[,6J 



should be arrested for heresy. In 1520 the Tope ex- 

 communicated the bold monk, who, in return, defiantly 

 burnt the Papal bull, for which he was ordered to appear 

 before the Imperial Diet at Worms, when he deliberately 

 refused to retract. The views of the reformer quickly 

 spread through Switzerland and Germany, Pope Leo 

 thundering forth his anathemas upon all who joined the 

 dangerous movement, until, at length, after many bloody 

 wars and horrible massacres, such as the slaughter of the 

 Huguenots, etc., the Reformation was firmly established, 

 and the Bible became, to the Reformed Church, the only 

 guide to morals and duty. At first, the Pope sullenly 

 submitted to what appeared to be the inevitable ; but 

 soon it became apparent that, in order to keep any autho- 

 rity at all over the people, some plan would have to be 

 adopted to curtail the growing influence of the Reformed 

 Church. Accordingly, Pope Paul III., in 1540, estab- 

 lished the Society of Jesus, the members of which order 

 were sent abroad all over Europe for the purpose of 

 secretly undermining the influence of the Reformers. 

 Three years afterwards, as if to counteract the evil designs 

 of the Jesuits, there appeared on the scene the celebrated 

 work of Copernicus, which was destined for ever to 

 demolish the geocentric theory of Ptolemy, and to estab- 

 lish the heliocentric philosophy, which taught that the 

 sun was the centre of our system, and that all the planets, 

 including our earth, revolved in regular order round it, 

 and which, of course, called forth a volley of abuse from 

 the Vatican, the theory being declared heretical and its 

 author anathematised. The effect of all this was to 

 cause quite a revolution in thought among the learned of 

 Europe, which gave rise to another schism in the Church, 

 departure being this time from the ranks of the Reformers. 

 Arianism was once more revived by a number of people, 

 who maintained that the doctrine of the Trinity was un- 

 Scriptural, and that Jesus was but a man like themselves, 

 though endowed with great authority from god. The 

 orthodox and reformed Churches both alike were alarmed 

 at this turn of events, and co-operated to suppress the 

 new heresy, denouncing all philosophical studies, and 

 branding the Unitarians as Infidels. The upshot was 

 that Servetus was burnt to death at the stake by the order 



