HISTORIC. 
 
 ■lAND-BOOI* 
 
/■7 6 7 
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOL LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE CHURCH SCHOOL OF 
 
 ARCH STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 No. 
 
 DONATED BY 
 
 Alfred Percival Sm'rth 
 
 Date Received 8 JAN 1 898 
 
 CORNELL UN. V .uOlTY 
 
 LIBRARIHS 
 
 ITHACA. N. Y. 14583 
 
 JOHN M. OUN 
 ' LIBRARY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 I BX 9565.G64H67 
 
 Historical hand-book of the Reformed Chu 
 
 3 1924 010 323 784 
 
HISTORICAL HAND-BOOK 
 
 OF THB 
 
 REFORMED CHURCH 
 
 IN XHB 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 By rev. JAMES 1. GOOD, D.D. 
 
 (COKTUS KDITION.) 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : <^^'^ 
 
 BBPOBMBD CHUBCH PUBLICATION BOA.BD1 <^ ■ 
 
 1897. ; /.V 
 
E.KPOBT PBB8S, LEBANON", PA. 
 
 
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 Of ■ 1 
 
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PREFACE. 
 
 This hand book has been written at the suggestion 
 of one of the most successful ministers of our Church, 
 who wanted something of the kind for his Young 
 People's Societies. It is dedicated to Christian En- 
 deavor Societies, Brotherhoods of Andrew and Philip, 
 Pleidelberg Leagues, Sunday Schools, and Consisto- 
 ries, hoping that by it they may gain a more intelli- 
 gent idea of the grand history of our Church. We need 
 a revival of our historic consciousness. If we would 
 make our people faithful to our Church, they must 
 know her history. It is hoped that the sesqui-centen- 
 nial year will aid in this. This booklet, therefore, has 
 been published as a Coetus edition. Of course, every- 
 thing is brief : but it is packed with facts, put in popu- 
 lar form so as to be easily read and used. Its price 
 will, it is hoped, place it within reach of all our mem- 
 bers. At the end are questions, so that it can be used 
 as a text book by any of our organizations in their 
 meeting's. The Author. 
 
M]^ Cornell University 
 VM Library 
 
 The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924010323784 
 
a 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SwitserlanD. 
 
 SUNRISE on the Alps is a never-to-be- 
 forgotten sight. The traveler who sees it 
 from the top of the Rigi mountain, will 
 never forget the scene. After he has 
 waited breathlessly for the first sign of the 
 coming day, suddenly one of the snow-capped 
 peaks will be tipped with golden light. Then far 
 distant from it another will be touched; then another 
 near the first; then another and another until 
 the sun seems to play a game of hop, skip and jump 
 among the snow-capped mountain tops. And when 
 at last the sun appears, lo! those snow-capped peaks 
 stand around like lighted torches tO' welcome the 
 bridegroom of the new day, as he again begins to cir- 
 cle the earth. Then slowly the sunlight creeps down 
 the mountain side of the Rigi until at last the dark 
 lakes and cities, 5,000 feet below, are bright with the 
 light of another day. 
 
 But grand as is the sunrise on the Alps, still 
 grander was the sunrise of the Gospel in Switzerland 
 in the days of the Reformation. It rose first on the 
 top of one of the lower Alps in the upper valley of 
 Einsiedeln, where Zwingli began preaching. Then it 
 descended to light the city of Zurich with the bright- 
 ness of the Gospel. Then from city to city and canton 
 to canton it spread its light; — Basle, Schafifhausen, 
 
6 SWITZERLAND 
 
 Berne, Neuchatel and Geneva were, one after the 
 other, Ut with its glorious light, until almost all Swit- 
 zerland had received it. Let us study this sunrise in 
 .Switzerland, the birthplace of our Reformed Church. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 ZwimlU ^be ffounOer of ®ut Cbutcb. 
 
 Ulric Zwingli, the founder of our Church, was bom 
 January i, 1484, at Wildhaus, a little village in one 
 of the upper valleys of the Alps in northeastern Swit- 
 zerland, about 40 miles east of Zurich. A New Year's 
 boy, he was destined to usher in a new year to the 
 world — the Reformation. He was reared as a shep- 
 herd boy; but his father soon saw that he was too 
 bright a boy for the mountains, so he took him, when 
 nine years of age, to Ulric's uncle, the priest of Wesen, 
 about 12 miles further south, where the boy could 
 attend school. But his uncle soon said, "Wesen can 
 do no more for him." So the next year he was sent 
 to a high school at Basle (situated at the northwest 
 corner of Switzerland). There he gave promise of 
 future greatness, for he excelled all his classmates in 
 debate. And when not yet 13 years of age, he was 
 sent to the school at Bern (located at the centre of 
 Switzerland). Fortunately Bern had one of the new 
 teachers called Humanists (who were progressive in 
 their ideas), named Lupulus. He introduced Zwingli 
 to the classics, especially the Latin language. This was 
 his first step toward becoming the future reformer — 
 his contact with the classics or Humanistic studies. In 
 a year or two he attracted so much attention there, 
 that the Dominican monks, admiring his musical tal- 
 ents, tried to get him to join their order, But Ulric's 
 
SWITZERLAND 7 
 
 father had no liking for monks, so he was taken 
 away from Bern and sent to Vienna to study phil- 
 osophy. But his studies here seem to have been a 
 continuation of the classic studies begun at Bern, and 
 he was still further imbued with the progressive 
 spirit of Humanism, which urged the study of Latin 
 and Greek; Had Zwingli's education stopped here, 
 he would have remained a scholar, but never could 
 have become the reformer. But in the providence of 
 God (because he was yet too young to enter the 
 priesthood), he went to Basle, where while teaching 
 and attending the university, he met a decidedly re- 
 ligious and spiritual influence, which led him, ten 
 years later, to become the reformer. For Thomas 
 Wyttenbach here became his teacher. He it 
 was who gave Zwingli the impulse toward the study 
 of Greek, which Zwingli began six years later. Wyt- 
 tenbach especially impressed him with the keynote of 
 his future preaching. "The time is not far distant,'' 
 he said, "when the scholastic theology will be swept 
 away, and the old doctrine of the Church established 
 in its room on the foundation of God's word. Abso- 
 lution is a Romish cheat, the death of Christ is the only 
 payment for our sins." 
 
 The year 1506 finds Zwingli entering his first pas- 
 torate at Glarus, about 35 miles southeast of Zurich. 
 Here, for about 10 years, he continued the faithful 
 priest of the people. No sign of his becoming the 
 future reformer appears at Glarus. Nevertheless, 
 there were certain influences being brought to bear 
 on him that loosened the hold of Rome on him. Thus 
 he saw some of his members go as soldiers hired to 
 fight in the French and Roman armies and either shed 
 their blood for foreign princes on the battle-field, or 
 
8 SWITZERLAND 
 
 come home morally corrupt to demoralize the parish. 
 Against this Zwingli wrote his work, "The Laby- 
 rinth" (1510). He himself went as a chaplain with 
 the army to Italy and his eyes were there opened to 
 the corruption of the papacy. He also ha|Jpened 
 to discover an old liturgy at Mollis, the next village 
 north of Glarus, which said the priests used to give 
 the cup as well as the bread to the laity at the Lord's 
 Supper, and it suggested a question to his mind why 
 that could not still be done. 
 
 While certain influences were thus loosening the 
 hold of Rome on him, others were tightening the hold 
 of truth upon him. It was especially the influence 
 of Humanism which led him to take up the study of 
 the Greek language, for it was Greek that prepared 
 him to read the New Testament a few years later. 
 Picus Mirandula, an Italian free thinker, and Erasmus 
 of Basle, the leader of the Humanists, both greatly in- 
 fluenced him. 
 
 In 1 5 16 two events tended to prepare him to make 
 his break with the papacy. One was the publication 
 of the Greek New Testament by Erasmus. Before that, 
 he had been able to get at the Greek of the New Tes- 
 tament only by the round about way of reading it as 
 found in scattered verses in the homilies of the early 
 church fathers. Now he could get it directly from the 
 Testament. And so enthusiastically and earnestly did 
 he read it, that he learned whole epistles of Paul by 
 heart. 
 
 The other was his call to Einsiedeln, his second 
 charge, a little mountain abbey in an upper Alpine 
 valley, about 20 miles southeast of Zurich, and 16 
 miles west of Glarus. As this abbey had no congre- 
 gation connected with it, he could spend his whole 
 
SWITZERLAND g 
 
 time in study. Here, set aside from the world before 
 entering on his great mission, like Moses and Paul, 
 he studied and prayed. And here he started the Ref- 
 ormation, as he says, in 1516. This was one year be- 
 fore Luther nailed his famous theses on the church 
 door at Wittenberg in Germany, Oct. 31, 1517, which 
 began the Lutheran Reformation. Here the old in- 
 struction of Wyttenbach, given ten years before, came 
 to fruitage, and he preached that "Christ is the ransom 
 for sin." "Not the Virgin Mary (whose sign was 
 over the doorway of the monastery) could forgive sin, 
 but Jesus Christ." The thousands of pilgrims, who 
 came to do honor to the black virgin of Einsiedeln, as 
 the patron saint of that abbey was called, were aston- 
 ished at this new doctrine, and some took it to their 
 homes as they scattered over Switzerland, saying with 
 him, "Christ alone saves and he saved everywhere." 
 
 A third event, which occurred a little later, also 
 came to lead Zwingli away from Rome, namely, the 
 sale of indulgences. In 15 18 Samson appeared in 
 Switzerland to sell them. Zwingli boldly lifted up 
 his voice against them. "Can your gifts save you?" 
 he said. "No, Jesus is the only sacrifice, the only 
 gift, the only way." 
 
 It however soon became evident that his little 
 mountain eyrie was too small a place for so great a 
 man. The centre of northeastern Switzerland has 
 always been Zurich. To this larger field Providence 
 called him in at the close of 1518. .On New Year's 
 day, 1 5 19, when he began preaching in the great 
 cathedral in Zurich, it was indeed a new year, such as 
 they had never seen there. For he began preaching 
 the Gospel to which they had been strangers, and an- 
 nounced that he would preach on the Gospel of 
 
10 SWITZERLAND 
 
 Matthew, chapter after chapter. The people crowded 
 the church to hear this novelty. "We never heard 
 it after this fashion," they said. Some mocked, but 
 most were impressed and blessed by it. Soon, how- 
 ever, overwork so broke him down so that he was 
 compelled to go away for his health to the baths of 
 Ragatz Pfaffers, about 40 miles southeast of Zurich. 
 But, like a faithful shepherd, when he there heard that 
 the plague had broken out in Zurich, he hastened 
 home to comfort the sick and bury the dead. Laid 
 low himself by it, he sank to death's door. But God 
 in His providence brought him health again. How- 
 ever, his sickness deepened his religious experience, 
 so that afterward his Humanistic learning and his elo- 
 c[uence were consecrated more fully to God. This 
 baptism of fire gave him Pentecostal power. 
 
 The first idea of the reformers in the Reformation 
 was to reform the Catholic Church of its errors and 
 abuses. Hence they were then called Reformed. But 
 it soon became evident that they could not do this, 
 and they were compelled to leave that Church. Their 
 name "Reformers" or "Reformed," however, clung 
 to them. At first both Lutherans and Zwinglians 
 were called Reformed, but later the name clung to 
 those who were followers of Zwingli and Calvin. So 
 Zwingli and Zurich were compelled to break from 
 the Romish Church. They could not reform the old 
 Church, which now turned against them, so they left 
 it. One event after another occurred to cause the final 
 breach. On January 29, 1523, a great disputation 
 took place in the council hall of Zurich. Just as 
 Luther had nailed 95 theses on the church door at 
 Wittenberg, so Zwingli brought 67 theses before this 
 council meeting. At a table in the middle of the room 
 
SWITZERLAND ii 
 
 he sat, with the Bible in Latin and Hebrew before 
 him. For it, he claimed supreme authority. The dis- 
 putation resulted in a complete victory for the Re- 
 formed, so that the council ordered that nothing 
 should be taught in the churches except what was 
 founded on the Bible. Soon after it took another 
 step. In October, 1523, some of the Catholic cus- 
 toms were brought to the attention of the council, 
 which ordered that images should be cast out of the 
 churches. The publication of Zwingli's marriage to 
 Anna Reinhard, in 1824, still further widened the 
 breach with Rome. Finally, on April 13, 1525, the 
 Reformation was completed at Zurich, as the Lord's 
 Supper was celebrated, not after the Catholic fashion, 
 but by giving the cup as well as the bread to the com- 
 municants. Thus Zurich and its canton became Re- 
 formed. 
 
 But the Reformation did not stop there. It 
 spread from city to city. Ecolampadius, the twin- 
 worker with Zwingli, introduced it into Basle (1528). 
 A great conference was held at Berne (1528), the capi- 
 tal of the central and the largest canton of Switzer- 
 land. Here Berthold Haller had been trying to in- 
 troduce the Reformed doctrines amid great difficul- 
 ties. At this conference the Reformed gained a great 
 and signal victory. For while Zwingli was preaching 
 in the cathedral on the clause in the Creed which 
 speaks of Christ's ascension into heaven, a priest came 
 into the church to celebrate mass at one of the side 
 altars. But Zwingli's words so impressed him that 
 he cried out, "This is in contradiction to the mass." He 
 threw off his priestly robe, saying, "Unless the mass 
 rests on a more solid foundation, I can celebrate it 
 no longer." His conversion caused a profound im- 
 
12 SWITZERLAND 
 
 pression and proved the forerunner of the conversion 
 of that great canton of Bern to the Reformed faith. 
 Thus almost all of northern Switzerland became Re- 
 formed. 
 
 And now an attempt was made to extend the in- 
 fluence of the Reformed still farther, even into Ger- 
 many. Landgrave Phillip, the ruler of Hesse, was 
 anxious to unite the Lutherans and the Reformed, so 
 that when united, they might be stronger against the 
 Pope. He arranged a conference at Marburg, Oct. 
 2, 1529. There Luther and Melancthon appeared 
 for the Lutherans and Zwingli and Ecolampadius for 
 the Reformed. Their discussion was mainly about 
 the Lord's Supper. It continued for three days, when 
 the appearance of the plague broke up the conference. 
 Landgrave Phillip, finding that the Lutherans and 
 Reformed would not agree to unite to form one 
 Church, urged Luther and Zwingli to acknowledge 
 each other as brethren. Zwingli, bursting into tears, 
 held out his hand. The two Churches of the Reforma- 
 tion were about to become one. But no, Luther re- 
 fused the proffered hand, and ever since the two de- 
 nominations have remained separate. Two more 
 years of life remained to the founder of our Church. 
 They were years of anxiety and prayer. The five 
 Catholic cantons of the upper Alps, southeast of 
 Zurich, plotted against Zurich. The first Cappel 
 war broke out, but fortunately closed without blood- 
 shed. Zwingli, while on this campaign, wrote his 
 hymn: 
 
 Do thou direct thy chariot Lord, 
 
 And guide us at thy will; 
 
 Without thy aid our strength is vain 
 
 And useless all our skill. 
 
SWITZERLAND 13 
 
 Look down upon thy saints brought low, 
 And prostrate brought beneath the foe. 
 
 Send down thy peace and banish strife, 
 
 Let bitterness depart; 
 
 Revive the spirit of the past 
 
 In every true Swiss heart. 
 
 Then shall thy church forever sing 
 
 The praises of her heavenly King. 
 
 But the peace was only temporary. In 1531 hos- 
 tilities broke out again. Suddenly news came to 
 Zurich that the army of the Five Cantons was ap- 
 proaching. A small army was hurriedly gathered to- 
 gether, among it, however, the bravest soldiers of 
 Zurich. Zwingli went along as its chaplain. The 
 two armies met at Cappel, about ten miles south of 
 Zurich. The Zurich army was completely defeated. 
 Zwingli, while stooping to minister to a fallen soldier, 
 was struck with a stone. As a lance sent him reeling 
 to the ground, he exclaimed, "What evil is it? They 
 may kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul." He 
 died under a pear tree (Oct. 11, 1531). His body was 
 burned and its ashes mixed with those of swine be- 
 cause his conquerors considered him a heretic. So 
 died the martyr of the first great quartette of the re- 
 formers, Luther, Melancthon, Zwingli and Ecolampa- 
 dius. He was a brave patriot, an eloquent preacher, 
 a brilliant scholar, a faithful pastor. And now more 
 than twenty millions of Reformed and Presbyterians 
 in all parts of the globe look to him as their founder. 
 
14 SWITZERLAND 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 aSulltngec aiiB Galvln. 
 
 The workers die, God's work does not. God's 
 work depends on no single individual. For though 
 the workers die, God's work goes on. They are mor- 
 tal, but it is immortal. Other workers come to take 
 the places of those who drop out of the ranks by death. 
 And so when Zwingli died, two men arose to take his 
 place in Switzerland, so that the Reformation went on 
 with greater power than ever before. 
 
 Henry Bullinger. 
 
 He was born at Bremgarten, July i8, 1504. When 
 a boy, his life was twice remarkably preserved. The 
 first was when he had been so ill with the plague that 
 they supposed he was dead, and were assembled for 
 the funeral, when suddenly, to the astonishment of all, 
 he came back to life and recovered. God's providence 
 preserved him for great purposes. He early showed 
 great precocity of mind and an inclination to spiritual 
 things. When 12 years old, he was sent to Emmerich in 
 northern Germany, to one of those schools which were 
 the forerunners of the Reformation — founded by the 
 Brethren of the Common Life. These had been 
 founded by Gerhart Groot a century and a lialf before, 
 and their brightest ornament had been Thomas a 
 Kempis, who wrote "The Imitation of Christ." Their 
 aim was to disseminate the knowledge of the Bible by 
 education, and they thus prepared some of the leading 
 reformers for their work in the Reformation. At Em- 
 merich, Bullinger studied Latin, and, like Luther, 
 sang hymns in the streets, so as to get money to gain 
 an education. At the age of 15, he went to the great 
 
SWITZERLAND iS 
 
 Catholic University at Cologne, in order to study for 
 the priesthood. There, while reading dogmatics, he 
 discovered that they referred constantly to the early 
 church fathers. So he went to their source, the 
 church fathers, and found Chrysostom's Homilies on 
 Matthew and other works of the fathers. From them 
 he began reading Luther's writings. These led him 
 still further to the root of things, so that he did not 
 stop with the fathers until he went to the source 
 whence they drew their authority, namely, the New 
 Testament. Day and night he thus studied (1521- 
 1522). The result was that he gave up the idea of be- 
 coming a priest and became a Protestant instead. 
 
 Meanwhile strange changes were taking place in 
 his native land of Switzerland, under Zwingli. So 
 when he went home he at once found a school ready 
 for him in which he could teach, at Cappel, where 
 Zwingli afterwards was killed on the battlefield. Here 
 he became greatly influenced by Zwingli's teachings. 
 
 In 1529 he was called to be assistant to his aged 
 father, pastor of the church at Bremgarten. But in 
 1 53 1, when Zwingli was killed at the battle of Cappel, 
 the war drove both Bullinger and his father from 
 Bremgarten, and they fled to Zurich. Here every- 
 thing was in confusion after Zwingli's death. There 
 was danger of a reaction toward Catholicism. To pre- 
 vent this, the Reformed were anxiously looking about 
 for a leader. They first invited Ecolampadius, of 
 Basle, to come and take Zwingli's place, and mean- 
 while asked Bullinger to preach in the cathedral. His 
 preaching astonished every one. Though so young a 
 man (only 28) he revealed just the qualities they sought 
 for in their leader. And so, as Ecolampadius de- 
 clined, he was elected to this important position (Dec. 
 
i6 SWITZERLAND 
 
 9, 1531) just two months after Zwingli's death. He 
 proved to be the man for the hour. His learning, 
 eloquence, common sense and earnest piety enabled 
 him to fill that difficult office with success. By his 
 wisdom he destroyed the hopes of the Catholics and 
 by his firmness he rallied the power of the Reformed. 
 He soon was known all over Europe as the worthy 
 successor of Zwingli. During his life Zurich became 
 the asylum for all Reformed refugees. There English 
 bishops and Italian refugees from Locarno rejoiced 
 at his kindly reception. He had taken the wife and 
 family of Zwingli into his own home after Zwingli's 
 death, and cared for them as his own. The same 
 kindness he showed to the persecuted foreigners, even 
 starting an English theological seminary for the 
 young English students for the ministry who were 
 there. His kindness was so appreciated by the Eng- 
 lish, that Queen Elizabeth afterwards presented him 
 with a goblet as a token of the appreciation of the 
 English people. He wrote many theological works, 
 the most important being the "Second Helvetic Con- 
 fession," which was adopted by all the Swiss Re- 
 formed churches as their creed. Frederick the Third, 
 of the Palatinate, was so pleased with this creed that 
 he incorporated it in his will. His writings were in 
 great favor, especially among the English, his "Ten 
 Decades" being for many years the leading theolo- 
 gical text-book in England. But his most important 
 work was to unite the two Reformed churches of 
 Switzerland, the Southern or French Reformed, and 
 the Northern or German Reformed. This he did by 
 uniting with John Calvin in the Zurich (Tigurine) 
 Confession (1549). He died at Zurich, honored near 
 and far by all, Sept. 17, 1575. 
 
SWITZERLAND i; 
 
 John Calvin. 
 
 If Zwingli was the founder of our Reformed 
 Church, John Calvin was its organizer. He was the 
 greatest commentator and most acute theologian of 
 the Reformation. He was a Frenchman, born at 
 Noyon, in Northern France, July lo, 1509. He was 
 destined for the priesthood, and studied at Paris and 
 Bourges in France. At the latter place he met a Ger- 
 man, Wolmar, who did for him what Wyttenbach had 
 done for Zwingli — he led him to Christ(iS35).* Called 
 to preach first at Bourges, Calvin then became pastor 
 of the rapidly increasing Reformed Church of Paris. But 
 because of an inaugural address favoring Protestant- 
 ism which he prepared for the rector of the university, 
 he was compelled to flee. For two years he was a 
 fugitive under assumed names. He spent some time 
 in the library of his friend du Tille, at Angouleme; at 
 another time he was at Poictiers. There he did a braver 
 thing than ever the Black Prince of England had done 
 in battle there, centuries before. Calvin gathered a 
 few Reformed together in a cave, still called "Calvin's 
 Cave." Behind it were the ruins of a Roman acque- 
 duct, below it flowed the river. There he assembled 
 them to celebrate the Lord's Supper, and pledged 
 them to go out and save France for Protestantism — 
 an act which led some of them to martyrdom. Calvin 
 again went to Paris, but was again compelled to flee. 
 On his way to Strassburg he was robbed of all that 
 he had. But Strassburg was the asylum of all God's 
 saints, and good mother Zell, the wife of the first re- 
 former there, gave him a welcome to their home. He 
 
 *NOTE!.— Le Franc, in his late work, claims that Calvin's parents were 
 Protestants and that he was a Protestant before he went to study at these 
 universities. 
 
i8 SWITZERLAND 
 
 then went to Basle, where he wrote his immortal "In- 
 stitutes," the finest work on doctrine that appeared in 
 the Reformation. It was a wonderful creation for a 
 young man of only 2'^ years of age; but it is to be re- 
 membered that the Reformation made men precocious. 
 Then he went to northern Italy, to the court of Coun- 
 tess Rene at Ferrara, who sympathized with the Refor- 
 mation. So even in Italy, the Pope's country, he 
 bore witness for the truth. But the Inquisition did 
 not allow him to remain there long undisturbed, and 
 he fled. There is a pass over the southern Alps to 
 Switzerland called the St. Bernard pass, famous now 
 for its large and intelligent dogs. At the southern 
 end of it, at Aosta, is a place still shown as "Calvin's 
 Farm," where he staid temporarily in his flight to 
 Switzerland. 
 
 And now we come to one of the most dramatic 
 scenes in Reformed Church history, — the call of Cal- 
 vin. It and the defence of our Heidelberg Catechism 
 by Elector Frederick III., at Augsburg, in 1566, are 
 the two greatest dramatic scenes in our history. The 
 bravest of all the early reformers was William Farel. 
 "He never feared man, only God." Like Calvin, he 
 was a Frenchman, and had been driven out of France 
 for his Reformed faith. But as he could not save 
 France, he would save French Switzerland. So, dis- 
 guised as a schoolmaster, he appeared in the southern 
 part of the canton of Bern and began teaching the 
 people the Gospel. This caused a commotion. Then 
 he crossed the lake of Neuchatel one December day in 
 a little boat. Not great Caesar of Rome in his boat 
 in a storm carried a greater destiny with him than did 
 Farel in his boat, for he came to save the canton of 
 Neuchatel and French Switzerland. Forbidden to 
 
SWITZERLAND 19 
 
 preach in the churches, he made a pulpit of the stone 
 in the cemetery of the church at Serrieres and pro- 
 claimed the evangelical gospel. Soon they called on 
 him to come to the neighboring city of Neuchatel, 
 where he preached at a fountain. And at last they took 
 him by main force from this fountain and hurried him 
 up the steep hill to the cathedral of Neuchatel. Here 
 from his pulpit Farel preached the Gospel and that day 
 they cast all the images out of the church. The trav- 
 eler who visits Neuchatel today will see in that church 
 the inscription, "On October 23, 1530, idolatry was 
 overthrown and removed from this church by the citi- 
 zens." But Farel had his eye on the conquest of a 
 greater city than Neuchatel, namely, Geneva. To 
 it he stole and privately began holding services. The 
 Papists became alarmed at him and tried in every way 
 to get rid of him. They tried to shoot him, but the 
 gun failed to go off and the intrepid reformer said, "I 
 fear your gun no more than if it were a popgun." 
 They tried to poison him, but fortunately he did not 
 eat of the poisoned soup, although the poison almost 
 carried off his young helper and reformer, Viret. In 
 spite of all these obstacles, the Reformation continued 
 to gain power in Geneva, and Farel soon felt that the 
 work was getting too great for him. 
 
 Just as Farel was praying for God to send some one 
 to help, Calvin came to the city. He expected to stay 
 only over night, but in the providence of God he was 
 led to stay there almost a whole lifetime. Farel heard 
 of his arrival and a voice seemed to say to him, "This 
 is the man whom you are seeking." "Stay with me," 
 he said to Calvin, "and help me." Calvin refused. 
 He wanted to study, to travel, to rest. He was not 
 strong enough to undertake so great a work as to re- 
 
20 SWITZERLAND 
 
 form Geneva. Farel reminded him of the fate of 
 Jonah fleeing from his duty. Calvin was shaken by 
 the struggle going on within him like an oak assailed 
 by the tempest. Suddenly Farel, fixing his eyes of 
 fire on him, placing his hands on Calvin's head, ex- 
 claimed in a voice of thunder, "May God curse your 
 repose and your studies if in such a necessity you re- 
 fuse to give us help." Calvin trembled in every limb 
 and finally yielded and stayed at Geneva. His re- 
 forms, however, were so severe that a reaction took 
 place. And when he refused to introduce the church 
 customs of Bern, he and Farel were compelled to 
 leave Geneva (1538). He found a refuge, as before, 
 at Strassburg, and Farel found a home at Neuchatel. 
 Calvin's stay at Strassburg was very important, for it 
 brought him in contact with the German reformers 
 and also enabled him to counteract some of the Cath- 
 olic designs in Germany. There Melancthon became 
 his warm friend. He also found a wife, Idelette Van 
 Buren, whom he married in 1540. But Geneva could 
 not get along without Calvin. Matters went from 
 bad to worse, until in 1541 the city was glad to recall 
 him. And from that time until his death he was the 
 great reformer of Geneva. By his strict moral code 
 it became the model city of that age, and his fame 
 drew many scholars to it. An unfortunate event oc- 
 curred when Servetus, for his pantheizing unbelief, 
 was burned at Geneva, Oct. 27, 1553. Calvin has 
 been charged with having caused his death. But this 
 does not seem to have been true, for Servetus' judges 
 were Calvin's political enemies.* But his extra- 
 ordinary labors as preacher, pastor, professor, and 
 leader, proved too great for his frail body. His 
 
 *NoT^.— See Presbyterian and Eeformed Review, July, 1893. 
 
SWITZERLAND 21 
 
 health began to give way, until he was confined to his 
 bed. On April 30, 1564, he gathered the city council 
 of Geneva before his deathbed and addressed them, 
 thanking them for their kindness, asking pardon for 
 his occasional impatience, and exhorting them to con- 
 tinue in the true doctrine of Christ. They were moved 
 to tears by his remarks. His last days were spent in 
 prayer. With the setting of the sun he fell asleep 
 May 27, 1564. Great was the grief of Geneva, in 
 which she had the sympathy of Protestants all over 
 Europe. In the cemetery at Geneva is a stone marked 
 J. C., which is said to mark the grave of Calvin, but 
 this is not probable, for he, with his characteristic 
 modesty, desired that his grave be unknown. His 
 better monument was the city of Geneva and the Cal- 
 vinistic churches which since his day have spread all 
 over the world. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Mistorg of tbe IReformeO Cburcb ot Zuricb. 
 
 It was fortunate for Zurich that when such great 
 minds as Zwingli and Bullinger had passed away, she 
 still had a minister of the first rank, intellectually, to 
 put into their place as antistes.* The third antistes 
 was Rudolph Gualther (1575-1585). He was the son- 
 in-law of Zwingli. For Bullinger had noticed this 
 precocious youth and taken him into his family, where 
 he already had the family of Zwingli. So that Gual- 
 ther grew up with, and married, Zwingli's favorite 
 daughter, Regula. Soon after he became pastor at 
 Zurich be created a great sensation by preaching a 
 sermon against the Pope as anti-Christ. The Catho- 
 lics, who had been plotting against Zurich ever since 
 
 *NoTE.— Aotistes is tbe head minister of tbe canton. 
 
22 SWITZERLAND 
 
 Zwingli's death, made an effort to get him punished 
 by the Swiss government. Failing in this, they re- 
 sorted to treachery. One day as Gualther was going 
 to morning service at the cathedral a stranger met 
 him and warned him that if three young men, clothed 
 in white, came to see him, he should not admit them 
 to his house or read their letters, for they wanted 
 to assassinate him. Gualther put his family on their 
 guard. Fifteen days after, while he was at dinner, 
 one of the students who boarded with him, admitted 
 three young men dressed in white. Gualther arose 
 from his seat with his dinner knife in one hand and 
 a dagger in the other. The strangers seeing him and 
 the students who were boarding with him so well arm- 
 ed, went away, leaving letters with him. When he 
 searched for them at the hotel where they said they 
 stopped, he could not find them. And it was found 
 afterwards that they had horses secreted near the 
 town, so as to escape when they had assassinated him. 
 Thus the Lord spared his life and made him finally 
 the head of the Zurich church, worthy of his prede- 
 cessors. "Zwingli," says a writer, "excelled in his ex- 
 cellent reforms, Bullinger in his commentaries, and 
 Gualther in his sermons and homilies." 
 
 The seventh antistes (the fourth from Gualther) was 
 also a great man, John Jacob Breitinger (1613-1645). 
 He was educated at Zurich and also in Holland, where 
 he formed many acquaintances who' afterwards 
 greatly affected his life, as at the synod of Dort. Hav- 
 ing returned to Zurich, he became pastor there. In 
 1610 occurred an event that made him the most hated 
 and the most loved man in Zurich. That summer he 
 quietly went on a vacation trip to southern Switzer- 
 land. Hardly had he gone before the plague broke 
 
SWITZERLAND 23 
 
 out in Zurich with terrible violence. At once the 
 rumor started that he had fled from his post of duty 
 because of fear of the plague. So great was the feel- 
 ing against him that his wife hardly dared go out of 
 the house. In the meanwhile, all oblivious of this, he 
 continued his tour. When he returned he at once set 
 to work to allay the prejudice by faithful visitation on 
 the sick. He was instant in season and out of season, 
 visiting the sick morning, noon and at midnight. His 
 pastoral visits became so popular that he was sent for 
 from every part of the city. Often at night five or six 
 persons would be waiting at his house to take him to 
 their sick. Mercifully his health was spared, although 
 the plague carried ofif 6,000 in Zurich. Through this 
 plague he became the most popular minister there. 
 And when there was a vacancy he was elected antistes 
 (1613). 
 
 It was a fortunate thing for Zurich that she had so 
 great a man in the antistes' chair at that time, for two 
 storms, one political, the other religious, were gather- 
 ing over her. The first was the awful Thirty Years' 
 war, the second was the Arminian controversy in Hol- 
 land. It needed both a very profound theologian and 
 a very wise manager to carry the Church safely 
 through the storms that then threatened her. Fortu- 
 nately Breitinger was the man for the hour. In 1618 
 the Dutch government and the theologians sent an 
 invitation to the Swiss Reformed churches to send 
 delegates to the synod of Dort (in Holland) which was 
 to decide the controversy that had arisen between 
 the Calvinists and Arminians in Holland.* At 
 first the Swiss held back from accepting the invita- 
 tion because they did not want to become involved in 
 
 I^OTE.— The Arminians gave up the doctrine of predestination. 
 
24 SWITZERLAND 
 
 what seemed to them a foreign controversy. But 
 Breitinger's early student friends in Holland appealed 
 to him to use his influence in their favor. They urged 
 that Zurich, as the mother Church of the Reformed, 
 ought to be represented at the synod, so as to declare 
 the doctrine of early Reformed Church. So Breit- 
 inger, with six other Swiss delegates, was sent to the 
 synod. But he was the leader of the delegation, al- 
 though Diodati, of Geneva, was also prominent. For- 
 tunate it was for Zurich that she had so able an antistes 
 at that time, who could exert such a commanding in- 
 fluence at Dort and bring credit to herself. When he 
 arrived at Dort, he was received with great honor by 
 the Dutch because he was the representative of the 
 mother church of the Reformed and the successor of 
 Zwingli. At this synod (1618-1619) he took sides 
 against the Arminians, but did not favor the severe 
 civil measures that were used by the Dutch govern- 
 ment against them. When he returned home from 
 Dort the Dutch government rewarded him very hand- 
 somely, and when he again came within the bounds of 
 the Canton of Zurich he was received with so much 
 honor that his course was like the triumphal entry of 
 a conqueror. 
 
 After Breitinger's death, it became noticeable that 
 the strongest thinkers were not in the antistes' chair, 
 but were outside of it, in the professors' chairs. The 
 most brilliant mind that Zurich then produced was 
 Prof. John Henry Hottinger, who was professor at 
 Zurich (1653- 1 667). So great was his talent for lan- 
 guages that he became the foremost Hebrew scholar 
 in his day. The Elector (prince) of the Palatinate in 
 Germany borrowed him for a few years to teach in 
 his university at Heidelberg, There is a story told 
 
SWITZERLAND 25 
 
 that a Jewish rabbi with his son, called toi see him 
 there. The rabbi had for a long time been trying 
 with little success, to train his son to speak Hebrew. 
 When the rabbi heard with what ease Hettinger 
 spoke Hebrew, he suddenly fell into a great rage and 
 began beating his son severely, saying, "You clown, 
 how long have I taught you Hebrew and you let your- 
 self be outdone by this Christian." The Elector tried 
 to retain him at Heidelberg, but Zurich called him 
 home. His fame, however, had become too great for 
 Zurich to retain him. The University of Leyden in 
 Holland, which was the foremost Reformed Univer- 
 sity of its day, called him twice. The second call he 
 accepted, and he was about leaving Zurich when he 
 was accidentally drowned there in the Limmat River, 
 to the great sorrow of the Reformed of Zurich and of 
 all Europe. 
 
 The most able theologian of Zurich was Prof. John 
 Henry Heidegger. Like Hottinger, he was educated 
 in Holland as well as at Zurich, but returned home, 
 where he was made professor in Hottinger's place. 
 His fine theological abilities led to his appointment 
 to draw up the new Creed, the Helvetic Consensus, in 
 1675. The Swiss Church had before adopted the Sec- 
 ond Helvetic Confession, but in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury a triumvirate of theologians — Gernler of Basle, 
 Turretin of Geneva, and Heidegger of Zurich — de- 
 sired a new creed, which should be directed against 
 the school of Saumur, in France, which held lower 
 views on predestination. Heidegger drew up the 
 creed with great care and ability. After Heidegger 
 the only antistes of any note was the thirteenth, 
 Klingler, who was a strong leader for the Church. 
 
 In 1722 the King of Prussia requested the Swiss 
 
26 SWITZERLAND 
 
 Churches to cast off the new creed, the Helvetic Con- 
 sensus, because its high Calvinism prevented Church 
 union. In this movement he was aided by the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury in England. A new triumvirate 
 of Swiss theologians — Werenfels of Basle, Osterwald 
 of Neuchatel, and A. Turretin of Geneva — aided in 
 securing its rejection by the Reformed Churches of 
 the different Swiss cantons. Basle, Geneva and Neu- 
 chatel cast aside its authority, but Zurich and Berne 
 retained it, in spite of all influence brought to bear on 
 them. Zurich recognized its authority as late as 1741, 
 when it declared for the old creeds over against the 
 rationalism which had entered the Church through 
 Antistes Wirz and Professor Zimmerman. 
 
 After rationalism had blighted the Church of Zurich 
 for well nigh half a century (i 741 -1795), a reaction 
 took place back to orthodoxy. Two men became es- 
 pecially prominent in this movement. The first was 
 J. Casper Lavater, probably the most eloquent 
 preacher of his day in Europe, who astonished the 
 Zurich Church in 1779 by coming out boldly against 
 rationalism. Even in the first year of his ministry 
 (1762) he showed the braveness of his heart. A 
 Zurich magistrate, Grebel, was known for his corrup- 
 tion and bribes, yet because he was of an influential 
 family, every one feared to bring accusations against 
 him. Not so Lavater. Although so young a man, he 
 brought charges against the magistrate. At first the 
 magistrate laughed at him, but soon he fled from the 
 town. This natural boldness of Lavater, which led 
 him so early to attack this magistrate, led him just as 
 boldly to attack rationalism. He was called to the 
 largest and wealthiest Church in Zurich, St. Peter's. 
 Here with great eloquence, from 1778 to 1801, he at- 
 
SWITZERLAND 27 
 
 tacked rationalism and preached the Gospel of Jesus. 
 And he was as bold politically as he was theologically. 
 His denunciation of the French, who conquered Swit- 
 zerland at the close of the last century, made them his 
 bitter enemies, and finally led to his death. When the 
 battle of Zurich was taking place (1799), he was about 
 to perform a kind act to a French soldier, on the street 
 near his home, when one of them shot him. Severely 
 wounded, he lingered for about a year in great pain 
 and then died (January 2, 1801,) rejoicing in hope. 
 His death bed was a transfiguration scene. 
 
 The second was John Jacob Hess, the eighteenth an- 
 tistes (1795-1828). He was less brilliant than Lava- 
 ter, but a more practical man. In his character he 
 reminds one of Breitinger. Indeed it may be said 
 that Zurich had in all five great antistes, Zwingli, Bul- 
 linger, Gualther, Breitinger and Hess. Fortunate it 
 was for Zurich that she had a man, at once so wise 
 and so able as Hess to lead the Church through the 
 dangerous days of the French occupation. He was 
 a man of superb poise of character and self-control, 
 a genius of common sense. When the French were 
 bombarding Zurich in 1802, he kept on writing his 
 sermon as if nothing were happening around him. He 
 was the calm John of that age as Lavater was the im- 
 pulsive Peter. The one complemented the other, but 
 both were true disciples of Christ against rationalism. 
 He is famous for his "Life of Christ," the first of its 
 kind. Providence blessed him with long life, so that 
 in his old age he was privileged to preside over the 
 tercentenary of the Reformation at Zurich, January i, 
 18 19. Although eig'hty years of age, he made an able 
 address which for its ability and adherence in the old 
 faith made many think he was a "Zwingli risen from 
 
28 SWITZERLAND 
 
 the dead." This sketch of the Zurich Church is im- 
 portant for us because it reveals not merely the origin 
 of our Reformed Church in the days of the Reforma- 
 tion and because so many of our early ministers, who 
 organized our Church in America came from north- 
 eastern Switzerland, whose theology and thought, for 
 the last three centuries, were dominated mainly by 
 Zurich. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 3WITZERLAND was too small a land to re- 
 tain the Reformed faith within her borders. 
 It spread to other lands and soon proved a 
 blessing to all Europe. France, Holland, 
 England, Scotland, Bohemia, Hungarj-, 
 Germany, all received it. Of these the land that in- 
 terests us mostly is Germany, the land of our fore- 
 fathers. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 XLbe liairiting of tbe tlctOelberg Catccbism. 
 
 In Germany the Reformed doctrines were late in 
 gaining permanent hold. The early German Refor- 
 mation was almost entirely Lutheran. Not until 
 nearly half a century after, about 1662, did the Re- 
 formed doctrines gain a firm foothold in Germany, 
 by conquering the Palatinate. It is true the first Re- 
 formed congregation in Germany was organized as 
 early as 1526 by Aportanus at Emden, a town at the 
 extreme northwestern end of Germany. And there 
 had also been certain movements toward the Re- 
 formed as at Strassburg by Bucer (1524- 1549); and 
 at the conference at Marburg (1529), where Lambert 
 of Avignon, the reformer of Hesse, was led to em- 
 brace the Reformed faith, and the Presbyterian form of 
 government was introduced into Hesse. 
 
30 GERMANY 
 
 The Church at Emden has an interesting history. 
 For it was there that John A. Lasco became the first 
 great Reformed reformer of Germany. Born in Po- 
 land, 1499, he was one of the most beautiful char- 
 acters of the Reformation — "a soul without a stain," 
 as Erasmus said.* He it was who first laid the per- 
 manent ioundations of the Reformed faith in Ger- 
 many. He had a brilliant career as a student and a 
 bright future before him in the Catholic Church, as 
 his uncle was the head of the Catholic Church of Po- 
 land and he was in a fair way to succeed his uncle in 
 his dignities and titles. But he gave up his honors 
 and wealth and nobility to become a reformer; for 
 while being educated, he had traveled westward from 
 Poland to Switzerland and met Erasmus, and through 
 him he became a Humanist. He returned to Poland 
 and became Catholic archdeacon of Warsaw. But 
 he was not satisfied. Humanism and its learning 
 failed to satisfy him. Only the Evangelical doctrine, 
 which he had once heard from Zwingli (1523), satis- 
 fied him, and so he became a Protestant. Having 
 left Poland he came to East Friesland, of which Em- 
 den was the capital, and its ruler persuaded him in 
 1544 to become the superintendent of the Church in 
 his land. Lasco at once introduced the simple wor- 
 ship of the Reformed and organized (1544) the Coetus 
 (a sort of Synod), the oldest Reformed organization in 
 Europe today, except the Venerable Company 
 of Geneva. This Coetus is still in existence and 
 holds its meetings regularly at Emden. Then he went 
 to England to aid the Reformation there, but was 
 driven out by the persecution under bloody Queen 
 Mary. Those who accompanied him in his vessel 
 were refused shelter by Denmark because they were 
 
 *NoTH.— For fuller accounta of this interesting man see Tlie Origin of tlie 
 Reformed Church in Germany, by Rev. James I. Good, D.D., pages 80-108. 
 
GERMANY 31 
 
 Reformed, but he succeeded in finding his way back 
 to Emden. Tlien he went to Frankford where he 
 became pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church. His 
 anxiety for his Church at Frankford led him to go to 
 Heidelberg to get the Elector of the Palatinate to in- 
 tercede for him. Soon, however, he had a fine op- 
 portunity to go back to Poland, which was now open- 
 ing up to the Gospel. He returned there and founded 
 its Reformed Church and aided in translating the Po- 
 lish Bible. He died there 1560. He was a prince- 
 preacher — a reformer in three lands, Germany, Eng- 
 land and Poland. 
 
 But the most important event for the Reformed 
 was the conversion of the Palatinate from Lutheran- 
 ism to the Reformed faith. The Palatinate in west- 
 ern Germany, situated on both sides of the Rhine, and 
 whose capital was Heidelberg, was one of the most 
 beautiful and fertile parts of Germany. Certain 
 events had been preparing parts of Germany to re- 
 ceive the Reformed faith. The main one was the 
 conflict in the Lutheran Church. Luther was now 
 dead and his followers split into two parties, a high 
 Lutheran party led by Flacius, and a low Lutheran 
 led by Melancthon and his followers. While the 
 Lutherans were dividing, the Reformed doctrines 
 were becoming better known in Germany. So that 
 a large part of the Melancthonians, wearied of the 
 attacks of the high Lutherans on them, went over 
 to the Reformed. The first prince to do this was 
 Elector Frederick HL, of the Palatinate, one of the 
 best and most pious princes of his day. When he 
 came to the throne he found four diiTerent parties in 
 his Church, — High Lutherans, led by Hesshuss; 
 Zwinglians, led by Erastus; Melancthonians, led by 
 
32 GERMANY 
 
 Diller, and Calvinists, led by Boquin. Hesshuss, by 
 his narrow bigotry, caused the Elector to dislike him 
 and he was soon deposed. Reformed professors like 
 Boquin, Erastus and finally Ursinus and Olevianus, 
 had been appointed, so that in 1562 Frederick, having 
 become fully Reformed, ordered Ursinus and Olevia- 
 nus to prepare a new catechism. Who were these 
 two young men, the one only 26 years of age, the 
 other only 28, who were so mature as to prepare one 
 of the most wonderful of creeds? 
 
 Zachariali Ursinus was born in eastern Germany, 
 at Breslau, July 18, 1534. He was a pupil of Me- 
 lancthon at Wittenberg and was compelled to leave 
 his native city by the High Lutherans because of his 
 sympathy with Melancthonianism. He then went 
 to Zurich, in Switzerland, where he came under Re- 
 formed influences, especially of Peter Martyr. When 
 the latter refused a call to Heidelberg University, 
 Ursinus was called in his place (1561). He there be- 
 came professor in the Sapienz college, which was in- 
 tended to prepare young men for the ministry. He 
 was one of the strongest theologians of that second 
 generation of reformers. 
 
 Casper Olevianus, the other author of our cate- 
 chism, was from Western Germany. He was bom 
 at Treves August 30, 1536, and was educated at 
 Bourges, in France. Here an event turned his mind 
 to the Gospel ministry. He had at this university 
 an intimate friend in the son of the Elector of the Pa- 
 latinate. They were walking together along the shore 
 of the river, when some students called to them to 
 join them' in their boat. The prince accepted but 
 Olevianus refused. A few moments after, the boat 
 was upset and all thrown out. Olevianus rushed into 
 
GERMANY 33 
 
 the water to save the prince, but instead found him- 
 self in imminent danger of drowning. While thus 
 hanging between life and death he vowed that if God 
 would spare his life he would become a minister. The 
 servant of the prince then came, rushed into the wa- 
 ter and saved Olevianus. True to his promise, he 
 studied theology under Calvin at Geneva. But his 
 heart burned to tell the Gospel to his own city, which 
 was one of the most priest-ridden cities of Europe. 
 So having gained a position there as teacher, he had 
 the boldness one morning to nail up on the city hall 
 a notice that he would hold an evangelical service 
 that Sunday morning. The people came in crowds 
 to hear this novelty, but the Catholic Elector of 
 Treves, hearing of this, returned with his army, be- 
 sieged the town, captured it, drove out the Reformed 
 and put Olevianus in prison. Elector Frederick III., 
 of the Palatinate, interceded for him and he was re- 
 leased and appointed as preacher and superintendent 
 at Heidelberg. 
 
 These were the two men appointed by the Elector 
 to prepare his new creed, in the latter part of 1562. It 
 was published early in 1563, the Elector's preface be- 
 ing dated January 19 of that year. Hence our Church 
 generally observes the Sunday nearest to that date 
 as Reformation Day. So popular did this new creed 
 become that four editions of it were required in the 
 first year (1563). It was introduced everywhere in 
 the Palatinate and soon began to win its way into 
 other lands.* But a storm of opposition to it 
 began to gather over Frederick's head. The Luth- 
 eran and Catholic princes of Germany joined hands 
 
 »DOTE.— Por the best commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism get Thele- 
 man's, translated by Prof, M. Peters. 
 
34 GERMANY 
 
 to suppress it. A conference was held at Maulbron, 
 in Wurtemberg, near the Palatinate border, on April 
 lo, 1564, between the Lutheran and Reformed theo- 
 logians, but they could not come to an agreement. 
 Then the Emperor of Germany summoned Frederick 
 to appear before the Diet (Congress) in May, 1566, 
 at Augsburg, to answer for his catechism. It looked 
 as if the Emperor would crush out the catechism and 
 perhaps depose Frederick. So threatening did mat- 
 ters look that his brother warned Frederick not to go 
 to Augsburg. Indeed a rumor came to Heidelberg 
 after he had gone to Augsburg that he had been 
 deposed from his throne because of his catechism. 
 But Frederick had the martyr-spirit and said 
 he was ready to suffer for his catechism if 
 necessary. So he went to Augsburg to the Diet.* 
 On the day appointed to him to answer for his cate- 
 chism (May 14, 1566) he entered the room followed 
 by his son Casimir, who carried a Bible. He defended 
 his catechism, and asked that it be shown to be con- 
 trary to the Word of God. His address was so able, 
 so convincing and so spiritual that it disarmed all op- 
 position. The Elector of Saxony said: "Fritz, you 
 are better than all of us," and the Margrave of Baden 
 remarked: "Why trouble ye this man. He is more 
 pious than all of us." The result of this trial was 
 that Frederick was allowed to retain his catechism. It 
 was a magnificent defence and revealed the true great- 
 ness of Frederick. He continued to rule the Palati- 
 nate until October 26, 1576, when he died. He was 
 one of the most pious princes of an age that produced 
 many pious princes. When asked why he did not 
 
 *NoTi!.— ror a graphic account of this most magnifleent scene in our 
 Reformed Church history see The Origin of the Reformed Church by Rev. 
 James I. Good, D.D., pages 193-216. 
 
GERMANY 35 
 
 build more forts he replied in the words of Luther's 
 famous hymn: "A mighty fortress is our God." The 
 money that other princes spent in war or luxury he 
 gave to churches, schools and hospitals. He was a 
 true nobleman, a nobleman by character as well as by 
 birth. 
 
 After his death his successor and son. Elector 
 Lewis, re-introduced Lutheranism into the Palatinate 
 and both Ursinus and Olevianus had to leave Heidel- 
 berg. Ursinus went with Prince Casimir westward 
 to Neustadt, where the latter opened a new university 
 (1578). Here Ursinus taught theology with great 
 acceptance till he died, March 6, 1783. His epitaph 
 says of him — "a great theologian, a keen-sighted phi- 
 losopher, a wise man, a mighty teacher of the youth." 
 
 While Ursinus went to Neustadt, Olevianus went 
 northeast from Heidelberg, first to Sayn Wittgenstein 
 and then settled at Herbom in Nassau, (a district east 
 of the Rhine and north of Frankford). There Count 
 John, of Nassau, founded a new university and made 
 him professor of theology. He taught there till he 
 died, March 15, 1787. The "comfort" of his Heidel- 
 berg catechism remained with him till he died, for at 
 his death when he was asked whether he was certain 
 of salvation, he replied, "I am most certain." 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Zbe Spteao of tbe IRcformeO Cburcb in (BcrmaiiB. 
 
 The Reformed doctrine, like the banyan tree, send- 
 ing forth its shoots, which rapidly grow into new trees, 
 spread rapidly through Germany from province to 
 province. The Reformed of Holland, who then 
 found a refuge from their persecutions in Germany, 
 
36 GERMANY 
 
 adopted the Heidelberg Catechism at the Synod of 
 Wesel, 1568. The Reformed faith was introduced 
 into Nassau in 1578, into the lower Rhine region 
 about 1577, into Bremen in 1581, into Zweibrucken 
 1588, into Anhalt 1597, and Lippe 1600. Two large 
 and influential provinces received it early in the 
 seventeenth century. The first was Hesse Cassel. There 
 Landgrave Maurice, the ruler, weary of the attacks 
 of the High Lutherans on the Melancthonians, with 
 whom he sympathized, ordered in 1604 that bread be 
 used instead of wafers at the communion. This 
 change was usually the first sign that a church be- 
 came Reformed. He not only introduced it into lower 
 or Eastern Hesse but attempted to introduce it into 
 upper or Western Hesse, and for this purpose went 
 to the capital of the latter province, Marburg. After 
 he left, on August 6, 1605, the people who were strong 
 Lutherans became alarmed by all sorts of rumors 
 about this and broke out into an open riot. They 
 forced the Reformed ministers from the pulpit, drove 
 them into a corner of the church, where they assaulted 
 them. One of them, Schonfeld, thought they were 
 going to kill him. As they struck him to the ground 
 he cried out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." But 
 he afterwards revived again. Another Reformed 
 minister, Cellarius, was pursued through the streets 
 until he escaped to the country to a place of safety. 
 The Reformed faith was not, therefore, introduced 
 into upper Hesse, although a few congregations were 
 formed there, but lower Hesse became almost entirely 
 Reformed. 
 
 But the most important addition to the Reformed 
 ranks was the Elector of Brandenburg. On Christ- 
 mas week, 1613, he called his councillors together and 
 
GERMANY 37 
 
 announced to them that he had made up his mind to 
 go over to the Reformed faith. His conversion cre- 
 ated a great sensation, especially as he was not follow- 
 ed in it by his people, who remained Lutheran. On 
 Christmas day, 1613, he celebrated the Lord's Supper 
 at Berlin after the Reformed manner, by the use of 
 bread instead of wafers. His conversion was most 
 important, for it gave to the Reformed two of the six 
 Electors of Germany who elected the Emperor. And 
 when the Elector of the Palatinate afterward lost his 
 throne, or was no longer Reformed, it was this Bran- 
 denburg family of princes, who always were promi- 
 nent as the great protectors of the Reformed. Many 
 a time did they defend or intercede for their perse- 
 cuted Reformed brethren. This Brandenburg fam- 
 ily afterwards became the Kings of Prussia, who are 
 now the royal family of Germany, and from them the 
 present Emperor of Germany is a direct descendant. 
 Thus the Reformed faith spread from Switzerland 
 northward along the Rhine and to Bremen ; and then 
 eastward through Hesse and Anhalt to Berlin, so that 
 perhaps one-fourth of Germany may be said to have 
 become Reformed. 
 
 But although the Reformed faith has gained so 
 much influence, it was not yet recognized by the laws 
 of Germany. To gain that, a terrible war, the Thirty 
 Years' War, had to be undergone. The treaty of Augs- 
 burg (1555) had made the only legal Protestant creed 
 to be the Augsburg Confession of the Lutherans. As 
 the Reformed had not existed then as a distinct de- 
 nomination in Germany, of course they were not men- 
 tioned by that treaty. The Heidelberg Catechism 
 was not published till later than 1555. So during 
 their first century the Reformed existed only by suf- 
 
38 GERMANY 
 
 ferance in Germany, though not by law. They had 
 no rights that might not be taken away from them 
 at any time, as they were not legally recognized. 
 The Thirty Years' War broke out in 1618.* 
 Elector Frederick V., of the Palatinate, the grand- 
 son of Elector Frederick III., who ordered our 
 catechism to be written, was elected King of 
 Bohemia. This caused a war, for Archduke Fer- 
 dinand, of Austria, who had just been elected Em- 
 peror of Germany, also claimed the throne of Bohe- 
 mia. Frederick went to Prague and reigned as king 
 for only a year, when he was defeated by a one hour's 
 battle at White Mountain, near Prague, Nov. 8, 1620. 
 He was compelled to flee and became an exile from 
 his home till his death, Nov. 29, 1632. 
 
 With him suffered his beloved land, the beautiful 
 Palatinate. For he was declared an outlaw by the 
 Emperor, his land was confiscated and at once Span- 
 ish armies appeared in it to take possession of it. The 
 Reformed people before this time felt great anxiety 
 for their future and spent much time in prayer. Ow- 
 ing to the scarcity of money, the ministers and school- 
 masters were not paid. Colonel Obertraut took com- 
 mand of the Palatinate army, but General Tilly, the 
 Austrian general, soon appeared in the land with a 
 large army. For a very brief time Elector Freder- 
 ick V. came back to his land, but he soon had to flee. 
 His neighbor and ally, the Margrave of Baden Dur- 
 lach, was defeated at Wimpfen May 6, 1622. Tilly 
 soon after began besieging Heidelberg and stormed 
 it on September 15, 1622. That day the cruel Croa- 
 tians burst into the city, murdering men and women, 
 
 *NoTB.— For a fuller account of the sufferings of the Eeformation during 
 the Thirty Years' War, see the History of the Beformed Church by Eev. James 
 I Good, D.D., pages 9-144. 
 
GERMANY 39 
 
 and also burning it. The Reformed professor of the- 
 ology, Henry Alting, started to escape through a back 
 door of his house, when he was met by an Austrian 
 soldier who said: "With this club I have killed ten 
 men today. If I knew where Professor Alting was, 
 he would be the eleventh." By a kind providence 
 his life was spared. But the castle as well as the 
 city soon after surrendered to the Austrians. Tilly 
 having captured Heidelberg, besieged Manheim (near 
 Heidelberg) which surrendered to him. He also at- 
 tacked Frankenthal (also near Heidelberg) which 
 bravely resisted him, and as winter was approaching 
 Tilly gave up its siege. But the next year, Franken- 
 thal was basely surrendered by the King of England 
 without the loss of a drop of blood, and sO' the whole 
 Palatinate lay at the mercy of its cruel conquerors. 
 The sufferings of the Reformed became terrible. Their 
 ministers, 250 in number, were driven away (1623). 
 The new elector was a Catholic. He summoned (May 
 13, 1627) all the citizens of Heidelberg to the city hall 
 and commanded them all to become Catholics. They 
 absolutely refused to do so, whole trades declaring 
 that they would give up property and everything rath- 
 er than give up their Reformed faith. When Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus made his victorious campaign 
 through Germany (i 630-1) there was a slight lull in 
 their persecutions, but after his death their sufferings 
 became ten times worse. Heidelberg, which had been 
 captured by the Swedes (1633) was now again recap- 
 tured by the Bavarians (1635). The whole country 
 was ravaged by marauding companies of troops of 
 both armies, plundering and killing the people. Fam- 
 ine and pestilence came, one after the other, until 
 (1636) there were only 200 farmers in all the rich Palati- 
 
40 GERMANY 
 
 nate, while around Heidelberg there were more 
 wolves than men. The neighboring Reformed dis- 
 trict of Zweibrucken on the south and Nassau further 
 north, also suffered very severely during this war. 
 "When the enemy had marched through, it looked,'" 
 said a minister, "as if Lucifer or Beelzebub had passed 
 by." Houses were deserted, villages lay in ruins, the 
 fields were covered with weeds and lay uncultivated 
 for years. The Reformed districts of Nassau were 
 also terribly devastated and Hesse Cassel, (also Re- 
 formed) was partly overrun by the enemy, but by its 
 bravery and especially by the heroism of its ruler, the 
 Landgravine Amalie, it suffered less, although the Re- 
 formed ministers were driven out of parts of her land. 
 During this terrible war it seemed as if the Reformed 
 districts were the ones that especially suffered. Her 
 universities of Heidelberg and Marburg were closed, 
 and those of Herborn and Frankford on the Oder suf- 
 fered severely. 
 
 But although the war cost the Reformed so much, 
 yet they gained more than it cost. Their religion was 
 now recognized by law. This was mainly gained 
 through the efforts of the Princess Amalie of Hesse 
 Cassel, and the young Elector of Brandenburg, Fred- 
 erick William, whose wife, Electress Louisa Henrietta, 
 was one of the most beautiful of Reformed princesses, 
 and the authoress of the famous hymn, "Jesu Meine 
 Zuversicht" ("Jesus My Eternal Trust"). For when 
 the peace of Prague in 1635 threatened to close the 
 war without recognizing the Reformed, Amalie re- 
 fused to sign it and joined herself with Sweden and 
 France to gain their rights. When the negotiations 
 began, which closed the war, Elector Frederick Wil- 
 liam aided her efforts, so that the war closed with 
 
GERMANY 41 
 
 honor to the Reformed, as they were recognized by 
 name in the Treaty of Westphalia. And when the war 
 was over, the Reformed religion revived again and 
 rose Phosnix-like from its ashes. The Palatinate and 
 Nassau districts began to bloom again; Hesse return- 
 ed to greater power than ever, and the Elector of 
 Brandenburg became the great leader and defender of 
 the Reformed. Tlius the Reformed, having spread 
 through a large part of Germany's territory, never 
 stopped until they were included in the laws and trea- 
 ties of Germany also. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 ^be ipersecuttons in tbe ipalatinate.* 
 
 For nearly a half a century after the awful Thirty 
 Years' War, the Reformed of Germany had peace. 
 Then came more terrible persecutions than ever. Two 
 events united to bring this about. One was the death 
 of the last Reformed Elector of the Palatinate, Charles, 
 in 1685. After that its rulers, until this century, were 
 Catholics. The other was the French wars (1688- 
 169s). The King of France, Louis XIV., laid claim 
 to the Palatinate after the death of the Elector Charles, 
 because his brother had married Princess "Lize Lotte," 
 a Palatinate princess. And suddenly, without a mo- 
 ment's warning, he precipitated an army of 80,000 sol- 
 diers into the Palatinate in the fall of 1688. In seven 
 weeks he had changed that fertile land into a desert. 
 On October 25, Heidelberg surrendered to his armies. 
 Then an idea struck his mind more worthy of a barba- 
 rian than of a Christian king. "Ravage the Palati- 
 nate" was his command, and the awful work was be- 
 
 *lSroTK.— For a fuU account of the awful sufferingB of tbe Reformed In the 
 Palatinate see the History of the Keformed Church by Bev. James I. Good. 
 D.D., pages 226-307. 
 
42 GERMANY 
 
 gun. Not Attila, "the scourge of Europe," did such 
 awful work more thoroughly. On January i8, 1689, 
 the ravage began. From the walls of Heidelberg could 
 be seen in all directions the flames of burning villages. 
 The children of the Reformed Orphanage at Hand- 
 schuheim, near Heidelberg, had to flee almost naked 
 over the snow to the neighboring village of Schonau, 
 and two of them were frozen to death in the snow. The 
 French shut up the almost naked magistrates of that 
 town in the church in the bitterest cold for three days. 
 This ravage was completed by the baptism of fire for 
 Heidelberg herself. On March 2, 1689, the city was 
 fired and the beautiful castle, which it had taken six 
 centuries to build, was blown up in a single morning. 
 The city was then fired at many places. The French 
 General, Melac, sat on his horse in the central square 
 of the town, laughing, like Nero at Rome, at the suf- 
 ferings of the inhabitants. Had it not been for the pity 
 of some of the lower French officers, like de Tesse, the 
 whole city would have been destroyed; but they se- 
 cretly allowed the people to put damp straw in their 
 windows, which, when burning, produced a great 
 smoke, so that it looked as if the house was rapidly 
 burning, although it did little damage. At Manheim 
 the French so utterly destroyed the city, that in the 
 rubbish the streets could not be deciphered. Thus 
 twelve hundred villages and towns were destroyed by 
 the French, and 40,000 inhabitants rendered homeless 
 in mid-winter. Many of the Reformed Churches were 
 utterly destroyed, especially west of the Rhine. Often 
 the Reformed children, because they would not go to 
 Catholic Church, were beaten with rods or were some- 
 times driven into the woods in winter, where some of 
 them perished. 
 
GERMANY 43 
 
 But the cup of the Palatinate was not yet full. In 
 1693 the French king sent another army into the Pala- 
 tinate, to complete what had been left undone in the 
 previous terrible invasion. In May they approached 
 Heidelberg. Its commander treacherously surrender- 
 ed. The poor Reformed people were then driven by 
 the soldiers into the Church of the Holy Ghost, until it 
 was packed so full that they were huddled together 
 like sheep in a pen. Then the French locked the door 
 and set the church roof and steeple on fire. Such a 
 wailing arose from, the Reformed within (who expect- 
 ed to be burned up in an awful holocaust), that "it was 
 enough," said an eye witness, "to make a stone weep.'' 
 But this produced no efifect on the hearts of the enemy, 
 harder than stone. When the steeple was in flames and 
 the bells threatened to fall, then the French opened the 
 doors and left them out; but some of them had already 
 died of fright in the church. Then the French drove 
 them into a neighboring square, where their sufiferings 
 were worse than death. The city was so destroyed by 
 this attack of the French that it was little else than a 
 mass of rubbish. Almost the only thing that remained 
 were the churches, and of these sometimes only the 
 walls were standing. 
 
 But the greatest sufferer of all was the Reformed 
 Church. One hundred Reformed churches, mainly 
 west of the Rhine, were in the hands of Catholics. 
 Two hundred Reformed ministers and school-masters 
 were driven out. The few who remained had such 
 large parishes, or were so persecuted, that they could 
 hardly attend to their duties. To Professor J. L. Fa- 
 bricius, of Heidelberg, probably belongs the honor of 
 saving our Church, so that it was not utterly destroyed. 
 He sacrificed everything for her and went to other 
 
44 GERMANY 
 
 lands raising money for her. The Reformed minister 
 of Manheim, Schmidmann, did not desert his congre- 
 gation even when the town was utterly destroyed. He 
 preached in its ruins, and divided his last crust of 
 bread with his starving Reformed people. In 1697 
 these terrible sufferings of the Reformed were finally 
 brought to an end by the peace of Ryswick. 
 
 But, although the persecutions of war were over, 
 those of peace remained; and sometimes the persecu- 
 tions of peace are more trying than those of war. Now 
 the great enemy of the Reformed was not foreigners 
 like the French, but their own ruler, the Elector of the 
 Palatinate, who was a Catholic. These Electors began 
 to take away, one after the other, the liberties of their 
 Reformed subjects. They first took possession of the 
 Reformed cemeteries, then rang their bells for Cath- 
 olic festival days, and finally took their churches for 
 Catholic services. In vain did the Reformed protest. 
 The Government kept back the salaries of the Reform- 
 ed ministers and school-masters. Often when the 
 Catholic "host" was carried through the streets, the 
 Reformed would be compelled to kneel before it. In 
 many places they were forbidden to work on Catholic 
 feast days. Finding that their protests were unheard 
 by the Elector, the Reformed appealed to the Evan- 
 gelical States of Germany. These princes of the em- 
 pire then took up the matter. Finding that protests 
 were in vain, they began to retaliate on the Catholics 
 in their countries. The Kings of Prussia and England 
 and the Landgrave of Hesse closed up some Catholic 
 Churches in their lands until the Reformed of the 
 Palatinate had their churches returned to them. This 
 finally brought matters to a crisis, and on November 
 21, 1705, the Elector again granted the Reformed their 
 rights. 
 
GERMANY 45 
 
 But they were not to have peace and toleration long. 
 For a new Elector, who had been more bigotedly 
 trained than any before, ascended the throne. Soon 
 after he became Elector, the Jesuits adroitly called his 
 attention to the fact that the Heidelberg Catechism, 
 which was issued with his coat-of-arms on the front 
 page, had in it the eightieth question, which says that 
 "the mass is an accursed idolatry." In rage he order- 
 ed the use of the Heidelberg Catechism to be stopped, 
 and thus our forefathers would have been without a 
 creed. The Reformed professors at Heidelberg, Mieg 
 and Kirchmeyer, defended their Catechism, saying 
 that it had been in use for a century and a half, and no 
 one had objected before. And even under Catholic 
 rulers it had been used for a quarter of a century, and 
 yet not one of them had objected to it. But the Elec- 
 tor, instead of receding from his position, advanced to 
 greater persecutions. On August 29, 1719, he sum- 
 moned the Reformed consistory to him and demanded 
 of them to give up to him their largest church in Hei- 
 delberg, the Church of the Holy Ghost. As they did 
 not do this by September 4, although the Reformed 
 had locked the church and barricaded it, the Catholics 
 forced an entrance into it through the tower and forci- 
 bly took possession. The division wall in it, which 
 had separated the choir, where the Catholics had wor- 
 shipped, from the nave, where the Reformed had wor- 
 shipped, was broken down, and the Catholics took 
 possession of the whole church. At the same time the 
 other Reformed Churches were again taken possession 
 of by the Catholics. As the Reformed could not wor- 
 ship in the Church of the Holy Ghost, during that fall 
 and winter they worshipped in the cold and storm in 
 an open square near the eastern end of Heidelberg, 
 
46 GERMANY 
 
 called "the monks' court." The Reformed now be- 
 came greatly alarmed. They appealed again to the 
 Evangelical States of Germany to aid them. These 
 had already found that the only way to deal success- 
 fully with the Elector was to retaliate. So the Kings 
 of Prussia and England and the Landgrave of Hesse 
 Cassel closed several Catholic Churches in their lands 
 until the Catholics would return the Church of the 
 Holy Ghost to the Reformed. The Elector became 
 very angry at this. He declared that if he were ever 
 compelled to give back the Church of the Holy Ghost 
 to the Reformed, he would forever leave Heidelberg 
 and make Manheim his capital instead; that he would 
 shake the dust of Heidelberg off of his feet and let it 
 become like an ordinary country village, instead of his 
 beautiful capital. Finally, on February 29, 1720, the 
 Church of the Holy Ghost, by order of the Emperor, 
 was given back to the Reformed, and the Heidelberg 
 Catechism was also again allowed (1721) to be used by 
 the Reformed, although it was no longer printed with 
 the Elector's coat-of-arms on the title page as before. 
 But the Elector in anger forsook Heidelberg, which 
 had been the capital of his land for centuries, and re- 
 moved to Manheim, where he built a new capital. The 
 Reformed received back their churches and their 
 rights; yet very often, owing to their lack of money, 
 they were not able to rebuild their churches. 
 
 About 1750, the Elector, having failed to destroy the 
 Reformed by persecutions, now tried to do so by cor- 
 ruption. He enlarged the church-court, which gov- 
 erned the Reformed, and introduced men into it who 
 were corrupt and who would take bribes. Thus they 
 practised simony or the sale of places (pastorates, 
 school teachers' positions, etc.,) for money. Against 
 
GERMANY 47 
 
 this abuse the Reformed ministers nobly protested. 
 Then the Elector in anger forbade them any longer to 
 hold the meetings of their classes. They again ap 
 pealed to the Evangelical States of Germany, but by 
 this time its princes had either grown weary or care- 
 less, and there was now no one tO' look after their case. 
 So for 34 years (1755-1789) no synods were held. 
 Finally, in 1799, they were again allowed religious lib- 
 erty under the last Catholic Elector, Max Joseph, and 
 in 1802 they again came under the control of a Pro- 
 testant prince, the Lutheran Duke of Baden. It is a 
 wonder that, after almost two centuries of persecution 
 (1618-1800), there was any Reformed Church left in 
 the Palatinate, but in 1783 there were 240 Reformed 
 parishes and 140,000 members in that land. These 
 persecutions explain why our forefathers came to 
 America. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ^be Coetus.* 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 JBeforc tbe Coetus. 
 
 BUT Europe was too small a continent to con- 
 tain the Reformed Church; she spread to 
 other continents. Africa, Asia, and, too, 
 our America received her. The Middle 
 Ages saw the Crusades, those marching ar- 
 mies going eastward to rescue the Holy Land from the 
 power of the infidel Moslem. The last two centuries 
 saw another crusade, not eastward but westward, not 
 of war, but of peace, as thousands sailed from the old 
 world to capture the new world of America for Christ. 
 A voyage across the ocean in those days was a danger- 
 ous one. It was long, and in it, storms, sickness, per- 
 haps shipwreck awaited them. (Thus of the 4,000 sent 
 by Queen Ann in 1709, 1,700 died either on, or from 
 the effects of the voyage). And even after our fore- 
 fathers landed, there was danger of sickness so com- 
 mon to new land and the greater danger of death from 
 the Indians. 
 
 Why then did our ancestors come to this western 
 world in the face of so many dangers? Because they 
 felt that there were greater dangers behind them in the 
 old world than those before them in America.f And 
 
 * Note.— A sort of synod having less independent powers tban tlie synod. 
 
 t Note.— For a full description of the persecutions of our forefathers, the 
 only full description in English, see History of the Reformed Church, by Rev. 
 James I. Good, D.D. 
 
so THE COETUS 
 
 they expected to get here what they did not have in 
 Europe, peace and freedom to worship God according 
 to their beloved Reformed faith. The causes of this 
 emigration are given in a Memorial published in 1554. 
 "Some of them fled from the severe persecution to 
 which they had been exposed at home on account of 
 their being Protestants, others from the oppression of 
 civil tyranny and attracted by the pleasant hope of 
 liberty under the milder influence of the British gov- 
 ernment, others were drawn by the solicitations of 
 their countrymen who had settled there before them, 
 but far the greatest part by the prospect they had of 
 relieving themselves under the deep poverty and pro- 
 viding better for themselves and their families." The 
 last point, however, is emphasized all through this 
 Memorial too strongly, as the Germans were not so 
 poor or illiterate as it makes them out to be. But 
 these were the reasons why the Germans came in such 
 numbers that soon there were 30,000 of them in Penn- 
 sylvania (15,000 Reformed) in 1731, and the British 
 became alarmed lest Pennsylvania would become a 
 German rather than an English colony. 
 
 They began coming in the latter part of the 17th cen- 
 tury. Peter Minuit, the first governor of New Am- 
 sterdam (New York), who was a deacon in the Re- 
 formed Church of Wesel, Germany, and afterwards 
 an elder of the Reformed Church at New Amsterdam 
 (New York), came earlier (1626). Later, in 1638, he 
 founded the first Swedish colony in Delaware, where 
 a Dutch Reformed Church was founded at New Castle, 
 but given up.* It was not, however, until the end of 
 that century that the Germans began coming in such 
 
 *NOTB.— See Peter Mlnuit'a Memorial by Rev. C. Cort, D.D., and Reformed 
 Church Magazine. Reading, December, 1S93. 
 
THE COETUS gi 
 
 large numbers as to form congregations. Many of 
 them settled near Philadelphia, in a town which re- 
 ceived its name from them, Germantown. But as 
 most of them were farmers and the most desirable 
 farms in the neighborhood of Philadelphia had already- 
 been taken by the Quakers, they pushed out further 
 into the wilderness and began settling Montgomery 
 and Bucks counties. At first they had no regular pas- 
 tors but sometimes would employ a pious school mas- 
 ter who would read sermons to them or they would 
 appoint one of their own number to hold such a ser- 
 vice, and thus they would worship God as best they 
 could. The first Reformed minister in Pennsylvania, 
 Samuel Guldin, seems to have come before 1718.* But 
 although he preached as occasion offered (Boehm says 
 he occasionally preached in the Reformed Church at 
 Germantown) he never attempted to organize the Re- 
 formed congregations. His only attempt was a book, 
 published in 1743, in which, although he had been a 
 Pietist at Bern, Switzerland, he wrote against the re- 
 ligious movement which arose under Count Zinzen- 
 dorf in Pennsylvania. It was left for an unordained 
 but pious schoolmaster, John Philip Boehm, to^ found 
 our Church. This he did in 1725, when the Reformed 
 people living in Skippach, Falkner Swamp, and 
 White Marsh, north of Philadelphia, asked him to be- 
 come their minister. He consented and at their first 
 communion, in 1725, there were loi communicants at 
 the three places mentioned. He proposed to them a 
 Church Constitution, which they adopted and which 
 organized them after the Reformed custom, by having 
 a consistory of regularly elected elders and deacons. 
 On September 21, 1727, Rev. George Michael Weiss 
 
 *NOTB.— See Prof. Dubbs in Reformed Church Quarterly, July, 1892. 
 
52 THE COETUS 
 
 arrived at Philadelphia with a colony of Germans and 
 became pastor of the first German Reformed Church 
 of Philadelphia. The coming of a regularly ordained 
 minister like Weiss led some of Boehm's people to be- 
 gin to oppose him, as he had never been ordained, so 
 he applied to the Reformed Classis of New York, 
 which was ordered by the Church of Holland to ordain 
 him, which they did November 23, 1729. Then Rev. 
 Mr. Weiss, seeing the great need of funds to carry on 
 the work among the German Reformed of Pennsyl- 
 vania, went back to Europe (1730) to raise money for 
 them, leaving the Philadelphia Church in the care of 
 Boehm. This lone man seemed destined to be the 
 strong tower — the pioneer of the Reformed in this 
 country and her defender against all storms and dan- 
 gers. Rev. Mr. Weiss returned the next year, but 
 without money.* Then Mr. Weiss left Pennsylvania 
 and settled at Rhinebeck, N. Y. So Boehm was left 
 almost alone to minister to the Pennsylvania churches 
 for 15 years. It is true, a few ministers arrived to aid 
 him, such as Goetshy, Dorstius and Rieger. Little, 
 however, is known of them. But the weight of the 
 care of the widening territory of the Reformed rested 
 mainly on Boehm's shoulders. Gradually these set- 
 tlements of the Germans spread out into the wilder- 
 ness beyond Montgomery and Bucks counties into 
 Berks, Lehigh, Lebanon and Lancaster counties. A 
 call came to Boehm to come to Conestoga, near Lan- 
 caster and administer the communion, which he did, 
 Oct. 14, 1727, to 59 members; also from Tulpehocken, 
 near Lebanon, where be administered the communion 
 October 18, 1727, to 32 communicants. Twice every 
 
 *NOTE.— For his companion, Mr. Beiff, kept it for a number of years nBtil 
 Rev. Mr. Schlatter came, when a settlement was made. 
 
THE COETUS S3 
 
 year after that, this faithful servant of God would go to 
 these outlying districts and administer the Lord's Sup- 
 per to them until finally Goetshy came to his assist- 
 ance for a time and went to Goshenhoppen, and Rie- 
 ger at last went to Conestoga. Boehm was a sort of an 
 overseer of the Reformed of Pennsylvania. His 
 territory extended from Egypt, near Allentown, west 
 to Tulpehocken and Lancaster and south to Philadel- 
 phia. His consecration to this arduous work is shown 
 by his death, for it was while on a long, hard journey 
 to the Egypt congregation, near Allentown, that he 
 died, April 29, 1749. He may well be called the 
 founder of the German Reformed congregations in 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 He was her defender too. For at this time she 
 passed through a severe storm that strained her to the 
 utmost. As there were so few ministers there was 
 danger of our people being carried away to other de- 
 nominations or led away by any one who came along 
 and claimed to be a minister. As early as 1736 an 
 inspirationist named Gruber had begun a fanatical 
 movement, but it was the coming of Count Zinzendorf, 
 the great Moravian bishop(i74i),that gave a power to 
 this movement. By his influence he carried a number 
 of our people over to the Moravians. Now the Mora- 
 vian Church was in the last century a splendid witness 
 for the truth against the rationalists of Germany, but 
 she was charged by the other Churches with prose- 
 lyting. She had, however, a policy of gathering all 
 earnest believers, no matter of what denomination, 
 into circles called Tropes. The members of these 
 could then semi-officially belong to the Mora- 
 vians, although still remaining in their own denomina- 
 tions. Zinzendorf attempted such a union movement 
 
54 THE COETUS 
 
 of Lutherans, Reformed and Moravians in Pennsyl- 
 vania, when he arrived. He could do this the better be- 
 cause the Moravians, like the Lutherans, held to the 
 Augsburg Confession; while the Reformed would be 
 attached to him by the fact that he had been ordained 
 by a Reformed minister, Jablonsky, the court preacher 
 of Berlin, who at the same time was a Moravian 
 bishop. So he began to organize a movement called 
 "The Congregation of God in the Spirit," composed 
 of all these different religious elements. From Jan- 
 uary, 1742, to June of that year, these held six Synods, 
 and at the seventh, in August of that year, this "Con- 
 gregation of God in the Spirit" was founded. Quite 
 a number of the Reformed went into the movement. 
 Already John Peter Miller, the pastor of the Reformed 
 Church at Tulpehocken, had joined the Seventh' Day 
 Baptists (1735) at Ephrata. And now Henry Antes, 
 the prominent Elder of Falkner Schwamp, John Bech- 
 tel, John Brandmuller, Christian Henry Ranch and 
 Jacob Lischy went into the movement and were or- 
 dained by Zinzendorf as ministers of the Reformed 
 Church in this Union. The man who rose up against 
 this movement which threatened to disorganize the 
 Reformed, was Boehm, who did it in order to preserve 
 the Reformed faith and organization (for Weiss by 
 this time was in New York State). He published his 
 "True Letter of Warning," August 23, 1742, ad- 
 dressed to the Reformed congregations of Pennsyl- 
 vania, warning the Reformed against Zinzendorf's ef- 
 forts. It was signed by the officers of the six congre- 
 gations — Falkner Swamp, Skippach, White Marsh, 
 Philadelphia, Oley, and Tulpehocken. On May 19, 
 1743, he published another attack especially directed 
 against Lischy, Bechtel and Antes, On the other 
 
THE COETUS 55 
 
 hand, the Reformed who were in "The Congregation 
 of God in the Spirit,'' claimed that they were also 
 Reformed. Bechtel pubHshed a brief Catechism 
 based on the Articles of Bern of 1528. They, how- 
 ever, claimed to be lower Calvinists than Boehm, who 
 held to the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of 
 Dort. They claimed that their low Calvinistic views 
 were also truly German Reformed, because they had 
 always been the views of the Reformed Churches of 
 Brandenburg, where Jablonsky, who ordained Zin- 
 zendorf, lived. Their claims were true, and yet, like so 
 many union movements, they went to pieces because 
 theirs was made up of such different elements. The 
 churchly Lutherans reacted against them, especially 
 as Muhlenberg had arrived from Germany tO' organize 
 them. The Moravians themselves, after Zinzendorf 
 left America, became somewhat more churchly, so 
 that Antes rather lost interest in them and Lischy left 
 them. The Reformed element in the Union either 
 faded out or was absorbed in the Moravian Church. 
 But the one man who stood against them like a tower 
 through the storm was Boehm. He saved the Re- 
 formed Church, and continued her historic existence. 
 Our Church should ever honor him as the defender 
 as well as the founder of our denomination. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 tlbc ©rganisatfon of tbe Coctus. 
 If Rev. Mr. Boehm was the founder of our Church, 
 Rev. Michael Schlatter was the organizer of it. It 
 was a glad day for the former when the latter arrived 
 on our shores. For he was bowed down with the 
 weight of years and when he saw Schlatter coming to 
 take the work off his shoulders he could say, like Sim- 
 eon of old, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart 
 
S6 THE COETUS 
 
 in peace." Rev. Michael Schlatter was born at St. 
 Gall, in northeastern Switzerland, July 14, 1716. He 
 studied at his native place and after two brief assistant 
 pastorates in Switzerland he went to Holland, 
 where he was appointed by the deputies of the 
 Synods of North and South Holland, May 23, 
 1746, to go to America and organize the German 
 churches of Pennsylvania. On Aug. i, 1746, he ar- 
 rived at Boston, and on September 6 of that year he 
 arrived at Philadelphia, where he was gladly received 
 by the Reformed congregation. As soon as he ar- 
 rived he began his missionary journeys which were 
 truly surprising in their length and continuance. The 
 day after he arrived at Philadelphia he traveled 16 
 miles to visit Rev. Mr. Boehm, and the next day, eight 
 miles further to meet Mr. Reifif and try to close Reiff 's 
 accounts with the Reformed about the money he had 
 collected for them in Europe 16 years before. The 
 following day he traveled 23 miles back to Philadel- 
 phia. The next week he visited Rev. Mr. Dorstius, 
 pastor of a Dutch Reformed Church in Bucks county, 
 Pa., 16 miles from Philadelphia. The week following 
 he went with Rev. Mr. Weiss over the mountains to 
 Oley, Berks county, and the following day to Lancas- 
 ter to meet Rev. Mr. Rieger. Meanwhile Rev. Mr. 
 Boehm had gone to Tulpehocken, where on Septem- 
 ber 24, Mr. Schlatter and Mr. Weiss, after traveling 29 
 miles the previous day, also arrived. The Reformed 
 people of the Tulpehocken charge on Sunday, Septem- 
 ber 25, wept at the sight of three Reformed ministers 
 together in the pulpit, — a sight that they had not seen 
 since they left their Reformed Churches in the Father- 
 land. Mr. Schlatter invited the three German Re- 
 formed ministers and Rev. Mr. Dorstius to a confer- 
 
THE COETUS 57 
 
 ence, October 12, 1746, at Philadelphia. All came 
 but the latter, who sent a friendly letter. This was the 
 first meeting of the Reformed ministers in America. 
 It was an informal meeting for conference. No or- 
 ganization was made till the Coetus was organized 
 next year. Then Mr. Schlatter, like the Apostle Paul, 
 went again on his missionary journeys, so that he 
 might organize the Reformed into congregations and 
 find out how many of these would be willing to sup- 
 port a minister. At Providence, October 18, he 
 preached in a barn and in the afternoon traveled 18 
 miles to Goshenhoppen to see Mr. Weiss. On the 
 20th he went to Indianfield, and by the 22d was back 
 again at Philadelphia. On November 4th he went to 
 New Jersey, 33 miles. But during the winter, owing 
 to the inclemency of the weather and the roughness 
 of the roads, he remained in Philadelphia, organizing 
 that congregation and also the congregation at Ger- 
 mantown. But as soon as the spring opened, he 
 started out in March again and by the end of April, in 
 response to many letters, he makes a journey south- 
 ward. On May 2d, 1747, he arrived at Yorktown 
 (York), visiting Conewago, Monocacy, and returning 
 to Philadelphia by way of Lancaster, May 14, having 
 traveled homeward 88 miles. On June 10, he started 
 on an extensive trip to Seltenreich's congregation, 
 near Lancaster, Donegal, Modencreek, Cocalico and 
 Weiseichland, where he found a pious tailor named 
 Templeman, had been preaching to the people. Then 
 he went to Tulpehocken, and eastward to Manatawny, 
 Magunschy, Egypt and Bethlehem, where he met with 
 Jacob Lischy, who had been fraternizing with the Mo- 
 ravians; but who, repenting of this, now agreed to 
 join the Reformed Church. He returned by way of 
 
S8 THE COETUS 
 
 Sacony and Springfield to Philadelphia, where he ar- 
 rived July 3d. 
 
 On September 29th, 1747, the first Coetus of our 
 Church was held at Philadelphia. Rev. Messrs. 
 Boehm, Weiss, Rieger and Schlatter were the minis- 
 ters present. There were also 27 Elders present from 
 the congregations in Philadelphia, Falkner Swamp, 
 Providence and Witpen, Old Goshenhoppen and 
 Great Swamp, Schafifer's Qiurch and Erlentown, Tul- 
 pehocken, Indianfield, Springfield, Blue Mountain and 
 Egypt, Klein Lechau (Little Lehigh), Sacony, and 
 York, — 12 congregations in all. Lancaster, however, 
 being unrepresented because it had no pastor. The 
 first item of business was the formal reading of Mr. 
 Schlatter's instructions from the Synods of Holland, 
 which were approved by the Coetus. Then he read 
 his journal, in which he detailed his travels and the 
 results of his attempts to organize the various charges. 
 The Coetus appointed Mr. Schlatter to make a report 
 to the Synods of Holland with their approval and to 
 ask for more ministers, especially for Manakesy Cani- 
 ketschek in Maryland, Schanador, South Branch, Bo- 
 tomic, Lykens Run and Germantown. It also took 
 action in regard to Mr. Lischy and decided that the 
 monies collected by Rev. Mr. Boehm in New York 
 should be given to the Church in Witpen Township, 
 Montgomery County. 
 
 In the fall of 1747 Mr. Schlatter visited York and also 
 Western New Jersey. In the spring of 1748 he made 
 a longer tour, going as far as Frederick, Md. Very 
 interesting are his notes. "On the loth of May, after 
 we had gone twenty miles farther, we took our dinner 
 in Fredericktown, in Virginia. On this road we met 
 a fearful rattlesnake seven or eight feet long and five 
 
THE COETUS 59 
 
 inches thick across the back. This is one of the most 
 dangerous kinds of snakes. Still it warns the traveler 
 by rattling when he is even yet twenty steps off, so 
 that he has time to avoid it." "On the 15th of May, 
 I preached at Fredericktown, in a new church which 
 is not yet finished, standing behind a table upon which 
 had been placed the holy covenant seals of baptism 
 and the Lord's Supper. When I was preparing myself 
 for the first prayer and saw the tears of the spiritually 
 hungry souls roll down their cheeks, my heart was 
 singularly moved and enkindled with love, so that I 
 fell on my knees, in which the whole congregation fol- 
 lowed me, and with much love and holy desire I com- 
 mended the house and the congregation to the Triune 
 God and wrestled for a blessing from the Lord upon 
 them." He returned to Philadelphia by May 19. On 
 September 29, 1748, the second Coetus was held at 
 Philadelphia. Rev. Mr. Weiss was absent, but three 
 new ministers had come from Europe, — Rev. Messrs. 
 Leydich, Bartholomaus and Hochreutiner. This Coe- 
 tus formally adopted the Heidelberg Catechism and 
 the Canons of Dort as its Creeds. Rev. Mr. Schlatter 
 continued his journeys through the churches, often 
 preaching day after day, traveling thousands of miles, 
 and organizing the churches. The Coetus of 1749 met 
 at Lancaster, September 27th. But a storm was gather- 
 ing in the new Coetus. Rev. Mr. Steiner, of Switzerland, 
 a fine pulpit orator, had arrived at Philadelphia Sep- 
 tember 25, 1749, and Coetus held a special meeting 
 October 20th of that year to receive him. He was 
 called to Lancaster, but delayed his going and soon a 
 party was formed in the Philadelphia congregation 
 favorable to him and against Mr. Schlatter. This re- 
 sulted in a division in the congregation, but the civil 
 
6o THE COETUS 
 
 courts decided in favor of the Schlatter party. A new 
 congregation was then formed, of which Mr. Steiner 
 became the pastor (1751-1752) when he resigned and 
 afterward Rev. Mr. Rubel took charge of the congre- 
 gation. But the Synods of Holland decided against 
 Rubel and he left (1755). Finally the new congrega- 
 tion went back into the old church; and once again 
 united, called Rev. Mr. Steiner (1759-1762). 
 
 In 1 75 1 Rev. Mr. Schlatter was requested by the 
 Coetus to go to Europe to get money and ministers 
 for the Pennsylvania congregations, who were as scat- 
 tered sheep, having no shepherd. He visited Holland, 
 Germany and Switzerland, and created a great interest 
 in the Pennsylvania churches. Sixty thousand dollars 
 was collected and invested, its interest being paid to 
 the Pennsylvania Reformed congregations. He stated 
 that there were 30,000 Reformed in Pennsylvania in 
 46 congregations, with only six ministers to serve 
 them. He also refers in this appeal to the missionary 
 work of Eliot and Brainard among the Indians. Even 
 the poor Palatinate Reformed Church, though then 
 struggling for its very existence under a Catholic rule, 
 raised three hundred dollars for the fund for Pennsyl- 
 vania. But best of all, Mr. Schlatter was able to se- 
 cure six young ministers for America, with whom he 
 arrived in Pennsylvania, July 28, 1752. It now looked 
 as if the German churches were to be placed on a 
 firmer footing, but a new difficulty soon confronted 
 them. One of the things that was expected to greatly 
 aid them was the one that turned out to their injury. 
 Mr. Schlatter's trip to Europe created so much inter- 
 est that Rev. Mr. Thompson, pastor of the English 
 Reformed congregation at Amsterdam, went to Eng- 
 land and Scotland and, with others, raised $100,000, 
 
THE COETUS 6i 
 
 to establish charity schools among the Germans here. 
 This kindly movement, however, soon roused great 
 opposition among the Germans, which was led es- 
 pecially by Saur, the publisher, of Germantown. The 
 English circular describing the scheme, cast serious 
 reflections, some thought, on the Germans here, for il- 
 literacy and poverty and semi-heathenism. Some of 
 them suspected it was an effort to rob them of 
 their loved German language, as English was to be 
 taught in the schools; while others looked on it as an 
 effort to secretly introduce the Episcopal Church 
 among the Germans. Rev. Mr. Schlatter, by request 
 of the Trustees, became the Superintendent of these 
 charity schools. At first the Coetus stood by Mr. 
 Schlatter and the charity schools, and suggested two 
 of its ministers. Rev. Messrs. Otterbein and Stoy, as 
 persons who could be used by that society, but by 
 and by the opposition to them became so strong that 
 it reacted against Mr. Schlatter too, and he became 
 very unpopular with the Germans. About the same 
 time there was an attack on him in the Coetus of 1756. 
 In 1755 he had been requested by the Coetus while at- 
 tending to his duties as superintendent of the charity 
 schools, to visit and organize the Reformed congrega- 
 tions as he came in contact with the Reformed, and 
 inquire into their condition. He was also asked to 
 write in the name of the Coetus the Coetus' letter to 
 the fathers in Holland. In this he seems to have made 
 use of some expressions which some of the Coetus felt 
 were a reflection on them. Tliey criticized him se- 
 verely for transcending his authority. Mr. Schlatter 
 therefore felt constrained to withdraw from the Coe- 
 tus. This was much to be regretted, both for his 
 sake and for the sake of the Coetus. 
 
62 THE COBTUS 
 
 For his sake, because it robbed him of the honor of 
 being the founder of our Church. He was its organi- 
 zer, and had he stood by it Hke Boehm to the end of 
 his life, all its future history would have redounded to 
 his credit. But he unfortunately withdrew from it 
 when most needed, instead of quietly waiting for the 
 storm to blow over, when he could have regained his 
 influence. 
 
 For 33 years he lived at Germantown and never in 
 all those years attended a Coetus meeting, although 
 he occasionally, it is said, preached in Reformed 
 churches. When the Reformed congregations were 
 crying again and again to Europe for pastors, it seems 
 sad that one so near and so able as Mr. Schlatter was 
 not to help them. Nevertheless, he did a remarkable 
 work in the few years that he was in the Coetus. Dur- 
 ing the ten years that he labored for it, his labors were 
 incessant. He gave himself no rest, riding occasion- 
 ally as high as 80 miles a day, preaching day after day, 
 and outdoing other ministers, who sometimes tired by 
 the way and had to stop. In all he traveled more than 
 8,coo miles, not counting his travels across the ocean 
 to Europe and back. All honor to him and his in- 
 dustry. 
 
 But it was equally unfortunate for our Church as 
 for himself that he did not remain in it. Had he, with 
 his splendid executive ability, remained as its leader, 
 our Church would have spread far and wide and have 
 been organized fromMaine — yes, even Nova Scotia — in 
 the North, to the Carolinas and Georgia in the South. 
 But although he left the Coetus, faithful men remained 
 in it. Boehm was now dead and Weiss was old. But 
 Leydich, Weiss, Otterbein, Stoy and others remained 
 to bear its burden and do its work. 
 
THE COBTUS 63 
 
 Mr. Schlatter, having retired from the Coetus, be- 
 came chaplain in the British army and was at the siege 
 of Louisburg, Nova Scotia, in 1757. After his return 
 he lived at his home "Sweetland," Chestnut Hill, near 
 Germantown. During the Revolution his home was 
 attacked and plundered by the British, who still looked 
 on him as a chaplain of their army, and were angry 
 with him for his sympathy with the American cause. 
 He died 1790, universally respected, and having 
 among his intimate acquaintances many of the leading 
 men of Pennsylvania. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 THistors of tbe Coetus. 
 Our early Reformed Church had to pass through 
 many vicissitudes before it was permanently founded 
 and could spread itself throug'h our Western land. 
 We have already called attention to some of the dan- 
 gers that surrounded it. In Boehm's time the Mora- 
 vian movement threatened to undermine it. In Schlat- 
 ter's time the quarrel concerning Steiner threatened 
 to divide it. As an ecclesiastical body, it now began 
 growing more compact. But now, instead of within 
 the Church, political dangers outside of it appeared. 
 The French war broke out and some of the border 
 churches suffered a good deal (1755). Rev. Mr. Stoy 
 vividly describes tbe sufferings of the Tulpehocken 
 charge from the Indians. Wissler's charge, on the 
 Lehigh, near AUentown, also suffered. But although 
 political dangers threatened it, the Church began to 
 increase in efficiency. This was due to the fact that 
 some of her best ministers began to arrive, as Alsentz, 
 Gros, Weyberg, Bucher, Henop, Hendel, Gobrecbt, 
 J. E. Faber, Pomp, and later Helffenstein and Helff- 
 
64 THE COETUS 
 
 rich. The Church had often been compelled to con- 
 tend with unworthy men, who tried to become pastors 
 of the congregations or to be elected into the Coetus, 
 as Pithan at Easton, Berger at Reading, and later 
 Spangenberg at Shamokin, and others. Nobly she 
 tried to prevent these adventurers from entering like 
 wolves into her fold and scattering the sheep. Over 
 against these she began rearing her own ministry, in 
 addition to receiving those sent from Holland. Wack, 
 Wagner, Weymer and others she trained herself, as 
 they studied privately under Hendel, Gros, Weyberg, 
 and others. 
 
 When the American Revolution broke out, the Coe- 
 tus had spread her territory beyond the Blue Moun- 
 tains on the north and westward down the Cumber- 
 land Valley to Frederick, Hagerstown and Baltimore. 
 The Germans pretty generally sympathized with the 
 Amiericans against England, although there were some 
 Tories among them. One minister, Stahlschmidt, re- 
 veals the awkward position of some of our ministers, 
 in his book, "A Pilgrimage by Land and Sea." He 
 says : "I acted with extreme caution, so as not to give 
 offence to the Royalists in my congregation (near 
 York), but where such a party spirit reigns, it is im- 
 possible for a minister's political sentiments to remain 
 long concealed. An order was issued by the Ameri- 
 can government to march against the enemy, which 
 produced such confusion that I could not do otherwise 
 than advise them to yield as much as possible to pres- 
 ent circumstances, because it was incumbent upon us 
 to be obedient to the existing authorities in all things 
 not contrary to conscience. Those who vented their 
 rage against the Congress were dissatisfied with me, 
 especially one Royalist, who went about among the 
 
THE COETUS 65 
 
 congregation and stirred them up against me. The 
 confusion increasing to the highest pitch, I perceived 
 it was best to resign my charge." He left and went 
 back to Europe. 
 
 But many of the Reformed ministers were more out- 
 spoken patriots than Stahlschmidt. We have not yet 
 found any action taken by the Coetus in favor of the 
 Colonies and against England. Perhaps, although 
 most of the ministers were patriots, yet they did not 
 think it wise to mingle politics with their Coetus' acts, 
 especially as they were under the control of a foreign 
 Church and did not wish to implicate Holland or com- 
 plicate her relations to England. The meetings of the 
 Coetus were sometimes interfered with by the war, so 
 that in 1778 and 1780 there was no meeting held. And 
 although almost every alternate Coetus was held in 
 Philadelphia, yet after 1774 for seven years no meet- 
 ing was held there. Sometimes owing to the war, the 
 Philadelphia and Germantown churches, especially 
 the former, would be cut off from the other congrega- 
 tions, and the White Marsh, Skippach and German- 
 town congregations were overrun at times by march- 
 ing armies. The ministry often suffered much from 
 non-payment of salaries, owing to the scarcity of 
 money or its little value. Thus Stahlschmidt, of 
 whom we spoke above, says that when he resigned to 
 go away to Europe, "there were thousands of dollars 
 due him on his salary, but as sixty or seventy paper 
 dollars were only equivalent to one silver one, he could 
 for all this money scarcely procure a new coat for him- 
 self." On the Indian borders, especially the Lykens 
 Valley, there were many dangers. In 1779 the minis- 
 ters of the Coetus were so much impressed by the 
 danger and uncertainty around them, that they ap- 
 
66 THE COETUS 
 
 pointed a day of prayer and appointed a committee to 
 issue a call to the people for prayer to God for guid- 
 ance. At the end of the war the Coetal letter to the 
 fathers in Holland rejoices that the war is over, and 
 pay their respects to Holland by congratulating them- 
 selves on being citizens of a republic, like Holland. 
 
 But while the Coetus itself does not seem to have 
 taken any political action, many of the individual min- 
 isters did. The First Reformed Church of Philadel- 
 phia was known for the sympathy of its pastor, Wey- 
 berg, and its people, with the patriots. When a mem- 
 orial service was to be held Feb. 19, 1776, on the death 
 of General Montgomery, who was killed in the attack 
 on Quebec, the Reformed congregation boldly threw 
 open its doors for that meeting, although there were 
 many Tories about and it was somewhat dangerous to 
 do so. Indeed Dr. Weyberg dared, even when the 
 British were occupying Philadelphia, to preach such 
 patriotic sermons, that the British (fearing he would 
 influence the Hessians, many of whom were Reformed 
 and attended his German services, would desert) im- 
 prisoned him. When the British departed from Phila- 
 delphia and the congregation again regained posses- 
 sion of their church (which had been used as a hos- 
 pital by the British), Dr. Weyberg took the significant 
 text, "O God, the heathen are come into thine inherit- 
 ance. Thy holy temple have they defiled," Ps. 79:1. 
 
 Dr. Hendel was accustomed to go over the Blue 
 Mountains north of Tulpehocken to preach to the Re- 
 formed in the Lykens Valley. His sympathy with the 
 patriots was so well known that this trip was quite 
 dangerous, as the Indians on that border sympathized 
 with the British. So a delegation of the Reformed 
 would come armed to meet him at the entrance of the 
 
THE COBTUS 67 
 
 valley and guard him to the church, watch while he 
 was preaching, and act as his bodyguard on the jour- 
 ney homeward until they brought him back safely to 
 the Tulpehocken. 
 
 Several of the prominent officers of the Revolution 
 were members of the Reformed Church. General 
 Herkimer, the hero of Oriskany, a battle in New York 
 State, was a German Reformed, and General Philip 
 Schuyler was a Dutch Reformed. Baron Steuben was 
 also a member of the Reformed Church of New York 
 city. He created a great furore among the Germans 
 here, for he had been an officer in the famous army of 
 Frederick the Great of Prussia, the military hero of 
 Europe. He came to our land to bring the tactics, that 
 made Frederick victorious, to our army and he prob- 
 ably saved our cause by his military drills. "After his 
 coming," says Lessing, "the army was drilled and 
 after this the Continental Congress Regulars were 
 never beaten in a fair fight. Before he came the 
 American soldier, because he did not know how to 
 use the bayonet, had lost faith in it as a piece of armor. 
 The only use of it to which he had been accustomed 
 had been to roast his meat with it over the fire. Yet 
 in a little more than a year after Baron Steuben came, 
 an American column, without firing a gun, stormed 
 Stony Point, on the Hudson, and captured it after one 
 of the most splendid bayonet charges of history.'' 
 
 Nine miles west of Reading is one of the oldest Re- 
 formed churches in Pennsylvania, formerly called the 
 Heidelberg, now called the Hain's Church (near Wer- 
 nersville). It had over its door the inscription placed 
 there by its first builders when that church was built 
 (1766), "All who go in and out must be true to the 
 God and the King." After the war was over, one of 
 
68 THE SYNOD 
 
 its builders said the word "king" must be cut out, and 
 the word "king" was cut out, and so the inscription 
 remains mutilated to this day, a silent witness to the 
 patriotism of the members of that church. 
 
 Thus the Reformed proved faithful to the American 
 government. After the war was over the Coetus pre- 
 sented General Washington (1789) with a letter of 
 congratulation when he was elected president. Gen- 
 eral Washington, although an Episcopalian, attended 
 the Reformed church at Germantown under Dr. Hen- 
 del's ministry, and rumor has it that he communed 
 there. And after Washington's death the Cincinnati 
 Society, founded in 1783, by the officers of the Revo- 
 lutionary army, met in the First Reformed church of 
 Philadelphia, Feb. 22, 1800, to commemorate his 
 death. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 JUST as the United States was changed from a 
 colony to an independent nation by the Revolu- 
 tion, so our Church was changed from the 
 Coetus, which meant dependence on the Hol- 
 land Church, to a Synod, which meant inde- 
 pendence and self-reliance. And just as our great na- 
 tion had grown from its small beginning to its present 
 greatness, so our little flock of Reformed has grown to 
 be a large and influential denomination. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Iprogrese in Spite ot BlfBculties. 
 
 In 1792 the members of the Coetus declared their 
 independence of the Fathers in Holland, and in 1793 
 adopted their new constitution. The Coetus was no 
 more — it had become the Synod. Several causes led 
 to this change. One was that communication with 
 Holland had been exceedingly difficult, especially dur- 
 ing the Revolutionary War. Often the Coetus had to 
 wait for months, sometimes for years, for important de- 
 cisions by the Synods of Holland on its acts, and some- 
 times the answer never came from Holland because it 
 was lost at sea. Although they would ordain a licen- 
 tiate when there was extreme necessity, yet often the 
 young man would have to wait for months before the 
 Coetus would get authority from Holland to do so. 
 This caused much inconvenience and our fathers there- 
 fore found this arrangement too clumsy to be contin- 
 
70 THE SYNOD 
 
 ued. Another reason was that our Church here was get- 
 ting strong enough to take care of herself and did not 
 so much need the money sent from Holland. Per- 
 haps one fact tended more than any other to cause the 
 ultimate break. It was the founding of Franklin Col- 
 lege at Lancaster in 1787. This strengthened a feel- 
 ing which had already appeared in the Coetus as early 
 as 1782, when it was suggested by Rev. Mr. Helflfrich. 
 The Coetus then requested the Synods of Holland to 
 establish an Academy in Pennsylvania which would 
 prepare its ministers. The interest in this movement 
 was so great that Coetus met in 1787, at Lancaster, so 
 as to attend the opening of Franklin College. And 
 although Franklin College did not at first prosper, 
 owing to lack of funds, yet the feeling grew more and 
 more decided among the members of the Coetus that 
 they ought to be free, so as to educate their own min- 
 isters in America and not be compelled to wait until 
 either they were sent from Holland or their ordination 
 was ordered from Holland. So at Easton, in 1791, 
 the Coetus took action that it had the right to ordain 
 a minister without asking or awaiting for permission 
 to do so from the Fathers in Holland. In 1792, it 
 went a step farther toward becoming independent by 
 appointing a committee to draft a new constitution, 
 and Rev. Messrs. Pomp and Blumer were appointed 
 to prepare a constitution, not for a Coetus but for a 
 Synod. This was adopted in 1793. However, al- 
 though our Fathers thus broke away from the Re- 
 formed Church of Holland a century ago, we should 
 always remember with great gratitude the debt we 
 owe to them for aiding our infant Church for almost a 
 half a century. They sent many ministers and paid 
 their salaries and also the salaries of many school- 
 
THE SYNOD 71 
 
 masters for many years. They also very patiently lis- 
 tened to the complaints and troubles of our early Coe- 
 tus and wisely decided them, all the while fostering 
 the Church. 
 
 So, on April 27, 1793, the first Synod of our Church 
 met at Lancaster. Thirteen of the 22 ministers be- 
 longing to Coetus were present, but all but three 
 sent excuses for absence. The S3mod contained 178 
 congregations and 15,000 communicants.* 
 
 The Coetus adopted the constitution for a Synod 
 prepared by Rev. Messrs. Hendel and Blumer and de- 
 cided that it would not transmit to the Fathers in Hol- 
 land its proceedings, as heretofore, but only send a 
 letter. This act completed their separation from the 
 Mother Church of Holland. 
 
 But our Fathers had hardly declared their independ- 
 ency, when serious difficulties began to appear. The 
 first was the conflict of languages. As Germans, they 
 tenaciously clung to their beloved mother-tongue, yet 
 the English language kept forcing itself more and 
 more into the families, so that English preaching was 
 becoming a necessity. Rev. Casper Wack, as early as 
 1782, began to preach English in addition to German 
 in his congregations, in Western New Jersey, near 
 Easton. Rev. Dr. Herman soon after preached reg- 
 ularly in English at Germantown. But it was in the 
 Philadelphia congregation that the strife became most 
 bitter in regard to the two languages. Again and 
 again the subject was carried up to the Synod by mem- 
 bers of this church, asking that the preaching in Eng- 
 lish be stopped. The Synod generally tabled the mat- 
 ter. But finally the strife became so bitter that it led 
 to a division in the congregation (181 7). Gradually 
 
 * HOTB.— See Dubba' Manual, page 324. 
 
72 THE SYNOD 
 
 the English language was introduced into many of the 
 congregations, but very often some of the congrega- 
 tions waited too long, until they had forced many of 
 their young people into other denominations, which 
 was a great injury to our Church. This conflict of 
 languages has gradually settled itself by a gradual 
 change to English as circumstances demand it. 
 
 The other difficulty of the Church was the lack of 
 ministers. Formerly she had depended on Holland for 
 them, but now she had to depend on herself. But as she 
 had no college to educate them or money to found 
 such an institution, how was she to provide herself 
 with ministers? Individual ministers stepped into the 
 breach and privately prepared many young men for 
 the ministry. Weyberg, Gros, Hendel and Helfifen- 
 stein had done this under the Coetus. This was con- 
 tinued under the Synod by Samuel Helfifenstein, Her- 
 man, Becker, and others. Helffenstein is said to have 
 prepared as many as 27 young men for the ministry. 
 But all these excellent efforts were found to be insuf- 
 ficient. So, in 1820, the Synod at Hagerstown 
 adopted a plan for the establishment of a Theological 
 Seminary. It elected Rev. Dr. Milledoler, of New 
 York, as its professor and selected Frederick, Md., as 
 its location. Alas, their expectations were soon 
 doomed to disappointment. Dr. Milledoler, after de- 
 liberating about it for two years, finally decided to de- 
 cline the call; and as much of the money subscribed 
 to the new institution, was conditioned on his accept- 
 ance, it never came into the treasury of the Seminary. 
 With this reverse came a reaction in the Church. In 
 some parts of the Church ministers and people reveal- 
 ed an opposition to the Seminary. These looked upon 
 the raising of so much money as an unnecessary extra- 
 
THE SYNOD 73 
 
 vagance,and some said they feared tyranny on the part 
 of the Church. Some, too, Hke Dr. Herman, objected 
 to the location of the Seminary at Frederick, so far 
 southwest of the centre of the Church. As a result 
 of this opposition, quite a number of ministers and 
 congregations left the Synod (1822) and formed a free 
 Synod, which at different times had connected with it 
 57 ministers and more than 100 congregations* This 
 Free Synod lasted for fifteen years and had in it some 
 of our most influential congregations and ministers, 
 but in 1837 it returned to the Synod. In the mean- 
 time the Synod went on trying to build up its Theo- 
 logical Seminary. In 1823 it elected Rev. Dr. S. Helf- 
 fenstein Professor of Theology, but he declined. In 
 1824 it elected Rev. Dr. Lewis Mayer professor and at 
 last the Seminary was opened March 11, 1825, at Car- 
 lisle. The Church having once begun this work, went 
 at it with a will. In 1825 Rev. James R. Reily went 
 to Europe to solicit money and books for it, and 
 brought back $6,669, and 5,000 books, while Rev. J. 
 C. Beecher collected $10,000 for its endowment in this 
 country. The Seminary was, however, removed to 
 York in 1829, where it continued till 1837, Dr. Mayer 
 being assisted in the teaching by Rev. Samuel Young 
 and Dr. F. A. Ranch. It was then removed to Mer- 
 cersburg, where it remained till 1871. 
 
 Thus the Church gradually met its difficulties and 
 overcame them, and grew in numbers and influence. 
 It began to spread to the West during this period, the 
 first minister, R^v. Jacob Christman, going to Ohio in 
 1803, and Rev. J.T. Larose in 1804. In 1812 the Synod 
 ordered that certain ministers should be sent. to the 
 West, and Mr. Dechant was sent in 1816. When the 
 
 *NOTE.— DubbB' History ol GermaniBeformca Church, page 348. 
 
74 THE SYNOD 
 
 Synod was divided into classes in 1819, there were 
 enough ministers in Ohio to form a classis, which 
 grew so that in 1824 it organized itself into a Synod of 
 Ohio. It separated itself from the mother Church in 
 Pennsylvania, because the latter treated it just as the 
 fathers in Holland had treated them. It refused to 
 give the Ohio Synod the right to ordain, and wanted 
 the young men who desired to enter our ministry to 
 cross the Alleghenies so as to get ordination. This the 
 Ohio brethren refused to do, and they declared them- 
 selves independent. This Ohio Synod grew, until in 
 1838 it started its own Theological Seminary by the 
 appointment of Rev. J. G. Buettner as professor. But 
 he resigned the next year and went back to Europe, 
 and the Seminary ceased for a time to exist. These 
 home missionary movements prepared the way for for- 
 eign missionary movements which came later. Other 
 events occurred which showed that the Church was 
 moving forward. A Church paper was started at Car- 
 lisle in 1828. In 1806 the first Sunday School was or- 
 ganized in the Reformed Church of Philadelphia. The 
 Church also made progress in its relations to other de- 
 nominations. The cause of Christian unity began to 
 attract attention. When, in 1817, the Lutherans and 
 Reformed of Prussia and many other States in Ger- 
 many united, there were some rumors of such a union 
 in America between the Reformed and the Lutherans. 
 No action, however, was taken by the Synod looking 
 toward it, although a very pleasant correspondence 
 took place between the two denominations in refer- 
 ence to the tercentenary of the Reformation, in 1817. 
 But, although our Church did not unite with the Luth- 
 erans, it came into correspondence with other evangel- 
 ical bodies. In 1833 it entered into fraternal relations 
 
THE SYNOD 75 
 
 with the Presbyterian Church, and later with the 
 Dutch Reformed Church, with whom it had several 
 very pleasant conventions. 
 
 Thus the Church, in spite of its great difficulties, 
 grew so that by 1840 it had reached a high- water 
 mark. It was united and progressive. Several of the 
 oldest ministers have told us "Those were the halcyon 
 days of the Reformed Church." She was united and 
 progressive. God's Spirit was poured out on the 
 Churches. Her institutions were being firmly estab- 
 lished. Controversy had not yet entered. The out- 
 look was hopeful. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 IProgrcss in Spite of ControvetBB. 
 
 The Church having equipped herself with a Board 
 of Missions so as to enlarge her field, and with Theo- 
 logical Seminaries to supply the Churches with minis- 
 ters, was now ready for an onward movement. First 
 she strengthened her institutions of learning. In 1840 
 Rev. J. W. Nevin, D.D., was elected from the Presby- 
 terian Church to be professor of theology at Mercers- 
 burg. Dr. Rauch's death, soon after (1841), compelled 
 the Synod to elect a successor. They decided to look 
 abroad for another man like Dr. Rauch. Rev. F. W. 
 Krummacher, D.D., pastor of the largest Reformed 
 Church in Germany, at Elberfeld,in western Germany, 
 was then attracting the attention which afterwards led 
 him to be called as court preacher to the King of 
 Prussia. The Synod elected him (1843), and Rev. Drs. 
 Schneck and Hoffeditz were appointed to go to Ger- 
 many and present the call personally to Dr. Krum- 
 macher. Dr. Krummacher found it necessary to de- 
 cline the call, but recommended Rev. Philip Schafif, ~ 
 
1(> THE SYNOD 
 
 D.D., who was then professor extraordinary at the 
 University of Berlin. The Synod then elected Dr. 
 SchafJ, and he accepted. He came to this country, and 
 was inaugurated (1844) at Reading as professor of his- 
 tory in the Theological Seminary at Mercersburg. On 
 this occasion he delivered an address, "The Principle 
 of Protestantism," which created a sensation and caus- 
 ed some criticism. 
 
 The Western Seminary soon after was revived 
 (1848) and located (1850) at Tiffin, Ohio, and Rev. E. 
 V. Gerhart, D.D., was made professor. The Pittsburg 
 Synod was organized in 1870, and the Potomac Synod 
 in 1873. The Germans, too, began extending their 
 operations into the great West. Rev. Dr. M. Stern, 
 Rev. Dr. H. A. Miihlmeier, and Rev. Dr. H. J. Rue- 
 tenik began (about 1853) their work in the West, which 
 has resulted in the formation of the two Western Ger- 
 man Synods. In i860 Dr. Miihlmeier started the Ger- 
 man Mission House, among a colony of emigrants 
 from Lippe, in Germany, at Franklin, Wisconsin. Rev. 
 Dr. Ruetenik, after teaching at Heidelberg College, 
 went to Cleveland and started Calvin College. The 
 Synod of the Northwest was organized in 1867; the 
 Eastern (German) Synod in 1875; and the Central 
 Synod in 1881. The Church also began moving in the 
 South as well as in the West. The Classis of North 
 Carolina founded Catawba College in 1851. Although 
 separated from the North by the Civil War, which 
 caused it to lose a large part of its endowment, yet it 
 has done excellent work. Finally the Interior Synod 
 was formed (1887), consisting of the English Classes 
 west of Indiana. The name "German" was dropped 
 from our title in 1869. 
 
 But while the Church was thus spreading, she was 
 
THE SYNOD 77 
 
 also uniting. The Synod of Pennsylvania and the 
 Synod of Ohio, which had been separated, united in 
 1863. In that year the tercentenary of the Heidel- 
 berg Catechism was held in Philadelphia (January 17). 
 This festival occasion lasted six days. Papers were 
 read on the Catechism by leading ministers of our 
 Church and of other Churches, and also' of other coun- 
 tries. Free will offerings were made in the Churches, 
 which amounted to $108,125 in the Eastern Synod. 
 The tercentenary edition of the Heidelberg Cate- 
 chism in three languages (German, Latin and English) 
 called the triglott, was published. One result of this 
 tercentenary festival was the bringing of the different 
 parts of the German Reformed Church in this land 
 closer together, and on November 18, 1863, the Ohio 
 Synod united with the Eastern Synod to form the Gen- 
 eral Synod, by holding their first meeting at Pittsburg. 
 Thus the German Reformed Church became fully or- 
 ganized by capping the Synodical Church Govern- 
 ment by a General Synod. Ineffectual efforts were 
 made (1874 and 1888) to unite with the Dutch Re- 
 formed Church, and later to form a federal union with 
 that Church, but, after negotiation had continued for 
 six years (1887-1893), it failed. In 1880 she entered 
 the "Alliance of the Reformed Churches holding the 
 Presbyterian System," and thus progressed still far- 
 ther in uniting with Churches of like faith and order 
 in all parts of the world. 
 
 But, although the Church during the past half cen- 
 tury was uniting, yet she was also dividing. There 
 were centrifugal forces at work as well as centripetal. 
 Her progress was to be a progress, in spite of a con- 
 troversy, which caused to her the loss of many individ- 
 uals and of some Churches. For many years she was 
 
78 THE SYNOD 
 
 divided into two parties, which threatened to split her 
 into two. The subject that caused the controversy was 
 the Hturgy. In 1847 the Eastern Synod appointed a 
 committee to prepare a new liturgy. Very soon there 
 appeared a division in that committee, Rev. J. H. A. 
 Bomberger, D.D., resigning off the committee. But 
 the committee continued its work, and in 1867 a Pro- 
 visional Liturgy was published. The use of this 
 liturgy was allowed by the Eastern Synod, but it did 
 not come into general use. The Ohio Synod also de- 
 sired to prepare a liturgy, and the General Synod in 
 1863 gave it permission to do so, and also recommend- 
 ed the Eastern Synod to revise the Provisional Lit- 
 urgy. In 1866 the Eastern Synod published the Order 
 of Worship, and the next year the Ohio Synod pub- 
 lished the Western Liturgy. The opponents to the 
 Order of Worship held a meeting at Myerstown, Sep- 
 tember 24, 1867, to protest against the liturgy, and 
 founded Ursinus College, under the presidency of Rev. 
 J. H. A. Bomberger, D.D., which was recognized as 
 an institution of the Church by the General Synod in 
 1872. The controversy on the liturgical question con- 
 tinued until 1878, when, at the suggestion of Rev. C. 
 Z. Weiser, D.D., the General Synod appointed a 
 peace commission; this commission aimed to 
 harmonize the Church, and was in 1881 reap- 
 pointed by the General Synod to prepare a new 
 liturgy, which it submitted to the General Synod of 
 1884, and, having been adopted by the Classes, it was 
 formally ratified by the next General Synod in 1887. 
 The Church then proceeded to arrange for the publica- 
 tion of a new hymn book. In 1893 a new hymn book 
 was adopted and is at present in general use. The 
 Church has also been trying to formulate a new consti- 
 
THE SYNOD jg 
 
 tution, but, although the subject has been discussed 
 and committees appointed since 1884, the new consti- 
 tution has not yet been adopted. 
 
 Thus, in spite of controversy, the Church kept on 
 increasing. There is no doubt that she lost much by 
 it and would have grown faster had there been no con- 
 troversy. Yet in this century she has grown to fifty 
 times as many ministers and fifteen times as many 
 members. And if the Hberty that has been granted by 
 the peace compact be continued, the Church will con- 
 tinue to grow even faster in the century to come. In 
 1896 she had eight Synods, 56 Classes, 1,001 minis- 
 ters, 1,665 congregations, 229,800 members, 181,217 
 communicants, 1,639 Sunday Schools, 174,154 Sunday 
 School scholars, 297 students for the ministry ; she had 
 raised $194,126 for benevolent purposes, and $1,036,- 
 477 for congregational purposes. 
 
 The Church has also begun a revival of historic con- 
 sciousness. In 1841 it held its first centennial, al- 
 though it is not really clear of what it was the centen- 
 nial, as the Coetus was not organized until 1747, al- 
 though the first organization was really as early as 1725 
 whenBoehm formed the first charge of three congrega- 
 tions — Skippach, Falkner Swamp and White Marsh, — 
 and thoroughly organized them. But, at any rate, 
 they kept this year (1841) as a Coetus' centennial and 
 raised a considerable sum for benevolence. This, 
 however, prepared the way for the greater historic ob- 
 servance of the tercentenary of the Heidelberg Cate- 
 chism, in 1863. Especially within the last ten years 
 has the number of centennial and semi-centennial ser- 
 vices increased. The General Synod, at its session in 
 1893, observed the centennial of its organization as a 
 Synod in 1793, with fitting addresses and services. 
 
8o THE SYNOD 
 
 And this year (1897) is the sesqui-centennial of the or- 
 ganization of the Coetus of 1747. The Board of Home 
 Missions proposes to raise a Michael Schlatter Build- 
 ing Fund of $100,000, in honor of the sesqui-centen- 
 nial. Ursinus College is also raising a sesqui-centen- 
 nial endowment fund this year. This Handbook of 
 Reformed Church History is published and sent forth 
 in honor of this sesqui-centennial, in the hope that it 
 may aid and enlarge the historic consciousness of the 
 Church. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 MistotB ot tbe 1[n&tvi&ual ^Benevolent Operations 
 of tbe Cburcb. 
 
 The Church has also progressed in her various 
 methods of activity as well as in her general growth. 
 Just as the golden candle-stick in the temple has seven 
 branches, so the Church has seven arms of activity, 
 which, like lights, it stretches out to aid in caring for 
 its members and in saving sinners. We will mention 
 them in the order of their origin. 
 
 I. Ministerial Relief. 
 It may seem strange that this benevolent cause, 
 which seems to have attracted the least attention of 
 our Church, should be mentioned first. Yet it came 
 first; and, unfortunately, since then has been often for- 
 gotten. It was one of the first subjects that came be- 
 fore the early Coetus; indeed it was the very first 
 benevolent object for which the Church began to col- 
 lect funds. As early as 1755 the Coetus founded a 
 Fund for Ministers and their Widows. It is said that 
 it did this because the salaries they received were so 
 small that it was impossible for them to save anything 
 during life. The noble example of the mother Church 
 
THE SYNOD 8i 
 
 of Holland led it to found this fund, for that Church 
 always cared faithfully for ministers and their families. 
 As a result, there is frequent mention on the Coetus' 
 minutes, of money given to poor ministers and their 
 widows. This society was chartered in 1811, and in 
 1833 its members transferred its funds to the Synod. 
 However, the subject received little attention for many 
 years; perhaps because the Church was engaged in 
 what seemed more important subjects. But in the 
 last decade it has been assuming an importance in the 
 eyes of the Church, of which it is worthy. Its report 
 of 1896 says that it aided 51 beneficiaries and that it 
 had raised $7,320 and had investments amounting to 
 $38,212, and a membership of 210 life and 10 annual 
 members. The recent generous gift to the society of 
 the Daniel Stine Memorial Home, at Myerstown, by 
 Mrs. Linda Kaub, will, it is hoped, enlarge this im- 
 portant work and prepare the Church to put it on a 
 permanent foundation. 
 
 II. Education. 
 
 The subject of education early attracted the atten- 
 tion of our Church. The Coetus rejoiced at the open- 
 ing of Franklin College in 1787. It founded its own 
 theological institution in 1825, at Carlisle, under Prof. 
 Mayer. In 1840 Rev. J. W. Nevin, D.D., was made 
 professor (1840-51), Rev. P. SchafE, D.D. (1844-1863), 
 Rev. B. C. Wolff, D.D. (1852-1864), Rev. H. Har- 
 bough, D.D. (1864-1867), Rev. E. E. Higbee, D.D. 
 (1865-1871), Rev. E. V. Gerhart, D.D. (1868-), Rev. 
 T. G. Apple, D.D. (1868-), Rev. F. A. Cast, D.D. 
 (1873-), Rev. J. C. Bowman, D.D. (1890-), Rev. W. A. 
 Rupp, D.D. (1892-). 
 
 The Western Theological Seminary was begun in 
 
82 THE SYNOD 
 
 1838, but re-opened at Tififin in 1850. Rev. E. V. Ger- 
 hart, D.D., was professor (1851-1855), Rev. Moses 
 Kieffer, D.D. (1855-1861), Rev. Herman Rust, D.D. 
 (1855-), Rev. J. H. Good, D.D. (1869-1887), Rev. A. 
 S. Zerbe, D.D. (1888-), Rev. D. Van Home, D.D. 
 (1888-), Rev. J. I. Swander, D.D. (1891-1895). 
 
 The German Mission House was opened in i860, 
 for the education of ministers, at Franklin, Wis. Rev. 
 H. A. Miihlmeier,D.D.,was professor (i860-), Rev. Dr. 
 Bossard (1860-1885), Rev. H. W. Kurtz (1875-1889), 
 Rev. J. Van Haagen (1886-), Rev. H. A. Meier 
 (1890-). 
 
 The Theological School of Ursinus College was 
 opened in 1869, with Rev. J. H. A. Bomberger, D.D., 
 as president (1869-1884), and as professors Rev. H. A. 
 Super, D. D. (1869-1893), Rev. J. Van Haagen, D.D. 
 (1870-1886), Rev. M. Peters (1888-), Rev. Geo. 
 Stibitz (1889-1895), Rev. James I. Good, D.D. (1890-), 
 Rev. William Hinke (1895-). 
 
 Seven colleges are in successful operation. Mar- 
 shall College, founded in 1835, changed to Franklin 
 and Marshall in 1853. Heidelberg College, 1850; 
 Catawba College, 185 1; Ursinus College, 1869; Calvin 
 College, 1863; College of Northern Illinois, 1882; 
 Wichita University (the latter has been given up). 
 Palatinate and Mercersburg Colleges have been also 
 semi-colleges in preparing students for college up to 
 the higher classes; but the former, however, has been 
 given up. 
 
 The cause of female education has also received the 
 attention of the Church, three institutions being under 
 its patronage: Allentown Female College, Allentown, 
 Pa. ; Clarmont Female College, at Hickory, N. C. ; and 
 the Female College of Frederick, Md. 
 
THE SYNOD 83 
 
 The beneficiary education or the education of stu- 
 dents for the ministry, did not receive much attention 
 till 1841. Since then the subject has been taken up 
 and pushed with vigor. Now large sums are raised by 
 the various Classes for that object, and many needy 
 students are helped into the ministry. The statistics, 
 however, have never been tabulated, so that the 
 amount of money raised is unknown; but the last re- 
 port of General Synod put the number of students for 
 the ministry at 297. 
 
 III. Home Missions. 
 
 This was the next subject that claimed the attention 
 of the Church. It arose almost simultaneously with 
 that of education. Home missions had been carried 
 on before under the Coetus, as Weber in 1783 was 
 sent West to Pittsburg, and Samuel Weyberg in 
 1795 to the South by the Synod. But it never 
 assumed any organized form until 1826, when the 
 Eastern Synod organized a Board of Home Missions. 
 But as the name "board" was a new one m 
 the Church and a strong prejitdice existed in 
 some parts of the Church against any forced collec- 
 tions, it was made a voluntary society rather than a 
 board. It reported its labors through the "Reformed 
 Church Magazine," and would make its reports to 
 Synod, but its relation was semi-official. For a num- 
 ber of years it received encouragement from only a 
 somewhat limited part of the Church, and its receipts 
 were small. In 1845 its receipts were only $1,500. 
 But from 1855 its receipts rapidly increased, showing 
 that the Church was awaking to its importance. In 
 1873 the Eastern, Pittsburg and Potomac Synods 
 united in forming a tri-synodic board. The friends of 
 
84 THE SYNOD 
 
 Ursinus College also organized the Ursinus Union 
 (1869) to prosecute home missions. The Ohio Synod 
 and the German Synods also had each their boards. 
 Efforts were made after the adoption of the peace 
 compact, to unify these several boards of the Synods 
 in a General Synod's board. The Ohio Synod was the 
 first to fall in, followed by the Ursinus Union and the 
 Pittsburg Synod. All the English Synods' boards are 
 now in the General Synod's board. The German 
 Synods, however, prefer to carry on their work inde- 
 pendently, although reporting their results to the Gen- 
 eral Synod. At the last General Synod there were re- 
 ported by all the boards, 135 missions, with 13,762 
 members. Within three years (1893-1896), home mis- 
 sions has received $144,323, or about $46,000 a year. 
 It also reported that it had $28,418 in building funds. 
 Two very interesting features of the home mission- 
 ary work have developed themselves. One is the Har- 
 bor Mission or Mission to the Emigrants arriving at 
 New York. This was begun in 1865, and is now un- 
 der the efiScient management of Rev. Paul Sommer- 
 latte. The other is the Hungarian Mission among the 
 thousands of Hungarian emigrants in this country, 
 many of whom are devotedly attached to the Reform- 
 ed Church. Rev. G. Jurany was the first commis- 
 sioned for this work on January i, 1891, and located at 
 Cleveland. This work has grown so rapidly that at 
 the General Synod of 1896 there were six Hungarian 
 missions, with 1,196 communicants. Encouraged by 
 the success of this work, the board started a new mis- 
 sion (1896) among the Bohemians of Chicago, under 
 the care of Rev. Mr. Molnar. 
 
THE SYNOD 85 
 
 IV. Publication. 
 Almost as soon as the Synod awoke to the import- 
 ance of education and home missions, and organized 
 them, it also began to work on publication lines. Its 
 first publication was "The Magazine of the Reformed 
 Church," at Carlisle in 1828. It was published under 
 the care of the Board of Home Missions. This was 
 changed into the "Messenger of the German Reform- 
 ed Church." Its place of publication was at first Car- 
 lisle, then Chambersburg; but after the burning of the 
 latter place, it was located in Philadelphia. Rev. B. S. 
 Schneck, D.D., was made its first editor, in 1840. He 
 was succeeded by Rev. S. R. Fisher, D.D. (1875-1888), 
 Rev. P. S. Davis, D.D., Rev. C. G. Fisher, D.D. (1888- 
 1896), Rev. C. J. Musser (1896-). The German publi- 
 cations, before 1837, were the "Christliche Herold," 
 published by Rev. Dr. Schneck, and "Die Evangel- 
 ische Zeitschrift," by Rev. Dr. J. C. Guldin. These 
 were then united into "Die Reformirte Kirchenzei- 
 tung," whose editor was Rev. Dr. L. Praikschatis, just 
 deceased. The "Reformed Quarterly" was begun as 
 the "Mercersburg Review" in 1849, and is now edited 
 by Rev. Dr. W. A. Rupp. The "Guardian" was pub- 
 lished from 1856 to 1896. The Western Church also 
 began its work by the publication of the "Western 
 Missionary," in 1848, which was afterwards changed 
 to the "Christian World," under Rev. Dr. S. Mease. 
 Its present editor is Rev. Dr. M. Loucks. The "Re- 
 formed Church Monthly" was published by Rev. J. H. 
 A. Bomberger, D.D. (1868-1876), "The Hausfreund" 
 (1867-), "The Record," by D. Miller (1888-), "The 
 Reformed Church Magazine," by Rev. J. I. Good 
 (1893-1896). The Eastern, Pittsburg and Potomac 
 Synods still retain control of the Publication House at 
 
86 THE SYNOD 
 
 Philadelphia, which was begun at Chambersburg 
 (1844). The German Publication House at Cleveland, 
 is also under the control of the German Synods. 
 
 V. Foreign Missions. 
 
 The Church having begun its movement for home 
 missions, had to complete it by establishing foreign 
 missions; for each is a different phase of the same 
 work, and the one helps the other. The Board of 
 Foreign Missions was organized in 1838. Like most 
 of the American Churches at that time, it labored at 
 first in union with other denominations, under the 
 American Board, until in 1865 it withdrew from that 
 board. During that time Rev. Dr. B. Schneider was 
 our devoted missionary and labored at Broosa (1842-) 
 and Aintab (1849-) in Asia Minor. From 1861 to 1878 
 the cause of foreign missions lay dormant, although 
 some of the German congregations supported Rev. O. 
 Lohr at Bisrampore, India, and some of the English 
 congregations still paid their money into the hands of 
 the American Board. In 1878 the board was reorga- 
 nized and afterward selected Japan as its mission field, 
 and in 1879 sent Rev. A. D. Gring to Tokio. For 
 about seven years Tokio was the centre of our opera- 
 tions in Japan. Then the northern part of Japan was 
 offered to our Church as its field, as it united with the 
 various Reformed and Presbyterian denominations of 
 that land to form the United Church of Christ in 
 Japan. It then changed its centre from Tokio to Sen- 
 dai, a city of northern Japan, where a large Japanese 
 congregation, under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Oshi- 
 kawa, joined us. It has located there a boys' school 
 and a theological training school; also a girls' 
 school, which are in successful operation. The growth 
 
THE SYNOD 87 
 
 of this mission has been in some respects phenomenal, 
 the board reporting in 1896, 1,935 members in six con- 
 gregations and 50 preaching stations, 39 Sunday 
 Schools with 1,618 scholars, 154 scholars in the boys' 
 school, 57 in the girls' school, and 23 in the theological 
 school. 
 
 It is also reported that its receipts from 1893 to 1896 
 were $91,275, or at the rate of about $30,000 a year. 
 The present foreign missionaries in Japan are Rev. J. 
 P. Moore, D.D., Rev. W. E. Hoy, Rev. D. B. Schne- 
 der, Rev. Henry K. Miller, Rev. S. S. Snyder, Rev. C. 
 Noss, and Miss M. C. Hallowell, Miss L. Zurfluh, and 
 Mr. Paul Gerhard as teachers. 
 
 The board, under the instructions of General Synod, 
 has under consideration the establishment of a new 
 mission in China. There has also been a mission start- 
 ed among the Indians at Black River Falls, Wis., by 
 the German Synod of the Northwest, in 1878, of which 
 Rev. I. Hauser was the first missionary, and Rev. J. 
 Stucki is the missionary at present. 
 
 VI. Sunday Schools. 
 
 This potent arm of the Church has not been thor- 
 oughly organized by the Church until very recently. 
 Individual Sunday Schools have long been in exist- 
 ence, and the cause gradually became very popular, 
 but no efifort was made to organize it under the Gen- 
 eral Synod until 1887. It is true, our early fathers in 
 this country were careful to have parochial schools in 
 each of their congregations, although they often had 
 great difficulty to get suitable school-masters. The 
 Synods of Holland were very careful to inquire 
 whether this matter was attended to. These parochial 
 schools prepared the way for, and yet, in some cases,. 
 
88 THE SYNOD 
 
 hindered the establishment of Sunday Schools. The 
 first Sunday School in our Church was probably be- 
 gun in the Reformed Church at Philadelphia, in 1806. 
 Gradually they were organized in other congrega- 
 tions. But in some of the country districts a prejudice 
 sprang up against them, as they were supposed to in 
 terfere with the parochial schools, and were looked 
 upon as a novelty in the Church. But Sunday Schools 
 have gradually won their way, till in 1896 there were 
 1,639 Sunday Schools, with 20,350 officers and teach- 
 ers, and 174,154 scholars. The General Synod, seeing 
 the importance of this movement, appointed a Sunday 
 School Board in 1887. This board arranged for the 
 publication of Lesson Helps, by Rev. J. E. Hiester, 
 D.D., and Rev. D. W. Ebert, and in 1893 appointed 
 Rev. Rufus W. Miller its secretary. It prepared a ser- 
 vice for the general observance of Children's Day, 
 from whose contributions, during the last two years, 
 $8,751 have been brought into its treasury. It has 
 issued 397,600 publications during that time. It also 
 employed a Sunday School missionary, whose efforts 
 have resulted in the formation of a number of Sunday 
 Schools, some of which have grown into congrega- 
 tions. Since its creation there has been a rapid 
 growth of the Sunday Schools of the Church. 
 
 VII. Orphans' Homes. 
 
 The care of the orphans has ever been one of the 
 most sacred in the Church. We have seen the early 
 anxiety of the fathers of the Church of Holland about 
 the widows of the ministers in this country. They felt 
 the same anxiety for their orphans. However, no or- 
 ganization to aid the needy orphans of the Church 
 was begun until 1863, when Rev. E. Boehringer open- 
 
THE SYNOD 89 
 
 ed his house, at Bridesburg, Philadelphia, to several 
 homeless orphans. When he died, soon after, Chris- 
 tian friends did not allow the cause to suffer. "The 
 Shepherd of the Lambs," as his home was called, was 
 removed from Bridesburg to Womelsdorf, in 1867, and 
 called Bethany Orphans' Home, where, under the ex- 
 cellent guidance of Rev. Dr. Bausman, the president of 
 the board, it greatly prospered. It is now under the care 
 of Rev. Mr. Yundt as superintendent, and reports in 
 1896, 112 orphans, and as having raised $30,401 in 
 three years. A similar Home was started at Butler, 
 Pa. (1868,) which, under the care of Rev. Dr. P. 
 Prugh, reports in 1896, 92 orphans, and a revenue 
 during the last three years of $25,784. The Germans 
 also established a Home at Fort Wayne in 1884, which 
 had 64 orphans in 1896, and had raised $25,284 in 
 three years. These, together, support 260 orphans, 
 and have raised at the rate of $27,000 a year. 
 
 There are also minor organizations in the Church 
 which have been recommended by the Church. Wo- 
 man's missionary societies were endorsed by General 
 Synod in 1890, and are quite prosperous. The Bro- 
 therhood of Andrew and Philip was founded by Rev. 
 R. W. Miller in 1888. It is now quite prosperous. 
 The Heidelberg League was also founded by Rev. F. 
 Bahner, in 1892, and has a number of chapters. The 
 first Christian Endeavor Society in our Church was 
 founded (1882) at Columbiana, Ohio. There are now 
 (1897) 478 Christian Endeavor Societies, with almost 
 18,000 members. 
 
 Thus these various agencies of the Church have 
 been helping her along. They have not merely been 
 aids in the past, but they are pledges for the future — 
 prophecies of her future development. If our Church 
 
go THE SYNOD 
 
 has revealed such progress in her first century, what 
 will be her progress in the second? At the present 
 rate of increase, which may be even increased during 
 the splendid twentieth century upon which we will 
 soon enter, she should have, a century hence, about 
 25,000 ministers, 16,000 congregations, and more than 
 2,000,000 communicants. May our prayer be contin- 
 ually for her prosperity. Her prosperity will depend 
 on you her members. 
 
(Questions on IReformeb Cburcb Mistori?. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 1. Who was the founder of Reformed Church, — when and 
 where born? 
 
 2. What were the steps of his conversion to Protestant- 
 ism? 
 
 3. When and where did he begin to preach the Reformed 
 doctrines? 
 
 4. When did he begin to preach at Zurich and how did 
 that city become Reformed? 
 
 5. When was the Reformation completed at Zurich? 
 
 6. Why did we get the name " Reformed? " 
 
 7. How did the Reformed doctrines spread to other can- 
 tons? 
 
 8. Describe how Luther and Zwingli met together. 
 
 9. Describe the scene connected with Zwingli's death. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 10. What two men took Zwingli's place? 
 
 11. Describe BulUnger's early life till he became Re- 
 formed. 
 
 12. What led to his election in Zwingli's place? 
 
 13. What are the important events of BulUnger's later 
 life? 
 
 14. What creed united the Reformed of German Switzer- 
 land and the Reformed of French Switzerland? 
 
 15. Describe Calvin's early life until he left France? 
 
 16. What great book did he write? 
 
 17. Who introduced the Reformed doctrines into Neu- 
 chatel, and how? 
 
II QUESTIONS 
 
 i8. How did Farel introduce the Reformed doctrine into 
 Geneva? 
 
 19. Describe Calvin's call to stay at Geneva. 
 
 20. Describe Calvin's later life and death. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 21. Who succeeded Bullinger at Zurich and describe his 
 life? 
 
 22. Describe the life of Breitinger. 
 
 23. Who were Hettinger and Heidegger? 
 
 24. Who was Lavater and how did he oppose rationalism? 
 
 25. Describe Lavater's opposition to the French and his 
 death. 
 
 26. Describe the life of Hess. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 27. What was the first Reformed Church of Germany? 
 
 28. Who was John A. Lasco? 
 
 29. How was the Reformed faith introduced into the Pa- 
 latinate? 
 
 30. Who were the authors of the Heidelberg catechism 
 and when was it written? 
 
 31. Describe the life of Ursinus before he came to Heidel- 
 berg. 
 
 32. Describe the life of Olevianus till he came to Heidel- 
 berg. 
 
 33. Describe Frederick's defence of the Heidelberg Cate- 
 chism. 
 
 34. Describe Ursinus' last years and death. 
 
 35. Describe Olevianus' last years and death. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 36. Into what other lands in Germany were the Reformed 
 doctrines introduced? 
 
 37. Describe the conversion of the Elector of Brandenburg 
 to the Reformed faith. 
 
 38. What were the results of his conversion? 
 
QUESTIONS III 
 
 39. What terrible war devastated Germany in the early 
 part of the seventeenth century? 
 
 40. What effect had it on Elector Frederick V. personally? 
 
 41. What were its effects on the Palatinate? 
 
 42. What gain came to the Reformed by this war? 
 
 43. Who was Electress Louisa Henrietta? 
 
 SECTION in. 
 
 44. Describe the French war of 1688-1689 and its effects on 
 the Reformed. 
 
 45. Describe the capture of Heidelberg in 1793 and its 
 effects on the Reformed? 
 
 46. What persecution did the Reformed of the Palatinate 
 suffer in 1705? 
 
 47. What persecution did they suffer there in 1719? 
 
 48. How were they further persecuted about the middle 
 of the last century? 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 49. What were the causes that led our ancestors to come 
 to America? 
 
 50. Who was Peter Minuit? 
 
 51. Who was probably the first Reformed minister in 
 Pennsylvania? 
 
 52. Who was the founder of the Reformed Church in 
 Pennsylvania and how did he found it? 
 
 53. Who was Rev. George Michael Weiss? 
 
 54. What controversy did Rev. Mr. Boehm carry with 
 the Moravians? 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 SS- Who was the organizer of our Church? 
 
 56. By whom was Rev. Mr. Schlatter sent to America, and 
 when did he arrive here? 
 
 57. Describe his journeys till the first Coetus. 
 
 58. What was a Coetus? 
 
 59. When and where did the first Coetus meet? 
 
 60. Describe Rev. Mr. Schlatter's travels in America, after 
 this Coetus. 
 
IV QUESTIONS 
 
 6i. Describe Rev. Mr. Schlatter's tour to Europe and its 
 results. 
 
 62. Describe the Charity Schools of Pennsylvania. 
 
 63. Describe Rev. Mr. Schlatter's life after leaving the 
 Coetus. 
 
 64. What were the results of his leaving it on himself and 
 on the Church? 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 65. What political dangers threatened the early Reformed 
 in this country? 
 
 66. Who were some of the early Reformed ministers in 
 this country after Schlatter and Boehm? 
 
 67. Did the Germans sympathize mainly with the British, 
 or the Americans in the Revolutionary War? 
 
 68. What day did the Coetus appoint for the Church dur- 
 ing the Revolution? 
 
 69. What effect did the Revolution have on the Reformed 
 Church? 
 
 70. Mention some illustrations about Reformed ministers 
 who sympathized with the Americans against the English. 
 
 71. What prominent generals of the Revolution were Re- 
 formed? 
 
 72. Mention events that connect our Church with General 
 Washington's life. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 73. Why did the Coetus separate from the Church of Hol- 
 land? 
 
 74. When and where was the first Synod organized? 
 
 75. What was the difBculty about languages that tb; 
 Synod had to meet, and what did it do? 
 
 76. What was the difficulty about ministers that the Synod 
 had to meet? 
 
 77. Describe the beginning of the first Theological Semi- 
 nary. 
 
 78. Describe the spread of our Church westward and 
 southward. 
 
 79. What efforts were made toward Church Union? 
 
QUESTIONS V 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 80. Describe the election of Drs. Nevin and Schaflf. 
 
 81. Describe the Tercentenary celebration. 
 
 82. What subject threatened to divide the Church, and 
 what were its results, especially in connection with Ursinus 
 College? 
 
 83. How was peace brought about again? 
 
 84. What are the present statistics of the Church?* 
 
 85. What celebration of historic events in our Church his- 
 tory have taken place lately? 
 
 86. Of what is this year (1897) the sesqui-centennial (one 
 hundred and fiftieth anniversary) ? 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 87. Give the history of the Ministerial Relief Society. 
 
 88. What educational institutions were founded by our 
 Church, especially those in your Synod? 
 
 89. Give the history of our Home Missions. 
 
 go. What mission work is being done at New York har- 
 bor and among the Hungarians of this country? 
 
 91. Give the history of our Church publications. 
 
 92. Who was our first Foreign Missionary, and where? 
 
 93. Where is our present Foreign Mission? 
 
 94. What has our Mission done at Sendai? 
 
 95. Name some of our missionaries in Japan. 
 
 96. What was the history of our Sunday Schools in the 
 past? 
 
 97. What are our Sunday School Boards doing at present? 
 
 98. What is the history of our Orphans' Homes? 
 
 99. What other societies have been founded to help the 
 Church, and what are they doing now?t 
 
 100. What is the outlook of the history of the Reformed 
 Church in the future? 
 
 * The answer to this should be changed with each succeeding year. 
 t Especially the societies in your church. 
 
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