by way of proving that one of them must be The lesson of the weakness and fallibi wrong. cisions directly opposed to those of his predecessor, | is based,-no inconsiderable proof of that deprivation of intellect which is frequently the forerunner of destruction. From this period the princes of Europe considered a general council as an effectual check upon the haughtiness and arrogance of the Popes. lity of the Popes was taught by themselves, and must have tended to weaken the influence and authority of the Popedom, for he who claims to be universally right, and yet is often found to be wrong, will gradually lose the respect and confidence of his fellow-men. In addition to this, the profligacy of several of the Popes was calculated to undeceive the people in regard to their religious character. Leo X. was a person devoid of religious principle, and was, besides, prodigal, luxurious, and imprudent. Julius II. had nothing of the churchman in his character; his private vices were only exceeded by his savage ferocity, his arrogance, and his love of war and bloodshed. Alexander VI. is altogether remarkable, even among sovereign princes, for the magnitude of his crimes, of which the atrocity is only surpassed by that of the worst of the Roman emperors. This list might be easily increased, but enough has been said to show that the personal profligacy of the so called vicars of Christ may be ranked among those causes which led to the Refor ⚫mation. There were other causes which had an indirect influence in bringing about the Reformation, such as the restoration of learning; the multiplication of schools and universities, by which education was rendered more accessible; the invention of the art of printing, by which books were cheaply and readily diffused; and those writings in which the follies and vices of the priesthood were most severely satirized:-all these things had the effect of enabling men to see the evils which had for ages been creeping into the prevailing system. The Popes now began to be alarmed for the continuance of their authority, and did what they could to obviate the effects which were likely to follow; but the period of inquiry had arrived, and it was vain to stay its progress. When John de Medicis, who assumed the name of Leo X., ascended the papal throne, he speedily exhausted the sacred treasury by his prodigality and licentious pleasures. The question was, how There was another circumstance, which led were his coffers to be replenished? and the readiest even the most blinded to discover that the Popes way that occurred to his counsellors was a sale of were subject to like passions as other men. This indulgences, which should be offered to all withwas the celebrated schism, which exhibited two out any exceptions. As this term is apt to be infallible bishops-heads of the Romish Church-misunderstood by Protestant readers, and Papists one at Rome and the other at Avignon. In order that men's minds might be settled on this point, so important to those who had difficulty in ascertaining their real spiritual head, a council was called, and the assembled bishops began to exercise powers which, for many ages, they were not known to possess. They deposed both the reigning Popes, and authorised the cardinals to proceed to a new election; but the love of power prevailed, and both refused to obey. For fourteen years after the council was assembled, this schism continued to prevail, and, at its termination, it was found to have given a deadly blow to the authority of the Pope. To add to the evil, the blow was dealt by themselves. The council of Basle soon after declared, by a solemn decision, that the Pope was subject to the councils of the Church, and that an appeal could be taken from a sentence of the Pope to a general council. These divisions and disputes had the effect of opening men's eyes to the spiritual bondage in which they had been so long held, and the influence and authority of the supreme head of the Church were no longer taken for granted. In the course of this schism, which lasted nearly forty years, there had been displayed by both parties a fierceness of passion, a sanguinary disposition, a worldly spirit, and a love of power entirely inconsistent with that religion which it was their professed object to maintain and promote. It is somewhat curious to observe the blindness of the contending parties, in betraying to the world the weakness of that principle on which the Popedom complain of the doctrines of their Church being misrepresented by us, it may be observed, that it does not imply the obtaining of a liberty to sin, but being set free from those penances which the Church imposed upon transgressors, by the payment of a sum of money. The rich could thus easily get rid of those troublesome and protracted penances to which poorer culprits were always subjected. It must also be confessed that Leo was not the first of the Popes who engaged in this species of traffic,-it had been practised by many of his predecessors. A despiser of religion himself, and accustomed to think highly of the supreme authority of the Popes, he adopted the suggestions of his counsellors without any consideration of the change that had taken place in the opinions and information of the people. The pretence for selling indulgences at that particular time was to obtain money for promoting the pious work, as it was regarded, of completing the splendid structure of St. Peter's Church at Rome; and Leo seems to have extended the term indulgence to the forgiveness of sins which might be committed in after life. This statement is made under correction, but such is my understanding of the author from whom this account is taken. Those who bought these indulgences were permitted to eat flesh during Lent, to choose a confessor most agreeable to themselves, and they received the entire forgiveness of their sins, and exemption from the pains of purgatory.* This bull was forthwith published, and the indulgences exposed | Luther enjoyed, was the feeling of security on the to sale. In Germany the management of this part of the Pope, and his utter contempt for the business was intrusted to Tetzel, a monk belong- obscure individual who questioned his supremacy ing to the order of the Dominicans, and a person It is not intended here to give a detail of the proof the most infamous character. Whatever Pa-gress of the Reformation generally, but merely to pists may say about the meaning of the papal bull, there can be no doubt of the fact that Tetzel preached about the excellency of the commodity of which he had to dispose in a strain of eloquence calculated to catch an ignorant and superstitious multitude, and declared that he had power to pardon all sins that had been committed, as well as all those which might afterwards be committed. It is not improbable that this worthless person exceeded his powers, but his insolence, impudence, and indecency are on record, and the Papist writers must admit that the court of Rome was singularly indifferent to the respectability of its agents. Tetzel and his companions openly practised the grossest vices, and set the example of the most flagitious conduct, under the shelter of the Pope. This mode of acting had led some to question the efficacy of indulgences conveyed by the hands of men so utterly polluted. The individual who took the lead in exposing the worthlessness of Tetzel, and the folly of trusting to indulgences, was Martin Luther, Professor of Divinity in the University of Wirtumberg. He was born at Aisleben in Saxony, and originally intended to study law, but was diverted from this purpose by a singular providential occurrence. As he was walking in the fields, a flash of lightning struck his companion dead at his feet. This led to great seriousness of mind, and he entered the monastery of the Augustine friars, and took the vows, contrary to the consent, or at least the remonstrances, of his father. About a year after he had entered the monastery, he fell in with a Latin Bible, of which he was entirely ignorant, and as he read the word of inspiration, his mind was gradually expanded. Along with the Sacred Volume he perused with great care the writings of Augustine, and thus acquired a profound knowledge of what had been the doctrines of the Church in its purest times. At first Luther was not prepared to question the Pope's authority, he merely refused to absolve those to whom Tetzel had sold indulgences. Complaints were made to Tetzel, and he threatened with the vengeance of the Pope any who should question the efficacy of the indulgences which had been granted; but he had to deal with a spirit not easily daunted. Luther examined the nature of indulgences with the greatest attention, and published the result of the investigation in a series of propositions, which Tetzel condemned to the flames, and he afterwards published two discourses by way of refuting them. Luther ridiculed without mercy the arguments and rash statements of his opponent, and his opinions were rapidly diffused over Germany. It was thus, from one step to another, that Luther was led to perceive the unscriptural nature of the Popish system, and publicly to adopt and teach that religion which is found in the Scriptures. One advantage which show its rise in Germany, as leading to its introduction into Scotland. Luther's dispute with Tetzel began in the year 1517, and in 1520 the Pope published the famous bull, by which every hope of accommodation was destroyed. When Luther received this bull he set about investigating the origin of the dominion of the Popedom, and the result was a conviction of its inconsistency with the Gospel of Christ. He, therefore, contemptuously burned the bull and the decretals, publicly maintained that the Pope was antichrist, and exhorted all within his reach to separate from a Church which was founded in ignorance and superstition. It is from this period we date the adoption of that system to which Protestants adhere, under various modifications, throughout Europe. RAFARAVAVY, THE MALAGASY MARTYR. FROM the interesting volumes which have been recently published by Mr Ellis, on the History of Madagascar, who was recently called to suffer martyrdom for her we extract the following account of a native Christian, firm adherence to the truths of the Gospel, in the face of the cruel and tyrannical edict of the Queen of that island, forbidding, under pain of death, the profession of the Christian faith: It appears that the movements of the Christians had been watched, though no infringement of the antichristian edict of the queen was discovered till the last Sabbath in July, or the first Sabbath in August, 1837. On this occasion, a number of Christians, having assembled for reading the Scriptures, singing, and prayer, on a covered, and reported to the queen; the premises of the mountain a short distance from the capital, were dissuspected parties were searched, for the purpose of finding ground for accusation against them, and a box of books, viz., copies of the Scriptures and other Christian publications, that had been given by the Missionaries, being found buried near the house of that eminent accused of reading the Bible, she was apprehended and Christian woman, Rafaravavy, who had been previously imprisoned; her house, her entire property, was given feet loaded with heavy iron rings. She was menaced up to plunder, her person secured, and her hands and in vain during a period of from eight to ten days, to induce her to impeach her companions. She remained firm, and perfectly composed; and was put to death by spearing on the 14th of August, 1837. She had said repeatedly, by letter, to her friend, Mrs Johns, "Do not fear on my account. if such be the will of God." She was most wonderfully I am ready to die for Jesus, supported to the last moment of her life. Her age at the time of her death was thirty-eight years. No feature in her Christian character appears to have been more distinctly manifested than her steadiness and fidelity even to the death. Many, even of the old people, remarked they had never seen any one so "" stubborn" as Rafaravavy, for although the queen forbade her to pray, she did pray, even when in irons; and continued to preach Christ to the officers and to the crowd that followed her for nearly three-quarters of a mile, from the place of public condemnation to the place of common execution. Here she continued to pray and to exhort all around her to believe in Jesus Christ, even till the executioner's spear, thrust through her body, deprived her of the power of utterance. In relation to her death, Mr Baker justly remarks: "Never in the annals of the Church did a Christian martyr suffer from motives more pure, simple, and unmixed with earthly alloy. She had never heard of any after-glory of martyrdom on earth. No external splendour had been cast around the subject in her mind, by reading any lives of martyrs. All was to her obloquy and contempt. Her own father and relatives, to the very last, accused her of stubbornness. The people generally regarded her as stubborn, and worthy of punishment even on that account. She had no earthly friends to support and cheer her. She was not poor in outward circumstances; and by recantation, and by humbling herself to beg pardon of the queen, she might very probably have saved her life. But her whole heart, as her letters testify, was filled with the love of Jesus. She endured as seeing him who is invisible. Her letters are composed principally of passages from the Gospels and Epistles, and these, doubtless, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, were the entire support of her mind in the last hour of trial. If the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,' we may trust that Rafaravavy will not have died in vain. She died directly and exclusively in defence of the Gospel." Allusion has been made to her letters. It may suffice at present to give the following extract from one of her communications to Mr Johns, written shortly before her last imprisonment : "Blessed be God, who hath given us access by our Lord Jesus Christ. My earnest prayer to God is, that he would enable me to obey the words of Jesus to his disciples, Matt. xvi. 24, 'If any man desire to come after me, let him deny himself,' &c. Hence, then, none of these things move me, nor count I my life dear to myself, that I may finish my course in the service I have received of the Lord Jesus. Do not you, Missionaries, grieve under an idea that your labour here has been in vain in the Lord; through the blessing of God, it succeeds. If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; but it is the power of God to them that believe.' Here is my ground of confidence; the power of God cannot be effectually resisted. I will go in the strength of the Lord. Though I should walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for God is with me. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.' Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.' May I be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith; that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.' Phil. iii. 9-14. "Pray for us, that the Lord may open the door for his Word among us." These are statements on which it would be superfluous to offer lengthened comment. And yet it is impossible to contemplate without devout admiration, such bright, such impressive evidence of the reality and efficacy of the Gospel. Here is a converted idolater brought to the martyr's test, and nobly "refusing to accept deliverance, that she might obtain a better resurrection; out of weakness waxing strong," and counting not even life itself worth possessing, without the conThis honoured martyr fession of the Saviour's name! has left to the care of the Church in Madagascar, under the great Shepherd, one orphan little girl, a martyr's child, for whose welfare the deepest solicitude is felt, and tidings respecting whom are most anxiously desired. PASSING from the history of those of the Protestants who left France, let us now shortly turn our attention to those who remained in the land of persecution. These were still very numerous, and though it is more than probable the most spiritual were among the emigrants, still there can be little question that a considerable number of pious men, from various causes, remained. Their condition, now that their pastors and the most devoted of the laity had abandoned the country, was one of great danger to their Christian character. This, accordingly, soon appeared. About a year after the revocation of the edict, we learn, by a letter from Mets, that in a church which was wont to number ten thousand communicants, there were only two who did not sign an abjuration of Protestantism, dictated by the cruel mercy of dragoons. It is very probable that many of these turn away God's wrath from you, set upon the religious you. communicants had previously removed from France, | glected or very negligently performed. That you may and it is certain that though for the sake of their lives many signed the document, they add, "we know we have subscribed, but we know, also, we have not changed our religion, and, through grace, we shall never change it." However they reconciled the signing of this abjuration to their consciences, no one can question such a posture of things was most injurious to the general Christianity of the Protestant population, and must have sadly deteriorated the character of those who gave way to the temptation. So much were the exiled pastors alive to this, and so deeply did they feel for their suffering flocks, that they wrote a long pathetic and most Christian letter to them, advising them how to conduct themselves with all faithfulness. It is entitled, 'An Epistle to our Brethren groaning under the Cap-ing never known any other religion than the Romish, tivity of Babylon, for whom we wish the mercy and peace of our God.' It extends to five closely printed folio pages. I extract a few sentences as a specimen of the Christian spirit, fidelity, and wisdom of the whole. "Keep carefully your books of piety, of devotion, and of controversy, and read them with singular diligence and attention. Preserve them, by hiding and conveying them from the reach and search of your persecutors. Above all, keep as your most precious jewels, the most Holy Bible, and suffer every thing rather than suffer your Bibles to be snatched away from you. Read them daily and with the greatest devotion. "Never forget, nor spare any pains or expense in procuring from foreign countries books capable of instructing and strengthening you, and when as the priests shall have robbed you of your own, cause others to be brought you, whatever rates you pay for them. "The poor country peasants, and mechanics in towns and cities, by reason of their ignorance, are exposed to the greatest dangers. But the strong ought to support the weak, and you must earnestly endeavour each others edification. This you may do as you travel into your country houses, as you walk in the streets, yea, when as you meet one another in your shops, there being none by you of the contrary religion. Supply these poor people with books for their instruction, and exhort them without ceasing to bear up against all discouragements, and never to let loose their hearts unto idolatry, but contrariwise to detest and oppose it by their dis "By reason of that commerce and communion you are necessitated to hold with the Papists, endeavour also after their conversion. Who knows but that God may have ordained this sore persecution for this very end, that you should carry the light of the Gospel into the very bosom of Popery in order to its destruction. ""Tis visible that the sinful disorders and miscarriages of your conversations have brought upon you those fearful judgments from God under which you are now groaning. There was no kind of worldliness in which you were not engaged, such as rich household goods, vessels of silver, tapestry, feasts, gluttonies, idle days, plays, pastimes, cloth of silk and gold, rings, pearls, and jewels. If you be wise, your first reformation must begin here; all these must be rejected; sell your tapestries, your silver vessels, wear the plainest woolsteds, have nothing to do with silk or gold at your feasts or repasts. Every day should be with us a day of prayers and tears, not a feasting but a fasting day. "Family duties, family prayer, hath been either ne will accustom themselves unto it, and never desire to diligence, nor costs, that you may be transported into a leave their country. Wherefore spare neither pains, land of liberty. And look not back behind you to carry away what is in your houses. Whosoever looks back again is not meet for the kingdom of heaven. And though you were stript of all in your flight, yet you would be rich enough in having your souls given you for a prey. The worst that can befall you is to die of famine. But is that kind of death more terrible than any other? Can any death be dreadful to us when the life of our souls lies at stake, and the glory of God is concerned? We should reckon it our great honour to be debased, scorned, impoverished, stript of all for Christ Jesus. Our life is very short. No matter how we suffer in it. Our great concern should be for eternity. We live and work for eternity. My brethren, count it great joy when you fall into divers temptations." One might have thought that the government, led on though it was by the Popish Church, would have grown tired of persecution, and that the public losses sustained by the State, in the removal of so large a body of enterprising and useful citizens, would have opened their eyes to the impolicy, if not the sin, of the dreadful course which they had been pursuing. But no; Popery is blind. The hatred of the truth of God is stronger than the love of outward prosperity; so the work of oppression still went forward. Before the century was completed,-in other words, in the course of fourteen years from the revocation of the edict, we read of not less than eight additional decrees and declarations, all "breathing threatenings and slaughter" against the poor surviving Protestants. Instead of there being any mitigation, as sometimes happens, the subsequent edicts were all an aggravation of the suffering, and this continued after the new century was entered upon. A frequent punishment for males was to send them to the galleys, and work them in chains. One of the number was M. De Marolles. His case is interesting. He had been chancellor to the king, but was condemned to the galleys for his Protestantism in 1685. Here he remained for seven long years, and died in a dungeon. Besides being an eminent Christian, he was a distinguished philosopher, mathematician, and algebraist, a proof of which is, that it is stated he solved many difficult problems while lying with a weight of 30lbs. about his neck. It is remarkable, that the year in which the sufferings of this distinguished man began -the year 1685-—and in which the edict was revoked, was the year also in which the hottest persecutions were going forward in Scotland, as if the monster were moving in different lands at the same moment. Not | better cemented than its predecessors. But amid these less than twenty out of the one hundred and thirty- schemes, and with thousands on thousands of his best subjects suffering both at home-and in foreign lands he was called hence. The death of this most powerful enemy of the Protestant cause produced a great impression in this country, and indeed over Europe, sadly disconcerting the Popish party and their friends, while it gave new hope and courage to the Protestants. It is not presumptuous to expect that, even in this life, we should be able to trace something of a moral retriHe bution for crimes so flagrant and wanton as those of Louis. There is nothing for which God will more certainly visit than the persecution of his people, and therefore, without meaning to forget the divine declaration, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord," I think I may safely request the reader to mark the visible judgments which rested on this persecutor's family and kingdom. He may have been a patron of literature and learning; he may have encouraged the arts. In some respects his reign may be said to be the most brilliant in French history: it was the age of Fenelon, and Bossuet, and Massillon; but, personally, he was a profligate, and eminently he was an enemy of the people of God. In reference to this, Dr Calamy remarks that, perhaps, he wrought more evil than any single individual in his lifetime. Not only did he oppress the Protestants in France, but it was he who was at the root of no small part of the troubles of this country. It was he who, by advice, and men, and treasure, laboured to make the throne of Britain a Popish throne, and when disappointed here, encouraged and assisted the Pretender in his attempts to embroil the nation. And what was the result of the whole? Did he escape the moral government of God? Was his career one of unbroken worldly glory? If he had died before lifting up his hand against the Protestant Church, his name might have been great, in the sense in which sovereigns are frequently great. But shortly after the destruction of the Church of Christ, in an attempt to build up for himself a power which was to overawe Europe, he provoked the Protestant feeling of Christendom, and, under the arms of Marlborough and his associates, he fell. Year after year his once victorious troops were worsted and cut down. For nine years, from 1702 to 1711, his reign was one continued series of calamities and defeats; and now that he himself was suffering under smart affliction of body, as afterwards of depressing melancholy of mind, he had the bitter mortification of seeing the places taken from him which, at an earlier day, had cost him so much money and blood, and had crowned his name with military renown. In one short season, he who had made so many parents childless, and broken the peace of so many families, was deprived of his son at fifty, his grandson, the pupil of Fenelon, at thirty, and a child of his, so that three dauphins were cut off in a single year. These were most bitter bereavements to the A writer, who lived at that period, uses the striking expression,--Providence seemed to be breaking Louis upon the wheel, by destroying his posterity, upon whom he valued himself so much, that he used to boast he was the only king of France that had ever seen great-grandchildren. Moreover, his descendants were the hope of his allies as well as his own comfort. And how did he leave his country? He left it full I must draw this part of the subject to a close, and I know not a more appropriate termination than the death of Louis XIV., the great instrument, if not prime author, of all the horrors we have been contemplating in successive papers from 1680. This event took place in August 1714. Though a very old man, it is believed a scheme was in contemplation most formidable to the Protestant liberties of Europe at the time of his death. Had he been spared a little longer, he was to have been at the head of a new Roman Catholic league, king. |