The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-29 00:00:00

SU

LONDON,

THE LATE REFORMATION IN
GERM ANY.

A public meeting was held last night, in the Hanover-
square Rooms, to receive the Rev. Johannes Czerski,
and the Rev. A. Posse, late priests in the R,,,man Catho-
lic Church in Germany, from which they have: receded,
ar.d to hear addresses from them on the Reform move-
ment which exists in Germany. On the platform were
Dr. Henderson, Dr. Conquest, Rev. R. Herschel', Dr.
Tholuck, of Halle ; Rev. W. Chave, J. D. Paul, Esq.,
the Hon. and Rev. Orlando Forrester.

The Right Hon. W. CowPER, in the unavoidable ab-
sence of Lord Ashley, took the chair. .

The Rev. RIDLEY HERSCHELL, a native of Germany,
briefly referred to some charges which bad been made
against Mr. Czerski—first that he had received money
from England for the objects of the Reform movement
and bad given no account, whereas he said he had re-
ceived only 101. from one individual, and that had been
given him for his own use ; and, second, that he had
egreed on a confession, and signed it in the company of
Rouge, whom he now repudiated. But the fact was,
that though a meeting had taken place between Rouge
and Czerski, it was incidental, and no confession of
faith was written or agreed to. The charges, he said,
were unfornded. Mr. Herschell then said he would do
his best to translate into English Mr. Czerski's address
to the meeting, as neither that gentleman nor Mr. Posse
coula express themselves in the English language.
The Rev. J. CZERKI here addressed the meeting.
He said the sympathy which he had met with in this
country, and at that meeting, as a weak instrument in
this work of God, gave him great joy ; he prized this
the more that hearty union among the friends of evange-
lical religion was especially necessary at this day, in
order to repel and overcome the efforts being
made by the Roman Catholic Church to extend her do-
minion. He considered her to be the enemy of truth,
notwithstanding that she vaunted herself to be the only
true church, within the pale of which alone salvation
could be found ; for his part, he and the friends he saw
around him, would not serve, the prince of this world
who had set himself in the place of God, and said, "I am
God!" The inventions of men had darkened the sun of
heaven ; the words in which God had revealed himself
had been forbidden by the Roman Catholic priesthood,
who set themselves up as mediators, and said, the merits
of Christ could be reached only through them. The effect
was, that there existed much outside religion, without
anything of the spirit ofChristianity. While he was yet a
priest he pitied the darkness and the ignorance of the
people, and directed them to the Scriptures. In the
cathedral of Posen he first began to preach to the•con-
gregatiop. He was reproved by the hierarchical autho-
rities for doing so, and when he would not consent
to desist, he was sent away to a small village.
He preached there also, and was, in consequence,
subjected to another removal. This time they sent him
to chenan Muhl, the population of which is German,
and as he (Mr. Czerski) was a Pole, they hoped they
had effectually stopped his preaching. He however
used whit efforts he could, and in three months after he
had the gratification to see the people searching the
Bible and comparing it with the traditions of the Roman
Catholic Church. By-and-bye he left the Romish com-
munity, and ten went with him, and became the nucleus of
the first reformed congregation. Four weeks after this
secession came out the letters of Ronge against the Holy
Coat of Treves. He saluted M. Ronge as a fellow-
warrior against Rome and her traditions, and a friend
of truth. Subsequent to this the movement spread
rapidly, and many congregations in the larger towns
were formed of those who had seceded from the Roman
Church. When the Roman Catholics saw the dangers
they were likely to encounter they used every effort to get
him back to their communion, they used both promises and
threats ; and it was resolved by them to enter his house
and carry him oft to prison privately, on a night fixed
for the purpose. Their intention, however, was frus-
trated, by the watchman communicating information of
it to bim. Six months atter this the seceders held a
general synod at Leipsic. He attended this, thinking
that, by forming themselves into a church, combination
would be a source of strength ; but what was his grief
when he found that the greater number of them at
that synod had turned their back upon Christ. They
had not merely parted with the symbols of scriptural
doctrines, but they even spoke of throwing away the
Scriptures themselves. They framed a confession,
also, but he could not sign it—he could not re-
cognise it as a Christian confession. He him-
self, therefore, a month later, published a confession
of faith among the Christian Catholics (for the Ronge
party are called the German Catholics), and the con-
sequence was that a split occurred. The German
Catholics sacrificed to their reason on the altar, the
others held the faith of Christ; there was yet a hope of
change and union, but a Dr. Tiners incited them against
allying themselves to the truth. He said since he
had Jett the Roman Catholic Church he found that he
was sinful and needed the grace of God ; before he was
a forgiver of sins, but now, in his heart, he felt he needed
forgiveness himself, and that could be obtained from
God alone. M. Czerski apologised to the meeting for
his address, and excused himself, on the ground of ill-
ness, from proceeding. He handed over to the Chair-
man an English translation of some extracts from the
ordination service in the Evangelical Church in Prussia,
and said he adhered to the doctrines there avowed as his
confession of faith.

The CHAIRMAN then read it to the meeting as follows:
" DECLARATION,

" To be inserted in the Form of Ordination of Candidates
of the Evangelical Church of Prussia. Proposed and
Voted by the General Synod at Berlin, August 1846.
"He who is lawfully called to the office of teaching
in the Evangelical Church, and is to be consecrated
thereto by prayer and the imposition of hands, must
publicly declare that he stands in the common faith of
the church, and therefore, in the first place,
" That he will neither take his own opinions, nor any
commandments of men whatsoever, but the word of
God in the prophetical and apostolical writings, for the
rule of his teaching.
" Next, that under God's assistance he will continue
faithfully and d;ligcntly in that interpretation of Holy
Scripture, which is carried on according to the laws of
language by the Boly Spirit, in unison with the Confes-
sions of the Universal Church, and with the Confessional
Books of the Evangelical Church, as testimonies of the
fundamental facts and fundamental truths of our salva-
tion, and as types of sound doctrine."
(acre follows the answer of him who is to be ordered to

the question ter his assent.)
"And since these fundamental facts and truths consist
chiefly in the following, I ask you, Whether you, with
the Universal Church upon earth, confess God the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ?
" Next, whether, with the whole Evangelical Church,
you do, in the first place, confess Jesus Christ, the only-
begotten Son of God, who emptied himself and took
upon him the form of a servant, as the only mediator,
seeing that, as a prophet sent by God, mighty in words
and works, he has proclaimed peace, and as our eternal
high-priest has by his death reconciled us to God,
being delivered for our offences, and raised again for
our justification. whereupon he sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty on High, and reigns for ever as
the head of the church, which he gathers and preserves
by means of His word and sacraments through the Holy
Ghost, who, being sent by Him into our hearts, teaches
us to call Jesus our Lord, and to know the grace which
is given to us in Him?
" Secondly, Whether you, through faith in these glad
tidings of the free grace of God in his Beloved Son,
will acknowledge and confess that we are all sinners,
but become children of God through faith in Christ,
in whom we being ju-,tified before God through grace,
without merit of works, have the pledge of an imperish-
able inheritance, which is laid up in heaven ; and that
we, through the same faith, which worketh by love, and
bringing forth the fruits of the spirit, are prepared by
the daily renewing of our hearts for the day of Jesus
Christ ?
(Here follows the second yes of him who is to be ordered.)
The Rev. Dr. Tholuck and the Rev. A. Posse after-
wards addressed the meeting.
The CHAIRMAN, at the close of the last speaker's ad-
dress, said they had witnessed that evening a most touch-
ing scene ; they had seen these two brethren, who had
been wont to perform in the pompous ceremonies of
Rome, coming forward to witness a good confession in
this populous city. It was rare to hear such as M.
Czerski declaring his adherence to the confession which
had been read, a document which would appear more
excellent the longer it was reflected upon—excellent for
what it contained and for what it omitted. He proposed
that they should give these men the token of their sym-
pathy, and of the interest which they felt in their
struggles against Romish persecution ; and called on the
Rev. R. Herschell, who engaged in prayer.
The meeting, which was very numerous, then separated.

ACClDENTS.—Yesterday, between five and six o'clock,
as a little girl, named Emily Salient, aged about three years,
living at No. 4, Wood- street, Princes-road, Lambeth, was
playing opposite her mother's door, a cart heavily laden,
belonging to Messrs. Rogers, cheesemongers, Spitaltields,
passed down the street, and before the child could get out of
the way she was knocked down and the wheel went over her
head, spattering her brains in the road. The driver was im-
mediately taken into custody, and the body was taken to
Lambeth workhouse adjacent, there to await the result of a
coroner's inquest. The Rainbow steamer, which plies be-
tween London-bridge and Putney, on arriving at Chelsea
pier, was found to be sinking, to the consternation of the
passengers. Citizen steam-boat B being present, took the
passengers out and conveyed them to the various piers. It
was then ascertained that an anchor, by which one of the
pier barges at Wandsworth was moored, caught the bottom
of the Rainbow and forced a very large hole in her. She was
immediately run alongside the pier for repairs. On board
the Edward, a brig, from Lynn, laden with slate, lying off
Cotton's-wharf, a boy, named oseph Dowdy, was assisting
to get the cargo out of the hold, when a piece of slate, of
about a ton weight, fell from the crane, which, in its descent,
knocked him down the hold and fell upon him, crushing him
frightfully. He was carried to the accident-ward of Guy's
Hospital, and was alive, though dreadfully injured, at a late
hour last night.
EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY.—On Saturday morning
last, as a chimney-sweeper was engaged in cleaning the front
parlour chimney of Mr. William Theakstone, pawnbroker,
Ettrick-place, Grey-street, in this town, he discovered among
the soot several pieces of hard substance, resembling in ap-
pearance the fragments of a cocoa-nut shell, which, upon
inspection, were found to be part of an infant's skull, having
hair attached to it. On further examination, there were
found concealed in a hole in the lower part of the chimney,
above the fire-place, the remains of an infant skeleton, but
in a state of decay, all encrusted with soot and dirt, and so
affected by the action of the heat, as to crumble to pieces by
the least pressure. It was impossible to ascertain whether it
was the skeleton of a male or female, and there was no clue
to show how long it had lain, but it must have been con-
cealed for many years. Mr. Theakstone has occupied the
house nearly two years, and as a fire was seldom kept on in
the room, he had never had the chimney swept before. It
was swept about four years ago by a former occupier. An
inquest was held on view of the remains, and a verdict re-
turned of "Found concealed in a chimney, but under what
circumstances deposited there is no evidence to show".—Sun-
derland Herald.
The East India House Museum closes to the public
this day, and will not be re-opened till the ad of October
neat.