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HISTORY

PROTESTANT CHURCH

FROM . THE

BEGINNING OF THE EEFORMATION
TO
1850.
WITH A EECOMMENDATION AND INTRODUCTION.

J. H. MERLE D'AUBTGNE. D. D.
* * r
AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF TIIE REFORMATION, ETC. ETC.

TRANSLATED BY
KEY. J. CRAIG, D. D.

BOSTON:
PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, AND COMPANY.
1856.

OAMBEIDaB:
STEEEOTYPED BT MEIOAIP AHB COMPANY.

INTRODUCTION.

During the course of a tour in Germany in the
year 1846, a number of documents, both printed and
in manuscript, relating to the history of religion in
Hungary, were kindly submitted to my consideration.
The Christian friends who had bestowed so much
care and pains in forming this collection, at the same
time earnestly requested me to make use of its con
tents, for the purpose of writing a History of the Ref
ormation in Hungary. They thought that such a
narrative, while bringing to the notice of Evangelical
Christendom in the West many instructive facts which
had been hitherto unknown, would at the same time
evince to the Protestants of Hungary that the great
principles of the Christian faith had been endeared to
their forefathers, and had formed the groundwork of
their own Reformation in the sixteenth century. I
recall to mind the place where this request was made
to me, and the many interesting circumstances that
attended it, together with the persons who were the
bearers of it, whom I shall probably never see again.
That epoch of my life is associated in my memory
with ineffaceable feelings of respect and love. It

IV INTRODUCTION.
soon, however, became evident t6 me that these doc
uments did not so much appertain to the history of
the Reformation in Hungary as to the general history
of that country from the first introduction of Chris
tianity, and more particularly to the period after the
Reformation. For this reason I considered it impos
sible to give up writing the history of evangelical re
ligion in the first half of the sixteenth century, which
I could with difficulty accomplish, to enter upon an
entirely new work. I was therefore compelled to de
cline the request which had been made to me ; but
at the same time I mentioned the names of several
writers, both in Germany and the French cantons,
whom I thought quite capable of performing the hon
orable task that had been proposed to me.
I heard no more of the work in question until lately
(July, 1853), when I learnt that the book had been
completed, and I was requested to edit it, or at least
introduce it to the Christian public by writing a pref
ace. The friend who asked me to do this urged as
a motive for my compliance, that it would be for the
sake of the Gospel and of suffering Hungary. " The
Lord," said he, " will, I hope, show you plainly that
the demand comes less from man than from God."
Though I felt that there were other Protestant authors
more capable than myself of making this work known
to the public, still I did not feel justified in meeting
this second request with another refusal, and therefore
replied in the affirmative.
I wish, therefore, in accordance with this desire, to
recommend the narrative to the notice of all friends
of the Protestant faith. No complete history of the
Church of God in Hungary has yet been published ;

INTRODUCTION. V
and the period intervening between the reign of Maria
Theresa and the present time especially has been
hardly sketched, save in a few detached fragments.
The work -that we now offer to the public ought,
therefore, to be considered worthy of attention, were
it only for its novelty, but more particularly so on
account of the labor that has been bestowed on its
composition. The author is a man possessed of en
lightened piety, sound judgment, integrity, faithful
ness, and Christian wisdom, — qualities well calcu
lated to inspire perfect confidence. He has obtained
his materials from the most authentic sources. Gov
ernment edicts, convent protocols, visitation reports,
and official correspondence, have all been consulted
with scrupulous attention, as is proved by the numer
ous quotations which he cites. He has thus sought
to place the authenticity of his book on an indisputa
ble basis, and at the same time to render it impervious
to the shafts of hostile criticism. It remains for the
future to prove how far he has succeeded. "While
bearing honorable testimony to the care that has been
expended in the production of this book, I do not
mean to affirm that, as a historical composition, it is
without faults. But I am writing an introduction,
and not a critique. I think that in some parts the
History might have been fuller and more detailed ;
but the author sought to be brief, and this is a merit
that certainly possesses its own advantages. However
that may be, I cannot help thinking that this volume
will be read with interest, for it fills up a chasm that
has long existed in the history of Protestant Chris
tianity ; it unfolds a page in the annals of martyr
dom that has been hitherto unread ; it opens up to

VI INTRODUCTION.
the Protestant Christian the view of a suffering and
oppressed Church; and it makes known a nation,
distant, it is true, but brought near to us by its faith,
and which has ever become to those who have lived
within it an object of warm and sincere affection.
" Open thy mouth for the dumb, in the cause of all
such as are appointed to destruction," said the mother
of King Lemuel to her son (Proverbs xxxi. 8). This
book obeys that ancient precept. It tells of wicked
persecutions, and pronounces in favor of the op
pressed party, while it brings to light the intrigues of
their oppressors. The Christian, when he reads it,
will surely be led to pay more attention to the cause
of his suffering brethren in the East of Europe ; to
intercede with Heaven in their behalf; to undertake
their defence ; " to do justice to the afflicted and the
needy " (ver. 9) : for " if one member suffer all the
members suffer with it " (1 Cor. xii. 26).
Now, although this book is well calculated to inter
est us, — the Christian people of Western Europe, —
it also reads a useful lesson to those who suffer perse
cution in Hungary, as well as to those who inflict it.
I wish to address a few words to both these parties,
and it is to our oppressed brethren that I would first
speak. It is absolutely necessary to the very existence of a
truly Christian Church that it should possess two
qualifications : one is authority ; the other, freedom.
The authority of God, which calls for obedience of
man, is the principle of faith and life ; and. freedom is
necessary to the action of the Church. Although
these two principles may appear contradictory, they
are nevertheless intimately connected. True freedom

INTRODUCTION. vii
cannot exist without authority ; and authority, to be
firm and salutary, must be blended with freedom.
There is an authority which must exist in the Church ;
and this I would especially recommend to the Hun
garian Protestants. I cannot give them a stronger
proof of my regard than in so doing, for never was
submission to this authority more needful. Some
Roman controversialists seem to believe that Chris
tianity consists wholly in authority (the authority in
the Church is their chief dogma) ; but, while this is
unquestionably far from being true, it is not untrue
to affirm that a divine authority (the authority of
Scripture) forms the outward principle of Christian
ity, and without it, faith is but a vapor that passeth
away. Did not Christ himself rest his own teaching
upon the words, " It is written " ?  There is a
wide difference between the authority exercised by
the Gospel, and that claimed by the Church of Rome.
For Rome rests her power on the earthly authority
of councils and priests, while we derive ours from the
will of God himself, made known in the writings
which he has inspired. One is, the rebellious tyr
anny of fallen man ; the other, the legitimate rule of
Heaven itself. Let us reject the one, and hold fast by
the other.
It is probable that the Protestant Church of Hun
gary erred by departing from this divine authority,.
and therefore did not escape that blight of rational
ism which swept over the whole of Europe during
the second half of the eighteenth century. This
History informs us that there were a party of laymen
who exhorted their pastors to rest satisfied with teach
ing the people their duty as citizens and Christians,

V1H INTRODUCTION.
and to set. aside the doctrines of what they denomi
nated a vulgar orthodoxy. There were some minis
ters — blind guides — who thus yielded to the spirit
of the age, and thought themselves wise in their own
folly. This was the inward canker of the Hungarian
Church, — an evil more dangerous in its consequen
ces than the most cruel persecutions.
The first thing needful, then, to restore the Hunga
rian Church, is to establish within it the perfect and
undivided control of the will of God as revealed to us
in Holy Scripture. This was the working principle
of our glorious Reformation. " I have neither seen,
nor heard, nor perceived any thing of it," said Luther,
when speaking of the mysteries of God ; " but, be
cause God says it, I will believe it must be, and fol
low the word " (Watch x., pp. 13, 14). This precept,
in reference to the supreme authority of what is writ
ten, is not only to be met with in all the books of Lu
ther ; it was also the guiding principle of his whole
life. How does the Reformer write to the Pope ? "I
am ready," says he, " to give up to all men, and in
all things ; but as for the Word of truth, I neither can
nor wTill let that go." When the Pope ordered the
books of Luther to be burnt, — " Let them burn," says
he ; "I have only wished to bring men to the Bible."
When officious mediators, in the solemn days at
Worms, said to him, " Trust yourself to us, and we
will settle this matter in a Christian way," he an
swered, "I can intrust to the power of the emper
or both my person and my life, but the Word of
God, — never!" Thus spoke, not Luther only, but
Zwinglius, Favel, Calvin, Tindal, Cranmer, and Knox.
The doctors of the Genevese school are perhaps even

INTRODUCTION.

more explicit than the Lutheran teachers touching
the paramount authority of Holy Scripture.
This principle is a necessary concomitant of Chris
tian life. No Church or people can exist without
obedience to this divine rule. I do not wish to enter
now upon the field of political discussion ; neither is
it my desire to depreciate the ancient constitution of
nations, and the liberties which children have inher
ited from their fathers. But I declare, without any
hesitation, that, in the existing condition of Hungary,
I know of but one cure for its numerous ills, for its
deeply festering wounds ; and this remedy is pointed
out in the passage of Revelation to be found in chapter
xxii. 2. " The leaves of the tree of life, which are for
the healing of the nations," represent the Word of God,
and the authority, the teaching, the faith, and the life,
which derive their source from Holy Scripture. It is
to this divine authority that Protestant Hungary
ought to give in her hearty allegiance. She has
sought a cure for her wounds in the sphere of politics,
when she should, before all else, have sought it in the
sphere of Christianity. I do not mean to say. that
political freedom is a chimera. Certainly not ! But I
affirm that no nation can enjoy this condition of lib
erty, until the authority of the Word of God is para
mount among them. -There is some counterpoise
necessary to freedom. Men cannot make a proper
use of civil liberty, except they are inwardly influ
enced by the Word of God. Should the restraints of
Holy Scripture ever cease to be exercised in England
and the United States of America, the religious and
political freedom which these nations now enjoy
would soon be merged in the excesses of an unbridled

X INTRODUCTION.
democracy. That respect for law which distinguishes
these nations, is a pledge of the continuance of their
liberty, their power, and prosperity. Now, this re
spect for the law is essentially derived from the influ
ence of Holy Scripture, from obedience to that Divine
Word which has said, " Fear God ; honor the king "
(1 Pet. ii. 17).
If, however, I have descanted on authority in ad
dressing the people, I would now speak of freedom
as relating to the princes and magistrates. No Prot
estant Church has experienced so much oppression as
that of Hungary. The persecution arose at the time
of the Reformation, and exists to this very day in
some measure.- Religion is a matter between God
and man, or, as the great autocrat, Napoleon I., him
self expressed it, " The rule of the' prince terminates
where that of conscience begins." When governors
fail to acknowledge this principle, then, under color
of enforcing order, a door is opened to all sorts of dis
turbances in the state. If a man is debarred from
the freedom to worship God according to the dictates
of his own conscience, he suffers in his holiest and
highest feelings, — he becomes disaffected, irritated,
and indignant against that human authority which
claims an obedience due to God alone. On the one
hand, doubtless, men wanting in moral courage, and
incapable of sacrificing the comforts of life for the
sake of their faith, would yield to violence, give up
their religious profession, and subscribe a fatal recan
tation from the truth. This has sometimes happened
even in Hungary. Turning to the other side, we shall
find pious, faithful Christians, holding fast their con
fession, and suffering patiently the infliction of chains,

INTRODUCTION.

XI

even of death itself, rather than deny the Gospel :
they are, as their Master, sheep dumb before the
shearers. But besides these two parties, there must
always exist some proud, independent spirits, not
brought as yet under the controlling influence of the
Divine Word, who will be driven by oppression into
fearful excesses. Wherever there is a Louis XIV.,
.there will also be Camisards. It is an old saying,
that " Persecution stirs up revolt" ; and if it does not
actually produce rebellion, it at least fosters discon
tent, disaffection, and ill-will, — conditions essentially
opposed to the public welfare. It is, then, for the'
sake of their own interest that we earnestly suppli
cate the higher powers to grant liberty of conscience.
What is to be gained by refusing it ? Despite of all
that can be said or done, the subjection of conscience
is beyond the reach of human power. A few harm
less individuals may be terrified and ill-treated, but
of their faith they cannot be deprived. Can those
who attempt to justify religious persecution bring
forward as an excuse the righteousness of their cause ?
Ah ! if they had really at heart the prevalence of truth,
they would allow it unrestrained action. By its own
innate power, and the voice of inward conviction, it
will make its way into the hearts of men. It has
never yet been thrust upon them by the sword and the
prison-house ; such a line of proceeding would be like
teaching philosophy by means of the rod. Can we
even allow the security of public welfare to be alleged!
as a motive in justification of proceedings hostile to
religious liberty ? Is it not rather well known by ex
perience, that a religion imposed by priests, and en
forced by the civil power, has no intrinsic strength?

Xll INTRODUCTION.
It is like the cords with which Delilah bound Sam
son, — a single effort suffices to break through them
(Judges xvi. 9). Let us turn our eyes towards the
Roman Catholic countries of Italy, Spain, Portugal,
and France, — constantly a prey to revolution ; while
Protestant nations possess a stability united with
freedom, and enjoy a public tranquillity which must
command confidence in proportion as it is based upon
the influence of the Word of God. For this reason,-
after requiring that the people should submit to the
will of God, we would require of the prince to recog
nize the liberty of the Christian.
Nevertheless, control and freedom are not alone
sufficient for the Church : she must also possess faith
and life. The dominion of the Church among the
Romanists is an entirely outward system of rule,
which is in a greater or less degree mechanically sub
mitted to. The authority of the Word of God, as
acknowledged by the Protestants, is, on the contrary,
an inward power acting upon the affections, the will,
and the intellect, renewing them by the Holy Ghost,
and leading the converted man to obey with joy and .
not with grief, — with love and not with fear, — from
a strong internal conviction of duty, instead of a stu
pid and unreflecting servility.
To enable the Church of Hungary to take the posi
tion that belongs to her among the other reformed
churches, the pure faith held by the children of God
must become mighty within her. She must, in obedi
ence to the Word of God, believe with the heart and
confess with the mouth, the fall of man through
Adam's transgression, — his corruption through sin, —
his utter inability to raise himself from .the miserable

INTRODUCTION. X1U
condition into which he has fallen, — the eternal
Godhead of the Son of God, who became man, and
was offered up for us on the altar of the cross, — jus
tification by faith, which, resting upon that sacrifice,
rescues the sinner from the death which he has de
served, and gives him eternal life ; — finally, the Holy
Ghost (God as well as the Father and the Son) ruling
in the heart by the Word, and liberating it from the
law of sin. It is necessary, then, that the Church of
God in Hungary should confess in heartfelt sincerity,
with Luther, as have also confessed Calvin and all
the other Reformers : " The first and principal article
of our faith is, that Jesus Christ our God and Lord
died for our sins, and rose again for our justification.
All have sinned and are justified freely by his grace,
without works or merit of their own, by the redemp
tion that is in Christ Jesus through his blood. No
pious man can give up any portion of this belief,
even if heaven, and earth, and all things, should be
involved in ruin. In this belief is contained all that
we teach, bear witness to in our lives, and act upon,
in spite of the Pope, the Devil, and the whole world." *
If faith in these articles be a living principle in the
Church of Hungary, that Church is secure. We de
mand then of that Church to hold this belief, to pro-

* " Hie primus et principalis articulus est, qu6d Jesus Christus Deus et
Dominus noster sit propter peceata nostra mortuus, et propter justitiam
nostram resurrexerit. Omnes peooaverunt et justifioantur gratis, absque
operibus, seu meritis propriis, ex ipsius gratia, per redemptionem quas est
in Christo Jesu in sanguine ejus  De hoc articulo cedere nemo pip-
rum potest, etiam si coelum et terra ac omnia corruant. In hoc articulo
sita sunt et consistant omnia quse contra papam, diabolum, et universum
mundum,in vita nostra docemus, testamur, et agtmus." — (Artio. Smaloaldii,
2d part.) b

XIV INTRODUCTION.
claim it from the pulpit, to keep it alive in the heart
We make this demand for the sake of its forefathers.
for the sake of its martyrs, for the sake of its own life
and prosperity, in the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, which is pronounced over the heads of
all its children. This Church has been illustrious in
ancient times, and ought at the present period to rise
up and again take her place among us. Perhaps she
may only be able to raise herself amidst privation and
tears, bound like Lazarus "with grave-clothes, and
swathed in a shroud " ; but if she lives by faith, that
is sufficient : her reward will not fail her. We can
exhort her boldly from the West of Europe, — from
the foot of the Alps, — from that town of Calvin
which has always regarded her with affection, — in
words from Holy Writ : " Awake, thou that sleepest,
and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee
light" (Eph. v. 14).
In conclusion, I would return to what I have before
expressed. This book is not one for ordinary read
ing. It is not simply to be considered as a book, for
it is the exponent of a fact. A branch of the great
family of the Gopsel has been forgotten by the rest,
and this wrong, although of long existence, must
be redressed. After having read this volume, the
reader must not rest satisfied, as is usually the case,
with placing it upon the shelves of his library. These
pages contain a solemn appeal to all true Chris
tians. What God requires of those who shall read
them is, — to pray, to believe, to hope, and to act
towards Protestant Hungary in faith and love.
I will terminate by quoting the prayer which Lu
ther offered up when he saw the Turks threatening to

INTRODUCTION. XV
attack Hungary, and thence Germany : " Here comes
the Turk, the Rod of God, with a great and powerful
army, sweeping over Hungary " ; and I would wish
every Hungarian, and every friend of Hungary, to
pray with that reformer (Opp. xxii. p. 2350) : —
" O Lord God, have mercy upon this poor land.
Confound the Devil according to thy great power.
Protect thy Church against thy foes. Glorify thy
Son. LooTc not on our sins. Give us thy Holy
Spirit, and grant us a true and certain knowledge of
thy pure Word. Amen."
1 Meele d'Aubigne.
Geneva, September, 1853.

CONTENTS.

FIRST PERIOD.
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TILL THE PEACE OE
VIENNA, A. D. 1608.

CHAPTER I. Pioa
CONSTITUENT PARTS ; ORIGINAL INHABITANTS ; FIRST TRACES
OP CHRISTIANITY, TILL THE TIME OF STEPHEN THE FIRST, 1
CHAPTER II.
POLITICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL STATE OF HUNGARY UNDEE
THE KINGS OF THE LINE OF ARPAD, FROM STEPHEN TILL THE
DEATH OF ANDREW THE THIRD — 997 - 1301, ... 1
CHAPTER III.
STATE OF HUNGARY UNDEE RULERS OF DIFFERENT HOUSES,
FROM 1301 TO 1540. — THE HUSSITES.
John Huss. — His Death. — Jerome of Prague. — His Death. —
Doctrines of the Hussites. — Spread and Persecution of these
Doctrines in Bohemia, Hungary,- and Transylvania, ... 19
CHAPTER IV.
DECAY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND MORALS AMONG CLEEGY
AND LAITY IN HUNGARY PREVIOUS TO THE REFORMATION, 30
CHAPTER V.
FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE REFORMATION IN HUNGARY — TILL
THE BATTLE OF MOHACS, 1526.
Simon Grynaus and Vitus Viezheim, Professors in Ofen. — Queen
Mary and her Chaplain, John Henkel, as Friends of Luther. — Con
temporary Movements in Hermanstadt. — First Eeformers of

XV111 CONTENTS.
Transylvania. — Ambrosius and George summoned to Gran. —
Marcus Pempflinger, Count of Saxony. — The Pope attempts to
crush the Reformation. — Ludwig II. — Cardinal Cajetan. — Royal
Decree against the Lutherans. — Hungarian Students at Witten
berg. — Burning of Luther's Books at (Edenberg. — General Coun
cil hi 1525. — Louis H. writes to (Edenberg. — Battle at Mohacs, 37
CHAPTER VI.
BATTLE OF MOHACS, AND ITS IMMEDIATE EFFECTS ON THE
REFORMATION IN HUNGARY.
Death of Louis II. — Death of the Archbishop. - - The Cardinal Le
gate flies, and is overtaken. — John Zapolya remains inactive. —
The Turks take Ofen, and burn the Carvinian Library. — Conse
quences of the Battle in the Spread of the Gospel, ... 48
CHAPTER VII.
FERDINAND I. RULES ALONE. 1540-1564,  71
CHAPTER VIII.
Confession of Faith of the five Towns of Upper Hungary on this
Side the Theiss  Activity of the Gospel Preachers. — Temes-
var. — Stephen Kis of Szegedin. — Peter Petrovitsh, Count of
Temesvar. — Stephen Losontzy. — Szegedin banished. — Temes
var conquered by the Turks. — Death of Losontzy, . . . 79
CHAPTER IX.
An Evangelical High School in (Edenberg. — The Town Bela re
formed. — Letter of the Archbishop Nicolas Olah. — Threats. —
Firmness of the Protestants. — The Magnates of Hungary, with
the Exception of three Families, all Protestants. — Introduction
of the Jesuits,  87
CHAPTER X.
Death of Leonard Stockel and Thomas Nadasdy. — Printing of the
New Testament in Croatian. — Bishop Dudith's Report from the
Council of Trent. — Covenanting Soldiers at Erlau, . . 92
CHAPTER XI. s
Diet of Presburg. — Synod of the Evangelical Church at Tarczal.
— Gabriel Perenyi. — Close of the Council of Trent. — The Cup
granted to the Laity. — Ferdinand's Medal. — Provincial Synod
of Tyrnau. — Ferdinand's Decease. — Beview, . eg

CONTENTS.

XIX

CHAPTER XII.
Maximilian I. is made King. — Communion in both Kinds in Hun
gary.— The Celibacy of the Clergy. — Organization of the Re
formed Church, and Separation from the Lutherans. — Unitarians
in Transylvania. — Pastor Lucas. — Lazarus Schwend. — Confes
sion of Czenger,  101
CHAPTER XIII.
Jehoiachim Brandenburg. — Death of Gabriel Perenyi, Bishop of
Csanad. — Synod of Kremnitz. — The twenty-four Zips Towns
aud their Confession. — David Chytraus,  105
CHAPTER XIV.
Diet at Presburg. — John Kurber. — Tyrnau. — James Wolf. —
Death of Serpilius and Szegedinus. — Formal Separation from
Rome,  108
CHAPTER XV.
Peter Bornemissa. — Stephen Beytha. — Michael Starinus. — The
Pastors of (Edenberg. — Caspar Zeitvogel. — Nicolas Telegdy ap
peals to the Pope. — Maximilian's Death. — His Character, . Ill
CHAPTER XVI.
RUDOLPH II., FROM 1576 TO 1608, IN HUNGARY; DJED 1612.
His Education and Manner of Life. — Archduke Ernest, Governor
of Austria. — Opitz and Scherer. — The Concordia in Hungary.
— Roman Tactics  117
CHAPTER XVII.
Roman Catholic Synod at Steinamanger. — Bishop Telegdy. — Gre
gorian Calendar. — Banishment of the Protestant Clergy of (Eden
berg. — Draskowitsh is made Cardinal. — Adoption of the New
Calendar out of fiespect to the King. — Banishment of the Jesuits
from Transylvania. — Death of Draskowitsh  122
CHAPTER XVHI.
Caspar Dragonus. — Protestant Synods. — Peter Berger. — Hun
garian Students banished from Wittenberg. — The Formula Con-
cordias. — Roman Troops sent to Hungary. — Basta in Transyl
vania. — Destruction of the Evangelical Church in Styria and
Carinthia. — The Roman General Barbiano in Kashaw and Leut-
shaw. — The Magistrates of Leutshaw and the Bishop of Raab, 126

XX CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
Diet of Presburg, 1604. — The famous 22d Article.— Persecution
of the Protestants. — Stephen Botskay's Rebellion. — The Peace
of Vienna,  133
CHAPTER XX..
The Peace of Austria. — Botskay's Objection to the Terms.—
Peace ratified.— Botskay dies of Poison. — Conditions of the
Peace violated. — Matthew summons a Diet. — Matthew becomes
King of Hungary,  I38

SECOND PERIOD.

FROM THE PEACE OF VIENNA TILL THE CONVENTION
OF SZlTHMAR, 1608-1711.

CHAPTER I.

Presburg Church. — Stephen Esterhazy. — His Death. — The Jes
uits. — George Thurzo, Palatine. — Synod of Sillein, . . 144
CHAPTER IT.
The Archbishops protest against the Synod of Sillein. — Answer. —
— Peter Pazmany. — Protestant Princes turn to Popery. — Synod
of Tyrnau. — John Moschovinus. — The Women of Hricsow. —
King Matthew gives an unfavorable Decision respecting the Peace
of Vienna,  151
CHAPTER III.
Peter Pazmany's Work. — Christopher Thurzo returns to the Prot
estants. — Oppression. — Gabriel Bathyani and the Treaty of Tyr
nau. — Writings of the Protestants. — Quarrels of the Reformed
and Lutheran Clergy. — Jubilee of the Reformation. — Ferdinand
made King. — Siegmund Forgacs. — Death of Matthew, . . 157
CHAPTER IV.
FERDINAND II., FROM 1619 TILL 1637.
Ferdinand's critical Position. — His fanatical Vow. — War with
Be'thlen. — B&hlen conquers Presburg, and takes the Crown. —
Diet at Neusohl. — B^thlen refuses to accept the Title of King, 165

CONTENTS. XXI
CHAPTER V
Reformed Synod at Hedervan. — Death of Emerich Thurzo the
Palatine. — B&hlen again takes the Sword. — Peace of Nikols-
burg. — Synod of Shintaw. — Numbers of exiled Protestants. —
Margrave George of Brandenburg. — Diet of (Edenberg. — The
Legate. — Tumult at the Diet. — Coronation of Ferdinand HI., 171
CHAPTER VI.
Ferdinand H. nominates the Virgin Mary Generalissino of his
Army. — B&hlen declares War again. — Is joined by the Ger
mans. — Peace of Presburg. — The Widow of Palatine Forgacs
raging against the Protestants. — George Rakotzy. — Gustavus
Adolphus. — Conversion of several Magnates to Popery. — Perse
cutions. — Jesuits in (Edenberg. — Death of Ferdinand-H., . 176
CHAPTER VLT.
FERDINAND III. 1637-1657.
Death of Pazmany. — Emerich Lasy, Archbishop of Gran. — Diet
of Presburg. — New Persecutions. — Deliberations at Kashaw. —
Deputation to the King. — Torstenson in Moravia. — Death of the
Archbishop. — George Lippay his Successor. — George Rakotzy
of Transylvania. — Banishment of the Protestant Clergy from the
Island Schutt. — Robert Douglas. — Death of the Palatine Nico
las Esterhazy,  182
CHAPTER VIII.
The Peace of Linz. — Protest of the Popish Clergy. — The King's
Firmness. — The Diet of 1647. The Protestants obtain Ninety
Churches restored. — Penal Laws against the Religious Persecu
tors. — Bishop Szelepcsenyi. — Bishop Draskowitsh. — The King's
Liberality,  188
CHAPTER. LX.
New Persecutions of the Protestants in Hungaiy. — Diet of Pres
burg in 1649. — Paul Pallfy, Palatine. — Fruits of the Diet. —
The Jesuits in Transylvania. — Death of the young King of Rome.
— Leopold crowned King of Hungary in 1655. — Troubles. —
Death of Ferdinand,  194
CHAPTER X.
1657-1670. Leopold's Education. — He favors the Jesuits. — The Synod at Tyr-
nau. — Hungarian Diets, and Grievances of the Protestants. —

XXII CONTENTS.
The Diet of 1662. — The Protestant Deputies demand back the
Churches and Schools. — Petitions to the King. — Specification
of the Persecutors. — Persecution in Transylvania. — More Peti
tions. — The Protestant Deputies leave the Diet. — Its Close, . 203
CHAPTER XI.
Effect of the Departure of the Protestant Deputies on the Patriots. —
Their Dissatisfaction. — Diet of Neusohl. — Leopold and the Di
van. — Attempt to poison the King. — The Procurator of the Jes
uits disappears. — Paris von Spantkaw. — Imprisonments. — The
Malcontents in Kashaw. — Assembly at Neusohl. — Trial and
Punishment of the Insurgents. — Nicolas Drabicius. — Renewed
Persecutions. — Presburg. — Its banished Clergy. — A new Insur-
reetibn crushed. — Persecution still continues. — The Archbishop
resigns hi3 Viceroyalty, \  217
CHAPTER XII.
First Citation of Protestant Pastors to Presburg. — The Charge. —
The Judges. — The Trial. — Archbishop's Declaration. — Count
Illyeshazy treats with the Pastors. — The Pastors are prepared to
go into Exile. — The Conditions of Pardon. — Attempt to gain the
Pastors to the Popish Church. — Suhajda. — Stephen Fekete, . 287
CHAPTER Xin.
The New Citation of the Evangelical Preachers. — Conduct of the
Pasha. — The Trial. — The Sentence. — Separate Sentence' on
the Pastors of Bosing, Modern, and St. George. — Two hundred
and thirty-six sign their Deed of Resignation. — The Rest refuse.
— Treatment. — Separation of the Lutherans and Reformed. —
Firmness of the Reformed Pastors. — Imprisonment. — Treatment ,
in the Prisons. — The Jesuit Nicolas Kellio. — Petition to the Em
peror. — Condemnation to the Galleys,  245
CHAPTER XIV.
Treatment of the Prisoners in the, other Fortresses. — Journey to
Trieste. — Hopes of the Possibility of Ransom. — Ten join the
Church of Rome. — George and Philip Weltz. — Appeals to Ger
many. — Charles H. of England  The Vice-Admiral. of the
Dutch Fleet. — Hopes of Delivery, and Disappointment. — Admi
ral Ruyter. — The Galley-slaves set free,  258
CHAPTER XV.
General View of the State of the Protestant Church in Hungary
and Transylvania at the Time the Pastors were released. — The

CONTENTS. xxiii
Pastors in the Woods and Caves  Cunning of the Priests in at
tempting to find them. — (Edenberg a favored City  Princess
Eggenberg. — Insurrection of the Hungarians. — Tokely  At
tempts to make Peace  268
CHAPTER XVL
Diet of (Edenberg, 1681,— Election of the Palatine.— Petition to
the King. — Memorial of the Roman Catholics. — The Petitions of
the Protestants without Effect. — George Gerhard's Motion. — The
Roman Catholic Deputy, Gabriel Kapy. — Struggle of the Clergy.
— The Roman Catholic Magnates and Nobles assist the Protes
tants. — The Imperial Decree. — Further Attempts of the Prot
estants. — Close of the Diet,  273
CHAPTER XVII.
Conduct of the Roman Catholic Clergy after the Diet. — The Re
corder of (Edenberg. — War with Tokely. — Vienna besieged by
the Turks. — Relieved by the Poles. — The Prince of Transylva
nia joins Leopold against the Turks. — Ofen retaken after a hun
dred and forty-six Years' Possession by the Turks. — General
Karaffa. — The Court of Assize at Debrecsin and Eperjes, . 285
CHAPTER XVIII.
FROM THE YEAR 1688 TILL LEOPOLD'S DEATH, IN 1705.
The Royal Commissioners and their Excesses. — Banishment of Pas
tors Sextius and John Bury. — Stephen Fekete a Persecutor. —
Bishop Matthew Rhadonai. — Rakotzy's Imprisonment and Es
cape. — Civil War. — Rakotzy conquers Hungary, and is elected
Prince of Transylvania. — Treaties of Peace. — Foreign Interven
tion. — Leopold's Death  298
CHAPTER XLX.
JOSEPH I. FROM 1705 TO 1711.
Election of'Superintendents. — Quarrels between the Pastors and
the Lay Office-bearers in the Church Courts. — Pastor of Pres
burg banished by Kollonitz. — Charles XII. founds Scholarships.
— Synod of Rosenberg. — Diet of Onod. — Rakotzy Excommuni
cated. — Rakotzy and the Jesuits. — Joseph favors the Protes
tants. — Death of the King. — Peace of Szathmar, . . . 312

XXIV CONTENTS.
THIRD PERIOD.
FROM THE PEACE OF SZATHMAR TO THE DEATH OF
LEOPOLD II., 1712-1792.

CHAPTER I.
CHARLES VI. 1712 TO 1740.
Rakotzy's Retirement. — Coronation of Charles in Presburg. — New
Persecutions. — The King protects the Protestants. — The Diet. —
The King still favorable to Impartial Justice. — Renewal of the
Acts of 1681 and 1687. — ¦ Quibbles. — Proposed Oath to exclude
the Protestants. — The Protestants placed entirely in the Hands
of the King,  320
CHAPTER II.
The Difficulties of the King's Position. — The Roman Catholics
seize the Protestant Churches in the newly conquered Lands. —
Jesuitical Justification of the Acts. — The Churches of Komorn,
Wesprim, Papa, and Lewens. — The Tithes. — Presumption of the
Priests. — Attempt to reduce the Number of Preachers. — Peti
tions to the King, and his Reply,  328
CHAPTER III.
THE PESTH COMMISSION, . . . . - . . . . 832
CHAPTER IV.
THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION,  387
CHAPTER V.
THE RESOLUTIONS OF CHARLES  347
CHAPTER VI.
STATE OF THE PROTESTANTS IN TRANSYLVANIA, UNDER CHARLES
VI.  362
CHAPTER VII.
The Protestants summoned to Rebellion. — Misfortunes of the Im
perial Army. — Disgraceful Peace. — Death of the King, . 866

CONTENTS. XXV

CHAPTER VHI.
MARIA THERESA. FROM 1740 TO 1780.
Dangerous Position of the Queen. — She is delivered by the Hun
garians. — Fruitless Efforts of the Protestants to obtain their Re
ligious Freedom. — Forbidden to present Petitions in Corporate
Capacity. — Extracts from a Petition to the Queen. — Effects of
this Petition. — Examination of the Pastors respecting Baptism.
— The Resolutions of Charles VI. of 1731 renewed. — Sorrowful
Consequences. — Persecutions. — The Protestant Schools, . 868
CHAPTER IX.
Ecclesiastical Visitations. — Bishop Biro. — Processions. — Mixed
Marriages. — Children taken from the. Parents. — Countess of
Szent-Ivany. — Persecution of the Protestant Pastors. — Mat
thew Bohil  381
CHAPTER X.
Imprisonment of Bohil. — Cause. — Escape. — A Jewish Rabbi.—
Persecution of the Friends of Bohil. — His Wife's Escape. — Bo-
hil's Works on the Ecclesiastical State of Hungary. — The Papal
Nuncio Camil Paulati and the Societies of St. Joseph and St.
Stephen.— .Duties of Members. — Banishment of Professors, . 388
CHAPTER XI.
United Petition of the Protestants. — Martin Biro's Pamphlet.—
Dealings of the Court.— Appeal to Foreign Powers.— Letter of
Frederick the Great to the Archbishop of Breslau, Cardinal
Schaffgotsch. — His Appeal to the Pope. — The Protestant Prel
ate Sweetmilk.— The Archbishop of Canterbury interferes.—
The British Ambassador. — Effects of the Interference. — Gabriel
Pronay,  394
CHAPTER XIX
The Queen's Promises. — The Chapels of Ease taken away. — Gen
eral Persecution of the Protestants.— Riots at Vadosfa. — Im
prisonment of the Superintendent and forty-four of his Church
Members.— The Seven Years' War with Prussia. — Peace, and
Diet at Presburg. — The Death of the Queen's Consort, Fran-
. t ...... 403]
CIS I 

XXVI CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIII.

The Chancellor's Court. — John Dourjan's Pamphlet. — Provision
made for Hungarian Students at Tubingen. — Continued Persecu
tions, . '  408
CHAPTER XIV.
Travels of the Emperor Joseph. — He meets with the Protestants,
and receives their Deputations. — The Superintendent of Debre'c-
sin. — The Emperor's Dislike to the Jesuits. — Letter to the Duke
of Choiseul. — Letter to Earl Aranda, Minister of Spain. — Sus
pension of the Jesuits in 1773,  412
CHAPTER XV.
Erection of New Bishoprics. — The Protestants begin to breathe
more freely. — The Filial Churches freed from the Priests. — Pe
titions to the Emperor and Empress. — The Emperor's Journeys.
— Development of Religious Freedom,  417
CHAPTER XVI.
LIMITATIONS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME  421
CHAPTER XVII.
THE PROTESTANT CHURCH IN TRANSYLVANIA, .... 424

FOURTH PERIOD.
FROM JOSEPH II. TO FRANCIS JOSEPH I., 1780-1849.

CHAPTER I.

General View of the Emperor's Position. — His Wonderful Letter. —
Edict of Toleration,  434
CHAPTER H.
First Fruits of the Edict of Toleration: Thanks of the Protestants;
Protest of the Priests of Hungary and some of the Counties. —
Efforts of Cardinal Migazzi. — The Minister Kaunitz. — The Con-

CONTENTS. XXVii
fessor's Explanation. — Pope Pius VI. comes to Vienna. — His
Efforts fruitless. — His Master of Ceremonies. — The Pope's De
parture. — The Leave-taking. — The Emperor's Present, . 442
CHAPTER HX
Benefits of the Edict of Toleration. — Freedom of the Press. — The
Emperor popularly charged with Heresy. — His Reply, and his
Decree founded on it. — The Six Weeks' Instruction of Persons
leaving the Church of Rome. — Church-building in Hungary. —
The Commission of Inquiry and the Homo Diocesanus. — The
Spirit of the Viceregal Court, and of some of the Counties. — Ex
tracts from the Petition of the Sister Churches to the Emperor, 447
CHAPTER IV.
Reform in the Schools. — The Protestants Distrust the National
Schools. — Relief in Church-building. — The Church Registers.
— Organization beyond the Danube. — Abuse of the Six Weeks'
Instruction. — Poisoning of the Abbot Rautenstrauch at Eriau. —
Persecution of those who wish to leave the Church of Rome, . 454
CHAPTER V.
Removal of the Bishops from Civil Offices. — Application of the Re
ligious Funds. — School System. — Further Evidence of Joseph's
Love of Justice. — War with the Porte. — Revolution of the
Netherlands. — Serious State of Hungary. — The Emperor's
Health gives way. — Recall of his Reforms. — The Crown sent
back to Hungary. — The Emperor's Death, .... 462
CHAPTER "VT.
'State of the Protestants under Leopold H.,fr6m 1790 to 1792. —Le
opold's Arrival. — Petition of the Protestants referred to the Diet.
— Royal "Resolutions" and their Consequences. — The Diet. —
The Seventeen Articles of the United Synod. — Deputation of the
' Synod to the Cardinal Primate of Hungary. — Sudden Death of
the King,  466
CHAPTER VII.
PART FIRST, FROM 1792 TO 1800  476
CHAPTER VTII.
A GLANCE AT THE INWARD LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN HUNGARY,
1792-1800  .... 489

XXVIII CONTENTS.

CHAPTER LX.

Fruitless Petitions of the Protestants. — John Arban imprisoned. —
The Command to keep Roman Catholics out of the Protestant
Churches. — Confiscation of London Bibles. — Little Warfare of
the Priests. — A Deputation to Vienna. — The Palatine Joseph's
Audience in Vienna. — Metternich and the Ministry, . . 493
CHAPTER X.
The Inner Life of the Church. — Attempts to improve the State of
the Schools. — The Famine. — Legacies. — Support of the Preach
ers. — Ecclesiastical Authority and Order decay. — Attempts to
get up a School Fund and a Periodical. — The Bible Society. —
Preparations for the Reformation Jubilee,  501
CHAPTER XI.
FROM THE REFORMATION JUBILEE TO THE DEATH OF FRANCIS I.
The Jubilee celebrated only by the Lutherans. — Fruits. — Stu
dents forbidden to study Abroad. — Register of Mixed Marriages.
— Children separated from their Parents. — Deputation to Vi
enna. — Persecution of the Protestants in Puchow. — The King
in Hungary. — Report of Ladislaus Teleky, .... 506
CHAPTER XH.
The Theological Institution at Vienna. — Prohibition of Bible Im
portation. — The Roman Catholic National Synod. — Hoheneg-
ger's Signs of (he Times. — Diet of 1825 -27  514
CHAPTER XIH.
The General Archives. — Catechisms and School-Books. — Military
Chaplains' Clerical Dress. — The Summer Schools. — The Unau
thorized Teachers. — The Diet of 1830. — Pastoral Letters of the
Bishops. — Count Butler's Conversion. — Country Churches.
their Attachment to the King. — Death of the Emperor  Uni
versal Mourning,  517
CHAPTER XIV.
FERDINAND V. FROM 1835 TO 1848.
The Old Ministry. — The Diet of 1836. — The Roman Catholic Dep
uties. — Pastoral Letter respecting Mixed Marriages. — Payment
of " Priests' Dues." — Royal Present to the Pastors of the Valley
of Puchow.— Diet of 1840,  621

CONTENTS. XXIX
CHAPTER XV.
REFORMS WITHIN THE CHURCH.
Plan for Church and School Reform. — Protestant Soldiers in Italy.
— The General Archives. — Theresa Szirmay's Foundations. —
Founding of the Hungarian Church at Pesth. — Peace in the
Church. — Attempts at Union,  524
CHAPTER XVI.
DIET OF 1843-44.
Royal Resolutions of 5th of July. — Dissatisfaction of the Protes
tants and the Bishops. — Debates at the Table of Magnates. —
Petition to the Palatine and the Diet. — Wonderful Declaration
of the Palatine  52S
CHAPTER XVH.
Calling of the Professors to Zay-Ugnacs. — Course of Instruction.
— Popish Holidays. — Provision for the Instruction of the Sol
diers. — Accusations,— Death of the Palatine. — Foundation of
the Protestant Church in Ofen. — Archduchess Maria Dorothea
goes to Vienna. — Archduke Stephen as Deputy-Governor. — Diet
of 1847-48,  534
CHAPTER XVHT.
DIET OP 1847-48,  ,538
CONCLUSION,  546

APPENDIX.

I. List of the Scholarships and Foundations for the Benefit of Hunga^
rian Students at Foreign Universities  551
II. Population of Hungary,  653
HI. Petition of the Protestant Clergy of Hungary, assembled in 1851,
near the Danube, and addressed to the Emperor Francis Jo
seph I  >  664
IV. Address to Her Imperial Highness Maria Dorothea, . . .657

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY.

FIRST PERIOD.
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TILL THE PEACE
OF VIENNA, A. D. 1608.

CHAPTER I.

CONSTITUENT PARTS ; ORIGINAL INHABITANTS ; FIRST TRACES
OF CHRISTIANITY, TILL THE TIME OF STEPHEN THE FIRST.
The kingdom of Hungary, also called Pannonia, once so
mighty and powerful, is even now one of the largest crown
lands of the Austrian empire ; containing above 5,000 geo
graphical or 110,000 English square miles. It was only by
slow degrees that it assumed its present form. It is divided
into Upper and Lower Hungary, or the circuits beyond and
on this side of the Danube and Teiss, and contains fifty -two
counties, which in independence and form of jurisdiction
much resemble the Swiss Cantons. Some of the counties
occupy the space of a small kingdom ; for example, Bihar
county contains 4,200, and Pesth 4,050 English square miles.
There are also entire circuits which have hitherto enjoyed
peculiar immunities, freedoms, and privileges, as in the
Jazygier and Rumania, as also in Little Rumania between
the Danube and Teiss, which have always had the Palatine
as Jheir highest judge. To Hungary are also reckoned the
regencies of Transylvania, Slavonia, Croatia, Dalmatia, and
1

Z HISTORY OF THE
the Military Boundary. The whole territory is 460 English
miles long, and 345 broad.
This large kingdom — almost surrounded by the majestic
Carpathian chain as a garden, with a fence, and intersected
by various navigable rivers, abounding with the choicest fish,
as the Teiss, the Save, the Drave, and the royal Danube —
produces within itself all that the necessities and comforts of
life demand. Distinguished by its excellent breeds of cattle,
and by natural productions of every kind, as corn, wine, and
tobacco, gold and silver, rock-salt and iron ; with a climate
temperate and (excepting the marshy regions of Lower Hun
gary) very healthy ; the industrious inhabitants enjoy every
where an abundance of all that they require. Strangers
need only avoid the richer diet of the country, and they soon
find themselves at home, ready to join in the songs of our
fathers, — ¦ " No other land like Hungary,
No other songs like hers." *
For these reasons the Romans chose to take forcible pos
session of Hungaiy beyond the Danube f six years before
the Christian era, and gradually pushed forward, till, in the
year 106, the territory above the Teiss and the present Tran
sylvania were conquered under the Emperor Trajan, from
whom it received the name of Dacia. Hither were Roman
colonies sent, according to the usual custom ; but when the
power of Rome began to decline, this land met with the fate
of other Roman dependencies, and passed gradually into
other hands. In the year 270 the Goths took possession of
Dacia ; and a hundred years later yielded to the Huns, who,
coming from Asia like a swarm of locusts, covered the land.

( * " Mag mein Ungarn nicht vertauschen,
Mag nicht fremden Liedern lauschen,
Nirgends ist's wie hier, so gut."
t Beyond the Danube means, here and elsewhere in this book, the south
western side of the river, or the part nearer Rome.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 3
In the year 434, under Attila, " the scourge of God," had
the power of the Huns reached its height ; but that power
was doomed to crumble down in the year 469, through the
quarrels of Attila's three sons. We now find in Dacia the
Gepidse, and in Pannonia the Eastgoths, who, in the year
489, under their king, Theodorick, passed overinto Italy.
Into their place came the Longobarden or Longbeards, and
shortly after the Avari, a people nearly related to the Huns.
These last, in the year 565, conquered the Gepidse, and thus
took possession of Pannonia. They also conquered Styria,
Illyria, Dalmatia, and Austria (Noricum), and even took pos
session of Constantinople.
By their plundering excursions in Germany, Itajy, and
even so far as France, the Avari drew on themselves the
wrath and the army of Charlemagne, who, in the year 803,
defeated and drove them back.
About this time we find some weak attempts made to in
troduce the Gospel among this barbarous people ; pious and
learned monks from England and Italy ventured among
them, •< but, being ignorant of the language, and seeking to
influence the people less by schools and regular continued
training than by the outward ceremonies of religion, they left
but few traces of their work behind. The little which they
had done was shortly afte* destroyed by the Magyars or
Hungarians, who, coming over from Asia under the guidance
of Almus, took possession of and gradually consolidated the
entire land. These sought out the seats of their distinguished
ancestors, the Huns, and increased in power, until, under the
renowned Arpad, they reached the summit of their glory,
and made themselves the terror of all surrounding nations.
About this time two distinguished Christian missionaries,
Cyrill of Illyria and his brother Methodius, labored with much
success in the countries adjoining Hungary. The former
had been sent out by the Greek Emperor Michael into Bul
garia, from whence he passed, accompanied by his brother

4 HISTORY OF THE
into Croatia and Moravia. Here he succeeded, about the
year 902, in persuading Swatopluck, King of Moravia, with
his whole nation, to embrace the Christian religion.
Of all the accounts we have of the religion of the Magyars
at that time, the best authenticated seems to be, that they
worshipped Mars as their principal deity, and, on the out
break of hostilities, summoned the warriors by sending round
a sword, — the symbol of their god. They worshipped also
the earth, fire, the sun and moon, and a goddess* " Rasdi,"
whence " varayslo," the soothsayers or prophets of Rasdi.
Whether they offered human sacrifices is uncertain, but not
improbable ; for every religion devised by man leads more
or less to intolerance and cruelty, and, instead of advancing
the cause of humanity, sinks man 'deeper in vice and crimed
Under Duke Zoltan, between the years 907-947, we find
the Hungarians plundering in Bavaria and Saxony, Switzer
land and Alsace, and bringing home a booty stained with the
blood of their innocent victims. After a nine years' peace
with Henry the First, surnamed the Bird-catcher, they re
sumed their predatory excursions, and learned to their cost
that Henry could do more than catch birds, for, in a pitched
battle at Merseberg, thirty-six thousand Magyars were left
dead on the field. At Augsburg they sustained a still greater
defeat in an engagement with the Emperor Otto, their forces
being nearly completely swept away, while three of their
chief leaders, Bulesu, Lehel, and Botond, were taken, and
hanged. Humbled by these misfortunes, the remnant of the people

* Vossius de Idolatria, Lib. HJ. p. 807. Bonfinius, Rerufti Hung. Decade
H. Lib. II. p. 223.
t A passage in an edict of Ladislaus, 1077-1095, throws some light on
the heathen worship of the Hungarians. It runs thus : — " Whosoever shall,
after the usual heathen custom, offer sacrifices at lakes and springs, under
trees or on heaps of stones, shall for each offence be fined in the penalty of
an ox."

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 5
listened most attentively to the message of the Gospel. The
number of the Christian teachers gradually increased in
Upper and Lower Hungary; and being favored in their
operations by the naturally mild disposition of the Regent
Geyza, they soon succeeded in persuading many of this in
domitable race to. forsake their idols, and turn to the living
God. b
According to some accounts, Joxus, the father of Geyza,
had, so early as the year 950, commenced to favor the intro
duction of Christianity among his people. It is evident that
under his reign some families had embraced Christianity, and
that his own children were baptized ; for one son was called
Michael, and another Ladislaus, one daughter Beatrix, and
another Agnes, — names which are not found among the
heathen. More marked was the influence of Charlotte in this great
work. She was the daughter of a Transylvanian prince,
Gyula, and was inarried to Geyza. She had been already
baptized before marriage, and her genuine piety won the
hearts of all around her. Among the captives, also, whom
the Hungarians had brought home in their predatory excur
sions, were many Christians, even priests and monks, who,
having learned the language, became, in the providence of
God, the means of leavening the families in which they re
sided with, the influence of Christianity. Exactly in propor
tion as they succeeded in this work did they themselves
receive milder treatment, as if they should thus be spurred on
to greater zeal. Artisans and merchants from Germany
were invited to settle in the land. Light is coming into cpn-
tact with darkness. The issue of the struggle will soon
appear. The Emperor Otto hears of the spread of the Gospel
in Hungary, and, in the year 972, sends Bishop Bruno to
encourage Geyza in favoring the great work.
In the year 977 Geyza was solerrmly baptized. The
Gospel plan of spreading the truth seemed now too slow.
1*

6 HISTORY OF THE
Some quicker method must be discovered by which the whole
nation shall at once follow his example. Geyza tries com
pulsory measures, and a nation clinging with punctilious ex
actness to the customs of the fathers is driven to the verge of
rebellion, while a baptism which they have been compelled
to receive produces no corresponding change of character.
His bright prospects are completely clouded.
With his son Waik, who was baptized by Adalbert, Bishop
of Prague, in the year 995, and who on his baptism received
the name of Stephen, begins the more important era in the
history of the Church of Christ in Hungary.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY.

CHAPTER II.
POLITICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL STATE OF HUNGARY UNDER
THE KINGS OF THE LINE OF ARPAD, FROM STEPHEN TILL
THE DEATH OF ANDREW III.  997-1301.
Shortly after his baptism, the young prince Stephen as
cended the throne, in his eighteenth year. t Trying as the
position might otherwise have been, it was rendered doubly
so for him on account of his youth, and the religious excite
ment which then prevailed. Charlemagne had succeeded,
though not without bloodshed, in spreading Christianity in
Germany ; and about the year 890 the Christian religion had
been firmly established in Bohemia. Towards the year 965,
the Poles followed the example of the Bohemians ; and short
ly after, there came from Italy and Greece vast numbers of
pious missionaries, who, with complete devotedness to their
work, penetrated through the whole of Hungary. These
labors were regarded favorably by the young" king, who,
under the guidance of his pious mother and the Christian
teachers, aimed at making his people Christians as soon as
possible. To this end he issued an edict, commanding them
to change their religion, and affixing penalties in case of
refusal. The natural consequence was, that the Magyars,
jealous of their freedom, refused to obey, and the dissatisfac
tion which had showed itself under the reign of Geyza now
broke out under the guidance of Kupa, Duke of Samogy, into
open rebellion.
The young king soon gained a victory over the insurgents,
and, as a grateful acknowledgment for his success, he fin
ished and richly endowed the Benedictine monastery which

8 HISTORY OF THE
his father had commenced. He was equally successful in an
engagement with the Transylvanian prince Gyula ; and, as
he refused to embrace Christianity, Stephen kept him in
prison for the remainder of his life, and joined his land to
Hungary in theyear 1002.
Stephen enforced a strict observance of the Sabbath. All
the cattle and implements which were found employed in the
desecration of that day were confiscated. He built also sev
eral churches ; established and endowed many bishoprics and
monasteries. He divided the kingdom into counties (Gespannschaften),
appointed a royal palatine, lieutenants of counties, and
judges ; he established schools for the education of the youth,
and by strict laws secured the right of property. His last
days, however, were embittered by domestic troubles. His
son Emerich died unexpectedly, in his twenty-fourth year.
His wife, a Bavarian princess, rendered his life miserable by
her intrigues. She succeeded, by the assistance of the
monks, in persuading Stephen to appoint his sister's son
Peter, from Italy, as his successor, and thus exclude Vasul,
Andrew, and Bela, who had a nearer claim. The two latter
fled to Poland, but Vasul was put to death with excruciating
torment, his eyes being put out, and boiling lead poured into
his ears.
The avenging justice of a righteous God soon visited Peter
with ample retribution. By the extravagances of his life,
and still more by the preference shown to foreigners at court,
he excited his people twice to rebel. In the second revolu
tion he was taken prisoner, had his eyes put out, and died in
prison in Stuhlweissenburg in the year 1046.
Glad to be freed from this king, the Hungarians recalled
Andrew from banishment, and offered him the throne, on the
express condition that he should root out Christianity ; for,
according to their opinion, all the evils they had suffered
under Peter's reign were to be attributed to the religion

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 9
which he profisssed. Though this condition was much op
posed to his own inclination, yet Andrew unhappily consent
ed. Little did he think now many churches and monasteries
should thus be wasted ; how many clergy, particularly for
eigners, should be delivered up to the cruelties of an exas
perated people. Without delay the Hungarians proceeded
to demolish all that bore the Christian name ; and it was on
this occasion that Bishop Gellert was thrown from the
Blocksberg at Ofen, whence the hill to this day bears hit)
name.* Very shortly after his coronation, however, Andrew I.
issued an edict, commanding the nation to return to the
Christian religion ; and his whole life was spent in its de
fence. His brother Bela came to the throne in 1060, and
followed in his footsteps, but reigned only three years.
Scarcely had Christianity thus gained a little stability in
the land, when the devastating hordes of the wild Rhunen,
during the reign of Solomon, breaking out of Moldavia, plun
dered Hungary to the banks of the Teiss. Equally destruc
tive were the invasions of the Bulgarians and the Greeks
about the same time ; and it was not till the reign of Ladis-
laus that the clouds began to scatter.
With his reign commenced a bright period in the history
of the Church of Christ in Hungary. Solomon was soon de
throned, and Ladislaus, thus set free, proceeded to invade
Croatia, which he conquered in 1091, and founded there the
bishopric of Agram. Having attacked a plundering horde of
the Rhunen, he conquered them at the river Temes, and
took them all captive. He now gave his prisoners the choice
between embracing Christianity and suffering death. They
chose the former, upon which they received the present Za-
zygia as their place of residence.
Ladislaus strove to advance the social condition of his

* Called by the Hungarians, " Szent Gellert Hegy," or Gellert's Hill.

10 HISTORY OF THE
people, and for this purpose summoned two general counc?9
or parliaments. He died in the eighteenth year of his reign,
A. D. 1095, and was buried in Grosswardein. The people
mourned for him three years. During his reign, Pope Greg
ory VII. had given Stephen I. of Hungary, and his son
Emerich, a place in the Calendar ; and a later Pope, in con
sideration of the great benefits which Ladislaus had rendered
the Church, placed him also among the Romish saints.
These costly and pompous ceremonies of canonization
tended only to enrich the Pope, and to flatter and deceive the
people, by leading- them to look for salvation in outward cer
emonies, and forget the words of the Lord Jesus, " The king
dom of God is within you."
Rome placed other gods beside the Lord Jesus. The
Scripture teaches us o£ only one God and one Mediator be
tween God and men, the man Christ Jesus ( 1 Tim. ii. 5) ;
only one Intercessor and Advocate with the Father (-1 John
ii. 1, 2) ; only one High-Priest, holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens,
who is able also to save them to the uttermost that come
unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them (Heb. vii: 25).
At a very early period the Papacy had mixed up with the
pure doctrines of the Gospel many heathen rites and cere
monies. Thus was the effect of a preached Gospel weak
ened or destroyed. How glorious might the fruits have been,
had Rome availed herself of the opportunities offered by well-
disposed princes to spread the pure religion of Jesus ! What
a bright morning might have dawned on the land, if such an
enlightened king as Kolomann had been properly supported
and directed by the Church ! As a man of penetration and
knowledge, far in advance of his time, we find him prohibit
ing the burning of witches, " because there are none." The
fever of the European Crusades had no power over him.
The first companies of plundering Crusaders who reached

TROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 11
his territory on the way to Jerusalem, were driven back ; the
next companies, under Godfrey of Bouillon, being more reg
ular, obtained a free passage, with the necessary provisions
by the way. By prudently yielding to their demands, he
quieted the rebellious Croatians, and added Dalmatia to his
kingdom. After his death, in 1114, his son Stephen II. ascended the
throne. He led a dissolute life, and died childless, having
for the last years usually gone in the garb of a monk. He
appointed the blinded Bela, the brother of Andrew, to be his
successor. Bela died after a ten years' reign, leaving three
sons, of whom the eldest, Geyza II., reigned till 1161.
This wise prince invited laborers from Germany to work
in the mines and to till the land. It was during his reign, in
the year 1142, that Saxons obtained a settlement in Transyl
vania, where they have ever since resided, retaining their
freedom and their nationality, and numbering, at the present
day, 200,000 souls.
His son Stephen III., a good-natured, easy man, suffered
Dalmatia to be taken from him by the wily Greek Emperor
Mamul. This loss, together with some other reverses, so
affected him, that it shortened his life, and he died in the
twenty-third year of his age.
His brother Bela III. reigned from the year 1173 till 1196.
Although educated at the Greek court, yet he kept himself
free from the corrupt principles and practices which there
prevailed, and disappointed the fears of the Hungarians by
his wise and good government. He introduced among his
subjects the custom of handing in all their complaints in_
writing. His private secretary wrote a History of Hungary.
He recovered Dalmatia from the Greeks ; and, as he was
preparing for a crusade to Jerusalem, he died, in his forty-
sixth year. To his eldest son, Emerich, he left the king
dom, and to the younger, Andrew, immense wealth, with the
obligation to expend it in a crusade in the father's stead.

12 HISTORY OF THE
Neither of the sons reached the father's expectations.
The eight years' reign of Emerich is to us, however, of im
portance, chiefly because, during that time, a very consider
able number of Hungarians joined that band of faithful men
who had dared to claim the Word of God as their rule of
faith and practice, and to raise their voice against the errors
of the Papacy ; to act as the Greek Church had done long
before, and break loose from Rome. It was the sect of the
Waldenses and Albigenses, or, as they were called in Italy,
Patareni, or Cathari,* which at this time gained so many
adherents. As God has in the rich treasury of nature provided suita
ble remedies for all the ills that flesh is heir to, so has he
also provided abundant relief for our spiritual maladies.
When the priests under the Old Testament dispensation for
sook the word of God, neglected their office, and turned to
the world, the Lord raised up prophets to instruct the people ;
and when the Church of Christ was by a hireling priesthood
reduced to a state of abject ignorance, He raised up single
individuals, and qualified them to strive for bis cause. Such
a witness for God was Peter Waldus. This great man, dis
tinguished by wealth, knowledge, and a thorough acquaint
ance with the Word of God, who lived at Lyons, in France,
and translated the Scriptures about the year 1 170, was driven
by fierce persecution from his native land, and came to re
side in Bohemia. Here he gathered round him pious men,
whom he sent out to preach the Gospel in Hungary.
So early as the year 1 176, we find in Hungary many ad
hering to the doctrines, of the Waldenses, who had sought
here an asylum before the vengeance of Rome ; + even
among the clergy, the number who had adopted these senti
ments was not inconsiderable. \
# See Mosheim, Eccl. Hist., Cent. XI. ch. ii. 13.
t A very satisfactory evidence that the sect of the Waldenses existed long
before the days of Peter Waldus, — that is, Peter the Waldensian. — Tb.
t Vitringa in Apocalyps. xii. 13

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 13
Under Emerich's reign, however, the number of Walden
sian refugees became much more considerable. Those who,
in France, Spain, and Italy, escaped the fire and sword of
Innocent III., fled over Venice to Dalmatia and Bosnia, where
they applied for protection to the Banus Kulin, who was a
member of the Greek United Church, and who stood under
the superior government of "Hungary. At first the refugees
found in him a protector, and afterwards a zealous friend.
So soon as the wife of the Banus, and Daniel, Bishop of Bos
nia, had declared their adherence to this sect, ten thousand
Greeks publicly separated from the Roman Church. The
Pope, and Bernhard, Archbishop of Spalatro, now demanded
of Emerich, King of Hungary, that he should punish the
heretics, and drive them back to the arms of the loving
mother Church.
By the advice of the king, the Banus proceeded to Rome,
and by his prudence succeeded in removing all danger for
the present, — at least from himself if not from his proteges.
Soon, however, his zealous neighbor, Wolkven, ruler of Ser-
via, accused the Ban Kulin once more to Innocent III. The
Pope, urged on by Bernhard, now demanded that Kulin
should be banished, as also that the Bishop Daniel and all
the heretics should be expelled or subdued by force of arms.
But little was wanting to make Hungary and the adjoining
countries the scene of a bloody religious warfare, as the
plains of France and Savoy had already been made at the
bidding of him who styles himself " the Vicar of Christ on
earth." Emerich was wise enough to refuse the Pope's demand.
He advised the Ban and the Bishop to be cautious, and thus
thousands escaped the fate of their brethren in the faith in
other lands. Daniel continued bishop for life ; * after his
death, however, the Pope's legate, John, who came from Ser-
* Catal. Testium Verit., p. 724.
2

14 HISTORY OF THE
via to Bosnia, succeeded, on the Tuesday after Easter, 1203,
in bringing a great number of the Patareni back to the
Church of Rome. The Ban Kulin, probably tired of the
commotions, assisted him in the work. The conditions were,
however, very easy. The contract was first brought to be
signed by Emerich, at the royal residence on the Hare Isl
and, between Old and New Ofen, and afterwards sent to the
Ban to guide him in his future conduct towards Rome, and
also towards the so-called heretics.*
The doctrines of the Albigenses took deep root, however,
among the Bosnians, and were by this trading people carried
into Dalmatia, Croatia, and Slavonia, with so much effect,
that the Hungarian bishops, in terror, demanded the intro
duction of the Inquisition in the year 1228.+
About this time, after the death of Ladislaus III., the king
dom had passed to Andrew II. It was long before this prince
thought of fulfilling his father's wish in undertaking the cru
sade. And then, the money left for that purpose being all
spent, Andrew levied new taxes, and farmed out the royal
revenues to the Jews and Mohammedans. The necessary
funds being thus obtained, he had his son Bela crowned to
rule the land in his absence, while he with ten thousand
horsemen set out for the Holy Land. The only fruits of this
crusade were, that, after having narrowly escaped being poi
soned in the valley of Lebanon, he returned laden with relics,
and brought also with him the daughter of the Greek empe
ror, Laskaris, as a bride for his son Bela.
He found the country like a garden run wild. The haugh
tiness of the nobility, the rapacity of the clergy^ the usurious
oppression of those who farmed the public revenues, and
the general demoralization of the people, were unbounded.
* Fessler, Geschiclite der Ungarn, 6tes Heft, p. 345.
f The founder of the Inquisition was Innocent III. in 1215 ; but it was
under Gregory IX., in 'the year 1233, that this institution first became so
terrible.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. \ 15
The difficulties were rather increased than diminished by
the famous Diet of 1222, in which, by the Golden Bull, new
immunities were granted to the nobility. ' Contrary to his
promise, Dionysius, who was much disliked, continued to be
palatine, and the royal revenues still remained in the hands
of the Jews and Mohammedans, who oppressed the people to
that extent that many changed their faith for that of their
oppressors. Thus far was the moral and religious state of
the land debased by a monopoly which had been granted
without due restrictions. In vain did the Pope, who would
gladly have had his own hand in the bag, warn the profligate
Andrew to be more moderate in his expenditure, and to give
the farming of the taxes only to Christians ; it came at last
so far that Robert, Archbishop of Gran, laid the whole land
under the Papal ban.
" Thus was the thirty years' reign of Andrew II. one un
broken chain of difficulty, misfortune, and distress for him
and his whole people ; and he left the kingdom, in a state of
great demoralization and poverty, to his son, Bela IV., in the
year 1235. Soon was the royal authority again restored,
and Duke Frederick of Austria, whom some malecontents had
called into the land, was, in 1236, driven back as far as Vi
enna, and made to pay dearly for his ravages in Hungary.
Misunderstandings soon crept in again between ruler and
people ; for, as the Rhunen were more and more annoyed
by their neighbors, the wild Mongols of Moldavia, Bela
brought forty thousand families of them into the present
Great Rumania, which highly offended the Hungarians.
Both king and people suffered for this on an early day ; for
when the wild hordes of the Tartars, coming as a scourge
over Russia and Poland,' broke into Hungary, only a few
thousand Hungarians could with difficulty be brought togeth
er to meet them. " Love is the fulfilling of the law." The
love of a people to their ruler is, in the hour of need, the key
which unlocks the treasures, the talisman which conjures up

16 HISTORY OF. THE
armies, the secret power which enables to make every sacri
fice ; mutual love forms the electric chain through which the
spark of the ruler's will is communicated to all his subjects,
and the subject's wish is brought back to the ruler.
It was lamentable that this bond was not so firm as the
king deserved, and as the people's danger required. On the
12th of March, 1241, the wild hordes of the Mongols, to the
number of half a million, under the guidance of Batu Khan,
crossed the Carpathian Mountains, and on the third day after
they swarmed round Pesth. Contrary to his own wish, but
by the advice of Archbishop Ugrin of Kalocz, Bela gave bat
tle with one hundred thousand men, at the river Sajo. The
Hungarians, in a bad position, and hampered in their move
ments, were completely routed. Kalman, the brother of the
king, died of his wounds, and it was only with difficulty that
the king himself escaped. He fled to Frederick, Duke of
Austria, who, however, plundered him of all the money he
had left He then passed oyer to Dalmatia, where, on the
islands Issa and Bua, he found safety.
When the Tartars forsook Hungary, in 1242, they left it
literally as a graveyard. Many villages, towns, and churches
were burnt and plundered. Some of the inhabitants fled to
the marshes and impenetrable woods ; but the rest, without
exception, were butchered. When the remnant began to
return from their concealments, they found the wild beasts
so numerous that the wolves took the infanta out of the cradle.
In addition to all this, the plague broke out, and swarms of
locusts came, devouring every green thing. The people
lived on carrion, — indeed, even human flesh was publicly
sold in the market ! A terrible judgment of God lay on the
land. All religion, all the finer feelings of humanity, seemed
completely vanished.
The sorely tried king did his utmost to alleviate the dis
tress. He travelled through the land, strove to comfort the
distressed, administered alms to the poor, invited foreigners

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. -17
10 settle in the country, and thus rescued it from the verge of
destruction. Bela IV. knew that the inhabitants of a land are
\ts riches, and that king and country are rich and powerful
in proportion to the number of industrious hands- they can
claim as their bwn. To spare this treasure, which was, in
deed, sufficiently small, the king declined obeying the re
peated commands of Pope Gregory IX., to undertake a cru
sade against John Asan, the heretical king of the Bulgarians.
Why ruin his people by another war ? he thought. The
Pope had, by his legate, James, raised sufficient disturbance
in Hungary, so that the archbishop preferred taking the side
of the king to that of his spiritual master. Bela had much to
do to prevent the land falling back to heathen darkness.
The two following kings did little for the land. Stephen
'V., the ungrateful son of Bela, reigned only two years, and
was succeeded by his son, Ladislaus IV., who wore the
crown of Hungary till 1290. Pie spent his time chiefly
among the Rumanians-, who were mostly heathens, and be
came a voluptuary and sensualist like themselves. He looked
quietly on while they plundered the churches, and compelled
those of their own people who had become Christians to turn
back to heathenism. The exasperated Hungarians fell on
the Rumanians, and were about to compel them to be bap
tized, on which they rose in troops to leave the land. They
returned, to invade Transylvania, in 1282, but were repulsed
by Ladislaus ; on which they joined with the Tartars, and re
turned with an immense host, in 1285. They spread such
devastations. that many of themselves died of hunger; the
pestilence raged fearfully among them, and those who tried
10 escape were cut down by the Hungarians, so that very few
reached their home.
So great was the poverty of the people, that many had no
cattle to till the fields ; and though this was in part attributa
ble to the wars, yet the profligacy of Ladislaus also bore part
of the blame. The two-wheeled cars, which were about this
2*

18 HISTORY OF THE
time introduced, bear the name of the Ladislaus cars to this
day, as a testimony of public opinion against the king, that
he was, at least to some considerable extent, the cause of
their poverty. He died a miserable death, being murdered
by the Rumanians. He had neglected the customs of his
people, and finding, therefore, no place in their affections,
they called him " Khan Laszlo," the Rumanian Ladislaus.
The land of the childless king was inherited by Andrew
III., who reigned from 1290 till 1301.
Though an intelligent and just prince, yet the k nd was
not permitted, under his reign, to recover from its \ 'ounds.
Mary, Queen of Naples, the daughter of Stephen, wished to
raise her grandson, Charles Robert, then ten years of age, to
the Hungarian throne. This unjust claim was supported by
the Pope, by Dalmatia, and by a faction of Hungarians. It
came so far that Charles Robert was crowned at Agram in
the year 1300, by the ungrateful Gregory, whom Andrew had
made bishop, and to whom he had shown so many favors.
Andrew's reign was near an end. Not supported by the
Pope or the clergy in his aims at religious and moral re
form, he made little progress in this respect. While he and
the clergy were jealously watching each other, the doctrines
of the Waldenses increased rapidly ; and even at Ofen were
the adherents so numerous, that the Papal legate, Philip Fir-
mian, who had issued a strict edict against them, was obliged
to save his life by flight.
In the following spring, as Andrew was, with his nobility
and those of the clergy who had remained faithful, preparing
to meet his rival in the field, a black deed stopped his course,
His Italian body-servant, having been bribed, mixed poison in
his food, and he died in the year 1301.
With him ceased the male line of the house of Arpad.
Hungary, formerly an hereditary monarchy, from this time
elected her king; and from 1301 till 1540, was governed bv
princes of different families.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 19

CHAPTER IH.
STATE OF HUNGARY UNDER RULERS OF DIFFERENT HOUSES,
FROM 1301 TO 1540.  THE HUSSITES.
John Huss. — His Death. — Jerome of Prague. — His Death. — Doctrines of
the Hussites. — Spread and Persecution of these Doctrines in Bohemia,
Hungary, and Transylvania.
Shortly after the death of Andrew III., we find the Wal
denses in very considerable numbers in Hungary. Formed
into separate congregations, and laboring with great zeal for
the spread of their doctrines, they caused the Church of
Rome much anxiety. About the year 1315, we find the
numbers of this people enlightened by the Word of God —
and, even as their enemies confess, maintaining a high stand
ard of morality in Bohemia, Austria, and the neighboring
lands — amounting to eighty thousand. Rome, therefore, did
her utmost to have them suppressed. No term of disgrace
was too bad, no crime too great, to impute to them. They
were represented as maintaining the most terrible heresies,
though their Catechism, published in 1100, and their Confes
sion of Faith, in 1 120, completely refuted the calumny. *
It was in Austria that the influence of Rome was first felt.
In Vienna some were publicly led to the stake, and among
these we find mention made of Simeon Scaliger, a Hunga
rian, who is represented as an apostle and angel of the sect,
and who nobly witnessed for the truth in a martyr's death. t
* Joannes Honert in Dissert. Hist. Theol. de Fid. Religioneque Vet. Vald.
pp. 38, 52, 62.
t Catal. Testium Verit., p. 756.

20 HISTORY OF THE
In Hungary the priests of Rome were less successful in
gaining over the civil power to serve their purposes. This
land, having bee,n at all times more inclined' towards the
Greek than the Latin Church, afforded the Waldenses more
protection, and furnished the priests with fewer blinded in
struments for carrying out their bloody designs. The greater
freedom of the Hungarian constitution was also unfavorable
to the workings of the dark and slavish Inquisition ; so that
even the commands which either by force or fraud were
issued against the Waldenses were seldom carried out. In
deed, the Inquisition never gained a firm footing here, and
was at no time so terrible as in other lands. Even many of
the nobility embraced the new doctrines, and adhered to
them with the more zeal, in proportion as they saw the riches
and the pride of the Roman clergy increased.
Thus lived the Waldenses in free Hungary, under the pro
tection of the powerful, almost independent nobility, with
little to annoy them till the reign of the Emperor Sigismund,
when they received the name Hussites, and at which time
the days of trouble and visitation came.
In the year 1400, John Huss, who had previously been
Professor in the Academy of Prague, was preaching in the
Bethlehem Church in that city. The church was often too
small to contain his audience. With a freedom, and in an
evangelical spirit, which remind us of Luther, he testified
against the vices of the clergy and the nobility, and did not
spare even the Pope and his court. Kindness and severity
were both tried for the sake of silencing this voice, but in
vain, i Many of .his sermons are so eloquent, so penetrating
and powerful, that they would scarcely be allowed, even in
the present day, to appear in Austria without alteration,
With him Gospel truth was everything, and in publishing
this he cared little for persons and rank. He thought with
the Apostles, " If I yet pleased men, I should not be the ser
vant of Christ. " (Gal. i. 10.)

- PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 21
As Pope John XXIII., in the year 1411, ordered a crusade
to be preached against Naples, and proclaimed a free pardon
of sin to all who took part in this war, — John Huss, Jerome
of Prague, and other pious men, protested against the act,
and publicly declared the Pope to be Antichrist, because he
was exciting Christians to wage a deadly war against their
brethren. The students carried the Popish bulls and indul
gences in disgrace through the city, and afterwards burned
them in the presence of many thousands of the inhabitants.
_ It was very natural that neither Rome, nor the degraded
clergy, nor the immoral nobility, could bear such powerful
testimonies. " Because ye are not of the world, therefore
the world hateth you." The fate of these witnesses is well
known. The hatred of the Roman clergy succeeded in hav
ing Huss burned at Constance on the 6th of July, 1415,
and Jerome of Prague on the 10th of May, 1416, while the
clergy of that tender Church, out of which is no salvation,
quieted their consciences respecting the " safe-conduct " of
the Emperor, by declaring, " No one is bound to keep faith
with heretics." * '
" Both of these men died praising God. On the way to
the stake they sang hymns, and were as cheerful as if going
to their wedding. No mere philosopher ever suffered the
fiery death so nobly as these men did." Thus does JEneas
Sylvius testify of both.t Their ashes were thrown into a
pool, but their doctrines, and the love of their followers, could
not be drowned. Their friends took home, instead of the
ashes, a portion of the earth where they had suffered. Their
memory was blessed. The cruelty of their bloodthirsty
enemies was in vain, and their hopes were put to shame,, for
the number of adherents to their doctrines, instead of dimin
ishing, increased very considerably.

* Hist. Present. Bohem., pp. 26t 30, 31.
r iEneas Sylvius, Hist. Boh., Cap. XXXVI. p. 75.

22 H1ST0T.Y OF THE
Shortly afterwards, when the Bohemians were declared to
be heretics, and when the soldiers of Sigismund attempted to
reduce them to obedience, a valiant general and defender of
the faith was raised up in the person of John Ziska, a noble
man, who was so well supported by the people, that he gained
eleven victories in succession over the imperial troops.
From this time the doctrines spread rapidly, even over
Hungary and Transylvania, where many of the resident
Saxons had already embraced the faith, but, for the sake of
avoiding Sigismund's persecutions, had fled into Moldavia
and Wallachia. The doctrines were also, when contrasted
with those of the Church of Rome, of such a nature, that
they commended themselves to every lover of truth. What
most provoked the court of Rome, and what was regarded
as their principal offence, next to the rejection of the Roman
sovereignty, was the translation of the Scriptures into the
native language, and the free use of this translation among
the people.
According to the account of iEneas Sylvius, afterwards
Pope Sylvester II., their principal doctrines, were as fol
lows : —
The Pope of Rome is nothing more than any other bishop,
No difference of rank should be made among the clergy,
and not the ordination, but the holy life, makes the priest.
The souls of the deceased go immediately either to eternal
life or eternal misery.
There is no purgatory.
It is a device of priestly avarice, and a useless thing, to
pray for the dead.
All pictures of the Divine Being, and of the saints, should
be abolished.
The consecrating of water is ridiculous.
The clergy should be poor, and content with their alms.
Confirmation and extreme unction are no sacraments.
The confessional is mere child's play.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 2d
Baptism should be performed simply with water.
The consecrating of burying-grounds is only for the sake
of gain,, and it is all one where the dead lie.
The priest's dress, the church ornaments and vessels, are
of little importance.
The priest can, at all times and places, prepare and ad
minister the sacrament of the body of Christ, and the use of
the words of consecration is for that purpose sufficient.
Prayer to the saints reigning in heaven with Christ is use
less. On the Sabbath, one is bound to refrain only from daily
labor. The adoration of the saints must be completely rejected.
Fasts appointed by the Church have no merit before God.
The religion of the begging monks is an invention of
Satan. Every man has a right to preach the Gospel.*
These were the principal doctrines which Rome considered
dangerous to her interests, and which, by the deluded civil
powers, she strove to extinguish in blood. The war which,
under Sigismund, had not been very happily ended, was con
tinued by Rome under the reign of his successor Ladislaus,
in Hungary. Here, and especially in Upper Hungary, had
many Hussites, during the war, found a home. This immi
gration had taken place especially about the year 1424, when
Ziska had led the Hussites triumphantly through Lausitz and
Silesia into Hungary. Thousands of them settled in the
counties of Presburg, Trentshin, Barsh, Neograd, Sol, Thu-
rotz, Liptau, Arva, Sharosh, and Albania. Here they
formed congregations of their own, and built churches, where
they worshipped God according to the dictates of their own
conscience. These circumstances annoyed Rome very much ; but what
* Hist. Boh., Cap. XXXV. p. 67.

24 HISTORY OF THE
was to be done ? To banish them from Hungary would be
little use. By so doing, the evil would only spread farther.
In the year 1444, therefore, the Cardinal Julian concluded a
contract with King Uladislaus, that the Hussites, wherever
found, should le •completely destroyed. The carrying out of
this bloody decree was hindered by the unsuccessful battle of
Varna, where King Uladislaus, who had been persuaded by
the legate and the clergy' to break his solemnly sworn peace
with the Turks, fell in battle, and had his head carried about
in triumph on a pike among the Turks.* With him fell the
principal Hungarian nobility, and the Cardinal Julian was
killed while attempting to escape.
The great misfortune which thus befell the nation was
advantageous to the spread of the truth. Many of the clergy
had fallen in battle ; a dangerous foe was approaching ; the
cause of the Hussites, though as dangerous to Rome as the
Mahometan invasion, was for the present forgotten. Under
the regency of Hunyady, during the minority of Ladislaus
V., the Hussites, united with the Bohemians under the guid
ance of Giskra, wasted and annoyed Upper Hungary. Even
the brave Hunyady, who had so often defeated the Turks,
could do little against them, for his troops were strongly
biased in favor of the Hussites. He concluded a peace,
therefore, with Giskra, which was the more likely to con
tinue, as a terrible event set all Europe, and especially Hun
gary, in a state of feverish excitement.
Mahomet II. had taken possession of Constantinople on
the 29th of May, 1453, and thus was the Greek empire
brought to an end. Pope Martin V. proclaimed a crusade
for the recovery of Constantinople, and, through the monk

* " God of the Christians," said Amurad H., as he saw the Hungarian king
coming down to the fight, "punish the traitor who dishonorest thy holy
name by breach of his solemn oath ! " Soon he fell under the swords of the
Janizaries.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 25
John Kapistran, issued a plenary indulgence to all who should
take part in the war.
The Hungarians soon mustered under the guidance of the
brave Hunyady. But not many of the nobility were in arms ;
for the Diet which had been held at Ofen, for considering the
best means of defending the land, had led to no beneficial
result; and the king, with his evil counsellor, Cilley, fled to
Vienna, so that the defence of the country rested on Hun
yady and his little noble band. He was soon strengthened
by a company of sixty thousand volunteers whom John Ka
pistran had gathered. Other powers had promised help, but
did not send. These volunteers, though of very different
stations in life, and from different countries, as well as being
very badly armed, were soon, under the prudent management
of Hunyady, in such a state that they attacked the Turkish
army, consisting of two hundred thousand men, at Belgrade,
and obliged them to fly, with a loss of forty thousand men.
Shortly after this,' Hunyady died at Zimon, in the eightieth
year of his age, and in his stead his bitterest foe was appoint
ed regent of Hungary. As he was about to punish with
Jeath Ladislaus, the son of Hunyady, at Belgrade, the army
mutinied, and killed him. Thus were king and country freed
from this evil counsellor. The king declared the sons of
Hunyady not guilty, and, to relieve the mother's mind, took
a solemn oath " that he would never avenge the death of Cil
ley on the sons of Hunyady." Notwithstanding this, however,
he beheaded the eldest son, .Ladislaus, on the 17th of March,
1457, and threw the younger son Matthew into prison. As
the mother, and a near relative, Michael Kilagyi, raised
troops to compel the king to set the guiltless youth free,
Ladislaus V. fled to Vienna^ and took Matthew with him.
Shortly after, he went to Prague, and died on the 23d of No
vember, 1457. People remarked that it was on that- day
twelve months before, that he had taken the oath not to harm
the sons of Hunyady. 3

26 HISTORY OF THE
Matthew remained in the power of George Podiebrad. It
was not long, however, till the remembrance of his father's
merits, and some other circumstances, awakened such a
feeling in his favor, that, at a general council held at Ofen
for settling the affairs of the kingdom, amidst universal re
joicing, Kilagyi, standing with forty thousand troops on the
frozen Danube, proclaimed this youth of fifteen years King
of Hungary. In a few days an embassy was sent to bring
Matthew — known as Matthew Corvinus — with great honor
to Ofen.
The design of the present work will not allow us to follow
this distinguished king, and recount all the good which he did
for his country, — especially to record how he, during the
thirty-two years of his reign, advanced the cause of learn
ing. Though constantly engaged in war, yet he spared
no expense to collect all the books and manuscripts which
escaped the plunder in Constantinople and Athens, and to
found a library in Ofen, and brought thither distinguished
men from other countries. He also established a printing-
press. The more astonishing was it in this prince, that he dealt
hardly with the Hussites. The Roman clergy, however,
and the Pope, were able to stir him up to this work with so
much more success, as the Bohemian king, Podiebrad, had
openly taken their part, and, to please them, was oppressing
Roman Catholics. When Paul II., therefore, had excommu
nicated the king of Bohemia, and promised to bestow the king
dom on any one who could conquer it, not only the Pope, but
also the Emperor Frederick III., gave Matthew no rest till he
took the field against his father-in-law, Podiebrad, in the year
1468. Though the Emperor neglected to send the promised
assistance, yet Matthew at last conquered Moravia, Silesia,
and Lausitz, and was crowned, at Briinn, King of Bohemia,
in the year 1469. This was, however, of little use, for, at a
Diet in Prague, Podiebrad succeeded in having a resolution

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 27
passed, that after his death the electors should choose Uladis-
laus,the son of Casimir, king of Poland, and not Matthew, to
be their king. And they kept their word.
Matthew was not only involved in a dangerous war with
Poland, but also engaged in quelling an insurrection in his
own land. His former tutor, John Vitez, Archbishop of
Gran, had excited this insurrection. The king was success
ful, and came away as conqueror in both cases.
About this time, the king, who was naturally inclined to
be just, and who had dbtained better information respecting
the Hussites, recalled those whom he had banished two years
before to Moravia, and gave them a residence in their own
land.* What the Jesuits, Szent, Yvanyi, and especially
Florimund, relate of the great severity of Matthew against
the Hussites, seems, therefore, to be unfounded, as being
directly opposed to the general character of the king ; and
especially as the latter historian shows himself to have been
in other points badly informed. Florimund, for example,
while telling of the burning of the Hussites before Ofen,
makes Matthew to have died in 1525, while his death really
took place on the 5th of April, 1490.
How little the king was inclined blindly to serve the interests
of Rome, and how firmly he was resolved to protect his own
royal rights and privileges against all pretensions of the Pope,
may be seen from the extraordinary letter which he wrote to
the Cardinal of- Aragon, in which he declares that the right
of the crown to bestow the bishoprics a"hd other places of
trust, he would on no account surrender to the Pope.t It is
also worthy of notice, that he kept the learned and witty John,
Bishop of Wardein, surnamed Pannonicus, as favorite poet at
his court, and always near his person, although he was fre
quently writing cutting satires against the abuses of Rome

* Historia Persecutionis Bohemiae, XXII.
t Apud Revan, Cant. V. p. 45.

28 HISTORY OF THE
and the person of the Pope, with a keenness which some
times resembles Juvenal. *
Matthew's successor was Uladislaus II., a good-natured
and indolent prince, paying little attention to the affairs of his
kingdom. The Hussites had, therefore, heavy trials during
his reign. He was in the habit of replying to every request,
whatever it was, "Dobre" (Good), for the sake of being
freed from all further trouble, wherefore even the Hunga
rians called him in mockery, "Dobre Laszlo," Uladislaus
the Good. When his queen was near her confinement, and
her mind therefore more easily affected by the arguments
and promises of her spiritual advisers, she was persuaded by
the bishops to obtain from him an edict by which all the Huss
ites should be excluded from offices of trust, cast into prison,
and, if they did not recant, be punished with death, f
In the year 1508 the Hussites suffered another persecu
tion, which proceeded chiefly from the Augustine monks.
In self-defence they handed their confession of faith to the
king ; and, as he very naturally could not find in this confes
sion the heresies with which they were charged, and as they
pictured forcibly the distresses to which they had been exposed,
he was so moved, that he modified very considerably the
severe edicts which had gone out against them. % In form
ing this resolution, perhaps he was also moved by the fate of
* As a specimen, we may take a few lines out of his poem on the Roman
Jubilee : — " Hispani, Galli, Slavini, Teutones, Hunni,
Clavigeri petitis limina sancti Petri ;
Quo ruitis, stulti? Latios ditare Penates?
Salvari in patria hiccme nemo potest ?"
" 0 Spaniards, Gauls, Slavonians, Germans, Huns,
Ye seek the gates of him who bears the keys ;
Why run so far, ye fools ? To enrich the Latin gods ?
Is no one saved, then, who remains at home? "
t Adrian Regenvolscius iu Hist. Eccl. Slavoniae.
\ Istvanfy, Lib. II. p. 177.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 29
his wife. Shortly after persuading him to issue these severe
decrees against the Hussites, she had died in Prague of a
premature confinement. With much difficulty the life of the
child was saved, and he afterwards reigned as King of Hun
gary till he met with his death in the battle of Mohacs.*
The threatening aspects of the times — arising from the fear
that Selim I., the Turkish emperor, would invade Hungary,
and still more, from that irregular mass of crusaders, who, to
the amount of forty thousand men, under the guidance of
Dorsa, were turning their weapons against the nobility — in
duced the priests, and indeed all who were possessed of prop
erty, to give the persecuted Hussites a little rest. They
lived then quietly and retired till the sun of the Reformation,
with its enlightening and warming beams, shone also on
them. As, with the exception of a few points, they held gen
erally the same principles as the Reformers, agreeing -with
them completely in acknowledging the supremacy of the
Word of God, they gladly united with this movement. To
escape the bloody persecution under Ferdinand II. of Austria,
many of them emigrated from Bohemia and Moravia into
Germany, where they, under the guidance of Count Zinzen-
clorf, founded flourishing congregations at Herrnhut and other
places. These churches made most incredible sacrifices for
the spread of the Gospel in Greenland, Africa, and America ;
and even to the present day their missions are in a most
prosperous state. The Hussites in Hungaiy and Transylva
nia escaped from the oppression of the priests by emigrating
to Wallachia, where they long maintained their principles
uncontaminated. • In the year 1716 they sent to the Reformed
Church of Transylvania, asking for preachers to be sent
them. As this demand, however, could not be fully satisfied,
part of them joined the Greek Church, and part fell into the
hands of the Franciscan monks.
* Hist. Present. Bohem., Cap. XXIV. p. 83.
1*

30 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER IV.,
DECAY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND MORALS AMONG CLERGY
AND LAITY IN HUNGARY PREVIOUS TO THE REFORMATION.
How far the religion of Jesus had decayed in the Middle
Ages under the hands of the priests of Rome, and how deep
the Church and her servants were, both morally and intel
lectually, sunk, is universally acknowledged. The state of
Hungary was naturally no better than other countries simi
larly situated. For, in the first place, the constant wars did
not tend to improve the morals, and then the wealth and
high rank of the clergy gave them frequent opportunities for
sensual gratification. The bishops, abbots, and superior
clergy of Hungary, were, in general, also wealthy landhold
ers, who, under the prevailing feudal system, were often
called on to decide, not only with reference to the property,
but also the lives and liberties, of their descendants. It was
no wonder, then, that, instead of feeding the lambs of the
fold of Christ, they involved themselves in worldly business
and affairs of state, while their lives were notoriously ill cal
culated to adorn the Gospel.
The essence of religion was supposed to lie in the outward
ceremonies of the Church, which were performed without
devotion by the clergy, and attended on by the people merely
out of custom. The orthodoxy of the people was tested by
their attendance, on these services. The Popes created one
saint after another, and appointed them patron deities of cer
tain lands, to whom altars were built, and to whom the super
stitious people fled for protection in the time of need. Pre
tended wonders said to have been performed by these saints

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 31
were, with the Pope's approbation, used as means of drawing
the people still more closely to the worship even of then- pic
tures and images.
What Cardinal Bellarmin says of other countries, was also
true of Hungary. " There was scarcely any true religion
more." In proportion, however, to the want of vital godli
ness, was the number of " holy places." In Hungary there
were reckoned one hundred and forty different places where
the image of the Virgin Mary was represented as working
wonders. These were afterwards described with great care,
and illustrated with wood-cuts, by Prince Paul Esterhazy,
Palatine of Hungary, and printed in the Hungarian language,
" for the conversion and confounding of all heretics, for the
comfort of all orthodox (that is, Roman Catholic) Christians,
and to the greater glory of the Mother of God " ; dedicated
especially to this hereditary queen of Hungary, " on whose
birthday the author also was born."
To give the reader an idea of this book, which is very
rare, we extract one description, entitled, —
The Wonder-working Image of Our Lady at Presburg.*
" John Clemens, a native of Presburg, who died in 1641, in
the sixtieth year of his age, returned shortly after to tell that,
though he had died in a believing and penitent state, yet he
must bear great pain in purgatory, because he had not done
sufficient penance for his sins, especially for a murder for
which he had paid only two hundred florins. He begged his
wife, therefore, to divide two hundred florins more among
the poor, otherwise he could not be saved. + Besides, in ful
filment of a vow which he had made, an image of the Virgin
must be set on the altar of the largest church, and a certain
number of prayers be read for him. As now a certain en-
* The wood-cut represents Mary sitting dressed as a nun, with a stola ;
the body of the Lord resting on her bosom, and his head supported by her
right arm. At his feet may be seen a candle burning.
+ Rome's commentary on the text 1 John i. 7 -9 ! — Tit.

32 HISTORY OF THE
graver, was about to form a suitable image, the spirit of the
deceased man 'showed him an old image of the Virgin which
he should set up in the church. When this was done, the
spirit hung a veil over Mary, and placed a wax candle at the
feet of Christ, which are preserved to this day. The spirit
remained some days in the appearance of a white dove, and
was seen by many, and then, surrounded with great glory,
was taken up to the joys of the blessed. Many pious Chris
tians receive to this day great benefits and blessings from this
image, to the eternal glory of God."
The wonders which are told of some of these images are
so great, that those of the Lord and his Apostles appear very
small. Especially severe are the images of Mary against
the Picards or Waldenses, the Lutherans, and Calvinists,
who, on account of despising them, are struck with madness
or other painful diseases, and sometimes lose their property
and their life. One of the most wondrous, however, of all
the images, is perhaps that which the Druids at Carnotum in
France made, one hundred and fifty, years before Christ, to
the Virgin and the Child which should be born.
A church was built at the same time for preserving it, and
thereby many a wonder was performed, but especially once,
when the son of the king had been drowned and was laid out
before this image, he immediately recovered. . The monks in
Transylvania made considerable profits by carrying such im
ages through the country.
In addition to all this, the sermons were filled with the
most nonsensical fables and stories of saints, and of the won
ders which they had wrought. Such a thick cloud rested on
the hearts and minds of the people, and superstition was so
universal, that escape from danger, victory gained, or any
signal favor whatever, was not ascribed to God or Christ, but
to Mary, or Martin, or George, or Ladislaus.
Indeed, they went so far as to set up public monuments to
the saints for their imaginary help ; as, among others, Prince
Bathory did, in the year 1489.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 33
That the ignorance of the monks was become proverbial,
was a Veil-known fact. With few exceptions, they knew
nothing more than their " Miserere " and Breviary. The
numbers of those who seemed born for nothing else than to
eat, were, with their begging habits, a terrible plague to the
oppressed country people, and, by their ignorance, their su
perstition, and immorality, tended, in no small degree, still
further to degrade those with whom they came in contact.
In bringing such sweeping charges, we are bound to sus
tain them with facts and dates. Let us look, then, at the
Synodal Statutes of Stuhlweissenburg, in the preface to
which Bishop Ladislaus Gereb complains so bitterly of the
priests. Let us hear even the Jesuit Peterfy, who, in speak
ing of the year 1460, in the 33d Canon, refers to matters
which show how deeply the clergy were sunk. Single
voices, which were raised against the prevailing immorality,
fell a sacrifice to calumny and persecution. Among these,
some reckon John Vitez, Archbishop of Gran. This man,
being accused of supporting the rebels against Matthew Cor-
vinus, was deposed from office, and shortly after died of
grief. The ambition and covetousness of the clergy seemed be
yond remedy. The sums of money which they demanded
at funerals were so enormous, that Matthew was obliged to
restrain them by a severe edict.* For the sake of levying
money, they often put single individuals, or whole districts,
under the ban ; and in collecting tithes, they took such liber
ties as required laws to be passed, at the general national
council, to restrain them.t
The immorality in the monasteries was incredible. In the
year 1477, Matthew handed over a neighboring abbey, " in
consequence of the impure lives of the abbots," to the care

* Article 63 of the year 1486, and Article 2 of the year 1513.
t Article 45 of the year 1495, and Act 1 of the year 150;

34 HISTORY OF THE
of the monks of Hermannstadt. Other monasteries were,
for the same reason, completely closed. ' It is, then, not true,
what Cardinal Pazman asserts, that the monks fled away sim
ply to avoid persecution, and that, without any crime charge
able against them, others came in and took their place.
Matters were made still worse by Thomas Bakayius, Arch
bishop of Gran, in the year 1514. After the death of Pope
Julius II., he went to Rome, in the hope of himself being
made Pope, and having wasted all his property in vain,
he begged the newly elected Pope, Leo X., to give him as
sistance against the Turks. As Leo had little money to
spare, he supplied the Hungarian archbishop with an im
mense number of indulgences, promising forgiveness of sin
and eternal life to all who went to battle against the common
foe.* There appears something very terrible in this presump
tion, when compared with the Word of God. God alone can
forgive sin ; and the keys, which were given, not to Peter
alone, but to all the disciples, were never inherited by any
one, in the Papal sense. The ignorance of the people, how
ever, served best the purposes of the clergy ; for when
Archbishop Thomas Baka.cs published the Papal bull, on the
16th of April, at Ofen, there soon appeared an immense num
ber, prepared to engage in this holy war. In one month,
forty thousand were brought together, and shortly after, the
number increased to one hundred thousand. They were,
h6wever, chiefly such as could be very well spared in their
native villages, and who, from want of discipline and want
of leaders, were not likely to do any great injury to the Turk.
Some dissatisfaction was felt by the nobles on losing so many
of their serfs and laborers ; but the archbishop cared for
none of these things. He appointed a leader, named George
Dorsa, who soon distinguished himself at Zemendria, by kill-
* Timon in Purpura Pannon., p. 30.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 35
ing, in single combat, the leader of a Turkish band. For
this deed he received from the king double pay, a gold
chain, a scarlet coat worked with gold lace, spurs and sword,
an estate, and, out of the king's own hand, a coat of arms.*
The archbishop made him a present of a white flag, with a
red cross.
The worst fears of the nobility respecting this crusade
were soon realized. Some of the nobles had followed their
runaway servants, and, with much severity, had brought
them back. Besides, as there had been no provision made
beforehand for the support of this band, they were soon un
der the necessity of stealing", to obtain a living ; and it was
not long till Dorsa led them on regularly to plunder the no
bles _and the clergy. As a stone rolling down a hill, these
bands went on with accelerating impetuosity in crime, till the
name " crusader " became, as it continues to this day, a
word of terror. The education of the people had been neg
lected, and it was seen with how much truth Luther said,
" Take away the schools and the churche*s, and the mass of
the people will soon become like bears and wolves."
And, really, like bears and wolves did these crusaders act.
In this peasant war, which was only with great difficulty
brought to an end, it was. reckoned that seventy thousand
men must have perished. Among these were four hundred
of the nobility, and about fourteen bishops, whom the wild
rabble either impaled or murdered in some other cruel way.
That was the terrible result of Papal indulgences bestowed
on a people devoid of the fear of God and of true repentance.
Supposed pardon of sin, without corresponding sanctification,
made them like wild beasts. Means must be taken to pre
vent such excesses for the future. The proper means —
educating and elevating the masses — was contrary to the
spirit of the times ; no one thought of it. A decree was
* Istvanfy, Lib. V. p. 41.

S6 . HISTORY OF THE
passed degrading all the peasants and tributary landholders.
They and their children should for ever be excluded from all
higher civil offices and places of confidence.* But by such
a proceeding the state of the nation was in no respect im
proved. In this miserable condition was the civil, political,
and religious state of the country when the report of Luther's
work, and the ninety-five theses which he had nailed on the
church door in Wittenberg, passed from one to another.
Thousands, in a state of bodily and spiritual oppression,
paused to hear, and many hundreds asked, when they heard
these new doctrines, with an earnestness equal to that which
pervaded the crowd on the great Pentecostal day, " What
meaneth this ? " * Act 24, in the year 1514.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 37

CHAPTER V.
FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE REFORMATION IN HUNGARY  TILL
THE BATTLE OF MOHACS, 1526.

Simon Grynaus and Vitus Viezheim, Professors in Ofen. — Queen Mary and
her Chaplain, John Henkel, as Friends of Luther. — Contemporary Move
ments in Hermannstadt. — First Reformers of Transylvania. — Ambrosius
and George summoned to Gran. — Marcus Pempflinger, Count of Sax
ony. — The Pope attempts to crush the Reformation. — Ludwig II. — Car
dinal Cajetan. — Royal Decree against the Lutherans. — Hungarian Stu
dents at Wittenberg. — Burning of Luther's Books at (Edenberg. — General
Council in 1525. — Louis H. writes to (Edenberg. — Battle at Mohacs.

There was perhaps scarcely any other land in which so
many, in so short a time, openly forsook the old Church and
declared in favor of the Reformation. The Reformation ap
pears at once before us like a powerful stream ; and when
we search carefully after its source, we find it losing itself
amid wars and misery, — much like the rivers of Africa,
whose sources lie hidden in the shifting sands. The im
mense success of the Lutheran doctrines in Hungary is in
every respect an object of deep interest to the historian. It
appears like a well-organized and disciplined army under able
leaders, driven out of the field by a few bandits in a guerilla
warfare. To explain this extraordinary appearance, we must not
forget how the doctrines of the Hussites brought over from
Bohemia had, with more or less success, for more than a
century, been spread over Upper Hungary, Transylvania,
Moldavia, and Wallachia. In vain had been all attempts of
the Pope and the clergy to banish these so-called heretics.
4

38 HISTORY OF THE
Notwithstanding the fanatical zeal of Rome, the free Hunga
rian constitution prevented the priests from completing their
designs. When a decree was obtained against the Huss
ites — by fair means or foul — the next step was to read this
decree in the different parishes. Each parish must then
attend to the carrying out of the decree within its own bounds ;
and when the punishment would have fallen on the nobility
or their immediate dependents, as a matter of course, there
was no punishment inflicted. Another reason why the Huss
ites had not been banished lay in the deep hatred and con
tempt which the higher and lower nobility, as well as the
mass of the people, entertained towards the clergy, so that
they were not peculiarly inclined to carry out the wish of
their priests. The very credible and respectable Thurn-
schwamm, who lived in Ofen contemporary with Louis II.,
has preserved, in his chronicles, a description of the clergy of
his time.
" For many years," writes Thurnschwamm, " have the
bishops and clergy ruined Hungary. They have ever anx
iously sought all high offices at court, and have striven to be
come councillors, chancellors, treasurers, and governors. In
my own time I have seen Peter, Bishop of Wessprin, acting
as Banus, that is, governor-general, over Dalmatia, Croatia,
and Bosnia, &c. See the Bishop Falkanus ! " cries this
writer ; " unfcr his dictatorial sway there is no money left in
the treasury. He will not only govern the land, but also the
king, who is compelled to submit to the bishop and depend
upon him." *
This position of affairs, equally injurious to the state and
church, favored the progress of the Reformation. Another
impulse which it received was from the German troops which
came to help Hungary against the Turks. For, though these
soldiers "generally did as little for the o'ise of Christ .as for
* John Ribinyi, Mcrnor. Aug. Conf. P art., p. 17.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 39
the cause of the Pope, yet there were many just now amonf
them who had caught up the spirit of the Reformation, and
carried the word of life, as the wind carries the seed, far
away to other lands.
The prose works and the hymns of Luther, which had
awakened so much interest in other lands, came readily into
Hungary; and the more so, as no such strict examination of
books took place then on4he frontiers as now, while the great
numbers of Germans residing in the free cities and in Tran
sylvania kept up a close connection with their native land.
Hungary and Germany were bound closely together by the
links of commerce, and while the merchants brought with
them to Hungary the tracts which at home excited so much
attention, they were eagerly bought up and read by an inquir
ing people. At that time each one had liberty to speak and
write as he chose, and the Hungarian constitution favored
this freedom. It is, then, not strange that the Hungarians
now demand so earnestly the same privilege as their natural
right, without which they have no security for their most
sacred claims as Christians and as men.
The first attacks on this liberty were made by the Popes
and their emissaries. So soon as any one ventured, either in
civil or religious matters, to broach doctrines calculated to
limit the power of these false apostles of Christ, there was im
mediately a bull issued condemning him and his works as
heretical, and every effort was then made to compel him to
recant, or, if he refused, to taste the tender mercies of Rome,
in the dungeon, or at the hands of the executioner.
Like Galileo, Savonarola, and Huss, Luther was also
doomed to feel the spirit-crushing power of Rome. As he
not only refused to withdraw and recant his theses, but, on
the contrary, continued ably to defend_ them, Leo X., in
1520, hurled also at him the fiery bull of excommunication,
hoping that he too would be destroyed by its power. Luther
was not the man to tremble. He wrote a commentary on

40 HISTORY OF THE
the Pope's bull ; showed how it had been issued without hear
ing him in self-defence ; and then wrote another fly-sheet,
entitled The Babylonian Captivity, in which he did not
spare the bloodthirsty Leo.
At this time Luther appears to have had many adherents in
Hungary, as may be easily seen from the steps which were
taken by the enemies of the Reformation. In the following
year (1521), George Szakmary, Archbishop of Gran, had a
condemnation of Luther and his writings read from the pul
pits of the principal churches in Hungary.*
By this step, however, the friends of the Gospel were only
encouraged and increased. Many clergy and teachers, who,
with a desire for truth, had sighed under the oppression of
the hierarchy, now stepped forward in different parts of the
land at the same time, as if by previous arrangement, and
declared Luther's doctrines to be founded on the Word of
God, and his aim to be just. The living Word, coming from
hearts warmed by conviction, produced a wondrous effect ;
and in a short time, whole parishes, villages, and towns —
yes, perhaps the half of Hungary — declared for the Ref
ormation. The Jesuit, Samuel Timon, tells us that a certain Simon
Grynaeus, Professor in the Academy in Ofen, began to teach
the doctrines of Luther ; and the' apostolic notary, Sigismund
Podlussani, complains of this Grynaeus, that he, in the year
1523, had, with great pretensions of piety, recommended
the writings of Luther, and having for this crime been cast
into prison, he was again immediately set free. Contempo
rary with Grynaeus was Vitus Viezheim, laboring in the same
school, and in the year 1525, we find both of these men in
exile, the latter as Professor of Greek in Wittenberg, and
the former as Professor of Philosophy in Basle.

*Archbp. Strigon, Comp. dat. Zyrnavia 1762, foi. p. 96.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 41
The same spirit animated the pastor John Cordatus,* and
the chaplain of Queen Mary, John Henkel. This latter was
the friend of Erasmus ; and having explained to the queen
the true nature and aim of Luther's work, he gained her
over to the side of the Reformation. The chaplain was so
highly esteemed by the queen, that she would on no account
part with him. In 1530, she and her chaplain went to the
Diet at Augsburg, and when all others were, by the order of
Charles, prevented from, preaching, Henkel still continued to
proclaim the Word of God at the court of Mary.
Her love to the truth may be seen from the fact that she
always carried about with her a Latin Testament, which was
afterwards found to be full of annotations in her own hand
writing. At the Diet of Augsburg she is said to have warn
ed her brother Charles to see that he should not be deceived
by the priests as her husband Louis II. had been.f
It is well known that when Luther wrote to Queen Mary,
sending her four psalms which he had translated for her
comfort, and one of his own hymns, \ he remarks that "he
has with great pleasure seen that she is a friend of the Gos
pel." It is therefore in vain that the Jesuit Gabriel Zerdahelyi

* After the death of the king and removal of the queen,. Cordatus could
remain no longer in Ofen. He is probably the pastor of Zwickau, to whom
Luther wrote in 1530 ; and who, therefore, never returned to Hungary. We
are confirmed in this opinion partly by the complete silence of Church histo
ry, partly by a singular passage in a commentary on the 65th Psalm by Ce-
lusius, —In loc. Theol. Hist. SI. Casp. Titii, 1664,4 to Loc. 33, Cap. V. § 8,
p. 1361; Conrad Cordatus, a very learned man, the first superintendent in
Slandal, used to say in his sermons, — " As I used to tell my congregation,"
he said, "in Ofen, in Hungary, where I was for some time pastor, that on
account of their sins God would send the Turks to punish them, — they
found it ridiculous. It took place, however, on account of their impenitence,
which is the greatest possible ingratitude, and the same can happen to you
while you are despisers of the Word of God."
f Spalatin relatio de comitiis, August, 1530.
t " Mag auf Unghick nicht widerstehn."
4*

42 HISTORY OF THE
denies that she favored Protestantism ; for, even if all the
proofs which have already been given were not sufficient to
convince a Jesuit, still he should not close his ears to the
complaint of the Pope's legate, Jerome Alexander, who, in
the year 1539, when she was regent of Belgium, accuses her
to her brother Charles V., " that she did not cease on all
occasions to show favor to the Lutheran religion." The
ground of this complaint was, that she had attempted to draw
away the Elector of Treves from the League of Nuremberg,
and had detained the French embassy sent to consult with
the emperor about the best means for crushing the Protes
tants.* We afterwards find her accompanying her brother
to Spain, where she died in the year 1558.
In the town of Bartfield in Upper Hungary, a certain D.
Isaiah had struggled hard against Popery till the year 1539,
when Leonard Stockel, returning from Germany, persuaded
the whole parish to become Protestant. The miners, who
had been brought out of Germany many years before, and
who still retained their German language and customs, had
at once declared in favor of Luther, and from the beginning
of the Reformation had partaken of the communion in both
kinds, as even the reprobate physician Paul Bacsmegy ac
knowledges, t
In the free cities Presburg, Guns, and CEdenberg, and still
more among the Saxons in Transylvania, a most decided ad
herence to Luther's writings was exhibited. Rome saw the
thundercloud gathering over her head, and made every effort
to escape the impending danger.
King Louis, who had only reached his sixteenth year, and
was therefore not in a state to form an independent judgment,
was made the blind tool of the priests. On his way home
from Prague, where his wife was crowned in 1522, he had

f * Seckendorff, Lib. III. Sect, IS, § 80, p. 206.
t Leisure Hours, p. 623.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 43
directed the citizens of Iglau in Moravia to meet him at 01-
mutz, and having warned and threatened them, he threw
their faithful pastor John Speratus into prison.
In the same spirit, immediately on his return to Ofen, he
wrote to the authorities at Hermannstadt ; and, as a faithful
son of the Church, he had good reason to send a warning to
that city, for Count Mark Pempflinger, under whose special
protection the city stood, had at that time a quarrel with the
Archbishop of Gran, and it afforded him some satisfaction to
be able to vex the Archbishop by favoring the Protestants.
God maketh even the wrath of man to praise him. When,
therefore, Luther's writings were brought in thick succession
by the merchants, and when the citizens read with astonish
ment what was written respecting " Christian Liberty,"
" Confession," " Repentance," " Baptism," " The Sufferings
of Christ," " The Communion," " The Epistle to the Gala-
tians," and similar works, they demanded that the Popish
abuses should be removed.*
Just at this time there came two monks out of Silesia, by
name Ambrose and George, who had known Luther person
ally, and had heard him explain his own views. These men
soon succeeded in clearing away any doubts which still re
mained on their minds, and very soon, by the power of the
truth, many were brought to taste the glorious liberty of the
children of God.f
A third monk, John Surdaster, soon joined them. His
zeal was so burning, that he, at first in the open air, and
afterwards in the Elizabethan Church under the protection of
Mark Pempflinger, delivered a series of lectures on Luther's
theses. The people, and even the members of the town
council, heard him so gladly, that, notwithstanding the oppo
sition of the clergy and the threats of the court, catechiza-

* Haner, Hist. Eccl. p. 147.
t Smeizel de Statu Luth. in Transyl. p. 23.

44 HISTORY OF THE
tions were held in the public squares and market-places
And though the Archbishop succeeded in bringing the two
Silesian monks to Gran, and though, notwithstanding their
" safe-conduct," from the king, they never returned to Tran
sylvania, yet the fire which was kindled in the hearts of the
Saxons in Hermannstadt was never extinguished. It was
little wonder if those whom Rome had trained to the bitterest
intolerance against all views of religion but their own, should
all at once forget what had been so deeply imprinted on
them. And, however the historian may deplore some things
which took place, yet it certainly ill becomes Rome to com
plain that the Protestants sometimes mocked and annoyed the
priests in their religious services ; turned some of them out
of office, and filled their place with preachers of the Gospel ;
and that the curates who came to gather in the tithes were
often met with mockery, and sent away without their ducks
-and' geese.
During the magnificent processions of Corpus Christi day,
many of the citizens might have been heard saying, " Our
priests suppose God to be blind while they light him so many
candles " ; and others replied, " They think God to be a
child whom they must carry about." * They refused to give
Mary the prescribed honor, and declared the chanting of the
" hours " in the cathedral to be folly, for the Lord had taught
us to pray, " Our Father who art In heaven." t
Rome hoped to crush all these movements by force. At
the instigation of Cajetan, the Pope's legate, Louis issued the
terrible edict of 1523, according to which, " All Lutherans,
and those who favor them, as well as all adherents to the
sect, shall have their property confiscated, and themselves be
punished with death, as heretics and foes of the most holy
Virgin Mary."
* In the original, " Die priester denken Gott sei ein Kind, dass man ifn
fiihrcn und in den armen der alten Weiberjn der Stadt herumtragen rnusse."
f Querelas seu scriptum dom. capit. super Luther, Anno 1526.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 45
The priests had now obtained their wish. The Archbishop
of Gran, Cardinal Ladislaus Szalkay, on his return from
Rome, had a royal commission sent down to Transylvania,
and especially to Hermannstadt, to purge it of its heresy.
On their arrival, all the writings of Luther were sought for
and taken by force out of the hands of the citizens, to be"
publicly burned in the market-place. The same took place
in other towns in Hungary, and especially in CEdenberg,
where we find the following entry, in the accounts of the
treasurer of the city, anno 1525 : —J- " Monday after New-
year's-day, to the hangman for burning the Lutheran books,
1 d, d." *
When the burning of the books, and the excommunication
of Luther and his followers, which was renewed on the 15th
of August, 1524, did not produce the desired effect, the legate
and the Archbishop brought the king and their party so far,
that at the Diet of Bakosch, a decree was passed, that " All
Lutherans shall be rooted out of the land ; and wherever they
are found, either by clergy or laymen, they may be seized
and burned." +
Although the drawn sword seemed thus to hang over all
who were not good Roman Catholics, yet the preachers of
the Gospel, as well as the friends of Luther, increased. The
young men began to go to Germany, and especially to Wit
tenberg, to study ; and the terrible decrees of 1523 and 1525
appeared, as in Apostolic times, only to give more courage
to profess the truth. A Hungarian, of the name of Martin
Cyriacus, went to Wittenberg in 1520. Dionisius Linzius
Pannonius followed in 1524, as also Balthasar Gleba, a na
tive of Ofen, as the records of the University attest. Short
ly afterwards, John Uttmann from Ofen, Christian Lany,
John Sigler from Leutschan, Michael Szaly, Matthew Biro de

* (Edenberg City Records, Acct. of Father Vipser, 1525.
t Cifisar Baronius, Annal. 1625. Artie. 4, Anni 1525.

46 HISTORY OF THE
Vay, and George Debrecsin, are found studying under Lu
ther and Melancthon, at least previous to the year 1530. All
of these returned to Hungaiy, as powerful agents for spread
ing the Reformation.*
' The Pope Clement VII. had written Louis a friendly letter,
under date of 22d January, 1524, sending him 60,000 ducats
(£ 28,000) for the war against the Turks ; and was, no doubt,
gratified with the terrible law of 1525. Indeed he had no
reason to be displeased, either with his legate, or with his
Archbishop Szalkay, for both of them were sufficiently zeal
ous, and the king was generally very submissive. But now,
when the law was passed for the extirpation of the Protes
tants, Louis appeared to have no courage to execute it. Or '
did Queen Mary here act the part of the wife of Pontius Pi
late, and warn her husband against the bloody work ? His
tory furnishes us with no evidence on this point, but leaves
abundant room for reasonable conjecture.
All that the king could be persuaded to do, was to write
once more to the authorities of different towns, reminding
them of their duty. The Archbishop had demanded the
death of the Count of Saxony at Hermannstadt, but the king
simply wrote him, reminding him of his office as executor of
the laws, and promising royal favor if he were diligent in
banishing the heretics.f
Count Pempflinger, however, who was really in earnest in
advancing the Protestant cause, found occasion of delay, as
he was about to present to the king a petition on behalf of
the priests, monks, and students. The king had commanded
them, under pain of death and confiscation of their property,
to join immediately in the war, leaving only one priest be
hind for every two parishes. As Pempflinger was on his

# Petrus Monedulanus Lase. Hung.
f Smeizel de Stat. Luth. p. 34. Timon. Epitom. Chron. Rerum Hung.
1526.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 47
way to the king, he received news of the terrible defeat at
Mohacs, on the 29th of August, 1526. He now hastened back
to quiet the disturbances which the monks had made in his
absence, and with great prudence he succeeded in this
attempt.

48

HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER VI.
BATTLE OF MOHACS, AND ITS IMMEDIATE EFFECTS ON THE
REFORMATION IN HUNGARY.
Death of Louis II. — Death of the Archbishop. — The Cardinal Legate flies
and is overtaken. — John Zapolya remains inactive. — The Turks take
Ofen, and burn the Carvinian Library. — Consequences of the Battle in
the Spread of the Gospel.
As the Turkish Emperor Soliman came nearer and nearer,
like the wastipg lavine, little hope could be entertained for
the safety of the country. Belgrade was taken ; the emperor
was already in Peterwardein, the Hungarian Gibraltar, and
still nothing done to defend the country.
In a letter of the 20th of February , he demanded tribute of
Louis, threatening him at the same time with the destruction
of Ofen, the extinction of the Christian religion, and the com
plete subjugation of himself and his princes, whom Soliman
designated " fat oxen." *
The misery of Hungary was almost incredible. The
priests thought only of pursuing the heretics ; the nobility
were divided into factions, and devoid of public spirit ; the
divisions and jealousies were increased by the influence of
the crafty lawyer Verboesy, who was now become palatine.
With the exception .of the Pope's 60,000 ducats, which were
but as a drop in the ocean, the king had no money for the
exigency. What was worse, he had no proper advisers. . The
rich and influential John Zapolya, who had hopes of one day
becoming king, did not even assist him, so that he was com-
 • 
* Fessler, Hist. Hung., Vol. VI. p. 274.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 49
pelled to force his nobles into the field, under threat of pun
ishing for treason those who did not appear.
No one would exert himself to do his duty, and very few
did anything. The bishops, whose united income would
have supported an army, preferred giving up the silver coffin
of their saint Gerhard and the treasures of the Church, rather
than their own treasures.
The country people who, since the time of the disturbances
under Dorsa, had been much neglected, were rendered still
more indifferent to their native land, on account of being de
prived of their most valuable right, religious liberty.
On the 23d of July, 1526, Louis II. took leave of his young
wife on the Island Csepel, near Ofen, and set out with a
small army to meet the vast forces of Soliman.
As he proceeded, his army gradually increased by the in
flux of such hired servants and dependants as the bishops
and nobles were bound to send ; yet, when he reached Mo-
hacs in the county of Barany, he had only twenty-seven
thousand men. In the absence of an experienced general",
this army was intrusted to Archbishop Tomory, who had at
one time been a Franciscan monk, at another time had gained
a splendid victory over Terkat-Beg, and who now had the
task of leading them on to be slaughtered by an army fifteen
times their own number.
The blinded aristocracy, who had more valor than wisdom,
in conjunction with the palatine, would not wait for the troops
which were expected^ from King Ferdinand, but forced the
king, against his will, to fight. The king, from all sides
sorely pressed, must take the lead. On the 29th of August
he put on his armor, but his friends observed that he was
deadly pale. Archbishop Tomory, and the more cautious
officers, already saw the issue.
Bishop Perenyi remarked, " Here go twenty-six thousand
Hungarians under the guidance of the Franciscan Tomory
into the kingdom of heaven as martyrs for the faith ; and it
5

50

HISTORY OF THE

would be highly desirable if at least the chancellor — who is
acquainted with the Pope — should be spared to go to Rome
and have them all made saints."
The worst fears were realized. Before evening the plain
of Mohacs was covered thick with the slain. Seven bishops,
twenty-eight princes, five hundred nobles, and twenty thou
sand warriors lay on the field. Very few escaped. The
king and the legate made an attempt to fly. King Louis was
about to cross the marshy lake Csele, and thus escape, but
his horse, having reached the further bank, fell backwards
and crushed him in the mud. The cardinal legate was over
taken in his flight, and killed. Such was the battle of Mo
hacs !
As the Turkish Emperor Soliman came on the morrow to
see the slain, at the sight of Szalkay, the Archbishop of Gran,
he is reported to have said, " He was a despicable miser,
who, with all his wealth, refused to help his king in the time
of need."
Plundering and wasting without opposition, Soliman reached
Ofen on the 9th of September. The town was set on fire,
and the library, with its forty thousand volumes, and the
precious manuscripts which Matthew had collected with so
much cafe, were all burned. After many years, single vol
umes were rescued from the ruins, and, as doubly valuable
monuments of a melancholy epoch in the history of Hungary,
they were bought up and preserved, partly by monasteries,
partly by private individuals.
Let us now look at the consequences of the battle of Mo
hacs in the spread of the Gospel. The Lord advances his
cause on earth generally in a way which we least expect.
As a gardener prepares the ground, and lays in the seed, so
He prepares the heart of man by a process which is often
bitter to the flesh, and in astonishment we see the trees grow
ing up and bearing luxuriant fruit.
Such was the case in the battle of Mohacs, which was a*

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 51
first considered not only as a grea't national, but even Euro
pean, calamity. God knew how to change the curse into a
blessing. For, as the terrible defeat of the Hungarians in
Bavaria in 955 broke down their pride, cured them of their
lust for plunder, and prepared the way for receiving Chris
tianity, so did the bloody battle of Mohacs remove so many
powerful and bitter foes of the Gospel, and took away at the
same time means and agents for carrying out the bloody
law of the last Diet.
To have a clear perception, however, of this comforting
truth, we must review the political state and the internal con
fusion of the country at that time.
The utter incapacity of Uladislaus, father of Louis II., to
govern the country, had induced the assembled Hungarians,
in the field of Rakosh, in 1505, to pass the decree, " That in
future no foreigner can be chosen king. A native Hungarian
must wear the crown." Though the powerful and ambitious
John Zapolya had exerted himself to the utmost, for private
reasons, to obtain this decree, which was not very compli
mentary to Uladislaus, yet there were many who voted with
him in consequence of the remembrance of the bright period
when Matthew reigned. Besides, for two hundred years past,
— ever since Arphad's line had ceased, — the Hungarians
had allowed neither Pope nor any other power to interfere
with them in the free election of their king.
On the death of Louis II., they were then, notwithstanding
all that Fessler says, perfectly free to chose whom they
wished. The family contracts between Ferdinand of Austria
and Uladislaus, which had been made without their sanction,
could not be binding on the nation. So soon, then, as Soli
man left the country, after having plundered and burned
nearly all that lay between the rivers Teiss and Raab, and
having reduced the population by two hundred thousand, the
remainder proceeded to elect a king, and the choice fell on
John Zapolya, who was then voyvod of Transylvania, and

52 HISTORY OF THE
he was crowned at Stuhlweissenburg, on the 12th of Novem
ber, 1526.
Ferdinand of Austria opposed the election, on the ground
of a contract made between him and Louis II., and was sup
ported partly by the adherents of his sister, the widowed
Queen Mary, and partly by the deadly foe of the new king,
Stephen Bathory, the powerful and ambitious palatine.
At a Diet held at Presburg, where many distinguished
Hungarians were present, the Archduke Ferdinand was pro
claimed king, and invited to come and take possession of the
crown of Hungary. After being first crowned King of Bo
hemia, he, on the 1st of August, 1527, proceeded with his
army to Hungary, where he subdued all the country as far
as the Danube. Zapolya fled from Ofen, and the same Arch
bishop of Gran, who had crowned him .twelve months before,
now crowned Ferdinand as King of Hungary at Stuhlweis
senburg on the 3d of November.
Hungary had now two kings, and the miserable country
was peeled and torn by a civil war, and by the persecutions
of the Church against those who had left her communion.
John was anxious to confirm his throne by securing the
bishops, and especially the Archbishop of Gran, Paul Varda,
on his side. He accordingly issued a strict edict against the
Lutherans, threatening them with confiscation of their goods
if they did not return to the Roman Catholic Church. The
priests availed themselves of this edict to crush the pastor
and schoolmaster of the mining town Bibethen. The cir
cumstances were these : — The laborers in the royal mines
not having received their wages, became riotous, and refused
to submit either to the royal commissioners or the soldiers ;
the priests accused the pastor and the schoolmaster as the
originators of the disturbance, and having arrested the latter,
with six of the town councillore, brought them to be tried at
Neusohl. They were required to abjure their heresies, and to declare

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 53
where the pastor was concealed. The schoolmaster remained
firm, though threatened to be led to the stake, but the
others were weak enough to yield and return to the Roman
Catholic Church. The pastor, being now betrayed, was
soon discovered in his retreat in the mines. Pastor Nicolai
was delivered up to the priests, with directions to be handed
over to John. These men of tender conscience, however,
being afraid that king John might be remiss in his duty to
the heretics, took the responsibility on themselves, and had
the schoolmaster burned in the neighborhood of Altsol, on
the 22d of August, 1527, and on the 24th Pastor Nicolai
met the same fate, near the Castle of Dobrony. With the
latter they tried every possible means, by promises and
threats, to make him yield ; and, remaining firm, he was first
cruelly stabbed and then burned, as a heretic " who had re
fused the Virgin Mary her due honor.'1'' *
When Ferdinand took possession of Ofen he was not less
severe. He issued an edict which had previously been pub
lished in Austria, — this time, however, was " given at Ofen,
the 20th August," — and complains that, despite of all that
had been done against them, still in some places the strange
doctrines are gaining ground, and that even Anabaptists and
Sacramentarians — that is, Zwinglians — have ventured to
show themselves. The specific punishments for heresy are
then recounted, according to which, "whoever mischiev
ously and perseveringly holds and believes anything con
trary to the twelve articles of our holy Christian faith, con
trary to the seven sacraments, &c. by which he can be re
cognized as a heretic, shall, in proportion to time and circum
stances, be punished in his body and life. Item, He shall

*Mica Bury MS S. Leonhard Stockel, preacher at Bartfeld, a contem
porary, as well as the Church books of Vallens, put this account beyond
doubt. ' See Pete, Peschie Malheurs Papist. Cap. I. p. 9. See also Matricula
Plebanorum, xxiv. regal, in Scepus ; where two are said to have been
burned with the pastor. 5*

54 HISTORY OF THE
lose all the privileges of Christians. Item, He shall lose his
honor, and can never again be admitted to a place of trust.
Item, No one is bound to keep any contract with him or pay
any debt." The " Items " go on to say, " He has no right
to buy or sell ; no right to trade or work at a profession ; he
can make no will ; a father who is a Roman Catholic may
justly withhold all property from an heretical son, and in
like manner, a son may disinherit an heretical father.* Who
ever shall despise or dishonor the eternal, pure, elect queen,
the Virgin Mary, by saying, holding, writing, or preaching,
that she was only a woman like other women on earth ; that
she ever committed mortal sin ; that she did not continue
after the birth of Christ a pure virgin ; that she is not the
Mother of God ; that she did not ascend to heaven ; — for
these and such like heresies and errors they shall be punished,
according to time and circumstances, and according to the
aggravation of the crime, in their body and life. Whoever
shall unite together heretically to partake of what they call
the Lord's Supper, and demand that both bread and wine
shall be given them, they shall be punished in their body,
life, and estate ; the houses in which such deeds take place
shall be confiscated, or, according to the royal pleasure, be
torn down for an eternal testimony against them. Lastly,
Whoever mischievously holds that the Mass has no merits
for souls in purgatory shall be banished from the kingdom."
It was also enacted that all who harbor or receive heretics
into their house are, " ipso facto infames," deprived of the
rights of citizens, and rendered incapable of ever holding
office. If the magistrates and judges neglect to carry out this
decree, the town in which such neglect takes place shall be
deprived of all privileges. To take away the fuel from this
fire, it was decreed that in the hereditary lands and those not
hereditary, no one should print, write, copy, sell, buy, read,
* Compare Matthew xv 4-7. — Tk.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 55
have or. hold any book, writing, picture, product or remem
brance of Luther, Zwingle, CEcolampadius, or any of their
adherents or successors.
The informer should have the third of the fine or the third
part of the confiscated property. The edict, of which the fore
going are a few extracts, was directed to be publicly read from
every pulpit at the solemn festivals of Easter and Christmas.*
We can here easily see Ferdinand's bitter hatred of Luther
and of his work ; and if we find no martyrdoms under his
reign, it is chiefly because the civil war left little opportunity
for executing the decree. . It must, then, be remembered that
many of the magnates and a vast number of the nobility, as
well as some of the free cities, had either openly declared in
favor of Luther or were much inclined to favor his system ;
the nobles, too, were proud and jealous of their freedom,
boasting that they paid their king no tribute, and feeling an
independence which in no other country Was known ; Ferdi
nand's throne was not sufficiently stable to allow him to pro
voke such men. The nobles having observed that the priests
had drawn to themselves such properties as had been con
fiscated, resolved at the Diet that the posts of the deceased
prelates need not be filled up, but the emoluments given to
such men as deserved well of their country. Thus was the
circle of Eger, with all its emoluments, given to Peter Peren-
yi, the keeper of the crown ; the circle of Neutrau to Valen
tine Torok of Ennig ; Wardein to the distinguished general
Emerich Eibak ; Transylvania to Frances Bodo ; Esanader
to Caspar Petusith ; Fiinf kirchen to John Szerecsen ; and
Raab to Paul Bakith, nearly all of whom separated from the
Church of Rome, and became steady supporters of the
Reformation.t It was necessary to refer to these matters, that we might

* See Erlautertes Evangelishes Oesterreich. Raupach, Hamburg, 1736,
pp. 60-68, Supplement No. 17.
t Papai in Bud. red. 1526, Parman Kalanyi, Lib. HI. p. 194.

56

HISTORY OF THE

not be led astray by Ferdinand's apparent tolerance towards
the Reformers at a later period. We may see how much he
favored the Pope and the Church of Rome by the order
which he issued through the royal councillor, Dr. John Faber,
to the professors at Vienna, that they should draw up a regis
ter of every article which contains a heresy, in as far as they
knew, and hand it to his majesty the king.*
In the following year he sent a visitation and inquisition
through the other crown lands, to inquire in how far the
edicts against the Lutherans -had been carried out. Under
the direction of Faber, several experienced theologians, as
sisted by laymen, proceeded for this purpose through Austria,
Styria, and Carinthia, and received everywhere proper assist
ance from the civil authorities.
At court, also, there was no relaxation in favor of the
Lutherans, for, on the 20th of July, a new edict was pub
lished, requiring that they should be punished with the great
est severity.t On the 24th the printers and booksellers
were threatened even with death if they distributed sectarian
books. Thus, in as far as edicts could help them, the priests
had all they desired. And yet Ernestus, Bishop of Passau,
shortly afterwards discovered in the other crown lands, what
could no longer be concealed in Hungary, that the doctrines
of the Reformation were fast gaining ground. The wealthy
and the powerful were even there also very remiss in carry
ing out the royal decrees ; £ and when the Pope fancied he
had gained nearly all his desire, he had most reason to trem
ble for his dominion.
At this time the powerful Hungarian magnate, Peter Pe-
renyi, with his sons Francis, George, and Gabriel, had openly
declared themselves on the side of Luther. He was the son
of that Emerich who had been palatine under the Teign of
* Raupach, Erl. Evang. Oest. Hamb. 1736, p. 46.
t Code. Auth. Tom. I. p. 646, " Hochmalefizisch zu bestrafen."
X Raupach, Erl. Evang. Oest. p. 50.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 5
Uladislaus ; from the year 1527 he was voyvod in Transyl
vania, and possessed immense property in Upper Hungary,
in the estates of Eger and Saros, Patak with several border
ing castles. It was probably at the court of Queen Mary,
during the reign of Louis II., that he had first become ac
quainted with the principles of the Reformation, and through
the Evangelical preachers Kopacsi and Michael Szeray, he
was afterwards gained completely over. On his estates he
used his utmost exertions to have pious and learned preach
ers appointed in the different parishes, and we shall have
frequent opportunity of seeing how much service he rendered
to the great work of reformation.
The Evangelical clergy were not laboring in vain. Eme
rich Osstorai had gained the two princes, Ladany and Masa-
ly, and Demeter Derezki had won over the great Caspar
Dragfij openly to confess the truth. Dragfij's father had
been voyvod of Transylvania, and his marriage had been
honored with the presence of Uladislaus ; and now, when this
young prince had reached his twenty-second year, he not
, . only himself joined the Reformation, but having gathered the.
clergy and influential men on his estates, he persuaded them
also to follow his example. The threats of King John and
the bishops did not much annoy him, and he continued
steady till his death in 1545. Many fled to him to escape
persecution, and nobly and generously did he protect them.
The reformation of that immense district between the riv
ers Maros and Koros is universally attributed to a woman,
whose name deserves here to be honorably mentioned. It
was the widow of Peter Jaxit, whose name is in this district
gratefully remembered, for having not only herself loved tfce
Gospel, but for the exertions which she made over all her
estates to bring Evangelical preachers and teachers into con
tact with the people.
With no less decision did D. Isaiah at Bartfeld labor against
Popery. Martin Cyriacus and Bartholomew Bogner having

58 HISTORY OF THE
returned from Wittenberg, preached the doctrine of free
grace in Christ Jesus in Leutshaw, and the Roman Catholic
churches were nearly empty. And in Hermannstadt, not
only did they disregard the edicts against the so-called here
tics ; but it seemed as if the town was making preparation
for breaking completely free from Roman jurisdiction.
Under such circumstances, Clement VII. was not idle. By
means of Dr. Faber in Vienna, he could do what he chose in
the hereditary lands of Ferdinand. In Bavaria, the duke
was very obliging, and had Leonard Collar, a man distin
guished by his piety, burned in the year 1527. In Vienna,
the priests brought Caspar Tauber to the stake ; * and, in Po
land, the dukes of Masovien had, in the year 1527, issued
stringent decrees against the Lutherans.!
There remained, then, only Hungary and Transylvania to
be watched over. Accordingly, the Pope wrote to the dis
tinguished general, Francis Frangepan, to try and prevent
the decay of the Roman Catholic religion. The Pope had
some claims on the general, for he had been once a Francis
can monk, King John had gratified him with the Archbishop
ric of Kalotsha, and, as a member of the order of St. Fran
cis of Assisi, he was peculiarly bound to obey his spiritual'
father.! Ferdinand and Zapolya had now fought desperately at Er-
lau and Tokay ; at the invitation of the latter, the Turks
were approaching. Ferdinand left Ofen on the 3d of Febru
ary, 1528, and, early in October, King John Zapolya, having
gained a victory at Saros, sat down at the fortress of Lippa,
in Temes,'to await the arrival of Soliman.§
* " A True History of Caspar Tauber, citizen of Vienna, declared a here
tic, and burned, 1522." This rare document I have seen in the possession of
Dionisius von Dobschall, pastor in Modena.
t Stanislai Lublinski, Episcopi Plocencis, op. posth., p. 370. Antwerp,
1643, foi. /
X Timon, epit. 1528.
§ Fessler, Gesch. der Ungarn, Vol. VI. p. 422.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY." 59
John's supporters increased. Many of the princes and
clergy, who had sworn allegiance to Ferdinand, broke their
oath. At the Diet of Presburg, 27th of November, 1528, he
was not in an enviable position, and very gladly did he avail
himself of the opportunity of coming away to attend the Diet
at Spires, in March, 1529.
Soliman crossed the Drave with a hundred and fifty thou
sand men, and, in the field of Mohacs, was met by John and
his attendant nobles and princes. Peter Perenyi, who still
adhered to Ferdinand, was brought thither as a prisoner, and
with him the crown and the national treasures. On the 24th
of August, Soliman stood before Ofen ; and the German
troops which had charge of the fortress, binding their gen
eral, Nadasdy, in cnains, threw him into a cellar, and deliv
ered the fort up to the sultan. The sultan knew both how to
treat courage and what to do with traitors, for he set the gen
eral free, and delivered seven hundred of the soldiers to the
tender mercies of his janisaries, who hewed them down.*
Gran soon yielded, and the Archbishop, Paul Warday, with
three hundred nobles mounted, and as many on foot, going
over to John, kissed his hand, and commended themselves to
his mercy. On the 25th of September, Soliman had reached
Vienna, and, despite the weakness of the garrison, he was so
vigorously opposed by citizens and students, that he was
obliged to retire, on the 12th of October.
The 18th of October he returned to Ofen, where he held
a divan, to which John Zapolya and the princes were invited.
He here confirmed John as King of Hungary, and swore
under no circumstances to forsake him, " even should it cost
him his own kingdom." The sultan returned home, taking
with him sixty thousand prisoners, chiefly Hungarians, and
leaving the ill-famed Lewis' Gritti as his representative at
John's court ; he also left Kazum Pasha, with three thousand
cavalry and the Danube fleet, at John's disposal.
* Fessler, p. 428.

60 HISTORY OF THE
The state of Hungary was now sufficiently lamentable, but
not less so was the condition of Transylvania. After John's
flight to Poland, in the previous year, Peter Perenyi and Val
entine Torok had gone to bring the country to join Ferdi
nand ; but, being attacked by the voyvod of Moldavia, their
troops were nearly all cut off. A few months afterwards,
the voyvod of Wallachia went through the same district,
burning and plundering, and taking away prisoners. It was
then no hard task for John's new voyvod of Transylvania to
subdue the remainder of the Saxons.
While the adherents of Ferdinand were now suffering in
Transylvania, and especially in Hermannstadt, the monks in
creased the misery by doing all in their power against the
Protestants. These servants of Rome could not bear that the
decrees against the heretics should not be carried out. Mat
ters went so far, that the authorities of Hermannstadt issued
an order, dated the 8th of February, 1529, that " the monks
and their adherents should, under pain of death, either leave
Hermannstadt within eight days, and take with them all they
had, or else they should give up their mummeries, and live
according to the Gospel." Immediately the monks and nuns
either left the town or laid aside their peculiar dress, so that
in eight days not a single individual was to be seen wearing
Rome's livery.*
¦ In the mean time, Ferdinand had been crowned King of
Rome, and was waiting quietly in Germany, receiving the
messengers, who told him of the desperately oppressed state
of his adherents in Hungary, but doing nothing for their re
lief. Thus came the decisive year 1530. Even then, how
ever, instead of coming himself, he sent one of the most un
worthy of his generals, Rogendorf, to Ofen, to expel the
Turks, and subdue King John.
Arrived at Ofen, this general was soon driven back by the
* Haner, Hist. Eccl. p. 199'; Timon, Epit. Chronol. 118.

TROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 61
Pasha of Belgrade to Komorn, and having showed himself
completely inadequate to his post, he died of his wounds on
the island Schutt, whither he had fled.^ With this unceasing ¦
clash of arms, the time passed on, and the 25th of June,
1530, dawned, and with it came a bright day for Gospel truth
and freedom of conscience. The Augsburg Confession was
read. So simple, so clear, so concise, it was listened to with
breathless attention in that august assembly, and removed
many prejudices of the foes of the Gospel. It softened many
who had been enemies, and gained many to become decided
friends to the truth. Even the emperor seemed somewhat
milder. He took the Confession in German and Latin, and
promised to examine the whole matter with great care.
In an incredibly short time, this Confession was translated
into Spanish, Italian, French, English, and Portuguese.*
There is no mention made, however, of a Hungarian trans
lation, and unfortunately we can find in Hungary no traces
of such. As, however, so many Hungarians were present
at the time in Augsburg, at the court of Ferdinand and his
sister, the widowed Queen Mary, we might almost presume
that a translation was made at the time ; or was it not con
sidered necessary, while every Hungarian who had received
even a moderate education understood Latin ? Samuel Ho-
marius remarks, that the Augsburg Confession was translated
into the Bohemian and Hungarian languages, and sent to
many distinguished men in both countries ; t but the libra
ries, which suffered so much from the Turks shortly after,
contain no copy. \ We find, however, many stepping out of
the dark background of the misery caused by war, and man
ifesting in their lives the same spirit which dictated that Con-

* Ccelestinus, Tom. II. foi. 191.
t In Disput. 25 de Veritate Relig.
X Ribinyi remarks that this translation was only written, and not printed.
The first printed edition in Hungarian appears to have been published in
1633, by Stephen Letenyei, and the first Bohemian in 1576.
6

62 HISTORY OF THE
fession. In Kashaw and some other towns the Reformation
may have been considered as complete. Antonius Transyl-
vanus was laboring here with great success, and was so well
known to Luther, that he received a letter from the great Re
former to use his influence with a preacher in Hermannstadt
who had joined the Sabbatarians,* and to try to bring him
back. Antonius wrote a circular to the neighboring clergy
in Eperjes, encouraging them to faithfulness ; and it is be
lieved that John of Hermannstadt was, by their combined
efforts, prevented from dividing the Protestant cause.f
About this time appeared a man in Hungary on whom the
spirit of Luther seemed to have descended. Matthew Devay,
who had been for years on most intimate terms with Luther,
even living in his house and eating at his table, was now re
turned from Wittenberg, and, with unwearying diligence,
preached in his native land the word which he had received
from the mouth of Luther and Melancthon.
The nobles who resided in Neustadt, in the vicinity of Cas
par Dragfij, heard the truth from him, and embraced it ; and
many of the surrounding villages followed the example, and
publicly separated from Rome. Devay was accused before
King John of being the cause of this commotion, and was
thrown into prison in Ofen. It happened that in the same
prison was a blacksmith who, in the shoeing, had lamed the
king's favorite horse, and the passionate John had sworn that
he should die for it. The blacksmith heard Devay converse
as never man spoke ; the words were to him as the words of
Paul to the jailer at Philippi, and the consequence was, that
when the blacksmith was shortly after to be set free, he de
clared he would share Devay's fate as a martyr, for he also
partook of the same faith. ' The king, moved by this declara
tion, pardoned both and set them free.f
* A sect which kept the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week. — Tk.
t Hypomnena Severini Sculteti, for. xvii. fase. 6.
X Matth. Scaricans Panonins in Vita D. Steph. Sreg.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 63
Devay had not been long free when he received a call to
be pastor of Kashaw, in Upper Hungary, which was then in
the possession of Ferdinand. Soon, however, must he again
experience similar trial. The monks, being exasperated at
the power of his eloquence against the abuses of Rome, and
knowing that they had nothing to expect if they brought their
charge before the local authorities, laid their accusation di
rectly before the king. To show his zeal in the cause, and
to stop the evil at once, Ferdinand had him brought immedi
ately to Vienna, and delivered over for examination to Dr.
Faber, the bitterest foe of the Reformation. For nearly two
years he lay in prison, and his case seemed hopeless, but at
last the king interfered and set him free. Perhaps it was in
consequence of hearing the Confession read at Augsburg
that Ferdinand was now more favorably disposed toward
Luther's doctrines, and that the favorable impression either
soon wore off, or he did not consider it prudent that it should
afterwards be much observed.
Once more set free, Devay betook himself to the lands
which owned John's sceptre, arid being supported by the no
bles and the princes, he spread the Gospel by itinerating as
an apostle. His labors, however, were not confined to preach
ing, for he seems to have taken part in the translation of the
Epistles of Paul, which were printed in the Hungarian lan
guage by Benedict Komjath, at Cracow, in the year 1533,
and dedicated to Catharine Frangepan, the mother of Perenyi.
He wrote a book entitled The Sleep of the Saints, and it was
replied to by Gregory Szegedy, a Franciscan, and Doctor of
the Sorbonne, in a work entitled The Pillar of Salvation.
Devay's book had attached to it a treatise on the principal
articles of Christian faith, and was dedicated to Emerich
Bebeck, Probst of Stuhlweissenburg, who, as the dedication
informs us, had got married, and thus lost all' his property.*

* Valete in Christo Jesu cum uxore veslra, ob quam, juxta informationem

64 HISTORY OF THE
It is therefore a mistake of Lampe, or an error of the press,
when he says that Devay came to Hungary only in 1541.*
Besides the evidence already given, we find in an old chronicle
in (Edenberg a passage which explains some difficulties in
Devay's history, and says, under date of 1536, " Devay goes
a second time to Wittenberg." t The object of this journey
seems to have been, to inform his friends of the progress of
the Gospel in Hungary, and renew his own strength to
carry on the battle of the Lord. And there is nothing which
tends more to strengthen our faith, than personal intercourse
and communion with those whose hearts are devoted to the
cause of God. On the way to Wittenberg, he fell sick at
Nuremberg, and turned in to stop with Vitus Theodor, a
preacher in that town. Having been kindly received by this
pious and learned man, he soon recovered, and proceeded on
his journey. Arrived at his destination, he wrote an account
of his imprisonment and his examination under Dr. Faber,
and this was printed by Vitus Theodor, at Nuremberg, in
June, 1537. It was dedicated to Francis Batzi, and gives
clear evidence of Devay's adherence at that time to the
Augsburg Confession. The Chronicle of Leutshaw gives
Devay the third place among those who supported the Augs
burg Confession in Hungary, and calls him, at the same
time, pastor of Debrecsin.
At Wittenberg, he resided again with Luther, and was able
to tell him how not only the Epistles of Paul had been given
to the Hungarians in their native language, but also how the
four Gospels had been published by Gabriel of Pesth, on the
13th of July, 1536. Entire parishes had declared in favor
of the Reformation, as also free cities and villages ; and
many even of the higher clergy had made great sacrifices,
Verbi Dei, maluistis hereditatem amittere paternam, et non uti nonnulli as-
salent in carnalibus nequitiis vivere. Ascension Day, 1535.
* Lampe, p. SO.
t Ribinyi, Memorabilia, p. 34.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 65
by openly professing the truth. He could also tell how great
the danger was to which they were still exposed. The penal
laws were still in force. The Bishop of Eger, Thomas Szala-
kazi, had thrown Antony, a preacher of Eperjes, and Bar-
tholemy, a chaplain, into prison. People did not know what
to expect from John and Ferdinand. The latter had sent a
decree to Bartfeld, which was now entirely reformed, order
ing them, "under pain of death and confiscation," — he
must have meant the death of every man, woman, and child
in the town, — " under pain of death and confiscation, to
abolish all innovations in the mode of worship; to renounce all
the heresies which a certain D. Isaiah had taught them ; not
to recall him, but to be reconciled with their former clergy." *
This order was issued in 1535, and tow much attention was
paid to it we shall soon see. That faith on the Son of God
which overcometh the world had taken root here, and it
knows of no fear. Strong in this faith, Devay returned from
Wittenberg in the end of the year 1537. He brought with
him a letter of introduction to Thomas Nadasdy, who, in the
circuit beyond the Danube, had thoroughly reformed the old
schools, and established a new one probably at Papa. The
letter is dated from Leipzig on the nones of October, 1537,
and recommends, besides Devay, a certain John Sylvester,
who was destined soon to distinguish himself by signally ad
vancing the Reformation in Hungary.
Under the protection of this powerful count, Devay now
labored indefatigably in the district between the river Raab
and the Balaton lake. His former district in Upper Hungary
was, however, not neglected, for the learned and courageous
Stephen Szantai filled that post well, and shared Devay's fate,
in so far that the bishops George Frater, Statilius, and Fran-
gepan demanded of Ferdinand that he should be arrested
and treated as a heretic. The king, just rejoicing in the
* Ribinyi, Memorabilia, p. 38.
6*

66

HISTORY OF THE

treaty of peace which had been concluded with John, re
solved, to the great dismay of the priests, to hold a public
discussion on the great disputed points of religion. This
discussion actually took place in 1538. In that rare book
called The Spanish Hunt, we find a full account of the
transactions. When the bishops could not succeed in having Stephen
Szantai condemned without a hearing, they were at a great
loss to find a worthy representative of Rome to meet him in
discussion. At last they chose the monk Gregory of Gross
wardein, and sent him with the other monks to Schaasburg
to convince Szantai of his errors. The king chose two um
pires, Dr. Adrian, vicar of Stuhtweissenburg, and Martin Kal-
mantshi, rector of the school. After the king had warned
them to guide the matter so that truth should not suffer, the
discussion began in the presence of a vast number of Prot
estants and Roman Catholics, some of whom had come from
a great distance.
The monks soon made such a noise and confusion by
screaming all at once, that a pious physician, John Rehens,
came to aid Szantai, and showed that this noise arose simply
from inability to answer the arguments. Szantai continued
the discussion for several days, and after the umpires had
noted all down, they came to present their decision to the
king. They reported that all which Szantai had said was
founded on the Scriptures, and what the monks had brought
forward was mere fables and idle tales. But they added,
" Should we state this publicly, we are lost, for we should
be represented as enemies to our religion ; if we condemn
Szantai, we act contrary to truth and justice, and would not
escape Divine retribution." They begged, therefore, that
the king would protect them from the danger on both sides.
Ferdinand promised to do his utmost, and let them go.
That same afternoon, at three o'clock, the bishops-, prel
ates, and monks appeared before the king, and in their name

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 67
George Frater, Bishop of Grosswardein, spoke as follows : 
" May it please your majesty, we, as the shepherds of the
Church, are bound to protect her from all ill. We therefore
demand that this heretic shall be brought here and burned,
for the sake of warning others of the danger of speaking
and writing against our most holy religion. Your majesty
has acted contrary to our wish. Your majesty has been
pleased to grant this despicable heretic a public hearing, that
others might suck in the poison. For this we are certainly
under little obligation to your majesty. Besides, our most
holy father, the Pope, will take this ill. There is no need
of discussion while the Church has long since condemned
these miserable heretics. Their condemnation is written on
their forehead. One should not even remain in their pres
ence." The king replied with dignity and firmness : " I will put
no man to death until he has been proved guilty of a capital
crime. Bring forward your charge, and he shall be judged
according to law."
" Is it not enough," cried Statilius, Bishop of Stuhlweissen-
burg, " is it not enough that he declares the Mass to be an
invention of the Devil ; and that he demands the Lord's Sup
per to be administered to all in both kinds,' — while Christ
appointed this sacrament only for the priests ? Any one may
judge whether such expressions do not deserve death."
" Tell me, my lord bishop," said the king, " is the Greek
Church a true Church ? " The bishop answered in the
affirmative, and Ferdinand proceeded : " The Greeks never
had, and have not even now, the Mass. Could not we also do
without it ? The Greeks take the communion in both kinds,
for the holy bishops Chrysostom, Cyril, and others, taught
them so. If the Greeks can act thus without sin, why not
we ? " The bishops were silent. " In the mean time, how
ever," added the king, " I will not protect Szantai, nor defend
his cause. The truth of the case shall be investigated, so

68 HISTORY OF THE
that God may not avenge himself on me if this man die
guiltless ; and besides, it does not become my royal dignity
to punish innocence."
" If your majesty do not grant our wish," cried Bishop
Frater, " we shall find other remedies to free us from this
vulture " ; and in bitter rage they left the royal presence.
It was nine o'clock at night when the king, in the presence
of the princes Francis Barfy and John Kassa, admitted
Stephen Szantai to an audience. " What is then really the
doctrine which you teach ? " demanded the king. " Most
gracious prince," answered the preacher, " it is no new doc
trine which I have invented, but a revealed doctrine which
by Divine grace, I have discovered ; it is the doctrine of the
prophets and apostles, and every one who really seeks his
soul's salvation must obey this truth."
The king now opened his whole heart. " O, my dear
brother Stephen, if we adhere to these doctrines, you and I
are both undone ; meantime we commit the case to God,
who knows what to do. You must leave my land, however,
or the princes will imprison and condemn you to death, and
I could only endanger myself without delivering you. Yes,
go, dear friend, sell what you have and place yourself under
the protection of the prince of Transylvania, where you have
liberty freely to profess the truth."
Having given him some costly presents, the king ordered
Christopher Osmos and the mayor of Kashaw to take him
away by night and bring him in safety to his own people.
This little circumstance, which bears all the marks of
truth, gives us a view of the state of Ferdinand's mind at that
time. In proportion as he had obtained a more favorable
opinion of Luther and his doctrines, just in the same pro
portion must he despise the priests and their whole system.
He remembered also how his own private chaplain, a Span
iard, had on his deathbed acknowledged to the king that he
had not led him in the right path, and that Luther had most

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 69
certainly taught the truth. But yet this perception of the
truth had not become a living principle in the heart of the
king ; his fear of Rome's power and influence was too great
to allow him to venture J:o confess Christ, and join with other
princes of Germany openly on the side of the Reformation.
His faith had not taken root in the Rock which is Christ.
He had not seen his own sin. He had not trembled before
Divine justice. He had not searched the Scriptures for him
self, to find there a Saviour of sinners on whom he himself
could rely. Pie had not found the Lord Jesus as all his sal
vation and all his desire, — as the chiefest among ten thou
sand, and altogether lovely. Of a naturally good disposi
tion, without very fixed principles, he allowed himself to be
carried away by impressions, and had neither the wish nor
the power to form a decided judgment on some of the most
important points. A double-minded man, saith the Word of
God, is unstable in all his ways. And such was Ferdinand,
as the history shows. Some represent him as a friend of
the Reformation ; others as its bitterest foe, who spared the
Protestants merely from political motives. We don't believe
either, but consider that the proper description is what we
have given.
We return, however, to our Hungarian Luther, Devay, and
his zealous fellow-laborers, whose happy work we must how
see so sadly marred by the disputes which arose concerning
the Lord's Supper. The disputes which had been so unfor
tunately begun in Germany between Luther and Zwingle,
had been transplanted to the Hungarian soil, and exactly
such spirits as sought most earnestly after truth were agitated
and alarmed. Among these was Count Francis Reva, who
having read Zwingle's works, was much shaken, and wrote, a
long letter to Luther, asking him to clear up his doubts.
' Luther, who had at that time so much to do, answered only
briefly, advising him to remain firm, and, above all things, to
beware of mixing up reason and faith in such a way that

70 HISTORY OF THE
reason should be made the judge of what is revealed to faith.
The letter is dated Wittenberg, 4th of August, 1539.
With the end of the civil war these struggles seemed to
increase. The true friends of their country had long grieved
that the land should be torn by civil strife. They had at
tempted to hold several meetings, but as -these appeared dan
gerous to the kings, ways and means were found to make
them comparatively useless. Not quite fruitless, however,
were these attempts at pacification, for the two parties be
came milder, and the two kings, Ferdinand and John Zapolya,
found it prudent to enter into a treaty in the year 1538, by
which it was agreed, " That each should bear the title King of
Hungary, and retain what he had in possession ; after Zapo-
lya's death, however, even in case of leaving male issue,
Hungary and Transylvania should fall to Ferdinand."
The day of peace for the land appeared to be come.
Tohn, who had possession of the greater part of Hungary,
and the whole of Transylvania, appeared even more pleased
than Ferdinand. He laid his sword aside, and, in 1530, mar
ried Isabella, daughter of the King of Poland. The news
that she had bOrn him a son in the following year reached
him on his deathbed. He died on the 22d of July, after
having named George Martinuzzi, Bishop of Grosswardein,
Peter Petrovitsh, and the distinguished T6r6k of Enged,
guardians to his son, and giving them a charge, " on no
account to deliver the land up to Ferdinand." A terrible
legacy for that ambitious man to leave his son and his
country !

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 7J
CHAPTER VII.
FERDINAND I. RULES ALONE. 1540-1564.
Neither the widow nor the guardians of John's son, nor
the Turk, seemed at all disposed to yield the land to Ferdinand,
according to contract. The Turk felt himself quite comfort
able, and was indeed sovereign ruler, and if anything could
reconcile us to the miserable state of the country at that time,
it is the wonderful religious freedom enjoyed there during the
Turkish rule ; so that one sees good ground for the statement
of an English bishop some years ago in Parliament, when *e
said, if one should give him, as a Protestant, his choice
between a residence in Turkey and the Austrian states, he
would decidedly choose the first. In consequence of the
greater fairness shown by the Turks in the religious quarrels
of the Christians, whom they despised, the Gospel had al
ready been spread from the. Theiss to Transylvania and
Wallachia, as is credibly reported to Melancthon.* At that
time there was a close correspondence kept up between the
Reformers at Wittenberg and their scholars in Hungary, and
very many who were already ordained travelled to Witten
berg for the sake of making the personal acquaintance of
these great men. From the year 1541 and later, we find
Benedict Abadius, Emizich Osorius, Gregory Wisselmann,
Martin Santa or Kalmautshy, afterwards a Zwinglian, Ste
phen Kopacsy, Caspar Heltus, and others, going in succes
sion to Wittenberg, according to the testimony of Matthew
Scarizaus, who was personally acquainted with the last, as
being at the time a man advanced in life.
* Philip Melancthon, Lib. XI. Epist. p. 339.

72 HISTORY OF THE
The Lord had awakened in this land men who were driven
by the spirit of God, and who therefore did the works of God.
Sylvester, who had been recommended to Count Nadasdy by
Melancthon, received from this nobleman so much assist
ance as enabled him to publish an edition of the New Testa
ment in the Hungarian language in 1541 at Sarvar, with a
dedication in Latin to the two sons of Ferdinand I., Maximi
lian and Ferdinand. In Raab, where the struggle between
the old and new doctrines had been severe, the evangelica.
party succeeded in obtaining a preacher to their mind. In
Stuhlweissenburg the Roman party had demanded from the
recorder of the city that he should put a stop to the preach
ing, and to the distribution of the Lord's Supper in both kinds,
as well as cast all who were guilty of such conduct into
prison ; to which the magistrate replied, that in this case he
must obey God rather than men, but in all other cases he
would know how to discharge the duty of his office.*
The cause of Rome was sinking. In Bartfeld, Michael Ra-
dashinus had gained almost a complete victory for the cause
of truth. The consequences of the Schaasburg discussion
were beginning to be felt ; for many who had been prejudiced
against the Reformation, and who had looked upon inquiry
even as a crime, had now obtained other views on that sub
ject. Some turned from Rome in consequence of conviction,
others simply from the example which had been set them.
Mediash, Kronstadt, and the whole of Burzenland, joined the
Reformation. In the last mentioned, John Honteris, who
was now returned from Cracow and Basle, where he had
studied, established a printing'-press so early as 1535, and in
1547 the whole district was leavened with the truth which
had thus been disseminated. f
The Protestants, however, were not without deep concern.

* Johannes Manhus Collect. Tom. I. de Calamitate Afflict, p. 139.
t Honteris, "Reform of Transylvania."

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 73
Alexius Thurzo, a man of noble mind, who, although repre
sented ^by Timon to have been a zealous Roman Catholic,
always urged Ferdinand to moderation towards the Protes
tants, was now dead. He left the Protestants, it is true, the
comfort of knowing that he had trained his sons to be pillars
of the Reformation. And now, in the year 1543, the Ro
man Catholic clergy unite in sending a petition to Ferdinand,
complaining of the Protestants. Ferdinand's well-known re
gard for the Roman Catholic Church makes this complaint so
much more likely to be heard. In this complaint they
state that his majesty's subjects are inclined to all evil ; that,
though complainants are doing all in their power, yet they
request the king's assistance to prevent the appointment of
any one in any parish as pastor without the approbation of
the Church ; and that no one be permitted to force the peo
ple to receive the Gospel, for from this fountain proceed here
sies, troubles, wrath, strife, contention, murders, drunkenness,
and all lusts of the flesh ! The Lord Jesus had taught that
all these come out of the naturally corrupt heart, but it seems
as if the Romanist clergy knew better. In consequence of this
appeal, King Ferdinand issued an edict from Nuremberg such
as the clergy wished, and placed at their disposal all the tem
poral and spiritual power, to enable them to protect the Ro
mish religion with its praiseworthy customs and ceremonies.*
In addition to troubles from without, the Protestants had
also internal annoyance. For Devay, who had hitherto ad
hered to Luther's doctrine respecting the Lord's Supper, now
adopted Zwingle's views, and thereby caused no small ex
citement. Luther was informed of this defection, and he re
plied, expressing his astonishment, and at the same time
urging the, other clergy to remain firm by the doctrine which
they had received from him.t The Jesuit Timon mentions
* Analect. Scepus, P. XI. p. 234.
t " Ceterum quod de Matthia Devay scribitis, vehementer sum admiratus, -
cum et apud nos sit ipse adeo boni odoris." Wittenberg, 1544.
7

74 HISTORY OF THE
this letter, but in such a way as to show his evil design
against Luther and his doctrine.*
The excitement, in consequence of Devay's change ol
views, wt increased by a new order of Ferdinand, addressed
to the vice-prlatine, Francis von Reva, expressing astonishment
that he hat1;, nitherto been so remiss in his duty towards the
heretics, and dhreatening him with the loss of the royal favor,
if he did not chastise every one, of whatever rank, who left
the true Church, in such a way as to bring him back. This
letter bears the date of July 1st, and is written from Prague.
Disregarding all these commands, the citizens of Leutshaw
elected Bartholomew Bogner in this year to be their pastor.
It was the courageous recorder of the city, Ladislaus Polei-
ner, who had strictly been the founder of the Reformation
there, who placed himself at the head of the movement.
This election soon bore happy fruits. Bogner, a native of
Transylvania, had been a pupil of the distinguished Reformer,
John Honter, and he labored with such suoeess, that within
twelve years all the Roman ceremonies were abolished. He
was equally successful in subduing the seditious Anabaptists,
and died in Iglau, on the 25th of June, 1557, leaving behind
him five orphans.
With equal success was the Gospel preached also in
Tasnyad, where the Protestants erected a school, and placed
it under the direction of Stephen Kis of Szegedin, usually
called Szegedinus, who was just returned from Wittenberg, and
who also acted as preacher. By the great animation of his
discourses, and the peculiar expressions which he made" use
of, he excited the anger of the Popish party to such an ex
tent, that Bishop George Martinuzzi sent the captain of his
bodyguard to box his ears. The valiant captain, Caspar
Peruzitti, exceeded his commission, however, and after abus
ing him with the spurs, and depriving him of his most valua-
* Epitom. Chrouol, 1544.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 75
ble library of two hundred volumes, he drove him out of the
city.* This was no reason, however, why he should cease to
labor, for in the following year he was appointed to the acad,
emy in Gyula, and shortly after was called as pastor arid
schoolmaster to Czegled, in the district of Pesth, where he
labored for two years with much success.
Ferdinand's edicts had, then, instead of injuring the cause
of the Gospel, only increased the zeal of its adherents. Un
der the protection of the powerful Caspar Dragfij, there was
a synod held in Erdod, a village in Szathmar county, at
which twenty-nine preachers were present. The twelve ar
ticles of faith, which were then drawn up, are concluded
with the following words : — "In other articles of faith we
agree with the true Church, as she has declared her belief
in the Augsburg Confession, as presented to the Emperor
Charles V." The adherents of the Augsburg Confession
and Ribinyi represent this as a meeting of Lutheran clergy,
but the closing sentence is sufficient evidence that the ad
herents of the Swiss Confession were also represented ; for
these words take for granted that the twelve previous articles
differed in some respect from the Augsburg Confession,
otherwise the expressions have no meaning. Of the articles
themselves we know nothing but the titles and the names of
those who drew them up. The subjects were, — of God ;
the Redeemer ; Justification of the Sinner before God ; Faith ;
Good Works ; the Sacraments ; Confession of Sin ; Chris
tian Liberty ; the Head of the Church ; Church Government ;
the necessity of separating from Rome.f
In the same year, 1548, we find another synod held at
Medias, in Transylvania, which was, however, attended only
by Lutherans, according to Honter's account, but the results
are unknown.
* Scaricaus, in vita Szegedini.
\ Lampe, Lib. XI. anno 1645, p. 93. Ribinyi, Memorabilia, p. 67.

76

HISTORY OF THE

The piety of the time was not only much advanced by
these meetings of the clergy,' but also by the letters of the
Reformers, written to many of the princes and clergy of
Hungary, who were known to be friendly to the new move
ment. There is a letter of Melancthon's still preserved, which
was addressed, to that most distinguished friend of the Ref
ormation, Peter Perenyi, who, under the false accusation of
the enemies of the Gospel, was, from the year 1542, lying
in prison at Wienerisch, Neustadt. In vain had Alexius
Thurzo appealed on his behalf ; in vain whole countries ;
even the Diet had interceded with Ferdinand for him, but
without success. His foes had persuaded Ferdinand that he
was aiming, as John Zapolya had once done, at the throne of
Hungary, and his zeal in defence of the Gospel was suffi
cient reason to exasperate them against him. Melancthon's
letter affords evidence how, he, even while in prison, was
able still to advance the cause dear to his heart. All that
his bitterest foes, the Jesuit Timon and the Archbishop Peter
Pazman, can say of him is, that divine punishment rested on
him, because of leaving the Roman Church.* In the year
1548, he was brought to Vienna, where death released him
from all ills.
The deeper the chasm became which separated the Prot
estants from Rome, the more anxious was Ferdinand to per
suade the Pope to summon a general council ; for, with
many others, he hoped still that the wound could be healed.
By indulging this hope, however, he only showed how little
he knew of the terrible alienation of the Church of Rome
from the Word of God, and that, to reconcile the contending
parties on evangelical grounds, was equivalent to bidding the
Pope lay aside his assumed power, cast his glory in the dust,
and allow the sources of his immense revenue to be at once

* Artie. Diet XIII.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 77
and for ever stopped. Yet, full of hope respecting the issue,
Ferdinand looked forward to the Council of Trent, which
was appointed to meet on the 13th of December, 1545, and
thither he sent two distinguished bishops, Andrew Dudith
and George Draskowitsh. *
The instructions which Ferdinand gave his deputies are in
so far worthy of notice as they throw a favorable light over
the king's views at that time. The deputies were directed to
use their influence to bring on the discussion respecting a
reformation of morals first, and of faith afterwards ; to have
a reformation in the court at Rome ; to have the number of
cardinals reduced to twelve or twenty-four ; to have the num
ber of indulgences diminished ; to have simony completely
abolished, as well as all payments in spiritual matters ; to
have the clergy brought back to their original purity in dress,
morals, and' doctrine ; to have the eating of flesh permitted,
and the Lord's Supper administered in both kinds.
During the sittings of the Council, which lasted eighteen
years, many additional instructions were sent, such as,
" That the Council should not be prorogued or dissolved
against its own consent, or without the approbation of the
Roman Catholic princes ; that national deputations should be
received ; that single bishops, and also princes, should have
.the right to make proposals ; that they should discuss freely,
and resolve independently of Rome ; that the reformation
should extend to the head and the members ; that the Pope
should imitate the humility of Jesus ; that large bishoprics
should be divided ; the ban should be the highest punishment
which the Church inflicts, and yet it should not be pro
nounced for every crime, nor until after a regular trial of the
case." The instructions continued to say, " That the state
of the monks should be reformed ; public schools should be
established ; the number of the traditions diminished ; that
the Council should see that those who minister in holy things
should themselves lead a chaste life ; in divine service, Ger-
>7#

78 HISTORY OF THE
man and Latin hymns should be sung alternately " ; and these
proposals were well supported by the Hungarian bishops.*
The two points, respecting the lives of the clergy, and dis
pensing the communion in both kinds, were of so much im
portance in Ferdinand's opinion, that he sent a bishop to
Venice to observe the practices of the clergy of the Greek
Church and their mode of administering the Lord's Supper.f
We shall soon see how little Ferdinand obtained from the
court of Rome, and how much labor it cost him to obtain
that little from a council which was the willing slave of the
Pope. * Lorandus Samuel Hald, Ann. 1743. Timon, Purp. Panu. p. 50.
t In Oratione Davidis Chytraei super maxim, p. 94.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 79

CHAPTER VIII.
Confession of Faith of the Five Towns of Upper Hungary on this Side the
Theiss. — Activity of the Gospel Preachers. — Temesvar. — Stephen Kis of
Szegedin — Peter Petroviteh, Count of Temesvar. — Stephen Losontzy.—
Szegedin banished. — Temesvar conquered by the Turks. — Death of Lo
sontzy. From the Council of Trent we look away to Hungary,
where, in the towns which were inhabited chiefly by Ger
mans, we see the Reformation making rapid progress. In
Ofen, in 1547, the Gospel was preached, and many pressed
to hear it* In Temesvar, the Protestants had opened a
school and appointed Szegedinus from Czegled to be the
teacher, under the patronage of Peter Petrovitsh, Count of
Temes. Szegedinus did not confine himself, however, to
the school, but, with his assistant, Christopher Lipensis,
scattered the truth unsparingly among adults. His sphere of
labor seemed the more secure, as the count was a relative of
Prince John, and a declared friend of the Reformation ; but
it continued prosperous only for about three years, when the
count was obliged to make way for Stephen Losontzy, who,
as a mere warrior, was heartily devoted to Rome. Szege
din, with Gregory, formerly of Fiinf kirchen, and other Prot
estant teachers, was now banished, no doubt under Divine
guidance, that they might not perish in the terrible slaughter
which took place when the Turks very shortly after took
the fortress.t
About this time the Gospel was preached with much suc-

* A letter of Melancthon's, dated the 3d of September, 1547.
t Scaricaus, Vita Szegedini.

80 HISTORY OF THE
cess in the county and city of-Tolnau, at that time under the
Turkish government, by Emerich Czigerius, who had at one
time studied at Wittenberg, and who in August, 1549, gives
an interesting account of his labors to his friend Matthew Flac-
ceius Illyricus. He mentions that he had found the city so
given to idolatry, that in two weeks he had not found among
so many thousands more than three or four individuals pre
pared to receive the Gospel. He mentions how, on travelling
farther, he had gained some priests and schoolmasters, and
how, after a discussion with the priest Michael Sztary, he
had with his assistance preached the Gospel in Lower Hun
gary and Upper and Lower Moesia, and, though they had
met with much opposition and were often in danger, yet the
Lord had protected them in the time of need.
This preaching in Tolnau had been much blessed, for in
less than three years some pious men called him back to
preach in the new church which they had erected. One part'
of the town was still Popish, and its inhabitants defended
their own cause in that way which Rome best understands.
The Turks, however, favored the Protestants ; for, when the
recorder of the city brought the Pasha a large present, re
questing him at the same time to banish the Protestants, the
Turkish ruler inquired closely into the matter, and, while
the recorder narrowly escaped with his life, he gave orders
" that the doctrines which Luther had discovered " — so he
calls the Gospel — " should be everywhere freely preached."
Thus were the labors of the Protestants to a considerable
extent protected and favored by the Turks. Czigerius re
ports this to his friend, — tells him of the opening of a new
school with sixty pupils in opposition to the Popish school, —
that his church numbers five hundred souls, — begs for books
and help out of Germany, — salutes Philip, and begs his
countryman, Motzar, to hasten back to help him in his great
work. In the towns under Ferdinand's sceptre the Gospel was

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 81
making equal progress. In Komorn we find the preachers,
Michael Sztary and Anthony Plattner, laboring diligently in
the Lord's vineyard, and laying the foundation of what was
afterwards the great and flourishing Church of the Helvetic
Confession. In the free city, Tyrnau, we find Simon Grynaeus and
Devay scattering the good seed ; the works of the Reformers
are extensively circulated to water it, and the majority of
those who embrace the faith adhere to the Augsburg Con
fession. The synod which had been held by the evangelical clergy
in the mining districts was now of signal benefit to them
selves. For scarcely had the queen-dowager Mary given
this district, which was her own private property, to her
brother Ferdinand to manage for her, when the bishops, sup
posing him to be more accessible than Mary had been, got
up their accusations against the Protestants. They repre
sented these towns as hotbeds of Anabaptists, dangerous Sac-
ramentarians (under which name they meant Zwinglians),
and other sects. The struggle at that time between the
Lutherans and the Reformed respecting the Sacrament
gave them sufficient coloring for their charge, and the num
bers of distinguished, men who were leaving the Church of
Rome to join the Protestants gave them just cause of anx
iety for the stability of their party, and at the same time
excited their rage. It was no small loss which they sus
tained in the conversion of that learned bishop, Peter Paul
Vergerius, whom the cardinal Alexander had accused of
heresy, and who, about the year 1546, having openly de
clared himself on Luther's side, was called to Tubingen, and
supported there by Christopher, Duke of Wurtemberg. He
injured the cause of Rome very considerably, by publishing
her secrets.
His brother, Baptist, Bishop of Polu, died very shortly
after his public profession of Protestantism, and not without

82 HISTORY OF THE
strong suspicion of having been poisoned.* Besides, Martin,
Bishop of Wassgrun, declared himself also on Luther's side,
by publicly and honorably getting married ; and it was noi
long till Bishop Thurzo also joined the evangelical party.
Provoked by such losses, the Roman Catholics pressed
Ferdinand, to the utmost of their power, that he should,
especially in the mining districts, where the Protestants were
becoming numerous and consolidated, use his power to have
them scattered ; and it seemed for a time as if they had suc
ceeded, for it was with no small consternation that the Prot
estants saw Stephen Berdala, Bishop of Waizen, and Schi-
brick, as royal commissioners, sent on the 14th of August,
1549, to examine into the state of religion in Upper Hun
gary. The innate power of truth, however, soon gave them
courage to draw up a confession of faith, in twenty articles,
and present it to the royal commissioners, at Eperjes, in the
same year. This confession, known as the. Pentapolitan, or
Confession of the Five Cities, became famous in Hungary.
It was nothing else than an extract from the Augsburg Con
fession, drawn up in Melancthon's soothing style ; and so
soon as Ferdinand had discovered that the charges brought
against these cities were groundless, he permitted them to
enjoy their privileges ; so much the more, also, as he had
hoped that, at the Council of Trent, and the Diet of (Eden
berg, which was soon to be held, all the differences between
the contending parties should be removed.
This circumstance gave the evangelical party much en
couragement ; for, in 1550, we find an ecclesiastical confer
ence in the village Forna, limiting and defining the duties of
the bishop or superintendent at ecclesiastical visitations. In
1552, we find another conference trying to reconcile the dif
ferences in reference to the Lord's Supper, abolishing the
confessional, arranging respecting the support of the clergy

* Seckendorff in Hist. Luth., Lib. HI. Sec. 30.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 83
in poor parishes, resolving that where the altars have been
already removed they should not be renewed ; where they
are still remaining, however, it is not necessary to have them
taken away; — sufficient evidence that the Lutherans and
Reformed were at that time conciliatory towards each other.
In the same year, a synod was summoned at Hermannstadt,
where Paul Viener was chosen first superintendent, and
where the first evangelical ministers were ordained. Up till
this time, the clergy had been ordained by the Roman Cath
olic bishop, or by the professors at the German universities.
Important political changes were then taking place in
Transylvania ; for, as the wily Bishop of Wardein, George
Martinuzzi, had succeeded in freeing himself from the re
straint of his two colleagues, in the guardianship of Prince
John, in such a way that Valentine Torok, a distinguished
supporter of the evangelical party, was lying in prison at
Constantinople, and Peter Petrovitsh was living as an exile in
Hungary, having been driven from Transylvania, he availed
himself of the opportunity to abuse his power. He entered
into a secret compact with Ferdinand, by which Austrian
troops were admitted into Transylvania, and, with the basest
ingratitude towards the queen-dowager Isabella and her son,
who had been committed to his care, he compelled both to
flee to Poland. He soon received the reward of his treach
ery ; for, in the same year, he was, as some report, taken
out of the way by assassins in the employ of Castaldo, Fer
dinand's general ; or, according to other accounts, hewn in
pieces by the soldiers.*
This occupation of Transylvania brought the Roman Cath
olic party little advantage. Ferdinand seemed still inclined
to persevere in attempting a reconciliation of the two parties
He interfered very little with their contentions, and it was foi
the sake of peace that he summoned the Diet of OEdenberg

* Wolfgang de Bethl. Hist., Lib. IV. pp. 173, 174.

84 HISTORY OF THE
in 1553. At this meeting the majority of votes was in favor
of the Reformation, and the proposal to forbid the printing
and distributing of heretical books was negatived. This cir
cumstance had such influence with the inhabitants of the
neighboring free city, Guns, which was at that time a fortress
of some importance, that they declared in a body in favor of
the Reformation. The Hungarians, who in that city adhered
to the Swiss Reformers, took possession of the church of St.
James, and kept it for six years, when it was taken from
them by the Lutherans, who were then become more numer
ous ; * and, in the year 1554, the last Roman Catholic priest
left the city, as a shepherd who had no flock.
The removal of the Diet from (Edenberg to Presburg tend
ed in no "respect to lessen the enthusiasm for the Reforma
tion. On the contrary, new accessions were gained, in the
persons of the palatine, Thomas Nadasdy, the master of cer
emonies, Stephen de Lindva, and, shortly after, the colonel
of the bodyguards, Ladislaus Banfy.
Melancthon's letters may have had much influence with
the palatine in inducing him to take this step; for 'we find
that a regular correspondence was kept up, and a deep inter
est taken, by the Reformers, in the state of Hungary. An
instance of this we find in the case of the Church of Eperjes,
where the pastor, Matthew Lauterwaldt, had preached the
doctrine of the justification of a sinner before God partly by
works and partly by grace. A dispute having arisen be
tween him and the neighboring clergy on this subject, an ap
peal was forwarded to Melancthon, who decided, that if Lau
terwaldt did not yield, he ought to be deposed.t
In the mean time, the mining towns had cause of rejoicing,
for the king sanctioned their confession of faith, which they
had handed him in 1549, and which in twenty articles con-

* (Edenberger Chronik. MS.
t Phil. Melancthon to the Senators of Eperjes, 6th of October, 1554.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF .HUNGARY. 85
tained merely the substance of the Augsburg Confession.
. This may be regarded as a fruit of the peace of 1555, by
which toleration was secured to all who adhered to this con
fession. While the Reformation was thus progressing so favorably
at home and abroad, several zealous followers of Zwingle
were laboring indefatigably to spread their views. Among
these were John of Hermannstadt, Francis Staukarus, sur-
named the Lame, Matthew Devay, and Peter Melius. The
Swiss Confession was printed at Torgau, in 1556, was laid
before a convention of the clergy in 1557, at Debrecsin, and
ultimately signed at Ezenger, in 1558. Thus was a breach
made in the Protestant Church which centuries have not
been able to heal. The Confession, as signed at Ezenger,
was published in 1570, by Andrew Lupinus, and is to be
found in Lampe.
The conversion of the great and learned Bishop Francis
Thurzo from the Church of Rome, and his marriage, accel
erated the progress of the Reformation ; but still more pow
erful was the influence of Soliman's approaching troops in
bringing out the power of vital godliness. Ferdinand's
troops had been obliged to surrender Temesvar to the Turks ;
his army, consisting of Italians, Spaniards, and Germans,
was oppressing the people ; and, driven to desperation, the
nobles recalling Peter Petrovitsh from banishment, delivered
him the necessary authority to conquer and regulate the
country for Isabella and her son. The Turkish emperor
was satisfied with this arrangement, and promised aid in case
of need.
So soon as Peter Petrovitsh had assumed the government
of Transylvania under the title of lieutenant, he took decided
steps for. confirming and finishing the work of reformation.
As he had adopted the Swiss Confession, he removed all im
ages out of the churches, drove the Roman Catholic priests
out of their parishes, changed the monasteries into useful
8

86 HISTORY OF THE
schools, converted the gold and silver vessels and images into
money and distributed among the poor ; and all this with the
design that when Isabella, who was a Roman Catholic, should
return, there might be the less opportunity for again intro
ducing the Romish ceremonies.
Thus, with the full consent and approbation of the people,
was the whole of Transylvania freed from the power of the
Popish clergy, and the Church property considered as be
longing to the state, so that the titular Bishop of Weissen-
burg, Paul Bornemisze, left the country in 1556, at which
time only two monasteries remained.
As Isabella on her return demanded three fourths of the
tithes for herself, there was such opposition on the part of the
Saxon clergy, that she at last declared herself satisfied with
one fourth, while the remaining three fourths were secured
to the Protestant clergy, who remained in possession till the
year 1848. This favor, however, was conferred only on the
Saxons, for, as no voice was raised on behalf of the native
Hungarian clergy, their tithes were taken by the queen, and
never restored. The queen's income, which was thus very
considerable, was much increased on the death of Petrovitsh,
in 1557, as he made her sole heir of his vast property.*
* Waif. Bethlehem.

PROltSTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 1s7

CHAPTER IX.

Ah Evangelical High School in (Edenberg. — The Town Bela reformed. —
Letter of the Archbishop Nicolas Olah. — Threats. — Firmness of the Prot
estants. — The Magnates of Hungary, with the Exception of three Families,
all Protestants. — Introduction of the Jesuits.

We have already seen the effect produced on Guns and
. the neighboring towns by the Diet of CEdenberg ; and we
must not omit to keep an eye fixed on (Edenberg, as this
free city was so prominent in the movements of the time.
That the Reformation had early taken root here may be seen
from the auto-da-fe of heretical books under Louis II.* The
young men who had studied at Wittenberg, such as George
Faber (in 1534), John Schreiner (1545), James Both, Charles
Rosenberg, and others, were not idle after their return to
their native town, as may be seen from the regular corre
spondence between this city and the Reformers. In 1557
such progress had been made, that an Evangelical High
School was established ; and the burgomaster supported the
undertaking with so much spirit, that he gave his garden for
the purpose of erecting the necessary buildings. Several
young men from this city went to study in Wittenberg in this
year, and one of them, by name Michael Vieth, returned,
bringing with him a letter of recommendation from Philip
Melancthon, written in beautiful Latin, and addressed to the
town council of CEdenberg. If this letter throws some light
on the state of mind of the magistrates at that time, we have
still clearer evidence in the year 1565 ; for in that year, the
whole town council, being evangelical, called the famous
* Annales Eccl. Dav. Hermann, MS.

88 HISTORY OF THE
Simon Gerengel, formerly Roman Catholic priest in Lower
Austria, to be pastor in CEdenberg. This priest had found ¦%
book of sermons by Spangenberg, the Augsburg Confession.,
and Melancthon's Commonplaces, by means of which he was
led to the Bible, out of which he learned, as he says, " the
horribly soul-destroying errors of Popery." His faith was
tried by an imprisonment of three years and a half at Salz
burg ; and so closely was he kept, that his mother, who had
come on foot above two hundred English miles to visit him,
was not admitted into the prison. Neither the severity of the
confinement, nor the falsehoods heaped upon him, could
shake his faith. " Here we lie," he said, — he was impris
oned with four other witnesses for the. truth, — " here we lie
day after day, week after week, month after month, year
after year, till it please the Lord Jesus to set us free, for we
have committed our whole case to him."
In 1562 this faithful servant of God had taken up his resi
dence in Rotenburg, where, with his mother, his wife, and
child, he had a miserable subsistence, so that Raupach says,
" Nobody knows what has become of him " ; and suddenly,
to our great joy, we find him preaching his first sermon and
catechizing in (Edenberg in May, 1565. He came in the
spirit and power of Elias, and within three years we find
him welcoming the Roman Catholic pastor of the town, Ali-
atsch, into the bosom of the evangelical church, and shortly
after uniting him in marriage to Eve Mitshka, a Protestant
maiden.4^ While Gerengel was laboring with so much success in
CEdenberg, the town Bela had an equally faithful pastor in
the person of Lawrence Serpilius. He, too, had laid aside
his monk's dress and taken up the Bible, and so early as
1558, he had persuaded the majority of the inhabitants to de-

* Raupach, Evang. Austria. Gerengel published several books intended
especially for the young.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 89
clare in favor of the Augsburg Confession. Such numerous
desertions from the ranks justly awakened the deepest con
cern of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Gran, Nicolas
Olah, and compelled him to take some steps to bring back
his erring sheep. Accordingly, in a letter dated Vienna, 10th
of April, 1558, and addressed to the clergy whom he sus
pected to be of evangelical sentiments, in the Gespannshaft
of Houth and the town of Schemnitz, he laid down eighteen
points which he required them to sign. The clergy met to
gether, resolved that these points were Popish, and contrary
to the Word of God ; declared their firm adherence to the
doctrines contained in the Augsburg Confession ; and neither
threats, nor flatteries, nor repeated letters were able to make
them flinch. Even when the archbishop summoned them to
meet him at Kirchdorf, as they knew tolerably well the de
sign of the meeting, they did not attend.*
The archbishop, on his arrival at Kirchdorf, finding no
one to meet him, set about preparing a letter for the magis
trates of the -seven mining towns, but before sending it, he
opened the way by a letter from Ferdinand of similar import.
In the archbishop's letter there was no want of threatenings,
but the effect produced was not quite according to his wish ;
for the most influential men of these cities coming together
at Kremnitz, in conjunction with the clergy prepared a refu
tation of the archbishop's eighteen articles, and sent it to
him with the intimation that they were resolved to continue
Protestants. This refutation was published at Schemnitz in December,
1559, and a copy was sent to Ferdinand. It treated of the ,
following points : — 1. Of the Triune God ; 2. Creation ;
3. Original Sin ; 4. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ the Son
of God ; 5. Of Justification, wherein is stated, that the sin
ner, in turning to God, is justified by faith alone, and not by

* Ribinyi.
8*

90 HISTORY OF THE
good works, of which he has none before conversion ; 6. Faith ;
7. Good Works ; 8. The Church ; 9. Baptism ; 10. The
Lord's Supper ; 11. Confession ; 12. Repentance ; 13. Num
ber of Sacraments ; 14. Church Office-bearers ; 15. Cere
monies ; 16. Civil Magistrates ; 17. Marriage ; 18. Resur
rection ; 19. Prayers to Saints, in which many keen expres
sions of Epiphanius and Ambrosius are introduced ; 20.
Priests' Dress. The whole is concluded with a summary
view of the Roman errors and traditions, with extracts from
the Scripture and from the Fathers.
The king and the Archbishop saw that Rome's influence
was lost. Only three families of the magnates adhered still
to the Pope. The nobility were nearly all reformed, and the
people were, thirty to one, attached to the new doctrine.*
For an extraordinary evil, extraordinary remedies must be
applied. Nothing else seemed likely to meet the case, and
it was therefore resolved to send the Jesuits into Hungary.
The disciples of Ignatius Loyola had been already brought
to Vienna. The writings of the Reformers were spreading
fast in Austria, Carinthia, and even Tyrol ; the royal chap
lain and Bishop Urban had considered these men most likely
to counteract the Reformation ; and, being once invited, they
did not refuse to come. The primary aim of this order was
to restore the fallen dignity of the Pope ; a second object
was to root out evangelical religion ; and a third was to
spread Popery in foreign lands. To accomplish these pur
poses, any means whatever might be employed. The Jesuit
Bobadilla had been in Vienna with little success from 1542,
and nine years afterwards, Ferdinand, by the advice of his
chaplain sent for ten more. Among these was Peter Canisius,
who, from his violence and the keenness of his scent in dis
covering heretics, is called in Hungary to this day, by a play
on his name, " the Austrian Hound," — Canis Austriacus.t
* Peter Wolff, History of the Jesuits, B. XI., p. 103. Raupach, Evang.
Austria. t Sacchini, Comment, de vita P. Canisii.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 91
Within a year they had gained fifty adherents. Their
principal effort, however, was to obtain influence over Maxi
milian, the heir to the throne. He received them politely,
and heard them without being much swayed, if he was even
anything moved. On his wife, however, their influence was
more fully felt ; for when Christopher Rodriguez was re-.
turning to Rome in 1560, he was able .to bring from the
queen a declaration of her firm resolution even to die for
the religion of her fathers, if by so doing she could advance
the cause of Popery in the Austrian territory.*
Not content with having sown the seeds of discord between
the royal partners, the Jesuits contrived to banish Maximil
ian's chaplain, who was a Protestant,+ and afterwards brought
Pius IV. to the resolution to threaten Maximilian II. with the
ban if he did not enter fully into the Pope's plans. They
even proposed a new election, and the Pope entered into a
suspicious connection with the bigoted Albert of Bavaria, for
the sake of carrying out his purposes.^
The gentle Maximilian, instead of banishing them imme
diately out of the kingdom, contented himself with removing
them from court, " that he might have no one who bore the
name of Jesuit, or was any way connected with them, in his
councils." It was such men that the Archbishop of Gran,
Nicolas Olah, sent to Hungary.
Two priests, Peter Victoria and John Seidel, with a lay
brother, Anton Schrader, — the latter to attend to the kitchen
and cellar, while the former preached, — were sent to Hun
gary in 1561. The emperor's and the archbishop's gener
osity made their position very agreeable, and they labored
diligently for some time ; but their house in Tyrnau having
been burned down, they left Hungary, to the great joy of
the heretics and the grief of all true Roman Catholic citizens.^
* Raupach, Erl. Ev. Aust. Part I., p. 132.
t Schelhorn's Letters.
X Laderchii Annales, Tom. XXHL, p. 56.
§ Franz Kazy, Hist. Univ. Tyrnau.

92 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER X.
Death of Leonard Stockel and Thomas Nadasdy. — Printing of the New Tes
tament in Croatian..— Bishop Dudith's Report from the Council of Trent.
— Covenanting Soldiers at Erlau.
The efforts of /the Roman Catholic clergy were met by the
Protestants in so far that the latter called men of still more
distinguished faith and zeal to take charge of their churches
and schools. Many who had already given evidence of
evangelical faithfulness in Germany were called to Hungary,
and many of their own young men were sent to Jena or
Wittenberg to be there examined and ordained. Of this
latter class were, besides others, Paul Nemesvath in 1553,
and Erasmus Crossensky, who was ordained in Wittenberg,
December, 1559, to the pastoral charge of the church in
Kasmark, his native town. This was one of the last public
acts of Melancthon, for, on the 19th of the following April,
he fell asleep in the Lord. His death was keenly felt and
much lamented by all the friends of the Reformation in
Hungary. His learning, his modesty, and mildness of char
acter, had won the hearts of many of the princes and nobles
of Hungary, who had become much attached to him.
Leonard Stockel, the rector of the Bartfeld High School,
who had been a pupil of Melancthon's, was lying sick as he
received a letter from him, and at the same time the news of
his death. " I shall soon follow my beloved teacher," he
cried, " and in another world give him the information he
wanted " ; and shortly after expired.
Another heavy loss soon befell the Protestant Church of
Hungary. The palatine, Thomas Nadasdy, alike distin
guished by education, power, wealth, zealxand generosity in

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 93
supporting the cause of the Gospel, sank into his grave. He
had been a strong pillar of the Church in a day when every
man was with one hand building the walls of Zion and with
the other holding a weapon.
Still one consolation remained. The heir to the throne
was well disposed toward the Protestants. His chaplain,
Pfauser, a man of evangelical sentiments, had been removed
from court, but everybody knew that it was not in conse
quence of any change in Maximilian's sentiments. What
his views and aims really were could easily be seen from
the fact of his establishing a. printing-press in Croatia, where
scarcely a book, not even a catechism, was to be found.
Here the New Testament was printed in the Croatian lan
guage by Tauber, at the expense of John Ungnad, and dedi
cated by permission to Maximilian.* The first part, contain
ing the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, left the press in
1562, and in the following year it was completed. By the
generosity of John Ungnad, four thousand spelling-books
were printed and circulated among the Croatians.f
This noble-minded man, who had been appointed by Fer
dinand to some of the most important offices in Styria and
Carinthia, was in consequence of his evangelical sentiments,
on some pretenee got up by the Jesuits, banished from the
country. He found an asylum with Duke Christopher of
Wurtemberg, and, with burning zeal for the spread of the
truth, he had Bibles and theological works printed in the
Turkish and Croatian languages, and sent over for circu
lation.! If Ferdinand was still, by the advice of the Jesuits, issuing
severe edicts and adopting stringent measures against the
Protestants, Maximilian had, on the other hand, received the
evangelical preachers Martin Mosador and Christopher Reuter,

* Cyriacum-Spaugenberger Chron. t Mica Bury MS.
X Thuanus, Tom. 1. Lib. 38. Mica Bury MS.

94 HISTORY OF THE
and had approved of the printing of the Augsburg Confes
sion for the use of the Austrian evangelical churches.* But
this comfort was much required, for every day made it more
evident that, according to the Council of Trent, " The spirit
of Popery admits of no reform, and the interests of the
whole Church must be sacrificed to gratify Rome's peculiar
views." t
It might be well to give an extract from Bishop Dudith's
report to his master Ferdinand, of the doings of that famous
Council. He writes : " As the votes are numbered and not weighed
here, the better-disposed party can do little good, the Pope
can send hundreds, or even thousands, to vote against them.
We see every day hangers-on at the court of Rome, and poor
beardless bishops — young men who have lost their property
and character — coming to Trent to vote in a way agreeable
to the Pope. What these men want in learning and intelli
gence is fully compensated by their impudence, and the
affairs of the Church are not regulated here by bishops, but
by puppets who are moved, like the fabled images of Daeda
lus, by foreign hand. With this meeting," continues the
bishop, " the Holy Spirit has nothing to do. Here are sim
ply human schemes to aggrandize Rome. From Rome we
obtain the oracles as from Delphi or Dodona in other days.
The spiriL which is represented as guiding the meetings,
comes in the postman's bag from Rome, and must wait at
every swollen river by the way till the waters abate. O,
monstrous folly ! " So writes Dudith home to Vienna from
that Council in which he and Bishop Draskowitsh sit as Fer
dinand's deputies.J
* Raupach, Evang. Oester. Tom. I., p. 142. t Fessler, Band IV., p. 466.
X This intelligent and learned man was afterwards made by Maximilian a
royal councillor and Bishop of Fiinf kirchen, and frequently employed on im
portant embassies. In 1567, he resigned his office, went to Poland, married a
lady of noble family, wrote a book against the celibacy of the clergy, and

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 95
Where so little good was to be expected from Rome, it
was very natural that the friends of truth and freedom of
conscience should unite closely together. In the fortress and
town of Erlau, which belonged to the family of Perenyi, we
find, accordingly, an interesting covenanting scene in 1561.
All the troops, both horse and foot, stationed in Erlau, with
the nobles and citizens, bound themselves solemnly, by oath,
not to forsake the truth, and, as a testimony of their earnest
ness, they prepared a confession of faith corresponding with
the Swiss Confession, and a covenant which they publicly
signed. This document was sent to Debrecsin and the
neighboring parishes, where it was also signed.*
The Roman clergy took th.e opportunity of representing to
Ferdinand that this league was merely a conspiracy against
the throne, and, accordingly, on the 6th of February, 1562,
the leaders stood before a court of justice, charged with high
treason. They here declared that they were prepared to
obey the king in all civil matters, and that they had entered
into this league siiriply for the glory of God, and for preserv
ing the truth uncontaminated, as Joshua, Ezra, and Nehemiah
had done. The explanation was accepted, and they had no
further trouble.

died in Breslau, after ten years spent happily in wedlock, as the monument
erected by his wife in the Elizabeth Church in Breslau testifies.
* This paper is preserved in Presburg, in the library of George Adonys.
See also Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., p. 162.

96 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XL

Diet of Presburg. — Synod of the Evangelical Church at Tarczal. — Gabriel
Perenyi. — Close of the Council of Trent. — The Cup granted to the
Laity. — Ferdinand's Medal. — Provincial Synod of Tyrnau. — Ferdi
nand's Decease. — Review.

That Ferdinand and the Archbishop of Gran were not idle
in their attempts to restore Popery, was felt at the Diet of
Presburg, in 1563, for here some of the old laws, unfavorable
to the Protestants, were renewed, and thus a door was opened
to the persecuting party to begin their work anew.
All these persecutions, however, from without could not
injure the cause of truth so much as the internal dissensions .
which arose respecting predestination and the Lord's Supper.
The party spirit rose so high, that, at the Synod of Tarczal,
in 1563, a formal resolution was passed by a majority to dis
continue the consecrated wafer, and to teach diligently to the
people the doctrine of predestination.
This, resolution was particularly disagreeable to Gabriel
Perenyi, especially as the clergy on his estates had not told
him beforehand. Accordingly he summoned these to meet
him at Ujhely, and after an earnest remonstrance, directed
them in future to preach and dispense the Lord's Supper in
accordance .with the Augsburg Confession. Paul Thurius,
pastor of St. Peter's Church, explained that their new declar
ation was only an attempt to make the Augsburg Confession
more intelligible, and declared, at the same time, that neither
he nor his colleagues could give up their conviction respect
ing these two articles.
To heal the matter, Perenyi sent a deputation, at his own
expense, to Saxony, to inquire of the theologians there what

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 97
was to be done. Both from Leipzig and from Wittenberg
the answer was returned, very naturally, condemning the step
which the majority of the synod had taken, and urging them
to remain firm to the Augsburg Confession. As Thurius
and the party adhering to him did not submit to this decision,
the separation continued, and the evangelical church was
now divided into two parties, — Lutheran and Reformed.
The Council 6f Trent had now been closed by the Pope.
The decisions, breathing execrations against all who refused
to submit to them, had extinguished the last hopes of the
most sanguine princes, and cast fresh oil on the fire of relig
ious controversy. It is well known how much Ferdinand,
Maximilian, and the King of France, were disappointed and
displeased. The emperor gave Pope Pius IV. to under
stand how much he was dissatisfied ; and this remonstrance,
together with the advice of some of the bishops, who hoped
that the granting the cup to the laity might heal the breach
in Austria, induced him to issue the' bull of the 16th of April,
1564, addressed to Nicolas Olah, Archbishop of Gran, direct
ing him to administer the communion in both kinds. At the
same time, however, he protests against the supposition of
papal fallibility, and asserts that the Mass is no error, while
he gives directions respecting the best way to bring heretics
back into the bosom of the Church.
The emperor was so much delighted with this concession,
hoping it would have the desired effect, that he had a medal
struck to commemorate the transaction. On the one side is
his own image, with the motto, " Render unto Cajsar ther
things that are Caesar's " ; * and the letters below, " Fer.,"
for Ferdinand. On the reverse, a cup, with the motto,
" Unto God the things that are God's " ; t and below the cup
the word " Oratio," — prayer. %
* " Giebt dem Kaiser was des Kaiser's ist."
f " Giebt Gott was Gottes ist." 2 2
{ Luckius in Syllog. Numism.,p. 811. Raupach raises some doubt whether
9

98

HISTORY OF THE

The emperor partook of the communion himself in both
kinds, and had the Pope's bull published in three churches in
Vienna, namely, in St. Stephen's, in St. Michael's, and by
the Jesuits. The Jesuits at first refused, because their gen
eral, at Rome, Jacob Lainez, had at the Council of Trent pro
tested against giving the cup to the laity ; but on receiving
orders from Rome they obeyed the emperor.* On this,
the dissatisfaction of the emperor, as well as of the citizens
of Vienna, which was beginning to be expressed against them,
ceased. The free city of Tyrnau, in the county of Presburg, had
been at one time called by the Protestants, " Little Rome,"
in consequence of the activity of the Jesuits there ; but it
had afterwards adopted the principles of the Reformation, in
so far that, when the Jesuits returned in 1563, after a tem
porary absence, the two parties agreed that the Hungarians
should keep the cathedral, and a new church should be built
for the Jesuits. It was to this city that the archbishop sum
moned a provincial synod in 1564; inviting all the clergy
without exception. As several of the clergy, and among
these the pastor of the mining districts, did not appear, the
Dean Timmerius and the Jesuit John Seidel were sent to
Schemnitz to win the people over to adopt the decrees of the
Council of Trent, and so return into the bosom of the Church.i"
On presenting their commission to the civil authorities, they
were informed that there were so many excellent preachers
in the town, their services were not required. The magis
trates declared at the same time, that their Confession of
Faith, as the archbishop himself knew, agreed with the Augs
burg Confession, and by this they were resolved to abide.

the coin was designed for this time, but he acknowledges that he has no
proof, and remarks, uIta videtur, ita, ego conjicio."
* Raupach, Ev. Aust., Part I. p. 156.
t Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., Part I. p. 167. Godofry Schwartz, Life and
Writings of Dudith, § XXI. p. 56. The Jesuit Peterfy.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 99
The archbishop complained to the emperor, and on the 16th
of April an order was sent to the civil authorities of Schem
nitz warning them to obey the archbishop, and threatening
them with severe punishment for what they had done. This
order was signed, among others, by Dudith, who had returned
from the Council of Trent, but it did not produce much effect,
for, on the 25th of July following, the angel of death knocked
at Ferdinand's door and called him away. His death freed
the magistrates of Schemnitz from their perilous position, and
took a great weight from the hearts of the friends of the Ref
ormation in Hungary and Germany.
For thirty-eight years had Ferdinand I. been King of Hun
gary. He had, besides, worn the Roman imperial crown
and that of Bohemia. The political historian must describe
him as a wise prince and lover of justice. We have had op
portunity of showing that he was aware of the errors of the
Church of Rome, and earnestly longed for a reform ; and yet
in the decisive moment he avoided publicly declaring against
Rome, and, like other princes, joining the Reformation, al
though the great majority of his subjects in Austria, Bohemia,
Styria, and Hungary would have stood firmly by him in tak
ing such a step.
If we inquire into the reason of this conduct, we must men
tion in the first place his Spanish education, the first impres
sions of which were carefully nourished by the priests ; the
example of his brother, the Emperor Charles ; the constant
friendly relation between him and the court of Rome ; the
moral and physical assistance which Rome gave him against
the Turks, and which in his circumstances was indispensable ;
the falsfehoods which were told of Luther ; * the ignorance of
the Word of God which alone can make fallen man free, —
all these wrought together in making Ferdinand what he

* No one doubts any more that the letter of Ferdinand to Luther of 1st of
February, 1537, is a forgery.

100 HISTORY OF THE
We are firmly of opinion that Ferdinand I. may justly be
ranked among the warmest and most devoted friends of the
Pope. He did all for Popery which any man could do in
those stormy times and under his circumstances, without the
greatest folly and danger. He did not understand that mov
ing of the Holy Spirit on the troubled waters of the Christian
Church in his day. And it is with regret that we must de
cline joining with such Protestant writers as Spondanus, who
declare him to have been a friend of the Reformation.
Should we give any other reasons for our decision, we would
simply point to his conduct in Austria, where he was much
less fettered than in Hungary, and yet this freedom was only
used to oppress and hinder the Reformaton.*
* Raupach, Ev. Aust. Part H.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 101

CHAPTER XII.
Maximilian I. is made King. — Communion in both Kinds in Hungary. —
The Celibacy of the Clergy. — Organization of the Reformed Church, and
Separation from the Lutherans. — Unitarians in Transylvania. — Pastor
Lucas. — Lazarus Schwend. — Confession of Czenger.
It was with their whole heart that the Protestants joined in
the cry, " Long live the king! " as Maximilian I. was crowned
in his father's stead.
Their hopes were also realized. As yet there was no
formal separation from the Church of Rome further than that
the sentiments of - the evangelical preachers were known.
When Archbishop Olah therefore wrote to Presburg de
manding that all heretical books should be sought out, and
threatening excommunication in case of disobedience, the
citizens were much alarmed. They knew what he had done
in the case of Peter Simeghi, the evangelical pastor of Selyr,
throwing him into prison and subjecting him to all possible
trial. And now the demand came to Presburg, not only to
give up the books, but also to banish all the preachers who
were known to be of sentiments different from what Rome
calls orthodox. In their distress they sent a deputation to
the king to appeal against the archbishop.
About the same time a similar complaint was brought by
the Protestant clergy of the seven mining towns, and they
had a better case made out ; for, by handing in their confes
sion of faith, they had virtually separated from Rome's juris
diction. They showed how they were appointed by law " to
preach the Gospel diligently, and administer the sacraments
according to the Augsburg Confession." Maximilian imme
diately directed the archbishop " to cease disturbing the evan-
9*

102 HISTORY OF THE
gelical clergy ; to consider the times, and to take heed that
he did not destroy more than he built up." *
By a letter -dated 2d of September, 1564, the king directed
that the permission to use the cup in the communion should
also be extended to Hungary. The edict was published by
the archbishop himself in Presburg and Tyrnau, and by the
bishops in Raab, Erlau, and Agram. Indeed, it was also
published in the camp of Lazarus Schwend, the imperial
commander-in-chief, who labored very successfully in advan
cing the Reformation in the neighborhood of the Theiss, by
bringing forward such preachers as were of evangelical sen
timents. Maximilian went even farther, and entertained high hopes
of being able to abolish the celibacy of the clergy, asserting
that, were this evil removed, all would soon proceed smooth-
Iy.f He was of opinion that the Protestant and Roman
Catholic Churches might very well exist together, and was
therefore from his heart opposed to persecution in religious
matters. ¦ At the Diet of 1566, which was held to make prep
aration against the Turks, who, to the number of one hun
dred and fifty thousand men, were approaching towards Hun
gary, no resolution was passed in any way molesting the
Reformers. Encouraged, therefore, by the outward peace
which they enjoyed, that distinguished light of the Reformed
Church, the senior and pastor Caspar Karolyi, summoned a
synod, at which the majority signed the Swiss Confession of
Faith. They wrote to their brethren in Transylvania, rec
ommending this confession, and sent the letter by Paul Thu
rius, who was now completely devoted to the Reformed or
Swiss party.
In like manner was a synod called at Debrecsin by Peter
Melius, in which the Swiss Confession of Faith, as distin-

* Ribinyi, Mem. Mica Bury MS.
t Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., Part I., p. 199.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 103
guished from the Augsburg Confession, was adopted and
printed, so that the separation of the Reformed and Lutheran
Churches was now complete.
This organization of the Protestant churches was not very
acceptable to the Roman Catholics, and they succeeded in
blackening the character of the Reformed Church — whom
they always denominated Sacramentarians — in the eyes of
Maximilian, to such an extent, that when a similar synod was
about being held in CEdenberg, Maximilian wrote to the
magistrates, not only prohibiting the meeting, but also for
bidding them to have any connection with such preachers,
requiring, at the same time, that if any such were among
them, they should be banished, and their books destroyed.*
Following the king's example, the commander-in-chief of
the forces, Lazarus Schwend, who appears to have known
very little about the Helvetic Confession, took a very decided
stand against the Reformed, and in favor of the Lutheran,
Church. This general had soon an opportunity of trying his
skill in ecclesiastical matters, in the case of Lucas, the pastor
of Erlau, who had adopted Socinian views, and whose case
was tried before the synod of Kashaw, in January, 1568. It
having been proved that Lucas denied the eternity of the Son
of God, and so rejected the doctrine of the Trinity, the gen
eral adopted a military solution of the theological quarrel, for
he cast the accused into prison, and gave him his liberty
again, after a long confinement, only on condition of recant
ing. It is true, the manner of conducting the trials of those
who were suspected of Socinianism was very far from being
an impartial inquiry after truth ; but it was at that time ne
cessary for the evangelical church to show that she had no
sympathy with those who denied the divinity of the Lord
Jesus Christ ; otherwise the Roman Catholics were very ready
to make this charge against individuals an opportunity of
persecuting the whole Church.
* Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., Part I., p. 208.

104 HISTORY OF THE
The Unitarians had, indeed, at this time, become very
numerous ; arid as John, Prince of Transylvania, seemed to
favor them, they allowed themselves to be led very far in
provoking the other party. In vain did the professors in
Wittenberg write to the chancellor, Michael Csaky, urging
the brethren not to suffer such heresies, in direct opposition
to the Word of God, to spring up among them. In vain did
they beg and entreat them to send their young men to foreign
universities and support them there. The Italian doctor and
preacher, Blandvater, with Francis. David, drove matters so
far that, at the Synod of Wardein, in Transylvania, the doc
trine of the Trinity was openly denied, and the pastor of
Klausenburg was appointed superintendent of the Unitarians.
Many Hungarians were present at this Transylvanian
synod, who did not adhere to the false doctrines. The Prince
of Transylvania, however, with many of the nobility, and the
great mass of the citizens of Wardein, openly joined the Uni
tarians. This was perhaps a reason why the Hungarians,
though they had already signed the Confession of Torgau, in
1567, prepared and printed at Debrecsin a new confession,
entitled the " Confession of Czenger." The great historian
Bossuet is quite mistaken when he calls this a Polish confes
sion. It was drawn up by Hungarians, and is to this day the
common confession of the Reformed Church in Hungary.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 105

CHAPTER XIII.
Jehoiachim Brandenburg. — Death of Gabriel Perenyi, Bishop of Csanad. —
Synod of Kremnitz. — The twenty-four Zips Towns and their Confession
— David Chytraus.
Solomon says, " To everything there is a season, and a
time to every purpose under the heaven " ; and we may safe
ly say that the reign of Maximilian was " the time for Con
fessions of Faith." From single cities, and from individual
pastors, we find confessions of faith appearing, agreeing in
so far with the Augsburg Confession that they give the Lord
all glory. They were in general written as public replies to
the disagreeable attacks made on these parties by such as,
either through blindness or obduracy, could see no salvation
out of the Church of Rome, and whose chief ainr»was, at
any price, to bring all back again under the Roman slavery.
It was for this reason that Jehoiachim Brandenburg, chaplain
of the German cavalry at Raab, in the year 1567, published
the confession of his faith at Ratisbon. In the preface, he
informs us how, in consequence of his respect for Flacius
and adherence to the doctrines which he taught, he was driv
en from place to place, till at last he had obtained leave to
preach and dispense the sacraments at Raab. Even here he
had little rest, for, as he held divine service in a private
house, he was represented as one who hated the light. Being,
however, accustomed to preach in the open air,* he would
not be prevented from continuing to do so, and, that every
one might know what he s taught, he hereby published the
principal articles of his creed.
* He had eight different places where he preached. Mica Bury MS.

106 HISTORY OF THE
Such decided witnesses were much required in Hungary
at this time, for, during the sitting of the Presburg Diet, in
1567, Gabriel Perenyi was laid in the grave of his fathers,
and the funeral oration was pronounced over this devoted
supporter of the Lutheran Church by Fabricius Szikzovianus,
in the presence, of an august assembly of mourners. It was
not long till the second pilfer of the Lutheran Church in
Upper Hungary, Lazarus Schwend, was also laid in the nar
row house. These losses were the more felt as Gregory
Bornemissa, the Bishop of Csanad, had written to the twenty-
four towns of Zips, informing them that he would soon visit
" his towns," armed with the necessary powers to restore the
disobedient wanderers from the fold. He informed them,
also, that he would hold a synod, in which it would be shown
what every one is bound to teach and believe. In a second
letter, in 1570, he renews the summons to the clergy to at
tend at his court, and adds, that he will leave no means un
tried to purge his diocese.* In the mean time, the influence
of Rome was so far felt at Vienna that the evangelical pro
fessors at the university were excluded from the office of
rector. Under such circumstances, the representatives of the five
mining towns met at Kremnitz in the year 1569, — renewed
the confession of faith which they had presented to Ferdi
nand in 1559, — resolved to instruct the children carefully in
the Catechism, and to hold a clerical meeting conference
twice a year.
The representatives of the twenty-four Zips towns held a
conference in the same year, and deputed two of their num
ber, Valentine Meyander and Cyriacus Opsopaus, to draw up
their confession. Their work was finished in 1573, and the
' i
several points agreed very fully with the Augsburg Confes
sion ; this, therefore, obtained much more of the rOyal ap
probation than did the confession of the Calvinistic Church,
* Ribinyi, Mem., Part I. p. 221.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 107
as is evident from the fact of Maximilian shortly after invit
ing Chytraus from Rostock, to bring all the evangelical
churches of Austria to the Lutheran model.
When Chytraus had finished his work in Austria, he trav
elled through Hungary and Transylvania, and in the account
given of his journey, he mentions how the Arian heresy had
spread ; but, at the same time, that he had found the true
Church of Christ scattered through all Hungary. He saw in
Ofen a Lutheran and a Roman Catholic occupying the same
church alternately, and in CEdenberg he found pastor, and
magistrates, and citizens, firmly attached to the principles of
the Reformation. He remarks, further, that in the neighbor
hood of the Neusiedel lake, by the banks of the Danube and
the Raab, the Church was flourishing ; in Zips, and among
the Saxons in Transylvania, he found most learned men in
the churches and schools, who remained unmoved by all the
exertions of Blandvater and the other Socinian teachers.
This visit of the zealous Chytraus did far more for the
benefit of the Church in Hungary than the letter of the Wit
tenberg theologians, warning so earnestly against the Socinian
errors, had accomplished. The spoken word, and the per
sonal influence of enlightened friends of truth, produce a far
more permanent effect than it is possible for writings to do.
It was thus that the travels of the Apostles in the early times,
and the travelling of missionaries in our own days, have had
an influence far beyond anything which the dead letter of
the written Word could ever claim in gathering and strength
ening the churches.

108 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XIV.

Diet at Presburg. — John Kurber. — Tyrnau. — James Wolf. — Death of Sar
pilius and Szegedinus. — Formal Separation from Rome.

The war with the Turks was ended by a truce for eight
years, and the quarrel with John, Prince of Transylvania,
was brought to a close in 1570, in such a way that John
should hold, during life, a certain portion of the country. As
he died in the following year, Maximilian was freed from
much anxiety, and now the great aim must be to try and
heal the wounds which half a century of war had inflicted.
Accordingly, in 1572, two diets were held at Presburg, in
neither of which any resolution unfavorable to the Protes
tants was adopted, and in the latter .meeting, Rudolph, the
son of Maximilian, was crowned King of Hungary.
In the place of Schwend, another zealous Protestant, John
Kurber, was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces in
Hungary.* Under his protection, the Germans in Tyrnau
called an evangelical preacher, who labored veiy acceptably
among them. In their baptisms, funerals, and schools, they
laid aside all -the Popish customs and ceremonies, and set
about building for themselves a new church, which was fin
ished during the reign of Maximilian.
About the same time the town of Moderu, which had just
been raised to the title and privileges of a city, elected its
first evangelical pastor in the person of James Wolf, a dis
ciple of Luther, who fully carried out the principles of his
renowned master.

* As governor of the city Raab, he had introduced the first evangelical
preacher into that city.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 109
In all these prosperous times, the great Head of the
Church was reminding his people that the cause of truth does
not depend on man, whose breath is in his nostrils. He there
fore called away by death Laurence Serpilius, the Reformer
of Bela, and shortly after, the great Stephen Szegedinus.
The latter died in 1572, in the sixty-seventh year of his age.
He had been eighteen years superintendent in the diocese
lying between the Border Lake and the Save ; and at his
death had one hundred and twenty Protestant churches under
his superintendence. Through evil report and good report,
in stripes and imprisonments, dangers by water and dangers
by land, he had labored on unweariedly in his Master's
cause.* In his sixtieth year he had a public discussion in
Pesth with a monk of the name of Seraphim Pantheus, and with
the sword of the Spirit he carried off a brilliant victory. The
Reformed Church claims him as one of her superintendents.
There is, however, no evidence that he separated himself
from the Lutheran party ; all that can be s#id is, that in the
later years of his life he had a strong leaning to the Calvin
istic doctrines, and lived on very intimate terms with the
leaders of that Church.
Although the evangelical churches, both Lutheran and
Reformed, had at this time a complete organization, yet the
Roman Catholic bishops did not cease to assert their claims,
demanding from the Protestant clergy a constant recognition
of their authority, and from the churches regular payments
of Church dues. The Archbishop of Gran, in passing through
Leutshaw in 1573, took high offence at Anton Plattner, the
evangelical pastor of the place, for not waiting on him with
accustomed honor ; and when Plattner, reminded of his duty
by the magistrates, hastened after the archbishop so far as
* He had many narrow escapes for his life. At one time his horses ran
away and threw him into the Danube, where he was in great danger ; and
at another time, while bathing, he came too near a whirlpool, and was with
difficulty rescued. 10

110

HISTORY OF THE

Eoerjes, in company with some of. the neighboring clergy,
the archbishop complained grievously of their having left
Rome. " The honor of being very learned men he would
not deny them, and even to their marriage he had no objec
tion, if they had only waited till permission had been ob
tained from Rome." Plattner returned safe and sound to his
own dear Leutshaw.*
In the same year the Bishop of Csanad wrote to the'evan-
gelical churches, demanding his dues. They answered by
sending him their Confession of Faith, with some few words
of explanation respecting the constitution of their churches.
It is there said, " The Church is the visible body of those
who hear and believe the Gospel, and among whom the sac
raments are administered according to Christ's appointment.
The spirit of God works among these to renew their minds
by his appointed means ; there are, however, in this life,
many in the visible Church whose minds are not yet renewed.
Those, however, who falsify the Word, administer the sac
raments contrary to Christ's intention, and kill the saints, —
such are not the Church of God, but, as the Lord says, ' of
their father the Devil.' ' He that is not with us is against us.' "
By this document they declared themselves completely
separated from Rome ; and it was not convenient for the
bishop just at that time to take any further notice of the
proceedings. Other churches, wishing also to be free, sent their theolog
ical students to Wittenberg, where they were ordained, and
- then returned to labor in their native land. Some went for
the same purpose to Transylvania, others to Gratz, and others
still to Silesia.t
* Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., Part I. Here is the great Roman principle
asserted. The Pope has the power to pronounce any course of conduct tc
be right or wrong. Right and wrong mean, then, what is conformable to
his will or otherwise. This is really setting himself in God's stead.
t Memorabilia (Edenbergs MS. ; Ribinyi, Mem., Part I., p. 246, where
the diploma of Paul Hermelius is copied.

PROTESTANT CHrjRCH OF HUNGARY. Ill

CHAPTER XV.

Peter Bomemissa. — Stephen Beytha. — Michael Starmus. — The Pastors of
(Edenberg. — Caspar Zeitvogel. —Nicolas Telegdy appeals to the Pope. —
Maximilian's Death. — His Character.

At the head of this chapter stand the names of three of
the most distinguished Reformers in Hungary. Perhaps it is
on this account that the Lutheran and Reformed writers
strive to claim each for their own party. The following facts
may perhaps help tc^ clear up the darkness which rests on
this point, and contribute towards settling the question, if it is
one of so much importance.
Peter Bomemissa was born of noble family, at Pesth, and
received his education at Kashaw and Vienna. In his eigh
teenth year, he permitted the public to visit him at his lodg
ings in Vienna, where he read and expounded the Scriptures
to them. Being accused by Nicolas Olah, at that time arch
bishop, he was thrown into prison. On being set free, he
travelled in Italy, France, and Germany, for eight years,
pursuing his studies. On his return, he was, by the patron
age of Count Julius Salin, and his -worthy countess, Elizabeth
Thurzo, appointed preacher, first in Galgatz, and then in
Shintaw. Here he labored with much success, and published
an incredible number of books. Especially valuable were
his -Hungarian sermons, which he printed between 1574 and
1584, partly in quarto, partly in folio, dedicated to Count
Salm and prince Stephen Torok. Other works, which pro
duced a great sensation at the time, were his Sum of Saving
Knowledge and Comfort in the Vicissitudes of Life, pub
lished in 1577, and dedicated to Anna Maria Losontcy, the
wife of Christopher Unguad. Several liberal princes and

112 HISTORY OF THE
pious ladies bore the cost of printing, and among these were
Barbara Somi, wife of Ladislaus Banfy, Count Salm Bath-
yani,' Thomas Nadasdy, and Francis Esterhazy.
From the year 1584, we hear no more of this great man
probably about that time he died. His writings bear the
character of the time, and give evidence that the Turkish
dominion had very much injured the state of religion and
morals. Lampe and others claim him as a Calvinist ; but
we have evidence that, on a preacher being appointed at
CEdenberg, the magistrates and citizens- would not make the
appointment till after Superintendent Bomemissa had exam
ined and approved of him. From the quarrels and bitter
feelings between the two Confessions, and from the high
stand which the citizens of CEdenberg took on the side of the
Augsberg Confession, we infer that they would not send their
pastor to be examined by a Calvinistic superintendent.
This CEdenberg pastor was afterwards a very distinguished
laborer in the Lord's vineyard. His name was Stephen Bey
tha. Born about 1528, he labored first in the schools, and
afterwards as preacher, for a period of forty-five years.
Bomemissa recommends him to the Church in (Edenberg, in
1574, as a very worthy man, whom they should respect and
support, and expresses the hope that he may be a blessing to
the town. Here he remained only two years, as Hungarian
preacher, and then removed to Gussing, in Eisenberg, as
pastor to the Church there, and chaplain to Count Balthasar
Bathyani. As an influential superintendent, we shall fre
quently hear further of him.
Another of the great leaders of the Reformation was Mi
chael Starinus. One benefit which he conferred on Hun
gary was the translation of the Psalms into Hungarian verse,
' and, indeed, the greater number of the Psalms in use among
the Reformed churches to this day are said to be his transla
tion. He was a most laborious minister of the Gospel, but
very little is known respecting the very peculiar sphere of

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 113
his labors, beyond the facts, that he lived atTolnau, in 1557 ;
that he was settled at Papa, as pastor, previous to 1574 ; and
that, .while he and Stephen Beytha were candidates for the
vacant post of Hungarian preacher in CEdenberg, in the last-
mentioned year, Beytha was preferred.*
There were at that time five preachers in CEdenberg,
namely, three in the German church, one in the Hospital,
and Beytha in the Hungarian church. The names were,
Jonas Peter Nusaus, a native of Nuremburg, James Ritshen-
del, Hans Hofer, and Andrew Pfendtner. In the Hungarian
church, a service in Croatian was occasionally held, a cus
tom which exists to this day, though the Croatians in the
neighboring village, Culmhof, are now all Roman Catholics.
Beytha was succeeded by Caspar Dragonus, in 1576.f
The schools in CEdenberg were as prosperous as the
churches. The gymnasium, which had been established in
1566, had Francis Plartwann as professor till the year 1577,
and, as the school was prospering, Caspar Zeitvogel was
called from Austria, as rector. Up to this time it had been
customary for the youth in the Latin school to hear mass
each morning, from eight till nine o'clock, and vespers each
evening, from three, till four. The new rector discontinued
this custom, to' the great annoyance of the priest. He in-.
trodnced the custom of singing German hymns, instead of
Latin, at funerals, and dispensed with the attendance of
priests, with their wax candles, on such occasions.!
* There was a Hungarian preacher in CEdenberg previous to 1568 ; for in
that year we find the record of a presbyter of Guns applying for the vacant
place. In 1568-69, Francis Novanus was placed there; in 1570-71, Lucas
of Blasteniz ; the name of the preacher in 1572 - 73 is not given. In 1574,
there is an entry to the effect, that, by order of the burgomaster, there was
paid to the Hungarian preacher of Papa, Michael Starinus, two dollars, for
preaching on trial at the CEdenberg Hungarian Church.
t Caspar Dragonus signs himself pastor of the United Hungarian and
Croatian Church. .
X Z. E. Russeus, Burgomaster of CEdenberg. Transactions during his
Life. MS. 10*

114 HISTORY OF THE
As the priests were thus deprived of some of their fees,
they were so enraged that, on one occasion, at a funeral, " a
priest, in the public street, boxed the ears of Master Caspar
Zeitvogel." Shortly after, Zeitvogel was dismissed, by the in
fluence of the Bishop of Raab and some of his creatures,
and the next place we find him is in Basle, where he offici
ates as doctor of medicine. His place, as rector of the
gymnasium, was filled by Michael Rusler, in 1574, who con
tinued to labor successfully for four years.
Up till this time, the St. Michael's church had been used
alternately by Protestants and Roman Catholics, but now a
complete separation took place, and that chiefly by the in
fluence of the sensual Romish priest, Walff Spillinger.
The friends of the Reformation had struggled hard to gain
a footing, and now they must not relax their efforts in at
tempting to maintain their ground against those who had no
qualms of conscience respecting the means they adopted to
gain their end. " And they who kill you," said the Lord
Jesus, with such truth and power, " will think they do God
service " ; " and all this they will do, because they neither
know me nor my Father."
Some looked on the incredible spread of evangelical senti
ments as a great evil. Among these was Nicolas Telegdy,
Provost of Gran, about the end of Maximilian's reign. As
he found the emperor's lukewarmness in persecuting the
Protestants intolerable, he wrote to Pope Gregory, in May,
1576, complaining especially of the people of Tyrnau, that
they had appointed a most talented preacher, to whom crowds
were listening in the hospital church. In vain had the legate
demanded of the emperor to send this plague out of the
town. In vain had the bishops of Erlau and Raab united to
plead for the same purpose ; they had only succeeded in ob
taining a promise that royal commissioners would inquire
into the case. He therefore begged the Pope to urge the
emperor on to do his duty, while many in Tyrnau wero

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 115
trembling for the consequences of allowing this madman his
full liberty. And, lastly, remarks the provost, if the heretics
once gain a. victory in Tyrnau, their teachers will then come
like flies, and cover the land, so that the Roman Catholic
faith would be overturned, — yes, overturned by the preach
ing of the Gospel !
Rome's power .was thus waning fast in Hungary, when
Maximilian died at Ratisbon, on the 12th of October, 1576.
The Jesuit Mitterdorfer numbers him among the faithful
sons of the Church, and says he yielded to the Protestants
simply from dire necessity. Others think that Maximilian
suffered the Church of Rome designedly to sink, and that he
was a warm friend of the Reformation.*
Let us remember that, as crown prince and king of Bo
hemia, he was decidedly in favor of the Reformation. At
that time he wrote to the Duke of Wurtemburg, that it was
of the utmost importance that the contending parties in the
Protestant Church should be reconciled ; for, by so doing,
the Pope would be the more hampered in his proceedings,
which Maximilian confessed would not vex ' him very much.
In another letter, he calls the Papists " the other party," apd
the enemies both of himself and the duke.t As emperor,
however, he is less open ; thfe circumstances require more
moderation. As emperor, he attended mass, remained in
communion with the Church of Rome, took as his chaplain
that same Cithardus whom he had formerly so much des
pised ; but, as Thuanus observes, " always at heart well in
clined towards the Protestants."
A singular proof of this he gave in his last years ;. for as
on the death of Cithardus they gave him one Martin Eisen-
griin, a Protestant apostate, to be his chaplain, and as he, in
his first sermon, made a bitter attack on the Protestants, the

# Martin Gratianus in vita Card. Commendonj.
t Raupach, Evang. Aust. 1st Part, Supplement, pp. 21, 22.

116 HISTORY OF THE
emperor immediately found another situation for him in the
Bavarian monastery of Dettingen.
If we, then, consider further, in addition to what has been
said, that the greater number of office-bearers at court were
Protestants, that Protestants were sent as ambassadors to
foreign courts, even to Rome, we may well doubt whether to
receive with implicit confidence or not, what the Jesuit Mit-
terdorfer says of him on his deathbed, " He gave full evi
dence of being a Roman Catholic prince." * This doubt will
be further increased by the fact, that the Paris University re
fused him the customary honors after death, as they had
doubts respecting his orthodoxy. We may also remember
the memorable words with which he dismissed his evangelical
chaplain, Pfauser, when compelled to do so by the influence
of Ferdinand's court, — " Be of good -courage, dear Pfauser,
the service of God must not yield to the commandments of
men." # See Gerbach's Turkish Day-Book, p. 498.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 117

CHAPTER XVI.
RUDOLPH II., FROM 1576 TO 1608, IN HUNGARY; DIED 1612.
His Education and Manner of Life. — Archduke Ernest, Governor of Austria.
— Opitz and Scherer. — The Concordia in Hungary. — Roman Tactics.
With the Emperor Rudolph begins a period of thirty-two
years, which, for the Church in Hungary, abounded in suf
fering and trials: The wonder, how it was possible for such
an enlightened and gentle father as Maximilian to leave be
hind him such a son and heir as Rudolph, will be explained
by a glance at his early education.
Rudolph was born at Vienna in 1552, and while the father
was occupied with the cares of government, the Spanish
mother, by the aid of the Jesuits, formed the young mind
after her own wish. While he was scarcely yet twelve years
old, he was sent to be near the suspicious, tyrannical, cruel
Philip, King of Spain. At the side of this dark monarch and
his ghostly executioner, the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada,
did Rudolph, while yet a youth, acquire that implicit submis
sion to the Church of Rome, which made him respect every
error, consider every change even of the most absurd cus
toms as a heresy, and fitted him for being the blind tool of
the priests of an infallible Church. They had only one dif
ficulty in his character, and that was the pride of being a
ruler, and of being considered such. Yet they knew well
how to turn this to account, by directing this failing in such
a channel as served their purpose.
Such a mixture of dark suspicion and tyrannical pride as

118

HISTORY OF THE

made up the character of Philip, just such was also Rudolph's
character. Like Philip, it became always more and more
difficult for his subjects to have access to him. Indeed, at
one time, the citizens of Prague, where he generally resided,
considered him to be dead ; and the only way to quell a riot,
which was breaking out in consequence, was, that he came
and showed himself at a window.
Devoted to astrology, alchymy, and painting, and with a
decided aversion to affairs of state, his extensive dominions
soon fell, like his own household, into desperate disorder.
Like Louis II., he was always at a loss for money ; and
though niggardly in matters of importance, yet he could
waste his property on flowers, and pearls, and trifles. He
was always surrounded with alchymists, astrologers, artists,
and mistresses, who carried away with a full- hand, while his
troops were generally obliged to subsist on forced loans and
friendly plunder. Of course no attention was paid to the
education of the people. The king set the example of adul
terating the silver in dollars, and the brokers and usurers in
his dominions knew how to imitate him in this respect.
Under such a ruler, who, as Fessler remarks, " for the
gratification of his own covetousness, transgressed all law
and all morality, that he might bury his treasures by the mil
lion," it would have been indeed a wonder if credit, justice,
and morality had not disappeared, and cheatery taken their
place. With that faithfulness and good-natured resignation which
constitutes a principal trait of their character, the Hungarians
accepted of this king, who was crowned 25th of September,
1572, in the twentieth year of his age. They hoped to find
the just and virtuous father in the son ; and even what very
soon after the coronation took place against the Protestants in
Austria did not quite remove the scales from their eyes.
In 1577, Rudolph had appointed his brother Ernest deputy-
governor of Austria, who immediately, no doubt by the ad-

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 119
vice of the Jesuits, set about attempting a counter reforma
tion. It was the learned and zealous, but at the same time
headstrong and imprudent, evangelical preacher in Vienna,
Joshua Opitz, who gave occasion to this step. Picturing, in
his sermon, the consequences of monastic life, he mentioned
that, in the time of Pope Gregory, in a certain pool or lake,
six thousand skulls of children had been found, which had all
been thrown in by the women of the neighboring convent,
and that the Bishop of Augsburg had written to Pope Nico
las I. on the subject. Eight days after, the Jesuit Scherei
preached against him, and soon raised such a storm, that, by
express command of the emperor, the preachers Opitz, Tat-
telbach, and Hugo received orders, on the 21st of June,
1578, " on the same day, before sunset, to leave Vienna, and
within fourteen days to be beyond the boundaries of the em
pire, never to return." *
In the same year was the evangelical preacher at Krems,
John Matthews, of Smalkalden, banished ; and many of the
citizens, who were suspected of Protestantism, were called
up, and strictly examined respecting their views. While the
cardinal Hosius was rejoicing over the banishment of the
preachers and the suppression of the Protestant congrega-
tions, and while men of evangelical sentiments, who refused
to take part in the processions, were excluded from the rec
torship of the University, the Bishop of Vienna was making
preparations for an inquisition of the books, in which work he
was faithfully assisted by the University.
With equal zeal were the Jesuits laboring in Styria-, where
they succeeded in banishing Jeremiah Homberger, the pastor
and rector of Gratz.
Though the prospects of the Protestants were thus very
gioomy, yet the Hungarians, depending on the oath of the
king, and on their own constitution, seemed to have no fear

* Raupach, Ev. Austria, Part. I., p. 272.

120

HISTORY OF THE

that the fire of persecution might soon reach themselves.
Was it the consciousness of the justice of their cause, or was
it the number of members of their own party filling influen
tial positions, or the success which had hitherto attended
their struggles against Rome, that lulled asleep all suspicion,
and prevented them taking energetic steps to meet the tricks
of the Jesuits and their helpers ?
Instead of combating the great foe from without, the inter
nal quarrels were increasing, and synod after synod was held
to discuss such questions among themselves as only tended to
stir up strife. In the hope of settling the disputes, an at
tempt was made to have the Concordia signed ; and though,
at the Synod of Kremnitz, in 1580, the commander-in-chief
of the Hungarian army, as well as lay deputies from some
of the sister towns, used their utmost efforts to have the sig
nature accomplished, yet the attempt only increased the evil
which it was designed to heal. Indeed, Gregory Bomemissa,
of Great Wardein, took the opportunity of warning the clergy
under his superintendence, that as there were in this formula
sentiments reflecting dishonor on the person of Christ, they
should refuse signing it, and threatened, if they did so, he
would proceed against him as if they denied the humanity
of Christ.*
The bishop having had heavy expenses at the Diet of
Presburg, wrote to the evangelical clergy of Zips, in 1583,
requesting them to send him, as usual, their share of his ex
penses, and expressing a wish that the usual sum of sixty
ducats should this time be increased to a hundred. In the
letter, he calls them his reverend brethren in Christ. Now,
though the evangelical clergy had, in general, paid the
dues to the Popish bishops, still it happened that the cler-

* This formula was drawn up by Andreas Chemnitz and Solnecker, and
afterwards examined and approved by Chytraus Musculus and KOrnir, and
was published in 1577. In this formula, the ubiquity of Christ's human na
ture is asserted.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 121
gy of Zips had not paid the last oil account for extreme
unctions, and even all the bishop's flattery did not now suc
ceed in extracting even a part of the hundred ducats. The
bishop's death in the following year prevented, for the pres
ent, any final settlement of the question.
While the Protestant Church was torn with internal dis
sensions, the Roman Catholics, on the contrary, fully organ
ized and strengthened by the Jesuits, as well as supported by
the court, were prepared to take advantage of every change.
They knew well that for the present nothing could be under
taken on a large scale, and that the Diet would not assist
them ; they therefore chose prudent and courageous leaders,
and began a guerilla warfare against individual pastors and
single congregations.

n

122 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XVII.
Roman Catholic Synod at Steinamanger. — Bishop Telegdy. — Gregorian
Calendar. ¦ — Banishment of the Protestant Clergy of CEdenberg. — Drasko-
witsh is made Cardinal. — Adoption of the New Calendar out of Respect to
the Khig. — Banishment of the Jesuits from Transylvania. — Death of
Draskowitsh. The zeal of the Roman Catholics to bring back the Protes
tants to the Church of Rome was manifested in various ways.
George Draskowitsh, Archbishop of Kolotscha, and imperial
chancellor, summoned a general synod of the clergy of his
diocese to Steinamanger, in Eisenberg, to meet in August,
1579, to which he also invited the Protestant clergy. Count
Francis Nadasdy, however, on whose estates many Protes
tants resided, took up the case warmly, and wrote to the arch
bishop in July, 1579, sending a copy of his letter to the
magistrates of CEdenberg, in which he states, that the evan
gelical clergy need not appear before the archbishop to give
an account of their faith, for this they have already done by
signing the Augsburg Confession ; should it, however, be
intended to hold a public discussion on matters of faith, the
time appeared to be badly chosen, for it would only cause
new excitement, and expose to further devastations from the
Turks. The evangelical clergy did not appear at the synod.
What the archbishop with all his power could not accomplish,
was attempted by others in a different way. It is a singular
trait of the Roman Catholic Church that she is veiy unwilling
to try the power of the two-edged sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God, against her enemies, while she much
prefers the more expeditious sword of the civil power. Yet
here we find one exception to the general rule in the person

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 123
of Nicolas Telegdy, Bishop of Fiinf kirchen, who attacked the
superintendent and strove to defend Rome with the pen, —
very probably because, as his diocese lay under the rule of
the Turks, he could use no other weapon. Still, from what
ever cause, from the time of the Albigenses, down to the
wondrous conversion of Tahiti in modern times, we find, on
the part of Rome's adherents, a singular dislike,, to this kind
of warfare, and fondness- to employ fleshly weapons.
It was, therefore, very acceptable to the Roman bishops
and Jesuits, when the new Gregorian Calendar appeared.
From the state of feeling in the country, it was easy to fore
see that the Protestants would not readily consent to adopt it ;
and it turned out according to expectation ; but in no place
was the opposition so bitter as in CEdenberg. When the
command came to this royal free city from George Drasko
witsh, in 1583, to introduce the new calendar, even the im
provement was looked on with suspicion because it came
from Rome, and in the spirit of the times such an attack was
made from the pulpit, not only on the measure, but also on
the bishop who introduced it, that he had a good opportunity
for demanding the removal of the preachers.
Though the magistrates did not obey this mandate, yet
Draskowitsh, who was not only bishop, but also deputy-gov
ernor, found ways and means in the following year to have
the pastors, together with the rector and conrector of the
school, removed. The pastors Musaus and Ritshandel, how
ever, were no more exposed to these indignities ; the great
Master had two years before called them away from the evil
to come.
The citizens, deeply concerned for their own freedom and
the well-being of their preachers and teachers, sent a depu
tation to Vienna to Archduke Ernest ; but he, instead of
granting their petition, threw them into prison, and sentenced
the city to a heavy fine for its audacity. After these inno
cent citizens had lain some time in prison in Vienna, they

124 HISTORY OF THE
were set free, — besides paying the fine, — under the follow-
' ing conditions : — First, That the banished preachers should
never be admitted, either publicly or privately, into the city
or surrounding villages ; but that the citizens would open
hearts and ears to the Popish priests already there, or who
should in the course of time be sent to the city. Secondly,
That they should never admit into the city any preacher or
teacher without the express consent of the bishop, his vicar,
or, at least, the archdeacon. Thirdly, They must appoint a
Roman Catholic schoolmaster, who was always to be ready
to help the priests. Fourthly, That in their private houses
no one should be allowed to preach, and no one allowed to
administer the sacraments, but a priest enjoying the full con
fidence of the bishop.
These resolutions the Archduke Ernest sent to Wolfgang
Spillinger, the Popish priest, and Archdeacon of CEdenberg,
on the 18th of June, 1584, with directions to watch whether
any one and who administered baptism, performed the cere
mony of marriage, and such like, and to send the name,
place, and circumstances to the archduke, that he might, in
the name of his Majesty, administer the proper punishment.
As this letter was read in the council of the magistrates at
(Edenberg, it cast the town into indescribable sorrow and
consternation. Thousands should live without the comforts
of the Gospel ; children should be unbaptized ; the sick
should die without the voice of a spiritual comforter, and the
dead should be buried according to the rites of the Roman
Church. Yet one thing remained. At a distance of about
five English miles were two villages, German-Cross and
Neckermarkt, where the Gospel was preached still, and
these villages did not belong to CEdenberg. Faith gave the
citizens strength, and they streamed out to these villages to
hear the Word of God. And though many of them were
taken prisoners, and carried off to the bishop's residence,
and though the German evangelical normal schoolmaster

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 125
must be dismissed, still they did not succeed in annihilating
the Protestant Church in that city.
For his great zeal in advancing the cause of Rome,
Draskowitsh was rewarded by Pope Sixtus V. with a cardi
nal's hat, in return for which he managed to introduce the
Jesuits into Transylvania, and afterwards into Hungary.
Contrary to law, and contrary to the Constitution, they soon
received the prebendary (probstei) of Thurzo from Rudolph,
and in vain did the Diet afterwards try to remove them.
Here they endeavored — ever true to their principles — to
annoy as much as possible those who differed from them in
sentiment ; but, by so doing, they did not much advance the
credit of the Roman See. For when, at the Diet, the king
and the cardinal were striving to introduce the new calendar,
the states distinctly declared that they would adopt it only
out of respect to their king, and not as an acknowledgment
of the Roman supremacy.
The Jesuits were less successful in Transylvania than in
Hungary. They had stirred up strife to such an extent, that
Prince Sigismund, at the unanimous earnest request of the
states at the Diet, gave his sanction to a decree, of the 16th
of December, 1588, banishing them out of the kingdom.
The Diet declared their academy at Klausenberg to be a
fortress erected against the liberties of the country, for they
had taken up arms, and given occasion to rebellion. They
sent their fanatical students into the houses of Calvinists,
searching for books, which they brought out and burned ;
and these scenes gave occasion to bloodshed and pillage.*
Cardinal Draskowitsh did not live to see the black day
when his favorites were driven legally out of Transylvania,
for in February, 1587, he had gone to render his account to
his God.

* Hist. Diplom. Fred. Schmidt Chron. Thur. Germ. 1599, 4to.
11*

126

HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XVIII.

Caspar Dragonus. — Protestant Synod. — Peter Berger. — Hungarian Stu
dents banished from Wittenberg. — The Formula Concordise. — Roman
Troops sent to Hungary. — Basta in Transylvania. — Destruction of tho
Evangelical Church in Styria and Carinthia. — The Roman General Bar-
biano in Kashaw and Leutshaw. — The Magistrates ofLeutshaw and the
Bishop of Raab.

The efforts of the Roman Catholics to annihilate the Prot
estant name in Hungary tended only to develop a new life
and zeal among the friends of the truth. The banished cler
gy of (Edenberg found a hearty Welcome in other congrega
tions and among the princes. Caspar Dragonus, for exam
ple, found an asylum first in Steinamanger, and afterwards
in Castle Hezzo, till such time as he was appointed Professor
of Theology in the flourishing academy at Hormend, and
pastor of the church, where he continued for a considerable
time, till he was afterwards appointed pastor of Rechnitz.
The misfortunes at CEdenberg induced the Protestants for
some time to hold their meetings chiefly where the Turks
had dominion, for here they were not disturbed. The disci
ples of Abdallah's son understood toleration better than those
who professed the faith of the Nazarene ; and with wondrous
tact the Moslems knew how to afford each confession the
same liberties.
There was the Synod of Murany, where many useful res
olutions were passed respecting Church discipline ; the Synod
of Surany, and the discussion of Csepregh in 1591, where
Count Francis Nadasdy sought in vain to bring the Calvin
istic superintendent Stephen Beytha and the Lutheran Sev-
erin Skulteti of Bartfeld to a mutual good understanding

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 127
respecting the Lord's Supper. Innumerable other meetings
for discussing the same doctrine manifested considerable life
in the Church. Still it was pity that the dogmatic side pre
ponderated so much ; and while the two contending parties
were deepening the gulf which separated them, the ground
was also laid for the great defection in spiritual life so soon
to be manifested in the Reformed Church.
There were at this time on the right side of the Danube
three hundred ; on the left side, as far as Neograd, above
four hundred ; and in Zips, Saras, Abanjvar, and Gomor,
about two hundred fully organized churches of the Augsburg
Confession with their own pastors, without reckoning the Re
formed churches and those which were not fully organized.
The Reformed churches were chiefly to be found in the prov
inces governed by the Turks, and among the Magyar popu
lation. So early as 1580, the Protestant Slavish churches in
the circle of Trentshin amounted to seventy, and had their
own separate constitution, government, and discipline, under
the protection of the obergespan of the county.*
Although in this constitution much was done to remove the
superstitious excresences of the Church of Rome out of the
Divine service, still there were some who were not yet satis
fied, and among these Peter Berger, who, in the year 1592,
commenced a furious exterminating warfare against altars,
pictures, wax candles, incense, and pulpit gown, and carried
matters so far that he was suspended from his office by deci
sion of the ecclesiastical court.f
The struggle between Lutheranism and Reform had
reached its highest pitch about this time, and the antagonists
knew no bounds in the bitterness of their expressions. And
it is but poor consolation only to he able to say that Hungary
was not alone in this disgraceful struggle. In Saxony the in
tolerance had also reached a high pitch ; for, towards the
* Ribinyi, Mem., Part I., p. 262. f Fessler, Vol. VIII., p. 418.

128 HISTORY OF THE
close of this century, twenty-five Hungarian students were
turned out of the University of Wittenberg simply because
they denied the ubiquity of the human nature of Christ, and
could not, therefore, sign the " Formula Concordia?."
This formula promoted anything but concord in Plungary.
From end to end of the land the churches were torn with the
controversy. As that distinguished man Severin Skulteti was
elected Senior, the rector of Eperjes, John Mylius, protested
against the election, charging him with having fallen from
the evangelical faith. From the year 1591, when the discus
sion of Csepregh took place, other points were for many
years neglected, and the clergy ranged themselves, in two
parties, around this one question. Each party appointed a
visitation of the churches in order to purify, them in its own
way. The superintendent, Stephen Beytha, and the Senior of
Csepregh, Samuel Reczes, the former on the part of Geneva,
the latter as champion of Wittenberg, were the leaders of this
unseemly quarrel, and there was no rest till the two parties
separated from each other completely. While engaged with
such matters, little did they think of the approach of Maho
met III. with a hundred and fifty thousand men wasting the
country. But, indeed, after all, as a Church they had little
reason to be concerned, for under Turkish rule they had far
more liberty than under Popish regime. When the Turks
had taken possession of CEdenberg, one of the banished
preachers returned and continued for some time, but was
again obliged to leave. Even the imperial general, on en
tering the city and seeing the oppression of the Protestants,
brought an evangelical preacher, Gabriel Griinberg, and
placed him there. But what could a general do against a
bishop walking faithfully in the steps of Draskowitsh ? In
three quarters of a year he was again expelled, and the dep
utation which was sent to Vienna, to represent their dis
tressed case was not only thrown into prison, but the town

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 129
was fined in six thousand florins for transgressing the orders
of Archduke Ernest, and venturing to admit once more an
(evangelical preacher.*
The persecution, which had hitherto fallen on isolated
towns and single preachers, began now to become general.
The rumors of an agreement between the Pope, the Jesuits,
and the Court of Vienna, to root out the Protestant name,
seemed about to be realized in Hungary and Transylvania.
With much jealousy and fear did the Protestants look on the
ten thousand Roman troops under Aldobrand, Duke of Bel-
gioyosa, formerly a Carthusian abbot, which came to help
the emperor against the Turks ; for these auxiliary troops
were nothing less oppressive and exorbitant in their demands
than the Turks had been. ,
With equal severity were the inhabitants of Transylvania
treated by George Basta, the imperial general. So soon as
he had taken possession of the land in the king's name, he
began to plunder, he enrolled the young men in his army,
decimated the property of the rich, and kept the money to
himself. He took away the churches and schools of the
Protestants, and treated them so hardly that his name was
mentioned with terror by children's children. Both he and
the Popish general, knowing that there was nothing to fear
from head-quarters, even if they should be severe on the
Protestants, followed but too faithfully the example which
was set by other servants of the emperor in the other crown
lands. The Bishop of Secca was burning and wasting ail
that belonged to Protestants in Styria and Carinthia. The
evangelical preachers were ordered to leave Gratz on eight
days' notice, and' give up their prosperous gymnasium to the
Papists, while an oath was demanded from the civic authori
ties that they would immediately banish all who did not
staunchly adhere to Rome.
* Gamauf s Remembrances of CEdenberg.

130 HISTORY OF THE
The states presented a petition to Archduke Ferdinand, in
which they depicted the plots of the Jesuits, reminded him
of his father's promise to the Protestants of Styria and Ca-
rinthia, and also how they had voluntarily lent considerable
sums to the court in the time of need, — but it was all in
vain.* The bishop went on with his cruelty. The Protes
tants at Eisengrub not having yielded implicit obedience to
the stern commands, had their houses filled with soldiers, and
many were carried away prisoners to Gratz. The castle of
the knight John Hoffman was seized ; the Protestant church
close by was blown up with powder, and the bones of the
nobility resting in the vaults below the church were also
blown to the winds. The altar of the evangelical church in
Gratz was overturned, and the bones of the deceased pastor,
Zimmermann, were taken up and thrown into the neighbor
ing river.
Under such circumstances, the citizens of the capital of
Carinthia, who were chiefly Protestants, considered them
selves justified in taking to arms. They closed their gates
and made earnest preparations to protect their holiest rights,
and to regain liberty of faith and conscience, without which
man is the mere tool of tyranny, degraded to the level of
the inferior creation. But repeated decrees of the archduke,
sometimes cajoling, sometimes threatening, gained over the
one part and terrified the other part of the citizens. The Je
suits had gained their object. Their victory was soon so
complete that, in all Styria and Carinthia, only a very few
Protestant congregations remained.
It was, no doubt, the intention in high places to do the same
in Hungary and Bohemia, for the same spirit and principles
animated and directed the government in all departments.

* August Jacob Thuanus, Tom. II., Lib. 124, p. m. 1522 in 4to, anno 1601 ,
David Rungius Wittenberg de persecutione in Styria; Anander, and many
others.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 131
But in spite of the league between the Pope and the Em
peror to root out the Protestant name, what had been so easi
ly accomplished in other lands could not here be carried out.
The higher and lower Hungarian nobility, as well as the free
cities, had certain privileges secured to them by^the Constitu
tion, by means of which they were not so much exposed to
arbitrary treatment, while at the same time their love of
liberty increased. Not accustomed to bear arms, having lain
long under the oppression of a foreign power, being now as
bitterly oppressed by their own troops, they gave evidence
of being prepared to take into their own hands the punish
ment of those offences on the part of the military which the
government seemed inclined to leave unpunished.
In January, 1603, the Roman general Barbiano, assisted
by three bishops, deprived the Protestants in Kashaw of their
church, and handed it over to the Bishop of Erlau. The
Protestant pastors were banished, the people were prohibited,
under heavy fines, from going to other towns to partake of
the communion or to enjoy any ecclesiastical privilege ; and
it was hoped by this example to terrify the five mining
towns. In the following October, the neighboring free cities held
a meeting to deliberate on the proper steps to be adopted in
self-defence when their turn came. When the Bishop of
Raab, therefore, who was at the same time deputy-governor
of Hungary, attempted in Leutshaw what had succeeded so
well in Kashaw, he met with very decided opposition. He
demanded of the magistrates, that the churches, schools,
monasteries, hospitals, and all the church property, with the
manses, should be handed over to him. As this was a matter
which concerned the entire body of the citizens — so thought
the burgomaster — it was necessary to hold. a town meeting
to consult together. At seven o'clock on the morning of the
9th of October, 1604, all the citizens, with pastor Peter Gabler
and his colleague, met to hear the bishop's letter read.

132 HISTORY OF THE
" Whereupon," says the record, " the pastor did give a beau
tiful warning to hold fast by the Word of God. He would
risk his body, honor, property, and life, and abide with us.
Upon which the judges and the council, together with the
citizens and the reverend ministers, did bind themselves with
an oath to risk their liberty, honor, property, and life, for the
Word of God and the Augsburg Confession, and never' to
perjure themselves '; so help them God and his holy Word."
From this time forward the warnings of the bishop as Well
as his threatenings were in vain. At one time he drove mat
ters so far as to raise a tumult, and he must save his life by
flight. He soon came back again, threatening to billet the
military on them, and promising favors in case of yielding.1
The judges and council, with the tribunes of the people, gave
¦the reply in the name of the whole city, in rather laconic
style, for they bade the Embassador tell his master, " They
would rather have God for a friend than the Devil and all his
followers." This answer might perhaps scarcely have help
ed them, if the Lord had not ordered that the bishop and his
helpers must soon escape with all speed and leave the land.
The enemies of the Gospel must be the means of delivering
therrv from their persecutor.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 133

CHAPTER XIX.

Diet of Presonrg, 1604. — The Famous 22d Article. — Persecution of the
Protestants. — Stephen Botskay's Rebellion. — The Peace of Vienna.

While the kings of Hungary, who always lived out of the
country, in their public decrees praised the loyalty, faithful
ness-, and generosity of the nation, they manifested at the
same time a certain want of confidence, by appointing for
eigners to the command of the troops, and by their influence
carrying out political and religious measures contrary to the
constitution. The fruits of this want of confidence were felt
at other times under the house of Hapsburg, but very espe
cially under Rudolph's reign. This suspicious prince
brought himself often into a labyrinth out of which there
was no escape. Thus, after the Diet of Presburg, held in
1604, under the presidency of Archduke Matthew, he permit
ted himself to be persuaded to add the 22d article by his
own sovereign will, and without the sanction of the states.
He thus violated his oath to the constitution, and exposed the
life and liberty of the Protestants completely to the arbitrary
treatment of the Roman clergy.
The inducement to add this article was, that two petitions
had been presented to him by the Protestants requiring tol
eration, and at the Diet there had been manifested a decided
dissatisfaction with the oppressions which had hitherto taken
place. This 22d article decreed, that, under severe penalties, no
complaint should be brought before the Diet in religious mat
ters ; it described the Protestant religion as an innovation,
and spoke of it in terms of contempt. It required all the
12

134 HISTORY OF THE
laws formerly enacted against dissent from the Church of
Rome — consequently also the burning — to be strictly ob
served ; and it prescribed to the king the solemn and respon
sible duty of spreading the Roman Catholic religion, and
rooting out all sects and heresies.
Against this article the states had protested, and their pro
test was supported by the seal of the, palatine. But neither
the imperial general, Basta, nor the Roman commander, Bar-
biano, the former in Transylvania and the latter in Upper
Flungary, nor yet the Bishop of Kalotsch, Matthew Pete,
allowed this protest to terrify them. What they had fully
obtained in Kashaw, and hoped shortly to accomplish in
Leutshaw, was also attempted in Zips ; and here the ober-
gespan, Count Christopher Thurzo, who nine years before
had joined the Protestants, and who now had returned to the
Church of Rome, gave zealous assistance.
Equipped with a decree of the Emperor Rudolph and Si
gismund, king of Holland, under whose protection the towns
of Zips stood, and resting on the 22d article of the Diet of
Presburg, they began to expel the Protestant clergy, and ap
point Popish priests in their place.* That no one might
question Thurzo's orthodoxy, he handed over the Protestant
church on his own estate in Galgatz to the Papists. In the
village Lisska, the general, Pete, brother to the bishop, drove
away the Reformed pastor, Paul Stantai, and placed two
Jesuits, George Vasarhely and Paul Besseredy, in his room ;
but it was not long till the general and the Jesuits must es
cape for their lives. For as Barbiano in his march against
the Turks had oppressed the Protestants on the estates of
Stephen Botskay, and had demanded from the proprietor a.
loan of several thousand dollars for the emperor, he proceed
ed to attack and plunder two of Botskay's castles.t

* See Cardinal Wagner in Annal. Scepus, Part III., p. 96.
t Thuanus, Tom. II. 1. 131. Dr. Y. Stickfusius in Nev. Lil. Chron. Lib. I.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 135
It had also not been very long since Botskay had made a
journey to Prague to see the emperor, and he had, with every
mark of disrespect, been refused admittance. Being thus
stirred up, he only waited for an opportunity of revenge ;
and having induced a part of Barbiano's army to desert, he
attacked the general on the 15th of October at the castle of
Diasrey, and obliged him to fly. When Barbiano had
reached Kashaw in his flight, he begged in vain to be ad
mitted. The citizens remembered what they had suffered,
and refused him an entrance, because " he was a persecutor
of those who believed on God " ; but so soon as Botskay's
troops appeared, the gates were immediately thrown open.*
After Barhiano's flight, Basta could no longer maintain his
position. He had crushed an insurrection under Moses Szek-
ly and Gabriel Bethlen ; but when Botskay's troops joined
the insurgents, they completely routed Basta in an engage
ment at Herrgrund in 1596. After this battle, Barbiano is
reported to have said, that if they had succeeded in their plan
they would have cut off with the sword every grown person
in Hungary and Transylvania who refused to join the Roman
Catholic Church. And if we consider what had already
taken place in Styria and Carinthia, as well as the St. Bar
tholomew's Day in France, this statement, as reported by
Prince Kemeny, does not appear at all improbable. Besides,
what had the brutal Basta not done in his rage ? He had
invariably plundered the princes of the Reformed Church ;
he had burned Protestant clergy on a pile constructed of their
own books ; he had even in the height of his barbarity flayed
some of them alive.t

Cap. 42, p. 255. Istvanfy, Lib. XXXIV. p. 837. Petrus de Reva, in Coron
Hung., Frankfort, Cent. VI. p. 109.
* This account is confirmed by the Jesuit Istvanfy, who adds, that when
Mahomet III. sent Botskay a crown, he handed it to George Sz6cky, re
marking that he could not use it while another duly crowned king of Hun
gary was alive.
t Mica Bury.

136 HISTORY OF THE
The Lutherans and Unitarians escaped for a time, but they
shortly after met the same fate. From Kronstadt he de
manded eighty thousand ducats, and from Klausenburg twen
ty thousand. To please the Jesuits, he hanged some of the
senators, and completely prohibited the exercise of the Prot
estant worship.
As the blind slave of the Jesuits, he carried out all their
plans. But in the year 1601, the states took courage, and
proclaimed Demetrius Napraghi, the Bishop of Gyula and
head of the Jesuits, a traitor to his country, took away the
bishopric, and banished him ; so that, till 1716, or for a pe
riod of above a hundred years, no Roman Catholic bishop
dared reside in the land.*
In consequence of this fearful plundering of the land by
Basta, it was very natural that a terrible famine soon fol
lowed. In ten villages there was often scarcely a single
cow to be found. The oxen had disappeared, and the men
themselves drew the loaded wagons, as in the days of
Ladislaus ; while a kubel of wheat rose to twenty-five ducats.
Near Enyed, a Wallachian killed a woman, boiled and
devoured the flesh, and a Wallachian mother killed her six
children in succession. It is true that both were executed
yet so terrible was the famine, that even human corpses were
not safe before the gnawing hunger. "To such a pitch had ?
cruel general and a fanatical priesthood brought Transylva
nia. Rudolph might consider this land as lost ; shortly after
he lost also Hungary, with the exception of a few towns in
the borders, among which was (Edenberg. Hither came
Botskay, and setting fire to the suburbs, the inhabitants fled
into the body of the town to protect themselves in the for^
tress. The crowd in the town, however, was now so great,
that the commander, Colonel Trantmansdorf, threatened to
throw the children into the Foss, if the women and children
did not immediately leave the fortress.
* Hist. Diplom. in Append., p. 13, Act XI.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 137
This terrible condition of the citizens of CEdenberg was
relieved sooner than had been expected.
The cry of the mothers and their children came before
God, and a short truce was agreed on between the leaders.
The bishop and deputy-governor, Pete, took advantage of the
truce, and gathering the treasures of the church, he carried
them away and fled. The whole body of the clergy of
CEdenberg followed his example. The burgomaster had
warned the bishop in vain of his danger, but in a short time
he was plundered by the Turks at Steinanger, and with great
difficulty saved his life by flight.
Besides CEdenberg, some other towns of Upper Hungary,
as Eperjes, Leutshaw, Zeben, and Bartfeld,* remained faith
ful to Rudolph. But the insurgents were not much restrained
in their excesses by their weak fortresses.
When, therefore, through the union of the insurgents with
Mahomet, the danger became even greater, the Government
at Prague began to listen to more reasonable counsel. The
mediator of peace was the evangelical Count Stephen lllyes-
hazy, who had been deprived of his property and banished to
Holland. He used his influence with the Archduke Mat
thew, the representative of the emperor, and also with the rep
resentative of Botskay, with such good effect, that the Peace
of Vienna was concluded on the 23d of June, 1606, approved
by the emperor on the 6th of August, and with all due solem
nity published on the 26th of September.
* See Mem. Aug. Conf. of Ribinyi, Part I., p. 332.

12*

138 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XX.

The Peace of Austria. — Botskay's Objection to the Terms. — Peace rati
fied. — Botskay dies of Poison. — Conditions of the Peace violated. — Mat
thew summons a Diet. — Matthew becomes King of Hungary.

The Peace of Vienna was of great importance to the Prot
estants of Hungary, for it declared the 22d article of 1604 to
have been illegally introduced ; it set aside all decrees which
had been enacted against the Protestants ; it declared that
every Hungarian, as well as those who resided in the military
boundary, should have complete liberty of conscience, and
that his Majesty would never in any way disturb or limit his
subjects in the exercise of this privilege. A clause was
added, explaining that this should not be interpreted- as in
any way detrimental to the Roman Catholic religion ; the
churches, the clergy, and the rights of the Roman Catholics,
should be respected ; but such churches as had during the
late commotions been taken possession of by either party
should be mutually restored.
It was further decreed, that peace should be made with the
Turks ; that a palatine should be elected ; and that, instead
of Rudolph, Matthew should govern Hungary, under the
advice of the palatine, and an imperial parliament. The
prelates Synkai and Mikatzi, who had been so inimical to the
Protestants, should not return to the country till such time
as the charges brought against them should have been legally
settled. The abuses of the ecclesiastical courts, and espe
cially with reference to tithes, should be settled at the Diet.
The Jesuits should never be allowed to possess immovable
property, the king reserving, however, his right to make

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 139
them presents. The public, civil, and military offices should
be open to all, without distinction on account of relio-ion.
Botskay obtained Transylvania as his hereditary right, and
Hungary as far as the Theiss. Should he, however, die with
out male issue, all devolves to the crown.
For a long time Botskay refused to accept some of the
expressions in the treaty, and especially the clause, " without
detriment to the Roman Catholic religion." As, however, the
instrument was already signed by Rudolph, and the Archduke
Matthew gave an explanation, to the effect that the approach
ing Diet would settle the difficulty, that the whole agreement
was made in good faith, that the objectionable passage was
not intended as a threat, but simply and solely that each con
fession should be entirely free from all injury, detriment, or
limit, on the part of the other, — Prince Botskay was satis
fied, and the contract was signed by the most distinginshed
Hungarian magnates. It was, besides, guaranteed by the
states of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia.*
The hero of this great achievement for the Protestant
Church was destined to see little of the fruits. It was but a
few months till the prince, in the full vigor of manhood, sunk
into his grave. He died of poison, at Kashaw, on the 7th of
January, 1607. His friends said that the poison was admin
istered by the chancellor, Michael Kathay, who had been
brirjed for the purpose. Kathay was thrown into prison, and
the Haiduken, or Botskay's bodyguards, shorly after drag- .
ged him out, and hewed him in pieces in the public streets.
The loss of this generous and noble prince was very severely
felt by the Protestants.f
With the death of Botskay the Roman party acquired new
courage. As the Pope had already done at Munster on the
* Hist. Diplom., p. 21.
t He had made a present of 30,000 Hungarian florins to the church of
Tyrnau, which, it is true, was lost when the church and schools were seized
by the Papists.

140

HISTORY OF THE

part of Germany, so he now also protested against the peace
in Hungary. A body of prelates and bishops met together,
arid soon found ways and means of removing the advantages
of the contract of Vienna.
Once more began the oppressions, — once more was it for
bidden to the Protestants to bring their accusations and com
plaints before the Diet, — once more was the attempt made,
and not without success, to take away the churches, — and
the Protestants, driven to rebellion, placed the Roman Cath
olics sometimes in danger. The Emperor Rudolph gave
posts of honor to those who had advised him against ratify
ing the Peace of Vienna ; he appointed the much hated prel
ate Synkai, Archbishop of Kalotsha, and Francis Forgacs,
Archbishop of Gran.
It was in Transylvania where the Jesuits, in consequence
of Stephen Bathorly's letter, remained quiet, that the condi
tions of the peace were observed. Not only the Protestants,
but also the Archduke Matthew, was placed in a very critical
position by this conduct. Accordingly, when the discontent
was rapidly increasing, and the nobility found the Diet of
1607, which Rudolph had summoned to Presburg, always
postponed, and not likely to be opened, Matthew availed him
self of the opportunity which the circumstances gave for
gratifying his ambition, and summoned the advisers of the
Hungarian crown to Vienna, to consult about the welfare of
the state. It would appear that at this meeting the resolution
was first adopted that Matthew should take Rudolph's place
in the government of Hungary, and by the assistance of
Prince Esterhazy the plan ripened towards execution. It
was not strange that Esterhazy and the other princes of Hun
gary had little love to Rudolph, for they saw their land di
vided between him and the Turks, and the former doing very
little to its advantage ; and it was equally natural that, where
hearty and devoted love to the sovereign did not exist, noth
ing else could supply the place, so soon as the crown began

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 141
to tremble on the ruler's head. The Hungarians knew right
well how little Rudolph cared for them ; and when Matthew
summoned a Diet in Presburg, on the 23d of January, 1608,
they not only gladly appeared, but also, when Rudolph, under
date of 29th of January, dissolved the Diet, they continued
still to sit and deliberate.
When the first article of the Peace of Vienna, in which
religious liberty was guaranteed to the Protestants in the
entire kingdom, was laid before the Diet, the Bishop of Ves-
prim, Demetrius Napraghi, in the name of the whole Popish
energy, protested against it. The higher morality of the lay
nobility, however, and the firmness of Matthew, succeeded in
carrying the point, so that this article, with a single dissentient
voice, was made law. When, however, on the 23d of Feb
ruary, Rudolph declared all the decisions of the Diet null and
void, Matthew immediately, with an army of 20,000, broke
into Bohemia, and the suspicious, silly Rudolph submitted to
have the whole affair between himself and his brother left to
arbitration. The end of the matter was, that Hungary and
Austria were given to Matthew as an independent, kingdom.
On the 22d of October, 1608, Matthew appeared at the Diet
of Presburg. He readily complied with the wishes of the
Diet ; but the nobility, having learned to distrust kings, re
fused to crown him till he had signed certain articles which
were laid before him. Matthew had, in the mean time, dis
covered that his imperial brother was trying to stir the nation
up against him by making secret promises to them, and there
fore readily signed the article.
Thus was the Jesuitical clause of the Peace of Vienna,
against which Botskay had protested, removed, and in clear
and plain language was it permitted to the Protestants to have
-their own superintendents, while full and complete liberty of
conscienee, and of public worship, was guaranteed.
The attempts of the Jesuits, under Cardinal Forgacs, to
overturn this arrangement, were unsuccessful. The archduke

142 HISTORY OF THE
remained faithful to his promise, carrying out the resolutions
of the Diet, and was crowned with great splendor on the 19th
of November. Esterhazy had, by a great majority, two
years before, been elected palatine. The Popish nobility
handed in a protest against the coronation, signed by them
all, at the bidding of the Roman legate, with the one noble
exception of Valentine Lepes ; but it was for the present dis
regarded. As the seaman feels on entering the quiet harbor after
escaping all the perils of the stormy sea, just such was the
feeling of the Hungarian Protestants as they found that their
lawfully crowned king had, in a legal way, by means of the
assembled states, set them completely free from the intrigues
of a persecuting Roman hierarchy. It was not the Protes
tants alone who separated from Rudolph without a tear, but
all the Hungarians ; for during twenty-three years they had
not seen his face, and had been at all times delivered over by
him to the most unlimited oppression. During twenty-four
years the Hungarians had paid from" thirty-five wasted and
impoverished gespanschaften (counties) the sum of 1,067,124
ducats to a foreign king, and in return had received nothing
but the bitter necessity of constantly contending with more
or less severity to maintain their civil independence from
Austria, and their religious liberty.
The angel of mercy turns away with a tear from such
monarchs, who call themselves princes " by the grace of God,"
but who can neither understand nor fulfil the duties which
such a title demands of them ; and poor humanity, trodden
in the dust, looks up in tears after the retiring angel, who, as
he flees away, turns one look more back on the oppressed,
and, raising his arm to Heaven, comforts them by pointing tcS"
Him who sits as King of kings and Lord of lords, ruling
the earth in righteousness, at whose command the kingdoms
fall and the fruitful palaces become a desert ; who sits upon
the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 143
grasshoppers ; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain,
and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in ; that bringeth
the princes to nothing ; he maketh the judges of the earth as
vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted ; yea, they shall not
be sown ; yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth ;
and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and
the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

SECOND PERIOD.
FROM THE PEACE OF VIENNA TILL THE CONVEN
TION OE SZiTHMAE, 1608-1711.

CHAPTER I.

Presburg Church. — Stephen Esterhazy. — His Death. — The Jesuits. —
George Thurzo, Palatine. — Synod of Sillein.
We now see the Evangelical Church of Presburg as a
gradually ripening fruit of the Peace of Vienna. Although
many had long resided here who were favorably disposed to
the Gospel, yet till now they had not taken courage to break
loose from the fetters of Rome. They applied to the town-
councillor, Siegfried Kolonitsh, to obtain for them the
Protestant pastor of the village Ratshdorf, which is now a
filial church of Presburg ; and, as there was no church, he
opened his services in a private house. They chose Master
David Kilgar as rector of their school, and Master Adam
Tattelbach as deacon, and these men were introduced to
their new office by the town-councillors.
The Protestants seemed now able to look into the future
without concern. King Matthew had sworn to protect their
rights ; the States had entered the decrees among the laws'
of the land ; Moravia, Bohemia, and Silesia had guaranteed
their execution ; and Stephen Esterhazy, as elected palatine,
stood like a protecting angel firm at his post. He had now
once more been put in possession of his property, and was
become the object of veneration. on the part of all true Hun-

HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 145
garians, especially, however, of the Protestants. Far re
moved from bigotry, he had advanced the cause of Protes
tantism by liberally supporting the schools. He called Jere
miah Sutorius, who had studied at Wittenberg, to be rector
of the school at Trentshin, and a Meissner professor, Elijah
Wisinus, to the gymnasium of Banowitz. The latter was
supported at the expense of the palatine.* Esterhazy
founded a bursary for the poor students, which was increased
by his widow in 1609. Yet, not only for his own Hungarian
countrymen, but also for the oppressed Protestants in Austria,
do we find him carefully making provision, by interceding
with the Elector of Saxony and other princes. His labors
of love were very much hampered by the Jesuits, and his
time of working was not long ; for on the 6th of May,
1609, he died at Vienna, of cramp in the stomach.t No
heavier loss could have befallen the country and the Church.
Hungary's political and ecclesiastical state was very unsatis
factory. The land was still bleeding from the wounds inflicted un
der Botskay's war, and the Peace of Vienna gave occasion
to all manner of dispute. The Jesuits, whose head-quarters
were at Gratz, represented this peace as being simply the
Presburg conspiracy, and provided favors and honors for
those who labor most diligently to oppose its operations.
Under such circumstances, then, much depended on the
choice of a proper person to become palatine. The king,
being a Roman Catholic, would have inclined towards
appointing a member of his own Church ; and the Jesu
its, ever fertile in inventions, proposed that the mode of
election should be changed. These men proposed that the
states should merely nominate a certain number of candi-
* Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., Tom. I., p. 427.
t He was buried in the church at Dosing, in Hungary; and his white
marble monument was, two hundred years later; removed by a zealous
Popish priest. 13

146 • HISTORY OF THE
dates, out of which the king should himself select. This
plan was, however, too transparent to permit the nobles of
Hungary to mistake its design, and they abode determinedly
by their former custom. When the king, then, on the 7th of
December, 1609, proposed two Roman Catholic and two
Protestant candidates, one of the latter, George Thurzo, was
elected, by one hundred and fifty votes against fifty-three,
to fill the post.
George Thurzo, now in the forty-second year of his age,
a man of learning, activity, and political talent, distinguished
as a diplomatist in the peace with Botskay, and raised to fill
several important offices under Rudolph and Matthew, is
made palatine. While distinguished by moderation towards
the Roman Catholies, as he had shown himself on the recall
of Michael Mikatzi, the Bishop of Wardein, from exile, still
the prosperity of the Protestant Church lay near his heart,
and he strove to advance its interests in a natural and reason
able way, by summoning a general synod.
As yet, the Protestants were not quite freed from the juris
diction of the Roman Catholic Church.
They were still obliged to pay the " priests' dues," and
were not safe from the interference of Popish visitations, on
which occasions the doctrines and the ordination of their
own clergy were attacked in an abusive manner ; the mar
riage of the clergy was declared illegal, and their children
illegitimate ; demands were made, not only contrary to con
science, but also contrary to all justice ; and it was often
only with golden or silver tears that the zeal, of the visitors
could be quieted.*
By means of a general synod, held in the village Sillein,
in Trentshin county, George Thurzo resolved to bring these
abuses to a close. In conjunction with several nobles and
princes, and in accordance with the letter and spirit of the
Peace of Vienna, which secured to the elders, ministers, and
* Petsekius in Mall. Penicul. Ja. Ap., C. V. p. 96.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 147
superintendents of each confession the full authority over
the members of their own church, he summoned this synod,
and opened it in person on the 28th of March, 1610.
It is true that, owing to the quarrels between the sister
churches, and owing to the political state of the country, he
was not able to include the whole land, and he therefore sum
moned only ten counties, indulging' the hope that he would
thus bring the discussion sooner to a satisfactory conclusion.
The palatine sent a special invitation to each county, to the
most distinguished landed proprietors, and to the royal free
cities, to elect representatives, who were men of peace, and
clothed with power, not only to deliberate, but also to decide
on ecclesiastical matters.* The summons was gladly at
tended to ; t and in three days had the Synod of Sillein de
creed the following weighty matters : —
The ten counties were divided into three circles, and a
superintendent was elected for each. For Liptau, Arva, and
Trentshin, Elijah Lanyi, pastor of Thurotz ; for Thurotz,
Neograd, Sol, and Honther, Samuel Melick ; for Barsha,
Neutran, and Presburg, Isaac Abrahamides of Baimotz. The
superintendents had each two inspectors under them, the one
for German, the' other for the Hungarian churches. There
were, besides, seniors and deacons elected, who were men
of sound faith, and whose place should be supplied by elec
tion, on their resignation or death. On the decease of a
superintendent, two of the neighboring superintendents had
a right to collect the votes and preside at the election of one
to supply his place.f
* Ribinyi, Mem., Tom. I., p. 372.
t The most distinguished lay members of this synod were Count George
Thurzo, the imperial palatine; Peter Revay, Count of Thurocy; Moses
Szunyogh, of Jessenitz ; Andrew Jakuhith; Benedict Pogranyi ; Martin
Benitsky ; Theodosius Shirmiensy ; Jeroslav Ymeskal ; Otskay; Majthenji;
Gymgy, and others. See the " Acts and Decrees of the Synod of Sillein,
1708. William Kander." 4to (in possession of the family of Tihiny).
X Here the great principle of the Protestant Church in her independence
and self-government is kept prominently forward.

148 HISTORY OF THE
For the support of the superintendents was reckoned the
'usual annual allowance from the inferior clergy as in Popish
times, the registry fees, and a voluntary contribution from
the churches.
Respecting duties and labors was decreed : —
That the inspectors, seniors, and superintendents, should
lead an upright, unblamable life, that the enemy might find
no occasion to speak evil of them.
That the superintendents should, either in person or by the
senior, visit the churches once a year ; that they should al
ways attend the synods to be held in January or February,
and take special notice of the business of the churches under
their care ; should decide on the questions brought before
them at these meetings, should preserve strict church disci
pline, and collect their fees.
They should inquire into the matter and manner of the
preaching, whether the people are encouraged to prayer, —
whether the ordinances of religion generally are attended to
by the people, — whether the clergy lead a pious, sober, and
chaste life, — whether the people are grateful and submis
sive to authority, — whether the dues are properly paid, —
whether the buildings are in a good state, — and whether the
schoolmasters discharge their duty properly, and lead a proper
life. In all these matters the senior should assist.
The superintendent should have a correct list of all ec
clesiastical properties and revenues, and be in a state to
apply to the civil authorities for protection in case of injury.
He should protect the minister and schoolmaster from all
injustice ; and the civil power is bound to assist, after having
first made strict inquiry into all the circumstances of each
case. In the German churches there should be a pulpit gown and
a form of prayer introduced.
The superintendent should, with the assistance of the in
spector, the senior, and some of the neighboring clergy,

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 149
examine candidates for the ministiy, require from them the
subscription of the Formula Concordia:, and ordain after the
plan usually adopted at Wittenberg. The names should be
entered in a registry, and a certificate of ordination be given. ¦
The students had permission to visit foreign universities,
and also to be ordained abroad, only this dared not take place
as a mark of disrespect to the home universities, and to the
regularly constituted superintendents.
In case of need, the superintendent might ask legal advice
from such lawyers as are not related by ties of blood or friend
ship with either of the contending parties.
Every minister, on receiving a call to a congregation, must
appear before the senior or inspector, and bring evidence of
his having regularly received the call, and also that his life
and doctrines are consistent with the office which he seeks.
Weightier matters respecting heresy, uncleanness, or other
grave charges against clergy or deacons, were to be laid be
fore the superintendent. Where the charge was fully proved,
the guilty party might be degraded from his office, declared
unfit ever again to hold office, and, in case of need, might
be handed over to the civil authorities to be further dealt
with. Less important matters might be given to the inspec
tors and seniors, and be settled at the annual meetings.
From "the senior there was always an appeal to the super
intendent, who either confirmed the sentence or sent it back
to be again considered, and, in peculiar cases, brought ex
perienced men to assist with their counsel. No further ap
peal was admitted, and the guilty party paid all costs.
The superintendent should not judge according to his own
opinion, but according to the law. Those who refused to sub
mit after a second warning might be deposed and excommu
nicated, notice of the same having previously been given to
the civil authorities.
The clergy who were accused of any crime, must be sum
moned by the superintendent, after a formula in which the
13*

150

HISTORY OF THE

charge was duly entered ; and the summons was forwarded,
not direct, but through the inspector or senior.
The office-bearers of the Church, when hindered in the
discharge of their duty, might appeal to the civil power, who
dared not refuse to support them.
The superintendents were bound at all times, on entering
on their office, to take the following
OATH.
" I, A. B., the superintendent in county  , swear
before the living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and
promise, during my life, neither publicly nor privately to
teach or advance any other doctrines besides such as are
contained in the writings of the Prophets and Apostles, as
explained in the Augsburg TUonfession, as presented to the
Emperor Charles in the year 1530, and also in the Formula
Concordia. I promise to watch over the seniors and clergy of
the church under my care with diligence and earnestness, that
they shall also teach and hold no other doctrines. Through
the grace of the Holy Spirit will I endeavor to lead such a
life, and set such an example, as is worthy of my profession.
I will myself respect the laws of the land, as well as take
care that those under my charge do the same. That I ear
nestly seek to fulfil all these duties, so help' me God the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen." -

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 151

CHAPTER II.

The Archbishops protest against the Synod of Sillein. — Answer. — Peter
Pazmany. — Protestant Princes turn to Popery. — Synod of Tyrnau. —
John Moschovinus. — The Women of Hricsow. — King Matthew gives an
unfavorable Decision respecting the Peace of Vienna.

The palatine, George Thurzo, had the decisions of this
synod printed and distributed, that others might to some
extent be guided by them. Among others, the churches of
the mining towns of Eperjes, of Leutshaw, Kashaw, and
Bartfeld, received copies, but they were so deeply involved
in controversy respecting the Formula Concordia?, that little
united action could be expected.
It was, however, not to be thought that the Popish clergy
would look so lightly on the decrees of the Synod of Sillein.
Within eighteen days the Cardinal and Archbishop Forgacs
protested against the decrees with a bitterness very unbecom
ing in him who had crowned as King of Hungary the man
who had signed the Peace of Vienna.
Under the threat of excommunication he demanded the re
peal of these resolutions, he called the persons who had there
assembled wolves who had broken into the. fold of Christ,
declared the election of superintendents and their ordination
of clergy an unheard-of audacity, contrary to the laws of the
land (sic), and contrary to religious liberty! He charged
them with perjury in reference to the 24th article of the
Augsburg Confession, and in genuine! Popish style pro
nounced his curse against the decrees, and against those who
should observe them. This precious document, is dated at
" Our Archiepiscopal Court in Presburg, 17th of April, 1610,"

152 HISTORY OF THE
and was published first by means of a nail on the church
door of St. Martin's.*
The Protestants did not long remain silent. The palatine
was at that time from home. He soon heard, however, of
the doings through Elijah Lanyi, and on the 25th of May he
wrote a reply from Szathmar, calling the documents a shabby
invention, filled with all manner of paltry ribaldry. He
begged the Protestants immediately to reply.
In a paper which appeared in Kashaw, printed by John
Fisher, with the motto, " Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage" (Gal. v. 1), the princes
and nobles who had met at Sillein, published through Elijah
Lanyi an apology, in which they opposed the assumption of
the archbishop by arguments drawn from the laws of the
land, from history, and from the Holy Scriptures. Placing
their trust in God, adducing the 110th Psalm, 46th chapter of
Isaiah, 5th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and other
Scripture passages, they appealed to his Majesty and to the
States for protection against the audacity of the archbishop.
This apology was answered by a man who at this time be
came more than any other the object of the love and hatred
of friends and enemies, Cardinal Peter Pazmany.t
The style of his reply was of the lowest kind, and it made
its appearance under the title Peniculus Papporum, bearing
the name of John Jenitzy. The superintendent published a
* Hist. Diplom., pp. 27-29. 7 3 35 3 6 3
t He was born at Gt. Wardein, in 1570, of a reduced noble family of the
Reformed Church, and in his thirteenth year became Roman Catholic. In
his seventeenth year he joined the Jesuits. His noviciate was completed
at Cracow; his philosophical studies at Vienna, and theological, at Rome.
He became professor of theology at Gratz, aud gladly accepted the post of
missionary to Hungary. In 1608 he was the representative of the Jesuits
at the Diet of Presburg. When turned out of the Diet he asserted his^right
to sit, and with much power contested the points of the Jesuits. He pub
lished a powerful pamphlet in their favor. See " Majlath, History of the
Magyars," Vol. IV., p. 249.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 153
rejoinder under the title Malleus Penniculi Papistici, printed
in 1612, and left no part of his adversaiy's argument
untouched.* The controversy was continued with bitterness by Peter
Pazmany ; and as the palatine was too lenient towards these
violent attacks on the fundamental principles of civil and
religious liberty, as guaranteed by the constitution of the
country, the Evangelical Church rather suffered by the quarrel.
Men of considerable importance and wealth, such as Fran
cis and Nicolas Esterhazy, Melchior Allaghy, and George
Daugesh of Hommona, fell off from the Protestant ranks.
Forgacs had protested against the resolutions of the Synod
of Sillein, but finding it necessary to take other steps, he sum
moned a provincial synod at Tyrnau, in 1611, which was
attended by Placidus Maria, the Papal nuncio, eight bishops,
six abbots, and twenty prebends, archdeacons, and canons,
as well as also Peter Pazmany. The resolutions of this synod
were known only to the initiated ; the consequences, how
ever, were soon felt in the renewed persecutions of the Prot
estant Church.
It is of historical importance to note, that, from what is
known of the proceedings of this synod, it is evident that
at this time there were in the midst of the Roman Cath
olic Church priests who were regularly married, and who
lived openly with wife and children. The communion was
also by some administered in both kinds. The facts are
proved by the resolution of this Roman Catholic synod, in
direct opposition to the Word of God, forbidding absolutely
that either of these practices should be tolerated in time to
come. That they might not, through the intrigues of the Papists,
lose the advantages already secured to them, the three super-

* This paper was also ascribed, but without proper reason, to Peter
Petshius.

154

HISTORY OF THE

intendents met, iii 1612, to consult respecting the general
affairs of the Protestant Church. Hitherto there had been a
striking dissimilarity in the outward customs, in the forms of
public worship, and also in the doctrines taught among the
Protestants. It was therefore resolve'd that the Wittenberg
ceremonial should be introduced, and that Luther's Shorter
Catechism should be translated, and used in instructing the
children. When the Catechism appeared, it was dedicated
to Elizabeth Zober, the spouse of the palatine.
An example of the zeal of the* superintendents in preserv
ing purity of doctrine, may be seen in the case of John Mos-
chovinus, who is also sometimes called Poloni. He was
accused of reviving the heresy of Photinus, a heretic of the
fourth century, and having been cast into prison by the pala
tine, his case was thoroughly considered by the superinten
dents. His heresy having been proved, he was handed over
to the palatine, who banished him from the country.
The Protestants of this period, much distinguished by
purity of life, laid especial stress on the influence of prayer ;
and with good reason, for the Lord had set the example, and
had given the command, and the Apostles and early Chris
tians had been very diligent in waiting on the means of
grace. Who does not know how zealous the Reformers
were in the discharge of this duty ? How wondrous was
the power which Luther and Zwingle obtained from heaven by
means of prayer ! And what an astonishing moral strength
was that which Knox obtained by wrestling with God, so
that he stood unflinching in the face of Mary with all her in
fluence, and having learned to tremble before God in the
closet, he, at the same time, obtained power to tremble no
where else. " I am more afraid of his prayers," Mary used
to say, " than of an army of ten thousand men."
In this light we must view those clergy who, on the 19th of
August, 1614, in Hricsow, in the Trentshin county visited a
woman who was said to be possessed of a devil, on purpose

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 155
to heal her by the influence of united prayer.* At the invi
tation of the aged Stephen Krusspier, five other ministers of
the Gospel united with him to try and help this woman.
When' their efforts remained fruitless, they applied to the
superintendent, Elijah Lanyi, who advised the entire senioral
division of clergy to meet together for prayer. This was
done, and on the 12th of September they came together, to
the number of eighteen, at their own expense, and continued
three days in prayer. They had the satisfaction of seeing,
at the end of this time, that their prayer was heard, and
she who had been pronounced incurable was again fully re- ¦
stored.t Such experience is made by mortals in a ^time of need.
Outward trials drive to Him who has the fulness of life and
comfort, and they experience what to others is unintelligible
and incredible. Only he who knows by experience the
power of prayer will be able to comprehend and properly
estimate the above-mentioned fact. Times of trial gave
David those glorious Psalms which had been the comfort of
the Church in every age ; and the sweet songs of the mar
tyrs, which were wrung from them in hours of darkness and
trial, have still a power and sweetness for the weary soul.
For the Church in Hungary days were fast approaching in
which they should learn, under heavy trials, the meaning of
this filial duty, or rather, childlike privilege. A commence
ment was already made openly to break the conditions of the
Peace of Vienna.
In Raab and Skalitz the* Roman Catholics refused to admit
Protestant clergy, and the king gave the decision that the
Roman Catholics could not be compelled to admit clergy of
other confessions within their walls ; for, while it had been
only stipulated , that every church should have its own supe-
* Mica Bury.
t Mark xi. 24; John xvi. 23, 24; Jame3 i. 6,7; v. 16; 1 Timothy ii.
1-4.

156 HISTORY OF THE
riors or superintendents, but nothing was added respecting a
new ecclesiastical jurisdiction, he could not at all permit a
new jurisdiction to the prejudice of the Roman Catholics,
and would not allow in future that the money which had for
merly been paid to the Roman Catholic archdeacons should
be given to the Protestant superintendents.* This declara
tion of the king, and the royal letter requiring the officials in
each county to take part in the visitation of the Protestant
churches, gave a clear insight into the king's views respect
ing the peace, and also respecting the Sillein Synod.
* Fessler, 1. c. Vol. VH, p. 729.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 157

CHAPTER III.

Peter Pazmany's Work. — Christopher Thurzo returns to the Protestants. —
Oppression. — Gabriel Bathyini and the Treaty of Tyrnau. — Writings of
the Protestants. — Quarrels of the Reformed and Lutheran Clergy. — Ju
bilee of the Reformation. — Ferdinand made King. — Siegmund Forgacs. —
Death of Matthew.

No attack made on the Protestants did them so much
harm as Pazmany's1 work, entitled The Guide to Truth,*
which was published at Presburg, in folio, in 1613. In a
popular style, filled with sophisms^ he defended the doctrines
of Rome, and represented Luther and Calvin as servants of
Antichrist ; while he sought to free his Church from the
charge that she teaches one should keep no faith with here
tics, and turned attention specially to the advantages of celi-
bac3r. This work soon appeared in the third edition, the first hav
ing been printed in 1613, the second in 1623, and the third
in 1637, and was read with great avidity. Many who did
not stand fast in the faith were, by this book, drawn back
into the Roman Catholic Church. Some, it is true, soon re
pented of what they had done, and turning back again to
the Evangelical Church, remained there steadily till death.
Among these we may mention George Christopher Thurzo,
who, nine years before, had, through the influence of Paz
many, joined the Papists, and had begun to persecute the
Protestants. This distinguished relative • of the palatine
turned, on the 20th of February, 1613, once more back to

* Hodegus igussagra vezerlo Kalany.
14

158 HISTORY OF THE
the Protestant Church, and, after publicly confessing his
sin, received the Lord's Supper in the Protestant Church
at Kirchdorf, from the pastor and senior, Xylander.
The return of the count soon showed itself to be no in
considerable gain to the Protestant cause. On the advice
and after the example of his relative, the palatine, he sum
moned a synod on the 22d of January, 1614, in Kirchdorf,
at which the pastors of Zips and Saras, the five towns Ka
shaw, Leutshaw, Eperjes, Bartfeld, and Szeben, assembled.
Here were chosen two superintendents. The decrees of the
synod were recognized by the palatine, in virtue of his office,
and are known under the title, " Diploma minus Thurzoia-
nus." Scarcely was this ended when Christopher Thurzo
died, and on the 26th of May was laid in the grave of his
fathers. By means of this synod, the chains which bound the Prot
estants under the influence of the higher clergy were broken,
and no means were left untried to rivet them again. Some,
among whom was the probst of Zips, tried in a friendly
manner ; and others, depending on their power and influ
ence, assumed a very different tone. Many, without troub
ling themselves about the Peace of Vienna, made direct
attacks on the Protestants. In Vaswar, Shutz, Fakno, and
Eisenstadt, the churches were taken away.* The appeals
of the Protestants received little^ Attention from Matthew;
for, though he had sworn to protect their Church in Hun
gary, yet in Austria he directly prohibited the Protestants
from the exercise of public worship.t
In addition to the spiritual trials, there was now added
material and social oppression, and the land was made to
bleed at every pore. In 1616, the representatives of the
Presburg Diet, consisting, among others, of one archbishop,

* Hodegus igussagra veze'rlo Kalany.
t Tamauf. -Gottlieb. MS.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 159
two bishops, and six princes, complained to Matthew that the
bitterest foe could not crush the land worse than at that mo
ment the king's own army did ; all the higher offices and
fortresses were, intrusted to strangers, and the hireling for
eigners were only wasting and plundering, but not protecting
the land.*
When there appeared no hope that a legitimate deliver
ance from their oppression was likely soon to appear, the
Hungarians took once more to arms, declaring, however,
first, through ambassadors, that they were not proclaiming
war against the king, but only against those who were de
priving them of their civil and religious liberty.
As, however, the Elector of Saxony and Prince Gabriel
Bathyani undertook to mediate, the outbreak was prevented
by the so-called " Transactio Tyrnaviensis," or Contract of
Tyrnau. The Prince of Transylvania, Gabriel Bethlen, who was
just returned from exile, pressed especially that the Peace of
Vienna, which secured the Protestants their full rights,
should be once more renewed. This was granted ; and the
contract was signed on the part of the king by Peter Paz
many, Count Aponyi, and Molard ; on the part of Hungary,
by Senior Pecsi and Stephen Frater de Belmezo, in 1617.t
In the following Diet the agreement was approved.
This must have been so much more desirable to the Prot
estants, as their friend and patron, George Thurzo, the pal
atine, was already dead, f and there were no prospects of
another to fill his place. Doubly watchful, however, must
they now be to avoid being overmatched by their diligent
adversaries. Many single individuals distinguished them
selves considerably on the field of controversy. Pastor Al
bert Molnar published a new edition of the Bible at the ex-
* Coroli Memorab. Vol. I., p. 368. Katoni, Tom. XXIX., p. 572.
t Kazy Reb. Hung. B. I., p. 229.
t Died in 1616, shortly after Cardinal Forgacs.

160 HISTORY OF THE
pense of the Langrave of Hesse, the edition of Caspar Ka
ralyi having been all used, and it was not long till a third
edition was published at Oppenheim.* Count Thomas Es
terhazy wrote a dialogue, exposing the errors of the Roman
Church, and showing their remedy. The superintendent,
Nicolas Gratz, wrote a treatise on the Lord's Supper, and a
directory for public worship ; and the pastor of Kashaw,
Peter Alvinzi, wrote a description of a journey, showing how
the errors of the Roman Church had gradually crept in dur
ing a period of fifteen hundred years. Emeric Zwonarics,
pastor of Csepregh, translated the book of a Tubingen pro
fessor into Bohemian, and afterwards protected it against the
attacks of Pazmany. But it was strange that no reply had
yet been given to Pazmany's great work, TJie Guide to
Truth, and it was thirteen years later that Baldwin of Wit
tenberg wrote a reply in Latin, which, partly from the lan
guage, partly from the time of its appearance, produced little
effect.t There was no want of men capable of answering this
work in the Hungarian language ; but while the enemy was
attacking them on all sides, the representatives of the two
sister churches were wasting their time in unseemly quarrels
with each other.
The letters of the superintendents of the two churches,
the Reformed and Lutheran, give us a sad picture of bitter
ness in the minds of men who should have acted as shep
herds to the fold of Christ. It is not possible here to repeat
the titles which they gave each other ; but we find the Lu
theran superintendent referring to a member of the Reformed
Church who had translated a play into the Hungarian lan
guage, for the sake of turning the Lutheran doctrine of the
Lord's Supper into ridicule, and how this man was for the
* Mica Bury.
t Liters ex MS. Bibl. Schochemianac Panaufs's Denkw. CEdenberg MS.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 161
crime condemned to death, though he afterwards obtained a
reprieve.* These quarrels were very acceptable to the Romish cler
gy, and especially to Pazmany, who had been set free from
his vow to the Jesuits, and was become Bishop of Gran.
Many left the Protestants altogether, but the loss was to the
Protestant Church only like the stucco falling from a build
ing, while the structure remained still secure. And there
was no want of enthusiasm when the jubilee of the Refor
mation was to be celebrated.
In Leutshaw the celebration of this festival was conducted
with great pomp. The Protestant Church had been estab
lished here for seventy-three years, and just at this time Pe
ter Zabler was pastor. The sermon was attended on that
day by the whole town council and all the civil officers.
Taking for their pattern the 150th Psalm, and interpreting it
literally, they celebrated the day by festive music in the
church ; and Count Stanislaus Thurzo invited the whole
council to dine at his casrtle. An agreeable fruit of this fes
tival was the resolution to build a new church as a suitable
commemoration. With equal splendor was the festival celebrated in the cas
tle of the Thurzos at Bitshe, where the magnates, Francis,
George, and- Gabriel Perenyi, George and Sigismund Rakot
zy, Nicolas and George^Zwinyi, Paul Nadasdy, Peter Revay,
Caspar Illyesh&zy, Nicolas Botskay, Francis Banfy, and
many others of the nobility were present. The well-known
hospitality of the country gave occasion to the enemies to
charge the Protestants with excess at these banquets, yet it
was chiefly as the envy of the elder son who grieved that
the father had shown so much favor to the younger brother
returned to the father's house. t

* Mica Bury MS.
t Ribinyi, Manor. Tom. I., p. 410.
14*

162 HISTORY OF THE
In the year 1618, the Hungarian crown fell to the Arch
duke Ferdinand of Austria. The Jesuits had persuade'
Matthew, who had no heirs, to transfer the inheritance to him.
In Austria and the dependencies the nomination found no
difficulty. In Bohemia, also, although the religious war was
slumbering under the ashes, and the strong bias of Ferdi
nand in favor of the Roman Catholics was well known, yet,
notwithstanding a few dissentinent voices, even there he was
accepted by the great majority. In Hungary, however, the
work was not so light. The succession was not yet secured
by the states. Jealous of their rights and privileges, the
Hungarians remained, it is true, firm to the princes of the
house of Austria, asserted their right, however, to elect, and
it was only after this had taken place that they proceeded to
crown Ferdinand king.
It was at the Diet of Presburg, summoned for this purpose
by Matthew, that this proceeding took place ; and the presi-
dence at the meeting, as well as the crowning, was commit
ted to the Papal nuncios, Melchior Klesel, John of Molard,
and the vice-chancellor, John Lewis Ulm.
Eight days later, the archduke himself arrived, as repre
sentative of Matthew.
The states wished first to choose a palatine, but afterwards
yielded so far that king and palatine were chosen on the
same day. The struggle reached its greatest height at the
Diet, when a series of articles were read previous to their
being presented to Ferdinand. There were seventeen arti
cles contained in the document, and the 6th should bind him
" to grant a universal, unlimited, and unrestrained liberty of
public worship in every place, and in every way, as had been
guaranteed by the Peace of Vienna, and at the crowning of
Matthew." The Roman Catholics did not refuse this privi
lege ; intimated, however, that the public worship of the
Protestants could be conducted without churches, and would
not bind themselves on their estates to grant ground for build
ing Protestant churches.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 163
This Jesuitical sophistry, supported by Pazmany and Kle-
sel, was adopted, and the expression " una cum templis "
was erased. The Protestants had nothing left but to enter a
legal protest,, which only called forth a counter protest, — did
not, however, take away the evil.
Tired of quarrelling, Ferdinand accepted of the conditions
on the 16th of March, 1618, and among the rest the 6th arti
cle, promising full protection to the Protestant Church, with
the remark, " He would sooner lose his life than break his
word." *
On the 1st of June Ferdinand was crowned, and Sigis
mund Forgacs elected as palatine.t Both elections fur
nished the Protestants with little cause for joy. For, though
Forgacs had been educated at the court of Bathyani, Prince
of Transylvania, and had been such a zealous Protestant that
all his , brother's (the deceased archbishop) attempts to con
vert him were in vain, yet Peter Pazmany was able in three
weeks to gain him over to Rome, and thus secure a mighty
and zealous assistant.
Under the burden of a weakly frame was the childless
Matthew approaching near his end. In Bohemia the fire of
revolution threatened to break -out, and the new prince of
Transylvania, Gabriel Bethlen, prepared himself to take the
part of the malcontents who fled to him from thence ; he
seemed also prepared to defend with the sword the Protestant
cause, which, in his own country, had begun to suffer con
siderable encroachments. On the 23d of May, 1618, the
signal was given for one of the bloodiest and most tedious of
wars. At the royal palace of Prague, where the royal depu
ty-governors, who had torn down many Protestant churches,
were assembled, appeared deputies of the Protestants in

* EngeLVol. IV. p. 392.
t The other Roman Catholic candidate was Thomas EudOdy, imperial
chancellor; the Protestant candidates, Francis Bathyani and Stephen Torok

164 HISTORY OF THE
arms, and cast the detested Martinitz, and Slavata, as also
the secretary Fabricius, eighty feet down into the ditch of the
castle.* This transaction, together with the removal of his
friend Melchior Klesel, Bishop of Vienna, gave Matthew's
health a severe shock. Shortly after followed the death of
his brother Maximilian, and also o£ his dear and tender
spouse Anna, who, in her thirty-third year, died in the royal
castle at Prague, in the year 1618. Dead to the joys of the
world, sorely lowered down by sorrows as well as by gout,
Matthew had a paralytic attack on the 20th of March, 1619,
in the beginning of his sixty-second year. His brain was
found to be one half dried up. As a private person he had
been very amiable, but as king he had not given any reason
to justify him in removing his brother Rudolph from the
throne. In his old age he sorely repented the ills he had
done his brother ; with the same measure he had meted, it
was measured to him again. Sick and childless, he saw the
world's gaze turned on his proud successor, who, impatient
of delay, seized the government before his predecessor was
removed, and hastened to dye his imperial mantle in the
blood of heretics, thinking he did God a service by his fierce
cruelty. * Schiller's " Thirty Years' War."

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 165

CHAPTER IV.

FERDINAND II., FROM 1619 TILL 1637.
Ferdinand's critical Position.— His fanatical Vow. — War with Bethlen 
B&hlen conquers Presburg, and takes the Crown. — Diet at Neusohl.—
Bethlen refuses to accept the Title of King.
On the death of Matthew, matters stood so ill for Ferdi
nand, that the words of Fenelon might have been in his case
very appropriate, " None but a fool desires a crown." All
Europe was in such a state of religious excitement as had
not been the case since the time of Luther ; and this was the
work of the Jesuits and Pope Clement VIII., who had entered
into a contract with the princes and kings of Europe since
the beginning of the century, to annihilate the Protestant
name.* As the storm raises the water, and drives the mud
and scum to the top of the waves, so did they by their im
moral principles goad the nations to madness. They had,
within the memory of that generation, made France a great
churchyard, and in the St. Bartholomew's Day — the height
of their glory — they showed what they could do when aided
by debased women and a fanatical king. By the gunpowder
plot they would have destroyed England's liberty, had not
Providence interfered and prevented. In Carinthia, Styria,
and Austria, they had, in the name of the one true Church,
" out of which is no salvation," practised deeds which cried
to high heaven for a speedy vengeance. In Hungary, Bo-
* Andreas Adver. MS. de Tauta Evang. div Franciscus Brocardus in
Classico Suo, § 2.

166 HISTORY OF THE
hernia, and Transylvania, they deserved the credit of having
done .only all the evil they could. In these lands, where a
recognized constitution existed, and where considerable civil
and political liberty prevailed, their influence was limited,
and the people took to arms rather than bow themselves
under the yoke of tyranny and unjust persecution.
In this state was Bohemia. The Bohemian Count Matthew
Turn had, with his adherents, nearly approached the walls
of Vienna, and had drawn Silesia also with him in the revolt.
Moravia was prepared to follow. In Austria the states re
fused to submit. The Prince of Transylvania, Gabriel Beth
len, threatened to invade Hungary, and the Turk was in
secret making great preparations. Germany was looking
quietly on ; Spain's hirelings were far away, and all that
adhered to Ferdinand trembled for the result. The Bohe
mian cannon were pouring the shot into the royal castle, and
sixteen Austrian barons were standing before Ferdinand to
compel him to make a league with Bohemia. As one of the
deputies, seizing him by the button of his coat, cried, " Fer
dinand, will you sign ? " the faithful councillors advised to
yield, _and the Jesuits thought of better times coming ; but
Ferdinand stood like a rock in the surge.
It was religious fanaticism, the idea that he was called of
God to protect and advance the Church of Rome, that raised
his spirit, so that amidst all the storm he developed a charac
ter which made him subject of the highest admiration on the
.part of the Roman Catholic Church, but in the eyes of Prot
estants, and of all friends of humanity, degraded him to the
lowest pitch of detestation.
Born on the 9th of July, 1578, he came, after the death of
his father, Archduke Charles, the son of Ferdinand I., in the
year 1590, to'Ingolstadt, into the hands of the Jesuits, and
returned to his paternal property in Styria and Carinthia,
with the firm resolution that, whatever it might cost, no here
tics should be tolerated under any condition on his estates.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 167
With cunning had the Jesuits taught him that the prosperity
of Bavaria was owing alone to its connection with the Church
of Rome. He undertook a pilgrimage to Loretto, to the
wondrous and wonder-working image of Mary, to beg the
continued protection of this " queen of heaven." Accompa
nied by the Jesuits, he Visited Rome on the way, to receive
the blessing of the Pope, to strengthen him to keep his horrid
vow, " that he would banish the Protestants out of all his
estates, if it should cost him his life."
On another pilgrimage to a similar image of Mary, which
he undertook in his fortieth year, and as he lay praying be
fore a crucifix in the midst of a violent storm, he conceived
that he heard the voice, " Ferdinand, I will not leave thee."
It mugt have been Mary. From that time forward he was
her devoted servant.
It was on the 29th of March, 1619, that he summoned the
Hungarian Diet for the 26th of May, at Presburg, to sit under
the guidance of the Palatine Forgacs, while he himself has
tened away to Frankfort, to have the imperial crown placed
on his head. At the Diet, the proposal to raise a standing
army for the protection of the king should have been dis
cussed, but ail the meetings were filled up with religious
quarrels. The states complained bitterly of Cardinal Klesel,
of Archbishop Pazmany, and of the Jesuits, who, in conse
quence of their intolerant spirit, had been banished'for ever
from Transylvania by the princes of that land, but who had
once more, under George Hommona, the rival of Bethlen,
clandestinely returned. Bitter words were spoken respect
ing the limitation of evangelical freedom in Presburg, and it
was asserted that a species of Spanish inquisition had been
introduced by the Papists into Tyrnau. All relief for these
and similar complaints was obstinately refused by the Arch
bishop Pazmany and his followers, and the archbishop was
r.ot ashamed to say " he would rather see his villages for-
ken of all their inhabitants and lying waste, than that on

168 HISTORY OF THE
his estates a single church should exist for the benefit of
Protestant subjects.*
These sentiments prevailed very generally among the
Roman Catholic magnates, and we find Count Stephen Pallfy,
protector of Schutt-Somerain, erecting a gallows on which all
the Protestant clergy who were called to churches in Schutt
without his leave should be hanged ! Alas ! on the Protes
tant side, the principles of the Gospel were, under such temp
tations, often forgotten, and Protestant proprietors frequently
retaliated by dispensing to Rome the same treatment which
she gave her antagonists. Th& complaints of both parties
resounded through the whole land.
While, under such circumstances, every peaceful arrange
ment of the difficulties was impossible, the Prince of Tran
sylvania, Gabriel Bethlen, who was very well informed re
specting all their proceedings, was approaching still nearer.
In the beginning of September, he conquered Kashaw, where
the Jesuits Stephen Pougracy and Melchior Grodetzky, as
well as a canon of Gran, Marcus Crisinius, who had not been
able to make their escape, were executed ; the commander
of the fortress, however, Andrew Doczy, as an oppressor of
the Protestants, was bound in chains and handed over to the
victorious troops.
On the 20th of October, Bethlen conquered Presburg with
the castle, took possession of the crown of Hungary with the
state jewels, gained the palatine, Fogacs, over to his side,
and on the same day had divine service conducted in grati
tude for his success.
In many places now the Protestants began to breathe some
what more freely. In Trentshin they held a synod, where,
in the place of the deceased superintendents Lanyi and Me-
lick, were elected respectively John Hodikius and Melchiar
Robacs ; the latter continued in office till 1622, when he was
succeeded by Peter Sextius.
* Engel Geschichte, Vol. IV. p. 398.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 169
Passing on in his victorious career towards the southeast,
Bethlen received the submission of the town and fortress of
CEdenberg, where he left a garrison of fifteen hundred men.
With his general, Paul . Nadasdy, he proceeded to Gratz,
whence he wrote to the superintendent for a chaplain to assist
the court preacher during the approaching holidays.
A truce was shortly after agreed on, and a Diet was to be
summoned by both parties to Neusohl, to meet in 1620. At
this Diet a solemn mutual compact was entered into between
Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania, and the evangelical party
in Bohemia ; and it was resolved that the religious freedom
which had been guaranteed to Hungary should be extended
to Bohemia also, and placed on a sure basis. As the royal
commissioners, however, declared that they could not on any
account take up this matter ; and as the prince refused to
make any treaty from which the Bohemian Protestants were
excluded, the former withdrew on the 17th of August, and
the Hungarians continued their deliberations alone. When
Count Rombald Collato and the other imperial commissioners
had retired, Emerich Thurzo proposed and carried that Beth
len should be proclaimed King of Hungary.
Bethlen obstinately refused to accept the title, and neither
the entreaties of the Diet nor the representations of his chap
lain could induce him to change his resolution. Four days
afterwards he dissolved the assembly, after having confirmed
the fifty-two articles, of which the chief points referring to
*he Church were as follows : — *
" The Presburg articles of the previous year were re
moved, and parties chosen from all three confessions — the
Lutheran, Reformed, and Arian — in the three districts, to
watch over the fulfilment of the contract. Attacks on each
other in writings and sermons were forbidden. The resolu
tions of the Synods of Sillein and Kirchdrauf were con-

* Engel, Vol. IV. pp. 416, 417.
15

170 HISTORY OF THE
firmed ; and it was resolved that the ecclesiastical organisa
tion of other districts should be immediately completed after
this plan. The tithes and church fruits should fall to the
clergy of all confessions alike. Three Roman Catholic bish
ops are sufficient for the country, — namely, in Erlau, for
Upper Hungary ; Neutra, for Hungary on this side ; . and
Raab, for Hungary beyond the Danube ; — and for these a
salary of 2,000 florins, equal to £ 200 per annum, should be
sufficient. The Jesuits were once more banished ; and it
was decreed that the regular clergy, with the exception of
Pazmany and Balassfy, on condition of returning within a
limited time, should have all their property restored. Only
matters relating to marriages belonged to an ecclesiastical
court, and mixed marriages were to be arranged before a
court composed of members of both confessions.
" Such church property as had hitherto tended to encourage
luxury among the clergy, and such as had been abused so as
to cause persecution of members of other confessions, and thus
disturb the peace, should be confiscated to the crown. Arch
bishop Pazmany, and Balassfy, Bishop of Bosnia, were, as
seditious men and foes of the country, to be banished for life.
" These were the principal decrees of the Diet at Neu
sohl, but they shortly after ceased to be in force, and were
erased from the statute-book. It must not be supposed, how
ever, that there were only Protestants at this meeting ; for
some of the most distinguished are Catholics, adhered to Beth
len, and among them were such names as Sigismund For
gacs, Sigismund Erdody, Christopher Erdody, Melchior
Allaghy, and Michael Karalyi."

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 171

CHAPTER V.

Reformed Synod at Hedervan. — Death of Emerich Thurzo the Palatine. —
Bethlen again takes the Sword. — Peace of Nikolsburg. — Synod of Shin-
taw. — Numbers of exiled Protestants. — Margrave George of Branden
burg. — Diet of (Edenberg. — The Legate. — Tumult at the Diet. — Coro
nation of Ferdinand HI.

While the Diet was thus providing for the peace of the
country, and at the same for the benefit oT the Protestant
Church, the brethren of the Reformed Church were holding
a synod at Hedervan, in the neighborhood of Raab. Evil
disposed parties spread reports of such a nature respecting
the resolutions passed at this synod, that the Reformed su
perintendent, Nicholas Griitz, found it necessary to write to
the Lutheran superintendent, Stephen Klassekowitsh, deny
ing that any resolutious inimical to the Lutherans had been
passed.* Such approaches of the two confessions towards each other
were the more necessary, as, by the death of the palatine
Emerich Thurzo, both parties had sustained an equally great
loss. He died suddenly at Nikolsburg, on the 5th of Janu
ary, 1621, and the general impression was, that his death
proceeded from poison rubbed on the inside of his helmet,
which he usually kept very tight on his head while riding, t
But though the foes of the Protestants considered no means
too bad to gain their ends, yet for this time their hopes were
vain ; for, as injustice began again to raise her head, and as
especially in Bohemia many unjust executions of Protestants
* CEdenberg Denkw. MS.
t Mica Bury MS.; Merken. Fall. Belg. Tom. XIV. 1, 47; Ortel. Rediow.
Tom. p. 84.

172 HISTORY OF THE
were reported, Bethlen returned once more, sword in hand,
to take vengeance on the oppressors. A peace was made at
Nikolsburg in 1621, and on that occasion the zealous Popish
convert, Nicolas Esterhazy, received as a reward for his
zeal, the valuable town Eisenstadt and its dependencies. In
Rome's eyes he deserved some mark of distinction, for, in
addition to his other feats for the benefit of Mother Church,
he had compelled his wife, against her wish, to join the Ro
man Catholic communion.* To ratify the peace, a Diet was
summoned at CEdenberg, where Bethlen delivered up the
crown. Ferdinand's spouse was crowned as Queen of Hun
gary, and Stanislaus Thurzo was made palatine. In the St.
Michael's Church, which at the time belonged to the Protes
tants, divine service was held to return thanks for the peace.
The Lutherans availed themselves of the opportunity of
holding a synod, since known as the Synod of Shintaw, and
passed a series of resolutions respecting the lives and doc
trines of the clergy, all of which were confirmed by the
palatine in virtue of his office.
Scarcely had the joy-bells ceased to play in consequence
of the peace of Nickolsburg, when crowds of oppressed and
persecuted Protestants from Bohemia and Moravia came
crying for protection. It was impossible to see these specta
cles of the inhumanity of the fanatic priests, and to recognize
in them brothers in the faith, without being deeply concerned.
Bethlen took the case warmly up, and reproached the king
bitterly for this glaring breach of the Nikolsburg contract,
and for allowing himself to be made the blind tool of the
Jesuits in their deeds of darkness. He demanded immediate
recognition of civil and religious liberty for the Protestants
in Bohemia, .Moravia, and Hungary, and promised in such
case immediately to retire. When he found, however, that
no attention was paid to his remonstrance, he crossed Hun-
* CEdenberg Denkwfirdigkeiten MS.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 173
gary with a powerful army, and only then stopped when, by
the mediation of the palatine, a satisfactory arrangement was
made at Vienna.*
The cruelties of the Jesuits had already been terrible. All
the Protestant clergy had been banished from Bohemia, and
the churches handed over to their own creatures. In Moravia
and Austria they had done the same. The evangelical
preacher David Staudlin had been banished by the Jesuit
father Keller out of his church in Hernals, near Vienna,
simply because he had visited the sick servant of Captain
Kobel, in Vienna, who was a Protestant, and had administered
the Lord's Supper to him. Twelve thousand exiles lived in
England, Belgium, Hungary, and Transylvania, and among
these were one hundred and eight-five magnates, and one
hundred clergy, who sometimes wrote in the bitterest dis
tress to evangelical towns and churches, asking for aid.t
Such oppressions raised many warm sympathizing friends
to the Protestants ; and here we will mention only one, name
ly, George of Brandenburg, who generously came in 1624
to Bethlen's aid. He died of the prevalent epidemic at
Leutshaw, and was buried at Whisburg in Transylvania.f
In these troublous times, the bright spot towards which
the eyes of the Protestants were turned in hope was the
Diet of (Edenberg, in 1625. It was, however, unfortunate at
the very commencement, that the apostate from the Protes
tant faith, Nicholas Esterhazy, was chosen palatine. Besides,
the Popish legate Karaffa was there, and he, in conjunction
with Pazmany and the bishop, did the utmost to stir up the
king against the Protestants. Indeed, the Bishop of Erlau
made use of such expressions, that the Protestant members,
* About this time Bethlen endowed an evangelical school in Tyrnau, at
which twenty-four scholars had a free table. Many of the magnates followed
bis example.
t Pamauf MS., Vol. VI. Misc. p. 358.
X Leutshaw Chronicle, MS. 15*

174 HISTORY OF THE
in the excitement, had nearly thrown him out of the window.
As it was, they dragged him by the hair and .the beard to the
door, and threw him out. As the palatine was about to in
stitute an investigation, and bring some of them to trial, he
found it impossible, for the Protestants stood firmly together,
and Karaffa found it most convenient not to press the matter
further.* The palatine gave the king the worst advise, and even, as
Karaffa acknowledges, showed him the plans which he should
adopt, in spite of his oath, to limit the privileges of the Prot-
estants.t The Roman Catholics thought they had satisfied every just
claim of the Protestants when they renewed the 1st article of
1608, and the 6th article of the treaty signed by Ferdinand
on assuming the throne, and not without much fear and anx
iety were the Protestants at last glad to have even so much.
For at this time Pazmany stood higher than he had ever
done in the royal favor and the esteem of his own party. It
was but lately he had established the school at Tyrnau for
the sons of the nobility, and so soon as Ferdinand III. was
crowned, he hastened to have his sanction to the constitution
of the seminary.
The synods, which about this time were held at Leutshaw,
Csepregh, and other places, for maintaining discipline in the
churches and schools, were of too little importance to be
particularly noticed. But we must with pain acknowledge,
that so soon as Ferdinand II. saw the crown tolerably firm
on the head of his son, he considered himself at liberty to
break through all bpunds in his persecutions.
Not contented with the feats he had accomplished in per
secuting and banishing the Protestants 'of Styria, Bohemia,
Moravia, and Austria, where the sister churches were more

* CEdenberg Denkwiirdigkeiten MS. ; Theatr. Europ. Daniel Crudy, MS.
t Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., Tom. I. p. 437.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF, HUNGARY. 175
kindly disposed towards each other, he now broke out on a
large scale against the Calvinists in Hungary. For the sake
of giving his acts the appearance of laws, he created in the
one year, 1626, twenty-two princes, sixty counts and barons,
of whom, it is true, many had only the title, but by means
of their votes much might be done.* He demanded of the
palatine not to allow the Protestants, who were flying from
oppression in the other crowned lands, to settle in Hungary ;
and with much zeal Karaffa sought to prevent one family
obtaining residence there, the head of the family having been
a printer in the neighborhood of Linz, and now obliged to
escape with his printing-press out of the country. The pala
tine was exceedingly complaisant and obliging in granting all
such demands as were unfavorable to Protestantism. t On
the estates, in Hungary", the Protestants were now often com
pelled to join the Church of Rome ; and so effectually was
the work accomplished in Laudser and Lackenbach, that to
this day not a Protestant family is there to be found. f
In Bitshe the Protestant church was taken from them ; the
superintendent, Hodickius-, who had presumed to gain the
victory over Matthew Heinal, a Jesuit, in a discussion on
the worshipping of the saints, was immediately banished ;
the flourishing gymnasium was destroyed, and the building
turned, a few years later, into a cow-stall.§

* Karalyi, H. 670.
f Comment, de Germ. Saira rest. p. 372 ; Waldau, Hist, of Prot. Aus., IL
p. 299.
X (Edenberg Denkwiirdigkeiten.
§ Chladuay, C. I. Sect. 2 ; Zeiller, Nov. Hung. Desa, p. 46.

176

HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER VI.

Ferdinand n. nominates the Virgin Mary Generalissimo of his Army. — B6th'
len declares War again. — Is joined by the Germans. — Peace of Pres
burg. — The Widow of Palatine Forgacs raging against the Protestants. —
George Rakotzy. — Gustavus Adolphus. — Conversion of several Magnates
to Popery. — Persecutions. — Jesuits in CEdenberg. — Death of Ferdi
nand II.

From a king who had nominated Mary commander-in-
chief of his forces,* and who was merely a puppet in the
hands of Karaffa, Pazrhany, Nicolas Esterhazy, and the
Jesuits, the Protestants of Hungary had little good to expect.
The more just were their fears when they reflected how sys
tematically he had despised and trampled on all the former
resolutions of the Diet, how the Jesuits were every day
gaining ground ; how, by the aid of Pazmany, they had,
first in Raab, and afterwards in Presburg, erected a college.
By such faithlessness, there was nothing left but an appeal
to the sword. Bethlen stirred up on all sides, and, receiving
promises of aid from the Turks, prepared once more for
battle. In Germany the religious war was raging so vio
lently, that Denmark and Norway had taken part in it, and
thence also came promise of aid. The great General Count
Ernest of Mansfeld, and Bernhard, Duke of Weimar, offered
to join him, and coming with their troops through Silesia and
Moravia, so far as Neutra, they had some engagements with
Wallenstein ; but the prospects of Austria were so doubtful,
that, in 1628, Ferdinand gladly made a peace with Bethlen
at Presburg, in which the latter bound himself to abstain, in
* Karalyi, n. p. 914.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 177
all time coming, from war against the house of Hapsburg, on
condition of religious liberty being guaranteed.
Whether Bethlen would have kept his word, is hard to
decide. He remained, however, perfectly quiet till the fol
lowing year, when, on the 16th of December, 1629, he
yielded up his spirit ; very shortly after, the Cardinal Klesel
died also, as if the loss of a protector was to be counter
balanced by having also one foe less.
Scarcely had Bethlen closed his eyes when the Papists
began their oppressions once more ; for the slave is moral
only so long as he fears the arm of justice, — and this arm
was now still in the grave. The Bishop of Waizen, Paul
Almasy, compelled the Protestants in his neighborhood at an
enormous price to purchase passports and safe-conducts from
the pasha for his begging monks, that they might the more
readily gather in the fowls, the eggs, and the butter, from
the country, into their cloisters.
In spite of -the last Diet, the Protestants could not succeed
in establishing their most just demands. The churches were
not restored ; the king, to whom they appealed, excused
himself with the disturbed state of the country, and promised
redress " on a future day." Neither could they succeed in
obtaining a clear statement of the law, by which they might
be protected from the caprice of the priests. The magnates
had, in this case, the chief blame, for they insisted on the
right to do what they chose with the church on their own
property.* In consequence of this principle, the widow of the de
ceased Forgacs, Catherine Pallfy, in county Sharosh, an
noyed the Protestants very much on her property. She
broke the doors and windows of the Protestant church, and
shortly after took the church itself completely away. When
the removing of the roof of the manse, and breaking down

* " Cujus regio illius religio." Peter Bad, Hist. Eccl. Hung. MS.

178 HISTORY OF THE
the walls, did not serve the purpose of banishing the Protes
tant preacher from his numerous congregation, she ordered
him with all his family to be put on a cart and carted out of
her territory. When they had reached the bounds of her
estate, they were set down on the open field. By continued
annoyances and fines, she brought her tenants so far that
they consented to accept of a Roman Catholic priest.*
In addition to these persecutions came the excommunica
tion of the preachers of the twenty-four Zips towns, which
was published by Pazmany on the 22d of December, 1632.
The occasion of this was found in a case of divorce, where
the synod gave permission to one of the parties again to get
married. The superintendent, Peter Zabler, the senior, John
Serpilius, and John Pillemann, were summoned before the
archbishop to give an account of what they had done. As
they received a written warning from Stanislaus Lupomirski,
the civil governor of these towns, which were at that time
pawned to Poland, not to appear, they did not present them
selves to the archbishop. Their excommunication was pub
lished in the church in Zips, by which proceeding the Roman
Catholics of the day were certainly more edified, and the
clergy more annoyed, than we can at all comprehend. The
clergy put themselves to no little trouble and expense to ap
pease the wrath of the offended parties.
Under such difficulties, the Protestants placed their chief
confidence in the Prince of Dacia, St. Bathory, and George
Rakotzy, the elected Prince of Transylvania. Gustavus
Adolphus had already made a contract with the latterf in
virtue of which he had already broken into Hungary ; when,
however, Gustavus fell by the hands of an assassin, at the
battle of Lutzen, he drew back again, not having confidence
in the probable success of the Swedes, and thinking all the

* Acts of the Diet, 1635; Daniel Crudy, Superintendent Prot. Church
Law, MS.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 179
while only of himself. It was with pain that the Protestants
observed this selfishness of the artful Rakotzy.
A steady supporter was just now so much the more requi
site, as the number of the Protestant magnates was constantly
being diminished by desertion. After the superintendent
Tobiah Brunswick, whom a pitiful fear for his life and lib
erty drove into the Romish Church,* Adam Thurzo, the son
of the late palatine, to whom Brunswick was chaplain, as
also his younger brother and mother, were induced to join
the ranks of Popery. After these the general, Adam Bathy
ani, passed over to the Popish Church, and he became so
zealous, that he gave the Protestant churches beyond the
Danube no small annoyance, and banished the preachers,
" to the greater glory of Mary." t
The citizens of OSdenberg were obliged to pay heavy
fines, though they remained true to the king, and their church
was shortly after taken from them under the pretext that it
had been built by Roman Catholics. $
In the circle on this side the Danube /had the imperial gen
eral, John Hommona, whose ancestors had been Protestants,
given the Protestants in Kashaw much annoyance ; and when
the evangelical party in Presburg began to build a church at
their own expense, they were ordered, under penalty of the
royal displeasure and its consequences, to desist. The citi
zens of Presburg appealing, however, to the laws which gave
them a right to build if they chose, went on with their work,
and in 1637, their new church was consecrated.
As the Protestants were hampered, just in the same pro
portion were the Jesuits favored. By a royal decree, dated
#- He had persecuted a Protestant preacher who had joined the Papists, to
Such an extent, that he was about to lay him in chains. Being on this ac
count summoned as a disturber of the peace, Brunswick fled, and fell into the
nets of the Jesuits to such an extent, that he openly left the Protestant
Church and received an office among the Papists. Mica Bury.
t Hist. Reform., p. 378.
X Karalyi, Mem., p. 853.

180 HISTORY OF THE
Vienna, May, 1636, the town of CEdenberg must undertake
to build a Roman Catholic gymnasium, and, through fear of
what might eventually occur, steps were taken by the citi
zens to prevent Jesuits becoming teachers. Another royal
decree, dated Ratisbon, August, 1636, required a dwelling to
be furnished for the Jesuits, and the guidance of the school
to be delivered up to them.*
Under such a state of anxiety in Hungary, came the year
1637 ; and on the 17th of February, Ferdinand II. expired.
Great was the kingdom and numerous the subjects over
which Providence had called him to reign, and he had no
want of talent to make his people happy. But his Jesuitical
education and his advisers had chained his spirit, and, to the
great misfortune of his country, he could not set himself
free ; and scarce can the eye find a single point in his whole
reign of eighteen years on which to rest with satisfaction.
In Germany his fanaticism had driven the religious war to
the highest pitch, and, as a sorrowful legacy, he could hand
that war, unfinished still, over to his son. In Magdeburg
were twenty-six thousand corpses of men, women, and chil
dren lying, who had .perished under the hand of his general,
Tilly, with his hordes of Croatian military. Bohemia, Mo
ravia, and a great part of Hungary were miserably oppressed,
and morality itself almost banished by the manner in which
the war had been conducted. And what had he gained ? A*
few stone churches and schools stolen from the Lutherans
«md Calvinists ; a hundred thousand converts brought over to
the Church of Rome by the unapostolical means of sword,
prison, fine, or bribery ; and a depopulation of his monarchy
amounting to more than a million of human beings.
Ferdinand II. had gained what he wished ; for the conver
sion of a heretic to his Church was to him always the great-

* The original decrees lie in the CEdenberg town archives. They are coun
tersigned by George Lippay, Bishop of Vesprim, and Lawrence Frentzfy.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 181
est joy. Wherefore, as the Cardinal Klessel once thought that
a little more moderation and consideration of circumstances
might be advisable, he replied, " I will rather have a wasted
than an accursed kingdom." *
His conscience was always quieted with the Jesuitical
reserve ; for, when he was once reminded of his royal oath,
he gave the edifying answer, " With his mouth he had
sworn to the Protestants, but with his heart to the Roman
Catholics." t
For all these benefits rendered to the Popish cause, the
Cardinal Pazmany, and Bishop Matthew of Neustadt, asserted
that Ferdinand passed immediately into heaven, without ex
periencing the pains of purgatory. J The Word of God
had, however, said, " The Lord hateth the bloody and de
ceitful man."

* Malo regnum desolatum quam damnatum.
t Peter Bad, Hist. Eccles. Ref., Tom. H. MS.
X Kazyi, H. p. 326.

16

182 HISTORT OF THE

CHAPTER VII.

FERDINAND III. 1637-1657.

Death of Pazmany.' — Emerich Lasy, Archbishop of Gran. — Diet of Pres
burg. — New" Persecutions. — Deliberations at Kashaw. — Deputation to
the King. — Torstenson in Moravia. — Death of the Archbishop. — George
Lippay his Successor. — George Rakotzy of Transylvania. — Banishment
of the Protestant Clergy from the Island Schutt. ¦ — Robert Douglas. —
Death of the Palatine Nicolas Esterh&zy.

Shortly after the death of his friend and patron, Ferdi
nand II., the cardinal and archbishop, Pazmany, was also
called away by death on the 19th of March, 1637. The
Protestants now hoped, that under the new king, a man of
wisdom and learning, the wounds which had been inflicted
by the father would all be healed. They began, however,
to have some fears when they saw that Ferdinand III. nom
inated Emerich Lasy, the Bishop of Erlau, as successor to
Pazmany. This man was born of Protestant parents ; but
while a student, he was led by Ferdinand's confessor to
embrace the Popish faith, and he studied theology in Rome.
As an especial friend of the Jesuits, he ascended, from being
Canon of Gran, in a very few years, to be archbishop, and
persuaded the king to give the Jesuits a large landed property
in Thurotz ; a measure which even Pazmany had not ven
tured to propose.
Under such circumstances, the Protestants could only hope
for the Diet in the following harvest in Presburg. When
now the king appeared, demanding money for the war in
Germany, and demanding of the Hungarians to protect their

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 183
own borders against the Turks, the states appeared very ready
to comply, — demanded, however, that the religious dispute
should, in the first place, be completely settled. The mag
nates did not give much support to this demand of the states ;
for above thirty families of the magnates had, by Pazmany's
influence, left the Protestant Church ; others were become
indifferent, and thus the Jesuits and the Popish clergy had
easy work. The demands of the latter went so far as to
require that the Protestant exiles who had fled from persecu
tion in Austria and Bohemia should be banished from Hun
gary, and especially from Presburg ; a request which caused
the greatest excitement at the Diet.
Between the Protestant Count Caspar Illyeshazy and the
Roman Catholic Count Adam Forgacs, it came so far, that
when one had called the other rebel, and a name even still
worse had been retorted, they rushed on each other with
drawn swords, and the king was obliged to set both for some
time in arrest.*
By such quarrels, and the artful charges brought against
the Protestants before the king, the evangelical party Was
often placed in great difficulty. As they, however, remained
firm in their demand, and did not yield even to the royal
threats, the circumstances of the times obliged Ferdinand IIL
to grant their request of toleration^ and to accept of a form
of contract, in which he pledged himself to guarantee liberty
of conscience.
That the evangelical party had good reason to demand
adherence to the letter of the law in matters of toleration,
will be readily seen from the difficulties encountered in the
building of the church at Presburg ; for it was only by the
greatest exertion, and after obtaining written permission from
Ferdinand to that effect, that the church could be opened.
The Protestants of the Reformed Church at Tyrnau had been

* Theatr. Europ. et Artel, rediviv. Tom. II. p. 129.

184 HISTORY OF THE
prevented, by arms, from building their church ; and those
of the Augsburg Confession at Lewenz had their church vio
lently closed, and their pastor banished. The Protestant
Church of Szakoly must bring a complaint before the Diet,
that they were not allowed to bury their dead in the com
mon burying-ground, and requested another to be given
them.* On the contrary, the Jesuits had obtained permission, con
trary to law, to purchase houses in Tyrnau, and expected, in
spite of the protest of the magistrates in CEdenberg, shortly to
have a church and landed property in that city also. t
The incredible power of the Bishop of Gran can be seen
from the fact, that the royal decree was set aside when it
pleased him, and the Protestants had no respect whatever
shown to their rights. That part of the royal contract, pre
paratory to assuming the crown of Hungary, by which the
king pledged himself to grant toleration to his Protestant sub
jects, was, by the influence of this prelate, not entered among
the laws of the land.
When the Diet had been completed" according to their
wish, the clergy and Popish magnates soon stepped boldly
out to accomplish their desires. Immediately after the Diet,
Count John Daugesh Hommono took possession of the pre
bend of Neustadt on Waag, which the Protestants had long
legally held. The old superintendent was carried out on a
chair by the soldiers ; and being too infirm to walk, he was
again set into his dwelling, and shortly after died in conse
quence of this excitement and rough treatment. The church,
and its property and fruits, were never restored. There
were several villages and mills attached ; a tenth and a six
teenth of the grain belonged to it, and a tenth of all fowls.
Forgacs, and the renegade Adam Thurzo, acted with equal
* Engel, 1. u. 490.
t CEdenberg Denkwurdigkeiten, Band XH 4to. MS.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 185
severity, and took away church and school, banishing pastor
and schoolmaster out of Pasteny, Udvamock, St. Peter, Bajna,
Ujlak, and many villages in the county of Neutra.
The palatine, Count Nicolas Esterhazy, followed their
example. On the estates which he had bought from Thurzo
in Neutra and Trentshin, where nearly all the inhabitants
were Protestants, he took possession of the churches, schools,
and manses, and banished the Protestant pastors and school
masters. Under such circumstances, several Protestant magnates
and nobles assembled at Kashaw, in the beginning of the
year 1640, to consult what was to be done. The result of
their deliberation was that a deputation was sent to the king
laying before him the facts, and begging for a Diet to be
summoned to obtain relief.
The time was not favorable for holding a Diet, for French
men, Swedes, Hessians, had penetrated into the midst of
Austria, and the successful general, Torstenson, though labor
ing under gout, was giving Ferdinand serious alarm. The
king consented to summon a Diet, and issued the necessary
summonses, but the meeting was not held. With so much the
more ease did the Roman Catholics continue their persecu
tions ; for, finding themselves supported by the Roman Cath
olic magnates, and tolerated, if not encouraged, by the king,
it was not strange that the position of the Protestants ceased
to be enviable. The death of the archbishop Emerich Losy,
in 1642, did not give them much relief, for, though one foe
was removed, still the principles of Rome's adherents re
mained the same, and into the place of the deceased came
George Lippay, if not a more bitter, at least a more perse
vering foe.
To annoy the Protestants in every possible way, seemed
to be a necessity in the nature of the new archbishop ; and,
instead of following the principles of the Saviour in collect
ing disciples, he seemed to be guided in his treatment of the
16*

186 HISTORY OF THE
Protestants by the most literal interpretation of the passage,
" Compel them to come in, that my house may be filled."
They therefore turned the eye often towards Transylvania,
out of which the Lord had often sent delivery for their fa
thers, and still the prince George Rakotzy seemed to slum
ber unmindful of their ills. A time came, however, when, by
the consent of the Turks, he nominated his son to be his suc
cessor. The complaints of the Protestants were becoming
louder and louder. France and Sweden promised him money
to support him in a war against Ferdinand ; and the jests
which were made at his expense, at the court of Vienna,
filled the cup of his indignation, so that, on the 26th of April,
1643, he entered into a league offensive and defensive with
Torstenson, against Frederick, and that engagement was signed
by Torstenson at his camp in Dobitshaw, on the 10th of July.
On the 13th of February, 1644, Prince Rakotzy issued at
Kallo his declaration, of war, stating the reasons why he drew
the sword against Ferdinand. The latter lost no time, it is
true, in issuing a counter proclamation, promising religious
toleration, and warning against joining Rakotzy ; but the
Protestants had now learned, by bitter experience, what faith
was to be placed in such promises. At the very time that
the Swedish army was pressing forward to join Rakotzy, the
persecutions were raging as. fiercely as ever. Count Francis
Revay, the obergespan, had just shortly before, in violation
of his oath of office, and of all the contracts and laws to
the contrary, deprived the Protestants of their churches in St.
Martin, Mosotz, Turan, Bela, and Blastnitz, and had compelled
some to become Papists. He had erected gallows on which
he threatened to hang all who visited the Protestant churches ;
those who sung Protestant hymns on carrying their dead to
the grave were cast into prison ; the Protestants who had
their dead buried by the priest must pay extra fees.
The archbishop Lippay had just banished all the Protes
tant pastors of both confessions out of the large island Schutt,

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 187
which reaches from Presburg to Komorn, and had sent twelve
Jesuits to discharge ministerial duties ; * but their first care
was to introduce the worship of Mary, which had been taught
by the' Greek heretic Guappou in the year 470, and had been
condemned by the Fifth CEcumenical Council.t The Jesuits
did not remain long in the island, for when Count Robert
Douglas, a general under Torstenson, had conquered Pres
burg and received the capitulation of Tyrnau, he removed
the priests and all their appendages to Presburg.
By the approach and the conquests of these troops the
hardly oppressed Protestants of Skalitz obtained relief. The
Popish clergy had just brought matters so far, that the Mo
ravian exiles, who had lived here in peace for twenty years,
were, with their preachers, banished from the city, and had
their churches closed. So soon as Douglas heard of this,
being already united with Rakotzy, they hastened to Skalitz,
and gave the authorities a few hours to restore the church,
and take away the Popish mummeries, or else be hanged.
The Protestants of Skalitz thus obtained their church, and in
a very short time the much denied religious toleration was
also granted in Raab.f
The difficulties of the Roman Catholic Church were now
increased by the death of the palatine Nicolas Esterhazy,
which took place the 11th of September, 1645. This man,
who had been born of Protestant parents, his father hav
ing been vice-gespan (-deputy-lieutenant) of Presburg, owed
his position and his influence chiefly to the fact of his hav
ing been unfaithful to his profession ; for Rome has held
fast the principle of paying her proselytes well, by giving
them high posts of honor.
* Hist. Diplom.
t The words for which this priest was proclaimed a heretic are the very
same as those which Rome universally employs : " Holy Mary, mother of
God, pray for us, now and at the hour of death."
X Oriel, Radiviv. Tom. II.; Zeillems Coll., Part I. p. 264. It appears that
so early as 1567, Raab had already three Protestant preachers.

188 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER VIII.
The Peace of Linz. — Protest of the Popish Clergy. — The King's Firmness.
— The Diet of 1647. — The Protestants obtain Ninety Churches restored.
— Penal Laws against the Religious Persecutors. — Bishop Szelepcsenyi.
— Bishop Draskowitsh. — The King's Liberality.
The short but bloody war between Rakotzy and Ferdinand
ended with the famous Peace of Linz, which was the second
pillar of the rights and freedoms of the Protestant Church in
Hungary. Rakotzy was soothed with the promise of several
counties for himself, and was thus induced to give up his
alliance with Sweden. On the 16th of December, 1645,
when the monarchy was on the very brink of destruction,
the peace was concluded at Linz in Upper Austria.
This time, it must be confessed, both parties were equally
earnest in the resolution to prevent the clergy from once
more breaking the peace. Even the archbishop Lippay
found himself unable any longer to oppose the laws favor
able to the Protestants. By this peace, the Protestants ob
tained complete religious liberty, so that the exiled preachers
might return to their congregations, or new preachers be
called. All churches and church property which had been
taken away should be restored, and every transgression of
the condition of this peace should be punished ; the banish
ing of the Jesuits was reserved for the next Diet. It was on
the 20th of October, 1646, that Rakotzy ratified this peace
at Weissenburg in Transylvania.
The danger was, however, scarcely past, and the reproaches
of Rome had only just reached the Popish clergy of Hun
gary, for having paid so little attention to the interests of the

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 189
Church, when Lippay once more brought back the Jesuits,
who soon found ways and means to deprive the country of
all the blessings of the peace. Yes, the Hungarian clergy
showed themselves so servile to Rome, and so forgetful of
all their duties to their king and country, that, contrary to
the king's engagement to summon a Diet within three months,
they delayed it ten months, and then at the Diet entered a
protest against that treaty which they had before approved,
and for many months prevented its being received among the
the laws of the land.*
One of the most zealous opponents of the Protestants in
this case, was the newly elected palatine, John Draskowitsh,
who was also Banus of Slavonia, and had been elected to
the palatinate by a majority of only twelve votes. The king,
however, who knew from what dangers he had just escaped,
showed the noblest traits of his character in exercising his
authority over the contending parties.
He proposed, on the 28th of October, that the opposition
of the clergy to the conditions of peace, now and in all
time coming, should be declared irrelevant ; and, on the 8th
of November, when the Protestants brought forward their
complaints, with evidence of the truth of the same, he pro
posed a resolution to be laid before the assembly, to the
effect that, immediately, while the Diet is still sitting, there
should be eighteen churches in the circle on this side the
Danube, and eight in the circle beyond the Danube, restored
to the Protestants ; wherever they have no churches, they
should have full permission to build, and the landed proprie
tors are bound to give them building ground. No one should
in future dare to take away a church contrary to the wish
of the residents in the place. If the landlord did so, he
should, for the first offence, be fined one thousand florins,
and be obliged to give back the church ; for the next offence,
' * Fessler, Vol. IX. p. 24.

130 HISTORY OF THE
his entire property in the village or district should be confis
cated. If any of the clergy did so, they should be fined,
for the first offence, one thousand florins ; for the second,
two thousand florins. The patron's right, in so far as in ac
cordance with the Peace of Vienna, should be preserved,
and the states being satisfied with this, should proceed to dis
cuss other matters.
The evangelical party, taught by sore experience, could
not possibly be satisfied with this arrangement, and proposed
that impartial parties should be appointed to investigate each
case, and to examine the reasons why the churches were
taken away, and whether they ought to be restored.
The palatine and the archbishop made every attempt to
prevent a resolution favorable to the Protestants. The former,
in his zeal to defend the Jesuits, drew his sword in the hall,
and made himself ridiculous ; the latter, however, went so
far, that it was found necessary to threaten him with depri
vation of office. The clergy held out so long, that they suc
ceeded in keeping three hundred and ten out of the four
hundred churches which they had taken by force. On the
10th of February, 1647, the court consented to restore ninety
of the churches, but with the remark that, in time to come,
not one single church more would be given up.
The Protestants, tired, after a struggle of seven months,
gave way, and the states proceeded to arrange some of the
articles. In the 6th article, the names of the ninety churches
were entered.* In the 7th article, it was declared, " That no
other church would be restored ; the Protestants should have
permission to occupy the chapels of ease, or to go if they
chose to other parishes to hear the Gospel." The 8th article
declared freedom of religious exercise in the town of Skalitz,
bo h for the Lutheran and the Reformed churches. In Tyr-
v i, the property belonging to the evangelical church should
* Hist. Diplom. Appendix, p. 44.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 19'
be restored, and no tradesman should be compelled to attend
the ceremonies of which he disapproved. In Raab, permis
sion was given to build a new church, and a piece of ground
was granted for the purpose. The pastor should have per
mission to preach in the church or in his own house. In
Loreny a church was given to the Lutherans ; but in Tihany,
while the place was small, and it might be inconvenient to
have a second church, the pastor's dwelling was restored.
The lOtharticle directed, that in places where the Papists
retained the churches, the Protestants should have a right to
build church, manse, school-house, &c. ; and the landed pro
prietor must, within three months from that date, grant a plot
of ground suitable for the purpose, entirely free from all taxes.
The Protestants and Catholics should, in all cases, pay the
same fee for the ringing of the church bells.
The 11th article decreed, that while the Roman Catholics
pay nothing to the Protestant clergy, in like manner should
the Protestants pay nothing to the Popish clergy. In particu
lar cases, however, where the Popish priest had no lands and
no government endowment, but was dependent on the ses
sional taxes, if the number of Roman Catholics was small,
then the sessional taxes should be collected by the city col
lector and equally divided. The stola dues, however, should
only be claimed from members of their own confession.
The 13th article directed the ninety churches which were
to be restored to the Protestants to be handed over imme
diately, while the Diet was still sitting, to a mixed commis
sion, containing an equal number of members of each con
fession. The 14th article declared the penalty for hindering the
Protestants in obtaining their just claims. The guilty party-
should first be warned by the vice-gespan (deputy-lieutenant)
of the county, and if he then submitted, there was no fine.
If he disobeyed, he should be fined each time in six hundred
florins. In affairs connected with marriage, the Protestants

192 HISTORY OF THE
abide by their own customs, entirely independent of the
Popish priests and Popish judicature.
Finally, it was settled that, in the free town Kashaw, where
the Lutherans were preventing both the Calvinists and the
Roman Catholics from building churches, both parties should
have a right to build churches and schools, as also should
obtain suitable ground for the purpose, should enjoy full
religious liberty, with the use of the church.bells and burying-
ground in common.
These were the benefits which the Peace of Linz and the
Diet of Presburg — which ratified and defined the terms of
-the peace — conferred on the Protestants of Hungary. If
we overlook the three hundred churches which were lost, and
also the double meaning of many of the enactments, still we
shall see much gained. Much that had been only briefly
mentioned before, was now entered in detail in the articles of
peace, and a commencement was made to have these articles
carried out.
At this Diet the eldest son of Ferdinand III. was, on the 16th
of June, crowned King of Hungary, under the title of Fer
dinand IV., and on the 17th of July, 1647, the Diet was closed.
As it was presumed or feared that the Popish clergy would
not cease to persecute, there was a paragraph entered in the
transactions of the assembly, that at every Diet his Majesty
should inquire into the complaints of the Protestants, and
have them redressed. A very little while showed how neces
sary the law was, and how much trouble was taken to have it
changed. Immediately on the close of the Diet, the Bishop of Wes-
prin, George Szelepcsenyi, as imperial chancellor, refused to
sign the articles, and the Bishop of Raab,- George Drasko
witsh, brother of the palatine, refused to give up the church
to the Protestants, till the king compelled him to it by mili
tary force.
It certainly was no easy matter for the prelates to support

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 193
the ninety priests who were now turned out of office, but the
king came to their aid by making the poor prelates a present
of 5,000 florins, that they might not drive the land once more
to rebellion before the past wounds were healed. It was a
terrific sight for the king to look over his empire, and over
the whole of Germany, and see what the Thirty Years' War
had done ; and still that war was not yet ended. Well might
he rejoice when, by the unwearied exertions and great pru
dence of Count Maximilian of'Trantmansdorf, this war was
brought to a close by the Peace of Westphalia. But, alas !
while the Protestants in Germany were now able to enjoy
complete civil and religious liberty, with the exception of
Silesia, the Austrian empire was little effected by the peace.

IT

194 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER IX.

New Persecutions of the Protestants in Hungary. — Diet of Presburg in
1649. — Paul Pallfy, Palatine. — Fruits of the Diet. — The Jesuits in
Transylvania.- — Death of the young King of Rome. — Leopold crowned
King of Hungary in 1655. — Troubles. — Death of Ferdinand.

The incredible struggles, the bloodshed, and the councils
held for establishing, on a firm basis, the rights and lib
erties of the Protestant Church, were, contrary to all expec
tation, not yet sufficient to obtain the desired peace and toler
ation. The Diet had scarcely been dissolved when the
Jesuits and the magnates, whom they had gained over to
their cause, began the work of persecution afresh: The
death of Rakotzy, on the 23d of October, 1648, gave them
new courage ; and, contrary to all laws and treaties, and
despite all watchfulness, the treacherous disciples of Loyola
found ways and means of creeping once more into Transyl
vania. It was the plan of the Popish clergy to introduce
these men into all parts of the kingdom, and, by means of
these sv/orn foes of the Gospel and of Protestants, gradually
to obliterate all traces of the truth. In August, 1648, the
palatine, John Draskowitsh, was taken away by death, but
Lippay remained and labored till he had *he Jesuits intro
duced into Skalka, Neusohl, Skalitz, Schemnitz, Trentshin,
and Rosenau, where they soon succeeded in raising sufficient
strife and confusion.
The prelates and landed proprietors banished the Prot
estant pastor out of Sellyi by an armed force.* Francis
Nadasdy, who had become Papist for the sake of obtaining
* Fessler, Vol. IX. p. 38.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 195
in marriage the daughter of the palatine Nicolas Esterhazy,
took away from the Protestant pastor the corn which was by
the law secured to him. The miller was bound to give a
proportion of all the corn ground on Saturday afternoon and
the whole of Sunday to the Protestant pastor ; and this cus
tom was discontinued, while the schoolmaster was also de
prived of his grain. Francis Nadasdy and the widow of
Klasius Apponyi compelled all their dependants to attend to
the ceremonies of the Popish Church, and those who refused
were fined and imprisoned.
In several counties, as, for example, Eisenberg, Presburg,
Neutra, and Trentshin, no ground was given to the Protes
tants for building churches and schools, and several of the
ninety churches, which had been restored, were again taken
away. In Donnerskirchen, near Eisenstadt, in CEdenberg
county, the Protestants were positively forbidden by Count
Ladislaus Esterhazy to recall their pastor.* The inhabitants
of the town of Neusiedel, who had called an evangelical
pastor without asking leave from the landlord, were sen
tenced to pay a fine of several hundred butts of wine, and
were so much oppressed, that scarcely a trace of a church is
now there to be seen.
It was after such transactions that the king summoned a
Diet at Presburg on the 25th of January, 1649. There was
little prospect of calm deliberation at this meeting, for the
exasperation was very considerable. Even the king was so
much afraid of the results, that he did not open the assembly
till the 15th of March. The first business was the election
of a palatine. The king proposed two Roman Catholics and
two Protestants, and the choice fell on the Roman Catholic
Count Paul Pallfy, a man of great integrity and high honor.
Immediately on entering on his office he had a consider
able struggle with the Archbishop Lippay, in which his char-
* At this day there does not reside a single Protestant there.

196 HISTORY OF THE
acter was favorably exhibited. The Diet was assembled ;
the palatine was in his place ; the archbishop alone was ab
sent paying a morning visit to the king ; they had Waited
long, and at length the palatine rose to assure the assembled
nobles how it was the king's wish and desire that all the
quarrels on religious matters should be amicably arranged.
The archbishop had now arrived, and rose to declare that he
had just heard wishes of the very opposite nature expressed
by the king. The palatine was astonished ; and, after a
short deliberation, it was agreed to send a mixed deputation,
containing an equal number of Protestants and Roman Cath
olics, to speak with his Majesty. A reply was immediately
returned, through the minister Trantmansdorf, that the pala
tine had correctly stated the royal wish. Having been thus
attacked in his honor, the palatine turned in indignation to
wards the archbishop, inquiring why he had entered on such
barefaced falsehood, attempting thus to misrepresent the
king, and to disturb the peace of the Diet and of the coun
try ; and he at the same time informed him that, were it not
for his cloth, he would know how to treat him as he de
served.* So long as this palatine lived, the Protestants on his estate
enjoyed all the protection they could wish. Entirely free
from all fanaticism, he erected schools for the Protestants as
well as for the Roman Catholics, and combined justice with
moderation to such an extent, that he was justly beloved as a
father of his country. ,
At the Diet, where the passions of the contending parties
made his position so difficult, he guided the proceedings with
much tact, leaving the legal time open to hear all the mutual
complaints which the two parties wished to bring. The com-

* Mica Bury, Theat. Europ. Vol. VI. p. 877. Artel Rediviv. Mayer ad
hoc Annum, Tom. II. p. 161. Daniel Crudy, Tom. I. p. 169. It is true the
Jesuit Szegedi represents the archbishop as suffering these reproaches un
justly from his ,zeal for religion.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 197
plaints of the Roman Catholics were far more numerous, but
he had them entered in a list by themselves, in such a way
that the evidence in each individual case could be easily
seen by the king ; and it was soon evident that much was
quite unfounded, and still more of the charges of the Papists
were overcolored. The palatine laid all before the king,
with a request that each case should be carefully and impar
tially investigated.*
Ferdinand, knowing well the nature of the case, was re
solved to carry out all the proceedings in the spirit of the
Peace of Linz. The determined opposition, however, on the
part of the Roman Catholics, prevented him from benefiting
the Protestants to any great extent. Besides the ninety
churches which were granted in 1647, there were only three
chapels of ease bestowed on the Protestants ; and a law was
passed which eventually wrought great mischief, deciding
that all quarrels on matters of religion in future should be
decided after the example set in 1647, by being referred
back to the respective counties.
One benefit was gained by this Diet ; for, as the priests
observed the desire of the king 'to do justice to the Protes
tants, they relaxed somewhat in their persecutions. The
time of quiet was then employed in improving, as much as
possible, the ecclesiastical discipline, in building and repair
ing churches and school-houses, and in placing worthy men
in the office of pastor. This was especially the case in the
royal free cities, where the number of educated and wealthy
members of the evangelical church was considerable. In

* The archbishop declared to the king that his conscience did not allow
him to give land which belonged to Roman Catholics, for the purpose of build
ing a Protestant church, and the king iuformed him that his conscience was
much too scrupulous. Fessler, Vol. IX. p. 39. It was the same archbishop
who declared, on it former occasion, that the king dared to tolerate Protes
tants just as little as tliieves and robbers, and both should be borne with only
so long as he could not eradicate them. Such is the tender mercy of Popish
priests. 17*

198 HISTORY OF THE
(Edenberg we find at this time Matthew Lany was ordained,
and in a neighboring village called Horkaw, Christopher
Sobitsh, who was afterwards a distinguished superintendent.
He preached his first sermon in the church of St. Michaels,
which at that time belonged to the Lutherans, and had been
just embellished with a new altar and organ. At this tirne
also lived the superintendent, George Larry, who presided at
a synod held on the 10th of June, 1652, at which it was
resolved that not only the superintendents should have a
right to propose a new superintendent, but also the nobles,
and even the citizens.
The evangelical church at Presburg manifested at this
time considerable activity and zeal. They built a new
church for the Hungarians and Slovaken, where Daniel Abra-
hamides preached to a crowded house ; * but within twenty
years, this church, which lies behind the Franciscan garden,
became the property of the nuns of St. Ursula.
A few years after, they built a magnificent gymnasium of
four stories high, where the rector, Bohm, who was after
wards pastor, labored with great success among the youth.
Andrew Segner, at that time inspector of the Protestant
church, had a medal struck commemorative of the opening
of the institution ; on the one side was the Trojan horse, and
on the other, St. Andrew's day, 1656. In Neusohl, Schem
nitz, Modena, and Eperjes, where Samuel Dirner was labor
ing with much acceptance, from the year 1650, — in all these
places were very prosperous schools, chiefly under the guid
ance of foreigners, or of those who 'had studied at foreign
universities. While the Protestants in Hungary were thus enjoying a
little ease, the Jesuits had, with great cunning, transplanted
themselves into Transylvania. In this land, where the Prot
estant Church had now stood for a considerable time under
* Ribinyi, Memorab. Tom. I. p. 493.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 199
the protection of Protestant princes, it had gained some de
gree of stability ; the arrogance of the Popish Church was
considerably restrained, and the Jesuits were strictly forbid
den to reside there. These men, however, found ways and
means to obtain an entrance. To appear in their own dress
would have been the sure way to have themselves banished ;
they therefore assumed the ordinary clerical habit, and lived
apart in the houses of Popish nobles who were friendly to
them. Unobserved, they thus carried on their old work.*
To their sorrow they discovered that prince George Ra
kotzy II. was quite too decided in his adherence to the Re
formed Church to look quietly on and leave them to them
selves. He had just discovered that they had gained an un
bounded influence over his mother-in-law, a zealous Roman
Catholic from Poland, "as also over his wife Sophie Bathory,
and that they were beginning to influence his son, a youth of
seven years. He, therefore, in the first place, got a list of
all the Jesuits in the country, and in the year 1651, made
short work of having them removed. Ferdinand III. and the
King of Poland wrote to Rakotzy to induce him to allow
them to remain ; but the states, assembled in June, declared
that it was contrary to the law of the land, and they must
remove. Ferdinand had something of more importance to annoy
him. Pope Innocent X. had declared his peace with the
Swedes at Asnabruck on the 10th of January, 1651, to be a
godless transaction, and refused to sanction the bishops whom
Ferdinand had appointed.
His second wife, Leopoldina, to whom he had been mar
ried only thirteen months, was removed by death ; and still
more, his hopeful son, whom he had just had crowned at
Ratisbon on the 30th of May, 1653, as the King of Rome,
under the title of Ferdinand IV., was unexpectedly taken
* Majlath, Vol. IV. p. 270.

200 HISTORY OF THE
from him. On the 9th of July, 1654, the young king died
of small-pox in the twenty-first year of his age, to the great
distress of the royal family.
With this son many of the father's plans and hopes were
also laid in the grave. One scheme, which seemed for a
long time to have been arranged, must now be given up.
He had intended to abolish the office of palatine, and to gov
ern Hungary by means of a deputy. To this office the arch
bishop Lippay would have been appointed, who knew much
better how to accommodate himself to the court than did the
unflinching palatine Paul Pallfy, who, to the great distress of
the country, was so soon removed by death. When the king
found, however, that his scheme met with such violent oppo
sition at the Diet of Presburg in 1654, he withdrew it, and,
after the old custom, proposed two Roman Catholics and two
Protestants for the office of palatine. The valiant, prudent,
wealthy, and amiable Roman Catholic nobleman, Francis
Vesselenyi Hadad, was elected.*
Before the Diet proceeded to crown Ferdinand's second
son, Leopold, the Protestants attempted once more to bring
their complaints forward for consideration, but they were in
formed that such matters did not now belong to the Diet, but
must be settled by commissioners in each county. The
miseries of this law they were now doomed to feel, for when
the commissioners gave an unjust decision there was no ap
peal. Only one remedy was open, — they might appeal to
the king. Accordingly, on the 16th of March, they laid their
case before the king, with a specified register of their com
plaints and charges, together with the evidence and proofs,
* In his youth he was a Protestant of the Reformed Church, but was in
duced by Pazmany to turn to the Papists. He distinguished himself in the
war against Rakotzy. He took the invincible castle of Murany by falling in
love with the beautiful Mary Szecsy, the proprietress, and, having gained
her heart, he soon gained the castle too ; it was handed over to him after the
marriage. From this time forward he made great progress in amassing
wealth and obtaining posts of honor, till at last he became palatine.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 201
and begged relief. Churches, it seemed, had been once more
taken from them, pastors and schoolmasters had been banished
and their incomes confiscated, in spite of the laws of the
land ; the proprietors had obstinately refused building-ground
for new churches and schools. After several weeks they re
ceived a reply, stating, that when the Diet should be closed,
he would then examine into the matters mentioned. An
other petition to the king met with as little attention, and, in
the mean time, the Diet decided that all confessional quarrels
and complaints should be settled immediately after the Diet.
The Jesuits had as yet no permission to acquire landed
property, but the king promised to use his influence that they
might obtain the same privileges as other clergy. Accord
ingly, in the following year, under the advice and with the
aid of Archbishop Losy, they built themselves an institution
in (Edenberg.*
Shortly after the coronation of his third wife, and also of
his second son Leopold to be King of Hungary, on the 27th
of June, 1655, the Diet came to a close. There was, how
ever, just now very little calculated to comfort the king.
The Turks, under the guidance of their wild borderers,
burned the villages and carried away prisoners before the
treaty had come to an end, and it was with great difficulty
that they could be quieted. There was also a very serious
war breaking out between Casimir of Poland and Charles
Gustavus of Sweden, who had been Duke of Zweibrucken,
and Rakotzy II. of Transylvania was just about to join the
latter. Being on his way to join the Swedes, Ferdinand
could only raise a weak detachment to prevent him. Such
circumstances, in the very bloom of life of the king, might
well tend to embitter his lot.
Besides all this came another circumstance which Was to.
him fatal. Close to the room which he occupied on the 2d
* CEdenberg Denkwiirdigkeiten MS.

202 HISTORY OF THE
of April, 1657, there broke out a fire, and the king, who was
at the time sick, would not suffer himself to be carried out
till he saw the young prince Ferdinand, then three months
old, first made safe. A servant seized the cradle, but in the
haste ran against the wall and broke it, while he and the
child tumbled together on the ground. The king survived
the shock only a few hours.
If it cannot be denied that Ferdinand III. was decidedly
opposed to the Protestants, and very strictly attached to his
own Church and to the Jesuits who had instructed him, still
we have had abundant evidence that he knew how to dis
tinguish between the pretensions of the priests and the sub
stance of religion, and in intellectual and moral powers very
far surpassed his father. His love of justice was so great,
that he often caused the judicial decisions which were favora
ble to his chamber to be again examined, and he often sat in
the court of justice trying to do his utmost to favor the ac
cused party. It was with much hesitation and after long
delay that he- usually signed the sentence of death, and in
his whole reign he remained true to his motto, " The fear
of God, and Justice."
Had he not been educated by the Jesuits, had he been able
to withdraw himself from the all-powerful influence of the
clergy, or had he lived in more peaceful times, the respect
which even the enemies were obliged to show him, would
have risen to admiration, and have grown to such a love that •
he might justly have been regarded as father of his country.
This name was afterwards given to his successor Leopold,
who for half a century ruled over Hungary for weal and woe.
In how far he deserved this title history will show, when we
consider how he treated the -Protestants, to whom he had
sworn to show the same regard as to the Papists.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 203

LEOPOLD I., 1657-1705.

CHAPTER X.
1657-1670.
Leopold's Education. — He favors the Jesuits, — The Synod at Tyrnau. —
Hungarian Diets, and Grievances of the Protestants. — The Diet of 1662.
— The Protestant Deputies demand back the Churches and Schools. —
Petitions to the King. — Specification of the Persecutors. — Persecution
in Transylvania. — More Petitions. — The Protestant Deputies leave the
Diet — Its Close.
With Leopold's reign begins the golden age of the Jesuits
on the one side, and the gradual progressive decay of the
Protestant Church on the other. Intended by his father,
Ferdinand III., to be Bishop of Passau, and till the death of
his brother Ferdinand receiving an education suitable to such
expectations, he ascended the throne in his seventeenth year.
His uncle, Leopold William, Bishop of Passau, guided, the
affairs of the kingdom for some time, till they went into the
hands of John Ferdinand Portia and Wenzel Lobkowitz,
both of whom stood as much under the influence of the
Jesuits as did their monarch.
The king had received such an education, and was en
dowed with such dispositions, as might have been an honor
to a bishop, but were very prejudicial to a king. His atten
tion to trifles ; his indolence in comprehending and resolving,
and his delay in' carrying out his resolves; his Cold and
heartless disposition, and his blind adherence to the forms of
the Romish Church, which he could not distinguish from the

204 HISTORY OF THE
religion of Jesus, promised him little happiness in the govern
ment of such a land as Hungary, and such a people as the
Hungarians. The Jesuits now became arrogant, and, uniting with the
nobles of their own party, despised the laws of the land, and
trampled on the constitution whenever the benefits of their
religion demanded it. Thus, Archbishop Lippay held a
synod at Tyrnau, on the 2d of June, 1658, which was nu
merously attended. The resolutions were at first kept secret,
and afterwards an attempt was made to deny them, but their
tendency was to annihilate the conditions of the Peace of
Vienna and Linz.*
As the king summoned a Diet to Presburg in June, 1659,
and the Protestants came forward with all the complaints
which had been heaped up during four years, he felt himself
in great difficulty, for the grand vizier, Kiuprili, was ap
proaching with great force, and had devoted nearly a hun
dred thousand Transylvanians to death and imprisonment.
But the Protestants ceased to urge their complaints so soon
as the king and the Archbishop of Gran pointed to the im
minent danger, and promised immediately after the Diet to
hold a full and impartial investigation. The palatine in
formed the heads of counties of the king's wish, and the
people were satisfied with seeing the contract which the
king had signed on his coronation entered among the laws of
the land, although the first article of the Peace of Vienna,
of 1608, contrary to the usual practice on such occasions,
was not included.
The Protestants must soon bitterly repent this generosity,
for the period up till the next Diet was three years, and these
were memorable as days of hitter persecution and wrong.
Thrice had they been publicly deceived, openly before the
whole country, in the years 1649, 1655, and now in 1659.
* Engel, L. II. Vol. V. p. 5.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 205
The fourth time, however, should not be a repetition of the
same. The representatives of the counties, therefore, re
ceived, on their election to the next Diet, the strictest orders
not to enter into any other matters till the religious com
plaints were completely settled, and the Protestants had ob
tained all their wish. As they then could not immediately
succeed at the Diet, they approached the king, on the 5th of
June, with a petition which one. cannot even now read with
out sorrow and shame.* The deputies of thirteen counties
brought the bitterest charges against those " who had by vio
lence now for many years habitually transgressed the laws
of the land, and prevented the exercise of that toleration
which the law granted." They demanded that the churches
and the property which had been forcibly taken away during
the last thirteen years, within the bounds of seventeen coun
ties, by fifty-three magnates, prelates, and landholders, should
be given back, and especially the forty churches which during
the last three years had been taken away A They give the
names of their persecutors, and history is bound to transmit
them and their deeds to posterity.
The petition to the king, having set forth how the deputy-
Lieutenants of counties (vice-gespan), being Roman Catholics,
had contrived to terrify or to weary the Protestants who came
qeeking for aid, states further, how, in particular, Prince Paul
Esterhazy, after obtaining permission from the Pope to marry
his brother's daughter, had, during the sitting of the Diet in
1659, endeavored to persuade his people in the county of CEden
berg, at Frakno and Eisenstadt, and in the neighborhood of
the Neusiedel lake, to become Roman Catholics ; and when
he did not succeed, how he, immediately after the Diet, sent
the dragoons to compel them. By the aid of the dragoons
he took away the church of Shattendorf, though it was one

* Hist. Diplom. in Append., p. 106.
| DaVid Lany in Epierisi, 1663 ; Mica Bury ; Hist. Diplom., App. 104.
18

206

HISTORY OF THE

of the ninety which had been restored in 1647.* Equally
illegal was the conduct of Francis Nadasdy, who filled the
office of superior judge. He sent Hungarian and Austrian
soldiers to abuse the Protestants. As the soldiery came once
into the village Babath, the Protestant inhabitants had already
escaped. There was now a chase made after them, and
every one who could be found was made a Romanist. At
St. Nicolas and Great Zinkendorff, the Protestant pastors
were banished by the servant of Nadasdy, and the household
furniture broken in pieces. The Jesuits compelled the coun
try people in crowds to join the Popish communion. As the
wife of Stephen Kovacs positively refused, two oxen were
taken from her husband as a punishment for her obstinacy,
and they did not cease to annoy till she also entered the
Roman Catholic Church. In the village of Szill, the same
count sent a servant, Peter Landor, with an armed force, to
demand the keys of the church. Having, after some time,
obtained them, he had the bells rung to summon all into the
church, as if for worship, and then, in spite of all the weep
ing and mourning, directed a Roman Catholic priest to ad
minister the Lord's Supper to all present.
In 1651 the same Count Nadasdy directed the keeper of
the forests to watch for the Protestants who went from Bor-
gois to the neighboring Protestant church in Nemesker, and
when they were returning they were robbed of their clothes,
and sent home naked. In his property in CEdenberg, Eisen-
berg, and Neutra, he had more or less annoyed about two
hundred Protestant churches, for which feats he became the
darling of the Jesuits at the court of Vienna. But they
either could not, or would not, shortly after, save him from
the scaffold. When he had mounted the scaffold, he is re
ported to have said, " The Lord is just in all his ways,"

* At present there is not a single Protestant in the village. Eisenstadt,
the residence of the prince, and Forstenau, are also completely Popish.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 207
which the Protestants understood as an expression of repent
ance for his desertion of the faith of his youth ; the Papists,
however, understood it as a consent to the justice of the
punishment he was about to receive for his rebellion.*
In Eisenberg county, and in the village of Wippendon",
Count George Erdody not only turned the Protestant paster
out of his house in. the dead of winter, and threw his house
hold furniture on the streets, but he also made up a list of the
Protestants on the estate, and informed them that unless they
turned to the Popish Church, they should be all banished,
and none should take with him more than four florins for his
journey. As this threatening did not produce the desired
effect, he billeted on them the soldiers of Wallachia, — the
European Indians ; and in cases where that was not suffi
cient, he imprisoned them in his castle, till, worn and weary,
they could resist no longer, and fell a prey to the Church. It
is so much easier, in an hour of 'enthusiasm, to make greav
sacrifices and endure much suffering, than to resist the long-
continued vexations which weary the spirit and drive to the
performance of actions which the heart abhors ; we there
fore have need of the daily prayer, " O Lord, strengthen our
faith." If the Lord do not keep the fire burning within us,
it must soon expire.
With cunning calculation the Jesuits carried on their work.
In the village Neusiedel, in the county of the Wieselburg,
the landlords John and George Lippay ordered all the Prot
estants to attend the Church of Rome, and fined them in
forty florins for every neglect. Protestant widows were not
suffered to marry again. At funerals no hymn or psalm
dared to be sung. The Protestants could hold no public of
fice, and those who were already in office were dismissed.
The pastor of a neighboring village, Gols, was threatened
with death if he should venture to show himself at Neusiedel.
* Joann. Bethlen con. ejus setatis 1670.

208 HISTORY OF THE
In Raab the corporate trades admitted no more Protestants,
so that, without forsaking their religion, they could not be
come carpenters, or shoemakers, or tailors, or cloth-workers,
or enter any guild. Archbishop Lippay, very shortly before
his death, ejected all the Protestants from the village Balvany-
Szakalos, and filled up their place with Romanists. In Apa-
ezu-Szakalos, the Presburg nuns, as proprietresses, forbade
the exercise of Protestant worship, and threatened heavy
punishments- on those who attended the preaching of the
Gospel. In the county of Trentshin, Count Francis Revay adopted
similar measures in Irnowv, Vissnyowo, and Bissitz. In the
same county, the Jesuits took possession of the chapels of
ease at Liborza and Szamarosz, which belonged to the Prot
estant congregation at Nemsowa and Trentshin, and com
pelled them to join the Romanists. In like manner, in the
village Piecho, they threw the principal inhabitants for five
weeks into prison in the Abbey of Skalka. The Bishop of
Neutra, who was also imperial chancellor, George Szelepc-
senyi, imprisoned the Protestants in Telso-Drietowa, in Do-
brastow, and Isselnik, till they abjured their faith. In like
manner did the widow of Paul Serenyi oblige the Protestants
of Zablath and Riba to separate from the church at Trent
shin. The brothers, George and Gabriel Illeshazy, whose
evangelical father died in 1648, had their day of persecution ;
but it did not continue long, for George died in poverty in
Moravia, and Gabriel, after tasting of the sweets of persecu
tion for nearly a year, and regaling himself with the tears
and sighing of the afflicted, could resist the entreaties of his
wife and the powerful representations of her chaplain,
Stephen Pilarick, no longer, but turned back to the evangeli
cal church, and remained faithful till death.
It was this same Stephen Pilarick who had been turned out
of Beczko by a military escort sent from Count Francis Na
dasdy, and all his books had been brought to the castle of

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 209
Cseithe ; the count here ordered a fire to be made in the
castle, and all the property and books of the pastor, with the
exception of his official gown, to be thrown into the fire ;
the Bible was put on a spit and turned round before the fire,
while he and some of his court stood by enjoying the spec
tacle. By some sudden blast several leaves of the Bible
were blown about in the hall, and one was driven directly
towards the count's breast ; Baron Ladislaus Revay caught
at it, but it was seized out of his hand by the count, who be
gan to read. It happened to be a portion of the fortieth
chapter of Isaiah, and the first words he read were these,
" The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our
God shall stand for ever." The Count Nadasdy, turning
pale, rose immediately and retired, and, when he was leav
ing the hall, the court fool cried after him, " How shall you
feel, Sir Count, when the Devils are roasting you on a spit in
hell ? " *
In Wartberg, Felso-Szeli, Nagyszegh, Vesekeny, and Mish-
dorf, the churches were taken away about the same time.
In the last mentioned the soldiers broke into the church, with
drawn swords, during the time of divine service ; they bar
ricaded the doors till the mass was celebrated, and thus was
the congregation " made Catholic," — mass had been read
in their presence, and, therefore, the church and the congre
gation belonged to the Papists. Such was the reasoning,
and it followed, as a matter of course, that the Protestant
pastor was no more required. What matter did it make if he
was sick ? The best treatment was to throw him out on the
streets !
In Neustadt, on the Waag, the church which the Protes
tants had built was destroyed to the very foundation ; the
organ and the bells were carried away to the prior ; the
monuments on the graves were shattered. In the county of

# Mica Bury MS.
18*

210 HISTORY OF THE
Neutra, the churches of Great Kosstolan, Portole, Cscithe,
Verbo, Brezova, Mijawah, Vagyoes, Kraine, Botfalu, Krussc
and Bari, were handed over to the Papists, who compelled
the worshippers to take the wafer, while the evangelical
preachers were all banished. On this occasion, in Mijawah,
it occurred that a peasant cried out in the church, " I swear
by the living God, that if you thrust the wafer into my mouth-,
I will bite off your fingers." *
In Baimocs, Francisca Kayn, the widow of Palatine Pall-
fy, drove the superintendent, Martin Tarnoczy, out of Privi-
gyi ; George Graff and his assistant, Philipp Koberling, from
Nemet Proua ; the rector, Andrew Zaskalik, from Koss ;
Martin Novak and Andrew Reichel, from Gaydel ; and took
away, besides, the churches in which these men labored, and
many others.
In Szerdahely, on the Waag, the Jesuits took the church,
school-house, and manse, for their own use ; turned the pastor
and his family out of doors ; and though the pastor's wife
was sick, yet they were not allowed to remain a single night
in their own house, nor in the village.
In Deaki, the Arch-abbot of St. Martensbrag, Andrew
Placidus, ordered the Protestant preacher to be whipped and
turned out of his dwelling, and then oppressed the people till
they showed no more resistance.
In Sellye, a company of Papists with flags and drums ap
peared before the dwelling of George Rassotis, the pastor ;
dragged him, with all that he had, over the borders of the
county ; destroyed the church which the Protestants had built
for themselves ; billeted a hundred soldiers on the evangel
ical inhabitants, to prepare them for receiving the Romish
ceremonies ; and stole the three hundred dollars which the
wife of Rakotzy the elder had given them, anchwhich was
at that time in the hands of the pastor. The church at Ho-
* Mica Bury MS.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 211
litsh was, by order of the Bishop of Vesprin and Count Adam
Czobor, levelled to the very ground.
We proceed to extract from this petition to the king. It
goes on to say : " In the county of Gomor, Nicolas An-
drassy and George Lippay were the most furious persecutors.
The former banished the preachers from Olah, Patak, and
Bethler, and put Popish priests in their places ; the latter did
the same in Pelsocs, Czetnek, and Rossnobanya, and in the
villages Berzetin, Also-Sajo, Gatzalfalva, and Ochtina ; he
allowed the emoluments of the preachers to be taken away ;
the tithes were taken from them, and any grain which they
had in store the archbishop applied to hfe own use." *
Similar scenes of cruelty occurred also in Transylvania,
and in that part of Hungary which was chiefly connected
with the Reformed Church, and which under .Rakotzy had
enjoyed such days of glorious peace. So soon as Rakotzy
died of his wounds, in 1660, his widow, Sophie Bathory, de
clared that she had joined the Reformed Church only in out
ward appearance, and had remained ever faithful to Rome.
In spite of the father's care, she had trained her son Francis
to be a Papist, and now all the Protestant subjects were
placed at the mercy of the priests.t
She took away the churches of the Reformed congrega
tions by force, drew the schools and their revenues to herself,
and availing herself of her feudal rights, she converted her
subjects to the Popish corfimunion by the powerful argumen
tum ad baculum. £ A terrible storm was gathering, and was
for the present averted by Rakotzy's brother-in-law restoring
much of what -had been taken violently away, putting a stop
to further injustice, paying a thousand' ducats for damage
already done, and promising redress at the approaching Diet.
* Acts of the Diet, 1662. Hist. Diplom. C. in Appendix, p. 104.
t Karalyi, Munor. Eccl. Tom. II. p. 261.
X Verbis et Verberibus, Hist. Diplom. App., pp. 120-123; Instancia ad
Leopold, 1662.

212 HISTORY OF THE
This Diet had now assembled, and the cry of the Protestants
was sufficiently loud. Their complaints were specific, and
supported by evidence, so that they had the firmest con
fidence that Leopold would afford assistance. Not till the
1 1th of June did the king give any reply, and then, through
the minister, Prince Portia, informed the petitioners that
" they should not annoy the king with such complaints at the
Diet, there was something more important to be done ; and
for all these complaints in matters of religion, the law had
already made full provision, and appointed the proper punish
ment for each transgression."
The astonished and distressed Protestants did not think
that they ought to allow the matter to rest. Accordingly, on
the following day they presented, through Ezekiel Gorgey, a
petition, couched in strong language, but breathing loyalty
and submission. They beg that the matter may not be re
garded as a private affair; They quote the Treaty of Linz,
and refer to the fact that not a single legal sentence has been
pronounced against any of their persecutors, even when noto
riously guilty ; and still more, if a sentence were pronounced,
no one could be found to execute it. The Bishop of Neutra
had carried his rage for making proselytes so far, that if any
one joined the Popish Church, he should be entirely free from
taxes for ten full years. He had threatened the magnates,
who were less severe against the Protestants, with punish
ment, and, only a few days befSre, had again arrested a
preacher, who had been set free from prison, and had thrown
him into chains. When some parties applied in his favor,
the bishop informed them they were pleading in favor of a
robber ! Count George Illyeshazy had thrown John Vitzran-
switz, a Gospel minister, into a prison in Moravia in another
county, and, notwithstanding the command of the palatine,
had refused to let him go free.
On the 4th of July, consequently, after three full weeks.
there came a sealed paper out of the king's cabinet with the

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 213
following address : " To the faithful members of the evan
gelical confession assembled at the Diet."
As the palatine, Vesselenyi, handed over the paper to the
Protestants, he made the -manly and noble confession, "I
had rather that the funeral-knell had tolled over me, than live
to see this day ; may the day and the hour be covered with
eternal darkness." *
When the Protestants saw that they were about to be de
prived of their political rights, they handed back the paper
to the chancellor without opening it, till such time as the
address should be corrected. When the paper was opened,
it was discovered that they had gained nothing. They
begged an audience of the king, and on the 8th of July,
appearing at the foot of the throne, George Berenyi handed
in their third appeal for redress.
Here they recount all the ills borne since 1659, and accuse
the supreme judge of the land, Francis. Nadasdy, and Bishop
George Szelepcsenyi of injustice and cruelty. It did not
occur to them to suppose that the king had ordered all these
acts, still they were done in the king's name and. the Diet was
no court of appeal, for the Protestants were deprived of all
legal means of entering the court. The king should also
bear in mind, that, though the Diet consists of four factors,
' still, in religious matter^, only of two, — the Protestants and
Roman Catholics. All was of no avail. And not only so,
but even while the Diet was still sitting, Nicolas Mailath, the
director of the royal domains, ventured to prohibit the Prot
estants of Presburg from building a church-spire, and at
tempted to exclude them from the use of the bells.
On the 14th of July,, Portia gave a verbal reply to the depu
ties, informing them " it was not in the power of his Majesty
to arrange this disputed point, and to settle these misunder
standings, otherwise than had been already done ; and his

* Fessler, Vol. IX. p. 110.

214 HISTORY OF THE
Majesty advises them to give over these private matters, and
turn their attention to the public affairs of the state."
Their patience was not yet exhausted, and on the 24th of
July they presented, through George Berenyi, their fourth
memorial, renewing their former requests. As an attempt
was now made to divide the Protestant interests, the Prot
estant deputies held a meeting, resolving, in the spirit of the
instructions given at the election, to enter on no other busi
ness till this was settled. They therefore resolved to ap
proach the king for the last time.
On the 31st of July the memorial was read over in a full
meeting, and on the 2d of August they had an audience with
his Majesty. Among those who appeared before the king,
were Andrew Szekely, John Osslik, Balik, Feja, and Splenyi.
Leopold read the petition, and replied immediately, "Your
good wishes for our prosperity we gratefully accept. While
we have already given our reply to your alleged grievances
through our minister Portia, we had hoped you would have
been satisfied, and have turned your attention to public
business ; and even now we expect still from you, that you
immediately proceed to consider the affairs of the state, and
you shall always find us prepared to pay every due attention
to your wishes."
Eight days after, the Protestant deputies received a written
reply of the very same import, and, still unwearied, they
approached the heartless Leopold once more, being now the
sixth time. Through his Jesuitical principles, he remained,
however, perfectly unmoved : they received the same answer.
In sorrow they now met together to consult over the state
of the Church, the result of which was, that they sent a dep
utation to the palatine, to request that he might intercede for
them with the king, and they then waited in patience till the
24th of August. When it appeared that the palatine was
doing nothing, another meeting was summoned, at which
many Roman Catholics attended, and the resolution was

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 215
adopted to leave the Diet. A large deputation, including
the Roman Catholics, John Ebesky, Francis Cziesery, and
Nicolas Michalek, and the Protestant deputies of the towns of
CEdenberg, Eperjes, and Trentshin, communicated this reso
lution to the astonished palatine, Vesselenyi, who begged them
not to take this step, and he would- do his utmost in their
favor. They waited patiently till the 29th. The palatine
now brought them the information that the king would not
alter his decision ; he was, however, ready to give them
every assistance in obtaining justice, but he must refuse
them permission to leave the Diet. Such a mockery of their
rights was not to be borne, and on the 1st of September they
communicated to the palatine their firm resolution to leave on
the following day.
Vesselenyi begged them by all the seven sacraments to
change their resolution ; but they replied that they had
begged, for the sake of the mercy of God, and for the sake
of the blood of Jesus shed on the cross, that their Church
should be protected from injustice, and yet all in vain ; and
now the seven sacraments were not likely to alter their
decision. In vain were now the threatenings of Nicolas Mailath ; in
vain did he follow single deputies to their homes. Early on
the morning of the 2d of September, the Protestant deputies
left Presburg. It was a decisive step, but their patience had
been sorely tried, and there remained nothing else to do.
The palatine sent his attorney-general, Dukovitz, to call
them back, — but it was too late.
The deputies who remained continued their deliberations,
and on the 19th of September the Diet was closed. The
Fifty-five Articles received the royal sanction, but the com
mittee of the thirteen counties of Upper Hungary, assembled
at Zemplin, sent them back again to the king with the re
mark, " that these resolutions were of no avail while the
Protestant States had not consented to them." The priests

216 HISTORY OF THE
replied that, in this case, all the treaties which had been
made with the Protestants, and all the statutes by which the
Protestants had obtained exemption from the original penal
decrees, were, equally powerless, for the Popish clergy had
protested against them all. The force of this argument dis
appears, when it is considered that these latter decrees were
all made in the ordinary course of debate in a full assembly ;
that the priests generally gave in , their protest when they
knew there was no danger ; and between the priests, as a
caste, and the Protestant States, as such, there was a very
marked difference.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 217

CHAPTER XI.

Effect of the Departure of the Protestant Deputies on the Patriots. — Their
Dissatisfaction. — Diet of Neusohl. — Leopold and the Divan. — Attempt
to poison the King. — The Procurator of the Jesuits disappears. — Paris
von Spantkaw. — Imprisonments. — The Malcontents in Kashaw. —
Assembly at Neusohl. — Trial and Punishment of the Insurgents. —
Nicolas Drabicius. — Renewed Persecutions. — Presburg. — Its banished
Clergy. — A New Insurrection crushed. — Persecution still continues. —
The Archbishop resigns his Viceroyalty.

The step which the Protestant deputies had taken was one
to which they were compelled ; as conscientious men, having
received instructions at their election, they could not act
otherwise. And perhaps the patriots saw with pleasure the .
breach which was taking place between the country and the
court, for the oppression of the German soldiers who were
billeted on the country was so heavy, that the Hungarians
gladly sought opportunity of being freed from them.
On the 24th of August there had been a deputation sent to
the palatine, to demand from the king the removal of the
German troops. No request could have been less welcome
to Leopold. By promises and by the arts of the privy coun
cil he managed to decline granting the request, and the
threatening position which the Turks had taken up furnished
him with sufficient pretext.
It was, therefore, not only the Protestants, but also the pa
triotic Hungarians who had left the Diet with discontent ; and
their dissatisfaction soon rose to wrath when they saw Leo
pold supported by John Kemeny in the war with the Turkish
protSge, Apaffy, — reducing the countiy to the very brink of
destruction ; but their indignation knew no bounds, when,
19

218 history of the
after the defeat of the Turks at St. Gothard, in 1664, a peace
was concluded by Portia, without the knowledge or coopera
tion of the Hungarians, in such terms as to bring disgrace
and misfortune on the country.
Many formed the resolution to shake off the Austrian yoke.
In the mean time came the Diet of Neusohl in 1667, and
here, instead of seeking a legitimate pacification of the coun
try, Leopold was closely occupied with the councillors, and
especially with Leslie, a Roman Catholic nobleman who had
been banished out of Scotland, in persuading the Divan to
withdraw its protection from Apaffy, the Calvinistic Prince
of Transylvania, and to put in his place Francis Rakotzy,
who was now become Roman Catholic*
The courtiers at Vienna had said that the Hungarians must
have the heron's feathers plucked off, their gold and silver
buttons changed to lead, be dressed in the Bohemian coat,t
and have their pride humbled ; and, as usual, this was re
peated again in the hearing of those whom it concerned.
When, therefore, contrary to all constitutional rights and
customs, at the Diet of Neusohl, two foreign counts, Rothsal
and Heister, holding a commission in the imperial army, pre
sumed to take the precedence, the palatine and the Hunga
rian magnates were so much offended, that the foundation
was laid for a conspiracy to rebellion, which shortly broke
out. The leaders in this conspiracy,- were the palatine, Vessel
enyi, who, however, soon died ; Count Francis Nadasdy,
Nicolas and Peter Zwinyi, Francis Rakotzy, and Botskay,
who were well known as the bitterest persecutors of the
Protestants ; and yet many of the latter joined the plot too.
When now that attempt was made to poison Leopold, and it
was only Francis Barri, a knight of Milan, who informed the
king and saved him from certain death, though the whole
* John Bethlen, C. C, p. 259. t A coarse homespun dress.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 219
transaction is enveloped in mystery, yet the Jesuits took the
opportunity of turning it to account for the sake of perse
cuting the Protestants. After casting the deliverer of the
king into prison for life, because he was supposed to enter
tain heretical opinions, and after causing the procurator of
the Jesuits — who was deeply involved in the poisoning
affair — to disappear so as never to be again heard of, they
sent Paris Spantkaw to Leutshaw, as commander-in-chief or
military governor of the thirteen counties of Upper Hungary.
He threw many of the Hungarians into prison, especially
Protestant pastors, but the leaders of the conspiracy had fled,
partly with Botskay to Marmaros, and partly to Apaffy in
Transylvania. The bitterest persecution now began. The evidence which
proved any one to be a Protestant, was reckoned sufficient to
prove him also to be a rebel.* As the design was to root
out the Protestant religion, it ~was found particularly desirable
to make attacks on the churches and school-houses. The
pretence under which these sworn foes of Protestantism took
possession of the church of Schemnitz, throws some light
on their proceedings. The daughter of Julius Lansee, a
member of the Protestant Church, had formed an attachment
to a clerk in the mines, of the name of Glantshick, a Roman
Catholic, but her parents, friends, and pastor, opposed the
match. The Jesuits laid an accusation against the friends
of the -bride before the Senate of Schemnitz ; and "the evan
gelical pastors, John Nindish, Godfrey Titius, Christopher
Plofstetter, and Isaiah Pilarik, were summoned before the
archbishop, Szelepcsenyi, to Tyrnau, to answer the charges.
As the court was incompetent to summon or to deal with
Protestant pastors, who were completely independent of the
bishop, they did not appear, and were accordingly heavily
fined.t As they showed no inclination to pay the fine, the
* Fessler, Vol. IX. t Mica Bury MS.

220 HISTORY OF THE
archbishop seized the church, with all that belonged to it,
and, surrounding it with cannon, he handed it over to the
Roman Catholics.*
.The excitement still continued in Hungary, but the pros
pects were becoming gradually darker. Count Francis Ves
selenyi, who had remained faithful to his king till 1665, and
who then, by the persuasions of his ambitious wife, had be
come the leader of the conspiracy against Leopold, died in
1667 ; and Lippay had died in January, 1666. Notwith
standing the great hatred which the latter bore to Protestant
ism, he had sufficient patriotism to protest against Leopold's
measures with such earnestness as to lose the royal favor.
Another great loss to Hungary, was the death of Nicolas
Zwinyi, who met with his death from a wounded boar while
hunting. Count Peter Zwinyi now took the place of the palatine, as
leader of the malcontents. He was a man of unbounded
ambition, but without talent or firmness sufficient to fill that
dangerous post, and little confidence could be placed in his
wisdom. Still less worthy of confidence was Prince Francis
Rakotzy, a man who regarded every religion with equal in
difference. And if he, by his imprudenee and fickleness,
injured the cause which he joined, still more did his brother-
in-law, Francis Frangepani, by his inordinate passions.
Count Francis Nadasdy, the Hungarian Croesus, was also on
the side of the malcontents, but his position was not very
well understood, as he still showed himself such a friend of
half measures. Count Erasmus Tattenbach, governor of
Styria, was gained over to the Murany League by his wife,
the Countess Forgacs, and having received promises of lands,
he advanced the cause in secret.

* This transaction occurred on the 15th of February, 1669, consequently
before the capture of the Castle of Murany. As they had then no plea on .
account of the conspiracy,* they adopted this plea of marriage to take away
the church.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 221
. The malcontents had been treating with the Prince of
Transylvania, with the grand vizier, who' was then busy in
Candia, and directly with the Divan, long before Leopold
dreamt of any danger, and while he was still reckoning
Zwinyi and Nadasdy among his faithful adherents. At
length Panajot, the interpreter of the grand vizier, on the
12th of June, 1667, informed the Cabinet of Vienna of the
plot, without, however, being able to name the conspirators.
Leopold was terrified, and resolved to try milder meas
ures. He promised to summon a Diet ; he entered into
treaty with the Prince of Transylvania ; he summoned a
meeting in March, 1670, at Neusohl, of such as possessed
his confidence, to examine the state of the country, and re
lieve it, if possible, from political and religious oppression.
Among his deputies were the Archbishop of Gran, Tzelep-
csenyi, Nadasdy, Zichy, and Count Adam Forgacs. Partly
because their instructions were insufficient, partly because
they had no mutual confidence, little progress was made.
Just at this time the Court obtained unexpectedly the de
sired information respecting the whole plot. In the year
1670, Charles of Lotringia surrounded the Castle of Murany,
which he regarded as the centre of the conspiracy, and the
widow of Vesselenyi, who now lost all courage, surrendered
herself and her papers into his hands, to be dealt with ac
cording to the mercy of the sovereign. The countess was
brought to Vienna under arrest, but treated as became her
rank, while Peter Zwinyi and Frangepani broke out imme
diately into open hostilities in Croatia, and Francis Rakotzy
in Upper Hungary.*
Now came the misfortunes. Count Tattenbach was be
trayed by a servant whom he had delivered over to be pun
ched for theft. Zwinyi and Frangepani, who had been sur
rounded by General Spantkaw, escaped, and being betrayed
* John of Hormaye, Hist, of Vienna, Vol. IV., Part HI. p. 126.
19*

222

HISTORY OF THE

by John Kery, at whose house they stopped, they were im
prisoned in the new town of Vienna. Francis Nadasdy was
taken out of his castle Pottendorf, on the borders of Hungary,
in the night of the 3d of September, and conveyed to the
Landhaus of Vienna. Tokolyi was besieged by General
Heister, in his castle of Arva, and died during the siege, so
that, on the surrender, only his three daughters were found,
who were taken to Vienna, and made Papists. The son,
dressed as a peasant girl, escaped to Transylvania. Count
Francis Csaky died a natural death towards the close of the
year. The trial of the prisoners then began. Contrary to the
coronation oath, the king chose exclusively foreigners to be
judges, and not a single Hungarian, in this very weighty
cause.* On the 30th day of March, 1671, the trial was
ended, and on the 30th of April Nadasdy was executed.
His body was preserved in Lockenhaus, in Eisenberg coun
ty, where it lies to this day, with the beard and hair of the
head in full preservation. Four millions of florins were
found in his castle, in hard coin. Zwinyi and Frangepani
died at the same time, on anotherwscaffold, but not till after
the rope had broken twice. Tattenbach was not executed
till December. All the property was confiscated, and the
king ordered two thousand masses to be read for their souls,
out of the proceeds of the confiscated property.
None but the young Rakotzy escaped. He had fled to
Transylvania, and his mother paid well for the mercy which
she obtained. She sent to the cabinet forty-five thousand
florins, and large sums to private parties about court ; the
Jesuits obtained a splendid gymnasium in Kashaw, and
many of Rakotzy's best castles were handed over to German
troops. Many of the nobility were involved in this conspiracy, and
* Engel, Vol. V. p. 63 ; Fessler, 1. c. Vol. IX. p. 197.

PROTESTANT "CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 223
there was a special court of assize held at Presburg to have
them tried. In this court, the archbishop as governor, Count
Rottel as president, General Heister, and other noblemen
who were completely submissive to the king, acted as judges.
It was here resolved to confiscate the property of Vesselenyi,
Csaky, Tokolyi, Michael Bori, Stephen Vittnyedi, and An
drew Dobay. Some of these escaped to Transylvania or
Poland.* Still, about three hundred, chiefly Protestant no
bles, were brought to trial, and condemned to different pun
ishments, some to death. t In Presburg alone there were
thirty-five distinguished men brought to trial, and some of
them died on the scaffold. Among these were Nagy of
Fuged, and Francis Bonis of Toleswa, who, in the hope of
1 obtaining favor through the Jesuits, sold their faith, and were
then left by these promise-breakers to meet their fate.
One of the most painful scenes was the execution of an
old man of eighty-four years, whose case we must here no
tice more minutely. On the 4th of July, 1671, in the 878th
sitting of the court, the case of Nicolas Drabik or Drabicius
was called. He was a native of Moravia, and in conse
quence of the persecutions in 1629, he had fled to Hungary.
He belonged to the Moravian Brethren, and had with diffi
culty supported himself by dealing, in a small way, in wool
len wares : he still cherished the hope of returning to close
his days in his native land. Entirely destitute of learning,
and knowing no other than the Bohemian language, he fan
cied himself enlightened by the Spirit of God to see into
futurity, and he wrote a book full of prophecies of ill against
the house of Austria, f He called the two Ferdinands and
Leopold covenant-breakers ; the house of Austria the house
* Engel, I. u. Vol. V. p. 67.
f Wreisburg Kirch ii. Vihul. snwl. p. 219, MS .
X The book was translated by John Amos Comenius, out of the original
Bohemian into Latin, and was printed at Amsterdam in 1665, in folio, under
the title, " Lux e Tenebris novis radiis aucta."

224

HISTORY OF THE

of Ahab, a cruel, perjured house, which ought to be rooted
out ; he prophesied to the Catholics a speedy and utter deso
lation. This man was brought on a cart to be tried before the
court at Presburg. In consequence of age he was very
weak, but, not at all daunted, he took a seat near the Count
Rottel, who understood Bohemian. After a little he had no
other place to sit on than the ground.
When the archbishop asked him whether he were the false
prophet, he replied that he could not properly "be called such.
He acknowledged the book Light out of Darkness to be his ;
and when the archbishop asked by whose orders and for
what purpose he had written the book, he replied, " At the
command of the Holy Spirit." " You lie," said the arch
bishop, "the book is from the Devil." "In this you lie,"
said Drabik, unmindful of consequences. The examiners
inquired what his helief was, and he repeated the whole
Athanasian Creed, asking the bishop at the close, "And
what do you believe ? " " I believe all that, and a great deal
more which is also 'necessary." "You don't believe any
such thing," said Drabicius ; " you believe in your cows and
horses and your estates."
On the 16th of July he was executed. His right hand was
first to be cut off, then his head ; the tongue was to be taken
out and nailed to a post, and his writings burned in the mar
ket-place together with his body. Some say that the tongue
was torn out while he was still alive.
The Jesuits boast that they succeeded in converting him
before his death. The real state of the case, however, was
this. After many attempts had been made in vain to shake
the old man's faith, at length the Jesuit Peter Kubey or Kub-
mey succeeded in gaining his confidence so far, that in a
moment of weakness he yielded, and on the 4th of July did
actually join the Popish Church. What prevailed with him
seems to have been the promise of liberty ; he should le set

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 225
completely at liberty, said the Jesuit pater, and should have a
conveyance to take him back to his native land to die there in
peace. So soon as he discovered that he had been deceived,
the vile deed that he had committed stood in all its horror
before him, he was deeply ashamed of his cowardice, and
exclaimed, that he would die in the faith in which he had
lived, and which he had only for a few moments forsaken.
The foes of the Protestants — and after them Lampe and
Fessler — represented him as a Protestant pastor. His name
stands, however, on none of the lists. It was an invention to
blacken the character of the Protestant clergy, and represent
the rebellion as proceeding from them, that there might be
some pretext for exhibiting the most disagreeable spectacle
which the abuse of power, under the name of religion, ever
manifested. Respectable and influential men wrote the
charges without giving any evidence or having any proofs.
Examples may be seen in Francis Wagner, the biographer
of Leopold, in Damiani the canon of Waitzen, and lately in
the bigoted bishop Alexius Jordansky, as well as the noto
rious Hohenegger, who sets all historical truth at defiance.
Many Roman Catholics assert that the rebellion arose from
taking away the revenues of the Calvinistic College of Saros-
patak and of" other Protestant preachers. Had it been so,
then only the members of that confession should have been
punished, but five times as many of the members of the
Lutheran Church suffered. And if it was an affair of the
clergy, why then should the congregations and the churches
be attacked also ? Where the punishment is not adapted to
the crime, it is tyranny. Where the transgression of civil
laws is punished with the deprivation of religious liberty, the
civil authorities become then rebels against God, while they
usurp a power which the Most High has never delegated to
man. Black is the crime and heavy the guilt of the Popish
Church in Hungaiy in this respect. The plan of the Jesuits
and their friends was quite clear ; they wished to be faithful

226 HISTORY OF THE
to their oath, and accordingly, by any means whatever, utterly
extinguish the Protestant Church.
To this end the Prior of Zips, George Barshony, wrote a
book entitled Truth, laid before the whole World, in which
he taught that the king was under no obligation to tolerate
the Protestant sects. His reasons were, that the Peace of
Vienna was made under circumstances which take away all
obligations ; that the Protestants had themselves broken the
treaty ; that one of the constituent parts of the state, namely,
the higher clergy, had not agreed to the terms ; and, lastly,
the Lutherans and Calvinists did not hold firm by their orig
inal confession.
The Protestants soon answered this work in a satisfactory
manner ; but the persecutions went on, and, as the Protes
tants enjoyed the most protection in the royal free cities,
under magistrates chosen by themselves, it was against these
cities that the principal efforts were directed.
In Upper Hungary, the Archbishops of Gran and Kalatsha,
Szelepcsenyi and Szechenyi, as also the president of the
chamber, Count Leopold Kollonitz, the titular bishops George
Barshony and Francis Szegedy, accompanied by Jesuits and
dragoons, passed over the land, and wherever they appeared
the knell of religious freedom tolled. Thus, in 1671, by the
help of General Spantkaw, the bishop took possession of the
Protestant Church of Kashaw after breaking the doors, and,
on a warrant signed by Count Volkru, the Popish president
of the chamber at Zips, the six Protestant clergy, superin
tendent Michael Liefmann, Adam Kiss, Christian Ekkard,
Adam Pitto, Stephen Koszeghy, and George Fisher, were
thrown into prison. And this happened notwithstanding that
the city Kashaw had, in 1670, readily opened the gates to the
imperial troops, and had received the assurance that their
liberty of faith and worship should be respected.
In Neusohl, the Scotch Papist and refugee Count Walter
Leslie arrived at midnight, on the 18th of November, 1671,

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 227
and surrounded the castle, of which the Protestant church
was a part, and where the three pastors resided. By the
help of ladders he took possession of the church, and sent
the German pastors away. On the 2d of February follow
ing, the Slavonian church was also seized.
The Archbishop of Gran, as proprietor of Bozok, sum
moned George Zabonyik, the pastor of the church, who was
also superintendent of three counties, Sol, Honte, and Thu
rotz ; and after bringing him to his table and calling him
sometimes a heretic and a deceiver, sometimes a worthless
person ; then changing the tone, promising him great kind
ness, and calling him a brother, — when all this could not
draw him over to Popery, he was handed to a secretary, who
was ordered to drive him out of his parish.
Zabonyik died of grief, shortly after, at Karpfen, where
Anna Ujfalusy had taken him into her house. A short time
previously, had Jeremiah Lucius, pastor of Schemnitz, —
whose son we shall soon meet in exile, and who had been
twice banished from his parish, — gone to the Father, there
to wait till all the brethren who should witness for the truth
should also be brought to rest with him under the altar, and
to cry, " How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not
judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? "
After the churches in Trentshin and those of both confes
sions in Skalitz had been taken away, the turn came to Tyr
nau and Schutt-Somerain on the 16th of January, 1672,
where, by orders from Count Pallfy, the clergy of both con
fessions must immediately leave.
At Bartfeld, on the 20th of April, the Abbot, Stephen
Koloovari tried his fortune at this new game ; and being suc
cessful, he continued his tour, under the pretence of church
visitation, so far as Eperjes. Having met with no assistance
from Melchior Hutter, the military commander, after two
attempts in May and June, he desisted. In his place came
the more experienced Szegedy, Bishop of Erlau, who, on

228 HISTORY OF THE
the 6th of July, broke open the door, under the pretext
jthat the church had been built by Roman Catholics. Four
Protestant pastors, the college with ten professors, and two
churches, were lost to the Protestants, and four hundred
students were turned out of the town.
In the counties Barsod, Gomor, Tarna, Saros, Abuivar, and
Zemplin, the Archbishop of Kolotsha, supported by German
dragoons, travelled round and took possession of the churches,
Szanto, Tallya, Mada, Tokay, Keresztur, and Liska. In
the two counties of Thurotz and Liptau, in the year 1672,
Captain Lamb (!), accompanied by Popish priests and sol
diers, took possession of above thirty Protestant churches in
the course of one year.
Bishop George Barshony took possession of the Protestant
churches, Sprendorf, Smegen, Eisdorf, Slagendorf, Miihlen-
bach, Hunsdorf, St. Andrew's, Great Lomnitz, and Botsdorf,
lying in Zips, and he consecrated them to be Popish churches,
sending pastors and teachers to beg their bread in the wide
world, while he earned and received the highest praise from
the Pope and from all his own party. Accompanied by his
brother, and followed by some hundreds of wild Croatians,
thirsting for heretic's blood, he now set out for Neutra. They
arrived in July, prepared to visit the strong Protestant con-.
gregations of Pritszod, Szenitz, Szobotistye, Turaluku, and
Mijava. They did their utmost to obtain possession of the
churches, to banish the pastors, and appoint in their place
Popish priests, but the inhabitants insisted that the king had
given no orders to this effect. As they then proceeded to
use force, they met quite unexpectedly with resistance. On
the 14th of July, in Mijava, it came to blows. The bishop
and his followers began to force their way ; the country peo
ple, a strong race of men, resisted. The Croats fired, and
two peasants fell deadly wounded. The peasants were en
raged, and after having shot the brother of the bishop, they
attacked himself with flails, and should certainly have killed

PROTESTANT CHURCH .OF HUNGARY. 229
him, had not the Protestant pastor, Daniel Kirmann, the fa
ther of the distinguished superintendent of that name, rushed
in and saved him.
Matters went worse in Szenitz the next year, where Count
Valentine Balassa, Count Leopold Kollonitz, and John Maj-
theni, had, in 1671, in vain attempted to take possession of
the chcirch. The pastor was obliged to leave his place, and
he found a home and protection at the house of Count Chris
topher Kollonitz, the nephew of his persecutor, and also with
Baron Matthew Ostrosith in St. John's.
In his absence, his library was taken, and committed to the
flames. After a procession in June, 1673, some Popish no
bles and soldiers, encouraged by the revenue officer, Stephen
Harvath, attempted to force their way into the Protestant
church. The Protestants assembled round the church, &nd
drove them back till they sought for shelter in the dwelling
of the Roman Catholic priest. There happened to be a fair
in the village that day, and the people, inflamed with drink,
crowded closer and closer round the priest's house, out of
which the soldiers now began to fire. After one Protestant
had been killed, and another deadly wounded, the mob
rushed madly on the house, killed Harvath and some of the
soldiers, and injured the priest so much that he died in a few
days. The charge of riot was now brought against the Protes
tants, and two regiments were sent to the town, who, lighting
a fire in the market-place, plundered and murdered to their
very hearts' content. As the precentor, the organist, and
the beadle, were proceeding to ring the alarm bells to sum
mon the inhabitants of the neighboring villages, they were
seized, cast into chains, and, by order of the commanding
officer, on the following day, 15th of July, 1673, were all
hanged. In Tura, Luka, and Miawa, these valorous men
cooled their rage by putting some of the country people on
the wheel, and impaling others ; some they quartered, and
20

230 HISTORY OF THE
others they hung up by the ribs.* In Szenitz, religious lib
erty was now completely crushed.
The citizens of Presburg were waiting with anxiety for
the fate which they saw awaiting them. On the 3d of Feb
ruary, 1672, the Protestant and Roman Catholic citizens
were summoned to the town hall, to hear a paper read which
was said to be an order from the king. This decree com
manded the Protestants to surrender up their churches to the
priests. The Roman Catholic citizens declared themselves
ready to obey his Majesty's orders, and accept of the church
es. The Protestants refused to surrender the keys, till by a
deputation to the king they had learned whether this really
were his wish.t
On that very day a deputation went to Vienna,- and among
them was John Vittnyedi, son of the deceased Stephen Vitt-
nyedi, who had been suspected of taking part in the late con
spiracy. As the deputation was crossing the Danube, they
were fired on, and soldiers hastening down took them prison
ers in Begebsbrunn to bring them back to Presburg. Vitt
nyedi was declared by Count Nicolas Pallfy to be a rebel,
and was detained in prison.
On the 5th of February, four other citizens started for Vi
enna, and reached it in safety. On the 7th, they obtained
an audience of the king and handed in their petition. On
the 18th, twenty citizens arrived to complain of fresh inju
ries, and they presented a second petition. On the 22d, a
third petition was presented, and in the mean time every
thing was done to urge the delivery of the keys in Presburg.
On the 18th of March, the Canon of Presburg, Benedict
Szomolanyi, and the town councillor, Stephen Vattay, at-

* See the full account of these transactions by Stephen Pilarik in his
Ourru JehmcB Mirabili.
f The paper was a decree of Ferdinand H., of the year 1636, and the Jes
uits were not ashamed to represent it as just now received from the royal
chamber.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 231
tempted to enter the school-house by force, but the wives of
the citizens hastening to the place, succeeded, by a few hard
words and some blows, in driving them away. The story
was told in Vienna, that Protestant women had beaten a
priest till there was little prospect of his recovery.
This affair of the women was made the ground of a heavy
charge. On the 13th of May, the citizens were summoned
before the archbishop, and in consequence of this, the twen
ty-three women, the three pastors, and the deacon, were
summoned to Tyrnau on the 23d of May, to give an account
before an extraordinary court, of the reasons why they had
built the church, why they had taken Vittnyedi under their
protection, and why the women had ventured to scold and
drive away Szomolanyi and Vattay.
There were in all thirty-nine citizens before thirty-six
judges and assessors, whose president was the bigoted Szelep-
csenyi, Archbishop of Gran. The other judges were either
bishops or Popish magnates, with the exception of one Prot
estant, George Perenyi. The sittings lasted till the 13th of
June, when the women were dismissed with a sharp reproof.
The citizens, who had been kept all this time as prisoners,
must await their sentence in the court of the archbishop's
palace. The decision was, " That all the Protestant inhab
itants of Presburg had been proved and found guilty of trea
son against his Majesty ; that their lives and property were
therefore confiscated, and they must immediately deliver up
churches and schools to the Papists."
All the citizens of Presburg at that time in Tyrnau were
immediately arrested and imprisoned, and among the rest the
venerable preacher and senior David Titius, who was obliged
to climb on a ladder into a most uncomfortable room, where
he was kept a prisoner, under hard treatment, till the 13th of
September. After unwearied exertions, and by the inter
cession of the Elector of Saxony, freedom was at last
granted to those citizens whose only offence consisted in not

232

HISTORY OF THE

looking tamely on while their holiest privileges were about to
be wrested from them, that they had taken part with a fellow-
citizen who had not yet Jieen proved guilty of crime, and
that they had not, like sheep, borne every injustice without
so much as bleating.
A month after the close of the trial at Tyrnau, the perse
cutors proceeded to take possession of the churches and
schools at Presburg. On the 18th of July, the bishop and
president of the chamber, Count Leopold Kollonitz, with sev
eral clergy and laymen, appeared before the school-house.
The Protestant pastors were brought thither, under an escort
of fifty soldiers. As the citizens had been strictly com
manded to remain in their houses, the pastors saw that all
opposition here would be in vain ; they accordingly, in obe
dience to orders, demanded the keys of the church and
schools ; the church officers, however, refused to give them
up till they had received express permission from the citizens
and from the congregation. Kollonitz then directed the
doors of the school-house to be broken open by a pioneer,
and he marched in with thirty-four Popish clergy and his
other retinue. In like manner they acted with the German
and with the Hungarian church, breaking the door with axe
and hammer, and by nine o'clock in <he morning they had
their whole work and labor of love ended.
Kollonitz then ordered the clergy to be all thrown into
prison. Anton Reiser, Valentine Sutorius, the Hungarian
preacher Stephen Horetzky, were confined, and the German
deacon Christian Piringer was laid in chains, as he had
spoken with energy against the surrender of the church.
After administering an oath to them that they should never
return, they were allowed to leave the city. But first they
were plundered of their books, which were brought in five
wagons to the court-house, and each one was permitted to
choose only twelve.
Yet the Lord did not forsake these faithful servants in their

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 233
exile. Anthony Reiser, a native of Augsburg, well known
as an author, became rector and librarian in his native town ;
he was afterwards made court chaplain by Prince Hohenlohe-
Aehringen, and at lagf first pastor in St. James's Church in
Hamburg, where he died in the year* 1686, beloved and la
mented by many dear friends. Valentine Sutorius, a native
of Franconia, was a short time at Coburg, and in his last
years was pastor and superintendent in his native country.
Christian Piringer became pastor in Laufen, a town in Wur-
temberg. The senior David Titius fared the worst ; for, after being
set free in Tyrnau, he was not allowed to return, but must
wander with his family through Moravia to Breslau. Here
the Lord opened the heart of the Princess of Brieg, who
provided for him, and he became pastor and superintendent
in Wahlaw in Silesia, where he died after a tedious illness in
1679. The Papists had now taken possession of the Protestant
churches without even a shadow of right or of justice. Their
own consciences appeared even to awake to the sense of
wrong, for it was not till after seven weeks that they ven
tured to read mass there, and to give the building the ap
pearance of a Popish church, by painting red crosses on the
pillars. In like manner were the Protestants of Karpfen deprived
)f their beautiful church. A first attempt had been made in
4 night in June, 1672, but the watchfulness of the citizens
prevented the attack from being successful. By means of
flails, pitchforks, and scythes, the Protestants drove Count de
Souches and his soldiers away from the place, but without
any bloodshed. The Croatian Colonel Count Colalto, with
five hundred wild Croats, then came, and seizing the keys,
by force took possession of the church.
While the cause of the Protestants in Hungary was so low,
and while the constitution scarcely existed any more even in
20*

234

HISTORY OF THE

name, the malcontents, who had fled to Turkey and Transyl
vania, did their utmost to raise troops and money. ApafT;-
was, however, a man of great indecision, and the Divan
thought it necessary for a little longer to keep up the appear
ance of friendly relations with the Cabinet of Vienna.
Impatient, and in danger if they delayed much longer, a
portion of the malcontents, secretly supported by Apaffy, and
under the guidance of Stephen Petroczy, Gabriel Keude,
Paul Szepessy, and Matthew Szuhay, broke into Hungary
over the stream Szollos, about the end of August, 1672.
They had only five hundred Turks from the Pasha of Gross
wardein. TheHaiduken soon joined them, and increased
their numbers by a few thousands. General Spantkaw was
obliged to yield, and the insurgents followed him as far as
Kashaw. They were here joined by Michael Teleky of
Transylvania, Paul Vesselenyi, Nicolas Forgacs, and others,
to the amount of about twelve hundred calvalry and infantry.
Wherever they came, the Protestants had their churches
and schools restored. The College of Eperjes was also
received back. They injured their cause, however, very
seriously by not resting, satisfied with this restoration ; they
sought out those who had been the most active agents in plun
dering the churches and schools, and especially the Popish
priests, whom they treated very ill.* At Nagy Szollos, two
Franciscans, who shortly before had taken possession of the
Reformed church, were thrown naked on a bed of thorns and
thistles, and after being sadly abused, they were left appar
ently dead. The Jesuits and Franciscans in Eperjes were
treated as they had themselves treated the Protestant pastors
shortly before ; the cup of Divine retribution was poured on
them in full measure by the hands of a soldiery driven to
madness by the inhumanities which these men had inflicted.
It was Benedict Seredi who prevented their being murdered.
* Fessler, I. c, Vol. IX. pp. 223, 228.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 235
In Homona, in the county of Zemplin, the insurgents, on
the 4th of October, seized and abused the Franciscans, plun
dered their churches and monasteries, cleaned their guns
with the consecrated oil, gave the priests' dress to be worn
by the women, and led away the monks in chains to Nagy
Mihaly. When, however, the field-marshal, Wolff Frederick Kopp,
of Neuding, a second Alba in Hungary, with Count Paul Es
terhazy, and a considerable body of troops, arrived to free
SpantkaW, who was shut up in Kashaw, the insurgents were
completely beaten, and compelled for the present to give up
their plans. The engagement took place on the 26th of Oc
tober, 1672, at the village of Gyorke, not far from Eperjes.
This success made the king and his advisers only so much
the more severe, and the archbishop's entreaties to preserve
the political rights of the country were not regarded. The
hardest measures were carried out. It was then not at all
disagreeable to the cabinet, when in a fit of spleen the
archbishop resigned his viceregal post in Hungary, and it
was on the 27th of February, 1673, filled up by the appoint
ment of John Ampringen, a hard-hearted man, who was
capable of doing anything whatever which was considered
necessary for confirming him in his post.*
The archbishop now travelled so much the more freely
through his diocese, accompanied by the usual retinue of
Jesuits and -dragoons, plundering the Protestants of their few
remaining churches and schools, and driving the preachers
and teachers into exile if they refused to become proselytes.
In the royal free cities they deposed all Protestant council
lors, and appomted Papists in their stead ; they disarmed the
citizens, took away all ammunition and levelled the walls.
The citizens of Eperjes were required, on the 8th of March,
1673, to give up their churches and college to the Papists
# John Hormayer, 1st Plutarch, Vol. IX. p. 85.

236 HISTORY OF THE
after five months' possession. The Protestant pastors were
prohibited under pain of death from every official act.
In 1673, this sacrilegious archbishop with his attendants
took forcible possession of the church in Sillein, in Trent
shin county ; so Nikolas, Rosenberg, and Liptshe, in Liptau
county ; Wartburg in Presburg ; Rackendorff, Hungarian Al-
tenburg, Zomdorff, and Gols, in Wieselburg county.
Though the Protestant Church was thus bleeding from hun
dreds of wounds, still the progress in the conversion of the
country was much too slow for the taste of the archbishop and
his helpers. It was therefore resolved to banish all pastors
and teachers completely out of the country, but, for the sake
of security, it was considered best to begin on a small scale.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 237

CHAPTER XII.

First Citation of Protestant Pastors to Presburg. — The Charge. — The
Judges. — The Trial  Archbishop's Declaration. — Count Elyeshdzy
treats with the Pastors. — The Pastors are prepared to go into Exile. —
The Conditions of Pardon. — Attempt to gain the Pastors to the Popish
Chureh. — Suhajda. — Stephen Fekete.

It was on the 25th of September, 1673, that the Arch
bishop of Gran summoned before the viceregal court in Pres
burg thirty-three Protestant pastors from Lower Hungary and
out of the counties Sol, Liptau, and Thurotz.
Only one of these, Caspar Geranczy of Karpfen, belonged
to the Reformed Church. They were summoned to appear
in person before the royal fiscus (attorney-general).
At the proper time they appeared in Presburg, strength
ened by a consciousness of their innocence, though by the
laws of the land, and by the resolutions of their synod, which
had been confirmed by the palatine, they were not at all
bound to present themselves before a spiritual court where
prelates who were their deadly foes presided. Their judges
were Szelepcsenyi, Archbishop of Gran ; Szechenyi, Arch
bishop of Kalotza ; Kollonitz, Bishop of Neustadt ; Klobu-
sitzky, Bishop of Fiinfkirchen, and a large number of lay
men, but among them not a single Protestant.
Nearly all appeared when called in the archbishop's court.
The most distinguished among them were the two superin
tendents, Kalinka and Tarnocsy, — the superintendent be
yond the Danube, Stephen Fekete, though summoned, did not
appear, — Clement Brecht and Matthew Porshius, Germans
from Neusohl, with Peter Sextius and Samuel Csernak, Sla-

238 HISTORY OF THE
vonian preachers, of whom the latter died during the trial ;
Godfrey Titius and Christopher Hofstetter, Germans, and
Isaiah Pilarik, Slavonian preacher at Schemnitz ; John Sex-
tius, Slavonian, and John Burius, German pastor of Karpfen ;
Daniel Sinapius, of Radw,any. John Burius, as eye-witness
and sufferer in the transaction, has left us abundant materials
for writing the history of the trial. The charge appears at
first sight so ridiculous, that one can scarcely know whether
to despise or to abhor the judges.
^ We are bound to hand to the world a record of the manner
in which titled men and bishops of the Popish Church did not
blush to attempt to stamp men of honor and high character
with disgrace, and to lower them to the level of common
felotis, that they might with more ease banish them from the
countiy. They were accused of having excited the people to rebel
lion ; of hindering royal officers and clergy in the discharge
of their duty ; of deposing judges and town-councillors ; of
rescuing rebels from imperial guards ; of giving Roman Cath
olic children horrible food ; * of having plotted the death of
imperial ministers ; of having been in correspondence with
the Turks ; of sending deputations to foreign powers ; of
joining the rebels in arms ; of having betrayed Popish priests .
to the Turks and rebels ; of having cruelly murdered nine
priests ; of having assisted the Turks in taking the fortress
of Fulek ; of having instigated rebellion in Szenitz, Tura-
Luka, and Miawa ; of having despised and trodden on the
wafer of the communion ; of having stolen the consecrated
vessels, and having made flags of the priests' vestments ; of
having blasphemed the Virgin Mary an^ tne saints ; of hav
ing called the Papists worshippers of false gods ; of having
given the consecrated host to the Turks ; of having attempted

* Katholischen Kindern den Koth evangelischer Prediger zii fressen gege-
ben zu haben.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 239
to destroy imperial troops ; and of having laid fire -with the
intent of burning a fortress.
These charges were only read, and not, as the law requires,
communicated in writing to the accused parties. Not till the
2df of October did they receive legal advice, and then two
advocates were appointed them by their judges. Mutual con
sultations among the accused were not permitted, and as the
superintendent was at one time about to say something in
self-defence, he was informed by the archbishop that this
was not allowed. " Mr. Kalinka," he said, laying his finger
on his mouth, " there is no leave to speak here ; the fiscus
(attorney-general) is like a raging lion, seeking whom he
may devour."
On the 3d of October the charges were extended. The
attorney-general assured Kalinka of having approved of the
book of Drabicius, and of having refused permission to the
Popish archdeacon officially to visit the Protesant Church of
Illawa in Trentshin. Two other preachers were charged
with having ridiculed the figure of the cross, and with hav
ing thrown down and trampled on it. He showed a letter
from Stephen Vittnyedi to Nicolas Bethlen, and another
signed J. B., which announced that the Prince of Transylva
nia was approaching, and that the Protestants had everything
to hope from him. He showed another letter, in which evan
gelical pastors were invited to a meeting, but that the subject
of the conversation should not be divulged.
The advocate Roessler replied on the 4th of October,
Showing that the charges were unfounded, the evidence de
ficient, these anonymous letters of no importance in the case^
and that the pastors were ready to clear themselves by oath
from any of the charges which were really serious. It was
of no avail.
At the close of the sitting, the archbishop turned to the
pastors, and said : " My friends, I find no pleasure in kill
ing, for I love peace. I could not be even a cook, for when

240 HISTORY OF THE
I hear the fowls screaming, I pity them, and could not look
even on the death of a hen. But here I sit as judge, and am
compelled to do that which the king commands and this court
decrees. Do the best, therefore, in your case, and obey ; as
for me, I shall leave nothing untried which I conceive to be
for your advantage." The poor men gave no reply.
On the 5th of October they were summoned to hear their
sentence. The advocates, who had done their duty- well, left
them with sorrow. Count George Illyeshazy now appeared
willing to undertake the office of friendly mediator. He
came to the pastors in the waiting-room, and addressed them.
" Venerable and reverend pastors," he said, " listen to me.
I was also once a Lutheran, but I became convinced of the
truth of the Roman Catholic religion, and I therefore sym
pathize deeply with you, some of whom were "my fellow-
students, and others my good friends. Certainly, certainly
you will have a terrible sentence. Four of you shall cer
tainly be put to the torture, then beheaded, and have your
hands cut off. The rest shall have a terrible exile. I would
therefore advise you to apply to the king for mercy, and to
beg also for those four, that no other evil may arise out of
their sufferings."
The pastors replied that they were conscious of innocence,
and were prepared to obey the king in all things save and
except in matters of conscience. The count, dissatisfied with
this answer, went into the hall, and returning shortly after,
told them that the four who should be put to the torrure were
the three superintendents and Daniel Sinopius ; the rest should
be partly beheaded and partly visited with other punishments.
They replied they wished to obtain favor.
Returning after a little, the count informed them that, if
they wished for favor, they must, with the exception of the -
four who were doomed to the torture, before the sentence,
apply to his Majesty for gracious consideration. The favor
would, however, be limited by the condition either to leave

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 241
the country for ever, or, if they remained, to resign all claim
to be regarded as Gospel ministers, and to live as laymen.
Scarcely two hours were given for reflection, when they de
clared that, if it be his Majesty's will, they were prepared to
leave the country, and trust their fate to Divine Providence.
At last Illyeshazy returned to say that these four could also
obtain mercy if they immediately departed, and never re
turned to any of his Majesty's dominions.
As they were, however, required to sign documents, stat
ing that, " having been found guilty of rebellion, they of
their own free will went into exile " ; or if they wished to re
main in the country, they were required to say, that " having
abused their office, they would in future abstain from every
ministerial act " ; new difficulties arose, and it was only when
wearied out by the uneeasing annoyances of the court that
they at last yielded, and all signed the reverse in one form or
other. Those who resolved to emigrate obtained thirty days to
arrange their affairs, and those who remained in the country
obtained a safe-conduct, by which they might reside as
private individuals wherever they chose in Hungary.
When the matter was so far advanced according to the
wish of the priests, all left the hall, with the exception of
the Archbishop of Gran and Bishop Kollonitz. The former
now addressed the pastors : " Respected brethren, what I
have done was compulsory upon me as judge. If you now
join the Church of Rome, you may remain in the country ; I
will advance your interests ; and if I had but one shirt left, I
I would sell it and give you the proceeds. I am archbishop,
and wish the salvation of all. Tell this to those who are
absent.* Think over what I have said, and if you do not
choose to communicate with me directly, you can do it
through others, and I will hear and help you."
# Some of them were sick.
21 *

242 HISTORY OF THE
The Bishop Count Kollonitz added, " I also will assist you,
and furnish you with money out of the royal treasury so
soon as you form your resolution." None of them all ac
cepted of the proposal except the pastor of Warin, in Trent
shin county, out of whose name, Suhajda, was formed the
anagram, " Ah, Judas ! "
All who were distinguished by knowledge and zeal in their
profession went into exile, — Kalinka, Tarnoczy, Fekete,
Neckel, Brecht, Isaiah Pilarik, Sextius, Burius, Sinapius, and
others, who, in Lausitz, in Saxony, and Silesia, found a place
of rest. Those who were old, or over-cautious, or who
expected a speedy change, remained at home, and led a
miserable life, striving to earn a livelihood by a profession to
which they were not accustomed.
Among the exiles we must take notice of Superintendent
Fekete, who had been a distinguished and successful preacher
at Guns, and who was now generously supported by Moritz,
Prince of Saxony, and the noble citizens of Naumburg. In
November, 1679, he ventured to return to Hungary, and lay
some weeks strictly concealed in Guns. As his wife, how
ever, died at this time, he then ventured to move about more
publicly, and shortly after going to the Island Rabakos, where
there was a castle of Stephen Ostffy, he began indeed, with
out formal permission, to discharge his pastoral duties, and
to keep a school.
The Roman Catholic clergy hearing of it, sent a military
detachment and overturned the castle to the very foundation.
Fekete sought to escape to Germany, but was brought back
in chains to Presburg. Afraid of losing his life, he went
over and joined the Church of Rome ; he received the sacra
ment at the hands of Kollonitz, accepted of large presents
which were made him, and was soon made Judge of Guns,
where he exhibited himself as one of the bitterest persecutors
of the Protestants ! (O Judas !)
The cowardliness of the pastors excited the indignation of

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 243
the country people, and did in every respect much injury.
The congregation at Schemnitz was very angry with its pas
tors, who had decided to leave the country. In a manuscript
of that time, which has been preserved, it is stated, " The
clergy might have remained without signing that hateful doc
ument, had it not been for their ridiculous timidity. Limpach
and Dr. Hellenbach had labored in favor of the mining towns,
(hat they might retain their Protestant services, and had
6egged the clergy not to sign ; but these hirelings, as if glad
to have the work accomplished, signed eight days before the
term was expired; and before they were peremptorily called
to do so."
There came a decree from Leopold, who was then residing
at Gratz, dated 12th of October, 1673, directing that for the
present all proceedings against the pastors of Schemnitz,
Kremnitz, and Neusohl should be suspended, and if any pro
ceedings had been already taken, they should be reversed, so
that the pastors might remain. But it was now too late.
In the mining districts of Lower Hungary, the divine ser
vice was almost completely suspended, for if a church did
remain in some places in the hands of the Protestants, there
was no pastor, and no permission to call one. The congre
gations at Schemnitz and Neusohl labored hard to obtain
their ecclesiastical liberty once more. They sent a petition
to the king about the end of the year 1673, which his Maj
esty handed over to Archbishop Szelepcsenyi, to whom he
had committed everything having reference to religion in
Hungary. The archbishop informed the deputies on the 16th
of January that their request would be considered on the
5th of March; he refused, however, to give the promise in
writing. Another petition was sent to the king, begging that each
town might have one church and one pastor for the Protestant
citizens, or at least a place appointed where they might meet ;
but all this received no reply. In Kremnitz, where a con

244 HISTORY OF THE
tract had been made, securing to the Protestants the hospital
church instead of that which was taken from them, and giv
ing them a right to keep a pastor, and to have public wor
ship, it was only there that public worship was still con
ducted ; and this privilege continued only till the middle of
December, 1673, for, on the occasion of the pastor baptizing
his own child, the priest found ground of accusation, and just
at Christmas their meetings were dissolved and the church
sealed. The pastors, who heard of another citation of the Prot
estant clergy to Presburg, and who saw that no trouble would
be spared to drive them out of the land or sink them into dis
grace, took leave of their congregations in January, 1674, and
prepared to leave the country. They were often stopped on
the road, and" obliged to pay very considerable sums for leave
to proceed ; but after much annoyance and many delays,
they at length arrived at Brieg, in Silesia. The precentor,
Matthew Demosh, the beadle, Philip Oertel, and the school
master of. Johannisberg, joined them in their exile. In spite
of entreaties and regardless of the contract, the archbishop
took possession of the hospital church in Kremnitz, and had
it consecrated to become a Popish chapel on the 3d of Jan
uary, 1674.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 245

CHAPTER XIII.
The New Citation of the Evangelical Preachers. — Conduct of the Pasha. —
The Trial. — The Sentence. — Separate Sentence on the Pastors of Basing,
Modern, and St. George. — Two hundred and thirty-six sign their Deed
of Besignation. — The Best refuse. — Treatment. — Separation of the Lu
therans and Reformed. — Firmness of the Reformed Pastors. — Imprison
ment. — Treatment in the Prisons. — The Jesuit Nicolas Kelio. — Petition
to the Emperor. — Condemnation to the Galleys.
A second more extensive summoning' of the Protestant
clergy was in course of preparation when the hospital church
of Kremnitz was surrendered to the Roman Catholics. The
first attempt had succeeded so well that the priests could not
suffer a very long time to pass till they had made another
attempt on a larger scale. Thirty-two evangelical preachers
had been covered with disgrace and torn away from their
congregations. The rest were terrified by the example.
The king, the Popish magnates, and the army, all prepared
to assist in this great work of eradicating Protestantism ; —
what more could be desired ?
The Archbishop of Gran, who was now very old, strained
every nerve to have the work soon accomplished. He acted
as if the words of the Lord at the last passover had been
directed to him, " What thou doest, do quickly." Accord
ingly, on the 16th of January, 1674, he summoned all the
Protestant clergy, not only from the territory which belonged
to Leopold, but also from that district which was under Turk
ish sway, and at the same time several teachers and some
students, to appear at a special court of assize at Presburg.
At the appointed time the parties appeared.
Some Popish writers, wishing to conceal the extent of this
21*

246

HISTORY OF THE

affair, represent the numbers to have been only two. hundred
and fifty, while the Protestants speak of three or even four
hundred. We have evidence that two hundred and fifty of the
Lutheran Confession and fifty-seven of the Reformed Church,
filling different offices in their respective churches, attended
the meeting. That so few appeared from the counties of
Gomor, Negorad, and Pesth, is to be attributed to the fact
that the pasha had forbidden them to attend ; and, in conse
quence of Turkish protection, the proportional number of
Protestant churches in the neighborhood was considerably
greater than in other countries ; and even after the Turks
were expelled, the circumstances did not permit such severe
persecution as had taken place before.
The court consisted either of the same individuals or of
men of similar sentiments, and among them was not a single
Protestant. The old archbishop presided, as on the former
occasion ; but this time legal advice was allowed to the ac
cused, and the advocates, Francis Szedeky, Melchin Heissler,
and Stephen Szalonty, undertook and carried the case through
with great tact and zeal. The grounds of the accusation lay
in the following two letters addressed to Nicolas Bethlen.
The former was written in short-hand, and the original was
never exhibited. ¦' Eperjes, May 10ft.
" 1 have to-day received your grace's letter at Eperjes.
It is at last resolved to assert our liberties with our blood, and
to place ourselves under the protection of the Turkish em
peror. With the Prince of Transylvania we will be of one
heart and soul. The king will furnish the money, and has
declared his readiness through a French ambassador. And
if he should decline, we will do so ourselves so soon as all is
ready. No attention must be paid to the idle tattle of Lob-
kovitz, or to the false Montekukulli. It would be well if the
Prince of Transylvania wrote to all the pastors to use their

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 247
influence with the common people to persuade them to pay
the tribute, and also to prepare them for taking up arms at
the proper time. The Protestant party has done its duty.
The region beyond the Danube we have intrusted to the pas
tors of ffidenberg and Guns. Presburg, Kashaw, Eperjes,
and the other towns are organized by the superintendents and
elders of those districts. We will all fight and die for God,
for our Church, and for our liberty, and will teach the Papists,
the dogs, a lesson which they have yet to learn. Your grace
will please not to lose any time in treating with the Haiduken.
Francis Rakotzy must be terrified and urged on to the work.
If God be with us, who can be against us ? — Your sincere
and obedient servant, " Stephen Vittnyedi of Muzsay."
The second letter was directed to Ambrose Ketzer, was writ
ten originally in Latin, and dated Presburg, December 30th,
1669. It announces that Stephen Vittnyedi, who, by the way,
was already deceased, had been in correspondence with the
chief pastors of Solna, Rayetz, and Thurna, and v/ith the su
perintendents, who had everything prepared with the greatest
secrecy. The elders of F. Z. were ready so soon as any one
came from M. H. or S. The superintendents had done their
duty. Bills of exchange to a large amount on Breslau and
Danzig \vefe ready. The cock (Gallus the Frenchman) was
delaying, but would soon shake his feathers.
These letters served now as the foundation of the charge.
The advocates did their duty so well in proving that the ac
cused had been guilty of no crime, and that the evil had
proceeded from the Roman Catholics, that two counts even in
this court, Forgacs and Szecsy, had the courage and the
honor to declare that the crime of rebellion was not proved.
As this declaration was, however, not agreeable to the rest
of the judges, the archbishop ordered " that the justification
of the Protestant clergy from the suspicion of rebellion

248 HISTORY OF THE
should be erased from the acts." After a month had been
spent in superficial investigations, and in debating, these men,
who were at the same time accusers, witnesses, and judges,
without making any distinction among them, or so much as
hearing what they as individuals had to say, on the 4th of
April, pronounced sentence on the clergy, and on the follow
ing day the same sentence on the teachers. The sentence
was, beheading, confiscation, infamy, and outlawry.
No one has ever pretended that this sentence had even the
slightest appearance of justice. The design was to annihi
late the heretics, and fanaticism considered every means
allowable. This is sufficiently evident, not only from the
manner in which the legal proceedings were conducted, but
also from the fact that fhe pastors of Leutshaw were neither
summoned nor annoyed in any way, because they had shortly
before peacefully surrendered their church, with all its ap
purtenances, to the bishop.* This is still further evident
from the efforts which were unceasingly made, till the Polish
commissioners, under the influence and guidance of George
Barskony, Bishop of Zips, consented to banish all the Protes
tant pastors and teachers from Zips, which at that time was
under the sway of the King of Poland.
A singular corroboration of the assertion that this trial was
only a mockery for the sake of gaining a certain object, may
be seen in the treatment of the evangelical pastors of Modern,
Bosing, and St. George, by the archbishop. These pastors
were summoned to Presburg on the 5th of March, in accord
ance with the king's command, to surrender their chnrches
and schools to the Roman Catholics. Having demanded a
copy of the royal edict, they were informed by the arch
bishop, that " they were not of sufficient importance that a
special command should be given on their account." Afraid
of the consequences, they came to an agreement with the
* Engel, 1. c. Vol. V. p. 81.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 249
attorney-general, on the 28th of February, to surrender all
their churches, schools, aftd church property to the archbish
op ; the attorney-general, on the other hand, declared the
charges to be annihilated and buried ; secured them their
private property; directed them to appear previous to the
meeting of the court at Presburg, and sign some kind of doc
ument, being a legal surrender of their church property ;
they should then have a right to meet privately for their own
edification, and to use the church bells and the burying-
ground in common with the Roman Catholics. Seven of the
pastors, Christopher Shedius, Michael "Holier, and Stephen
Pilarik, the first two German, the last the Slavonian pastor of
Modern, as also Michael Risshaler, rector of the high school
in the same town, Christopher Bohmer and John Michael
Weber of Bosing, Michael Huber and Paul Galli of St.
George, resolved to go into exile ; and the two Slavonian
preachers of the latter towns resolved to remain in the coun
try as laymen.
The sentence of death, which was pronounced indiscrim
inately on all who appeared at Presburg, was not carried into
execution. Leopold's conscience appeared not to be capable
of stretching so far. There was, however, so much gained
by pronouncing the sentence, that the pastors now stood com
pletely in the hands of their judges, and there was no choice
left them besides voluntary exile or dishonor, and degrada
tion from office in their native land. To the Protestant
Church they were as good as dead, and this was all which
the enemy wished.
There were many, however, who refused to choose either
alternative, and preferred bearing whatever the Lord might
lay on them. These were annoyed in every possible way,
and at last treated with the most cold-blooded inhumanity.
After means had been used which were not always very
creditable,* yet so successful, that two hundred and thirty-
* Engel, 1. c. Vol. V. p. 80.

250

HISTORY OF THE

six signed their resignation, the majority of these going into
exile, — the rest remained, in spite of all ill usage and threat-
enings, perfectly unmoved.
Every intercession was in vain, and indeed even danger
ous. The church of Rimasombath begged Count Adam
Forgacs to intercede for their pastor, but they received the
reply, — "For God's sake, let me rest in peace, for I sol
emnly protest I am myself not safe, and if I spoke a word in
your favor, I should be immediately called a rebel and thrust
into prison." *
For some time these men had perfect liberty to move
about in Presburg, with every opportunity for escaping.t In
deed, the Jesuits, meeting them on the streets, asked, in ap
parent astonishment, why they did not fly, — what they were
waiting for, — did they not know what was being prepared
for them ?
When the archbishop saw their perseverance, and discov
ered that they were strengthening each other in their resolu
tion, he had four pastors of the Reformed Church arrested,
namely, Stephen Seley, superintendent of Papa ; Michael
Miskolzy of Filek ; Stephen Batorkessy of Wesprin, and
Peter Czegled of Lewens, and chaining them two and two
together, had them thrown into the dungeon. On the follow*
ing day, George Lanyi, rector of Karpfen school, a Lutheranj
was thrown into the same prison because he had refused to
yield. On the 8th of May there remained still in Presburg
one hundred and eighty of those who had been condemned.
The rest had signed the required documents and were already
gone, and this number was thinning fast.
While all this was going on in Presburg, Count Francis
Hohenfeld wished also to have a little opportunity of showing
his zeal for his Church. He sent orders to the chief magis
trate of Hungarian Altenburg, about eighteen English miles
from Presburg, informing him that it cannot be tolerated,
* Hist. Diplom., p. 74. t George Lanyi, Captivitas Papistica.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 251
that after the men have become Papists the women should
venture obstinately to adhere to the Protestant Church. Ac
cordingly, they should be proclaimed rebels, and at next
Whitsuntide should be compelled to join that Church in which
alone salvation is to be had. Every one who refuses should
be fined for the first offence in forty florins, and for every
succeeding offence, that is, every time they are required to
partake of the communion in the Popish Church and refuse,
the fine should be doubled. This noble warrior, who wished
to earn his laurels in the glorious battle with women, con
cluded his edict with the modest request, that the judge
would please begin at home, and place his own wife first at
the bar !
Time was passing on in Presburg, and still the majority
of the condemned seemed very slow in submitting to the
wishes of their judges. Accordingly, the members of the
two confessions were separated, and all the Lutherans were
imprisoned in the archbishop's palace. This step was, how
ever, of little use, for the Calvinists remained very obstinate.
As they in general knew the German language but very im
perfectly, they had little -prospect of usefulness in a foreign
land, and had too much honor to sign their own .degrada
tion from the ministerial office, as the condition of remain
ing in the country.* Only one pastor and one school
master, the latter quite a youth, on the persuasion of the
landlord, signed the document, and remained. Not one had
gone into exile.
At the end of May there were still forty-one of them in
Presburg. The other sixteen had either escaped before the
sentence, or were gone back to their churches, where they
were protected by the landed proprietors. Four were miss
ing, either that the pasha had forbidden their return, or that
they were lying in some unknown prison.
# Hist. Diplomatica.

252

HISTORY OF THE

When the efforts to persuade them to embrace the Popish
faith or to resign their office seemed in vain, they were taken
out of the prison and put into common country carts ; seven
were brought to Sarvar, as many to Kupuvar, and six to
Eberhard, about three miles from Presburg, and thrust into
dark and filthy cells. Eight days later, the rest of the Cal
vinistic preachers and teachers, after being, by order of
Bishop Kollonitz, plundered of all their little property which
had any value, were taken to Leopoldstadt ; one, however,
by name Basil Kopecsy, of Skaros, came to Komorn.
Of the Lutherans there were eighteen brought, on the 3d
of June, to Leopoldstadt, of whom John Hodikim became a
Papist. Five came to Berutsh, nineteen to Komorn, and
eight to Sarvar. The amiable and gentle Bishop Kollonitz
sent the hangman, as likely to be an agreeable companion to
those who were going to Leopoldstadt, possibly that the
pleasant associations connected with his office might suggest
the prudence of joining the Roman Catholic Church. When
this individual had taken his seat beside the pastors in the
cart which- was to convey them to Presburg, he immedi
ately commenced to recommend his Church to them, and
at the same time \o exhibit his zeal in his own profession
by beating them most unmercifully on the head with his
stick.* Not less cruel was the old Archbishop of Gran, Szelep-
czenyi, who on festive occasions, after his splendid dinners at
the Castle of Eberhard, summoned the Reformed pastors
into his presence, and, after the bitterest insults and mock
ery, he sometimes descended 4o personal violence, because
they still steadily refused to sign the deed of demission. On
one occasion he struck. Stephen Nemethy with a hammer so
violently that his arm was rendered almost completely use
less. * Andrew Small, and Lampe, Hist, rec, ref. ad annum, 1674.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 253
No pen can describe the sufferings which these witnesses
for the truth were now required to endure. With such per
severance and with such heartless calculations did the perse
cutors use their power, that many wished for death. The
prisoners at Komorn declared at last that they could hold out
no longer, they would sign their demission. But now the
Jesuit who had charge of them was not satisfied even with
this, and declared that nothing could set them free but their
'"oining the Church of Rome. Here was the jailer inflicting
another penalty than that which the court had pronounced ;
still there was no appeal.
At last, when completely wearied, seventeen Lutherans
renounced their faith, and there remained only two, Nicolas
Buganyi and Stephen Zedenyi, who, with their companion,
the Calvinistic pastor, continued true to their profession.
This latter must now experience the whole weight of Rome's
fury, because it was through his influence that the other two
refused to yield.*
The renegades received fifty florins each, with directions
to assist in persuading the others to follow their example. In
some cases the priests gained their ends. In Sarvar, one
Lutheran and one Calvinist yielded ; in Buccaria, seven Lu
therans and three Calvinists.
Less successful were the efforts in Leopoldstadt to gain
converts, though here the sufferings were most severe. A
Jesuit, Nicolas Kellio, to whom a kind of general inspection
was committed, and a Popish schoolmaster of the place, who
was a poor cripple, strove to outdo each other in their inven
tion of new methods to torment and annoy the poor sufferers.
They were treated worse than criminals of the first class.
They had no intercourse with friends. Their food was
coarse bread and water. Without distinction of age or
strength, all bore chains of the same weight ; and when they
* Hist. Diplomatica; Andrew Small, Eccl. Luth. Adversaria.
22

254 HISTORY -OF THE
protested against this treatment, they were told by the jailers,
" You are guilty of double -rebellion against the Church and
the king ; and even though some of you may have never
thought of rebelling against the king, as I will readily sup
pose, still your disobedience to the Church deserves the heav
iest punishment which can be inflicted."
In the fortress they were ordered to perform the meanest
offices, in the middle of winter they were obliged with uncov
ered hands to carry away the ice and snow, and to clean the
sewers.* If the consecrated wafer was carried past, they
must fall on their knees. As Gregory Illes, a frail old man,
once refused to kneel, he was struck so severely by Bene,
that he bled. Even social singing and prayer were pro
hibited. As they were once ordered to dig themselves a new prison,
Stephen Harsanyi, a man of much learning, and highly re
spected by the others, cried out, " You treat us worse than
the most cruel tyrants treated the apostles and martyrs ; their
prisons were at least prepared for them." " Very well,"
replied the overseers with a laugh, " you will work the more
diligently till yours is ready."
By night they often suffered from thirst, and had no water ;
by day they were prohibited from receiving any assistance,
either in money or food. A man who attempted to give
them some food was severely beaten, and a woman who at
another time was discovered attempting the same was put
into a kind of pillory, and led about in disgrace through the
streets, — a species of punishment in general reserved for
harlots. These men lay in narrow cells, partially exposed to rain
and snow, among thieves and murderers, who mocked them
when they prayed. Being driven by force once to church
to hear mass, they strove to turn back at the church door,
* And a Hungarian winter is often 40° to 60° F. below the freezing point.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 255
upon which Kellio fell into such a rage, that even during the
mass he had two of them, Szilvasy and Thurotz, stretched
on the ground and beaten in such a way, with the ramrods
of the soldiers' guns, that they did not long survive.
Kellio'seemed afraid that the story of his tyranny should
spread through the country ; he accordingly for some time
alleviated their sufferings, and treated them with considerable
gentleness. He then applied to them to sign a certificate
acknowledging his attention to all their wants, and testifying
that he had faithfully applied all the money and food which
had been given him for them, as also certifying that he had
allowed their friends free access to them. Entirely in his
power, and having of late obtained better treatment than
formerly, what was to be done ? What ought to be done
we can easily decide, but who can say what he himself, un
der such circumstances, would do ? They signed the cer
tificate. The Jesuit immediately published it as a justification
of himself, and then treated them as cruelly as before.
Towards the close of the year they found an opportunity
of presenting a petition to Leopold,* and it may be that this
had some influence in ripening the resolution to set them
free.t After lying ten months in prison they had a change, but
only for the worse. The three pastors who had remained faith
ful in Komorn, with thirty-three other companions in suffer
ing, were, on the 18th of March, 1675, brought out of a
secret gateway from the fortress, and committed to a com
pany of about four hundred cavalry and as many infantry,
to be taken to Italy.

# Ribinyi, Mem., Tom. n. p. 451.
t The author of the Short Extracts gives himself trouble to attempt to
prove that such a petition was never sent or never received. That it was
drawn up and sent, there is not the slightest doubt, and if it did not reach
the king's hands, it must have been because it was the interest of the priests
to keep it back.

256

HISTORY OF THE

It is said that the king's order was to set them free, but
that Bishop Pallfy of Neutra found ways and means of falsi
fying the edict, and of sending these detested heretics to the
galleys. The edict had stated that it pleased his Majesty to
have mercy, and to suffer them to go out of the fortress, to
which the bishop added, " that they might learn to pray in
the galleys." Had this been the king's wish, it was, instead
of favor, a much higher punishment.
Even Bishop Kollonitz could not have wished more than
this. He had once told the prisoners to their face, " You set
too much confidence in the king's mercy, but it will be of
no use, for if he should ten times give the most favorable
decision, I could find a hundred ways of preventing its taking
effect." The prisoners were brought by a circuitous route through
Moravia to Leopoldstadt, where the brethren who had been
there confined were brought out to join them. They em
braced each other and wept, while they pledged themselves
once more not to yield. As Stephen Selyi, the superintendent
of the Reformed Church, saw the miserable state of the breth
ren in Leopoldstadt, he cried, " O God, for what wondrous
times hast thou reserved us ! Give thou strength that we
may bear all the sufferings which thou hast appointed us ! "
With the two feet chained together, under the mockery of
the soldiers, they travelled on foot from Vienna to Trieste.
Here the very buttons were cut off their coats, their beards
shaved off, and even their heads shaved quite close, so that
they could distinguish each other only by the voice.* They
had lain at night packed together in stables, and had scarcely
obtained sufficient food, so that many fell sick, and four of
them died in prison at Trieste, while two others died shortly
after on the road. Their daily provision was a quarter of a
pound of biscuit and a glass of water, with occasionally a
* George Lanyi, Captivitas Papistica.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 257
little cheese. After some time, they had about three half
pence English money given them each day to feed them
selves. On the journey to Naples, Gregory Hely, who was already
quite exhausted, and had been set on an ass to bring him for
ward, fell on the road, and died on the spot. He was left
unburied on the public road. Near the end of the journey,
Michael Gotsh entered into his rest. Three of the prisoners
succeeded in escaping, — George Lanyi at Capra-Cotta, on the
1st of May, and John Simonides and Tobias Illaver at the
town Liscerna, and, after .much suffering and toil, arrived at
last in a place of safety.
Of the forty-one who had been taken away, only thirty
entered the galleys at Naples on the 7th of May. They
were here sold for fifty Spanish piasters apiece, and being
divided among the boats, were chained to the benches like
other galley-slaves.

22 :

258

HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XIV.

Treatment of the Prisoners in the other Fortresses. —Journey to Trieste. 
Hopes of the Possibility of Ransom. — Ten join the Church of Rome. —
George and Philip Weltz. — Appeals to Germany. — Charles II. of Eng
land.— The Vice- Admiral of the Dutch Fleet.— Hopes of Delivery, and
Disappointment — Admiral Ruyter. — The Galley-slaves set free.

While this was going on, the fate of the brethren at Sar
var, Kupuvar, and Eberhard, was still uncertain. The ene
my had hoped to break their spirit by a tedious imprisonment,
but when this did not prevail, they also, to the number of
twenty — being thirteen of the Reformed Church, and seven
Lutherans — were ordered off to Naples, there to await their
doom. On the 1st of July, 1675, they were led out under
the direction of Gabriel Koever and an armed band ; Stephen
Kapossy and John Szent-Niklossi were, by the king's com
mand, set free in Hungary ; and the other eighteen, worn
and weary, reached the seaport Trieste.
They were made to lodge in cow-houses, and when in
Trieste one succeeded in escaping, the others were shaved
and kept much stricter. The runaway was again taken ;
and they demanded that he should mention which of the
others were aware of his escape. He did not mention any
names. Hopes were held out that they might be bought off if any
were willing to make the attempt, and- both in Vienna and in
Venice considerable sums were raised for that purpose, —
and actually paid ; but the promise was soon forgotten, and
the money was never returned. Only one was set at liberty,
and that was Stephen Czusy, the Reformed pastor of Losoncz.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 259
The rest of the prisoners were brought to Buccaria, a town
on the Adriatic, and their patience having been sorely tried,
ten of them renounced their profession of Protestantism, and
joined the Church of Rome on the 19th of February, 1676.
It was the seven Lutherans, Stephen Mensatoris, John Ra-
phanides, John Czabanyi, John Glogovius, John Rohacs,
Philip Johannides, and John Esutka ; three of the Reformed
Church, John Goemaery, Stephen St. Peter, and John Szal-
lay ; three others of the Reformed Church had died on the
way, and had been buried by their brethren, who sang the
88th Psalm over the lonely grave.
Only a few now remained, and their lot was becoming
still harder. Their teeth fell out ; while yet alive, their
bodies were decaying. On complaining to the vice-prefect,
Starko, of the treatment, they were told that all was done
according to the strictest orders received from Kollonitz, that
the heretical preachers should be very sorely tormented.
At last the hour of deliverance came for them as well as
for their brethren in the galleys at Naples ; but the manner
is such a striking manifestation of the Divine glory, that we
must examine it a little more closely.
Powerful kings, princes, and people had interceded for
these men, who had now been for many months chained to
Turks, Moors, and Negroes ; and yet, notwithstanding the
suffering, and notwithstanding the entreaty, the chains were
not broken. The Lord then showed them mercy first,
through that rich and universally respected citizen of Naples,
George Weltz, who, with his brother Philip, visited twice
a week these men who were the outcasts of society, and sup
plied them with food, clothing, and money. To have the
opportunity of doing so, he made presents to the inspector,
and invited the general, Nahremberg, often to his house, and
he had nearly brought matters so far, that for a hundred du
cats, a price which Weltz promised to pay, these men were
to have their liberty.

i60

HISTORY OF THE

Still their situation was very lamentable. They therefore
resolved to draw up a statement of their case and present it
to the brethren of the Reformed Church residing in Naples
or visiting it, begging for aid. A similar letter was written
to the Dutch ambassador at Basle. With great zeal did the
medical doctor, Nicolas Zaffius, take up their case. He was
a native of Nuremberg, and a genuine Christian, and at this
time residing at Naples. He wrote most thrilling appeals to
the Swiss universities, as also fo Holland, Germany, and
England, and thus awakened a deep interest in their suffer
ings. Comforting replies were received from Professor
Heidegger on the 17th of September, 1675 ; from Dr. Wa-
zer ; from the Geneva Professor, Francis Turrentine, and
others ; and all these expressions of sympathy Zaffius has
tened to communicate.
Charles II. of England (of whom Macaulay says, " His
conscience did not much trouble him in reference to the
question of dispute which separated his Protestant sub
jects ") * also issued a royal letter to the chief towns, the
universities, the archbishops, and the bishops asking for con
tributions for those who were oppressed for conscience'
sake ; and these collections were of great use to the prison
ers after they were set free.
The Elector of Saxony wrote an earnest word to the em
peror at Vienna, under date of the 10th of December, 1675,
. but all was too little to obtain freedom for the sufferers. The
noble-minded Weltz continued his exertions, and through
him a representation was made to the Prince Regent of Na
ples, Peter Alvarez, in which it was most satisfactorily
shown, that it was not on account of rebellion, but for the
sake of their religion, that, contrary to all Divine and human
laws, they were thus condemned to such horrid slavery.
" Had we been really guilty of rebellion or treason," they
* Macaulay, Vol. I. p. 168.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 261
write, " there were scythes, and swords, and gallows, and
executioners in Hungary ; and it is not to be supposed that
the King of Hungary would thus surrender over to the Span
iards and Italians his sovereign right of punishing his own
rebels, or that he would ask their aid to inflict the penalty if
the sentence had been just."
The prince regent replied that they were sold for life to ¦
the gaJ'eys, and he could do nothing for their deliverance.
The same reply was given by the following regent ; and
when Weltz, .supported by the English ambassador Littelton,
offered one hundred ducats apiece to buy them off, begging
at the same time for compassion to be shown to the aged
and infirm, the regent replied, " They are not Roman Cath
olics." But when all hope was at an end, it was then that the Lord
remembered his promise, " I will redeem thee ; I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee, saith the Lord."
It was on the 12th of December, 1675, that the Dutch fleet
under Vice-Admiral John de Staen, sailed into the harbor of
Naples. The chaplain, Argid Vireth, was sent to the prison
ers, begging of them exact information on the ten following
points, so that the vice-admiral might, by Divine assistance,
and by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, labor more effi
ciently on their behalf.
The ten questions were the following : —
1. Why were you first called together at Presburg previous
to your imprisonment ?
2. W'ere you summoned by order of -the king or of any
other person, and of whom ?
3. When were you summoned ?
4. What charge was brought against you, and why were
you imprisoned ?
5. How have you come out of your first imprisonment to
be put into the galleys ?
6. Is it by order of the king or of some other person that
vou are here ?

262 N HISTORY OF THE
7. Have you been sold into slavery, and for what price ?
8. Give your names, and the names of the villages or towns
where you were placed as pastors ?
9. Are your brethren in Hungary doing nothing for your
release, or do they not care for you ?
10. What means do you consider most likely to obtain
your freedom and your former position ?
The prisoners gave such satisfactory replies, especially to
the 2d, 4th, and 6th questions, that the vice-admiral, with
some officers and the chaplain, immediately proceeded to the
Regent of Naples, and begged their release. They were so
kindly received, that the chaplain hastened to the ships to
inform them that within three days they might expect to be
free. As the fleet had immediately to leave the harbor in
consequence of the war with France, the prisoners remained
still in their chains.
But there is One who hears the sighing of the prisoners,
and bottles up their tears, — the Lord of Hosts is his name,
the Lord great in might ! The fleet was not far on its way
towards Sicily till it met the admiral, Ruyter, who had been
commanded by the States-General of Holland to take up the
case of the prisoners. At the same time, the admiral re
ceived a petition from the martyrs themselves, and immedi
ately writing to the King of Naples, he forwarded the opinion
of the Austrian ambassador respecting the innocence of these
men, and committed their case to the Dutch ambassador,
Cornelius Wandelen, and to George Weltz. The papers
were now handed over to the court of assize, and after a
close examination, the judges came, on the 22d of January,
1676, to the following conclusion: "That the pastors and
professors at present confined on the boats are not guilty of
the charges laid against them, and should without delay be
set free."
The Dutch ambassador hastened down himself with the
joyous message to the prisoners. George and Philip Weltz,

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 263
*rith an Italian advocate, came soon after. Even the tnsk-
masters seemed moved, and wished the prisoners- joy.
And yet their faith must once more be tried. The heav
ens were once more black above them, and the mockery,
and the hard labor, and the sorrows were all renewed, for a
report had come that the Dutch fleet was going home. The
last hopes seemed to have died away, when, quite unexpect
edly, Ruyter, with full sail, entered the harbor of Naples.
He had received orders to postpone his expedition, and he
accordingly ran into the bay.
On the 11th of February, 1676, the chaplain of the Dutch
fleet, accompanied by several superior officers, went on board
the boats, and, as in a dream, the prisoners forsook the place
of their confinement, singing the 46th, the 114th, arid 125th
Psalms. Having reached the ship of the vice-admiral, he
received and embraced them with unspeakable joy, and after
the tears of gratitude had freely flown, they knelt down
together to thank God for their deliverance, and sung once
more the 116th Psalm. Refreshed and strengthened, with
hearts overflowing with gratitude, .and their lips with praise
to God, theyspent'tbe night on the vice-admiral's ship.
The next morning they were brought before the admiral.
The veteran hero received them with every possible kind
ness, and exclaimed that "of all his victories, none had given
him so much joy as the delivering these servants of Christ from
their intolerable yoke." He would not listen to their thanks,
" For," said he, " we are only the instruments, — give all the
glory to God." The noble admiral had clothes provided for
them at his own expense, and took them with him. Of the
thirty who entered the galleys, twenty-six were still remain
ing, and they went to Switzerland, Germany, England, and
Holland, till such time as they were permitted to return to
their native land.
As the story was now spread over all Europe, it was found
necessary to give some explanation of the conduct of the

26<* HISTORY OF THE
court. Accordingly the Jesuit Kellio, under an assumed
name, published a book, stating that it was on account of
rebellion, and not for their religion, that they had been pun
ished.* George Lanyi, who had escaped on the road to Na
ples, and who was now living in Saxony, wrote a reply-
under the title Funda Davidis, David's sling against Goliath,
in which he proves thirty falsehoods in the Jesuitical attempt
to whitewash the court at Presburg.
In vain was it attempted to prove that the Protestant clergy
were the originators or supporters of rebellion ; in vain was
the charge brought against them of having instigated the mur
der of Popish priests. It was after the pastors were in prison,
that three priests and one civil officer in Neutra county were
murdered. The same was the case with the Franciscan in
Keiskemar, and with the Eremite, George Csapelanyi, in
Fuza, who was found dead not far from Erlau. In Neutra,
three priests had been found cruelly murdered in a stormy
night by common robbers.
Nineteen individuals were suspected of the awful crime
were put to the torture, and afterwards executed, but none of
them ever charged any of the pastors, with having any part in
the matter.
We have the more reason tq assert again that the whole
affair was a mere Jesuitical trick, from the fact that, on the,
repeated applications of the Elector of Saxony, Leopold
ordered, on the 22d of January, 1676, that the grounds of the
sentence should be once more investigated. When it was
now confessed that the sentence was unjust, the king, by a

* Extractus verus et brevis quo candidd demonstratur acatholicorum
predicantium ex regno Hungario proscriptionem et degradationem factam
esse respectu rebellionis non autem religionis; easdem predicantes non in.
genere sed in specie, convictos ac legitime esse condemnatos. Tyrnau, 1675.
How could three hundred prisoners be accused, examined, tried, and con
demned separately, and all within four weeks ? Why did_ they all deserve
exactly the same punishment ?

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 265
decree of the 24th of January, ordered it to be reversed, and
the prisoners to be1 set free. The clergy were afraid of them
if they returned, and added the clause that the liberated pris
oners should not revenge themselves or demand compensa
tion, nor return to their country.*
* See the admirable work of Heidegger, — Amsterdam, 1684, — a book
written with great accuracy and judgment.

23

266 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XV.
General View of the State of the Protestant Church in Hungary and Tran
sylvania at the Time the Pastors were released. — The Pastors in the
Woods and Caves. — Cunning of the Priests in attempting to find them. —
( (Edenberg a favored City. — Princess Eggenberg. — Insurrection of the
Hungarians. — Tokely. — Attempts to make Peaee.
While we have been confining our attention exclusively
to the prisoners on the galleys and at the Adriatic Sea, the
Popish priests at home were carrying out their great work of
annihilating the Protestant Church here, as they had already
done in Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Bohemia. And they
had certainly very nearly obtained their hearts' desire. For,
except the provinces under the pasha, where the Protestants
enjoyed their religious liberties, and a few districts on the
Theiss, where, amid all dangers and difficulties, the Prot
estants, chiefly of the Reformed Church, had still been able
to preserve a kind of liberty of worship, — but for these
alone, that part of the kingdom which owned Leopold as its
ruler had almost ceased to possess the Gospel.
Putting their lives in their hands, there were a few pastors
who either had not been summoned to Presburg, or who had
not gone, and in lonely glens, in woods and mountains wild,
in ruined castles and morasses inaccessible except for the
initiated, these men resided, and preached the Gospel to the
faithful who were scattered over the land. From the dark
cavern, scantily lighted, arose the Psalm of praise sung to
those wild melodies "which to this day thrill the heart of the
worshipper. From lips pale and trembling with disease,
arising from a life spent in constant fear and danger, the
consolations of the Gospel were proclaimed to the dying.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 267
The Lord's Supper was administered ; fathers held up their
infants to be devoted in baptism to Him for whom they them
selves were willing to lay down their lives ; and, amid the
tears which oppression wrung from them, they joined their
hands and looked up to Him who bottles up the tears, and
looked forward to a better land beyond the grave.
This was especially the case in the mountainous countries
of Neutra, Trentshin, Thurotz, Liptau, and Arva, where,
despite the watchfulness of the foe, the Protestants continued
in some way to enjoy the exercise of religion.*
Among those faithful servants of Christ who, in the days of
danger, by the Divine blessing, and by the watchful care of
their friends, escaped the nets laid for them, some of the best
known were Daniel Kirmann, in Tura-Luka ; Martin Zener,
in Belluds ; Daniel Reguli and Samuel Michalovitz, in Trent
shin ; Nicolas Venitius, Michael Zaborsky, in Thurotz ; Zach-
ariah Clementis, Balthasar Csip, and Thomas Coronides, in
Liptau. But woe to him whose dwelling was discovered, or
who was seized ! " Heavy punishments and imprisonments
were his lot, till he either renounced his profession, or died
in misery in his lonely cell. It is said that priests, sometimes
dressed in the simple garb of Protestant pastors, and assum
ing as much as possible their h&bits and forms of expression,
went round and found out from the unsuspecting people
where the pastors resided, and who they were. These wolves
in sheep's clothing came offering their services as Protestant
pastors, and professing to have endured much for the sake of
their consciences, and easily gained the required informa
tion. A dark cloud rested on the servants of the Lamb.
•Only in the retirement of the closet, and in the family circle,
where no stranger whatever joined, did many of them ven
ture to engage in prayer. Out of the sacred Scriptures each
sought for himself comfort and encouragement, waiting for
better days. * Mica Bury.

268 HISTORY OF THE
The shepherds were smitten, yet the sheep, though scat
tered, were not lost or forgotten by the Great Shepherd.
In ffidenberg the brethren enjoyed wondrous marks of the
Divine care, for here the landed proprietor left still some
traces of religious liberty. On the 5th of March, 1764, their
pastors had been summoned with the rest to Presburg, but a
clear vifew of the aim of the enemy, as well as of his power,
induced the citizens to send a deputation to Vienna, to attempt
to rescue as much as possible of their freedom in the great
trial. They succeeded in their mission.* They voluntarily
surrendered the greater part of what they held dear, that
they might be sure to retain something. On the 28th of
February they made a solemn treaty with the attorney-gen
eral, Nicolas Mailath, promising to surrender all churches,
chapels, and schools, with all the emoluments attached, into
the hands of the attorney-general, and within fifteen days to
cause that all pastors, teachers, and church officers should
either leave the town, or pledge themselves not to discharge
the duties of their office any more, but reside quietly as lay
men in the city.
The attorney-general promised in the name of the king
that a place should soon be given them, where, under two
pastors whom they themselves should select, they and the
foreign ambassadors, and the members of the parliament who
were Protestants, should enjoy the free exercise of their re
ligion. These two pastors should have liberty to reside in
town, and to discharge ministerial duties in private houses.
Besides, the Princess Maria Eggenberg should have the privi
lege of retaining her own chaplain, whose services might
also be enjoyed by the Protestants residing in the town. The
Protestants should enjoy the use of the legacies which had
been left them by members of their own confession, and
should also have the use of the burying-grounds.
* Ribinyi, Memorab., Tom. II. p. 422; Mica Bury; (Edenberg.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 269
They should have equal rights in the hospital, and instead
of the Vittnyedi house, they should have that which the Prin
cess Maria Eggenberg" occupied. No one should be com
pelled to become Roman Catholic or to emigrate, and all
processes at present pending should be quashed. On the
21st of September the king appointed the town of Eisenstadt
as the place where the two pastors should proceed to hold
the service for the present ; it was about ten miles distant.
Though this was not as they had expected, still they obeyed,
and sent their two pastors, John Barth and Christopher So-
bitsh, to conduct the services. While, however, at the fol
lowing Easter so many people came, that the church could
not contain them, a command came from the king that none
but citizens of (Edenberg should be admitted. It was only
at the end of the following year that they obtained the place
which they should permanently occupy as a church. Not
long after, the noble princess died, and she was soon followed
by her worthy chaplain, Matthew Long, whose influence had
been chiefly successful in obtaining these privileges for the
Lutherans of CEdenberg which they did not elsewhere enjoy.
Of the rest of Hungary it might well have been said, "Dark
ness covers the earth, and thick darkness the people."
It was quite natural that, under such circumstances, the
numbers of the malcontents increased with every day. Bloody
affrays between these and the royalists were quite common.
The constitution was overturned, and those whose duty it was
to watch over it looked quietly on. The soldiers passed
through the land oppressing it as they chose, and making
such exactions as they saw fit.
Many fled to Transylvania, where, under the Prince Mi
chael Apaffy, they found protection ; for, although he did
not declare himself publicly on their side till Louis XIV. of
France sent him aid and entered into a formal league, still
he was at heart a steady friend of their cause. When, there
fore, the ambitious Kara Muslapha became grand vizier, after
23*

270 HISTORY OF THE
the death of Ahmed Kioprili, and when the hopes of assist
ance from the Divan seemed tolerably certain, the malcon
tents, strengthened by Poles and Transylvanians, and sup
ported by French money, had many successful engagements
with the imperial troops.* This war was, as might be ex
pected, very cruel. The German soldiers acted as they
chose, impressing men and horses, and giving no remunera
tion. The peasants were obliged to pay the same tax three
or four times. The most expensive food was always de
manded, and received with expressions of the bitterest scorn.
The slightest resistance was visited with blows, and even with
death. The military officers were the only judges, and they
were at the same time in general the accusers. Children
were threatened that if they did not keep quiet the Germans
would come. When a complaint reached Leopold, he sent
a warning to his generals, but they were in a situation com
pletely to disregard it.
Up till the year 1678 a Transylvanian nobleman, Michael
Teleky, led the rebels, and not without courage and prudence.
In consequence of a quarrel, however, with the French offi
cer, he resigned, and returned to his native land. Stephen
Vesselenyi had the command for a time, and was followed by
Count Emerich Tokely, the son of Stephen, who had died in
the castle Likava. He had scarcely attained his twentieth
year, when he had collected above twenty thousand men,
with whom he roved through Hungary, plundered the min
ing towns, and in 1680 conquered Kesmark and Leutshaw.
Adorned with the qualities which become a general, — he
spoke Latin, Hungarian, German, and Turkish with great
fluency. His followers fought with bravery, but without
reaching the desired end. The victories were alternate; —
to-day a victory, to-morrow a defeat; here an advantage
gained, on another spot a loss sustained. Wherever the in-
 ?  ^_^
* Mailart, 1. u. Vol. V. p. 28.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 271
surgents gained the day they gave the Protestants their
churches ; in a few days, perhaps, the royalists entered and-
restored them to the Roman Catholics. It was natural that
pent-up religious hatred here broke out, and that the party in
power abused its position for the purposes of persecution.
The insurgents wreaked vengeance on the priests, and es
pecially on the Jesuits, whom they considered the originators
of all the calamities ; and the royalists in their turn treated
the Protestants with similar cruelty. "
The miserable state of the country, and the advice of sev
eral influential men, seemed to incline Leopold to milder
measures in matters of religion. Perhaps, too, -the birth of a
prince was not without effect. This prince was born of Ele-
onora, princess of the palatinate, and his third wife, on the
26th of July, 1678.* After recalling General Kopp, who was
distinguished by awful cruelty, and setting in his place Ste
phen Count of Wiirben, as commander-in-chief in Upper
Hungary, he sent a circular letter to all the bishops and
higher civil officers, to inquire what means they thought most
likely to restore peace. f
The gentler counsel of the bishop of Waitzen was over
come by the fiery and furious Barskony, Bishop of Erlau.
The opinions were so different, that the king could come to
no conclusion. After the death of the Bishop of Erlau, he
made another attempt to obtain peace, by summoning a com
mission to Presburg, carefully to inquire into the state of the
country. The whole affair, however, was rendered useless
by Leopold's imprudent step of appointing a German of the
name of Hocker, who had lately become a nobleman, to be
the president of the commission, and thus wounding the na
tional prejudices of the Hungarian bishops and nobles. When,
therefore, the president forgot himself so far as to call all the
* Szirmay, Notit. Hist. Comitatis Zempl., p. 222-.
t Engel, 1. c. Vol. V. p. 87.

272 HISTORY OF THE
Hungarians rebels, a storm arose in the council, and in the
heat Count Thomas Pallfy called the president a scoundrel,
and naturally the discussions were soon brought to a close.
A -third attempt was made by the old Archbishop of Gran,
in the king's name, but equally in vain. He went, towards
the close of 1678, to the leader of the rebels, Tokely, to per
suade him to give over hostilities.* The archbishop was
kindly received, and informed by Tokely that he would gladly
cease on condition that complete and full pardon should be
secured ; that the constitution and the office of the palatine
be again restored ; that the Protestants should again obtain
possession of their churches ; that certain priests should be
banished ; and that sufficient security should be granted that
all these conditions would be honestly and faithfully carried
out.t As the archbishop would not grant so much, streams
of blood must flow before there was peace. The work of
peace was most hindered by the two princes who accompa
nied the archbishop, Swartzenberg and Nostitz, for they de
manded that, before any proposals should be made, General
Tokely should lay down arms.
Tokely once more drew the sword, and as the emperor
had now made peace with France, he was so much the more
inclined to try the chances of war. There was, therefore, no
great earnest on either side in seeking peace. The scourge
of civil war was equally terrible on both sides, and in 1679 a
plague came to help on with the work of death. So fearful
was the mortality, that from March till October even the war
relaxed, and the deputy-governor of the land was chased away
by the plague.
After another attempt to arrange the affairs of the country
had failed, through the imprudent advice of Leopold's Ger
man counsellors, the primate at length succeeded in obtain
ing a Diet to be held at CEdenberg on the 28th of April, 1681.
* Fessler, Vol. IX. p. 289. f Engel, 1. c. Vol. V. p. 90.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 273

CHAPTER XVL

Diet of CEdenberg, 1681. — Election of the Palatine. — Petition to the King. —
Memorial of the Roman Catholics. — The Petitions of the Protestants with
out Effect. — George Gerhard's Motion. — The Roman Catholic Deputy,
Gabriel Kapy. ,— Struggle of the Clergy. — The Roman Catholic Magnates
and Nobles assist the Protestants. — The Imperial Decree. — Further At
tempts of the Protestants. — Close of the Diet.
This Diet, which the Germans had so much opposed, was
of great importance for Hungary. By the fact of summoning
the Diet, the king made the confession, that he did not expect,
from the unconstitutional proceedings of the past years, that
amount of prosperity for the land which was desirable, and
that he was resolved to govern the country from this time
forward in a-different manner. And in fact we do find that
from this time forward he was less imperious in his mariner
of treating political questions ; and though there was still
much bigotry in Church affairs, it was not carried to such an
extent as before.
At this Diet, which was one of the most splendid which had
long been held, there appeared two Hungarian archbishops,
sixteen bishops, eighteen royal barons and magnates, one
hundred and eight noblemen, and one hundred and thirty-four
deputies of the counties and free towns.* Tokely was also
invited. But though he had concluded an armistice with
Leopold, still he and his friends thought it better to remain
* In the whole assembly of three hundred and fourteen, there were only
forty-five Protestants, — of these, twenty-nine Lutherans and sixteen Cal
vinists.

274 HISTORY OF THE
away. On the 24th of May the king opened the delibera
tions with a Latin oration after ancient custom, and handed
in the subjects of discussion.
In the very beginning of the Diet, dark clouds seemed to
hover on the prospects of the Protestants. Contrary to an
cient privilege, the Protestant members of Diet were forbid
den to have their preacher, and it was only with much trou
ble that they at last obtained permission.* It was with
trouble that the Hungarians succeeded in' electing a palatine.
When, however, from among the four Roman Catholic can
didates, Paul Esterhazy was elected, the court expressed it
self highly pleased. + Immediately after this election, the
Protestant deputies inquired whether the Diet were prepared
to enter on the consideration of ecclesiastical affairs. Being
referred to the magnates, they received the written reply,
" that private affairs should be passed over, and only grand
general questions be brought forward for discussion. The
Protestants should receive no support from the magnates, yet
they should still have liberty to complain and to petition."
Having once more inquired whether the affairs of all the
Protestants in the nation should be considered a private mat
ter, the reply was sent, that the time from eight till twelve
o'clock each day should be devoted to public business, and
afterwards the Protestants could occupy themselves with
their own affairs.
The Protestants then met, and, under the guidance of
George Gerhard as president, resolved to send a deputation
to the king, the royal commissioners, and to the palatine, to
recommend the cause of the Protestant religion with modes
ty, prudence, and zeal ; and they now begged the palatine
to protect the Hungarian pastor from the insults to which he
was constantly exposed.
# It was on the 1st of July that the Lutheran deputies held their first ser
vice ; their place of meeting was a store in the little Pootshi Street, and on
the 10th of July the Calvinists held their meeting in a similar place.
1 Engel, Vol. V. p. 96.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 275
On the 21st of June the deputation set out for the royal
residence, and on the 22d had an audience of the king, set
ting forth their grievances, which are too important to be
here omitted. The paper which they presented was as fol
lows : — *
" Most Gracious, Imperial, and Royal Majesty : We have
no doubt that your imperial Majesty will well remember the
statement which was presented to your imperial Majesty in
1662, recounting the grievances and oppressions which the
Protestant subjects of your Majesty had borne, and how that
petition requested your Majesty to use your royal influence
to put an end to those grievances which were then definitely
and specifically recorded, with the proofs of the same. A
request was made, that your Majesty would please to restrain
those who, contrary to the constitution of the country, were
hindering the free exercise of the Protestant religion. While
the same evils still continue, and while those who are guilty
of excess remain unpunished, thus giving encouragement to
more glaring acts of oppression, unbounded liberty is taken
in persecuting the Protestants, till it appears scarcely possible
to preserve even a wreck of that religious liberty which was
guaranteed by laws of the land and by royal ordinances.
Churches, schools, gymnasia, hospitals, and all the property
connected with them, which the Protestants had quietly pos
sessed in dependence on the law of the land, have been taken
away by threats, surprise, tricks, or sometimes by arms, —
indeed, by processes in which all law and justice are disre
garded. Some of the buildings have been completely re
moved, and the materials used for stables and other similar
buildings. The dead can be buried in the churchyard only
after paying enormous fees. Protestant pastors and school
masters have, under various pretences, been plundered by
prelates, magnates, and others holding civil and military
* Hist. Diplomatica, in App., p. 87.

276

HISTORY OF THE

offices, even by foreign soldiers ; and then, chased out of
their dwellings and bound with chains, have been carried out
of the country. Some have been nailed on the ground on
wood in the form of a cross ; others have been bastinadoed ;
others only let loose after paying a heavy ransom. Many,
under the pretence of their having originated or favored a
rebellion, were summoned to an extraordinary court at Pres
burg, and there sentenced to banishment or to the galleys ;
and, after three vain attempts to hang a Protestant pastor, he
was at last buried alive. The rest were compelled to resign
their office and go into exile ; so that the most of the parishes
are without pastors, and the people without divine service of
any kind, living like the inferior creation, while the children
are dying unbaptized.
" Both noblemen and peasants have been taken prisoners,
and led in chains to attend the service of the Popish priest.
The consecrated wafer has been thrust by force into the
mouth of some who did not wish it. Several Protestants
have been -unjustly driven out of their property, and whole
villages have been plundered without redress. Many who
were married by Protestant pastors, or received other minis
terial services from them, were on that account summoned
before the priests, and compelled to change their religion.
Protestant parties are even by military force obliged to pay
Popish priests. When Psalms are sung or prayers offered
in private houses, the parties; and even sometimes noblemen,
have been marched to prison by the officers of foreign troops,
as if they were common felons. On the military frontiers
your imperial Majesty has, by several special decrees, grant
ed freedom of religious exercise, and yet in such places Prot
estant pastors have not been tolerated. In some counties all
Protestants have been indiscriminately dismissed from all
public offices, and therefore could not be elected to this Diet.
In some cities the Protestants are completely, and in others
Dartly, deprived of their civil rights ; and the election of mag-

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 277
istrates does not take place, according to long-established
custom, by the free choice of the citizens, but by the nomi
nation of commissioners of the Royal Chamber.* In some
towns and corporate boroughs the Protestants are excluded
from the common deliberations in public matters ; and though
your Majesty's gracious decrees were directed to all, yet only
the Roman Catholics were brought together to hear them
read ; and, contrary to the customs of the country, all Protes
tants were struck off the list of candidates to be elected to
the Diet. Protestants, who have been born among us, are
either not admitted to the rights of citizens, or are admitted
under great restrictions, and they are absolutely prohibited
from acquiring property in houses and lands. ' Magistrates
who, on not finding Roman Catholics fitted for an office,
have appointed Protestants, have been on that account fined
and otherwise punished by the attorney-general. Churches,
manses, glebe lands, schools, and private houses, have, de
spite the patron's or proprietor's protest, been delivered over
to Jesuits, by which means the Jesuits have, contrary to
law, obtained a footing in the country, while the protests of
the citizens have been disregarded. Evangelical artisans are
Obliged to attend to Popish ceremonies ; some of the trades'
corporations have been dissolved, and have again obtained
their freedoms only on condition of expelling all Protestants
from among them. Very often has it occurred that our
brethren, were not admitted to learn or to practise a, trade till
-they had renounced their faith. Marriages, baptisms, and
other rites are often refused till the parties have either actu
ally joined the Church of Rome, or have promised to do so.
Legacies, which were left for Protestant purposes, have been
wrested' and applied to purposes contrary to the wish of the

* This had taken place on the 24th of April, 1675, in (Edenberg, by order
of the Royal Chamber, and in the year 1680 by Kollonitz, who removed the
last Protestant Secretary of the Council of Eisenstadt, and filled up his
place with a Roman Catholic. 24

278 HISTORY OF THE
testator. Much of our ills we leave untold, that the petition
may not be too wearisome to your imperial Majesty. Still
we are prepared at all times, if required, to give all the par
ticulars of those complaints which we here mention in gen
eral, and to furnish proofs of the same. While we therefore
renew our former complaint, we betake ourselves once more,
with all becoming respect, to the throne of your imperial1
Majesty, begging, for the sake of the mercy of God, that
your imperial Majesty would cause, during the sitting of the
present Diet, that our distress may be relieved ; that we may
be restored to the possession of our former privileges which
have been violently taken away ; that tlTe disturbers of our
religious liberties may be punished according to law ; and
that the political rights of the evangelical party may be re
stored and guaranteed for all time coming, as the law of the
land directs.
" These favors of your imperial Majesty we shall not only
acknowledge by fervent prayer to God for a blessing on your
Majesty and on the house of Austria, but also by continued
obedience and loyalty. — Waiting for a favorable decision on
the part of your Majesty, we are, your imperial Majesty's
most faithful and most obedient subjects."
THE PROTESTANT STATES OF HUNGARY.
On the 30th of June the Protestant deputies appeared be
fore Count Nostitz, the Bohemian chancellor, who declared,
in the name of the King, that his Majesty had really read
their petition all through, but, as it contained many weighty
matters, he must first hear the statement of the Roman Cath
olics. The Protestant cause thus seemed likely to be com
pletely crushed. At the same time, on the 4th of July, the
Burgomaster of CEdenberg gave orders that none but the
deputies and the foreign princes should venture to attend the
preaching of the Protestant pastor who was chaplain to the
Protestant members of the Diet.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 279
The Papists had, in the mean time, also handed a memorial
to the king, and Nostitz now appeared to inform the Protes
tant deputies that it was his Majesty's wish to settle the whole
matter quietly, and it would be only in case of the friendly
deliberations proving unsuccessful that he would interfere as
judge. The Protestants requested a sight of the memorial
of the Papists, which the king refused, giving as a reason
that it would only increase the bitter feeling. By means of
the palatine, however, they got possession of the paper, and
found that the Papists represented that they had only taken
possession of such churches as had been built by their party,
and had been unjustly seized by the Protestants. The Prot
estants had secured their religious liberty by means of rebel
lion, and therefore'they had no right to it. While the great
er number of the magnates had again joined the Church of
Rome, it would be very unseemly to take more notice of the
peasant than of the peer. Protestant pastors had not been pun
ished as such, but as rebels ; and those who had been burned
had deserved the punishment by being incendiaries and
tumultuous. They then related the most distressing stories,
how Popish priests were obliged to hide in bushes, and could
discharge the duties of their office only at the peril of their
life ; how in some counties only two or three Roman Catholic
priests were to be found, while hosts of Protestants were
there ; how in one county, Simeghi, not a single priest was
to be found, while a hundred Protestant pastors were labor
ing in the county ; how in another county fifty Protestant
pastors were instructing the people, and in the whole county
not a single priest. Thus spake the Roman Catholics.
The king was willing to appoint commissioners to settle
the whole affair, but the Protestants had already learned that
no confidence could be placed in such an arrangement, and
therefore declined. They preferred leaving all to his Majes
ty's pleasure, for from their mighty antagonists there was
little to be expected. Bishop Kollonitz had given evidence

280 HISTORY OF THE
of his feeling in a sermon on the festival of Ignatius Loyola,
in which he had, by way of reproach, called the one party
of Protestants " Augsburg merchants," and the other " Swiss
peasants." On the 2d of August the Protestants handed a second peti
tion to the emperor, in which they answered the charges of
the Roman Catholics. The emperor received the speaker of
the deputation very kindly, and promised to consider the con
tents closely and conscientiously ; he would decide so as to
satisfy the Protestants of Hungary, and give them his deci
sion through a commissioner.
The Protestants begged not to be asked to enter into treaty
with their antagonists, for they could yield nothing of their
rights, and royal decisions which had already been made
must remain sacred. They showed the folly of supposing
that the Protestants had slipped into Hungary with fire and
sword, or by the aid of the Turks, and reminded the king-
how they had obtained the assurance of full toleration, not
by force, but by the royal free will ; for, in 1559, when his
Majesty granted the toleration, there was perfect peace in
the country. In 1647 there were ninety churches restored
to them which had been unjustly taken away, therefore no
charge could be brought that they were taking the churches
of their opponents. The great majority of the inhabitants of
the country was still on their side. They showed the false
hood of the charge that the Papists had received more ill
than they had done to others, by the fact that no Popish
priest had been driven away by the Protestants ; and if indi
viduals of the latter had injured individuals of the former
confession, the Protestants had no means, as the Papists had,
of protecting their party from injustice.
While the Protestants were thus waiting between hope and
fear, a letter arrived on the 18th of August. Afraid to open
it themselves, they laid it before the royal commissioners, so
that there might be no accusation of having in any way

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 281
altered the royal message. The commissioners praised them
for what they had done, and sent the letter back. It was a
very harmless note, simply advising them, in their present
critical position, to be patient and -moderate. And a very
good advice it was, for they were just about to require an un
usual amount of these virtues, when, after one petition to the
queen and four to the king, his Majesty, who always received
them kindly, could come to no decision fn their case. To
wards the end of August they fcegan to absent themselves
from the sittings, and, so soon as the king heard it, he imme
diately wrote them a severe reproof. They now addressed
themselves to tlfe influential men about the king, such as
Charles, Margrave of Baden, the Bishop of Vienna, Counts
Nostitz, Zinzendorf, and Swartzenburg, as also to the Aus
trian chancellor, Hocker,* who were favorably disposed to
wards them. The Diet had now been five months sitting,
and still the Protestants had gained nothing.
On the 1st of October George Gerhard moved that the
whole Diet should unite to petition the king respecting the
religious grievances. The motion was ably supported by the
Roman Catholic member, Gabriel Kapy, and after a very
warm discussion, they resolved to send a deputation to the
magnates, to move them that they should cause all parties to
unite in the petition. When the deputation reached. the
council chamber of the magnates, they were informed by the
palatine that the time had not yet arrived for discussing the
religious affairs of the Protestants, but that he would intercede
with the king on their behalf. He kept his word, and the
very same day returned them an answer in the king's name,
" that Leopold pledges his royal word that the case shall be
decided, and begs that, till such time as the question comes
* The chancellor said : " If your patience under such trials had continued
for ten days it would have been wonderful, but that you could bear on for
ten years, ever since the Presburg commission in 1671, it is beyond concep
tion."
24*

282 HISTORY OF THE
before the house, they should quietly proceed with business ;
the palatine would also earnestly and affectionately request
them to adopt that course."
On the 2d of October Gerhard renewed his motion, and
once more Gabriel Kapy rose courageously to support him.
He was well informed respecting the exact state of the Prot
estants, and he declared that it was the firm resolve of the
Roman Catholic deputies of thirteen counties to take the side
of the Protestants. The matter was the most important
which could come before them ; and he, for his part, would
not return to those that sent him till the religious disputes
were settled. A storm followed this declaration. The royal
commissioners and the clergy declared it to be a hasty reso
lution ; that the question stood later in the order of discus
sion, being the sixth point ; the Diet should wait till the
proper time came. The clergy added, that it was unbecom
ing their dignity to join in a petition in favor of the Protes
tants, and that, moreover, all the Roman Catholic laity were
not so favorable to the motion as Kapy represented. Beino-
thus challenged to express their opinion, all the laity de
clared their readiness to vote in favor of the motion. The
magnates having acknowledged the justice of the petition,
the palatine, an upright, honorable man, declared that, even
in case of the clergy refusing to join them, the laity should
of themselves approach the monarch with their request. The
king was regularly informed of all these proceedings.
On the following day, the 3d of October, the debates
were again stormy ; high words were interchanged. During
the discussion the vice-palatine arrived to say that all were
agreed to send a deputation consisting of members of all three
estates to the king, the palatine himself would take the lead,
and thus a decision in this matter should soon be 'obtained.
This proceeding brought Leopold at last to a decision, and
in five days the following royal message was delivered : —
" All states in the whole land, magnates, nobles, royal free

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 283
cities, and royal boroughs, should remain by their religion.
This privilege should also be granted to the soldiers on the
borders. Not only should there" be full liberty of faith, but
also full and complete liberty of religious exercise in every
form. No party should have the liberty to depose the clergy
of the opposite party, or to banish them from the districts
where freedom of religious exercise is guaranteed. No more
churches should be taken away, but those which had been
seized since 1670 should remain in possession of the present
occupants.* The Lutherans should have liberty to build a
church, and to exercise their religion in every county where
no Lutheran church at present exists. The 1st article of the
Peace of Vienna is renewed in all its clauses. Roman Cath;
olics have the free exercise of their religion in every part of
the kingdom. It should be especially permitted to the Lu
therans in Presburg to build a church in a convenient place
which should be showed them.t The town of CEdenberg
should continue to enjoy her present liberty. All coming
disputes in religious matters should be settled without the use
of arms ; and the 8th article of the sixth decree of King La
dislaus should be renewed and conscientiously observed.
Lastly, all the inhabitants should take special care not in any
way whatever to mock or treat with disrespeet the religion
of any party at present in existence.
As this declaration was neither signed by the king nor
sealed with the imperial seal, the Protestants refused to accept
of it. The clergy were much offended. The royal messen
ger took the part of the Protestants, and declared their de
mand, to have the sign-manual and the seal attached, per-

* We see how the clergy knew to provide for themselves. The most
notorious plunder was here sanctioned. Among these was the Presburg
church as well as others which had been built by the Protestants, and many
of the ninety which had been lately stolen.
t Wondrous generosity ! — to have liberty to build a new church instead
of that splendid church and college of which they had been deprive!.

284 HISTORY OF THE
fectly -just. The clergy were informed that it was the will
of his Majesty, in case they should continue obstinately to
resist claims so just as those of the Protestants, to take all
necessary steps for carrying out the resolution entirely inde
pendent of them. This firmness was of some use, for on the
11th of October the paper was handed to the Protestants with
all diplomatic formality. Bitter was the wrath of Bishop Kol
lonitz, the president of the chamber, who could not bear that
so many Roman Catholics had interceded in behalf of the
heretics, and bitter was the opposition which the Protestants
might expect in carrying out their aims.
The king was often undecided as to which party he should
yield to, for he hoped to bring them nearer to each other.
He also expected that the Protestants would be perfectly sat
isfied with what they had now obtained. When he found,
however, that the bitterness of party feeling did not subside,
he issued, on the 12th of November, another decree, in sub
stance the same with the foregoing, but at the same time
more specific, especially naming several places where ground
should be granted for building evangelical churches. The
Protestants accepted all this as an instalment. They felt
that they had been driven out of their rightful property, and
had as yet only received a very small portion in return.
The royal decree was acknowledged by the states on the
22d of November, and exceptions were taken to some parts
of it. The states were informed that they might soon expect
a new decree. When the document appeared, it was only
an advice to the Protestants to be content with what they had
received. Instead of remaining quiet, however, they drew
up a list of all the churches, schools, property, &c, which
had been taken from them by force, and handed it to the
king on the 8th of December. The paper received, it is true,
no attention, but it contained the following statistical infor
mation. It stated that in counties under Leopold's sway,
they had lost, in CEdenberg, 27 ; Eisenburg, 97 ;- Salad, 3 ;

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 285
Raab, 15 ; Komorn, 14 ; Wiesselburg,„24 ; Wesprin, 8 ; Pres
burg, 46 ; Neutra, 50 ; Trentshin, 55 ; Arva, 10 ; Liptau,
35 ; Zips, 99 ; Sharosh, 7 ; Sol, 33 ; Thurotz, 23 ; Abani-
varer, 67 ; Szathmar, 5 ; Beregh, 12 ; Barsh, 25 ; Zemplin,
114; G6mor,33; Tom, 20 ; Unghvar, 36 ; Hont, 22 ; Ne-
ograd, 10 ; Borshad, 1 ; together, 888 churches, without
counting the chapels (and houses for prayer).
At the same time that the Protestants handed this state
ment to the king, the Diet presented also a petition, with a
request to the palatine to support it. They demanded that
from the Diet a decree should proceed, reversing all the in
voluntary resignations and exiles ¦; that all the exiles might
return home and obtain possession of their property ; and that
all ecclesiastical decisions should be made consistent with the
royal decree ; in other words, that the decree should be
made retrospective. On the 17th of December, a verbal
message was delivered from the king, that these matters
should be all granted. The king Was willing in such, cases,
where inconvenient building ground had been given to the
Protestants, to have it exchanged for more suitable places.
Such of the Protestant churches as the Roman Catholics
already held, and which had not yet been consecrated, should
' be restored, and the Protestants might bury their dead as
they chose.
Not satisfied with the verbal message, the Protestants sent
petitions on the 20th and 22d of December, begging that all
limitations to the free exercise of their religion should be
legally removed ; and as the Diet appeared to be drawing to
a close, they threatened to absent themselves from the sit
tings, if their request was not granted. On the 24th of De
cember, they heard the reply read, which required, " That
all the resolutions of the Diet should be drawn up in perfect
accordance with the will of all the states ; and that the arti
cles respecting religion should be entered among the laws
of the present Diet. The king promised that all religious

286 HISTORY OF THE
matters still undecided should be brought forward at the
next Diet." That was now the end of the exertions which
the Protestants had made. Leopold granted nothing more.
Only on the 29th of December, the palatine brought them
the information, that in Modern, Kasmark, and Zeben, the
king permitted Protestant churches to be built. On the 30th
of December the Diet was closed, notwithstanding the protest
of the Protestants, and on the same day the king left the
town. The articles of the Diet numbered eighty-two.
The bitterly disappointed Protestants took the last constitu
tional measure, of entering on the 31st of December, both
with the palatine and with the representatives of royalty, a
protest against the decision respecting the religious disputes.
The best article was the 25th, renewing the 1st article of
the Peace of Vienna, but there was an unfortunate clause
added, protecting the rights of the landed proprietor, which
were declared not to be affected. This article formally an
nulled all the documents which the -exiled clergy had been
obliged to sign, allowed them to return to their homes, and
guaranteed that no one should be in future disturbed in the
exercise of his religion, nor compelled to observe ceremonies
contrary to his conscience. In the 26th article this was still
further explained, and applied to particular cases. This arti
cle granted the restoration of such churches as had not yet
been consecrated ; and named the commissioners who should
in the different counties grant land for building new churches,
specifying at the same time what churches should belong to
the Lutherans and what churches to the Reformed. Where
the churches are not restored, still the Protestants should
have the use of the bells and of the burying-ground. As had
been resolved in 1647, no one should be obliged to pay any
fees to the clergy of any church to which he did not belong.
All the magnates had a right to build chapels in common
with their own palaces and castles. The Protestants should
be admitted to all offices in the state, whether higher or lower ;

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 287
and it was finally admitted, that the Protestants have a right
still to claim much, more than is here guaranteed, and, not
withstanding the opposition of the clergy, the way was de
clared to be open for them at a following Diet.
If we look at the way in which the Protestants were at that
time oppressed, we see in these resolutions much cause of
thankfulness, and we must acknowledge that it was the lay
men among the Roman Catholics, and neither the king nor
the priests, to whom the Protestants were indebted for the
change. If we look, however, at the law of the land, and at enact
ments then in full force ; if we consider the steps by which
the Protestant Church had been oppressed, the churches taken
away, and the pastors banished ; if we reflect on the parties
who, under the-holy names of religion and justice, themselves
bearing the title of ministers of Jesus Christ, caused this dis
tress, — the words of the Lord come involuntarily to our re
membrance : " Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo
crites ! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men :
for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that
are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites ! for ye devour widow's houses, and for a pretence
make long prayers : therefore ye shall receive the greater
damnation." Why should we call up names ? But the Archbishop of
Gran, George Szelepczeny Bishop Leopold Kollonitz, and
Ladislaus Mattyashowski, made themselves so notorious in
all these proceedings, that their names shall go down with
disgrace to all coming ages. The archbishop boasted that
he had rescued sixty-three thousand souls of heretics from
damnation, and brought them back to the Church of Rome.
• How had he done so ? That was to a zealous Jesuit a mat--
ter of little consequence. The equally zealous Bishop Bar-
skony gave , the Pope a list of 6,768 heretics whom he had
brought into the Church of Rome, and for this great wprk he
was mr'1o Bishop of Erlau.

288

HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XVII.

Conduct of the Roman Catholic Clergy after the Diet. — The Recorder of
(Edenberg. — War with Tokely. — Vienna besieged by the Turks. — Re
lieved by the Poles. — The Prince of Transylvania joins Leopold against
the Turks. — Ofen retaken after a Hundred and Forty-six Years' Possession
by the Turks. — General Karaffa. — The Court of Assize at Dfibrecsin and
Eperjes.

We have not yet done with our charges against the Roman
Catholic clergy. History sits in judgment and condemns
them. Their acts after the Diet were as bitter as their words
had been during the same. We cannot follow them into all
the details, but we select one case to illustrate the spirit
which actuated them in all their movements.
The free city of CEdenberg was one of the first to build a
church and a school, and thus to assert its rights in conse
quence of the decision of the Diet. The majority of its in
habitants were indeed Protestants. In consequence of the
Diet having declared Protestants capable of holding office,
the citizens met on the 24th of April, 1682, and elected John
Serpilius, a Protestant, to the office of recorder of the city.
Bishop Kollonitz presided at the election as royal commis
sioner, and as he could ill brook, not only that a Protestant
church was built, but also a Protestant recorder elected in the
city, he, on his own responsibility, set aside the election, and
appointed Nicolas Horwath, a Roman Catholic, to the office.
As the electors insisted, however, en retaining Serpilius, and
refused to acknowledge the nominee of the bishop, — going
indeed so far as to carry the fasces, the insignia of office, to
the house of the former ; and as they on the following day

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 289
elected two Protestant senators, the enraged bishop left the
city. On the 8th of October he sent Count Nicolas Drasko
witsh, the chief justice ; Count Erdody, the president of the
chamber ; and Count Zichy, the keeper of the crown, to in
stall Horwath, but they were obliged to come away after
three days without success. On the 16th of November they
returned to attempt to unite the office of recorder and mayor
in the same person, and thus settle the dispute. Being once
more unsuccessful, they returned on the 10th of December,
and the chronicle records : " While the Protestants and
Roman Catholics held together, it was at last resolved that
Gregory Natl should be recorder till the close of the year,
and in future the city should have the liberty of electing
freely whom they would."
Under these circumstances, it was not to be wondered at
if the Protestants translated " Punica fides " into " Ne hidj
neki mest Papista." * It was no wonder if between the
Court of Vienna and Tokely the peace was only in appear
ance, and each only watched an opportunity to gain an ad
vantage over the other. Each endeavored to represent the
other in as unfavorable light as possible at the court of Con
stantinople. The disadvantage was just now on the side of Tokely.
For while, during the truce between him and Austria, mat
ters appeared so unfavorable to the Protestants at the Diet of
CEdenberg, and it seemed as if new persecutions were likely
to break out, he cunningly reckoned on the consequences,
and promised obedience to the sultan if he would support
him against Leopold. The warlike grand vizier wished noth
ing more eagerly, and sent orders to the Voyvod of Moldavia
¦and Wallachia, to the Pasha of Ofen, and to the Prince of
Transylvania, to be ready to support Tokely in case of need
with money and arms. With such promises of assistance, he
* Don't believe him, he is a Papist.
25

290

HISTORY OF THE

gave. notice that the truce should cease, and summoned the
surrounding counties to join him. For this time, his sum
mons was disregarded, for the Protestants were afraid of in
juring their cause.
To protect himself against Tokely, who by the assistance
of the Turks was become too powerful for him, Leopold, on
the 18th of June, 1682, concluded the treaty of Luxemburg
with Saxony, Bavaria, Hesse-Brunswick, Luneburg, and the
circles of Swabia and Franconia. ' An embassy was now sent
to Constantinople and to Tokely to mediate peace, but with
out success, upon which a very bloody war commenced.
In the month of August, 1682, Tokely had possession of
Szathmar, Onod, Tokay, Kashaw, Leutshaw, and the whole
of Zips. He now issued a bulletin calling the Hungarians to
arms. Leopold now made a truce, and Tokely availed him
self of the opportunity of sending an embassy to Constanti
nople to conclude a solemn treaty with the sultan. This was
in January, and on the 28th of April Leopold entered into a
treaty with John Sobiesky, King of Poland, promising him
from the Pope, as head of the league, three hundred thousand
dollars for the use of troops. With astonishing rapidity the
Turk advanced, and so early as the 14th of July he stood
before Vienna. He besieged the city till the 12th of Septem
ber, during which time Tokely's troops had possession of
Eisenstadt, CEdenberg, Guns, and Presburg.
Wherever Tokely's troops appeared, the Protestants ob
tained possession of all their churches and schools, little
dreaming how soon they must again surrender them. Tokely
entered CEdenberg on the 15th of July, and on the following
day the Jesuits, to the number of eleven, were removed from
the town in three carts. They received one hundred florins
for their expenses on the road, and twenty men to conduct
them in safety. On the 17th of July the Protestants obtained
possession of St. George's Church, which was consecrated by
Pastor Acs ; and on the same day they were again put in

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 291
possession of the Latin school, and of the Church property
which, nine years ago, had been taken from them. The
Roman Catholic senators were about being dismissed, but
the Protestants interceded for them, and they remained in
office. This possession of their churches and schools did not con
tinue long, for when Vienna was relieved by the Polish troops,
the slavery of the -Protestants returned. At the same time
with the Turkish troops did Tokely's retire^ and in the month
of September all was again as it had been before the invasion.
This could not be said of every place, for where the victori
ous arms of the league made way, there were the Protestants
once more bitterly oppressed. The cruelty and severity of
the Popish clergy will be best seen by an extract from the
petition which was presented to the king by the Protestants
in 1687 at the Diet.
In this petition the Protestants complain, "That the free
exercise of the rights of their religion is almost universally
prohibited ; that the pastors are being driven out of the vil
lages, or prohibited from discharging their official duties ;
they are deprived of their property and driven to beggary ;
the churches are taken forcibly away ; the poor people, and
especially the miners, are compelled either to become Roman
Catholics or lose their means of subsistence, indeed are some
times imprisoned in heavy irons in case of refusal, or can
not receive their week's wages except they have been at
mass. " Almost universally has the Church property, consisting
of houses, gardens, vineyards, been taken away ; rectors and
teachers imprisoned ; nobles and peasants compelled to ob
serve Popish ceremonies and holidays ; Protestants obliged
to sign declarations by which they engage to decline accept
ing of any office whatever, simply on account of their religion,
deprived of all corporation privileges ; — and all this done as
if by command of the king.

292 HISTORY OF THE
" The tithes, which the Protestants are not bound to pay, are
demanded by the priests, and other payments made compul
sory in direct opposition to the laws of the land ; the fees at
funerals most oppressive ; the use of bells, and also of hos
pitals, denied ; public and private worship disturbed in every
possible way, or prohibited ; — and all this without redress."
The Protestant Prince of Transylvania, terrified by the de
feat of the Turks at Gran, 15th of August, 1685, and also by
Tokely's misfortunes, joined the league on the 28th of June,
1686, and assisted the emperor very considerably in regain
ing Ofen, after it had been in possession of the Turks for
one hundred and forty-six years ; still the prince was unable
in any way to relieve the Protestants. On the contrary, the
persecutions above described soon extended also to Transyl
vania. For when the unstable Prince Apaffy, shortly after
entering the league, refused to observe the conditions, his
country was regarded as a conquered province.
It is not consistent with the plan of this work to give a de
tail of the cruelties of that time ; still we cannot overlook the
fearful human slaughter at Eperjes, as it casts some light on
the complaints and sufferings of the Protestants, and gives a
bad notoriety to the bloody and reckless men who, without
shadow of law or of justice, despotically ruled over their fellows.'
After the misfortunes of the former year, Tokely had been
for some time cast into chains by the pasha, and, on recover
ing his liberty, he - made several attempts once more to stir
up the inhabitants of Upper Hungary to rebellion. The ene
mies made use of this opportunity to injure the Protestants.
Anton Karaffa, the military commander of the district, a tyrant
and a courtier of the worst stamp, had laid a plan to accuse
all the nobility of Upper Hungary, who were chiefly Protes
tants, of having conspired against the king. It was represent
ed that Gabriel Palasdy, one of Tokely's generals, had writ
ten letters and sent money to the fortress Munkacs, that the
castle might be made the centre of a new revolution.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 293
Karaffa now went to Vienna, accused the nobility and the
citizens of Upper Hungary of preparing to rebel, and begged
full power to rescue the country and the emperof from this
great danger. The Austrian and Bohemian chancellors sup-
• ported his request, and Leopold granted him the desired
power to examine and punish the guilty according to the laws
of Hungary, and without molesting those who had already
been pardoned.*
It was after the impulse of his own unbridled hate towards
the Hungarians t that he summoned the extraordinary assize
at Debrecsin and Eperjes. Men like himself, without faith
and without conscience, were made members of that court.
In Eperjes there were two Italian huxters, Federigo, and
Giuleani, a native of Danzig and Swabian, and Karaffa him
self presided. \ -
Sending out spies and emissaries of the lowest grade, he
filled the prisons with noblemen and citizens, with rich and
poor, at pleasure. Thirty hangmen stood in his pay, and he
¦ had given six hundred florins for the invention of new modes
of torture and refinements in the art of beheading, torturing,
hanging, and quartering. % So soon as the prisons were filled
with men, many of whom had faithfully served their king and
their country, he opened the court on the 20th of February ;
and, according to previous arrange ment, the principal accuser
and witness was an abandoned woman named Eliza Ujhely,
one of the most notorious camp followers. The nobility of
Zemplin saw that there was, under these circumstances, only
one way of escape. Through the Bishop of Grosswardein,
Augustine Boskowitsh, they sent a present of four hundred
ducats and twenty barrels of" best Tokay wine, and thus
* Fessler's History, Vol. IX. p. 393.
t A common expression with him was, that if he thought he had a single
nerve in his body favorably inclined to the Hungarians, he would cut it out
and throw it in the fire.
X Fessler, Vol. IX. p. 396 ; Johannes Rezik, 1. c.
25*

294

HISTORY OF THE

delivered themselves from further persecution and from
death. On the 15th of March the sentence of death was executed
on Sigismund Zimmermann, a distinguished senator and in
spector of the Evangelical Church, after he had been four
hours on the wheel. His god-father, Julian, also a senator,
and an Italian by birth, stood by, good naturedly watching
the spectacle. At the same time and place, Caspar Rausher,
a retiring, modest man, in the forty-fourth year of his age ;
the noble-minded Andrew Ketzer, of Lippock, also a Protes
tant, and one of the deputies to the Diet in 1662, who had
then nobly defended the cause of freedom ; and Francis Ba-
rany, a senator of Eperjes, also a Protestant, — having been
first put to the torture, their right hands were then cut off,
they were afterwards beheaded, and the bodies quartered and
thrown into the streets. Karaffa then issued a decree that,
under pain of death, no one should venture to assert that they
died innocent.*
On the 22d of March, five others were put to death. Ga
briel Ketzer, whose father had just been executed, and who
was now in his thirtieth year, ascended the scaffold, sing
ing,— " Lord Jesus Christ, my only light,
The rock on which I build."
With him were executed Martin Sharosfy, Samuel Medvetsky,
and the senators George Fleishhacker and George Schonle-
ben. Medvetsky's head fell as he had uttered the words,
" Lord Jesus, into thy "  . These men were simply
beheaded, and quietly buried ; and Fessler is not correct in
saying that they were quartered like the rest.t

* Johannes Rezik, Prof. Ev. Coll. Eperjes, 1. c.
t Johannes Rezik. Simon Fieldmajer had taken his own life in prison ;
he had been a distinguished warrior, and had fought on the king's side at the
taking of Pesth.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 295
A nobleman, Sigismund Guth, of Neusohl, who had been
already some time under the torture, was at the last moment
rescued by his relative, Michael Fisher, a favorite of Karaffa,
and he was afterwards made senator, for which favors he be
came Roman Catholic* •.
On the 9th of May, Andrew Szekely of Doba, George
Bezegh, the wealthy and noble George Ravensky, Gabrie!
Palasdy, and the senators Frederick and Daniel Weber, were
put to death with all the horrors and cruelty of the first ex
ecution. Ravensky was before his death so long exposed to
the fire, that his body was half roasted. 'David Feya, the
recorder of Kashaw, went deranged under the torture, and
died in prison, and in his place, a poor butcher of Kashaw,
Samuel Lanyi, was without accusation or trial, set up and
beheaded. After Feya's death the body was hung on a gal
lows and quartered.
Michael Rosh, a nobleman from Neusohl, had been put to
the torture till his strength was nearly exhausted, when a
friend succeeded in ransoming him for ten thousand dollars.
Having been for some time carefully nursed, he began to re
cover from the effects of the torture. As he was explaining
to some of the deputies of the Diet at Presburg what he had
suffered at the hands of Karaffa, one of them exclaimed it
was impossible for the human frame to endure so much ; but,
on taking them aside and showing the scars, two of them im
mediately resolved to go to Vienna to demand that an end be
put to such tortures. With the assistance of the palatine,
Paul Esterhazy : these two deputies, Nicolas Berenyi and
Ladislaus Barkofzy, succeeded in having the court dissolved
and Karaffa recalled. The widows of Gabriel Ketzer and
Sigismund Zimmermann, who had been judicially murdered

* Rezik remarks, " It is the custom now that theft, homicide, or rebellion
is not punished if the culprit is a Lutheran and turns to the Church of
Rome.

296 HISTORY OF THE
without any just ground, had cried to the king for relief, and
had received a few hundred florins ; but though an inquiry
was promised into the transactions, yet not only was Karaffa
not punished, but the king even granted him a medal as a
mark of approbation.
At the beginning of the Diet in 1687 the Protestants hand
ed in a faithful account of their sufferings, and begged for re
dress. They referred especially to the clause of the last
Diet — salvo jure dominorum terrestrium — which had in so
many cases rendered the promised aid tantalizing. But Leo
pold informed them that though, by their dissatisfaction with
what had been already granted, they had forfeited all right
to the privileges, nevertheless he was resolved of his own
free favor to continue all the liberties which had been grant
ed in 1681, notwithstanding all opposition on the part of the
Popish clergy and some of the lay proprietors.
This article was for the Protestants a source of much anx
iety. He declares that they had lost all right to their legal
privileges and freedoms, because they had raised their voice
against the illegal limitations of the same ; and he declares
it to be free royal favor if they should still continue to enjoy
those rights. The bishops entered a protest even against
this article, and by so doing, showed what spirit was likely to
actuate them for the future. This time it was no relief to the
Protestants, but, on the contrary, a heavy stroke, that all the
churches which had been taken on either side since 1681
should be restored. This was then interpreted to mean that
all the churches which, by the Diet at CEdenberg in 1681,
had been ordered to be surrendered to the Protestants, were
now to be returned. The royal commissioners accordingly
took possession of them, and banished the pastors. On the
24th of January, 1688, the Protestants handed in a modest,
but solemn declaration to the Diet, in which they stated their
grievances and their, rights. An acknowledgment of the re
ceipt was handed to them by the representatives of the

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 297
crown, which acknowledgment they preserved, so that they
might use it in happier times. Whether Joseph, the son of
Leopold, who at this Diet was crowned King of Hungary,
realized the hopes of the Protestants, shall be seen in the
course of this history.

298 history of the

CHAPTER XVIII.
FROM THE YEAR 16S8, TILL LEOPOLD'S DEATH IN 1705.
The Royal Commissioners and their Excesses. — Banishment of Pastors Sex
tius and John Bury. — Stephen Fekete a Persecutor.— Bishop Matthew
Rhadonai. — Rakotzy's Imprisonment and Escape. — Civil War. — Rakot
zy conquers Hungary and is elected Prince of Transylvania. — Treaties
of Peace. — Foreign Intervention. — Leopold's Death.
Scarcely had the Diet of Presburg beeji dissolved, whfen
the clergy found means of bringing the decrees of the Diet
of CEdenberg, which had here been renewed, to bear with
terrible effect on the Protestants. Under the direction of the
powerful Archbishop Kollonitz, was the new royal commis
sion made to consist, partly of priests, partly of such public
officers as were completely- devoted to Rome's interests ; and
this commission was guilty of the most flagrant injustice, de
priving the Protestants of all the churches and schools which
they had legally obtained since 1681. In Gomor county,
which was mentioned in the 26th article of the Diet of
CEdenberg as one of those in which the Protestants should
retain their churches, an order was sent by the royal com
missioner to the commander of the Castle of Murany, under
date of May 30, 1688, directing that all the preachers on the
estates of Murany and Berensh should be banished, and, in
case of opposition, should be thrown into prison.*
In consequence of this decree, the clergy of Muranyallya,
Hossureth, Vizesreth, Chisne, Suvetes, Rakos, and Nagy-
koese, left their congregations, and the churches were lost.
* In some of the estates were from six to seven, in others ten or more
villages. See Crudy's Eccles. Prot., 2 Tom., MS., Appendix, No. 16.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 299
In Sol, the royal commissioners drove the people to the
necessity of emigrating. In Kremnitz and Schemnitz, the
emigration of the Protestants was so extensive, in conse
quence of the religious oppression, that the loss to the public
revenue in eight years amounted to several millions.*
In Schemnitz, the Count Erdody, Valentine Szente, and
two others, took possession of the Protestant church in the
king's name, and then proceeding to Neusohl, they demand
ed the keys of the two churches, and ordered the organ and
furniture of the church to be within an hour brought to a pri
vate house, while both the preachers must immediately leave
the town.
The same work had already been done in the town of
Dille, out of which the pastor, Kortonius, was banished for
the third time. The commissioners, assisted -by the vice-
gespan, Samuel Bonicsky, a renegade Protestant, went
through the same process in Bries ; and the pastor, Sextius,
who was just returned from exile, was ordered within a very
few hours to leave the town. With wife and five-children, he
left the town as an exile. The old pastor, Nicolas Nicolaides,
was also with the schoolmaster ordered to quit ; but, on the
entreaty of the congregation, he obtained leave to remain, on
condition of resigning all claim to the pastoral office. The
old man -exclaimed, that he would rather emigrate to Ger
many, even if he should die on the public streets, than make
such an engagement. The schoolmaster, Martin Dubowsky,
might also have remained, on condition of educating the chil
dren in accordance with the tenets of the Church of Rome,
but he scornfully rejected the proposal, and, with his faithful
wife, accompanied the pastor in his exile..
In Altsol, "the Prptestants received a message requiring
that the surrender of the church should have taken place pre
vious to the arrival of the commissioners. In Karpfen, or-
* Hist. Diplom., p. 124.

300

HISTORY OF THE

ders were received immediately to close the Protestant
church, to cease to use the bells, and to banish the Protes
tant preachers without delay. In this church, John Bury,
whose history of the transactions has often been quoted, was
laboring all the time, and he also was obliged to go into ex
ile. An appeal to the laws of the last Diet was disregarded,
and the only reply was, that, on pain of death and confisca
tion of all his property, no pastor should in future discharge
any of the functions of his office.
John Bury appealed once more to the laws of the land, but
was informed by the vice-gespan that " he had only execut
ed his orders, and did not wish to show the Protestants' ways
and means of remaining." Bury, who was at the time la
boring under intermittent fever, answered that he had always
stood under the special protection of the Most High ; even
during his thirteen years' exile the Lord had provided for
him, and, under the shade of the Most High, he and his chil
dren should never want. " Certainly the Lord will not for
sake you," said the commissioner in a kindly tone, as if
somewhat moved, to the great astonishment of some and
chagrin of others of his assistants.
The proposal was made that, by undertaking to resign the
pastoral office, they might remain in quiet, — but this was
declined. A young priest, Emerich Kano, had in the mean
time taken possession of the church with all the silver ; and
when he found that, after three days, the two preachers were
not yet gone, he threatened to drive them away by the mili
tary power. The vice-gespan quieted the young priest, how
ever, bidding him wait till Leopold's decision in the matter
had arrived, and the pastors had still a little quiet.
Many other parishes were treated in the same way, and
all appealed to the king for protection against the injustice
done them. After the deputations had waited for years at
Vienna, it was on the 2d of April, 1691, that Leopold broke
silence by a declaration little calculated to relieve the Prot-

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 301
estants. We may enter more particularly into the consider
ation of this resolution or decree at the proper time. It is
sufficient here to remark that the doubtful passage of the
CEdenberg Diet was not explained, and some of the enact
ments of that Diet were overturned. The persecutions were
from this time forward intolerable. Often were the ambas
sadors of England and the Netherlands requested to interfere ;
but when, by such means, a favorable concession was made,
it was either counteracted in a few days by another decree,
or was not carried out by those who had charge of the exe
cution.* As evidence of this, we shall present to our read
ers only a few facts.
In the spirit of Popish fanaticism, the royal commissioner,-)
John French, deputed by the Presburg chamber, came to
Trentshin. He deposed the Protestant senators, ordered the
city not to retain more than one Protestant pastor, and after
forbidding even him to baptize, to attend funerals, to marry, or
to perform any similar ministerial office, he at last, in 1696,
banished him. The schoolmaster and some students were
banished ; others were thrown into prison. Respectable cit
izens were publicly whipped on the market-day for no other
crime than that of being Protestants. The commissioner
compelled the Protestants to attend all the processions, and
was in the habit of characterizing them, without exception,
even in public, as rebels, liars, thieves. This lasted for three
years. Females, whether of the nobility, gentry, or peasants, who,
from conviction, joined the Protestant Church, were immedi
ately banished, and threatened, in case of return, to be pub
licly whipped by the hangman.^
In the year 1700, when the complaints had become very
loud, a new commissioner was sent to inquire into the cause
* Hist. Diplom., pp. 126, 127.
f The commissioners were generally either bishops or men of distinction.
t Hist. Diplom., 1. u.
1 26

302 HISTORY OF THE
of complaint ; but, instead of making matters better, he
made them worse. He compelled Protestants to carry the
flags before the Popish processions ; and if, in the places
under his protection, a pastor fell sick, no other could be
admitted to supply his place. In a similar way were the
royal commissioners, Earl Lowenburg, Peterfy, and Meyer,
perpetrating the most intolerable cruelties in Schemnitz,
Kremnitz, Neusohl, and Bartfeld, for which they were never
punished. In Guns, the royal commissioner was assisted by the big
oted Abbot Szalavar, and the renegade Stephen Fekete, once
a Protestant superintendent, now Popish recorder of the city.
The abbot had a soldier given to him as bodyguard, and he
abused this privilege so far as, without any assigned cause,
to employ his guard in taking two Protestant senators and
casting them into prison in the Castle of Forchtenstein. Here
they lay for six weeks and three days, and were at last re
leased by giving a promise, which they had no intention of
keeping, and which they did not keep, of joining the Roman
Catholic Church. Their names were John Simon and Dan
iel Gombassy. The abbot put the pastor in chains, and did
not set him free till a thousand dollars were deposited as
security that within twenty-four hours he should leave the
town. On one of the citizens inquiring on whose authority
this was taking place, the abbot drew out a pistol, saying,
" This will answer the second question you ask." *
In the mean time the abbot's military guard plundered fear
lessly and shamelessly in the town and suburbs. By circu
lating false reports in the king's name, .and by giving to the
Roman Catholics certificates that they were good citizens,
many of the Protestants were driven into the forests, and
during their absence their houses were plundered. Little
behind the abbot was the priest George Ujvany in inventing
* Ex protocollo Jesuitoram Gunsfi.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 303
new punishments. ,It was this priest who, in the year 1700,
introduced the song of the night-watch, in which the follow
ing passage occurs : " Glory be to God and to our Lady, —
the clock strikes nine."
The hardest blow of all was the cruelty^of Fekete against
those over whom he had once been placed as pastort In his
new office, as recorder, he laid the heaviest portion of the
taxes on the Protestants, and acted on the whole in such a
way as to earn the most unbounded praise from the abbot.
And all this persecution in Giins was in the face of the
special royal protection which Leopold had granted them,
and which had been guaranteed by the palatine and by Kollo
nitz in the year 1674, and renewed in 1701, in which patent
Leopold declared it to be his royal will and pleasure, that the
strictest faith be kept with the citizens of Giins, and that they
be protected from every foe, and from every attack on their
just rights*
But the Papists knew too well that they had the power in
their hands. Without regarding the royal patent, they took
possession of the Church funds, and of the money which had
been gathered for evangelical purposes, — a part of which
had even been subscribed by brethren in foreign lands, — and
being now deposited with the Protestant citizens of Giins, it
was all taken away, and never returned. t
In Bartfeld, the provost, Tarnocsy, with two priests, the
recorder of the city, and sixteen soldiers, attacked the pastor,
Elijah Sartori (who had been appointed with Leopold's sanc
tion); while engaged in public worship, drove him out of the
church, placed him on a cart, and ordered him to leave the
town. Those of the citizens who showed any inclination to
resist were thrown into prison, and many were fined in two
hundred florins ; during which time the provost and his
friends were eating and drinking in the house of the pastor.

* Hist. Diplom., 1. C. t Hist. Diplom., and (Edenb. Denkwiirdigk. MS.

304 HISTORY OF THE
This took place on the 10th of April, and on the 10th of May
following a similar scene was enacted at Bartfeld.
The Bishop of Fiinfkirchen, Matthew Rhadonai, did not
wish to be behind his brethren in zeal. He accordingly sent
a circular round his diocese, giving information that he would
tolerate within the bounds of his diocese neither heretics, nor
Jews, nor robbers, nor Calvinists, nor blasphemers, and that
every one who wished to reside in his diocese must embrace
the Roman Catholic religion, — which alone can save them.
If, however, the preachers should refuse to listen to reason,
they should be treated like those of Nadasdy and Mobatz.
" Be assured," he wrote in another letter, " that if you sent
me twenty-five bushels of ducats every day, I would not
tolerate you in my diocese. For I tell you that an ox or an
ass, the creeping things and the fish in the sea, yea, even the
Devil himself, would sooner be taken out of the abyss and
obtain eternal life than a Calvinist. I know how dangerous
the Calvinistic doctrine is. Robbers, Calvinists, and Turks,
I will not tolerate." This letter bore date 17th of March,
1690. In this spirit were his letters written. Even more zealous
than Kollonitz, he wrote in the following year to the landed
proprietors, directing them for this once to have some little
respect for the law of the land, nevertheless, to lose no op
portunity of advancing the glory of the Church of Rome.
Plis next attempt was in writing " letters of conversion "
to the Calvinists, filled with threats. Those were directed to
the preachers in Kosmark, Darvocs, Siklos, and others.- At
the same time he urged his clergy on to the most violent
measures in rooting out Calvinism. And it did not at that
time require much exertion to produce this much-desired
consummation. The clergy looked to their head, the Arch
bishop Kollonitz, and acted as he did. He and the palatine,
however, stifled every feeling of justice and of humanity
towards the Protestants. The evangelical inhabitants of

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 305
Gran were, without distinction of sex, driven by force into
the Popish Church, their Psalm-books which they had brought
with them were struck out of their hands. In the country
places, the churches of Bash, Moros, Boosen, and others,
were, without ceremony, taken possession of by the Papists,
and those who refused to turn to Popery were driven, quite
irrespective of age or sex, from house and home.
About this time the cardinal obtained from Rome a spe
cial license permitting the palatine Paul Esterhazy to marry
his brother's daughter. The license was granted on the ex
press condition that he should use his utmost exertions to
banish heresy from the apostolic empire.* The prince was
really in earnest, and hoped by his zeal to atone fully for the
sin of his marriage, and for every other. He soon surpassed
even the clergy. As the richest landholder in Hungary, he
abused his power to take possession of all the churches on
his vast estates. Whole villages he compelled to become
Papists. Whole districts he banished from house and home
on refusing to comply with his wish, cast others into prison,
inventing many new punishments. All this he did in his
private capacity. Then, as palatine, he ordered all the lieu
tenants and deputy-lieutenants of counties to destroy these
vermin out of the districts under their care. He set aside
the law of the land, and gave orders in direct contradiction
to the decrees of the Diets.
The Jesuits are not ashamed openly to boast of such things,
as appears in the book Phosphorus Austriacus, Vienna, 1699 ;
in which they report triumphantly that in one year above
eighteen thousand souls have been brought back to the Popish
Church, and that the number of churches taken from the
Protestants cannot be counted.
It was in the same spirit that, to the great vexation of
Joseph, the court preacher Widmann, in Leopold's funeral
* The usual name of the Austrian empire at the present time.
26*

306 HISTORY OF THE
oration, mentioned the great merits of the deceased in root
ing out the heretics. By means of working on Leopold's
weakness, and often without his knowledge, the Jesuits have
succeeded in casting a stain on his character which remains
there after his death. The personal character of the mon
arch is represented by many contemporaries as very different
from that which we have seen developed in ecclesiastical
matters. It was natural that the hatred of the Protestants for the
throne of Austria increased under such treatment. The
number of malcontents made by the persecution was in
creased by a host of honest, well-meaning patriots, who saw
with the bitterest sorrow, that, notwithstanding the oaths and
promises of Leopold to preserve the Constitution of Hungary
in all its rights and privileges, yet Austrian ministers, and
especially Cardinal Kollonitz and Palatine Paul Esterhazy,
had brought matters so far, that Hungary was now treated
only as a province of Austria.* All these liberal spirits were
therefore hated by the ministry of Vienna, and traps were
laid for them, that they might be first provoked to rebellion,
and then betrayed.
They thus succeeded in betraying the young Rakotzy.
His was a character which even the training of Kollonitz
and of the Jesuits had not been able to spoil. Enraged that
he should not join them in their councils, they bribed his
secretary, who delivered up a letter which had been written
by Rakotzy to Louis XIV. of France, though that letter had
never been sent, and the secretary had been ordered to
burn it.
Rakotzy and many of his most courageous friends wero
imprisoned, and the former would certainly, in spite of Leo
pold's promises, and in spite of powerful intercessors on his
* The cardinal's motto was, "I will make Hungary first captive, then
poor, then Popish."

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 307
behalf, have died on the scaffold, if his noble spouse, Amelia,
daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse, had not promised Cap
tain Lehmann, who had charge of the prisoners, thirty thou
sand florins in case of setting her husband free. Rakotzy
escaped to Poland, and Lehmann died on the scaffold, but
the money was duly paid to his family.
This young and talented prince, whom the King of Poland
refused to surrender up to Austria, now felt himself quite at
liberty, and even called on, to draw the sword for his poor
oppressed country. In April,- 1703, the first flame of civil
war broke out, and as the insurgents were without arms and
discipline, they might very readily have been oppressed.
Rakotzy's arrival out of Poland, his valorous declaration,
the delays of the Court of Vienna, which lay in perfect secu
rity, and some advantages gained by his army in the com
mencement, put Rakotzy in possession of the half of Hun
gary. The insurgents swarmed round the walls of Vienna,
and plundered and burnt all down. The repeated represen
tations of the foreign ambassadors in favor of Hungary had
for years been disregarded, and now the evident falsehood
and insincerity of the Court of Vienna prevented any reason
able expectation of peace, even in spite of all the exertions
of that best of patriots and most moderate of priests, Paul
Szecsenyi, Archbishop of Kalotska. " Who can believe,"
wrote Rakotzy to the archbishop, " that the Court of Vienna
really intends to keep its word, when the Turks are already
invited to assist in quelling the discontent, and when the Jews
are promised a great reward for assassinating myself?"
And again : " The king acknowledges that the laws of the
land have been transgressed by his officers without his wish
or knowledge, and yet he does nothing to cause the injustice
to cease. He refers only to some coming Diet, but, after what
we have seen, we may rather expect the mjustice and the
oppression to increase than to cease when the Diet meets." *

* Fessler, 1. c. Vol. IX.

308 HISTORY OF THE
Rakotzy was willing to enter into a treaty, but only on
condition that a guarantee be given by the foreign powers
that the treaty shall really be carried out. Nothing could be
more disagreeable to the Court of Vienna ; but the circum
stances were such, that, owing to Rakotzy's success and tal
ents, and to their own mistakes, they were now compelled to
admit George Stepney, the English ambassador J and also the
ambassador from the Netherlands, to take part in the deliber
ations with Rakotzy's deputies. These deliberations were
conducted partly at Paks, partly at Gybngybs ; but, owing
to the changeableness of the directions sent from Vienna,
they came to no conclusion, and Leopold continued to waste
and plunder, not only Hungary, but also Transylvania.
The Protestants who lived under the government of Cal
vinistic princes had, since Botskay's days, about the year
1605, lived in peace with the Unitarians and the Papists,
On the death of Apaffy, however, in the year 1690, this land
was also doomed to drink the bitter cup which the Jesuits
mix. With a prudent precaution, the states had, previous to
their union with Austria, taken every legal means of securing,
by repeated and varied enactments, their full civil and relig
ious liberty. Leopold had, in the name of himself and his
successors, in the most solemn manner, ratified these enact
ments, and bound himself by a decree, dated at Vienna, the
4th of December, 1691, to the strictest observance. So early,
however, as the 4th of December, 1693, the king published a
declaration, by which all the contracts were rendered of little
avail, and in 1699, another, by which the Protestants were
reduced to the greatest straits.
° a
For upwards of a hundred years there had been no Roman
Catholic bishop in Transylvania, and it was contrary to law
for any one to assume the title. A bishop made his appear
ance, however ; and shortly after, in the year 1700, the Col
lege of Weiskirchen was taken' away froth the Calvinists,
and this was done by a company of soldiers under the com-
taa.rtd af a priest.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 309
Leopold 'had just a few years before sworn, "never to
issue an edict by which the Protestants should be disturbed
or hampered in their religious rights and liberties." Soon
after, churches were taken away. They were in a short
time obliged to restore the college, but the chamber now
refused to pay the professors, and they were reduced to the
greatest want.
A new royal edict appeared in 1702, respecting the tithes.
The tithes were to be taken from the Protestants, and they
were about to be excluded from public offices, when an
agreement was made — in which the Lutherans, however, had
no part — according to which the tithes were to he divided
between the Protestants and Roman Catholics. Even this,
however, brought no peace, for " what the Calvinists and the
Unitarians voluntarily surrendered was kindly received by
the Papists, and what they did not surrender on demand was
taken by force." *
Wherefore, in the year 1703, in the midst of the war, a
deputation was sent to Vienna to beg the king to protect the
Protestants. The deputation waited long ; and before they
had received their reply, the king's general, Robutin, had
laid the town of Enyed, with its Protestant college, in ashes.
This took place on the Sunday before Easter, in 1704 ; and
shortly afterwards, or in the following August, Transylvania
elected Rakotzy to be prince.
Under such circumstances was the consideration of the
conditions of peace more earnestly taken up, in the presence
and under the assistance of the foreign ambassadors.
On the 1st of May, 1705, the king invited the English and
Dutch ambassadors to join with Szecsenyi in showing that
he was prepared to remove all just ground of complaint.
Rakotzy demanded other securities, such as the occupation
of the fortresses in the country by Hungarian soldiers, the

* Historia Transylvanise, p. 33.

310 HISTORY OF THE
removal of foreign generals from the army, and of the for
eign civil officers, — the blood-suckers of the country, —
according to the constitution ; and also the enjoyment of
equal civil and religious privileges by all raaks and parties.
Whether the king would have kept such a promise is
doubtful ; and the more so, when we see him regretting the
privileges which the Protestants had obtained at the Diet of
CEdenberg. On his deathbed he was distressed at the thought of the
devastations in his kingdom, and at the prospects which
awaited his son, Joseph I. In addition to this, a letter
from the Elector of Bavaria, Maximilian, to Rakotzy, was
intercepted, and the consequence was, that he gave the fol
lowing wise advice to his son : — " Whatever the ministers
may say, make peace with the Hungarians. Demand the ful
filment only of the conditions of the last Presburg Diet and
the right of inheritance ; and whatever else the insurgents
may demand, yield it, however hard it may appear ; that you
may then le able to protect the whole kingdom from foreign
invasion." *
Thus departed Leopold, on the 5th of May, 1705, in his
sixty-fifth year. People have given him the appellation of
" The Great." In as far as Hungary was concerned, he had
no title to it. This country could not call him even a just
king. With the sword, and with constant fear and jealousy,
the Hungarians must protect themselves from him and his
courtiers, as from robbers. The noblest of her sons died on
the scaffold or in exile, and Hungary must look quietly on.
The deeds which Leopold's emissaries perpetrated in the
name of true religion would have brought disgrace on a
heathen government. At Marienzell, the famous place for
pilgrimages, which Leopold often visited, he usually began
his prayers with the formula, " I, Leopold, the chief of sin
ners, and the unworthy servant of the Holy Virgin," &c.
* Fessler, Gesch der Ungarn, Vol. IX. p. GG6.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 311
What brought honor on his name was the distinguished
general the Duke of Lutringia and Eugene of Savoy ; his
ministers, Strattmann and Kannitz, brought him respect from
foreign courts ; but in as far as Protestantism in general is
concerned, or in as far as Hungary and its Church was con
nected with him, we can only see him as ,the blind instru
ment of an archbishop, and it is only as a heartless persecutor
that he deserves the epithet, " The Great.'

312

HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XIX.
JOSEPH I. FROM 1705 TO 1711.
Election of Supermtendents. — Quarrels between the Pastors and the Lay
OfEce-bearers in the Church Courts. — Pastor of Presburg banished by
Kollonitz. — Charles XII. founds Scholarships. — Synod of Rosenberg.
— Diet of Onod. — Rikotey excommunicated. — Rakotzy and the Jes
uits. — Joseph favors the Protestants. — Death of the King. — Peace of
Szathmar. With the banishing of a Jesuit, the notorious Wide-
mann, who had delivered the funeral oration over the late
king, and with a complete amnesty under date of May 10,
1705, Joseph I. of Austria began his reign. The concilia
tory spirit with which he commenced was also most firm
ly retained during life. What a privilege was this for the
Protestants ! Under persecution and oppression, the inward
life of the Church had suffered severely, and little had been
done for the schools. Their principal members had been
executed ; their pastors banished ; and since 1672, they had
no superintendents in all that part of the country under Leo
pold's sway. It was in 1704, during the disturbances undei
Rakotzy, that the Lutherans took courage to elect Stephen
Pilarik of Schemnitz, and by the assistance of the Baron
Godfrey Hellenbach, to appoint him to the office of superin
tendent on the 19th of May. On the 22d of May, Andrew
Bodo, of Szetnek, and James Zabler (just returned from exile
to his church at Bartfeld), were elected superintendents.
The nobility elected a fourth, in the person of Daniel Kir-
mann, pastor of Sol, in the year 1706, and Stephen Pilarik
ordained him without any opposition on the part of the con
gregations. There was just now great need of distinguished

TROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 313
men at the head of the ecclesiastical movements, for very
unpleasant misunderstandings existed in many cases between
the pastors and the elders of the churches. The elders and
deacons of the churches wished to place the pastor in a very
dependent position, and the clergy, on the other hand, did
not always treat the lay representatives of the Church with
becoming deference. In Presburg, the quarrel between the
town council and pastor Christian Krumbholz rose to such a
height, that Cardinal Kollonitz interfered, and banished the
pastor. In Modern, the superintendent, Stephen Pilarik,
published a catechism in which the reply to the question,
" What is God ? " stated, " God is a spirit." Now, in for
mer catechisms, it had been added, " the most perfect " ;
which expression Pilarik omitted, and the omission was the
occasion of a quarrel, which rose to such a pitch, that Pilarik
had to resign his office and retire to Saxony. There he
lived many years as pastor of Meissen.
The loss of such men could be ill borne just at this time,
and was so much the more felt as they had by their learning
done so much for the schools. The Latin proverb says,
" When arms sound, the Muses keep silence " ; but the Prot
estants of Hungary had always made good use of the times
of peace to make the schools efficient.
And notwithstanding all that had taken place, still the high
schools were in a tolerably satisfactory state. In CEdenberg,
Noeschel had introduced a new curriculum, in which the
Hungarian language was made prominent, — a measure
which makes CEdenberg to this day a place of no small im
portance as the seat of a Hungarian college. In Presburg,
Modern, Giins, and Posing, as also in the mining towns of
Lower Hungary, Kremnitz, Schemnitz, and Neusohl, there
were distinguished professors, who, like Bury and Pilarik,
had won themselves a high place in the hearts of many
grateful students. In the free cities of Upper Hungary, as
Leutshaw and Eperjes, the Protestants were not less zealous;
27

314 HISTORY OF THE
indeed, in the latter city, some thought them too zealous, for,
instead of the college which had been destroyed in 1672,
they in 1684 commenced to build a new establishment,
which, from its splendor, excited the envy of their foes, and
brought on them much persecution. The Calvinists gave a
pleasing evidence here of their kindly spirit towards their
Lutheran brethren, in making a very liberal collection to
wards the building fund.
While thus engaged in advancing the interests of the
schools, the Protestants were not only favored by the victo
ries of Rakotzy, but also by the intervention of foreign
princes. On the 28th of July, 1705, Charles XII. of Swe
den decreed that four Hungarian students of divinity should
be supported at his expense at Greifswald, and he at the
• same time undertook to intercede with the king on behalf
of the Protestant interests generally. In the counties of
Thurocs and Liptau, many churches which, either by force
or fraud, had been taken from the Protestants, were, by the
order of Rakotzy, restored. Among these was the church of
Libethen, where the first Protestant congregation in Hungary
had been formed. In the free election of their pastors the
Protestants were much less hampered than formerly ; and
this may have arisen from a conviction on the mind of the
oppressors, that the dowager-empress and the king were tired
of fighting, and in case of complaint were prepared to show
the Protestants more justice.
It appeared, then, to be a proper time for holding a synod
to regulate the disorders which had crept in during the per
secutions of Ferdinand. Accordingly, in April, 1707, the
Synod of Rosenberg met. The burning of candles in day
light, and the chanting of the liturgy, were, at this meeting,
directed to cease, and in their stead suitable portions of Scrip
ture, and a selection of prayers for particular occasions, were
ordered to be read. The singing of Latin hymns and the
abuse of instrumental music in public worship were forbidden,

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 315
and it was directed in future to abstain from funerals at
night, as well as from carrying a cross before the coffins.
Another regulation was as impolitic as it was opposed to the
principles of the evangelical church, namely, that the superin
tendents should bear the title " Excellentissimus." Among
other reasons, this was not without its influence on the bishops
in inducing them at the following Diet to urge that the decrees
of this synod should be annulled.
It was at this time that Rakotzy summoned the Diet of
Onod, at which the throne of Hungary was declared vacant ;
and it was resolved that Hungary should in future be a re
public. From this time forward Rakotzy's good fortune be
gan to forsake him, and the ambitious friends who surrounded
him, but especially Count Beresenyi, the commander of the
forces, drove him to ruin. At this Diet, all the four church
es, the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinistic, and Unitarian,
were declared to have equal rights and privileges, and prep
arations were made for banishing the Jesuits.
Several of the deputies now raised their voices in favor of
the Jesuits^ and brought charges against the Protestants.
When a petition had been prepared, setting forth the great
benefits which the Jesuits had conferred on the country, this
Roman Catholic prince not only expressed his astonishment,
but also in a lengthened reply expressed his entire dissatis
faction with the order and its schemes. He reminded the
States how it was the Jesuits who had given him a spy in the
person of Captain Longuevall, who betrayed him to the
government of Vienna by means of the notorious letter to
Louis XIV. ; how it was the Jesuits who were raising tri
umphal arches for him in Transylvania, and were supplying
him with money for the war, while they, at the very same
time, were representing themselves in Vienna as martyrs to
the cause of the emperor.* All that they had done for the
* Engel, Gesch., 1. c, p. 197.

316 HISTORY OF THE
cause of education — so thought Rakotzy — had been more
than counterbalanced by the persecutions, and the confusions,
and mischief, which they had caused in all lands, but espe
cially in Hungary.*
The prudence of the prince prevented a schism in the ranks
of the insurgents, but this made it only the more necessary
for Joseph to take energetic measures for protecting himself
from the impending danger. Accordingly, while his gen
erals, with all manner of troops — among whom were even
Danes and Hanoverians — were watching every opportunity
for successful operations, the king published once more a
complete amnesty. He also summoned a Diet to meet at
Presburg in 1708, but, notwithstanding all assurances of per
sonal safety, not one of Rakotzy's party appeared. The
object of the Diet was thus lost, but the spirit of the times
was still manifest ; for when the Protestants presented their
petition for redress of grievances, the Roman Catholic party
obstinately resisted, giving as a reason, that all the Protestants
were rebels, and, as such, deserved no sympathy. The Diet
separated without bringing the Protestants any relief, and all
appeared to go on as under the reign of Leopold.
It was on the 12th of December, 1709, that the dawn of
a better day appeared. Under this date, Joseph issued an
edict, together with a letter addressed to the Archbishop of
Gran, directing that the priests should cease their clandestine
persecutions ; that in religious matters, all should remain as
it was before the Rakotzy revolution ; that the articles of the
CEdenberg Diet of 1681 should be explained in their natural
literal meaning, and should be scrupulously adhered to ; and
that no change should be made except legally at the Diet.
By this step he gained the hearts of many Protestants, who,
weary of war, were only waiting for an opportunity of lay-
* Petr. Bad. Hist. Eccl. Hung., Tom. III., MS.; Ribinyi, Memorabilia,
Tom. n. p. 172.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 317
ing down their arms with a good conscience. Rakotzy's
ranks began to thin. Soon, however, must he sustain a
heavier loss. Clement XL, in a bull of 18th of December,
through the Cardinal of Saxony, excommunicated Rakotzy.
The Roman Catholics, in great numbers, deserted him.
Want of money and disagreements among his generals now
induced him to take steps for a reconciliation with Joseph.
His violent but short-sighted Hungarian advisers now piled
difficulties in his way, and reminded him of his pledge, not
to lay down arms till complete civil and religious liberty had
been gained for the whole land. The war continued ; even
the advice of the King of Poland was rejected ; and Rakot
zy's cause went on sinking fast.
One cause of Joseph's continued success was his faithful
ness to the Protestants, even when danger seemed to be past.
The clergy were again resuming their old tricks wherever
Joseph's arms were victorious ; and the Protestants of Schem
nitz, Kremnitz, and Neusohl, cried to the king for help
against the royal commissioners, and especially against La
dislaus Borsehitzky, whose zeal in the restoration of the
Catholic faith equalled the olden time.
On the 10th of March, 1710, Joseph issued an order to the
archbishop and his coadjutor,* " That the Protestants should
not be disturbed in the possession of such church property
as was guaranteed by the CEdenberg Diet of 1681, and which
they held previously to Rakotzy's rebellion ; those- who had
returned from exile should be allowed to remain quietly, and
the Protestant pastors should not be disturbed in the pos
session of their revenues." The cardinal wrote a circu
lar to the clergy, in which he explained this edict in a way
prejudicial to the Protestants ; but Joseph immediately issued
a fresh order, in which he declared that the churches which
* Christian August Duke of Saxony distinguished himself in the siege oi
Ofen, and in the year 1692 joined the Roman Catholic Church. In the year
1695 he became Bishop of Raab. and coadjutor of the Archbishop of Grin.
27* '

318 HISTORY OF THE
Rakotzy had taken from the Roman Catholics should be re
stored, but the Protestant pastors and schoolmasters should
retain the revenues.*
In this way was Joseph seeking to restore peace and har
mony among his subjects, when the angel of death, in an
unexpected way, entered the royal dwelling. Joseph I. was
attacked with small-pox, and very soon died.
In the mean time Rakotzy was pursued and driven out of
Hungary to the borders of Poland. He had given his ar
my into the command of one of his generals, Count Karolyi,
and, though much smaller than formerly, still the numbers
were considerable. He heard, however, nothing of the death
of Joseph, and the communication having been stopped in
consequence of a prevailing epidemic, the Court of Vienna
succeeded for the present in keeping him in ignorance.
By great exertions on the part of Count Paul Pallfy, the
field-marshal, and Eleonora, the queen-dowager, a peace was
at last concluded, known by the name of the " Peace of
Szathmar." It was signed on the 10th of May, 1711, and ¦
the conditions were guaranteed on the part of England by
the Earl of Sutherland, and on the part of Holland by Baron
Rechtan. It was a hard battle which those men fought on
both- sides before they could bring about a reconciliation.
The manner in which they did their work, however, may be
learned from a memorial which the same men, as represen
tatives of their respective countries, handed to Leopold before
his death. In this memorial they stated, " that the conduct
of the landed proprietors, in compelling those who resided
on their estates to adopt the religion of their landlord, is in
no way different from the awful French persecutions. It is

* These were chiefly churches where the whole village was Protestant,
but where the church was claimed by the Catholics on the ground that they
had built it. In such places the priests enjoyed the revenue without having
a single individual under their care. In Harken, in CEdenberg County, in
Missdorf, and elsewhere, this may be seen at the present day.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 319
not to be expected that by such treatment the souls of men
can be brought nearer to God. If the dragoons and hussars
are proper persons to do the work of the apostles of Jesus
Christ, he would never have said, ' Behold, I send you forth
as sheep among wolves ' ; and besides, these dragoons are
not fishers of men, but ' mighty hunters before the Lord '
who hunt for souls to drive them to perdition."
The fruit of such representations these men reaped in the
Peace of Szathmar, some of the conditions of which were
as follows : —
" The Transylvanians shall be treated according to their
own laws, rights, and customs. The ecclesiastical state of
the Rumanians, Jasyges, and free Haiduken, should be reg
ulated at the next Diet. The States have a right to demand
at the Diet what, appears to them to be a sufficient guarantee
of the king's sincerity in engaging to preserve the independ
ence of Hungary and Transylvania ; to appoint none but
natives to civil and military offices ; and to grant the Protes
tants perfect freedom. It was forbidden, under heavy penalty,
to make the participation in the confederation with Rakotzy
any reason for punishment in time to come. The_royal gen
erals and civil officers received the most peremptory orders
to treat all parties with perfect impartiality." *
* Fessler, Vol. IX. p. 646.

THIRD PERIOD.
FROM THE PEACE OF SZATHMAR TO THE DEATH OF
LEOPOLD II., 1712-1792.

CHAPTER I.

CHARLES VI. — 1712 - 1740.

Rikotzy 's Retirement. — Coronation of Charles in Presburg. — New Persecu
tions. — The King protects the Protestants. — The Diet. — The King still
favorable to Impartial Justice. — Renewal of the Acts of 1681 and 1687. —
Quibbles. — Proposed Oath to exclude the Protestants. — The Protestants
placed entirely in the Hands of the King.

The bloody war which had laid the country waste for a
period of nine years was now concluded at the Treaty of
Szathmar. Thousands of laborers returned to the cultiva
tion of the land. The nobility repaired the castles which
had been burnt down, and resumed their patriarchial relation
to their dependants. The amnesty had been universal, so
that even Rakotzy might live at ease, if he chose, on his
estates. Full of mistrust, however, towards the Austrian
government, and of hatred towards his former adherents, he
preferred residing out of the country. With a few faithful
followers he went to Paris, where he resided for six years.
Some historians say he wai supported by the bounty of the
French king, but this we cannot believe, as, by the Treaty
of Szathmar, he had full right to enjoy the proceeds of his
estates when and how he chose. He afterwards lived eigh-

HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 321
teen years at Constantinople, and died at Rodosto, in Bessa
rabia, in his sixtieth year.
In the mean time, Charles hastened home from Spain to
take possession of the throne which had been unexpectedly
vacated. The Capuchin monks of Mount St. Jerome helped
him to escape. The act cost the guardian and reader of the
cloister their lives, but at a later time Charles richly repaid
the favor which had thus been shown him, by endowing that
order of monks, on a magnificent scale, at Vienna. Charles
was crowned emperor at Frankfort-on-the-Maine,'and on the
25th of January, 1712, he reached Vienna. One of his first
acts was to surrender the royal crown of Hungary to deputies
of the Hungarian nation, that this, monument of their national
independence, which had been so long shut up in the treas
ury at Vienna, might be in their own hands.
A Diet was soon summoned at Presburg, to take the neces
sary steps for his coronation as King of Hungary. The coro
nation took place with great splendor on the 22d of May, in
the Cathedral of St. Martin. Immediately afterwards, the Prot
estants presented an earnest statement of their case, and ex
pressed a hope that the confidence which they had placed in
him might be realized.
Since the deajh of Joseph, the Protestants had experienced
new oppressions, and, while the conditions of the Peace of
Szathmar were not yet carried out, the public worship of the
Protestants had already in some places been made to cease.
At Neusohl, the soldiers had been employed in this work,
and the empress-mother had been obliged to use her influ
ence that the disturbances should cease. She had written,
" that, both in Hungary and Transylvania, the rights of the
Protestants as established by law should be respected, and
that they should at all times have the liberty of presenting
their grievances, either before the king or the Diet." The
bishops had, however, found means of evading the law and
of manifesting their hatred to the Protestants in many forms

322 HISTORY OF THE
of oppression. The petition, therefore, which the Protestants
presented at the coronation, was to the effect, that those pas
tors who had in the mean time been banished from their
churches, or deprived of their income, might be restored to
their rights.
If we may judge from the number of decrees which Charles
published in favor of the Protestants, and from the circum
stances mentioned in those edicts, we would infer that the
spirit of persecution was as rampant at this time as it had
ever been. Though sometimes hardly pressed by the cleri
cal party, yet we find him showing no favor to the arbitrary
acts even of those high in power. At the Diet of 1712, he
gave orders to allow the Protestants every opportunity of
bringing forward their just complaints. And 'though he sent
the archdeacon as royal commissioner to visit the Protestant
churches of Gomor, yet he gave orders to the youthful
Joseph Esterhazy on no account to disturb the Protestant
church of Bartfeld, and he recalled and reinstated the Re
formed pastor of Lewens, after the clerical party had ban
ished him.
On the 14th of August, 1713, he issued an edict by which
the authorities of Kashaw were warned to keep within the
bounds of the law in their treatment of the Protestants ; that
the clergy should not be prevented from receiving their just
dues from the people ; that the tradesmen should not be pun
ished for absenting themselves from the processions on Cor
pus Christi day ; and that the charge of having taken part
with Rakotzy should no more be allowed to prevent any one
from enjoying his full rights.
Such impartial justice filled the hearts of the Protestants
with rejoicing, but tended only to excite the priests to greater
watchfulness to find grounds of accusation. It was bitter,
they thought, that when they had so nearly gained their great
end — the annihilation of the Protestant Church — a new re
spite should be afforded the heretics to enable them to gather

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 323
strength. Accordingly, if a pastor preached, visited the sick,
or discharged any pastoral duty out of the bounds of his
parish, a charge was immediately preferred against him. It
was not unusual in such cases to excite the people and to
raise a tumult, while the pastors were then charged as the
cause of the riot.*
In consequence of such representations, the clergy ob
tained from Charles, on the 29th of April, 1714, an unfavor
able edict for the Protestants, in which they were ordered on
no account to go beyond the bounds of their parishes to open
schools which had not existed previous to Rakotzy's time,
nor to retain any pastors or teachers who were not actually
and fully employed.
The difficulty of the king's position may, however, be
readily seen. Still his example had an effect on the cardinal-
archbishop, for, when the Protestants of Gomor county pre
sented a petition complaining of the loss of their churches, he
did not, it is true, restore them, but on the back of the peti
tion wrote a direction to the Protestants and Catholics to live
in peace with each other, and to the authorities that they
' . should faithfully carry out the king's decrees.
On the 26th of June, 1714, we find another edict directing
that the tradesmen who had been imprisoned for not attend
ing the procession on Corpus Christi day, should be imme
diately released, and that the authorities of Kashaw should in
future let religious matters alone. On the 10th of June we
find another royal letter to the citizens of Eperjes, ordering
them to obey the royal commmissioners, and to restore the
* This conduct was not confined to that period, for in 1840 the same plans
were with great effect carried out. A band of rioters, with the priest at
their head, disturbing Protestant funerals ; the pastor arrested for assembling
the children of his parishioners on a Sunday evening to catechize them ; on
the decease of a pastor, the widow not allowed to inherit a Commentary on
the Bible, the property of her deceased husband, because it was a book not
in accordance with the doctrines of the Church of Rome ; — such are occur
rences in our own time.

324 HISTORY OF THE
Protestant church and school-house. A very sharp reproof
was also given to the Roman Catholic citizens of Bartfeld for
annoying the Protestants in the building of a new church.
The last Diet had been dissolved on account of the plague,
and Charles summoned a new meeting in Presburg, which
lasted from the 19th of October, 1714, till the 10th of June,
1715. In the upper house the bishops, and in the lower
house many of the Roman Catholic deputies, evinced such a
spirit of hostility to the late conciliatory measures, that many
presumed on this fact to renew the persecutions they loved
so well.
. At the Diet, an effort was made, not only to annihilate the
conditions of the Peace of Vienna and Linz, but also of the
Diets of 1681 and 1687, and to make the bishops supreme
judges in all matters pertaining to religion. The king, how
ever, on examining the proposed enactments, struck out such
passages as seemed to him severe. He. erased one declar
ation, which, proposed to enact that no attention should be
paid to any edict of toleration for the Protestants previous to
the year 1681, and confirmed the following enactments : —
" The king declares it to be his royal will and pleasure
that the enactments of the Diets of 1681 and 1687, in mat
ters of dispute between the Roman Catholics and Protestants,
be considered as still binding, and are hereby renewed.
Should any one consider himself aggrieved by the execution
of these resolutions, he has a right personally, but not in a
corporate capacity, to present his grievance before the
throne. Commissioners shall be appointed by the king and
the Diet conjointly for carrying out this decree."
The kingdoms of Dalmatia and Slavonia, as also some free
cities, were to be left out of these enactments. The law had
some benefits for the Protestants, but they were burdened
with many disadvantages.*
 - 
* The commissioners appointed for carrying out the enactments were the

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 325
The laws of 1681 and 1687 had been mentioned, but were
not entered ; it had been said that the enactments should be
explained according to their real meaning ; but who should
decide what that is ? Should the enactments of Leopold in
1691, of Joseph in 1709 and 1710, decide ? or should the
Diet pass a declaratory act for explaining the resolutions ?
Such questions gave the Protestants much annoyance before
the commission, which soon met at Pesth. The quibbles
were endless. It was said this enactment is a declaration of
" the royal will and pleasure," consequently the Protestants
have no legal rights. It was said that the old statutes were
" still " binding, which might imply that they could any day
be suspended. Such were the quibbles of men resolved to
be partial.
The decision was also unfavorable, which directed the
complaints in future not to be laid before the Diet, but before
the king. The number and the political weight of the Ro
man Catholic commissioners was so unfavorable, that the
Protestants begged some alteration to be made. At this
time, also, the Protestant religion was solemnly abolished in
Dalmatia, and the Peace of Vienna thus openly violated.
In the decree which annulled the decision of the Synod of
Rosenberg bitter expressions were used respecting the Prot-
. estants ; and now they were prohibited from holding any
synod or passing any decrees without the knowledge and
approbation of the king. The alleged reason was to prevent
rebellion, but the real reason was to undermine the inde
pendence of the Church, an object which the Popish clergy
kept always prominent, as was evident from the violence
with which they insisted on the formula of the oath in future
being, " I swear by the Holy Virgin Mary, and by all the
imperial Baron George Berenyi, Councillor Michael Revay, Godfrey Hellen-
baeh, Andrew Hunyady, Stephen Bariock, Stephen Nagy, John St. Ivany,
Joseph Sigray, Paul Skoliesany, Paul Roday, and others, amounting to
twenty in number.
28

326 HISTORY OF THE
Saints," for with such an oath no Protestant could accept
office. The priests represented the Protestant clergy as not ad
ministering the ordinance of baptism according to Scripture.
And they found a case which suited their purpose. The Re
formed pastor of Raab was a distinguished physician, and
was often at dinner with the bishop. On one occasion, after
dinner, he asserted that baptism was sufficient, if adminis
tered, not in the name of the Holy Trinity, but in the name
of Christ ; and he appealed to passages in the Acts of the
Apostles in support of his assertion. This story was told at
the Diet with all earnestness as being the " Protestant doc
trine," and appears to have given occasion to the decree of
Charles VI. at a later time, in which he directed that the
Protestant pastors should be examined respecting their views
of baptism before they could be ordained.
With all their efforts to introduce the new form of oath,
" by the Virgin and all the Saints," the priests did not for
the present succeed. In another matter they were more
successful, for when the deputies wished a declarative act,
that the patron had no rights over the conscience of his sub
jects, the palatine and magnates contrived to leave the re
strictive clause completely away, and thus give the landed
proprietors the most unbounded rights over their tenants.
Many churches were by means of this clause lost to the Prot
estants, and many trials had to be endured.
The Protestants protested against the clause placing all
their liberties in the hands of the king, but the Lord had, for
the present, so arranged the matter for the best. • They
were just now safer in the hands of the king than under the
power of the bishops, who had so many means at their dis
posal, and who were so unscrupulous in the use of these
means. From the Roman Catholic Church no compassion
was to be expected.
Whoever refused to acknowledge the Pope as head of the

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 327
Church, Mary as intercessor with God, while the Scripture
said, There is one God and one Mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus, — whoever refused to go to mass
to kneel to the host, or such like idolatry, — such an indi
vidual was to the priests what the Jews were to the Samari
tans. Shut out from, all compassion, and all the privileges
of humanity, whoever killed them thought he did God ser
vice.*

* A Jesuit preached in Lemberg in 1846. Among other edifying portions
of the sermon occurred the statement. " The Protestants have no souls."

328 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER II.
The Difficulties of the King's Position. — The Roman Catholics seize the
Protestant Churches in the newly conquered Lands. — Jesuitical Justifi
cation of the Acts. — The Churches of Komorn, Wesprim, Papa, and
Lewens. — The Tithes. — Presumption of the Priests. — Attempt to re
duce the Number of Preachers. — Petitions to the King, and his Reply.
The hatred to the Protestants had reached such a pitch
during the whole reign of Charles VI., that.it appeared some
times impossible for the king to protect them. The question
respecting the advantage of a measure was sometimes more
pressing than respecting its justice. Still Charles deserves
the high praise of endeavoring to do the best for the Protes
tants under existing circumstances, and of always to the ut
most of his power protecting them from their sworn enemies,
the Jesuits.
The forcible removal of churches and schools was now
most felt in the districts where the Turkish crescent had
been wont to stand. The Jesuits said that all the toleration
edicts had been made for that part of Hungary which had
stood under Austrian rule, arid not for the districts under
Turkish sway ; consequently the newly conquered territories
had no claim for relief, at least under those enactments.
This argument was sufficient for the Popish zealots. In
struments were found to do the work. The Protestants, who
had lived quietly under the Turks, were now exposed to vio
lent persecution under the Popish government.
The Diet had scarcely ended, when Alexander Nedesk/,
deputy-lieutenant of Komorn, began to banish the Reformed
clergy, and ceased only when the king ordered him to make
up a list of the churches which the Protestants had held be-

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 329
fore and during the Diet of 1681. The town of Wesprim
must no more have a church, a manse, or school, said the
priests, for it is no more a border town. For the same rea
son must the Protestants in Papa, who were the majority of
the inhabitants, give up their claim to have a place of wor
ship. In Lewens the Protestants were deprived of their re
ligious liberty, and an attempt was made to reduce them
absolutely under the power of the priests.* In Barsch, the
priests took possession of one church after another, and made
the people Catholic. The matters went so far, that, on the
2d of December, 1716, the king ordered an official report of
the proceedings to be handed to him.
What grieved the Roman Catholics was, that in places
where their religion had either entirely ceased, or where only
few adherents remained, the Protestants were in possession
of the revenues. The one party considered this most unjust,
the other party thought it perfectly reasonable. The Prot
estants thought that a Popish priest and school-master did not
require any income where there was no work for them to do.
The Papists thought that what had been originally built and
endowed for their ChUTch must always belong to her. The
king was often greatly at a loss to know how to decide.
This was evident from the decrees at this time published, in
which he acted evidently without any fixed rule, yielding
merely to the pressure of the individual case. In Sol the
tithes were given to the priests ; in Little Houta they were
reserved for the Protestants.t This was accomplished by
the intervention of the obergespan, Stephen Rokary, in
April, 1720.

* The pastor of Garamsogh was summoned before the Bishop and Chap
ter of Gdmor, to answer to the charge of having performed pastoral func
tions beyond the bounds of his parish, but the Protestant nobility protected
him. t Only seven churches here and one in Neograd retained the tithes for the
Protestants ; but this arrangement lasted till 1848.
28*

330

HISTORY OF THE

The priests assumed to themselves a kind of territorial
right, and exercised the same authority over the Protestant
as over the Roman Catholic parishioners. The priest of
Bakabanya drove this interference so far, that the Protes
tant knight, John GodfreyT3eIlenbach, appealed successfully
against him at the county court.
It was a mark of a good Catholic to hamper the Protes
tants in tha exercise of every right. They sometimes could
not conveniently take possession of a church or school ; and
just at that time it was no easy matter to get up a credible
report of an intended rebellion ; so there remained nothing
over but to represent the meetings of synod as very danger
ous affairs. Indeed, they obtained a decree prohibiting all
synods. Another plan was to represent the number of pas
tors and teachers in the larger Protestant churches as being
quite too great for the circumstances of the place, and to
suggest that they were supported for other reasons than for
the wants of that particular church. Their perseverance was
so great, that the commander of the fort at Trentshin had,
within two years, to receive three distinct orders from Vienna
to cease to annoy the Protestants. Notwithstanding all these
warnings, he succeeded in removing one of the pastors, as
also the high school, in the year 1719, and prohibited those
who resided in another parish from attending the church.
The zeal of the commander went so far, that he was pre
venting the church from electing a new pastor in the place of
the aged and sickly John Blasius, and had also given orders
that the neighboring nobility should have no access to the
church ; but a petition to the king set matters right, and the
commander of the fortress was- ordered to let the Protestants
alone. In Neusohl the Protestants were more fortunate. Where
an investigation had been instituted to inquire into the reason
why this church supported three pastors, they were able to
persuade Charles to allow all three to remain. The Calvin-

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 331
ists at'Bets-Volgye, in county Szalod, appealed successfully
to the king for protection ; and also at Papa, though they lost
their church, still they obtained permission to meet together
elsewhere for worship. No one from another parish was
permitted to join them. This was in 1720, and it was or
dered that all should remain as it was till the commission at
Pesth had finished its work, and given in the report to the
king. This resolution was adopted to quiet the Protestants,
who were violent in their demands for a speedy and final
settlement of their grievances. Orders were then issued to
the commission to take up the complaints of the Protestants,
to examine them accurately, and to give a full report to the
king.

332 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER III.
THE PESTH COMMISSION. ^
The Commission, which was expected to settle all Ihe
quarrels in religious matters, was summoned at first to Ofen,
but commenced its business afterwards at Pesth, under the
guidance of Stephen Kohary as president, on the 16th of
March, 1721. The basis of their deliberations should have
been the 25th and 26th articles of the QSdenberg Diet ; and
if the commissioners had confined themselves to their in
structions, it would have been happy for the land. The Pop
ish part of the Commission, however, resolved to take as the
basis of their transactions the decree of Leopold of 1691,
which had been falsified by Kollonitz, and had never been
recognized by the Protestants as genuine. They also intro
duced another decree of 1707, which was very unfavor
able to the Protestants, and in which the following sentences
occur : —
" That the Protestants of the Helvetic and Augsburg Con
fessions shall have the liberty of publicly professing their re
ligion only in those lands which in 1681 were in possession
of his Majesty ; but in the newly conquered territories there
should be no liberty to profess any other religion than the
Roman Catholic."
" In many cities, the freedom of religious exercises was
originally granted only because these cities lay on the border
of the kingdom ; as the kingdom, however, has been extended
so that these cities have ceased to be border towns, the relig
ious toleration must also naturally cease."
" Religious toleration has not been granted for the purpose

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 333
of allowing members of the Roman Catholic Church to join
the Protestants. Accordingly, when any Roman Catholic
attaches himself to the Protestant Church, or any Protestant
having joined the Roman Catholic Church, should he again
return to the Protestants, in all such cases the party concerned
shall be dealt with as a perjured person, and shall be de
livered over accordingly to the law of the land."
The Protestants protested so much the more against the
introduction of this mandate as the basis of the transac
tions of the Commission, as it was so directly in opposition
to the royal decree of 1715. The decision had been as fol
lows ; —
" His Majesty commands that the three acknowledged con
fessions in Hungary shall be tolerated according to the true
meaning of the articles of the Diet of CEdenberg ; the king
will graciously take care that the guaranteed conditions shall
be faithfully carried out, and that neither the landed pro
prietor or any other shall avail himself of his position to
force the conscience of any individual. If, however, con
trary to his expectations, such oppression should be threat
ened, the king will prevent it with all his royal power and
influence." How different were the two decrees ! By adhering to the
latter, peace might be obtained. The following demand was
accordingly made on the commissioners : " That they recog
nize that religious liberty continue to be the right of every
one, in every station whatever, in the '•land. That no diffi
culty be laid in the way of calling and supporting the pastors.
That in the fortresses, in the capital cities, or in any other
places, no one shall be prevented attending divine worship
when he pleases ; no one shall be compelled to change his re
ligion ; no one's property confiscated on account of change
of religion ; that no one should be deprived of his situation,
or prevented from holding office in consequence of his re
ligious views. No ' priests' dues ' shall be demanded

334 HISTORY OF THE
from Protestants. They shall have the use of graveyard and
church bells like the Catholics. No one shall be summoned
before the deacons' court for having become Protestant. No
landlord to have the right of compelling his tenants to become
Catholics. The Protestants shall have a right to elect super
intendents. They shall have their marriages under their
own jurisdiction. They shall not be subjected to visitations
on the part of the Popish bishops. Protestant pastors shall
not in future be banished from their churches or obliged to
resign ; they shall have free access to the sick and dying, to
prisoners, and all others who are members of their Church.
When a pastor comes to a town to visit the sick of his church,
he shall not be prevented from remaining during the night
within its walls. Mixed marriages, as also the baptism of
the children of such marriages, shall be left to the free choice
of the parties connected. Pastors may be called from one
church to another. The number of pastors in each church
shall be left to the disposal of the church itself. Evangelical
books shall not be prohibited, and those which have been
taken away shall be restored. Those who have studied at
foreign universities shall not on that account be expatriated.
The Protestants shall not be bound to attend the Roman Cath
olic ceremonies and processions, nor to swear by the Virgin
and the Saints."
These demands of the Protestants, which must be regarded
as perfectly just, raised a storm in the Commission, and gave
occasion to debates, the report of which fills several folio
volumes. The difficulties of the Commission were increased by the
number of complaints pouring in upon them, and by the
great difficulties which the clergy laid in the way of the
Protestants, to prevent them bringing legal evidence of their
charge. When the evidence was not immediately forthcoming,
the clerical party strove to represent the case as suspicious,
or as having failed for want of proof. It argued, however,

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 335
anything but a sense of justice to demand that in all such
cases legal evidence should be immediately presented.
It was especially against the pastors of the flock that the
hottest bolts were directed. On the very day that the Com
mission had opened its sittings, a royal decree was obtained,
requiring the authorities of Skalitz to search and report what
the pastor of Tura-Luka had to do in that city which occu
pied him three full days ; what conventicles he had held,
what money he had collected, and whither it had been sent, —
all this must be accurately reported. The authorities of Tyr
nau and Skalitz put a stop to an examination which was turn
ing out favorably for the Protestants. Such evidence was
coming out as proved that they had a right to recover their
church, and also evidence respecting maltreatment of a Prot
estant citizen named Langhaffer. The king, on hearing, of
this interference of the magistrates, ordered them to assist the
Protestants in their investigations.
The clergy had, however, means at their disposal to coun
teract all the royal decrees, and to enable the civil authorities
to disregard them. One of the heaviest blows on the Protes
tant cause, at this time, was the transfer of the censorship of
the press entirely into the hands of the Jesuits. This was
still not enough, and, afraid of the influence which a Protes
tant deputation, with the distinguished orator Paul Priletzky
at its head, might have on the king, the clergy protested
against all further concessions.
The bitterness of the parties was increased by the fact of
the Protestant commissioners at Pesth being forbidden to
hold any public divine service. At the same time, also, the
Bishop of Erlau, John Erdody, wrote a book on the theme,
" Whether, and how far, a prince, magistrate, or landlord
can tolerate heretics." (Tyrnau, 1721.)
The difficulties had reached the highest pitch; passion
had closed both ear and heart against the voice of truth and
¦'justice. The hall which should have been a temple of peace

336 HISTORY OF THE
and reconciliation was become the arena of unbounded quar
rels. The king had his choice either to dissolve the meeting
or to adjourn it in the hope that a time of quiet reflection
might calm the boisterous spirits. He chose the latter alter
native. On the 24th of July he adjourned the meeting sine
die, and when complaints were brought before him of fresh
injustice, he ordered everything to remain as it was.
During this time of uncertainty, the clergy continued to
oppress the Protestants. Freedom of conscience and of re
ligious exercise was to be found nowhere but on paper. The
complaints and petitions to the king were numerous, and in
the course of time so bitter that, in March, 1722, the king
ordered the petitions to be sent back. One ground of com
plaint was, that the Jesuits now began to search for all relig
ious books, and even Bibles, which had been printed out of
the kingdom, and when such were found they were confis
cated. The Reformed Church of Debrecsin had ordered 2,894
Bibles for their own use, and these were seized and confis
cated in Kashaw. In June, 1723, the king ordered the Bibles
to be restored to their rightful owners, but the perpetrators of
the injustice were in no way punished. The command was
also -disobeyed, and none of the Bibles ever came to De
brecsin. With the anxiety with which those who are ready to perish
in the waters look to a boat approaching them, forgetful that
the boat is still floating on the same element which is about
to destroy them, only hoping still for the possibility of relief,
— such was the anxiety of the Protestants as they looked for
ward to the approaching Diet at Presburg, where the affairs of
the royal commission were expected to be in some way ar
ranged.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 337

CHAPTER IV.

THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION.
Hitherto Charles VI. had no male issue ; the most ear
nest desire of his heart was, therefore, to secure the kingdom
to his daughters. To gain this end, he was willing to make
the greatest sacrifices. And though the wise and valiant
Eugene, Duke of Savoy, had so low an opinion of the mo
rality of his time, that he ventured to say to the emperor " that
two hundred thousand bayonets were a better guaranty than
a million oaths of all the courts of Europe," yet the emperor
exerted himself to the utmost to obtain the ratification of the
" Pragmatic Sanction.'''' After having obtained the consent
of England, Holland, and soon after, also, of Spain, he
thought that all difficulty was removed, and little anticipated
that Eugene's warning would one day prove true.
In the year 1719 he informed the Bohemians that, in con
sequence of the testament of Ferdinand II., their crown was
capable of descending in the female line. The whole of the
States were then summoned in 1720, and the Pragmatic
Sanction having been read, the States solemnly swore to pro
tect it with life and property. Charles then declared his
elder daughter, Maria Theresa, then in her third year, as the
only heiress to the throne of the inseparable Austrian crown
lands. The same ceremony took place shortly after in Mo
ravia, Silesia, and Austria.
In Hungary, the king was obliged to be more cautious in
urging forward this work on which his heart was so intensely
set. Independently of the oppression of the Protestants, the
Hungarians generally had good cause of dissatisfaction with
29

338

history of the

the king, for he had extracted nearly three millions of florins
from the land for the expenses of war, and had concluded the
peace of Passarowitz without asking them to take any part
in drawing up the treaty.
Charles, therefore, applied first to Transylvania, and on the
30th of March, 1720, they responded to the king's wish by
ratifying the descent in the female line, and promising to
acknowledge the daughters of Charles as the rightful heir
esses of the crown and of the princely honor.
When all this had been done, Charles then summoned a
Diet to meet at Presburg on the 27th of June. The Cardinal-
Archbishop of Kalotsh, Emerich Csaky, and the palatine
protonotary, Francis Szluka, succeeded so well in gaining
the hearts of the deputies, that, after high mass, when each
had made an eloquent and heart-stirring appeal to the assem
bled multitude, many hundreds of voices cried, " Long live
the house of Austria ! Hurrah for the female line ! "
The league between Hungary and Austria, acknowledging
the descent both by the male and female sides was solemnly
ratified, and the glad tidings were forwarded to the king by a
splendid embassy. In a short time, the king appeared at
Presburg, to communicate to the States his wishes and plans,
and the Pragmatic Sanction was entered among the statutes.
According to his coronation oath and the laws of the land,
all that territory which had been rescued from the Turks
ought now to have been united to the kingdom of Hungary.
Among the districts in this state was the banat of Temes,
with Belgrade, Servia, and Bosnia. Hither had many of the
most pious Protestants fled in the days of persecution, to find
rest under the dominion of the Turks. But now that the ter
ritory belonged once more to the worshippers of Mary, these
men, who had but lately escaped from persecution, were
once more exposed to all the terrors of other days.
The king, having often had occasion to feel that the con
stitution of Hungary hindered him very much in carrying

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 339
out his sovereign will, manifested no particular desire, on this
occasion, to obserye the laws of the land. As he wished to
have those waste lands cultivated, he, as Emperor of Ger
many, issued a proclamation, inviting German colonists to
come and settle on the newly conquered territory, guarantee
ing them at the same time full liberty of faith and worship.
The banat of Kraiovia he now granted to his Transylvanian
general ; the banat of Temes, containing nine thousand Eng
lish square miles, he granted to another general, Claudius
Merry ; and Belgrade and Servia he gave to Alexander,
Duke of Wurtemberg.
Under the guidance of the war-office at Vienna, and also
of the imperial chamber, it was not so easy for the Papists to
develop so much of their sectarian spirit, and, under guaran
ty of the emperor, whole troops of immigrants, partly Prot
estant and partly Roman Catholic, with their pastors, priests,
and school-masters, arrived to settle in these waste lands.
They drained many of the marshes, they cultivated much of
the land, built villages, established schools and flourishing
churches, and changed the whole face of the country. Even
to this day the dialect, the pronunciation, and the dress mark
these colonists most distinctly.*
While the emperor was thus acting in the spirit of human
ity, and of high policy for the well-being of his land, the
clergy and their adherents at the Diet were not only quietly
hindering every step towards redress of grievances, but were
also openly protesting against every concession which was
being made to the Protestants. On the 29th of June, under
the guidance of Cardinal Althan, Prince of Saxony, a solemn
protest was handed in, stating, —
" That inasmuch as the Word of God, and the preservation
of the Catholic faith, is committed to the clergy, and as they
have never forgotten their duty to the citizens of Hungary,

Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., Tom. II. p. 2<14.

340 HISTORY OF THE
they must now solemnly protest against any proposed tolera
tion whatever towards those who are not Catholics, and must
solemnly resist any proposal, either at the Diet or elsewhere,
to prejudice the rights of the Roman Catholic clergy and of
the holy faith. They beg an authenticated copy of this pro
test." This one act throws full light upon all the deeds of the
Church of Rome at all times, and shows us how much stress
should be laid on the writings of the Jesuits who have attempt
ed to free her from the charge of persecution. The fact is,
that Rome has never consented to allow those who are out of
the pale of her communion any rights or privileges whatever
which she could prevent.
The Protestants, full of anxiety, laid a counter protest in
the hands of the notary ; they sent a full report of the trans
actions of the Pesth Commission to the king, and retired in
sorrow from a Diet which had done nothing to mitigate their
sufferings. Their regret was the more keen as they had
hoped that, by acceding so readily to the wishes of the court,
they might expect some little consideration in return.
It was not in the king's power, however, at all times to
act as he chose. The influence of the clergy was constantly
around him ; the constitution of the country hampered him ;
and those to whom the executive power was intrusted, being
themselves entirely devoted to the interests of Rome,* showed
little zeal in giving a favorable turn to the statutes affecting
the Protestants.
It is not difficult to understand how an unfavorable report
might be sent in ; how the half of the truth might be told ; or

* The prince palatine was enrolled as a member of the " Society of Mary,"
made some magnificent endowments on the festival of the "Immaculate
Conception of the Virgin " ; at a great age he made a pilgrimage on foot to
Marienzell. The president of the Pesth Commission was also a devotee of
Mary, and left a legacy of thirteen thousand florins to the society peculiarly
dedicated to her service.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 341
how, after the Protestants had with unspeakable exertions ob
tained a favorable decision in any particular case, the author
ities might delay carrying it out till such time as suited their
own convenience, and this time was frequently very distant.
The decree which the emperor issued from Luxemburg on the
12th of June, 1723, and which reflected so much credit on him,
was never executed. In that decree he ordered, under severe
penalties, that the Protestants should not be disturbed on ac
count of their religion, and that they should on no account be
compelled either to change their religion or to join in ceremo
nies inconsistent with their conscience.
The persecutions still continuing, he issued in October a
still more stringent decree against the excesses. This was,
however, of little avail, for the Bishop of Waitzen took pos
session of the Protestant churches in Little-Waitzen, Kis-
Ujfale, Hatvan, and elsewhere ; and though the king ordered
an investigation, which turned put favorably, still the oppressed
must wait many a weary day before obtaining redress. On the
15th of September, in the same year, an order was sent for the
fourth time to the military governor of Trentshin, that he
should prevent all opposition to the building of the Protestant
chapel ; and still the clergy managed their affairs so well, that
in December they persuaded the court to issue an edict pro
hibiting the building of a chapel, but at the same time gra
ciously permitting the Protestants to purchase a house in
which to hold their meetings.
Thus were both king and counsellors wearied out, till,
instead of the voice of truth, only that of policy was heard.
The question was not so much what is right, as what is con
venient. Indeed, the king was often sorely pressed in main
taining his own just rights. For, as the wealthy and noble
George Radvany or Radvansky was about to marry Susanna
de Reva, who was related to him in the fourth degree, and
as the priests refused him the license, he applied to the king.
When the king had examined the case, and had ascertained
29*

342 HISTORY OF THE
that it was only a late law of Rome which extended the pro
hibition to the fourth degree, and that it had been entered
among the laws of Hungary only in 1723 ; when he had fur
ther ascertained that both the parties were Protestants, and that,
according to the laws of their Church, the marriage was not
forbidden, — he granted permission that the marriage should
take place, and solemnly prohibited all parties whatever from
raising any opposition. The ceremony was, however, scarce
ly ended, when a summons was put into the hands of the
parties married, of the pastor, and of all the witnesses, re
quiring them to appear before the Chapter of Gran to answer
to the charges which should be preferred against them. The
king settled the matter by writing to the dean and chapter,
that they had no right either to examine into the religious
affairs of the Protestants, or to punish for any religious act.
It was thus only by great energy and decision that he was
able to prevent the clergy from trampling openly on his
decree.* For these and similar evils the king hoped to find a remedy
in a new court which he constituted under the name of a
Deputy Privy Council. Though this court turned out ill,
still it is evident, from all the circumstances of the case, that
the king's designs were good. This council consisted of
twenty-two members nominated by the king, and they ap
pointed their own subordinate officers. The palatine was to
be at all times president.t
The province of this court was to publish and to watch ovet
the execution of the laws of the land. With the exception
of the fiscal matters and the courts of assize, all was intrusted

* Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., Tom. II. p. 102.
t Several Protestants assisted in persuading the king to organize this
court, in the hope that the new council should consist of an equal number of
Protestants and Roman Catholics. So soon, however, as the king had sane
tioned the formation of the court, the promise was withdrawn. " Hsereticis
nulla fides."

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 343
to them. They had the censorship of the press, the guiding
of the public education, the inspection of schools, churches,
and public charities was intrusted to them, and they usually
decided by a simple majority of votes.*
On the 21st of March, 1724, this council was opened by
Count Philip Louis Zinzendorf, in the castle at Presburg,
with the following words : " Out of this high council the
clergy may expect honor and dignity, the magnates advan
tages, the nobility rights and privileges, the citizens advan
tages in trade and commerce, the land alleviation of taxes,
the whole kingdom the highest prosperity, so that it shall be
said, ' See how righteousness and peace kiss each other ! ' "
We have only to deal with the politico-ecclesiastical work
ings of this court, and the facts may be allowed to speak for
themselves to show what benefits and what ills were thereby
conferred on the country .t /
On the part of the Jesuits and the clergy very little was
done to realize the bright hopes held out by Zinzendorf. The
first field of operations was connected with the mixed mar
riages, and with an ecclesiastical superintendence of the Prot
estant pastors, churches, and schools. A nobleman, George
Pathy, who was about to marry a Roman Catholic lady, was
told that he must either within a year himself become a Ro
man Catholic, or pay a heavy fine. He appealed to the king,
and being a nobleman, he found means of escape from the
sentence of the council.
By a decree in June, 1725, this council limited the rights
of Protestants to study at foreign universities, though many
* Under Maria Theresa the court had increased to ninety-four members,
and received a salary of eighty thousand eight hundred and fourteen florins.
The members were elected from among the prelates, the magnates, and the
knights. f When the question was raised at the nest Diet, whether this court should
be abolished, the» Bishop of Erlau, Anton Gabriel Erdody, strove to persuade
the Roman Catholic party to vote for its continuance, by assuring them that
it was the hammer of the heretics, — " malleus hcereticontm."

344 HISTORY OF THE
foundations and scholarships existed for their support.* It
was now resolved that permission must in each case be asked
and obtained ; and thus what was each one's right was ex
posed to the caprice or whim of men in power. In cases
where noblemen had built Protestant chapels on their own
estates, an inquiry was instituted by this council in how far
they should be tolerated, and the report was often highly un
favorable, and the matter was then much worse than when
the decision had formerly rested with Charles. The Baron
ess Elizabeth Colisius de Revay had built a chapel for the
Protestants on her estate, and this council ordered it to be
closed, as it had been built after the time of the Pesth Com
mission. On the other hand, the transgressions of the Roman Cath
olics were either not punished at all, or not in proportion to
the offence. The Protestant inhabitants, of Sol raised their
voice in vain, petitioning against the unbounded oppression
of their Popish landlord. In cases where the Protestants
were far removed from a Protestant pastor, they had their
children baptized, and their dead buried, by a priest. In
such cases they must often pay four or five times as much
as was customary under such circumstances. It was only
in a case of extremity that a formal charge was brought,
and even then it was no easy matter to bring evidence
sufficient to satisfy the judges, or to compel the priests to
make restitution. The priest of St. Martin Kata drove his
oppressions so far that, by an order of council of 24th of
March, 1726, he was directed to return to the Protestants
what he had unjustly exacted, and they were declared free
from all priestly exactions in all time coming. Yet a clause
was added to qualify this privilege, namely, " if the Protes
tants were free from these exactions previous to the Pesth
Commission."

* It was only a few months previously that a nobleman, Michael Kassay,
had endowed two scholarships at Wittenberg for Hungarian students.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 345
Any little advantage which individual churches obtained
afforded them little joy when they saw how the whole Church
was suffering. In August, 1725, shortly after the decree
respecting attendance at foreign universities, an order was
issued to inquire into the authority and jurisdiction of the
Protestant superintendents, and two years later a circular
was sent to all the counties, demanding accurate information
on this head. The king's influence in favor of the Protes
tants had been decreasing since the establishment of this
court. In Rad the Reformed church was closed and de
prived of all its revenues in 1728 ; and the pastor, Stephen
Szecsy, being banished, the congregation was entirely broken
up. In March in the same year, an order was issued for a
return of all the apostates in the kingdom, that steps might
be taken to have them restored to the Church. In April the
Protestants were forbidden to make any public collections for
religious purposes. And the worst of all was, that all the
means of redress were taken away.
Charles summoned a Diet at Presburg in 1729, and here
the Protestants hoped for some relief. But the passions of
the clergy had blinded many to a sense of justice, and when,
in the beginning of the sittings, some of the Protestants re
fused to take the " decretal oath " for conscience' sake,
they were, with much uproar, turned out of the house. It is
true that some of them had taken the oath, but it is equally
evident that no sincere Protestant could do so with a good
conscience. Among those who were thus turned out of the
assembly were Andrew Petay, deputy of Borsod, Samuel
Zsemberg, and Paul Katona. In addition to this, they were
obliged to pay a fine of sixty-four florins ; and when Paul
Jessenack, the representative of Prince Eugene of Savoy,
proposed to leave the decision of the case to the king, he was
told that by such a proposal he was bringing disgrace on the
prince, for it was only by the assistance of the Virgin Mary
that he had gained all his victories.

346 HISTORY OF THE
The distinguished lawyers Stephen Kenessey and Samuel
Bohas went immediately to Vienna to represent the case to
the king, but on their return they were solemnly excluded
from the sittings " as informers," till the king settled the
quarrel by a decision in favor of the weaker party.
In drawing up the articles of the Diet, the clerical party
inserted a clause, which had not been enacted at the Diet, to
the effect that all witnesses should be sworn by the " decretal
oath." So soon as the Protestants discovered this, a deputa
tion was sent after the king ; — but it was too late ; he had
already signed. The Protestants had then no other comfort
than this which rhany of the royal councillors gave, namely,
that they were not bound by a law for which they had evi
dently not voted. But when they looked back over the past,
they found little consolation in such statements.
And they had good reason to be concerned, for the noisy
quarrels respecting the " decretal oath " were made to bear
heavily against them in the explanation of the 9th article of
the "Resolutions of Charles " ; and in their anxiety they
looked upwards, like the disciples in the storm, and cried,
" Help, Lord, or we perish ! "

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 347

CHAPTER V.
THE RESOLUTIONS OF CHARLES.
The Pesth Commission had long since given in their re-
Dort, the Protestants had also forwarded their statements, but
it was not till the year 1730 that King Charles handed the
minutes to a commission to be examined. The commission
consisted of Counts Zinzendorf, Stahremberg, Dieterichstein,
Nesselrode, Ferdinand Kinsky, and Lewis Bathyani, under
the guidance of the veteran warrior and statesman Eugene
of Savoy as president. The Hungarian prelates were ex
cluded. In consequence of their report, Charles issued, on the 21st
of March, 1731, the following resolutions, which the Protes
tants had so anxiously expected, but in which their hopes
were so grievously blighted : —
I. The decree of Leopold, of 2d of April of the year
1691, is to be regarded as explanatory of the 25th and 26th
articles of 1681, of the 21st article of 1687, and 30th article
of 1715. Private religious exercise is tolerated in all places,
but the public exercises only in the places mentioned in the
26th article.
II. The pastors of these authorized churches must confine
themselves to the members of the churches living at these
places or assembling there ; there may be, however, as many
preachers in the one church as the wants of the place seem
to require, subject to the sanction of the king. In these places
they shall have the liberty of visiting the sick and the pris
oners. III. Family worship may be tolerated in other places, but

348 HISTORY OF THE
none beyond the members of the family shall be present 00
such occasions. Such isolated families must employ the
priest for all ecclesiastial functions, yet they shall not be
bound to pay more than the Roman Catholics pay on similar
occasions. IV. Without interfering with the rights of the land-owners,
yet if they intend to make any alterations in ecclesiastical
matters on their estates, they must first give a report to the
king, stating their reasons for the change, and must wait for
his decision.
V. Wherever the Protestants of both confessions elect
superintendents, they must first obtain the consent of the
king. The jurisdiction of the superintendents shall extend
only to the lives and morals of their clergy. In civil matters
they are subject to the laws of the land, and in ecclesiastical
matters subject to the archdeacon of the Roman Cathoric
Church, who shall be bound to take care that the baptisms
are properly administered, and that the clergy are properly
instructed in the nature of baptism. The marriages shall be
all under the control of the bishops, subject to the law of the
land, and for this purpose an appeal to the archbishop is
allowed. VI. The apostates, and especially those who had once
been Protestants, and who had joined the Roman Catholic
Church, shall be severely punished at the pleasure of the
livil magistrate, but each case must, previous to the inflic
tion of the punishment, be reported to the king.
VII. Mixed marriages can be celebrated only by the
priest. VIII. The Roman Catholic holidays must be observed also
by the Protestants, and the Protestant tradesmen are bound
to take part in the processions to the honor of Mary and the
Saints. IX. The Protestants shall be bound on taking office, and
on other public occasions, to swear according to the formula

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 349
of the " decretal oath," with the express clause, " by the
Mother of God and all the Saints." In criminal cases, the
witnesses shall be sworn after the usual formula, that no de
lay may take place, and that the ends of justice may not be
frustrated. Past transgressions in religious matters shall be
looked on as cancelled. New transgressions, however, shall,
on the charge of the attorney-general, be immediately and
irreprievably punished. Each individual who thinks himself
aggrieved can appeal to the king in his own name ; the ap
peal, however, in the name of a whole church is forbidden.
These were the famous royal resolutions. The Protes
tants had heard something beforehand of what was to be ex
pected, and had sent a deputation on the 20th of February,
consisting of John Radvan and Abraham Vay, to try and
obtain as much favor as possible.
So soon as the resolutions were published, the Protestants
prepared a petition, and handed it to the king on the 6th of
April, protesting against the limitations of their rights ; when
this produced no effect, they on the 13th of September re
newed their protest, and on the 23d presented an extract of
their grievances.
The priests were as much dissatisfied as the Protestants ;
they thought they had received far too little ! Cardinal AI- -
than, Bishop of Waitzen, entered a most decided protest
against the resolutions, and declared his firm resolve to act
as if they had not been published. , The king having twice
summoned him to appear at Vienna and withdraw his protest,
on his non-appearance ordered the protest to be openly torn
in pieces at Pesth ; the property of the bishop was ordered to
be confiscated, and himself to be banished. By the assist
ance of the Jesuits a reconciliation took place, and the car
dinal remained in the country. Though the protest had been
publicly torn in pieces, yet we soon find it again in full health
and spirits. 30

350 HISTORY OF THE
The churches and church property of the Protestants were
everywhere now seized upon, and directions were issued to
draw up an accurate list of all the churches that were not
secured to the Protestants by a positive declaration of the
Diet in their favor. These were all confiscated. In Eden
berg county the Lutherans alone lost forty churches ; and
here, as well as in Neutra county, the public worship almost
completely ceased.
An excitement and commotion took place among the Prot
estants, who held meetings to plan what was to be done.
This was especially the case in Barsh county, and the con
science-stricken government issued an edict requiring that the
Protestants should remain quietly in their houses, but at the
same time that the confiscation of churches should cease, till
such time as the fatherly wisdom of the king should direct it
to le resumed. a
This fatherly wisdom soon found an opportunity of dis
playing itself; for when all had become somewhat quiet, an
imperial decree appeared, directing all the churches still in
possession of the Protestants, which had not been guaranteed
to them by express enactment, to be immediately confiscated.
It was midwinter, and a Hungarian winter ! One may pic
ture the distress of the people, but much more of the clergy
and their families, who were all turned out on the world.
The priests were devoid of pity, and the work went on. In
the county of Presburg the progress was slower than fanati
cism might naturally have wished, and on the 9th of April,
1732, a new edict appeared directing to hasten and accom
plish the work. The pastors betook themselves to the king,
but in vain. One received the reply from the lord chancellor
that this work could not be delayed. After all this persecu
tion one might expect that, in the free cities, and in the
churches guaranteed by the law of the land, if not a feeling
of humanity, at least state policy might have dictated some
degree of leniency and justice. The first and second reso-

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 351
lutions had secured to the pastors of these churches the right
of visiting the sick and the prisoners within their own bounds,
and had also secured everywhere the right of family worship.
But in the execution of these decrees so little respect was
paid to the wishes of the Protestants, and to the necessities
of the place, that a wing of one parish was frequently at
tached to a far distant church, while the road thither was
sometimes impassable.
An prder was issued from the viceregal court in December,
1732, directing the magistrates of Schemnitz to examine
whether the Protestant church in that city had any need of
their third pastor ; how many dissenters were in the city ;
what was the form of worship ; whether the miners also par
took of the labors of these pastors ; who were the principal
supporters of the Protestant cause ; and hqw long they had
enjoyed toleration. In the year 1733, the viceregal court
laid a proposal before the king of a short and easy way for
putting a stop to the church at Trentshin, where the church
and schools had once been so flourishing. An inquiry was
instituted through the magistrates of Presburg, why the
church in that city had three pastors ; why they had bought
a common dwelling-house and fitted it up for a church ;
whether they paid taxes for that house ; whether they held
their schools, and what was the course of instruction. When
the report had been handed in, a royal order was issued pro
hibiting the Protestants from having a school where anything
beyond the rudiments was taught, unless they could bring
evidence that a special permission to that effect had been
granted. After many appeals, a new inquiry was instituted
through the magistrates, "whether it were safe to leave a
higher school in the hands of the Protestants.
The preaching on the Lord's Day was now indispensably
necessary to strengthen the faith and to cheer the hopes of
the Protestants, and the people flocked to those cities where
preaching was tolerated ; but even in this respect every diffi-

352 HISTORY OF THE
culty was thrown in the way by the king, who at this time
stood so completely under priestly influence.
That this wholesale robbery was not always peaceably
accomplished will be readily understood when we consider
that sometimes whole churches consisted of noblemen, who,
as such, had many rights and privileges. In Lower Hun
gary they sometimes assembled their vassals, and surround
ing the church with dung-carts, posted themselves behind the
barricade. If no military happened to be in the neighbor
hood, the priests, with their party, generally found it conven
ient to retire.
We must especially record the seizing of the churches in
the county of Neutra, and particularly the church of Miawa,
which, in the days of Leopold I., had suffered severely, but
was now made to drink the cup to the very dregs.
The pastor of this large Slavonian church was Daniel Kir-
mann, distinguished by learning and zeal in his office, as
well as by the melancholy fate which afterwards befell him.
At the Synod of Rosenau, notwithstanding the warning of
John Bury of Neusohl and Adam Mittach of Losing', he broke
out into the most violent invectives against the pietists, and
adopted stringent measures against them. Bury, protesting
in vain against these measures, bu'rst into tears and cried,
" Let these tears witness against you, for a curse shall rest
on every one who loveth not his brother." They Were pro
phetical words which the enemy must put into execution.*
The occasion of his misfortune was the conversion of a
poor man named Wenzel Mlimar from the Roman Catholic
Church. This man had, under deep concern for his soul,
* This same Kirmann was sent by Francis Rakotzy to Charles XII. of
Sweden about the time of the unfortunate battle of Pultawa, and obtained
from him twenty thousand dollars for the school of Eperjes, the funds of
which had been forcibly taken away by the Jesuits. He also obtained from
the King of Sweden a thousand dollars as his own travelling expenses, and
on returning to his own church he labored to prepare a book of common
prayer for the churches under his inspection.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 353
fallen into melancholy, and, by the instruction of Kirmann,
had been relieved from his mental agony. On learning the
comforts of the Gospel he joined the Protestant Church.
This was enough for the priests. With a company of sol
diers they came in the night to Miawa to carry the poor man
away. Some of the citizens, hearing of the affair, hastened
to ring the alarm bells, and the whole village was soon in
commotion. The superintendent refused to deliver up the
poor man, remarking that he would at all times be prepared
in the proper place to give an account of what he was doing.
On the 20th of May, 1731, consequently nearly two years
after this transaction, he was, without much inquiry, found
guilty, partly of blasphemy and partly of exciting his people
to rebellion by ringing the alarm bells, and w,as accordingly
sentenced to be imprisoned for life in the Castle of Presburg.
Although not one of the soldiers had been either killed or
wounded in the affray, yet the Protestants were ordered to
surrender their church and school buildings over to the priests
The unfortunate Mlimar was imprisoned at Presburg, and in
the year 1733 was secretly taken out of the way.
Kirmann concealed himself for some time in the Carpa
thian Mountains, but on receiving an anonymous letter, stating
that it would be best for him to go to Presburg and cast him
self on the emperor's clemency, he, conscious of innocence,
resolved to follow the advice. He was cast into prison. On
the 29th of April, 1732, Frederick William, King of Prussia,
appealed to the emperor on Kirmann's behalf, and stated,
through his ambassador, that any favor shown to the super
intendent or his family, the King of Prussia would consider
as shown to himself. But it was all in vain. After five
years' heavy sufferings in prison, he petitioned the Emperor
Charles, but also in vain. The Lord permitted that after
nine years' imprisonment he should die in the prison. On
his deathbed the priests forced the consecrated wafer be
tween his teeth, and then spread the report that he had ab-
30*

354

HISTORY OF THE

jured his heresy, and had died in the communion of the
Church of Rome.
To give this falsehood some degree of credibility a splen
did funeral was given, and a monument was erected to him
in the cathedral ! By so doing, however, they gave evidence
that he was not the criminal which they represented him to
be. They remind us of the words of the Lord, Matt, xxiii.
31, " Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye
are the children of them which killed the prophets." " Ye
are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father ye
will do : he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode
not in the truth, because there is no truth in him." (John
viii. 44.)
In the same way that Frederick William of Prussia had
interested himself for the single individual, in like manner he
appealed to Charles VI. for the whole Protestant Church of
Hungary. This appeal was ably supported by the ambassa
dors from England, Holland, Denmark, and Sweden. The
Swedish ambassador protested especially against the decretal
oath, as one which no conscientious Protestant could take ;
and he succeeded in so far, that some of the newly elected
officials -of Presburg and Neusohl were not required to take
the oath.
Even this concession seemed to burden the tender con
sciences of the Jesuits, as if they had been too gentle ; and
the following year, 1733, an order was issued requiring that
in all cases the decretal oath should be demanded, and only
in case of positive refusal on the part of the Protestants
another formula should be substituted ; all, however, who
were to be admitted to government offices should be prepared
by all means to take the oath.
The annoyances which arose from all these decrees can
be easily imagined. In 1734, in Szabolis, the newly elected
Protestant officials having refused to swear by " Mary and all
the Saints," were, in spite of the law to the contrary, imme
diately set aside and others elected.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 355
Deeply must it be deplored that the mind of the emperor
was now so completely under the influence of the Jesuits that
his former sense of discriminating justice seemed fast flying
away. Like an expiring taper, he seemed sometimes to rally
strength, and then fall once more into his torpor.
Charles VI. had become what his father Leopold I. always
was, and the Jesuits had glorious days in Hungary. The
kingdom was ruled on the principles of " Mariolatry." No
promise, no contract, no oath, was kept with the heretics.
Where no positive royal license for a Protestant church ex
isted, there were the Protestants compelled to perform all
the ceremonies and join in all the processions of the Roman
Catholic Church.* By one means or other, the schools were
¦ destroyed and the children taken away.
Individual priests brought actions, frivolous and vexatious,
against Protestant churches, and the punishment was sure to
follow the charge, — not the proof of the same.t Indeed, in
some cases a legal sentence was considered so entirely a
matter of course, that it was dispensed with, and the priests
gave orders in their own name, so that the king had to inter
fere to prevent such glaring acts of revenge. J
Even the private religious exercises in the families of the
Protestant nobility were often prohibited on the most vexa
tious and frivolous grounds, but especially if any stranger
was permitted to be present, or if the chaplain was ever
known to be guilty of visiting the Protestant families scat
tered through the neighborhood.
Thus, in the family of Bossany in Kisprona, Ujfalenssy in
Divekujfelu, and in the family of Gostony in their castle
at Krems, the family worship, which had been kept up
* Intimatum Carl. Reg., anno 1733 and 1738, ad Magistratum Presburg
ensium. t Fiscal action in 1731 and 1736, 24th of March and 10th of July, against'
the preacher Michael Marosy of Waitzen.
X Royal decree of 15th of March. 1734.

356 HISTORY OF THE
from time immemorial, was, in 1732, forbidden. In county
Wesprim, the Protestants had, with the consent of Count
Zichy, enlarged their chapel, when the sister-in-law of the
count, the wife of John Zichy, was stirred up by the priests
to such an unholy zeal, that she had the whole building torn
down. In a neighboring village, Polotai, the Protestants had
put a new door on their chapel, and John Zichy fined the
whole village for their presumption ; and, that no one might
say that his zeal was less vigorous than that of his wife, he
had the chapel levelled with the ground.
From the workshop of the Jesuits, the imperial chancery
at Vienna, orders were given respecting the baptism of chil
dren dying in the act of parturition ; * and in a later order of
1738, directions were given to keep a close watch over the
Calvinists during the time of the plague, that their doctrine
of predestination might not lead them to suffer the infected
to remain among the healthy.
Their police measures went farther, however, and inter
fered with other matters than predestination. An example
we find in the case of Elizabeth Heritz. She was born of
Protestant parents, and educated in the Protestant Church,
but when, as widow, she was about to marry a Roman Cath
olic, and for that purpose was obliged nominally to connect
herself with the Church of Rome, she thus brought herself
under the power of the priests. As her conversion had been
only nominal, so as to gain her end, she immediately re
turned to the Protestant Church, and lived in that state for
eight years. On her decease, on the 7th of August, 1731,
her husband, a tailor in Giins, obtained permission to bury
his dead .out of his sight. The story reached the ears of Car
dinal Zinzendorf, who sent the hangman to raise the corpse five
days after the burial, to strip it and leave it naked for three
days under the gallows, and then to bury it in a span deep
* We shall see that the impudence of the monks brought them even farther
than this.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 357
of earth, as a warning that so it should be done with all those
who leave the Church of Rome.*
To sum up the picture of misery, we need only remember
that the Jesuits had the censorship of the press entirely in
their hands, and well did they watch over the spiritual food
of the Protestants. Their arbitrary decisions knew no limits.
In the year 1734, they confiscated the books of Stephen Sza-
boczly and George Megyessay, though these books had all
been examined in Vienna, and declared to be free. What
did it avail to show the permission of the imperial censor ?
When the books reached Bruck, they were carried to the
chancery at Presburg ; and as in the fable the tracks of the
beasts at the lion's den are all towards the den and none
returning, so was it with these books ; having once reached
Presburg, they nevercame out.
The books of Stephen Banyai, the Reformed professor at
Patak, met with the same fate at Neudorf. Among other
books confiscated, were several copies of his own work, enti
tled Balm of Gilead, intended to prove " that the plague is
infectious" ! Bookbinders had their whole stock of Bibles
taken away. Books taken for examination, however harm
less they might be, were seldom returned. How far the Jesuits
went in the exercise of the censorship of the press under
Charles VI. and Maria Theresa, may be seen from the con
fessions of Alexius von Reva.
He acknowledges and confesses that Austria feared noth
ing more than the books which young men studying at for
eign universities brought home with them. Therefore were
the edicts, bulls, and proscribed lists of books so numerous.
This nobleman acknowledges that the very name of Protestant
used to fill him with such rage, that he fell on their books
like a raging lion, but that, after glancing through them, he
often came away as a lamb.t
* Ribinyi, Mem. Aug. Conf., Tom. II. p. 264.
t Esprit Post. J. Jos. e Comit. Trantsorm. Archiep. Viennensis, a L. B.
de Reva, illustr., pp. 24, 25.

358

HISTORY OF THE

Under all these circumstances, the Protestants could feel
the force of the Scriptural direction, " Trust not in princes,
nor in the sons of men." The apparent favors which came
from the court at Vienna were in reality limitations of their
rights and freedoms. This was particularly the case with the
royal permission to elect superintendents which was granted
in 1734. Under the pretence that the visitation of the
churches on the part of the superintendent was a burden, it
was directed that in future the superintendent should only
watch over the clergy, and not over the people. The num
bers must therefore be reduced to four for each of the sister
churches, though the Lutherans had five and the Reformed
Church six districts. The confirmation of the appointment
was left with the emperor.
The favor was too small to be accepted'with gratitude, and
too great to be thrown away ; wherefore both churches
accepted of the proffered boon. The Lutheran churches had
at this time sunk down to the number of two hundred and
fifty. The mining districts elected Samuel Michaellis of Neusohl,
a man of considerable abilities, and very eloquent, and he
was made superintendent in 1733.* In 1736, a substitute for
the imprisoned Daniel Kirmann was found in the person of
Zaborsky, an eloquent man, but without college training ;
and just as the instructions were being handed to him, appoint
ing him to his office, he was struck with paralysis and ex
pired. In his place was elected in the following year Elijah
Mohl of Modern. The third superintendent was Michael
Torkosa ; and in 1742, for the district beyond the Danube,
as fourth superintendent they elected John Siphovis-Toth.
_
* A neighboring priest was pleased, in a letter which he wrote to Michael
lis, to denominate him " predicans sceleratissimus, nebulo impostor, infernalis
furcifer, draco tartareus, moustrum membrum abscissum et mortuum, sac-
rilegus, idololatra," &c. ; and all this because the people preferred going a
long way to hear Michaellis, rather than sit under his own preaching.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 359
The Reformed Church, which had had six superintendents,
confirmed Stephen, Major-Korsi as superintendent for the ad
joining circuits on both sides of the Danube, and George Zo-
vanyi in Debrecsin. This latter died in 1757, old and full
of days. He usually went about half in Hungarian, half in
Turkish dress, with a huge knife hanging to his girdle.
Another arrangement of great importance for the protec?
tion of the Protestants, was the appointment of a district in
spector on the part of the influential nobility, who should
stand as adviser by the side of the superintendent and protect
the people in their civil and political rights. All actions,
lawsuits, cases of oppression or of hardshij, should be re
ported to him, and he should stand in constant correspond
ence with an agent in Vienna. The Lutherans elected to
this office Christian Kalitsh, Michael Ossfy, John Radovan-
sky, and General Thomas Szirmay, noblemen strongly at
tached to their church. Peter Zay was the first general in
spector.* The Reformed Church appointed Stephen Vesse
lenyi, Michael and Ladislaus Teleky, Ladislaus Bethlen,
Ladislaus Balo, Joseph, Stephen, and Peter Daniel.
By the assistance of such district inspectors, the superin
tendents were to a certain extent protected, and the cause of
liberty better supported than by mere paid agency. By the
representations, the entreaties, and the influence of these
men, who had high connections in Vienna, many a favor was
obtained, many a harsh measure was softened down, and
many acts of arbitrary cruelty prevented. Many pastors
and' schoolmasters found in the hospitable abodes of the
wealthy nobility a place of refuge and means of subsistence
for months, or even for years. The remembrance of such
* Other noblemen strongly attached to the Protestant Church were Ga
briel Pronay, John Podmanitzky, Stephen Zeitkowsky, Paul Jessenak, Von
Hellenbach, Stephen Radovansky, Alexander Podmanitzky, Adam ffisovski,
Stephen Szirmay, Ladislaus Pronay, Balthasar Pongracs, and Alexander
Vidas.

360

HISTORY OF THE

things makes the clergy of the present day very willing to
share the Church government with the descendants of men
who so ably and so zealously advanced the best interests of
the Church in days gone by. It was much to be desired that
the same brotherly kindness which generally characterized
the intercourse of the Lutheran and Calvinistic churches at
that time should still continue ; for though in 1732 the
Lutherans refused to join the Calvinists in their petition to
the king, supposing the expressions to be too decided, yet
very shortly after we find both once more joining in Pesth
to send a united statement to the court.
The active agents in Vienna, Matthew Bodo and Joseph
Modori, assisted by Andrew Ottlick, labored hard in the
cause, and it was chiefly by their exertions that permission
was obtained for the Protestant clergy to visit the sick and
the dying of their own communion, even in places where no
licensed Protestant church existed, only on condition of pay
ing the priest the usual dues. It may be, also, that the war
with France at this time made the court more inclined to lis
ten to the appeals of the Protestants.*
The nobles recovered their ancient right to hold religious
exercises in their castles, and many a thirsty soul came hith
er to be refreshed by the Word of life. They tasted here
something of the benefits of that light in their dark, dark
night, and the Word of God was sweeter to them than honey
and the honey-comb.
The brethren in other parts of the kingdom were, by this
success, encouraged to renew their efforts. The Protestants
at Trentshin, whose church and school buildings had been
taken from them, now obtained leave to build a wooden
* As in consequence of the unexpected war with France the soldiers were
withdrawn from Hungary, and the Jesuits had therefore no more power to
cany out their schemes, Count Pallfy is reported to have said, " The Protes
tants must either have God or the Devil for their friend, for when everything
is so completely in order for their annihilation, there comes always some un
toward event to prevent its being carried out." — Smalii Advers., I. c.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 361
chapel in one of the suburbs, and directions were given to the
governor of the city not to hinder them in their work. To
prevent the Roman Catholics, however, from being too much
provoked by this wondrous generosity, it was at the same
time ordered that no one from Bohemia or Moravia should
be permitted to attend the preaching, and that neither the
preacher nor the singing-boys should be permitted to enter
the city.*
What labor the Protestants must have had in obtaining and
enjoying these crumbs which fell from the master's table,
may be seen from the fact, that on the third day of April,
1737, Archbishop Kollonitz handed in to the king a protest
against all these concessions. And it is hard to say whether
he might not have been successful, had not the war with the
Turks broken out, in consequence of which mild measures
were rendered absolutely necessary.
The royal proclamations became less frequent and less
fiery. The superintendents called on all the churches under
their care to engage regularly in prayer for the success of
the emperor. The emperor's position was becoming more
and more critical. The Turks had Belgrade already in their
hands, and were masters of the Banat. They were now ap
proaching steadily towards Transylvania, which we have
been obliged so long to pass over, but to the state of which
country we now return.
* Mandat. Reg. 3d, c. 5. September, 1735.

31

362

HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER VI.
STATE . OF THE PROTESTANTS IN TRANSYLVANIA UNDER
CHARLES VI.
In this country the 'Protestants enjoyed on the whole
many advantages. Since the resolutions of Charles they had
been occasionally annoyed, but as the Jesuits had not suc
ceeded in bringing the magnates and higher nobility to join
them, they were prevented from developing their full force.
More than two thirds of the population were Protestants, and
completely to overturn and destroy all their privileges ap
peared neither desirable nor, indeed, for the present, practi
cable. On the surrender of the country to Leopold I., fa
ther of Charles VI., the magnates had secured the fundamen
tal principle, " that the right of patronage in church matters
should remain intact, and that no clergy should be introduced
to the country but such as were already there."
This clause was directed against the Jesuits, who by the
law of the land were prohibited from settling in Transylva
nia, and also against the settlement of a bishop. The last
bishop had been banished under Siegmund Bathory, and
his estates had been confiscated to the prince, and also to
some of the magnates who had deserved well of their coun
tiy. In spite, however, of this condition under which the
emperor held the country, the military governor of Transyl
vania, Francis Stephen Steinriller, succeeded in the year
1716, in the king's name, in introducing George Martonfy de
Garancsfalva as Transylvanian bishop for the Roman Cath
olic Church, and with him began scenes of anarchy and arbi
trary government such as Rome alone can introduce.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 363
The so-called Carolin residence in Alba Julia was fitted up
for his reception, and the superintendent with the professors
and the college must be removed elsewhere. As a recom
pense for the loss to the Reformed Church, fifteen thousand
florins were promised, but the money has as yet not been
paid.* In the train of the bishop came the Jesuits, who settled in
all the principal towns, — in Clausenburg, Alba Carolina,
Hermannstadt, Kronstadt, and Advarkely. The different
orders of the Jesuits were carefully scattered over the whole
country, and thus, through the narrow passes of a clear and
strict law, and over the steep mountains of royal decrees and
of binding and existing compacts, had Rome safely conduct
ed her warriors into a land which for a century had been
closed against them. The firmest positions had been taken ;
the general very properly chosen ! Such battles as Rome,
out of her unspeakable love to souls, usually fights, should
also soon follow.
In all places of learning and trust proper persons of mod
erate abilities were introduced, to be ready, without making
any stir, to fill up all vacancies which might occur. This
was all in full operation in 1727, under the guidance of the
heads of the cathedral at Weissenberg and Kalos-Monastor.
Proper persons were to be always ready for proposing to the
king to fill up every vacant post ; and under the expression
" proper persons," was to be understood members of their
order. How zealously the plan was carried out may be seen
from the fact, that among all who have the charge of the in
struments and apparatus of science in Transylvania only two
at present are laymen, one a Protestant of the Reformed
Church, and the other a Roman Catholic.
A prohibition now appeared, forbidding the building of
churches and the opening of schools or academies without

* Petr. Bad de Statu Reb. in Trans, sub Carolo VI., Tom. IH. p. 261, MS.

364

HISTORY OF THE

royal commission. The (Roman Catholic) Court of Inquiry
was directed to pay particular attention to those who should
desert the Roman Catholic Church. In the royal decrees, it
appeared in the preamble " that many had joined the Roman
Catholic Church to obtain the royal favor or to avoid punish
ment for some crime (sic !), and when they had gained their
end they then returned. Others who joined the Roman Cath
olic Church suffered so much persecution that they again fell
off." Now it should be ordained that all who joined the
Church of Rome, and remained steady, should be taken under
the especial protection of the government ; those, however,
who again fell off should be punished as the emperor in each
case should direct.
When matters were thus far prepared that the Roman
Catholics had more -courage, and the Court of Inquiry was
prevented from taking decided steps, the priests proceeded to
alter the laws which regulated the mutual relations of the
four confessions, Lutheran, Calvinist, Unitarian, and Roman
Catholic. These laws had been in so far favorable to the Protestants
that they secured them the possession of their churches and
church property against the ravages of a robber-priesthood of
the Church of Rome. As, however, those laws had been
made during the time of the Turkish government, and many
articles in the laws required a certain line of conduct to be
observed towards the Turks, the priests availed themselves of
this circumstance to give them a plausible pretence for over
turning the whole law. They succeeded, too, in gaining the
Court of Inquiry entirely to their interests, so that the way
seemed clear before them.
The Protestants saw their danger, and took alarm. They
reminded Charles VI. of his own solemn promise to them, as
well as that of his father Leopold- 1., his mother Eleonora,
and his brother Joseph, that they should still enjoy their rights
as they at that time existed ; and the danger was for the pres
ent removed.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 365
The Protestants had to pay dearly for this. We do not
mention here the Turkish war, nor the plague which began
to rage very fiercely, but another event of vast importance
which occurred on the 29th of March, 1735. On that night
imperial soldiers broke into the castles of many of the most
distinguished magnates, and carried them away as prisoners
to different fortresses.*
The same took place with the superintendent of the Re
formed church in Enged, whose house was searched in every
corner, his papers taken to Hermannstadt, and he himself to
Alba Carolina. Other prisoners soon followed him, as Sieg-
mund Boronyai, doctor of theology and professor in Enged ;
Pastor Torsok-Szigeti and Andrew Szaboslai of Neudorf ; as
also a nobleman, John Thurotz ; but these last were soon set
free, without, however, any punishment being inflicted on
those who had denounced them, one of whom, at least, was
perfectly well known.
Count Emerich Bethlen was sent to Vienna to intercede
for the prisoners, and he was so successful that he obtained
the appointment of a military commission to examine the
case. After a very strict investigation, all the prisoners were
found not guilty of the charges laid against them, and the em
peror ordered their innocence to be publicly proclaimed.
And yet the raging enemies found ways and means of
.keeping them in prison till the 15th of January, 1739. t The
magnates who had been thus so -unjustly dishonored and im
prisoned demanded the punishment of their accusers, but the
court observed a strict silence on this matter, and no justice
was granted.
* The names of those thus violently taken prisoners and carried out of
their castles were, — John Sajar; Ladislaus Rhedri, in his twenty-sixth year ;
Siegmuud Toracky, sixty years old, and paralytic ; Francis Rhedri, nearly
sixty years old; Michael Toldalagi, seventy years old, deaf and blind; and
Count Samuel Bethlen.
-f Accordingly the statement of Fessler requires to be corrected. See
Petr. Bad. Eccl. Hist., sub Carolo VI., MSS.
31*

366 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER VII.

The Protestants summoned to Rebellion. — Misfortunes of the Imperial
Army. — Disgraceful Peace. — Death of the King.
The war with the Ottomans becoming more and more se
rious, occupied the attention of all Europe, and especially of
the Pope and the Emperor, so much that for some time few
imperial orders were issued. The few which came to the
light, however, reminded the Protestants of their miserable
state and of their mighty foes. And yet, when the son of
Prince Rakotzy, who stood under the protection of the Turks,
summoned the Protestants of Hungary and Transylvania to
revolt against the emperor and join the Turks, they refused
to listen to his proposals. Not an individual of importance
passed over 'to the Turkish ranks, though at that time the vic
torious party.
In the unfortunate engagement of 23d of July, 1739, at
Krocska, the field-marshal, Wallis, had been nearly routed
when he was relieved by the arrival of William Reinhard of
Neupergs. Reinhard had received secret instructions from
Maria Theresa and her consort to conclude a peace with the
Turks ; but his unfortunate position and his own imprudence,
together with the cunning of Marquis Villeneuve, the French
ambassador, who wished to humble Austria, induced^ him to
conclude that disgraceful peace on the 1st of September,
under the guaranty of France, by which the fortresses of
Belgrade and Szobacs, together with Servia, the whole of
Austrian Wallachia, with the island and castle of Orsova,
were ceded to the Turks.*
* By this peace the fundamental constitution of Hungary was violated.
See Carl. III., Decret. 1715, art. 41. See also Corpus Juris Hungaria3.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 367
The emperor's cheerfulness now forsook him. He sought
solitude, and not unfrequently shut himself up in his cell in
the Capuchin monastery, which he had built in the market
place. Sometimes he went to his palace at Halbthurm, in
Wieselburg, and here, by partaking of fruit and cold drink
aftur the heats of the chase, he brought on the disease of
which he died in Vienpa, 20th of October, 1740. The pa
pal nuncio stood by him in his dying hours.
The death of Charles VI. was no cause of joy to the Prot
estants, nor of sorrow to the Roman Catholic priests, in as
far as the future was concerned, for his successor was his
own daughter, Maria Theresa.

368

HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER VIII.

MARIA THERESA. — FROM 1740 TO 1780.
Dangerous Position of the Queen. — She is delivered by the Hungarians. —
Fruitless Efforts of the Protestants to obtain their Religious Freedom. —
Forbidden to present Petitions incorporate Capacity. — Extracts from a
Petition to the Queen. — Effects of this Petition. — Examination of the
Pastors respecting Baptism. — The Resolutions of Charles VI. of 1731
renewed. — Sorrowful Consequences. — Persecutions. — The Protestant
Schools. Maria Theresa was crowned with the usual ceremonies
on the 18th of March, 1741, and inherited from her father a
land wasted by war, by fanatical oppression, and by an army
of officials.* Having been attacked by Frederick the Great
of Prussia, by the Elector of Bavaria, as also by France and
Spain, it seemed to be hastening to its downfall.
Forsaken by faithless allies among the princes, she, con
trary to the advice of her German advisers, summoned a Diet
at Presburg, where, with her babe of six months old (Joseph)
in her arms, she delivered such a powerful address in Latin,
commending herself and her child to the care of the Hun
garian States, — casting herself on their generosity and valor,
— that when she had concluded, four hundred and ninety-
seven Hungarians drew the sword, and cried, " Yes! our
lifers blood for our king ! " t
The happy consequences of this proceeding of the queen,
* The officials in one single department amounted to forty thousand, who
cost the land nearly ten millions of florins yearly.
f "Moriamur pro rege nostro Maria"! The title of queen is not recog
nized in Hungary, even when a female monarch is- actually reigning.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 369
both for herself and the monarchy, are well known. For
Hungary this was one of her brightest days. Pity that relig
ious intolerance and love of persecution cast a shade over the
picture, and that the inner life of this brave people should be-
so soon turned to darkness and night.
The queen had sworn " to preserve inviolable all the rights
and privileges of the nation in all points, clauses, and arti
cles, as had been settled between the king and the represen
tatives of the country." Still this was not so much the
ground of the nation's confidence as was that gentle and
humane disposition which was universally believed to charac
terize the person of the sovereign. They thought, therefore,
that now was the time to recover their inalienable rights and
freedoms, which, partly by force, partly by fraud, had been
wrested from them. As bitterly oppressed subjects, they
reckoned on the tender heart of woman for redress, and took
their measures accordingly.
To lose no time, the Protestants sent a deputation to Maria
Theresa in July, 1740, but she replied through her chancel
lor, Pallfy, that she was not willing to receive so numerous a
deputation, and that it was, besides, contrary to law to ap
proach the throne with the complaints of a whole class. Dis
appointed in their expectations, the deputies left the city,
resolved to try some other plan.
On the 20th of January, 1741, a deputation appeared in
Vienna from Hout and Neograd, and in April another depu
tation followed ; and as the queen seemed inclined to listen
to them, the deputy of the Reformed Church, Abraham Vay,
and of the Lutheran Church, Maytheni, drew up and pre
sented a petition which was too important to be here passed
over. In the preamble of the petition it was set forth, that the
prohibition of petitions in the name of a class had reference
only to private interests, which were often so represented.
It was also set forth that, in the present case, the evil was of

370 HISTORY OF THE
such a nature that it could not otherwise be met than by a
petition stating the oppressions of the whole Protestant body.
The different enactments are recapitulated, according to
which, " the Protestants of Hungary should in no way what
ever be disturbed in the enjoyment of all their rights.' The
ten points of the Diet of CEdenberg, of 1681, are recapitu
lated, and it is shown that not a shadow of religious freedom
remains over.* Petitioners represent further how Protestant
pastors are banished out of whole circuits, as in the case of
Arszeg and Tolsag in Eisenburg county, and that the people
are not suffered to go to hear the Word of God or to receive
the Lord's Supper in the neighboring county. They are not
even allowed the quiet use of their own religious books.
When some have ventured to go to a neighboring county to
hear the Word of God, they have been waylaid by the au
thorities, and their books and even clothes taken from them,
without respect to age, or sex, or station in life. Others are
for the same offence summoned before the county court.t
Here they have been sentenced to fines and imprisonments
in chains. Some are compelled to join the Roman Catholic
Church, or subjected to endless annoyances. The landed
proprietors often abuse their rights so far as to compel those
residing on their estates to become Roman Catholics, else
imprisonment, banishment, and confiscation await them.
Even after some have paid the fine to obtain leave to reside
on the estates, they are even then banished. The decretal
oath shuts Protestants out of office, and very often brings
them to bear heavy persecution, simply because their con
sciences could not bear the blasphemy contained in that oath.
Parties are refused marriage and other rites, indeed even
Christian burial ; corpses are torn out of the earth and thrown
* "Ut ne umbra qnidem alicujus libortatis appareat."
t This court, called the " Herrenstuhl," was perfectly arbitrary in its de
cisions, and merely carried out the will of a few landed proprietors of the
county. It was the source of much oppression up till the year 1845.

TROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 37]
into some dishonored place, because it is feared that they
have not died in the Catholic faith. If Protestant domestics
are taken sick, and the priest is not sent for, that, too, is a
crime to be punished with fines. Those who had long be
fore 1731 joined the Protestant Church, are, under some pre
tence, seized, scourged as apostates, and again handed over
to the Church of Rome.
They complain that the Protestant schools are reduced to
the elementary classes, indeed sometimes completely prohib
ited ; and that the books of the Protestants, such as the Bible,
hymn and prayer-books, as well as works on dogmatic the
ology, are not allowed to be imported into the country, or if
found are confiscated. Even in places where the Protestant
worship is tolerated, the pastors are not allowed to visit the
sick and the prisoners, or to comfort the dying. In many
places, indeed in the greater number of the free cities in the
entire kingdom, out of mere religious hatred, the Protestants
are not permitted to enjoy the rights of citizenship ; and this
measure extends not only to strangers, but also to those born
in the place. The nobility, who in Hungary enjoy so many
privileges, are excluded from office, however well fitted to
fill the post, simply because they refuse to take the blasphe
mous decretal oath ; the post is then often filled up by men
not at all qualified, and the votes of the nobility, who have a
right to decide in such matters, are completely neglected.
Petitioners inform the queen that all these complaints, and
many others even worse than these, could be proved by doc
umentary evidence. Petitioners further declare, that though
her imperial Majesty had reserved to herself the right of
finally deciding in all these matters, yet the grand cause of
the evil lies in the fact of all these cases being handed for
investigation to the very parties who have first instigated the
injustice, that they might report. In this way the complain
ing party is put completely at the mercy of the persecutors ;
Mr', u' this course is continued, there remains nothing over

372

HISTORY OF THE

for the faithful Protestant subjects of her Majesty but perse
cution, misery, banishment, and complete destruction.
Whilst it is impossible for her Majesty, with all her cares
of government, to . examine all the charges" and complaints
of the Protestants, and to decide according to the law of the
land, the Protestant States, who are not behind their Roman
Catholic countrymen in devotedness to the throne, unite in
the following petition : —
First, That the Protestants of both confessions, as mem
bers of the kingdom, shall be treated like the Roman Cath
olic citizens, and shall not on account of their religion be
excluded from any of the offices of state,, or courts of law
and appeal.
Second, That in all oaths, the formula " by the Triune
God," shall be reckoned sufficient, and no further burden be
laid on the conscience.
Third, At the election of civil office-bearers, the vote ol
the Protestants shall not be suppressed, but treated as of equal
value with the vote of a Roman Catholic.
Fourth, That the Protestant clergy shall, in matters per
taining to ecclesiastical discipline, be subject to their own
superintendents alone, and to no foreign ecclesiastical author
ity ; and that the matters relating -to marriage shall be de
cided according to the acknowledged and authorized principles
of the confession to which the parties belong.
"Fifth, That in the counties where the Protestants are in
possession of churches and chapels, and enjoy the privileges
of the public exercises of religion, it shall be permitted them
to repair their churches and to build manses and school-
houses where these do not already exist. That the nobility
generally shall have the right of building chapels on their
own land, and of supporting chaplains ; that those who come
to attend divine service should in no way be molested ; and
that the peasants who live beyond the prescribed bounds of
the parish should not be prevented from receiving the visits

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 373
of the Protestant clergy in case of need, and from obtaining
the comforts of the Gospel in a dying hour.
Sixth, That those who join the Protestant Church should
in the future not be persecuted and punished as apostates, or
banished from the land of their fathers, and that those who
are already banished should be recalled.
Seventh, That the churches which, according to article
30th of the Diet of 1715, had fallen into the possession of the
Roman Catholics,* should be restored, or, where that was
impossible, at least no more should be taken away under
such pretexts.
Eighth, That in the royal free cities the Protestant pastors
shall no more be prohibited from entering the interior of the
city, and that all the limitations of knowledge be removed. t
Ninth, That Protestants coming to reside in the free cities
should not, on account of their religion, be excluded from
citizenship. Tenth, That the system of seizing churches, chapels,
schools, and income of the Protestant clergy by force, should
cease for ever, and that the " customary fine " which at all
times might be levied from Protestants should also for ever
cease, that the peace of the country might not be for ever
disturbed by such unjust measures. "And should complaints
be brought to her Majesty, that she would be pleased to di
rect inquiry and redress, not through the viceregal court at
Presburg, but from the home office, for the viceregal court
often took the liberty of decreeing exactly the opposite of
what the court at Vienna had ordered.
Should at any time doubts arise, then, in the spirit of the
14th article of 1647, there should be a mixed commission,
* This was the case when a priest by force or fraud succeeded in reading
the mass or performing any other religious ceremony there.
t This referred to the exclusion of Protestants from professorships, and
also to the prohibition of anything beyond elementary schools in connection
with the Protestant churches. SO

374

HISTORY OF THE

containing an equal number of Protestant and Roman Cath
olic members, appointed to examine the case, and when they
had decided, her Majesty would please to direct the local
magistrate to carry out the decision without the intervention
of any other party ; for experience had shown that royal
resolutions in favor , of the Protestants generally remained
unexecuted. "By this means" — so said the petition at its close —
" should the nation of Hungary, so devoted to her Majesty^s
interests, be delivered from much and grievous oppression.
We, who humbly present this petition before your Majesty,
should, by the granting of our supplication, be so firmly
bound to your Majesty's throne, that we should ever consider
it an honor and a privilege to shed our blood in defence of
your Majesty's cause against every foe." The petition was
signed by " Her Majesty's most obedient, ever faithful sub
jects of the Augsburg and Helvetic Confessions, residing in
Hungary." A petition founded thus on facts, and supported by evi
dence, could not pass without leaving a deep impression on
the mind of Maria Theresa, and so much the more as ex
tracts of all the laws made in favor of the Protestants had,
in January, 1742, been handed to her and her councillors
by that faithful nobleman Gabriel Perenyi. He had been
assisted and supported, in making the extracts and present
ing them, by John Botius and the general inspector John
Radvan. The queen handed the petition of the Hungarian Protes
tants to her chancellor, with directions to report upon it. The
report appeared on the 4th of March, 1742, advising that her
Majesty should condescend no reply to the petitioners. As
she, however, felt this suggestion incompatible with her
sense of duty, she summoned on an early day her whole
council, to present the chancellor's report, and to ask their
advice. Pier ministers advised her to act as the chancellor

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 375
had reported, and, accordingly, no reply was given to the
petition. We see that the queen and the Protestant cause were still
in the hands of the Jesuits. This was soon made .still more
evident. The Bishop of Funf kirchen, in the visitation of his
diocese, felt himself peculiarly pressed in conscience to look
after the state of the poor erring Protestants who had left his
fold. He not only inquired into outward and civil matters,
but also examined the Protestant pastors respecting their
views of baptism. Well, if Protestants were allowed to live,
it was but reasonable to expect that they should teach only
such doctrines as Rome approves. So at least thought the
Bishop of Funf kirchen. Now, on the occasion of an exam
ination at Szokal, the bishop felt quite grieved in spirit at the
answers which the Protestant pastors gave on the subject of
baptism, and, astonished that any men pretending to hold the
office of pastor in a Christian church could differ so far from
what the infallible Mother Church teaches respecting the
nature of the sacraments, he in his zeal denounced these
men in his report to Vienna, as monsters of ignorance, who
pretended to support by Scripture their own views of bap
tism, which were not the same as those of the Church of
Rome. The bitterest part of the charge, however — at least
to Popish ears — was, that these Protestant pastors caused
many children to be eternally lost, by forbidding the mid-
wives to baptize in case of death in the act of parturition.*
On the 15th of September, 1742, an order was published
by the viceregal court at Presburg, and directed to be read
in all counties and parishes in the name of the_ queen. This
royal decree brought heavy charges against the Calvinistic
pastors, and directed that the authorities should prevent them,
* It is the well-known principle of the Church of Rome, that children
dying unbaptized are therefore lost ; wherefore the midwives are directed to
baptize in case of need, to the saving of the souls of children. The same
practice prevails also in the Lutheran Church.

376 HISTORY OF THE
if necessary, by force, from spreading their dangerous doc
trines by which any child may be suffered to die unbaptized.
If any case of the kind should occur, then the Calvinistic
pastor and the midwife are to be held accountable for the
crime, and punished accordingly.
' A heavier measure awaited the Protestants, for in the fol
lowing December another proclamation appeared, by which
the queen confirmed to its full extent the unfortunate resolu
tions of her father, of the year 1731. The desire of relig
ious liberty was now a crime, and Maria Theresa brought a
heavy stain on her character by sanctioning such a measure.
From this time we see her led by bigotry to demand the
heaviest oppressions and persecutions of her Protestant sub
jects. The decretal oath, which Charles VI., at the instigation of
the foreign ambassadors, had allowed to be dispensed with,
Maria Theresa again introduced, by which means the consci
entious and influential Protestants were excluded from office.
In this way was Joseph Klobuschisky, who had been duly
elected as a member of the chamber at Presburg, removed
from his office, and another illegally appointed in his place,
but for the illegal steps there was no punishment inflicted on
the parties concerned. Similar cases might be brought for
ward by hundreds.
The greatest possible difficulties were laid in the way of
young men who wished to study at foreign universities. Not
only was the passport very expensive, but even before grant
ing it, evidence must be brought that the individual seeking
such permission had sufficient means to support him. In this
way the rich endowments and scholarships intended for Hun
garian students were rendered useless. If any one were too
poor to study abroad, he was prohibited from seeking assist
ance from friends for that purpose.
The candidates of theology, who were residing abroad,
were at one time ordered home within a month. Not even

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 377
the poor traders who lived on the frontiers escaped, but, un
der the pretence that by their books they were spreading
heresy in the land, their Bibles and hymn-books were taken
from them. The Protestant carriers of Zips lost many relig
ious books in this way ; those of Arva lost forty Bohemian
Bibles, and at that time it was no trifle. An order of 1747,
from the viceregal court, directed the Reformed Church
to destroy their catechism, and have it immediately abolished.
The old battles about church and school-houses, and the
claims of the priests on the Protestants, were renewed and
continued in the old way. The Diet of (Edenberg brought
matters so far, that in eleven counties divine worship accord
ing to the Protestant form was to be tolerated only in two
places in each county. Six of these counties had been al
ready regulated ; the five remaining counties were to be
examined with the greatest care, that none but the two legal
Protestant churches should be tolerated, and when that was
done, the remaining nineteen counties should not rest long
behind. We shall see with what cunning the foes of light
set to work.
In Raab the Protestant worship had occasionally been sus
pended, but always restored again ; now, however, a charge
was brought that the Protestants had no legal permission to
meet for worship. No sooner had the charge been read in
Presburg than an order was issued, and accordingly churches
and schools were closed, the revenues seized, the pastors
and teachers turned out of their dwellings, and permitted to
continue in Raab only on condition of resigning all claim to
be considered as office-bearers in the Church. In parishes
where perhaps scarcely three Roman Catholics resided,
priests were forced upon the people. We might name the
places where this occurred, — for example, in Dobschan, in
1746, in Ratho, in Csetnek, where very few Papists resided,
but, on the contrary, which was the residence of the Prot
estant superintendent. In Asgyan the pastor had only but
32*

378

HISTORY OF THE

expired of fever, when an attempt was made to introduce a
priest into his place. When the people protested, they were
summoned by the attorney-general and subjected to a tedious
legal process. When the congregation had found, however,
in Stephen Bomemissa, an able advocate and zealous de
fender, the Papists found means of making him harmless by
bringing an accusation against himself. He lost his right to
practise as an advocate, — certainly as a warning to all others
not to be over-zealous in defending the Protestants. With
much trouble did this unjustly persecuted man again obtain
leave to practise, but it was with the express and significant
declaration that this favor was shown " only for this time."
The plundering and the forcible seizure of churches and
schools continued ; and the order of 1746, which was intend
ed to put a stop to the proceedings, was published only in a
few counties. Where the difficulties appeared insurmounta
ble in carrying out their plans, the Popish party contrived to
allow the churches to fall into decay. The repair was strict
ly prohibited. And when, after many pressing petitions, the
queen at last permitted some of the churches to be repaired,
the -permission was clogged with so many conditions as to
make it nearly useless. The court at Presburg threatened to
tear down the whole building, if the slightest alteration was
made in the plan of repairs which had been sanctioned.
Faith, however, finds a way. By it is the world overcome.
In proportion to the difficulties is the strength of that princi
ple which the Ploly Spirit works in the soul. When preach
ing and the sacraments were forbidden, the people had strength
and courage to travel for miles to those places where public
worship was legal ; and the poor often spent their last penny
in such attempts to obtain nourishment for their souls.
Though this was not once to be compared with the_ pilgrim
ages which were customary in the Roman Catholic Church,
neither in moral tendency nor in expense, stillthe priests and
the Popish nobles resolved not to tolerate it. Thus the young

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 379
Earl Szirmay punished his tenants and vassals with great
severity for attending divine service in Jacobfalva and Zoben.
It was well known how Baron Stephen Klobuschisky sent his
servants regular^' on Saturday evening to warn his tenantry,
under heavy penalties, not to venture to go to Eperjes to
divine service on the following day. To be sure that they
obeyed this injunction, he ordered them all to be present in
the Roman Catholic church. Whoever disobeyed had the
choice of being. publicly whipped, or of paying an indefinite
fine !
Under these circumstances many emigrated to the neigh
borhood of the Theiss, and such numerous Protestant churches
were there formed, that often twelve to eighteen thousand
souls were under the pastoral care of only two pastors. It
was true that those who emigrated were obliged to leave the
greater part of their property behind.
The Countess of Szent-Ivany imprisoned her tenantry on
the estate at Alho-Sebes, near Eperjes, for the crime of at
tending a Protestant place of worship, and kept them in chains
-till they joined the Roman Catholic Church ; and when one
woman positively refused to accept of freedom on any such
terms, she was banished from the village, leaving her husband
and her property all behind. The miseries, however, of
those who happened to have priests or — as at Stavnik —
Jesuits for the proprietors of the soil, are known only to the
Lord, and cannot be described by mortal hand.
Neither experience nor humanity seemed to have any in
fluence in moderating the struggles to convert the Protestants.
The deputy-governor of the county Houth once replied, as
some one exultingly told him of the conversion of a Protes
tant to the Catholic faith, " that he knew no such fools as those
who could rejoice over such things ; for," said he, " if all
the Protestants turned over to us, there would not a single
individual of those who are now Roman Catholics be per-

380

HISTORY OF THE

mitted to remain in office ; for places must be provided for
the converts."
Though the Protestant schools were closed or oppressed,
and the Roman Catholics were in their school system per
fectly free, still the intelligence of the former was in no way
behind the latter. The primate once exclaimed, in a consul
tation on the state of the. schools, "In vain have we lowered
the schools of the Protestants ; in vain forbidden them to at
tend foreign universities : notwithstanding all we have done,
they still surpass us in learning." And indeed it did appear
as if the blessing which once attended the light food of Daniel
and his followers rested here on the moderate opportunities
which the Protestants enjoyed for cultivating their mental
powers.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 381

CHAPTER IX.
Ecclesiastical Visitations. — Bishop Biro. — Processions. — Mixed Marriages.
— Children taken from the Parents. — Countess of Szent-Ivany. — Perse
cution of the Protestant Pastors. — Matthew Bohil.
Next to. the severe censorship exercised in the schools, the
heaviest trial for the Protestants under Maria Theresa was,
perhaps, the ecclesiastical visitation. The Popish bishops
and archdeacons meddled in a most provoking way with all
the affairs of the Protestant churches. Not only did they
inquire into the manner of dispensing the sacraments, and
require the sacrament of baptism to be dispensed in a way
agreeable to their wishes, but also fomented quarrels between
pastor and people, that they might have an opportunity of
interfering to decide the dispute.*
While the bishops thus visited and regulated the affairs of
the Protestant churches, the superintendents were forbidden
to interfere ; for, it was said, the congregation cannot bear
the expense of a second visitation ; besides, it would be use
less, as the bishop must of course know best what to do. A i
Popish bishop know best what to do in a Protestant church !
The1 pretence of sparing expense was very futile, for the
bishop usually came in great splendor.
As a specimen of the way in which the bishops exercised
their power, we may look at Francis Barkotzy, Bishop of
Erlau, who summoned the Calvinistic pastors on the 18th
of June, 1748, to Nagy-Banya, to be examined on the nature
and design of baptism. On this occasion he treated them
* Letter of the Vicar-General of Kalotsh to the Reformed Church in
Bagyaslo, 24th February, 1748.

382

HISTORY OF THE

sometimes with parental kindness, sometimes with episcopal
severity ; and reminded them that their freedom was not
dependent on the law of the land nor on the will of the sov
ereign, but on the words which occurred in the enactment
(adhuc toleratur), — merely for the present is toleration
granted. Martin Biro, Bishop of Wesprfm, issued an order on the
20th of July, requiring the host to be carried through the
streets to the sick, with burning tapers ; and that every per
son, of whatever religion he might be, who should meet the
procession of the host on the street, or past whose house it
might be borne, should fall on the knee to worship.
The trades' unions were obliged to take part in the cere
monies of the Roman Catholic Church in the free cities,
carrying the flags of their trade. If any apprentice or
journeyman absented himself from the procession on Corpus
Christi day, he was fined in several pounds of wax or in six
florins, — for such times, and for such people, a most fearful
oppression. The government were obliged to interfere, and decide, that
at Neusohl the journeymen tradespeople should not be ob
liged to pay more than two pounds weight of wax ; as also,
that the household furniture of the Protestants, which had
been seized to pay these enormous demands, in consequence
of refusing to take part in the processions, should be re
stored.* None of the Protestants, however, were so much to be
pitied at this time as those who were married to Roman
Catholics. Their domestic happiness was entirely at the
command of the priests, who, partly by the influence of the
confessional, partly by orders from higher quarters, were
empowered to interfere and regulate the education of the
children as they chose.

* See decrees of viceregal court at Presburg, 16th July, 1743, and 28th
July, 1745.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 383
In many cases the marriage with Protestants was forbid
den till the Protestant party joined the Church of Rome ; or,
if it was tolerated, all the children were regarded as by right
belonging to that Church. The husband was no more " the
head of the wife " in this respect, but all must be subject to
the priests, who made themselves " lords over God's heri
tage." How far this went may be illustrated by a case which oc
curred in the year 1746, at Nagy Saros. There appeared
before the Roman Catholic priest, P. Karasy, two pairs wish
ing to be married. Both were intended to be mixed mar
riages, but in one case the bride,, in the other the bridegroom,
was Protestant. When the priest had tried in vain to per
suade the Protestant parties to turn to the Church of Rome,
and all his arguments seemed ' useless, he at last took them
over to the church, and, without asking their leave, married
the Protestant bridegroom to the Protestant bride, and the Ro
man Catholic to the Roman Catholic.
The fanatical attempts at so-called conversion penetrated
into all the circumstances of life. It was a matter of no un-
frequent occurrence that, where one of the parents had been
Roman Catholic, but had joined the Protestant Church, so
that both were now members of the Protestant communion,
the priest stepped in, took possession of the children, and had
them educated in some convent in the Catholic faith.
The Jesuit Szanty, in the neighborhood of Eperjes, was
particularly active in this way. A Roman Catholic who had
been compelled against his will to join that communion, and
who had married a Protestant, was training his son in the
Protestant faith, for he said he would sooner suffer ten deaths
than see his child Roman Catholic. When Szanty heard
this, he went to the house and brought the child — at that
time six years old — into the church, made him confess, and
thrust the consecrated wafer into his mouth ; — thus he was
made Catholic. The disconsolate parents applied to the

384 HISTORY OF THE
preacher, Matthew Bohil, for advice, and he had the child
sent to friends in another country, where it might escape from
the men who were thus hunting after souls. The Jesuit pater
complained to the Countess Szent-Ivany, the proprietress of
the soil, and she had the father thrown into prison with a
chain round his neck, while the mother was obliged to wan
der many a weary day and night among the mountains and
forests, that she might escape the same fate.
One child concealed himself for several days under a bed,
and another lay in a shed for fourteen days, seeking opportu
nity to escape from the attempts of the Jesuit to " convert "
him, while the mother was thrown into prison for not reveal
ing where her boy lay hid.*
The Jesuit Schewscluck, whom the contemporaries called
the bloody miscreant,-!- surpassed his brethren in making pros
elytes. Assisted by armed bands, he went from house to
house, seized the children of mixed marriages, shut them up,
and wrought on their imaginations by promises and threats
till they joined the Church of Rome. Many females were
also in a similar way imprisoned till they forsook their Church.
The case of the children of a powder manufacturer in Eperjes
was very severe. The widowed mother was obliged to sur
render her two eldest children to the priests as a necessary
preparation for a second marriage. She then married the
Protestant citizen Michael Rastatsy, and educated the younger
children in the Protestant faith. The Jesuit, on hearing of
this, carried the children by force from the mother, and shut
them up in the college. On the evening of the 30th of June,
1744, these boys, tired of the chastisements to which they
were subjected, broke open the door and fled to the Protes-
'.ant pastor, who, without communicating with the parents,
sent them off to friends in a distant country, to be there edu
cated in the Protestant faith.
# Smalii Advers. loc. c. § 66.
X " Blutiger Koth, und answurf der Holle.' '

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 385
A worthy pupil of the Jesuits was the Countess Szirmay,
of, the family of Barkotzy.- Of a very different disposition
from her husband Thomas, she gathered Her Protestant ser
vants, dependants, and tenantry to the castle, and had them
whipped till their eyes were sufficiently clear to see the ex
cellencies of the Church of Rome.
The priests have always known how to use superstition for
their own ends. Accordingly, the popular superstition, that a
mother could not venture on any work or undertake a jour->
ney after childbirth, without being " churched," was made
the occasion of winning many Protestants over to Rome.
The practice had come originally from the Jews, and the
priests carefully taught that some great misfortune might rea
sonably be expected if this rite were not observed, They
then in many cases refused to perform the service till the
party concerned had finally forsaken the Church of her
fathers. If, however, the mother ventured to neglect the
observance of the ecclesiastical ceremony, she was heavily
fined. It was no easy matter for the pastors to escape ; for many
spies were ever ready to inform if they ever crossed the
bounds prescribed for their labors. Whether it was to visit
the sick and dying, to administer baptism, to visit a brother
minister, or whatever was the object, they were seized and
whipped. This was the prescribed punishment for crossing
beyond their bounds. Among others who were thus treated
we find Matthew Bohil, who, on passing through the village
of Rodacs, on his way to visit -pastor David Meltzel, was
seized by some students of Kashaw, headed by the priest of
the district, and openly, in broad daylight, was whipped in
the streets. The pastor of Bartfeld, who was afterwards set
tled at Iglau, John Christopher Anders, having once obtained
permission from the archdeacon to come within the walls of
the city to vjsit a brother-in-law, for the purpose of arranging
some family affairs, was, under the pretence of friendship,
33

386

HISTORY OF THii

allured into the house of the archdeacon, and there treated as
a prisoner. As he protested against this treatment, and was
about to force his way out, the priest seized him, tore off his
wig, administered some orthodox blows, and threw him out
into the street with bare head. The boys before the priest's
door now began to throw stones, and it was with trouble that
some Protestant citizens were able to rescue -him from the
danger. An aged preacher, Andrew Hulvajdt, who had come to
Uigfalu to have his coat repaired, was seized by the priest of
the place, and was beaten. Andrew Gross, of Leutshaw,
was seized by the Minorites in the street, and confined in an
upper room of the monastery,* out of which he escaped, by
binding his bed-clothes together to make a cord to let him
down from the window. His cord was too short, and the fall
which he experienced was the cause of a tedious illness.
Even within the bounds of their prescribed districts, the
pastors had many difficulties to ¦encounter. In Bartfeld,
Trentshin, and Eperjes, they were not suffered to go within
the walls. When, therefore, a member of the church resid
ing in the city fell sick, he must either remain without the
comforts which his pastor could afford, or else be carried out
to the ^suburbs, there to receive the consolations of religion.
After many petitions, the queen ordered this regulation to be
rescinded ; but the court at Presburg, in transmitting the order
to the civic authorities, instead of saying that the pastors
"must be admitted," as the queen had directed, wrote that
they " might be admitted into the city." When now, in de
pendence on the queen's decree, Matthew Bohil entered the
city, he was threatened by the superior of the Jesuits, and
ordered immediately to leave.
* The monks considered themselves justified in doing so, for a decree had
been issued from their workshop at Presburg, directing that any clergyman
found travelling, if a member of the nobility, was to be handed over to the
attorney-general ; if not, he was to be without ceremony imprisoned.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 387
Bohil, however, was not the man to be terrified. He knew
that the Palatine Count John Pallfy had written to the gov
ernor of the city to see that the queen's decree was executed,
and in dependence on him, and in spite of all priestly pro
tests, he continued his visits to the sick. The Jesuits drove
matters so far as to appeal to Presburg that the permission
might be reversed. When, however, the priests could not
gain their ends by legal means, they took care that the pas
tors should be pelted in the streets with mud and stones.
We cannot do .better, however, than allow this faithful wit
ness to speak for himself, and describe his own experience
and sufferings.

388 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER X.

Imprisonment of Bohil. — Cause. — Escape. — A Jewish Eabbi. — Persecu
tion of the Friends of Bohil. — His Wife's Escape. — Bohil's Works on the
Ecclesiastical State of Hungary. — The Papal Kuncio Camil Paulati and
the Societies of St. Joseph and St. Stephen. — Duties of Members. — Ban
ishment of Professors.

On the 28th of November, 1746, were gathered round the
table of Matthew Bohil* at Eperjes, his dear friend Bartholo
mew Klein, pastor of Hermannstadt ; John Lougay, rector of
the school at Eperjes'; Bohil's wife, and three small children,
who listened while the father told the tales of suffering of his
childhood and youth. A knock was heard at the door, and two
town-councillors with two -police officers entered, demanding
that the pastor should appear before the magistrates' court, to
give information respecting a certain paper. Bohil, knowing
the spirit of these gentlemen, went into the next rodm, and
provided himself with a line on which his wife used to dry
clothes. The cause of the summons and of the examination, which
* Matthew Bohil was born in 1706. His father had been four years in
exile during the reign of Charles VI. Matthew was distinguished by learn
ing and piety, and was ordained first in Czersent, and afterwards, in 1734, in
Eperjes, one of the most sorely tried of all evangelical cities. In 1072, the
Jesuits had taken possession of the college of the German and SlaYonian
churches, had turned out the Protestant town-council, and, because there
were no Catholics capable of holding office, had appomted strangers. In
consequence of the" commission of 1681, the Hungarians and Bohemians
obtained ground for building a church in the suburb. The Germans, how
ever, were shown a place near the hangman's house, and when they refused
to build there, they were accused as rebels and despisers.of the royal clem
ency. In consequence of this, all their preaching stations were closed for
eighteen years.
These remarks will make some parts in the text more intelligible.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 389
lasted two days, was a book which had appeared, entitled
The Rise and Progress of Popery, translated into the Bohe
mian, with a supplement, containing the spirited address of
the professors at Wittenberg, which had been written a
hundred years before, to encourage the Bohemian brethren
to remain firm in the faith in the time of persecution.
Thirty-three questions were laid before him to answer, and
he was kept a prisoner in the house of Bogdany till the
Jesuits had leisure to examine all his books and papers.
Among the books they found a History of the Jesuits, by
Hasenmuller, which in no small measure excited their rage.
Bohil's fate was now sealed.
To conceal, however, the real cause of their conduct from
the public, they spread the report that they had found among
the papers copies of a correspondence with Frederick the
Great of Prussia, urging him to war with Austria. They
also said that Bohil had two wives, of whom the one was still
alive in Saxony.
Bohil was conscious of > innocence, and as every one had
access to him, he did not think of flight. When, however,
from the 12th of December, no one but his wife was admitted
to see him, — all his books, papers, and sermons were taken
away to the Jesuit college, — his former guards were dis
missed, — he was advised to bring his son, then five years
of age, into the prison, — his new guards, casting ominous
looks at each other, slept and watched alternately by day and
night ; he felt that his fate was sealed, that Kirmann's doom
awaited him, and that he should fall one sacrifice more to
Jesuitical craft and cruelty.
He committed his case to God in prayer, and resolved to
attempt an escape. So soon as his resolution was formed,
he felt such joy and inward peace as if he were already out
of his prison, out of the city, and far away in some place of
safety. And in a wondrous manner did the Lord help him
out of all his troubles. 33*

390 HISTORY OF THE
On the same evening, some members of his church brought
him a plentiful supply of wine and provisions, which he
looked on as a confirmation of his resolution. And yet when
he thought of his flock deprived of the spiritual comfort which
he had been enabled to administer ; and when he reflected that,
without his resignation, no other pastor could be appointed,
but that, like the churches of Giins and Miawa, they would be
left to the mercy of the enemy, his heart sank within him.
Gladly would he have communicated with his flock, but there
seemed no way open. As he was thus engaged, he had a
severe attack of toothache, and as the pain was very violent,
the judge allowed his physician, Andrew Yensi, and his sur
geon, Stephen Hap, both Protestants, to visit him.
In the presence of his guard he revealed to these friends in
Latin his whole plan rjf escape. They took leave in tears,
and Bohil laid himself quietly down to sleep. Two guards
stood by him in the same room, and it was their duty to re
lieve each other alternately ; but this night they seemed both
inclined to sleep. Bohil prayed that their sleep might be as
that of Saul and Abner when David passed unobserved
through their camp'. It was midnight. Both guards were
quite overcome with sleep. Bohil took his clothes and the
line which he had brought with him from home, and, on
reaching the door, he found the key still there. With little
trouble he passed to the yard. The dogs, which were usually
so fierce, were still to night. Passing the monastery of the
Minorites, he turned to the city wall. Making the cord fast,
he pressed through a small aperture in the wall, and let him
self down with so little caution, that the flesh was torn from
his hands by the small rope. The cord was too short, and
being obliged to drop a considerable depth without its help,
he received some wounds on the bead. But he might now
consider himself free. He praised God in the words of the
124th Psalm: —

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 391
" Even as a bird
Out of the fowler's snare
Escapes away,
So is our soul set free :
Broke are their nets,
And thus escaped we.
Therefore our help
Is in the Lord's great name,
Who heaven and earth
By his great power did frame."
The second wall was easily passed. He wandered in the
neighborhood for some days undiscovered. Though' it was
winter, he slept in the woods ; often must he wade through
the melted snow ; yet at last he got safely away and reached
Holland. Here he met with a Jewish rabbi, to whom he
told his tale, and the rabbi generously took him into his
house. Not only had he food and clothing here, but his gen
erous host provided a skilled physician, who soon cured him
of his wounds.*
On the 9th of February he reached Breslau, where the
kindly reception which there awaited him made him forget
his sorrows. How much was he now rejoiced to reflect that,
on the night of his escape, he had not turned in to bid farewell
to his wife and little ones ! for, so soon as his escape was
known, the strictest examination was made of all his relations
and friends, and under a terrible oath they were required to
answer on the following points : —
1. Who had advised him to escape ?
2. Whether he had not communicated his plan to some

one

?

3. Whether no one had seen him after his escape ?
4. Who had given him the cord, and helped him overthe
wall ?
5. Who had provided him with travelling expenses ?
* In his autobiography, Bohil concealed the name and the residence of his
benefactor, that he might not be made to suffer for his kindness.

392 HISTORY OF THE
6. Where he now is ; whether any letter had been written
to him, or received from him ?
7. Whether he had seen his wife since his escape, and
what advice he had given her ?
8. Whether none of his accomplices are known ?
Bohil's wife was told, that if she attempted to escape the.
strictest orders were given to have her arrested at the frontiers
and brought back, while in such case the heaviest punish
ment would be inflicted on her. But she was worthy of her
husband, and found ways and means of bringing her three
children and an orphan girl who lived with her, after twelve
days' travelling, safely over the frontiers. She was received
at Plessva with true Christian hospitality, and soon reached
her husband at Breslau. Bohil was at the time engaged in
writing a description of the miserable state of the Protestant
Church in Hungary, for the sake of awakening the sympathy
of Protestant churches and Protestant princes in their favor.*
Pie here opened the eyes of the Protestants who had been led
to suppose that religious freedom had been again perfectly
restored in Plungary.f
The most cursory view of the oppressions recorded in this
book might well tend to open the eyes to the true tendency of
Rome's efforts. The aim of the priests was to eradicate the
entire Protestant Church. They hoped at least to bring
Hungary as far as Croatia, Steiermark, Carinthia, and Austria
had already been brought.
This was the design of the societies which were formed in
1744 under the guidance of the nuncio, Camil Paulati, and of
the Bishop of Raab; of which the one chose St. Stephen, the
other St. Joseph, for patron ; and one of the fundamental
principles and conditions of membership was, that each mem-
* Tristissima Ecclesife Hungarian facies, &c, a Matth. Bohil, V.D.M.
Brieg, 1747.
t See Resolution of Leopold I., 1601, — a masterpiece of Kollonitz eccle
siastical toleration, — Part IV. p. 322. (Ed. MS.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 393
ber bound himself to obtain annually one recruit for Rome,
that is, one proselyte to Popery, and use the utmost exer
tions to prevent the Protestants from obtaining posts of influ
ence or honor.*
These societies had a " religious fund," the contents of
which were freely used in every way to annoy the Protes
tants. The poor were enticed by presents, others were
promised lucrative posts, and institutions were built expressly
for the purpose of receiving the proselytes. Orphan chil
dren were the especial object of the care of the priests ; in
deed, sometimes, when the parents were still alive, the chil
dren were allured away and shut up in monasteries, that they
might be educated in the Popish faith. t
The most distinguished Protestant teachers were expelled ;
as, for example, John Blasi, professor in Schemnitz, because
he had permitted his pupils to write an essay on a theme dis
pleasing to the Jesuits.^ The chapels of ease were forcibly
seized, and in whole counties at once.§ Such cruelties were
exercised towards the so-called apostates that the queen was
obliged to interfere in their behalf.
* The statutes were printed in 1745 in Latin and German.
t See the orders of the viceregal court for the years January, 1749, May,
1764, July, 1769, and July, 1774.
X Royal decree, 12th of November, 1748.
§ Decree of 17th of January.

394 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XL
United Petition of the Protestants. — Martin Biro's Pamphlet. — Dealings of
the Court. — Appeal to Foreign Powers. — Letter of Frederick the Great _
to the Archbishop of Breslau, Cardinal Schaffgotsch. — His Appeal to the '
Pope. — The Protestant Prelate Sweetmilk. — The Archbishop of Canter
bury interferes. — The British Ambassador. — Effects of the Interference.
— Gabriel Pronay.
It was full time for the Protestant Church to raise her voice
once more, notwithstanding that an edict of 1745 had revived
the prohibition against joint petitions. A decree of the vice
regal court of 17th of January, 1749, explained very minute
ly, under nine heads, how the civil authorities were expected
to treat the " apostates," that is, all who had under any cir
cumstances, by force or fraud, been made members of the
Church of Rome, or who had been born in its communion,
— if they should ever join the Protestant Church. It was a
piece of the greatest cruelty which a fully ripened priestcraft
could invent. Martin Biro, the Bishop of Wesprim, had also
written a pamphlet dedicated to the queen, and containing
the most extraordinary charges against the Protestants ; * in
deed, ia the 21st page, the witty bishop, in demanding the
extirpation or banishment of all the Protestants, says, that as
the Church of Rome was never blood-thirsty, she would be
satisfied with the burning of the heretics.
On the 3d of August the Protestants handed in their me
morial, with a full statement of their grievances, and also of
the resolutions of the Diet and royal decrees guaranteeing
* Enchiridion Martini Baronis, Padani, Episcopi Vesprinionsis, de fidp
ha^resiarchiis ct eoi-um sociis, in gcnere de Apostatis, &c, 4to. There is also
a Germau edition ; see None Zitzuiig von gelehrten Sachen. Leipzig, 1751,
February 11.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 395
them the privileges which were now refused. The docu
ments are too long to be here inserted, and contained only a
statement of facts, with which we are now familiar, showing
that .mder her Majesty's government no relief had been ob
tained. They reminded the queen of her promise at the cor
onation, " to be a mother to all her subjects," and yet that,
under her reign, the landlords were treating their Protestant
vassals worse than the heathen treated their prisoners of war.
They declared their readiness to place their life, property,
and influence, unreservedly at her disposal, in defence of the
crown, if she will only grant them liberty to worship God
according to the dictates of their own conscience.
Though they had expected much from this representation,
and though petitions from single individuals were constantly
pouring in to keep her in mind of the case, yet history re
cords no good effects which ever proceeded from these appli
cations. On the contrary, the policy pursued was, that for
every small favor granted in any particular case, ten times
as much was taken away in some other form.
It is impossible to give a full and detailed account of the
doings of the viceregal court, but a few statements may here
be recorded as a specimen. "
Shortly after the petition had been presented to the queen,
asking protection for the Protestants, the authorities in Sola
took possession of the chapel belonging to the Protestant con
gregation of Kiroly Falva, and turned them out. The chapel
at Acsa was ready to fall," and one of the wealthiest Protestant
noblemen, Gabriel Pronay, applied to the queen on the 12th
of August,- 1749, for leave to rebuild it in a more convenient
place. The court now directed inquiiy to be made, and
especially respecting the condition of the Roman Catholic
church in the place, and whether the Protestants had had un
interrupted possession of a place of worship there ever since
1681 ; and at last permission was given to rebuild the chapel.
The conditions attached were, that it should be built of wood,

396 HISTORY OF THE
and outside the gates, in a place so full of water, that there
would be no danger in case of the wooden church taking fire.
Being dissatisfied with these conditions, they were kept
waiting a year and seven months, after which time, in reply
to numerous entreaties and representations, they obtained
leave to build a proper church, but with the condition that it
should not be ceiled.
Another order was issued for the whole kingdom, directing
that, in eveiy case, the children of mixed marriages should
be educated in the Roman Catholic faith. In the counties of
Neograd and Gombr, a commission had been appointed to
investigate and report on the state of the Protestant churches
and when the report turned out too favorable, the commis
sioners were dismissed, and new officers appointed, with di
rections to bring up a report of another kind. The resul
was, that this report, which might as well have been manu
factured without the trouble of investigation, gave the govern
ment an opportunity of seizing the building.
The Protestants of Netzpol in Thurotz obtained leave to
build a church on condition of its being built entirely of
wood, without any foundation of stone, and that it should
have no vestry nor other building attached to it.*.
When parties were suspected of having once been mem
bers of the Church of Rome, or when it was supposed that
they ought to be in connection with that Church, the most te
dious, oppressive lawsuits were . commenced against them.
One citizen of Neusohl, Samuel Holler, a goldsmith, was on
this account thrown into irons, and no one but his wife was
allowed access to him. The school at Eperjes was becom
ing more and more hampered in its operations ; and when,
after many petitions, some of these restrictions were taken
away, the superior of the Jesuits protested against the royal
patent in the presence of the magistrates, without punish
ment or even rebuke.
* Decrees of the years 1749 - 1751, issued at Presburg.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 397
On the 8th of June, an order was issued forbidding the
Protestant pastors to leave their usual place of residence to
perform any ministerial act ; forbidding the marriage, bap
tism, or burial of any stranger from another parish ; and re
quiring that the fees of all ecclesiastical acts, or the stola
dues, should be paid to the priests, and that even by Prot
estant noblemen.*
Such annoyances, and others, which were more harassing
than one might suppose, led many to form the resolution of
taking the last legal step which remained open to them, that
is, to appeal to the foreign powers which had guaranteed
their liberties. It is very intelligible how they should, in
taking this step, use the utmost caution.
The Dutch and Hanoverian ambassadors wrote repeatedly,
remonstrating with the empress. Some of the most distin
guished Protestants gained access to the throne, and made
their complaints- be clearly understood. And, in addition to
these, Frederick the Great of Prussia threw his influence into
the scale.
By comparing all the circumstances, it would appear that
the Protestant clergy of Hungary had sent the fanatical
pamphlet of the Bishop of Wesprim, together with a full
description of their circumstances, to the consistory at Ber
lin ; and that the book had been brought under the notice of
the King of Prussia. Frederick immediately wrote to Count
Philipp Gotthard Schaffgotsh, cardinal and prince bishop of
Breslau, under date of the 26th of Februaiy, 1751, in which
he takes up the principles of the Roman Catholic bishops of
Hungary, and particularly of Martin Biro, declaring that one
might suppose they had resolved to extirpate Protestantism.
The letter is, however, too valuable to be passed over, and
runs thus : — * Decrees of 1750-51.
34

398

HISTORY OF THE

" Frederick Rex.

. . . . " You will no doubt have heard, as we have done,
what hard persecutions and troubles have for some time past
fallen to the lot of, the Protestants of both confessions in Hun
gary ; and how, contrary to treaties guaranteed by the me
diation of foreign powers, one church after another has, on
the most frivolous pretences — indeed, under such pretexts
as ought to make every honest man ashamed — been wrested
from them. They have also, in their common rights and
privileges as citizens, been so vexatiously molested, that one
might almost suppose "that the design of the government is to
drive them to despair, and induce them to try such illegal
means of redress as would place them entirely at the mercy
of their rulers.
" Though we stand in no connection with these people ;
and though they are prevented from applying to us, partly by
the recollection of their obstinate opposition to our interests
in the late troubles, partly by the strict orders of the court at
Vienna, forbidding them to do so ; and though, if we looked
at the matter merely in a political view, we should have more
reason to rejoice than to grieve at seeing them so bitterly
punished by their own countrymen, for their obstinate oppo
sition to our interests ; not to mention the fact that such per
secutions in a neighbor's territory must be most beneficial to
us ; — notwithstanding all these considerations, the miserable
condition of so many innocent people awakens our sympathy,
and compels us to make some attempts to relieve them. We
would have had no objection to apply in this case to the court
at Vienna itself; but when we see that the most -friendly
allies of that court can, with all their efforts, obtain no relief
for the suffering Protestants ; that they to »vhom said court is
under weighty obligations are powerless in this matter ; we.
feel that we should be much more so, and would by our in
terference only give a coloring to that charge which has so

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 399
often been brought against the poor sufferers, namely, that
they gladly seek foreign aid against their own government.
" We are so much the more dissuaded from applying to
the court at Vienna, as we are firmly persuaded that the
guilt of all these persecutions does not rest with the imperial
Queen of Hungary, whose well-known character would be
entirely opposed to such transactions, but with the Roman
Catholic clergy in Hungary, who have resolved on the entire
eradication of Protestantism in that land ; and they are so
zealous in carrying out their plan, that the wise empress, for
the sake of having their assistance in some other schemes, is
obliged to give them their will in this case, or at least, not to
oppose them with that energy which she might well wish. In
this opinion we are confirmed by a scandalous publication of
Martin Biro, Bishop of Wesprim, which has lately seen the
light, in which he rings the alarm-bell against these so-called
heretics, and stirs up his enlightened sovereign to the bitterest
measures against them ; not blushing to assert the principles
of his Church with such sentiments as must tend td loosen
eveiy bond, of society, and which fill every honest Roman
Catholic with abhorrence. Under these circumstances we
have thought it most practicable to attempt to bring influence
to bear on the fountain of the evil, that is, on the Roman-
Catholic clergy of Hungary, and to make them feel in a suita
ble, but, at the same time, unmistakable manner, how a future
age will judge these proceedings by which the men who have
given the most satisfactory evidence of unwavering attach
ment to the crown, and have offered their property and life
cheerfully in its defence, should, as a reward for their faith
fulness, be plundered of their most just rights and liberties,
and be brought to the very verge of despair. Yes, they
should be brought to feel what a terrible retribution awaits
their Church, if a time should come when the Protestant
Church should by Divine permission gain the mastery, and
the term heretic,- then be applied to the Roman Catholic, —

400 HISTORY OF THE
what a terrible retribution awaits them, if these same princi
ples which are now published should then be acted on.
" To give these clergy, then, such an intimation, we know
of no one so suitable as yourself; and we apply to you with
so much more confidence, as we have frequently had oppor-
1 tunity to observe with pleasure that humanity, and the observ
ance of the first principles of all religion, are not banished
from your mind, and that you are very far removed from that
superstitious prejudice which maintains it to be a sacred duty
to advance divine truths by unjust means. We know how
embarrassing and intricate such a commission is, but we have
such confidence in your wisdom and zeal, that we are assured
you will find the proper ways and means for making yourself
be heard, and we trust with good effect. By so doing, you
would confer on us a very especial favor ; and though we do
not at all make you responsible for success, yet if your inter
position should prove successful, it would increase in no small
degree our pleasure and the obligations under which you have
already laid us. We shall be glad to hear a report from you
at the proper time, respecting the results of your exertion,
and remain," &c, &c.
On the 28th of February, the Cardinal and Bishop of Bres
lau, Count Schaffgotsh,* replied, and expressed his disappro
bation of what the Plungarian clergy were doing ; declined
writing to them, however, as he had reason to believe that
his letter would not be answered, and would produce no effect ;
he was willing, however, to meet the wishes of his Majesty,
and forward his Majesty's letter to the court of Rome, with a
request that the matter might there be considered, and the
result he would report in due time.
The effects of this step of the cardinal's may be seen in a

* Count Schaffgotsh was born in 1716, was made bishop in 1747, and the
following year, cardinal.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 401
letter of the Chief Counsellor of the Consistory and prebend
of St. Peter's at Berlin, John Peter Sweetmilk, addressed to
the superintendents of the Protestant churches in Hungary,
dated 2d of August, 1751, from which it appears that a most
conciliatory letter from the Pope had reached the town-coun
cil of Berlin, through the intervention of Schaffgotsh. The
Chief Counsellor writes that he cannot send them a copy of
the letter, as it is feared that the publishing of it would not
be agreeable to the Pope ; still, having read the letter two or
three times, he can give the substance. The Pope declares
" that, after several consultations with the cardinals, he' cannot
approve of the exertions (molimina) of the priests in Hun
gary, and, in accordance with the wish, of the King of
Prussia, he would interfere on behalf of the Protestants in
Hungary. Pie must, however, be cautious, so that he may
not be called a protector of the Lutherans. He would not
write direct to the court, but would take the proper means of
letting the bishops of Hungary know his will and pleasure.
It is true, he is responsible only before the judgment-seat of
Christ, and needs not be much concerned about the opinions
of men ; it is, however, prudent, so far as conscience allows,
to have due regard to the circumstances in which one is
placed. He would warn the bishops to be cautious lest,
while striving to benefit the body of Christ in one place, they
should injure it in another, and thus cause pain in the heart,
and bring grief to the head.*
The- Chief Counsellor Sweetmilk adds : " May these words
contain truth and really bring relief! " Pie incloses a letter
from the Archbishop of Canterbury-, from which it is seen
that the archbishop had received a statement of the case of
the Hungarian Protestants, and had laid-it before the King
of England, who had given directions to his ambassador at

* It was Benedict XIV., otherwise called Prospero Lambertino, one of the
most moderate of the Popes, who held office from 1740 to 1758.
34*

402 HISTORY OF THE
Vienna, D. Keith, to inquire prudently into the case, and to put
the Protestants in the way of applying to him for assistance.
The archbishop declared himself ready at all limes to be
the faithful advocate of his poor brethren in the faith, and
expressed the hope that the -Pope would by his actions mani
fest as much kindness as the wisdom and policy of his words
would lead one to expect.* He begs, in conclusion, that
when any intelligence of importance should be received from
Vienna, it might be communicated to him.-j"
The Pope gave directions to his ambassador at Vienna to
consult with the ministers respecting the way in which the
rights of the Roman Catholics and Protestants in Hungary
might be so defined, and in future so strictly observed, that
no pretext should be furnished to Protestant princes for mak
ing reprisals on the Church of Rome.
And what were the consequences of these deliberations ?
The first fruit was, that the empress directed the pamphlet
of the Bishop of Wesprim to be confiscated.
The next fruit, however, was, that the noble Gabriel Pro
nay, who was suspected of applying to the foreign powers,
was threatened with chains and with an action for high trea
son ; for it was construed to be high treason to appeal to
foreign powers on behalf of religious grievances. Daring
the sitting of the Diet at Presburg, he was summoned before
Maria Theresa in the night-time, to receive a reprimand on
the subject.
So much were the Roman Catholics concerned on this
point, that when Samuel Polsky, a wine-dealer, and a Prot
estant, was returning from a journey in Prussia, he was put
to his oath, whether he had communicated with Frederick
the Great respecting the religious state of the Protestants in
Hungary. * (Edenberg MSS., Fasc. XII. No. 21.
t The letter is dated at the- Palace of Lambeth, 8th of June, 1751.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 403

CHAPTER XII.
The Queen's Promises. — The Chapels of Ease taken away. — General Per
secution of the Protestants. — Riots at Vadosfa. — Imprisonment of the
Superintendent and forty-four of his Church Members. — The Seven
Years' War with Prussia. — Peace, and Diet at Presburg. — The Death
of the Queen's Consort, Francis I.
Other fruits of the interference of foreign powers on he-
half of the Protestants we seek, as the Lord sought for figs
on the barren fig-tree, and find them not. He found leaves,
and we find here leaves also, — fair promises. The queen
'declares herself entirely ignorant of those fearful oppressions
concerning which the Protestants complain ; declares herself
determined not to suffer the like ; only she expects that they
will not attempt to obtain relief by applying to foreign pow
ers, but content themselves by stating their individual griev
ances to her.*
But the Jesuits and their colleagues, the bishops of Hun
gary, permitted the queen to make promises ; the Pope and
his nuncio to hold councils with the Austrian ministers of
state ; the Protestants to pour out their grievances before all
the world ; and Frederick with his hand on the sword to take
up his threatening position in the front ground ; and yet they
went on unmoved, unchecked, in their great work. Accord
ing to the unsearchable counsel of God, the Babylonian cap
tivity of the Church was doomed still to last a little longer.
Under the pretence of holding religious meetings without
leave, the churches of Csalonia in county Houth, and Ester-
gal in Neograd, were 'once more exposed to expensive law
* Fessler, Vol. X. p. 371.

404

HISTORY OF THE

suits, and the church-buildings of the former, as well as all
the chapels of ease in Zemplin county, were by a decree of
the viceregal court taken away.*
In Schemnitz and elsewhere, the Protestants were once
more removed from all civil offices ; the Protestant pastors
were subjected to examination by the bishops and archbishops.
A nobleman of Schemnitz, Andrew Fritzy, who was suspect
ed of having once belonged to the Church of Rome, was sub
jected to an expensive lawsuit, to oblige him to prove the
contrary. All the Protestants who were in any way con
nected with the army were placed under the immediate juris
diction of the clergy. t
The private chapels at Azorotz and Padluysan were closed,
and the newly built chapel at Cyina was torn down, while the
preacher was subjected to a tedious lawsuit for having visited
the nobleman Ferdinand Zay, who lived beyond the bounds
of hi.s district. |
The schools of the Protestants were- now closed every
where, except in the " articled parishes." § The pastors
were no more suffered to Visit the Protestant prisoners. They
were informed that the right of accompanying culprits to the
scaffold from this time forward belonged only to the Roman
Catholic priests, that they might prepare the unfortunate indi
viduals for dying in the " right faith." ||
At Akaba, there was a pastor in. advanced life, of the name
of Nemethi, who married a very young wife. She was not
happy in her new position, and committed suicide by drown
ing herself in the Lake of Platten. The widower was
threatened with an action at law, as being the indirect cause

* .See decrees of 17th of January, 14th of March, 27th of May, and 2d of
June, 1752.
i Decree of October 3, 1752.
X Viceregal decree of November 2, 1752.
§ Certain parishes exactly described in a decree of the Diet.
|l Orders received by the magistrates of CEdenberg, 7th of May, 1753.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 405
of the fatal act; and, to escape the punishment which,
whether justly or unjustly, was sure to await him, he made
his escape. A Roman Catholic priest now came, took posses
sion of the church and pastor's dwelling, and conducted the
service in future as in a Popish church.*
Pastor Samuel Lessovingi was fined in one hundred dol-
lors, for having administered the Lord's Supper to Baron
Bulow, a captain in the army; and the payment was en
forced. The affair of Vadosfa was, however, one of the heaviest
trials for the Protestants. The number of them residing at
this place had increased greatly within a few years, in con
sequence of persecutious in other parts having driven them
away. With the exception of a few noblemen, nearly all the
residents were Protestant. The distinguished superintendent
Fabri was laboring here, when it occurred to a Roman Cath
olic landowner, Balas, to build a chapel on a spot of ground
which was disputed property between the members of the
two confessions. The Roman Catholic chapel was to be con
secrated on St. Stephen's day. By some means a report was
spread that, on the same day, the Bishop of Raab intended
forcibly seizing the Protestant house of worship. Pie had of
late been very diligent in this part of his calling, and there
was some reason to fear that the report might prove true.
Some of the resident nobility wrote, under these circumstan
ces, to friends in Rabakoy, and on the appointed day they
came by thousands, armed, and prepared to defend the
church if the Bishop of Raab should attempt to take posses
sion. The day arrived, and crowds of pilgrims came to at
tend the consecration of the church. But the Protestants,
fearing for their own interests, closed up the roads, refused fo
admit the pilgrims, and, what was very natural, as neither side
would yield, there was a considerable riot, and the pilgrims
* Protocol! Evang. Eccles., Lufh. Troetus, cis Danubium congest, anno
1768. CEdenberg MSS

406

HISTORY OF THE

were driven away. The consequences may naturally be
supposed. Forty-four of the Protestants, some of whom were
women, were imprisoned in the castle of Kopuvar for a year
and seven months, and then dismissed, some with one hun
dred and fifty lashes, some with one hundred, and some with
fifty. Two of the women, who could bear the imprisonment
no longer, and had joined the Church of Rome, were already
released. One nobleman was thrown for a year into prison,
and the remainder who were involved were fined in three
thousand florins, and with this money a Roman Catholic
church was built. The superintendent was thrown into a
distant prison, deprived of his office both as superintendent
and pastor ; and it was decreed that, in all time coming, the
Protestant church of Vadosfa should remain closed every
year on the- 20th of August.*
But who can recount all the tales of suffering and persecu
tion and misery endured by the Protestants under the reign
of Maria Theresa ? The rehearsal would fill volumes. We
must pass over these harassing scenes, and only remark that,
in other states under the Austrian government, the sufferings
were, if possible, still greater than in Hungary. In Styria
the Protestants were banished by troops from the country ;
their property was held back or destroyed ; their children, if
not yet confirmed, were taken from them and retained in the
country to be educated in the Popish faith. Many of the
pastors of Styria who were banished from their country were
taken up by Count Roday, and provided with lands and
houses where they could reside. In 1752 they sent a petition
from this retreat to the queen, requesting their children to be
delivered up to them.
The Seven Years' War broke out with Prussia, but brought
the Protestant subjects of Maria Theresa no relief. Fred
erick II. broke into the Austrian territory, and the queen per-
* This punishment lasted till 1830. CEdenberg MSS., Fasc. XVI. No. 10.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 407
mitted the valiant General Nadasdy to be set aside, and
General Daun to take his place. Notwithstanding that the
latter was armed with a sword which the Pope had conse
crated, and also with a fanatical Popish bull of 30th of Jan
uary, 1759, still both of these were not able to transfer to him
the military talents of Nadasdy.*
After seven years' bloody fighting, all parties were ex
hausted. Hungary alone had lost above fifty-two thousand
of her sons in the war, and the whole affair was closed with
little advantage to either side.
On the 15th of February, 1763, the Peace of Hubertsburg
was ratified, and in the following year the queen summoned
a Diet to meet at Presburg. This Diet was opened on 22d
of June, but brought no relief to the Protestants. The de
mands which the queen made on the country for paying the
expenses of the war could not be met, and in very low spirits
did she dismiss the Diet. Her sorrows were soon increased,
for on the 18th of August, ,1765, her consort, Francis I., sud
denly deceased. From this time she became more and more .
devoted to the ceremonies of her Church, and out of her pri
vate purse flowed rich donations to the proselytes who joined
the Church of Rome.
She soon gave her talented son Joseph a share in the gov
ernment ; and the hypocrisy which he discovered among the
pious attendants of his mother was, according to Fessler's
opinion, the cause of that bitter hatred which taught him
afterwards to make such sweeping reforms among the Jesuits
and the monks.

# The Pope's letter bore the fisherman's seal, and in virtue of this letter
Clement XIII. exalts General Daun above the immortal Eugene ; with the
consecrated sword he should utterly eradicate all stinking Satanic heresy.
The destroying angel should fight at his side to help in annihilating the ac
cursed seed of Luther and Calvin ; and the Most High the Avenger should
use his arm to destroy from the earth the Amalekite and Moabite, &c, &c.
Smalii Adversar. Relig. Protest., MSS. When this brief was issued, Fred
erick had met with a loss, and the Pope then showed his character in its true

408 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XIII.

The Chancellor's Court. — John Dourjan's Pamphlet. — Provision made for
Hungarian Students at Tubingen. — Continued Persecutions.
Under the co-regency of Joseph, the state of the Protes
tants was but little improved, for the jealousy and ambition
of his mother left him little more than the name of king.
When at last the petitions had reached a pitch that Maria
Theresa could bear no more, she referred them to the chan
cellor's court, and asked the opinion of that court respecting
the calamities, or at least the complaints.
And this superior court of appeal, with bishops and Jesuits
for its advisers, did not delay long with the report, but in
formed the empress that the cause of all the complaints was
to be found in the fact that the decrees of her imperial father
had not been sufficiently strictly carried out against the Prot- •
estants.* This supreme court, therefore, continued to grieve
the Protestants to the utmost, partly in a direct way, partly
also by not interfering to ' protect them from the illegal op
pressions of the Roman Catholic priesthood. If a Protestant
happened to transgress in the smallest point, the punishment
was certain, and often far beyond the merits of the case ; but
when a Protestant was the accuser, there was seldom any
punishment inflicted on a Roman Catholic defendant.
Bibles and prayer-books and catechisms, belonging to the
Protestants, were confiscated ; and yet for several years the
fanatical pamphlet of John Dourjan of Waitzen, which was

* Very true. If the imperial decrees had been carried out as strictly as
the Jesuits wished, there would have been no Protestants remaining over to
complain.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 409
as bigoted as that of Martin Biro, and in which was taught
" that it is just and^ right to compel those who are not Roman
Catholics, by any means whatever, to adopt the Roman Cath
olic faith," — this pamphlet was allowed to circulate for many
years unhindered.* It was not till the year 1770 that it was
declared to be, " in a political and religious aspect, a danger
ous book which should be confiscated."
The evil effects of such publications were counteracted by
the violent and passionate style in which they were written.
More dangerous, however, were the missionary institutions
erected in the districts where the Protestants chiefly resided.
The missionaries commenced the street and field preach
ings in the counties of Sol, Houth, and Neograd, about the
year 1766. At first the people came out of curiosity, but
after a time they were obliged to attend. The Protestants
were in general so well acquainted with the Scriptures that
these sermons did not gain many over ; for, instead of preach
ing Christ, these missionaries strove much more to proclaim
the wonders done by the saints ; and instead of fixing the
faith of the hearers on the Son of God, they strove to bring
them to believe on images and relics, on miraculous wells
and wonder-working temples and crosses.
A part of the missionary exertions consisted in visiting the
Protestants who happened to be sick ; t another, in watching
strictly to prevent young men going to study at foreign uni
versities. This latter was brought to considerable perfection
by Francis Barkotzy, Archbishop of Gran and imperial pri
mate, so that few could avail themselves of the opportunities
which foreign universities afforded for remedying the defects

* The title of the book was, " Justa Religionis Coactio." Anno 1763.
t By some of the trades' unions it was enacted, that if a master trades
man fell sick, the head of the corporation must inform the priest, aud if a
journeyman'fell sick, his master must send for the priest. Of course, if the
patient were a Protestant, they were expected to he the more punctual in tho
discharge of this duty. 35

410 HISTORY OF THE
of the schools. When, however, the noble Duke of Wurtem-
berg heard of these difficulties, and how poor students were
forbidden to collect means for their support abroad, he found
ed those free tables at Tubingen for Hungarian students, of
which, however, few could avail themselves till after the
archbishop's death.*
At this time the persecutions of so-called apostates went on
as before. Matthew Mailing, a town-councillor of Libetban-
ya, was, in his sixty-seventh year, accused of having, fifty
years ago — consequently before the famous " Resolutions
of Charles " — left the Church of Rome. He was thrown
for three months into prison, and it was only as an act of pe
culiar kindness and clemency that he was allowed to retain
his office afterwards. t
THe town-councillors of Debrecsin were members of the
Reformed Church, and having once ventured to set a prison
er free who was charged with apostacy from the Church of
Rome, they were not only punished with the loss of a whole
year's salary, but in time to come two Roman Catholic coun
cillors were joined with them in the office. If any one ven
tured to speak in favor of the Protestants, or even to use his
influence to expose a notoriously malignant and false accu
sation, he was denounced as a " ringleader," and treated ac
cordingly. Protestants were more and more strictly held to
their duty of tilling the priests' land, of paying the stola dues
and the " Lecticale," f and of building and repairing Roman
Catholic chapels and schools, while their own were plundered
and hastening to decay.
The bishops and landowners went so far as to roll all the
burdens of themselves on their Protestant vassals ; and a law

* (Edenberg Memorab., Fasc. VII. No. 45. See Appendix.
t As a matter of course, he must be a Roman Catholic in future.
X " Lecticale " was the duty which every married couple must pay annu
ally to the priest, amounting to about one shilling English for each family.
In large parishes, it came- to a very considerable sum.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 411
was promulgated in the year 1770, requiring them also to
bear their share of the support of the priests and school
masters. At a procession on Corpus Christi day, there arose
a tumult at Reimasombath, and the consequence was, that
the Protestants were punished with the loss of their church
and church property : the protest of the attorney-general and
the petition of the Protestants were equally fruitless in at
tempting to regain possession.
The daughter of Stephen Okolicsanyi — her mother being
a Protestant — was positively forbidden to marry a Protes
tant of the name of Sontag ; and when the authorities an
nounced that the order came to late, and that the marriage
had already been solemnized, a sharp reproof was sent them
for not having used proper means so as to secure his conver
sion. Indeed, in affairs relating to marriage the jurisdiction
of the Protestants was entirely set aside ; and the Pope gave
divorce, as in the case of Paul Bene von Nador, without any
reference to the laws and customs of the parties concerned.

412 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XIV.
Travels of the Emperor Joseph. — He meets with the Protestants, and re
ceives their Deputations. — The Superintendent of Debrecsin. — The Em
peror's Dislike to the Jesuits. — Letter to the Buke of Choiseul. — Letter
to Earl Aranda, Minister of Spain. — Suspension of the Jesuits in 1773.
While it appeared that the Protestants in Hungary were
hopelessly lost under the oppression of the priests, the Lord
was preparing for them a wondrous deliverance. The book
of the Bishop of Treves, John Nicolas Hontheim, concerning
the origin of the Papacy, had done himstelf and the Jesuits
great injury, and now, in a smaller sphere, the journeys of
Joseph in Hungary helped on with this work.
Joseph had already in Vienna become acquainted with the
workings of the Jesuit system, and by his travels in Hungary
he was brought into contact with the Protestants, with whom
he frequently conversed. With the superintendent of De
brecsin, Samuel Szilaggi, he conversed in Latin for several
hours, inquiring into all the particulars connected with the
state of the Church, with the oppressions which they had en
dured, with the conduct of the royal commissioners, and the
principal causes of dissatisfaction among the Protestants.
On hearing that the most essentially necessary books were
taken from the teachers of the Protestant schools, and that
only a few days before this had happened to the superintend
ent's own son, Joseph directed immediately that the books
should be returned. Many and long were the conferences
which Joseph had with Szilaggi, and it may be that those
conversations had a considerable weight in preparing him for
the famous Toleration Edict which he afterwards published.
Joseph's gentle and winning manner gained the hearts of

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 413
those who for half a century had been bowed down with op
pression ; and the consequence was that innumerable peti
tions and complaints were constantly reaching him. And
these petitions, coming with all the earnestness of men in
distress, and not misrepresented by any intermediate cour
tier, fell like good seed into a ground which brought forth an
abundant harvest. On his travels through Hungary, the em
peror could not fail to observe that»the Jesuits were the prin
cipal cause of all the calamities and immorality which pre
vailed. His dislike to this order was not less than that
of the prime ministers of Spain and Portugal, who had al
ready banished the monks ; and this feeling is very evident
in the letter addressed to the Duke of Choiseul, prime minis
ter of France, who appeared prepared to act in unison with
the Court of Vienna in banishing the monks.
This letter, dated January, 1770, was as follows : —
' Sir, — For the confidence placed in me, accept of my
thanks. If I were once emperor, you may reckon on my
support and my approval of your plan of dissolving the order
of the Jesuits. You need not lay much stress on my moth
er; the affection for this order of monks is hereditary in the
house of Hapsburg. Even Clement XIV. has some evi
dence of this. In the mean time Kaunitz is your friend, he
has unbounded influence with the empress, and agrees with
you and Marquis Pombal in this matter ; besides, he is not a
man of half measures.
" Choiseul ! I know these people well. I know their plans
and exertions to spread darkness over the earth, and rule all
Europe from Cape Finisterre to the North Sea.
"'In Germany they are mandarins, in France they are
academicians, courtiers, confessors ; in Spain and Portugal,
nobles ; and in Paraguay, kings.
" If my grand-uncle, Joseph I., had not become emperor,
we might have seen in Germany Malagridas, Aveiros, and
35*

414 HISTORY OF THE
an attempt at regicide. He knew them, however, thorough
ly ; as they once suspected his confessor of the crime of
honesty, and of placing more confidence in the emperor than
in the Vatican, they had him summoned to Rome. The
priest saw all the horror of his situation ; he knew what
awaited him and begged the emperor's protection. In vain
was the interference. Even the Papal ambassador at Vienna
demanded that this man should be removed from court. Ex
asperated at this despotism of Rome, the emperor declared
that, if this priest must go, he should not travel alone, but
should have plenty of company, for all the Jesuits in the
empire should go with him, and not be allowed to return.
This unexpected decision of character obliged the Jesuits to
yield. " Thus was it once, Choiseul. I ' see there must be a
change. Adieu ! may Heaven long preserve you to France,
to me, and to the host of your friends. "Joseph."
The influence of the minister, Kaunitz, over the mind of
the empress was, as Joseph here acknowledges, very consid
erable, and this influence he used to turn her against the
Jesuits ; for by obtaining from Madrid a copy of the sins
which she had at the previous Easter confessed to the priest,
he showed how even the secrets of the confessional are used
for political purposes.
A letter which Joseph wrote to the Earl of Aranda, Knight
of the Golden Fleece, and a Spanish nobleman, immediately.
after the suspension of the Jesuits, is too important to be
passed over. He writes : —
" Sir, — Clement XIV. has by the suspension of the order
of the Jesuits gained an immortal name. He has blotted out
those sibyls from the earth, and their names will in future be
mentioned only in history and in connection with Jansenism.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 415
" Before they were known in Germany, religion brought
with it happiness to the nations : they have sunk that hal
lowed name to be an object of detestatian, and made of it
only a cloak for their covetousness and ambition.
" An institution which the heated imagination of a Spanish
veteran contrived for the purpose of bringing the mind of
man under one tyrant, and reducing all to be the slaves of the
Lateran, was an unlucky present for the grandsons of Tuis-
kon. " The Council of the Loyolites. regarded the advancement
of their own glory and the spreading of darkness over the
earth as their grand work.
"It was their intolerance which brought on Germany the
Thirty Years' War. Their principles have robbed emperors
of crown and of life, and it was they who wrote their own
history in its blackest die, in connection with the Edict of
Nantes. " Their influence over the house of Hapsburg is too well
known. Ferdinand II. and Leopold I. were their protectors
and patrons, even with their latest breath.
" The education of children, arts and literature, the appoint
ment to ecclesiastical dignities, the ear of kings, and the
heart of queens, all were intrusted to their wise guidance.
" The world knows too well what use they made of their
influence, what chains they laid on, the nations.
" It is no secret that, besides the great Clement, the min
isters of the Bourbons and Pombal of Spain assisted in hav
ing them set aside. Posterity will know to value their labors,
and will erect altars to their memory.
" If it were possible for me to hate, I must hate the men
who persecuted Fenelon, and who procured the bull ' De
Coena Domini.' " Joseph.
" Vienna, July, 1773."

416 HISTORY OF THE
In the same year was this order, which had nothing of
Jesus but the name, suspended also influngary ; and like as
when the frost is gone and the sun of April calls forth mil
lions of flowers and buds, so was it in this land when the
blighting frost was removed. All parties had good reason to
rejoice, but especially did the Protestants lift up their heads,
for their redemption was drawing nigh.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 417

CHAPTER XV.

Erection of new Bishoprics. — The Protestants begin to breathe more freely. —
The Filial Churches freed from the Priests. — Petitions to the Emperor and
v Empress. — The Emperor's Journeys. — Development of Religious Free
dom.

With the banishing of the Jesuits, a new day dawned upon
Hungary. It is true that -with the property taken from the
Jesuits new bishoprics'were endowed, and that in the coun
ties chiefly inhabited by Protestants. It is true that many
Jesuits still remained in the country, many of their pupils still
held offices or trust, many of the civil authorities still gave
their orders in the old style : still, a new day had dawned on
Hungary. Friend and foe knew, that though Joseph had been educated
by a Jesuit, still he would never be the slave of the priests.
Many a bright evidence had he given of his love of justice.
The Protestant Church began to rouse herself from that
torpor into which she had fallen. Pier activity as a Church
had nearly ceased. Sufficient evidence of her low state has
already been given ; and if any one wish more, he need only
glance at the fact, that one of the pastors at CEdenberg was
summoned before the magistrates for having spoken in his
prayer of faith as the only way of salvation*
In September, 1773, the Reformed Church held a meeting
at Buggi, to consult in what way their cause might now be
best advanced.
In some places the Protestants now began to meet on the
Lord's Day for reading the Scriptures ; but in the commence-

* CEdenberg MSS.

418 history of the
ment, they had great difficulties to encounter. The Lu
theran clergy met at Aesa, and resolved on a united address
and petition to Maria Theresa and Joseph. Their petition
was presented at court by the zealous and valiant Calvinistic
general, Count Nicolas Belesneg, by Paul Vatey, Stephen
Vay de Vaza, and Joseph Battay.- In Neograd, an earnest
movement commenced against the payments to the priests
and Roman Catholic schoolmasters, and the compulsion to
assist in building and repairing Roman Catholic chapels.
Their petition to this effect was presented by Ladislaus
Perenyi, and was not only graciously received, but also, on
the part of the empress, an order was given to Samuel Nagy,
the agent of the Protestant churches at Vienna, to draw up
- a concise history of the Reformation in Hungary, for the
benefit of the empress.*
The emperor came to Upper Hungary and Transylvania
in the course of the year, and the Protestants in the neigh
borhood of Kashaw availed themselves of the opportunity of
presenting their grievances to him. They complained that
they dared not meet together to worship God. So early as
the 23d of September, the emperor gave his reply, promising
them full liberty of worship. Petitions flowed in from all
sides. Joseph received and read them. The Lutherans
wished for a consistorial court, and for that purpose appeared
in a numerous deputation before him at Pesth. He received
the deputation, and listened to their request to take the Prot
estant Church under his protection. Very shortly afterwards,
permission was given to the filial church at Felso Petin, that
the pastor of the nearest church might be allowed to visit
their sick and to baptize their children.t
* The manuscript is probably lying in the imperial library at Vienna.
t When the pastors began to travel more frequently to visit the scattered
members of their flock, the old edicts were once more, in the last year of
the reign of Maria Theresa, renewed, and the pastors confined to the place
where they resided.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 419
The free imperial cities obtained leave to enlarge their
schools ; and in CEdenberg the pastors began to print cate
chisms and books which but a little before they dared scarcely
have in possession.
It is true that pastors were still summoned before the magis
trates for having ventured to marry parties without the con
sent of the priests. In the absence of Joseph, many were
entangled in knotty lawsuits. Some of the pastors were, as
in the case of John Toth, deposed from office, and some were
called up to give a reason why they admitted strangers to be
present during the celebration of divine worship. The senior
Morosinetz was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for
having read, and prayed, and sung, with brethren out of Mo
ravia. Two pastors of the same church held different meet
ings at the same time, and for this they were both expelled.
A nobleman, Michael Kubinyi, allowed his son to be in
structed in the Protestant faith, and was on that account
thrown into a prison, where he suffered severely from want
of proper food, water, and fresh air, and after a year's im
prisonment, he was dismissed on payment of a fine of a
hundred florins into the mission fund, and for the future was
placed under the special control- of the police.
The offensive names given to the Protestants still appeared
in the legal documents. One church was forbidden to help
another in the case of need. The authorities of the county of
Neograd were severely reprimanded by the viceregal court for
their remissness in punishing the pastors when they went
beyond the bounds of their-parish, and also for their sadly
neglecting to seek out and to punish in an exemplary manner
the apostates from the Church of Rome. A preacher at
Neusohl was suspended for three months, and the priests
wished him to be entirely superseded, because he had not
passed an examination before the Roman Catholic bishops in
a satisfactory manner. He was declared to be deplorably
ignorant respecting the nature of baptism, for he had asserted

420

HISTORY OF THE

that baptism ought not to be administered to a child before it
is completely born into the world.* The priest at Bosing
removed the dust of the evangelical palatine Illyeshazy and
his partner Catherine Pallfy, out of that church which they
had so richly endowed.
With all this, the demon of persecution was evidently
bound with a chain, the last ring of which Joseph was hold
ing with a firm hand. The^attacks were more and more
isolated, and at last the fiend seemed to have fallen at
Joseph's feet into a deathlike sleep.
* The Jesuits had already decreed otherwise, and directed that, in case of
death hi the act of parturition, the child should be baptized by the midwife.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 421

CHAPTER XVI.

LIMITATIONS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME.
In the same year in which the Jesuits were banished, the
Roman Catholic priests and bishops were ordered to have no
communication with Rome, otherwise than through the for
eign secretary at the court of Vienna. Immediately after
wards the very questionable institutions of the night asylums
were closed. It was forbidden to apply to Rome for dispen
sations in case of marriage and for divorces ; and the priests
were ordered to read these edicts from the pulpit.
Jn the last years of Maria Theresa, when Joseph's influ
ence was becoming greater and greater, new decrees were
from time to time published, limiting the authority of the
priests and relieving the Protestants.-
The pastor of Rosenau was permitted to enter within the
walls of the town and to visit the sick ; the pastor of Ne-
mesker was admitted even into the prisons ; while a priest in
Grunau was forbidden to force himself on the Protestants when
sick, and if they died they might be buried in whatever way
they themselves had wished. . The children of Protestants
were to be allowed, even in the Roman Catholic schools, to
have their own books. In Liptau the authorities were or
dered not to force the Protestants to assist at the building of
the church of St. Nicolas, except they voluntarily chose to
do so.
In many places the Protestants obtained leave to enlarge
and improve their churches, and much less difficulty than
usual was laid in the way. Indeed, a very unusual occur-
36

422 HISTORY OF THE '
rence in Hungary happened at this time. The government
brought an action at law against the Roman Catholic chapter
at Erlau for having driven the Protestant inhabitants from the
village Egyeg, for having torn down their houses, expelled
their pastors, seized their books, and thus disturbed them in
their religious privileges, as well as in their civil rights. The
lawsuit was decided in favor of the Protestants, and the sen
tence was, that the Protestants should be immediately brought
back to the village, their houses built at the expense of the
chapter, the church immediately opened, and the county
informed that it was hoped such excesses would not be
repeated. The Bishop of Neutra had permitted his clergy, particu
larly, however, the priest at Holfsh, to demand exorbitant
payments from the Protestants for services rendered, and now
it was ordered that this priest should return all that he had
unjustly taken since the year 1771 ; and this was done with
out the Protestants having asked it. The priest of Altenburg
was forbidden to take double fees, or to punish the Protes
tants who did not send for him in cases of sickness. Parties
who had been compelled at the time of marriage to engage
to educate their children in the Church of Rome, and who
had neglected to fulfil their engagements, were now allowed
to speak in their own defence, and were sometimes set free
from that obligation to which they had been morally com
pelled. Those who had been punished for apostasy had also some
relief. Many were by the sentence of the Inquisition con-
demned to a long imprisonment, and then to work on the
streets in chains. Many of these were now set completely
free, and many had their punishment very considerably alle
viated. The compulsory decretal oath began by degrees to
be less rigidly enforced, and the orphan children of Protes
tants were allowed to be educated in the faith of their fathers,
if any relatives chose to take charge of them. The em-

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 423
peror watched strictly over the executive powers, and pun
ished severely for neglect of duty.
The Protestants of Altsol gained a suit which they brought
against the priests and the priest-ridden magistracy, and re
ceived back a thousand florins and fifty kreuzer, which
between the years 1763 and 1776 had been taken from
them as punishment for not attending processions and other
Popish ceremonies. The Protestant church at Neusohl was
dispensed from the sum- of two hundred and thirty-three
florins, thirty kreuzer, being the law costs for inquiries in
religious matters.
This was the state of matters in Plungary as the evening
of the life of the Empress Maria Theresa was approaching
with quick steps. Before we take leave of her, we must
briefly glance at the brethren in Transylvania who had been
subjected to her sceptre.

424 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XVII.
THE PROTESTANT CHURCH IN TRANSYLVANIA.
That the Protestant Church in Transylvania was in a mis
erable state we have already seen. Still, however, it had
many advantages over the Church in Hungary. The great
number of magnates zealously attached to the Church made
it a matter of political wisdom not to exasperate them too
much. Besides, the form of church-government was very
advantageous to the peace and prosperity of the community.
The superior church courts consisted of a combination of
clergy and laity. The superintendents were ably assisted by
the advice and influence of the magnates, and the most re
spected and influential of the nobles had a seat in the church
courts, and a voice, ever since 1709.
The Counts Teleky and Bethlen, as also the nobles Ves
selenyi and De Hadad, stood generally by the side of the
superintendents, and guided the public affairs.
They went also to Vienna, and by their fearless, dauntless
demeanor, made it convenient that ' they should be treated
with respect. When a large deputation came, however, to
Vienna, they were not recognized as deputies from the
Church, nor were they admitted as such to the queen.
After several attempts, however, at last two of their num
ber, Earl Teleky and Senator Bilder, were admitted, and
they declared that the oppression of the Church was becom
ing every day more intolerable, and that neither in the laws
nor in the.judges did they see any hope of relief: they there
fore, as the last resource, applied to the sovereign, and be
sought her aid in the maintenance of their rights.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 425
The empress took the part of the petition referring to civil
evils into consideration, and gave directions respecting them,
but left the complaints in ecclesiastical' matters untouched.
In vain did they appeal to the solemn contract which had
been made between the four religious bodies', Roman Catho
lics, Lutherans, , Calvinists, and Unitarians ; in vain to the
Treaty of Vienna in 1686, and to the treaty of 1691 ; in vain
did they remind the empress that they as a free principality
had become united with Austria without giving up any of
their own rights and privileges. All the contracts and royal
decrees were appealed to in vain.
The principal conditions of the Pragmatic Sanction were
soon broken also in civil matters, and thus the seeds of con
tention and discord were sown between the two nations.
The complaints in Transylvania were -nearly the same as
in Hungary, and they agreed in these points: — That. very
many churches, manses, and school-houses, were forcibly
seized by the Roman Catholics, or by the military command
ers. They had, for example, seized the cathedral of Alba
Carolina with bells and clock, which had been presented by
the Protestant prince of the country ; the college and pas
tor's dwelling had also been forcibly taken for Roman Cath
olic purposes. The churches of Barbard, Kent, and Matz,
met with the same fate ; and when new churches were built,
they were torn down again by the Jesuits. The churches of
Szamasfalva, Erhid, Katona, Egyhasfalva, and many others,
were seized by Roman Catholic nobles and governors in spite
of their oath of office, by which they had bound themselves
to distribute impartial justice.
In Miklosvar, the Count Kalnoki had not only seized the
church, but had also imprisoned and annoyed the Protestants
for the sake of compelling them to join the Roman Catholic
Church, and, in spite of the direct enactments to that effect,
he received no punishment whatever.
At Ebesfalva, the administrator of the treasury had taken
36*

426

HISTORY OF THE

possession of the church by the military ; and at Bolasfalva
the same thing took place, with the addition that the bells
and clock were carried away. The steward of Countesi
Plaller assisted the priests in seizing the churches of Maros-
Kerestner and St. Pal, in the Kuhullar circuit.
The commander-in-chief took possession of the Lutheran
church at Hermanstadt, the college and collegiate church at
Klausenberg, and other smaller chapels, not to speak of those
which, by virtue of contracts, passed over into the hands of
the Romanists.
The inhabitants of Transylvania complained, further, that
the five articles of the constitution which pressed so heavily
on them were inserted without their consent, and merely by
the cunning of Kollonitz, therefore these could never be con
sidered binding.
Further, the right was granted to Jews, Armenians, Bulga
rians, Greeks, and even to those who were not natives or
homeborn, to build whatever houses they chose for religious
purposes, while the Protestants alone were prevented, — yes,
even had their churches torn down, though they possessed in
all respects the same rights as-the Roman Catholics.
Further, that deputations to the empress in religious mat
ters were not received till they had first described their ob
ject, and obtained permission, by which means years passed
before the subject of complaint was heard.* Petitions sent
to the chancellor's office were sometimes not even read. In
appointing to office, the Pragmatic Sanction, by which all
religious parties had an equal right, was completely disre
garded. For example, in the council there were six Roman
Catholics, three Calvinists, two Lutherans, and one Unitarian ;
by the commissariat there were no Protestants appointed.t

* The last privilege was thus taken away, namely, the beggar's right of
asking relief. The same principle was adopted in 1851.
\ The injustice of this arrangement may be seen from the following statis-

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 427
In addition to these complaints, a paper drawn up at the
time by Stephen de Daniel and Vargyas demanded, —
" That their churches should be all restored or rebuilt, ac
cording as they had been seized or demolished ; that the
military commanders should not interfere in religious mat
ters ; that the attorney-general should be punished for not
stopping these acts of violence ; that the empress should re
peal the five points, and declare them null and void ; that the
Protestants should have the right of building churches and
endowing pastors where and how they chose ; that they should
have the right of at all times approaching the throne with pe
titions ; and, lastly, that a proper distribution of patronage
should be made in the offices of state."
But the empress, who, in the beginning of her reign, and
in the time of need, had promised so solemnly to preserve
the rights and freedoms of the country, now forgot her prom
ise and her oath so far that she never gave an answer to all
these complaints.
So far from carrying out the principles of the constitution,
she, at the Diet of Hermannstadt, in 1744, had all the arti
cles erased which in any way hampered the Church of
Rome ; and by thus taking away the protection of the other
churches, she virtually dissolved the union which had been
made. Protestant churches were now forbidden to be built ; per
sons joining that communion were treated as criminals ;

tics : — The Catholic magnates at that time amounted to twenty-eight, the
Calvinists to fifty-one. Among the higher nobility there were thirty-nine
Catholics and ninety Calvinists ; among the lower nobility, one hundred and
thirty-one Roman Catholic families, and seven hundred .and thirty-one fami
lies of Calvinists. The' Lutherans, or Saxons, lived in six free cities, in
twelve towns, and in many villages which were exclusively occupied by
them. They numbered two hundred thousand. (See Petr. Bad.) In the
circles of Sepsi-Kesdi, Orbai, Miklosvar, Udvarhely, Marosh, and Aranyos —
omitting Csik — there were sixty-one Catholic villages, and two hundred and
eighty-three inhabited by Reformed and Unitarians.

428

HISTORY OF THE

Popish priests alone had the right of solemnizing mixed mar
riages ; Catholic children dared no more to attend Protestant
schools ; and the " Reformed States " were forbidden to re
tain that name.
The forcible seizing of the churches was forbidden, it is
true, in 1752, but that took place only when the Unitarians
had by force succeeded in recovering a church which the Pa
pists had taken from them. The decree to this effect was
drawn up in such a way as if it was the greatest possible
crime to protect one's property from the hand of the robber
or to take back what he had violently carried away.
The Jesuits had now the ear of the empress, and they
knew how to do their work. For a time they forbade the
Transylvanian students to attend foreign universities, and it
was not till 1759 that freedom was given to go and study in
Belgium. They did not hinder the Roman Catholic bishop,
Anton Stayka, from appointing " saints' days " at his own
option, and compelling all indiscriminately to celebrate these
days by complete cessation from work.
To give a clear picture of the state of the times, we will
bring the reader to contemplate a family scene. The facts
of the case are well authenticated.
Count Dionysius Pauffy, with his wife, Baroness Agnes
Barcsai, both being descended from Calvinistic parents, had
three sons and one daughter. The profligate life of the
count had soon not only involved his own property, but had
also placed that of his wife in the hands of the creditors.
Contentions ran high between the count and his partner, and
they were much increased by the conversion of the former to
the Church of Rome in the year 1755. He now demanded
his sons, to have them educated in the Church of his adop
tion. The mother was not bound in this case, by the Tran
sylvanian law, to surrender her right ; but an imperial com
mand, and the hope of being able to retain the daughter in
her own faith, induced her to yield.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 429
The countess's mother, in the mean time, afraid of the ruin
of the family, obtained a royal commission to examine into
the state of the debts ; found them very heavy, paid them
off, and took the property into her own hand, under the ex
press condition that the count should surrender his right to
the education of the children to her disposal. A formal con
tract was drawn tip, and signed by the parties and by the
the proper legal authorities. This contract was confirmed by
a royal decree of the 8th of February, 1762.
On the principles of this agreement, the count's mother-in-
law, dying shortly after, left the property equally divided
among the four children, and appointed the imperial Court of
Inquiry to be executors of the will.
The count and countess became once more reconciled, and
lived together by virtue of a special contract, handing to him
the right over the education of the sons, and to her that of
the daughter. Both parties undertook not to disturb or annoy
each other in carrying out this arrangement.
The count soon returned to his former course of life, and
the countess, for the sake of protecting her daughter, then
eleven years of age, had her betrothed to the imperial Count
Samuel Teleky.
The countess now made a will which received her Majes
ty's sanction, and the engagement with Teleky was so much
the more readily confirmed, as his family had rendered good
services to the crown, and had received a patent to that effect
from Leopold I.
The agreement was that Agnetha should be married in her ¦
fifteenth iyear. ¦ k
The countess now thought herself in this matter quite se
cure, when, on the 15th of July, 1767, at five o'clock in the
evening, she received information that the count was in com
pany with Count Nicolas Bethlen and a troop of hussars,
within a few miles of the castle, coming to carry away her
daughter. The carriage of Teleky, who happened to be

430 history" of the
there, was immediately brought out, and they tried to escape.
After three hours, however, they were overtaken by the hus
sars, and brought back as prisoners. On the way back, one
of the party handed the countess a letter from General An
drew Hadick, stating that he had orders from the empress to
prevent the marriage of her daughter with Teleky, and that
he hereby forbids her to think further of such a step.
Arrived in the castle, a letter was presented by General
Bethlen from Boytai, Bishop of Transylvania, requiring her,
according to the wishes of the empress, to surrender up her
daughter, that she might be educated by Bethlen, under the
' direction of the bishop. The mother and the intended hus
band refused to do so till they saw the letter of the empress,
upon which orders were given to the soldiers to load, and
Teleky was led away by sixteen armed men. The countess
and Agnetha strove to conceal themselves, but were discov
ered, and the daughter was torn by- force out of the mother's
arms by Lieutenant Pichler,and carried away.
That same night the mother started for Vienna to lay her
complaint before the throne. A petition was presented by
the two aggrieved parties to the empress, breathing the bit
terest spirit of distress, despair, and rage, and demanding re
dress. The answer of the empress was, that her Majesty had
already, for the weightiest of reasons, decreed that the father
have the right of educating the children.* She would abide
by her decree so much the more, as the said Agnes Pauffy
had applied to her Majesty, begging for further protection.
Pier Majesty disapproved, therefore, very highly, of the
steps taken by the countess and by Teleky, but, in consider
ation of the circumstances, would not punish them for what
they had done. Pier Majesty hopes that the countess will
,ook with the greatest gratitude on what has been done to
* Why not, then, in case of the father being Protestant ?

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 431
secure her daughter a good education, and that in future no
complaint onjhe subject shall ever reach the throne.
Shall we now give, a description of the character of this
empress ? and shall we take as our guide the facts which
transpired under her government and with her approbation,
manifesting bigotry and unbounded hardness of heart ? or
shall we take the description given of her by the Jesuits and
other writers, as a model of gentleness, goodness, and warm-
ness of heart ? We believe that she was in reality a person
of warm feelings and kindly disposition. We would merely
observe that her goodness of heart manifested itself generally
as moving between two lines, one of which was drawn by
the priests, and the other by an absolute and despotic minis
try. In both regions — in religion and politics — she had lit
tle mercy for those who opposed her wifl, however legal and
just the opposition may have been.
It is well known with what severity the noblest families of
Bohemia were, contrary to the articles of the capitulation of
Prague, imprisoned, proscribed, and " otherwise put out of
the way." They were put to the torture, and exposed to
cruel deaths for having acknowledged Charles Albert of Ba
varia, who had taken possession of the country as their sov
ereign. There was no stop put to their cruelties till the King
of Prussia interfered, and procured relief.
It is told of her that, about the time of the coronation, a
merciful priest brought upwards of fifty widows and children
to meet her, and supplicate freedom for husbands and parents
who had been confined in prison by the commission ; and
that, when the attendants wept at the story of misery, the
empress positively.Tefused their request.
That she did not treat Hungary as it deserved at her
hands, is very clear, but the evidences lie beyond the
bounds of a Church histoiy. At the same time it cannot be
denied that the empress understood how to chain the mag
nates to her court, and estrange them from their native land ;

432 HISTORY 0E THE
and she zealously watched those who were likely to become
too popular. As the son of General Aspermont, who had
been distinguished in the wars of Rakotzy, was once driving
near Anod, and his. heavy travelling carriage had got fast in
the mud, the Hungarian peasants returning from market
with their fiery horses, laughed at the " German " in his
distress. Aspermont sprung on the box and cried, " What !
will you let Rakotzy's grandson stick in the mud ? " They
immediately attached their horses, and drove him in triumph
into Anod. When Aspermont came to court, the empress,
quite inflamed, cried, " Aspermont, hear ! We don't want
you to stick in the mud, but you must give up your references
to Rakotzy, or else we will lay you in prison." *
Such outbursts reveal the character better than the calmer
acts of reflection. Maria Theresa had her happy hours and
days, when she was capable of noble thoughts and feelings.
It was at such a time that she ordered the torture to cease.
Do we understand, however, by goodness of heart that
principle which leads us to weep with those that weep, and
rejoice with those that do rejoice ; which enables us to see in
man an object of love and sympathy for which we shall do
our utmost to make him happy ? In this case the character
cannot be ascribed to Maria Theresa. Any goodness which
she possessed was reserved for priests and members of her
own party ; so that of her might be said, in the language of
Scripture, " If ye love those who love you, what thank have
ye ? do not even the publicans the same ? "
But can goodness of heart sit on a throne ? Can one re-
main long uncontaminated by the courtiers who surround the
sovereign ? Is it not the very object of courtiers to claim
for themselves, and to suck honey out of this flower, till it
falls withered to the earth ? Is not the fate of such mon
archs most to be deplored, who have a heart to feel for suffer-
* Diary of an Old Pilgrim, p. 17S. •

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 433
ing humanity, who grasp in its full extent the value of their
position as rulers, and who desire to spread happiness far
and wide around them ?
The Protestants have indeed little cause to boast of the
goodness of Maria Theresa's heart, and much rather might
they say of her what Fenelon wrote to Louis XIV. : —
" You have no love to God. Indeed, you regard him with a
slavish fear. You fear hell, and not God. Your religion
consists in superstition, in trifling superfluous religious exer
cises. You are like the Jews, of whom the Lord said, ' This
people draweth nigh to me with their tongues, but their hearts
are far from me.' Conscientious in small matters, but hard
ened in cases of great importance, you love your own glory
and your own ease. You draw all to yourself, as if every
thing had been made only for you, while the truth is, that
God has made you and placed you there for his people. But
oh ! you do not understand these truths ; how could you find
any pleasure in them ? — you don't know God ; you don't
love him ; you don't pray to him with the heart ; you don't
strive to know him."
All this was applicable to Maria Theresa ; but in joy over
her great and noble-minded son, the Protestants forgot and
forgave the bigoted mother. They forgot and forgave the
evils which, even under such favorable circumstances, a less
decided character than Joseph II. could not have healed.
37

FOURTH PERIOD.
FROM JOSEPH II. TO ERASCTS JOSEPH I., 1780-1849.

CHAPTER I.

General View of the Emperor's Position. — His wonderful Letter. — Edict of
Toleration.

The Protestant Church of Hungary had been brought to
the very verge of ruin. Under the appearance of faithful
ness in carrying out the laws of the land, and zeal for the
supposed cause of religion, — that is, for the support of the
Church of Rome, — no opportunity of crushing the Protes
tants had passed by without improvement. From being a
recognized and established Church in the country, with the
same rights and privileges which belong to the Roman
Catholics, the Protestant Church was reduced to a state of
abject slavery, receiving fewer privileges than were accorded
to the Jews.* But little remained over, and Hungary would
soon be like Austria, Carinthiaj and Styria, where the very
name of Protestants had ceased to exist.
But the Spirit of God moved upon the waters, and among
those whom his gentle breath quickened-, was Joseph II.,
Emperor of Austria.
It is not our intention to describe the virtues or the faults

* " Ut nobis civibus, non jam civitatis solum sed ilia etiam qua) ut homini-
bus debebanlur jura, passim negata fuerint." — Petition of the Protestants of
Hungary to Joseph II., in the year 1781.

HISTORY OF THE" PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 435
of this illustrious scion of the house of Plapsburg ; neither
would we attempt to decide the question, whether, by a
stricter regard to the Constitution of Hungary, and to the
national character of the Hungarians, his attempts at reform
might not have been more successful. Certain it is, that the
Hungarians, firmly attached to monarchy, but at the same
time jealous of their constitution, were not moved to look
kindly on ecclesiastical reforms proceeding from one who*
had carried away the crown of Hungary out of the countiy ;
who had divided the kingdom after Austrian fashion into cir
cles ; who, instead of elective lieutenants and deputy-lieuten
ants of counties, had appointed imperial administrators who
had repealed the municipal constitution of the free imperial
cities of Transylvania and Rumania ; and who, by the intro
duction of the German language into the proceedings of the
civil courts, had virtually shut out native Hungarians from
office. With due reverence, but with an energy becoming the
citizens of a free kingdom, many counties raised their voices
in solemn protest against these innovations. The county of
Zemplin reminded the emperor that the legal courts of Hun
gary did not consist merely of imperial functionaries, but
were made up of them and the nobility of the land acting in
conjunction, and that it was impossible for the latter to ac
quire the German language in less than three years. Even
Tamerlane, or Timon the Tartar, the conqueror of Asia, did
not, they said, require such hard conditions from the van
quished natives whom he had reduced to serfdom. Besides,
they added, the Germans in Plungary were numerically the
minority, and it was painful for a nation to bow to a fraction
.within itself; neither could it be asserted, they added in con
clusion, that civilization was chained down to the German
language, for in all languages the arts and sciences could be
cultivated, and the morals refined. The ill-humor of the
Hungarians was increased by a new proceeding, namely, a
conscription of the houses and inhabitants ; and wild and bit-

436 HISTORY OF THE
ter was the cry of indignation which this called forth from
peasant and nobleman.
In the midst of all this confusion the emperor labored hard
in repairing and clearing out the ship of Peter, in which the
Bishop of Rome had under a false flag carried on for many
years a most pernicious smuggling trade. The emperor
knew the wares well, as also the secret stores, where they
were kept, and the agents by whom they were disposed of.
During the regency with his mother, he had thoroughly
studied the intrigues of Rome, and was resolved to free Ca
tholicism at once from its foulest stain and its greatest weak
ness, — the Papacy ; and at the same time to relieve Prot
estantism from its greatest scourge.
What served the emperor as guide in his work of reform
seems to have been a protest of three electoral princes of
Germany, handed to him during his regency, containing an
appeal to the emperor against the usurpations of Rome.*
There were also among the higher, clergy in his own do
minions men found who ably supported him in his noble
work. Among these was the Archbishop of Prague, Count
Przichowsky, who had prepared a translation of the Bible
for Bohemia. At his side stood the president of the theo
logical seminary at Prague, a man capable of imbuing the
minds of the students with a love of truth. The bishops
of Budweis and Leitmeritz vied with John Leopold Hay, the
Bishop of Koniggratz, in the noble race. The latter, in his
charge to the clergy of his diocese, writes and exhorts them
"not to search anymore into the secrets of families, nor,
under any pretence whatever, to deprive the people of their
books. We urge you to peace : and what can become the
servant of the Lord better than that he be found promoting
peace among the Lord's people ? Let there be an end of
* Gravamina trium archiepiscoporum Electorum Moguntinensis, Treyi
tensis et Coloniensis, contra curiam Apostolicam. Anno 1769, ad Caesarem.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 437
confusion, of persecution, and of devouring one another, for
that is well-pleasing in the sight of God."
In the same spirit was the learned Bohemian prelate, Au
gustine Zippe, and the Abbot "Stephen Rautenstrauch, striving
to support the emperor. The latter wrote several pamphlets,
explaining to the people the nature of the emperor's reform
ing measures.
Another of the worthies was Henry Kerres, Bishop of
Vienna, who labored successfully in abolishing the supersti
tious use of relics, pictures, and images, amulets, and holy
wells, or pilgrimages to them. He discouraged the offerings
of wax, and silver shrines and images, and, for weighty rea
sons, directed the churches to be all closed at sunset. In the
same spirit do we find the Archbishop of Salzburg, and also
the emperor's ambassador at Rome, forwarding the good
cause. All these on the side of the emperor. Against him, how
ever, were arrayed the whole army of monks and priests,
especially the priests of Hungary, and Rome with her Ital
ian policy.
That the emperor understood his position, and that he had
thoroughly studied the strength of his antagonists, will appear
evident from the close of his memorable letter to the Arch
bishop of Salzburg, on the commencement of his reign.
" I have," he writes, " a heavy work before me. I should
reduce the army of monks, and should try to transform these
fakirs into human beings. My task is to reduce the power
of those before whose shorn heads the rabble bows with rev
erence, and who have gained a dominion over the citizens
such as nothing can equal."
To give a full view, however, of the emperor's firm reso
lution and humane feelings, it is necessary to copy the letter
which he wrote to the cardinal and legate, his minister at
Rome. In this letter is much that is calculated to throw light
on the so-called " Josephinism " with which a learned prel-
37*

\
438 history of the
ate of the latest times is attempting to blind the public. The
letter is dated October, 1781, and is as follows : —
" My Lord Cardinal, — Ever since I mounted the throne,
and assumed the first diadem of the world, I have made phi
losophy to be the lawgiver of my kingdom  It is ne
cessary to remove out of the category of religion some things
which never belonged to it. As I hate superstition and Phar-
iseeism, I shall deliver my people from them. To this end
I shall dismiss the monks, abolish their monasteries, and
bring them all under subjection to the bishops of the diocese.
In Rome they will call this an aggression on the divine rights.
They will cry and lament that the glory of Israel is fallen ;
we shall hear that I am taking away the tribunes of the
people,, and am drawing a line between dogma and philos
ophy. Bitterer still will be the rage when they hear that I
have done all this without consulting the servant of servants,
and awaiting his opinion.
" We must thank him for the degradation of the human
intellect. Never shall we bring these servants of the altar
voluntarily to keep their place and confine themselves to the
preaching of the Gospel ; never will these children of Levi be
willing to give up the monopoly of wisdom and knowledge.
The monastic principle has been from the very first 'directly
opposed to reason ; they give to the founder of their order a
degree of honor approaching to divine worship, so that in
them we see the antitype of the Israelites who went to Dan
and Bethel to worship^ the golden calves. This false system
of religion has taken possession of the mass of the people,
who, while they know not God, expect all from their patron
saints !
" I shall restore the rights of the bishops, and give the peo
ple, instead of the monk, the regular priest, and instead of
the legendary romance, a preached Gospel ; where there is
a difference of religion, there shall he a preaching of mo
rality.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 439
" I shall take care that my plans serve also for the future.
The" seminaries are the schools of my priests, where they
shall come forth enlightened and prepared to communicate
knowledge to the people, and in a period of less than a cen
tury we shall have Christians. My people will understand
their duty, and children's children shall bless us for having
freed them from a too powerful Rome, and for having shown
tlie priests how to keep their proper place."
Armed with this intrepid spirit, and supported by a com
paratively small number of friends, the emperor began his
work of tearing down Rome's abuses.
For very intelligible reasons, the emperor strove" to sepa
rate the clergy of his kingdom from all foreign influence.
Accordingly, under date of 24th of March, 1781, he forbade
all connection between the monasteries of the country and
foreign monks or inspectors. No deputies dared" be sent to
attend deliberative meetings of clergy out of the country ;
and no foreign inspector dared give any directions or pre
scribe any penalties to those residing in the country. None
but natives could be received into the religious brotherhoods,
and neither monks nor nuns dared collect money to send out
of the kingdom.
On the 26th of March, it was ordered that no papal bull
should be published in any part of the empire, without first
having obtained the emperor's sanction ; the same principle
was soon after extended to all foreign bishops whose jurisdic
tion extended in any way over the Austrian frontier.
Returned from his journey to France, he immediately
issued the memorable decree, by which the bull " Unigeni-
tus," and the still more infamous bull, " De Casna Domini,"
must be expunged from the ritual ; and on the 30th of June,
a royal decree abolished the " religious patent " which the
bigoted Ferdinand II. had laid on his people, and by which
all dissent from the Church of Rome might be visited with

440 HISTORY OF THE
the severest penalties. Another decree forbade the recep
tion of novices into the cloisters, and ordered a correct census
to be taken of the value of the property in the hands of the
monks. At the same time that these excrescences of the Church
of Rome were pruned,, and that the Roman Catholics were
taught to distinguish between the essentials of religion and
the customs of their Church, the Protestants, on the other
hand, were permitted to taste privileges of which they had
been long deprived. At the very commencement of his
reign, the Protestants had handed the emperor a spirited me
morial, detailing the historical development of their wrongs ; *
and the monarch, who loved justice, was not slow in order
ing that religious opinions should henceforth exclude from
no civil office, and that fitness for the post should be the only
qualification. This was the dawning of a bright day, and
the full splendor of the sun of freedom burst out on the Prot
estants on the 24th of October, 1781, when the Edict of
Toleration was forwarded to all the bishops of Hungary,
with the direction to use their influence to persuade the priests
to a kindly feeling towards the Protestants. The decree
explaining and regulating this edict appeared in December,
and contained sixteen articles : —
I. In all parts of the empire where the Protestants of both
confessions were prohibited by law from holding meetings,
they should now have liberty to meet privately for divine
worship, without any inquiry being made whether Protestant
meetings had been held there before or not.
II. His Majesty declares these private meetings to mean,
not what they had been hitherto in Hungary, but that, in
every district where there were one hundred or more families

* The author of that memorial was John James Horvath, an advocate of
Pesth. He was a pupil of the famous lawyer, Pongratz, and he lies buried
in the wood near Pesth, with the single inscription, "Fuit."

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 441
who possessed conjointly the means of building a church,
school-house, and manse, without unfitting them for paying
their other taxes, they should have liberty to build ; their
pastor should be free to visit the sick who wished to see him,
without any limit whatever, only that the churches should
have neither bell nor spire, and that there should be no
entrance direct from the street.
III. No one possessing the necessary talents and qualifica
tions for an office should henceforth be excluded on account
of his religion. Protestants should have leave to buy and
hold landed property, to practise trades, and to obtain aca
demic honors in the same way as Roman Catholics, even in
those places where they were hitherto prevented from
doing so.%
IV. No Protestant shall be obliged to swear by any form
inconsistent with the fundamental principles of his religion.
No one shall be obliged to attend mass. Much less shall
any one be fined for absenting himself from the processions.
All laws to the contrary are hereby repealed.
V. The Protestants shall in- all cases keep possession of
the churches they at present hold ; and where these build
ings are decayed, there is hereby perfect liberty granted to
rebuild them of wood or stone ; yet, with this limitation, that
the expense be not above the means of the people.
VI. The chapels of ease which the Protestants possess-
shall remain in their hands, and pending lawsuits respecting
them shall all be quashed in favor of the Protestants. '
In the remaining articles it was decreed respecting mixed
marriages, that where the father is Roman Catholic, all the
children of both sexes should be educated in that faith ;
where the father was Protestant, the male issue should be
Protestant. Priests were prohibited from visiting sick Prot
estants unless sent for ; and no visitation of Protestant
churches or examination of the pastor on the nature of bap
tism should henceforth be instituted by any priest.

442

HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER II.
First Fruits of the Edict of Toleration: Thanks of the Protestants; Protest
of the Priests of Hungary and some of the Counties. — Efforts of Cardinal
Migazzi. — The Minister Kaunitz. — The Confessor's Explanation. — Pope
Pius VI. comes to Vienna. — His Efforts fruitless. — His Master of Cere
monies. — The Pope's Departure. — The Leave-taking. — The Emperor's
Present. The impression produced by the Edict of Toleration on
the inhabitants of the vast empire was deep and vivid. The
tidings were joyous for those who at heart hated the cere
monies of the Church of Rome, but who had been obliged
for generations to adhere outwardly to its communion. Like
the trodden flower, when refreshed with dew, raising its head
once more, so did these crushed spirits arise, and either
formed new Protestant churches or attached themselves to
those already in existence.
On the 2d of February, 1782, the Protestants of the sister
churches in Hungary held a meeting in Pesth, at which
Count Peter Zay and Nicolas Belesnay presided, to draw up
an expression of their gratitude to the emperor. The vote
of thanks was written in Latin and German, and sent to
Vienna under charge of a numerous deputation.* The Prot
estants had not received all which they had a right to ex
pect ; still the heaviest of their chains were taken off, and
they hoped in the course of time to receive back the re
mainder of the privileges which had been guaranteed them
by law, but wrested from them by the strong hand of oppression.
* At the same time instructions were sent to the ecclesiastical agent at
Vienna, respecting the steps he ought to take in future; and the pastors
were directed to take heed that the edict was properly published through the
country.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 443
Foreign countries heard the story, and rejoiced in the
tidings. It could not be expected that Rome and her party would
be satisfied ; and it was not long till protests, numerously
signed, were handed to the emperor, expressive of their ex
treme dissatisfaction.
The Cardinal Joseph Battyani, on hearing what the em
peror was about to do, even before the edict was published,
handed in a protest signed also by the Bishops of Gran and
Kalotsh, asserting that the emperor had no right to grant
such a toleration, it was unconstitutional, and could only be
binding on the country when adopted legally by a vote at the
Diet.* Not content with this, the bishops made use of their great
wealth and influence to excite the counties and the free cities
to protest. The supreme executive delayed in publishing
the edict, and the authorities in the counties were thus ani
mated in their resistance. Some of the counties brought up
the old laws of 1525 — 26, by which all Lutherans might on
detection be burned, and urged these as legal reasons for re
fusing to publish, much less to act on, the edict ; and in this
case their memory was exceedingly convenient, for, though
they remembered the passing of the law, they had" forgotten
that it was repealed by the Treaty of Vienna.
With equal zeal did Cardinal Migazzi labor in Vienna ;
and the papal nuncio was pouring in protests and representa
tions, not only against the Edict of Toleration, but also
against all the emperor's reforms, till the minister Kaunitz
informed him dryly that his Majesty did not wish any more
information on these subjects.
The emperor's confessor also tried the weight of his lance
in the contest, and declared that he could promise the em-
* When emperors overstepped their constitutional powers to crush the
Protestants, the cardinals saw no harm, but much rather a high degree of
virtue, in the proceedings.

444

HISTORY OF THE

peror no success against his foes, if he did not cut off all the
heretics, root and branch, and burn up their temples; if he
did not seize their children to have them educated in the
Church of Rome, and annihilate all the heretical books.
Alas ! poor man ! it was all in vain, for the emperor's name
was Joseph II.
On the 12th of January the emperor wrote to Cardinal Bat-
tyani, informing him that the loyal bishops in the empire had
no scruple in fulfilling the royal law, " Whatsoever ye will
that men shall do unto you, do ye even so unto them " ; be
sides, he had no intention of forcing any man's conscience ;
and if any man was dissatisfied with his measures of tolera
tion, he was welcome to resign his office and leave the coun
try. It was, however, expected from the bishops to see to it
that the edict was not only published, but acted on, and to
report the same to the viceregal court. Finally, the cardi
nal primate would inform the other bishops of this his im
perial Majesty's royal will and pleasure.
When all these efforts of the bishops did not succeed in
changing the emperor's resolution, Bishop Nagy, of Stuhl-
weissenburg, published a pastoral letter, purporting to be a
statement of the motives which urged Joseph to his humane
efforts.- In the same letter the characters and lives of the
Protestants were' attacked, and no falsehoods were spared so
as to mar the working of the edict,* and the emperor was as
little spared as any of the people, t
As the emperor was still far from being satisfied with what
he had done, and was proceeding still further to limit the
power Of the Pope, in an evil hour, and contrary to the ad-

* See Fessler, Vol. X. p. 553.
t When a paper was found nailed to the door of a monastery which Joseph
had confiscated and sold to the Protestants for a chapel, charging the em
peror with being a Lutheran, and being guilty- of various other crimes and
misdemeanors, the emperor had the paper printed -and sold for two pence a
copy, the money to be handed to the deacons of the Protestant church.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 445
vice of his wise cardinals, Pope Pius VI., urged on by Aus
trian refugees, and trusting in his own personal influence, re
solved to undertake a journey to Vienna. Having signified
his intention of visiting Vienna, the emperor sent a kind in
vitation, assuring him of a cordial reception. On the 22d of
March, being the week before Easter, Pius VI. reached
Vienna, and received such honor from the thousands of
Roman Catholics who came to meet him, that he had no
cause to complain of Austrian devotion to Rome. Crowds,
even of the highest ranks, pressed into the anterooms to kiss
the slipper which was there exhibited, and for the sake of
lightening the trouble, the Pope caused the slipper to be car
ried round to many of the most distinguished families in the
city. With all this pomp and splendor the emperor and his
minister Kaunitz remained unmoved ; and when, at the
Easter festival, the master of the ceremonies raised the
Pope's seat a step higher than the emperor's, the latter ab
sented himself from the whole ceremony, with the remark,
" Then the Pope can drive alone, and sit alone in the
church." The emperor should have read the lesson of the
day on the occasion, and he excused himself to the Pope by
pretending a pain in the eye.
Meantime, there was no want of pamphlets explaining to
the people the meaning of all this show on the part of the
Pope ; and the wits of the capital were all on the side of the
emperor. All attempts to bring the emperor and his minister away
from the reforms which they had begun were in vain. The
emperor said, " Pie was no theologian, and couU not argue
with his holiness. He wished, however, that the arguments
should be put in writing, and he would show them to his di
vines. As to the monasteries," he said, " the Pope had been
already informed of all that had been done ; and as this was
no dogma, but a plain matter of business, he (the emperor)
would just leave matters as they were."
38

446 HISTORY OF THE
Only ene conference was held in the presence of Kaunitz
and of the cardinals ; but. it led to no results. Pius VI.
thought to gain Kaunitz over to his side, and accordingly
paid him a visit. The wary minister received him without
any ceremony, in his morning gown, and led him through
his vast picture gallery. As the Pope strove to turn the con
versation on ecclesiastical topics, the minister requested him
to reserve such subjects for a more suitable time and place.
The Pope's visit has been in vain. He has no hope of
doing more. The emperor informs him that it would be
pleasant to have the expression of his approbation of the
measures of toleration now in progress, but if this was not
convenient, then it could be dispensed with. The Pope ap
prove of toleration ! The Pope's approbation of measures a
matter of indifference ! Which was the severest cut ?
On the 22d of April Pius VI. left Vienna, accompanied by
the emperor and his brother Maximilian as far as the village
Mariabrunn — Mary's Well — about four miles from the city,
where they took an affectionate leave.
The emperor gave his holiness a present of a cross set
with diamonds, valued at £ 20,000. The Pope went on his
way to Rome, and the emperor pursued his course of reform
quite unmoved, for, not many hours after the parting, the
monastery at Mary's Well was closed.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 447

CHAPTER III.
Benefits of the Edict of Toleration. — Freedom of the Press. — The Emperor
popularly charged with Heresy. — His Eeply, and his Decree founded on
it. — The Six Weeks' Instruction of Persons leaving the Church of Borne.
— Church-building in Hungary. — The Commissions of Inquiry and the
Homo Diocesanus. — The Spirit of the Viceregal Court, and some of the
Counties. — Extracts from the Petition of the Sister Churches to the Em
peror. The emperor still pressed forward. Difficulties seemed
merely to accelerate his course. What was to him the dust
of the falling house ? He had a clear plan of the manner in
which it should be rebuilt.
On the 19th of November, 1781, he repealed the law pro-
nibiting the Protestant clergy from crossing the bounds of
their parish, and allowed the exiled pastors to return. Priests
were prohibited from forcing their services on sick Protes
tants, and wherever they attended, they were ordered to
make use of Protestant prayer-books. The Protestants ob
tained leave at the same time to use the materials of old
decayed churches in building and repairing their places of
worship. The chase after the children of Protestants and Jews, to
have them — especially if orphans — educated in the com
munion of the Church of Rome, was still more limited, and
it was decreed that they should be baptized only on their
own request. As, however, a certain age was hard to be
fixed, it was only required to see that no bribe in the shape
of reward or threatening was held out. Such young persons
wishing to join the Church of Rome must wait six weeks
after giving notice of the intention, and if still continuing in

448

HISTORY OF THE

the same mind, might then 'be baptized. If, however, any
of these conditions were wanting, the children could not be
forcibly detained from their parents or guardians.*
On the 22d of June, the Protestants obtained permission to
print their Bibles and other religious books in the country.
A list of the books which might be printed was furnished,
and among them we find, " A correct copy of the Bible ; Lu
ther's Catechism ; the Heidelberg Catechism, 'only that some
expressions offensive to Papists should be removed ; the
Prayer-book and Liturgies of both the Lutheran and Re
formed Churches ; Arndt's True Christianity ; a good hymn-
book ; and a few other books named."
The books which had been confiscated during the previous
reign, but especially the Bibles, were ordered to be restored,
and, shortly after, the compulsory attendance of Protestant
children on Roman Catholic schools was dispensed with.
Where priests strove to bring back the old reign of hatred,
they did not any more escape unpunished ; and when the
priest of Bossontya forcibly took possession of a Protestant
church, he learned to his cost 'that the good old times were
gone. The Archbishop of Gratz had simply inquired at
Rome whether he ought to publish the Edict of Toleration,
and for this he was summoned to Vienna to give an account
of his doings. It was shortly before the Pope's visit, and, as
a punishment, he was ordered to leave the city the day be
fore his holiness arrived.
By such proceedings the popular fury was soon directed
against the person of the emperor. What had formally fall
en to the lot of the Protestants, now fell on his devoted head.
From all sides he was attacked, so that in the year 1782 he
was obliged to make a public declaration, that he had no

* The Church of Eome had long claimed all orphans as her own, but it
would appear from this, that even in cases whore only one parent was d« ¦
ceased, the same claim was made.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 449
intention of leaving the Church of Rome ; that he should be
glad if all his subjects were Roman Catholics ; but that he
did not feel at liberty to force any man to act against the
dictates of his conscience. Besides teaching and setting a
good example, he did not wish to use any other means for
gaining over proselytes to his cause. If any one forced his
servant or his child to leave any church and join another, he
should not escape unpunished. It was then in December
decreed, that any Roman Catholic wishing to join the Prot
estant Church must give notice six weeks beforehand, and
receive religious instruction for that period.
The opinion that the visit of the Pope had made the em
peror a better Catholic was natural. Some other circumstan
ces strengthened it» For some time the Protestants had
done almost what they chose, but now an edict appeared, re
quiring them to give notice of the meetings of their church
courts, that a policeman might be in attendance, and to
give notice also of the subjects to be introduced at these
meetings. Like the ebbing and flowing of the tide is the popular
feeling, and the Popish party were so elated by these move
ments, that they soon began their old tricks, and, in some
cases, refused burial to the bodies of Protestants, and threat
ened to throw them out of the graves again if interred in the
common graveyards.* These were, however, only isolated
clouds to darken the bright heavens. The Protestants were
annoyed, — the humane plans of the emperor were retarded.
Sometimes the priests did not come when called, and the
expense of the Commission of Inquiry was incurred in vain.
Sometimes they refused to sign the report of the commis
sioners, and forwarded themselves other reports injurious to
the Protestants.
The law said, that in erecting new places of worship for
* Intimatum, 6th of July, 1782.
38*

450

HISTORY OF THE

Protestants, care should be taken that sufficient means of sup
port were forthcoming without overburdening the tax-payers.
Plere was a place for the enemy to work. And not without
effect were the insinuations and open attacks ; for the em
peror was obliged to issue a fresh edict, ordering that no
unnecessary annoyance should be given to those seeking
leave to form a new church ; that in the towns one month
be allowed, and in the country three, to prepare a report ;
and that in no case should the delay be longer in investigating
the circumstances. Besides, it was further decreed that the
civil authorities do not require to fix a salary for the pastor
and schoolmaster, but may leave that to private agreement
between the parties concerned.
Even an edict of toleration cannot cure all the ills of a
country. And this was felt by the Hungarians ; for, even
though the emperor had prepared schedules of inquiry, and
accurate tables of the questions which should, and of those
which should not, be asked, yet the viceregal court, actuated
by the old spirit, and consisting chiefly of the old members,
was able still to throw difficulties in the way. Let us take
a few illustrations.
The Reformed Church of Boehenye petitioned that their
exiled pastor might be restored to them, and, on the 15th of
July, 1782, an imperial order directed the necessary steps
to be taken. And first, of course, an inquiry must be insti
tuted why he had been banished ; and then an inquiry why
he should be restored ; then a report, and afterwards an ex
planation of the report, must be obtained. For the sake of
quashing the whole affair, a commission was nominated,
composed exclusively of Roman Catholics, and it was only
after an energetic protest and much delay that the legal
commission, consisting of an equal number of Protestants
and Roman Catholics, was obtained.
The commission reported that in the years 1681 and 1721
public worship was conducted in -this parish ; after their pas

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 451
tor was banished, they had been allowed to keep a school
master ; the number of families appeared to be sixty-nine ;
the landlord was willing to furnish ,wood gratis for building
a church, and the people were willing to undertake all the
cartage ; residences for a pastor and schoolmaster, and suffi
cient funds for their support, were already provided ; if a
pastor were among them, these funds would be increased.
Such was the report, and the resolution of the county formed
upon it was, " That, inasmuch as there are not a hundred
families connected with the place, the Protestants be not
allowed to recall their pastor or build a church."
The Protestants of Nagy Bajom petitioned for the recogni
tion of their claims to a church. The report stated that the
conditions of the edict were all fulfilled, and the proper num
ber of families was to be found. A nobleman of the district,
however, exclaimed publicly, that, as they valued the salva
tion of their souls, they could not in any way assist in spread
ing heresy ; and the county gave its decision accordingly,
stating, " That, inasmuch as the Protestants now contribute to
the support of the priests, if they had a pastor of their own
the priest could not exist ; and to support two clergy — a
Protestant and Roman Catholic- — out of a common fund,
was above the means of the parish ; therefore the Protestants
shall not have leave to build a church or to call a pastor."
The Protestants of Csoekol were long kept back by the
Bishop of Wesprim, who had reported that the soil was bar
ren, that the parish was four thousand florins in debt, that
they must pay the priest twenty-five florins, half a hogshead
of wine, and certain duty labor, together with a fixed quantity
of corn and his official dues. The resolution of the county
was, that this county also should not be allowed to build a
church or call a pastor.
The viceregal court generally decided in accordance with
the vote of the county, especially if that was unfavorable to
the Protestants. Indeed, in the case of Tharos, they directed

452 HISTORY OF THE
to make diligent search whether a Roman Catholic school
master were not already in the neighborhood, whose duty it
was to instruct all the children of every party ; and to con
duct the inquiry respecting the available funds in the pres
ence of a " homo diocesanus."
A village belonging to the free city of CEdenberg had al
ready obtained permission to build a church, when a new dif
ficulty was found in the fact that the town would not give
them ground. Two peasants, George Swentenvain and John
Kessener, then offered all they had — their house and garden
— for the Lord's cause ; but the story coming to the empe
ror, orders were sent to the civic authorities to lay no more
obstacles in the way of building, but to grant the ground at
once. For the present they should not have a schoolmaster,
for, if they had, the Roman Catholic schoolmaster could not
continue in office.
But who could enumerate even a tithe of the grievances ?
If the Roman Catholic party could do nothing else, they could
involve the Protestants in heavy expense. An appeal to a
higher court was often fruitless, and the emperor was far
away ; but the sighing of the prisoners came into the ears of
the Lord of hosts, and was written in his book of remem
brance. When the grounds of complaint had become very heavy,
the two sister churches united in a petition to the emperor,
out of which we here insert a few extracts.
After complaining that the authorities were very stringent
in pressing every point of the law in its most unfavorable
sense, they state, that in every case where a new church has
been granted, the Protestants have been compelled, contrary
to law, to assist in supporting the priest. The limitations of
the edict are strained and extended far beyond the evident
intention. They had been promised some of their old
churches back, but not one had they obtained. At investi
gations his Majesty had simply required the presence of a

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 453
Roman Catholic priest, but the practice was to reject every
petition which was not countersigned by the priest. In many
of the commissions none but Roman Catholics officiated.
They then requested the revoking of the edict of the 10th of
February, 1783, by which the Protestant churches are re
quired to be an hour's walk asunder. They begged protec
tion from those decisions by which they were prevented from
appointing a schoolmaster, because " the Roman Catholic
schoolmasters would then have nothing to do." They com
plain that, contrary to the spirit of his Majesty's resolutions,
the names of " akatholick," and " tolerated sectarians," are
still applied to them as terms of disgrace.
They request, finally, that the priests be declared incapa
ble of holding office in courts where the affairs of the Protes
tants shall be investigated and decided.
The petition was dated Vienna, August 6, 1783, and its
fruits we shall have an opportunity of seeing.

454 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER IV.
Reform in the Schools. — The Protestants Distrust the National Schools. —
Belief in Church-building. — The Church Registers. — Organization be
yond the Danube. — Abuse of the Six Weeks' Instruction. — Poisoning of
the Abbot Rautenstrauch at Erlau. — Persecution of those who wish to
leave the Church of Rome.
Under Maria Theresa a commencement had been made
to reform the schools, and now, under Joseph, the principle
was extended to the whole empire. A national school sys
tem was introduced, according to which the schools, from
the very commencement to the highest departments of the
university, were conducted on one general plan. A central
office of education was appointed, and the learned Godfrey
Swieten appointed first president in 1784. The vice-presi
dents, Who had the charge of the system in Hungary, and
who resided at Ofen, were Christopher Nitzky and Joseph
Klobusitsky. The university was removed from Ofen to
Pesth ; and chiefly by the learned ex-Jesuits, Szerdahely and
Mako, was the new system of education adapted to the state
of Hungary, and extended also to the Protestant schools. To
cover the expenses, however, it was required to return to the
government a correct report of all property in Hungary
which was intended to- promote education in any form.
Some time afterwards the Protestants were obliged to give
up all their funds to the government.
After many fruitless consultations with the school inspec
tors, and with the commissioners of education, the Protes
tants at last petitioned the emperor to allow them a little
breathing time, before introducing the new system. It was,
they said, necessary to bear in mind how closely a system

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 455
of education was connected with religion and with the
Church ; and certain modifications were then necessary, to
secure freedom of conscience. They requested, therefore,
that their school funds should be restored to them, and addi
tional assistance given, as they were otherwise not able to
provide the necessary number of professors, schools, semina
ries, libraries, and printing establishments, nor yet to make
provision for retired office-bearers or their -widows, as the law
directed. After some inquiries which were now instituted, the em
peror issued the following regulation for the Protestant schools
in Hungary : —
In cases where the Protestants have schools already in
operation, they shall be allowed to retain them ; where they,
however, have no school nor schoolmaster, the precentor of
the Protestant church shall have the same right as the Roman
Catholic teacher to instruct the children of his own creed, in
the presence of children of other confessions, in the cate
chism of his Church. This privilege shall also be granted to
those Protestants who, although not sufficiently numerous in
the district to be formed into a church or to have a school,
shall nevertheless be able to support a " cantor," or clerk.
Several villages might also unite, if they chose, to keep a
"cantor" for this purpose; and in every case the parents
had a right to choose for themselves to which of the neigh
boring schools their children should be sent. It was neces
sary, however, that these Protestant catechists should have
passed their examination in the Normal School of the Na
tional Board ; * and in every case, the Protestants must bear
* For the sake of keeping up uniformity of system in the empire, the'di-
rectors and principals of the high schools and universities were obliged to
attend for a definite period at the Central Normal School at Vienna, and
there pass an examination. They were then required to open district normal
schools, or to have classes for the training of teachers, who might afterwards
be appointed as teachers, (a) hi the high schools, (b) in the town schools, and
(c) in the villages. Of course, the system could not in all cases be inflexibly
carried out.

456 HISTORY OF THE
the entire expense connected with such an officer. In the
higher national schools, where both Catholic and Protestant
teachers were appointed, they should be paid out of the na
tional fund. In districts where none but Protestants resided,
and where, therefore, Protestant teachers were appointed by
government, they should also be paid out of the general fund.
In mixed schools, such prayers should be used as made it
consistent for the children of all confessions to come and to
leave at the same time. The days and hours of communi
cating religious instruction should be fixed and published, and
the greatest possible regard should be shown to the conscien
tious feelings of the children of Protestant parents. Change
of religion on the part of the children in those schools should
never be tolerated without the consent of the parents. Every
thing should be omitted in the school-books which could give
the Protestants any just ground of offence. The Protestants
had the immediate inspection of their own schools, and could
be controlled only by the Superior Imperial District Commis
sion. These extracts give us some notion of the emperor's be
nevolent intentions. Still, however, the black history of the
past, the years of fierce persecution which the Protestants
had borne, combined with the fact that a sum of ten thousand
florins, which had just been collected in Zips for school pur
poses, was demanded from them, gave good ground to fear
being entangled by the influence of an individual, so as to
chain themselves and $ieir children to a system. They
avoided, therefore, most punctiliously, affording any assist
ance to the national schools ; and where a mixed school was
erected by the government, the Protestants kept their chil
dren generally at home. When the school inspectors com
plained, the Protestants replied generally that they had not
received permission from the superintendents, ' or that the
local circumstances required some modification of the system
before they could take part in the national schools.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 457
These excuses drove the emperor to propose some modifi-
cation in the government of the Protestant Church, by which
a central general consistory should sit at Vienna, and thence
issue orders more or less at the bidding of the court.
The Protestants objected to this proposal, urging as reasons
the. size of the kingdom ; the fact that four superintendents
with their consistoria already existed for each Church, Cal
vinistic and Lutheran ; that the expense of such a superior
consistory would be too heavy, and the proper persons to fill
the office could not easily be persuaded to leave their homes,
and reside permanently at Vienna ; besides, such a constitu
tional change could only be made in consequence of a reso
lution of a grand national synod.
The emperor yielded for the present, and a general con
ference was summoned for the 8th of June, 1788, to which
the different congregations were directed to send deputies.*
While this was going forward in reference to the schools,
the Protestants were obtaining still more and more freedom
from the grievances which in their petition had been laid be
fore the emperor.
The Protestant pastors were permitted to visit and dis
charge ministerial duties among the diaspora or scattered
adherents to their confession, under the condition that the
priests' dues were in all such cases to be paid, and that the
Roman Catholics should not be excited to dissatisfaction with
their clorgy.
The Protestant tradesmen in Giins and other places ob
tained dispensation from attending mass and taking part in
the processions, and the Protestant catechists were re
ceiving more and more liberty and encouragement in the
schools. The one great struggle now was respecting the " stola

* This is taken from a MS. in the library of Count Roday, being a report
of the superintendents to their agents at Vienna.
39

458 « HISTORY OF THE
dues."* The Protestants wished to be entirely freed from
this demand on the part of the priest. The emperor thought
to settle the matter by prohibiting first the priest, and then the
Protestant pastor, from receiving money at baptisms, com
munions, and funerals; but it was in vain, for pretexts were
still found for keeping up the custom. One example we se
lect, as illustrative of the state of parties at the time.
The priest of Bogyoslo complained to the magistrates of
the district that the Lutherans had refused to pay him his
stola dues. The magistrates decided that, inasmuch as he
had been in possession of these- dues before the Edict of Tol
eration, he had a right to them, and the payment was accord
ingly enforced. The county magistrate sent out the hussars
to enforce the payment, and the soldiers not only drove in all
the priests' dues, but also took some little perquisites for them
selves. The people complained to the emperor, and an in
vestigation was instituted. The result was that the priest
having himself acknowledged that he had not received these
fees previous to the Edict of Toleration, was sentenced to
return twofold all that he had unjustly taken. The county
magistrate was sentenced to receive a public reprimand in his
own court. The soldiers who had exceeded their duty were
ordered to restore all that they had seized, and to be impris-r
oned three days on bread and water. The appellants re
ceived permission to build their church as they themselves
wished, only on condition that the contributors to the building
fund should not be overburdened. t
Such even-handed justice had not for many years been
known in Hungary. There had still been one law for the
Protestants and another for the Roman Catholics. But, if

, * The money which the priest claimed for every act which he performed
in the stola, or official dress.
t The original sentence lies at Ofen, dated 22d of November, 17S5, and is
numbered in the MS. No. 35,607. The records of the church go on to say
that the sentence was literally'executed.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 459
their joy was great at obtaining simple justice, how much
greater must it have been when the private religious exercises
were no longer restricted, but the pastor could baptize, marry,
attend funerals, &c, unmolested, on condition of paying the
priest his fee ; and it was not long till the government, weary
of the constant complaints, at last abolished the fees to the
priests, and made them payable to the Protestant pastor.
Still further, the Protestant churches were allowed to keep
their own registers, and filial churches were permitted to
attach themselves for civil and religious purposes to recog
nized existing congregations. By virtue of this connection,
the pastor of the congregation obtained a right to perform
ministerial acts within the bounds of the filial or adjunct
parish. In such cases, however, the stola dues must still be
paid to the priest, the exemption extending itself only to
independent congregations which had their own pastor and
church.* These last privileges gave the Protestants an opportunity
of regulating the internal concerns of their congregations,
which they had for a long time not been able to do. Espe
cially manifest was the change which now took place in the
circle beyond the Danube, where a new superintendent, Sam
uel Krabowsky, entered on office, and had the charge of thir
teen " seniors' districts," and one hundred and twenty-five
churches. Here the presbyterial form of church government
was revived, the seniors were directed to summon the clergy
of the district together at least once a year, and himself to
inspect all the churches, for the sake of removing all abuses
which might have crept in. The exercise of discipline was
of course much stricter among the Reformed churches than
among the Lutherans ; still all were now revived and ani
mated by a new'spirit.
The priests were enraged at seeing .the fruits' of the con-
* See royal decree of 22d of March, 1784.

460

HISTORY OF THE

cessions in favor of the Protestants, and the steps they took
to be avenged were often of such a nature as to baffle all
attempts at justice. The annals of the time record black,
and cruel, and, tyrannical deeds, which could not be brought
home to any individual, but respecting which popular opinion
spoke out. very decidedly.
The six weeks' instruction of intended proselytes gave the
priests an opportunity of exercising their arbitrary power
and tyranny. For example ; the priest of Lopejens had a
youth of sixteen years of age for a long time shut up in his
house under pretence of the " six weeks' instruction," and
during that time the youth was repeatedly bastinadoed. The
priest said it was for theft. After a legal investigation, how
ever, the president of the court of justice, Count Charles
Pallfy, sent the report of the trial to the emperor, and with
his own hand Joseph wrote on the report, that, for every
stroke the youth had received, the priest should be confined
a day in prison.
Examples like this did not always succeed in terrifying
into a sense of duty. When the Baron Schoenrich was
dying, he addressed his assembled family with these words :
" I would have left a large property behind me to be divided
among you, had not the priests, by false accusations of me
to the emperor, squandered it all away."
The abbot Stephen Rautenstrauch, who had the inspection
of all the theological faculties in the empire, and who has
already been mentioned as an enlightened friend of reform,
had been to Erlau to examine the theological schopl in that
city, and after the examination, having sat down to supper
in excellent health, he was soon seized with spasms, and after
six hours of violent convulsions, he expired. Poison had
been administered in his food.*
In Trentshin county the authorities were so decidedly
* Fessler's History, Vol. X. p. 571.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 461
on the side of the priests, that those who proposed leaving
the Church of Rome were cast into prison ; and in CEden
berg, even those Roman Catholics who ventured to attend
a Protestant place of worship were threatened with legal
proceedings.

*"* HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER V.

Removal of the Bishops from Civil Offices.— Application of the Religious
Funds. — School System. — Further Evidence of Joseph's love of Justice.
— War with the Porte. — Revolution of the Netherlands. — Serious State
of Hungary. — The Emperor's Health give-s way. — Recall of his Reforms.
— The Crown sent back to Hungary. — The Emperor's Death.

The conviction that, so long as bishops sat in the civil
courts, little justice was to- be expected for the Protestants,
had induced them, in their petition to the emperor, to mention
this as one of the evils to be remedied, and in the course of
time Joseph seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion.
In the year 1785 they were all removed from the civil and
judicial offices which they held, and their power in other re
spects was very much limited. When, in the reports to the
emperor, hard expressions were made use of in reference to
the Protestants, the reports were sent in to be altered.
In the schools constant alleviations were introduced, and in
general, the wishes of the Protestants met with the kindest
consideration, The emperor now introduced a law by which
all children from six years of age were to be considered
capable of attending school, and the parents were held re
sponsible for their attendance. The school-books were im
proved, aiui not only the quantity but also the quality of the
instruction given, even to the Roman Catholic children, met
with a favorable alteration. Especially were the Scriptures
much more carefully read in the schools than had previously
been the case ; and the emperor thus manifested his appre
ciation of the expression, " Man liveth not by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the
Lord."

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 463
Several monasteries and nunneries had been closed, and
their incomes confiscated ; but it was neither for his own use,
nor for general state purposes, nor for presents to favorite
ministers, that this was used, but all was put together in a
general religion and school fund.*
The emperor used his influence to stop the- abounding su
perstitions, as he took away from the most renowned places
of pilgrimage their silver and gold shrines, and sent them to
the mint. He forbade presents of silver, iron, wax candles,
&c, at these places, and discouraged the pilgrimages to the
utmost. In the same way he strove to remove an evil which was
likely seriously to injure the Protestant Church. From the
poverty of many Protestant congregations, it had not been in
their power to pay a pastor ; accordingly some schoolmaster
or student generally came and conducted the preaching ser
vices, — sometimes, indeed, not much to the edification of
the people. The emperor now ordered that no one should
be allowed to preach without having first obtained a license
by regularly constituted church courts.t
The emperor strove to regulate the quarrels of contending
parties concerning the joint use of the churcljes, and some
times he succeeded ;- but in general, when Protestants and
Roman Catholics worshipped in the same house, the latter .
took the precaution to have it consecrated, and in case of
* The emperor established eleven hundred and eighty-nine new parishes,
and paid the working priests one hundred and thirty-three thousand six
hundred florins annually, out of his confiscated monastic property. He in
tended to establish forty-seven more, with eighty-six vicarages, and one
hundred and ninety-seven chaplaincies. (See Fessler, Vol. X. p. 569.) In
Hungary alone were one hundred and thirty-four monasteries closed, in
which twelve hundred and nine priests and two hundred and seventy-five
lay brothers had resided; and- in one of the orders, namely, Eremites, the
emperor found an immense sum in hard cash. The landed property which
fell to the crown brought in a revenue of two hundred and three thousand
six hundred and twenty-nine florins annually.
t Royal decree, 11th of September, 1788.

464 HISTORY OF THE
separation afterwards this gave them a factitious right to re
tain the building, even though it had previously been the
property of the Protestants.
The case was much easier when it was a simple inquiry
respecting secular property, such as manses, fields, gardens ;
for here they need only prove their original property, and
justice was in all cases done. Let us take an example.
In Schutt-Somerain, where the so-called " German house "
had been taken by the military as a barrack, and the town
had taken all the fields as public property, in the course of
time documents were found proving this all to belong to the
Protestant church, and immediately, notwithstanding all op
position, the emperor ordered the whole property to be deliv
ered up. Another case, which was still more admired as a
case of discriminating justice, was, when the Roman Cath
olics had, some fifty years before, taken a bell from the Prot
estant church, and set it up for themselves, the emperor, on
examining the case, ordered the bell to be restored.
The time was not to be long, however, in which the Prot
estants could enjoy such favors. The emperor was hastening
fast to his grave. The shadows of the evening were length
ening, and death came on with giant strides.
A war broke out with the Turks, and was carried on
chiefly in the interest of Russia. Rebellion was threatening
in the country. The priests and the heads of the political
parties were violent. Joseph had no kindly associations with
the family hearth, — no wife nor child to smooth the brow of
care ; and that great mind began to sink under the load.
On the 28th of January, 1790, he was so far exhausted,
that he with his own hand withdrew many of the reforms
which he had introduced ; to his honor be it said, however,
that some of the measures which had been dear to him all
his life through, were even now, despite all efforts to the con
trary, still held fast. Among these were the Edict of Toler
ation, and the new parishes which he had formed.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF. HUNGARY. 465
On the 17th of February, the keepers of the crown of
Stephen left Vienna with their sacred charge, which the
Hungarian nation almost adored. They arrived in Ofen on
the 21st, and five hundred cannon shots told the nation the'
glorious tidings of their arrival. The emperor was then no
more. On the 20th he was found sitting up in his bed in the
attitude of prayer, but life had fled. He had reached only
his forty-ninth year, but had written his name deep in the
hearts of his people. Wild were the weeds which defaced
that lovely land as he a-scended the throne, and in the sweat
of his brow had he eaten kingly bread, attempting to sweep
away the arrears of ages. For him it was enough to have
the kingly reward of the consciousness that succeeding ages
would acknowledge his efforts for his people's good. His
successor, Leopold II., would have a lighter task, that of fol
lowing in the track so nobly pointed out before.

466

HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER VL
State of the Protestants under Leopold II., from 1790 to 1792. — Leopold's
Arrival. — Petition of the Protestants referred to the Diet. — Royal " Reso
lutions " and their Consequences. — The Diet. — The Seventeen Articles
of the United Synod. — Deputation of the Synod to the Cardinal Primate
of Hungairy — Sudden Death of the King.
When Leopold ascended, the: throne, theyjoy of the Roman
Catholics: knew as little bounds as the grief and sorrow of the
Protestants^ The latter feared, the former hoped, everything
from the change ; for, notwithstanding the Ediet of Tolera
tion, the prospects of the Protestants were sufficiently dark.
The liberties which they had of late enjoyed were regarded
as mere royal bounty, and in the same way as Joseph had
granted these privileges might his successor withdraw them.
Leopold might he guided by the same principles as his prede
cessor, and confirm all his just and liberal decisions, but he
might once more sweep them all away ; and then what
would avail the protest, and the cry of the oppressed ?
In this uncertainty, every eye was directed towards him
who had already earned the character of wisdom and
moderation. Each party strove to make a good impression
on the mind of the new king. The Roman Catholics ap
proached him with a detail of the claims of their Church,
supported by mutilated extracts from royal decrees and laws
of the land. The Protestants did not fail in stating their
case as well as circumstances permitted. Between the two
parties the emperor stood as a rock in the sea, unshaken and
undaunted. He heard the advice of the few faithful men
who stood around the throne, and refused to yield to the
claims of fanaticism. But let the facts speak for themselves.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 467
On the 12th of March Leopold arrived from Tuscany, and
on the 10th of June he held a Diet at Ofen. Early in No
vember this meeting was transferred to Presburg.
Meanwhile, all the arrangements which Joseph had made
ceased to be carried out, and fanatics who wished on ac
count of the Edict of Toleration to make his name hateful,
availed themselves of the opportunity for carrying out their
designs. The king, however, lost no time in relieving the
minds of his subjects ; and when the petition from the Prot
estants reached him, it was immediately handed over to the
Diet, with an expression of his earnest desire that the griev
ances there complained of should be settled according to the
laws of the land and the demands "of equity.
According to custom, this petition was handed to a mixed
commission, and in the course of time reached the Diet, the
proposals having been thrown together in the form of seven
teen articles.
After some fiery debates, it was resolved to send the arti
cles to the king, with the request " that he would, of his own
sovereign will, decide these matters as his own wisdom
should direct." The emperor accepted of the powers thus
vested in him, and, on the 7th of November, to the dismay
of the priests and the Roman party, appeared the royal reso
lutions, based, not on the deceitful laws of Leopold and
Charles VI., but on the broad ground of the Treaties of
Vienna and Linz, and the laws and resolutions of 1608 and
1647. All reasonable and moderate Roman Catholics expressed
themselves satisfied with the resolutions ; but the joy of the
Protestants knew no bounds. Three weeks later a vast
assembly of priests and bishops, at the palace of the Arch
bishop of Kalotsh, gave vent to their indignation, and for
warded a representation to the newly crowned king, com
plaining of the injury thus done to the rights of their Church,
and modestly requesting that the resolutions should be al-

468

HISTORY OF THE

tered to meet their views. The emperor in his reply ex
pressed extreme dissatisfaction with the tone adopted by
these men ; and when the Protestants heard of the matter,
they immediately forwarded a vote of thanks for his consist
ent kindness.
The second series of royal resolutions soon appeared, and
now came the hot struggle respecting their reception among
the laws of the land.
Accustomed to debate, and of naturally warm tempera
ment, the Hungarian deputies struggled hard on both sides.
From the 18th of January till the 8th of Februaiy, all parlia
mentary tactics were made available for prolonging the dis
cussion. The stakes were heavy, for the freedom of con
science of millions, and the powers of a hierarchy, were now
opposed to each other, and Rome or liberty must triumph.
" Such resolutions as tolerate heresy are directly opposed
to the fundamental principles of the Roman Catholic relig
ion," cried Joseph Boronkay, deputy of Simegh, " and they
open the floodgates of vice and crime. Besides, Hungary is
' Mary's kingdom,' and by these articles she would be de
throned, and the Queen of Heaven be banished from her
dominions. Except the clause is inserted, declaring that the
claims of the Roman Catholic Church shall le preserved in
tact, I vote against the resolution."
Count Illyeshazy, of Trentshin, declared " he had direc
tions from his constituents to go to a certain point in granting
liberty of conscience, but these resolutions go far beyond ;
he could not vote for them."
The deputy of Baros thought " there was no safety for the
country except by adopting the 30th article of the Resolu
tions of Charles, in 1715, as a fundamental principle of gov
ernment." On the other side, the first who raised his voice was the
deputy of Presburg. He declared his willingness to vote for
the resolutions, " if the Protestants would bind themselves

IROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 469
never to complain again, nor to ask any more, nor to bring
the cause of religion ever again before the Diet."
The deputy of Neograd asserted, " They had now no
choice but to adopt the resolutions of the emperor, for they
had voluntarily appointed him umpire ; and it was, then, self-
evident that the decision of the umpire voluntarily chosen
must be binding on both parties."
In speeches full of fire, and breathing the spirit of civil
and religious liberty, many others poured out torrents of elo
quence, till the bigoted members of the Diet were terrified
into silence. " The Protestants of both confessions," cried
the venerated and beloved Count Alays Battyani, — '* this
we cannot deny, — have often borne such civil and religious
oppression as was sufficient to drive them to despair. If
they have complained to the Diet at different times of the un
just and inhuman treatment received, what else could they
do ? If the debates were long and keen, and the opposition
to their just demands bitter, who was the cause, — they or
their adversaries ? Do they not, as citizens of our country,
breathe the same air ? Do they not share our burdens, and
should they not enjoy the same civil and religious liberty as
we ? Are these imperial resolutions opposed to the princi
ples of the Church of Rome ? how much more terrible "is
it to wage war with the first principles of Christianity and
universal love ! Instead of modifying, these resolutions, let
us at once enter them on our statute books as an irrevocable
law." Matters appeared favorable for the Protestants, when a
motion for adjournment to another Diet was made, and lost.
The Archbishop of Kalotsh then objected to the resolutions
altogether, as involving a decision on ecclesiastical dogmata ;
besides, the emperor had not been unanimously appointed
umpire. The archbishop was reminded that majority, not
unanimity, constitutes a valid decision, upon which the
cardinal and imperial primate handed in the protest of the
40

470

HISTORY OF THE

clergy. He was tauntingly asked why this protest came so
late ; why not when it was still uncertain towards which side
. the emperor should incline. If his decision had been adverse
to the Protestants, would the Romish clergy then have pro
tested against the principle ?
The notary took down the protest, but it was resolved that
it should never be made the ground of future proceedings,
and was declared for ever null and void.
After such a struggle were the resolutions entered among
the laws of the land ; the Protestants rejoiced over what had
been done, for the sharpest weapon had been wrenched out
of the hand of the foe. Instead of having their privileges
dependent on the will of the monarch, they were now pro
tected by the laws of the land.*
The preamble of the seventeen articles set forth, that on
the principles of common justice, for the sake of peace, and
in accordance with the Treaty of Linz, the following articles
shall be for all time coming the fixed law of the land : —
Art. I. Declared that Hungarians of every rank and sta
tion, wherever they resided, should have the free use of
churches, schools, bells, and burying-grounds, and should
under no pretence be molested in the exercise of their re
ligion. Art. II. Gave liberty to build churches and to hold wor
ship where any one thought fit ; only with the condition that
the size and expense of the new church should be in some
proportion to the means of the county, and the number of in
dividuals of that confession residing in the district. The
county courts should decide in such cases. So soon as it is.
shown that a church or school is necessary, the landowner
must give the necessary ground. The Roman Catholics,

* Out of the five hundred and forty-three members of the Diet, four hun
dred and fifty-nine voted for the Protestants, and eighty-four for the priests
In the assembly, were seventy-eight Roman Catholic clergy who had votes.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 471
however, are not bound to contribute to the building of Prot
estant churches, and vice versa.
Art. IIL No one, whether tradesman or not, shall be bound
to observe any religious ceremony, contrary to the dictates
of his consciences
Art. IV. Referred to the synods and judicatures, and de
creed that a synod could be held, or a consistory be appointed,
where the ecclesiastical authorities thought fit ; only, that
notice should previously be given to the king, of every gen
eral assembly of the whole Church, and a royal commissioner
should be present at all these meetings, not as president, but
simply as visitor. The resolutions of this general synod
must first be countersigned by the king, before they are
binding in law.
Art. V. Declared that the Protestants had not only the
right to retain their own schools, but also to found new ones
where they choose ; only, in case of founding new colleges
and high schools, the royal consent must first be obtained.
Subject to royal approbation, they may appoint professors
and teachers, and prescribe courses of study as they choose.
Students shall, not be prevented from studying at foreign
universities, and enjoying the bursaries connected with such
universities. The Protestants have the liberty of printing
their own religious books, only nothing is to be introduced
tending to throw contempt on the Church of Rome.
Art. VI. Declared that the Roman Catholic priests can
have no further claim on the Protestants for dues or fees.
Art. VII. Gave liberty to the clergy of every denomination
to visit the members of their own churches ; to visit the sick
and condemned criminals ; only they should not deliver pub
lic addresses on such occasions.
Art. VIII. His creed shall not exclude any one from civil
offices. Art. IX. The clause " by the Holy Virgin, holy and elect
of God," should be omitted from the official oath of all Prot
estants.

472 HIbTORY OF THE
Art. X. Declared that under no pretence whatever should
funds devoted to the support of Protestant churches, schools,
hospitals, orphans' houses, or colleges, be taken from them
or from their control. All similar foundations which have
been unjustly taken from the Protestants during past reigns
should be immediately restored. The king should, however,
have an opportunity of seeing that these funds are devoted to
purposes according to the wish of the donors.
Art. XI. Each party shall have the right to decide respect
ing marriages and divorces among their own members. The
marriage of first cousins may be permitted among the Prot
estants without special license from the king.
Art. XII. While the Protestants have now for all time
coming freedom of religious exercise, and perfect liberty to
build and to hold, in all places, churches, schools, and
manses ; to prevent disturbance of the peace, actual posses
sion shall for the present be a sufficient title to such buildings
on both sides. Whichever party shall in future attempt to
take possession of a building devoted to religious purposes, at
present in the hands of either party, shall forfeit and pay the
legal fine of six hundred Hungarian florins.*
Art. XIII. As the principles of the Roman Catholic Church
forbid any member of that Church passing over to another
communion, it is decreed that all such cases shall be laid
before the king,' and any Protestant attempting to persuade a
Roman Catholic to forsake his Church and join the Protes
tants shall be subject to a heavy fine.
Art. XIV. These privileges extend only to the Protestants
of Hungary, consequently the Protestants of Dalmatia, Sla-
vonia, and Croatia, shalf have no right to purchase immovable
property, nor to hold any civil office.t If, however, the

* Act XIV. of the year 1647.
f And such is the case to this day. If a Protestant sells his house or land
to a Roman Catholic, he may do so ; but If a Roman Catholic sells his prop
erty to a Protestant, the sale is held to be illegal. The Protestants may,

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 473
Protestants in these countries can prove that they once pos
sessed certain houses and lands, they may apply to the courts
of law to have them restored. The seven villages in the
lower part of Slavonia, occupied partly by Lutherans, partly
by Calvinists, shall have free exercise of their religion ; it
shall also be allowable for strangers who are Protestants to
settle there, and assist in the mills and factories, yet they
may not purchase houses, nor rent any property belonging to
the nobility.
Art. XV. In mixed marriages, if the father is a Roman
Catholic, all the children shall be educated in that faith ; if,
however, the father be a Protestant, he shall only have the
right to educate his sons in his own confession.
Art. XVI. All mixed marriages to be solemnized by the
Roman Catholic clergy.
Art. XVII. To avoid scandal, the Protestant shall be ob
liged outwardly to observe all the Roman Catholic holidays ;
they may do what they choose, if without noise, in their own
houses ; no master, however, dares prevent his Roman
Catholic servants from attending the public ceremonies of
their Church.
Besides the spirit manifested in these articles, the king
showed his sense of justice and regard for the well-being of
his Protestant subjects by cheerfully allowing them to hold
their general synod.
On the 14th of September, 1791, the representatives of the
four hundred and thirty-four Lutheran Churches met in Pesth,
and were presided over by the worthy Baron Ladislaus Pronay.
On the same day the representatives of the Reformed Church
met at Ofen, and chose for their president Count Joseph
Teleky. In consequence of a proposition of the Reformed
Church to that effect, a mixed commission of members of

therefore, retain among themselves such houses ^nd lands as they possess,
but shall not be able to acquire more.
40*

474

HISTORY OF THE

both Churches was nominated, to digest as speedily as possi
ble some plan by which, without interfering with doctrines, a
certain unity of action and harmony should take place in the
form of worship, marriages, schools, church revenues, and
ecclesiastical discipline.
The friendly feeling of the sister churches appeared well
at the beginning, but soon vanished when the commission
handed in its report.
The lay and clerical members had good ground of quarrel
in the question, whether a pastor should have a right to sit
with a layman in the president's chair, and also respecting
the rights of the pastor in church courts. The clergy of both
confessions had ground of quarrel in the dispute about their
confession. The tact of the president, and a letter from that
distinguished hero Prince Josias of Coburg, brought matters
more to some degree of quiet. It was now resolved, that a
general consistory for both Churches should meet twice a
year at Pesth. A sum of thirty-four thousand two hundred
and fifty florins, for the expenses, was in a few minutes sub
scribed by the wealthier members of the synod, and on the
14th of October, the minutes of synod were closed, and sent
by a deputation to be laid before the king for his approbation.
The synod also appointed a deputation to wait on the car
dinal-primate, in the name of the members of their Church,
to take a final leave- of him. The cause was, that this prel
ate had been frequently inviting the more distinguished
members of the synod to dinner ; and they thought in this
way to show him a mark of respect. The primate had, how
ever, been actuated by other motives than those of Hungarian
hospitality, for he had in the mean time prepared the way for
preventing the recognition of the acts of the synod.*
While these acts were still unrecognized, to the great dis
tress of his Protestant subjects, death suddenly called away
* See Fessler, Vol. X. p. 651.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 475
this great and good emperor. He had, two days before his
decease, received a magnificent embassy from the Turkish
emperor, and on the 28th of February, 1792, he was seized
with a violent inflammation, which carried him away. His
motto had been, " A king's treasure lies in the hearts of his
subjects " ; and these words described the spirit by which he
was animated.

476 HISTORY OF THE

FRANCIS I, 1792-1835.

CHAPTER VII.
PART FIRST, FROM 1792 TO 1800.
If we examine the state of the law at this time, in refer
ence to the relation between the Protestant Church, and on
the one side the State, on the other the Roman Catholic
Church, there was much room left for anxiety and fear.
And yet, all that Leopold could, with any just regard to the
political state of the country, give the Protestants, they had
received. They hoped, in the course of time, to receive a
recognition of their former state of perfect equality with the
Roman Catholics ; and they also hoped, by the recognition
and approval of the acts of the synod, to have a new life
imparted to their ecclesiastical movements. This hope was
not extinguished by the death of their beloved king, when
they heard his son, Francis I., at his coronation in Ofen, on
the 6th of June, 1792, declare to the States, which ap
proached him with the fullest confidence, " That this gen
erous nation never would have cause to repent the confidence
placed in him ; never would he be behind in giving evidence
of mutual confidence."
This promise was in a few days glaringly trampled on by
the executive, for the censorship was enforced in such a
manner as made the 15th article of the years 1791-92 a
dead letter ; and the power of the censor was now as rigidly
enforced as under Maria Theresa.
Still worse was, however, yet in store. The viceregal or-

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 477
der of the 25th of September, 1792, was published, and a
whole sea of evils broke over the Protestant Church.
By this edict, which was in direct opposition to the laws of
the last Diet, the priests were justified in morally compelling
the Protestant party in mixed marriages to give up the right
to the education of the children ; and the practice of remov
ing children in such cases from the influence of the parents
was formally and openly approved. It was reckoned a crime
to take a child which ought thus to be educated in connection
with the Church of Rome into a Protestant house of worship,
or to give it Protestant books. The Protestant clergy were
required to turn Roman Catholics out of their churches, and
even the suspicion that Protestants were tampering with the
faith of the Roman Catholic, was to be regarded as evidence
against them.
The cruelties of the French Revolution gave the Roman
party an opportunity of representing their Church as the only
bulwark against anarchy. According to them, the Reforma
tion was the cause of all the evils in France. They accord
ingly spared no pains to bring matters back to the state in
which they were previous to Joseph's days. The king was
often absent, and the palatine seldom attended the sittings of
the viceregal court, and there was then little to prevent them
trying the schemes with the law of 1791-92, which had
been so successful with those of 1608 and 1647.
They took the opportunity of the king's absence to publish
the decree of the 25th of September. But a storm of indig
nation burst from the counties, with a declaration that the
right of making new laws is vested with the Diet and the
king ; and that the country cannot be governed by edicts di
rectly opposed to the laws of the land ; such a decree, they
said, could only emanate from some evil counsellors around
the throne.
With equal firmness did the Protestants of both Churches
hand in a protest through Alexander Pronay and Count Te-

478

HISTORY OF THE

leky, on the 7th of January, 1793, to the. king himself. They
received the most satisfactory assurances from his Majesty,
who informed them that the edict had been published with
out his knowledge, and that he would inquire into the matter.
The report of the viceregal court of Hungary stated, in
reply to the king's inquiries, that these edicts respecting
mixed marriages and proselytism, were necessary as an ex
planation of the 26th article, which was not sufficiently pre
cise on these points.
The Protestants declared that, by the first words of the
26th article, all the laws made against the Protestants, from
the time of the Peace of Vienna, were repealed ; and now
appeared a new edict on the 28th of January, cancelling the
spurious " royal mandate " of the 25th of September, and
directing all the authorities to act according to the plain
meaning -of the 26th article. Many causes prevented the
Protestants from obtaining much benefit from this new de
cree. In a few years the priests had gained a most unbound
ed influence over the civil authorities, and scarce a single
point of all the privileges which Leopold II. had guaranteed
them now remained over.
When the king now resolved on holding a Diet, in 1796,
the Protestants hastened to have their complaints prepared to
lay before the assembly.
On the 1st of February, the Protestant deputies met at
Pesth, those of the Reformed Church at the house of Count
Roday, and the Lutherans with Privy Counsellor Tehanyi.
The complaints were here examined, and on the following
day the two commissions met together at the house of the
obergespan, Count Peter Valagh, where a report and petition
were agreed on to the king. So soon as the report was
ready, it was forwarded to Vienna, with directions to the
agents to defer its presentation till after the acts of the synod
of September and October, 1791, had been confirmed.*
* They expected every day to receive this ratification.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 479
In consequence of this unfortunate resolution, the agents
were hampered in their operations, being obliged to wait for
the confirmation of the acts of the general synod, "while the
priests were going on and becoming bolder in their persecu
tions. It was not till July, 1799, that the complaint and peti
tion, occupying sixty sheets, was handed to the emperor and
circulated among the members of the Diet. A few extracts
will show us the miserable state of the Protestants at that
time, and it was not often that the emperor's motto, " Justi-
tia regnorum fundamentum," was able to protect them.
After making grateful mention of Joseph and Leopold, the
petitioners explain that it was their desire not to add to the
cares which the troublous times had laid on the king's heart,
which made them bear their sorrows so long ; but they en
tertain the hope that so soon as the facts of their case are
laid before his Majesty, he will immediately grant relief.
They complain, —
That the Bishop of Erlau and other priests speak of the
Protestants of both confessions as heretics. In the schools
the children are taught to call the Reformation " the rage of
Lutheran and Calvinistic heresy, and the fanaticism of revo
lution." It is therefore evident that the bishops look on the
Protestants as men whom.they have sworn to annihilate, and
on the profession of the Protestant religion as a crime.
That, in Ofen and Pesth, Protestant tradesmen have been
prevented from establishing themselves in business for five,
or indeed for ten years, under the pretence that the trade is
overstocked, while Roman Catholic workmen have had no
difficulty thrown in their way.
That the Bishop of Erlau had taken three orphan Protes
tant children out of Harsamy, in the county of Borsad, con
trary to the wish of their parents, to make them Catholics.
Two of the children had run away, but the third, being too
weak tctfollow, was brought back, and illegally detained: In
vain do we appeal to the executive for protection. Their

480

HISTORY OF THE

regulations to our disadvantage are carried out to the letter,
even when contrary to law ; but when they even wish to do
us justice, they are prevented by the influence of the priests.
We are therefore in a worse position than the Jews, whose
children are at least not taken from them.*
That the Protestants in Tornau are refused a grave in the
common burying-ground, although Joseph had made the most
definite arrangements on this head, in 1788. The magis
tracy at Raab had refused burial in their graveyard to Prot
estants from Revfalu. The priest of Nyck had refused to
allow the body of the landowner, Ladislaus Pagor, to be
buried in the very ground which he had given for that pur
pose from his estate ; and it was only after four days' strug
gling that the funeral was allowed to take place.
That the pastor of Batisfalva, on going to Teplitz, in the
county of Zips, to bury a woman, took the opportunity of
addressing the women that were assembled, on the merits of
the work of the Lord Jesus as embraced by faith, as the only
ground of salvation, and he was interrupted by a Roman
Catholic priest, who asserted that out of the pale of the Ro
man Catholic Church there was no salvation, and threatening
at the same time that if the pastor came out again to preach
there, he should be arrested. Other pastors were driven away
by the priests after they had begun the funeral service.
That in the valley of Puchow, in Trentshin, many Roman
Catholics had, under the reign of Joseph II., obtained leave
in due course to join the Protestant Church, and had since
then strictly adhered to it. Since 1792, however, they and
their children are exposed to every sort of trial. They had
sent a petition to the king, but as they were not able to pay
the stamp duty on their petition, it was not presented.f
* This passage is said to have provoked the higher clergy, and their crea
tures at court, to great rage.
t The stamp duty was one florin and three-fourths for each petition ; as
this petition was signed, however, by many of the peasantry, the court de
manded this sum for each name attached to it.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 481
While the case of these poor people was still undecided,
they were driven by force to attend mass, and on resisting
were thrown into chains ; so that, when the young monarch
heard the story, he cried, " Will that country not give over
its madness ? Who is here to blame ? The chancellor shall
this very day have orders to have this stopped." *
Widows fled with their daughters to Vienna to escape per
secution. The priests went from house to house, and in
formed where young men were to be found who could serve
in the army. Many promised to join the Church of Rome,
and were then not -bound to serve. Some who were already
enlisted obtained their freedom again through the influence of
the priests, when their affianced bride promised to join the
Church of Rome. -Examples were to be seen in Luca.
In the county Barainy, many of the filial churches were
separated from the principal church ; and, in addition to
other evils, the pastor was then often so far reduced that he
was obliged to support himself by farming.
In Bartfeld and elsewhere the Protestants had been obliged
to buy ground on which to build church and schools, though
the law had strictly ordered that the ground should be given
free. In other places the greatest delay took place in the
preliminary investigation of the claims.
The magistracy of Bartfeld compelled the Protestants to
assist in building a house for the priest, and the landowner,
Gabriel Gapy, whipped his tenantry for refusing to do so.
When a complaint was made, he excused himself by saying
it was reckoned to them instead of work on the roads.
Many examples were given of unjust taxes levied from
Protestants because of their religion ; of mothers compelled
to present themselves before the priest to be churched ; office
bearers were taken to the Roman Catholic church, there to
* Letter of the Protestant agent at Vienna, Stephen Yitkowsky, to Petfer
Valagh, the general inspector, dated Vienna, 27th of January, 1793. — Orig
inal. 41

482 HISTORY OF THE
. be sworn ; miners had money deducted from their wages to
pay for wax candles for Mary and the saints; Protestant
tradesmen were sent out of Raab', and Roman Catholics were
allowed to remain and work. Children playing in the church
yard had broken the nose of an image in the church with a
stone, and for this the Protestants must pay forty florins, for
which the priest gave them a receipt.
The title " Right Reverend," as attached to the names of
the Protestant superintendents, was erased out of the county
books at Saros. In some parishes, licenses were demanded
from the Roman Catholic bishops, to enable the Protestants
to get married, contrary to the clear letter of the law. The
Protestants should have their own censors, but now a royal
censor was placed over them. The Protestants should have
had assistance from the county funds for building and repair
ing their churches, according to law ; but they sometimes ob
tained nothing, at other times very little, while the Roman
Catholic priests often obtained more annually than the amount
of the entire taxes paid by the Roman Catholics of the
parish. m ... Paid for the support
Taxes paid by of Roman Catholic
Roman Catholics. Religion.
In Schemnitz, 8371 Florins. 4823 Florins.
" Bakabanya," 681 " 713 "
" Kasmark, 913 " 2186 "
" Libethanya, 111 " 376 "
In Debrecsin, the Roman Catholics paid taxes amounting
to one thousand four hundred and eighty-six florins, and the
Reformed, fifty-two thousand and twenty-seven florins ; but
the Roman Catholic professors received of this money seven
hundred and sixty-six florins, and the Protestant professors
only nine hundred and six florins.
In Torok, St. Nicolas, the Roman Catholics numbered
three hundred, and the Protestants six hundred inhabitants,
but at the military conscription the Protestants were obliged
to furnish four times as many soldiers as the Roman Cath
olics.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 483
The priests demanded baptismal dues from the parents of
children baptized in the Protestant Church, and for any acts
which they compelled Protestants to receive at their hands
they charged a higher fee than Roman Catholics were obliged
to pay.
In Hunsdorf, a soldier's wife was taken very ill on the
march, and the priest insisted on administering the com
munion. She refused to accept it, and on the following day,
while quite unconscious, the priest forced the wafer into her
mouth. After a few days the patient recovered a little, and
sent for the Protestant pastor, but on hearing the circum
stances, he dared not interfere ; and the poor woman died in
a few days in great distress of mind, and was buried accord
ing to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church.
The aged widow of Stephen Berzewitzi, for nearly a cen
tury a zealous Protestant, asked in vain for a Protestant pas
tor to visit her on her death-bed. Her nephew brought the
priest, and, against her will, the wafer was thrust into her
mouth.* Innumerable cases had occurred in which Protestants were
excluded from office ; if admitted, were obliged to swear by
the Holy Virgin and the Saints ; Protestant funds, as in Ya-
nos, in Gbmor county, taken from them and handed to the
Roman Catholics ; mixed marriages solemnized without con
sulting the Protestant pastor.
In Valencye, when a pastor removed to another county,
the landowner took possession of his manse, and surrendered
the key only when compelled by the highest courts of the
land. * She was then regarded as being made Catholic. The petitioners ex
pressed their fear that it would one day go so far as in the case of Caspar
Dubroway, whose body was, by a sentence of the county court of Trentshin,
taken out of the earth and burned, because the wafer which was put into
the mouth of the dying man to make him a Catholic had fallen out. This
sentence was confirmed by the Superior Court of Hungary, «i the 14th of
September, 1727.

484 HISTORY OF THE
Those who wished to join the Protestant Church were sub
jected to incredible annoyances. The law said that the priesl
should have six weeks to instruct those intending to leave the
Church, and, if he in that time could not persuade them to
change their resolution, they might then be publicly received
into the Protestant Church.
Catharine Fessmaier and Catharine Grinya, however, after
attending the priest twice a day for three weeks, without man
ifesting any inclination to remain in the Church of Rome,
were then dismissed, and, by the assistance of the magistrate,
who gave in a false certificate, they were detained six years
before they could obtain leave to shake off the ceremonies
of a Church which they abhorred.
In the village Papkessi, in Wesprim, Paul Harvath, with
his wife, were accused by the archdeacons of an intention to
leave the Church of Rome. On the 4th of February, 1794,
he appeared before the county court, pleaded guilty to the
charge, and asked leave tip enter on his " six weeks' instruc
tion." The county court decided not to grant his petition,
because the court presumed that it was only laziness and dis
like to the ceremonies which induced him to make the re
quest. His infant children were now taken from him and
taken to the vicar. On the 21st of July he presented his pe
tition to the king, stating that he could not worship God in a
church filled with images, and begged to be allowed the " six
weeks' instruction." The petition came as usual to the vice
regal court of Hungary, and now ah investigation was insti
tuted " whether the expression respecting the worshipping of
images was his own." Harvath declared that he had dictated
the words, and expressed the determination to abide by the
petition. The court ordered that he should be instructed re
specting the honor due to images. Harvath obeyed, and went
to the bishop. The bishop refused to instruct him, and sent
him to the vicar ; the vicar had no time to attend to him, and
sent him to a parish priest, from whom he received a book

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 485
"on the worship of saints," and after reading it, he declared
his opinions not to be altered. The priest told him that this
instruction did not at all warrant him in leaving his Church,
upon which he once more petitioned the king in January,
1795, but nothing further came from it, than an order not to
allow him and other Catholics to leave their Church. In
1797 the matter still stood in the same way.
In the same manner were Stephen Stigeti and his wife
detained upwards of six years, before they obtained what the
law of the land declared to be their right, after they had
given six weeks' notice.
In the county Beregh, the judge, Bomemissa, directed two
men to be soundly flogged, because they persevered in their
determination to leave the Greek Church. The names of
the men so treated, were George Fajoh and Andrew Metzoe.
Martin Holoma had become Protestant, and the priest of
Csekbryswa in Neograd invited the son to 'his house, kept
him several days, and promised him money if he would turn
back. Martin came to bring away his son, but the priest
directed an official to give him twelve strokes with a stick
and send him home. The Protestants begged that this priest
might be punished.
The annoyances which parents had to endure for the sake
of their children, made them glad to emigrate to other dis
tricts to obtain peace.
The daughter of a Protestant widow, named Catharine
Sputs, had in her twentieth year, contrary to the wish of the
mother, publicly declared that she was willing to marry
Joseph Kowacs, a Roman Catholic youth. After some time
she repented what she had done, and, for the sake of break
ing off the connection, removed to relatives residing in another
county. The priest, now, on his own responsibility, had her
brought back by a company of dragoons, and kept her in his
own house till she became a Roman Catholic. When he had
brought matters thus far, he went a step further, and, con-
41*

486

HISTORY OF THE

trary to the girl's own wish, and contrary to the wish of her
mother, he married her to the young man.
The daughter of the superior judge, Thomas Titany,
wished to escape from her father's house, and place herself
under other protection, and she found in the parish priest the
willing accomplice of her flight ; for, representing her as hav
ing become Roman Catholic, he claimed, in the name of the
Church, the right of removing her from her Protestant parents.
The king expressed his extreme dissatisfaction with the pro
ceeding, and the Protestants took the opportunity of request
ing him to issue a resolution by which not only that individual
case should be regulated, but also the whole country might
be protected from similar occurrences.
In the mixed marriages, if the mother was Protestant, she
had no claim on any of the children ; if the father, however,
belonged to the Protestant Church, he might demand the
right of educating his sons in his own faith. The priests
knew, however, that by a little well-timed zeal in these cases,
they had the best chance of advancement, and they therefore
seldom lost an opportunity of at least attempting to persuade
or compel the father in such cases to waive his right. The
means employed to gain their end were never too scrupu
lously chosen. If the bridegroom could not read, he was
generally' directed to sign the paper with "his mark," and
was informed that this paper made up a part of the marriage
ceremony. In the course of time it turned out that the paper
had been a surrender of his paternal right of the education
of his sons in the Protestant faith. One John Puckla was
seized on the street by order of the priest of Hunsdorf, and
led away to prison, for having neglected to observe a contract
thus signed ; and it was only after he was in the prison, that
he learned for the first time that he had signed such a
paper.* * As a specimen of the contents of such papers, we select one case out of
the records of the county of Thurotz. It appears from the legal evidence

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 487
In the case of illegitimate children, the Protestants peti
tioned that they might be left in the care of their mother, and
be educated in her Church, except in cases where at baptism
the father publicly acknowledges the child.
Notwithstanding that the Protestants were bound by law,
only in so far to observe the holidays as not to disturb the
Roman Catholics, or prevent them from enjoying their relig
ious exercises on those days, — that is, though the law was
only negatively binding, — yet they were often compelled by
the priests to take a positive part in the observance of saints'
days. Though the king had, in 1793, given a full and satisfactory
explanation of the meaning of the law respecting holidays,
and had informed all the authorities that the Protestants were
not bound further than merely that they should not disturb
their Roman Catholic neighbors ; yet cases occurred of per
sons being summoned before the magistrates, and fined, for
cutting grass for their cattle on such days.
Some of the bishops, such as he of Erlau, had published
the royal edict, requiring the Protestants to abstain from
noisy and public labors on those days ; but they had for
gotten to publish the other edict declaring in how far the
Protestants were not bound by them.

presented there^ that a butcher, named Diera, had signed a paper previous to
his marriage, declaring, " that though he would not change his own religion,
yet he hereby surrendered all his children to the Church, out of which is no
salvation. And if he should even attempt to instruct any one of his children
in the Lutheran heresy, he hereby binds himself to pay to the parish priest
of St. Mihaly, for each such child, the sum of five hundred florins, or sit a
year in prison, and receive one hundred lashes. Further, for every child
which, on attaining its seventh year, neglected confession to the priest, he
should pay one hundred dollars. For every time that he detained his wife
from attending mass, he should pay twelve florins, or receive twenty-four
lashes, and he hereby surrendered all right of complaint or appeal against
this punishment." It is quite clear that a man in a sober state would scarcely
have signed such a paper, and far less a m'an who declared that he was re
solved not to change his religion.

488

HISTORY OF THE

This memorable petition closed with the request that the
king would not delay the remedy, under the plea of gaining
time to examine the individual cases, but that he would take
the Protestant Church under his protection, and afford her
shelter from the crying injustice of her enemies.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 489

CHAPTER VIII.
A GLANCE AT THE INWARD LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN
HUNGARY, 1792-1800.
Before accompanying the Church further in her contests
with outward foes, let us take a glance at her own inward
state during the first years of the reign of Francis I.
The libertine spirit which had shown itself in France, was
every day spreading among the masses in Hungary also.
Life and property were becoming more and more insecure.
Especially in the county of Heves, matters were so far gone,
that the authorities applied to the clergy, requesting them to
instruct their people in their duty as citizens, and, on
account of the times, to omit all the dry orthodox or the po
lemical doctrines which had hitherto chiefly occupied their
time.* But many of the Protestant clergy were themselves in a
very unsatisfactory state. The religious and civil liberty
which the Protestants had just obtained was not in all cases
wisely employed. There were so many new churches, that
it was impossible to obtain educated men to become pastors,
and many who had scarcely even a good common education,
were appointed to the pastoral office. Among these were
many blinded zealots, and men devoid of true faith, but who
stood so much the higher in their own esteem. These men
soon quarrelled with their congregations, with their school
masters, with the neighboring priests, and with the author-
* County laws of Pyula, 10th of September, 1795.

490 HISTORY OF THE
ities, and from their ignorance generally put themselves in
the wrong.
In the schools, matters were not much better. In the
whole kingdom was not a single institution for training
schoolmasters ; and the consequence was, that it was gen
erally youths of sixteen to eighteen years of age. who were
appointed to this responsible office, and who looked on it
merely as a stepping-stone to something else. Many of
these young men were devoid of fixed religious principle,
and, as might be expected, knew little of the philosophy of
education. Besides, it was only the children of very poor
parents who became schoolmasters ; those who had worldly
means strove to attain to the honor of the pastoral office.
In addition to all these evils, was still one more. Some of
the school-inspectors, or of the elders of the churches who
happened to be men of property, thought themselves freed
from the necessity of consulting the wishes of pastor or
schoolmaster, or church, but took the liberty of carrying out
their own uncontrolled wish. An example of this we find in
Paul Moskavitsh, who, without consulting the superintendent
of the district beyond the Danube, or any of the deputies of
the churches, with the assistance of a few pastors who were
thoroughly devoted to him, held a visitation, and made such
alterations in the churches as he himself thought fit. Such
men sometimes did good, by at once removing crying griev
ances ; but the consequence was a long-continued bitter feel
ing on the part of the properly constituted ecclesiastical
authorities. The government was much to blame, that the
acts of the Synod of 1791 had never been confirmed ; and
as a substitute, it was found necessary in some counties, as
Neograd, to draw up a special code of discipline, as a
provisional basis of church government, till the acts of the
synod should have been ratified. These provisional codes
were, however, not sufficient for all cases, and, still worse
they interfered with that unity of spirit and of action which

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 491
the synod had striven to introduce. Many of the sub-
districts refused to pay their share of the general expenses,
and some of the filial churches separated from the parish
churches. The Reformed Church has something more satisfactory to
record respecting this period.
The college at Papa was founded about this time,' in the
year 1797, and from all sides great sacrifices were made for
the sake of rendering it efficient.
It was also about this time, and chiefly by the efforts of
Count Grady, that the Reformed Church of Pesth was formed,
notwithstanding the difficulties which were encountered in
obtaining ground and the legal concession. The four super
intendents brought considerable sums together, and in the
year 1800 the church was fully organized. Liberal was the
support which was sent to the Gymnasium of Vasarhely at
the request of the professors ; for five hundred young men
had just come from Saros Patar to study, and many of them
were in very needy circumstances ; besides, the buildings
were in much need of repair.
Not less important was the new edition of the Bible which
the chancellor, Count Teleky, had got prepared in Utrecht,
and when it had succeeded in crossing the frontier, was
handed over to the four Reformed superintendents, to be sold
in their diocese at a very low price.*
There were at this time many meetings in larger and
smaller ecclesiastical circles ; but unfortunately, at these
meetings, there was more said about recruits for the army,
and about the payment of the clergy, than about the inward
life of the Church. The king was obliged to join the army
in person to watch over the movements of Napoleon ; and

* The superintendent on the Danube received one thousand nine hundred
and seventy-five copies, whence we may infer that the edition was eight
thousand. At that time a Hungarian Bible cost four florins, though now,
thanks to the Bible Society, it costs only one.

492 HISTORY OF THE
we find in one of these synodical meetings, that a day of
special prayer was appointed for seeking a blessing on the
royal army, and praying for protection for the person of the
sovereign.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 493

CHAPTER IX.
Fruitless Petitions of the Protestants. — John Arban imprisoned. — The Com
mand to keep Roman Catholics out of the Protestant Churches. — Confis
cation of London Bibles, -r- Little Warfare of the Priests. — A Deputation
to Vienna. — The Palatine Joseph's Audience in Vienna. — Metternich and
the Ministry.
With the death of the Primate Cardinal Bathyani, the
hopes of the Protestants became greater ; they lost no time,
on the return of the emperor from the camp, in laying their
case before him. Though the deputy at Vienna had re
newed their petitions in 1803, 1804, and 1806, still pretexts
were found to leave them without relief.
In the year 1802, we find a man named John Arban, im
prisoned, because his mother, having been a member of the
Reformed Church, had joined the Church of Rome, and he
refused to accompany her. When he petitioned the king for
redress, his request was refused, under the pretence that he
had been a Catholic, and had turned without the usual forms.
The case, came back to be tried, and he was condemned
to four weeks' close confinement, "for his olstinacy and in
difference to the claims of the Church." *
In 1804, a new order appeared, requiring the Protestant
pastors on no account to suffer a Roman Catholic to be pre
sent at their services. The cause of this decree was, that
very many conversions were taking place in Zemplin, and as
* While in prison, he was taken under the "six weeks' instruction" by
priest Baloghi, but, as the priest soon died, his certificate was not received.
In 1810 this poor man offered himself again for instruction, that he might
have leave to join the Reformed Church, but then, and in 1811 and 1814. his
petition was rejected under peculiarly aggravated circumstances.
42

494 history of the
the law forbade any one, under heavy penalties, " inducing
or encouraging a Roman Catholic to leave his Church, the
priests thought they could give the law such an interpretation,
and thus change the Protestant clergy into Papal body
guards, to prevent the Roman Catholics from even hearing
the Gospel.
The superintendents of both churches held a meeting in
Pesth respecting this order, and prepared a representation to
the king, stating, that, as Gospel ministers, they were bound
to " preach the Gospel to every creature," and could not
therefore obey this edict. If the Roman Catholics must be
kept away from Protestant churches, the king must contrive
some other plan of doing so, and not lay the obligation on
the pastors to exclude them. It was at the same time re
solved to draw up a list of the grievances since 1793, which
had as yet not been healed, and present them to the king
with the expectation of justice.
In the midst of the tumults of war this representation was
disregarded ; and in 1806, a new edict appeared, directing
that all whom the priests claimed as members of their
Church, and who had been married by Protestant pastors,
should be once more married by the priest.
Some of the counties now took up the cause of the Prot
estants with warmth. On the 16th of December, 180b, the
authorities- of Thurotz sent such a representation on the sub
ject, that they called down on themselves the royal displeas
ure. Other counties brought forward authentic evidence that
the edict was contrary to the Roman Catholic Church. It was.
all in vain. The edict was even after a few years renewed.
The systematic plan for reducing the numbers of the Prot
estants appeared now in shape of paternal care for the edu
cation of the children, which meant that the youth should be
sent to Roman Catholic schools.*
* The Protestants had been working already for two years at a plan foi

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 495
This was the severest cut of all ; for the Protestants had
fancied themselves in this respect so fortified by the clear
letter of the law, that no attack, even of Rome's heaviest ar
tillery, could reach them. The executive power, however,
acted as if the whole matter were settled, and demanded
merely from the Protestants, within twelve months, an ex
pression of their readiness to send their children to the Ro
man Catholic schools. The eight superintendents met and
resolved that a general council or mixed commission should
be held at Pesth, to devise means of escape from the threat
ened evil ; but, before that meeting could be held, a prohibi
tion was issued, and they were forbidden to discuss the mat
ter any further.
The next blow was the confiscation of seven hundred
Bibles of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The pala
tine had written to the magistracy of Presburg, and especially
to the vicegespan or deputy-lieutenant, Mailath, directing
him to. ascertain from the professors in what relation they
stood to the British and Foreign Bible Society, how many
Bibles they had obtained, in whose hands these were at that
time, and how much money they had in their hands for the
Bible cause. The professors were obliged to send all their
letters and books for inspection, hoping that their Bibles
would soon be restored.
While this was going on, the priests were not slow in car
rying forward their guerilla warfare. They continued, under
one pretence or other, to bring the Protestants to the pay
ment of their dues. In Michelsdorf and Mattherz, the oppres
sion of the priests had been very heavy, and the appeals so
fruitless, that the Protestants wrote to the inspector-general, —
" After thirteen years of patient endurance, under incredible
oppression and expense, and after trying many plans to obtain
the improvement of their schools, and this makes the steps of the government
the more extraordinary.

496 HISTORY OF THE
redress, we find ourselves as far as ever from obtaining what
the clear letter of the law guarantees as our right.
These circumstances induced the councillor and district-
inspector, Bersewitzy, to write his book, entitled The Pres
ent State of the Protestants in Hungary.* He had good
reasons for writing. He was not only urged to it by friends,
but he had also learned by experience that there were
Jesuits in long and in short coats, who were trying at court
to misrepresent the Protestants. It was not only said that
all Protestants are ipso facto rebels, but, also, that the Hun
garian Protestants were so in a special manner. It was
added that they had even altered their symbolical books ; and
that was very true, for, if they had retained the expressions,
" the Babylonian Harlot," " Antichrist," and the other names
applied to Rome, they would never have obtained leave to
print their Confession of Faith.
Only one remedy remained open, and even that afforded
little hope. The Protestants were ready, however, to grasp
even at a straw, and accordingly a deputation was sent to
Vienna to the imperial throne.
A resolution had already been passed, in the year 1816,
that two deputies from the sister Churches should remain
constantly at Vienna till such time as they succeeded in ob
taining an audience of the emperor. They should also try to
influence the ministry to prevent such men being appointed
judges in religious matters as were themselves a party con
cerned in the dispute ; but that the spirit of the Treaty of
Linz should in this respect fully be carried out. The great
European transactions of the time, however, prevented any
thing being done in this case till the year 1817.
In April, a deputation, consisting of Privy-Councillor Peter
Balogh, general inspector of the Lutheran Church, and Count

* Nachricten fiber den jetzigen Zustand der Evangelischen in Ungarn.
Leipzig, 1822.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 497
Ladislaus Teleky, of the Reformed Church, proceeded to Vi
enna. They considered it, however, prudent to inform the
palatine of their journey and its objects, and to attempt to
gain his influence on their side. They accordingly waited
on him, and represented how the 26th article of the year
1791-92 was habitually disregarded almost in every point ;
how in many respects the Protestants were worse situated
now than under Maria Theresa ; how children were literally
stolen from their parents by priestly influence, and sent to
distant counties ; and that many parents were reduced to
beggary by the steps which they had been obliged to take to
regain their own offspring. Though individuals had from
their infancy been notoriously members of an evangelical
church, still, if the priest asserted the contrary, this assertion
gave him almost unlimited control over the parties concerned.
The difficulties thrown in the way of those who wished to
join the Protestant Church were so great as to render the
step in most cases impossible. Those who announced their
intention of doing so were frequently subjected to corporal
punishment, lecause, it was said, they obstinately resisted the
will of the supreme rulers* The deputation complained
further, that Protestants were very seldom admitted to civil
offices ; that to accept of Bibles from the British and For
eign Bible Society had been reckoned a crime ; and that to
this day the acts of the Synod were, to the great detriment of
the Protestant Church, not yet confirmed by the emperor.
The deputation stated these and many other grievances
with firmness, but at the same time with becoming respect ;
and the palatine, having heard their story in silence, prom
ised to use his influence in their favor. The deputation took
their leave with the request that the palatine would not suffer

* Not of the Supreme Ruler, for it was taken for granted that no man had
the right of private judgment, but must implicitly cringe to Borne and her
creatures.
42*

498

HISTORY OF THE

out of the one kingdom two to arise, namely, a Protestant
and a Roman Catholic State.
Arrived in Vienna, the deputation had little difficulty in
being introduced to the emperor, who received them with all
possible civility. They congratulated him on his success
and glory in the late wars ; expressed the desire of the Prot
estants that his throne might long be firmly established, and
then proceeded to open their case. They had never, they
said, once imagined that the emperor had any part in the in
justice which they were obliged to suffer, but they would sim
ply request that the jurisdiction in their case should be taken
out of the hands of those who were at the same time accusers
and judges, and that the emperor would be pleased to order
that the spirit'of the Treaty of Linz be in all points carried
out. The emperor replied that he did not hate any one on
account of his religion, if he only adhered firmly to the prin
ciples which he professed ; but he neither could nor would
tolerate sectarians. He esteemed the Protestants of Ger
many, but in Hungary they were driving the Roman Catho
lics out of all the civil offices.*
The deputation brought forward documents showing that
in the Hungarian chamber, among all the office-bearers,
was only one Protestant secretary ; in the viceregal court
were twenty-five councillors, of whom only one was Prot
estant ; of the twenty-two judges of the septemviral table,
only four, and of all the judges of the district table, only
three, were Protestants ; of the fifty-three lieutenants and
deputy-lieutenants of counties, all but five were Roman
Catholics. " We observe," remarked the emperor, " that the Protes
tants prefer always having their affairs settled by the German

* One sees how the priests had misinformed the emperor for the sake of
blackening the Protestants.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 499
ministers, and perhaps they are more impartial. Among the
Hungarians are very worthy men, but they like to make the
throne yield." The deputation took the opportunity of re
questing to have the acts of the Synod confirmed.
In reference to the confiscation of the Bibles, the emperor
remarked that too much reading in these books was danger
ous to the stability of the state. " The Protestants of both
confessions in Germany don't believe anything. Wherefore,
the leading men, as they find no comfort in their own system,
are turning back to the Church of Rome."
The deputation remarked that they had no knowledge of
such a state of things ; besides, infidelity is not a fruit of Prot
estantism, but of the corrupt natural state of man. In France,
and even Italy, were hosts of infidels, and no one ascribed
this to the working of the Church of Rome, but to the natural
heart. The conversation now turned on political and family mat
ters, and the deputation were dismissed with the impression
that the emperor really wished to see justice done.
It was some days before the deputation could be admitted
to see the Chancellor Metternich ; but when the appointed
time came, they saluted him as the prince who had the chief
merits of the glorious Peace. They then pointed out the
bearing of that Peace on the Protestants of Hungary, and
declared that justice never could be done so long as the same
parties were accusers and judges. They laid stress on the
fact that, while the sons of the Protestants were out of all
proportion the majority in the army, and in the labors for the
defence of the country,* yet in the enjoyment of the state
offices,f they were represented only in the ratio of one to
two hundred.

# The lower nobility are chiefly Protestant, and in the time of Napoleon,
they were obliged to take arms.
f None but noblemen were admissible to these^oflices.

500 HISTORY OF THE
The deputation went on to show how the children of mixed
marriages were taken by force from their parents, and re
moved to distant counties ; how the fact of a person's grand
father having been a Roman Catholic, was made a pretext
for summoning him, involving him in heavy expense ; and,
if already married, he was compelled to be married again by
the priest, — which, they said, was contrary to the canons of
the Roman Catholic Church, and in former periods was quite
unknown. Prince Metternich replied that he could assure them, on
his honor, that persecution or intolerance towards those who
dissented from the Church of Rome was neither the wish
of his Majesty nor did it lie in the character of the govern
ment. He acknowledged the advantages of Protestantism,
and especially that it was much more advantageous to the
rulers than Popery, which is still maintaining a State within
a State. He acknowledged, that the Protestants in Hungary
were suffering great injustice ; but it was exceedingly difficult
to find a remedy, for the royal decrees met with so many
obstacles, that they did not always produce the effect which
was intended. He remarked that though this was not his
special department, yet he would not fail to urge on his Maj
esty the necessity of seeing justice done to the Protestants.
The deputation left this powerful minister with high hopes,
and proceeded to wait on the others who had influence over
the affairs of the Protestants. Each one tried to shift the
blame from himself, and made promises for the future ; but
the deputation laid little stress on the smooth words of hope.*
* Eeport of the privy councillor Peter Balogh, MS. ; Gen. Conv. Archives,
Balogh, Fasc. XII. No. 106.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 501

CHAPTER X.

The Inner Life of the Church. — Attempts to Improve the State of the
Schools. — The Famine. — Legacies. — Support of the Preachers. — Eccle
siastical Authority and Order decay. — Attempts to get up a School Fund
and a Periodical. — The Bible Society. — Preparations for the Reformation
Jubilee.

A new and vigorous effort was now made in favor of the
schools. The general inspector, Peter Balogh, issued an
energetic appeal to the four Lutheran superintendents, urg
ing them to greater diligence in enforcing more attention to
the study of the Hungarian language and of theology. And
the appeal was not made in vain.
Hitherto the troubles from without had prevented the Prot
estants carrying out any fixed system of education in all their
schools, but a commission was now given by the four Lu
theran superintendents to the professors Schwardtner and
Shadius, of Pesth, to prepare a plan which might be expected
to meet the approbation of the two sister Churches.
When these men, however, had fulfilled their commission,
there arose peculiar difficulties in the practical working.
Some wished to have a gymnasium in every seniorate ; oth
ers thought it enough to have one in every district.* Some
wished to have universities established ; others only acade
mies for both Churches united ; and these to be erected at
Presburg and Debrecsin. Some wished the members of
the Greek Church to be also admitted. Some wished the
German, and some the Hungarian language to be chiefly
used.

* Including several of the former.

502

HISTORY OF THE

Want of harmony, and a regard for private and local in
terests, prevented the Protestants coming to any very favora
ble results, till an intimation was given that4he government
was about to require them to adopt the system at present in
force in the Roman Catholic schools.
A time of severe trial soon broke loose on Hungary, and
the schools experienced the withering blast. The government
had been so much exhausted by the war, that it was obliged
to become bankrupt ; and the value of the circulating money
was at once diminished by sixty per cent. The panic made
the actual loss still greater. Then came the terrible years
of famine, which are still remembered with horror. The sal
aries of the professors remaining nominally the same, were
actually only two fifths of their former value, and the great
number of poor students who required to be supported by
benevolent contributions, not only suffered the greatest hard
ships, but lay on the professors as a burden too great to be
borne. But as the dark night brings out the stars, and as troublous
times make us acquainted with new friends, so did these
weeks and months of trial bring out an amount of generosity
and a depth of interest before unknown. Rich legacies
came pouring in. One from Baron Calisius amounted to
forty thousand florins, which was designed "for the academy
at Presburg. The general inspector, also, in addition to his
own liberal donations, wrote to many of the wealthy families
in the land, to the superintendents and seniors, appealing for
assistance ; and the result was, that many thousands of florins
were subscribed, and provisions were sent to the schools for
the support of the young men.
Many others followed the noble example of the inspector.
Some paid off old debts which lay heavy on the schools ;
others provided bursaries ; others sent money or food ; till it
was soon found that what the bankruptcy of the state had

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 503
cost them was nearly all made up again by the private con
tributions of their own members.*
The country pastors were in a much better state than the
professors and pastors in towns. In the country it was cus
tomary to pay the pastor in fruits and produce of the farm.
As the quantity was fixed, and the price so enormously high,
many country pastors turned it to good account for the ben
efit of their families.
If was, however, subject of deep regret that the Church
was still sinking in its value as a Church of Christ. Many
congregations neglected to follow the acts of the Synod,
which would have given unity and life to their operations ;
forgetting that the circumstance of the emperor not having
confirmed these acts, did not make them lose their innate
worth or their ecclesiastical authority, whatever influence
this omission might have on those out of the pale of the
Church. It was forgotten that the acts were ecclesiastically
binding, though not in the eye of the civil power.
Strange suicidal acts of insubordination occurred. A lay
sub-inspector, John Fejas, held a visitation of the district
without consulting the senior or any of the clergy, made ar
rangements to please himself, and even accused one of the
pastors before the Roman Catholic bishop. The whole district
was excited, and the war between the clergy and the wealthy
laity waxed very fierce.
In the year 1807, a nobleman in Szanto horsewhipped the
pastor in the open streets, in broad daylight. A few years
later, another pastor, John Suska, of Udvamor, was treated
in a similar way, because he had brought to light a system ol
dishonesty by which the nobleman had been appropriating to
himself some of the income of the Protestant Church.

* In the famine of 1806, there were one hundred and three students sup
ported at Presburg. The income for the year was two thousand one hundred
and ninety florins, and the expense five thousand three hundred and forty-
five. The deficit was afterwards paid by the voluntary contributions of
friends.

504 HISTORY OF THE
In the Lutheran Church some of the pastors were forcibly
expelled without any reason assigned ; and in the Reformed ¦
Church such matters occurred, though less frequently, for the
congregation had the right of dismissing the pastor on every
new year's day if he did not comply with their wishes.
Many a worthy man was thus hampered in his work, or
made to cringe before his wealthy parishioners.
If each nobleman and wealthy or influential person did as
he chose in the different parishes, it naturally follows that the
decrees of the constituted authorities met with little respect ;
and it was in vain to attempt to introduce unity of action. A
general meeting was held at Pesth, in 1811, to consult about
a new school fund ; but the diocese beyond the Danube not
only did not appear, but even sent in to the government its own
views on the subject, as if it were a separate independent bodv.
In the public discussions there was no mutual confidence,
no deference to the wishes of others, and therefore no good
results came out of them.
Why should we record the plans proposed for establishing
a theological institution at Vienna, or a printing-press, or a
periodical for the interests of the whole Church ? These
schemes all perished for want of union.
Many congregations refused to pay the sums for which
they were morally bound. They ceased to send in their
contributions for the support of the publicly recognized agents
of the Church.
In the midst of all these confusions and heart-burnings, a
happy period was approaching, which, if properly improved,
should heal all dissension, and renew the vigor of the whole
Church. The jubilee of the Reformation was approaching.
What a summons to- self-examination lay in that word ! — to
call up the memories of the Lord's goodness in the past ; to
unite the scattered and disjointed members of the Church ; in
one word, to renew the spiritual union of the members with
one another, and with the Great Head, Jesus Christ.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 505
As a preparation for the jubilee, the British and Foreign
Bible Society sent a new grant of five hundred Hungarian
Bibles, and, besides, a very considerable sum of money for
printing a new edition of a Slavonian New Testament.
Both of the sister Churches were called on to make exer
tions to celebrate the jubilee in a worthy manner. It was the
proper time for gathering the papers which threw light on
the state of the Church in times past, and for setting up a
monument to say, "" Hitherto hath the Lord helped us."

43

506 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XL

FROM THE REFORMATION JUBILEE TO THE DEATH OF
FRANCIS I.
The Jubilee celebrated only by the Lutherans. — Fruits. — Students for
bidden to study abroad. — Register of Mixed Marriages. — Children
separated from their Parents. — 'Deputation to Vienna. — Persecution of
the Protestants in Puchow. — The King in Hungary. — Eeport of Ladis
laus Teleky.
The festival of the Reformation Jubilee was observed with
great solemnity by the Lutheran Church. The Reformed
Church, with a few exceptions, took no part in the celebra
tion. It was ordered by the consistory that all outward man
ifestations of joy, such as feasting, dancing, firing of cannons,
should be avoided, and that the ceremony should consist in a
public service held in all the churches on the 2d of Novem
ber. A few of the free cities neglected these orders, and, to the
great grief of the common people, introduced the national
guards, who, with drums and trumpets, commemorated the
day in their own peculiar manner. It was a mere imitation
of Popish festivals ; but, with these few exceptions, all went
on quietly and in order. Many Roman Catholics were drawn
by curiosity into the churches, and went away with a favora
ble impression. Still more manifest were the fruits of this
festival on the Protestants in their more diligent attendance
on the means of grace and increased liberality towards the
support of the schools and churches. Large contributions
flowed in, and especially for the schools in Eperjes, Schem-

> PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 507
nitz, and Modern, liberal premiums were granted, and prizes
offered for competition.*
The students of theology were from this time subjected to
a strict examination ; and to prepare them for it every exer
tion was made that they might avail themselves of the bursa
ries established for Hungarian students at Wittenburg and
Leipzig, and afterwards transferred to Halle.t The bursa
ries in the native institutions were put on a better footing, and
made to yield much more revenue.
It was the general inspector, Peter Balogh, who was the
soul of all these undertakings ; and it pleased the Lord to
call him away by death in the year 1818, and Alexander
Pronay was now elected to fill his place. The expectations
which had been entertained of the new inspector were not
disappointed, and under his direction the religious education
of the students at the universities and gymnasia was made a
prominent part of the duty of the Church. In Pesth a Hun
garian pastor was appointed to superintend this work alone.
The Protestant prisoners now obtained leave to be visited
by their own pastors, and some filial churches obtained an
independent position,- being permitted- to call a pastor and a
schoolmaster.! Since the tricentenary anniversary of the Reformation, the
priests had again been busy at court, and a command came
to the district beyond the Danube, in November, 1818, re
quiring them to furnish a return of the number of Bibles they
had received from London, and the prices at which they had
been sold.
* A prize of one hundred florins was given for the best biography of
Matthew Bell ; another for an essay on Pulpit Eloquence ; and two thousand
florins were invested by Samuel Liedemann, for the purpose of premiums for
the best specimens of writing.
t The sums sunk for this purpose at Halle are said at present to amount
to thirteen thousand one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and the interest,
four hundred and forty-eight dollars yearly, can be divided. There is also a
Hungarian library.
X Tyrnau obtained this right in 1818.

508 HISTORY OF THE
Under the pretence of the great insubordination prevalent
at Gottingen and Jena, the students were forbidden to pro
ceed to these universities ; and, shortly after, all the German
universities were forbidden.*
The professors in the native universities were required
twice a year to furnish very accurate information of every
thing connected, with the students and the study.
New difficulties were thrown in the way of those who
wished to join the Protestant Church, and the judges acted
in such cases as if no law existed on the subject.
A very strict registry was required of all mixed marriages ;
illegitimate children were all declared to belong to the Church
of Rome ; and where any danger was feared from the in
fluence of a Protestant parent or relative, the children were
removed from parental control, and put into safe hands. If
the Protestant parents, or one of them, joined the Church of
Rome, the children were compelled to follow.
Simply at the request of the bishop, the police authorities
of Kesmark brought the student Andrew Szokol away from
his friends, and placed him in the Roman Catholic college at
Leutshaw. Little inquiry was made when a bishop claimed
any one as belonging to the Church of Rome, for the author
ities supposed that the Church — that is, the bishop — must
be infallible.
The priest of Lubla refused to allow a pastor to attend at
the funeral of the wife of George Munster, and declared that
the burial of a Protestant was a desecration of holy ground.
Count Esterhazy wrote on one occasion, that inasmuch as
the religion of the Protestants is accursed of God, the least
possible favor should be shown to it, and that he did not think
that the Edict of Toleration should extend to the deceased.
Under these circumstances, a new deputation proceeded to
Vienna ; but they found the air about the court so oppressive,
that they came away sadly dispirited.
* Intimatum, November, 1818, and 4th of May, 1819.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 509
One of the deputation wrote home : " Those who receive
us with the greatest kindness are Metternich, Boldacia, and
Esterhazy. It is well that this last, in virtue of his office,
has some influence, for many here would wish once more to
introduce the Spanish Inquisition." The emperor received
the deputation very kindly on the 23d of September, but in
formed them that just because he loved his subjects he could
not allow them to study at foreign universities. Besides, the
Protestants in the German provinces of the empire gave him
far more pleasure than the Hungarians, who were constantly
teasing him.
No wonder, said the deputation, that you. are always called
on to interfere ; but the endless attacks of our adversaries are
the reason of this, and we are not to blame when we apply
to our king for protection. The establishment of a theologi
cal institution, said the emperor, must wait till Germany re
turn to proper order ; and, instead of sanctioning the decrees
of the Protestant synod, he thought it better of himself to
draw up a constitution for the Protestant Church.
The complaints of the Protestants he thought must surely
be over-colored, and besides, if they had the power, they
would themselves be intolerant.
The deputation was not very successful, for the oppression
went on and increased in such a way as to set aside the very
laws of nature.
In the valley of Puchow incredible suffering had to be en
dured ; but, for the sake of explaining the circumstances, we
must take a retrospective view.
At the time of Francis Rakotzy, who was the proprietor
sof this valley, the"inhabitants were favorably disposed towards
the Protestant Church ; when, however, Count Forgacs bought
the property, the tenants were obliged to join the Church of
Rome. At heart they still continued to be Protestants, and
carefully inculcated their views on their children, so that,
when the Edict of Toleration appeared, many of them mi-
43*

510 HISTORY OF THE
grated to Moravia and Austria, where they enjoyed their priv
ileges in peace. After some time those who remained behind
wished also publicly to profess their faith, but the consequence
was that many of them were thrown into prison. They ap
pealed to Joseph, on the 15th of July, 1785, for protection,
and he not only granted them leave to take the necessary
steps for joining the Protestant Church, but he also sent them
a priest expressly on purpose. This priest tried his powers
in vain to detain them in the Church of Rome, and when he
found that he was unsuccessful, he left them with the remark
that, as they were so hardened, they might believe what they
chose. This poor people lived there till 1792, in the quiet enjoy
ment of their privileges as Protestants, so that the priests
could not deny that their children had been all baptized, their
marriages solemnized, and their dead buried, by Protestant
pastors. With that fatal decree of the viceregal court in
1792 began their miseries.
A petition was sent to Vienna, and obtained immediate
attention, but the stamp-duties for having the royal decision
registered and brought into force were so heavy that the peo
ple were not able to pay. They remained, therefore, in this
state of uncertainty till 1816, when an order from the vice
regal court, dated 2d of January, No. 475, sent a deputation
down to Loaz to investigate matters. The deputation came
on the 13th of April, in the middle of the spring labor, and
summoned the inhabitants of the whole valley of Puchow to
meet at Loaz, where they were detained two days.
On the 15th of April a Roman Catholic member of the
deputation announced the result of "the investigation: "The
children of all mixed marriages should be handed over with
out delay to the priest for instruction in the Roman Catholic
religion, and the children which had in 1811 been put under
the care of the priest, but who had run away, must be found
out and brought back for instruction."

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 511
Fifty couples who had, it seemed, been married by Protes
tant pastors, though one of the parties was claimed as a mem
ber of the Church of Rome, were immediately separated
from the rest, declared to be illegally married, ordered to
proceed to the Roman Catholic church for confession, and on
that same afternoon they were to be married. Some expressed
unwillingness to submit, and were thrown into chains. The
rest were driven by force to the church, and remarried. On
the 16th the deputation departed, without, however, having ob
tained a single child ; and, on leaving, they handed the Protes
tant pastor a list of three hundred and seyenty inhabitants of
the valley whom he should not suffer to enter his church.
•On the 18th of May, the county bailiff,* accompanied by
the priest, proceeded to make the seizure of the children.
After long searching, they found four ; but the others, like
chickens before a hawk, had hidden themselves in the fast
nesses of the wood.
On the 20th, this officer returned, contrary to law, in the
night, with the Popish schoolmaster and some soldiers, and
searched the dwelling with the utmost exactness. One man
was imprisoned for not surrendering his relatives ; two women
died of premature confinement arising from the shock ; and
two children, having lost their way in the wood, died of hun
ger. This was the fruit of this Roman Catholic mission.
An appeal to the palatine Joseph brought them some relief ;
as the report which appeared in consequence of this investi
gation recommended milder measures, because, it was said,
even Maria Theresa had ordered that no corporal punishment
should be inflicted on account of their religion.
It was said, however, that these men were not punished for
being Protestants, but for their disobedience in refusing to be
come Roman Catholics, and this brought the matter once

* An officer of the lowest order, generally poor and uneducated, whose
business it was to execute the decrees of the county court.

512

HISTORY OF THE

more before the county court. When the whole story was
told, one of the judges, the Roman Catholic Count Pallfy, ex
claimed, " If any one would attempt to take my children from
me, I would shoot him dead." And now the affair took
another turn, so that in 1824 it was officially announced that
the affair of Puchow might be regarded as settled.
When the king came to Hungary, in 1822, a Protestant
deputation waited on him, and was kindly received. " I am
a great friend of law and order," said the emperor, " but I
must tell you plainly what your enemies say of you Protes
tants. Your are charged with overbearing and tyrannical
conduct in counties where you have the majority, and with
secret plots when you find yourselves in the minority." The
deputation replied that, in the face of such wealth as the an
tagonist party possessed, all their secret plans at elections
would be of no avail ; and if election riots occurred, and the
people became excited, the Protestants had not the blame, for
they were very far from approving of such conduct.
The deputation complained of want of a fair representation
in the public offices. In the chancellor's office there was
only one Protestant secretary ; in the viceregal court only
one Protestant member ; in the chamber, neither the one nor
the other.
The king presumed that this must arise either from the
Protestants not becoming candidates for the office, or not pos
sessing the requisite qualifications.*
The deputation told some of the tales of suffering endured
by the Protestants, under priests who wished to force them to
turn, and the king listened with deep emotion, exclaiming
that he was desperately opposed to all such proceedings, " for
all proselytism is despicable." -He wished that every one
* All elections should take place without prejudice to the Eoman Catholic
religion ; accordingly, in the list sent to the king for his confirmation there
generally stood one or more able Eoman Catholics, and only the most inca
pable Protestants found a place there.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 513
should abide by his own Church, but he very much disap
proved of the prevailing indifference to religion to be found
in Germany.
The deputation complained further that their enemies were
both interested parties and judges in religious matters ; and
¦ the emperor, acknowledging this to be the case, expressed
surprise that such a state of things did not occur in Austria,
but only in Hungary, where one might have expected them
to be perfectly safe under the protection of their constitution.
The unbounded power and wealth of the bishops, said the
deputation, makes the constitution of no avail.
After a lengthened audience, the deputation was dismissed,
with the assurance that on his return to Vienna the emperor
would attend to all their grievances, and have them redressed.
The deputation came away with high hopes that their work
was not in vain.

514 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XII.
The Theological Institution at Vienna. — Prohibition of Bible Importation. —
The Eoman Catholic National Synod. — Hohenegger's Signs of the Times.
— Diet of 1825 -27.
In vain do we search for any of the good fruits which
Count Ladislaus Teleky anticipated from his interview with
the emperor.
The one real benefit conferred on the Church at this time
was the opening of the Theological Institution at Vienna, in
1821. The director and professors were paid and appointed
by the emperor through the Vienna consistory. It was soon
endowed with thirty scholarships of fifty, eighty, and one
hundred florins, and was intended to be the place for educat
ing all the Protestant clergy of the empire.
Many of the Transylvanian students still succeeded in ob
taining passports to foreign universities, and many of the
students of the Reformed Church in Hungary, who did not
understand the German language, still continued to content
themselves with the opportunities furnished at home ; yet in
the course of time the scholarships proved powerful attrac
tions, and in the year 1829, between fifty and sixty candi
dates offered themselves for these emoluments. The students
were directed to take a triennial course, and Professor Wehn-
rich succeeded in bringing the institution to some consider
able repute.
About this time the Protestant superintendent and senior
were relieved from the expense of postages ; but it was also
ordered that no Roman Catholic child should be taken into a
Protestant school, and that no Bibles, especially no Slavonian
Bibles, should be imported from the Berlin Bible Society.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 515
Several petty annoyances were inflicted on the Protestants,
but the spirit manifested at the Roman Catholic Synod, and
the offensive language there used, tended to widen the
breach. The Protestant censors were once more paralyzed
in their efforts by the superior influence of the imperial cen
sors, and the students were sometimes compelled to attend
extra sessions at college.
New attacks were made on the Protestants. The priest
of Kroisbach, near (Edenberg, published a book, entitled The
Signs of the Times, in which, by extracts from German ra
tionalists, he attempted to show that the Protestant -Church
had long' since forsaken her confession, and become revolu
tionary ; that the Protestants, therefore, had forfeited all
claims on royal favor or legal toleration. The cause of writ
ing the book was spleen. The author, Hohenegger, had ap
plied for a situation as priest in GSdenberg, and, blaming the
Protestants for not supporting him with sufficient warmth, he
took this way of being avenged. The Protestants did not
take the trouble of replying.
A Diet was summoned to Presburg in 1825, and here the
Protestants did their utmost to obtain relief, but the majority
was too heavy against them.
The sympathy, however, which in the lower house had
been manifested towards the Protestants, induced the govern
ment to be more gentle and more just in their dealings.
This was especially the case when Adam Pewitzky became
chancellor for Hungary. This man had in an incredibly
short time raised himself from an inferior post, and had
gained the complete confidence of his sovereign, so that he
now obtained »ne of the highest offices in the land.
There was now little difficulty in obtaining leave to join
the Roman Catholic Church, especially if the individual
wishing to change his religion was a nobleman or wealthy.
The chancellor applied in 1829 to many of the most dis
tinguished Protestants of Hungary, to know whether the acts

516 HISTORY OF THE
of the Synod of 1792 were not now, by the length of time
which had intervened, become unsuitable. A ^singular una
nimity manifested itself in the replies. The chancellor
seemed to think of an ecclesiastical constitution being better
manufactured at Vienna, but the Protestants urged that the
men who had authority in the Church had the sole right of
deciding this matter.
Count Ladislaus Teleky demanded that the laws should be
literally enforced, and that, in difficult cases, his Majesty,-
assisted by men of honor, should decide ; but that in no case
should the Popish priests have any right to interfere in the
religious concerns of the Protestants.
He demanded that in no case should unnecessary difficul
ties be laid in the way of those who wished to change their
faith ; that the children should not be taken from their par
ents ; and that the holy bond of matrimony should not be
set at defiance by the priests demanding that parties should
be married a second time.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 517

CHAPTER XIII.
The General Archives. — Catechisms and School-Books. — Military Chap
lains' Clerical Dress. — The Summer Schools. — The Unauthorized Teach
ers. — The Diet of 1830. — Pastoral Letters of the Bishops. — Count But
ler's Conversion. — Country Churches, their Attachment to the King. —
Death of the Emperor. — Universal Mourning.
While we must express our astonishment at the clear
views and evangelical principles maintained by the Hunga
rian magnates, in supporting the outposts of Protestantism,
we must not refuse to many of them the honor of equal en
ergy in advancing the inward life of the Church.
A great effort was made to collect all possible information,
and to complete the archives of the Church. In consequence
of a public appeal, very many valuable papers were sent to
the general convent ; and some, like the senior of (Eden
berg, Gottlieb Gamauf, devoted much time to the classifying
of the papers.
It was ordered that no catechism should be printed or used
in the parishes without the supervision of the censors ap
pointed by the Church. A new church was opened at Neu-
dorf for the scattered Protestants of the military frontier, and
efforts were made to have chaplains appointed for the Prot
estant soldiers serving in Austria.
After the memorable Diet of 1825-27, by which the
meeting of a general ecclesiastical assembly was postponed
till March, 1828, steps were taken to communicate with all
the Protestant churches, furnishing them with a copy of the
school plan originally prepared by Schwerdtner and Shiidius,
according to the acts of the Synod, and revised by other dis
tinguished men. They were expected, according to the
44

518 HISTORY OF THE
Presbyterian system, to return a statement of their views, so
that a system might be introduced, founded on the wishes of
the entire Church.
The religious agents at Vienna were directed to forward an
annual statement of all that was occurring in ecclesiastical
matters at the court.
The importance of this arrangement may be estimated
from the fact, that among three millions of Protestants in
Plungary, there was not a single periodical giving ecclesiasti
cal information, and advancing the interests of the Church ;
not a single organ by means of which intelligence could be
conveyed to the different parishes. The Reformed Church
was even worse than the Lutheran, for the four superinten-
dencies had no common centre, but stood independent of each
other. Efforts were made at this time to advance the salaries of
the pastors ; for, since the depreciation of the currency by
the national bankruptcy, though they received nominally the
same amount, still it was not much above one third of the
former value. It was, however, a delicate matter ; bitter
ness and jealousies were the result of the efforts, and the
hearts of the people were estranged from their pastors.
A proposal was made that the clergy should have uniform
ity of dress ; but it was opposed by many of the clergy as a
Popish notion. Gottlieb August Wimmer took the lead in
this opposition, declaring that uniformity of dress, or a so-
called priest's coat, was a poor security for morality.
In Oberschiitzen, Wimmer had been successful in laying
the foundation of a normal seminary for the training of
schoolmasters, and an educational institution, which at pres
ent continues to prosper far beyond the most sanguine ex
pectations. The great evil, however, in the schools was, and contin
ues to be, that in the summer, in the whole length and
breadth of the land, the schools were as good as closed, and

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 519
the teachers did not exert themselves much to increase the
attendance. What is, however, to be expected, so long as a
single teacher, badly paid, is expected to instruct from a
hundred and fifty to two hundred children ? The govern
ment might introduce a compulsory attendance, but so long
as the free movements of a Presbyterian Church are sup
pressed or regarded as dangerous, little real advancement is
to be expected.
At the Diet of 1830-31, the religious grievances did not
form a part of the royal message, but in the course of debate
they were brought so prominently forward, that a petition was
drawn up by the States, and forwarded to the king, request
ing him to interfere and regulate the quarrels respecting
mixed marriages and proselytism ; especially to require the
priests to give a certificate to those who had received the
necessary instruction.
This petition was of little avail, and as the cholera soon
after, in 1833, raged fiercely, and at the same time several
riots took place, the bishops took the opportunity of issuing
pastoral letters, in which they attack the Protestants, calling
them " heretics," and urging to watchfulness against their
acts and doctrines. " Liberty of private judgment, and free
dom of utterance," said one of the bishops, " cause the over
throw of kingdoms."
Many of the magnates were weary of Rome's chain ; but
they were prevented by their official position from leaving
the Church of their fathers. We find one, however, Count
John Buttler, stepping out and joining the Protestants. It was
indeed becoming much easier to leave the Church than for
merly. Some had finished their " six weeks' instruction "
within a year, while it had formerly taken ten to fifteen years
to bring them so far.
Another relief to the Protestants consisted in obtaining, in
many towns, for church and school purposes, a sum out of
the general fund in proportion to the contributions of the Prot
estants towards the taxes. -

520 HISTORY" OF THE
The excitement of these times affected the higher classes
more than the great mass, and the general system more than
the individual parish. In some districts, which were occupied
almost exclusively by members of the Reformed Church,
much peace and quiet were enjoyed. The people were sin
cerely attached to their king, and when they heard of his
dangerous illness, public worship was held, and the great
mass of the people crowded- to the churches to join in prayer
for his preservation. On the 4th of March, 1835, the king
died, leaving his vast kingdom to his son, and bequeathing, in
the sixteenth paragraph of his testament, " his love to his
dear subjects."
The whole land joined heartily in the mournful ceremonies
which followed. Many sermons on his death were published,
and the feeling was universal, that whatever injuries the
Protestant Church had received, the king had not been in
volved in the guilt. Surrounded by courtiers under the
influence of Rome, he was as little able as was the palatine to
carry out his noble resolutions. He had acquired the habit
of replying to all petitions from Hungary, that he could not
help them, or that he had nothing to do with Plungary.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 521

CHAPTER XIV.

FERDINAND V. — FROM 1835 - 1848.

The Old Ministry. — The Diet of 1836. — The Eoman Catholic Deputies. —
Pastoral Letter respecting Mixed Marriages. — Payment of " Priests'
Dues." — Boyal Present to the Pastors of the Valley of Puchow. — Diet of
1840.

With the death of the old king the Protestants had ex
pected a change of ministry, but as Metternich remained at
the head of the government, all went on as if Francis I. were
still alive.
The Protestants strove then quietly to gain influence in their
favor by moving the influential members of the government.
Between the years 1832 and 1836, many Roman Catholic
members of the Diet "took a most decided stand in favor of the
Protestants ; and when the hierarchy were opposing every
just appeal, one of them, Eugene Broethy, exclaimed, " I
will blow the trumpets, and not cease till the walls of Jericho
fall flat " ; and when the bishops prevented the good effects
of his efforts being felt, he comforted the Protestants with the
expression, " The child is not dead, but sleepeth." The Prot
estants required to watch closely over their privileges, for
the Bishop of Rounan positively forbade the solemnization
of mixed marriages, remarking that the Protestant party
mio-ht join the Church of Rome, and there would then be no
further difficulty in the way. The Bishop of Grosswardein
did not, it is true, go so far, but he required a contract to be
signed that all the children should be educated in the Church
of Rome.
More than one book made its appearance in 1839, attempt-
44*

522 • HISTORY OF THE
ing to hold up the Protestant religion to scorn ; and in Pres
burg, orders were given to the printers not to print the Prot
estant catechisms, and other confessional books, without spe
cial leave from the imperial censor, — although they had
their .own censor appointed according to law.
In 1838 the superintendent beyond the Danube complained
that an order had been sent him from the viceregal court,
forbidding the clergy under his care to instruct any children
whom they knew, or ought to know, belonged to the Church
of Rome. New complaints were also brought of the exaction
of priests' fees from Protestants, and of " duty days " being
also demanded.
The agents at Vienna reported that the pastors and pre
centors of Laar, Puchow, and Azov, had received from the
royal bounty a grant of one hundred florins each, annually,
for three years ; only that this should form no precedent for
time coming. It was, however, at the same time reported that
the Bible affair was still unsettled, and that the pastor, Samuel
Klein, had still to wait for permission to print his book on the
rights and privileges of the Protestants.
From the report of the agent at Vienna for the year ending
the 30th of June, 1839, waextract the following statements : —
Of one hundred and three persons who had expressed
a desire to become Protestants, only twenty had obtained
permission ; twelve had still hopes of a favorable answer ;
seventeen were referred to a mixed commission to have
their case examined ; twenty-eight were declared to be too
young ; fourteen were ordered to receive six weeks' in
struction in the principles of the Church of Rome ; about
eight had the decision made to depend on the circumstance,
whether, by mixed marriage on the part of their grandfather
or great-grandfather, or from any other cause, the Church
of Rome could have any claim on them ; one was involved
in a lawsuit because she wished to bring her two daughters
with her ; and three were persuaded to turn back to Rome.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 523
The general convent sat in sorrow in 1839, for the report
of the agent at Vienna was unfavorable, the prospects were
dark, and the general inspector, Alexander Pronay, was re
moved by death. The state of the Church was earnestly
considered, and the two sister Churches approached nearer
to each other.
A complaint was forwarded to the king, stating that the
bishops were notoriously transgressing the laws of the land,
and appeared to wish the old times back. The complaint
was not without effect ; for the bishops received a reproof,
and were informed that the king expected them to keep
within the bounds of the law.
This royal resolution, together with the reproof given to
the authorities at Presburg, respecting the censorship, and
also to the authors of offensive pamphlets, were cheering to
the Protestants, as they looked forward with hope to the Diet
of 1840-41.
At the Diet, the lower house was already won to their side,
but in the upper house the Protestants were busily occupied
attempting to open the eyes of the magnates and nobles to
the justice of their claim. From the bishops little was ex
pected ; but the magnates, as Hungarians, were expected to
lend their influence to support the laws of the land.
The interference with Protestant parties wishing to marry
Roman Catholics was declared even in the upper house to
be illegal, but the bishops resisted the passing of a law which
should be retrospective.
In the lower house the debate was conducted with spirit,
and the most talented speakers all declared themselves in
favor of abolishing the " reverses," or contracts by which
children of mixed marriages were bound to the Church of
Rome. The abolition was intended to be retrospective ; but
the two houses did not agree, and at last a petition was pre
sented to the king, requesting him to settle the whole matter
by a royal resolution at his earliest convenience.

524 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XV.
REFORMS "WITHIN THE CHURCH.
Plan for Church and School Eeform. — Protestant Soldiers in Italy. — The
General Archives. — Theresa Szirmay's Foundations. — Founding of the
Hungarian Church at Pesth. — Peace in the Church. — Attempts at Union.
Before we proceed to the next Diet, which ought to be
held after three years, we may glance at the interior arrange
ments of the churches.
The diocese beyond the Danube, consisting of a hundred
and forty-nine parishes, had already drawn up a plan for
their churches and schools, and had even made an attempt
to have it introduced. The General Synod of the Lutheran
Church declared their determination not to delay any longer
in having a uniform plan adopted. The plan of the diocese
beyond the Danube was submitted to them, and also to the
Reformed churches.
Care was taken of the Protestant soldiers in Italy, in so far
that the church of Pesth purchased Psalm-books in all three
languages, and sent them to Italy.
In 1838, Alexander Pronay had enriched the General Ar
chives with the original copy of the minutes of the Rosenberg
Synod. Another valuable document was obtained, by the
intercession of the palatine, out of the National Museum,
namely, Luther's will, which Samuel Nicolas Junkovito, the
antiquarian, had purchased in Germany, and left as a legacy
to the Protestant Church of Hungary.
The valuable historical manuscripts of Schuleck, pastor of
Szobatish, were purchased from his widow. And Theresa

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 525
Szirmay made a grant of three thousand florins for the dio
cese beyond the Danube ; or, if the money was not required
for that purpose, to be given to divinity students who were
sons of clergymen.
In the year 1839, the Hungarian Lutheran Church at Pesth
was founded ; and to this object .the superintendency beyond
the Danube contributed very liberally. By this generosity
they in part wiped away the stain which rested on them, for
during some years past they had not been very willing to
bear their part in the public burdens.
About this time many bickerings and heartburnings, arising
from national differences, were healed, and a spirit of peace
and reconciliation seemed to hover over the Church.
With the election of Count Charles Zay as general inspec
tor, a time of great commotion came for the Church, and it
is still uncertain whether these movements may be looked on
as belonging to the good or evil signs of the times.
The two great ideas which Count Charles Zay zealously
maintained, were those of nationality and of union. The
German, Slavonian, and Hungarian elements he wished to unite,
and to bring the two sister Churches to combine together.
It Was in Plungary, where a deep-rooted jealousy and
hatred had at all times existed between the Slaven and the
Magyars, no easy task to develop his idea, and his impetuous
zeal in the cause raised him many and bitter foes, who mis
represented his motives. The Slaven in Hungary would
rather unite with their own race in other countries than with
the Magyars and Germans in their native land.
Jealousy once awakened is cruel as the grave. New ar
rangements had been made, encouraging the study of the
Mao-yar language, and the Slavonians saw in this step some
great danger brooding over their nationality. It was in their
eyes something terrific, that in the gymnasia, in the minutes
of Church courts, and in all public Church proceedings, the
Magyar language should be adopted.

526 HISTORY OF THE
So far /id this disagreement blind the eyes of good men
to their duty towards the Church and towards each other,
that the gentle and prudent superintendent, Paul Jasophy,
forgetting his duty to the superior Church courts, proceeded
at the head of a deputation of Slavonian preachers to Vienna,
thus giving the court an opportunity of interfering in the inte
rior regulations of the Church.
Stormy debates in the Church courts, violent personal de
nunciation, commissions of inquiry, and angry passions, were
the fruits of the decision" of this subject ; and it was some
years before the passions were allayed.
The idea of the union of the Lutheran and Reformed
Churches, as warmly urged by the general inspector, was an
equally fertile source of quarrel. In vain was it urged that
the dogmata of the two Churches should remain intact, and
that no one's conscience should be forced, — that a founda
tion should merely be laid by which the next generation
might approach nearer to each other; still sufficient reasons
were found to prevent the scheme from being carried out.*
A new periodical was established , in 1842, and in it the
most learned men on both . sides had an opportunity of ex
pressing their opinions, so that this paper might be regarded
as the organ of the proposed union. This paper was edited
by Dr. Joseph Szekacs of the Lutheran, and Dr. Paul Torbk
of the Reformed, Church in Pesth, and was exposed, not only
to the heavy hand of the imperial censor, but also to the
constant attacks of the Roman Catholic party. Still it did
good service to the cause of religion, for, without laying too
much restraint on individual and party views, it placed itself
on a Scriptural basis ; published the abuses which occurred
\n ecclesiastical administration ; attacked false opinions ; gave
* The Popish party threatened, that if a union took place the Protestants
iould be no longer tolerated, for the law knew only of a " Lutheran and a
Eeformed Church." If they were united, they ceased to be the one or the
other, and had then no further claim on toleration.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 527
important information' respecting what was going on at home
and abroad ; strove to raise a missionary spirit, and to give
proper views of the objects and designs of Protestant missions ;
and up till the year 1848 stood up as the unflinching advo
cate of the Protestant cause, remaining true to its motto,
" The truth in love." The affairs of 1848 prevented this
periodical from continuing to appear, and thus seriously
affected the best interests of the Church.*
This periodical had insisted on the necessity of holding a
grand general synod, for the sake of removing many griev
ances ; and it took deep interest in exposing an evil which
had crept into the management of the Reformed Church, by,
which a species of consistorial dictatorship .was restraining the
free exercise of their Presbyterian privileges. We do not
pause to recount all the questions which were handled witn
spirit and warmth in this periodical ; for we hasten to the
Diet of 1843 — 44, where many a privilege was obtained for
the Evangelical Church.
* At present the Hungarian Church has no periodical of its own.

528

HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XVI.
DIET OF 1843-44.
Eoyal Resolutions of 5th of July. — Dissatisfaction of the Protestants and
the Bishops. — Debates at the Table of Magnates. — Petition to the Pala
tine aud the Diet. — "Wonderful Declaration of the Palatine.
After the Diet of 1839-40, which had discussed the
state of the law in reference to mixed marriages and prose-
lytism, there appeared, on the 5th of July, 1843, a royal res
olution, declaring that from this time forward all the different
confessions should have equal rights and privileges, and at
the same time recommending that the education of the chil
dren of mixed marriages should be left to the free choice of
the parents, as they might choose to agree between them
selves. The royal resolution pleased nobody. The Roman Cath
olic priests felt themselves insulted by being placed on a level
with heretics, and the Protestants knew too well the secret
power of the confessional to feel at ease respecting the influ
ence of the Roman Catholic parent in mixed marriages.
Both parties were then prepared to reject the resolutions, and
the magnates united in proposing to solve the difficulty, by
giving the education of the children in all cases to the father.
The primate declared that it was contrary to the principles
of the Church of Rome to give a Roman Catholic parent any
option in the education of his children. He or she has no
right whatever to hand the offspring over to another Church.
And still worse, this resolution would compel the Roman
Catholic mother to surrender her influence over her own chil-

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 529
dren exclusively to a Protestant father. ' The bishops and
higher clergy all joined with the primate ; but many of the
Roman Catholic magnates had learned to be less suspicious
of their Protestant fellow-subjects.
In the course^ of the debate, the nobleman Lewis Vay
charged the Roman Catholic clergy with aiming at being fish
ers of souls, which they wished to take in their net. The
reply was, that in such a case they were not so much to
blame as the Protestant missionaries who were travelling
through the whole world, and who had even come to Pesth
to try by force of money to gain over some Jews to their
Church* The debate was warm, many of the Roman Catholic nobles
resisting to the utmost all increase of the power of the clergy.
The Protestants regarded this as a proper time for sending a
deputation to the palatine ; and, as the time did not allow of
a commission being appointed for the purpose at a regular
general assembly, Count Zay gathered such Protestants as
were present at the Diet, and presented a petition, recounting
briefly at the same time the sufferings which the Protestants
had endured since 1608.
The palatine replied that he knew all the circumstances,

* The bitterness of the bishop is evident from this groundless charge ; for
it is well known that the missionaries to the Jews in Pesth required a thor
ough knowledge of the Gospel, and abundant evidence of change of heart,
before they admitted any Jew to baptism. Even then they did not them
selves baptize, but handed their catechumens to the pastors of the town to
be baptized by them. They never made promises of worldly advantage, as
the priests do, to gain any one over to their faith. Learned men came from
all parts of the land to consult and to dispute, and no other mean3 were used
to gain them than sound doctrine, good example, and prayer. That the Jew3
knew and appreciated the motives which brought these worthy men from
Scotland was evident from the fact of their school containing at one time
nearly three hundred Jewish children. It were greatly to be desired that
many similar institutions existed in Hungary, and it ia quite incomprehensi
ble how the learned bishop could compare this work with the missions of his
own Church. — Note by the Author.
45

530 HISTORY OF THE
and all that the Protestants had endured ; but he would have
been glad if this petition had not been presented, for it would
probably only add fuel to the flame. He regretted that the
royal resolution, which contained everything that the Protes
tants required, had not been accepted ; but the deputation
might depend on it, the government would lose no opportu
nity of satisfying the just demand of the Protestants, that
they might only be kept quiet.
And, indeed, matters appeared sufficiently threatening ; for
the priests were becoming more and more bitter, and the lib
eral-minded magnates were so exasperated against them that
the aged archduke was obliged often to interfere and demand
greater moderation.
The petition was widely circulated, and we shall here give
some extracts : —
" May it please your Royal Highness, &c. : — It is now
fifty-two years since, by the 26th Article of 1791, we re
ceived a wreck of our former privileges, which had been
guaranteed to us by different solemn treaties. It was but a
wreck that we received ; for in that aforesaid article, there
was not the full recognition of complete equality between the
citizens who belonged to different creeds, and without which
equality no peace and harmony can be expected.
" And still, if the terms of that article had been observed,
we should not have stood this day as suppliants. The law
had scarcely been passed when the executive power in Hun
gary took steps to have it made fruitless.
" Our freedom is trampled on, and the religious convic
tions of our brethren are subjected to arbitrary commands.
Foreign powers exercise their subtle influences over our fac
ulties. The efficacy of our schools is destroyed ; our inde
pendence is hampered ; we are treated as if our religion were
a crime. Promises made to us by the government lie dead
on the statute-book, and those who demand their right are
treated like rebels. Not one word of the 26th Article of

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 531
1791 remains, which has not been construed against our most
sacred privileges. It is now the third Diet since 1832, at
¦which our Roman Catholic brethren have stepped out, full of
zeal, and have demanded common justice to be done us ; but
these thirteen years have brought us little relief ; the laws
are still as arbitrary 4s before ; and any rest or favor which
we enjoy is only as a boon which can at any time be re
called. " At one Diet the two houses could not agree. At the
next, they agreed to recommend measures to the king for our
relief, but these have been of no avail. The new insults
which we must bear would seem almost incredible in the mid
dle of the nineteenth century, only that the wide world knows
that our adversaries place themselves above the law.
" Our brethren have borne all rather than refuse due sub
mission to the law ; and we, therefore, expect with the more
certainty that at this third Diet our hopes shall not be in
vain." The petition went on to state how the late royal resolution
placed the Protestants in many respects in a worse position
than before, and closed with the assertion that nothing short
of a complete equality and reciprocity between citizens, as
such, and independent of their faith, would ever bring peace
and harmony to the land.
An appendix to the petition brought out the facts on which
these general statements were founded, and presented a mass
of evidence in favor of the demands of the evangelical party.
In the Diet the debates became more and more fiery.
The magnates separated still farther from the bishops and
their party ; and the galleries of the house, which were
chiefly occupied by lawyers, drowned the speeches of the
Roman Catholic party with torrents of disapprobation. After
long debating, the following enactment, as proposed by the
lower house, also passed in the upper house, and received the
royal sanction : —

532 HISTORY OF THE
Article III. — Respecting the State of the Church, ui
In accordance with the principles of the Peace of Vienna,
it is hereby enacted that the following explanation and mod
ification of the 26th Article of 1791 shall become a part of
the law of the land : —
§ 1. It is hereby declared that those who have been edu
cated till their eighteenth year in the Protestant Church, or,
in case of females, to the time of their marriage, even though
they should not have attained their eighteenth year, shall not
be subjected to any trial on account of their religion. The
same privilege shall also be extended to their offspring.
§ 2. Mixed marriages solemnized by Protestant pastors
shall from this day forward be accounted legal.
§ 3. This last enactment shall be retrospective so far back
as the 15th of March, 1839.
§ 4. The civil registrars are required, immediately on the
publication of this law, to have the names of parties so mar
ried entered on the public records. Where this has not oc
curred since 1839, it shall now be attended to, for the sake
of securing the rights of the children.
§ 5. Roman Catholics wishing to join the Protestant
Church are subject to the following regulation : —
§ 6. The party shall, in the presence of two witnesses,
chosen by him or her self, declare his or her intention before
the priest to whom he or she has hitherto belonged.
§ 7. From the date of this declaration, four weeks shall be
allowed to pass, and, either in the presence of the same, or
of other witnesses, chosen also by the party concerned, a
declaration of adhesion to the resolution shall be given in to
the same priest.
§ 8. A certificate of each declaration shall be demanded
from the priest.
§ 9. If the priest, from any reason whatever, refuses the
certificate, the two witnesses shall then draw up and sign the
necessary document to this effect.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 533
§ 10. These certificates shall be presented to the pastor of
that Church which the party wishes to join, and thus is the
act complete.*
§ 11. A register of the number of conversions and the
names of the parties shall be forwarded half yearly for the
king's inspection.
The law was now explicit. No but, nor if, nor adhuc,
could any more limit its operations. The wisdom of the 9th
section was soon evident, for the priests very seldom gave
the necessary certificate, but, on the contrary, treated the
applicants with the greatest insolence. The Protestants did
not fail to approach the emperor and the palatine with their
united thanks for these favors, and requested that the remain
der of the grievances might also be removed.f
# It is quite clear that the legislature intended to bring the proselyte only
as far as the threshold, for only the Church itself, and not the State, had the
right to declare who was fit to be a member of the Church.
f In the case of mixed marriages, the Protestants were still in a worse -
position than the Eoman Catholics ; for, if a divorce took place, the Protes
tant party alone was prevented from marrying again, and all legal processes
were conducted before a court of priests.

45 *

534 history of the

CHAPTER XVII.
Calling of the Professors to Zay-Ugnacs. — Course of Instruction. — Popish
Holidays. — Provision for the Instruction of the Soldiers. — Accusations.
— Death of the Palatine. — Foundation of the Protestant Church in'Ofen.
— Archduchess Maria Dorothea goes to Vienna. — Archduke Stephen as
Deputy-Governor. — Diet of 1847 - 48.
As the Protestants now felt themselves somewhat secure
from the attacks of the foe without the camp, they turned
their attention so much the more earnestly to repairs within
the walls of Zion. On the 15th of July, 1845, the general
inspector summoned the professors to his seat in Zay-Ugnacs,
that they might discuss and modify 'the course of study. The
new plan was published in 1846, and circulated through the
churches. In like manner was the constitution of the Lutheran
Church once more revised, and, in accordance with the
Presbyterian forms, and with the constitution of Hungary,
submitted to the Church courts in regular gradation, for their
opinion. In 1848, this new code came into force, after hav
ing received the sanction of the majority of the churches.
The number of Roman Catholic holidays, and the manne/
of their celebration, being found oppressive to the Pro'.es-
tants, a commission was appointed to draw up a statement of
the origin of these holidays, and of the present mode of ob
servance. This commission was directed to report to the
General Assembly.
Certificates of conduct and proficiency were required and
obtained from students of theology at foreign universities,
that the Church might have some means of selecting the
proper persons for appointment to office in the Church, It

PROTESTANT CHUR'CH OF HUNGARY. 535
was resolved to lay the matter by petition before the king
and the palatine.
About this time, Pastor Wimmer of Oberschiitzen pub
lished a translation of Dr, Barth's Church History, and he
was represented at Vienna in such a light, that an order
came from the cabinet to have the book examined, and to
have Wimmer tried for the offence. The accusation was,
that the history was calculated to excite hatred against the
Church of Rome. There was good reason to fear that he
would be suspended, for his zeal in the distribution of Bibles
and Testaments had long been known at head quarters, and
had not tended to increase his popularity at court.
Wimmer defended himself with energy, and, partly from
the merits of his case, partly, too, from the kindly interces
sion of the Archduchess Maria Dorothea with her husband
the palatine, he was for this time rescued from his perilous
situation. John Dierner, the teacher of the female school at Pesth,
was also subjected to a lawsuit for some strong expressions
against the Papacy, which occurred in an Epitome of Church
History for the Use of Schools, published by him. The
censor, Matthew Heubner, was also threatened with punish
ment for remissness in his office ; but the matter was settled
by a promise to remove the objectionable parts in the next
edition. The Protestants were not allowed to rest, for some new
occasion was still found for developing the old spirit of per
secution. A heavy stroke befell the Protestant Church in the death
of the palatine, which took place on the 13th of January,
1847. It was true he had been zealously attached to the
Church of Rome, but he had never allowed partisanship to
blind him to a sense of justice ; and though the Protestants
did not always receive from him what they thought they had
a right to demand, yet he never allowed himself to be made

536- HISTORY OF THE
a tool for carrying out the arbitrary measures of a haughty
priesthood. The Archduke Joseph had in his last years manifested
much more regard for the Protestant Church than formerly,
and this may, perhaps, have arisen from his constant reading
of the Scriptures at this period, and from the influence of
his dear partner, the Archduchess Maria Dorothea, a princess
of the house of Wurtemberg, eminently distinguished by her
piety and zeal. It was evident that, as his end approached,
he had learned the value of the Word of God, and had
learned to rest on the only Saviour of sinners, Jesus Christ
the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.
It was through his influence that, in the year 1846, the
Protestants in Ofen obtained leave to purchase a house and
fit it up for a church, school, arid pastor's dwelling.*
This noble prince now rested in the grave of his father ;
and, contrary to the wish of the archduchess, contrary to the
testament of the palatine, and contrary to the original mar
riage contract, the archduchess was not allowed to reside any
where in Hungary, but was required by the governor to take
up her residence in Vienna.
The General Assembly of the Protestant Church in Hun
gary expressed its deep regret and sympathy with the arch
duchess in a letter of condolence ; and it was not a matter
of form, but the expression of a deep and bitter sorrow of
the nation, on losing one who had been so long as the pro
tecting angel of the Protestant Church.
A similar letter of condolence was written to the Arch-

* The Eoman Catholic town council acted here in a manner hitherto un
known in Hungary. They not only gave the house for «, very small sum,
but furnished also building materials, and encouraged the Eoman Catholic
fellow-citizens to make a collection in money for the purpose. The noble
and generous widow of the palatine, the Archduchess Maria Dorothea, gave
twenty thousand florins towards the establishment of the church and school,
and the Free Church of Scotland gave nearly four thousand florins, Vienna
currency. The collections in the country were very unimportant.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 537
duke Stephen, who now, to the great joy of the nation, was
appointed palatine. It was at the Diet of 1847-48, that he
was elected, and his election was soon after confirmed by
the Emperor Ferdinand. As he was probably the last pala
tine of Hungary, and as this was probably the last Diet, we
may take a closer view of its proceedings, and bid a linger
ing f&rewell to the constitution of Hungary.

538 HISTORY OF THE

CHAPTER XVIIL

DIET OF 1847-48.

At this Diet the country at last reached that point towards
which she had long been gradually proceeding in the way of
legal reform. Every new king had sworn that " Hungary
should be governed as an independent kingdom, according
to its own constitution, and never be treated as a province of
Austria " ; and still the arbitrary decrees of the king and of
the viceregal court had threatened to make this oath a mere
dead letter.
But at this Diet, an independent Hungarian ministry secured
the independence of the country, and the name of such men
as Count Bathyani, Count Szecheny, Louis Kossuth, and
others, awakened the fullest confidence of the nation.
A better representation of the country was introduced ;
Hungary and Transylvania were united ; and the right of
holding annual Diets was secured by law. All were now re
quired to bear their share of the public burden ; duty, labor,
and feudal tasks were allowed to be bought off, as also a
compensation allowed for the tithes to the clergy. The law
courts were improved, the censorship abolished, and freedom
of the press once more introduced.
In reference to ecclesiastical matters, the 20th Article con
tained the following important paragraphs : —
§ 2. All recognized religious parties have equal rights and
complete reciprocity.
§ 3. All the expenses of churches and schools shall be
borne by the state, and the ministry shall make such inqui-

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 539
ries as shall enable them at the next Diet to bring forward a
comprehensive measure on the subject.
.§ 4. Without reference to religious opinions, each member
of a church, recognized by the state has a right to admission
into the schools.
§ 5. The soldiers in the army shall have a chaplain of
their own confession.
On the 11th of April, 1848, King* Ferdinand V. appointed
Bathyani to be prime minister of Hungary, and gave his
sanction to these statutes. The Diet was then adjourned, to
meet at Pesth on the 2d of July.
The Hungarians received the news of the appointment of
a Hungarian ministry, and of the sanction of the resolutions
of the Diet, with unbounded joy.
A circular was issued to the Lutheran churches, calling on
them to unite in thankfulness to God, in love to the king, in
confidence towards- the ministry, and obedience to the laws,
without which they could have no true liberty. In all the
churches of Hungary prayers were offered for the king, and
the people were instructed to take good heed not to abuse the
confidence placed in them.
It was, however, discouraging to hear that the king had
granted a war and a finance minister only with reluctance •
and that it was probable the appointment would soon again
be cancelled. Reports were also spread, and not without
foundation, that the Croatians were preparing to invade Hun
gary- It may readily be conceived that the minister who had
charge of the religious matters and the schools had just now
no sinecure. He began his work, however, by making choice
of able assistants, and then summoned a meeting- of the dep
uties of the churches at Pesth on the 1st of August.
A preparatory meeting of the churches was held to discuss
* The Emperor of Austria is only King of Hungary.

540 HISTORY OF THE
the proposals of the ^government. Should the pastors become
mere servants of the state ? Should the schools be taken
from under their care ? — These were the questions which
were warmly discussed. At the General Assembly of the
Lutheran Church, pastor Wimmer spoke with all his accus
tomed energy against the measure, and decried what he
called the " Judas money," — the state endowments of the
pastors," as an inducement,for them to give up the schools to
state inspection.
The discussions were long and stormy ; but the result was,
thai the dangers arising from the proposed plan of an endow
ment of all clergy by the state,' and the separation of the
schools from the Church, were brought so prominently for
ward, that the resolution of the Assembly was as follows : —
" The Evangelical Church requires to have the right of
making and executing her own laws ; and, on the ground of
the Peace of 1608, and the law of 1791, she demands to be
still permitted to guide her own schools, to have the election
and support of her office-bearers entirely under her own con
trol, subject to the law of the land ; and she looks upon this
as one of her highest privileges and most solemn trusts."
There was the more need of this solemn and earnest reso
lution, as the minister vof public instruction had proposed a
law relative to the schools, and had it presented for discus
sion without once asking the opinion of the Church. A pro
test against this step was handed in, and varied attempts were
made to unite the whole of the Protestant Church of Hungary
and Transylvania in expressing one and the same opinion.
The difference of nationality — the Saxon, the Magyar, and
the Slavonian ; the difference of faith — Lutheran, Calvinist,
Unitarian — made the expression of one united wish a hard
affair ; and many other subjects were also discussed at the
general assemblies.
After the deputies of the different churches had come to an
understanding, they had a conference with the minister of

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 541
public instruction ; and after asserting Jhe autonomy of the
Church, or her right to make and execute her own laws, they
expressed a willingness to wait for a final settlement of their
claims, till such time as peace should be again restored. At
the same time, however, as by the resolution of 1848 the
tithes had ceased, and in many places the payments to pas
tors and schoolmasters were refused, the deputation begged
that the loss thus sustained by office-bearers of the Church,
through the resolution of the government, should be made
good at the public expense.
The minister consented, in so far as the rights of other par
ties should not be limited, and left it to the Church to decide
in what way a million of florins might best be divided among
those concerned. He recommended the quantity in each
case to be made to depend on the number of persons in con
nection with the church or school.
To carry out this measure, a standing committee was ap
pointed by each of the three confessions, to be in constant
communication with the minister.
This important conference was now brought to a close.
The Churches had approached nearer to each other. They
had united in an act of self-denial, rejecting Esau's pottage,
and retaining their birthright as free and independent Churches.
Events showed how prudently they had acted, for dark and
gloomy days were coming over the Church and the land.
The danger was very near. The Crotians had already
broken into Hungary, and the Banus* Jellachich, who had
been declared guilty of high treason, was marching towards
Pesth. A deputation was sent to Vienna to seek a mediation,
but without effect. On the 9th and 10th of September, 1848,
many of the citizens were flying from Pesth. On the 21st,
the imperial commissioner, Count Lambert, was murdered
on the brido-e between Pesth and Ofen. Jellachich entered

* Ban or Banus means Governor.
46

542 HISTORY OF THE
Stuhlweissenburg without opposition, and was solemnly re
ceived by the bishop.
Louis Kossuth issued a proclamation, and thousands, armed
with scythes and such weapons as the occasion offered, has
tened to the Hungarian army.
The palatine had an interview with the Banus Jellachich
at the Platten-See, but without effect ; but although his office
and his oath obliged him to place himself at the head of the
Hungarian army under such circumstances, yet, by the com
mand of the king, he was called away from his post. In spite
of the king's orders, an engagement took place between the
two armies in the neigborhood of Paroyd, and the Hunga
rians, though inferior in numbers, had an advantage.
Jellachich begged a truce for two days, and made use of
the time to march the flank of his army towards Raab and
the Austrian frontier. His company of ten thousand men
was thus given into the hands of Gorgey, who took them
prisoners.
i The Diet in the mean time declared itself permanent.
Louis Kossuth was proclaimed governor of Hungary, and,
as such, made extraordinary efforts to save the country. The
pastors were ordered to read from all the pulpits a statement
of the wrongs and grievances which threatened the land, and,
under threats, they were obliged to submit.
Vienna was now besieged and taken by Prince Windish-
gratz, and, to the astonishment of all, he now, with a select
army, in the middle of a severe winter, hastened down to
Hungary. Almost without opposition he took possession of
Pesth and Ofen, for the Diet had removed, with all its papers
and Archives, to Debrecsin.
We are obliged to take this glance of the political arid
military transactions, for the sake of explaining the persecu
tions to which the pastors and schoolmasters were now ex-,
posed. The pastors were tried by court-martial for having
read Kossuth's proclamation from the pulpit, and were visited

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 543
with condign punishment. Many of the leaders of the troops
were punished on mere informers' evidence, and without a
trial. At the same time that the severest punishment was
being inflicted on the pastors for reading proclamations which
the temporary authorities had compelled them to read, the
Prince Windishgratz was compelling them to read other doc
uments of a most extraordinary nature with reference to the
so-called rebels.
As a matter of course, when the imperial troops were
obliged to retire, those who had read the imperial proclama
tions were, in their turn, regarded as guilty of high treason,
and some of them were condemned to be shot.
The clergy complained bitterly that their bishops and su
perintendents gave them no directions how to act. Some of
the bishops issued pastoral letters. The superintendent, Mat
thew Heubner, did the same ; and though these letters con
tained nothing against the dynasty, still Heubner was con
demned to six years' imprisonment in chains, with hard labor,
After he had spent two of the years in his heavy imprison
ment, he obtained his freedom by the grace of the young
emperor. His case was not solitary ; for, when the cause of Hun
gary seemed victorious, many priests and Protestant clergy
openly took the part of the conquerors, and zealously sup
ported their cause.
Haynau's approach, the Russian aid, and Gbrgey's treach
ery at Vilagos, prepared a dark and terrible day for all who
were thus involved in the war.
The story of Haynau's cruelty preceded him ; and when
it was told how he was shooting supposed delinquents without
trial, and in such numbers, many who were involved fled
from the country. In this way, however, many innocent par-
ties became suspected, and it was no easy matter to find
proof of their innocence. In one month after the surrender
at Vilagos, the prisons were filled to suffocation ; and men
of high honors, to whom the reigning house in Austria was

544 HISTORY OF THE
much indebted, often pined for months in prison before they
could be brought to trial. Many were, after months of con
finement, set free, because no charge could be brought against
them. Of the three thousand Protestant pastors in Hungary, there
may have been some fifteen condemned to more or less se
vere punishment ; and yet the commander-in-chief, General
Haynau, and .the civil governor, Baron Gehringer, published
the following edict, under date of 10th of February, 1850,
threatening disgrace and annihilation to the Protestant Church
in Hungary : —
Directions to the Commanders of the several Military Dis
tricts in Hungary.
For the sake of relieving the Protestant Church from the
miserable state into which it has been brought by the abuse
of power on the part of some of its office-bearers, to serve
party purposes, and for the sake of securing to the said
Church its rights and privileges, during the continuance of
the martial law, I have, after consultation with the civil gov
ernor, found it desirable to publish the following regula
tions : —
§ 1. The offices of general inspector and district inspector
in the Lutheran Church, and of curator in the Reformed
Church, are to be considered as extinct.
§ 2. Inasmuch as the free election of superintendents to
the vacant offices, as also all enactions, are forbidden during
the continuance of martial law ; inasmuch as men must be
found who will bring the clergy and the people b&ck to a
state of submission to constituted authority, the government
shall select suitable persons to supply the place of the super
intendents, and shall appoint seniors and laymen who possess
the confidence of the governor to assist them in their work.
§ 3. These Superintendents shall also discharge the duties
of district inspectors and curators, and shall convey the wishes
of the individual churches to the military commander. For

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 545
managing the Church and school fund, they shall, with the
advice of the seniors and lay assistants (section 2), give in a
report of what they consider to be the best way of managing
that fund.
§ 4. By these deliberations, a royal commissioner, ap
pointed by the military governor of the district, shall always
be present, and in like manner no local Church court shall be
held without the presence of such a commissioner.
§ 5. As the clergy of. the Protestant Church are badly
paid, and as it is necessary that these temporary officers of
the Church, as appointed by section 2, have a position free
from worldly care, I shall endeavor to provide for them an
endowment from the state.*-
§ 6. The new administrators shall enter immediately on
their duties, and, at the same time, the functions of the former
office-bearers shall cease. Every assistance shall be given
by the civil and military authorities to the new office-bearers,
in the discharge of their duty.
§ 7. The superintendents who are thus degraded remain,
in so far as their conduct in political matters is irreproacha
ble, in the position which they held previous to their appoint
ment to this office.
§ 8. All possible exertions shall be made to have the
boundaries of the dioceses made to correspond with the mil
itary districts. The superintendents and administrators may
be sure of a friendly reception to every proposal which tends
to bind the Protestant Church closer to the state.
The 9th section appoints the new administrators, and the
document closes with requiring them to enter at once on their
office by accepting the necessary oath in .the presence of the
military commanders of the district. A report was required,
to state that all this had been complied with, and the docu
ment was signed " Haynau."

*' Each received twenty-four hundred florins annually of Judas monay
46*

546

HISTORY OF THE

CONCLUSION.

Sorrow, astonishment, and detestation, were the feelings
awakened in the minds of the Protestants' on the publication
of this edict. They knew the extent to which this would
soon lead, and they knew the motives which dictated the
decree. The edict was not originally the work of Haynau, but bore
evidence of proceeding from the same workshop which for
three hundred years had not ceased to forge chains for the
Protestant Church in this country.
In spite of the danger attending the step, private meetings
were held to discuss the best method of averting the im
pending evil.* No way, however, appeared open for pro
viding relief.
A few of the clergy then resolved to present a petition to
the widow of the palatine, the Archduchess Maria Dorothea,
to request her to use her influence with the emperor on be
half of the Church. It was resolved, partly for the sake of
keeping the matter quiet, partly for other reasons, not to ask
the lay representatives of the Church to join in the petition,
and the results showed the prudence of the step.
This was the origin of the address which will be found in
Appendix, No. IV., which gives the reader a view of the state
of the Church at the present time. The address was signed
by upwards of eighty pastors, particularly Slavonians, and

* See the little pamphlet, "The Protestant Church of Hungary during
the Continuance of Martial Law," published by Brockhaus. Leipzig. I860.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 547
presented to her Royal Imperial Highness in the beginning
of June. Melting into tears, she promised the Church all
possible assistance ; and after the emperor had read the
paper carefully, he expressed a wish that it might be shown
to the minister of public instruction.
¦ • The interview with Count Thun, and the influence of the
Archduchess Maria Dorothea, brought matters to such a desir
able state, that a constitution of the Church, which had already
been drawn up and printed, consisting of one hundred and
one paragraphs, was set aside. According to this constitu
tion, it ,was determined to place a council, consisting of nine
persons, as a kind of pope, even over the general synods.
This council should be nominated for life by the emperor,
and should have such fundamental principles and lines of
conduct as would soon destroy all evangelical freedom.
The request that the edict of Haynau should be recalled
was not granted ; and though upwards of ten deputations in
succession appeared before the throne, begging for relief in
this respect, and urging as reasons, both the state of feeling
of the Protestants, and the intrigues at the Panslavonians, yet
it was all in vain. Instead of granting relief, the Church
was reduced pretty much to the state in which she was under
Maria Theresa.
The high schools which could not at once adopt the ex
pressive plans of the government, were declared to be pri
vate institutions, and placed accordingly under the inspection
of royal visitors ; at the same time, the only means of help
were cut off, for the Church was prevented from electing the
office-bearers who alone could carry out the schemes which
the government required.
Frequently were weeks allowed to pass before leave could
be obtained to hold an ecclesiastical court, and ev,en then the
subjects of discussion were prescribed. The. sale of Bibles
was once more subjected to limitations ; the Bible deposito
ries closed ; superintendents were suspended on mere suspi-

548

HISTORY OF THE

cion-; clergy were summoned before the law courts, and
punished simply for a faithful discharge of their duty. The
censorship was restored with all its evils, and the Roman
Catholic Church took up its old persecuting position.
The Lutheran Church was charged with being alone in its
opposition to the edict of Haynau ; but if the Reformed
Church seemed somewhat indifferent, it was because she had
suffered less severely, and because she saw how fruitless
assistance would be for the present.
In the year 1851, the Church wished to hold several meet
ings, and sent deputations to Vienna to state their wishes ;
but their meetings were prohibited, and the deputations were
refused permission to go to Vienna.*
And the sting of all is, that in the constitution, and in the
mouths of the rulers, one constantly hears of " perfect equal
ity of the different confessions ; perfect freedom of faith
and conscience ; complete independence of the Church courts
within the limits of the law."
Poor Church of Hungary ! torn and bleeding for three
hundred years !
Will none of the distinguished men who now surround the
throne of our young king listen to a faithful statement of the
freedoms and of the constitution now guaranteed by the oath
of the king, — by treaties of peace, — by the principles of
the Word of God, and by the sacred laws of the land ? Shall
the old persecution and intolerance of the dark ages return
in the second half of the nineteenth century, — the days
which we have described with a bleeding heart, as a warning
for all future ages ? Shall the hope be still entertained that
the law of God shall cease to visit with divine retribution
those who transgress its enactments ?
Shall the time never come when statesmen shall open their
eves to the falsehood of the statement which passes current
# See Appendix, No. IV.

PROTESTANT CHURCH OF HUNGARY. 549
at every Popish court, that the Protestant religion is the
cause of revolution ? Will the statesmen never learn that,
though the Protestants have raised their voice against the
Pope, and against tyranny, yet they subscribe with all their
heart to the command, " Render unto Caesar the things that
are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's ? " Is it
not the Church of Rome which is subject to that foreign
power, which, to gain its own ambitious ends, never hesi
tated to bathe lands in blood, to cast kings from their right
ful thrones, and, in the spirit of arch-rebellion, set up others
in their place ? Were not Rome and Popish France first in
the ranks of the rebels in these last years ? and were not
the leading Protestant countries completely quiet ?
May the Almighty God preserve the house of Hapsburg
Lutringin from the snares laid for it by the Jesuits ! may the
deceitful schemes of these heartless men and their tools be
found powerless ! May Francis Joseph I., like his illustrious
predecessor Joseph II., raise himself above squabbles and
mere national strife, and stand as the distributor of justice,
of impartial equity to all his subjects ! May he so live and
reign that history shall delight to gather up such facts from
his reign as shall tend to show, —
" That, as king and emperor by the grace of God, he has
not only struggled to represent the power, but also the justice
and goodness of that Being by whom kings reigns and prin
ces decree justice."

APPENDIX.

LIST OF THE SCHOLAESHIPS AND FOUNDATIONS FOR
THE BENEFIT OF HUNGARIAN STUDENTS AT FOR
EIGN UNIVERSITIES.
(Extract presented to a General Assembly in 1836.)
(A.) FOH LUTHEEAN STUDENTS.
1. The Pelmis foundation, of 16,000 florins, in the Bank of Vienna,
may be applied to any foreign university.
2. In "Tubingen, a free table for twelve students of theology, estab
lished in 1668.
3. In Tubingen, the Fiflfertis foundation, for two Hungarians and two
Transylvanians. 4. In "Wittenberg, the Kassay foundation of 7,641 florins.
5. Also the Poldis foundation of 2,000 florins.
6. The Emperor Leopold II., in the year 1791, gave 1,000 ducats for
the support of two clergymen's sons, the one tq study at Leipzig, the
other at Wittenberg.
7. In Greifswalde, the gift of Charles XII. for four Hungarians.
8. Also Szirmay's gift of 3,000 florins for the benefit of Hungarian stu
dents. 9. In Gottingen, Burgstaller's foundation of 1,500 florins.
10. In Jena and "Wittenberg, all Hungarian students are received for
eighteen dollars annually.
11. In each of the three universities, Gottingen, Leipzig, and Erlan
gen, three students have a free table.

552 APPENDIX.
12. In Halle, a free table for all Hungarian students who teach two
hours each day in the orphan-house.
13. The foundation at Altdorf, for three students, was removed, with
the university, to Erlangen.
14. In like manner, three foundations at Helmstadt were removed to
three other universities.
15. In the schoolmasters' seminary in Halle, some of the more distin
guished students receive, besides free board and lodging, also a small
sum of money.
16. In Groningen, all Hungarian students have free dinner and sup
per. (B.) STUDENTS OF THE REFORMED CHURCH ENJOY
1. In Cambridge, three foundations.
2. Iu Oxford, also three.
3. In Utrecht, the interest of 2,400 florin's.
4. In Francker, 1,708 florins annually, to be divided.
5. In Groningen, all who come have free dinner and supper.
6. In Harderoyk, and
7. In Deventer, two students have board and lodging.
8. In Zflrich, three students may receive each 102 florins annually, and
30 florins travelling expenses on leaving.
9. Jn Berne, four students may receive on their arrival 94 florins for
clothes and books, 144 florins annually, and 30 as a viaticum on leaving.
10. In Geneva, two Hungarian students receive each a complete suit
of clothes on his arrival, 15 florins per month during his stay, and 5 louis-
d'ors, or 52 florins, on leaving.
11. In Basle, two students have free board and lodging. •
12. In Heidelberg, one has the same.
13. In Herborn Academy, every student who sings on the streets re
ceives 30 dollars.
14. In Bremen, every Hungarian student has free board and lodging.
15. In Frankfort-on-the-Oder, a free table for ten students.
16. In Halle, in the Reformed Gymnasium, two enjoyed free board and
lodging. 17. In the Joachim College in Berlin are said to be two free tables for
Hungarian students.

APPENDIX. 553
II.
POPULATION OF HUNGARY.
(A.) ACCORDING TO RELIGION.
Roman Catholics, ... . . 6 130 188
United Greek Church,  1 322 344
Lutherans,  1,006,282
Reformed Church  1,846,844
Unitarians,  47 208
Greek Church (not united), ... . 2,283,505
Jews,  244,035
Total, . 12,880,406
(B.) ACCORDING TO LANGUAGES.
Hungarian,  4,812,759
Slavonian,  1,687,256
German,  1,273,677
Wallachians,  2,202,542
Croatians  886,079
Raitzians,  "". . 828,365
Shohatzians, . . . . . . . 429,868
Wends,  40,864
Rnssniaks,  442,903
Bulgarians,  12,000
French,  6,150
Greeks,  5,680
Armenians,  3,798
Montenegrians,  2,830
Clementines, ....... 1,600
Jews,  244,035
Total, . 12,880,406

47

554 APPENDIX.

III.
PETITION OF THE PROTESTANT CLERGY OF HUNGA
RY, ASSEMBLED IN 1851, NEAR THE DANUBE, AND AD
DRESSED TO THE EMPEROR FRANCIS JOSEPH I.
Most Gracious Sire,
Out of the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh ; and as our
heart is full of sorrow and trouble, our lips can give utterance only to
painful complaints. We pour out our complaint, however, before your
Majesty, believing that your Majesty is called to that high post by Him
by whom kings reign aud princes decree justice, and who setteth up
whomsoever he will. We pour out our complaint with confidence in
your Majesty, and with hope ; for wc believe that your Majesty both can
and will assist us.
We do not ask for ease, for this is not -the place of our rest ; nor for
outward good, which vanisheth ; but we beg for that liberty of conscience
which is denied us by the civil power in Hungary.
The cause of our sufferings is to be found in the edict of His Excel
lence Baron Haynau, of the 10th of February, 1850, by which the rights
of the Protestant Church, which she has enjoyed for three hundred years,
are, with one stroke of the pen, annihilated.
Our Reformed Church, in the constitution which has been acknowl
edged for three hundred years, declares that the apostolical form of
Church government is the model which we follow ; and yet here have
we seen the day when, by military power, another form of government
is forced upon us, as if neither the apostolical pattern nor the ex
perience of three hundred years were sufficient to teach our Church
how she ought to be governed. The alleged cause of this edict, however,
is a ground of deep sorrow, for it takes for granted, what has not been
proved, that the Protestant Church, as such, was deeply involved in the
late troubles, and has thus forfeited her rights. We acknowledge that
individuals have been borne away by the storm and the stream, — and We
beg your Majesty's gracious consideration of their case ; but the Church,
as such, has never spoken or acted against the properly constituted au
thorities. In our ecclesiastical assemblies, which were publicly held, and
of which the minutes were always forwarded to our sovereign, irtnay be
seen that we were engaged in building up the walls of Zion, in strength
ening the Redeemer's kingdom, and it would be beneath the dignity of
our office to stoop to discuss mere political matters. AVith the minutes
of our meetings before the government, when did xe ever receive reproof
for interfering with political matters * When individuals and office-bear-

APPENDIX. 555
ers of another Church, which is not Protestant, sin against the state, then-
transgression is not laid on their Church, nor is she compelled to accept
of another constitution on that account ; wherefore we may well expect
that the same measure of justice may be granted to the Evangelical
Church. When we now look at this new constitution, we are deeply concerned ;
fo/ one part of the Reformation was an escape from the tyranny of the
hierarchy, and the remedy was found in establishing a proper balance
between the clerical and the lay element in the Church ; by this consti
tution, however, all the power of the Church is placed in the hands of
the superintendents and seniors ; and if laymen take part, they are ap
pointed by government, and not, as our Church requires, chosen by the
people. The limitation of the power of the bishop was one of the great works
of the Reformation, but this newly constituted Church government gives
an unlimited power to men chosen by the superintendents, to interpret
their principles and to carry out their plans ; thus overturning complete
ly our Presbyterian form of Church government.
Further still, the greatest difficulties are laid in our way to prevent us
holding our ecclesiastical assemblies ; and being thus hampered in our
usefulness as a Church of Christ, we cannot develop that activity for
comforting the distressed, for recalling the wanderers, and for building
up the Church, which our great Master may well expect.
Not only are we deprived of the right of guiding the affairs of the
Church, but the schools are also threatened with ruin ; for the changes
which are taking place are not in accordance with our wishes or the re
quirements of the time. We have hitherto supported our own educa
tional establishments, and we do not want any endowment from the
state, if we must pay the price of surrendering our independence. An
other power is making plans and regulations for the schools, and that
without due consideration, and without reference to the necessary econ-,
omy in the present exhausted state of the country. As an evidence of
this, we need only refer to the fact that, while no arrangements are as
yet made for elementary schools, all possible exertions are being made to
have the high schools opened. This is like putting the roof on the build
ing while the walls are not yet erected. According to the government
plan for the Upper Gymnasia, there are eight classes ; there are one hun
dred and eighty-six lessons weekly appointed ; each professor is required
to give twenty lessons weekly. Now, ten professors would be more than
sufficient for this work, and yet we are required to call and support
twelve ordinary professors, notwithstanding that the means of private in
dividuals and also of corporations has been by late circumstances so far

556 APPENDIX.
reduced. We are also required to act with such haste, that no time is
allowed us for properly estimating our resources. The schools are the
principal hope of the Protestant Church, and yet we are not permitted
to discuss and consult respecting them according to the Presbyterian
form of Church government, which alone we recognize as Scriptural and
legal. Most gracious Emperor ! the Peace of Vienna and of Linz, as also the
Treaty of Szathmar, which was guaranteed by the foreign powers of
Holland and England, as also the coronation oath of your imperial Ma
jesty's predecessors, have faithfully secured |o us freedom of faith and
conscience ; and yet our rights are so trampled on, that'we must regard
all these treaties as empty words.
% And we can see no reason why the present " state of siege " or mili
tary rule should deprive as of the rights of conscience, for the kingdom
of the Lord Jesus cannot suffer violence j and we here remember the
words of your Majesty's illustrious ancestor, Maximilian I. — " To rule
over the conscience is to take forcible possession of heaven's citadel " ;
and in his letter to General Lazarus Schwendt, he says, " Affairs of the
Church can never be settled by the sword." It is also no' comfort to us
that this is only provisional, for the eternal truth of Christ can never be
subjected to the provisional and temporary enactments of man.
We bow with the deepest submission before the throne, begging of
your Majesty, —
First, That your Majesty would he graciously pleased to annul the
edict of February ; for this edict is like an axe laid to the root of Prot
estantism, and so long as it remains in force, our feelings must be those
of condemned criminals waiting for execution.
Second, That your Majesty would restore us our independence as a
Church, and allow us to manage our ecclesiastical affairs in the Presby
terian form, which we regard as apostolical, and, therefore, as the only
proper mode of Church government. We lay on the freedom of our
Church courts the same stress which John Knox laid on it, when he said,
" It is all one whether they take from us the freedom of the Church
courts, or deprive us of the Gospel." We enter, then, a solemn protest
against all limitation of the freedom of our Presbyterial Church courts,
and declare ourselves unable to discharge our duty as a Church, either
to God, or to your Majesty, or to our people, till such time as we have
liberty fully and freely to exercise our ecclesiastical functions. We do
not wish that amount of liberty which your Majesty has granted the Ro
man Catholic Church, by dispensing her from the imperial placet in her
ecclesiastical acts ; no, we much rather desire that the government should
have an opportunity of seeing how anxiously we strive after everything

APPENDIX. 55"f
which is for &e honor of our king, for the good of the state, and fof the
well-being of the Church. We want freedom only in so far as will al
low the representatives of the Protestant Church to carry out their prin
ciples. Third, As'we are threatened that if our gymnasia are not in the re
quired form before the' close of the present year, — and we have already
shown that this is impossible, — we shall not be allowed to regard them
as public institutions, and shall have ho right to give certificates, but
must regard them as mere private academies, — we beg that your Majes
ty will allow us the necessary time to improve our schools, and also per
mit us to do so in a legal, ecclesiastical manner.
Fourth, We beg that in cases of difference of opinion between the
Church and the government, we may he allowed to place ourselves in
immediate intercourse with your Majesty's ministers.
Most gracions Emperor ! we Protestants adhere faithfully to the com
mand, "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers "; and the more
faithfully we observe the injunction, "Render unto Caesar the things
¦which are Cassar's," do we demand the right of " rendering unto God the
things that are His." We are ready to serve your Majesty with our
property and our life, but we must serve our God with our heart and
conscience. May State and Church work together in the same groat cause, and
may your Majesty he the instrument for bringing about this desirable
consummation, that your Majesty's name may be handed down to pos
terity with reverence and love ! Your Majesty's most obedient sub
jects, who were summoned to
a deliberation by the Super
intendent of the Reformed
Church.
Pesth, 5lh May, 1851.

IV.
ADDRESS TO HER IMPERIAL HIGHNESS MARIA DORO
THEA.
Most Gracious Archduchess, &c,
Your Imperial Highness knows well on what a firm foundation
the rights and privileges of the Evangelical Church of Hungary rest.
47*

558 'APPENDIX.
The Peace of Vienna and of Linz, the Pragmatic Sanction guaranteed
by foreign powers, and the oaths of our kings of the house of Hapsburg,
— by which they solemnly bound their posterity, — secure to the Re
formed Church of Hungary as firm a foundation as man ean give.
Among these fundamental rights are the privilege of electing her own
office-bearers, of making her own laws, and educating her own children
without foreign influence or interference.
This has all been violated by the edict of Baron Haynau of the 10th
of February, and the evil will sink every day deeper if speedy relief is
not obtained.
The four superintendents of the Lutheran Church, who had been con
stitutionally elected, are now deposed from office, and among them Su
perintendent Samuel Stromsky, who has never been charged with any
crime against the State. In like manner, our general inspectors, and
district and school inspectors, are deposed, and men put into their place
of whom we do not know whether and how far they enjoy the confidence
of the Church. Our dioceses are divided according to military districts,
independent of the number of churches ; our general assemblies are pro
hibited ; our local church meetings tolerated only under very great limi
tations ; and the whole Church government committed to the care ot
administrators, assisted by laymen of whom the Church knows nothing,
and who render no account of their stewardship.
It is not difficult to see that with this culminating government we shall
soon cease to be Protestants. A court appointed by the military com
mander, bound by an oath of which we know nothing, quite irresponsible
to the Church, shall manage her affairs !
While his Majesty is giving the Roman Catholic Church privileges
which she never before enjoyed in the empire, our very existence is threat
ened. It is the more astonishing that a kind of military consistorium
should be here introduced just at the time that other sovereigns, recog-
nizing'the impracticability of the consistory, are everywhere introducing
the Presbyterian form.
These measures are the more painful as they are based on a charge
which can never be proved, namely, that our Church, as such, took part
in the late unhappy movements. It is, on the contrary, evident, that
when, in 1848, a proposal was made to pay the clergy and teachers out
of the state funds, the Assembly of the Church refused to accept of the
boon, but passed a resolution which reads as follows : — " According to
the Treaties of Peace of 1608, 1647, and the laws of 1791, the Protestant
Church demands her right of self-government, and claims, as her most
precious jewel, the right of making her own laws, directing her own
schools, and managing her own funds by persons freely elected for that

APPENDIX. 559
purpose." Thus the Protestant Church did not allow herself to be lured
away from her legal basis by any promises, however great.
The measure is called provisional. But let us look at its working.
How can one of the present . administrators ordain a candidate of theol
ogy ? How can he who is himself free from obligation to the Church
bind another ? Here is a dangerous breach in our constitution ! And
yet Roman Catholic administrators ordain Protestant clergy, and the
bayonet requires us to be silent !
The edict wishes us to join more closely to the state ; and yet, with
out becoming a mere police system, we cannot be bound closer than we
are. We form no state within a state. We are subject to no foreign
prince. Our Presbyterial system enables the most distinguished mem
bers of the government to sit with and assist us in our deliberations for
the general good. Our meetings are open, our minutes are laid before
the government, and if his Majesty object to any of our proceedings, the
matter will be reconsidered, and due respect be paid to the suggestions
offered, — that Church and State may still remain each in its own
sphere, and both united.
No ! the Protestant Church has no foreign interests to advance. She
seeks only to educate faithful citizens and good Christians, and to in
still deeply in the minds of her children the grand principles, "Honor
all men; love the brotherhood; fear God; honor the king." (1 Peter
ii. 17.)
Our wish is to be allowed to appear before onr sovereign with our
petition ; and in the mean time we take courage to approach your Royal
Highness, in grateful remembrance of the past, confidently expecting
that your Royal Highness, as the zealous protectress of evangelical re
ligion, will avail yourself of your position to lay before his Majesty a
correct statement of our case.
Where we can serve our sovereign with our lives or property, we shall
not be the last to do so ; but, so long as the freedom of our Church is in
danger, we cannot cease to petition that we and our children may con
tinue to enjoy our inalienable rights, and for this purpose we raise our
voices now to him who is appointed of God to fill the post of father of
his country.
Committing ourselves and our cause to the kindly consideration and
to the prayers of your Royal Highness, and with the assurance of un
ceasing respect and Christian love,
Your Royal Highness's obedient servants.
 •, 1st June, 1850. THE END.

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