The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1896-01-16


professors ~ho synpa,his-d With |
him they pcr~egied. imprisoned.
and banishei upon snspieaou Of 10
ing inclined TO CalvInism- And
shen they had overcome NclAnrh
,hon and his Adher~n,s, they com
memorAted the event As" Vtetc>y
over the Devil aud Reason Trals
for ~i;ehcrAf;, dungeons % torture.
and burnirgs NJ the stake became
prcvAlen; IN every Protestant dis
trict. Al the same time, however.
the Catholic Emperor. Ferdinand |.
seeking TO Reform the old Church.
said: Il have no power over con
sciences, and may cons:rAIn no
mans faith"
The CAlvinists. N turn. where
they had the power, prosecuted not
only the Catholics but also the fol
lowers of Arminius. When they
bad the ms )ority IN the synod IT
bort, 1919, they declared the follow
ers of Armlnius "hereiics, sehis-
maiics, incapable of preaching or OF
acting as professors or schoolmAs
ters. unless they signed the Heidel-
berg Catechism and the Netherlands
Confession, which laid down the
hard and fast doctrine that predesti
nation excluded all free-will on
mans part. but divided the human
race into vessels of wrath and YES
sells of mercy without power on their
own part 10 reverse the doom,
creed which Arminius thought un-
scriptural and mot AccordAnt with
the eternal mercy of God" BArne-
veldt was beheaded and Grotius con
demned to life imprisonment for the
support OF Arminicanism.
Professionalism in England was
equally tyrannous. The reigns of
Henry VIII, who snapped Churches
for the qualification of his lecherous
appetite, and of Mary and Elizabeth,
are records of alternate Protestant
and Catholic persecution and
slaughter. And when James ! sue
ceeded 10 the throne, the Church OF
England attempted to repress indie.
pendent, Puritan, and Presbyterian.
: The clergy, his creatures, of course
upheld the monarch, although the
perfection of his policy was SO de.
structive Of popular rights. civil and
religious that il necessitated the be
heading Of his son and successor q
= the hands of the Commons. The,
r preached everywhere the divine
right of bishops and kings, and TIT
j necessity of unquestioning obedience
g to the powers that be; for 1.-THE pow
: ers that be are ordained of God
0 Whosoever, therefore, resisteth tn
n power. resisteth the ordinance O
@ God; and they that resist shall re
{ ceive to themselves dAmnation,"-
d the same text which our venerabl
y DR.. Yates, In his rather remarkabl
s commentary upon my speech q
# Cary, quoted with evident satisfa'
r tion to justify the Church's confesse
IS inefiiciency | do not know WIS
N attitude DIR. Yates would have a
It sumed had he lived at the time {
4 our Declaration of Independence.
It presume, however, he would ha,
religiously sided with the Tori,
IF rather than with the Patriots, sint
-e DIR. Adam Clarke, in his commel
n tary upon this passage of Scriptul
il lavishes unstinted praise upon II
n Christian character of the tyrann
e. cal George III, "who in every r
ir spect has acted" says he, "as II
al father of his people,"
b. In the Conference held at Ham
ir ton Court, 1904, to consider the cor
ye plants of Puritans, who could N
st conscientiously conform to Il
Of Church of England and desired u r
,e formation of its abuses, James, su
to rounded by subservient deans, bis
IN ops, and archbishops, made his I
nous utterance: "No bishop, I
N king" and unceremoniously brol
~ up the Conference with the word
n "If this be all they have to say,
= them out of this land, or else
" - worse" His lords and prelAtes We
=" so pleased with his Majesty's ma
"A ner and utterance that they declar
" that he "spoke with the instinct
- the Spirit of God"
in During the reign of James | :
r. deep and lasting love of freedom
ds says Hollan, "had taken hold
it every class except perhaps I
he Clergy." Dependent upon royali
nv they were subservient to il. A
he are they not always, as q class, su
to servient to the source of their So
~ porti The King, supported by the
ST fawning followers of Christ for (
h loaves and fishes, prosecuted wi
pir renewed vIgor his scheme of &C
tly formity throughout England a
tie Scotland. This policy of intolerar
re- it was, on the part of the Church
t." Englsnd-a policy it pursued
of long as it had the power-that c
mt onized the wilderness of Massacl
tn setts with men who desired the fr
AN dom of worshipping according to
ear dictates Of their own conscience.
elf But the Puritans in Massachuss
BILE at once inaugurated q system
nv, government which denied the -
rec freedom to those whose religi,
Inv opinions differed from their o,
Of Membership in their Church +,
ing made a prerequisite for holding
hat fee or the full exercise Of citiz
) of ship. They proposed to limit lii
he'd ty of conscience and freedom of
3 of ton within Bible rules. But {
nd. interpreted the Bible from Il
tn standpoint, and as vigorously aga
IA others as it had been interpreted
60 others against them. with d
'bs, beliefs and under their temptatl
;nn "of unhinjered sway" persecu
th. seemed to them not only the q
om potent weapon, but . duty I
80 owed to Christ-.nd that duty I
mo- unfinchipgly performed" '
rsse their first Synod in 1857, "a 4
Iss. logical glacier" says c. r. ADJ
ha "then settled down over Nassa'
ion setts-a glacier lasting throug
ha;, period Of nearly $50 years"
,hav : They had already exiled r
snd Williams, a genuine apostle Of
IN, and religious freedom. They
~, communicated and hanishod