Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1903-06-27
A SUNDAY SERMON
ELOQUENT DISCOURSE DELIVERED
On the Period When the Foundations
Of Our Religious Liberty Were
First Laid

IF 4
gational Church Brooklyn. thc Rev. y. &.
Wilson. associate rastos. delivered DIS
course OF The Strugg.c lor Religious Lao
erty, tho subject being Europe on me
Eve Of the Reformation. The text was
Acts ". d and 80. And now / say unto
you. Refrain from these men. aud JET them
alone. for II this counsel or this worS pe
Of men. 10 VIII come to naught. bat II u nc
of God. &c cannot overthrow 70; lest napiy
ye be found even 70 hight against God.
Mr.. Wilson said.
Let me suqrcst ~ the outset that the \
struggle for religious liberty and what - n
known as the Reformation are not Do al n
respects identical movements. The Rector /
nation wos a great tidal wave which swept I
over Europe m tho sixteenth century. ous /
OF the vast and troubled sea OF ,he ccntur- /
ies whose waters were great " agitatcd by /
the struggle for religious liberty. II was /
the culmiration OF that struggle IL assert /
cd the fundamental prncI pies upon which 4
it had proceeded. and succeeded in having
broad and secure foundations upon which I
true religious liberty could he built. hu. u
left some of the higher standards and finer
ideals unattained. Tn that respect there IS
much vet 90 be- desired
In view OF the fact that tho Reformation
split Europe into two great warning reig-
ious camps. 10 is necessary O. remind our
selves that ua 90 that fi'.c there bad been
bat one Christian church IN Western tu-
rope. And the struggle Tor religious liberty
went on within that church and not out
side Of n. nor against o.. after The FIRST
three centuries Whatever glory and what
ever shame attaches To- that church during
the first hftccn centuries is shared equally
by MS all profestants and Roman Catholic
alike The Reformation itself originated
within the Roman Catholic Church, ant
was led by men bred in her schools and
cloisters We should also remember that
the Roman Catholic Church % the q .tcenth
and sixteenth centuries is not thc Roman
Catholic Church of the twentieth century
and M the United States.
Fr-u, a worry carly ace re,iviors differ
euces have rendered sftifc and stirred
th. most violent III, s-ior,s of mon Although
the Jews tasted the bitterness sd per-tcu-
ton. shat d.d not prevent them from
pressing the same cn9 90 the ilQ- of the
early Christians and. with tGc 1'l oi thr
Romans. making them drink f- So its cre-~
Then were written the FIRST pages poo tht
moss sanCuinary and Thrilling story
story OF uuutiClnn.e suffering end -rlm orr
aurancc for conscience sakc-wucn h.-
tory~ pages record. lt can scarcely ID
called struggle. lt was as Impossible io
The obscure and dctcn-c.c-s sufferer CD De-
sist their enemies us Tor i.v CD RESIST th
hand tuat brushes DE-. Judged iron appear
ancc~. DO was rcfnorsr.n.s massacre. ~ .r
crashed lts victims int1 cine nlrt1. Eu. tr
lcal fosccs fnat were wotl-.i- olt @ r prop
lcm were 800. ON Che rHr.t c. lhc oll
against which the corH CHRIST Ian- WEI
matched drove them to secs .iA-r in iA
mountain businesses ANA tn ftr ~latrIi
mean CiF'rn.- hnnNn as GAIA 'i''- liri
they chtf IrA iNr.i Ihl.h tNA N"i-nIf N'
~ Che hi'-cn.r oi i.tf enemies .''c
after lnn centuries t..h Same L'Fit t'"'
thciE rIlln- places. ul-. pinned '. .tt
ship. trained to rr1arher eng -0r.- Sd. p
the ftrN SOD Wnl.l ttr| H't -NNN ANA T..
compact ant eilettnt organ. II'fi- D H'
leaders nan improved tNtf long -f'i.-'
% cultivate letters anna 'nH -'h lo'