jl^istoncal H^anbbook *K^eformeb (X,burcb of tbc BX$565 copy I Ht PRINCETON, N. J. Section ...^(rT.i>.^.Q>.... Shelf. Number .^ .Q.^^j. 1 ... HISTORICAL HAND-BOOK OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN TH« UNITED STATES. By rev. JAMES I. GOOD, D.D. (COETUS EDITION. PHILADELPHIA : REFORMED CHURCH PUBLICATION BOARD. 189 7. REPORT PRESS, LEBANON, PA. PREFACE. This hand book has been written at the suefsfestion fcifci' 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, Heidelberg 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 meetings. The Author. a CHAPTER I. 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, SchafThausen, 6 SWITZERLAND Berne, Neuchatel and Geneva were, one after the other, Ht with its glorious hght, until almost all Swit- zerland had received it. Let us study this sunrise in Switzerland, the birthplace of our Reformed Church. SECTION I. ISwingli, Cbe dfounOer of ®ur Cburcb. Ulric Zwingli, the founder of our Church, was born January i, 1484, at Wildhaus, a little village in one of the upper valleys of the Alps in northeastern Swit- zerland, about 40 miles cast 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 hking" 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 happened 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 15 18. On New Year's day, 1 519, 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 I'faffcrs, about 40 miles southeast of Zurich. r>ut, 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 Ilis providence brought him health again. How- ever, his sickness deepened his religious experience, so that afterward his Humanistic learning and his elo- quence 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 tiie 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 ofif 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 profifered 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. :t6ullingcr anD Calvin. 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 half 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 15 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, 1 531) 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 17 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 10, 1509. He was destined for the priesthood, and studied at Paris and Bourges in Fr?,nce. At the latter place he met a Ger- man, Wo'lmar, who did for him what Wyttenbach had done for Zwingli — he led him to Christ(i535).* 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 *N0TE.— Le Franc, in his late work, claims tliat 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 27 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 LVenchman, 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 pcoi)lc the Gos])el. 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 l)oat 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 ofif and the intrepid reformer said, "I fear your gun no more than if it were a popgun." They tried to poison him, ijut 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 l-'arel 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 ])ccame 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. 2y, 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 •Note.— See Presbyterian and Reformed Review, July, 1893. SWITZERLAND 21 health Ijcgan 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 2y, 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. 7Hi0tori5 of tbc IRefcrmeD Cburcb of Zuticb. It was fortunate for Zurich that wdien 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 (i 575-1 585). 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 Zvv^ingli. So that Gual- ther grew up with, and married, Zwingli's favorite daughter, Regula. Soon after he became pastor at Zurich he 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 *I*roTE,— Antistes is the head minister of the canton. 22 SlVirZERLAND Zwingli's death, made an effort to get him punished by the Swiss government. FaiUng 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, wdiile 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 off 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 vvas 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 Suass 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 thev did not want to become involved in JS'OTE.— The ArminiHns gave up the doctrine of predestination. 24 SWITZERLAND what seemed to them a foreign controversy. But IJreitingcr'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 to^ 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 Hottinger 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 (1741-1795), 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 theolog-ically. 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- 1 828). He was less brilliant than Lava- tcr, 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, 1819. Although eighty 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 11. 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, Hungary, Germany, all received it. Of these the land that in- terests us mostly is Germany, the land of our fore- fathers. SECTION I. Hbe liaritins ot tbc jHeiOelbcrg Gatecblsm. 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 Eniden 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- nianent foundations 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 J^oland 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 Fricsland, 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 Eniden. 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 w^ere *NoTE.— Kor (iillcr accounts of this iiiteresting man see The OriKin of the Reformed Church In Germany, by Uev. JumeH I. Good, D.D., pages 80-108. GERMANY 31 Reformed, but he succeeded in finding his way back to Emden. Then 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 foimded 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 follow-ers 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 011 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 dififerent 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? Zachariah 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 born 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 *NoTE.— For the best commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism get Thele- man'8, 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 lollowed 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 *NOTK.— For a graphic account of this most magnificent scene in our Reformed Cliurch history see Tlie 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 Herborn 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. Z\)c SprcaO of tbe IReformcD Cburcb in (Serman^. 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, 26 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, 161 3, he called his councillors together and GERMANY 37 announced to thcni 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 I'alatinate 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 fiee 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, nun-dering men and women, *NOTK.— For a fuller account of the sufferings of the Reformation during the Thirty Years' War, see the History of the Reformed Church by Rev, 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 scon 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 sufiferings 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 (1630-1) 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 tliey were recognized by name in the Treaty of WestphaHa. And when the war was over, the Reformed rehgion revived again and rose Phoenix-hkc 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. Thus 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 ipersecutions in tbc ipalatlnatc* 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- 1695). 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 w^orthy of a barba- rian than of a Christian king. "Ravage the Palati- nate" was his command, and the awful work was be- *NOTE.— Fora full nccount of the awful sufferings of tlie Reformed in the Palatinate see the History of the Reformed Church hy Rev. James I. Good. D.D., pages 225-307. 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 conmiander 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 effect 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 sufferings 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 sa\ ing 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 ofif of his feet and let it become like an ordinary countr}' 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 (175 5- 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. aseforc tbe Coetus. UT 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 than the synod. t Note.— For a full description of the per.secutions of our forefathers, the only full description in English, see History of the Reformed Church, hy Rev. James I. Oood, D.D. 50 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 173 1, 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 *NOTK.— See Peter Minuit'a Memorial by Kev. C. Cort, D.D., and Reformed Church Magazine. Reading, December, 1893. THE COETUS 51 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 *NOTE.— See Prof. Dubbs in Heffjrined Churcb Quarterly, July, 18'.t2. 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 he administered the communion October 18, 1727, to 32 communicants. Twice every *N0TK.— For his companion, Mr. Reiff, Icopt it for a number of years until Rev. Mr. Schlatter came, when a settlement was made. THE COETUS 53 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. Plis 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 (i 741), 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-of^cially 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 Rauch 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 published 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. Zbz ©rganijatton of tbe Coetus. 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 ofT his shoulders he could say, like Sim- con of old, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart 56- THE COETUS in peace." Rev. Michael Schlatter was bom 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 Reifif'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 Tulpchocken, where on Septem- ber 24, Mr. Schlatter and Mr. Weiss, after traveling 29 miles the previous day, also arrived. The Reformed people of the Tulpchocken 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 58 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 Church 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 Llolland, 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 Fredcricktown, in Virginia. On this road we met a fearful rattlesnake seven or eig^ht feet loner 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 line 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. Steincr became the pastor (175 1 -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 w^ere 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. They 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 COETUS 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 8,000 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 from Maine — 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 COETUS - 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. THistor^ of tbc Coetus. Our early Reformed Church had to pass through many vicissitudes before it was permanently founded and could spread itself through 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 the sufferings of the Tulpehocken charge from the Indians. Wissler's charge, on the Lehigh, near Allentown, also suffered. But although political dangers threatened it, the Church began to increase in efificiency. This was due to the fact that some of her best ministers began to arrive, as Alsentz, Gros, Weyberg, Bucher, Henop, Hendel, Gobrecht, 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 Americans 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: 'T acted with extreme caution, so as not to give offence to the Royalists in my congregation (near York), but v/here 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 covdd 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 ofif 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 COETUS 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 RevoUi- 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. Iprogress In Spite of Dittlculttes. 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 difBcult, especially dur- ing the Revolutionary War. Often the Coetus had to wait for months, sometimes for years, for important de- cisions by theSynods 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. HellTrich. 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 Synod 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 (18 17). Gradually * NoTB.— See Dubbs' Manual, page 324. -j^. 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 HelfTen- stein had done this under the Coetus. This was con- tinued under the Synod by Samuel Helfifenstein, Her- man, Becker, and others. Helfifenstein 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 unnecessai-y 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, ^*^cl 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, Rev. Jacob Christman, going to Ohio in 1803, and Rev.J.T. Larose in 1804. In 1812 the Synod ordered thaJL certain ministers should be sent to the West, and Mr. Dechant was sent in 1816. When the *NoTE.— Dubbs' History of German Reformed 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 181 7. But, although our Church did not unite wi|h 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. Progress in Spite of Controversy. 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 theolog}' at Mercers- burg. Dr. Ranch's death, soon after (1841), compelled the Synod to elect a successor. They decided to look abroad for another man like Dr. Ranch. 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 necessar)' to de- cline the call, but recommended Rev. Philip SchafT, 'jd THE SYNOD D.D., who was then professor extraordinary at the University of BerHn. The Synod then elected Dr. SchafT, 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 Tifhn, 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 W\'st. 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 spHt her into two. The subject that caused the controversy was the hturgy. In 1847 the Eastern Synod appointed a committee to prepare a new Hturgy. 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 pubHshed. The use of this hturgy 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 79 ttition, 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 liberty 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 when Boehm 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 Coettis 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. Mistori2 of tbe IFnOiviDual :fi3cnevolent ©pcratione 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 pvit it on a permanent foundation. n. 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. SchafT, D.D. (1844-1863), Rev. B. C. WoM, 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 Tiffin 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 Frankhn, Wis. Rev. H.A. Muhhiieier,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, 1851; 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 in the Church and a strong prejudice 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 w^ere 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 Ursiiius 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 efificient 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, ^^^"^ 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 beg-un 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 ofifered 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 effort 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. Bvit in some of the country districts a prejudice sprang up against them, as they were supposed to in terlere 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 90 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. (aucetlons on IRcfonneb Cburcb IHistori^. 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 ZwingU's place? 11. Describe Bullinger'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 Bullinger'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? n 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 Hottinger 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. S2. 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 HI 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 III. 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 ni. 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. 55. Who was the organizer of our Church? 56. By whom was Rev. Air. 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. yS- Why did the Coetus separate from the Church of Hol- land? 74. When and where was the first Synod organized? 75. What was the difficulty about languages that th.; 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 Schaff. 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. 90. 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.