The Seventy Disciples. Their mission related to the Jews. They had also miraculous power, and have not since- reappeared. Luke X. 1-6.
Prophets. This term was applied to the Apostles and others of their day. Prophetic power ceased with the original prophets, and of course the office was extinguished. See Acts xiii. 1, XV. 32, xi. 2T, xxi. 10; 1 Cor. xii. 28, xiv. 32; Bph. iv. 11, &c., &c.
Teachers. This term is applicable to all who teach, independently of the subject; and is so used in the New Testament. It is thus applied to the Saviour, and his ministers
generally. See John iii. 2; Eph. iv. 11; 1 Tim. ii. T,
Elders. The word translated elders, in the New Testament, is 7tpsa^tspwi(FTe8hjteTs), meaning ancient, and hence elder. It is applied in the New Testament to others than ministers; and to them indiscriminately, probably because they were ordinarily somewhat advanced in life. It is a scriptural and appropriate title for mature ministers of the gospel and other disciples. See 1 Tim. v. 1-1T ; Titus i. 6; 1 Pet. i. 6; 2 JohnL 3; John i., &c., &c.
Ministers. This term is in very common use at the present day, as applicable to preachers of the gospel. The original word is Siaxovovi (diakovous), and means servants. It is in use in the New Testament in application to all members of the church ; and thus to preachers also. It is perhaps more suitable for geueral use as applicable to preachers of the gospel than the term elders,, as it is equally applicable to young' and old. See Luke i. 2; Bom. ziii. 6; 1 Cor. iii. 5, iv. 1; 2 Cor. iii. 6, vi. 4, xi. 15, 23.
Evangelists. The original word in this case is cvayycXitffo^ (euaggelistas), and means messengers of good tidings. It occurs in three passages in the New Testament, and is evidently distinct from pastoFS or bishops, and relates to those who preach to different congregations; in modem phraseology, to missionaries. See Eph. iv. 11; Acts xxi. 8 ; 2 Tim. iv. 5.
Bishops. The original is €7ti>axoftcvi (episcopous), and means overseers. It is applied in the New Testament to permanent preachers or teachers of the gospel, and means the same as pastors. It is once only applied to the Saviour in 1 Pet. ii. 25, in the same sense as it is applied to pastors. See 1 Tim. iii. 1, 2; Acts xx. 28; PhU. i. 1; Titus i. T.
Pastors. The original word is Ttoifiivoi (poimenas), and means shepherds. Shepherds are overseers, and the term is the same as bishops. See Eph. iv. 11; 1 Pet. v. 1-4; John x. 1-18.
Angels. This term is used in application to preachers of 20*
S34 THX BAFnST DENOMXNAriQM.
the gospel in Rev. 2d and 3d chapters, and is eyid^tly used in the sense of pastors or bishops.
Bererend, and doctor of divinity, are terms, I hardlj need add, not found in the Bible, as applicable to preachers of the gospel, or at all, except as the former is once (Psalms cxi. 9) found in a description of Jehovah.
The conclusion of the whole matter then is, that (as already stated) the oi^y ministerial office in the church is that of bishop or pastor, who are sometimes called also elders and teachers, all of equal dignity and authority. Evangelists, or missionaries, in the nature of their occupation, confined to no particular church in their labors, are not officers. If in the process of their work they raise up churches, and take the charge of one or more of them permanently, then they cease to be evangelists or missionaries, and become bishops or pastors. In either capacity, however, they may be elders and teachers.
The silence of the scriptures as to other ministerial officers in the church, and as to any grades indicating superiority or inferiority in office, is a sufficient rebuke of all pretensions in that direction. Besides, the merest tyro in church histoiy, can turn to the pages showing when and how the abominatioii to which we refer, was fastened upoQ the church. Gieseler says: ** After the death of the Apostles, to whom the general direction of the churches had always been conceded, some one among the presbyters of each church was suffered gradually to take the lead in its affairs. In the same irregular way, the title of episcopos (bishop) was appropriated to this first presbyter. Hence, the different accounts of the order of the first bishops in the Church of Rome."
Rev. Dr. Baird remarks on this subject:
"In regard to the 'supremacy of the popes,' allow me to say a few words. If I have read the history of the church and of the world aright, the state of the case is this:—Taking advantage of the words of our Saviour addressed to Peter, but intended, as the Protestants believe, for all the Apples, the
Bishops of Rome, who claimed to be the successors of Peter in the Episcopate of that city (which was the capital of the Roman Empire, till Constantine the Great transferred that honor to Byzantiiun, in the fourth century), began at an eailj day to claim pre-eminence in' the church, and to a certain extent gained it, notwithstanding the opposition of the Bishops (or Patriarchs) of Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople. After the transfer of the government to Constantinople, the pretensions of the Bishops of Rome rapidly augmented, as did the changes which they introduced into the doctrines, discipline^ ceremonies, etc., of the church. Nor was it very long until, as Thierry justly affirms, (in his History of the G(mquest of England by the Normans^) they began to conceive it to be possible for them to become virtually the 'successors of the Cffisars' at Rome, and govern the world by means of Christianity. What was a conception soon became a deliberale purpose, and the enterprise was for ages prosecuted with vigor, consummate wisdom and skill, and with astounding success. To be sure, the * Great Schism' in the ninth century sadly interfered with their schemes, so far as the eastern part of Christendom was concerned. Still the western portion of it remained almost entirely submissive to the Bishops of Rome, until the * Great Reformation of the sixteenth century' caused another immense 'defection.' In consequence of these two great * disruptions,' there are more than seventy millions of people in the East^ and eighty-five millions in the West, (including a portion of our own hemisphere,) who do not in any sense acknowledge the supremacy of the Bishops of Rome.
** In the eighth century the Bishops of Rome became kings or temporal rulers, in a direct and positive sense, by the grant of Pepin, which was confirmed by his son, Charlemagne. And for a thousand years and more they have ruled the 'Patri* mony of St. Peter,' or ' States of the Church,' as their petty kingdom is called. That little country of less than three millions of inhabitants, is the only part of the world over
which their direct and material sway has extended. Over this kingdom they have swayed their sceptres and reigned as kings. But they have sought to govern the rest of the world by another sort of dominion—a dominion which is emphati* cally founded in the souls of men, and by controlling them, has often controlled ther social and political, as well as their moral, relations and conduct It is exactly this polttico-eccle-siastical, avbtle^ and almost indefinable dominion that long made 'Rome under the popes/ almost as much the 'Mistress of the world' as was 'Rome under the Csesars.' The foundation of all the claims of the popes to temporal supremacy was, after all, the 'keys,' or 'power of binding and loosing,' which, it is maintained, the Saviour ' gave' to Peter. It is from this grant that they claimed to be the 'Vicars' and 'Vicegerents of Christ,' and consequently the disposers of crowns and sceptres at their will. Indeed it would seem that some of them, or rather all of them, for a thousand years and more, believed that Christ, to whom the Father had given 'the heathen for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession,^ had abdicated his throne in behalf of the 'successors of St. Peter,' and taken the position of a quiet spectator I If this be blasphemous, what shall we say of the language of those impious doctors of Rome, who have maintained that the pope can even do some things which God himself cannot ?"
It was natural, when they abandoned the Scriptures, and permitted human innovations, that the pastors of the larger churches, being perhaps more talented, and eloquent, and learned, than those of the smaller ones, should assume to be superior in all respects; and that in process of time, this assumption should become the law of the church. Here we. have episcopacy. This matter disposed of, and the process forgotten, it was equally natural that the Bishop of Rome, the prince of cities, should aspire to be the prince of the bishops and the churches. Here we have papacy, a papa or pope.
4. The AiUh0ri£i/, BightSf and Dvide^ of Pastors,
TMs is an important topic. While practically the intelligent and pioofl will ha^e little difficulty in deciding what to demand on the one hand, and to grant on the other, onhappflj ail concerned are not in this condition, and untenable positions may be taken by both parties.
The passages relating to it are chiefly the following: 1 Thess. V. 12, 13. " And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which lai>or among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them yery highly in lore for their work's sake." Heb. xiiL 1, It. "Remember them which have the rule over you^ who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for souls, as they that must give account^ that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that were unprofitable for you." 1 Pet v. 8. " Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock." That something is implied in the terms ** over you,^ ',*the rule over you," and " obey them," is obvious. The pa*-tor's authority, on the other hand, is "in the Lord," and relates to " watching for souls," and is to be exercised not as "lords over God's heritage," and with reference to his "account." Nothing tyrannical, and destroying the free moral agency and accountability of the people, is admissible in the pastor. His authority is derived from God, and is to be exercised in his fear, and in the spirit and temper which he requires. It is evident that it relates to spiritual affairs : he " watches for souls." It follows that the people should cultivate a teachable, respectful, candid spirit toward him, as the servant of God, charged with affairs of the most momentous consequence. They are to " know him" as the servant of God, and to "esteem him very highly in love for his work's sake," "submitting" themselves to the claims of God.
There is no necessity for a pastor's authority in otJiNsst ^3&sss^
strictlJ spiritaal matters, and no scriptdral authorization of it, except in snch matters. In cliurch meetings he has but one Tote, and is entitled only to such inflnence as his talents and abilities may conmiand.
The rights and duties of pastors relate to but a small number of subjects, and are implied in the duty of the church to support him, and in his authority. See articles on these topics.
It is his right and duty to devote himself exclusively to hb spiritual work; and of necessity he must be supported in it. His first duty is to preach the gospel, in the fear of God, and not of man, in the pulpit, and from house to house. He is subject to removal by the church, but not to dictation and neglect. He should have particular regard, as he goes from house to house, to the sick and suffering. He is none the less a citizen for being a pastor, except so far as the one office is necessarily modified by the other. In the nature of things, he cannot be extensively engaged in worldly matters of a business or political nature ; but is nevertheless a citizen, having his responsibilities to such matters like others.
The rights and duties of other preachers of the gospel, as evangelists or missionaries, are veiy similar to those of pastors, 1)eing different only as they have charge of no particular church.
5. Deacons.
The origin and nature of this office is seen in Acts vi. 1-6. It related to providing for the temporal wants of " widows." The number originally chosen was "seven." They were set apart to the office by " prayer and laying on of hands." The office originated when the disciples had ** all things common,'' and made one family.
This state of things passed away immediately, and with it some of the duties of deacons. But the office is made a permanent one, as we have seen. 1 Tim. iii. 8-13. In the absence of instructions as to the duties of deacons in their
permanent capacity, we are led to infer that in its natore it is tlie same as originally, relating to the poor, and to temporal matters, to conform in particulars to the necessities of the chnrches choosing them. They should on these principles be chosen, more or less of them, by the church, to hold their office during adaptedness to it. They should be consecrated by " prayer and laying on of hands." They should attend to such secular matters as are necessary in the church, that the pastor may not be burdened with temporalities. It is not an exclusive office, and requires but a sm^ amount of time, and is not therefore entitled to the pecuniary support of the church. In all other matters than those committed to deacons, they are the same as other members.
The term deacon, {Buixwof, diakonos,) means literally ser* yant, and in this general sense was sometimes applied to pastors and missionaries, as in 1 Cor. lii. 5, where Paul and Apollas are called deacons, translated ministers. In this manner also it was applied to females useful in the church, as in Rom. xvi. 1, where Phebe is called our sister and deacon of the church, rendered servant. But all this is only^general application of the term, in which all members are servants, deacons. It has besides a specific application, as we have seen, to a permanent office in the church.
6. Other Servants of the Church.
Each church needs, and generally has, besides-these divinely appointed officers, a clerk, treasurer, and committees, otte of the committees, partly composed of reliable members of the congregation, being a body corporate for holding and managing church property. In Massachusetts, the deacons are the body corporate. See Revised Statutes, Part I., Tit. 8, chap. 20, sec. 39.
MD TBI llAFTiar dsmomihation.
CHAPTER V.
Church Meetings. 1. Vor Worship. 2. Por Business. 8. Of Oommitieet. 4. Of Ginineils. 6. Of Associations. 6, Of State CoBTentiQiis and lOt-jioaaiy Societies, t. Of Ministers. 8. Church Letters.
1. Meetings for the Worship of OocL
Thxsx should occur upon the Sabbath; and upon sach other occasions as the church, in the fear of God, maj deem desirable, and for the promotion of piety. They should be for preaching and prayer and exhortation and singing. Baptism and the Lord's Supper should be administered upon the Sabbath.
2. Meetings for Business,
These are important meetings, and should be managed wiib eminent piety and wisdom. Each church will find pecoliaritieB in itself, requiring its specific arrangements. With slight alteration, we insert here Rev. Dr. Brown'Q articles on ''Meei> ings of the Church," and '^ Manner of Conducting Business:''
** The regular meeting for business shall be held as the church may direct.
Special meetings may be called by the Pastor or Moderator of the church. In case of his resignation, absence^ impeachment, or refusal to act, the Clerk shall call such a meeting on a written request signed by not less than seren male members; and the notice shall be publicly given from the pulpit on the Lord's day preceding.
Nine male members shall constitute a quorum, for the transaction of business. *
The Pastor of the church, or in his absence, any brother whom the church may appoint, shall act as Moderator in all meetings for the transaction of business.
It shall be the duty of the Moderator to keep order \ state
and explain propositions; and, by his vote, decide questionB upon which there is no majority.
He shall cause eveiy meeting to be opened and closed by prayer.
He shall call for the business of the church in the following order:
Read the Minutes of the previous meeting.
Hear the experience of candidates for membership.
Receive letters of dismission from sister churches.
Grant letters of dismission to those requesting them.
Hear reports of committees, and other unfinished business.
New business.
He shall suffer no second motion to be entertained, until the one under consideration has been disposed of, except motions to amend, postpone, adjourn, or put the main question.
He shall call to order any member who, while* speaking, introduces any subject foreign to the one under discussion.
He shall call to order any member who uses uncourteons languf^e, or whose remarks are adapted to injure the reputation or feelings of any brother.
He may speak upon any subject under discussion, by inviting a brother to preside in his place.
Every member who wishes to speak shall rise, and respectfully address the Moderator.
Every proposition presented for the action of the church, must be introduced by the motion of one member—^in writing, if requested—and seconded by another.
No member shall speak more than twice upon the same subject, without the expressed consent of the church.
Upon any point of order, a member may appeal from the Moderator to the church, whose decision shall be final.
All questions shall be decided by the vote of a majority, except the cases mentioned in other sections of these rules."
3. Meetings of GommiUees, ^
The church may appoint such committees as she deems 21
S42 THE BAPTIST DENOMINATION.
desirable.* Mnch time and difficulty may be saved, by referring qnestions to judicions committees, either for decision, or for preparation for the meeting of the church. Committees have no authority, except what is delegated to them by the church. Members of the church are under obligations to act upon committees with sobriety, candor and wisdom. Committees should hold such meetings as may be necessary for the intelligent and faithful discharge of the trust committed to them. Care should be observed on the part of the church, not to compromise her own authority or dignity, by referring to conmiittees questions which she herself should settle.
4. Meetings of Councils,
When churches are unable to agree upon questions of importance, they may request sister churches to send members to sit in council, and aid them in coming to a decision. Councils, like committees, have no authority except that which is delegated to them by the parties calling them. Members of a council are but referees, and they may meet for advice upon a given question, or for the decision of it, as they may be requested. Ordinarily, councils are comparatively useless, unless in the outset the parties agree to abide by their decision. When they thus decide questions, it implies no control over the churches, as they have only such authority as is delegated to them by the church. In this manner their action is hers. Councils are ordinarily called in Baptist churches to aid in ordaining or installing ministers, and in settling difficulties about which the church cannot agree. They should hold such meetings as may be necessary to a judicious performance of the duties conmiitted to them. The meeting is called by letter from the church needing aid, and when thus convened, should be governed by the ordinary usage of other assemblages for business.
Baptist churches have always objected to councils of minis^ t^rs or lajmen having 'any control over the churches, exc^t
such as io delegated to them at the time, on the ground that the chorch is the highest authority and ultimate appeal. Dr. Brown remarks on Convening a Council: "In cases of difficulty, for the decision of which the church desire the advice and wisdom of disinterested brethren, letters may be sent to the neighboring churches, requesting them to appoint delegates to meet a delegation from the church on a specified day; to which council, when organized, the case shall be referred, and their advice shall be laid before the church for further action."
5. Meetings of Associations occur annually, and are made up of delegates from churches, consisting of the pastor and two or more laymen chosen for the purpose. Pastors, however, are not essential to associations, but are always sent as a part of the delegation, if the church has one at the lime. The object of this meeting is to promote fraternity and piety among the churches. For this purpose, each church is repie-sented by a letter, as well as by delegates, an& the time of the meeting is devoted to the reading of the letters, preaching, devotional exercises, and action adapted to promote the missionary spirit and efficiency of the chufches. Association^ like committees and councils, have no authority over the churches.
Dr. Brown remarks on Representation in Association: " Once in each year delegates shall be appointed to repre^ sent the church in the Association, whose duty it* shall be to . furnish to the Association a statement of the condition of the church, including its changes; to faithfidly represent the desires of the church ; and to co-operate with the messengers of other churches in promoting the interests of the kingdom of Christ."
6. Meetings of State ConventionSf Missionary, Bible, Pttb-liccUion Societies, &c., are of a similar character, originating in the church, and deriving all their consequence from her. Any
Bocietj or convention for church purposes, not dependent npoD the church, is a departure from the divine plan for promoting Christianity upon earth.
Dr. Brown remarks on Benevolent Action in the Church :
" The church holds it to be an imperative duty to labor for the propagation of pure Christianity throughout the world, and will maintain some system by which all the leading objects of benevolence'may receive their share of support, and all the members contribute, as the Lord prospers them.
All collections granted to churches, societies, or individuals, shall be counted by the deacons before paying over the same; and the amount so collected shall be reported at the next ehnrch meeting.''
f. MinisterB^ Meetings,
These occur with greater or less frequency, for the mutual improvement of ministers, and do not relate at all to the churches, acknowledging no control from them, and claiming none over them.'
Societies for religious purposes, or any methods of promoting religion, not definitely recognized in the New Testament, are justifiable, when they harmonize with that which is revealed. Jehovah has given us the principles, and more or leas of the detail of their execution. Of necessity, much of the detail is left to the church. It belongs to her to provide such detail, and to see that nothing is adopted which is unharmonious with the divine plan.
8. Forms of Church Letters.
We introduce here, as illustrative of Baptist usage, and as suitable specimens of letters for the use of churches. Dr. Brown's:
I. LETTER OF DISMISSION.
Philadelphiaf ——, 18—,
To the Baptist Church in .•
This certifies that •< — is a member, in good standing, of the First
Baptist Chnroh, and in compliance with own reqne8t> is affectionately
recommended and dismissed to your fellowship.
If notified within six months of union with yon, we shall ooniidar
—- as dismissed from ns; otherwise this letter shall be noil and Toid.
In behalf of the Church,
<, Clerk.
n. LBTTBB OF ROTIFIOATIOV.
To the Firet BapUet Church, Philadelphia,
This oertifies that , recommended and dismissed by yon, by »
letter dated , was on the received as a member of the —
Baptist Ohoroh in .
Attest: — , Clerk,
in. LBTTBB OF OCCABIOHAL COKminiOH.
—-, —, 18—. This may certify that the bearer, — > ia a member of the
Baptist Church in , in good and regular standing; and as such if
affectionately commended to the sympathy, watchcare, and oommnnion of
any sister church where Proyidence may lead •
This letter continues valid only one year.
^Potior,
XY. A LIOBNSB TO PBBAOH. m m
This may certify that the bearer, , is a member of the ——
Baptist Church in , without reproach; and that he has the ftill and
cordial approbation of his brethren, by a vote passed > to exercise hif
gifts in preaching the Gospel of Christ
Attest: —> Pattor*
> Clerk.
Y. LBTTBB OF DISHISSIOir TO FOBK A VBW OHVBOB.
The Baptist Church, in regular church meeting, —> 18—•
On request of the following brethren and sisters, now in regular standing with us, vis., (Here follow the names,) to be dismissed from ns for the purpose of uniting in the formatioa of a new church at , it was voted, that
we cordially grant them letters of dismission for that purpose, and when regularly constituted as a church, shall cease to regard them as under onr
watchcare.
^ Clerk.
▼L LBTTBB8 FOB OALLIBO A OOUROHm
1. To Recognise a New Ohnroh.
p , —^la—*
To the Baptiet Chwreh of Chriet in *
In behalf of a number of brethren and sisters belon|^g to different Baptist churches, who desire to be recognised as an independent and distinefc church in this place, we invite you to send your pastor and two other delegates to sit in council with us, on the , in the house of , to assii^
ns by your prayers and counsels; and if it shall be judged agreeable to the will of God, to rocognise ns as a regular Bi^tist Ohnroh in feUowsh^' with you.
21*
The number of brethren who unite in this request is j and of sistorg
——; all of us with the knowledge and approval of the churches to which we belong, who have granted us letters of dismission for this purpose. The
ohurohei inyitedi are the following, viz., .
, ") Committe4
. 2. For the Ordination of a Minister. 3. For the Dismission of a Minister 4. For the Trial of a Minister. The forms only vary with the subject and the occasion.
YII. MINUTES OF A. COTTSCU*,
—, , 18—,
An Eoolesiastioal Council was convened at , on , by letters
. missive firom the church in .
The Council was organized by the choice of , as Moderator, and
, as Clerk. Prayer was offered by . The yote of the
church inviting the Council was then read as follows : (Copy the vote.)
The credentials of delegates were called for, from which it appeared that the following brethren were entitled to vote in the Council, viz.:
Cfhurches, Pagtora and Delegatea,
The Council then heard a statement of the business, Soc,
—I Clerk, — , ModercUor,
CHAPTER VI.
Church Discipline. 1. Its Origin. 2. Its Nature and Design. 3. Offences requiring it. 4. Discipline of Ministers. 5. Treatment of Excluded Members. 6. Their Reception by other Churches.
1. The Origin of Church Discipline.
It has its origin in first principles. All combinations must be subject to discipline, for the good of the whole, or disorders will arise, injurious to all. It is necessary in fanailies, in schools, and, indeed, wherever persons are associated, as well as in the church.
The New Testament makes ample provisions for discipline
in the church. Early in her history, the Saviour gives us the principle here involved. Matt, xviii. 15-18. Here members disagreeing are to seek reconciliation—first, privately ; then by the aid of one or two brethren; if these fail, the next resort is to the church, whose decision is ultimate. She may call to her aid, in cases of difficulty, the advice of a council of brethren, but the responsibility of decision is hers. Evidence of the divine origin of church discipline is seen all through the New Testament.
2. The Nature and Design of Church Discipline.
It is reformatory in its nature and design, first to individuals, and second to the church. Erring members are to be " gained" over to the truth; and when this becomes impossible, for the purity of the church, they are to be expelled, to be to the church "as heathen and publicans." Matt, xviii. 15-11. This passage, as all others on the subject, provides for great tenderness on the one hand, and for decision on the other. Whilst every thing vindictive, and selfish, and personal, is prohibited, so is undue forbearance, " suffering wrong" in members.
The church is a band of brethren, who are to "love one another," under all circumstances. It is at the same time a band of Christians, persons who are like Christ; and none are to be tolerated within hex pale who are not, or who cannot be induced, by a suitable discipline, to become fellow-laborers for the truth. The church is an organization for the furtherance of the cause of Christ, and, as such, is charged with the most holy and momentous work; and its discipline should be at once illustrative and promotive of its great enterprise. Its members, by its discipline, are to become better in all respects, and more efficient laborers for God. Discipline not having these effects is wrong. See, on this topic. Cor. xii. 24, 26. 1 Pet. iii. 8. Matt. v. 14. Col. ii. 5. Bom. i. 8. Rom. xii. ' 4-8. <Jal. vi. 1. James v. 19, 20. Rev. ii. 14. 1 Cor. v. 6, T. 1 Tun. V. 20. 1 Thess. iv. 14.
3. Offences Requiring Church Action, and Method of Procedure.
Dr. Brown's article on " Mode of Proceeding Against Disorderly Members," traverses the ground of these topics, and is scriptural and judicious.
" When offence is given to one member of the church, by the language or conduct of another, if the offence relate only to himself, and is known to none other, the offended shall, without consulting or informing any person, seek opportunity to converse privately with the offender, with an honest view to reconcile the difficulty, if possible. If satisfaction be given, he shall complain of the offender to none.
If satisfaction be not given, it shall be the duty of the offended to select one or two, or at most three others, choosing such as he may deem best adapted to effect a reconciliation, with whom he shall again privately converse with the offending brother; if satisfaction be given, he shall make no further complaint.
If these efforts fail to secure a reconciliation, it shall be the duty of the offended to lay the matter before the church, for further action.
If any member of the church shall be publicly guilty of any crime or gross impropriety, it shall be the duty of the member knowing the transgression, to see or write to the offender, and inform him of his intention to lay the matter before the church, that he may appear in his own defence.
When common rumor charges a crime or gross impropriety against a member, it shall be the duty of the member hearing it to visit or write to the accused, and inform him of the reports; and if he has reason to believe that they are true, to take the most judicious steps to ascertain their correctness, and lay the charge and its evidence before the church.
When peculiar circumstances render it impracticable to visit or write to a member, who is known, or currently reported to have been guilty of crime or gross impropriety, it shall be the
daty of the member knowing or hearing of such condnet, to take the most jadicious measures to ascertain the truth, and lay the matter before the church.
If a member, having erred, shall Yolnntarily confess it to the diurch, and manifest repentance, no farther proceedings, in ordinary cases, shall be entertained against him.
If a charge be preferred against an absent member, he shall, if practicable, be cited to appear at the next meeting of the church; and no member, if absent, shall be censured or excluded, at the same meeting during which a charge is preferred against him.
Every member against whom a charge of misconduct is preferred, shall have the privilege of speaking in his own defence.
Writt^i testimony of any individual who is not a m^nber of the church, may be admitted in cases of discipline ; but not oral testimony, except the individual testifying be connected with some church of the same faith and order.
If a member fail to give satisfaction to the church, in relation to charges preferred against him, or perversely refuse to appear before the church when cited, he shiedl be excluded."
4. Discipline of Ministers,
Ministers are members of the church, and, of necessity, in general, subject to the same laws as other members. The only scriptural exception to this rule is that made in 1 Tim. v. 19. ** Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses." That by "an elder" here is meant a minister, and not merely an aged person, is evident from the context. They are those " who labor in word and doctrine," and who are " worthy of their reward." Ministers, more than ordinary members, are exposed to injury from evil-minded persons. It is their office to " reprove and rebuke," which is by no means acceptable to the wicked; and they often become their "enemy, because they tell them the truth." In the nature of their office, they occupy a prominent place—a place of ex-
posure to the shafts of envy and enmity, which demands caution in proportion, in receiving accusations against them. One witness is not enough, though it may be in the case of those whose position is more private, and consequently less exposed. " Two or three witnesses" are positively necessary in the case of ministers. In all other respects, on the principle of equality which has ever characterized the Church of Christ, and in the silence of the Scriptures as to different rules for the discipline of ministers, they are subject to the same rules.
In point is the case of the Apostle Peter, as described in Acts xi. " And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him." Peter claims no special privilege on the ground of his ministerial character, but makes his defence, as in duty bound. It is satisfactory, and is accepted. There is no instance in the history of the primitive church of a minister claiming special privileges in discipline. The Church at Ephesus (Rev. ii. 2) is praised by the Apostle John, for having " tried them which say they are apostles, and are not."
The common argument for " a council" in the discipline of ministers, that " as the agency of the Presbytery was called in to invest him with the ministerial office, it is equally necessary in order to divest him of it," is untenable, simply because it is nnscriptural, the Scriptures making but one law of discipline for all members of the church, with the single exception we have noticed. But it may also be added, that the Presbytery is not necessary to his becoming a minister. The church is competent to make her own ministers, as far as man can make them, and this she always does in the Baptist Church. She authorizes him to preach by her own license, which is granted or withheld as she deems best. The essential act in ordination is her election of him for the purpose, and he may become a minister or a pastor, without the agency of the Presbytery.
5. Treatment of Excluded Members of the Church, As they may be excluded for a variety of offences, of greater or less crimiiiality, so it is obvioas tl^y shonld be treated differently afterwards. For this the Scriptures provide. " But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother, be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner: with such an one no not to eat." 1 Cor. v. 11. This is quite a different rule from the following: "And if any man obey not our word in this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Tet count him not an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." 2 Thess. iii. 14, 15. The distinction in character is between those grossly immoral, and those to some extent disobedient to the "word," and the distinction in treatmsnt is non-intercourse with the former as brethren, and attention to the latter as such, " admonishing them." In the former case, however, it is obvious that the prohibition " not to eat" with nim does not extend to the act as man with man, but as brother with brother. Well does the Apostle remark, (1 Cor. v. 10,) if we were to have literally no intercourse with the grossly immoral, " then must we needs go out of the world." The prohibition relates to them as professed Christians. Those excluded for gross immoralities are not to be admitted to society under circumstances implying those present to be Christians. It does not, however, follow that even such are to'be forgotten. We may seek the reform of " heathen and publicans," aye, are under obligations to; and so we may and should that of all excluded persons. At the same time, there is more hope of those excluded for disobedience to the " word;" and they are more suitable companions for Christians, and should be treated with less severity.
At the same time, great charity is required toward all persons who repent of their trespasses. " If thy brother trespass
against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him." Luke xvii. 3. " Then Peter came to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother si^ against me, and I forgive him ? till seven times ? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven." Matt. xviiL 21, 22. It is obvious that by " seventy times seven" is meant an indefinite number of times. It is equally obvious that this rule does not apply to those who merely profess to repent; for it were trifling with serious things, and casting contempt upon all discipline, to exclude and restore persons with such frequency, and on so slight evidence of repentance. But where there is evidence of genuine repentance, including reform, restoration is necessary in all cases.
6. The Reception of Excluded Members by other Churches.
It sometimes occurs that excluded members, failing to obtain restoration to their own church, apply for admission to some other one of the same faith and order. In the absence of a special scriptural rule in such case, we must be governed by general rules, and these are ample for such a purpose. The Church is one, and yet composed of numerous independent, but harmonious parts. For the sake of harmony, and as -essential to it, great courtesy must be used by different churches toward each other. It is obvious that the church excluding a member is the one upon whom rests the first responsibility of his restoration. It should be taken for granted, in the absence of evidence, that his exclusion is just, and to his own church he should be referred for a settlement of his difficulty. At the same time, churches may err, and individuals have rights, and any church may, on conviction that a sister church has erred, either intentionally or ignorantly, receive those they deem entitled to such privilege. It is obvious that such questions need the control of great wisdom and justice and courtesy. Churches receiving the excluded members of sister churches, without ample evidence of duty in the case, are guilty of intro-
I
dncing disorder into the body; at the same time they are under obligation to God and his wronged disciples, to rebnke any erring chnrch, and nndo, as far as it may, its error, ^y receiving those wrongly excluded, who &il to obtain redress in the right quarter.
22
PAET IV.
BAPTIST KABTTES AND PERESCUTIONS, FOR THE FOREGOING
PRINCIPLES.
CHAPTER I.
1. The Uses of Perseoutions. 2. Evidence of Discipleship. 8. They proye how idle is the wrath of man against God. 4. The Martyrs as an Example.
1. Some minds recoil from the heart-rending and sickening details of suffering for conscience sake, which abonnd in the history of the chnrch, and condemn their recital. But they are matters of fact, and of Scripture recognition, and have most important uses. They should be studied until the mind is imbued with their lessons.
2. Sufferings for Christ are evidence of discipleship. "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations, for my name's sake." Matt, xxiv. 9. "'Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil of you falsely, for my name's sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Matt. v. 11,12. Aware that his disciples would be subject to intense persecutions, the Saviour provided, as far as possible, for them, not .only admonishing them of the fact, but that their endurance was essential to discipleship, and that he would be with them, and bless them, and give them strength equal to their day. It is well known to all readers of the Bible how amply passages of
(254)
this nature abonnd. It is equally obvious to all readers of church history, how fully the truths of the Bible have been verified in this respect. Just as it predicts, persecutions have abounded; the false have fallen away, unable to stand before their fires; and myriads of the genuine disciples of the Saviour have unflinchingly endured all manner of indignities, and sufferings, in comparison with which their ultimate death was as nothing. The evidence of the inspiration of the Scriptures would have been defective, without the historical confirmation of them furnished in persecutions.
It does not follow that he is a disciple of Christ who suffers; but that he is, who suffers innocently "for righteousness' sake." No doubt many have claimed merit from their sufferings, not understandmg this important distinction; but this detracts not from their elevated position, by the Master's side, who have borne indignities and ultimate death, in unshrinking, undying love for the truth, as it is in Jesus. Noble, glorious martyrs I though dead, they yet speak.
Troublous times may come again to the Church of Christ. Well, let them come. They will be nothing new or strange. Though there would undoubtedly be a great falling away, among professing Christians, there would still be, as of old, those true to Christ in all circumstances. Indeed, such times are now in different parts of the world, and probably will be, as they ever have been, until the millennium. They are now the feeble efforts of the dying demon of persecution. As ever, they develop now the true martyr spirit. Fear not, disciple of Christ; mistrust not the principle of religion, which has been implanted within thee; it is as undying as the throne of Omnipotence. It is said of martyrs of a former day: " By this love (the love of Christ) they overcame all things, and performed glorious deeds, beyond human power. Feeble women showed more than manly strength. Maidens and young men, in the bloom of youth, were able, by God's help, to despise the allaring world, with all its fair and mighty promises. These
joting and tender plants oyercame, by faith and patience, the mighty of this world." So it shall be again, if it please Qod to suffer it. Human nature is the same in all ages; and Christianity is the same in fact, and in its operations upon the heart, and ** Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, to-day, and forever."
3. PerseciUion for conscience sake is Anti-Christian* Another use of persecutions and martyrdoms is to dis-tinguish the enemies of Christ '^ And in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God." Phil. i. 28.
It is worthy of remark, that nO fact has done more to fasten upon the Papal Church the odium of the description in Rev. xvii. 3-T, than her persecuting spirit, which, all history shows, is identical with her. Rev. Dr. Dowling remarks, in his history of Romanism: "Among the scriptural marks of the predicted Romish Apostasy, the Babylonish harlot of the Apocalypse, i9 the following—' And I saw the Foman drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.'" The whole history of Popery is a commentary upon the truthfulness of this description. That history is written in lines of blood. Compared with the butcheries of holy men and women by the papal anti-Christy the persecutions of the Pagan emperors of the first three centuries sink into comparative insignificance. For not a tithe of the blood of the martyrs was shed by Paganism, that has been poured forth by Popery; and the persecutors of Pagan Rome never dreamed of the thousand ingenious contrivances of torture, which the malignity of Popish inquisitors succeeded in inventing, when, in the language of Pollok, they
« « « « " Sat and planned Deliberately, and with most musing pains. How to eztremest thrill of agbny The flesh, and blood, and souls, of holy men, Her victim, might be wrought."
From the birth of popery, in 606, to the present time, it is estimated by carefal and credible historians, that ** more than fifty millions of the human family have been slaughtered for the crime of heresy, by popish persecutors, an average of more than forty thousand religious murders for every year in the existence of popery."
It is said these things should be forgotten, as barbarities of a bygone day. Forgotten, indeed I Impossible! It were less impossible if Romanism had repented of these enormities; and if it were not amply evident that persecution is an integral part of her; indeed, her pet method of promoting her cause of sin and crime; but still impossible, because her persecutions are not only matter of prophecy, but of scriptural evidence of her anti-Christian character. When these things can be blotted from the Bible, where they stand written by the pen of the Almighty, an ever-living, burning sentence against her, then they may be forgotten, not before.
That Protestants have been guilty of persecuting men for conscience sake is greatly to be deplored, but cannot be denied. These diflFerences, however, are obvious between such, and those of Pagans and Papists. There are Protestant sects which have never resorted to persecutions and martyrdoms. There is not an instance on record against the Baptist Church. She has ever protested against every thing of the bind, by precept and example. And in numerous cases of Protestant persecutions, they have been the result of mistaken views, prevailing for a short time, rather than of fixed laws. Better views have speedily taken their place, and bitterly have different ones been lamented. Where Protestants have persecuted under other circumstances than these, they must be placed in the same category with Pagans and Papists, as the enemies of Christ and his people.
4. Persecutions and martyrdoms prove how idle is the vrraih of man against Christ and his people. Well has Luther sung:
22*
** Flang to the heedless winds.
On the waters cast, Their ashes shall be watched.
And gathered at the last: And from that scattered doB^
Around us and abroad, Shall spring a plenteous seed
Of witnesses for God.
Jesus hath now received
Their latest, dying breath; Yet vain is Satan's boast
Of victory In their death. Still, still, though dead, they speak.
And triumph-tongued proclaim To many a waking land
The one availing name."
So it haR ever been, and Bo it shall continne. Let the people of God take courage and never ''fear what man shall do unto them."
" The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.^' And let their enemies profit bj past experience, as they read the second Psalm:
"Why do the heathen rage. And the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves. And the rulers take council together Against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying. Let us break their bands asunder. And cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath And vex them in his sore displeasure. ' Yet have I set my king Upon my holy hill of Zion.' I will declare the decree: The Lord hath said unto me * Thou art my Son; This day have I begottei^ thee. Ask of me and I shaU give thee the heathen for thine inheritaiiM^
And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vesseL'
Be wise now, therefore, 0 ye kings;
Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear.
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry^
And ye perish from the way,
When his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."
5. The martyrs are an example to their fellow-disciples. We commend to our readers, in this connection, the 10th, 11th, and 12th chapters of Hebrews. In these chapters, the Apostle Paul, who knew so well what persecution was, (from his own experience as a persecutor ''unto death," before his conversion, and as persecuted afterwards.) beautifully illus-trates this use of modems.
"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering ; (for he is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and good works." (x. 23, 24.) " Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen; for by it the elders obtained a good report." (xi. 1, 2.) He then, in a most eloquent manner, shows the triumphs of faith in all ages, and among them, those of martyrs : " And what shall I more say ? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea» moreover, in bonds and imprisonments;^ they were stoned, they were
sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered aboat in sheep skins and goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better things for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race which is set before us.^' (xi. 32-40, i. 1.)
"Encompassed about by such a cloud of witnesses," we ought indeed to "lay aside every weight," even (?) "the sin that doth so easily beset us," (timidity ?) " and run with patience the race set before us." O, how should we blush for our timidity, in the presence of the trifling sacrifices required of us ! Well may we sing, as often we do, (God grant that we may be innocent in so singing I)-^
" Am I a soldier of the cross—
A follower of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own his eanse.
Or blush to speak his name? Must I be carried to the skies,
On flowery beds of ease, While others foaght to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas 1"
Our brethren, for the blessed privileges we enjoy, literally sailed to heaven through seas of blood; and yet we, with this hymn upon our lips, halt and desert, for comparatively the most trifling obstacles. O, shame, shame on us, in this day, that we are not more faithful to Christ I One thousandth part of the sacrifice they made would fill to overflowing the treasury of the Lord, and elevate the disciples of Christ beyond any thing now exhibited of disposition and ability to toil and suffer for the truth.
This is not the martyr, but the victorious age of the Church. We could not, if we would, make such sacrifices as have our brethren of a different day. But as much as they, are we under obligations to possess the martyr spirit, which would, did the circumstances require it, cause us to rejoice in the extremest persecutions, and whose office, in different times, it is, to make us equally faithful to such sacrifices as may fall to our lot. Disciple of Christ, thou mayest deny thyself, if thou wilt, in illustrating the graces of Christianity, as thou dost live for God and his cause. By a well-ordered life and godly conversation—^by industry, and benevolence to the charities of the church, and of philanthropy, you may be soldiers of the cross, and hardly otherwise can you. What else can you do ? O, then, call not these hardships, nor dream of desertion on their account.
CHAPTER n.
1. The Abimdanoe of fhe Sufferings of Baptists. 2. New Testament Martyrs.
1. We claim not for Baptists a monopoly of these glories, through grace, of the Church of Christ. Far, far from it Instances are numerous of most noble sufferings, for the truth, in other denominations. We delight to honor the spirit of Christ, wherever it is found; but neither our limits, nor our plan in this work, permit us to linger about the edifying lessons abounding in most Christian denominations.
That Baptists, however, have had by far the largest share of suffering from the persecutions and martyrdoms of the church, is obvious. They have suffered from Jews, Pagans, Papists, Greeks, and Protestants, and have retaliated upon neither. Rev. J. Newton Brown, D. D., in his preliminary
historical essay to the Baptist martyrs, says, speaking of the martyrdom of Stephen, and of John the Baptist, and of James: " Thus began, with names never to be forgotten, the long, bright roll of New Testament martyrs. And thus, from year to year, and from age to age, that illustrious roll received accessions from the violence of Jewish or heathen persecutions, for three centuries. But, with only one known exception, all this time, these Christian martyrs were Baptists."
Cardinal Hosius, President of the Council of Trent, (A. D. 1545,) a distinguished dignitary of the Church of Rome, says : " K you behold their cheerfulness in suffering persecution, the Anabaptists run before all the heretics. If you have regard to the number, it is likely that in multitude they would swarm above all others, if they were not grievously plagued, and cut off with the knife of persecution. If you have an eye to the outward appearance of godliness, both the Lutherans and the Zuinglians must needs grant that they far pass them. If you will be moved by the boasting of the word of God, these be no less bold than Calvin to preach, and their doctrine must stand aloft above all the glory of the world, and stand invincible above all power, because it is not their word, but the word of the living God." The testimony of these two writers covers the ground from the first Christian martyrdom to the reformation of the sixteenth century.
Any amount of facts, illustrating the truth of this testimony, may be found in the New Testament, in the various Church Histories, and Baptist Histories; in Fox's Book of Martyrs, in Dutch Martyrology, in Dowling's History of Romanism, and in Baptist Martyrs. It is true, that in some of these works the denominational character of the martyrs is sedulously concealed ; still it often Appears, and there is no mistaking their baptistical tendencies. In the New Testament, and the Baptist works, no attempt being made to conceal the real character of the sufferers, it cannot be mistaken ; and it is remarkable, for how much of these sufferings the world is indebted directly
to sprinkling, and infant sprinkling particularly. When it is remembered for how long a period of the world Christians were to so great an extent Baptists, namely, fifteen hundred years, (See chapters in this work on the origin and history of the church,) it will be perceived that, of necessity, the martyrs of the same period were Baptists to a similar extent.
Our limits admit of only a few instances of persecutions and martyrdom, selected from materials ample for volumes of a similar character. In tracing them, we follow the path, every where marked with blood, which we have sketched in Part First of this work.
2. FerseciUions and Martyrdom^ of New Tesfmnent times.
These are so well known, that we feel compelled, though they are so important, to confine ourselves to the briefest possible recital of them.
" The time and age of the New Testament" (see Preface to Dutch Martyrology) "afford abundant matter of confirmation. John, the forerunner of Jesus, had to bare his neck, in prison, to the sword. Our Captain, the leader of our faith, Jesus Christ, had to enter into his glory through many scoflfe, much suffering and reproach, and, at last, by the shamefiQ death of the cross. His apostles and disciples, as the history of those times bears witness, followed their Master. Peter and Paul were slain by the Emperor Nero. James, the brother of John, was put to death by Herod, with the sword. Matthew was nailed to the ground in India. Bartholomew was flayed alive. Andrew was crucified. Thomas was pierced with spears. Philip was nailed to a cross, and then stoned to death. Simon Zelotes was scourged and crucified. James, the son of Alpheus, was thrown down from the temple at Jerusalem, and afterwards beaten with staves. Judas Thaddeus was murdered in Persia by the ungodly heathen priests. Matthias also obtained the crown of martyrdom. The evangelical Mark was dragged about at Alexandria, by a cord round his neck, until he died. John, the Apostle, being
banished to the Isle of Patmos, adorned the gospel by suffering. Pollycarp, the disciple of John, was bnmed alive at Smyrna. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was torn in pieces by wild beasts. Even the Roman bishops (pastors) were in the first 300 years nearly all martyred, and, in common with Christians in general, were subjected to the persecutions of heathen emperors. Under the Emperor Diocletian, there was such a terrible persecution that it seemed as if the Christian name would be entirely rooted out. Thus the first churches, nntU the time of Constantine, were so accustomed to persecution, that with premeditated counsel they prepared themselves entirely to suffer."
CHAPTER m
1. Perseoutions of the Montanist Baptists terrible in the extreme. 2. Of the
Noyatian Baptists by the Emperors.
1. The McynJtanist Baptists,
Neandxr seems in some doubt as to whether Montanus uid his numerous adherents flourished " during the catastrophies of nature which led to the tumultuary attacks of the populace on the Christians; or during the bloody persecutions of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius." Whichever it was, they undoubtedly came in for a fall share of suffering. Either of these persecutions were terrible in the extreme; and it is perfectly obvious, that a people so uncompromising in their defence of the truth, must have been great sufferers. The distinguished historian just quoted, says of them: " Accordingly, Montanism tended to fasten a fanatic longing after martyrdom. It set up the principle, that, in submitting to the divine will, men should do nothing to avoid those persecutions which it was God's will to suspend over Christians, for the trial of their faith. This spirit of Montanism characteristically expresses itself in
the following oracle: 'Let it not be your wish to die on your beds—^but desire to die as martyrs, that He may be glorified who suffered for you.' The same tendency of spirit pushed Montanism, in its anxiety to avoid an accommodating disposition, which might prove injurious to the faith, to the other extreme, of sternly renouncing all those usages of civil and social life, which could in any way be traced to a pagan origin; of despising all those prudential maxims, by which it was possible to avert the suspicion of the pagan authorities. It seems, among other things, to have been objected to the Montanists, that, by their frequent meetings for fasting and prayer, they defied the established laws against secret assemblies." Such a people were not likely to escape the very dregs of a tyrant's cup.
Thanks to Neander for the above account of our brethren; for, notwithstanding his attempts slily to cast odium upon them, and admitting the possibility of their having extreme views of martyrdom, who cannot see in them the true Christian hero; just such disciples as Christ requires for such times, and always secures ? How marvelously were these like certain men we read of in the New Testament I On one occasion they were thrust into prison, for their imprudence in going contrary to the commands of tyrants. An angel opened the prison door, and (fanatical • angel also ?) bid them in the morning " go, stand and speak in the very temple all the words of this life." They did it, and were brought before the council; "and the high priest asked them. Did we not straitly command you not to teach in this name ? and behold you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said. We ought to obey God rather than men." You know the sequel. They were " beaten ;" " and they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily still, in the very temple, and in every house, they ceased not tq teach and 23
preach Jesus Christ." Jnst as well might Neander say of these men, that they were indebted for their ultimate suffer* ings " to a fanatical longing after martyrdom," which pushed them on in their defiance of tyrants. When historiaiui can find no better place for such men, let them turn them oyer to Baptists. Ood grant that they may ever be welcome,
2. PersecvJtUma and Martyrdoms of the Novaiian Baptists.
We quote a few facts of this people from Lardner: ^^ In 831, he (OonstaQtine) changed his policy towards these peo^ pie, (Novatians,) and they were inyolved with other denomif nations in distress and sufferings. Their books were sought for, they were forbidden assembling together, and many lost their places of worship. Constantine's oppressive measures prompted many to leave the scene of sufferings, and retire into some more sequestered spots. Claudius Lyssel, the popish archbishop, traces the rise of the Waldensean heresy to a pastor named Leo, leaving Rome at this period for the valleys."
'' In 3*75, the emperor Yalens embraced the Arian creed. He closed the Novatian churches, and banished their ministers. During this severe trial, the benevolent feelings of the Nova-tians became so apparent as to extort admiration from their enemies."
** In the fourth lateral council, canons were made to banish them as heretics; and these canons were supported by an edicts in 413, issued by the emperors Theodosius and HonoriuE^ declaring that all persons re-baptized, and the re-baptizers, should be punished with death. Accordingly, Albanus, a zealous minister, with others, were punished with death for re-baptizing. These combined modes of oppression led the faithful to abandon the cities, and seek retreats in the country, which they did, particularly in the valleys of Piedmont, the inhabitants of which began to be called Waldenses."
How precisely do these persecutions answer the description of those in New Testament times I "At that time there
was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem ; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria." . . " Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word." In the Novatian persecutions, when they fled to the valleys, we no doubt have the germ (as Claudius Lyssel supposes) of what he terms " the Waldensean heresy." How, in their case, did " the blood of the martyrs prove the seed of the church 1" Here undoubtedly is the solution of Mosheim's "difficulty" in regard to the Anabaptists, whose " origin is had in the re« mote depths of antiquity." Here we are enabled to account for his admission of the fact, that " before the rise of Luther and Calvin, there lay concealed in almost all the countries of Europe, particularly in Bohemia, Moravia, Switzerland and Germany, many persons who adhered tenaciously to the spiritual nature of the kingdom of Christ" Thus has it pleased God to pass along, from age to age, and from country to conn-* try, his church, never for a moment allowing it to becoBM extinct
CHAPTER IV.
1. PerseOntaoBS of tbe Donatiat Baptists; their Defence of Religious tiiberty. 2. Of the Paulioiaa Baptuits, eminent in piei^ and snffering.
1. The Danatists.
AoooRDiNQ to Mosheim, ''the Donatists were a most powerful and numerous body of dissenters, almost as numerous as the Catholics." Jones says: "There was hardly a city or town in Africa, in which there was not a Donatist church."
Constantine was now (A. D. 314) fully invested with imperial power. The Papists claim his interference in their difficulties with the Donatists. He complies apparently at
first, in kindness, but ultimately in great severity. The Dona-tists inquire indignantly, as Roger Williams in substance did, at a much later day: " WhxU Jvaa the Emperor to do vnih the Church f What have Christians to do urUh Kings f Whai have Bishops to do at Court T'
Surely, there need be no dispute as to where the doctrine of the separation of the State and Church appeared, after New Testament times. We presume that so important a doctrine never died out of the creed of the genuine disciples of Christ. From the moment the Saviour gave form to it, in the ever-memorable declaration : " My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of- this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence ;" from that moment it has been cherished, and has gone with Christians into the " valleys," as they have fled from persecution. If it appears not before, here at all events we have it, in " the first persecution which realized the support of a Christian emperor" (A. D. 814), thundered by the Novatian Baptists in the very ears of Constantine, when he presumed in his secular capacity to preside in person over the affairs of religion.
Constantine did not relish such a method of receiving his interference in the affairs of religion. He listened to the more flattering representations of Papal bishops; and deprived the Donatists of their houses of worship, and put some of them to death. Wavering between the parties, like a weak man, he repealed the laws against them only to enaQt more severe ones, and finally died in the full career of persecution for conscience sake.
Now, for many years, the Donatists received a vacillating treatment from their enemies, sometimes fully tolerated, and then the sad reverse, until about A. D. 413, when the Papists prevailed upon Honorius and Theodosius, emperors of the East and the West, to issue that bloody edict against those rebaptizing and rebaptized. Gibbon remarks on this edicts that
''three hnndred bishops, with many thousands of the inferior clergy, were torn from their churches, stripped of their ecde^ siastical possessions, banished to the islands, proscribed by law, if they presumed to conceal themselves in the proyinces of Africa. Their numerous congregations, both in the cities and the country, were deprived of the rights of citizens, and the exercise of religious worship. A regular scale of fines, from ten to two hundred pounds of silver, was curiously ascertained^ lu^cording to the distinction of rank and fortune, to punish the crime of assisting at a schismatic conventicle; and if the fine had been levied five times without subduing the obstinacy of the offender, his future punishment was referred to the di»-Oretion of the imperial court."
8. Perseoniums and martyrdoms of the PatMipn Bap" Ms.
" I hope it may be shortly evident" (says Milnor^ in his confidence in the Paulicians), ''that they originated from a heavenly faifluence, teaching and converting them; and that in them we have one of those extraordinary effusions of the Divine Spirit, on his word, by which the knowledge of Christy and the practice of godliness, was kept alive in the world."
But these brethren did not escape the fate of the faithful in tuch a day. Indeed, in proportion as error became prevaloit in the world, did the fires of persecution bum with the greater violence. We quote from Orchard's "account of this people, in relation to their sufferings fot the truth. His positions ar^ sustained by such authorities as Milner^ Gibbon, Lardner, Robinson, and Jones.
'' Alarmed at the progress Uieir novel opinions were making, and discovering the growing importance of their opinions, the church party engaged in the most bitter and virulent oontro-rersy with them. Ineffectual in their efforts, the Greek emperdifs began to persecute them with the most sanguinary severity. They were sentenced to be capitally punished, and their bo(^ wherever found, to be committed to tiie flamee. If any 28*
person was fonnd to have secreted them, he was to be put to death, and his goods confiscated."
" A Greek officer, armed with legal and military authoritj, appeared at Coronia, to strike the shepherd, and to reclaim if possible the sheep. By a refinement of cmelty, he placed. Sylvanus (their pastor) before a line of his disciples, who were commanded, as the price of their pardon, and as proof of their penitence, to stone to death their spiritual father. The affectionate flock turned aside from the impious office, the stones dropped from their filial hands, and, of the * whole number, only one executioner could be found. This apostate, after putting Sylvanus to death, gained, by some means, admittance into communion, and again deceiyed and betrayed his nnsuspeqiting brethren; and as many as were treacherously ascertained, and could be collected, were massed together into an immense pile, and, by order of the emperor, consumed to ashes. Simeon, the officer, struck with the readiness with which the Paulicians could die for their religion, examined their arguments and became himself a convert, renounced his honors and fortune, and three years afterwards went to Oabossa^ and became the successor of Constantine Sylvanus, a zealous preacher among the Paulicians, and at last sealed his testimony with his blood. Many were banished into Thrace, from whence they passed into Bulgaria and Sclavonia, where they took root and settled in their own church order. From the blood and ashes of the first Paulician victims, a succession of teachers and congregations arose. The Greeks, to subdue them, made use both of arguments and of arms, with all the terror of penal laws, without effecting their object. The emperors, in conjunction with the clergy, exerted their zeal with a peculiar degree of bitterness and fury, against this people. Though every kind of oppressive measures and means were used, yet all efforts for their suppression proved fruitless; nor could all their power, and all their barbarity, exhaust the patience, or conquer the obstinacy of that inflexible people,
who possessed, says Mosheim, a fortitude worthy of a better cause."
Towards the eud of the eighth century, a better state of things prevailed for a time, when the Paulicians became very numerous; but, under Michael and Leo, persecutions were resumed. "They made strict inquisition throughout every province of the Grecian empire, and inflicted capital punishment upon such of them as refused to retun^ to the bosom of the church."
"The severest persecution experienced by them, was encouraged by the Empress Theodora, A. D. 835. Her decrees were severe, but the cruelty with which they were executed by her officers, was horrible beyond expression. Her sanguinary inquisitors explored cities and mountains in lesser Asia. After confiscating the goods and property of erne hundred diousand of this people, the owners, to that number, were put to death in the most barbarous manner, and made to expire slowly under a variety of the most excruciating tortures."
It must here be admitted that some of the Paulicians, driven to madness by what they suffered, did retaliate upon their enemies, contrary to the custom of ancient Christians and the teachings of the Saviour. Whilst we cannot approve this exception, we cannot be surprised at it. The only matter of astonishment is, that the exceptions were so rare under such provocations. Gibbon finds an apology for them; and better men have done it, and no doubt will continue to, at least in that " charity which hopeth all things." Though we may not now see how, there must be some extenuation of their conduct in this affair, who were generally so correct.
fiT8 THE BAFTIBT DXNOMINATION.
CHAPTER V.
1. Perseontions and Marlyriloms of the Paterine Baptists. 1. Gondnlpliaf arises. S. Arnold of Brosoia; his intrepidity and martyrdom.
1. TJte Paterine Baptists.
There is some little nncertainty attending the origin of the term Paterines, and hence how it came to be applied to this excellent and nnmeroos class of Baptists. The probability^ howeyeri is, that the term is about equivalent to sufferers or martyrs, and that it was well applied to this people. So claims Mezeray: ** A name which came from the glory they took in suffering patiently for the truth." Orq^iurd remarks in regard to it: ''In a preyious section we have given the outlines of this suffering people^ under the denomination of Novationists, and endeavored to trace their history till the penal laws compelled them to retire into caves and dens to worship CK)d. While oppressed by the Catholic party, they obtained the name of Paterines, which means sufferers^ or what is nearly synonymous with our modem acceptation of the word martyrs, and which indicated ati afflicted and poor people, trusting in the name of the Lord."
Bo pious and unoffending were this people, that it is unaccountable how any could persecute them. And yet not unaccountable, witii the Bible in our hands, teaching man's natural enmity to holiness, Bnd the essentially persecuting spirit of Anti-Christ. Common consent ascribes to them the following distinguished character: " They took no oaths and bore no arms. Were decent in their deportment, modest in their dress and discourse, and their morals were irreproachable. In their conversation, there was up levity, no scurrility, no detraction, no falsehood, no swearing. Their dress was neither fine nor mean. They were chaste and temperate, never
freqaenting tayems or places of amnsement. They were not given to anger or violent passions. They were not eager to accnmnlate wealth, but were content with the plain necessaries of life. They avoided commerce, because they thought it would expose them to the temptations of collusion, falsehood and oaths; and they chose to live by labor or handicraft. They were always employed in spare hours, either in giving or receiving instruction." Surely such a people could not deserve persecution. We shall see whether they received it or not.
We find the first traces of the Paterines as early as A. D. 330 ; and the last of them, when they probably were merged in the Waldensian churches, in A. D. 1260, covering a period of more than nine hundred years. The theatre of their sufferings and victories was Germany, Italy, France, and Spain. All reliable authorities agree not only in this, but in the statement of Mosheim, that ^* they passed out of Italy, and spread like an inundation throughout all the European provinces.'' Bome itself, the boasted " Capital of Christendom," resounded to the eloquence of the Puritans.
This period and theatre in the history of the church, marked by the fortunes of the Paterine Baptists, are of intense interest. Well might a volume of no ordinary size be written of them. The men who appeared, the scenes which transpired, the results reached, all conspire to cause the intelligent ChristiaiL to linger around them. Our limits, however, admit of but a brief notice of a few instances of persecution. We follow Orchard's data, sustained by such authorities as Allix, Jorton, Milnor, M'Crie, Mosheim, and Robinson.
2. Gundulphas, a distinguished preacher among the Paterines, arose about A. D. 1020. Some of his followers were arrested in Flanders, charged with abhorring Catholic baptisms. They replied, " The law and the discipline we have received of our Master, will not appear contrary either to the gospel decrees, or apostolic institutions, if carefully looked into." They objected to the baptism oi unconverted men, as adminis-
tering or reoeiring the ordinance, and of infants, '^beoaiue^'* the J claimed, '' the reprobate life of ministers can afiford no saying remedj to the persons baptized: because what sins are renounced at the font, are afterwards taken np again in the life and practice; and because a strange will, a strange fiutfa^ and strange confession, do not seem to belong to a little chil^ who neither wills nor runs, who knoweth nothing of faith, and is altogether ignorant, of his own good and salvation, in whom there can be no desire of salvation or regeneration, and from whom no confession of faith can be expected."
" During the kingdom of the Goths and Lombards, (troA A. D. 954 to 1059,) the Anabaptists, as the Catholics callod them, had their share of churches and baptisteries, during which time thej held no communion with any hierarchy, that is, churches having different orders of clergy. After the union of those kingdoms, laws were issued by the emperors to deprive dissenters of baptismal churches, and to secure them to the Gatholio clergy. Consequently the brethren worshiped in private houses, under different names. Each of the houses^ where they met, seemed to be occupied by one of the brethren. They were marked, so as to be known only among themselves, and they never met in large companies." jLlad, alas I for this secresy. Those familiar at all with church history know what it means. Such measures were resorted to, to save themselves and children from violent persecution.
8. Arnold of Brescia now (A. D. IIST) appeared, in the providence of God, a man of singular piety, learning and intrepidity. He carried the war, bloodless on his part, into tho enemy's very camp. The anathemas of the church were thundered against him; ''he was condemned to perpetual silence. He fled to Switzerland; and then, persecuted by Bernard, fled again, all the time gathering strength for the conflict yet before him, until, far in advance of Luther, he goes to Borne itself, resolved to rear there the standard of the cross, or perish in the attempt. Success crowned his efforts. Arnold maintained
his station above ten years, whUe two Popes eitlier trembled in the Yatican, or wandered as exiles in the adjacent cities.'' To the end ** his friends were nnmerons, bnt the sword was no weapon in the articles of his faith." The persecutors finally tri-nmphed, and "in 1155, this noble champion was seized, cmci* fied, and burnt. His ashes were thrown into the riyer. The clergy triumphed in his death; with his ashes his sect was dispersed; his memory still lives in the minds of the Romans.'' Jones has well remarked: "Though no corporeal relic could be preserved to animate his followers, the efforts of Arnold, in civil and religious libefty, were cherished in the breasts of future reforming spirits, and inspired those mighty attempts in Wickliflfe, Huss, and others." • \
Numerous have been the charges brought against this martyr; but, as Davenport remarks: ** his real crime was his having taught that the church ought to be divested of its worldly possessions, and reduced to its primitive simplicity;" or, as Dr. Wall has it: " he was condemned along with Peter de Bruys for rejecting infant baptism." But we must linger no longer with this interesting, suffering, and victorious people.
CHAPTER VI.
1. The perseeutionB and martyrs of the VTaldenQian Baptists; the inqnisi-tion originated for them. 2. The boy and the priest. S. Bartholomew Oopin. 4. GromweU and Milton interfere in behalf of Baptists.
1. The Waldenaian Baptists and the Inquisition.
Thb fires of persecution now began to bum with a lurid glare, which it is impossible to look upon, at this distant point, without shuddering. As never before or since, we seem to see ''the Mystery of Babylon the great, the mothtr
harlots, and abominations of the earth, drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesos." See Rev. xvii. 5, 6. God grant that the period here predicted may have been passed, for it seems impossible to conceiye of anything more terrible than this persecution. The Inquisition now (12th century) makes its appearance. The Papists, maddened by their ill success against the Almighty and his people, and apparently " given up to believe a lie that they might be damned," consummate their malignity in that infernal instrument of persecution, the Inquisition—originated, it is generally supposed, particularly for Ihe punishment and extirpation of the Waldenses. The Inquisition established by the spiritual tyrants, it must be sustained by corresponding edicts from the secular tyrants; and now appear those incredible edicts of the European princes, particularly those of Frederick II. and Louis IX., which enshrouded the worid in gloom.
It is impossible to do anything like justice to the terrific, heaven-defying results of this coalescence of the spiritual and secular power against the church. Nothing but a miracle of mercy could have saved the wretches of it from his wrath, which those of them who did not repent must now be sufifering, whilst multitudes of their victims help to swell the company of those described in Revelations vi. 13, 14, "arrayed in white robes," " who came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
Disciple of Jesus, brother of these martyrs, turn not away from their sufferings, until thou hast learned to look upon thy own sacrifices, made, or likely to be, as nothing, and less than nothing, in comparison. Passing with a mournful tribute of respect what they endured for Christ for so many long, long years, we come at once to some of their darkest days, in the valleys of Piedmont, whither they had fled, in the vain hope of rearing their families in the fear of God, unmolested by his enemies.
The valleys of Piedmont, where "Alps on Alps arise," must ever be classic ground to the Christian. Alas I could those mountains and valleys speak, were those fissures in the rocks mouths with tongues, how sad a tale would they tell of murdered, bleeding, burning fathers and mothers, and youths and infants I "A spectator, taking his stand on the top of the ridge of these mountains, will observe, that at the foot, on the Spanish side, lie Asturias, Old Castile, Aragon, and Catalonia ; and on the French side, Guienne and Languedoc, Toulouse, Beam, Alby, Roussillon, and Narbonne, all of which places were remarkable in the darkest times for harboring Christians, who were reputed heretics. Indeed, from the borders of Spain, throughout the greatest part of the south of France, among and below the Alps, along the Rhine, and even to Bohemia, thousands of the disciples of Christ were found, even in the very worst of times, preserving the faith in its purity, adhering to the simplicity of Christian worship, patiently bearing the cross of Christ: men distinguished for the fear of God, and obedience to his will, and persecuted only for righteousness' sake."
" About the year 1400, a violent outrage was committed upon the Waldenses inhabiting the valley Pragela, in Piedmont, by a Catholic party residing in the neighborhood. The attack, which seems to have been of the most furious kind, was made towards the end of December, when the mountains were covered with snow, and thereby rendered so difficult of access, that the peaceable inhabitants of those valleys were wholly unapprized that any such attempt was meditated; and the persecutors were in actual possession of their caves ere the owners seem to have been apprized of any hostile design against them. In this pitiable strait, they had recourse to the only alternative which remained for saving their lives—^they fled, though at that inauspicious season of the year, to one of the highest mountains of the Alps, with their wives and children ; the unhappy mothers carrying the cradle in one hand^ 24
and in the other leading such of the children as were able to walk. Their inhuman invaders porsned them in their flight, until darkness obscnred the objects of their fdry. Manj were slaiit before they conld reach the mountains. Overtaken by the shades of nighty these afiUcted outcasts wandered up and down the mountains covered with snow, destitute of the means of shelter from the inclemency of the weather, or of supporting themselvea under it, by any of the comforts which Providence had designed for that purpose. Benumbed with cold, some fell asleep, and became an easy prey to the severity of
m
the climate; and when the night had passed away, there were found in their cradles, or lying on the snow, four score of their infants deprived of life; and many of their mothers were dead by their side, and others just on the point of expiring. During the nighty their enemies had plundered their abodes of every thing that was of value. This seems to have been the first general attack made by the Catholic peasantry opon the Wal-denses. They had been hitherto sheltered from the Pontiff's measures by the Dukes of Savoy, so that the rage of their enemies had been restrained to a few solitary cases of arrested heresy; but this kind of assault, planned no doubt by the clergy, was of a novel character; and so deeply impressed were th& minds of these people with the circumstances of the sufferers, as to speak of it for centuries after with feelings of apparent horror."
''Innocent the 8th was promoted to the tiara in 1484. This pontiff, in the spirit of his predecessor of infSunous notoriety, Innocent III., issued his bulls for the extirpation of the Waldenses, and appointed officers to carry the same into effect. *We have heard,' said the Pope, 'and it is come to our knowledge, not without much displeasure, that certain sons of iniquity, followers of that abominable and pernicious sect of malignant men, called the ''poor of Lyons,^^ or Waldenses, who have so long ago endeavored, in Piedmont and in other places, to ensnare the sheep belonging to God,' &c,'?
The Pontiff's menaces were not vapor. An army was soon raised by Albert, the Pope's legate, and marched directly into the valley of Loyse. The inhabitants, apprized of their approach, fled to their caves at the tops of the monntainSi carrying with them their children, and whatever valuables they possessed, as well as what was thought necessary for their support. The lieutenant, finding the inhabitant? all fled, and that not an individual appeared with whom he could converse^ had considerable trouble in discovering their retreats; when causing quantities of wood to be placed at the entrance to their caves, he ordered it to be set on fire. The consequence of this inhuman conduct was, four hundred children were suffocated in their cradles, or in the arms of their dead mothers, while multitudes, to avoid death by suffocation, or being committed to the flames, precipitated themselves headlong from their caverns upon the rocks below, where they were dashed to pieces; and if any escaped death by the fall, they were immediately slaughtered by the brutal soldiers. It appears that more than three thousand men and women perished on this occasion. Measures equally ferocious were adopted against the inoffensive inhabitants of other valleys, and with a like cruel success."
" Sentences were now publicly given against t^em in various churches. Innocent YIII. appeared as resolved at this period (A. D. 1484) to free the world from these dissenters as Inno< cent III. had been in the 13th century to rid Languedoc of the Albigenses. The Pontiff was filled with terrible apprehensions of danger, and exhorted the European princes to put a stop to all opposition. In order to have pecuniary means adequate to the expenses of these undertakings, indulgences to sin were sold by the servants of the church, and pardons for crimes past, or to be committed, could be purchased of liiese panders of hell. So effectual were the Papal measures that the inhabitants were wholly extirpated in the above-named valleys."
" In 148T, scenes of barbarous cruelty awaited those long privileged people, who inhabited other districts of Piedmont; and in the ensuing year, to complete the work of destruction, an army of 18,000 men marched into those sequestered parts. The early Waldenses forbade war and even prohibited self-defence ; but their patience was now worn out (Dan. vii. 25), and they departed from their ancestors' creed. They armed themselves with wooden targets and cross-bows, availing themselves of the advantages of their situation and country, every where defended the defiles of the mountains and repulsed the invaders. The women and children, (an afifecting sight,) were on their knees during the conflict, and in the simplest language, arising from overwhelming distress, and the prospect of losing all, their religion and their lives, entreated the Lord to spare and protect his people."
We select from the persecutions and martyrdoms of the Waldenses, two cases illustrating the times to which they relate. The former is given by McCrie, and the latter by Jones.
2. The hoy and the priesl.
"A monk was exhorting the people to purchase heaven by the merit of good works. A boy who was present exclaimed, 'That's blasphemy, for the Bible tells us that Christ purchased heaven by his sufferings and death, and bestows it on us freely by his mercy.' A dispute of considerable length ensued between the youth and the preacher. Provoked at the pertinent replies of his juvenile opponent, and at the favorable reception which the audience gave them,' Get you gone, you young rascal I' exclaimed the monk. ' You are just come from the cradle, and will you take it upon you to judge of sacred things, which the most learned cannot explain V ' Did yon never read these words, "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings God perfects praise ?"' rejoined the youth. Upon which the preacher quitted the pulpit in wrathful confusion, breathing out threatenings against the poor boy, who was instantly
thrown Into prison, where he still lies, says Uie writer, Deo. 31, 1544."
d. Bartholomew Gopin. This man suffered death in 1601, at Asiy a city of Piedmont, and the only crime that was laid to his charge, was aa occasional remark one evening, at the table, against the doctrine of transubstantiation. He was a merchant, and the fatal expression was made in the company of men of his own vocation. But some spy carried the tale to the bishop; a long and tedious prosecution was commenced against him; he was thrown into prison, where it was supposed he was strangled, and his dead body was committed to the flames."
4. In May, 1665, the persecution of the Waldenses was arrested by the interference of Oliver Cromwell, then " protector" of England, who, according to Moreland, inmiediately on hearing of them, ''arose like a lion out of his place, and by the most pathetic appeals to the Protestant princes upon the Oontinent, awoke the whole Christian world, exciting their hearts to pity and commiseration. Milton was now Cromwell's secretary, and one of the staunchest Mends of religious liberty. His Christian and poetic heart gave birth to tiie following well-known and beautiful sonnet:
''Ayenge, 0 Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;
E'en them who kept thy truth so pure of old, When all our fathers worshiped stocks and stones, Forget not: In thy book record their groans,
Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piedmontese that roU'd Mother and infant down the rooks. Their moantf
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they To heaven. Their martyr'd blood and ashes sow
O'er all the Italian fields, where stiU doth sway The tripled tyrant; that from these may grow
A hundred fold, who, having learned thy way. Early may fly the Babylonian woe*"
24*
It is said by writers of Milton's time, that the eighth line relates to the following affecting incident: "A mother was hurled down a mighty rock with a little infant in her arms; and three days after, was found dead with the little child alive, bnt fast clasped between the arms of its dead mother, which were cold and stiff, insomuch that those who found them had much ado to get the young child out."
In evidence that this persecution was not only wrong, in the sense .that all persecution is, but was now inflicted upon a most pious and excellent people, it should be remarked, that though they had peculiarities, which no one will now defend, they sustained a most excellent character, even though their enemies judge them. Archbishop Claudius Seisselius says of them, in 1480, " Their heresy excepted, they generally lived a purer life than other Christians." Their "heresy" was such an opposition to the Papal Church as all Protestants now agree in. A monk, who was sent under the pretence of reforming them, returned confounded, and confessed that; "in his whole life, he had never known so much of the Scriptures as he had learned during those few days he had conversed with the heretics." Any amount of such testimony can be produced.
CHAPTER YIL
1. Persecutions and martyrs of the Anabaptists by Luther and the Reformers; difference between Mnncer and Munster. 2. Adrian Pan and wife. 3. John Deswarte, his wife, children, and neighbors.
As early as A. D. 1622, our brethren were called Anabaptists, (rebaptizers,) because they would not acknowledge the validity of the baptisms of the Papal Church, and baptized again those converted to Christ, who had previously received the ordinance from her hand.
We are pained to be compelled, in faithfulness to history, to record the fact that the Papists now had Protestant aid in persecution. The Reformers, with Luther at their head, were now upon the stage. Robinson, in his "Ecclesiastical Researches" (a work of learning and faithfulness, of which any one mnst be convinced who will give it an examination), quoting numerous authors, not Baptists, gives a full and painful account of what our brethren suffered from the Reformers. Many other writers agree essentially with him.
It is unfair, however, to make Luther and his associates responsible, for all the Anabaptists suffered at this period. Luther's position was one of great difficulty. He had been the apparent cause of the reform now progressing, which involved not only himself and his church, but his political protectors in difficulty with the higher government. The Anabaptists, who, at flPst, could hardly be distinguished from the Lutherans, carried things further than they, and were more obnoxious to the State ; and Luther and his defenders were of necessity involved with them. Some things, severe to them, Luther had no part in procuring; and others, he could not have prevented if he would. Others he was strongly tempted to approve and promote, by his desire* to save the reform from unnecessary unpopularity witftthe powers that were. Of course, he should have adopted the thorough principles of reform, which characterized the Anabaptists; and if he had, no one can tell how glorious the result might have been. But, on the other hand, it is at least possible, that the age was unprepared for any thing else; and that more severity and correctness might have resulted, for the time being, in the suppression of the whole movement. It is easier to blame Luther than it would have been to have acted a better part in such circumstances. But, of course, all this is no justification of his participation in what they wrongly suffered.
Rev. Dr. Sears, whose account of this matter, in his Life
of Lntlier, is (xie of eminent charity for the Reformers (we suspect of mnch more than the facts will warrant), remarks: " Lather has been accused of inhumanity toward the Anabaptists ; and when we compare him with the mild Brentz, who opposed putting them to'death for their sentiments, and with religious men of modem times, we must, in part at leasts admit the charge." After apologizing, for even this admission, he continues: '^ Without dwelling on these painful details, we will adduce one brief letter, as giving a fair specimen of Luther's feelings, and thus dismiss the subject. The letter is addressed to Menius and Myconius, in 1530. ' I am pleased^' he says, ' that you intend to publish a book against the Anabaptists, as soon as possible. Since they are not only blasphemous, but also seditious men, let the sword exercise Us righi aver them; for this is the wUl of Ood, that he shall have judgment who resisteth the power. Let#ms not^ therefore, think better of these men than God himself, and all the saints have done.' " This is indeed a brief letter, but a most bitter, persecuting one; and if it is " a fair specimen of Luther's feelings," it is a strong confirmation of all Robinson and his authorities claim upon the subject.
After minor acts of intolerance, in which Luther and his associates did pM^cipate, we come to others for which they may be, more or less, or not at aJl, accountable. " The first edict against the Anabaptists was published at Zurich, 1522, in which there was a penalty of a silver mark set upon all such as should suffer themselves to be rebaptized, or should withhold baptism from their children. And it was further declared, that those who should openly oppose this order, should be yet more severely treated. This being insufficient to check immersion, the senate decreed, like Honorious (A. D. 413), that all persons who professed anabaptism, or harbored the professors of the doctrine, should be punished with death by drowning. In defiance of this law, the Baptists persevered in their regular discipline; and some of their ministers of learned celebrity,
realized the severity of the sentence. Many Baptists were drowned and burnt."
" An edict issued by Frederick, at a later period, shows how unpalitable these views (of the Anabaptists) were. His majesty expressed his astonishment at the number of Anabaptists, and his horror at the principal error which they embraced, which was that, according to the express declaration of the Holy Scriptures (1 Cor. vii. 23), they were to submit to no human authority. He adds that his conscience compels him to proscribe them, and accordingly he banished them from his dominions on pain of death."
It is now evident^ that many persons of the Baptist persuasion and views existed on the continent long before the affair of Munster blackened their escutcheon; and the characters of these people have awakened admiration in men of distinguished parts, who have left testimonies of their piety, which may be brought into comparison with any denomination of the present age. Among their admirers may be found the names of Com-menius, Scultetus, Beza, Cloppenburg, Cassander, Erasmus, Heyden, Hoombeck, Cocceius, and Cardinal Hossius. The latter says: "If the truth of religion were to be judged by the readiness and cheerfulness which a man of any sect shows in suffering, then the opinions and persuasions of no sect can be truer or surer than those of the Anabaptists, since there have been none for these twelve hundred years past, that have been more grievously punished."
Erasmus says of the Anabaptists of Switzerland, in 1529: " Although they are very numerous, they have no church in their possession. These persons are worthy of greater commendation than others, on account of the harmlessness of their lives, but they are oppressed by all other sects."
''In almost all the countries of Europe, an unspeakable number of Baptists preferred death in its worst forms," says Mosheim, "to the retraction of their sentiments. Neither the view of the flames that were kindled to consume them, nor the
ignominy of the gibbet, nor the terrors of the sword, could shake their invincible constancy, or make them abandon tenets that appeared dearer to them than life and all its enjoyments."
" It is indeed tme, that many Baptists suffered death, not on account of their being considered rebellions subjects, but merely because they were judged to be incurable heretics; for in this century the error of limiting the administration of baptism to adult persons only, and the practice of re-baptizing such as had received that sacrament in a state of infancy, were looked upon as most flagitious and intolerable heresies. Those who had no other marks of peculiarity than their administering baptism to the adult, and their excluding the unrighteoos from the external communion of the church, ought to hare met with milder treatment Many of those who followed the wiser class of Baptists—^nay, some who adhered to the most extrara-gant factions, were men of upright intentions and sincere piety, who were seduced into fanaticism by their ignorance and simplicity, on the one hand^ and by a laudable desire of reforming the corrupt state of religion, on the other. Wlnle the terrors of deaths in the most awful forms, were presented to liie view of this people, and numbers of them were executed every day, without any distinction being made between the innocent and the guilty, those who escaped the severity of ihe sword, were found in the most discouraging situations that (Can be imagined. On the one hand, they saw with sorrow aO their hopes blasted by the ravages of Munster; and on the oiher, they were filled with the most anxious apprehensions of the perils that threatened them on all sides."
It is important, in tracing the persecutions of the Anabaptists, to distinguish between Munc^ and Muns^r, terms frequently occurring in this connection. Muncer was a distinguished man, at one time admired by Luther, but ultimately condemned and persecuted by him for his Anabaptist conduct. It seems incredU)le that Martin Luther, persecuted himself.
and giving utterance to sentiments so noble on the subject, could treat Muncer with so much injustice. But, alas for poor human nature I it makes all the difference in the world, whether one is the assailed or the assailer. When the " Peasant War" broke out, Muncer became deeply interested in it^ and is supposed to have drawn up its memorial, a noble document, which, says Voltaire, "a Lycurgus might have signed." He was undoubtedly a Baptist, and though, like many of his brethren, he participated in the peasants' war, which was as just, on their part, as the war of the American Revolution, there is no evidence of his approving of all to which it led. It is stated, on the authority of Mosheim, in regard to the peasants' war, and the death of Muncer, " these oppressed men were consequently met by their lords with a sword, instead of redress; being defeated, they were slaughtered and reproached, the invariable results and concomitants of defeat. Muncer, their friend and chief, was put to-death."
Munster was a city, in which, some ten years after the death of Muncer, a violent and fanatical disturbance took place. Tills alTair did not originate with the Anabaptists. That more or less of them participated in it, is probable, but not more so than that they generally condemned it. The Anabaptists being well known as refoiTuers, holding to some of the opinions of • the Munster affair, were too readily accused by their enemies of a participation in it which they never had. It resulted, however, in some of the severe* measures against them which we have contemplated.
In confirmation of this opinion in regard to the Munster affair, Benedict says: " We see them almost daily on trial in the^criminal courts; and never were a people so uniform, emd, I may say, so dauntless in their religious professions, as were the German Anabaptists, for the century and a half now under review. The charges against them- seem to have been stereotyped by the inquisitors, and their answers were uniform as to matters of fact, and always mild and explicit as to the men of
Manster or Amsterdam^ for the scenes at both places are often referred to. They uniformly answered, * These were not oar brethren; we have no fellowship with such men. The laeD of Munster are among yourselves, or of your party. They did not admit, or even intimate, that they went off from them, or were ever in their connection. But they bitterly complained, of having to suffer for the faults of others, that they knew nothing about, because some of them agreed with them in rejecting infant baptism. They treated the whole story mncb as Baptists would at the present day, if any thing which had happened among the Mormons should be laid to their charge." We select a few instances of martyrdom of the (German Anabaptists:
2. Adrian Pan and Wife.
They suffered martyrdom in Antwerp, in 1559. When they lay in prison, he wrote to his friends thus: " They accused ns much concerning those of Munster and Amsterdam; but I told them that I had nothing to do with them, but that we suffered for the truth's sake ; and that I am not thirty years old, and how could I have possibly taken part with them ? Some blasphemed, and others sympathized with us." This is a remarkable instance of Anabaptist suffering for the errors of others. Adrian Pan was not bom at the time of the Munster and Amsterdam riots, but dies notwithstanding, being a Bap tist. He was beheaded; and his wife, shortly after giving birth to a child, was drowned,
3. Martyrdom of John Deswarte, his vrife and six children, vyiih some of their neighbors.
At about the same time with the martyrdom of Pan and his wife, the above-named cases occurred: " Brant, in his history of the Reformation, in the sixteenth century, at Halwin, in Flanders, states that John Deswarte, whom he calls an Anabaptist, and his family, who had been betrayed by the professedly Christian pastor of that town, were carried away by the Dean of Rousen to Lisle.
" Deswarte was taken with his wife and four sons. The two youngest of his children, not being at home when the inquisitor broke into the house, were warned by the neighbors to escape; but one of them said to the other, ' Let us not seek to save ourselves, but rather die with our father and mother.' In the mean time they carried the father out, who, seeing his 'sons, said to them, ' Will ye also go to the new Jerusalem V One of them, who was scarcely sixteen, cried out, * Yes, we will, father;' and they at once surrendered themselves. These, with two other persons of the same faith, who happened to be in the house, as also two married couples, and a'man who had endeavored to comfort them, were at several times all burnt at Lisle."
So numerous and thrilling are such instances in this period, that volumes might be extracted. We hasten on^.
CHAPTER Vm.
1. Persecutions and Martyrs in Britain. 2. Jeffreys and Baxter. 3. John Bnnyan. 4. Eiffin and the Hewling Family.
1. Baptists in Britain.
An intelligent article, originating in the Enf sh Baptist Jubilee Memorial, furnishes valuable facts upon t. s topic :
"But early in the 12th century, some of the Waldenses coming into England to propagate the gospel, were apprehended and examined before a council assembled at Oxford, by command of Henry II., and on confessing themselves followers of the Apostles, and rejecting infant baptism, they were branded on the forehead with a red hot iron, and treated with merciless rigor."
" Two circumstances connected with that period are prominent in the history of Baptists; the publicity into which they emerged, and the hostility which was evinced against them. 25
In 1536, the national clergy met in convocation, declared the sentiments of the Baptists to be ' detestable heresies, utterly to be condemned.' In 1538 a commission was given to Cran-mer. Archbishop of Canterbury, and others, to proceed against Baptists, and bum their books; and on the 16th of November, in the same year, a royal proclamation was issued against them, and instructions sent to the justices throughout England, directing them to see that the laws against the Baptists were executed. Several were burnt to death in Smithfield."
" The reign of Mary is well known to have been cruel exen to ferocity. One circumstance in Baptist history accords with the spirit of that execrable reign. A man named David George was disinterred at St. Lawrence church, three years after his death, and his body burnt, because it was discovered that he had been a Baptist."
It was during her reign that John Bogers suffered martyr dom, for we are in a period now, (1555,) rich with the blood ot eminent saints of all Protestant sects.
" This relentless cruelty against the Baptists continued even under Queen Elizabeth. A royal proclamation was issued, in which it was ordained that all Baptists, and other heretics, should leave the land; but they seemed to gather fortitude. In 1575, the lUh year of Elizabeth's reign, a congregation of them was found without Aldgate, London, of whom some were banished, twenty-seven were imprisoned, and two were burnt to death in Smithfield."
For a time now, 1650, including the period of the commonwealth, and Cromwell's reign, and Milton, the poet's secretaryship, our brethren were tolerated. But soon the demon persecution began again to revive, and especially in the hands of James II., and his tool, Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys, that insolent persecutor. Well known names, Baptists and others, appear in this period; such as Bunyan, Kiffin and Hewling, among the Baptists; and Baxter, How and Owen, among Pedobaptists. In illustration of the insolence and iiyustice of
persecution .in power, observe Richard Baxter's treatment before Jeffreys, as giv^en by Macaulay.
2. " Baxter begged that he might have some time to prepare for his defence. It was on the day that Oates was pilloried at Palace Yard, that the illustrious chief of the Puritans, oppressed by age and infirmities, came to Westminster Hall to make this request. Jeffreys burst into a storm of rage. * Not a minute,' he cried, * to save his life. I can deal with saints as well as with sinners. There stands Oates on one side of the pillory; and if Baxter stood on the other, the two greatest rogues in the kingdom would stand together.'
" When the trial came on at Guildhall, a crowd of those who loved and honored Baxter filled the court. At his side stood Doctor William Bates, one of the most eminent Nonconformist divines. Two Whig barristers of great note, Pollexfen and Wallop, appeared for the defendant. Pollexfen had scarce begun his address to the jury, when the chief justice broke forth: ' Pollexfen, I know you welL I will set a mark on you. You are the patron of the faction. This is an old rogue, a schismatical knave, a hypocritical villain. He hates the Liturgy. He would have nothing but long-winded cant without book;' and then his lordship turned up his eyes, clasped his hands, and began to sing through his nose, in imitation of what he supposed to be Baxter's style of praying, 'Lord, we are thy people, thy peculiar people, thy dear people.' Pollexfen gently reminded the court that his late majesty had thought Baxter deserving of a bishopric. * And what ailed the old blockhead then,' cried Jeffreys, 'that he did not take it V His fury now rose almost to madness. He called Baxter a dog, and swore that it would be no more than justice to whip such a villain through the whole city.
" Wallop interposed, but fai^d no better than his leader. 'You are in all these dirty causes, Mr. Wallop,' said the judge. ' Gentlemen of the long robe ought to be ashamed to assist such factious knaves.' The advocate made another
attempt to obtain a hearing, but to no purpose. * If you do not know your duty/ said Jeffreys, ' I will teach it you/
" Wallop sat down, and Baxter himself attempted to put in a word; but the chief justice drowned all expostulation in a torrent of ribaldry and invective, mingled with scraps of Hndi-bras. ' My lord,' said the old man, ' I have been much blamed by Dissenters for speaking respectfully of bishops.' ' Baxter for bishops I' cried the judge; 'that's a merry conceit indeed. I know what you mean by bishops—^rascals like yourself, Kidderminster bishops, factious, snivelling Presbyterians I' Again Baxter essayed to speak, and again Jeffreys bellowed, * Richard, Richard, dost thou think we will let thee poison the court ? Richard, thou art an old knave. Thou hast written books enough to load a cart, and every book as full of sedition as an egg is full of meat. By the grace of God, I'll look after thee. I see a great many of your brotherhood waiting to know what will befall their mighty Don. And there,' he continued, fixing his savage eye on Bates, ' there is a doctor of the party at your elbow. But, by the grace of God Almighty, I will crush you all I'
" Baxter held his peace. But one of the junior counsel for the defence made a last effort, and undertook to show that the words of which complaint was made would not bear the construction put on them by the information. With this view he began to read the context. In a moment he was roared down. * You sha'n't turn the court into a conventicle V The noise of weeping was heard from some of those who surrounded Baxter. * Snivelling calves 1' said the judge.
"Witnesses of character were in attendance, and among them were several clergymen of the Established Church. But the chief justice would hear nothing. ' Does your lordship think,' said Baxter, 'that any jury will convict a man on such a trial as this ?' 'I warrant you, Mr. Baxter,' said Jeffreys. ' Don't trouble yourself about that.' Jeffreys was right. The sheriffs were the tools of the goveniment. The juries, selected
by the sheriffs from among the fiercest zealots of the Tory party, conferred for a moment, and returned a verdict of guilty. 'My lord,'said Baxter, as he left the court,'there was once a chief justice who would have treated me very differently.' He alluded -to his learned and virtuous friend, Sir Matthew Hale. ' There is not an honest man in England,' said Jeffreys, 'but look^ on thee as a knave.'
" The sentence was, for those times, a lenient one. What passed in conference among the judges cannot be certainly known. It was believed among the Nonconformists, and is highly probable, that the chief justice was overruled by his three brethren. He proposed, it is said, that Baxter should be whipped through London at the cart's tail. The majority thought that an eminent divine who, a quarter of a century before, had been offered a mitre, and who was now in his seventieth year, would be sufficiently punished for a few sharp words with fine and imprisonment.
" The maimer in which Baxter was treated by a judge who was a member of the cabinet, and a favorite of the sovereign, indicated, in a manner not to be mistaken, the feeling with which the government at this time regarded the Protestant Nonconformists. But already that feeling had been indicated by still stronger and more terrible signs."
In 1665, the " Five Mile Act" was passed. According to this act, " it was a crime for a Nonconformist minister to reside within five miles of any city or borough, or even to approach within that distance of any parish or place where they had stated service in the Established Church, unless in passing on the public road. The violation of this law exposed them to a fine of forty pounds"—^two hundred dollars. The " Conventicle Act" rendered " the meeting of more than five persons for the worship of God illegal, in any other place than that allowed by the liturgy, and sanctioned by the compulsory church. For the first offence, persons suffered three months' imprisonment^ or paid a fine of five pounds; for the 25*
Second offence, the fine was doubled; for the third,.it was a fine of one hundred pounds, or seven years' transportation— and in the event of their returning without permission, they were doomed to death, without benefit of clergy."
^'The Baptists," says Sir James Mcintosh, ^'suffered more than any others under Charles II., because they had publicly professed the principles of religious liberty." " It has been computed," says Orchard, '' that from the Restoration to the Revolution, seventy thousand persons suffered on account of religion; eight thousand persons were destroyed; and twelve million pounds sterling, sixty million dollars, were paid in fines."
3. Persecution of John Bunyari.
Bunyan was arrested in Nov., 1660. What was his crime f In the language of the warrant upon which he was arrested: " He went about to several conventicles in the country, to the great disparagement of the government of the Church of England." His own account of his preaching is: "I had great desire, in fulfilling my ministry, to get into the darkest places in the country. I never cared to meddle with things controverted. It pleased me to contend, with great earnestness, for the word of faith, and the remission of sins by the death and sufferings of Jesus; but as to other things, I would let them alone, because I saw they engendered strife." No man could be more inoffensive in doing the bidding of the Son of God. But the Conventicle act had passed; and the Justice had resolved, as he said, i* to break the neck of such meetings" as people dared to hold out of the Established Church.
As to the period of his imprisonment, he says: ''I was had home to prison, and there have lain now complete twelve ' years, waiting to see what God would suffer these men to do to me." Dr. Southey, the poet, coldly supposes: "their condition was not worsened by their imprisonment, since it would render them objects of compassion to their neighbors; and
that Bunyan was on the whole very comfortable. He had the society of some who suffered for the same cause. He had his Bible, and his book of martyrs, and had leisure to brood over his thoughts." * No doubt he was more comfortable than some prelates in their palaces, but no thanks for this to the laws, or their executors, or abettors.
" The oppressor holds His body bound; but knows not what a range His spirit takes, unconscious of a chain; And that to bind him is a vain attempt. Whom God delights in, and in wljtom he dweUs."
The only sunshine in his prison was such as God and truth and a clear conscience gave him. Out of prison he might have had these, and been spared all he suffered. The consequences of his firmness to lay in prison until doomsday, rather than relinquish his right and duty to preach, were severe.
"I found myself," he says, "a man encompassed with infirmi-ties : the parting with my wife and poor children hath often been to me in this place as the pulling of the flesh from my bones; and that not only because I am somewhat too fond of these great mercies, but also because I should have often brought to my mind the many hardships, miseries, and wants, that my poor family was likely to meet with, should I be taken from them; especially my poor blind child, who lay nearer my heart than all beside. 0 I the thoughts of the hardship my poor blind one might undergo, would break my heart to pieces. Poor child, thought I, what sorrow art thou to have for thy portion in this world I Thou must be beaten, must beg, suffer hunger, cold, nakedness, and a thousand calamities, though I cannot now endure the wind should blow on thee. But yet, recalling myself, thought I, I must venture you all with God, though it goeth to the quick to leave you."
We leave to Macaulay what remains to be said of Bunyan:
" It may be doubted whether any English Di^enter had
suffered more severely under the penal laws than John Banyan* Of the twenty-seven years which had elapsed since the Besto-ration,^he had passed twelve in confinement. He still persisted in preaching; bat, that he might preach, he was under the necessity of disguising himself like a carter. He was often introduced into meetings through back doors, with a smock frock on his back and a whip in his hand. K he bad thought only of his own ease and safety, he would have hailed the Indulgence with delight. He was now, at length, free to pray and exhort in open day. His congregation rapidly increased; thousands hung upon his words; and at Bedford; where he originally resided, money was plentifully contributed to build a meeting-house for him. His influence among the common people was such that the government would willinglj have bestowed on him some municipal office; but his vigorous understanding and his stout English heart were proof against all delusion and all temptation. He felt assured that the proffered toleration was merely a bait, intended to lure the Puritan party to destruction; nor would he, by accepting a place for which he was not legally qualified, recognize the validity of the dispensing power. One of the last acts of his virtuous life was to decline an interview to which he was invited by an agent of the government."
4. Persecution of William Kiffin and the Hewling Family.
We insert here Macaulay's account of this instance of the sufferings of a most deserving family:
** Great as was the authority of Bunyan with the Baptists, that of William Kiffin was still greater. Kiffin was the first man among them in wealth and station. He was in the habit of exercising his spiritual gifts at their meetings; but he did not live by preaching. He traded largely; his credit on the Exchange of London stood high; and he had accumulated an ample fortune. Perhaps no man could, at that conjuncture, have rendered more valuable services to the court. But between him and the court was interposed the remembrance
of one terrible event. He was the grandfather of the two Hewlings, those gallant yoaths, who, of all the victims of the Bloody Assizes, had been the most generally lamented. For the sad fate of one of them, James was in a peculiar manner responsible. Jeffreys had respited the younger brother. The poor lad's sister had been ushered by Churchill into the royal presence, and had begged for mercy; but the king's heart had been obdurate. The misery of the whole family had been great; but Kiffin was most to be pitied. He was seventy years old when he was left destitute, the survivor of those who should have survived him. The heartless and venal sycophants of Whitehall, judging by themselves, thought that the old man would be easily propitiated by an alderman's gown, and by some compensation in money for the property which his grandsons had forfeited. Penn was employed in the work of seduction, but to no purpose. The king determined to try what effect his own civilities would produce. EMn was ordered to attend at the palace. He found a brilliant circle of noblemen jond gentlemen assembled. James immediately came to him, spoke to him very graciously, and concluded by saying, * I have put you down, Mr. Eifi&n, for an alderman of London.' The old mau looked fixedly at the king, burst into tears, and made answer, ' Sir, I am worn out; I am unfit to serve your majesty or the city. And, sir, the death of my poor boys broke my heart. That wound is as fresh as ever. I shall carry it to my grave.' The king stood silent for a minute in some confusion, and then said, ' Mr. Kiffin, I will find a balsam for that sore.' Assuredly James did not mean to say any thing cruel or insolent; on the contrary, he seems to have been in an unusually gentle mood. Yet no speech that is recorded of him gives so unfavorable a notion of his character as these few words. They are the words of a hardhearted and low-minded man, unable to conceive any laceration of the affections for which a place or a pension would not be a full compensation."
CHAPTER IX.
Persecutions of Baptists in America. 1. By the Pilgrim Fathers in Kaw England. 2. Roger Williams; his sufferings for conscience sake; his true place in the history of religious liberty. 3. The Sufferings of Obe^
' diah Holmes and others in Boston; the Contrast in Boston. 4. The Sufferings of Baptists in Virginia; the Defence of three Baptist Miniflten by Patrick Henry.
1. The Pilgrim Fathers were now in New England; and ike ficene of the sufferings of our brethren, for conscience sake, is transferred there. 0, how long had the angel of religious liberty to struggle for a free and full existence I Though the Pilgrim Fathers fled from persecution, when th^y came to this country, they neither understood the principles of liberty, nor possessed its spirit. The germ of all the troubles of New England, in regard to religious liberty, was planted in her institutions, on ship-board, before the Pilgrims had yet landed upon our shores. The " Court of Assistants" are on their way to New England, in the ship Arabella, and before they arrive, on the 23d August, 1630, they pass the fatal law. The question was, " How shall the ministers of the new country be supported ?" " It was ordered that houses be built for them, with convenient speed, at the public charge, and their salaries were established."
Here we have the Church and State combined—^that certain method of forcing men to sustain churches; and to sustain them in opposition to their serious convictions. From this principle, originating, in this case at least, in desire to promote and provide for religion, our fathers had suffered, and are yet to suffer. Experience has since amply proved, that in addition to the better policy of a free toleration, it answers a good purpose, practically, for the pecuniary support of religion.
In the early history of New England, November, 1644, an
additional law, the necessary concomitant of the first, was passed in Boston, Mass., namely, a law for the suppression of anti-Chnrch and State sects.
The language of this law is positive confirmation of the fact, that Baptists were now multiplying; and that it was made for their special benefit. It runs: " Forasmuch as experience hath plentifully and often proved, that since the first rising of the Anabaptists." It then goes on, in the language of the old persecutors, to denounce the Anabaptists, in consideration of their multiplication, and rigid adherence to their old opposition to infant baptism.
The penalty of this law runs thus: " It is ordered and agreed, that if any person or persons within this jurisdiction, shall either openly oppose or condemn the baptizing of infants, or go about secretly to seduce others from the-approbation or use thereof; or shall purposely depart from the congregation at the ministration of the ordinance, * * every such person or persons shall be sentenced to banishment."
Backus says he ''had diligently searched all the books, records and papers, which he could find on all sides, and could not find an instance then, (1777,) of any real Baptist in Massachusetts being convicted of, or suffering for any crime, except the denying of infant baptism, and .the use of secular force in religious affairs."
As strange as it may now seem, for many long, long years, they, in common with the Quakers, did suffer incredible hardships from such laws as these, in different parts of this country, particularly in New England. "It would take a volume," says Morgan Edwards, " to contain an account of all their sufferings for ten or twelve years." Yes, we may add, and extending the time to the entire period, volumes on volumes would not do it.
We proceed to detail a few instances of these sufferings:
2. Boger WilHams; his sufferings for conscience sake /
the ChampUms of Soul Liberty in Modem Times; the working of our Principles.
He was bom in Wales, in 1599; was educated at Oxford XIniversity, England, under the patronage of Sir Edward Coke, and is supposed to have been a relative of Oliver Cromwell. He studied law; but finally received orders in the Episcopal Church. He was an intelligent, serious youth, as is evident from his own statement, and from his gaining the esteem of his patron. His education was a liberal one, as we infer from his Alma Mater and from his writings.
Roger Williams did not leave England until he was about thirty-two years old. Living in the eventfal time of the Puritans, and possessing an intelligent, devout, independent mind, he had ample opportunities to espouse their cause, and suffer with them. He was intimate with Oliver Cromwell, for he speaks of " a close conference with Oliver." His puritanical principles, also, in advance of the Pilgrim Fathers, appearing immediately on his arrival in this country, is evidence that his character was fixed at that time.
He arrived at Nantucket, near Boston, in 1630, in the prime of life, with an excellent reputation. Gov. Winthrop, speaking of the arrival of the ship, says: "She brought Mr. Williams, a godly minister, and his wife." He immediately begins to develop the principles which resulted in his becoming a Baptist, and the champion of soul liberty, and a sufferer for conscience sake. Though it was eight years later before he was baptized, and formed the first Baptist church in America, at Providence, it is plain to see that his ideas were, from the commencement, very different from those of the Pilgrim Fathers.
He refused to join the church at Boston, for reasons which shortly appear, when his trouble commences.
Receiving a call from a church in Salem, thirteen miles from Boston, he proceeds thither to commence his labors, the news of which soon reaches the church in Boston, which he had
refused to join, when the crael war commenced. According to Gov. Winthrop: " On the 25th of April, at a court held in Boston, (upon information of the governor, that they of Salem had called Mr. Williams to the office of teacher,) a letter was written from the court to Mr. Endicott to this effect: Hhat whereas, Mr. Williams had refused to join the church at Boston, because they would not make a public declaration of their repentance for having communion with the churches of England while they lived there; and, besides, had declared his opinion that the magistrate might not punish a breach of the Sabbath, or any other offence, because it was a breach of the first table; therefore they marveled that they would choose him without advising with the council; and, withal, desiring him that he would forbear to proceed until they had conferred about it.' No one would presume to defend such interference on the part of the government with the church now; or to dispute Mr. Williams' right to decline joining any church, on any grounds. But those were different times. Though the church at Salem stood upon their rights and retained him, he was not suffered to remain in peace; for, says Dr. Bentley: 'Persecution, instead of calm expostulation, immediately commenced; and Williams, before the close of summer, was obliged to retire to Plymouth.'"
He remained at Plymouth about two years. But here, also, he was guilty of being in advance of the times, and suffered accordingly. His friends at Salem insisted on his return there, which was at length secured, when, with a few others who had adopted his views, he removed there. He was now accused of anabapUstical tendencies. Mr. Brewster, the ruling elder at Plymouth, " prevailed on the church there to dismiss him and his adherents. He alarmed the church by expre^ing his fears that he would run the same course of rigid separation and anabaptistry, which Mr. John Smith, the Se-Baptist, had done at Amsterdam."
Quite soon, Mr. Williams' writings make him further trouble 26
with the aathorities, for which he is called to an accounty bat on his disavowing any intention of wrong, and condacting himself in the most hnmble and conciliatory manner possible^ they afifected to forgive him. But now a new pretext occorred for them to assail him. The teacher of the church at Salem died, and Mr. Williams was invited to take his place. " The magistrates sent a request to the church that they would not ordain him;" but in vain; he was regularly inducted into the pastorate of the church; and now commence the proceedings which resulted in his banishment, and in the settlement of Rhode Island and of Providence, and Mr. Williams' baptism, and the formation of the first Baptist church in America. How mysterious are the ways of Providence I Mr. Williams undoubtedly exclaimed with Jacob of old, in somewhat analogous circumstances; " All these things are against me." But no; they meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Henceforth, a free toloratiou begins to dawn again upon the world. After sundry oppressive measures against the church at Salem and Mr. Williams, without success in crushing them, he is summoned before the court for the last time. Gov. Win-throp says: " At this general court, Mr. Williams, the teacher of Salem, was again convented, and all the ministers of the bay being desired to be present, he was charged with tiie said two letters—^that to the churches, complaining of the magistrates for injustice, extreme oppression, &c.; and the other to his own church, to persuade them to renounce communion with all the churches of the bay, as full of anti-Christian pollution, &c. He justified both of these lettters, and maintained all his opinions; and being offered further conference and disputation, and a month's respite, he chose to dispute presently. So Mr. Hooker was chosen to dispute with him, but could not reduce him from his errors. So the next morning the court sentenced him to depart out of our jurisdiction within six weeks, all the ministers save one approving the sentence; and his own church had him under question also for the same
cause; and he, at his retom home, refused communion with his own church, who openly disclaimed his errors and wrote an humble submission to the magistrates."
Poor Williams I Like Paul, he was " cast down, but not destroyed." Aye, what is better, like his Master, he was *'forsaken by all," but firmly drained the "cup" to its very dregs. And what was his crime ? Thanks to the progress of the age, it is not now necessary to defend him. His posterity have effectually done it, by adopting his views. We may, however, remark, that admitting he sometimes exceeded the truth, and was to be blamed (and what human reformer is not in the same condemnation ?) the brunt of his offending was his sound views of religious liberty. More than sixteen hundred years before, the Son of God had given the principle involved; and more than thirteen hundred years before, had his Donatist brethren, before Constantine, assumed a similar position when they asked: " What has the emperor to do with the church ? What have Christians to do with kings ? What have bishops to do at court ?"
Mr. Williams had permission to remain in Salem until spring, but because he would not refrain from using his blood-bought liberty, but did "go about to draw others to his opinions; and did use to entertain company in his house, and to preach to them even of such points as he had been censured for, it was agreed to send him into England by a ship then ready to depart." But God's servants are not so easily disposed of. When the warrant commanding him "to come presently to Boston to be shipped," &c., failed to produce him, a " pinnace was sent, with commission to apprehend him, and carry him on board the ship; but when they came at his house, they found he had been gone three days before, but whither they could not learn."
The bird had flown, but " whither," loe can tell. Judge Durfee, in a poem entitled "What Cheer," has given an
account of his flight, probably nearer the truth than any eold prose description of it:
Mom oune at last^ and by th« dawning gray
Oar founder rose, his secret flight to take; |
His wife and infant still in slumber laj. i
• ••••• I
Mary! (she woke) prepare my traveling gear^
My pookot compass and my raiment strong; My flint and steel to yield the needfhl fire;
Food for a week, if that be not too long; My hatchet too—its service I reqaire.
To clip my fuel desert wilds among; With these I go to found in forests drear A state where none shall persecution fear. What! goest thou, Roger, in this thrilling stom t Wait! wait at least until its rage is o'er. Its wrath will bar e'en persecution's arm
From thee and me until it cease to roar.
• • • • •
So forth he ventured.
• • • • •
In boundless forest now our founder trod^
And south-west for his doubtful course he took.
• • • • •
He Encamps for the night, when the wolves appear.
Growling they come, and in dark groups they standi Show their white fangs, and roll their bright'ning eye ;
Till urged by hunger seemed the shaggy band^ Even the flames' bright terrors to defy—
Then 'mid the group he hurled the blazing brand ; Swift they disperse, and raise the scattered cry; But rallying soon, back to the siege they came, And scarce their rage paused at the mountain flame."
• ♦♦♦♦•
Bat little is known of the particnlars of his flight, as Tie, who alone could give them, is too silent on the subject. So much, however, appears to be true from his own account and other circumstances. It was mid-winter. He fled to the forests, inhabited only by wild beasts and Indians. For fourteen weeks, " in winter snow, which I feel yet," as he remarks, he
lived thus "not knowing what bread or bed did mean." In the mean time, at the peril of his life, he was promoting fraternity among the Indians, and effecting his own settlement at Seekonk or Rehoboth, some fifty miles from Salem.
Settled here, his family and a few friends having joined him; rude houses having been erected, and seed placed in the ground, he began to feel free as the winds which blew around him. But not yet. He was within fettered limits still, and Gov. Winslow " lovingly advised" him to cross the Pawtucket (now Seekonk) River. For the sake of peace, he accepted this advice, and in a canoe, with five other persons, proceeded to a spot near the mouth of Moshassuck River, and commenced the settlement of the City of Providence and State of Rhode Island. From this point, the sun of freedom already arising, ascends higher and still higher to the meridian, flashing its rays in every direction.
It is impossible to describe what Roger Williams must have suffered. Poor in the things of this world; a beloved wife and children dependent upon him for support in a strange land; the stigma attaching to one of whom all persons of consequence spake evil; threatened with violence at which his noble spirit recoiled; flying from civilized life, to contend with forest, cold, snow, wild beasts, and Indians; on these and numerous other accounts, he suffered more than martyrdom.
We are compelled to press in^o a few lines here, what has occupied volumes in its discussion, namely, Roger Williams' true place in the history of religious liberty. We concur in the following just remark on the subject: " Roger Williams' is neither the father of the Baptists, nor of religious liberty; he belongs to the chain—to the true apostolic succession—a foremost man of his age^ but himself the child of like-minded apostles and martyrs of earlier times." The evidence of this position is detailed in this part of this volume. It is amply evident that religious liberty has been from the days of John the Baptist until now a cardinal Baptist principle. Individuals 26*
among the Donatists (A. D. 314) were as lond in their remonstrance against persecution for conscience sake, and as patient in suffering, as was Roger Williams. All through the chain of Baptists, the same faithfulness appears to this principle, until intolerance received its death-blow in the Constitotion of the United States. The demon persecution will find no quarters, from Baptists at least, in any country or age.
3. Persecution of Obadiah Holmes and others in Boston; the contraM in Boston,
I cannot do better than give these in the language of Rev. Dr. Dowling:
" Let us roll back the dial of the world to the month of September, in the year 1651, and place ourselves in imagination in one of the streets of old Boston town. See I there is a crowd passsing along toward the place of public punishment and disgrace. In their midst is a man, bound and handled by the rude officers of the law as a criminal; but showing in his meek, upturned countenance, no tokens of guilt; and uttering with his lips the language of Christian exhortation and prayer. Who is he ? what is his name ? and what is the crime with which he is charged ?
" He is a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, a Baptist minister. His name is Obadiah Holmes, and his crime is that he has dared to preach the same gospel, and administer the same ordinances, as those which have been maintained on the same spot, by the venerated and beloved Stillraan, and Baldwin, and Sharp, in succession, now for more than three-quarters of a century. But see I his clothes are rudely torn from his person by the coarse and brutal executioner, and this minister of Christ is tied securely to the whipping-post. Hark I he speaks. ' Good people all, I am now about to be baptized in afflictions, that so I may have fellowship with my Lord; and am not ashamed of his sufferings, for by his stripes I am healed.' His voice is silenced for a moment by the cruel thongs of * the three-corded whip,' dashing the crimson gore from the
quivering flesh of the man of God ; and again he cries aloud: 'though my flesh should fail, and my spirit should fail, yet Grod would not fail me I' ' And so,' to use the language of the meek sufferer, in relating this cruel scene to Sis brethren in England, * and so it pleased the Lord to come in, and to fill my heart and tongue as a vessel full, and with an audible voice I broke forth praying the Lord not to lay this sin to their charge, and telling the people that now I found God did not fail me, and therefore I should trust him for ever. For, in truth, as the strokes fell upon me, I had such a spiritual manifestation of God's presence, as I never had before; and the outward pain was so removed from me, that I could well bear it: yea, and in a manner, felt it not; although it was grievous, as the spectators said, the man striking with all his strength, spitting in his hand three times, with a three-corded whip, giving me therewith thirty strokes.'
''A few days later, and that meek sufferer, bruised and wounded so that for weeks he could rest only on his hands and knees, might have been seen stealthily threading his way through the forest wilderness between Boston and Providence, to escape the constable, who, with a second warrant, was hunting again for his prey; and as he drew near to the Rhode Island asylum of freedom, the voice of thanksgiving and songs of praise might have been heard 'for miles in the woods,' where pioneers of soul-liberty had gone to meet their suffering brother, to thank God for his deliverance, and to pour oil into his wounds.
''It may serve as an index to the prevailing opinions, even in New England, two centuries ago, to mention that when this act of cruel persecution was severely rebuked in a letter from Sir Richard Saltonstall, in England, the Rev. John Cotton, author of the reply to Williams, entitled 'the Bloody tenet washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb,' boldly justified and defended the whipping of Holmes, and the right of the magistrate to persecute, by the flimsy sophism that' if
the worship be lawful in itself, the magistrate compeUing a man to it, compelleth him to sin, but the sin is in the man^i will that needs to be compelled:' and at that time, not a minister in Netir England could be found, with the exception of the Baptists of Rhode Island, to dissent from the views of Mr. Cotton, or to speak a word in favor of freedom to worship God
"On the 28th of May, 1665, fourteen years after the scene of persecution we have described, Thomas Gould, a member of a Pffidobaptist church in Charleston, Bichard Goodoll, a member of the Baptist Church in London, of which Mr. EZiffin was then pastor, and seven other humble disciples, after wading through a sea of persecution, formed themselves into the First Baptist church of Boston. Fifteen years later, on the 8th of March, 1680, the doors of their humble sanctuary were nailed up by the marshal, and a notice posted thereon, warning ' all persons' against holding any meetings, or opening the doors, *as they will answer the contrary at their peril.' And the little despised band were compelled to meet to worship God under, a temporary covering in the yard of their meetinghouse.
"But soon a brighter day begins to dawn. Every experiment has only proved the utter folly of attempting to control the conscience by coercive means. The sun of soul-liberty, shining so brightly over the neighboring colony of Rhode Island, sends its rays beyond the limits of the noble little state; and at length, light burst into the minds of the ministers of Boston, and they began to look with a more favorable eye upon the little company of Baptists in their midst, who have so long and so nobly struggled for ' freedom to worship God.' The march of freedom is onward, still onward. Not all at once, but by sure, though gradual steps, and not one step backward, till at length the New England mind becomes emancipated, freedom of conscience is declared the right of all, and the doctrine of Roger Williams is at last triumphant.
At the present time, throughout all New England, and in all the United States, equality of civil and religious privileges is conceded to every sect, with a single obsolete exception in the statute book of New Hampshire, which the intelligence of the people of the Granite State, we are sure, will soon erase.
*' One more scene in this panorama of the champions and the triumphs of soul-liberty, and we have done. It is the 8th day of January, in the year 1852. Just two hundred years and four months have passed away since the whipping of the Baptist minister Holmes. A vast assembly have convened in one of the most venerable and stately church edifices of the New England metropolis. Among that assembly are the flower of New England's true nobility, not the empty title, but of intellect and heart. The honored chief magistrate of the commonwealth is there, and a long train of " grave and reverend" senators, and legislators, and judges, and divines, the ornaments of the wprkshop, the farm, or the counting-house, the bar, the bench, or the pulpit. They have met to listen to lessons of instruction from the minister of God, on the occasion of their annual election sermon, and to implore wisdom from on high to qualify them for the duties to which they have been chosen.
"And who is that servant of Christ, who by their own appointment, rises before them, and announces as his theme, 'Religious liberty, such as is enjoyed in these United States, derived directly from the king of heaven; not regarded as a matter of toleration, but a heaven-descended and inalienable right ?' Who is he ? He is simply an humble minister of Christ, a Baptist minister, occupying only the platforln of equality with his brother ministers of other sects; a position which was just as much the right of his brethren in the faith and in the ministry, Williams and Holmes, two hundred years ago, as it is the right of himself; a minister, who has long preached the very same truths, for declaring which, his brother Baptist ministers, two centuries before, had been so shamefully
Bcourged at the whipping-post, almost on the very spot where that preacher stands. Who is he ? He is the pastor of that self-same first Baptist church of Boston, whose persecuted members were shut out of their humble sanctuary, when its doors were nailed up by the marshal, one hundred and seventy-two years before; a successor, moreover, to the principles of Roger Williams, cherishing as dearly as that noble champion, the blessing of soul-liberty ; but instead of being driven, like him, from the abodes of civilized men, to seek in the wilderness a home for liberty of conscience, standing up in the assembly of honorable men, to defend the same glorious principle for which Williams became a sufferer, a fugitive, and an exile; while now, and in that assembly, every countenance beams with a smile of approval, and every heart does homage to the truth.
*' While we contemplate the wonderful contrast, between the Boston scenes of 1651 and 1680, which we have described, on the one hand, and the far different scenes of 1852, on the other; well may we exclaim, in the words of the Latin adage,
' Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in ills.'
Or, in the paraphrase of the words given by an English poet,
'Men change with fortune, manners change with climes, Tenets with books, and principles with times.'
" Yet amidst all these changes which time has produced in the tenets or principles of others, it may well be the glory of our denomination, that Baptists have continued steadily true to their mission as witnesses for soul-liberty. On this subject, their principles have varied neither with 'climes' nor 'times;' but alike in adversity and in prosperity, in evil report and good report, in the beginning of the seventeenth century as in the middle of the nineteenth, in the old world as well as in the new, they have persevered, as the firm, unflinching, undevi-ating advocates for perfect liberty of coAscience to all the
family of man. Thank God I we have lived to see this glorious principle triumphant in America. May our children live to see it triumphant throughout the world 1"