stoical insensibility, arid heard her 
 cries ; said, " Do you complain of this ? what will you 
 do when you are exposed to the beasts?" Felicitas 
 answered with a sagacity truly Christian, " It is / that 
 suffer now, but then there will be another with me, that 
 will suffer for me, because I shall suffer for his sake." 
 Her new born 'daughter was delivered to a Christian 
 woman, who nursed it as her own. 
 
 The tribune, believing a report of some, that the* 
 prisoners would free themselves by magical practices^ 
 treated them roughly. " Why did'nt you," says Per- 
 petua, "give us some relief? Will it not be for your 
 honor that we should appear well fed at the spec- 
 tacles." 
 
 This address had the desired effect, and procur- 
 ed a very agreeable alteration in their treatment. 
 The day before the shews, they gave them their last 
 meal. The martyrs did their utmost to convert this into 
 a love feast, they ate it irj public ; their brethren and 
 
103 
 
 others were allowed to visit them', and the keeper of 
 the prison himself, by this time, was converted to the 
 faith ; they talked to the people, warned them to flee 
 from the wrath to come, pointed out to them their own 
 happy lot, and smiled at the curiosity of those who 
 ran to see them. "Observe well our faces," cries 
 Satur, with much animation, " that ye may know them 
 at the day of judgment." 
 
 The Spirit of God was much with them on the day 
 of trial ; joy, rather than fear, \vas painted on their 
 looks. Perpetua, cherished by Jesus Christ, went on 
 with a composed countenance and an easy pace, hold- 
 ing down her eyes, lest the spectators might draw 
 wrong conclusions from their vivacity. Some idola- 
 trous habits were offered them : " We sacrifice our 
 lives," say they, " to avoid this, and thus we have bar- 
 gained with you." The tribune desisted from his de- 
 mand. 
 
 Perpetua sang, as already victorious, and Revoca- 
 {us, Saterninus, and Satur, endeavored to affect the 
 people with the fear of the wrath to come. Being, 
 come into Hilarian's presence, " Thou judgest us," 
 say they, " and God shall judge thee." The mob was 
 enraged, and insisted on their being scourged before 
 they were exposed to the wild beasts. It was done, 
 and the martyrs rejoiced in being conformed to their 
 Savior's sufferings. After this they were exposed to 
 the wild beasts, and having, with great fortitude and 
 holy composure of soul, undergone a great variety of 
 sufferings, they all fell asleep in Jesus. 
 
 During the course of this dreadful persecution, the en- 
 mity of the human heart, against the holy religion of Je- 
 sus, raged to an awful degree ; and the grace of God, in 
 the sudden and wonderful conversions of several per- 
 sons who voluntarily suffered death for that doctrine 
 which they before detested, was gloriously displayed. 
 
 Lyons was once more dyed with the blood of the 
 martyrs. It was at this time that Irenaeus perished 
 and many with him. 
 
 Some churches purchased their peace of the magis- 
 trates, informers, and soldiers, wiio were appointed to 
 
104 
 
 Search them out, by paying them money. The pas- 
 tors of the churches approved of this proceeding, be- 
 cause it was only enduring the loss of their goods, and 
 preferring that to the endangering of their souls. But 
 God, to moderate the distress of his people, and not 
 to suffer them to be tried by persecution at once very 
 long, in the year two hundred and eleven, called the 
 tyrant Severus to his bar, to give an account for his 
 cruelties and opposition to his kingdom, after he had 
 reigned eighteen years. Under his son and succes- 
 sor Caracalla, though a monster of wickedness, the 
 church found some repose and tranquility. During 
 the seven years and six months, which he reigned, 
 the Christians found in him friendship and protection. 
 Indeed, for the space of thirty eight years, from the 
 death of Severus to the reign of Decius, if we except 
 the short, turbulent interval of Maximinus, the calm 
 of the church continued. About the year two hun- 
 dred and ten, Origen came to Rome, desirous of visiting 
 that ancient church, but soon returned to Alexandria, 
 and to his office of catechizing. Heretics and philo- 
 sophers attended his lectures, and he took, no doubt, a 
 very excellent method to win their regard to himself 
 at least, by instructing them in civil and secular learn- 
 ing. When philosophers pressed him with their opin- 
 ions, he confuted them by arguments drawn from oth- 
 er philosophers, and commented on their works with so 
 much acuteness and sagacity, as to acquire among 
 Gentiles a reputation for great learning and wisdom. 
 He encouraged many to study the liberal arts, assuring 
 them, that they would, by that means, be much better 
 furnished for the contemplation of the holy scripture, 
 and was entirely of opinion, that secular and philoso- 
 phical institutes were very necessary and profitable 
 for himself. But what can Origen mean by asserting 
 the utility and even necessity of philosophy for himself 
 as a Christian ? Are not the scriptures able to make a 
 man wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ 
 Jesus, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly 
 furnished to every good ivork? To him the gospel 
 seems to have triumphed over Gentilism, through the 
 
aid of heathen philosophy; but it appears to have been 
 hereby corrupted, and many greatly departed from 
 the simplicity of the gospel. An acquaintance with 
 the classics and philosophers may furnish a person 
 with strong arguments to prove the necessity and 
 excellency of Divine revelation, and this deserves 
 senousiy to be encouraged in all who are to instruct 
 others, for their improvement in taste, language, elo- 
 quence, and history. But if these are to dictate in 
 religion, or are thought capable, even of adding to the 
 stock of theological knowledge, the scriptures may 
 seem to have been defectively written. Origen was 
 laborious at his attempts to mix things, which the Ho- 
 ly Ghost assures us, will not amalgamate ; for among 
 his learned converts, we hear nothing of conviction of 
 sin, a of conversion, of the influences of the Holy Spirit, 
 or of the love of Christ. The allegorical and philo- 
 sophical interpretations of the scriptures by Origen 
 much clouded their true light. 
 Macrinus succeeded Caracalla. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Christian affairs during the Reign of Macrinus , Helioga- 
 balm, Alexandrinus, Maximinus, Pupienus, Gordian y 
 and Philip* . 
 
 MACRINUS reigned not quite a year. Heliogaba- 
 lus, whose follies and vices were infamous, succeeded 
 him, and having swayed the sceptre three years and 
 nine months, was slain at the age of 18. The church 
 of God suffered nothing from him. His cousin, Alex- 
 ander, in the 16th year of his age, succeeded him, and 
 was one of the best moral characters in civil history. 
 He did not persecute the Christians, but rather approv- 
 ed and countenanced them* 
 
 This emperor had a domestic chapel, where he, ev- 
 ery morning, worshipped those princes who had been 
 
106 
 
 ranked among the gods, whose characters were most 
 esteemed ; among whom he considered Apollonius of 
 Tyana, Jesus Christ, Abraham, and Orpheus. 
 
 It seems to have been his plan to encourage every 
 thing that had the appearance of religion and virtue, 
 and to discountenance whatever was openly immoral 
 and profane. He appears to have learnt, in some meas- 
 ure, the doctrine of the Unity of the Godhead, and by 
 the help of the Electic philosophy, to have attempted 
 to consolidate all religions in one mass. But things 
 which accompany salvation, will not incorporate with 
 this plan. 
 
 At this time Noetus, of Smyrna, propagated in the 
 east, the heresy, that there is no distinction between 
 the Divine Persons in the Godhead. The pastors of 
 the church of Ephesus, to which he belonged, sum- 
 moned him before them y and asked whether he really 
 maintained this opinion. At first he denied it; but 
 afterwards, having formed a party, he became more 
 bold, and publicly taught this heresy. Being again 
 interrogated by the pastors, he said, " What harm have 
 I done ? I glorify none but one God ; I know none be- 
 sides him who hath been begotten, who suffered and 
 died." In this way he evidently confounded the per- 
 sons of the Father and the Son together; and being 
 obstmata in his views, was ejected from the church, 
 with his disciples. 
 
 This proves that there were, at that time y zeal and 
 faithfiuness among the primitive Christians, to support 
 the fundamental articles of their religion. 
 
 Origen was now sent for to Athens to assist the 
 churches, who were there disturbed with several her- 
 esies. Thence he went to Palestine. At Csesarea, 
 Theoctistus, the bishop, and Alexander, bishop of Je- 
 rusalem, ordained him a priest, at the age of 45, about 
 the year 280. Demetrius, his own bishop was of- 
 fended, and exposed his youthful indiscretion in his 
 having mutilated himself, and on his return to Alex- 
 andria, procured his ejection from the church, by a 
 council of pastors, on account of some errors which 
 4iad appeared in his works. Banished from Egypt, 
 
107 
 
 Origen repaired to Palestine to his friends who had 
 ordained him, followed by many disciples. Here the 
 famous Gregory Thaumaturgus attended his theolo- 
 gical lectures, which were still delivered in Origen's 
 usual manner. 
 
 Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria, died, after having 
 held that office 43 years. Heraclas succeeded him. 
 
 In the year 235, the emperor Alexander was mur- 
 dered, together with his mother, and Maximin the 
 murderer obtained the empire. His malice against 
 the house of Alexander disposed him to persecute the 
 Christians, and he gave orders to put to death the pas- 
 tors of churches. Others suffered with them. The 
 flame extended even to Cappadocia. Origen was 
 obliged to retire. The tyrant's reign continued only 
 three years. 
 
 Pupienus and Balbinus, the successors of Maximin, 
 were slain in the year 238. Gordian reigned six 
 years, and was succeeded by his murderer, Philip the 
 Arabian. 
 
 That Origen's philosophy had not obliterated his 
 Christianity, appears from a letter addressed to his 
 scholar Thaumaturgus, in which he exhorts him to 
 apply himself chiefly to the Holy Scripture, to read it 
 very attentively, not to speak or judge of it lightly, 
 but with unshaken faith and prayer, which, says he, 
 is absolutely necessary for understanding it. 
 
 Philip began to reign in the year two hundred and 
 forty four. He appears to have professed the Chris- 
 tian religion, but not to have been cordial in it ; for he 
 conducted the secular games, which were full of idol- 
 atry, and hereby manifested that he was unwilling to 
 give up any thing for the sake of Christ. Philip's pro- 
 fession merely shows that the progress of Christianity 
 in the world was then very considerable ; but its origi- 
 nal purity had greatly declined. 
 
 Philip reigned five years, and was succeeded by 
 Decius his murderer. A little before his death, in 
 the year two hundred and forty eight, Cyprian was 
 chosen bishop of Carthage. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Conversion of Cyprian. 
 
 IjYPRIAN was a professpr of oratory in the city of 
 Carthage, and a man of wealth, quality and dignity. 
 Csecilius, a Carthagenian presbyter, had the felicity, 
 under God, to conduct him to the knowledge of Christ, 
 and in his gratitude Cyprian afterwards assumed the 
 surname of Ca?cilius, His conversion was about the 
 year two hundred and forty six. About thirteen years 
 was the whole period of his Christian life. But God 
 can do great things in a little time. He was, by the 
 Holy Spirit, led on with vast rapidity, and in a great 
 measure avoided the errors and delusions of false 
 learning and self-conceit. Faith and love seem, in 
 native simplicity, to have possessed him when an ear- 
 ly convert. He saw with pity the poor of the flock, 
 and knew no method so proper, of employing the un- 
 righteous mammon, as to relieve their distress. He 
 sold whole estates for their benefit. There appeared 
 in Cyprian a spirit at once so simple, so zealous, and 
 so intelligent, that in about two years after his conver- 
 sion, he was chosen presbyter and then bishop of Car- 
 thage. His virtue wa,s not feigned. The love of Christ 
 evidently preponderated in him above all secular con- 
 siderations; His wife opposed his Christian spirit of 
 liberality in vain. The widow, the orphan, and the 
 poor, found in hirn continually a sympathizing bene- 
 factor. It was with much reluctance that he observ- 
 ed thtJ designs of the people to choose him for their 
 bishop. He, however, yielded to their importunate 
 solicitations and accepted the painful pre-eminence. 
 In him we see a man of business and of the world, ri- 
 sing at once, a Phoenix in the church, no extraordina- 
 ry theologian in point of accurate knowledge, yet a 
 useful, practical divine, an accomplished pastor, flam- 
 ing w;ith the love of God and of souls, and with unre- 
 knitted activity, spending and being spent for Christ, 
 
Jesus. To all this excellence, he was raised by re* 
 newing and sanctifying grace, and made a happy in- 
 strument of guiding souls to that rest which remains 
 for the people of Go<J. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Beginnings of the Persecution of .Decius, and Cyp- 
 rians Government till his Retirement* 
 
 JtlOW Cyprian conducted himself in his ministry, 
 who is sufficient to relate ?" says Pontinus, his dea- 
 con, and biographer. Some particular -account, how* 
 ever, might have been expected from one who had 
 such ample opportunity of information. One thing he 
 notices of his external appearance. His looks had a 
 due mixture of gravity and cheerfulness, so that it was 
 doubtful whether he was more worthy of love or of 
 reverence. His dress also was correspondent to his 
 looks ; he had renounced the secular pomp to which 
 his rank in life entitled him, yet he avoided affected 
 penury. From a man of Cyprian's piety and good 
 sense united, such a conduct might be expected. 
 
 While Cyprian was laboring to recover that spirit 
 of godliness among the Africans, which long peace 
 had corrupted, Philip was slain and succeeded by 
 Decius. His enmity to the former emperor conspired 
 with his Pagan prejudices to bring on the most dread- 
 ful persecution which the church had yet experienced. 
 It was evident that nothing less than the destruction 
 of the Christian name was intended. 
 
 The eventful period of Cyprian's ministry extends 
 from the year 248 to 260. Decius became emperor 
 towards the beginning of this period. The persecu- 
 tion raged with astonishing fury both in the east and 
 in the west. The latter is the scene before us at pre- 
 sent. And in a treatise of Cyprian concerning the 
 lapsed, we have an affecting account of the declension 
 from the spirit of Christianity, which had taken place 
 
110 
 
 before his conversion, which moved God to chastise 
 his church. " If the cause of our miseries," says he, 
 " be investigated, the cure of the wound is found. 
 The Lord would have his family to be tried. And 
 because the long peace had corrupted the discipline 
 divinely revealed to us ; the heavenly chastisement 
 hath raised up our faith which had lain almost dor- 
 mant ; and when by our sins we had deserved to suf- 
 fer still more, the merciful Lord so moderated all 
 things, that the whole scene rather deserves the name 
 of a trial than a persecution. Each was bent on im- 
 proving his patrimony : forgetting what believers had 
 done under the apostles, and what they ought always 
 to do, they brooded over the arts of amassing wealth. 
 The pastors and deacons equally forgat their duty, 
 works of mercy were neglected, and discipline was at 
 the lowest ebb. Luxury and effeminacy prevailed. Me- 
 retricious arts in dress were cultivated. Fraud and de- 
 ceit were practised among brethren. Christians could 
 unite themselves in matrimony with unbelievers, could 
 swear, not only without reverence, but even without 
 veracity ; with haughty asperity they despised their 
 ecclesiastical superiors ; could rail against one anoth- 
 er with outrageous acrimony, and conduct quarrels 
 with settled malice ; even many bishops, who ought 
 to be guides and patterns to the rest, neglecting the 
 peculiar duties of their stations, gave themselves up 
 to secular pursuits ; deserting their places of residence 
 and their flocks, they travelled through distant pro- 
 vinces in quest of gain, gave no assistance to the needy 
 brethren, were insatiable in their thirst of money, pos- 
 ^essed estates by fraud, and multiplied usury. What 
 have we not deserved to suffer for such conduct ? 
 Even the Divine Word hath foretold us what we might 
 expect, " If his children forsake my law, and walk not in 
 my judgments, I will visit their offences with the rod, and 
 itieir sin with scourges." These things have been de- 
 nounced and foretold, but in vain; our sins have 
 brought our affairs to that pass, that while we despis- 
 ed the Lord's directions we were obliged to undergo 
 the correction of our evils and the trial of our faith by 
 severe remedies." 
 
Ill 
 
 That a deep declension from Christian purity had 
 taken place, not only in the East, where false philoso- 
 phy aided its progress, but also in the West, where the 
 common influence of prosperity on human depravity 
 appears, is now completely evident, and it deserves to 
 be remarked, that the first grand and general declen- 
 sion, since the first out-pouring of the Divine Spirit, 
 should be fixed about the middle of this century. 
 For a time like this God raised up Cyprian, by a 
 strong personal work of Divine grace on his own heart, 
 and qualified him for great usefulness to the church 
 under her deep afflictions. 
 
 In the early part of this persecution, vast numbers, 
 from among Cyprian's people, with whom avarice had 
 taken such deep root, immediately lapsed into idola- 
 try. Even before men were accused as Christians, 
 many ran to the Forum and sacrificed to the gods as 
 they were ordered, and the crowds of them were so 
 large that the magistrates wished to defer a number of 
 them till the next day, but were importuned by the 
 wretched suppliants to allow them, that night, to provd 
 themselves heathens. 
 
 At Rome the persecution raged with unremitting 
 violence. There Fabian the bishop suffered, and for 
 some time it became impracticable to elect a succes- 
 sor ; and yet it does not appear that the metropolis 
 suffered more in proportion than many other places^ 
 since we find that the flame of persecution had driven 
 some bishops from distant provinces who fled for shel- 
 ter to Rome. Cyprian, however, having been regular- 
 ly informed by the Roman clergy of the martyrdom 
 of their bishop, congratulated them on his glorious ex- 
 it, and exulted on occasion of his uprightness and in- 
 tegrity. He expresses the pleasure he experienced that 
 his edifying example had so much penetrated their 
 minds, and owns the energy which he felt to imitate 
 the pattern. 
 
 Moyses and Maximus, two Roman presbyters, with 
 other confessors were also seized and imprisoned. 
 Attempts were repeatedly made to persuade them to 
 relinquish the faith, but in vain. Cyprian found 
 
112 
 
 Aieans to write to them also a letter full of benevo^ 
 lence, and breathing the strongest pathos. He tells 
 them his heart was with them continually, that he 
 prayed for them in his public ministry, taid in pri- 
 vate. He comforts them under the pressures of hunger 
 and thirst which they endured, and congratulates them 
 for living now not for this life, but for the next, and 
 particularly because their example would be a means 
 of confirming many who were in a wavering state. 
 But Carthage soon became an unsafe residence for Cy- 
 prian himself. By repeated suffrages of the people at 
 the theatre he was demanded to be taken and given 
 to the lions ; and it behoved him immediately to retire 
 into a place of safety, or to expect the crown of mar- 
 tyrdom. 
 
 Cyprian's spirit in interpreting scripture was more 
 simple, and more accommodated to receive its plain 
 and obvious sense, than that of men who had learnt to 
 refine and subtilize. He knew the liberty which his 
 Divine Master had given to his people of fleeing, when 
 they were persecuted in one city, to another, and 
 embraced it. Nay, he seems scarce to have thought 
 it lawful to do otherwise. Even the last state of his 
 martyrdom evinces this. His manner of enduring it, 
 when it was providentially brought on him, sufficiently 
 clears him of all suspicion of pusillanimity. To unite 
 such seemirigly opposite qualities as discretion and 
 fortitude, each in a very high degree, is a sure char- 
 acteristic of greatness in a Christian ; it is grace in its 
 highest exercise. Pontius thinks it was not without a 
 particular Divine direction that he was moved to act 
 in this manner for the benefit of the church. 
 
 Behold him, now safe, under God, from the arm of 
 persecution, through the love of his people, in some 
 place of retreat, for the space of two years, and let us 
 next see how this time was employed. 
 
113 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The History of Cyprian and the Western Church during 
 his Retirement of two years. 
 
 CjYPRIAN was never more active than in his retreat. 
 Nothing of moment occurred in ecclesiastical affairs, 
 either in Africa or Italy, with which he was not ac- 
 quainted ; and his counsels, under God) were of the 
 greatest influence in both countries. 
 
 The clergy at Rome, having learnt what were the 
 sufferings of the clergy at Carthage, and the retreat of 
 Cyprian, and fearing lest his departure from his people, 
 when they were in such an afflicted condition, might be 
 attended with pernicious consequences, provided the 
 pastors of the churches at Carthage imitated his exam- 
 ple in flight, took measures to express to them the deep 
 sense which they had, both of their own situation and 
 that of the clergy of Carthage, whose duty it was to 
 take care not to incur upon themselves the censure 
 of faithless shepherds ; but rather to imitate their 
 Lord, the Good Shepherjd, who laid down his own life 
 for his flock, and who so earnestly and repeatedly 
 charges Simon Peter, as a proof of his love to his Mas- 
 ter, to feed his sheep. " We would not wish, dear 
 brethren," say they, " to find you, mere mercenaries, 
 but good shepherds, since you know it must be high- 
 ly sinful in you not to exhort the brethren to stand 
 immovable in the faith, lest the brethren be totally 
 subverted by idolatry. Nor do we only in words thus 
 exhort you, but, as you may learn from many who 
 come from us to you, we have done, and still do, with 
 the help of God, all these things, with all solicitude 
 and at the hazard of our lives, having, before our eyes, 
 the fear of God and perpetual punishment rather than 
 the fear of men and a temporary calamity ; not deser- 
 ting the brethren, but exhorting them to stand in the 
 faith, and te be ready to follow their Lord when call- 
 
114 
 
 ed ; we have also done our utmost to recover those who 
 had gone up to sacrifice to save their lives. Our 
 church stands fast in the faith in general, though 
 some, overcome by terror, either because they were 
 persons in high life, or were moved by the fear of men, 
 have lapsed, yet these, though separated from us, we 
 do not give up as lost altogether, but we exhort them 
 to repent, if they may find mercy with HIM who is able 
 to save ; lest, by relinquishing them, we make them 
 still more incurable. 
 
 " Thus, brethren, we would wish you also to do ; as 
 much as in you lies, exhorting the lapsed, should they 
 be seized, a second time to confess their Savior. And 
 we suggest to you to receive again into communion, 
 any of these, if they heartily desire it, and give proofs 
 of sound repentance. And certainly officers should be 
 appointed to minister to the widows, the sick, those in 
 prison and those who are in a state of banishment. A 
 special care should be exercised over the catechu- 
 mens, to preserve from apostacy ; and those, whose 
 duty it is to inter the dead, ought to consider the in- 
 terment of the martyrs as matter of indespensable ob- 
 ligation. 
 
 " Certain we are, that those servants, who shall be 
 found to have been thus faithful, in that which is least, 
 will have authority over ten cities. May God> who 
 does all things for those who hope in him, grant that 
 we may be all found thus diligently employed ! The 
 brethren in bonds, the clergy, and the whole church 
 salute you, all of us, with earnest solicitude, watching 
 for all who call on the name of the Lord. And we be- 
 seech you, in return, to be mindful of us also in your 
 prayers." 
 
 This letter breathes the very spirit of the gospel 
 The Christian tenderness, charity, meekness, zeal and 
 prudence of Cyprian, toward the brethren of Carthage, 
 in his exile from them, appear from the following let- 
 ter which he sent to the clergy of that city. 
 
 "Being hitherto preserved by the favor of God, I 
 salute you, dearest brethren, rejoicing to hear of your 
 safety. As present circumstances permit not my pres- 
 
115 
 
 unce among you, I beg you, by your faith and by the 
 ties of religion, to discharge your office, in conjunction 
 with mine also, that nothing be wanting either on the 
 head of discipline or of diligence. I beg that nothing 
 may be wanting to supply the necessities of those who 
 are imprisoned, because of their glorious confession of 
 God, or who labor under the pressures of indigence 
 and poverty, since the whole ecclesiastical fund is in 
 the hands of the clergy for this very purpose, that a 
 number may have it in their power to relieve the wants 
 of individuals. 
 
 I beg further, that you would use evey prudential 
 and cautious method to procure the peace of the 
 church ; and if the brethren, through charity, wish to 
 confer with and visit those pious confessors, whom the 
 divine goodness hath thus far shone upon by such good 
 beginnings, that they would however do this cautious- 
 ly, not in crowds, nor in a multitude ; lest any odium 
 should hence arise, and the liberty of admission be 
 denied altogether ; and w r hile, through greediness, we 
 aim at too much, w ; e lose all. Consult therefore and 
 provide, that this may be done safely and with discre- 
 tion ; so that the presbyters one by one, accompanied 
 by the deacons in turn, may successively minister to 
 them, because the change of persons visiting them is 
 less liable to breed suspicion. For in all things we 
 ought to be meek and humble, as becomes the ser- 
 vants of God, to redeem the time, to have a regard for 
 peace, and provide for the people. Most dearly be- 
 loved and longed-for, I wish you all prosperity, and to 
 remember us. Salute all the brethren ; Victor the 
 deacon, and those that are with us, salute you." 
 
 During this persecution many of the common peo- 
 ple and some of the clergy renounced Christianity. 
 This must have been a sore trial to so affectionate'and 
 pious a pastor as was Cyprian. 
 
 When Cyprian was in his retirement he wrote many 
 letters to his afflicted brethren at Carthage, in which 
 he warns and exhorts them to stand firm in the faith 
 and religion of Jesus Christ. In these he enjoins sub- 
 ordination of the people to their pastors, and that they 
 
116 
 
 should cultivate an humble, modest and peaceable de- 
 meanor; that in all their sufferings they should con- 
 tinue mild and humble. He points out to them the 
 use of good discipline in the church of God, the ben- 
 efits of orderly subjection in the members, the danger 
 of pride and self-exaltation, and the deceitfulness of 
 the human heart. Much did he warn them against 
 contentions and strifes, and exhort and entreat them 
 to live in peace among themselves, and as far as pos- 
 sible with all mankind. 
 
 Deeply sensible that his people had, before the per- 
 secution, greatly provoked the Lord to wrath, he ur- 
 ges upon them abundantly the duty of repentance. 
 46 If the Lord see us humble and quiet, lovingly united, 
 and corrected by the present tribulation he will deliv- 
 
 er us." 
 
 The persecution at Carthage was dreadful on ac- 
 count of the great number of apostates ; but Christian 
 faith, patience and magnanimity, in Cyprian, and a 
 small remnant, were in strong and lively exercise. 
 Discipline was at this time maintained with a good de^- 
 gree of care and diligence in the church at Rome ; and 
 the pastors of churches there carefully endeavored to 
 strengthen the hands of the faithful in Carthage, to 
 maintain the life, order and vigor of true piety in that 
 church. 
 
 It was a maxim of great importance, with all who 
 loved the Lord Jesus Christ in truth and sincerity, to 
 consider that there was but one church of Christ in 
 the world ; and that this was diffused through various 
 provinces, and that all ought to watch and strive to 
 keep it as free from heresies as possible, and in a state 
 of life and gospel vigor. It was this unity and uniform- 
 ity of the Christian church which hitherto had preservr 
 ed it, under God, from the baneful infection of here- 
 sies. 
 
 The Roman clergy appear, at this time, to have 
 been in general, men of real piety. Speaking of the 
 importance of not being hasty to re-admit the lapsed 
 into the church, without having first obtained ample 
 satisfaction of their deep and genuine contrition, they 
 
117 
 
 express themselves in the following language ; -" Lei 
 them knock at the doors, but not break them. Let 
 them go to the threshold of the church, but not leap 
 over it. Let them watch at the gates of the heavenly 
 camp, but with that modesty which becomes those who 
 remember they have been deserters. Let them arm 
 themselves indeed with the weapons of humility, and 
 resume that shield of faith which they dropped, through 
 the fear of death ; but so that they may be armed 
 against the devil, not against the church which grievei 
 at their fall ." 
 
 While Cyprian was absent from his church at Car- 
 thage, he was active in his retirement to revive a spirit 
 of true gospel discipline among the people of his pas- 
 toral charge ; but Felicissimus, who had long been 
 a secret enemy of the bishop, and a person of a very 
 exceptionable character, by many artifices and blan- 
 dishments, drew away a party, and encouraged many 
 not to observe ecclesiastical discipline faithfully and 
 modestly. This ambitious demagogue used his ut- 
 most artifice to bring over to his views all the lapsed, 
 to make his party sufficiently strong to prevent an ex- 
 communication of himself from the church for the 
 crime of adultery, of which he was guilty. Under this 
 state of affairs, Cyprian writes to the lapsed and all 
 leaning to a schismatic spirit, " There is one God, 
 one Christ, one church. Depart, I pray you, far from 
 these men, and avoid their discourse as a plague and 
 pestilence. They hinder your prayers and tears by 
 affording you false consolations. Acquiesce, I beseech 
 you, in our counsel, who pray daily for you, and de- 
 sire you to be restored to the church by the grace of 
 the Lord. Join your prayers and tears with ours. But, 
 if any, careless of repentance, shall betake himself to 
 Felicissimus and his party, let him know that his after- 
 feturn to the church will be impracticable." 
 
 Novatus, a presbyter of Carthage, was the prin- 
 cipal actor in these disagreeable scenes. He wa 
 extremely scandalous and immoral. His domestic 
 crimes had been so notorious as to render him not 
 only no longer fit to be a minister, but even unworthy 
 
118 
 
 t6 be received into lay communion. The examina- 
 tion of his conduct was just going to take place, when 
 the persecution by Decius prevented it. The views of 
 Felicissimus and his party, he cherished and supported, 
 and did much mischief in the church. This dreadful 
 persecution did not unite Christian professors in love. 
 Novatus, either unwilling to face the bishop of Car- 
 thage, or desirous to extend the mischiefs of schism, 
 passed the sea and came to Rome. There he had the 
 address to separate a priest named Novatian from the 
 Roman church, and to bring him to associate with him- 
 self. These jointly insisted that it is wrong to receive 
 those into the church who once had lapsed, though they 
 give the fullest evidence of sincere repentance. 
 
 At this time, sixteen bishops happening to be at 
 Rome, ordained Cornelius, bishop of Rome, as the 
 successor of Fabian. He was very unwilling to ac- 
 cept the office ; but the election of a bishop to with- 
 stand the growing schism appeared necessary, and the 
 people who were present approved of his ordination. 
 
 Novatian procured himself to be ordained bishop 
 in opposition, in a very irregular manner, and vented 
 calumnies against Cornelius, whose life appears to 
 have been worthy of the gospel. The Novatians sep- 
 arated from the general church, not on grounds of doc- 
 trine, but of discipline. Their leader appears to have 
 been sound in the doctrine of the Trinity. Novatus, 
 conscious of scandalous crimes, fled from Rome and 
 became bishop of the Novatians in Africa. We are not 
 to believe that all his followers were men void of the 
 faith and love of Jesus : but to refuse the re-admission 
 of true penitents was an instance of Pharisaical pride. 
 In justice to Novatian, it ought to be mentioned that 
 lie advised to exhort the lapsed to repentance, and 
 then to leave them to the judgment of God. 
 
 This denomination condemned second marriages, 
 and denied communion, forever to such as, after bap- 
 tism, married a second time. 
 
 At length Cyprian ventured out of his retreat and 
 returned to Carthage. In what manner he conducted 
 himself shall be the subject of the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Cyprian's settlement of his Church after his return, and 
 the History of the Western Church till the persecution 
 under Gallus. 
 
 OiN the return of Cyprian to Carthage, he had much 
 to do. Decius had left Rome to repel the incursion of 
 the Goths, and the church in this distraction of public 
 affairs had a respite from persecution, but malice 
 against Christianity had not ceased. 
 
 A council was held at Carthage by Cyprian and the 
 ether bishops of Africa. The ordination of Cornelius 
 was recognized as legitimate : while that of Novatian 
 was declared to be schismatical. Felicissimus was 
 condemned. The case of the lapsed was determined. 
 True penitents were to be restored ; doubtful charac- 
 ters to be deferred, and yet every method of Christian 
 charity to be used to facilitate their return and resto- 
 ration. The Novatians remained a long time after, a 
 distinct body of professing Christians. Though their 
 secession could not be justified, the spirit of God ap- 
 pears to have been with some of them, during their 
 separation from the church. God is not confined to 
 any particular modes of ecclesiastical government. 
 
 Decius lost his life in battle, in the year two hundred 
 and fifty one, after having reigned thirty months ; his 
 successor was Gallus, who, for a little time, allowed 
 peace to the church. 
 
 Cyprian watched for the good of souls as one who 
 must give an account to God of his ministry, and 
 strove hard to have all the churches perfectly joined 
 together in the same mind and in the same judg- 
 ment. Union, among the professed friends of Christ 
 at Rome, was as much on his heart, as union at Car- 
 thage, because he considered Christ's body as one. 
 
 The appearance of a new persecution from Gallus 
 wow threatening the church, Cyprian, with the African 
 
120 
 
 Synod, wrote to Curnelius about hastening the time of 
 receiving penitents, that they might be armed for the 
 approaching storm. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Effects of the Persecution of Decius in the Eastern 
 
 Church. 
 
 1 HOUGH the Eastern and Western churches were 
 divided by the Greek and Roman language, yet were 
 they cemented by the common bond of the Roman 
 government, and much more so by the common bond 
 of salvation* 
 
 In this persecution, Alexander, bishop of the 
 church at Jerusalem, was cast into prison, and finally 
 breathed out his soul under confinement. The 
 renowned Origen too also suffered extremely. 
 Bonds, torments, a dungeon, the pressure of sin iron 
 chair, the distension of his feet for many days, threats 
 of burning, and other evils, were inflicted by his ene- 
 mies, which he manfully endured. All these things 
 ended, at last, in the preservation of his life, the judge 
 solicitously taking care that his tortures should not kill 
 him. This great man at last died in his seventieth 
 year, about the same time as did the emperor Decius. 
 
 At this time Dionysius was bishop of Alexandria, a 
 person of great and deserved renown in the church ; 
 for a few of his writings, we are obliged to Eusebius. 
 In an Epistle to Germanus, Dionysius thus speaks : 
 " Sabinus, the Roman governor, sent an officer to seek 
 me during the persecution of Decius, and I remained 
 four days at home, expecting his coming ; he made 
 the most accurate search in the roads, the rivers, and 
 the fields, where he suspected I might be hid. A con- 
 fusion seems to have seized him, that he should not 
 find my house 5 for he had no idea that a man in my 
 circumstances should stay at home. At length after 
 four clays, God ordered me to remove, and having 
 
121 
 
 opened me a Way, contrary to all expectation, I and 
 my servants and many of the brethren went together. 
 The event shewed the whole was the work of Divine 
 Providence* About sun-set, being seized, together 
 with my company, by the soldiers, I was led to Tapo- 
 siris. But my friend, Timotheus, by the providence of 
 God, was not present^ nor was he seized. But com- 
 ing afterwards, he found my house forsaken, and min- 
 isters guarding it, and that we were taken captive. 
 How wonderful \vas the dispensation ! but it shall be 
 related with truth. A countrymen met Timotheus, 
 flying in confusion^ and asked the cause of his hurry ; 
 he told him the truth ; the peasant hearing it, went 
 away to a nuptial feast ; for in them the custom was 
 to watch all night. He informed the guests of what 
 lie had heard. At once they all rose up, as by a sig- 
 nal, and ran quickly to us, and shouted ; our soldiers, 
 struck with a panic, fled, and the invaders found us as 
 we were, on naked beds* I first thought they must 
 have been a company of robbers, and remaining on 
 my bed in my linen, reached to them the rest of 'my 
 apparel, which was just by. They ordered me to 
 rise and go out quickly. At length understanding their 
 real design, I cried out entreating them earnestly to 
 depart, and let us alone. But if they really meant 
 any kindness to us. I begged them to prevent my per- 
 secutors and take off iny head* They compelled me 
 to rise by plain violence, and I threw myself on the 
 ground. They seized my hands and feet, pulled me 
 out, by force ; I was set on an ass, and conducted from 
 the place." In so remarkable a manner was his use- 
 ful life preserved to the church. We shall see it was 
 not in vain. 
 
 At Alexandria, in Egypt, a most bloody persecution 
 raged for a year before that of Decian commenced. 
 There the Pagan Gentiles put the Christians to the 
 greatest distress, and multitudes to the most painful 
 and cruel deaths. Their design was to bring as ma- 
 ny as they possibly could to renounce Christ, by sa- 
 crificing to the heathen gods. But they stood firm, 
 and God supported them under their sore conflicts. 
 
122 
 
 Those who suffered for Christ, had embraced him ai 
 their Redeemer, and they manifested that they loved 
 him better than they did even their own lives ; and he 
 as their Savior granted them special tokens of his love, 
 by peculiar supports in their expiring moments. 
 
 In the Deeian persecution, the instruments of tor- 
 ture, were swords, wild beasts, red-hot chains, wheels 
 to stretch the bodies, and talons to tear them. The 
 genius of men was never known to have had more 
 employment in aiding the savageness of the heart. 
 Life was prolonged in torture, that impatience in suf- 
 fering might, at length, effect what surprize and terrof 
 could riot. 
 
 See two examples of Satanic artifice. A martyr 
 having endured the rack and burning plates, the judge 
 ordered him to be rubbed all over with honey, and 
 then exposed him in the sun, which was very hot, ly- 
 ing on his back with his hands tied behind him, that 
 he might be stung by the flies. Another person, 
 young and in the flower of his age, was, by the order 
 of the same judge, carried into a pleasant garden 
 among flowers, near a pleasing rivulet surrouded with 
 trees; here they laid him on a feather bed, bound him 
 with silken cords, and left him alone* Then they 
 brought thither a lewd woman, very handsome, who 
 began to- embrace him and to court him with all pos- 
 sible impudence. The martyr bit off his tongue, not 
 knowing how to resist the assaults of sensuality any 
 longer, and spit it in her face* Shocking as these 
 things were, Christianity appeared what it really is, 
 true holiness ; while its persecutors shewed that they 
 were at enmity with all godliness-. 
 
 Alexander, bishop of Comana, suffered martyrdom 
 by fire. At Smyrna, Eudemon, the bishop, aposta- 
 tized, and several unhappily followed his example. 
 But all did not. Pionius, one of the presbyters, stood 
 firm. In expectation of being seized, he put a chain 
 upon his neck, and caused Sabina and Asclepiadcfc 
 to do the same, to show their readiness to suffer. Po- 
 lemon, keeper of the idol-temple, came to them with 
 th> magistrate* : " Don't you know," says he, " that 
 
123 
 
 the emperor has ordered you to sacrifice ?" " We are 
 riot ignorant of the commandments," says Pionius, 
 " but they are those which command us to worship 
 God." " Come to the market-place," says Polemon., 
 " and see the truth of what I have said." " We obey 
 the true God," said Sabina and Asclepiadcs. 
 
 When the martyrs were in the midst of the multi- 
 tude in the market-place, "you had better," says Po- 
 lemon, " submit to avoid the* torture." Pionius 'began 
 to speak : " Citizens of Smyrna, who please yourselves 
 with the beauty of your walls and city, and value your- 
 selves on account of your poet, Homer, and ye Jews, 
 if there be any among you, hear me speak a few 
 words : We find that Smyrna has been esteemed the 
 finest city in the world, and was reckoned the chief of 
 those which contended for the honor of Homer's birth. 
 I am informed that you deride those who come of their 
 own accord to sacrifice, or who do not refuse when ur- 
 ged to it. But surely your teacher Homer should be 
 attended to, who says, that we ought not to rejoice at 
 the death of any man. And ye Jews ought to obey 
 Moses, who tells you, "Thou shalt not see thy broth- 
 er's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thy- 
 self from him ; thou shalt surely help him to lift them 
 up again." And Solomon says, " Rejoice not when 
 thine enemy falleth. For my part I had rather die, 
 and undergo any sufferings, than contradict my princi- 
 ples. Whence then proceed the laughter and scoffs of 
 the .Jews, pointed not only against those who have sac- 
 rificed, but against us. They insult us with a mali- 
 cious pleasure to see our long peace interrupted. 
 Though we were their enemies, still we are men. But 
 what harm have we done them ? What have we made 
 them suffer? Whom have we spoken against ? Whom 
 have we persecuted ? Whom have we compelled to 
 worship idols? Do they think themselves less culpable 
 than those who suffer death from persecution ?" H 
 then addressed the Jews on the grounds of their own 
 scriptures, and solemnly placed before the Pagans the 
 4ay of judgment, 
 
121 
 
 He spake long, Was very attentively heard, and ther*. 
 is reason to hope it was not in vain. The people, who 
 surrounded him, said with Polemon, " Believe us, Pi- 
 onius, your probity and wisdom make us deem you 
 worthy to live, and life is pleasant." Thus did con-? 
 science and humanity operate in their, hearts, "I 
 own," says the martyr, "life is pleasant, but I mean 
 that which I aspire after. We will not, through a con- 
 temptuous spirit, forsake these gifts ; but that which 
 we prefer to them is infinitely better. I thank you for 
 your expressions of kindness. I cannot, however, but 
 suspect some stratagem in it." The people continued 
 entreating him, and he still discoursed to them of an 
 hereafter. The well known sincerity and unquestion- 
 able virtues of the man, seem to have filled the Sinyr- 
 neans with veneration, and his enemies began to fear 
 an uproar in his favor. " It is impossible to persuade 
 you then," said Polemon. " I would to G*od / could 
 persuade you to be a Christian," says Pionius. 
 
 Sabina had changed her name by the advice of Pio- 
 nius, who was her brother, for fear of falling into the 
 hands of her Pagan mistress, who, to compel her to re- 
 nounce Christianity, had formerly put her in irons, and 
 banished her to the mountains, where the brethren se- 
 cretly nourished her. After this she called herself The- 
 odota. " What god dost thou adore ?" says Polemon. 
 " God Almighty," she answers, " who made all things, 
 of which we are assured by his Word Jesus Christ." 
 " And what dost thou adore ?" speaking to Asclepiades. 
 "Jesus Christ," says he. "What! is there another 
 God?" says Polemon. "No," says he, "this is the 
 same whom we come here to confess." He who wor- 
 ships the Trinity in Unity will find no difficulty in re- 
 conciling these two confessions. Let him who does 
 not so worship, attempt it- One person pitying Pioni- 
 tis, said, " Why do you that, are so Learned so resolute- 
 ly seek death ?" 
 
 Being put into prison, they found there a presbyter 
 named Lemnus, and a woman named Macedonia, and 
 another called Eutychiana, a montauist. 
 
125 
 
 - The prisoners were placed all together, and employ* 
 ed ihesnseives in praising God, and shewed every mark 
 of paiience and cheerfulness. Many Pagans visited 
 Piomus, and attempted to persuade him; his answers 
 struck them with admiration. Some, who by compul- 
 sion had sacrificed, visited them and intreated them 
 with tears. " I now suffer afresh,'* says Pionius ; " me- 
 thinks I am torn in pieces when I see the pearls of the 
 church trod under foot by swine, and the stars of hea- 
 ven cast to the earth by the tail of the dragon. But 
 our sins have been the cause." 
 
 The Jews, whose character for bigotry had not been 
 lessened by all their miseries, and whose hatred to 
 Christ continued from age to age, with astonishing 
 uniformity, invited some of the lapsed Christians to 
 their synagogue. The generous spirit of Pionius was 
 moved to express itself vehemently against the Jews. 
 Among other things he said, "- They pretend that Je- 
 sus Christ died like other men by constraint. Was 
 that man a common felon, whose disciples have cast 
 out devils for so many years ? Could that man be forc- 
 ed to die, for whose sake his disciples, and so many 
 others, have voluntarily suffered the severest punish- 
 ment ?" Having spoken a long time to them, he de-? 
 sired that they would depart out of the prison. 
 
 The continuance of miraculous dispensations in fa- 
 vor of Christianity in the third century, is here attest- 
 ed. Pionius affirms, that devils were ejected by chris- 
 tians in the name of Christ,.'in the face of the apos- 
 tates, who would have been glad of the shadow of an 
 argument to justify their perfidy. 
 
 The captain of the horse coming to the prison, or- 
 dered Pionius to come to the idol-temple. " Youi- 
 bishop Eudemon hath already sacrificed," says he. 
 The martyr, knowing that nothing of this sort could be 
 done legally till the arrival of the pro-consul, refused. 
 The captain put a cord about his neck, and drag T 
 ged him along with Sabina and others. They cried^ 
 " we are Christians," and fell to the ground, lest they 
 should enter the idol-temple. Pionius, after much 
 resistance, was forced in and laid on the jround before 
 
126 
 
 the altar ; there stood the unhappy Eudemon, afte* 
 having sacrificed. 
 
 Lepidus, a judge, asks, " What god do you adore ?" 
 * Him," says Pionius, "that made heaven and earth." 
 " You mean him that was crucified ?" " I mean him 
 whom God the Father sent for the salvation of men." 
 " We must," said the judges one to another, " compel 
 them to say what we desire." " Blush," answered 
 Pionius, ki ye adorers of false gods ; have some respect 
 for justice, and obey the laws ; they enjoin you not to 
 do violence to us, but to put us to death." 
 
 One Ruffinus said, " Forbear, Pionius, your thirst 
 after vain glory." " Is this your eloquence ?" answer- 
 ed the martyr. " Is this what you have read in your 
 books ? Was not Socrates thus treated by the Atheni- 
 ans ? According to your advice he sought after vain 
 glory, because he applied himself to wisdom and vir- 
 tue." A case thus apposite, and which doubtless 
 bore some resemblance, as the philosopher's zeal for 
 moral virtue exposed him to persecution, struck Ruffi- 
 nus dumb. 
 
 A certain person placed a crown on Pionus' head, 
 which he tore, and the pieces lay before the altar. 
 The Pagans, finding their persuasions vain, remanded 
 them to prison. 
 
 Afew days after, the pro-consul, Quintilian, returned 
 to Smyrna and examined Pionius. He tried both tor- 
 tures and persuasions in vain, and at length, enraged 
 at his obstinacy, sentenced him to be burnt alive. 
 Pionius went cheerfully to the place of execution, and 
 thanked God who had preserved his body pure from 
 idolatry.. Then he stretched himself out upon the 
 wood, and delivered himself to a soldier to be nailed 
 to the pile. After he was fastened, the executioner 
 said to him, " Change your mind, and the nails shall 
 be taken away." " I have felt them," answered he. 
 After remaining thoughtful for a time, he said, " I has- 
 ten, O Lord, that I may the sooner be raised up again." 
 They then lifted him up, fastened to the wood, and af- 
 terwards one Metrodorus, a Marcionite, was placed in 
 the same manner. They weje turned toward the east. 
 
127 
 
 Pionius on the right hand and Metrodorus on the left. 
 They heaped round them a great quantity of wood. 
 Pionius remained some time motionless, with his eyes 
 shut, absorbed in prayer, while the fire was consuming 
 him. Then at length he opened his eyes, and looking 
 cheerfully on the (ire, said, " Amen," and expired, say- 
 ing, " Lord, receive my soul." Of the particular man- 
 ner in which his companions suffered death, we have 
 no account. 
 
 In this narrative of the suffering of Pionius and his 
 companions, we see the spirit of divine charity triumph- 
 ing over all worldly and selfish considerations. The 
 zeal of Pionius deserves to be commemorated while 
 the world endures. What true religion is, in its sim- 
 plicity, is exemplified in him abundantly, and to the 
 very last. 
 
 In Asia, one Maximus a merchant, was brought be- 
 fore Optimus, the pro-consul, who enquired after his 
 condition. " I was," says he, " born free, but I am 
 the servant of Je^us Christ." "Of what profession 
 are you ?" " A man of the world, who live by my 
 dealings." " Are you a Christian ?" " Though a sin- 
 ner, yet I am a Christian." The usual process was 
 carried on of persuasions and tortures. These are not 
 torments w r hich we suffer for the name of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ; they are wholesome unctions." Such 
 was the effect of the Holy Ghost shedding the love of 
 God in Christ abroad in the human heart ! He was or- 
 dered to be stoned to death. 
 
 All this time the persecution raged in Egypt with 
 unremitting" fury. In the low r er Thebais there was a 
 young man named Paul, to whom at fifteen years of 
 age, his parents left a great estate. He was a person 
 of much learning, of a mild temper, and full of the 
 love of God. He had a married sister with whom he 
 lived. Her husband was base enough to design an 
 information against him, to obtain his estate. Paul, 
 having notice of this, retired to the desert mountains, 
 where he waited till the persecution ceased. Habit, 
 at length, made solitude agreeable to him. He found 
 9. pleasant retreat and lived there ninety years. At 
 
the time of his retirement he was twenty-three, and 
 lived to be one hundred and thirteen years old. This 
 is the first distinct account of an hermit in the Christian 
 church. None should doubt the genuine piety of PauL 
 but he carried his love for solitude too fan With the 
 return of peace, the return of social duties should have 
 taken place. 
 
 By the Decian persecution the Lord meant to chast- 
 en and to purify his ckurch, not to destroy it. This was 
 not a local, but universal persecution, and must have 
 transmitted great numbers to the regions Where sin and 
 pain shall be no more. The peace of thirty years had 
 corrupted the whole Christian atmosphere. The light- 
 ning of the Decian rage refined and cleared it. No 
 doubt the effects were salutary. Without such a 
 scourge, external religion might have spread^ and in*- 
 ternal have languished. The survivors had an op- 
 portunity to learn what the gospel is, in the faithfulness 
 of the martrys ; and men were taught again, that he 
 alone who strengthens Christians to suffer, can make 
 true Christians. Yet the storm proved fatal to a num- 
 ber of individuals who apostatized, and Christianity 
 was cleared of many false friends. The formation of 
 schisms and of superstitious solitudes, had their date 
 from the Decian persecution. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The History of the Church during the reign of Gallus* 
 
 IjtALLUS soon began to disturb the peace of the 
 church, though not with the incessant fury of his pre- 
 decessor. One Hyppolitus, a Roman presbyter, had 
 been seduced into Novatianism ; but his mind had not 
 been perverted from the faith and love of Jesus. He 
 was now called on to suffer martyrdom, which he did 
 with courage and fidelity. Being asked in the last 
 scene of his sufferings, whether he still persisted in the 
 communion of the. Novatians? He declared in the 
 
129 
 
 most explicit terms, that he now saw the affair in a new 
 light, repented of his having encouraged the schism, 
 and died in the communion of the general church. 
 
 In this persecution the Roman christians suffered 
 severely, and behaved themselves with exemplary for- 
 titude. Like good soldiers they stood resolute, armed 
 for the battle by watchings, fastings and prayers. Their 
 bishop, Cornelius, was banished, by the emperor, to 
 Civita Vecchia, where he died in exile. The faith- 
 fulness of his sufferings for Christ, clearly evinces the 
 sincerity of his profession. 
 
 The daily reception of the Lord's supper appears to 
 have been the practice of the African church at that 
 time. 
 
 Lucius was chosen bishop of Rome instead of Cor- 
 nelius, but was immediately driven into exile by the 
 authority ofGallus. Cyprian congratulated him both 
 on his promotion and sufferings. His banishment 
 must have been of short duration. In the year 252, 
 he was permitted to return to Rome. Soon after which 
 he suffered death and was succeeded by Stephen. 
 
 During the reign of Callus, a dreadful pestilence ra- 
 ged in Africa. The mortality was great. The pa- 
 gans, alarmed beyond measure, neglected the burial of 
 the dead through fear, and violated the duties of hu- 
 manity. Many dead bodies lay in the streets of Car- 
 thage. Cyprian assembled his people and expatiated 
 on the subject of mercy. He pointed out to them, that 
 if they did no more than others, the heathen and the 
 publican, in shewing mercy to their own, there would 
 be nothing worthy of their profession in that ; that Chris- 
 tians ought to overcome evil with good, and like their 
 heavenly Father to love their enemies, since he makes 
 his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends 
 rain on the just and the unjust. Why does not he, who 
 professes himself a son of God, imitate the example of 
 his Father ? We ought to answer to our birth, and 
 those who appear to be born of God, should not de- 
 generate, but should be solicitous to prove the gen- 
 uineness of their relation to God by the imitation of 
 his goodness. 
 
130 
 
 The eloquent voice of Cyprian was attended to by 
 the people with their usual alacrity. The Christians 
 ranked themselves into classes to relieve the public 
 calamity. The rich contributed largely, the poor did 
 what they could. Their labor was attended with ex- 
 treme hazard to their lives. The Pagans saw, with 
 admiration, what the love of God in Christ can do, 
 and beheld their own selfishness and inferiority. 
 
 About this time, some Numidian Christians were 
 carried into captivity, by an irruption of barbarians, 
 who neither owned the Roman sway, nor had the least 
 acquaintance with Christianity. The active benevo- 
 lence of Cyprian would not surfer him to be at rest. 
 He took measures to redeem them from captivity, 
 wrote to them a most feeling, affectionate and sympa- 
 thetic letter, and informed them ; " We have sent a 
 hundred thousand sesterces,* the collection of our 
 clergy and laity, of the charge of Carthage, which you 
 will dispense according to your diligence. Heartily 
 do we wish that no such thing may happen again, and 
 that the Lord may protect our brethren from such ca- 
 lamities. But if, to try our faith and love, such afflic- 
 tions should again befal you, hesitate not to certify 
 us, assuring yourselves of the hearty concurrence of 
 our church with you in prayer and in cheerful contri- 
 bution." 
 
 Soon after the appointment of Stephen to the office 
 of bishop of the church of Rome, Callus was slain, af- 
 ter a wretched reign of 18 months, in the year 253. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The pacific Part of Valerian' } s Reign. 
 
 1 N Valerian, the successor of Gallus, the people of 
 God found a friend and protector, for upwards of three 
 years. His house was full of Christians and he had a 
 strong predilection in their favor. 
 
 During 'this peace, a council was held in Africa by 
 sixty-six bishops, with Cyprian at their head, to set- 
 
 * About jg 3900. 
 
131 
 
 tie various matters relating to the church of Christ, 
 
 We have an account of two points mentioned, 
 which particularly called their attention. 
 
 One Victor, a presbyter, had been received into 
 the church without having undergone the legitimate 
 time of trial, and without the concurrence and con- 
 sent of the people. His bishop, Therapius, had done 
 it arbitrarily and contrary to the institutes of the for- 
 mer council for settling such matters. Cyprian, in the 
 name of the council, contents himself with reprimand- 
 ding Therapius ; but yet confirms what he had done, 
 and warns him to take care of offending in future. 
 
 We here see, that a strict and godly discipline, on 
 the \vhole, now prevailed in the church, and that the 
 wisest and most successful methods of recovering the 
 lapsed, were used. The authority of bishops was firm, 
 but not despotic ; and the share of the people, in mat- 
 ters of discipline, appears worthy of notice. 
 
 What the other point was which called the atten- 
 tion of this council, we learn from what Cyprian writes 
 to Fidus ; " As to the case of infants, of whom you 
 said that they ought not to be baptized within the sec- 
 ond or third day after their birth, and that the ancient 
 law of circumcision should be so far repeated, that 
 they should not be baptized till the eighth day, we 
 were ail of a different opinion. The mercy and grace 
 of God, we all judged, should be denied to none. For 
 if the Lord says in his gospel, the son of man has not 
 come to destroy merfs lives, but to save them, how ought 
 we to do our utmost, as far as in us lies, that no soul 
 be lost. Spiritual circumcision, should not be impe- 
 ded by that which is carnal. If even to the foulest of- 
 fenders, when they afterwards believe, remission of 
 sins be granted, and none is prohibited from baptism 
 and grace ; how much more should an infant be ad- 
 mitted, who, just born, hath not sinned at all, except 
 that being carnally born according to Adam, he hath 
 contracted the contagion of ancient death in his first 
 birth ; who approaches to remission of sins more easi- 
 ly, because not his own actual guilt ? but that of anoth- 
 er, is remitted." 
 
132 
 
 Here, in an assembly of sixty-six pastors, men of 
 approved fidelity and gravity, who had stood the fiery 
 trial of some of the severest persecutions ever known, 
 and who had testified their love to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ; who appear not to have been wanting in any of 
 the essential characteristics of godliness ; a question is 
 brought, not, whether infants should be baptized at all, 
 none contradicted this, but, whether it is right to bap- 
 tize them immediately, or on the eighth day. To a 
 man, they all determined to baptize them immediate- 
 ly. This transaction passed in the year 253. 
 
 In what light the primitive christia^s viewed thea- 
 trical entertainments, and stage players, may be seen 
 by a letter from Cyprian to Eucratius his brother. As 
 this shews the opinions and manners of the brethren 
 of that age, the reader may be entertained and in- 
 structed by a perusal. 
 
 " Cyprian to Eucratius his Brother. Health. Your 
 love and esteem have induced you, dearest brother, 
 to consult me as to what I think of the case of the 
 player among you ; who still continues in the same 
 infamous art, and as a teacher of boys, not to be in- 
 structed but to be ruined by him, instructs others in 
 that which he himself hath miserably learnt. You 
 ask whether he should be allowed the continuance of 
 Christian communion ? I think it very inconsistent 
 with the majesty of God, and the rules of his gospel, 
 that the modesty and honor of the church should be 
 defiled by so base and infamous a contagion. In the 
 law, men are prohibited to wear female attire, and 
 are pronounced accursed ; how much more criminal 
 must it be, not only to put on woman's garments, but 
 also to express lacivious, obscene, and effeminate 
 gestures in a way of instructing others ! And let no 
 man excuse himself as having left the theatre, while 
 yet he undertakes to qualify others for the work. You 
 cannot say that he had ceased from a business, who 
 provides substitutes in his room, and instead of one 
 only, furnishes the play-house with a number ; teach- 
 ing them, contrary to the Divine ordinance, how the 
 jnaje may be reduced into a female, and the sex bq 
 
133 
 
 changed by art ; and how Satan may be gratified by 
 the defilement of the Divine workmanship. If the 
 man makes poverty his excuse, his necessities may be 
 relieved in the same manner as those of others, who 
 are maintained by the alms of the church, provided 
 he be content with frugal, but innocent food, and do 
 not fancy that we are to hire him by a salary to cease 
 from sin, since it is not our interest, but his own, that 
 is concerned in this affair. But let his gains from the 
 service of the play-house be ever so large, what sort of 
 gain is that, which tears men from a participation in 
 the banquet of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and leads 
 them, miserably and ruinously, fattened in this world, 
 to the punishments of eternal famine arid thirst ? 
 Therefore, as much as you can, recover him from this 
 depravity and infamy, to the way of innocence and to 
 the hope of life, that he may be content with a parsi- 
 monious, but salutary maintenance from the church. 
 But if your church be insufficient to maintain its poor, 
 he may transfer himself to us, and here receive what 
 is necessary for food and raiment, and no longer teach 
 pernicious things out of the church, but learn himself 
 salutary things in the church. Dearest son, I wish 
 you constant prosperity. 1 " 
 
 What, surely, would Cyprian have said, to see large 
 assemblies of Christians, so called, devoted to the im- 
 purities of the theatre, zealously supporting them, and 
 deriving from them their highest delight ? He would, 
 at the same time, observe the same persons, as might 
 be expected, perfect strangers to the joys of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 Among the primitive Christians, the clergy were 
 looked upon as men wholly devoted to Divine things, 
 and secular cares were taken but of their hands as 
 much as possible : an instance of this we see in the 
 decision of an African Synod, where Cyprian and his 
 colleagues wrote to the church of Terna? a protest 
 against the appointment of Faustinus, a presbyter, a 
 guardian, by the will of one Germinius Victor. This 
 shows the happy effects produced upon the minds of 
 the church by the spirit of God. 
 
134 
 
 During this century the gospel had spread.in France 
 and Spain to a great degree. In Spain, two bishops, 
 Basilides and Martial, were deposed for their unfaith- 
 fulness during the persecution. 
 
 A question arose, whether persons returning from 
 heresies into the church ought to be re-baptized. 
 The active spirit of Cyprian was employed, partly by 
 a council in Africa, and partly by his letters, in main- 
 taining, that the baptism of heretics was null and void; 
 that even Novatian baptism ought to be looked up- 
 on in the same light. But Stephen, of Rome, main- 
 tained, that if they were baptized in the name of the 
 Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, it was sufficient 
 to receive them into the church by imposition of 
 hands ; and though nothing was at present decided, 
 because no party had power to compel others, yet 
 most Christians have long since agreed with Stephen. 
 
 But the church, while in worldly ease and quiet, is 
 too easily entangled in curious speculations, and loses 
 the vigor of religious affection : but God, in infinite 
 mercy, has a scourge for his froward children ; perse- 
 cution lowers again with re-collected strength, and 
 Christians are called on to forget their idle internal 
 contentions, to humble themselves before him, and 
 prepare for scenes of horror and desolation. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The last Acts and Martyrdom of Cyprian. 
 
 1 HE change in the disposition of Valerian toward 
 the christians, which now took place, is one of the 
 most memorable instances of the instability of human 
 characters. More than all his predecessors he was at 
 first disposed to kindness toward them. His palace 
 was full of the friends of Jesus, and was looked on as a 
 sanctuary. But, after he had reigned three years, he 
 was induced by his favorite Macrianus, to treat them 
 with the most vindictive cruelty. This man dealt 
 
155 
 
 largely in magical enchantments and abominable sac- 
 rifices ; he slaughtered children, and scattered the en-' 
 trails of new born babes. The persecution of chris- 
 tians was an exploit worthy of a mind so facinated 
 with diabolical wickedness and folly. In Valerian 
 he found but too ready a disciple. It began in the 
 year two hundred and fifty seven, and continued the 
 remainder of his reign, three years and a half. Ste- 
 phen, of Rome, appears to have died a natural death 
 about the beginning of it. Sixtus was his successor. 
 
 Cyprian, who had escaped two persecutions, was now 
 made the victim of the third, though his sufferings were 
 attended with circumstances of comparative lenity. 
 
 He was seized by the servants of Paternus, the pro- 
 consul of Carthage, and brought into his council cham- 
 ber. "The sacred emperors, Valerian and Gallienus," 
 says Paternus, " have done me the honor to direct let- 
 ters to me, in which they have decreed, that all men 
 ought to adore the gods whom the Romans adore, and 
 on pain of being slain with the sword. I have heard 
 that you despise the worship of the gods, whence I ad- 
 vise you to consult for yourself and honor them." " I 
 am a Christian," Cyprian replied, " and know no God 
 but the one true God, who created heaven and earth, 
 the sea, and all things in them. This God, we chris- 
 tians serve ; to him we pray night and day for all men, 
 and even for the emperors." " You shall die the 
 death of a malefactor, if you persevere in this inclina- 
 tion." Cyprian answered, " That is a good inclina- 
 tion which fears God, and therefore must not be 
 changed." " You must then, by the will of the prin- 
 ces, be banished." "He is no exile," it was replied, 
 " who has God in his heart, for the earth is the Lord's^ 
 and the fulness thereof." Paternus said, " Before 
 you go, tell me where are your presbyters, who are 
 said to be in this city." With much presence of mind,. 
 Cyprian reminded him of the edicts made by the. 
 best Roman princes against the practice of informers. 
 " They ought not therefore to be discovered by me ? 
 but you may find them, and you yourselves do not 
 approve of men offering themselves voluntarily to 
 
136 
 
 you." " I will make you discover them by tortures.- 1 
 " By me," the intrepid Cyprian rejoined, " they shall 
 not be discovered." " Our princes have ordered that 
 Christians hold no conventicles, and whoever breaks 
 this rule shall be put to death," " Do what you are 
 ordered," Cyprian calmly replied. 
 
 Paternus was, however, not disposed to hurt Cypri- 
 an. He respected his character. Having, in vain, 
 attempted to work on his fears, he banished him to 
 Curubis, a little town 60 miles from Carthage, situ- 
 ate by the sea, over against Sicily. The place was 
 healthy, the air good, and by his own desire he had 
 private lodgings. During the eleven months he resided 
 there, the citizens of Curubis treated him with great 
 kindness, and he was repeatedly visited by Christians. 
 There he served his Divine Master in good works, and 
 in the interim Paternus died. 
 
 While he was there, nine bishops, all of whom had 
 been present at the last council at Carthage, were 
 seized, and a great number of the faithful, priests, 
 deacons, virgins and children ; who, after having been 
 beaten with sticks, were sent to work in the copper- 
 mines in the mountains. 
 
 To them Cyprian addressed a most affectionate let- 
 ter, peculiarly calculated to support them under their 
 sore trials ; an extract from this letter is in the follow- 
 ing language : " Let malice and cruelty fetter you as 
 they please, quickly you will come from earth arid its 
 sorrows to the kingdom of heaven. In those mines 
 the body is not refreshed by a bed, but Christ is its 
 consolation and rest ; your limbs, fatigued with labors, 
 lie on the ground ; but to lie down with Christ is no 
 punishment. Filth and dirt defile your limbs, void of 
 the cleansing bath ; but you are inwardly washed 
 from all uncleanliness. Your allowance of bread is 
 scanty ; but man doth not live by bread alone, but by 
 the word of God. You have no proper clothes to 
 fence you from the cold ; but he w r ho has put on Christ 
 is clothed abundantly." 
 
 In the year 260, Cyprian, returning by permission 
 from exile, lived in a garden near Carthage, which 
 
137 
 
 Was now providentially restored to him, though he had 
 sold it at his first conversion. His liberal spirit would 
 have inclined him once more to sell it for the relief of 
 the needy, had he not feared to attract the envy of the 
 persecutors. Here he regulated the affairs of the 
 church, and distributed to the poor what he had left. 
 Here he understood that the persecution, after a little 
 interval, had broken out afresh, and hearing various 
 reports, he sent to Rome to gain certain information. 
 He soon learnt, what he immediately communicated 
 to the brethren, that Valerian had given orders, that 
 bishops, presbyters and deacons should be put to death 
 without delay ; that senators, noblemen, and knights 
 should be degraded arid deprived of their property, and 
 if they still persisted to be Christians, should lose their 
 lives ; that women of quality should be deprived of 
 their property and be banished ; that all Caesar's freed- 
 men, who should have confessed, should be stripped of 
 their goods, be chained and sent to work on his estates. 
 These were Valerian's orders to the senate, and were 
 sent to the governors of provinces* " These letters^" 
 writes Cyprian, "we daily expect to arrive, stand- 
 ing in the firmness of faith, in patient expectation of 
 suffering, and hoping, from the Lord's help and kind- 
 ness, the crown of eternal life." He mentions also the 
 news he had heard of the martyrdom of Sixtusj the 
 bishop of Rome, and the ferocity, with which the per- 
 secution was there daily carried on in all its horrors. 
 He begs that the intelligence may be circulated 
 through Africa, "That we may all think of death, 
 not more than immortality, and in the fulness of faith, 
 may rather rejoice at, tkan fear, the event." Ga- 
 lerius Maximus had succeeded Paternus in the pro- 
 consulate, and Cyprian was daily expected to be sent 
 for. In this awful crisis, a number of senators and 
 others, considerable for their office or their quality, 
 came to him. Ancient friendship melted the minds 
 of some of them toward the man, and they offered to 
 conceal him in country places, but his soul was now 
 jithirst for martyrdom. He was conscientiously afraid 
 of sinning against God by throwing away his life, by 
 
138 
 
 courting martyrdom ; but he was not afraid of being 
 found in the discharge of duty. Still he continued at 
 Carthage exhorting the faithful, desiring, that if called 
 to suffer, death might find him thus employed for God. 
 
 However, being informed that the pro-consul, then 
 at Utica, had sent some soldiers to bring him thither, 
 he was induced to comply^ for a season, with the ad- 
 vice of his friends, to retire to some place of conceal- 
 ment, that he might not suffer there ; but if his execu- 
 tion was inevitable, he might finish his life among his 
 own people at Carthage ; so he states the matter in the 
 last of his letters to the clergy and people. "Here," 
 says he,, " in this concealment, I wait for the return of 
 the pro-consul to Carthage, ready to appear before 
 him, and to say what shall be given me at that hour. 
 Do you, dear brethren, do you, agreeably to the disci- 
 pline you have always received, and to the instruc- 
 tions you have learnt of me, continue still and quiet ; 
 let none of you excite any tumult on account of the 
 brethren, or offer himself voluntarily to the Gentiles. 
 He who is seized and delivered up ought to speak ; the 
 Lord in us will speak at that hour; and confession, 
 rather than profession, is our duty. 
 
 The pro-consul being returned to Carthage, and 
 Cyprian to his garden, officers with soldiers came there 
 to seize him. They carried him in a chariot between 
 them to a place called Sextus, six miles from Car- 
 thage,, by the sea side, where the pro-consul lodged 
 in a state of ill health. His trial was deferred till the 
 next day, when vast crowds, both of christians and 
 infidels, who revered the virtue of the man, assembled. 
 The chief of the officers guarded him, but in a cour- 
 teous manner ; so that he ate with his friends, and had 
 them about him as usuaL The Christians passed the 
 night in the street before his lodgings, and the charity 
 of Cyprian moved him to direct a particular attention 
 to be paid to the young women who were among the 
 crowd. The next day the pro-consul sent for Cypri- 
 an, w T ho went to the Praetorium, attended by crowds of 
 people. The pro-consul not yet appearing, Cyprian 
 was ordered to wait for him in a private place, where 
 
139 
 
 he sat down. Being in a great perspiration, a soldier, 
 who had professed Christianity, offered him fresh 
 clothes. " Shall we," says Cyprian, " seek for a reme- 
 dy for that which may last no longer than a day." 
 
 He was at length brought into the judgment-hall^ 
 ^where the pro-consul sat. "Are you Thascius Cy- 
 prian ?" " I am." " Are you he whom the christians 
 call their bishop ?" " I am." " Our princes have or- 
 dered y HI to worship their gods." " That 1 shall not 
 do." " You will do better to consult your safety, arid 
 not despise the gods." " My safety and virtue is Christ 
 the Lord, whom I desire to serve forever." " I pity 
 your case," says the pro-consul, " and could wish to 
 consult for you." " I do not wish," replies Cyprian, 
 " that things should be otherwise with me, than that, 
 adoring my God, I may hasten to him with all the ar- 
 dor of my soul ; for the afflictions of .this present time 
 are not worthy to be compared with the glory which 
 shall be revealed in us." The pro-consul, now redden- 
 ing with anger, says, " You have lived sacrilegiously a 
 long time, and have formed into a society men of an 
 impious conspiracy, and have shewn yourself an ene- 
 my to the gods and their religion, and have not hearken- 
 ed unto the equitable counsels of our princes, but have 
 ever been a father of the impious sect, and their ring- 
 leader ; you shall therefore be an example to {he rest, 
 and they shall learn their duty by your blood. Let 
 Thascius Cyprian, who refuses to sacrifice to the gods, 
 be put to death by the sword." " God be praised," said 
 the martyr, and while they were leading him away, a 
 multitude of people followed and cried, " Let us die 
 with our holy bishop." 
 
 A troop of soldiers attended, and the officers march- 
 ed on each side of him. They led him into a plain 
 surrounded with trees, and many climbed \ip to the 
 top of them to see him at a distance. Cyprian took 
 off his mantle, and fell on his knees and worshiped 
 his God; then he put off his inner garment and re- 
 mained in his shirt. The executioner being come, 
 Cyprian ordered 25 golden denarii to be given him ; 
 he himself bound the napkin over his eyes, and a pros- 
 
140 
 
 byter and deacon tied his hands for him, and the chris* 
 tians laid before him napkins and hankerchiefs to rer 
 ceive his blood. Then his head was cut off by the 
 sword. 
 
 Thus, after an eventful and important period of 
 about 12 years from his conversion, after a variety of 
 toils and exercises among friends, and open foes, and 
 nominal Christians, by a death more gentle than com- 
 monly fell to the lot of martyrs, rested in Jesus, the 
 magnanimous and charitable spirit of Cyprian of Car- 
 thage. 
 
 Before Cyprian's time, Africa appears to have been 
 in no very flourishing state with respect to Christianity. 
 Within 12 years he was the instrument of most mater 
 rial service in recovering many apostates, in reforming 
 discipline, and in reviving the essence of godliness. 
 
 B 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Other Particulars of Valerian's Persecution. 
 
 Y order of Valerian, Sixtus, bishop of Rome, and 
 some others of the clergy were seized. While Sixtus 
 was going to execution, Laurentius, his chief deacon, 
 followed him weeping, and, said, " Whither goest thou, 
 father, without thy son ?" Sixtus said, '* You shall fol- 
 low me in three days." 
 
 After Sixtus' death the prefect of Rome, moved by 
 an idle report of the immense riches of the Roman 
 church, sent for Laurentius, and ordered him to deliv- 
 er them up. Laurentius, requested a little time to 
 set every thing in order, and to take an account of 
 each particular ; three days having been granted, he 
 collected all the poor who were supported by the 
 Roman church, and went to the prefect and said, 
 " Come, behold the riches of our God ; you shall see a 
 large court fhll of golden vessels." The prefect fol- 
 lowed him, but seeing all the poor people, he turned 
 to Laurentius with looks full of anger." " What arc 
 you displeased at ?" said the martyr j '' the gold yoti 
 
141 
 
 o eagerly desire is but a vile metal taken out of the 
 earth, and serves as an incitement to all sorts of 
 crimes ; the true gold is that Light whose disciples 
 these poor men are. The misery of their bodies is an 
 advantage to their souls ; sin is the true disease ; the 
 great ones of the earth are the truly poor and con- 
 temptible. These are the treasures which I promis- 
 ed you, to which I will add precious stones. Behold 
 these virgins and widows ; they are the church's crown * 
 make use of these riches for the advantage of Rome, 
 of the emperor, and yourself." 
 
 Doubtless, had the prefect's mind been at all dispos- 
 ed to receive an instructive lesson, he would here have 
 learned the nature of the liberality of Christians, who 
 maintained a great number of objects, and who look-- 
 ed for no recompense, but that which shall take place 
 at the resurrection of the just. But as the persecu- 
 tors would not hear the doctrines of Christ explain- 
 ed, so neither would they patiently endure an exem- 
 plification of his precepts. The prefect was cut to 
 the quick ; " Do you m0ck me ?" said he, " I know you 
 value yourselves for contemning death, and therefore 
 you shall not die at once." He caused him to be 
 stripped, extended, and fastened to a gridiron, and in 
 that manner to be broiled to death by a slow fire. 
 When he had continued a considerable time on one 
 gide, he said to the prefect, " Let me be turned, I am 
 sufficiently broiled on one side." And when they had 
 turned him he said, " It is enough, ye may eat."-^ 
 Then looking up to heaven, he prayed for the convex 
 sion of Rome, and gave up the ghost! 
 
 At Csesarea, in Cappadocia, a child named Cyril, 
 shewed uncommon fortitude. Neither threats nor 
 blows could prevent him from owning Christianity,^ 
 He was driven from his home by his own father, ancj 
 persecuted by many children of his owa age. He 
 was brought before the judge, w 7 ho promised that he 
 should be pardoned and be again received by his fa- 
 ther. He replied, " I rejoice to bear your reproaches ; 
 God will receive me ; I arn glad that I am expelled out 
 of our house ; 1 shall have a better mansion ; I fear not 
 
142 
 
 death, because it will introduce me into a better life. 19 
 The judge ordered him to be bound and led to the 
 place of execution, with secret orders to bring him 
 back, hoping that the sight of the fire might overcome 
 his resolution. Cyril remained inflexible. The hu- 
 rnanjty of the judge induced him still to continue his 
 remonstrances. The young martyr stood firm ; " Your 
 fire and your sword," said he, " are insignificant. I go 
 to a better house and more excellent riches ; despatch 
 me presently, that I may enjoy them." The specta- 
 tors wept through compassion. " You should rather 
 rejoice," said he, " in conducting me to my punish- 
 ment. You know not what a city I am going to inhabit, 
 nor what is my hope." Thus he went to his death, 
 and was the admiration of the whole city. 
 
 Many others suffered with great Christian meekness 
 and fortitude. But after three years employed in per- 
 secution, Valerian was taken prisoner by Sapor king of 
 Persia, who detained him the rest of his life, and made 
 use of his neck when he mounted his horse, and at 
 length had him flayed and salted. Valerian had known 
 and respected the Christians ; his persecution therefore 
 must have been a sin against light, and it is common 
 with Divine providence to punish such in a very ex- 
 emplary manner. 
 
 Gallienus, son to Valerian, succeeded him, and was 
 an emperor friendly to the Christians ; he stopped the 
 persecution by edicts, and gave the pastors of church- 
 es licence to return to their respective charges. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 From the reign of Gallienus to the end of the Century. 
 
 W E now behold Christians legally tolerated under a 
 Pagan government for forty years. The example of 
 Gallienus was followed by the successive emperors to 
 the end of the century, and was violated only in one in- 
 stance; the effect of which was presently dissipated by 
 the, hand of Providence. This is not a season for the 
 
143 
 
 growth of grace and holiness ; genuine Christianity^ 
 during this period, was very little manifested. 
 
 Though Christianity, at this time was literally tol- 
 erated, yet Christians were not entirely exempt from 
 persecution. At Csesarea, in Palestine, there was one 
 Marinus, a soldier of great bravery, of noble fam- 
 ily, and very opulent. The office of centurion being 
 vacant, Marinus was called to it. Another soldier 
 came before the tribunal, and said, that by the laws 
 Marinus was incapacitated, because he was a Chris- 
 tian, and did not do sacrifice to the emperors ; but that 
 he himself, as next in rank, ought to have it. Achaeus, 
 the governor, asked Marinus what w r as his religion ; on 
 which he confessed himself a Christian. The govern- 
 or gave him three hours to deliberate. Upon this 
 Theotecnes, bishop of Csesarea, calls Marinus from 
 the tribunal, takes him by the hand, and leads him to 
 the church, shows him a sword that hung by his side,, 
 and a New Testament which he pulled out of his pock- 
 et, and bids him choose which of the two he liked 
 best. Marinus, stretching out his hand, takes the Ho- 
 ly Scripture. " Hold fast then," said Theotecnes, 
 " cleave to God, and what you have chosen you shall 
 enjoy, being strengthened by him, and depart in 
 peace." After he had returned thence he was, by the 
 crier's voice, ordered to appear again at the bar, the 
 time of three hours being expired. There he man- 
 fully confessed the faith of Christ, heard the sentence 
 of condemnation, and was beheaded. 
 
 The greatest luminary in the church at this time, 
 was Dionysius, of Alexandria. He took a decided 
 stand against the Sabellian heresy, which confounded 
 the persons of the Trinity. 
 
 Paul, of Samosata, attempted, about the year 269, 
 by many artful subtilties to depreciate, the real Divin- 
 ity of Jesus Christ, and introduce into the church 
 the doctrine of Socinianism. But he was, by the 
 pastors, called to an account, deposed from office 
 and excluded from Christian fellowship. The doc- 
 trine usually called Trinitarian, was universal in these 
 times. 
 
144 
 
 Aurelian succeeded Gallienus, and Tacitus, Aiireii- 
 &n, who, after a short reign, left the empire to Probus, 
 in whose second year A* D. 277, appeared the mon- 
 strous heresy of Manes, whose fundamental principle 
 was to account for the origin of moral evil, by the ad- 
 mission of two first causes, independent of each other. 
 This heresy continued long to infest the church; 
 
 In the year two hundred and eighty four, Dioclesian 
 became emperor, and for about eighteen years was ex- 
 tremely indulgent to Christians. His wife, Prisca, and 
 daughter Valeria, the eunuchs of his palace and many 
 of his important officers, with their wives and families 
 embraced the gospel and made a public profession of 
 their faith. In various parts of the empire, vast crow r ds 
 attended religious service, so that the houses of worship 
 were found inadequate to their accommodation, and 
 in all the cities^ large edifices were erected for their use. 
 The number of nominal converts now increased, but 
 Vital piety declined. The influence of philosophers, 
 with whom they were connected, was one of the causes. 
 
 Toward the end of this century, Dioclesian, practi- 
 sing the superstitious rites of divination, attributed the 
 ill success of his sacrifices to the presence of a Christian 
 servant who made on his forehead the sign of the 
 cross. He ordered all present and all in his palace to 
 sacrifice, or, in case of refusal to be scourged with 
 whips. He wrote also to the officers of his armies to 
 constrain all the soldiers to sacrifice^ and to discharge 
 from service those who should refuse to comply with 
 this rite of heathen superstition. Many resigned ra- 
 ther then submit to the impious direction. Christian 
 truth was not yet lost, and though its influence was di- 
 minished, it was not yet perceptible. Very few were 
 put to death on account of their religious profession. 
 
 But Marcel lus, the centurion, did not escape. At 
 Tangier in Mauritania, while every one was employ- 
 ed iq feasting and sacrifices, he took off his belt, threw 
 down his vine branch and his arms, and added, " I will 
 not fight any longer under the banner of your emperor, 
 or serve your gods of wood and stone. If the condi- 
 tion of a soldier is such that he is obliged to sacrifice 
 
145 
 
 to gods and emperors, I abandon the vine branch and 
 the belt, and quit the service." Marcellus, having thus 
 refused to partake in idolatrous worship, was ordered 
 to be beheaded. 
 
 These preliminaries to the persecution, with which 
 the next century opens, did not affect the minds of 
 Christians in general ; nor was the spirit of prayer ex- 
 cited among them ; a certain sign of great declension 
 in godliness. Justification by faith, hearty conviction 
 of sin, and the Spirit's influences, are scarcely men- 
 tioned all this season. 
 
 God, who had exercised long suffering patience, de- 
 clared at length in the course of his providence, " Be- 
 cause I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, 
 thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, 
 till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee." 
 
 But this scene, which materially changed the condi- 
 tion of the church, and was quickly followed by seve- 
 ral surprising revolutions, belongs to the next century. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Some Account of Gregory Thaumaturgus^ Theognostus, 
 and Dionysius of Rome. 
 
 fjrREGORY was born at Neacassarea, the metrop- 
 olis of Cappadocia, and early educated in idolatry and 
 the learning of the Gentile world. He travelled af- 
 terwards to Alexandria, and put himself under the tu- 
 ition of the renowned Origen, by whom he was per- 
 suaded to study the Holy Scriptures. Origen spared 
 no pains to ground him in a firm belief of Christianity, 
 and exhorted him to apply his knowledge to its pro- 
 motion, advising him withal to pray fervently and se- 
 riously for the illumination of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 On his return to his native city, which was very 
 populous and full of idolatry, the very seat of Satan, 
 he gave himself much to prayer and retirement, and 
 was in secret prepared for the important work to which 
 he was soon after called. 
 
T46 
 
 In tnis idolatrous city, Gregory commenced his 
 public labors, when the church consisted of not more 
 than seventeen members ; but his preaching was soon 
 attended with so great success that he had a nume- 
 rous congregation. His ministry appears to have been 
 accompanied with miraculous gifts, to prepare the way 
 for the propagation of the gospel among his idolatrous 
 countrymen. 
 
 Here he continued till the Decian persecution, which 
 was most severe. Considering that his new converts 
 would scarce be strong enough to stand their ground 
 and be faithful, he advised them to flee, and to en- 
 courage them in it, set the example.- Many of his 
 people suffered, but God, at length, restored them to 
 peace, and Gregory returned to exhilarate their minds 
 with his pastoral labors. 
 
 A little before his death, he made a strict inquiry, 
 whether there were any in the city and neighborhood 
 still strangers to Christianity, and being told there were 
 about seventeen in all, he sighed, and lifting up his 
 eyes to heaven, appealed to God how much it troubled 
 him, that any of his fellow-townsmen should remain 
 unacquainted with salvation, yet that his thankfulness 
 Was due to God, that when at first he had found only 
 seventeen Christians, he had left only seventeen idola- 
 ters. Having prayed for the conversion of infidels and 
 edification of the faithful, he peaceably gave up his 
 soul to God. He Was a man eminently holy and 
 most exemplary in his life and conversation. In wor- 
 ship most devout, in conversation chaste, he never al- 
 lowed himself to call his brother fool ; no anger or bit- 
 terness proceeded from his mouth. Slander^ and cal- 
 umny r as directly opposite to Christianity, he peculiar- 
 ly hated and avoided. The wonderful success which 
 attended his ministry, was owing to a marvellous out- 
 pouring of the Holy Spirit. In no particular instance 
 was the divine influence ever more apparent since the 
 apostolic age, 
 
 Theognostus and Dionysius, of Alexandria, were 
 both firm in the great doctrine of the Trinity in Unity, 
 During the first three hundred years, though this doe- 
 
147 
 
 trine was variously opposed, yet the whole Christian 
 church constantly united in preserving and maintaining 
 it, even from the apostles' days, as the proper sphere 
 within which, all the truth, and holiness, and conso- 
 lation of genuine Christianity lie, and exclusive of 
 which, one may defy its boldest enemies to produce 
 a single instance of any real progress in piety, made in 
 any place, where the name of Christ was known. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The further extension of the Gospel in this Century. 
 
 AN the midst of the Decian persecution, about the year 
 two hundred and fifty, the gospel, which had hitherto 
 been chiefly confined to the neighborhood of Lyons 
 and Vienne, was considerably extended in. France. 
 Churches were founded at Toulouse, Tours, Aries, 
 Narbonne, and Paris. France, in general, w^as blessed 
 with the light of salvation. The bishops of Toulouse 
 and Paris afterwards suffered for the faith of Christ. 
 
 In the course of this century Germany, especially 
 those parts nearest to France; also Great Britain and 
 the adjacent isles, received the gospel. 
 
 Many of the Goths, settled in Thrace, were, like 
 wise, brought from a state perfectly savage, into the 
 light and comfort of Christianity, through the instru- 
 mentality of some teachers from Asia. 
 
 The barbarians, who ravaged Asia, carried away 
 with them into captivity several bishops, who healed 
 diseases, expelled evil spirits in the name of Christ 
 and preached Christianity. They were heard with 
 respect and attention, and numbers were converted.* 
 This is all that I can collect of the extension of the 
 go spel among those savage nations. 
 
148 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Remarks on the state of the Roman Empire, and the ef- 
 fect which a belief of the doctrines of Christianity had 
 during this century. 
 
 J.N the Roman empire, luxury and every abominable 
 vice which can be conceived, had for three centuries 
 greatly increased. Civil broils and distractions con- 
 tinually prevailed, and increased the quantity of vice^ 
 and misery. During this period Christianity, in its be- 
 nign efficacy and power, was exemplified in the lives of 
 God's people. 
 
 Those, who were truly converted to the Christian 
 faith, believed heartily the truth of doctrines the most 
 humiliating. They were poor in spirit, patient under 
 the severest treatment and the most cruel injuries, not 
 because they were not sufficiently numerous and pow- 
 erful to have redressed the wrongs which they suffer- 
 ed, but because they saw the sinfulness of their hearts, 
 and were conscious that they deserved much greater 
 evils than they experienced ; they were contented in 
 the meanest circumstances, because they felt the 
 beauty of his condescension, who, though he was rich, 
 became poor for their sakes, and who has provided for 
 them a sure and eternal inheritance. They were se- 
 rene a,nd confident in God, because they viewed him 
 as their Father, through the grace of Christ ; full of 
 charity, because they knew the love of God in Christ ; 
 in honor preferring others to themselves, because they 
 were ever conscious of their own depravity; in fine, 
 they gladly endured reproach for Christ's sake, be- 
 cause they knew his kingdom was not of this world. 
 
 The state of the empire was not deteriorated by 
 the prevalence of Christianity within its limits, but the 
 grace of God, in the gift of a Savior, was gloriously 
 displayed, in the benign nature of true benevolence, 
 as exemplified in the lives of the truly godly, as con- 
 trasted with the real tendency of selfishness, fostering 
 
149 
 
 every passion which sets man at variance with man, 
 and is in its very nature hgstile to national jfind indi-* 
 vidual happiness. 
 
 CENTURY IV. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The persecution of Dlodesian. 
 
 A HE fourth century opens with a persecution more 
 systematically planned, and more artfully conduct- 
 ed, than those which Christians had ever before known, 
 and the reason why the church survived the storm 
 and rose triumphant after her losses was, because her 
 DEFENDER is invincible. 
 
 The church had long fceen in a state of ease and 
 prosperity, and had deeply declined from the purity 
 and simplicity of the gospel. God, for her declension, 
 visited her with a rod. Besides the martyrdom of Mar- 
 cellus, in Africa, an attempt was made, in a general, 
 covert manner, to corrupt the army. It was put to the 
 choice of Christian officers to sacrifice and enjoy their 
 dignity, or to refuse and be deprived. Many lost their 
 preferments. Some few were put to death as a terror 
 to the rest. Dioclesian had long favored the christiairs ? 
 but he had now contracted a prejudice against them. 
 He first used artifice rather than violence. 
 
 This emperor had a partner called Maximian. Un- 
 der them were two Caesars, Galerius and Constantius, 
 Constantius had some probity and humanity. The 
 other three were tyrants. The savageness of Gale- 
 rius was the most ferocious. In the year 302 he 
 met Dioclesian at Nicomedia, in the 19th year of hi? 
 reign, and used every measure to instigate him to be 
 more sanguinary and decisive against the Christians, 
 and urged to a general persecution. Dioclesian was for 
 confining it to the officers of the court and the soldiers. 
 
150 
 
 A council of a few judges and officers was called: it 
 was determined that the oracle of Apollo, at Miletus, 
 ^hould be consulted ; the oracle answered in favor of 
 a general persecution. 
 
 The feast of the Terminalia was the day appointed 
 to commence the operations against the church. 
 Early in the morning an officer, with guards, came to 
 the great church at Nicomedia, and bursting the doors, 
 found the Scriptures and burnt them, and gave every 
 thing up to plunder. The two emperors, looking at 
 the scene from the palace, were long in doubt, wheth- 
 er they should order the edifice to be burnt. Diocle- 
 sian, fearing a general conflagration, advised (# its de- 
 molition. The Praetorian sofdiers were therefore sent 
 with axes and other tools, who, in a few hours levelled 
 the building with the ground. 
 
 The next day an edict appeared, depriving all men 
 professing the Christian religion, of all honor and dig- 
 nity, exposing them to torture, and debarring them 
 from the benefit of the laws in all cases whatever. A 
 Christian was found hardy enough, under the transports 
 of indignation, to pull down and tear the edict. For 
 his indiscretion he was burnt alive, and bore his suf- 
 ferings with admirable patience. 
 
 In Egypt many were beheaded, others were burnt. 
 They suffered with the greatest faith and fortitude. 
 To their last breath they employed themselves in 
 psalms and thanksgiving. Phileas, a man of great 
 eminence, suffered at Thebais; being asked how he 
 was persuaded that Jesus Christ was God, he replied, 
 " He made the blind to see, and the deaf to hear, 
 cleansed the lepers, and raised the dead." When 
 asked, " Is a crucified person a God ?" he answered, 
 " He was crucified for our salvation." The governor 
 fsaid, "You are rich, and able to maintain almost all 
 the province, I spare you, and advise you to sacrifice.' 5 
 It seems that Phileas was very liberal to the poor. 
 The governor added, " Thy poor wife looks on thee. ?J 
 Phileas answered, Jesus Christ is the Savior of all ouj* 
 /spirits, he hath called me to the inheritance of his glo- 
 ry, and he may call her to it." A little before his ex^ 
 
151 
 
 ecution, " My children," said he, " you that seek Gocf, 
 watch over your hearts. My dear children, stick fast 
 to the precepts of Jesus Christ." 
 
 This persecuting governor who treated the Christians 
 with the greatest cruelty and severity, added, " No 
 care ought to be taken of these Christians ; let all treat 
 them as unworthy of the name of men." Some expir- 
 ed under the cruel tortures inflicted upon them. Oth- 
 ers, having been recovered by methods taken to heal 
 them, and being reduced to the alternative of sacri- 
 ficing or dying, cheerfully preferred the latter. 
 
 One city in Phrygia, being generally Christian, was 
 besieged by armed men, and set on fire. The men 
 with their wives and children were burnt to death, 
 calling upon Christ, the God over all. All the inhabit- 
 ants, magistrates and people, nobles and plebeians, 
 professing Christianity, were ordered to sacrifice, and 
 for refusing suffered in this manner. 
 
 Some were slain by axes, as in Arabia 5 some by 
 breaking their legs, as in Cappadocia; some, suspen- 
 ded by the feet, with the head downward, over aslovV 
 fire, were suffocated, as in Mesopotamia ; some were 
 mutilated, and cut in pieces, as in Alexandria ; some 
 were burnt to death, as in Antioch. Some despatched 
 themselves, to prevent their falling into the hands of 
 their enemies, by throwing themselves down from the 
 tops of houses ; lamentable instances of impatience ! 
 But the reader will remember that the decline had 
 been very great from Christian purity ; and that so ma- 
 ny should suffer like Christians, in such a season, can? 
 scarce be accounted for, but on the idea of the Lord's 
 reviving his work and ministering the Holy Spirit 
 amidst their afflictions. 
 
 The persecuting judges exercised ingenious malice 
 in the daily invention of new punishments ; but wea- 
 ried, at length, with murder, and affecting to praise the 
 clemency of the emperors, as desirous to save life r 
 contented themselves with plucking out eyes, arid cut- 
 ting off one of the legs. The number of those who 
 suffered in this way was very great ; and they were 
 afterwards condemned to wurk hi the mines. 
 
152 
 
 At Antioch, Romanus, a deacon, of the church of 
 Caesarea, was martyred. He, happening to enter An- 
 tioch at the very time when the churches were demo- 
 lished, saw many men and women, most probably apos- 
 tates from christianty, with their little ones, crowding 
 to the temples and sacrifices. The same spirit which 
 moved Mattathias, the father of the Maccabees, on a 
 like occasion, was felt by him, but exerted in a man- 
 ner more agreeable to the Christian dispensation. 
 He cried aloud, and rebuked their cowardice and per- 
 fidy. But being seized immediately, and condemned 
 to the flames, and fastened to the stake, while the ex- 
 ecutioners expected the definitive order of the empe- 
 ror then present, he asked cheerfully, " Where is the 
 fire for me ?" Csesar, provoked at his boldness, or- 
 dered his tongue to be cut out. This he put out with 
 great readiness. After this punishment he was thrown 
 into prison, and suffered there a considerable time- 
 In the end he \vas dismissed from life by strangling. 
 
 In the second year, when the persecution grew 
 fiercer, imperial letters were sent into Palestine, com- 
 manding all men, without exception, to sacrifice. At 
 Gaza, Timotheus, after many sufferings, was consum- 
 ed by a slow fire ; some were condemned to the wild 
 beasts. While many apostatized to save their lives, 
 six persons of Csesarea, with excessive forwardness^ 
 ran to Urbanus, the judge, and offered themselves 
 for martyrdom. They suffered, in conjunction with 
 two others, whose spirit and circumstances in the man- 
 ner of their departure out of life, were more conforma- 
 ble 1o the rules of the gospel. 
 
 The governors of the different provinces being now- 
 authorized to punish the Christians freely, did it as 
 their tempers dictated. Some, for fear of displeas- 
 ing, did more than they were ordered ; others indulg- 
 ed a natural savageness of disposition ; while others 
 considered that to shed blood profusely was the high 
 road to preferment. Some, determining to torment 
 and not to kill, studied those arts of torture, which 
 might keep life in being amid the keenest sensations 
 of pain. Many efforts were made to recover the tor- 
 
153 
 
 lured, that they might be strengthened to endure fur- 
 ther sufferings. A considerable part of Roman juris- 
 prudence was then employed on this subject. 
 
 There nerer before had been so systematic and la- 
 bored an effort made to extinguish the gospel of Christ. 
 Satan had great wrath ; and when we consider how 
 fiercely the enemies of Christianity set upon its pro- 
 fessors, we have cause to admire the grace of God, 
 who raised such a noble army of martyrs, in a time 
 of so great evangelical declension, and who more ef- 
 fectually than ever baffled, in the end, the designs of 
 the Prince of darkness. 
 
 In France alone, and its neighborhood, the people 
 of God found some shelter. Yet was the mild Con- 
 stantius, to save appearances with his superior Maxi- 
 mian, induced to persecute, not only by destroying 
 the temples, but also, by ordering those of his house* 
 hold to quit the service, who would not retract Chris- 
 tianity. By this means were the Christians of his fam- 
 ily tried. But the issue was contrary to their expecta- 
 tions. Constantius retained the faithful, and dismis- 
 sed the apostates, judging that those, who were un- 
 faithful to their God, would also be so t6 their prince. 
 
 It appears to have been the intention of the perse- 
 cutors to have destroyed all records of Christianity. 
 Felix of Tibiura, in Africa, being asked to deliver up 
 the scriptures, answered, " I have them, but will not 
 part with them." He was ordered to be beheaded. " I 
 thank thee, O Lord," said the honest martyr, " that 
 I have lived fifty six years, have kept my virginity, 
 have preserved the gospel, and have preached faith 
 and truth- O my Lord, Jesus Christ, the God of hea- 
 ven and es^rth, I bow my head to be sacrificed to thee, 
 who livest to all eternity." 
 
 In Sicily, Euplius a martyr, being asked, " Why do 
 you keep the scriptures forbidden by the emperors," 
 answered, " because I am a Christian. Life eternal 
 is in them ; he that gives them up, loses life eternal." 
 He suffered in the same cause, and so also did many 
 others in Italy. 
 
154 
 
 In the year three hundred and five, Diocleslan re- 
 signed the empire, and Maximian followed his exam- 
 pie. They were succeeded by Galerius in the East, 
 who ruled in the room of Dioclesian, and put Maxi- 
 tnin his nephew, in his own place, and in the West 
 by Constantius. 
 
 Maximin inherited the savageness and the prejudi- 
 ces of his uncle ; and in Palestine and the more east- 
 ern parts, over which Galerius had ruled, he still con- 
 tinued the horrors of persecution. 
 
 Apphian, a young man under twenty, who had re- 
 ceived a very polite education at Berytus, and could 
 not bear to live with his father and relations at Pagse 
 in Lycia, because of their aversion to the gospel, left 
 ail his secular employments and hopes for the love of 
 Christ, and came to Caesarea; there he was so trans- 
 ported with zeal as to run up to Urbanus the gover- 
 nor, then making a libation, to seize him by the hand^ 
 to stop his religious employment, and exhort him to 
 forsake idolatry, and turn to the true God. The con- 
 sequence was, he was arrested, ordered to sacrifice, 
 and, after he had sustained most dreadful tortures, 
 was thrown into the sea. His imprudence was great, 
 and his zeal very irregular and extravagant ; but who 
 will r^t admire the sincerity of that love of Christ, 
 which carried this ardent youth through all hardships^ 
 and prefer his disposition, with all his faults, to the 
 cowardice and love of the world, which, in our times, 
 prevents such numbers from daring to show due re- 
 gard for the divine Savior? 
 
 This Apphian had a brother called Edesius, who 
 had' advanced farther in the philosophical studies than 
 himself, and who likewise embraced the faith of 
 Christ. Having endured, in Palestine, with great for- 
 titude and patience, prisons, bonds, .and the drudgery 
 of the mines, he, at length,, came to Alexandria, and 
 there saw the judge raging with frantic fury against 
 Christians, treating them with various abuses. Fired 
 at the sight, he lost all patience, rebuked the magis- 
 trate, and struck him. Upon which he was exposed 
 to a variety of torture v and thrown into the sea. He 
 
155 
 
 seems to have possessed both the excellencies and 
 the faults of his brother. A remark or two may be 
 proper in this place, before we proceed, 
 
 1. The persecution we are reviewing found the 
 church in the lowest state in wisdom and piety. Con- 
 cerning the behavior of Edesius, it should be observed, 
 that amidst the great dearth of Christian instruction, 
 it is not surprising that he should so imperfectly know 
 his duty. The piety of Apphian and Edesius resem- 
 bles that of Jeptha and of Samson ; sincere, but irre- 
 gular and injudicious. They lived under similar cir- 
 cumstances, in times of ignorance.' The Spirit' of 
 God, when he creates a new heart, or a new spirit, 
 and disposes men to obedience, supercedes not the 
 use of pastoral instruction. Where this is, to a great de- 
 gree wanting, even Divine love itself, though strong, 
 is, comparatively speaking, blind, and will continually 
 mistake the rule of duty* ' In vain we look for judi- 
 cious and discreet pastors, and for clear and evangel- 
 ical views in all this period. No Cyprian or Dionysius 
 the appeared, to check, to regulate, or to control the 
 spirits of Christians, and to discipline them by scrip- 
 ture rules. The persecution found vast numbers per- 
 fidious and cowardly ; some chosen spirits, were hum- 
 ble and faithful to death ; but of these, many, it is to be 
 feared, were partially informed of their duty, both to 
 God and man, and mixed the intemperance and pre- 
 cipitation of blind self-will, with the love of Christ. 
 
 2. In the story of these two brothers, we see the 
 prevalence of the monastic and philosophic spirit ; 
 that they knew too little of Christianity, and though sin- 
 cere enough to become martyrs for Christ, yet they 
 were greatly destitute of Christian simplicity. The 
 doctrines of Christ had ceased to be explicitly unfold- 
 ed; and it was chiefly in suffering, endured with pa- 
 tient faith and cheerful hope, that we can now see, 
 Christ had then a church in the world. The bush 
 was indeed burning in a fire the most dreadful, but 
 not consumed. 
 
 In the fourth year of the persecution, Maximin Cae- 
 sar, exhibited spectacles in honor of his birth-day. 
 
156 
 
 Agapius, a Christian, and a slave who had murdered 
 his master, were both produced at the same time and 
 condemned to the wild beasts. The emperor, to dis- 
 tinguish his birth-day by an act of generosity, pardon- 
 ed and gave freedom to the murderer. The whole 
 amphitheatre rang with acclamation in praise of his 
 clemency. But he, disposed to punish the innocent 
 and spare the guilty, asked Agapius if he would re- 
 nounce Christianity, promising liberty on that condi- 
 tion. The martyr expressed his cheerful readiness to 
 undergo any punishment, not for any crime commit- 
 ted by him, but for piety toward the Lord of the uni- 
 verse. He was condemed to be torn by a bear, was 
 then carried back to prison ; and, after he had lived a 
 day, with weights hung to his feet, sunk in the sea. 
 
 In the succeeding year a Tyrian virgin, Theodoeia, 
 not quite 18 years old, was put to death for owning 
 and countenancing some Christian prisoners. The 
 judge, Urbanus, afterward condemned them to the 
 mines of Palestine. Silvanus, with some others, were 
 condemned to labor in the brass mines, the joints of 
 their feet having been first weakened by the applicat- 
 ion of hot iron. 
 
 Few persecutors exceeded Urbanus in malice and 
 activity. He doomed three to fight with each other ; 
 Auxentius, a venerable saint, he condemned to the 
 wild beasts. Some he sentenced to the mines, after 
 he had made them eunuchs.. Others, after bitter tor-* 
 inents, he threvy again into prison. This monster of 
 savage ferocity J having been afterward convicted of 
 crimes, was capitally punished in Caesarea, the scene 
 of his cruelties, and by the same Maximin, of whose 
 imperial savageness he had been the minister. 
 
 In the sixth year of the persecution, near 100 were 
 sent from Thebais to Palestine, and were adjudged by 
 Fermilian, the successor of Urbanus, to be lamed in 
 the left foot, and to lose the right eye, and in that state 
 to he condemned to the mines. 
 
 At Gaza, some were apprehended for meeting tor 
 gether to hear the scriptures read, and were punished 
 with the loss of a limb, and an eye, or in a still more 
 
157 
 
 fcruel manner. One Paul, being sentenced to lose his 
 head, begged a short space of time to be allowed him, 
 which having been granted, he prayed with a loud 
 voice for the whole Christian world, that God would 
 forgive them, remove the present heavy scourge of their 
 iniquities, and restore them to peace and liberty; he 
 then prayed for the Jews, that they might come to God, 
 and find access to him through Jesus Christ. In the 
 next place, that the same blessings might be vouchsaf- 
 ed to the Samaritans. The Gentiles, who lived in error 
 and ignorance of God, were the next objects of his char- 
 itable petitions, that they might be brought to know 
 God and to serve him : nor did he omit to mention 
 the crowd about him, the judge who had sentenced 
 him, the emperors and the executioner, and in the 
 hearing of all he prayed that their sin might not be 
 laid to their charge. The whole company was moved, 
 and tears were shed. The martyr composed himself 
 to suffer, and offering his neck to the sword was be- 
 headed. Divine grace appeared in him, in a manner 
 worthy of the apostolic age. Soon after 1 30 Egyptian 
 chieftains, having suffe rod the same mutilations which 
 have above been mentioned, were sentenced by Max- 
 imin to the mines in Palestine and Celicia. 
 
 Fermilian, after having trodden in the steps of Ur-- 
 banus in shedding Christian blood abundantly, like 
 him also suffered capitally by the sentence of the em- 
 peror. 
 
 Toward the end of the seventh year, the multitude 
 of confessors* in the mines of Palestine enjoyed some 
 liberty, and even erected some places for public wor- 
 ship. The president of the province envied them the 
 smalt cessation of their miseries, and wrote to the em- 
 peror to their prejudice. Afterward the master of the 
 mines having come hither, divided the sufferers into 
 classes. Some he ordered to dwell in Cyprus, others 
 in Libanus ; the rest he dispersed and harrassed with 
 various drudgeries in different parts of Palestine. Four, 
 he singled out for the examination of the military com- 
 mander, who burnt them to death. Silvanus, a bish- 
 op of great piety, John, an Egyptian, and thirty seven* 
 
158 
 
 others, were, the same day, beheaded by the order of 
 Maximin. 
 
 For eight years, the persecution in the East, con- 
 tinued with little intermission. In the West, it abated 
 after two years. The political changes in the em- 
 pire account for the difference. Both in the East, 
 and the West, Satan exerted his malice in the keen- 
 est manner, in this last of the pagan persecutions. 
 The Divine power and wisdom, in still preserving a 
 real church on earth, were never more conspicuously 
 displayed, since the days of the apostles. The time, 
 for its external triumph, under Constantine, was then 
 at hand. Those, who look at outward things alone 
 may be tempted to think how much more glorious it 
 would have appeared, without the previous desola- 
 tions of Dioclesian's persecution ; but when it is con- 
 sidered how much Christian doctrine had decayed, 
 and how low holy practice had fallen, the necessity 
 of so sharp a trial to purify the church, and fit it for 
 a state of prosperity, is evident. Otherwise the dif- 
 ference between Christians and pagans might have 
 been little more than a name. 
 
 Evangelical doctrines and practices, in their life 
 and purity, had grievously declined from about the 
 year 270. During this season of declension, Christ 
 crucified, justification purely by faith, and the effec- 
 tual influences of the Holy Spirit, together with 
 humbling views of man's total apostacy and cor- 
 ruption, were ideas very faintly impressed on Christian 
 minds. But in this low state of the church, there was 
 much more moral virtue, than could be found any 
 where else; and the charitable spirit of many in suffer- 
 ing, shewed the existence and nature of real religion. 
 
 The persecution, which was carried on against thc^ 
 Christians, designed their total destruction ; it must, 
 however, injustice to them be acknowledged, that they 
 were, with all their faults, the most loyal, peaceable, 
 and. worthy citizens in the whole empire. 
 
 God was then raising up a protector for his church. 
 The emperor Constantius lying at the point of death, 
 desired Galerius, his partner in the East, to send him 
 
159 
 
 his son Constantine. The eastern emperor, hav- 
 ing delayed as long as possible, sent him at last, 
 and the son arrived in Briton just in time to see his fa- 
 ther alive, who was interred at Eboracum.* Con- 
 stantine succeeding, gave the most perfect toleration 
 to Christians, so far as his power extended. Pro- 
 vidence was still with him, that, like another Cy- 
 rus, he might give peace and liberty to the church. 
 Rome and Italy were for some time under the power 
 of Maxentius, the son of Dioclesian's colleague Maxi- 
 mian. This prince, a tyrant of the basest character, 
 attempted the chastity of a Roman matron, who by 
 suicide, prevented his base design. Her impatience 
 gives further proof of the prevailing taste in religion. 
 Constantine having come from France into Italy, sub- 
 verted the kingdom of Maxentius, and became sole 
 master of the western world. Maximian, whose 
 daughter Constantine had married, after various at- 
 tempts to recover the power, which by the influence of 
 Bioclesian he had resigned, was put to death by his 
 son-in-law for attempting his destruction. 
 
 Galerius, in the year 310, was smitten with an in- 
 curable disease; all his lower parts were corrupt- 
 ed : physicians and idols were applied to, in vain : an 
 intolerable stench spread itself over the palace of Sar- 
 dis, where he resided : he was devoured by worms ; 
 and, in a situation the most dreadful, continued a whole 
 year. Softened at length by his sufferings, in the year 
 311, he published an edict, by which he took off the 
 persecution from the Christians, allowed them to re- 
 build their places of worship, and desired them to pray 
 for his health. Thus did God himself subdue this- 
 haughty tyrant. 
 
 The prisoners were then released from the mines ancf 
 the highways were full of Christians returning to their 
 friendsj singmg psalms and hymns to God. Christen- 
 dom wore a cheerful aspect. Even Pagans were 
 melted ; and many, who had joined in the attempt to 
 extinguish the Christian name, began to be convinced^ 
 that a religion, which had sustained such repeated and 
 formidable attacks,, was Divine and invincible. 
 
 * Now York* 
 
160 
 
 Soon after the edict of Galerius, he expired, his 
 body being altogether corrupted* Syria and Egypt, 
 with their dependencies, remained still under Maxim- 
 in. Here he renewed the persecution with much ma- 
 levolence and artifice. Under certain pretences, he 
 forbad Christians to assemble in their church-yards, 
 and theri privately procured petitions from various 
 cities, praying that they might not be encouraged in 
 their precincts* Great efforts were made to revive 
 declining Paganism, and sacrifices were offered with 
 great assiduity. Persons of quality filled the highest 
 offices of idolatry, and pains were taken to prevent 
 Christians from building places of worship, or from 
 practising the duties of their religion in public or pri- 
 vate; and the former methods of compelling-them to 
 sacrifice were renewed. Maximin, to render his idol- 
 atrous priests more respectable, clothed them with 
 white mantles, such as were worn by the ministers of 
 the palace. Incited by the example of the tyrant, all 
 the Pagans in his dominions strove to effect, impossible 
 the ruin of the church, and human ingenuity was ex- 
 erted to invent calumnies in support of the kingdom 
 of darkness. 
 
 Whenfalshood and slander are paid far by a govern- 
 merit) they will not want propagators. 
 
 Certain acts of Pilate and our Savior were forged, 
 full of blasphemy, which, by Maximin's approbation, 
 were circulated through his dominions, with orders to 
 facilitate their publication in all places, and to direct 
 school-masters to deliver them to the youth, that they 
 might commit them to memory. A certain officer at 
 Damascus, also engaged some infamous women to 
 confess, that they had been Christians, and privy to 
 the lascivious pactices which were committed on the 
 Lord's day in their assemblies. These and other slan- 
 ders were registered, copied, and sent to the emperor. 
 as the authenticated confessions of these women, and 
 he took measures to give them universal publicity. 
 The officer who invented this calumny, destroyed 
 himself sometime after by his ow^n hand. Maximin ? 
 affecting still the praise of clemency, gave orders to 
 
161 
 
 the prefects, not to take away the lives of Christians^ 
 but to punish them with loss of eyes, and various 
 amputations. A few persons of high Christian renown 
 were deprived of life, the rest were harrassed by oth- 
 er kinds of suffering short of death, and no arts Were 
 left unemployed to eradicate Christianity out of the 
 mind and to educate the next generation in a con- 
 firmed aversion to it. 
 
 Never were Christians so dispirited and clouded, as 
 during this period. Thus low did God suffer his 
 church to fall, to try its faith, and to purify it, in the 
 furnace. But man's extremity was the opportunity in 
 which the truth and goodness of God appeared most 
 conspicuous. A drought commenced, and an unex- 
 pected famine oppressed the dominion of Maximin, 
 followed by a dreadful plague and inflamed ulcers. 
 The plague and famine raged in the most terrible 
 manner, and multitudes lay unburied: numbers of 
 Pagans were neglected by their own friends ; but 
 Christians were every day employed in taking care of 
 the sick, giving the rites of burial to the dead, and in 
 distributing food to the famished poor. In this, they 
 manifested the enlarged and disinterested philanthro- 
 py, the pure characteristic and matchless benevolence 
 of their holy religion. 
 
 In the year three hundred and thirteen there was a 
 war between Licinius and Maximin, who contended 
 each for the complete sovereignty of the East. Before 
 the decisive battle, Maximin vowed to Jupiter, that if 
 he obtained the victory, he would abolish the Christian 
 name. Licinius, in a dream, was directed to suppli- 
 cate, with all his army, the Supreme God, in a solemn 
 manner. He gave orders to his soldiers to do so, and 
 they prayed in the field of battle, using the words 
 which he had received in his dream. The contest, 
 between Jehovah and Jupiter, was now at its height, 
 and drawing to a crisis ; victory decided in favor of 
 Licinius. Maximin published a cautious decree, in 
 which he forbade the molestation of Christians, but 
 did not allow them the liberty of public worship. Li- 
 cinius published a complete toleration of christianty. 
 w 
 
162 
 
 Maximin, in the sad reverse of his affairs r slew many 
 priests and prophets of his gods, by whose enchant- 
 ments he had been seduced with false hopes of uni- 
 versal empire in the East, and issued another edict 
 granting full toleration to chistianity. So greatly were 
 affairs now changed, that contending emperors court^ 
 ed the favor of the poor persecuted -Christians. After 
 this, Maximin, struck with a sudden plague, over his 
 whole body, pined away with hunger, fell down from 
 his bed, his flesh consumed and dropped off from his 
 bones, his eyes leaped from their sockets ; and per- 
 ceiving God thus executing judgment upon him, fran- 
 tic with agony, he cried out ; " It was not I, but oth- 
 ers who did it." At length, by the increasing force of 
 torment, he owned his guilt, and every now and then 
 implored Christ, that he would compassionate his mis- 
 ery. He confessed himself vanquished, and gave up 
 the ghost. 
 
 Thus closed the most memorable of all the attacks 
 of Satan on the Christian church. 
 
 The arm of God was lifted up in this wonderful 
 manner, to chastise and to purify the church, and to 
 demonstrate to the proudest and fiercest of his ene- 
 mies, that the gospel was divine, and must stand in 
 the earth invincible ; that the MOST HIGH ruleth and 
 will have a church in the world, which shall glorify 
 him in spite of earth and hell united, and that this 
 church contains in it all that deserves the name of 
 true wisdom, of true virtue. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A view of the State of the Christian Religion on its Es- 
 tablishment under Constantine. 
 
 J HIS emperor from early life had some predilection 
 in favor of Christianity. Marching from France into 
 Italy against Maxentius, on an expedition, which was* 
 likely either to exalt or to ruin him, he was oppressed 
 
163 
 
 %ith deep anxiety. Some God he thought necessary 
 to protect him. The God of the Christians he was 
 most inclined to respect ; with his true character he 
 was unacquainted, but desired to learn it. He pray- 
 ed with much vehemence and importunity. God left 
 him not unanswered. While he was marching with 
 his forces, in the afternoon, the trophy of the cross 
 appeared very luminous in the heavens, higher than 
 the sun, with this inscription, " Conquer by this." 
 He and his soldiers were astonished at the sight. At 
 night Christ appeared to him when asleep, with the 
 3ame sign of the cross, and directed him to make use 
 of the symbol as his military ensign. Constantine 
 obeyed, and the cross was henceforward displayed in 
 his armies, 
 
 Constanline asked the Christian pastors who this 
 God was, and what was the meaning of the sign. 
 They told him it was God, the only begotten Son of 
 the only true Gocj, and that the sign was the trophy of 
 the victory, which he, when on earth, had gained over 
 death. At the same time, they explained to him the 
 causes of his coming, and the doctrine of his incarna- 
 tion. From that time Constantine firmly believed the 
 truth of Christianity. After this he began to read the 
 scriptures, and zealously patronized the pastors of the 
 chqrch all his days, 
 
 He succeeded in his warlike enterjorize, and be- 
 came master of Rome. He now set himself to build 
 churches, and shewed great beneficence to the poor. 
 He encouraged the meeting of bishops in synods, hon- 
 ored them with his presence and employed himself in 
 continually aggrandizing the church. In the mean 
 time Licinius began to persecute the church, prohib- 
 ited Christian synods in his dominions, expelled belie- 
 vers from his court, forbad the women to attend the 
 public assemblies of men, and ordered them to fur- 
 nish themselves with separate teachers of their own 
 sex. He dismissed from his armies those who refus- 
 ed to sacrifice, and forbad any supplies to be afford- 
 ed them in their necessities. He murdered bishops 
 and destroyed churches. He commenced a war with 
 
164 
 
 Constantine, and in the issue lost his empire and his 
 life. The spirit of godliness was now low. The 
 external appearance of the church was splendid. 
 An emperor powerful, engaged for the support and 
 propagation of Christianity, forbids sacrifices, erects 
 churches, seeks with much zeal for the sepulchre of 
 Christ at Jerusalem, and honors it with a most ex- 
 pensive sacred edifice. His mother Helena fills the 
 whole Roman world with her munificent acts, in 
 support of religion, and after the erection of church- 
 es and travelling from place to place to evince her 
 zeal, dies at an advanced age, in the presence of her 
 son. Nor is the Christian cause neglected even out 
 of the bounds of the Roman empire. Constaniirie 
 pleads zealously, in a letter to Sapor king of Persia, 
 for the Christians of his dominions, he destroys idol 
 temples, prohibits Pagan rites, puts an end to savage 
 fights of gladiators, stands up with respectful silence 
 to hear the sermon of Eusebius, bishop of Cscsarea, 
 furnishes him with the volumes of the scriptures for 
 the use of the churches, orders the festivals of the 
 martyrs, has prayers and the reading of the scrip- 
 tures at his court, dedicates churches with great so- 
 lemnity, makes Christian orations himself, directs the 
 sacred observation of the Lord's day, to which he adds 
 that of Friday also, the day of Christ's crucifixion, and 
 teaches the soldiers of his army to pray by a short form 
 made for their use. At this period external piety 
 flourished, monastic societies in some places were al- 
 so growing, but faith, love, and heavenly mindedness, 
 appear very rare. The doctrine of real conversion 
 was very much lost, or external baptism was placed in 
 its stead, and the true doctrine of justification by faith, 
 and the true practical use of a crucified Savior for trou-* 
 bled consciences, were scarce to be seen. There was 
 much outward religion, but this could not make men 
 saints in heart and life. True humility and charity 
 were little known in the Christian world, while su- 
 perstition and self-righteousness were making rapid 
 progress, arid the real gospel of Christ was hid from 
 ien who professed it. 
 
165 
 
 The schism of the Donatists arose from a contested 
 election of a bishop at Carthage. Csecilian the dea- 
 con had the suffrage of the whole church. Two dis- 
 appointed persons who aspired to the office protested 
 against the election, and were joined by Lucilla, a 
 rich lady, who had been for a long time too haugh- 
 ty to submit to discipline. One Donatus offered him- 
 self as chief of the faction. A number of bishops co- 
 operated with him, piqued that they had not been cal- 
 led to the ordination of Cseeilian. Seventy bishops 
 met at Carthage, to depose Czecilian, who had the 
 hearts of the people, and against whom they could not 
 object any crime, nor support the least material accu- 
 sation. Yet they persevered, and ordained one Ma- 
 jorinus a servant of the factious lady, who, to support 
 the ordination, gave large sums of money, which the 
 bishops divided among themselves. This shows how 
 corrupt many of the pastors of the African church 
 were at this period. 
 
 Pure doctrinal truth was then too commonly mere 
 speculation. Men were ripe for a perversion of doc- 
 trine. A bold and open assault was made against the 
 Deity of the Son of God, to the grief of all who loved 
 HIM, and walked in his ways in godly simplicity. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Progress of the Arian Controversy till the death of 
 Constantino. 
 
 JL ETER, bishop of Alexandria, had suffered martyr- 
 dom under the Dioclesian persecution. At that time, 
 numbers had recanted to save their lives, and among 
 the rest, Meletus, an Egyptian bishop. This man was 
 of a schismatical and enterprizing spirit, and having 
 been deposed by Peter before his martyrdom, separat- 
 ed himself, continued bishop on his own plan, and or- 
 dained others, and thus became head of the Meleti- 
 an party. This, however, was not the only person, 
 who disturbed the peace of the church, and tried the 
 
166 
 
 patience of Peter. Arius of Alexandria espoused the 
 cause of Meletus. Afterward he left this party, be- 
 came reconciled to Peter, and was by him ordained 
 deacon. Arius, having exhibited a restless and fac- 
 tious spirit, was again expelled from the church. 
 
 Peter having been called to his rest by martyrdom, 
 Achillas succeeded him in the bishopric, and from 
 him Arius, by submissions again obtained favor. Un- 
 derstanding and capacity will command respect, and 
 these were undoubtedly possessed by Arius in a great 
 degree. He was by nature formed to deceive. In his 
 behavior and manner of life he was severe and grave; 
 in his person tall and venerable, and in his dress al- 
 most monastic. In conversation, he was agreeable and 
 captivating, w 7 ell skilled in logic and all the improve- 
 ments of the human mind, then fashionable in the 
 world. 
 
 Such was the famous Arius, who gave name to one 
 of the most powerful heresies which ever afflicted the 
 church of Christ. 
 
 Achillas advanced Arius to the office of presbyter. 
 Alexander, the successor of Achillas, treated him with 
 respect, and he appeared backward to censure him for 
 his dangerous speculations in religion. Arius, through 
 the pride of reasoning, asserted, that there was a time 
 when the Son of God was not, that he was capable of 
 virtue or of vice, and that he was a creature, and mil-* 
 table as creatures are. While Arius was insinuating 
 these things, the easiness of Alexander in tolerating 
 such notions was found fault with in the church. Ne- 
 cessity roused him at length, however unwilling, to 
 contend, and in disputing before Arius and the rest of 
 the clergy, he affirmed there was a union in the Trin- 
 ity. Arius eagerly insisted, that " if the Father begat 
 the Son, the begotten had a beginning of existence ; 
 hence it was evident there was a time when he was 
 not." 
 
 Many persons of a grave cast, and able and elo- 
 quent, like Arius, espoused and fostered the infant 
 heresy. Arius preached diligently at his church, dif- 
 fused his opinions in all companies, and gained over 
 
167 
 
 many of the common people ; and Alexander saw the 
 ancient doctrine continually undermined. Lenient 
 measures and argumentative methods having been tri- 
 ed in vain, Alexander summoned a synod of bishops, 
 who met at Alexandria, condemned Arms' doctrine, 
 and expelled him from the church, with nine of his ad- 
 herents. 
 
 Arius maintained that the Son was totally and es- 
 sentially distinct from the Father ; that he was the 
 first and noblest of those beings whom God the Father 
 had created out of nothing, the instrument by whose 
 subordinate operation the Almighty Father formed the 
 universe, and therefore inferior to the Father both in 
 nature and dignity. 
 
 To all humble and charitable Christians, it appear- 
 ed, that to persist in blaspheming God, was, at least, 
 as practical an evil, as to persist in drunkenness and 
 theft; and all who feared God, felt themselves obli- 
 gated to join with Alexander against Arius. 
 
 The Christian world was now the scene of animosi- 
 ty and contention. The orthodox and the heretical did 
 each, their utmost, to support their several pretensions: 
 practical religion was too much forgotten by both. 
 The Pagan world beheld and triumphed. On their 
 theatres they ridiculed the contentions of christians ? 
 to which, their long and grievous provocations of their 
 God had exposed them. Alexander repeatedly, in let- 
 ters and appeals, maintained his cause, so far as spec- 
 ulative argumentation could do it, and proved his point 
 from the scriptures, while Arius strengthened himself 
 by forming alliances with various bishops ; particular- 
 ly with Eusebius of Nicomedia, who supported Arian- 
 ism with all his might. Near one hundred bishops in 
 a second synod at Alexandria condemned Arius, who 
 was then obliged to quit that place, and to try to gain 
 supporters in other parts of the empire. 
 
 Constantine sincerely strove to make up the breach. 
 He wrote both to Alexander and Arius, blamed both ? 
 expressed his desire for their agreement, and explain- 
 ed nothing. He sent the letter by Hosius bishop of 
 Corduba, one whose faith and piety had been distin- 
 
guished in the late persecution. Hosius endeavored 
 to make up the breach ; but it was impossible. The 
 two parties were formed, and were determined ; 
 worldly motives were too prominent in both, to admit 
 of an easy compromise; and it was not in the power 
 of those who loved both truth and peace, to sacrifice 
 the former for the latter, consistently with a good con- 
 science, however sincerely desirous they must have 
 been of promoting both. The object of contention 
 was not a trifle, but an essential principle in religion. 
 
 Constantine summoned the aid of the whole Chris- 
 tian church ; and three hundred and eighteen bishops 
 met at Nice, in Bithynia* According to Philostorgius, 
 the Arian historian, twenty two espoused the cause of 
 Arius ; other? make the minority still less. Many pres- 
 byters were there besides the bishops ; it is not pro- 
 bable, that the whole number of persons assembled in 
 the council was less than six hundred. 
 
 They met in the year three hundred and twenty 
 five, being transported to Nice, and maintained there 
 at the emperor's expense. 
 
 Before they entered on the immediate business of 
 the Synod, their attention was engaged by certain 
 Gentile philosophers who appeared among them ; of 
 these, some wished to satisfy their own curiosity con- 
 cerning Christianity itself; others, to involve the chris- 
 tians in a cloud of verbal subtleties, that they might 
 enjoy the mutual contradictions of the followers 
 of Christ. One of these distinguished himself by the 
 pomp and arrogancy of his pretensions, and derided 
 the clergy as ignorant and illiterate. On this occa- 
 sion, an old Christian, who had suffered with magnan- 
 imous constancy during the late persecution, though 
 unacquainted with logical forms, undertook to con* 
 tend with the philosopher: those who were more 
 earnest to gratify curiosity than to investigate truth, 
 endeavored to make mirth of him, while all the seri- 
 ous were distressed to see a contest apparently so 
 unequal. Respect for the man, however, induced 
 them to permit him to engage* He immediately ad- 
 dressed the philosopher in these terms: "Hear, philos- 
 
169 
 
 opher, in the name of Jesus Christ. There is one 
 God the Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things 
 Visible and invisible, who made all these things by the 
 power of his Word, and confirmed them by the holi- 
 ness of his Spirit. This WORD, whom we call the Son 
 of God, compassionating the sons of men, involved in 
 error and wickedness, chose to be born of a woman, 
 to converse with men, and to die for them ; and he 
 will come again, the Judge of all things which men 
 have done in the body; that these things are so, we 
 believe in simplicity ; do not then labor in vain, seek- 
 ing to confute things which ought to be received by 
 faith, and investigating the manner in which these 
 things may or may not be : but if thou believest, an- 
 swer me, now that I ask thee." Struck with this 
 plain, authoritative address, the philosopher said, " I 
 do believe ;" with pleasure owned himself vanquish- 
 ed, confessed that he embraced the same sentiments 
 with the old man, and advised the other philosophers 
 to do the same, declaring that he was changed by a di- 
 vine influence, and was moved by an energy he could 
 not explain. 
 
 Here it is evident that this successful espouser of 
 the truth, stepped forth in its defence, in humble de- 
 pendence on God to bless his own word with victori- 
 ous energy ; and it was evident by the issue, that the 
 faith of the vanquished stood not in the wisdom of 
 men, but in the power of God. 
 
 I fear we shall not find in the whole Nicene busi- 
 ness so instructive a narrative. The emperor himself 
 came to the synod, and exhorted them to peace and 
 unanimity. A number of mutual accusations having 
 been presented to him, he threw them all into the fire, 
 protesting that he had not read one of them, and char- 
 ged them to forbear and forgive one another. He 
 then gave them leave to enter directly on the business 
 of the synod. They canvassed the doctrine of Arius, 
 extracted his propositions from his own writings, and 
 argued the subject with great vehemence ; Constan- 
 tine himself acting as moderator, and endeavoring to 
 bring them to perfect agreement. But It soon ap- 
 
170 
 
 peared, that without some explanatory terms, decisive- 
 ly pointing out what the scripture had revealed, it was 
 impossible to guard against the subtilties of the Ari- 
 ans. Did the Trinitarians assert, that Christ was 
 God ? The Arians allowed it, but in the same sense 
 that holy men and angels are stiled gods in scripture. 
 Did they affirm that he was truly God ? the others al- 
 lowed that he was made so by God. Did they affirm 
 that the Son was naturally God ? it was granted : for 
 even we, said they, are of God, of whom are all things. 
 Was it affirmed, that the Son was the power, wisdom 
 and image of the Father ? we admit it, replied the 
 others, for we also are said to be the image and glory 
 of God. What could the Trinitarians do in this situa- 
 tion ? to leave the matter undecided was ta do noth- 
 ing ; to confine themselves merely to scripture terms, 
 was to suffer the Arians to explain the doctrine in 
 their own way, and to reply nothing. Undoubtedly 
 they had a right to comment according to their own 
 judgment, as well as the Arians ; and they did so in 
 the following manner. They collected together the 
 passages of scripture, which represent the Divinity of 
 the Son of God, and observed, that, taken together, 
 they amounted to a proof of his being of the SAME 
 SUBSTANCE WITH THE FATHER : That creatures' were 
 indeed said to be of God, because not existing of 
 themselves, they had their beginning from him, but 
 that the Son was peculiarly of the Father, being of his 
 substance, as begotten of him. 
 
 The majority of the council was convinced that 
 this was a fair explanation. The venerable Hosius, of 
 Corduba was appointed to draw up a creed, which, 
 in the main, is the same that is called the Nicene 
 creed to this day. This soon received the sanction of 
 the council, and of Constantine himself, who declar- 
 ed that whoever refused to comply with the decree, 
 should be banished. 
 
 Here we have the testimony of nearly the whole 
 Christian 'world, in favor of the doctrine of the proper 
 Deity of the Son of God, a testimony free, unbiassed, 
 and unrestrained. How can this be accounted for but 
 
171 
 
 hence, that they followed the plain sense of scripture 
 and of the church in preceding ages ? 
 
 Arius was deposed, excommunicated, and forbid- 
 den to enter Alexandria. The minority at first refus- 
 ed to subscribe, but being advised to yield, at length, 
 by Constantia their patroness, the emperor's sister, 20 
 of the 22 Arian bishops consented. But by the omis- 
 sion of a single letter they reserved to themselves 
 their own sense, subscribing not that the Son is the 
 same, but only of the like essence with the Father.* 
 Arias and his associates were banished into Illyricum. 
 
 The Meletian controversy was also settled. Mele- 
 tius was permitted to live in his own city, with the ti- 
 tle of bishop, but without authority. His sect was in- 
 dulged in some degree, and continued a long time af- 
 ter in the church. 
 
 The canons of this famous council forbid clergymen 
 to make themselves eunuchs ; also the ordination of 
 new converts ; and provided for the chastity of the 
 clergy. 
 
 These, with some other regulations for the govern- 
 ment of the Christian church, shew that the fear of God 
 was by no means extinct. Discipline, which had 
 been relaxed toward the close of the last century, was 
 revived, and the predominant spirit of superstition 
 carried it, as formerly, into too great an extreme. 
 
 Liberty was allowed to the Novatians also to re- 
 turn to the communion of the general church, nor was 
 it insisted on, that they should be re-baptized, since 
 they held nothing contrary to the fundamental princi- 
 ples of godliness. With respect to the followers of 
 Paul of Samosata, called Paulianists, some of whom 
 still subsisted, it was required, that if they were ad- 
 mitted again into the church they should be re-bapti- 
 zed, because they did not baptize in the name of the 
 Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. So accurately 
 did they distinguish between a heretic and a schis- 
 matic, between essentials and circumstantials. Apos- 
 tolical discernment and piety, in no contemptible de- 
 
 * It Is remarkable, that this duplicity is recorded by Philostorgtus the 
 4rian historian. 
 
172 
 
 gree, animated the spirits of the Nicene fathers, not- 
 withstanding the decline of piety from the primitive 
 times.* 
 
 Constantine, zealous for a pacific uniformity, having 
 invited Acesius a Novatian bishop to the council, ask- 
 ed him whether he assented to the decrees of the 
 council concerning the faith. The council, said he, 
 has decreed nothing new concerning these things. So 
 I have always understood the church has received 
 from the days of the apostles. Why then, said the 
 emperor, do you separate yourself from our commun- 
 ion? Because, replied Acesius, we think that to apos- 
 tatize is the " sin unto death," and that those who 
 are guilty of it ought never to be restored to the com- 
 munion of the church, though they are to be invited 
 to repentance, and to be left to God, who alone has 
 the power of forgiving sins. Constantine, who saw 
 that his views were impracticably severe, said, " Set 
 up a ladder, Acesius, and climb up to heaven by your- 
 self." 
 
 From this testimony it appears that the church had, 
 from the days of the apostles, been in the belief of 
 the proper Divinity of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Three months after the dissolution of the council of 
 Nice, Eusebius of Nicomedia, and Theognis of Nice, 
 were banished by the emperor's command, for at- 
 tempting still to support the Arian cause. 
 
 Alexander, in five months after his return home 
 died : having desired that Athanasius might be ap- 
 pointed his successor. Alexandria, in general, joined 
 in the same request, and he was ordained as a succes- 
 sor to the zealous Alexander. He was then not above 
 twenty eight years of age, and held the see forty six 
 years, exposed, with little intermission, to persecu- 
 tion, on account of his zeal against Arian ism. In this 
 he manifested great constancy and firmness in sup^ 
 port of the truth, 
 
 * Not a tew of these bore on their bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus. One, 
 Debilitated by the application of hot iron to both his hands ; some, deprived of 
 then- right eyes : others, deprived of their legs. A crowd of martyrs collected* 
 & on.e body ! 
 
173 
 
 After the death of Helena, Constantine shewed pe- 
 culiar kindness to Constantia his sister, who was in 
 the Arian interest. She on her death-bed prevailed 
 with her brother to do justice to these men. The 
 emperor suffered himself to be imposed on by the 
 Arian party, arid wrote in their favor to the churches. 
 Eusebius and Theognis, by owning the Nicene faith in 
 words were restored to '.heir sees. The former wrote 
 to Athariasius, desiring him to receive Arius, now re- 
 turning from banishment, to communion : but in vain^ 
 Athanasius had principle, and could not sport with 
 subscriptions and bonds, as his adversaries did. 
 
 The Nicene creed had still all the sanction which 
 church and state could give it. It was not then pos- 
 sible, by all the artifice of ingenious and unprincipled 
 men, to persuade the Christian world, that the scrip- 
 ture held what it did not, or that their fathers had all 
 alqng thought as Arius did. Even the chiefs of Arian- 
 ism had been now restored, not as Arians, but as men 
 well affected to the doctrine of the Trinity. And they 
 attempted by subtilty and artifice to establish, at 
 length, what was impossible to be done by fair argu- 
 ment. Determined to ruin Athanasius, if possible, 
 they united themselves closely with the Meletians, 
 and infected them with their heresy. They procured 
 the deposition of Eustathius of Antioch, an eloquent 
 and learned professor, who was, on unjust pretences, 
 banished from his see. This person, before his de- 
 parture, exhorted his flock to be steadfast in the truth, 
 and his words were of great weight with that flourish- 
 ing church. He and several priests and deacons were 
 banished. The good man bore the will of God with, 
 meekness and patience, and died in exile at Philippu 
 Thus while the truth was supported in form, its friends, 
 by a variety of artifices, were persecuted, and its ene- 
 mies triumphed. Men void of principle had every 
 secular advantage, while those, who feared God, chosq 
 rather to suffer than to sin. 
 
 Among these, Athanasius was eminently distinguish- 
 ed. Rebellion, oppression, rape and murder, were 
 maliciously charged upon him. He was accused with 
 
174 
 
 having murdered Arsenius, a Meletian "bishop ; for 
 proof of which the accusers produced a box, out of 
 which they took a dead man's hand, dried and salted, 
 affirming it to be the hand of Arsenius, preserved by 
 Athanasius for magical purposes. The Meletians 
 charged Arsenius to conceal himself till they should 
 have effected their purpose. The party of Eusebius 
 of Nicomedia, spread the report through the Christian 
 world, that Arsenius had been privately murdered by 
 the bishop of Alexandria, and Constantine himself, 
 overcome by incessant importunities, was induced to 
 order an enquiry to be made. 
 
 Athanasius had learned by his own experience, that 
 any accusation against himself, however improbable, 
 was likely to find numerous and powerful supports. 
 But Providence wonderfully confuted this attempt. 
 Arsenius had privately conveyed himself to Tyre, in- 
 tending to be secreted there during the session of 
 the Synod. Some servants, belonging to Archelaus 
 the governor, heard a rumor whispered, that Arsenius 
 was in town. This they immediately told their mas- 
 ter, who discovered his retreat, apprehended him, and 
 gave notice to Athanasius. The Meletian tool, feeling 
 the awkwardness of his situation, denied himself to be 
 Arsenius. Paul, the bishop of Tyre knew the man, 
 and deprived him of that refuge. The day of trial 
 having come, the prosecutors boasted that they should 
 give occular demonstration to the court of the guilt of 
 Athanasius, and produced the hand. A shout of vic- 
 tory rung through the synod. Silence having been 
 made, Athanasius asked the judges, if any of them 
 knew Arsenius ? Several having affirmed that they did, 
 Athanasius directed the man to be brought into the 
 court, and asked, " Is this the man whom I murdered 
 and whose hand I cut off ?" Athanasius turned back 
 the man's cloak and showed one of his hands ; after a 
 little pause, he put back the other side of the cloak, 
 and showed the other hand. " Gentlemen, you see," 
 said he, " that Arsenius has both his hands : how the 
 accusers came by the third hand, let them explain.'* 
 Thus ended the plot to the shame of thq contrivers* 
 
175 
 
 Those, who were concerned in this villany, were op- 
 posed to the real faith of Christ ; and enmity to the 
 doctrine of the Trinity produced this shameful plot. 
 
 Notwithstanding the clearest proofs of Athanasius 9 
 innocence, and though the whole course of his life 
 was extremely opposite to such crimes as he was 
 charged with r yet his enemies so far prevailed, that 
 commissioners were despatched into Egypt to examine 
 the matters of which he was accused. Yet John the 
 Melitian bishop, the chief contriver of the plot, confes- 
 sed his fault to Athanasius, and begged his forgive- 
 ness. And Arsenius himself renounced his former 
 connexions, and desired to be received into commun- 
 ion with Athanasius. 
 
 The Arian commissioners having arrived at Alexan- 
 dria, endeavored to extort evidence against the accu- 
 sed by drawn swords, whips, clubs, and all engines of 
 cruelty. The Alexandrian clergy desired to give evi- 
 dence in favor of Athanasius, but were refused. They 
 remonstrated to no purpose. The commissioners hav- 
 ing returned with extorted evidence to Tyre, whither 
 the accused, who saw no justice was to be obtained > 
 had fled, passed sentence, and deposed him from his 
 bishopric. 
 
 Athanasius came to Constantinople, and desired jus- 
 tice from the emperor, and a fair trial. Constantino 
 ordered the bishops of the synod to appear before him, 
 and to give an account of what they had done. The 
 greatest part of them returned home. But Eusebius 
 of Nicomedia, sticking at no fraud, and ashamed of no 
 villany, with a few of the synod, went to Constantino- 
 ple, and waving the old accusations, brought a fresh 
 one, alleging that Athanasius had threatened to stop 
 the fleet that brought corn from Alexandria to Con- 
 stantinople. Constantine was credulous enough to be 
 moved by the report: the Arian arts prevailed at 
 court : those, who used no arms but truth and hones- 
 ty, were, for the present, foiled, and Athanasius was 
 banished to Treves in Gaul. 
 
 Arius, flushed with the success of his party, return- 
 ed to Alexandria, and strengthened the hands of 
 
176 
 
 heretics, who had long languished for want of his abil- 
 ities. The city being torn with intestine divisions, the 
 emperor ordered the heresiarch to come to Constanti- 
 nople, and then to give an account of his conduct. 
 That imperial city had now become the chief seat of 
 contention, and Providence had given her a bishop not 
 unequal to the contest. This was Alexander of Con- 
 stantinople, a man of eminent piety and integrity. 
 Eusebius of Nicomedia menaced him with deposition 
 andexile, unless he consented to receive Arius into the 
 church. He could not consent to admit a wolf among 
 the sheep, who could agree in form to the Nicene faith, 
 and yet gradually insinuate his poison into the church. 
 Alexander betook himself to prayer, and spent several 
 days and nights in his church, in earnest cries to God 
 for help. The faithful followed his example, and 
 prayer was made by the church without ceasing, that 
 God would interfere on this occasion. 
 
 Constantine himself was not to be prevailed on to 
 admit Arius into the church, unless he were convinced 
 of his orthodoxy. He sent for him to the palace, and 
 asked him plainly, whether he agreed to the Nicene 
 decrees. The heresiarch, without hesitation, subscrib- 
 ed : the emperor ordered him to swear : he assented to 
 this also. Constantine, whose scruples were now 
 overcome, ordered Alexander to receive him into the 
 church the next day. Alexander had giren himself to 
 fasting and prayer, and renewed his supplications that 
 day with great fervor, prostrate before the altar, at- 
 tended only by Macarius a presbyter belonging to 
 Athinasius. He begged, that if Arius was in the right, 
 he himself might not live to see the day of contest ; 
 but if the faith which he professed was true, that Ari- 
 us, the author of all the evils, might suffer the punish- 
 inent of his impiety. The next day seemed to be a 
 triumphant one to the Arians : the heads of the party 
 paraded through the city with Arius in the midst, and 
 drew the attention of all toward them. When they 
 came nigh to the forum of Constantine, a sudden ter- 
 ror, with a disorder of the bowels, seized Arius. He 
 asked for a place> where he might retire and ea^e him- 
 
177 
 
 self, and being told there was one behind the forum, 
 he hasted thither, and fainted ; and his bowels were 
 poured out with a vast effusion of blood. Such was 
 the exit of the famous Arius. Thus God heard the 
 prayers of his church and sent them deliverance, and 
 confounded the adversaries of Zion. 
 
 What effect this event had on Constantine, is not 
 known. He died soon after, in the 65th year of his 
 age, having first received baptism from Eusebius of 
 Nicomedia. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The progress of the Arian Controversy during the Reign 
 of Constantius. 
 
 L HE great Constantine was succeeded by three sons, 
 Constantine, Constantius, and Constans. The first ru- 
 led in Spain and Gaul, the second in the East, the 
 third in Italy and Africa. The other relations of the 
 late emperor were put to death by the soldiers. Two 
 sons alone of Julias his brother survived, Gallus and 
 Julian. These were spared, priv r atelv educated, pla- 
 ced among the clergy, and appointe'd readers in the 
 church. The latter was born at Constantinople, was 
 only eight years old at the time of his uncle's death, 
 and was reserved to be a scourge to degenerate Chris- 
 tendom, and a memorable instrument of Divine Pro- 
 vidence. 
 
 By Constantine the eldest, Athanasius was recall^ 
 ed from banishment, to his church at Alexandria, 
 where he was received with general acclamations. 
 Constantine was afterwards slain by the troops of his 
 brother Constans. 
 
 Constantius, with the empress his wife, was infect- 
 ed with the Arian heresy, and did much to support 
 the Arian interest. 
 
 In the year three hundred and forty, died the famous 
 Eusebius of Cresarea. He was the most learned of 
 
 T 
 
178 
 
 all the Christians ; but a man of courtly manners, and 
 one who associated with Arius in the condemnation 
 of Athanasius. His case is one of the many which 
 shew that learning and philosophy, unless duly subor- 
 dinated to the revealed will of God, are unfriendly to 
 Christian simplicity. 
 
 Alexander of Constantinople, the great and able op- 
 poser of Arianism, died at this time, and was succeed- 
 ed by Paul, a young man discreet and pious. Con- 
 stantius was displeased at the election of Paul, encour- 
 aged an Arian council, directed its resolves, and Euse- 
 bius of Nicomedia was translated to Constantinople, 
 where, from this time, Arian government continued 
 forty years. Thus the ancient usages in choosing 
 bishops were altered, and a precedent was set of fixing 
 in the hands of princes the government of churches in 
 capital cities. A council, of 100 bishops of Egypt, 
 with Athanasius at their head, protested to the Chris- 
 tian world against these proceedings. 
 
 Another council, convened at Antioch, and support- 
 by the presence of the emperor, undertook to depose 
 Athanasius, and ordain Gregory in his room. They 
 prevailed on Constantius to direct Philagrius, the pre- 
 fect of Egypt, to support their proceedings by an arm- 
 ed force. Gregory commenced a violent persecution 
 against the friends of Athanasius, a number of whom 
 he caused to be scourged and imprisoned. Athana- 
 sius himself fled from the storm, and made his escape 
 to Rome. 
 
 The church now found herself not free from perse- 
 cution, even when Pagans had ceased to reign. 
 Gregory would not even suffer the Athanasians to pray 
 in their own houses, who in great numbers still refused 
 to own the Arian domination. He visited Egypt in 
 company with Philagrius, and inflicted on those bish- 
 ops who had been zealous for the Nicene faith, the 
 greatest severities. 
 
 The means of defence which Athanasius used were 
 solid arguments, patience and fervent prayers to God* 
 
 The Arians must beaivthe infamy of being the first 
 who secularized the discipline of the church. 
 
179 
 
 Athanasius continued an exile at Rome 18 months, 
 under the protection of Julius the bishop. Eusebius, 
 of Constantinople, one of the most memorable villians 
 in history, died soon after in the fulness of that pros- 
 perity, which his iniquity and oppression had procured 
 him. A double election followed his death, that of 
 Paul, and that of Macedonius. Hermogenes, master 
 of the militia, was ordered by the emperor to banish 
 Paul. He did so, and Paul's friends exasperated by 
 persecution, forgot the character of Christians and kill- 
 ed Hermogenes. This happened in the year 342. Paul, 
 however, was then banished the city, and his holy 
 character exempted him from all suspicion of being 
 concerned in the outrage. 
 
 In the year 349 died Gregory, the secular bishop of 
 Alexandria. Then it was that Constantins, intimida- 
 ted by the threats of his brother Constant, wrote re- 
 peatedly to Athanasius to return into the East, and as- 
 sured him of his favor and protection. Complying at 
 length, with the request, he travelled to Antioch and 
 was graciously received by Constantius, who assured 
 him with oaths, that he would for the future, receive 
 no calumnies against him. While at Antioch, Athan- 
 asius communicated with the Eustathians, who under 
 the direction of Flavian, held a conventicle there. This 
 Flavian was the first who invented the doxology, Glo- 
 ry be to the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. This is 
 agreeable to the Nicene faith. 
 
 Sabellians and Arians, at that time, opposed each 
 other, and assaulted the truth which was at variance 
 from what they both embraced. While those who 
 were taught of God, sincerely worshipped the Trinity 
 in Unity, and mourned over the abominations of the 
 times. 
 
 After the death of Constans, Constantius having be- 
 come sole master of the empire, revived the persecu- 
 tion. Paul, of Constantinople, was sent into Mesopo- 
 tamia loaded with irons, and at length to Cucasus, on 
 the confines of Cappadocia, where, after having suf- 
 fered cruel hardships, he was strangled. Macedonius 
 succeeded him, in Constantinople, by an armed force, 
 with much effusion of blood. 
 
180 
 
 The weak mind of Constantius was again prejudic- 
 ed, by calumnies against Athanasius, and he joined 
 with the Arians to effect his ruin, and to give ascen- 
 dency as far as possible to Arianism ; he even attempt- 
 ed to impose an Arian creed upon a council convened 
 at Milan in the year three hundred and fifty five, from 
 the consideration that God had declared in his favor 
 by his victories. The people, attached to the doctrine 
 of the Trinity, because they read it in their bibles, re- 
 jected the creed of Constantius, and it was pressed no 
 further. The condemnation of Athanasius, was, how- 
 ever, insisted on, and Dionysius, bishop of Milan and 
 some others, were most unreasonably required to sub- 
 scribe to it. " Obey, or be banished," was the impe- 
 rial mandate. The bish6ps lifted up their hands to 
 heaven, and told Constantius, that the empire was not 
 his but God's, and reminded him of the day of judg- 
 ment. He drew his sword on them in a rage, but con- 
 tented himself with their banishment. The greatest 
 part of the bishops, however, subscribed to the con- 
 demnation of Athanasius : a few only testified that the 
 grace of God was still as powerful as ever in support- 
 ing his people, and in causing them to suffer gladly, 
 rather than to sin. Those who did not subscribe were 
 banished. The venerable Hosius, of Corduba, then 
 one hundred years old, who had been a confessor un- 
 der the Dioclesian persecution, who had presided six- 
 ty years in the church, and also in the Nicene coun- 
 cil, was unsubdued. Flattery and menaces were both 
 employed to prevail on him to condemn Athanasius : 
 but he stood firm, and sharply rebuked Constantius, 
 for his* unreasonable conduct toward him, and remind- 
 ed him of his accountability at the day of judgment 
 for what he was then endeavoring to effect. 
 
 This persecution raged so violently, that Arianism 
 seemed well nigh to have avenged the cause of fallen 
 idolatry. Supported by the secular power, it then 
 reigned and glutted itself in blood. The pagans took 
 courage and assisted the heretics in the persecution, 
 saying, the Arians have embraced our religion. A 
 Ibishop was found base enough to support those pro- 
 
J81 
 
 *eedings. It was George of Cappadocia, who began 
 his usurpation in the year three hundred and fifty six. 
 Through his influence, supported by the secular arm, 
 the friends of the Nicene faith were cruelly beaten, and 
 some died under the anguish. The greatest cruelties 
 were exercised by that monster of the Arian faith. 
 
 Constantius, in a letter to the people of Alexandria, 
 represents this same George as one very capable of 
 instructing others in heavenly things. Athanasius, hav- 
 ing seen this letter, was deterred from his intended 
 journey to the emperor, betook himself to the deserts, 
 and visited the monks. Those were his most faithful 
 adherents, who refused to discover him to his adver- 
 saries, and who offered their throats to the sword with 
 a readiness to die for the Nicene faith. 
 
 The contest was evidently between truth and error. 
 The opposing sects manifested, in their lives, the con- 
 trary influence and tendency of the adverse doctrines 
 which they respectively embraced. It must, however, 
 be acknowledged that the Trinitarians did not attend, 
 in the degree which they ought to have done, to the 
 connexion which subsists between doctrine and prac- 
 tice. Christian godliness continued very low in all this 
 period. 
 
 The persecution reached even to Gaul, which had 
 yet happily preserved the simplicity of the apostolic J 
 confession unmolested. Hosius, above one hundred 
 years old, having suffered scourges and tortures, sub- 
 mitted, at length, to subscribe an Arian creed. He 
 lived, however, to retract, protesting against the vio- 
 lence with which he had been treated, and with his 
 last breath exhorted all men to reject the heresy of 
 Arius. Hosius remained in his heart true to his God, 
 and proved that the Lord faileth not them that are his. 
 The Arians made creeds upon creeds, expressed in 
 artful ambiguities, to impose on the unwary : but the 
 power of divine grace was displayed in preserving a 
 remnant in this disastrous season. Athanasius, and a 
 few faithful brethren stood firm. 
 
 Constantius liberally supported the most expensive 
 forms and ornaments of Christian worship while he was 
 
182 
 
 laboring with all his might to eradicate Christian doc- 
 trine. 
 
 The Arians, then victorious, began to shew them- 
 selves disunited, and separated into two parties. In 
 these confusions, Macedonius lost the see of Constan- 
 tinople, which was given to Eudoxius, who was trans- 
 lated from Antioch in the year three hundred and six- 
 ty. Eudoxius denied the Divinity of the Holy Ghost. 
 The adherents to this sentiment, by the advantage of 
 sober manners, spread themselves among the monas- 
 teries and increased the corruption which then perva- 
 ded the Christian world. To this error Athanasius 
 showed himself a faithful and vigilant opposer. 
 
 In the year three hundred and sixty one, Constan- 
 tius died of a fever, having received baptism a little 
 before he expired. He was a weak man, armed with 
 despotic power, capable of doing incredible mischief 
 in the church of Christ, and died, as he lived, an Arian, 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A View of Monasticism and other Micellaneous Circum- 
 stances from the establishment of Christianity under 
 Constantine to the death of Constantius. 
 
 ?V E are not to form an idea of ancient monks from 
 modern ones. It was wrong in holy men of old to 
 retire altogether from the world. But there is every 
 reason to believe this practice originated in piety. 
 The enormous evils of rnonasticism are to be ascrib- 
 ed to its degeneracy in after-times, not to its first in- 
 stitution. What could be better intended than the 
 determination of Anthony to follow literally our Lord's 
 directions ; " Sell what thou hast and give to the 
 poor ?" Was he ignorant, and superstitious ? He was 
 both. But he persevered to the age of 105 years in 
 voluntary poverty with admirable consistency. 
 
 It \vas a great disadvantage to Anthony's judgment, 
 that he was unwilling to be instructed in literature. 
 .He pushed the desire of solitude to rigors before un- 
 
183 
 
 known: Though his faith in Christ Was obscure, yet 
 was his sincerity evident, and his love to Divine things 
 ardent. He preached well by his life, and temper, and 
 spirit, however much he failed in doctrinal knowledge. 
 
 During the Dioclesian persecution, Anthony left his 
 beloved solitude, came to Alexandria and strengthen- 
 ed the minds of Christian sufferers, exposing himself 
 to danger for his love of the brethren, and yet was not 
 guilty of delivering himself up to martyrdom. Thus, 
 on some occasions, he appeared in the world. 
 
 While the Arian heresy raged, he entered Alexan- 
 dria, and protested against its impiety, observing, it 
 was of a piece with heathenism itself, "Be assured,' 7 
 said he, " all nature is moved with indignation against 
 those, who reckon the creator of all things to be a crea- 
 ture." In conversing with pagan philosophers, Antho- 
 ny observed, that Christianity held the mystery, not 
 in the wisdom of Grsecian reasoning, but in the power 
 of faith supplied to them from God by Jesus Christ. 
 He exhorted them to believe and know that the chris- 
 tian art is not merely verbal, but of faith which work- 
 eth by love. 
 
 Anthony, however, sullied all his evangelical piety ? 
 by a foolish attempt to make mankind believe that 
 he lived without food, while he ate in secret, and by a 
 vain parade concerning temperance, which savored 
 more of Pythagorean fanaticism than of Christian pie- 
 ty. In his extreme old age he gave particular direc- 
 tions, that his body should be interred, not preserved in 
 a house, after the Egyptian manner of honoring deceas- 
 ed saints and martyrs, and charged his two attendants 
 to let no man know the place of his burial. " At the 
 resurrection of the dead, I shall receive my body," said 
 he, "from the Savior, incorruptible.' 2 He expired with 
 cheerfulness. 
 
 The ancient heresies w r ere now in a declining state. 
 Imperial favors were extended to heretics, in pro- 
 portion to the cordiality and ardor with which they 
 embraced erroneous sentiments. The church of the 
 holy sepulchre^ at Jerusalem, was about this time, built 
 with singular magnificence, and dedicated to Ariacr 
 
184 
 
 purposes with much pomp and ceremony. Splendor, 
 however, excluded sincerity, and formality usurped the 
 place of spiritual understanding. Thus that scripture 
 was fulfilled Concerning the hypocrisy of professors in 
 the Christian times, " your brethren, that hated yon, and 
 cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the Lord be 
 glorified." 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Extension of the Gospel from the Beginning of the 
 Centurv to the Death of Constantius. 
 
 T 
 
 x HIS period is far more fruitful in ecclesiastical con- 
 tentions, than it is remarkable for the extension of Chris- 
 tianity. Abyssinia appears to have received the gos- 
 pel and to have erected many churches in this century. 
 The Iberians too, a people bordering on the Black 
 Sea, received the gospel, about this time, through the 
 exemplary life and conversation of a Christian woman, 
 whom they had, in a military excursion, taken prisoner. 
 She is said to have wrought miracles among them. 
 I shall mention only those, which may seem worthy of 
 some credit. A child of the king's was sent to the 
 women of the country to be cured, if any of them 
 knew a proper method of treating it a well known 
 ancient custom. The cause baffled their united skill, 
 and the child was delivered to the captive woman. 
 " Christ," said she, " who healed many, will also 
 heal this infant." She "prayed, and it recovered. 
 In the same manner the queen herself was healed of 
 a distemper some time after. " It is not my work," 
 said the captive woman, " but that of Christ the Son 
 of God, the Maker of the w r orld." The king sent the 
 captive presents in token of his gratitude. But she 
 sent them back, assuring him, that " godliness washer 
 riches, and that she would look on it, as the noblest 
 present, if he would worship the God whom she ador- 
 ed." The next day the king, while hunting, was lost in 
 a thick mist, and implored in vain the aid'of his gods, 
 In his distress, recollecting the words of the woman. 
 
185 
 
 he prayed to the God whom she worshipped. The 
 mist was instantly dispersed, and the king found his 
 way home. In consequence of this event, and of fu- 
 ture conferences with the captive, both the king and 
 queen embraced the gospel, and exhorted their sub- 
 jects to receive it. An embassy was sent to Constan- 
 tine, to desire that pastors might be commissioned to 
 instruct them. The emperor gave the ambassadors a 
 very gracious reception. 
 
 The gospel was introduced about this time into Ara- 
 bia Felix. Probably it also flourished in humble obscu- 
 rity in Britain, PUB France. The nations bordering on 
 the Rhine, were now Christian ; and the Goths near the 
 Danube, about 60 years before, had been civilized at 
 least by the bishops whom they had carried captive 
 under Gallienus : and most probably the Spirit of God 
 attended their labors. Armenia had likewise embrac- 
 ed Christianity, and by means of commerce conveyed 
 it into Persia, where converts began to be numerous. 
 
 There, because the Christians would not pollute 
 themselves with the worship of the sun, they under- 
 went a very grievous persecution. In this the Magi 
 and the Jews were peculiarly instrumental ; and the 
 people of God suffered with so much sincerity and 
 fortitude, as to evince that the Lord had many people 
 belonging to himself in Persia. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Decline of Idolatry in this Century to the Death of 
 Constantius. 
 
 JL HE first measures of Constantine, after his success 
 in Italy, were to place Christianity on an equal footing 
 with paganism by the laws, while he gradually pat- 
 ronized the church more and more. He abolished the 
 barbarous punishment of crucifixion. After he had 
 become sole master of the empire, he forbad the pri- 
 vate exercise of divination, the great bulwark of false 
 religion. But he still allowed the public use of it at 
 
186 
 
 the altars and temples. Some time after, he prohib- 
 ited the worst branches of sorcery and magic. He 
 took particular care to secure the observation of the 
 Lord's day, and ordered it to be set apart for prayer 
 and holy exercises. He publicly declared, that he 
 would not oblige men, to be Christians though he ear- 
 nestly desired they would be, nor did he abolish the 
 rites of the temples. Finding, however, the pagans 
 extremely obstinate in the preservation of their super- 
 stitions, he publicly exposed the mysteries, which had 
 hitherto been kept secret, melted down the golden 
 statues, and caused brazen ones to be drawn by 
 ropes through the streets of Constantinople. And 
 some of the temples, which had been scenes of horri- 
 ble wickedness, he destroyed. 
 
 In Egypt, the famous cubit, with which the idolatrous 
 priests were wont to measure the height of the Nile, 
 was kept in the temple of Serapis. This, by Constan- 
 tine's order, was removed to the church at Alexandria. 
 The pagans beheld the removal with indignation, 
 and ventured to predict, that the Nile would no longer 
 overflow its banks. Divine Providence, however, 
 smiled on the schemes of Constantine, and the Nile 
 the next year overflowed the country in an uncommon 
 degree. In this gradual manner was paganism over- 
 turned 5 sacrifices in a partial manner still continued, 
 but the entire destruction of idolatry seemed to be at 
 hand. The temples for the most part stood, though 
 much defaced, and deprived of their former dignity 
 and importance. The sons of Constantine followed 
 his example in aiding the progress of Christianity. - 
 They made an express edict for the abolition of the 
 sacrifices. 
 
 Constantius at Rome, solemnly prohibited magic 
 in all its various forms, took away the altar and image 
 of victory which stood in the portico of the capital, 
 and manifested great zeal against idolatry. 
 
 Such was the state of paganism at the death of Con- 
 stantius. Pagans were, however, exceedingly riumej- 
 ous, and enjoyed with silent pleasure the long and 
 Shameful scenes of Arian controversy in the church. 
 
187 
 
 Nor were they hopeless. The eyes of the votaries of 
 the gods were all directed to his successor, the warlike, 
 the zealous Julian, a determined foe of the gospel. 
 Great things had been done for the church ; but its 
 rulers of the house of Constantine were weak and void 
 of true piety. In the warm imaginations of many de- 
 votees, even Jupiter himself seemed likely to grow ter- 
 rible again^ and be again adored. This last struggle of 
 expiring paganism, marked as it is with signal instan- 
 ces of Providence, deserves particular attention. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Julianas attempt to restore Paganism. 
 
 JL HE world in no age ever saw a greater zealot for 
 paganism than Julian. Temper, talents, power and 
 resentment, all conspired to cherish his superstitious 
 attachments. He had seen nothing agreeable in the 
 effects of the gospel on his uncle and his cousins. He 
 had seen the Christian world torn with factions and de- 
 formed by ambition. He had experienced many fam- 
 ily wrongs from those who professed religion. Though 
 he affected a zeal for the cause during (he reign of 
 Constantius, yet it appears that he had not read the 
 New-Testament with that close attention, which led 
 him to see that the doctrines there inculcated, requir- 
 ed a life very different from what he saw in the leaders 
 of the Christian world, both civil and ecclesiastical. 
 
 He was a man of uncommon genius and capacity, 
 and came into power under the full influence of a car- 
 nal mind, which is enmity against God. All that the 
 wit and prudence of man could do, he attempted, to 
 subvert Christianity and to restore paganism. If he 
 failed in his attempts, it was because his arms were 
 levelled against heaven. 
 
 From a youth, Julian practised dissimulation with 
 consummate artifice. No person was ever more ad- 
 mirably qualified to act the part which he did when 
 be succeeded Constantius. 
 
188 
 
 This happened in the year three hundred and sixty 
 one. He ordered the temples to be set open, those 
 that were decayed to be repaired, and new ones to be 
 built, where he deemed it necessary. He fined the 
 persons who had made use of the materials of such 
 as had been demolished, and set apart the money, in 
 this way collected, to erect new ones. Altars were uni- 
 versally set up, and all the rituals of pagan worship 
 brought into use. Altars and fires, blood, perfumes and 
 priests attending their sacrifices, were general, and the 
 imperial palace itself had its temple and furniture. The 
 first thing he did, every morning, was to sacrifice, and 
 by his presence and example, he encouraged the prac- 
 tice among all his subjects. Heathens exulted and 
 Christians were treated with contumely. He repealed 
 the laws made against idolatry, and confirmed its an- 
 cient honor and privileges. 
 
 To reform paganism itself was his first object, and 
 he issued precepts for its support. To maintain it on 
 the old system of popular belief, Julian saw was im- 
 possible. Christian light had now rendered pagan 
 darkness visible, its deformity digustful, and its absur- 
 dity contemptible. With great importunity he ex- 
 horted magistrates to correct the vices of men, and to 
 relieve their miseries, assuring them that the gods 
 would reward^them for their charitable acts : that it is 
 our duty to do good to all, even to the worst of men 
 and our bitterest enemies ; and that public religion 
 should be supported by a reverential adoration of the 
 images of the gods, which were to be looked on as 
 the symbols of the gods themselves. Priests, he said, 
 should so live, as to be copies of what they preached 
 by their own lives, and dissolute ones should be ex- 
 pelled from their offices. Not only wicked actions, 
 but obscene and indecent language should be avoided 
 by them. No idle books and wanton plays, but divine 
 philosophy, should be the object of their serious study ; 
 they should learn sacred hymns by heart, should pray 
 thrice or at least twice every day ; and when in their 
 turn called on to attend the temple, they should never 
 depart from it, but give up themselves to their office,-. 
 
189 
 
 At other times, they should not frequent the forum, 
 nor approach the houses of the great, unless with a 
 view of procuring relief for the indigent, or to dis- 
 charge some part of their office ; that in no case they 
 should frequent the theatres, nor ever be seen in the 
 company of a charioteer, player or dancer. In every 
 city the most pious and virtuous should be ordain- 
 ed, without any consideration of their circumstances. 
 The godly training of their own families, and their 
 compassionate care for the indigent, would be their 
 best recommendation. The impious Galilseans, he 
 observed, by their singular benevolence had strength- 
 ened their party, and heathenism had suffered by the 
 want of attention to these things. 
 
 Such was the fire which the apostate stole from 
 heaven, and such his artifice in managing it ! These 
 rules he must have derived from the sacred scriptures, 
 for they are not to be found in any of the heathen 
 writers which he studied and admired. They are 
 rules which well deserve the attention of Christian pastors 
 in all ages. In imitation of Christians he established 
 schools for the education of youth. He appointed lec- 
 tures of religion, stated times of prayers, monasteries 
 for devout persons, hospitals and alms-houses for the 
 poor and diseased, and for strangers. These things he 
 particularly recommended in a letter to Arsacius, the 
 chief priest of Galatia. In this he tells him what it was 
 that advanced the impious religion of the Christians ; 
 that it was their kindness to strangers, their care in bu- 
 rying the dead, and their affected gravity. He bids 
 him warn the priests to avoid play-houses and taverns, 
 and sordid employments. Hospitals should be erected 
 in every city for the reception of all sorts of indigent 
 persons. The Galilaeans, he observes, relieve both their 
 poor and ours. He certainly learnt this language from 
 Christianity, which he ungratefully labored to destroy, 
 It was not, however, in Julian's power to infuse that 
 spirit into his partizans, which alone can produce such 
 excellent fruits. It is in vain to think of destroying 
 Christian principles, and at the same time of preser- 
 ving Christian practice. But here is an additional 
 
190 
 
 testimony to the virtues of Christians, from their most 
 determined and bitter enemy ; and a powerful illus- 
 tration of the work of God in those ages. It must be 
 confessed, at the same time, that the good sense and 
 penetration of the emperor, are as conspicuous as are 
 his malice and impiety. 
 
 The arch-apostate knew that ridicule is a powerful 
 engine with which to assail Christianity, and did not 
 neglect to use this to render it odious, impossible, in the 
 view of his subjects. The son of Mary, or the Galilaean^ 
 were the opprobrious titles which he gave to the bless- 
 ed Jesus, and he ordered christians to be called Gali- 
 Iseans. To render unpopular the truly godly, and to 
 bring Christianity into disrepute, he made an act of 
 sacrificing, the condition of preserving places of honor 
 and authority. He used many methods to impoverish 
 opulent christians, and otherwise to injure them, and 
 when they complained, he sarcastically said to them ; 
 " You know what directions of passiveness under in- 
 juries your Christ has given you !" To this he added 
 an affected encouragement of heretics and sectaries, 
 and thus artfully embroiled the Christian world with 
 factions, by a toleration othem all, but a real want of 
 affection for any. 
 
 Julian had the sagacity, in a way of refined policy 
 to abstain from open persecution himself, while he 
 connived at it in others, who knew what was agreea- 
 ble to their master. A number suffered for the gospel 
 under his reign, though not by the forms of avowed 
 persecution. 
 
 If the gospel be indeed the light of heaven, which 
 alone leads men to a holiness that fallen nature ab- 
 hors, we see, why the public teachers of Christianity 
 are abhorred by the proud and the mighty. These, 
 Julian charged with sedition, seized their incomes, ab- 
 rogated their immunities, exposed them to civil bur- 
 dens and offices, and occasionally expelled them by 
 fraud and violence. At Antioch, the treasures of the 
 church were seized, the clergy obliged to flee, and the 
 churches shut. In other places he found pretepces for 
 imprisoning and torturing the pastors. 
 
191 
 
 This vigilant emperor must have hated and despised 
 the Jews: but seeing, that to encourage and advance 
 them in their secular concerns, was an obvious means 
 of depreciating Christianity ; he spake of them with 
 compassion, begged their prayers for his success in the 
 Persian wars, and pressed them to rebuild their tem- 
 ple, and restore their worship. He himself promis- 
 ed to defray the expense out of the exchequer, and 
 appointed an officer to superintend the work. To 
 strengthen the hands of such determined enemies of 
 Christianity, and to invalidate the Christian prophecies 
 concerning the desolation of the Jews, were objects 
 highly desirable in the mind of Julian. But the enter- 
 prise was suddenly baffled, and the workmen were 
 obliged to desist : horrible balls of fire, breaking out 
 near the foundations, with repeated attacks, rendered 
 the place inaccessible to the scorched workmen from 
 time to time, and the element resolutely driving them 
 to a distance, the enterprize Was dropped. No histor- 
 ical fact, since the days of the apostles, seems better 
 attested by credible writers than this. 
 
 To keep the church in ignorance of the arts of reas- 
 oning and philosophy, Julian suppressed learning 
 among the Christians, forbid Christian school-masters 
 to teach Gentile learning, lest being furnished, says he, 
 with our armor, they make war upon us with our own 
 weapons. By this deep-laid plan, he designed to ef- 
 fect ultimately, an entire extinction of Christianity. 
 To this end philosophers were liberally paid by him 
 for their invectives against the gospel. 
 
 He used ensnaring artifices to draw unwary chris- 
 tians into compliance with pagan superstitions. He- 
 was wont to place the images of the heathen gods 
 near his own statues, that those who bowed to the lat- 
 ter, might seem to adore also the former. Those who 
 seemed to comply, he endeavored to persuade into 
 greater compliances ; those who refused, he charged 
 with treason, and proceeded against them as delin- 
 quents. He ordered the soldiers when they received 
 their donatives, to throw a piece of frankincense into 
 the fire in honor to the gods. Some few Christians' 
 
192 
 
 who had been surprized into the practice, returned t6 
 the emperor, threw back their donatives, and profes- 
 sed their readiness to die for their religion. Disgrace, 
 poverty, contempt, a moderate degree of severity, 
 checked and disciplined by dissimulation, and every 
 method of undermining the human spirit, were inces- 
 santly employed to subvert Christianity. One cannot 
 see how his schemes for this purpose could have failed, 
 had Providence permitted this artful and subtile geni- 
 us to have proceeded many years in this course : but 
 what a worm is man, when he sets himself to oppose 
 his Maker ! 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Church under Julian. 
 
 A.T this time the people of God were faint and lan- 
 guid in Divine things. Arianism was baneful to ex- 
 perimental piety and fostered pride and bitter animos- 
 ity toward the truly godly. The pastors of churches 
 were far from being intelligent or zealous, and were 
 menaced with a most artful and malicious persecution. 
 
 However low the state of Christianity was, yet we 
 have grounds to believe there were then many real 
 Christians in the church amid all its corruptions ; for 
 the most of the public teachers and professors of Chris- 
 tianity chose to quit their offices, rather than to forsake 
 their religion. J ulian's partiality and prejudices in fa- 
 vor of paganism urged him to adopt measures which 
 filled the whole empire with confusion. 
 
 At Merum, a city of Phrygia, Arnachius, the govern- 
 or of the province, ordered the temple to be opened 
 and the idols to be cleansed. Three Christians, infla- 
 med with an ardent love of virtue, rushed by night in- 
 to the temples, and broke all the images. The gov- 
 ernor, in his wrath being about to chastise many inno- 
 cent persons, the culprits very generously offered 
 themselves to punishment. He gave them the alter- 
 native, to sacrifice or die. They preferred the latter. 
 
193 
 
 &rid suffered death with excruciating tortures, more 
 admirable in their behavior for fortitude than meek- 
 fcess. 
 
 At Pessinus, in Galatia, two young men suffered 
 death in the presence of Julian. I wish I could say 
 it was for professing the faith of Christ. But one of 
 them had overturned an idol. The emperor put him 
 to death in a cruel manner with his companion, their 
 mother, and the bishop of the city. 
 
 At Ancyra, Basil, a priest, had in the former reign, 
 opposed Arianism, and now with equal sincerity re- 
 sisted idolatry. He went through the city, publicly 
 exhorting the people to avoid polluting themselves 
 with sacrifices. Once observing the Gentiles employ- 
 ed in their religious rites, he sighed, and besought 
 God, that no Christian might be guilty of such enor- 
 mity. The governor upon this apprehended him, 
 charging him with sedition, and having tortured him 
 kept him in prison. Julian himself coming to Ancyra, 
 sent for Basil, who reproached him for his apostacy. 
 Julian said, he had intended to dismiss him, but was 
 obliged to treat him severely on account of his impu- 
 dence. In the end Basil suffered death by torture. It 
 would be tedious to recite all the accounts of those 
 who suffered from the insolent cruelty of pagans un- 
 der the politic connivance and partiality of Julian du- 
 ring his short reign. 
 
 In the year three hundred and sixty two, George of 
 Alexandria, the persecuting Arian, was murdered by 
 the pagans of that city, to whom he had made him- 
 self obnoxious, by exposing their ridiculous rites. 
 
 All this time Athanasius was in concealment. Af- 
 ter the death of George, he returned openly to his bish- 
 opric. Athanasius treated his enemies with mildness, 
 relieved the distressed without respect of persons, re- 
 stored the custom of preaching on the Trinity, remov- 
 ed from the sanctuary those who had made a traffic of 
 holy things, and thus gained the affections of the peo- 
 ple ; but he was not allowed to enjoy long the s\veets 
 of liberty. The Gentile Alexandrians represented to 
 the emperor, that he corrupted the city ajid ail 
 
 2A 
 
and that if he continued there, not a pagan would De- 
 left. The consequence was, Julian Ordered him to* 
 be expelled the city. 
 
 Athanasius was obliged once more to seek safety 
 by flight. All the faithful at his departure gathered 
 around him weeping. " We must retire a little time, 
 friends," says he ; "it is a cloud that will soon fly over." 
 He took his leave of them, and began hier flight for the 
 obscure parts of Egypt ; but finding his life in immi- 
 nent danger, from the persecutors who were following 
 him, he directed his companions to return to Alexan- 
 dria, and to meet his enemies. The pursuers asked 
 them earnestly, "Have you seen Athanasius ?" " He 
 is near," say they, * make haste and you will soon over- 
 take him/' They hasted. Athanasius secreted him- 
 self, and soon returned privately to Alexandria, where 
 he fay concealed till the end of the persecution. 
 
 The active spirit of Julian was now bent on the dis- 
 tinction of the Persian monarchy ; but Divine Prov- 
 idence was hastening his- end. Toward the Christian 
 part of his subjects, Julian was a tyrant. He persecu- 
 ted numbers at Antioch ; there, as he passed by, he 
 was provoked by the psalmody of the Christians, par- 
 ticularly by the chorus which they used ; " Confound- 
 " ed be all they that worship graven images." He order- 
 ed them to be punished. Publia r too, a widow of 
 great reputation, with a number of virgins over whom 
 she presided, sang and praised God as he passed by. 
 In particular they sung such parts of the Psalms as 
 exposed the wickedness and folly of idolatry. Julian 
 .ordered them to hold their peace r till he had passed 
 them. On another occasion Publia encouraged them 
 to sing as he passed, " Let God arise, and let his ene- 
 mies be scattered." Julian, in a rage ? ordered her to 
 be brought before him, and to be buffetted orr each 
 side of her face. The effects of passion seem but too 
 visible both in the emperor and the woman ; there Is, 
 however, this difference ; the one had a zeal for God^ 
 the other a contempt. 
 
 God vouchsafed to his church a remarkable deliv- 
 eraace; for Julian, in a skirmish, was wounded mortal- 
 
)y by a Persian lance ; when, having filled his 
 with blood, he cast it toward heaven, exclaiming, " O 
 GALILEAN, THOU HAST CONQUERED !" He survived this 
 wound but a short time, and died after a reign of one 
 year and eight months, in the 32nd year of his age. 
 
 The interposition of Divine Providence is ever to be 
 acknowledged in hastening the death of so formidable 
 an enemy to his people, whose schemes seemed only to 
 require length of time to effect the ruin of the church. 
 But he was left to aim at too many objects at once, 
 the restoration of idolatry, the ruin of Christianity, 
 the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the conquest of Per- 
 sia. That he should have pursued this last with such 
 avidity, is an instance of the opposition of two parties 
 to each other, both equally bent on the ruin of the 
 church, a thing very common in history, by which the 
 Lord frequently saves his people. How much more 
 prudent had it been in Julian to have made an alliance 
 with the Persian monarch, who would gladly have ac- 
 cepted it, #nd to have united with him in the destruc- 
 tion of Christianity, against which they were both 
 equally incensed. Thus does God infatuate the coun- 
 sels of his enemies, and lead them to quarrel with one 
 another for the good of his church, rather than to unite 
 for its ruin. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Church under Jovian. 
 
 1 HIS prince succeeded Julian in the year 363, aged 
 about 33 years. His reign was terminated by sudden 
 death after a little more than seven months. 
 
 In this short reign he manifested a strong attach- 
 ment to Christianity, showed that in his conduct he 
 was governed by Christian principles, and a man of 
 strict integrity. 
 
 Convinced that conscience cannot be forced, and 
 that a voluntary religion only is acceptable to God, he 
 made a law, by which h permitted the pagans to rev 
 
196 
 
 6pen their temples and freely to enjoy their own mode 
 of Worship. Yet he peremptorily forbad witchcraft and 
 impostures. He suffered the public sacrifices, but put 
 a stop to the overflowings of magic and enchantments^ 
 with which Julian had filled the empire ; in line, he 
 granted the pagans more than Constantius had allow- 
 ed, and placed them in the same state> in which they 
 had been left by the great Constantine. In the former 
 reign Christians found themselves only nominally free j 
 in the latter, pagans were realty so. They were treats 
 ed with mildness, though not with confidence. 
 
 Jovian declared Christianity to be the established 
 religion, and replaced in the standard the figure of the 
 cross, which Julian had taken away. He ordered the 
 Christians to be restored to their churches, recalled 
 their exiles, and reinstated them in their privileges. 
 
 Thus did Jovian prove himself the defender of 
 Christianity as the established religion, and of tolera- 
 tion at the same time. 
 
 Athanasius had no sooner heard of the death of Juli- 
 an, than he suddenly appeared again at Alexandria, ta 
 the agreeable surprise of his people. Jovian, by letter^ 
 confirmed him in his office in the most ample manner. 
 
 When the Arians of Alexandria attempted to influ- 
 ence him to set over them an Arian bishop, in opposi- 
 tion to the claims of Athanasius, Jovian rejected their 
 application, assuring them that Athanasius taught 
 sound doctrine. This shows that in faith, Jovian was 
 a Trinitarian. The care which he took of Christian; 
 doctrine and piety> his integrity, and strict conscien- 
 tiousness, nianifested him to be a man of a sound un- 
 derstanding, and promised the world a wise and pi- 
 ous government. He seems to have been a character 
 of the solid, not of the shining kind; the wickedness 
 of the times was unworthy of him. He was soon re- 
 moved, and so suddenly, that it was suspected, he had 
 not died a natural death. The Christians sincerely 
 wept, the pagans in general spake well of him the 
 Arians soon endeavored to take advantage of his de- 
 cease, and the church was once more involved in per-, 
 sedition* 
 
197 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Church under Valens; the Death , Character, 
 Writins o 
 
 J OVI AN was succeeded by two brothers, Valentinian 
 arid Valens; the former governed in the West, the 
 latter in the East. Valentinian followed the plan of 
 Jovian in the affairs of the church, Valens, a man of 
 weak capacity, favored Arianism, and ordered all the 
 adherents to the Nicene faith to be expelled from Con- 
 stantinople, and their churches to be shut. 
 
 Athanasius ^vas again attacked by the enemies of 
 Christian piety. Tatian, the governor of Alexandria^ 
 by an order from Valens, attempted to drive Athana- 
 ius from that city. The good bishop stood high in 
 the affections of his people. The governor, for some 
 time dared not to execute his orders. But by night 
 he broke into his church with an armed force, where 
 Athanasius generally lodged, and sought for him in 
 vain. Athanasius had retired, and remained four 
 months concealed in his father's sepulchre. Valens 
 at length recalled him, and gave him no further dis- 
 turbance. About this time, Valens received baptism 
 from an Arian bishop who prevailed with him to swear 
 that he would never depart from the Arian creed. 
 
 Valens, being at a city of Scythia > near the mouth of 
 the Danube, ordered Brettannio the bishop, to meet 
 and communicate with him and his Arian attendant^ 
 who had come to the bishop's church for that purpose* 
 Brettannio firmly refused, professing his regard for the 
 Nicene faith, and leaving the emperor, he went to an- 
 other church, and all his congregation followed him,, 
 Valens, with his attendants being left alone x was so en-* 
 raged that he ordered the bishop to be banished. The. 
 Scythians were indignant at this, as he was a man re- 
 nowned among them for piety and integrity, and Va- 
 lens dreading their revolt, permitted him to return. 
 
 Eudoxius, the Arian bishop of Constantinople, be- 
 ing dead, the Arians chose Demophilus to succeed 
 
198 
 
 him, and Valens approved of the election. The o& 
 thodox elected, at the same time, Evagrius bishop of 
 Constantinople. Valens, incensed, banished both him 
 and the bishop who dared to ordain him. On this oc- 
 casion eighty ecclesiastics were sent to the Emperor 
 at Nicomedia to complain of his conduct Enraged 
 at their presumption, and jet afraid of a sedition, he 
 gave private orders to Modestus his prefect, to murder 
 them secretly. The execution of this order deserves 
 "to be known to all ages. The prefect pretended that 
 he would send them into banishment, with which they 
 cheerfully acquiesced. But he directed the mariners 
 to set the ship on fire, as soon as they were gone to 
 cea. The mariners did so, and getting into a boat 
 which followed them, escaped. The "burning vessel 
 \vas driven by a strong west wind into the haven of 
 Dacidizus, on the coast of Bithynia, where it was con- 
 sumed, with the ministers. The intention of conceal- 
 ing what was done was frustrated ; and the wicked- 
 ness and inhumanity of the murder appeared more 
 dious, by the meanness with which it was contrived, 
 
 Athanasius died in the year three hundred and 
 seventy three, after he had been bishop forty six years, 
 and having been desired to nominate a successor, he 
 mentioned Peter, an aged saint, and the faithful com- 
 panion of his labors. Let us pause a little to view 
 the writings and character of this great man. 
 
 As a writer, Athanasius is nervous, clear, argument- 
 ative, and every where discovers the man of sense, 
 except in the life of Anthony the monk, and other 
 monastic pieces ; the superstitions and follies of which 
 unhappy perversion of piety, received but too liberal 
 a support from his influence. But the true nature of 
 the gospel was then greatly misunderstood. 
 
 Opposition to Arianism absorbed his whole soul, and 
 he keeps it constantly in view throughout the most of 
 his writings. He represents Arianism, as the unpar- 
 donable sin. 
 
 The incarnation of the Son of God, he describes as 
 essential to the recovery of fallen man, and speaks of 
 the propriety of man's being^ taught by HIM wiio h 
 
199 
 
 (he Wisdom of the Father. Redemption by 
 cross he speaks of in a' manner perfectly scriptural ; 
 but little, however, is to be found in him of the expe- 
 rience of these doctrines, and their application to the 
 heart and conscience ; nor does he dwell much on the 
 virtues and graces of the Holy Spirit. Real virtue, was 
 however, the attendant of orthodox sentiments alone. 
 
 In his defence of the doctrine of the Trinity, he 
 guards it on all sides with great exactness, is not soli- 
 citous to remove its mystery, and leaves it clear and 
 exact only so far as the scripture has explained it. He 
 asserts invaribly the Trinity in Unity. 
 
 In his life, his conduct uniformly appears consis- 
 tent and upright, sharpened too much by long and 
 cruel opposition, yet never governed by malice, al- 
 ways influenced by the fear of God. Though greatly 
 persecuted himself, yet he never inflicted persecution 
 on others. 
 
 Peter was chosen as successor to Athanasius at Al- 
 exandria, by the whole church ; but not without op- 
 position from the Arians. Imperial violence prevail- 
 ed ; and many who would not subscribe to Arian sen- 
 timents, were, for their refusal, banished. Many of- 
 fered their necks to the sword, rather than quit the Ni~ 
 cene profession. Numbers of godly men among tile 
 Goths, were murdered for the sake of their Redeemer, 
 by the cruelty of their king Athanaric, who appears 
 to have been an Arian. 
 
 Valens perished in a battle with the Goths in the 
 year three hundred and seventy eight, after having- 
 reigned fourteen years. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 7%e Church under Vakntinian The beginnings of 
 
 Ambrose. 
 
 JuET us turn our eyes to a more cheering prospect in 
 the West ; in the East the only comfortable circum- 
 stance has been, that God left himself not without wiN 
 ^ but marked his real church by a number of faith- 
 
200 
 
 Ful sufferers. Valentinian, in the beginning of hi? reigfu 
 passed a law that no man should be constrained in re- 
 ligion. He was very indulgent toward the pagans, and 
 Created them with lenity. 
 
 The x\rians were still ambitious to make proselytes 
 to their faith, and were indefatigable in their opposi- 
 tion to all who advocated the Divinity of Jesus, and 
 they sought to support their creed by military and im- 
 perial power ; but Providence, during the reign of 
 Valentinian, raised up p,n able and successful opposer 
 of this heresy. 
 
 This illustrious character was Ambrose, who was 
 born about the year three hundred and thirty three, 
 and was first distinguished for pleading causes in the 
 civil law. He Was appointed a judge at Milan, where 
 he resided for five years, and was renowned for pru- 
 dence and justice. 
 
 On the death of the bishop of Milan, who was an 
 Arian, the bishops of the province met to choose a suc- 
 cessor. The city was divided, the Arians labored 
 vigorously to have one of their sentiment elected ; the 
 contest was warm, every thing tended toward a tu- 
 mult ; the bishops were consulting, and Ambrose on 
 hearing these things hastened to the church of Milan, 
 and exhorted the people to peace and submission to 
 the laws. His speech being finished, an infant's voice 
 was heard in the crowd, " Ambrose is bishop." The 
 hint was taken at once, the whole assembly cried out, 
 " Ambrose shall be the man." The factions agreed 
 immediately, and he whom secular pursuits had seem- 
 ed to preclude from the notice of either party, was 
 suddenly elected by universal consent. 
 
 Ambrose was astonished, and peremptorily refus- 
 ed ; nor was any person ever more desirous to obtain 
 the office of bishop, than he was to avoid it. He even 
 took unjustifiable measures to bring his moral charac- 
 ter into suspicion his design in this was easily detect- 
 ed. Finding himself unable to resist their urgent im- 
 portunity, he stole out of Milan at midnight, but mis- 
 sing his way, wandered till morning and then found 
 himself at the gate of Milan. A guard was placed 
 
201 
 
 Stbout his person till the emperor's pleasure should be 
 known because his consent was necessary to part with 
 a subject in office. Valentinian sincerely consented ; 
 and the consent of Ambrose alone was wanting. Again 
 he made his escape and hid himself in the country- 
 house of a friend. A menacing edict of the emperor 
 brought him again to Milan, because he dared not 
 expose his friend to imperial resentment. Ambrose 
 yielded at length, and Valentinian gave thanks to God 
 and our Savior that it had pleased him, to make 
 choice of the very person to take care of men's souls, 
 whom he had himself before appointed to preside 
 over their temporal concerns. Valentinian received 
 the general admonitions of Ambrose with reverence ; 
 and in particular hearing him represent the faults of 
 some in authority with great plainness ; " I knew," 
 said the emperor, "the honesty of your character 
 before this time, yet I consented to your ordination ; 
 follow the Divine rules, and cure the maladies into 
 which we are prone to fall." 
 
 Ambrose was then about thirty four years old. Im- 
 mediately he gave to the church and to the poor, all 
 the gold and silver which he had. He gave also his 
 lands to the church, reserving the income of them to 
 his sister. His family he committed to the care of 
 his brother. Thus disengaged from temporal concerns, 
 he gave himself wholly to the ministry. Having read 
 little else than civil authors, he first applied himself to 
 the study of the scriptures. Whatever time he could 
 spare from business, he devoted to reading ; and this 
 he continued to do after he had attained a good de- 
 gree of knowledge. His public labors went hand in 
 hand with his studies. He preached every Lord's day. 
 By his labors Arianism was expelled from Italy. 
 Simplician, a presbyter from Rome, eminent for learn- 
 ing and piety, instructed him in theology. By this 
 presbyter, it pleased God, to convey to Ambrose that 
 fire of Divine love and genuine simplicity in religion, 
 which had very much decayed since the days of Cy- 
 prian, and in this slow and effectual method, the Lord 
 was preparing the way for another great effusion of 
 
iiis spirit. Ambrose now gave himself wholly to the 
 Lord, and restored purity of doctrine and discipline. 
 
 Valentinian died in 375, after a reign of eleven years ? 
 and was succeeded by his brother Valens, who surviv- 
 ed him about three years. Valentinian was fierce and 
 savage by nature, though possessed of an excellent 
 understanding, and when cool, of the soundest judg- 
 ment ; a fit of passion, at length cost him his life. The 
 best use to be made of his character is, to prove how 
 very beneficial it is to human society, that princes 
 should be men of religion. Without this check, Va- 
 lentinian might have been one of the worst of tyrants, 
 but by the influence of religion, he passes for one of 
 the better sort of princes. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Church of Christ under Gratian and Theodosius, 
 till the death of the former. 
 
 fjr RATTAN, the elder son of Valentinian, succeeded 
 him in Gaul, Spain, and Britain. His younger sou,, 
 an infant, succeeded in Italy, and the rest of the wes- 
 tern world. And some time after, Gratian chose The- 
 odosius as his colleague, who reigned in the East. 
 
 Gratian, from his early years, appears to have been 
 truly pious. One of his first actions demonstrates it. 
 The title of high-priest always belonged to the Roman 
 princes. This he considered to be wholly idolatrous, 
 unbecoming a Christian to assume, and refused the 
 habit, though the pagans still gave him the title. 
 
 Gratian wrote affectionately to Ambrose, request- 
 ing him to come and afford him religious instruc- 
 tion, in which he thus expresses himself, " He will 
 teach me, whom T do not deny, whom I own as my 
 Lord and my God. I would not conceive so meanly 
 of him as to make him a mere creature like myself, 
 
 who own that I can add nothing to Christ. And yet 
 while I seek to please the Father, in celebrating the 
 Son, I do not fear lest the Father should envy the hon- 
 
203 
 
 ors ascribed to the Son, nor do I think so highly of my 
 powers of commendation, as to think I can increase 
 the Divinity by my words. I extol him as I can, not 
 as the Divinity deserves. With respect to that trea- 
 tise which you gave me, I beg you would make addi- 
 tions to it by scriptural arguments, to prove the proper 
 Deity of the Holy Ghost." Ambrose with great sat- 
 isfaction replied most respectfully, reminds Gratian 
 that his arguments for the Divinity of the Son, are 
 equally conclusive in pooof of the divinity of the Holy 
 Ghost, whom we ought not to think the Father to en- 
 vy, nor ourselves who are mere creatures, to be equal 
 with him. ' 
 
 Ambrose, with ail his piety, while teaching with 
 soundness the essentials of faith and love, was not 
 free from superstition, and abounded in his encomi- 
 ums on virginity. His ignorance of the scriptures be- 
 fore his ordination, and the influence of his sister, a 
 zealous devotee, will account for this. 
 
 Other parts of the conduct of Ambrose, were more 
 worthy of his understanding. He applied the vessels 
 of the church for the redemption of captives, and was 
 indefatigable in the instruction of catechumens. 
 
 In the year three hundred and seventy nine, Am- 
 brose was sent for to attend the election of a new bish- 
 op at Senmurn, where their former bishop, an Arian, 
 had caused a wide departure from the faith. The em- 
 press Justina, mother of young Valentinian, was there, 
 and being in favor of Arianism, endeavored by her 
 authority and influence to expel Ambrose from the 
 church : though insulted by the mob, Ambrose stood 
 firm in his tribunal, and when an Arian woman laid 
 hold on his habit, with a view to drag him out of the 
 church, he resolutely said to her, "Though 1 am un- 
 worthy of the priesthood, it does not become you to 
 lay hands on a pastor, you ought to fear the judgment 
 of God." It is remarkable that she died the next day. 
 They were struck with awe, and Artemius, an ortho- 
 dox minister, was elected without molestation. The 
 enmity of Justina afterward broke out against Ambrose 
 in a remarkable manner. 
 
204 
 
 Constantinople had now for forty years been sub- 
 ject to Arian impiety and tyranny. In this great city 
 few remained who understood the religion of the gos- 
 pel : truth and godliness had fled. Gregory, of Nazi- 
 anzum was appointed to recover this wretched city, if 
 possible, to the purity of the gospel. Theodosius co- 
 operated with Gregory, and other zealous pastors for 
 the revival of Christianity in the East, in the year three 
 hundred and eighty. He published a law reprobating 
 the Arian heresy, and warmly approbating the Nicene 
 faith. He gave notice to Demophilus, the Arian bishop 
 of Constantinople, to embrace the Nicene creed, to 
 unite the people, and live in peace. Demophilus reject- 
 ing the proposal, the emperor ordered him to give up 
 the churches. The heresiarch struggled to support his 
 cause, but finding himself unsuccessful, retired to Be- 
 raea, where he died six years after, 
 
 Gregory being now confirmed at Constantinople, 
 at the call of the emperor, three hundred and fifty bish- 
 ops came thither, to settle the distracted state of the 
 Eastern church. The council was very disorderly 
 and confused, little was done, except defining very 
 accurately the doctrine of the Trinity, and enlarging 
 a little on the Nicene creed. 
 
 In the year 383, Amphilochus, bishop of Iconium, 
 coming to court with other bishops, paid the usual 
 respects to the emperor, but took no notice of his son 
 Arcadius, about six years old, who was near his father,. 
 Tlaeodosius bad him salute his son. Amphilochus 
 drew near and laying his hand upon him, said, " Save 
 you my child." The emperor in anger ordered the 
 old man to be driven from court ; who with a loud 
 voice declared, you cannot bear to have your son con- 
 temned ; be assured, that God in like manner is of- 
 fended with those who honor not his Son as himself. 
 The emperor was struck with the justness of the re? 
 mark, and immediately made a law to prohibit the 
 assemblies of the heretics. 
 
 In the same year Gratian fell by murder in the 24th 
 year of his age. Chaste, temperate, benevolent, con- 
 scientious., he shines in the church of Christ ; but tal- 
 
205 
 
 ents for governing he seems not to have possessed. 
 Divine Providence gives in him a lesson that Christ's 
 kingdom is not of this world ; even a prince of unques- 
 tionable piety is denied the common advantage of a 
 natural death. When dying he bemoaned the ab- 
 sence of Ambrose, and often spake of him. Those, 
 who have received spiritual benefit from a pastor have 
 often an affection for him, of which the world has no 
 knowledge. In his last moments, the mind of Gratian 
 was absorbed in Divine things, compared with which, 
 the loss of empire weighed as nothing. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Heresy of Priscillian The conduct of Martin' 
 the Progress of Superstition. 
 
 VERY little of the spirit of Christianity, during this 
 period, is to be found. Evangelical purity had great- 
 ly declined. The Priscillianists, an heretical sect, 
 who seem to have combined all the most pernicious 
 heresies of former times, had already appeared in the 
 time of Gratian, and infected the greatest part of Spain, 
 Their leader, Priscillian, was exactly fitted for the 
 office which he filled : learned, factious, acute, of 
 great powers both of body and mind, and by a spuri- 
 ous modesty and gravity of manners, extremely well 
 qualified to maintain an ascendancy over weak and 
 credulous spirits. Idacius and Ithacius, applied to 
 the secular power to procure, by the decrees of the 
 magistrates, an expulsion of the heretics from the cit- 
 ies. The Priscillianists endeavored to gain friends in 
 Italy ; but their corruptions were too glaring to pro- 
 cure them any countenance either from Damasus of 
 Rome, or from Ambrose of Milan. 
 
 On the death of Gratian, Maximus the usurper, 
 who had rebelled against Gratian, entered victorious 
 into Treves. While Ithacius earnestly pressed him, 
 against the Priscillianists, the heresiarch appealed to 
 Maximus, who undertook the office of deciding. Both 
 
206 
 
 parties were highly culpable ; the heretics in spread- 
 ing sentiments entirely subversive of Christianity, and 
 their accusers in subserving their own factious and 
 selfish views. 
 
 In the mean time, Martin, of Tours, blamed Ithacius 
 for bringing the heretics as criminals before the empe- 
 or; and entreated Maximus to abstain from the blood 
 of the unhappy men ; he said, it was abundantly suffi- 
 cient, that they, having been judged heretics by the 
 sentence of the bishops, were expelled from the 
 churches, and that it was a new and unheard evil, for 
 a secular judge to interfere in matters purely ecclesi- 
 astical. To punish heretics with death, because they 
 are seen walking in the broad road to eternal destruc- 
 tion, and thus prevent their conversion by shortening 
 their days, is surely contrary to the spirit of HIM, who 
 carne not to destroy men's lives but to save them ! 
 Yet there were men found at this time capable of such 
 enormity, and it marks the degeneracy of the age. 
 But Christ had still a church in the West, and Martin 
 persevered with such zeal in opposing the horrid in- 
 novation, and was himself so much respected for his 
 piety and integrity, that he at first prevailed, and the 
 usurper promised not to proceed to blood against the 
 heretics. Afterward, however, he changed his pur- 
 pose, and Priscillian was put to death, with four other 
 leaders of his sect. A few more were condemned to 
 die, or to be banished. Christianity never received a 
 greater scandal ; but the men, who feared God, and 
 loved moderation and charity, wept and prayed in se- 
 cret, despised and disregarded by the two parties, who 
 trampled on all the rules of godliness, In the mean 
 time worldly passions prevailed in Spain, and though 
 the form of orthodoxy existed, it was evident, that 
 its power was greatly weakened. 
 
 Let us here endeavor to find the true church, if we 
 can. We see it in Ambrose, who, coming to Maxi- 
 mus on an embassy from the younger Valentinian, re- 
 fused to hold communion with his bishops, who had 
 been concerned in the death of the heretics. Maxi- 
 j enraged, ordered him to withdraw. Ambrose 
 
207 
 
 entered on his journey very readily, having applied 
 in vain to some of the courtiers to furnish him with 
 conveniences. Several holy men who protested 
 against these barbarities, were charged with heresy, 
 and among the rest Martin of Tours. Thus, while 
 there were some in Gaul and Spain, who bore the 
 Christian name, to disgrace it with a complication 
 of heresies, and formal orthodoxy, or who dishon- 
 ored the gospel by a life of avarice, faction and am- 
 bition, there were some who feared God and served 
 him in the gospel of his Son. 
 
 Martin, in his youth, had, against his will, served in 
 the army under Constantius and Julius. His father, by 
 profession a soldier, had compelled him. At ten years 
 old, he went to the church and gave in his name as a 
 catechumen. At twelve he had a desire to lead a mo- 
 nastic life. But being devoted to military service he 
 avoided its vices, and was liberal to the poor, reserv- 
 ing nothing to himself out of the pay which he re- 
 ceived, except what was necessary for daily food. 
 At 18 he was baptized, and at 20 left the army. 
 Sometime after, falling into the hands of robbers 
 among the Alps, he was delivered bound to one of 
 them, to be plundered ; who leading him to a retired 
 place, asked him, who he was. He answered, " I am 
 a Christian." " Are not you afraid ?" I never was 
 more at ease, because I know the mercy of the Lord 
 to be most present in trials ; I am more concerned for 
 you, who, by your course of life, render yourself unfit 
 to partake of the mercy of Christ. Entering into the 
 arguments of religion, he preached the gospel to the 
 robber. The man believed, attended his instructor to 
 the road, and begged his prayers. The new convert 
 persevered in godliness, and this relation was taken 
 from his account. 
 
 It was with difficulty that Martin was at length 
 prevailed on to quit his monastery, and become 
 bishop of Tours, to which office the universal voice 
 of the people called him. He, however, still pre- 
 served his monastic taste, and had a monastery two 
 miles out of the city. There, with eighty disciples- 
 
108 
 
 who followed his example, he lived with extreme aus- 
 terity. The celebrity of his supposed miracles had a 
 mighty effect on the ignorant Gauls; every common 
 action of his was magnified into a prodigy : heathen 
 temples were destroyed, and churches and monaste- 
 ries arose in their stead. That Martin was pious, is 
 unquestionable, but, that his piety was disfigured 
 with monastic superstition, is evident This was not 
 a fault of true religion, but of the times. Europe and 
 Asia, then vied with each other in the promotion of 
 false humility* 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Conduct of Ambrose^ under the Emperor Valenti-' 
 man, and the persecution which he endured from the 
 emperor's mother^ Justina* 
 
 JlJSTINA, the empress, a decided patroness of Ari- 
 anism, after the death of her husband, began openly to 
 imbue her son with her doctrine, and to induce him to 
 menace the bishop of Milan. Ambrose exhorted him 
 to support the doctrine received from the apostles. 
 The young emperor, in a rage, ordered his guards to 
 surround the church, and commanded Ambrose to 
 come out of it. Ambrose resolutely replied, " I shall 
 not willingly give up the sheep of Christ to be devour- 
 ed by wolves. You may use your swords and spears 
 against me ; such a death I shall freely undergo. 5 ' 
 Justina, knowing his influence in the city to be great> 
 and fearing the people, had recourse to vexatious 
 frauds and artifices, and exercised his mind with a 
 series of trials. 
 
 The Arians were not the only adversaries of the 
 church. The Gentiles, taking advantage of the mi- 
 nority of Valentinian, and scorning the innovations of 
 Christianity, endeavored to recover their ancient estab- 
 lishments, but were foiled in their attempts by the el- 
 oquence and influence of Ambrose. 
 
209 
 
 In the year 386 Justina procured a law to be passed 
 to enable the Arian congregations at Milan to assem- 
 ble without interruption, and an Arian bishop was in- 
 troduced under her protection into the city. At his 
 request soldiers were sent to procure for himself the 
 possession of the church called Basilica, and tribunes 
 came to demand it, with the plate and vessels belong- 
 ing to it, and all this under the specious idea that it 
 was unreasonable the emperor should not be allowed 
 to have one place of worship, in the city, agreeable to 
 his conscience. Ambrose calmly answered the offi- 
 cers, that if the emperor had sent to demand his house 
 or land, money or goods, he would have freely resign^ 
 ed them, but that he could not deliver that which was 
 committed to his care. He told his people, he would 
 not willingly desert his right, that if compelled he 
 knew how to resist. " I can," says he, " grieve, I can 
 weep, I can groan. Against arms and soldiers, tears 
 are my arms. Such are the fortifications of a. pastor. 
 I neither can nor ought to resist in any other manner. 
 Our Lord Jesus is Almighty ; what he commands to be 
 done shall be fulfilled, nor does it become you to resist 
 the Divine sentence." 
 
 During the suspension of this affair, Ambrose em- 
 ployed the people in singing Divine hymns and psalms, 
 at the end of which there was a solemn doxology to 
 the honor of the Trinity. The method of responsive 
 singing had been generally practised in the East, and 
 was introduced by Ambrose into Milan, whence it was 
 propagated into all the churches. The people were 
 much delighted, their zeal for the doctrine of the Trin- 
 ity was inflamed, and one of the best judges in the 
 world, then living, owns that his own soul was melted 
 into Divine affection on these occasions. 
 
 The demands of the court were now increased : not 
 only the Portian church which stood without the wall, 
 but also the great church newly built within the city, 
 were required to be given up. On the Lord's day af* 
 ter sermon, the chatechurnens being dismissed, Am- 
 brose went to baptize those who were prepared for 
 hat ordinance, when he was told that officers were 
 
210 
 
 sent from the court to the Portian church ; he went oa, 
 however, unmoved in the service, till he was told, that 
 the people, having met with Catulus, an Arian presbyt- 
 er, in the streets, had laid hands on him. Then with 
 prayers and tears he besought God, that no man's 
 blood might be shed but rather his own, not only for 
 the pious people, but also for the wicked. And hav- 
 ing sent immediately some presbyters and deacons, 
 Catulus was recovered from the tumult. The court % 
 enraged, sent warrants to apprehend several merchants 
 and tradesmen ; some were put in chains, and vast 
 sums of money were required to be paid in a little 
 time, which many professed they would pay cheerful- 
 ly, if they could enjoy the profession of their faith un- 
 molested. The prisons were by this time full of trades- 
 men, and the magistrates and men of rank were se- 
 verely threatened ; while the courtiers urged Ambrose 
 with the imperial authority 5 whom he answered with 
 the same loyalty and firmness as before. The Holy- 
 Spirit, said he, in his exhortation to the people, has 
 spoken in you this day, to this effect: EMPEROR, WE 
 INTREAT, BUT WE DO NOT FIGHT. The Arians, having 
 few friends among the people, kept themselves with- 
 in doors. Wearied and overcome at length with his 
 resolution, the court, who meant to extort his consent, 
 rather than to exercise violence, ordered the guards to 
 leave tho church, where Ambrose had lodged all night, 
 the soldiers having guarded it so close, that none had 
 been suffered to go out. The people confined there 
 spent the night in singing psalms. The sums exact- 
 ed of the tradesmen also were restored. 
 
 The spirit of devotion was kept up all this time 
 among the people, and Ambrose was indefatigable 
 both in praying and preaching. But notwithstanding 
 his great piety, and though it is evident that he loved 
 the Lord Jesus Christ supremely, and trusted in him 
 for salvation, yet was he inclined, in some degree, to 
 superstition ; 'for being called upon by the people to 
 consecrate a new church, he told them he would, if 
 he could find any relics of martyrs there. By this he 
 encouraged the introduction of other intercessors be- 
 side Jesus Christ, and the growth of superstition. 
 
$11 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Church under Theodosius. 
 
 AFTER the exaltation of this prince to the empire 
 from a private life by the generous and patriotic choice 
 Gratian, he reigned in the East, more vigorously sup- 
 porting Christianity, according to his ideas of it, than 
 any emperor before him. His sense of justice deter- 
 mined him to order some Christians to rebuild, at their 
 own expense, a Jewish synagogue, which they had 
 pulled down. This sentence Ambrose prevailed on 
 him to set aside, from a mistaken notion of piety, that 
 Christianity should not be obliged to contribute to the 
 erection of a Jewish synagogue. But, if the Jews 
 were tolerated at all in the empire, the transaction 
 ought certainly to have been looked on as a civil one. 
 This is the first instance I recollect in which a good 
 man was induced, by superstitious motives, to violate 
 the essential rules of justice ; and it marks the growth 
 of superstition. 
 
 Theodosius was of a passionate temper, and on a 
 particular occasion was led by it to commit a barbar- 
 ous action; the circumstances of the story will be the 
 best comment on the character of this emperor, of Am- 
 brose, and of the times. At Thessalonica a tumult 
 was made by the populace, and the emperor's officer 
 was murdered. The news was calculated to try the, 
 temper of Theodosius, who ordered the sword to be 
 let loose upon them. Ambrose interceded, and the 
 emperor promised to forgive. But the great officers 
 of the court persuaded him to retract, and to sign a 
 warrant for military execution. Seven hundred were 
 put to death in three hours with great cruelty, without 
 trial, and without distinction. 
 
 Ambrose wrote him a faithful letter, reminding him 
 of the charge in the prophet, that if the priest does not 
 warn the wicked he shall be answerable for it. " You 
 dicover a zeal," says he, "for the faith and fear of God, 
 I own : but your temper is warm, soon to be appeased 
 ittdecd ; if endeavors are used to calm it ; but if not re- 
 
gulatecj, it bears down all before it." He urges the 
 example of David, and shews the impropriety of com- 
 municating with him at present. " I love you," says 
 he "I cherish you, I pray for you; but blame not me, 
 if I give the preference to God." On these principles 
 Ambrose refused to admit Theodosius into the church 
 of Milan. The emperor plead the case of David. "Im- 
 itate him," said the zealous Ambrose, " in his repen- 
 tance as well as in his sin." Theodosius submitted 
 and kept from the church eight months. On the feast 
 of the nativity, he expressed his sorrow with sighs and 
 tears in the presence of Ruffinus the master of the of- 
 ficers. " I weep," said he, " that the temple of God, 
 and consequently heaven, is shut from me, which is 
 open to slaves and beggars." Ruffinus undertook to 
 persuade the emperor. Ambrose urged the impro- 
 priety of his rude interference, because Ruffinus, by 
 his evil counsels, had been the author of the massa- 
 cre. Ruffinus telling him that the emperor was coming, 
 " I will hinder him," says he, " from entering the vesti- 
 bule ; yet if he will play the king, I shall offer my 
 throat." Ruffinus returning, informed the emperor r 
 " I will go and receive the refusal which I desire," 
 said he ; and as he approached the bishop, he added> 
 " I come to offer myself to submit to what you pre- 
 scribe." Ambrose enjoined him to do public penance, 
 and to suspend the execution of capital warrants for 
 thirty days in future, that the ill effects of intemper- 
 ate anger might be prevented. The emperor, pulling 
 off his imperial robes, prayed prostrate on the pave- 
 ment; nor did he put on those robes, till the time of 
 his penance had expired. "My soul cleaveth to the 
 dust," said he, " quicken thou me, according to thy 
 word." The people prayed and wept with him, and he 
 not only complied with the rules of penance, but re- 
 tained visible marks of compunction and sadness dur- 
 ing the rest of his life. The discipline thus magnani- 
 mously exercised by Ambrose, and humbly submitted 
 to by Theodosius, appears to have been salutary. 
 
 At Alexandria the votaries of the renowned temple 
 f Serapis made an insurrection, and murdered a nunv 
 
213 
 
 her of Christians. The emperor, being informed of 
 this, declared that he would not suffer the glory of 
 their martyrdom to be stained with any executions, and 
 that he was determined to pardon the murderers in 
 hopes of their conversion, but that the temples, the 
 cause of so much mischief, should be destroyed. In 
 one of them was a remarkable image of Serapis, 
 of which it had been confidently given out, that if any 
 man touched it, the earth would open, the heaven be 
 dissolved, and all things run back into a general cha- 
 os. A soldier was hardy enough to make the experi- 
 ment. With an axe he cleft him down the jaws, an 
 army of mice fled out at the breach he made, and 
 Serapis was hacked in pieces. On the destruction of 
 idolatry in Egypt, it happened that the Nile did not 
 overflow so plentifully, as it had been wont to do. " It 
 is," said the pagans, " because it is affronted at the 
 prevailing impiety : it has not been worshipped with 
 sacrifices, as it used to be." Theodosius, being infor- 
 med of this, declared, like a man who believed in God, 
 and preferred heavenly things to earthly, " We ought 
 to prefer our duty to God, to the streams of the Nile, 
 and the cause of piety to the fertility of the country ; 
 let the Nile never flow again, rather than idolatry be 
 encouraged." The event afforded a fine comment on 
 our Savior's words, " seek ye first the kingdom of God, 
 and all these things shall be added unto you." The 
 Nile returned to its course, and rose above the highest 
 mark, which at other times it seldom reached. The 
 pagans made use of ridicule ; others, however, made a 
 serious use of the remarkable Providence, and Egypt 
 forsook the superstition, in which for so many ages it 
 had been involved. Thus the country which had 
 nourished idolatry more early and passionately than 
 any others, was made the special scene of the triumphs 
 of God and his Christ. 
 
 Coming to Rome the zealous emperor in a deliber- 
 ate speech endeavored to persuade the senate, very 
 many of whom still patronized idolatry, to embrace 
 the Christian faith, as the only religion, which * ft 
 men how to obtain pardon of sin, and holiness 01 iiie. 
 
214 
 
 The Gentile part of them declared, that they would 
 hot give up a religion under which Rome had prosper- 
 ed near twelve hundred years. Theodosius told them, 
 that he saw no reason, why he should maintain their 
 religion, and that he would not only cease to furnish 
 the expense out of the exchequer, but would abolish 
 the sacrifices themselves* The senators complained, 
 that the neglect of the rites was the grand cause, why 
 the empire declined so much : a specious argument, 
 well calculated to gain upon worldly minds, and which, 
 at that time, had great effect on many pagans. Theo- 
 dosius was determined, and made it a capital crime to 
 sacrifice, or attend the pagan rites ; he made it treason- 
 able to offer sacrifice, or to consult the entrails of beasts. 
 He also forbade incense and perfumes. Paganism 
 never after this lifted up its head. 
 
 This great prince expired at Milan in 395, about 
 60 years of age, having reigned 16 years. And the 
 century before us nearly closes with the full estab- 
 lishment of Christianity in the Roman empire. The 
 religion which was of God made its way through all 
 opposition ; that which was of man, supported only by 
 power and custom, failed to thrive, as soon as it lost 
 the ascendant, and within a generation it ceased al- 
 most universally to exist. 
 
 Theodosius possessed a noble character. His cle- 
 mency, liberality and generosity, were admirable. 
 He was brave and successful in war: but his wars 
 were forced upon him. While an enemy to drunken- 
 ness he was a model of gravity, temperance and chas- 
 tity in private life. Excess of anger was his predom- 
 inant evil ; but he was taught, by having done great 
 evil by yielding to this,the importance of governing hi* 
 temper and of studying to be humble. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The private Life and Works of Ambrose. 
 
 A HIS illustrious man died about the year 397, admi- 
 red, regretted, and lamented by the whole Christian 
 
215 
 
 world. His life not improbably had been shortened' 
 by the incessant activity of his mind, and by the mul- 
 tiplicity -of his employments ; for he was only 57 years 
 old, and had been appointed bishop of Milan at the 
 age of 34. 
 
 Ills spirit was remarkably kind and sympathetic ; 
 his benevolence extended to all, especially to the 
 household of failh. His labors were immense. His 
 temper was heroic and strong, and no dignity or au- 
 thority could shelter offenders from his rebukes, where 
 he deemed it his duty to reprehend. The time he 
 could spare from pastoral and charitable engagements, 
 was devoted to study and meditation. 
 
 Though Ambrose was called to teach before he 
 himself had learned, yet was he a man of so much in- 
 dustry in the acquisition of knowledge, and of so much 
 real good sense, that his writings contain various 
 things of solid utility. But he might have both 
 preached arid written better, had he always attended 
 to the simple word of God, arid exercised his own na- 
 tural good sense in humble dependance on DIVINE 
 GRACE, and paid less regard to the fanciful writings of 
 Origen, which exceedingly corrupted his understand- 
 ing. Less of this, however, appears in his moral, than 
 in his theological pieces. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Propagation of the Gospel among Barbarians-* 
 Heresies and Errors. 
 
 JLHE Saracens were at war with the Romans, under 
 the conduct of their queen Maovia, who was a Chris- 
 tian. The emperor Valens made peace with her, one 
 condition of which was, that Moses, a monk, who lived 
 in the desert between Egypt and Palestine, should 
 be appointed bishop of her nation. Valens ordered 
 him to be earned to Alexandria, there to be ordain- 
 ed by Lucius. Moses, who knew him to be an 
 Arian, said before him and the magistrates, and all the 
 
216 
 
 people, stay, I am not worthy to be called a bishop ; 
 but if I am called to this office, unworthy as I am, for 
 the good of souls, I take the Creator of all things to 
 witness, that I will not receive the imposition of your 
 hands, which are defiled with the blood of so many 
 holy men. If you know not my faith, replied Lucius, 
 learn it from my mouth, and judge not by reports. Mo- 
 ses, however, was aware of the Arian subtilies, and 
 chose to stand by the evidence of, works. I know 
 your faith, said he, the pastors exiled among infidels, 
 condemned to the mines, thrown to the wild beasts, 
 or destroyed by fire, testify your creed; the eyes speak 
 more strongly than the ears. Lucius was obliged to 
 dissemble his resentment, on account of the situation 
 of Valens, his master, and permit Moses to receive or- 
 dination from the exiled bishops. His labors among 
 the Saracens were crowned with success. The na- 
 tion before his time, was chiefly idolatrous : that his 
 work w r as blessed among them appears from his keep- 
 ing them at peace with the Romans. But this is all 
 'the account we have of the fruits. 
 
 Among the Goths, some captive bishops, during 
 this century, labored with good success. And the 
 work was of an abiding nature. This people, for some 
 time, held the Nicene faith. In the time of Valens, 
 many of them suffered death from an idolatrous per- 
 secuting prince of their own. By the subtilties of the 
 Arians, however, the whole church of the Goths came 
 by degrees into Arianism ; the consequences of which 
 will be seen in the course of this history. 
 
 Heresies, chiefly through the various ramifications 
 ef Arianism, multiplied in this century. Moriasticism 
 f pminued to make rapid progress. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Of Christian Authors in this Century, 
 
 AMID the thick mists of superstition which greatly 
 abounded in this century, some cheering rays of Di- 
 
217 
 
 vine truth beamed upon the church to guide the truly 
 pious in their way to heaven. 
 
 Didymus, of Alexandria, though he lost his sight at 
 the age of five years, became so vigorous and success- 
 ful a student, that he was renowned for his skill in phi- 
 losophy, rhetoric, and geometry. He filled the chair 
 of the famous school of Alexandria with vast applause. 
 Though Origenism was his favorite system, yet as far 
 as appears, he continued always souad, humble and 
 holy, in Christian doctrine. His treatise on the Holy 
 Spirit, which has come down to us, is perhaps th^ 
 best, the Christian world ever saw on the subject. 
 Indeed, what has been said, since that time, in de- 
 fence of the divinity and personality of the Holy 
 Ghost, seems, in substance, to be found in that book- 
 Gregory Nyssen, bishop of Nyssa, wrote in defence 
 of the incarnation of God. In this he shews that man 
 is fallen, and corrupted, and can be recovered only by 
 his Creator ; and hence, that the Word, who created 
 him came himself to raise him again. He shews also, 
 that to be born of a virgin, to eat, to drink, to die, 
 and to be buried, are things not unbecoming the holy 
 nature of God, because there is no sin in them ; and 
 that the Divinity, united to man, lost not its perfec- 
 tions, any more than the soul loses its properties by 
 its union with the body. 
 
 Ephraim, the Syrian, was born of christain parents, 
 and was educated with great care from his infancy. 
 His mind, from childhood, was devout, contempla- 
 tive and studious, to an extreme degree. Though 
 fond of solitude, he was, at length, induced to live in 
 the great city of Edessa, for the sake of enjoying the 
 benefit of Christian assemblies, and of rendering him- 
 self useful to his fellow men. He wrote much on the 
 scriptures, and various devotional pieces, which were 
 much admired by all the eastern churches. He nev- 
 er was advanced farther than the office of deacon. 
 Once, to avoid being preferred to the office of bishop, 
 he feigned madness and escaped. In his day, the 
 pastoral character appeared to good men, awful be- 
 yond measure, requiring little less than angelical virtue. 
 
Love of gain was not the principal motive, and mere 
 decency of character was not the principal qualification. 
 
 Ephraim, strictly sound in the essential requisites of 
 (he Christian faith, composed Christian hymns for the 
 use of the Syrians, which were sung in tunes, that 
 Harmonius, an Arian, had composed with a design to 
 propagate Arianism among them. He wrote also a 
 discourse on the utility of psalmody, and exploded 
 idle songs and dancing. Let this be regarded as a proof 
 of his zeal and industry. 
 
 Ephraim' appears, by his writings, to have been a 
 man of undoubted piety, and true humility, evangels 
 zed both in the head, and heart not trifling with the 
 light which he had, nor living in sin, because he con- 
 ceived grace to abound. I shall dismiss this saint, 
 after having given a sketch of the character of Abra- 
 ham, one of his companions : he, for fifty years, lived an 
 Asceiic, in the strictest observation of monastic rules, 
 and confined himself principally to his cell : but he 
 truly acted like a Christian in those intervals when he 
 left it ; in one of which, his zeal and piety were great- 
 ly distinguished. Many presbyters and deacons had 
 been sent to the idolatrous pagans in the vicinity of 
 his retreat ; but being unable to bear persecution had 
 returned unsuccessful. One day the bishop observed 
 among his clergy, that he knew of no person so devoted 
 to God as Abraham, and therefore he would ordain him 
 as an evangelist of these pagans. At first he entreat- 
 ed him, but in vain ; Abraham begged to be permitted 
 to bemoan his own evils. The bishop, however, in- 
 sisting on the obedience which he owed to authority, 
 and how much better it was to be employed in the 
 salvation of many, than of one soul only, Abraham at 
 length submitted. He began his work with fervent 
 prayer for the Divine blessing, and having erected a 
 church, he supplicated in it the conversion of the 
 people. His next step appears not to have been so 
 proper ; he threw down the idols and altars of the 
 pagans ; the consequence of which was, that, with 
 much ill usage, he was expelled from the country. 
 He returned, however, and resumed his work of pray- 
 
219 
 
 r in the church, to the astonishment of the pagans i- 
 whom, as they from time to time came to him, he ex- 
 horted to turn from idols to the living God, on which 
 he was worse treated than before. For three years, 
 he bore* their insults, and a constant series of perse- 
 cution. His patience and meekness were admirable, 
 and at length the pagans began to be softened : and 
 comparing Ms preaching with his practice, they con- 
 cluded that God must be with him, and offered them- 
 selves to receive his doctrine. Abraham, rejoicing at 
 the event, desired them to give glory to God, who had 
 enlightened their eyes to know him. In fine he gath- 
 ered them into a church, daily opening to them the 
 scriptures. At length^ when he saw them confirmed 
 in the faith of the gospel, and bringing forth the fruits 
 of it with steadiness, he abruptly retired from them 
 to his former solitude. The work remained firm and 
 strong; and the bishop visited and exhorted them, 
 from the word of God, and ordained pastors from, 
 among themselves. 
 
 How much better would it have been had Abra- 
 ham thus employed the 50 years of his solitude? but 
 such were the times. While the world proceeded in its 
 usual wickedness, those, who were the best calculated 
 to reform it, had a strong tendency to live a recluse 
 life ; and false fear and bondage kept many from the 
 pastoral office, who might have been its brightest or- 
 naments. The mischief of this was inexpressible ; 
 the extension of the gospel was checked ; and every 
 circumstance shewed, that the spirit of God was no- 
 longer poured out, in its fullness among men. 
 
 Hilary was born at Poictiers in France, was de- 
 scended from a very noble family, and was distinguish- 
 ed by a liberal education. He seriously considered 
 the folly and vanity of idolatry, and was led to con* 
 elude, that its professors could not possibly be com- 
 petent to lead men to happiness, From the visible 
 frame of things he inferred an Omnipotent, Eternal 
 Being, as their Maker and Preserver. He observed^ 
 that happiness consists not in any external things, nor 
 n the bare knowledge of the first principles of good 
 
and evil, but In the knowledge of the true God. By 
 reading the books of Moses and the Prophets, he 
 found his mind enlightened and his judgment con- 
 firmed in these ideas. The short, but comprehensive 
 account of God, in the book of Exodus, " I am that I 
 am," affected him with admiration. When he was 
 carried forward to the New Testament, there he 
 Jearnt, that there is an eternal world, the Son of God 
 made man, who came into the world, to communi- 
 cate to it the fulness of grace. His hope of happiness 
 was now enlarged : u Since the Son of God was made 
 man, men may become the sons of God. A man 
 who with gladness receives this doctrine, renews his 
 spirit by faith, and conceives a hope full of immortal- 
 ity. Having once learned to believe, rejects the 
 captious difficulties, and no longer judges after the 
 maxims of the world. He neither fears death, nor 
 is weary of life ,and presses forward to a state of a 
 blessed immortality." In such a manner does Hila- 
 ry give us the history of his own mind in religion. 
 And his life was afterward according to such principles. 
 His views of the three Persons in the Trinity are re- 
 markably perspicuous and scriptural. In speaking of 
 the Holy Spirit, he says, that he enlightens our under- 
 standings, and warms our hearts ; that he is the author 
 of all grace, and will be with us to the end of the 
 world ; that he is our Comforter here while we live in 
 expectation of a future life, the earnest of our hopes, 
 the light of our minds, and the warmth of our souls. 
 He directs us to pray for this Holy Spirit, to cause us 
 to do good, and to persevere in faith and obedience. 
 From his conversion till his death, Hilary was a man of 
 the most exemplary piety, and gave no countenance 
 to the fashionable heresies, He died at Poicters 
 about the year 368. 
 
 Basil, of Csesarea flourished, as one of the distin- 
 guished characters of this century. He was surnam- 
 ed the Great on account of his piety and learning. 
 His Christian ancestors suffered much during the Dio- 
 clesian persecution. His grandmother Macrina, a 
 confessor of the faith of Christ, and disciple of Grego- 
 
2S1 
 
 *y Thaumattirgas, was eminently useful to him, in su- 
 perintending his education, and fixing his principles. 
 After a course of instruction in Cappadocia, his na- 
 tive country, he travelled for improvement in knowl- 
 edge. It is certain, that he was possessed of all the 
 secular learning of the age, and if he had chosen to 
 give himself wholly to \hc world, he might have 
 shown as much as superior parts, strong understand- 
 ing, and indefatigable industry, united, can effect. 
 But his mind was under a spiritual influence ; he 
 found an emptiness in the most refined enjoyments of 
 literature. He was led to seek for food to his soul, 
 and bent his studies to obtain that most desirable ob- 
 ject. 
 
 In his travels into Egypt, Basil conversed witk 
 monks and hermits, and contracted that excessive at- 
 tachment to the spirit of Ascetics, which afterward' 
 made him the great supporter and eacourager of those 
 superstitions. 
 
 After some time, he lived in retirement at Neocaesa- 
 rea in Pontus, and by his example, concurring with the 
 spirit of the times, he not only drew over his friend Gre- 
 gory, but also great numbers, to embrace a retired life, 
 and to employ themselves in prayer, singing of psalms, 
 and devotional exercises. And here, these two friends 
 formed the rules of monastic discipline, which were 
 the basis of all those superstitious institutions, which 
 afterward overran the church. The want of a more 
 evangelical view of doctrine, and of course, of that 
 lively faith which would animate the Christian to live 
 above the world, though in the midst of it, was, 
 doubtless the principal cause of the overflowing of 
 this spirit among real good men in those times. To 
 flee from society seemed to them the only possible 
 way to escape the pollutions of the world, which they 
 sincerely abhorred. Self-righteousness and ignorance 
 fomented the evil, which, at length, became a vapid 
 system of formality, and degenerated gradually into a 
 sink of secret wickedness. But he who should, in 
 these times, suspect the generality of monks of hy- 
 pocrisy and profligacy, would injure them much. On 
 
the contrary, the flower of the flock of Christ, is to be- 
 looked for among them. 
 
 Basil was charitable in his attempts to relieve the 
 poor and caused hospitals to be erected for that pur- 
 pose. 
 
 After he was appointed bishop of Caesarek, he took 
 a firm and determined stand against the Arian heresy ; 
 and though in the utmost danger of banishment, yet he 
 remained immoveable in the profession of the faith. 
 
 Discipline in the church of Cassarea, had, before hi* 
 time, been scandalously neglected. Church-officers, 
 who were a disgrace to religion, ministered. He set 
 himself to produce a thorough reformation, and took 
 great care to examine the lives and manners of the 
 persons to be ordained. Having governed the church 
 ojf Czesareaa little more than eight years, and being 
 enfeebled with bodily disorders, he ordained some of 
 his followers, and then was obliged to take to his bed. 
 
 The people flocked about his house, sensible of the 
 worth of such a pastor. He discoursed, for a time, pi- 
 ously to those who were about him, and sealed his last 
 breath with the ejaculation, " Into thine hands I com- 
 mend my spirit." His excessive austerities broke his 
 constitution, and left him for years in a very imperfect 
 state of health. He died in the year 379. 
 
 Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, was not inferior to 
 many in this century for unfeigned purity of faith and 
 manners. It is proper to mention his zeal, in tearing 
 a painted curtain which he saw in a place of public 
 worship, in proof of his detestation of images and pic- 
 tures in religion, and also of the weak beginnings of 
 that superstition in the fourth century. His benefi- 
 cence too was truly laudable. Numbers from all parts 
 sent him large sums to distribute to the needy, in con- 
 fidence of his charity and integrity. His steward one 
 day informed him that his stock was nearly exhausted, 
 and blamed his profuse liberality ; but he still contin- 
 ued as liberal as before, till all was gone ; when sud- 
 denly he received from a stranger a large bag of gold. 
 Another story, extremely well authenticated, deserves 
 to be recorded as an awful warning. Tw0 beggars 
 
223 
 
 agreeing to impose on him, one feigned himself dead, 
 while the other begged of Epiphanius to, supply the ex- 
 penses of his companion's funeral. Epiphanius grant- 
 ed the request. The beggar, on the departure of 
 the bishop, desired his companion to rise : but the 
 man was really dead. To sport with the servants of 
 God, and to abuse their kindness, is to provoke God 
 himself, as the bishop told the survivor. 
 
 CENTURY V- 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 John Chrysostom. 
 
 JL HIS renowned man was born at Antioch about the 
 year 354. His father having died soon after his birth, his 
 education devolved upon his mother, who attended to 
 it with great care and diligence. By her means he had 
 the advantage that his early impressions were in favor 
 of Christianity. Yet, being naturally studious of elo- 
 quence, he devoted himself to the care of that great 
 master, Libanius of Antioch, who being one day ask- 
 ed, who would be capable of succeeding him in his 
 school ? " John, 7 ' said he, if the Christians had not sto- 
 len him from us." So great was the idea he Jmd form- 
 ad of his powers of eloquence . r 
 
 He predicted right. Having pleaded a little time 
 in the Forum, Chrysostom began to find a vacan- 
 cy in his mind, not to be supplied by secular arts and 
 studies. The spirit of God seems from that time, to 
 have drawn him to the study of the scriptures. By 
 his master Diodorus, who was afterward bishop of 
 Tarsus, he was taught to forsake the popular whims 
 of Origen, and to investigate the literal and historical 
 sojise of the Divine word ; a practice, in which he 
 differed from most of the fathers of his times. 
 
 For some time he lived in monastic austerities ; af- 
 ter which Flavian, bishop of Antioch, promoted him 
 
to the office of presbyter. About the year 379, a sedi- 
 tion broke out at Antioch, on account of taxes, and 
 the people dragged about the streets the statues of 
 Theodosius, and of his excellent lady Flaccilla, and of 
 their two sons, in contempt. But on finding the dan- 
 ger of the emperor's resentment, this inconsistent and 
 turbulent people were in great distress. Godliness 
 among the Christians of that city appears then to have 
 been low. Chrysostom exhorted them to repentance, 
 and made the awful suspense they then were in, an 
 instructive emblem of our expectation of the day of 
 judgment. Hymns and litanies were composed to so- 
 licit God to move the heart of the emperor to pity, and 
 many who had never attended the house of God, but 
 had spent their whole time in the theatre, then joined 
 in Divine worship with much earnestness and assidui- 
 ty. Flavian, the bishop, though aged and infirm, un- 
 dertook a journey to Constantinople to depricate the 
 wrath of the emperor. Libanius the sophist did the 
 same : but the generality of the philosophers hid them- 
 selves in holes and corners, and did nothing for their 
 country in danger ; while the monks left their cells, 
 flocked into the city, and entreated the magistrates and 
 judges to behave with lenity. Thus, even monks, who 
 exhibited Christianity in a degenerate form, exceeded 
 in benevolence and active virtue the boasted and boas- 
 ting sons of philosophers ! 
 
 Chrysostom, while observing the severe proceedings 
 of the courts, and the vain intercessions of relations for 
 husbands and fathers, was led to reflect, how awful 
 the day of judgment will be, when not a mother, sis- 
 ter, or father can arrest the course of Divine justice, 
 or give the least relief to nearest relations, and with 
 much eloquence and pity pressed these considera- 
 tions on a giddy, unthinking people. Pastors may 
 hence take the hint to improve temporal scenes to the 
 spiritual benefit of their audiences. 
 
 The generous and good-natured Theodosius expos- 
 tulated with Flavian on the unreasonableness and 
 ingratitude of the citizens of Antioch to himself, who 
 bad ever been as a parent and benefactor to them-. 
 
225 
 
 Flavian, admitting the truth of his observations, and 
 confessing the aggravated guilt of the city, pressed 
 him with the Divine rule, if ye forgive men their tres-^ 
 passes, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 
 And his pathetic and pious admonitions prevailed. 
 Theodosius owned, that if the great Lord of the world, 
 for our sake, became a servant, and prayed for his 
 murderers, it highly became himself to forgive his fel- 
 low-servants ; and with great tenderness he solicited 
 the bishop to hasten his return, to deliver the citizens 
 from their fears. Flavian returned with the joyful 
 news that the city was fully restored to the emperor's 
 favor. These are some of the triumphs of the gospeL 
 Its mild influence on society, in the suppression of the 
 fights of gladiators and other savage practices, and in 
 the kind and liberal behavior of emperors toward their 
 subjects, even in times when true religion was low. 
 demonstrate, not only, that states do act unwisely, 
 when they venture to reject Christianity altogether, 
 and substitute mere ethics in its stead ; but also that 
 it is the duty of governors and legislators, as much as in 
 them lies, by positive institutions to promote the 
 knowledge and influence of that Divine religion. 
 
 In the year 398, Chrysostom was appointed, by the 
 emperor Arcadius, bishop of Constantinople* On his 
 appointment to this important station, he set himself 
 to reform the clergy, censured their covetousness and 
 luxury, retrenched the expenses of the bishop's table, 
 and applied the surplus to the needy, built a large hos- 
 pital for the infirm, and put it under the most salutary 
 regulations. Such ministers as refused to reform their 
 lives, he suspended from office, and the widows who 
 were maintained by the church, were admonished 
 to abstain from their gay manner of living, or else to 
 marry. Also he pressed the laity, whose employ- 
 ments filled up the clay, to attend Divine worship in 
 the evening. The common people heard Chrysos- 
 tom gladly, as, for a time at least, they generally will 
 hear, a preacher who speaks to the conscience, though 
 he rebuke them severely, if he manifest in his whole 
 manner, an earnest desire to do them good. The cler- 
 
gy, indolent arid corrupt as they wete, opposed him 
 vehemently, and watched opportunities against him. 
 The wealthy and the great, offended at his plain re- 
 proofs, were as ill-disposed as the clergy. By theses 
 things, however, he was not dismayed, but persevered ; 
 nor did he confine his cares to Constantinople. To 
 overcome the Arianism of the Goths, he ordained 
 some persons of their country, and assigned them a 
 church within the city, by whose industry he reclaim- 
 ed many, and he himself often preached there ; and 
 prevailed on many of the clergy to do the same. He 
 made liberal and active attempts to spread the gospel 
 among the barbarous nations, though the troubles, 
 which afterwards befel him, must have checked both 
 these and other Christian designs. His qualities and 
 labors excited enemies who strove to effect his destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 A synod, at length, held and managed by Theoph- 
 ilus, bishop of Alexandria, his determined foe, and one 
 of the worst ecclesiastical characters in history, sup- 
 ported by the influence of the proud Eudoxia, the em- 
 press, deposed him, and he was condemned, with ex- 
 treme injustice, to be banished to a port in the Black 
 Sea. No sooner was it known that Chrysostom was* 
 gone than the whole city was in an uproar ; many bla- 
 med the emperor, who, in so weak a manner, had giv- 
 en up the most upright of men to the malice of his 
 wife and of Theophilus. The tumult even became 
 so violent that Eudoxia herself, alarmed at the danger, 
 pressed her husband to recall him, and even wrote to 
 Chrysostom a letter full of protestations of sorrow and 
 respect. Chrysostom was therefore recalled and re- 
 stored ; but the calm was not of long continuance. A 
 silver statue of the empress was solemnly erected in 
 the street just before the great church of St. Sophia. 
 It was dedicated with many heathenish extravagan- 
 cies, and the people used to meet there in sports and 
 pastimes, to the destraction of the congregation. 
 Chrysostom, impatient of these things, blamed them 
 from the pulpit, and with great imprudence began his 
 sermon after this manner ; " Now again Herodiaa 
 
227 
 
 raves and is vexed, again she dances, again she de- 
 sires John's head in a charger." 
 
 The enemies of the bishop could not desire a great- 
 er advantage. And they improved it to the utmost. 
 Numbers were ready to gratify the resentment of Eu~ 
 doxia. And Arcaduis, overcome by importunity, or- 
 dered again his deposition. He was suspended and 
 confined : his friends and followers were dispersed, ri- 
 fled, killed, or imprisoned. Edicts were issued, severe^ 
 ly threatening all that refused to renounce commun- 
 ion with Chrysostom, It was the season when the 
 chatechumens, who had been instructed, were to re- 
 ceive baptism. The friends of Chrysostom fled into 
 the fields, to keep the festival. The emperor himself 
 went out that day into a meadow adjoining the city, 
 and espied a field covered with white. These were 
 the chatechumens, who had been baptized the night 
 before, and had then their white garments upon them, 
 being near 3000 in number. The emperor, having 
 been told they were a conventicle of heretics, ordered 
 a party of soldiers to disperse them. Several women 
 of quality were very rudely treated on this occasion, 
 and numbers were imprisoned and scourged. Receiv- 
 ing at length a warrant signed by the emperor to de- 
 part, Chrysostom exhorted the deaconesses to contin- 
 ue their care of the church, and to communicate with 
 the bishop, who should be chosen by common consent, 
 in his room, and once more retired, in the year 404. 
 
 To Arsacius, the bishop appointed in his stead, the 
 friends of Chrysostom refused to submit. They form^ 
 ed separate assemblies, and were severely persecuted. 
 Among these was Olympias, an opulent lady, who had 
 honored him abundantly, and had profitted much by 
 his ministry. She had acted in the church as a dea- 
 coness, and was now banished to Nicomedia, whence 
 she supplied the exiled Chrysostom with money. 
 There she lived many years an example of piety. Her 
 beloved pastor was conveyed to Caucusus, a cold, bar- 
 ren region, infested with robbers. There he preached 
 frequently to a people, who generously treated and 
 heard him gladly. In a time of grievous famine, which 
 
228 
 
 afflicted those parts, by the liberality of Olympias, he 
 relieved the poor ; and also redeemed many captives 
 from the Isaurian robbers. 
 
 In the third year of his banishment, the sufferings 
 of Chrysostom, from famine, pestilence and war, 
 were great. His enemies, beholding him every where 
 treated with respect, procured an order for his being 
 removed even to the shore of the Black Sea. This 
 order they set themselves to accomplish, but this 
 faithful servant of Christ became so exhausted, that, 
 before they had proceeded on their way four miles, he 
 was extremely ill 3 and they were obliged to return with 
 him. There, having received the Lord's supper, he 
 made his last prayer before them all; and having con- 
 cluded with his usual doxoloey, " glory be to God for 
 all events/' he breathed out his soul in the 53d year 
 of his age, in the year 407, of the Christian era. 
 
 Behold, the Roman empire become Christian ; idol- 
 atry, with all the rites of heathenism, subjected to le- 
 gal penalties ; the profession of the gospel exceeding- 
 ly honorable ; and the externals of religion supported 
 by the munificence of emperors, and by the fashion of 
 the age, even with excessive sumptuousness ! And ask, 
 why it was that the learned Chrysostom, eloquent be- 
 yond measure, of talents the most popular, of a gen- 
 ius the most exuberant, and of understanding the most 
 solid and profound, magnanimous and generous in his 
 disposition, of great liberality, sympathising with dis- 
 tress of every kind ; of temper frank, open, ingenuous, 
 and remarkably conciliatory, yet why was he persecut- 
 ed with relentless hostility ? The answer is at hand. 
 He was a determined enemy of vice, and his exem- 
 plary piety and bold and pungent condemnation of 
 iniquity, excited the hatred of the carnal mind. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Augustine's Confessions abridged. 
 
 the latter end of the third century to the for- 
 part of the fifth, we have seen a gradual 
 
229 
 
 sion of godliness ; and when we view, in the West, the 
 increase of monastic darkness and superstition ; in the 
 East, the same evils to a still greater degree, attended 
 with such an augmentation of iniquity, that even where 
 all the formalities of godliness are preserved, the power 
 of it is hated and persecuted in the same manner as by 
 pagans; in fine, when the vestiges of Christian truth 
 are scarce discernible, we shall not be far amiss in 
 pronouncing, that, in such a state of religion, the 
 wholesome effects of the first effusion of the spirit of 
 God are brought to a close. 
 
 It is evident, that real Christianity, notwithstanding 
 its nominal increase under Christian emperors, must 
 soon have been extinct, if Gojd had not interposed with 
 a second great effusion of his spirit. He did so in the 
 course of the fifth century, and the church arose again 
 from its ruins in one part at least of the empire.* 
 
 It behoves us to attend to this gracious display of 
 divine goodness ; and for this purpose, we must look 
 back into the last century, to trace the secret springs 
 of this dispensation. They particularly involve the 
 private life of Augustine, bishop of Hippo. He was 
 the great instrument of reviving the knowledge of 
 evangelical truth. By a very remarkable work of di- 
 vine grace on his own soul, he was qualified to contend 
 with the growing corruptions. It is a happy circum- 
 stance, that we have, in his confessions, a large and 
 distinct account of his own conversion. And who 
 could relate it like himself ? I proceed to give an ac- 
 count of these confessions : : the propriety and impor- 
 tance of so long a detail will afterwards appear, f 
 
 *The western, as will appear in the course of the narrative. 
 
 t The life of this great man was written by Possidius, sometimes called Possi- 
 donius, a pious presbyter ot his diocese, afterwards bishop of Calama. Though 
 poorly written, yet it deserves to be mentioned, as it confirms the authenticity of 
 the historical parts of the Confessions. Augustine was born in the city of Tagas- 
 ta, in Numidia, of creditable parents. His father, Patricius, continued a pagan 
 till near his death; his mother, Monica, was renowned for Christian piety. At 
 the time of his full conversion to %he gospel he was upwards of thirty years 
 of age., POSBIB, LIFK OJT AUGUST. 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 THOU art great, O Lord, and most worthy to be prais- 
 ed ; great is thy power, and of thy wisdom there is no 
 end. A man, a portion of thy creation, wishes to 
 praise th^e, a man too, carrying about him his mortal- 
 ity, carrying about him the evidences of his sin, and a 
 testimony, that thou resistest the proud ; yet, even such 
 a man wishes to praise thee. Thou excitest him, that 
 he should delight to praise thee, For thou hast made us 
 for thyself, and our heart is restless, till it rest in thee. 
 
 Who shall give me to rest in thee ? who shall give 
 me, that thou mayest come into my heart, and inebri- 
 ate it, that I may forget my own evils, and embrace 
 thee, my only good ? What art thou to me ? Pity me, 
 that I may speak. What am I to thee, that thou 
 shouldest command me to love thee, and be angry at 
 me, if I do not, and threaten me with the greatest mis- 
 eries? Is that itself a small misery, to be destitute of 
 the love of thee ? Alas ! alas ! tell me by thy compas- 
 sion, O Lord my God, what thou art to me ? SAY UN- 
 ro MY SOUL, I AM THY SALVATION. So speak, that F 
 may hear. Behokl ! the ears of my heart are be- 
 fore thee, O Lord ; open them, and SAY UNTO MY 
 SOUL, I AM THY SALVATION. May I run after this 
 voice, and apprehend thee. HIDE NOT THY FACE FROM 
 ME. May I die,* that I may see it, lest I die indeed, 
 The room of my soul is narrow, too narrow for thy en- 
 trance. Oh ! do thou enlarge it. It is ruinous : O do 
 thou repair it. It has what must offend thine eyes, I 
 know and must confess. But who shall cleanse it? or 
 to whom shall I cry but to thee ? CLEANSE ME FROM 
 
 MY SECRET FAULTS, AND KEEP ME FROM PRESUMPTUOUS 
 SINS. I BELIEVE, AND THEREFORE SPEAK. O Lord, 
 
 thou knowest. Have not I confessed to thee my sins, 
 and hast not thou pardoned the iniquity of my heart ? 
 I will not contend in judgment with thee, who art truth 
 itself ; for I would not deceive myself, lest my iniquity 
 
 *He seems to wish to undergo any mortification, even loss of life itself rath- 
 er than loose the enjoyment of hfs 
 
231 
 
 He against itself. I will not contend in judgment tvith 
 thee, for if thou, Lord, should mark iniquities, who can 
 stand ?* 
 
 But do thou suffer me to speak before thy mercy ; 
 me, who am dust and ashes. Suffer me to speak, be- 
 cause I address thy mercy, and not the scornfulness of 
 proud men. Perhaps thou deridest the simplicity of 
 my thoughts, yet wilt thou turn and exercise compas^ 
 sion upon me. What else would I say, O Lord, my 
 God, than that I know not whence I came hither into 
 this, shall I call it mortal life, or vital death ? Thy 
 compassionate consolations however received me, and 
 and thou gavest me the aliment of infancy. 
 
 Hear me, O God. Woe to the sins of men! And 
 a man says these things, and thou pitiest him, because 
 thou hast made him, and madest not sin in him. Who 
 shall inform me of the sia of my infancy ? For none 
 is clear from sin in thy sight, not even the infant, whose 
 life is one day. Could it be a good thing, with tears 
 to beg, what it would be noxious to receive, to express 
 vehement indignation against my elders and betters, if 
 they did not comply with my will, and to endeavor, 
 though with feeble blows, to revenge myself of them? 
 The imbecility of my infant-limbs was innocent, not 
 So the spirit of the infant. I have seen and observed 
 an infant full of envy, who could not yet speak t pale 
 with anger he looked at his fellow-suckling with bit- 
 terness in his countenance. But as I' was conceived 
 in iniquity, and my mother nourished me in her womb 
 in sin, where, Lord, where, or when was I innocent ? 
 But I pass by this whole time. For, what can I say 
 of that, no traces of which I recollect rf 
 
 What miseries, Lord, did I experience, when I was 
 directed, in the plan of my education, to obey my 
 teachers, in order to the acquisition of that knowledge, 
 
 * It is obvious to observe, how a mind like Augustine's, altogether resting- 
 on grace, and free justification, is freed from the solicitude of self-vindication 
 in any part of his conduct : whereus, those who rest for salvation, in any degree, 
 on themselves, are ever-tempted 10 extenuate their sins. 
 
 f The serious reader will not be inclined to pass over, in levity, these strik- 
 ifg proofs of the sinful propensity of nature exerting itself* antecedent to the 
 growth of reason or the power of habit. 
 
232 
 
 Which might be subservient to the attainment of fals 
 riches and honor? Yet, I sinned; O Lord, who or- 
 dainest all things, except our sins ; I sinned in rebell- 
 ing against the orders of parents and masters. That 
 literature, which they wished me to acquire, with 
 whatever intention, was yet capable of being applied 
 to a good use* My disobedience arose, not from the 
 love of better things, but from the love of play and a 
 fondness for games and shows. Behold, Lord, these 
 things with an eye of mercy, and deliver us who now 
 call on thee ; deliver also those, who do not call on 
 thee as yet, that they may call on thee, and experience, 
 thy deliverance. 
 
 I had heard from childhood of the eternal life prom- 
 ised unto us through the humility of the Lord our God, 
 condescending to our pride. Thou sawest, when 1 
 was yet a boy, and seemed to be on the brink of death, 
 through a sudden and violent pain of the stomach, with 
 what eagerness I begged Christian baptism from the 
 charity of my mother and of the church. My mother, 
 who travelled in birth for my eternal salvation, herself 
 possessed of very lively faith and hope in thee, was 
 hastening to comply with my desires, that 1 might wash 
 away my sins, confessing thee ? O Lord Jesus, when I 
 was suddenly recovered to health. A relapse into pre- 
 sumptuous sin, after baptism, being judged more dan- 
 gerous, and the prospect of life admitting too great a 
 probability of such relapse, my baptism was deferred. 
 Thus did I at that time believe in Christ, my father 
 being the only infidel in our family. My mother was 
 sedulous, that thou shouldestbe my Father, rather than 
 he, and in this she was favored with thy help : obedi- 
 ent as she was to her husband by thy command, in this 
 point she prevailed over him. Was the delay of my 
 baptism for my benefit ? What is the cause, that we 
 hear every where such sounds as these, LET HIM DO 
 
 WHAT HE WILL, HE IS NOT YET BAPTIZED. How milch 
 
 better for me, had I been, in more early life, initiated 
 into the fold of Christ ?* 
 
 * The narrative, bvfore vis may j'istly be'called a history of the usual opera- 
 tk/ns of the Sp.nt of God on his people. Convictions in early Li"c t on 
 
233 
 
 Yet, in childhood itself, though little dreaded by my 
 mother, in comparison of the dangers of youth, I was 
 indolent, and improved in learning only through ne- 
 cessity. A false secular ambition was the only motive 
 laid before me by my teachers; but thou, who num- 
 berest the hairs of our heads, irnprovedst their error 
 to my advantage, whilst thou justly punishedst the 
 great sins of so young an offender by their corrections. 
 The learning, which with no holy intention they taught 
 me, was sanctified by thee, and my guilty laziness was 
 scourged. So hast thou ordained, that a mind disor- 
 dered by c in, should be its own punishment. 
 
 But why I hated Greek literature, in which I was 
 instructed when very young, I do not even yet suffi- 
 ciently understand. For I was fond of Latin learning, 
 not indeed the first rudiments, but those things which 
 classical masters teach. To read, and write, and learn 
 arithmetic, would have been as severe drudgery to my 
 spirit, as all the Greek literature. I lay this also to the 
 account of my native depravity, which prefers the 
 worse, and rejects the better. The uses of reading, 
 writing, and arithmetic are obvious ; not so, the study 
 of the wanderings of yEneas, which I attended to, 
 while I forgat my own : and of what use was it to 
 deplore the self-murdering Dido ? while yet I could 
 bear unmoved the death of my own soul alienated 
 from thee in these pursuits, from thee, my God, my 
 life. O thou light of my heart, and bread of my in- 
 ward man, and true husband of my soul, I loved thee 
 not, I committed fornication against thee, and (such 
 the spirit of the world) I was applauded with " well 
 done" on all sides, and I should have been asham- 
 ed to have been found otherwise disposed. Yet the 
 friendship of the world is fornication against thee. 
 This is the kind of literature, which has arrogated to 
 itself the name of polite and liberal. Learning of re- 
 
 ble occasions, are common among these, and usually wear away, as in the case of 
 Augustine. The examples of Constantine and Constantius deterring their bap- 
 tism seem to have made the practice fashionable, not from any idea of the un- 
 lawfulness of infant baptism, but from the selfish and pernicious notions, which 
 he has stated. No wonder, that he, who justly thought that his own soul had 
 suffered much by the delay, was afterwards a strenuous asserter of the expedi. 
 ency of more early baptism. 
 2 F 
 
a! utility is looked on as low and vulgar. Thus, in 
 my childhood did I sin by a vicious preference. Two 
 and two make four, was to me an odious sing-song; 
 but the wooden horse, the burning of Troy, and the 
 ghost of Creusa, were most enchanting spectacles of 
 vanity. Yet why did I hate Greek literature, when 
 employed on the same sort of objects ? Homer is most 
 agreeably trifling ; to me, however, when a boy, he was 
 by no means agreeable. I suppose Virgil would be 
 the same to Grecian youths, on account of the difficul- 
 ties of learning a foreign language. Discipline is need- 
 ful to overcome our puerile sloth, and this also is a 
 part of thy government of thy creatures, O God, for 
 the purpose of restraining our sinful impetuosity. - 
 From the ferulas of masters to the trials of martyrs 
 thy wholesome severities may be traced, which tend 
 to recal us to thee from that pernicious voluptuous- 
 ness, by which we departed from thee. 
 
 Hear, O Lord, my prayer, let not my soul faint under 
 thy discipline, and let me not faint in confessing to thee 
 thy mercies, by which thou hast delivered me from all 
 my own evil ways, that thou mayest endear thyself to 
 me, above all the blandishments, which 1 was follow- 
 ing, arid that I may love thee most ardently, and em- 
 b a e thy hand with all my heart, that thou mayest 
 free me from all temptation even to the end. For lo ! 
 my King and my God ; , may whatever useful thing I 
 L/arnt when a bqv, serve thee, may what I speak and 
 read and number, serve thee, because while I was 
 learning vain things, thou gavest me thy discipline, and 
 in those vain things forgavest the sins of my delights, 
 For in them I learnt many useful words, though they 
 might have been learned, abstracted from this con- 
 nexioM with vanity. 
 
 Alas! the torrent of human custom! who shall resist 
 thee ? How long will it be, ere thou be dried up : how 
 long wilt thou roll the sons of Eve into a great and tem- 
 pestuous sea, which even they, who have fled for re- 
 fuge to the cross can scarce escape ? Have not I read 
 in thee of Jove, at once the thunderer and the adulter- 
 er ? What is this, but to teach men to call their crimes 
 
235 
 
 no crimes, while they have the sanction of gods, whom 
 they imitate ? Terence introduces a profligate young 
 man justifying his lewdness by the example of Jove, 
 while he beholds a picture on the wall of Jupiter and 
 Danae,* and excites himself to lust, as by divine tui- 
 tion. SH4LL HE DO THESE THINGS, WHO SHAKES HEA- 
 VEN WITH HIS THUNDER ? AND MAY NOT I, A POOR MOR- 
 TAL, DO THE SAME ? Yet I, my God, now indulged by 
 thy grace, to behold thee in peace, learnt these things 
 with pleasure, was delighted with them, and was call- 
 ed a boy of promising genius. The motives of praise 
 and disgrace then spurred on my restless heart to liter- 
 ary exertions. What acclamations were made to a 
 puerile exercise of mine on a particular occasion ! 
 Were not ail these things smoke and wind? Was there 
 not another way of exercising my talents, in cele- 
 brating thy praise ? But, what wonder, that I departed 
 from thee, my God, when men were proposed to me 
 as objects of imitation, who would blush to be de- 
 tected in a barbarism or solecism, in reciting their 
 own actions though innocent, and at the same time 
 might recite the story of their own lewdness, not on- 
 ly with impunity, but even with commendation, pro- 
 vided they did so with a copious and elegant flow of 
 diction ? O thou God of long suffering, who permittest 
 men thus to affront thee ! Wilt thou not deliver, from 
 this horrible pit, the soul that seeks thee, that thirsts 
 after thy delights, and says, THY FACE, LORD, WILL I 
 SEEK ? It was by the darkness of libidinous affection, 
 that the younger sonf went to a great distance from 
 thee, a gracious Father in bestowing on him thy gifts; 
 and still more gracious to him, when returning in indi- 
 gence. How studiously exact are men in observing 
 the rules of letters and of syllables, while they neglect 
 the rules of eternal salvation ! Thou dwellest on high 
 in inaccessible light, and scatterest penal blindness on 
 unbridled lusts. A man shall seek the fame of elo- 
 quence, while, before the crowded audience, he guards 
 against the least false pronunciation, and guards not 
 at all against the fiercest malevolence of his own heart 
 raging against his fellow creatures. 
 
 -fT.nkf 31 XV. 
 
236 
 
 In this school did I wretchedly live. To please 
 men was then to me the height of virtue, whilst I 
 saw not the whirlpool of baseness, in which I was cast 
 from thine eyes. For what more filthy than I, all this 
 time, deceiving by innumerable falshoods both mas- 
 ters and parents through the love of play, and amuse- 
 ments ? I even robbed the storehouses of my parents, 
 either from the spirit of gluttony," or to bestow things 
 agreeable to my play-fellows. In my plays, I often 
 sought to obtain fraudulent victories, overcome by the 
 desire of vain excellence. Yet, what should I dread 
 so much to suffer, or be so ready to accuse in another, 
 if detected, as that very thing, which I did to others ; 
 in which, however, if I myself was detected, I was 
 more disposed to rage than to submit ? Is this puerile 
 innocence ? far from it, O Lord. Change the scene, 
 only from pedagogues and masters, from nuts and 
 balls, and sparrows, to prefects, kings, gold, and es- 
 tates, and you see the vices of men, just as heavier 
 punishments succeed to ferulas. 
 
 Still, O Lord, in my childhood, I have much to 
 praise thee for. Many, many were thy gifts ; the sin 
 was mine, that I sought pleasure, truth, and happiness, 
 not in thee, but in the creatures, and thence rushed 
 into pains, cpnfusions, and errors. I thank thee, O my 
 pelight and Confidence, for thy gifts ; but do thou pre- 
 serve them for me, and the things which thou hast 
 given me shall be increased and perfected, and I shall 
 be with thee, because thou hast given me to be so*. 
 
 * It is a very unjust surmise of Mr. Gibbon, to infer from Augustine's unwil- 
 lingness to learn Greek, that he never attained the knowledge of that language ; 
 when he tells us, that he was doubtless a person of uncommon quickness of 
 parts. His sloth and other vicious practices in childhood were, I suppose, 
 such as are common to children. But few are disposed to look on them as seri* 
 ous evils. To Augustine's mind they appeared what they were, the marks of an 
 apostate nature. Though, since the destruction of pagan idolatry, there is by no 
 means the same danger of reading classic authors, yet how justly blamable is the 
 practice of leading boys so much to lewd poets, instead of acquainting- them 
 with the more solid excellencies of many prose authors! A just selection of the 
 most innocent and useful authors, and an insidious comparison of their senti- 
 ments with those of Christianity all along, will not only guard against the poison 
 of the classics, but instruct youth in the necessity and importance of revelation ; 
 and school-musters, as well as children, may learn, in what we have seen, just 
 matter of rebuke for exalting literary above moral excellence. 
 
237 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 I AM willing to record the scene of baseness and 
 carnal corruption, which I passed through in my youth, 
 not that I may love them, but that I may love thee, my 
 God. I do it with the love of thy love, recollecting 
 my own very evil ways in the bitterness of memory, 
 that thou mayest be endeared to me, O Delight that 
 never deceives, Delight happy and secure, thou which 
 collectest and bindest together the dispersed parts of 
 my broken soul : while averse from thee, the only 
 God, I vanished into variety of vanities !f For I was 
 inflamed in my youth to be satiated with infernal fires, 
 and became as rottenness in thy sight, while 1 pleased 
 myself, and desired to please the eyes of men. 
 
 Love was my object ; but, by the excess of passion, 
 the serenity of affection was lost in the darkness of 
 lust. My weak age was hurried along through the 
 whirlpool of flagitiousness. Thy displeasure was all 
 the time embittering my soul, and I knew it not. The 
 noise of my carnal chains, and the punishment of my 
 pride rendered me deaf to thy voice; I w^ent far from 
 thee ; thou sufferedst it : I was tossed and agitated, 
 and I overflowed with the ebullitions of levvdness, and 
 thou wast silent, O my too tardy joy ! At that time 
 thou wast silent, and I wandered deeply from thee 
 among the barren seeds of woes, in a state of proud 
 degradation, and restless weariness. Thy Omnipo- 
 tence is not far from us, even when we are very far 
 from thee ; I might have heard thy voice, recommend- 
 ing a single life devoted to God, allowing indeed mat- 
 rimony, and frowning on lewdness.* But I burst all 
 legal bonds, yet escaped not thy scourges ; who of 
 mortals can ? For thou wast always present, severely 
 merciful, mixing all my unlawful delights wdth bitter 
 alloys, that I might seek for pleasure without alloy or 
 obstacle, and not be able to find the possibility of this, 
 
 fThe beautiful thought, thus diffusively expressed in our author's usual 
 manner, is happily painted in a single word by the Psalmist, TJUTE my heart te 
 fear thy name. Ps. Ixxxvi. U. 
 
 * 1 Cor. vii. 
 
238 
 
 but in thee, thee I say, O Lord, who connectest pain 
 with the breach of thy laws, and smitest that thou 
 mayest heal, and slayest us, that we may not die from 
 thee. Where was I, and how long did I live in ex- 
 ile from thy house, in that sixteenth year of my age, 
 when the madness of lust seized rne altogether, and 
 I willingly suffered the reins to be struck out of my 
 hands ? To the disgrace of our nature, this species of 
 lust is every where tolerated, though forbidden by thy 
 laws.f My friends took no pains to bridle me by the 
 wholesome restraint of marriage ; their anxiety was, 
 that I should acquire the arts and graces of eloquence. 
 That year I had vacation from my studies, being 
 returned from Madaura, a neighboring city, where 
 I had begun to learn oratory, at my father's house 
 at Tagasta. He, with a spirit above his circumstan- 
 ces, for he was but a poor freeman of the town just 
 mentioned, determined to send me to Carthage, that 
 I might have the greatest advantages for proficien- 
 cy. Why do 1 relate these things before thee, my 
 God, to my fellow creatures, the few of them, who 
 may read these lines ? That both I and they may 
 consider, out of how great a depth it behoves us to 
 cry to thee. And what is nearer than thine ears, if 
 the heart confide in thee, and the life flow from faith ? 
 Who did not then extol the noble spirit of my father, 
 laying out so much money on the education of his son ; 
 a spirit, so much superior to that of many much rich- 
 er citizens, who had not the heart, to send their sons 
 to Carthage ? While yet he had no concern in what 
 manner 1 grew up to thee. Whether I was chaste or 
 not, cost him no thought, provided I was eloquent. 
 In this year of vacation my passions were rampant 
 without controul. This pleased my father, who, intox- 
 icated with liquor, expressed his pleasure on the occa- 
 sion to my mother. She had lately begun to feel thy 
 holy love, and had been washed in the laver of regen- 
 
 f Would to God, that this were not the case in the Christian countries, as 
 well as pag-an ! If he reader ft- el himself inclined to treat with levity the ser.ous 
 manner in wlvch juvenile vices are treated by the author, he will, when better 
 informed of the malignity of sin, condemn his own taste, not that of Augustine 
 The same contrast may be extended to the case of his theft which follows. 
 
239 
 
 eration. He was a catechumen in profession, In- 
 stantly, she conceived a pious trepidation on my ac- 
 count. My God, thou spakest to me by her, and 
 warnedst rne strongly against the ways of vice. Thy 
 voice in her I despised, and thought it to be only the 
 voice of a woman, which made not the least impres- 
 sion on my mind. So blinded was I, that I should 
 have blushed to be thought less wicked than my com- 
 panions, and even invented false stories of my sinful 
 exploits, to obtain their commendation. My pious 
 parent was prevented from encouraging me to marry 3 
 because she thought the usual studies, which I was 
 now to enter upon, might be serviceable to promote 
 in me the work of true religion. My father thought 
 little of thee, much of his son, in vain expectations* 
 Thus while they both were too anxious for my litera- 
 rary improvements, I made progress in vice, and shut 
 myself up in the darkness of sin,so as to bar up, against 
 myself, the admission of thy truth as much as possible, 
 Thy law certainly punishes theft, O Lord, and so 
 does the law* written in the hearts of men. For what 
 thief can bear another? Yet compelled by no want, I 
 deliberately committed theft ; through the wantonness 
 of iniquity and the contempt of justice. It was not 
 the effect of the theft, but the sin itself which I wish- 
 ed to enjoy. There was a pair-tree in the neighbor- 
 hood of my father's vineyard, loaded with fruit, though 
 not of the most tempting kind. At dead of night, in 
 company with some profligate youths, I plundered 
 the tree ; the spoil was principally thrown to the hogs; 
 for I had abundance of better fruit at home. Behold 
 my heart, my God, behold my heart, which thou hast 
 pitied in its deep abyss of sin. What did I mean, 
 that I should be gratuitously wicked? I loved de- 
 struction itself. In the common course of wicked- 
 ness men have some end in view. Even Cataline him- 
 self loved not his crimes, but something else, for the 
 sake of which he perpetrated them. We are deceived 
 by appearances of good, embracing the shadows, while 
 we follow our own lusts, instead of seeking the sub- 
 
 * He means the voice of natural conscience. See Rooi. ii. 15, 
 
240 
 
 stance, which is only in thee. Thus the soul commits 
 fornication, when it is turned from thee, and seeks out 
 of thee, that pleasure, honour, power, wealth, or wis- 
 dom, which it never will find in its genuine purity, till 
 it return to thee. All, who remove themselves far 
 from thee, and set up themselves in opposition, per- 
 versely imitate some attribute of God ; though even 
 by such imitation they own thee to be the Creator of 
 the universe. This is the general nature of sin. It 
 deceives by some fictitious shadow of that good, which 
 in God alone is to be found. But what vicious or 
 perverse imitation of my Lord, was there in my theft ? 
 I can conceive none, unless it be the pleasure of act- 
 ing arbitrarily and with impunity against law; a dark 
 similitude of Omnipotence. O rottenness ! O mon- 
 ster of life, and profundity of death ! Could I delight 
 in what was not lawful, merely on that account, be- 
 cause it was not lawful ? What reward shall I give to 
 the Lord, that I can now recollect these things without 
 fear of damnation ? will I love and bless thee, Lord, 
 because thou hast pardoned such horrible evils. I im- 
 pute it to thy grace that thou hast melted my sins as 
 ice is melted. I impute also to thy grace my exemp- 
 tion from those evils, which I have not committed. 
 For of what was I not capable, who loved even gratu- 
 itous wickedness? I am sensible, that all is forgiven, 
 not only the evils which I have actually committed, 
 but also those evils which by thy guidance I have been 
 kept from committing. He who, called by thee, hath 
 avoided the evils which he hears me confessing, should 
 not deride me a poor patient healed by the physician, 
 since he himself is indebted to the same Benefactor 
 for his health, or to speak more properly, for his being 
 afflicted with a less degree of sickness. 
 
 O the unsearchable seduction of pernicious friend- 
 ship, the avidity of doing mischief from sport, the 
 pleasure of making others suffer, and this without any 
 distinct workings either of avarice or of revenge ! Let 
 us go, let us do it, and we are ashamed to appear de- 
 fective in impudence* Who can unfold to me the in- 
 
241 
 
 tricacies of this knot of wickedness ? It is filthy, I will 
 pry no mre into it, I will not see it. Thee will I 
 chuse, O righteousness and innocence, light honorable 
 indeed, and satiety insatiable! With thee is perfect 
 rest, and life without perturbation. He who enters 
 into thee, enters into the joy of his Lord, and shall 
 not fear, and shall be in the best situation in thee, the 
 best. I departed from thee, and erred, my God, too 
 devious from thy stability in youth, and became to 
 myself a region of desolation. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 I CAME to Carthage surrounded by flagitious lusts. 
 After ,thee, O my God, the true bread of life, I hungered 
 not ; and though famished with real indigence, and 
 longing after that which satisfieth not, I had no desire 
 for incorruptible aliment, not because I was full of it; 
 for the more empty I was, the more fastidious I 
 grew. My mind was sickly; having no resources 
 within, she threw herself out of herself to be carried 
 away by intemperate appetite. My sordid passions, 
 however, were gilded over with the decent and plau- 
 sible appearances of love and friendship. Foul and 
 base as I was, I affected the reputation of liberal 
 and polite humanity. I rushed into the lusts with 
 which I desired to be captivated. My God, my mer- 
 cy, with how great bitterness, and yet how kindly, 
 didst thou mix that sweetness, by which I was miser- 
 ably enslaved and beaten with all the iron rods of en- 
 vy, suspicion, fear, indignation, and quarrelling. The 
 spectacles of the theatre now hurried rne away, full 
 of the images of my miseries, and fomentations of 
 my fire. 
 
 'The arts of the Forum now engaged my ambition ; 
 the more fraudulent, the more laudable. Pride and 
 arrogance now elated my soul, though I was far from 
 approving the frantic proceedings of the men called 
 EVERSORES, who made a practice of disturbing modest 
 pleaders, and confounding their minds by riots. 
 2c 
 
242 
 
 Amidst these things, in that imbecility of judgment 
 which attends youth, I studied the books of eloquence 
 with the most ardent desire of vain glory, and in the 
 course of my reading dipped into the Hortensius of 
 Cicero, which contains an exhortation to the study of 
 philosophy. This book was the instrument of effect- 
 ing a remarkable change in my views. I suddenly 
 gave up the fantastic hope of reputation by eloquence, 
 and felt a most ardent thirst after wisdom. In the 
 mean time I was maintained at Carthage at my moth- 
 er's expense, being in the nineteenth year of my age, 
 my father being dead two years before. How did I 
 long, my God, to fly from earthly things to thee, and 
 I knew not what thou w r ert doing with me. And at 
 that time, O light of my heart, thou knowest,. though 
 I was unacquainted with the apostolical ad-motion,-. 
 
 TAKE HEED, LEST ANY MAN SPOIL YOU THROUGH PHI- 
 LOSOPHY AND VAIN DECEIT ;* that this was the sole ob 4 - 
 ject of my delight in the Ciceronian volume, that I was 
 vehemently excited by it to seek for wisdom, not in 
 this or that sect, but wherever it was to be found.- 
 And the only thing which damped my zeal was, that 
 the name of Christ was not there, that precious name, 
 which from my mothers milk I had learned to rever- 
 ence. And, whatever was without this name, howev- 
 er just, and learned, and polite, could not wholly carry 
 away my heart. I determined, therefore, to apply 
 my mind to the holy scriptures to see what they 
 were ; and now I see the whole subject was impene- 
 trable to the proud, low in appearance, sublime in 
 substance, and veiled with mysteries ; and my frame 
 of heart was such as to exclude me from it, nor could 
 I stoop to take its yoke upon me. I had not these 
 sensations when I attended to the scriptures, but they 
 appeared to me unworthy to be compared with the 
 dignity of Cicero. My pride was disgusted with their 
 manner, and my penetration could not enter into their 
 meaning/)* It is true, those, who are content to be little 
 
 * Coloss, ii. 
 
 f An excellent description of the usual effect of a little scriptural study on 3 
 proud mind, which, by the just judgment of God, is given up to judicial infatua- 
 tion and specious cielusiou in some way or other. 
 
243 
 
 children, find by degrees an illumination of their soul s^ 
 but I disdained to be a child, and, elated with pride, 
 imagined myself to be possessed of manly wisdom. 
 
 In this situation I fell in with the Alanichees, men, 
 who had in their mouths the mere sound of Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, and were always talking of THE 
 TRUTH, THE TRUTH, and yet formed the most absurd 
 opinions of the works of nature, on which subjects the 
 heathen philosophers far excelled them. O truth, how 
 eagerly did I pant after thee, which they repeated con- 
 tinually with their mouths, and in many huge vol- 
 umes ! But they taught me to look for my God in the 
 Sun and Moon, and also in a number of splendid 
 phantasies of their own creation.f I endeavored to 
 feed on these vanities, but they being not my God 
 though I supposed so, I was not nourished, but ex- 
 hausted How far did I wander then from thee, ex- 
 cluded even FROM THE HUSKS WHICH THE SWINE DID 
 EAT ! For, the fables of the poets, which I did not be- 
 lieve, though I was entertained with them, were pre- 
 ferable to the absurdities of these lovers of truth. Alas ! 
 alas ! by what steps was I led to the depths of hell ! 
 Panting after truth, I sought thee, my God, not in in- 
 tellectual, but in carnal speculation ; but I confess to 
 thee, who didst compassionate my misery, even while 
 I was hardened against thee. The Manichees sedu- 
 ced me, partly with their subtile and captious ques- 
 tions concerning the origin of evil, partly with their 
 blasphemies against the Old Testament saints.* I 
 
 f The Manichees, so called from Manes tbeir founder, had existed about an 
 hundred years. Tt would not be worth while to notice them at all, were it not 
 for their connexion with the life of Augustinp. Like most of the ancient here- 
 tics, they abounded in senseless whims not worthy of any solicit ions explanation. 
 This they had in common with the 'pagan philosophers, that they supposed the 
 Supreme Being to be material, and to penetrate all nature. Their grand peculiar- 
 ity was to admit of two independent principles, a good and evil one, in order to 
 solve the arduous question concerning the origin of evil. Like all heretics, they 
 made a great parade of seeking truth with liberal impartiality, and were thus qua- 
 lified to deceive unwary spirits, who, suspecting their own imbecility of judg- 
 ment the last thing in the world, and regardless of the word of God and heart)' 
 prayer, have no idea of attaining religious knowledge by any other method' 
 than by natural reason. 
 
 *The Manichees objected to the characters of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, 
 David, &.c. on account of various actions allowed under the dispensation of their 
 tunes, but forbidden under the New-Testament, and thence formed an argument 
 against the divinity of the Old Testament. 
 
244 
 
 did not then understand, that, though the divine rule 
 of right and wrong be immutable in the abstract, and 
 the love of God and our neighbor be ever indispensa- 
 bly necessary, yet that there were particular acts of du- 
 ty adapted to the times and seasons and circumstan- 
 ces in which they were placed, which, abstracted from 
 such considerations, would be unlawful. In much ig- 
 norance I, at that time, derided thy holy servants, and 
 was justly exposed to believe most ridiculous absurd- 
 ities. And thou sentest thy hand from above, and 
 freedst me from this depth of evil, while my mother 
 prayed for me, more solicitous on account of the 
 death of my soul, than other parents for the death of 
 the body. She was favored with a dream, by which 
 thou comfortest her soul with hope of my recovery. 
 She saw herself standing on A WOODEN RULE, and a 
 person coming to her, who asked her the cause of her 
 affliction, and on being answered, that it was on my 
 account, he charged her to be confident, that where 
 she was, there also I should be. On which she be- 
 held me standing by her on the same wooden rule. 
 Whence was this but from thee, gracious Omnipo- 
 tent ! who takest care of each and all of us, as of sin- 
 gle persons ? When she related this to me, I endeav- 
 ored to evade the force of it, by observing that it 
 might mean to exhort her to be what I was ; without 
 hesitation she replied, it was not said, where he is, there 
 thou shalt be, but where thou art, there he shall be. 
 Her prompt answer made a stronger impression on my 
 mind than the dream itself. For nine years, while I 
 was rolling in the slime of sin, often attempting to rise, 
 and still sinking deeper, did she in vigorous hope per- 
 sist in incessant prayer. I remember also, that she 
 intreated a certain bishop to undertake to reason me 
 out of my errors. He was a person not backward to 
 attempt this where he found a docile subject. "But 
 your son," says he, "is too much elated at present, 
 and carried away with the pleasing novelty of his er- 
 ror, to regard any arguments, as appears by the pleas- 
 ure he takes in puzzling many ignorant persons with 
 bis captious questions. Let him alone ; only continue 
 
245 
 
 praying to the Lord for him ; he will, in the course of 
 his study, discover his error. I myself, perverted by 
 my mother, was onee a Manichee, and read almost all 
 their books, and yet at length was convinced of my er- 
 ror, without the help of any disputant." All this sat- 
 isfied not my anxious parent ; with floods of tears she 
 persisted in her request, when at last he, a little out 
 of temper on account of her importunity, said, " Be 
 gone, good woman ; it is not possible, that a child of 
 such tears should perish." She has often told me 
 since, that this answer impressed her mind like a 
 Voice from heaven. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 FOR the space of nine years, from the nineteenth to 
 the twenty-eigth year of my age, 1 lived deceived and 
 deceiving others, seducing men into various lusts, 
 openly, by what are called the liberal arts, and secret- 
 ly, by a false religion ; in the former, proud, in the 
 latter, superstitious, in all things, seeking vain glory, 
 even to theatrical applauses and contentious contests ; 
 and, to complete the dismal picture, a slave to the 
 lusts of the flesh. So infatuated was 1 with the Ma - 
 nichean follies, that 1 drew my friends into them, and 
 with them practised the impieties of the sect. The 
 arrogant may despise me, and all who have never felt 
 a salutary work of self-humiliation from thee, my God. 
 But 1 would confess to thee my own disgraces for thy 
 glory. What am 1, left to myself, but a guide rashly 
 conducting others down a precjpice ? and when I am 
 in a better state, what am 1 but an infant sucking thy 
 milk, and enjoying thee, the bread that perishetii not ? 
 and what is any man, since he is flesh ? Let the proud 
 and strong despise us ; but we, weak and poor, would 
 confess to thee. 
 
 At this time 1 maintained myself by teaching rheto- 
 ric ; and without fraud 1 taught my scholars, not how 
 to oppress the innocent, but sometimes how to .vindi- 
 cate the guilty. I lived also with one woman, but 
 
246 
 
 without matrimony. At this time I ceased not also 
 to consult astrologers, nor could I be induced by the 
 arguments of a very sensible physician, nor by the 
 admonitions of my excellent friend Nebridius, to re- 
 ject these follies. 
 
 While I was teaching rhetoric in this manner in my 
 native town, I enjoyed the friendship of a young man of 
 my own age, a schocJ-fellow and companion from in- 
 fancy. Indeed there is no true friendship, except thou 
 cement it among those who cleave to thee, through 
 the love shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, 
 which is given to us. But it was a friendship too 
 sweet, inflamed by the fervor of similar studies. For 
 I had drawn him aside from the true faith, which he 
 held not in a deep and genuine manner, into the Ma- 
 nichean follies, on account of which my mother be- 
 wailed me. And lo ! thou who pursuest thy fugitives, 
 O God of vengeance and source of mercies, and con- 
 vertest us to thyself by wonderful methods, lo ! thou 
 removedst him from this life, when I had scarce enjoy- 
 ed his friendship a year, after my return to Tagasta. 
 While he lay a long time senseless in a fever, and his 
 life was despaired of, he was baptized without his own 
 knowledge, a thing which I regarded with great in- 
 difference, as not doubting but he would retain my in- 
 structions which had been instilled into his mind 
 rather than that which had been applied to his body, 
 when he was ignorant of the matter. However, against 
 all expectation, he recovered. As soon as I had an 
 opportunity of conversing with him, I attempted to 
 turn into ridicule his late baptism, in which I expected 
 his concurrence. But he dreaded me as an enemy, 
 arid with wonderful freedom suddenly admonished 
 me, that if I would be his friend, I should drop the 
 subject. Confounded at this unexpected behavior, I 
 deferred the conversation, till he should be thoroughly 
 recovered. But he was removed from my madness, 
 that he might be saved with thee to my consolation ; 
 after a few days the fever returned and he died. How 
 miserable was my life ! my country was a punishment, 
 my father's house a wonderful infelicity, and whatever 
 
247 
 
 I had enjoyed in common with him, without him 
 torment itself. I found I could now no longer say, 
 He will come shortly, as I was wont to do. If I said, 
 hope in God, my soul refused; for the man whom I 
 had lost was an object preferable to the phantasm,* on 
 which I was bid to fix my hopes. Weeping alone was 
 sweet to me, and supplied the absence of my friend. 
 
 Wretched I now was, and wretched is every soul 
 that is bound by the friendship of mortal things. Be- 
 hold my heart, my God; O my hope, who cleansest 
 me from the contagion of such affections, and directest 
 my eyes to thee, and pluckest my feet out of the net. 
 O madness ! riot knowing how to love men as men ! 
 
 foolish man ! bearing with no moderation the lot of 
 humanity! The load of misery burdened me, which 
 
 1 knew thoti alone couldst cure ; but I was unwilling 
 and impotent, because when I thought of thee, I had 
 only a shadowy idol before me. If I attempted to 
 throw my burden on thee, it returned upon myself, as 
 I found nothing that would support it. I lied however 
 from my country, and came to Carthage. 
 
 Time, other objects, and other friendships, gradually 
 lessened my sorrow. But happy is he who loves thee, 
 and his friend in thee, and his enemy for thy sake. 
 For, he alone loses no friend, to whom all are clear in 
 him who is never lost, and who is he but our God, 
 who made and fills heaven and earth ? None loses 
 thee, but he who lets thee go ; and he who dismisses 
 thee, whither does he fly, but from thee PROPITIOUS, 
 to thee AVERSE ? God of power ! turn us, and shew thy 
 face, and we shall be saved. For, wherever the soul 
 of man turns itself, it fixes upon sorrow, except in 
 thee. Be not vain, my soul, and deaf in the ear of 
 the heart through the tumult of vanity. The word 
 cries, that thou shouldst return, and there is rest. 
 There with God fix thy mansion, there intrust what- 
 ever thou hast, my soul, at least when fatigued with 
 fallacies. If souls please thee, love them in God, and 
 carry them with thee to him as many as thou canst, 
 
 * He roeaus the fcintastic idea of God, which as a Man rhee le had em- 
 braced. 
 
248 
 
 #hd say to them, let us love him, he made these things, 
 and he is not far off. The good ye love is from him, 
 but it will deservedly be bitter, if ye love it unjustly, 
 deserting him. Ye seek a happy life: our life de- 
 scended hither, and bore our death, and destroyed it 
 from the abundance of his own life. After his descent 
 will ye not ascend and live ? But why ascend, since 
 ye are too high already ? Come down that ye may as- 
 cend to God. For by rising up against him ye have 
 fallen. Tell them these things, that they may weep, 
 and so take them with thee to God, because thou say- 
 est these things, from his spirit, if the fire of his love 
 burn in thee. 
 
 I made approaches to thee, and thou repelledst me, 
 because thou resistest the proud ; and what was proud- 
 er than to assert, that I was naturally what thou art ?* 
 Alas ! of what avail was it, that I understood the logic 
 of Aristotle and what are called the liberal arts, while 
 I had my back to the light, and to those things which 
 really illuminate the face ? I had, it is true, a facility 
 of comprehension, and acuteness in argumentation, 
 thy gift, but I sacrificed not thence to thee. Hence 
 they were to me a curse and not a blessing. Yet, all 
 this time, I looked on thee as an immense lucid body, 
 of which I myself was a fragment. How much better 
 was it with thy children of more tardy genius, who 
 did not recede from thy nest, but were fledged and 
 grew up in safety in thy church, and nourished the 
 wing of love with the aliment of sound faith ! O Lord 
 our God, let us trust in the shadow of thy wings. "Do 
 thou carry us to hoary hairs."* When thou art our 
 strength, we have strength ; our own is weakness. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 RECEIVE the sacrifice of my confessions, and heal 
 all my bones, that they may say, Lord, who is like 
 
 * In this blasphemy the Manichees followed the pagan philosophers. They 
 had no idea, also, that God was a spirit. Hence onr author's long conflict, be- 
 fore be could form a spiritual idea of God. 
 
 j- Isaiah xlvi, 4, 
 
249 
 
 unto thee ? The heart, that is shut against thee, ex- 
 cludes not thine eye, nor does the hardness of men's 
 hearts repel thine hand, but thou dissolvest it when 
 thou pleasest, in compassion or in vengeance, and none 
 can hide himself from thy flame* But may my soul 
 praise thee, that it may love thee, and confess to thee 
 thy compassions, that it may praise thee ! Let men be 
 converted and seek thee, and behold, thou art there 
 in the heart of those who confess to thee, and cast 
 themselves upon thee, and in thy bosom deplore their 
 evil ways ; and thou in mercy wilt wipe their tears, 
 that they may deplore still more, and rejoice in tears, 
 because thou, Lord, refreshest and comfortest them. 
 
 In the sight of my God I will give an account of the 
 twenty-ninth year of my age. A Manichee bishop 
 named Faustus, had now come to Carthage, a great 
 snare of the Devil, and many were enchanted by his 
 eloquence, which though I could not but commend, I 
 yet distinguished from truth. Report had represented 
 him as a very liberal and accomplished scholar. And 
 as I had read many things of the philosophers, I com- 
 pared them with the tedious fables of the Manichees, 
 and found the former more probable. Thou regard- 
 est, Lord, the humble; the proud thou beholdest afar 
 off. No doubt the foretelling of eclipses, and other 
 things that might be mentioned, demonstrate the truth 
 of the philosophical sciences in secular things, though 
 in their pride they departed far from thee. Unhappy 
 is that man who knows all these things, and knows not 
 thee; but blessed is he who knows thee, though he 
 knows not all these things. But he, who knows both 
 thee and them, is not happier on their account, but on 
 account of thee alone is happy, if knewing thee he 
 glorify thee as God, and be thankful, and be not vain 
 in his imaginations. For, as he is in a better situation, 
 who knows how to possess a tree, and is thankful to 
 thee for the use of it, though he know 7 ? neither its 
 height nor breadth, than he who measures it, and 
 counts all its branches, and neither possesses it, nor 
 knows nor has learned his Creator ; so the believer, 
 whose property all the riches of the world arej 
 
250 
 
 WHO HAVING NOTHING, YET POSSESSES ALL TKttNG3 r 
 
 by cleaving to thee, whom all things serve, is indispu- 
 tably better than the most knowing natural philoso- 
 pher upon earth, who lives in the neglect of thee.* 
 
 Yet the rashness of the Manichee writer, who under- 
 took to w r rite of astronomy, though completely ignor- 
 ant of the science, is inexcusable, especially as he 
 pretended that the Holy Ghost resided personally in 
 him. The ignorance of a believer, in such subjects is 
 very excusable ; even if he fancy his mistaken notions 
 in natural philosophy to be branches of religion. But 
 who can bear to hear a pretender to infallible inspira- 
 tion venting absurdities on the works of nature ? Here 
 then I had my doubts concerning the divinity of Ma- 
 nicheism, and in vain proposed them to those of the 
 sect whom 1 met with. " You must wait till the ail- 
 accomplished Faustus comes to Carthage," was all 
 the answer I received. On his arrival I found him 
 an agreeable speaker, and one who could deliver their 
 dotages in a more persuasive tone. But by this time 
 I was surfeited with these subjects, and I had been 
 taught by thee, my God, who hast instructed me mar- 
 vellously, but secretly, that style and manner, however 
 excellent, were not the same things as sound argu- 
 ment. The address, indeed, the pathos, the propriety 
 of language, and facility of expression in clothing his 
 sentiments delighted me ; but my mind was unsatis- 
 fied. The proofs of ignorance in science, which I saw 
 in Manicheisin, connected with pretensions to infalli- 
 bility, staggered my mind with respect to their whole 
 system. On freely conversing with him, I found him 
 possessed of all ingenuous frankness, more valuable, 
 than all the subjects of my investigation. He owned 
 his ignorance in ail philosophy, and left me convinced 
 of it. Grammar alone, and some Ciceronian and other 
 classical furniture, made up his stock of knowledge, 
 and supplied him with a copiousness of diction, which 
 received additional ornament from his natural vivacity 
 
 * An excellent comparison between the state of an illiterate believer, who 
 fef-d" OM Christ by faith, and that of an accomplished man of science, even of one 
 skilled in speculative theology among other branches of knowledge, but destitute 
 of spiritual lite. 
 
251 
 
 f imagination. My hope of discovering truth was 
 now at an end. I remained still a Manichee, because 
 I despaired of succeeding better on any other plan. 
 Thus that same Faustus, who had been the snare of 
 death to many, was the first who relaxed my fetters, 
 though contrary to his own intention. Thy hands, 
 my God, in the secret of thy providence, forsook not 
 my soul : day and night the prayers of my mother 
 came up before thee, and them wroughtest upon me 
 in ways marvellous indeed, but secret. Thou didst 
 it, my God. FOR MAN'S GOINGS ARE FROM THE 
 LORD , and who affords salvation but thy hand, which 
 restores what thou hast made ? It was from thy influ- 
 ence, that I was persuaded to go to Rome to teach, 
 instead of Carthage. The deep recesses of thy wis- 
 dom and mercy must be confessed by me in this dis- 
 pensation. I understood, that at Rome a teacher was 
 not exposed to those turbulent proceedings, which 
 were so common at Carthage. Thus the madness of 
 one set of men, and the friendship of others promising 
 me vain things, were thy means of introducing me into 
 the way of life and peace, and in secret thou madest 
 use of their perverseness and my own. Here I detest- 
 ed real misery, there sought false felicity. But the 
 true cause of this removal was at that time hidden 
 both from me and my mother, who bewailed me going 
 away, and followed me to the sea ; but I deceived her r 
 who held me close, with a view either to call me back, 
 or to go along with me. I pretended, that I only meant 
 to keep company with a friend, till he set sail* ; and 
 with difficulty persuaded her to remain that night in a 
 place dedicated to the memory of Cyprian. But that 
 night I departed privily ; she continued weeping and 
 praying. Thus did I deceive my mother, and SUCH 
 a mother ; yet was I preserved from the dangers of 
 the sea, foul as I was in all the mire of sin, and a time 
 was coining when thou wipedst away rny mother's 
 tears, with which she watered the earth, and even this 
 base undutifulness thou hast forgiven me. And what 
 did she beg of thee, my God, at that time, but that I 
 should be hindered from sailing ? THOU, consulting 
 
252 
 
 in profound wisdom, and regarding the HINGE of her 
 desire, neglectedst the particular object of her present 
 prayers, that thou mighest gratify the general objects 
 of her devotions. The wind favored us, and carried 
 us out of sight of the shore, when in the morning she 
 was distracted with grief, and filled thine ears with 
 groans and complaints ; whilst thou in contempt of 
 her violent agonies, hurriedst me along by my lusts to 
 complete their desires, and punishedst her carnal de- 
 sire with the just scourge of immoderate griefs.* She 
 loved my presence with her, as is natural to mothers, 
 though in her the affection was uncommonly strong, 
 and she knew not what joy thou wast preparing for her 
 from my absence. She knew not ; therefore she wept 
 and wailed. Yet after she had wearied herself in ac- 
 cusing my perfidy and cruelty, she returned to her for- 
 mer employment of praying for me, and went home, 
 while I went to Rome. 
 
 And there I was punished with the scourge of bodi- 
 ly sickness, and I drew nigh to hell, carrying the load 
 of all my sins, original and actual. For Christ had 
 not freed me from them by the body of his flesh through 
 death. For how could a fantastic death, such as I 
 then believed his to be, as a Manichee, deliver my 
 soul ? Whither must I have gone, had I at that time 
 departed hence, but to the fire and torments worthy of 
 my deeds according to the truth of thy appointment ?t 
 She was ignorant of this, and yet prayed for me ab- 
 sent. But thou, every where present, heardest her 
 where she was and pitiedst me where I was. Still in 
 the crisis of my danger, I desired not thy baptism, as 
 I had done when a boy : I had grown up to my own 
 disgrace and madly derided thy medicine of human 
 
 * It requires a mind well seasoned with Christian discernment and humili- 
 ty, to admire in all this the Providence of God bringing good out of evil, to sep- 
 arate what is truly holy and humble in the affection of our author's mother from 
 what was really carnal and earthly, and hence to discover the justness of his re- 
 fections. 
 
 f Does the reader think this harsh ? let him consider whether it can be any 
 iliing else than the want of a firm belief of the word of God, and a contempt of 
 feis holiness and authority, that can make him think so, and he will do well tf 
 *PPV * ue awful case to his own conscience! 
 
253 
 
 Biisery. How my mother, whose affection, both nat- 
 ural and spiritual towards me was inexpressible, would 
 have borne such a stroke, I cannot conceive. Morning 
 and evening she frequented the church, to hear thy 
 word and to pray, and the salvation of her son was the 
 constant burden of her supplications. Thou heardest 
 her, O Lord, and perform edst in due season, what thou 
 hadst predestinated. Thou recoveredst me from the 
 fever, that at length I might obtain also a recovery 
 of still greater importance. 
 
 The Manichees are divided into two bodies, auditors 
 and elect. He, in whose house I lodged, was of the 
 former sort. I myself was ranked among the latter. 
 With them I fancied myself perfectly sinless, and laid 
 the blame of the evils I committed on another nature, 
 that sinned within me,* and my pride was highly 
 gratified with the conception* My attachment to this 
 sect, however, grew more lax, as I found the impossi- 
 bility of discovering truth, and felt a secret predilec- 
 tion in favor of the academic philosophy, which com- 
 mends a state of doubt and uncertainty.! My land- 
 lord, who had not so much experience as I of the sect, 
 was elevated with their fancies. I checked his san- 
 guine views, and though the intimacy I had contracted 
 with this people, (for a number of them live at Rome) 
 made be backward to seek elsewhere for truth, I was, 
 however, little solicitous to defend the reputation of 
 their tenets. It was a deplorable evil with me, that 
 my prejudice was so strong against the Christian faith. 
 When I thought of thee, my God, I could not conceive 
 any thing but what was corporeal, though of the most 
 exquisite subtilty: but what was immaterial, appear- 
 ed to be nothing. And here I seemed incurable in 
 
 * Every human soul was supposed by the Manichees ^to have in it a mixture 
 of the good and the evil principle. 
 
 \ A very natural and common effect of reasoning pride. When a man at- 
 tempts to discover and adjust religious truth by leaning to his own understan- 
 
 and a spiritual understanding- from above. It' the errors of Manicheism appear 
 very absurd, there are other modes of deviat >on from scripture truth, which 
 Would appeal' no less so, were they as uni'asluonable in our times. 
 
254 
 
 error. I did not conceive it possible, that a good Be- 
 ing should create an evil one, and therefore, chose to 
 admit limits to the infinite Author of nature, by sup- 
 posing him to be controuled by an independent evil 
 principle. Yet, though my ideas were material, I 
 could not bear to think of God being flesh. That was 
 too gross and low in my apprehensions. Thy only 
 begotten Son appeared to me as the most lucid part 
 of thee afforded for our salvation. I concluded that 
 such a nature could not be born of the Virgin Mary 
 without partaking of human flesh, which I thought 
 must pollute it. Hence arose my fantastic ideas of 
 Jesus,t so destructive of all piety. Thy spiritual chil- 
 dren may smile at me with charitable sympathy, if 
 they read these my confessions ; such, however, were 
 my views. Indeed, while I was at Carthage, the dis- 
 course of one Helpidius had moved me in some de- 
 gree, who produced from the New-Testament several 
 arguments against their positions, which appeared in- 
 vincible ; and their answer appeared to me to be weak, 
 which yet they did not deliver openly, but in secret ; 
 namely, that the scriptures of the New-Testament had 
 been falsified by some, who desired to insert Judaism 
 into Christianity, while they themselves produced no 
 uncorrupted copies.* Still did I pant under those 
 masses of materialism, and was prevented from breath- 
 ing the simple and pure air of thy truth. 
 
 Some unexpected disadvantages in the way of my 
 profession laid me open to any probable offer of em- 
 ploy in other parts of Italy. From Milan a requisi- 
 tion was made to Symmachus, prefect of Rome, to send 
 a professor of rhetoric to that city. By the interest of 
 my Manichean friends, I obtained the honor, and 
 
 f The Manichees, like all other heretics, could not stand before the scrip- 
 tures. They professedly rejected the Old Testament, as belonging to the ma- 
 lignant principle ; and when they were pressed with the authority of the New, 
 as corroborating the old, they pretended the New was adulterated. Is there any 
 new thing under the sun ? Did not Lord Bollingbroke set up the authority of 
 St John against Paul ? Have we not heard of some parts of the gospels as not 
 genuine, because they suit not Socinian views ? Genuine Christian principles 
 alone will bear the test, nor fear the scrutiny of the whole word of God. 
 
 * It is evident that this sect comprehended in it the fundamental erropg of 
 the Docites. 
 
255 
 
 came to Milan. There I waited on Ambrose, the 
 bishop, a man renowned for piety through the world, 
 and who then ministered the bread of life to thy peo- 
 ple with much zeal and eloquence. The man of God 
 received me like a father, and I conceived an affection 
 for him, not as a teacher of truth, which I had no idea 
 of discovering in thy church, but as a man kind to me ; 
 and I studiously attended his lectures, only with a cu- 
 rious desire of discovering whether fame had done 
 justice to his eloquence or not. I stood indifferent 
 and fastidious with respect to his matter, and at the 
 same time was delighted with the sweetness of his 
 language, more learned indeed, but less soothing and 
 agreeable than that of Faustus. In their thoughts there 
 was no comparison; the latter erred in Manichean 
 fallacies, the former taught salvation in the most sal- 
 utary manner. But salvation is far from sinners, such 
 as I then was, and yet I was gradually approaching to 
 it and knew not. As I now despaired of finding the 
 way to God, t had no concern with sentiments ; lan- 
 guage alone I chose to regard. But the ideas which 
 I neglected came into my mind, together with the 
 words with which I was pleased. I gradually was 
 brought to attend to the doctrine of the bishop. I found 
 reason to rebuke myself for the hasty conclusions I had 
 ormed of the perfe ctly indefensible nature of the law 
 and the prophets. A number of difficulties, started 
 tipon them by the Manichees, found in the expositions 
 of Ambrose a satisfactory solution. The possibility 
 of finding truth in the church of Christ appeared; and 
 I began to consider by what arguments I might con- 
 yict Manicheism of falshood. Could I have formed 
 an idea of a spiritual substance, their whole fabric had 
 been overturned, but I could not. Moreover I found 
 the philosophers in general explained the system of 
 nature better than the Manichees. It seemed shame- 
 ful to continue in connexion with a sect replete with 
 such evident absurdities, that -I could not but prefer 
 the pagan philosophers to them, though I dared not 
 trust these with the healing of my soul, because they 
 were without the saving name of Christ, In conclu- 
 
256 
 
 aion, I determined to remain a catechumen in the 
 church recommended to me by my parents, till I saw 
 my way more clearly* 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 O THOU! my hope from my youth, where wast 
 thon ? thou madest me wiser than the fowls of heaven 5 
 yet I walked through darkness and slippery places. 
 My mother was now come to me, courageous through 
 piety, following me by land and sea, and secure of thy 
 favor in all dangers. She found me very hopeless 
 with respect to the discovery of truth. However, 
 when I told her my present situation, she answered, 
 that she believed in Christ, that before she left this 
 world, she should see me a sound believer. To thee 
 her prayers and tears were still more copious, that 
 thou wouldst perfect what thou hadst begun, and with 
 much zeal and affection she attended the ministry of 
 Ambrose. Him she loved as an angel of God, because 
 she understood that I had broken off from Manichean 
 connexions through his means, and she confidently 
 expected me to pass from sickness to health, though 
 with a critical danger in the interval. 
 
 She had been used to bring bread and wine for the 
 commemoration of the saints ; and still retaining the 
 African custom, she was prohibited by the door-keep- 
 er, understanding that the bishop had forbidden the 
 practice. Another person would not soon have been 
 obeyed, but Ambrose was her favorite, and was him- 
 self amazed at the promptitude of her obedience. The 
 reasons of the prohibition were, the fear of excess, and 
 the danger of superstition, the practice itself being 
 very similar to those of the pagans.* Instead there- 
 fore of a canister full of the fruits of the earth, she 
 henceforward, on the commemoration-days of the mar- 
 
 * Here is a striking instance of the growth of pagan superstition in the 
 church. The torrent was strong 1 , and notwithstanding occasional checks which 
 it received, it at leg-nth overspread all Christendom,, and quite obscured th 
 KgUt of the gospel- 
 
257 
 
 tyrs, gave alms, according to her ability, to the poor, 
 and received the Lord's supper, if it was celebrated on 
 those occasions. Ambrose himself was charmed with 
 the fervor of her piety, and the amiableness of her 
 good works, and often brake out in his preaching, 
 when he saw me, congratulating me that I had such a 
 mother, little knowing what sort of a son she had, who 
 doubted of all these things, and even apprehended the 
 way of life to be impervious to man. Nor did I groan 
 to thee in prayer for help, intent only on study, and 
 restless in discussion and investigations. In a secular 
 view Ambrose himself appeared to be an happy man, 
 revered as he was by the imperial court ; only his ce- 
 libacy appeared to me in a melancholy light. But 
 what hope he bore within, what struggles he had 
 against the temptations of grandeur, what was his real 
 comfort in adversity, his hidden strength and joy de- 
 rived from the bread of life, of these things I could 
 form no idea ; for I had no experience ; nor did he 
 know the fluctuations of my soul, nor the dangerous 
 pit in which I was enslaved. It was out of my power 
 to consult him as I could wish, surrounded as he was 
 with crouds of persons, whose necessities he relieved. 
 During the little time in which he was from them, (and 
 the time was but little,) he either refreshed his body 
 with food, or his mind with reading. Hence I had no 
 opportunity to unbosom myself to him. A few words 
 of conversation sufficed not. I expected in vain to 
 find him at leisure for a long conversation.* I profit- 
 ed however by his sermons. Every Lord's Day I 
 heard him instructing the people, and I was more and 
 more convinced of the falsity of the calumnies which 
 those deceivers had invented against the divine books. 
 And when I found, that the Mosaic expression of man 
 made after the image of God was understood by no 
 believer to imply, that God was in human form, 
 though I still could form no idea of a spiritual sub- 
 stance, I was glad and blushed to think how many 
 
 * Doubtless, could the modesty of Augustine have prevailed on him to de- 
 sire such a conference, he might have obtained it. And what a bishop then was 
 in the church of Christ may be seen in Ambrose. 
 
I had falsely accused the church, instead of lear- 
 ning by careful enquiry.* 
 
 The state of my mind was now something altered , 
 ashamed of past miscarriages and delusions, and ^ hence 
 the more anxious to be guided right for the time to 
 come. I was completely convinced of the falshood 
 of the many things I had once uttered with so much 
 confidence. I was pleased to find, that the church of 
 Christ \vas plainly free from the monstrous absurdity 
 of which I had accused her. I found too, that thy 
 holy men of old held not those sentiments with which 
 they were charged. And I was pleased to find Am- 
 brose very diligently commending a rule to his people, 
 the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life ;"f when 
 the bishop, removing the mystic veil, opened to us 
 those things, which according to the letter might seem 
 to teach perverseness : what he said was agreeable to 
 me, though I was far from being convinced of its 
 truth. t My former mistakes and blameable rashness 
 rendered me now exceedingly skeptical, and I wanted 
 the fullest intuitive evidence. By faith, indeed, I might 
 have ' been healed. But having experieraced a bad 
 physician, I now dreaded a good one. By believing 
 alone could I be cured ; yet for fear of believing false 
 things I refused to be healed, resisting thy hands, who 
 hast made for us the medicines of faith, and hast sprin- 
 kled them over the diseases of the world, and hast at- 
 tributed so great authority to them. 
 
 I could not, however, but prefer the general doctrine 
 of the church, and think it was more reasonable to en- 
 join^ faith in subjects incapable of demonstration, than 
 
 * A remarkable instance of partiality attended with a remarkable frankness 
 of confession. Augustine for nine years believed that the general church held 
 the corporeal form of the Supreme Being, though he might with ease have learn- 
 ed the contrary at any time. Bat heresy in all ages acts in the same disingen- 
 uous spirit. 
 
 f An important observation surely ! abused much by Origen and many of his 
 followers, to fanciful and capricious purposes. In Augustine, however, the dis- 
 tinction between letter and spirit was generally made commensurate with that 
 between flesh and spirit, and in effect distinguished self-righteous from evangel- 
 ical religion. 
 
 t It would be well, if many who stumble at the Old Testament, were more 
 convinced of their own ignorance and incompetency, for want of a just and soli4 
 acquaintance with its typical nature and the laws of interpreting it. 
 
259 
 
 to require the belief of most absurd fables, after pre- 
 tending to promise us knowledge. By degrees, thou 
 Lord, with a mild and merciful hand regulating and 
 composing my heart, enabledst me to consider how 
 many things I believed which I had never seen, what 
 credit I give to friends, jto physicians, to many others, 
 without which the common affairs of life could never 
 be transacted ; also how firmly I believed who were 
 iny parents, though I could not possibly have any de- 
 monstration concerning the matter. Thus thou per- 
 suadest me, that those who believed thy books were 
 not to be condemned of credulity, but those w r ho dis- 
 believe them were to be condemned for unreasonable 
 obstinacy, especially as their credibility was estab- 
 lished by the great authority which they had obtain- 
 ed throughout the world. " How do you know that 
 those books were divinely inspired ?" appeared to me 
 now a question implying a doubt not worthy to be at- 
 tended to. For amidst all the contentiousness of phi- 
 losophers which had so much agitated my mind, 1 
 had ever preserved the belief of thy existence and di- 
 vine Providence. Sometimes, indeed, this belief was 
 stronger, sometimes weaker, yet it never left me, not- 
 withstanding my great perplexity concerning thy na- 
 ture, or the way of approaching thee. As we are then 
 too infirm to discover truth by abstract reasoning, and 
 therefore need the authority of Divine revelation, I 
 apprehended, that thou wouldest never have attributed 
 such high authority and influence to the scriptures 
 through the world, unless this had been the appointed 
 means of our knowing thee and seeking thy will ; and 
 now the absurdities, which the literal interpretation of 
 many things seemed to involve, after I had heard a 
 probable exposition of several of them, I referred to the 
 depth of mysteries ; and hence the authority of the 
 books appeared more venerable and more credible, as 
 they in fact lay open, to every one's view and yet re- 
 served the dignity of their secret by the most pro- 
 found sentiments, offering themselves to all in a lan- 
 guage the most open and the most humble, and exer- 
 cising the attention pf serious souls ; so that they re- 
 
260 
 
 delved all in their popular bosom, and through narrow 
 holes transmitted only a few to thee. though many 
 more in number, than they would do, if they were not 
 recommended by such high authority, and did not 
 draw in the multitude by the garb of sacred humility. 
 I considered these things, and thoti wast present with 
 me ; I sighed, and thou heardest me ; I fluctuated, 
 and thou directedst my course ; I went along the 
 broad way of the world, and thou didst not desert 
 
 me.* 
 
 My heart was thirsting after honors, profits, and 
 marriage, and thou deridest me. In these lusts I suf- 
 fered the bitterest difficulties ; thou being so much 
 the more propitious, the less thou sufferedst any thing 
 to be pleasant to me which was not thyself. See, 
 Lord, my heart. Now let it stick close to thee, which 
 thou feast freed from the tenacious glue of death. How 
 miserable was I, and how didst thou cause me to feel 
 my misery on that day, when I was preparing to recite 
 a panegyric to the emperor, in which there were many 
 falshoods, and I expected applause, even from those 
 who knew them to be falshoods, when my heart 
 brooded over its anxieties, and passing through a cer- 
 tain street of Milan, I saw a poor beggar, I suppose at 
 that time with a full belly, jocund and merry ! I sigh- 
 ed, and spake to my friends who were with me, of the 
 many pains of our madness, because from all the toils, 
 which with so much labor and vexation we under- 
 went, we expected only that same rest and security, 
 which that beggar had already attained, though we 
 were uncertain, whether we should ever reach it. In 
 truth, he was not possessed of true joy, but I, by the 
 
 * We have seen here the close thoughts of an original thinker, who had once 
 as strong a prejudice as any against scripture truth, owning his rashness in con- 
 demning what he had not understood, convinced of the rationality of the scrip- 
 tures, after bj2 had in some measure discovered the true key to their meaning, 
 persuaded of th?ir divinity from their providential propagation in the world, 
 owning the unreasonableness of expecting demonstration, and of refusing assent 
 to grounds of faith such as determine us in common life, spying a divine beauty 
 in the plainness and simplicity of their language, adapted to all capacities, and 
 comprehending at length the necessity of a serious mind, to render them ef- 
 fectual to saving purposes. Skeptics and infidels would do well to follow him in 
 this train of thought : they need not be ashamed to imitate a person so acute 
 
261 
 
 Ambiguous windings of art, sought it in a more deluso- 
 ry way. He, however, was evidently merry, I full of 
 anxiety ; he at his ease, I full of fear. Were I asked, 
 whether frame of mind I should prefer, I should with- 
 out hesitation choose his. Yet if I were asked, wheth- 
 er I would be Augustine, or the beggar, I should say 
 the former. How perverse was this ? Much to this 
 purpose did I say to my friends, and often observed 
 how things were with me, and I found myself misera- 
 ble, and I grieved, and doubled that misery. And if 
 any thing prosperous smiled upon me, I was backward 
 to lay hold of it, because it flew away almost before I 
 could lay hold of it.* 
 
 My most intimate conversations on these subjects 
 were with Alypius and Nebridius. The former, my 
 townsman, had studied under me both at Tagasta and 
 at Carthage, and we were very dear to each other. The 
 torrent of fashion at the latter place, hurried him into 
 the Circensian games, of which he became extrava- 
 gantly fond. I was vexed to see him give into a taste 
 so destructive of all sobriety and prudence in youth, 
 and cannot but take notice of the providential manner, 
 in which he was delivered. While I was one day ex- 
 pounding in my school at Carthage, an allusion to 
 the Circensian games occurred as proper to illustrate 
 my subject, on which occasion I severely censured 
 those who were fond of that madness. I meant noth- 
 ing for Alypius ; but thou, Lord, who hadst designed 
 him for a minister of thy word, and who wouldest make 
 it manifest, that his correction should be thy own 
 work, infixedst a deep sting of conviction into his 
 heart; he believed that I spake it on his account, lov- 
 ed me the more for it, and shook off the Circensian 
 follies. But he was afterwards involved in Manicheism 
 with me, deceived by the Appearance of good. After- 
 wards he came to Rome, to learn the law, and there* 
 was ensnared with a new evil, a fondness for the bar- 
 barous sports of gladiators, to which he had had a 
 
 * A lively picture of human vanity, perfectly agreeable to the whole tenor of 
 ECCLKSIASTES, and evidencing the distress of those in high life to b equal to 
 that of those in low at least ! Ambition receives HO cure from^the_ review, tlfl 
 Jfye man knows what is better- 
 
262 
 
 strong aversion, Some friends of his carried him to 
 them by force, while he declared with great confi- 
 dence, that his mind and eyes should still be alienated 
 from those spectacles. For a while he closed his 
 eyes with great resolution, till on a certain occasion, 
 when the whole house rang with shouting, overcome 
 by curiosity, he opened his eyes to see what was the 
 matter. Beholding a gladiator wounded, on the sight 
 of the blood, he was inebriated with the sanguinary 
 pleasure. He gazed, he shouted, he was inflamed, he 
 carried away with him the madness, which stimulated 
 him to repeat his visits ; he became enamoured of the 
 sports, even more than those, who had dragged him 
 thither against his will, and seduced others. Thence 
 thou with a strong and merciful hand recoveredst him 
 at length, but long after, and taughtest him to put his 
 confidence not in himself, but in thee.* On another 
 occasion, Alypius was apprehended ae a thief, and cir- 
 cumstances seemed to tell so much against him, that 
 it was by a particular providence his innocence was 
 cleared. But he was to be a dispenser of thy word, 
 an examiner of many causes in thy church, and he 
 learnt caution and wisdom from this event. Him I 
 found at Rome, and he removed with me to Milan, 
 and practised in the law with uncommon uprightness 
 and integrity. With me he was uncertain, with res- 
 pect to his plan of religion and the way of happiness. 
 My friend Nebridius also left a good paternal estate 
 in the neighborhood of Carthage, for the sake of en- 
 joying my company ; and we three were panting after 
 happiness, till thou shouldest give us meat in due sea- 
 son ; and amidst all the bitterness which attended our 
 w r orldly concerns, while we were wishing to see the 
 end of these things, we found ourselves in darkness, 
 and we said with sighs, how long ? yet we still follow- 
 ed objects with which we were dissatisfied, because 
 we knew nothing better to substitute in their room. 
 
 *It is obvious to observe hence the folly of self-confidence, and the bewitching 
 power of temptation over so weak and corrupt a creature as man. Many who 
 would deem it impossible that they should enter with spirit into the obscenity 
 of the stage, or the cruelties of the slave-trade, by a little indulgence may BOOH 
 become what beforehand they would abhor. 
 
263 
 
 As to myself in particular, I reviewed attentively 
 how long I had been in pursuit of the true wisdom, 
 with a determination to give up secular pursuits in case 
 of success. I had begun at nineteen, and Iwas now 
 in my thirtieth year, still miserable, anxious, procras- 
 tinating, fed with tantalizing hopes, solicited in my 
 conscience to set apart a portion of time each day for 
 the care of my soul. " Your mornings are for your 
 pupils : why do not you employ to serious purpose the 
 afternoons: but then what time shall I have to attend 
 the levees of the great, and to unbend my mind with 
 necessary relaxation ? What then, if death should sud- 
 denly seize you, and judgment overtake you unpre- 
 pared ? Yet, on the other side, what if death itself be 
 the extinction of my being? But far be from my soul 
 the idea. God would never have given such high 
 
 E roofs of credibility to Christianity, nor have shewn 
 imself so marvellously among men, if the life of the 
 soul be consumed with the death of the body. Why- 
 then do not I give myself wholly to God? But do not 
 be in too great a hurry. You have friends of conse- 
 quence, by whom you may rise in the world !" 
 
 In such an agitation of mind as this did I live, seek- 
 ing happiness, and yet flying from it To be divorc- 
 ed from the enjoyments of the world 1 could not bear, 
 particularly from female society ; and as I had no idea 
 of acquiring continericy but by my own strength, I 
 was a stranger to the way of prayer and divine supply 
 of grace. Thou, Lord, wilt give, if we solicit thine 
 ears with internal groaning, and in solid faith cast our 
 care on thee. My mother was solicitous and impor- 
 tunate for my being married, that I might in that state 
 receive baptism. And I agreed to marry a young per- 
 son, who was at present too young ; as she was agree- 
 able to me, I consented to wait almost two years. 
 During this interval a number of us, about ten in all, 
 formed a scheme of living in. common in a society 
 separate from the world, in which a townsman of mine 
 Romanianus, a man of considerable opulence was par- 
 ticularly earnest. But some of us being married men, 
 and others desirous of becoming so, the scheme came 
 
264 
 
 io nothing. Thou deridest our plans, and preparedst 
 thy own, meaning to give us food in due season, and 
 to open thine hand, and fill our souls with blessedness. 
 In the mean time my sins were multiplied, and the 
 woman with whom I had cohabited, returning into 
 Africa under a vow of never more being acquainted 
 with our sex, and leaving with me a natural son which 
 I had by her, I, impatient of the delay, took another 
 woman in her room. Praise and glory be to thee, O 
 Fountain of mercies, I became more miserable, and 
 thou approachedst nearer. Thou wast going to snatch 
 me out of the mire of pollution, and I knew it not. 
 The fear of death and future judgment was the check 
 which restrained me. This had never left me amidst 
 the variety of opinions with which I was agitated, and 
 I owned to Alypius and Nebridius, that the Epicurean 
 doctrine would have had the preference in my judg- 
 ment, could I have fallen in with Epicurus' idea of the 
 annihilation of the man at death ; and I inquired why 
 we might not be happy, if we were immortal, and lived 
 in a perpetual state of voluptuousness without any fear 
 of losing it, ignorant as I was of the misery of being 
 so drenched in carnality, as not to see the excellency 
 of embracing goodness itself for its own sake. I did 
 not consider, that I conferred on these base topics 
 with friends whom I loved, and was incapable of tast- 
 ing pleasure, even according to the carnal ideas I then 
 had of pleasure without friends.* 
 
 O my serpentine ways ! Wo to the soul which 
 presumed, if it departed from thee, that it should find 
 any thing better. I turned backward and forward on 
 my sides, my back, and my belly ; and all things were 
 hard, and thou alone my rest, and lo ! thou comest and 
 freest us from our miserable delusions, and placest us 
 in thy way, and comfortest us, and sayest, " Run, and 
 I will bear you, 1 will carry you through, and bear you 
 still." 
 
 * A strong- intimation, that happiness consists in love, or friendship. Whence 
 the pleasure of frV.>J;;hip with Jesus, an Almighty, all-suffrcient frienclj made 
 ma,- f or us, and sympathizing with us, appears to give us the just and adequate 
 idea of bliss. 
 
265 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 AND now the older I grew, the more defiled was I 
 with vanity, still destitute of the spiritual idea of God ; 
 not conceiving however of thee, O Lord, as existing 
 in human form, an error of which I now saw, T had 
 unjustly accused the catholic church, but still viewing 
 thee as an object of sense however refined ; and when 
 I removed the ideas of space and quantity, thou seem- 
 edst to be nothing at all. For thou hadst not yet illu- 
 minated my darkness. The arguments of my friend 
 Nebridius, appeared to me conclusive against the Ma- 
 nichean idea of an independent evil principle in nature. 
 I was grown firm in the belief, that in the Lord is 
 nothing corruptible, mutable, tir in any sense imper- 
 fect ; that evil must not be imputed to him, in order 
 that we may clear ourselves of blame with the Mani- 
 chees. Still, however, a question distressed me, how 
 came evil into being at all ? admitting that it lies in 
 the will of man, trtat the distinction between a natural 
 and moral inability is real and just, and that the for- 
 mer is not the proper subject of blame as the latter is, 
 still I inquired, who inserted in me this bitter plant, 
 when I was made by my God of infinite sweetness ? I 
 inquired, whence came evil, and I saw not the evil 
 which was in my investigations. I stated the great dif- 
 ficulty in various lights, and it still appeared as inex- 
 plicable as ever. The faith, however, of Christ our 
 Lord and Savior remained firm with me, rude and un- 
 formed indeed ; yet my mind forsook it not, and was 
 imbibing it daily more and more.* 
 
 From the vain science of astrology also, which I had 
 cultivated with obstinacy, I was delivered, partly by 
 the reasonings of my excellent friend Nebridius, and 
 
 * I have endeavored to compress the author's accounts of his difficulties it* 
 two questions, of the substance of God and of the origin of evil, into a small 
 compass, not thinking it needful to translate them at large. Manicheism was 
 the cause of his' trouble in regard to the former. The latter is in all ages a nat- 
 ural temptation to our proud minds, and we are slow to learn to answer it witk 
 St. Paul, " Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God ?" Rom. ix- 
 Humility will end the subject there ; and pride is not to be /satisfied by any in- 
 -yes fixations. 
 
266 
 
 partly by a story which I heard of a master and slave 
 born at the same point of time, whose different for* 
 tunes in life appeared to be a sufficient confutation of 
 all predictions by the stars ;f and the case of Esau and 
 Jacob in holy writ illustrated the same thing. Bui it 
 was thou, and thou only, who recalledst me from the 
 death of all error, O thou Life that knowest not death, 
 and thou Wisdom who illuminatest indigent minds. 
 Thou brakest this bond for me ; still was I seeking 
 whence comes evil ? Yet, by all the fluctuations of 
 thought thou didst not suffer me to be seduced 
 from the faith of thy existence, of thy perfections, of 
 thy providence, or to doubt that in Christ thy Son 
 and in the scriptures thou hast laid down the way of 
 human salvation. What were the groanings, the la- 
 bors of my heart! While I silently enquired, distressed 
 and confounded, thou knewest the whole, thou kncw- 
 est what I suffered, and no man whatever, not my 
 most intimate friends, could know, by any relation 
 which I could give, the bitterness of my soul. IVly 
 folly was, to look for a local, extern&l happiness. No 
 such was found to receive me. By the original digni- 
 ty of my nature, I was above all sensual objects, infe- 
 rior to thee, and thou, my true joy, madest me subject 
 to thyself, and subjectedst to me the works of thy 
 hands. This was the middle region of health, in 
 which I might serve thee and rule the body. But 
 I proudly rose up against thee, and was justly pun- 
 ished, by being enslaved to those things which should 
 have been my subjects ; they gave me no respite 
 nor rest. My pride separated me from thee, and 
 closed my eyes with its own tumor. But thou, Lord, 
 remainest for ever, and retaincst not anger for ever, 
 thou pitiest us and rememberest that we are dust and 
 ashes. It pleased thee to remove my deformities, and 
 by internal incentives thou agitateds.t me that I might 
 be impatient till thou madest thyself assuredly known 
 
 f Few men have candor enough to put themselves in the places and scenes 
 *f others. Nothing is more certain than this, that Augustine and Melancthon 
 were men of extraordinary understanding ; both however were addicted to as- 
 trology and absurdity, which even the weakest in our age escape* Such is th 
 i:fferene of the times ! 
 
26? 
 
 to me by internal illumination. The morbid tumors 
 of my mind were gradually lessening under thy secret 
 medicinal hand, and the eyes of my understanding, 
 darkened and confounded as they were, by the sharp 
 eye-salve of salutary pains were healing day by day. 
 
 And first, as thou wouldest shew me how thou re- 
 sistest the proud, and givest grace to the humble ; and 
 how great thy mercy is shewn to be in the way of hu 
 mility ; thou procuredst for me, by means of a person 
 highly inflated with philosophical pride, some of the 
 books of Plato translated into Latin, in which I read 
 passages concerning the Divine Word, similar to those 
 in the first chapter of St. John's gospel ; in which his 
 eternal Divinity was exhibited, but not his incarnation, 
 his atonement, his humiliation, and glorification of his 
 human nature. For thou hast hid these things from 
 the wise and prudent, and revealed them to babes ; 
 that men might come to thee weary and heavy laden, 
 and that thou mightest refresh them; thou who art 
 meek and lowly in heart, who directest the meek in 
 judgment, and teachest the gentle thy ways, seeing our 
 low estate and forgiving all our sins. This is a knowl- 
 edge not to be obtained, while men are lifted up by 
 the pomp and grandeur of what appears to them a 
 snblimer doctrine. Thus did I begin to form better 
 views of the divine nature, even from Plato's wri- 
 tings, as thy people of old spoiled the Egyptians of 
 their gold, liecause, whatever good there is in any 
 thing, is all thy own, and at the same time I was ena- 
 bled to escape the evil which was in those books, and 
 not to attend to the idols of Egypt. 
 
 However, I was hence admonished to retire into 
 myself under thy guidance, and I was enabled to do it, 
 because thou art my helper. I entered and saw with 
 the eye of my mind the immutable light of the Lord, 
 perfectly distinct from sensible light, not only in de- 
 gree, but in kind. Nor was it in the same manner 
 above my mind, that oil is above water, or as heaven 
 is above earth, but superior, because he made me. and 
 
J \Vas inferior, because made by him.*' He wh 
 knows truth, knows this light, and he who knows it. 
 knows eternity. Love knows it. O ^eternal Truth, 
 true Love, and loving Eternity ! Thou art my God, 
 I pant after thee day and night. And when I first 
 knew thee, thou tookest me that I might see that "to 
 be" which I saw, and that I who saw, " as yet was 
 not." Thou impressedst repeatedly my infirm sight', 
 thou shinedst on me vehemently, and I trembled with 
 love and horror, and I found that I was far from thee 
 in a region of dissimilitude, as if I heard thy voice 
 from on high, " I am the food of those that are full of 
 age, grow and thou shalt eat me. 3 " Nor shalt thou 
 change me into thyself but shalt thyself be changed 
 into me. And I said, can God be nothing, since he 
 is neither diffused through finite nor infinite space ? 
 And thou criedst from afar, " I am, that I am,"t and 
 I heard with my heart and could not doubt. Nay, I 
 should sooner doubt my own existence, than that that 
 is not truth which is understood by the things that 
 were made. 
 
 I now began to understand, that every creature of 
 thine hand is in its nature good, and that universal na- 
 ture is justly called upon to praise the Lord for his 
 goodness.* The evil which I sought after has no pos- 
 itive existence ; were it a substance, it would be good, 
 because every thing individually, as well as all things 
 collectively, are good. Evil appeared to be a want of 
 agreement in some parts to others. My opinion of 
 the two independent principles, in order to account 
 for the origin of evil, was without foundation. Evil is 
 not a thing to be created ; let good things only forsake 
 their just place, office, and order ; and then, though 
 all be good in their nature, evil, which is only a pri- 
 vative, abounds, and produces positive misery. I as- 
 
 * He had been long corrupted by the atheistic views which he had learned 
 from the Manichees, and no wonder that he now found it so difficult to conceive 
 aright of God. There appears something divinely spiritual in the manner of hi* 
 deliverance. That the Platonic books also should give the first occasion is very 
 remarkable; though I apprehend the Latin translation which he saw, had im- 
 proved on Plato, by the mixture of something scriptural, according to the mau- 
 ler o* the Ammonian philosophers. 
 
 t Exodus ill * Psalm cxlviii. 
 
269 
 
 ked what was iniquity, and I found it to be no s 
 stance, but a perversity of the will which declines 
 from thee, the Supreme Substance, to lower things, 
 and casts away its internal excellencies, and swells- 
 with pride externally.f 
 
 And I wondered that I now began to have a desire 
 after thee, and no longer took a fantasm for thee. I was 
 not urgent to enjoy thee, my God, for though I was 
 hurried toward thee by thy beauty, I was presently 
 carried downward from thee by my own weight, and 
 I could no longer sin without groaning; the weight 
 was carnal habit. The memory of thee was with me, 
 and I did not doubt of the reality of that divine essence 
 to which I should adhere, but of myself being ever 
 brought into a state of spiritual existence. I saw thy 
 invisible things by the things which were made, but 
 I could not fix my attention to thee ; my corruption 
 exerting itself, I returned to my usual habits, but I 
 could not shake off the fragrance of memory, smelling 
 the true good, regretting the loss, and impotent to taste 
 and enjoy. J 
 
 I now sought the way of obtaining strength to enjoy 
 thee, and found it not, till I embraced the Mediator 
 between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, WHO is 
 ABOVE ALL, GOD BLESSED FOR EVER,* calling and say- 
 ing I am the way, the truth, and the life. For the 
 word was made flesh, that thy wisdom might suckle 
 our infancy. But I did not yet in humility hold the 
 humble Jesus my Lord, nor know the mysterious pow- 
 er of his weakness, that he might humble, nourish, and 
 at length exalt heavy laden souls. Far other thoughts 
 had I conceived of Christ, I had viewed him only as a 
 
 f Perhaps a more just account of the manner in which evil is produced can 
 scarce be given ; it is certainly well calculated to confute the principles of Man- 
 icheism. 
 
 t In many true converts this was their state exactly, while God was turning 
 them from darkness to light. Such a sense of God, as never before was known, 
 is attained, sufficient to conquer the false and injurious thoughts of him which 
 had been before imbibed, be they what they may. But the man feels his impo- 
 tence with respect to good, and he must, with Augustine, struggle and endure 
 for a time, till the strength of Jesus is perfected in his weakness. 
 
 * Here is a clear testimony to the authenticity and genuine interpretation of 
 that remarkable text, Rom. ix. 5, the light of which has been so peculiarly of- 
 fensive to those, whom, fashionable heresies in our age have darkened. 
 
270 
 
 man of unequalled wisdom. But, of the mystery of 
 the word made flesh, I had not formed the least sus- 
 picion. Only I concluded from the things written of 
 him, that he must have had a human soul. Alypius 
 indeed had conceived, that the catholic faith denied 
 him the spirit of a man, and was a longer time preju- 
 diced against the truth, because he confounded the 
 church with the Apollinarian heresy. As to myself, 
 I was not till sometime after taught to distinguish the 
 truth from the opinion of Photirms;t but there must 
 be heresies, that they who are of the truth may be 
 made manifest. 
 
 But when by reading the Platonic books, I began to 
 conceive of the immaterial, infinite Supreme, 1 talked 
 of these things like a person of experience, but was 
 perishing, because void of Christ. I desired to appear 
 wise, was puffed up with knowledge, and wept not. 
 Love, on the foundation of humility, which is Christ 
 Jesus, was to me unknown. The books of Plato knew 
 not this; still would I remark the providence of my 
 God in leading rne to study them, before I searched 
 the scriptures, that I might remember, how I had been 
 affected by them, and when afterwards my wounds 
 should be healed by thy hand through the scriptures, 
 I might distinguish the difference between presump- 
 tion and confession, between those who see whither 
 we ought to go, without knowing the means, and those 
 who see the way itself leading to the actual inheri- 
 tance. Had I been informed at first by thy scriptures, 
 and thou hadst endeared thyself to me in their famil- 
 iarity, an after-acquaintance with Plato might either 
 have shaken my faith, or raised in me an undue esti- 
 mation of the worth of his writings. 
 
 With eagerness, therefore, I took up the volume of 
 inspiration,* and particularly the apostle Paul, and 
 those questions in which he once had seemed incon- 
 sistent with himself, and the law, and the prophets, 
 
 f Wh'ch seems to have been the same with Sabellianism. 
 
 * It may be remarked here, how depraved the taste of man is, and "how much 
 and IICAV lc,ng he will suffer before he give himself simply to the instruction ol" 
 God's own words. 
 
271 
 
 were now no more. There now appeared one uniform 
 tenor of godliness, and I learnt to rejoice with trem- 
 bling, and I took up the book, and found whatever 
 truth I had read there, is said with this recommenda- 
 tion of thy grace, that lie who sees should not so GLO- 
 RY AS IF HE HAD NOT RECEIVED, not only that which 
 he sees, but the power of seeing itself, f For what hath 
 he, which tie hath not received ? And he who cannot 
 see afar, should however walk in the way, by which 
 he may come, see, and lay hold. For though he be 
 delighted WITH THE LAW OF GOD IN THE INWARD MAN, 
 
 YET WHAT SHALL HE DO WITH THE OTHER LAW IN HIS 
 MEMBERS WARRING AGAINST THE LAW OF HIS MIND } 
 AND BRINGING HIM IKTO CAPTIVITY TO THE LAW OF SIN, 
 
 WHICH is IN HIS MEMBERS ?J Fp,r thou, Lord, art just, 
 but we have sinned and dealt wickedly, and thy hand 
 is heavy upon us, and we are justly delivered up to 
 the power of the old sinner who has the power of 
 death, because he persuaded us to follow his will, by 
 which he did not stand in the truth. Who shall de- 
 liver us from the body of this death, but thy grace 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom the prince 
 of this world could find nothing worthy of death, and 
 who by his death blotted out the hand writing that 
 was against us ? The Platonic books had nothing of 
 this, nor the face of piety, the tears of confession, the 
 sacrifice of a troubled spirit, a broken and contrite 
 heart, salvation, the spouse, the holy city, the earnest 
 of the Holy Spirit, the cup of our redemption. None 
 there hear, "Come unto me all that labor and are 
 heavy laden, and I will give you rest." It is one thing 
 to see a land of peace at a distance, with no practica- 
 bility of attaining it, and another to pursue the right 
 road towards it under the care of the heavenly Com- 
 mander, who made the road for your use. I was won-r 
 derfully affected with these views, while I read THE 
 LEAST OF THINE APOSTLES, and I considered thy works 
 and trembled. 
 
 f He means the inestimable privilege of spiritual understanding, through his 
 want of which St. Paul had long appeared to him contradictor)', confused, and 
 disgusting. He is well qualified to recommend to others the value of divine 
 teaching, who like Augustine, is experiencing it in himself. > T otlvngteachp" 
 humility like such experience. 
 
 t Rom. v'i/. 
 
272 
 
 BOOK VIII, 
 
 ALL MY BONES SHALL SAY, LORD, WHO IS LIKE Utf- 
 
 TO THEE ? thou hast broken my bonds in sunder. How 
 thou brakest them, I will relate, and all who worship 
 thee, when they hear these things, shall bless the Lord. 
 Though now confirmed in my doctrinal views, my 
 heart was yet uncleansed; I approved of the Savior, 
 but liked not his narrow way, and thou inspiredst me 
 with a desire of going to Simplician, an aged, experi- 
 enced Christian even from his youth, who seemed ca- 
 pable of instructing me in my present fluctuations. 
 My desires no longer being inflamed with the hope of 
 honor and money, I was displeased with the servitude 
 of the world in which I lived. Thy sweetness was 
 now more agreeable in mine eyes ; but another tie 
 still detained me in which I had permission indeed in 
 a legal way, though exhorted to the higher and nobler 
 practice of celibacy.* I had heard from the mouth 
 of truth, that there are eunuchs, WHO HAVE MADE 
 
 THEMSELVES EUNUCHS FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN'S 
 SAKE. 
 
 I went then to Simplician, the spiritual father of 
 bishop Ambrose himself, who loved him as his father. 
 I explained to him my religious situation. When I 
 was relating, that I had read some Platonic boeks 
 translated by Victorinus a Roman rhetorician, who 
 had died a Christian, he congratulated me on having 
 met with that philosopher rather than any of the rest ; 
 because when they are full of fallacy, in him intima- 
 tions are given of God and of his word.f Then for 
 my practical instruction, he gave me the narrative of 
 the conversion of Victorinus, with whom he had been 
 intimate at Rome, Thy grace was indeed admirable 
 in that convert. He was a man of great learning, far 
 advanced in life, well skilled in all liberal knowledge ; 
 
 * Corinthians vii. 
 
 f Here I apprehend is a proof of the decay of Christian taste in the church 
 at that time, the consequence of Ammonianism and Origenism, namely, a dispo- 
 sition to find in Plato what he has not. What communication hatb the temple 
 Of God with idols * 
 
273 
 
 he had read, criticised, and illustrated many philoso- 
 phers ; he had taught many illustrious senators ; had 
 been honored by a statue erected in the Roman fo- 
 rum, as a reward of his magisterial labors ; and even 
 to his old age was a worshipper of idols, and a partaker 
 of all the rites, to which almost the whole Rojman nobi- 
 lity at that time were addicted ; moreover he had, ma- 
 ny years, defended the monstrous and absurd objects 
 of worship, to which the common people had been ac- 
 customed. But now he was not ashamed to become 
 a child of thy Christ, an infant of thy fountain, with 
 his neck subjected to the yoke of humility, and his for- 
 head subdued to the reproach of the cross. O Lord, 
 thou, who bowedst the heavens and camedst down, 
 who touchedsl the mountains, and they smoked, by 
 what means didst thou insinuate thyself into his heart! 
 He read, as Simplician told me, the holy Scriptures, 
 and studiously investigated all Christian literature, and 
 told my instructor, not openly but in secrecy, as to a 
 friend, " Know that I am already a Christian." He 
 answered, " I shall not believe it, nor rank you among 
 Christians, till I see you in the church of Christ." But 
 he smiling answered, "Do walls then make chris- 
 tians?" This kind of dialogue was frequently repeat- 
 ed between them. For Victorinus feared to offend his 
 friends, men of rank and dignity, and he dreaded the 
 loss of reputation. But after that by further study- 
 ing of the word and by secret prayer he had acquired 
 more strength, and feared to be denied by Christ be- 
 fore the angels, if he denied him before men, and felt 
 himself condemned for being ashamed of Christian sa- 
 craments, though he had not been ashamed of demon- 
 worship, he blushed at his false modesty ; and sudden- 
 ly said to Simplician, " Let us go to the church, I wish 
 to be made a Christian." The venerable old saint, un- 
 able to contain his joy, went with him, when he was 
 imbued with the first sacraments of instruction. Not 
 long after he gave in his name, that he might have the 
 benefit of Christian baptism. Rome was astonished; 
 the church rejoiced. The proud saw and were indig- 
 nant, and gnashed with their teeth and pined away ; 
 fi't 
 
274 
 
 but, the Lord his God was the hope of thy servant, and 
 he no longer regarded lying vanities. At length, when 
 the season came on of professing his belief, which pro- 
 fession is usually delivered at Rome from a high place 
 in the sight of the faithful, in a certain form of words 
 gotten by heart, by those who are to partake of thy 
 grace in baptism, an offer was made by the presbyters 
 to Victorinus, that he should repeat them more secret- 
 ly, as was the custom for some who were likely to be 
 disturbed through bashfulness. But he chose rather 
 to profess his salvation in the sight of the holy multi- 
 tude ; for there was no salvation in rhetoric, and yet 
 he had publicly professed it. When he mounted the 
 pulpit to repeat, with a noise of congratulation, as ma- 
 ny as knew him, resounded his name ; and who did 
 not know him ? Amidst the general joy, the sound, 
 though checked with decent reverence, went around, 
 " Victorinus, Victorinus." They exulted at the sud- 
 den sight of him , and were as suddenly silent, that 
 they might hear him. He pronounced the form of 
 words with an excellent confidence, and all wished to 
 hold him in their bosom, and they actually did so in 
 love and joy.* 
 
 O good God! what is the cause that men more re- 
 joice in the salvation of a soul despaired of, than if it 
 had always been in a state of security! For even thou, 
 merciful Father, rejoicest more over one penitent, than 
 over ninety and nine just persons that need no repen- 
 tance, and we hear with peculiar pleasure the recov- 
 ery of thy prodigal son. Now what is the reason, that 
 the mind is more delighted with things recovered, 
 than with things never lost ? Human life is full of 
 such instances. Is this the law of human happiness? 
 How high art thou in the highest, and how inscrutable 
 in the deepest. Thou never recedest from us, and 
 with reluctance we return to thee ? Awake, O Lord, 
 
 * I thought a careful translation of this story was proper It is an instance 
 oY victorious grace, something like that which we have more at large related by 
 Augustine concerning himself. It shews how disreputable real Christianity was 
 . among the great, even in countries, where it was the established religion, as was 
 then ilie case at Rome, and what grace is neeeful to cause men to be willing to 
 bear the cross of Christ, and it illustrates also some Christian customs and dia 
 pipline at that time. 
 
and do, quicken and recall us, inflame and carry uy 
 along ; burn, be sweet to our taste, and let us now love 
 and run* The joy of Victorinus' conversion indeed 
 was great, because his influence and authority, it Avas 
 hoped might be useful to the salvation of many. For 
 far be it from thee, that in thine house there should be 
 respect of persons, since thou RATHER HAST CHOSEN 
 
 THE WEAK THINGS OF THE WORLD, TO CONFOUND THE 
 STRONG, AND BASE THINGS OF THE WORLD, yea, and 
 
 things which are not, to bring to nought things that 
 are. What a treasure had the heart and tongue of 
 Victorinus been to Satan ! well did it become thy sons 
 to exult, because our king had bound the strong man, 
 and they saw his goods to be taken from him, and 
 cleansed, and fitted for thy honour, and to every good 
 work. 
 
 Hearing these things from Simplician, I was infla- 
 med with a desire of imitation. But after he had 
 informed me father, that Victorinus, on occasion of 
 Julian's prohibitory law, had given up his professor- 
 ship, I found an inclination to imitate him, bound as I 
 was to the same calling, not by a foreign chain, but my 
 own iron will. The enemy held my will, thence form- 
 ed my chain, and held me fast. From a perverse will 
 was formed lust, from the indulgence of lust was form- 
 ed habit, and habit unresisted became necessity. Of 
 such links w r as my chain of slavery composed; and 
 the new will, which was beginning in me, to worship 
 thee freely, and enjoy thee my sole certain pleasure, 
 was not yet strong enough to overcome the old one, 
 hardened by custom. Thus two wills, the old and the 
 new, the flesh and the spirit contended within me, and 
 between them tore my very soul.* Thus did I under- 
 stand by my own experience what I had read, that the 
 flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against 
 the flesh.f I indeed was actuated by both, but more 
 
 * Excellent comment pn Rom. vii. a description only to be understood by 
 experienced Christians. 
 
 f- Gulat. v. where the same subject is more briefly handled : the conflict 5s 
 well known'to true Christians all their days, though it most strikes their minds 
 at first. In the unconverted, it can have no existence, because the will is inclin- 
 ed only one way, and it is therefore quite a different thing 1 from the conflict be- 
 tween reason and passion, with which it has been Confounded. 
 
276 
 
 by that which I approved, than by that which I cTi- 
 approved. I had now, no just excuse; truth was cer 
 tain to me, yet I was loth to serve thee, and was as 
 afraid to be rid of my impediments, as I ought to have 
 been of contracting them. My meditations on thee 7 
 were like the attempts of men desirous of awaking, 
 but sinking again into sleep. I had not an heart to 
 answer thee, AWAKE, THOU THAT SLEEPEST, AND ARISE 
 
 FROM THE DEAD, AND CHRIST SHALL GIVE THEE LIGHT.J 
 
 By and by shortly let me alone a little these were 
 the answers of my heart. But, by and by had na 
 bounds, and let me alone a little, went to a great 
 length. In vain was I delighted with thy law in the 
 inner man, when another law in my members warred 
 against the law of my mind. AVretched man that I 
 am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death,, 
 but thy grace through Jesus Christ our Lord ? 
 
 My anxiety increasing, I daily groaned to thee ; 
 frequented thy church as often as I had leasure from 
 those employments, under the weight of which I groan- 
 ed. Arypius was with me during his vacation front 
 the law, which was his practice, as rhetoric was mine. 
 Our other friend Nebridius was gone to assist Vere- 
 cundus at Milan in teaching grammar, who studiously 
 avoided attendance upon the great, that he might com- 
 mand leisure to improve his mind. On a certain day r 
 Politian, an African, one of our townsmen, came to 
 visit me and Alypius. We sat down to converse, and 
 upon the play- table which was before us, he saw a 
 book, opened it, and found it to be the apostle PauL, 
 to his great surprise ; for he supposed it to have been 
 a book relating to my profession. He, though a sol- 
 dier at court, was a devout person, and congratulated 
 me on my taste. On my informing him how earnest- 
 ly I studied those epistles, he gave me an account of 
 Antony the Egyptian monk, a character to that hour 
 unknown to us ; he informed us also of a number of 
 monasteries, of which we knew nothing. There was 
 a monastery at Milan under the care of Ambrose 
 
 Epttesians v- 
 
277 
 
 at that time, of which we had not heard.* When he 
 had given a narration also of two of his companions, 
 who suddenly gave themselves up to God in the same 
 way, and forsook the world, I felt myself confounded. 
 About twelve years had now elapsed from the nine- 
 teenth year of my life, when I read Cicero's Horten- 
 sius, to this time, since I had begun to seek wisdom, 
 and I was yet at a distance from joy. In the entrance 
 on youth, I had prayed for chastity, and had said, 
 " Give me chastity and continence, but grant not my 
 request immediately." For I was afraid, lest thou 
 shouldest quickly hear my prayer, and heal this dis- 
 temper of concupiscence, which I wished rather to be 
 fully gratified than extinguished. And I had gone on 
 perversely in depraved superstition, with a heart at en- 
 mity against thy truth, and had deferred from day to 
 day to devote myself to thee, under the pretence that 
 I was uncertain where the truth lay. Now that it was 
 certain, I was still a slave, and "I hear of others, who 
 have not studied ten or twelve years, as I have done, 
 and who, notwithstanding have given themselves up 
 to God." Such were my thoughts. What pains did I 
 not take to spur my reluctant spirit ! my arguments 
 were spent, a silent trepidation remained, and I dread- 
 ed deliverance itself as death. " What is this, said I 
 to Alypius, which you have heard? Illiterate men rise 
 and seize Heaven, while we with all our learning, are 
 rolling in the filth of sin. In the agitation of my spirit 
 I retired into the garden belonging to the house, know- 
 ing how evil I was, but ignorant of the good thou hadst 
 in store for me. Alypius followed me, and we sat re- 
 mote from the house, and with vehement indignation 
 I rebuked my sinful spirit, because it would not give 
 itself up to God. I found I wanted a will. Still was 
 I held, and thou, in secret, wast urgent upon me with 
 severe mercy. Vanities of vanities, my old friends, 
 shook my vesture of flesh, and whispered, are we to 
 
 * Should the serious reader find himself inclined to blame this monastic tast , 
 I agree with him ; but let the principle have its just praise; it originated in a 
 desire of freedom from the temptations of the world ; and let professors of god- 
 liness observe, how much the excessive indulgence of Uncommercial spirit 
 Tents their o\vn progress ia our times. 
 
278 
 
 part ? and for ever? The evil suggestions which I felt, 
 may thy mercy avert from the soul of thy servant ! 
 Canst thou live without us ? it was said ; but with less 
 and less power? Canst not thou, on the other hand, 
 it was suggested, do what those and these have done, 
 not in themselves, but in the strength of the Lord ? 
 Throw thyself on him, fear not, he will not suffer thee 
 to fall. Turn a deaf ear to the suggestions of the flesh ; 
 they speak of pleasure, but not as the law of thy God. 
 Such was my internal controversy. When deep med- 
 itation had collected all my misery into the view of 
 my heart, a great storm arose producing a large show- 
 er of tears. To give it vent, I rose up hastily from 
 Alypius. The sound of my voice appeared pregnant 
 with weeping, and he remained motionless in the 
 same place. 1 prostrated myself under a fig-tree, and 
 with tears bursting out, I spake to this effect : How 
 long, Lord, wilt thou be angry? for ever? remember 
 not my old iniquities. For I perceived myself entan- 
 gled by them. How long shall I say to-morrow? why 
 should not this hour put an end to my slavery ? Thus I 
 spake and wept in the bitterness of my soul, and I heard 
 a voice as from a neighboring house of one repeat- 
 ing frequently, " take up and read, take up and read." 
 I paused, and began to think, whether I ever had 
 heard boys use such a speech in any play, and could 
 recollect nothing like it. I then concluded, that I was 
 ordered from heaven, to take up the book, and read 
 the first sentence I cast mine eyes upon. I returned 
 hastily to the place, where Alypius was sitting; for 
 there I had placed the book of St. Paul's Epistles. I 
 seized it, opened, and read what first struck my eyes : 
 "not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering 
 and wantonness, not in strife and envying ; but put ye 
 on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for 
 tbe flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." Nor did I choose 
 to read any thing more, nor had I occasion. Imme- 
 diately at the end of this sentence, all my doubts van- 
 ished. I closed the book, and wiih a tranquil coun- 
 tenance gave it to Alypius. He begged to see what I 
 
279 
 
 had read, I showed him it, and he read still further.* 
 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye ; which he 
 applied to himself, as he told me. With a placid se- 
 renity and composure suitable to his character, in 
 which he far excelled me, he joined with me in going 
 to my mother, who now triumphed in the abundant 
 answers given to her petitions. Thus didst thou turn 
 her mourning into joy. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 O LORD, I am thy servant, and the son of thine 
 handmaid, thou hast broken my bonds in sunder. 
 Let my heart and tongue, and all my bones say, Lord, 
 who is like unto thee ? and do thou answer me, and 
 say to my soul, 1 am thy salvation. Who and what 
 am I ? what evil am I not ? Was it my will, or words, 
 or deeds, that have done it? No ; but thou Lord, good 
 and merciful, and thy right hand looking at the depth 
 of my death, and exhausting the abyss of corruption 
 from the bottom of my heart. The whole of my evil 
 lay in a will, stubbornly set in opposition to thine. 
 But where lay of old time, and from what deep secret 
 was my free-will called out in a moment, by which I 
 bowed my neck to thy easy yoke, and my shoulders 
 to thy light burden, Christ Jesus, my helper and Re- 
 deemer ? How sweet was it in a moment to be free 
 from those delightful vanities, to lose which had been 
 my dread, to part with which w r as now my joy ! Thou 
 ejectedst them, O my true and consummate Delight, 
 and thou enteredst in their room, O sweeter than all 
 pleasure, but not to flesh and blood ; clearer than all 
 light, but to the inner man : higher than all honour, 
 but not to those who are high in their own eyes. * 
 Now was my mind set free from the corroding cares of 
 avarice, and ambition, and lust, and I communed in 
 playful ease with thee, my Light, my Riches, my 
 Saviour, and my God. 
 
 * Rom. xiii, and xiv. beginning. 
 
280 
 
 I determined in thy sight to give up my employ- 
 ments not abruptly, but gradually.* And opportunely 
 the vintage vacation being at hand, I resolved to con- 
 tinue in my employment till that time. I was glad al- 
 so, that I had an opportunity of saying to my scholars, 
 what was true, that the care of my health, which had 
 suffered much from fatigue, obliged me to cease from 
 the laborious office of teaching. And to have given 
 up the work before the vacation might have appear- 
 ed arrogant and exposed me to the censure of vanity. 
 But should any of thy servants think, that I did wrong 
 in remaining in the chair of deceit a day longer, I will 
 not contend. But hast not thou, most merciful Lord, 
 washed away this, with all my other deadly sins, in 
 the laver of regeneration ? 
 
 Our friend Verecundus was seized wdth a distem- 
 per, and receiving baptism in the midst of it, departed 
 this life in thy faith and fear. Not long after my con- 
 version, my friend Nebridius also, though he had sunk 
 into the error which takes away the proper manhood 
 of thy Son, was recovered; and becoming a faithful 
 Christian, in Africa his own country, quitted this taber- 
 nacle of clay, and now lives in Abraham's bosom. He 
 no more puts his ear to my mouth, but his spiritual 
 mouth to thy fountain to receive as much wisdom as 
 he is capable of happy without end. 
 
 * I would suggest four particular remarks on the narrative of our author's 
 ffwversion. 1. That it does please God in every age to distinguish some of the 
 ivories of his Holy Spirit by extraordinary circumstances. It is oflittle cnnse-r 
 quence, to debate whether the voice heard in the garden was miraculous or not, 
 whether literally true, or an impression on his mind. Either way it was equal- 
 ly from God, and sheds a lustre on the conversion of a great and eminently holy 
 personage, who was called to testify remarkably for God in his day. 2. There is 
 generally some master-sin, which impedes the work of God in all his people-; 
 Augustine's was sensuality, and in the mortification of that master-sin the grace 
 of God is peculiarly illustrated. 3. The great medium of deliverance always is, 
 the written word of God testifying of Jesus, and salvation only by putting him 
 on through filth. 4. Man's extremity is God's opportunity. In our weakness 
 thoroughly felt God appears. Ts it to be wondered, that the saint before us 
 proved so strong and zealous a champion of the effectual grace of God, and was 
 made use ot to revive the clear doctrine of it in the church, and was trained up 
 by his own experience to defend it against the subtilties of Pelagius ? He who 
 foresaw what Pelagius would introduce, in his adorable wisdom thus provided an 
 experienced pastor of his church, who in due time should withstand his corrup- 
 tions. But of this more hereafter. 
 
281 
 
 It is pleasant to me to remember and confess how 
 thou didst teach me and my friend Alypius, in the 
 country, where we enjoyed the affectionate and sedu- 
 lous care of my mother. We were both in the capa- 
 city of catechumens, and I read with pleasure the 
 Psalms of David. With what mingled pity and indig- 
 nation did I look on the Manichees, who madly reject- 
 ed the antidote of life. O that they saw the internal 
 eternal life, which because I had tasted, I grieved, 
 that I could not shew it to them. 
 
 The holidays being finibhed, 1 signified to my schol- 
 ars, that they must provide themselves another teach- 
 er. And I wrote to Ambrose an account of my errors, 
 and of my present desire; and begged him to recom- 
 mend some part of thy word more particularly to my 
 attention, as a proper preparative for baptism. He 
 pointed out to me the prophet Isaiah, I apprehend, on 
 account of his superior perspicuity in opening the gos- 
 pel. However, finding the first part of this prophet 
 more obscure, and apprehending the rest to be simi- 
 lar, I deferred the reading of him, till I was more ex- 
 perienced in the Scriptures. The time approaching 
 in which I must give in my name, I left the country 
 and returned to Milan. There I received baptism with 
 Alypius and the boy Adeodatus, the fruit of my sin. 
 He was almost fifteen years old, and, in understand- 
 ing, he exceeded many learned men. I glorify thee 
 for thy gifts, my God; for I had nothing in the boy but 
 sin. For that I brought hirn up in thy religion, thou, 
 and thou only inspiredst me. 1 looked with trembling 
 at his prodigious genius. But thou soon rernovedst 
 him from the earth, and I remember him with great- 
 er satisfaction, as I have now no anxiety for his child- 
 hood, his youth, or his manhood. Nor could I at that 
 time be satisfied with contemplating the mystery of 
 redemption. The hymns and songs of thy church 
 moved my soul intensely; thy truth was distilled by 
 them into my heart ; the flame of piety was kindled, 
 and my tears flowed for joy. This practice of singing 
 had been of no long standing at Milan. It began 
 about the year when Justina persecuted Ambrose. 
 
 2M 
 
282 
 
 The pious people watched in the church, prepared t 
 die with their pastor. There my mother sustained an 
 eminent part in watching and praying. Then hymns 
 and psalms after the manner of the east, were sung, 
 with'a view of preserving the people from weariness ; 
 and thence the custom has spread through Christian 
 churches. 
 
 Thou, who makes! men to be of one mind in an 
 house, unitedst to us one of our young townsmen, Eu- 
 odius, who had served in the army, and was now re- 
 generated. We determined to return to Africa, and 
 when we were at the mouth of the Tiber, my mother 
 departed this life. I must not pass by the conceptions 
 of my soul concerning her, who endured labor for my 
 temporal birth, and labored in heart for my spirit- 
 ual birth. She had been brought up in a Christian 
 family, but did not so much commend her mother's 
 care, as that of a decrepid old servant of the house, 
 who had nursed her father, whose years and charac- 
 ter were highly respected, and who superintended the 
 education of her master's daughters. She never suf- 
 fered them to drink even water, except -at meals, tell- 
 ing them, that if ever they became mistresses, the 
 custom of drinking would remain, but they would 
 then indulge it in wine, not water. Yet my mother 
 Monica, notwithstanding the care of this provident 
 governess, when young had learned by degrees to 
 drink wine, having been sent to draw it for the use of 
 the family. By what method was she delivered from 
 this snare ? Thou providest for her a malignant re- 
 proach from a maid of the house, who, in a passion, 
 called her drunkard. From that moment she gave 
 up the practice for ever. Thus didst thou prepare a 
 cure for her evil practice, by the malevolent railing of 
 another, that no man may attribute it to his own pow- 
 er, if his admonitions of another be attended with sal- 
 utary effect* 
 
 * I cowld not prevail with myself to pass over altogether this, anxl a few more 
 circumstances of domestic life, which follow. Let the piety and prudence, 
 which they breathe, compensate for their simplicity. To a serious mind they 
 wll! perhaps appear, not only not contemptible., but even also instructive. 
 
283 
 
 After her marriage with my father Patricius, she en- 
 deavored to win him over to thy service by the amia- 
 bleness of her manners, and patiently bore the injuries 
 of his unfaithfulness. She still looked for thy mercy, 
 that, learning to believe in thee, he might become 
 chaste. His temper was passionate^ but his spirit be- 
 nevolent. She knew how to bear with him when an- 
 gry, by a perfect silence and composure; and when 
 she saw him cool, would meekly expostulate with 
 him. Many matrons in her company would complain 
 of the blows and harsh treatment they received from 
 their husbands, whose tempers were yet milder than 
 that of Patricias: whom she would exhort to govern 
 their tongues, and remember the inferiority of their 
 condition. And when they expressed their astonish- 
 ment that it was never heard that Patricius, a man of 
 so violent a temper, had beaten his wife, or that they 
 ever were at variance a single day, she informed them 
 of her plan. Those, who followed it, thanked her for 
 the good success of it ; those who did not, experienced 
 vexation. Her mother-in-law, at first was irritated 
 against her by the whispers of servants. But she over- 
 came her by mild obsequiousness, insomuch that she 
 at length informed her son of the slanders of those 
 backbiters, and desired that they might be restrained. 
 Thus she and her mother-in-law lived in perfect har- 
 mony. It was a great gift, which, O my God, thou 
 gavest to her, that she never repeated any of the fierce 
 things, which she heard from persons who were at va- 
 riance with one another, and was conscientiously ex- 
 act, in saying nothing but what might tend to heal and 
 to reconcile* 
 
 I might have been tempted to think this a small 
 good, had I not known by grievous experience the in- 
 numerable evils resulting to society from the contrary 
 spirit by which men extend mischief like a pestilence, 
 not only repeating the words of angry enemies, to 
 angry enemies, but also adding what never had been 
 sn id; whereas the human mind should not be content 
 with negative goodness in such cases, but should en- 
 deavor to promote peace by speaking what is good. 
 
284 
 
 as my amiable mother did, through the effectual 
 teaching of thy Spirit. At length, in the extremity of 
 life, she gained her husband to thee, and he died in the 
 faith of Christ. 
 
 It was through thy secret appointment, that she 
 and I stood alone at a window facing the east, in a 
 house at the mouth of the Tiber, where we were pre- 
 paring ourselves for our voyage. Our discourse was 
 highly agreeable, and forgetting the past, we endeav- 
 ored to conceive aright the nature of the eternal life of 
 the saints. It was evident to us, that no carnal delights 
 deserve to be named on this subject ; erecting our 
 spirits more ardently, we ascended above the noblest 
 parts of the material creation to the consideration of 
 our own minds, and passing above them, we attempt- 
 ed to reach heaven itself, to come to thee, by whom all 
 things were made. There our hearts were enamored, 
 and there we held fast the first fruits of the Spirit, and 
 returned to the sound of our own voice, which gave 
 us an emblem of the divine Word. We said, if a 
 man should find the flesh, the imagination, and every 
 tongue to be silent, all having confessed their Maker, 
 and afterwards holding their peace, and if he should 
 now apply his ear to him who made them, and God 
 alone should speak, not by any emblems or created 
 things, but by himself, so that we could hear his word, 
 should this be continued, and other visions be with- 
 drawn, and this alone ? seize and absorb the spectator 
 forever, is not this the meaning of, "Enter thou into 
 the joy of thy Lord ?"* At that moment the world ap- 
 peared to us of no value: and she said, Son, I have 
 now no delight in life. What I should do here and 
 why I am here I know not, the hope of this life being 
 quite spent. One thing only, your conversion, was 
 an object for which I wished to live. My God has giv- 
 en rne this in larger measure. What do I here ? 
 Scarce five days after, she fell into a fever. A brother 
 of mine who was with us lamented, that she was like- 
 ly to die in a foreign land. She looked at him with 
 
 * Matthew xxv. In Rev. xxi. 23, the same sublime thought is described under 
 th? medium of sight which here is conveyed under the medium of hearing-. 
 
285 
 
 anxiety to sec him so groveling in his conceptions, 
 and then looking at me, said, Place this body any 
 where; do not distress yourselves concerning it. I 
 could not but rejoice and give thee thanks, that she 
 was delivered from that anxiety, with which I knew 
 she always had been agitated in regard to* a sepulchre 
 which she had provided for herself, and prepared near 
 the body of her husband. I knew not the time, when 
 by the fulness of thy grace, she had been rid of this 
 emptiness, but I rejoiced to find this evidence of it. 
 I heard afterwards, that while we were at Ostia she 
 had discoursed with some friends in my absence con- 
 cerning the contempt of life, and they, expressing their 
 surprise that she did not fear to leave her body so far 
 from her own country ; nothing, said she, is far to 
 God, and I do not fear, that he should not know where 
 to find me at the resurrection. She departed this 
 life on the ninth day of her illness, in the fifty-sixth 
 year of her age, and the thirty-third of mine.* 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 Now Lord, my groaning testifies that I am displeas- 
 ed with myself; but thou art light and pleasure, and 
 art loved and desired, that I may blush for myself, and 
 throw away myself, and choose thee ; and neither at- 
 tempt to please thee, nor myself, but by depending on 
 thee. For when I am wicked, this is nothing else, but 
 to confess that I am displeased with myself; and when 
 godly, this is nothing else, but to confess that thou af- 
 fordest that gift to me. The confessions of my past 
 evils, which thou hast forgiven, changing my mind by 
 faith and thy baptism, when they are read and heard, 
 excite the heart, that it sink not in despair, but may 
 watch in the love of thy mercy, and the sweetness of 
 
 * In what follows to the end of this book, the author gives a very amiable 
 picture of the filial affections, tempered by piety und resignation, which he felt 
 on this occasion, not indeed Wtthout a mixture of the superstition of praying for 
 the dead, which was growing in this century. In him the evangelical spirit, 
 however, predominates extremely, even while he is indulging the superstitious. 
 .But let. ii> suffice to have given this general accounti 
 
286 
 
 ihy grace, by which the weak is made strong, who, by 
 it, is brought to feel his own weakness. But what ad-'- 
 vantage will result from my confessing, as I now pro- 
 pose, not what I was, but what I now am ? I will dis- 
 cover myself to such as will rejoice over me for what is 
 good, and will pray for and sympathize with me in re- 
 gard to what is evil, more secure as I am, through thy 
 mercy than my innocence. I am a little child, but 
 my father always lives, and is my sufficient guardian. 
 What temptations I can or cannot resist, I know not. 
 But my hope is this, that thou art faithful, that thou 
 dost not suffer us to be tempted, above that we are 
 able, but with the temptation also makest a way to es- 
 cape; that we may be able to bear it.* Lord, I love 
 thee ; thou hast smitten my heart with thy word, and I 
 have loved thee. But what do I love, when I love 
 thee ? not the heavens and the earth, nor any created 
 beauty. They cry aloud, we are not God, he made us. 
 Where shall I find thee, but in thyself above me ? 
 Too late did I love thee, thou PRIMEVAL Beauty. 
 Thou calledst aloud, and overcamest my deafness, 
 Thou shonest and dispelledst my darkness. Thou 
 wast fragrant, and I panted after thee. I tasted, and 
 hungered and thirsted after thee : thou touchedst me, 
 and I was inflamed mto thy peace. When I shall stick 
 wholly to thee, I shall no more have pain and fatigue, 
 and my whole life shall live full of thee. But now be- 
 cause thou supportest him whom thou fillest, because 
 I am not full of thee, I am a burden to myself. My 
 wholesome griefs and pernicious pleasures contend 
 together, and I know not on which side the victory 
 stands. Woe is me ! Thou art my physician, I am sick* 
 Thou art merciful, I am wretched. All my hope lies 
 in thy immense mercy. Give what thou commandest, 
 and command what thou wilt. Thou commandest us to 
 keep from the lust of the flesh, from the lust of the eyes, 
 and from the pride of life. And what thou command- 
 est, thou hast given me. Yet there still live in my me- 
 mory the images of evils, to which I had been habit- 
 uated, and they occur to me even in sleep. Is not thy 
 
 1 Cor. x. 
 
287 
 
 hand, O God, able to heal all the diseases of my soul, 
 and to sanctify even the hours of rest ?f I would rejoice 
 with trembling in what thouhast given me, and mourn 
 over that which is imperfect, and hope that thou will 
 perfect thy mercies, when death shall be swallowed up 
 in victory. 
 
 There is another evil of the day, and I wish the day 
 may be sufficient for it. We refresh the continual ru- 
 ins of the body by food, till this corruptible shall put 
 on incorruption. Thou hast taught me to use aliment 
 as medicine. But while I am passing from the unea- 
 siness of hunger to the rest of satiety ; in the very pas- 
 sage the snare of concupiscence is laid for me ; and 
 the bounds of innocence are not easily defined, and a 
 pretence for indulgence is made on that very account. 
 These temptations 1 daily endeavor to resist, and I call 
 on thy right hand for my salvation, and make known to 
 thce my agitations of soul, because I am not yet clear 
 on this subject. I hear my God, " let not your heart 
 be overcharged with surfeiting and drunken ness. >? * 
 The latter is far from me, let it not approach me ; the 
 former sometimes steals upon me, keep it at a distance 
 from me. Who is there, Lord, that is perfectly tempe- 
 rate ? Whoever he be, let him magnify thy name. 
 But I am not he, I am a sinful man. However I mag- 
 nify thy name, and he who overcame the world, and 
 numbers me among the weak members of his body 
 intercedes for my sins. 
 
 In regard to the enticement of smells, I am not so- 
 licitous. When they are absent, I want them not; 
 when present I c}o not refuse them, content to be with- 
 out them entirely. So I think ; but such is my miser- 
 able darkness, that I must not easily credit myself be- 
 cause, what is within, geaerally lies hid, till experience 
 evidence it. The only hope, the only confidence, the 
 only firm promise is thy mercy. 
 
 The pleasures of the ear have deeper hold on me. 
 I find, even while I am charmed with sacred melody, I 
 am led astray at times by the luxury of sensations, and 
 
 | The Christian desires his hours of sleep to be all devoted to the glory of Gofi 
 * Luke xxj. 
 
288 
 
 offend, not knowing at the -time, but afterwards I dis- 
 cover it. Sometimes guarding against this fallacy, I err 
 in the other extreme, and could wish all the melody of 
 David's psalms were removed from my ears and those 
 of the church, and think it safer to imitate the plan of 
 Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, who directed a meth- 
 od of repeating the Psalms, more resembling pronun- 
 ciation than music. But when I remember my tears 
 of affection at my conversion under the melody 
 of thy church, with which I am still affected, I again 
 acknowledge the utility of the custom. Thus do I 
 fluctuate between the danger of pleasure, and the ex- 
 perience of utility, and am more induced, though with 
 a wavering assent, to own that the infirmity of nature 
 maybe assisted in devotion by psalmody. Yet when 
 the tune has moved me more than the subject, I feel 
 guilty and am ready to wish 1 had not heard the mu- 
 sic.* See where I am, and mourn with me, ye who 
 are conscious of any inward feelings of godliness. I 
 cannot expect the sympathy of those who are not. 
 Thou, Lord my God, hear, and pity x and heal me. 
 
 The pleasures of the eye I find to entangle me from 
 time to time. But thou deliverest me, sometimes 
 without pain, because I fall into them gently ; at oth- 
 er times with pain, because I stick in them. 
 
 Another form of manifold danger is added, a curi- 
 ous spirit, palliated by the name of knowledge. Sur- 
 rounded as we are with objects, when can J say I am 
 freed from this ? What vehement temptations have I 
 had from the enemy to ask of thee a sign ? But I be- 
 seech thee by our king Jesus Christ, that, as I am far 
 from consenting to it, so I may be farther and farther. 
 What a trifle diverts me from a thought of great im- 
 portance, and unless thou quickly admonish me by 
 the conviction of my infirmity, either to divert the 
 thought by some serious meditation, or to despise it al- 
 together, I should become absolutely dull. My life is 
 full of these evils, and even my prayers are often dis- 
 
 * All who attend to sacred psalmody, may learn from this, the importance of 
 watching- their hearts, and of attending clpsely to the truths brought into view 
 in the sacred song. 
 
289 
 
 turbed, and while I apply my heart to thirje ears, I am 
 overborne by a torrent of vanities. 
 
 What can give hope except thy mercy, by which 
 thou hast begun to renew us? And thou knowest 
 how much thou hast done for me already. I carry thy 
 yoke, and find it easy, as thou hast promised. It al- 
 ways was so, but I did not believe it, when I was 
 afraid to take it upon me : but can I, O Lord, who alone 
 rulest without pride because thou hast no superior, 
 can I in this life be exempt from pride ? Well done, 
 well done, I find scattered in the nets by the enemy 
 every where. Daily, Lord, we feel these temptations. 
 Thou knowest on this head, the groans of my heart, 
 and the floods of mine eyes. Nor can I easily see, that 
 I grow more free from this pest of pride ; and I much 
 fear my secret evils, which thou knowest. I am poor 
 and needy, and my best method is to seek thy mercy 
 in secret groans and self abhorrence, till thou perfect 
 that which concerneth me. 
 
 There is another internal evil, by which a man, 
 without seeking to please others, pleases himself with 
 thy good things, as if they were his own ; or if he al- 
 lows them to be thine, yet he is apt to fancy them be- 
 stowed upon him for his own merits ; or he pleases him- 
 self with indulging an invidious spirit against others. 
 In all these dangers thou seest the trembling of my 
 heart; I feel my wounds healed every now and then 
 by thee ; but I feel not an exemption from them. 
 Sometimes thou introducest me into an uncommon 
 affection, into a sweetness past the power of descrip- 
 tion, which, were it perfected in me, I should not see 
 what life would want to complete its felicity. But I 
 sink back by the weight of misery, and am held en- 
 tangled. 
 
 Whom shall I look to as my mediator ? Shall I go 
 to angels ? Many have tried this, and have been fond 
 of visions, and have deserved to be the sport of the il- 
 lusions which they loved. A mediator between God 
 and man must have the nature of both. The true me- 
 diator, whom in thy secret mercy thou hast shewn to 
 the humble, and hast sent, that by his example they 
 
290 
 
 might also learn humility, the man Christ Jesus hath 
 appeared a mediator between mortal sinners and the 
 immortal Holy One, that, because the wages of right- 
 eousness is life and peace ; by his divine righteous- 
 ness he might justify the ungodly, and deliver them 
 from death. He was shewn to ancient saints, that 
 they might be saved by faith in his future sufferings 
 as we by faith in the same sufferings already past. 
 How hast thou loved us, Father, delivering up thy on- 
 ly Son for us ungodly ? For whom he, our priest and 
 sacrifice, who thought it no robbery to be equal with 
 thee, was subjected to death. Well may my hope be 
 strong through such an Intercessor ; else, I should des- 
 pair. Many and great are my diseases, thy medicine 
 larger still. Were he not made flesh for us, we could 
 not dream of having any union with him. Terrified 
 with my sins arid the weight of my misery, I was des- 
 ponding, but thou encouragedst me, saying, Christ di- 
 ed for all, that they which live should not live to 
 themselves, but to him that died for them.* Lo, I 
 cast all my care on thee, Lord, that I may live. Thou 
 knowest my weakness and ignorance, teach and heal 
 me. He hath redeemed me with his blood, in whom 
 are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 
 Let not the proud calumniate me, if with the poor I 
 desire to eat and be satisfied, and to praise the Lord.f 
 
 Augustine, after his conversion, returned with some 
 friends into Africa, and lived upon his own estate for 
 almost three years, retired from the world. A desire 
 to oblige a person of some consequence in Hippo, 
 who requested his instructions, brought him at length 
 
 * 2 Corinthians v. 
 
 $ Psalm xxii. 26. We see in this last book the author's description of the 
 conflict between flesh and spirit after his conversion, and the repose of his soul 
 for peace and happiness only on the Lord Jesus as his righteousness and strength. 
 I shall make no farther remarks than to repeat his own observation in his retrac- 
 tions. " These Confessions praise the God of righteousness and goodness, and 
 excite the human understanding and affection toward him. Tney dxl this in me 
 while I was writing them, and they do it still when I read them. What others 
 may think of th.em let them judge ; but I know they Imve much pleased and da 
 please many of the brethren," 
 
291 
 
 to that city, where Valerius was bishop, a person of 
 great piety ; but, on account of his slender acquaint- 
 ance with the Latin tongue, scarce adequate to the 
 office of pastor in that place. Augustine, through the 
 strong and urgent desires of the people, was ordained 
 presbyter to Valerius ; but wept on the occasion from 
 the genuine sense which he had of the importance of 
 the office. He told Possidius that his tears were by 
 some misconstrued,* as if he regretted that he had 
 not been chosen bishop. Such poor judges are ma- 
 ny, of the views and sensations of godly men ! Vale- 
 rius rejoiced that God bad heard his prayers, and that 
 the people would now be supplied with such a pastor. 
 He gave him licence to preach in the presence of the 
 bishop, a thing before unknown in Africa ; but which, 
 from the good effects of this precedent, afterwards grew 
 common. Here his ministry was useful in the instruc- 
 tion and edification of the brethren, and also in the 
 defeat of various heresies. Divine truth, which had 
 been almost buried amidst many schisms and distrac- 
 tions in Africa, now raised up its head again ; and 
 Fortunatus, the great leader of the Manichees, was 
 obliged, in confusion, to leave Hippo, when he found 
 himself, by the confession of the hearers, vanquished 
 in a conference with Augustine. 
 
 Heretics vied with the members of the general 
 church in their attention to the pastoral labors of Au- 
 gustine, whose fame began gradually to spread through- 
 out the western world. Valerius rejoiced and gave 
 thanks on the account, and being solicitous to preserve 
 such a treasure to his church, he took care to get Au- 
 gustine elected bishop of Hippo, in conjunction with 
 himself. Age and infirmities rendered Valerius very 
 inadequate to the work ; and every true Christian will 
 doubt which more to admire, the godly zeal of Augus- 
 tine, tempered with modesty and chanty, or the un- 
 feigned humility of Valerius, Augustine, after he had 
 strongly resisted the inclinations of the bishop and all 
 the church, at length accepted the office ; the duties 
 of which he continued to discharge after the cteceas** 
 
 Possid. Life of Aug 1 , 
 
of Valerius. His zeal and assiduity increased with 
 his authority. The monastery of his institution be- 
 came renowned in Africa ; and about ten bishops, 
 of undoubted piety, known to our author,* came from 
 this seminary. These instituted monasteries after the 
 same pattern, and from them other churches were 
 supplied with pastors; and the doctrines of faith, 
 hope, and charity, by these means, and also by Augus- 
 tine's writings, which were translated into the Greek 
 tongue, were diffused and enforced with increasing 
 vigor through the Christian world. His writings, how- 
 ever, never seem to have had any permanent influence 
 in the eastern church. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Pelagian Controversy. 
 
 A.T a time when the influence of the Holy Spirit was 
 faintly experienced, and superstition and licentious- 
 ness were rapidly increasing, satan felt himself embol- 
 dened to raise a new heresy, which should pretend to 
 purity, in perfection, resulting from the excellence of 
 MERE HUMAN NATURE, without the agency of divine 
 grace. This was Pelagianism : an heresy which de- 
 rived its name from Pelagius, a monk, who decried 
 the doctrine of the original corruption of human nature, 
 and the necessity of Divine grace to enlighten the under- 
 standing and purify the heart, because they were pre- 
 judicial to the progress of holiness and virtue, and ten- 
 ding to establish mankind in a presumptuous and fatal 
 security. He taught that we derive no corruption 
 from the fall of om first parents, but are born as pure 
 and unspotted as Adam came from the forming hand 
 of his Creator ; that mankind are capable of repen- 
 tance and amendment, and of arriving at the highest 
 degrees of piety and virtue by the use of their natural 
 powers and faculties ; that indeed external grace is ne- 
 cessary to excite their endeavors, but tkat they have 
 
 *Fossid. 
 
293 
 
 no need of the internal succours of the Divine Spirit ; 
 that Adam was by nature mortal ; and certainly 
 would have died, if he had not sinned ; that the grace 
 of God is given in proportion to our merits; that man- 
 kind may arrive at a state of perfection in this life ; 
 and that the law qualified men for the kingdom of 
 heaven, and was founded upon equal promises with 
 the gospel. 
 
 Pelagius was born in Britain. His companion, and 
 coadjutor in heresy, was Ccelestius an Irishman.- 
 They were both laymen, and as far as appears, always 
 maintained characters of fair and decent morals. 
 They were both men of genius and capacity of the first 
 rank. The heretical opinions of Pelagius did not ap- 
 pear till he was far advanced in life ; before that time, 
 his reputation for serious piety was great in the Chris- 
 tian world. Those who know the difference between 
 real holiness and the semblance of it in mere morality 
 will not be surprized at this. 
 
 To counteract this heresy, Augustine, of Hippo, had 
 been trained up under the Lord's wholesome disci- 
 pline, by an extraordinary conversion. In this way 
 God made use of this heresy as an occasion of intro- 
 ducing more just views of gospel grace, than had for a 
 long time obtained in the church, and of reviving 
 Christian truth, humility and piety. 
 
 Pelagius used to deliver his heretical principles un- 
 der the modest appearance of queries, started against 
 the doctrines of the church, and those as not invented 
 by himself but by others. This was an artful and pow- 
 erful method to poison the minds of men. Also with 
 consummate artifice he insinuated himself into the fa- 
 vor of women of some rank, of weak minds, and unac- 
 quainted with the spirit of the gospel, though profess- 
 ing religion ; and by their means, he diffused his te- 
 nets with much success. Ccelestius, more daring and 
 open in speech, pursued a method not so replete witji 
 deceit, and was therefore exposed to detection more 
 easily than his master. He was condemned, by a 
 synod, at Carthage, as an heretic, in the year 412, and 
 his hopes of rising in the church ? were hereby cjisap- 
 
S94 
 
 pointed. At this synod, when Ccelestius was asked 
 whether he had not asserted, that infants are born in 
 the state in which Adam was before transgression ; all 
 that could be obtained from him was, " that infants 
 needed baptism, and ought to be baptized." 
 
 The Pelagian controversy was a dispute between 
 holy men and mere men of the world ; between grace 
 and human merit, between the spirit and doctrine of 
 an humble publican, and that of a self-righteous phar- 
 isee. 
 
 It appears, from well authenticated facts, that after 
 Pelagius had travelled through the Roman empire, and 
 had, in vain, attempted to overturn the doctrines of 
 grace, he retired to his own native country. But 
 nothing certain is to be known further either concern- 
 ing him or Ccelestius. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Augustine's Conduct toward the Donatists His death. 
 
 i HE active spirit of the bishop of Hippo found 
 much employment in his long course of private and 
 public labors against the Pelagians, the Manichees and 
 the Donatists, besides the general care of the African 
 churches, and the peculiar inspection of his own dio- 
 cese. The two former sects he in a manner eradica- 
 ted. The last he opposed with much success. 
 
 Some of the Donatists were, comparatively speak- 
 ing, a mild and peaceable people ; but this was not the 
 case with those who were called Circumcelliones. 
 These were a mere banditti, sons of violence and 
 bloodshed, who neither valued their own lives nor 
 those of their neighbors, and frequently were remark- 
 able for committing suicide in a fit of frenzy. They 
 had a peculiar malice against the pastors of the gen- 
 eral church, and from time to time, way-laid them, at- 
 tacked them with armed force, and mutilated, or even 
 killed them. Th^y burnt the houses of those who 
 
295 
 
 ifrould not comply with their sentiments, and were 
 guilty of many detestable enormities. By these mis- 
 erable men, Augustine was, several times, way-laid, 
 and narrowly escaped. By him many of this banditti, 
 were, however, brought, with much humility and joy 
 to confess their error, and to return to the bosom of 
 the church with every mark of serious repentance. 
 
 After a life of great activity for the good of souls, 
 and many sore trials, Augustine was seized with a fe- 
 ver, which ended in his dissolution, in the year 430. 
 He lived 76 years, 40 of which he had been a presby- 
 ter or bishop. He used to say, that a Christian should 
 never cease to repent, even to the hour 6f his death. 
 He had David's penitential Psalms inscribed on the 
 wall in his last sickness, and he read and wept abun- 
 dantly. For ten days before he expired, he desired to 
 be uninterrupted, that he might give himself wholly to 
 devotion, except at certain intervals. He had preach- 
 ed the word of God constantly, till his last sickness. 
 He left no will, having neither money norlands to be- 
 queath. His library he left to the church. Of his* 
 f>wn relations, he had previously taken adequate care* 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Theology of Augustine* 
 
 the irruption of the Vandals, the Roman empire 
 was on all sides dissolving, at the time of Augustine's 
 death ; and its fairest provinces in Africa, fell into 
 the hands of the barbarians But the light which, 
 through his means, had been kindled, was not extinct ; 
 for, as it depended not on the grandeur of the Roman 
 empire, so neither was it extinguished by its decline. 
 For more than a thousand years the light of Divine 
 truth, which here and there shone in individuals, dur- 
 ing the dreary night of superstition, was nourished by 
 the writings of Augustine, which next to the sacred 
 scriptures, were the guides of men who feared God. 
 
296 
 
 The doctrine of justification, however, he did not 
 clearly understand, and a precise and clear exhibition 
 of it is not to be found in his writings. Still he knew 
 what faith in the Redeemer meant : and those parts 
 of the scripture, which speak of the forgiveness of sins, 
 he understood, felt and loved. 
 
 While, to trust in ourselves, was the avowed boast 
 of all the philosophers, and they were expecting vir- 
 tue and every internal excellence, only from them- 
 selves ; Augustine, by his own experience, felt human 
 insufficiency completely, and knew that in himself 
 dwelt no good thing. Hence was he admirably pre- 
 pared to describe the total depravity and apostacy of 
 human nature, and what he knew to be true he faith- 
 fully describes. Feeling himself to have been changed 
 entirely by effectual grace^ he came fully to acquiesce 
 in St. Paul's views of predestination. This, with him, 
 was a doctrine, which followed experimental religion^ 
 as a shadow follows the substance. 
 
 His theology was practical. He preached the doc- 
 trines of grace with design to exalt God and humble 
 the creature. He taught men what it is to be humble 
 before God. Practical godliness was his theme, and 
 he constantly connected all his views of grace with hu- 
 mility. He taught in opposition to the Pelagian notion 
 of sinless perfection, that the most humble and the 
 most holy, have, through life, to combat with indwell- 
 ing sin. He greatly delighted in the practical subjects 
 of charity and heavenly-mindedness. These, from his 
 first conversion, influenced all his conduct. In his 
 writings, no pride, no self-conceit, no bitterness, ever 
 discovered themselves in any expression. 
 
 Finally, in ethics he is superior. On the subject of 
 veracity and faithfulness ^to oaths, and in general, in 
 the practice of justice, in the love of mercy, and in 
 walking humbly with God, as he wrote most admira- 
 bly, so he practised most sincerely 5 and by his wri- 
 tings and practice, he exhorted others to be of the 
 same judgment and of the same practice- with himself, 
 as to the great things of religion. 
 
297 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Jerom. 
 
 HIS renowned monk waB born at Stridon, near 
 Dalmatia, under the emperor Constantine, in the year 
 331. Great care was early taken to give him a good 
 education. He Was brought up under religious in- 
 struction from his infancy* After his baptism, at 
 Rome, he travelled into France, and examined libra- 
 ries, collecting information from all quarters. On his 
 return to his own country, he determined to follow the 
 profession of a monk, a term then implying a private 
 recluse Christian, a life suited to gratify his studious 
 disposition. He was, however, made a presbyter of 
 the church, but never would proceed any further in 
 ecclesiastical dignity. He spent four years in the de- 
 serts of Syria, reading and studying with immense in- 
 dustry. Here, by the assistance of a Jew, who visited 
 him, Nicodemus-like, in the evenings,, lest he should 
 give umbrage to his brethren, he acquired the knowl- 
 edge of the Hebrew tongue, and with indefatigable 
 labor, studied also the Chaldee and the Syriac. After 
 this he visited Rome, where he encouraged a monas- 
 tic life, and had many admirers. But unjust asper- 
 sions having been cast on his character, with disgust 
 he left Rorrie, and went into the East. Several of his 
 admirers followed him* Having chosen Bethlehem 
 as the seat of his old age, and having erected four 
 monasteries, three for women, and one for men, he 
 there spent the rest of his life, enjoying at times the 
 society of his learned friends. In the year 42, ho 
 died in the ninety first year of his age. His knowl- 
 edge of theology was limited. He did not under- 
 stand the true gospel-mystery of mortifying sin, and 
 by his voluntary humility, and neglect of the body, 
 and by the splendor of his ill-digested learning, con- 
 tributed more than any other person of antiquity to 
 the growth of superstition. But notwithstanding this 
 he appears to have had some devout and just views of 
 the character and offices of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
298 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Church of Christ in the West. 
 
 JLT is time to resume the connected thread of history. 
 But the reader must not expect a successive detail of 
 the proceedings of the Roman princes. 
 
 After the death of Theodosius, the empire was torn 
 by various convulsions, tending particularly in the 
 West, to its destruction. Let us regard only the real 
 church amid these scenes. She lived, while the sec- 
 ular glory of Rome was destroyed. Honorius, the 
 son of Theodosius, reigned there, while his brother 
 Arcadius governed at Constantinople. 
 
 Honorius, being a weak prince, governed by his 
 ministers, protected the external state of the church, 
 extirpated the remains of idolatry, and supported or- 
 thodoxy. The superior advantages of a Christian, 
 above a pagan establishment, even in times of great 
 religious declension appear in the humanity of a num- 
 ber of laws, and edicts, by which idolatrous impurities 
 and savage games were abolished, and in the care ta- 
 ken of the needy and miserable. In what, for instance, 
 but. a Christian government, shall we find so humane a 
 law as that of Honorius, by which judges are directed 
 to take prisoners out of prison every Sunday, and to 
 enquire if they be provided with necessaries, and to 
 see that they are properly accommodated in all 
 things ? 
 
 Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, was one of the 
 greatest ornaments of Gaul in this century. He was 
 u person of quality, and exercised the profession of a 
 counsellor in the former part of his life. Amator, his 
 predecessor in the see, perceived some evidences of 
 piety in him, and ordained him deacon. A month af- 
 ter the decease of Amator, Germanus was unanimous- 
 ly elected bishop by the clergy, nobility, citizens, and 
 peasants, and was forced, notwithstanding he manifest- 
 ed the greatest reluctance, to accept the office. He 
 employed himself in founding monasteries, and in en- 
 
299 
 
 ncliing the church, while he impoverished himself, 
 and for 30 years, from his ordination to his death, liv- 
 ed in extreme austerity. 
 
 About the year 430, Gcrmanus visited the island of 
 Great Britain, to oppose Agricola, who was there prop- 
 agating the Pelagian heresy among the churches in 
 that country. Lupus, bishop of Troyes, accompanied 
 Germanus in this mission, which was undertaken at 
 the request of a numerous council in Gaul. Lupus; 
 governed his church -52 years, and was highly renown- 
 ed for sanctity. These two bishops, on their arrival, 
 preached not only in the churches, but also in the 
 highways, and in the open country, and vast crowds 
 attended their ministry. The Pelagians came to a 
 conference. The bishops supported the doctrines of 
 grace, by express passages of scripture, and Pelagi- 
 anism was reduced to silence. 
 
 At this time, the Picts, a race of barbarians who in- 
 habited the North, and the Saxons, a German nation, 
 called in by the Britons, as it is well known, to assist 
 them against the Picts, united their forces against the 
 natives. The latter terrified at the approach of the 
 enemy, had recourse to Germanus and Lupus. Many, 
 having been instructed by them, desired baptism, 
 and a great part of the army received it, in a church 
 made of boughs of trees twisted together. When this 
 was done, they marched against the enemy, with 
 Germanus at their head. He, having posted his men 
 in a valley where the enemy were to pass, surprised 
 and defeated them. After this, the two bishops re- 
 turned to the continent. Palladius having been ordain- 
 ed bishop of Scotland, arrived there in the year 431. 
 Scotland had never before seen a bishop, and was in 
 a state of extreme barbarism. 
 
 While the doctrines of grace were defended in Bri- 
 tain with some hopeful, saving efficacy, the doctrine 
 of semi-pelagianism in Gaul still maintained its ground, 
 and Prosper and Hilary stood in defence of th<3 ortho- 
 dox principles, Ccelestine of Rome, where the spark 
 of truth was still alive, amidst the mass of corruption 
 which infested the western church vigorously support- 
 
300 
 
 efl the same cause. Coelestine, in contending for the 
 faith once delivered to the saints, labored to prove, 
 that all men are by nature, under the power of sin, by- 
 reason of the fall, from which nothing but grace can 
 deliver any man that man is not good of himself; he 
 needs a communication to him from God nor can 
 a man, though renewed, overcome the flesh and the 
 devil, except he receive daily assistance that God so 
 worketh upon the hearts of men, that holy thoughts, 
 pious intentions, and the least motion toward a good 
 intention, proceed from God. The grace of God does 
 not take away free-will, but delivers, enlightens, rec- 
 tifies and heals it. Thus was the truth supported at 
 Rome, amidst the abounding superstitions. 
 
 Palladius, the pastor of Scotland, being dead, Coe- 
 lestine sent Patrick, a native of that country, in his 
 stead. Patrick, having been carried captive into Ire- 
 land, where he learnt the customs of the country, was 
 by some pirates afterward carried into Gaul ; but after 
 various adventures, he returned, a volunteeranto Ire- 
 land, to attempt the conversion of the barbarous na- 
 tives, who seem, till that time, to have been without 
 any acquaintance with Christianity. The uncivilized 
 Irish refused at firbt to hear him. He went to Gaul, 
 had an interview with Germanus, of Auxerre, and bis 
 mind was enflamed with fresh zeal He then visited 
 Rome, had an interview with Co3lestine, from whom 
 he received such support and assistance that he re-r 
 visited Ireland, where his success ^was, at length, so 
 great, that to this day, he is looked on as the apostle 
 of the Irish. By him they were first taught the use of 
 letters ; and from him they unquestionably recieved 
 much instruction, both with respect to the duties of 
 this life, and the preparations necessary for happiness 
 in a future existence. Patrick died about the year 
 460, at an advanced age. 
 
 Semi-pelagianism strongly recommends itself to the 
 depraved hearts of mankind ; it divides the work of sal- 
 vation between free grace and human ability in such 
 a manner that it both retains a specious appearance of 
 humility toward God, and at the same time flatters the 
 
301 
 
 pride of the human heart. The clergy of Marseilles, 
 with Cassian at their head, very warmly supported 
 this doctrine. Prosper, and Marius Mercator, with the 
 arms of scripture did their utmost to withstand and 
 prevent the spread of this doctrine, so pleasing to the 
 carnal mind. Gaul, and the neighboring countries, 
 no doubt received great benefit from their endeavors. 
 Semi-pelagianism was so far checked, that during the 
 dark ages, after this time, the doctrines of grace were 
 cordially received by godly persons, particularly in 
 the monasteries. All who were thoroughly humbled, 
 and contrite, found the comfort of them ; while Ihose 
 monks, whose religion was pharisaic, found the Semi* 
 pelagian scheme to suit their self-righteous pride, and 
 as the times grew more corrupt, semi-peiagianism 
 gained the ascendency. 
 
 About the year 439, Genseric, king of the Vandals, 
 an Arian by profession, surprized Carthage, in the 
 midst of peace, and used his victory with great cruel- 
 ty. The same unprincipled wickedness, winch had 
 ever characterized the Arian party, shewed itself in 
 Genseric, especially in his malice toward the clergy ; 
 a number of these he drove from the churches, and 
 put to death many of them. 
 
 The abominations of the times seemed to call for 
 such a scourge. But the light of Divine grace reviv* 
 ed in the West, purified many souls, and fitted them 
 for sufferings. It was not so with all. With the ma- 
 jority, both superstition and practical wickedness in- 
 creased. Carthage itself was sunk in vice ; lewdness 
 was amazingly predominant. So deplorable a thing 
 it is for men to depart from the simplicity of Christian 
 faith! The superstition now increasing daily, only for- 
 tified them the more in self-righteousness; and nat- 
 ural depravity was exhibited in deeds of the boldest 
 and most atrocious wickedness. Oppression and 
 cruelty domineered at Carthage ; and the poor, in the 
 anguish of their misery, were induced to beseech God 
 to deliver the city to the barbarians. But these were 
 only Christians in name. They were in reality very 
 idolatrous in their practices, and even amidst the hor- 
 
302 
 
 rorsofwar and public calamities, continued impure 
 and voluptuous. Oppression and injustice were so 
 grievous, that the dominion of the barbarians was re- 
 ally more tolerable than that of the Romans. By this 
 we see the adorable providence of God, in punishing 
 the wickedness of nominal Christians, not only at Car- 
 thage, but in general in this century through the Wes- 
 tern empire. What happened to the ancient Jewish 
 church, when grown wicked and idolatrous, and re- 
 taining only the form of religion, happens also to 
 Christian nations. God is glorified by taking the 
 power out of their hand, that they may no longer pro- 
 fane his holy name. 
 
 Genseric expelled the bishops from their sees, and 
 where they made any resistance, he made them slaves 
 for life. Arians were then put in possession of the va- 
 cant sees. Some who were expelled, and still remain- 
 ed in the provinces, presented themselves before 
 Genseric, and entreated, that as they had lost their 
 churches and their wealth, they might, at least, be al- 
 lowed to remain without molestation in Africa, for the 
 comfort and support of the people of God. The stern 
 barbarian replied, " I have resolved to leave none of 
 your name or nation." It was with difficulty, he was 
 withheld by the entreaties of those about him, from 
 ordering them to be thrown into the sea. 
 
 In the year 443, Genseric passed over into Sicily, 
 >and so far as his arms prevailed, extended the perse- 
 cution of the church into that island,, 
 
 In the year 446, German us of Auxerre, was called 
 to Great Britain, a second time, to withstand the Pela- 
 gian heresy, which was there again spreading its 
 baneful influence. In this way God baffled the at- 
 tempts of those who disturbed the faith of the Britons, 
 Germ anus died in the year 448, having held the see of 
 Auxerre 30 years. 
 
 In the year 454, Genseric, with his Vandals, arrived 
 at Rome, which he found defenceless : Leo went out 
 to meet him, and persuaded him to be content with 
 the pillage, and to abstain from burnings and murders. 
 Genseric returned into Africa with many thousand 
 
303 
 
 captives. This circumstance gave? occasion to an ex- 
 ercise of the Christian grace of charity, in Deogratias, 
 bishop of Carthage, who undertook to redeem those 
 captives by the sale of all the vessels of gold and silver 
 belonging to the churches under his care. He placed 
 the captives in two great churches, which he furnished 
 with beds of straw, giving orders for their daily accom- 
 modation with all necessaries. He appointed physi- 
 cians to attend the sick, and had nourishment distrib- 
 uted to them in his presence, by their directions. In 
 the night he visited all their beds, giving himself up to 
 this work, notwithstanding his age and infirmities. 
 Deogratias lived only three years in his bishopric 7 was 
 endeared to the memory of the faithful by his virtues; 
 and while Arians performed military exploits, and 
 dealt in blood, he honored the real doctrines of the 
 gospel by acts of meekness and charity. In this we 
 trace the real church, and see the connexion of faith 
 and practice in the followers of the Lamb. So much 
 goodness was offensive to Genseric., who took care to 
 suffer no more such bishops. The orthodox bishops 
 in Africa were in process of time reduced to three. 
 
 Several godly persons, after a variety of hardships, 
 came into the hands of Capsur, a Moorish king, 
 a relation of Genseric. These being arrived at the 
 desert where he lived, and having seen there a num- 
 ber of profane sacrifices, began by their discourse and 
 manner of life to bring over the barbarians to the 
 knowledge of God, and gained a great multitude in a 
 country, where the name of Jesus had not yet been 
 heard. Desirous to establish the gospel there, they 
 sent deputies across the desert to a Roman city where 
 there was a bishop. To them, the bishop sent minis- 
 ters, who built a church, and baptized a great number 
 of barbarians. When Genseric heard of these trans- 
 actions he was greatly incensed at the zeal of these pi- 
 ous men and condemned them to death. The con- 
 verted Moors bewailed themselves. To each of them 
 the martyrs said, as they passed by to execution. 
 " Brother pray for me. God has accomplished my 
 desire; this is the way to Ihe heavenly kingdom." 
 
304 
 
 Genseric was a cruel tyrant, and a confirmed Ari- 
 an. By his order, Valerian, bishop of Abbenza, above 
 80 years old^ was driven alone from the city, and all 
 persons were prohibited from lodging him in their 
 houses. He lay naked a long time in the public road, 
 exposed to the weather, and thus expired for the faith 
 of the gospel, 
 
 Genseric afterwards ordered the great church of 
 Carthage to be shut, and banished the ministers ; and 
 wherever his arms prevailed, he made the people of 
 God feel his fury. At this time the northern barbari- 
 ans had extended their victorious arms far and wide; 
 Africa bowed under the yoke of the Vandals* Spain, 
 with a great part of Gaul, was in subjection to the 
 Goths. The Franks subjugated the other part of Gaul. 
 The southern part of Great Britain was overpowered 
 by the Saxons. These were idolaters, and the small 
 remains of ancient Britons, chiistians by profession, re- 
 tired into the inaccessible mountains of Wales. The 
 poverty of the northern parts of the island, was their 
 security. The Franks also were idolaters. The bar- 
 barians who ruled in other parts were Arians. Evaric^ 
 king of the Goths in Spain, forbad the ordination of 
 bishops in the place of those deceased, and sent oth- 
 ers into banishment. The churches fell into decay, 
 and congregations seldom assembled* With the Wes- 
 tern church in general, it was, indeed, a most gloomy 
 time. The wrath of God was evidently poured on 
 them for their long abuse of mercies enjoyed. But 
 the church was not extinct. Some Christians, through 
 grace, possessed their souls in patience, and evinced 
 that real religion though low and depressed still existed. 
 
 Genseric died in the year 477, and was succeeded 
 by his eldest son Huneric. He began his reign with 
 a rnild aspect toward the faithful, and after an interval 
 of 24 years, permitted them to ordain a bishop at Car- 
 thage, but under this condition, that the Arians at 
 Constantinople should have the same liberty, which 
 those of the general church had at Carthage. The 
 people protested against the condition, and with good 
 reason, because the power was out of their hands, and 
 
305 
 
 Said, " we will not accept a bishop on such terms* 
 Jesus Christ will govern the church, as he hath done 
 hitherto." But Huneric disregarded the protestation; 
 and Eugenius was elected bishop of Carthage. 
 
 All mankind soon bore witness to his virtues. 
 Though the revenues of the church were in the hands 
 of the Arians, yet large sums were every day brought 
 to Eugenius, all which he faithfully distributed to the 
 needy, reserving no more to himself than daily bread* 
 The Arian bishops soon murmured, represented him 
 as a dangerous preacher, and expostulated with Eu- 
 genius himself for suffering persons to hear him, who 
 wore the Vandal habit, which at that time, appears to 
 have been perfectly distinct from the Roman. " God's 
 house,' 1 he replied, " is open to all, without respect to 
 persons." 
 
 Huneric fearing that he should lose his Vandals, if 
 they attended the preaching of Eugenius, and to please 
 the court of Constantinople, began to show the feroci- 
 ty of his disposition. He ordered guards to watch at 
 the doors of the church, who, when they saw a man or 
 woman in a Vandal habit, struck such persons with 
 short staves, jagged and indented, which being twisted 
 into the hair and drawn back with sudden violence, 
 tore off both the hair and skin. By this means, many 
 suffered severely 5 women, who had been thus treated, 
 were led through the streets, with a crier going before, 
 to exhibit them to the people. The faithful remained 
 firm. Those who belonged to Huneric's court could 
 riot be induced to receive Arianism. Them he de- 
 prived of their pensions, and sent to reap corn in the 
 country. Having been educated like gentlemen, they 
 saw their punishment was severe and reproachful, but 
 bore the cross for the sake of HIM who gave himself 
 for them. 
 
 Huneric, at first, ordered, that no one should hold 
 any office, who was not an Arian. Afterward, he con- 
 fiscated the possessions of the rejected orthodox, and 
 banished their persons into Sicily and Sardinia. 
 
 Pastors and people, to the amount %f 497(5, were 
 banished into the desert. Felix had been bfehop 44 
 
306 
 
 years, and by the palsy had lost his speech and ever* 
 his understanding. The faithful implored Huneric 
 that the old man might be allowed to end his days 
 quietly at Carthage. Huneric, as if ambitious to out- 
 strip the pagan emperors in persecution, said, " Let 
 him be tied to wild oxen, and be so carried where I 
 ordered." On which, they tied him across a mule 
 like a stick of timber. These Christian heroes were 
 conducted to the two cities of Sicca and Lares, where 
 the Moors were directed to receive and conduct them 
 to the desert. They were at first confined in a prison, 
 where their brethren were allowed to have access to 
 them, to preach, and to administer the Lord's supper. 
 Some young children were of the number, several of 
 whom were tempted to receive Arian baptism ; but 
 out of the mouth of babes and sucklings strength icas or- 
 dained, and they continued firm. 
 
 While in prison they underwent the severest trials 
 from their close and crouded confinement ; but true 
 grace disposed them patiently to endure, rather than 
 free themselves by unfaithfulness. The Moors at 
 length ordered them to march. They went out on 
 the Lord's day, their clothes, their heads, and their fa- 
 ces covered all over with filth, and as they went, sang; 
 " Such honor have all his saints." Cyprian, bishop of 
 Uniziba, comforted them, and gave them all he had. 
 wishing for the honor of being carried with them. 
 This was not then granted him* Afterward he was 
 confined, suffered much, and was sent into banish- 
 ment. There is a voice in man which speaks loudly in 
 favor of suffering innocence. The whole country re- 
 sounded with the cries and groans of the people flock- 
 ing to behold them, and throwing their children at their 
 feet. " Alas," said they, " to whom do you leave us ? 
 who shall baptise these children ? who shall adminis- 
 ter the Lord's supper to us ? why are not we permitted 
 to go with you ?" Among the rest, a woman was ob- 
 served leading a child by the hand. " Run, my boy," 
 said she, " observe what haste these holy men make 
 to receive the crown." Being reproved for desiring 
 to go with them,, " I am," she replied, " the daughter 
 
 ' 
 
307 
 
 f the late bishop of Zurita, and I am carrying this 
 child, who is my grandson, lest he be alone, and the 
 enemy draw him into the snares of death." The 
 bishops, with tears in their eyes, could only say, 
 " God's will be done." As they travelled, when the 
 aged or the young, who wanted strength, were not 
 able to advance, the Moors pricked them forward with 
 their javelins, or threw stones at them. Such as were 
 not able to walk were tied by the feet, and dragged 
 along. Many died in the march ; the rest arrived at 
 the desert, and were fed with barley, nor were even 
 allowed this after a season. 
 
 In the year 483, Huneric sent an edict to Ewgenius 
 with orders to read it in the church, and despatched 
 couriers with copies of it throughout Africa. The 
 purport of this edict was, after upbraiding the faithful 
 bishops for their zeal in spreading their doctrines, to 
 command them all to appear at Carthage, to dispute 
 with the Arian bishops on a certain day, and to prove 
 their faith, if they could, by the Scripture. 
 
 The most alarming words were, " resolving not to 
 suffer any scandal in our provinces." The bishops in- 
 terpreted these to mean, that he would not suffer any 
 who professed the doctrine of the Trinity to remain in 
 his dominions. They therefore drew up a remon- 
 strance, containing in substance a petition, that Hune- 
 ric would send for the bishops who were beyond the 
 seas. Huneric, regardless of the remonstrance, perse- 
 cuted the most learned bishops under various preten- 
 ces. He banished the bishop Donatian after giving 
 him one hundred and fifty bastinadoes. Others also 
 he treated with great cruelty, and forbad any of his 
 sect to eat with the faithful. 
 
 On the first of February, the day appointed for the 
 conference, the bishops resorted to Carthage from 
 every part of Africa, and from all the islands subject 
 to the Vandals. Huneric made no mention of the con- 
 ference, for many days, and separated those of the 
 greatest abilities from the rest, that he might, on false 
 pretences, put them to death. One of the most learn^ 
 $d ? named Lsctus he burnt alive, to intimidate others. 
 
308 
 
 AtJength, when the conference was opened, the ortho- 
 dox chose ten of their own number, to answer for the 
 rest. Cirila, the chief of the Arian bishops, was seat- 
 ed on a magnificent throne, with his partizans sitting 
 in an exalted station, while the orthodox continued 
 standing below. The latter saw what a mock confer- 
 ence it was likely to prove and remonstrated : the Ari- 
 ans ordered one hundred bastonadoes to be given to 
 each of them. " God look down upon the violence 
 offered us," said Eugenius. Cirila finding them better 
 prepared than he imagined, made use of several ca- 
 vils to avoid the conference. The orthodox, foresee- 
 ing this, had prepared a confession of faith, in which 
 the Trinitarian doctrine is very explicitly declared, 
 and which concludes thus : " this is our faith, support- 
 ed by the authority of the evangelists and apostles, 
 and founded upon the society of all the general chur- 
 ches through the world, in which, by the grace of God 
 Almighty we hope to persevere till death." 
 
 The Arians, incensed at this doctrine, reported to 
 the king, that the orthodox had raised a clamor to 
 avoid the conference. The tyrant had taken his meas- 
 ures ; orders were sent through the provinces, by vir- 
 tue of which the churches were all shut in one day, 
 and their revenues given to the Arians. Huneric al- 
 lowed the orthodox till the first of June in the same 
 year, that is, 48 i, to consider whether they would 
 merit pardon by retraction. 
 
 Such were the measures used to obliterate the doc- 
 trines of Divine grace in Africa, where they had been 
 so gloriously revived by Augustine, Huneric ordered 
 the bishops to be expelled from Carthage, stripped 
 them of horses and change of raiment, and forbad, un- 
 der terrible penalties, any one to give them victuals 
 or lodgings. The bishops remained without the walls 
 of the city, exposed to the weather ; and providential 
 ly meeting with the king, they all came to him.- 
 " Why" say they, " are we treated thus ?" Huneric 
 looked with fury, and ordered some horsemen to ride 
 in among them, who wounded many. He then order- 
 ed them to repair to the temple of Memory, where a 
 
309 
 
 paper rolled up, was presented to them, and they were 
 required to swear to its contents. They firmly refus- 
 ed to swear to it without knowing what it contained. 
 In the issue, of the 446 bishops, who came to the con- 
 ference, 48 died, many of them, probably, through 
 hard usage ; 46 were banished 1 into Corsica, 302 into 
 other places, and most of the rest made their escape. 
 
 Huneric now pursued his sanguinary designs with 
 vigor. Among the laity he sent executioners, who 
 whipped, hanged, and burned alive the faithful. Do- 
 nysia, while she was scourged, and t he blood was 
 streaming from her body, said, "Ministers of the dev- 
 il, what you now do to confound me with shame," (for 
 they had stripped her naked,) "is my glory ;" arid she 
 exhorted the rest to suffer martyrdom. Looking se- 
 verely at her son, whom she saw dreading the torture, 
 "Remember son,' 1 said she, "that we have been bap- 
 tized in the name of the Trinity. Let us not lose the 
 garment of salvation, lest the Master should say, cast 
 them into outer darkness." The young man upon, 
 this suffered death with constancy : and she thanked 
 God with a loud voice, embracing his body. Many 
 suffered with her, strengthened by her exhortations. 
 
 Victorian, the wealthiest man in Africa, was at that 
 time governor of Carthage. Huneric, assured him of 
 his peculiar favor, if he would submit to be re-bapti- 
 zed, and renounce the Trinitarian creed. "Tell the 
 king" said he, "if there were no other life after this, 
 I would not, for a little temporal honor, be ungrateful 
 to my God." The king, incensed at an answer so 
 truly Christian, tormented him grievously ; and thus he 
 slept in Jesus. 
 
 At Tambaia, two brothers continued a whole day> 
 suspended, with large stones fastened to their feet. 
 One of them, overcome with the torture, at length de- 
 sired to recant, and to be taken down. " No, no," said 
 the other, " this, brother, is not what we swore to Je- 
 sus Christ. I will testify against you, when we come 
 before his awful throne, that we swore by his body 
 and blood, that we would suffer for his sake." He 
 said much more to rouse and encourage him. At 
 
310 
 
 length his fellow-sufferer cried out, " Torment as you 
 please, I will follow my brother's example." The 
 executioners were quite fatigued with torturing them 
 by hot irons and hooks, and at length dismissed them, 
 remarking, that every one appeared ready to follow 
 the example of the two brothers, and that none were 
 brought over to Arianism. Here we see the marks 
 of the true church, patiently suffering for the truth's 
 sake, and victorious in the midst of calamities. 
 
 At Typasa, the secretary of Cirila was ordained 
 bishop by the Arians: the inhabitants seeing this, 
 transported themselves into Spain, as the distance was 
 but small. Some, who could obtain no vessels, re- 
 mained in Africa. The new Arian bishop labored by 
 courtesy to win their favor ; but they, in contempt of his 
 ministry, assembled themselves in a private house for 
 worship. Huneric, having heard of this, ordered their 
 tongues to be cut out, and their right hands to be cut 
 off in the public market-place. This he seems to have 
 done to prevent their open confession of the Trinity. 
 A miracle followed worthy of God, whose majesty had 
 been so daringly insulted, which must, at that time, 
 have greatly strengthened the hearts of the faithful, 
 who peculiarly need consolation amid such scenes of 
 horrid persecutions. 
 
 The miracle is well attested; that though their 
 tongues were cut out to the roots, they spake as well 
 as before : without any impediment and without feel- 
 ing any inconvenience from what they had suffered. 
 
 Numbers of Trinitarians were maimed in various 
 ways by the Arians. Some lost their hands, some 
 their feet, others their eyes, their noses, or ears. The 
 whale clergy of Carthage, after having been almost 
 starved with hunger, were exiled. Two Vandals, 
 r/ho loved the faith, accompanied by their mother, for^ 
 sook their wealth, and followed the clergy into ban- 
 ishment. The barbarity was general. At length, af- 
 ter an horrible reign of seven years and ten months, in 
 which the church was purged by as severe persecu- 
 tions as any ever known, in the year 485 died the ty- 
 rant Htineric of a disease, in which he was corroded 
 
511 
 
 by worms, a singular monument of Divine justice i 
 Gontamond, his nephew and successor stopped the 
 persecution, and recalled Eugenius to Carthage. 
 
 About this time, orthodox Christians found a patron 
 in Clovis, king of the Franks, whose victorious arms 
 had entirely ruined the Roman power in Gaul. His 
 queen, Clotilda, was zealous for the doctrine of the 
 Trinity, and by her influence with her husband, Clo- 
 vis professed orthodox Christianity, while all the rest 
 of the European princes were Arians. 
 
 In the year 494, Gontamond, the Vandal, still in- 
 creasing his kindness to the church, opened all the 
 places of public worship, after they had been shut ten 
 years and an half, and, at the desire of Eugenius, re- 
 called all the other bishops. He died in the year 496 
 and was succeeded by his brother Thrasamond. 
 
 Here I finish the history of the West for this cen- 
 tury : in which, as well as the preceding, superstition, 
 had grown gradually, and the more it increased, the 
 less were men disposed,, in the faith and love of the 
 gospel, to depend on ihe Savior. But the despis- 
 ed, desolate church, at once overborne by heretics, 
 and by barbarous pagans, still lived in Italy, Spain, 
 France, and Britain. In Italy and Spain, it was only 
 tolerated. In Britain it was confined to the moun- 
 tains of Wales and Cornwall ; in France it was ready 
 to rise again into eminence, and in Africa it had but 
 just recovered from a dreadful scourge, in which there 
 had been such glorious displays of The benign influ- 
 ence of Divine grace. The patience of the godly w 7 as 
 now greatly tried by the secular changes, the sins of 
 the church were scourged, and the gospel was com- 
 municated to barbarians. The general current of 
 corrupt doctrine had borne away many ; idolatry was 
 too deeply rooted in men's hearts to be eradicated 
 from any, except from those who were Christians in^ 
 deed, and we shall see it ere long, established in the 
 formality of public worship. 
 
31% 
 CHAPTER Vllf. 
 
 The Eastern Church in the Fifth Century, 
 
 JtlERE we find but few cheering instances of trde 
 godliness during this century. The same vices which 
 tarnished the West, prevailed almost universally in the 
 East, and in a much higher degree. Doctrinal feuds 
 and malignant passions greatly abounded. 
 
 In Persia, a cruel persecution of Christians raged 
 for thirty years. What led to this was the impru- 
 dent zeal of Andes a bishop, who destroyed one of 
 the temples where the Persians adored the fire. The 
 Magi complained to the king, who ordered the bishop 
 to rebuild the temple. He refused to comply with the 
 royal mandate. The consequence was, the infuriated 
 monarch ordered all the Christian churches in his do- 
 minions to be destroyed. Orders were also given to 
 the chiefs of the Saracens, subjects of Persia, to guard 
 the roads, and to apprehend all Christians, that they 
 might not fly to the Romans. One of those chiefs, 
 touched with compassion at their distress, aided their 
 flight. He, being accused at the Persian court, fled 
 with his family to Rome, and took along with him a 
 number of Arabs, who, together with himself, received 
 Christian baptism, and the real church of Christ prob- 
 ably had an accession from this event. 
 
 The Persian king sent to demand that the Christian 
 fugitives should be delivered into his hands. The 
 emperor having refused to give them up, a war ensued. 
 The Romans took 7000 prisoners, whom though per- 
 ishing by famine, they would not restore. Acacius, a 
 Roman bishop, assembled his clergy, and spake thus 
 to them ; " Our God has no need either of dishes or 
 cups ; since then our church has many gold and silver 
 vessels from the liberality of the people, let us, by 
 means of them, free and relieve these captive soldiers." 
 He ordered the vessels to be melted down, paid the 
 ransom of the Persians to the Roman soldiers, gave 
 the captives provisions and necessaries for their jour- 
 
313 
 
 ney, and sent them home to their king. This was to 
 conquer in a Christian manner ; a fruit of that charity 
 which " seeketh not her own." 
 
 During this century, a Jewish impostor, in Crete, 
 pretended that he was Moses, arid that he had been 
 sent from heaven, to undertake the care of the Cretan 
 Jews, and conduct them over the sea. He preached 
 a whole year in the island ? with a view of inducing 
 them to obey his directions. He exhorted them to 
 leave all their substance ; and promised to conduct 
 them through the sea, as on dry land, and bring them 
 into the land of promise. Numbers were so infatua- 
 ted, as to neglect their business, and leave their pos- 
 sessions to any who chose to seize them. On the day 
 prefixed by the impostor, he went before them, and 
 they followed with their wives and children. It was 
 a memorable instance of that " blindness which has 
 happened to Israel, till the fulness of the Gentiles be 
 come in," and fulfils the Scripture account of their 
 penal folly. When he had led them to a promontory, 
 he ordered them to throw themselves into the sea. 
 None of them, it seems, had the caution to insist on 
 his setting the example. Those who were at the 
 brink of the precipice leaped down, many of whom 
 perished, some by being dashed against the rocks, and 
 some by being drowned : and many more would have 
 perished had not a number of fishermen, providentially 
 present, saved their lives. These, enlightened by ex- 
 perience, prohibited the rest from taking the leap. 
 They all now sought the impostor to destroy him, but 
 he had made his escape. Many of the Cretan Jews 
 were on this occasion brought over to the Christian faith. 
 
 CHAPTER IX, 
 
 Christian Writers of this Century. 
 
 was the great luminary of the fifth 
 
 century; he wrote with uncommon plainness and vig- 
 or in support of the doctrines of grace. 
 2 Q 
 
514 
 
 Mark, the hermit, who lived about the beginning of 
 this century, was also an humble advocate for the 
 same doctrines. 
 
 Paulinus, of Nola, was one of the most humble and 
 pious writers of his time. He was born at Bourdeaux, 
 ha I a classical style and taste, was of an illustrious 
 family, and of great dignity in the empire ; and having 
 married Therasia, a rich lady, obtained by her a great 
 estate. It pleased God to inspire his wife with the 
 love of heavenly things, and she had great influence 
 in inducing her husband to prefer a retired life to 
 the grandeur of the world. He gradually parted with 
 his wealth, and appears to have been truly weaned in 
 his affections from his worldly possessions. After hav- 
 ing lived sixteen years in retirement, he was urgently 
 called to the ministry, and was ordained bishop of 
 Nola, where he continued till his death. He evidently 
 despised human greatness, that he might faithfully and 
 humbly follow Jesus Christ. He led a retired and tem- 
 perate life, but with no great austerity, and was singu- 
 larly remarkable for the tenderness of his conscience 
 the meekness of his spirit, and a constant sense of his 
 own imbecility, and of his need of Divine grace. 
 
 The church of Rome, though at this time much de- 
 generated from her primitive purity, must not be 
 deemed antichristian, while the real doctrines of 
 Christ were supported in it, by Coalestine, whose life 
 has been already brought into view. 
 
 Though Antichrist had not yet risen to his full stat- 
 ure, yet was he now rapidly acquiring maturity of 
 size and strength. Leo, bishop of Rome, wrote with a. 
 great mixture of superstition. Though zealous for the 
 support of discipline, of truth, and righteousness, he 
 was too active for the amplification of the Roman see. 
 He attempted to extend his influence in France, but 
 met with a firm resistance. 
 
 The celibacy of the clergy was more strictly enforc- 
 ed by him than by any former bishop of Rome. Yet, 
 in Christian doctrine he was not only evangelical in 
 general, but very elaborate" and perspicuous, so as to 
 evince the pains he had taken to understand the^scrip- 
 
315 
 
 tures. He was remarkably learned on the Divftieancl 
 human nature of Christ, and was pointed in opposing 
 pelagianism. He appears to have been an humble 
 and devout Christian. 
 
 Theodoret of Cyrus, a city of Syria, distinguished 
 himself for his pastoral labors ; in which he had so 
 great success, that above a thousand Marcionites, and 
 many Arians were brought over to the church under 
 his ministry. He labored, and suffered for the love of 
 Christ, and was often in danger of death from the rage 
 of the multitude. 
 
 Prosper of Ries, in Aquitain, was a layman, who dis- 
 tinguished himself in the defence of the doctrines of 
 grace. Serious, candid, and argumentative, he with- 
 stood the semi-pelagians in France in support of the 
 cause of truth. It appears that true religion had some 
 prevalence in France, during this century. Much 
 preaching and much controversy, on matters of evan- 
 gelical importance, though attended with evils, prove 
 that Christ is there by his Spirit. It is probable there 
 was not, in any part of the world, at that time, more 
 genuine piety than in France. 
 
 Julian Pomrius, a priest in France, deserves atten- 
 tion for his practical works. A few sentences, discrip- 
 tive of the characters of good and bad bishops and 
 preachers, will shew the taste of the times, as well as 
 afford some sentiments not uninteresting to the pas- 
 tors of this day. 
 
 " A wicked bishop seeks after preferment and riches; 
 chiefly aims to gratify his passions, to confirm his au- 
 thority, and to enrich himself. He avoids the labori- 
 ous and humbling part of his office, and delights in the 
 pleasant and honorable." Again he says, "A good 
 bishop converts sinners to God by his preaching and 
 example lastly, he holds himself fast to God, in 
 whom alone he puts his trust." 
 
 The difference between a good and bad preacher 
 he thus defines : " The one seeks the glory of Jesus 
 Christ, by explaining doctrines in familiar discourse. 
 The ether uses the utmost strength of his eloquence 
 to gain reputation. The latter handles trifles with ela- 
 
316 
 
 borate language : the former elevates a plain discourse 
 by the weight of his thoughts," 
 
 CENTURY VI. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 The Life of Fulgentius , and the State of the African 
 Churches in his Time. 
 
 JLN the year 496, a storm began again to lower over 
 the African churches. Thrasamond, whose reign then 
 commenced, was an obstinate and sagacious Arian. 
 He forbade the ordination of bishops in the vacant 
 churches. The African bishops unanimously deter- 
 mined not to obey an order which threatened the ex- 
 tinction of orthodoxy, and proceeded to the ordination 
 of pastors. The tyrant raged and determined to ban- 
 ish them all. At that time Fulgentius had just been 
 chosen bishop of Ruspae. He was of noble birth, had 
 received a very liberal education, and was eminent for 
 piety. From the renewal of the Arian persecution, he 
 underwent severe bodily sufferings. In these, his mind 
 appears to have been serene, and faithful to his Savior, 
 whom, in real humility and sincerity, though tarnished 
 with the fashionable superstition, he served according 
 to the principles of the gospel. 
 
 By the Arian persecution, Fulgentius was banished 
 into Sardinia, in company with other faithful witness- 
 es of orthodoxy. Upwards of 60 bishops were with 
 him in exile. Thrasamond sent more still into Sar- 
 dinia, in all 220 ; exerted himself greatly to over- 
 come the constancy of the orthodox, and delighted to 
 ensnare them with captious questions. Fulgentius was 
 sent for by him to Carthage, and by his skill in argu- 
 ment, and his readiness in answering questions, he ex- 
 cited the king's admiration till through the advice of 
 his Arian clergy, who considered the presence of Ful- 
 
317 
 
 gentius to be dangerous at Carthage, he was remand- 
 ed to Sardinia. Soon after, Kilderic, the successor 
 of Thrasamond, in the year 523, favoring the ortho- 
 dox, put a total end to persecution, and Ruspae once 
 more beheld her bishop, 
 
 Fulgentius lived among his flock from this time to 
 his death, eminent in piety, humility and charity. 
 For near seventy days, he suffered extreme pains in 
 his last sickness. " Lord, give patience here, and rest 
 hereafter," was his constant prayer and he died at 
 length, as he had lived, an edifying example of every 
 Christian virtue. 
 
 He was dexterous in the defence of the doctrine of 
 the Trinity. Hear what he says in a book addressed 
 to king Thrasamond 3 on the Divinity of the Holy Ghost 
 " If he can quicken, who is not God ; if he can sanc^ 
 tify who is not God ; if he "an dwell in believers who 
 is not God; if he can give grace, who is not God; 
 then the Holy Ghost may be denied to be God. If 
 any creature can do those things, which are spoken 
 of the Holy Ghost, then let the Holy Ghost be called 
 a creature." The life of Fulgentius evinced that he 
 had experienced the sanctifying power of the Holy 
 Ghost on his own heart. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The stale of the Church in other parts of the Roman 
 Empire^ till the death of Justin^ including the life of 
 C&sarius. 
 
 AN the beginning of this century, twenty four bishops 
 assembled, at the city of Agde, the president of whom 
 was Caesarius, bishop of Aries ; they decreed that 
 " all clergymen who serve the church faithfully shall 
 receive salaries proportionable to their services." 
 This rule, so simple and general, was the ancient pro- 
 vision for the maintenance of pastors. Also they de- 
 creed that all such laymen, as shall not receive the 
 
318 
 
 communion, three times a year, shall be looked on a& 
 heathens. They, at this assembly, ordered that lay- 
 men remain in the church till the blessing is pronoun- 
 ced. Caesarius was very zealous against the abuses 
 which this order was designed to rectify. Observing, 
 one day, some persons going out of the church to 
 avoid hearing the sermon, he cried with a loud voice, 
 " What are you about my children ? where are you 
 going? Stay, stay, for the good of your souls. At the 
 day of judgment it will be too late to exhort you." 
 His just and charitable zeal at length prevailed ; but 
 he was often obliged to cause the church doors to be 
 shut, after the gospel was read, to prevent the impi- 
 ous practice. His people were gradually reclaimed. 
 Alas, such is the depravity of the human heart, that 
 mankind in all ages are apt to be weary of the word 
 of God ! Another canon of this assembly forbade au- 
 guries, and divinations, and the opening of the scrip- 
 tures with a view of making an omen of the first words 
 that offered. This last mentioned superstition was for- 
 bidden under penalty of excommunication. 
 
 Csesarius had spent some part of his youth in the 
 famous monastery of Lerins. Having heard that he 
 was actually designed to be made bishop of Aries, he 
 hid himself among the tombs. But, at the age of .30, 
 he being taken thence, was appointed bishop, and con- 
 tinued in that church above 40 years. Ca?sarius was 
 fond of singing, and as he found the laity were apt 
 to talk in the church, while the clergy were singing, 
 he induced the laity to join with them in psalmody ; 
 and in a sermon still extant, exhorts them to sing with 
 their hearts, as well as their voices. In another ser- 
 mon he exhorts them to throw off all distracting 
 thoughts 5 before they prostrate themselves for prayer. 
 " Whoever," says he, " in his prayers, thinks on a pub- 
 lic place of resort, or the house he is building, wor- 
 ships that place or that house." He directs them al- 
 so not to be content with hearing the scriptures read 
 in the church, but to read them also at home. 
 
 This holy man was indefatigable in his labors, close 
 and searching in his preaching, entered into praticcal 
 
particulars, addressed the consciences of his hearers, 
 and reproved severely idolatrous and superstitious 
 usages, and amid the confusion of the times distin- 
 guished himself exceedingly by acts of mercy. He 
 died in the year 542, universally lamented. 
 
 The cause ofAriunism in the mean time, was in 
 France gradually declining. The state of religion 
 in the East, was far less favorable. Factions and 
 feuds, heretical perversions and scandalous enormities 
 filled up the scene. Under the emperor Justin, Chris- 
 tianity began at length to wear, in some respects, a 
 more agreeable aspect, when peace and good order 
 were, in external things, in a measure restored. 
 
 In the year 522, Zamnaxes, king of the Lazi, a peo- 
 ple who inhabited the country anciently called Col- 
 chis, being dead, his son Zathes repaired to Constan- 
 tinople, telling the emperor that he was desirous of re- 
 ceiving the gospel, and of relinquishing the idolatry of 
 his ancestors. They had been vassals to the king of 
 Persia, and had been obliged to perform sacrifices af- 
 ter the Persian mode. He put himself therefore un- 
 der the protection of Justin, and desired to receive the 
 crown from his hands. Justin granting his request, 
 the Lazi became vassals to the eastern empire, and 
 embraced Christianity. The Iberians also, who bor- 
 dered on their territories, and were also subjects of 
 Persia, had already received the gospel. How far any 
 thing of the real spirit of Christ's religion was imbibed 
 by either nation, I know not. I can only say, the li- 
 mits of the Christian name were extended in the East. 
 
 In Arabia Felix, there were many Christians sub- 
 ject to a king called Dounouas, a Jew, who caused 
 those who were unwilling to become Jews, to be 
 cast into pits full of fire. He besieged Negra, a town 
 inhabited by Christians. Having persuaded them to 
 surrender on articles, he broke his oath, burnt the pas- 
 tors, beheaded the laymen, and carried all the youth 
 into captivity. The next year, Elesbaan, king of 
 Abyssinia, a Christian country since the days of Atha- 
 nasius, supported by the emperor Justin, invaded the 
 territory of the Arabian Jew, subdued his country, 
 
320 
 
 and slew him. Thus the Arabian Christians were re- 
 lieved. Elesbaan himself was very zealous, and in 
 proof of his zeal, resigned his crown to embrace the 
 monastic life. 
 
 CHAPTEB III. 
 
 The state of the Church during the reign of Justinian. 
 
 the death of Justin, his nephew Justinian suc- 
 ceeded at Constantinople, in the year 527. He was 
 then 45 years old, and reigned 39. His real charac- 
 ter was widely different from that which was ostensi- 
 ble. In some external things he appeared to be one 
 of the wisest, the most pious, and the most prosperous 
 of men. Africa and Italy were by him reunited to the 
 Roman empire. He enacted a famous code of laws, 
 was temperate and abstemious in private life, and in- 
 cessantly employed in religious acts and ceremonies. 
 Justinian honored monks and persons reputed holy, 
 built splendid churches, endowed monasteries ; was 
 liberal beyond measure in support of external reli- 
 gion ; incessant in the encouragement of what he ac- 
 counted orthodoxy ; was intent on public affairs ; 
 spent much time in theological speculations ; extir- 
 pated idolatry, and brought over a number of barba- 
 rous kings and nations to the profession of Christiani- 
 ty. His faculties were strong and vigorous. But he 
 was the victim of superstition, and the slave of avarice. 
 For gold he sold his whole empire to the governors of 
 provinces, to the collectors of tribute, and infamous 
 informers. He encouraged the vilest of characters in 
 the most detestable calumnies, that he might share 
 in their gains. He indeed showed what a poor thing 
 the body of the Christian religion is without the spirit. 
 The evils which he wrought were palpable. Dissen- 
 sions and schisms, with forced conversions attended 
 with great cruelties, alienated the minds of men still 
 more from godliness ; and superstition and formality 
 
521 
 
 greatly increased. Under his influence, internal god- 
 liness invariably declined, and wickedness and igno- 
 rance awfully prevailed. 
 
 This wretched man, by imperial menaces and arms, 
 labored to bring all nations into uniformity of doc- 
 trinej and into a nominal attachment to Christianity, 
 prescribing what all should believe, while he seems 
 not to have known any one thing in religion in a right 
 manner. For his own genuine conversion, and per- 
 sonal godliness, he appears not to have been attentive* 
 Though he was serious through life, yet he seems to 
 have been void of humility, faith and charity. 
 
 In the year 529, a council was held in Orange, in 
 France, at which were thirteen bishops, and Caecarius 
 of Aries presided. From their doings it appears that 
 they wre decidedly in opposition to semi-palagian- 
 ism, and tenacious of the doctrines of grace. 
 
 About this time, the monastic rules of Benedict, full 
 of forms, and breathing little of the spirit of godliness, 
 were established. These were afterwards received 
 through the western churches. The founder of this 
 sect zealously opposed idolatry* The worship of 
 Apollo, he eradicated from that part of Italy, where 
 the Samnites formerly dwelt, and instructed the peas- 
 ants in Christianity. 
 
 Justinian, in his old age, fell into the opinion, that 
 the body of Jesus Christ was incorruptible ; an opin- 
 ion, directly subversive of the real sufferings of Christ, 
 on which the efficacy of his atonement depends. 
 Having once formed the sentiment, he by an edict, 
 required his subjects to embrace it. Eutychius, of 
 Constantinople, considered it unchristian, and re- 
 fused to publish it. He argued that according to 
 this sentiment the incarnation of Christ was not real, 
 but only in fancy ; that the body of Christ could not 
 be called incorruptible in any other sense, than as it 
 was always unpolluted with any sinful defilement, and 
 was not corrupted in the grave. 
 
 The arguments of the bishop were reasonable, but 
 the emperor was self-sufficient, and powerful. Euty- 
 dhius was roughly treated, banished^ and died in es> 
 
522 
 
 fle. Anastasius, bishop of Antiocb, a man of exem- 
 plary piety,, also withstood this sentiment with much 
 firmness. Many were influenced by his example, 
 to oppose this imperial heresy. But while the old 
 imperial pope was dictating a sentence of banish- 
 ment against Anastasius and others, who had incurred 
 his displeasure,. Providence wrought deliverance, by 
 arresting the emperor by the stroke of death. Let not 
 profane persons exult over him ; but let those who 
 exercise their thoughts on religion^ take care to study 
 the written word with humility, prayer, and pious rev- 
 erence, warned by the apostacy of a man, who for ma- 
 ny years had studied divinity, and fell at last into an 
 error, equally subversive of the dictates of common 
 sense, as it is of Christian piety, and diametrically op- 
 posite to all scripture : let us remember, however, that 
 his follies and persecutions were the occasion of ex- 
 hibiting some excellent characters even in the Eas- 
 tern church, who showed that they bore not the Chris- 
 tian name without a just title to that best of all appel- 
 lations. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Miscellaneous affairs to the end of the Century ^ 
 
 JUSTIN, the nephew of Justinian, succeeded. He 
 recalled the bishops whom the tate emperor had exil- 
 ed, except Eutychius of Constantinople. Him he did 
 not restore till after the death of John his successor. 
 Eutychius continued, after his restoration, bishop of 
 Constantinople till his death. In his old age he em- 
 braced the whimsical notion, that our bodies after the 
 resurrection become thinner than air. This shows the 
 low state of Christian knowledge in the East, and the 
 predominancy of Origenism and Platonism, which 
 Dad remained in Asia, ever since they had gained ad- 
 mission into the church. The purity and simplicity 
 of the faith had be^n preserved in a much superior 
 
323 
 
 manner in the West by the faithful labors of Augus- 
 tine. 
 
 At this time a number of Britons, expelled front 
 their country by the arms of the Anglo-Saxons, cross- 
 ed the sea, and settled the adjacent province of Bri- 
 tanny in France. With them the faith of the gospel 
 was preserved, as well as with their brethren in Wales 
 and Cornwall, and in some parts of Scotland and Ire- 
 land, while the major part of England was filled with 
 Saxon idolatry. 
 
 Colomban, an Irish priest, came over, in this centu- 
 ry, into the northern parts of Scotland and labored 
 with much success among the Picts. His disciples 
 were remarkable for the holiness and abstemiousness 
 of their lives. Thus, while the gospel was rapidly 
 withdrawing from the East, where it first arose, God 
 left not himself without witness in the most distant 
 parts of the West. 
 
 Toward the latter end of this century, the Lom- 
 bards came from Pannonia into Italy, and settled there 
 under Alboinus, their first king. They fixed their me- 
 tropolis at Pavia. They were Arians. The Italian 
 churches had become dreadfully corrupt ; formal su- 
 perstition was corroding the vitals of genuine godli- 
 ness, they needed a scourge, and experienced all the 
 horrors which a savage and victorious nation could in- 
 flict. 
 
 In the year 584, Levigildiis, king of the Visigoths in 
 Spain, having married his eldest son Hermenigildus, 
 to Ingonda, daughter of the French king, began to 
 find effects from the marriage, which he little expect- 
 ed. Ingonda, though persecuted by her mother-in- 
 law, the wife of the Spanish monarch, persevered in 
 orthodoxy, and by the assistance of Leander, bishop 
 of Seville, under the influence of Divine grace, brought 
 over her husband to the faith. The father enraged, 
 commenced a grievous persecution against the ortho- 
 dox in his dominions. Hermenigildus, having rebell- 
 ed against his father, who appeared bent on his de- 
 struction, was obliged to fly for security into a church^ 
 where he was at length induced by his father's prom- 
 
324 
 
 to surrender himself, Levigildus at first treated 
 him with kindness, but afterward banished him to Va- 
 lentia. His wife Ingonda flying to the Grecian em- 
 peror, died by the way. Some time after, the young 
 prince, loaded with irons, had leisure to learn the van- 
 ity of earthly greatness, and exhibited every mark of 
 piety and humility. His father sent to him an A nan 
 bishop, offering him his favor, if he would receive the 
 communion at his hands. Hermenigildus continued 
 firm in the faith, and the king enraged, sent officers 
 who dispatched him. The father lived long enough 
 to repent of his cruelty ; before he died, he desired 
 Leander, bishop of Seville, whom he had greatly per- 
 secuted, to educate his second son Recaredus, in the 
 same principles in which he instructed his eldest. Re- 
 caredus succeeded his father in the government, and 
 embraced orthodoxy with much zeal. The eonse-t- 
 quence was the establishment thereof in Spain, and 
 the destruction of Arianism, which had now no legal 
 settlement in the world, except with the Lombards 
 jn Italy. Thus Divine Providence effected, by the 
 means of a pious princess, a very salutary revolvition 
 in religion. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Gregory the First , Bishop of Rome. 
 
 HE was a Roman by birth^and of a noble family.-* 
 Being religiously disposed, he assumed the monastic 
 habit, and became eminently pious. After he was 
 drawn from his, monastery, and nad been ordained to 
 the ministry, he was sent from Rome to Constantino- 
 ple, to transact ecclesiastical affairs. Here he became 
 acquainted with Leander^ afterward bishop of Seville, 
 and profited by the acquaintance., His residence at 
 Constantinople, was not without some use to the 
 church. By a timely and vigorous opposition, he 
 quashed the fanciful notion of Eutyehius concerning 
 tjie qualities of jthe human body after the resurrection 
 
325 
 
 which have been already noticed. The emperor Tf* 
 berius, who succeeded Justin, supported the labors of 
 Gregory with his authority, 
 
 Gregory, from his youth, was afflicted with frequent 
 complaints in his stomach and bowels. The vigor of 
 his mind was not, however, hereby depressed, and he 
 appears to have profited by such chastisements. 
 
 After his return to Rome, the Tiber overflowed and 
 did great damage. The granaries of the church were 
 inundated, and a prodigious quantity of wheat was 
 lost. An infectious and mortal distemper followed, 
 Pelagius the bishop was one of the first victims that 
 fell. The mortality prevailed to that degree that ma- 
 ny houses were left without an inhabitant. In this 
 distress the people were anxious to .choose a bishop, 
 and by unanimous consent elected Gregory. He with 
 great humility earnestly refused, and loudly proclaim- 
 ed his own unworthiness. He did more ; he wrote to 
 the emperor beseeching him to withhold his assent. 
 But the emperor confirmed his election with pleasure. 
 The plague, ia the mean time, made dreadful havoc. 
 Gregory, however, backward to receive the office of a 
 bishop, forgot not the duties of a pastor. He preach- 
 ed faithfully, and urged upon the people the duty of 
 repentance, that they should humble themselves un- 
 der the mighty hand of God, and turn to him with 
 their whole hearts, and look to him for rnercy, and 
 persisted in praying and preaching, till the plague 
 ceased. 
 
 After this, though the gates were watched to pre- 
 vent his flight, Gregory found means to be conveyed 
 out of the city, and concealed himself three days. 
 The zealous search of the people found him out, and 
 he was obliged to enter on his bishopric, in the year 
 590. 
 
 ^ Gregory discharged the office with fidelity, giving 
 himself so far as he could wholly to the care of souls. 
 When he entered on his office, the church in the East 
 was almost universally fallen ; in the West, it was tar- 
 nished with much superstition and defiled with a va- 
 riety of wickedness. The whole period of his episcopa- 
 cy, which was thirteen years and a half, was disastrous 
 
326 
 
 beyond measure, because of the ferocious Lombards 5 
 and Gregory himself was firmly persuaded, that the end 
 of the world was near. Hence he had a strong con- 
 tempt of sublunary things, and loved to refresh his 
 mind with prospects beyond the grave. 
 . From the epistles of Gregory it appears, that disci- 
 pline, and indefatigable attention to order, justice, 
 mercy and piety, marked all his proceedings. The in- 
 ordinate amplitude of authority and of extensive juris- 
 diction, to which superstition had already advanced 
 the Roman see, and which afforded such copious fuel 
 to pride and ambition in some of his predecessors, and 
 many of his successors, was to him only the cause of 
 anxious care and conscientious solicitude. True he 
 received the prevailing idea of a superintendence of 
 the Roman see over all the churches, derived from St. 
 Peter. But this appears not to have excited in him 
 any pleasing sensations of dominion. A fatherly in- 
 spection of Christendom, without civil power, called 
 him to incessant labor. He appears to have exerted 
 his authority in full consistency with true humility and 
 the fear of God. Amid his abundant and extensive 
 cares for the general welfare of the churches, he found 
 time to expound the scriptures, to perform the office 
 of a diligent pastor, and to write much for the instruc- 
 tion of mankind. Deeply must the spirit of that man 
 have been impressed with the prospects and hopes of 
 immortality, who, amid bodily infirmities, and in 
 times of public perplexity, could persevere in such a 
 course of arduous labors. 
 
 During this century the bishops of the great sees 
 were gradually increasing in secular grandeur; and 
 John, of Constantinople, disturbed, in Gregory's time, 
 th peace of the church, by assuming to himself the 
 title of universal bishop. The pride and arrogance 
 with which he assumed it, was only equalled by the 
 obstinacy with which he persevered. Gregory wrote 
 with much vehemence against John's haughtiness, 
 and, on this occasion, laid down some memorable 
 rules of humility, which severely condemned, not him- 
 but his successors in the Romish see. In what 
 
327 
 
 a state must the East have been to revere as a great 
 saint both living and dying, so proud a man as Johpt 
 of Constantinople ! But there godliness was nearly 
 expiring, and the Mahometan scourge was at hand. 
 
 For near a century and a half the gospel of Christ 
 had been declining in Britain, and for the greatest 
 part of that time had been confined, as we have seen, 
 to Wales and Cornwall, or to the mountains of Scot- 
 land ; while the Angles or Saxons, destroyed every ap- 
 pearance of evangelical light in the heart of the island.. 
 Seven Saxon kingdoms, called the Heptarchy, were 
 now formed in the island, almost totally immersed in 
 heathenish darkness. It was while Britain was in this 
 deplorable situation that Gregory conceived the be- 
 nevolent purpose of sending into that country Christian 
 missionaries. He actually sent them in the year 597. 
 L is worthy of notice how much the Lord has made 
 use of women in the propagation of the gospel among 
 idolaters. Bertha, the only daughter of Caribert, king 
 of Paris, a descendant of Clovis, had been married to 
 Ethelbert, king of Kent, one of the most wise and 
 powerful of the Saxon princes. He had not been al- 
 lowed to marry this French princess, but on the ex- 
 press stipulation, that she should be permitted to* 
 make free profession of Christianity, in which she had 
 been educated. Bertha brought over with her a 
 French bishop to the court of Dorobernium, now Can- 
 terbury. Her principles were firm and sound, her 
 conduct worthy of the Christian name, and her influ- 
 ence over her husband considerable. Her zealous pi- 
 ety was not inferior to that of the queen, Clovis, which 
 had been attended with such happy consequences in 
 France, and every thing conspired to favor the mis- 
 sionaries. 
 
 These were a number of monks, at the head of 
 whom was one named Augustine. To him Ethelbert 
 assigned an habitation in the isle of ThaneL Here he 
 remained at first with his associates, who were nearly 
 40. By the direction of Gregory, they had taken 
 with them French interpreters, by whose means they 
 informed the king, that they_ were come from Rome- 
 
&nd brought him the best tidings in the world, eternal 
 life to those who received them, and the endless en- 
 joyment of life with the living God. After some days 
 Ethelbert paid them a visit, but being apprehensive 
 of enchantments, he took care to receive them in the 
 open air, where he thought he should be safer than 
 in his house. The missionaries met him, singing lita- 
 nies for their own salvation, and that of those for whose 
 sake they had come thither* Sitting down by the 
 king's direction, they preached to him and his attend- 
 ants the word of life. To their instructions the king 
 answered; "They are fine words and promises which 
 ye bring, but because they are new and uncertain, I 
 cannot afford my assent to them, nor relinquish those 
 things, which for so long a time I have observed with 
 all the English nation. But as ye are come hither 
 from a great distance, and as I seem to discover, that 
 ye are willing to communicate to us those things, 
 Ivhich ye believe to be most true and most excellent, 
 we are not willing to disturb you, but rather to re- 
 ceive you in a friendly manner, and to afford you 
 things necessary for your support ; nor do we hinder 
 you from uniting all, whom ye can persuade by 
 preaching, to the faith of your religion." He gave 
 them a mansion in the royal city of Canterbury, with 
 all necessary accommodations, and license to preach 
 the word. As the missionaries approached the city, 
 they sang in concert, " We pray thee, O Lord, in all 
 thy mercy, that thine anger and thy fury may be re- 
 moved from this city, and from thy holy house, because 
 we have sinned. Alleluia." 
 
 The conduct of the missionaries at Canterbury was 
 correspondent to these beginnings. They prayed ? 
 fasted, watched, preached the word of life to all, as 
 o .;! orlunities presented, lived above the world, re- 
 ceived nothing from those whom they taught, except 
 necessaries, practised what they taught, and showed 
 a readiness to suffer, or even to die for the truth which 
 they preached. Some, admiring their innocent lives, 
 and tasting the sweets of their doctrine, believed and 
 were baptized. 
 
329 
 
 Near the city, was an old church, built in the times 
 of the Romans, in which, queen Bertha was wont to 
 pray. In this, the missionaries first held their assem- 
 blies, sang, prayed, preached, arid baptized, till the 
 king himself, being converted to the faith, they ob- 
 tained a larger license to preach every where, and to 
 build or repair churches. Numbers crowded to hear, 
 and received the word. The king, congratulating the 
 new converts, declared that he would compel no 
 man to become a Christian, but embraced those who 
 were Christians with intimate affection as fellow heirs 
 of the grace of life. The missionaries had taught 
 him, that the service of Christ ought to be voluntary ? 
 not compulsive. Ethelbert now gave them a settle- 
 ment in Canterbury, suited to their station, with all 
 necessary accommodations. London was brought in- 
 to the pale of the church, and the southern parts of 
 the island found benefit, by the labors of the Christian 
 missionaries. 
 
 Augustine, after his reception by Ethelbert, went to 
 France and received ordination, as the archbishop of 
 England, from the bishop of Aries, and then returned 
 to his missionary labors. 
 
 Thus the conduct of Gregory, with respect to the 
 propagation of the gospel in Britain, appears to have 
 been one of the most shining efforts of Christian chari- 
 ty. These Christian missionaries, seem to have act- 
 ed, in general, very laudably, and Christianity to have 
 been firmly established among the idolatrous Saxons. 
 
 Gregory, worn out at length, with his abundant la- 
 bors and with diseases, slept in Jesus in the year 604. 
 No man in any age ever gave himself up more sincere- 
 ly to the service, and the benefit of his fellow men. 
 Power in him was a voluntary servitude, undertaken 
 not for himself, but for the world. The belief of the 
 Roman bishop's succession to Peter, which he found to 
 be prevalent in Europe, was strengthened by reason of 
 his eminent piety and laborious virtues. The seeds 
 of Antichrist began now vigorously to shoot; and the 
 reputation of Gregory doubtless contributed much to 
 mature the poisonous plant But idolatry, spiritual 
 2 s 
 
330 
 
 tyranny, and the doctrine of the merit of works, the 
 three discriminating marks of the papacy, had as yet, 
 no settled establishment at Rome. 
 
 CENTURY VII. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The English Church. 
 
 AN this century, the church in Great Britain, shone 
 with distinguished lustre. Laurentius succeeded Au- 
 gustine in the see of Canterbury, and like his prede- 
 cessor labored to promote the best interests of the 
 English by frequent preaching of the word, and by a 
 diligent and useful example. He labored to bring the 
 British churches to a conformity with the church of 
 Rome. In this he appears to have been actuated by 
 a spirit of selfish ambition. His views of Christian 
 doctrine were, however, correct, and his life was un- 
 blemished. 
 
 Laurentius too, in conjunction with Mellitus, bish- 
 op of London, and Justus, bishop of Rochester, en- 
 deavored to reduce the Scots, who inhabited Ireland, 
 to a conformity with the English church. But in this 
 he did not succeed. While Ethelbert, the first Chris- 
 tian king of Kent lived, the gospel flourished in his 
 kingdom. He reigned 55 years, 21 years after he had 
 embraced Christianity, and enacted laws calculated to 
 protect the persons and property of the church. 
 
 His son and successor, Eadbald, not only despised 
 Christianity, but also lived in incest with his father's 
 wife: Whence, all who had embraced the gospel 
 through motives purely secular, were induced to re- 
 lapse into idolatry. Sabereth, king of the East Sax- 
 ons favored a'nd encouraged Christianity. On his de- 
 cease, his three sons became joint heirs of his king- 
 dom, and immediately resumed the idolatry, which 
 they had intermitted a little in their father's life time*. 
 
331 
 
 and encouraged their subjects to do the same. These 
 princes observing the bishop of London to distribute 
 the bread of the eucharist in the church, asked why 
 he did not give them the bread, which he had usual- 
 ly given to their father, and which he distributed at 
 thaiftime to the people ? " If you will be washed in 
 the same laver of regeneration in which your father 
 was," replied Mellitus, "you may partake of the same 
 sacred bread ; but if ye despise the laver of life, ye 
 cannot partake of the bread of life." " We will not," 
 said they, " enter into that fountain ; we do not know 
 that we need it ; yet we choose to eat of that bread." 
 In vain did the upright pastor seriously and diligently 
 admonish them, thai it was not possible for any person 
 remaining uncleansed from sin, to partake of the com- 
 munion. In a rage they declared, " if you will not 
 gratify us in so small a matter, you shall not remain 
 in our province. They therefore ordered him to be 
 gone with his associates.' 
 
 Mellitus, thus expelled, came into Kent to consult 
 with Laurentius and Justus. The three bishops agreed 
 to leave the country, that they might serve God with 
 freedom elsewhere, rather than remain among enemies 
 without the prospect of success. Mellitus and Justus 
 retired first into France, waiting the issue. The 
 three princes not long after were slain in battle, but 
 their subjects remained still incorrigible. 
 
 Laurentius, intending to follow the two bishops, 
 employed himself in prayer in the church during the 
 silent watches of the night, with much agony and ma- 
 ny tears, entreating God to lo'ok upon the English 
 church, which, after such promising beginnings, seem- 
 ed now on the eve of a total dissolution. Next morn- 
 ing he visited the king, who, struck at last with horror 
 for his crimes, and relenting, when he appeared in im- 
 minent danger of losing his Christian instructor forev- 
 er, forbade his departure, reformed his own life and 
 manners, was baptized, and from that time became a 
 zealous supporter of the faith. 
 
 Eadbald, to show the sincerity of his zeal, recalled 
 Mellitus and Justus from France, after a year's exile. 
 
332 
 
 Justus was reinstated in Rochester ; but the people 
 of London so preferred idolatry, and Eadbald was so 
 deficient in authority that Mellitus could not be rein- 
 stated in that city. So far, however, as the influence 
 of Eadbald extended, he exerted it for the cause of 
 Christ, and, from the time of his Conversion, adorned 
 the gospel and propagated it among his people. 
 
 Laurentius being deceased, Mellitus succeeded him 
 in the archbishopric of Canterbury, while Justus still 
 presided at Rochester. Mellitus, after giving the 
 most undoubted proofs of genuine piety, died and was 
 succeeded by Justus. 
 
 Hitherto Kent had almost alone enjoyed the illumi- 
 nation of the gospel. But Christianity was now intro- 
 duced into the north, where reigned Edwin, king of 
 the Northumbrians. A woman was once more hon- 
 ored as the instrument of salvation to a king, her hus- 
 band, and to many of his subjects. Edwin had sent 
 to Eadbald, to desire his sister Ethelburg or Tate in 
 marriage. The Kentish prince, with that Christian 
 sincerity which had ever distinguished him since his 
 conversion, answered, that it was not lawful to marry 
 his sister to an infidel. Edwin promised certainly to 
 grant perfect liberty of conscience to the princess and 
 to her attendants, adding that he himself would re- 
 ceive the same religion, if it appeared more worthy of 
 God. On these conditions Eadbald consented, and 
 sent his sister into Northumberland, attended by Pau- 
 linus, who was consecrated bishop of the north of 
 England by Justus, in the year 625. The reason of 
 sending him was, that by daily exhortations and ad- 
 ministration of the communion, he might guard the 
 young princess and her attendants from the infection 
 of idolatry. But Providence had a higher and more 
 extensive aim, and excited in the heart of Paulinus a 
 strong desire to propagate the gospel in those regions. 
 
 The God of this world, however, so blinded the 
 minds of unbelievers, that though Paulinus preached 
 a long time, yet it was without success, till Edwin 
 was very near being murdered by an assassin, whom 
 the king of the West Saxons sent against him, and the 
 
333 
 
 same night his queen was delivered of a daughter. 
 Wbile the king was thanking his gods for the birth of 
 his daughter, Paulinus began to give thanks to the 
 Lord Christ. Edwin told him, that he himself would 
 worship Christ and renounce all his gods, if he would 
 give him victory over the West Saxons, who had at- 
 tempted to murder him, and, for the present, gave the^ 
 young infant to Paulinus to be baptized. She was 
 the first Northumbrian who was admitted into the vis- 
 ible church by the ordinance of baptism ; and twelve 
 of the king's family were baptized on that occasion. 
 Edwin, having collected his forces, vanquished the 
 West Saxons, and killed or reduced to subjection all 
 who had conspired against him. Returning victori- 
 ous he determined no longer to serve idols. But be- 
 fore he received baptism, he resolved to examine seri- 
 ously the grounds and reasons of Christianity. He 
 was doubtless in good earnest, and attended diligently 
 to the instructions of Paulinus, communed with his 
 own heart in silence, and anxiously enquired what 
 true religion was. Holding a consultation with his in- 
 timate friends and counsellors, he said to them " What 
 is this hitherto unheard of doctrine, this new worship?" 
 Coifi, the chief of the priests, answered, " See you, O 
 king, what this is, which is lately preached to us ? I 
 declare most frankly, what I have found to be true, 
 that the religion we have hitherto followed is of no 
 value. If the gods could do any thing, they would 
 more particularly distinguish me with their favors, 
 who have served them so diligently. If the new doc- 
 trine be really better, let us embrace it." Another of 
 the nobles observed, that he had noticed a swallow, 
 which had rapidly flown through the king's house, en- 
 tering by one door and going out at the other. This 
 happened, he said, when the king was setting at sup- 
 per in the hall : a fire burning in the midst, and the 
 room being heated, a tempest of rain or snow raged 
 without: the poor swallow felt indeed a temporary 
 warmth, and then escaped out of the room. "Such, 
 says he, "is the life of man ; but what goes before, or 
 comes after, is buried in profound darkness. Our igno- 
 
334 
 
 ranee then, upon such principles 'as hitherto we have 
 embraced, is confessed ; but if this new doctrine really 
 teach us any thing more certain, it will deserve to be 
 followed." These and similar reflections were made 
 by the king's counsellors. 
 
 Coifi, the chief priest, on hearing Paulinus preach, 
 exclaimed ; " I knew formerly, that what we worship- 
 ped was nothing, because the more studiously I sought 
 for truth, the less I found it Now I openly declare 
 that in this preaching appears the truth, which is able 
 to afford us life, salvation, and eternal bliss. I advise 
 that we instantly destroy the temples and altars, which 
 we have used in vain." The king, feeling the convic- 
 tion with no less strength, openly confessed the faith 
 of Christ, and asked Coifi, who should be the first 
 man that should profane the idolatrous places. " I 
 ought to do it," replied the priest, " I, who worship- 
 ped them in folly, will give an example to others in 
 destroying them, by the wisdom given me from the 
 true God. He immediately went to the temple and 
 profaned it, rejoicing in the knowledge of the Most 
 High, and ordered his companions to burn the build- 
 ing with its enclosures. 
 
 In the year 627, this prince, with all his nobles, and 
 very many of the commonalty, were baptized. Pauli- 
 nus ,first bishop of York, continued, till the death of Ed- 
 win to preach the gospel ; "and as many as were or- 
 dained to eternal life believed." Edwin's children were 
 afterward baptized, and so strong was the desire of 
 his subjects for Christianity, that Paulinus having 
 come with the king and queen, to a royal villa, spent 
 there 36 days in teaching and baptizing from morning 
 till night. Though many of these conversions may 
 have been merely in complaisance to the court, yet 
 there is every reason to believe, there was a real effu- 
 sion of the Spirit at this time. Those who devoted 
 themselves professedly to the service of the true God, 
 appear to have done it most deliberately and uncle r- 
 slandtngly. 
 
 Edwin induced also Carpwald, king of the East An- 
 gles, to embrace the gospel. Sibert, his brother, sue- 
 
335 
 
 ceeded him, and was a prince of singular zeal and pie- 
 ty, and did much for the spiritual betiefitof his subjects. 
 
 Paulinus preached also in Lincolnshire, the first 
 province south of the Humber, where the governor of 
 Lincoln, with his house, was converted unto God. 
 Through the instrumentality of his preaching, and the 
 happy effects which the Spirit of God gave to it, on 
 the heart of Edwin and his subjects, peace, order and 
 justice wonderfully prevailed in Northumberland, dur- 
 ing his Christian reign. But this virtuous and pious 
 prince, was doomed to fall in battle. Having served 
 the cause of Christ for six years, he w r as slain in an ac- 
 tion, fought with Carduella, a British prince, a Christian 
 by profession, and with Penda, king of the Saxon prin- 
 cipality of Mercia, a professed pagan. The British 
 prince using his victory with savage barbarity, Pauli- 
 nus fled with Edwin's queen into Kent, whence he 
 had brought her. There he filled the see of Roches- 
 ter, which he held till his death. His deacon, James, 
 whom he had left in Northumberland, preserved still 
 some remains of Christianity in a province now over- 
 run by pagans. Such are the vicissitudes of the church 
 in this world ; her perfect rest is above. 
 
 The situation of the North was, after this, deplora- 
 ble, till Oswald succeeded to the kingdom. He pro- 
 cured Aidan, an Irish missionary, to come among his 
 people, to whom he acted as interpreter. He also en- 
 couraged other Irish ministers to come into the north 
 of England ; by whom the gospel was preached, 
 churches erected, and the ground lost by the expul- 
 sion of Paulinus, recovered. 
 
 Aidan was a most shining example of godliness. 
 He labored abundantly to convert infidels, and to 
 strengthen the faithful. He gave to the poor whatev- 
 er presents he received from the great, and continual- 
 ly employed himself and his associates in the scrip- 
 tures. Luxury, and every appearance of avarice and 
 ambition, he strictly avoided. With the money given 
 him by the rich, he redeemed captives, whom he af- 
 terward instructed and fitted for the ministry. The 
 king was not inferior to him in his endeavors to promote 
 
336 
 
 godliness. He encouraged every attempt to spread 
 the knowledge and practice of godliness among men. 
 
 In the mean time Byrinus, who was sent from Rome, 
 arrived among the West Saxons, whom he found all 
 pagans. Cynigilsus, their king, the father-in-law of Os- 
 wald, received baptism from him, and the gospel was 
 S'opagated with success through this branch of the 
 eptarchy* 
 
 Eadbald, king of Kent, died in the year 640, his son 
 Easconbert, a zealous supporter of godliness, succeed- 
 ed him, and was the first Saxon king who totally de- 
 stroyed all the idols in his kingdom. 
 
 Oswald was at length slain in battle by the same 
 Penda, king of Mercia, who was before mentioned, 
 and was succeeded by his brother, Oswy. Penda son 
 of the tyrant of Mercia, desired his daughter in mar- 
 riage. The reception of Christianity was made a con- 
 dition of his obtaining the woman of his choice. 
 Young Penda, on hearing the gospel preached, de- 
 clared he would become a Christian, even if Oswy's 
 daughter were denied him. Two years before the 
 death of old Penda, the son married the Northumbri- 
 an princess, and patronized Christianity in that part 
 of his father's dominions, which was committed to his 
 government. Old Penda renewed hostilities against 
 Oswy and was slain in battle. Oswy, now master of 
 Mercia and Northumberland, applied himself to propa- 
 gate Christianity among his new subjects. Through 
 his influence the gospel was restored to the kingdom 
 of the East Saxons ; and London, which had rejected 
 the ministry of Mellitus, again embraced the religion 
 of Christ. 
 
 In this century, Ireland was filled with saints. The 
 schools which they established were renow r ned for ages. 
 That there was a real effusion of the Spirit on England, 
 ia evident ; numbers were then turned from idols to the 
 living God, and the fruits of it were long enjoyed. 
 Kings were truly the nursing fathers, and queens the 
 nursing mothers of the church. Toward the close of 
 this century the zeal and purity of Christians in En- 
 glanc\ began to decline. 
 
337 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Propagation of the Gospel in Germany and its 
 Neighbourhood. 
 
 -I HE northern parts of Europe had hitherto remain- 
 ed in the darkness of Idolatry. In this century the 
 grace of God began to visit them. Many persons 
 travelled from Great Britain and Ireland to preach 
 Christ in Batavia, Belgium and Germany. Colomban, 
 an Irish monk, passed the Rhine and evangelized the 
 Suevi, Boii, and other German nations. In this cause 
 he labored till hia death, which happened in the year 
 615. Gal, one of his companions, labored with much 
 zeal about the lakes of Zurich and Constance. 
 
 Kilian, another Irish missionary came to Wirtzbourg, 
 upon the Mayne, where a pagan duke, called Gosbert 
 was governor. The duke received the gospel, was 
 baptized, and many followed his example. But he 
 had married his brother's wife. The missionary uni- 
 ted discretion with zeal, and deferred his admonitions 
 on this head, till he found that his pupil, the duke, 
 was firmly settled in the faith. Kilian ventured at 
 length to act the^ part of John the Baptist, and the 
 event was in a great measure similar. Gosbert prom- 
 ised to obey, but delayed the execution of his promise 
 till he should return from an expedition. The mischief 
 of procrastination .against the light of conscience, was 
 never more strongly illustrated; in his absence, Geila- 
 na, for that was the name of the German Herodias, 
 procured the murder of Kilian and his companions. 
 They were engaged in devotional exercises, and died 
 with the patience of martyrs in the year 688. Gos- 
 bert was prevailed on by the artifices of Geilana to 
 suffer the murderers to escape with impunity. But 
 Gosbert, with all the other actors in this tragedy, came 
 to an unhappy end. 
 
 Holland, Westphalia, Bavaria, and the neighboring 
 Countries received the gospel during this century. 
 
558 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The General History of the Church in this Century. 
 
 A HOCAS, the Greek emperor, was deposed and 
 slain by Heraclius, in the year 610: he was a most 
 vicious and profligate tyrant ; and may be compared 
 with Caligula, Nero, and Domitian. Since the intro- 
 duction of Christianity, such characters had, for two or 
 three centuries, been exceedingly rare. For such was 
 the benign influence of the gospel, that even amidst 
 all the corruptions and abuses of it, which were now 
 so numerous, a decency of character and conduct, un- 
 known to their pagan predecessors, was supported by 
 the emperors in general. In the beginning of the reign 
 of Heraclius, which lasted thirty years, the Persians 
 desolated the eastern part of the empire and made 
 themselves masters of Jerusalem. While Asia groaned 
 under their cruelties and oppressions, and was afflicted 
 with scourge after scourge, for her long abuse of the best 
 gift of God, ati opportunity was given for the exercise 
 of Christian graces, to a bishop of a church, which had 
 long since ceased to produce Christian fruit. 
 
 This was John, bishop of Alexandria, called the 
 Almoner, on account of his extensive liberality. He 
 daily supplied with necessaries those who flocked into 
 Egyptj after they had escaped the Persian arms. He 
 sent to Jerusalem the most ample relief for such as 
 remained there ; ransomed captives ; placed the 
 sick and wounded in hospitals, and visited them in 
 person, two or three times a week. He even seems 
 to have interpreted too strictly the sacred rule, " of 
 giving to him that asketh of thee." His spirit, how- 
 ever, was noble " should the whole world come to 
 Alexandria," said he, " they could not exhaust the 
 treasures of God." 
 
 The Nile not having risen to its usual height, there 
 was a barren season, provisions were scarce, and 
 crowds of refugees still poured into Alexandria. 
 John, however, continued his liberalities till he hsd 
 
339 
 
 neither money, nor credit. The prayer of faith was 
 his resource, and he still persevered in hope. He 
 even refused a very tempting offer of a person, who 
 would have bribed him with a large present, that he 
 might be ordained deacon. " As to my brethren the 
 poor," said the pious John, " God, who fed them be- 
 fore you and I were born, will take care to feed them 
 now, if we obey him." Soon after he heard of the ar- 
 rival of two large ships, which he had sent to Sicily 
 for corn. " I thank thee, O Lord," cried the bishop in 
 a rapture of joy, " that thou hast kept me from selling 
 thy gift for money." 
 
 From the beginning of his bishopric, he maintained 
 7500 poor persons by daily alms. He was accessible 
 to them on all occasions, and divine faith appears to 
 have influenced all his acts of love. He constantly 
 studied the scriptures, and, in his conversation, was 
 instructive and exemplary. Slander and evil speak- 
 ing he peculiarly disliked. If any person was guilty 
 of this, in his presence, he would give another turn to 
 the discourse. If the person still persisted, he would 
 direct "his servant not to admit him any more. 
 
 Heresy, licentiousness and ambition, had filled the 
 Alexandrian church, and reduced it very low, and per- 
 sons behaved indecently even in public worship. 
 John, one day, seeing several leave the church after 
 the reading of the gospel, went out also and sat down 
 among them. "Children," said he, "the shepherd 
 should be with his flock: I could pray at home, but 
 I cannot preach at home." By doing this twice, he 
 reformed the abuse. The preaching of the word 
 much engaged his heart, and the disregard with which 
 his preaching was attended was a mark of great degen- 
 eracy in the people. 
 
 In 616 John the Almoner departed from Alexandria 
 for fear of the Persians and soon after died in Cyprus, 
 in the same spirit in which he had lived, and with him 
 ends all that is worth recording of the church of Alex- 
 andria. 
 
 In the same year the haughty Chosroes, king of 
 Persia, having extended his conquests iqto Egypt, He- 
 
340 
 
 raclius sued for peace. The tyrant replied, " That, I 
 never will consent to, till you renounce him who was 
 crucified, whom you call God, and with me adore the 
 sun." Chosroes was a second Sennacherib, and was 
 treated as such by the Sovereign of the universe. 
 The spirit of Heraclius was roused ; and God gave him 
 wonderful success : the Persian king was repeatedly 
 vanquished, and after he had lost the greater part of 
 his dominions, was by his own son murdered, as was 
 the case with Sennacherib ; and in the year 628, the 
 Persian power ceased to be formidable to the Roman 
 empire. 
 
 About the year 630 the Eutychian heresy, which 
 maintained there was only one nature in Jesus Christ, 
 produced another, the Monothelite, which ascribed 
 to him but one will. Theodore, bishop of Pharan, in 
 Arabia, first started this sentiment. Sergius, bishop 
 of Constantinople, and Cyrus, bishop of Alexandria, 
 received and supported it. The emperor Heraclius w r as 
 drawn into this heresy, and the East was rapidly over- 
 spread by it. Against this, Sophronius, a disciple of 
 John the Almoner, took a firm stand, and in a council, 
 at Alexandria, protested against the innovation, but in 
 vain. The heresy spread wider and wider ; Honorius, 
 bishop of Rome, was led into the snare, and imposed 
 silence on all the controversalists. 
 
 While this new dispute continued in the East, vice 
 astonishingly prevailed ; and the Saracen locusts, 
 about to torment the Christian world, began their rav- 
 ages. In the year 608, Mahomet declared himself a 
 prophet, and soon collected some of various sorts of 
 persons who inhabited Arabia. At the time of his 
 death, which happened in the year 631, he had con- 
 quered almost all that country. 
 
 After his decease, the Mahometan arms still pro- 
 ceeded with the same rapidity. Damascus, Jerusalem, 
 Antioch and Alexandria, successively became a prey 
 to Unse devourers. Persia itself was subdued. Thus 
 did God punish both the persecuting idolaters, and the 
 vici u- professors of Christianity in the East. They 
 were doomed^to a long night of servitude under ma- 
 
341 
 
 hometanism, which continues to this time. Heraclius 
 himself died in the year 641. God had showed him 
 great mercies and given him very great encourage- 
 ment to seek true religion, by the remarkable success 
 of his arms against the Persians in the middle of his 
 reign. But he lived wickedly, and thus evinced the 
 moraPtendency of his heretical sentiments. 
 
 Maxim us, who had been secretary to Heraclius, was 
 a man of real godliness, and succeeded Sophronius in 
 the defence of the primitive faith. He, with much la- 
 bor, confuted the heresiarchs. In the year 649, by his 
 zeal and importunity, Martin, bishop of Rome, was 
 excited to assemble a council, in the Lateran, of 105 
 bishops. The controversy had now lasted 18 years. 
 Men destitute of godliness, but eagerly embracing the 
 form, had, during this period, gratified the self-right- 
 eous bias, and the most malevolent passions of the 
 heart, in long protracted controversies, while practical 
 religion was awfully neglected. Nor could all the ca- 
 lamities of the times, and the desolation of the eastern 
 churches, move them to the love of peace and truth. 
 
 Though Constans, who was then emperor, had, by 
 a decree, forbidden the council to take any part in the 
 controversy, yet Martin ventured to anathematize the 
 supporters of the Monothelite heresy. The resentment 
 of the emperor was excited, Martin was ordered to 
 be dragged into the East, and made to suffer a long 
 protracted punishment. He remained firm to the last. 
 In his severest trials he says, "As to this wretched 
 body, the Lord will take care of it. He is at hand; 
 why should I give myself any trouble? for I hope in 
 his mercy, that he will not prolong my course." His 
 ambition, to maintain the supposed superiority of the 
 Roman see, is blamable ; but his firm adherence to the 
 doctrines of truth, deserves the admiration of chris- 
 tians. He died in the year 655. In Roman language, 
 he is called St. Martin, and appears to have had a just 
 title to the name in the best sense of the word. 
 
 Maximus, now 75 years old, was brought, by order 
 of Constans, to Constantinople, and underwent a num- 
 ber of examinations. His understanding remained 
 
342 
 
 vigorous, and by the solidity of his arguments, he con- 
 founded his examiners. He clearly proved, " that to 
 allow only one will or operation in Jesus Christ, was 
 in reality to allow only one nature ; that therefore, the 
 opinion for which the emperor was so zealous, was 
 nothing more than Eulychianism revived ; that he 
 had not so properly condemned the emperor, as the 
 doctrine, by whomsoever it was held ; that it was con- 
 trary to the current of all ecclesiastical antiquity ; that 
 our Savior was always allowed, from the apostolical 
 times, to be perfect God and perfect man, and must 
 therefore have the nature, will and operations distinct- 
 ly belonging both to God and man : that the new sen- 
 timent went to confound the idea both of the divinity 
 and the humanity, and to leave him no proper exist- 
 ence at all : that the emperor was not a pastor, and 
 that it had never been practised by Christian empe- 
 rors in the worst times, to impose silence on bishops : 
 that it was the duty of the latter not to disguise the 
 truth by ambiguous expressions, but to defend it by 
 clear and distinct terms, adapted to the subject : that 
 Arianism had always endeavored to support itself by 
 such artifices as those employe^ by the emperor, and 
 that a peace obtained by such methods in the church 
 was at the expense of truth." Thus God raised up 
 Maximus to defend the truth, against the attacks of 
 its enemies. 
 
 The tyrant, enraged to find himself disappointed, or- 
 dered that Maximus should be scourged, his tongue 
 cut out, his right hand cut off, and then banished and 
 doomed to imprisonment for life. The same punish- 
 ment was inflicted on two of the disciples of Maximus. 
 These three upright men were confined in separate 
 castles, in obscure rogions of the East, where they en- 
 joyed no consolations, except those which belong to, 
 men who suffer for righteousness sake. 
 
 While such barbarous measures were used by nom- 
 inal Christians, to support unscriptural tenets, Provi- 
 dence frowned on the affairs of the empire. The Sa- 
 racens overrun Arabia, Persia, Mesopotamia, dial* 
 dea, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and part of Africa. Even 
 Europe suffered from their depredations, 
 
343 
 
 Constans, also, having murdered his own brother, 
 and greatly disgraced the Christian name, by his fol- 
 lies, his vices and cruelties, was at length dispatched 
 in the 27th year of his reign, in 667. 
 
 In 680, in a general council at Constantinople, 
 where the emperor, Constantine Pogonatus, presided, 
 the Monothelile heresy was anathematized, and its 
 abettors were condemned, among whom was Honori- 
 us, a bishop of Rome. The bishop did not at that 
 time claim or allow infallibility. The most decisive 
 marks of Antichrist, idolatry and false doctrine, had 
 not yet appeared in that church. Superstition and 
 vice were lamentably on the increase in the West, a 
 considerable degree of true piety, however, prevailed, 
 and some gracious effusions of the Spirit of God still 
 appeared. 
 
 In the East it was quite different Men had there 
 filled up the measure of their iniquity. The Mahom- 
 etan conquerors reduced the ancient professors of or- 
 thodoxy to a state of extreme insignificancy. Here- 
 tics were encouraged and protected by those conquer- 
 ors, while the orthodox were sorely oppressed. 
 
 Africa had shared in the general corruption in the 
 East, and it has also shared in the general punish- 
 ment. Toward the close of this century, it fell under 
 the power of the Mahometans. This region, once 
 fruitful in men, distinguished for soundness of faith, 
 and for holy lives, was consigned to Mahometan dark- 
 ness, and must henceforth be nearly dismissed from 
 these memoirs. 
 
 Learning was very low, and the taste of the age 
 barbarous. Christ had, then, however, a church in 
 the world. In England, true godliness appears to have 
 beamed forth with a good degree of lustre ; and France 
 seems to have enjoyed no small measure of piety. 
 From these t\vo countries, Divine truth made its w r ay 
 into Germany and the North, with glorious success. In 
 Italy, the Lombards gradually renounced Arianism, 
 and the purity of faith was in general preserved. In 
 the dark ages which followed, some glimmerings of 
 the presence qf Christ with his church will appear. 
 
344 
 
 CENTURY VIII. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Venerable Bede^ the English Presbyter. 
 
 A HIS man was born at Farrow, hear the mouth of 
 the Tyne. At the age of seven he lost both his par- 
 ents, and was then placed in the monastery of Were- 
 mouth, where he was educated with much strictness, 
 and from his youth, appears to have been devoted to 
 the service of God. He was afterward removed to 
 the monastery of Jerrow, where he ended his days. He 
 was accounted the most learned man of his time. Pray- 
 er, writing, and teaching were his familiar employments 
 during his whole life. He was constant in riligious du- 
 ties arid made all his studies subservient to devotion. 
 Of Greek and Hebrew, he had a knowledge very un- 
 common in that barbarous age, and by his instructions 
 and examples, raised up many scholars. There was 
 more learning at that time, in the British Isles, than in 
 any other part of Europe. Genuine godliness, rather 
 than taste or genius, appears in his writings. 
 
 In his last sickness, he was afflicted with a difficul- 
 ty of breathing, for two weeks. His mind was serene 
 and cheerful, and his affections heavenly. Amidst 
 these infirmities, he daily taught his disciples. A great 
 part of the night was spent in prayer and thanksgiv- 
 ing , and the first employment in the morning was to 
 meditate on the scriptures and to address his God. 
 " God scourgeth every son whom he receiveth," was 
 frequently in his mouth. Even amidst his bodily 
 weakness, he was employed in writing two little trea- 
 tises. Perceiving his end to draw nigh he said, " If 
 my Maker please, I will go to him from the flesh ? 
 who formed rne out of nothing. My soul desires to 
 see Christ my King in his beauty." He sang glory to 
 the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and expired with at 
 
345 
 
 sedateness, composure, and devotion, which amazed 
 all, who saw and heard him. 
 
 While Bede lived^in no part of the world, was god- 
 liness better understood and practised, than among 
 the English. 
 
 A year before his death, in a letter to Egbert, arch- 
 bishop of York, he writes, " Above all things, avoid 
 useless discourse, and apply yourself to the holy scrip- 
 tures, especially the epistles to Timothy and Titus ; 
 to Gregory's Pastoral Care, and his homilies on the 
 gospel. It is indecent for him, who is dedicated to 
 the service of the church, to give way to actions or 
 discourse unsuitable to his character. Have always 
 those about you, who may assist you in temptation : 
 be not like some bishops, who choose to have those 
 about them, who love good cheer, and divert them 
 with trifling and facetious conversation." 
 
 In the same letter he also writes, " Appoint presby- 
 ters, in each village, to instruct and to administer the 
 sacraments ; and let them be studious that every one 
 of them may learn by heart, the creed and the Lord's 
 prayer." 
 
 In a synod, held at Cloveshoo, about the middle of 
 this century, in which Bede appears to have had great 
 influence, the clergy are directed to have fellowship 
 \vith one another, to serve God in one spirit of faith., 
 hope and charity, to pray for one another, and to at- 
 tend the duties of the sabbath. This shows the char- 
 acter of Bede, and the spirit of the synod. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Miscellanea us Particulars* 
 
 J_N the early part of this century, Ceolfrid governed 
 the two monasteries of Werernouth and Jerrovv, where 
 Bede was educated. Through his* influence, the 
 Picts, who inhabited North Britain, were brought 
 over to the Roman mode of celebrating Easter, and of 
 2 tf 
 
348 
 
 course io the Roman communion, and to share in the 
 corruptions of that church, which continually grew 
 more and more superstitious. 
 
 In the year 713, the Mahometans passed over from 
 Africa into Spain, and put an end to the kingdom of 
 the Goths, which had lasted near 300 years. Most of 
 the professed Christians, who had there become very 
 corrupt and superstitious, were reduced ta slavery. 
 A few, however, in the Asturian mountains, preserved 
 their independence, and chose Pelagius for their king. 
 He expressed his hope, that after God had chastised 
 them for their sins, he would not give them wholly up 
 to the Mahometans. His confidence in God was not 
 disappointed. Under circumstances extremely disad- 
 vantageous, he defeated the enemy, re-peopled the 
 cities, rebuilt the churches, and by the pious assis- 
 tance of several pastors, supported the gospel in one 
 district of Spain, while the greatest part of the country 
 was overrun by the Arabians. The successors of Pe- 
 lagius recovered more cities from the enemy. 
 
 Christendom, now afforded a mournful spectacle. 
 Idolatry was widely spreading, both in Europe and 
 Asia, among the professors of the gospel: in all 
 those countries which had long been evangelized, 
 men had generally forsaken the faith and precepts of 
 Jesus. The people, who served the Lord in the 
 greatest purity and sincerity, at this time, seem to 
 have been our ancestors, and the inhabitants of some 
 other regions, which had but lately received the gos- 
 pel. Sin blinds the mind ; and the nominal Christians 
 of the day perceived not that the avenging hand of 
 God was upon them, till the Arabians had advanced 
 into the heart of France, and were ravaging that coun- 
 try in a dreadful manner, when strong efforts were made? 
 to withstand them. In the year 732, they were total- 
 ly defeated near Poictiers, by the heroic Charles Mar- 
 tel. By this, the providence of God stopped the pro- 
 gress of the Arabian locusts, and preserved a people t 
 serve him in those western regions. 
 
347 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Controversy of Images. The maturity of Antichrist. 
 
 |_N the year 727, the bishop of Rome, endeavored 
 by temporal power to support false doctrine, and par- 
 ticularly that which deserves the name of idolatry. 
 This is probably the most proper date for the begin- 
 ning of Popedorru 
 
 While men's hearts were filled with peace and joy in 
 believing, while the doctrines of regeneration and 
 justification were precious and all-important in their 
 timation, and they lived by the faith of Jesus, saw his 
 glory, and felt in their souls the transforming power of 
 his grace ; the deceitful aids of idolatry to their wor- 
 ship, had no charms. But now the knowledge of the 
 gospel was adulterated and darkened ; and the mind, 
 no longer under the influence of the Holy Spirit, be- 
 took itself to the arts of sculpture and painting, to in- 
 flame its affections, and to enkindle a false fire of de- 
 votion. Pride could easily invent arguments to si- 
 lence the admonitions of conscience, and gratify a 
 self-righteous spirit, and worldly ambition lay in its 
 claim for secular pow r er and self- gratification. In this 
 respect the Roman church advanced in corruption 
 more rapidly than the Eastern. The Grecian empe- 
 rors employed themselves in destroying images and 
 pictures, while in Italy they were held in idolatrous 
 admiration. 
 
 Leo, the Greek emperor, in the year 727, began 
 openly to oppose the worship of images. This pro- 
 duced a rupture with the Roman see. Having assem- 
 bled the people, with frankness and sincerity he de- 
 clared to them, his settled conviction of the idolatry of 
 the growing practice, and that images ought not to be 
 erected for adoration. But, so deeply had error pre- 
 vailed, so convenient did wicked men find it to com- 
 mute for the indulgence of their crimes, by a zealous 
 $}tachment to the^worship of images, and so little were 
 
348 
 
 the scriptures then read and studied, that the subjects 
 of Leo murmured against him as a tyrant and persecu- 
 tor. Even Germanus, bishop of Constantinople, took 
 a decided part in favor of images, in opposition to the 
 emperor. If peace by Jesus Christ, through faith 
 alone, be not faithfully preached, men distressed for 
 their sins will flee to idolatry with eagerness, and be 
 confirmed in sinful practices. 
 
 Gregory II. was now bishop of Rome ; whom, on ac- 
 count of his open defence and support of idolatry, J 
 shall venture to call the first Pope in Rome. From 
 his time, the bishops of Rome, with their adherents, 
 are to be looked on as Antichrist. 
 
 Greece and its neighboring islands, infatuated with 
 image worship, opposed the emperor, and set up an 
 usurper. But the rebels were routed ; and the usurper 
 was taken and beheaded. 
 
 The cause of the emperor Leo, was just, and his 
 zeal was sincere, though his temper was too warm. 
 He might have been a pious Christian, there is no 
 proof to the contrary. He not only condemned the 
 worship of images but also rejected relics and the in- 
 tercession of saints. But there lived none at that time 
 capable of doing justice to the holiness of his motives 
 if indeed, as there is reason to hope, they were holy. 
 
 Jn the year 730, Leo published an edict against ima- 
 ges, deposed the idolat rous Germanus, and appointed 
 Anastasius, who was opposite in sentiment, in his stead. 
 In the porch of the palace of Constantinople was an 
 image of Christ on the cross. Leo saw it had been 
 made an engine of idolatry and sent an officer to pull 
 it down. Some women, who were there, entreated 
 that it might be spared, but in vain. The officer hav- 
 ing mounted a ladder, struck with a hatchet three 
 blows on the face of the figure, when the women pull- 
 ed away the ladder, threw him down, and murdered 
 him on the spot. The image, however, was pulled 
 down and burnt, and a plain cross set up in its room. 
 Leo only objected to the erection of an human figure. 
 The women afterward insulted Anastasius as having 
 profaned holy things. Leo put several persons to 
 
349 
 
 death, who had been concerned in the murder. But 
 the triumph of idolatry was at length so great, that 
 the murderers are to this day honored by the Greek 
 church, as martyrs ! more blood was spilt on this occa- 
 sion, partly through the vehemence of the emperor, 
 and partly through the obstinacy of the idolaters. 
 
 The news flew to Rome, and the emperor's statues 
 were pulled down and trodden under foot. Attempts 
 were now made to elect another emperor, and the 
 Pope encouraged those attempts. The issue of the 
 ferment was that he established his, and his successors' 
 temporal pow r er on the ruins of imperial authority. 
 He was succeeded by Gregory III. who wrote to the 
 emperor in these arrogant terms. " Because you are 
 unlearned and ignorant, we are obliged to write to 
 you rude discourses, but full of sense and the word of 
 God. We conjure you to quit your pride, and hear 
 us with humility. You say that we adore stones, 
 walls, and boards. It is not so, my lord ; but those 
 symbols make us recollect the persons whose names 
 they bear, and exalt our grovelling minds. We do not 
 look upon them as gods : but if it be the image of Je- 
 sus, we say " Lord help us." If it be the image of his 
 mother, we say, "pray to your son to save us." If it 
 be of a martyr, we say, " St. Stephen, pray for us." 
 
 " We might, as having the power of St. Peter, pro- 
 nounce punishment against you ; but as you have 
 pronounced the curse upon yourself, let it stick to you. 
 You write to us to assemble a general council ; of 
 which there is no need. Do you cease to persecute 
 images, and all will be quiet. We fear not your 
 threats ; for if we go a league from Rome toward Cam- 
 pania, we are secure." Certainly this is the language 
 of Antichrist, supporting idolatry by infallibility, and 
 despising both civil magistrates and ecclesiastical 
 councils. 
 
 In a view of such arrogance, it is not to be wonder- 
 ed at, that Leo refused to have any further intercourse 
 with the Roman prelate. In 732, Gregory, in a coun- 
 cil excommunicated all, who should remove or speak 
 contemptuously of images. Italy being thus in a state 
 
350 
 
 of rebellion, Leo fitted out a fleet to qnell it. This 
 was wrecked in the Adriatic. In the East, however, 
 he continued to enforce his edicts against images, in 
 opposition to all the sophisms of their advocates. 
 
 In the year 741, Gregory and Leo both died. Con- 
 stantine Copronimus succeeded his father as emperor ; 
 and Zachary succeeded as Pope. The new emperor 
 imitated his father's zeal against images. Zachary 
 showed himself worthy of the title of temporal prince . 
 He fomented discord among the Lombards, and, by 
 intrigues obtained an addition to the patrimony of the 
 church. 
 
 Pepin, now prime minister of state in France, sent 
 a case of conscience to the Pope to be resolved, W 7 hich 
 was, whether it would be right in him to depose his 
 sovereign Childeric III. and reign in his stead. Zach- 
 ary answered in the affirmative. Pepin then threw 
 his master into a monastery and assumed the title of 
 king. Zachary died in the year 752, and was suc- 
 ceeded by Stephen. 
 
 In 754, the Greek emperor held a council of 338 
 bishops to decide the controversy concerning images. 
 On the nature of the heresy, they say, "Jesus Christ 
 hath delivered us from idolatry, and hath taught us to 
 adore him in spirit and in truth. But the devil not 
 being able to endure the beauty of the church, hath 
 insensibly brought back idolatry under the appearance 
 of Christianity, persuading men to worship the crea- 
 ture, and to take for God a work, to which they give 
 the name of Jesus Christ." 
 
 Constantine now determined on exterminating all 
 vestiges of idolatry, burnt the images, and demolish- 
 ed the walls, which were painted with representations 
 of Christ or the saints. 
 
 Pope Stephen, now at war with the Lombards, ap- 
 plied to Pepin to succor Si. Peter ; promising the re- 
 mission of sins, a hundred fold in this world, and in 
 the world *to come life everlasting. Shortly after this, 
 Stephen visited Pepin and anointed him with oil as 
 king of the Franks, and by the authority of St. Peter, 
 forbad the French lords, on pain of excommuuicatiQn. 
 
351 
 
 to choose a king of another race. Pepin, in return^ 
 afforded succor to St. Peter, attacked Astulphus, king 
 of the Lombards, so vigorously as to compel him to 
 deliver up Ravenna, and twenty-one cities besides, Jo 
 the Pope. With the acquisition of Ravenna, and its 
 dependencies, Stephen added rapacity to his rebel- 
 lion. From this time, he not only assumed the tone 
 of infallibility and spiritual dominion, but became lit- 
 erally a temporal prince. 
 
 In 757, Stephen died and was succeeded by Paul. 
 In 768 Pepin, the great supporter of the Popedom, 
 died, and was succeeded by his son Charles, common- 
 ly called, on account of his great exploits, Charle- 
 magne. By him, Adrian, the successor of Paul, ob- 
 tained an enlargement of territorial jurisdiction. 
 
 In 775, the emperor Constantine died, after having 
 vigorously opposed image worship during his whole 
 reign. Leo, his son and successor, trod in his steps 
 and exercised severities on the supporters of image 
 worship. On his decease in 680, his wife Irene assum- 
 ed the government in the name of her son Constan- 
 tine, now ten years old. She openly and zealously 
 supported idolatry. Images and the monastic life 
 again prevailed in Greece and Asia. In this they aw- 
 fully departed from the all-important article of justifi- 
 cation. During the whole of this century the pulpits 
 were silent on this doctrine ; false religion grew with- 
 out any check or molestation ; and vices, both in pub- 
 lie and private life, proportionably increased. 
 
 In 787 the second council of Nice, held under the^ 
 empress, confirmed idolatrous worship. Pope Adrian, 
 having received the acts of this council, sent them to 
 Charlemagne, that he might procure the approbation of 
 the bishops of the West. The customs and habits of 
 the West were far from favoring the reigning idolatry. 
 At this gloomy period the features of real religion 
 are to be found in the churches newly planted. The 
 island of Great Britain was then decidedly against 
 idolatry. The British Christians execrated the second 
 council of Nice ; and some of the Italian bishops pro- 
 tested against the growing evil. France itself had, 
 
352 
 
 as yet, shown no disposition positively in favor of 
 idolatry. 
 
 Charlemagne, struck with the discordancy of the 
 Nicene council, with the principles and practices of 
 the West, ordered the western bishops to examine the 
 merits of the question* Their result was, that images 
 might be set up in churches, and serve as books for 
 the instruction of the people. But they condemned, 
 in free terms, the late Grecian Synod, which enjoined 
 the worship of images. They allowed the primacy of 
 St. Peter's see, but would not found their faith on the 
 Pope's decrees* Charles and the French churches, 
 persevered in their own middle practice, used images, 
 but abhorred the adoration of them. 
 
 A synod of 300 bishops in the year 794, at Frank 
 fort, condemned the second council of Nice, and the 
 worship of images. Before the close of the century 
 Adrian died and was succeeded by Leo III. Political 
 intrigue, and secular artifice, not theological study, 
 was then the practice of Roman bishops. The Irish, 
 at this time, particularly excelled in divinity, some of 
 that nation travelled through various countries, and 
 became renowned for knowledge. The superior light 
 of England and France, in the controversy of images, 
 proves both those countries, in knowledge and in re- 
 gard for the doctrines of scripture, to have been far 
 superior to Rome. Yet so strongly were men prejudi- 
 ced in favor of the dignity of the Roman see, that it 
 still remained in the height of its power, and was able, 
 in process of time, to communicate its idolatrous 
 abominations through Europe. In the East, the wor- 
 ship of images was triumphant, but as yet not univer- 
 sal. The East and West, were now overgrown with 
 false worship ; even those parts, which as yet, were 
 not disposed to receive idolatry, were prepared for 
 its gradual admission, partly by the prevalence of 
 superstition, and partly by the submission of the Eu- 
 ropean churches to the domination of the Roman see. 
 There the seat of Antichrist was firmly fixed. Rebel- 
 lion against the lawful power of the magistrate, the 
 most arrogant claims to infallibility, and the support of 
 
353 
 
 image worship, conspired with the temporal dominion 
 lately obtained by the bishop of Rome, to render him 
 the tyrant of the church. His dominions, were, indeed, 
 not large, but in conjunction with the proud preten- 
 sions of his ecclesiastical character, they gave him a 
 superlative dignity in the eyes of all Europe. From 
 the year 727 the face of the whole church was altered : 
 and from that time, till nearly the year 2000, we may 
 have the dominion of the beast; the forty and two 
 months, or 1260 days, a day being put for a year, 
 while the witnessess are to prophesy in sackcloth. 
 We must now look for the true church, either, in dis- 
 tinct individual saints, who, in the midst of popery, 
 were preserved by effectual grace, in vital union with 
 the Son of God, or in associations of true Christians, 
 formed in different regions, who were in a state of 
 persecution and much affliction. Where then was the 
 true church in the eighth century ? She still existed ; 
 and the opposition made to idolatry by Charles and 
 the council of Frankfort, demonstrates the fact. 
 Nothing but the influence of sentiments, very oppo- 
 site to those which were fashionable at Rome, can ac- 
 count for such events, at a time, when the dignity of 
 the Roman see was held in universal veneration. 
 The propagation of the gospel among pagans chief- 
 ly indicates the existence of the real church in this 
 century. Some real work of this kind was propagat- 
 ing, while the popedom was forming ; and, by the ado- 
 rable providence of God, pious missionaries, who en- 
 tered not into the recent controversies, but were en- 
 gaged in actions purely spiritual, were .patronized and 
 supported in preaching Christ among foreign nations, 
 by the same popes of Rome who were opposing his 
 grace among their own subjects. Their ambition led 
 them to cherish the zeal of the missionaries, but with 
 how different a spirit ! To this scene let us now direct 
 our attention. 
 
 
354 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Propagation of the Gospel in this Century, and an 
 account of the life of Boniface, Archbishop of Mentz. 
 
 A HE great luminary of Germany was Winfrid, an 
 Englishman, who had been brought up in the monas- 
 tic Ufe from his infancy. In the year 719, he was 
 appointed by Gregory II. bishop of Rome, to the 
 missionary life and labors. His commission was of 
 the most ample and unlimited nature. In execution 
 of this he went into Bavaria and Thuringia. In the 
 first country, he reformed churches, in the second, he 
 was successful in the conversion of infidels. Here al- 
 so he observed, how true religion, where it had been 
 planted, was almost destroyed by false teachers ; some 
 pastors, indeed, were zealous for the service of God, 
 but others were devoted to scandalous vices : the 
 English missionary beheld their state, and the ill ef- 
 fects of it on the people, with sorrow, and strove in- 
 cessantly to recover them to true repentance. 
 
 A door was now opened in Friezeland for the free 
 preaching of the gospel. Thither. Winfrid repaired 
 and co-operated with Willibrod, another English mis- 
 sionary who had already spent much time among the 
 Frisons. Many received the word of God ; churches 
 were erected, and idolatry was more and more subdu- 
 ed. 
 
 Winfrid, having labored among the Frisons with 
 success, passed into Hesse, to a place called Oinen- 
 burg, belonging to two brothers, who were nominal 
 Christians, but practical idolaters.. Here his- labors 
 were successful, both on them and their subjects ; and 
 throughout a great part of Hesse y even to the confines 
 of Saxony, he erected the standard of truth, and up- 
 held it with much zeal, to the confusion of the king- 
 dom of Satan. In a country so poor and uncultivated 
 as the greater part of Germany then was, Winfrid suf- 
 fered many severe hardships. At times, he supported 
 
355 
 
 himself by the work of his hands, and was exposed t* 
 imminent peril from the rage of the obstinate Pagans. 
 
 After a considerable residence in Germany, he re- 
 turned to Rome, where he was kindly received by 
 Gregory II, and was consecrated bishop of the new 
 German churches, by the name of Boniface. The 
 policy of the Pope, in giving to this English missionary 
 a Roman name, seems to have been, to procure from 
 the German converts, respect to himself. This ap- 
 pears further to have been his design, from the circum- 
 stance, that he required of the new bishop an oath of 
 subjection to the papal authority, conceived in the 
 strongest terms. On his return into Germany Boni- 
 face exerted himself with much zeal against the idol- 
 atrous superstitions of the country. Protected by the 
 civil authority of the French government, he caused an 
 oak of prodigious size, which had been the occasion of 
 much pagan delusion, to be cut down. 
 
 About the year 723, Daniel, bishop of Winchester, 
 wrote to Boniface concerning the best method of deal- 
 ing with idolaters. " Do not contradict," says he a in 
 a direct manner their accounts of the genealogy of 
 their gods ; allow that they were born from one another 
 in the same way as mankind are ; this concession will 
 give you the advantage of proving, that there was a 
 time when they had no existence. Ask them who 
 governed the world before the birth of their gods ; ask 
 them if these gods have ceased to propagate. If they 
 have not, show them the consequence ; viz : that the 
 gods must be infinite in number, and that no man can 
 rationally be at ease in worshipping any of them, lost 
 he should by that means, offend one, who is more 
 powerful. Argue thus with them, not in a way of in- 
 sult, but with temper and moderation; and take op- 
 portunities to contrast these absurdities with the 
 Christian doctrine : let the pagans be rather ashamed 
 than incensed by your oblique mode of stating these 
 subjects. Show them the insufficiency of their plea of 
 antiquity: inform them that idolatry did anciently 
 prevail over the world, but that Jesus Christ was mani- 
 fested, in order to reconcile men to God by his grace.'* 
 
356 
 
 Piety and good sense appear to have predominated in 
 these instructions, and we have here proofs, in addition 
 to those already given, of the grace of God conferred 
 on our ancestors during the Heptarchy. 
 
 The reputation of Boniface was now high; and ma- 
 ny from England resorted into Germany, to connect 
 themselves with him. These dispersed about the 
 country, and preached in the villages of Hesse and 
 Thuringia. 
 
 In 732, Boniface received from Gregory III. the ti- 
 tle of archbishop, by whom too he was supported in 
 his mission. 
 
 After he had continued his exertions with unabated 
 vigor and with great success for some time longer, in 
 the scene of his previous labors, he was at length, 
 fixed at MentZ) and he is commonly called archbishop 
 of that city."" 
 
 Under the increase of his dignity, his zeal and ex- 
 ertions were not remitted. He suffered much from 
 pagans, false Christians, and immoral pastors, but en- 
 dured his sufferings with firmness, supported by confi- 
 dence in his divine Master. Though oppressed with 
 age and infirmities, he determined to return into 
 Friezeland. Before this event, he acted as if he had 
 a strong presentiment of his approaching exit. He 
 appointed Lullus, an Englishman, his successor, as 
 archbishop of Mentz, and wrote to the abbot of St. 
 Denys, desiring him to acquaint the king, Pepin, tbat 
 he and his frisnds believed his death was near. He 
 begged, that the king would show kindness to the 
 missionaries, whom, he should leave behind him. 
 "Some of them" sjiLJ h^, "are priests, dispersed into 
 diverse parts, for the good of the church : others arc 
 monks, settled in small monasteries, where they in- 
 struct the children. There are aged men with me, 
 who have long assisted me in my labors. I fear, lest 
 after my death, they be dispersed, and the disciples, 
 who are near the frontiers, should lose the faith of 
 Jesus Christ. I beg that my son Lullus, may be con- 
 firmed in the episcopal office, and that he may teach 
 the priests, the monks, and the people. I hope that 
 
357 * * 
 
 he will perform these duties. That, which ftiost af- 
 flicts me, is, that the priests, who are on the pagan 
 frontiers, are very indigent They can obtain bread, 
 but no clothes, unless they be assisted, as they have 
 been by me. Let me know your answer, that I may 
 live or die with more cheerfulness." 
 
 It is most probable that he received an answer 
 agreeable to his benevolent wishes, as he himself or- 
 dained Lullus his successor, with the consent of Pe- 
 pin. Boniface went by the *Rhine into Friezeland, 
 where, assisted by Eoban, whom he had ordained 
 bishop of Utrecht, after the death of Willibrod, he 
 brought great numbers of pagans into the pale of the 
 church. He had appointed a day to confirm those, 
 whom he had baptized. In waiting for them, he en- 
 camped with his followers, on the banks of the Bord- 
 ne, a river which then divided East and West Frieze- 
 land. His intention was to confirm, by imposition of 
 hands, the converts on the plains of Dockum. On the 
 appointed day, he beheld, in the morning, not the 
 new converts, whom he expected, but a troop of angry 
 pagans, armed with shields and lances. The servants 
 went out to resist, but Boniface, with cairn intrepidi- 
 ty, said to his followers, " Children, forbear to fight ; 
 the scripture forbids us to render evil for evil. The 
 day, which I have long waited for, has come. Hope 
 in God, and he will save your * souls." Thus did he 
 prepare the priests and the rest of his companions for 
 martyrdom. The pagans attacked them furiously, and 
 slew the whole company, fifty-three in number, inclu- 
 ding Boniface himself. This happened in the year 755, 
 in the 40tb er his arrival in Germany and the 75th 
 of his age. le manner, in which his death was re- 
 sented by tiiL Christian Germans, shows their high ven- 
 neration for his character. They collected a great ar- 
 my, attacked the pagans, slew many of them, pillaged 
 their country, and carried off their wives and children. 
 Those, who remained pagans in Friezeland, were glad 
 to obtain peace by submitting to Christian rites. Such 
 a method of shewing regard for Boniface, might be 
 expected from a rude and ill informed multitude. .But, 
 
358 
 
 though rude they had the gifts of common sense, and 
 could feelingly estimate the friendship and benificence 
 of the apostle of the Germans. And if their vindictive 
 punishment of his murderers was severe and unchris- 
 tian it was natural. Boniface appears to have been 
 a man of genuine piety and exemplary virtue. 
 Though excessively attached to the Roman see, and 
 to monastic institutions, yet he did not practise idola- 
 try or teach false doctrine. Removed from the scene 
 of controversy, he seems not to have taken any part 
 in the debate concerning images, but uniformly to 
 have opposed idolatry and immorality. For many 
 years, he lived amidst dangers and sufferings, and sup- 
 ported a uniform zeal for the reformation of the cler- 
 gy, and the conversion of infidels, to which objects he 
 sacrificed all worldly conveniences, and at last, finish- 
 ed his course in martrydom, in the patience and meek- 
 ness of a disciple of Christ. God made use of his la- 
 bors, greatly to extend the bounds of the church in the 
 north of Europe, while they were so much contracted 
 in Asia and Africa. 
 
 Virgilius, an Irishman, was appointed bishop of 
 Saltzburg, by king Pepin. His modesty prevented 
 him from entering upon the office for two years ; but 
 he was at length prevailed on to receive consecration. 
 He followed the example of JJoniface in extirpating 
 the remains of idolatry in his diocese and died in the 
 year 780. 
 
 The church of Utrecht, in Friezeland, was governed 
 by Gregory, who, from the fifteenth year of his age, 
 had been a follower of Bonifa.ce. Two of his broth- 
 ers having been .murdered in a wood, the barons, 
 whose vassals, they were, delivered the murderers 
 bound into his hands. Gregory, after he had treated 
 them kindly, bade them depart in peace, saying "sin 
 no more, lest a worse thing befal you.*" He was as- 
 sisted in his ministerial labors by several disciples ; > 
 some were, of his own nation, the French, others were 
 English, prisons, newly converted Saxons, and Bava- 
 rians. Scarce a morning passed, without his giving 
 them spirkual instruction. He affected no. singular!- 
 
359 
 
 ty either in habit or diet. He recommended sobriety 
 among his disciples, was not to be moved from the 
 path of duty by slander, and was boundless in his lib- 
 erality to the poor. He died about the year 776. 
 
 Liefuvyn, an Englishman, one of his disciples, was 
 distinguished by his labors, as a missionary in Germa- 
 ny. He even ventured to appear before the pagan 
 Saxons, while assembled upon the Weser sacrificing 
 to their idols, and exhorted them with a loud voice to 
 turn from those vanities unto the living God. As an 
 ambassador from Jehovah, he offered them salvation. 
 Here his zeal had well nigh cost him his life ; but he 
 was at length suffered to depart, on the remonstrances 
 of Buto, one of their chiefs, who expostulated with 
 them on the unreasonableness of treating an ambassa- 
 dor of the great God with less respect than they did 
 one from any of the neighboring nations. In the 
 mean time, the arms of Charlemagne prevailed over 
 the Saxons, and eventually facilitated the efforts of 
 Liefuvyn, who continued to preach among this people 
 till his death. 
 
 This was an age of missionaries : their character 
 and their success form almost the only shining picture 
 in this century. Villehad, an Englishman was abun- 
 dantly successful among the Saxons. He became 
 bishop of Bremen, and was called the apostle of Sax- 
 ony. He commenced his mission in Dockum, where 
 Boniface had been murdered, and was the first mission- 
 ary who passed the Elbe. After he had labored 35 
 years, and had been bishop of Bremen two years, he 
 died. In his dying moments, he said to his weeping 
 friends, "withhold me not from going to God: these 
 sheep I recommend to him, who intrusted them to 
 me, and whose mercy is able to protect them." 
 
 Firmin, a Frenchman, preached the gospel, under 
 various difficulties, in Alsace, Bavaria, and Switzer- 
 land, and inspected a number of monasteries. Rumold 
 travelled into Lower Germany, next into Brabant, 
 diffused much light in the neighborhood of Mechlin, 
 and in 775, was murdered by two persons, one of 
 whom he had reproved for adultery. 
 
360 
 
 The north of France was in this century, full of pa- 
 gans and merely nominal Christians. Silvin, who was 
 born in Thoulouse, travelled thither, preached among 
 them for many years, and gathered in a large harvest. 
 He died at Auchy 5 in the county of Artois. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Authors of this Century. 
 
 JL HE most learned writer of this century, except 
 Bede, seems to have been John of Damascus. He 
 mingled the Aristotelean philosophy with the Christian 
 religion, and defended the Arminian sentiment of 
 free-will, in opposition to the doctrine of effectual 
 grace. In this he labored to teach man to rely on 
 himself. 
 
 In the doctrine of the Trinity, John appears to have 
 been orthodox : in other respects he was one of the 
 most powerful supporters of error. He advocated the 
 practice of praying for the dead, as effectual to the re- 
 mission of sins, also defended the detestable doctrine 
 of image worship, and contributed more than any oth- 
 er author, to establish this practice in the East. 
 
 In the year 790, Alcuin was sent ambassador into 
 France by Offa, king of the Mercians. On this occa- 
 sion, he gained the esteem of Charlemagne, and per- 
 suaded that monarch to found the universities of Pa- 
 ris and Pavia. He was looked upon as one of the 
 wisest and most learned men of his time. He read 
 public lectures, in the emperor's palace, and in other 
 places. He wrote in an orthordox, candid and able 
 manner, on the Trinity. He died in 804. 
 
 Paulinus, of Aquileia, was distinguished as a writer, 
 in the opposition, which he maintained to the errors of 
 Felix, bishop of Urgel, who attempted to separate the 
 humanity from the Divinity of the Son of God. It is 
 remarkable that Paulinus arid some other Italian bish- 
 ops, in the year 787, agreed to condemn the decrees 
 of the second council of Nice, as idolatrous, though 
 
361 
 
 Pope Adrian had assisted at that council by his legates, 
 and used his utmost endeavors to maintain its author- 
 ity. The despotism of Antichrist was then, so far 
 from being universal, that it was not owned through- 
 out Italy itself. Jn some parts of that country, as well 
 as in England and France, the purity of Christian wor- 
 ship was still maintained. The city of Rome, and its 
 environs, seem, at this period, to have been the most 
 corrupt part of Christendom, nor was a single mis- 
 sionary an Italian. 
 
 CENTURY IX, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A General View of the State of Religion in this Century. 
 
 ? f E are penetrating into the regions of darkness, and 
 a " land of deserts and pits, a land of drought, and of 
 the shadow of death,-' and we are carried by every 
 step into scenes still more gloomy than the former. 
 Here and there, indeed, a glimmering ray of the sun 
 of righteousness is discernable, but it is in vain to look 
 for any steady lustre of evangelical truth and holi- 
 ness, amidst this dismal darkness. 
 
 The several circumstances which attended the 
 gloom of this century are reducible to the follow- 
 ing heads : The preference given to human writings 
 above the scriptures ; the domination of the pope- 
 do m ; the accumulation of ceremonies : and the op- 
 pression of the godly. 
 
 It was now fashionable to explain scripture entirely 
 by the writings of the fathers. No man was permitted 
 with impunity to vary in the least degree from their 
 decisions. The apostolic rule of interpretation, to 
 compare spiritual things with spiritual, was in a man- 
 ner lost. It was deemed sufficient, that such a re- 
 nowned doctor had given such an interpretation. 
 2 x 
 
362 
 
 Hence men of learning and indutry paid more atten- 
 tion to the fathers, than to the sacred volume, which, 
 through long disuse and neglect, was looked on as ob- 
 scure and perplexed, and quite unfit for common read- 
 ing. Even divine truths seemed to derive their au- 
 thority more from the word of man than of God ; and 
 the writings and decrees of men were not treated as 
 witnesses, but usurped the office of judges of divine 
 truth. 
 
 The popedom now grew stronger and stronger, and 
 whoever dared to oppose the bishop of Rome, drew up- 
 on himself a host of enemies. All, who looked for ad- 
 vancement in the church, were attached to Antichrist, 
 very little resistance was consequently made to image 
 worship. Most persons contented themselves with a 
 simple exposition of their creed, Idolatry was now 
 supported by the whole power and influence of the 
 popedom. 
 
 The great accumulation of ceremonies, considered 
 absolutely necessary to salvation, drew off the atten- 
 tion of men from Christian piety. The all-important 
 article of justification was nearly smothered in the 
 rubbish ; and pastors were so much engrossed with 
 the rites of worship, that they were almost entirely 
 diverted from intellectual improvement. 
 
 Men of eminence, both in church and state, partly 
 through superstition, and partly through secular views, 
 suppressed every attempt to reform mankind. 
 
 In Asia, Mahometanism still reigned, and scarce a 
 vestige of real godliness appeared in the Eastern 
 church. There image worship was still a subject of 
 debate : but at length, under the patronage of the su- 
 perstitious empress Theodora, it effectually triumphed. 
 
 In this dark season, the absurd tenet of transubstan- 
 tiation was introduced. John Scotus Erigena, and 
 Rabanus, archbishop of Mentz, two of the most learn- 
 ed men of that age, pleaded the cause of common 
 .^ense, and opposed this absurd doctrine ; but their 
 learning seems to have had very little connexion with 
 godliness ; for they joined in opposing the doctrine of 
 grace, concerning which a controversy of some im- 
 portance was raised 
 
In France, the views of divine grace were now 
 more and more darkened ; and we shall presently find 
 that a zealous advocate for them could not be heard 
 with candor. Ado, archbishop of Vienne, was inde- 
 fatigable in pressing the great truths of salvation. He 
 usually began his sermons w r ith these or similar words : 
 " Hear the eternal truth, which speaks to you in the 
 gospel :" or, " hear Jesus Christ who saith to you." He 
 took particular care of the examination of candidates 
 for orders ; and was a very diligent disciplinarian. He 
 Was inflexibly vigilantagainst vice ; and, while his own 
 example was an honor to his profession, he enjoined 
 his clergy to apprise him, if they should discover error 
 in his conduct. Nor did king Lothaire find him ob- 
 sequious to his lusts : for, through Ado's vigorous re* 
 monstrances, he was obliged to desist from a design 
 of divorcing his queen. He sympathized with sin- 
 cere penitents, and was a real friend to the poor, both 
 in a spiritual and temporal sense, and was the foun- 
 der of many hospitals for their reception. 
 
 In England, the decline of godliness was now 
 grievous. A most savage and lawless people invad- 
 ed this country. The great Alfred was raised to de- 
 fend his country against them. One of his speech- 
 es delivered to his soldiers, before a battle, displays 
 much good sense and a spirit of religion. In this, he 
 told his people, that their sins had given their enemies 
 the advantage ; that they ought to reform their ow r n 
 manners to engage the favor of God ; that in other 
 respects they had the superiority, Christians were fight- 
 ing against heathens, and honest men against robbers ; 
 that theirs was not a war of ambition or conquest, but 
 of necessary self-defence. In the battle which follow- 
 ed he entirely defeated the Danes. 
 
 Alfred took great pains to instruct his subjects in 
 the things of religion, encouraged literature, and foun- 
 ded the University of Oxford* He constantly attend- 
 ed public worship, and from his youth was wont to 
 pray for grace, and to use serious methods to subdue 
 his passions. Through life he appears to have main- 
 tained a beautiful consistency of character. There is- 
 
364 
 
 nothing to excite doubts of the sincerity of his piety. 
 After his decease the mist of ignorance again prevail- 
 ed in England. 
 
 In the year 814^ Charlemagne died aged 72. It is 
 scarce worth while to recount the splendid sins of this 
 emperor ; since his sanguinary ambition and habit- 
 ual lewdness, too plainly evince his want of Christian 
 principles. He revived the western empire in Germa- 
 ny, lie was a great instrument of Providence, in ex- 
 tending the pale of the church ; and, at the same 
 time, fixed the power of the popedom on the strongest 
 foundations. His labors, also, to revive learning, were 
 very great ; but like those of Alfred, they failed of 
 success. His religious ancj moral character bears no 
 comparison with that of the English monarch. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Paulicians. 
 
 ABOUT the year 660, a new sect arose in the East: 
 the accounts of which are far more scanty, than a wri- 
 ter of real church history could wish. Constantine, 
 who dwelt in an obscure town near Samosatia enter- 
 tained a deacon, who had been a prisoner among the 
 Mahometans, from whom he received the gift of the 
 New Testament in the original language. He improv- 
 ed the deacon's gift, and betook himself to a close 
 study of the sacred oracles, and formed a plan of Di- 
 vinity from the New Testament. Finding St. Paul, the. 
 most systematical of all the apostles, he very properly 
 prefered his writings. And it is universally acknowl- 
 edged that he was in possession of the genuine text. 
 
 This sect appear to have taken their name from St. 
 Paul himself. Constantine adopted that of Sylvanus ; 
 and his disciples were called Titus, Timothy, Ty chins, 
 after the apostle's fellow-laborers; and demonstrations 
 of the apostolic churches were given to the congrega- 
 tions formed by their labors in Armenia arid Cappado- 
 cia. The Paulicians seem to have been perfectly im- 
 
365 
 
 like any other denomination of Christians, and to have 
 originated from an heavenly influence, teaching and 
 converting them. And in them is manifested one of 
 those extraordinary effusions of the Divine Spirit, by 
 which the knowledge of Christ and the practice of 
 godliness are kept alive in the world. They cordially 
 received the writings of St. Paul ; and from this we 
 may infer that they also did the other parts of the sa- 
 cred canon. They adhered closely to the orthodox 
 doctrine of the Trinity ; were perfectly free from image 
 worship, which more and more pervaded the East ; 
 disregarded relics, and all the fashionable equipage 
 of superstition, and were simply scriptural in the use 
 of the sacraments. They knew no other mediator, 
 but the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Sylvanus preached with great success. Pontus and 
 Cappadocia, before renowned for Christian piety, were 
 again enlightened through his labors. He and his as- 
 sociates were distinguished from the clergy of that 
 day, by their scriptural names, modest titles, knowl- 
 edge, activity and holiness. Their congregations 
 were diffused over the provinces of Asia Minor to the 
 west of the Euphrates ; six of the principal churches 
 were called by the names of those to whom St. Paul 
 addressed his epistles : and Sylvanus resided in the 
 neighborhood of Colonia in Pontus. 
 
 The Greek emperors, at length roused by the grow- 
 ing importance of the sect, began to persecute the 
 Paulicians with the most sanguinary severity ; and, un- 
 der Christian forms and names, re-acted the scenes of 
 Galerius and Maximin. They ordered them to be, 
 capitally punished, and their books, wherever found, 
 to be committed to the flames ; also, that if any person 
 was found to have secreted them, he was to be put to 
 death, and his goods to be confiscated. False reli- 
 gion, in all ages, hates the light, and supports itself, not 
 by instruction, but by persecution, while the real truth, 
 as it is in Jesus, comes to the light of scripture, and ex- 
 hibits that light plainly to the world by reading and, 
 expounding the sacred volume,, whence alone it de- 
 rives its authority. 
 
366 
 
 The enemies of the Paulicians conducted th<* per- 
 secution against them with singular violence and 
 cruelty. Simeon, a Greek officer clothed with impe- 
 rial power, came to Colonia, and apprehended Syl- 
 vanus and a number of his disciples. Stones were 
 put into the hands of these last, and they were re- 
 quired to kill their pastor, as the price of their forgive- 
 ness* A person, named Justus, was the only one of 
 the number who obeyed; and he stoned to death the 
 father of the Pauliciutis who had labored among them, 
 twenty seven years. Justus signalized himself still 
 more by betraying the brethren ; while Simeon, struck 
 with the evidences of divine grace apparent in the 
 sufferers, embraced the faith which he came to de- 
 stroy, gave up the world, preached the gospel, and di- 
 ed a martyr. For 150 years, these servants of Christ 
 underwent the horrors of persecution with Christian 
 patience and meekness. If the acts of their martyr- 
 dom, their preaching, and their lives, were distinctly 
 recorded, there is no doubt, they would resemble 
 those, whom the church justly reveres as having suf- 
 fered in behalf of Christ. All this time the power of 
 the Spirit of God was with them ; and they practised the 
 precepts of the 13th chapter to the Romans, as w r ell 
 as believed and felt the precious truths contained in 
 the doctrinal chapters of the same epistle. The blood 
 of the martyrs was in this case, as uniformily, the seed 
 of the church : a succession of teachers and congrega- 
 tions arose, and a person named Sergiua, who labored 
 among them 33 years, is acknowledged, by historians 
 unfriendly to this sect, to have possessed extraordina- 
 ry virtue. The persecution had, however, some in- 
 termissions, till Theodora, the empress, who had ful- 
 ly established image worship, exerted herself beyond 
 any of her predescessors against the Paulicians. Her 
 inquisitors ransacked the Lesser Asia, in search of 
 these sectaries , and she is computed to have killed by 
 the gibbet, by fire, and by sword, a hundred thousand 
 persons. 
 
 We have brought down the scanty history of this 
 Denomination to about the year 845. To undergo a 
 
367 
 
 constant scene of persecution with Christian meekness, 
 and to render to God and to Caesar their dues, all the 
 time, at once require and evince the strength of real 
 grace. Of this the Paulicians seem to have been pos- 
 sessed till the period just mentioned. They remem- 
 bered the injunction of Rev. 13, 10. ".He that killeth 
 with the sword, must be killed with the sword : here 
 is the faith and patience of the saints." Let chris- 
 tians believe, rejoice in God, patiently suffer, return 
 good for evil, and still obey those, whom God hath set 
 over them. These weapons have ever been found too 
 hard for Satan : the power of the gospel has prevailed, 
 and the church has grown exceedingly, whenever they 
 have been faithfully handled. This was the case pre- 
 eminently with the church in the era of Dioclesian's 
 persecution. She not only outlived the storm, but 
 also, under the conduct of Providence, became exter- 
 nally, as well as internally, superior to her enemies. 
 If the Panlicians had continued to act thus, the conse- 
 quences would probably have been similar. But faith 
 and patience at length failed. They were gradually 
 betrayed into a secular spirit. About the year 845, 
 they murdered two persecutors, a governor and a 
 bishop. A soldier called Carbeas, who commanded 
 the guards in the imperial armies, that he might re- 
 venge his father's death, who had been slain by the 
 inquisitors, formed a band of Paulicians, who renounc- 
 ed their allegiance to the emperor, negotiated with 
 the Mahometan powers, and, by their assistance, en- 
 deavored to establish the independency of the sect. 
 
 The cruelties and superstitions of Theodora, receiv- 
 ed the applause of Nicolas, who became Pope of 
 Rome in 853. So truly was Antichristian tyranny 
 now established ! Chrysocheir succeeded Carbeas, 
 and in conjunction with the Mahometans, not on- 
 ly put Michael the son and successor of Theodora 
 to flight, but penetrated into the heart of Asia, and 
 desolated the fairest provinces of the Greeks. In the 
 issue, the conqueror was slain, the Paulician fortress' 
 Tophrice was reduced, and the power of the rebels 
 broken, except a number in th mountains, who. 
 
368 
 
 by the assistance of the Arabs, preserved an uncom- 
 fortable independence. The ferocious actions of the 
 latter Paulicians show, that they had lost the spirit of 
 true religion, and that they had nothing more of the 
 sect than the name. Their schemes of worldly ambi- 
 tion were however frustrated. Political methods of 
 supporting the gospel, often lead the mind away from 
 God for support, and issue in disappointment. 
 
 On the whole, we have seen, in general, satisfactory 
 proof of the work of Divine grace in Asia Minor, com- 
 mencing in the latter end of the seventh century, arid 
 extending to the former part oft he ninth. But where 
 secular politics begin, there the life and simplicity of 
 vital godliness end. When the Paulicians began to re- 
 bel against the established government ; to return evil 
 for evil , to mingle among the lieathm, the Mahometans, 
 and to defend their own religion by arms, negociations 
 and alliances, they ceased to become the LIGHT OF 
 THE WORLD, and the salt of the earth. Such they had 
 been for more than 180 years, adorning and exem- 
 plifying the real gospel, by a life of faith, hope and 
 charity, and by the preservation of the truth in a pa- 
 tient course of suffering. They looked for true riches 
 and honor in the world to come ; and doubtless they 
 are not frustrated in their hope. But, when secular 
 maxims began to prevail among them, they shone for 
 a time, as heroes, and patriots, in the false glare of hu- 
 man praise ; but they lost the solidity of true honor, 
 as all have done in all ages, who have descended 
 from the grandeur of real conformity to Christ, and 
 have prefered to that, the low ambition of earthly 
 greatness. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Opposition to the Corruptions of Popery in this Century, 
 
 1 HE absolute power of the Pope, the worship of 
 image?, and the invocation of saints and angels were 
 oppoaed, in this century, as in the last, by several 
 
369 
 
 princes and ecclesiastics. A council at Paris, in 824, 
 rejected the decrees of the second council of Nice, and 
 prohibited image worship. Agobard, archbishop of 
 Lyons, wrote against the abuse of pictures and ima- 
 ges : he maintained that we ought not to worship any 
 image of God, except that, which is God himself, his 
 eternal Son ; and, that there is no other mediator be- 
 tween God and man, but Jesus Christ, both God and 
 man. 
 
 Claudius, bishop of Turin, pointedly opposed image 
 worship. On this subject, he speaks in the following 
 terms, " If they, who have quitted the worship of dev- 
 ils, honor the images of saints ; they have not forsaken 
 idols, they have only changed their names. For 
 whether you paint upon a wall the pictures of St. Pe- 
 ter, or St. Paul, or those of Jupiter, Saturn, or Mercury, 
 they are now neither gods, nor apostles, nor men. 
 The name and error continue the same. If men must 
 be adored, there would be less absurdity in adoring 
 them when alive, while they are the image of God, 
 than after they are dead, when they only resemble 
 stocks and stones. And if we are not allowed to adore 
 the works of God, much less are we allowed to adore 
 the works of men. If the cross of Christ ought to be 
 adored, because he was nailed to it, for the same rea- 
 son we ought to adore mangers, because he W 7 as laid 
 in one ; and swaddling clothes, because he was wrap- 
 ped in them. We have not been ordered to adore 
 the cross, but to bear it, and to deny ourselves." 
 
 The labors of Claudius were not in vain. In his 
 own diocese he checked the growing evil ; and the 
 valleys of Piedmont, which belonged to his bishopric, 
 persevered in his opinions in the ninth and tenth cen- 
 turies. Whence it appears that the churches of the 
 Waldenses received much increase from his labors. 
 Claudius stood firm against the false reliefs of a burden- 
 ed conscience, which the popedom exhibited, and 
 pointed his hearers and reader to the mediation of Je- 
 sus Christ, as the sole and all sufficient object of depen- 
 dence. He insisted largely that man shall be justified 
 before God BY JESUS CHJIIST THROUGH FAITH ALONE, 
 
370 
 
 From the year 823, Claudius wrote against the 
 abominations of the church of Rome, and lived to the 
 year 839. 
 
 So far were the decrees of the papacy from being 
 owned as decisive, through Europe. 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 The Case of Gotteschakus. 
 
 A HE subject of predestination and grace had been 
 formerly controverted in the churches of France, with 
 a considerable degree of acuteness and ingenuity, and 
 what is still more pleasing to a chrislian mind, with 
 seriousness, candor, and charity. We have seen with 
 what zeal the doctrine of divine grace had been de- 
 fended and illustrated by the followers of Augustine, 
 and what a salutary influence had attended those doc- 
 trines on the knowledge, the spirit, and the lives of chris- 
 tians. But, as superstition, idolatry, and ignorance in- 
 creased, the truly evangelical views of Augustine were 
 more and more thrown into the shade, and the case of 
 Gotteschalcus showed that it was now no longer per- 
 mitted to a divine, to promulgate the sentiments of 
 Augustine with impunity. 
 
 Gotteschalcus was born in Germany, and from early 
 life had been a monk devoted to theological inquiries. 
 He entered with much zeal into the sentiments of An- 
 gus tiue. 
 
 About the year 846, he left his monastery, and went 
 into Dalmatia, and Parmonia, where he spread the 
 doctrine of Augustine. At his return, he remained 
 some time in Lombardy, and in 847, held a confer- 
 ence with Notingus, bishop of Vienne, concerning 
 predestination. His zeal gave offence to Notingus, 
 who prevailed on Rabanus, the archbishop of Mentz, 
 to undertake the confutation of the novel heresy, as it 
 was now decreed. Rabanus calumniated Gotteschal- 
 cus with those monstrous ancl licentious consequen- 
 ces, with which the doctrines of Divine grace have m 
 
371 
 
 all ages been aspersed, and from which St. Paul him- 
 self was not exempted : and having dressed the sen- 
 timents of his adversary in the most adious colours, he 
 found it no hard task, to expose him to infamy. The 
 learned monk undertook to defend himself in writing, 
 and proposed the subject to the consideration of the 
 most able men of his time, and, to the great credit and 
 authority of his adversary, he opposed the renowned 
 name of Augustine. Soon after this he was condemn- 
 ed in a synod held atMentz, where Rabanus observing 
 that the monk was of the diocese of Soisons, which 
 was subject to Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, sent 
 Gotteschalctis to him, calling him a vagabond, and 
 declaring that he had seduced many persons, who 
 had become less careful for their salvation, since they 
 had learned from him to say, why should I labor for 
 my salvation ? If I am predestinated to damnation, I 
 cannot avoid it ; and on the contrary, if I am predesti- 
 nated to salvation, of whatever sins I am guilty, 1 
 shall certainly be saved. This objection to the whole- 
 some scripture doctrine of predestination, is not, how r - 
 ever, admitted to be fallacious, by those who suffer 
 their reason to be governed by the misrule of selfish- 
 ness. This was the case with Hincmar, who entered 
 fully into the views of Rabanas, and, in a council of 
 bishops, examined Gotteschalcus, who still maintain- 
 ed his doctrine with firmness. On this account, the 
 monk was condemned as a heretic, degraded from the 
 priesthood, and ordered to be beaten with rods and 
 imprisoned. He was, however, an injured man ; for 
 nothing was proved against him, except his adherence 
 to the sentiments of Augustine, which w r ere still held 
 in estimation by the church. While he was whipped 
 in the presence of Charles and the bishops with great 
 severity, and given to understand that he must cast in- 
 to the fire with his own hand a writing, in which he 
 had made a collection of scripture texts to prove his 
 opinion, being, at length, overpowered by his suffer- 
 ings, he dropped the book into the flames. After this 
 he was kept a close prisoner in a monastery, where 
 Hincman still took pains to persuade him to retract his* 
 
372 
 
 sentiments, but in vain. The injured pastor main- 
 tained, with his last breath, the doctrine for which he 
 suffered, and died in prison in the year 870, and was 
 denied Christian burial. There were, however, men 
 even in that age, who remonstrated loudly against the 
 barbarity, with which he had been treated, liemi- 
 gius, archbishop of Lyons, distinguished himself 
 among these ; and, in a council held at Valence, in 
 the year 855, both Gotteschalcus and his doctrine 
 were vindicated and defended. Two subsequent 
 councils confirmed the decree. The churches of Ly- 
 ons, Vienne, and Aries, formerly renowned for piety, 
 vigorously supported the same sentiments: and it was 
 apparent, that all relish for the doctrines of grace, wad 
 not lost in the church : Christ was still precious to 
 many. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Propagation of the Gospel in this Century. 
 
 AN this century, the churches of the East and West, 
 through the pride and ambition of the pontiffs of Rome 
 and Constantinople, began to be separated from one 
 another, and were never afterwards united. Both the 
 East and the West were, indeed, full of idolatry and 
 darkness, and seemed to vie with each other in sup- 
 porting the kingdom of satan. Providence, however, 
 made use of the ambitious spirit of the prelates for 
 the more extensive spread of the gospel. In this chap- 
 ter, all the information upon this subject is collected 
 which could be extracted from an enormous mass of 
 ecclesiastical rubbish ; and also some evidences are 
 presented of the progress of the good work among the 
 nations which had been, in part, evangelized in the 
 two last centuries. 
 
 Constantine, afterwards called Cyril, was born at 
 Thessalonica, and was educated at Constantinople. 
 He became one of the most active and useful mission- 
 aries of this century. To him providence opened a 
 door of solid utility among the idolatrous nations. 
 
373 
 
 The sister of Bogoris, king of the Bulgarians, a sav 
 age and barbarous people, having been taken captive 
 in a military excursion, was brought to Constantino- 
 ple, and there received Christianity. Upon her return, 
 to her own country, she gave evidence that her change 
 in religion had been more than nominal. Seeing her 
 brother, the king, enslaved to idolatry, she was struck 
 with grief and compassion, and used the most cogent 
 arguments in her power, to convince him of the vanity 
 of his worship. Bogoris, was affected with her argu- 
 ments, but was not prevailed on to receive the gospel, 
 till, a famine and plague appearing in Bulgaria, she per- 
 suaded him to pray to the God of the Christians. He 
 did so, and the plague ceased. There was something 
 so remarkable in the event, that Bogoris was induced 
 to send to Constantinople for missionaries; and at 
 length he, with many other people, received baptism. 
 Cyrel and his devout brother Methodius were the in- 
 struments of these blessings to the Bulgarians. Bo- 
 goris had desired Methodius to draw him a picture. 
 Methodius chose for his subject, the last judgment, and 
 explained it. This is supposed to have induced the 
 king to embrace Christianity. The event happened 
 about the year 861. Pope Nicolas, to extend his own 
 influence, sent bishops among the Bulgarians, who 
 preached and baptized throughout the country : and 
 Bogoris despatched his son with many lords to Rome, 
 and entreated the Pope to send pastors into Bulgaria. 
 The word of God and the name of Christ were hereby 
 introduced among them. These transactions took 
 place about the year 866. 
 
 About the same lime, Cyril and his brother Metho- 
 dius, labored also on the banks of the Danube, among 
 the Sclavonians and the Chazari. The Cham and 
 his whole nation were baptized : and Cyril gave a 
 noble proof of his disinterestedness in refusing those 
 presents which the munificence of the prince would 
 have heaped upon him. Among the Chazavi he 
 taught Christianity with great success. Finding this 
 people without letters, he invented an alphabet for 
 their use, and translated the sacred books into the 
 Sclavonian language. 
 
374 
 
 After this, at the request of Bartilas, prince of Mo- 
 ravia, Cyril and Methodius went into that country, car- 
 ried with them the Sclavonian gospel, taught the chil- 
 dren the letters which they had invented, and instruc- 
 ted the people four years and an half. The king of 
 Moravia was baptized with many of his subjects. 
 Cyril died a monk : Methodius was consecrated bish- 
 op of Moravia. The Sclavonian tongue, invented by 
 those two missionaries, is, to this day, used in the lit- 
 urgy of the Moravians. Bogoris, king of Bulgaria, 
 gave up his crown about the year 880, and retired in- 
 to a monastery. Methodius, a/ter a long course of la- 
 bors, died in an advanced age. 
 
 It appears that the Russians, hitherto barbarous and 
 savage, about this time, received a Christian bishop 
 and listened to his instruction. About the year 867, 
 certain provinces of Dalmatia sent an embassy to 
 Constantinople, to request Christian teachers to be 
 sent among them- Their request was granted, and 
 the pale of the church was extended through those, 
 provinces. 
 
 Frederic, nephew, to Boniface, the apostle of Ger- 
 many, was appointed bishop of Utrecht. While dining 
 with the emperor, Lewis the Meek, he was by him ex- 
 horted to discharge the duties of his office with faithful- 
 ness and integrity. The bishop, pointing to a fish on 
 the table, asked whether it was proper to take hold of 
 it by the head or by the tail. "By the head, to be 
 sure," replied the emperor. " Then I must begin my 
 career of faithfulness," answered Frederic, " with your 
 majesty." He proceeded to rebuke the emperor for 
 an incestuous connexion, which he openly maintained 
 with Judith the empress ; and, in the spirit of John the 
 Baptist, told him, "that it was not lawful for him to 
 have her." Lewis had not expected this salutation ; 
 and like Herod was not disposed to give up his Hero- 
 dias. No sooner did the empress hear of this rebuke, 
 than, in the true temper of an incensed adulteress, she 
 began to plot the destruction of Frederic : and by the 
 help of assassins, at last effected it. Frederic, being 
 mortally wounded, insisted that no bipod should be 
 
375 
 
 shed on his account, and died in a spirit of martyr- 
 dom worthy of the relations of Boniface. In him the 
 Hollanders lost a faithful prelate. He was murder- 
 ed about the year 833. 
 
 Let us now look to the north of Europe, and see, 
 by what gradations Divine Providence paved the way 
 for the propagation of the gospel in the frozen regions 
 of Scandinavia, and on the shores of the Baltic, which 
 had hitherto been inveloped in the most deplorable 
 darkness of paganism. 
 
 Adelard, cousin german to Charlemagne, was a 
 bright luminary in the Christian world at the begin- 
 ning of this century. He had been invited to the 
 court in his youth : but fearing the infection of such a 
 mode of life, had retired ; and at the age of twenty 
 years, became a monk of Corbie, in Picardy, and was 
 chosen abbot of the monastery. His imperial rela- 
 tion,, however, forced him again to attend the court, 
 where he still preserved the disposition of a recluse, 
 and took every opportunity, which business allowed, 
 for private prayer and meditation. After the death of 
 Charlemagne, he was, on unjust suspicions, banished 
 by Lewis the Meek, to a monastery on the coast of 
 Aquitain, in the isle of Here. After a banishment of 
 five years, Lewis became sensible of his own injus- 
 tice, and not only recalled him, but heaped on him 
 the highest honors. The monk was the same man in 
 prosperity and adversity, and in 823 obtained leave to 
 return to Corbie. Here he labored abundantly, not 
 only for the spiritual good of the monastery, but also 
 for that of the country in its vicinity. Another Ade- 
 lard, who had governed the monastery during his ab- 
 sence, by the direction of the first Adelard, prepared 
 the foundation of a distinct monastery, called New 
 Corbie, near Paderborn, beside the Weser, as a nursery 
 for evangelical laborers, who should instruct the north- 
 ern nations. The first Adelard completed the scheme, 
 went twice to New Corbie, and settled its discipline. 
 The success of this truly charitable institution was 
 ^reat : many learned and zealous missionaries were 
 furnished from the new seminary : and it became a. 
 light to the north of Europe, 
 
Adelard promoted learning in his monasteries, in- 
 structed the people both in Latin and French ; arid, af- 
 ter his second return from Germany to Old Corbie^ 
 died in 827, aged 13-. Such is the account given us 
 of Adelard. He appears to have been eminently pi- 
 ous, and the fruits of his labors to have been greater 
 after his death than during his life. To convert mon- 
 asteries into seminaries of pastoral education, was a 
 thought far above the taste of the age in which he liv- 
 ed, and tended to emancipate those superstitious in- 
 stitutions from the unprofitable and illiberal bondage^ 
 in which they had been held for many generations. 
 
 In the year 814, Harold, king of Denmark, having 
 been expelled from his dominions, implored the pro- 
 tection of the emperor Lewis, the son and successor of 
 Charlemagne. That prince persuaded him to receive 
 Christian baptism : and foreseeing that Harold's recep- 
 tion of Christianity would increase the difficulty of 
 his restoration, he gave him a district in Friezeland 
 for his present maintenance. Lewis, dismissing Ha- 
 rold to his country, enquired after some pious person 
 who might accompany him, and confirm both the king 
 and his attendants. But it was not easy to find a man 
 disposed to undertake such a journey. At length Ya~ 
 la, abbot of Old Corbie, who had succeeded his bro- 
 ther Adelard, whose history has just been related, said 
 to the emperor, " I have in my monastery, a monk, 
 who earnestly wishes to suffer for the sake of Christ : 
 a man of understanding and integrity, and peculiarly 
 fitted for such a work. But I cannot promise, that he 
 will undertake the journey." The emperor ordered 
 him to send for the man; his name was Anscarius. 
 When the nature of the employment was opened to 
 the monk, he professed his readiness to go. " I by no 
 means command you," said Vala "to enter on so dif- 
 ficult and dangerous a service ; I leave it to your op- 
 tion." Anscarius, however, persisted in his resolution. 
 It was matter of surprise to many, that he should 
 choose to expose himself among strangers, barbarians 
 and pagans. Much pains were taken to dissuade him, 
 but in vain. While preparations were making for hip 
 
377 
 
 departure, Anscarius gave himself np to reading and 
 prayer. This excellent monk had been employed as 
 a teacher, both in Old and New Corbie, and had dis- 
 tinguished himself by his talents and virtues. Aubert ? 
 a monk of noble birth, a great confidant of Vala, and 
 steward of his house, offered himself as a companion 
 to Anscarius. Harold, with these, proceeded on his 
 journey but neither he nor his attendants, rude and 
 barbarous in their manners, were at all solicitous for 
 the accommodation of the missionaries, who there- 
 fore suffered much in the beginning of their journey* 
 When the company arrived at Cologne, Hadebald, the 
 archbishop, commisserating their condition, gave them 
 a bark, in which they might convey their effects. 
 Harold, struck with the convenience of the accommo- 
 dation, entered into the vessel with the missionaries, 
 and they went down the Rhine into the sea, and 
 came to the frontiers of Denmark. But Harold find- 
 ig access to his dominions impossible, because of the 
 power of those who had usurped the sovereignty, re- 
 mained in Friezeland, in the district assigned to him 
 by the emperor. 
 
 This king of Denmark seems to have been ap- 
 pointed by Divine Providence, only as an instrument 
 to introduce Anscarius into the mission. For little 
 more is known of him. The two French missionaries 
 labored with zeal and success in Friezeland, both 
 among Christians and pagans. Harold sent some of 
 his own slaves to be taught by them ; and, in a little 
 time, they had twelve children in their school. 
 Above two years they labored, and! were made instru- 
 ments of good to souls: after this Aubert ended his 
 days by disease. 
 
 About the year 829, many Swedes having expressc d 
 a desire to be instructed in Christianity, Anscarius re- 
 ceived a commission from the emperor Lewis to vis- 
 it Sweden. Another monk of Old Corbie, Vitmar by 
 name, was assigned as his companion ; and a pastor 
 was left to attend on king Harold, in the room of An- 
 scarius. In the passage, the two missionaries were 
 tnet-by pirates, who took the ship and all its effects. 
 
 (f > 7* 
 
 *> / 
 
#78 
 
 On this occasion Anscafrus lost the emperor's presents,, 
 and forty volumes, which he had collected for the use 
 of the ministry. But his mind was still determined: 
 and he and his partner, having with difficulty got to 
 land, gave themselves up to the directions of Provi- 
 dence, and walked on foot a long way, now and then 
 crossing some arms of the sea in boats. Such are 
 the triumphs of faith and love ! They arrived at Bir- 
 ca, from the ruins of which, Stockholm took its rise, 
 though built at some distance from it. The king of 
 Sweden received them favorably; and his council 
 unanimously agreed to permit them to remain in the 
 country, and to preach the gospel. Success attended 
 their pious efforts. Many Christian captives in Swe- 
 den rejoiced at the opportunity of the communion of 
 saints which was now restored to them ; and among 
 others, Herigarius, governor of the city, was baptiz- 
 ed. This man erected a church on his own estate, 
 and persevered in the profession and support of the 
 gospel. 
 
 After six months, the two missionaries returned, 
 with letters written by the king's own hand, into 
 France, and informed Lewis of their success. The 
 consequence was, that Anscarius was appointed arch- 
 bishop of Hamburg. This great city, being in the 
 neighborhood of Denmark, was henceforth considered 
 the metropolis of all the countries of the Elbe, which 
 embraced Christianity. The mission into Denmark, 
 was at the same time attended to ; and Gausbert, was 
 sent to reside as a bishop in Sweden, vfhere the num- 
 ber of Christiana increased. 
 
 Anscarius, by order of the emperor Lewis, went to 
 Rome, to receive the confirmation of the new arch- 
 bishopric of Hamburg. On his return to that city, he 
 gained over many pagans, brought up children in the 
 chdstian faith, and redeemed captives, whom he in- 
 structed and employed in the ministry. In the year 
 843, his faith was tried by a severe affliction. Ham- 
 burg was besieged, taken and pillaged by the Nor- 
 mans, and he himself escaped with difficulty. On this 
 occasion, he lost all his effects: but his mind was so 
 
379 
 
 serene, that he was not heard to complain : " T'hfc 
 Lord gave," said he, " and the Lord hath taken away." 
 It was no inconsiderable addition to his sufferings, to 
 hear, that Gausbert, whom he had sent into Sweden, 
 was banished through a popular insurrection ; in con- 
 sequence of which, the work of the ministry was for 
 some years, at a stand in that country. Anscarius, re- 
 duced |o great poverty, and deserted by many of his 
 followers, persisted still with unwearied patience, in 
 the exercise of his mission in the north of Europe, till 
 the bishopric of Bremen was conferred upon him. 
 Hamburg and Bremen were, from that time, consider- 
 ed as united in one diocese. It was not till some pains 
 were taken to overc9me his scruples, that Anscarius 
 could be prevailed on to accept of this provision for 
 his wants. 
 
 Sweden and Denmark were, under God, indebted 
 to Anscarius, for the first light of the gospel. It is re- 
 marked of this wonderful person, that he never did 
 any thing without first commending himself to God by 
 prayer. It is true he was devoted to the Roman see, 
 but we have no proof of his ever having practised or 
 encouraged image worship. His labors and those of 
 other missionaries deserve the highest commendations. 
 In the year 865, this apostle of the North was called 
 to his rest. Rembert, his confidant, was appointed 
 bishop of Bremen, by his dying words. Rembert pre- 
 sided over the churches of the North, for 23 years t and 
 established their discipline and ecclesiastical consis- 
 tence. He lived not unworthy of the confidence of his 
 predecessor, and died in the year 888, an example of 
 piety. 
 
 The reader, it is hoped, has seen, in this dark centu- 
 ry, a clear demonstration, that the church of Christ 
 still existed. He may now behold it sank to the ul- 
 timate point of depression. 
 
380 
 
 CENTURY X. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A General View of the Church. 
 
 L HIS century abounded in all wickedness, and is re- 
 markable above all others for the scarcity of writers, 
 and men of learning. The vices and crimes of the 
 popes were as deep and as atrocious as language can 
 paint ; nor can a reasonable man desire more authen- 
 tic evidence than that, which the records both of ci- 
 vil and ecclesiastical history afford, concerning the 
 corruption of the whole church. One pleasing cir- 
 cumstance, however, occurs to the mind of a genuine 
 Christian, which is, that all this was predicted. The 
 book of the Revelation may justly be called a pro- 
 phetic history of these transactions ; and the truth of 
 scripture is vindicated by events, of all others, the 
 most disagreeable to a pious mind. 
 
 What materials then appear for the history of the 
 real church ? The propagation of the gospel among 
 the pagan nations, and the review of some writers of 
 this century form the principal subjects. But the gen- 
 eral description of the situation of the church, can be 
 little else than a very succinct enumeration of the 
 means used to oppose the progress of popery. 
 
 The decrees of the council of Frankfort, against im- 
 age worship, had still some influence in Germany, 
 France and England. In the year 909, a ceuncil was 
 held at Trosle, a village near Soissons in France, in 
 which they expressed their sentiments of Christian 
 faith and practice, without any mixture of doctrine 
 that was peculiarly popish. Many churches still had 
 the scriptures in the vulgar tongue. The monks took 
 much pains in the island of Great Britain, to erect an 
 independent dominion on the ruin of the secular cler- 
 gy. This scheme equally destructive of civil and 
 
381 
 
 clerical authority, met with a vigorous, and in a great 
 measure, successful resistance, and the celibacy of 
 the clergy, was strongly opposed. The doctrine of 
 transubstantiation was still denied by many, and could 
 not as yet gain a firm and legal establishment in Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 The Spirit of God was evidently still with the re- 
 cent churches of Germany and the North ; and France 
 was by no means destitute of men, who feared God, 
 and served him in the gospel of his Son. 
 
 The church of Rome had sunk to the lowest de^ 
 gradation in morals. She had even lost the appear- 
 ance of virtue. Christianity, now trampled on by the 
 most worthless prelates, immersed in profaneness, 
 and sensuality , called for the healing aid of the civil 
 magistrate. Otho I. emperor of Germany, came to 
 Rome ; and, by the united powers of the civil and 
 military sword, reduced that capital into some degree 
 of order and decorum. He put an end to the irregu- 
 lar and infamous customs of intruding into the pope- 
 donij and confirmed to himself and his successors the 
 right of choosing the supreme pontiff in future. The 
 consequence was, that a greater degree of moral pro- 
 priety began to prevail in the papacy, though facts 
 evince too plainly, that religious principle was still 
 as much wanting as ever. The effect of Otho's 
 regulation was, that the Popes exchanged the vices 
 of the rake and the debauchee, for those of the ambi- 
 tious politician and the hypocrite ; and gradually re- 
 covered, by a prudent conduct, the domineering as^ 
 cendency, which had been lost by vicious excesses. 
 J3ut this did not begin to take place till the latter end 
 of the eleventh century. The Popes were rebuked, 
 condemned and punished, but the popedom was still 
 reverenced as much as ever. God had put it into the 
 hearts of princes to fulfil his will and to agree, and 
 give their kingdom to the beast, until His words should 
 be fulfilled. The Roman prelates, convinced of the 
 necessity of more caution and propriety in the use of 
 their power, recovered, by political artifice, what they 
 had lost, and in the issue, became more terrible and 
 pernicious than, ever. 
 
382 
 
 The efforts of Otho, to purify the church, to promote 
 learning, to erect bishoprics, to endow churches, and 
 to propagate the gospel among barbarous nations, 
 were highly laudable. His exertions of this nature 
 were so steady, and his private life so amiable, that 
 there is reason to hope, he was himself a real Chris- 
 tian. His empress was no less remarkable for her zeal 
 and liberality. 
 
 In the West, the Normans, and in the East, the Turks, 
 committed the most dreadful outrages on the church. 
 In the island of Great Britain, nothing is found in all 
 this period, but ignorance, superstition, and the rava- 
 ges of northern barbarians. The state of France was 
 not much different, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Propagation of the Gospel. 
 
 the decease of Charlemagne, the Hungarians, 
 who had in his time, received some ideas of Christian- 
 ity, relapsed into the idolatries of their fathers, and the 
 Christian name among them was almost extinguished. 
 But toward the middle of this century, two Hungarian 
 chiefs, whose governments lay on the banks of the 
 Danube, professed Christianity and were baptized at 
 Constantinople. Their names were Bologudes and 
 Gylas. The former soon apostatized : the latter per- 
 severed, and encouraged the propagation of religion. 
 The effects proved salutary among the Hungarians. 
 The daughter of Gylas, having been given in mar- 
 riage to Geysa, the chief prince of Hungary, prevail- 
 ed on her husband to receive the gospel. Whether 
 the king's conversion was real or nominal, the most 
 salutary cosequences attended its reception by his 
 subjects. 
 
 Humanity, peace, and civilization began to flourish 
 among a people hitherto fierce and barbarous in the 
 extreme. Stephen, the son of Geysa, was baptized, 
 and became a more decisive (Jefender of the f^ith than 
 
383 
 
 his father had been. Under Stephen, Hungary was 
 almost wholly evangelized ; and nothing was omitted 
 by tltis zealous prince to establish Christianity through- 
 out his dominions. 
 
 Adalbert, archbishop of Prague, who visited Hunga- 
 ry toward the close of this century, was instrumental 
 in aiding the benevolent exertions of this prince to 
 instruct and christianize his subjects. He, too, trav- 
 elled as a missionary into Poland, and planted the 
 gospel in Dantzic, where his labors appear to have 
 been crowned with success. In visiting a small isl- 
 and, he was knocked down with the oar of a boat ; 
 but recovering himself, made his escape, rejoicing 
 that he was counted worthy to suffer for the name of 
 Christ, and with his fellow laborers quitted the place. 
 Indeed he was forced to flee for his life ; but, he was 
 at length murdered by barbarians, about the year 997. 
 'Siggo, a pagan priest, was the principal instrument of 
 his death. Adalbert was one of the wisest and best of 
 men, whom God raised up for the ^instruction of the 
 human race ; a man willing to labor and to suffer for 
 Christ. 
 
 The labors of Gerard, bishop of Toul, in Germany, 
 will also deserve to be mentioned. He was an emin- 
 ent preacher ; and often commissioned zealous pas- 
 tors to officiate in country parishes. He cultiva- 
 ted learning among his disciples ; but at the same 
 time took care, so far as lay in his power, that they 
 should apply themselves to devotion. That he would 
 be very earnest in these pious efforts, will admit of no 
 doubt, if it be true, that he declared, that he found 
 more delight in heavenly exercises during one mo- 
 ment, than a worldly soul finds in worldly pleasures 
 for a thousand years. 
 
 The church in Denmark now received a severe 
 check from their king Gormo the III. who labored to 
 extirpate the gospel there entirely. But his queen 
 Tyra, who openly professed it, gave it all the support 
 which lay in her power. The influence of the king 
 prevailed, and the most of his subjects returned to 
 idolatry. At length, Henry I. called the Fowler, the 
 
584 
 
 predecessor of the great Otho, led an army into I)en- 
 mark ; ^d through tut terror of his arms, obliged Gor- 
 mo to promiSfe submission to the commands of the erm- 
 peror. * Under the protection of Henry, Unni, arch- 
 bishop of Hamburg, came, with some faithful labor- 
 ers, into Denmark and brought over many to the pro- 
 fession of Divine truth; but Gormo himself remained 
 inflexible. Harald, his son, received the word? with 
 respect. The instruction of his mother^ Tyraj doubt- 
 less had removed all prejudices from his mind. Unni, 
 with the consent of Gormo, visited the islands, and 
 formed Christian churches. The king himself was 
 allowed by his conqueror, to choose, whether he 
 would receive Christianity himself, or not; but he 
 was prohibited from persecuting the faith, in his 
 dominions: and thus by a singular concurrence of 
 events, a sovereign prince was, by a foreign power, 
 prevented from committing that evil among his sub- 
 jects, to which his own inclinations would have led him* 
 The labors of Unni were highly laudable, and provi- 
 dence smiled on his benevolent exertions to propa- 
 gate truth and holiness. He visited Sweden and arri- 
 ved at Birca, where he found that the gospel had be- 
 come extinct ; that for 70 years, no bishop, had ap- 
 peared among them, except Rembert, the successor 
 of Anscarius. It pleased God there to give large suc- 
 cess to the ministry of Unni. He fixed the gospel in 
 Sweden, and planted it even in the remote parts of 
 that northern region. At length Unni finished his glo- 
 rious course at Birca, in the year 936. The savage 
 disposition of the princes, and the confusion of the 
 times had tended to obliterate the traces of Anscarius' 
 labors: but, at length, Eric, the 8th king of Sweden, 
 and still more, his son and successor, Olaus the sec- 
 ond, favored the propagation of the gospel. 
 
 Eric requested the archbishop of Bremen to supply 
 his kingdom with missionaries. In compliance with 
 this request Adalvan and Stephen, persons of know! 
 edge, integrity and piety, were sent to him. They, 
 for a time, labored with much success ; but the natu- 
 ral enmity of the human heart will exert itself again ' 
 
585 
 
 true piety, whatever be the form of government under 
 whicli men live. The nobles of Sweden, being enra- 
 ged at the restraints laid upon their licentiousness of 
 manners, commenced a religious persecution against 
 both the missionaries and the king. The former were 
 beaten with rods, and expelled from Upsal: the lat- 
 ter was murdered on account of his piety. His son 
 and successor OIous was not, however, discouraged 
 from cherishing Christianity, and his zeal and piety 
 were crowned with success. 
 
 Thus were Sweden and Denmark, after a variety of 
 changes, reduced into subjection to the form, and, no 
 doubt, many individuals to the power, of the gospel. 
 In the latter country, after the death of Henry I. the 
 inhabitants^ refused to pay tribute to Otho the Great, 
 his successor. This monarch obliged them to sub- 
 mit, and required Harold, the son and successor of 
 Gormo, to receive Christian baptism. All that we 
 know of this prince induces the belief, that there 
 was no reluctance on his part. He was baptized, to- 
 gether with his wife and little son, whose name had 
 been Lueno ; and in honor of the emperor, he was now 
 called Luen-Otho. Harold, during the remainder of 
 his life, took every wise and salutary method to prop- 
 agate Divine truth among his subjects, and to restrain 
 vice and immorality. Nor is it much to be doubted, 
 that he would instruct his son Luen-Otho to act in the 
 same manner, and labor to impress on his mind the 
 power of that Divine religion which he himself seems 
 to have felt. Be that as it may, Luen-Otho formed a 
 junction with the chiefs of the country, who were of- 
 fended at the pious zeal of Harold : in consequence of 
 which the latter was murdered : and Luen-Otho, re- 
 nounced even the name which had been imposed on 
 him, persecuted the Christians with great cruelty ; and, 
 for a time, gave a predominancy to the pagan interest 
 in his dominions. It is, however, remarkable, that, 
 like another Manasseh, in his affliction, Luen-Otho 
 knew that the Lord was God. Being expelled from 
 his throne, and forced to live in exile among the 
 Scots, he was induced to remember the lessops of his 
 8 A 
 
386 
 
 childhood; repented of his crimes, and being re- 
 stored to his throne, like the same Manasseh, labor- 
 ed to destroy the idolatry, which he had supported, 
 and, in the latter part of his life, trode in the steps of his 
 father. 
 
 In this century the light of the gospel penetrated into 
 Norway. The idol Thor was' dragged from its place 
 and publicly burnt in the sight of its worshippers ; and 
 this country became Christian, in the form of its reli- 
 gioa, throughout. The Orkney Islands, then subject to 
 Norway, also received the light of the gospel. Iceland 
 and Greenland too were visited with the cheering rays 
 of the Sun of righteousness. The triumph of Christiani- 
 ty was complete throughout all Scandinavia. Poland, 
 hitherto a barbarous country, became nominally chris- 
 tianized ; and some in that country were hopefully made 
 the subjects of real Christianity. In all the barbarous 
 countries where Christian missionaries were received, 
 their labors were found to be salutary. The disposi- 
 tions of the barbarians were hereby gradually meli- 
 orated, and human society was improved. 
 
 Though the efforts of the tenth and three preceding 
 centuries, did not always spring from pure motives, 
 yet they formed the principal glory of those times. In 
 many instances those efforts were evidently attended 
 with the effusion of the Divine Spirit, and the genuine 
 conversion of many pagans from their heathen vanities, 
 to the love and practice of the truth as it is in Jesus- 
 
 CHAPTEE HI. 
 
 Writers and Eminent Men in this Century. 
 
 A HOUGH God had not utterly forsaken the churck 
 yet true religion was now indeed low. Very few 
 are to be found who deserve to be noticed for knowl- 
 edge or for piety: Bruno, archbishop of Cologne 
 was, however, eminent for both. He was brother to 
 Otho I. and, by the desire of the people of Cologne, 
 was fixed in that archbishopric. Otho invested hi?;. 
 
387 
 
 relation also with the civil power of a dukedom. 
 Bruno was a diligent promoter of religion. He brought 
 over to the profession of Christianity , Normans, Danes, 
 and various others, who travelled in his province. The 
 luxury of both clergy and people he restrained, and 
 was himself a shining example of modest and frtigal 
 manners. Bruno died about the year 965. 
 
 Unni, archbishop of Hamburg, acted with a vigor 
 and piety worthy of his station. It displays no com- 
 mon degree of Christian zeal, that a person so opulent 
 should choose to labor as a missionary in such rude 
 and barbarous countries as Denmark and Sweden. 
 He died at Stockholm in 936. 
 
 Adolvard, bishop of Verden, discharged the office of 
 a faithful pastor, and took great pains to instruct the 
 ignorant Vandals in the way of salvation. 
 
 Libentius, archbishop of Hamburg, showed himself 
 possessed of the spirit of Unni, his pious predecessor, 
 and often visited the Vandals, a barbarous people in 
 Poland, and taught them the truths of the gospel. He 
 sent pastors to distant nations, and was a shining ex- 
 ample of piety and beni6cence. He died in 1013. 
 
 Some other rare lights shone during this dark night, 
 by which the God of grace and mercy called, nourish- 
 ed and sanctified his church, and preserved to himself 
 a godly seed in the earth, who served him in the 
 gospel of his Son, and prevented the cruel tyranny of 
 the prince of darkness from completely overspreading 
 the world. 
 
 CENTURY XL 
 
 CHAPTER. I. 
 
 A General View of the Church. 
 
 A HE genuine church of Christ, under the protection 
 and influence of her Supreme Head, existed in this 
 efetitury ,, but it would be- ia vain to attempt a regular 
 
388 
 
 and systematical history of her progress. Some par- 
 ticular circumstances in different parts of the Christian 
 world, some pious and successful endeavors to propa- 
 gate the gospel in pagan countries, some degrees of 
 opposition to the reigning idolatry and superstition, 
 and some writings of pious and evangelical theo- 
 logians, demonstrated that the spirit of God had not 
 entirely forsaken the earth. 
 
 If this century excelled the last, it was in the im- 
 provements of learning. The arts and sciences re- 
 vived, in a measure, among the clergy and the monks, 
 but were not cultivated by any other set of men. I 
 speak in regard to the Western church ; for the Eas- 
 tern, enfeebled and oppressed by the Turks and Sar- 
 acens from without, and by civil broils and factions 
 from within, with difficulty preserved that degree of 
 knowledge, which in those degenerate days, still re- 
 mained among the Greeks. I scarce find any vesti- 
 ges of piety among the eastern Christians at this time. 
 So fatal was the influence of Mahometanism, and so 
 judicially hardened were the descendents of those 
 who first had honored the religion of Jesus. Con- 
 stantinople was still called a Christian city, and in 
 learning and politeness, was superior to any part of 
 the West : but it is in Europe we are to look For the 
 emanations of piety. France and Italy excelled par- 
 ticularly in the cultivation of learning. Robert, king 
 of France, the son and successor of Hugh Capet, who 
 began to reign in 996, and died in 1031, distinguished 
 himself as the friend of science. Even the ferocious 
 Normans, whose wars and devastations were so terri- 
 ble in Italy, France, and England, after they had es- 
 tablished their respective governments, applied them- 
 selves, to the cultivation of the human mind, and dif- 
 fused some light among the people whom they had 
 subdued. This was particularly the case with the 
 southern parts of Italy and with great Britain. Wil- 
 liam, the conqueror, savage and imperious as he was, 
 restored letters to England, which, amidst the Danish 
 depredations, had been almost extinguished. The 
 learning itself was not philosophical, like that of mod- 
 
389 
 
 ern times, but consisted chiefly of grammar, rhetoric, 
 and logic. This was connected with divinity. The 
 scriptures were held in high reputation. In such cir- 
 cumstances, to have learned to read, to have attend- 
 ed to the meaning of words, and to have employed 
 the powers of the human mind, in any manner, on the 
 sacred writings, were great blessings to mankind. In 
 Italy and France there remained some witnesses of 
 Divine truth, who opposed the abominations of the 
 popedom. 
 
 Popery now reigned triumphant, and no public 
 profession of the gospel, which claimed independence 
 of its domination, could be endured in Europe.^ 
 The Saracens were then masters of Africa, and perse- 
 cuted the Christians there with great bitterness. The 
 African Christians were so infatuated with the love of 
 sin, that they quarrelled among themselves, and, 
 though they then had but two bishops, they betrayed 
 one of those into the hands of the infidels, who great- 
 ly abused him. 
 
 He, who seriously reflects with what glory Asia and 
 Africa once shone before God and his Christ ; how 
 dark and idolatrous, and, at the same time, how insen- 
 sible of their spiritual misery, the inhabitants of those 
 two quarters of the globe were in this century, and 
 continue even to the present times, will see with what 
 reverential care the jewel of the gospel should be 
 cherished, while in our possession, lest we not only 
 lose our own souls, but entail a curse on ages yet un~ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Oppositon made to the Errors of Popery. 
 
 IN the year 1017, certain persons, real or supposed 
 heretics, were discovered in France, who were said to 
 hold, "that they did not believe, that % Jesus Christ was 
 born of the virgin Mary ; that he died for the salvation 
 of mankind ; that he was buried and rose again ; that 
 
390 
 
 baptism procured the remission of sins ; that the conse- 
 cration by the priest constituted the sacrament of the 
 body and blood of Christ ; and that it was profitable to 
 ^)ray to the martyrs and confessors." Other matters 
 of a detestable nature were ascribed to them. On 
 their refusal to recant before a council held at Orleans, 
 13 of them were burnt alive. It is not easy to say, 
 what was the true character of these men. It is cer- 
 tain, that they: opposed the reigning superstitions, 
 and that they were willing to suffer for the doctrines 
 which they espoused. The crimes alledged against 
 them were so monstrous, and incredible, as to render 
 the charges adduced against their doctrines very sus- 
 picious. That they, however, were truly evangelical 
 Christians, is what I dare not affirm. 
 
 In Flanders, some time after, there appeared anoth- 
 er sect, which was condemned by a synod held at Ar- 
 ras, in the year 1025, by Gerard, bishop of Cam bray 
 ^and Arras. Concerning these, Gerard writes, that they 
 travelled up and down to multiply converts, and that 
 they had withdrawn many from the belief of the real 
 presence in the sacrament ; that they owned themselves 
 to be the scholars of Gundujphus, who had instructed 
 them in the evangelical and apostolical doctrine. 
 "This," said they, "is our doctrine, to renounce the 
 world, to bridle the lusts of the flesh, to maintain our- 
 selves by the labor of our own hands, to do violence 
 to no man, and to love the brethren. If this plan of 
 righteousness be observed, there is no need of bap- 
 tism ; if it be neglected, baptism is of no avail." They 
 particularly objected to the baptism of infants, be-, 
 cause they were altogether incapable of understand- 
 ing or confessing the truth. They denied the real 
 presence of Christ's body in the Lord's supper ; they 
 rejected the consecration of churches, opposed vari- 
 ous reigning superstitions, particularly the'doctrine of 
 Enrgatory and the practices connected with it, They 
 kewise refused to worship the cross or any images 
 whatever. Gerard, having examined their supposed 
 errors, and, in his own opinion, confuted them, drew 
 up a confession of faitn, contrary to thpse errors. 
 
331 
 
 which he required the heretics to sign. As they did 
 not well understand the Latin, he caused the confess- 
 ion to be explained to them in the vulgar tongue, by 
 an interpreter ; then, according to this account, they 
 approved and signed the instrument, and were dismis- 
 sed in peace by the bishop. 
 
 The nature of mankind, ever prone to run from one 
 extreme to another, will easily account for the rejec- 
 tion of infant baptism. The practice had long been 
 sullied by superstitious fooleries : the transition to its 
 total rejection was natural. It does not appear that 
 they denied the use of the Lord's supper but only the 
 doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the elements, 
 and it is probable that they held baptism also in a 
 similar manser. It cannot be doubted, but that, on 
 the whole, they were of the true church of Christ. 
 Faithfully to withstand idolatry and the reigning corr 
 ruptions, required a light and strength far above na- 
 ture ; and they appeared to have been raised up to 
 bear witness for the truth in that dark night of papal 
 abominations. 
 
 THE 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Propagation oftfo Gospel. 
 
 work of Christian piety, which had been suc- 
 cessfully carried on in Hungary, was now crowned 
 with still greater prosperity. Stephen, the king, who 
 had begun to reign in the year 997, shewed himself a 
 zealous patron of the gospel. His zeal was, indeed, 
 much stimulated, by his pious queen. He often ac- 
 companied the preachers and pathetically exhorted 
 his subjects. He suppressed barbarous customs, and 
 restrained blasphemy, theft, adultery and murder. 
 The whole moral conduct of Stephen was admirable. 
 His excellent code of laws is> to this day, the basis of 
 the laws of Hungary. In this, he forbids all impiety, 
 the violation of the duties of the Lord's Day, and ir- 
 reverent behavior ia the house of God. He lived to 
 
392 
 
 see all Hungary become externally Christian ; but 
 Christianity existed there, adulterated, or clouded by 
 papal domination, and by the fashionable superstitions. 
 Stephen died in the year 1038. 
 
 He was succeeded by Peter his nephew, who was 
 banished by his subjects. Andrew, the cousin of Ste- 
 phen, was now appointed king, on condition of restor- 
 ing idolatry. Gerard, arid three other bishops, endeav- 
 ored to divert him from the design. But they were as- 
 saulted on the road by duke Vathas, a zealous pagan. 
 Andrew, coming to the spot rescued one of the bish- 
 ops, the other three had already fallen by the arm of the 
 barbarian. This atrocious villany appears to have 
 been overruled, by Him who causes the wrath of man 
 to praise him, for the good of the church. The heart 
 of Andrew was moved; he had seen in this instance 
 the criminality of a believer in paganism. He exa- 
 mined Christianity, received it, repressed idolatry, and 
 reigned successfully. 
 
 The triumphs of the gospel in Denmark were very 
 Conspicuous. It was the preaching of the cross, at- 
 tended with the energy of the Holy Spirit, which then 
 effected a mighty revolution in the hearts of the Danes ; 
 a revolution, which, by the fruits it has produced has 
 manifested itself to have been in favor of humanity. It 
 is remarkable, that, to this day, no nation, in propor- 
 tion to its abilities and opportunities, has exceeded 
 the Danes, in labors for the propagation of the gos- 
 pel. Christian godliness has the promise of the life 
 that now is, as well as of that which is to come. 
 While it conducts enslaved souls into liberty, and, 
 turns them from the power of Satan to God, ti in- 
 vests them with the garments of salvation, meliorates 
 their condition in this life, and diffuses, through the 
 world, the most salutary precepts of peace, order, 
 and tranquility. Let not men expect the general civ- 
 ilization of the world by any other methods. Our Sa- 
 vior has most fitly directed us to pray the Lord of the 
 harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest ; and ev- 
 ery one who feels the genuine spirit of the gospel 
 \viil devoutly obey the injunction. 
 
393 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The state of the Church in England. 
 
 1.N the reign of Ethelred, a very cruel massacre of 
 the Danes was, by royal order, made throughout his do- 
 minions. In this, no distinction was observed between 
 the innocent and the guilty. Swein, king of Denmark, 
 revenged this massacre, by repeated devastations and 
 heavy exactions. Ethelred fled to Normandy to save 
 his life, while his subjects felt all the miseries, which 
 might be expected from incensed and victorious bar- 
 barians. 
 
 During these miseries, Alphage, archbishop of Can- 
 terbury, Yell into the hands of the Danes. He firmly 
 expostulated with the infuriated barbarians, who ex- 
 ercised the most horrid cruelties, particularly on la- 
 dies of quality, whom they dragged to the slake and 
 burnt to death, and who did not spare even infants. 
 "The cradle" says he, " can afford no triumph to sol- 
 diers. It would be better for you to exercise your 
 vengeance on me, whose death may give celebrity to 
 your names. Remember, that some of your troops 
 have, through my means, been brought over to the 
 faith of Christ, and I have frequently rebuked you for 
 your acts of injustice." Exasperated at these words, 
 the Danes kept him a prisoner for seven months. 
 They then offered him his liberty on condition of im- 
 mense payments to be made by himself and Ethelred 
 the king. Alphage told them the sums were too large 
 to be raised by any exactions, and firmly refused to 
 drain the treasures of the church, for the sake of sav- 
 ing his life; accounting it wrong to give to pagans 
 those sums which had been devoted to the honor of 
 religion, and the relief of the poor. The merciless 
 Danes, enraged beyond measure, threw him down and 
 stoned him, while hq prayed for his enemies, and for 
 the church. None but a Christian spirit could have 
 conducted Alphage through such a scene, and sup- 
 ported him with so much fortitude and charity. He 
 was murdered in the year 1013. 
 3 B 
 
394 
 
 In the year 1017, the Danes brought the English in- 
 to complete subjection. In 1041 the English threw off 
 the Danish yoke ; but soon sunk under the power of 
 William the Norman, who in the year 1066, beheld 
 himself sovereign of England. 
 
 Under William, the papal power soon reached the 
 same height in England, which it had attained in 
 France and Italy. This, the tyrant found to be a con- 
 venient support of his own despotic power : and while 
 he took care that every one of his subjects should, in 
 ecclesiastical matters, bow under the yoke of the 
 bishop of Rome, he reserved to himself the supreme 
 dominion in civil affairs, and exercised it with the 
 most unqualified rigor. Lanfrano, whom he appoint- 
 ed archbishop of Canterbury, zealously supported the 
 power of Rome, and the absurd doctrine of tran- 
 substantiation by his influence and authority. His 
 successor, Anselm, was no less devoted to the Pope, 
 and maintained several famous contests with his sove- 
 reign William Rufus, the son and successor of the con- 
 queror. Anselm contributed much, by his influence, 
 to settle the celibacy of the clergy of England ; and it 
 must be confessed, that even the virtues of this great 
 man, through the peculiar infelicity of the times, were 
 attended with great disadvantages to society. As to 
 superstitious observances, his example had influence 
 on others, and was injurious: his zeal, however, 
 against luxury, simony and the vices of the great, was 
 laudable, and his general defence of evangelical truth, 
 adorned by an upright life and conversation, preser- 
 ed, under God, some genuine remains of piety in the 
 nation.. 
 
 CENTURY XII. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A General View of the Life and Death of Bernard 
 
 A.T the entrance of this century, we find Bernard, ab- 
 bot of Clairval, rising with splendor, amid the general 
 
595 
 
 gloom. Though he was an ardent champion for the of- 
 fice and personal characters of the popes of Rome, yet 
 he inveighed against the vices of the men, and the 
 various evils of their ecclesiastical administration. 
 He strenuously supported their pretensions to St. 
 Peter's chair, and combatted all who opposed those 
 claims. Forgive him this wrong : it was common to 
 him with the Christian world ! 
 
 At this time, the Mahometans were aiming at uni- 
 versal empire, and according to the Koran, all who 
 were not with them in their cred, were continually 
 threatened with the loss of their religion and their lib- 
 erties ; and, to live in slavery, under the Mahometan 
 yoke, was all the indulgence granted to Christians, 
 who sunk beneath their arms. And as at this time, 
 superstition had led many, under the semblage of reli- 
 gion, to undertake pilgrimages to the holy land, who 
 were exposed to many insults, robberies and extor- 
 tions, from the Mahometans ; so, in the beginning of 
 this century, prodigious armies marched out of Eu- 
 rope, to wrest the holy land out of the hands of the in- 
 fidels, and Bernard used his utmost influence to en- 
 courage and promote this ill timed enterprize. 
 
 Early in life, Bernard subjected himself to the se- 
 verest austerities, by which he, at length,was reduced 
 to great weakness, and his health much impaired. 
 But inwardly taught of God, as he advanced in the 
 Divine life, he gradually learned to correct the harsh- 
 ness and asperity of his sentiments. He was humbled 
 under a sense of his folly, and frankly confessed it, in 
 the strongest terms. He then began to travel from 
 place to place, and to preach, for the good of man- 
 kind. And it is wonderful to observe, with what au- 
 thority he reigned in the hearts of men of all ranks, 
 and how his word became a law to princes and no- 
 bles. His eloquence was, indeed, very great: but 
 that alone could never have given -him so extensive a 
 dominion. His sincerity and humility were eminent, 
 and his constant refusal of the least ecclesiastical dig- 
 nities, gave an unequivocal testimony to the upright- 
 ness of his character. Though no potentate, either 
 
396 
 
 civil or ecclesiastical, possessed such real pow- 
 er as he did, in the Christian world ; and though he 
 was the highest in the judgment of all men, yet was 
 he, in his own estimation, the lowest. He said, and 
 felt what he said, that, for the performance of the ser- 
 vices for which he was so much extolled, he was 
 wholly indebted to the influence of Divine grace. The 
 talents of Bernard in preaching were, doubtless, of the 
 first order. He possessed that variety of gifts, which 
 fitted him either to address the great, or the vulgar. 
 
 Peter Abelard, was born in Brittany, in the year 
 1079. He was a man of genius, industry and learn- 
 ing; by nature, confident and presumptuous, elated 
 with applause, and far too haughty to submit to 
 the simple truth, as it is revealed in scripture : from 
 the moment, that he applied himself to the study of 
 the sacred writings, hje was ardently disposed to hereti- 
 cal singularities. He advocated certain sentiments, 
 subversive of the truth as it is in Jesus, and which were 
 calculated to foster the pride and selfsufficiency of the 
 human heart. Bernard took the most active and ef- 
 fectual measures to counteract his errors, and to sup * 
 port the soul humbling doctrines of the cross; and, at 
 length, after much exertions, procured the definitive 
 sentence of the Pope against Abelard, who ordered 
 his books to be burned, and the heretic himself to be 
 confined to a monastery. He was permitted to end his 
 days in that of Cluni, over which Peter the venerable, 
 presided, who treated him with much compassion and 
 friendship. Not personal malice, but Christian zeal, 
 seems to have influenced Bernard in the whole of 
 this transaction. 
 
 In this century, there were numerous opposers of 
 the reigning idolatry and superstitions of the church of 
 Rome, who were denominated, by their enemies, 
 Cathari; they, as to worldly property, were in low 
 circumstances, and in general, mechanics. Cologne, 
 Flanders, the south of France, Savoy, and Milan, 
 were their principal places of residence. These ap- 
 pear to have been a plain, unassuming, harmless, 
 and industrious sect of Christians, condemning, by 
 
397 
 
 their doctrine and manners, the'whole apparatus of the 
 fashionable idolatry and superstition, placing true re- 
 ligion in the faith and love of Christ, and retaining a 
 supreme regard for the Divine word. They seem to 
 have conformed to the public worship, much in the 
 same manner, as the apostles did to the Jewish church, 
 while it existed, still preserving a union among them- 
 selves in worship, and in hearing sermons, so far as 
 the iniquity of the, times would permit. 
 
 This people continued in a state of extreme per- 
 secution throughout this century. Bernard, who 
 seems to have been extremely ill informed concerning 
 them, remarks, that they had no particular father of 
 their heresy, and condemns them in whatever respects 
 they stood opposed to the high claims and supersti- 
 tions of the church of Rome. We cannot, however, 
 find that he ever opposed their real piety. 
 
 Bernard lived in. an age so ignorant and supersti- 
 tious, that protestants are ready to ask, can any good 
 come out of the twelfth century ? His writings show 
 him to have been a man of humble and fervent piety. 
 True, he censured some, u of whom the world was not 
 worthy," but, of their true character, he was ignorant. 
 He was deeply tinged with a predilection for the Ro- 
 man hierarchy, had imbibed most of those errors of 
 his time, which were not subversive of the gospel ; and 
 the monastic character, which, according to the spirit 
 of the age, appeared to be the greatest glory, seems 
 to have much eclipsed his real virtues, and to have 
 prevented his progress in true evangelical wisdom. 
 But with all his faults, the real Christian shines forth 
 in Bernard's life and death. The love of God seems 
 to have taken deep root in his soul, and to have been 
 always steady and ardent. He was about 60 years 
 old when he died, of a disease in his stomach. A let- 
 ter which he dictated to a friend, a very few days be- 
 fore his decease, will be worthy of our attention, as a 
 genuine monument of that simplicity, modesty, and 
 piety, which had adorned his conversation. " I re- 
 ceived your love, with affection, I canpot say with 
 pleasure ; for what pleasure can there be to a person 
 
398 
 
 in my circumstances, replete with bitterness ? To eat 
 nothing solid, is the only way to preserve myself toler- 
 ably easy. My sensative powers admit of no further 
 pleasure. Sleep hath departed from my eyes, and 
 prevented the least intermission of my pain. Stom- 
 achic weakness is, as it were, the sum total of my af- 
 flictions. By day and night, I receive a small portion 
 of liquids. Every thing solid, the stomach rejects. 
 The very scanty supply, which I now and tnen re- 
 ceive, is painful ; but perfect emptiness would be more 
 so. If now and then I take in a large quantity, the ef- 
 fect is most distressing. My legs and feet are swoln 
 as in a dropsy. In the midst of these afflictions, that 
 I may hide nothing from an anxious friend, in my in- 
 ner man, (I speak as a vulgar person) the spirit is 
 ready, though the flesh be weak. Pray ye to the Sav- 
 ior, who willeth not the death of a sinner, that he 
 would not delay my timely exit, but that still he 
 would guard it. Fortify with your prayers a poor un- 
 worthy creature, that the enemy who lies in wait, may 
 find no place where he may fix his tooth, and inflict 
 a wound. These words have I dictated, but in such 
 a manner, that ye know my affection by a hand well 
 known to you." Such were the condition and tern- 
 per-of this excellent saint at the approach of death. 
 Thus, may we hope, that Bernard, through faith and 
 patience, did, at length, inherit the promises, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 General State of the Church in this Century. 
 
 SUPERSTITION, idolatry, frivolous contentions, 
 and metaphysical nicities, attended with a lamentable 
 want of true piety and virtue, form almost the whole 
 of the religious phenominain the East. 
 
 Just at the close of the last century, pope Urban 
 held a Synod of 150 bishops, to promote the crusades, 
 and exhorted the Christian world to concur in support- 
 ing the same cause. He died in the year 1099, and 
 
399 
 
 Jerusalem was taken by the crusaders in the same 
 year. The pale of the visible church was extended, 
 by the conquest of the Western warriors, and several 
 episcopal sees were again formed in regions, whence 
 the light of the gospel had first arisen to bless mankind. 
 But these were of short duration : and, what is much 
 more material to be observed, while they continued, 
 gave no discernible evidence of the spirit of true 
 religion. This is ' a circumstance which throws a 
 very unpleasent shade on the whole character of the 
 fanatical war, which, at that time, agitated both Eu- 
 rope and Asia. Among its thousand evils, this was 
 one, indulgences were now diffused by the popes through 
 Europe, for the purpose of promoting what they called 
 the holy war. These had indeed been sold before by 
 the inferior dignitaries of the church, who, for money, 
 remitted the penalties imposed on transgressors ; they 
 had not, however, pretended to abolish the punish- 
 ments which await the wicked in a future state. This 
 impiety was reserved to the Pope himself, who dajred 
 to usurp the authority which belongs to God alone. The 
 corruption having once taken place, remained and in- 
 creased from age to age, till it was checked by the re- 
 formation. The whole discipline of the church was 
 now dissolved, and men, who had means to purchase 
 a licence to sin, were emboldened to let loose the 
 reins of vice, and to follow at large r their own desires 
 and imaginations. 
 
 In this season of religious declension, attempts were 2 
 however, made to promote human learning ; indeed, 
 the laudable passion for intellectual improvement was 
 strong in this century. The human mind acquired a 
 new tone and vigor; but learning could not commu- 
 nicate grace, nor bring men to see the folly of enslav- 
 ing themselves to the popedom. The influence of 
 the bishop of Rome became prodigious ; the emperors 
 of Germany trembled under the rod ; and some of 
 the bravest and wisest of the English princes were 
 found unequal to a contest with the hierarchy. 
 
 Where THEN was the church of Christ, and whafr 
 was its condition ? In the general appearance of na- 
 
400 
 
 tional religion, she Vvas not to be discovered. God 
 had, however, his SECRET ONES. In the West the Ca- 
 thari appear then to have lived the religion of Jesus. 
 They formed societies among themselves. These 
 increased exceedingly, dnd toward the close of the 
 century-, were exposed to the unrighteous indigna- 
 tion of the reigning powers, both in church and state, 
 and were known by the name of Waldenses. Thus, 
 the church of Christ had a real existence in the West, 
 and shone as a light in a dark place. In the East it is 
 extremely difficult to discover the least vestiges of gen- 
 uine piety, unless it be in some small degrees of it 
 among the Paulicians. 
 
 In a council held at London, in 1108> a decree was 
 issued against clerks, who should cohabit with women. 
 This council did not, however, mean to give an attes- 
 tation to the truth of the prophecy of St. Paul, con- 
 cerning the apostacy of the latter days, one circum- 
 stance of which was the prohibition of marriage, but 
 they fulfilled the prophecy in the clearest manner. The 
 voice of natural conscience and of common sense, was 
 by no means, altogether silenced during this gloomy 
 season. Fluentius, bishop of Florence, taught public- 
 ly, that Antichrist was born, and come into the world. 
 On account of thjs ? pope Paschal II. held a council 
 there in the year 1105, reprimanded the bishop, and 
 enjoined him to be silent on the subject. 
 
 The Island of Great Britain was rapidly sinking all 
 this century, into a deplorable state of subjection to 
 the Roman see. In the year 1159 thirty men and 
 women, who were Germans, appeared in England, 
 and were afterward brought before a council of the 
 clergy at Oxford. Gerard their teacher, a man of 
 learning, said, that they were Christians, and believed 
 the doctrine of the apostles. They expressed an ab- 
 horrence of the doctrine of purgatory, of prayers for 
 the dead, and of the /avocation of the saints. Henry 
 II, in conjunction with the council, ordered them to 
 be branded with a hot iron on the forehead, to be 
 whipped through Oxford, to have their clothes cut 
 short by their girdles^ and to be turned into the open 
 
401 
 
 fields ; and no person to shelter or relieve them, un- 
 der severe penalties. It was then the depth of winter, 
 and they all lost their lives by cold and hunger. They 
 had made one female convert in England, who, 
 through fear of similar punishment, recanted. The 
 whole number of the Germans remained patient, se- 
 rene, and composed, repeating, " Blessed are those, 
 who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for their's 
 is the kingdom of heaven." Their teacher, Gerard, 
 that he might be distinguished from the rest, had an 
 additional mark on his chin. 
 
 What darkness must at that time have filled the 
 island of Great Britain ! A wise and sagacious king, a 
 renowned university, the whole body of the clergy 
 and laity, all united in expelling Christ from their 
 coasts ! This account, though brief, is sufficiently ex- 
 plicit to show that these were the martyrs of Christ. 
 Most probably driven from home by persecution, 
 they had brought the light and power of the gospel 
 into England with them ; and so totally corrupt and 
 senseless was the nation, that none received it. It de- 
 serves to be noticed, that England was afterward, fox 
 a long time, exposed to suffer more severely, than 
 most other nations, from the exactions of the pope*- 
 dom. 
 
 Antichrist, then reigned calm and victorious 
 throughout Europe. Nevertheless, even in Italy it- 
 self, some suspicions of his existence appeared. Jo- 
 achim, abbot of Calabria, a man renowned for learn- 
 ing and piety, asserted that Antichrist was born in the 
 Roman state, and would be exalted to the apostolic 
 see. King Richard I. of England, being at Me&gira 
 in Sicily, going upon his expedition to the holy land, 
 sent for Joachim, and with much satisfaction heard 
 hmi explain the book of the Revelation, and discourse 
 of Antichrist. 
 
 If Richard had been as earnest in studying the scrip- 
 tures, as he was in conducting his romantic expedi- 
 tion into the holy land, by comparing the apocalyp- 
 tic prophecies with the treatment which he himself 
 received from the Pope, he might have understood 
 So 
 
402 
 
 that the bishop of Rome was Antichrist. For, in a 
 bull, dated 1197, Innocent III. declared, that it was 
 not fit, that any man should be invested with authori- 
 ty, who did not revere and obey the holy see. In an- 
 other bull, addressed to Richard, he told him, that if 
 he opposed the decrees of the apostolic see, he would 
 soon convince him, how hard it was to kick against 
 the pricks. In another bull, Innocent declared, that 
 he would not endure the least contempt of himself, or 
 of God, whose place he held on earth, but would 
 panish every disobedience without delay, and without 
 respect of persons ; and would convince the whole 
 world, that he was determined to act like a sovereign. 
 The " lion-hearted" Richard obeyed his decrees, and 
 gave up his opposition, in the cause which he had 
 contested. Innocent reigned in England with a power 
 little less than despotic. This was the pope, who 
 confirmed the doctrine of trans instantiation in the 
 grossest sense reduced the two succeeding princes, 
 John and Henry III. to a state of the lowest vas- 
 salage, and enriched his creatures with the treasures 
 of England. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Propagation of the Gospel. 
 
 I HE pale of the visible church was still farther ex- 
 tended in this century among the idolatrous nations ; 
 and, though the methods of propagating divine truth 
 were too often unchristian, some missionaries seem to 
 have been actuated by an apostolical spirit. The 
 articles under this head are few, but well deserve the 
 reader's attention. 
 
 Boleslaus, duke of Poland, having taken Stetin, the 
 capital of Pomerania, by storm, and laid waste the- 
 country by fire and sword, compelled the remain- 
 ing inhabitants to submit at discretion. From these 
 inauspicious beginnings Pomerania was made ac- 
 quainted with Christianity. For three years, the con- 
 queror endeavored ta procure pastors and teachers 
 
403 
 
 from his own dominions, to instruct his new subjects; 
 but could find none. He then engaged Otho, bishop 
 of Bamberg, in the work. The duke of Pomerania 
 met the bishop on his approach, and received him 
 with much respect. The savage inhabitants were, 
 however, with difficulty prevented from murdering 
 him. Otho was firm, and by Christian zeal, patience, 
 and meekness, labored to efface the disadvantageous 
 impressions, which the military expeditions of Boles- 
 laus, could not fail to have made on their minds. The 
 duchess of Pomerania, with her female attendants, 
 received the gospel. So did the duke with his com- 
 panions, and he gave this evidence of sincerity, that 
 he was prevailed on by the instructions of Otho to dis- 
 miss his concubines, who were twenty four in number. 
 This missionary was afterward fiercely assaulted by 
 some of the inhabitants, and with great difficulty es- 
 caped. Otho bore the injury so meekly, and persever^ 
 ed in his labors with such evident marks of probity 
 and charity, that he at length established the form of 
 Christianity among them. He commenced his mis- 
 sion in the year 1 123, and from his success, was styled 
 the apostle of the Pomeranians. After he had carried 
 the gospel to the remote districts, he returned to the 
 care of his own flock at Bamberg, where he died in 
 1159. That the work, however, was very slight 
 among this people, appeared too plainly by the event. 
 The Pomeranians soon after ejected the Christian pas- 
 tors, and re-established the idolatry of their ancestors. 
 The inhabitants of Rugen, an island which lies in 
 the neighborhood of Pomerania, were remarkable for 
 their obstinate opposition to Christianity. Eric, king 
 of Denmark, subdued them ; and, among other condi- 
 tions of peace, imposed on them his religion. But 
 they soon renounced it for their ancient idolatry. 
 At length Waldemar, king of Denmark, having sub- 
 jected them again, obliged them to deliver up to him 
 their idol Swanterwith, which he ordered to be hewn 
 in pieces and burned. He compelled the vanquished 
 also to deliver to him all their sacred money, and re- 
 leased the Christian captives whom they held in slave- 
 
404 
 
 ry, 'and converted the lands which had been assigned 
 to the pagan priests, to the support of the Christian 
 ministry. Also he furnished the ignorant savages with 
 pastors and teachers. Among these, shone Absalom, 
 archbishop of Lunden, by whose pious labors, the gos- 
 pel received an establishment in this island, which had 
 so long baffled every attempt to evangelize it. Absa~ 
 lorn ought to be ranked among those genuine bene- 
 factors of mankind, who are willing to spend and be 
 spent for the good of souls. Even Jaremar, the prince 
 of Rugen, received the gospel, and not only taught his 
 wayward subjects by his life and example, but also 
 by his useful instructions and admonitions. Some- 
 times he employed menaces, but to what degree, and 
 with what circumstances is not known. Certain it is, 
 that the people of Rugen from that time, were in some 
 sense, at least, evangelized. No people had ever 
 shown a more obstinate aversion to the doctrines of 
 Christianity ; nor were the military proceedings of 
 Eric and Waidemar calculated to soften their animo- 
 sity. In this article, however, as in the last, the cha- 
 racters of the missionaries ought to be distinguished 
 from those of the princes ; for, in the accounts of both 
 the missionaries there appears very good evidence 
 of a genuine propagation of godliness. These events 
 in Rugen took place about the year 1168. When the 
 characters of princes are distinguished from that of 
 missionaries, it is by no means intended that the con- 
 duct of the former was unjustifiable. > The people 
 of Rugen were a band of pirates and robbers ; and it 
 is not improbable, but that the right of self-preserva- 
 tion might have authorized the Danish expedition. 
 
 The Finlanders were of the same character with the 
 people of Rugen, and infested Sweden with their in- 
 cursions. Eric, king of the last mentioned country, 
 vanquished them in war, and is said to have wept, be- 
 cause his enemies died, unbaptized. As soon as he 
 was master of Finland, he sent Henry, bishop of Upsal, 
 to evangelize the barbarians. The success of this 
 missionary was great, and he is called the apostle of 
 the Finlanders, though he was murdered, at length. 
 
405 
 
 by some of the refractory people. He was stoned to 
 death at the instigation of a murderer whom he had 
 endeavored to reclaim by his censures. 
 
 Eric was excellent both as a Christian and a king. 
 His piety provoked the derision of some impious mal- 
 contents, by whom he was attacked, while employed 
 in public worship. "The remainder of the festival" 
 said he, "I shall observe elsewhere." It was the feast 
 of the ascension, which he was celebrating. He went 
 out alone to meet the murderers, that he might prevent 
 the effusion of blood, and died commending his soul 
 to God. 
 
 CENTURY XHL 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Peter Waldo. 
 
 J[ HE Cathari, who were evidently a people of God, 
 received great accessions of members from the learned 
 labors and godly zeal of Peter Waldo, an opulent mer- 
 chant of Lyons, toward the close of the twelfth cen- 
 tury. They were gloriously distinguished by a dread- 
 ful series of persecution, and exhibited a spectacle, 
 both of the power of Divine grace, and of the malice 
 and enmity of the world against the real gospel of Je- 
 sus Christ. I purpose to represent in one connected 
 view, the history of this people till a little after the time 
 of their reformation. The spirit, doctrine, and progress 
 of the Waldenses, will be more clearly understood by 
 this method, than by broken. and interrupted details ; 
 and the 13th century seems the most proper place 
 in which their story should be introduced. 
 
 These people were numerous in the valleys of Pied* 
 mont. Hence the name Vaudois, or Vallonses was 
 given them, particularly to those who inhabited the 
 valleys of Lucerne and Argrogne. A mistake arose 
 from similarity of names, that Peter Valdo or Waldo, 
 
406 
 
 was the first founder of these churches. For the name 
 Vallenses being easily changed into Wald<v<ise.s, (he 
 Romanists improved this very easy and natural mistake 
 into an argument against the antiquity of these church- 
 es, and denied that they had any existence till the ap- 
 pearance of Waldo. During the altercations of the 
 papists and protesiants, it was of some consequence 
 that this matter should be rightly stated ; because the 
 former denied that the doctrines of the latter had any 
 existence till the days of Luther. But from a just ac- 
 count of the subject, it appeared, that the real protes- 
 tant doctrines existed during the dark ages of the 
 church, long before Waldo's time. 
 
 About 1160, the doctrine of transubstantiation was 
 required by the court of Rome to be acknowledged by 
 all men. This led to idolatry. Men fell down before 
 the consecrated host and worshipped it as God. The 
 impiety of this abomination shocked the minds of all 
 men who were not dead to a sense of true religion. 
 The mind of Peter Waldo was aroused to oppose the 
 abomination, and to strive for a reformation. A fear 
 of God, in union with an alarming sense of the wick- 
 edness of the times, led him to conduct with courage 
 in opposing the dangerous corruptions of the hierarchy. 
 He abandoned his mercantile occupation, ditributed 
 iiis wealth to the poor, and exhorted his neighbors to 
 seek the bread of life. The poor, who flocked to him 
 to share his alms, received the best instruction he 
 was capable of communicating, and reverenced the 
 man, of whose liberality they partook, while the great 
 and the rich both hated and despised him. 
 
 A secular man like Waldo needed instruction. But 
 where could it be found, at a tirae of such general ig- 
 norance and declension ? He knew that the scriptures 
 were given as infallible guides, and thirsted for those 
 sources of instruction, which, at that time, were in a 
 great measure a sealed book in the Christian world. 
 To men who understood the Latin tongue, they 
 were accessible. But how few were these compar- 
 ed with the bulk of mankind ! The Latin vulgate bi- 
 ble was the only edition of the sacred book at that 
 
407 
 
 time in Europe : and, the languages then in common 
 use, the French and others, however mixed with the 
 Latin, were, properly speaking, by this time separate 
 and distinct from it. It appears that the Christian 
 world under Providence, was indebted to Waldo, for 
 the first translation of the bible into a modem tongue. 
 No pains had been taken, by those who were attach-? 
 ed to the popish system, to diffuse biblical knowledge 
 among the vulgar. The benevolent attempt to send 
 the bread of life among the common people, by giving 
 them the scriptures in their own language, if we ex- 
 cept the single instance of the Sclavonian version, 
 was purely and exclusively of protestant origin. 
 
 As Waldo grew more acquainted with the scrip- 
 tures, he saw that the general practice of nominal 
 Christians was totally abhorrent from the doctrines of 
 the New Testament : and in particular, that a num- 
 ber of customs, which all the world regarded with 
 reverence, had not only, no foundation in the Divine 
 oracles, but were even condemned by them. Inflam- 
 ed with equal zeal and charity, he boldly condemned 
 the reigning vices, and the arrogance of the Pope. 
 He did more : as he advanced in the knowledge of 
 the true faith and love of Christ, he taught his neigh- 
 bors the principles of practical godliness, and encour- 
 aged them to seek salvation by Jesus Christ. 
 
 John de Beles Mayons, archbishop of Lyons, a dis- 
 tinguished member of the corrupt system, forbade the 
 new reformer to teach any more, on pain of excom- 
 munication, and of being proceeded against as an he- 
 retic. Waldo replied, that though he was a layman, 
 yet he could not be silent in a matter which concerned 
 the salvation of men. On this, the archbishop endea- 
 vored to apprehend him. But the great affection of 
 Waldo's friends, the influence of his relations, who 
 were men of rank, the universal regard paid to his 
 probity and piety, and the conviction which, no doubt 
 many felt, that the extraordinary circumstances jus- 
 tified his assumption of the pastoral character ; all 
 things operated so strongly in his favor, that he lived 
 at Lyons three years. 
 
409 
 
 !Pope Alexander III. having heard of the proceed-* 
 ing* of Waldo, anathamatized him and his adherents, 
 and commanded the archbishop to proceed against 
 them with the utmost rigor. 
 
 Waldo fled from Lyons, and his disci pies followed 
 him. By this dispersion, the doctrine of Waldo was 
 widely disseminated throughout Europe. In Daiiphn 
 ny, whither he retired, his tenets took a deep and 
 lasting root. Some of his people probably did join 
 themselves to the Vaudois of Piedmont, and the new 
 translation of the bible, was, doubtless, a rich access- 
 ion to the spiritual treasures of that people. Waldo 
 himself, however, seems never to have been among 
 them. Persecuted from place to place, he retired in- 
 to Picardy. Success still attended his labors ; and the 
 doctrines which he preached, appear to have so har- 
 monized with those of the Vaudois, that they and his 
 people were henceforward considered as the same. 
 
 To support and encourage the church of Christ, 
 formed no part of the glory of the greatest and wisest 
 princes of that age. Philip Augustus, one of the most 
 prudent and sagacious princes that France ever saw, 
 was enslaved by the god of this world. He took up 
 arms against the Waldenses of Picardy, pulled down 
 300 houses belonging to those who supported their 
 party, destroyed some walled towns, and drove the in- 
 habitants into Flanders. Not content with this, he 
 pursued them thither, and caused many of them to be 
 burned. It appears that, at this time, Waldo fled into 
 Germany, and at last settled in Bohemia, where he 
 ended his days about the year 1179. He appears to 
 have been one, of whom the world was not worthy, 
 and to have turned many unto righteousness. The 
 word of God then grew and multiplied. In Alsace 
 and along the Rhine the gospel was preached with a 
 powerful effusion of the Holy Spirit : persecution en- 
 sued, and 35 citizens of Nantz were burned at one 
 fire, in the city of Bingen, and at Mentz, 18. In those 
 persecutions, the bishop of Mentz was very active, and 
 the bishop of Strasburg was not inferior to him in vin- 
 dictive zeal , for, through his means, 80 persons were 
 
409 
 
 burned at that place. Every thing relating to the 
 Waldenses resembled the scenes of the primitive 
 church. Numbers died praising God, and in confi- 
 dent assurance of a blessed resurrection ; whence the 
 blood of the martyrs became again the seed of the 
 church ; and in Bulgaria, Croatia, Dalmatia, and 
 Hungary, churches were planted, which flourished in 
 the 13th century, governed by Bartholomew, a native 
 of Carcassone, a city not far from Toulouse, which 
 might be called in those days, the metropolis of the 
 Waldenses, on account of the numbers who there pro- 
 fessed evangelical truth. In Bohemia and the coun- 
 try of Passaw, the churches were reckoned to have 
 contained in the former part of the 14th century eigh* 
 ty thousand professors. Almost throughout Europe 
 Waldenses were then to be found; and yet they were 
 treated as the off-scouring of the earth, and as people 
 against whom all the power and wisdom of the world 
 were united. But "the witnesses continued to prophe 
 sy in sackcloth," and souls were built up injhe faith, 
 hope, and charity of the gospel. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The real Character of the Waldenses. 
 
 HERE we are justly called on to vindicate the claim, 
 which this people made to the honorable character of 
 the church of God. In times of great declension, 
 whoever is led by the spirit of God to revive true reli- 
 gion, necessarily exposes himself to the invidious char- 
 ges of arrogance, uncharitableness and self-conceit 
 By condemning all others, such an one provokes the 
 rest of the world to observe and investigate his faults. 
 These disadvantages the Waldenses had in common 
 with other reformers; they had also disadvantages 
 peculiarly their own. Power, knowledge, and learn- 
 ing, were almost entirely in the hands of their adversa- 
 ries: In them very particularly, God Almighty chose 
 the weak and foolish things of the world, to confound 
 
410 
 
 Ihe wise. As they were, for the most part, a plain 
 and illiterate people, they furnished no learned di- 
 vines, no profound reasoners, nor able historians. The 
 vindication, therefore, of their claims to the character 
 of a true church must be drawn principally from the 
 holiness of their lives and the patience of their suffer- 
 ings. 
 
 Rainerins, the cruel persecutor, owns that the Wal- 
 denses frequently read the holy scriptures, and in their 
 preaching cited the words of Christ and his apostles 
 concerning lave, humility, and other virtues ; inso- 
 much that the women who heard them, were enrap- 
 tured with the sound. He further says, that they 
 taught men to live, by the words of the gospel and 
 the apostles ; that they led religious lives ; that their 
 manners were seasoned with grace, and their words 
 prudent ; that they freely discoursed of divine things, 
 that they might be esteemed, good men. He observes 
 likewise, that they taught their children and families 
 the epistles and gospels. Claude, bishop of Turin, 
 wrote a treatise against their doctrines, in which he 
 candidly owns, that they themselves were blameless, 
 without reproach among men, and that they observed 
 the Divine commands with all their might. 
 
 Jacob de Riberia says, that he had seen peasants 
 among them who could recite the book of Job by 
 heart ; and several others, who could perfectly repeat 
 the whole New Testament. 
 
 The bishop of Cavaillon once obliged a preaching 
 monk to enter into conference with them, that they 
 might be convinced of their errors, and the effusion of 
 blood be prevented. This happened during a great 
 persecution in 1540, iu Merindol and Provence. But 
 the monk returned in confusion, owning that he had 
 never known in his whole life so much of the scrip- 
 tures, as he had learned during those few days, in 
 which he had held conferences with the heretics. 
 The bishop however, sent among them a number of 
 doctors, young men, who had lately come from the 
 Sorbonne, at Paris, which was renowned for theologi- 
 cal subtilty. One of them openly owned, that he had 
 
411 
 
 understood more of the doctrine of salvation from the 
 answers of the little children in their catechism, than 
 by all the disputations which he had ever heard. This 
 is the testimony of Vesembecius in his oration con- 
 cerning the Waldenses. The same author informs us 
 farther, that Lewis XII. importuned by the calumnies 
 of informers, sent two respectable persons into Pro- 
 vence, to make inquiries. They reported, that in vis- 
 iting all their parishes and temples, they found no im- 
 ages or Roman ceremonies, but, that they could not 
 discover any marks of the crimes with which they 
 were charged ; that the sabbath was strictly observed; 
 that children were baptized according to the rules of 
 the primitive church, and instructed in the articles of 
 the Christian faith, and the commandments of God. 
 Lewis having heard the report, declared with an oath, 
 " they are better men than myself or my people." 
 
 We must add here the testimony of that great his- 
 torian, Thuanus, an enemy indeed to the Waldenses, 
 though a fair and candid one. 
 
 He is describing one of the valleys inhabited by this 
 people in Dauphiny, which is called the stoney valley. 
 a Their clothing," he says, "is of the skins of sheep; 
 they have no linen. They inhabit seven villages : 
 their houses are constructed of flint stone, with a flat 
 roof covered with mud, which being spoiled or loosen- 
 ed by rain, they smooth again with a roller. In these 
 they live with their cattle, separated from them, how- 
 ever by a fence. They have besides two caves, set 
 apart for particular purposes, in one of which they 
 conceal their cattle, in the other, themselves, when 
 hunted by their enemies. They live on milk and 
 venison, being by constant practice, excellent marks- 
 men. Poor as they are, they are content, and live se- 
 parate from the rest of mankind. One thing is aston- 
 ishing, that persons externally so savage and rude, 
 should have so much moral cultivation. They can 
 all read and write. They are acquainted with French 
 so far as is needful for the understanding of the bible, 
 and the singing of psalms. You can scarce find a 
 boy among them, who cannot give you an intelligible 
 
412 
 
 account of the faith which they profess ; in this, in- 
 deed, they resemble their brethren of the other val- 
 leys : they pay tribute with a good conscience, and 
 the obligation of this duty is particularly noted in the 
 confession of their faith. If by reason of the civil 
 wars, they are prevented from doing this, they care- 
 fully set apart the sum, and at the first opportunity 
 pay it to the king's tax-gatherers." 
 
 Francis I. the successor of Lewis XII. received, on 
 inquiry, the following information concerning the 
 Waldenses of Merindol, and other neighboring places : 
 namely, that they were a laborous people, who came 
 from Piedmont to dwell in Provence, about 200 years 
 ago: that they had much improved the country by 
 their industry ; that their manners were most excel- 
 lent ; that they were honest, liberal, hospitable, and 
 humane ; that they were distinct from others in this, 
 that they could not bear the sound of blasphemy, or 
 the naming of the devil, or any oaths, except on sol- 
 emn occasions ; and that if they ever fell into compa- 
 ny where blasphemy or lewdness formed the sub- 
 stance of the discourse, they instantly withdrew them- 
 selves. Such are the testimonies to the character of 
 this people from enemies ! 
 
 Luther, who owns that he was once prejudiced 
 against them, testifies that he understood by their 
 confessions and writings, that they had been for ages 
 singularly expert in the use of the scriptures. He re- 
 joiced and gave thanks to God, that he had enabled 
 the reformed and the Waldenses, to see and own each 
 other as brethren. By the general confession of the 
 Romanists, it appears, that the protestants and the 
 Waldenses, were looked on as holding the same prin- 
 ciples. The churches of Piedmont were, however, on 
 account of their superior antiquity, regarded as guides 
 of the rest, insomuch, that when two pastors, who had 
 been sent by them into Bohemia, acted with perfidy > 
 and occasioned a grievous persecution ; still the Bohe- 
 mians ceased not to desire pastors from Piedmont, on- 
 ly they requested, that none but persons of tried char- 
 acters might be sent to them in future. 
 
413 
 
 From the borders of Spain, throughout the South of 
 France for the most part, among and below the Alps, 
 along the Rhine, on both sides of its course, and even 
 to Bohemia,thousands ofgodly souls were seen patient- 
 ly to bear persecution for the sake of Christ, against 
 whom malice could say no evil, except that which ad- 
 mits the most satisfactory refutation : men distinguish- 
 ed for every virtue, and only hated because of godli- 
 ness itself. Persecutors with a sigh owned, that, be- 
 cause of their virtue, they were the most dangerous en- 
 emies of the church. But of what church ? Of that, 
 which in the 13th century, and long before, had shown 
 itself to be Antichristian. How faithful is the prom- 
 ise of God in supporting and maintaining a church, 
 even in the darkest timosibut her livery is often sack- 
 cloth, and her external bread is that of affliction, while 
 she sojourns on earth. 
 
 The Waldenses were conscientiously obedient to 
 established governments, and their separation from a 
 church, so corrupt as that of Rome, was with them 
 only a matter of necessity. We shall now see what 
 they were in point of doctrine and discipline. 
 
 CHAPTER III, 
 
 The Doctrine and Discipline of the Waldenses. 
 
 JLHE leading principle of this church was, "that we 
 ought to believe that the holy scriptures alone contain 
 all things necessary to our salvation, and that nothing 
 ought to be received as an article of faith but what 
 God hath revealed to us." Wherever this principle 
 dwells in the heart, it expels superstition and idol- 
 atry. There the worship of one God, through the one 
 Mediator, and by the influence of one Holy Spirit, 13 
 practised sincerely. The dreams of purgatory, the 
 intercession of saints, the adoration of images, depen- 
 dence on relics and austerities, cannot stand before the 
 doctrine of scripture. The Waldenses were faithful 
 to the great fundamental principle of protestautism.-^ 
 
414 
 
 " They affirm, that there is only one Mediator, and 
 therefore that we must not invocate the saints. That 
 there is no purgatory ; but that all those, who are jus- 
 tified by Christ, go into life eternal." 
 
 A number of their old treatises evince, that for some 
 hundred years, the principles of the gospel, which 
 alone can produce such holiness of life as the Walden- 
 ses exhibited in their conduct, were professed, under- 
 stood, and embraced by this chosen people, while An- 
 tichrist was in the very height of his power. 
 
 In a book concerning their pastors we have this ac- 
 count of their vocation. 
 
 " All who are to be ordained as pastors among us, 
 while they are yet at home, entreat us to receive them 
 into the ministry, and desire that we would pray to 
 God, that they may be rendered capable of so great a 
 charge. They are to learn by heart all the chapters 
 of St. Matthew and S'. John, all the canonical epistles, 
 and a good part of the writings of Solomon, David and 
 the prophets. Afterwards, having exhibited proper 
 testimonials of their learning and conversation, they 
 are admitted as pastors by the imposition of hands. 
 The junior pastors must do nothing without the li- 
 cense of their seniors ; nor are the seniors to under- 
 take any thing without the approbation of their col- 
 leagues, that every thing may be done among us in 
 order. We pastors meet together once every year, to 
 settle our affairs in a general synod. Those whom 
 we teach, afford us food and raiment with good will, 
 and without compulsion. The money given us by 
 the people is carried to the said general synod, is 
 there received by the elders, and is applied partly to 
 the supply of travellers, and partly to the relief of the 
 indigent. If a pastor among us shall fall into gross 
 sin, he is ejected from the community, and debarred 
 from the function of preaching." 
 
 The Waldenses in general expressed their firm be- 
 lief that there is no other mediator than Jesus Christ : 
 they spake 'with great respect of the virgin Mary as ho- 
 ly , humble, and full of grace ; at the same time they to- 
 tally discountenanced that senseless and extravagant 
 
415 
 
 admiration, in which she had been held for ages. They 
 asserted, that all, who have been and shall be saved, 
 have been elected of God before the foundation of the 
 world ; and that whosoever upholds free-will, abso- 
 lutely denies predestination, and the grace of God. By 
 an upholder of free-will, they undoubtedly meant one, 
 who maintains that there are resources in the nature 
 of man sufficient to enable him to live to God as he 
 ought, without any need of the renewal of his nature 
 by divine grace. 
 
 They gave a practical view of the doctrine of the 
 holy Trinity, perfectly agreeable to the faith of the 
 orthodox in all ages. Of the nature and use of the 
 sacraments, they expressed the common sentiments of 
 the protestant churches. The labors of Claudius, of 
 Turin, in the ninth century, appear, under God, to have 
 produced these blessed effects as to the faith, arid ho- 
 ness of the Waldenses. Men, who spend and are spent 
 for the glory of God, and for the profit of souls, have 
 no conception of the importance of their efforts. These 
 often remain in durable effects, to succeeding genera- 
 tions, and are blessed for the emancipation of thou- 
 sands from the dominion of sin and Satan. 
 
 The Waldenses took special care for the religious 
 instruction of their children, by catechetical and ex- 
 pository tracts, adapted to the plainest understand- 
 ings. These formed a very salutary body of instruc- 
 tion, and early taught the youth the great things which 
 pertained to life and godliness. If no more could be 
 said for this people, than that they hated the gross 
 abominations of popery, and condemned the vices of 
 the generality of mankind, they might have been os- 
 tentatious Pharisees, or self-sufficient Socinians. But 
 though, no doubt, there were unsound professors 
 among them, as among all other denominations yet 
 in their community, there were many real chris- 
 tians, who knew how to direct the edge of their sever- 
 ity against their indwelling sins ; and who being truly 
 humbled under a view of their native depravity, be- 
 took themselves wholly to the grace of God in Christ 
 for salvation- 
 
416 
 
 It is clearly evident from the general current of their 
 history, that the Waldenses were a humbled people^ 
 prepared to receive the gospel of Christ from the heart, 
 to walk in his steps, to carry his cross, and to fear sin 
 above all other evils. They were devoutly strict in 
 the discharge of family religion. In some ancient in- 
 quisitorial memoirs, describing their names and cus- 
 toms, it is said of them : " Before they go to meat, the 
 elder among them says, God, who blessed the five 
 barley loaves and two fishes in the wilderness, bless 
 this table, and that which is set upon it, in the name of 
 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And after 
 meat, he says^ the God, who has given us corporal 
 food, grant us his spiritual life, and may God be with 
 us, and we always with him. After their meals, they 
 teach and exhort one another." 
 
 There were evidently many humble and devout fol- 
 lowers of Christ among this people, who felt the pow- 
 er and enjoyed the consolations of the doctrines of the 
 cross. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Persecutions of the Waldenses. 
 
 A HE external history of this people is little else than 
 a series of persecution. And it is to be regretted, that 
 while we have large and distinct details of the cruel- 
 ties they endured, we have very scanty accounts of the 
 spirit, with which they suffered ; and still less of the 
 internal exercises of holiness, which are known only 
 to the people of God. That which raged against them 
 in the former part of the 13th century, was an assem- 
 blage of every thing cruel, perfidious, indecent, and 
 detestable. This was a time when the princes of the 
 earth, as well as the meanest persons, were generally 
 enslaved to the popedom, and were easily led to per- 
 secute the children of God with the most savage bar- 
 barity. In 1179, some, under various pretexts of 
 their having embraced heretical sentiments, were 
 examined by the bishops and condemned. They 
 
417 
 
 were accused of receiving only the New Testament, 
 and of rejecting the Old, except in the testimonies 
 quoted by our Lord and the apostles. This charge is, 
 however, confuted by the whole tenor of their authen- 
 tic writings. They were also accused of asserting the 
 Manichean doctrine of two independent principles ; of 
 denying the utility of infant baptism, and of many 
 other things, and all with an evident design to perse- 
 cute them to death ; because they stood opposed to 
 the errors and abominations of the church of Rome. 
 
 Rainerius, who was a bigoted papist, owns, that 
 the Waldenses were the most formidable enemies of 
 the church of Rome, "because," saith he, " they have 
 a great appearance of godliness ; because they live 
 righteously before men, believe rightly in God in all 
 things, and hold all the articles of the creed 5 yet they 
 hate and revile the church of Rome ; and, in their ac- 
 cusations they are easily believed by the people." 
 
 But it was reserved to Innocent the third, than 
 whom no pope ever possessed more ambition, to in- 
 stitute the inquisition ; and the Waldenses were the 
 first objects of its cruelty. He authorized certain 
 monks to frame the process of that court, and to deliv- 
 er the supposed heretics to the secular power. The 
 beginning of the 13th century saw thousands of per- 
 sons hanged or burned by these diabolical devices, 
 whose sole crime was, that they trusted only in Jesus 
 Christ for salvation, and renounced all the vain hopes 
 of self-righteousness, idolatry and superstition. Who- 
 ever has attended closely to the subject of the epistles 
 to the Colossians and Galatians, and has penetrated 
 ifito the meaning of the apostle, sees the great duty of 
 HOLDING THE HEAD, and of resting, for justification by 
 faith, on Jesus Christ alone, inculcated throughout 
 them as the predominant precept of Christianity, in 
 opposition to the rudiments of the world, to philosophy 
 and vain deceit, to will worship, to all dependence for 
 our happiness on human works and devices of what- 
 ever kind. Such a person sees what true protestant- 
 ism 4s, contrasted with genuine popery ; and, of 
 aourse, he is convinced, that the difference is not 
 SB 
 
418 
 
 Sfierely verbal or frivolous, but that there is a perfect 
 opposition in the two plans ; and such as admits of no 
 coalition or union ; and that therefore the true way of 
 withstanding the devices of Satan, is to be faithful to 
 the great doctrine of justification by the grace of Jesus 
 Christ, through faith alone, and not by our own works 
 or deservings. Hence the very foundation of false re- 
 ligion is overthrown ; hence troubled consciences ob- 
 tain solid peace, and faith, working by love, leads men 
 into the very spirit of Christianity, w^hile it comforts 
 their hearts, and establishes them in every good work. 
 
 Schemes of religion so extremely opposite, being ar- 
 dently pursued by both parties, could not fail to pro- 
 duce a violent rupture. The church of Christ and 
 the world were then seen engaged in contest. Inno- 
 cent first tried the methods of argument and persecu- 
 tion. He sent bishops and monks, who preached in 
 those places, where the Waldensian doctrine flourish- 
 ed. Their success was very inconsiderable. In the 
 neighborhood of Narbonne tw ? o monks were employ- 
 ed, Peter de Chateauneuf, and Dominic. The form- 
 er of these was murdered, probably by Raymond ? 
 count of Toulouse, because he had refused to remove 
 the excommunication, which he had denounced a- 
 gainst that prince. Though there appears no evidence 
 that Raymond either understood or felt the vital influ- 
 ence of the protestant doctrines, yet he strongly pro- 
 tected his Waldensian subjects. He witnessed the 
 purity of their lives and manners, and heard with in- 
 dignation the calumnies with which they were aspers- 
 ed by their adversaries, who proclaimed to all the 
 world their own hypocrisy, avarice and ambition. He 
 was incensed at the wickedness practised on his sub- 
 jects, and indignant at his own unmerited disgrace ; 
 but his conduct in this instance was unjustifiable. The 
 event was disastrous. Innocent obtained what he wish- 
 ed, a decent pretence for his horrible and most iniqui- 
 tous persecution ; and thousands of the sincerely pious 
 were unrighteously calumniated as accessory to crime. 
 
 The insidious customs of the inquisition are well 
 known. From the year 1206, when it was first estate- 
 
419 
 
 lished, to the year 1228, the havoc made among help- 
 less Christians was so great, that certain French bish- 
 ops, in the last mentioned year, desired the monks of 
 the inquisition to defer a little their work of imprison- 
 ment, till the Pope should be advertised of the great 
 numbers apprehended; numbers so great, that it was 
 impossible to defray the charge of their subsistence, 
 and even to provide stone and mortar to build prisons 
 for them. Yet so true is it, that the blood of martyrs 
 is the seed of the church, that in the year 1530 there 
 were in Europe above eight hundred thousand who 
 professed the religion of the Waldenses. 
 
 When the Waldenses saw that the design of the 
 pope was to gain the reputation of having used gentle 
 and reasonable methods of persuasion, they agreed 
 among themselves, to undertake the open defence of 
 their principles. They, therefore, gave the bishops to 
 understand, that their pastors, or some of them in the 
 name of the rest, were ready to prove their religion to 
 be truly scriptural, in an open conference, provided it 
 might be conducted with propriety. They explain- 
 ed their ideas of propriety, by desiring that there 
 might be moderators on both sides, who should be 
 vested with full authority to prevent all tumult and 
 violence ; that the conference should be held at some 
 place, to which all parties might have free and safe 
 access ; and that some one subject should be chosen, 
 with the common consent of the disputants, which 
 should be steadily prosecuted, till it was fully discuss- 
 ed and determined ; and that he who could not main- 
 tain it by the word of God, the only decisive rule of 
 Christians, should own himself confuted. 
 
 This was perfectly equitable and judicious, and the 
 bishop could not with decency refuse to accept the 
 terms. The place of discussion agreed on was Mon- 
 treal, near Carcassone in the year 1206. The um- 
 pires on the one side were the bishops of Villencuse 
 and Auxeere ; on the other R. de Bot, and Anthony 
 Riviere. 
 
 Several pastors were deputed to manage the debate 
 for the Waldenses, of whom Arnold Hot was the 
 
principal. He arrived first at the time and place ap- 
 pointed. A bishop named Eusus, came afterwards on 
 the side of the papacy, accompanied by the monk 
 Dominic, two of the pope's legates, and several other 
 priests and monks. The points undertaken to be pro- 
 ved by Arnold, were, that the mass and transubstanti- 
 ation were idolatrous, and unscriptural ; that the 
 church of Rome was not the spouse of Christ, and 
 that its polity was bad and unholy. Arnold sent those 
 propositions to the bishop, who required fifteen days 
 to answer him, which were granted. At the day ap- 
 pointed, the bishop appeared, bringing with him a 
 large manuscript, which was read in the conference. 
 Arnold desired to be heard by word of mouth, only 
 entreating their patience, if he took a considerable 
 time in answering so prolix a writing. Fair promises 
 of a patient hearing were made to him. He discours- 
 ed for the space of Jfour days with great fluency and 
 readiness, and with such order, perspicuity, and 
 strength of argument, that a powerful impression was 
 made on the audience, 
 
 At length Arnold desired, that the bishops and 
 monks would undertake to vindicate the mass and tran- 
 substantiation by the word of God. What they said 
 on the occasion we are not informed ; but the cause 
 of the abrupt conclusion of the conference showed 
 which party had the advantage. While the two le- 
 gates were disputing with Arnold, the bishop of Ville- 
 neuse, the umpire of the papal party, declared, that 
 nothing could be determined because of the coming 
 of the crusaders. What he asserted was too true : the 
 papal armies advanced, and, by fire and faggots, sooa 
 decided all controversies. 
 
 Arnold and his assistants were, doubtless, of the 
 number of those, who "did truth, and therefore came 
 to the light, that their deeds might be made manifest, 
 that they were wrought in God." And their adversa- 
 ries were of those who " hated the light, and would 
 not come to it, lest their deeds should be reproved." 
 
 The recourse of the popish party to arms, in the 
 room of sober argumentation, was to pour contempt 
 
421 
 
 on the word of God, and to confess that its light was 
 intolerably offensive to them. The approach of the 
 crusaders, who, in the manner related, put an end 
 to the conference, was not accidental ; for Innocent, 
 who never intended to decide the controversy by ar- 
 gument, on occasion of the unhappy murder of the 
 monk before mentioned, had dispatched preachers 
 throughout Europe, to collect all, who were willing to 
 revenge the innocent blood of Peter of Chateauneuf; 
 promising paradise to those, who should bear arms for 
 forty days, and bestowing on them the same indul- 
 gences as he did on those, who undertook to conquer 
 the Holy Land. "We moreover promise," says he 
 in his bull, "to all those who shall take up arms to 
 revenge the said murder, the pardon and remission of 
 their sins. And since we are not to keep faith with 
 those, who do not keep it with God, we would have 
 all to understand, that every person who is bound to 
 the said earl Raymond by oath of allegiance, or by 
 any other way, is absolved by apostolical authority 
 from such obligations- and it is lawful for any Roman 
 Catholic, to persecute the said earl, and to seize upon 
 his country," &c. 
 
 The tyrant proceeds in his bull: "We exhort you, 
 that you would endeavor to destroy the wicked here- 
 sy of the Albigenses, and do this with more rigor than 
 you would use towards the Saracens themselves : per- 
 secute them with a strong hand : deprive them of their 
 lands, and put Roman Catholics in their room." 
 Such was the pope's method of punishing a whole 
 people for a single murder committed by Raymond, 
 
 The French barons, incited by the motives of ava- 
 rice which Innocent suggested, undertook the work 
 with vigor. The Waldensian Christians then had no 
 other part to act, after having performed the duty of 
 faithful subjects and soldiers, but to suffer wilh pa- 
 tience the oppressions of Antichrist. Three hundred 
 thousand men, induced by avarice and superstition, 
 filled their country, for several years with carnage and 
 confusion. The scenes of baseness, perfidy, barbarity, 
 indecency and hypocrisy, over which Innocent pre- 
 
sided, can scarcely be conceived. These were con- 
 ducted, partly by his legates, and partly by the in- 
 famous earl Simon of Montfort. 
 
 The castle of Menerbe on the frontiers of Spain, for 
 want of water, was reduced to the necessity of surren- 
 dering to the pope's legate. A certain abbot under- 
 took to preach to those who were found in the castle, 
 and exhort them to acknowledge the pope. But 
 they interrupted his discourse, declaring that his labor 
 was to no purpose, Earl Simon and the legate then 
 caused a great fire to be kindled, and burned 140 
 persons of both sexes. These martyrs died in tri- 
 umph, praising God that he had counted them worthy 
 to suifer for the sake of Christ. They opposed the le- 
 gate to his face, and told Simon, that on the last day 
 when the books should be opened, he would meet with 
 the just judgment of God for all his cruelties. Sev- 
 eral monks entreated them to have pity on themselves, 
 and promised them their lives, if they would submit 
 to the popedom. But the Christians "loved not their 
 lives to the death:" only three women of the compa- 
 ny recanted. 
 
 Another castle named Termes, not far from Mener- 
 be, in the territory of Narbonne, was taken by Simon 
 in the year 1210. " This place,'' said Simon, "is of 
 all others the most execrable, because no mass has 
 been sung in it for 30 years." A remark which gives 
 us some idea both of the stability and numbers of the 
 Waldenses ; the very worship of popery, it seems, was 
 expelled from that place. The inhabitants made their 
 escape by night, and avoided the merciless hands of 
 Simon. 
 
 But the triumphing of the wicked is short : after he 
 had been declared sovereign of Toulouse, which he 
 had conquered, general of the armies of the church, 
 its son and its darling ; after he had oppressed and 
 tyrannized over the Waldenses by innumerable confis- 
 cations and exactions, he was slain in battle in the 
 year 1218. 
 
 Earl Raymond, died of sickness in the year 1222, in 
 a state of peace and prosperity, after his victory over 
 
423 
 
 Simon. No man was ever treated with more injus- 
 tice by the popedom. But nothing is known of his 
 character for knowledge arid piety. His persecutor, In- 
 nocent, died in 1216 ; and the famous Dominic in 1220. 
 
 The Waldenses suffered sore and incessant perse- 
 cutions from the church of Rome, in many different 
 parts of Europe, till the time of the reformation, and, 
 in most instances, they endured them with admirable 
 patience and constancy. 
 
 Thus largely did the "King of saints" provide for 
 the instruction of his church, in the darkness of the 
 middle ages. The Waldenses are indeed the middle 
 link which connects the primitive Christians and fa- 
 thers with the reformed ; and by their means, the 
 proof is completely established that salvation, by the 
 grace of Christ, felt in the heart by the power of the 
 Holy Ghost, and expressed in the life, has ever existed 
 from the time of the apostles till this day; and that 
 it is a doctrine marked by the cross, and distinct from 
 all that religion of mere form, which calls itself Chris- 
 tian, but which wants the spirit of Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The general state of the church in this century. 
 
 A HOUGH the narrative of the Waldensian transac- 
 tions does not belong exclusively to the 13th century, 
 it is, however, ascribed to it, because during this, the 
 sect endured most cruel persecutions, and experienced 
 many severe conflicts, which particularly excited the 
 attention of all Europe. At this period a visible 
 church can hardly be said to haye had an existence. 
 There were, however, individuals, who loved the Lord, 
 and served him in the midst of corruption, error and 
 danger. 
 
 It was then a time of immense ignorance and wick- 
 edness. True, the Aristotelean philosophy greatly pre- 
 vailed; but it by no means, enlightened men's minds 
 with useful science. Every serious enquirer after truth 
 
was embarrassed beyond measure, The most learn* 
 ed doctors, with very few exceptions, were not, in 
 their knowledge, many degrees above the most igno- 
 rant and vulgar. The herd of students foolishly em- 
 ployed themselves about the miserable translations of 
 Aristotle, to no purpose. Their ambition was to ap- 
 pear learned in the eyes of the senseless multitude. 
 The Dominicans and Franciscans were almost the 
 only orders which devoted themselves to study. 
 These had ample buildings and princely houses. They 
 attended the deathbeds of the rich and great, and 
 urged them to bequeath immense legacies to their 
 own orders. These gained much ground, and till the 
 time of the institution of the Jesuits were the pillars 
 of the papacy. Persecution of heretics, so called, 
 formed a great part of their employment. While the 
 other orders had, by their immoralities reduced them- 
 selves to contempt; these two orders, having the sem- 
 blance of worth, not the substance, revived the au- 
 thority of the Romish church, supported and strength- 
 ened every reigning superstition, and by deep laid 
 plans of hypocrisy, induced numbers to enrich both 
 the papacy and the monastic establishments. These 
 two orders, having obtained a decided ascendency in 
 England, arrogated to themselves great power. The 
 abject slavery and superstition, under which* Eng- 
 land then sunk, appears, from a commission which In- 
 nocent IV. gave to John the Franciscan, in 1247, as 
 follows: "We charge you, that, if the major part of 
 the English prelates should make answer, that they 
 are exempt from foreign jurisdiction, you demand a 
 greater sum, and compel them, by ecclesiastical cen- 
 sures, to withdraw their appeals, any privilege or in- 
 dulgence notwithstanding." 
 
 So shameless were the popes, at this time, in their 
 exactions, and so perfect was their dominion over 
 mankind, that they grossly defrauded even the Fran- 
 ciscans themselves, and were not afraid of the conse- 
 quences. Men, who received not the testimony of 
 Jesus Christ, and refused submission to his easy yoke, 
 were induced to kiss the iron rod of an Italian tyrant. 
 
425 
 
 The greater part of Europe, had now forsaken the 
 all-important article of justification by the merit of 
 Jesus Christ alone through faith, and were entangled 
 in the nets of pharisaical religion, and readily betook 
 themselves to numberless superstitions, to give quiet 
 and ease to their consciences. The Waldense"s found 
 peace and comfort, and the expectation of heaven 
 through Jesus Christ alone by faith, and hence despis- 
 ed the whole popedom with all its appendages ; while 
 others, who trembled in conscience for their sins, and 
 knew not the holy wisdom of resting in- Christ alone 
 for salvation, might swell with indignation at the wick- 
 edness of the court of Rome, but durst not emancipate 
 themselves from its bonds. The power of the Pope 
 was then but a cement of wickedness, which encour- 
 aged men with the hopes of heaven, while living in su- 
 perstition and the indulgence of the greatest crimes. 
 
 In 1234, pope Gregory IX. desirous of increasing 
 the credit of the popedom, by a bull directed to all 
 Christendom, invited men to assume the cross, and to 
 proceed to the holy land. In this he says, " The ser- 
 vice to which they are now invited is an EFFECTUAL 
 ATONEMENT for the miscarriages of a negligent life. 
 The HOLY WAR is a compendious method of discharg- 
 ing men from guilt, and restoring them to the Divine 
 favor. Even if they die on their march, the intention 
 will be taken for the deed, and many may in this way 
 be crowned without fighting." 
 
 In this, Gregory, in effect, opposed the doctrine of 
 the atonement of Christ, and m contempt of it, taught 
 men to expect justification from God, on the merit of 
 military service, rendered at the command of his Vice- 
 gerent. In this way, the human mind was removed 
 from faith in Christ, and men were taught to rely for 
 pardon on the sovreign pontiff, and were led to imbibe 
 the fatal doctrine, that wickedness might be commit- 
 ted, with the flattering prospect of gaining the Divine 
 favor, without a reformation of heart and life. 
 
 That the ecclesiastical rulers in those miserable 
 times, did not desire the promotion of piety, but their 
 own secular emolument, is evident from their releas- 
 3 F 
 
426 
 
 ifrg those who had engaged in the crusade to the holy 
 land, from their vows, on the payment of a fine. It b 
 easily conceived that much wealth would be amassed 
 by this dispensing power. Men were taught to pur- 
 chase pardon by being liberal in the bestowment of 
 their money on the popish hierarchy, and that this 
 was a sure way to cover their crimes. 
 
 During this season of gross darkness, the scripture 
 was neglected ; appeals were not made to the word 
 of God, but to Aristotle and the fathers, which were 
 considered as decisive. The few who truly feared 
 and served God, suffered extreme persecution. 
 
 Of the Eastern churches scarce any thing worthy 
 of relation occurs, except that they were overrun by 
 a mixed multitude under Othman, who, in the year 
 1299, was proclaimed Sultan, and founded a new em- 
 pire. These, under the name of TURKS, succeeded 
 the Saracens both in the propagation of Mahometan- 
 ism, and in diffusing the horrors of war. A few who* 
 had been illuminated by the rays of divine light and 
 love, exemplified the power of religion in their lives : 
 among this number, Lewis IX. of France, held a con- 
 spicuous rank. He often invited men of religious 
 character to his table, banished from his court all di- 
 versions prejudicial to morals, and lived a life of self- 
 denial. No man, who violated the rules of decorum, 
 could find admission into his presence. He frequent- 
 ly retired for the purpose of secret prayer. Those, who* 
 were guilty of blasphemy, were, by his order, mark- 
 ed on the lips, some say on the forehead, with a hot 
 iron. Uprightness and integrity strongly marked his 
 character. The nobles, he suffered not to oppress their 
 vassals. The exercise of sovereign power was, in his 
 hands, a blessing to mankind. In him, wisdom and 
 truth, sound policy and Christian sincerity, appeared 
 not at variance, but in sweet concord. Under the com- 
 plicated disadvantages of his situation, he could only 
 cherish the spirit of a Christian himself: the whole 
 tenor of his life demonstrated the sincerity of his faith 
 and love : but, enslaved by papal domination, he could 
 not emancipate his subjects. 
 
427 
 
 True it is, that he engaged in the mad project of the 
 crusades, a project imprudent and chimerical : but in 
 the whole course of his military measures, he avoided 
 the unnecessary effusion of blood by saving the life of 
 every infidel whom he could take prisoner. In all this, 
 Lewis was the same man ; the fear of God was his pre- 
 dominant principle of action. He was taken captive 
 by the Saracens and menaced with death : but ceased 
 not from his usual fortitude and concern for his sol- 
 diers. At length being ransomed, as he returned to 
 Europe, three sermons were preached every week on 
 board his ship, and the sailors and soldiers were cate- 
 chised, and instructed, he himself bearing a part in 
 all the religious offices. 
 
 On a second crusade, Lewis laid siege to Tunis on 
 the coast of Africa, and died before that city. His ad- 
 vice to Philip his eldest son, which he then gave, was 
 very salutary. " Avoid wars," says he, " with Christians, 
 and spare the innocent subjects of your enemy. Dis- 
 countenance blasphemy, drunkenness, and impurity. 
 Lay no heavy burdens on your subjects. I pray our 
 Lord Jesus Christ to strengthen you in his service, and 
 always to strengthen his grace in you ; and I beg that 
 we may together see, praise and honor him to eterni- 
 ty. Suffer patiently ; being persuaded that you de- 
 serve much more punishment for your sins : and then 
 tribulation will be your gain. Love and converse with 
 the godly : banish the vicious from your company : de- 
 light to hear profitable sermons : wherever you are, 
 permit none, in your presence, to deal in slanderous 
 or indecent conversation. Hear the poor with pa- 
 tience, and where your own interest is concerned, 
 stand for your adversary yourself, till the truth appear." 
 In his last hours, Lewis prayed with tears for the con- 
 version of infidels and sinners ; and besought God, that 
 his army might have a safe retreat, lest through weak- 
 ness of the flesh they should deny Christ. He repeat- 
 ed aloud, " Lord, I will enter into thine house ; 1 will 
 worship in thy holy temple, and give glory to thy 
 name. Into thine hands I commend my spirit." These 
 \yere his last words. He died in 1270, aged 56.- 
 
428 
 
 This century was dark indeed ; there does not ap- 
 pear to have been in the whole Romish church a single 
 divine, who could give to a serious enquirer a scrip- 
 tural answer to the question, "what shall I do to be 
 saved ?" The light of scripture and of its genuine 
 doctrines, was unknown in Christendom. The igno- 
 rance of the times was exceedingly great, and the dif- 
 difficulty of acquiring divine knowledge beyond our 
 conception. 
 
 In the midst of this darkness Grosseteste, bishop of 
 Lincoln, a man of excellent genius, distinguished 
 himself for his sound morals, and great learning. 
 His mind was always more clear in discerning the 
 END of true religion than it was in discovering the 
 MEANS of promoting it. Upright, intrepid, disinterest- 
 ed, and constantly influenced by the fear of God, he 
 failed of bringing about the good which he conceived 
 in his heart, because he had too little acquaintance 
 with " the mystery of godliness," and because he too 
 much relied on moral and prudential plans, for that 
 reformation of mankind, which is sought in vain from 
 every thing, except from the knowledge and applica- 
 tion of the gospel. He was, fr many years, attached 
 to the church of Rome, but all along, opposed to its 
 abuse of power and unjust exactions; towards the close 
 of his life, he became more than ever convinced of its 
 gross abominations and scandals, and though, like most 
 divines of that age, not acquainted with the just nature 
 of the Christian article of justification by Jesus Christ 
 the righteous : yet he appears to have trusted in HIM 
 for eternal salvation, and to have known too well his 
 own sinfulness to have put any trust in himself. 
 
 CENTURY XIV, 
 
 The General State of the Church in this Century. 
 
 same ignorance and superstition, the same 
 vices and immoralities, which predominated in the last 
 
429 
 
 century, abounded in this. Real Christians were to be 
 found only among the Waldenses, or in those who 
 worshipped God in obscurity. Various other sects 
 arose, who were cruelly persecuted by popes and em- 
 perors ; but none, appear to have professed the real 
 doctrines, or were influenced by the real spirit of Je- 
 sus. Some of them, both in principles and practice, 
 were the disgrace of human nature. But to detail the 
 narratives of fanaticism, with which most ecclesiasti- 
 cal histories abound, is not the object of this work. 
 The church of God, considered as a society, seems 
 then to have existed only among the Waldenses. 
 
 There were numerous societies in this century, that 
 suffered extremely by the iron hand of power. Among 
 all these, the Waldenses, sometimes called Lollards, 
 by way of reproach, seem perfectly distinguished, by 
 their solid piety, sound scriptural judgment, arid prac- 
 tical godliness ; and therefore they may justly be ac- 
 counted to have suffered for righteousness' sake ; while 
 the rest, as far as certainty appears, were the martyrs 
 of folly, turbulence, or impiety. 
 
 In the East the profession of Christianity still exist- 
 ed in that contracted empire of which Constantinople 
 was the metropolis ; but nothing appears like the 
 primitive faith and piety. 
 
 The maxims and examples of the court of Rome, 
 in this period, were unspeakably detrimental to the 
 cause of godliness. It claimed a right to dispose of 
 all offices in the church, and, in that way, amassed in- 
 credible sums. Boniface VIII. then filled the Chris- 
 tian world with the noise and turbulence of his ambi- 
 tion. He died in extreme misery, in 1303, in the 
 ninth year of his papacy. For 50 years afterward, the 
 church had two or three heads at the same time : and 
 while each of the contending popes was anathamatiz- 
 ing his competitors, the reverence of mankind for the 
 popedom was diminished, and the labors of those who 
 strove to propagate Divine truth, began to be more se- 
 riously regarded by men of conscience and probity. 
 
 Eleazar, count of Arian, in Naples, born in 1295, 
 distinguished himself for his piety. At the age of 23 ? 
 
430 
 
 Jhe succeeded to his father's estate ; and for five years, 
 which brought him to the close of life, he supported a 
 constant tenor of devotion, and religious seriousness. 
 Some of the regulations of his household were these : 
 
 " I cannot allow any blasphemy in rny house, nor 
 any thing in word or deed which offends the laws of 
 decorum. 
 
 " Let the ladies spend the morning in reading and 
 prayer, the afternoon at some work. 
 
 " Dice, and all games of hazard are prohibited. 
 
 " Let all persons in my house divert themselves at 
 proper times, but never in a sinful manner. 
 
 " Let there be constant peace in my family ; oth- 
 erwise two armies are formed under iny roof, and the 
 master is devoured by them both. 
 
 " If any difference arise, let not the sun go down 
 upon your wrath. 
 
 u We must bear with something, if we have to live 
 among mankind. Such is our frailty, we are scarcely 
 in tune with ourselves a whole day ; and if a melan- 
 choly humor come on us, we know not well what we 
 would have. 
 
 " Not to bear and not to forgive, is diabolical ; to 
 love enemies, and to do good for evil, is the mark of 
 the children of God. 
 
 " Every evening, all my family shall be assembled 
 at a godly conference, in which they shall hear some- 
 thing of God and salvation. Let none be absent on 
 pretence of attending to my affairs. I have no affairs 
 So interesting to me as the salvation of my domestics. 
 
 " I seriously forbid all injustice, which may cloak it- 
 self under color of serving me." 
 
 " If I feel an impatience under affront," said he on 
 one occasion, " I look at Christ. Can any thing which 
 I suffer, be like to that which he endured for me ?" 
 
 God has his secret saints in the most gloomy state 
 of the church ; and Eleazar seems to have been one of 
 these. In his last sickness, the history of our Savior's 
 passion was daily read to him, and by this means his 
 mind was consoled under the pains with which he 
 was afflicted- 
 
431 
 
 In this century too, Bradwardine, an Englishman, 
 arose, distinguished for his accurate and profound in- 
 vestigation in divinity. Deeply sensible of the despe- 
 rate wickedness of the human heart, and of the pre- 
 ciousness of the grace of Christ, he seems to have 
 overlooked, or little regarded the fashionable supersti- 
 tions of his time, and to have applied the whole vigor 
 and vehemence of his spirit to the defence of the 
 principles of the gospel. He was a strong and able 
 advocate for the scripture doctrine of free and sove- 
 reign grace, in opposition to all self-righteous claims. 
 Conscious of the pernicious tendency of sELF-suFFr- 
 CIENCV, he wrote much against Pelagianism, with a 
 heart evidently inflamed with zeal for the Divine glo- 
 ry, and laboring for the spiritual profit of souls. 
 While writing in defence of free grace, he appears to 
 have been under the steady influence of humility arid 
 piety ; and after having described the opposition made 
 to Divine grace from age to age, he thus concludes : 
 " I know, O Lord God, that thou dost not despise nor 
 forsake those who love thee ; but thou dost sustain, 
 teach, cherish, strengthen, and confirm them. Rely- 
 ing on this, thy goodness and truth, I undertake to war 
 under thy invincible banners." 
 
 Bradwardine lived in an age dreary, unpromising 
 and full of darkness : but notwithstanding all this, he 
 appears to have lived by faith on the Son of God. 
 
 John Wickliff, an Englishman, the renowned refor- 
 mer, a man of extensive knowledge, and great strength 
 of mind, flourished about the year 1371. He preach- 
 ed pointedly against the prevailing abuses in religion; 
 particularly the real presence of Christ in the eucha- 
 rist. On this point he has been considered remarkably 
 clear. In this, his principal design, it appears, was to 
 recover the church from idolatry, especially in regard 
 to the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. 
 
 Sensible that the papal power was founded in usur- 
 pation, he insisted that the church of Rome was not 
 the head of other churches, that St. Peter was not su- 
 perior to the other apostles, and that the pope, in the 
 pmver of the keys, was only equal to a common priest. 
 
432 
 
 These were undoubtedly the sentiments of genuine 
 protestantism, and excited a spirit of bitter persecu- 
 tion against him. 
 
 This reformer translated the bible from the Latin 
 into the English tongue : the value of which work, at 
 so dark a time, was great. At this, the Romish hie- 
 rarchy were enraged, which evinced that they hated 
 the light, and would not come to it, lest their deeds 
 should be reproved. 
 
 Concerning Wickliff it may with propriety be said, 
 that a political spirit too deeply infected his conduct; 
 but that special benefit accrued, from his labors, to the 
 church of Christ, both in England and upon the con- 
 tinent. He died in peace at Lutterworth, in the year 
 1387. 
 
 In the year 1410, his works, about 200 volumes, 
 were burned at Oxford, by order of Subinco, archbish- 
 op of Prague; and in 1428, his remains were dugout 
 of his grave and burned, and his ashes thrown into the 
 river at Lutterworth. 
 
 Wickliff had many errors, and many virtues; But 
 he gave evidence of true piety. An effusion of the 
 Divine Spirit accompanied his labors, which were 
 abundant, and its effects appear to have been last- 
 ing. He was a formidable adversary of the papal su- 
 perstitions, and a spirited and able advocate for the 
 RIGHT of the common people to read the scriptures. 
 He was earnest, every where in his writings, to estab- 
 lish the grand protestant sentiment, of the sufficiency 
 of the scriptures for saving instruction. The reason, 
 of his having done this, was ; Friars persecuted the 
 faithful, and said "it had never been well with the 
 church since lords and ladies regarded the gospel, and 
 relinquished the manners of their ancestors." 
 
 Wickliff labored abundantly to persuade men to trust 
 wholly to Christ, and rely altogether upon his suffer- 
 ings, and not to seek to be justified in any other way. 
 
CENTURY 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 The Lollards. 
 
 J_ ERMS of reproach have, in all ages, been applied 
 to real Christians. Lollard, the name given to the fol- 
 lowers of Wickliff, is to be considered as one of them. 
 
 Arundel, archbishop of York, in this century used 
 his utmost to induce king Richard II. to harass all 
 persons, who should dare, in their native language, to 
 read and study the gospels of Jesus Christ. 
 
 In the year 1399, Richard was deposed by Henry 
 of Lancaster. He was shortly afterward crowned by 
 Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury under the title of 
 Henry IV. A persecution then commenced, more ter- 
 rible than any which had ever been known under the 
 English kings. William Sawtre, a clergyman in Lon- 
 don, who openly taught the doctrine of Wickliff, was 
 the first man who was burnt in England for opposing 
 the abominations of popery. In the year 1400, he suf- 
 fered the flames of martyrdom, glorying in the cross 
 of Christ, and strengthened by divine grace, 
 
 John Badby, an illiterate workman, was about this, 
 time persecuted to death, for affirming that the con- 
 secrated bread remaineth, after its consecration the 
 same material bread, which it was before, a sign, or 
 sacrament of the living God. "I believe," said he, 
 ;i the omnipotent God in Trinity to be ONE. But if 
 every consecrated host be the Lord's body, then there 
 are twenty thousand gods in England." After he had 
 been delivered, by the bishops, to the secular power, 
 he was, by the king's writ, condemned to be burned. 
 The prince of Wales, being present, earnestly exhort- 
 <;d hina to recant, menacing the most terrible ven- 
 geance if he should remain obstinate. Badby was in- 
 dexible. As soon as he felt the fire, he cried, Mercy ! 
 
434 
 
 The prince, supposing that he was entreating the ffief- 
 cy of his judges, ordered the fire to be quenched. 
 "Will you forsake heresy," said young Henry ; " and 
 will you conform to the faith of the holy church ? If 
 you will you shall have a yearly stipend 6ut of the 
 king's treasury/' The martyr was unmoved ; Henry 
 in a rage declared, that he might now look for no fa- 
 vor. Badby gloriously finished his course. 
 
 The conflict had now grown serious, and Henry 
 published a severe statute, by which grievous pains 
 and penalties were to be inflicted, on all, who should 
 dare to defend or encourage the tenets of Wickliff ; and 
 this, in conjunction with a eonstituion of Arundel, too 
 tedious to b recited, seemed to threaten the total 
 extinction of this falsely named heresy. The persecu- 
 tors were very active, and many persons through fear 
 recanted ; but worthies were still found, who continu- 
 ed faithful unto death. 
 
 In the year 1413, Henry IV. died, and was succeed- 
 ed by Henry V. who trode in his steps, and counte- 
 nanced Arundel, in his plan of extirpating the Lol- 
 lards, and of supporting the existing hierarchy by pe- 
 nal coercions. In the first year of the new king's 
 reign, this archbishop collected in St. Paul's church 
 in London, a synod of all the bishops and clergy of 
 England. The principal object of the assembly was 
 to repress the growing sect ;- and, as Sir John Oidcas- 
 tle, lord Cobham, had on all occasions discovered a 
 partiality for these reformers, the resentment of the 
 archbishop and of the whole body of the clergy, was 
 particularly levelled at this nobleman. Lord Cobham 
 was most obnoxious to the ecclesiastics. For he had 
 openly and distfoguishhigly opposed the abuses of po- 
 pery. At a great expense, he had collected, transcri- 
 bed, and dispersed the works of Wickliff among the 
 common people without reserve ; and it was well 
 known that he maintained a great number of itinerant 
 preachers, in many parts of the country. 
 
 But Lord Cobhara was a favorite both of the king 
 and of the people ; and therefore to eifect his destruc- 
 tion was an undertaking which required much caution. 
 
435 
 
 The archbishop was in earnest, and he concerted 
 his measures with prudence. 
 
 His first step was to procure the royal mandate for 
 sending twelve commissioners to Oxford, to examine 
 and report the progress of heresy. They found Ox- 
 ford overran with heretics. The opinions of Wick- 
 liff had made their way among the junior students ; 
 and the talents and integrity of their master were held 
 in high esteem and admiration by his disciples. * 
 Arundel laid this information before the grand conven- 
 tion, who determined, that, without delay, Lord Cob- 
 ham should be prosecuted as a heretic. With great 
 solemnity, a eopy of each of Wickliff's works was pub* 
 licly burnt, by the enraged archbishop, in the pre- 
 sence of the nobility, clergy, and people ; and one of 
 Lord Cobham's books was of the number burnt. This 
 circumstance confirmed the assembly in their belief 
 that that nobleman was a great encourager of the 
 Lollards. 
 
 At the moment when the convocation were vowing 
 vengeance against Lord Cobham, some of the more 
 cool and discreet members, are said to have suggested 
 the propriety of sounding how the young king would 
 relish the measures they had in view, before they 
 should proceed any futher. Arundel instantly perceived 
 the wisdom of this advice, and resolved to follow it. 
 
 To give weight to his proceedings, this artful pri- 
 mate, at the head of a great number of dignified ec- 
 clesiastics, complained most grievously to Henry, of 
 the heretical practices of his favorite servant Lord 
 Cobham, and entreated his majesty to consent to the 
 prosecution of so incorrigible an offender. 
 
 Through the management of Arundel the king's 
 mind was previously impressed with strong suspicions 
 of Lord Cobham's heresy and enmity to the church. 
 That very book, above mentioned, of this excellent 
 man, which the convocation had condemned to the 
 flames, was read aloud before the king, the bishop, 
 and the temporal peers of the realm ; at the recital of 
 which,"Henry was exceedingly shocked and^declared, 
 that ? in his life^ he never heard such horrid heresy. 
 
436 
 
 However, in consideration of the high birth, military 
 rank, and good services of Sir John Oldcastle, the king 
 enjoined the convocation to deal favorably with him, 
 and to desist from all further process for some days : 
 he wished to restore him to the unity of the church 
 without rigor or disgrace, and promised, that he him- 
 self in the mean time, would send privately to the hon- 
 orable knight, and endeavor to persuade him to re- 
 nounce hie errors. 
 
 The king kept his promise, and is said to have used 
 every argument he could think of, to convince him of 
 the high offence of separating from the church ; and 
 at last, to have pathetically exhorted him to retract 
 and submit, as an obedient child to his holy mother. 
 The answer of the knight is very expressive of the 
 frank and open intrepidity which distinguished his 
 character. "You I am always ready to obey," said 
 he, "because you are the appointed minister of God, 
 and bear the sword for the punishment of evil doers. 
 But as to the pope and his spiritual dominion, I owe 
 them no obedience, nor will I pay them any ; for as 
 Sure as God's word is true, to me it is fully evident, 
 that the pope of Rome is the great Antichrist, foretold 
 in holy writ, the son of perdition, the open adversary 
 of God, and the abomination, standing in the holy 
 place." The extreme ignorance of Henry in matters 
 of religion, disposed him by no means to relish such 
 an answer as tbis : he immediately turned away from 
 him in visible displeasure, and gave the disciple of 
 Wickliff to the malice of his enemies. 
 
 Arundel, supported by the sovereign power, sent a 
 citation to the castle of Cowling, where lord Cpbham 
 then resided. But feudal ideas were, at that time, no 
 less fashionable than those of ecclesiastical domina- 
 tion. The high spirited nobleman availed himself of 
 his privileges, and refused admission to the messen- 
 ger. The archbishop then cited him, by letters affix- 
 ed to the great gates of the cathedral of Rochester ; 
 but lord Cobham still disregarded the mandate, Arun- 
 del, in a rage, excommunicated him for contumacy, 
 and demanded the aid of the civil power to appre- 
 hend him. 
 
437 
 
 Cobham, alarmed at the approaching storm, wrote 
 a confession of his faith, delivered it to the king, and 
 entreated his majesty to judge for himself, whether he 
 had merited all this rough treatment This confes- 
 sion the king coldly ordered to be delivered to the 
 archbishop. Lord Cobham then offered to bring a 
 hundred knights, who would bear testimony to the in- 
 nocence of his life and opinions. When these expe- 
 dients had failed, he assumed a higher strain, and beg- 
 ged that he might be permitted, as was usual in less 
 matters, to vindicate his innocence by the law of 
 arms. He said he was ready " in the quarrel of his 
 faith, to fight for life or death, with any man living, 
 the king and the lords of his council being excepted." 
 In the issue, Cobham was arrested by the king's ex- 
 press order, and lodged in the tower of London. 
 
 On the day appointed, Arundel, the archbishop, 
 with the bishops of London and Winchester, constitut- 
 ed the court. Sir Robert Atorley brought lord Cob- 
 ham before them, and he was arraigned for trial. 
 " Sir," said the primate, "you stand here, both detect- 
 ed of heresies, and also excommunicated for contuma- 
 cy. Notwithstanding we have, as yet, neither shown- 
 ourselves unwilling to give you absolution, nor yet do, 
 to this hour, provided you would meekly ask for it." 
 
 Lord Cobham took no notice of this offer, but de- 
 sired permission to read an account of his faith, which 
 had long been settled, and to which he intended to 
 stand. He then took out of his bosom a writing re- 
 specting the articles whereof he was accused, and 
 when he had read it, delivered the same to the arch- 
 bishop. 
 
 The contents of the paper were, in substance, these : 
 
 1. That the most worshipful sacrament of the altar 
 is Christ's body, in the form of bread. 
 
 2. That every man that would be saved, must for- 
 sake sin, and do penance for sins already committed, 
 with true and sincere contrition. 
 
 3. That images might be allowable to represent and 
 give men lively ideas of the passion of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and of the martyrdom and good lives of saints: 
 
438 
 
 but, that if any man gave that worship to dead im- 
 ages, which was due only to God, or put such hope or 
 trust in them as he should <lo in God, he became a 
 grievous idolater. 
 
 4. That the matter of pilgrimages might be settled 
 in few words. A man may spend all his days in pil- 
 grimages, and loose his soul at last : but he that knows 
 the holy commandments of God, and keepeth them 
 to the end, shall be saved, though he never visited the 
 shrines of saints, as men now do, in their pilgrimages 
 to Canterbury, Rome, and other places. 
 
 The archbishop, intent on the destruction of the 
 prisoner, informed him that there were many good 
 things in his paper, but that on several other articles of 
 belief, he had not been sufficiently explicit, and that 
 upon these also his opinion would be expected. As a 
 directory to his faith, he promised to send him in wri- 
 ting, the clear determinations of the church, and warn- 
 ed him very particularly to attend to this point; wheth- 
 er, in the sacrament of the altar, the material bread, 
 did, or did not remain, after the words of consecration, 
 
 The determination of the primate and clergy, which, 
 according to promise, was sent to lord Cobharn in the 
 tower, here follows ; 
 
 1. The faith and determination of the holy church, 
 touching the blissful sacrament of the altar is this, that 
 after the sacramental words be once spoken by a 
 priest in hjs mass, "the material bread, that was be- 
 fore bread, is turned into Christ's very body ; and the 
 material wine, that was before wine, is turnetj into 
 Christ's very blood." And so there remaineth, thence- 
 forth, neither material bread, nor material wine, which 
 were there before the sacrarnental words were spoken. 
 
 2. Every Christian man., living here bodily on earth, 
 ought to confess to a priest ordained by the church, if 
 be can come to him. 
 
 3. Christ ordained St. Peter to be his vicar here on 
 earth, whose see is the holy church of Rome : and he 
 granted that the same power which he gave to Peter, 
 should succeed to all Peter's successors ; whom we 
 JK>W call popes of Rome and whom chris* 
 
439 
 
 tian men ought to obey, after the laws of the church 
 of Rome. 
 
 4. Lastly, the holy church had determined, that it 
 is meritorious to a Christian man to go on a pilgrimage 
 to holy places ; and there to worship holy relics, and 
 images of saints, apostles, martyrs, and confessors, ap- 
 proved by the church of Rome. 
 
 On Monday, the day appointed for the next exam- 
 ination, Arundel accosted lord Cobham, with an ap- 
 pearance of great mildness, and put him in mind that 
 on the preceding Saturday, he had informed him, he 
 was " accursed for contumacy a-nd disobedience to the 
 holy church ;" and had expected he would at that 
 time have meekly requested absolution. The arch- 
 bishop then declared, that even now it was not too 
 late to make the same request, provided it was done 
 in due form, as the church had ordained. 
 
 Lord Cobham, with the humility of a Christian, and 
 the firmness of a soldier, replied ; " I never yet tres- 
 passed against YOU, and therefore I do not feel the 
 want of YOUR absolution." Then kneeling down on 
 the pavement, and lifting up his hands to heaven, he 
 said, " I confess myself here unto thee, my eternal, liv- 
 ing GOD, that I have been a grievous sinner. How of- 
 ten in rny frail youth, have I offended thee, by ungov 
 erned passions, pride, concupiscence, intemperance : 
 How often have I been drawn ink) horrible sin by an- 
 ger, and how many 'of my fellow men have I injured 
 from this cause! Good Lord, I humbly ask of thee* 
 mercy : here I need absolution." 
 
 Then rising with tears in his eyes, he cried with a 
 loud voice, " Lo ! these are your guides, good people. 
 Take notice ; for the violation of God's holy law and 
 his great commandments, they never cursed me ; but, 
 for their own arbitrary appointments and traditions, 
 they most cruelly treat me and other men. Let them 
 however, remember, that Christ's denunciations 
 against the Pharisees, shall all be fulfilled." 
 
 The dignity of lord Cobham's manner, and the ve- 
 hemence of his expression, threw the court into s 
 confusion. 
 
440 
 
 Alter the primate had recovered himself, he procee- 
 ded to examine the prisoner respecting the doctrine of 
 transubstantiation. " Do you believe, that after the 
 words of consecration, there remains any MATERIAL 
 bread ?" " The scriptures," said Cobham, " make no 
 mention of MATERIAL bread ; I believe that Christ's 
 body remains in the FORM of bread. In the sacra- 
 ment there is both Christ's body and the bread: the 
 bread is the thing we see with our eyes ; but the body 
 of Christ is hid, and only to be seen by faith." Upon 
 which, with one voice, they cried Heresy ! Heresy ! 
 One of the bishops in particular said vehemently, 
 " That it was a foul heresy to call it bread." Cob- 
 ham answered smartly, " St. Paul, the apostle, was as 
 wise a man as you, and perhaps as good a Christian : i 
 and yet he calls it BREAD. " The bread," saith he, 
 *-that we break, is it not the communion of the body 
 of Christ ?" To be short with you, I believe the scrip- 
 tures most cordially, but I have no belief in your lordly 
 laws and idle determinations : ye are no part of Christ's 
 holy church, as your deeds do plainly show." Doctor 
 Walden, the prior of the Carmelites, and Wickliff's 
 greatest enemy, now lost all patience, and exclaimed, 
 '" What rash and desperate people are these followers 
 of Wickliff." 
 
 "Before God and man," replied Cobham, " I sol- 
 emnly here profess, that till I knew Wickliff, whose 
 judgment ye so highly disdain, I never abstained from 
 sin ; but after I became acquainted with that virtuous 
 man and his despised doctrines, it hath been otherwise 
 with me; so much grace could I never find in all your 
 pompous instructions." 
 
 " It were hard," said Walden, " that in an age of so 
 many learned instructors, you should have had no 
 grace to amend your life, till you heard the devil 
 preach." 
 
 "Your fathers," said Cobham, " the old Pharisees, 
 ascribed Christ's miracles to Beelzebub, and his doc- 
 trines of the devil. Goon, and like them ascribe every 
 good thing to the devil. Go on, and pronounce every 
 man a heretic, who rebukes vour vicious lives. Prav. 
 
441 
 
 tyhat warrant have you from scripture, for this v 
 act you are now about ? Where is it written in all God's 
 law that you may thus sit in judgment upon the life of 
 man ? Hold ! perhaps you will quote Annas and Caia- 
 phas who sat upon Christ and his apostles." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said one of the doctors of law, " and 
 Christ too, for he judged JUDAS." 
 
 " I never heard that he did," said lord Cobham. 
 " Judas judged himself, and thereupon went out and 
 hanged himself. Indeed Christ prohoiinced a wo 
 against him, for his covetousnesSj as he does still 
 against you, who follow Judas' steps. '* 
 
 At the conclusion of this long and iniquitous trial, 
 the behavior of lord Cobham was perfectly consistent 
 with the temper he had exhibited during its progress. 
 There remained the same undaunted courage and 
 resolution, and the same serenity and resignation. 
 Some of the last questions which were put to lord 
 Cobham, respected the worship of the CROSS ; and 
 his answers prove that neither the acuteness of his 
 genius was blunted, nor the solidity of his judgment 
 impaired. 
 
 One of the Friars asked him, whether he was ready 
 to worship the cross upon which Christ died ? 
 
 " Where is it ?" said lord Cobham. 
 
 " But suppose it was here at this moment?" said 
 the Friar. 
 
 "A wtee man indeed," said Cobham, " to put me 
 such a question ; and yet he himself does not know 
 where the thing is ! But, tell ine^ I pray, what sort of 
 worship do I owe to it? 
 
 One of the conclave answered ; " such worship as 
 St. Paul speaks of when he says, God forbid that I 
 should glory save in the cross of Christ." 
 
 " Right," replied Cobhanij and stretched out his 
 arms, " THAT is the true and the very cross ; far better 
 than your cross of wood." 
 
 " Sir," said the bishop of London, "you know very 
 well that Christ died upon a MATERIAL cross." 
 
 "True," said Cobham ; " and I know also that our 
 Salvation did not come by that material cross : but by 
 3 IT 
 
442 
 
 him who died thereupon. Further, I know well that 
 St. Paul rejoiced in no other cross, but in Christ's 
 passion and death ONLY, and in his own sufferings and 
 persecution, for the same truth which Christ had died 
 for before.*' 
 
 By the quickness and pertinence of lord Cobham 's 
 answers, and by his spirit and resolution, the court 
 was amazed, and for that day, brought to a stand. 
 ArundeL with a great show of lenity and kindness, 
 with mournful looks, entreated the prisoner to return 
 into the bosom of the church, and all this with the 
 most consummate hypocrisy. For he, without fur- 
 ther delay, judged, and pronounced Sir John Oldcas- 
 tle, Lord Cobham, to be an incorrigible, pernicious 
 and detestable heretic ; and having condemned him 
 as such, delivered him to the secular jurisdiction. 
 
 Lord Cobham, with a most cheerful countenance, 
 said, " Though ye condemn my body, which is but 
 a wretched thing, yet I am well assured, ye can do no 
 harm to my soul, any more than could satan to the 
 soul of Job. He that created it, will, of his infinite 
 mercy, save it. Of this I have no manner of doubt. 
 And in regard to the articles of my belief, I will stand 
 to them, even to my very death, BY THE GRACE OF THE 
 ETERiNAL GOD." He then turned to the people, and 
 stretching out his hands, cried with a very loud voice, 
 " Good Christian people ! for God's love, be well 
 aware of these men ; else, they will beguile you, and 
 lead you blindfold into hell with themselves." Hav- 
 ing said these words, he fell down upon his knees, 
 and lifting up his hands and eyes to heaven, prayed 
 for his enemies in the following words, " Lord God 
 Eternal! I beseech thee, of thy great mercy, to for- 
 give my persecutors, if it be thy blessed will!" 
 
 He was then sent back to the tower under the care 
 of Sir Robert Morley. In the mean time, Arundel, 
 iinfling that the persecution of this virtuous man, was 
 very unpopular, went in person to the king and request 
 ed his majesty to postpone, for the space of 50 days. 
 tJ> ? punishment of lord Cobham. This profound hy- 
 pocrite, thus temporized, to find the opportunity of a 
 
443 
 
 few weeks for lessening the credit of this pious lord, 
 among the people, by a variety of scandalous asper- 
 sions. 
 
 Lord Cobham, having remained some time in the 
 tower, at length, by unknown means, made his, escape, 
 and by the advantage of a dark night, evaded pursuit, 
 and arrived safe in Wales, where he concealed him- 
 self more than four years. But through the diligence 
 of lord Powis and his dependants, he w ? as at length 
 discovered, taken and brought to London. 
 
 His fate was soon determined. He was dragged 
 into St. Giles' fields, with all the insult and barbarity 
 of enraged superstition ; and there, both as a traitor 
 and a heretic, suspended alive in chains, upon a gal- 
 lows, and burnt to death. 
 
 Lord Cobham died, as he had lived, in the faith and 
 hope of the go&pel, and to the end of his life bearing 
 a noble testimony to its genuine doctrines. He is al- 
 lowed to have been a man of great learning, arid to 
 have had a profound knowledge of the scriptures. At 
 the place of execution, with the utmost bravery and 
 most triumphant joy, he exhorted the people to follow 
 the instructions which God had given them in the 
 scriptures ; and to disclaim those false teachers, whose 
 lives and conversation were so contrary to Christ and 
 his religion. 
 
 This noble martyr believed and trusted in Him, 
 who hath graciously said, "Fear not little flock, it is 
 your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom ;" 
 and he has undoubtedly gone to receive a crown of 
 glory. 
 
 Henry Chicheley, then archbishop of Canterbury, 
 continued at the head of that see from 1414 to 1443, 
 and partly by forced abjurations, and partly by the 
 flames, domineered over the Lollards, and almost ef- 
 faced the vestiges of godliness in the kingdom. This 
 was one of the most gloomy seasons, which the church 
 ever experienced. The doctrines of WicklhT had in- 
 deed been embraced in Bohemia ; but the fires of 
 persecution were also kindled in that country; at the 
 same time, no quarter was given to any professor of 
 
444 
 
 the pure religion of Christ in England. The strictest 
 search was made after Lollards and their books ; and 
 while a few souls, dispersed through various parts, 
 sighed in secret, and detesting the prevailing idolatry, 
 worshipped God in spirit and in truth, they found no 
 HUMAN consolation or support whatever. In Kent, 
 whole families were obliged to relinquish their places 
 of abode for the sake of the gospel. 
 
 About this time, William Taylor, a priest, was burnt, 
 for asserting that every prayer, for some supernatural 
 gift, must be directed only to God. All, who diligent? 
 ly and devoutly read the scriptures, and denied po- 
 pish superstitions, were persecuted as heretics. 
 
 But the burning of heretics was found not to be the 
 way to extinguish heresy. On the contrary, both in 
 England and on the continent, such detestable cruel- 
 ty increased the compassion of the people for their 
 sufferers, excited their indignation against the perse- 
 cutors, and roused a spirit of enquiry and opposition 
 to the existing hierarchy, which at length, under the 
 direction of a kind, overruling Providence, proved 
 fatal both to papal corruptions and usurped dominion. 
 
 In the times of Wickliff and his followers, the pre- 
 vailing religion had so little influence on morals and 
 the heart, that a popish writer gives the following dis- 
 tinguishing marks of what he accounts heresy : " The 
 disciples of Wickliff are men of a serious, modest de- 
 portment ; avoiding all ostentation in dress, mixing 
 little with the busy world, and complaining of the de- 
 bauchery of mankind. They maintain themselves 
 wholly by their own labor, and utterly despise wealth : 
 being fully content with bare necessaries. They are 
 chaste and temperate ; are never seen in taverns, or 
 amused by the trifling gaieties of life. Yet you find 
 them always employed ; either learning or teaching. 
 They are concise and devout in their prayers ; blam- 
 ing an unanimated prolixity. They never swear; 
 speak little and in their public preaching, lay the 
 chief stress on charity." Persons of the papal hierar- 
 chy, who stigmatized such sentiments as heretical how- 
 ever, gloried in calling the abominable community with 
 Which they themselevs associated, the HOLY CHURCH, 
 
445 
 
 Who, will deny that the human "heart is deceit- 
 ful above all things and desperately wicked !" 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Council of Constance , including the Case of John 
 Huss, and Jerom of Prague. 
 
 THIS celebrated council made no essential reforma- 
 tion in religion, but persecuted men who truly feared 
 God, and tolerated all the predominant corruptions. 
 Their labors therefore do not deserve to be recorded, 
 on account of the piety and virtue of those who com- 
 posed this council. The transactions of Constance do 
 however, throw light on the state of religion at that 
 time. They illustrate the character of John Huss and 
 of Jerom of Prague, and afford various instructive 
 reflections to those, who love to attend to the dispen- 
 sations of Divine Providence, and would understand 
 the comparative power of nature and grace, of mere 
 human resources, and the operations of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 This council met in 1414. The Christian world had 
 been distracted nearly 40 years, by a schism in the 
 popedom. The object of this council was to settle the 
 dispute, and restore peace to the church. Three pre- 
 tenders to the chair of St. Peter, severally, claimed 
 infallibility. The very nature of their struggle was 
 subversive of the authority to which each of them 
 made pretensions; and of their vain contest there 
 seemed to be no end. The princes, statesmen, and 
 rulers, of the church, in those times, wanted not dis- 
 cernment to see the danger, to which the whole eccle- 
 siastical system w r as exposed by these contentions ; 
 but it seems never to have come into the minds of 
 them, or of any of the members of the council, to ex- 
 amine the foundation on which the popedom itself 
 was erected. That on all sides, was looked on as sa- 
 cred and inviolable, though allowed to be burdened 
 and incumbered with innumerable abuses. 
 
446 
 
 This council deposed the three existing popes, and 
 chose a new successor of St. Peter, Martin V. ; and 
 while they had their eye only on the restoration of the 
 unity of the Roman see, they decreed the superiority 
 of councils over popes ; and thus gave a deep wound 
 to the tyrannical hierarchy, which proved of considera- 
 ble advantage to those real reformers, who arose 
 about a hundred years after the council of Constance. 
 
 That there needed a reformation of the church, in 
 all its component parts, and that church discipline 
 ought to be re-established, were, indeed, ideas which 
 lay within their knowledge ; and the members of this 
 council universally confessed, that reformation and 
 discipline ought to be prosecuted with vigor. But 
 they brought not to the council the materials, which 
 alone could qualify them for such a work. In gener- 
 al, they knew of nothing higher than the voice of na- 
 tural conscience, the dictates of common sense, and 
 something concerning the preceptive part of Christian- 
 ity. Their system of religion was letter, not spirit ; 
 law, not gospel. To promote the recovery of deprav- 
 ed mankind, they knew no methods but those of mor- 
 al suasion, on principles merely natural. The origi- 
 nal depravity of man, salvation through the atonement 
 of an infinite Redeemer, and regeneration by the Ho- 
 ly Spirit, were doctrines, the use and efficacy of which 
 they did not understand. These, however, are the on- 
 ly effectual instruments for the reformation of a cor- 
 rupted church, or individual. 
 
 The members of this celebrated council undertook 
 to make " bricks without straw ;" and their projects of 
 reform served only, in the event, to teach posterity, 
 that the real doctrines of the gospel, ought to be dis- 
 tinctly known, cordially relished, and powerfully ex- 
 perienced, by those who would undertake to enlight- 
 en mankind. 
 
 In this council, Italy, France, Germany, Bohemia, 
 Hungary, Poland, England, Denmark, and Sweden, 
 were represented. Twenty archbishops, nearly 150 
 bishops, about l&O other dignitaries, and more than 
 200 doctors, attended this council : yrt they had not 
 
447 
 
 sufficient spirit and integrity to punish crimes of the 
 most atrocious nature. Indeed, it was not to be ex- 
 pected that they should enact and execute laws, 
 which bore hard on their own pride, their sloth, and 
 their love of gain : consequently, after all they did, the 
 substantial evils which existed in the church still re- 
 mained. They could burn, without mercy, those 
 whom they deemed heretics, though men of real god- 
 liness, more readily, than lay the axe of wholesome 
 discipline at the root of their own vices. 
 
 At the opening of the council of Constance, pope, 
 John XXIII. and the emperor Sigismund, were at the 
 head of it, who continually endeavored to bafflle the 
 views of each other. John was by far the most pow- 
 erful of the three popes, who, at that time, struggled 
 for the chair of St. Peter; and Sigismund, wh?le he 
 pretended to acknowledge his authority, had secretly 
 resolved to oblige him to renounce the pontificate. 
 Sigismund was remarkable for hypocrisy and dissim- 
 ulation. By both these potentates, and by many 
 others connected with the council, political artifices 
 were multiplied. These were the men who under- 
 took to punish heretics and reform the church. 
 
 Pope John had already, in a council at Rome, con- 
 demned the opinions of John Huss, and was then de- 
 termined to signalize his zeal for what was then called 
 the church, by confirming the same condemnation at 
 Constance. 
 
 Huss had been summoned to the council to answer 
 for himself, though already excommunicated at Rome. 
 He obtained, however, a writing from the emperor, 
 engaging that he should be allowed to pass without 
 molestation. The emperor, in conjunction with his 
 brother Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia, had committed 
 him to the care of several Bohemian lords, particular- 
 ly of John de Chlum. This escort travelled with him to 
 Constance, where they arrived six days after the pope. 
 
 John Huss was born in Bohemia in 1373, was of 
 mean parentage, but by his superior genius, industry, 
 eloquence, probity and decency of manners, was 
 raised to great eminence. He was appointed rector 
 
448 
 
 university of Prague, which was then in a very flour* 
 ishing state* In the year 1400, he was nominated 
 preacher of Bethlehem, and in the same year was 
 made confessor to Sophia, the wife of Wenceslaus 
 king of Bohemia^ a princess of great merit, who highly 
 esteemed him. 
 
 In 1405, Huss preached in the chapel of Bethlehem 
 with great celebrity. At first he is said to have held 
 the writings oi Wickliff in detestation. But it is not 
 in the power of prejudice to prevent the progress of 
 the Divine councils, and the work of the Holy Spirit 
 on the heart. Huss was gradually Convinced of the 
 power and excellency of evangelical truth. His 
 doctrinal knowledge was, however, very limited and 
 defective ; but the little fundamental light which, 
 through grace, he attained, was directed to the best 
 practical purposes. He preached loudly against the 
 abuses of the Romish church, and particularly the im- 
 posture of false miracles, which then abounded. He 
 also preached in a synod at Prague, in the archbish- 
 op's presence, with great freedom against the vices of 
 the clergy. Gregory XII. one of the three popes, whose 
 schism gave rise to the council of Constance, was re- 
 ceived in Bohemia. But when measures were pro- 
 posed for calling a general council to compose the 
 schism, Huss engaged the university to support 
 them, and exhorted all Bohemia to do the same. 
 The archbishop of Prague, who was attached to Gre- 
 gory, opposed Huss, called him a schismatic, and for- 
 bade him to exercise the pastoral functions in his di- 
 ocese. About the same time, on occasion of a dis- 
 pute between the natives and foreigners, who belong- 
 ed to the university, Huss, having supported the for- 
 mer, and gained his point, the Germans, in disgust, 
 retired from Prague. This circumstance enabled the 
 Bohemian teacher to speak more publicly according 
 to the views of Wickliff. The archbishop of Prague 
 committed the books of the latter- to the flames in 
 1410. But the progress of his opinions was rather ac j 
 eelerated than retarded by this step, 
 
 The troubles of Huss were multiplied, and he was 
 excommunicated at Rome. He had sent his proctors 
 
449 
 
 thither to answer for him ; but they were committed 
 to prison, after they had remained there to no purpose 
 a year and an half. Huss, after his excommunication, 
 had no other remedy but to appeal to Almighty God 
 in very solemn terms. In his appeal, which was char- 
 ged on him as a crime, among many other things, he 
 says, "Almighty God, the one only essence in Three 
 Persons, is the first and last refuge of those who are op- 
 pressed. Our Lord Jesus Christ, very God and very 
 man, being desirous to redeem, from eternal damna- 
 tion, his children elected before the foundation of the 
 world, has given, by suffering a bloody and ignomini- 
 ous death, this excellent example to his disciples, to 
 commit their cause to the judgment of God." He still 
 continued to preach on subjects, which he deemed 
 seasonable and useful. In one sermon, he treated of 
 the uses of the commemoration of the saints, among 
 which he reckons meditation on the misery of man, 
 subject to death for sin ; and on the death which Je- 
 sus Christ suffered for our sin. In this same sermon, 
 while he zealously opposed the abuses of the times, 
 he discovered that he himself was not then entirely 
 clear of the popish notion of purgatory. a In praying 
 devoutly for the dead," said he, " we procure relief 
 to the saints in purgatory." He admitted, however, 
 " that there is no mention of such a practice in the 
 holy scriptures ; and, that neither the prophets, nor Je- 
 sus Christ, nor his apostles, nor the saints that follow- 
 ed close after, taught prayer for the dead." " I verily 
 believe," continued Huss, "this custom was introdu- 
 ced by the avarice of priests, who don't trouble them- 
 selves to exhort the people to live well, as did the pro- 
 phets, Jesus Christ and the apostles ; but take great 
 care to exhort them to make rich offerings in hopes 
 of happiness and a speedy delivery from purgatory. 
 
 At length John Huss was forbidden to preach any 
 more at Prague. All that he could then do was to 
 instruct his countrymen by his writings. Having been 
 summoned, as we have seen, to Constance, he obey- 
 ed ; arid before his departure, oiTered to give an ac- 
 of his faith in the presence of a provincial sy- 
 3 i 
 
450 
 
 nod at Prague, but was not able to obtain an audience. 
 In this and some other particulars he appears to have 
 acted with great frankness and integrity ; and though 
 his mind strongly foreboded that which happened in 
 the issue, his resolution to appear at the genera! coun- 
 cil was constant and unmoved. 
 
 On the day succeeding his arrival at Constance, 
 tiuss gave notice of it to the pope, throng!) his friend 
 John de Chlum, who, at the same time, implored for 
 him the protection of his holiness. Pope John was 
 then in much fear on his own account, and it behov- 
 ed him not, in his present circumstances, to exorcise 
 the fulness of papal domination. He, therefore, an- 
 swered courteously ; declared that he would use all his 
 power to prevent any injustice to be done to him while 
 at Constance, and took off his excommunication. 
 
 Huss appears to have expected that he should have 
 had permission to preach before the council ; for he 
 had prepared sermons for that purpose, which are in- 
 serted among his works. 
 
 In the first of these he declared his reliance on the 
 word of God as the only true and sufficient rule of sal- 
 vation. Also he declared his veneration for fathers 
 and councils, so far as they are conformable to scrip- 
 ture. He added, "every man must be a disciple ei- 
 ther of God or of Satan. Faith is the rudiment of one 
 of these schools, infidelity of the other. A man must 
 believe in God alone, not in the virgin, not in the saints, 
 not in the church, not in the pope : for none of these 
 are God." "The church" he said, "is an assembly 
 of all the predestinated, and consists "of the trium- 
 phant church in heaven, the militant church on earth, 
 and the sleeping church :" pitiable blindness! "who 
 are now suffering in purgatory/' He allowed the in- 
 tercession of the virgin Mary and of other saints ; and, 
 in favor of this popish tenet, spoke far more forcibly, 
 than might have been expected from one, who had so 
 unlimited a veneration for the holy scriptures. 
 
 Huss may be said to have been a martyr for holy 
 practice itself. He does not seem to have held any 
 doctrine, which at that day was called heretical. 
 
451 
 
 The world hated him, because he was not of the world, 
 and because he testified of it, that its works were evil. 
 He appears to have had that faith which works by 
 love, purifying the heart. With those who persecuted 
 him, even to the flames of martyrdom, the term a vi- 
 cious believer," appears not to have been a sojecism 
 in language. He appears to have received an UNC- 
 TION FROM THE HOLY ONE, which preserved his holy 
 affection alive, amidst the contagion of superstition, 
 the temptations of the world, and the menaces of inso- 
 lent and tyrannical domination. 
 
 Those, who look only at the external forms of reli- 
 gion, might be tempted to think, that the council of 
 Constance, was in general influenced by the Spirit of 
 God. In all their public sessions they sang an anthem, 
 and then prayed kneeling. After having remained 
 some time in this posture, a deacon called out to them 
 to rise ; and the president addressed himself to the Ho- 
 ly Ghost in a loud voice in a collect, which, in very so- 
 lemn and explicit terms, supplicated his effectual influ- 
 ence, that, not withstanding the enormity of their sins, 
 which filled them with dread, HE would deign to de- 
 scend into their hearts, to direct them, to dictate their 
 decrees, and to execute them himself, and also to pre- 
 serve their minds from corrupt passions, and not suffer 
 them through ignorance or selfishness, to swerve from 
 justice and truth. The ideas, and perhaps the very 
 words were, however, taken from better times, when 
 the operations of the Holy Ghost were not only pro- 
 fessed, but FELT in Christian assemblies. The forms 
 of true religion often remain a long time after the spir- 
 it of it has been almost extinguished. Both the empe- 
 ror Sigismund and his consort Barba, who were infa- 
 mous for lewdness, attended the religious ceremonies 
 of this council. Sigismund, in a deacon's habit, read 
 the gospel, while the pope celebrated mass ! 
 
 Huss was soon deprived of his liberty, in the follow- 
 ing manner. He was accused by Paletz, professor of 
 divinity at Prague, and by Causis, a pastor of one of 
 the parishes of the same city. These men caused 
 bills to be posted up against him in Constance, as an 
 
452 
 
 excommunicated heretic. When Huss complained, 
 the pope replied, " What can I do in this case ? Your 
 own countrymen have done it." The hishops of 
 Augsburgh and of Trent were directed to summon him 
 to appear before John XXIII. " I had expected," 
 said Huss, " to give an account of myself before the 
 general council, and not before the pope and his car- 
 dinals ; however I am willing to lay down my life, 
 rather than betray the truth." He set out therefore 
 without delay, accompanied by his generous friend 
 John de Chlum. On his arrival at the pope's palace, 
 he was committed to prison. Chlum made loud com- 
 plaints to the pope, but in vain. Eight articles were 
 exhibited against Huss by Causis, and the pope ap- 
 pointed commissioners to try him. The vexations and 
 insults, to which Huss was exposed, were numerous 
 and cruel: and he was unjustly accused of being more 
 unfriendly to the church of Rome, than he really was. 
 Whatever Wickliff maintained, Huss was accused of 
 maintaining ; nor were his own express declarations 
 respected, particularly in regard to transubstantiation, 
 a doctrine which he certainly believed, and on which 
 he wrote his thoughts while under confinement at 
 Constance. W r ith great clearness he vindicated him- 
 self against the charge of heresy ; but, his holy life 
 was unpardonable in the eyes of his enemies. More- 
 over, all those whom the faithfulness of his pastoral 
 services in Bohemia had provoked, then found an op- 
 portunity to wreak their vengeance upon him. 
 
 The generous count de Chlum, grieved and incens- 
 ed at the imprisonment of Huss, wrote to Sigismund 
 on this subject. That prince immediately sent ex- 
 press orders to his ambassadors to cause him to be set 
 at liberty, and even to break the gates of the prison in 
 case of resistance. The unfortunate Huss was not> 
 however, released ; and he soon found that the arts 
 and intrigues, both of the pope and of the emperor, 
 were so deceptive, that to commit himself to HIM that 
 jtidgeth righteously, was his only expedient. In the 
 mean time, the doctors, in their preaching, exclaimed 
 most pathetically against the prevailing evils and abu- 
 
45S 
 
 ses, and exhorted the council to reform the church 
 with vigor. Its growing corruptions and enormities 
 were, by them, exposed in the strongest colors. Wick- 
 liff himself, or Huss, could scarcely have spoken in a 
 more pointed or severe manner. They were not, how- 
 ever, permitted to censure with impunity even the 
 most shameful practices. They preached by order of 
 their superiors, aad took particular care, in the midst 
 of their keenest animadversions, to express an une- 
 quivocal respect to the popedom in general. 
 
 Though Sigismund 's authority extended over the 
 empire, and he, by virtue of that authority, required 
 all his subjects to suffer Huss to paw and repass secure ; 
 and for the honor of his imperial Majesty, if need be, to 
 provide him with good passports, yet the commissioners,, 
 for the examination of Huss, persuaded the emperor 
 that he ought not to keep faith with a man accused of 
 heresy, and that, to acquiesce in the desires of the 
 venerable council, was the line of conduct proper for 
 him to pursue, as an obedient and good son of the 
 church ; Huss, therefore, was not allowed to repass, but 
 was detained in prison at Constance. 
 
 Before the death of their countryman, the Bohemi- 
 an nobility, enraged at the perfidy of Sigismund, re- 
 peatedly remonstrated, by letters, against his proceed- 
 ings, but all to no purpose. At the solicitation of Pa- 
 lelz, Huss was confined in the Dominican convent, 
 where he became dangerously sick, through the bad 
 air and other inconveniences of a noisome dungeon. 
 
 That same John who had most unrighteously per- 
 secuted Huss, found himself so disagreeably situated 
 at Constance, by reason of the accusations of his ene- 
 mies, and the intrigues and maneuvers of Sigismund, 
 and the majority of the council, that he determined 
 to depart, in secret from the assembly. He fled to 
 SchaiThausen, a city belonging to Frederic duke of 
 Austria, who had promised to defend him. But the 
 emperor, Sigismund, determined on supporting the au- 
 thority of (tie council, took such measures as obliged 
 Frederic to surrender at discretion, and to abandon the 
 cause of John. Thus that pontiff, who, at first had 
 
454 
 
 presided at the council, after having fled from place 
 to place, was at length confined at Gottleben, in the 
 same prison where Huss, the victim of his cruelty, was 
 confined. 
 
 The three rival popes were at length deposed, and 
 declared by the council incapable of being re-elected. 
 Huss, in the mean time, contrary to every principle of 
 justice, honor and humanity, was still kept in confine* 
 ment, and in vain solicited a fair hearing of his cause. 
 
 At this council another striking example of the 
 same spirit of persecution was exhibited, and that to- 
 wards Jerom of Prague, a firm friewd and adherent of 
 John Huss. Jerom was a master of arts, and a man 
 of very superior talents. Though his character was 
 neither clerical nor monastic, yet he spared no pains 
 to second all the endeavors of Huss to promote a re- 
 formation in Bohemia. He even travelled into En- 
 gland to procure knowledge, and brought the books of 
 WicklifF into his own country. When Huss was setting 
 out from Prague, Jerom had exhorted him to maintain 
 with steadfastness the doctrines which he had preach- 
 ed, and had promised that he himself would go to 
 Constance to support him, if he should hear that he 
 was oppressed. 
 
 Jerom was true to his promise. Huss, in one of his 
 letters to a friend, had desired Jerom not to come, lest 
 he should meet with the same treatment which he 
 himself had experienced; but he did not desist from 
 his purpose, and came directly to Constance. Hav- 
 ing learned that Huss was not allowed a fair exami- 
 nation, and that some secret machination was formed 
 against himself, he retired to Uberlingen, whence he 
 wrote to the emperor to request a safe conduct. Sig- 
 ismund refused to grant his petition. Upon which 
 Jerom published a paper, declaring it to be his desire 
 to answer any charges of heresy that could possibly 
 be brought against him. This produced no satisfacto- 
 ry answer ; and finding he could not be of any service 
 to his friend Huss, he resolved to return to his own 
 country. After his departure, he was summoned to 
 appear before the council, and a safe conduct or pass- 
 
455 
 
 j was given him. This, however, contained such 
 a salvo to justice, and the interests of the faitl^ as 
 rendered it, in effect a mere nullity. 
 
 To omit a long detail of uninteresting particulars, 
 this persecuted reformer was arrested at Hirsaw, on his 
 return to Bohemia, and was led in chains to Constance. 
 There he was immediately brought before a general 
 congregation, which seemed intent on insulting, en- 
 snaring, and browbeating their virtuous prisoner. 
 
 " You vented several errors in our university," said 
 a doctor from Cologne. "Be pleased to name one," 
 answered Jerom. The accuser plead that his memo- 
 ry failed him. " You advanced most impious heresies 
 among us," said a divine from Heidleburg : " I re- 
 member one, particularly concerning the Trinity. 
 You declared that it resembled water, snow, and ice." 
 Jerom avowed that he still persisted in his opinions, 
 but was ready to retract, with humility, and with 
 pleasure, when he should be convinced of an error. 
 No opportunity was, however, allowed him either for 
 explanation or defence: all was confusion and uproar: 
 voices burst from every quarter, " Away with him, 
 away with him ; to the fire ; to the fire." 
 
 Jerom stood astonished at the gross indecency of this 
 scene, and as soon as he could in any degree be heard, 
 looked round the assembly with a steady and signifi- 
 cant countenance, and cried aloud, " Since nothing 
 but my blood will satisfy you, I am resigned to the 
 will of God." The archbishop of Saltzbourg replied, 
 " No Jerom God hath no pleasure in the death of 
 the wicked, but that he turn from his way and live." 
 
 After this tumultuous examination, Jerom was de- 
 livered to the officers of the city, and immediately 
 carried to a dungeon. Some hoars afterward, Wal- 
 lenrod, archbishop of Riga, caused him to be convey- 
 ed privately to St. Paul's church, where he was bound 
 to a post, and his hands were chained to his neck. 
 In this posture Jerom remained ten days, and was 
 fed only with bread and water. During this time his 
 friends knew not what had become of him ; till at 
 length one of them received notice of his pitiable sit- 
 
456 
 
 nation, from the keeper of the prison and procured hi in 
 better nourishment. The hardships which he under- 
 went brought upon him a dangerous illness, in the 
 course of which he pressed the council to allow him 
 a confessor. With difficulty he at length obtained his 
 request, and through his means procured some small 
 mitigation of his sufferings ; but he remained in prison 
 till the day of his death. 
 
 Some who composed the council of Constance, were 
 learnt d and able ; many, superstitions and bigotted ; 
 and most of them, worldly minded and unprincipled, 
 totally ignorant of evangelical truth. And as the 
 works of the famous Wickliff, which had laid the foun- 
 dation of the religious innovations.} in Bohemia, repro- 
 bated the general course of their wicked practices, 
 they proceeded to condemn the doctrines of that ob- 
 noxious reformer. This they did, as far as appears, 
 without one dissenting voice, and pronounced the au- 
 thor of them a heretic. They even proceeded so far 
 as to declare " that there is no salvation out of the 
 church of Rome." This they affirmed on the suppos- 
 ed validity of a decretal of pope Callixtus, which de- 
 clared " that the church of Rome is the mistress of all 
 churches ; and that it is not lawful to depart from her 
 decisions." 
 
 At this council, complaint was made by the Poles, 
 against the Teutonic knights, who, armed with indul- 
 gences for the conversion of infidels, and with papal 
 bulls for putting themselves in possession of conquer- 
 ed countries, gratified their military passion, while 
 they imagined they were doing God service, by har- 
 rassing and wasting the Prussians and Poles with fire 
 and sword. The question of law for the decision of 
 the assembly was, whether it is right for Christians to 
 convert infidels by force of arms, and to seize their es- 
 tates. The council appointed commissioners to en- 
 quire into the business ; but otherwise did not decide 
 the dispute. 
 
 At this council too, the dispute concerning ad minis- 
 tering the cup in the communion to the laity, was in- 
 troduced; and those who were for the disuse of it as- 
 
457 
 
 serted that (he controversy arose in consequence of 
 the doctrine of John Huss, and this they urged to has- 
 ten his condemnation. 
 
 The appearance of the new controversy, added to 
 the question concerning Jerom of Prague, increased 
 the fury of the storm against Huss, and his enemies 
 labored day and night for his destruction. His health 
 and strength had decayed by the rigor of his confine- 
 ment. The great men of Bohemia endeavored in vain 
 to procure justice to be done to their countryman. 
 Private examinations, insults and vexations, were pli- 
 ed to shake his constancy, and to render a public trial 
 unnecessary. But this holy man, refusing to give an- 
 swers in private, and continuing to solicit a public trial, 
 gave his adversaries no advantage over him either 
 through warmth or timidity. He retracted nothing of 
 what he had openly preached, and possessed his soul 
 in patience and resignation. 
 
 The unrighteous views of the council having been 
 thus far baffled, he was conducted to Constance, lodg- 
 ed in the Franciscan monastery, and loaded with 
 chains ; in which condition, excepting the time when 
 he was under examination, he remained until the day 
 of his condemnation. 
 
 His first hearing before the council was attended 
 with so much confusion, through the intemperate rage 
 of his enemies, that nothing could be concluded. In 
 the second, in which the emperor was present, for the 
 purpose of preserving order, Huss was accused of deny- 
 ing the doctrine of transubstantiation. Some English- 
 men, who knew what Wickliff held on that point, and 
 who were ready to take for granted, that Huss dissent- 
 ed in no article from their countryman, pressed him 
 vehemently on the subject. It appeared, however, that 
 Huss followed the church of Rome on this doctrine ; 
 and the sincerity of his creed, though a mistaken one, 
 appears from his treatise on the body of Christ. 
 
 A tedious dispute ensued concerning the refusal of 
 Huss to join with those who condemned the errors of 
 Wickliff. He explained himself with sufficient pre- 
 cision ; declared, that he blamed the conduct of thr 
 
 3K 
 
4S8 
 
 archbishop of Subinco at Prague, only because he 
 had condemned Wickliff's books without examination, 
 and without distinction ; and added, that most of the 
 university of Prague found fault with that prelate, be- 
 cause he produced no reasons from the scriptures. 
 Huss further observed to the council, that, not having 
 been able to obtain justice from John XXIII. he had 
 appealed from him to Jesus Christ. His seriousness 
 in mentioning this appeal exposed him to the derision 
 of the council. Huss, however, with great gravity af- 
 firmed, that it was always lawful to appeal from an 
 inferior to a higher court ; that in this case the Judge 
 was infallible, full of equity and compassion, and one 
 who would not refuse mercy to the miserable. The 
 levity of the assembly, and the seriousness of the pris- 
 oner, were remarkably contrasted. The conscious 
 inartyr, in appealing to Jesus Christ, must have had 
 his own mind fixed on the last judgment, and aimed 
 at making an impression on the court by directing 
 their attention to that awful tribunal. 
 
 John de Chlurn, remained an unshaken friend to 
 Huss, throughout all his trials, notwithstanding the 
 multitude of his adversaries, and supported with cour- 
 age and constancy the insulted victim of their fury. 
 Huss, in his third hearing, answered the enquiries 
 made of him concerning articles of supposed heresy, 
 which were extracted from his works ; owning, deny- 
 ing or explaining, with much clearness and candor, as 
 occasions required. He was vehemently pressed to 
 retract his errors, to own the justice of the accusa- 
 tions, and to submit to the decrees of the council. 
 But neither promises nor menaces moved him. " To 
 abjure," said he, " is to renounce an error that hath 
 been held, But, as in many of these articles, errors 
 are laid to my charge which I never thought of, how 
 can I renounce them by oath ? As in many of those 
 articles, which I own to be mine, I will renounce 
 them with all my heart, if any man will teach me 
 sounder doctrines than what I have advanced." His 
 conscientious integrity, however, availed him not. 
 The court demanded a general retraction ; and nothing 
 
459 
 
 short of that could procure him their favor. The te- 
 dious malignity of the third day's examination op- 
 pressed, at length, both the mind and body of Huss ; 
 and the more so because he had passed the pre- 
 ceding night sleepless through pain of the tooth- 
 ache. For some days before, he had also been afflict- 
 ed with the gravel, and was, in other respects, in a 
 weak state of health* At the close of the examina- 
 tion he was carried back to prison, whither John de 
 Chliim followed him. " O what a comfort," said he, 
 " was it to me, to see that this nobleman did not dis- 
 dain to stretch out his arm to a poor heretic in irons, 
 whom all the world, as it were-had forsaken." In the 
 same letter in which he mentions this, he begs the 
 prayers of his friend, because " the spirit indeed is 
 willing, but the flesh is weak.'' 
 
 After the departure of Huss, Sigisnlund, with the 
 most unrelenting barbarity, pronounced him a heretic 
 Worthy of the flames. On the next day, a form of re- 
 traction was sent to this persecuted prisoner, which, 
 though it was penned in ambiguous terms, plainly ap- 
 peared, on the whole, to imply a confession of guilt. 
 Huss therefore refused to sign it; and added, that he 
 had rather be cast into the sea with a mill stone about 
 his neck, than give offence to his pious neighbors by 
 acknowledging that to be true which he knew to be 
 false ; that he had preached patience and constan- 
 cy to others, and that he was willing to show an exam- 
 ple of these graces, and hoped by divine assistance to 
 be enabled to do so. 
 
 We have constantly seen in the course of this his- 
 tory, that the holiness of heart and life, which real 
 Christians have evidenced from a^e to age, has been 
 connected with the peculiar doctrines of Christianity. 
 Sometimes one of these doctrines, and sometimes an- 
 other, constituted the prominent feature of their pro- 
 fession ; but it is in vain to look for men of real holi- 
 ness and virtue, who were inimical or even indifferent 
 to the principles of the gospel. Huss dwelt largely 
 upon the depravity of human nature, and taught clear- 
 ly the necessity of divine influences to bring men to 
 
4GO 
 
 be holy 111 heart and life. By distinguishing those, 
 whom God hath chosen to be his peculiar people in 
 Christ, and are evidently pointed out, by their practi- 
 cal holiness, as different from the rest of mankind, he 
 gave offence. . Undoubtedly his open rebukes of sin 5 
 both by his public preaching and writings, and the 
 uniform purity and innocence of his manners, had in- 
 flamed the tempers of the great men of the age, both 
 in church and state. It was, however, scarcely to be 
 expected that the council of Constance should, even 
 upon their own principles, proceed to condemn to the 
 flames without the least proof of heresy, an upright 
 man, because he refused to acknowledge that to be 
 true which he believed to be false ; or that this same 
 council should justify the deceit and perfidy of their 
 imperial president : their conduct, therefore, is to be 
 considered as a striking proof, not only of the general 
 depravity of human nature, but also of the general 
 wickedness of the Roman church. 
 
 The council settled, before hand, after what manner 
 Iluss was to be treated, in case he should retract. He 
 was to have been degraded from the priesthood, and 
 to be forever shut up between four walls. This was 
 the only reward, which the unfeeling tyrants had in- 
 tended to bestow on him, in the event of his wound- 
 ing his conscience to gratify them. It would be erro- 
 neous to lay the whole weight of blame on the popes, 
 on account of the enormities of the church of Rome. 
 It was generally and systematically corrupt ; it had 
 recently deposed three popes ; it was, at present, with- 
 out a pope, and yet was guilty of crimes, not less.! hei- 
 nous than the worst which the pontiffs ever committed. 
 
 The council exhorted Huss, according to his own 
 account, written the night before his death, to pro- 
 nounce every one of the articles, which had been ex- 
 tracted from his books, to be erroneous ; but he abso- 
 lutely refused to accede, to so unreasonable a requisi- 
 tion, except they would, from the scriptures, prove hi* 
 doctrine to be incorrect. 
 
 The emperor and council, having tried their ut 
 most to induce him to recant, and Huss remaining 
 
461 
 
 rirm in his determination not to give up his doctrines, 
 unless convinced of his error from scripture evidence, 
 he was again brought before the council in the pre- 
 sence of the emperor, the princes of the empire, and 
 an incredible concourse of people. The bishop of 
 Lodi preached a sermon from those words of St. Paul, 
 " that the body of sin might be destroyed." With the 
 grossest ignorance, or the most virulent and indecent 
 malice, he perverted the words to the purpose of the 
 council. u Destroy heresies and errors," said he, 
 " but chiefly that obstinate heretic," pointing to the 
 prisoner. While they were reading the articles ex- 
 tracted, or pretended to be extracted, from his wri- 
 tings, Huss was beginning to answer to each distinct- 
 ly, but was told that he might answer to them all at 
 the same time, and was ordered at present to be si- 
 lent. He expostulated in vain on the unreasonable- 
 ness of this injunction. Lifting up his hands to hea- 
 ven, he begged the prelates in God's name to indulge 
 him in the freedom of speech, that he might justify 
 himself before the people ; " after which, " said he, 
 " you may dispose of me as you think fit." But the 
 prelates persisting in their refusal, he kneeled down, 
 and with uplifted eyes and hands, with a loud voice 
 recommended his cause to the Judge of all the 
 earth. Being accused in the article of the sacra- 
 ment, of having maintained that the material bread 
 remains after consecration, he loudly declared, that 
 he never believed or taught so. Nothing could 
 be more iniquitous than this charge, which he 
 had fully refuted on his former examination. But 
 the council was determined to burn him as a heretic, 
 and it behoved them to exhibit, at any rate, some 
 shew of proving his heretical opinions. A still more 
 shameless accusation was introduced. It was said, 
 " A certain doctor bears witness, that Huss gave out, 
 that he should become the fourth person in the trini- 
 ty." " What is the name of that doctor ?" replied the 
 prisoner, protesting against the charge as a flagrant 
 calumny, and making an orthodox confession of his 
 faith on the subject of the Trinity. Nevertheless, the 
 
bishop who had read the accusation, refused to inert* 
 tion the doctor's name. Being again upbraided with 
 his appeal to Jesus Christ, " See," said he, with his 
 hands lifted up towards heaven, " most gracious Sav- 
 ior, how the council condemns as an error what thou 
 hast prescribed and practised, when, overborne by en* 
 emies, thou committedst thy cause to God, thy Fa- 
 ther, leaving us this example, that wt>en we are op- 
 pressed, we may have recourse to the judgment of 
 God. Yes," continued he, turning to the assembly, 
 " I have maintained, and do still maintain, that an ap- 
 peal to Jesus Christ is most just and right, because HE 
 can neither be corrupted by bribes, nor be deceived 
 by false witnesses, nor be overreached by artifice. I 
 came voluntarily to this council, under the public faith 
 of the emperor here present." In pronouncing these 
 last words, he looked earnestly at Sigismund, who 
 blushed at the sudden and unexpected rebuke. 
 
 Sentence was then pronounced both against John 
 Huss and his books ; and he was ordered to be degra- 
 ded. The bishops clothed him in the priest's gar- 
 ments, and put a chalice into his hands. While they 
 were thus employed, Huss said, that " the Jews put a 
 white garment on our Lord Jesus Christ to mock him, 
 when Herod delivered him to Pilate/' and he made 
 reflections of the same kind on each of the sacerdotal 
 ornaments. When the prisoner was fully apparelled, 
 the prelates once more exhorted him to retract, and to 
 this exhortation he replied with his usual firmness.- 
 They then caused him to come down from the stool on 
 which he stood, and pronounce these words, " O curs- 
 ed Judas, who, having forsaken the counsel of peace, 
 art entered into that of the Jews, we take this chalice 
 from thee, in which is the blood of Jesus Christ." But 
 God was with the martyr, who cried aloud, " I trust in 
 the mercy of God, I shall drink of it this very day in his 
 kingdom." They then took from him of all his vest- 
 ments, uttering a curse on stripping him of each. Hav- 
 ing completed his degradation, by the addition of some 
 other ridiculous insults not worthy of a distinct rela- 
 tion, they put a paper coronet on his head, on which 
 
463 
 
 they had painted three devils, with this inscription, 
 ARCH-HERETIC and said, " We devote thy soul to the in- 
 fernal devils." " I am glad," said the martyr, " to wear 
 this crown of ignominy for the love of him who wore 
 a crown of thorns." 
 
 When the painted paper was put upon his head, one 
 of the bishops said, " Now we commit thy soul to the 
 devil." " But I," said Huss, " commit my spirit into 
 thy hands, O Lord Jesus Christ ; unto thee I commend 
 my spirit, which thou hast redeemed." The council 
 then ordered this sentence to be pronounced, nanaely, 
 " The holy synod of Constance declares, that John Huss 
 ought to be given up to the secular power, and does ac- 
 cordingly so give him up, considering that the church of 
 God has no more to do with him." 
 
 Sigismund committed the execution of Huss to the 
 elector Palatine, The martyr, walking amidst his 
 guards, declared his innocence to the people. When 
 he came near the place of execution, he kneeled and 
 prayed with such fervor, that some of the people said 
 aloud, " What this man has done before we know not ; 
 but now we hear him offer up most excellent prayers 
 to God." The elector Palatine prevented him from 
 speaking to the people, and ordered him to be burned. 
 " Lord Jesus," said Huss aloud, " I humbly suffer this 
 cruel death for thy sake, and I pray thee to forgive all 
 my enemies." His paper ^rown falling from his head, 
 the soldiers put it on again, saying, that "it must be 
 burnt with the devils, whom he had served." His 
 neck was fastened to a stake, and the wood was piled 
 about him. The elector advanced once more on the 
 often repeated subject of retraction. " What I have 
 written and taught," rejoined Huss, " was to rescue 
 souls from the power of the devil, and to deliver them 
 from the tyranny of sin ; and I do gladly seal what I 
 have written and taught with my blood." The elector 
 withdrawing, the fire was kindled, and Huss was soofl 
 suffocated, having called upon God as long as he could 
 speak. Thus, by a death which has affixed eternal in- 
 famy on the council of Constance, slept in Jesus the 
 celebrated John Huss, one of the most upright and 
 
464 
 
 blameless of men. Human depravity lias not often 
 produced a scene so flagitiously iniquitous, and so 
 much calculated to bring disgrace on the Roman 
 church. The uncommon pains taken to prevent his 
 death by a retraction, demonstrates the conviction of 
 the council, that they were doing what they could 
 not justify to their own consciences. At the same time 
 the grace of God was marvellously displayed in sup- 
 porting and strengthening the martyr, who appears in- 
 deed to have exhibited all the graces of a true disciple 
 of Christ. 
 
 Toward the latter end of the year 1415, a letter was 
 sent to the council from Bohemia, signed by about 60 
 principal persons, barons, noblemen and others of that 
 kingdom, an extract of which is as follows : " We know 
 not from what motive you have condemned John Huss, 
 bachelor of divinity and preacher of the gospel. Ye 
 have put him to a cruel and ignominious death, though 
 convicted of no heresy. We wrote in his vindication 
 to Sigismund, king of the Romans. This apology of 
 ours ought to have been communicated to your con- 
 gregations ; but we have been told that ye burnt it in 
 contempt of us. We protest therefore, with the heart 
 as well as with the lips, that John Huss was a man ve- 
 ry honest, just, and orthodox ; that for many years he 
 conversed among us with godly and blameless man- 
 ners ; that during all those years he explained to us 
 and to our subjects, the gospel and the books of the 
 Old and New Testament, according to the exposition 
 of holy doctors approved by the church ; and that he 
 has left writings behind him in which he constantly 
 abhors all heresy. He taught us also to detest every 
 thing heretical. In his discourses he constantly ex- 
 horted us to peace and charity, and his own life ex- 
 hibited to us a distinguished example of these virtues. 
 After all the inquiry which we have made, w^e can 
 find no blame attached to the doctrine or life of the 
 said John Huss; but on the contrary every thing pi- 
 ous, laudable and worthy of a true pastor. Ye have 
 not only disgraced us by his condemnation, but have 
 also unmercifully imprisoned, and perhaps already 
 
465 
 
 put to death Jerom of Prague, a man of most profound 
 learning and copio.us eloquence. Him also have ye 
 condemned unconvicted. Notwithstanding all that 
 hath passed, we are resolved to sacrifice our lives for 
 the defence of the gospel of Christ, and of his faithful 
 preachers." This letter was unanimously approved in 
 an assembly of Bohemian lords held at Prague. 
 
 The council, startled at the bold expostulations 
 of this letter, yet being still determined to maintain 
 their own unjust authority, at length, partly by pro- 
 mises, and partly by threatenings, induced Jerom of 
 Prague to retract his sentiments. In this, Jerom an- 
 athamatized the articles both of Wickliff and of Huss, 
 and declared that he believed every thing that the 
 council believed. He even added, that if, in future, 
 any doctrine should escape from him contrary to his 
 recantation, he would submit to everlasting punish- 
 ment ! Thus was disgraced before all the world, and 
 humbled in his own eyes, a man of most excellent 
 morals, of superior parts, and of great learning and 
 fortitude. This is an event, memorable in the annals 
 of human imbecility ! Consider diligently the instruc- 
 tion which it affords. The power and the mercy of 
 God, in owning his fallen servant, and in afterward 
 restoring and supporting him, were magnified, in this 
 instance, in a very striking manner. 
 
 Jerom, after his retraction, was remanded to prison, 
 with some enlargement of liberty. 
 
 There were some, notwithstanding the recantation 
 of Jerom, who insisted upon his being tried a second 
 time. The council, therefore, proceeded to examine 
 him again upon the articles formerly exhibited against 
 him, and upon new articles, then, for the first time, 
 brought forward. The prisoner refused to be sworn, 
 because they at first denied him the liberty of defence. 
 
 Then it was that this great man began to exhibit 
 that strength of mind, that force of genius and elo- 
 quence, and that integrity and fortitude, which will be 
 the admiration of ali ages. 
 
 Having obtained freedom of speech, during his trial, 
 it} his defence he said, " I came to Constance to tle- 
 
m 
 
 fend John Huss, 'because I had advised him to g 
 thither, and had promised to come to his assistance, 
 in case he should be oppressed. Nor am I ashamed 
 here to make public confession of my own cowardice. 
 I confesb and tremble while I think of it, that through 
 fear of punishment by fire, I basely consented, against 
 my conscience to the condemnation of Wickliff and 
 Huss." He then declared that he disowned his re- 
 cantation, as the greatest crime of which he had ever 
 been guilty ; and that he was determined to his last 
 breath to adhere to the principles of those two men, 
 which were as sound and pure, as their lives were ho- 
 ly and blameless. He excepted indeed WicklifPs opin- 
 ion of the sacrament, and declared his agreement 
 with the Roman church in the article of transubstan- 
 tiation. Having concluded his speech, he was carri- 
 ed back to prison, and was there visited by several 
 persons, who hoped to reclaim him, but in vain. 
 
 Jerom, having been brought again before the coun- 
 cil, the bishop of Lodi preached a sermon from these 
 words, " He upbraided them tvith their unbelief and 
 hardness of heart" He exhorted the jDrisoner not to 
 show himself incorrigible, as he had hitherto done. 
 He paid some tribute of praise to his extraordinary 
 abilities, and at the same time extolled the lenity and 
 generosity with which he had been treated by the 
 council. Jerom, raising himself on a bench, under- 
 took to confute the preacher. He declared again, that 
 he had done nothing in his whole life, of which he so 
 bitterly repented, as his recantation ; that he revoked it 
 from his very soul, as also the letter which he had been 
 induced to write on this subject to the Bohemians ; 
 that he had been guilty of the meanest falsehood by 
 making that recantation ; that he esteemed John Huss 
 a holy man ; and that he knew no heresy of which 
 he had been guilty, unless they should call by that 
 name, his open disapprobation of the vices of the 
 clergy. That if, after this declaration, credit should 
 still be given to the false witness borne against Huss, 
 he should consider the fathers of the council them- 
 selves as unworthy of all belief, "This pious 
 
467 
 
 said Jcrom, alluding to John Huss, " could not bear u* 
 see the revenues of the church, which were principal- 
 ly designed for the maintenance of the poor, and for 
 works of liberality, spent in debauchery with women, 
 in leasts, hounds, furniture, gawdy apparel, and other 
 expenses, unworthy of Christianity/' 
 
 The firmness, eloquence, and zeal of Jerom, sensi- 
 bly aiFected the council. They proposed to him once 
 more to retract. But he replied, " Ye have determin- 
 ed to condemn me unjustly ; but after my death I 
 shall leave a sting in your consciences, and a worm 
 that shall never die. 1* appeal to the sovereign Judge 
 of all the earth, in whose presence you must appear to 
 answer me." After sentence had been pronounced 
 against him, Jerom was delivered to the secular 
 power, and was treated with scorn and insult, similar 
 to that which his friend Huss had experienced. He 
 put the mitre with his own hands on his head, saying 
 he was glad to wear it for the sake of Him, who was 
 crowned with one of thorns. As he went to execution, 
 he sung the apostles' creed, and the hymns of the 
 church, with a loud voice and a cheerful countenance. 
 He kneeled at the stake, and prayed. Being then 
 bound, he raised his voice, and sung a paschal hymn 
 at that time much in vogue in the church. 
 
 " Hail hoppy day, and ever be adored, 
 
 " When hell was conquered by great heaven's Lord." 
 
 The executioner having approached to the pile be- 
 hind his back, lest Jerom should see him, " Come for- 
 ward," said the martyr, " and put (ire to it before my 
 face." He continued alive in the flames a full quar- 
 ter of an hour, and sustained the torment with great 
 fortitude and courage. When he was much scorched 
 with the fury of the fire, and almost smothered in its 
 flames, he was heard to cry out, " O Lord God, have 
 mercy on me ! have mercy on me !" And a little af- 
 terward, " Thou knowest how I have loved thy truth." 
 By and by, the wind parted the flames, and exhibited 
 his body full of large blisters, a dreadful spectacle to 
 the beholders j yet even then his lips are said to have 
 
468 
 
 continued still moving, as if his mind was actuated by 
 intense devotion. 
 
 Though the acquaintance, which Jerom had with 
 the truth of the gospel, appears to have been par- 
 tial and imperfect ; yet the knowledge which he had, 
 doubtless respected the essential doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity ; and his spirit and constancy, in his last suf- 
 ferings,, his dependance on the grace of Christ, his ex- 
 pectation of a blessed resurrection, and his humble 
 confession of sinfulness and unworthiness, sufficiently 
 distinguish him from the stoic philosopher, or the mere 
 moralist, who, whatever portion he may have of the 
 first of these qualities, is totally void of all the rest 
 
 Jerom endured his last sufferings with a cheerful 
 countenance, arid with more thaw stoical constancy. 
 
 By the acts of the council of Constance, the wick- 
 edness of the ecclesiastical system, then prevalent in 
 Europe, was clearly demonstrated. Though ail the 
 knowledge and ability, which the Roman hierarchy 
 could afford, were collected at Constance, yet the able 
 and learned fathers of that council were so far from 
 reforming the evils of what they called the church, 
 that they proved it more certainly to be Antichrist. 
 The whole of the clerical establishment then con- 
 curred in the support of iniquity. The real gospel it- 
 self was neither understood, nor preached, nor valued 
 in the Roman church. They trifled respecting sins 
 with the most scandalous levity, and persecuted to 
 death those very persons who earnestly opposed the 
 corruptions of the times. The glory of God, the truths 
 of the gospel, and real kingdom of Jesus Christ, hav- 
 ing been kept out of sight by all who constituted that 
 council, none of them regarded reformation much 
 further than it concerned their own interested views, 
 and nothing that deserved the name of reformation 
 ensued. 
 
 In the latter end of the year 1417, the council of 
 Constance, elected Otho de Colonna pope, who took 
 the name of Martin V. How destitute he was of real 
 piety, and of all true knowledge of the scripture doc- 
 trines of salvation, and what were the views and sen- 
 
469 
 
 timenls of that council, will appear from the bull by 
 which it was dissolved. An extract of ii is as fol- 
 lows : " Martin, bishop, servant of the servants of 
 God, at the request of the sacred council, we dis- 
 miss it. Moreover, by the authority of the Almighty 
 God, and of the blessed apostles St. Peter and SK 
 Paul, and by our own authority, we grant to all the 
 members of the council plenary absolution of all their 
 sins once in their lives, so that every one of them, 
 within two months after the notification of this privilege 
 has come to his knowledge, may enjoy the benefit of 
 the said absolution in form. We also grant them the 
 same privilege in the moment of death ; and we ex- 
 tend it to the domestics, as well as to the masters, on 
 condition, that, from the day of the notification, both 
 the one and the other fast every Friday, during a 
 whole year, for the absolution granted to them while 
 alive ; and another year for their absolution in the 
 moment of death, unless there be some lawful imped- 
 iment, in which case they shall do other works of pie* 
 ty. And after the second year they shall be obliged 
 to fast on Fridays during life, or to do some other acts 
 of piety, on pain of incurring the displeasure of Al- 
 mighty God and of the blessed apostles St. Peter and 
 St Paul." 
 
 The council of Constance began to sit in 1414, and 
 was dissolved in 1418. In that council a great effort 
 was made by the united wisdom of Europe, but in 
 vain, to effect that reformation, which God alone in 
 his own time produced in such a manner, as to illus- 
 trate the divine declaration. Salvation is " not by 
 power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of host?." 
 
 CHAPTER 111. 
 
 The Hussites till the beginning of the Reformation. 
 
 .1 HE Bohemians having heard of the murder of John 
 Huss and Jerom of Prague with great indignation, for* 
 ty thousand of the followers of Huss assembled on, , 
 
47S 
 
 mountain a* few miles from Prague under their leaders 
 Zisca and Nicolas, where the latter administered to 
 them the communion in both kinds. They had taken 
 the field to oppose the Romish hierarchy with fire and 
 sword ; a bloody war ensued, which continued 13 
 years with various success, and with many inhuman 
 cruelties on both sides. The main body of the dis- 
 contented Bohemians w-ere at length satisfied with 
 the cup in the sacrament, and with the administration 
 of the ordinance in their own language. 
 
 Those who differed from the church of Rome, only in 
 the affair of the communion in both kinds, were deno- 
 minated Calixtines, from Calix,the Latin name for cup. 
 Those who were more thorough in their opposition to 
 the abominations of the church of Rome, and who re- 
 sembled the Waldenses, in the great articles of their 
 faith, were called Taborites, from the circumstance 
 of their having accommodated themselves with tents, 
 when they took the field to oppose the papal pow r er : the 
 word tabor, in the Bohemian language, signifying tent. 
 
 The Taborites, besides the scriptural celebration of 
 the sacrament, desired to see a real reformation of the 
 church, and the establishment of purity of doctrine and 
 discipline. But, after a long series of military confu- 
 sion, they found themselves still a persecuted body of 
 men ; and those of them, who had been inclined to 
 have recourse to the sword, were gradually convinc- 
 ed, that patient faith and perseverance in prayer are 
 the proper arms of the Christian soldier. Never was 
 there a more striking instance of the inefficacy of car - 
 -al weapons in defending the church of Christ. By 
 this long and bloody war, which the Bohemians carri- 
 ed on with great success, and with undaunted cour- 
 age and fortitude, they gained only two privileges, 
 merely of an external nature in the administration of 
 the Lord's supper. With these the majority of the 
 people remained content, and still adhered to the pa- 
 pal abominations, while the real Christians w r ere expos- 
 ed as much as ever to the persecutions of the church 
 of Rome, and were not only abandoned, but also cnv 
 elly treated by their brethren. 
 
471 
 
 In the mean time, Rokyzan, a Calixtine, was allur- 
 ed by the hopes of the arch bishopric of Prague, to se- 
 cond the views of the papal party. He was elected 
 archbishop in 1436, and labored to induce the Bohe- 
 mians to be content without the cup, and in all other 
 things to conform to the Romish doctrine and wor- 
 ship. Rokyzan, fearing he should lose his dignity, 
 could not be prevailed on openly to oppose the Ro- 
 mish corruptions; he however, advised the Hussites 
 to edify one another in private, and gave them some 
 good books for that purpose. He also obtained for 
 them permission to withdraw to the lordship of Lititz^ 
 on the confines of Silesia and Moravia, and there to 
 regulate their plan of worship according to their own 
 consciences. 
 
 About the year 1453, a number of Hussites repair- 
 ed to Lititz, and chose Michael Bradazius for their 
 minister. He, with some assistants, under the direc- 
 tion of Gregory, who was in a great measure the foun- 
 der of the unity of the Hussite brethren, held a con- 
 ference in 1457, in which the plan of the Hussite 
 church, or that of the United Brethren, was formed; 
 idolatrous rites were prohibited, and a strictness of 
 discipline, resembling that of the primitive Christian 
 church, was instituted. But in this they failed to pro- 
 mote the spirit of godliness to the degree they had ex- 
 pected, and this through a neglect of an accurate sys- 
 tem of Christian doctrines. As holy exercises of heart 
 do take place in the view of truth, the inward life and 
 vigor of their church did not correspond with the pu- 
 rity of its external system, and distressed consciences 
 could not find among them that comfort and liberty 
 which are necessary to the existence of godliness to 
 any great extent. In one point, however, they prov- 
 ed themselves the real followers of Christ. They de- 
 termined to make use of no carnal weapons for the 
 defence of religion ; and no more to suffer the name 
 of Hussites to be disgraced by such unchristian meth- 
 ods as it formerly had been. 
 
 They were soon called to the exercise of that pas- 
 sive courage which they had professed. The increase 
 
472 
 
 of their congregations in Bohemia and Moravia, war 
 beheld with suspicion both by Romish and Calixtine 
 priests, and they were acclised of having an intention 
 to excite tumults and seize the government. The 
 Hussitss were then loaded with the calumnies of their 
 enemies and suffered persecution. The United 
 Brethren, had hoped for support in Rokyzan, whose 
 ministry had formerly been useful to their souls ; but 
 he, then living in miserable grandeur, dearly purchas- 
 ed at the expense of a good conscience, afforded them 
 none. The following extract of a letter which the 
 brethren wrote to him, while they labored under the 
 imputations of promoting needless divisions, will give 
 the reader some idea of their principles and spirit. 
 " Your sermons have been highly grateful and plea- 
 sant to us. You earnestly exhorted us to flee from the 
 horrible errors of Antichrist, revealed in these last days'* 
 You taught us that the devil introduced the abuses 
 of the sacraments, and that men placed a false hope 
 of salvation in them. You confirmed to us from the 
 writings of the apostles and from the examples of the 
 primitive church, the true doctrine of those divine in- 
 structions. Being distressed in our consciences, and 
 distracted by a variety of opinions, which prevailed in 
 the church, we were induced to follow your advice, 
 which was to attend the ministry of Peter Chelezitius, 
 whose discourses and writings gave us a clearer in- 
 sight into Christian truths; insomuch that when we saw 
 your life and practice were at variance with your 'doc- 
 trine, we were constrained to entertain doubts con* 
 cerning your religious character. When we convers- 
 ed with you on this occasion, your answer was to this 
 effect, 4 1 know that your sentiments are true ; but, if 
 I should patronize your cause, I must incur the same 
 infamy and disgrace which you have.' \\hen we un- 
 derstood that you would desert us, rather than relin- 
 quish the honors of the world, having no refuge but 
 in God, we implored him to make known to us the 
 mystery of his will. As a gracious Father, he halh 
 looked upon our afflictions, and halh heard our pay- 
 ers. Trusting in our God, we have assembled our- 
 
473 
 
 pelves in tlie unity of the faith by which we have been 
 justified through Jesus Christ, and of which we were 
 made partakers in conformity to the image of his 
 death, that we might be the heirs of eternal life. Do 
 not imagine, that we have separated ourselves from 
 you on account of certain rites and ceremonies insti- 
 tuted by men; but on account of evil and corrupt 
 doctrines. For if we could, in connexion with you, 
 have preserved the true faith of Jesus Christ our Lord, 
 we never should have made this separation." 
 
 Thus does it appear that the Hussite brethren were 
 not mere schismatics, but properly reformed protest- 
 ants, who separated from the church of Rome on ac- 
 count of the essentials of godliness, and because, in that 
 church, they could not preserve the genuine faith of 
 the gospel, and purity of worship. And the constan- 
 cy with which they endured persecution, showed, that 
 they had not received the grace of God in vain. For 
 they were declared unworthy of the common rights 
 of subjects ; and in the depth of winter, were driven 
 out of the cities and villages, with the forfeiture of all 
 their effects-. The sick were thrown into the open 
 fields, where many perished with cold and hunger, 
 Various sorts of torture were inflicted on the brethren: 
 numbers were barbarously murdered, and many died 
 in the prisons. 
 
 During those melancholy scenes, Gregory, nephew 
 of Rokyzan, was distinguished by his zeal, fortitude 
 and chanty. To these virtues he added prudence and 
 discretion, of which he gave a remarkable instance. 
 The governor of Prague, apprehending danger to the 
 brethren to be at hand, had the kindness to warn Gre- 
 gory to withdraw from that place, which he according- 
 ly did. Some of the brethren were disgusted at this 
 conduct, and boasted that the rack was their break- 
 fast, and the flames their dinner. Some of these men, 
 however, failed on the trial, and recanted to save their 
 lives 5 though af the lapsed, some bemoaned their 
 fall, and recovered by repentance. Gregory himself, 
 on another occasion, underwent with patience the tor- 
 tures of the rack. In the extremity of his suffering 
 3 as 
 
474 
 
 be fell into a swoon, and was believed to have expir- 
 ed. His uncle Rockyzan hastened to the prison at the 
 news, and lamented over him in these words, " My 
 dear Gregory, I would to God I were where thou art." 
 So strong was the power of conscience still in this un- 
 happy archbishop ! But Gregory recovered, and was 
 preserved to the church to a very advanced age. 
 
 The brethren having heard of the sensibility discov- 
 ered by Rokyzan, addressed themselves to him again ; 
 but his answers were of the same kind as formerly. 
 He was determined not to suffer persecution ; and they 
 in their farewel letter, said to him with more zeal than 
 discretion, " thou art of the world, and wilt perish 
 with the world." The persecution took a different 
 turn; the Hussites were no longer tortured, but were 
 driven out of the country ; where they were obliged 
 to hide themselves in mountains and woods, and to 
 live in the wilderness. In this situation, in 1467, they 
 came to a resolution to form a church among them- 
 selves, and to appoint their own ministers. In 1480 
 they received a great increase of their numbers from 
 the accession of Waldensian refugees, who escaped 
 out of Austria, where Stephen, the last bishop of the 
 Waldenses in that province, was burnt alive, and where 
 the vehemence of persecution no longer allowed this 
 people to live in security. A union was easily formed 
 between the Waldenses and the Hussites, on account 
 of the similarity of their sentiments and manners. The 
 refugees, however, found their situation but little me- 
 liorated by a junction with a people, who were oblig- 
 ed to conceal themselves in thickets and in clefts of 
 rocks ; and who, to escape detection by the smoke, 
 made no fires except m the night, when they read 
 the word of God and prayed. Their sufferings were 
 great. Rokyzan in his latter days, persecuted them^ 
 and died in despair about the year 1471. 
 
 In 1481 the Hussites were banished from Moravia, 
 but in six years afterwards they returned into that 
 country. In the beginning of the 16th century, they 
 had 200 congregations in Bohemia and Moravia 
 Their most violent persecutors were the C 
 
475 
 
 who, for the most part, resembled the papists, except 
 in that from which their name was derived. 
 
 Hence closes, for the present, the history of the 
 Hussites, who doubtless as a body of men, feared God 
 and served him in the gospel of his Son. They al?o 
 maintained a degree of discipline among themselves 
 vastly superior to that of any other who bore the Chris- 
 tian name, except the churches of the Waldenses- 
 Both of these were, however, defective in evangelical 
 LIGHT. But God in mercy was then hastening an ex- 
 hibition of this, in the reformation, which, after we 
 shall have very briefly surveyed the principal events 
 of the 15th century, must engage our attention. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A Brief Review of the Fifteenth Century. 
 
 I HE most remarkable events of this period, appeaj 
 to have been directed by Divine Providence with a 
 particular subserviency to the reformation. 
 
 The Turks had become very formidable in the East, 
 and were extending their conquests to the West. Eu- 
 rope, though greatly oppressed by their persevering 
 cruelties, neither humbled itself before God, nor took 
 any measures to check their ambition. . But God was 
 then preparing the way to bring order out of confusion, 
 and light out of darkness. Many learned men, on ac- 
 count of the troubles in the East, emigrated from 
 Greece into Europe, where they revived the study 
 of letters, and hereby prepared the way for the de- 
 molition of idolatry and superstition. About the year 
 1440, the inestimable art of printing was invent- 
 ed. Learning began then to be cultivated with vast 
 ardor ; classical knowledge was greatly increased. 
 Learned men were furnished with critical skill and 
 ingenuity, of which they availed themselves in the in- 
 struction of the ignorant. By the labors of the learn- 
 ed Erasmus, who arose abont thig time, monastic su- 
 
476 
 
 superstition received a wound which has never been 
 healed. 
 
 Thus, tinder the care of Divine Providence, materi- 
 als were collected for that beautiful edifice which soon 
 began to arise. In the 15th century the great value 
 and use of these materials scarcely appeared ; the same 
 corruptions, both of faith and practice, which have so 
 often been described, still prevailed in all their horrors. 
 
 In the meantime there were some individuals, who, 
 though not connected with any particular Christian so- 
 cieties, evinced the power of godliness. Among these 
 was Thomas Rhedon, a Frenchman, who, having gone 
 to Rome, to improve his understanding in religious con- 
 cerns, found the corruptions of that venal city aston- 
 ishingly great, and that the habitation of St. Peter had 
 even become a den of thieves. His zealous spirit was 
 stirred within him, to give an open testimony to evan- 
 gelical truth. By continual preaching he incurred the 
 hatred of the ruling powers, was degraded from the 
 priesthood, and burnt, four years after his arrival at 
 Rome. In 1499, Jerom Savanarola, an Italian monk, 
 with two Friars, Dominic and Silvester, were burnt at 
 Florence for preaching the dictrine of free justifica- 
 tion through faith in Christ. 
 
 Vincent Ferrer, though bred in the midst of dark- 
 ness, and connected with the worst of ecclesiastical 
 characters, was a shining model of piety. At the age 
 of forty-two he began to preach with great fervor in 
 every town from Avignon towards Valentia. His word 
 is said to have been powerful among the Jews, the 
 Mahometans, and others. He labored abundantly in 
 Spain, France, Italy, England, Scotland, and Ireland ; 
 and by the desire of Henry V. made Normandy, and 
 Britanny, the theatre of his labors during the last two 
 years of his life. He died at the age of 62. 
 
 The following is a quotation from his book on spirit- 
 ual life, and will give an idea of his piety : " Do you 
 desire to study to advantage ? Consult God more than 
 books, and ask him humbly, to make you understand 
 what you read. Study drains the mind and heart. 
 Go from time to time to be refreshed at the feet of 
 
477 
 
 Christ under his cross. Some moments of repose 
 there give fresh vigor and new light: interrupt your 
 study by short, but fervent ejaculations. Science is 
 the gift of the Father of lights. Do not consider it as 
 attainable merely by your own mind and industry." 
 
 Bernardin of Sienna, who must close this concise 
 review of the 15lh century, was born in the year 1380, 
 and on account of his uncommon zeal in preaching, 
 was called "the burning coal." He gave this advice 
 to clergymen, " Seek first the kingdom of God, and 
 the Holy Ghost will give you a wisdom which no ad- 
 versary can withstand." This excellent man express- 
 ed an earnest wish to be able to cry out with a trum- 
 pet through the world, " How long will ye love simpli- 
 city ?" 
 
 CENTURY XVI, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Reformation under the conduct of Luther. 
 
 1 HE 16th century opened with a most gloomy pros- 
 pect. Corruption, both in doctrine and practice, had 
 exceeded all bounds; and Europe, though the name 
 of Christ was every where professed, presented nothing 
 evangelical. Notwithstanding the repeated attempts 
 which had been made, no extensive or permanent re- 
 formation of the church had been effected. The Ro- 
 man pontiffs were still the uncontrouled patrons of im- 
 piety. The scandalous crimes of the court of Rome 
 did not yet operate to lessen its dominion, nor lead 
 men to make a serious investigation of religion. 
 
 But the time was fast approaching, when the ado- 
 rable Providence of God, raised up 3 man, who was 
 led from step to step, by a series of circumstances far 
 beyond his original intentions, and in a manner which 
 evinced the excellency of the power to be of God and 
 
478 
 
 mot of man, to be the instrument, rather than the agent 
 of a most important reformation. 
 
 This was Martin Luther, who was born in the year 
 1483 in Saxony. His father was universally esteem- 
 ed for his integrity, who gave his son an early and 
 very liberal education, so that having made a great 
 proficiency in learning, he was made master of arts in 
 the university of Erfurth, at the age of 20. He then 
 commenced the study of the civil law. But his pur- 
 pose was diverted from this, by a very solemn and 
 alarming Providence. While walking in the fields 
 with one of his most intimate friends, his companion 
 was suddenly killed by lightning. Luther was terrifi- 
 ed, and formed the hasty resolution of withdrawing 
 from the world, and of throwing himself into the mo- 
 nastery of Erfurth, which he entered in the year 1505. 
 
 In a manuscript history, extending from the year 
 1524 to 1541, composed by Frederic Myconius, a very 
 able coadjutor of Luther and Melancthon, the author 
 describes the state of religion in the beginning of this 
 century in the following striking 'erms. "The pas- 
 sion and satisfaction of Christ, were treated as a bare 
 history, like the Odyssey of Homer: concerning faith, 
 by which the righteousness of the Redeemer and eter- 
 nal life are apprehended, there was the greatest silence i 
 Christ was described as a severe judge, ready to con- 
 demn all who were destitute of the intercession of 
 saints and of pontifical interest. In the room of Christ 
 were substituted as saviors and intercessors, the virgin 
 Mary, like a pagan Diana, and other saints, who, from 
 time to time, had been created by the popes. Nor 
 were men, it seems, entitled to the benefit of their 
 prayers, except they deserved it of them by their works. 
 What sort of works were necessary for this end was dis- 
 tinctly explained ; not the works prescribed in the deca- 
 logue, and enjoined on all mankind but such as enrich* 
 ed the priests and monks. Those, who died neglect- 
 ing these, were consigned to hell, or at least to purga- 
 tory, till they were redeemed from it by a satisfaction 
 made either by themselves or their proxies. The fre- 
 fijuent pronunciation of the Lord's prayer, the saluta- 
 
479 
 
 fion of the virgin, and the recitations of the canoncial 
 hours, constantly engaged those who undertook to be 
 religious. An incredible mass of ceremonious observ- 
 ances was every where visible ; while gross wickedness 
 was practised,under the encouragement of indulgences, 
 by which the guilt of the crimes was easily expiated. 
 The preaching of the word was the least part of the 
 episcopal function: rites and processions employed 
 the bishops perpetually, when engaged in religious ex- 
 ercises. The number of clergy was enormous, and 
 their lives were most scandalous. I speak of those 
 whom I have known in the town of Gothen, &,c." 
 A Greek testament could not then be procured at any 
 price in all Germany. Even the university of Paris, 
 the first of all the famous schools of learning, could 
 not furnish a single person capable of supporting a 
 controversy against Luther on the foundation of scrip- 
 ture. Scarcely any Christian doctor had then a crit- 
 ical knowledge of the word of God. 
 
 It was at such a time of gross darkness, when the 
 Christian nations differed very little from the pagan, 
 except in the name, that the world beheld an attempt 
 to restore the light of the gospel, more judicious and 
 evangelical, than had ever been made since the days 
 of Augustine. 
 
 That the reader may understand the necessity and 
 importance of the reformation ; it may be here stat- 
 ed that the popish doctrine of indulgences was then in 
 the highest reputation. According to this, the church 
 imposed painful works or sufferings on offenders., 
 which, having been discharged or undergone with 
 humility, were called satisfactions : and when regard- 
 ing the fervor of the penitents, or other good works, she 
 "remitted some part of the task, that was called " an 
 indulgence.''' She even pretended to extend the ben- 
 efit of indulgences beyond the grave, and that they 
 were valid in heaven. 
 
 The foundation of all this system was generally be- 
 lieved to be this: that there is in Christ and the saints 
 an infinite treasure of merit ; the saints having done 
 works of supererogation. It was pretended that this 
 
treasure was deposited in the church, under the 
 duct of the see of Rome. This was sold for money^ 
 at the discretion of the Pontiffs to those who were able 
 and willing to purchase. Few were found disposed to 
 undergo the course of a severe penance of unpleasant 
 austerities, when they could afford to commute for it 
 by pecuniary payments. The popes, and under them 
 the bishops and clergy, particularly the Dominican 
 and Franciscan friars, had the disposal of this treas- 
 ure ; and as the pontiffs had the power of canonizing 
 new saints at their own will, the fund was constantly 
 on the increase. So long as this system could maintain 
 its credit, the riches of this flagitious church, thus sec- 
 ularized under the appearance of religion, became a 
 sea without a shore. A practice, thus scandalously 
 corrupt, was connected with the grossest ignorance of 
 the nature of gospel grace. And in fact the preachers 
 of indulgences, whether popes themselves, or their 
 ministers, held out to the people, with sufficient 
 clearness, that the inheritance of eternal life could 
 be purchased. " Pope Leo X. making use of that 
 power, which his predecessors had usurped over all 
 Christian churches, sent abroad into all kingdoms his 
 letters and bulls, with ample promises of the full par- 
 don of sins, and of eternal salvation to such as would 
 purchase the same with money ! ! !" 
 
 From this the reader will perceive, that, for the de- 
 molition of this impious system, the right knowledge 
 of the scripture doctrine of justification was the only 
 adequate remedy. To revive this appears to have 
 been the most capital object of the reformation. And 
 it is not difficult to see that the state of mankind was, 
 at that time, peculiarly adapted to the reception of so 
 rich a display of gospel grace. Their whole religion 
 was one enormous mass of bondage. Terrors beset 
 them on every side ; and the fiction of purgatory was 
 ever teeming with ghosts and apparitions. Faith in 
 simplicity, grounded on the divine promises, connected 
 with real humility, and productive of hearty and grate- 
 ful obedience, hardly existed amidst the mazes of cor- 
 ruption. No certain rest could be afforded to the weary- 
 
481 
 
 mind, and a state of allowed doubt and anxiety was re- 
 commended by the papal system. What a joyful doc- 
 trine then was that of remission of sins through Christ 
 alone, received by faith! a doctrine indeed to be found 
 every where in the scriptures ; but this was almost un- 
 known among the common people at the beginning 
 of the reformation. 
 
 The Aristotelian philosophy, which knew nothing 
 of native depravity, which allowed nothing to be crim- 
 inal but certain external, flagitious actions, and which 
 was unacquainted with the idea of any righteouness 
 of grace, imputed to the sinner, greatly prevailed 
 previous to the reformation. But the person, whom 
 God raised up, particularly at this time, when the 
 generality of mankind were following their own self- 
 righteous schemes, to instruct an ignorant world, was 
 most remarkably eminent for self knowledge. Lu- 
 ther knew himself; also he knew the scriptural 
 grounds on which he stood in his controversies with 
 the ecclesiastical rulers. His zeal was disinterested, 
 his courage, undaunted. Accordingly when he had 
 once erected the standard of truth, he continued to 
 uphold it with an unconquerable intrepidity, which 
 merits the gratitude and esteem of all succeeding gen- 
 erations. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The beginning of the Controversy concerning Indulgences, 
 
 POPE Alexander VII. the most flagitious of men, 
 died in the year 1503. Pius III. succeeded him, and 
 in less than one year after, he was succeeded by Ju- 
 lius II. Previous to his election the cardinals agreed 
 upon an oath, which they obliged the new pontiff to 
 take after his election that a general council should 
 be called within two years to reform the church. The 
 effect of this measure, which so strongly implied the 
 consent of the Christian world to the necessity of a 
 SN 
 
482 
 
 reformation, was the council of Pisa. At thig, nothing, 
 good was done. Julius, by his intrigues had the conn- 
 til dissolved. He died in 1513, after having, by hi* 
 military ambition, violence and rapacity, filled the 
 Christian world with blood and confusion. 
 
 LeoX. succeeded ; a man famous for the encourage- 
 merit of letters and the fine arts, and deservedly cele- 
 brated among the patrons of learned men. Though 
 refined and humanized, yet an excessive magnifi- 
 cence, a voluptuous indolence, and above all, a to- 
 tal want of religious principle, rendered him perhaps 
 more strikingly void of every sacerdotal qualification 
 than any preceding pontiff. He used no exertion to 
 evince that he had a sincere reverence for religion.' 
 It was during the pontificate of this man, that Provi- 
 dence gave the severest blow to the authority of the 
 Roman hierarchy 3 - which it had ever received since 
 the days of Gregory IL 
 
 Both before and after nis exaltation, he opposed 
 with dexterity and success the laudable attempts for 
 a reformation which have been mentioned. 
 
 In the year 1517 the spirit of Luther was excited to 
 instruct the ignorant, to rouse the negligent, and to 
 oppose the scandalous practices of ambitious and in- 
 terested ecclesiastical rulers. It was at this time, that 
 the temerity of the existing hierarchy was such, and so 
 infatuated with abominations, that the opportunity 
 seems purposely to have been afforded to their oppo- 
 nents for beginning that reformation which was event- 
 ually to prove destructive to their power and influ- 
 ence. 
 
 Leo X. after he had governed the church almost 
 five years, having involved himself in embarrassments 
 by his prodigal expenses of various kinds, and being 
 desirous to complete the erection of St. Peter's church' 
 at Rome, which had been begun by his predecessor 
 Julius II. after his example had recourse to the sale 
 of indulgences. These he published throughout the 
 Christian world, granting freely to all, who would 
 
 tay money for the building of St. Peter's church, the 
 eeuce of eating eggs and cheese in the time of 
 
483 
 
 lent. This is one of the many ridiculous circum- 
 stances which attended Leo's indulgences, and it is 
 gravely related by the papal historian. The pro- 
 mulgation of them was committed to Albert, brother 
 of the elector of Brandenberg, who received im- 
 mense profits fmrn their sale. John Tetzel, a bold, 
 enter prizing monk of uncommon impudence, was 
 employed by Albert as sub-agent, and executed his 
 iniquitous commission not only with matchless in- 
 solence, indecency and fraud, but even carried his 
 impiety so far as to derogate from the all sufficient 
 power and influence of the merits of Christ. He 
 declaimed concerning the unlimited power of the 
 
 Eope and the efficacy of indulgences. The people 
 elieved, that the moment any person had paid the 
 money for the indulgence, he became certain of his 
 salvation, and that the souls, for whom the indulgen- 
 ces were bought, were instantly released from purga- 
 tory. Tetzel even boasted, that he had saved more 
 souls from hell by his indulgences, than St. Peter had 
 converted by his preaching. He assured the purcha- 
 sers of them, that their crimes, however enormous, 
 would be forgiven. In the usual form of absolution, 
 written with his own hand, he said, " I, by the author- 
 ity of Jesus Christ, through the merits of his most holy 
 passion, and by the authority of his blessed apostles. 
 Peter jind Paul, and of our most holy pope, delegated 
 to me as commissioner, do absolve thee: first from all 
 ecclesiastical censures however incurred ; secondly, 
 from all sins committed by thee, however enormous, 
 for so far the keys of the sacred church extend : and 1 
 do this by remitting to thee all the punishments due to 
 thee in purgatory on account of thy crimes, and I re- 
 store thee to the innocence and purity in which thou 
 wast when baptized, so that the gates of punishment 
 may be shut to thee when dying, and the gates of 
 paradise be opened." 
 
 In regard to the effect of indulgences in delivering 
 persons from the supposed torments of purgatory, the 
 gross declarations of Tetzel in public are well known. 
 " The moment the money tinkles in the chest ; your 
 father's soul mounts up out of purgatory." 
 
484 
 
 The indulgences were farmed out to the best bid- 
 ders, and the undertakers employed such deputies to 
 carry on the traffic, as they thought the most likely to 
 promote their lucrative views. The inferior officers, 
 concerned in this commerce, were daily seen in public 
 houses, indulging themselves in riot and voluptous- 
 ness. In fine, whatever the greatest enemy of popery 
 could have wished, was exhibited with the most undis- 
 guised impudence and temerity, as if on purpose to 
 render that wicked ecclesiastical system infamous be- 
 fore all mankind. 
 
 The prodigious sale of indulgences evinces both 
 the profound ignorance of the age, and also the power 
 of superstitious fears, with which the consciences of 
 men were then distressed. This, however, was the 
 very situation of things which^opened the way for the 
 reception of the gospel. But" who was to proclaim it 
 in its native beauty and simplicity ? The princes, the 
 bishops, and the learned men of the times, saw all this 
 scandalous traffic, but none was found possessing the 
 knowledge, the courage, and the honesty, necessary 
 to detect the fraud, and to lay open to mankind the 
 true doctrine of salvation by the remission of sios 
 through Jesus Christ. But at length an obscure pastor 
 appeared, who alone began to erect the standard of 
 sound religion. No man who believes that "the pre- 
 paration of the heart is from the Lord, will for a mo- 
 ment doubt whether Martin Luther, in this great un- 
 dertaking, was moved by the spirit of God. 
 
 This extraordinary man, was an Augustine monk 
 and professor or lecturer in the university of Wittein- 
 berg in Saxony. That was a college of students and 
 society of monks. Frederic the wise, elector of Saxo- 
 ny, ardently desirous of promoting literary knowledge 
 always showed a steady regard to Luther, on account 
 of his skill and industry in advancing the reputation 
 that infant seminary, then low in its revenues 
 and exterior appearance. Luther preached also from 
 .une to time, and heard confessions. In the memora- 
 ble year 1517, certain persons, repeating their confer 
 
485 
 
 sions before him, and owning their atrocious sins, re- 
 fused to comply with the penances which he enjoined 
 on them, because they said, they were possessed of di- 
 plomas of indulgences. Luther was struck with the 
 absurdity, and refused them absolution. The persons 
 rejected, complained loudly to Tetzel. He stormed 
 and frowned, and menaced every one who dared to 
 oppose him; and sometimes ordered a pile of wood 
 to be constructed and set on fire, to strike terror into 
 the minds of heretics. Luther, then only 34 years old ; 
 was vigorous both in mind and body, fresh from the 
 schools, and fervent in the scriptures. He saw crowds 
 flock to Wittemberg and the neighboring towns to 
 purchase indulgences, and having no clear idea of the 
 nature of that traffic, yet sensible of the obvious evils 
 with which it must be attended, he began to signify, 
 in a gentle manner from the pulpit, that the people 
 might, be better employed than in running from place 
 to place to procure INDULGENCES. So cautiously did 
 this great man begin a work, the consequences of 
 which he did not foresee. He did not then even 
 know who were the receivers of the money. He 
 wrote to Albert, archbishop of Mentz, who had ap- 
 pointed Tetzel to this employment, entreating him to 
 withdraw the licence of Tetzel, and expressing his 
 fears of evil consequences from the sale. This he did, 
 without knowing that Albert had any personal inter- 
 est in the traffic. He sent him likewise certain theses 
 which he had drawn up in the form of queries con- 
 cerning this subject, and expressed with the greyest 
 caution and modesty. His conscience was alarmed 
 at the prevailing evils, but he knew not well where to 
 fix the blame of them. He wrote also to the bishop of 
 Brandenberg, with whom he was a favorite. He, see- 
 ing the dangerous ground Luther was taking, replied, 
 " You will oppose the church, you cannot think in 
 what troubles you will involve yourself; you had much 
 better be still and quiet." The intrepid spirit of the 
 Saxon reformer was not to be repressed. Though by 
 no means a competent master of the points in debate, 
 he saw they were of too great magnitude for a consci- 
 
486 
 
 entious pastor to pass them by unnoticed. With de 
 liberate steadiness he persevered ; and having tried 
 in vain to procure the concurrence of the dignitaries 
 of the church, he published 95 theses, which in 15 
 days were spread throughout Germany. Their effect 
 on the minds of men was rapid and powerful ; though 
 Tetzel had by threats silenced some pastors who had 
 faintly opposed him, and though bishops and doctors, 
 through fear of the flames remained perfectly silent. 
 
 What Luther's views and feelings were in the com- 
 mencement of his opposition to the sale of indulgen- 
 ces, may be learned from his controversial writings 
 published in the year 1518. In these, he thus declares : 
 46 1 was compelled in my conscience to expose the 
 scandalous sale of indulgences. I saw some seduced 
 by them into mischievous errors, others tempted into 
 audacious profaneness. In a word, the proclaiming 
 and selling of pardons proceeded to such an unbound* 
 ed licentiousness, that the holy church and its authori- 
 ties became subjects of open derision in the public 
 taverns. There vv^s no occasion to excite the hatred 
 of mankind against priests to a greater degree. The 
 avarice and profligacy of the clergy had, for many 
 years past, kindled the indignation of the laity. Alas ! 
 they have not a particle of respect or honor for the 
 priesthood, except what solely arises from a fear of 
 punishment ; and I speak plainly, unless their dislike 
 and their objection be attended to and moderated, not 
 by mere power, but by substantial reasons and re- 
 formations, all these evils will grow worse.'* 
 
 Let us now listen to a few sentences of Luther, 
 written so late as the year 1545, about 28 years after 
 the beginning of the dispute concerning indulgences, 
 *' Before all things 1 entreat you, pious reader, for our 
 Lord Jesus Christ's sake, to read my writings with 
 cool consideration, and even with much pity. I wish 
 you to know, that when 1 began the affair of the indul- 
 gences at the very first, I was a monk, and a most mad 
 papist. So intoxicated was I and drenched in papal 
 dogmas, that 1 would have been most ready at all 
 times to murder or assist others in murdering any 
 
487 
 
 person, who should have uttered a Syllable against 
 duty of obedience to the pope. I was a complete 
 SAUL; and there are many such yet. There were, how- 
 ever, and are now, others, who appear to me to adhere 
 to the pope on the principles of Epicurus ; that is for 
 the sake of indulging their appetites; when secretly 
 they even deride him, and are as cold as ice, if called 
 upon to defend papacy. I was never one of these : I 
 was always a sincere believer ; I was always earnest 
 in defending the doctrines which I professed ; I went 
 seriously to work, as one who had a horrible dread of 
 the day of judgment, and who, from his inmost soul 
 was anxious for salvation. 
 
 " You will find, therefore, in my earlier writings, with 
 how much humility, on many occasions, I gave up- 
 very considerable points to the pope, which I now de- 
 test as blasphemous and abominable in the highest 
 degree. This ERROR, my slanderers call INCONSISTEN- 
 CY : but you, pious reader, will have the kindness to 
 make some allowance on account of the times and 1117 
 inexperience. I stood absolutely alone at first, and 
 certainly I was very unlearned and very unfit to un- 
 dertake matters of such vast importance. It was by 
 accident, not willingly or by design, that I fell into 
 these violent disputes : I call God to witness. 
 
 "In the year 1517, when I was a young preacher^ 
 and dissuaded the people from purchasing indulgen- 
 ces, telling them that they might employ their time 
 much better than in listening to the greedy procl aim- 
 ers of that scandalous article of sale, I felt assured I 
 should have the pope on my side ; for he himself, in 
 his public decrees, had condemned the excesses of his- 
 agents in that business. 
 
 " My next step was to complain to my ordinary, and 
 also to the archbishop of Mentz ; but I knew not at 
 that time that half of the money went to this last men- 
 honed prelate, and the other half to the pope. The 
 remonstrances of a low, mean, poor brother in Christ 
 had no weight. Thus despised I published a brief 
 account of the dispute, along with a sermon in the 
 German language on the subject of indulgences ; and 
 
488 
 
 very soon after I published also explanations of my 
 sentiments, in which, for the honor of the pope, I con- 
 tended, that the indulgences were not entirely to be 
 condemned, but that real works of charily were of 
 far more consequence. 
 
 " This was to set the world on fire, and disturb the 
 whole order of the universe. At once, and against me 
 single, the whole popedom rose !!" 
 
 From these quotations, may be seen, with what 
 views and feelings Luther commenced and prose- 
 cuted his opposition to papal indulgences. Provi- 
 dence had gradually prepared him for this arduous un- 
 dertaking. In the second year after he had entered 
 the monastery, he met with a Latin bible in the libra- 
 ry. It proved to him a treasure. From this he learnt 
 there were more scripture passages extant than thosQ 
 which were read to the people. Also he had some 
 beams of evangelical light darted into his mind. The 
 same year he was refreshed in his sickness by the dis- 
 course of an old monk, who showed him that remis- 
 sion of sins was to be apprehended by faith alone. 
 With incredible ardor he now gave himself up to the 
 study of the scriptures and the books of Augustine. 
 At length he was regarded as the most ingenious and 
 learned man of his order in Germany. 
 
 In 1507 he was ordained, and the next year called 
 to the professorship at Wittemberg by Staupitius, vi- 
 car general of the Augustine monks in Germany, 
 where a theatre was opened for the display of his tal- 
 ents, both as a teacher of philosophy and as a popu- 
 lar preacher. He excelled in both capacities, and be- 
 came the wonder of his age. The exercises of his 
 own mind, by which, under the guidance of the Holy 
 Spirit, he was led more and more into Christian truth, 
 added a strength to his oratory, unattainable by those 
 who speak not from the heart. Having had a pro- 
 found reverence for the written word, he was led more 
 and more into such discoveries of native depravity, as 
 render a man low in his own eyes, and dispose him to 
 receive the genuine gospel of Christ. 
 
 In 1510 he was sent to Rome, on business relating 
 to HUuewn monastery, which he discharged with s$ 
 
489 
 
 much ability and success, that on his return, he was 
 compelled by the vicar general to assume the de- 
 gree of doctor of divinity, from which time he con- 
 scientiously devoted his time and talents ft> the sa- 
 cred office. Already he was suspected of heresy, 
 because of his dislike to the scholastic doctrines; and 
 he was induced, from the soundness of his understand- 
 ing, and the exercises of his own heart, to reject the 
 Aristotelian corruptions of theology, and to study the 
 genuine doctrines of scripture. 
 
 Beyond all doubt Luther was of a choleric temper, 
 aod too much encouraged his natural talent for face- 
 tiousness. His character in other respects was very 
 blameless and excellent. Humane, generous, and 
 placable, he was rarely diverted from the path of equi- 
 ty ; and, notwithstanding the uncommon vehemence of 
 his disposition, was often submissive and condescend- 
 ing. With an exquisite sensibility and readiness of 
 conception, with a zeal and an imagination, which 
 never remitted their ardor for a single moment, he 
 was perfectly free from enthusiasm ; and with a great 
 capacity and unparalleled intrepidity, he seems to 
 have been devoid of ambition and contented to live, 
 all his days, in very moderate circumstances. ONLY 
 the wise Disposer of all events, for the glory of his 
 own name, and for the revival of true religion in Eu- 
 rope, by the effectual operation of his Holy Spirit^ 
 could have produced, at the season when most want- 
 ed, so able and dauntless a champion, possessed of so 
 much vigor of intellect, of so daring a spirit, and of a 
 temper so truly humble. 
 
 Such was the illustrious Luther, when he was cal- 
 led upon by Divine Providence, to enter the lists, alone 
 and without one assured ally, against the hosts of the 
 pretended successor of St. Peter, who was then dom- 
 ineering over the Christian world in all his grandeur 
 and plenitude of power. 
 So 
 
490 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Progress of the Controversy concerning Indulgen- 
 ces, till the conclusion of the Conferences between Lu- 
 ther and Cajetan, 
 
 JL ETZEL, alarmed at the publication of Luther's the- 
 ses, opposed to them a hundred and six propositions, 
 by way of refutation, and directed his compositions to 
 be burnt. The minds of Luther's disciples at Wittem- 
 berg, were so much incensed, that they ventured, by 
 way of retaliation, to burn publicly Tetzel's proposi- 
 tions, or theses, with every mark of disapprobation and 
 ignominy. Luther was much grieved at this rash ac- 
 tion ; and finding himself accused as the instigator, 
 wrote thus to a friend : " I wonder, you could believe, 
 that I was the author of the deed. Think you that I 
 was so destitute of common sense, as to stigmatize in 
 such a manner, a person in so high an office? I know 
 better the rules of ecclesiastical subordination, and 
 have more regard to my own character, both as a 
 monk, and as a theologian, than to act so." There 
 were also persons, who circulated the report that Lu- 
 ther had published his theses at the instigation of the 
 elector Frederic. To show his concern, as to this 
 false surmise, Lutherwrote thus to his friend Spalati- 
 nus : * 4 1 am heartily vexed at the scandalous report 
 which is diffused with such malignity, viz. that in all I 
 do, I am only the ENGINE of our illustrious prince, for 
 the purpose of disgracing the archbishop of Mentz. 
 What do you think I ought to do on the occasion ? Shall 
 I open the matter to the elector? I am extremely con- 
 cerned, that the prince should be suspected on my ac- 
 count, and I cannot bear the thought of being the ori- 
 gin of contention among persons of so great dignity." 
 Luther, who never did things by halves, continued 
 tf> preach and to write on the iniquitous practice of 
 selling indulgences, till the end of the year 1517. In 
 the next year, he attended a general assembly of the 
 Augustine monks at Heidelberg, wbere a providential 
 opportunity was presented to propagate Divine truth, 
 
491 
 
 and which he did not neglect. While, therefore, he 
 remained at this place, he wrote some propositions, in 
 which, he opposecUhe prevailing notions concerning 
 justification, faith, and good works. His capital ob- 
 ject in them w 7 as to demonstrate the doctrine of justi- 
 fication before God, by faith, and not by our works 
 and deservings. The theses, or positions, which he 
 intended to defend, were according to custom, pub- 
 licly exposed, and he called upon Bejer, a monk of 
 the Augustine order, to be his respondent. The pro- 
 fessors of the university disapproved of the contro- 
 versy; and therefore it was held in the Augustinian 
 monastery. A large concourse of people attended, and 
 a number of the learned bore a part in the disputation. 
 Among the hearers were Martin Bucer, and John 
 Brentius, men, afterward eminent in the work of re- 
 formation. These and other persons, who in process 
 of time became celebrated theologians, admired the 
 acuteness, promptitude, and meekness of Luther; 
 were struck with the truths of the gospel, which were 
 new to their ears, and desired further instruction of 
 him in private. 
 
 While the cause of evangelical truth was thus grad- 
 ually progressing in Germany, two celebrated Roman- 
 ists, Eckius of Ingolstadt, and Prierias, a Dominican, 
 master of the sacred palace at Rome, wrote against 
 the theses of Luther; who published elaborate an- 
 swers on all the disputed points. He declared him- 
 self filled with grief, while seeing the true doctrine of 
 repentance superseded by indulgences ; that he was 
 unwillingly drawn into the contest ; that being defam- 
 ed as an enemy of the pope, he felt himself constrain- 
 ed to defend his own character. 
 
 While the literary contest was carrying on between 
 Luther and his antagonists, there were those at Rome, 
 who blamed the pope for not interesting himself in the 
 controversy, which, by exciting a spirit of resistance, 
 and producing divisions, daily increased in magnitude 
 and importance; ami which, in its termination, might 
 prove extremely injurious to the authority of the 
 Romish Church. Leo X. received these suggestions 
 
492 
 
 A 
 
 with indifference and contempt. The avaricious ven- 
 ders of indulgences were, however, not content with 
 the indifference, of the Pope, and loudly vociferated 
 against Luther ; and complaints were sent to Rome 
 from every quarter concerning the progress of here- 
 sy. Leo was at length roused from his indolence 
 and security, to acts of the most tyrannical violence. 
 He ordered Luther to appear at Rome within sixty 
 days, to answer for himself before certain judges, of 
 whom his antagonist Prierias was appointed one. 
 Our reformer took the wisest method to protect him- 
 self against the impending storm. He instantly sent 
 an account of the pope's citation to his friend Spalati- 
 nus, who was then with the elector Frederic at the di- 
 et of Augsburg, and in the strongest terms requested, 
 that, through the interposition of the prince, his cause 
 might be heard in Germany and not at Rome. Fred- 
 eric the Wise understood the arts and practice of the 
 court of Rome, and was convinced of the propriety, 
 and even of the necessity of seconding Luther's wish- 
 es. The Roman pontiff, through the importunity of 
 Frederic, at last consented, that cardinal Cajetan, who 
 was then his legate at Augsburg, should take cogni- 
 zance of the matter, with directions, that if the delin- 
 quent showed proper marks of penitence and submis- 
 sion, he should be kindly received again into the bo- 
 som of the church ; but if he refused to appear before 
 his appointed judge, the legate was commissioned 
 thento denounce publicly, against him and his adher- 
 ents, all the thunders and anathemas of papal indigna- 
 tion. 
 
 Leo X., to secure the concurrence of the elector of 
 Saxony, in his designs to crush Luther, wrote him a 
 polite, affectionate and artful letter, stating the meas- 
 ures he had been compelled to adopt, through the 
 disobedience of an Augustine monk, whose very order 
 and profession should have perpetually reminded him 
 of the duties of humility and obsequiousness. In this, 
 Leo informed the elector, he had ordered Luther to be 
 called upon to answer for himself, and that he had giv- 
 en directions to Cajetan his legate to this intent. And 
 
49$ 
 
 he concluded his letter with a strong exhortation and 
 injunction, that the elector, in virtue of the holy obe- 
 dience which he owed to the Roman church, should 
 contribute his utmost, to secure the person of Luther, 
 and deliver him up to the power of the holy see : he 
 declared, however, at the same time, that if he was 
 found innocent, he should be dismissed in peace and 
 in favor; and even, if he was guilty, should^ experi- 
 ence clemency upon his repentance. 
 
 In this letter, the pope gave no intimations that 
 within 16 days, after Luther was cited to appear at 
 Rome within 60 days, the bishop of Arcoli, the auditor 
 of the apostolic chamber, had proceeded against, ad- 
 judged and condemned him as an incorrigible heretic. 
 
 From this letter, Frederic learnt the determinations 
 of Leo and his advisers concerning Luther. Nothing 
 short of an utter renunciation of his opposition to the 
 corruptions and abominations of the Roman domina- 
 tion, and a full recantation of his sentiments relative to 
 the great truths of God's word, could effect his recon- 
 ciliation with the church. Destruction was menaced 
 if he adhered steadfastly to his faith. 
 
 Frederic, to provide for the safety of his favorite, 
 gave him letters of recommendation to the seriate and 
 principal inhabitants of Augsburg ; who, on his arrival, 
 exhorted him not to appear before the cardinal, till a 
 promise of safe conduct from the emperor, should be 
 obtained. Through the importunate request of these 
 same persons, this was granted ; and after three days 
 the emperor's council announced to the cardinal, that 
 the public faith was pledged to Luther, and therefore 
 he must take no violent steps against him. The car- 
 dinal answered, u lt is very well ; nevertheless I shall 
 do my duty." 
 
 Luther appeared before the cardinal, and was cour- 
 teously received. But, at the same time, he was re- 
 quired to retract his errors, to avoid them in future, 
 and to abstain from every thing, which might disturb 
 the peace of the church. The heaviest charge brought 
 against him was, he had transgressed the bull of Cle- 
 wneot VI, which had defined the nature and extent of" 
 
4m 
 
 indulgences. Luther urged that the holy script ures 3 
 which he could bring in support of his own doctrines, 
 had abundantly more weight with him than a pontifi- 
 cal bull, which in fact proved nothing, but merely re- 
 cited the opinion of Thomas Aquinas. Cajetan, in 
 answer, exalted the authority of the pope above all 
 councils, above the church, and even above the scrip- 
 tures themselves. Luther owned he might have err- 
 ed, but thought it reasonable that his errors should be 
 pointed out on scriptural grounds, before he should 
 be required to retract. But having found that no 
 progress was made by conversing with the cardinal, 
 all whose fine promises of kind treatment amounted 
 precisely to this, "You must either recant, or suiler 
 punishment;" he wisely determined to commit his 
 answers to writing. 
 
 Agreeably to this resolution, he appeared before the 
 cardinal with a notary and witnesses, repeated his pro- 
 testations of general obedience to the church, and his 
 perfect readiness to recant any error of which lie could 
 be convinced. Cajetan replied with so much acri- 
 mony that the accused monk had no opportunity of 
 explaining or of vindicating his sentiments. He ab- 
 solutely refused to dispute with Luther either in public 
 or in private ; would not consent that a single word 
 of his own answers should be put down in writing, 
 but continued to press for a recantation. 
 
 Staupitius, who had hitherto acted the part of a 
 steady friend of Luther, rose up, and entreated the le- 
 gate to permit the accused to return his answers, at 
 length, in writing. To which request, he, with great 
 difficulty at last acceded. 
 
 At the next conference, Luther exhibited his writ- 
 ten explanation and defence, which the cardinal treat- 
 ed with the greatest contempt. He told him he had 
 filled his paper with passages of scripture which were 
 irrelevant, and in general, that his answers were those 
 of a perfect idiot. He condescended, however, to say. 
 he would send them to Rome. Lastly, he ordered Lu- 
 ther to depart, and to come no more into his sight, un- 
 less he was disposed to recant. 
 
495 
 
 During this whole conference at Augsburg, Cajetan. 
 appears to have been conscious how ill qualified he 
 was to contend with Luther, as a disputant in theolo- 
 gical questions. His great anxiety evidently was, how 
 he might best insure obedience to the pontifical man- 
 dates. He enquired not whether these were agreea- 
 ble, or repugnant to scripture, it was sufficient for him 
 to know, they were the mandates of a pope. 
 
 The decretal of pope Clement VI., which Cajetan 
 urged with so much heat and positiveness against Lu- 
 ther in the dispute respecting indulgences, maintained, 
 that " one drop of Christ's blood being sufficient to re- 
 deem the whole human race, the remaining quantity, 
 which was shed in the garden and upon the cross, was 
 left as a legacy to the church ; to be ^ TREASURE FROM 
 WHICH INDULGENCES were to be drawn and adminis- 
 tered by the Roman pontiffs. The Augustine monk 
 had, for some time past, been too much enlightened 
 to digest such wild superstitious inventions; and the 
 man, who could call upon him, upon these grounds, 
 to renounce his errors, was not to be reasoned with. 
 Still it required extraordinary courage to deliver in a 
 formal protest against the belief of tenets, which were 
 both established by the highest authority, and also 
 supposed to have been dictated by an infallible judg- 
 ment. 
 
 It was on Friday the 14th of October 1518, that Lu- 
 ther made his last appearance before the pope's le- 
 gate. A report was spread that, notwithstanding the 
 engagements of a safe conduct, he was to be seized 
 and confined in irons. He remained, however, at 
 Augsburg till the succeeding Monday. On that day, 
 hearing nothing from the cardinal, he wrote to him a 
 most respectful letter, begged pardon for any irrever- 
 ent or unbecoming language which might have esca- 
 ped him in the heat and hurry of the debate ; and even 
 promised to desist from treating on the subject of in- 
 dulgences any more, provided his antagonists were 
 enjoined to observe a similar silence. But to retract 
 his sentiments, or give up the truth, he absolutely 
 refused. He said his conscience would not permit 
 
496 
 
 him to act in that manner. He acknowledged, that 
 his friends, and especially his vicar-general had taken 
 great pains to make him think humbly, submit his 
 own opinion, and form a right judgment : but, said he, 
 neither the favor, nor the advice, nor the command of 
 any man ought ever to make me do or say what is 
 contrary to my conscience. To this letter he receiv- 
 ed no answer. 
 
 On the next day, he sent another letter to Cajetan, 
 expressed in more spirited language and nearer to his 
 visual strain. " He conceived he had done every 
 thing which became an obedient son of the church. 
 He had undertaken a long and tedious journey ; he 
 was a man of a weak body, and had very little money 
 to spend. He had laid the book, which contained his 
 opinions, at the feet of his holiness the pope ; he had 
 appeared before his most reverend father, the cardinal, 
 and he was now waiting to be instructed how far he 
 was right in his opinions, and how far wrong. It 
 could no longer serve any good purpose to spend his 
 a burde 
 
 time there, and be a burden to his friends. He was 
 really in want of money. Besides, the cardinal had 
 told him, to come no more into his sight, unless he 
 would recant ;" and, said Luther, "in my former let- 
 ter I have distinctly pointed out all the recantation I 
 can possibly make." 
 
 Having appealed from the pope's nuncio to the 
 pope himself to be better informed, arid having made 
 his appeal before a notary public ; to prevent being 
 seized and imprisoned, he quitted Augsburg very 
 early in the morning of the 19th of October, 1518. A 
 friendly senator ordered the gates of the city to be 
 opened, and he mounted a horse which Staupitius had 
 procured for him. He had neither boots nor spurs, 
 nor sword ; and was so fatigued with that day's jour- 
 ney, that when he dismounted from his horse, he was 
 miab!e to stand. 
 
 Such was the conclusion of the conferences at 
 Augsburg, in which the firmness and plain dealing of 
 Luther were no less conspicuous than the unreasona- 
 ble and imperious behavior of the cardinal. 
 
497 
 
 As soon as the events at Augsburg were known at 
 Rome, the pope's legate was blamed exceedingly for 
 his severe and illiberal treatment of Luther, at the ve- 
 ry moment, it was said, when he ought to have pro- 
 mised him great riches, a bishopric, or even a cardi- 
 nal's hat. 
 
 In the bitterness of his heart, Cajetan complained 
 to the elector of Saxony, of Luther's insolent and in- 
 sincere behavior ; and even reproached his highness 
 for supporting such a character. He said that he had 
 conversed for many hours privately with Staupitius, 
 and one or two learned friends respecting this busi- 
 ness ; that his object had been to preserve the dignity 
 of the apostolic see, without disgracing BROTHER MAR- 
 TIN, and that when he had put matters into such a 
 train, as to have reasonable hopes of success, he had 
 found himself completely deluded. Martin, his several 
 associates, and his vicar-general, had suddenly disap- 
 peared. Martin, indeed, had written letters, but he 
 had not retracted one word of the scandalous language 
 he had used. Lastly, Cajetan warned the prince to 
 consider, how much he was bound in honor arid con- 
 science, either to send brother Martin bound to Rome, 
 or to banish him from his dominions. As to himself, 
 he said, he had washed his hands of so pestilential a 
 business, but his highness might be assured the cause 
 would go on at Rome. It was too important to be 
 passed over in silence ; and he entreated him not to 
 sully the glory of his illustrious house for the sake of 
 a paltry mendicant monk. 
 
 Soon after this Staupitius was induced to accept 
 the preferment to an abbacy at Saltsburg, which he 
 enjoyed but a very 'short time. He died in the year 
 1524. 
 
 3r 
 
498 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 The Controversy continued. The attempts of Miltiiz 
 and of Eckius. The progress of the Reformation till 
 the conclusion of the Diet of Worms. 
 
 Ti 
 HE condition of Luther after his return to Wittem- 
 berg, was peculiarly afflictive. He had now to expect 
 the total ruin of his wordly circumstances, the hard- 
 ships of poverty and exile, or aviolent death from pa- 
 pal vengeance. He was not, however, without hope of 
 the elector's protection, partly from the well known 
 justice and humanity of that prince's character, and 
 partly from the good offices of his secretary Spalatinus. 
 As yet, the interference of Frederic in the ecclesiasti- 
 cal controversy, had not only been firm and discreet, 
 but also as spirited and friendly, as could reasonably 
 be expected, in behalf of one who was considered by 
 the hierarchy a turbulent and abandoned heretic. It 
 still behoved Luther not to be over confident in his 
 expectations of future support. 
 
 Every day the contest grew more and more peri- 
 lous. Luther himself had a single eye to the prosper- 
 ity of Christ's kingdom ; but for the zeal or the perse- 
 verance of others, he could not be answerable. He 
 could not wonder if the love of many began to wax 
 cold. His friend Staupitius had already quitted Sax- 
 ony ; and, though the elector had hitherto manfully 
 defended him against the tyrannical proceedings of 
 the court of Rome, it might well be doubted whether 
 the chief motives of this magnanimous conduct, were 
 a regard for the honor of God and the religion of 
 Jesus. 
 
 It was an excellent part of Luther's character, that 
 in the most critical and difficult situations, he could 
 commit his cause to the God, whom he served, with 
 firm and entire reliance on HTS WILL ; and at the same 
 time be as active and indefatigable in using all pru- 
 dential means, as if the events depended solely on hu- 
 man exertions. In his present danger and perplexity. 
 
499 
 
 he Cast his eyes on France, where formerly sorrie op- 
 position had been made to the fulness of papal do- 
 mination ; and where he hoped he might profess and 
 preach divine truth with greater security than in Ger- 
 many. But Frederic expressing his earnest wish that 
 he would not leave Wittemberg, and declaring, with 
 a calmness and dignity, suitable to his princely char- 
 acter, that he could not expel him from his dominions, 
 without doing much injury to his university, gave as- 
 mirance that he should not consider him as an heretic 
 till he had been heard and was convicted. By this 
 determination Luther resolved to remain on the spot, 
 where he had for some time, besides his literary and 
 controversial employments, discharged the office of 
 pastor of Wittenlberg, as the substitute of the ordinary 
 minister who was then laboring under bodily infirmi- 
 ties. 
 
 Luther, desirous of anticipating the papal bull, 
 which he had for some time been daily expecting, re- 
 newed his appeal to the pope, or in failure of this, to a 
 general council. Fifteen days after that, Leo issued 
 a bull, confirming the doctrine of indulgences in the 
 most absolute manner. To maintain this iniquitous 
 traffic, without the least correction of its abuses, pre- 
 vented every attempt which might be made to recon- 
 cile Luther to the hierarchy. The providence of God 
 was admirable in thus having barred up his return, 
 to the church of Rome, while, as yet, he was far from 
 being convinced of the totally antichristian state of 
 the popedom. 
 
 The court of Rome r finding it impossible to stop 
 the proceedings of Luther by mere authority and 
 threatening, had recourse to 'the arts of negociation; 
 and Charles Miltitz, a Saxon knight, of insinuating 
 manners, was the new legate to transact the business. 
 He was commissioned to present to Frederic the gol- 
 den consecrated ROSE ; and if possible, to put an end 
 to all the ecclesiastical dispute which had produced 
 the rupture between Luther and the Roman see. 
 Frederic had formerly solicited the favor of the ROSE 
 with much earnestness ; but on this occasion, he is 
 
500 
 
 to have received it with a cool and almost con- 
 temptuous politeness; and in no wise could he be in- 
 duced to change his measures respecting his favorite 
 professor of Witternberg. 
 
 Miltitz was foiled in his purposes, and repaired to 
 Leipsic ; there, having found Tetzel, he twice rebuk- 
 ed him with the greatest severity before his own pro- 
 vincial, on account of his iniquitous practices in the 
 business of indulgences. By doing this he sought to 
 gratify the advocates for reformation, and to shelter 
 the Roman pontiff from censure. The new legate, 
 having had several fruitless conferences with Luther, 
 as to the essential points of controversy, the electors 
 of Saxony and of Treves, agreed to defer the complete 
 examination of the matters in dispute to the first Ger- 
 man Diet of the new emperor Charles V ; and that, in 
 the mean time, Luther should write a submissive let- 
 ter to the pope. To this our reformer readily consent- 
 ed, for he was by no means disposed to break with 
 the pontiff; and it is not improbable he would have 
 continued an obedient subject to the Roman see, all 
 his days, if he might have been permitted, without 
 molestation, to discharge the office of a faithful pastor 
 of Christ. 
 
 While Miltitz was attempting to negociate a recon- 
 ciliation in Germany, Tetzel, the wretched sub-agent 
 of Albert, whose scandalous conduct had so mi>ch 
 disgraced his employers, met with the reward, which 
 frequently awaits the ministers of iniquity. He found 
 himself deserted by all the world. Miltitz, in partic- 
 ular, had treated him so roughly, that this daring and 
 boisterous instrument of papal avarice and extortion 
 actually fell sick, wasted away, and at last died of a 
 broken heart. 
 
 Popery was not a religion which betrayed only oc- 
 casional defects and errors. It had long been grow- 
 ing into a SYSTEM of corruption ; all the parts of which 
 were thoroughly connected with each other, and con- 
 spired together to deceive, defraud, and domineer 
 over mankind. The members of the system sympa- 
 thized with ^heir head in a remarkable manner: they 
 
501 
 
 traw their very existence dependent on its safety, and 
 flew to its defence on the slightest appearance" of danger. 
 Eckius of Ingolstadt, the avowed adversary of Luther, 
 a man of brilliant talents, and ambitious to exhibit his 
 theological skill, was not inactive. He challenged 
 Carolstadt, a doctor of divinity, arch-deacon of Wit- 
 lernberg, and colleague and adherent of Luther, and 
 even Luther himself, to try their strength with him in 
 a contest on the points in dispute. The challenge 
 was accepted ; and George, (Juke of Saxony, uncle of 
 the elector, offered the combatants the city of Leip- 
 sic, as the scene of debate, with an engagement for 
 their security and a promise of every convenience. 
 He was himself a strenuous Roman catholic, and ex- 
 pected great glory would accrue to the papal cause 
 from the well known abilities and attainments of Eck- 
 ius. Luther obtained leave to be present as a spec- 
 tator, but was expressly denied the grant of a safe 
 conduct if he attempted to appear in the character of 
 a disputant. The assembly was splendid, the expect- 
 ations of mankind were strongly fixed ; and it was 
 vainly imagined that some decision would be made 
 concerning the objects of contention. 
 
 Eckius delivered what he had to say with great an- 
 imation, and is allowed to have far exceeded Carol- 
 stadt in energetic exertions of voice and action. So 
 long as an appeal to books and written documents 
 was admitted, Carolstadt defended himself with a 
 rich variety of apt and excellent quotations ; but Eck- 
 ius having made a proposal, that all books should be 
 laid aside, and the dispute go on without them ; the 
 multitude gave a shout of approbation ; and Eckius, 
 who had the better memory and a greater flow of 
 words, then supported his side of the question in a 
 more plausible manner, than his opponent. 
 
 This disputation continued for six days, during 
 which time, the superior eloquence and acuteness of 
 Eckius seem to have afforded a temporary triumph ta 
 the enemies of the reformation. Flushed with sue- 
 cess, and thirsting for glory, this champion of the pa- 
 pal system at length como to Luther at his lodgings. 
 
562 
 
 and with an air of confidence said, " I understand you 
 will not dispute with me in public." " How can I 
 dispute with you," said Luther, " when the duke 
 George refuses me my request of a safe conduct ? 5> 
 Eckius replied, " If I am not to combat you, I will 
 spend no more time on Carolstadt. It was on YOUR 
 account that I came here. Suppose I could obtain 
 the public faith for your safety, would you then meet 
 me and try your strength ?" Luther consented; and 
 very soon after he had the duke's leave to take (f arol- 
 atadt's place in the public debate. 
 
 This lasted for ten days, with uncommon ardor and 
 without intermission. Among the articles of contro- 
 versy were the doctrines of purgatory and indulgen- 
 ces, the nature of repentance and remission of sins, and, 
 particularly the foundation of the supremacy of the 
 Roman pontiffs. It was in this last article of contro- 
 versy, that Eckius placed his chief strength and ex- 
 pectation of victory. 
 
 During this debate Eckius was so much struck with 
 the reasonings of Luther, and especially with the neat, 
 and well digested order in which his materials were 
 arranged, that he was compelled to acknowledge, be- 
 fore a splendid audience, the qualifications and attain- 
 ments of his able opponent. He even besought their 
 illustrious and magnificent mightinesses to pardon him, 
 who was so much occupied with other concerns, if he 
 should not be able to produce such a mass of accurate 
 testimonies as the learned doctor had laid before them. 
 He came to Leipsic, he said, not to write books, but 
 to dispute. 
 
 The Roman domination now saw clearly that the 
 man, who had proceeded to such extremities, was not 
 to be managed by mild and gentle measures, nor to 
 be gained over by bribes and flatteries: and now judg- 
 ed him to be an enemy of what they termed the holy 
 church, and that he merited all that they could inflict, 
 their utmost fury and indignation. 
 
 But God was gradually preparing the mind of the 
 Saxon reformer to stand fast in the liberty wherewith 
 Christ had made him free. That the reader may see 
 
503 
 
 how this was effected, let him listen to Luther's own 
 statement of the matter : " However blameless a life 
 I might lead as a monk, I experienced a most unquiet 
 conscience ; I perceived myself a sinner before God; 
 I saw that I could do nothing to appease him, and I 
 hated the idea of a just God that punishes sinners. I 
 was well versed in all St. Paul's writings ; and, in par- 
 ticular, I had a most wonderful desire to understand 
 the epistle to the Romans. But I was puzzled with 
 the expression, " THEREIN is the righteousness of God 
 revealed." My heart rose against God with a sort of 
 silent blasphemy: at least in secret I said with great 
 murmur and indignation, was it not enough that 
 wretched man, already eternally ruined by the curse 
 of original depravity, should be oppressed with every 
 species of misery through the condemning power of 
 the commandment, but that even through the GOSPEL, 
 God should threaten us with his anger and justice, 
 and add affliction to affliction ? Thus I raged with 
 a troubled conscience. Over and over I turned the 
 above mentioned passage to the Romans most impor- 
 tunately, vly thirst to know the apostle's meaning 
 was insatiable. 
 
 " At length, while I was meditating day and night 
 on the words, and their connexion with what immedi- 
 ately follows, namely, " the just shall live by faith," it 
 pleased God to have pity upon me, to open mine eyes, 
 and to show rne that the righteousness of God, which is 
 here said in the gospel to be REVEALED from faith to 
 faith, relates to the method by which God, in his mer- 
 cy, justifies a sinner through faith, agreeably to what is 
 written, " the just shall live by faith." Hence I felt 
 myself a new man, and all the scriptures appeared to 
 have a knew face. I ran quickly through them as my 
 memory enabled me; 1 collected together the leading 
 terms ; and I observed, in their meaning, a strict anal- 
 ogy, according to my new views. Thus, in many in- 
 stances, the WORK of God means that which he works 
 in us; and the power, and wisdom of God, mean the 
 power and wisdom, which his Spirit operates in the 
 minds of the faithful; and in the same manner ace to 
 
504 
 
 be understood the PATIENCE, the SALVATION, the 
 of God. 
 
 The expression, "RIGHTEOUSNESS of God," now be- 
 came as sweet to my mind as it had been hateful be- 
 fore ; and this very passage of St. Paul proved to me 
 the entrance into Paradise." 
 
 This interesting account, of the steps by which Lu- 
 ther was led to evangelical light in the important doc- 
 trine of justification by faith, evidently refers to what 
 passed in his mind about the time of the celebrated 
 disputation at Leipsic ; and for that reason it was 
 introduced in this place. 
 
 After this public disputation, Luther carefully re- 
 viewed all his positions which had been the subject of 
 debate with Eckius, and published them with concise 
 explanations, and with arguments in their support, 
 consisting of appeals to scripture and ecclesiastical 
 history. 
 
 The publications of Luther were circulated through- 
 out Germany, and read with the greatest avidity by 
 all ranks and orders. Eckius and other advocates 
 of the Roman catholic cause, answered the heretic 
 with great heat and indignation. Luther replied with 
 the promptitude and precision, and also with the zeal 
 and confidence of a man, who was perfectly master of 
 the arguments on both sides of the questions in dis- 
 pute, who felt deeply interested in the establishment 
 of truth, and had thoroughly examined the founda- 
 tions of liis opposition to the prevailing corruption. By 
 these means the discussions at Leipsic were detailed 
 with minuteness, and were continued with spirit; they 
 every where became topics of common conversation; 
 and, as Luther constantly appealed to plain sense, and 
 the written word of God, the scholastic subtilties of 
 Eckius lost their weight and reputation among the 
 people. The advantages to the cause of the reforma- 
 tion, which in this way resulted from the public con- 
 test at Leipsic, were great and most important. 
 
 This memorable controversy took place in the year 
 1519. The elector of Saxony, who was the only 
 prince that publicly favored the reformation, found 
 
505 
 
 both his knowledge of the scriptures, and his kindnes* 
 toward Luther, much increased by what he read, and 
 heard from others relative to the points debated in this 
 controversy. Even, before Luther had dared to with- 
 stand and expose the corrupt practices of the Roman 
 see, the mind of Frederic had been much exercised 
 about Divine things. With much diligence and con- 
 stant prayer he had read the word of God, and was ex- 
 tremely displeased with the usualmodes of interpreting 
 it. And when, through the grace of God, and the in- 
 strumentality of Luther, some rays of evangelical light 
 began to break forth, he opened himself explicitly to 
 his chaplain, Spalatinus, to this effect : " I have always 
 indulged a secret hope, that in a short time we should 
 be blessed with a purer knowledge of what we ought to 
 believe." Meanwhile he gave attention to practical 
 sermons, and read the scriptures with great delight ; 
 especially the four gospels ; from which he collected 
 many excellent passages, and so impressed them on his 
 memory, that whenever occasion required, he could 
 readily apply them with great ad vantage and comfort. 
 He used particularly to insist on that saying of our 
 Lord, " Without me ye can do nothing," more than 
 any other. On this he remarked, u How can it pos- 
 sibly be, that mankind should be perfectly free from 
 all corrupt bias, when Christ himself saith, "without 
 me ye can do nothing ?" 
 
 Such were the reflections, which the disputation at 
 Leipsic, concerning the necessity of GRACE, and the 
 natural condition of man since the fall of Adam, ap- 
 pear to have produced in the mind of Frederic the 
 WISE. While they imply considerable insight into 
 several of the essential doctrines of Christianity, they 
 also throw much light on the religious character of this 
 prince. Frederic had a deep sense of his own weak- 
 ness and sinful ness, and felt great anxiety that the 
 faith of Chriot might he preached among the people 
 in its purity ; and this anxiety kept pace with his own 
 progress in practical religion. But still this excellent 
 personage remained in bondage to papal authority and 
 papal superstitions ; hence, though his views of the 
 
506 
 
 bible were in perfect harmony with those of -Luther, 
 and though he further agreed with the reformer, that 
 shameful abuses ought to be corrected, dangerous er- 
 rors to be exposed, salutary truths propagated, and 
 mankind put into possession of the words of eternal 
 life, he nevertheless continued to feel most disquieting 
 apprehensions, lest,, in compassing these important 
 purposes, OFFENCE should be given to the majesty of 
 the Roman pontiffs. 
 
 The celebrated Philip Melancthon, professor of 
 Greek in the university of Wittemberg, who is always 
 numbered among the most illustrious and respectable 
 instruments of the reformation, was now only about 
 23 years of age. Already he had favored Luther's 
 intentions of teaching pure Christianity and of deliver- 
 ing it from the reigning darkness and superstition. 
 Being present at the conferences at Leipsic, and being 
 possessed of the rare faculty of discerning truth in its 
 most intricate connexions and combinations, while 
 listening to the sophistry of Eckius, his mind became 
 better acquainted than before, with the argumentative 
 resources of the Romish religion ; at the same time 
 the solid reasonings of Luther, supported by constant 
 appeals to the scriptures, convinced his mind of the 
 soundness of the principles of his industrious and per- 
 secuted friend, and he then became determined to em- 
 bark in the cause of religious liberty, with zeal and 
 fidelity. From this period, Melancthon applied him- 
 self most intensely to the interpretation of the scrip- 
 tures, and the defence of pure Christian doctrine ; and 
 he is justly esteemed by protestants to have been, un- 
 der divine Providence, the most powerful coadjutor of 
 the Saxon reformer. His mild and peaceable tem- 
 per, his aversion to schismatic contention, his repu- 
 tation for piety and knowledge ; and above all, his 
 happy art of exposing error and maintaining truth in 
 the most perspicuous language, all these endowments 
 concurred to render him eminently serviceable to the 
 revival of the religion of Christ. Little did Eckius 
 imagine, that the public dispution, in which he had 
 foreseen nothing but victory and exultation^ and the 
 
507 
 
 downfall of Lutheranism, would give rise to another 
 theological champion, who should contend for Christian 
 truth and liberty with the spirit of a primitive apostle. 
 
 Thus, the pious reader may see, that, in the event 
 and consequences of the ecclesiastical conflict be- 
 tween the Romish and Protestant advocates, he has 
 much cause to adore the wisdom and goodness of 
 that Being, "who worketh all things after the counsel 
 of his own will ;" and also amidst the greatest vaunt- 
 ings and selfsufficient boastings of those who are op- 
 posed to the truth as it is in Jesus, that he may still 
 trust confidently in God, and humbly say with the 
 royal songster of Israel, "Surely the wrath of man 
 shall praise thee : the remainder of wrath shalt thou 
 restrain." 
 
 Luther, conscious of the justness of the cause in 
 which he had engaged, and seeing the pope and his 
 adherents determined to crush the recent reformation, 
 wrote to the new emperor Charles V. imploring in 
 modest terms, his assistance and protection. In this 
 he assures the emperor that nothing was nearer his 
 own heart than that he might be permitted to dis- 
 charge his duty quietly in his own sphere. The vi- 
 olent and deceitful practices of others had compelled 
 him to appear in public, but the very best men living, 
 as well as his own conscience, would witness, that his 
 sole object was, the propagation of evangelical truth, 
 in opposition to the superstitions of human tradition. 
 " For this cause," continues he, "during almost three 
 years, I have been persecuted in every way that my 
 enemies could invent. In vain have I proposed terms 
 of peace ; in vain have I offered to be silent ; in vain 
 have I begged for information and correction of my 
 errors. After having tried all methods without suc- 
 cess, I have judged it advisable to follow the exam- 
 ple of Athanasius, in applying to your imperial majes- 
 ty, if so be, it may please God, in that way, to protect 
 his own cause. I humbly, therefore, beseech your 
 serene majesty, that as you bear the sword for the 
 praise of the good and the punishment of the bad, 
 you would deign to take under the shadow of your 
 
508 
 
 wings the cause of truth ; and as to myself, I crave 
 your support not one moment longer than while I 
 shall appear to have reason on my side. Abandon 
 me the instant I am found i-npious or heretical. All 
 I beg is, that my doctrines, whether true or false, 
 may not be condemned unheard and without exami- 
 nation. If your most sacred majesty, by your interpo- 
 sition, should prevent the exercise of tyrannical pow- 
 er, such a conduct would be worthy of your royal and 
 imperial throne, would adorn your government, and 
 consecrate to posterity the age in which you live." 
 
 Luther was not insensible of the measures which 
 Eckius was pursuing to effect, if possible, his destruc- 
 tion, and was not remiss in using means for his own 
 preservation. It was not, however, till the year 1520 ? 
 that Leo X. fulminated that damnatory bull against 
 Luther, which proved fatal to the established hierar- 
 chy. In this, all persons were forbidden to read his 
 writings, upon pain of excommunication ; such as had 
 them in their custody were commanded to burn them, 
 and he himself, if he did not, within 60 days, send or 
 bring his retractation to Rome, was pronounced an 
 obstinate heretic, was excommunicated, and deliver- 
 ed unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh; and all 
 secular princes were required, under pain of incurring 
 the same censures, and of forfeiting all their dignities, 
 to seize his person, that he might be punished as his 
 crimes deserved. 
 
 How little Luther was intimidated or disconcerted 
 by this bull we learn from one of his letters written 
 to his friend Spalatinus soon after its promulgation. 
 " At length" he says "the Roman bull is come; and 
 Eckius is the bearer of it. I treat it with contempt. 
 I consider it in all respects a machination of Eckius, 
 and I attack it as impious and false. You see that 
 the express doctrines of Christ himself are here con- 
 demned : no cause assigned why I should be deemed 
 a heretic ; and lastly, I am called, not to a hearing, 
 but to a retraction. I shall, however, as yet, not seem 
 to know that it is a papal bull, but treat it as a fiction 
 fprgery. Oh! how I wish that the emperor 
 
569 
 
 Charles V. would act like a man ; and in fcehalf of 
 Christ, oppose the emissaries of Satan. On my own 
 account I have no fear. Let the will of the Lord be 
 done. Neither do I see what steps the prince should 
 take ; perhaps a silent connivance is his truest policy. 
 Every where, even at Leipsic, I understand, that both 
 the bull and Eckius are extremely despised ; so that I 
 almost expect it will, of itself, come to nothing, if we 
 ourselves do not procure it importance, by discover- 
 
 I ing too great anxiety. I send you a true copy of the 
 bull, that you may see what these Romans are. If 
 
 | they prevail, there is an end of the church, and of the 
 faith of the gospel. From the bottom of my heart I 
 
 i rejoice that I suffer this persecution in the best of cau- 
 
 | ses ; though I am not worthy to undergo tribulation 
 in so holy a conflict. I feel myself now more at liber- 
 ty, being assured that the popedom is antichristian, and 
 the seat of satan. My only prayer is, that God may 
 preserve his own people from the impious seductions 
 of Romish adherents. Erasmus writes, that the em- 
 perors' court overflows with beggars and dependants, 
 all disposed to promote tyrannical principles, so that 
 there is no hope in Charles. No wonder ! Trust not 
 in princes, or in any child of man, for there is no help 
 in them." 
 
 The first defensive step, which the intrepid reform- 
 er took, after having received the pope's bull, was to 
 appeal from the sentence of the Roman pontiff, to the 
 superior authority of a general council. In this he 
 appeals from his holiness, "as a rash, iniquitous, ty- 
 rannical judge ; as a hardened heretic, and apostate ; 
 as an enemy, Antichrist, and opposer of the sacred 
 scriptures ; and as a proud and blasphemous despiser 
 of the sacred church of God, and of all legal councils." 
 Soon after this appeal, he published, in answer to 
 the bull, two small tracts, in which he exposed, with 
 great spirit, the injustice, arrogance, and,, despotism 
 of the Roman court. The first is entitled, Martin Lu- 
 ther against the execrable buil of Antichrist. In this- 
 he affects to entertain some suspicion that the bull it- 
 a wicked forgery of Eckius and his party. 
 
51$ 
 
 * How," said he, " is it possible that so wild and un- 
 christian a composition should be the production of the 
 pontiff and his learned cardinals ? If indeed the fact 
 should turn out to be so, if indeed the bishop of Rome 
 should be actually found to rage against him in the 
 manner which the terms of the bull implied, he con- 
 gratulated himself for being called to suffer in so right- 
 eous a cause. He could have but one wish, namely, 
 never more to be reconciled to so impious an Anti- 
 christ, never more to desire communication with him ; 
 but to surrender his life, if it so pleased God, with 
 grateful joy and thanksgiving. On account of his sins 
 he said, he merited other treatment than so distingush- 
 ed and honorable a martyrdom. The author of this 
 damnatory bull, continued he, does not understand 
 Luther. Luther has been long used to controversies; 
 and is not to be frightened by vain threatenings. He 
 knows the difference between an unsatisfactory, un- 
 meaning paper, and the powerful written word of 
 God." ' 
 
 Luther then calls on all Christian kings and princes, 
 and particularly on the emperor Charles V. and puts 
 them in mind of their engagements at their baptism. 
 He addresses bishops, learned doctors, and all who 
 confess the name of Christ, and entreats them to 
 come forward and defend the distressed church of 
 God from the machinations of the papists. Lastly, 
 with the greatest seriousness he admonishes the pope 
 himself, and his cardinals, no longer to persevere in 
 their madness, no longer to act the undoubted part of 
 the Antichrist of the scriptures. 
 
 Our reformer calls his second tract, a defence of 
 the articles of Martin Luther, which are condemned 
 by the bull of Leo X. Here, in support of the author- 
 ity of scripture, he says ; " The sacred writings are not 
 to be understood, but by that Spirit, with which they 
 were written ; which Spirit is never felt to be more 
 powerful and energetic than when HE attends the seri- 
 ous perusal of the writings which HE HIMSELF dictated. 
 Setting aside an implicit dependence on all human 
 writings, let us strenuously adhere to the scripture? 
 
611 
 
 alone. The primitiAe church acted thus ; she must 
 have acted so ; for she had seen no writings of the fa- 
 thers. The scripture is its own interpreter, trying, judg- 
 ing, and illustrating all things. If it be not so, why do 
 Augustine and other holy fathers appeal to the scrip- 
 ture as the first principles of truth, and confirm their 
 own assertions by its authority ? Why do we per- 
 versely interpret the scriptures, not by themselves, 
 but by human glosses, contrary to the example of all 
 fathers? If these fashionable modes of exposition be 
 right, we had better at once admit, that the writings of 
 the fathers themselves are more perspicuous than the 
 scriptures. Again : if this be the case, the fathers act- 
 ed very absurdly, when they undertook to prove their 
 own writings by the authority of the scriptures ; and 
 it will follow, that we ought to pay more regard to 
 expositors than to the word of God. The apostles 
 proved their assertions by the scriptures; yet they 
 surely had more right to plead their own authority 
 than any of the fathers had. Let the fathers be al- 
 lowed to have been holy men ; still, they were only 
 men, and men inferior to apostles and prophets : let 
 them, however, be an example to us ; and, as they in 
 their lime labored in the word of God, so let us in 
 our days do the same. There is one vineyard, and 
 there are laborers employed at different hours. It is 
 enough that we have learned from the fathers the 
 duty of studying and diligently laboring in the scrip- 
 lures ; it is not necessary that we should approve of 
 all their works. There are seasons when the dil- 
 igence of many does not afford what the critical op- 
 portunity gives to one, provided that opportunity be 
 connected with the incomprehensible energy of the 
 Holy Spirit." 
 
 The time had now come, when the majesty of the 
 divine word began to be revered as decisive in all ca- 
 ses of doubt. The light of the apostolic age began to 
 beam anew on the nations of Europe, and to be pro- 
 ductive of the most salutary consequences to millions 
 of such individuals, as have thought or may think, the 
 care of an immortal soul to be a weighty and a ration- 
 al employment. 
 
512 
 
 Truly, there was' an asperity in Luther's style oi 
 writing which threw a shade over all his virtues. Let 
 us hear him apologize for this to his friend Spalatinus, 
 " I own I am more vehement than I ought to be : I 
 have to do with men who blaspheme evangelical truth ; 
 with wolves ; with those who condemn me unheard, 
 without admonishing, without instructing me ; and 
 who utter the most atrocious slanders against myself 
 and the word of God ; even the most senseless spirit 
 might be moved to resistance by their unreasonable 
 c % onduct ; much more I, who am choleric by nature ; 
 am possessed 'of very irritable feeling, and of a tern- 
 
 fer easily apt to exceed the bounds of moderation, 
 cannot, however, but be surprised, whence this novel 
 taste arose, to call every thing spoken against an ad- 
 versary, abusive language. What think ye of Christ ? 
 Was he a reviler, when he calls the Jews an adulter- 
 ous and perverse generation, a progeny of vipers, 
 hypocrites, the children of the devil? What think ye 
 of Paul, who calls the enemies of the gospel, dogs, 
 and seducers; who in the 13th chapter of the Acts 
 inveighs against a false prophet in this manner, " O 
 full of subtilty and malice, thou child of the devil, 
 thou enemy of all righteousness ? Why does not Paul 
 gently sooth the impostor, rather than thunder at this 
 rate? A mind conscious of truth cannot with easy in- 
 difference endure the obstinate enemies of truth. I 
 see that all persons demand of me moderation, and 
 especially those of my adversaries who least of all 
 exhibit it. If I am too warm, I am yet frank and 
 open ; in which point I think that 1 excel those, who 
 always act with artifice and guile." 
 
 In another letter to the same friend, he expresses 
 himself thus ; " Popery will never be reformed one 
 tittle by writings, that give no offence, that make no 
 attack , in a word, that do not bite. For the pontiffs 
 consider these very gentle and civil admonitions as a 
 species of servile cringing; they are content to be 
 feared, and they persevere in their wicked courses, as 
 though they had an absolute right to remain incorri- 
 gible. 
 
513 
 
 It cannot be denied that, notwithstanding the heat 
 and impetuosity, natural to Luther, he always consid- 
 ered well what he wrote, and that, in all his writings, 
 he displayed the man of piety, genius and erudition. 
 
 When Luther, by his publications, had opened 
 men's eyes to the impiety and injustice of the sentence 
 of the Roman court, he proceeded to perform one of 
 the boldest actions recorded in history. Convinced 
 that his appeal to a general council would be disregard- 
 ed by the pope and his cardinals, and foreseeing, that, 
 if he did not soon recant his heresies, the thunder of 
 excommunication would be levelled against the man 
 who had so long been the object of ecclesiastical in- 
 dignation, he determined to separate himself from the 
 communion of the church of Rome ; and as Leo, in his 
 bull, had appointed Luther's books to be burnt, he, by 
 way of retaliation, erected an immense pile of wood 
 without the walls of Wittemberg, and there, in the 
 presence of the professors and students of the univer- 
 sity, and a vast multitude of spectators, committed 
 to the flames, the papa! bull of his excommunication, 
 together with the volumes of the decretals and can- 
 on law which related to the pontifical jurisdiction. 
 By this act, he publicly withdrew from the Romish 
 church, and manifested that he considered it whol- 
 ly corrupt and impious, and himself to be no longer 
 a subject of the pontiff. By this act too he mani- 
 fested his determination to rest his own defence on the 
 vigor and perseverance of his attacks, and to aim at 
 nothing short of victory in his contest with the Rornish 
 hierarchy. This bold and intrepid step both encourag- 
 ed his friends and astonished his enemies. The die 
 was now cast : and his life was to be saved, not by a 
 vain assertion that he was no longer a subject of the 
 pope, but by putting it out of the power of Antichrist 
 to do him harm. 
 
 Luther, to convince mankind that the measure he 
 had just executed, with so much firmness and intrepid- 
 ity was not a hasty thought, or the ebullition of a sud- 
 den ^'i-.^t of passion, immediately selected 30 articles 
 from the code of papal laws, as a specimen of the ini- 
 SR 
 
514 
 
 *|uitous contents of the books which he had just con- 
 sumed; upon which he wrote concise and pointed 
 remarks, then printed the whole, and circulated the 
 same in a little tract among the people, calling upon 
 them in the most animated strains to exercise their 
 own judgments in matters of such vast importance. 
 " Let no man's good sense," said he, " be so far seduc- 
 ed as to reverence the volumes which I have burnt, 
 on account of their great antiquity or their high titles. 
 Let every one first hear and see what the pope teach- 
 es in his own books, and what abominable, poisonous 
 doctrines, are to be found among the SACRED, SPIRIT- 
 UAL laws ; and then let him freely judge whether I 
 have done right or not in burning such writings." 
 
 The two last of the articles selected by Luther were 
 as follow : 
 
 " The pope has the power to interpret scripture, and 
 to teach as he pleases : and no person is allowed to 
 interpret in a different way." 
 
 " The pope does not derive from the scripture, but 
 the scripture derives from the pope, authority, power p 
 and dignity." 
 
 Luther then affirms, that comparing together the 
 different parts of the canon law, its language amounts 
 to no less than this, " That the pope is God on earth ; 
 above all that is earthly or heavenly, temporal or spir- 
 itual ; that all things belong to the pope ; and, that n* 
 one must venture to say, What doest thou ?" 
 
 " Let these articles," continues he, " suffice for the 
 present. If any papal advocate shall be so wanton as 
 to defend them, I will then not fail to place the pic- 
 ture I have given in a much clearer light. Nothing 
 can be easier to me, than to produce many more pas- 
 sages of the same stamp. Were I to proceed with the 
 sad tale t have to tell, it would appear that all which 
 hitherto I have advanced against the popedom was 
 but jest and diversion* 
 
 u I undertook this cause at first in the NAME of God ; 
 and in the confident hope that the favorable moment 
 was arrived, when of itself, and without further help 
 from me, it would proceed as the cause ef Gad, t 
 certain victory." 
 
515 
 
 Thus the plain good sense and integrity of Luther, 
 did not at this time fail him. He had but to expo^fe 
 to every eye the secrets of the canonical volumes, to 
 shake the papal foundations to their basis. When 
 men read the extravagant propositions which pro- 
 claimed the absolute power of the pope, and their 
 own ignominious bondage, their patience startled and 
 began to mutiny against a jurisdiction, which their 
 understandings, as well as Luther's observations and 
 comments, convinced them was founded altogether in 
 injustice and impiety. Hence it was, that many, 
 even of the Roman catholics in Germany, who were 
 zealous for the liberty and independence of their 
 country, were disposed to countenance the reformer 
 in the resistance of the pope's tyrannical bull ; and 
 hence also, though Aleander, the pope's nuncio, pro- 
 cured a second bull against him, couched in the most 
 peremptory and definitive terms, it proved almost en- 
 tirely inefficient In this, the pope impiously styles 
 himself, The divinely appointed dispenser of spiritual 
 and temporal punishments. 
 
 The pope was now rapidly losing his influence 
 which he had maintained over the minds of men en- 
 thralled in the corruptions of the Romish church. 
 Though he fulminated bull after bull against Luther, 
 yet nobody appeared to execute the pontifical man- 
 dates. 
 
 Charles V. now at the HEAD of the empire, from 
 principles of state policy, refused to publish any con- 
 clusive edict against Luther, before the discussion of 
 his case at the approaching diet of Worms. 
 
 This space of time Luther improved in diligently 
 reconsidering and republishing the doctrines which he 
 had taught, confirming them by new arguments, and 
 rendering his compositions more correct and worthy 
 of approbation. And as Aleander had burnt his books, 
 general curiosity was excited to read his publications 
 with great avidity. 
 
 His affairs were now coming fast to a crisis. The 
 eyes of all Europe were fixed on the diet of Worms. 
 That general and astonishing REVOLUTION of send- 
 
616 
 
 ment which we have observed, was proceeding with 
 spch incredible rapidity, that it now behoved the em- 
 peror and the princes to take public cognizance of 
 transactions which could no longer be buried in ob- 
 scurity. Accordingly Charles V. in his circular let- 
 ters to the electors and other members of Ihe diet, in- 
 formed them that he had summoned the assembly of 
 the empire, for the purpose of concerting with them 
 the most proper measures for checking the progress 
 of those new and dangerous opinions, which threaten- 
 ed to disturb the peace of Germany, and to overturn 
 the religion of their ancestors. 
 
 After the diet had met, a considerable time W 7 as 
 spent in formalities, and in making some general re- 
 gulations respecting the internal peace of the empire. 
 They then proceeded to take into consideration the 
 religious questions and controversies. The papal le- 
 gates pressed hard for an immediate edict of condem- 
 nation against the man who had so long disturbed the 
 peace of the church, and w r ho, for more than six 
 months had been under actual sentence of excommu- 
 nication, as an incorrigible heretic. 
 
 Fruitless pains were taken to compose the dilig- 
 ences. Frederic, the friend of Luther, was firm, and 
 acted with cautious circumspection. He insisted, in 
 general, on an equitable hearing in behalf of his sub- 
 ject Luther, and declared that he himself did not pre- 
 tend to be a judge of theological doctrines and dis- 
 putes. 
 
 The members of the diet withstood the pope's ad- 
 vocates, in their attempts to procure Luther's con- 
 demnation without deliberation or inquiry, as incon- 
 sistent with justice, and unauthorised by precedent. 
 
 The emperor himself admonished the principal nun- 
 cio Aleander. that it behoved him to explain to the 
 diet some just and weighty causes of Luther's excom- 
 munication ; causes too, which should be abstracted 
 from the particular interests of the court of Home and 
 of the pope, and be evidently connected with the gen- 
 eral concerns of religion. At present, he said, an opin- 
 ion very much prevailed in Germany, that because 
 
517 
 
 Doctor Luther had defended the rights and privilege* 
 of his countrymen, and declaimed against those odi- 
 ous and arbitrary impositions of which the princes 
 themselves had complained more than once, he was 
 on that very account, disliked and censured at Rome, 
 and that in fact, this was the real foundation of all the 
 harsh and peremptory proceedings against him. So 
 important a point must be cleared up before any fur- 
 ther steps could be taken ; and an opportunity, there- 
 fore, was now .afforded the nuncio of proving, to the 
 satisfaction of a full diet, that the pontiffs damnatory 
 edicts against Luther did not originate in partiality 
 and injustice. 
 
 Aleander undertook the business : and, producing 
 Luther's writings, from them endeavored to prove that 
 the whole sect of this notorious heretic ought to be 
 abolished. He contended that their principles were 
 equally destructive to both church and state : for they 
 annihilated the spiritual jurisdiction of the HEAD of 
 the church, and even the authority of a general coun- 
 cil : and if these are taken away, who would be left 
 to interpret scripture in doubtful cases? There would 
 soon be as many religions, as there are men of fancy 
 and imagination. 
 
 This was not the worst. The Saxon heretic sub- 
 verted the foundations of morality, by denying the 
 very existence of human liberty, and by maintaining 
 that good and evil depended on a fatai and inevitable 
 necessity. Thus a door was opened to the most un- 
 bounded licentiousness, when men had at hand this 
 ready defence, or at least this lawful excuse, for every 
 crime they could commit, " OUR FATE DID NOT PERMIT 
 us TO DO OTHERWISE." He then accused Luther of 
 overturning the efficacy of the sacraments, and of in- 
 culcating a notion of Christian liberty, which gave thr 
 reins to vice and wickedness. If you believe this her- 
 etic, said he, there is no obligation in vows that have 
 been made with the greatest solemnity. In fine, if 
 his notions prevail) there is an end both of Christian 
 liberty and the tni^jnillity of kingdoms. The whole 
 world will be thrown into confusion ; there will be 
 
518 
 
 Seit no ties of obedience, either lo princes, or even to 
 God himself; because, according to this novel system, 
 the commandments of the Supreme Being are incom- 
 patible with the powers and capacities of his crea- 
 tures. 
 
 Aleander then observed, that in spite of the pon- 
 tiff's utmost endeavors, for four year? past, to free the 
 world from this GREAT EVIL, it was daily spreading it- 
 self more and more, and appeared to be desperate and 
 Incurable. This detestable heresy ought to be expos- 
 ed to public execration ; and so ought its deceitful, 
 rash, obstinate and furious author. An imperial edict 
 was now, he said, the only remedy. Nor was there 
 any reason to apprehend lest such an edict should 
 be attended with troublesome consequences. It 
 would be made with the consent of the diet, and, no 
 doubt, executed in all the states of the empire. The 
 catholic party, he added, was infinitely the strong- 
 est ; and it was not likely that those powers, who had 
 had hitherto supported Luther's cause, would incur 
 the emperor's displeasure, by cantinuing to protect 
 him. 
 
 The elector of Saxony having foreseen what impor- 
 tant political and religious questions were to be agita- 
 ted at this diet, took care to be at Worms some weeks 
 before the meeting of the general assembly, and from 
 conversations with the emperor and others, soon dis- 
 covered that mischief was meditated against Luther. 
 His enemies, in general, were contriving to have him 
 brought before the diet, with the design, no doubt, of 
 securing the person of the heretic: and we find that 
 the emperor had once so far acceded to their wishes, 
 us to issue express orders for his appearance. The 
 summons for this purpose was sent to the elector; but 
 this prince refused to concur in that mode of conduct- 
 ing the business, and Charles recalled his summons. 
 All this took place before the middle of January, 1521. 
 In fact, at this moment the cautious Frederic scarcely 
 knew what course to pursue. Perfectly upright and 
 conscientious, he wished for nothing so much as an 
 Impartial hearing of the whole cause, and an equi- 
 
table sentence in consequence ; but he had great 
 fears, lest, by calling Luther to Worms, he should en- 
 tangle him in the dangerous snares of his adversaries; 
 and, moreover, he did not then know, what Luther 
 himself might think of such a proposal. In these cir 
 cumstances the good sense and good principles of the 
 elector determined him to adhere steadily to two 
 points : 1st, By no means to compel Luther to appear 
 among his adversaries against his own will ; 2nd ? 
 Not to permit him to stir a step toward Worms with- 
 out a complete and unequivocal safe conduct, nor to 
 write any letters of passport in his behalf without the; 
 express directions of the emperor. In the mean time 
 he caused Luther to be made acquainted with the in- 
 tentions of his malignant adversaries; and the ques- 
 tion to be put to him, What he would do if he should 
 be cited to appear at the diet ? 
 
 The answer of our intrepid reformer was perfectly 
 in character. He said if he should be called by so 
 high an authority as that of the emperor, he should 
 conclude it to be the Divine will that he should go; and 
 if violence was done to him, as probably might be the 
 case, he would recommend his cause to God, who had 
 saved the three children from the fiery furnace. And 
 if it should not please God to preserve him, his life was 
 but a small thing compared with that of Christ and 
 HIS sufferings. "Though kings and princes," said 
 Luther, " conspired together against the Lord and his 
 Christ, yet, as it is written in the same psalm, blessed 
 are they that put their trust in him. It is not our bu- 
 siness to determine whether more or less benefit will 
 accrue to the church from my life or my death ; but it 
 is our bounden duty to beseech God that the reign of 
 Charles may not commence with blood, shed in an im- 
 pious cause. And for my part, as I have often said, ! 
 would much rather die by the Romanists alone than 
 that he should be involved in this business. But if I 
 must die not only by pontifical, but also by civil injus- 
 tice, God's will be done. You have here my resolution. 
 Expect from me any thing rather than flight or retrac- 
 tation. I tfiean nst 10 ilae: much le c s to retract. So 
 
520 
 
 Hiay the Lord Jesus strengthen me ! I can do nothing, 
 without scandalizing godliness r-.r.d hinting the sou:* of 
 many." This letter was addressed to his friend Spa- 
 latinus the elector's secretary. 
 
 To the elector himself he writes, as being the sub- 
 ject of this prince, with ceremonious respect ; and 
 probably with a suspicion also that his letter might be 
 shown to the emperor. He calls the elector his most 
 illustrious prince and gracious master, and says, " I 
 rejoice from my heart that his imperial majesty is 
 likely to undertake the management of this cause, 
 which indeed is the cause of the Christian world in 
 general, and of the whole German empire in particu- 
 lar. 
 
 " I have ordered copies of all my writings to be 
 transmitted to your grace ; and I rh/vv most humbly 
 offer again, as I have repeatedly offered before, to do 
 every thing which it becomes a servant of God and oi 
 Christ to do, the moment I shall be informed what 
 my duty is from the clear evidence of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 " I have, therefore, witli all submission to entreat 
 your grace to present my humble petition to his im- 
 perial majesty, that he would be graciously pleased 
 to grant me a safe conduct, and sufficient security 
 against every kind of violence, as I have reason to be 
 apprehensive on this account ; and that he would also 
 appoint learned and good men, unsuspected and well 
 skilled in the knowledge of their bibles, to try thia 
 cause ; and that for the sake of Almighty God I may 
 be protected from every outrage till I have been in- 
 dulged with a fair hearing, and have been proved to 
 be an unreasonable, ungodly man, and in short no 
 Christian. 
 
 "I humbly beg also, that the secular power may .^o 
 -far interfere in my behalf, that my adversaries, the 
 defenders of the Roman see, may be compelled, dur- 
 ing this state of the business, to desist from their 
 wicked and malicious attempts against my life, hon- 
 or, and dignity; and in particular, from publicly burn- 
 ing my writings, though as yet ! have never been tri- 
 ed, nu:i;h less convicted of any crime. 
 
In regard to myself, provided 1 arn but allowed a safe 
 conduct, I shall, in humble obedience to the emperor's 
 summons, most cheerfully appear before the next gen- 
 eral diet at Worms ; and there, by the help of Al- 
 mighty God, so conduct myself before just, learned, 
 and impartial judges, that all may be fully convinced 
 that I have done nothing from an inconsiderate, rash, 
 refractory spirit, or with a view to temporal honors and 
 advantages ; but that every line I have written, and 
 every doctrine I have taught, has proceeded from a 
 conscientious regard to my oath, and obligations. I 
 own myself unworthy to be styled a doctor in sacred 
 learning; nevertheless it will appear that I have con- 
 stantly intended to promote the praise and glory of 
 God, the happiness and salvation of the catholic 
 church, the prosperity of all Germany, the overthrow 
 of dangerous abuses and superstitions, and the eman- 
 cipation of the whole Christian world from innumera- 
 ble, tyrannical, impious, and disgraceful grievances. 
 
 That the gracious elector of Saxony, together with 
 his imperial majesty, may deign to turn a Christian eye 
 to the present state of religion, burdened and enslaved 
 as it is in so many ways, is the prayer of, 
 
 The elector's obedient and suppliant chaplain, 
 
 MARTIN LUTHER. 
 
 The elector found that secret consultations were 
 daily had at the emperor's apartments for the purpose 
 of ruining Luther, and that an imperial mandate was 
 issued, by which the magistrates were commanded to 
 collect together all the writings of the heretic. And 
 the emneror having, iri the mean time, made many 
 attempts to persuade him, that it was his peculiar du- 
 ty to call his own subject Doctor Luther before the as- 
 sembly, by his single authority, and also to supply him 
 with the necessary passports ; and knowing that no 
 one would be so able as Luther himself, to do away, 
 by his knowledge, eloquence and plain dealing, the 
 malignant sophisms and gross misrepresentations of 
 Aleander, he urged, in full diet, the propriety of pro- 
 ceeding no further in the affairs of Luther, till he him* 
 
self could be heard in his own cause. To this pfope- 
 sition, almost the whole diet agreed, as what was 
 highly suitable ; they alleged, that as Luther's doc- 
 trines had spread throughout all Germany, and had 
 excited much thinking, much speculation and design; 
 there now seemed no remedy but to give the author a 
 fair hearing. Their cry was, " Let him have a safe 
 conduct, and let the question be put to him, whether 
 he will retract such articles as militate against the ho- 
 ly Christian faith which we have received from our an- 
 cestors and preserved until this time." 
 
 A passport was what the elector saw to be necessary 
 for Luther's safety ; and notwithstanding Aleander did 
 all he could that Luther should be crushed at once 
 by the strong hand of despotic power, and that he 
 should be prevented from appearing at Worms, urg- 
 ing that he was now to be deemed a detestable, ex- 
 communicated heretic, to whom no kindness or re-* 
 spectful consideration could be shown, without incur- 
 ring the manifest displeasure of the pope ; Frederic 
 succeeded in procuring for the Saxon reformer, a safe 
 conduct in passing to and from Worms, and from 
 Charles, who wrote with his own hand to the heretic,, 
 and calls him, OUR HONORABLE, BELOVED, DEVOUT, 
 DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER, OF THE AUGUSTINE ORDER. 
 He then proceeds to inform him, that the emperor, 
 and the sacred imperial orders, then met in congrega- 
 tion, had determined to examine him respecting cer- 
 tain books which he had published ; that they had 
 joined in granting him a safe conduct; and that he 
 must not fail to appear before the diet in twenty one 
 days, reckoning from the sixth of March, the date of 
 the letter. The eoiperor concludes with repeating his 
 assurance of protection from every injury and violence r 
 
 Moreover, the sagacious elector of Saxony had the 
 spirit to demand, and the perseverance to obtain fronrv 
 the emperor, in writing, an express renunciation of the 
 detestable popish tent-t, that god faith is not to be 
 preserved with heretics. 
 
 Luther foresaw, that, if IIP, after having so often 
 o long demanded ;i fair hearing; of his causo.. 
 
also having received a direct challenge from the papa! 
 advocates, should refuse to meet them, before so im- 
 partial, and in every respect, unexceptionable a tribu- 
 nal as the general diet of the empire ; his non-appear- 
 ance would be construed into contempt, timidity, or 
 consciousness of guilt ; and therefore, resolved upon 
 a journey to Worms. 
 
 He was accompanied by several friends ; among 
 whom was Justus Jonas, principal of the collegiate 
 church at Wittemberg. Some others joined them on 
 the road. 
 
 Luther was expressly forbidden to preach at any of 
 the towns through which he had to pass. But he, de- 
 claring that he had never promised to obey that injunc- 
 tion, and that the word of God ought never to be fet- 
 tered, preached repeatedly at Erfurt h as he went, 
 and at Eisenach as he returned. 
 
 The hearts of Luther's best friends began to fail 
 them as the danger approached. At Oppehheidi, 
 near Worms, they solicited him in the most vehement 
 manner to venture no further. What favor could he 
 expect from men, who already began to break their 
 word with him ? The pope had published a defin- 
 itive bull against him ; and the einperor, in compli- 
 ance, had ordered all his writings to be seized ; and 
 to disgrace him still more, the imperial mandate, as 
 well as the papal bull, were every where put up for 
 the public information. Neither was it forgotten that 
 imperial safe-conduct had not been sufficient to pro* 
 tect John Iluss from Romish deceit and cruelty. 
 
 At this place he was met by Martin Bucer, who 
 had been sent with several horsemen on the express 
 errand to entreat him to take refuge in the castle of a 
 neighboring knight; here too he received letters from 
 his friend Snalatinus entreating him to proceed ne 
 further. 
 
 It was under such circumstances and to such solicit a- 
 lions, that our Saxon hero, with his usual intrepidity, re- 
 turned that ever memorable answer, " That though h? 
 should be obliged to encounter, at Worms, as many de- 
 as ihere were tiles upon ttte houses of that city, this 
 
624 
 
 would not deter him from his fixed purpose of ap- 
 pearing there : That these fears of his friends could 
 only arise from the suggestions of Satan, who apprehend- 
 ed the approaching ruin of his kingdom by the confes- 
 sion of the truth before such a grand assembly as the 
 diet of Worms." The fire and obstinacy that ap- 
 peared in this answer, seemed to prognosticate much 
 warmth and vehemence in his conduct before the 
 assembly. But it was not so. On that occasion 
 his zeal and ardor were tempered with a laudable 
 moderation and decorous respect both for his civil and 
 ecclesiastical superiors. 
 
 It was on the 16th of April 1521, that Luther arriv- 
 ed at Worms. As he stepped from his open vehicle, 
 he said, in the presence of a vast concourse of people, 
 " God will be on my side." 
 
 Immense crowds daily flocked to see him ; and his 
 apartments were constantly filled with visitors of the 
 highest rank. He was looked on as a prodigy of wis- 
 dom, and respected as one born to enlighten the un- 
 derstandings of mankind, and direct their sentiments. 
 The day after his arrival he was conducted to the diet 
 by the marshal of the empire. 
 
 On his appearance before that august assembly, he 
 was directed to be silent till questions should be put to 
 him. The emperor's speaker, on the occasion, pro- 
 duced a bundle of books and informed Luther, that, 
 by order of his imperial majesty, he was directed to 
 propose two questions to him, The first was, whether 
 he acknowledged those books which went BY HIS 
 NAME, to be his own 5 and the second, whether he in^ 
 tended to defend or to retract what was contained in 
 them. Upon this, before any reply could be made, 
 Jerome Schurff, a celebrated doctor of the civil laws, 
 who had corne from Wittemberg in the character of 
 Luther's advocate, called out with a loud voice, "You 
 ought to recite the titles of the books." The official 
 then read over the titles in succession. Among which 
 were, Commentaries on the Psalms ; a little tract on 
 Good Works; a Commentary on the Lord's Prayer; 
 and other books on Christian subjects, in no way relat- 
 ed to controversy. 
 
526 
 
 " I shall answer the questions, said Luther, as con- 
 cisely and as much to the purpose, as I possioiy can. 
 1st. Unless the books have been mutilated or altered 
 bv fanciful sciolists, or by the arts of my adversaries, 
 t ' evr are cert i y mine. Because this question re- 
 lates to FAITH and the salvation of sou!s, and becjiise 
 it concerns the word of God, the most important of all 
 subjects in heaven and in earth, and which deservedly 
 requires of us all the most profound reverence, it would 
 be equally rash and dangerous for me to give a sud- 
 den answer to such a question ; since, without previ- 
 ous deliberation, I might assert less than the subject 
 demands, and more than truth would admit ; both 
 which would expose me to condemnation from that 
 sentence of Christ; "Whosoever dcnieth me bef>rc 
 men, him will I (Jeny before my Father which b in 
 heaven." For this reason I humbly beseech vj.-r 
 imperial majesty to grant me a competent time for 
 consideration, that I may satisfy the inquiry wi( 
 injuring the word of God, and without endangering my 
 own salvation. After some deliberation, he was al- 
 lowed to defer his answer till the next day, on the ex- 
 press condition, however, that he should deliver what 
 he had to say, viva voce, and not in writing. 
 
 On the following day he was told that he ought not 
 to have petitioned for delay, because he had well 
 known, for a long time, what would be the nature of 
 his examination; and moreover, that every one oupit 
 to be able at any moment to give an account of his 
 faith ; and much more a doctor of great reputation, 
 like Luther, who had been long exercised in theolo- 
 gical discussions. At length, however, said the om- 
 cial, return an answer to the question of the emperor, 
 who has so kindly granted you your request. 
 
 Luther then rose, and spoke before the emperor, 
 and the princes, in the German language, to the fol- 
 lowing effect. 
 
 " I stand here in obedience to the commands of 
 his most serene imperial majesty, and the nutst illus- 
 trious princes, and I earnestly entreat that they wo;;';;{ 
 deign to listen to this cause with clemency. It will 
 
526 
 
 appear, I trust, to be the cause of truth and justice;, 
 and therefore, if, through ignorance, I should fail to 
 give proper titles to each of the dignified personages 
 who hear me, or if in any other respect I should show 
 myself defective in politeness, they will be pleased to 
 accept my apology with candor. I have not been ac- 
 customed to the refinements of the court, but to the 
 cloisters of the monastery, nor of myself have I any 
 thing further to say, than that hitherto I have read lec- 
 tures and composed books with that simplicity of 
 mind which ONLY regards the glory of God and the 
 instruction of mankind. 
 
 " To the first question" continued Luther, " I give 
 a plain and direct answer; and in that I shall persist 
 forever. I did publish those books, and I am respon- 
 sible for their contents, so far as they are really mine ; 
 but I do not answer for any alterations that have been 
 made in them, vyhether by the crafty malice of ene- 
 inies, or the imprudent officiousness of friends. 
 
 "In regard to the second question, I humbly beg 
 your most serene majesty and their highnesses to take 
 especial notice, that my publications are by no means 
 all of the same kind. Some of them treat only of pi- 
 ety, and of the nature of faith, and morals ; and these 
 subjects are handled in so evangelical a manner, that 
 iny greatest adversaries are compelled to pronounce 
 them innocent, profitable, and worthy to be read by 
 Christians, The pope's bull, indeed, though it actu- 
 ally declares some of my books innocent, yet, with 
 a monstrous and cruel indiscrimination, condemns 
 them all Now were I to retract such writings, I should 
 absolutely stand alone, and condemn those truths ia. 
 which friends and foes most perfectly agree. 
 
 " There is another species of my publications, in 
 which I endeavor to lay open the system of the papal 
 government, and the specific doctrines of the papists, 
 who, in fact, by their corrupt tenets and bad exam- 
 ples, have made havoc of the Christian world, both in 
 regard to body and soul. There is no denying this : 
 witness the universal complaints now existing, how 
 the papal laws and tradition of men most miserably 
 
527 
 
 entangle, vex and tear to pieces the consciences of the 
 faithful, and also plunder the inhabitants of this fa* 
 mous country in ways most shameful and tyrannical,, 
 and scarcely credible, notwithstanding that Germa- 
 ny by her own laws has declared, that any doctrines or 
 decrees of the pope, which are contrary to the gospel, 
 or the sentiments of the fathers, are to be deemed er- 
 roneous, and in no degree obligatory. If, therefore, 
 I should revoke what I have written on these subjects, 
 I should not only confirm the wicked, despotical pro- 
 ceedings to which I allude, but also open a door to 
 further abuses of power, that would be still more li- 
 centious and insupportable, especially if it were said 
 among the people, that what 1 had done was confirm- 
 ed by the authority of his most serene majesty, and 
 a general meeting of the empire. 
 
 " Lastly, the defences and replies which I have com- 
 posed against such individuals as have labored either 
 to establish the Roman tyranny, or to undermine rny 
 explanations of the fundamental principles of religion,, 
 constitute a third class of my publications. And in 
 these, I freely confess, I have been betrayed into atv 
 asperity of expression, which neither becomes me as 
 a clergyman, or as a Christian: however, I pretend 
 not to set myself up for a saint, neither do 1 plead for 
 the strictness of my life, but for the doctrines of Christ, 
 But it is not in my power to retract even these wri- 
 tings, as far as the matter contained in them is con-* 
 cerned ; lest by such a step I should become the pa* 
 tron of the most arbitrary and impious usurpations, 
 which in consequence would soon gather strength, and 
 spend their fury on the people of God in more violent 
 outrages than ever. Yet, since I am but a man, and 
 there lore fallible in judgment, it would ill become me ? 
 in supporting my poor paltry tracts, to go farther than 
 my Lori) and Master Jesus Christ did in the defence 
 of his own doctrines, who, when he was interrogated 
 concerning them before Annas, and had received a 
 blow from one of the officers, said, "If 1 have spoken 
 evil, bear witness of the evil, but if well, why smitest 
 *hoti me ?" If then our Lord, who was infallible, did, 
 
528 
 
 nevertheless, not disdain to listen to anything that 
 could be said against his doctrine, even by a person of 
 the lowest condition, how much more ought such a 
 contemptible being as I, who am all imperfection, 
 to be ready to attend to whatever arguments can be 
 brought in the way of objection to my positions? I 
 therefore entreat your majesty, and the members of 
 this illustrious assembly, to produce evidence against 
 me, and however high, or however low, be the rank of 
 the person who shall be able, from the sacred scrip- 
 tures, to convict me of error, I will instantly retract, 
 and be the first to throw the book into the fire. 
 
 "Permit me to suggest, for the consideration of us 
 all) that as Almighty God is wonderful and terrible in 
 council, surely it behoves this august assembly to ex- 
 amine with special care, whether the object which 
 my enemies so ardently long to compass, does not in 
 fact amount to a condemnation of THE DIVINE WORD ; 
 and whether such a measure, adopted by the first Ger- 
 man diet of the new emperor, might not lead to a 
 dreadful deluge of evils. Under the protection of God 
 there is reason to augur well of this excellent young 
 prince ; but take care that you do not render the pros- 
 pect of his government unfavorable and inauspicious. 
 
 " By a variety of instances from holy writ, and par- 
 ticularly by the cases of Pharaoh, the king of Bab- 
 ylon, and of the kings of Israel, I could prove this im- 
 portant point ; viz. that men have ruined themselves at 
 the very moment when they imagined they had settled 
 and established their kingdoms in the most prudent 
 manner. The ruling principle should be the fear of 
 God. HE it is who takcth the wise in their craftiness, 
 and removeth the mountains and they know not, and 
 overturneth them in his anger. 
 
 "In saying the-e things 1 mean hot to insinuate, that 
 the great personages, who condescend to hear me, 
 stand in need of my instructions or admonitions; no 
 but there was a debt which I owed to my native 
 country, and it was my duty to discharge it. The 
 reasons which I have now alleged, will, I trust, be ap- 
 proved by your serene majesty and the princes : and I. 
 
529 
 
 humbly beg that you will disappoint my enemies in 
 their unjust attempts to render me odious and suspect- 
 ed. I have done." 
 
 As soon as Luther had finished his speech, which 
 was delivered in the German language, he was order- 
 ed to say the same things in Latin ; after having re- 
 covered himself he did this with prodigious animation, 
 and to the very great satisfaction of his friends, espe- 
 cially the elector of Saxony. His adversaries acknowl- 
 edge that he spoke for two hours with the applause 
 of one half of the assembly: until John Eckius, the 
 Emperor's speaker, having lost almost all patience, 
 before Luther had well concluded, cried out, in much 
 heat and passion, that he had not answered to the 
 point ; that he was not called to give an account of his 
 doctrines ; that these had already been condemned in 
 former councils, whose decisions were not now to be 
 questioned : that he was required to say, simply and 
 clearly whether he would or would not retract his 
 opinions. 
 
 " My answer,'' said Luther instantly, " shall be di- 
 rect and plain. I cannot think myself bound to be- 
 lieve either the pope or his councils ; for it is very clear, 
 not only that they have often erred, but often contra- 
 dicted themselves. Therefore, unless I am convinced 
 by scripture, or clear reasons, my belief is so confirm- 
 ed by the scriptural passages 1 have produced, and 
 my conscience so determined to abide by the word of 
 God, that I neither can nor will retract any thing ; for 
 it is neither safe nor innocent to act against a man's 
 conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise,* 
 May God help me. Amen." 
 
 After the diet had taken Luther's speech into con- 
 sideration, their speaker told him, that he had not an- 
 swered with the modesty that became his character 
 and situation ; that if he had recanted those books 
 which contained the main part of his errors, he would 
 have suffered no persecution for the rest ; that for him, 
 who had revived the errors condemned at Constance, 
 to require a refutation and conviction from scripture, 
 was a wild proposal of a man scarcely in his senses ; 
 
550 
 
 that upon such principles nothing would be left cer* 
 tain in the church ; and that for these reasons, he was 
 once more asked, whether he intended to defend all 
 he had written as orthodox, or whether he would 
 retract any part as erroneous. Luther persisted in his 
 former answer ; and entreated the emperor not to per- 
 mit him to be compelled to do violence to his con- 
 science, by recanting what he felt himself bound to 
 believe on the authority of the word of God, unless he 
 was proved to be mistaken by evident arguments 
 from scripture. Councils, he repeated^ have erred 
 frequently. " You cannot prove that," said Eckius. 
 " I will pledge myself to do it," replied Luther. But 
 night coming on, the diet broke up. 
 
 During the whole of this interesting scene, the spe- 
 cial partizans of the pope were filled with indignation ; 
 and many of the Spanish Roman Catholics followed 
 Luther as he returned home from the tribunal, and 
 showed their enmity by long continued sneers and 
 hisses. 
 
 On the next day, the emperor directed a schedule, 
 written with his own hand, to be read to the princes 
 in full congregation. The purport was this ; " His 
 ancestors had always respected the Reman church, 
 which Luther had now opposed. lie could not with 
 any propriety depart from their example. He was 
 bound to defend the ancient faith, and support the pa- 
 pal see. And as Martin Luther could not be induced to 
 give up any one of his errors^ he was determined to 
 proceed against him as a notorious heretic. Never- 
 theless he by no means intended to violate the safe 
 conduct which had been granted to him. 
 
 This hasty and indiscreet measure, which was partly 
 owing to the juvenile impetuosity and inexperience of 
 Charles, and partly to the incessant solicitation of the 
 papal party, produced murmurs and complaints in the 
 assembly. The Emperor, by having given his opin- 
 ion first, had broken the established rules of the diet. 
 He ought not to have given his judgment, till all the 
 other slates had given theirs. He had prejudged the 
 cause, aad precludeil the princes and electors from the 
 
531 
 
 right of voting freely in the matter before them. Party 
 spirit ran high. Acrimonious papers on both sides of 
 the question were publicly affixed to the walls; and 
 violent and threatening expressions used. The mis- 
 understanding was, however, thus compromised; 
 Charles, at the instance of the diet, consented, that 
 the heretic should be allowed a few days longer delay, 
 during which time such of the princes, as pleased, 
 might endeavor to persuade him to recant his errors, 
 and if they succeeded, he promised that he himself 
 would take care he should be pardoned by the Roman 
 pontiff. 
 
 Incredible pains were now taken by the princes, elec- 
 tors, and deputies of various orders, to shake the resolu- 
 tion of this hero of the reformation. Luther stood firm, 
 thanked the princes for their clemency and good will 
 toward him, and said, " He by no means censured 
 councils in general, but only that part of the proceed- 
 ings at Constance, in regard to John Huss. If the 
 faith of Christ was truly set forth, and Christ's flock 
 were fed in a real gospel pasture, there would be no 
 need to burden the church with human traditions. He 
 allowed that he ought to obey magistrates ; that tho 
 precepts for this purpose were to be taken in their 
 plain meaning, and that he had often taught this doc- 
 trine in his writings. He was ready to do any thing, 
 provided he was not urged to deny the clear word of 
 God. 5 ' 
 
 The diet having found Luther inflexibly determined 
 to abide by the sole authority of the sacred scriptures, 
 and that no threats, nor exhortations, nor promises 
 availed to make him change his resolution, the em- 
 peror sent him a message directing him to leave 
 Worms, " because, notwithstanding the most friendly 
 admonitions and entreaties, he persisted in his contu- 
 macy, and would not return into the bosom of the 
 church." 
 
 Luther was allowed 21 days to return to Wittem- 
 burg ; during which time the public faith was pledged 
 for his safety ; but he was strictly enjoined not t 
 preach to the people in the course of his journey. 
 
552 
 
 " This is the Lord's will," said Martin, " and 
 ed be the name of the Lord!" He then, through the 
 official, returned most respectful thanks to the empe- 
 ror, and the members of the assembly, for their pa- 
 tience in hearing him, and their liberal treatment in, 
 general. He said he had wished for nothing but a re- 
 form in religion on the plan of the holy scriptures; 
 nor did he now request any favor for himself, but to 
 be allowed the free use of the word of God. Let 
 that be Only granted, and he was willing to undergo 
 every thing without exception, for the sake of his im- 
 perial majesty and the imperial orders. He left Worms 
 on the following day, the 26th of April. 
 
 After Luther had taken his departure, Charles, un- 
 der the pretence of having certain questions of minor 
 importance to propose, requested the members of the 
 diet to remain three or four days longer in the city. 
 The most of the Italian and Spanish nobles complied 
 with the request, while many of the German princes 
 and electors, among whom was Frederic of Saxony, 
 departed. 
 
 This was the time when the final sentence against 
 Luther, called the EDICT OF WORMS, was passed. It 
 was penned by Aleander \vith all possible rancor and 
 malice. The tirst part of this edict states, that it is the 
 duty of the emperor to protect religion and extinguish 
 heresies. The second relates the pains, he had taken 
 to bring the heretic to repentance. And the third pro r 
 ceeds to the condemnation of Martin Luther in the 
 strongest terms. The emperor says, that by the ad- 
 vice of the electors, princes, orders, and states of the 
 empire, he had resolved to execute the sentence of the 
 pope, who was the proper guardian of the catholic 
 faith* He declares that Luther must be looked on as 
 excommunicated, and as a notorious heretic ; arid he 
 forbid all persons, under the penalty of high treason, 
 tp receive, maintain or protect him. He orders, that 
 after the 21 days allowed him, he should be proceed- 
 ed against in whatever place he might be ; or at least, 
 that he should be seized and kepi prisoner till the 
 pleasure of his imperial majesty was known. He di- 
 yects the s^me punishments to be inflicted on all his 
 
ooo 
 
 adherents or favorers ; and that all their goods should 
 be confiscated, unless they can prove that they have 
 left his party and received absolution. He forbids all 
 persons to print, sell, buy, or read any of his books, 
 and enjoins the princes and magistrates to cause 
 them to be burnt. 
 
 This famous edict was voted on the 2oth of May, 
 and signed by the emperor on the morning of the next 
 day, but dated May the 8th. The design of thus an- 
 tedating the edict was to induce a belief upon the pub- 
 lic mind, that it was passed in the full diet, and ex- 
 pressed the general sense of ALL the members, taken 
 before their dissolution. 
 
 But the elector of Saxony had foreseen the rising 
 storm, and had contrived a plan of concealing the per- 
 secuted hero of the reformation for a season from the 
 fury of all his enemies. Luther did not, however, 
 greatly relish the scheme, and would rather have met 
 the difficulty and danger in an open way, and have 
 trusted the event to God ; but as it originated in Fred- 
 eric's kindness, he thought it only a becoming respect 
 to his prince to acquiesce in his advice. The secret 
 was revealed to him by Spalatinus on the evening be- 
 fore he left Worms. Three or four horsemen, in whom 
 Frederic could confide, disguised themselves in masks, 
 and contrived to meet the persecuted monk near Eis- 
 enac on his return home. They played their part well. 
 They rushed out of the wood, secured Luther, as it 
 were by force, and carried him into the castle of Wart- 
 burg. This business was managed with so much ad- 
 dress and fidelity, that Luther was completely secur- 
 ed from the effects of the impending prosecution. His 
 implacable adversaries missed their blow, and became 
 doubly odious to the Germans, who, as they were un- 
 acquainted with the wise precaution of Frederic, ima- 
 gined their favorite countryman was either imprison- 
 ed or perhaps murdered by Roman emissaries. 
 
 It has been conjectured that the whole transaction, 
 respecting Luther's concealment, was planned and 
 executed with the knowledge and even the approba- 
 tion of his imperial majesty. 
 
584 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 from the Conclusion of the Diet of Worms, to the Death 
 of the Elector of Saxony. 
 
 A HE followers of Luther were much disheartened 
 at his sudden disappearance. Various reports were 
 circulated concerning him ; and they knew not what 
 to believe. The minds of all, throughout Germany, 
 who feared God, were filled with anxious solicitude for 
 the safety of his person, and their apprehension, of los- 
 ing such an instructor, in so early a period of his la- 
 bors, produced the most melancholy and inauspicious 
 forebodings. The alarms and the affectionate feelings 
 of good people who were already in possession of a 
 degree of evangelical light, and in the way to obtain 
 more, were, on this occasion very great. 
 
 Luther, at first, found it difficult to endure with 
 patience and resignation his confinement at Wartburg. 
 His diet, now rich and plentiful, and supplied, there is 
 reason to believe, at the elector's expense, did not well 
 agree with his constitution, long accustomed to the 
 labors and abstinence of the monastery. He com- 
 plains, that his body was afflicted with the most obsti- 
 nate and alarming constipations, while his mind grew 
 feeble and unable to resist temptations ; that, he be- 
 came languid and almost lifeless in private prayer, 
 and was addicted to too much eating and drinking, 
 and to lazy practices. Such was the harsh sentence 
 Tvhich this extraordinary man was incline d to pass up- 
 n himself. It is the peculiar character of a real ser- 
 vant of God to see his own faults in a strong light, and 
 ra^iy to speak in mitigation of them. 
 
 The papists, however, never charge Luther with in- 
 dolence. On the contrary, they allow, that in his sol- 
 itude, which, after the name of that island to which 
 the apostle John was banished, he frequently called 
 HIS PATMOS, he labored with indefatigable industry; 
 published many new books, confirmed his disciples in 
 their attachment to him, defended his old hcresio?, 
 daily invented new ones. 
 
535 
 
 fn his confinement, Luther preserved a strong sense 
 *f the value of time. A profound veneration for the 
 holy scriptures, with an abhorrence of every species 
 of priestcraft, constantly directed his judgment, invi- 
 gorated bis resolutions, and supported him in his al- 
 most incredible labors and trials. 
 
 A little book concerning the abuses of private con- 
 fession, was one of his productions in the castle. * 
 This was composed in the German language, and 
 must have been highly offensive to the ecclesiastics 
 in general. "My design in this book," says Luther, 
 " was not to put an end to private confession, but to 
 render the practice of it USEFUL. There was no doing 
 this, without laying open some of those inconveni- 
 ences which arise from a bad way of managing it 
 I touched on these things as delicately as possible ; 
 and yet my adversaries were up in arms against me 
 on this account ; not considering that the whole world 
 is full of stories respecting the scandalous things which 
 take place under the pretence of secret confession 5 
 neither do they seem aware, how many facts connect- 
 ed with this subject I have passed over from a princi- 
 ple of Christian decency, lest the very mention of them 
 should contaminate the reader's mind. It is too true, 
 that many of the monks urge the people to confess, 
 not from a regard to piety, but for the purpose of en- 
 riching themselves. They live in the houses of the 
 opulent, and acquire an ascendant over them by be- 
 coming acquainted with their secrets; they contrive to 
 be with them while they are dying ; and insinuate 
 themselves into their last wills. Let men only consid- 
 er what a source of evils, what a snare to consciences 3 
 the common practice of confessing has been, and they 
 will not be surprised that I should have ventured to 
 suggest certain amendments in this matter." On the 
 wtiole, it was the wish of this sound divine, that the 
 church discipline concerning confession might be re- 
 gulated by the 18th chapter of Matthew, verses 15 20; 
 convinced as he was that the Roman Catholic mode 
 tended neither to increase the faith nor to amend the 
 lives sf Uae people, but rather to instil into their 
 
536 
 
 minds a persuasion, that by a private confession of 
 sin, and a consequent submission to penances or to 
 other injunctions of the clergy, the greatest crimes 
 might be expiated, though the commission of them 
 were ever so frequent or notorious. How very dif- 
 ferent is all this from a true penitential sorrowing 
 and humiliation for sin and a comfortable expectation 
 of pardon, founded on the faithful promises of Jesu* 
 Christ! 
 
 The Augustine Friars at Wiltemburg, were among 
 the first who dared openly to oppose the popish mode 
 of celebrating private masses. This news Luther re- 
 ceived in his castle with great satisfaction, both as it 
 demonstrated (he zeal of his brethren who were en 
 gaged in the same cause, and exhibited a very pleas- 
 ing and important effect of his own labors. He 
 now published a treatise concerning the abrogation of 
 private masses, in which he shewed that the true scrip- 
 tural idea of the Lord's supper is, that it is not a real 
 sacrifice under the appearance of bread and wine, but 
 a thankful commemoration of the great oblation once 
 offered ; not a repetition of sacred offerings, which 
 have any intrinsic value in them for the expiation of 
 sin, but a participation of the consecrated elements in 
 obedience to the dying command of our Savior. To 
 place these points in what he conceived to be their 
 true light, Luther took great pains ; and his efforts were 
 crowned with much success. 
 
 It was not till after much consideration that Luther 
 became fully convinced of the lawfulness of the mar- 
 riage of all the clergy. The case of the monks, who 
 had voluntarily devoted themselves to a perpetual ce- 
 libacy, presented the greatest difficulty to his mind. 
 The rest of the clergy were prohibited marriage, only 
 by unlawful ecclesiastical ordinances. In his Patmos, 
 he wrote on those subjects with that fixed determina- 
 tion, which had been the result of much impartial in- 
 quiry and patient thinking. As this work exposed 
 the evils of monastic promises and engagements, with 
 various other abuses of popery connected with them, 
 it necessarily gave great offence to a corrupt hierarchy, 
 
537 
 
 which daily found its authority lessened, in propor- 
 tion as the wicked devices which supported it were 
 better understood, and more generally detested. The 
 papists, as might be expected, clamored against the 
 reformer's novel doctrines, and represented them as 
 favorable to a life of ease, indulgence, and sensuality. 
 " Priests might marry, monks might leave their clois- 
 ters, and the people no longer be afraid of the penal 
 laws of the church. 1 ' On the contrary, Luther, in ar- 
 guing with his adversaries, was never content to stand 
 merely on the defensive. He constantly maintained, 
 that the primary objects of papistical solicitude and 
 contention were not an evangelical purity of faith and 
 practice, but rather the efficacy of certain external 
 performances, as fastings^ confessions, penances, and 
 masses, contrived for the express purpose of affording 
 false peace to burdened consciences, and keeping out 
 of sight the atoning blood of Jesus, and the scriptural 
 method of justification by faith alone, with the reno- 
 vation of our fallen nature through the operation of the 
 Holy Spirit; 
 
 Luther had a most profound reverence for the holy 
 scriptures. It was by his having had his mind illu- 
 mined by them, that he foresaw the important conse- 
 quences which must flow from a fair translation of 
 the Bible in the German language ; that nothing would 
 so effectually as this shake the pillars of ecclesiastical 
 despotism ; and that nothing was so likely to spread 
 the knowledge of pure Christian doctrine. And it was 
 at Wart burg that he began to apply himself to this 
 great undertaking. 
 
 During his solitude in the summer of the year 1521, 
 he not only translated all the New-Testament, but al- 
 so took great pains to improve his knowledge of the 
 Greek and Hebrew languages, for the purpose of ren- 
 dering his intended version of the scriptures more com- 
 plete* " I find," says he, " I have undertaken a work 
 which is above my strength. I shall not touch the 
 Old Testament till I can have the assistance of your- 
 self and my other friends at Wittemberg. If it were 
 possible that 1 could be with you, and remain uncfts- 
 
538 
 
 covered in a snug chamber, I would come; and there, 
 with your help, would translate the whole from the 
 beginning, that at length there might be a version of 
 the Bible fit for Christians to read. This would be a 
 great work, of immense consequence to the public, 
 and worthy of all ur labors." This he wrote to Ams- 
 dorp the rector of the university of Wittemberg. 
 
 Such, during a captivity of more than nine months? 
 were the employments of this active servant of God, 
 who, notwithstanding, accuses himself of doing too lit- 
 tle, and of eating too much. Besides the compositions 
 which have been mentioned, he wrote many letters in 
 his castle to his trusty friends and intimates, which 
 very much lay open the unfeigned sentiments of his 
 heart. A strong and pious confidence in God, an un- 
 bounded benevolence to the household of faith, and a 
 determination to hazard every thing in the cause of re- 
 ligious truth, strongly mark the spirit of Luther in ev- 
 erything he says or does. He encourages the faithful, 
 reproves the timid, laments the oppression of the 
 church, and exults in the prospect of her deliverance. 
 With inexpressible tenderness he comforts his despon- 
 ding friends ; while on all occasions, he withstands his 
 most powerful enemies wish an unconquerable intre- 
 pidity. 
 
 During his residence in the castle of Wartburg he 
 suffered his beard and hair to grow, assumed an eques- 
 trian sort of dress, and passed for a country gentle- 
 man under the name of Yonker George. He some- 
 times amused himself with the exercise of hunting in 
 company with his keepers; and his observations ort 
 that diversion, in a letter to Spalatinus, are curious and 
 interesting. 
 
 " Give yourself no concern in regard to my suffering 
 in this exile. It is of no consequence to me, provid- 
 ed I am not burdensome to the people of this house. 
 1 would have no one put to inconvenience on my ac- 
 count. 1 suppose the prince supports me ; otherwise 
 1 would not stay an hour here, if I were convinced that 
 my wants were supplied at the expense of the master 
 or this family, though I own he furnbhes every thing I 
 
wish for with the greatest cheerfulness. Lately I. 
 spent two days in seeing the painful, yet agreeable 
 amusement of those famous people called hunters and 
 ibwlers. We caught two hares, and some miserable 
 young patridges. Laudable employments for men of 
 leisure! For my part theological subjects occupied 
 my thoughts even while I was among the dogs and the 
 nets. And any pleasure, that i might receive from 
 this species of relaxation, was fully balanced by the 
 sentiments of grief and pity excited in my mind by 
 an interpretation which I could not but give to the 
 symbolical scenes at that time under my contempla- 
 tion. This, thought I, is an exact representation of 
 Satan, who, by his snares and dogs, namely, the cor- 
 rupt theologians and ecclesiastical rulers, pursues and 
 entangles simple, faithful souls, in the same way that 
 the harmless hares and patridges are taken. To be 
 brief, the similitude was so striking as to affect me ex- 
 ceedingly/' 
 
 In another letter to the same person, he discovers 
 evident symptoms of impatience. 
 
 " For the glory of the word of God, and for the mu- 
 tual confirmation of myself and others, I would much 
 rather burn on the live coals, than live here alone, half 
 alive, and useless. If I perish, it is God's will; nei- 
 ther will the gospel suffer in any degree. 1 hope you 
 will succeed me as Elisha did Elijah." 
 
 Melancthon, the excellent coadjutor of Luther, 
 though learned, ingenious, unblemished in his man- 
 ners, and cordially attached to the best of causes, be- 
 gan about this time to exhibit more sensibly than 
 ever the constitutional timidity of his temper. Far 
 superior to all the rest of Luther's adherents in talents 
 and attainments, he was inferior to many of them in 
 courage and fortitude ; and on that account unequal 
 to the character of SUPERIINTENDANT, which he was 
 now called to sustain. Luther, who loved the man 
 and was well aware of his infirmity, frequently and in 
 the very kindest manner, reproved his desponding 
 spirit, and at the same time encouraged him to be 
 both bold and patient in the cause of the reformation. 
 
540 
 
 He also solicited the elector Frederic, through the in* 
 tercession of Spalatinus, to provide for the more com- 
 fortable support of this learned professor, whose char-? 
 acter contributed so much to the reputation of the uni- 
 versity of Wittemberg. 
 
 During the summer of this year, not only Melanc- 
 thon, but his brethren, the ruling academicians, were 
 much disheartened, partly on account of the absence 
 of their grand leader, and partly because they expe- 
 rienced not a little embarrassment, from the exces- 
 sive caution of the elector and his court. They were 
 not allowed the full privilege of publishing any of Lu- 
 ther's writings, nor even of disputing publicly on cer- 
 tain questions, which it was supposed, might give of- 
 fence to persons of distinction who were much at- 
 tached to the established religion. Luther, though 
 peculiarly exemplary in the practice of lawful obedi- 
 ence, " to the powers that be," made no scruple to re- 
 fuse compliance with the will of the civil magistrate, 
 whenever that will, in his judgment, was directly 
 contrary to the commands of God. Accordingly he 
 exhorted his Christian friends of the university not to 
 follow the counsels of the court, but to take the lead 
 themselves, as he had done. " We should not," said 
 he, " have had one half the success we have had, if I 
 had taken the advice of Spalatinus." And in about 
 three months after this, he wrote to this last mention- 
 ed friend in the warmest terms of expostulation and 
 remonstrance. He tells him, that he was determined 
 to publish what he had w-ritten against the archbishop 
 of Mentz, however the prince and his secretary might 
 dislike the measure, and that it was at their peril if 
 they obstructed his design. " The peace and appro- 
 bation of God, is to be preferred to the peace and 
 approbation of the world. What, though some of our 
 friends have exhibited a turbulent spirit ; will the gos- 
 . pel, on account of their irregularity, come to nothing ? 
 Was there not even among the apostles, a traitor, Ju- 
 das ? In ALL circumstances we ought to adhere strictly 
 to the simple WORD OF GOD, and not merely w r hen the 
 happens to thrive and be respected among men, 
 
541 
 
 Let those, who please, talk against us. But why are 
 we always to be looking on the dark side of things ? 
 why not indulge hopes of better times ? 5> 
 
 Evangelical publications, and evangelical preach- 
 ing, with constant exhortation to study diligently the 
 holy scriptures, were the external means on which 
 Luther always relied for the propagation of Christian 
 truth, and the deliverance of the people from popish 
 darkness and slavery. Wise and persevering in the 
 use of these means, he had the consolation to hear 
 more and more of their blessed effects. The Augus- 
 tinians of Wittemberg left off the celebration of pri- 
 vate masses, new preachers of the gospel daily lifted 
 their voices throughout the electorate of Saxony; 
 and though some persons of the higher ranks, both 
 among the magistrates and the clergy, were intimida- 
 ted by the imperial edict of Worms, the common peo- 
 ple attended to the pure doctrines of salvation. The 
 good seed which was sown under various circumstan- 
 ces, sprung up and bore fruit in almost all parts of 
 Germany. 
 
 But amidst the consolation which Luther, in his re- 
 treat derived from the accounts which he was contin- 
 ually receiving of the courage and success of his dis- 
 ciples, and the progress of his doctrines, the report of 
 several events reached the castle of Wartburg, which 
 must, in some measure have damped his joy and ex- 
 pectations. 
 
 He was so much affected with the news of certain 
 proceedings at Wittemberg, that he was determined to 
 run the hazard of making a private excursion to that 
 place, for the purpose of conversing with his friends 
 on subjects which deeply and anxiously interested his 
 thoughts. The exact circumstances of this clandes- 
 tine visit, are but imperfectly known ; and we can do 
 no more than form conjectures respecting the proceed- 
 ings which seem to have given rise to this extraordi- 
 nary step. Many of the canons of Wittemberg dis- 
 graced the nascent reformation, both by an obstinate 
 adherence to the reigning superstitions, and by a 
 shameful profligacy of manners. In the next place. 
 
642 
 
 the untractable temper of Carolstadt showed itself 
 more and more, and gave great concern to Luther. 
 U I lament,' 7 says he, "the behavior of this man. In- 
 deed we have it in our power easily to withstand his 
 precipitate motions, but then we shall give occasion 
 to the adversary to triumph on account of our internal 
 discords; and not only so, our weaker brethren will 
 also be much offended." 
 
 A passage in one of Luther's letters to Spalatinus 
 may be supposed to throw further light on the subject. 
 " I came to Wittemberg, and among the most sweet 
 meetings and conversations with my friends, I found 
 this mixture of wormwood ; namely, that several of 
 my letters and little publications had been completely 
 suppressed. They had not even been heard of or seen 
 by any one. I leave you to judge whether I have not 
 just cause to be much displeased with this treatment. 
 In general, what I have had opportunity of seeing and 
 hearing gives me the highest satisfaction. May the 
 Lord strengthen and support the courage of those 
 who wish well to the cause ! In the course of my jour- 
 ney, however, I was riot a little vexed to hear various 
 reports concerning the restless disposition of some of 
 our friends, and 1 have promised to print, as soon as 
 ever I return to my asylum, a public exhortation ap- 
 plicable to the circumstances. I must explain myself 
 more particularly at another time. Commend me 
 <o our illustrious prince, from whose knowledge I have 
 judged it proper to conceal this little excursion to Wit- 
 iemberg and back again. You know my reasons. 
 Farewell. I am at this moment in AmsdoriT's house, 
 in an apartment with my dear Philip Melancthon." 
 
 It was in his Patmos, that Luther first heard of the 
 ?olemn censure, which the divines of the faculty of 
 i'aris passed on his writings, April 15, 1521. The 
 university of Paris was the most ancient, and, at that 
 lime, the most respectable of the learned societies of 
 Europe. In 1517, they had ventured to call in q ties- 
 lion the pope's infallibility; and Luther himself is 
 charged with having repeatedly acknowledged the 
 Parisian doctors to be wise and orthodox theologians ; 
 
543 
 
 and with having also promised to submit his cause to 
 their arbitration. It seems therefore extremely prob- 
 able, that he must have been disappointed, and in 
 some degree chagrined, when he found that the as- 
 sembly of divines on which he had most relied, ad- 
 hered, in the main, to the old prejudices, and the scho- 
 lastic divinity, and had actually pronounced his doc- 
 trine to be " erroneous both in faith and manners, and 
 proper only to deceive simple people ; that it was 
 injurious to all the doctors, and derogatory to the 
 power of the church; openly schismatical, contrary 
 to the sacred scriptures, blasphemous against the Ho- 
 ly Spirit, arid pernicious to the Christian common- 
 wealth." 
 
 It was about this time that Henry VIII. king of 
 England, published in Latin his celebrated answer to 
 Luther's treatise on the Babylonian captivity, and had 
 conferred on him by pope Leo the title of the defender 
 of the faith. 
 
 Martin Luther was neither to be overawed by the 
 repudiation of the university of Paris, nor by the dig- 
 nity of the sovereign of England. He soon published 
 his animadversions on both, in as vehement and se- 
 re re a style, as in the course of his numerous po- 
 lemics, he had ever used to his meanest antagonist. 
 This treatment prejudiced Henry still more against 
 the new doctrines ; but the public admired those 
 fresh instances of the undaunted spirit of the reform- 
 er : the controversy drew more attention ; and not- 
 withstanding the combined efforts both of the civil 
 and ecclesiastical powers, the Lutheran opinions daily 
 acquired new conquests in every part of Europe. 
 
 In the month of December of this same year, at the 
 age of 46, died Leo X., a pontiff renowned for his en- 
 couragement of literature and the fine arts. This pope 
 is memorable on account of the diminution which 
 the papal authority received through his ignorance, 
 imprudence, and precipitation. Thousands, in con- 
 templating his conduct, had learnt to despise his pre- 
 tensions to the sacred character ; and as if Leo had 
 been eager to confirm their prejudices, he issued bull* 
 
544 
 
 against heretics, while he himself was dissipating his 
 time and health in prodigal and luxurious pleasures, 
 in the company of debauched cardinals, and in pro- 
 moting expensive and licentious spectacles at the the- 
 atre. 
 
 In the first week of March 1522, Luther left his Pat- 
 inos, and returned to Wittemburg, without the consent 
 or even the knowledge of Frederic his patron and pro- 
 tector. The active spirit of the reformer ill brooked 
 his long confinement; and, moreover, the distracted 
 state of the infant protestant church absolutely requir- 
 ed his presence. Already he had once ventured out 
 of his asylum, and made a short visit at Wittemberg, 
 without the privity of the elector .; but matters were 
 now daily becoming more critical ; and as Luther had 
 resolved, at the hazard of his life, to resume again his 
 character of a public actor in the concerns of religion, 
 he immediately acquainted his prince with the bold 
 step he had taken, and the motives which compelled 
 him no longer to remain a concealed spectator of 
 transactions which oppressed his mind with the most 
 painful apprehensions for the credit of the dawning 
 reformation. 
 
 The excessive and even dangerous zeal of Carol- 
 stadt was one of the afflictive causes which influenced 
 the conduct of Luther on this occasion. Carolstadt 
 was a professor at Wittemberg of considerable learning 
 and ability, who had exposed the papal tyranny and 
 superstition with great spirit, and, in general, deserv* 
 cd well of the protestant cause. His name, though not 
 specifically mentioned in the damnatory bull against 
 Luther, was well known at Rome, and through the 
 malicious instigation of Eckius, whom he had oppos- 
 ed in the Leipsic disputation, he had been suspended 
 from all communion with the church. This useful 
 colleague of the great reformer, soon discovered, dur- 
 ing the absence of his master, a temerity of judgment, 
 and a violence of temper, which absolutely disquali- 
 fied him for the helm in the present tempestuous con* 
 juncture. Not content with promoting, in a legal and 
 quiet way, the auspicious beginnings of the reformation 
 
545 
 
 at Wittemberg, in the gradual omission and rejection 
 of the private mass and other popish superstitions, he 
 headed a multitude of unthinking, impetuous youths, 
 inflamed their minds by popular harangues, and led 
 them on to actions the most extravagant and indefen- 
 sible. They entered the great church of All Saints, 
 broke in pieces the crucifixes and other images, and 
 threw down the altars. Such indecent and irregular 
 conduct by no means becomes those, who profess 
 themselves the disciples of the Prince of Peace ; and 
 though in the midst of his excesses, the sincerity of 
 Carolstadt's endeavors to rectify the abuses of popery, 
 is not to be questioned, one cannot but lament, that 
 the same man, whose sagacity had penetrated the veil 
 of papal delusion in many instances, should in others 
 be distinguished also for a want of plain sense, and 
 ordinary discretion. It may be proper to give a brief 
 detail of the circumstances which led to those out- 
 rageous proceedings. 
 
 Honest Carolstadt, mistaking the true meaning of 
 Matthew xi. 25, where our Lord says, " I thank thee, 
 O Father, because thou hast hid these things from the 
 wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes,' 1 
 rashly concluded that human learning, was useless, if 
 not injurious to the student of the scriptures. He fro 
 quented the shops of the lowest mechanics, and con- 
 sulted them about the meaning of the word of in- 
 spiration. He would be called no longer by the ap- 
 pellation of doctor, or any other honorable title. He 
 lived in a village, employed himself in rustic occu- 
 pations, and maintained, that thinking persons stood 
 in no need of learning, but had better labor with their 
 hands. In consequence of his example and conver- 
 sation, the young academics of Wittemberg left the 
 university, and ceased to pursue their studies ; and 
 even the schools of the boys were deserted. Such pro- 
 ceedings were manifestly conducive to the excesses 
 above mentioned, and were in every view extremely 
 hurtful to the cause of the reformation which was hap- 
 pily making rapid advances in many parts of chris- 
 feiidom. We have seen that the Augustine Friars of 
 
 3 w 
 
546 
 
 Wittemberg had begun to abolish tb celebration of 
 private masses, and that Luther was pleased with the 
 news, and employed his pen against that popish cor- 
 ruption. The elector on the contrary, appears to have 
 been alarmed on the occasion, and to have deputed 
 one of his counsellors to signify to the church and uni- 
 versity of Wittemberg, that his highness had been in- 
 formed of many innovations and alterations in the 
 ecclesiastical usage?, which were there daily taking 
 place; c^;d in particular, that the Augustinians bad 
 omitted to celebrate the customary masses. Six 
 persons among the canons and the academics were 
 chosen to examine this matter, who, in a written re- 
 port, not only expressed their approbation in gener- 
 al of what had been done, but boldly and solemnly 
 exhorted the prince to put an end, throughout his 
 whole territory, to the popish profanation of the 
 Lord's supper. "It became him, "they said, "as a 
 Christian prince, to act with dignity and spirit in such 
 an affair ; and not to regard the name of heretic or of 
 Hussite, which might be applied to them. Whoev- 
 er faithfully supported the laborious and dangerous 
 cause of the gospel, must expect much abuse and re- 
 proach. Jesus Christ required this service from him. 
 He had designed to illuminate with the knowledge of 
 the truth, the mind of the elector of Saxony more 
 than any other of the princes ; and his highness would 
 do well to remember, that in the day of judgment 
 God would call him to a severe account for the use of 
 the talents committed to his care." 
 
 To this, the elector directed the following answer to 
 be given : " that he wished to conduct himself in eve- 
 ry thing like a Christian prince, and leave nothing un- 
 done which might promote the glory of God, and 
 tend to the better establishment of evangelical truth. 
 But that the alteration proposed appeared to be a 
 matter of great consequence, which called for the 
 mature deliberation of the whole church, and ought 
 not to be precipitately decided by a small number. 
 If their advice was sound, doubtless it would be fol- 
 lowed by others, and he might then begin the change 
 
547 
 
 with some prospect of success. That he had yet to 
 learn, when the present mode of celebrating mass 
 was introduced into the church ; perhaps several cen- 
 turies ago ; as also when the apostolic usage ceased. 
 That as many churches and monasteries had been 
 founded for the express purpose of saying masses, the 
 revenues of the said foundations might not be with- 
 held. Lastly, as they did not seem inclined to take 
 his advice, he owned himself to be only a lay person, 
 and not skilled in scripture, and entreated them, there- 
 fore, to consult calmly with their brethren, the rulers 
 of the church and of the university, and so to settle 
 the business, that no tumults or seditions might en- 
 sue." 
 
 The above mentioned six deputies in their rejoinder 
 adhered to the opinion they had already given, name- 
 ly, that the abuses of the private masses ought to be 
 abolished, and this, they believed, might be done 
 without tumult or danger; but if not, the evil was so 
 great, that it ought to be removed without any regard 
 to the scandal or defamation which might be the con- 
 sequence. That though the reformers were but a 
 small part of the church, they had the word of God 
 on their side ; and this single consideration was par- 
 amount to every other, being an authority to which 
 the angels and all created beings ought to bow. 
 From the beginning of the world, it had always been 
 found that only a very small part of mankind acknowl- 
 edged the truth. Did not Christ himself commit the 
 preaching of the gospel to a few weak, despised, un- 
 lettered persons ? and did not a similar dispensation 
 take place at this day ? The true use and nature of 
 the Lord's supper, together with many other points of 
 religion, were most expressly laid down in the gospel; 
 notwithstanding which, the dignified priests, and the 
 wise ones of this world, either from interested motives 
 or complete blindness, continued to oppose the truth, 
 and refused to accede to the most reasonable and pi- 
 ous reformations : they only excepted those whose 
 eyes it had pleased God to open by a heavenly illumi- 
 nation. The ancient colleges and monasteries, they 
 
548 
 
 said, even to the time of Augustine and Bernard, were 
 founded, not for the purpose of saying a number of 
 masses and babbling the canonical hours, but for the 
 instruction of the poor. It was to the constitution of 
 the more recent foundations, almost universally, that 
 the present mode of celebrating masses was owing. 
 Moreover these foundations required a certain num- 
 ber of masses to be said every week by particular per- 
 sons ; and as this was a practice absolutely sinful, the 
 consciences of men ought to be released from such 
 fetters without delay. And even if a certain number 
 of masses were not specified, still the very principle 
 on which the masses were celebrated ; namely, that 
 they are good works, or sacrifices, or satisfactions for 
 sin which will therefore appease Almighty God, and 
 be useful to others, and even to the dead ; is so con- 
 trary to sound doctrine, that they ought to be laid 
 aside. The founders of these ordinances, if they could 
 rise from the dead, would condemn what they them- 
 selves had done in this respect, and lament their own 
 credulity, when they saw that these their donations had 
 originated in the avarice of the ecclesiastics. Lastly, 
 it appeared from the history of the church, that even 
 to the time of Cyprian, the ancient custom of com- 
 municating in both kinds was preserved ; and that in 
 Greece and the Eastern churches, the same truly 
 apostolic practice obtained at this day. Therefore, it 
 was not their fault, if on account of certain alterations 
 which had become absolutely necessary, some dif- 
 ferences, or even tumults, should arise ;" these were 
 rather to be laid at the door of the persons, who, for 
 the sake of keeping up their dignity, their income, and 
 their luxurious tables, continued to obstruct the light 
 of truth, and cruelly to wage war against the altars of 
 God. They then added in most explicit terms, 
 that if their ecclesiastic and civil rulers would but per- 
 mit the sacred word of God to be publicly preached, 
 heard and read, even though they did not assent to 
 the truth, but opposed it with all the arguments they 
 could produce, provided they did not inflict cruel pun- 
 Uhments on their adversaries, there would be neither 
 
549 
 
 sedition, discord, nor tumult. However, the right 
 Christian rule was, neither to regard the madness of 
 the enemy, nor the greatness of the danger. Christ 
 did not hold his tongue, though he foresaw that the 
 preaching of the gospel would certainly be attended 
 with discords, seditions, and the revolution of king- 
 doms ; nor were his apostles more negligent and tim- 
 orous, or less strenuous in instructing the people, be- 
 cause the wise men in the world, at that time, detest- 
 ed the very name of the gospel, and looked upon it as 
 the firebrand of those disturbances, schisms, and tu- 
 mults, which raged among the Jews with so much fu- 
 ry at Jerusalem. 
 
 Satan, no doubt, would put men in mind of the va- 
 rious dangers to which they might be exposed, in or- 
 der that he might the more effectually obstruct the 
 progress of that religion, which he so perfectly hates, 
 But as it is well known that such are his devices, they 
 ought not to be much alarmed at these his frightful 
 suggestions, but each of them keep to his post, like 
 good soldiers in the field, and commit the event to 
 God. They must expect desertions, but they should 
 also remember their Lord's words, " Whosoever lov- 
 eth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of 
 
 me." 
 
 A serious, argumentative statement like this, would, 
 doubtless, much affect the tender conscience of the 
 elector of Saxony, but probably did not determine 
 that cautious prince to come to any positive decision 
 respecting the ecclesiastical innovations. According- 
 ly he appears to have connived at the proceedings of 
 these bold reformers, but by no means to have sanc- 
 tioned them. 
 
 It was precisely in this situation of things, when, for 
 the purpose of silencing calumny and misrepresenta- 
 tion, a discreet and due regard to order was most pe- 
 culiarly called for, that the violent spirit of Carolstadt 
 broke out into the mischievous excesses above de- 
 scribed. Already he had done his utmost to discredit, 
 at WHtemberg, the studies of literature, for the ad- 
 of which, as subservient to the best of cau- 
 
550 
 
 s'es, Luther and Melancthon had much exerted them- 
 selves. He now ventured to administer the sacrament 
 in both kinds to all ranks and orders of persons } under 
 all circumstances and without due enquiry or prepa- 
 ration, or regard to any of the usual ceremonies. The 
 senate and also the university of Wittemberg com- 
 plained of these things in severe terms to the elector, 
 who, feeling himself unequal to the difficulty, directed 
 his commissioners to interpose, and with the consent 
 of all parties, to effect such regulations, as the cir- 
 cumstances required. These were so favorable to 
 the new system, that Frederic declared his commis- 
 sioners had gone further than what he intended, 
 and that they must not allege his mandate for what 
 they had done. He said, he did not choose to have 
 their alterations imputed to him ; for it was known 
 they were contrary to the commands of the imperial 
 government ; and it was also known, that the bishops 
 were about to commence a visitation of his electo^ 
 rate. 
 
 In this convention it was ordered; 1st. That all 
 persons who were penitent and wished to be in the 
 favor of God, should be exhorted to partake in the sa- 
 crament. 2ndly. The popish notion of the mass be- 
 ing a sacrifice was entirely rejected ; and 3dly. Steps 
 were taken for the removal of the images from the 
 great church. These, surely, were very considerable 
 amendments ; and it is not to be wondered at, if they 
 should have alarmed a German prince of no great 
 power, who stood almost alone, who was himself far 
 lion) having clear views in religion, and who had to 
 contend with the pope, the emperor, and the neigh- 
 boring potentates, leagued in opposition to the free 
 progress of the gospel. Nevertheless, the violent and 
 impatient spirit of Carolstadt remained dissatisfied 
 with these triumphs of the truth, and there is too much 
 reason for lamenting that an alloy of pride and ungov- 
 ernable self-will should have sadly debased the honest 
 Christian zeal of this early reformer. He even avowed 
 to Melancthon that he wished to be as great, and as 
 thought of, as Luther. Melanchton told him, 
 
551 
 
 that that was the language of pride, envy, and un- 
 christian emulation. But Carolstadt was deaf to ad- 
 monition. He openly professed not to have the leasfc 
 regard for the authority of any human being. He said, 
 he would stick close to the simple word of God, and 
 that no man could be a Christian who found fault with 
 what he did. How deceitful is the human heart, and 
 how inconsistent a creature is fallen man ! Carolstadt, 
 with much Christian light in his understanding, and 
 abundance of honest zeal in his heart, at the very 
 time he was making pretensions to an uncommon pu- 
 rity of motive and doctrine, and to an extraordinary 
 respect for the scriptures, proceeded from one disor- 
 derly act to another, till at length he committed those 
 outrages which gave considerable grounds for com- 
 plaint to the enemies of the reformation, and made 
 its best friends ashamed of their rash and presumptu- 
 ous coadjutor. 
 
 When the report of these transactions reached Lu- 
 ther in his Patmos, he wrote thus to the elector of Sax- 
 ony ; " There is no reason to be frightened. Rather 
 give praise to God ; and rejoice in the certain expect- 
 ation that all will end well. Things of this kind al- 
 ways happen to those who endeavor to spread the 
 gospel. We must not only expect Annas and Caiphas 
 to rage against us ; but even a Judas to appear among 
 the apostles, and Satan himself among the sons of God. 
 Be wise and look deeper than to the external appear- 
 ance. Other agents, besides those which are merely 
 human, are at work. Do not be afraid, but be pre- 
 pared for more eventsr of this sort. This is only the 
 beginning of the business: Satan intends to carry 
 matters much farther yet. Believe me in what I now 
 say ; I am but a plain simple man; however, I know 
 something of his arts. Suffer the world to clamor 
 against us, and to pass their harsh judgments. Be 
 not so much concerned at the falling away of particu- 
 lar Christians. Even holy Peter fell ; and also others 
 of the apostles. Doubt not but they will in a short 
 time rise again, as surely as Christ himself rose from the 
 4ead. The words of St. Paul to the Corinthians are at 
 
552 
 
 this moment peculiarly applicable to our circumstan- 
 ces, namely, " that we should approve ourselves, as the 
 ministers of God, in much patience, in imprisonments, 
 in tumults, in labors." 
 
 Luther concluded his letter with an earnest request 
 for leave to print and circulate his own writings ; and 
 with saying that he intended to be very soon at Wit- 
 te in berg. 
 
 The religious mind of Frederic was deeply affected 
 by these sentiments of Luther; and he immediately 
 commissioned one of his confidential magistrates to 
 relate to him in his asylum the particulars of all the 
 late proceedings at Wittemberg: how the pupils 
 dwindled in number, and were called away by their 
 guardians ; how anxious the prince was, and how 
 completely in doubt what course to take. That noth- 
 ing was so distressing to his mind as seditious tumults, 
 but that the imperial government tied up his hands; 
 and moreover, that the bishops had promised they 
 would themselves preach the gospel, and also appoint 
 proper missionaries for that purpose, and that it was 
 impossible for him to oppose their laudable resolu- 
 tions. He wished exceedingly to have Luther's ad- 
 vice at this crisis, but exhorted him not to think of 
 coming to Wittemberg. The pope and emperor 
 would insist on his being delivered up to them, which 
 would be the severest stroke that could happen to the 
 elector ; yet he did not see how he could prevent it. 
 He had never undertaken, nor had Luther desired 
 him, nor was it indeed in his power to d more, than 
 to procure him a fair hearing. In one point, how- 
 ever, he was absolutely determined, namely, if he 
 could find out what was the Divine will, he would 
 cheerfully bear, suffer, do, or avoid doing, every thing 
 which should appear to be his duty agreeably to that 
 will. In a word, he remembered who said, " My 
 yoke is easy and my burden is light, and he would 
 willingly bear, through the Divine strength and help, 
 the cross that God should lay upon him. The trans- 
 actions at Wittemberg were most surprising; ncvr 
 sects arose there every day, and it was hard to saj 
 
553 
 
 which were gaining or which losing ground. The diet 
 were to assemble at Nuremberg in a short time; and 
 it was expected that much would be said and done 
 about Luther's business : he had better therefore be 
 quiet and remain in secret for the present: consider- 
 able revolutions were at hand ; and if it should happen, 
 that the sacred gospel was obstructed, such a turn in 
 the events would be matter of the greatest grief and 
 mourning to the elector. 
 
 The commissioner concluded all he had to say with 
 the most kind, faithful, and affectionate assurances of 
 the prince's friendship for Luther. 
 
 Thus, the propagation of pure Christianity and the 
 salvation of men's souls appear to have been not only 
 the primary, but the sole objects which determined 
 Luther to leave his Patmos at this critical and danger- 
 ous moment. So long as he considered himself in pur- 
 suit of these "he counted not even his life dear to him." 
 
 Another motive was presented which called him to 
 Wittemberg: several persons, who really deserved the 
 name of enthusiasts, had appeared in Saxony; among 
 whom Nicholas Stork, Mark Stubner, Martin Celiary, 
 and Thomas Munzer, have, by their follies, obtained a 
 memorial in history. Stork was a baker at Zwickau, 
 who had selected, from his acquaintance of the same 
 calling, twelve whom he called apostles, and also sev- 
 enty-two whom he called disciples. The other three, 
 in a tumultuous manner, harangued the populace in the 
 church of St. Catharine of the same town. Nicholas 
 Hansman, the pious pastor of the place, resisted these 
 insane prophets to the best of his power, but could 
 not control their fury. They professed themselves to 
 have divine commission, and pretended to visions and 
 inspiration. Mnnzer, in particular will be found at 
 the head of a rebellion of the peasants in 1525. At 
 present it will be best to hear Melancthon's account 
 of them in a letter to the elector of Saxony. " Your 
 highness must excuse the liberty I take ; the occasion 
 is urgent, and calls exceedingly for your highness' at- 
 tention. Your highness is aware of the many danger- 
 dissentions, which have distracted your city of 
 
554 
 
 Zwickau, on Ihe subject of religion. Some person? 
 have been cast into prison there for their seditious in- 
 novations. Three of the ringleaders are come hither. 
 Two of them are ignorant mechanics, the third is a 
 man of letters. 1 have given them a hearing ; and it 
 is astonishing what they tell of themselves ; namely, 
 that they are positively sent of God to teach ; that they 
 have familiar conferences with God ; that they can 
 foretel events ; and to be brief, that they are on a foot- 
 ing with prophets and apostles. I cannot describe 
 how I am moved by these lofty pretensions. I see 
 strong reasons for not despising the men, for it is clear 
 to me there is something in them more than a mere hu- 
 man spirit ; but whether the spirit be of God or not, 
 none, except Martin, can easily judge. Therefore, 
 for the peace and reputation of the church, Martin 
 should, I think, by all means, have an opportunity of 
 examining them, and the rather as they appeal to 
 him." 
 
 The elector, who did not consider himself as com- 
 petent to decide on such cases, enquired particularly 
 into the circumstances of the matter, and called in the 
 advice of some of his most learned counsellors. These 
 could come to no decision. They felt the same doubt 
 which Melancthon had expressed, and were afraid of 
 sinning against God bv condemning his choicest ser- 
 
 O O / 
 
 vants. Upon which Frederic astonished all his minis- 
 ters arid counsellors then present, by hastily making 
 the following declaration. "This is a most weighty 
 and difficult case ; which I, as a layman, do not com- 
 prehend. If I rightly understood the matter, so as to 
 see my duty, most certainly I would not knowingly 
 resist the will of Almighty God : no ; rather than do 
 that, though God hath given me and my brother a 
 considerable share of power and wealth, I would take 
 my staff, and quit every thing I possess." Such was 
 the integrity and tenderness of conscience of this 
 prince ! Many in Saxony at that time seem to have 
 feared God in like manner; and were brought to the 
 light of the gospel. That light was, however, as yet^ 
 for the most part dim, and crafty hypocrites krW 
 
555 
 
 how to take advantage of the want of discernment ; ih 
 godly souls. 
 
 Melancthon now pressed the elector most urgently 
 to call in the assistance of Luther's judgment. " No 
 person,' ? he said, " could manage the business so well ; 
 Stork and his associates had raised disputes concern- 
 ing the baptism of infants, and had appealed to the 
 supernatural revelations they had from God; and that 
 in regard to himself, he was by no means qualified to 
 pronounce sentence in so difficult a cause." 
 
 The elector, in pursuance of his cautious and con- 
 scientious views, directed Melancthon to avoid dis- 
 putes with these men; and to use every precaution 
 for preventing such tumultuous proceedings as had 
 happened at Zwickau. " He was himself," he said, 
 no interpreter of the holy scriptures, nor did he know 
 whom he ought to appoint to examine the merits of 
 the pretensions in question ; hut it was then impossi- 
 ble to recall Luther without imminent danger to the 
 person of that reformer. Luther was his subject, and 
 he had so far supported him that he should not be 
 condemned unheard; but beyond that point he could 
 not go ; for he felt it incumbent on himself to obey the 
 emperor, who was his lord and master. With respect 
 to the fanatics, he declared, that if he could see clearly 
 what justice required, he was ready to discharge his 
 duty at every hazard." In this state of doubt and 
 suspense, Frederic employed persons to procure the 
 best information they could ; and in the mean time he 
 treated Stubner, who was a man of some learning, with 
 hospitality, and meekly bore his fooleries, till the arri- 
 val of Luther, whose wise and manly treatment of the 
 enthusiasts, as we shall soon see, quickly exposed the 
 emptiness of their claims to a divine commission, and 
 demolished all their authority and influence. 
 
 This sound divine, having been informed in his 
 Patmos of the extraordinary pretensions of these men, 
 had all along beheld their conduct with a jealous eye ; 
 and had answered the inquiries of Melancthon with 
 much discretion. " As you are my superior," said he, 
 (J both in discernment and erudition^ I cannot com- 
 
mend your timidity in regard to these prophets. la 
 the first place, when they bear record of themselves, 
 we ought not implicitly to believe them ; but rather 
 to try the spirits according to St. John's advice. As 
 yet I hear of nothing done or said by them, which ex- 
 ceeds the imitative powers of Satan. It is my par- 
 ticular wish that you would examine whether they 
 can produce any PROOF of having a Divine commis- 
 sion. For God never sent any prophet, who was not 
 either called by proper persons, or authorized by spe- 
 cial miracles, no, not even his own Son. Their bare 
 assertion of a divine AFFLATUS, is not a sufficient 
 ground for your receiving them; since God did not 
 even choose to speak to Samuel, but with the sanc- 
 tion of Eli's authority. So much for their pretensions 
 to a public character. In the next place, I would 
 wish you to sift their private spirit, whether they have 
 experienced any internal distress of soul, the attacks 
 of death and hell, and the comforts of the new birth 
 unto righteousness. If you hear nothing from them but 
 smooth, tranquil, and, forsooth, what they call devout, 
 religious contemplations, regard them not ; for there 
 is wanting the characteristic of the Son of Man, of the 
 Man of sorrows ; there is wanting the cross, the only 
 touchstone of Christians, ami the sore rliscerner of 
 spirits. Would you know the place, the time, the 
 manner of divine conferences and communications ? 
 Hear the written word, " As a lion will he break all my 
 bones." And, " I am cast out of th'e sight of thine 
 eyes. My soul is full of trouble, and my life draweth 
 nigh unto hell." The majesty of the Divine Being 
 Bpeaks not IMMEDIATELY, in a way that man should see 
 HIM : none can see HIM and live. Do you try them 
 therefore carefully, and listen not even to a glorified 
 Jesus, unless you find he was first crucified." 
 
 Thus the motives by which Luther was excited to 
 leave his Patmos are before the reader. While at 
 Borna, on his road to Wittemberg, he wrote to the 
 elector in substance, as follows, " That the accounts 
 of what had passed at Wittemberg had almost reduc- 
 ed him to a state of despair, that every thing he had 
 
557 
 
 as yet suffered was comparatively mere jests and boy's 
 play. He could not enough lament, or express his 
 disapprobation of those tumultuous proceedings: the 
 gospel was in imminent danger of being disgraced 
 from this cause. That in regard to himself, he wished 
 the elector to understand more distinctly, that all his 
 hope and confidence depended most entirely on the jus- 
 tice of his cause. The gospel which he defended 
 and propagated, was by no means a device of his own, 
 but a heavenly gift from Jesus Christ our Lord ; that 
 he therefore was a servant of Christ, and a teach- 
 er of the gospel, and that in future he intended to go 
 by no other name. Hitherto, continued he, I have of- 
 fered myself for public examination and inquiry ; not 
 indeed from any necessity, but because I had hoped 
 that so much humility on my part, might be an in- 
 ducement to others to listen to the truth. But now I 
 see plainly, this extreme moderation is, by Satanic 
 art, turned to the disadvantage of the gospel : I mean 
 no longer to concede in the manner I have done du- 
 ring the last year; not however, through fear of dan- 
 fer, but from respect for my prince. When I entered 
 VormSj I dreaded not the innumerable powers of hell ; 
 and surely this hostile duke George of Leipsic is not 
 equal in strength or skill to a single infernal spirit. 
 Moreover, the faithful derive from the gospel such a 
 fund of courage and comfort, that they are allowed to 
 invoke God as their Father. Well, therefore, may I 
 despise (he vengeance of this enraged duke.* Indeed, 
 were the city Leipsic itself in the same condition that 
 Wittemberg is, 1 would not hesitate to go there, 
 though I were assured that for nine days together the 
 heavens would pour down duke Georges, every one of 
 which would be many times more cruel than the pre- 
 sent duke of that name. As it has pleased God to 
 permit this same duke George to treat Jesus Christ 
 with the utmost indignity, it was doubtless my duty 
 to submit 5 nay, I have prayed for him often, and I 
 will again pray for him ; though I am persuaded he 
 
 * Duke George, was now beginning to prrcccute with the greatest cruelty, 
 all persons who adhered to Lutherwvism, 
 
658 
 
 would kill me with a single stroke if it were in hi* 
 power. I write these things that your highness may 
 know, I consider myself, in returning to Witlem- 
 berg, to be under a far more powerful protection than 
 any which the elector of Saxony can afford me. To 
 be plain I do not wish to be protected by your high- 
 ness. It never entered my mind to request your de- 
 fence of my person. Nay, it is my decided judgment 
 (hat, on the contrary, your highness will rather receive 
 support and protection from the prayers of Luther and 
 the good cause in which he is embarked. It is a 
 cause which does not call for the help of the sword. 
 God himself will take care of it without human aid. I 
 positively declare, that if I knew your highness in- 
 tended to defend me by force, I would not now return 
 to Wittemberg. This is a case where God alone 
 should direct ; and men should stand still and wait the 
 event without anxiety, and that man will be found to 
 defend both himself and others the most bravely, who 
 has the firmest confidence in God. Your highness has 
 but a very feeble reliance on God : and for that rea- 
 son I cannot think of resting my defence and hopes of 
 deliverance on you. Still you wish to know what 
 your duty is in this business, and you express a fear that 
 you may not have been sufficiently active. My an- 
 swer is, you have already done too much, and that at 
 present you ought to do nothing. God does not call, 
 that either your highness or mysejf should defend the 
 cause of truth by force. If you do but believe this, 
 you will be quite safe : but if not, my faith on this 
 head will remain unshaken, and I shall be compelled 
 to leave you a prey to that anxiety which will attend 
 your incredulity. If 1 should be taken, or even put to 
 death, you must stand excused, even in the judgment 
 of my best friends, because I have not followed your 
 advice. Think not of opposing the emperor by force; 
 permit him to do what he pleases with the lives and 
 properties of your subjects. It seems impossible, 
 however, that he should require you to be my execu- 
 tioner, when all the world know the privileges which 
 belong to the place of my nativity. But i( s 
 
559 
 
 eonable a demand should be made, and your highness 
 should make me acquainted with the fact, I will en- 
 gage, whether you do, or do not, believe me, that no 
 harm shall happen to your highness on my account, 
 either in body, or in mind, or in estate. Be assured, 
 this business is decided in the counsels of heaven in 
 a very different manner from what it is by the govern- 
 ment at Nuremberg: and we shall shortly see that 
 those who now dream they have absolutely devoured 
 the gospel, have not as yet even begun their imagina- 
 ry feast. There is another Being, abundantly more 
 powerful than duke George, with whom I have to do. 
 This Being knows me perfectly well, and I trust I have 
 a little knowledge of HTM. If your illustrious highness 
 could but believe this, you would see the glory of God. 
 But you remain in darkness through your unbelief. 
 Glory and praise be to God for evermore." 
 
 So extraordinary k letter has rarely been penned by 
 a subject and transmitted to a kind prince, whose direc- 
 tions he was at that time positively disobeying. But 
 Luther saw a DIVINE HAND in this whole struggle for 
 Christian liberty ! As to Frederic, we see him trem- 
 bling for the safety of Luther; and uneasy in his con- 
 science lest he should desert the cause of God. What 
 this wise prince would have done, in case Charles V, 
 had seriously demanded Luther's person to be given 
 up to the papal vengeance, it may be hard to say. 
 His prudential maxims constantly led him to evade 
 such a crisis if possible ; and as he was well acquaint- 
 ed with the activity, and also the violence of Luther's 
 disposition, nothing could be more natural than for 
 him, through the medium of his confidential friends 
 and agents, to have said, " Remain in your asylum 
 for the present ; you are under a sentence of con- 
 demnation, and you had better not provoke your ene- 
 mies to execute it. The dnke George who lives at 
 Leipsic is your inveterate enemy, and it seems you 
 have heard of the severe edict of Nuremberg-! It is 
 not in my power to defend you beyond a certain point. 
 Moreover, were I disposed to use force, I might lose 
 
 f The chief palace of this duk-? was at Dresden ; hat he was often at 
 
560 
 
 my life and property in contending with a potentate 
 so superior as the emperor of Germany. Still I would 
 not shrink from my duty. Tell me plainly what you 
 think I ought to do : perhaps I have been too timid in 
 this momentous affair." 
 
 The preceding letter of Luther's must evidently ap- 
 pear to have been written in reply to such previous 
 admonitions and observations as these ; even though 
 the greater part of them were not actually to be 
 found among the several documents already before 
 the reader. 
 
 The elector, upon receiving this answer, was aston- 
 ished at the intrepidity of the reformer; and no doubt 
 concluded, that, on his own part ? the most consummate 
 care and caution were never more called for than at 
 the present juncture, for the purpose of tempering the 
 impetuosity and fervor of the determinations of the 
 man, whom, however, it was impossible he should not 
 both admire and love. He therefore did not choose 
 to communicate in writing his sentiments to Luther 
 himself, but directed a trusty agent, Jerome Schurff,* 
 to say and do every thing which he wished to have 
 said and done in this delicate business. Accordingly, 
 Schurff visited Luther, and after assuring him of the 
 kindness and good will of die elector, informed him, it 
 was his highness' desire, that he should compose a 
 letter to him in a style somewhat different from the 
 former ; a letter, for example, which he might show 
 to his friends, and to4he princes, and to the other 
 great men of the country. In this letter he was to 
 give the reasons which had induced him to return to 
 Wiltemberg, and he might openly avow that he had 
 taken this step without the orders of his prince ; at the 
 same time he ought to make a decent declaration, that 
 he certainly intended to put no person whatever to in- 
 convenience. Schurff concluded with saying, that the 
 elector's entire meaning was to prevent sedition ; that 
 he anxiously desired most particular care to be taken 
 in that respect ; and, therefore, for the present he 
 would have Luther to abstain from preaching in the 
 
 * The same person who was Luther's advocate at Worms.. 
 
561 
 
 great church where the late tumult had happened ; 
 and lastly, he requested that this whole negociation 
 might be kept a profound secret. 
 
 Sdiurff, in his answer to the elector, lavished praises 
 upon Luther; he looked on him as an apostle and an 
 evangelist of Christ. He said, all ranks and orders, 
 learned and unlearned, were delighted with the return 
 of the man, who was now daily, in the most admira- 
 ble manner, teaching true doctrine and restoring or- 
 der every where. Lastly, he informed the elector, 
 that he found Luther completely disposed to write 
 such a letter as had been desired. 
 
 In fact, Luther transmitted, through the medium of 
 Schurff, a copy of the required letter, and left it to the 
 elector to make such alterations as he should think ne- 
 cessary ; but he added at the same time these remark- 
 able words. u That most certainly he would not con- 
 sent to do any thing which would not bear the light: 
 that for his part, he should not be afraid, even if his 
 former letter were made public ; and that in regard to 
 seditious tumults and commotions, he owned he had 
 hitherto supposed, that the ecclesiastics would be the 
 greatest sufferers; but on a diligent review of sacred 
 history, he had been led to a different opinion. It 
 had always happened, he said, that the princes and 
 rulers were themselves the first sacrifices to popular 
 f lir y- ; however, not before they had corrupted them- 
 selves, and ceased to support the true religion." 
 
 Frederic in a few days informed Schurff, that there 
 were in Luther's letter a few expressions which were 
 rather too strong, and which therefore he wished him 
 to alter. Luther assented. 
 
 The letter stands in the Latin edition of Luther's 
 works without alteration, and is in substance to this ef- 
 fect : 
 " Most illustrious Prince, and most kind Master; 
 
 I have very diligently considered, that, in returning 
 to Wittemberg without the permission of your clemen- 
 cy, and even without so much as asking that permis- 
 sion, it wa? my bounden duty to take care that this 
 step should in no way prove injurious to your clemen- 
 
ey. For I am well aware, that, with some appearance 
 of truth, my conduct is capable of being represented 
 as causing a multitude of dangers and difficulties to 
 your person, to your government, and to your subjects ; 
 and more especially to myself, being one, who has 
 reason every hour to expect a violent death from the 
 imperial edicts, and the papal thunders. However, 
 what can 1 do? Inevitable reasons compel me to this 
 step ; the Divine will is plain, and leaves me no 
 choice. 1 must not act a double part to please any 
 creature in existence. Then be it so; come what 
 will, I return to Wittemberg in the name of Jesus 
 Christ, who is the Lord of life and dee.th. 
 
 That your clemency may not be ignorant of the 
 just grounds of my conduct, I have determined to 
 state faithfully the principal motives which have in- 
 fluenced my mind in this business. 
 
 But in the first place, I would beg leave to depre- 
 cate every supposition, which proceeds on the idea of 
 my being moved by pride, or a contempt for the au- 
 thority either of the emperor, or of your clemency, or 
 of any magistrate. For though it may sometimes 
 happen that the orders of human governments cannot 
 be complied with, for example, when such orders are 
 directly repugnant to the word of God, yet there is NO 
 case where THE POWERS THAT BE are to be DESPISED, 
 They are ever to be treated with the greatest respect 
 So did Jesus Christ; who, though he abhorred the 
 sentence of Pilate, did not on that account either hurl 
 Cassar from his throne, or treat his representative with 
 insolent language. 
 
 1. My first motive is, I am called back by the let- 
 ters of the church and people of Wittemberg, and this 
 with much solicitation and entreaty. Now, since 
 there is no denying that the reformation, which has al- 
 ready taken place in that church, has been effected 
 through my instrumentality, and since I cannot but 
 own myself to be, in an especial manner, the minister 
 of the church to which God hath called me, it was 
 impossible for me to refuse a prompt compliance with 
 Vheir request, unless I intended to renounce altogether 
 
563 
 
 that labor and fidelity, which belongs to true Chris- 
 tian charity and love of souls* 
 
 There are, indeed, those who throughout execrate 
 our religious emendations, and call them diabolical ; 
 but their impieties will not excuse me at the tribunal of 
 God, who will judge me, not by other men's conscien- 
 ces, but my own. I am most firmly persuaded, that 
 from the first, my preaching and proceeding to divulge 
 the gospel of Christ is not of my own motion, but the 
 work of God. Nor, through God's help, shall any 
 kind of death or persecution shake my confidence in 
 this matter ; and I believe I rightly divine, when I say 
 that no terror or cruelty will be able to extinguish the 
 light which already has begun to shine. 
 
 2. During my absence from Wittemberg, Satan hath 
 made such inroads among my flock, and raised such 
 commotions, as it is not in my power to repress by 
 mere writing. My PRESENCE among my people is ab- 
 solutely necessary. I must live with them. I must 
 talk to them. 1 must hear them speak. They must 
 see my mode of proceeding: I must guide them, and 
 do them all the good I can. They are my children in 
 Christ, arid my conscience will not permit me to be 
 absent from them any longer. Though I should of- 
 fend your clemency, or bring upon myself the indig- 
 nation of the whole world, the pressing necessity of 
 the church ought in my judgment to take place of ev- 
 ery other consideration. 
 
 3. A third motive is, I am much distressed by a 
 well grounded apprehension, that some great and vio- 
 lent sedition will arise in Germany, and make that 
 country undergo grievous punishments for its contempt 
 and ingratitude towards a kind Providence. We see, 
 indeed, numbers receive the light of the gospel with 
 lively approbation and thankfulness ; yet many are to 
 be found, who abuse the precious gift to carnal purpo- 
 ses. And there are those, who, though it is their duty 
 by a temperate conduct, to preserve peace and good 
 order, aim at extinguishing every spark of heavenly 
 light by cruel force and persecution ; and thus do they 
 madly inflame the bad passions of men ; and, though 
 
564 
 
 mot aware of it, in fact blow the trumpet of sedition. 
 All this tends evidently to the destruction of the coun- 
 try, and without doubl is a heavy judgment of God for 
 the punishment of the inhabitants. My sole object in 
 writing so much was to break to pieces the ecclesias- 
 tical system of despotism ; and this, in a considerable 
 degree, is done already. I now suspect it to be the 
 Divine will that matters should proceed much further, 
 as was the case with the Jews, when, on account of 
 their persecution of the gospel, and other wickedness, 
 it pleased God to destroy, root and branch, -tiie city of 
 Jerusalem and the whole Jewish constitution, civil 
 and religious. It is only lately that I have begun to see, 
 what, however, I might have -seen long ago, because 
 every line of sacred history clearly shows it, namely, 
 that whether the thing be done in a good or bad 
 grace, not only ecclesiastical and spiritual dominion, 
 but also civil and political constitutions, must, in the 
 end, give way to the gospel of Christ. 
 
 However, since God, through his prophet Ezekiel, re- 
 quires us to oppose ourselves as a wall for the people, 
 1 have judged it needful to obey the Divine command, 
 and, in concert with rny friends, to take this matter into 
 our most serious consideration, and to do every thing 
 which we possibly can, in the way of instruction, ad- 
 monition, and exhortation, to avert, or at least delay 
 for some time, the heavy wrath of God. All I can do, 
 MAY be in vain, and my enemies may ridicule my at- 
 tempt ; it will nevertheless be my bounden duty to do 
 every thing which I think may tend to promote the lau- 
 dable end I have in view. For I may venture to add 
 with great truth, and 1 wish your clemency to be assur- 
 ed of the fact, THAT TILE DECISIONS IN THE COUNSELS 
 
 OF HEAVEN ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM THOSE WHICH 
 ARE PRONOUNCED IN THE IMPERIAL ASSEMBLY AT Nu- 
 
 REMBERG ; and we shall soon see that those who now 
 dream that they have absolutely devoured the gospel, 
 have not as yet even begun their imaginary feast. 
 
 4. 1 could enumerate many other reasons, upon 
 some of which, however, I do not lay any great stress, 
 Because I have not thoroughly considered them. 1; 
 
565 
 
 13 enough for me that the gospel is oppressed, and be- 
 gins to labor. This single consideration has too much 
 force in it for me to neglect my duty out of regard for 
 any mortal being whatever. 
 
 I humbly, therefore, beseech your clemency, for 
 these reasons, to take in good part my return to Wit- 
 tembcrg, without your clemency's knowledge, with- 
 out having asked leave, and without orders. Your 
 clemency is the lord of my poor frail body and little 
 fortunes ; but Christ is the Lord of the souls which he 
 hath put under my care ; and Christ also hath given 
 me a spirit for the work. By no means, therefore, 
 must I desert these souls. I trust my Lord and Mas- 
 ter Jesus Christ will show himself more powerful than 
 our enemies, and that he will please to defend and 
 preserve me against all their fury. But if not, may his 
 good will be "done! On my account, no dan r > 
 adversity shall happen to your clemency. And this 
 promise I dare engage to fulfil. 
 
 MARTIN LUTHER." 
 
 Wittemberg. 
 March 14, 1522- 
 
 One of the expressions in this letter, which the elec- 
 tor desired might be softened, appears to have been 
 that, in which a comparison is made between the de- 
 cisions in the counsels of heaven, and those in the as- 
 sembly at Nuremberg. In the German corrected co- 
 py, it stands thus, " The decisions in the counsels of 
 heaven are very different from those ON EARTH." 
 
 From a letter to his friend Spalatinus, we collect, 
 that Luther did not quite relish some of the alterations 
 which the elector had desired to be made. a I am at 
 this moment," says he, "sending my letter to the 
 prince ; who, by causing certain phrases therein to be 
 altered according to his own mind, has discovered 
 many marks of timidity, and want of faith. This 
 infirmity of his, I ought to bear : but he has insisted on 
 my using one word which I own does offend me ; 
 namely, in that I am directed to call the emperor my 
 most KIND, or most MERCIFUL* Lord, when all the 
 world knows he is to me as hostile as possible : and 
 
 * Dominum rfementfssimmri. 
 
586 
 
 there is not an individual who will not laugh at thisi 
 downright hypocrisy : yet I would rather submit to 
 the ridicule and to the imputation of this species of 
 hypocrisy, than thwart the infirmity of the prince in 
 this instance. In regard to my conscience, I quiet 
 that from the charge of insincerity thus: It is now the 
 established -custom to address the emperor in that 
 manner ; so that those words are to be considered a* 
 his proper name and title, to be used by all persons, 
 even those to whom he has the greatest enmity. Af- 
 ter all, I have a most settled aversion to all hypocrit- 
 ical and disguised ways of speaking: hitherto I have 
 given way to them quite enough : It is high time I 
 should stand forth, antl speak out." 
 
 Often has it been said, that nothing could have been 
 clone without the intrepidity of honest Luther. Let 
 this be admitted; but let it not be added, that such 
 cautious men as the elector of Saxony could be of no 
 use in the great struggle for Christian liberty. This 
 very prince was the instrument of preserving the life 
 of the intrepid champion of the truth; and it seems 
 utterly improbable thai his inestimable life could have 
 been saved, during such a storm of papal fury, aided 
 by immense papal power, unless there had been in 
 FREDERIC THE WISE, besides his extreme caution, an 
 extraordinary assemblage of qualities, which added 
 great weight and authority to character. Whoever 
 reflects on these things with intelligence and devotion 
 in his mind, will doubtless see the operation of a Di- 
 vine hand in raising up this excellent prince, to pre- 
 serve Martin Luther from the flames to which he was 
 condemned by Charles V. and Leo X., as well as 
 in bringing info the scene of public action, this emi- 
 nent reformer himself, at the critical time when there 
 was needed so disinterested and daring a spirit, and so 
 wise an interpreter of the sacred oracles. 
 
 Luther, on his return to Witlemberg, resumed his 
 favorite employment of preaching. lie had to inform 
 the judgment and calm the passions of a distracted 
 multitude. For such a task few persons have been 
 more eminently qualified than was Luther. He 
 
567 
 
 sessed, in a very high degree, the requisites which the 
 most approved instructors in the art of eloquence ha^e 
 wished their pupils either to be endowed with by 
 nature, or to acquire by diligence. Besides this, 
 there prevailed almost universally a fixed opinion of 
 his unexampled integrity, and of his extraordinary 
 knowledge of the scriptures. His skill in the German 
 language was great ; the subjects which he had to 
 handle were immensely important, and his manner of 
 addressing his countrymen was most affectionate ; well 
 may we, therefore, cease to wonder that his discours- 
 es from the pulpit should have produced that happy 
 restoration to peace and good order, which, quickly, 
 after his arrival at Wittemberg, are known to have 
 taken place both in the town and in the university. 
 
 On his first appearance in the pulpit after his return, 
 Luther addressed his audience to the following effect. 
 " Once more I am allowed to sound the gospel in your 
 ears ; once more you may derive benefit from my in- 
 struction. By and by death will come, and then we 
 can do one another no good. How necessary there- 
 fore is it, that every individual should be furnished 
 with the principles which are to support him at that 
 awful moment ! These principles are the great doc- 
 tines of Christianity ; and by treasuring them up in 
 your memories, you will act like wise men, and be 
 fortified against the attacks of the enemy. I have of- 
 ten explained them to you on former occasions, and 
 you have granted me a kind and patient hearing. At 
 present I shall be as concise as possible. 
 
 " Firstly ; that we are by nature children of wrath, 
 and that all our own thoughts, our affections, and our 
 works, can do us no good, is a fundamental truth, and 
 we should have some solid scriptural passage always 
 at hand to prove it. The Bible is full of passages 
 which imply the very essence of this doctrine ; but the 
 third verse of the second chapter of the epistle to the 
 Ephesians is directly to the purpose. Fix that verse 
 deep in your mind; "We are all," says the apostle, 
 "children of wrath." Beware then of saying, I have 
 built a church, I have founded a mass a and such like. 
 
* Secondly ; The great and good Jehovah sent his 
 bnly Son to us, that we might believe on him; and 
 that whosoever does believe on him, might be free 
 from the law of sin, and become a child of God. He 
 gave theni) says St. John, power to become the sons 
 of God, namely, to those, who should believe on his 
 name. In support of this point also, we should be 
 well furnished with scriptural proofs, with which, as 
 wiih the shield of Achilles, we may defend ourselves 
 from the darts of the WICKED ONE. However, to con- 
 fess the truth, I have not observed you to be deficient 
 in the knowledge of either of these two fundamental 
 articles of religion. I have preached on them very of- 
 ten before you ; and I am not ashamed to own, that 
 several of you are much more capable than I am of 
 defending them by scriptural authority. 
 
 " But there is a third pointj my dear friends, which 
 we ought earnestly to aim at; namely, to do good to 
 each other in love ; as Christ hath shown his love to 
 us by his works. Without this love^ faith is a cold 
 Speculation, arid of no account. So says St. Paul, 
 " Though 1 speak with the tongues of men and of an- 
 gels, and have all faith, and have not charity, I am 
 nothing." In this, clear friends, ye are, as yet, greatly 
 defective. Nay, not a single vestige of love can I dis- 
 cover in you ; a plain proof, that ye are not grateful to 
 God for his rich mercies. 
 
 " Beware then lest Wittemberg should become 
 like Capernaum. Ye can discourse excellently on 
 the doctrines which have been preached to you ; ye 
 can even dispute acutely concerning charity. But 
 this does not make a Christian. The kingdom of God 
 does not consist in talk, but in power, that is, in works, 
 and in practice. God loves the doers of the word in 
 faith and love, and not the mere hearers, who, like 
 parrots, have learnt to utter certain expressions with 
 readiness. Once more ; faith without love is as it were 
 a dream, an image of faith ; just as the appearance of 
 a face in a glass is not a real face. 
 
 " Fourthly," continues Luther, "we have need of pa- 
 tience. There must be persecution. Satan never 
 
569 
 
 sleeps but is constantly contriving something that is 
 matter for our patience. Now patience begets hope. 
 The Christian learns entirely to commit his cause to 
 God ; his faith increases more and more, and he grows 
 stronger every day. 
 
 " The heart which is furnished with these spiritual 
 gifts thinks little of its own private advantages ; but 
 overflows with good will towards his brother, and foi 
 his sake forbears to do many things, 'which otherwise 
 he might be allowed to do. " All things," says St. 
 Paul, " are lawful to me, but all things are not expe- 
 dient 5" for all have not made equal advances in faith. 
 
 " To be plain ; we ought to bear with the infirmities 
 of our brethren, and to feed them with milk ; and not 
 to be so selfish as to think of arriving at heaven ALONE, 
 but rather to try whether we cannot gain our brethren 
 by kindness, and make them our companions in the 
 road to the mansions of the blessed, though, for the 
 present, they may be inimical to us. For example, 
 if I had been with you lately, when ye were abolishing 
 the masses, I should have endeavored to moderate 
 your heat and impetuosity. Your cause was good, 
 but was managed by you with too much violence. 
 There are, I trust, among the opposite parly, many 
 brothers and sisters who belong to us ; and must be 
 drawn to us by the cords of love. Let your faith be 
 firm as a rock; but let your chanty be pliable, and ac- 
 commodated to the circumstances of your neighbor. 
 Some can only creep, others can walk briskly, and 
 others again are so swift that they can almost fly. 
 
 " The error of those, who abolished the masses, 
 consisted, not in doing a thing that was wrong in it- 
 self, butiri not doing what they did, in a right manner. 
 Their proceedings were most rash and precipitate, and 
 inconsistent with all the laws of order ; and no wonder, 
 therefore, that they gave offence to their neighbors. 
 Such a business should not have been undertaken 
 without serious prayers to God in the first place : and 
 in the next place the assent of the magistrates should 
 have been obtained: and thus it would have been 
 manifest that these new regulations were ordained of 
 
570 
 
 God. Long ago I might have taken the same step ? 
 if I had thought it either lawful or prudent. But the 
 truth is, I so entirely disapprove the spirit with which 
 you have acted, that if the mass were not in itself an 
 abomination, I should be disposed to re-establish it. 
 I could indeed plead your cause before the pope, but I 
 cannot acquit you of having fall en into the snares of Sa- 
 tan. I wish you had asked my advice, which you might 
 easily have done ; 1 was at no such great distance." 
 
 In a subsequent discourse, in prosecution of the same 
 subject, he spoke thus: "That the private masses 
 ought to be abolished is as clear as that God is to be 
 worshipped ; and with my voice and my pen I would 
 strenuously maintain that they are a most horrid abom- 
 ination! Yet I would not pull away by force any one 
 person from the mass. Let us preach the gospel ; 
 and commit the event to the Divine will. Let us say, 
 " beloved countrymen, abstain, I beseech you, in fu- 
 ture from the mass. Indeed, it is a blasphemous prac- 
 tice, and most highly offensive to Almighty God/' 
 But by no means would I compel them, especially by 
 the hasty and intemperate decision of a mob, to com- 
 ply with our forms of sacramental communion. No; 
 I would instruct, I would admonish them from the sa- 
 cred pages, that if they took my advice I should have 
 happily gained them over to the truth; but if not, it 
 does not become me to drag them away by the hair of 
 the head, or to use violence of any other kind ; but 
 rather to leave the word of God to its own operation, 
 and to pray for them. By acting in this manner, the 
 force of scripture will penetrate the hearts of men 8 
 and produce an effectual and a durable change of sen- 
 timent. Proselytes will be made gradually; and 
 when men are become, in general, of the same mind, 
 then they will agree in laying aside their erroneous 
 forms and ceremonies. In all this, I am far from wish- 
 ing to restore the use of the mass. If it be abrogated, 
 let it 'remain so. All I affirm is, what you must be 
 convinced of, namely, that faith, in its very nature, 
 is incapable of restraint or coercion. 
 
 " As an example, reflect on my conduct in the af- 
 
571 
 
 fair of the indulgences. I had Ihe whole body of the 
 papists to oppose. I preached, I wrote, I pressed on 
 men's consciences with the greatest earnestness the 
 positive declarations of the Word of God, but I used 
 not a particle of force or constraint. What has been 
 the consequence ? This same Word of God has, while 
 I was asleep in .my bed, given such a blow to papal des- 
 potism, as not one of the German princes, not even the 
 emperor himself could have done. It is not I, I repeat 
 it, it is the Divine Word which has done every thingv 
 Had it been right to have aimed at a reform by vio- 
 lence and tumults, it would have been easyfor'rne to 
 have deluged Germany with blood ; nay, had I been 
 in the least inclined to promote sedition, it was in my 
 p nver, when I was at Worms, to have endangered the 
 safety even of the emperor himself. The devil smiles 
 in secret when men pretend to support religion by se- 
 ditious tumults; but he is cut to the heart, when he 
 sees them, in faith and patience, rely on the written 
 word.'' 
 
 These extracts from Luther's sermons may suffice 
 as specimens of the wisdom and discretion with which 
 that reformer addressed and directed his congregation 
 in this critical extremity, when the best friends of the 
 protestant cause were almost in despair. They may 
 also have other important uses, especially when taken 
 in connexion with the other parts of this circumstantial 
 account of Luther's motives for leaving the casile of 
 Wartburg. For example ; they demonstrate, in gen- 
 eral, the enlightened state of the mind of the great 
 German reformer at this very early period of the re- 
 formation ; and they furnish the cornpletest answer to 
 the invidious conjecture of those, who have imagined 
 that " the true reason of his displeasure at the pro- 
 ceedings of Carolstadt was, that he could not bear to 
 see another crowned with the glory f executing a PLAN 
 which he had laid.''* 
 
 The people of Wittemberg heard their beloved 
 
 * The facts prove that Luther laid no plan at all His eyes opened by degrees, 
 and he was faithful to the light afforded him. He acted to the hest of his judg. 
 rnent always at the moment, and committed his cause to God, completely igno- 
 rant of what he might be called to ill or to suffer ; but as completely disposed 
 t^ obey what should appear t him t be the Dmne will. 
 
572 
 
 pastor with the greatest satisfaction : and again tran- 
 quillity and concord began to flourish in the church. 
 The importance of Carolstadt vanished before the in- 
 fluence of Luther; and, after various travels and 
 schemes, he became fixed at Basil, where he exercis- 
 ed the pastoral office for ten years, and died in 1531. 
 Luther, in a letter to the prior ofEisleben, gives 
 the following concise account of the misunderstanding; 
 between Carolstadt and himself. 
 
 "I offended Carolstadt," says he, "because I an- 
 nulled his institutions ; though I by no means con- 
 demned his doctrine. In one point, however, he 
 grieved me much. I found him taking prodigious 
 pains about ceremonies and things external, and, at 
 the same time, very negligent in inculcating the essen- 
 tial principles of Christianity , namely, faith and chari- 
 ty. By his injudicious method of teaching, he had in- 
 duced many of the people to think themselves chris- 
 tians, however deficient in these graces, provided they 
 did but communicate in both kinds, take the conse- 
 crated elements into their own hands, refuse private 
 confession, and break images. Observe how the mal- 
 ice of Satan attempts to ruin the gospel in a new way. 
 All along, my object has been, by instruction to eman- 
 cipate the consciences of men from the bondage of 
 human inventions of every kind ; and then the papal 
 fooleries would soon fall of themselves by common 
 consent. But Carolstadt suddenly set himself up as a 
 new teacher, and, By his own arbitrary institutions, 
 endeavored to ruin my credit with the people." 
 
 There only now remained, as an object of conten- 
 tion, the turbulence and fanaticism of the prophets, 
 already mentioned. The associates of Stubner press- 
 ed him to defend his pretension openly^ and to con- 
 front the reformer, who, by his sermons and his au- 
 thority, had nearly restored peace and unanimity 
 among the people. With much reluctance, Luther 
 consented to hold a conference, in the presence of 
 Melancthon, with this enthusiast and Celiary and an- 
 other of the same fanatical sect. Our sagacious refer- 
 p\w patiently heard the prophet relate his visions ; and 
 
578 
 
 when the harangue was finished, recollecting that non- 
 sense was incapable of confutation, he briefly admon- 
 ished him to take care what he did. You have men- 
 tioned, said he, nothing that has the least support in 
 scripture ; the whole seems rather an ebullition of im- 
 agination, or perhaps, the fraudulent suggestion of an 
 evil spirit. Cellary, in a storm of indignation, stamp- 
 ed on the ground, struck the table with his hands, and 
 expressed the most lively resentment that Luther 
 should dare to say such things of so divine a person- 
 age. Stubner, with more calmness, told Luther he 
 would give him a proof that he was influenced by the 
 Divine Spirit : for, said he, I will reveal your own 
 thoughts at this moment. You are inclined to believe 
 my doctrine true, notwithstanding what has passed. 
 The man, however, totally mistook in his conjecture ; for 
 Luther afterwards declared that he was then meditat- 
 ing on the divine sentence, " The Lord rebuke thee, 
 Satan." The prophets now boasted and threatened, 
 in the most pompous and extravagant terms, what sur- 
 prising things they would do to establish their com- 
 mission ; but Luther thought proper to put an end to 
 the conversation by dismissing them with these words, 
 " The God whom I serve and adore will confound 
 your vanities." That very day they left the town, and 
 sent letters to Luther full of execrations and abuse. 
 The leaders, however, being gone, their disciples 
 dwindled in number; and for the present the delusion 
 was quashed.* 
 
 It was not, however, in the power of Luther, to in- 
 fuse into all his followers the moderate and cautious spi- 
 rit with which he himself, notwithstanding the warmth 
 of his temper, was constantly possessed. He expres- 
 ses his grief, that many monks, deserting their mon- 
 asteries, flocked to Wittemberg, and married immedi- 
 ately, actuated by no better motives than those of 
 mere sensuality ; from which he foresaw the scandal 
 which would arise against the gospel. He complains, 
 that wickedness still abounded among those who pro- 
 fessed to abhor the papacy, and that they had the 
 
 * These fanatical prophets opposed the baptism of infants ; and appear to have 
 been among- the very first of the turbulent German anabaptists ; a secf, v n :h. 
 oug-ht never to be confounded with the baptists of our times. 
 
574 
 
 kingdom of God among them too much in WORD, in- 
 stead of power. There were, however, some of those 
 that deserted the monasteries, who gave the most shin- 
 ing proofs of genuine godliness, and who were the 
 most active instruments of the propagation of the gos- 
 pel. Nor were their labors, or those of Luther, in 
 vain : many souls were turned from the power of Sa- 
 tan to God. It required only the exercise of common 
 candor and equity to acknowledge the utility of the re- 
 formation in these and other important instances, and 
 not to expect from the labors of a few upright pastors 
 the entire renovation of the human species. Luther's 
 zeal was no less vehement against the ABUSE of chris- 
 tian liberty, than it was against papal bondage; he 
 was cautious and slow in the promotion of external 
 changes in the church, ardent and intent on the ad- 
 vancement of internal religion; he lamented the per- 
 verseness of hypocritical professors; he checked the 
 ferocious spirits of the forward and the turbulent; 
 and demonstrated his own sincerity by a perfect 
 contempt of all secular arts to obtain applause and 
 popularity. It was not to be supposed, that all men 
 who had been habituated to folly and wickedness un- 
 der the popedom, should immediately, on hearing his 
 sermons, commence real saints; it is rather to be ad- 
 mired as a great effect of Divine grace that so many 
 gave substantial proofs of genuine conversion. 
 
 His personal circumstances were all this time truly 
 distressing. He thus describes them in a letter to 
 Gerbelius of Strasburg. " I am now encompassed 
 with no guards, but those of heaven ; I live in the 
 midst of enemies, who have a legal power of killing 
 me every hour. This is the way in which I comfort 
 myself; I know that Christ is Lord of all, that the Fa- 
 ther hath put all things under his feet, among the rest 
 the wrath of the emperor, and all evil spirits. If it 
 please Christ that I should be slain, let me die in his 
 name ; if it do not please him, who shall slay me ? 
 Do you only, with your friends, take care to assist the 
 cause of the gospel by your prayers. For because, 
 through our grievous ingratitude, we hold the gospel 
 
575 
 
 in word only, and not in power, and are more elated 
 in knowledge than edified in charity, I fear our Ger- 
 many will be drenched in blood." To Langus the 
 pastor of Erfurt he wrote thus. " I must not come to 
 you ; it behoveth me not to tempt God, by seeking 
 dangers elsewhere, when I am full of them here al- 
 ready, excluded as I am by the papal and imperial 
 anathemas, exposed to be murdered by any one, 
 absolutely with no protection except that which is from 
 above." 
 
 Amidst all these difficulties, however, he remitted 
 not his usual vigor and activity. During his confine- 
 ment he had studied the Hebrew with persevering in- 
 dustry, and had* translated the whole New Testament 
 into the German language. And in the course of this 
 year, 1522, he published the version. He then pro- 
 ceeded to apply his Hebrew studies to the translation 
 of the Old Testament, which he also published gradu- 
 ally, and finished the whole in the year 1530. In this 
 work he was much assisted by the labour and advice 
 of several of his friends, particularly Justus Jonas and 
 Philip Melancthon. The whole performance itself 
 was a monument of that astonishing industry which 
 marked the character of this reformer. The effects of 
 this labour were soon felt in Germany; immense num- 
 bers now read in their own language the precious 
 word of God, and saw with their own eyes the just 
 foundations of the Lutheran doctrine. To decide on 
 the merits of Luther's translation, would require, not 
 only an exact knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek, 
 but also of the German language ; certainly it was 
 elegant and perspicuous, and, beyond comparison, 
 preferable to any scriptural publication which had be- 
 fore been known to the populace. It is probable that 
 this work had many defects; but, that it was in the 
 main faithful and sound; may be fairly presumed from 
 the solid understanding, biblical learning, and multi- 
 farious knowledge of the author and his coadjutors. 
 A more acceptable present could scarcely have been 
 conferred on men, who were emerging out of darkness; 
 and the example being followed soon after by reform- 
 
57(5 
 
 ers in other nations, the real knowledge of scripture, if 
 we take into the account the effects of the art of print- 
 ing, was facilitated to a surprising degree. 
 
 The papacy saw all this and sighed indignant. 
 
 Emser, a doctor of Leipsic, endeavored to depre- 
 ciate the credit of Luther's version ; and the popish 
 princes, within the bounds of their respective domin- 
 ions, ordered the work to be burnt. Nor \vas their re- 
 sentment appeased by the advice which Luther openly 
 gave to their subjects, which W 7 as this, patiently to 
 bear their sufferings without resisting their governors, 
 but not to come forward voluntarily and deliver up 
 their German bibles, nor to do any act, which might 
 testify an approbation of the requisitions of their supe- 
 riors on the occasion. 
 
 In the mean time, George of Saxony, incensed at 
 the growth of Lutheranism, and expostulating repeat- 
 edly with his nephew the elector, on account of his 
 conduct, began to encourage the papal bishops to ex- 
 ert themselves in their respective dioceses. Among 
 these, John a Schleinig, bishop ofMisnia, commenced 
 an episcopal visitation in this year. The elector refu- 
 sed not his consent; too timid to withstand openly (he 
 power of the popedom, and too conscientious to under- 
 take the decision of theological cases, to which he con- 
 fessed his knowledge to be inadequate. A long course 
 of superstitious servility from his early years had en- 
 feebled in religious matters, the intellectual powers of 
 this prince, which, in secular affairs, were justly look- 
 ed on as exceedingly eminent. His labor and expense 
 in the collection of relics had been astonishing; yet, 
 amidst all his superstitions, doubts and embarrass- 
 ments, be had constantly preserved a secret predilec- 
 tion for something of evangelical truth ; and, on no 
 occasion would suffer it to be oppressed by violence, 
 (hough through life he never openly supported it.* 
 
 * There is on record a notable instance of the resolute determination of this 
 good prince to pvoU-.ct his subjects from papal cruelty. A clergyman of Schmei- 
 -dberg, in the felectorate of Frederic, complained to the elector, that attempts 
 had been made to carry h'm away by force to Stolpen, the place of the residence 
 of the bishop of Misn'ra. This bishop also, about the same time, accused the 
 said clergyman of not appearing to a citation which he had sent to him, and en- 
 treated the prince to compel his subject to obedience. Frederic replied, that 
 
577 
 
 Thus, in the course of Divine Providence, the founda- 
 tions of the reformation were laid in Germany by the 
 preaching and exposition of the word of God, with no 
 more aid from the civil power than that of a conni- 
 vance, firm indeed, and unalterable, but ever bearing 
 the marks of hesitation and indecision. That Fred- 
 eric should permit the bishop of Misnia, an avowed 
 and professional adversary of Luther, to visit the chur- 
 ches, might alarm the minds of many ; but it produ- 
 ced no mischievous effects. He preached, he warned, 
 he expostulated, through the diocese ; but the papal 
 arguments were now stale, insipid, and ineffective. 
 So much light had been diffused through Saxony, that 
 this prelate's defence of masses of communion in one 
 kind, of the pope's authority and infallibility, and of 
 the Romish tenets, appeared ridiculous to the laity. 
 Other bishops, with the consent of the elector, made 
 Ihe same perigrinations with the same effect ; and it 
 required all the power and rigor of the duke George 
 to keep his own subjects within the bounds of papal 
 obedience. So much more happy did the subjects of 
 Frederic, who enjoyed liberty of conscience, seem to 
 be than themselves, who remained papists by con- 
 straint; and so much light from the proximity of their 
 situation, had they received concerning the nature of 
 true religion. 
 
 But the difficulties of providing for the instruction and 
 edification of the Lutheran churches began now to be 
 more apparent. While, on the one hand, the bishops, 
 and many of the clergy and monks, who still adhered 
 to the old system were laboring to harrass and perplex 
 the minds of all serious inquirers after Divine truth, on 
 
 the grounds of the citation ought to have been stated ; and that he Would not 
 permit his clergy to be taken by force, and carried out of his dominions, with- 
 out his knowledge and approbation. The fault of this clergyman appears to have 
 been, that he labored under the suspicion of being 1 married. Some other cases 
 of a like sort happened during this year. The bishop remonstrated ; but Freder- 
 ic continued steady ? and would aUow no force to be employed against his cler- 
 gy. Further, he desired the bishop to appeal to him no more against them on 
 account o^' their being married. He might use, he said, his ecclesiastical juris- 
 diction against them if he pleased. The elector had learnt, that this tyrannical 
 bishop hud shut up in a noisome prison three clergymen belonging to the dis- 
 trict of duke George ; and had actually put another to death. Seek. 
 
578 
 
 ihe other, many of the people were panting for 
 benefit of a church order, more emancipated from 
 superstitions, and better adapted to the evangelical 
 ideas, which they were continually receiving, either 
 from reading the books or hearing the sermons of Lu- 
 ther and his associates. In this crisis the reformer 
 was consulted by the parochial clergy of some of the 
 principal towns in Saxony, who approved of the alter- 
 ations which he had introduced into Wittemberg with 
 the consent of the inhabitants and the connivance of 
 the elector, and who, therefore, were anxious to en- 
 quire and try whether improvements of a similar kind 
 might not be made in other places. This application 
 gave rise to a little treatise, which Luther published 
 in the year 1523. The exordium of this tract shows 
 the principles of the external reformation, which was 
 gradually introduced into various parts of Germany 
 where Lutheranism prevailed, and illustrates the cus- 
 toms of the churches while they were yet in an imper- 
 fect state of discipline. " Hitherto," said he, " by 
 books and by preaching I have labored among this 
 people, to inform their minds, and to draw their hearts 
 from false dependences ; thinking it a Christian em- 
 ployment, if possible, to break without hands the abom- 
 ination which Satan, by the man of sin, had set up 
 in the holy place. I have attempted nothing forcibly, 
 nothing imperiously ; nor have I changed old cus- 
 toms ; being always afraid of doing mischief, partly 
 on account of those who are weak in faith, and cannot 
 suddenly be divested of old prejudices or induced to 
 acquiesce in new modes of worship, but principally 
 because of those light and fastidious spirits, who rush 
 on without faith and without understanding, and de- 
 light in novelty only, and are presently disgusted, 
 when the charms of novelty are ceased. In other 
 subjects, persons of this turn of mind are sufficiently 
 troublesome ; in religion, however, they are perpetu- 
 ally so; still it is my duty to bear them, though my 
 temper must thereby be tried to the utmost; unless, 
 indeed, I were to cease all my attempts to spread the 
 gospel among the public. But, as I now flatter my- 
 
579 
 
 self that the hearts of many are both enlightened and 
 strengthened by the grace of God, and as the circum- 
 stances require that scandals should at length be remov- 
 ed out of the kingdom of Christ, we ought lo attempt 
 something in HIS NAME. For it is highly proper, that 
 'we should consult for the good of the few, lest while 
 we perpetually dread the levity and abuses of the ma* 
 ny, we should do good to none ; and lest, while we 
 dread future scandals, we should confirm the general 
 abominations. We will therefore endeavor in the sac- 
 ramental forms, so to regulate the use of them, that 
 we may not only instruct the hearts of the people, but 
 also recommend a public administration of them, with- 
 out pretending to impose our ideas upon others. And 
 we entreat the brethren heartily, through Jesus Christ, 
 that if any thing better be revealed to them, they would 
 exhibit it, that the public benefit may be conducted 
 by public counsel." On this plan Luther undertook 
 to remove some of the most flagrant abuses in bap- 
 tism and the Lord's supper, and to recommend com- 
 munion in both kinds, while he tolerated, till a more fa- 
 vorable opportunity should occur, many less matters 
 not directly sinful, though inconvenient and useless ; 
 in the mean time, his zeal exerted all its vehemence on 
 the essentials of salvation; real faith and real piety* 
 
 Private masses were still celebrated in the great 
 church at Wittemberg. By means of these, persons 
 who had money, were taught by the supporters of the 
 iniquitous traffic of the court of Rome, that they could 
 procure to themselves the favor of God, in their jour- 
 neys, voyages, and such like, and even after death. 
 Of this iniquitous practice Luther complained, but he 
 could not bring the people immediately to renounce 
 it. But on the death of some of the most obstinate 
 canons of Wittemberg, he found an opportunity of 
 gradually annihilating this great bulwark of popery. 
 In the mean time it did not escape the sagacily of 
 our reformer, that the alterations which were daily 
 taking place, in consequence of the protestant doc- 
 trines, would in many instances be attended with a 
 dangerous redundance of ecclesiastical revenue. The 
 
580 
 
 monasteries and colleges would soon be deserted, and 
 it was not probable that new inhabitants would suc- 
 ceed the old ones. He foresaw, that much scandal 
 and great abuses might arise from this circumstance, 
 unless certain effectual precautions were taken in due 
 time, to prevent the superfluous money from becom- 
 ing a temptation to the rapacity or covetousness of 
 worldly minded men. On the subject, therefore, of 
 a proper application of ecclesiastical property, he free- 
 ly published his thoughts, and proposed that a sort of 
 common treasury should be made of the above men- 
 tioned revenues, and they should be applied to the 
 erection of schools and hospitals, the maintenance of 
 preachers, and other pious and laudable objects. This 
 advice gave great offence to the papal party ; and Lu- 
 ther was accused by them, of setting up himself by his 
 own private authority as the supreme lawgiver, and 
 also, of attempting to gratify the German princes with 
 the plunder of the church. 
 
 During these unceasing efforts of the reformer to 
 promote the glory of God in the recovery and estab- 
 lishment of Christian liberty, his grand adversary, 
 George, duke of Saxony, was making every exertion 
 to support the declining credit of the papal system. He 
 wrote to John, duke of Saxony, the brother of Freder- 
 ic, and complained heavily of the heretical transactions 
 at Wittemberg and Zwickau, and of the remissness of 
 his broiker the elector. He stated that the faith- 
 ful clergy were insulted, and pelted with stones, while 
 those of the Lutheran sect married wives, and wrote 
 books in defence of the marriage of the monks : that 
 there were some, destitute of all religion, who denied 
 the immortality of the soul. All these evils, he said, 
 arose from the novel doctrines of the arch- heretic ; 
 and gave him more pain, since he had found the con- 
 tagion was spreading among his own subjects. He 
 concluded with beseeching his nephew John to do his 
 utmost to convince the elector Frederic, how absolute- 
 ly necessary it had become that he should clear him- 
 self of the suspicion of heresy, cither by punishing 
 the innovators, or, at least, openly expressing his dis- 
 
681 
 
 approbation of their proceedings. He would gladly 
 concur with his two nephews^n suppressing the grow- 
 ing mischief, and had more to say on this subject. To 
 this exhortation, John, duke of Saxony, who will short- 
 ly appear to have been a staunch protestant, and who 
 well knew how fruitless would be any attempt to ar- 
 gue with his prejudiced uncle, returned no more than 
 a concise and civil reply ; that he would not fail to 
 communicate with his brother the elector, and would 
 be ready to pay due attention to any further advice 
 the duke George might think proper to give. 
 
 But George, in his determined bigotry, was not sat- 
 isfied merely with using persuasions. He had re- 
 course to methods which he supposed more efficacious 
 to secure the unity of the church. Under the author- 
 ity of the emperor, and in concert with Aleander and 
 other enemies of the reformation, he had procured a 
 severe edict to be passed at Nuremberg against the 
 principles of Luther, and was now laboring in every 
 way he could devise to render it effective. It was in 
 obedience to the special directions of this edict that 
 the bishps began their penal and coercive visitations ; 
 and it was under the sanction of the same tyrannical 
 measure, that George, by imprisonments and other 
 cruelties, supported, through every part of his territo- 
 ry, the ecclesiastical inquisitions. Moreover, this ac- 
 tive zealot, to render his plans of persecution more ex- 
 tensive, tried once more, by a literary correspondence, 
 to obtain the co-operation of the elector of Saxony. 
 He said, the reputation of that wise prince was suffer- 
 ing from a want of vigorous animadversion on the apos- 
 tate clergy ; he had heard during his stay at Nuremberg 
 many reports of the profane doctrines and irregular 
 practices of the schismatics under Frederic's jurisdic- 
 tion : and to be brief, he neither understood, nor wish- 
 ed to understand, all the obscure hints which were 
 thrown out to the disadvantage of his nephew. 
 
 Upon the elector's having demanded an explanation 
 of this inuendo, George owned that he had not heard 
 of any specific charge being made against the person 
 of Frederic, but that nevertheless numbers of people 
 
582 
 
 expressed their astonishment, that so good a prince 
 should tolerate the heresy and disobedience even of 
 his own professors and teachers. A doctor, an ex- 
 monk at Eislenberg, named Gabriel, was said to be a 
 principal instigator of all this mischief. Moreover, 
 they accused Carolstadt of being married, arid Me- 
 lancthon of doing such things as the very Hussites 
 would have held in abhorrence. The duke George 
 protested that the hearing of these things gave him the 
 greatest concern ; and he heartily wished that those, 
 who boasted of having caused so much evangelical 
 light in the electorate of Frederic, had been preaching 
 their gospel at Constantinople ; for he was sure they 
 had brought upon their prince, now in his old age, 
 abundance of ignominious reflections. He concluded 
 with earnestly exhorting the elector to punish most se- 
 verely the refractory monks and priests, and thereby 
 give proof of his piety and regard to duty. 
 
 The elector replied concisely, but with great pru- 
 dence and moderation. He had hoped, he said, that 
 the duke his uncle, on such an occasion, would have 
 behaved like a friend and a Christian ; that he would 
 not have given credit to slanderous reports, but have 
 defended himself from the charge of countenancing 
 irreligion and impiety. Reports of that sort were to 
 be despised, and their punishment left to the Almigh- 
 ty. He himself should never approve any thing that 
 was contrary to the honor of God, the sound judgment 
 of the holy fathers, and the salvation of mankind : and 
 as to those who were guilty in these respects, it was at 
 their own peril ; they must take the consequences : and 
 should they prove to be his own subjects, he should 
 assuredly punish them, when convicted of any illegal 
 act. 
 
 But the mild and decorous language of Frederic did 
 not produce any durable or substantial change on the 
 mind of duke George in favor of reason, humanity, and 
 Christian liberty. He continued to persecute with un- 
 relenting cruelty, those clergy of his own district who 
 were in the least disposed to Lutheranism, and like- 
 wise all persons who ventured to communicate at the 
 
583 
 
 Lord's supper in both kinds. He recalled from the 
 schools and universities, wherever he supposed the 
 new doctrines prevailed, all the students who were 
 under his power or influence. He purchased as many 
 copies of Luther's version of the New Testament, as 
 he could collect, with a view to destroy the work, and 
 severely punished such subjects as refused to deliver 
 them up. Emboldened by these rigorous proceedings 
 of the duke, his bigoted ecclesiastics raged against Lu- 
 therans with increased violence and rancor. The 
 pulpits in Leipsic resounded with vindictive declama- 
 tion ; and the bishops in their visitations denounced 
 the most cruel punishments against all who should 
 dare either to read Luther's translation, or to go into 
 the neighboring district of the elector of Saxony for 
 the purpose of hearing the sermons of the reformers. 
 But the blind persecutors were not then sensible how 
 completely they were defeating their own designs by 
 these cruelties. The seminaries of education at 
 Leipsic were more and more deserted: the young 
 students, impelled by curiosity, a thirst of knowledge, 
 or a hatred of compulsion, fled to Wittemberg, now 
 famous for rational inquiry arid Christian liberty. 
 
 The papal historian Maimbourg confesses, that Lu- 
 ther's translations of the old and New Testament were 
 remarkably elegant, and in general so much approved 
 that they were read by almost every body throughout 
 Germany. Women of the first distinction studied 
 them with the most industrious and persevering atten- 
 tion, and obstinately defended the tenets of the reform- 
 ed against bishops, monks, and catholic doctors. 
 Hence the necessity of some speedy ANTIDOTES, which 
 might resist the ravages of such contagious publica- 
 tions. 
 
 Jerom Emser, a Leipsic Doctor, and a counsellor 
 of the duke George, was fixed upon as best qualified 
 to furnish THESE. This champion of the papacy first 
 published his puerile, but calumnious Notes on Lu- 
 ther's New Testament : and afterwards, through the 
 encouragement of George and two bishops, produced 
 what was, called a correct translation of the New 
 
584 
 
 Testament into German, but which in fact was little 
 more than a transcript of Luther's labors, some alter- 
 ations in favour of the peculiar tenets of the church of 
 Rome excepted. The performances of Emser, so far as 
 they were his own, were deemed contemptible in the 
 highest degree, on account of the malignant, cavilling 
 disposition of their author, and also of his extreme 
 ignorance of the German language. He left out Lu- 
 ther's preface and inserted his own, and then sold the 
 translation as his own. The book was read; and thus 
 the design of Luther's labors was promoted by his ve- 
 ry enemies; 
 
 Henry, duke of Brunswic, followed George in his 
 zeal and barbarity in support of the popedom, as did 
 also the emperor's brother, Ferdinand, archduke of 
 Austria. This latter issued a severe edict to prevent 
 the publication of Luther's translation of the bible, 
 which had soon gone through several editions ; and 
 he forbade all the subjects of his imperial majesty to 
 have any copies either of that or any of Luther's 
 books. In Flanders the persecution appears to have 
 been extreme. Many, on account of their adherence 
 to Lutheranism, w r ere put to death, or deprived of 
 their property, by the most summary and tyrannical 
 proceedings. At Antwerp, however, the monks were 
 remarkably favorable to the reformation. Many of 
 them suffered death'with patience and firmness, thers 
 were punished in various ways, after having, through 
 long imprisonment and the dread of losing their lives, 
 been compelled to recant. 
 
 Luther was now at open war with the pope, his 
 cardinals and bishops ; and while they were endea- 
 voring to keep the scriptures from the people, ta 
 darken their understandings, and to implant in their 
 minds an implicit confidence in the dogmas of their 
 constitution; Luther was endeavoring by all rational 
 arid scriptural methods to diffuse light and knowledge 
 among them. He took great pains to instruct the ig- 
 norant, and to make proselytes to the great truths of 
 God's word. To this end he conversed, he p.ieached 
 and wrote with almost unexampled industry. He 
 
685 
 
 placed the controverted parts in various lights, and of- 
 ten overwhelmed his adversaries with the rapidity of 
 his productions. 
 
 Antichrist became more furious and unrelenting, 
 as his empire diminished, and seemed hastening to 
 destruction ; and the papal adherents more cruel 
 and sanguinary in their proceedings against the re- 
 former and his disciples. But with Luther, there was 
 no other vengeance which he dared to inflict, be- 
 yond that of exposing, by scripture and reason, the un- 
 reasonableness, the ignorance, the absurdities, and the 
 blasphemies of his enemies. While his bigoted ene- 
 mies continued malignant and outrageous, it was 
 his uninterrupted consolation to reflect, that his 
 cause was the cause of God and his Christ; that 
 he had wielded no weapon in the conflict but that of 
 the Divine word ; and that while his own life, and the 
 lives of his associates, were every moment in the most 
 imminent peril through the barbarous zeal of his per- 
 secutors, he was undermining the very principles of 
 persecution itself, and paving the way for their total 
 extinction. 
 
 In the course of the present year, Luther published 
 several tracts in the German language ; the most elab- 
 orate of which is entitled, Martin Luther, against the 
 order, falsely called, the ecclesiastical order of pope 
 and bishp. In this work he styles himself simply the 
 PREACHER. He was stripped, he said, by the pope's 
 bulls, of the titles of priest and doctor, which, however, 
 he willingly resigned, having no desire to retain any 
 mark of distinction conferred by papal authority. 
 
 " Ye bishops," said he, " revile me as a heretic, but 
 I regard you not. I can prove that I have a much 
 greater claim to the title of preacher, than ye can that 
 ye answer the scriptural description of bishops. Nor 
 have I any doubt, but that Christ, in the great day of 
 account, will testify to the truth of my doctrine, which 
 indeed is not mine, but that of God and the spirit of 
 the Lord. Your outrageous violence can profit you 
 nothing: the more you give way to this insanity, the 
 more steady and determined, through God's help, 
 
586 
 
 be my opposition. Nay, though ye should kill me, 
 ye men of blood, ye will not destroy this doctrine, as 
 long as Christ lives. Moreover, 1 foresee there will 
 be an end of your tyranny and of your murders. 
 
 " Further, since ye are open enemies of the truth. 
 I tell you plainly, that for the future I will not deign 
 to submit my doctrine either to your judgment or to 
 that of an angel from heaven. Surely I have already 
 shown sufficient humility in offering myself three 
 times for examination at the last diet of Worms ; and 
 all to no purpose. I shall now go on and discharge my 
 duty as a preacher. It is at men's peril if they reject 
 my doctrine, for it is of God ; I repeat it, it is of God. 
 , u In one w r ord, sirs, this is my resolution. As long 
 as I live, my attacks .on your abominations shall grovir 
 bolder and fiercer. I will make no truce with you. 
 And if ye slay me, ye shall still be further from peace. 
 As the prophet Hosea says, I will be unto you " as a 
 lion, as a leopard by the way." My most earnest 
 wish is, that ye should repent ; but if ye will not re- 
 pent, there must be perpetual war between us. I 
 shall put my trust in God, and not care one straw for 
 your hatred ; and ye will be in danger every moment 
 of falling under the heavy judgment of the Divine 
 displeasure." 
 
 The author then proceeds to show 7 how much those 
 were to be valued who were bishops indeed, and go- 
 verned their flocks according to the rules prescribed 
 by St. Paul to Timothy and Titus; and how exceed- 
 ingly opposite to the apostolical standard was the ge- 
 neral character of the bishops of his own time. They 
 were ignorant, debauched, and tyrannical ; enemies 
 to the gospel and the truth ; idolaters, who followed 
 the traditions of men, and worshipped the pope. The 
 monasteries, and collegiate churches were become, in 
 a great measure, theatres of useless ceremonies. " I 
 wish," says he, " that where there are now a hundred 
 monasteries, there was but one ; and that of a hun- 
 dred collegiate churches, there was left but one or 
 two, and that these were used as seminaries of edu- 
 cation for Christian youth. For> however holy these 
 
68? 
 
 institution's- may seem to be in their external aj> 
 pearance, they abound with hypocritical and Satanic 
 corruptions; nor is it possible to prevent them from 
 being the road to hell, unless the pure gospel should 
 be constantly preached and taught, as the governing 
 principle, forming and establishing the Christian char- 
 acter, through the exercises of temptation and the 
 cross, with a lively faith and hope.'' 
 
 The author likewise reprobates, in the most glowing 
 terms, the pride, the luxury, avarice, and licentious- 
 ness of the dignified ecclesiastics. Their boasted 
 chastity arid continence was all pretence, the source 
 of infinite mischief to young persons, The bishops 
 would not marry, but were allowed to have as many 
 harlots as they pleased; They went about with pro- 
 digious pomp and a numerous retinue ; and ruined 
 the souls of the poor, often driven to despair by their 
 tyrannical excommunications, while their greedy of- 
 ficials tortured their bodies after they bad plundered 
 them of their property. 
 
 " But," says he, " the most atrocious and most mis- 
 chievous poison of all the papal usages is, that, where 
 the pontiff, in his bulls of indulgence, grants a full re- 
 mission of sins. Christ, in the 9th of Matthew, did not 
 say to the sick of the palsy, " Put money into this box/* 
 but " Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven 
 thee." No words nor conceptions can reach the atro- 
 city and abomination of this Satanic invention : for 
 through this mean the people are seduced from the 
 purity and simplicity of that faith, which by relying on, 
 the gracious promises of God, alone justifies, and ob- 
 tains remission of sins; and they are led to put their 
 trust in the pope's bulls, or in paying certain pre- 
 scribed sums of money, or in their own works and sat- 
 isfactions. 
 
 " I do therefore earnestly entreat the Christian rea- 
 der, through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to expect 
 moderation in me while I speak on this subject, rous- 
 ed as my spirit is with a just and rational resentment. 
 Surely every Christian musi be grieved to the very bot- 
 tom of hi heart, when he is daily compelled to see 
 
588 
 
 and put up with such impudent and outrageous blas- 
 phemy against God. The bishops, on account of this 
 ONE thing, deserve far greater severity than I have 
 ever used in all that I have said of them. Nay, the 
 strongest language which I could possibly use, when 
 my feelings are most vehejnent and indignant with re- 
 flecting on the insanity of such proceedings, would 
 not reach the thousandth part of their aggravated 
 guilt. However, let no man suppose that what I now 
 say against these ecclesiastical tyrants is applicable 
 to a sound state of the church, or to true bishops or 
 good pastors. Our present rulers are not bishops ; 
 they know nothing of.the duty of a bishop; they are 
 the Antichrists of the apostle ; they would ruin man- 
 kind, and extinguish the gospel. I wish to speak 
 plainly, and, as it were, to perform the office of a pub 
 lie herald ; and to make it manifest every where, that 
 the bishops, who at present govern the greatest part of 
 the world, are not of God's appointment, but have the 
 foundation of their authority in the tradition of mca 
 and the delusion of Satan." 
 
 Further, in the body of this spirited performance 
 the author inserts what he calls the BULL AND REFOR- 
 MATION OF LUTHER, in contemptuous imitation and de- 
 fiance of the papal bulls. It is to this effect : u All 
 persons who spend their lives and fortunes, and every 
 faculty they possess, in endeavoring to overturn and 
 extinguish the present diabolical constitution and gov- 
 ernment of the bishops, are to be esteemed as true 
 Christians, fighting for the gospel, in opposition to the 
 ministers of Satan. And though they may not absolute- 
 ly succeed in their attempts, yet are they bound openly 
 to condemn the said episcopal constitution, -and to set 
 their faces against it as an abomination. For whoev- 
 er exhibits a voluntary obedience and subjection to 
 that impious and tyrannical system, is so far a soldier 
 of Satan, and at open war with the holy laws of God." 
 
 This gave great offence to the papists, and has been 
 produced by them as a direct proof of the seditious 
 spirit of the Saxon reformer. But Luther immediate 
 )y after the declaration in his bull, proceeds thus ; 
 
583 
 
 " These propositions I undertake to prove, even at the 
 tribunal of Almighty God, by unanswerable argu- 
 ments. The apostle Paul directs Titus to ordain bish- 
 ops in every city; men who should each of them be 
 blameless, the husband of one wife, and whose char- 
 acter should agree with the rest of his description. 
 Such then is the mind of the Holy Spirit, speaking by 
 the apostle Paul in the clearest terms. 1 call on the 
 bishops to defend themselves. They are at issue, not 
 with me, but with the apostle Paul, and the Holy 
 Spirit, which, as Stephen said, they always resist. IB 
 it not plain that these are they whose mouths must be 
 stopped, because they subvert whole houses, and teach 
 things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake ? 
 
 " 87* Nevertheless, it should always be carefully 
 observed, that when I speak of overturning and extin- 
 guishing the reign of the bishops, I would by no means 
 be understood as though this resolution should be 
 brought about by the sword, or by force, or by any 
 species of tumultuary violence and compulsion: such- 
 destructive methods are totally inapplicable to this 
 important business, which is indeed the cause of God. 
 The kingdom of Antichrist, according to the prophet 
 Daniel's prediction, must be broken WITHOUT HAND ; 
 that is, the scriptures will be understood by and by, 
 and every one will speak and preach against the papal 
 tyranny from the word of God ; until THIS MAN OF SIN 
 is deserted by all his adherents, and dies of himself. 
 This is the true Christian way of destroying him ; and 
 to promote this end we ought to exert every nerve, 
 encounter every danger, and undergo every loss and 
 
 inconvenience." 
 
 During these vehement exercises of the voice and 
 pen of Luther on the one hand, and the sufferings of 
 the protestants on the other, the word of God was 
 preached with much success in various parts of Ger- 
 many. With how great success, may be seen, from, 
 the brief, which pope Adrian VI. the successor of Leo 
 X. addressed by his legate, Cheregato, to the German 
 princes, assembled in the imperial diet of Nuremberg. 
 This brief was full of the most virulent invectives 
 
590 
 
 against Luther; who, Adrian says, notwithstanding 
 the sentence of Leo X. which was ordered by the 
 edict of Worms to he executed without delay, contin- 
 ued to teach the same errors, and by his fresh publica- 
 tions, daily to corrupt the morals of the people : That, 
 the contageon of his poisoned tongue, like a pesti- 
 lence, pervaded the country to a prodigious extent ; 
 and, what was the worst part of the mischief, he was 
 supported, not only by the vulgar, but by several per- 
 sons of distinction, who had begun to shake off their 
 obedience to the clergy, plunder them of their proper- 
 ty, and raise civil commotions. The pope had hoped 
 that a venemous plant of this sort could not have 
 grown in Germany; whereas, in fact, it had taken 
 root, and shot forth large boughs, through the negii- 
 
 fence of those who ought to have prevented the evil, 
 urely, said he, it was a mest unaccountable thing, 
 that so large and religious a nation should be seduced 
 by a single pitiful friar, who had apostatized from the 
 way which our Lord and his apostles, and the mar- 
 tyrs, and so many illustrious persons, and among thq 
 rest, the ancestors of the German princes, had all fol- 
 lowed to the present time ! " Wha/,," said he, " is Lu- 
 ther alone possessed of wisdom and the Holy Spirit ? 
 Has the church been in ignorance till Luther afforded 
 us this new light? Ridiculous! Be assured ye princes 
 of Germany, this Lutheran patronage of evangelical 
 liberty is a mere pretence. Already ye must have dis- 
 covered it to have been a cloke for robbery and vio- 
 lence ; and ye cannot doubt that those who have torn 
 and burnt the sacred canons, and the ..decrees of coun- 
 cils and popes, will have no respect for the laws of 
 the empire. They have shaken off their obedience 
 to bishops and priests 5 they will not spare the persons, 
 houses, and goods of the laity." 
 
 Lastly, Adrian exhorted the diet to be unanimous 
 in their endeavors to extinguish this devouring flame 
 of heresy, and bring back to a sense of their duty the 
 &rch- here tic and his abettors. But if the ulcerations 
 and extent of the cancer appeared to be such as to 
 leave no place for mild and lenient medicaments, re- 
 course must be had to the cautery and the knife. 
 
591 
 
 So the Almighty inflicted capital punishment on 
 Dathan and Abiram, for their disobedience to the 
 pnest. 
 
 So PETER, THE HEAD OF THE APOSTLES, denounced 
 sudden death on Ananias and Sapphira ; and, so the 
 ancestors of the German princes, at the council of 
 Constance, inflicted -condign punishment on John 
 Huss and Jerom of Prague, heretics, that seem to be 
 now alive again in the person of Luther, their great 
 admirer. 
 
 Thus Adrian, in his brief which he addressed to the 
 diet of Nuremberg, admitted that the doctrines of the 
 reformation were widely disseminated; that they 
 were very alarming to all who were desirous of still 
 maintaining the domination of the court of Rome. 
 And feeling, that their craft was in danger, he showed 
 himself troubled at the progress of Lutheranisra, and 
 that he felt it to be necessary to adopt vigorous meas- 
 ures for its suppression. He directed his nuncio to 
 affirm to the diet, that the design of the heretic was to 
 "destroy all authority, under the sanction of Christian 
 liberty. This sect was the cause of robberies, quar- 
 rels, and scandals. Mahomet had drawn men to his 
 party by gratifying their sensual appetites; Luther se- 
 duced them in a similar way, by allowing monks, 
 nuns, and lacivious priests to marry. The nuncio was 
 then charged TO OWN explicitly, that all this confusion 
 was the effects of the sins of the clergy and prelates^ 
 that for *ome years past MANY ABUSES, ABOMINATIONS, 
 and EXCESSES, had been committed in the court of 
 Rome, even in the holy see itself; that everything 
 had degenerated to a great degree ; and that it wa 
 no wonder if the evil had passed from THE HEAD to 
 the members ; from the popes to the bishops and other 
 ecclesiastics. " We have all," says the pope, " every 
 one of us, turned to his own way, and for a long time 
 none hath done good, no not one. Let us give glory 
 to God, and humble our souls before him ; and everf 
 individual among us consider how great has been his 
 fall, and judge himself, that God may not judge us in 
 His wrath. Nothing shall be wanting OR my part ta 
 
*eform the court of Rome, whence, perhaps, all the 
 mischief hath originated: that as this court hath been 
 the source of the corruptions which have thence spread 
 among the lower orders, so from the same, a seund 
 reformation may proceed." He concluded with ob- 
 serving how much he had this business at heart, but 
 that they must not wonder if ALL these abuses could 
 not be SOON corrected. The disease was complicated 
 and inveterate, and the cure must proceed step by 
 step, lest by attempting to do all at once, every thing 
 should be thrown into confusion. 
 
 These concessions of Adrian, gave offence to the 
 cardinals at Rome. They appear, however, to have 
 been no more than mere artifice, designed to raise 
 men's expectations, to delay the calling of a general 
 council, to gain time to sound the disposition of prin- 
 ces, and in the mean time, to take effectual measures 
 Insecure the apostolical power and dignity. Luther 
 appears to have had this idea of Adrian's concessions : 
 for he translated the pontifical mandates into German, 
 and added short marginal notes ; one of which, on the 
 expression "the cure must proceed step by step," is 
 thus sarcastically expressed, "You are to understand 
 those words to mean there must be an interval of 
 SOME AGES between each step." 
 
 The publication of the pope's brief, and his explan- 
 atory instructions in the diet, seemed at first, to have 
 made a strong impression on a great part of that as- 
 sembly ; and as his nuncio had accused the clergy of 
 Nuremberg of preaching impious doctrine?, and had 
 insisted on their being imprisoned, the bishops, and 
 other dignitaries of the sacred order, stood up, and 
 with immense clamor called out, u Luther MUST BE 
 TAKEN OFF, and the propagators of his sentiments MUST 
 be imprisoned !" But the German princes were not to 
 be soothed by the flatteries, nor to be overawed by the 
 menaces of a Roman pontiff. They told the nunico, 
 they believed he had been ill informed respecting the 
 conduct of the preachers of Nuremberg, who, in truth, 
 were at that moment held in high estimation by the 
 people; and that therefore if any harsh .measures 
 
593 
 
 should be adopted against fhf m, there would 3oon be 
 a general outcry, that a design was purposely formed 
 to oppress the cause of truth, and this might lead to 
 sedition and civil commotions. 
 
 Relative to the pope's complaints concerning Lu- 
 ther and his sect, they said in general^ that they were 
 always ready to do their utmost to root out heresies of 
 every kind, but they had omitted to execute the edict 
 of Worms for the most weighty and urgent reasons. It 
 was a fact, that all ranks and orders made heavy com- 
 plaints against the court of Rome, and were now^ 
 through Luther's various discourses and writings, so 
 well convinced of the justice of these accusations, that 
 any attempt, in the present juncture, to execute by 
 force the late damnatory sentehce of the pope and em- 
 peror, would inevitably be attended with the most 
 dangerous consequences. The people would instant- 
 ly interpret such a procedure as a certain prelude to 
 the oppression of evangelical light and truth, and to the 
 further maintenance of those impieties and abuses 
 which could no longer be borne; and thus Germany 
 would soon be involved in tumults, rebellion^ and civil 
 wars. The princes therefore could not but think that 
 a trial ought to be made of expedients less inflamma^ 
 tory in their nature, and better suited to the circum- 
 stances. 
 
 They applauded the pope*s pious intention to re- 
 form the court of Rome, which he had ingenuously 
 owned to be the source of all the mischief. This was 
 truly laudable; but there were moreover particular 
 grievances and abuses, an account of which they pur- 
 posed to exhibit in a distinct memorial; these requir- 
 ed effectual redress : and, if not obtained, they knew it 
 would be in vain to expect the eradication of errors, 
 and the re-establishment of peace and harmony among 
 the ecclesiastical and secular orders in Germany. As 
 the pope had condescended to ask their advice, they 
 said they would not dissemble in their answer. His 
 holiness was by no means to imagine that the mem- 
 bers of the diet had their eyes SOLELY on the business 
 tff Luther, but also on a multitude of other evils, which 
 
594 
 
 had taken deep root by long usage, and through the ig- 
 norance of some and the wickedness of others. For 
 all these things, the most efficacious remedy which 
 they could devise was, that the pope, with the consent 
 of the emperor, should speedily appoint a free, godly, 
 and Christian council, to be held in some convenient 
 part of Germany, as Strasburg, Mentz, or Cologne; 
 and that full liberty should be granted to every mem- 
 ber of it, ecclesiastical or secular, to speak and give 
 advice, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 
 
 Lastly, they promised that, in the mean time, they 
 would request the elector of Saxony to interpose his 
 authority, and prevent the Lutheran parly from prin- 
 ting books, or preaching sermons, on subjects of a se- 
 ditious tendency, and that, in general, they would do 
 their utmost to confine the preachers, for the present, 
 to the exposition of the plain, pure gospel of Christy 
 and make them wait for the determination of the fu- 
 ture council respecting all doubtful, controversial mat- 
 ters. Also the bishops and the arch bishops should 
 appoint virtuous and learned men in their respective 
 dioceses, to superintend the parochial clergy, whose 
 business it should be to correct their errors and irregu- 
 larities, as occasion required, with kindness and mod- 
 eration; but by no means in such a manner as to ex- 
 cite just suspicion of a design to prevent the promul- 
 gation of Christian truth. As to the priests who had 
 married wives, or the monks who had left their con- 
 vents, they conceived it sufficient if the ordinaries in- 
 flicted the canonical punishments on the offenders. 
 The civil laws had made no provision for such cases. 
 But if these same refractory priests should be found 
 guilty of any crimes of a different nature, then the 
 prince or magistrate, in whose jurisdiction the offen- 
 ces were committed, should take care to enforce a due 
 execution of the existing laws. 
 
 This answer of the diet was delivered in writing to 
 the pope's legate, which he disapprohated in strong 
 terms. He said, that neither his most holy master, 
 nor the emperor, nor any Christian prince, had ever 
 expected to hear such language from the diet Since 
 
595 
 
 the solemn condemnation of Luther, that incurable 
 heretic had not only persevered in his old errors, but 
 had also been guilty of many new transgressions. His 
 punishment, therefore, ought not to have been les- 
 sened, but increased on that account. Their negli* 
 geuce in this matter was offensive to God, to the pope, 
 and to the emperor. The reasons alleged by the di- 
 et in excuse, were by no means satisfactory : men 
 ought to suffer any inconveniences rather than endan- 
 ger the catholic unity and the salvation of souls. He 
 therefore, most earnestly besought them, before the 
 conclusion of their meeting, to agree upon the com- 
 plete execution of the sentence against Luther. 
 
 The legate complained, that their having requested 
 the pope by the consent of the emperor, to call a ge- 
 neral council ; (hat it should be free and be held in this 
 or that city, arid such like, had the appearance of tying 
 up the hands of his holiness, and might give his holy 
 master great umbrage. Moreover, the legate express- 
 ed much displeasure at their promise to prevent, as 
 much as they could, the printing and vending of here^ 
 tical books. " I say," said he, " on this point as I do 
 of I he rest, the sentence of the pope and the emperor ought 
 to be implicitly obeyed; the bo<-ks should be burnt, and 
 the printers and venders of them duly punished. There 
 is ii > other way io suppress and extinguish this perni- 
 cious sect. It is from the reading of their books that 
 all these Devils have arisen. 1 " 
 
 Lastly, he observed, that the answer of the diet 
 concerning the married clergy, would not have dis- 
 pleased him, had they not observed that the secular 
 princes or magistrates should take proper cognizance 
 of the offenders. " Now," said he, " if by these words 
 we are to understand that such offenders are to be 
 punished by their proper ecclesiastical judges, it is very 
 right; but if the explanation is, that they are to be tri- 
 ed by the secular jurisdiction, I do most earnestly de- 
 sire the diet to correct this part of their answer, as 
 being in principle, directly contrary to the rights of the 
 church. The secular magistrates have no authority over 
 those who are once under the dominion of Christ and 
 
596 
 
 the church ; neither do those priests or monks, who 
 have broken their vows, or have otherwise apostatized, 
 qease, for that reason, to be still under the same ec- 
 clesiastical jurisdiction. 
 
 This reply of the pope's legate gave great offence 
 in the diet. They saw that he was quick to discover 
 what seemed to threaten a diminution of the papal au- 
 thority and emolument, but that he was not disposed 
 to relieve Germany from the grievous oppressions un- 
 der which it labored. Instead, therefore, of multiply- 
 ing words in the form of a long rejoinder, they inform- 
 ed Cheregato that they had business to transact of still 
 greater consequence, and directed him to be content 
 with their former resolution, till they could send a 
 NATIONAL MEMORIAL to the pope, and receive the an- 
 swer of his holiness respecting all their GRIEVANCES. 
 Jt would then be seen what reliance ought to be placed 
 on the fair promises of the nuncio of the Roman pontiff. 
 
 Cheregato thought proper to quit Nuremberg, ber 
 fore the memorial was drawn up. His sudden depar- 
 ture was considered disrespectful to the diet, and an 
 indication of an unfavorable issue to the whole busi- 
 ness. 
 
 The diet now proceeded to draw up their memo- 
 rial, containing 100 articles of complaint. This they 
 immediately dispatched to Rome, with a concise, but 
 memorable protest to the following effect : that the di- 
 et had laid all their grievances before the legate of his 
 holiness, and had intended to furnish him with an ex- 
 act and orderly c$py of them for the perusal of his 
 master, but he had surprised them by his disappearing 
 suddenly and unexpectedly: that they humbly be- 
 sought the pope to redress their grievances effectually ; 
 and moreover wished his holiness to understand, that 
 if they were not redressed, and speedily too, the bur- 
 den of them had become so oppressive and insupport- 
 able, the princes and people in general neither COULD 
 nor WOULD endure them any longer. Imperious ne- 
 cessity itself, and the in-quily of the multiplied extor- 
 tions and oppressions un der which they groaned, would 
 them to use every method, with which God 
 
597 
 
 bad entrusted them to deliver themselves from the ty^ 
 ranny of the ecclesiastics. 
 
 ' r ese transactions were a decisive proof of the de- 
 dmvjg power of the popedom, and of the hardy and 
 daring spirit which had arisen among the German na- 
 tions in support of their civil and religious liberties. 
 
 The diet concluded their complaints with observ- 
 ing, that they could specify more and still heavier op- 
 pressions, from which in equity they ought to be re- 
 lieved ; but they were disposed to say nothing of them, 
 till it should appear, whether they were likely to ob- 
 tain justice respecting those already enumerated. 
 
 It would be tedious to relate the 100 grievances at 
 full length. They were all reducible to three heads; 
 namely : Grievances or oppressions, tending to en- 
 slave the people ; to rob them of their money ; or to 
 appropriate to tho clergy the jurisdiction of the seen*- 
 lar magistrate. 
 
 The transactions of the diet at Nuremberg, produc- 
 ed much discontent at Rome. The papal courtiers 
 saw plainly that the pope's legate, to the diet, had ef* 
 fected nothing to the advantage of the Roman see ; 
 that the authority of the church was weakened ; that 
 the sources of its wealth were stopped ; and that the 
 heretics would doubtless become more daring and pre- 
 sumptuous than ever. Nor did they mistake in their 
 anticipations. For, Luther and his disciples, in all 
 their controversial writings after this period, often ap- 
 pealed to the testimony of Adrian, and to the 100 
 grievances enumerated by the representatives of the 
 flermanic body, in confirmation of what, they affirmed 
 respecting the abuses and corruptions of the Romish 
 court. Adrian died soon after he had received from 
 his legate the account of what had passed at Nurem- 
 berg. 
 
 During these trying scenes the elector of Saxony 
 and his court, had apprehended so much danger to 
 Luther from the diet of Nuremberg, that they would 
 gladly have persuaded him to have once more return- 
 ed to his place of concealment. "No, no," said he, 
 in a letter to Spalatinus, " irnagme not that I will 
 
598 
 
 hide myself in a corner, however marilv the monsters' 
 may rage. I perfectly well remember, clear friend, 
 what I wrote to the prince from Borna ; and I wish 
 you would all be induced to believe the contents of 
 that letter. You have now had the most manifest 
 proofs that the hand of God is in this business ; for 
 this is the second year in which, beyond the expecta- 
 tion of every one, I am yet alive ; and the elector is 
 not only safe, but also finds the fury of his brethren of 
 the Germanic body less violent than during the pre- 
 ceding year. Our prince has not designedly involved 
 himself in this religious contest ; no- it is by the pro- 
 vidence of God alone that he finds himself at all con- 
 cerned in it ; and Jesus Christ will have no difficulty 
 to defend him. However, if I could, without actu- 
 ally disgracing the gospel, perceive a way of sepa- 
 rating him from my difficulties and dangers, I would 
 net hesitate to give up my life. I had fully expected 
 and hoped, that, within the year, I should have been 
 dragged to suffer death ; and that was the method of 
 liberating him from danger to which I alluded in my 
 letter, if indeed such would have been the conse- 
 quence of my destruction. It appears very plain that 
 at present we are not able to investigate or compre- 
 hend the Divine counsels ; and therefore it will be 
 the safest for us to say, in a spirit of humble resigna- 
 tion, "THY WILL BE DONE." 
 
 Thus did Luther, in the full conviction of the jus- 
 tice and importance of the cause which he supported, 
 constantly look with a single eye to the protection of 
 that Being, through whose providence he was made 
 an honorable instrument of the revival of Christian 
 truth and liberty. He considered the triumph of the 
 gospel as a &uve event, and at no great distance ; he 
 rejoiced in the prospect of it ; he had not the smallest 
 anxiety on account of his own personal safety ; ai.d 
 he labored to impress the mind of his prince with sim- 
 ilar sentiments of pious expectation, coniidt nee, and 
 fortitude. 
 
 Duke George bad recourse to management and ar- 
 tifice. During the .-Hting of the diet at Nuremberg;. 
 
he refused to take his seat in the regency, alleging as 
 art\i>r{, that the princes, whom Luther, in his wri^ 
 titles, had charged with the commission of high crimes, 
 ought to prove themselves innocent before they were 
 admitted to offices of trust and authority. His design, 
 in thus having re I used to take his seat, evidently was, 
 that no member of the Germanic body, whatever 
 might be his rank or title, should be allowed a just 
 claim of precedence and sovereignty, while remaining 
 either directly or indirectly under the BAN of the em- 
 pire by the legitimate decision of the diet of Worms. 
 Hereby he appears to have designed to introduce a res- 
 olution among the princes, that all persons proscrib- 
 ed by *the edict of Worms should be deprived of their 
 rights, privileges and possessions. This appears to 
 have been a design of George to degrade and plunder 
 his nephews Frederic and John. 
 
 The penetrating eye of Frederic foresaw the con- 
 spiracy which was then forming by the pope, the em- 
 peror, and several of the most bigoted of the German 
 princes, with express intent of crushing the infant re- 
 formation, and also every power that was friendly to its 
 progress. He saw that the powers of Antichrist were 
 now roused, and had become outrageous ; and had 
 ahown symptoms of an intention to collect their 
 strength, and to act in concert, with more system and 
 decision than they had hitherto done from the com- 
 mencement of the ecclesiastical dissensions. From 
 scruples of conscience he did not, however, dare to 
 draw the sword in defence of himself arid his subjects. 
 But while the clouds seemed to be thickening over the 
 elector and his subjects, they were soon dispersed, by 
 the kind disposals of that overruling Providence, which 
 in its secret counsels, had determined to break the 
 rod of the oppressor, and to bestow on the nations 
 the blessings of a revival of Christian truth and chiis- 
 tian liberty. The emperor was so much invoked in 
 his multiplied schemes of ambition, that he found it 
 impossible u> give any serious and durable attention 
 to affairs in Germany ; and it soon appear* . tl. that 
 without his a: ( ive co-operation, the rest of the co tiled- 
 
600 
 
 eracy could effect nothing decisive. The patient, in- 
 dustrious reformers had now to struggle only with their 
 usual difficulties arising from the persecutions of such 
 individuals as frequently happened to be the unfortu- 
 nate victims of cruel bigots in possession of power. 
 Among the unrelenting iyrants of this class, was the 
 archduke Ferdinand, the brother of Charles V. who was 
 so much inflamed with resentment against the Saxon 
 reformer and his cause, that he declared he had much 
 rather his sister, the queen of Denmark, had been 
 sunk in the depths of the sea, than that she should ever 
 faave conversed with Luther at Wittemberg. 
 
 The unfortunate queen was compelled to seek an 
 asylum out of Denmark, with her exiled husband, 
 Chrtstiern 11. who, in 1523, fled from Copenhagen with 
 20 ships, with his queen and children, and all his 
 private treasure. In his passage to the continent he 
 was overtaken by a violent tempest, which dispersed 
 his fleet, and reduced him to the last extremity* At 
 length he arrived at Terrere in Zeeland, dispatched a 
 messenger to his brother-in-law, Charles V. and enter- 
 tained the most sanguine hopes that, through the as- 
 sistance of so powerful an ally, he should soon be re- 
 stored to his former dignity and possessions. His 
 queen Elizabeth came to Nuremberg, to implore the 
 help of her brother Ferdinand and of the German 
 princes. But unfortunately for this object, she had 
 received many of Luther's books from Albert, duke 
 of Prussia, and had made an open profession of the 
 reformed religion, and in 1524 had publicly received 
 the sacrament in both kinds. This last step so pro- 
 voked Ferdinand, that he told her in plain terms, u he 
 heartily wished she was not his sister." " Certainly/' 
 replied the queen, " we are descended from one and 
 the same mother; nevertheless, 1 must adhere closely 
 to the word of God, and to that ONLY without the 
 least respect of persons ; in all other concerns, I am 
 ready to obey my brother's pleasure ; and if, on that 
 account, he refuses to own rne as his sister, I shall en- 
 deavor to bear the cross with patience." On the 
 .subject of her own calamitous situation, as well as 
 
601 
 
 that of her husband, she is said to have expressed 
 herself so pathetically before the princes, as to have 
 constrained every one present to shed tears. She ob- 
 tained from them, however, no satisfactory promises 
 of assistance ; and this excellent queen soon after de- 
 parted this life, her death being probably hastened 
 by affliction and misfortune, and the unkind treatment 
 of her nearest relations. She was buried at Ghent, 
 and her husband informed Luther, that, notwithstand- 
 ing the very great pains which had been taken, by 
 persons of the greatest distinction to persuade her to 
 return to popery, she had received the Lord's supper 
 according to the just ordinance of Christ, and died 
 in the exercise of sound and lively evangelical faith. 
 
 Denmark and Sweden were now uniting themselves 
 to the cause of Protestantism. The religious revolu- 
 tions in those kingdoms were brilliant and rapid, and 
 were eventually productive of much spiritual good. 
 
 Frederic, duke of Holstein, succeeded his nephew 
 Christiern II. in the throne of Denmark. Under him, 
 and his successor, Christiern 111, the blessed change 
 of the religious establishment was completed in that 
 kingdom. 
 
 In 1524, Frederic I. king of Denmark and duke of 
 Holstein, made it a capital offence for any person to 
 take away the life, or injure the property or dignity 
 of another, on account of his religion, whether Papal 
 or Lutheran. This prince allowed all his subjects so 
 to conduct themselves as best to satisfy their own 
 consciences before God. At the same time he order- 
 ed the most solemn and explicit directions to be given, 
 ihat the errors of the Romish church should be pub- 
 licly reprobated, and the evangelical doctrines of the 
 reformers recom mended to the people. But the in- 
 habitants of "Ditmarsen, an intractable race, refused 
 to obey the king's edict, and committed to the flames 
 >Henry Muller, a zealous preacher of pure Christianity. 
 In other parts of Frederic's dominions the royal edict 
 was dutifully obeyed, and proved a great bulwark 
 against the violence and cruelty of the papists. Un- 
 der its protection, the Lutheran ministers engaged and 
 4 D 
 
ete 
 
 Confronted their adversaries by the methods of fair ar- 
 gumentation ; and were wonderfully successful m 
 propagating Divine truth. Even some of the Roman 
 champions acknowledged their convictions, and bow- 
 ed to the authority of reason and scripture. 
 
 In Sweden, the renowned Gustavus Vasa, having 
 in his youth lived an exile at Lubec, and there gained 
 some information concerning the grounds of Luther- 
 anisin, and having afterward been further instructed 
 by Laurentius and Glaus Petri, two disciples of Lu- 
 ther, no sooner saw himself in firm possession of the 
 throne, than he determined to reform the church. 
 Under his auspices a public disputation was held at 
 Upsal, between Olaus Petri, on one side, in support 
 of Luther's system, and Peter Gaile, on the other, as 
 defender of the papal dogmas ; and the sum of then* 
 argumentations was afterward published. Also by 
 the king's order, Andreas, his chancellor, was employ- 
 ed in translating the scriptures into the Swedish lan- 
 guage ; and no means were omitted for enlightening 
 the people. The effects were rapid and decisive, and 
 Sweden from that day has ranked invariably among 
 the potestant nations. 
 
 A royal proclamation by Gustavus', in substance as 
 follows, must have been extremely beneficial to the 
 reformers. " We do not deny that our care is for the 
 true religion founded on the word of God. There 
 can be no better religion than that which Christ and 
 his apostles have delivered to us. Here there is no 
 place for dispute. But respecting certain ceremonies, 
 questions are raised, and more especially respecting 
 the privileges of the clergy. It is true that we find 
 learned men are desirous of abolishing several useless 
 external rites, but there is not the least ground for ca- 
 lumniating us, as though we wished to introduce any 
 other religion than that which is truly Christian. Our 
 single aim is, to worship God in spirit and truth, and 
 to become a partaker of the joys of heaven with all 
 Christ's faithful servants. Let not our beloved sub- 
 jects, therefore, listen to scandalous reports concern- 
 ing their sovereign ; but remain assured, that our 
 
thoughts are employed how we may best promote 
 glory of God and their eternal welfare. It is not long 
 ago since we learnt what fraudulent means the Roman 
 pontiff has employed to drain this kingdom of large 
 sums of money, through the institution of private 
 masses and indulgences. And in regard to other 
 countries, men of the best information have proved, 
 beyond contradiction, by what variety of deceitful 
 methods the bishops and other ecclesiastical dignita- 
 ries make again of the simple and how they burden 
 wretched consciences, and multiply acts of hypocrisy. 
 The luxurious prelates now see that these evil prac- 
 tices are detected and exposed, by persons of the 
 greatest piety and knowledge ; and therefore they set 
 their faces against the truth with all their might, and 
 cry out, innovation and heresy! but believe them not. 
 We seriously exhort you to believe them not: for 
 there is not one word of truth in their malicious ac- 
 cusations." 
 
 Let no one, however, conclude that this glorious 
 triumph of religious truth took place without much 
 clamor and opposition from the established hierarchy. 
 Antichrist was seriously alarmed, and exerted his ut- 
 most powers to prevent the fall of his tottering pillars. 
 The preceding proclamation sufficiently intimates 
 this. In fact the dignified clergy, and their adherents 
 in the convocation at Upsal, boldly maintained that 
 no person under pain of excommunication and eternal 
 damnation, could, on any account whatever, deprive 
 the prelates of their wealth and privileges. 
 
 To this the king and the friends of the reformation 
 coolly replied, " That true ministers of the church, es- 
 pecially those who diligently instructed the people, 
 deserved more than a decent maintenance; they were 
 worthy t even of double honor,' but that the lazy and 
 licentious drones, who neither served God nor man f 
 ought to have no public stipend whatever ; moreover, 
 that there was not one syllable in the scriptures to 
 justify that immense political power and revenue 
 which the clergy had usurped, and which had enabled 
 , for sotne centuries past, to withstand their law- 
 
004 
 
 ful governors, and disturb kingdoms with endless wars 
 and seditions." 
 
 The contest was now advancing fast to a crisis. 
 The monks and the rest of the papal clergy, observed 
 no bounds in their resentment. Throughout Sweden, 
 and also in foreign countries, they calumniated their 
 excellent king as a heretic and unworthy of the throne. 
 In Dalecarlia they even excited the people to sedi- 
 tious and treasonable practices; * and because the 
 kingdom happened then to suffer grievously from a 
 great scarcity of corn, they taught the vulgar to be- 
 lieve that the present famine was a judgment of Al- 
 mighty God on the country, for receiving the new re- 
 ligion. By such artifices of the bishops arid priests, 
 the inhabitants of many provinces became so disaf- 
 fected to the government, that they refused to pay 
 their annual taxes. 
 
 But the Swedish monarch had already done every 
 thing in the cause of Christian truth which could be 
 expected from a pious, wise, and magnanimous prince. 
 Like king David, he had begun with reforming his 
 own court ; and suffered none but religious characters 
 to approach his person, or to fill the great offices of 
 state. He had instituted a GENERAL VISITATION of 
 the whole country BY HIMSELF, in which he was ac- 
 companied by evangelical preachers, and particular- 
 ly by that excellent Lutheran theologian, Olaus Petri, 
 whom he had previously appointed secretary of Stock- 
 holm. In adopting this admirable measure, the king 
 had proposed to instruct his ignorant subjects in the 
 great principles of the Christian religion, and to guard 
 them against erroneous notions concerning faith and 
 works, and predestination ; and also against (he innu- 
 merable corruptions of the Romish church. Moreover, 
 in the execution of it he had listened to the advice of 
 the experienced German reformers not to hurt the 
 tender consciences of the well-meaning but uninform- 
 ed part of the people, by an over- hasty abolition of 
 such ceremonies and superstitions, as might be suffer- 
 ed to remain without manifest impiety. This mode- 
 yatioii had become the more necessary, because in 
 
605 
 
 Sweden, as formerly in Germany, there had arisen > ia 
 the early part of the reformation, fanatics of the anar 
 baptist class, who excited the people to the most out- 
 rageous acts of tumult and sedition. At Stockholm^ 
 they had entered the great church of St. John, and in 
 the most audacious manner had removed, or broken 
 to pieces, the organ, statues, and images therein; 
 and their riotous example was followed throughout al- 
 most every part of the kingdom. 
 
 At this moment the situation of Sweden seems to 
 have been truly critical. On the one hand, an enthu- 
 siastic zeal for innovation, and on the other, a blind at- 
 tachment to superstitious ceremonies, inflamed the 
 minds of many, and divided them into parties ; and 
 there was constantly at hand an active, ambitious, and 
 powerful clergy, ready to take every advantage of 
 these internal dissensions. It soon appeared, however, 
 that, even in this perilous conjuncture, there existed 
 in Gustavus a combination of qualities fully equal to 
 the emergency. 
 
 This determined prince, in the summer of the year 
 1527, at the convocation of Arosen, summoned to- 
 gether all the constituted orders, and authorities, ec- 
 clesiastical and civil, in his dominions, with the full 
 purpose of bringing to speedy issue the important 
 question concerning the regulation of the doctrines, 
 the revenues, and the powers of the church. He di- 
 rected the senators of the kingdom to be placed next 
 to the throne, and the bishops next to the senators* 
 The nobles occupied the third class, the parochial 
 clergy the fourth, and the commons the fifth. T hi si- 
 arrangement was an unpardonable offence in the eyes, 
 of the bishops; and the extraordinary measure which 
 they instantly adopted in consequence, strongly marks 
 the domineering spirit of the Roman catholic clergy, 
 and shows also how entirely regardless they were of 
 observing good faith with those who did not exhibit 
 implicit obedience to the papal system. They met 
 secretly in the church of St. Giles, to deliberate on 
 their present situation. "What is to be done, my 
 brethren? 1 ' said the bishop of Linkioping: "It is 
 
606 
 
 plain enough the king means to degrade us r he means 
 to take from us those castles and fortified places which 
 pious kings have of old granted to the bishops of this 
 country ; and probably his next step will be to deprive 
 us of our lands and revenues." Two of the junior and 
 more moderate bishops answered, " Let us not contest 
 the matter with his majesty ; for if we have no secular 
 possessions, we cannot be called upon to contribute to 
 the defence of the state." " This is a most serious 
 business," replied the bishop of Linkioping : " if we 
 make these concessions, we shall bring upon ourselves 
 the indignation and eternal anathema of the Roman 
 pontiff. Kings and emperors, in former times, have 
 made similar attempts upon the property of the cler- 
 gy, but were deterred from executing their designs, 
 by the dread of pontifical excommunication. Make 
 your choice then, brethren, never to disobey the pope: 
 he is the asylum of the church, and he will defend 
 you." Every one present declared his firm resolu- 
 tion to defend the Roman pontiff and the established 
 hierarchy ; and they subscribed a solemn protest 
 against any degradation of their dignity, or diminu- 
 tion of revenue. They then buried the writing under 
 a sepulchre, covered it with stones, and took a solemn 
 oath not to reveal the secret. But it was dug up fif- 
 teen years afterwards, and shown to Gustavus, as a 
 proof of the treachery of the papal bishops, at the com- 
 mencement of the reformation. 
 
 In the convocation at Arosen, Gustavus, through 
 his chancellor, complained heavily of the indolence, 
 ]uxury and impiety of the superior clergy ; and also 
 of the excessive ill usage which he had personally 
 received from the papal faction. They had every 
 where represented him as a heretic, a teacher of novel 
 doctrines, and as one who endeavored to disseminate 
 among the people a corrupt religion. He had repri- 
 manded, he said, the archbishop of Upsal for neglect 
 of duty, and, in particular, had ordered him to take 
 care that the Bible should be translated into the Swe- 
 dish language ; but that that prelate, instead of obeying 
 fais directions, and reforming the abuses in the church, 
 
607 
 
 had maliciously excited tumults and seditions among 
 his good subjects, afterwards plundered the inferior 
 clergy, and at last fled with much wealth from his 
 country. In brief, and agreeably to what he had 
 stated in his proclamation, he wished the faithful, la- 
 borious clergy, to be well rewarded ; at the same time 
 that he would have the ignorant, the idle, and the use- 
 less, to be deprived of the revenues which they so un- 
 deservedly possessed, and which ought to be applied 
 to the public service. If a speedy emendation to this 
 effect was not agreed to by the bishops and senate, 
 he would no longer undertake the government of the 
 country. On this head, therefore, he required a clear 
 and categorical answer. 
 
 Upon hearing the king's proposal, the convocation 
 foas almost in an uproar. The prelates, and other pa- 
 pal adherents, cried No! no! with the utmost clamor, 
 and called loudly on the leading men of the country., 
 to withstand such unjust innovations. 
 But the pious and disinterested Gustavus had form- 
 ed a resolution, from which even the splendor of a 
 crown could not induce him to depart. He carne in- 
 to the assembly, and there publicly resigned the gov- 
 ernment of the kingdom. With some warmth, but 
 with great decency and firmness, he informed them 
 that he had made his choice, and that his conscience 
 did not permit him to support a superstitious and de- 
 praved system of religion. He added, that he had 
 determined to leave the country, but expected them 
 to pay him the price of his hereditary possessions. 
 
 The great body of the Swedish representatives, 
 namely, the COMMONS in the convocation, were now so 
 much enraged at the conduct of the refractory bishops r 
 as to signify to them in terms by no means obscure, 
 that, if they did not instantly comply with the pleas- 
 ure of their beloved sovereign, they would soon feel 
 the vengeance of the people inflicted on their obsti- 
 nacy and disobedience. Moreover, that the reasona- 
 bleness of the king's demand might be placed in the 
 clearest light, it was agreed that Peter Galle and Glaus 
 Petri should once more try their strength publicly. 
 
608 
 
 an dispute, on the question of ecclesiastical power and 
 privilege, as they had formerly done on the controvert- 
 ed points of evangelical doctrine. The combatants 
 met accordingly ; and Olaus Petri, the Lutheran dis- 
 ciple, spoke in the Swedish language; but the papal 
 advocate, P. Galle, persisted in the use of Latin, till 
 the whole audience exclaimed aloud, "Say what you 
 have to say in the Swedish language !" 
 
 This free discussion had a mighty influence on all 
 the members of the convocation, except the most vio- 
 lent and determined partizans of popery, who on the 
 third day of the session were completely overpowered 
 with numbers. This memorable assembly concluded 
 its proceedings, by humbly beseeching Gustavus to 
 resume his government, and by precisely defining the 
 ecclesiastical privileges and revenues. Among their 
 several regulations and decrees, published with the 
 king's signature, there is this clause : " No one shall 
 be ordained a clergyman, who is either unwilling to 
 preach, or who does not know how to preach the pure 
 word of God." 
 
 This curious and instructive account of the begin- 
 ning of the reformation in Sweden, may well deserve 
 a place in these memoirs : and when it is considered 
 that the disciples of Luther were the chief instruments 
 of its success, it can scarely be deemed a digression 
 from the subject of this chapter. It may be said, in- 
 deed, and with great probability of truth, that, under a 
 prince of less pious dispositions and less splendid ta- 
 lents than those of the renowned Swedish monarch, 
 the puny efforts of two QJT three evangelical teachers 
 could have availed but little against the whole weight 
 and prevalence of the papal influence : but this is in 
 fact no more than to affirm, what no believer of a Di- 
 vine Providence will deny, that, whenever the great 
 Disposer of all events purposes either to visit mankind 
 with penal judgments, or bless them with merciful dis- 
 pensations, he is INFALLIBLE in exactly proportioning 
 his means to those ends, which, in the depth and wis- 
 dom of his counsels, he has previously designed shall 
 surely come to pass. 
 
609 
 
 1 he reformation in Sweden continued to proceed 
 with vigor and discretion, under the protection of Gus- 
 tavus Vasa, and principally through the advice of his 
 secretary Olaus Petri, who, in the year 1529, published 
 a more distinct explanation of the great Christian doc- 
 trine of justification by faith, and also a new ritual in 
 the Swedish language, in which the official rules for 
 marriage, baptism, burial of the dead, and the admin- 
 istration of the Lord's supper, were very much cleared 
 from Romish superstitions and incumbrances.* 
 
 " How delightful a spectacle to a true Christian, to 
 see distinctly, and, as it were, with his own eyes, a 
 contest on the spot between Christ and Antichrist !" 
 Such is the observation of a pious and excellent an- 
 nalist, to whom we are indebted for much of the pre- 
 ceding information concerning the revival of evan- 
 gelical doctrine throughout Europe in this period. 
 " Whatever machinations," continues the same au- 
 
 * The resolutions of the states assembled at Arosen, (or Westeraas, as it is 
 otherwise called,) did not tend to fix or regulate many doctrinal articles, but 
 rather to reduce the clergy to a more dependent condition. These, by repeat- 
 ed grants from a superstitious nobility, had become opulent, dissolute, and lux- 
 urious ; and moreover they possessed so many castles and places of strength, that 
 they were able, at any time, to excite dangerous commotions in the kingdom, 
 and even to give laws" to the sovereign himself. On the other hand, the n en of 
 rank and family were impoverished beyond example, throngh the rapacity of a 
 devouring, insatiable hierarchy. It was in vain, therefore, until this enormous 
 power of the numerous prelates, acting- in concert with the Roman pontiff at 
 their head, was restrained within moderate bounds, to expect any substantial re- 
 formation of the ecclesiastical establishment. When the edicts of Westeraag 
 had settled this indispensable preliminary, and not before, Gustavus condescend- 
 ed to resume the sceptre, and bless his subjects with a purer religion. _ 
 
 The mixture of fin .mess and moderation displayed by this monarch, in all 
 these transactions, is truly admirable. By imprisoning, and afterwards banish- 
 in- several of the disciples of Mimzer, who had been conv.cted of committing 
 riots at Stockholm, and by other instances of well-timed severity, he soon re- 
 pressed the dangerous spirit belli of fanaticism and sedition, which bad dis- 
 turbed the peace of the country. And further, by directing translations of the 
 scriptures into the Swedish language to be every where dispersed among the 
 people, be invited the most judicious part of his subjects to cxercis,- their own 
 utdgments in religious concerns, and thus prepared their minds for the salutary 
 emendations *raduallv introduced afterwards by Olaus into the formularies and 
 Sessions of the Swedish church. Lastly, though no specific system ot doc- 
 trnewHs adonlrcUt Westeraas, yet the mere provision ot .intelligent pastors, 
 t, preach throughout the kingdom the pure word of God to the people, in their 
 natve laneuace, miwt have been found extremely efficient m prornot.ng the 
 anie excellent purposes. Add to all this, that the progress of enmgelical light 
 an 1 truth throueh the d-ffc^nt districts and provinces, had become abundantly 
 more rapid, sincl Olaus, in the public disputation at Unsal, had gained 
 signal a victory over his- opponent P. Galle, the zealoua defender ot the ancient 
 Iio.!ush corruptions. 
 4.E 
 
610 
 
 $tor, u either the pope or the emperor and his crea- 
 tures devised for the purpose of obstructing the pro- 
 gress of CHRISTIAN TRUTH, Jesus Christ overruled them 
 all, to the advantage and furtherance of the same, 
 The bull of the pope, the thunder of the emperor, did 
 not frighten men, but on the contrary animated them 
 to embrace the gospel.'- In fact, the blessed reforma- 
 tion was spreading itself far and wide ; and almost W 
 the European nations hailed the dawn of trilth, and 
 exulted in the prospect of spiritual freedom. 
 
 In Hungary, even in the yea? 1522, the fame of the 
 deliverance of various states and provinces from papal 
 chains had excited in the minds of the people a most 
 prodigious desire not only to become partakers of the 
 pure reformed religion, but also to see Luther himself y 
 from whose instructions they expected to derive, in 
 the easiest and happiest way, the best system of hea- 
 venly doctrine, and also the wisest method of culti- 
 vating sacred learning. Among the young students 
 who came from this country to Wittcmberg, with the 
 intention of consulting Luther and hearing his lectures, 
 Martinus Cyriac is particularly mentioned as the first 
 who appears from the academical registers to have 
 been matriculated in this year, when Philip Melane- 
 thon was rector or provost of the university. 
 
 Lewis, the king of 'Hungary and Bohemia, was a bit- 
 ter enemy of the reformers ; but Divine Providence 
 raised them up an excellent and powerful patron in 
 George marquis of Brandenburg. This illustrious 
 prince be^an about the same time to discover a relish 
 for evangelical knowledge ; and as he was grand-mas- 
 ter of the royal household, he had frequent opportuni- 
 ties of softening or entirely doing away the charges 
 and complaints which were frequently laid before the 
 king against the disciples of Luther. Under his aus- 
 pices, and those of the dukes of Lignitz and Munster- 
 berg, a considerable reformation took place among 
 the churches m Silesia, and particularly at Breslaw, 
 the capital city ef that country ; and it appears that 
 in the succeeding year the inhabitants of these regions 
 were blessed with an additional influx of the salutary 1 
 and refreshing beams of the light of the gospel. 
 
611 
 
 It would be inexcusable to omit, in this history of 
 the church of Christ, a short, but precious fragment of 
 biography relative to John Thurzo, bishop of Breslaw 
 in Silesia. This good prelate was descended from a 
 noble family in Hungary, and is said to have been the 
 very first papal bishop who in his diocese was favora- 
 ble to the revival of pure Christianity. 
 
 The very little that is known of Thurzo is to be col- 
 lected from a concise epistle of Lulher, and another 
 still more concise of Melancthon, addressed to him 
 so early as the year 1520. He did not live to receive 
 either of them ; and Luther, on the occasion of his 
 decease, says in a letter to a friend, " In this faith di- 
 ed John Thurzo bishop of Breslaw, of all the bishops 
 of this age the very best." 
 
 Luther, in his letter to the dying prelate, expressed 
 his feelings thus : " Not only myself, but the church of 
 God, very much sympathises with you, reverend fa- 
 ther, in your present sickness. For it is a lamentable 
 truth, both that there are now actually few 7 SUCH bish- 
 ops, and, also, that there never existed a greater need 
 of them. However, I have a good hope, that the hand 
 which has inflicted your malady, will itself heal you; 
 and that HE, who has furnished you, reverend father, 
 with such extraordinary gifts, will enable you to go 
 through all the trials, to which his holy will shall call 
 yon, with a firm Christian spirit, and like a faithful 
 bishop. But if the church must be deprived of you, 
 then may HE, who is all powerful to promote the good 
 of his faithful people, whether it be by your life or 
 your death, be pleased to bless the event to their profit, 
 according to the riches of his good will. I do not write 
 this on the supposition of its being necessary to 
 strengthen you in the Lord ; though indeed who is so 
 slrong as not to need sometimes the help even of his 
 weakest brother? but from a belief in that communion 
 of saints ordained by Christ, which makes all the 
 faithful, partakers both of the blessings and of the bur- 
 dens of each other. Thus, reverend father, your sick- 
 ness, or, if it so please God, your death, is to be con- 
 fidered as a common evil ; yet on the other hand it is 
 
612 
 
 a delightful reflection, that WE suffer or rejoice with 
 you, and that Jesus Christ also, who is ever in the very 
 centre of our hearts, rejoices with us all when we re- 
 joice, and when we suffer, is touched with owr infirmi- 
 ties. Your former letters afforded me great satisfac- 
 tion ; they are full of charity and humility." 
 
 Melancthon's letter to Thurzo does not advert to 
 the bishop's ill state of health, but contains the follow- 
 ing passage : " Who is there that does not think high- 
 ly of the man, who, as far as I know, is the only per- 
 son in Germany, that by his authority, learning, and 
 piety, has exhibited an example of what a bishop ought 
 to be? If the Christian world could but enumerate ten 
 characters of this stamp, or, as it is in Homer, of this 
 spirit, and way of thinking, 1 should not doubt of seeing 
 the kingdom of Christ again restored." 
 
 The pious Thurzo died in August, 1520 ; but the 
 reformation does not appear to have suffered materi- 
 ally from this loss. His successor, James of Saltza, 
 trode in his steps. This bishop appointed, with the 
 entire approbation of the inhabitants, John Hesse of 
 Nuremberg, who was a learned doctor of divinity, and 
 a dear friend of Luther, to preach the gospel in the 
 church of St. M. Magdalen at Breslaw. Hesse not on- 
 ly explained and enforced the great truths of Christian- 
 ity from the pulpit, but for eight days together, in a 
 public disputation, defended the same, and exposed 
 the papal dogmas concerning the mass and the celib- 
 acy of the clergy. The name of Ambrose Moiban is 
 mentioned as his co-adjutor in preaching, and that of 
 Valentine Trocedorf in the disputation. The report 
 of these proceedings \vas as agreeable to Luther us it 
 proved vexatious to the pope. The latter was so much 
 out of humor with the magistrates at Breslaw, on ac- 
 count of their late ecclesiastical appointments, and their 
 protection of the novel doctrines, that he wrote a letter 
 to them full of censures and menaces. This however 
 had no other effect than to induce them to defend 
 their conduct in a printed apology, which contains 
 a most lively description of the corrupt manners of 
 iheir former pastors, as well as of the wretched state 
 
613 
 
 of the ecclesiastical government in general. Thus 
 happily proceeded the reformation in Silesia. In de- 
 fiance of the pope, the senate and the inhabitants of 
 Breslaw retained and supported John Hesse in the 
 pastoral office to which they had chosen him ; and he 
 died after having discharged the ministerial office in 
 the same city during the space of twenty- five years. 
 Moreover, about the same time was established in the 
 duchy of Lignitz a school of considerable reputation, 
 the preceptors and governors of which had all been 
 educated in the university of Wittemberg. 
 
 The cross however, the constant attendant, in some 
 shape or other, of true religion, was now severely 
 feit by Lutherans, in every place where papal enmity 
 had an opportunity of exerting itself with effect. Lewis 
 king of Hungary and Bohemia, not content with mak- 
 ing formal complaints to the ejector of Saxony of the 
 patronage afforded by that prince to the arch-heretic 
 Luther, inflicted great severities on such of his own 
 subjects as received the protestant tenets. His prin- 
 cipal agent in this business was the bishop of Olmutz. 
 Then in Misniaand Thuringia the unrelenting George 
 of Saxony labored to extirpate evangelical truth by 
 imprisonment, fines, banishment, and at length by 
 capital punishments. Even his brother Henry, duke 
 of Friberg, who had shown some symptoms of good- 
 will to the reformers, overawed by this determined per- 
 secutor, ejected from his house and the company of 
 his duchess three ladies of noble birth, merely be- 
 cause they had been guilty of reading Luther's books. 
 Similar cruelties were practised in other parts, par- 
 ticularly at Miltcnberg; the protestants of which town 
 are said to have been the first who were exposed to 
 the violence of the military on account of their reli- 
 gion. John Draco, their pastor, fled to save his life; 
 and Luther wrote to his afflicted congregation an ad- 
 mirably consolatory letter, in which he declares, that 
 it would soon appear that if in one place the doc- 
 trine of the word was oppressed, it would rise again 
 in ten others, it grieved him, he said, exceedingly, 
 that those who approved his sentiments should be call 
 
614 
 
 ed Lutherans rather than lovers of the gospel ; never- 
 theless the doctrine would stand whether he lived or 
 died, or however the adversaries might rage ; yet he 
 owned that the progress of the true faith met with mel- 
 ancholy impediments from the want of practical god- 
 liness, and particularly of the spirit of prayer. 
 
 Bui the persecution in Flanders was the most fero- 
 cious. There Aleander, armed with the authority of 
 the pope, and supported by the united power of the 
 inquisition and of the civil government, exercised the 
 vengeance of the hierarchy without mercy. The wri- 
 ting* of Luther had infected the Augustinian monks 
 at Antwerp. Some of them were imprisoned and re- 
 canted ; but three, in spite of persuasion, threats, and 
 long confinement, remained steady. These were pub- 
 licly strip! of iheir holy orders, and declared heretics, 
 on a scaffold at Brussels, about the middle of the \ ear 
 
 Two of the three, viz. Henry Voes and John Escb, 
 cheerfully underwent the fiery trial on the same day. 
 testifying a w< nderful constancy. As they were led 
 to the stake, they cried with a loud voice that they 
 wore Christians; and when they were fastened to it, 
 .and the fire was kindled, they rehearsed the Creed, 
 and after that sang the verses alternately of Te Deum 
 lai'damus* till the flames deprived them of voice and 
 life. Voes confessed before the inquisitors, that he 
 had been brought to the knowledge of the gospel by 
 Luther's writings. "What," said they, "has Luther 
 the spirit of God ?" No reply. " You are seduced by 
 Luther :" " I am seduced," answered Voes, " in the 
 same manner as the apostles were by Christ." 
 
 This was the first blood that was shed in the Low 
 Countries in the cause of religion, since the rise of Lu- 
 ther. The two martyrs exhibited, throughout the con- 
 flict, astonishing proofs of piety, patience, and con- 
 stancy. The whole is finely described by a very learn- 
 ed person who was an eye-witness of their sufferings. 
 
 The name of the third was Lambert, who, according 
 to Luther, received the crown of martyrdom ia like 
 
 * Thee God we 
 
615 
 
 manner at the stake, four days after. Erasmus says, 
 he was taken back to prison, and there PRIVATELY des- 
 patched. This author, who certainly hated these 
 abominable cruelties of the papists, observes upon the 
 occasion, that Brussels had been most perfectly free 
 from heretics till this event; but that many of the in- 
 habitants, immediately afler, began to favor Luther- 
 anism. 
 
 In fact, the modest deportment, together with the 
 unshaken fortitude of the sufferers, made a great im- 
 pression on the public mind. The martyrs were deem- 
 ed innocent, and the judges, who had condemned 
 them, unjust and cruel. The friars, to counteract the 
 effect of such dangerous sentiments, circulated every- 
 where, in their sermons, and their conversation, a ri- 
 diculous story, that the souls of these holy men were; 
 saved through the intercession of the Virgin Mary ; 
 that one of them had appeared since his death, and re- 
 vealed this important information; affirming at the 
 same time, that in their very last moments they had 
 repented and abjured the heresies of Luther. Though 
 sov.ie color might be given to this fable from the cir- 
 cumstance of the bloody scene having taken place on 
 the first of July, the day before the Visitation of the 
 blessed Virgin, yet the people rejected the imposture 
 with contempt. The persons who stood nearest to 
 the martyrs denied the fact ; and so did the execu- 
 tioner himself, when the question was put to him 
 whether they had discovered any marks of penitence. 
 
 Luther, in memory of these faithful servants of God, 
 composed a Latin hymn, which has been much used 
 in the protestant churches. He likewise dispersed a 
 circular letter among the brethren in Holland, Bra- 
 bant, and Flanders ; in which lie says, u Blessed be 
 God, we, who have hitherto been worshipping idols' 
 cehbrated by men of a pretended sanctity, have seen 
 and heard of real saints and martyrs in our own age. 
 These two precious souls, Henry Voes and John Esch. 
 counted their lives as nothing worth, provided by their 
 deaths the gospel trumpet of Christ alone might be re- 
 sounded more fully and clearly. What a slight mat- 
 
616 
 
 ter is it to be ighomimously treated, and even put to 
 death by men of this world! a slight matter indeed to 
 those who are persuaded that their blood is precious 
 in the sight of the Lord. We of the Upper Germany 
 have not yet been so far honored as to suffer death for 
 the name of Christ, though some of us have lived and 
 still live in a state of persecution. Now is the time 
 that the kingdom of heaven should show itself, not in 
 speech but in power. The scripture abounds with 
 glorious promises which are to support us in the pres- 
 ent tribulation. Take courage. He, who cannot lie ; 
 hath declared that the very hairs of our heads are 
 numbered. And though our enemies may call these 
 holy martyrs Hussites, Wickliffites, and Lutherans, 
 and boast of their bloody deeds, we are not to stand 
 amazed, but to grow stronger in the faith. It cannot, 
 be but the cross of Christ must have ils bitter enemies, 
 and impious calumniators. The Judge however is at 
 the door, and will soon pronounce a very different 
 sentence. 
 
 The beginnings of an evangelical revival in so impor- 
 tant a kingdom as France deserve to be noticed. But 
 as the Helvetic and Calvinistic denomination soon 
 prevailed there above the Lutheran, our present narra- 
 tive has no further concern with it, than to show the 
 extensiveness of the Lutheran reformation, which 
 doubtless had great influence in the production of 
 Christian piety in that country. 
 
 In the city of Meaux, Faber, Favel, and a few 
 others, during the year 1523, had begun to sow the 
 seeds of pure Christianity ; and they appear to have 
 been favored by their bishop, William Brissonet. Him 
 Francis I. king of France, rebuked severely, for hav- 
 ing countenanced these novel teachers. William with- 
 drew his protection from the reformers, and promised 
 to banish them from the country. Faber fled to Ne- 
 rac in Gascony, and was supported by Margaret, the 
 king's sister. Favel found an asylum in Switzerland, 
 espoused the tenets of Zuingle, and afterward assisted 
 Caiviii in his pastoral labors at Geneva. 
 
617 
 
 In the same citj and year, John Clark, a mechanic 
 was scourged unmercifully, and burnt in the forehead 
 with an ignominious mark, for his having fixed, on th& 
 door of the cathedral, a paper, in which he called the 
 popq Antichrist, and expressed his sentiments against 
 papal indulgences. His mother no sooner saw him, 
 than she bade him take courage, and exclaimed, 
 "Live Jesus Christ, live the cross !" John repaired to 
 the city of Metz, where he spent his days in earning 
 his subsistence by his trade, and his nights in teaching 
 the doctrine of Luther. In the year following, his zeal 
 having led him to destroy some images, which the su- 
 perstitious inhabitants intended to worship the next 
 day, his hand was first cut oil, his nose was torn with 
 pincers, from his face, and his breasts and arms were, 
 with the same instrument, separated from his body. 
 During his moat excrutiating torments, he cried, " Their 
 idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands." 
 He was then consumed by burning. 
 
 As the terms Helvetic and Calvinistic denomination 
 have been mentioned, it may not be improper to state, 
 that in the origin of these denominations, as distin- 
 guished from the Lutheran, there really existed no 
 material difference of sentiment, as to the great doc- 
 trines of the cross. A tedious and violent controversy, 
 however, arose between them concerning the manner 
 in which the body and blood of Christ are present in 
 the Eucharist. This dispute, which has been called 
 the sacramental contest, after having produced the 
 most deplorable animosities, terminated in a fatal di- 
 vision of those sincere friends of reformation, who had 
 embarked in the same cause, and who equally possess- 
 ed the essentials of godliness. 
 
 Luther had rejected the papal doctrine of transub- 
 stantiation, but insisted that with the elements of bread 
 and wine the real body and blood of Christ were re- 
 ceived by the partakers of the Lord's supper. Carol- 
 stadt, although in this point the open antagonist of 
 Luther, was, in much of his conduct, from time to 
 time, very injudicious and enthusiastic, yet as to his 
 ideas of the Lord's supper he was correct and scriptur- 
 4 F 
 
648 
 
 al. He failed, however, in his attempts to support 
 the true doctrine of the sacrament, by his arguments, 
 though rational, perspicious and welt digested. 
 
 The pertinacity, with which Luther adhered to his 
 sentiment in this sacramental dispute, is a memorable 
 instance of human imbecility, and shows that it is ne- 
 ver wise to adhere implicitly to the authority of mere 
 fallible men as teachers. 
 
 Carolstadt had, by his intemperate conduct, so 
 sunk his reputation at Wittemberg, that he found it 
 expedient to retire to Orlamund, in Saxony, where, 
 without legitimate appointment, he became with the 
 consent of the people their pastor. There he not only 
 soon broached his new sentiment concerning the eu- 
 charist, but also raised new disturbances by his furious 
 fliscourses concerning the abolition of images. He 
 appears also to have boasted of having been favored 
 with supernatural communications; and was repre- 
 sented as a partizan of the turbulent fanatic, Tho- 
 mas Munzer. The university of Wittemberg sum- 
 moned him to return and discharge in person the or- 
 dinary duties enjoined him by the statutes in their 
 school and church. Carolstadt promised to obey, 
 provided he could obtain the leave of his parishoners, 
 the Orlam (Indians, whom, however, he is said to have 
 excited to arrogate to themselves the divine right of 
 appointing their own pastor. The elector of Saxony 
 was so disgusted with the insolent letters which they 
 wrote on this occasion, treating the academical claim 
 as a papistical encroachment, that he peremptorily 
 commanded both them and their teacher to submit 
 to the legal authority of the university and the chap- 
 ter. He likewise ordered Luther to visit Orlamund, 
 and inquire into the truth of the various reports, and 
 endeavor to appease the people. When he reached 
 that place, the inhabitants treated him with so much 
 warmth and abuse, that he congratulated himself with 
 having fortunately escaped with his life. 
 
 Carolsta-dt still continued at Orlamund, and wrote 
 letters to the elector full of bitter accusations against 
 Luther; and instigated his hearers io do the same, 
 
619 
 
 teaching them lo defend in their letters their late con- 
 duct in pulling down images. By such violent pro- 
 ceedings, the patience, both of the elector and his 
 brother, was so far exhausted, that they expelled Ca- 
 roUtadt from their territories, and rejected the interces- 
 sion of the Orlanaundians on his behalf. 
 
 Carolstadt repaired to Strasburg and thence to 
 Basle, where he procured the printing of several of his 
 pamphlets on the sacrament. 
 
 In regard to his banishment, Luther thus writes to 
 the Strasburgians : " Moreover, I really rejoice that he 
 has been banished from our part of the country ; and 
 I most earnestly wish that he had no opportunity of 
 showing his wild and seditious spirit among you. How- 
 ever, I own, that if 1 had been duke of Saxony, Carol- 
 stadt would never have been banished, unless, indeed, 
 I had been compelled to yield to the importunate pe- 
 titions of the people. But, my dear friends, do not 
 ye be influenced by my indiscreet, nay foolish good 
 nature; do ye act like wise men. Perhaps I may be 
 imprudent enough to write on the points in dispute, 
 though I am entirely convinced that the devil con- 
 trives to sow these seeds of controversy among men, 
 for the express purpose of making them talk and write, 
 and say, What excellent, holy men are these! What 
 wicked, bad characters are those ! and thus he takes 
 up or deludes the minds of all sides by such novelties, 
 arid makes them forget the great articles of faith and 
 practice. Let every one of you for himself sedulous- 
 ly study the true nature of the law, of the gospel, of 
 faith, of Christ's kingdom, of Christian liberty, of char- 
 ity and patience; also the nature of human constitu- 
 tions, and many things of this kind which are found 
 necessary throughout the whole Christian life ; and 
 then you will not be found blamable or deficient ; 
 though you should have thrown down no images. I 
 would, my brethren, that your preachers, would en- 
 deavor to draw men as much as possible from Luther, 
 and from Carolstadt ; that is, from MEN, and lead them 
 to Christ, the gift of God, who is freely made to us 
 wisdom, righteousness, redemption, and sanetification. 
 
620 
 
 These mad prophets have never understood, have ne^ 
 ver experienced this matter. They boast of hearing 
 distinct voices from heaven, and of leading lives most 
 extraordinarily pure ; they use pompous and even 
 marvellous expressions, which they themselves do not 
 comprehend ; and in this way they disturb restless 
 consciences, and compass their purpose, which is to 
 be looked up unto, and to excite astonishment ; but in 
 the mean time, Christ is forgotten or treated with con- 
 tempt. My good brethren, entreat Almighty God the 
 Father, to preserve you from temptation and, of his 
 inexhaustible mercy, to carry on his own work in your 
 souls. This, through our Savior Jesus Christ, is my 
 most fervent prayer, and it is the prayer that comforts 
 me. These prophets, I am persuaded, do not pray 
 for the success of their plans. A man cannot pray 
 without some degree of a good conscience ; but the 
 system of these men originated in impiety and pre^ 
 sumption ; and they are still carried away with ambi- 
 tion and enthusiasm, and are not aware of the disgrace 
 and ignominious end that awaits them." 
 
 After Carolstadt had been exiled about five months, 
 he wrote a sort of penitential letter to Spalatinus, re- 
 questing his interference and good offices, to procure 
 a reconciliation with Luther. Luther petitioned the 
 elector to permit Carolstadt to re-enter his dominions, 
 but his petition was rejected. 
 
 Carolstadt now wandered through higher Germany 
 till he came to Rottenburg, where he invited the peo- 
 ple to tumults and to pull down the statues and paint- 
 ings. Shortly after this, when the seditious faction of 
 the peasants, with Munzer their ring leader, was ef- 
 fectually suppressed, Carolstadt was in great danger, 
 from his supposed connexion with the enthusiastic 
 rebels, who had spread much devastation through Ger- 
 many, and escaped, by being let down by a wall 
 in a basket. Thus reduced to the last extremities, he 
 and his wife incessantly entreated both the elector 
 and Luther, that they might be allowed to return into 
 their own country. He said, he could clear himself of 
 having had any concern in the late rebellion ; and if 
 
621 
 
 not, he would cheerfully undergo any punishment that 
 could be inflicted upon him. With this view, he wrote 
 a little tract, in which he took much pains to acquit 
 himself from the charge of sedition. And he also sent 
 a letter to Luther begging his assistance in publishing 
 the tract, and in the more general design of establish- 
 ing his innocence. 
 
 The generous feelings of Luther were so touched 
 with the submissive application of an adversary in dis- 
 tress, that he immediately published Carolstadt's let- 
 ter, and called on the magistrates and the people to 
 give a fair hearing to an unfortunate fugitive, who 
 pleaded NOT GUILTY, and challenged inquiry. 
 
 After much importunate entreaty, Luther succeeded 
 in procuring from the elector John, a safe conduct for 
 the return of Carolstadt into the territories from which 
 he had been exiled. Carolstadt, it seems, was recall- 
 ed about the autumn of 1525, and then made a public 
 recantation of what he had advanced on the sacrament ; 
 and in the succeeding November, we find him trans- 
 mitting to the elector a written formula for the same 
 purpose. 
 
 There is good reason to hope that Carolstadt profit- 
 ed by adversity, and became more truly Christian in 
 his temper, during the latter part of his life. There is 
 also, good reason to believe that Luther was sincere, 
 notwithstanding his incorrect ideas in this sacramen- 
 tal controversy. It is to be lamented that his strong 
 mind did not comprehend the true scriptural idea of 
 the eucharist in all its parts. He avowed most con- 
 scientiously, regardless of consequences, whatever he 
 believed to be true. Excessive veneration for the word 
 of God, taken according to its literal meaning; " This 
 is my body," prevented him, in this instance, from suc- 
 cessfully exercising his judgment to obtain a rational 
 interpretation of the meaning of scripture. 
 
 It was near the close of 1523 when Clement VII. 
 was placed in the papal chair by very uncanonical 
 means. Dreading the scrutiny of an assembly, which 
 might terminate in the annihilation of his authority ; 
 he made choice of cardinal Campeggio, an able and 
 
622 
 
 artful negociator, as his nuncio to the diet of the em- 
 pire, again assembled at Nuremberg. He arrived at 
 lhat place about the beginning of March 1524. On 
 his arrival, the emperor's brother Ferdinand reproach- 
 ed the senate of Nuremberg for their attachment to 
 Lutheranisrn, and exhorted them to adhere to the 
 ancient religious system ; but they replied with firm- 
 ness that they must not desert the truth. 
 
 Clement had instructed his legate to use his utmost 
 endeavors to procure the execution of the edict of 
 Worms ; to counteract every measure which tended 
 to the appointment of a general council, and the re- 
 dress of the German grievances : He even instructed 
 him TO PRETEND, that, in consequence of the decease 
 of the late pope, and the sudden departure of his nun- 
 cio from Nuremberg, the catalogue of the German 
 grievances had never been regularly received at Rome ; 
 and thus to decline making any definite answer to 
 such indecent and unreasonable demands. 
 
 Campeggio, both before and during his conferences 
 with the diet, labored incessant.} IN PRIVATE with the 
 members of that assembly to accomplish the purposes 
 of his mission. In the public meetings he harangued 
 in a most plausible strain concerning the paternal 
 compassion of the pope for the present situation of the 
 country, and his own inclinations to peace and mod- 
 eration ; at the same time he expressed astonishment 
 that so many great princes could tolerate the late mis- 
 chievous innovations in religion, and the abolition of 
 those rights and ceremonies in which they and their 
 ancestors had been educated. 
 
 The diet, having listened to a number of unmeaning 
 promises and declarations, desired to know the pope's 
 intentions respecting the methods which, in the pre- 
 ceding year, they had proposed to Cheregato for re- 
 storing the peace of the church ; and also, whether the 
 legate was charged with any satisfactory answer to the 
 MEMORIAL of grievances which they had sent to Rome ? 
 
 Campeggio replied, that he knew of no plan devised 
 by them for composing the religious differences, ex- 
 cept the edict of Worms, That edict, though appror- 
 
623 
 
 eel by the emperor, and sanctioned by the general con 
 sent, had not been obeyed ; and the execution of it 
 ought, in his judgment, to be the first object of their 
 deliberations. As to the memorial of grievances, he 
 allowed that three copies of it had found their way to 
 private persons at Rome, and that one of them had 
 fallen into his own hands ; but that the pope and car- 
 dinals considered it as the production of a private per- 
 son, and by no means of the German princes. He 
 had no instructions about it. There were articles in it 
 which even bordered upon heresy; and the publication 
 of them was highly disrespectful to the Roman see. 
 
 Charles V. having sent his ambassador to the diet, 
 to gain the pope to his own interest, warmly second- 
 ed Carnpeggio in his complaints against the Ger- 
 man princes for their lenity toward the disciples of 
 Luther. The diet promised to observe the edict of 
 Worms AS FAR AS THEY COULD, renewed their demands 
 of a general council, and appointed the llth of the 
 November following, for a new assembly of the states 
 of the empire, who should meet at Spires and make 
 temporary regulations of all matters in dispute, until 
 the council could be summoned. The words, as far as 
 they could, were highly displeasing to the papal party; 
 and were construed to imply that they would do 
 nothing in obedience to that edict. But though the 
 majority of votes was against the execution of the 
 edict of Worms, yet such were the clamors of the pre- 
 lates, and the menaces of the emperor's ambassador, 
 that they carried along with them the princes, and pre- 
 vailed by authority where they had failed in numbers, 
 The lower orders and states of the empire protested 
 publicly against these irregularities. The envoy of 
 the elector of Saxony complained that the edict of 
 Worms was obtained by a manoeuvre of the bishops 
 against the sense of the diet, and stated how danger- 
 ous it would be to the public peace to attempt to ex- 
 ecute that edict by force. 
 
 When the emperor Charles V. heard of the resolu- 
 tion of the assembly at Nuremberg, relative to the 
 contemplated assembly at Spires, tie could not abstain. 
 
624 
 
 from intemperate arid acrimonious language, and de = 
 clared that it belonged to himself and the pope, to call 
 councils, and to fix on the place where they should 
 meet. He absolutely forbade the princes to assemble 
 at Spires, and enjoined the strictest observance to the 
 edict of Worms. He called Luther a PROFANE SAVAGE, 
 who, like Mahomet, was aiming at great power by 
 poisoning men's minds with the contagion of his 
 agreeable doctrines. 
 
 At Rome, the news of the edict of Nuremberg pro- 
 duced both alarm and astonishment. Clement, regard- 
 ing the intended assembly at Spires as a new eccle- 
 siastical tribunal, erected to oppose his pontificial au- 
 thority, instantly summoned his cardinals to adopt 
 measures to prevent so dangerous an innovation. The 
 conclave directed Campeggio to collect in Germany 
 all the princes, bishops, and others who adhered to the 
 papal cause ; to give them fair promises respecting 
 a future council ; to assure them that their grievances 
 should be redressed at Rome ; and to conjure them, to 
 prevent, if possible, the discussion of any articles of 
 religion at Spires. Also, he was directed to endeavor, 
 through the influence of the emperor, to retard the 
 meeting of that assembly, or, if he could, hinder it al- 
 together. 
 
 Luther received the decree of the diet of Nuremberg 
 with very liltle satisfaction, and caused it to be printed 
 with the edict of Worms, to which he added many 
 vehement and severe observations of his own. He 
 treated those who thought of executing that edict, 
 as men who had lost their senses, and were as absurd 
 as the giants who made war against heaven. " These 
 two decrees," adds Luther, " promulgated nearly at 
 the same time, are impudent and disgraceful instan- 
 ces of fraud, falsehood, and contradiction. Alas! that 
 princes of the Christian name should have recourse to 
 such detestable measures ! Unhappy Germans, who 
 have endured, for so many years, the abominable 
 haughty yoke of insulting pontiffs, and yet take no 
 pains to shake it from your necks ! What ? after hav- 
 ing been pillaged so often, and exhausted of the very 
 
marrow of your bones, will no prayers, admonitions, 
 or remonstrances move you to take care of yourselves, 
 but you must employ all your vengeance upon such a 
 poor wretch as Luther ? Go on, if it must be so ; here 
 am I ; I shall not run away. I shall resign my life most 
 willingly, and emigrate to my eternal inheritance 
 whenever it shall please God to pronounce my hour to 
 be come. However, the same Omnipotent Being, 
 who against hope, has preserved my life, during the 
 space of almost three years, from the cruelty of my en- 
 emies, can still preserve it ; though indeed I have no 
 great desire to live. 
 
 "Through the Divine goodness 1 am less alarmed 
 at the thought of death than I used to be ; but let 
 those, who would destroy me, reflect whether my 
 blood may not leave a stain which neither they nor 
 their children shall be able to wash away. God will 
 not be mocked ; and ye know not but he may be pleas- 
 ed to ordain that the murder of Luther should bfe 
 followed by the heaviest national calamities." 
 
 The papal confederacy met at Ratisbon, and was 
 managed by Campeggio. It was, however, an event, 
 of which neither that artful legate, nor his more artful 
 master in the Romish conclave, seems to have foreseen 
 the consequences. For, while they were flattering 
 themselves with having cemented a league of the 
 most powerful supporters of the ancient ecclesiastical 
 system, they forgot that they were giving the signal 
 for an avowed and permanent disunion among the va- 
 rious potentates and orders of Germany. Those who 
 were in this confederacy, comprehended but a small 
 part of the imperial states. They assumed the right of 
 making general orders for the many, but had neglected 
 matters of the greatest importance to the community: 
 they had done nothing to remove the real and princi- 
 pal grievances so long complained of, nor had they 
 applied to the less abuses their true remedies. 
 
 It was this view of the proceedings at Ratisbon 
 which roused the much more numerous imperial de- 
 puties who favored Lutheranism, to form soon after a 
 similar convention at Spires, where in opposition to 
 
their papal adversaries, they explained the decrees of 
 Nuremberg in favor of growing protestantism. 
 
 The Ratisbon party feeling that the dignity and au- 
 thority of the popedom was manifestly at stake, brib- 
 ed the two dukes of Bavaria, who had hitherto permit- 
 ted the sale of Luther's books in their dominions, to 
 proscribe them, and to obstruct the further progress oi 
 his doctrines. 
 
 The doings of the convention at Spires were in gencf- 
 al truly laudable and patriotic, favorable to national lib- 
 erty, and to the establishment of a pure and reformed 
 religion. 
 
 This division of Germany into two parties, though 
 it weakened the force of the empire, and laid the foun- 
 dation of many incurable suspicions and jealousies, 
 was, under Providence, very favorable to the progress 
 of the reformation. Luther^s personal security at Wit- 
 temberg was increased. But the Roman pontiff ami 
 the emperor had made two vain attempts at Nurem- 
 berg for the execution of the edict of Worms. And 
 the last diet had manifested that they could not ob- 
 serve or enforce that edict. But the personal safety 
 of Luther was very little to him compared with the 
 satisfaction which he derived from hearing multiplied 
 delightful accounts of the success of the gospel in va- 
 ious parts, during the disputes in Germany. 
 
 About the middle of this year, the landgrave of 
 Hesse, enlightened by Luther's writings, began to 
 profess a decided approbation of the reformed religion* 
 - In a public proclamation he enjoined his preachers to 
 confine themselves to the clear simple doctrine of our 
 Savior and his apostles. Ferber, a Franciscan monk,, 
 now undertook to reclaim the landgrave to the catholic 
 faith, by putting into his hands what he called an ap- 
 proved treatise on religion, and by exhorting hhn to 
 imitate the kings and princes in Italy, France, and 
 Spain r who had agreed to inflict exemplary punish 
 meut on the Lutherans. The good landgrave replied, 
 that he had read the book, but found little in it which 
 a<r rdrcl with the chatr-able spirit of a true Christian; 
 he had no design to leave ancient customs which 
 
627 
 
 were founded in scripture ; that he could not agree 
 with the monk in denying tjie doctrine of justification 
 by faith alone, because the words of scripture were 
 express on that head: moreover, lhat he highly disap- 
 proved of his representing the Virgin Mary as a medi- 
 ator between God and men, and the gospel as that 
 which ought not to be preached to the common peo- 
 ple ; both which points, he said, were directly contrary 
 to the written word. 
 
 Albert, marquis of Brandenberg, was at the late diet 
 at Nuremberg, where, as grand master of the Teuton- 
 ic order, he ranked next to the German archbishops. 
 He had conversed with Luther and read his books 
 with attention, and after the solution of certain doubts 
 which the marquis had proposed to him, respecting 
 the pontifical jurisdiction, Albert became an open 
 and avowed defender of the reformation. Prussia 
 soon felt the happiest effects from the operation of Al- 
 bert's religious sentiments. In that kingdom, a sub- 
 stantial change, both in doctrine and practice, com- 
 menced under his protection and encouragement, 
 which progressed with success and rapidity. George 
 de Polentz, bishop of Samland^ so much distinguished 
 himself by his evangelical exertions, that he may be 
 truly called the father of the reformation in that coun- 
 try. He probably was the first prelate who ventured 
 to recommend to his clergy the study of Luther's wri- 
 tings. " Read," says he, " with a pious and diligent 
 spirit the translation of the Old and New Testaments, 
 by that most famous divine Doctor Martin Luther." 
 
 The fanatical practices of Thomas Munzer and his 
 connexions have already heen mentioned. The pre- 
 tensions of these men, who were called Celestial Pro- 
 phets, greatly perplexed and almost confounded, not 
 only the elector and his court, but also the whole uni- 
 versity of Willemberg. with Melancthon at their head. 
 The prophets boasted of having conversations with 
 the Almighty. Munzer could not, however, be induc- 
 ed to come to \\itteinberg, but remained at Alsted, a 
 town, on the confines of Thuringia, in the electorate of' 
 Saxony, There he inveighed against the pope and Luc 
 
62S 
 
 ther. " The doctrine of the latter," he said, " was not 
 sufficiently spiritual, it was indeed altogether carnal. 
 Divines should exert their utmost endeavors to ac- 
 quire a spirit of propheey, otherwise their knowledge 
 of divinity would not be worth one half-penny. They 
 should consider their God as at hand, and not afar off. 
 Moreover, if men would be saved, they must fast, look 
 grave, talk little, and wear plain clothes, and let their 
 beards grow. This is the cross of Christ, and the true 
 mortification. Then, thus prepared, they should leave 
 the crowd, and think continually of God, and demand 
 a sign of him by which they may know certainly that 
 he has a regard for them, and that Christ died for 
 them. If the sign does not appear at the moment, 
 they should persevere, and be instant in prayer; and 
 even expostulate with God, as though he did not keep 
 his promises made in scripture. " An angry expostula- 
 tion of this sort," he said, " demonstrated the fervor of 
 the soul, aod was highly pleasing to God ; and would 
 not fail in the end to produce some very conspicu- 
 ous and satisfactory declaration of the divine will." 
 "Dreams," he maintained, "were a method in which 
 God revealed his will to men, and it was through the 
 means of them, that in general, answers to prayers 
 were to be expected," Then, if any person had a 
 dream which admitted of an interpretation, instead of 
 preaching to the people, Munzer made a labored eulo- 
 giurn on the dreamer : and, in this manner, he con- 
 ciliated to himself a number of the inhabitants of Al- 
 sted, who entered into a conspiracy with him, sub- 
 scribed their names and took a solemn oath, for the 
 express purpose of murdering all wicked persons, ap- 
 pointing new princes and magistrates, and organizing 
 the world afresh ; and upon such a plan, that pious 
 and good people only should have the upper hand. 
 The enthusiast declared, that for all this, he had the 
 positive command of God. 
 
 So long as the proceedings of this wicked incendiary 
 Were confined to the interpretation of dreams and sup- 
 posed revelations from God, the mild Frederic so far 
 tolerated his extravagant pretensions, a? not to drivo 
 
629 
 
 him into exile. But as soon as his seditions designs 
 became sufficiently plain, he judged it necessary to 
 give directions for his removal from the electorate, 
 Munzer, having retired to Nuremberg, was quickly 
 expelled by the inhabitants. Thence he proceeded to 
 Mulhausen, where he had more success. Be became 
 a minister of the common people, and excited them to 
 degrade the old magistrates and elect new ones ; to 
 turn the monks out of doors, and seize their houses 
 and property. The very best and richest house fell 
 to the share of Munzer himself, who had now become 
 both the first ecclesiastic and first magistrate of the 
 place. He decided all points in a summary way by 
 the bible, or by ins; nation, and taught the doctrine of 
 perfect equality, ;i.!-d of a community of goods. The 
 poor ceased to labor, and supplied their wants from 
 the rich by force. The number of this deluded rabble 
 increased in a most astonishing manner ; their infatu- 
 ated leader became every day more insolent, and per- 
 suaded himself that the time for carrying his detesta- 
 ble designs into execution was fast advancing. 
 
 Luthtr, it should seem, by his letters to the elector 
 of Saxony, certainly at first promoted that good prince's 
 spirit of patient forbearance towards Munzer. "Your 
 highness," says he, " had better bear with him till he 
 be more ripe. There is a great deal in him which 
 has not shown itself as yet :'' In this same letter ? 
 however, he calls Munzer, Satan, and intimates with 
 sufficient plainness that he expected nothing but mis- 
 chief from him in future. Moreover, afterwards, he 
 became dissatisfied with the elector's dilatory inde- 
 cision respecting the whole business of the prophets ; 
 and at length, wiien Munzer had unfolded his wicked 
 purposes so as to leave no room for doubt, he present- 
 ed to the prince Frederic, and to the duke his brother, 
 a very spirited and elaborate address on the danger 
 with which the country was threatened from this fa- 
 natical rebel and his deluded associates. 
 
 He begins like an apostle. " Grace and peace from 
 God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ;'" 1 and then, 
 proceeds to observe, that " it is Satan's method to at 
 
660 
 
 4empt to crush every revival of the Divine word, first 
 fey force, and, if that does not succeed, then by raise 
 spirits, by artful and mischievous teachers. It WAS 
 so in the first ages of the propagation of the gospel : 
 He deluged Christendom with the blood of the mar- 
 tyrs. But this did not answer his purpose ; he there- 
 fore sent forth a tribe of false prophets and filled every 
 corner of the world with heresies, till at length the pa- 
 pacy, that most powerful of all the antichrists, fully 
 completed his designs. IT is so at this very time. 
 The pope, the emperor, kings, and princes, and wick- 
 ed bishops, like madmen, rage against the gospel, and 
 do their utmost to oppress it. Satan, however, is suffi- 
 ciently acute to see that they will not prevail, but will 
 bring down the divine wrath upon themselves ; and in 
 the mean time he produces lying spirits and abandon- 
 ed secretaries to do his business. 
 
 " The same satanic spirit" continued Luther, " after 
 wandering through dry places for almost three years, 
 seeking rest and finding none, has at length taken ad- 
 vantage of the protection afforded by your highnesses 1 
 mild and peaceful government, and hath built his nest 
 in your territories at Alsted, with a view to commence 
 war against us who preach the gospel. 
 
 " Nevertheless, it is my singular satisfaction to find 
 that these madmen openly boast that they do not be- 
 long to us ; and that they have neither learnt nor re- 
 ceived any thing from us, but have been conversing 
 with God for the space of three years. They reckon 
 little of our teaching faith, charity, and the cross, at 
 Wittemberg. "You must hear,-' say they, "the voice 
 f God itself." And if scripture be appealed to, they 
 instantly cry Babel, Babel, Babel ! moreover, these 
 miserable men have such a degree of pride and posi^ 
 tiveness as I never heard or read of in my life, 
 
 " My reason for addressing your highness at present 
 is this; These enthusiasts hold it righl to propagate 
 their doctrines by force. They made no secret of this 
 at Witternberg ; and their declaration sunk deep into 
 my mind. I saw plainly that they intended to over- 
 Uirn the existing governments^ though Christ 
 
631 
 
 ty told Pilate that bis kingdom was not of this world. 
 
 " I do therefore most seriously entreat your high- 
 nesses, to employ that authority which God has given 
 you, in preventing the schemes of these seditious per- 
 sons, who would turn every thing upside down. 
 
 "They say they are moved by the Spirit; but I 
 must observe, that it is a mark of a very bad spirit, 
 when it exerts itself ONLY in pulling down temples anel 
 monasteries, and burning images. The greatest vhV 
 lains can do such things as these. 
 
 " They absolutely decline all inquiry into their prin- 
 ciples. They talk pompously in private corners, and 
 inflame the minds of the deluded mob, but will not 
 open their mouths before any persons whom they think 
 disposed to examine the grounds of their pretensions. 
 
 " I must tell them, I have augured no good of" them, 
 since they refused to open their sentiments before our 
 evangelical friends at Wittemberg. They look on me 
 as a lifeless Christian, and as one who never was fa^ 
 vored with hearing a voice from heaven. But, in the 
 name of every thing that is good, suppose I had acted 
 in this manner when I was called before the papists, 
 what triumphs should I have afforded them ? 
 
 "With how much humility I proceeded, how gen- 
 tly, and step by step, in my first attacks upon the papa* 
 cy, my writings are a testimony. Yet this same lowly 
 spirit has produced effects such as these fanatics have 
 never ventured to aim at or expect. And, not to 
 boast, I stood forward, in a very critical and danger- 
 ous moment, as a public disputant at Leipsic, before 
 a numerous audience. At Augsburg I appeared be- 
 fore my enemies without a safe conduct ; and at 
 Worms, I looked both the emperor and the whole 
 German nobility in the face, though I knew the pub- 
 lic faith had been violated on a former not very dis- 
 similar occasion. Yet I made no pretence of hearing 4 
 voices from heaven, or of being possessed of supernal- 
 viral talents, or of having any thing of that spirit 
 which has appeared at Alsted. 
 
 " It is not my wish that any persons, no, not evefc. 
 $iese fanatics, should be hindered from preaching" 
 
632 
 
 Let them have free liberty to exhibit the best speci- 
 men they can of their erudition. Let them teach, but 
 keep their hands from violence ; or, if they will persist 
 in their ferocious, seditious practices, it will then be 
 your duty to restrain them, and without hesitation, to 
 banish them from your dominions. 
 
 " The warfare of an evangelist is of a spiritual na- 
 ture. He is to preach and to bear the cross. We no 
 where read that either Christ or his apostles pulled 
 down churches or images; but that, when the Divine 
 word had penetrated the hearts of men, the heathen 
 churches and images of themselves came to nothing. 
 We are to act in the same manner. Deliver human 
 souls from the doctrines of the monasteries, and the 
 buildings will soon be empty ; and then it will be 
 the province of the civil governors to determine what 
 is to be done with them. But what harm can a heap 
 of stones or wood do us ? Not a particle of any build- 
 ing was ever thrown down or set on fire by me ; yet by 
 my tongue and my pen the monasteries almost every 
 where have been desolated. Now, if I had attempted 
 to bring about this revolution by violence, as these 
 prophets do, I- might have had to boast of levelling a 
 few buildings, but the minds of men would have been 
 still enchained in darkness and captivity as before, and 
 the salvation of souls by no means promoted. 
 
 "It is allowed that the Roman pontiff has suffered 
 more from me than what any monarch, with the whole 
 force of his kingdom, could have made him to suffer. 
 Yet have I not used the least violence in this contest. 
 On the other hand, I ask what signal exploits have 
 these prophets to boast of? Memorable victories indeed, 
 over wood, stones, statues, and pictures ! . . . Decisive 
 proofs of the nature of the spirit that influences them ! 
 
 " These insane wretches as yet have performed no 
 miracle in attestation of their commission, except that 
 'of collecting mobs, despising the magistrates ordained 
 by divine authority, throwing down s'au-es and requir- 
 ing an implicit belief that they are the people of God. 
 
 "A just application of the Divine word. r<\ the pro- 
 duction of TRUE faith, is the oiiiy way to correct all bad 
 
6S3 
 
 practices. The removal of external evils, while the 
 heart is devoid of this principle, is of little service. 
 Such a heart soon invents new ones. The true method 
 of expelling Satan and ruining his devices, is that of 
 the New Testament ; namely, the exercise of preach- 
 ing the word of God. This lays hold of the heart, and 
 cures the evil radically. 
 
 " I conclude with humbly imploring your highnesses 
 to resist these madmen effectually. Let the sacred 
 scriptures have the pre-eminence ; and let us, like 
 true Christians, have recourse to no other arms. Let 
 every door and window be shut against sedition and 
 the occasions of it. The common people are by nature 
 sufficiently prone thereunto. But let it ever be remem- 
 bered, that, though these enthusiasts boast of being 
 influenced by six hundred spirits, this their constant 
 disposition to fighting, as well as their other acts of 
 violence, is a proof that they are not Christians. 
 
 "May the right hand of Almighty God strengthen 
 and preserve your highnesses ! 
 
 MARTIN LUTHER." 
 
 Here let the learned reader for a moment reflect on 
 the situation of Germany about the end of 1524, and 
 the beginning of 1525. The several princes and 
 states at variance respecting the grand tenets of the 
 \vhole papal system. Intestine divisions among the 
 reformers themselves concerning the nature of the eu- 
 charist. The almost certain prospect of an immedi- 
 ate civil war from immense crowds of ignorant and 
 seditious peasants and vassals, associated with multi- 
 tudes of licentious and dissolute enthusiasts, rendered 
 outrageous and cruel by the harangues of Munzer and 
 other incendiaries of his description. 
 
 The conduct of Luther about the period of this 
 memorable conjuncture has fixed the character of this 
 reformer beyond dispute. 
 
 It was not enough that Munzer had been driven out 
 
 of the elector's dominions. As soon as Luther heard 
 
 of his approach to Mulhausen, where he was known to 
 
 have partizans, he gravely admonished the magistrate? 
 
 4 H 
 
631 
 
 of the town not to receive him among them : " for he 
 meditated nnihing but robbery and murder, and other 
 acts of violence. He was Well known at Aisled. He 
 had also emissaries, forming parties in various other 
 places ; but would never fully explain his designs. It 
 tiould not be long before he would be better under- 
 stood, and they would do well to profit by this friend-' 
 ly warning." 
 
 Luther likewise published, in the beginning of 1525, 
 what he called A TREATISE AGAINST THE CELESTIAL 
 PROPHETS AND- CAROLSTADT. That unruly reformer 
 had certainly been familiar with the leaders of the 
 fanatical tribe, and had favored their sentiments: he 
 had moreover, in his publications, spoken of Luther in 
 the most offensive terms, had represented hitn as akin 
 to Antichrist, and twice as bad as a papist ; and in 
 general had attacked him in every way with so much 
 iury as to displease even his own party. Our author, 
 in his answer, positively denies that it was through his 
 means that Carolstadt had been banished. "Al- 
 though," say 3 he, "it may be true, and candor may 
 require me to believe, that Carolstadt does not INTEND 
 to promote sedition and murder, yet I must say, that 
 so long as he persists in raising headstrong mobs, and 
 exciting them to demolish statues with unauthorized 
 violence, he possesses the same seditious, sanguinary 
 spirit that has shown itself at Alsted. But, you say> 
 lie will not PERSIST in these practices. My answer is, 
 I cannot credit his fine speeches. How often has Me- 
 lancthqji in vain admonished him not to raise tumults 
 respecting ceremonies, and yet has he continued to 
 defend the breakers of the peace to the very last ! 
 
 " Moreover, 1 own it weighs very much with me 
 that lie is known to keep company with these pro- 
 phets, who are the very source of this Alstedinc spirit. 
 From these he hears lessons, and with these he is 
 closely connected." 
 
 Luther, in the former part of his treatise, most ear 
 nesily entreats the magistrates to animadvert severely 
 n all ptvachers who should exhort their congrega- 
 without wan ant, lu pull down imaged 
 
635 
 
 churches. The danger, he said, was. lest the common 
 people, actuated by this tumultuary spirit of Caiol- 
 stadt, should imagine that they had the auihority of 
 their bibles to do the same things which the Israelites 
 were commanded to do. From destroying images, 
 they would easily proceed to destroy men. In regard 
 \o the mass and the elevation of the host, he said, if 
 die papists would but give up the idea of the eucharist 
 being a sacrifice, he should have no dispute with them 
 cither about a ;harmless word or harmless practice. 
 The latter part of the work is extremely interesting and 
 instructive ; first, as it lays open the way in which 
 Carolstadt appears to have been led into his enthu- 
 siastic proceedings; and secondly, as it describes the 
 argumentation by which the author himself was delud- 
 ed into a belief of the doctrine of consubstantiation, 
 
 1. " God," says he, " deals with his creatures both 
 by external means, as preaching and the outward 
 signs of the sacraments, and also by internal, as the 
 operation of his Spirit and faith in the heart. Now in 
 the ordinary course of his providence the external 
 means precede the internal ; but Carolstadt perverts 
 this order ; he derides the water in baptism, and the 
 bread and wine in the sacrament ; and would begin 
 at once with the spirit of the ordinances. " Then if 
 you ask him what he understands by the Spirit, he in- 
 stantly whirls you away into Utopian regions, tells you 
 to remain perfectly cairn and unoccupied, and in that 
 state to expect a celestial voice. In a word, he rejects 
 entirely the use of external means, and has invented 
 a number of strange, barbarous, uncouth words to ex- 
 press that obscure state of ADMIRATION, MORTIFICATION, 
 SUSPENSION, FREEDOM FROM IMPURITY, and such like, 
 in which the soul must be, to favor the reception of 
 the Spirit." 
 
 2. Luther makes excellent observations on the prac- 
 tical use of the Lord's supper, and on the meaning of 
 eating spiritually the body of Christ. He then pro- 
 ceeds to defend his unfortunate notion of the rfal 
 presence. " We do not say that Christ is called down 
 horn heaven by the word of the officiating priest : for 
 
636 
 
 though he be present in the sacrament, he does not 
 leave heaven any more than he left it when he was in 
 his mother's womb. We are not commanded to scru- 
 tinize in what manner Christ is in the bread ; it is suf- 
 ficient that he himself has said that it is so. Men may 
 exclaim and contend for a thousand years, but they 
 will never be able to take away the expressions, which 
 are as clear as words can make them." 
 
 The causes of the RUSTIC WAR, or the WAR OF THE 
 PEASANTS, as it has been called, were purely secular, 
 and are to be sought for in the writings of the proper 
 historians. This rebellion, however, in its consequen- 
 ces, was so far connected with religion, that it certain- 
 ly retarded the progress of the blessed reformation ; 
 it also gave occasion to the papists to accuse the pro- 
 testants unjustly of holding seditious principles ; and 
 afforded those who were sound and sincere an illustri- 
 ous opportunity of exhibiting in their conduct the prac- 
 tical excellence of Christian doctrines. 
 
 In the former part of 1525, a prodigious multitude, 
 composed chiefly of furious and enthusiastic peasants 
 and vassals, arose suddenly in different parts of Ger- 
 many, who took arms against their lawful governors, 
 and were guilty of the most horrid and barbarous ac- 
 tions. Many of these rioters, had long groaned under 
 heavy oppressive taxes and burthens ; and, in their 
 public manifestoes, they declare that they intend no- 
 thing further than to obtain a relaxation of the severi- 
 ty of their chiefs, and a greater portion of civil liberty. 
 But the enthusiast Munzer availed himself of this 
 troubled state of the empire, put himself at the head 
 of the numerous and discontented rabble, inflamed 
 their passions by his violent and delusive harangues^ 
 a nd, by his relation of visions and inspirations, and 
 pretended foresight of certain success, rendered them 
 altogether desperate and outrageous. 
 
 In this turbulent and extensive agitation of the 
 J ow er orders of the people, it was probable enough 
 that SOME, who professed themselves favorers of Lu~ 
 theranism, would ignorantly or perversely misconstrue 
 ,he reformer's doqtrines of Christian liberty, and in that 
 
637 
 
 dangerous persuasion flock to the standard of the 
 rebels: but the papal adversaries of the reformation 
 have by no means been content with this concession, 
 or even with exaggerating the effects of this abuse of 
 the protestant faith ; they have constantly laid the 
 WHOLE mischief of this intestine dissention at the door 
 of Luther and his disciples, and, in spite of the clear- 
 est and most positive contrary evidences, continued 
 to represent the licentious and detestable faction of 
 Munzeras originating in that reformer's tenets and in- 
 structions, and deriving its strength and numbers from 
 the prevalence of the novel ecclesiastical system. 
 
 On this account it becomes the more necessary to 
 examine the facts with a scrupulous and even jealous 
 attention. 
 
 As soon as Luther found that all his labors in warn- 
 ing and instructing the princes, magistrates and peo-- 
 ple, did not avail to repress the rising spirit of tumult 
 and rebellion, but rather that the tempest appeared to 
 thicken and portend a dreadful crisis, he determined, 
 without loss of time, to address his countrymen of all 
 ranks and orders in language still more explicit and 
 decisive than any which he had hitherto used. 
 
 The style of his publication addressed to the COMT- 
 MON PEOPLE is of this kind : 
 
 " Let every one beware of sedition, as a very hei*. 
 nous crime ; and this not only in what relates to exter- 
 nal actions, but even to words and secret thoughts. I 
 might auger well of your professing yourselves ready 
 to yield to the precepts of scripture, but that I observe 
 your boasts of a regard for pure evangelical faith and 
 practice are absolutely without foundation. Not one 
 of your propositions has the least relation to any part 
 of the gospel ; they all tend to promote a merely sec- 
 ular freedom ; whereas the gospel does not treat of 
 these subjects, but describes our passage through this 
 world as attended with afflictions, and as calling for 
 patience, contempt of riches, and even of life itself. 
 What then have ye to do with the gospel, except that 
 ye use it as a pretext to cover your unchristian pur 
 poses ?" 
 
(538 
 
 Such was the reputation of the Saxon divine, that 
 the rustic insurgents would gladly have obtained his 
 countenance to their proceedings; and for this end 
 they had both requested his advice, and appealed to 
 his impartiality respecting the justice of their cause: 
 moreover, that they might the more effectually secure 
 his patronage, they stated their primary requisition to 
 be, the entire privilege of choosing or removing their 
 ministers, that they might have the pure gospel 
 preached to them without human mixtures and tradi- 
 tions. These artful rioters imagined, that no topic, 
 more than that which concerned the free election of 
 preachers, was likely to interest and rouse the spirit of 
 Luther^who himself had long been struggling for the 
 maintenance of Christian liberty at the hazard of his 
 life. 
 
 Nothing but downright plain dealing could have 
 extricated our reformer and his cause from the snares 
 and dangers of the present critical moment Deeply 
 sensible of this, Luther proceeds thus : 
 
 " I allow that those rulers, who oppress their sub* 
 jects in various ways, and particularly in excluding 
 the preaching of the gospel from among them, are 
 without excuse ; nevertheless, it is at the peril of the 
 loss of both your souls and bodies, if ye do not pre- 
 serve a good conscience in this matter. Satan at this 
 lime has raised up a number of seditious, sanguinary 
 teachers ; therefore I entreat you not to believe every 
 thing you hear. Ye call yourselves Christians, and 
 profess to be obedient to the laws of God. In the first 
 place, it is extremely improbable that true Christians 
 should be so numerous as to furnish such large bodies 
 of men as ye pretend to have on your side, A true 
 Christian is a scarce bird in the world. I would that 
 the major part of men were but sober, and honest 
 moralists! Secondly, take care and do not abuse the 
 name of God : for as easily as he drowned the whole 
 world, and rained fire upon Sodom, he can destroy 
 you. Your actions make it very plain to me that your 
 profession of obedience to the law of God is a pre- 
 St. Paul orders all men, without exception, tp 
 
obey the magistrates ; whereas ye would snatch the 
 sword from him, and resist the power which is ordain* 
 ed of God. Moreover, the duty of the Christian in 
 general is to suffer, to bear the cross, and not to re- 
 venge or have recourse to arms. What appearance is 
 there of this humble spirit in your conduct ? Our 
 Lord forbad Peter to resist ; and, when nailed to the 
 cross, he patiently committed his cause to God the 
 Futher, and prayed for his murderers. Do ye imitate 
 his example or pretend not to the character of a Chris- 
 tian ? Ye intend to carry your points by force of arms j 
 but ye will not succeed. 
 
 "Permit rue to say a word concerning my own con- 
 duct. The pope, the emperor, and all the world 
 were in a rage against me ; and the more they raged, 
 the greater was the progress of rny doctrine. Yet I 
 did not take a single violent step ; never said or wrote 
 a syllable of an inflammatory tendency ; much less did 
 I draw the sword. Ever in my writings I defended 
 all legal authority, even that of persecuting princes* 
 I trusted solely in God ; and he has not only prosper- 
 ed my labors abundantly, but, to the great astonish- 
 ment of many, I myself am alive at this day, very 
 much against the wish of the Roman pontiff and many 
 other enemies. YOUR warlike modes of proceeding 
 are calculated to produce quite different effects. 1 
 pray God to prevent the execution of your designs^ 
 I see Satan's meaning, and my own danger: he i& 
 aiming to take away my life; he is aiming to effect 
 by a sanguinary faction what he has hitherto attempt- 
 ed in vain by tiie papal agents ; but God will continue 
 to preserve me. I say further, Satan, the enemy of 
 mankind, would gladly bring into disgrace the late re- 
 vival of pure doctrine among the people by insinu U- 
 ing as though it could not be of God, because the 
 profession of it had caused so much sedition and *u-* 
 mi:-' ; and thus your unchristian conduct affords a 
 g i handle to the adversary. 
 
 u Compel me not, I beseech you, to pray against 
 you ; for J doubt not but God will hear my pra\ 
 whcueus YE can have no heart for prayer. Scripture 
 
640 
 
 and your own consciences tell you, your attempts are 
 profane and impious. In fact, ye do not pray ; your 
 hope is in your numbers and your arms. 
 
 " In regard to your first requisition, the privilege of 
 choosing your ministers, it is utterly inadmissible in 
 all cases where the right of patronage belongs to your 
 
 governors. 
 
 " I admit that magistrates do many unreasonable 
 and many wicked things. Some of YOUR requisitions 
 also are extremely unreasonable and unscriptural ; but 
 were they in all respects perfectly unexceptionable^ 
 yet this wicked endeavor to extort them by force of 
 arms will, I tell you, if persevered in, bringdown upon 
 you the heavy wrath of God both in this world and 
 the next. The divine rule is express: you must never 
 go beyond PETITION and REPRESENTATION ; and if 
 you are persecuted, you must fly from one place to 
 another."* 
 
 Our author then turns to the princes and nobility, 
 and addresses them with the zeal and authority of an 
 apostle. " It is to you, rulers, and you only, especially 
 the rulers of the church, that the present disturbances 
 are to be ascribed. The bishops, to this very moment., 
 even against their better knowledge, persecute the 
 gospel ; and the civil magistrates think of nothing but 
 draining the wretched poor, to satisfy their own pride 
 and luxury. I have repeatedly warned you of the 
 dreadful evils that threaten you, but to no purpose. 
 The wrath of God is accumulating over you, and 
 will burst on your heads if ye repent not. These false 
 prophets, and this rebellion of the common people, 
 are proofs of the divine displeasure. To be plain, 
 such is the state of things, that men neither can, nor 
 will, nor indeed should they, bear your government 
 any longer. Listen to the scriptures, and amend your 
 ways. The insurgents may not succeed at present, 
 and you may kill the greater part of them ; b.ut God 
 will raise up others after them. For it is HE himself 
 who, for your wickedness, brings these troubles upon 
 you. Some of you have boasted, that you were ready 
 
 Matt x. 
 
to sacrifice your rank and fortune if you could but abol- 
 ish Lutheranisrn, root and branch ; and others, to fill 
 up the measure of their crimes and bring fresh dis- 
 grace upon the gospel, represent these seditious tu- 
 mults as the consequence of my doctrine. Thus do 
 you harden your hearts ; thus do you calumniate and 
 persecute the word of God. 
 
 " Yourselves are my witnesses that I have always 
 detested sedition, and exhorted the people to obedi- 
 ence, and even to patient submission under your ty- 
 rannical government. It is not I therefore, it is these 
 bloody prophetSj who are quite as inimical to me as 
 they are to you, who have been the cause of this re- 
 bellion, and who have been seducing the people for 
 aiore than three years, without any one person except 
 myself endeavoring to counteract them. Now if, for 
 your wickedness, h should please God to permit Satan, 
 through the instrumentality of these preachers, to raise 
 this impending storm to such a pitch as is beyond my 
 power of allaying it, what blame, I pray, can you lay to 
 the charge of the gospel, or of L,uther, who has con- 
 stantly honored your authority, exhorted the people to 
 respect you, poured out his prayers to God for you, and 
 himself hitherto patiently enduring your cruel perse- 
 cutions ? Were I actuated by a spirit of revenge, I 
 might smile in private at these tragical scenes, or I 
 might stimulate the enraged populace, and add fuel to 
 the flames. 
 
 " Let me entreat you then, O ye princes, not to de- 
 spise my advice. Do not fear the rebels, but fear God* 
 Our crimes are such as ought to alarm us ; and if God 
 should purpose to deal with us according to our de- 
 serts, we cannot escape HIS vengence however small 
 the number of the rebels should prove. Great mode- 
 ration is the line of conduct which ye ought to pursue 
 at the present crisis. Lenity and clemency can do no 
 harm, and may prevent matters from being pushed to 
 extremities ; in one word, may prevent a conflagra- 
 tion, which might consume all Germany. 
 
 "It is very true that the demands of the malc-Mi- 
 tfcnts originate in interested motives ; neve/tbeiegs 
 4 i 
 
642 
 
 of them are so reasonable, that you ought to b 
 ashamed of having reduced your subjects to the neces- 
 sity of making them. Their first requisition, which res- 
 pects (be legal appointment of evangelical preachers, 
 Is so far just in its principle, that no ruler has a right 
 to withhold the gospef from his subject?: and though 
 I grant, that in the application of this principle they 
 manifest a selfish spirit, and set up claims which, un- 
 der the pretence of liberality, would annihilate the 
 power of their master, yet their iniquitous demands 
 'will not justify you in refusing them substantial justice. 
 It is the duty of governors not to vex and distress their 
 subjects, but to be the guardians of their fortunes and 
 their comforts ; whereas, in truth, the oppression of 
 the poor peasants of this country is become intolera- 
 ble, the numerous and heavy imposts cramp their in- 
 dustry, and there rs but one way left of meliorating 
 their condition : the higher orders must restrain their 
 excessive luxury arid extravagance, which is the true 
 cause of the evil." 
 
 Lastly, when Luther had finished these distinct ha- 
 rangues, both to the higher and lower orders of the 
 people, he thought proper to conclude with a few 
 words of serious advice to the parties in common. 
 He exhorted them not to think of deciding their dis- 
 putes by arms, for both sides had a bad cause to defend. 
 It was hard to say whether tyranny or sedition produ- 
 ced worse consequences ; no man could fight for either 
 with a good conscience ; and those who perished in 
 such a contest would di in their sins. "My advrce," 
 says he, "is, that all the disputable points be settled 
 by impartial arbiters chosen on both sides. Let the 
 rulers and nobles concede something of their strict 
 rights, and let the common people in their turn be 
 niore moderate in their demands, and listen to the 
 voice of reason ; otherwise this civil war will assured- 
 ly be the ruin of the country. But if this advice is 
 despised, if the people will wage war against their ru- 
 fers as so many tyrants and oppressors, and tl>e rulers 
 will treat their subjects as banditti and barbarians, 1 
 humbly pray God either to confouud the designs 
 
643 
 
 f>f both parties, or in Some way to overrule this fero- 
 cious obstinacy of men to the re-establishment of 
 peace and harmony." 
 
 But these Christian exhortations proved ineffectual. 
 This civil war not only continued, but soon became 
 bloody and destructive. In Suabia, Franconia, and 
 Alsace, the fanatical insurgent? pulled down monas- 
 teries, castles, and houses, and murdered the nobles 
 and dignitaries, and were guilty of multiplied acts 
 of treason and barbarity. The moment Luther be- 
 came acquainted with these abominable excesses, he 
 deemed it the duty of a sound Christian to support the 
 lawful government of his country with all his might in 
 an emergency which threatened universal anarchy and 
 devastation. Accordingly, he changed his language, 
 wrote a short tract AGAINST THE ROBBERS AND MURDER- 
 ERS, and exhorted all ranks and orders to come for- 
 ward and help, as they would to extinguish a general 
 conflagration. " The wicked parricides," he said, 
 "must be crushed. They had scandalously broken 
 their oaths, plundered the right owners of their posses- 
 sions, and committed treason in various ways ; and, 
 what very much increased their guilt, they endeavored 
 to cloke their shameful practices under the name and 
 character of pure Christianity. There could not be 
 greater pests of society. Those indeed among them 
 who had been compelled to join the faction by threats 
 were to be treated with lenity, but those only who re- 
 pented and surrendered themselves ought to be par- 
 doned. The rest merited the utmost rigor; and whor 
 soever should fall in opposing them, and defending 
 their lawful rulers, ought to be esteemed as martyrs in 
 an excellent cause." 
 
 The publication of Luther was blamed by many as 
 too harsh and violent; but the author, in reply, de- 
 fended his positions with great spirit and ability. He 
 complained, that whatever he did or said was sure to 
 afford matter for censure to haughty critics. He con- 
 tended, that those who could excuse the present offen- 
 ders must be considered as partakers in their crimes. 
 Lastly, he alledged St. Paul's peremptory judgment 
 
644 
 
 of those who resist lawful magistrates ; and strenuously 
 insisted on this rebellion of the'rustics as being marked 
 with peculiar circumstances of cruelty and impiety. 
 
 To relate all the particulars of the rebellion in 1526 
 would be foreign to our purpose : it may be sufficient 
 to add, that the princes of the empire found it abso- 
 lutely necessary to unite their forces and their efforts 
 for the suppression and punishment of the insurgents. 
 The carnage in various parts of Germany was dreadr 
 ful. A vast multitude of the faction in Thuringia were 
 met by the Saxon and other confederate princes near 
 Mulhausen, where they \vere defeated in a pitched 
 battle, and Munzer their ringleader was also taken 
 gnd put to death. 
 
 This unfortunate war is supposed to have cost Ger- 
 many the lives of more than fifty thousand men ;* but 
 the papal advocates are not to be credited when they 
 assert that one hundred and thirty thousand Lutherans 
 perished from this cause. The fact is, by far the 
 greatest tragedies were exhibited in the POPISH part of 
 Germany : moreover, the Lutherans abounded most in 
 the electorate of Saxony, where matters were certain 
 ly carried on with greater mildness and moderation, 
 as well by the rebels themselves during the commo- 
 tions, as by the government in their measures to sup- 
 press them. It well deserves notice, that the tumults 
 were the greatest in those districts where the free 
 course of the gospel had been most completely ob- 
 structed. The good elector Frederic adverted to this, 
 circumstance, in a memorable letter written to his 
 brother and successor on the very day before he died, 
 
 " The princes," says he, " have applied to us lor 
 our assistance against the peasants : and I could wish 
 to open rny mind to them but I am too ill. Perhaps 
 the principal cause of these commotions is. that these 
 poor creatures have not been allowed to have the 
 word of God preached freely among them." 
 
 '* Beausobi^v 
 
645 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Death of the Elector of Saxony. Marriage 
 
 ABOUT ten days before the defeat of Munzer, the 
 leader of the rustic insurgents, the good elector of Sax- 
 ony departed this life. He was too feeble in bodyj 
 and too deeply concerned in mind, to make any at- 
 tempt at joining the confederate princes. Only three 
 days before his death, which happened May 5th, 1.525, 
 he exhorted, by letter, his brother John, who succeed- 
 ed him in the electorate, to do his utmost to compose 
 the disturbances, by choosing arbitrators who were 
 good men and favorites of the people ; to avoid the 
 spilling of blood, to pardon the multitude, and to pun- 
 ish only the ringleaders of the rebellion. The delu- 
 sion, he said, would not last long. God, who had 
 hitherto protected their country, would continue to 
 protect it This was the last lime he should be able 
 to write to him, but he trusted they should meet again 
 in a better world. 
 
 The mind of this conscientious prince appears to 
 have been strongly impressed with a belief that the 
 primary cause of the rebellion of the peasants was the 
 just judgment of God, on account of the obstruction, 
 with which the preaching of the pure gospel had been 
 attended ; and as a secondary cause, he lamented, that 
 not only the ruling clergy, but also the civil govern- 
 ors oppressed their subjects in a variety of ways. 
 Spalatinus informs us, that, a short time before lie ex- 
 pired, he addressed his servants and domestics in the 
 following terms. " I entreat you, my dearest children, 
 in the name of God, and for HIS sake, to forgive me, 
 if I have offended you in word or deed; and I further 
 inlreat you to make in my name this same request for 
 me to others. We princes are apt to treat our poor 
 distressed subjects in a vexatious and unjustifiable 
 manner. I cannot say any more." "Does any thing," 
 said Spalatinus, "lie heavy on your mind ?" He an- 
 ? wared, "No, but I have much bodily pain ;" and ex- 
 
646 
 
 pired in the 63d year of his age like one falling asleep. 
 Before the Lutheran controversies commenced, this 
 pious prince had been a most industrious collector of 
 reliques, and had augmented the number of masses in 
 his church of All Saints to 10,000 annually. In his 
 will, made in the year 1517, Frederic had joined with 
 the Holy Trinity the blessed Virgin, St. Bartholomew 
 the apostle, and then his tutelary angel, and all the 
 saints of God, to whose intercession he committed his 
 soul. Also in that will he enjoined, that for a month 
 after his death, there should be every day, no less than 
 fifty masses said, with a small allowance for each. 
 But in the last will and testament of this prince, the 
 pure doctrine of the gospel gloriously triumphs over 
 the ancient superstition. Here, not a word is said of 
 the Virgin Mary, of saints or apostles, or masses, but 
 his words were u I beseech Almighty God, through the 
 sacred and unexampled merits of his Son. to pardon 
 all my sins and transgressions : neither do 1 doubt but 
 that, by the precious death of my dear Lord and Sav- 
 iour Jesus Christ, I shall obtain forgiveness ; and there- 
 fore into his all powerful hands, and to his eternal, im- 
 measurable unsearchable kindness and co mm passion, 
 I commit my soul, to be preserved for the enjoyment 
 of a happy immortality. I freely forgive all who have 
 done me wrong ; and I beseech them in the name of 
 God, and for HIS sake, to pardon, from the heart arid 
 with a true Christian charity, me in whatever I may 
 have offended them, agreeably to what we every day 
 pray for, the mutual forgiveness of trespasses from God, 
 the Father of compassion." 
 
 By the advice of Luther, and Melancthon, he was 
 buried without pomp, and without superstition. There 
 is great reason to believe he died in the faith, hope, 
 and humility of the gospel. 
 
 In the month of October, 1524, there were left in 
 the monastery of Wittemberg only the prior and Lu- 
 ther ; and the latter availed himself of that opportuni- 
 ty to resign the title and habit of an Augustine monk, 
 and in future was called merely doctor, or professor, 
 Martin Luther, He had long been desirous of taking 
 
647 
 
 this step, but well knowing the elector's aversion^ ti 
 delayed to press the point. At last he expressed a 
 wish to Spalatinus that he might have the prince's fi- 
 nal answer,and he promised never more to importune 
 him on the subject. Frederic, with some humor, and 
 much good nature, sent him a piece of cloth, and told 
 him he was at liberty to wear it in whatever shape he 
 pleased. 
 
 The tender conscience of Luther seems to have 
 been long hesitating concerning the obligation of 
 voluntary monastic vows. But having, at length, be- 
 come fully satisfied that they were restraints of mere 
 human invention, designed for self-righteous purposes, 
 he issued from his Patrnos his admirable tract on this 
 subject, which gave a fatal blow to the whole papal 
 system. 
 
 Luther was about 40 years old when he married 
 Catharine Boore, a virtuous nun of noble parentage. 
 His enemies on this occasion exulted, and condemned 
 them both, with as much confidence as if they could 
 alledge that scripture authority for the monastic state, 
 which protestants can for the matrimonial. They rep- 
 resented Luther as an infamous, hardened sensualist^ 
 who had neither command of his passions, nor regard 
 to his reputation; and his wife as an abandoned strum 
 pet, who had lived in the most licentious manner for 
 more than two years among the young academics. 
 These foolish and wicked accusations are, however, 
 effectually refuted by history, which does abundant 
 justice to the moral character of both the parties. 
 
 But several of Luther's best friends did not think 
 his marriage well timed. He, however, justified his 
 conduct by sayrng, " I judged it right to confirm, by 
 my own example the doctrine that 1 have taught, for I 
 observe many are still pusillanimous, notwithstanding 
 this great light of the gospel." Again, he thus writes to 
 a friend : "As I may be taken off suddenly, and as my 
 doctrine respecting the lawfulness of the marriage of 
 the clergy may possibly be treated with contempt af- 
 ter my death, I was desirous of showing my weaker 
 brethren that I acted up to my principles." 
 
Jn the latter parr, of the succeeding y6ar, Lutne'i 
 writes thus: " God of his great goodness hath blessed 
 me with a fine healthy little Luther; and my rib Kate 
 is also in excellent plight, and is in all things courteous 
 and obliging to rne, much beyond what I could have 
 ventured to hone. I am thankful to God, and would 
 not change my poverty for the riches of Croesus. 7 ' 
 
 Not a syllable seems to have dropped from Lu- 
 ther, to excite the least suspicion that he repented of 
 Iris marriage, or was afterward on that account low 
 spirited. On the contrary, a good conscience, confi- 
 dence in God, and resignation to HIS will, character- 
 ize all his letters written upon this subject, without a 
 single exception. When he had attained true scrip- 
 tural views of the nature of Christian liberty, and the 
 proper moment for his own marriage had come, he 
 acted according to those views without hesitation, un- 
 der the full conviction that he was doing right, and 
 in confident expectation of the Divine blessing. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Progress of the Reformation. 
 
 WHEN John, the new elector of Saxony, came in- 
 to office, as successor of Frederic the wise, the minds 
 of men were much enlightened in matters of religion. 
 Sound policy, as well as reason and justice, therefore, 
 dictated to him the wisdom of making a Stand, from 
 the very first of his government, against the illegal and 
 exhorbitant pretensions of the Roman see. Happily 
 this excellent prince was qualified to act well his par( 
 at this critical juncture. Although he was not pro- 
 foundly skilled in the science of politics, yet his moral 
 endowments and Steady temper have procured him 
 with posterity the illustrious titles of the good and the 
 CONSTANT. John knew that an appeal had been made 
 to the tribunal of reason : and that reason had already- 
 decided in a manner which had astonished all Eu- 
 rope : and he wu* fully convinced that now t<j> tempo- 
 
649 
 
 me with a corrupt and unprincipled hierarchy might 
 be injurious to the good cause which he was determin- 
 ed to support. Though this good elector could see 
 that much had been done to emancipate the subjects 
 of the Roman domination from the chains of papal su- 
 perstition and imposition, yet could he see there still 
 remained an alarming combination of interested prin- 
 ces and prelates, opposed to Christian truth and liber* 
 ty, and supported by multitudes of their bigoted sub- 
 jects and adherents, who meditated no less than the 
 entire annihilation of the infant reformation. 
 
 The zeal and constancy of the new elector, were 
 as loudly called for at this crisis, as ever the pru- 
 dence and caution of his brother Frederic had been, 
 for the personal safety of Luther, and the success of 
 his early endeavors to reform a corrupt ecclesiastical 
 establishment. John, the CONSTANT, had a most ex- 
 cellent coadjutor in his own son, John Frederic, who 
 seems to have possessed the united virtues both of his 
 father and his uncle Frederic. 
 
 The university and the collegiate church of Wit- 
 temberg soon experienced a salutary renovation ; a 
 new order of public worship was provided ; other 
 churches began now to be modelled after the plan of 
 Witternberg; and a general visitation was promised 
 of all the churches in Saxony. The elector and his 
 sen, John Frederic, shewed the utmost readiness to 
 adopt the counsels of Luther ; but that zealous reform- 
 er did not always wait for their sanction, well aware of 
 the difficulties and delays which his plans might often, 
 meet with at court, from the privy counsellors of the 
 prince. He did not, however, neglect to transmit to 
 the prince, in a respectful manner, the formularies of 
 the new ecclesiastical rites and ceremonies, which, 
 with the advice of Melancthon and Pomeranus, he 
 had drawn up, and which the reformers had actually 
 begun to use at Wittemberg. The sacrament was there 
 administered to the laity, for the first time, in the Ger- 
 man, instead of the Latin language, on the Lord's day, 
 October 29th, 1525. The regulation of the public 
 service of the churqh, and the appointment of weft 
 
650 
 
 qualified pastors, was a matter near the heart of the 
 reformer. 
 
 The elector approved of the new regulations of Lu- 
 ther and sent two of his counsellors to confirm them 
 publicly, and to carry them to a still greater extent. 
 The reformer himself, however, seems to have been 
 the leading counsellor at this important crisis. He 
 stated in writing, at full length, the situation of -the uni- 
 versity; how sadly it was on the decay, considered as 
 aseminary oflearningand piety: and he entreated the 
 prince to send commissioners to fix the salaries of the 
 professors and lecturers. He explained to him what 
 steps he himself had actually ventured to take, both 
 in regard to the academical lectures and the Divine 
 service. He observed, that though he might have 
 been, perhaps, too troublesome in this business, or 
 even shown too much distrust of the elector's pater- 
 nal care, yet he had this excuse to plead ; that the first 
 of his conduct, however faulty or indefensible it might 
 have been, had proved no less than the means of pre- 
 serving the university from instant dissolution. 
 
 Luther with great seriousness admonished the elec- 
 tor to make some provision for the poor laboring cler- 
 gy : and also to amend the proceedings of the ecclesi- 
 astical courts. The elector took ail this in excellent 
 part ; but appears to have been considerably startled 
 at the idea of augmenting the salaries of the clergy 
 out of his own treasury. " That," he said, " would be 
 a matter of great difficulty ; and he asked Luther what 
 he had to propose on the subject." The answer was 
 simply this: " In the general visitation of the whole 
 country, let there be taken an accurate account of all 
 the ancient revenues: and if these be found insuffi- 
 cient for the purpose, then let suitable payments to 
 the officiating clergy be made from new imposts on the 
 respective towns and parishes, which they may well 
 bear, being now relieved from many popish oppress- 
 ions.'' Likewise, to a similar inquiry concerning the 
 augmentation of the academical salaries, Luther repli- 
 ed, "There is an abundance of means for this purpose 
 from the many vacant offices; for the number of the 
 
651 
 
 clergy in the collegiate church of All Saints is now re- 
 duced from eighty to eighteen. Ail the rest are either 
 dead, or have left their situation.' 7 
 
 The most experienced financier could scarcely have 
 returned a better answer to the question. 
 
 The due application of the surplus funds of this rich 
 church of Wittemberg had been, for some time past, 
 an object of considerable attention and difficulty . 
 The elector Frederic, supported by the older mem- 
 bers of the chapter, for a long time had resisted the 
 abolition of private masses ; and during the altercation 
 on this point in 1523, he had even threatened the stur- 
 dy reformers with the sequestration of the ecclesias- 
 tical salaries, unless they continued to observe strictly 
 their ancient institutions. Luther, however, in a mat- 
 ter of great importance, was not to be discouraged by 
 disappointment or opposition. He pressed the late 
 elector afresh on the same subject, with spirit and ad- 
 dress ; and as there were then three new canons, whose 
 consciences would not permit them to comply with 
 the papal usages, he entreated the prince to allow 
 their stipends to be employed for the advantage of the 
 professors and students of the university. The an- 
 swer of Frederic was now in all respects gracious and 
 favorable, and afforded a good hope that Luther's 
 ideas would be adopted. In fact, by connivance rath- 
 er than by express directions, that prince had permit- 
 ted the redundant ecclesiastical wealth to be gradual- 
 ly diverted into the channels above mentioned. This 
 redundant wealth was become very considerable, from 
 the abolition of private masses, and many other pro- 
 testant innovations. But it is allowed by historians, 
 that not one halfpenny of it was ever applied by Fred- 
 eric to his own specific emolument. 
 
 Such disinterested conduct has rendered his memo- 
 ry truly illustrious ; and is a complete refutation of the 
 rash aspersions of those who, either through ignorance 
 or malice, would insinuate that this excellent prince 
 favored the reformation from motives of avarice, and 
 secret intentions of plundering the opulent ecclesias- 
 tic?; However, the elector John, with a more enligmV 
 
652 
 
 ened conscience, and a more magnanimous spirit, not 
 only confirmed what had been barely permitted by 
 his predecessor during the last years of his life, but al- 
 so gave the revenues of the deserted monasteries for 
 the purpose of maintaining the parochial clergy and 
 the public instructors, both in the churches and the 
 schools. He suffered nothing to come into competi- 
 tion with the reformation, as an object of his concern : 
 and as he was undoubtedly the first prince in Germa- 
 ny who openly both resisted the popish doctrines and 
 discipline, and established the new system of the 
 Wittemberg theologian, he has been justly denomi- 
 nated the SECOND PARENT and founder of the Lutheran 
 church. 
 
 The laudable efforts of the elector and his son were 
 much encouraged by the friendly dispositions of their 
 neighbor Philip, the landgrave of Hesse. These dis- 
 positions had appeared at a conference which they 
 had with the landgrave at Creutzberg, only a few 
 weeks before the death of Frederic ; when he had 
 declared, that rather than be a deserter from the 
 word of God, he would lose his wealth, his dominions, 
 and even his life. Luther, whose active and compre- 
 hensive eye was in every corner, writes thus to Spa- 
 latinus on this occasion: " I rejoice that the prince of 
 Hesse has had a conversation with our princes. I 
 hope it will be to the advantage of the gospel. "f 
 
 j- There is something so euriows in the whole letter, that I will venture to give 
 the reader the substance of it. It should seem that certain mock suns, as they 
 are termed by astronomers, had been observed in the heavens ; and Spalatinus 
 had sent Luther a drawing of the appearances, with the judgment of Melanc- 
 thon upon them. This excellent reformer if known to have been addicted to as- 
 trolopy. Luther begins : 
 
 " Grace and peace. I return you the drawings of the solar appearances. 
 They are Divine prodigies, my Spalatinus ; but it is not my province to com- 
 prehend their meaning. I do not pretend to foretel the events signified by such 
 things. That red bloody sun which appeared in the west, seems te denote the 
 king- of France : and the bright sun in the middle, the emperor. This is Me- 
 lancthon's opinion ; at the same time they indicate the clay of judgment I re- 
 joice that the prince of Hesse has had a conversation with our princes. I hope 
 it will be to the advantage of the^gospel. I have here a new species of fanatics 
 from Antwerp, who assert that the Holy Spirit is nothing mare than men's nat- 
 ural reason and understanding. How does Satan rage every where against the 
 word ! And this I reckon by no means the slightest mark of the approaching 
 end ; namely, that Satan perceives tfte day is at hand, and pours forth his 
 &IP. MARTIN 
 
653 
 
 But the duke George of Saxony was a lamentable 
 obstacle to any religious association which did not pro- 
 fess, as the basis of union, implicit obedience to the 
 Roman see : and the opposition of this veteran papist 
 was at any time to be dreaded, not merely on account 
 of his wealth and the number of his subjects, but al- 
 so the situation of his provinces, which lay enclosed 
 in the electorate of Saxony. Philip of Hesse was his 
 son-in-law, and was sanguine enough to entertain 
 the hope of gaining duke George to the cause of the 
 gospel, by writing to him a brief exhortation, full of 
 piety and affection. George sternly replied, u That 
 he should commit the cause to God ; for, that after a 
 hundred years it would appear who was right and who 
 was wrong.'* The honest landgrave, like most young 
 converts, had riot yet been taught, by experience, how 
 exceedingly perverse and obdurate men usually be- 
 come by being long hackneyed in the ways of Phari- 
 saical religion ; but this rough answer of the father-in- 
 law was an instructive lesson, no doubt, to his son-in- 
 law Philip. The same answer produced reflections 
 in the truly Christian mind of the young prince John 
 Frederic, which deserve to be remembered. " I am 
 shocked," said he, "at the sentiments contained in 
 the letter of George, especially at his saying the truth 
 will appear after a hundred years. What sort of faith 
 is that which requires an experiment to support it ? As- 
 suredly, there is nothing of the nature of faith, where 
 a man will not believe till he is convinced by experi- 
 ence. St. Paul says, " Faith comes by hearing ;" not 
 by experience. I am grieved at ihe poor prince's sit- 
 uation; for if he will not believe what is true and right 
 till after trial has been made, and, also, if during the 
 trial he is determined to refuse obedience to the word 
 of God, he may defer the important business too long, 
 that is, till there be no room for repentance. I would 
 have every method used to cure him of his attachment 
 to popery, if, by the grace of God, there be a possi- 
 bility of doing it. But I greatly fear all will be to no 
 purpose ; and that God will harden him, like Pharaoh, 
 so that he will neither receive his word, nor regard hte- 
 signal providences," 
 
654 
 
 The unhappy duke George must have suffered con- 
 siderable mortification on account of the increas- 
 ing propagation of evangelical truth during the year 
 1525. The magistrates of several of the imperial cit- 
 ies adopted the reformation in form. At Nuremberg 
 there was a public conference, in full senate, and in 
 the presence of many of the inhabitants, between 
 Osiander at the head of several of the evangelical 
 teachers on the one part, and five leading preachers of 
 the papal party on the other ; the issue of which was, 
 that there should be no more sermons or ceremonies 
 at the monasteries, and that the monks should no lon- 
 ger be exempted from the usual burdens of the rest of 
 the inhabitants. Hagenau in Alsace received the Di- 
 vine word from Wolffgang Capito, who was a native of 
 Hagenau, and had been called thither irom Strasburg 
 to strengthen the cause of the protest ant party. Capi- 
 to administered the sacrament on Palm Sunday, accor- 
 ding to the scripture method : and on Easter Sunday, 
 without using salt, oil or any papistical ceremony, he 
 baptized, before a great multitude, who had (locked to- 
 gether to see the novelty, a child of a principal inhab- 
 itant called Wendelinus, by the name of Josiah ; the 
 father intimating thereby, that as the book of the law 
 was found in the reign of Josiah, and in consequence 
 the true worship of God restored, so the holy Bible, 
 which had been in a manner lost during the papacy, 
 was, through the goodness of God, found again on the 
 birth of his little Josiah, and the scriptural doctrine of 
 salvation restored to Germany. At Norlhusa, in Thu- 
 ringia, the inhabitants met together, read over Luther's 
 early writings on the reformation, conferred on the 
 several points, acknowledged the errors of popery, and 
 determined to establish a purer church. The magis- 
 trates seconded the wishes of the people, arid appoint- 
 ed the prior of the Augustine monastery to preach the 
 gospel in St. Peter's church. 
 
 Several counties also of the empire were evangeliz- 
 ed about the same time ; for example, those of Hanau, 
 Aitenberg, and Teclenberg. In the marchionate of 
 Lusatia, the two elegant and rich cities of Gorlitz 
 
655 
 
 and Luban experienced a similar improvement. Thfe 
 clergy of the neighboring villages assembled in the 
 city of Gorlitz, and there publicly renounced the au- 
 thority and jurisdiction of their popish diocesan, and 
 at the same time abolished many of the Romish cus- 
 toms and vanities. At Dantzic, one of the most cele- 
 brated marts of the north, the progress of the gospel 
 was astonishing. " You may learn," says Luther. 
 " from one of the clergy of Dantzic, who is come here 
 on the express errand of requesting the prince to per- 
 mit Pomeranus to go among them, how wonderfully 
 Christ is at work in that place. We cannot well spare 
 him: yet, in so important an evangelical concern, we 
 ought, I think to give way. Who knows what God 
 may do through his instrumentality ? Let us neither 
 obstruct so extraordinary a call, nor pretend to be ig- 
 norant of its meaning. If I were called in this man- 
 ner, I should not dare to refuse : I would go instantly !' 5 
 I am persuaded no Christian reader will be fatigued 
 with perusing such extracts as these, or think them ill 
 placed in a history of the church of Christ. They in- 
 troduce us into the very secret corners of the hearts of 
 the Saxon divines, and prove, beyond contradiction, 
 what was the real spirit of th reformation at this bles- 
 sed season. 
 
 In this brief review of the increase of evangelical 
 light, we must not omit to mention what happened at 
 Francfort on the Main. The inhabitants, through the 
 instructions of two laborious evangelical preachers, 
 had acquired such an insight into the corruptions and 
 abuses of the papal system, that they assembled in a 
 tumultuous manner a little before Easter, and insited 
 on the abolition of the popish mass and other ceremo- 
 nies. The senate interfered, and informed the eccle 
 siastics of the papal party, that if they expected the 
 support and defence of the magistrates, they must 
 confute, by the word of God, those tenets of the evan- 
 gelical teachers which maintained that the MASS was 
 NOT A. SACRIFICE. Finding this impossible, the papis- 
 tical preachers quitted three of the principal church- 
 es, which were immediately occupied by the reform 
 era. 
 
656 
 
 This glorious progress of the truth, and fall of An- 
 tichrist, did not take place without the shedding of 
 some blood of the martyrs. 
 
 James Pavan of Bolonge having been seized in the 
 preceding year, on account of his profesions of pure 
 Christianity, had recanted through fear of death. 
 In the course of the present year 1525, he became 
 bold again in the cause of the gospel ; he preached 
 openly on the nature of the sacrament ; and agreea- 
 bly to his own express wish, was burnt alive at Paris. 
 He surrendered his life, in the moment of trial, with the 
 utmost cheerfulness. 
 
 A German, named Wolffgangus Schuch, had hecn 
 appointed pastor of one of the towns in Lorraine, and 
 during his faithful ministry had abolished the mass, 
 and the worship of images and idols. His congrega- 
 tion were accused of disloyalty to the duke of Lor- 
 raine. The duke threatened to destroy the town, with 
 fire and sword. W. Schuch judged it his duty to step 
 forward voluntarily, and defend his townsmen, though 
 at the peril of his life. He composed a confession of 
 his faith ; and was on the eve of publishing it, when 
 he was suddenly cast into a filthy dungeon, and con- 
 demned to the flames. On hearing his sentence, he 
 broke out into the 122d Psalm : and when in the fire 
 itself, he sung the 51st Psalm. 
 
 We are told by Abraham Scultetus, one of the most 
 candid and credible historians that ever wrote, that the 
 ecclesiastical judge of Schuch, and also his assessor 
 who was an abbot, both died of sudden deaths, a very 
 little time after: and the duke of Lorrain took pains 
 to convince his courtiers, that nothing more was ne- 
 cessary for salvation than to know the Paternoster and 
 Ave Maria. 
 
 At Mechlin in Brabant, one Bernard, a Carmelite 
 iviar, is mentioned by Luther as having been burnt on 
 account of his open profession of the gospel. And at 
 the Hague in Holland, a clergyman, named John de 
 Backer, scarcely 27 years old, after many long and 
 vexatious examinations by the papistical inquisitors, 
 merited the crown of martyrdom. 
 
657 
 
 Amidst the new ecclesiastical establishments and re* 
 gulations, which Lurher, under the auspices of the eke* 
 tor and his son, was rapidly introducing into Saxony, 
 he still found time for preaching the word of God, and 
 for various useful publications. I;j reflecting on THIS 
 PART of the labors of the Saxon reformer, it may in 
 some measure lessen our surprise, if we advert lo two 
 things, both of which are beyond dispute : First, his 
 unparalleled industry ; time with him was always a 
 precious thing: Secondly, his vast fund of religious 
 knowledge, the result of long and patient study of the 
 holy scriptures. But in regard to the other part, name- 
 ly, how Martin Luther, who had spent so large a por- 
 tion of his life in a monastery, and even now was far 
 from being advanced in years, attained such consum- 
 mate prudence and discretion, for the conduct of prac- 
 tical concerns in worldly affairs, may be a matter both 
 of curious inquiry and just admiration. Certainly, ifc 
 is easier to account for his numerous sermons, com- 
 mentaries, and theological tracts, than for his wise in- 
 stitutions, both in the church and the university, where 
 he had new offices and ranks and orders to arrange, 
 new laws and discipline to digest, where the ecclesi- 
 astical and academical revenues were in the utmost 
 confusion, redundant on some accounts, defective on 
 others; and lastly, where the distribution of the same 
 required fresh inspections and reviews, as well as 
 the most judicious and impartial adjustments. Piouj 
 minds, however, who believe that the hearts of men 
 are prepared anil directed by a Divine superintending 
 agency, especially on great occasions, will account 
 for it without difficulty* And those who are dispos- 
 ed to explain the course of human events by what 
 are called natural causes, should, in the first place, 
 recollect distinctly, what were the specific endow- 
 ments of Luther," allowed by all who are well ac* 
 quainted with his history; namely, a conscientious in- 
 tegrity, incapable of being warped by selfish and inter- 
 ested considerations; a clear and comprehensive un-^ 
 derstanding, furnishing an almost instinctive view of 
 
 measures to be adopted in the most critical circuca- 
 4 * 
 
658 
 
 stances ; a spirited and courageous temper, constant- 
 ly impelling him to decision and despatch. Then, in 
 the second place, they may be put in mind, that what- 
 ever pains they would take to exclude Almighty God 
 from the government of his own creation, they cannot 
 deny that at the very period when the revealed reli- 
 gion was most deplorably corrupted and defiled by hu- 
 man devices, and when there was the greatest need of a 
 champion to contend with Antichrist, there was actul- 
 ally raised up in Saxony a personage qualified in this 
 uncommon degree to fight manfully under the ban- 
 ners of Christ, and to restore his church to its genuine 
 beauty and simplicity. 
 
 Among the numerous writings which Luther pub- 
 lished, to advance the interests of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom, was a useful little book, containing 38 Ger- 
 man hyrnns ? with their appropriate tunes, which he 
 composed and printed, just before he ventured to ad- 
 minister the Lord's supper in the German language. 
 This he prepared and published for the purpose of fix- 
 ing, in the memories of the common people, much re- 
 ligious instruction, in a concise and agreeable manner. 
 The subjects were, parts of the catechism; leading 
 articles of belief; prayers and thanksgivings: in fact, 
 the book was a summary of Christian doctrine, ex- 
 pressed in a very neat and elegant German metre ; 
 and so well managed, that the harmony and modula- 
 tion of the voice agreed with the words and senti- 
 ments, and tended to raise the correspondent affec- 
 tions in the minds of the singers. On this account, 
 the author has been called the true Orpheus of Ger- 
 many ; and to his praise it is added, that he applied 
 his knowledge of musical numbers and harmonies to 
 the excitation of the most pious and fervid emotion in 
 the soul. 
 
 In the preface to this little book he supports the du- 
 ty of church music, on the authority of David and 
 Paul ; at the same time he puts us in mind, that in 
 singing praises, we should have our eyes on Christ 
 alone. " He had subjoined the suitable tunes," he 
 says, u to show that the fine arts are by no means abo- 
 
659 
 
 lished through the preaching of the gospel ; but, that 
 in particular, the art of music should be employed to 
 the glory of God ; though he knew this sentiment was 
 contrary to the romantic ideas of some teachers who 
 were disposed to allow nothing but what was purely 
 intellectual. 
 
 During these incessant labors of this indefatigable 
 servant of God, an attempt was made to take away 
 his life hy poison. APolish Jew, adoctorof medicine, 
 came to Wittemberg, having agreed to do this for two 
 thousand pieces of gold. Luther describes him as a 
 man of wonderful cunning and versatility, and as ca- 
 pable of committing any crime. The doctor and his 
 accomplices were seized, and carried before a magis- 
 trate- but they refused to make any confession ; and 
 Luther entreated that they might be set at liberty, ra* 
 ther than be examined by torture, according to the 
 custom of those times. Nevertheless, he expressed his 
 entire belief that he was the very man who had been 
 pointed out to him by the letters of certain friends. 
 He sa/s, u he answered their description in all respects 
 and that every circumstance also concurred to identi- 
 fy the person of the Jew, and prove his guilt." 
 
 The sacramental dispute, concerning the manner 
 in which the body and blood of Christ are present in 
 the eucharist, has been already mentioned. Those 
 labors of Luther, which he employed in the sacramen- 
 tal controversy, can afford but little satisfaction to 
 Christian readers. The zeal, fervor and conscientious- 
 ness which ever marked the character of this great re- 
 former, were in this controversy sadly sullied, by a la- 
 mentable obstinacy and perverseness of temper. While 
 he adhered pertinaciously to the literal meaning of 
 the declaration of Christ, " This is my tody," as im- 
 plying that the real body and blood of Christ were pre- 
 sent in the eucharist ; Zumgle and Oecolampadius, 
 with others, insisted, that it was their belief according 
 to the doctrine of St. Paul, " as often as we eat the 
 bread and drink the wine of the sacrament, we shew 
 the Lord's death till he come ; that we consider, con- 
 fess and declare, that Christ offered to his * aluer on. 
 
f60 
 
 the cross, his body and blood for our redemption ; and 
 doing this with a true faith, we know that our souls 
 are really fed, refreshed and strengthened, by the flesh 
 and blood of Christ." 
 
 The sacramental controversy was long; continued, 
 and served to disunite many of the friends of the ris- 
 ing reformation, who were in other respects, devout- 
 ly engaged in supporting unitedly, evangelical truths 
 and practices. 
 
 As it may not tend greatly to the godly edification 
 of the pious reader, to know all the circumstances of 
 this long and unhappy controversy ; suffice it to state, 
 that Luther having been so much attached to his ideas 
 of the real presence of the body and blood of Christ 
 in the eucharist, teaches us the importance of calling 
 no man master in matters of faith and practice, and 
 of regulating our faith and practice by the sacred 
 scriptures. 
 
 The avowed and unequivocal support afforded to 
 the reformation by the new elector of Saxony and the: 
 landgrave of Hesse, did not produce all the good ef- 
 fects which might have been expected from the wise 
 and vigorous measures adopted by those illustrious* 
 princes, in the best of causes. Their example, indeed, 
 was followed by the most enlightened princes and 
 states of Germany ; and, in consequence, an improved 
 union, more solid, and better cemented than ever, 
 took place among THESE. But the rest, who, under 
 the cautious and ambiguous conduct of Frederic the 
 Wise, had hitherto shown themselves averse to an 
 open rupture, as soon as they clearly perceived that 
 the reforn ers designed to withdraw themselves from 
 the Romish communion and reject the jurisdiction of 
 the pontiff, instantly took fire at the very idea of such 
 a basis of peace and concord. Some -of them had stood 
 neuter during the violence of the religious differences ; 
 and others had even joined the Lutherans in their com- 
 plaints against certain abuses of the established church; 
 but none had ever once dreamed of entirely deserting 
 the religious system of I heir anceslors ; and, as matters 
 fast advancing to a crisis^ they now thought it 
 
661 
 
 high time to make an open declaration of their attach- 
 ment to the established hierarchy, and of their zeal 
 and readiness to promote its interests. 
 
 Thus the discordant princes or Germany arranged 
 themselves into two distinct parties, each of which 
 seemed resolutely determined to adhere to it* pecul- 
 iar tenets. 
 
 But there was this essential difference between the 
 patrons of popery and Lutheranism. All the measures 
 of the latter were in principle purely defensive; 
 whereas the former meditated the complete extirpa- 
 tion of th.ir adversaries. Foiled in arguments repeat- 
 edly, they seemed to have given up the contest in that 
 way ; and to have expected better success by having 
 recourse to slander. The late rustic war in Germany 
 had afforded them a pretext lor this put pose. They 
 represented the Lutherans as bad subjects in general, 
 and as the prime cause of that late rebellion, arid of 
 the bloodshed. Moreover, though the rebels had been 
 severely handled at Mulhausen, yet fresh commo- 
 tions were apprehended from the operation of the li- 
 centious doctrines of Munzer; therefore the electors 
 of Mayence and Brandenburg, with the duke Henry 
 of Brunswick and his uncle Eric, had a conference 
 at Dessau ; where they made no secret of declaring 
 thai the only radical cure of the evil would be to free 
 the nation from the Lutheran heresy, and from those 
 who protected it. This interview of the enemies of the 
 reformation gave rise to much suspicion and anxiety 
 in the minds of the landgrave of Hesse, especially as, 
 with a view to the distracted state of the country, he 
 had recently requested a friendly meeting with his fa- 
 ther-in-law, the duke George, and had received a 
 surly answer, " That before any thing could be done 
 to the purpose, all the late innovations in religion must 
 be effectually done away." 
 
 These proceedings had so little ambiguity in them 
 that the Lutherans, about this time, began to delibe* 
 rate seriously how they might best evade the blow 
 with which they were threatened by a powerful and 
 bigoted confederacy. They retorted the accusation 
 
662 
 
 of having been the cause of the rebellion of the peas- 
 ants, and justly ascribed those sad events to the cruel, 
 persecuting spirit of the nobles and dignitaries of the 
 church. Various conventions of the princes were 
 held in different places. At Salfeld, in particular, 
 they came to this resolution, "That it became them, 
 as Christian princes, to do every thing to promote the 
 glory of God, and to conform their practice to the re- 
 vealed word. That ,by this word, the true doctrine of jus- 
 tification, through the mercy of God by faith in Jesus 
 Christ, was now once more revived ; arid that, for this 
 great benefit, eternal thanks wtre due to Almighty 
 God." The proxies transmitted their resolution to 
 the duke George, and at the same time animadverted 
 severely on what had passed at the late assembly at 
 Dessau. 
 
 Meanwhile, mandatory letters from Charles V. to his 
 brother and representative, Ferdinand, dated Toledo, 
 May 24, 1525, calling for a diet of the empire, increas- 
 ed both the discontent and the alarm of all those Ger- 
 man princes who favored the reformation. The let- 
 ters breathed nothing but destruction to the Luther- 
 ans, and the execution of the edict of Worms. He di- 
 rected the diet to be held at Augsburg, on the next 
 Michaelmas day ; and privately, in a milder tone, re- 
 quested the elector of Saxony to be present. But this 
 prince, at the instance of the landgrave, resolved upon 
 a previous measure, admirably calculated to defeat 
 the violent designs of the papal party. This measure 
 consisted in forming a speedy association with all the 
 moderate and well-disposed states of the empire ; such 
 as, the elector Palatine, the elector of Treves, the 
 margraves of Brandenburg, the duke of Luneburg, 
 Pomerania, and Mecklenburg, the princes of Anhalt, 
 the imperial cities of Nuremberg, Strasburg, Augs- 
 burg, and of Ulm and Magdeburg : the object of which 
 association should be, to concur in representing to Fer- 
 dinand the imminent danger there was at this time of 
 exciting fresh and more formidable riots and sedi- 
 tions, by any attempts to execute the edict of Worms; 
 and how abundantly more wise and safe it would be. 
 
663 
 
 at the present moment, to come to some distinct de- 
 termination and settlement respecting the religious 
 differences. 
 
 The principal states of the empire agreed in the 
 same sentiments; and even Ferdinand himself at 
 length confessed the necessity of adopting pacific mea- 
 sures in the concerns of religion ; and allowed the prin- 
 ces to send to the diet such of their theologians as 
 they judged best qualified, by their knowledge and dis- 
 cretion, to prove useful advisers in the ensuing delibe- 
 rations. 
 
 Accordingly, the elector of Saxony and the land- 
 grave instructed their deputies to represent to the diet, 
 that their masters complained heavily of the harsh 
 terms in which the imperial mandate for calling the 
 diet was expressed ; that, in fact, the late rebellion of 
 the peasants, which the princes had suppressed at the 
 hazard of their lives, was to be imputed to such ill- 
 timed and provoking severities; that Divine truth 
 could not be extinguished in the minds of men by 
 force ; that much greater evils than any which had yet 
 happened, would be the infallible consequence of the 
 attempt, besides the despite done to the word of God ; 
 that those decrees of Nuremberg, which respected the 
 reformation of religion, ought to be observed ; and that, 
 in a matter where the salvation of men's souls was 
 concerned, the utmost care should be taken not to ha- 
 rass tender consciences, by increasing, instead of di- 
 minishing, the present evils; and, lastly, the deputies 
 were ordered to oppose the execution of the edict of 
 Worms with all their might. 
 
 Further : the elector of Saxony, well aware under 
 how much odium he labored from the papal ecclesi- 
 astics, on account of the reformation in religion which 
 he had authorized at \Vittemberg, directed his theo- 
 logians to prepare in writing, ready for the diet, a 
 brief but comprehensive answer to the principal objec- 
 tions of the opposite party : and such a memoir is 
 found among the archives of Weimar, neatly executed 
 in the German language, by the pen of Melancthon. 
 
664 
 
 What follows is a specimen of the author's maurief 
 of treating the subject. The question is whet In r we 
 are guilty of the sin of schism, in preaching certain doc- 
 trines, and abolishing certain usages, riot only without 
 the leave of the bishops, but in direct opposition to 
 their injunctions. For, as they can say nothing against 
 our doctrine, they have no way left to condemn us, but 
 by objecting to our want of authority from the eccle- 
 siastical rulers. 
 
 They argue, 1. The bishops, and none else, pos- 
 sess any jurisdiction in the church. 
 
 2. They urge the infallibility of thn church ; and 
 therefore it is not possible there should have existed, 
 for so many ages, the errors and idolatries which we 
 have abrogated. 
 
 8. They put us in mind, that to obey is better than 
 sacrifice ; we ought therefore in have been obedient 
 to our superiors. Also, 
 
 4. To have shown a charitable regard for tender 
 consciences. And, 
 
 5. Not to have raised civil wars by licentious inno- 
 vations. 
 
 Melancthon rests the defence of the reformers upon 
 the following facts and principles : 
 
 1. Every minister of the word of God is bound, by 
 the express precept of Christ, to preach the leading 
 doctrine of the gospel, namely,justificalion by faith i a 
 Christ Jesus, and not by the merit of human perfor- 
 mances. Whereas, nothing is more certain than that 
 men have been drawn from the cross of Christ, to trust 
 in their own works, and in a variety of superstitious 
 vanities. 
 
 2. God has forbidden, under the most heavy pun- 
 ishment, every species of idolatry and false worship : 
 and of this class are, the sacrifice of the mass, masses 
 for the dead, invocations of the saints, and such like; 
 which things, though manifest blasphemies, it is noto- 
 rious, have been taught in the church of Rome, and 
 represented as sharing in their efficacy to salvation* 
 with the merits of our Redeemer himself. 
 
665 
 
 3. The pope and bishops neglect their duty , exer- 
 cise an usurped authority even over emperors and 
 princes, and, under the pretence of serving Christ, ap- 
 ply the possessions of the church to the service of 
 their tyrannical purposes. 
 
 On these grounds the author argues, that the clergy, 
 from the very nature of their vocation, have an unques- 
 tionable authority to- preach the truths of the gospel ; 
 and, moreover, are called on the louder to do this, 
 when the bishops are plunged in ignorance and luxury, 
 and when they answer the admonitions and remon- 
 strances of the reformers only by anathemas and per- 
 secutions. The pope, the cardinals, and the^ clergy of 
 Rome, did not constitute the church of Christ, though 
 there did exist among them some who were real 
 members of that church, and opposed to the reigning 
 errors ; that the true church consisted of the faithful, 
 and of none else, who had the word of God, and by it 
 Were sanctified and cleansed ; that St. Paul had pre- 
 dicted there would come Antichrist, sitting in the tem- 
 ple of God ; and, that the reformers were not guilty of 
 schism, either because they had convicted Antichrist 
 of his errors, or because they had made alterations in. 
 some external ordinances ; that the unity of the) church 
 did not consist in such things ; and that whoever main- 
 tained that it did, ought in every way to be most stre- 
 nuously opposed. That to the charge of disobedi- 
 ence, the answer was easy ; the pope and his bishops 
 had exacted an unlawful obedience ; that nothing 
 short of giving up the word of God would content 
 them ; and that by their excommunications, and other 
 persecutions of the reformed clergy, THEY THEMSELVES 
 had at length stirred up the late rebellion in Germany. 
 
 Lastly, the atrthor confirms his reasoning by quoting 
 precepts of Christ himself, and by producing pertinent 
 examples from the history, both of the Christian and 
 the Jewish church. "The great doctrinal point, 7 ' says 
 he, in conclusion, " is that of faith in the merits of 
 Christ, independently of human works, as the ground 
 of acceptance before God. Rather than give up this, 
 4 M 
 
86S 
 
 we must suffer persecution, and every species of dis- 
 turbance." 
 
 In the same memoir, Melancthon touches upon an- 
 other question ; namely, Whether the princes had 
 done right in authorizing the reformations which had 
 been made in their colleges and monasteries, contra- 
 ry to the edicts of the emperor and {lie pope ? 
 
 " The whole," says our author, "turns upon this 
 single consideration, whether the novel doctrines, as 
 they are called, be or be not true ? If true, the prin- 
 ces ought assuredly to protect them. The princes/ 
 are no more under obligation to obey the higher pow- 
 ers in their tyrannical mandates, than Jonathan was 
 to kill David, or Obadiah the prophets." 
 
 Such were the concise arguments by which the first 
 reformers defended themselves from the charge of 
 heresy and schism. 
 
 It is to the exertions of these excellent men, conduct- 
 ed with so much spirit, wisdom, and moderation, that 
 we are to ascribe the mild proceedings of the papal 
 parlizans at the diet of Augsburg. In fact, that as- 
 sembly did not meet till the month of November, and, 
 from the advanced state of the season, and other cau- 
 ses, was but thinly attended. The diet was prorogued 
 till the third of May of the next year, to be then held 
 at Spires; and in the mean time, they entreated the 
 emperor to take measures for calling a council, and to 
 favor them with his presence in Germany ; but so far 
 from directing the edict of Worms to be enforced, thej 
 satisfied themselves with repeating the evasive decree 
 of Nuremberg, which, in general, enjoined the clergy 
 to introduce no novel doctrines, but to preach the pure 
 gospel as it had been understood always by the great 
 body of Christians, to consult for peace and harmony, 
 and do all to the glory of God. It does not appear 
 that Ferdinand discovered any reluctance to subscribe 
 the terms of the recess. The most violent and the 
 most inveterate adversaries of Luther could not but 
 see the danger and the folly of all attempts, under the 
 present circumstances, either to banish or take away 
 the life of a man who was so much admired and be- 
 
667 
 
 loved by his countrymen ; and to whose extraordina- 
 ry discernment, industry, and courage, not only Ger^ 
 many, but also many other parts of Europe, were un- 
 der the greatest obligations. 
 
 This appearance, however, oflenity and moderation 
 was deceitful, being founded not in any solid princi- 
 ples of justice or religion, but merely in the tempo- 
 rary fear of tumult and sedition. Even during the sit- 
 tings of the late diet, the ecclesiastical princes had 
 shown themselves much elevated with the recent vic- 
 tories over the rebellious peasants, and consequent- 
 ly, more disposed to violent and sanguinary mea- 
 sures. Thus the present calm was considered, by the 
 more judicious and thinking protest ants, only as a pre- 
 lude to a tempest, shortly to be raised by all the great 
 powers of the established hierarchy, for the purpose of 
 crushing effectually, not only the Saxon reformer arid 
 his petty adherents at Wittemberg, but every German 
 prince and state, whether civil or ecclesiastical, which 
 had dared to oppose or dissent from the communion 
 of the Roman church. 
 
 Moreover, there were other reasons, besides those 
 which have been mentioned, which would naturally 
 fill the minds of the protestants with disquieting sus- 
 picions and apprehensions. So embittered was the 
 court of Rome, against what they called the Lutheran 
 heresy, that in every treaty which the pope had of late 
 concluded with foreign powers, the absolute destruc- 
 tion and extirpation of all Lutherans was a specific 
 article. For example, the ninth article of the treaty 
 made by Clement VII. with the emperor, after the bat- 
 tle of Pavia and the capture of Francis I. runs thus: 
 " Because religion, much more than any temporal con- 
 cern, is near the heart of the Roman pontiff, and be- 
 cause the good faith of his holiness has been called in 
 question, the emperor, the king of England, and the 
 archduke Ferdinand, engage to take up arms with all 
 their might against all disturbers of the catholic faith, 
 and against all persons who shall revile or injure the 
 pontiff; and further, the aforesaid princes take upon 
 themselves to punish all such offenders against his ho- 
 
668 
 
 liness, in the same manner as if the offences had been 
 committed against their own persons." 
 
 In the autumn of the very same year, this precious 
 pontiff, whose thoughts, it seems, were so deeply and 
 so entirely exercised concerning the advancement and 
 protection of pure religion, deserted Charles V. and 
 made a treaty with England and France, the primary 
 object of which was declared to be, that the contract- 
 ing ^parties should effectually withstand the brutal 
 ferocity of the Turks, andi also suppress that most 
 pestilential heresy of the Lutherans ; for that there 
 was as much danger from the latter evil as from the 
 former, the said heresy having secretly spread itself to 
 a great extent, and done much mischief to the chris-* 
 tian faith. 
 
 In the former treaty of peace, called the treaty of 
 Madrid, by which Francis I. recovered his liberty, it is 
 expressly stated, that the emperor and the king are in- 
 duced to make peace, that they may be able to extirpate 
 all the enemies of the Christian religion, and especial- 
 ly the heretics of the Lutheran sect. The pope, they 
 ay, had often admonished and much solicited them 
 to attend seriously to this important duty. It was, 
 therefore, to satisfy his wishes that they had determin- 
 ed 10 entreat his holiness to give directions for a gen- 
 eral council of the deputies of the kings and princes, 
 to meet at a fixed time and place, then and there to 
 consult on the most effectual method of carrying on 
 the war against the Turks, and also of suppressing 
 heresy. 
 
 How vigilant and indefatigable was this pontiff in 
 rousing the adversaries of religion, and endeavoring to 
 make them active and resolute in persecuting the lit- 
 tle flock of true Christians, wherever they could find 
 them! Among many of his epistolary admonitions 
 and exhortations written for this purpose, there is one 
 even to the parliament of Paris. He had been inform- 
 ed, he said, that impious heresies had begun to creep 
 into France: arid that the parliament had wisely in- 
 terposed, by choosing commissioners for the detection 
 and punishment ef the offenders. He entirely approv- 
 
669 
 
 ed, and by his authority confirmed, the steps they had 
 taken: it was a common concern: the mischief was 
 general, and was to be ascribed to the malice of Sa- 
 tan, and the fury of his impious agents. Not only re- 
 ligion, but also governments, kings, princes, nobles, 
 all ranks and orders, were on the brink of destruc- 
 tion. It was a time when the common safety called for 
 unanimous exertion. He promised that on his part 
 no care or labor should be spared ; and it was their 
 duty, he told them to enter into the same views with 
 their whole heart, and preserve their country from that 
 calamitous infection, which infallibly attended the 
 dissemination of this contagious heresy. 
 
 Another source of anxiety and alarm to the protes- 
 tant confederate princes was the steady co-operation 
 of Charles V. with the pope's tyrannical designs. 
 Charles by mandate from Seville, March, 1526, direct- 
 ed his lieutenant general Ferdinand, and the rest of 
 his commissioners, to admonish the members of the 
 diet, who were about to assemble at Spires, to make 
 no resolutions which were either contrary to the Chris- 
 tian faith, or to the ancient usages. He himself had 
 already abrogated the late decree of Nuremberg, 
 which had enjoined an examination of Luther's wri- 
 tings ; and would shortly concert measures with his 
 holiness respecting a GENERAL council. The resolu- 
 tions of those partial assemblies, he said, had done no 
 good ; but had rather confirmed the licentious vulgar 
 in their errors : and that the diet would do well to regu- 
 late all their proceedings by their own common con- 
 sent. He complained, that doctrines which had been 
 condemned were still taught, holy men were reviled, 
 and seditions encouraged. 
 
 This imperial mandate was intended by Charles V* 
 for the public eye ; but besides this, he caused private 
 and secret instructions to be delivered to Henry duke 
 of Brunswic, the general purport of which, as it soon 
 became matter of notoriety, affected the minds of the 
 good protestants with much greater concern than any 
 public document could do, because it seemed most 
 clearly to demonstrate the extreme hostility of the 
 
670 
 
 emperor's disposition towards any species of reforma- 
 tion. The duke was commissioned to visit several 
 such princes of the empire as were known to be per- 
 fectly untainted with Lutheranism : for example, the 
 archbishop of Cologne and Bremen, the bishop of 
 Munster and Minden, the elector of Brandenburg, and 
 several others. He was directed to show his instruc- 
 tions to some of them, to deliver civil messages from 
 the emperor to others, and to make them all acquaint- 
 ed with how much grief his imperial highness had 
 heard of the daily increase of the Lutheran heresy, 
 which had already given rise to so much bloodshed, 
 devastation and blasphemy. The duke was to add, 
 that the steady adherence of these princes to the an- 
 cient religion had afforded the emperor the most live- 
 ly satisfaction; and that his highness intended vrry 
 shortly to advise with them in person, concerning the 
 best remedies to be used in this most destructive dis- 
 temper. He was then to declare, on the emperor's 
 part, that he should not permit any other of his con- 
 cerns to interfere with this: and lastly, he was to ex- 
 hort the princes to persevere in the faith, to unite 
 themselves with all the Antilutherans, and, in one con- 
 nected body, to resist with effect, and finally to sup- 
 press, the cunning and deceitful arts, as well as the 
 violent and seditious outrages of this mischievous fac- 
 tion. Charles concluded his instructions emphatically 
 with saying, " That he should not be wanting in his 
 endeavors to promote the good cause ; that he heart- 
 ily thanked those who had hitherto shown their zeal 
 and fidelity ; and he would not fail to reward their ser- 
 vices liberally." 
 
 The precise manner in which these secret commu- 
 nications came to the knowledge of the Lutheran 
 princes does not appear; but as copies of the memoir 
 were sent to several other princes besides Henry of 
 Brunswic, we need not wonder that its contents were 
 soon divulged. 
 
 This secret memoir, there is reason to believe, con- 
 tributed to produce some important consequences. 
 1. Distrust and animosity among the princes of the 
 
671 
 
 empire. In particular, the duke of Brunswic was sus- 
 pected of having calumniated the Lutheran princes,, 
 and of having endeavored to poison the emperor's 
 mind, by instilling a belief that the reformers made 
 proselytes by using force; and moreover, that they 
 were the real cause &f the late rustic rebellion. 2. An 
 entire despair of the emperor's justice and impartiali- 
 ty in any future attempt to adjust the religious dif- 
 ferences. He lent his ear to slanderous reports, and 
 afforded the accused no opportunity of justifying them- 
 selves. 3. It proved, that beyond all doubt, a treaty- 
 had been concluded against Christ and his sacred 
 word. The landgrave, on the occasion of this con- 
 viction of his mind, declared solemnly, that he would 
 rather lose his life than be forced in this manner into 
 poverty and exile. 4. It showed the urgent and in- 
 creased necessity of a counter treaty, for the purpose 
 of confounding the machinations of all the adversaries 
 of Christian truth and liberty of conscience. 
 
 Undoubtedly the pope and the emperor were mos 
 to be dreaded, as the great engines of ecclesiastical 
 tyranny and persecution ; nevertheless, it was now 
 sufficiently clear, that there existed also, within the 
 German empire many powerful agents, who were 
 completely disposed to concur with those wicked 
 despots in their destructive and sanguinary designs 
 against the infant reformation. 
 
 For those very purposes, a secret treaty against the 
 elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse was dis- 
 covered to have been made at Mayence, under the aus*- 
 pices and management of the duke George. Luther, 
 whose vigilance and industry were unexampled, both 
 acquired a knowledge of this conspiracy, and wrote a 
 little treatise for the purpose of exposing the authors of 
 it. It was, however, thought better to suppress the 
 work ; and at present there remain only some frag- 
 ments of it in the German edition of Luther's works. 
 
 In a letter to Spalatinus, he alludes to these things 
 in the following manner: "You can scarce believe 
 what mischief Satan is plotting at this moment, through 
 the medium of the bishops, with the duke George at 
 
their head. Shortly, in a little book, which is at this 
 very time in the press, I purpose to give you a speci- 
 men of his iniquitous proceedings. If the Lord do not 
 prevent the accomplishment of the designs of these 
 men, you will have to say, that the late rebellion and 
 slaughter of the rustics was but the prelude to the uni- 
 versal destruction af Germany. I therefore seriously 
 beseech you to join your prayers with me to the Father 
 of mercies, that he may be pleased to confound the 
 wild and insidious devices of these men ; especially of 
 the duke George, a deplorably lost character, 1 do 
 fear. Let us beseech God, eithef to change his heart, 
 or to remove him from among us : otherwise he will 
 not only continue to rage like a wild beast, but, through 
 the instigation of the prelates, will show himself a 
 perfect Satan. It so torments the man that Luther is 
 not yet put to death, that he can neither sleep nor 
 wake ; insomuch, that there may be sotne reason to 
 fear, he will be worn out by the excessive anxiety of 
 his mind on this very account. Gracious God ! what 
 a load has our good prince to sustain ! not merely as 
 the elector of Saxony, and an avowed friend of the 
 reformers amidst numerous hostile princes, but also 
 on account of the wicked machinations of some of his 
 own familiars and intimates, persons of rank and con- 
 sequence. I have abundance t(* tell you, concerning 
 plots and evil counsels ; but I dare not commit them 
 to writing." 
 
 The real state of the reformation in Germany may 
 be collected from such documents as these, infinitely 
 better than from many chapters, filled with the ima- 
 ginations and refinements of the most acute politicians. 
 The curious student of ecclesiastical history will now 
 see what just cause the protestant princes, especially 
 John the Constant, elector of Saxony, and Philip the 
 landgrave of Hesse, had for apprehending the most 
 imminent danger to their dignity and property, and 
 even their lives, from the fury and barbarity of papal 
 superstition ; and how necessary it was to form a 
 well connected, defensive alliance, which might 
 prove some protection and security against the im- 
 
678 
 
 pending storm. The diet of Spires was at hand ; 
 and if the antipapal princes should have met there 
 without previous communication of sentiment, confu- 
 sion, reserve, and imbecility, must have been the con- 
 sequence, instead of unanimity, courage and strength. 
 No time was therefore to be lost ; the present moment 
 seemed critical in the highest degree. Actuated by 
 such views and principles, those resolute and spirited 
 protestants, the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of 
 Hesse, met at Torgau, and there agreed upon a treaty 
 of mutual defence, in opposition to the tyranny of the 
 ecclesiastics. Their next step was to invite others to 
 join in the alliance ; and in a few weeks afterwards, at 
 Magdeburg, they met together again, and again sub- 
 scribed the same treaty, with the addition of a consid- 
 erable number of princes, who followed their exam- 
 ple. 
 
 The Magdeburg treaty, as it is called, does honor to 
 the cause of the gospel, is worthy of the courageous 
 Christian characters who joined in it, and, as it seems 
 to have been the foundation of the famous league 
 which was afterwards formed at Srnallcald, we shall 
 give the substance of it here. 
 
 The federalists begin with praising God for his ex- 
 traordinary providence, his grace, and his unspeakable 
 mercy, in having bestowed upon them his sacred word, 
 which is the only true comfort, the real food of the 
 soul, and the greatest treasure in the world. They 
 then proceed to relate the numerous and powerful 
 machinations with which to the present moment they 
 have been disturbed, especially by the clergy and their 
 adherents, whose object it was to deprive the people 
 of the use of the holy scriptures, and of those com- 
 forts which they afford to the heart and conscience. 
 They express a hope that God will continue to them 
 this great blessing of the Bible. They were ready to 
 have repaired to the late diet at Augsburg, there to 
 treat concerning religion and harmony, but were pre- 
 vented by the advanced season of the year. They 
 had now the same intentions, in regard to the diet of 
 Spires. They were convinced^ they said, by the infor- 
 4 N 
 
674 
 
 (nation which they received from all quarters, as alse 
 by the various meetings and discussions which had re- 
 cently taken place, that factions were forming, leagwes 
 and treaties were entered into, and money collected ; 
 and all this, in the intention of maintaining by force the 
 old abuses, of extinguishing the truths of Divine revela- 
 tion, and of waging war against those princes and ru- 
 lers who felt themselves bound in duty and conscience 
 to profess and protect the gospel in their dominions, 
 and who injured no person living, nor committed any 
 acts of violence whatever. Impelled therefore by their 
 own consciences and a sense of their duty to God, it 
 was for the reasons above mentioned, that, without, 
 meaning to offend any one, they had mutually agreed 
 upon a plan of pure defence against the war and vio- 
 lence with which they appeared to be threatened ; and 
 they hereby engaged to unite and exert every power 
 they possessed against all those, who, under any pre- 
 tence whatever, should attack them on account of their 
 religion. 
 
 The diet did not assemble at Spires till near the end 
 of June, 1526, but was unusually well attended. All 
 the electors, except thsoe of Brandenburg, were present. 
 The elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse, 
 during the deliberations of the members, appear to 
 have preserved a steady attention to the very prudent 
 project which they had recently formed ; judging, it 
 would seem, that they should serve the Lutheran 
 cause more effectually by strengthening their TREATY 
 OF DEFENCE, than by long arguments and debates OH 
 points of religion, before an assembly which contain- 
 ed so many bigoted ecclesiastics and selfish politicians. 
 Accordingly they took occasion to address the depu- 
 ties of Strasburg, Nuremberg, and Augsburg, on the 
 subject of mutual defence. They were convinced, 
 they said, of their love of the gospel ; and there could 
 be no doubt of the machinations of the prelates and 
 other agents of the pope at the present time : Ought 
 not therefore an association or an alliance to be form- 
 ed on this principle : That if any one should be brought 
 Jrito Difficulty or danger on account of religion, the 
 
673 
 
 federalists should support one another ? they 
 that as they had a good opinion of the cities of Frank- 
 fort and Ulm, it might be proper to ask them also to 
 join in the confederacy : To this the deputies replied, 
 They had no express instruction on that subject, but 
 they promised to be particularly careful in reporting 
 the proposal to their masters. 
 
 Several of the Lutheran divines were present at this 
 diet, and were heard in explanation of the doctrines of 
 the reformer ; but not without much troublesome 
 though ineffectual objection on the part of the papal 
 princes, under the pretext of avoiding commotions. 
 Ferdinand also made a smooth and plausible harangue 
 to the deputies of all the states of the empire. "Him- 
 self, his brother the emperor, and the house of Austria, 
 were bound to them by the ties of affection.'' He 
 therefore warned them not to be led astray by the per- 
 suasions of certain persons; and finally exhorted them 
 to exhibit a disposition to obey their lawful sovereign. 
 But these mild terms, it is to be observed, were not 
 used by Ferdinand till near the conclusion of the diet ; 
 when he had found, by experience, that neither him- 
 self, nor the imperial ministers, nor the bishops, had 
 been able, by their menaces, to overawe those resolute 
 and determined Germans. 
 
 At the opening of the diet, the emperor's representa- 
 tive informed the members, it was the pleasure of his 
 imperial highness, that, in the first place they should 
 proceed to determine the best method of securing the 
 Christian religion, and the ancient usages of the church; 
 then, how they should punish offenders, and compel to 
 -obedience such as forcibly resisted their injunctions; 
 also, how they could unite their mutual and effective 
 efforts to procure the execution of the edict of Worms, 
 which was now of five years standing. Upon this, the 
 diet selected a committee, composed of bishops, secu^ 
 lar princes, and leading senators, who should propose 
 regulations for the adjustment of the religious differen- 
 ces. But the emperor's representatives interposed, by 
 aaying, that it would be most to the purpose for them 
 ff* read to (he ctiot the instructions winch they had re- 
 
676 
 
 ceived from their master ; this would best ensure obe- 
 dience to him, and prevent that loss of time which 
 the committee might otherwise spend on subjects to 
 which their authority did not extend. They then 
 read the emperor's mandate from Seville, as already 
 given. 
 
 Most of the deputies answered, in writing, that it had 
 been fully proved to the pope's legate, in a former diet, 
 that it was then absolutely impossible to execute the 
 edict of Worms, through fear of the commotions which 
 would arise : that now the attempt was abundantly 
 more difficult ; because the religious disputes were 
 daily increasing, especially about ceremonies and abu- 
 ses : that the emperor, were he present, would form 
 the same judgment. Moreover, in regard to the pro- 
 mise of a general council, that promise was made by 
 the emperor when in treaty with his holiness ; but that 
 since the date of the emperor's letters, the pope had 
 changed sides, and ordered his forces to act against 
 his imperial majesty. What prospect then could 
 there be of a general council ? Under such circum- 
 stances, it was their opinion that the emperor's leave 
 should be asked to call a provincial Germanic council ; 
 that either delay, or an attempt to execute the edict of 
 Worms, was unspeakably dangerous ; and that there- 
 fore, if his imperial majesty did not approve of the ex- 
 pedient of calling such a council, he should be en- 
 treated to dispense with the execution of the afore- 
 said edict, till a general council could be called. 
 Such, they said, had been the plan of the last diet of 
 Nuremberg ; and that since their intended conven- 
 tion at Spires had been interdicted by the emperor, 
 the expectations of many of the states had been dis- 
 appointed, and the disposition to tumult and civil 
 war much increased. That, in fact, the rebellion of 
 the peasants might have been avoided if attention had 
 been paid to the representation of the grievances which 
 the country suffered from the ecclesiastics. That 
 in those districts where a reformation had taken place, 
 the disturbances had been slight, and presently quiet- 
 elk That they had made no changes whatever in 
 
607 
 
 that true and holy faith which was founded in 
 and his eternal immutable word : neither had they re- 
 jected any ceremonies, but what were contrary to the 
 scriptures. Lastly, they observed emphatically, that 
 in a state of discord, uncertainty, and anxiety, respect- 
 ing their own condition, men could not be much dis- 
 posed to contribute their money liberally to the assis- 
 tance of others. 
 
 After this, the deputies, in a distinct memorial 
 ventured to point out certain practices, which they 
 thought called for alteration or entire abolition. In 
 every town, they said, the poor inhabitants were 
 burdened with what were denominated mendicant 
 monks. These stripped men of the comforts of life ; 
 and, in many cases, procured legacies and estates to 
 be devised to them by dying persons. These things 
 were mischievous to the last degree, and called loud- 
 ly for correction. The ecclesiastics, also ought no 
 longer to enjoy those immunities, for the granting of 
 which the reasons now no longer existed. Also, the 
 number of holidays ought to be lessened ; the dis- 
 tinction of meats abolished ; and, above all, the free 
 course of the gospel should not be impeded. 
 
 Such bold and prudent remonstrances must have 
 given the pontifical partizans an insight into the 
 steady character of the German reformers. In partic- 
 ular, the elector of Saxony most strictly enjoined his 
 counsellors to beware of the corrupt arts of the bishops 
 and to stand inflexibly firm to the gospel. It was 
 however chiefly, through the numerous suffrages of 
 the towns and cities, and especially those of the high- 
 er Germany, that the reformers acquired so considera- 
 ble an ascendant in this diet. 
 
 The leading ecclesiastics, who, had no other aim 
 but the preservation of their own authority, maintained 
 that during the discord between the emperor and the 
 pope, it was impossible to come to any decisive con- 
 clusions respecting the religious dissentions ; and that 
 therefore that business had better be deferred to a 
 more favorable juncture. No doubt they conceived, 
 that, as dignified ecclesiastics, both their authority 
 
678 
 
 and their revenues would be more effectually sup- 
 ported by the pope, acting at a future time in concert 
 with the emperor, than by the emperor alone in the 
 present circumstances. 
 
 The members also of the select committee before 
 mentioned differed so exceedingly among each other, 
 and the opposition to any reformation was conducted 
 with such prodigious heat and acrimony, that there 
 seemed to be an end to all sober deliberation. Spal- 
 atinus' observation on what he saw at this diet is, that 
 v Christ was extremely odious to the Pharisees." He 
 adds, that neither the elector nor the landgrave were 
 allowed to have their own chaplains in the churches ; 
 and that on this account these princes caused sermons 
 to be preached in the vestibules of their hotels, where 
 many thousands of people were collected together to 
 hear the doctrines of the gospel. 
 
 Disgusted with such violent and unprincipled pro- 
 ceedings, and seeing no prospect of an amicable con- 
 clusion, the&e good princes and their adherents medi- 
 tated to withdraw themselves from the diet, and return 
 home. Ferdinand instantly took the alarm, convinc- 
 ed that, if the assembly should break up in their pre- 
 sent state of animosity and exasperation, without 
 making any decree, all Germany would be in a flame. 
 He had moreover received recent information, that 
 the Turks had advanced into Hungary, and also that 
 France, England, and the Pope, were in treaty 
 agajnst the emperor. In this critical conjuncture he 
 wisely determined to recommend moderation and 
 harmony to the contending parties ; and at length, by 
 using gentle and soothing language, with the assist- 
 ance of the archbishop ofTreves, lie seemed to have 
 prevented a most mischievous rupture in the diet, 
 and to have produced among its members a more pa- 
 cific and pliable disposition. The difficulty still re- 
 mained, to determine in what terms the decree OR 
 THE RECESS, should be expressed, so as to be suffi- 
 ciently respectful to the emperor, and yet perfectly 
 consistent with what had been proved, after long and 
 warm altercations, to be the sentiments of a great 
 
670 
 
 majority of the deputies. At last, the reformers sug- 
 gested the following expedient, which was consented 
 to by the whole assembly ; " That the welfare of reli- 
 gion, and the maintenance of the public peace, made 
 it necessary that a general, or at least a national coun- 
 cil, should be called, to commence within the space 
 of a year ; that the emperor should, by a solemn ad- 
 dress, be requested to procure such a council ; and 
 that, in regard to ecclesiastical concerns and the edict 
 of Worms, the princes and states should in the mean 
 time, till either one or the other sort of council was 
 called, undertake so to conduct themselves, in their 
 respective provinces, as to give to God and to the em- 
 peror a good account of their administration. 
 
 Thus terminated, in a manner more advantageous 
 to the Lutherans than they could have expected, the 
 diet of Spires. The resolution of the RECESS, it is true, 
 was but evasive ; yet such were the existing circum- 
 stances, that a truce of this sort answered all the pur- 
 poses which the most zealous friends of the reforma- 
 tion could desire. Their divines preached and wrote 
 with greater confidence and less molestation ; and the 
 anti-papal dispositions increased both in strength and 
 numbers. It was natural that those who already had 
 rejected the Romish superstitions should proceed 
 more vigorously, during such a season of liberty, in 
 digesting and maturing their new systems of ecclesi- 
 astical government ; and also, that several princes or 
 states, who through timidity or danger had hitherto 
 with reluctance continued in close communion with 
 the establishment, should now grow cold in the cause 
 they had long disliked, or perhaps renounce at once, if 
 circumstances permitted them, that corrupt commun- 
 ion, and adopt the new model of worship and church 
 government already made to their hands in the elec- 
 torate of Saxony. And such, we are told, were the 
 real effects of the ambiguous decree of the diet of 
 Spires in 1526. 
 
 We have not yet mentioned how much the beauty 
 and excellence of pure evangelical principles showed 
 themselves at the diet of Spires, in the exterior coti- 
 
680 
 
 duct of the Lutheran princes. The landgrave of 
 Hesse, about a week before the meeting of the diet, 
 represented to John Frederic, the son of the elector, 
 how necessary it was, that those, who pretended to 
 be advocates for reformation of doctrine, should them- 
 selves be careful to exhibit examples of good moral 
 conduct in their own families. He entreated the 
 young prince to state this matter seriously to his father ; 
 and thereby prevent the debauchery, and drinking, 
 and other vices, which usually took place at such 
 public seasons, among the domestics and servants of 
 the great. " How dreadfully scandalous," said he, 
 " and how injurious, are such practices, to the cause of 
 the gospel, and of the word of God ! The princes 
 ought to set their faces most earnestly against these 
 inveterate and impious abuses ; and, by so doing they 
 would acquire both signal advantage and honor. 
 Nay," added he, " they must do so, unless they mean 
 to bring on themselves the worst of evils, and even the 
 loss of their own souls." The elector received the ad- 
 monition like a good Christian, and enjoined his 
 whole retinue to observe the most laudable regula- 
 tions. And thus these good protestants and their fam- 
 ilies, who have been reviled by papal historians for 
 breaking the Roman catholic rules concerning fasts 
 and meats and drinks during their residence at Spires, 
 were in fact adorning their profession, by temperance, 
 soberness, and chastity. 
 
 The Reformation in Hesse by the Landgrave. 
 
 The ardent temper of Philip the landgrave of Hes- 
 se was a remarkable contrast to the cautious dilatory 
 disposition of the late elector of Saxony. Unmoved 
 by the pressing solicitations of the duke George his 
 father-in-law, and also of his mother Anne of Meck- 
 lenburg, the landgrave immediately upon his return 
 from the diet of Spires, earnestly endeavored to carry 
 forward the reformation which in some degree was 
 already begun in his dominions. Melancthon, who 
 had been consulted on this occasion, attempted to 
 
681 
 
 check the fervor of this prince, by a letter full of good 
 sense, yet favoring a little of the natural timidity of the 
 writer. He advised him by all means, in the present 
 critical times, to proceed by gradual advances, and 
 never, to lose sight of the grand distinction between 
 things essential, and things in their very nature indif- 
 ferent. The preachers on the side of the reformation, 
 he said, were often as quarrelsome as the papists 
 themselves, if not more so on some occasions ; and 
 frequently the difference was about mere trifles. A. 
 public teacher should not only inculcate faith, but also 
 the fear of God, and universal charity and obedience 
 to magistrates. He dreaded a civil war, and would 
 rather die than live at such a time. The Romish ec- 
 clesiastics instigate to war ; why do not the rest ex- 
 hort men to gain a knowledge of the subject, and in 
 the mean time to keep the peace ? " Your highness," 
 continued Melancthon, " I am convinced, might do a 
 great deal with the princes, if you would exhort them 
 to take pains to understand the several points in dis- 
 pute, and endeavor to terminate the ecclesiastical 
 contentions." 
 
 The landgrave, not quite satisfied with the luke- 
 warm advice of Melancthon, and anxious to have the 
 pure gospel of Christ taught in all the churches under 
 his jurisdiction, appointed an ecclesiastical synod to 
 be held at Hamburg in the month of October, 1526, 
 for the express purpose of determining the peculiar 
 and distinguishing doctrines of the reformation, More- 
 over, in this important business he was assisted by an 
 excellent French divine, named Francis Lambert, who 
 first composed a summary of pure evangelical doc- 
 trine and of the errors of the church of Rome, then 
 published his propositions, and afterwards boldly pre- 
 sented himself before the synod and a great multitude 
 of Hessians, as an advocate and defender of the sys- 
 tem which he had submitted to the general inspection 
 and judgment. The landgrave and his chancellor were 
 present and allowed perfect freedom of discussion ; 
 but as no material opposition was made to the propo- 
 sitions of Lambert, and asthev were completely I,tv 
 
ftheran in their purport, it may be sufficient to con- 
 clude this article with a brief account of their author. 
 
 " There is no doubt," says Luther to Spalatinus ? . 
 " of the integrity of Lambert : we have witnesses who 
 heard him preach, both in France and at Basil ; and 
 they all give the man a good character. He is of a no- 
 ble family, but has been a minor friar during the space 
 of twenty years, and is now a poor persecuted exile 
 for having been faithful to the word of GocU At pre- 
 sent he is with us at Wittemberg ; and though we have 
 no want of lecturers, we shall endeavor to employ 
 him. He pleases me in all respects ; and I am satis- 
 fied he is one who deserves a little help from us in his 
 poverty ; but you, who know that i live at the ex* 
 pense of other persons, must also know that I have not 
 an income to support him. It might not be amiss for 
 you to persuade the prince not to lose this good man* 
 but in Christian chanty to afford him some small assis- 
 tance till he can support himself either by his own in- 
 dustry, or by what he may receive from his relations.'" 
 
 Another author of unquestionable veracity des- 
 cribes this same Frenchman to be a person who ex 
 celled in piety, genius, and learning, and who was 
 able powerfully to convince gainsayers and stop theiv 
 mouths. During his residence at Wiitemberg, he wrote 
 comments on the prophets, on Solomon's song, and the 
 gospel of St. Luke, and dedicated them to the elec- 
 tor. He seems to have agreed with Luther in all the 
 fundamental points in religion. In his twenty-second 
 proposition at Homburg, he thus speaks of faith and 
 justification: " We are not justified by a mere histori- 
 cal faith ; but by a real lively trust in God, and this 
 without any works of obedience even to the law of 
 God : much less then are we justified by any works of 
 our own contrivance. Such a faith, however, is al- 
 ways fruitful, and produces a willing obedience: it 
 also makes a man free ; yet not free so as to be ab- 
 solved from obedience to magistrates. Neither can 
 it possibly be, that a faithful soul should abuse true 
 Christian liberty. The man who does abuse it, is not 
 in possession of true Christian faith.."' 
 
683 
 
 Under the auspices of an adviser like Lambert, w 
 Deed not wonder that the new system of doctrine and 
 discipline which the landgrave promoted in Hesse had 
 all the principal features of the reformation in Saxony. 
 Soon after the synod of Horn burg, he ordered the 
 monks and nuns to leave the monasteries, and by 
 means of their revenues he founded several hospitals, 
 and also an university af Marpurg. He directed the 
 images to be taken outof the churches, and appointed 
 faithful ministers in each of them ; and among his va- 
 rious new institutions, he remembered to fix the poor 
 xile Lambert in the professorship of Marpurg, where 
 the goed man died at an advanced age, in the year 
 1630. 
 
 .Luther's sentiments respecting war and defence. 
 His labors. 
 
 During these transactions, and while the labors of 
 the reformers were crowned with such signal success, 
 Martin Luther, who was never behind any of them in 
 zeal, industry, and exertion, exhibited to the world a 
 brilliant specimen of the purity of his principles, and of 
 his entire submission to the injunctions of the gospel. 
 We have already seen that the accession of the land- 
 grave to the Lutheran cause had considerable influ- 
 ence in Germany. The gentle, pacific decree of the 
 diet of Spires is a proof of this ; and so is the com- 
 mencement of a defensive confederacy, and the pro- 
 gress made in that prudent measure. But it was not 
 without difficulty, k should seem, that this bold and 
 enterprising prince, in the vigor of youth, and con- 
 scious of the goodness of his intentions, could be 
 restrained within the limits of defensive operations. 
 John the Constant, however, under the direction of a 
 sounder discretion, and probably of a more scrupulous 
 conscience, checked this hasty disposition to take up 
 arms, and in the mean time consulted Luther on the 
 momentous practical question OF RESISTANCE. As this 
 very circumstance evinces the high estimation in 
 which our reformer \ras then held as a sage divine and 
 
684 
 
 an honest casuist, the reader will do well to consider, 
 whether the answers which he gave on this occasion 
 correspond to the opinion undeniably prevalent at that 
 time, respecting his superior wisdom and integrity. 
 The following judgment of Luther was conveyed to 
 the elector through the medium of his chancellor Pon- 
 tanus. " That the elector of Saxony had no superior 
 but one, namely, the emperor ; and that therefore he 
 was justified in defending his own subjects, and also 
 in repelling any violent acts of his adversaries among 
 the princes. That if the ecclesiastical princes, or their 
 allies, should pretend to have the emperor's orders, 
 the elector was not bound to believe them ; that he 
 had aright to presume such orders to be surreptitious; 
 for that Charles V. was in Spain, and that his let- 
 ters to the elector breathed nothing but kindness and 
 peace. That if the edict of Worms should be made 
 the pretext, the answer should be : It was notorious that 
 that edict was fabricated without the consent of the 
 princes, and against the consent of the leading ones ; 
 that the prelates, and they only, had concurred in it ; 
 that it had in fact been abrogated by the decrees of 
 Nuremberg and of Spires ; therefore all attempts of 
 the princes and states to execute the said edict were 
 unjust, and might be resisted with a good conscience." 
 
 The nice and delicate question remained still to be 
 answered. What was to be done, supposing the em- 
 peror should avowedly arm the adverse party with 
 his authority ? A puzzling question this ; and which 
 probably has never yet received, nor can receive, a 
 belter answer than Luther gave to it : 
 
 " That the elector and his friends would still be at 
 liberty to protest and remonstrate ; that in that way 
 the righ(s of the princes might be preserved, and the 
 fraudulent practices of their adversaries detected ; and 
 that in every event, TIME WOULD BE GAINED BY THIS 
 STEP : and lastly," says Luther, " God will take care 
 of the rest." 
 
 He then deprecates, in the strongest terms, every 
 idea of commencing an offensive war, or any war 
 otherwise than against aggressors, agreeably to the 
 
685 
 
 grand rule, " They that take the sword, shall perish 
 by the sword." Lastly, he concludes with these re- 
 markable words : 
 
 " If the landgrave will not act consistently with 
 these principles, but will at all events have recourse 
 to arms, it will be better for the elector to dissolve the 
 alliance at once. But not so, in case force should be 
 used against the elector, or the landgrave, or their 
 allies ; they will then have a right to repel force by 
 force." 
 
 There is no part of Luther's character which ap- 
 pears to have been less understood, or more misrepre- 
 sented, than that of his quiet, peaceable disposition as 
 a citizen and in general a member of civil society. 
 From the strong language which he often uses against 
 popish abuses and corruptions, and from the vigorous 
 efforts he made to correct or reform them, he has been 
 too hastily pronounced to be a man of a turbulent and 
 seditious stamp. 
 
 There is, however, an abundance of testimonies 
 produced in various parts of this volume, which must 
 prove satisfactorily that there is no ground whatever 
 for such an opinion ; and moreover, that the contrary 
 is the truth : but these testimonies have been almost 
 entirely either suppressed or disregarded by modern 
 historians. 
 
 The same valuable memoir contains another piece 
 of admirable advice which Luther gave the elector, 
 namely ; that his highness would do well, seriously and 
 in writing, to admonish his clergy of their neglect of du- 
 ty, and to tell them, that this was so very great, as to 
 have compelled him to take the matter into consider- 
 ation himself ; that the salvation of men's souls as well 
 as the peace of the community, in these times of dis- 
 pute and contention, imperiously required him to en- 
 sure better instructions from the pulpit: And, as a 
 clear proof that these were the sole objects of his pre- 
 sent monition, he should content himself with earnest- 
 ly entreating them to promote among his subjects pure 
 evangelical doctrine, and to cultivate a spirit of tran- 
 quillity and concord : but that if, after all, they should 
 
686 
 
 Fail to do this, he would no longer run the hazard of 
 tumults in his dominions; he would no longer bear 
 their neglect and opposition to the gospel, nor any 
 longer be a partaker in their guilt. 
 
 At the conclusion of this wise counsel, Luther adds 
 a remarkable clause, to this effect : 
 
 " I have persuaded myself that such a step on the 
 part of the elector may be useful, by demonstrating 
 to mankind the purity of the motives of the reformers, 
 and by affording comfort afterwards to their own con- 
 sciences, in the reflection that they can say truly, 
 " Nothing, which was not directly opposite to the word 
 of God, was left untried for the prevention of a rup- 
 ture with the superior clergy." 
 
 It may not be improper in this place to give a brief 
 account of Luther's sentiments concerning the war 
 with the Turks. The Hungarian ambassadors had been 
 at the late diet of Spires, to solicit assistance against 
 them; but through the excessive folly and presump- 
 tion of Lewis II. king of Hungary, Solyman, who was 
 then invading his kingdom at the head of 300,000 
 men, obtained a decisive victory in the plains of Mo- 
 hacz, on the 29th of August, 1526, only two days after 
 the recess of the diet. In this fatal battle the flower 
 of the Hungarian nobility perished, with upwards of 
 20,000 men; and Lewis was drowned in his flight. 
 The victorious sultan, after overrunning Hungary, pen- 
 etrated into Austria, and even besieged Vienna. This 
 progress of the infidels was truly alarming; and an in- 
 distinct notion prevailed, that the reformers thought it 
 wicked to fight against the Turks. In such circum- 
 stances'it became the duty of a man who possessed the 
 power of directing the judgment of so many thousands 
 of the inhabitants of Germany, to speak plainly, and 
 to rectify such misconceptions as might prove injuri- 
 ous to the safety of his country. The duty of a Chris- 
 tian soldier was a point which Luther had deeply con- 
 sidered ; and in forming conclusions on the subject, 
 lie constantly rested with an implicit obedience on 
 what he conceived to be the Divine will, as revealed 
 In scripture; 
 
It was in the year 1529, when the enemy was evea 
 >at the door, that our author published, in the German 
 language, a little traet for the purpose of rousing his 
 countrymen to take up arms in the common defence. 
 In this performance he chides severely the common 
 people, who, he understood, had shown themselves so 
 ignorant and barbarous as to express wishes for the 
 success of the Turks ; and at the same time he blames 
 the preachers for having dissuaded their congrega- 
 tions from being concerned in this war, and for rep- 
 resenting the profession of arms as unlawful. It was 
 painful to him to find himself calumniated as the 
 cause of the present irruption of the infidels, as he had 
 been also of the rebellion of the peasants; but there 
 was no ground whatever for the charge. He did not 
 deny, he said, that formerly he had maintained, " That 
 to fight against the Turks was to ily in the face of God 
 himself, who was visiting us for our sins ; and that this 
 was one of the positions which had been selected from 
 his writings, and condemned in the bull of Leo X. 
 But he asked, what were the existing circumstances at 
 that time ? The dignity of magistrates and governors 
 was oppressed and held in no estimation ; and the pope 
 exercised an usurped domination over all the prin- 
 ces. He affirmed that he himself was the first who 
 had opened men's eyes on that subject, to the great 
 satisfaction of the late elector Frederic. In fact, the 
 war with the Turks was then the war of the pope ; it 
 was an offensive war, and a war founded on no good 
 principle : it was made a pretence for exhausting Ger- 
 many of its money by the sale of indulgences : and 
 no penitence or amendment of life, without which it 
 is in vain to hope for success in war, was so much as 
 thought of. Moreover, it was at the same time pre- 
 tended to be the peculiar duty of Christians to take 
 up arms against the infidels ; whereas he scrupled not 
 to profess an opinion directly opposite. He conceiv- 
 ed, that the duties of men, considered as Christians, 
 consisted in things of a very- different nature; and that 
 the kingdom of Christ was not of this world. Still 
 
 ss had the pope and the <ia.rgy tg do wifh wars ; 
 
688 
 
 and no success could be expected where bishops and 
 priests neglected their proper functions, and gave at- 
 tention to military concerns. He had been told, on 
 good authority, that Francis I. well deserved his late 
 defeat at Pavia, for having made an alliance with the 
 pope, and taught his army to view the contest in which 
 they were engaged, as the cause of THE CHURCH, and 
 to use the word CHURCH as a watch-word. 
 
 Further , had there really existed, at the time above 
 mentioned, any threatening symptoms of war, Luther 
 said, he would have taken care to have made his 
 meaning more clear and distinct. At present, the cir- 
 cumstances were very much altered : the war was 
 strictly defensive 5 the enemy had no just ground for 
 waging war at all against the Christians ; and their ob- 
 ject was purely plunder and murder. Such an inva- 
 der might be resisted with a good prospect of suc- 
 cess, even by Christians with the emperor at then- 
 head. But then the Christian soldier ought seriously 
 to turn to God in prayer, both public and private, and 
 no longer lay stress on processions, private masses, 
 and invocations of saints. The emperor also should 
 not wage the war to gratify ambition and the thirst 
 for glory, but consider himself as the leading prince, 
 and as placed in that situation by Almighty God, to 
 discharge well the great duty of conducting the defen- 
 sive operations of the people. All the princes ought 
 to view the matter in the same light, and no longer 
 contend in the diets for precedence, or consume their 
 incomes in luxury. These also, said he, are the points 
 upon which the pope's legates ought strenuously to 
 insist at the meetings of the diets, instead of squab- 
 bling with Luther about fastings and the marriages 
 of the monks. There appears throughout this little 
 work much of the author's native candor and vigor of 
 mind, and of his reverence for the written word. 
 
 It was to be expected, from the active spirit of Lu- 
 ther, that he should employ to some important pur- 
 pose that precious interval of tranquillity which the 
 church enjoyed after the diet of Spires. The regula- 
 tion and improvement of the liturgies and rites of 
 
689 
 
 those churches which had embraced the new doctrinal 
 system of the reformers was an object well worthy the 
 serious attention of that able pilot who had safely con- 
 ducted his vessel through so many shelves, and rocks, 
 and tempests. He proceeded in this business with 
 the utmost caution and modesty : he published the 
 new mode of administering the sacrament, adopted 
 in the last year at Wittemberg: but in his preface 
 he says, " Far be from me the affectation of requiring 
 other persons either to follow our example, or to alter 
 any good formularies at present in use. The plan 
 here proposed has its merits ; but I am in no wise 
 prejudiced i-> its favor to the exclusion of others." " 
 In the next place he provided homilies to be read by 
 such ministers as had not the gift of preaching ; a very 
 necessary precaution, while evangelical knowledge 
 was at so low an ebb. He also recommended the 
 study of the Latin tongue throughout the dominions** 
 of the elector of Saxony, that there might be men ca- 
 pable of instructing foreign nations; lest, like the 
 Waldenses in Bohemia, they should not be able to 
 communicate Christian information to any who did 
 not understand the language of their teachers. Fur- 
 ther ; the catechising of youth was one of Luther's 
 favorite objects : then the exposition of the creed, of 
 the Lord's prayer, and of the ten commandments, he 
 insisted on as of the highest moment : and thus, by 
 the use of moderate and conciliatory methods, though 
 the advances towards perfection were gradual, the 
 public order of religion, through the indefatigable la- 
 bors of this eminent servant of God, in no great length 
 of time wore a new aspect in Saxony, to the unspeak- 
 able benefit of that country. 
 
 Persecutions of the Reformers. 
 
 The blessed calm which the church enjoyed after 
 the diet of Spires, must not be understood to have ex- 
 tended beyond those provinces and districts which 
 were under the jurisdition of such princes and gover- 
 nors as were favorable to the propagation of Christian 
 truth and liberty. In Bohemia and Hungary, Ferdi- 
 
690 
 
 nand, now king of both countries, raged against the 
 Luiherans with all t.h-' fury which papal ignorance and 
 superstition, exasperated by opposition, could inspire. 
 The rigor of the persecution in Bohemia may be infer- 
 red from a single insiance. A person named Nicho- 
 las Tornar, and a widow of sixty years, named Clara, 
 suffered death in the flames with Christian fortitude, 
 merely because they denied their belief in the corpo- 
 real presence of Christ in the sacrament. 
 
 In Germany also, two remarkable instances of mar- 
 tyrdom are recorded. 1. John Huglin, minister of 
 Lindau, was directed by the bishop of Constance to 
 recant the Christian faith ; and on refusal, was treated 
 precisely as John Huss had been, that is, degraded in 
 the most abusive language, and then delivered over to 
 the secular power. This man, while he was prepar- 
 ing for the fire, sang several songs of praise with 
 the utmost cheerfulness. 2. Peter Spongier had no- 
 thing laid to his charge, except that he had been 
 heard to lament the blindness of the papists, and to 
 exhort their clergy to read their bibles. By stealth he 
 was hurried away to Friburg, delivered over to the 
 council of regency at Ensishem, and by them con- 
 demned to be held under water till he was dead. 
 
 At Munich, the capital of Bavaria, George Carpen- 
 ter was burnt alive in 1527; because he refused to 
 subscribe to the Romish corruptions. This sufferer, 
 when some of his pious brethren requested him to give 
 them, while in the flames, some sign of the firmness of 
 his mind, answered in these memorable words, " Let 
 this be looked upon by you as the most certain sign 
 of the steadiness of my faith ; that as long as I am able 
 to open my mouth, or even to mutter, I will never 
 cease to praise God, and confess the name of our Re- 
 deemer: 1 ' and it is said, the man kepthis word. 
 
 But one of the most affecting stones of this kind is 
 the martyrdom of Leonhard Cz^ar, in the same year 
 1527. He was born in Bavaria; and having begun 
 to preach the gospel, was summoned to Passau, to 
 answer for his conduct; and there, by imprisonment 
 and menaces, was at length induced to recant, and 
 
691 
 
 was dismissed to his parish and allowed to officiate 
 again. Leonhard, however, was so upbraided by his 
 conscience and inwardly ashamed of ^is unfaithful- 
 ness, that, in about six months, he quitted his station, 
 and visited Wit tern berg and other places where evan- 
 gelical liberty flourished. After two years absence, 
 hearing that his father was at the point of death, he 
 ventured to return to his own country, where the min- 
 ister of the village betrayed him ; and Leonhard was 
 carried to Passau, and there imprisoned during len 
 weeks before he underwent the least examination. At 
 length, when reduced to a very weak condition, lie 
 was called upon to answer hastily to a variety of qu s- 
 tions, read to him by the famous Eckius of Ingolstadt, 
 who had been sent for on purpose to interrogate, con- 
 found and overawe the poor heretic. His own rela- 
 tions earnestly solicited him to retract ; but finding 
 THAT in vain, they begged he might be allowed to 
 have an advocate, and also a month's respite to recruit 
 his feeble debilitated frame. All was refused by the 
 popish rulers ; and Leonhard was brought publicly be- 
 fore a solemn tribunal of the bishop and a number of 
 canons, with Eckius among them. Then it was that 
 the persecuted prisoner, armed with Divine strength 
 rose more formidable to the powers of darkness, than 
 if through infirmity, he had never been guilty of a for- 
 mer lapse in denying the faith. His adversaries per- 
 emptorily ordered all the proceedings to be carried on 
 in Latin, for the purpose of keeping the multitude in 
 ignorance. But Leonhard scrupled not before the 
 whole audience to speak German repeatedly, and to 
 defend the doctrines he professed with prodigious 
 spirit and animation. He was frequently interrupted 
 by the official of the court, and told that he was not 
 brought there T PREACH. The grand protestant doc- 
 trines were the articles he maintained. "Faith alone,'* 
 said he, "justifies: works are the evidences of faith; 
 but in the act of justification, works are as distinct 
 from faith as heaven is from the earth. The mass is 
 no sacrifice ; neither is there any sacrifice for ?in, ex- 
 cept the blood of Christ." He refused to enter into 
 
692 
 
 any dispute about transubstantiatiori ; and contended, 
 that it was enough to insist on the words of Christ, 
 and to believe, that faithful communicants become 
 real partakers of his body and blood. 
 
 This good martyr wrote from his prison to his friend 
 Stifelius, at that time chaplain to a lady of distinction 
 in Austria, in strains of the most unaffected piety, 
 thanking God who had honored, as he called himself, 
 his most unworthy servant, and the greatest of sin- 
 ners, with such an opportunity to confess his precious 
 name, blessed forever. He entreated his dear bro- 
 ther in Christ to pray for him, that he might remain 
 steadfast to the end. Much pains were taken to pro- 
 cure his release and dismission. Noblemen of the first 
 distinction, even the elector of Saxony himself, inter- 
 ceded with the potentates of Bavaria, but all to no 
 purpose. The popish hierarchy proceeded to degrade 
 him, and then gave him up to the civil magistrate; 
 but not without first going through the usual mockery 
 of praying that his life might be spared. His mourn- 
 ful relations, entirely against his own wishes, made 
 their last effort to obtain the poor favor, that their 
 kinsman might be allowed to die by the sword instead 
 of the flames. But the stern duke of Bavaria, insti- 
 gated no doubt by his priests, issued a peremptory 
 mandate "for committing the incorrigible heretic 
 alive to the flames." 
 
 The man's patience, and his constancy in prayer, 
 the ardor of his soul, and his confidence towards God, 
 are described as beyond belief. When the dreadful 
 moment came and he w 7 as placed on the pile, he said, 
 "O Lord Jesus, partake in my sufferings ; support me, 
 give me strength ;" and, lastly, as soon as the fire be- 
 gan to burn, he cried out with a loud voice, " Save me 
 Jesus ; I am thine !" and soon after expired. Luther 
 was vehemently affected with this tragedy ; and pro- 
 fessed himself ashamed, as he had done on former oc- 
 casions, that he had not yet been thought worthy of 
 martyrdom. <4 Oh," said he, " that I might witness 
 such a confession, and suffer such a death ! But God's 
 will be done ! Oh, ye persecutors, if ye thus thirst a- 
 
693 
 
 ter blood and carnage, why do ye not turn your arms 
 against the Turks? For after all, ye cannot oppress the 
 cause of God. I gave you Gamaliel's advice when I 
 was before the emperor at Worms : but all is in 
 vain." 
 
 To their common friend, Stifelius, he speaks thus 
 of the death of Leonhard. " Oh wretched me, how 
 far below this man am I ! I am a wordy preacher, he 
 a powerful performer. May Christ grant that we may 
 be enabled to imitate this holy character!" 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Views which Luther had of himself. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the uncommon success 
 with which the labors of Luther had been crowned, 
 the celebrity of his character, the favor of princes and 
 nobles toward him, and the admiration in which he 
 was held by all the professors of evangelical truth, 
 were circumstances which had a strong tendency to 
 exalt him in his own eyes, especially when the native 
 firmness of his temper, is taken into the account; yet, 
 when in his closet, in his conversations with his in- 
 timates, with his parish priest, or with his wife, or 
 when his fellow-laborers vexed and irritated him by 
 their opposition, or when his own health and spirits 
 were broken down by insessant toils, and cares, and 
 watchings; this hero of the reformation was more or 
 less, according to circumstances, in a state of imbe- 
 cility and confusion of mind, and even of fear, anxie- 
 ty, complaint, and tribulation, on account of the dis- 
 coveries which he, at such times, often had, of the 
 sinful ness of his own heart, when he appears to have 
 suffered much from the bufferings of Satan. 
 
 That such seasons of inward distress and conflict, 
 were humbling seasons to this great and good man ; 
 appears from one of his letters to his friend Justus 
 Jonas. "My sins have brought upon me the heavy 
 wrath of God, It is not enough, that the pope, the* 
 
694 
 
 emperor, the princes, and bishops, should aim at 
 life, but my religious brethren also must torment my 
 spirit. My sins, and all the powers of death, Satan 
 and his angels rage without ceasing. And what is 
 iny hope ? I say, if Christ should forsake me I am 
 undone. But he never will forsake such a poor mis- 
 erable sinner. Mine enemies are mighty, and add 
 affliction to affliction, now that I am under the Divine 
 chastisement. But enough ; let me not be querulous 
 or impatient under the rod of him, who smites and 
 heals ; who kills and makes alive. Blessed be his ho- 
 ly will! When the world and the prince of the world 
 hale me in this manner, it is surely some proof that I 
 belong to Christ. The critical situation of my wife 
 increases my anxiety,* and I am quite alarmed at 
 what has just happened to another pregnant lady, one 
 of our neighbors, whom you know. She has been 
 carried off rapidly by the prevailing epidemic. My 
 present trials are great; but the All-powerful On^ has 
 done great things for me. May Christ, whose pure 
 doctrine I have taught and openly avowed, be my 
 rock and my fortress! Amen." 
 
 To his friend Amsdorf he writes thus : u It so plea- 
 ses God, that I, who have been accustomed to com- 
 fort others, do myself stand in need of consolation. I 
 have but one prayer, and I beseech you join with me 
 in it : That whatever Christ may be pleased to do 
 with me, he would preserve me from ungratefully re- 
 belling against him, whom I have hitherto preached 
 and served with so much zeal ; though at the same 
 time I have offended him by many and great sins. I 
 still hope he will forgive me, and say, 'I am thy sal- 
 vation." 
 
 To another friend, Luther writes thus ; " There is 
 nothing that my sins do not deserve ; but neverthe- 
 less I have comfort in the thought that I have taught 
 the gospel of Christ in godly sincerity to the salvation 
 of many souls. This galls Satan ; and he would de- 
 stroy me with the WORD itself. While others are call- 
 
 * An infectious disorder, attended with great mortality, prevailed at this 
 time, at Wittemberg. 
 
695 
 
 ed to the stake by the cruel tyrants, I suffer internal- 
 ly in spirit from the prince of this world. May the 
 Father or our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in me his ho- 
 ly will ! Oh ! how precious and delightful is the secret 
 contemplation of that will!" 
 
 The truth of the history of Luther's extreme suf- 
 ferings, at such seasons, does not depend entirely on 
 the descriptions of his feelings contained in his own 
 letters to his friends. His friends, Bugenhagius and 
 Justus Jonas, were present during one of the seasons 
 of his sorest distress ; and were so much affected by 
 what they saw and heard, that they thought fit to re- 
 cord in writing some of the most material circum- 
 stances. 
 
 It appears however clear, that intense distress and 
 agitation of spirit had laid hold of our reformer, more 
 than six months before that very remarkable seizure 
 which they described. For he writes thus to Jonas 
 on the 26th of Dec. 1526: "O, my Jonas, pray for 
 me ; sympathize with me in the agonies I undergo. 
 The temptation is sometimes less, but returns again 
 with greater fury. May Christ never forsake me ! 
 May he chastise me as a son, but not punish me as a 
 rebel : May I be strong in faith, even unto the end." 
 
 The narratives of Bugenhagius and Jonas relate 
 to what happened on the sixth of the succeeding July, 
 when the mind of Luther must of necessity have been 
 much broken down by the length and accumulation 
 of his afflictions. To transcribe the whole might de- 
 tain us too long ; but some remarkable passages well 
 deserve notice. 
 
 Their account is this, namely: That about eight 
 o'clock in the morning of Saturday the sixth of July, 
 Bugenhagius was alarmed at being hastily sent for by 
 Luther. He found him, however, in conversation with 
 his wife, and looking just as usual. It seems he had 
 that morning experienced a most tremendous temp* 
 tation, entirely of a spiritual nature; and was serious- 
 ly apprehensive, that if the hand of God should agaip 
 be so heavy upon him, he could not survive the at- 
 tack. On the whole, he suspected he was about te die ; 
 
696 
 
 and retired privately with his friend Bugenhagius 4 
 the parish minister, into his chamber, and there, in se- 
 cret, committed every thing to God, and solemnly 
 confessed his sins ; and then, says the writer, my MAS- 
 TER entreated me, his PUPIL, to give him a word of 
 consolation from the scriptures. Afterwards he reco- 
 vered so far as to be able to go out to dinner, and make 
 the company cheerful, as he always did. But in the 
 evening lie was suddenly seized with a fainting fit 5 
 and cried out, " O, doctor Jonas, 1 am sick ; bring me 
 water, or whatever you have, or I am gone." Jonas in 
 a fright snatched up some cold water, and threw it 
 freely over him. At that moment Luther was the ve- 
 ry picture of death ; but presently after, he began to 
 pray most intensely. " If this be my last hour, O 
 Lord, thy will be done ! O Lord, rebuke me not in 
 thine anger; chasten me not in thy heavy displeasure* 
 Have mercy upon me, O Lord. I would willingly 
 have shed my blood in the cause of thy word but 
 perhaps I was unworthy of that honor; thy will be 
 done : only may thy name be glorified, whether by 
 my death, or my life." 
 
 Then, in the most solemn manner, he recommend- 
 ed to the blessing of God, the ministry of that sacred 
 gospel, which had hitherto been committed to his 
 charge. Upon which, Bugenhagius, almost senseless 
 from deep and anxious concern, interrupted him by 
 saying, " Among your other prayers, my doctor, let this 
 be one, that it would please God to continue your life 
 for the good of us poor creatures, and of many others." 
 " To die, replied Luther, woulct be gain to me, 
 
 but " and then, without finishing the sentence, 
 
 he thus seriously addressed Justus Jonas and Bugen- 
 hagius. " The world delights in falsehoods ; ar^d it 
 will certainly be said, that I recanted my doctrines in 
 the hour of death. I desire, therefore, YOU and Bu- 
 genhagius to be witnesses of this my confession of 
 faith. I am perfectly satisfied that the doctrines which 
 1 have taught, concerning faith, charity, the cross, and 
 the sacraments, are verily agreeable to the word of 
 God. I was led by Providence and not voluntarily, to 
 
897 
 
 act the part which I have acted in the ministry. Ma* 
 ny have blamed me for having been deficient in mod- 
 eration ; however, in some instances, there was in me 
 no want of moderation but what may be justified ; and 
 most assuredly, I have never intended harm to any 
 person whatever. On the contrary I have always wish- 
 ed to promote men's salvation, even the salvation of 
 mine enemies." 
 
 After this, Luther gravely stated to the same persons 
 his objections to the sacramentarians ; calling God to 
 witness the sincerity of his heart, and lamenting with 
 tears the numerous sects that arose, and neither spar- 
 ed the flock nor the word of God. " What a bustle," 
 said he, " will they raise after my death ! ! AND THEN, 
 
 WITH DEEP SIGHS, AND A VAST EFFUSION OF TEARS, HE 
 CONFESSED HOW INTEMPERATE HE HAD BEEN AT TIMES 
 
 JN HIS LANGUAGE ; and appealed to HIM who KNOWS 
 ALL THINGS, that in THIS HE HAD GIVEN WAY to the in- 
 firmity of the flesh, thereby endeavoring to shake off 
 the burden of his afflictions : but that his conscience 
 did not reproach him with having harbored any ill 
 will. f: 
 
 " Be ye my witnesses, however," said he, turning his 
 face towards his two friends, " that on the subjects of 
 repentance and justification, I recant nothing of what 
 I have written against the pope. I feel that to be the 
 gospel of God, and the truth of God ; and though some 
 may think I have been too harsh, or taken too great 
 liberty, I do not repent in that matter." 
 
 Luther then began to enquire after his child. 
 " Where is rny dearest little John ? The child was soon 
 brought smiling to the father, who immediately com- 
 mended ' his good little boy,' as he called him, and his 
 mother, 'his dearest Kate,' to a good and gracious 
 God. " Ye have no worldly goods," said he, " but. 
 God, who is the Father of the orphan, and judges the 
 cause of the widow, will defend and keep you. I give 
 thanks to thee, O Lord God, that thy providence has 
 made me indigent in this world. I have neither house 
 nor land nor possession to leave. TJhou hast blessed 
 
698 
 
 me with a wife and children, and these t return back 
 unto thee ; O feed them, teach them, preserve i.hem ! 
 
 To his wife he said, " My dearest Kate, if it is G<;r<'s 
 will, T request thee to submit to it ; tbou art my wed- 
 ded wife ; this thou wilt never forget ; and let God's 
 word be thy constant guide." He proceeded to say 
 something to her concerning a few silver cups ; and 
 concluded with these words, " You know we have no- 
 thing else." 
 
 His wife displayed, on this trying occasion, extra- 
 ordinary Christian fortitude. Almost heart broken, 
 and frightened even to consternation, she yet preserv- 
 ed a good hope in her countenance. She allowed 
 that not only herself and her child, but many other 
 Christian people, would experience a great loss ; but 
 she entreated her husband not to be uneasy on her ac- 
 count ; for if it really was God's will that he should 
 depart, she could submit to it cordially. She there- 
 fore commended him to the Lord God, under whose 
 protection he could not fail to be safe. 
 
 By the external application of warmth, and by the 
 use of cordial medicines internally, Luther soon re- 
 covered from the apparently immediate danger ; but 
 such had been the violence of the paroxysm, that he 
 experienced the debilitating effects of it during the re- 
 mainder of (he year. 
 
 On the Sunday succeeding this memorable Saturday, 
 Luther declared to Jonas, that on comparing the ago- 
 ny of his mind, during the spiritual temptation in the 
 morning of the preceding day, with his bodily afflic- 
 tions in the evening, the latter had not been half so 
 distressing as the firmer. He added, " Doctor, I must 
 mark the clay. I was yesterday at school." 
 
 Afterwards he underwent many exacerbations of 
 mind of a similar nature to that described, but none 
 equally severe, Yet during all these trials, Bugenha- 
 gius assures us, that Luther attended to every part of 
 his duty, that he seldom omitted his public lectures, 
 and generally preached on the Lord's day. Bugen- 
 hagius was frequently called during the hours of the 
 night, to visit him in his distress 5 and repeatedly heard 
 
699 
 
 him say, "The violence of the temptation so stupifies 
 jne that I cannot open my mouth; as soon as ever it pira- 
 ses God that I can lift up my heart in prayer and make 
 use of scriptural expressions, it ceases to prevail." 
 
 Burgenhagius tells us, that he found real satisfac- 
 tion in being of some little service to Luther through 
 whose instrumentality, God had been pleased to re- 
 veal to himself the gospel of his Son. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Further state of the Reformation. Luther's views on 
 predestination. Conference at Marpurg. Luther and 
 Zuingle compared. 
 
 JN EVER was the maxim that religious sentiments 
 are not to bo eradicated by persecution, more striking- 
 ly verified, than in the case of the rebellious fanatics, 
 la almost every part of Europe, princes and magis- 
 trates used the ut.nost severity in punishing those sec- 
 tarian teachers, and in preventing the dissemination of 
 their tenets. AH good governments truly had reason 
 to dread the ill effects resulting from the progress of 
 the anabaptists ; for they taught the people to despise 
 ttu'ir lawful rulers, and the salutary regulations by 
 which all communities exist. Every where it was the 
 cry of those visionaries, " No tribute all things in 
 common no tithes no magistrates the kingdom of 
 Christ is at hand ; the baptism of infants is an inven- 
 tion of the devil !" Neither the sword, nor fire, nor the 
 gibbet, could induce lhe</; to recant. 
 
 But to all the attempts made by persecution to sup- 
 press the nascent evils arising from those fanatics, 
 Lulher was firmly opposed. Zuingle too conducted 
 toward them in a manner truly Christian in the com- 
 mencement of his disputes with the anabaptists in 
 1525. 
 
 Those artful proselytes of Munzer first in a cland^s- 
 tine manner insinuated to the minds ot the people, that 
 
TOO 
 
 the reformation, which had taken place among them 
 through the instrumentality of Zuingle, was in its 
 whole plan contracted and inefficient, and neither 
 deep nor finished, nor sufficiently spiritual. After this 
 they addressed Zuingle himself in grave and impos- 
 ing language, reproaching him with managing the 
 business of religion in a slow and frigid manner ; and 
 declaring, that now was the time for the real children 
 of God to separate from the rest of their countrymen 
 as they did in the days of the apostles ; that the Spirit 
 of God was at work, and unless men were more in 
 earnest there was no hope of their salvation : that the 
 senate of Zurich were at present a motley assembly ; 
 but that a church, where all were pious members, 
 would not fail to choose a pious senate. Zuingle re- 
 plied to this* statement in the kindest manner; that 
 there always would be a mixture of good and bad : 
 that Christ had directed the tares and the wheat not 
 to be separated till the time of harvest: that the 
 example of the apostles did not apply to the present 
 times, when all men professed themselves to be Chris- 
 tians ; whereas the secession of those days was that of 
 believers from unbelievers : that a secession under the 
 existing circumstaces, he feared, would excite much 
 disturbance ; and, that as there was no necessity for so 
 violent a measure, he could not look upon it as sug- 
 gested by the Spirit of God. He added, that he was 
 far from thinking so ill of the senate as they seemed 
 to do ; for that whatever defects they might have, they 
 heartily favored the gospel of Christ. Lastly, he par- 
 ticularly recommended it to the consideration of per- 
 sons who seemed to be aiming at a church of perfect 
 purity, to reflect, that of the ten virgins who went to 
 meet the bridegroom, only five were wise and provi- 
 dent. " 
 
 When these enthusiasts were no longer able to with- 
 stand the solid arguments of Zuingle, they began to 
 unfold their designs more distinctly, by insisting on 
 the necessity of adult baptism in all cases, and by 
 establishing rebaptization as the criterion of the gen- 
 members of the visible church of Christ. The 
 
701 
 
 senate did their utmost to terminate the disputes *' 
 first, by procuring amicable conferences to be held 
 between Zuingle on one side, and Manzius, an ana- 
 baptist leader, on the other; and then by directing 
 the parties to keep the peace. The anabaptists declar- 
 ed they must obey God rather than men. Another 
 fruitless conference took place ; after which, the mal- 
 contents became furious and extravagant in the ex- 
 treme. They flew to the city in vast swarms ; abus- 
 ed Zuingle, calling him the Old Dragon, rebaptized 
 the people in the streets, boasted of having all things 
 in common, and threatened destruction to every one 
 who refused to follow their example. They also pro- 
 phesied and cried, Wo to Zurich ! Wo to Zurich ! 
 Repent, or perish ! Some of them, like Jonah, allowed 
 the city fony days for repentance ; and now, instead 
 of defending their doctrine from scripture, they cried, 
 they were ready to seal the truth with their own blood, 
 
 In this prodigious agitation of men's minds, the se- 
 nate proclaimed a freedom of public discussion, in 
 consequence of which, every one had full leave to hear 
 and be heard for three whole days together. Lastlyj 
 when this measure had failed to produce peace and 
 tranquillity, Zuingle obtained permission to have, on 
 November the sixth, A GENERAL and SOLEMN confer- 
 rence in the great church, where the points in dispute 
 were again contested for the space of three days. At 
 length, a certain anabaptist suddenly jumped up, and 
 adjured Zuingle by the living God to own the trurh ^ 
 for the man had persuaded himself, that Zuingle, in 
 secret, favored anabaptism. Zuingle, with acuteness 
 and promptitude, answered, I wilf; and I say then, 
 you are the ringleader of the seditious rustics in this dis- 
 trict. Instantly there was a loud laugh, and the ana- 
 baptist held his peace. 
 
 After this conference, the senate warned the people 
 to desist from the practice of rebaptizing. But all 
 was in vain. They decreed therefore, that in future, 
 all persons who professed anabaptism, or harbored the 
 professors of that doctrine, should be punished with 
 death. 
 
702 
 
 These things happened in 1525. Manzius, never- 
 theless, in defiance of the new l,iw, and at tne hazard 
 of his life, ventured to rebaptize not a few within the 
 jurisdiction of Zurich. He was apprehended by the 
 order of the magistrates, and drowned in the river, on 
 January the fifth, 1527. A little before his execution, 
 he praised God that he was permitted to seal the truth 
 by his death. He said, the death of the faithful was 
 predicted by Christ. Both the mother and the brother 
 of Manzias exhorted him to finish his course with 
 firmness ; and they had the satisfaction of hearing 
 him sing with a loud voice, " Into thy hands I com- 
 mend rny spirit." 
 
 A very able and learned protestant historian! of the 
 reformation informs us, that Manzius and his asso- 
 ciate Grebel, were both men of learning, who quar- 
 relled with Zuingle about infant baptism ; and more- 
 over, that Manzius was drowned at Zurich UPON THE 
 
 SENTENCE PRONOUNCED BY ZlJINGLE in these four Words, 
 
 Qui iterum rnergit, mergatur; that is, he that re -baptiz- 
 es with water, let him be drowned in the water. It is a 
 .lamentable truth, that more tragedies of this kind were 
 performed about the same time, which provoked the 
 memorialists of those days, to exclaim, u This proce- 
 dure is very strange ; the Zuinglians themselves are 
 scarce out of the reach of persecutors ; the fires in which 
 their fellow believers were burnt, are still daily smok- 
 ing. Most of them condemned the execution of here- 
 tics, when it effected themselves, and yet they prac- 
 tise the very same cruelties as soon as they are pos- 
 sessed of power. Thus do they do to others, what 
 they would not wish to have done to themselves. 
 OTHETIS employ FIRE ; THEY employed WATER. 
 
 Those that knew better things, ought to have done 
 better; neither were they actuated by a good spirit, 
 that could lead the wanderer into the ditch, instead of 
 setting him in the right way ; they could drown the in- 
 fected, instead of washing and cleansing him ; or could 
 burn the blind, instead of restoring him to the light." 
 
 $ R 'v. Gerard Brandt professoT of divinity, and minister to the protestant 
 remonstrants at Amsterdamv 
 
70S 
 
 Expostulations of this kind will not fail, in our days 
 at k-ast, to affect ever) heart with a mixture of pain 
 and indignation, and we may add of anxiety also, to 
 know whether such a character as Zuingle was really 
 involved in the perpetration of such barbarities. 
 
 1. This reformer owns that he was calumniated by 
 the anabaptists, as being the cause why the senate of 
 Zurich had proscribed and banished them from the 
 whole canton. At the same time he appeals to his 
 accusers themselves, whether in their own presence he 
 had not entreated the magistrates not to pass any se- 
 vere edicts against them. 
 
 This positive testimony of a conscientious Christian, 
 had almost convinced me that the historian, Brandt, 
 had been deceived by the want of discrimination in 
 the Dutch authors whom he follows, till further reflec- 
 tion and a nicer scrutiny into the dates of the several 
 transactions, and also a comparison of different parts 
 of the writings of Zuingle, remove the doubts in the 
 following satisfactory manner. 
 
 2. Every person conversant in the Swiss history of 
 those times, must be aware of the entire ascendant 
 which Zuingle had then obtained over the magis- 
 trates of Zurich in ecclesiastical concerns. Absolute- 
 ly unbounded were their love and admiration of their 
 countryman, to whose wisdom and courage they were 
 so much indebted for Christian liberty; and there is no 
 doubt, that, in general, he well deserved all their con- 
 fidence and best affections. This circumstance there- 
 fore renders it very improbable, that the senate in the 
 .exercise of their ecclesiastical jurisdiction, should 
 agree to inflict the barbarous penalty of death upon any 
 species of heretics, not only without his concurrence 
 in so strong a measure, but even contrary to his judg- 
 ment and wishes. 
 
 Still, this is but conjecture, against the positive de- 
 claration of Zuingle, that he pressed the senate to- 
 be gentle with the anabaptists. 
 
 3. Let us then attend to the manner in which this 
 eminent reformer himself, without the least disguise or 
 hesitation, recounts the circumstances Onder which 
 
the senate of Zurich decreed the penalty in question. 
 
 Speaking of the solemn conference, mentioned in 
 page 701, he says, u AFTER THAT CONFERENCE, which 
 was indeed the tenth, besides many others both public 
 and private, our very RENOWNED senate decreed, that, 
 " whoever should re-baptize any person, should him- 
 self be drowned in water." u 1 may perhaps tire you, 
 good reader," continues he, u with this long account? 
 but I am not influenced by heat or party spirit, or any 
 other motive than that of a faithful vigilance and so- 
 licitude for the churches. Many of our brethren, be- 
 fore they knew what sort of men we had to do with, 
 fvere disposed to think they had been treated inhu- 
 manly throughout ; but now since their own con- 
 gregations have suffered devastations from (he same 
 people, they own that all they had heard of then), was 
 
 very much short of the truth Indeed, I believe 
 
 the whole world never before experienced a hypocri- 
 sy of this sort." Now, 
 
 Is it possible that Zuingle should have expressed 
 himself in this manner, concerning the senate of Zu- 
 rich, and their inhuman treatment of the unhappy en- 
 thusiastic anabaptists, unless he had been actually ap- 
 proving, consenting to, and probably recommending 
 that cruel edict, which all the enlightened members of 
 the church of Christ must for ever condemn ? Further, 
 be it observed that, 
 
 4. The SOLEMN CONFERENCE of the contending par- 
 ties, which was soon followed by this violent decree of 
 the senate, commenced on the sixth of November, 
 1525. Whereas it was in the former part of the same 
 year, that the Swiss reformer pleaded with the magis- 
 trates in favor of the Anabaptists. And then, 
 
 With these facts in view, the discerning reader will 
 have no difficulty in drawing for himself the just in- 
 ferences. He will see, that between the month of 
 May, and the conclusion of the conference in the suc- 
 ceeding November, the anabaptists became so abomi- 
 nably outrageous, that the patience of Zuingle was 
 absolutely exhausted ; and that, therefore, there is in 
 the accounts, no inconsistency which either can at all 
 
705 
 
 impeach the veracity of the reformer, or materially 
 affect the accuracy of the Dutch historian. For the 
 honor of the reformation, I would it were in rny pow- 
 er to clear the memory of the former from the imputa- 
 tion of an intolerant spirit, which led that great man 
 to approve of capital punishments for no other offence 
 except the mere act of rebaptization ! ! 
 
 In estimating, however, both the magnitude and the 
 number of the persecutions which the anabaptists of 
 those times underwent, great care is required, not to 
 confound the punishments inflicted on such as were 
 proved guilty of tumult and sedition with the severe 
 hardships and heavy penalties, which many of them 
 certainly suffered on account of harmless practices, or 
 even mere errors of judgment in articles of faith. 
 
 The several edicts of the senate of Zurich, issued 
 during the rise of the anabaptists, sufficiently manifest 
 the spirit of those legislators. By the first, a penalty 
 of two guilders, was set upon all such as should suffer 
 themselves to be rebaptized, or should withhold bap- 
 tism from their children ; and it was further declared, 
 that those who opposed this order should be yet more 
 severely treated. By the second, we have seen the 
 punishment of anabaptism was made capital. 
 
 Predestination. 
 
 It is a common, at the same time, an erroneous no- 
 tion, that the difference of the sentiments of Luther 
 from those of all that class of protestants on the conti- 
 nent, who had no connexion with HIS churches, lay 
 very much in the article of PREDESTINATION. ,Ttiere 
 is a two- fold mistake in this position, originating, I 
 conceive, in an inattention to those variations of doc- 
 trine, which in the subsequent periods of the history 
 of the reformation, took place both in the Lutheran 
 and the other churches that separated themselves 
 from the Romish communion. Certainly the Lu- 
 theran churches by degrees became more Arminian, 
 and, in general, the rest of the protestant churches 
 more Calvinistic afterwards ; but in truth, consubstan- 
 friation was the single point in the early part of the re- 
 
706 , 
 
 formation, on which the unhappy separation almost 
 entirely turned; and the consequences of this schiscn 
 deserve to be noticed by pious reformers in all ages, 
 as a warning to bury in silence their unimportant dis- 
 agreements rather than to perpetuate them by a for- 
 mal and explicit contention. 
 
 Ulrick Zuingle was the founder of those reformed 
 churches, which held no communion with the Luther- 
 ans ; and on a careful perusal of his voluminous wri- 
 tings, I am convinced, that certain peculiar sentiments, 
 afterwards maintained by Calvin, concerning the ab- 
 solute decrees of God, made no part of the theology 
 of the Swiss reformer; and this observation may serve 
 to correct one part of the two fold -mistake mentioned. 
 
 The Saxon theologian, though he denied, o.s we 
 have repeatedly seen, the existence of all human abili- 
 ty to save a lost sinner, as also the inefficacy of all hu- 
 man qualifications to merit reward ; and though he as- 
 cribed salvation to grace alone, and to the merciful will 
 of God, yet on the delicate question of predestination, 
 ever displayed that moderation by which his mind was 
 uniformly influenced in all doctrinal inquiries except 
 one*, and, content with what scripture had revealed he- 
 never undertook to explain this difficult subject with 
 any thing like a systematic precision : much less did 
 he ever think proper to propose the arduous specula- 
 tions concerning the Divine decrees as necessary arti- 
 cles of a Christian's faith. 
 
 It happened, however, that a neighboring minister, 
 with the view of comforting one of his flock, whose 
 mind was much distressed respecting the secret coun- 
 sels of God, was desirous of obtaining from Luther 
 more satisfaction on this head than could be collected 
 from his publications. This circumstance gave to our 
 reformer the occasion of writing an epistle, the sub- 
 stance of which will be allowed by all sincere protes- 
 tant* to be well adapted to the purpose for which it 
 was composed ; and as a curious and inquisitive spirit 
 of prying into the inscrutable mysteries of the Divine 
 will, is but too often indulged by many serious per-* 
 
 * Consubstantiatiom 
 
707 
 
 sons the perusal of a few quotations from Luther's ad- 
 vice may prove edifying to some evangelical readers. 
 
 " Many have perished in the indulgence of such cu- 
 rious inquiries ; it is a temptation which leads even to 
 blasphemy. I myself, by giving way to it, have more 
 than once been reduced to the last extremity. We, 
 p3or mortals, by faith can scarcely comprehend a few 
 rays of the Divine promise, or receive in practice a few 
 sparks of the Divine precepts ; and yet, feeble and im- 
 pure as we are, we rashly attempt to fathom the ma- 
 jesty of God in all its brightness. Do we not know 
 that his ways are past finding out ? Instead of using 
 well the mild light of the promises which is adapted 
 to our faculties, we rush with eyes of moles, to view 
 at once the majestic splendor of the Deity. What 
 wonder then if his glory should overwhelm us in the 
 attempt to investigate it! We ought to know that 
 there is such a thing as the secret will of God : but the 
 danger is when we attempt to comprehend it. I am 
 wont to check myself with that answer of Christ to 
 Peter, who had asked what was to become of John; 
 "What is thai to thee ? follow thou me." But suppose 
 we could give an accurate account of the judgments 
 of Almighty God in his secret determinations: what 
 advantage would accrue to us from such knowledge, 
 beyond what lies open to us from the promises and 
 the precepts ; from the former addressed to our faith ; 
 from the latter to our practice ? Tell your friend, if he 
 would have peace of mind, to abstain from such in- 
 tricate speculations. The subject is incomprehensi- 
 ble, and the study of it may drive him to despair and 
 blasphemy. Let him not give way to Satan, who 
 would weary him out, by presenting impossibilities to 
 his mind. Let him exercise faith in the promises, and 
 obey the commandments ; and when he has discharg- 
 ed those duties well, he will be able to judge whe- 
 ther he will have any time left for impossibilities.- 
 There is no other remedy than to neglect, and not give 
 way to such thoughts; though this is a difficult task, 
 because Satan suggests the absolute necessity of at- 
 tending to the in. This battle however must be fought : 
 
708 
 
 and many persons fail in the contest by not suspect- 
 ing their thoughts to be the temptations of Satan ; 
 whereas, these are the very fiery darts of that wicked 
 one. He himself fell from heaven by aiming at a 
 knowledge above his station. Thus also he vanquish- 
 ed Adam, by teaching him to be dissatisfied with his 
 ignorance concerning the will of God Flight is the 
 true wisdom here ; there is no room for Christ to dwell 
 in the heart, as long as reasonings of this kind are 
 uppermost." In another letter, while he admits the 
 preordination and foreknowledge of God, neverthe- 
 less, from Ezek. xviii. 23, u Have I any pleasure at 
 all that the wicked should die, saith the Lord God," 
 he argues, that God chose and seriously decreed from 
 eternity, the possibility of the salvation and everlasting 
 happiness of all men. And hence he concludes that 
 the general promises of a gracious God, ought by no 
 means to be limited ; nor those suggestions of Satan 
 to be indulged, which would separate us from the Di- 
 vine mercy, which is represented in scripture as infi- 
 nite. He then refers the afflicted penitent to the voice 
 of God himself, " This is my beloved Son/ hear him J 
 and to the words of Christ, proclaiming in the streets, 
 " Come unto me, all ye that labor." He invites all, 
 even f he very worst, as publicans and harlots. Why 
 should we perplex ourselves with difficult, and circui- 
 tous roads, when the direct road is so clearly pointed 
 out to us in the gospel, 
 
 Conference at Mqrpurgi 
 
 ** In the cause of religion every subdivision is a 
 strong weapon in the hand of the enemy." The zeal- 
 ous landgrave of Hesse was so sensible of the impor- 
 tance of this maxim, that he spared no pains to unite 
 the Lutheran and Zuinglian protestants, and make 
 them act in concert against the common enemy. In 
 effect, the unhappy disagreement of these seels, was 
 not only injurious to the reformation in general, but 
 also thwarted very much the military views of this ac- 
 tive and magnanimous prince. 
 
709 
 
 For the purpose of promoting; so desirable a union, 
 the landgrave, in the year 1529, proposed a friendly 
 conference to be held at Marpurg between the heads 
 of the two denominations. Thither repaired, on the 
 one side, Luther and Melancthon, on the other, Zu- 
 ingle and Oecolatnpadius, together with several oth- 
 ers, their friends, respectively, and men of great note. 
 It is unnecessary to detail the particulars of the Con- 
 ferences which lasted several days. Suffice it to say, 
 they ended rather according to what might have been 
 expected, than according to the Christian wishes of 
 the good landgrave of Flesse. It was riot probable 
 that either Zuingle or Luther, in a public disputation 
 on the nature of the presence of Christ in the sacra- 
 ment, should retract the sentiments which he had 
 long defended, and against which he would hear no 
 argument advanced, but what he had already repeat- 
 edly heard, well considered, and, in his own judgment, 
 satisfactorily answered. It appears that Luther, con- 
 scious of his own positive determination not to give 
 way one hair's breadth on the point of consubstantia- 
 tion, and also well aware of the steady character of the 
 Swiss reformer, from the first clearly foresaw the event 
 of the debates at Marpurg, and was induced to go 
 there, only or chiefly, lest the adverse party should 
 have to boast that they were more disposed than him- 
 self to adopt measures of peace and concord. The 
 narratives of the party- historians concerning this bu- 
 siness contain many bitter things, which are best 
 passed over, especially as the sincerity of the motives 
 of the controversialists cannot reasonably be doubted. 
 We are bound however to mark with the most entire 
 disapprobation, that unchristian stubbornness of tem- 
 per which manifested itself in Luther at the conclu- 
 sion of the conference s. The sacramentarians, as they 
 were called, begged hard to be acknowledged as breth- 
 ren. They even went so far, as to own repeatedly, 
 that the body of Christ was verily present in the 
 Lord's supper, though in a spiritual manner; and Zu- 
 ingle himself, in pressing for mutual fraternity, declar- 
 ed with tears, that there were no men in the world 
 
71Q 
 
 with whom he more earnestly wished to agree, thaiir 
 with the Wittemberg divines. Even the landgrave 
 personally exerted himself, with all his might, to pro- 
 duce a cordial friendship. But the spirit of Luther 
 proved perfectly un tractable and intolerant. Nothing 
 more could be gained from him, than that each side 
 should show Christian charity to the other as far as 
 they could conscientiously ; and that both should dili- 
 gently pray God to lead them into the truth. To go 
 further, Luther maintained, was impossible; and ex- 
 pressed astonishment, that the Swiss divines could 
 look upon himself as a Christian brother, when they 
 did not believe his doctrine to be true. In such cir- 
 cumstances, however, though there could be no such 
 thing as fraternal union, the parties, he allowed, might 
 preserve a friendly sort of peace and concord ; might 
 do good turns to each other, and abstain from harsh 
 and acrimonious language. 
 
 The papal advocates, either through ignorance or 
 design, represent Luther's opposition to the sacramen- 
 tarians as founded in political reasons. Little need is 
 there, by the addition of imaginary accusations, to ag- 
 gravate the blamable conduct of our reformer in the 
 discussions respecting consubstantiation. His reputa- 
 tion for sincerity in every part of his belief, is as com- 
 pletely unsullied as his pertinacity in the support of 
 this particular article is altogether indefensible : and it 
 is scarcely necessary to add, that mere human policy 
 must have determined him to pursue measures the 
 reverse of those which he actually adopted. To have 
 been reinforced by the whole body of the Zuinglian 
 protestants would have proved, at that time to the Lu- 
 therans, a most important accession of strength, and 
 was an event very much dreaded by the Romanists. 
 
 In regard to Zuingle and his associates, it is by no 
 means clear, that their excessive desire to be on good 
 terms with the Lutherans, did not carry them a little 
 too far in the concessions which they made at the con- 
 ferences of Marpurg. It is true, that soon after those 
 conferences, both sides published their own accounts 
 of what had passed, and boasted^ that they had 
 
the better in the combat. However, as certain arti- 
 cles had been drawn up, and actually signed by Lu- 
 ther, Melancthon, Jonas, &c. on the one side, and 
 by Zuingle, Oecolampadius, Bucer, &,c. on the other, 
 this authentic record is a very useful document to the 
 curious inquirer, who wishes to determine how far in 
 fact each party strictly adhered to their real senti- 
 ments. 
 
 Melancthon's account is, that Zuingle readily gave 
 up several things which he had advanced in his wri- 
 tings, particularly his notion of original sin ; and that 
 he came over to the Wirternberg divines in all points, 
 the single article of the Lord's supper excepted. 
 
 Luther, on his return home from Marpurg, expresses 
 himself much pleased with the moderation of theZum- 
 glians, and their disposition to concede. From what 
 had passed, however, he judged, that besides the ques- 
 tion on the Lord's supper, there was not a perfect 
 agreement in the article of original sin. In fact, the 
 fourth article of the Marpurg concord, which treats of 
 this doctrine, is penned with some ambiguity ; and in 
 such matters Luther's eye was infinitely more pene- 
 trating than Melancthon's. 
 
 Bucer acknowledges, that as there was a definitive 
 disagreement between the parties respecting the sac- 
 rament, himself and his friends, from a desire of peace 
 and harmony, had been induced to sign the other ar- 
 ticles, though they were not expressed with that pre* 
 cision with which they would have been, if the Helve- 
 tian theologians had drawn up their own creed. 
 
 Lastly, a modern author, though strongly prejudiced 
 en the side of the sacramentarians, owns that the Mar- 
 purg articles of concord are conceived in such terms 
 as neither Zuingle nor Oecolampadius had ever u?ed 
 before, and that that circumstance leads to a belief, 
 that Zuingle and Oecolampadius did not adhere to 
 their former sentiments. He then proceeds to say, 
 that " these divines, with the view of uniting the pro- 
 testants, agreed to sign a formulary, which, according 
 to their own way of interpreting the meaning of the. 
 words, did not contradict their real sentiments, but 
 
in 
 
 whichj however, in fact was entirely the creed of Lu 
 ther. The motive was good, but full of danger. Lu- 
 ther was more politic than he appeared to be." 
 
 Without pretending to determine which side of the 
 two was more politic, 1 may now safely leave it to the 
 diligent student of ecclesiastical history, to reflect on 
 the evidence before him, and determine for himself, 
 which was more HONEST and SINCERE. 
 
 In this place it may not be improper to mention 
 briefly some of the peculiar opinions of the great Swiss 
 reformer. 
 
 In less than a twelvemonth after the conferences at 
 Marpurg, Melancthon, in the year 1530, then present 
 at the memorable di't of Augsburg, wrote to Luther 
 in substance as follows. " Zuingle has sent hither in 
 print, his confession of faith. You w r ould say neither 
 more nor less, than that he is not in his senses. On 
 original sin and the use of the sacraments, he clearly 
 revives his old errors. On the nature of the ceremo- 
 nies he talks like a Swiss ; that is, most barbarously. 
 At one stroke he would abolish all ceremonies ; and 
 he would have no bishops : then he presses most ve- 
 hemently to obtain his favorite article on the Lord's 
 supper." 
 
 Let us now turn to that confession itself of uingle ? 
 which called forth this harsh censure from the mild, 
 pacific, candid Melancthon. 
 
 1. On original sin, he speaks to this effect ; Sin is 
 properly transgression of a law ; and " where there is 
 no law, there is no transgression." Our great ancestor 
 sinned ; but which of us meddled with the forbidden 
 fruit ? There is then no denying that original sin, as 
 it exists in us the descendants of Adam, is not proper- 
 ly sin. It is a disease ; it is a condition. It may be 
 called sin, but it is not so in strictness of speech. 
 Thus a perfidious enemy when taken in war may de- 
 serve, to be made a slave. His children also become 
 slaves, but the fault was in the father. The children 
 are not to blame ; yet they suffer for the sin of their 
 father; and if you choose to denominate their state of 
 slavery sin, because by sin they were brought into that 
 
713 
 
 state, I shall not object. It is however in this sense 
 that we are by nature the children of wrath. 
 
 2. The sacraments, he affirms, do not confer grace, 
 but are public testimonies'given to the church, of the 
 previous existence of grace. 
 
 3. He allows, that such ceremonies as are not found- 
 ed in superstition, nor are contrary to the word of 
 God, may be tolerated, till the Day-star shall become 
 more and more bright ; but that even these had better 
 be abolished, provided it can be done without giving 
 great offence. 
 
 4. He grants there ought to be MINISTERS of the 
 Word to instruct the people, and to comfort, and to 
 alarm them, also to baptize and to celebrate the Lord's 
 supper ; but as to the whole tribe of mitred bishops, 
 he looks on them as born to consume the fruits of the 
 earth ; and to be in the church of Christ, precisely 
 what wens and swellings are in the human body. 
 
 5. Zuingle's ideas concerning princes and magis- 
 trates merit peculiar attention. They are to be obey- 
 ed, says he, when they discharge their offices with 
 wisdom and justice. But should they abuse their au- 
 thority, in that case, if the tyrant was legally appoint- 
 ed, the Christian must obey him till he has an oppor- 
 tunity of putting in practice St. Paul's rule, " If thou 
 inayst be free, use it rather." The opportunity how- 
 ever, should, I think, be clearly pointed out by God p 
 and not by man ; as clearly, for example, as when Saul 
 was rejected to give place to David. 
 
 The two grand instruments of the reformation on 
 the continent, during the period which we are now re- 
 viewing, were undoubtedly Zuingle and Luther; and 
 the pious student of their history has now before him, 
 I conceive, sufficient materials, whereby to judge for 
 himself of their integrity, their talents, and their DE- 
 FECTS. On the authority of the learned translator of 
 Mosheim, I had imagined for many years that Zuin- 
 gle, " instead of receiving instruction from Luther, was 
 much his superior in learning, capacity, and judg- 
 ment, and much fitter to be his master than his disci- 
 glev j> Beausobre^ I wr^. was the first who induced 
 
714 
 
 me to suspect this representation ; not, however, by 
 opp',:-ii)g the sentiments of Maclane, but by support- 
 ing them with numerous instances of blind partiality 
 towards Zuingle, and not a few most uncandid and 
 even abusive censures of Luther. To point out sim- 
 ply the prepossessions of historians who have so many 
 opportunities of directing the sentiments of mankind, 
 must be deemed a just and commendable precau.i< a 
 for the protection of truth , but to aim at conjeetui s 
 respecting the causes of their prepossessions may s<;< >n 
 invidious and unnecessary. On historical questions, 
 however, where pure religion is concerned, one may 
 be allowed, perhaps, to make general observations of 
 great practical consequence ; such as, 1st, That men 
 of LITTLE or NO RELIGION, rarely, or never judge fair- 
 ly in such questions; and therefore a believer is not 
 to expect an equitable sentence from infidels, scep- 
 tics, or atheists : And SMly, That persons who profess 
 some sort of belief in the gospel, and have yet very er- 
 roneous views of its doctrines, are usually possessed 
 with strong prejudices against those who hold the faith 
 in orthodox purity and simplicity. For, till the human 
 h^art be effectually humbled by God's grace to re- 
 ceive the gospel terms of reconciliation with thankful- 
 n'.'S- und submission of soul, it always harbors an un- 
 happy opposition to the covenant of grace in Christ 
 Jesus ; that is, it remains ignorant of God's righteous- 
 ness, and,like the Jews, going about to establish their 
 own righteousness, it does not submit to the righteous- 
 ness of God. The effect of such erroneous views is^ 
 that these nominal Christians, not only oppose the 
 DOCTRINE to which they have not yet been brought to 
 submit, but also thoroughly dislike, and are violently 
 prejudiced against all those who receive it and value 
 it as the one thing needful. This is the true key for 
 understanding rightly a thousand prepossessions, aver- 
 sions, and misrepresentations which we meet with in 
 authors, and which on any other ground are utterly 
 unaccountable. 
 
 I need not dissemble that numerous passages in the 
 writings of Beausobre, convince me that he is no 
 
715 
 
 warm advocate for the great protestant doctrine of j 
 tification by (aith. In one place, for example, upo ; a 
 strong declaration by Melancthon, reco ded in his o--va 
 hand writing, respecting the importance of that Chris- 
 tian article of doctrine, which asserts the efficacy of 
 the merits of Christ without human works, he ventures 
 to suggest that the passage was PERHAPS Luther's; 
 and he afterwards adds, that one may hence learn how 
 OBSTINATELY they were at that lime attached to the 
 (K>:iririf? of justification by faith. I scarcely need ob- 
 serve, that those who hold this precious article of faith 
 in die sense which Luther held it, and in which the 
 church of England now holds it, never speak of it in 
 this mariner. 
 
 From Melancthon's report of the conferences at 
 Marpurg, I collect, that it was one of the first public 
 objections of Luther to Zuingle, that the Swiss refor- 
 mer and his adherents were riot accustomed, in their 
 religious instructions, to say much concerning the 
 scriptural method of justification ; which, as Luiher 
 maintained, rendered it probable, that the peculiar 
 and essential doctrine of the gospel was hardly known 
 to them. On the whole, I believe, all dispassionate 
 judges will be disposed to allow that these researches 
 fully warrant the following conclusions- 
 
 1. That the sacramental controversy did no good to 
 Zuingle's temper, and much harm to Luther's. 
 
 2. That in the heat and haste of contention, Zuin- 
 gle sometimes sank the efficacy both of baptism and 
 of the Lord's supper below the true scriptural standard, 
 and represented them as mere tokens or badges of 
 Christian society and connexion. Bucer,his own friend 
 and advocate, whose testimony is therefore decisive, 
 expressly allows this. Let us however, in one instance 
 hear Zuingle himself. " You have celebrated 'he 
 Lord's supper ; therefore you belong to the society of 
 Christians.'' " The cup which we use in giving 
 thanks, what is it else, but a mark of our society and 
 connexion ?" In other places he represents the Lord's 
 supper, as implying nothing but a mere u COMMEMO- 
 HATiOiN ;" which at best is a loose and ambiguous way 
 of speaking. 
 
716 
 
 3. That Zuingle in the article oT original sin, prob* 
 ably was never completely orthodox, and that in re- 
 gard to the fundamental doctrine of justification by 
 faith, though he seems always to have admitted it dis~ 
 tinctly in theory, yet he by no means made that prac- 
 tical use of it which Luther and his disciples did. In 
 effect, his time and thoughts were for years, almost 
 entirely taken up with the sacramental controversy, 
 and with disputes respecting baptism. On the con- 
 trary, Luther, though harrassed with controversy be- 
 yond example, appears to have lived every hour of his 
 life "by faith on the Son of God." The great doc- 
 trine of justification appears uppermost in all his vo- 
 luminous writings : it was the support of his own soul 
 in all his troubles ; and we find him constantly incul- 
 cating jt from the press and the pulpit, in all his 
 conversations, and in his most private letters. This 
 part of the religious character of Luther is not relish- 
 ed by many. They suppose he carried his notions 
 too far. 
 
 4. That on the duties of Christian subjects, and al- 
 so on questions relative to ecclesiastical polity, there 
 was a still greater difference between the Saxon and 
 the Helvetian reformers. Obey and suffer, was Lu- 
 ther's motto in general ; whereas the obedience of 
 Zuingle, we have seen, hung on a very slender thread. 
 
 Both these champions of the reformation passed 
 much of their lives in the midst of active, tumultuous, 
 perilous scenes ; and both of them met with great 
 provocations from the anabaptists. What room could 
 there be for the private, tranquil exercises of religion ; 
 or even, for the study and practice of pastoral care and 
 instruction ? It happens, however, that the writings of 
 J^uther abound in these things. His devotion never 
 flags. Ever aware of the wiles of Satan, and well 
 skilled in the use of Christian armor, his dependance 
 both for himself and his people is always and altogeth- 
 er on the grace of God; yet his vigilance in superin-, 
 tending the Saxon churches is as incessant as if their 
 spiritual improvement depended on himself. The 
 comparison in this point, grounded on documents in 
 
717 
 
 existence, is unquestionably very much to the advan- 
 tage of the Saxon reformer. 
 
 There was that in Martin Luther, which required 
 great and magnificent objects, attended with difficul- 
 ties, dangers, and perplexities, to call forth those ex- 
 ertions of wisdom, courage, and perseverance, for 
 which he is so justly celebrated. I may add, also, 
 my entire conviction that internal trials and distress of 
 mind greatly improved his character ; they made him 
 a more humble Christian, and a more skilful adviser 
 in spiritual things ; and if Zuingle had experienced 3, 
 similar afflictive discipline, though perhaps he did not 
 stand in need of that chastisement so much as Luther 
 did, 1 uippose we should have heard abundantly more 
 of his personal sufferings and lamentations on account 
 of the deceitfulness of sin, the delusions of Satan, the 
 workings of inward corruptions, and above all, of those 
 hidings of God's face and that darkness of soul, which 
 the most godly persons always represent as their griev- 
 ous and intolerable calamity. 
 
 CHAPTERX. 
 
 A Concise View of the Condition of the Protestants a 
 little before Hie Diet of Spires. 
 
 1. Persecutions. 2. Rupture between Charles V. and the Pope. ~ 
 3. Diet of Spires in 1529. -4. Protest of the Reformers. 
 5. Meetings of the Protestants. 6. Diet of Augsburg. 
 
 JL HE progress of Divine knowledge, the genuine con- 
 version of souls, and the abolition of abominable su- 
 perstitions, were carried on with no great interrup- 
 tion for the space of ten years, and upwards ; that is, 
 till the year 1529, reckoning from the year 1517, when 
 Luther, unable to smother his indignation, first raised 
 his voice against Tetzel, the impudent vender of in- 
 dulgences, and at the same time pointed out the Ro- 
 man pontiff himself as the leading culprit in that ini- 
 quitous traffic. The success of the gospel, if we ex> 
 
71 # 
 
 eept the apostolic age, was perhaps in this period un- 
 exaoipled. Even in Italy, in a town called Fayenza, 
 we are told by fattier Paul, that there was public 
 preaching against the church of Rome, and that pro- 
 testantism increased every day. 
 
 1. Persecutions. 
 
 We are however not to forget, that notwithstanding 
 the blessed influence of the written word, persons, 
 who openly avowed their convictions of the truth, 
 were miserably exposed to persecution in all those 
 places where either the civil or the ecclesiastical ru- 
 ler happened to be an active and zealous Roman 
 catholic. The catalogue of the sufferers is very con- 
 siderable. It may however suffice to add, to the in- 
 stances already noticed at page 689, a few others of 
 the most remarkable case?. 
 
 In 1527, a Bohemian woman, after a confinement 
 of almost a whole year, was cast into the flames, on 
 account of two crimes laid to her charge. 
 
 1. That by denying the corporeal presence of Christ's 
 natural body, she had blasphemed the sacrament of 
 the altar. 
 
 2. That she had been rebaplized by John Kalens. 
 The wooden cup which Kalens had used in the ad- 
 ministration of the Lord's supper, was burnt along 
 with this heretic. 
 
 Sometimes the evangelical preachers, when pro- 
 scribed by papal cruelty, fled from their habitations 
 to save their lives. There is on record an admirable 
 consolatory letter of Oecolampadius, written in 1528, 
 to two persons of this sort then in exile. " It would 
 move a heart of adamant," says he, "my dear breth- 
 ren, to think of your flocks thus deprived of their faith- 
 ful shepherds, dispersed and exposed to the wolves: 
 then to see the adversaries triumphing and glorying in 
 their iniquity ; and the weaker brethren, who were on 
 the very eve of renouncing popery, suddenly alarmed, 
 and apprehensive of a similar treatment. Add to this, 
 the dangers,the ignominy, the distresses of exile, which 
 are sometimes more grievous than death itself* For.- 
 
exiles undergo a daily death. However, when we re* 
 fleet that God is faithful, and will not tempt us above 
 what we are able to bear, but will regulate every thing 
 according to the strength which he is pleased to give, 
 this consideration supplies an abundance of substan- 
 tial consolation. Be assured, the Holy Ghost, who 
 has anointed you for this contest, will not fail to pre- 
 serve you from fainting in the afflictions which ye un- 
 dergo for the truth. Moreover, your silence during 
 your proscription, speaks louder by much to the hearts 
 of God's children, than ever your most animated ser- 
 mons could do. Your present firmness fixes an invio- 
 lable seal on the doctrines you have been teaching 
 with so much piety. The blood of Abel has a voice; 
 and so has your persecution a tongue. Away then 
 with cowardice and lamentation. Happy the man 
 who is ''conformed to the image of the crucified Sav- 
 ior, whom we preach. Christ knows his sheep ; he 
 will preserve them from the jaws of the wolf; and the 
 exultation of the hypocrites will be but for a mo- 
 ment. 5 ' 
 
 Joachim, the elector of Brandenburg, distinguished 
 himself at this time in persecuting the Lutherans. 
 This bigoted prince had confined for some days in her 
 chamber, on account of her attachment to the gospel, 
 his own wife Elizabeth, the sister of the aforemention- 
 ed exiled king of Denmark ; and was intending to im- 
 mure her perpetually ; when by the help of her bro- 
 ther, she effected a wonderful escape from Berlin ; 
 was conveyed in the waggon of a peasant, and hospi- 
 tably received by the elector of Saxony. 
 
 The duchess 'of Munsterberg, also, named Ursula, 
 had this year a most miraculous escape from the ma- 
 nastery of Friburg ; and fled with two virgins to Lu- 
 ther for protection. This was a most mortifying event 
 to George of Saxony; for this duchess was his own 
 cousin. 
 
 In France, the persecutions were dreadful. The pa- 
 pists persuaded the king, that all the misfortunes with 
 which the country was afflicted, were owing to the 
 mischievous Lutheran hejresy. In consequence, the 
 
720 
 
 Kiost sanguinary laws were solemnly decreed against 
 Lutheranism, and every one who could be proved lo 
 favor the doctrine, was treated as a blasphemer. Yet 
 this same prince, Francis I. notwithstanding the zeal 
 with which his catholic clergy availed to inspire him, 
 had no objection, for the purpose of more effectually 
 serving his political schemes, to endeavor by the me- 
 dium of his ambassadors, to promote in Switzerland 
 that very reformation of religion, which he was labor- 
 ing to expel from his own kingdom by fire and sword, 
 Zuingle, in a letter to Oecolampadius tells us, that the 
 royal ambassadors of France pressed the five catholic 
 cantons of Switzerland to allow the word of God to 
 be preached among them, according to the system of 
 the reformers. 
 
 In North Holland, a widow, named Wendelmut, was 
 seized on account of her religion, carried to the Hague, 
 and there strangled, and afterwards burnt to ashes. 
 On her examination concerning the mass, she answer- 
 ed, " It was a piece of bread ;" and in regard to the 
 images and pictures of saints, she confessed she knew 
 of no other mediator but Jesus Christ. To one that 
 told her, she did not fear death because she had not 
 tasted it, this widow replied, " I shall never taste it : 
 for Christ has said, If any man keep my sayings, he 
 shall never see death." She was then advised to con- 
 fess her sins to a priest ; upon which she cried aloud, 
 " I have confessed all my sins to Christ my Lord, who 
 takes away all sin. But if I have offended my neigh- 
 bors, I heartily ask their forgiveness." She then went 
 to the place of execution with meekness and courage* 
 
 It is said, that some of the Moravian brethren, as 
 well as other pious persons of those times, were bap- 
 tized a second time ; and this, not as proselytes of an- 
 abaptisin, but merely because they could then see no 
 other way of separating themselves from a wicked 
 world. And we may observe in general, that it is not 
 al \vays easy to distinguish, in the accounts of the an- 
 aba* Hist martyrs, who were truly humble Christians. 
 We cannot however doubt of the REALITY of the suf- 
 ferings of the unfortunate victims^ when the facts are 
 
721 
 
 distinctly recorded with triumph by the Romish his- 
 torians themselves. On this ground it is, that I select 
 from Cocklaeus who otherwise is rarely to be trusted 
 in any question respecting the reformers the follow- 
 ing testimonies of the execrable barbarity of the pa- 
 pists. " At Rotenberg by the river Neckar," says this 
 fiery zealot, " many of the anabaptists, both men and 
 women, were apprehended ; and all put to death who 
 refused to recant their errors. Nine men were burnt : 
 Ten women were drowned. But their leader and 
 teacher, Michael Sellarius, an apostate monk, who 
 was by far the greatest offender, was condemned in a 
 public court of judicature, to have his blasphemous 
 tongue cut out by the executioner; to be tied to a 
 curricle, and to have two pieces of his flesh torn from 
 his body in the market place, by red hot pincers; 
 then to be torn again afterwards in the same manner 
 by the hot pincers five times on the road, as he was 
 dragged to the burning pile." This sentence, the au- 
 thor tells us, was executed on the 17th of May, 1527 : 
 and he proceeds to exclaim what a grievous deceiver 
 Sellarius had been ; and among other things mentions 
 his teaching of the people not to invoke saints ; but 
 not one word escapes this malignant and bigoted his- 
 torian, concerning the firmness, patience, or piety of 
 the martyr. 
 
 At Tournay, in Flanders, in] 1528, an Augustine 
 monk, named Henry, was condemned to the flames, 
 for having thrown off his dress, married a wife, and 
 preached against popery. The bishop's official told 
 him, he might save his life, if he would but own that 
 the woman he had married was his concubine. But 
 he, refusing to lengthen his days on such terms, prais- 
 ed God by singing Te Deum, and soon after cheerful- 
 ly finished his course in the fire. 
 
 2. Rupture between Charles V. and the Pope. 
 
 Notwithstanding these dreadful narratives which 
 sufficiently demonstrate the cruel and unrelenting hos- 
 tility of the papal hierarchy, there is no doubt but the 
 violence of the war between Francis I. and the empe- 
 4 T 
 
ror, as also the dissensions between the emperor and! 
 the pope, proved extremely favorable to the progress 
 of the reformation. For though the spirit of persecu- 
 tion was not in the least abated, yet it spent its chief 
 fury on such defenceless individuals as happened to 
 fall into the cruel hands of some bigoted ruler, eccle- 
 siastic or civil. The three potentates above mention- 
 ed were themselves beset with too many difficulties in 
 their political affairs to give much serious and steady 
 attention to the business of religion. Add, that their 
 respective interests were often so opposite and per- 
 plexed, as entirely to exclude all amicable concur- 
 rence in the formation of any general plan for the ex- 
 tirpation of heresy. In effect, it is by reflecting on 
 these jarring interests, with an overruling Providence 
 constantly in the mind, that we are enabled in some 
 measure to account not only for the mild decree of 
 the diet of Spires in 1526, but also for the inefficiency 
 of the succeeding attempts of the great papal powers 
 to stifle the revival of Christian truth and liberty. The 
 pope, no doubt, was sincere in his desires to crush ev- 
 ery symptom of growing protestantism, but ,Charles V. 
 had neilher leisure nor inclination to gratify the wish- 
 es of a pontiff who had so lately entered into an alli- 
 ance against him with the French and the Venetians. 
 The religion of this prince, as far as it was real, is sup- 
 posed to have been Roman catholic ; but whatever it 
 was, he never suffered it to interfere with his ambi- 
 tious schemes of secular aggrandizement. Even the 
 pope himself ceased to have the least influence with 
 him, the moment the politics of the court of Rome ap- 
 peared to thwart those of his imperial majesty. On 
 the other hand the principles of Clement VII. were 
 in no degree better. Under the pretence that hard 
 and unjust terms had been extorted from the king of 
 France while a prisoner in Spain, Clement at once 
 * absolved him from the oath by which he was bound 
 to execute the treaty of Madrid, and sent a person 
 both to congratulate him on his deliverance from cap- 
 tivity, and to settle a treaty against Charles ; and last- 
 ly, he dispatched a brieve to the emperor, full of ac- 
 cusation, invective, and menace. 
 
723 
 
 This proceeding of Clement VII. inflamed the re- 
 sentment of the emperor to such a degree, that he 
 abolished the authority of the Roman pontiff through- 
 out all his Spanish dominions, made war upon him 
 in Italy, laid siege to Rome, and blocked up Clement 
 himself in the castle of St. Angeio, where he was re- 
 duced to the extremity of feeding on asses' flesh, and 
 at length was compelled to capitulate on severe terms, 
 and to remain a prisoner until the chief articles were 
 performed. 
 
 Such in brief were the important consequences of 
 that confederacy which has been termed the HOLY 
 LEAGUE, because the pope was at the head of it. The 
 DETAIL of the war we leave to the secular historians, 
 having no concern with victories or defeats, diminu- 
 tions or extensions of empire; or with the ambitious 
 plans and schemes which produce them, any further 
 than as these things frequently affect the interests of 
 the gospel, lay open the secret motives of the princi- 
 pal actors, and thereby explain a number of circum- 
 stances otherwise utterly inexplicable, in the history 
 of the church of Christ. 
 
 Therefore, with these objects in view, we judge it 
 expedient to give some account of two memorable 
 letters, which the emperor thought fit to write, one 
 of them to the pope himself, the other to his cardinals 
 at Rome, before he came to an absolute rupture with 
 Clement VII. 
 
 1. In the former, he accuses the pope of ingratitude, 
 putting him in mind that it was by his assistance he 
 had been raised to the pontifical chair. " The king of 
 England," he said, " had been called the PROTECTOR 
 of the Holy League ; whereas that monarch had as- 
 sured him in his letters, that he neither had, nor would 
 accept that title, though the pope had pressed him to 
 do so. The kin * of France, moreover, made no scru- 
 ple to own publicly, that before he returned from 
 Madrid to his own country, he had been urged by the 
 pope to enter into the new alliance ; and the empe- 
 ror added, that he knew the pope had absolved him 
 from the oath by which he was bound, either to ob- 
 serve the articles of peace, or return Jo his captivity. 
 
724 
 
 He then proceeds to put his holiness in mind, that 
 the pope of Rome received more money from the sub- 
 jects of his imperial highness, than from all the other 
 kings of Christendom put together. That a judgment 
 might be formed of the magnitude of those annual 
 receipts from the hundred grievances which had been 
 presented to his court by the Germanic body: that, as 
 emperor, such had always been his devotion and rev- 
 erence for the apostolic see, he had hitherto forborne 
 to listen to the complaints of his German subjects: but 
 that if, for good reasons he should be driven to with- 
 hold those revenues, then the pope would no longer 
 possess the golden keys which open and shut the gates 
 of war, he would no longer be allowed to carry on hos- 
 tilities against the emperor with the money which be- 
 longed to the subjects of hf imperial highness, for 
 it would certainly be more just for the emperor to ap- 
 ply that money to the purposes of his own defence. 
 
 Charles V. then concludes, by roundly telling the 
 pope, that if he was still determined to go on with the 
 war, and would not listen to the reasons he had al- 
 leged, he should look upon him as acting not the part 
 of a father, but of the head of a faction ; not of a pas- 
 tor, but of an invader of the just rights of sovereigns. 
 This, he said, was his ultimatum, and he should ap- 
 peal to a general council of the whole Christian world. 
 
 2. In his letter addressed to the college of car- 
 dinals, Charles, with much parade, insists on the puri- 
 ty of his intentions, his great moderation, and contin- 
 ued endeavors to establish peace and tranquillity. 
 " How shocked then, arid how disgusted," he said, 
 " must any one be to read the brieve which had been 
 delivered to him by the nuncio, and had the sanction 
 of so eminent a pontiff and of so many pious and 
 Christian fathers. It was evidently written for the ex- 
 press purpose of vilifying and degrading the emperor 
 who was the protector of the apostolic see. It breath- 
 ed nothing but war, sedition, false and injurious ac- 
 cusations against himself; and yet there was not any 
 prince who so much respected the holy see, or defen- 
 ded its dignity with so disinterested a care. It was 
 
725 
 
 his innate reverence for the Roman hierarchy, which 
 had induced him, when he was at the diet of Worms, 
 to turn A DEAF EAR to all the importunate complaints 
 and petitions of the Germans. In effect, by the steps 
 he had taken to serve the pope, he had in some meas- 
 ure alienated the minds of his German subjects, par- 
 ticularly by forbidding, under a heavy penalty, the in- 
 tended assembly of the princes at Spires. He had 
 prohibited that convention because he foresaw such 
 a meeting would prove disadvantageous to the 
 pope ; arid to soothe the minds of the princes under 
 their disappointment, he had then given them hopes 
 of having a general council in a short time. He had 
 explained all these things with great care to the pope, 
 and had admonished him to call a council, He con- 
 cluded this address to the cardinals, with requesting 
 them to concur with himself in putting Clement VII. 
 in mind of his duty, and in exhorting him to preserve 
 the peace of Christendom, which good purpose would 
 be best effected by the convocation of a general coun- 
 cil without further delay. 
 
 Then, if the pope should persist in refusing to hear 
 reason, the emperor called on the cardinals themselves 
 to come forward, and in their own name summon the 
 council which was so much wanted. And lastly, if the 
 reverend fathers should oppose his equitable requisi- 
 tion, he told them, he himself would not fail to use 
 such remedies as God had put in his power, for the 
 protection of religion and the tranquillity of Christen- 
 dom. 
 
 Charles V. in his indignation against Clement, pub- 
 lished these manifestos, and did every thing he could 
 to give notoriety to his complaints. The German 
 protestants also most industriously dispersed the same. 
 And we need not wonder that such extraordinary do- 
 cuments should have been read with great eager- 
 ness. What could those who well remembered the 
 emperor's solemn declarations, both at Worms, and on 
 other occasions, against Lutheranism, now think of his 
 religion or conscience, when they heard him confess 
 that he had stopped his ears against the honest prayers 
 
726 
 
 of Germany, merely to please the pope ? Who would 
 scruple to say, that having betrayed the interests of 
 his imperial subjects, he could in his own turn expect 
 no better than to be betrayed by an unprincipled pon- 
 tiff? 
 
 No more needs be said to convince thinking per- 
 sons of the effects which must have been produced on 
 the public mind by these manifestos of the emperor. 
 Full as acrimonious and reproachful as the bitterest in- 
 vectives of Luther, they not only emboldened men, af- 
 ter the example of Charles, to treat the pope with lit- 
 tle reverence, but also lowered exceedingly the credit 
 of the whole dominant ecclesiastical establishment, 
 and of all its most strenuous supporters. The publi- 
 cation of them had in effect divulged a dangerous se- 
 cret, by many indeed sufficiently known before, yet 
 did it require extraordinary confidence in Charles, to 
 make a public avowal, which in substance, though not 
 in words, amounted to a confession " That reverence 
 towards the pope was no more than an art of govern- 
 ment covered with the cloak of religion." The disclo- 
 sure of so much political manoeuvre and defective mo- 
 rality did more than counterbalance all that he had 
 hitherto done against the reformers, whose conduct, 
 ever marked by ingenuousness and plain dealing, ap- 
 peared a PERFECT CONTRAST to all this duplicity, arti- 
 fice, and inconsistency. 
 
 If the contention and animosity of two such unprin- 
 cipled potentates as the pope and the emperor, thus 
 operated in 1526 at the diet of Spires to check the per- 
 secuting spirit of the Romanists, and to prevent any 
 systematic attempt to exterminate the proiestants, it 
 required no great foresight to predict the lamentable 
 consequences of their union or alliance. To their last- 
 ing shame be it recorded, that the moment a prospect 
 opened for the accommodation of their own respec- 
 tive political differences, both Clement VII, and 
 Charles V. concurred in wreaking their united 'ven- 
 geance on the defenders of the sacred cause of reli- 
 gion and liberty.* 
 
 * The pope and Charles V. concluded a treaty of peace at Barcelona. June 
 30, 1529. 
 
727 
 
 5. Another Diet at Spires in 1529. 
 
 The decree of the diet of Spires was equivalent to a 
 toleration of Luther's opinions in all the states where 
 those opinions were approved by their respective gov- 
 ernors or magistrates ; but in 1529 a new diet was as- 
 sembled at the same place, when the said decree was, 
 by a majority of suffrages, so far revoked, as to forbid 
 all further propagation of novel opinions in religion. 
 Those who had observed the execution of the edict 
 of Worms, were ordered to continue the execution of 
 it. Those who had changed their religious system, 
 and could not without danger of sedition revert to the 
 ancient usages, were to be quiet, and make no further 
 innovation till the meeting of a council. The cele- 
 bration of mass was not to be obstructed in any place 
 whatever ; and lastly, the anabaptists were proscribed 
 in the severest terms, and made subject to capital 
 punishments. 
 
 The motives of Clement in this business were suffi- 
 ciently intelligible. A pope of Rome, in peace or in 
 war, confined and starved in a castle, or reseated iu 
 the chair of St. Peter issuing brieves and bulls for the 
 terror of Christendom, never loses sight of his grand 
 object, the maintenance of his supreme and despotic 
 jurisdiction : well aware, that should that be in the 
 Jeast impaired, the whole edifice of the pontifical au- 
 thority would be thereby at once endangered. 
 
 The precise views of Charles V. in urging the harsh 
 decree of this diet, may admit of some doubt. Per- 
 haps he thereby hoped to attach firmly to his inter- 
 ests, or at least to sooth and gratify the pope, whose 
 sacred character he had lately insulted with so many 
 indignities. Perhaps he held the new doctrines as 
 leading to close and durable confederacies in Ger- 
 many, which might eventually weaken the imperial 
 authority. Or he might imagine, that a resolute, 
 well timed, and rigorous exertion of authority, would 
 prove useful both for the protection and extension of 
 his prerogatives, several of which, he would naturally 
 suppose, were not much relished by a bold and turbu- 
 
lent race of people, of whom almost one half had al- 
 ready revolted from the papal domination. These, it 
 must be owned, are only conjectures ; but we are SURE 
 that the ambition of this prince was restless, insatiable, 
 and constantly impelling him, both to narrow the pow- 
 er of the Roman see, and also to encroach on the lib- 
 erties of his German subjects. He had abundantly 
 satisfied his revenge in the late humiliation of Cle- 
 ment ; yet he siill menaced that pontiff with the pros- 
 pect of an impending general council : and in regard 
 to the Germans, he certainly looked on their domestic 
 troubles and divisions as in the main extremely favor- 
 able to his arbitrary and despotic intention. This 
 monarch was what the world calls a great politician ; 
 but not what the scripture describes as a good man. 
 His understanding became vitiated by his inordinate 
 thirst after dominion, and by his unexampled pros- 
 perity ; insomuch, that notwithstanding all his natural 
 good sense, and all his experience, he was frequently 
 the dupe of his own intricate schemes and projects. 
 
 4. Protest of the Reformers. 
 
 Iniquitous as was the decree of the second diet of 
 Spires, it would doubtless have been much more rigor- 
 ous and oppressive, if Charles had not been still at war 
 with the French and his inveterate rival Francis I. The 
 recess of this diet is dated in April ; and the peace of 
 Cambray between the emperor and the king of France 
 was not concluded till the succeeding August. 
 
 Fourteen imperial citiest with the elector of Saxo- 
 ny, the marquis of Brandenburg, the dukes of Lunen- 
 burg and the prince of Anhalt at,their head, in firm but 
 moderate language solemnly PROTESTED against the 
 decree of the diet, as unjust and intolerable, and in 
 every way calculated to produce discontent and tu- 
 mult. Hence arose for the first time the denomination 
 of PROTESTANTS,* an honorable appellation, which; 
 
 } The names of the cities are, Strasburg, Nuremberg-, Ulm, Constance, 
 Reutlingen, Windsheim, Meinengen, Lindaw, Kempten, Hailbron, Isna, 
 Weissemberg, Nordlingen and St. Gal. 
 
 * This term, on account of its convenient use, has been frequently-anticipated 
 in the course of this history. 
 
729 
 
 not only in Germany, but other nations, is given to all 
 those sects of Christians who renounce the supersti- 
 tious Romish communion. 
 
 The protestant princes and protectors of the reform- 
 ed churches were not satisfied with merely expressing 
 their dissent from the decree of the diet; they also 
 drew up all their grievances in form ; and appealed to 
 the emperor and to a future general council, or to a 
 lawful Germanic council, and to all impartial judges. 
 Lastly, they fixed upon ambassadors, whom they di- 
 rected to lay all their proceedings before his imperi-il 
 majesty. Charles had not been present at the late 
 diet, but had received from his brother Ferdinand, who 
 had there presided in his place, an exact account of 
 all that passed ; and having at length concluded a 
 peace with France, was now in Italy on his road to 
 Bologna. 
 
 The German ambassadors were introduced to him 
 at Placentia, and there they executed their commis- 
 sion with a spirit and resolution worthy of the princes 
 whom they represented. Nothing however could be 
 more discouraging than the reception they met with 
 from this haughty monarch, whose vain mind was now 
 
 guffed up with a series of extraordinary successes. 
 y a message, delivered to the deputies three days 
 before they were admitted into his presence, he ad- 
 monished them to be brief in what they had to say ; 
 and on their introduction he repeated the same admo- 
 nition. Afterwards, when he had heard their objec- 
 tions to the decree, and they had vraited a full month 
 for his answer, he told them, "that he exceedingly la- 
 mented their divisions ; but nevertheless insisted on 
 obedience to the decree which was passed for the pur- 
 pose of putting an end to the mischievous sects of 
 every description. He had written, he said, to the 
 elector of Saxony and his associates, and had com- 
 manded them in conformity to their oaths, to obey the 
 decree of the diet ; and if they were refractory, he 
 should be compelled, for the sake of example and good 
 government, to punish such contumacy with severity. 
 He asserted, that himself and the rest of the prince? 
 4 v 
 
730 
 
 regarded the peace of their consciences and the sal- 
 vation of their souls, as much as the protestants could 
 do ; and moreover, that he was also as desirous of a 
 general council as they could be, though, said he ? 
 there would not be much occasion for it, provided (he 
 lawful decrees of the diet, especially that of Worms, 
 were duly enforced." 
 
 On receiving this answer, the ambassadors produced 
 the act of appeal, as it had been drawn up at Spires; 
 but Charles's minister for some time refused to deliv- 
 er it to his master ; and afterwards when he had ven- 
 tured to present lhaf spirited memorial, the monarch's 
 pride was so severely wounded by this instance of op- 
 position to his will, that in a rage he ordered the Ger- 
 man ambassadors to be put under an arrest for some 
 days ; and, on pain of death, neither to stir a foot from 
 their apartments, nor write a line to the protestant 
 piinces. 
 
 5. Meetings of the Protestants. 
 
 The account of this contemptuous and violent pro- 
 cedure of Charles V. soon found its way to Nurem- 
 berg, and convinced the protestant party that it was 
 high time for them to consult for their protection 
 against a powerful potentate intoxicated with success, 
 and irritated by opposition. Then, whatever hopes 
 they might place in foreign assistance, it was plain 
 that little was to be done without unanimity at home. 
 The papal adherents had for a long time been well 
 aware of this ; and at the diet of Spires had employ- 
 ed two of their most able and artful agmts, Eckius, 
 and Faber bishop of Vienna, to exert their utmost ef- 
 forts in widening the breach between the disciples of 
 Luther and of Zuingle. On the other side, the good 
 landgrave of Hesse, both at Spires and afterwards at 
 Marpurg, exhausted all the means which human pru- 
 dence could suggest, to bring about, if possible, be- 
 tween the contending parties, an accommodation of 
 so much importance, in the present struggle for deliv- 
 erance from the yoke of superstition and ecclesiaticai 
 despotism. 
 
731 
 
 In effect, the heads of the protestants, even white 
 they were in suspense respecting the emperor's answer 
 to their embassy, were so much alarmed at the ia!e 
 decree of Spires, that for the wise purpose of enlarg- 
 ing and cementing a defensive confederacy, they had 
 a solemn conference at Roth in the monih of June; 
 and, moreover, at Nuremberg they drew up certain 
 articles of their intended alliance. 
 
 In the succeeding October they met again at Sultz- 
 bach; and upon hearing of the severe treatment of 
 their ambassadors at Placentia, they again assembled 
 about the end of November at Smalcaid ; and lastly 
 once more at Nuremberg early in the January of the 
 succeeding year, 1530. 
 
 All these deliberations, owing to the various and jar- 
 ring sentiments of the deputies, failed of producing 
 the desirable issue. However the sacramentarian dis- 
 sention, exasperated by the incurable obstinacy of 
 Luther, appears to have been the principal, though 
 perhaps not the only obstruction to unanimity. The 
 tender conscience of the elector of Saxony rendered 
 this prince averse to a military confederacy, even of 
 defence, which might seem formed ki opposition to the 
 legitimate government of the country. His scruples 
 are well known to have originated from Luther, who 
 a little before the convention at Smalca d, exhorted 
 him in the strongest terms not to think of u-iijg force 
 against the emperor in the defence of religion. In Ins 
 arguments he was supported by Melancthon and Bu- 
 genhagius, 
 
 At Nuremberg, in January, the deputies had almost 
 resolved to send a new and more respectable embas- 
 sy to his imperial majesty ; but the assembly was very 
 thinly attended, and as it was understood that the 
 emperor would soon summon another diet of all the 
 Germanic princes and orders, they abandoned their 
 first intentions, and contented themselves with com- 
 ing to this ultimate resolution that each state should 
 deliberate for itself, and within the space of a month, 
 transmit to the elector of Saxony its peculiar senti- 
 ^ in order that the protestants at so critical a jum> 
 
732 
 
 ture might act in concert both in regard to the com- 
 mon defence, and also the objects to be aimed at in 
 the ensuing diet. 
 
 6. Diet of Augsburg. 
 
 Charles V. arrived at Bologna on the fifth of No- 
 vember, 1529, and on the thirty-first of January of the 
 succeeding year, sent his mandatory letters into Ger- 
 many for the purpose of summoning a general diet of 
 the empire, to be held at Augsburg on the eighth day 
 of April. At Bologna, on the twenty-fourth of Feb- 
 ruary, his own birth-day, he was crowned with great 
 pomp by the pope himself: with whom he continued 
 to reside in the same palace till the following month 
 of March. 
 
 During the winter months, these two mighty poten- 
 tates had held many consultations concerning the 
 state of religion in Germany, and the best methods 
 of extirpating heresy ; but their views were material- 
 ly different. The pope dreaded nothing so much as 
 general councils, which he represented as factious, 
 and, at best, slow in their operation. The case, he 
 said, was desperate, and required speedy and rigorous 
 measures: The clemency of the emperor was ill- 
 judged, and had in effect exasperated the spirit of re- 
 bellion ; and it was now incumbent on him to sup- 
 port the church, and crush the heretics by force. 
 Charles, though at this time much disposed to gratify 
 the pope, was convinced that his German subjects 
 were not to be trifled with ; and it is not improbable 
 but he might feel some compunction for having late- 
 ly exhibited so much unreasonable resentment in his 
 insolent treatment of their ambassadors at Placentia. 
 
 Whether the mind of the emperor really revolted at 
 the iniquitous suggestion of condemning the honest 
 protestants unheard, and of putting an end at once to 
 their political existence, it may be hard to say ; cer- 
 tain it is, that in the conferences with the pope at Bo- 
 logna, whatever approached in the least degree to 
 moderation and impartiality ; originated with Charles 
 
133 
 
 V. and not with Clement VII. The pope and his 
 whole party demonstrated by their activity in open 
 persecution, and by their secret manoeuvres which 
 have since transpired, that they sighed for the univer- 
 sal destruction of protestantism. The emperor in his 
 own judgment, there is reason to believe, deemed the 
 convocation of a council to be the proper expedient 
 at this season, but having peremptorily refused to com- 
 ply with the sanguinary proposals of the pope, he was 
 disposed so far to humor his holiness, as first to adopt 
 a less offensive measure, namely, the appointment of 
 a diet of the empire. A general council was the next 
 thing to be tried ; but it was agreed that without the 
 most urgent necessity, recourse should not be had to 
 a remedy, the mere mention of which filled the mind 
 of Clement with the most harassing apprehensions; 
 and in every event, Charles appears to have bound 
 himself by an unequivocal promise, to use the most 
 efficacious endeavors for the reduction of all the re- 
 bellious adversaries of the catholic religion. 
 
 Notwithstanding the disposition in which the em- 
 peror left Bologna, the pope had the precaution to ap- 
 point cardinal Campeggio not only as his own repre- 
 sentative and plenipotentiary at the ensuing diet, but 
 also as an honorary attendant on his imperial majesty 
 during all his journey to Augsburg: and to secure still 
 more effectually the pontifical interests, he dispatched 
 P. Vergerio as his nuncio to Ferdinand in Germany, 
 with secret instructions to consult with that prince, 
 and strain every nerve to hinder the convocation of a 
 council. Vergerio was a lawyer, and proved himself 
 well qualified for the commission with which he was 
 entrusted. He injured the Lutherans by every meth- 
 od he could devise. The exertions of the popish di- 
 vines Eckius, Faber, and Cochlseus, might undoubt- 
 edly have been depended upon ; but Vergerio thought 
 it best to ensure their activity by munificent presents. 
 This precious commissioner was likewise directed to 
 gratify king Ferdinand, by informing him that the 
 pope was ready to grant him, in support of the war 
 against the Turks, both a contribution from the.clergy 
 
184 
 
 of Germany, and also the gold and silver ornaments 
 of the churches. 
 
 Thus did the Roman pontiff, with fire and sword in 
 one hand, and artifice and corrupliori in the other, en- 
 deavor to extirpate the godly protestants ; and mean- 
 while, wilh consummate hypocrisy, express the most 
 ardent wishes for peace and harmony, and the resto- 
 ration of gospel principles in the church of Christ. 
 
 John THE CONSTANT, the excellent elector of Sax- 
 ony, was determined to procure for the protestants, if 
 possible, a fair hearing at the diet of Augsburg. And 
 with a view to prevent all loose and fugative discus- 
 sion in a business of such immense importance, and 
 also to enable any equitable judge to see distinctly 
 all the leading points of religion, which had produced 
 so many volumes of controversy, he wisely directed 
 his Wittemberg divines to draw up in a narrow com- 
 pass the heads o( that religious system, which had 
 produced the separation from the Romish commun- 
 ion. This, though an affair of considerable nicety, 
 was presently effected by Luther. For the doctrines 
 in question had already been digested into seventeen 
 articles; and had been proposed, twice in the confer- 
 ences at Sultzbach, and once in that at Srnalcald, as 
 the confession of faith to be agreed on by the protes- 
 tant confederates. These seventeen articles, with lit- 
 tle or no alteration, were delivered by Luther, at Tor- 
 gaw, to the elector then on his road to Augsburg ; and 
 served as a basis for more orderly and elaborate com- 
 position, to be exhibited at the approaching diet. 
 For the execution of a work of so great moment, the 
 protestant princes employed the elegant and accurate 
 pen of Melancthon, the result of whose labors was 3. 
 treatise, admired even by many of its enemies for its 
 piety, learning, and perspicuity. This celebrated per- 
 formance is well known under the title of the CONFES^ 
 SIGN OF AUGSBURG. 
 
 The reformation, as w r e have seen, in spite of all the 
 efforts of papal rage and malignity, had not ceased to 
 spread and prosper throughout various districts. The 
 great city of Strasburg, in the former part of 
 
could not, by all the remonstrances of the imperial re- 
 gency, be deterred from adopting the bold resolution 
 of abolishing the mass ; moreover, Count Philip of 
 Hanover, though menaced by a formidable opposi- 
 tion, introduced evangelical doctrine in the same year 
 throughout his dominions. Many instances indeed of 
 the martyrdom of godly men might be added to the 
 several catalogues already given ; but the good protes- 
 tants were accustomed to these sufferings, and bore 
 them with extraordinary patience and fortitude :* 
 however, as soon as they heard of the deplorable issue 
 of the diet of Augsburg, they justly concluded that 
 the pope and the emperor had resolved on their en- 
 tire destruction ; and they looked on the publication 
 of the new edict, which was in effect severer than that 
 of Worms, as the signal for the commencement of 
 more violent and barbarous persecutions, than any 
 they had experienced before. 
 
 The diet of Augsburg in 1530, forms a sort of era in 
 the history of the reformation; but at present we shall 
 say no more concerning it, than 1. That the Ger- 
 man princes, the magnanimous defenders of the sa- 
 cred cause, assembled at Smalcald towards the end 
 of the year, and there concluded a solemn alliance of 
 mutual defence ; and 2. That some of the most wise 
 and pious of the protestant theologians, especially Me- 
 lancthon, were so oppressed by the prospect of the 
 calamities which threatened the afflicted church of 
 Christ, that they were almost ready to abandon the 
 contest, and give themselves up to melancholy a'nd 
 lamentation. 
 
 We will conclude with an observation or two on 
 the conduct of Luther, about the time of this very 
 critical conjuncture. 
 
 1. Before the diet of Augsburg, in the year 1529, 
 while the tempest of persecution was lowering on the 
 faithful, this indefatigable servant of God was employ- 
 ed in publishing his less and greater catechism, which 
 
 * Sleidan mention* two learned divines, who were burnt at Cologne in 1529- 
 And Ab. Scultet reports from a M. S. of Bullmger, that at Rothweil, an impe- 
 rial city in Suabia, three hundred and eighty -five persons .vere driven into e^il, 
 for deserting the doctrine* f the " 
 
736 
 
 at this day are treatises of authority in the Lutheran 
 churches. In the preface to each, he deplores the ig- 
 norance of the people at large, and asserts, that those 
 who know nothing of Christian principles, ought not 
 even to be called by their name. He expatiates on 
 the utility of catechizing; recommends the frequent 
 use of it to masters of families ; cites his own example 
 of attending to the first catechetical truths for the pur- 
 pose of edification, notwithstanding the proficiency 
 which, in a course of years, he might be supposed to 
 have made; and observes, that daily reading and 
 meditation, among many other advantages, has this, 
 that a new light and unction from the holy Spirit is 
 hence, from time to time, afforded to the humble soul. 
 With such godly simplicity was Luther conversant in 
 the gospel- practice ; and so totally distinct was the 
 spiritual understanding and improvement, which he 
 desired to encourage in the church, from the mere 
 theory of trigid theological disquisition. Perhaps no 
 history since the days of the ap3stles, affords a more 
 remarkable instance of the humility and condescen- 
 sion of a primary theologian, in stooping to the infir- 
 mities of the weak, and lowering himself to the most 
 uncultivated minds, than is exhibited by the publica- 
 tion of these two catechisms. 
 
 In the sameyear,Luther accompanied Melancthon's 
 commentary on the epistle of the Colossians, with a me- 
 morable eulogiurn on the author; in which he frankly 
 declared, that he preferred the works of Melancthon to 
 his own, and was more desirous that they should be 
 read than any thing which he himself had composed. 
 " I," says he, " am born to be a rough controversialist ; 
 I clear the ground, pull up weeds, fill up ditches, and 
 smooth the roads. But to build, to plant, to sow, to 
 water, to adorn the country, belongs, by the grace of 
 God, to Melancthon." 
 
 it was a singular felicity of the infant church of 
 Saxony, that its two great luminaries, exceedingly 
 diverse as they were in temper and gifts, should have 
 been constantly united in the bonds of a strict affec- 
 tion, which never seems to have admitted the leas* 
 
737 
 
 degree of envy or jealousy. Such is the light in which 
 these two worthies are transmitted to posterity; most 
 disinterested friends, whose sole object of contention 
 was to excel each other in proofs of mutual regard ! 
 
 2. It was in the low and desponding state of the pro- 
 testant party for example, after such a lamentable 
 defeat as they had suffered at the diet of Augsburg, 
 that the spirit and character of Luther was calculated 
 to shine forth with peculiar lustre, and in its true and 
 genuine co ors. By his unwearied vigilance in su- 
 perintending the reformed churches, and by his inces- 
 sant attacks on the ecclesiastical corruptions and abu- 
 ses, he had shown to demonstration, that great and 
 continued successes had in no degree disposed him to 
 be remiss; and he now stood forward to prove, that 
 notwithstanding the late untoward events and the 
 magnitude of the impending danger, he was neither 
 depressed by a reverse of circumstances, nor intim- 
 idated by the menaces of an arm of flesh, nor worn 
 out by the length and obstinacy of the contention. 
 In effect, this champion of evangelical truth always 
 looked on the conflict in which he was engaged, as 
 the proper concern of Almighty God, and on himself 
 as a mere instrument in the righteous cause. His 
 mind, deeply impressed with this conviction, remain- 
 ed serene and cheerful, and as vigorous as ever, for 
 new attacks on antichrist, and for new combats with 
 his unblushing advocates. He exhorted the princes 
 never to abandon the great truths they had undertaken 
 to support : comforted his dejected friends, and em- 
 ployed much time in private prayer. 
 
 At no period of his life was the weight and influ- 
 ence of Martin Luther more conspicuous than in 1530, 
 when the religious differences seemed tending to an 
 awful crisis. His fortitude was invincible ; his zeal 
 courageous and disinterested ; and happily they were 
 both tempered by an extraordinary degree ol ration- 
 al and fervent piety.* 
 
 * One of Melancthon's correspondents describes Luther thus: " I cannot 
 enough admire the extraordinary cheerfulness, constancy, faith and hope of this 
 man, in these trying and vexations times. He constantly feeds these good 
 
 4 v 
 
738 
 
 affections by a very diligent study of the word of God. Then, not a day passed 
 in which he does n t employ in prayer at least three of his very best hours. 
 Once I happened to hear him at prayer. Gracious God ! What spirit and what 
 faith there is in his exprnssions ! He petitions God with as much reverence as 
 if he was actually in the Divine presence ; and yet with as firm a hope and con- 
 fidence, as he would address a father or a frit nd. * I know/ said he, * Ihou art 
 our father and our God : therefore I am sure thou wilt bring to nought the per- 
 secutors of thy children. For shouldest thou fail to do this, thine own cause, 
 being connected with ours, would be endangered. It is entirely thine own con- 
 cern : We, by thy providence, have been compelled to take a part Thou there- 
 fore wilt be our defence !' 
 
 "While I was listening to Luther praying in this manner at a distance, my 
 soul seemed on fire within me, to hear the man address God so like a friend, 
 and yet witft so nuc.> gravity and reverence ; and also to hear him in the course 
 of his prayer insisting on the promises contained in the Psalms, as if he was sure 
 his petitions would be granted." Coelest. I. 275. Com de Luth LXIX. 3. 
 
 The papal historian, Maimbourg, is so well convinced of Luther's great influ- 
 ence about the year 1530, that he break* out in a rage m the following manner. 
 "I will speak freely what I think. Charles V. was to blame that be did not or- 
 der I*uther to be seized, when he ulked so audaciously before him at Worms. 
 Ho^tver, he my be excused on account of the SAFE CONDUCT he had granted 
 him- But at Augsburg he ought to have compelled the elector of Saxony to 
 give him up to justice, and no longer to protect a rebel, who was then proscri- 
 bed by an imperial edict, and YET continued writing insolent tracts against the 
 emperor himself. I'- was this neglect on the part of Charles whjch defeated all 
 his endeavors to produce an agreement between the parties." Maimb. p. 180^ 
 
ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC. . * . ,- . .. s 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS. $ 
 
 PREFACE , 7 
 
 CENTURY I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. A summary view of th Church, so far as it may be 
 collected from the Scriptures. 
 
 SECTION 1. Jerusalem. ....... 9 
 
 SECTION 2. Judah, Galilee and Samaria. ... * 20 
 
 SECTION 3. Ethiopia , . 22 
 
 SECTION 4. Caesarea. . . . . . . . 23 
 
 SECTION 5. Antioch and some other Asiatic Churches. . 24 
 
 SECTION 6. Galatia. . v . . . 29 
 
 SECTION 7. Philippi. ..... 31 
 
 SECTION 8. JThessalonica. j . . 33 
 
 SECTION 9. Berea and Athens. . * . 35 
 
 SECTION 10. Corinth 37 
 
 SECTION 11. Rome. ....... 39 
 
 SECTION 12. Colosse 40 
 
 SECTION 13. The seven churches of Asia. ... 41 
 
 CHAPTER II. The remainder of the first century. . . 46 
 
 CENTURY II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. The history of the Christians in the reign of Trajan. 60 
 CHAPTER II. The history of the Christians during the reign of 
 
 Adrian and Antonius Pius. ..... 62 
 
 CHAPTER III. Justin Martyr 67 
 
 CHAPTER IV. The emperor Marcus Antonius and his persecu- 
 tion of the Christians. 70 
 
 CHAPTER V. Martyrdom of Polycarp. 72 
 
 CHAPTER VI, The Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne* . ^ 73 
 
740 
 
 CHAPTER VII. The state of Christians under the reign of Com- 
 
 modu*, and the story of Pereginus 79 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. Some account of Christian authors who flour- 
 ished in this century. ...... 83 
 
 CHAPTER IX. The heresies and controversies of this century 
 reviewed, and come account of the progress of Christiani- 
 ty during the course of it. . . . . . . 86 
 
 CENTURY III. 
 
 CHAPTER I. Irenoeus. 88 
 
 CHAPTER II. Tertullian 90 
 
 CHAPTER III. Pantoenus. . . . . . . . 93 
 
 CHAPTER IV. Clemens Aiexandrinus. .... 94 
 
 CHAPTER V. The affairs of the church during the reign of Sev- 
 
 erus and Cnracalla 95 
 
 CHAPTER VI. Christian aff urs during the reign of Macrinus, 
 Heliogabalus, Alexandrinu& } Maximinus, Pupienus, Gor- 
 
 dian, and Philip 105 
 
 CHAPTER VII. The conversion of Cyprian. . . . 108 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. The beginnings of the persecutions of Deciua, 
 
 and Cyprian's government till his retirement. . , 109 
 CHAPTER IX. The history of Cyprian and the western church 
 
 during hi? retirement of two years. . . . . 113 
 
 CHAPTER X. Cyprian's settlement of his church after his re- 
 turn, and the history of the western church till the per- 
 secution under Gallus. ...... 119 
 
 CHAPTER XI. The effects of the persecution of Decius in the 
 
 eastern Church. . . ..... 120 
 
 CHAPTER XII. The history of the church during the reign of 
 
 Guilus 128 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. The pacific part of Valerian's reign. . 130 
 CHAPTER XIV. The last acts and martyrdom of Cyprian. 134 
 CHAPTER XV. Other particulars of Valerian's persecution. 140 
 CHAPTER XVI. From the reign of Gallienus to the end of the 
 
 century. 142 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. Some account cf Gregory Thauaiaturgus, 
 
 Theognostus, and Dionysius of Rome. . . . 145 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. The further extension of the Gospel in this 
 
 century. ......... 147 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. Remarks on the state of the Roman Empire, 
 and the effect which a belief of the doctrines of Christiani- 
 ty had during this century. , ^ 148 
 
741 
 
 CENTURY IV. 
 
 CHAPTER I. The persecution of Dioclesian. . . . 14$ 
 
 CHAPTER II. A view of the state of the Christian religion on 
 
 its establishment under Constantine. . . . 162 
 
 CHRPTER ill. The progress of the Arian controversy till the 
 
 death of Constantine. . . 165 
 
 CHAPTER IV. The progress of the Arian controversy during 
 
 the reign of C'mstantius. ...... 177 
 
 CHAPTER V. A view of Monasticism and other miscellaneous 
 circumstances from the establishment oi Christianity under 
 Constantine to the death of Constantius. . . . 182 
 
 CHAPTER VI. The extension of the gospel from the beginning 
 
 of the century to the death of Constantius. . . 184 
 
 CHAPTER VII. The decline of idolatry in this century to the 
 
 death of Constantius. . . . . . . 185 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. Julian's attempt to restore Paganism. . 187 
 
 CHAPTER IX. The church under Julian. . . . . 192 
 
 CHAPTER X. The church under Jovian. .... 195 
 
 CHAPTER XI. The church under Valens; the death, character, 
 
 and writings of Athanasius. . . . . . 197 
 
 CHAPTER XII. The church under Va!entinian The begin- 
 nings of Ambrose 199 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. The church of Christ under Gratian and Theo- 
 
 dosius till the death of the former 2C2 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. The heresy of Priscillian The conduct of 
 
 Martin The progress of superstition. . . . 205 
 
 CHAPTER XV. The conduct of Ambrose, under the Emperor 
 Valentinian, and the persecution which he endured from 
 the emperor's mother, Justina. . 208 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. The Church under Theodosius. . . 211 
 
 CHAPTER XVU. The private life and Works of Ambrose. 214 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. The propagation of the Gospel among Bar- 
 barians Heresies and Errors. . . . . 215 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. Of Chribtian Authors in this Century. . 216 
 
 CENTURY V. 
 
 CHAPTER I. John Chrysostom. . 223 
 
 CHAPTER II. Augustine's Confessions abridged. . . 228 
 CHAPTER III. The Pelagian Controversy. . . . 292 
 CHAPTER IV. Augustine's Conduct towards the Donatists His 
 
 Death. 294 
 
742 
 
 CHAPTER V. The Theology of Augustine. . > . 295 
 
 CHAPTER VI. Jerom. ... ... 297 
 
 CHAPTER VII. The Church of Christ in the West. . . 298 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. The Eastern Church in the Fifth Century. 312 
 
 CHAPTER IX. Christian Writers of this Century. . . 313 
 
 CENTURY VI. 
 
 CHAPTER I. The Life of Fulgentius, and the State of the Afri- 
 can Churches in his time. . . . . . 316 
 
 CHAPTER 11. The state of the Church in other parts of the Ro- 
 man Empire, till the death of Justin, including the life of 
 Caesarius. 317 
 
 CHAPTER III. The state of the Church during the reign of Jus- 
 tinian 320 
 
 CHAPTER IV. Miscellaneous affairs to the end of the Century 322 
 
 CHAPTER V. Gregory the First, Bishop of Rome. . . 324 
 
 CENTURY VII. 
 
 CHAPTER I. The English Church 330 
 
 CHAPTER II. The Propagation of the Gospel in Germany and 
 
 its Neighborhood 337 
 
 CHAPTER III. The General History of the Church in this Cen- 
 tury. . ..... ^ 338 
 
 CENTURY VIII. 
 
 CHAPTER I. Venerable Bede, the English Presbyter. , 344 
 CHAPTER II. Miscellaneous Particulars. . . . 345 
 
 CHAPTER III. The Controversy of Images. The maturity of 
 Antichrist. ........ 347 
 
 CHAPTER IV. The Propagation of the Gospel in this Century, 
 
 and an account of the life of Boniface, Archbishop of Mentz 354 
 CHAPTER V. Authors of this Century. .... 360 
 
 CENTURY IX. 
 
 CHAPTER I. A General View of the State of Religion in this 
 
 Century. . . . . . . . , 361 
 
 CHAPTER II. The Paulicians. 364 
 
 CHAPTER II!. Opposition to the Corruptions of Popery in this 
 
 Century. 368 
 
 CHAPTER IV. The Case of Gotteschalcus. . . . 370 
 CHAPTER V. The Propagation of the Gospel in (his Century* 372 
 
743 
 
 CENTURY X. 
 
 CHAPTER I. A General View of the Church. ... , , 380 
 CHAPTER II. The Propagation of the Gospel. . . 382. 
 
 CHAPTER III. Writers and Eminent Men in this Century. 386 
 
 CENTURY XI. 
 
 CHAPTER I. A General View of the Church. . . . 387 
 
 CHAPTER II. The Opposition made to the Errors of Popery. 389 
 
 CHAPTER HI. The Propagation of the Gospel. . . 391 
 
 CHAPTER IV. The state of the Church in England. . 393 
 
 CENTURY XII. 
 
 CHAPTER I. A General View of the- Life and Death of Bernard. 394 
 CHAPTER II. General State of the Church in this Century. 398 
 CHAPTER III. The Propagation of the Gospel. . . 402 
 
 CENTURY XIII. 
 
 CHAPTER T. Peter Waldo 405 
 
 CHAPTER II. The real character of the Waldenses. . 409 
 
 CHAPTER III. The Doctrine and Discipline of the Waldenses. 413 
 CHAPTER IV. The Persecutions of the Waldonses. . 416 
 
 CHAPTER V. The general state of the church in this century. 423 
 
 CENTURY XIV. 
 
 The General Stale of the Church in this Century. . 428 
 
 CENTURY XV. 
 
 CHAPTER I. The Lollards. , . 433 
 
 CHAPTER II. The Council of Constance, including the case of 
 
 John Hus?, and Jerom of Prague. .... 445 
 CHAPTER III. The Hussites till beginning of the Reformation. 469 
 CHAPTER IV. A Brief Review of the Fifteenth Century. 475 
 
 CENTURY XVI. 
 
 CHAPTER I. The Reformation under the conduct of Lrt^er. 477 
 CHAPTER II. The beginning of the controversy concerning in- 
 dulgences 481 
 
 CHAPTER III. The progress of the controver y concerning in- 
 dulgences, till the conclusion of the conferences between 
 Luther and Cajetaii. . > .. ,, 
 
744 
 
 OHAPTER IV. The controversy continued. The attempts of 
 Miltitz and of Eckius. The progress of the Reformation 
 till the conclusion of the Diet of Worms. . . 498 
 
 CHAPTER V. From the conclusion of the Diet of Worms, to 
 
 the death of the Elector of Saxony. . . . 534 
 
 CHAPTER VI. The Death of the Elector of Saxony. Mar- 
 riage of Luther. . ..... 645 
 
 CHAPTER VII. Progress of the Reformation. . . . 648 
 
 CHAPTER VII . The Views which Luther had of himself. 693 
 
 CHAPTER IX. Further state of the Reformation. Luther's 
 views on predestination. Confenence at Marpurg. Lu- 
 ther and Zuiugle compared. ..... 699 
 
 CHAPTER X. A concise vfcw of the condition of the Protestants 
 
 a little before the diet of Spires. . . . 717 
 
 M the time suliscriptions nere solicited for this work, it 
 proposed to be comprised in 700 pages, with a list of Subscribers' 
 Names annexed; but as it has considerably exceeded thai number of 
 pages, they are necessarily omitlcd 
 
 11173*