REFORMATION. 



from the SpauilTi yoke : in conlcquence of which the re- 

 formed n-ligion, as it was profefled in Switzerland, was 

 cftablifhcd in the United Provinces ; and, at the fame time, 

 an univerfal toleration granted to thofe whofe religious fen- 

 timents were of a different nature, whether they retained the 

 faith of Rome, or embraced the reformation in another form, 

 provided that they made no attempts againft the authority 

 of the government, or the tranquillity of the public. 



Whilft Mr. Hume attributes the quick, and furprifing 

 progrcfs of the reformation in part to the late invention of 

 printing, and revival of learning, he denies that reafon had 

 .iny confiderable (hare in opening men's eyes with regd-d to 

 the impofturcs of the Romidi church ; alleging that philo- 

 fophy had made little progrefs, at Icall not till long after the 

 period of the reformation, and that no inftancc occurs in 

 which argument h.is ever been able to free the people from 

 that enormous load of abfurdity with which fuperftition has 

 ?very where overwhelmed them : to which he adds, that the 

 rapid advance of the Lutheran doftrine, and the violence 

 with which it was embraced, prove fufhciently that it owed 

 not its fuccefs to reafon and refletlion. The art of printing, 

 and the revival of learning, he fays, forwarded its progrefs 

 in another manner. By means of that art, the books of 

 Luther and his feftaries, full of vehemence, declamation, 

 and a rude eloquence, were propagated more quickly, and 

 in greater numbers. The minds of men, fomewhat awakened 

 from a profound lleep of fo many centuries, were prepared 

 for every novelty, and fcrupkd lefs to tread in any unufual 

 path which was opened to them. And as copies of the 

 fcriptures, and other ancient monuments of the Chriftian 

 faith, became more common, men perceived the innovations 

 which were introduced after the firft century ; and though 

 argument and reafoning could not give conviftion, an hif- 

 torical faft, well fupported, was able to make impreffion on 

 their underflandings. As the ecclefiaftics would not agree 

 to poflefs their privileges, though ancient and prior to al- 

 moft every political eltablifliment in Europe, as matters of 

 civil right, which time might render valid, but appealed tUll 

 to a divine right, they thus tempted men to look to their 

 primitive charter, which, with httle difficulty, they could 

 perceive to be defeftive in truth and authenticity. Befides, 

 Luther and his followers, not fatisfied with oppofmg the 

 pretended divinity of the Romilh church, and difplaying the 

 temporal inconveniences of that eftablifhment, proceeded to 

 treat the religion of their anceftors as abominable, deteftable, 

 and damnable ; foretold by facred writ itfelf as the fource 

 of all wickednefs and pollution. They denominated the 

 pope antichrift, called his communion the fcarlet whore, 

 and o-ave to Rome the appellation of Babylon ; expreffions 

 which, however applied, were to be found in fcripture, and 

 which were better calculated to operate on the multitude 

 than the mod folid arguments. Excited by conteft and 

 perfecution on the one hand, by fuccefs and applaufe on the 

 other, many of the reformers carried to the greateft ex- 

 tremities their oppofition to the church of Rome ; and in 

 contradiftion to the multiplied fuperftitions with which that 

 communion was loaded, they adopted an enthufiaftic ftram 

 of devotion, which admitted of no obfervances, rites, or 

 ceremonies, but placed all merit in a myfterious fpecies of 

 faith, in inward vifion, rapture, and ecftacy. The new 

 feftaries, feized with this fpirit, were indefatigable in the 

 propagation of their doftrine, and fet at defiance all the 

 anathemas and punifhments with which the Roman pontiff 

 endeavoured to overwhelm them. 



Thus, in terms which appear to us too difparaging, does 

 our hiftorian defcribe the origin and progrefs of the reforma- 

 tion ; nor does he pay due refpeft to the principles on which 



it was founded, and to the charafter of the perfons who 

 were the principal agents in accompliftiing it. We are 

 ready to acknowledge, that the collateral circumftances above 

 .ecited rendered its advances more rapid and more extenfive ; 

 but we cannot aUow that it did not owe much of its fuccefs 

 to reafon and refleftion. But whatever may be our opinion 

 of the primary caufes that produced it, its influence on the 

 minds and manners of mankind, on the ftate of fociety in 

 general, and on the interefts of liberty, rehgion, and virtue, 

 has been eminently and extenfivcly beneficial. Luther had 

 no fooner began to attack the papal fupremacv, than the 

 charm, which had bound mankind for lo many ages, was 

 broken at once. The human mind, which had long con- 

 tinued as tame and padive, as if it had been taught to be- 

 lieve whatever was taught, and to bear whatever was iin- 

 pofed, roufed of a fudden, and became inquifitive, mu- 

 tinous, and difdainful of the yoke to which it had liitherto 

 fubmitted. The reformation, wherever it was received, in- 

 creafed that bold and innovating fpirit to which it owed its 

 birth. Men who had the courage to overturn a fyftem, 

 fupported by every thing which can command refpedt or 

 reverence, were not to be overawed by any authority, how 

 great or venerable foever. After having been accullomed 

 to confider themfelves as judges of the moft important doc- 

 trines in religion, to examine thefe freely, and to reject, 

 without fcruple, what appeared to them erroneous, it was 

 natural for them to turn the fame daring and inquifitive eye 

 to government, and to think of reftifying whatever dif- 

 orders or imperfections were difcovered there. As religious 

 abufes had been reformed in fevcral places, without the per- 

 miflion of the magillrate, it was an eafy tranfition to attempt 

 the redrefs of political grievances in the fame manner. But 

 though the fpirit of innovation, that was excited and pro- 

 moted by the reformation, might in fome inftances prove 

 the occalion of turbulence and tumult, the good that 

 eventually accrued from its operation far exceeded the par- 

 tial and temporary evil that refulted from it. The preva- 

 lence of this fpirit was fo general, that it muft have been 

 excited by caufes that were natural, and of powerful effi- 

 cacy ; and the confequences that flowed from them muit 

 have been as important and intereiling as the caufes that 

 produced them. The kingdemis of Denmark, Sweden, 

 England, and Scotland, and almoll one half of Germany, 

 threw off their allegiance to the pope, abolifhed his jurif- 

 diftion within their territories, and gave the fanftion of law 

 to modes of difcipline and fyltems of doftrine, which were 

 not only independent of his power, but hoftile to it. Nor 

 was this fpirit of innovation confined to thofe countries 

 which openly revolted from the pope ; it fpread through all 

 Europe, and broke out in every part of it with vanous de- 

 grees of violence. It penetrated early into France, and 

 made fuch rapid progrefs, that the number of converts to 

 the opinions of the reformers was lo great, their zeal fo en- 

 terprifing, and the abilities of their leaders fo diftinguilhed, 

 that they foon ventured to contend for fuperiority with the 

 eftabhlhed church, and were fometimes on the point of ob- 

 taining it. In all the provinces of Germany which con- 

 tinued to acknowledge the papal fupremacy, as well as in 

 the Low Countries, the Proteftant doftrines were fecretly 

 taught, and had gained fo many profelytes, that they were 

 ripe for revolt, and were reftrained merely by the dread of 

 their rulers from imitating the example of their neighbours, 

 and afferting their independence : hence in Spain and Italy, 

 fymptoms of tlie fame difpofition to fhake off the yoke ap- 

 peared. The pretenfions of the pope to infallible know- 

 ledge and fupreme power were treated by many perfons of 

 eminent learning and abilities with fuch fcorn, or impugned 



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