J RUNIC MOVEMENTS 115 



" (4) It is the mind of Christ that his ser- 

 vants in all matters merely circnmstantiall 

 by him not determined should be left free to 

 follow their own light, as it may be offered, 

 or arise unto them, from the general rules of 

 edification and not constrained by an implicit 

 faith to follow the dictates of other men." 



This great apostle of Christian union 

 died in 1680, without seeing the fruits of 

 his labors. The times were too turbulent 

 and the age was not ripe for his pacific ideas. 

 Gieseler says he received much more en- 

 couragement from the Reformed than from 

 Lutherans. He was three hundred years 

 in advance of his age. But, as Professor 

 Briggs says, " He was sowing the seed and 

 preparing the germs of Christian tolera- 

 tion, liberty, and union that have unfolded 

 in later time and richer promises for the 

 future.'' 1 Many of the best spirits of his 

 time gave him encouragement, and his 

 numerous books and his tireless labors 

 form one of the noblest legacies which 



1 For further information, see Briggs, as above ; 

 Gieseler (ed. Smith), iv. 583-584 ; Briggs, in Schaff- 

 Herzog, s. v. ; McOlintock, in McClintock and Strong, 

 s. v., and the references there given. See also The 

 Christian Remembrancer, January, 1855, where a full 

 account is given, written from the sources. 



