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JOHN HUSa 
 
Leaders of the Reformation 
 
 JOSEPH HENRY DUBBS, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 THE HEIDKLBERG PRESS 
 Phii^adei.phia, Pa. 
 
COPYRIGHT, IS98 
 BY THE SUNDAY SCHOOL BOARD OF THE REFORMED CHURCH 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century is the 
 principal source of our civil and relioious freedom. 
 We are livings in the era which it inaugurated, and 
 are moulded by its influence. For this reason it 
 deserves to be studied by all who are interested in 
 the development of the Church and State. 
 
 The author has not ventured to write a history 
 of this eventful period. He has, however, made it 
 the subject of many lectures, and of these a series 
 is here presented. Though the best authorities 
 have been consulted and freely quoted, the general 
 purpose has been popular rather than scholastic. It 
 has not been deemed necessary to burden the text 
 with proofs and references. Of the work of the 
 most distinguished leaders of the Reformation no 
 more than a brief sketch has been attempted ; but 
 men of less celebrity have been assigned to the 
 position which is believed to be their due. 
 
 It will be observed that there has been no dispo- 
 sition to exalt some men at the expense of others, 
 and that subjects of controversy have not been 
 prominently presented. It is believed that calm 
 and dispassionate study of the lives of the Reform- 
 ers wall prove that they were all pervaded by a 
 common life ; and that though their errors were 
 numerous their purposes w^ere exalted. When 
 these facts are fully recognized, prejudice and ex- 
 clusiveness must pass away ; and in the fullest 
 sense of the prophecy, there will be one fold and 
 one Shepherd. 
 
 269111 
 
HARMtR U PENGtar, PRS., READING, F 
 
CONTENTS. 
 I. 
 
 THE DAWN OK THE REFORMATION. 
 
 (JOHN HUSS). 
 
 Introduction — The Dark Ages — Coming of the Dawn — Wald- 
 enscs — Conser\'atives and Liberals — Mystics and Human- 
 ists — The Secularization of the Church. John Huss, a 
 national leader — Disciple of Wycliffe — The Babylonish 
 Captivity — Reformatory Councils — Pope John XXIII. — 
 Council of Constance — Citation of Huss — Condemnation 
 and death — The Hussite wars. 
 
 11. 
 
 THE GLORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 (martin IvUTHER). 
 
 Luther's earl 3^ life — Education — Monastic vows — Spiritual 
 struggles — Journey to Rome — Frederick of Saxony — In- 
 dulgences — Theses — Conflicts — Excommunication — Burn- 
 ing of the Bull — Melancthon — Luther at Worms — The 
 Wartburg — Carlstadt — Zwickan Prophets — Controversy 
 with Henry VIII. — Luther's marriage — Table Talk — Per- 
 sonal character — Augsburg Confession — Last years and 
 death. 
 
 III. 
 
 THE FREE CHURCH IN THE FREE STATE. 
 
 (U1.RIC ZWING1.1). 
 
 Switzerland the refuge of the oppressed — Mercenary system — 
 Zwingli's Birth — Wildhaus — Early training — Scholarship — 
 Glarus — Einsiedlen — Relations to Erasmus — Patriotism — 
 Pastorate in Zurich — Leo Juda — Domestic relations — 
 Anabaptists — Marburg Conference — Organization of the 
 churches — Battle of Cappel — Zwingli's death. 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 IV. 
 THE CHURCH UNDER THE CROSS. 
 
 (JOHN CAI^VIN). 
 
 Geneva — Confederates and Mamelukes — William Farel — Cal- 
 vin's early years— Protestantism in France — Calvin's Con- 
 version — His Flight — "The Institutes" — Marriage — Labors 
 in Geneva — Servetus — Theodore Beza — Death of Calvin — 
 The Huguenots— Guises and Bourbons — Jeanne d'Albret — 
 Coligni — "St. Bartholomew" — Henry of Navarre — Bdict 
 of Nantes. 
 
 V. 
 
 THE STRUGGLE OF THE CREEDS. 
 
 (CRANMER AND KNOX). 
 
 The Oxford Reformers — Political elements — Henry VIII. of 
 England — Thomas Cranmer — Constrained by royal author- 
 ity — Under Edward VI. — Relations to Continental reform- 
 ers — Common Prayer — Martin Bucer — Organization of the 
 Church — Queen Mary — Ridley and Latimer — Cranmer's 
 death — Reign of Elizabeth — Puritans — The Church of Scot- 
 land — Patrick Haniilton — George Wishart — John Knox, the 
 Reformer of Scotland — A captive in France — Student in 
 Geneva — Conflicts with Queen Mary of Scotland — Death of 
 Knox — A comparison. 
 
 VI. 
 
 THE THREEFOLD CORD. 
 
 (FREDERICK III., OI.EVIANUS, AND URSINUS). 
 
 Heidelberg— The Palatinate of the Rhine— Francis Lambert- 
 Philip Melancthon— Frederick III.— The Sacramental Con- 
 troversy — ' ' Erastianism' ' — Caspar Olevianus — Zacharias 
 Ursinus — The Heidelberg Catechism — Heroic defense — The 
 Elector's death— The Catechism in Holland— Revolt of the 
 Netherlands— Prince of Orange— Synod of Dort — Union 
 movements in Germany — Pietism — Invasion of the Palati- 
 nate—The Great Migration— Present state of the church. 
 
LEADERS OFTHE REFORMATION 
 
 I. 
 THE DAWN OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 JOHN HUSS. 
 
 THE Reformation of the sixteenth century was 
 the greatest epoch in modern history. To 
 regard it as the work of a single man, or of 
 any definite body of men, is plainly unhistorical. 
 We might as well call Napoleon Bonaparte the 
 cause of the French Revolution ; or assert that 
 Abraham Lincoln was the originator of the civil 
 war in America. Like every other great historical 
 movement, the Reformation sprang from obscure 
 sources in the remote past, and gathered strength 
 from innumerable tributaries, until at last it be- 
 came a mighty flood whose onward flow was irresist- 
 ible. 
 
 The period immediately preceding the Reforma- 
 tion of the sixteenth century is known as the Mid- 
 dle Ages ; or more properly, on account of its his- 
 toric unity, as the Middle Age — Ic Moyen age — 
 *'das Mittelalter ". It is so called because it is 
 supposed to stand in the middle, between ancient 
 and modern history. In round numbers, it extends 
 for a thousand years from the fifth or sixth century 
 to the fifteenth or sixteenth. Secular historians 
 
8 lea'd;e'Hs of:\ t^^j^'^ r^ forma tion. 
 
 generally regard it as beginning with the downfall 
 of the western Roman empire in A.D. 476 and 
 ending with the Fall of Constantinople, the Inven- 
 tion of Printing, the Discovery of America, or 
 some other important event in the latter part of the 
 fifteenth century. Ecclesiastical writers most fre- 
 quently begin with Gregory the Great (about A. D. 
 600) and conclude with the Reformation. His- 
 tory, we know, is an organic piocess ; and it is im- 
 possible to draw an exact line of separation between 
 its several periods ; but every age has its decided 
 characteristics, and familiarity with these is essen- 
 tial to our comprehension of the divine life in its 
 highest developments. 
 
 The Middle Ages have often been termed ''the 
 dark ages"; but it is Coleridge, we believe, who 
 asserts that they are " dark only to those who have 
 not light enough to read them". Light was 
 always struggling with darkness. If it was a 
 period of ignorance and depression, it was also the 
 time of great inventions — of the beginnings of 
 modern literature and science ; the period of the 
 planting of the seeds which have sprung up and 
 brought forth the flowers and fruit in which we 
 now rejoice. 
 
 In order that we may comprehend all this it is 
 necessary to remember that the Middle Ages in- 
 clude two widely contrasted periods. The first of 
 these, extending to the Crusades (A.D. 1096) is the 
 
JOHN III 'SS. 9 
 
 Period of Destruction ; tlie second, which ends 
 with the Reformation, is the period of Reconstruc- 
 tion. The chief events of the first period are the 
 migration of nations, the rise of Mahonimedanism, 
 the repulse of the Saracens, the revival of the 
 Western Roman lunpire under Charlemagne, the 
 building up of monastic orders, and the establish- 
 ment of the feudal system. During this period it 
 seemed to be the purpose of most men to destroy 
 as much as they possibly could ; though here and 
 there a solitary ruler, like Theodoric or Charle- 
 magne, or an unusually intelligent abbot or prior, 
 made an effort for the intellectual advancement of 
 his people. It was the power of Christian life, 
 however obscured by superstition, that saved the 
 world from relapsing into absolute barbarism. 
 
 The next four centuries — the period of Recon- 
 struction — exhibit a reaction in favor of law and 
 order ; the crusades gave birth to chivalry, modern 
 languages came into existence, and monarchies 
 were consolidated. It was, in fact, the period of 
 the Dawn of the Reformation. 
 
 We regard the latter period v/ith profound interest 
 and sympathy, and do not hold with those who 
 suppose that the church of the centuries imme- 
 diately preceding the Reformation w^as utterly 
 sunken and degraded. It was the coming of the 
 dawn when men began to open their eyes and re- 
 joice in the light. We refuse to renounce our 
 
lO LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 patrimony in English literature ; we boast that 
 Chaucer and Spenser, and Shakspeare are ours, 
 though they sleep in a foreign land ; may we not 
 with equal propriety claim a share in Dante and 
 Petrarch, in Gerson and D'Ailly, in Colet and 
 Erasmus? If the church of modern times has 
 taken up the best life of the period which preceded 
 it, may we not with sympathetic throbbings feel 
 the power of that life, as it beat in the hearts of 
 the men who lived four hundred years ago ? Is it 
 not well to appreciate the continuity of Christ's 
 promise ; and when history recalls the learning, 
 the piety, the self-sacrifice of the past, to exclaim 
 with rapturous devotion : "This too, thank God, 
 is mine "? 
 
 We do not look for the main sources of the Re- 
 formation among the mediaeval sects. These had 
 no doubt an important work to do, as forerunners 
 of a new era ; but in most instances they labored 
 in obscure places, and exerted but little influence 
 on the church and the world. Some of them — 
 such as the Cathari, the Bulgari, and the Albi- 
 genses — were probably heretical. Others, like the 
 Waldenses, were comparatively pure in doctrine 
 and morals ; but their influence was quiet and 
 sometimes almost imperceptible. Indeed, it may 
 be doubted whether the Waldenses, before the days 
 of the Reformation, could properly be called a sect. 
 They served the Lord in secret, and rarely ven- 
 
JOHN HOSS. 1 1 
 
 tured to offer a public protest. On this account 
 they may, perhaps, be regarded as a threat secret 
 society, whose members recognized each oilier by 
 signs, rather than as a religious denomination in 
 the modern sense of the term. Their organization 
 is said to have been so extensive that a member 
 might leave Piedmont on foot, and, traveling 
 through Switzerland and down the Rhine, could 
 lodge every night with a brother of his faith until 
 he reached Holland, whence he could sail to Eng- 
 land and there be sure of similar entertainment. 
 
 That the Waldenses, the " Friends of God", and 
 similar organizations accomplished a great work in 
 preparing the way for the Reformation we do not 
 presume to deny ; but the religious movement of 
 the sixteenth century was too great to be derived \ 
 from comparatively obscure sources. It must be 1 
 remembered that in the church of Rome itself there I 
 were two distinct tendencies which might have been i 
 termed "Liberal" and ''Conservative". The \ 
 former was represented by the party of progress / 
 which rejoiced in the light that was beginning to ; 
 break over the world ; the latter was narrow and 
 bigoted, clinging to a mass of mediaeval lumber, and 
 often substituting heathenish superstitions for Chris- 
 tian faith. 
 
 The Liberal party was already on the way that 
 finally led to the great Reformation. Though it 
 might be regarded as including all who cherished 
 
12 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 aspirations for a higher life it was evident at a 
 glance that the views of its members were neither 
 clear nor harmonious. Among them were many \ 
 diflferent groups, or companies, which had little in \ 
 common, except dissatisfaction with existing con- i 
 ditions. Most intelligent w^ere the Humanists, 1 
 who were full of enthusiasm for Greek and Roman / 
 literature and art. Many of these were at heart in- 1 
 fidels, who spoke of "the immortal gods" as \ 
 though they actually believed in them, and did not ] 
 hesitate to declare the church an obstacle to the 
 higher development of civilization. At the oppo- 
 site extreme stood the Mystics — men like Master 
 Eckhart, John Tauler, and Thomas a Kempis — 
 who had turned away with disgust from the 
 scholastic controversies concerning Nominalism 
 and Realism, holding that pious contemplation is 
 better than all knowledge. That some of them fell 
 into pantheism is not to be doubted ; but compared 
 with the dry teachings of the scholastics their writ- 
 ings are a beautiful garden. The authorities of the 
 church regarded them with suspicion, but as they 
 rarely taught doctrine it was difficult to find 
 grounds for their condemnation. 
 
 In one thing the lyiberalists agreed, and that was 
 the necessity of a speedy reformation of the church. 
 From all nations there went up a cry for a reforma- 
 tio 171 capite et inembris. That the church had be- 
 come thoroughl}^ secularized was evident to all. 
 
JOHN IIUSS. 1 3 
 
 The papacy was the prey of desif^iiing Italian 
 princes ; simony was almost universal — bishoprics 
 were bought and sold ; monasteries had become 
 hotbeds of corruption ; and the populace wor- 
 shipped images under the impression that they 
 were a real manifestation of the supernatural beings 
 which they represented. Against all this the Lib- 
 erals protested as decidedly as did the Protestants 
 of the succeeding century ; but they were never 
 ready to take decisive action, and dreaded above 
 all things the imputation of heresy. Hence it 
 happened, in more than a single instance, that 
 when one of their number — more intelligent and 
 adventurous than the rest — advanced more rapidly 
 than his associates, they were the first to cry out 
 " Ho, there ! Stop him ! We do not go as far as 
 this man goes. He is a heretic ". 
 
 More than one of the pioneers was condemned at 
 the instance of men who had been his earlier asso- 
 ciates ; but even in such instances the blood of the 
 martyrs was the seed of the church. Where one 
 fell a hundred appeared to take his place ; and with 
 every onward step the army of progress grew bolder 
 and more determined. They had no thought ot 
 separating from the church of Rome ; but the time 
 came at last when they were forced out of it. The 
 majority — the party of reaction, the mediaeval 
 party — would not yield an iota to the demands oi 
 progress ; and the most intelligent members of the 
 
14 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 church were compelled to assume the position of 
 independent protest which finally gave them the 
 name of Protestants. It is in this great historical 
 movement, rather than in the obscure sects of the 
 middle ages, that we seek for the source of our 
 evangelical Protestant Christianity. 
 
 In further illustration of our theme we direct 
 your attention to John Huss, the Reformer and 
 martyr of Bohemia. In some respects, it is true, 
 the story may prove less interesting than those of 
 later date. There are no legends to relate, like 
 those which elsewhere twine like ivy around the 
 ruins of the past. Least of all can we expect to be 
 cheered by the genial glow of humor, for the days 
 were hard and cold. The scene is far distant, and 
 the actors appear but indistinctly through the mists 
 of ages. It is, in fact, a fearful tragedy that gave 
 rise to a series of wars which for merciless horror 
 and pure atrocity are hardly equalled in the history 
 of Europe. 
 
 John Huss was born in the village of Hussinecs, 
 in Bohemia. The year of his birth is not quite 
 certain, different authorities varying between 1369 
 and 1373. He is known to have perished on his 
 birthday, July 6, 141 5 ; and recent Bohemian writers 
 declare that the year 1369 has been authenticated 
 by researches in the national archives as the year 
 of his birth. His forefathers were poor, and it does 
 not seem likely that they had a surname. Until 
 
JOHN HfLSS. 15 
 
 his 26th year our hero called himself Jolm of Huss- 
 inecs, after his birthplace ; but he subsequently 
 dropped the latter part of the name, ]>ro1)a])ly for the 
 sake of euphony. It was just becoming usual to 
 adopt a surname, and John probably thought that in 
 such matters his own taste was the supreme arbiter. 
 
 Concerning his early education little is known ; 
 but it is probable that he attended the Latin school 
 of his native village. These Latin schools were 
 conducted by the parish priest, and were primarily 
 intended to teach boys enough Latin to enable them 
 to assist in serving the mass. For this purpose 
 very little was needed, as the priest himself had 
 often but a vague idea of the meaning of his words, 
 and the people did not care whether he said sump- 
 sinius or viinnpsi))ms. 
 
 How Huss was prepared for the university we do 
 not know ; probably little was required, except 
 some facility in reading Latin. He became secre- 
 tary to one of the professors at the university of 
 Prague, and his office no doubt included brushing 
 coats as well as writing letters. There are stories 
 concerning his proficiency which have apparently 
 been exaggerated, for there is nothing to show that 
 he ever went beyond the ordinary curriculum. In 
 fact, the records are said to show that his grade 
 placed him exactly in the middle of his class ; so 
 that he had no cause to be exalted or humiliated. 
 In later life he is said to have had some knowledge 
 
1 6 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION, 
 
 of Greek and Hebrew ; but this learning may have 
 been acquired by post-graduate study. His man- 
 ners are said to have been naturally courteous, and 
 he soon gained many influential friends. Without 
 being exactly handsome he had refined features and 
 a keen eye ; and his general appearance conveyed 
 the impression of being what Westerners call 
 "quick on the trigger". Above all he possessed 
 in a remarkable degree the gift of eloquence, so that 
 his words sounded like music and went straight to 
 the heart. It was this gift that attracted the atten- 
 tion of his superiors, and made him even in his 
 student days an idol of the national Bohemian 
 party. 
 
 Bohemia, we know, is generally regarded as one 
 of the provinces of Austria ; but its people insist 
 that it is an ancient kingdom, of vastly more his- 
 toric importance than the original arch-duchy of 
 Austria itself Though Bohemia stretches west- 
 ward, like a great peninsula between Saxony and 
 Bavaria, until it almost reaches the heart of Ger- 
 many, it is not really a German country. Nearly 
 two-thirds of its population, which is estimated at 
 five millions, are of Slavonic race, speaking a lan- 
 guage which is known as Czech. Here, for more 
 than a thousand years, the Teuton and the Slav 
 have struggled for supremacy, and many are the 
 battles which they have fought with sword and pen. 
 Politically the Germans have proved stronger than 
 
joi/N J/ ess I- 
 
 the Czeclis, but thcN- liavc not ])ccii able to (Tcrinan- 
 izc IJolieniia. Invasions there have been which, 
 like the ocean forcini^ its way into tlie estuary of a 
 mighty river, were for a time irresistible ; but when 
 the tide went down the stream flowed on as it had 
 done before. Recently there has been a kind of 
 Bohemian renaissance ; and since Hungary has 
 gained a position in the empire equal to that of 
 Austria, Bohemia insists on its ancient privileges 
 and demands similar recognition. These local con- 
 ditions may appear foreign to our theme ; but they 
 enable us to appreciate the position of the man who 
 aspired to be not only the reformer of the church 
 but the saviour of Bohemia. 
 
 The early career of John Huss was uniformly 
 brilliant and successful. In 1393 he was graduated 
 a Bachelor of Arts, and three years later received 
 the degree of Master, very much as he might have 
 done four hundred years later in an American 
 college. He probably served as Tutor for a few 
 years, as was usual in those days, and in 1400 be- 
 came a regular professor. At the same time he 
 served as preacher at the Bethlehem chapel, and 
 received the appointment of confessor to Sophie 
 of Bavaria, wife of Winceslaus, king of Bohemia. 
 In the succeeding year he was promoted to the 
 office of Dean of the Theological Faculty, and in 
 1409 became Rector Magnijicus of the university 
 of Prague. It w^as a grand position for a man of 
 
1 8 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 forty, in full possession of all his powers — a man 
 whom a nation was proud to recognize as its chief. 
 Many a man, under similar circumstances, would 
 have supposed himself to have reached the summit 
 of his am^bition ; and might thereafter have taken 
 his othnn cum dig7iitate^ leaving the management 
 of the university to the deans of the several facul- 
 ties, or, possibly, when a vacancy occurred, watch- 
 ing his chance to be made archbishop of Prague. 
 
 Huss, however, was not of this type. He was of 
 an active nature ; energetic and often imprudent, 
 he seems to have sought obstacles in order to over- 
 come them. Even at this early date his piety was 
 conspicuous. He advised the students to make the 
 Bible their only vade 7necuvi ; and boldly declared 
 that he had found in it many things which did not 
 agree with the teaching of the popes. 
 
 The university of Prague was at this time at the 
 summit of its glory. It was the only university in 
 the north of continental Europe, and was attended 
 by several thousand students, some of whom came 
 from distant England. Its government was in 
 many respects peculiar. The institution was divi- 
 ded into four sections, representing four countries — 
 Saxony, Poland, Bavaria, and Bohemia — and each 
 section had one vote in the general management. 
 By this arrangement the Germans had practically 
 three votes — for Poland was regarded as German — 
 and the Bohemians had but one. Suddenly the 
 
JOHN IIUSS. I 9 
 
 Emperor Winceslaus, in the most arl^lrarv manner 
 clianq;ed the arrangement, giving three votes to tlie 
 Bohemians and leaving bnt one to the Germans. 
 Winceslaus, it should be remembered, was both 
 King of Bohemia and Emperor of Germany. In 
 Germany he had very little influence ; but he re- 
 sented his unpopularity and did all in his power to 
 advance the interests of his hereditary kingdom. 
 At his instance Huss was chosen Rector of the uni- 
 versity, because he was a leader of the Czechs ; 
 and the Germans, therefore, regarded him with ill- 
 concealed aversion. It was at this time that he 
 began to express himself concerning the faith and 
 practice of the church with a degree of boldness 
 that enabled his enemies to injure him at a vital 
 point. Personally he claimed to be impartial in the 
 political conflict ; but he unconsciously revealed 
 his position by remarking in one of his letters, that 
 he '* had always preferred a good German to a bad 
 Bohemian ". The excitement aroused on the two 
 grounds of opposition — political and religious — be- 
 came so intense and uncontrollable, that before the 
 close of the first year of his rectorate the German 
 professors and students withdrew in a body from 
 the university of Prague and founded the univer- 
 sity of Leipsic. 
 
 At this time occurred the change in the theologic 
 position of Huss which determined the character of 
 his subsequent career. English students had lent 
 
20 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 him the writings of John Wycliflfe, canon of lyUt- 
 terworth, who had died in 1384. Some writers 
 assert that they were given him by his intimate 
 friend and subsequent fellow-martyr, Jerome of 
 Prague, but this appears improbable. It is certain 
 that Huss read these books with sympathy and en- 
 thusiasm, and that he was converted by them. He 
 himself always asserted that at the time when he 
 undertook to study the writings of Wycliffe they 
 were accompanied by a certificate from the univer- 
 sity of Oxford, to the effect that they had been ex- 
 amined and found orthodox ; and there has been 
 much controversy whether the endorsement was 
 genuine or a forgery. As the document has been 
 lost the question will probably never be settled. 
 
 If we had undertaken to discuss the career of 
 Wycliffe there would certainly be enough to say ; 
 but our theme admits but a few references to " the 
 morning-star of the Reformation ". That he was 
 one of the greatest men of his age cannot be 
 doubted. His learning and ability were beyond all 
 dispute. With undaunted courage he attacked the 
 corruption of the church of Rome ; and gained the 
 undying hatred of the priesthood by declaring that 
 the church had no right to hold property that was 
 devoted solely to secular uses. Neander thinks he 
 went too far in this direction ; but it was chiefly on 
 this ground that he was supported by King Edward 
 III., who was jealous of the wealth of the church. 
 
Jl)fIN IIUSS. 21 
 
 WycHfTe's words have a strangely moderu sound. 
 Though lie liad not grasped the doctrine of justifi- 
 cation by faith, he certainly recognized the Scrip- 
 tures as the only rule of faith and practice. On 
 the subject of predestination he at first followed St. 
 Augustine, but subsequently went far beyond him. 
 He defined the church as consisting only of tliose 
 who are predestinated to eternal life ; and on this 
 ground he concluded that the external organization 
 of the church is at least unnecessary. From this 
 position there was but a step to public opposition, 
 and Wvcliffe did not hesitate to take it. Sinele 
 handed he fought the monastic orders, and roused 
 the people to devotion for their king. Wycliffe 
 even trained and sent out lay preachers, to preach 
 the Gospel to the poor. These men were known 
 as Ivollards, though the term had been applied to 
 religious people at an earlier date. WycliflTe was 
 content to remain a simple parish priest, and thus 
 escaped many of the penalties of greatness. 
 Charges were brought against him, but they re- 
 mained undecided and he was suflfered to die in 
 peace. Thirty years after his death his enemies, at 
 the council of Constance, actually succeeded in 
 securing his condemnation, and his poor old bones 
 were taken from the grave and burnt and the ashes 
 thrown into the river Avon. Hence a poet has said : 
 
 " The Avon to the Severn runs, 
 And Severn to the sea ; 
 And Wyclifie's dust shall spread abroad 
 Wide as the waters be." 
 
 N 
 
22 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 The work of WyclifFe exerted but little immedi- 
 ate influence on the social life of England. It 
 lingered long in obscure places, but its power was 
 broken in a single generation. Yet, have we not 
 heard of conflagrations where a single burning 
 brand was borne by the storm to some distant place 
 where it blazed long after the earlier flames had 
 been extinguished? So the doctrine of Wycliflfe/ 
 was carried to Bohemia, taken up by Huss, and 
 throuo:h his instrumentality made for a time the 
 religfion of a nation. 
 
 The doctrines of Huss do not seem to have varied 
 from those of Wycliffe to any appreciable extent. 
 He had his Bohemian predecessors, it is true — men 
 like Matthias of Janow and John of Stekno — who 
 had exposed the hypocrisy and wickedness of the 
 monks ; but these were moral rather than doctrinal 
 reformers. It was the main purpose of Huss to 
 popularize the writings of Wycliffe and to preach 
 the Gospel which they revealed. In one of his ser- 
 mons he says : " Bohemians are now declared to be 
 heretics — that sacred Bohemian nation of which a 
 proverb declares, ' No Bohemian can be a heretic '. 
 Here within this city, they say there are countless 
 heretics, whom they term Wy cliff is ts. As for me I 
 confess before you that I have read and studied the 
 works of Alaster John Wycliffe, and that I have 
 learned from them much that is good. Truly, not 
 everything I have read is of the same weight with 
 
JOHN I less. 23 
 
 ine as the Gospel, for only to the Holy vScriptures 
 will I maintain snch reverent obedience ; but why 
 should we not study the books of WyclifTe in 
 which are written thousands of sacred truths ". 
 
 Ivet us seek to become familiar with the times in 
 which Huss lived and labored, in order that we may 
 comprehend his message and his fate. It was the 
 period of the deepest humiliation of the church. 
 In 1309, Pope Clement V., a Frenchman, had re- 
 moved the seat of the papacy from Rome to 
 Avignon in France ; and he and his immediate suc- 
 cessors were little more than tools of the French 
 king. This period is called " the Babylonish cap- 
 tivity " because, like the captivity of ancient 
 Israel, it lasted about seventy years. The papal 
 court became scandalously corrupt, so that it was 
 said that when the papacy was removed from Rome 
 the moral law was suspended. The only thing 
 that can be said in its behalf is that it encoura^^ed 
 literature, and that its retirement to the beautiful 
 land of Provence had a tendency to develop a love 
 of the beautiful. It was the age of Petrarch and 
 Boccaccio, of the beginnings of Italian literature. 
 The church at large was, however, disgusted with 
 the looseness of life which prevailed in Avignon, 
 and earnestly insisted that the pope should return 
 to Rome. When John XXII. was elected pope he 
 promised that the first time he mounted a beast it 
 should be to ride to Rome, but he saved his con- 
 
24 
 
 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 science by never mounting a beast. No wonder 
 that the popes did not desire to live in the city of 
 St. Peter. It was torn by contending factions ; the 
 Orsini and Colonna fought pitched battles in its 
 streets ; and afterwards Rienzi, " the last of the 
 tribunes", actually attempted to found a new re- 
 ligion, and is said to have declared himself "the 
 representative and successor of the Holy Spirit". 
 Durinsr these conflicts Rome had ceased to be a de- 
 sirable residence ; the sewers had been choked up, 
 the campania had encroached on the city, and the 
 place had become malarious be}'ond anything pre- 
 viously known. This, we remerj^ber was the period 
 of the great plague — " the black death " — of which 
 in the year 1348 one-third of the people of France 
 died. Many people regarded all this evil as the 
 direct consequence of the sins of the world, of 
 which they esteemed the pope's removal from Rome 
 as the greatest; and at last the complaints became so 
 loud that in 1378 the pope was constrained to re- 
 turn to the holy city. This did not please the 
 French, who had hitherto managed the papacy 
 pretty much as they pleased, and another pope w^as 
 irregularly chosen who reigned in Avignon. This 
 miserable condition continued for many years, and 
 sometimes there were no less than three men who 
 claimed to be popes, all cursing and excommuni- 
 cating each other. Some of the universities re- 
 fused to acknowledge either claimant, and demanded 
 
JO//X i/f'ss. 25 
 
 the callintr of a general council ; and John Cicrson, 
 the most learned theologian of his time, laid down 
 the principle that ''a universal council is superior 
 to the pope''. That this principle is not in accord- 
 ance with the doctrine of the infallihility of the 
 pope needs hardly be stated. 
 
 In consequence of this movement for a reforma- 
 tion three great councils were successively held at 
 Pisa, Constance, and Basel, which are known as 
 Reformatory Councils. It is with the second of 
 these councils that we are at present especially con- 
 cerned. 
 
 When we speak of a mediseval council it must 
 not be supposed that it was a mere meeting of min- 
 isters and elders, continuing a week or two, like a 
 modern synod. Imagine a company of several thou- 
 sand prelates and distinguished theologians, accom- 
 panied by their secretaries and servants. Princes 
 were present as interested spectators, as w^ell as a 
 great multitude of purveyors of food and pleasure. 
 A council was, in fact, a city in itself. Those who 
 attended it came prepared to remain for years, if 
 need be, and some of the bishops actually built 
 houses to be occupied bv them durimr their attend- 
 ance on the council. The council of Constance 
 occupied less time than several similar assemblies, 
 though it remained in session for more than four 
 years. 
 
 The most important business that claimed the 
 
26 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION, 
 
 attention of this council was the divided condition 
 of the papacy. There were three men who claimed 
 to be pope, of whom the most prominent was Bal- 
 dassare Cossa v/ho reigned under the title of John 
 XXIII. He is said to have been a corsair in his 
 youth and was certainly one of the worst of his 
 line . That such a man could secure an election 
 to the papal chair is in itself an abundant proof of 
 the wickedness of the times. 
 
 The plans of pope John were at first successful. 
 His enormous wealth enabled him to purchase the 
 favor ot cardinals and universities and he did not 
 doubt that he could control a general council and 
 secure recognition as the only legitimate pope. It 
 happened, however, that Ladislaus, king of Naples, 
 who appears to have no fear of ecclesiastical digni- 
 ties, took Rome and drove the pope out of the city. 
 John's wrath knew no bounds, and he actually 
 called upon Christian princes to conduct a crusade 
 against the enemy of "the Lord's anointed", but 
 no one responded to his invitation. In his despera- 
 tion he then appealed to the emperor, Sigismund, 
 expressing his willingness to submit the question at 
 issue to a general council, and at the same time 
 authorized its convocation. The emperor at once 
 convoked the council, and appointed Constance, in 
 Germany, as the place of meeting. This did not 
 suit pope John at all. An Italian council he might 
 
 (i) Theodorus Niemius. Historia de Vita Johannis XXIII., p. 17. 
 
joiix iirss. 27 
 
 have controlled, but a meeting in Germany was 
 more doubtful. In the mean time King Ladislaus 
 died, and in the opinion of the pope the chief 
 reason for the meeting was thus removed. To 
 make the best of a bad bargian he, however, was 
 present at the opening of the council, though with 
 many misgivings concerning the result. Just as he 
 entered Constance his carriage upset in the snow ; 
 and, as he lay on his back in the road in all the 
 splendor of his papal robes, he exclaimed : " Here 
 I lie, in the name of the devil ! Why had I not 
 sense enough to remain in Bologna ?" 
 
 The pope's forebodings were not groundless. 
 At the first meeting of the council he w^as permitted 
 to preside ; but he was soon requested to resign the 
 papacy ; and when he refused the council sum- 
 marily deposed him and the two other claimants, 
 and elected a prince of the great Roman house of 
 Colonna who afterwards resigned under the title of 
 Martin V. As John still protested the council im- 
 prisoned him until he agreed to submit to its 
 decision. He finally agreed to accept the second 
 place under the new administration, as dean of the 
 college of cardinals. 
 
 The council of Constance did some good work, 
 but it was mostly in the line of discipline and 
 morals. In these directions it went as far as it w^as 
 possible to go ; and in the opinion of some people 
 it had even committed the sin of sacrilege by lay- 
 
28 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 ing its hands on the Lord's anointed. For this 
 reason, though it had ventured to change the 
 external organization of the church, it wanted all 
 the world to know that its members were sound in 
 faith and doctrine. It was not a safe tribunal for 
 any one who was accused of heresy. 
 
 Before this council John Huss was cited to 
 appear. He had previously been condemned by 
 the anti-pope, Alexander V. ; but the Bohemians 
 did not recognize his authority, and, indeed, many 
 of them refused to acknowledge the authority of 
 any pope. Some of the professors of the university, 
 however, turned against Huss, because he said that 
 the head of the church was not St. Peter but Christ 
 alone. 
 
 The Emperor Winceslaus had by this time re- 
 signed his ofBce in favor of his brother Sigismund, 
 who was extremely anxious to gain the favor of the 
 Germans and of the court of Rome. Heavy clouds 
 were gathering around the Reformer of Bohemia ; 
 but every day his views of divine truth became 
 brighter and clearer. He began one of his books 
 by saying : " Ye should not bum the wTitings of 
 heretics, but should read them in order that ye 
 may know what is true ". The sale of indulgences 
 disgusted his mind, as it afterwards did that of 
 Luther ; and he boldly declared that the church 
 has no right to sell its treasures of grace, and that 
 to do so is to commit the sin of Simon the sorcerer. 
 
JOHN iruss. 29 
 
 He was chari^cd with disai;rcciiig with the church 
 ou the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, but on tliis 
 subject he did uot go as far as the Reformers of the 
 sixteenth century. I cannot even find that he in- 
 sisted on giving the cup to the laity, which his 
 followers afterwards made their "shibboleth". 
 Every day, however, brought more light, and noth- 
 ing afforded him more pleasure than to take long 
 journeys, preaching the Gospel daily to thousands 
 of people. 
 
 When Huss was cited to appear before the coun- 
 cil of Constance he greatly rejoiced. Unacquainted 
 with the treacherous ways of southern prelates, he 
 hoped for an opportunity to declare the truth be- 
 fore the whole of Christendom, believing in the in- 
 nocence of his heart that the truth, as he was able 
 to present it, need only be heard to be believed. 
 The emperor gave him a safe-conduct — a pass 
 which promised him protection and security during 
 liis visit to Constance. The danger then seemed 
 reduced to a minimum, and Huss did not hesitate 
 to undertake the journey. 
 
 It is true that he seems to have felt a premoni- 
 tion of evil. He made his will, and wrote a long 
 letter to his nephews, to whom he was greatly 
 attached ; "for this", he said, " is a trying time, 
 and none should enter the ministry but those who 
 are willing to die for the cause of truth". It was, 
 indeed, a cruel, trying age, when men were burned 
 
30 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 at the stake on all sorts of pretexts. Two mer- 
 chants had just been executed in Prague for adulter- 
 ating some saflfron which they had sold in the mar- 
 ket. On this occasion Huss said : " If I am to be 
 burned I desire it to be for a better cause. I am 
 willing to be a martyr in the cause of truth". 
 
 The journey to Constance had all the appearance 
 of a triumphal procession. Huss was accompanied 
 by four imperial knights and a small company of 
 adherents. As he travelled through Germany he 
 was greatly surprised to find that national prejudices 
 had lor the time been laid aside, and that at every 
 town he was welcomed by enthusiastic multitudes. 
 This only shows how heavily the yoke of Rome 
 rested on the nation, and how earnestly the world 
 longed for the day of its deliverance. 
 
 At Constance the great Bohemian was received 
 with many marks of distinction. For a month 
 he was free, and he was evidently gaining influ- 
 ence, when his enemies proceeded to carry out 
 the plans which they had laid for his destruction. 
 The streets were placarded with denunciations of 
 Huss as a heretic ; it was announced that he was 
 about to escape ; and in contradiction to his safe- 
 conduct he was seized and imprisoned. When he 
 claimed his rights, he was answered with the hor- 
 rible assertion that it is not necessary to keep faith 
 with heretics. He was brought before the council ; 
 but there was a general cry of " Heretic !" and he 
 
JOHN IK ss. 
 
 31 
 
 was unable to speak a word. At the solicitation 
 of prominent liberals he was afterwards permitted 
 to reply to questions. The charges against him 
 were vague and contradictory, the principal one 
 being that he had taught in Bohemia the doctrines 
 ofWycliffe. The prosecutors were afraid to enter 
 minutely into questions of doctrine, knowing that 
 there was hardly a question on which they were 
 agreed. Huss was accused of having said that he 
 appealed from the council to Christ — as though 
 that were a great impiety. When he was charged 
 with having said that " if he had not appeared wil- 
 lingly the council could not have compelled him", 
 an old Bohemian nobleman rose to his feet and ex- 
 claimed : ''That is true! There are a hundred 
 Bohemian noblemen who would have been proud 
 to receive him into their castles, where he mieht 
 have remained safe from all his enemies ". 
 
 The trial was a mere form. Thirty-nine extracts 
 from his writings were presented and he was re- 
 quired to retract them without explanation or de- 
 fense. Huss replied that he could not be expected 
 to retract until the falsity of his statements had 
 been shown. He insisted that these garbled ex- 
 tracts represented him as saying things which he 
 had never believed, and that he could not retract 
 them without becoming guilty of perjury. Abun- 
 dant promises were made if he would consent to 
 retract, and an ingenious formula was drawn up to 
 
32 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 overcome his scruples, but nothing could shake his 
 resolution. His conduct throughout was calm and 
 dignified ; not a word of complaint fell from his 
 lips. On the 24th of June his books were publicly 
 burned, and this, as Huss well understood, was but 
 a prelude to his final condemnation. In a letter to 
 his friends in Prague he said : "I write this in 
 prison and in chains, expecting to-morrow to re- 
 ceive sentence of death, but full of hope in God 
 that I shall not swerve from the truth, nor abjure 
 errors imputed to me by false witnesses". On the 6th 
 of July, 14 1 5, the formal act of condemnation took 
 place, accompanied by the foolish ceremonies which 
 were usual on such occasions. He was arrayed in 
 fantastic garments, solemnly excommunicated, and 
 his soul formally presented to the devil ; but Huss 
 lifted up his eyes to heaven and said : " I commend 
 my soul to its Maker and Redeemer". Then the 
 martyr was handed over to the secular authorities 
 and led away to be executed, while the council 
 went on with its regular business as if nothing had 
 happened. 
 
 The place of execution was by the road-side, a 
 short distance from the town of Constance, and is 
 now marked by a large stone. Here the victim 
 was tied to a stake and the faggots piled around 
 him. An old peasant brought a few sticks and laid 
 them on the pile, hoping to gain a heavenly rewaid 
 by contributing to the burning of a heretic. When 
 
joiix iirss. 33 
 
 Huss saw this he smiled, and said : " O saiicla sini- 
 plicitas r^ Once more urged to recant, his only 
 reply was : " (jod is my witness that I have never 
 taught what false witnesses have testified against 
 me. He knows that the great object of my life was 
 to convert man from sin. In the truth of that 
 Gospel which I have written, taught, and preached 
 I now joyfully die ". 
 
 On the final scene we shall not dwell. From 
 the midst of the gloom and smoke and darkness 
 there came a single cry : " Kyvic Elcison P^ When 
 all was over some one gathered up a handful of 
 ashes and cast them into the Rhine. 
 
 In the history of the church and the world there 
 is but one scene which is more terrible than this ; 
 and yet we remember that those who described it 
 had not a word of condemnalion for the wicked 
 men who condemned the righteous. They left it 
 all to God. Shall we attempt to do otherwise ? 
 Such a colossal crime is its own terrific condemna- 
 tion. 
 
 The members of the council of Constance no 
 doubt supposed that they had not only secured 
 peace to the church but had proclaimed themselves 
 the guardians of ancient orthodoxy. That they 
 were mistaken need hardly be said. They had not 
 counted on the wrath of Bohemia, robbed of her 
 favorite son. No people had ever before been so 
 deeply stirred, or become so fully engrossed by a 
 
34 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 wild desire for vengeance. Hitherto kings and 
 nobles had made war, and the people had been un- 
 willingly driven to fight the battles of their lords. 
 Now it was the people who held deliberative 
 assemblies and forced the nobles to lead them to 
 battle. Priests who ventured to reflect on the 
 memory of John Huss were put to death with scant 
 ceremony, and the imperial delegates who appeared 
 before the national council were thrown out of the 
 window. Multitudes that had hitherto cared very 
 little for religious questions now united in demand- 
 ing instant and complete separation from the church 
 of Rome. When, one year later, Jerome of Prague 
 — who had gone to Constance to be the counsel and 
 adviser of John Huss — was also burned at the stake, 
 the friends of the martyrs held a meeting and made 
 the offering of the cup to the laity in the sacrament 
 of the eucharist the badge and purpose of their 
 covenant. On the death of Wenceslaus, in 141 9, 
 the Hussites refused to acknowledge Sigismund as 
 his successor, and chose a nobleman, named John 
 Ziska, to be their leader in the conflict with Rome 
 and the empire. 
 
 Ziska was a remarkable, and withal a somewhat 
 mysterious personage. Not much is known about 
 him personally, except that he was very ugly, had 
 but one eye and that he could fight. O, how he 
 could fight ! I am not fond of war, I deprecate its 
 horrors, but if it must come, and in a just cause, I 
 
H)iiN iiuss. 35 
 
 love a miii^hty warrior before the Lord. Not once 
 only but many times John Ziska with his Taborites 
 beat the emperor, the German ])rinces and the cru- 
 sade of the pope. When the Hussite general was 
 entirely blinded he kept on fighting and beating 
 his enemies as he had done before ; and it is said, 
 on rather doubtful authority, that when he felt that 
 the end of life was at hand he gave directions that 
 after his death his body should be flayed and his 
 skin stretched over the head of a drum ; so that 
 when the drum was beat his voice might still be 
 heard in the thick of the battle. What a grand 
 old barbarian he was ! 
 
 When Ziska died many of his friends lost cour- 
 age, and a large party which had been closely at- 
 tached to him called themselves " The Orphans". 
 His successor Procopius, who had been a priest or 
 monk, however, showed himself every inch a sol- 
 dier. He conceived the idea of carrying the war 
 into the enemy's country and swept northern Ger- 
 many with the besom of destruction. 
 
 Procopius fell in battle, and then came the begin- 
 ning of the end. The Hussites were divided among 
 themselves ; one party professed themselves ready 
 to be reconciled with Rome if they were permitted 
 to receive the cup in the Lord's Supper, and were 
 therefore called Calixtines, from calix^ a cup ; the 
 other party were known as Taborites, after a moun- 
 tain where they had held their earliest important 
 
36 LEADERS OF THE REFORM A TION. 
 
 meeting. These parties quarreled, and now Rome 
 saw her opportunity. The pope granted to Bohe- 
 mia the privilege of receiving the sacrament in 
 both kinds, and thus drove a wedge through the 
 Hussite ranks. The Taborites still resisted, but 
 were utterly defeated at Bohmischbrod, in 1434, 
 and soon afterwards ceased to be a political party. 
 Persecutions followed, and many Bohemians found 
 a refuge in other countries, especially in Switzer- 
 land. The Calixtines soon accommodated them- 
 selves to the state of affairs and became Roman 
 Catholics ; the Taborites grew weaker and weaker, 
 changed their name to " Brethren ", and finally, 
 after existing for many years as the so-called "hid- 
 den seed", became the nucleus of the Christian 
 denomination which is now known as Moravians. 
 In the sixteenth century, when persecution was 
 most intense, many Hussites joined the Lutheran 
 and Reformed churches, and there is still in Bohemia 
 a little cluster of Protestant congregations which 
 claims to be descended from the ancient Hussites. 
 Thus it may appear as if the work of Huss had 
 reached a weak and impotent conclusion ; but this 
 is a mistake. Huss died for truths which are in- 
 herent in the church and in the heart of man, 
 though they were for a time suppressed by the 
 tremendous power of an established system. By 
 his death, no less than by his life, he shows forth 
 the truth that Protestantism is not an invention of 
 
JOHN iicss. 37 
 
 the sixteenth century, but flows from the profound- 
 est life of early Christianity. It may not have been 
 approved at the Vatican, but it leads back to Cal- 
 vary. The death of Huss was by his cotempora- 
 ries regarded as shameful, but it had a glory of its 
 own ; for 
 
 " Whether within the duugeon deep, 
 Or in the battle's van, 
 The noblest place lor man to die 
 Is where he dies for man.', 
 
 The Hussite wars were cruel — almost barbarous 
 — but they were not failures. It would be easy to 
 show how in a negative way they made the great 
 Reformation possible. If Ziska and Procopius had 
 not shaken the power of the church and empire, 
 Luther would probably have been burnt at Worms. 
 
 We do not bring a railing accusation against the 
 church of Rome. The world has greatly changed 
 since the days of Huss and Wycliffe, and it would 
 be folly to treat of the events of their lives as if 
 they had happened yesterday. But we venture to 
 say, that Rome is no less indebted to John Huss 
 than are the Protestant churches. He died for 
 truth and purity ; for freedom of speech and liberty 
 of conscience. '' The blood of the martyrs is the 
 seed of the church"; and the precious seed sowed 
 at Constance, though frost-bitten, never died ; and 
 is now bearing the glorious fruit in which the 
 world rejoices. 
 
II. 
 
 THE GLORY OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 MARTIN LUTHER. 
 
 ARTIN LUTHER is the representative Ger- 
 
 M 
 
 man of the sixteenth century. Without 
 studying the century you cannot under- 
 stand his career ; without familiarity with his 
 career you cannot comprehend his age. He does 
 not represent the classes but the masses. He was 
 not skilled in the ways of courts ; he had not the 
 literary culture of the leaders of the renaissance ; 
 but by the power of consecrated genius he became 
 the spokesman of the silent millions — the leader of 
 the greatest religious and social movement in the 
 history of the world. When we read his books we 
 are at first repelled by their peculiarities and then 
 subdued by their power. " It is", to use the figure 
 employed in another connection by the philosopher 
 Hegel, ''as if an archangel were attempting to re- 
 produce the melodies of heaven on an imperfect 
 human instrument — the theme is glorious but the 
 execution is full of discords ". No man of his cen- 
 tury was so intensely hated, and historians are still 
 kept busy in refuting the falsehoods of that lying 
 age ; no man in modern history has been so 
 extravagantly praised. Somewhere between these 
 extremes the truth must be found ; but our concep- 
 tion of it will at best remain one-sided and incom- 
 
MARTIN LUTHER 
 
c ^^c' C C f 
 
 
MA A' r/X LCI HER. 39 
 
 plete. To characterize so great a man as Luther 
 is like attempting to paint a picture of Mont Blanc 
 — the view taken may be perfectly accurate from one 
 point of observation but it utterly fails from 
 another. Possibly we may gain the best conception 
 of this remarkable man by relating in simple words 
 the story of his life, striving to catch a glimpse ^i 
 his person now and then as we follow him in his 
 wonderful career. 
 
 Martin Luther was born November loth, 1483, 
 at the village of Eisleben in Electoral Saxony. 
 His father's name was Hans, and his mother's 
 maiden name was Gretha (Margaretha) Ziegler. ^ 
 Luther's father was a miner but belonged to a family 
 of farmers that had become impoverished. That 
 the family was once of some importance is ,sndent 
 from the fact that they had a coat-of-arms which 
 appears on the old Luther house at Mansfeld, and 
 also on documents signed by Martin Luther's bro- 
 ther Jacob. It bears a rose and a bow and arrows. 
 Martin Luther seems never to have used the coat- 
 of-arms, but he utilized the rose on his seal — that 
 celebrated seal wdiich represents a cross resting on 
 a heart which is in turn supported by a full-blown 
 rose, and bears an inscription which may be trans- 
 lated : 
 
 " The Christian's heart doth rest ou roses 
 When it beneath the cross reposes ". 
 
 (i) Some writers erroneously' allege that her name was Lindeman ; but 
 the latter was in fact the maiden name of Luther's grandmother. 
 
40 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 A few months before the biith of Martin, the 
 eldest son, Hans Luther, removed from Mohra, 
 where the family had long been settled, to the 
 little village of Eisleben, and soon after that event 
 to ]\Iansfeld, several miles distant, where he con- 
 tinued to labor as a miner. It was the old story — 
 the mines were prosperous, the land was poor, so 
 the agriculturist took a lower social position to win 
 higher wages. Hans Luther was, however, not the 
 kind of man to remain long in such a position with- 
 out making an effort to improve it. Very soon we 
 find him conducting two ovens in which ores were 
 roasted — the elector of Saxony knew him per- 
 sonally and gave him his confidence — so that he 
 gradually became a man of substance. He brought 
 up a family of seven children, and left an estate of 
 about $5000 which would now be worth three or four 
 times as much. That was a pretty good showing 
 for a poor miner. In Martin's boyhood the family 
 was compelled to struggle with intense poverty. 
 In his later writings he confesses that he and Philip 
 Melancthon had studied astrology in the hope of 
 finding something remarkable in the conjunction 
 of the planets at the moment of his birth^ ; but he 
 had found nothing that could give him con] fort. ^ 
 He says: "My father was a poor miner; my 
 mother carried all our wood upon her back, that 
 she might warm and rear us ; their life was one of 
 
 (i) Juncker's Ehrengedezchtntss Luthert, p. 10. 
 
MA A' TIN f. I '77//: k\ 4 1 
 
 severe toil aiul extrciiie privaLioii ; at the present 
 day people would hardly hold out long under such 
 circumstances^'. It is orcatly to Luther's credit 
 that he always honored his parents. When he 
 came to prepare a marriao^e service for the Protest- 
 ant churches he immortalized their names hy writ- 
 ing : " Dost thou Hans take Gretha to be tin- 
 wedded wife "? 
 
 Luther had a hard youth and was probably not 
 easy to manage. He was so full of physical vigor 
 that like an untamed colt, it was difficult to keep 
 him in the traces. At school he tells us he was 
 whipped fifteen times in one morning. At this 
 school he learned to read and write, and com.mitted 
 to memory the Creed, Lord's Prayer, Ten Com- 
 mandments, and some hymns. He really gave more 
 heed to the teaching of the miners who told him 
 ancient legends — possibly about Dr. Faustus, Till 
 Owlglass, and Reynard the Fox — and filled his 
 mind with strange stories about watches, cobolds 
 and hobgoblins — stories which clung to him all his 
 life. He did not appreciate the fact that these 
 miners were teaching him his native laneua^e. In 
 those days scholars generally spoke debased Latin, 
 and many of them, in their contempt for the speech 
 of the people, refused to speak German at all. 
 There was, indeed, a kind of German which had 
 grown up at the courts, artificial, involved, and full 
 of repetitions ; but it was never in any proper sense 
 
42 LEADERS OF THE REFORM A TION. 
 
 the language of the people. Every valley in Ger- 
 many had, however, its peculiar dialect — rude, 
 harsh and unpolished — and neighbors were often 
 unable to understand each other's speech. Curi- 
 ously enough it was the Saxon dialect alone which 
 possessed capacities for literary development, and 
 in later life Luther utilized them to the utmost 
 In Latin he was inferior to many of his cotempo- 
 raries ; but in pure idiomatic German he rose im- 
 measureably higher than them all. Schaff says : 
 " The hardships of Luther's youth and the want of 
 refined breeding show themselves in his writings 
 and actions. They limited his influence among 
 the higher and cultivated classes, but increased his 
 power among the middle and lower. He was a 
 man of the people and for the people. He was not 
 a polished diamond, but a rough block cut out from 
 a granite mountain, and well fitted for the base of a 
 mighty structure. He laid the foundation and 
 others finished the upper stories ". 
 
 Luther's father v/as ambitious and encouraged 
 his son to study, though he did very little to assist 
 him. At an early age the boy went to school in 
 Magdeburg and Eisenach, and in his fourteenth 
 year began to support himself by singing in the 
 streets. The traditions of the poor scholars of the 
 Middle Ages had not yet passed away, and this 
 method of securing an education was not disrepu- 
 table. It was at Eisenach that Ursula Cotta, the 
 
AfAA'T/x LrriniR. 43 
 
 wife of tlie leading merchant of the town, immor- 
 talized herself In- giving the boy a seat at her table. 
 When Lnther attended the university of Krfurt 
 he did not seek associates among the humanists. 
 He was no worshipper of the Greeks, and was not 
 attracted by the new heathenism of the renaissance. 
 From the beginning he sympathized more with the 
 scholastics and mystics than with the men of the 
 new era. He acquired the Latin language to such 
 a degree that he could speak and write it with 
 fluency ; but he was painfully aware that his style 
 was not Ciceronian. Greek and Hebrew he nee- 
 lected, and acquired a working knowledge of these 
 languages only when his life-work rendered it 
 necessary. Mediaeval philosophy he studied at a 
 time when the humanists were discardincr it, and 
 became an expert and powerful reasoner. In brief, 
 he did not propose to live the life of a recluse, and 
 studied those things which he believed would prove 
 useful in a public and political career. He took 
 the degree of Bachelor of Arts with credit, and in 
 1503 was promoted to be a Master of Arts. On the 
 latter occasion his friends held a little torchlight 
 
 o 
 
 procession in his honor, and this event he ever 
 afterwards regarded as the happiest of his life. 
 About this time Luther's father, who had now be- 
 come more liberal, presented him a set of the 
 Corpics Jttris — a series of legal volumes which had 
 cost him a orreat deal of monev. He was anxious 
 
44 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 that his son should become a lawyer ; for he had 
 probably noticed — as has more recently been ob- 
 served by others — that "when Providence distributes 
 the good things of this life, lawyers are pretty sure 
 to receive their share ". For a year or two the son 
 studied the old Roman law, and there can be no 
 doubt that it did him a great deal of good. It is 
 hardly a mere coincidence that the two leading Re- 
 formers — Luther and Calvin — were once students 
 of law ; and it is altogether likely that even at the 
 present day young theologians would be consider- 
 ably improved by a course of Blackstone. 
 
 Hans Luther, at Mansfeld, was rejoicing at his 
 son's progress in legal study, when suddenly he 
 received a message that the young man — at the age 
 of twenty-one — had broken away from all his 
 earlier associations and become a monk. At present 
 we can hardly appreciate the terrible nature of such 
 tidings. The father was a practical man of the 
 world who had no liking for monks and monkery. 
 According to the notions of the age the son was 
 now practically dead to his family, to society, and 
 to every hope of earthly happiness. Imagine a 
 father — if such a thing could happen without dis- 
 grace — receiving news that a son, who had recently 
 graduated at college, had been condemned to life- 
 long imprisonment, and you can form some idea of 
 Hans Luther's disappointment and grief. Worst 
 of all, Martin had been persuaded by the monks 
 
MAR TIN L irrilliR. 45 
 
 that it was his duty to take tliis step without con- 
 sulting his laihcr ; and this tlic latter regarded as a 
 personal slight which it took him years to forgive. 
 When his son was ordained a priest he allowed 
 himself to be persuaded to be present at the festiv- 
 ities ; but when some one asked him whether he 
 was not proud of his son's promotion, he replied : 
 " Have you not read in the Scripture : ' Honor thv 
 father and mother'"? Indeed, it was not until 
 ]\Iartin had separated from Rome and had become a 
 married man that he entirely forgave the past and 
 heartily rejoiced in his brilliant career. It may 
 perhaps be doubted whether Hans Luther was ever 
 profoundly attached to the church of Rome. 
 
 What induced Martin Luther to become a monk 
 we do not exactly know. The old story is that his 
 friend Alexis was killed by lightning at his side ; 
 but there is some authority for believing that this 
 friend was killed in a duel. Other writers say that 
 Luther was terribly frightened by a thunder-storm 
 during which he fell stunned to the earth, and that 
 in his terror he exclaimed : " Help, St. Anna, and 
 I will become a monk". He himself intimates the 
 step was taken in accordance with a vow w^hich he 
 had hastily made in an hour of danger. 
 
 Luther's sojourn in the convent at Erfurt was a 
 necessary stadium in his religious development. 
 It was for him a period of intense conflict, and in 
 his mind mediaeval doctrine and modern ideas were 
 
46 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION, 
 
 strangely mingled. That he was profoundly in 
 earnest can not be doubted. He submitted to 
 every possible penance and almost starved himself 
 to death. As he himself said : " If ever a monk 
 could have got to heaven by monkery, I was that 
 monk". Every morning he repeated the '* Pater 
 Noster" and the "Hail Mary" twenty-five times, 
 rehearsing them, as he afterwards declared, "just 
 like a parrot ". After going through his devotions 
 he worried himself because he had not been suffi- 
 ciently devout. He constantly reproached himself 
 with imaginary transgressions, crying day and 
 night, like Simeon on his pillar: " Have mercy, 
 Lord, and take away my sin "! In his extremity 
 he turned to John von Staupitz, the head of the 
 Augustinian order in Germany — a man of great 
 learning and piety, who is generally regarded as one 
 of the " Reformers before the Reformation ". This 
 man became Luther's spiritual father and did all 
 in his power to show him a better way ; though 
 when the decisive moment came he shrank back 
 and died in the communion of Rome. When Lu- 
 ther confessed his sins to him he spoke only of evil 
 thoughts; "for", he said, " these are the root of 
 the whole matter". Staupitz said: "You desire 
 to be without sin and yet are free from real sin. 
 These temptations are necessary for you, but for 
 you only". "He simply meant", says Luther, 
 " that without such temptation I would become 
 
MARTIN u thi:r. 47 
 
 proud and hanolily ". l^ateron Liitlicr understood 
 better liow to deal with evil iIkju^IUs. " You can- 
 not prevent evil tlioughts", lie said, "but you 
 must coutror tliem. You cannot forbid the birds 
 to fly over your head ; but you can help them from 
 building nests in your hair". 
 
 In the university library at Erfurt Luther had for 
 the first time seen a complete Bible. Tliis does not 
 mean that the Bible was absolutely a scaled book, 
 for it had been printed in Latin and German, and 
 there were many learned men who were familiar 
 with its contents ; but to Luther, whose studies had 
 taken a different channel, its discovery was a real 
 revelation. In the convent he continued to study 
 the sacred book in connection with the writings of 
 the mystics, John Tauler, Thomas a Kempis, and 
 the unknown author of the Theologia Germanica. 
 He also read the writings of Erasmus, whom he 
 recognized as the greatest scholar of his age, though 
 he did not like his humorous treatment of sacred 
 things. In a letter, written as early as 1516, he 
 expressed the fear that Erasmus had little experi- 
 ence of the grace of God. 
 
 It was during this period of trial that the light 
 began to break upon Luther's troubled soul. ''As 
 I meditated day and night", he says, "upon the 
 words : ' For therein is the righteousness of God 
 revealed from faith to faith : as it is written, The 
 just shall live by faith', I perceived that the 
 
48 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 righteousness of God is that through which the 
 just man through God's goodness lives — that is to 
 sdiY fait/i. On this I felt as if I were born again, 
 and seemed to be entering through the opening 
 portals of paradise". 
 
 Years passed before this principle was fully de- 
 veloped. For the present Luther remained a monk^ 
 devoutly attached to Rome, and ready to believe 
 every mediaeval fable. Staupitz was, however, 
 convinced that he deserved a broader career than 
 the convent afforded him, and, in 1510, secured for 
 him an opportunity of visiting Rome as a repre- 
 sentative of his order. This, too, was necessary to 
 prepare him for his mighty work. His mind was 
 full of romantic ideas concerning the eternal city 
 and God's vice-gerent who ruled in Caesar's place. 
 Rome was to him, as Jerusalem was to the ancient 
 Israelite, the joy of the whole world ; he turned to 
 it in prayer as the Mohammedan turns to Mecca. 
 When he approached the holy city, he burst forth 
 in an enthusiastic apostrophe ; and it seemed to 
 him as if the noble army of martyrs were stream- 
 ing forth from the sacred gates to bid him welcome. 
 He did not dream that he was visiting a city where 
 faith was dead and heathenism reigned supreme. 
 In his enthusiasm he visited all the holy places, 
 saw all, and believed all ; but as he ascended the 
 Holy Staircase on his knees the words once more 
 flashed on his mind : ''The just shall live by faith". 
 
MAR1I.\ IJTin.R. 49 
 
 It was not lon^^ Ijctbrc tlie cl(jv(nit )'oiini^ Ger- 
 man was made to feel that his dc\'otion was tlie 
 object of ridicule. Julius II. — known in history 
 as " the fighting po])c" — was on the throne : a man 
 of immense ability, who cared for notliing so much 
 as to advance the temporal power of the papacy. 
 Not as scandalous as his predecessor, Alexander VI., 
 the Borgia ; not as skeptical as his successor, 
 Leo X., the Medici ; his thoughts were of battles, 
 and his words breathed blood and desolation. " His 
 great artist, Michael Angelo," says Michelet, ''rep- 
 resents him conferring his blessing on Bologna like 
 a Jupiter hurling thunderbolts." When he spoke 
 of religion at all it was with a covert sneer which 
 rendered his sincerity doubtful. There is a story 
 that one of the cardinals had insulted Michael 
 Angelo, who took his revenge by painting him 
 among the condemned in his picture of the Last 
 Judgment in the Sistine chapel. The likeness was 
 unmistakable and the cardinal hastened to the pope 
 to demand the punishment of the presumptuous 
 artist. " Well !" said Julius drily, " the case is 
 difficult. If he had put you in purgatory I might 
 have taken you out, by virtue of my holy office ; 
 but since you are in hell I am afraid you will have 
 to stay there ; no pope's authority extends so far." 
 And there he has remained to this day. 
 
 Michelet says: ''Paganism has ever existed in 
 Italy ; there despite every effi)rt even nature is 
 
50 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 pagan, and art follows nature, a glorious comedy, 
 tricked out by Raphael and sung by Ariosto." 
 
 If ever the essential paganism of Italy was fully 
 illustrated it was at the time of Luther's visit to 
 Rome. Humanism had alienated the priests and 
 people from the simple faith of Christ, though they 
 were still inclined to attach a sort of magical 
 efficacy to the grand ceremonials of the church. 
 Priests there were who thought it very funny to say 
 in the mass, at the moment of consecration, " Pants 
 es et pa7iis manebis'^ ('* Bread thou art and bread 
 thou shalt remain"), and if they happened to allude 
 to divine grace they called it " the favor of the im- 
 mortal gods." At their banquets they freely joked 
 concerning matters which Christians have always 
 regarded with religious awe, and irreligious witti- 
 cisms were greeted with the loudest applause. 
 
 That Luther was disgusted with such talk goes 
 without saying. This fact may have been observed 
 by the Roman ecclesiastics, and they may have 
 amused themselves in his presence by making 
 things appear worse than they really were. When 
 Luther subsequently related stories concerning the 
 morals of Rome which seem to have been derived 
 from the Decameron of Boccaccio, we are inclined 
 to think that the Romans had been practicing on 
 his credulity. He was himself full of the richest 
 humor ; but this was a kind of humor which he 
 could not understand, A French writer says : 
 
M.l A' 77 A' A f ' rilER. 5 1 
 
 '' Luther quitted Rome at the end of a fortnif^ht, 
 bearing witli liini into Italy the condemnation of 
 Italy and of the ehurch. In his rapid and sadden- 
 ing visit the Saxon had seen enough to enable him 
 to condemn, too little to allow him to comprehend. 
 And, beyond a doubt, for a mind preoccupied with 
 the moral side of Christianity, to have discovered 
 any religion in that world of art, law and policy 
 which constituted Italy would have required a 
 singular effort of philosophy." "I would not," 
 Luther somewhere says, " have missed seeing Rome 
 for a hundred thousand florins. I should ever have 
 been uneasy lest I had done injustice to the pope." 
 
 In 1 512 Luther was called to a professorship of 
 Theology in the university which the Elector Fred- 
 erick, suriiamed "The Wise," had founded in the 
 town of Wittenberg. He did not desire to accept 
 the call, but Staupitz persuaded him. Ten years 
 later he said : " If I had then known what I know 
 now, ten horses should not have drawn me into this 
 professorship." 
 
 The Elector Frederick had founded his university 
 on liberal principles and was very anxious for its 
 prosperity. It was the only university where an 
 oath of obedience to the pope was"'not exacted. 
 The Elector himself was a pious Catholic, but was 
 also a friend of honesty and fair play. Having 
 taken Luther under his protection he never with- 
 drew his favor ; though curiously enough, he^seems 
 
52 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 never to have made his personal acquaintance, and 
 possibly never saw him, except on the memorable 
 occasion of his defense at the diet of Worms. 
 Frederick was the most powerful prince in Ger- 
 many, and on the death of Maximilian I. he had 
 been for a time regent of the empire and had been 
 offered the imperial crown. He had, however, de- 
 clined this dignity and had nominated Charles, of 
 Spain, thus gaining the lasting gratitude of that 
 monarch. It was this fact, together with his ap- 
 parent moderation and impartiality, that enabled 
 Frederick to save the Reformation in Germany. It 
 was not until the end of his life that he received 
 the communion in both kinds, and thus declared 
 himself a Protestant. 
 
 For five years Luther preached and taught at 
 Wittenberg, but there was nothing to attract special 
 attention to his work. His lectures on the Psalms 
 were deemed worthy of publication ; he was known 
 to be a promising scholar ; but that was all. Then 
 came the series of events which made him the 
 leader of thousands who had been waiting for such 
 a man. These events are so well known that we 
 venture to rehearse them in the briefest possible 
 manner. 
 
 Leo X. had become pope — a prince of the house 
 of Medici — a man of the highest culture ; he could 
 talk Ciceronian Latin, but cared not a straw for re- 
 ligion. He supposed that his reign would be re- 
 
M.IA'T/X L('77//:k' 
 
 53 
 
 niciiibcrcd in history on account of the great 
 number of antique statues which had been dis- 
 covered ; but he had no idea of what was going on 
 beyond the Alps. Not an immoral man by any 
 means — he was too proud to disgrace himself by 
 common vices — but under his mild rule abuses 
 flourished. Above all things he desired to complete 
 the great basilica of St. Peter's — the crowning 
 glory of the papacy — which had become, as Vol- 
 taire said of Versailles, "an abyss of expenses." 
 It occurred to him, or to his advisers, that, if the 
 church had no ready cash, it was believed to be in 
 possession of a treasury of grace which might be 
 dispensed in such a way as to bring a grand return 
 in contributions for the great building. In the 
 Middle Ages it had come to be believed that the 
 church has the power to grant indulgences which 
 involved the remission of the penalties of sin. The 
 forgiveness of sin, it was said, is conditioned on 
 penitence, and indulgences are of use only to those 
 who are truly penitent ; but the church holds that 
 even the forgiveness of sin does not remove all the 
 penalties which are due to an offended law. There 
 remain certain penances which must be endured 
 either in this life or in purgatory. These penances 
 the church can remit on the ground of the super- 
 abundant merits of Christ and of the saints ; and 
 in this assertion we have the ground of the whole 
 system of indulgences. It is in some respects diffi- 
 
54 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 cult to understand and may easily be misrepresented. 
 The Germans did not take kindly to it, and 'Luther 
 said he hardly knew what indulgences were until 
 they were forced upon his attention. In France 
 and some other countries the sale of indulgences 
 was forbidden ; but the pope made an agreement 
 with Albert, prince-archbishop of Magdeburg, to 
 sell them all over Germany, and the projSts were 
 then to be divided. A Dominican, John Tetzel, a 
 big man with a stentorian voice, traveled in great 
 state from one town to another, and called upon the 
 people to purchase the pope's indulgence, either for 
 themselves or for their deceased friends who were 
 suffering the pains of purgatory. The character of 
 the man has been much discussed, but I think there 
 can be no doubt that he conducted himself like an 
 ordinary mountebank. Darras, a Roman Catholic 
 historian, says: "He tampered with the doctrine 
 he was sent to preach." When he dropped money 
 into the great chest that was standing at his side, 
 he is said to have exclaimed : 
 
 '■ When in the chest the money rings, 
 Out of its pain the spirit springs ; 
 
 There, there ! I see it flying — the soul is flying 
 out of purgatory into heaven." 
 
 Unless Tetzel is greatly belied he said worse 
 things than these. Picturing the worst possible 
 crimes in the foulest language, he exclaimed : 
 "Now, if you have committed crimes like these, 
 
MARTIN LUTHER, ^^ 
 
 all you luu^c to uo is to i)urcliase an indulgence." 
 If he added the words " il you have from the lieart 
 repented of them " it was in an undertone. It is 
 even said that he sold indul<.^ences for sins about to 
 be connnitted ; and that with such a paper in his 
 pocket one of his penitents robbed his money-chest. 
 The excitement caused by Tetzel's preaching- 
 was intense. The churches were empty, for the 
 people believed that they had found a shorter road 
 to heaven. The priests denounced Tetzel from the 
 altar ; the humanists wrote against him in elegant 
 Latin ; but the Dominican cared nothing for their 
 opposition. Then it was that Martin Luther — 
 after appealing in vain to his archbishop — on the 
 31st of October, 151 7, affixed his ninety-five theses 
 to the church-door in Wittenberg. They were, in 
 fact, a challenge to the world to discuss the v.diole 
 question of indulgences. When you examine them 
 now they appear mild ; you must read between the 
 lines if you would understand them. Others had 
 said harder things against the pope — others had 
 more clearly proclaimed what is now known as 
 Protestant doctrine — but this was a public, it may 
 be said an official challenge, which even the elegant 
 infidel pope could not fail to heed. It was an act 
 of supreme bravery, and is very properly regarded 
 as the beginning of the German Reformation. He 
 fired the first cannon of the war, and "the shot 
 was heard around the world. " 
 
56 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION, 
 
 The next few years of Luther's life were occu- 
 pied by intense struggles. At first the pope was 
 inclined to regard the trouble as of very little im- 
 portance. '' It is nothing but a monkish quarrel," 
 he said ; '' Brother Martin is a man of genius — let 
 him alone I" When the conflict grew more serious 
 he sent two legates ; first, Cardinal Cajetan, an 
 Italian, who insisted on unconditional submission ; 
 then, Charles de Miltitz, a Saxon nobleman, who 
 made himself agreeable and induced Luther to 
 write a humble letter to the pope, in which he 
 agreed to submit unreservedly to the decision of the 
 church on condition that his enemies should let 
 him alone. Thus the whole trouble appeared to be 
 settled. Luther's enemies, however, would not let 
 him alone ; and, as he says in one of his books, he 
 was so constituted that he could not decline a chal- 
 lenge. Dr. Eck, of Ingolstadt, held a disputation 
 with him at Leipsic ; and, as is usual in such cases, 
 both sides claimed the victory. Eck was a man of 
 great learning, thoroughly familiar with canon law, 
 but pompous and pretentious. Luther surprised 
 him by refusing to be bound by the decrees of 
 councils, and fell back on the Scriptures as the only 
 guide of faith and practice. " But who," said Eck, 
 " shall interpret the Scriptures, if not the councils ?" 
 Then Luther advanced the second great principle of 
 the Reformation — the principle of private judg- 
 ment, which has ever since remained its most dis- 
 
MA A' TIN I. rrUER. 57 
 
 tinctivc characteristic. The controversy now be- 
 came acrimonions and personal ; tlie orators insulted 
 each other in the most outrageous manner, and 
 TvUther launched against the pope his most violent 
 philippics. 
 
 It was now felt that reconciliation was an impos- 
 sibility, and the pope at last launched against Lu- 
 ther a bull of excommunication. In earlier times 
 this was a terrible thing ; it had deprived its victims 
 of all civil and social rights ; it meant separation from 
 Christian people — perhaps starvation and a name- 
 less grave. What w^ould Luther do now? His 
 friends trembled, and even the elector was in doubt 
 whether he could any longer protect him. Then 
 it was that Luther did what no one could have an- 
 ticipated — an act of boldness which for pure auda- 
 city was infinitely in advance of the promulgation 
 of the ninety-five theses. He gathered the profess- 
 ors who were favorable to him and the great body 
 of the students, built a bonfire, and — burned the 
 bull. We know how students sometimes amuse or 
 revenge themselves by burning Ovid or Calculus ; 
 and to the students at Wittenberg it afforded great 
 enjoyment to condemn the pope's proclamation to 
 such a fate. They ran all over town to gather me- 
 diaeval books — Decrees of Councils, Apostolic Con- 
 stitutions, Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals — and con- 
 demned them all to the flames. To the students it 
 was probably pure fun ; and yet they could not 
 
58 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 help feeling that by this act they had cast defiance 
 into the face of the pope of Rome. The act accom- 
 plished its purpose by its very audacity. Hence- 
 forth there could be no more temporizing ; the 
 battle must now be fouo-ht until it ended in victorv 
 or defeat. 
 
 It was of great advantage to the Reformation 
 that Luther was now associated with Philip Melanc- 
 thon. The latter was a native of the Palatinate ; 
 a nephew of the celebrated Reuchlin, and himself, 
 next to Erasmus, the foremost Greek scholar of his 
 age. Called to a professorship in Wittenberg when 
 he was but twent^^-one years of age, he became 
 Luther's chief assistant and most valued friend. 
 Though never ordained to the ministry he became 
 the most eminent theologian of Germany. A man 
 of gentle disposition he exerted his influence to 
 moderate the controversial fierceness of his col- 
 league. He was, however, no mere imitator, but 
 had views of his own which he was not afraid to 
 defend. Luther wrote, in 1529: "I prefer the 
 books of Master Philippus to my own. I am 
 rough, boisterous, and altogether warlike. I am 
 born to fight against innumerable monsters and 
 devils. I must remove stumps and stones, cut 
 away thistles and thorns, and clear the wild 
 forests ; but Master Philippus comes along softly 
 and gently, sowing and watering with joy, accord- 
 
MARTIN IJ-TIU'IR. 59 
 
 iii<^ to the orifts which (rod has abundaiitly Ijcstowed 
 upon him." 
 
 " Witliout Luther," says Dr. Schaff, '^tlie Refor- 
 mation would never have taken hold of the common 
 people ; without Melanctlion it would never have 
 succeeded among the scholars of Germany. " Occa- 
 sionally the two men did not perfectly harmonize. 
 "Our doctor," said Melancthon, after Luther's 
 death, " found it difficult to think well of any one 
 who did not fully agree with him." 
 
 With every conflict Luther grew stronger. He 
 wrote books in which he called the pope "Anti- 
 christ" — not personally, as he was careful to ex- 
 plain, but as the representative of a system. When 
 reproved for his violence he said, truly enough : " If 
 I speak gently they will not mind me." He was a 
 terrible controversialist, but he was f^entle to the 
 fallen. There was withal in his nature a deep 
 under-current of poetry that refreshed and beauti- 
 fied the waste places of life. Where in all litera- 
 ture can we find an author who has said so many 
 original, so many wonderful things ? His hymns 
 were written amid intense struggles, but even his 
 enemies cannot deny that for grandeur of diction 
 and unconditional trust in God they are unequalled 
 in the history of song. In all Christian hymnology 
 there is nothing grander than the Marseillaise of the 
 Reformation, ' ' Ein/este Biirgy He did not always 
 stand on the heights of poetic inspiration ; but was 
 
6o LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 sometimes depressed to the verge of despair. Then 
 suddenly a humorous story occurred to him, and he 
 burst forth in laughter loud and long. Would not 
 the bow have snapped if it had not been occasion- 
 ally unbent? 
 
 Luther's appearance before the diet of Worms 
 concludes the heroic period of his life. The young 
 emperor had at last, in 152 1, summoned the Re- 
 former to appear before the princes and prelates to 
 give an account of his doctrine. He sent him a 
 safe-conduct ; but the world had not forgotten how 
 in the case of John Huss a similar document had 
 been disregarded. To the everlasting honor of 
 Charles be it said that he was no Sigismund. He 
 was an intense Roman Catholic, though with a 
 leaning towards a reformation by means of a gen- 
 eral council, but he was also a man of honor and 
 kept his word. 
 
 To go to Worms was under the circumistances a 
 dangerous matter, though Luther was to a certain 
 extent protected by the elector and had some other 
 influential friends in the diet. On the way he 
 wrote to Spalatin : " I will go to Worms though 
 there should be as many devils there as there are 
 tiles on the house-tops." Franz von Sickingen 
 desired him to stay at his castle, near Worms, 
 where he would be safe ; but nothing could turn 
 him from his purpose. On the way to the Diet, 
 it is said, the celebrated general, George Frunds- 
 
MARTIN LrriiER. 6r 
 
 berg, the leader of the "Free Lances," touched 
 him on the shoulder and said : " Monklin^^, monk- 
 linij;;, tliou art i^oin<^ to make such a stand as neither 
 I nor any o: my companions in arms have ever 
 made in our hottest battles." 
 
 x\t his first appearance before the Diet Luther 
 seemed dazzled by the imperial presence. When 
 required to recant he asked time for consideration. 
 It was at his second appearance that, after defend- 
 ing himself in well-chosen language, he spoke at 
 least in substance the celebrated words : " Here I 
 stand — I cannot do otherwise — God help me !" 
 
 There was something sublime in that utterance, 
 and for a time his adversaries appeared to be silenced. 
 Luther was allowed to leave Worms without moles- 
 tation, though the Diet condemned him and he 
 w^as put under the ban of the empire. For several 
 days he journeyed homeward undisturbed. He 
 even stopped to visit his relatives at Alohra, and 
 preached in the village church. Then, as they 
 were jogging along the highway, a company of 
 soldiers suddenly rushed out of the forest and, with- 
 out a word to any one, seized Luther and carried 
 him away. The consternation of his friends was 
 indescribable, and soon all Germany was in a blaze. 
 What had become of Luther ? Had he been assassin- 
 ated — or carried away by brigands — or by the 
 agents of the emperor — or by the inquisition? 
 Men vainly sought for him everywhere, and it was 
 
62 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 generally believed that he was dead. One evening, 
 however, a letter which caused universal rejoicing 
 was conveyed to Wittenberg. It was dated at 
 " Patmos" and written in Luther's own unmistak- 
 able hand. Now "Patmos," we know, was the 
 island to which St. John had been banished when 
 he beheld his great apocalypse ; and the use of the 
 name on this occasion appeared to indicate that 
 Luther was a prisoner at a place where he was per- 
 mitted to enjoy considerable liberty He had, 
 indeed, been carried away by the confidential 
 aeents of the elector to a castle in the Thuringian 
 forest, called the Wartburg. Here he was required 
 to put on the armor of a knight, was called 
 *' Knight George," and was supposed to be a rela- 
 tive of the elector. Here in absolute solitude 
 Luther continued his labors ; translating the New 
 Testament and doing an immense amount of other 
 literary w^ork. In his solitude he grew nervous, 
 and supposed that he was specially persecuted by 
 Satan. There is no proof that he actually cast his 
 ink-stand at the devil, but it is certain that his 
 doubts and troubles projected themselves as appa- 
 ritions. More than once the great enemy of souls 
 appeared to him during the night, and he disputed 
 with him until he trembled. Once the devil 
 taunted him with the fact that he was a great sin- 
 ner. "I knew that long ago," said Luther, "tell 
 me something new. Christ has taken my sins upon 
 
MARTIN IJTIIER. 63 
 
 Himself aiul fori^ixcii tliciii long ago. Now j^rind 
 your teeth.'' 
 
 I am not surprised to read tliat Lntlier ])eheld 
 apparitions during the period of his sojourn at the 
 Waitburg-. His disposition and early training pre- 
 disposed him to believe that his conflict with the 
 powers of evil was personal ; and he was no doubt 
 fully prepared for visible indications of their pres- 
 ence. It he addressed his great enemy in language 
 that appears coarse and undignified it must be re- 
 membered that he was but following the traditions 
 of the cloister and of the mediaeval exorcists. 
 
 Nine montlis Luther remained at the Wartburg ; 
 then news came from Wittenberg which would 
 not suffer him .to rest. Protestantism had there 
 assumed an ultra form. Carlstadt, one of the 
 pastors, was preaching against Luther's doctrine of 
 the Lord's Supper. x\ccording to his theory Christ 
 at the moment of the institution pointed to his own 
 body, and said: "This is my body." This view 
 ^vhich was peculiarly offensive to Luther, was not 
 accepted by any other reformer, but it may be re- 
 garded as the beginning of the great Sacramenta- 
 rian controversy. Simultaneously a fanatical sect, 
 known as "the Zwickan prophets" had established 
 itself in Wittenberg. They were preaching strange 
 doctrines, such as community of goods, opposition 
 to civil government, and the personal inspiration of 
 their leaders. Luther was convinced that if these 
 
64 LEADERS OF THE RE FORM A TION. 
 
 fanatics were suffered to continue unrebuked his 
 own work would be irretrievably ruined, and he, 
 therefore, immediately returned to Wittenberg. 
 
 On the way I^uther was met at a wayside inn by 
 two Swiss students, one of whom (John Kessler) has 
 left a description of his personal appearance. He 
 says : " When I saw Martin in the year 1522 he was 
 pretty stout, of upright bearing, bending more 
 backwards than forwards, with elevated counte- 
 nance, and deep black eyes, sparkling and flashing 
 like a star, penetrating to the very soul of the be- 
 holder. " Not less than a dozen cotemporary 
 writers have spoken of the wonderful eyes of the 
 Reformer, but not a single artist has been able to 
 catch their expression. « 
 
 When Luther returned to Wittenberg he preached 
 eight days in succession, but by the end of that 
 time the power of the fanatics was broken. " When 
 they left Wittenberg," he says, I warned their God 
 not to work any miracles against my God, and thus 
 we separated."^ 
 
 At this period Luther's star stood at the zenith 
 and his courage was unbounded. Henry VIII. , 
 king of England, wrote a book against him — the 
 ^^ Defense of the Seven Sacraments" — for which 
 the pope rewarded him with the title of " Defender 
 of the Faith." In reply Luther read him such a 
 lecture as had never before been addressed to 
 
 (i) Kostlin's " Life," p. 250. 
 
MAh'T[.\ LI TUl.R. 65 
 
 royalty. He called him ''a crowned donkey'' and 
 heaped npon him the most a])nsive epithets." 
 Afterwards when there was a chance of gaining 
 Henry VHI. for the Reformation, Luther was anx- 
 ious to make friends, but the king haughtih' re- 
 fused. It was well that Luther's purpose was not 
 accomplished, for the English despot got no more 
 than he deserved, and could not have touched the 
 Reformer's work without defilingr it. 
 
 It was in the year 1525 that the event occurred 
 which Luther regarded as the most important in 
 his career. It was in the midst of the terrors of 
 the Peasant War that he surprised his friends by 
 marrying a poor nun of noble descent, Catharine 
 von Bora. He said he did it " to please his father, 
 to tease the pope, and to vex the devil." His highest 
 motive was to rescue the ordinance of marriage 
 from the degradation into which it had fallen, and 
 to vindicate the freedom of the evangelical clergy. 
 
 It has been remarked as a curious fact that most 
 of the Reformers, though themselves of humble 
 extraction, chose brides from the nobility. The 
 reason is not far to seek ; there was in those days 
 little or no culture among the women of the humble 
 classes, and educated men naturally sought suitable 
 companions. I do not regard these marriages, as 
 some have done, as indicating a desire on the part 
 
 (2) SchaflTs " Historj' of the Christian Church," vol. o, p. 39- 
 
66 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 of the Reformers to strengthen their position by 
 alliances with the aristocracy. 
 
 Luther's married life was exceptionally happy. 
 His wife was rather proud, and he playfully called 
 her " My lord Katie." A year after his marriage 
 he wrote to a friend: '^Catharine, my dear rib, 
 salutes you. She is, thanks be to God, in excellent 
 health. She is gentle and obedient beyond my 
 hopes. I would not exchange my poverty for 
 the wealth of Croesus." When children gathered 
 around his table his happiness increased, and 
 nothing could be more charming than the letters 
 which he wrote to his v/iie and children when 
 absent from home. ^ 
 
 (i) The following letter, which Froude calls the prettiest ever addressed 
 by a father to a child, was written by Luther to his son Hans, then four 
 years old, in the year 1530 : 
 
 " Grace and peace in Christ, my dear little boy. I am pleased to see 
 that thou learnest thy lessons well, and prayest diligently. Go on thus, my 
 dear boy, and when I come home I will bring you a fine fairing. I know 
 of a pretty delightful garden, where are many children that have gold 
 frocks and gather nice apples and pears, cherries and plums, under the 
 trees and sing and jump and are happy ; they also ride on fine little horses 
 with gold bridles and silver saddles. I asked the man who owns the 
 garden, who the children were. He said, ' These are the children who love 
 to prav and to learn and are good.' Then I said, ' Dear man, I also have a 
 son who is called Hans Luther. May he not come to this garden and eat 
 such prettv apples and pears, and ride on such fine little horses, and play 
 with these children ?' The man said, ' If he likes to pray and to learn, and 
 is pious he may come to the garden, and Lippus and Jo.st may come also ; 
 and if they alfcome together, they shall have pipes and drums and lutes 
 and fiddles, and they shall dance and shoot with their cross-bows.' 
 
 " Then he showed me a smooth lawn in the garden laid out for dancing, 
 and there hung the golden pipes and drums and cro.ss-bows. But it was 
 still early, and the children had not dined ; therefore I could not wait tor 
 the dance. So I said, ' Dear sir, I will go straight home and write all this 
 to my little boy ; but he has an aunt, Lena, that he must bring with him.' 
 And the man answered, ' So it shall be ; go and write as you say.' 
 
 " Therefore, dear little boy Johnny, learn and rray with a good heart, 
 and tell Lippus and Jost to do the same, and then you will all cometo the 
 garden together. And now I commend you to Almighty God. Give my 
 love to aunt Lena, and give her a kiss for me. Anno 1530. 
 
 " Thy loving father, 
 
 " Martinus Luther." 
 
M.Ux' 77 N L UTIIER. 67 
 
 Thouf^h Luther was poor his board was always 
 adorned with guests. Several students, to whom 
 he had given a place at his tal)le, took notes of his 
 conversation and may have abused his confidence 
 by publishing the strange l)Ook which is known as 
 " Luther's Table Talk." There is much in it that 
 we could wish had remained unwritten ; but it also 
 contains many gems of wisdom and truth. 
 
 We have but touched on a few of the main 
 events of Luther's life. There are other occurren- 
 ces, no less brilliant, which we must pass in silence. 
 His relations to Zwingli will be considered here- 
 after. His position as a theologian, a poet, an 
 organizer, an educator, even as a statesman, would 
 each demand a separate essay. 
 
 There is, however, another side to the picture 
 which demands brief contemplation. Luther was 
 a man, and as such was exposed to the temptations 
 which are common to humanity. There are spots 
 on the sun, and it would be folly to expect immacu- 
 late brightness ever in the man whom we have ven- 
 tured to call the Glory of the Reformation. 
 
 Let us say, first of all, that we place no confidence 
 in the stories which reflect on Luther's personal 
 character. Erasmus was responsible for some of 
 these, but the controversialists who have utilized 
 them to the utmost do not state that he afterwards 
 confessed that he had been misinformed. Every 
 one of Luther's steps was watched by vigilant 
 
68 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 enemies, and if he had been guilty of scandalous 
 conduct it would at any time have been easy to 
 prove it. 
 
 The chief defect in Luther's character we con- 
 ceive to have been almost inseparable from his 
 gigantic strength. The wonderful success that 
 attended his efforts appears to have gradually con- 
 vinced him that he was right and he alone. In his 
 later years, especially, he might almost have said : 
 
 " I am Sir Oracle 
 And when I ope my lips let no dog bark ". 
 
 He had so many opponents who sought the de- 
 struction of everything which he regarded as good 
 and true, that he included all who did not agree 
 with him in one common condemnation. 
 
 To keep the German princes firm in their adhesion 
 to the evangelical cause was no easy matter. 
 IvUther was, therefore, almost forced to become a 
 politician, and it is from this point of view that his 
 career is least satisfactory. He resigned the 
 government of the church into the hands of princes, 
 and thus led the way to the system — sometimes 
 called Ccusareo-papism which still prevails in Ger- 
 many. During the Peasant War — though he 
 sympathized with the sufferings of the people — he 
 preached unconditional submission, and even ad- 
 vised that extreme punishment should be inflicted 
 on the rebels — advice which the princes were only 
 
M.iNTix ij'riii:k\ 69 
 
 too ready to take. It is true that Lutlicr was con- 
 sistently opposed to the use of carnal weapons in 
 the advancement of tlie kinj^^doni of Ood. At an 
 earlier date Hutten had tried his JK-st to incite him 
 to deeds of violence, and Sickinoen and his kni,[,dits 
 were ready to fight for him at a moment's notice ; 
 but he never doubted that those who take up 
 the sword shall perish by the sword, and the event 
 proved that he was right. No doubt the cause 
 of the peasants was hopeless from the beginning ; 
 and it may be true that the position taken by 
 Luther saved the cause of the Reformation ; but 
 yet we could wish that in those dreadful days the 
 voice of the great Reformer had been heard plead- 
 ing for mercy. 
 
 The presentation of the Augsburg Confession in 
 1530 may be said to have concluded the formative 
 period of the German Reformation. In later years 
 Luther was chiefly occupied in organizing the 
 church and in promoting the cause of Christian 
 education. He soon, however, manifested signs of 
 physical weakness, and for some years suffered in- 
 tensely from a complication of diseases. He him- 
 self said, in a letter to Amsdorff: "I believe my 
 true malady to be old age ; and next to this my 
 overpowering labors and thoughts, but mainly the 
 buffeting of Satan ; and all the physic in the world 
 cannot cure me of them. * * * j am weak and 
 weary of life and think of biddinor farewell to the 
 
70 LEADERS OF THE RE FORM A TION. 
 
 world. May the Lord grant me favorable weather 
 and a happy passage. Amen." 
 
 By a strange coincidence Luther died at Eisleben, 
 the village of his birth. He had gone to that place 
 to settle a quarrel between the counts of Mansfeld, 
 to whom, as a native of the territory, he still 
 acknowledged a certain allegiance. During the 
 three weeks which he spent at Eisleben he accom- 
 plished the purpose of his journey, preached four 
 times, and revised the ecclesiastical constitution of 
 the county of Mansfeld. Then his strength gave 
 way, and after an illness of two days he died on the 
 1 8th of February, 1546. His last words were an 
 acknowledgment that he died in the faith which he 
 had professed and taught. His body was taken to 
 Wittenberg in a metallic coffin, where it was in- 
 terred with the highest honors at the foot of the 
 pulpit in the Castle church. On his tomb might 
 have been written : " Here lies a man who feared 
 God and God alone." 
 
 Our view of the person of Luther has necessarily 
 been incomplete. In his career there are events 
 which we could wish to have been otherwise ; but 
 we owe too much to him to occupy the position of 
 antagonists. As Heine says: "The dwarf who 
 stands on the shoulders of the giant can, indeed, 
 see further than the giant, especially if he puts on 
 spectacles ; but for that lofty point of intuition we 
 want the lofty feeling, the giant heart, which we 
 
MAN TIN IJ'TIHIR. 71 
 
 can not make onr own." In liis personal it\- Lntlier 
 combines the most colossal antitheses — the L-^looni 
 of the past with the brilliant activity of the future ; 
 but with all these apparent contradictions he must 
 forever remain The Glory of the Reformation. 
 
III. 
 
 THE FREE CHURCH IN THE FREE STATE. 
 
 ULRIC ZWINGLI. 
 
 rT'>HE little republic of Switzerland rests like a 
 I golden crown on the head of the nations of 
 -^ Europe. The surpassing grandeur of its 
 scenery is universally acknowledged. Its mountains 
 are the highest ; its valleys the greenest ; its gla- 
 ciers the grandest ; its prospects the most romantic. 
 Grander still to the thoughtful stranger is the spec- 
 tacle of a simple, unpretentious people, who in the 
 darkness of the middle ages solved the problem of 
 self-government, and for nearly six centuries have 
 boldly defended the rights of man. 
 
 As you sail down the lake of Lucerne — directly 
 opposite the great cliff called the Mytenstein, 
 which bears in colossal letters an inscription in 
 honor of Friedrich Schiller w^hose poetry has glori- 
 fied all that region — you behold the Rlitli, the 
 meadow in the forest where in the night of No- 
 vember 17, 1307, ''the three men," Flirst, Stauff- 
 acher and Melchthal, each accompanied by ten men 
 of his own canton, solemnly swore, with three 
 fingers uplifted in the name of the Trinity, to 
 defend the freedom of their native land. ^ Within 
 a few weeks of this event, according to tradition, 
 
 (1) This "conjuration" was, in fact, a renewal of "the eternal com- 
 pact," established August i, 1291. 
 
I'LRIC ZU'/yCLI 
 
 73 
 
 occurred the episode of William Tell — the brave 
 hunter who was compelled by the wicked f^overnor, 
 Gessler of Bruneck, to shoot an apple from the 
 head of his son, and who afterwards buried the 
 second arrow in the heart of the tyrant. Histori- 
 ans now discredit the tale, but it is at least expres- 
 sive of the spirit of the forest cantons. On the 
 first of January, 1308, the Austrian bailiffs were 
 driven out ; and it is the boast of vSwitzerland that 
 this act of emancipation was accomplished without 
 shedding a drop of blood ; but two hundred years 
 passed away before independence was actually 
 achieved, and nearly one hundred and fifty more 
 until the Swiss were formally recognized as one of the 
 nations of Europe. During all this time they w^ere 
 almost constantly at war. At Morgarten 1600 
 Swiss defeated nearly 11,000 Austrians. On sev- 
 eral occasions they enticed their enemies into a nar- 
 row valley and then rolled down rocks on the heads 
 of the invaders. No nation has a more splendid 
 roll of victories, and Sempach, Laupen, Granson 
 and Morat will never be forgotten. You have 
 heard the story of Arnold Winckelried — how he 
 cast himself upon the line of Austrian spears, cry- 
 ing : "Make w^ay for liberty !" but every conflict 
 was succeeded by another, and after every victory 
 it might have been said : 
 
 " Thus Switzerland again was free ; 
 Thus death made way for liberty." 
 
74 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 After many fruitless invasions the tyrants were at 
 last convinced that Switzerland could not be con- 
 quered, though they kept on growling at the foot 
 of the Alps. The mountains constituted an im- 
 pregnable fortress and all the power of the empire 
 could not dislodge its garrison. The wants of the 
 people were few. On their high Alpine pastures 
 flocks could safely feed, and the lakes furnished 
 abundance of fish. The whole country might be 
 blockaded, but the Swiss cared little for communi- 
 cation with other nations and could afford to wait 
 until the enemy withdrew. 
 
 It was but natural that Switzerland should becomxe 
 a refuge for the oppressed and persecuted. Not only 
 political offenders, but those who had exposed them- 
 selves to ecclesiastical censures were glad to escape 
 to the valleys of the Alps. The church of Rome 
 was by law fully established ; but on account of the 
 political condition of the country it rarely attempted 
 to press its authority to the utmost extent. Except 
 in the cities the poverty of the people was regarded 
 as an excuse for simplicity of worship, and the 
 Swiss actually came to dislike the splendor of the 
 Italian ritual. Even among the priests there were 
 many who sympathized with the sufferings of the 
 refugees from ecclesiastical tyranny, though they 
 may not have ventured to accept their doctrines. 
 
 It was not to be supposed that the kings and 
 nobles of surrounding countries would favorably 
 
ULRIC '/AVIXCLI. 75 
 
 regard a country in which tlicir antlKjiity was so 
 thoroughly defied. The existence of tlie vSwiss 
 league was a menace to royalty, and the rulers of 
 Europe hated it with perfect hatred. Those of the 
 Swiss who claimed noble descent were contempt- 
 uously termed "peasant-nobility," and were not 
 permitted to appear at the imperial court. Among 
 the German peasants the Swiss were sufficiently 
 popular ; but in the cities and at the universities 
 the influence of the nobility had caused them to be 
 cordially disliked. Without this feeling, we feel 
 sure, the Germans would have been more ready to 
 cooperate with the Swiss at the beginning of the 
 Reformation, and their doctrinal differences might 
 have been more readily adjusted. 
 
 The worst feature in the social condition of the 
 Swiss in the sixteenth century was due to their mil- 
 itary system. Every young man was a soldier, and 
 though foreign invasions had apparently ceased, no 
 one could tell how soon they might be renewed. 
 Under these circumstances the cantonal govern- 
 ments conceived the idea of hiring out their sol- 
 diers as mercenaries to foreign powers, wath the 
 condition that they might be recalled when the 
 safety of the fatherland demanded it. Swiss com- 
 panies were, therefore, often arrayed on opposite 
 sides, and brother fought against brother. 
 
 In this way the Swiss acquired the reputation of 
 being mercenary and avaricious, though no one 
 
76 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 doubted their bravery. The worst feature of the 
 system was that the young Swiss were apt to be 
 morally ruined in foreign lands. They brought 
 home vices that spread like a canker in their native 
 valleys. Against this moral evil the Swiss Refor- 
 mation was at first partially directed, and the move- 
 ment thus became political as well as ecclesiastical. 
 
 The Swiss Reformation was a drama that con- 
 sisted of two distinct acts. It was synthetic rather 
 than analytic. No single teacher commanded the 
 transcendent influence of the great Saxon reformer ; 
 but in each act there was a leading character w^ho 
 impressed his personality on his cotemporaries, and 
 who has exerted an influence through all succeed- 
 ing ages. The leaders in the successive stages of 
 the Swiss Reformation were Zwingli and Calvin. 
 
 Ulric Zwingli, the hero of the first act, was born 
 at Wildhaus on the ist of January, 1484. His 
 native village is situated in what was then the inde- 
 pendent county of Toggenburg, but is now 
 included in the canton of St. Gall. It stands at 
 the head of a mountain valley which extends far 
 into the Alps. The ground is not well suited for 
 agriculture, but there is excellent pasturage. No 
 doubt, the present inhabitants would not hesitate 
 to confess that their outlook is better than their 
 income. 
 
 Ulric was the third (some say the youngest) of a 
 family of ten children. His father and grandfather 
 
I LRIC /Al'IXCIJ. 77 
 
 liad held tlie office of " aiiiinaii," or local jiid^^e ; 
 and the raiiiily, thouj^li un])retciitioiis, was cmi- 
 iiently respectable. The lioiise in which they 
 lived is still standing^. It is a cJialct of the better 
 class, with some ornamental wood-carvino;, but not 
 otherwise remarkable. 
 
 Zwingli's father and mother each liad a brother 
 who was eminent in the church, and they naturally 
 desired that one, at least, of their children should 
 choose the same vocation. 
 
 At an early age it became evident that Ulric was 
 gifted with extraordinary talents. When stories of 
 Swiss heroism were related in the family circle they 
 fell like sparks upon his spirit, and left it glowing 
 with patriotic enthusiasm. Even more profound 
 was the impression made upon his mind by the 
 magnificent scenery that surrounded his birth-place. 
 "I have often thought in my simplicity," wrote 
 his friend Oswald Myconius, long afterwards, " that 
 on those heights, so near to heaven, Zwingli as- 
 sumed something heavenly and divine. When the 
 thunder rolls along the mountains and the deep 
 abysses are filled with its reverberations, we seem 
 to hear anew the voice of God, saying, ' I am the 
 Almighty God, walk in my presence with reverence 
 and fear. ' When with the dawn of morninof the 
 glaciers glow wnth rosy light, and an ocean of fire 
 rolls over the mountain- tops, the Lord of Hosts 
 appears to stand on the high-places of the earth, as 
 
78 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 though the hem of His garment glorified the moun- 
 tains, while we hear the words that were spoken fo 
 the prophet Isaiah : ^ Holy, holy, holy, Lord God 
 of Sabaoth. All the earth is full of Thy glory !' " 
 Ulric was but nine years old when he was given 
 in charge of his uncle Bartholomew Zwingli, who 
 was dean of Wesen. Under his direction he 
 received the best education which the age afforded. 
 The celebrated Lupulus was his teacher, and as he 
 himself said, he learned to speak Latin more flu- 
 ently than he spoke his mother tongue. He also 
 learned to play all the musical instruments which 
 were then known. The study of Greek he pursued 
 with great enthusiasm, and actually committed the 
 greater part of the New Testament to memory in 
 the original. After thorough preliminary training 
 he took a course at the university of Vienna. 
 Here, after the fashion of the times, he translated 
 his name into Cogitanus ; but it was only a stu- 
 dent's notion, and he had sense enough to give it 
 up after he left the institution. Then he became a 
 tutor in the Latin school at Basel, at the same time 
 attending the lectures of Thomas Wyttenbach, a 
 celebrated teacher of the university, who was the 
 most effective instrument in preparing the way for 
 the Reformation in Switzerland. In one of his lec- 
 tures this professor said: "The time is at hand 
 when the ancient faith shall be restored according 
 to the word of God. Indulgences are a Roman 
 
(7.h'/C ZIV/ACL/. -JC) 
 
 delusion, and the dcMlli of Christ is the only ranscjni 
 for our sins." 
 
 At an early a^e Zwingli was recognized as one of 
 the foremost scholars in Switzerland. He was, how- 
 ever, no scholastic recluse, but a strong and ener- 
 getic man of the world. The only portrait in ex- 
 istence dates from a later period, when lines of 
 thought and trouble had begun to appear upon his 
 forehead. It was painted by a local artist, and is 
 rather a poor affair ; but it confirms the statement 
 of cotemporaries that Zwingli was at this time a 
 model of manly beauty. Taller than most of his 
 countrymen, he was as strong as a Gre^^k athlete 
 and as bold as a lion. He was familiar with the 
 customs of the upper classes, and at first sight his 
 manner appeared somewhat haughty ; but when he 
 opened his lips he drew all men to him, for his 
 eloquence was irresistible. He entered the priest- 
 hood, apparently without the spiritual conflict 
 through which Luther was called to pass ; and it 
 seems to have been his purpose to devote his life 
 chiefly to classical learning. In 1506 he became 
 pastor of a church in Glarus, where he remained 
 ten years, the idol of his people. There was no 
 pretence of extraordinary piety, but he was emi- 
 nently truthful. In his boyhood he had written in 
 his diary : " Truth is the highest virtue ; lying is 
 worse than stealing." He had no secrets, and it 
 seemed as if every one who gazed into his clear 
 
8o LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 blue eyes could behold the depths of his soul. 
 Twice during this period he accompanied Swiss 
 troops to Italy as a chaplain. Here he saw the 
 wickedness that pervaded the land, and by his own 
 confession was for a time carried away by the pre- 
 vailing flood of luxury and licentiousness. He 
 caused no scandal, and was regarded as more moral 
 than his associates ; but, curiously enough, the 
 universality of wickedness roused him to a sense of 
 imminent danger. About the same time he found 
 an ancient copy of the mass-book and to his great 
 surprise discovered that a few centuries earlier it 
 had been usual to give bread and wine to communi- 
 cants, instead of bread alone. "Can the church," 
 he asked himself, " which claims to be unchange- 
 able and yet makes such alterations in its liturgy 
 possess the fundamental element of truth?" In 
 brief the contemplation of these elements directed 
 him to the real significance of the Scriptures with 
 whose letter he was already so familiar. The pope 
 had granted him a pension so that he might devote 
 himself entirely to classical study ; but the authors 
 of Greece and Rome had lost their zest, the praises 
 of men seemed utter vanity, and like another 
 Moses he renounced the pleasures of the world to 
 devote his life to the deliverance of his people. In 
 later years the tongue of slander did not venture to 
 impugn the sincerity of his motives nor the purity 
 of his life. Even Audin, the most bitter of Roman 
 
VLRIC /.WL\'(^JJ. 8 1 
 
 Catholic coiilruvcrsialists, wlio unjustly accuses the 
 other reformers of a lack of sincerity, confesses that 
 Zwingli was thorouL;lily lionest. 
 
 In 15 16 Zwingli became parish priest of the 
 great convent of Einsiedlen, the center of Romanism 
 in Switzerland. This was regarded as a place of 
 special holiness. Over the portal was the inscrip- 
 tion : " Here is complete forgiveness for all possi- 
 ble transgressions." The convent itself is said to 
 have been founded in the tenth century by St. 
 Meinrad, a reputed ancestor of the great house of 
 Hohenzollern. It contained a statue of the Virgin 
 Mary which was said to be miraculous, and more 
 than a hundred thousand pilgrims came annually 
 to worship at its shrine. The abbot, Conrad 
 von Rechberg, was an excellent old man who 
 longed for the reformation of the church. He 
 was the younger son of a noble house, and had 
 been forced into the convent to make room for the 
 advancement of others. Now that he had become 
 a great personage his relatives sued for his favor, 
 but he turned them away and gave his goods to 
 charity. When reproved for refusing to say mass, 
 he said : "Either the host is my God or it is not. 
 If it is my God I am unworthy to look upon him, 
 much less to touch him ; if it is not my God I will 
 not lend myself to the dissemination of error." 
 
 Under the patronage of this man, Zwingli began 
 to preach the Gospel to the pilgrims of Einsiedlen. 
 
82 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 He told them that the blessed Virgin would her- 
 ^self repudiate the worship of her image, and that 
 Christ alone can save the world. Thousands of 
 pilgrims received the word with rejoicing, and 
 returned to their homes bearing the message of a 
 newly-found Gospel. 
 
 While thus engaged Zwingli appealed earnestly 
 to the authorities of the church of Rome to make 
 way for the progress of the truth. We have 
 records of his piteous pleadings, in the early part 
 of 1 51 7, with Cardinal Schinner, the Bishop of 
 Constance, and others, assuring them that if the 
 church did not welcome the Gospel it would make 
 way for itself. Instead of accepting this advice the 
 hierarchy committed the blunder — the crime — of 
 attempting to bribe the fearless herald of the truth. 
 When the papal legate was asked what Zwingli 
 might hope to gain if he took the side of the pope, 
 he replied: "He might have anything he asked 
 for short of the papal crown itself." When Zwingli 
 was called to the chief pastorate of the cathedral 
 church of Zurich, it was not in ignorance of his 
 position but because he was already recognized as 
 the leader of the Swiss Reformation. 
 
 The question concerning the relative priority of 
 the German and Swiss reformers has frequently 
 been asked but is of little real importance. We 
 may believe Zwingli when he says that he preached 
 the Gospel in 15 16 as purely as he ever did in later 
 
ULRIC ZWINGLI. 83 
 
 years, but so did many of his associates. Tlie 
 Reformation in Switzerland proceeded more quietly 
 than iu Germany ; there was no j^reat event to in- 
 auo^uratc it, like the nailing of the theses ta the 
 church-door at Wittenberg. Saxony and Switzer- 
 land were in those days widely separated, and there 
 is no room to doubt that Zwingli and Luther never 
 knew of each other's existence until long after the 
 most important steps had been taken. Zwiiigli 
 recognized Erasmus a_s his chief leader and teacher, 
 though in later life their paths parted. He was 
 inclined to the HQmanists ; Luther to the Mystics. 
 Zwingli's movement was at first mainly disciplin- 
 ary ; Luther was above all things a theologian. 
 Goebel says: "The German Reformation began 
 simultaneously and independently at the opposite 
 extreme of German life and culture — at the Slavo- 
 nian boundary and at the foot of the Alps — and 
 thence spread until it met at the Rhine, the center 
 of Germanic life. "^ 
 
 It could not be otherwise than that the system 
 and organization of the church in Germany and 
 Switzerland should differ widely. In Germany the 
 church was under the cantrol of princes who for- 
 mally assumed the office of bishop. The Swiss had 
 no love for bishops and were not even enthusiastic 
 in their attachment to the emperor. Zwingli said : 
 
 (i) Geschichle des christlichen Lcbens, i, p. 275. 
 
84 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 "The empire and the papacy, both come from 
 Rome" — he wished the world was well rid of both 
 of them. It may, indeed, be said that even in 
 Switzerland the church was governed by the state 
 in a manner that would prove offensive to modern 
 Americans ; but it should be remembered that the 
 state was itself the creation of the people. After 
 the Reformation the Swiss chose their own pastors, 
 while those of Germany were appointed by the gov- 
 ernment. The organization of the Swiss church 
 was, therefore, thoroughly popular, and we have in 
 Switzerland the first example of the free church^iu 
 the free state. 
 
 On his thirty-sixth birthday (Jan. i, 151 9) 
 Zwingli took charge of the cathedral church of 
 Zurich. He proved himself a faithful pastor, for 
 whom nothing was too insignificant to claim his 
 cordial sympathy. This was especially apparent in 
 151 9, during the prevalence of the great plague. 
 He had gone to the mineral springs at Pfafifers on 
 account of impaired health, but when the plague 
 broke out nothing could keep him from his post. 
 During that dreadful summer 2500 people died in 
 Zurich alone, and Zwingli was almost alone in 
 ministering to the dying and in burying the dead. 
 At last he was himself seized by the pestilence, and 
 it was at one time believed that he could not re- 
 cover. During his illness he composed a beautiful 
 
UL RIC Z WINGL /. 85 
 
 hymn in llircc parts, of which the first has been 
 thus translated : 
 
 "Help mc, O Lord, 
 
 My strength and rock 
 Lo, at the door 
 
 I hear death's knock. 
 Uplift Thine arm, 
 
 Once pierced for me. 
 That conquered death 
 
 And set me free. 
 
 Yet, if Thy voice 
 
 In life's mid-day 
 Recalls my soul, 
 
 Then I obey. 
 In faith and hope 
 
 Earth I resign, 
 Secure of heaven, 
 
 For I am thine." 
 
 On his recovery Zwingli engaged actively in the 
 reformation of the church. It is often said that 
 his methods were too radical, and in support of this 
 assertion it is urged that he removed works of art 
 from the churches and prohibited singing and the 
 use of the organ. 
 
 If you would see the pictures which Zwingli re- 
 moved from the churches you can do so by visiting 
 the museum at Zurich, where they are still pre- 
 served. These works of art (save the mark !) do 
 not represent scriptural scenes or teach religious 
 lessons. They represent, as a rule, mediaeval 
 legends which are neither edifying nor instructive. 
 So Zwingli forbade singing, did he ? Yes ! but 
 
86 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 what kind of singing was it? It was nothing but 
 the sing-song of the mass, of which Pope Leo was 
 so ashamed that he seriously considered the pro- 
 priety of ordering the service to be recited in a 
 natural tone of voice. It was not until the next 
 generation that Palestrina introduced the reforms 
 which allied music to the service of the church of 
 Rome. There were in those days no hymns in the 
 vernacular — even the grand old Latin hymns were 
 merely mumbled in a perfunctory fashion. The 
 nearest approach to the modern hymn may, pos- 
 sibly, be found in the curious macaronic compo- 
 sitions known as inischlieder ^ of which the follow- 
 ing stanza, addressed to the Virgin, is a favorable 
 example : 
 
 ''Ave maris siella— Star of the sea ; 
 Tu verbi Dei cella—QAory to thee ! 
 Dei fnater alma — God thou didst bear, 
 Tti virtutum palma — Virgin most fair." 
 
 The voice of song was for some time silent in the 
 Swiss churches ; but there is evidence to show that 
 a version of the Psalms was in course of prepara- 
 tion when Zwingli died. 
 
 As for the organ it was a very different afifair 
 from the queen of the instruments with which we 
 are acquainted. It took thirteen men to tread the 
 bellows of the organ in the church at Zurich ; it 
 was played with the fists and made a noise like a 
 modern steam calliope. In the next generation 
 
ILRIC ZWINCLI. 87 
 
 the oro^aii was perfected ; and it is no doubt to ])e re- 
 gretted that it was banished by Zwingli, for sucli 
 was the power oi prejudice once established that 
 it was not until the present century that the city of 
 Berne allowed the use of the organ in its parish 
 churches. 
 
 In his literary labors Zwingli was greatly aided 
 by Leo Juda, his old friend and schoolmate who 
 had become his assistant in Zurich. This man was 
 the son of a priest in Alsace ; mild and retiring in 
 disposition, but a wonderful literary worker. His 
 relation to Zwingli was very much like that of 
 Melancthon to Luther and of Beza to Calvin. It 
 was supposed from his curious name that he must 
 be a Jewish convert, but this was a mistake. Juda 
 himself supposed that one of his remote ancestors 
 must have been a Jew, but the fact could not be 
 established. He translated the Old Testament into 
 Latin, and was the chief translator of the German 
 version of the Scriptures which appeared in Zurich 
 in 1530, four years before the publication of 
 Luther's complete translation. He also composed 
 many minor works and assisted Zwingli in all his 
 labors. 
 
 As for Zwingli himself, in the short space of 
 twelve years he produced eighty German and fifty- 
 nine Latin books, not to mention two posthumous 
 volumes. During the Disputation of Baden, it is 
 said, he did not go to bed for six weeks. He was 
 
88 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 not permitted to appear personally at the contro- 
 versy, because the Catholics insisted that his won- 
 derful eloquence gave the evangelical party an un- 
 fair advantage -^ but Oecolampadius, of Basel, was 
 Zwingli's representative, and at night the delegates 
 journeyed secretly to Zurich to receive instructions. 
 Sometimes the nervous strain became so intense 
 that Zwingli cried out : " Now leave me, all of you, 
 I must play the lute." Then for a while sweet 
 strains of music were heard, but when the troubled 
 spirit was soothed, the delegates were called into 
 the room, and the work went on. 
 
 During this time Zwingli's wife was kept busy 
 preparing a collation for her midnight guests. 
 Concerning her personal characteristics little is 
 known, but it is evident that she sought to do her 
 duty as a pastor's wife. The story of her marriage 
 to Zwingli is unusually interesting. She had been 
 a poor girl of good family, intellectual and beau- 
 tiful. A young nobleman, Meyer von Knonau, 
 had loved and married her ; but his proud father 
 refused to recognize the union, and the youthful 
 bridegroom was forced to seek service in foreign 
 lands, where he died leaving one son, Gerold, a 
 pledge of his ill-fated love. The beautiful boy 
 drew all hearts to him, and even his old grand- 
 
 (i) Some writers assert that the authorities of Zurich did not permit 
 Zwingli to go to Baden because it had become known that his enemies had 
 formed a plan to assassinate him. 
 
i'LRIC /AVIXCLI. 89 
 
 father, when lie beheld him, opened wide his arms. 
 The yonni; widow and her son were now recognized 
 by their relatives, and Gcrold was happy. To this 
 boy Zwingli was irresistibly attracted ; and for him 
 he drew np rnles of education which were long 
 afterwards observed in the Swiss schools. It was 
 the boy who introduced Zwingli to his mother, and 
 in due time she became his faithful help-mate. 
 Though her labors were mainly domestic she held 
 women's meetings and taught the poor to sew. 
 Four children blessed her second marriage. The 
 eldest daughter, Regula, used to say in later years 
 that the most she remembered concerning her father 
 was that in the evening he played the lute and 
 joined with her mother in singing spiritual songs of 
 his own composition. The family life was earnest 
 and solemn. There was none of the table-talk that 
 has rendered the home-life of Luther so interesting 
 to subsequent generations. 
 
 During the twelve years which Zwingli spent in 
 Zurich he was almost constantly engaged in religious 
 controversy. His conflicts with the Roman Cath- 
 olics were in his judgment less violent than others 
 in which he was subsequently engaged. When the 
 monk Samson — another Tetzel — came to Zurich, a 
 few sermons by Zwingli induced him to drive away 
 towards Italy ''in a wagon drawn by three horses 
 and loaded with gold. " The sale of indulgences in 
 Switzerland was a mere episode, not an epoch as it 
 
90 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 had been in Germany. There were extreme Cath- 
 olics who were bitterly opposed to Zwingli's meth- 
 ods, and his life was several times attempted ; but 
 it seemed as if Rome had for the time been par- 
 alyzed. It took some time before the old man of 
 the Vatican could pull on his boots. 
 
 According to Zwingli's own statements his dis- 
 putations with the Romanists were but child's play 
 compared with his contests v/ith the Anabaptists, 
 We have already met with these people in Witten- MjL p> 
 berg ; now they came to Switzerland for the pur- 
 pose of setting up their new Jerusalem. Miinzer 
 and Carlstadt were there with the avowed intention 
 of fighting Zwingli. Carlstadt after a while sobered 
 down ; but Miinzer, with his learning and fanatical 
 enthusiasm, was a dreadful antagonist. Accom- 
 panying these leaders was a multitude of unedu- 
 cated fanatics, dressed in peculiar garments, and 
 marching through the streets, crying aloud : " Woe ! 
 Woe! Woe unto Zurich!" ''For a time," says 
 Kbrard, "it seemed as if the whole evangelical 
 church of Switzerland had gone over to the Ana- 
 baptists, and Zwingli was left to fight them single- 
 handed." 
 
 It might naturally be supposed that the question 
 of infant baptism was the main subject of discus- 
 sion ; but all authorities agree that this was in fact 
 a minor matter — a sort of badge of distinction that 
 did not really touch the main questions at issue. 
 
ULRIC ZWINdLI. 91 
 
 The fact is tliat these ciilliiisiasts lan.i^lit that (jod's 
 people must always expect to be led by divine in- 
 spiration — that the teachings of the Bible need to 
 be supplemented by constant revelations. The way 
 was thus opened for all sorts of fanatics who be- 
 lieved or pretended that their extravagant utter- 
 ances were divinely inspired. The leaders were in 
 some instances political adventurers who employed 
 the credulity of their followers for their personal 
 advantage. They were extreme socialists who an- 
 nounced the establishment of a new Israel ; and 
 that they would rather have attempted to found it in 
 Switzerland than in Germany goes without saying. 
 They called Zwingli "the great dragon" and 
 would know him by no other name. Once, in 
 1525, a great multitude of these people came rush- 
 ing into the hotel de ville^ shouting, '^ Rejoice, re- 
 joice Jerusalem," and demanding the adhesion of 
 Zurich to the truth. The council called a meeting 
 in the cathedral, and Zwnngli was required to meet 
 them in debate. When the wild crowd saw the 
 great Protestant leader they hesitated, and for some 
 time none of them had a word to say. Kt last a 
 rude, ignorant peasant rose and said : "Zwingli, I 
 adjure thee, by the living God, to tell me but a 
 single word of truth." Quick as a flash Zwingli 
 replied : " I wnll do that. I tell thee that thou art 
 one of the most ignorant and rebellious country- 
 bumpkins in all Switzerland." 
 
92 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 The controversy soon began in a more serious 
 manner, and continued three days ; but then the 
 power of the Anabaptists was broken. Several of 
 their leaders subsequently engaged in political con- 
 spiracies, and rendering themselves amenable to 
 the laws were executed at Zurich. Zwingli had 
 been accused of sanctioning these extreme meas- 
 ures ; but his most reliable biographers (Christoffel, 
 Grobe, and Schaflf) insist that he counselled more 
 lenient action. There can, however, be no doubt 
 that the strong stand taken by the city council of 
 Zurich saved Switzerland from becoming the center 
 of the Peasant War. 
 
 Zwingli's meeting with Luther at Marburg, in 
 1529, has frequently been represented as the occa- 
 sion which separated the two great churches of the 
 Reformation. Far from this being the case it may 
 confidently be affirmed that it brought them nearer 
 together than they were ever before or afterwards. 
 Up to this time the Protestants of Germany had 
 been intensely prejudiced against Zwingli and the 
 Swiss. Many people believed that they denied the 
 Trinity and that they secretly worshipped Moham- 
 med. Luther knew better than this ; but he was 
 bitterly opposed to the Swiss because they did not 
 fully agree with him concerning the nature of the 
 person of Christ and of the sacraments. To him 
 the Lord's Supper was in a pre-eminent degree the 
 sanctum sanctorum of worship ; and its shechinali 
 
ULRIC Z\\'L\CLI. 93 
 
 was the corj-»oral presence of tlie Lord. Zwingli, 
 on the other liand, recrarded the sacraments as siens 
 and seals of a grace already received. He recog- 
 nized the divine presence in the sacramental ser- 
 vice ; bnt it was a presence that declares and con- 
 firms the thing signified, that it does not create it. 
 We do not understand him as teachino' that the 
 
 o 
 
 Lord's Supper is simply a memorial service ; but 
 that it is the means by which heavenly graces are 
 conveyed to the believing heart. 
 
 " Luther," says Baur, "had made no distinction 
 between Zwingli and the Anabaptists ; to him they 
 were all ' Sacramentarians. ' " At this time his 
 prejudices were intensified by political conditions. 
 Philip of Hesse had conceived the idea of uniting 
 the Protestants in opposition to the imperial power 
 which was enlisted on the Catholic side. He wrote 
 more than thirty letters on the subject ; and there 
 can be no doubt that he had consulted with Zwingli 
 with a degree of freedom that might by the emperor 
 have been construed as treasonable. In pursuance 
 of his purpose Philip was very anxious to bring the 
 leaders of the Reformation into personal contact, 
 and accordingly arranged for a meeting and confer- 
 ence. Luther and Melancthon did not desire to 
 attend it ; but the Elector of Saxony directed them 
 to go and so they went. They must, however, 
 have appreciated the fact that an intimate alliance 
 with the republican Swiss would have a tendency 
 
94 LEADERS OF THE REFORM A TION. 
 
 to alienate the princes of Germany on whose pro- 
 tection they so greatly depended. 
 
 The Reformers met at Marburg on the first day 
 of October, 1529. The facts of the meeting are 
 well known and it is hardly necessary to relate 
 them in detail. First there was a discussion be- 
 tween Luther and Oecolampadius, and another be- 
 tween Zwingli and Melancthon, and it was unex- 
 pectedly found that these teachers were more nearly 
 agreed than any one had imagined. It was when 
 Zwingli and Luther were brought together to dis- 
 cuss the sacraments that the disagreement became 
 evident. Luther took a piece of chalk and wrote 
 on the table : "This is my body," and at every 
 turn of the argument he pointed to the words. 
 Zwingli proved himself an able debater and kept 
 his temper throughout. He was extremely cour- 
 teous — perhaps a little too much so — a little con- 
 descending, in fact ; but taking all together it was 
 decidedly the most gentlemanly discussion of the 
 period of the Reformation. It was far too brief; 
 for a dangerous disease — the sweating sickness — 
 had broken out in Marburg, and both parties were 
 anxious to leave the town. 
 
 At the conclusion of the conference Luther, at 
 Philip's request, drew up articles of agreement, 
 which were signed by all the reformers. You will 
 find their signatures reproduced in fac simile in 
 volume. This author 
 
ULRIC ZWIAOL/. 
 
 95 
 
 fourteen out of fifteen articles they agreed fully, 
 and even in the fifteenth they agreed in the prin- 
 cipal part, namely, the spiritual presence and 
 fruition of Christ's body and blood, differing only 
 in regard to corporal presence and oral manduca- 
 tion, which the one denied and the other asserted." 
 "Even on this point," says Oswald Myconius, 
 Zwingli's friend and biographer, " I feel convinced 
 that the two men did not fully understand each 
 other." ''Zwingli, with his rationalizing mind, 
 could not understand that from Luther's point of 
 view there is a sacramental eating which is not 
 physical nor carnal. Luther did not give credit to 
 Zwingli for believing that spiritual communication 
 is real and true." 
 
 Considering the fact that both reformers signed 
 the articles it is not easy to see why Luther refused 
 to give Zwingli the right hand of fellowship, 
 though he pleaded for it with tears. He said : 
 ''Ye have a different spirit from ours;" and there 
 can be no doubt that it was the spirit, rather than 
 the letter, in which they chiefly disagreed. It must 
 not be understood that there was any lack of social 
 courtesy. Luther wrote, immediately after the con- 
 ference : ''We have become good friends and will 
 help each other." Nine years later he wrote to 
 Bullinger that he had found Zwingli a most excel- 
 lent man {vir optimus)^ though in the next year he 
 once more attacked the " Sacramentarians." 
 
96 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Melancthon, however, remained faithful to the 
 Marburg agreement to the end of his life. 
 
 The peculiar spirit of the Swiss churches became 
 apparent in their organization. Luther had, in- 
 deed, pleaded for the freedom of the churches ; but 
 the princes at once assumed control, and the 
 churches of the several countries were governed b}^ 
 a bureau or '' Consistorium," as one of the depart- 
 ments of the civil service. In Switzerland, as we 
 have seen, the legislature also assumed supreme 
 direction ; but it was itself a popular body, and the 
 organization was effected in accordance with the 
 will of the people. It was Zwingli who first ap- 
 pointed laymen to office in the church ; it was he 
 who convened the earliest Protestant synod. Cal- 
 vin, it is true, receives greater credit in the matter 
 of organization, but he was simply working in the 
 same line. May I venture to remind you that it 
 was the strong popular organization of the Re- 
 formed churches that enabled them to defend them- 
 selves successfully in days of persecution ? In a 
 broader sense it may be said, that it is in the coun- 
 tries which followed the example of Switzerland 
 that we find the grandest manifestations of self- 
 sacrifice in the cause of civil liberty. Holland de- 
 rived her ideals from Switzerland, and our own 
 country would hardly have assumed its present 
 form of government if Holland and Switzerland had 
 not led the way. The congregational meeting led 
 
I'l.RfC /AVINCLI. 
 
 97 
 
 to tlic town inectiii.i;- ; the chissis, or presbytery, to 
 the lei^ishiture ; and tlie synod to coni^ress. 
 
 That Zwingli was a patriot and statesman we 
 have already intimated. When his statue was 
 erected in Zurich a few years ago Catholics con- 
 tributed freely ; not, they said, on ecclesiastical 
 grounds, but because he was the foremost citizen ot 
 Switzerland. 
 
 Zwingli was cut down in the prime of his man- 
 hood and left much of his work unfinished. He 
 fell on the battlefield, October ii, 1531, aged forty- 
 seven years, nine months and eleven days. He 
 was not the cause of the war wdiich resulted in his 
 death ; he did not use his weapons on the field of 
 battle ; but as the chief pastor of Zurich he was 
 by law required to accompany its army. 
 
 It was a shameful, fratricidal war. The Catholic 
 cantons had maltreated Protestants, and the Pro- 
 testants refused to trade with them. It was an 
 actual blockade, and the Catholics determined to 
 avenge themselves by attacking Zurich. Eight 
 thousand crossed the frontier, and the army of de- 
 fense numbered not more than from fifteen hundred 
 to nineteen hundred men. The Zurichers fought 
 bravely at Cappel but w^ere overpowered, and 
 Zwingli was mortally wounded. His last w^ords 
 were : " What does it matter ? They may kill the 
 body, but they cannot kill the soul." 
 
98 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 After the battle Zwingli was found by the enemy 
 lying on the field. He was still conscious but 
 unable to speak. To a question, whether he de- 
 sired the services of a priest he replied by a nega- 
 tive gesture. Then a soldier recognized him, and 
 Captain Vokinger of Uri, killed him w^ith his 
 sword. A Catholic priest, named Schonbrunner, 
 who had been one of Zwingli's chief opponents, 
 burst into tears as he passed the body, and ex- 
 claimed : "Whatever may have been thy faith, 
 thou has been an honest patriot. May God forgive 
 thy sins." 
 
 The fanatics and mercenaries did not even spare 
 the dead. They decreed that Zwingli's body should 
 be quartered for treason and then burned for heresy ; 
 and the barbarous sentence was executed by the 
 sheriff of Luzerne. But what did it matter ? They 
 could not kill the soul. 
 
 The death of the Protestant leader spread terror 
 and gloom. There is a poem — " Frau Zwingli's 
 Lament" — which speaks of the inexpressible grief 
 of Zwingli's wife. Her husband was dead, and 
 Ceroid her son, and, it is said, more than a dozen 
 of her nearest relatives. Zwingli left no property, 
 except a few books and a little furniture, and his 
 family was entirely destitute. Then it was that 
 his successor in the pastorate, Henry Bullinger, 
 came to the rescue ; he and his wife received- the 
 
VI.Rfr ZWISCLI. 9,, 
 
 widow and the fatherless and eared for tliem nnti' 
 their support was no lon^^er neede<l. 
 
 Zwingli does not belong to a single branch of tht 
 Church of Christ. The religious movement in 
 which he was so prominent extended to many coun- 
 tries, and gave birth to a series of national Re- 
 formed churches. His dying words have proved a 
 prophecy that is abundantly fulfilled. From an 
 early period the chosen emblem of the Reformed 
 churches has been the burning bush which Moses 
 saw on Horeb. It has been frequently enveloped 
 by the flames of persecution, but it is still green 
 and flourishing. The external form may change, 
 but the inner life no fire can burn, no flood can 
 drown. ' ' The\ may kill the body, but they can not 
 kill the soul." 
 
rv. 
 
 THE CHURCH UNDER THE CROSS. 
 
 JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 THE city of Geneva was in the sixteenth century 
 sometimes termed "the Protestant Rome." 
 Though the term was very properly repudiated 
 by Protestants there was a point of view from 
 which it was not entirely undeserved. Like the 
 ancient capital of the Caesars, Geneva was recog- 
 nized as the meeting-place of nationalities. Situ- 
 ated in what is now the south-western corner of 
 Switzerland, within a few hours journey of the 
 French frontier, and almost as near to Italy, its 
 geographical position, no less than the diversified 
 character of its population, rendered it especially 
 well suited to be the center of a religious move- 
 ment embracing many nations. 
 
 Surely there is no more beautiful place in all the 
 world. Standing on both sides of the river Rhone 
 where its turbulent flood pours forth from Lake 
 Leman — within sight of the snow-clad summit of 
 Mont Blanc — it is a city of which Luther might 
 have said : " If it were not for sin I should delight 
 to dwell forever in this Paradise." 
 
 For this pearl of the Alps neighboring princes 
 had struggled for generations. Originally the city 
 had been jointly governed by a bishop and a count 
 of the empire. On this account the coat-of-arms 
 
JOIIX CAIAIN. TOT 
 
 oi the city represented a shield parted per paic, 
 with a key on one side and half an ea^^le on the 
 other. The people, however, playfully said that it 
 represented half a turkey and the key to the wine- 
 cellar ; and there can be no doubt that the general 
 reputation of the city was greatly in favor of this 
 interpretation. 
 
 Charles III., duke of Savoy, had secured the 
 appointment of one of his relatives, Pierre de la 
 Baume, as bishop of Geneva, and by his aid had 
 seized and for some time held the city. The bishop 
 was popularly regarded as a traitor, and his conduct 
 did much to undermine episcopal authority in 
 Geneva. Among those who incurred the enmity 
 of the Duke was Bonnivard, who was for eight 
 years chained to a pillar in a dungeon, and has 
 been immortalized by Byron as the Prisoner of 
 Chillon. 
 
 There was a protracted conflict between two par- 
 ties which were arrayed against each other in 
 bitterest opposition. The one party, which favored 
 annexation to Switzerland, was called Eidge7iossen^ 
 or confederates, a name which the Swiss have 
 always applied to themselves. The opposing party 
 was termed Mamelukes, which in those days meant 
 slaves, because they were regarded as the slaves of 
 the duke of Savoy. 
 
 In 1526 the patriotic party triumphed and Ge- 
 neva was united with Switzerland, not at first as a 
 
I02 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 canton but as an allied district — " ein ztigewandter 
 Orty These new political relations negatively 
 prepared the way for the introduction of the 
 Reformation in its Swiss form. It is true that the 
 pioneers were Frenchmen, but they labored under 
 the patronage of the Swiss churches. 
 
 During the years immediately succeeding the 
 death of Zwingli the churches of German Switzer- 
 land had been greatly discouraged ; but the losses 
 resultant from the battle of Cappel were more than 
 retrieved by the conversion of the French cantons 
 of Vaud, Neufchatel and Geneva. The pioneer in 
 this work was William Farel, who was vigorously 
 seconded by Peter Viretus. 
 
 Farel has been termed ^' The Elijah of the French 
 Reformation." He was a Frenchman of noble de- 
 scent who had been converted by Lefevre des 
 Etaples, "the father of Protestantism in France.'^ 
 In his youth, Farel tells us, he had been ''more 
 popish than the pope;" but v/hen he became a 
 Protestant he did it with all his heart. Driven 
 from France he became a traveling evangelist who 
 did more to break w^ay for the Gospel than any 
 other of his cotemporaries. His associates de- 
 scribe him as a perfect firebrand. Oecolampadius, 
 the reformer of Basel, warned him that his mission 
 was " to preach the Gospel and not to curse the 
 pope." Farel might have retorted in the words of 
 Lavengro : " Go to ! Go to, old man ! Did you 
 
JOHN CAl.\-[,W. 103 
 
 ever hear the pope eursc ?" J^vcii Zwiir^li warned 
 him that his life was too precious to })c sacrificed 
 by acts of imprudence. Farel, howe\ er, was not 
 the man to take advice on such a subject. He 
 went straight on and accomplished wiiat the world 
 accounted impossibilities. To Geneva he went on 
 his -own responsibility, rented a house, and in it 
 preached to all who came. One day, on the street, 
 he met a priest carrying relics ; in his enthusiasm 
 he took them away from him by force and threw 
 them into the river. This is but an example of his 
 violent methods, and we are hardly surprised to 
 learn that he was kicked and buffeted, and finally 
 thrown out of the city. In a few days he returned, 
 armed with letters of recommendation from Bern, 
 and began to preach with redoubled energy and 
 power. Such enthusiasm was irresistible and on 
 the 27th of August, 1535, the Great Council of 
 Geneva formally introduced the Reformation, and 
 the citizens pledged themselves to live in accord- 
 ance with the precepts of the Gospel. The mass 
 was abolished and forbidden ; images and relics 
 were removed from the churches. A school was 
 founded which afterwards grew into an important 
 literary institution. Daily sermons were preached 
 in the principal churches ; the communion after the 
 simple manner of Zurich was ordered to be cele- 
 brated four times a year. All shops were closed on 
 Sunday ; and discipline was so minute that it even 
 
I04 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 prescribed how brides should wear their hair. 
 These strict regulations aroused opposition, and 
 there was great confusion throughout the city. 
 
 In the midst of the prevailing disorder, in the 
 latter part of August, 1536, John Calvin arrived in 
 Geneva. He was on his way to Basel, where he 
 proposed to devote himself to humanistic studies, 
 and took lodgings at an inn for a single night. He 
 supposed himself unknown, but was recognized by 
 an acquaintance, Louis du Tillet, who at once con- 
 veyed the news to Farel. With almost prophetic 
 insight the latter appreciated the fact tliat the man 
 and the hour had come, and immediately sought 
 the stranger at his inn. With all the earnestness 
 of his nature Farel exhorted him to take charge of 
 the work in Geneva. Calvin shrank back ; he 
 desired to live a quiet life in the midst of the storms 
 of the age. When Farel found that he could 
 accomplish nothing by way of entreaty he burst 
 forth in words of the sternest reproof. He threat- 
 ened Calvin with the curse of Almighty God,.. if 
 he preferred his personal convenience to the work 
 of the Lord — declaring that he would himself be 
 his accuser at the bar of judgment. Calvin — that 
 cold, unimpressive man — confesses that he was 
 terrified by the words of the stern evangelist ; he 
 felt " as if God Himself had stretched forth His 
 hand to hold him there." 
 
JOH\ CALVIN. 105 
 
 Refusing to hold official position, Calvin agreed 
 to remain in Geneva and to help where he could. 
 He was, indeed, the chief pastor of the city, but 
 there is no record of his formal ordination. 
 
 Hitherto the life of John Calvin had not been 
 peculiarly eventful. He was born, July 10, 1509, 
 at Noyon, sixty-seven miles from Paris. His father, 
 Gerdrd Cauvin — whose name according to the 
 fashion of the times was Latinized into Calvinus— 
 occupied a prominent position as a notary and sec- 
 retary to the bishop of Noyon. His mother, 
 Jeanne Lefranc, or Francke, is said to have been of 
 German descent. Recently discovered documents 
 render it probable that the father accepted Protest- 
 antism before the son ; and, indeed, the whole 
 family was suspected of liberalism. 
 
 John Calvin received his earliest education in 
 company with the children of the noble family of 
 Mommors. At first it was expected that he would 
 study for the priesthood ; and he was in part sup- 
 ported by the revenues of a chaplaincy. After- 
 wards, in accordance with his father's wishes, he 
 studied law ; but he was so profoundly interested 
 in religious questions that " he studied law bv day 
 and theology at night." He did not, however, 
 neglect his legal studies ; for, as Ancillon says, he 
 became " the greatest theologian of his age and the 
 greatest lawyer of any age." He received an ex- 
 
I06 LEADF.J^S OF THE J^EFORMATION. 
 
 ceiient education, studying successively at the lead- 
 \\\^ French universities, Orleans, Bourges, and 
 Paris. From his favorite teacher, Cordatus, he ac- 
 quired so thorough a knowledge of Latin that he 
 has been termed " the best Latinist since Cicera'* 
 His feliovz-students sakl he was "all Logic and 
 Latin ;" and in the absence of the regular profes- 
 sors he was frequently called upon to give instruc- 
 tion in these branches. He bore the reputation of 
 being stern and critical, and his companions nick- 
 named him "the accusative case." With all this 
 he was not destitute of devoted friends who re- 
 mained attached to him to the end of life. One of 
 his teachers was Melchior Wolmar, a German, who 
 was a decided Protestant, but whether he exerted 
 any direct influeuce on Calvin's convictions is not 
 certainly known. 
 
 The religious condition of France was at this 
 time confused and discouraging. There was much 
 Protestant feeling but no general organization. 
 D'Aubigne is no doubt right in saying that the 
 French Reformation was, in part at least, of indi- 
 genous origin. The church of France had always 
 insisted on '' Gallican liberties," and had produced 
 some of the most eminent of the so-called " Re- 
 formers before the Reformation." Here such men 
 as John Gerson, Pierre D'Ailly, and the abbots of 
 St. Victor had lifted up their voices in behalf of 
 
AV/A' CAI.MN. 
 
 1 07 
 
 the righteousness to wliicli tlicir a,i,^e liad become a 
 stranger. They liad never forgotten the days of 
 Philip le Bel, wlien the jiope dwelt in Avignon and 
 the kings of France dictated the policy of the papal 
 court. To the people of France the exalted pre- 
 tensions of the Roman curia appeared absurd ; and 
 the higher classes, at least, simply refused to sub- 
 mit to the tyranny which was elsewhere so oppres- 
 sive. It became the fasliion to ridicule priests and 
 monks, and the literature of the times is filled to 
 overflowing with stories of their stupidity and 
 lewdness. As early as 15 12 Lefcvre des Etaples 
 began to deliver sledge-hammer blows against the 
 hierarchy. Bricounet, bisliop of Meaux, and other 
 prelates, rejoiced for a time in what they regarded 
 as the dawning of a new era. At first it seemed as 
 if all France would accept the Reformation. The 
 king's sister, Margaret of Navarre, became the 
 patron of Protestants, and most of the leading 
 nobility declared themselves in their favor. Young 
 men of the highest rank paraded the streets sing^ 
 ing - Protestant psalms, and ladies of the court 
 sought out the obscure meeting-places of tie 
 Huguenots to hear the word of God. For a while 
 it was believed that the king himself would take 
 the side of the Reformers— he despised the prests 
 and hated the machinations of the Italian party ; 
 but Francis I. appears to have been almost desti- 
 tute of religious impulses. His strongest passion 
 
I08 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 was his desire for the aggrandizement of the royal 
 power ; and next to that a longing to be avenged 
 on those of the great nobility who had stood in the 
 way of his ambition. When, therefore, the Sor- 
 boune, in 1521, issued a declaration against the 
 doctrine of Luther, and it became evident that the 
 French people would not generally accept the 
 Reformation, he issued an edict forbidding the 
 practice of new forms of religion. At this time he 
 uttered his famous dictum : " Un roi^ un loi^ un 
 foi^^ — "One king, one law, one faith." To a 
 modern observer it seems as if the king had chosen 
 the occasion to gain the support of the common 
 people in his conflict with the great nobles of the 
 realm. 
 
 The Protestants could not safely contradict a 
 royal proclamation ; but some of them very fool- 
 ishly printed placards denouncing the mass, and 
 one of these was found affixed to the door of the 
 king's bed-chamber. The king was now thor- 
 oughly alarmed, and the pope's legate found it easy 
 to persuade him that the introduction of new forms 
 of faith must necessarily involve a change in the 
 royal dynasty. The influence of his sister could no 
 longer restrain him, and at his direction seven Pro- 
 testants were executed under circumstances of the 
 most revolting cruelty. 
 
 ^After this event the cause of Protestantism in 
 France was greatly depressed. Many of the Pro- 
 
jo/ix r.u.r/N. 109 
 
 testant leaders fled from the country, and those who 
 remained could discover no better way of preserv- 
 ing their faith than by organizing local societies 
 which were known by such fanciful names as "The 
 Rose," "The Lily," or ^' The Olive." These soci- 
 eties held public meetings which were devoted to 
 literature and music ; but after the strangers had 
 withdrawn the members strengthened each other 
 in their faith. It was at this time that French 
 Protestants began to call themselves "The Church 
 under the Cross;" though they w^ere popularly 
 known as "Huguenots" — a term which has been 
 variously interpreted, but had probably originated 
 in Geneva by the mispronunciation of the term 
 ^^ Eidgenos^^ or "confederate," as applied to the 
 party which was devoted to Swiss interests. 
 
 " The darkest hour is just before the dawn." At 
 this time it began to be whispered that John Cal- 
 vin — w^ho was already distinguished as a scholar — 
 had accepted the Gospel. Calvin himself tells us 
 that, in 1533, he was suddenly converted ; but he 
 has not related the circumstances and we must re- 
 main in ignorance. Immediately afterwards he 
 began to preach in secret, encouraging the hearts 
 of those wdio were ready to faint. 
 
 In the previous year Calvin's first literary work 
 had appeared. It was a commentar}^ on the trea- 
 tise of the Roman philosopher Seneca on " Clem- 
 ency." It has been supposed that it was intended 
 
no LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 to move the king to clemency ; but there is noth- 
 ing in the book to indicate that this was the 
 author's intention. Its undeniable learning, how- 
 ever, gained him the respect of the educated classes, 
 and thus prepared the way for his subsequent work. 
 In October, 1533, the public rupture occurred. 
 An eminent physician, Nicholas Cop, had been 
 elected rector of the university of Paris ; and as he 
 was not skilled in literary composition he induced 
 Calvin to assist him in preparing his inaugural 
 address. Calvin made it a plea for the reformation 
 of the church, and, perhaps unintentionally inserted 
 doctrinal statements which were deemed objection- 
 able. The authorship of the address was discov- 
 ered, and both Calvin and Cop were forced to flee 
 for their lives."^. There is a tradition that Calvin 
 was aided by his friends to escape through a win- 
 dow, and that he fled from Paris disguised as a vine- 
 dresser, with a hoe upon his shoulder. For three 
 years Calvin was a wandering evangelist. For 
 some time he was protected by Margaret of Na- 
 varre, but was finally compelled to seek a refuge in 
 Normandy, where he is said to have hid himself in 
 a cave which is still called "Calvin's cave," Fi- 
 nally he escaped to Basel, where he was kindly re- 
 ceived. ' ^ Here, after some minor literary labor he 
 published, in 1536, the Latin edition of his great 
 work, "The Institutes of the Christian Religion." 
 The French edition did not appear until 1541. 
 
JOHN CALVIN. 
 
 II 1 
 
 This was the oreatrst theolooical work of its ai;e, 
 perhaps of any age. As the composition of a yonn;^^ 
 man of twenty-six it was marvellous. Most won- 
 derful of all is the fact that though Calvin pub- 
 lished many editions of liis book, and made con- 
 stant additions, he seems never to have changed his 
 mind in a single particular. 
 
 The ruling principle of Calvin's ''Institutes," as 
 their author expressed it, was "the utter destruc- 
 tion of human glory that God might be all in alL" 
 This principle, as he developed it, gave rise to the 
 system which is known as "Calvinism," though in 
 ordinar}' usage the term is not always properly 
 applied. Predestination, it need hardly be said, is 
 but a part of Calvinism, and it may perhaps be 
 termed the feature which was originally least dis- 
 tinctive. On this subject there was no serious disa- 
 greement among the early reformers, and even the 
 church of Rome did not condemn the Protestant 
 doctrine while Calvin lived. In this respect it was 
 the spirit of Augustine that ruled the Reformation. 
 On the continent of Europe it is Calvin's doctrine 
 of the sacraments which is most generally known 
 as " Calvinism." 
 
 From a literary point of view the "Institutes'' 
 were a marvel. "Tv/o men," it has been said, 
 "formed the modern French language — John Cal- 
 vin and Francois Rabelais : the one a Christian 
 Stoic, the other a heathen Epicurean ; the one rep- 
 
112 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 resenting discipline bordering on tyrrany, the other 
 liberty running into license."^ Concerning the 
 publication of the "Institutes" Michelet remarks: 
 " If the act was bold no less so was the style. The 
 French language was then an unknown tongue ; 
 yet here, twenty years after Comines, thirty years 
 before Montaigne, we have already the language of 
 Rousseau, his power if not his charm. But the 
 most formidable attribute of the volume is its pen- 
 etrating clearness, its brilliance — of steel rather 
 than of silver ; a blade which shines but cuts. One 
 sees that the light comes from within, from the 
 depth of the conscience — from a spirit rigorously 
 convinced, of which logic is the food. One feels 
 that the author gives nothing to appearance — that 
 he labors to find a solid argument upon which he 
 can live and, if need be, die." 
 
 It was this wonderful book that led Farel to 
 recognize its author as the one man who could save 
 Geneva. Calvin had been on a visit to the pious 
 duchess of Ferrara when he received his wonderful 
 call. Following that call he built up a social order 
 which had been entirely broken down. It was an 
 immense work, and he was at every step compelled 
 to contend with vigilant and unscrupulous enemies, 
 but he proved himself equal to the occasion. He be- 
 came chief pastor and preached earnestly against ex- 
 isting abuses, but for a time it seemed as if his efforts 
 must remain fruitless. The wickedness of the 
 
 (i) SchaflF's " History of the Christian Church," 7, p. 266. 
 
AVA\- CV/A/7iV. 113 
 
 people became so great that Calvin and his coad- 
 jutors refused to administer the Lord's Supper un- 
 til there were signs of repentance. Persisting in 
 their refusal, though threatened with death, they 
 finally left the city, saying : " It is better to serve 
 God than man." 
 
 Calvin found a refuge in Strasburg where for two 
 years he ministered to a congregation of fifteen 
 hundred French refugees. At this time he was 
 married to Idelette de Bure, and for nine years she 
 was his faithful helpmeet. They had a son who 
 died in infancy, and a few years later the mother 
 also went to rest. It is not true that her stern hus- 
 band remained unimpressed by these afflictions. 
 There is plenty of evidence to prove that his sor- 
 row w^as sincere and profound ; and to this one 
 sweet memory he remained faithful to the end of 
 life. 
 
 It is a wonderful fact that Geneva, after havino- 
 driven Calvin away, in three years called him back. 
 The afifairs of the city had been going on from bad 
 to worse, until absolute ruin was close at hand. In 
 vain the council urged Calvin to return, but he de- 
 clined until a number of Reformed cities urged him 
 to hasten to the rescue. Then, in 1541, he re- 
 turned to Geneva, with the full understanding that 
 his plans of discipline were to be carried out. 
 
 From this time forth no king in Europe exercised 
 so much power as did John Calvin. This power 
 
114 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 v/as altogether moral ; it was not that of a tyrant, 
 lie had no official position except that of a simple 
 pastor. His annual salary was only 250 francs, 
 with a plain house which is still standing in the 
 Rue des Chanoines, and to this the council occa- 
 sionally added a gift of cloth for a new coat. Like 
 all the reformers he cared nothing for money ; he 
 had higher purposes than to accumulate wealth, 
 and at the time of his death his whole estate 
 amounted to less than two hundred dollars in our 
 present money. And yet this poor, unpretentious 
 man for nearly thirty years controlled the most 
 important currents in the religious if not in the 
 political life of Europe. Though he was in bad 
 health, and, it v;as said "looked like a ghost," he 
 sometimes for long periods preached every day, 
 taught theology, wrote books, and was actively 
 engaged in directing the affairs of church and state. 
 Cranmer sought his advice with reference to the 
 organization of the church of England. In Hol- 
 land his letters made men strong to battle for their 
 rights. Far away, in Poland, Bohemia, and Hun- 
 gary his person was revered and his instruction 
 accepted. In Scotland his influence was para- 
 mount ; for, as a recent biographer says, " John 
 Knox was another Calvin." In France the fore- 
 most of the nobility recognized him as their leader 
 and instructor. Perhaps it was in Geneva itself 
 that his authority was most frequently resisted ; but 
 
fOIIS CALl'/N. 115 
 
 even tliere his silent power prodnced a social order 
 that was the wonder of his age. That his stern 
 discipline could hardly have been carried out in a 
 larger state is readily conceded, but it became a 
 model to all the nations of western Europe. 
 
 The close union of church and state sometimes 
 led to inexcusable acts of tyranny and persecution. 
 The most flagrant of these was the condemnation 
 and execution of Michael Servetus for heresy. 
 That the crime was regarded with universal detes- 
 tation does not justify the cruelty of the punish- 
 ment. Servetus was a Spanish physician, a man 
 of considerable learning in his proper profession, 
 but in theology a mere empiric. He appears not to 
 have sought to reform the church but to destroy it. 
 He had written a blasphemous book against the 
 Trinity, and had been tried and condemned to death 
 by the Roman Catholic authorities of Vienne. 
 Escaping from prison he went to Geneva for the 
 purpose, it is believed, of leading the party known 
 as the Libertines in their opposition to the existing 
 order. He was arrested and after a long trial was 
 condemned to death. In his zeal for orthodoxy 
 Calvin bore witness against him, and firmly be- 
 lieved that his condemnation was just ; but he ex- 
 pressed a desire that the punishment should be 
 mitiofated. The council souo^ht the advice of the 
 leading vSwiss churches which were unanimous in 
 declaring that the extreme penalty of the law must 
 
Il6 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 be enforced. The people were greatly excited, not 
 only in Geneva, but throughout Europe, and noth- 
 ing would satisfy them but the infliction of the 
 severest punishment. Servetus w^as accordingly 
 burned at the stake on the 27th of October, 1553. 
 
 Concerning this painful subject the American 
 Encyclopaedia very properly says : ' ' The execution 
 was in accordance with the laws of all the Euro- 
 pean states at that period. It was the inherited 
 spirit of the times, and not the power of Calvin, 
 that burned Servetus. The penalty was cruel ; it 
 is indefensible ; it was even at that time impolitic. 
 Neither civil nor religious liberty was at that time 
 understood ; still less was there any sharp distinc- 
 tion made between them. That analysis was the 
 fruit of time, and of the seed which Calvin was at 
 that time sowing in Geneva." 
 
 Calvin is frequently described as a cold, stern 
 man who had little room in his nature for those 
 tender affections which are the solace of life. No 
 doubt he was a fierce controversialist, but if he w^as 
 so cold and unresponsive, why was it that some of 
 the noblest spirits of the age loved him with more 
 than filial affection ? Theodore Beza was a brilliant 
 poet. He had been a curled and pampered darling 
 of society — he came to Geneva arrayed in fine linen. 
 and reeking with unguents — yet it needed but an 
 interview with Calvin to bring him to his knees. 
 From that moment he became the associate and 
 
JOHN CAIA'IN. 117 
 
 assistant of that stern preacher of ri<;htconsncss — 
 his most intimate friend ; his bio^^^raplier and suc- 
 cessor. Nor was Beza alone in sucli intimate alTec- 
 tion. What was it that induced Clement Marot, 
 the court-poet, to leave the service of royalty to 
 translate psalms at Calvin's direction ? Wliat po- 
 tent influence caused Melancthon to say that " he 
 wished he could lay his weary head on Calvin's 
 faithful heart and die there ?" How was it that 
 the light hearted duchess, Renee of Ferrara, and 
 the more quiet but not less worldly Margaret of 
 Angouleme, turned from a career of fashionable 
 dissipation to listen humbly to that solemn man? 
 Why was it that the great nobles of France — Bour- 
 bon, Chattilon, Rohan, Soubise, Montmorency — 
 learned to regard Calvin with all the affection of 
 sons? 
 
 It is said that " Calvin never slept," and it is no 
 doubt true, as Beza says, that " many a night he 
 did not sleep, and many a day he had no time to 
 look up to the blessed sun." Utterly worn out he 
 died in his 54th year, on the 27th of May, 1564. 
 He was buried in the public cemetery, and in ac- 
 cordance with his dying request no monument was 
 erected over his grave. 
 
 Calvin's life was that of a theologian and scholar ; 
 it contained but few of the romantic elements on 
 which biographers delight to dwell. He left no 
 descendants to preserve the memorials of his great- 
 
Il8 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 ness ; no church to bear his name ; and yet it is not 
 too much to say that the most potent influences in 
 modern history may be traced to his grand person- 
 ality. More completely than in the case of any 
 other Reformer has the biography of the leader be- 
 come obscure as the sphere of his influence ex- 
 tended. 
 
 To relate the history of "the church under the 
 cross' ^ would require many volumes. As Calvin 
 was, however, in a pre-eminent degree the leader of 
 the Reformation in France, though he was person- 
 ally a resident of Geneva, a brief sketch of the for- 
 tunes of French " Calvinism" may not be inappro- 
 priate. 
 
 As we have already seen there were, as early as 
 1524, little companies of Protestants here and 
 there in France, who met in secret to read the word 
 of God. At a later date these " societies " stood in 
 the most intimate relations with the church of 
 Geneva ; and many of their members undertook 
 long and dangerous journeys to the Swiss cities 
 to receive the Holy Communion. There was, how- 
 ever, no regular church organization until 1555 
 when a nobleman, named La Ferriere, declared in 
 a secret meeting that he would under no circum- 
 stances suffer his child to be baptized in accordance 
 with the ceremonies of the Roman rite, at the same 
 time demanding the election of a pastor. After 
 fasting and prayer a young theologian, named La 
 
jonx cAiAiN. 119 
 
 Riviere, who li.ul just arrived fruiii Geneva, was 
 chosen Lo this office, and at the same time a con- 
 sistory of elders and deacons was elected and 
 ordained. The Protestants of other French cities 
 followed the example of the church in Paris, and 
 four years later it became possible to hold a General 
 Synod which adopted a confession of faith. 
 "This," says Goebel, 'Ms properly the beginning 
 of tiie Reformed Church of France." 
 
 lu the organization of these churches the model 
 of Geneva was carefully observed. There was, of 
 course, no dependence on the secular government, 
 and the French congregations were, therefore, prac- 
 tically more independent than those of Switzer- 
 land ; but otherwise the difference was hardly 
 appreciable. Pastors were chosen by the consistory, 
 but the congregation retained the right of veto. 
 As the ruling elders were not chosen for a term of 
 years, but for life or good behavior, there was a 
 natural inclination to select representative men ; 
 and in the subsequent years of trial the elders 
 became, in many instances, the secular leaders and 
 defenders of the congregation. 
 
 The spread of the French Reformation was not 
 limited by territorial boundaries. The Southern 
 Netherlands were by vicinity of situation and a 
 common language closely related to France ; and 
 there Calvinism progressed with great rapidity and 
 assimilated various earlier forms of Protestant faith. 
 
120 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 In 1559 Guido de Bres, pastor of ''the church of 
 the Rose-tree at Ryssel," composed the Belgic Con- 
 fession ; and in 1566 that confession was adopted 
 by a synod at Antwerp. The Walloon and Nether- 
 land churches were most intimately related to those 
 of France, and they mutually sustained and com- 
 forted each other while they remained under the 
 cross. 
 
 It was from the beginning the misfortune of 
 French Protestantism to be involved in politics. 
 The old nobility were mainly on the Protestant 
 side, and the king sought to humble them by 
 attacking their religion. In their fortified castles 
 the nobles for a time defied the royal power ; but 
 with the assistance of the church of Rome the king 
 grew stronger, and the power of the tobility was 
 proportionately decreased. The great majority of 
 the people took the side of the king ; and where 
 Huguenots of humble station could not be pro- 
 tected by the nobles they became the object of bit- 
 ter and unrelenting persecution. 
 
 In sketching the story of the Huguenots we 
 must confine ourselves to the commonplaces of his- 
 tory. After the death of Francis I., it will be re- 
 membered, his son, Henry II., ascended the throne ; 
 but during his reign Diana of Poitiers was the 
 actual ruler of France. His legitimate queen, 
 Catharine de Medici, was content to remain in the 
 background, subtle Italian as she was. After the 
 
JOIIX CAIA'IN. 121 
 
 death of the kiii;^ tlic llironc was held for a few 
 years by each of his three sons — Francis II., 
 Charles IX., and Henry III. — bnt durin<^ all tliis 
 period their mother, Catharine de Medici, held 
 supreme power. Unless she is greatly caUinmiated 
 she was one of the most wicked women that ever 
 lived ; and it is believed by some historians that 
 two, at least, of her royal sons were murdered at her 
 instigation, because they sought to free themselves 
 from her control. 
 
 It was not easy for Catharine to hold her posi- 
 tion ; for it seemed probable that the royal house 
 of Valois would soon become extinct, and the great 
 families of the realm were already contending for 
 the succession. Let a few of these pass across the 
 stage in the persons of their leading representatives. 
 
 Next to the royal house stood the princes of the 
 House of Bourbon, descended from Robert of Cler- 
 mont, sixth son of Louis IX. (St. Louis) who in 
 A.D. 1272 had married Beatrix, the heiress of the 
 barony of Bourbon. The head of the house at this 
 time was Antoine de Bourbon, who by his marriage 
 with Jeanne d' Albret had become king of Navarre. 
 He had become a Protestant, but was so weak and 
 vacillating that he injured the religion which he 
 professed to defend. More earnest and sincere was 
 his younger brotlier, Louis, Prince of Conde — a typi- 
 cal child of the South ; though gay, gallant, and fond 
 of pleasure, he was chivalrously honorable and de- 
 
122 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 votedly attached to the cause which he had espoused. 
 When days of trouble came he fought with heroic 
 valor ; when his enemies offered bribes he simply 
 laughed at them. At last his enemies became too 
 strong for him, and after the battle of Jarnac, in 
 which he was taken prisoner, he was treacherously 
 assassinated. 
 
 Grandest of all the house of Bourbon was Jeanne 
 d' Albret, queen of Navarre, the heroine of Rochelle, 
 the mother of Henry IV. She it was who when 
 her son was still in his minority assumed command 
 of the Huguenot forces and led them to victory. 
 When Catharine told her that to gain the kingdom 
 of France for her son it was her duty to be recon- 
 ciled with Rome, she exclaimed with passionate 
 vehemence: "Madame, if at this moment I held 
 my son and all the kingdoms of the world together, 
 I v/ould hurl them to the bottom of the sea, rather 
 than imperil the salvation of my soul." 
 
 The Guise family assumed to be the political 
 leaders of the Roman Catholics of France. Their 
 father, Claude, first duke of Guise, was the fifth 
 son of Rene, duke of Lorraine. He had entered 
 France during the reign of Francis I., and had per- 
 formed prodigies of valor as a French general. 
 One of his daughters was the mother of Mary, 
 Queen of Scots. "Six stalwart sons grew up 
 around him, sharers of his fanaticism, his ambition, 
 his talents and his success. Two of them became 
 
JOHN CALl'IN. 123 
 
 dukes, two rose to be cardinals, one is known to 
 history as the Marquis d'Elboeuf and tlie other as 
 the grand prior." 
 
 United by a coninion purpose the Guise family 
 appeared to be irresistible. All of them were men 
 of ability but merciless as death. Regarding them- 
 selves as heirs of the ancient line of Charlemagne 
 they proposed to lay claim to the throne of France 
 on the extinction of the house of Valois, and in this 
 purpose they w^ere at one time encouraged by 
 Catharine de Medici. Fanatically attached to the 
 church of Rome, it was their avowed purpose to 
 crush the Bourbons and with them to extirpate 
 Protestantism in France. 
 
 It is hardly probable that the Bourbons could 
 have maintained themselves against the Guises, if 
 they had not been sustained by the great majority 
 of the nobles, most prominent among whom were 
 the Chatillons who were represented by three 
 brothers, nephews of the old Connetable de Mont- 
 morency. Most prominent of the three was Gas- 
 pard, who from his estate in Franche Comte was 
 known as Coligni, Governor of Picardy and after- 
 wards grand admiral of France. His influence in 
 the south was hardly less than that of the Guises in 
 the north. While in captivity after the siege of St. 
 Quentin he had read the Bible and the works of 
 Calvin ; and when he was thereby led to a change 
 of faith no one doubted the o-enuineness of his con- 
 
124 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 version. Surely JMichelet is right when de declares 
 that Coligni was the greatest convert that John 
 Calvin ever made. 
 
 In their extreme fanaticism the Guises began to 
 exterminate the Protestants with fire and sword, 
 and the latter were forced to engage in a war of 
 self-defense. At the conjuration of Amboise, in 
 1560, the political and religious elements of the 
 Hueuenot cause were welded too:ether. Calvin did 
 not approve of the alliance, and warned his friends 
 that "those w^ho take up the sword shall perish by 
 the sword." Summoned to appear before the king 
 Beza said : " Sire, it is true that it is the lot of the 
 church of God, in whose name I speak to endure 
 blows and not to strike them ; but may it also 
 please you to remember that it is an anvil that has 
 worn out many hammers." 
 
 We shall not tell the story of the wars which for 
 the next decade devastated France. There came at 
 last a season when it seemed as if the main objects 
 of the Huguenots had been accomplished. Coligni 
 and his coadjutors had been everywhere victorious. 
 By the treaty of St. Germain the Huguenots were 
 granted four towns — among them La Rochelle — 
 which they were to hold and garrison as a pledge of 
 good faith. To cement the treaty Catharine de 
 Medici arranged that her beautiful but worthless 
 daughter, Marguerite of Valois, should be given in 
 marriage to Henry, the young king of Navarre, and 
 
JOHN CALl'IN. 125 
 
 all the oreat nobles wore invited to come to Paris to 
 share in the festivities. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to speak at length of the 
 ill-fated alliance which is known as the Bloody 
 Wedding. The massacre of St. I>arlliol(;mew 
 which immediately succeeded it was declared by 
 Queen Elizabeth of England to have been " the 
 most atrocious act committed by men since the 
 crucifixion of Christ." The chief actor in the 
 tragedy was, of course, Catharine de Medici, the 
 evil genius of that evil age. Most recent historians 
 say that she was implicated with the duke of Guise 
 in a plot to assassinate Coligni, who had advised 
 the king to emancipate himself from his mother's 
 control. The murder was attempted but failed ; 
 the admiral w^as wounded but not killed. The ex- 
 citement was intense, and it became evident that 
 the instigators of the crime would be discovered. 
 In their desperation the chief conspirators persuaded 
 the king that he was himself to be the victim of a 
 great Huguenot conspiracy, and that vigorous 
 measures must be taken to ward off the threatening 
 danger. At first the king refused to listen to these 
 accusations ; but at last he petulantly exclaimed : 
 " Well, if it must be so, kill them all ! Let no one 
 be left to reproach me with this deed." This was 
 enough for the queen-mother. Orders were secretly 
 given to the soldiers and to the leaders of the papal 
 party. At midnight, on the 24th of August, 1572, 
 
126 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 the great bell of St. Germain V Auxerrois rang the 
 alarm ; the king's soldiers began the massacre by 
 murdering the Huguenot leaders in their lodgings, 
 and it was easy to give a hint of what was going 
 on to the gathering crowd that was only too ready 
 to assist in slaying the helpless Protestants. Any 
 one who knows the canaille of Paris need not be 
 surprised at the result. That fearful monster, 
 loosed from its chains, had lasted blood, and, as on 
 many more recent occasions, it seemed as if its 
 fearful lust could never be glutted. Other cities 
 followed the example of Paris, and thirty thousand 
 — some say a hundred thousand — of the best men 
 and women in France were ruthlessly sacrificed. In 
 many places, however, the royal mandate was not 
 obeyed. At Lisieux, for instance, the Roman 
 Catholic bishop gathered the Huguenots into his 
 palace and protected them from the fury of the 
 mob. Rochelle and Sancerre closed their gates, 
 and it soon became evident that as a means of des- 
 troying the Huguenots the massacre had proved a 
 failure. On its first anniversary the Reformed 
 churches of France held a synod at Montauban, at 
 which a formal demand was made upon the court to 
 punish the murderers and to reverse the attainder 
 against Coligni. No wonder that Catharine ex- 
 claimed : "If Conde were living, and were here 
 with fifty thousand men, his demands would not be 
 half so bold." The Huguenots had, however, suf- 
 
JOHN CALVIN. 127 
 
 fered orcatly by the loss uf their most Linineiit men. 
 Among these was Pierre Raniee, the most learned 
 man of his time, and Claude Goudimel, the cel- 
 ebrated musical composer. And Colio^ni, the 
 great, was dead also. History has proved his best 
 avenger. Three hundred years after his death 
 the city of Paris erected his statue at the place of 
 his assassination. The Medicis, the Guises, have 
 disappeared from history ; the Bourbons are exiles 
 from their native soil ; but the direct deecendant 
 of Coligni — the representative of his house and the 
 defender of his faith — is seated on the imperial 
 throne of Germany. ^ 
 
 Let us hasten to escape from the dreadful scenes 
 of St. Bartholomew ! For two years Henry of 
 Navarre was kept a prisoner ; then he escaped and 
 put himself at the head of the Huguenots. After 
 strange vicissitudes he gained his crowning victory 
 at Ivry, in 1590. In the mean time events had 
 happened which aided him in his political purposes. 
 The duke of Guise and the cardinal of Lorraine 
 had been slain by the orders of the king, Henry 
 HI., who was in turn assassinated by a fanatical 
 priest. All serious obstacles to the triumph of 
 Henry of Navarre appeared to be removed, and we 
 can well appreciate the emotions of the Huguenot 
 
 (i) The celebrated Louisa Henrietta of Brandenburg, mother of the 
 first king of Prussia, was a granddaughter of Coligni. 
 
128 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 soldier, so splendidly expressed in Macaulay's well- 
 known ballad on "The Battle of Ivry." 
 
 The moment of triumph was, however, the be- 
 ginning of Huguenot decline. Henry of Navarre, 
 who had proved that he possessed the heroism of 
 his mother, now exhibited the weakness of his 
 father. Like the image which the king of Babylon 
 beheld in his dream his head was of fine gold, but 
 his feet were partly of iron and partly of clay. 
 He renounced Protestantism, after successfully 
 fighting its battles, on the ground that his act 
 would bring peace to his distracted country. Paris, 
 it was said, would never accept a Huguenot king, 
 and Henry himself is said to have flippantly declared 
 that Paris was " worth a mass." It is, however, 
 by no means certain that he could not have at- 
 tained his political ends without violence to his 
 conscience. His great rivals had passed away, and 
 after another victory the capital would probably 
 have received him. Huguenot as he was. Paris 
 always kisses the hand that smites her, if only it 
 smites hard enough. 
 
 It is certain that by this act of apostasy Henry 
 IV. alienated the affections of the best part of his 
 people. He lost the confidence of the Protestants 
 without thereby securing the faithful allegiance of 
 the Catholics, and finally fell by the dagger of a 
 fanatic of the faith which he had assumed. 
 
JOIIX CAIA'IN. 12 (J 
 
 Diiiiu^^ his reioii Henry IV. did ail in his power 
 to relieve the iiiifortuuate political and social con- 
 dition of his former associates. The Bdict of 
 Nantes, which he issued in 1598, secured them 
 toleration for nearly a century ; but it was bare 
 toleration, and it was under his immediate suc- 
 cessor that Richelieu introduced the policy of 
 repression which in 1685 culminated in the revoca- 
 tion of the edict. Louis XIV. appears to have 
 imagined that the Huguenots would yield at once 
 to his royal will ; and when they refused to sacri- 
 fice their faith and conscience his persecuting rage 
 knew no bounds. In the region of the Cevennes 
 the persecuted people rose in self-defense, and for 
 ten years kept up an unequal contest in which 
 they performed prodigies of valor. The sufferings 
 of the Cevennois were, however, terrific. Four 
 hundred towns and villages were reduced to ashes 
 and the country for twenty leagues was left a desert. 
 
 Though the Protestants were forbidden to leave 
 France multitudes succeeded in making their es- 
 cape. Wherever they went they bore with them 
 artistic culture and the love of liberty. 
 
 Protestantism in France survived the dragonades, 
 though it was not until the time of the Revolution 
 that it emerged entirely from the shadow of the 
 cross. In other countries the exiled Huguenots 
 achieved the honor that was denied them in their 
 fatherland. They laid the foundations of the great- 
 
130 LEADERS OF THE REFORM ATIO]Sl, 
 
 ness of Prussia ; they rendered prosperous the 
 manufactures of England. In America they proved 
 excellent pioneers, and their descendants have been 
 among our foremost citizens. With Mrs. Sigour- 
 ney, who has been termed their American laureate, 
 we may pray : 
 
 On all who bear 
 
 Their name or lineage may their mantle rest- 
 That firmness for the truth, that calm content 
 With simple pleasures, that unswerving trust 
 In toil, adversity, and death, which cast 
 Such healthful leaven 'mid the elements 
 That peopled the new world." 
 
THOMAS CRANMER 
 
V. 
 THE STRUGGLE OF THE CR1<:EDS. 
 
 CRANMER AND KNOX. 
 
 DURNG the early stages of the Reformation 
 it seemed as if England would remain un- 
 moved. There had, indeed, been an attempt 
 at reformation under Wycliffe, but it had been vio- 
 lently suppressed, and Lollards could be found only 
 in obscure places. A little company of scholars, 
 led by John Colet and Sir Thomas More — who 
 flourished at the beginning of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury — have sometimes been called "the Oxford 
 Reformers ;" but they were Humanists — disciples 
 of Erasmus — who protested against the monastic 
 system and the ignorance which it engendered, but 
 were well satisfied to live and die in the commun- 
 ion of the church of Rome. England was slowly- 
 recovering from the devastations of the Wars of the 
 Roses ; the people desired above all things peace 
 and quietness, and were subservient to their rulers 
 to a degree that had been hitherto unknown. 
 
 It was necessary, therefore, that in England the 
 way for the Reformation should be prepared by a 
 series of events that were purely political. In 
 other countries the Reformation had been, first and 
 foremost, a religious movement ; its most promi- 
 nent directors were the men of lisrht and learninor, 
 the great theologians, the distinguished orators, the 
 
132 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 men of genius of their age, who directed the 
 thought and the emotions of the people. Political 
 elements were subordinated to those which were 
 purely religious ; and even in France the secular 
 struggle was due to an unholy alliance which re- 
 sulted in the humiliation of the church. In Eng- 
 land, on the other hand, the positions of the relig- 
 ious and political elements were reversed. The 
 Reformation was preceded by a great political 
 movement — a bold stroke for national autonomy — 
 which in the Providence of God opened the way 
 for spiritual deliverance. It was the all-pervading 
 influence of royalty — the repressive power of secular 
 authority — that for a time forced the religious leaders 
 into the background, and compelled them to labor 
 in comparative obscurity. 
 
 Henry VIII., who ascended the English throne in 
 1509, was for some time the most popular prince in 
 Europe. His father, Henry VII. — popularly known 
 as Harry Tudor — though the recognized represent- 
 ative of the house of Lancaster, had been in fact a 
 soldier of fortune whose claim to the throne was 
 based on conquest. To strengthen his defective 
 title he had not only secured recognition by the 
 pope, but had married Elizabeth, the heiress of the 
 house of York. It was not, however, until the 
 next generation that the nation felt confident that 
 the claims of the rival houses were settled, and 
 Henry VIII. was the personal pledge of peace. 
 
CRANMER AND KNOX. 133 
 
 Henry VII. had been a shrewd man. Narrow- 
 minded and venial — avaricious and merciless — he 
 yet manifested extraordinary skill in the establish- 
 ment of his dynasty. Having two sons, the eldest, 
 Arthur, was of course expected to become his suc- 
 cessor on the throne ; but what to do with the 
 younger son, Henry, was a difficult question. 
 Younger sons have always been the terrors of dynas- 
 ties ; and in this case the elder brother was in men- 
 tal and physical strength greatly excelled by the 
 younger. It was not likely that Henry would be 
 permanently satisfied with a subordinate position, 
 and who could tell wdiether the conflicts of the 
 brothers might not result in a new War of the 
 Roses ? Under these circumstances the king con- 
 ceived the idea of educating Henry for the church. 
 In this way he hoped to remove him from the 
 sphere of active politics — for who had ever heard 
 of a priest who became a pretender to a throne? 
 And if the king should finally succeed in elevating 
 him to the position of archbishop of Canterbury, 
 might he not hope to rule the church of England 
 in the person of his son ? Henry was accordingly 
 sent to school and became an excellent scholar — 
 manifesting special aptitude for theological study ; 
 and there is no reason to doubt that he was in later 
 days the real author of the works which bear his 
 name. 
 
134 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Having thus, as he supposed, provided for his 
 second son, the king proceeded to negotiate a mar- 
 riage for Arthur. Money was the first considera- 
 tion, and he accordingly made application for the 
 hand of one of the daughters of Ferdinand of Spain, 
 who was the richest monarch in Europe. The 
 covetous heart of the king of England rejoiced 
 when the negotiations proved successful and the 
 first remittance of Spanish doubloons was poured 
 into his treasury. In those days young folks had 
 little to say in such matters, and Catherine vainly 
 protested when she was sent to what she regarded 
 as a lard of barbarians. On the 14th of November, 
 1 50 1, she was married to Prince Arthur, who was 
 but fifteen years old. Less than four months after 
 the marriage her husband died of consumption and 
 Catherine was left a widow. 
 
 The state of affairs was now materially changed. 
 In June, 1502, Henry assumed the title of Prince of 
 Wales, and was declared heir to the kingdom. But 
 what was to be done with the dowager princess 
 Catherine of Arragon, who was now decidedly de 
 trop ? The king of Spain insisted that his daugh- 
 ter's dowry must be returned, and that she m^ust 
 annually receive a share of the revenues of the 
 principality of Wales. As Ferdinand was strong 
 enough to enforce his claim, the king of England 
 at first saw no way out of the difficulty, except to 
 refund the dowry ; and if there was anything which 
 
CRANiVER AND KNOX. 135 
 
 he detested it was to pay debts. At last he con- 
 ceived the bold expedient of maiTving the princess 
 to his younger sou. It was in direct opposition to 
 the canonical law for a man to marry his deceased 
 brother's wife; but it was insisted that Artlnir's 
 marriage had been merely formal, and the pope was 
 persuaded to grant a dispensation. Prince Henry 
 formally protested ; but the miserable affair was 
 carried on to its appointed conclusion. 
 
 For twenty years Henry and Catherine lived 
 together without scandal, but they had little in 
 common. Henry was ambitious and tyrannical ; 
 Catherine haughty, if not melancholy, and ex- 
 tremely devout after the Spanish fashion. They 
 had several children, but they died in infancy, ex- 
 cept one sickly princess, Mary. There can be little 
 doubt that the king convinced himself that his 
 marriage was incestuous, on the ground that the 
 pope had transcended his authority in granting a 
 dispensation for marriage with a deceased brother's 
 wife. After he met Anne Boleyn, the daughter of 
 the earl of Wiltshire, his convictions on this sub- 
 ject w^ere decidedly strengthened, and soon after- 
 ward began the proceedings for a divorce from 
 Catherine which constitute one of the most un- 
 pleasant pages in English history. Popes were in 
 those days inclined to be subservient to crowned 
 heads ; and if Catherine had been a princess of in- 
 ferior degree it may perhaps be taken for granted 
 
136 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION, 
 
 that Clement would have acceded to Henry's wishes 
 without delay ; but she was an infanta of Spain, 
 and the aunt of the emperor, Charles V., who 
 breathed threatenings and slaughter if the decree 
 of divorce should be granted. No wonder that 
 Macaulay pities the pope who stood between the 
 fiend and the flood. After all, Spain and Germany 
 were more powerful than England, and the papal 
 decree was withheld. Henry, however, was not a 
 man whose purposes could be crossed with im- 
 punity. Cardinal Wolsey, his prime minister, 
 lived in royal state while he aided his master in his 
 efforts to secure the divorce, but when he ventured 
 to remonstrate he fell. Thomas Cromwell was ad- 
 vanced to high station for advising the king to de- 
 clare himself su premie head of the Church of Eng- 
 land ; and it was mainly through his influence that 
 the monastic system was abrogated ; but at last he 
 too became a victim of the tyrant's wrath. 
 
 Henry VHI. had no love for Protestantism. To 
 the end of his life his views on most doctrinal 
 questions v/ere the same as when he wrote his book 
 against Luther. It was his purpose to preserve the 
 ancient system in its minutest particulars, with the 
 single exception that in the church, no less than in 
 the state, he recognized no higher authority than 
 his own. By the act of supremacy he was recog- 
 nized as the head of the Church of England, and 
 interference with his prerogative was construed as 
 
CRANMER AND KNOX. 137 
 
 treason. The kiiii^ was practically the pope of 
 England, and there was no room for any other 
 papal authority. He therefore persecuted Protest- 
 ants and Romanists alike, and though his conflict 
 with the iu)pe no doubt facilitated the introduction 
 of Protestantism, it is not just to call him the 
 founder of the Protestant Church of England. 
 
 It was not until after the fall of Cromwell, in 
 1540, that Thomas Cranmer became the most influ- 
 ential subject in the realm, though he had held for 
 seven years the highest ecclesiastical office. Con- 
 cerning Cranmer's early life little is known. He 
 was born of respectable parentage at Aslacton, in 
 Nottinghamshire, July 2, 1489 ; and was educated 
 at Cambridge, where he became a lecturer in the- 
 ology. Until he was forty years old no one sup- 
 posed that he would ever be anything but one of 
 the magnates of the university. The circumstances 
 which led to his exaltation were in their w^ay suffi- 
 ciently romantic. In the summer of 1529 the 
 plague known as "the sv/eating sickness" broke 
 out in Cambridge, and Cranmer accompanied two of 
 his pupils, named Cressy, to their father's house at 
 Walthani Abbey, in Essex. At this time the king's 
 suit for a divorce had begun before Cardinals Wol- 
 sey and Campeggio in England, but the court had 
 been prorogued, and it was generally believed that 
 in consequence of the queen's appeal the cause 
 w^ould be removed to Rome. In great perplexity 
 
138 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 the kinor, with the two cardinals, retired to Walt- 
 ham, and it so happened that two of his chief coun- 
 sellors, Fox and Gardiner, lodged at Mr. Cressy's 
 house while Cranmer w^as there. The three guests 
 were old college friends and naturally discussed the 
 chief topic of the day ; and Cranmer remarked 
 that if the universities and lawyers should decide 
 that marriage with a deceased brother's widow was 
 illegal, notwithstanding the pope's dispensation, 
 the divorce might be granted by the ordinary eccle- 
 siastical courts, without appealing to Rome. When 
 this opinion was reported to the king he is said to 
 have exclaimed : " I will see this man. Let him be 
 sent for out of hand. The man, I trow, has the 
 right sow by the ear." 
 
 At his first interview with the king Cranmer was 
 ordered to lay aside all other business and to devote 
 himself entirely to the matter of the divorce From 
 this time his advancement was rapid. He was suc- 
 cessively sent on missions to the pope and emperor, 
 but accomplished little. On his way, however, he 
 met several of the Protestant princes ; and at 
 Nuremberg was married to a niece of the cel- 
 ebrated theologian Osiander. There can be no 
 doubt that even at this time his sentiments were 
 decidedly favorable to the Protestants, but he had 
 to sing low in the king's presence. It was while 
 he was in Germany that he was nominated arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, and it became necessary to 
 
CRANMER AM) KXOX. 139 
 
 keep his inarriai;e a profound secret. Indeed, for a 
 lont;^ time the archbishop's family remained in 
 obscurity ; and there is a somewhat doubtful story 
 that when traveling- he conveyed his wife in a 
 chest, which on one occasion a stupid porter upset 
 and thus led to the discovery of tlie inmate, who 
 called lustily for help. 
 
 That Cranmer did not desire the office of arch- 
 bishop may well be believed. It involved great 
 responsibilities ; and a braver man might well have 
 hesitated before he assumed them. The will of the 
 king, was, however, practically irresistible ; and 
 Cranmer yielded without loud murmurings. He 
 may, indeed, have regarded it preferable to run the 
 risk of losing his head as archbishop than to lose 
 it for refusing to accept the office. It was known 
 at Rome that Cranmer w^as favorable to the divorce, 
 but the pope yielded to the king's importunity and 
 the consecration was speedily authorized. The 
 peculiar position of the new archbishop is indicated 
 by the fact that before his consecration he made a 
 protest that the oath of obedience to the pope was to 
 be taken by him merely as a matter of form, and 
 that it should not bind him to anything against the 
 king, or prevent him from reforming anything that 
 he found amiss in the church of England. He also 
 took an oath to the king renouncing all grants 
 from the pope that might be prejudicial to his 
 highness. 
 
140 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Cranmer appears to have regarded himself as 
 simply an instrument of the king's will. To him 
 the doctrine of royal supremacy was fundamental. 
 No fanatical Romanist ever regarded the papacy 
 with greater reverence than that which he felt for 
 royalty. The king was to him the visible repre- 
 sentative of the divine presence, and there was no 
 room for divided allegiance on the part of his sub- 
 jects. That the king could do wrong was hardly 
 conceivable ; but at all events it was he who was 
 responsible for the faith and conduct of his people, 
 and the individual who presumed to oppose his 
 private opinions to the royal decree was guilty oi 
 heresy and treason. It was in fact the theory 
 which was subsequently systematically presented 
 by Hobbes in his "Leviathan," and which led to 
 the long conflicts between the king and parliament, 
 finally resulting in the fall of the royal house of 
 Stuart. 
 
 That Cranmer was not of the stuff of which 
 heroes are made will be readily acknowledged ; but 
 a hero would in those days have been strangely out 
 of place in the position which he occupied. His- 
 torians have treated him with scant courtesy, and 
 there can be no doubt that he had to take great 
 leaps and turn sharp corners to keep up with his 
 royal master ; but we think they have generally 
 failed to recognize the extent to which unquestion- 
 ing obedience to the king had become with him a 
 
CRANMER AND KNOX. 1 41 
 
 matter of conscience. Personal!}' timid, lie was 
 stronc^ only when supported by a royal mandate. 
 Naturally kind and gentle, he sometimes ventured 
 to plead for the victims of the kind's wrath ; he 
 even beijored the kino- to have mercv on Cardinal 
 Fisher and Sir Thomas More, who were not his 
 friends ; but he always spoiled his petitions by con- 
 cluding them with a recognition of the transcend- 
 ent wisdom of the monarch, and an expression of 
 his willingness to submit to his enlightened will. 
 At the kinor's direction the matter of the divorce 
 w^as soon after his consecration removed to the arch- 
 episcopal court, and from this time forward every- 
 thing was done in accordance with the king's desire. 
 Queen Catherine declined to appear and was de- 
 clared contumacious ; and the archbishop gave 
 judgment declaring the marriage null and void from 
 the first. "In the whole proceeding," says the 
 Kncyclopasdia Brittanica, " the archbishop's sub- 
 serviency was pitiful, and it is difficult to acquit 
 him of the graver charge of knowingly pronouncing 
 an unrighteous sentence." 
 
 It was the policy of the king to pay ostensibly 
 the greatest deference to the church while compel- 
 ling the church to yield absolute obedience to his 
 caprices. As official head of the church of Eng- 
 land Cranmer was made to appear as the king's 
 chief adviser, while in fact he was constantly occu- 
 pied ill finding excuses for his master's conduct. 
 
142 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 It was less dangerous to attack the arcL bishop than 
 to criticize the king, and the former was naturally 
 made the chief targets of the opponents of the 
 royal policy. If he had ventured to interfere wdth 
 the accomplishment of the king's purposes his life 
 would, of course, have been forfeited ; and it is 
 marvellous that during all these trying years he 
 was able to retain his master's confidence. 
 
 There is evidence that in his official acts Cran- 
 mer was constantly constrained by royal authority. 
 When, in 1535, queen Ann Boleyn was arrested 
 and sent to the tower, her old chaplain the arch- 
 bishop was ordered to come up from the country to 
 Lambeth to hold himself in readiness till further 
 intimation was made of the king's pleasure. He 
 was in fact virtually a prisoner until it became 
 evident that he would officially annul the mon- 
 arch's second marriage. 
 
 To follow the public career of Cranmer in all its 
 particulars is beyond our purpose. We recognize 
 his weakness and have no desire to become his 
 apologist. In his purely ecclesiastical relations he 
 appears, however, in a light which is altogether 
 more favorable. It is evident that he thoroughly 
 appreciated the evils that oppressed Christendom 
 and labored earnestly for their removal. His the- 
 ology, it is true, was not so decidedly Protestant as 
 it afterwards became, but he steadily pursued the 
 policy which has associated his name with the 
 
CRANiMER AND KNOX. 143 
 
 development of the RefoTiiiation in lui^^laiul. He 
 promoted the circulation of the Bible in the ver- 
 nacular, and procured an order, in 1538, that a copy 
 of the Scriptures should be placed in every church 
 in a convenient place for reading. He also be,((an 
 his labors in the revision of the ritual of the church, 
 and translated the Gernian Catechism of Justus 
 Jonas, known as Cranmer's Catechism, which, how- 
 ever, was not published until after the death of 
 King Henry. 
 
 At last, on the 28th of January, 1547, the tyrant 
 of England died. Cranmer was with him in his 
 last illness, and after his death read masses for the 
 repose of his soul. From our present standpoint it 
 is difficult to form a proper conception of Henry 
 Vni. "In some of his acts," says Sir James 
 Mackintosh, " he approaches as nearly to the 
 standard of perfect wickedness as the infirmities 
 of human nature will allow." Yet on the other 
 hand it must be acknowledged that he was the most 
 learned prince of his age ; and that he possessed a 
 certain personal magnetism which attracted men of 
 all classes to his service and secured their unques- 
 tioning obedience. During his reign England 
 grew stronger, and his opposition to Rome gave 
 room for the development of the new life which re- 
 vealed itself in the reigns of his successors. When 
 he died the way was open for the establishment of 
 the Protestant church of England. 
 
144 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 On the death of Henry VIII. the succession de- 
 volved on his son Edward VI. who was but ten 
 years of age. Cranmer was named in the royal 
 testament as one of the council to govern the realm 
 during the young king's minority ; but it does not 
 appear that he exerted much influence in secular 
 matters. The government was actually in the 
 hands of the duke of Somerset, and, as in the 
 former reign, Cranmer was content to follow when 
 he might have led. At the coronation of the young 
 king he took out a new commission to discharge his 
 archepiscopal functions, acknowledging in a public 
 address that all jurisdiction, ecclesiastical and secu- 
 lar alike, emanated from the sovereign. 
 
 In the mean time the Reformation was develop- 
 ing in a way that must have filled Cranmer with 
 anxiety. He saw that the time for a great change 
 had come, and he himself recognized its necessity. 
 In doctrine he agreed in a general way with the 
 reformers of the Continent ; but as regards organi- 
 zation and discipline he was unwilling to depart 
 from the ancient precedents of the realm. He was 
 fond of the splendor of ancient ceremonials, and 
 was determined at all hazards to maintain the clos- 
 est connection between the church and civil gov- 
 ernment. Cranmer is often called the first Protest- 
 ant archbishop of England, but if this term is ad- 
 mitted it must be with many qualifications. 
 Protestantism, as we understand it, was in Germany 
 
CRANMI'.R A.\n kWOX. 145 
 
 just assiiinino- a settled form ; while in ICn^^land 
 there was everywhere confusion and conflict. The 
 reforming and the conservative or Romanising par- 
 ties had barely tolerated each other during the pre- 
 ceding reign ; now it was hardly possible to keep 
 them within the same organization. Both parties 
 had abjured the pope's jurisdiction and had admitted 
 the king's supremacy ; but now that the heavy 
 hand of King Henry had been removed they pulled 
 in different directions. There was great danger 
 that Protestantism would assume the extravagant 
 character which had characterized the Anabaptist 
 movement in Germany ; and it was due in great 
 measure to the efforts of Archbishop Cranmer that 
 the reformation in England received the conserva- 
 tive form by which it has ever since been distin- 
 guished. 
 
 King Edward VI. was a precocious boy who 
 fully comprehended the great questions at issiie,in 
 the controversies of his times. He had been trained 
 by his father's sixth wife, Catharine Parr, a woman 
 of great learning who was a decided Protestant. 
 Though a child in years he corresponded with the 
 theologians of the continent, and personally took 
 an important part in the construction of the liturgy 
 of the church of England. 
 
 The first important act of Reformation on the 
 part of the new government concerned the abolish- 
 ment of ancient ceremonies, such as the carrying of 
 
146 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 candles on Candlemas, and the use of ashes on Ash 
 Wednesday. The removal of images from the 
 churches, which had been previously ordered, was 
 also insisted on, much to the wrath of Stephen 
 Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, the ablest man of 
 the old conservative party ; but Ridley and old 
 Hugh Latimer preached against these " helps to de- 
 votion " with so much fire and enthusiasm that 
 even the royal authority would hardly have sufficed 
 to keep them there. 
 
 The church of England, as it appeared in the 
 reign of Edward VI. , was undoubtedly to some ex- 
 tent of the nature of a compromise. The leaders 
 were generally desirous of assimilating the church 
 to the Reformed churches of the Continent, and 
 every doctrinal expression was decidedly Protestant ; 
 a large party, on the other hand, insisted that the 
 peculiarities of the ancient church must be scrupu- 
 lously preserved. The episcopal office held so prom- 
 inent a place in the civil order that the government 
 desired that it should be retained. Calvin and Bul- 
 linger were consulted on the subject, and neither 
 objected to the episcopal form of government, but 
 advised that the religious services should be " clean 
 and without pomp." When Hooper was, in 1550, 
 appointed bishop of Gloucester he objected to 
 wearing the robes ; but Bullinger advised him to 
 accommodate himself in such minor matters to the 
 policy of the government. John Knox, of Scot- 
 
CRANMER AM) KNOX. 147 
 
 land, WAS ofTered an Imi^^HsIi bishopric, bnt lie was 
 of sterner nionld tlian tliose wlio accepted these so- 
 called adiapJiora and declined the office. 
 
 Cranmer's relations to the Continental reformers 
 gradually became intimate. At first he was strongly 
 attracted by the writings of Luther, but all attempts 
 to negotiate terms of union with the German Pro- 
 testants proved unsuccessful in consequence of the 
 prejudice of the king and many ot the bishops. 
 At a later period Cranmer entered into an intimate 
 correspondence with the Swiss divines, and in the 
 sacramental controversy the church of England was 
 recognized as standing on the Reformed side. In 
 1536, just after the king's marriage to Jane Sey- 
 mour, Cranmer had been introduced by Prof. 
 Simon Grynaeus, of Strasburg, to Henry Bullinger, 
 the successor of Zwingli as antistes, or chief-pastor 
 of the church of Zurich. In the same year Cran- 
 mer sent to Zurich three young Englishmen, John 
 Butler, William Woodruff, and Nicholas Partridge, 
 for the purpose of studying theology and becoming 
 acquainted with the Swiss churches. They re- 
 mained there more than a year and on their return 
 to England were accompanied by Rudolph Gualter, 
 who afterwards married Zwingli's daughter, Regula, 
 and became the third antistes of the church of Zu- 
 rich. In the succeeding reign the king sent 
 Christopher ]^.Iont to Zurich with a letter to Bull- 
 increr in which he desired a closer union between 
 
148 LEADERS OF THE REFORBIAJION. 
 
 the churches of England and Switzerland ; and in 
 1747, according to Peslalozzi, the Swiss churches 
 were officially informed that the church of England 
 had accepted the Reformed doctrine of the Lord's 
 Supper. Soon afterwards Cranmer invited a num- 
 ber of eminent Reformed theologians to settle in 
 England to give advice to the king's council con- 
 cerning the reformation of the church. Among 
 these were Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr, Fagius, 
 Ochino, A'Lasco, and other distinguished men. 
 Some of these men were actively engaged in the 
 preparation of the Book of Common Prayer, and 
 all of them exerted an important influence in the 
 development of the Reformation in England. For 
 this work Bucer was especially well prepared, hav- 
 ing in 1 541 assisted Herman V., archbishop of 
 Cologne, who proposed to introduce the Reforma- 
 tion into his diocese without making greater changes 
 in the government and ritual of the church than 
 were absolutely necessary. The movement, how^- 
 ever, had proved unsuccessful and the good arch- 
 bishop was compelled to resign his office. In Eng- 
 land Bucer' s preliminary liturgical studies proved 
 of great value. The English ritual w^as founded 
 on the old missal of Sarum, but it was modified 
 and improved according to the necessities of the 
 times, and the result w^as an order of worship w^hich 
 for dignity and excellence of style has hardly an 
 equal among the liturgies of the church. 
 
CRANMllR AND KNOX. 
 
 149 
 
 The brief icigii of Kdward VI. appears to have 
 been set aside by Providence as a proper time for 
 the ort^anization of the Protestant clnirch of Eng- 
 land. Compared with preceding and succeeding 
 reigns it is a green oasis in the midst of the desert. 
 Cranmer, supported by the royal will, accomplished 
 wonders in behalf of the cause to which lie was sin- 
 cerely attached, and every see was soon occupied by 
 its stout defenders. These men exerted an impor- 
 tant influence in determining the external form of 
 the church of England, but it was not from them, 
 we feel assured, that it derived its profoundest life. 
 In the best sense it was a popular movement, and 
 from the beginning it produced numerous examples 
 of piety and self-sacrificing devotion. As regards 
 the organization of the church, whatever its enemies 
 may have* said, history has shown that Cranmer 
 and his coadjutors well understood the requirements 
 of their age and nation. With all its imperfec- 
 tions — due chiefly to its close connection with the 
 state — the church of England has proved a mighty 
 power for good — decorous and beautiful — and en- 
 deared to millions of loving children. 
 
 To the Protestant cause the death of the young 
 king, in 1553, was a dreadful calamity. Foreseeing 
 the event Edward had endeavored to chanee the 
 succession to the throne in favor of his cousin. 
 Lady Jane Grey. Here Cranmer committed a 
 grievous error. Influenced partly by dread of the 
 
150 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 reaction which was sure to come with the accession 
 of Mary, and partly perhaps by the personal pecu- 
 liarity which could refuse nothing to a crowned 
 head, he contradicted his former action by which 
 the order of succession had been established. 
 English ideas of legitimacy were too strong to be 
 overcome, and by approving the king's testament 
 Cranmer sealed his fate. Mary, the daughter of 
 Catherine of Arragon, had little difficulty in secur- 
 ing the throne, and Lady Jane, who against her 
 will had been declared queen of England was, after 
 a nominal reign of nine days, committed to the 
 tower. There, after the failure of the second at- 
 tempt in her favor, she died on the scaffold. 
 
 It can hardly be supposed that Queen Mary ever 
 intended to spare Cranmer, whom she regarded as 
 mainly instrumental in securing her father's 
 divorce and thus affixing a stain to her own legiti- 
 macy. It is true, indeed, that when he was con- 
 demned for treason for having caused Lady Jane to 
 be proclaimed. Queen Mary refused to authorize his 
 execution ; but he was kept in prison, and his 
 office was declared forfeited. It is plain that his 
 enemies proposed to inflict a punishment more 
 terrible than an ordinary execution on political 
 grounds. 
 
 Cranmer remained in prison, while his friends 
 Ridley and Latimer were conveyed to their place 
 of martyrdom, without having been granted an op- 
 
C/C.IA'J/ZCA' AND A'.VOX. 151 
 
 portuiiity of (kkiidin^i^ thc-inscU'es aiLi^ainst their 
 accusers. Their licroisia in this tr\inc;' liour lias 
 left its cficct on all snbsc(jnent generations : 
 
 " For thus said aged L,atimer : 
 
 I tarry by the stake, 
 Not trusting in my own weak heart, 
 
 But lor tlie Saviour's sake. 
 Why speak of life or death to mc 
 
 Wliuse days are but a span? 
 Our crown is yonder — Ridlej', see ! 
 
 Be strong and play the man ! 
 God helping, such a torch this day 
 
 We'll light on English land, 
 That Rome, with all her cardinals, 
 Shall never quench the brand." 
 
 During his imprisonment the weaknesses of 
 Cranmer's character became painfully apparent. 
 His enemies almost seem to have played with him 
 — summoning him to Rome when he was in prison, 
 and then condemning him for contumaciousness ; 
 holding out delusive hopes of pardon, and thus in- 
 ducing him to recant his former teachings. He 
 signed no less than six documents in which he re- 
 pudiated Protestantism, urging all heretics to re- 
 turn to the unity of the church. His enemies had 
 planned a crowning act of triumph. It w^as de- 
 termined that he must die, but before his final con- 
 demnation he w^as required to make a public con- 
 fession ; but at last he turned upon his enemies, 
 retracted his former statements, and declared his 
 firm adherence to the Protestant faith. At the 
 same time he declared that inasmuch as his hand 
 
152 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 had offended in writing contrary to the convictions 
 of his heart ; it should be the first to suffer ; and 
 when he was chained to the stake, and the fire be- 
 gan to burn near him, he thrust his right hand into 
 the flame, exclaiming : *' This hand hath offended." 
 
 The death of Cranmer was the signal for the 
 flight of all decided Protestants who could find 
 their way out of England. Zurich was crowded 
 with English refugees, and the Swiss were some- 
 times put to great straits in entertaining them. 
 After the refugees returned to England, Bishops 
 Parkhurst, Jewell, and Horn sent gifts of silver 
 plate in recognition of the kindness of the Swiss 
 churches. There was a tendency to minimize dif- 
 ferences ; and even to this day continental writers 
 generally recognize the church of England as one 
 of the Reformed churches. '' The Anglican, that 
 is, the English church," says Stilling, "is differ- 
 ent from the rest of the Reformed church only in 
 this, that it has an episcopal form of government. 
 Are the Swedish and Danish churches not Lutheran 
 because they have bishops? Does the garment 
 make the man ?' ' 
 
 During the reign of Mary every effort was made 
 to restore England to Roman obedience. Cardinal 
 Pole became Cranmer's successor in the see of 
 Canterbury ; but Bishops Gardiner and Bonner 
 were, we suppose, chiefly responsible for the so- 
 called " Marian persecutions." The queen was not 
 
CRANMER AM) KNOX. 153 
 
 naturally criu-l, but she was unfortunate and un- 
 happy. Her marriage to Philip II. of Spain was, 
 on her part, apparently prompted by sincere aflec- 
 tion ; but he maltreated and deserted her. To win 
 his favor she imitiited his nietliods of dealing with 
 religious dissenters ; but she gained nothing but the 
 reputation of a bloody persecutor. You may re- 
 member that on English money, coined in 1555, 
 the faces of the royal pair are represented side by 
 side and pretty close to each other, and that Butler, 
 with keenest satire, says, in "Hudibras," that cer- 
 tain lovers look 
 
 — " amorous, aud fond, and billing, 
 lyike Philip and Mar>- on a shilling." 
 
 Mary, like Julian the apostate in the early his- 
 tory of the cliurch, ventured to become the cham- 
 pion of a lost cause. It was too late ; and at the 
 end of her britf reign the church of Rome was 
 weaker than at its beginning. In 1558 Mary was 
 taken with an intermittent fever, and it soon be- 
 came evident that it would prove fatal. When 
 death approached the venial crowd of courtiers has- 
 tened to make their peace with the Princess Eliza- 
 beth, and Mary was left to die alone. 
 
 We pass rapidly over the reforms in the English 
 church during the reign of Elizabeth. For some 
 months after her accession the struggle of the 
 creeds was intense, and it seemed doubtful which 
 side the queen would take. She had, it is true, 
 
154 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 been educated under Protestant influences, but dur- 
 ing the reign of Mary she had kept her head on 
 her shoulders by professing her sister's creed. She 
 was the best educated woman in England, and un- 
 doubtedly sympathized with the spirit of progress 
 v^^hich was best represented by the Protestant 
 Reformation ; but she also loved the splendor of 
 the ancient church and desired to preserve its ritual. 
 There are writers who believe that if the pope of 
 Rome had promptly acknowledged Elizabeth as 
 queen of England a schism might have been 
 avoided ; but this is hardly probable. Elizabeth 
 was too m.uch like her father to have been satisfied 
 with any position inferior to that of supreme 
 governor of the church of England. 
 
 The queen had carefully studied the religious 
 questions of the age, and possessed the gift of ex- 
 pressing herself in aphoristic language, which cre- 
 ated the impression of extraordinary wisdom and 
 yet left her practically uncommitted to any distinc- 
 tive view. Take, for instance, her celebrated utter- 
 ance on the Lord's Supper : 
 
 " Christ was the word that spake it ; 
 He took the bread and brake it ; 
 And what His word did make it, 
 That I believe, and take it." 
 
 The age of Elizabeth can hardly be regarded as 
 in the highest sense religions. It was a splendid 
 epoch in literary history ; the age, we remember, 
 
CRANMER AND KNOX. 155 
 
 of the ^i^reat poets, Spenser, Jonsoii, and vSliaks- 
 peare ; of great thinkers like Bacon and Sir Thomas 
 Browne ; of clei^ant courtiers and men of letters, 
 like Sir Philip Sidney and Sir Walter Ralei^di — 
 yes, even of great theologians like " the judicious 
 Hooker ;" but after all it had more of the spirit ot 
 the renaissance than of the Reformation. It was 
 au age hostile to the papacy, but for a while this 
 sentiment was hardly separable from hatred of 
 Spain. It has been said that the Roman church 
 in England "committed suicide." The phrase 
 must be understood to mean that it took a course 
 which inevitably led to its destruction. It cer- 
 tainly encouraged treason and welcomed the Ar- 
 mada. If it had not been for a few Roman Catho- 
 lic noblemen who supported the queen in her con- 
 flict with Spain, Romanism would probably have 
 been no longer tolerated in England. 
 
 The acceptance of the 39 articles had been a 
 declaration of the fact that the church of England 
 was decidedly Protestant ; but the return of the 
 Marian exiles was the signal for the beginning of a 
 conflict within the church. These men brought 
 with them an intense dislike for ceremonials and 
 vestments, and possibly a stronger and more earnest 
 faith than was general in England, where the 
 church was regarded by many as " a branch of the 
 civil service." The government endeavored to 
 compel them to submit to the established order, but 
 
156 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 as they refused to conform they became non-con- 
 formists. Thomas Cartwright, a professor of the- 
 ology, was their most eminent man ; but for some 
 time they remained unorganized, and to such 
 prelates as Parker and Jewell their protests did not 
 seem to be of great importance. It was not until 
 the next reign that this movement developed into 
 Puritanism, which has sometimes been called "the 
 second Reformation." To consider the history of 
 the wonderful series of events which it includes 
 would be a fascinating undertaking ; but it does not 
 lie within the field of our present study. 
 
 It is in the kingdom north of the Tweed that, at 
 this period, we behold the greatest changes. These 
 changes were, indeed, political as well as religious; 
 but those of the former character were chiefly im- 
 portant as preparing the way for the latter. 
 
 Scotland has been so glorified by writers of 
 romance, that those who derive their impressions 
 from Sir Walter Scott, not to speak of Jane Porter 
 and Grace Aguilar, are apt to suppose that it was 
 before the Reformation a land of chivalry more 
 splendid than Normandy or Provence. Minute 
 examination would hardly confirm this impression. 
 The fact is that the country was wild and unculti- 
 vated, and it was the last in western Europe to be 
 touched by the glories of the renaissance. The 
 people were divided into many clans, or tribes, 
 which were frequently at war ; and amid the strug- 
 
CRANMER AND KNOX. 157 
 
 gles of the chiefs royalty liad a precarious existence. 
 Nearlv all the kings of the house of Stuart died a 
 violent death, and with each death there came a 
 stru^rele fur the succession. \\\ their efforts to con- 
 trol the turbulent nobles the kings naturally fol- 
 lowed the example of their ancient allies, the kings 
 of France — making the Roman hierarchy the chief 
 instrument lor the accomplishment of their politi- 
 cal purposes. They impoverished themselves to 
 enrich the church ; and the magnificence of the 
 ruins scattered all over northern Britain still testifies 
 to the splendor of the dwellings of its priests. In 
 this way the interests of royalty and hierarchy stood 
 and fell together. The plan had been well laid ; 
 but like marvy other plans "it went aglee. " In 
 France the nobles had been originally a conquering 
 race — Frank not Celtic — and the people had hated 
 them for a thousand years. The alliance of king 
 and priests was, therefore, in that country, certain 
 of popular support, and the result could not be 
 doubtful. In Scotland, on the other hand, the re- 
 lations of the clans and their chiefs were intimate 
 and affectionate. The humblest member of the 
 clan regarded himself as of the same blood as his 
 chief, and was ready to follow his pibroch to battle 
 and death. In brief, it was in Scotland that the 
 feudal system had in this respect attained its 
 highest development ; and neither royalty nor 
 hierarchy was strong enough to break its spirit. 
 
158 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 That the church of Scotland was before the Ref- 
 ormation in a depressed condition will hardly be 
 denied. Greek was not taught anywhere in Scot- 
 land, and the Scriptures were practically unknown. 
 At one of the early religious controversies, it is 
 said, the monks refused to listen to citations from 
 the New Testament. "' We do not want anything 
 new," they exclaimed, "the Old Testament is 
 good enough for us as it has been for our fathers." 
 
 The news of the German Reformation had 
 reached Scotland at an early day. In those days 
 Scotchmen travelled all over Europe as dealers in 
 small wares, so that in Germany every peddler was 
 called a Scot. These men brought home the news 
 of evangelical liberty, and the message found a 
 warm response iu the hearts of those country- 
 people who still preserved the traditions of the 
 Culdees — the ancient Christians who had been the 
 teachers of Scotland before the supremacy of Rome. 
 As early as 1525 the Scotch parliament issued a 
 proclamation against the Lutheran heresy — forbid- 
 ding the people to speak about it, and permitting 
 the priests to mention its name only when they 
 proposed to refute it. Persecutions soon began, 
 and Patrick Hamilton, a relative of the royal house, 
 was burned at the stake. The blood of the mar- 
 tyrs proved the seed of the church, and with every 
 martyrdom the power of the hierarchy decreased. 
 The grandest, the noblest, of the early martyrs was 
 
JOHN KNOX 
 
CRAXMF.R .h\7) A'XOX. 1 59 
 
 George Wisliart, who was executed in 1546. When 
 he was on his way to his death, it is said, he laid 
 his hand on the head of a youne^ man wlio desired 
 to accompany liim, and solemnly — almost prophet- 
 ically — committed to his care the higliest interests 
 of the church in Scotland. 
 
 John Knox, who accepted this solemn trust, is 
 one of the most picturesque figures in the history 
 of the Reformation. He was born in 1505, in 
 Haddington, not far from Edinburgh. Tradition 
 represents him as a descendant of the Knoxes of 
 Ranfurly — a distinguished family whose character- 
 istic armorial device is an eagle. His education at 
 Haddington ^nd Glasgow presents few points of 
 special interest. He must have been regarded as a 
 good scholar, for he subsequently became a tutor at 
 St. Andrevv^s ; but he himself declared that his early 
 training was lamentably deficient. He studied law 
 and was for some time a notary. He received minor 
 orders, and, according to some authorities, was 
 hurried into the priesthood without due consider- 
 ation ; but this latter fact is not sufficiently estab- 
 lished. It appears certain that he studied the 
 writings of Augustine, and the result was the same 
 as in the case of the earlier Reformers. He soon 
 received a call and began to preach to a congrega- 
 tion of Protestants. Too honest to hide his con- 
 victions, too bold to fear the condemnation of his 
 ecclesiastical superiors, his preaching, as was said 
 
l6o LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 at a later date, ' ' had more force and power than a 
 hundred trumpets." Betrayed into the power of 
 his enemies, he was carried to France and con- 
 demned to the galleys. According to recent re- 
 searches it appears that the discipline was in his 
 case somewhat relaxed, for he did some literary 
 work during his imprisonment ; but there is no 
 reason to doubt that, like others of his faith, he was 
 sometimes chained to an oar of the government 
 vessel in which he was confined. Tyranny never 
 devised imprisonment more oppressive than this. 
 The form of the vessels, it has been said, differed 
 but little from the type adopted by the ancient 
 Romans in their conflicts with the Carthaginians. 
 There were two banks of oars, by which the vessel 
 was propelled, and to every oar a slave was chained. 
 Between them stood the taskmaster, with a long 
 lash, which he brought down on the shoulders of 
 the slave whose arm grew weary or who paused to 
 speak a word. Ordinarily there was the silence of 
 the grave, but at times nature could no longer be 
 restrained ; and, accompanied by the sound of the 
 lash — with quivering flesh and with blood stream- 
 ing over the deck — the enslaved Huguenots sang 
 their favorite psalm : " Why do the heathen rage 
 and the people imagine a vain thing?" 
 
 The eighteen months which John Knox spent in 
 the galleys were an im.portant part of his educa- 
 tion. If he became sterner than the other Reform- 
 
CRANMIIR AM) kWOX. i6i 
 
 ers — more uncoinproiiiisini^ in his rejection of every 
 rag ol" papal splendor — can we wonder at it after 
 the training which he had received in the galleys? 
 
 How Knox escaped from this dread fnl imprison- 
 ment is not quite clear. It has been suggested 
 that he was discharged on the personal request of 
 the young king of England ; but it is likely enough 
 that after the marriage of Mary of Scotland to the 
 dauphin of France the French court no longer 
 dreaded his influence and let him go. Knox went 
 to England and during the reign ot Edward labored 
 with voice and pen, holding at one time the posi- 
 tion of chaplain to the king. Dr. Lorimer main- 
 tains that he was the first to substitute the use of 
 common bread for "wafer-breads" in the Lord's 
 Supper — a practice which was afterwards author- 
 ized by the king. He was consulted in the prepa- 
 ration of the formularies of the church of England ; 
 and a book of forty-five articles of religion, from 
 which the thirty-nine articles were afterward de- 
 rived, was submitted to him for his opinion. The 
 king desired to make him bishop of Rochester ; 
 but Knox himself states that he was unwilling to 
 accept even the modified formularies of the Eng- 
 lish church, regarding them as leading to Roman- 
 ism, though he was " favorable to an office similar 
 to the bishop's." 
 
 When Mary became queen Knox went to the 
 continent, and in 1554 met for the first time, at 
 
1 62 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Geneva, John Calvin, whom he made in all things 
 his spiritual guide. "In other places," he wrote, 
 "I confess that Christ is truly preached, but no- 
 where else have I found religion and manners so 
 truly reformed." Though nearly fifty years old 
 Knox became a scholar in Calvin's school, and 
 with great humility studied Greek in company with 
 boys who were not yet out of their teens. In the 
 mean time he wrote about a dozen books, or pamph- 
 lets, and preached for a little congregation of Eng- 
 lish refugees which with difficulty provided him 
 with the means of subsistence. 
 
 It is plain enough that the fiery disposition of Knox 
 gave the Swiss reformers some trouble. Bullinger 
 reported to Calvin his cautious replies on such 
 questions as "whether a female can rule a kingdom 
 by divine right, and transfer the right to her hus- 
 band," and "to which party must godly persons 
 attach themselves in a case of a religious nobility 
 resisting an idolatrous sovereign." A book which 
 Knox wrote at this time, but which had better have 
 remained unwritten, was entitled "The First Blast 
 of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment 
 of Women." The book was anonymous, but the 
 identity of the author could not be concealed ; and 
 it was for this publication that Queen Elizabeth 
 forbade him to set foot on English soil. Knox 
 afterwards wrote: "My First Blast hath blown 
 from me all my friends in England." 
 
CRANMIIR AM) k'NOX. 163 
 
 Several times Kiiox ])aid sliort visits to vScotland, 
 but each time returned to Geneva, savin;;, tliat tlic 
 time was not yet come. In 1559, however, lie ex- 
 claimed : '* Now Scotland is ripe !" Returning to 
 Scotland he became the religious leader of the 
 Protestants, and in one year their cause was practi- 
 cally gained. In 1560 Parliament declared that 
 the papal system was abrogated and in the same 
 year formally adopted the Scotch confession. In 
 no other country was the reformation so imme- 
 diately successful, and, indeed, in some districts it 
 partook largely of the nature of a popular tumult. 
 
 The conflicts of Knox with Mary Queen oi Scots, 
 have been made the subject of much discussion, 
 and there are circumstances connected with them 
 which history has left obscure. When that unfor- 
 tunate queen returned to Scotland in 1561, it must 
 be remembered, the country was already formally 
 Protestant, so that in opposing her efforts to re- 
 establish the mass Knox was standing- on firm 
 ground. He spoke to the queen like a Hebrew 
 prophet ; and we are told that '' she wept many salt 
 tears;" but they were probably tears of anger 
 rather than of genuine contrition. 
 
 Knox was the object of Mary's special aversion, 
 and when she found that blandishments and threat- 
 enings were alike unavailing, she sought to secure 
 his condemnation :or treason, x\ll her efforts were 
 vain ; a single sermon by Knox had more power 
 
1 64 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 than many royal proclamations. By his tremen- 
 dous earnestness he united a turbulent nobility and 
 an uneducated people, filling all classes with inex- 
 tinguishable hatred for everything that reminded 
 them of Rome. 
 
 Mary Stuart was more closely allied to France 
 than to Scotland. Her mother had been a daugh- 
 ter of the great house of Guise, and from that fam- 
 ily she may be supposed to have derived her per- 
 sonal beauty as well as her religious fanaticism. At 
 the court of her first husband, Francis II., she had 
 practiced the superficial accomplishments which 
 added so greatly to her fascinations ; but she had 
 also breathed an air that was reeking with assassi- 
 nation. That she could be devout after the fashion 
 which she had been taught will hardly be ques- 
 tioned by those who have studied her profound and 
 poetical religious utterances ; but she failed to ap- 
 preciate the fact that even royal personages must be 
 obedient to the moral law. 
 
 It is not necessary to enter minutely into the his- 
 tory of Mary's unfortunate reign. The question of 
 her guilt or innocence of the crimes charged 
 against her is still debated ; and with regard to her 
 complicity in the murder of her second husband, 
 Henry Darnley, we can hardly claim to know more 
 than the great historian Ranke, who says that after 
 twenty years' study of the subject he still remains 
 undecided. That she was greatly sinned against 
 
CRANiMIlR AM) k'XOX. 1 65 
 
 cannot be doubted ; no crowned liead had ever been 
 compelled to endure so many indignities. The 
 murder of Rizzio in her presence may have seemed 
 a crime that cried for veni^eance. We may hope 
 that she was not accessory to the murder of Darn- 
 ley ; but it is certain that immediately afterwards 
 she showed great favor to James Hepburn, earl of 
 Bothwell, who was generally regarded as the mur- 
 derer, and that within three months she married 
 him. It is claimed that she did this under com- 
 pulsion ; but the people of Scotland were disgusted, 
 as well they might be, and the natural result was 
 civil war. 
 
 Her party having been defeated at Langside, 
 May 13, 1568, Queen Mary very foolishly fled to 
 England, to place herself under the protection of 
 Elizabeth. The latter regarded her as her chief 
 rival, and is said to have expressed her purpose in 
 the stanza : 
 
 "The daughter of debate. 
 
 Who discord still doth sow. 
 Shall reap no gain where former rule 
 
 Hath taught still peace to grow." 
 
 For more than eighteen years Mary was im- 
 prisoned, and finally she was condemned and ex- 
 ecuted. However guilty Mary may have been it is 
 certain that no English court had authority to try 
 and condemn the queen of Scotland. 
 
1 66 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 After the flight of the queen there was in Scot- 
 land a period of confusion and violence. Against 
 the protest of Knox and his coadjutors the nobles 
 appropriated the property of the church, as they 
 had done in England ; they secured the appoint- 
 ment of so-called " Tulchan bishops" who turned 
 over to their patrons the revenues of their sees. 
 The later years of the great Reformer were there- 
 fore clouded with sorrow ; but after all he suc- 
 ceeded in moulding the church according to the 
 ideal of Geneva, so that it became more completely 
 than any other national church the church of Cal- 
 vin. Stern and strict as the Scotch ideal may ap- 
 pear to foreigners there can be no question as to the 
 glorious examples of earnest piety which it has pro- 
 duced. 
 
 Though the Protestant churches of England and 
 Scotland differed in government and cultus from 
 the beginning it was not until the seventeenth cen- 
 tury that they were arrayed against each other in 
 violent conflict. The frequent attempts of English 
 monarchs after the union of the kingdoms to ex- 
 tend English forms of government and service to 
 the Scotch churches produced opposition which 
 intensified peculiarities that had previously received 
 comparatively little attention. In the Reformed 
 churches of the continent local differences in organ- 
 ization are but lightly regarded ; and men of great 
 intelligence find it difiicult to appreciate the import- 
 
CRANMFJy! A\/) kWOX. 167 
 
 ance which is in (ireal Piritaiii attached to sucli 
 matters. It should, however, be remembered tliat 
 it was not until sixty-five years after the death of 
 Knox that the dean of Edinburgh attempted to 
 read the English liturgy at St. Giles, and that 
 Jenny Geddes expressed her indignation by flinging 
 her camp-stool at his head. 
 
 The last important public utterance of John 
 Knox was his sermon on receiving the news of the 
 massacre of St. Bartholomew. Being assisted to 
 reach the pulpit he summoned his remaining 
 strength to thunder out the vengeance of heaven 
 against that "cruel murderer and false traitor the 
 king of France," at the same time "desiring the 
 French ambassador to tell his master that sentence 
 was pronounced against him in Scotland ; that di- 
 vine vengeance would never depart from him nor 
 from his house, if repentance did not ensue, but 
 that his name would remain an execration to all 
 succeeding generations." Two months later, on 
 the 27th of November, 1572, John Knox died. At 
 his open grave the earl of Morton exclaimed : 
 " Here lieth a man who in his life never feared the 
 face of man ; who hath often been threatened with 
 poison and dagger, but hath ended his course with 
 peace and honor. " He had been, indeed, "a mighty 
 one in Israel." 
 
 It is not easy to form an adequate conception 
 of the character of such a man as Knox. ' ' He 
 
1 68 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 was another Calvin," says a recent German 
 biographer, 'Mess scholarly and profound than his 
 model, but personally bolder and more eloquent." 
 Though his religious antagonists have represented 
 him as fierce and contentious, it has been remarked 
 that he never came into violent conflict with any 
 minister of the Reformed church of Scotland. 
 During the conflicts under the later Stuarts his 
 memory was attacked on grounds which now ap- 
 pear frivolous, not to say contemptible. It was said 
 that he was a fanatic ; but how could that trifling 
 and degenerate age pass judgment on a strong man 
 who had consecrated all his powers to the pursuit 
 of a grand ideal ? It was declared that he was a 
 politician, as if in those days any leader on either 
 side had not been a politician. The imputation 
 that he was rude in appearance and manner is per- 
 haps best answered by McCrie when he inquires in 
 Scriptural language : " What went ye out for to see ? 
 A man clothed in soft raiment ? Behold, they that 
 wear soft raiment are in kings' houses." That 
 Knox was lacking in some of the amenities of life 
 may be true enough ; but it is also true that to 
 have given the Scotch Reformation a leader who 
 was mild and conciliatory would have been to send 
 a child to fight a giant. 
 
 Cranmer and Knox ! Could any names be men- 
 tioned that would represent men more different in 
 temperament and natural inclination ? The one a 
 
CRANMER AND KAOX. 169 
 
 courtier, the other a po})nlar cliaiii])ioii ; yet each 
 in his own way peforniin.L; his appointed work. 
 Between these limits every variety of thought and 
 action might find a place. Can there be anywhere 
 a better illustration of the fact that the spirit of the 
 great Reformation was not local or limited, but as 
 broad as humanity itself? 
 
 Above all, these decided differences reveal the 
 fundamental truths that the instruments of Provi- 
 dence are not chosen on grounds that are evident to 
 human understanding, and that the strength of God 
 is made perfect in the weakness of men. 
 
VI. 
 THE THREEFOLD CORD. 
 
 FREDERICK III. OF THE PALATINATE, 
 OLEVIANUS, AND URSINUS. 
 
 A THREEFOLD cord is not quickly broken." 
 At Heidelberg in the Palatinate a cord was 
 twined which though often severely tested 
 has retained its strength. One of the strands was 
 taken from Zurich and another from Geneva ; but 
 the third was thoroughly German, and from the 
 latter the whole received its distinctive character. 
 All this becomes evident in the development of the 
 Reformed churches of Germany and Holland, and 
 no less in the fortunes of their chief confession of 
 faith, the Heidelberg Catechism. 
 
 The Palatinate of the Rhine was in the days of 
 the Reformation the richest province in Germany, 
 and its elector was a king in all but name. His 
 capital was Heidelberg, whose university was the 
 chief glory of all that region. By a political 
 arrangement the elector also ruled the Upper Pala- 
 tinate — now a Bavarian province — but it is with 
 the Lower Palatinate or " Rheinpfalz" that we are 
 at present chiefly concerned. Though its name 
 has disappeared from the map of Europe, the Pala- 
 tinate is still popularly recognized as the heart of 
 Germany ; and it is easy to see that on account of 
 its geographical position, if for no other reason, it 
 
FREDERICK 
 
FREDERICK I[r.,OI-I':\'IANUS, URSINVS. 171 
 
 uiust necessarily have become the theater of impor- 
 tant events in the ])eriod of the Reformation. 
 
 The electors of the Palatinate were slower than 
 their neighbors in accepting the doctrine.^ of the 
 Reformation. At first they had been nnder Aus- 
 trian influence ; and at a later period they were 
 terrified by the Peasant War. It was, however, in 
 Heidelberg that Luther had gained one of his 
 earliest successes ; for at a disputation held in that 
 city in 151S he had secured the adherence of Bucer, 
 Brenz, and Schnepfius. 
 
 In 1520 the German knights declared in favor of 
 Luther ; and Sickingen's castle of Ebernburg, near 
 Worms, became a refuge for the oppressed. As 
 early as 1522 Sickingen's chaplain, Oecolampadius, 
 not only preached in German, which was then very 
 unusual, but also read in the vernacular the Scrip- 
 ture passages which appeared in the liturgy. 
 "This," says Goebel, ''was then as surprising as 
 it would be if a German pastor should now under- 
 take to read them in Plattdeutsch:' After the 
 death of Sickingen, in 1523, there was a reaction, 
 and for some years the Palatinate remained attached 
 to Rome. 
 
 In the mean time neighboring districts had made 
 rapid progress. Philip of Hesse had been an early 
 friend of Luther, and mainly through the influ- 
 ence of its ruler his principality soon became deci- 
 dedly Protestant. It will be remembered that it 
 
172 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 was by his negotiation that Luther and Zwingli 
 were brought together at Marburg, and that he 
 subsequently became an intimate friend of Zwingli. 
 The man whom Philip authorized to reorganize 
 the Hessian churches on a Protestant basis was 
 Francis Lambert, of Avignon. Lambert had been 
 a celebrated preacher in the Roman Catholic church 
 of the South of France, but came into communi- 
 cation with the Waldenses and was influenced by 
 them. Having ventured to read the writings of 
 Luther he was compelled to flee, and after many 
 perils found a refuge in Zurich. Subsequently he 
 visited Luther at Wittenberg and accepted the 
 Lutheran faith. He was not a controversialist, but 
 occupied a position as nearly as possible half-way 
 between the two reformers. He proposed to give 
 the churches a liberal constitution, like that which 
 prevailed in Switzerland; but this the secular 
 authorities would not allow. The landgrave Philip, 
 however, sustained Lambert, and did all in his 
 power to discourage controversy on the sacramental 
 question. Even on his deathbed he exacted a pro- 
 mise from his sons to remain faithful to the articles 
 of agreement between the Lutherans and Reformed 
 which Bucer and Melancthon had prepared. In 
 this way the churches of Hesse and several adjacent 
 districts assumed an irenic character which was as 
 far as possible removed from the fierce dogmatism 
 of Saxony. They held, in fact, to the mild Luth- 
 
FRi:nERicK in., oli-'a-ianus, urs/nus. 173 
 
 emnism wliicli l^ccanic j^reinjnilly prevalent in 
 southern Germany, and which at a later date was 
 stigmatized by the zealots as " Philipism," because 
 Philip Melancthon was re.i^arded as its chief expo- 
 nent and defender. 
 
 ]\Ie!ancthon is termed by Seisen, ''the true re- 
 former of the Palatinate." He was a native of 
 that country, and was naturally there regarded with 
 the profoundest reverence. When the reformation 
 of the church was finally undertaken his advice w\as 
 solicited at every step, and the men who were 
 actively engaged in the work were proud to be 
 known as his disciples. The position which he 
 personally occupied is perhaps not generally under- 
 stood ; but it is hardly just to denounce him as 
 weak or inconsistent. The fact is that he was from 
 the beginning what w^ould now be called '' a union 
 man ;" holding consistently to what he believed to 
 be the truth, but always treating his opponents 
 with courtesy and willing to do all in his power to 
 promote the reunion of the church. For many 
 years he believed that reconciliation with Rome 
 was not impossible ; and he himself declared that 
 when he wrote the Augsburg Confession, in 1530, 
 he had this end in view. In the tenth article, 
 treating of the Lord's Supper which was then the 
 chief object of discussion, he accordingly presented 
 the doctrine of Luther in its fullest development, 
 expressly condemning those who held a contrary 
 
174 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Opinion. He evidently believed that his definition 
 of the doctrine would find acceptance with the 
 Roman Catholics, and that the parties would in 
 this way be drawn more closely together. The 
 Reformed, against whom the condemnatory clause 
 was directed, were at that time few in number ; 
 and though four Reformed cities in the south of 
 Germany ventured to present to the diet a separate 
 confession of their doctrine, it was entirely ignored. 
 Melancthon was greatly disappointed that the 
 Augsburg Confession did not lead to the result 
 which he so greatly desired. For four years he re- 
 mained hoping against hope ; but then reluctantly 
 acknowledged that reunion with Rome was impos- 
 sible. He now became especially anxious to pre- 
 serve the unity of Protestantism, and held many 
 conferences with the leaders of the Reformed move- 
 ment. In 1536, in conjunction with Bucer, he 
 drew up the articles of the so-called Wittenberg 
 Union ; and in 1540 changed the loth article of the 
 Augsburg Confession, by omitting the condemna- 
 tory clause and otherwise altering the language, so 
 that it might no longer be objectionable to the Re- 
 formed church. The latter act was by the zealots 
 of his own church regarded as unpardonable treason, 
 and after the death of Luther the feeling against 
 him became intense. " Philipism" was declared to 
 be as bad as Calvinism. Minor points of difference 
 between Luther and Melancthon were sought out 
 
FREnilRICk' III., OLF.VIANUS, URSINUS. 1 75 
 
 and made the occasion of 1)1 tier ccjntroversies. 
 Melancthon's friends were deposed and banished 
 for trivial reasons, and the extremists did not hesi- 
 tate to say that they wonld not rest nntil tliey had 
 driven Melancthon ont of Germany. In this pur- 
 pose they were foiled, for he had powerful friends 
 and laro^e sections of the church remained closely 
 attached to him ; but it is not surprising that he 
 prayed to be delivered from " the wrath of the theo- 
 logians," and that, a short time before his death he 
 even seriously proposed to go to Palestine, to spend 
 his remaining days in the cell at Bethlehem once 
 occupied by St. Jerome. 
 
 It was in the closing years of Melancthon' s life 
 that the Palatinate accepted the Reformation. In 
 1546 the aged elector Frederick II., feeling con- 
 vinced that this great popular movement w^as no 
 longer to be resisted, introduced the ecclesiastical 
 order which ]\Ielancthon had prepared for Mecklen- 
 burg. His successor, Otho Henry ('' Ottheinrich") 
 went a step further and declared his adherence to 
 the Augsburg Confession ' ' as explained by Melanc- 
 thon." He was an enlightened prince and a mu- 
 nificent patron of the University of Heidelberg. 
 On his death without children, in 1559, the electo- 
 ral dignity passed to his cousin, Frederick III., 
 popularly surnamed the Pious. 
 
 The biography of this excellent prince is more 
 than ordinarily interesting. He was born at Sim- 
 
176 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 iiiern on the 14th of February, 151 5. His father, 
 John 11. , who was a man of culture, ruled over the 
 small possessions of the house of Simmern. He 
 was a Roman Catholic, though it is said that on his 
 death-bed he accepted the Protestant faith. The 
 son was carefully trained in all the accomplish- 
 ments which were deemed suitable to his position. 
 In his early youth he served at the courts of the 
 cardinal of Lorraine and the bishop of Liege, and 
 like other earnest men of his day, was greatly dis- 
 gusted by the conduct of ecclesiastics in high 
 station. No one seem.s to know wath certainty 
 under what circumstances he became a Protestant, 
 but it has been supposed that he was converted by 
 John A'Lasco.* His wife — a daughter of Mar- 
 grave Casimir of Brandenburo^ — had been educated 
 in the Lutheran faith, and probably exerted some 
 influence in this direction. It is certain that as 
 early as 1546 he became a decided Protestant. 
 
 Frederick's early career did not differ greatly 
 from that of others of his rank and station. He 
 was ambitious of military distinction, and when 
 only eighteen years of age led a company of sol- 
 
 * John A'Lasco (or De Lasky) was born at Warsaw, Poland, in 1499, and 
 died January 13, 1560. He belonged to a distinguished family, and was 
 himself a bishop of the Roman Catholic church. Having been converted 
 to Protestantism— mainly through the influence of Zwingli— he resigned his 
 bishopric and devoted his life to preaching the Gospel. From 1550 to 1553 
 he was superintendent of the churches of the Refugees in London, but fled 
 on the accession of Mary, and endured many privations. He is regarded 
 as the chief organizer of the Reformed church in the northern countries of 
 Europe. 
 
FREDERICK III., OIJA L\.\ ( .s, / A'.s/A / .S. 177 
 
 diers a<;ainst the Turks. On his return he received 
 the honor of knij^hthood from the emperor. For 
 two years lie was count of Sinimeros, and durin,L; 
 this period is said to have l^een ver}- poor. His 
 nature was generous and he was especially lil^eral 
 to those wdio suffered persecutions; but his revenue 
 was small, and at times his family was actually in 
 want of the necessaries of life. It was at this time 
 that his religious disposition became especially 
 apparent, and he often said : "I know my Lord 
 will never give me up." Relief came when, in 
 1556, the elector Otho Henry recognized him as 
 his prospective heir and appointed him his repre- 
 sentative in the Upper Palatinate. 
 
 When Frederick became elector he found the 
 Palatinate greatly disturbed by controversy. Two 
 ereat movements of reli^jious life had come from 
 opposite directions and had met at the Rhine. The 
 Zurich consensus of 1549 had united the Zwinglian 
 and Calvinistic parties ; the Reformed church 
 which resulted from this union had now become a 
 powerful body, and the English and Dutch refugees 
 became its advanced guard in Germany. To the 
 enthusiasts for pure Lutheran doctrine it appeared 
 a real danger to the fatherland, and every means 
 was taken to resist its gathering strength. Joachim 
 Westphal, Lutheran pastor at Hamburg, sounded a 
 trumpet for the onslaught, and he was powerfully 
 seconded by Heshusius, Flacius and others. The 
 
178 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 conflict was in fact a revival of tlie old sacramental 
 controversy, but it became even more violent than 
 it had been in the days of Luther. 
 
 Frederick III. had just entered upon the govern- 
 ment of the Palatinate when he found himself in 
 the midst of the storm. His predecessor had ap- 
 pointed to the oflSce of general superintendent 
 Tileman Heshusius, who was a violent controver- 
 sialist. In denouncing the Calvinists he boldly 
 accused them of being at heart Mohammedans, who 
 were merely waiting for a Turkish victory to cast 
 off their disguise and enlist under the banner of the 
 prophet. 
 
 Such accusations naturally did not remain un- 
 answered. Klebitz, the most eloquent preacher in 
 Heidelberg:, was an extreme Calvinist who seems to 
 have rejoiced to engage in a controversy with the 
 more celebrated Heshusius. He was as violent and 
 abusive as his antagonist, and between them they 
 soon had all Heidelberg in a blaze. The elector 
 Frederick was greatly troubled, for in those days 
 theological controversies were as violent, and often 
 as dangerous to the state, as the fiercest political 
 conflicts of more modern times. At first he issued 
 a proclamation in which he appealed to the theolo- 
 gians to abstain from controversy and to devote 
 their time to the spiritual edification of the people. 
 As he had said on a previous occasion, he could 
 *'see no reason why Christians who agree in essen- 
 
FREDI'.RICK Iff , ()/. /■: I 7.1 Xf 'S, ! 'RSINl S. T 79 
 
 tials should eiii^a^e in bitter controversy concern- 
 inc;i^ minor matters, thus placing a sword in the 
 hands of their enemies and even in those of the 
 devil himself." 
 
 As might have been expected, the elector's pro- 
 clamation remained unheeded. In fact, the only 
 evident result was to turn both contestants against 
 their ruler, whom they ventured to denounce for 
 interfering in matters which did not concern him. 
 As a last resort the elector, in accordance with the 
 advice of Melancthon, banished both Heshusius 
 and Klebitz from the Palatinate. 
 
 It was hoped that this would be the conclusion 
 of the conflict, but it proved to be no more than a 
 beginning. It became evident that the mediating 
 position of Melancthon could no longer be main- 
 tained, and in 1559 the elector publicly declared 
 his adherence to the doctrine of the Reformed 
 church. It was a bold step and there can be no 
 doubt of the genuineness of his convictions. He 
 had earnestly studied the questions at issue, and 
 when he had reached a conclusion he did not hesi- 
 tate to accept the consequences which it involved. 
 
 At first sight it might appear as if the change 
 had not been very important. A German writer 
 says : "He (Frederick) had simply crossed the al- 
 most imperceptible line which separated Melanc- 
 thonianism from the mildest form of Calvinism." 
 His cotemporaries, however, were not disposed to 
 
l8o LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 take this view of his transition. The princes de- 
 clared the act an infringnient of the terms of the 
 Peace of Augsburg ; the theologians of the stricter 
 Lutheran type denounced it as treason to evangeli- 
 cal truth. Soon all Germany was in a blaze, and 
 the pious elector appeared to stand alone in the 
 midst of the fire. 
 
 At this period the attitude of the prince was pos- 
 itively heroic. Even his family disagreed with 
 him ; and his wife, who subsequently became his 
 faithful coadjutor in the work of reformation, ap- 
 pealed to the rulers of neighboring provinces to 
 exert their influence in restraining her husband 
 from taking what she supposed to be a fatal step. 
 The people generally believed that Frederick would 
 be deprived of his electorate and might possibly be 
 put to death. On one occasion several princes met 
 at Stuttgart for the purpose of formulating charges 
 against him ; but for some unknown reason they 
 adjourned without taking positive action. 
 
 In the face of all this opposition the elector re- 
 mained calm and serene. At all times ready to 
 suffer for what he believed to be the truth, his free 
 and joyous nature enabled him to triumph over dif- 
 ficulties which might to others have appeared in- 
 surmountable. In 1560 he removed from the 
 churches the furniture which had remained in them 
 since Roman Catholic days, and directed the ser- 
 vices to be conducted after the manner of the Re- 
 
FREPI'IAICK IlI.,i)Li:VrANlIS, f^RS/Nl'S. t8i 
 
 formed cluircli. At the same time lie professed liis 
 attachment to the Augsburg Confession (of 1540), 
 declarino^ that he had not changed his convictions, 
 but had merely advanced to the perception of higher 
 truth. 
 
 That the elector's methods were stern is freely 
 conceded. It must be remembered that, in com- 
 mon with most of the princes of his day, he be- 
 lieved himself to be personally responsible for the 
 faith of his subjects ; and he accordingly did not 
 hesitate to remove from their positions professors 
 and pastors who refused to follow him. In this po- 
 sition he was strengthened by his favorite physi- 
 cian, Thomas Erastus, an able writer, after whom 
 the whole theory of the control of the church by 
 the state has been called '' Erastianism." The 
 only people, however, who were severely punished 
 in accordance with the civil law were the Arians, 
 who had become numerous in Heidelberg. Con- 
 cerning one of these, named Neuser, it is related 
 that he was at first a Lutheran, then became Re- 
 formed, then declared himself an Arian and denied 
 the divinity of Christ, and after his expulsion from 
 Heidelberg, fled to Constantinople, where he joined 
 the Mohammedans and finally died an atheist. 
 
 The preparation of a confession of faith had now 
 become a necessity ; and it was fortunate for the 
 Reformed church of Germany that there were at 
 hand two men to whom the work could safely be 
 
1 82 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 committed. These men were Olevianus and Ursi- 
 nus, one of whom was but twenty-six and the 
 other twenty-eight years of age. The elector 
 manifested great powers of discernment in select- 
 ing them for the work of preparing a catechism 
 that would not only faithfully represent the faith 
 of the Reformed church, but might serve as a 
 means of conveying its precious truths to subse- 
 quent generations. Together they produced a 
 work which has ever since been regarded as the 
 crown and glory of the Reformed church. 
 
 Caspar Olevianus (1535-1587) was a native of 
 the ancient city of Treves. The famil}^ name, which 
 was properly Von der Olewig, was derived from a 
 suburb of the city in which the family resided. 
 There were two sons, one of whom studied medi- 
 cine and the other law. The latter, after passing 
 through the schools of his native country, was sent 
 to France and successively studied at Paris and 
 Bourges. It is remarkable that his career closely 
 resembled that of John Calvin, whom he greatly ad- 
 mired. He studied law but devoted much time to 
 reading the Scriptures, and secretly connected him- 
 self with a Protestant congregation, though with- 
 out immediately and completely consecrating his 
 heart and life to the cause of truth. The decisive 
 event of his life, as he always declared, occurred 
 when he almost lost his life in attempting to save 
 a son of the elector of the Palatinate who was acci- 
 
FRl'ini'lRICK III , OLI-: \ 'IAS ( :S, I k\S/Nf'S 1 83 
 
 dciitalh' drowned in tlic Oron river. In the moment 
 of the greatest danger he vowed tliat if Ood should 
 save his life he would consecrate it entirely to the 
 conversion of his native land. In this vow lie was 
 afterwards confirmed by the admonitions of the 
 venerable Farel, at Ivausanne. After receiving the 
 degree of doctor of laws he visited Geneva and 
 Zurich and then returned to his native city. Here 
 he taught Latin, but at the same time used every 
 opportunity to preach the Gospel ; and for tlie lat- 
 ter reason was arrested and cast into prison. Re- 
 leased through the potent intercession of the elector 
 Frederick, he went to Heidelberg, where he was at 
 first professor of theology and subsequently ]:)astor 
 of the principal church of the city. Though the 
 elector generally took his own way, in religious as 
 well as in secular matters, Olevianus became his 
 most intimate friend, and his influence in the gen- 
 eral organization of the church was plainly apparent. 
 He was a splendid orator and a master of German 
 style. The part which he took in the composition 
 of the Heidelberg Catechism was probably less im- 
 portant than that of Ursinus, but traces of his hand 
 are everywhere visible. To him have been ascribed 
 the decidedly Calvinistic elements of the book ; and 
 what is said concerning Christian discipline is 
 almost certainly derived from him, as its substance 
 may be found in his previous writings. As long 
 as the elector lived, Olevianus remained his most 
 
184 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 devoted assistant ; but afterwards he went to Her- 
 born, where he died on the 15th of March, 1587. 
 On his deathbed he was asked whether he was cer- 
 tain of salvation, and he replied " Certissmius^^ 
 that is, " Most certain. 
 
 Zacharias Ursinus (i 534-1583) was a native of 
 Breslau, in Silesia. The family name was originally 
 Von Baer, but his father, who was dean of St. 
 Magdalen's church, had Latinized it according to 
 the fashion of the times. The son was unusually 
 talented and studied philosophy and mathematics 
 when he was a mere child. At sixteen he was sent 
 to the university of Wittenberg, where Melancthon 
 was, after the death of Luther, the ruling spirit. 
 Here he studied theology and his extraordinary 
 analytic power soon attracted attention. Melanc- 
 thon declared him his favorite pupil, and did not 
 hesitate to say that his writings were unusually 
 brilliant. On the death of that great man there 
 was a reaction in favor of high Lutheranism ; and 
 the favorite disciples of Melancthon were singled 
 out for persecution. Ursinus, who was of a quiet, 
 contemplative disposition, determined to withdraw 
 from the scene of conflict. When one of his 
 uncles asked him whither he was going he replied : 
 " If my dear ^Master Philip were living I would 
 never leave him ; but now that he has departed I 
 shall go to Zurich." In Switzerland he studied 
 the writings of Calvin and others, and accepted 
 
FREDERICK III., OI.l'A'L-lSUS, I'RSINES. 1 85 
 
 their teachings, though without giving up his Me- 
 lancthonian standpoint. He became especially 
 attached to Peter INIartyr, one of the leading theo- 
 loo-ians of the Reformed church, and at his sugges- 
 tion he was invited by Frederick III. to become 
 professor of theology at Heidelberg. Here he was 
 intimately associated with Olevianus ; and it was 
 but natural that to these two men should be com- 
 mitted the important work of preparing the new 
 Confession of Faith. 
 
 It is not easy to understand how men so different 
 in disposition and training could unite in producing 
 a thoroughly harmonious work. Olevianus was 
 fiery and eloquent ; Ursinus was retiring and didac- 
 tic. The one took an intense interest in public 
 affairs ; the other made few friends and cared more 
 for books than for popular applause. Olevianus 
 was a Calvinist and Ursinus a disciple of Melanc- 
 thon ; but together they prepared a work in which 
 the individuality of each disappears, and which 
 possesses a much higher order of merit than any- 
 thing which either could have separately produced. 
 Surely, this is one of the marvels of literature. 
 
 Ursinus was the principal author of the Heidel- 
 berg Catechism, and from him its profoundly 
 Christologic character was no doubt chiefly derived. 
 In its preparation materials derived from the writ- 
 ido-s of Calvin and A'Lasco were freelv employed, 
 but it is in the fullest sense an original work. Its 
 
1 86 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 general tone is irenic and conciliatory, though it 
 contains several polemic questions which are be- 
 lieved to have been inserted at the express com- 
 mand of the elector, if they were not actually com- 
 posed by him. The eightieth question, w^hich de- 
 clares the Roman mass to be " an accursed idol- 
 atry," was inserted into the second edition, and has 
 been supposed to have been in some degree a coun- 
 ter-blast on the part of the elector to the fulmina- 
 tions of the council of Trent. 
 
 The later years of Ursinus were comparatively 
 uneventful. He was recognized as a theologian of 
 the highest order, and it became his chief duty to 
 explain and defend the catechism. After Fred- 
 erick's death, in 1576, he was removed from his 
 professorship at Heidelberg; and though he was 
 ojBTered a similar position in his native city, he pre- 
 ferred to become a teacher in a theological school 
 which the elector's second son, John Casimir, had 
 founded at Neustadt. Here he labored for five 
 years, and died on the 6th of March, 1583, in his 
 forty-ninth year. On his monument was placed an 
 inscription which called him " a great theologian, 
 a conqueror of heresies concerning the person of 
 Christ and the Lord's Supper, mighty with word 
 and pen, an acute philosopher, a wise man, and a 
 stern instructor of yottth." 
 
 It has been the fate of the Heidelberg Catechism 
 to be extravagantly praised by its friends and as 
 
FRlini'lRICK III , ()LI-:VIA.\('S, I'RSINL'S. 1S7 
 
 fiercely deiiouneed by its eiiciiiies. IiuiiR-diately after 
 its publication, in 1563, it was formally approved by 
 I)Ullinger and the church of Zurich ; and the bonds 
 which connected the Palatinate with Switzerland 
 were thereby strengthened. From that day to this 
 it has been the most generally accepted confession 
 of the Reformed church, and its excellencies as an 
 exposition of Reformed doctrine have been almost 
 universally recognized. Max Goebel says : " The 
 Heidelberg Catechism may be regarded as the 
 flower and fruit of the entire German and Frer.ch 
 reformation ; it has Lutheran earnestness, Melanc- 
 thonian clearness, Zwiuglian simplicity, and Cal- 
 vinistic fire, all harmoniously blended ; and there- 
 fore notwithstanding many defects and hardnesses, 
 it has been, together with the Augsburg Confession 
 of 1540, the only common confession and doctrinal 
 standard of the entire German Reformed church 
 from the Palatinate to the Netherlands, and to 
 Brandenburg and Prussia." 
 
 In a general way the tone of the Heidelberg 
 Catechism was irenic ; but it must not be supposed 
 that its authors expected it to be accepted without 
 controversy. They were in the midst of one of the 
 greatest conflicts in the history of the church ; and 
 it was but natural that they should endeavor to jus- 
 tify their position. On several points which were 
 at the time most violently discussed we could wish 
 that they had expressed themselves differently ; but 
 
1 88 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 the fact that they were thoroughly honest has never 
 been called into question. It was, however, to these 
 points that the attacks of their enemies were 
 especially directed, and the conflict became more 
 intense than ever. 
 
 In 1566 the emperor Maximilian II. cited the 
 elector Frederick to appear before the diet at Augs- 
 burg ; and the summons was generally believed to 
 be equivalent to his condemnation. His brother, 
 Richard of Simmern, was greatly alarmed, and 
 warned him that it would be safer not to attend the 
 diet ; but he wrote in reply : " I confide in my dear 
 and faithful Father in heaven, trusting that He will 
 employ me as an instrument of His omnipotence to 
 declare His name in these latter days, not only in 
 word but also in deed, to the holy empire of the 
 German nation, as my dear brother-in-law, the late 
 elector duke John Frederick of Saxony, also did ; 
 and though I am not so bold as to compare myself 
 in intellectual strength with the departed elector, I 
 know that the same God who preserved him in the 
 knowledge of His holy Gospel is still living and 
 mighty, and that He will preserve me, a poor weak 
 man, through the power of His Holy Spirit, even 
 though it should cost my blood ; and if it should 
 please my God and Father to grant me this honor, 
 I could never be sufficiently thankful, whether in 
 this world or in the world to come." 
 
FREDERICK III., OI.El'IAN ( S, CRSIXCS. 189 
 
 The appearance of the elector before the diet of 
 Augsburg was an act of the highest courage. 
 Though he was supreme in his own province he 
 was supposed to be powerless in the presence of the 
 emperor and the assembled princes. At first he 
 seemed to have no friends, and it was proposed to 
 exclude him from the terms of the treaty of Augs- 
 burg, unless he signed a complete recantation of 
 his religious views. In Heidelberg it was reported 
 that he had been arrested and executed. It soon, 
 however, became evident that the earnestness and 
 unaffected piety of the elector was making a pro- 
 found impression ; and this effect was increased 
 by several excellent sermons preached by his chap- 
 lain. Finally the emperor formulated a decree 
 commanding Frederick to abstain from introducing 
 '' Calvinistic novelties," and requiring him to re- 
 store to the Roman church the property of certain 
 convents which had been alienated by the civil 
 power. During the discussion of this decree the 
 elector was required to absent himself from the as- 
 sembly ; but after its adoption he re-entered the 
 hall, followed by his son, John Casimir, whom he 
 called his "spiritual armor-bearer," the latter bear- 
 ing the Bible and the Augsburg Confession. On 
 this oacasion he offered the memorable defense in 
 which he declared that he was not concerned for 
 "a cap full of flesh " — by which he meant his own 
 head — but for the salvation of his soul. He said 
 
190 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 that he did not know whether he conld properly be 
 called a Calvinist, for he had never read the works 
 of Calvin ; but he was willing to stand by his cate- 
 chism, which contained the substance of his faith 
 and was so thoroughly fortified by proofs from the 
 Scriptures that it could not be refuted. 
 
 The heroism and devotion of the elector were 
 unmistakable, and the assmbly was deeply im- 
 pressed. After adjournment Augustus of Saxony 
 put his hand on his shoulder and said: "Fritz, 
 thou art more pious than the whole of us !" The 
 Margrave of Baden also said to the assembled 
 princes: '* Why trouble ye the elector? He has 
 more piety than all of us put together." Violent 
 measures were now out of the question ; and a mild 
 resolution was adopted in which it was declared 
 that the elector was in full accordance with the 
 Augsburg Confession in the article of justification 
 by faith, which had caused the schism in the church, 
 and in many other articles, but did not fully accept 
 the article concerning the Lord's Supper. Never- 
 theless, as he had indicated his willingness to yield 
 to proofs taken from the word of God, they (the 
 princes) would in due time seek to convince him of 
 his error. In the mean time they " had no desire 
 to oppress the elector of the Palatinate and others 
 who might vary from the confession in one or more 
 articles, and thus to increase the sufferings of the 
 confessors of Christ." 
 
I-RI'.nr.RICK I If., ()/./■: 17 ANHS, UA\s/Nrs. 191 
 
 On his return to Heidelberg Frederick was re- 
 ceived with the utmost enthusiasm. The ])rinces 
 no lon^^er interfered with his projects of reform, as 
 he liad been tacitly recognized as an adherent of the 
 Augsburg Confession. The Palatinate liturgy, 
 which had been published in the same year with 
 the catechism was generally introduced, and be- 
 came a model for the liturgies of other countries. 
 The elector was respected even by his enemies, and 
 in time was regarded as the political leader of the 
 Protestants of Germany. His second wife, a count- 
 ess of Neuenar, was a sister-in-law of count Eg- 
 mont, who was executed by the cruel duke of 
 Alva ; and she aided him with all her might in pre- 
 paring a refuge for the exiles of Holland. He 
 appealed to the king of France in behalf of the 
 Huguenots ; and after the massacre of St. Bartholo- 
 mew sent his son John Casimir with a company of 
 soldiers to aid Henry of Navarre. Another of his 
 sons lost his life in battle in the Netherlands ; but 
 the father consoled himself wnth the reflection that 
 he had fallen on the field of honor for the cause of 
 God and man. To the emperor, Maximilian H., 
 he personall}^ presented a Spanish Bible, with the 
 words : " Your Majesty, I herewith present you the 
 treasure of treasures ; it contains that heavenly wis- 
 dom which teaches emperors, kings, and princes 
 how they may successfully reign." 
 
192 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 During the latter years of the elector Frederick 
 it was his chief affliction that his eldest son, Louis, 
 whom he had made his representative in the Upper 
 Palatinate, had become alienated through the in- 
 fluence of the high Lutheran party, and was vio- 
 lently opposed to the reforms which his father had 
 introduced. In his own way the son was a devout 
 man ; but it is an illustration of the controversial 
 character of the times that he refused to see his 
 father on his death-bed, for fear that the latter 
 might make him promise to leave the organization 
 of the church unchanged. When the elector Fred- 
 erick felt that his end was approaching he issued 
 an address to his people in which he said : " I have 
 lived long enough for you and for the church, and 
 am now^ summoned to a better life. I have done 
 my best for the church, but have accomplished 
 little. God, who can do all things, and who cared 
 for His church before I was born, lives and reigns 
 in Heaven ; He will not leave you orphans, nor 
 suffer the prayers and tears which I have offered for 
 my successors and the church to remain without a 
 blessing. " At the end of his life he exclaimed : " I 
 have been detained here long enough through the 
 prayers of God's people ; it is time that my life 
 should come to an end and I be gathered into the 
 true rest with my Saviour." He died in his sixty- 
 first year. Among the confessors of the sixteenth 
 century there is none who deserves a more exalted 
 
FRr.ni'.RiCK III., (Uj:i/.L\iJs, ua's/aus. 193 
 
 place tlian Frederick III., elector of the Palatinate. 
 
 To trace the history of the Reformed church of 
 the Palatinate after the death of P^rcderick i.s be- 
 yond our present purpose. It may be said in a 
 general way that Louis IV. sought in every possible 
 way to undo his father's work. His reign of seven 
 years was, however, all too brief to enable him to 
 accomplish his purpose ; and when he died, leaving 
 an infant son, his brother, John Casimir, who became 
 ruler ad intcriin^ at once adopted a different policy. 
 The young prince was educated in the Relormed 
 church, which remained for many years established 
 by law. 
 
 After the Palatinate had led the way a number of 
 German cities and principalities accepted the Re- 
 formed confessions. This was due to the continu- 
 ance of the sacramental controvery in the Lutheran 
 church. It was a period in wdiich theologians 
 reigned, and though many of them w^ere men of 
 the highest order of ability, they manifested a spirit 
 as contentious as that of the secular rulers. Though 
 almost constantly engaged in conflicts among them- 
 selves, the Lutheran leaders were, at least, fairly 
 agreed in their antagonism to Calvinism. The 
 Crypto-Calvinists, or secret Calvinists, were driven 
 out of Saxony, and several of them were actually 
 executed. At last the leading theologians of Ger- 
 many met at the monastery of Bergen, near Magde- 
 burg, and on the 28th of May, 1577, adopted a con- 
 
194 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 fession of faith which was called the "Form of 
 Concord." It was, indeed, intended to promote 
 concord, but only among high-Lutherans. From 
 their point of view it was a work of the highest 
 order ; and there can be no doubt that for profund- 
 ity of thought and acuteness of observation it holds 
 the foremost place among the confessions of Ger- 
 many. It was not, however, a book for the people ; 
 and the spirit engendered by the contentions of the 
 schools is plainly apparent. There was evidently 
 no inclination to conciliate the milder party, who 
 were offensively termed ' ' Sacramentarians, ' ' and 
 sixteen separate articles were devoted to the refu- 
 tation of their doctrines. Naturally enough, all 
 this led to renewed controversy, and the '' Form of 
 Concord" was frequently called a "form of dis- 
 cord. " One by one a considerable number of Ger- 
 man cities and principalities which had hitherto 
 held to the milder form of Lutheranism passed over 
 to the Reformed church. Nassau led the way, in 
 1578, and Bremen, Hanau, Anhalt, Lippe, and part 
 of Hesse followed in rapid succession. The elector, 
 John Sigismund of Brandenburg, from whom the 
 present imperial family of Germany is descended, 
 did not make the change until 1613 ; and with his 
 transition the schism m^ay be said to have been com- 
 pleted. The Lutherans remained, of course, by far 
 the larger and more important body ; but the Re- 
 formed church became the leading ecclesiastical 
 
FREDllRICK ///., OLl'A'IANUS, URSINUS. 1 95 
 
 organization aloni; tlic whole conrse of the Rliine 
 from its source to the ocean. 
 
 The Heidelberg Catechism soon acquired a cer- 
 tain ecumenical character for the Reformed churches 
 on the continent of Europe. It was, indeed, not 
 everywhere employed as a book of instruction for 
 youth ; but as a confession of faith its authority 
 was unquestioned. Though not formally adopted 
 in Great Britain it was several times translated into 
 English ; and its substantial agreement with the 
 confessions of England and Scotland was freely 
 acknowdedged. In Poland and Hungary it was ac- 
 cepted by the Reformed churches ; and in the latter 
 country candidates for the ministry were required 
 to make a ptiblic profession of their purpose to de- 
 fend it against all opponents. 
 
 Holland was, however, the country in which the 
 Heidelberg Catechism was most joyously received, 
 and most earnestly defended. Protestantism had, 
 indeed, been established there at an earlier period. 
 If we desired to trace it to its beginnings we 
 should have to go back to the fourteenth century 
 when the "Brethren of the Common Life" as- 
 sumed a position which was decidedly antagonistic 
 to the pretensions of Rome. Then came the mys- 
 tics — men like Wessel Gansfort and Thomas 
 a Kempis — who led the people away from the 
 barren wastes of scholasticism to the pure fountains 
 of the word of God. The Waldenses had not 
 
196 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 failed to prepare the way for a reformation in faith 
 and practice ; and last of all appeared Erasmus of 
 Rotterdam, who while he attacked the corruption 
 of Rome with keenest satire directed the people to 
 higher ideals of the true, the beautiful, and the 
 good. 
 
 When Luther began the German reformation he 
 found many coadjutors in Holland. In 1523 two 
 young Augustinians, Henry Voes and John Esch, 
 were burned in the public square of Antwerp for 
 their adhesion to evangelical truth. They had the 
 sympathy of the people, and when they were led 
 away to execution the crowd at the windows and 
 on the house-tops called to them to be faithful to 
 the Gospel. In the flames the m.artyrs responsively 
 sang the Te Deum until their voices were hushed 
 in death. In memory of these sufferers Luther 
 composed one of his most beautiful hymns. 
 
 During the earlier years of the Reformation no 
 formal confession of faith was adopted by the Pro- 
 testants of Holland. Gradually, however, the 
 principles of Calvin and A'Lasco became predom- 
 inant,* and in this way the church acquired an in- 
 delible character. In 1559, as we have seen, Guido 
 de Bres composed the Belgic confession ; and in 
 1565 twenty noblemen formed a covenant to resist 
 
 * The earliest Protestant confession of faith in the Dutch language was 
 published by A'L,asco in 1550. Though not formally adopted, it was exten- 
 sively circulated. 
 
FREDERfCK in., OLEVIANUS, URSINUS. 197 
 
 the Spanish iii(|iiisitioii. In 1566 the Heidelberg 
 Catechism was accepted by the synod of Antwerp 
 as ''a form according to the faith ;" in 1568 it was 
 recommended for nse in all churches speaking the 
 Dutch language. Six 3'ears later this adv^ice be- 
 came a formal decree. Finally, at the great synod 
 of Dort, in 161 8, the catechism was declared to be 
 ''accordant in all respects to the word of God." 
 
 That the Heidelberg Catechism was so speedily 
 adopted in Holland was due in great measure to the 
 influence of the elector Frederick of the Palatinate 
 and of his chaplain, Peter Dathenus. The latter, 
 who was a native of Holland, was the first to trans- 
 late the catechism into the Dutch language, and by 
 direction of the elector Frederick, he held synods 
 along the lower Rhine and on the border of Hol- 
 land. At the time of the greatest persecution, in 
 1568, the delegates of the Dutch churches crossed 
 the line and held an important synod on German 
 territory in the city of Wesel, under the presidency 
 of Peter Dathenus. 
 
 The courage and persistence of the Reformed 
 church of Holland during the terrible persecutions 
 of the Spanish rule is one of the marvels of history. 
 At the beginning of the Reformation the sixteen 
 provinces, known by the collective name of the 
 Netherlands, Low Countries or Holland, had been 
 regarded as the most precious possession of the 
 Spanish crow^n. "The whole country," says a 
 
198 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Spanish writer, "seemed to make only a single city, 
 prosperous communities so pressed upon each 
 other." 
 
 The Netherlands had come to Charles V. by in- 
 heritance, and he therefore regarded them as in a 
 peculiar sense his personal possession. In Germany 
 the princes were so powerful that he did not venture 
 to interfere with their religious policy. In Hol- 
 land, on the other hand, he was from the beginning 
 a persecutor, and the victims of his bigotry were 
 numbered by thousands. He was, however, in 
 some respects an intelligent monarch, and in his 
 manner there was a bluff geniality which rendered 
 him popular. He had favored the Flemish mer- 
 chants by opening outlets for their commerce, and 
 was careful to respect the chartered privileges of 
 their cities. Under such circumstances the perse- 
 cuted Protestants were compelled to suffer in 
 silence. It would have been folly to resist when 
 the oppressor was the most popular of rulers. 
 
 With the accession of his son, Philip II., all this 
 was changed. The Flemish nobility lost their credit 
 at court, and every important office was given to a 
 Spanish grandee. The ancient charters were disre- 
 garded and the wealth of the Netherlands w^as 
 given over to Spanish cupidity. Philip has been 
 called "the incarnation of religious bigotry," and 
 to arrest the progress of the new doctrines he estab- 
 lished four new bishoprics which he endowed at 
 
FREPERICK III , OL /:* / 'I A A' ( 'S, URSINl :V 1 99 
 
 the expense of the eountr}-. He deelared tliat he 
 would rather be " a king without subjects than a 
 ruler over heretics." At first he committed the 
 government to his sister Margaret of Parma, but 
 the chief comj^laint of the people was against 
 Cardinal Granvelle, who was intrusted with the 
 establishment of religious unity. In 1566 between 
 three and four hundred nobles piesented to Marga- 
 ret a petition to remove the pressure from the Pro- 
 testant churches. On this occasion the count of 
 Barlaimont remarked in an undertone that the pe- 
 titioners were nothing but " a company of beggars. " 
 This expression was overheard, and the confederacy 
 wliich was subsequently formed was known as '' Les 
 Gueux" or "The Beggars." Though the title 
 was at first given in derision it became profoundly 
 significant when a beggar's wallet was assumed as 
 the emblem of a struggle for liberty, and when 
 " the beggars of the sea" swept the Spanish fleets 
 from the ocean. 
 
 The nobles of the Netherlands temporized v/ith 
 the government in the hope of gaining concessions ; 
 but the people were not to be restrained, and in 
 many places there were mobs which destroyed the 
 images in the churches. Philip now determined 
 to resort to extreme measures, and consequently re- 
 moved Margaret and sent into the Netherlands his 
 best general, Ferdinand of Toledo, who was best 
 known by his title, the duke of Alva. This man 
 
200 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 was especially suited to carry out the purposes of 
 his master. He was cruel by system and never 
 manifested the least sympathy with his victims. 
 Even at the death of his only son he did not ex- 
 hibit the slightest emotion. " Death," he said, " is 
 an every-day matter, and a wise man will not suffer 
 himself to be affected by it." He immediately es- 
 tablished an exceptional court which became known 
 as "the tribunal of blood." The leading nobles 
 were invited to a conference, and counts Egmont 
 and Horn, who unsuspectingly appeared, were ar- 
 rested and executed. William of Orange had also 
 been invited, but he excused himself and retired to 
 his principality. No wonder that Cardinal Gran- 
 velle exclaimed on a subsequent occasion : " If the 
 duke of Alva has not captured the Silent One he 
 has accomplished nothing." 
 
 In accordance with his master's instructions the 
 policy of the duke of Alva was stern and merciless. 
 During the six years in which he ruled the Nether- 
 lands, it is said, eighteen thousand persons were 
 executed, thirty thousand were deprived of their 
 o-oods, and one hundred thousand left the country. 
 This destructive policy did not, however, accom- 
 plish its purpose ; for at the moment when the duke 
 believed he had utterly crushed the city of Brussels 
 the news arrived that the "Beggars" had taken 
 Briel, and that the northern provinces were in arms. 
 Thus beoan a struggle which lasted, with many in- 
 
FRF.niiRiCK Iff., ofj-i'fAxrs, rf^s/Nrs. 201 
 
 termissions, for ei^^hty years, and was entirely con- 
 cluded only when, in i64<S, otlier nations conij^elled 
 Spain to recoj^nize the independence of the Dutch 
 republic. It was, on the part of the Hollanders, 
 one of the grandest and most heroic conflicts in the 
 history of the world. 
 
 For a brief period the southern provinces were 
 active in their opposition to "the Spanish fury ;" 
 but as they were mainly Catholic they fell back 
 under the power of Spain, and subsequently re- 
 mained dependencies of various powers until they 
 were finally incorporated into the kingdom of Bel- 
 gium. 
 
 The success of the northern provinces was due 
 in great measure to the wisdom and endurance of 
 their leader William of Orange. He belonged to a 
 family, originally German, that was established at 
 many places in Europe. He was born at Nassau 
 in Germany and therefore preferred to be called 
 William of Nassau. His principality was a small 
 district which had originally belonged to Burgundy, 
 but had not yet been swallowed up by France, 
 though surrounded by French territory. His 
 estates in the Netherlands were, however, worth far 
 more than his little principality. He is called 
 "the silent," not from his taciturnity, for he was 
 pleasant and talkative, but because he showed ex- 
 traordinary wisdom in keeping his own counsel. 
 Great in reverses — like Colieni, whose dau^rhter he 
 
202 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 had married — none knew better than he how to 
 profit by the least success. Surrounded by spies, 
 he kept his own counsel ; accused by enemies of 
 crimes of which he was innocent, he bore all his 
 trials with calmness and in silence. The foremost 
 generals in Europe attacked him at the head of 
 Spanish armies, but they succeeded only in pro- 
 longing the existing struggle. Though fully aware 
 that he was in constant danger of assassination he 
 walked through the streets of Dutch cities, and 
 listened to the grievances of the people. He was 
 even then called " the father of his country ;" and 
 to this day his memory is cherished with filial affec- 
 tion. 
 
 Philip offered a reward of twenty-five thousand 
 gold crowns and a patent of nobility to any one 
 who should kill the prince of Orange, and at last 
 he succeeded in his wicked purpose. A Burgun- 
 dian, named Balthasar Gerard, had gained the con- 
 fidence of the prince, but seized the first oppor- 
 tunity to assassinate him as he was coming down 
 the stairway of his palace at Delft (July lo, 1584). 
 His last thoughts turned towards the sufferings of 
 his countrymen. "Lord have pity on my soul," 
 he prayed, "and on this poor people." The mur- 
 derer was arrested and executed, but Philip kept 
 his promise and his heirs received the reward of the 
 crime. 
 
FRI'lPF.RfCK III , ( )A /•; V/Ai\ (LS, (rRSINUS. 203 
 
 Williaiirs death was a j^^reat l^low to the national 
 cause, and for a time the Hollanders were utterly 
 discouraged. The office of stadtholder was, how- 
 ever, conferred upon Maurice, the <;ifte(l son of the 
 slain leader. He was but seventeen years old, but 
 immediately manifested extraordinary military 
 genius, and successfully carried on the war in ac- 
 cordance with his father's plans. For over forty 
 3^ears he was the champion of the United Provinces, 
 and it cannot be doubted that he ranks next to his 
 father as a founder of the Dutch republic. Unfor- 
 tunately, though he personally cared little for 
 theological questions he took a prominent part in 
 the great controversies of the times, apparently for 
 the purpose of increasing his influence and authority. 
 The great controvers}- of the Gomarists and Armin- 
 ians was thus greatly embittered ; and though 
 Maurice succeeded in crushing the Remonstrants, 
 it has been said that " his later years were stained 
 by a deplorable triumph." 
 
 In the midst of these conflicts — in 161 8 — the 
 famous synod of Dort was held. It was convened 
 by the States-General of Holland, for the purpose 
 of settling religious questions, and was the largest 
 and most important council ever held by the Re- 
 formed churches. In one sense it was a national 
 assembly ; but in another it was general, for almost 
 all the national Reformed churches of Europe were 
 invited to send delegates, and all of them, except 
 
204 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 one or two of the minor German states, accepted 
 the invitation. The king of France, however, for- 
 bade the attendance of French delegates ; and 
 James I. of England, sent five representatives of 
 the established church of England, but refused to 
 permit the attendance of delegates from the church 
 of Scotland. The canons, or decrees, adopted by 
 the synod of Dort are, however, regarded as the 
 best representation of what is known as the Cal- 
 vinistic system, and for the church of Holland they 
 became normal. In Germany they were not so 
 favorably received, and Frederick William, the 
 great elector of Brandenburg, actually w^ent so far 
 as to declare them "an apple of discord," and to 
 forbid their promulgation in his dominions. The 
 Heidelberg Catechism, however, remained a com- 
 mon bond of union for the churches of Germany 
 and Holland. 
 
 It has been said that the confessions of the Re- 
 formed church are all variations of a single theme, 
 and that their differences depend upon the extent to 
 which the Augustinian and Calvinistic principles 
 were carried out. They did not necessarily lead to 
 disagreement. The attention of the churches of 
 Germany and Holland was directed to different as- 
 pects of the truth, but they met in Christ at the 
 centre. 
 
 In the Palatinate, especially, the Reformed were 
 brought into intimate relations with the Luth- 
 
FREDERICK III. , OL E I '/ANUS, URSINf 'S. 205 
 
 crans, and it Ix-oan to be believed that tlie 
 difFerenc'js between the chnrches were not irrecon- 
 cilable. They were made to snfTer to,i;ethcr, and it 
 was but natural that they should become more 
 closely allied. For nearly a century the c(juntr\- 
 was trodden under the feet of contending armies, 
 and the fairest country in Europe became almost a 
 wilderness. The electoral house chano^ed its religion 
 no less than four times in as many reigns, and those 
 who were not wdlliug to follow their rulers in their 
 tergiversation were relentlessly oppressed. 
 
 In the mean time the church of Rome was using 
 every possible means to recover its lost ground. By 
 the terms of the celebrated "secret article" of the 
 treaty of Westphalia, 1648, the imperial govern- 
 ment pledged itself to maintain Roman Catholic 
 worship wherever there were people who desired it ; 
 and troops of Jesuits traversed the valley of the 
 Rhine, seeking claimants for the emperor's bounty. 
 Under such conditions dissension among Protest- 
 ants must have proved utterly disastrous. 
 
 In the mean time there grew up in the Reformed 
 church a school of theology which was devout rather 
 than polemic. It cared less for decrees than for 
 covenants, and sought to be biblical rather than 
 scholastic. Coccejus, a native of Bremen, was re- 
 garded as its founder, but he himself declared that 
 he had derived his theology from the writings of 
 Olevianus. He was followed by a long line of dis- 
 
2o6 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION. 
 
 tinguished teachers — such as Burmann, Witsins, 
 Lampe and Vitringa — whose names and labors are 
 still gratefully remembered. Under the influence 
 of their teachings the inclination towards Christian 
 union which, ever since the days of Zwingli, has 
 characterized the Reformed church, was revived 
 and extended. 
 
 The ereat religious movement known as Pietism 
 may be said to have resulted in the transformation 
 of the German churches. Its chief leader, Philip 
 Jacob Spener, was a Lutheran, but he had many 
 coadjutors in the Reformed church, among whom 
 Theodore Untereyck was perhaps the most promi- 
 nent. It is true, of course, that the term Pietist 
 has been greatly misused — being commonly ap- 
 plied to fanatical sectarians who should rather be 
 called Mystics — but in a more extended sense it may 
 properly be employed as a general term for all who, 
 during the great religious revival of the seventeenth 
 and eighteenth centuries devoted themselves to the 
 cultivation of the inner life. In 1691 the Pietists 
 founded the university of Halle, and many Re- 
 formed as well as Lutheran preachers were educated 
 there. As a natural result of their preaching the 
 church began to regard personal religious exper- 
 ience as of more importance than rigid adherence 
 to doctrinal symbols. It was a period of religious 
 enthusiasm, and gave birth to a multitude of sacred 
 poets, among whom, in the Reformed church, may 
 
i'Ri:ni-:RicK in., ol/'.i'iani's, {/A'S/nts. 207 
 
 be incntioiicd Joacliiiii Ncaiidcr, Cicrliard Tcrstec- 
 gen, the Zollikofers, Stilling, and Lavater. 
 
 Every student of history can tell the story of the 
 French invasion of the Palatinate, in 1689, of 
 which the ruins of the splendid castle at Heidel- 
 berg are an abiding memorial. It is said that Louis 
 XIV. entertained the foolish notion that he could 
 protect his country by transforming the Rhine 
 country into a broad band of desert. He at least 
 succeeded in rendering himself infamous to all suc- 
 ceeding generations. Then began the great migra- 
 tion to other lands which — stimulated by wars and 
 resultant poverty — continued throughout the greater 
 part of the eighteenth century. It is from this 
 migration that the Reformed church in the United 
 States is mainly derived. 
 
 In Prussia the Reformed and Lutheran churches 
 were, in 181 7, consolidated into a single body 
 known as the Evangelical church. There was to 
 be no confessional change — individuals were to 
 remain Lutheran or Reformed as they had been 
 before, but congregations which declined to enter 
 the union were deprived of government patronage. 
 This "Church Union" has gradually made its 
 way throughout Germany, and now includes most 
 of the churches which were originally Reformed. 
 In some localities confessional distinctions have 
 been almost obliterated, but in others^ the inter- 
 ference of the government has revived them. 
 
2o8 LEADERS OF THE REFORMATION, 
 
 There are still some groups of churches which re- 
 gard themselves as distinctively Reformed, and 
 these are, of course, closely attached to their ancient 
 confessions. 
 
 In Switzerland and Holland the Reformed church 
 is by law established. It is well organized in 
 France and Austria-Hungary, and has scattered 
 cono-regrations in other lands. In America there 
 are two Reformed churches, the one of Dutch and 
 the other of German origin. Altogether the num- 
 ber of adherents of the Reformed confession is not 
 less than ten millions. Though it has been ac- 
 counted one of the minor branches of Protestant- 
 ism, its history clearly illustrates the truth that "a 
 threefold cord is not quickly broken." No other 
 denomination of Christians has endured such dread- 
 ful persecutions ; and its continued existence is one 
 of the wonders of history. Among its chosen em- 
 blems have been the burning bush, the lily among 
 the thorns, the ship driven by the winds and the 
 anchor turned heavenward. The appropriateness 
 of these emblems cannot be doubted ; but we prefer 
 to them all the device on the seal of an ancient 
 church — a rising sun, with the motto: "After 
 Darkness cometh Light." 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A'Lasco, 176, 1S5, 196. 
 
 Alva, Duke of, 199-200. 
 
 Anabaptists, 90. 
 
 All)crt of IMagclchiirsj^^ 54. 
 
 Alexander V., pope, 28. 
 
 Alexander VI., pope, 49. 
 
 Angelo, Michael, 49. 
 
 Antwerp, 120, 196, 197. 
 
 Albigenses, 10. 
 
 Ancillon, 105. 
 
 Amiinians, 203. 
 
 Avignon, 23, 107. 
 
 Augsburg Confession, 69, 173. 
 
 Augustine, 20, 
 
 Bartholomew, St., 125-127. 
 
 Baume, Pierre de la, iot. 
 
 " Black Death," 24- 
 
 Brandenburg, John Sigismund 
 of, 194. 
 
 Brandenburg, Frederick Will- 
 iam of, 204. 
 
 Brenz, 171. 
 
 " Beggars, The," 199. 
 
 Briconnet, 107. 
 
 Bohemia, 16, 18. 
 
 Bohmischbrod, 36. 
 
 Boleyn, Anne, 135, 142. 
 
 Bologna, 27. 
 
 Bonnivard, 107. 
 
 Bora, Catharine von, 65. 
 
 Bothwell, Harl of, 165. 
 
 Bourbon, 121. 
 
 Bucer, 148, 171. 
 
 Bulgari, 10. 
 
 Bullinger, irenr>-, 97, 98, 147, 
 162. 
 
 Canipeggio, 137. 
 
 Cranmer, 114, 137-152. 
 
 Cajetan, 56. 
 
 Calixtines, 35. 
 
 Calvin, John, 100, 103-118, 162. 
 
 Cauvin, Gerard, 105. 
 
 Charlemagne, 9. 
 
 Catharine of Arragon, 134-141. 
 
 Catharine de Medici, 120-126. 
 
 Charles III., Savoy, loi. 
 
 Charles IX., France, 121. 
 
 Charles V., Germany, 198. 
 
 Chatillon, 123. 
 
 Cappel, battle of, 96, 97. 
 
 Carlstadt, 63, 90. 
 
 Cartright, Thomas, 156. 
 
 Clement V., pope, 23, 136. 
 
 Czechs, 16, 19. 
 
 Cevennes, 129. 
 
 Chillon, loi. 
 
 Coccejus, 205. 
 
 Colet, 10, 131. 
 
 Coligni, 123-127, 201. 
 
 Colouna, 24, 27. 
 
 Cossa, 26. 
 
 Constance, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30, 32, 
 
 38. 
 Cordatus, 105. 
 
 Cross, Church under the, 109. 
 Cop, Nicholas, no. 
 Conde, Louis of , 121, 126. 
 Cotta, Ursula, 42. 
 
2IO 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Cromwell, Thomas, 136, 137. 
 Conservatives, 11. 
 Crusades, 8. 
 Cry^pto-Calvinists, 193. 
 
 D'Ailly, 10, 106. 
 D'Albret, Jeamie, 121, 122. 
 Dante, 10. 
 
 Darnley, Henry, 164. 
 Dathenus, Peter, 197. 
 DeBure, Idelette, 113. 
 Dort, Synod of, 203. 
 
 Erasmus, 10, 47, 67, 83. 
 
 Erastus, Thomas, t8i. 
 
 Eckhart, Master, 12. 
 
 Eck, John, 56 
 
 Edward III., England, 20. 
 
 Edward VI., 145, 146, 149. 
 
 Eidgenossen, loi, 109. 
 
 Einsiedlen, 81. 
 
 Eisleben, 39, 40, 70. 
 
 Eisenach, 42. 
 
 Elizabeth of England, 125, 154. 
 
 Erfurt, 43, 45, 47. 
 
 Esch, John, 196. 
 
 Evangelical church, 207. 
 
 Fagius, 148. 
 
 Francis I., France, 107, 120. 
 
 Francis II,, 121. 
 
 Farel, William, 102-104. 
 
 Ferdinand, Spain, 134. 
 
 Ferrara, Duchess of, 112, 117. 
 
 Frederick " the Wise," 51. 
 
 Frederick "the Pious," ^ 75-193. 
 
 "Friends of God," 11. 
 
 Form of Concord, 194. 
 
 Frundsberg, George, 60. 
 
 Glarus, 79. 
 Geneva, 100- 119. 
 Gerson, 10, 25, 106. 
 Granvelle, Cardinal, 200. 
 Gregory the Great, 8. 
 Grey, Lady Jane, 149. 
 Gomarists, 203. 
 Goudimel, 127. 
 Grynaeus, 147. 
 Gualter, Rudolph, 147. 
 Guido de Bres, 1 20, 196. 
 
 Hamilton, Patrick, 158. 
 Heidelberg, 171. 
 Heidelberg Catechism, 181-197, 
 Henry II., France, 120. 
 Henry III., France, 121. 
 Henry IV., France, 122-129. 
 Henry VII., England, 132, 133. 
 Henry VIII., England, 64, 132- 
 
 144. 
 Herman V., of Cologne, 148, 
 Heshusius, 177, 179. 
 " Hidden Seed," 36. 
 Holland, 96, 195-204. 
 Huguenots, 107, 109, :20, 127- 
 
 130, 191. 
 Himianists, 12, S3, 131. 
 Huss, John, 7-34. 
 Hutten, Ulrich von, 69. 
 
 Institutes, Calvin's, iii. 
 Ivry, battle of, 127. 
 Janow, Matthias of, 22. 
 Jarnac, battle of , 122. 
 John Casimir, 186, 189, 193. 
 John XXII., pope, 23. 
 John XXIII. , pope, 26. 
 
INDEX 
 
 211 
 
 Jonas, Justus, 143. 
 Juda, Leo, S7. 
 Julius II., pope, 49. 
 
 Kempis, Thomas a, 12, 47. 
 
 Kessler, John, 64. 
 
 Klebitz, 179. 
 
 Knonau, Meyer von, 88. 
 
 Knox, John, 114, 146, 159-169. 
 
 Ladislaus, 26, 27. 
 
 Langside, 165. 
 
 Latimer, Bishop, 150. 
 
 La Ferriere, 11 8. 
 
 La Riviere, 119. 
 
 Lavater, 207. 
 
 Lefevre des Etaples, 107. 
 
 Leman, Lake, jog. 
 
 Leo X., pope, 49, 52, 86. 
 
 Liberalists, 11-13. 
 
 Libertines, 115. 
 
 Lissieux, 126. 
 
 Lollards, 21. 
 
 Louis XIV., France, 129. 
 
 Luther, Martin, 39-74, 87. 
 
 Luther, Hans, 39, 41, 44, 45. 
 
 Luther, Jacob, 39. 
 
 Luzerne, 97. 
 
 Mansfeld, 70. 
 
 Magdeburg, 42. 
 
 Mamelukes, loi. 
 
 Margeret of Navarre, 107, no 
 
 Margaret of Parma, 199. 
 
 Martin V , pope, 27. 
 
 Marat, Clement, 117. 
 
 Martyr, Peter, 148. 
 
 Mary of England, 135, 150-153 
 
 Mary of Scotland, [61-165. 
 
 Maurice, Prince, 203. 
 Maximilian II., iSS. 
 Meinrad, St., 81. 
 Millitz, Charles de, 56 
 Melancthon, Philip, 58, 59, 93- 
 
 96, 117, 173-185. 
 Mohra, 40, 61. 
 Mont, Chri.stopher, 147 
 Mommors, 105. 
 Montmorency, 123. 
 Moravians, 36. 
 More, Sir Thomas, 131, 141. 
 Morgarten, battle, 73. 
 Miinzer, Thomas, 90. 
 Myconius, Oswald, 77. 
 Mystics, 12, 83. 
 
 Neander, Joachim, 207. 
 Neuser, iSi. 
 Nominalism, 12. 
 Noyon, 105. 
 
 Orange, William of, 200-203. 
 Oecolampadius, 94, 102, in. 
 Olevianus, 182-184. 
 Ochino, 148. 
 Osiander, 138. 
 Otto, Henry, 175. 
 Oxford, 20, 131. 
 
 Palatinate, 170-204. 
 Prague, 17, 18, 32. 
 Pfaffers, 85. 
 Petrarch, 10. 
 Peasant War, 65, 68. 
 Philip of Hesse, 93, 171. 
 Philip II., Spain, 153, 148, 202. 
 Philip le Bel, France, 107. 
 Piedmont, 11. 
 
212 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Pole, Cardinal, 152. 
 Procopius, 35. 
 
 Rabelais, 127. 
 Ramee, Pierre, 127. 
 Recliberg, Conrad von, 81. 
 Realism, 12. 
 
 Reformatory Councils, 25, 
 Reuchlin, 38. 
 Richelieu, 129. 
 Ridley, Bishop, 150. 
 Rienzi, 24, 
 Rochelle, 124, 126. 
 
 Sacramentarians, 93, 95. 
 Samson, 89. 
 Sancerre, 126. 
 Scotland, 156. 
 Schinner, Cardinal, 82. 
 Schoenbrunner, C7. 
 Seneca, 109. 
 Serv^etus, 115-116. 
 Shakspeare, 10. 
 
 Sigismund, Emperor, 28, 60. 
 
 Simmern, 177. 
 
 Sickingen, 69, 171, 
 
 Somerset, 144 
 
 Sorbonne, 108. 
 
 Spalatin, 60. 
 
 Spener, 206. 
 
 Spenser, 10. 
 
 Stekno, 22. 
 
 St. Peter's church, 53. 
 
 Staupitz, 46, 48, 51. 
 
 Stilling, 207. 
 
 Strasburg, 113. 
 
 St. German, 124. 
 
 St. Victor, 106. 
 
 Switzerland, 72-76, 96. 
 
 Taborites, 35. 
 
 Tauler, John, 12, 47. 
 
 "Table Talk," 67. 
 
 Tell, William, 73. 
 
 Tersteegen, 207. 
 
 Tetzel, John, 54-55. 
 
 Theodoric, 9 
 
 Tillet, Louis du, 104. 
 
 Tulchan bishops, 166 
 
 Untereyck, Theodore, 206. 
 
 Ursinus, Zacharias, 184, !85. 
 
 Viretus, Peter, 25. 
 
 Voes, Henry, 196 
 
 Vokinger, Captain, 97 
 
 Waldenses, 10, 11, 195. 
 
 Walloons, 120 
 
 Wartburg, 62-63. 
 
 Wessel, Gansfort, 195. 
 
 Westphal, 177. 
 
 Wildhaus, 76. 
 
 Winckelried, 73. 
 
 Winceslaus, Emperor, 17, 19, 28, 
 
 34. 
 Wishart, George, 159. 
 Wittenberg, 55, 57, 62-64. 
 Walmar, Melchoir, 106 
 W^olsey, Cardinal, 136. 
 Worms, Diet of, 60 
 Wycliffe, 20-23, 37, 131- 
 Wyttenbach, Thomas, 78. 
 
 Ziska, John, 34-35. 
 Zwickau Prophets, 63. 
 Zwingli, Ulric, 76-99. 102, 172. 
 Zwingli, Bartholomew, 78. 
 Zwingli, Regula, 89, 147. 
 Zurich, 84, 90, 147. 
 Zurich Consensus, 177. 
 
931.8 
 
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