guished by the long and bloody crusade against the Albigenses, by the increase of papal assumption, and the confirmed establishment of the doctrines of transubstantiation and auricular confession (by the fourth Lateran Council, anno 1212); while the sixteenth century was the appointed time for the abolition of both, throughout a large portion of Europe; and now, once more, after another three hundred years have passed away, the Reformation of the nineteenth century comes upon us with claims to our notice, to all appearance no way inferior to any previous crisis.

In the Reformation of the sixteenth century, the attack made on Rome's long-esteemed impregnable defences, came upon the world with the suddenness, the force, and the rapidity of the thunderbolt, in vivid exemplification of our Saviour's words, "As the lightning lighteneth from one part of heaven and shineth even to the other, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be;" and, in like manner, although many indications of internal commotion had, during the last fifty years (as in all previous periods of equal duration), disturbed the serenity of Rome's sky, and told the world that the seven hills on which she sitteth, contain, like the neighbouring Vesuvius, volcanic and antagonist forces, which might, one day, "lay her even with the ground, and her children within her," still, when the voice of Rongé was raised, it pealed its war-cry against Rome, on wholly unprepared ears. The Roman and Protestant worlds were alike astonished by the outburst, and knew not, in the first stunning moment, what to look for next; and while the Romish hierarchy raged against the sacrilegious attack, some Protestant ones were scarcely less indignant; for it is the nature of ultramontane principles, whether in church or state, to dread innovation as the unpardonable sin, and to prefer retaining all things in undisturbed lethargy, to being wakened by so rude a touch, as the displacing any of the trappings of throne or altar; fearing, doubtless, lest both should thereby be reduced to a similar result, as was once wittily remarked of majesty, that without its externals it becomes a jest.

Nor does the present movement less bear a comparison in the rapidity of its progress than in the suddenness of its advent, with the events of the sixteenth century; for while 1845, at its entrance, gazed on the stranger with surprise, and doubt whether the duration of the wonder would be marked by days or months, 1846 sees the infant Hercules grown into a formidable giant, not only able to maintain past achievements, but to go forth upon aggressive labours. Still further, in pursuing the comparison, we find, that while the priest of Laurahutte, like the monk of Wittemburg, was the first to throw down the gauntlet in public, another, in an obscure village, was, like Kirchenfeld or Carlstadt, the first to sever himself wholly from Rome's communion, and raise a separate and independent standard, by the dispensing of the eucharist in both kinds, the formation of a church, and entering the pale of matrimony. But, alas, here, as far as Rongé is concerned, the parallel between him and Luther ceases; the great, the distinguishing features of that God-devoted reformer's faith and preaching are sought for in vain in the Silesian apostle (as he has been termed by his admiring followers), and unless the mercy which has so far opened the eyes of his understanding perfect the cure, patriotic, courageous, and emancipated from Roman errors though he be, he will still prove, in the Bible sense of the words, " a blind leader of the blind." Before, however, attempting to give a history of the rise, progress, and extent of the reformation of which Germany is now the theatre, it seems desirable to glance at her ecclesiastical affairs, and religious state, since the death of Luther, though, as the space to be gone over comprises three centuries, attention must necessarily be limited to the more prominent and important stadii through which Protestantism has passed. There is, perhaps, no word which differs so widely in its meaning, according to the sense in which the speaker uses it, as Protestantism. Roman Catholics alone, indeed, may be said to affix to it one clear and undivided idea, for, with them, it marks every deviation from Romanism, however diverse from each other such deviations may be. But,

beyond the Roman pale, the name of Protestant is claimed by very widely diverging sects. In Ireland, for example, even well-educated persons regard the appellation as the legitimate possession of the Episcopalian only; while, in Scotland, the Presbyterian claims it as his own. But while all and every one protesting against the assumptions, the errors, and the domination of Rome must be allowed to have a just right to bear a name to which such protestation originally gave rise, German Protestants assume a distinctive designation, the exclusive right to which, other separatists from Rome cannot so easily concede, for they term themselves Gospel Protestants, and their communion the Gospel Church. It is true, that by common consent this word "evangelish" (evangelical, gospel) has been translated into the other languages of Europe by the word Lutheran, an appellation, however, which has become peculiarly confusing and unsuitable at the present day, when multitudes, both of congregations and of pastors, still calling themselves evangelical Protestants (a name to which, indeed, they show themselves as little entitled as to that of Lutherans), are openly seceding from the doctrines which Luther held through life, defended with all the energy of his clear and capacious mind, and rested in with unhesitating confidence at his dying hour. In pursuance, therefore, of this history, though it may be I shall frequently be compelled to use the term Lutheran, I shall still adhere, as much as possible, when speaking of Bible Christians in that church, to the appellations of evangelical Protestants and Protestantism, in contradistinction to Rationalists and Rationalism, which, according to the cant of modern liberality, assumes to monopolise the true spirit as well as name of enlightened Protestantism. The Reformation of the sixteenth century has been too often and too perspicuously laid before the public eye, more especially in the admirable work of the Rev. Merle d'Aubigne, to admit of any elucidation from my so inferior pen. I purpose, therefore, to pass by all that relates to Luther and his times, remarking only, that the Reformation of which he was the instrument, great, wide-spreading, and

permanent as its results have proved, is but one exhibition of the power of that indomitable, because Divine Spirit, which has through every age sustained and protected pure Gospel truth, even amid the darkest and bloodiest scenes of human or satanic oppression. More than a century before Luther's appearance as a Reformer, a Lutheran spirit spoke by the lips. of the Parisian Chancellor Gerson, when he, in the Council of Pisa, 1409, fearlessly avowed a sentiment, which might serve for the rallying banner motto of the Catholic Dissidents of the present day. "The difference," said he, " between the Catholic and Roman Church may shortly be stated thus: the Catholic Church hath Christ for its Head, under whose guidance it can neither err, deceive, teach heresy, nor occasion schism; the Roman Church, on the contrary, is, as its very name implies, merely an individual Church, which can err, and has erred, and become stained with schism and heresy." Had this distinction been always observed, or were it even now duly regarded, the Roman assumption of being the only Catholic or universal Church, would be easier met by the simple denial which a groundless assertion deserves. Nor is it unworthy of remark that this early and bold declaration of Gerson was never condemned, as false or heretical, by the pope of his own or any succeeding age.

Not even in the middle ages did God leave himself without witness; for the demand to test and regulate the doctrines of the Church, in accordance with the Sacred Scriptures, was often put forth with a power and a constancy equal to what we find among the later reformers; and though some of those early champions of the Gospel differed from each other on isolated points, they all united, as with one voice, in denouncing the power and authority of the hierarchy as the plague-spot of Christendom. Even the philosophy of those times, the founding of universities, and the revival of science, served to nourish and strengthen this spirit of protestation against priestcraft; evincing increased decision, and evolving new energies in every stage of the conflict. Nor was this moral reaction confined to ecclesiastical, but powerfully influenced likewise the civil

constitution of society, and this forms one of the most important features of Protestantism, taken in its largest sense, since from it emanated at once the fresh, youthful vigour of civic independence and corporate rights, and the resistance made by crowned heads to those clerical assumptions, which sought to reduce temporal potentates to the rank of vassals of the Church. Striking proofs of this awakened spirit are to be found in the successful opposition made to the hierarchy by some German emperors (Otho I. and II. and Frederick I.) as well as by Philip le Bel of France, who removed the papal chair from Rome to Avignon, and these successes gave ample opportunity to the opposing party to sift and examine existing relations, whether ecclesiastical or civil, to test their claims and foundations by Scripture and reason; while such ideas were not only strengthened by interchange, but by contemplating the defects, divisions, and contradictory elements within the Church itself, and the frequent dissensions between its professedly infallible head and his clergy, as well as by observing how oft these had led to the disturbance and even annihilation for a time of ecclesiastical power, as when rival popes contended for the ring of the fisherman, and reciprocally banded the most fearful anathemas against each other.

However the outward unity of the Romish Church might be held together by the finely-spun net of ecclesiastical arrangements, which rendered its total overthrow difficult, inasmuch as no one could foresee how far the world's social system might be involved in its fall; still it was impossible that any thinking mind could fail secretly to recognise either the absurdity or the blasphemy of its pretensions, and so Protestantism, in all its essential elements, existed, not only long before Luther's time, but we may boldly assert existed more or less openly, more or less definedly, from the very first development of the Man of Sin, and was proclaimed from time to time by individuals or communities, who, with true nobility of soul, and a selfsacrificing devotion to the cause of truth of which the world was not worthy, raised their voices against the dominant theories and practice of the ecclesiastical rulers, and strove to replace