Table of Contents
PREFACE
BOOK FIRST PROGRESS FROM THE FIRST TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY
CHAPTER 1 PROTESTANTISM
CHAPTER 2 DECLENSION OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
CHAPTER 3 DEVELOPMENT OF THE PAPACY FROM THE TIMES OF CONSTANTINE TO THOSE OF HILDEBRAND
CHAPTER 4 DEVELOPMENT OF THE PAPACY FROM GREGORY VII. TO BONIFACE VIII
CHAPTER 5 MEDIAEVAL PROTESTANT WITNESSES
CHAPTER 6 THE WALDENSES — THEIR VALLEYS
CHAPTER 7 THE WALDENSES — THEIR MISSIONS AND MARTYRDOMS
CHAPTER 8 THE PAULICIANS
CHAPTER 9 CRUSADES AGAINST THE ALBIGENSES
CHAPTER 10 ERECTION OF TRIBUNAL OF INQUISITION
CHAPTER 11 PROTESTANTS BEFORE PROTESTANTISM
CHAPTER 12 ABELARD, AND RISE OF MODERN SKEPTICISM
BOOK SECOND WICLIFFE AND HIS TIMES, OR ADVENT OF PROTESTANTISM
CHAPTER 1 WICLIFFE: HIS BIRTH AND EDUCATION
CHAPTER 2 WICLIFFE, AND THE POPE'S ENCROACHMENTS ON ENGLAND
CHAPTER 3 WICLIFFE'S BATTLE WITH ROME FOR ENGLAND'S INDEPENDENCE
CHAPTER 4 WICLIFFE'S BATTLE WITH THE MENDICANT FRIARS
CHAPTER 5 THE FRIARS VERSUS THE GOSPEL IN ENGLAND
CHAPTER 6 THE BATTLE OF THE PARLIAMENT WITH THE POPE
CHAPTER 7 PERSECUTION OF WICLIFFE BY THE POPE AND THE HIERARCHY
CHAPTER 8 HIERARCHICAL PERSECUTION OF WICLIFFE RESUMED
CHAPTER 9 WICLIFFE'S VIEWS ON CHURCH PROPERTY AND CHURCH REFORM
CHAPTER 10 THE TRANSLATION OF THE SCRIPTURES, OR THE ENGLISH BIBLE
CHAPTER 11 WICLIFFE AND TRANSUBSTANTIATION
CHAPTER 12 WICLIFFE'S APPEAL TO PARLIAMENT
CHAPTER 13 WICLIFFE BEFORE CONVOCATION IN PERSON, AND BEFORE THE ROMAN CURIA BY LETTER
CHAPTER 14 WICLIFFE'S LAST DAYS
CHAPTER 15 WICLIFFE'S THEOLOGICAL AND CHURCH SYSTEM
BOOK THIRD JOHN HUSS AND THE HUSSITE WARS
CHAPTER 1 BIRTH, EDUCATION, AND FIRST LABOURS OF HUSS
CHAPTER 2 HUSS BEGINS HIS WARFARE AGAINST ROME
CHAPTER 3 GROWING OPPOSITION OF HUSS TO ROME
CHAPTER 4 PREPARATIONS FOR THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE
CHAPTER 5 DEPOSITION OF THE RIVAL POPES
CHAPTER 6 IMPRISONMENT AND EXAMINATION OF HUSS
CHAPTER 7 CONDEMNATION AND MARTYRDOM OF HUSS
CHAPTER 8 WICLIFFE AND HUSS COMPARED IN THEIR THEOLOGY, THEIR CHARACTER, AND THEIR LABOURS
CHAPTER 9 TRIAL AND TEMPTATION OF JEROME
CHAPTER 10 THE TRIAL OF JEROME
CHAPTER 11 CONDEMNATION AND BURNING OF JEROME
CHAPTER 12 WICLIFFE, HUSS, AND JEROME, OR THE FIRST THREE WITNESSES OF MODERN CHRISTENDOM
CHAPTER 13 THE HUSSITE WARS
CHAPTER 14 COMMENCEMENT OF THE HUSSITE WARS
CHAPTER 15 MARVELLOUS GENIUS OF ZISKA AS A GENERAL
CHAPTER 16 SECOND CRUSADE AGAINST BOHEMIA
CHAPTER 17 BRILLIANT SUCCESSES OF THE HUSSITES
CHAPTER 18 THE COUNCIL OF BASLE
CHAPTER 19 LAST SCENES OF THE BOHEMIAN REFORMATION
BOOK FOURTH CHRISTENDOM AT THE OPENING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
CHAPTER 1 PROTESTANTISM AND MEDIEVALISM
CHAPTER 2 THE EMPIRE
CHAPTER 3 THE PAPACY, OR CHRISTENDOM UNDER THE TIARA
BOOK FIFTH HISTORY OF PROTESTANTISM IN GERMANY TO THE LEIPSIC DISPUTATION, 1519
CHAPTER 1 LUTHER'S BIRTH, CHILDHOOD, AND SCHOOL-DAYS
CHAPTER 2 LUTHER'S COLLEGE LIFE
CHAPTER 3 LUTHER'S LIFE IN THE CONVENT
CHAPTER 4 LUTHER THE MONK BECOMES LUTHER THE REFORMER
CHAPTER 5 LUTHER AS PRIEST, PROFESSOR, AND PREACHER
CHAPTER 6 LUTHER'S JOURNEY TO ROME
CHAPTER 7 LUTHER IN ROME
CHAPTER 8 TETZEL PREACHES INDULGENCES
CHAPTER 9 THE "THESES"
CHAPTER 10 LUTHER ATTACKED BY TETZEL, PRIERIO, AND ECK
CHAPTER 11 LUTHER'S JOURNEY TO AUGSBURG
CHAPTER 12 LUTHER'S APPEARANCE BEFORE CARDINAL CAJETAN
CHAPTER 13 LUTHER'S RETURN TO WITTEMBERG AND LABOURS THERE
CHAPTER 14 MILTITZ — CARLSTADT — DR. ECK
CHAPTER 15 THE LEIPSIC DISPUTATION
BOOK SIXTH FROM THE LEIPSIC DISPUTATION TO THE DIET AT WORMS, 1521
CHAPTER 1 PROTESTANTISM AND IMPERIALISM; OR, THE MONK AND THE MONARCH
CHAPTER 2 POPE LEO'S BULL
CHAPTER 3 INTERVIEWS AND NEGOTIATIONS
CHAPTER 4 LUTHER SUMMONED TO THE DIET AT WORMS
CHAPTER 5 LUTHER'S JOURNEY AND ARRIVAL AT WORMS
CHAPTER 6 LUTHER BEFORE THE DIET AT WORMS
CHAPTER 7 LUTHER PUT UNDER THE BAN OF THE EMPIRE
BOOK SEVENTH PROTESTANTISM IN ENGLAND, FROM THE TIMES OF WICLIFFE TO THOSE OF HENRY VIII
CHAPTER 1 THE FIRST PROTESTANT MARTYRS IN ENGLAND
CHAPTER 2 THE THEOLOGY OF THE EARLY ENGLISH PROTESTANTS
CHAPTER 3 GROWTH OF ENGLISH PROTESTANTISM
CHAPTER 4 EFFORTS FOR THE REDISTRIBUTION OF ECCLESIASTICAL PROPERTY
CHAPTER 5 TRIAL AND CONDEMNATION OF SIR JOHN OLDCASTLE
CHAPTER 6 LOLLARDISM DENOUNCED AS TREASON
CHAPTER 7 MARTYRDOM OF LORD COBHAM
CHAPTER 8 LOLLARDISM UNDER HENRY V. AND HENRY VI
CHAPTER 9 ROME'S ATTEMPT TO REGAIN DOMINANCY IN ENGLAND
CHAPTER 10 RESISTANCE TO PAPAL ENCROACHMENTS
CHAPTER 11 INFLUENCE OF THE WARS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY ON THE PROGRESS OF PROTESTANTISM
BOOK EIGHTH HISTORY OF PROTESTANTISM IN SWITZERLAND FROM A.D. 1516 TO ITS ESTABLISHMENT AT ZURICH, 1525
CHAPTER 1 SWITZERLAND – THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE
CHAPTER 2 CONDITION OF SWITZERLAND PRIOR TO THE REFORMATION
CHAPTER 3 CORRUPTION OF THE SWISS CHURCH
CHAPTER 4 ZWINGLI'S BIRTH AND SCHOOL-DAYS
CHAPTER 5 ZWINGLI'S PROGRESS TOWARDS EMANCIPATION
CHAPTER 6 ZWINGLI IN PRESENCE OF THE BIBLE
CHAPTER 7 EINSIEDELN AND ZURICH
CHAPTER 8 THE PARDON-MONGER AND THE PLAGUE
CHAPTER 9 EXTENSION OF THE REFORMATION TO BERN AND OTHER SWISS TOWNS
CHAPTER 10 SPREAD OF PROTESTANTISH IN EASTERN SWITZERLAND
CHAPTER 11 THE QUESTION OF FORBIDDEN MEATS
CHAPTER 12 PUBLIC DISPUTATION AT ZURICH
CHAPTER 13 DISSOLUTION OF CONVENTUAL AND MONASTIC ESTABLISHMENTS
CHAPTER 14 DISCUSSION ON IMAGES AND THE MASS
CHAPTER 15 ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANTISM IN ZURICH
BOOK NINTH HISTORY OF PROTESTANTISM FROM THE DIET OF WORMS, 1521, TO THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION, 1530
CHAPTER 1 THE GERMAN NEW TESTAMENT
CHAPTER 2 THE ABOLITION OF THE MASS
CHAPTER 3 POPE ADRIAN AND HIS SCHEME OF REFORM
CHAPTER 4 POPE CLEMENT AND THE NUREMBERG DIET
CHAPTER 5 NUREMBERG. (THIS CHAPTER IS FOUNDED ON NOTES MADE ON THE SPOT BY THE AUTHOR IN 1871)
CHAPTER 6 THE RATISBON LEAGUE AND REFORMATION
CHAPTER 7 LUTHER'S VIEWS ON THE SACRAMENT AND IMAGE-WORSHIP
CHAPTER 8 WAR OF THE PEASANTS
CHAPTER 9 THE BATTLE OF PAVIA AND ITS INFLUENCE ON PROTESTANTISM
CHAPTER 10 DIETAT SPIRES, 1526, AND LEAGUE AGAINST THE EMPEROR
CHAPTER 11 THE SACK OF ROME
CHAPTER 12 ORGANIZATION OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
CHAPTER 13 CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH OF HESSE
CHAPTER 14 POLITICS AND PRODIGIES
CHAPTER 15 THE GREAT PROTEST
CHAPTER 16 CONFERENCE AT MARBURG
CHAPTER 17 THE MARBURG CONFESSION
CHAPTER 18 THE EMPEROR, THE TURK, AND THE REFORMATION
CHAPTER 19 MEETING BETWEEN THE EMPEROR AND POPE AT BOLOGNA
CHAPTER 20 PREPARATIONS FOR THE AUGSBURG DIET
CHAPTER 21 ARRIVAL OF THE EMPEROR AT AUGSBURG AND OPENING OF THE DIET
CHAPTER 22 LUTHER IN THE COBURG AND MELANCHTHON AT THE DIET
CHAPTER 23 READING OF THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION
CHAPTER 24 AFTER THE DIET OF AUGSBURG
CHAPTER 25 ATTEMPTED REFUTATION OF THE CONFESSION
CHAPTER 26 END OF THE DIET OF AUGSBURG
CHAPTER 27 A RETROSPECT — 1517-1530 — PROGRESS
BOOK TENTH RISE AND ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANTISM IN SWEDEN AND DENMARK
CHAPTER 1 CAUSES THAT INFLUENCED THE RECEPTION OR REJECTION OF PROTESTANTISM IN THE VARIOUS COUNTRIES
CHAPTER 2 FORTUNES OF PROTESTANTISM IN ITALY, SPAIN, AND BRITAIN
CHAPTER 3 INTRODUCTION OF PROTESTANTISM INTO SWEDEN
CHAPTER 4 CONFERENCE AT UPSALA
CHAPTER 5 ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANTISM IN SWEDEN
CHAPTER 6 PROTESTANTISM IN SWEDEN, FROM VASA (1530) TO CHARLES IX. (1604)
CHAPTER 7 INTRODUCTION OF PROTESTANTISM INTO DENMARK
CHAPTER 8 CHURCH-SONG IN DENMARK
CHAPTER 9 ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANTISM IN DENMARK
CHAPTER 10 PROTESTANTISM UNDER CHRISTIAN III., AND ITS EXTENSION TO NORWAY AND ICELAND
BOOK ELEVENTH PROTESTANTISM IN SWITZERLAND FROM ITS ESTABLISHMENT IN ZURICH (1525) TO THE DEATH OF ZWINGLI (1531)
CHAPTER 1 ZWINGLI – HIS DOCTRINE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER
CHAPTER 2 DISPUTATION AT BADEN AND ITS RESULTS
CHAPTER 3 OUTBREAK AND SUPPRESSION OF ANABAPTISM IN SWITZERLAND
CHAPTER 4 ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANTISM AT BERN
CHAPTER 5 REFORMATION CONSUMMATED IN BASLE
CHAPTER 6 LEAGUE OF THE FIVE CANTONS WITH AUSTRIA — SWITZERLAND DIVIDED
CHAPTER 7 ARMS — NEGOTIATIONS — PEACE
CHAPTER 8 PROPOSED CHRISTIAN REPUBLIC FOR DEFENCE OF CIVIL RIGHTS
CHAPTER 9 GATHERING OF A SECOND STORM
CHAPTER 10 DEATH OF ZWINGLI
BOOK TWELFTH PROTESTANTISM IN GERMANY FROM THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION TO THE PEACE OF PASSAU
CHAPTER 1 THE SCHMALKALD LEAGUE
CHAPTER 2 THE GERMAN ANABAPTISTS, OR THE "HEAVENLY KINGDOM"
CHAPTER 3 ACCESSION OF PRINCES AND STATES TO PROTESTANTISM
CHAPTER 4 DEATH AND BURIAL OF LUTHER
CHAPTER 5 THE SCHMALKALD WAR, AND DEFEAT OF THE PROTESTANTS
CHAPTER 6 THE "INTERIM" – RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANTISM
BOOK THIRTEENTH FROM RISE OF PROTESTANTISM IN FRANCE (1510) TO PUBLICATION OF THE INSTITUTES (1536)
CHAPTER 1 THE DOCTOR OF ETAPLES, THE FIRST PROTESTANT TEACHER IN FRANCE
CHAPTER 2 FAREL, BRICONNET, AND THE EARLY REFORMERS OF FRANCE
CHAPTER 3 THE FIRST PROTESTANT CONGREGATION OF FRANCE
CHAPTER 4 COMMENCEMENT OF PERSECUTION IN FRANCE
CHAPTER 5 THE FIRST MARTYRS OF FRANCE
CHAPTER 6 CALVIN: HIS BIRTH AND EDUCATION
CHAPTER 7 CALVIN'S CONVERSION
CHAPTER 8 CALVIN BECOMES A STUDENT OF LAW
CHAPTER 9 CALVIN THE EVANGELIST, AND BERQUIN THE MARTYR
CHAPTER 10 CALVIN AT PARIS, AND FRANCIS NEGOTIATING WITH GERMANY AND ENGLAND
CHAPTER 11 THE GOSPEL PREACHED IN PARIS — A MARTYR
CHAPTER 12 CALVIN'S FLIGHT FROM PARIS
CHAPTER 13 FIRST PROTESTANT ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER IN FRANCE
CHAPTER 14 CATHERINE DE MEDICI
CHAPTER 15 MARRIAGE OF HENRY OF FRANCE TO CATHERINE DE MEDICI
CHAPTER 16 MELANCTHON'S PLAN FOR UNITING WITTEMBERG AND ROME
CHAPTER 17 PLAN OF FRANCIS I. FOR COMBINING LUTHERANISM AND ROMANISM
CHAPTER 18 FIRST DISCIPLES OF THE GOSPEL IN PARIS
CHAPTER 19 THE NIGHT OF THE PLACARDS
CHAPTER 20 MARTYRS AND EXILES
CHAPTER 21 OTHER AND MORE DREADFUL MARTYRDOMS
CHAPTER 22 BASLE AND THE "INSTITUTES"
CHAPTER 23 THE "INSTITUTES"
CHAPTER 24 CALVIN ON PREDESTINATION AND ELECTION
CHAPTER 25 CALVIN'S APPEAL TO FRANCIS I
BOOK FOURTEENTH RISE AND ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANTISM AT GENEVA
CHAPTER 1 GENEVA: THE CITY AND ITS HISTORY
CHAPTER 2 GENEVESE MARTYRS OF LIBERTY
CHAPTER 3 THE REFORM COMMENCED IN LAUSANNE AND ESTABLISHED IN MORAT AND NEUCHATEL
CHAPTER 4 TUMULTS — SUCCESSES — TOLERATION
CHAPTER 5 FABEL ENTERS GENEVA
CHAPTER 6 GENEVA ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR
CHAPTER 7 HEROISM OF GENEVA
CHAPTER 8 ROME FALLS AND GENEVA RISES
CHAPTER 9 ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANTISM IN GENEVA
CHAPTER 10 CALVIN ENTERS GENEVA – ITS CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION
CHAPTER 11 SUMPTUARY LAWS – CALVIN AND FAREL BANISHED
CHAPTER 12 CALVIN AT STRASBURG – ROME DRAWS NEAR TO GENEVA
CHAPTER 13 ABORTIVE CONFERENCES AT HAGENAU AND RATISBON
CHAPTER 14 CALVIN RETURNS TO GENEVA
CHAPTER 15 THE ECCLESIASTICAL ORDINANCES
CHAPTER 16 THE NEW GENEVA
CHAPTER 17 CALVIN'S BATTLES WITH THE LIBERTINES
CHAPTER 18 CALVIN'S LABORS FOR UNION
CHAPTER 19 SERVETUS COMES TO GENEVA AND IS ARRESTED
CHAPTER 20 CALVIN'S VICTORY OVER THE LIBERTINES
CHAPTER 21 APPREHENSION AND TRIAL OF SERVETUS
CHAPTER 22 CONDEMNATION AND DEATH OF SERVETUS
CHAPTER 23 CALVIN'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH MARTYRS, REFORMERS, AND MONARCHS
CHAPTER 24 CALVIN'S MANIFOLD LABORS
CHAPTER 25 FINAL VICTORY AND GLORY OF GENEVA
CHAPTER 26 GENEVA AND ITS INFLUENCE IN EUROPE
CHAPTER 27 THE ACADEMY OF GENEVA
CHAPTER 28 THE SOCLAL AND FAMILY LIFE OF GENEVA
CHAPTER 29 CALVIN'S LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH
CHAPTER 30 CALVIN'S WORK
BOOK FIFTEENTH THE JESUITS
CHAPTER 1 IGNATIUS LOYOLA
CHAPTER 2 LOYOLA'S FIRST DISCIPLES
CHAPTER 3 ORGANIZATION AND TRAINING OF THE JESUITS
CHAPTER 4 MORAL CODE OF THE JESUITS – PROBABILISM, ETC
CHAPTER 5 THE JESUIT TEACHING ON REGICIDE, MURDER, LYING, THEFT, ETC
CHAPTER 6 THE "SECRET INSTRUCTIONS" OF THE JESUITS
CHAPTER 7 JESUIT MANAGEMENT OF RICH WIDOWS AND THE HEIRS OF GREAT FAMILIES
CHAPTER 8 DIFFUSION OF THE JESUITS THROUGHOUT CHRISTENDOM
CHAPTER 9 COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES AND BANISHMENTS
CHAPTER 10 RESTORATION OF THE INQUISITION
CHAPTER 11 THE TORTURES OF THE INQUISITION
BOOK SIXTEENTH PROTESTANTISM IN THE WALDENSIAN VALLEYS
CHAPTER 1 ANTIQUITY AND FIRST PERSECUTIONS OF THE WALDENSES
CHAPTER 2 CATANEO'S EXPEDITION (1488) AGAINST THE DAUPHINESE AND PIEDMONTESE CONFESSORS
CHAPTER 3 FAILURE OF CATANEO'S EXPEDITION
CHAPTER 4 SYNOD IN THE WALDENSIAN VALLEYS
CHAPTER 5 PERSECUTIONS AND MARTYRDOMS
CHAPTER 6 PREPARATIONS FOR A WAR OF EXTERMINATION
CHAPTER 7 THE GREAT CAMPAIGN OF 1561
CHAPTER 8 WALDENSIAN COLONIES IN CALABRIA AND APULIA
CHAPTER 9 EXTINCTION OF WALDENSES IN CALABRIA
CHAPTER 10 THE YEAR OF THE PLAGUE
CHAPTER 11 THE GREAT MASSACRE
CHAPTER 12 EXPLOITS OF GIANAVELLO – MASSACRE AND PILLAGE OF RORA
CHAPTER 13 THE EXILE
CHAPTER 14 RETURN TO THE VALLEYS
CHAPTER 15 FINAL RE-ESTABLISHMENT IN THEIR VALLEYS
CHAPTER 16 CONDITION OF THE WALDENSES FROM 1690
BOOK SEVENTEENTH PROTESTANTISM IN FRANCE FROM DEATH OF FRANCIS I (1547) TO EDICT OF NANTES (1598)
CHAPTER 1 HENRY II AND PARTIES IN FRANCE
CHAPTER 2 HENRY II AND HIS PERSECUTIONS
CHAPTER 3 FIRST NATIONAL SYNOD OF THE FRENCH PROTESTANT CHURCH
CHAPTER 4 A GALLERY OF PORTRAITS
CHAPTER 5 THE GUISES, AND THE INSURRECTION OF AMBOISE
CHAPTER 6 CHARLES IX — THE TRIUMVIRATE — COLLOQUY AT POISSY
CHAPTER 7 MASSACRE AT VASSY AND COMMENCEMENT OF THE CIVIL WARS
CHAPTER 8 COMMENCEHENT OF THE HUGUENOT WARS
CHAPTER 9 THE FIRST HUGUENOT WAR, AND DEATH OF THE DUKE OF GUISE
CHAPTER 10 CATHERINE DE MEDICI AND HER SON, CHARLES IX – CONFERENCE AT BAYONNE – THE ST. BARTHOLOMEW MASSACRE PLOTTED
CHAPTER 11 SECOND AND THIRD HUGUENOT WARS
CHAPTER 12 SYNOD OF LA ROCHELLE
CHAPTER 13 THE PROMOTERS OF THE ST. BARTHOLOMEW MASSACRE
CHAPTER 14 NEGOTIATIONS OF THE COURT WITH THE HUGUENOTS
CHAPTER 15 THE MARRIAGE, AND PREPARATIONS FOR THE MASSACRE
CHAPTER 16 THE MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW
CHAPTER 17 RESURRECTION OF HUGUENOTISM — DEATH OF CHARLES IX
CHAPTER 18 NEW PERSECUTIONS — REIGN AND DEATH OF HENRY III
CHAPTER 19 HENRY IV AND THE EDICT OF NANTES
BOOK EIGHTEENTH HISTORY OF PROTESTANTISM IN THE NETHERLANDS
CHAPTER 1 THE NETHERLANDS AND THEIR INHABITANTS
CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION OF PROTESTANTISM INTO THE NETHERLANDS
CHAPTER 3 ANTWERP: ITS CONFESSORS AND MARTYRS
CHAPTER 4 ABDICATION OF CHARLES V. AND ACCESSION OF PHILIP II
CHAPTER 5 PHILIP ARRANGES THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NETHERLANDS, AND DEPARTS FOR SPAIN
CHAPTER 6 STORMS IN THE COUNCIL, AND MARTYRS AT THE STAKE
CHAPTER 7 RETIREMENT OF GRANVELLE – BELGIC CONFESSION OF FAITH
CHAPTER 8 THE RISING STORM
CHAPTER 9 THE CONFEDERATES OR "BEGGARS"
CHAPTER 10 THE FIELD-PREACHINGS
CHAPTER 11 THE IMAGE-BREAKINGS
CHAPTER 12 REACTION – SUBMISSION OF THE SOUTHERN NETHERLANDS
CHAPTER 13 THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD
CHAPTER 14 WILLIAM UNFURLS HIS STANDARD – EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND HORN
CHAPTER 15 FAILURE OF WILLIAM'S FIRST CAMPAIGN
CHAPTER 16 THE "BEGGARS OF THE SEA," AND SECOND CAMPAIGN OF ORANGE
CHAPTER 17 WILLIAM'S SECOND CAMPAIGN, AND SUBMISSION OF BRABANT AND FLANDERS
CHAPTER 18 THE SIEGE OF HAARLEM
CHAPTER 19 SIEGE OF ALKMAAR, AND RECALL OF ALVA
CHAPTER 20 THIRD CAMPAIGN OF WILLIAM, AND DEATH OF COUNT LOUIS OF NASSAU
CHAPTER 21 THE SIEGE OF LEYDEN
CHAPTER 22 MARCH OF THE SPANISH ARMY THROUGH THE SEA – SACK OF ANTWERP
CHAPTER 23 THE "PACIFICATION OF GHENT," AND TOLERATION
CHAPTER 24 ADMINISTRATION OF DON JOHN, AND FIRST SYNOD OF DORT
CHAPTER 25 ABJURATION OF PHILIP, AND RISE OF THE SEVEN UNITED PROVINCES
CHAPTER 26 ASSASSINATION OF WILLIAM THE SILENT
CHAPTER 27 ORDER AND GOVERNMENT OF THE NETHERLAND CHURCH
CHAPTER 28 DISORGANISATION OF THE PROVINCES
CHAPTER 29 THE SYNOD OF DORT
CHAPTER 30 GRANDEUR OF THE UNITED PROVINCES
BOOK NINETEENTH PROTESTANTISM IN POLAND AND BOHEMIA
CHAPTER 1 RISE AND SPREAD OF PROTESTANTISM IN POLAND
CHAPTER 2 JOHN ALASCO, AND REFORMATION OF EAST FRIESLAND
CHAPTER 3 ACME OF PROTESTANTISM IN POLAND
CHAPTER 4 ORGANISATION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCH OF POLAND
CHAPTER 5 TURNING OF THE TIDE OF PROTESTANTISM IN POLAND
CHAPTER 6 THE JESUITS ENTER POLAND – DESTRUCTION OF ITS PROTESTANTISM
CHAPTER 7 BOHEMIA – ENTRANCE OF REFORMATION
CHAPTER 8 OVERTHROW OF PROTESTANTISM IN BOHEMIA
CHAPTER 9 AN ARMY OF MARTYRS
CHAPTER 10 SUPPRESSION OF PROTESTANTISH IN BOHEHIA
BOOK TWENTIETH PROTESTANTISM IN HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA
CHAPTER 1 PLANTING OF PROTESTANTISM
CHAPTER 2 PROTESTANTISM FLOURISHES IN HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA
CHAPTER 3 FERDINAND II AND THE ERA OF PERSECUTION
CHAPTER 4 LEOPOLD I. AND THE JESUITS
CHAPTER 5 BANISHMENT OF PASTORS AND DESOLATION OF THE CHURCH OF HUNGARY
BOOK TWENTY-FIRST THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR
CHAPTER 1 GREAT PERIODS OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR
CHAPTER 2 THE ARMY AND THE CAMP
CHAPTER 3 THE MARCH AND ITS DEVASTATIONS
CHAPTER 4 CONQUEST OF NORTH GERMANY BY FERDINAND II AND THE "CATHOLIC LEAGUE"
CHAPTER 5 EDICT OF RESTITUTION
CHAPTER 6 ARRIVAL OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS IN GERMANY
CHAPTER 7 FALL OF MAGDEBURG AND VICTORY OF LEIPSIC
CHAPTER 8 CONQUEST OF THE RHINE AND BAVARIA – BATTLE OF LUTZEN
CHAPTER 9 DEATH OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS
CHAPTER 10 THE PACIFICATION OF WESTPHALIA
CHAPTER 11 THE FATHERLAND AFTER THE WAR
BOOK TWENTY-SECOND PROTESTANTISM IN FRANCE FROM DEATH OF HENRY IV (1610) TO THE REVOLUTION (1789)
CHAPTER 1 LOUIS XIII. AND THE WARS OF RELIGION
CHAPTER 2 FALL OF LA ROCHELLE, AND END OF THE WARS OF RELIGION
CHAPTER 3 INDUSTRIAL AND LITERARY EHINENCE OF THE FRENCH PROTESTANTS
CHAPTER 4 THE DRAGONNADES
CHAPTER 5 REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES
CHAPTER 6 THE PRISONS AND THE GALLEYS
CHAPTER 7 THE "CHURCH OF THE DESERT"
BOOK TWENTY-THIRD PROTESTANTISM IN ENGLAND FROM THE TIMES OF HENRY VIII
CHAPTER 1 THE KING AND THE SCHOLARS
CHAPTER 2 CARDINAL WOLSEY AND THE NEW TESTAMENT OF ERASMUS
CHAPTER 3 WILLIAM TYNDALE AND THE ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT
CHAPTER 4 TYNDALE'S NEW TESTAMENT ARRIVES IN ENGLAND
CHAPTER 5 THE BIBLE AND THE CELLAR AT OXFORD — ANNE BOLEYN
CHAPTER 6 THE DIVORCE — THOMAS BILNEY, THE MARTYR
CHAPTER 7 THE DIVORCE, AND WOLSEY'S FALL
CHAPTER 8 CRANMER – CROMWELL – THE PAPAL SUPREMACY ABOLISHED
CHAPTER 9 THE KING DECLARED HEAD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
CHAPTER 10 SCAFFOLDS – DEATH OF HENRY VIII
CHAPTER 11 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND AS REFORMED BY CRANMER
CHAPTER 12 DEATHS OF PROTECTOR SOMERSET AND EDWARD VI
CHAPTER 13 RESTORATION OF THE POPE'S AUTHORITY IN ENGLAND
CHAPTER 14 THE BURNINGS UNDER MARY
CHAPTER 15 ELIZABETH -- RESTORATION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCH
CHAPTER 16 EXCOMMUNICATION OF ELIZABETH, AND PLOTS OF THE JESUITS
CHAPTER 17 THE ARMADA -- ITS BUILDING
CHAPTER 18 THE ARMADA ARRIVES OFF ENGLAND
CHAPTER 19 DESTRUCTION OF THE ARMADA
CHAPTER 20 GREATNESS OF PROTESTANT ENGLAND
BOOK TWENTY-FOURTH PROTESTANTISM IN SCOTLAND
CHAPTER 1 THE DARKNESS AND THE DAYBREAK
CHAPTER 2 SCOTLAND'S FIRST PREACHER AND MARTYR, PATRICK HAMILTON
CHAPTER 3 WISHART IS BURNED, AND KNOX COMES FORWARD
CHAPTER 4 KNOX'S CALL TO THE MINISTRY AND FIRST SERMON
CHAPTER 5 KNOX'S FINAL RETURN TO SCOTLAND
CHAPTER 6 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REFORMATION IN SCOTLAND
CHAPTER 7 CONSTITUTION OF THE "KIRK" -- ARRIVAL OF MARY STUART
CHAPTER 8 KNOX'S INTERVIEW WITH QUEEN MARY
CHAPTER 9 TRIAL OF KNOX FOR TREASON
CHAPTER 10 THE LAST DAYS OF QUEEN MARY AND JOHN KNOX
CHAPTER 11 ANDREW MELVILLE -- THE TULCHAN BISHOPS
CHAPTER 12 BATTLES FOR PRESBYTERIANISM AND LIBERTY
CHAPTER 13 JAMES IN ENGLAND -- THE GUNPOWDER PLOT
CHAPTER 14 DEATH OF JAMES VI, AND SPIRITUAL AWAKENING IN SCOTLAND
CHAPTER 15 CHARLES I AND ARCHBISHOP LAUD -- RELIGIOUS INNOVATIONS
CHAPTER 16 THE NATIONAL COVENANT AND ASSEMBLY OF 1638
CHAPTER 17 CIVIL WAR -- SOLEMN LEAGUE -- WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY
CHAPTER 18 PARLIAMENT TRIUMPHS, AND THE KING IS BETRAYED
CHAPTER 19 RESTORATION OF CHARLES II, AND ST. BARTHOLOMEW DAY, 1662
CHAPTER 20 SCOTLAND -- MIDDLETON'S TYRANNY -- ACT RECISSORY
CHAPTER 21 ESTABLISHMENT OF PRELACY IN SCOTLAND
CHAPTER 22 FOUR HUNDRED MINISTERS EJECTED
CHAPTER 23 BREACH OF THE "TRIPLE LEAGUE" AND WAR WITH HOLLAND
CHAPTER 24 THE POPISH PLOT, AND DEATH OF CHARLES II
CHAPTER 25 THE FIRST RISING OF THE SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIANS
CHAPTER 26 THE FIELD-PREACHING OR "CONVENTICLE"
CHAPTER 27 DRUMCLOG -- BOTHWELL BRIDGE -- THE "KILLING TIMES"
CHAPTER 28 JAMES II -- PROJECTS TO RESTORE POPERY
CHAPTER 29 A GREAT CRISIS IN ENGLAND AND CHRISTENDOM
CHAPTER 30 PROTESTANTISM MOUNTS THE THRONE OF GREAT BRITAIN
James Aitken Wylie

The History of Protestantism

ALL 24 Books
Madison & Adams Press, 2018
Contact: info@madisonadamspress.com
ISBN 978-80-268-9766-8
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Preface
James A. Wylie: Earnest Contender for the Faith
by Tom Stewart

Table of Contents

James Aitken Wylie was born in Scotland in 1808. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD" (Psalm 37:23). His collegiate preparation was at Marischal College, Aberdeen (a North Sea port city and industrial center of northeastern Scotland) and at St. Andrews (Fife, East Scotland). "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth" (Lamentations 3:27). Though we could find no account of his conversion, he entered the Original Seccession Divinity Hall, Edinburgh (Scotland, the land of John Knox) in 1827, and was ordained to the Christian ministry in 1831; hence, the name "Rev. J. A. Wylie" is affixed to most of his written works. "And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15).

His disposition to use the pen as a mighty "Sword of the LORD" (Judges 7:18) is evidenced by his assumption of the sub-editorship of the Edinburgh "Witness" in 1846. "My tongue is the pen of a ready writer" (Psalm 45:1). In 1852, after joining the Free Church of Scotland -- which was only inaugurated in 1843 (Dr. Chalmers as moderator), insisting on the Crown Rights of King Jesus as the only Head and King of the Church -- Wylie edited their "Free Church Record" until 1860. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). The Protestant Institute appointed him Lecturer on Popery in 1860. He continued in this role until his death in 1890. "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Aberdeen University awarded him an honorary doctorate (LL.D.) in 1856. "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my LORD: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ" (Philippians 3:8). His travels took him to many of the far-flung places, where the events of Protestant history transpired. "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome also" (Romans 1:15). As a prominent spokesman for Protestantism, Dr. Wylie's writings included "The Papacy: Its History, Dogmas, Genius, and Prospects" -- which was awarded a prize by the Evangelical Alliance in 1851 -- and, his best known writing, "The History of Protestantism" (1878). "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the Common Salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints" (Jude 3).

It is a solemn and sad reflection on the spiritual intelligence of our times that J. A. Wylie's classic, "The History of Protestantism" went out of publication in the 1920's. "Little children, it is the Last Time: and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the Last Time" (1John 2:18). But -- "we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul" (Hebrews 10:39). And, we continue to "look for Him" (Hebrews 9:28) to come for us to cause us to "escape all these things" (Luke 21:36) in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, while we intently "occupy" (19:13) for Him in the Gospel fields, which are "white already to harvest" (John 4:35). "Even so, come [quickly], LORD Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).

Amen, and Amen. .

BOOK FIRST
PROGRESS FROM THE FIRST TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY

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CHAPTER 1
PROTESTANTISM

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Protestantism — The Seed of Arts, Letters, Free States, etc. — Its History a Grand Drama — Its Origin — Outside Humanity — A Great Creative Power — Protestantism Revived Christianity.

THE History of Protestantism, which we propose to write, is no mere history of dogmas. The teachings of Christ are the seeds; the modern Christendom, with its new life, is the goodly tree which has sprung from them. We shall speak of the seed and then of the tree, so small at its beginning, but destined one day to cover the earth.

How that seed was deposited in the soil; how the tree grew up and flourished despite the furious tempests that warred around it; how, century after century, it lifted its top higher in heaven, and spread its boughs wider around, sheltering liberty, nursing letters, fostering art, and gathering a fraternity of prosperous and powerful nations around it, it will be our business in the following pages to show. Meanwhile we wish it to be noted that this is what we understand by the Protestantism on the history of which we are now entering. Viewed thus — and any narrower view would be untrue alike to philosophy and to fact — the History of Protestantism is the record of one of the grandest dramas of all time. It is true, no doubt, that Protestantism, strictly viewed, is simply a principle. It is not a policy. It is not an empire, having its fleets and armies, its officers and tribunals, wherewith to extend its dominion and make its authority be obeyed. It is not even a Church with its hierarchies, and synods and edicts; it is simply a principle. But it is the greatest of all principles. It is a creative power. Its plastic influence is all-embracing. It penetrates into the heart and renews the individual. It goes down to the depths and, by its omnipotent but noiseless energy, vivifies and regenerates society. It thus becomes the creator of all that is true, and lovely, and great; the founder of free kingdoms, and the mother of pure churches. The globe itself it claims as a stage not too wide for the manifestation of its beneficent action; and the whole domain of terrestrial affairs it deems a sphere not too vast to fill with its spirit, and rule by its law.

Whence came this principle? The name Protestantism is very recent: the thing itself is very ancient. The term Protestantism is scarcely older than 350 years. It dates from the protest which the Lutheran princes gave in to the Diet of Spires in 1529. Restricted to its historical signification, Protestantism is purely negative. It only defines the attitude taken up, at a great historical era, by one party in Christendom with reference to another party. But had this been all, Protestantism would have had no history. Had it been purely negative, it would have begun and ended with the men who assembled at the German town in the year already specified. The new world that has come out of it is the proof that at the bottom of this protest was a great principle which it has pleased Providence to fertilize, and make the seed of those grand, beneficent, and enduring achievements which have made the past three centuries in many respects the most eventful and wonderful in history. The men who handed in this protest did not wish to create a mere void. If they disowned the creed and threw off the yoke of Rome, it was that they might plant a purer faith and restore the government of a higher Law. They replaced the authority of the Infallibility with the authority of the Word of God. The long and dismal obscuration of centuries they dispelled, that the twin stars of liberty and knowledge might shine forth, and that, conscience being unbound, the intellect might awake from its deep somnolency, and human society, renewing its youth, might, after its halt of a thousand years, resume its march towards its high goal.

We repeat the question — Whence came this principle? And we ask our readers to mark well the answer, for it is the key-note to the whole of our vast subject, and places us, at the very outset, at the springs of that long narration on which we are now entering.

Protestantism is not solely the outcome of human progress; it is no mere principle of perfectibility inherent in humanity, and ranking as one of its native powers, in virtue of which when society becomes corrupt it can purify itself, and when it is arrested in its course by some external force, or stops from exhaustion, it can recruit its energies and set forward anew on its path. It is neither the product of the individual reason, nor the result of the joint thought and energies of the species. Protestantism is a principle which has its origin outside human society: it is a Divine graft on the intellectual and moral nature of man, whereby new vitalities and forces are introduced into it, and the human stem yields henceforth a nobler fruit. It is the descent of a heaven-born influence which allies itself with all the instincts and powers of the individual, with all the laws and cravings of society, and which, quickening both the individual and the social being into a new life, and directing their efforts to nobler objects, permits the highest development of which humanity is capable, and the fullest possible accomplishment of all its grand ends. In a word, Protestantism is revived Christianity.

CHAPTER 2
DECLENSION OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH

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Early Triumphs of the Truth — Causes — The Fourth Century — Early Simplicity lost — The Church remodeled on the Pattern of the Empire — Disputes regarding Easter-day — Descent of the Gothic Nations — Introduction of Pagan Rites into the Church — Acceleration of Corruption — Inability of the World all at once to receive the Gospel in its greatness.

ALL through, from the fifth to the fifteenth century, the Lamp of Truth burned dimly in the sanctuary of Christendom. Its flame often sank low, and appeared about to expire, yet never did it wholly go out. God remembered His covenant with the light, and set bounds to the darkness. Not only had this heaven-kindled lamp its period of waxing and waning, like those luminaries that God has placed on high, but like them, too, it had its appointed circuit to accomplish. Now it was on the cities of Northern Italy that its light was seen to fall; and now its rays illumined the plains of Southern France. Now it shone along the course of the Danube and the Moldau, or tinted the pale shores of England, or shed its glory upon the Scottish Hebrides. Now it was on the summits of the Alps that it was seen to burn, spreading a gracious morning on the mountain-tops, and giving promise of the sure approach of day. And then, anon, it would bury itself in the deep valleys of Piedmont, and seek shelter from the furious tempests of persecution behind the great rocks and the eternal snows of the everlasting hills. Let us briefly trace the growth of this truth to the days of Wicliffe.

The spread of Christianity during the first three centuries was rapid and extensive. The main causes that contributed to this were the translation of the Scriptures into the languages of the Roman world, the fidelity and zeal of the preachers of the Gospel, and the heroic deaths of the martyrs. It was the success of Christianity that first set limits to its progress. It had received a terrible blow, it is true, under Diocletian. This, which was the most terrible of all the early persecutions, had, in the belief of the Pagans, utterly exterminated the "Christian superstition" So far from this, it had but afforded the Gospel an opportunity of giving to the world a mightier proof of its divinity. It rose from the stakes and massacres of Diocletian, to begin a new career, in which it was destined to triumph over the empire which thought that it had crushed it. Dignities and wealth now flowed in upon its ministers and disciples, and according to the uniform testimony of all the early historians, the faith which had maintained its purity and rigor in the humble sanctuaries and lowly position of the first age, and amid the fires of its pagan persecutors, became corrupt and waxed feeble amid the gorgeous temples and the worldly dignities which imperial favor had lavished upon it.

From the fourth century the corruptions of the Christian Church continued to make marked and rapid progress. The Bible began to be hidden from the people. And in proportion as the light, which is the surest guarantee of liberty, was withdrawn, the clergy usurped authority over the members of the Church. The canons of councils were put in the room of the one infallible Rule of Faith; and thus the first stone was laid in the foundations of "Babylon, that great city, that made all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." The ministers of Christ began to affect titles of dignity, and to extend their authority and jurisdiction to temporal matters, forgetful that an office bestowed by God, and serviceable to the highest interests of society, can never fail of respect when filled by men of exemplary character, sincerely devoted to the discharge of its duties. The beginning of this matter seemed innocent enough. To obviate pleas before the secular tribunals, ministers were frequently asked to arbitrate in disputes between members of the Church, and Constantine made a law confirming all such decisions in the consistories of the clergy, and shutting out the review of their sentences by the civil judges. Proceeding in this fatal path, the next step was to form the external polity of the Church upon the model of the civil government. Four vice-kings or prefects governed the Roman Empire under Constantine, and why, it was asked, should not a similar arrangement be introduced into the Church? Accordingly the Christian world was divided into four great dioceses; over each diocese was set a patriarch, who governed the whole clergy of his domain, and thus arose four great thrones or princedoms in the House of God. Where there had been a brotherhood, there was now a hierarchy; and from the lofty chair of the Patriarch, a gradation of rank, and a subordination of authority and office, ran down to the lowly state and contracted sphere of the Presbyter It was splendor of rank, rather than the fame of learning and the luster of virtue, that henceforward conferred distinction on the ministers of the Church.

Such an arrangement was not fitted to nourish spirituality of mind, or humility of disposition, or peacefulness of temper. The enmity and violence of the persecutor, the clergy had no longer cause to dread; but the spirit of faction which now took possession of the dignitaries of the Church awakened vehement disputes and fierce contentions, which disparaged the authority and sullied the glory of the sacred office. The emperor himself was witness to these unseemly spectacles. "I entreat you," we find him pathetically saying to the fathers of the Council of Nice, "beloved ministers of God, and servants of our Savior Jesus Christ, take away the cause of our dissension and disagreement, establish peace among yourselves."

While the, "living oracles" were neglected, the zeal of the clergy began to spend itself upon rites and ceremonies borrowed from the pagans. These were multiplied to such a degree, that Augustine complained that they were "less tolerable than the yoke of the Jews under the law." At this period the Bishops of Rome wore costly attire, gave sumptuous banquets, and when they went abroad were carried in litters They now began to speak with an authoritative voice, and to demand obedience from all the Churches. Of this the dispute between the Eastern and Western Churches respecting Easter is an instance in point. The Eastern Church, following the Jews, kept the feast on the 14th day of the month Nisan — the day of the Jewish Passover. The Churches of the West, and especially that of Rome, kept Easter on the Sabbath following the 14th day of Nisan. Victor, Bishop of Rome, resolved to put an end to the controversy, and accordingly, sustaining himself sole judge in this weighty point, he commanded all the Churches to observe the feast on the same day with himself. The Churches of the East, not aware that the Bishop of Rome had authority to command their obedience in this or in any other matter, kept Easter as before; and for this flagrant contempt, as Victor accounted it, of his legitimate authority, he excommunicated them. They refused to obey a human ordinance, and they were shut out from the kingdom of the Gospel. This was the first peal of those thunders which were in after times to roll so often and so terribly from the Seven Hills.

Riches, flattery, deference, continued to wait upon the Bishop of Rome. The emperor saluted him as Father; foreign Churches sustained him as judge in their disputes; heresiarchs sometimes fled to him for sanctuary; those who had favors to beg extolled his piety, or affected to follow his customs; and it is not surprising that his pride and ambition, fed by continual incense, continued to grow, till at last the presbyter of Rome, from being a vigilant pastor of a single congregation, before whom he went in and out, teaching them from house to house, preaching to them the Word of Life, serving the Lord with all humility in many tears and temptations that befell him, raised his seat above his equals, mounted the throne of the patriarch, and exercised lordship over the heritage of Christ. The gates of the sanctuary once forced, the stream of corruption continued to flow with ever-deepening volume. The declensions in doctrine and worship already introduced had changed the brightness of the Church's morning into twilight; the descent of the Northern nations, which, beginning in the fifth, continued through several successive centuries, converted that twilight into night. The new tribes had changed their country, but not their superstitions; and, unhappily, there was neither zeal nor vigor in the Christianity of the age to effect their instruction and their genuine conversion. The Bible had been withdrawn; in the pulpit fable had usurped the place of truth; holy lives, whose silent eloquence might have won upon the barbarians, were rarely exemplified; and thus, instead of the Church dissipating the superstitions that now encompassed her like a cloud, these superstitions all but quenched her own light. She opened her gates to receive the new peoples as they were. She sprinkled them with the baptismal water; she inscribed their names in her registers; she taught them in their invocations to repeat the titles of the Trinity; but the doctrines of the Gospel, which alone can enlighten the understanding, purify the heart, and enrich the life with virtue, she was little careful to inculcate upon them. She folded them within her pale, but they were scarcely more Christian than before, while she was greatly less so. From the sixth century down-wards Christianity was a mongrel system, made up of pagan rites revived from classic times, of superstitions imported from the forests of Northern Germany, and of Christian beliefs and observances which continued to linger in the Church from primitive and purer times. The inward power of religion was lost; and it was in vain that men strove to supply its place by the outward form. They nourished their piety not at the living fountains of truth, but with the "beggarly elements" of ceremonies and relics, of consecrated lights and holy vestments. Nor was it Divine knowledge only that was contemned; men forbore to cultivate letters, or practice virtue. Baronius confesses that in the sixth century few in Italy were skilled in both Greek and Latin. Nay, even Gregory the Great acknowledged that he was ignorant of Greek. "The main qualifications of the clergy were, that they should be able to read well, sing their matins, know the Lord's Prayer, psalter, forms of exorcism, and understand how to compute the times of the sacred festivals. Nor were they very sufficient for this, if we may believe the account some have given of them. Musculus says that many of them never saw the Scriptures in all their lives. It would seem incredible, but it is delivered by no less an authority than Amama, that an Archbishop of Mainz, lighting upon a Bible and looking into it, expressed himself thus: 'Of a truth I do not know what book this is, but I perceive everything in it is against us.'"

Apostasy is like the descent of heavy bodies, it proceeds with ever-accelerating velocity. First, lamps were lighted at the tombs of the martyrs; next, the Lord's Supper was celebrated at their graves; next, prayers were offered for them and to them; next, paintings and images began to disfigure the walls, and corpses to pollute the floors of the churches. Baptism, which apostles required water only to dispense, could not be celebrated without white robes and chrism, milk, honey, and salt. Then came a crowd of church officers whose names and numbers are in striking contrast to the few and simple orders of men who were employed in the first propagation of Christianity. There were sub-deacons, acolytes, exorcists, readers, choristers, and porters; and as work must be found for this motley host of laborers, there came to be fasts and exorcisms; there were lamps to be lighted, altars to be arranged, and churches to be consecrated; there was the Eucharist to be carried to the dying; and there were the dead to be buried, for which a special order of men was set apart. When one looked back to the simplicity of early times, it could not but amaze one to think what a cumbrous array of curious machinery and costly furniture was now needed for the service of Christianity. Not more stinging than true was the remark that "when the Church had golden chalices she had wooden priests."

So far, and through these various stages, had the declension of the Church proceeded. The point she had now reached may be termed an epochal one. From the line on which she stood there was no going back; she must advance into the new and unknown regions before her, though every step would carry her farther from the simple form and vigorous life of her early days. She had received a new impregnation from an alien principle, the same, in fact, from which had sprung the great systems that covered the earth before Christianity arose. This principle could not be summarily extirpated; it must run its course, it must develop itself logically; and having, in the course of centuries, brought its fruits to maturity, it would then, but not till then, perish and pass away.

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