د the distracted church was again restored to peace and comfort. But this happy state was not suffered long to continue. Those dominant and restless churchmen, who had sought for the establish ment of the English Commonprayer and ceremonies, though compelled to be at peace, did not remain easy. Dr. Cox and his party, finding Mr. Knox's interest with the magistrates and congregation too strong, had recourse to a most cruel method of getting rid of him. This divine having published a book, while he was in England, entitled "An Admonition to Christians," in which were certain expressions against the Emperor, Philip his son, and Mary, queen of England; these imperious brethren presented the book to the magistrates, and accused the author of high treason against the Emperor!! The magistrates, therefore, immediately sent for Mr. Whittingham, and requiring some account of Mr. Knox's character, he said, that, to his knowledge, "he was a learned, wise, and godly divine." They, moreover, required Mr. Whittingham to give them a correct translation of the words in Knox's book, which were the folJowing:-"O England, England! if thou wilt obstinately return into Egypt; that is, if thou contract marriage, confederacy, or league with such princes as do maintain and advance idolatry, such as the Emperor, who is no less an enemy to Christ than was Nero; if, for the pleasure and friendship, I say, of such princes, thou return to thine old abominations before used under papistry, then assuredly, O England, thou shalt be plagued and brought to desolation by means of those whose favour thou seekest, and by whom thou art procured to fall from Christ and serve Antichrist." The magis trates, being tender of the Emperor's honour, and unwilling to embroil themselves in these controversies, respectfully recommended Mr. Knox to retire from Frankfort; but they " abhorred this bloody, cruel, and outrageous attempt" of his accusers; who were dismissed with "most evident signs of disliking their unnatural suit."* Dr. Cox and his friends, having got rid of Mr. Knox, and having privately concerted the plan with a civilian at Frankfort, procured the free use of the English prayers and ceremonies, and, with a high hand, carried every thing their own way. The original agreement was set aside, and the brethren excluded from the privileges they once enjoyed; on which Mr. Whittingham said he had no doubt that it was lawful for him and others to join some other church; " but Dr. Cox sought that it might not be suffered!!" Mr. Whittingham replied, "that it would be great cruelty to force men, contrary to their consciences, to obey their disorderly doings; offering, that, if it would please the magistrates to give him and others the hearing, they would dispute the matter against the contrary party, and prove that the order which they sought to establish, ought not to take place in any reformed church;" but they were not allowed to meddle any more in the business.t Placed in these painful circumstances, Mr. Whittingham and his brethren were even accused of schism; therefore, to acquit themselves of this vile calumny, they wrote a letter and delivered it to the congregation, previous to their departure, saying, "For as much as through the benefit of God we * Troubles at Frankfort, p. 32-38. † Ibid. p. 39. have obtained a church in another From this detail of facts, relating place, we thought it good to ad. vertise you of the same; to the intent, not only that slanderous reports may cease, but also if any offence be either taken or given, the same may come to trial, we desire that you for your part would appoint two arbitrators, and we shall appoint other two: who, hearing our matters thoroughly opened, may witness where the fault resteth; at which time we will undertake to defend our departure to be lawful, contrary to the slanderous reports of some who unlearnedly term it schism. Hereby strife may be ended, charity revived, friendship continued, God's glory advanced, and our brethren edified."* This generous proposal, subscribed by Mr. Whittingham, John Fox, and sixteen of their brethren, was utterly rejected by those who sought the face of an English church; and when they demanded the reasons of the others departure from Frankfort, Mr. Whittingham said-Because of their breach of that promise, which was established by the invocation of the name of God-their disorderly thrusting themselves into the church-their taking away the order of discipline established before their coming, and appointing no other their accusing Mr. Knox of treason, and seeking his blood-their overthrowing the common order appointed by the magistrate their displacing the officers of the church without any cause alleged-and their introducing papistical superstitions and unprofitable ceremonies, which were yokes and burdens to their consciences. They then departed from the city, and sought refuge in other places. to this arduous and painful struggle, and derived from the best authority, it is sufficiently clear who were the aggressors; yet Bishop Burnet, with great injustice, affirms, "that Knox and his party certainly began the breach;"* and Dr. Southey unhesitatingly declares, that the dispute was "mis chieviously began, and unwarrantably prosecuted," by those who indulged "a rooted aversion for whatever catholic forms were retained in the English church."† From these unqualified accusations, the impartial reader would suppose that these writers had never seen the original account, or were strangely misled by partyprejudice, or guilty of wilful misrepresentation. The celebrated Calvin, who was well acquainted with these affairs, addressed a letter to Dr. Cox, and his friends, after the others had departed from Frankfort, furnishing a widely different statement of these occurrences. "No man, well-instructed, or of sound judgment, will, I think, deny that lights and crossings, or such like trifles, sprung out of superstition: whereupon I am persuaded, that they who retain these ceremonies in a free choice, or when they may do otherwise, are over-greedy and desirous to drink of the dregs. Neither do I see to what purpose it is to burden the church with trifling and unprofitable ceremonies; or, as I may properly term them, hurtful and offensive ceremonies, when there is liberty to have a simple and pure order. Mr. Knox was, in my judgment, neither godly nor brotherly dealt with. If he were accused by the subtile suggestion of certain persons, it had been better for them to have tarried still in their own land, than unjustly to have brought into far countries the firebrand of cruelty, to set on fire those who would not be kindled: therefore, I only counsel you, not without cause, to be wounded for these evils, and that you make them amends for the fault committed."* * Troubles at Frankfort, p. 46. + Ibid. p. 50. * Burnet's Hist. of Refor. vol. ii. p. 339. † Book of the Church, vol. ii. p. 289. Mr. Whittingham having, in effect, been driven from Frankfort, retired to Geneva, where he was invited to the pastoral office of the English church. At first he declined the charge; but, by the earnest persuasion of Mr. Calvin, he complied with the invitation, and was ordained by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. On the deliverance of these exiles from the unkind treatment they had met with, and the occurrences which followed, Mr. Whittingham made these profitable reflections. "To the end we might be delivered from this insupportable yoke, God of his mercy hath provided better for us; and, for this commodity, hath Troubles at Frankfort, p. 44, 45. granted us a double benefit: in so much, contrary to their hope, he hath not only at Basil moved the magistrates' hearts towards us in granting us a church, but also at Geneva, where God's word is truly preached, manners best reformed, and, in earth, the chief place of true comfort." In addition to his stated pastoral exercises at Geneva, Mr. Whittingham was actively employed, with other learned divines, in publishing a new translation of the Bible, usually called the Geneva Translation; and, on the death of queen Mary, he united with his brethren at Geneva in their letter of congratulation for the accession of Elizabeth, addressed to their fellow-exiles at Arrau and Frankfort, breathing a most affectionate and healing temper. Of these important occurrences we have already furnished a detailed account in our memoir of the celebrated Miles Coverdale, as recorded in our numbers of August and September, 1825. A SERMON, (To be continued.) DELIVERED AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF DIVINE WORSHIP, IN THE NEWLY-ERECTED MEETING-HOUSE OF THE REFORMED CHURCH AT LÜBECK, JULY 9, 1826. BY THE REV. JOHN GEIBEL, D. D. PASTOR OF THAT CHURCH. (Continued from page 130.) II. BUT then we have also to give diligence that the original form of Christianity, which is alone adapted to the spirit of it, be more and more evidenced amongst us. It is often said, that "forms are indifferent, and that Christianity can manifest itself without form." But though it cannot be denied that the spirit of Christianity is not exactly bound to any particular form, yet it does not follow, by any means, that forms are altogether a matter of indifference. On the contrary, an unbiassed view of the history of the Christian church points out most evidently the erroneousness of this assertion. How often did a true christian spirit manifest itself in individuals after the time of Constantine; but was it able to burst the barriers, when once, in the lapse of years, the christian community had assumed a form entirely foreign and opposed to its nature? Was not the life which was awakened, if not entirely suppressed, yet always restrained by exile, imprisonment, fire, and sword? And, whenever it attained any strength, did it not always, after violent struggles, cast off the false and spirit-galling form? Did not the Waldenses and Albigenses suffer a thousand deaths, when bursting their brazen fetters? And what would have become of the Reformation of the sixteenth century, if the ancient priesthood, only somewhat differently constituted, had remained? The spirit needs the letter, and the letter the spirit, and all finite existence needs a form. But form and letter must, proceeding from the spirit, be its true expression, in order that it may be established, preserved, and extend itself in them. The spirit of Christianity has found, in the words of the apostles, its suitable letter, and the christian church, in the original apostolic constitution, its true form. Take away the words of the apostles, and you make the spirit of Christianity an airy phantom, which presents itself in an infinity of forms, and cannot be laid hold of or held fast in any one of them; you place the soul of the lamb in the body of an elephant, a lion, or a tiger; and do you suppose that the lamb with tiger's claws will remain a lamb? Do but ask history, and it shall answer you audibly enough! The christian life is altogether simple; it is an inward life of communion with God, and an inward life of communion of the faithful with each other. They altogether make but one body, of which Christ is the head. Christ alone is our master, and we are all brethren. But this life can only manifest N. S. No. 40. itself in a form entirely simple, or otherwise it will perish in the form. Therefore, as soon as order of precedence arose in the church, real life was repelled. As soon as men sought to renew the Mosaic constitution in Christianity, as soon as the office of a bishop became the bishop's dignity, as soon as a secular distinction was made between city and country bishops, and one church was subjected to another, the door of the church was thrown open to human vanity, tyranny, and avarice. Priests and laity were then soon seen; priests who presumed to drive a monopoly with the truth, and by articles of faith to rule over souls; priests and high-priests, a monstrous line of spiritual dignitaries, which commenced with the door-keeper and ended in bishops, archbishops, patriarchs, and finally in the pope. The church was then become the world, and the world the church. The kingdom of Christ, which was not to be of this world, was transformed into an earthly dominion; and thus christian spirit, pure christian doctrine, and real christian life, receded further and further. Yes, my fellow Christians, history teaches that the form is not indifferent to the church; and that every deviation from the original form is more or less injurious. How simple, on the contrary, and beneficial, was the original form! unity and order was preserved in the churches solely by elders and deacons. The former were partly teachers and partly overseers of the whole; the latter attended to the poor. The idea of a priesthood never occurred to them; for every Christian was a spiritual priest; the ministerial office alone was appointed by the Lord. A spiritual authority was quite a new thing; even the apostles most carefully avoided it, and would not be lords over the faith, but ministers of 2 A Then the spiritual joy of the churches. They were all brethren, and no respect of persons was shown in the affairs of the church. Every thing was judged and decided by the word of God alone. Ceremonies never took place, and only two simple rites were observed-baptism and the Lord's Supper, as being instituted by the Lord himself. Christianity must really return to this original simplicity, both in doctrine and in form, in order to extend the fulness of its blessings over the human race, and wherever it has returned thither, then let this simplicity be preserved as a precious blessing! Alas! that that this is so often mistaken; that one so often sees and hears entirely opposite means proposed, with honest zeal for the promotion of the cause of Christ; that it is so often imagined the spirit may be assisted by pomp and show, and truth be benefited by the recommendation and introduction of innocent ceremonies to elevate the mind and promote devotion! My dear brethren! pomp, and splendour, and ceremonies, are contrary to the nature of the New Testament, in which there is no longer the type, but the thing itself; no longer shadow, but substance and truth; they belong solely to the Old Testament. Let us continue in primitive christian simplicity! Though all ceremonies are innocent at the commencement, have they continued so? and if you have once opened the gates to intruding ceremonies, when will you close them again? You say, when they become too numerous. But when are they too numerous, and who shall determine it? Be assured, that if we only assume something that was not originally instituted, and make it legal, there will be no end to it: we then again return to rosaries and holy water, conseerated candles, baptizing of bells, pilgrimages to holy places, and the whole glory of a levitical and heathenish worship. From which may God preserve us! III. Finally, it must be deeply impressed upon us, that both the doctrine and the form of the church has no other object, than to produce and preserve a life in the spirit of Jesus Christ. If nothing more were the result of Christianity, than that men should acknowledge and profess a certain quantum of doctrines, and subject themselves to a certain form of divine worship, the human race would be in reality little benefited by it, and we could not assign it any material preference above other religions in the world. But far from this; by it the whole life of man is to be renewed and his character changed; it ought to place him in a vital communion with God, and incline him to fulfil the will of God in every situation, or what is the same thing, it ought to beget in him the same mind which was in Christ Jesus, and to cause him to walk even as he walked. This is its end; and this end can only be attained by Christian doctrine and form of worship. Hence it is said in Scripture, that we are born of the truth, begotten by the truth, sanctified and made free by the truth. To produce a life in the spirit of Jesus Christ is the end of Christianity; and this stands by no means opposed to another assertion of Scripture, to wit, that "Christ came into the world to save sinners." Christ certainly purposes to save his people; but not in their sins, but from their sins. Through him they are to attain not only forgiveness of sins, but he will also destroy sin itself in them by his Spirit, to make them meet for blessedness. A man that still loves sin, and will not forsake sin, has just as little communion with him as susceptibility of that |