ther was at the head of one party; Calvin, the chief of the other. The tenets of the latter have been specified; those of the former, therefore, are the present subject of enquiry

LUTHERANS.

THE Lutherans, of all Protestants, are those who differ least from the Romish church, as they affirm that the body and blood of Christ are materially present in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, though in an incomprehensible manner; they likewise represent some religious rites and institutions, as the use of images in churches, the distinguishing vestments of the clergy, the private confession of sins, the use of wafers in the administration of the Lord's Supper, the form of exorcism in the celebration of baptism, and other ceremonies of the like nature, as tolerable, and some of them useful. The Lutherans maintain with regard to the divine decrees, that they respect the salvation or misery of men in consequence of a previous knowledge of their sentiments and characters, and not as founded on the mere will of God, which is the tenet of the Calvinists. Towards the close of the last century, the Lutherans began to entertain a greater liberality of sentiment than they had before adopted, though in many places they persevered longer

in severe and despotic principles than other Protestant churches. Their public teachers now enjoy an unbounded liberty of dissenting from the decisions of those symbols of creeds, which were once deemed almost infallible rules of faith and practice, and of declaring their dissent in the manner they judge most expedient. Mosheim attributes this change in their sentiments to the maxim which they generally adopted, that Christians were accountable to God alone for their religious opinions, and that no individual could be justly punished by the magistrate for his.erroneous opinions, while he conducted himself like a virtuous and obedient subject, and made no attempts to disturb the peace and order of civil society.

It may be added, that Luther's opinion respecting the sacrament, is termed Consubstantiation; and he supposed that the partakers of the Lord's Supper received, along with the bread and wine, the real body and blood of Christ. This, says Dr. Mosheim, in their judgment was a mystery, which they did not pretend to explain. But his translator, Dr. Maclaine, justly remarks, "That Luther was not so modest as Dr. Mosheim here represents him. He pretended to explain this doctrine of the real presence, absurd and contradictory as it is, and uttered much senseless jargon on the subject. As in a red-hot iron, said he,

two distinct substances, viz. iron and fire, are united, so is the body of Christ joined with the bread in the eucharist. I mention this miserable comparison, to shew into what absurdities the towering pride of system will often betray men of deep sense and true genius."

Such is the account given of the LUTHERANS in a respectable work, and it appears to be founded in truth. I shall only remark, that, according to the above sketch, Luther differed considerably from Calvin respecting election and reprobation; and as to the principle, that Christians are accountable to God alone for their religious opinions, it is a sentiment worthy of a great and elevated mind. It is the corner-stone on which the Reformation has been raised. It is the only true foundation of religious improvement, and whereever it is sincerely embraced, will check every degree of uncharitableness and persecution, and forward the blessed reign of love and charity amongst the professors of Christianity*.

* In Swift's well known Tale of a Tub, he satirises three distinct classes of religious professors the Church of Rome, under the appellation of Peter, whose keys for an admission into heaven are supposed to be in their possession—the Church of England, under the name of Martin, because its reformation originated with Martin Luther-and the Dissenters, under the name of Jack, on account of the principles of John Calvin being so prevalent amongst them. It is fraught with that dry sarcastic wit for which the writings of the dean of St. Patrick are distinguished.

HUGONOTS.

THE appellation Hugonots was given to the French Protestants in 1561. The term is (by some) supposed to be derived from a gate in Tours, called Hugon, where they first assembled. According to others, the name is taken from the first words of their original protest, or confession of faith-Huc nos venimus, &c. During the reign of Charles the Ninth, and on the 24th of August, 1572, happened the massacre of Bartholomew, when 70,000. Protestants throughout France were butchered, with circumstances of aggravated cruelty. It began at Paris in the night of the festival of Bartholomew, by secret orders from Charles the Ninth, at the instigation of his mother, the Queen Dowager Catherine de Medicis. See Sully's Memoirs, and also a fine description of it in the second canto of Voltaire's Henriade.

In 1598, Henry the Fourth passed the famous Edict of Nantz, which secured to his old friends the Protestants the free exercise of their religion. This edict was cruelly revoked by Lewis the Fourteenth. Their churches were then razed to the ground; their persons insulted by the soldiery, and, after the loss of innumerable lives, 500,000 valuable members of society were driven into exile! In Holland they built several places of

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worship, and had amongst them some distinguished preachers. Among others were Superville, Dumont, Dubosc, and the eloquent Saurin, five volumes of whose select sermons were translated into our language by the late Mr. Robinson of Cambridge, and the sixth by the late Dr. Hunter. In one of these sermons Saurin makes the following fine apostrophe to the tyrant, Lewis the fourteenth, by whom they were driven into exile; it breathes the noble spirit of Christianity:

"And thou, dreadful Prince, whom I once honoured as my king, and whom I yet respect as a scourge in the hand of Almighty God, thou also shalt have a part in my good wishes! These provinces, which thou threatenest, but which the arm of the Lord protects; this country, which thou fillest with refugees, but fugitives animated with love; these walls, which contain a thousand martyrs of thy making, but whom religion renders victorious, all these yet resound benedictions in thy favour. God grant the fatal bandage that hides the truth from thy eyes may fall off! May God forget the rivers of blood with which thou hast deluged the earth, and which thy reign hath caused to be shed! May God blot out of his book the injuries which thou hast done us, and while he reward the sufferers, may he pardon those who exposed us to suffer! O may God, who hath made thee to us, and to the