ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 



323 



Ecclesiasti- place In the public mind ; it was a system of external 

 cal History, observances; and when the tools by which the work 

 "~'~~ was carried on were destroyed, the work itself could 

 no longer be performed. To remove the means of ini- 

 quity, is, in many instances, to put an end to its- ex- 

 istence. 



The COVE- But it was not only on the minds of the people, that 

 KAKT. the eloquence of Knox produced its effects. Many of 

 the nobility attached themselves to the cause of the Re- 

 formation. There is reason to believe, that a consider- 

 able number of these were actuated by a sincere regard 

 for the interests of religion, and the welfare of their 

 country. With others, the motives were of a mixed and 

 doubtful nature ; and not a few appear to have adopted 

 the new opinions, because the success of the Reforma- 

 tion afforded them the immediate prospect of seizing 

 and appropriating the ample possessions of the church. 

 The meetings of the Protestants, were attended by the 

 great lords and their retainers, in arms. The Earls 

 Marischal and Glencairn were at once the disciples and 

 the protectors of Knox. A powerful party, variously 

 composed, existed in the country ; and, by uniting 

 themselves in a solemn COVENANT, for mutual support 

 and defence, they at once ascertained their numbers, 

 and concentrated their strength. The political events, 

 so well known to every readier of Scottish history, faci- 

 litated the progress of die reformers. The inauspicious 

 marriage of the young and beautiful queen, the murder 

 of Darnley, the infamous conduct of the Earl of Both- 

 well, the zeal, the valour, and the prudence of Murray, 

 all conspired with the labours of the preachers, and the 

 increasing intelligence of the people ; till at length the 

 public voice became nearly uniform, and whenever the 

 public voice becomes uniform or nearly uniform, the 

 experience of ages will tell us, that it is neither to be 

 triHed with, nor resisted. The parliament of the na- 

 tion supported and confirmed the sentiments of the peo- 

 ple. The Papacy was abolished ; even the order of 

 bishops was completely subverted ; and Presbytcrianism, 

 a iytem, the leading principle of which is, that every 

 teacher of religion, shall employ himself in the work 

 vf instruction among the people committed to his care, 

 was established and acknowledged throughout tile coun- 

 try. This wholesome system has ever since been fondly 

 cherished by tin- S;-otti.,l> nation; nor could all the efforts 

 of the I'.nglish court in later times, a court professing a 

 iv.tf.ird for Episcopacy indeed, but secretly and slavish- 

 ly devoted to the cause of Rome, induce them to swerve, 

 cveu in the slightest degree, from the doctrine and the 

 institute of the great reformer of their church. More 

 than twenty years of cruel persecution, and of military 

 apostloship, \\ere tried in vain. Their attachment re- 

 mained unbroken ; and Presbyterian ism, continues to 

 tin's day the object of sacred estimation, in the eyes of 

 the Scottish people. 



For an account of ilie progress of the Reformation in 

 France, the massacre of St Bartholomew, and that 

 which followed the revocation of the edict of Nantz, se 

 FRANCE. 



Doctrine of T ne f ' octrme of ^e Protestant churches is the next 

 the I'm- to P' c which demands our attention. This doctrine, op- 

 posed as it is, in many important and prominent par- 

 ticulars, to the articles of the Romish faith, is detailed 

 at considerable length, in the creeds and confessions, 

 which have at different times been published by the 

 chief persons and societies of the Reformation. The 

 " Confession of Augsburg," which is understood to re- 

 present the Lutheran tenets, has been mentioned above. 

 The doctrine of the English church is contained in her 



Icitant 

 churches. 



XXXIX Articles ; and that still adhered to in Scotland, Ecdesinstf- 

 is to be found in the Confession of Faith, and in the ^History. 

 Larger and Shorter Catechisms of our national church. ""~Y~^ 

 In the Scottish formularies, the peculiar doctrines of 

 the Holy Scriptures are supposed to be more amply and 

 distinctly set forth. It is worthy of notice, however, 

 that in all the creeds and confessions above alluded to, 

 there is a very remarkable agreement ; a harmony so 

 conspicuous indeed, as well as gratifying, that the 

 reader, by carefully consulting any one out of the whole 

 number, may arrive at a sufficient degree of information, 

 respecting the doctrine professed and maintained by 

 the reformed communities. To one or other of these 

 formularies, therefore, we refer our readers ; and shall 

 proceed to offer a short account of the most important 

 controversies which have been agitated among the Pro- 

 testants, since the time of Luther to the present day. 



When the leaders of the Reformation withdrew from Doctrine 

 the communion of Rome, they separated from her by concerning 

 different stages of removal, and with different degrees * e 

 of aversion. Of all the distinguished individuals among nst 

 the Protestants, Melancthon appears to have retained 

 the greatest attachment to the ancient opinions. He 

 was a person extremely gentle in his dispositions, and 

 he seems to have thought, that by mutual concessions 

 and approximations, the peace of the church might be 

 restored and established. In one particular, the doc- 

 trine maintained by Luther himself, appears to have 

 been removed only a short way from the corresponding 

 article of the Romish faith ; and, with regard to this one 

 particular, the Father of the Reformation was long en- 

 gaged in controversy, even with those who agreed with 

 Him in the general system of his belief. The particular 

 to which we allude, is that very mysterious one, respect- 

 ing the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament of 

 the supper. It is true, that Luther denied and rejected, 

 with abhorrence, the doctrine of transubstantiation, and 

 would by no means allow, that the sacramental bread 

 was converted into the real body of Christ. But while 

 he denied any conversion of this nature, he strenuously 

 maintained, that though the eucharistic bread continued, 

 after the solemnity of consecration, to be nothing more 

 than bread, the real hotly of Jesus, distinguished of 

 course, as we should be inclined to think, by the usual 

 material qualities, extended, visible and tangible, was 

 present along mil It the bread. In one word, he held the 

 doctrine of CONSUDSTANTI \TION, or what was after- 

 wards described by the still more barbarous term of 

 impanalion. It was tile age of minute and evanescent 

 distinctions, and of scholastic refinement; a taste for 

 subtle discrimination among kindred or similar ideas 

 prevailed ; and neither arguments nor illustrations were 

 wanting. " As in red hot iron," said Luther, " two 

 distinct substances, viz. iron and fit r, are united, so is the 

 body of Christ joined with the bread in the eucharist." 

 To such an argument or illustration, if it deserve the 

 name of either, was a man even of Luther's sagacity 

 reduced, when lie set himself to maintain, what he felt 

 to be absurd. But while the Saxon reformer was zea- 

 lously employed in maintaining the incomprehensible 

 tenet of consubstantiation, a more plain and accessible 

 doctrine was proposed by Zuinglius, his cotemporary. 

 We have already mentioned the name of tin's distin- 

 guished person, as the first reformer of Switzerland; 

 and have stated, that he commenced his career with an 

 activity equal or superior to that of Luther himself. 

 Zuinglius rejected at once both the doctrine of the Ro- 

 mish church, respecting the eucharist, and the notion 

 ef consubstantiation ; maintaining, certainly with u 



