Art. 1. The foundation of the Christian faith should be solely and
exclusively the Holy Scriptures and Reason, pervaded and actuated by
true Christian principles in their interpretation--Art. 2. The community
accepts the Apostolic Creed as its own. It is the problem of the Church,
as of the individual, to reduce its contents to a living recognition,
corresponding with the principles of the age.--Art. 3. In the difference
of statement and interpretation with regard to the given contents
of this Confession of Faith, the community finds no ground for
excommunication or anathematizing.--Art. 4. With reference to the
objective principles of belief, it, is held that there ought to be no
impediment to free inquiry, and that no one should be anathematized
on account of the exercise of the right conceded to him of free
inquiry--because it is impossible to fix a completely definite rule
of faith for the human mind.--Art. 5. The community consider the chief
problem of Christianity to be, not merely the bringing of its principles
to living recognition among the members of the community, by public
worship, teaching, and instruction, but also the promoting, according
to their ability, the spiritual, moral, and physical good of their
fellow-men, without distinction.--Art. 6. The community acknowledges
only two Sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper; because only
these have unquestionably been instituted by Christ, according to the
testimony of the Scriptures.--Art. 7. Baptism is the sign of reception
into the Christian Society; it is administered to children under the
reservation of their confirming the Confession of Faith at the years of
maturity.--Art. 8. The Lord's Supper serves as a remembrance of Christ,
and as a sign of a covenant of brotherhood for all men.--Art. 9. The
Sacrament to be received by the community in both kinds, as it was
appointed by Christ.--Art. 10. Transubstantiation is not acknowledged,
because it cannot be justified from the Gospel.--Art. 11. Marriage is
declared as a holy institution, and the blessing of the Church on the
same regarded as necessary.--Art. 12. There are no other restrictions on
marriage recognized than those appointed by the laws of the State.--Art.
13. Celibacy is rejected by the community as an institution not found in
the Holy Scripures, as not to be justified before reason, and as devised
by the Roman Popes for the advancement of their Hierarchy.--Art. 14.
The community rejects the supremacy of the Roman Pope.--Art. 15. It
abolishes auricular confession.--Art. 16. It uses the language of
the people in public worship.--Art. 17. It rejects the invocation and
worshipping of saints, (admitted into the ritual of the Romish Church),
relics, and images, which are regarded as unchristian, and as leading
to gross abuse.--Art. 18. All the previously existing customs of the
Church, such as indulgences, fastings, pilgrimages, which could only
lead to a useless work-holiness, are abolished by the community.--Art.
19. The outward form of public worship should ever adapt itself to the
wants of time and place.--Art. 20. The outward demeanour in the Church
cannot be prescribed, and is left to the religious sense of each
individual; that which leads to superstitution is forbidden.--Art. 21.
Only those festivals are to be celebrated which are sanctioned according
to the laws of the land.--Art. 22. The community makes use of its old
right freely to elect for itself its pastors and office-bearers.--Art.
23. The community is to be represented by its pastors and the
chosen elders; the election of the elders to take place yearly at
Whitsunday.--Art. 24. Each pastor to be introduced to the congregation
and to his office by a church service, yet herewith avoiding everything
which could be held as sanctioning the sacramental value of the Roman
consecration of the priesthood, and serve as the foundation of the
Hierarchy.--Art. 25. The stipend of the pastor to be regulated according
to the means of the members of the congregation.--Art. 26. All church
transactions, such as baptisms, marriages, burials, to be gone about by
the pastor, without (surplice) fees, for all members of the community
alike.--Art. 27. All these findings are not settled for all times,
but can be altered according to the belief (lit. consciousness) of a
particular period, by the community in agreement therewith.--Art. 28.
To make a Christian Church a truly universal (Catholic) one, and not
to exclude the admission of congregations constituting themselves in
different places--all these, in every view, merely provisional findings,
to be submitted to a universal (German) council,--Art. 29. The reception
into the Church, after its complete constitution, takes place after
the declaration of desire for admission, and the acceptance of the
Confession of Faith adopted by the community, before the office-bearers,
by public deed in the congregation.
Another short document has appeared, which runs as follows:--"I believe
in God the Father, who by his Almighty Word created the world, and
governs it in wisdom, justice, and love. I believe in Jesus Christ, one
Saviour, who by his teaching, his life, and his death, has redeemed us
from the bondage of sin. I believe in the work of the Holy Spirit upon
earth--a holy universal Christian Church--the forgiveness of sins, and
the life everlasting. Amen."
The following is the order of Church-service for the Church in
Breslau.--1. Introductory Hymn. 2. Confession of sins (Confiteor). Lord
pity us, &c. Glory be to God, &c. 4. The prayers of the Collect. 5. The
Epistle. 6. The Gospel. 7. The Sermon, with the usual prayers, with a
verse of a hymn before and after. 8. Instead of the Canon of the Mass, a
passage from the Passion and the Sacrament. 9. Holy, holy, holy, &c.
O, Lamb of God, &c. 10. Lord's Prayer. 11. Concluding Hymn. 12.
Benediction. It has also been resolved that part of the Sabbath
afternoon be devoted to catechizing, as is now common in many Protestant
churches in Germany and Switzerland. The only point of difference, so
far as we are aware, among the different communities, is on the doctrine
of tradition; some proposing to abolish it altogether, while others wish
to retain it so far as in accordance with the Bible--though to maintain
a subordinate place. An intimation has been published, stating that
representatives from all the churches--now about 18 in number--are
to meet in Leipsic at Easter, to make arrangements for the authorized
constitution of the new Church. Meanwhile Ronge has prepared the draft
of a new liturgy.
The community at _Elberfeld_, in separating from the Church of Rome,
expresses itself as follows:--
"In the name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen! We,
the undersigned citizens of Elber-feld, belonged, up to this period, to
the Roman Catholic Church, and had, for a long period, been aware with
increasing force, of the errors and abuses which cling to it in its most
inward principles, and have assumed the ascendancy in its latest phases.
The more we have striven to become acquainted with the true doctrine of
Jesus in the Gospel, which is the alone source of revealed truth, the
more deeply have we been penetrated with the conviction, that Christ is
the only mediator between God and man, and that the doctrine with regard
to the Pope and the one infallible Church, has no foundation in the
word of God, and weakens the merits of Christ; that the doctrines of the
Romish Church of the Holy Sacrament--of the priesthood and its relation
to the people, is false, and deprives believers of their choicest
privileges. The more clear this conviction has gradually grown upon us,
the more oppressive do we feel the chains by which we are bound, and the
more are we in our consciences hindered from belonging to a Church whose
most important doctrines we can no longer reconcile with the Gospel,
from adhering to a faith which we cannot openly avow as becomes the
disciples of the Lord. Herewith was connected the pain of having no
worship of God corresponding with our altered religious views. Then came
forth from the darkness, whose shadows settled more and more thickly
over us, a light which, in our extremity, we view as the morning-dawn of
hope, and as announcing to us the good favour of God. Events, to which
we do not require more specially to refer, have given us the joyful
assurance, that the day is at hand, which brings deliverance and freedom
to those in bondage! That which was struggling unconsciously within
ourselves has now been brought to full consciousness, and we thank God
that we now know what we should do, and that he has given us courage
openly to bear testimony to the faith which we acknowledge. In the sight
of God we separate ourselves from the Pope, and the Hierarchy, and
from the whole anti-evangelical system therewith connected, whatever
struggles or shame we may have to encounter. We thus separate
ourselves--not for the sake of carrying on a war against those who hold
a different confession--not even that confession which we abandon--but
for the purpose of finding rest for our souls, and of serving and
thanking our God and Lord in peace. We separate ourselves--not in a
spirit of vain glory, or from a false desire of freedom, we acknowledge,
along with our brethren in Schneidemuhl, Jesus the crucified, whose pure
doctrines alone, whose kingdom alone, whose glory and worship alone, we
seek and desire, Amen!
"Accordingly, we hereby constitute ourselves into a Christian, Catholic,
and Apostolic Church. We solemnly declare that we adhere to the
Confession of Faith, in the sister Church, in all its essential
points, as follows,--(here follows a verbal copy of the Schneidemuehl
Confession.) This true, universal faith, revealed by Christ Jesus,
we now acknowledge, freely and truly, and promise, by God's help, to
maintain and avow the same with unbroken steadfastness, uncorrupted and
unperverted; as also to give all possible care that this faith be held,
taught, and avowed, by those under us, or by those who have confidence
in our intention, until our Confession of Faith has received the
requisite alterations or enlargements in a future general (German)
council of the chief members of the entire Christian-Catholic Church.
May then God and his divine Gospel assist us! Amen!
"In this Confession of Faith we have declared our inmost convictions.
Although we are still few in number, yet we feel ourselves strong enough
in our Christian faith to oppose' all difficulties, obstacles, and
oppositions, and by God's grace, not to wander or waver in the way which
has been marked out, but to remain firm in our present intentions and
desires unto the end of our days--even though the outward means for
carrying these out should be wanting--even though our present limited
number should be still more limited--yet even though only one of us
should in this life stand alone in these his convictions. At a later
period we shall hold our public consulting assemblies, and allow,
even to those who are most undetermined in the matter, free right of
admission, and liberty of stating their views, that all may be convinced
of our upright intentions.
"The members of the German Christian Catholic Apostolic community in
Elberfeld. In their name. (Signed) C. T. von Knapp, R. Hockelmann, T.
Korner.
"Elberfeld, 15th February 1845."
It were of course quite premature to criticize the doctrines, or system
of government of the new Church, as they themselves have declared
that their findings are not to be held as final, until they have been
examined and approved of by a general synod or council. Meanwhile we
hasten to complete this hurried sketch. Since the events that have
taken place, Bishop Arnoldi has been honoured with torch-processions
in Cologne and Bonn and Coblentz, and has been burned in effigy by the
students in Jena. So far from wishing to undo what has been done, he has
instituted an annual Church festival, to be called the Festival of the
Holy Coat, the Nails, and the Lance, and to be held on the Wednesday in
the third week after Easter. Nay, not only so, but it has been actually
reported that he has resolved to establish another Pilgrimage in honour
of the Holy Nail, which Prince Metternich has, after solemn conference
and negociation, promised to restore to the Cathedral of Treves.
The Bishop has lately given a proof of his tyranny as well as his
superstition, in suspending one of the clergy of his diocese, by name
Licht, who had dared to doubt--and to express his doubts to his people.
He had been promised to be reinstated on retracting his obnoxious
opinions about the Coat--but has preferred degradation to dishonour.
Our clergy, says one account, appear to lose in prudence exactly as the
Separatists increase. Thus, so far from the more extreme section of them
expressing themselves with greater caution than formerly, some of them
are declared to have taught openly since the event, that not only was
this the _bona fide_ Coat of our Lord, but that it was the _only Coat
which he ever wore_--and that it grew with the growth of his body from
the cradle to the Cross. To counteract the influence of the movement now
in progress, Bishop Arnoldi, in conjunction with the Bishop of Cologne,
has instituted a new Catholic Society for the Rhine provinces, the
object of which is,--by a Monthly Journal, by the circulation of sermons
and tracts, by the publication of standard Catholic works at a cheap
rate, by the founding of a new Catholic library and the like, to diffuse
a spirit of stronger Catholicity through this section of the Church. A
member of the Theological Seminary is already named as its president,
and collections are ordered to be made on a general scale in all the
parishes, and specially by calls made at each individual house. In
addition, five new journals of the same stamp have been established.
Meanwhile the Protestant evangelical societies have not been asleep.
The Gustavus-Adolphus Society (a Society founded for the support of
poor Protestant congregations in Catholic countries, and one of the
best proofs of the reviving spirit in the German Church,) have expressed
their opinion that by the constitution of the Society, they are
precluded from assisting the new movement by specific grants of money,
but at the same time stating their desire to urge on the spirit that was
abroad by all means in their power. Collections accordingly have been
made in the various large towns, to defray the necessary expenses
incurred by the support of clergy, the performance of public worship
and the like. Places of meeting have been granted in most cases by the
authorities of the town. So far as we are aware, only one member of the
new community has openly gone over to the Protestant Lutheran Church.
In Breslau the long-vacant and much-disputed episcopal chair still
remains unoccupied,--von Diepenbrock having expressly refused the offer,
on the alleged ground of the unsettled state of the Church. During the
late sittings of the Diet at Breslau, the excitement was altogether of
a religious and not of a political kind. Ronge and the anti-Popish
movement were the great subjects of conversation. "The Separation," says
an account, "is widening daily, and quarters are now full of agitation
which before were peaceful as the grave. Our ears are once more deafened
by the No Popery cry. The congregation here now numbers above
600 families." Ronge is busily occupied with the affairs of the
Church--delivering the most stirring addresses--and everywhere receiving
fresh proofs of sympathy and support.
Czerski, the pastor of Schneidemuehl, has followed Luther's example in
the matter of marriage, the Protestant clergyman officiating. He has
since been formally degraded and excommunicated, previous to which, we
believe that in many places seven masses were offered up daily for his
return to the communion of the Church. In addition, all who adhere to
his opinions have been excommunicated _en masse_. A small pamphlet
has lately come out in Berlin, which states, that he had been always
distinguished by great laboriousness in his parish, and that he had
previously excited great attention by a stirring Address which he had
delivered in the open air, on the matter of some Indulgence, pointing
out the true method of repentance and pardon, and advising the people
to have nothing farther to do with Indulgences, as the greatest of them
could not make a man a Christian. He is represented as a person of great
simplicity of character, and of deep feeling. He is firm in expressing
his determination to adhere to the Bible and not to the Church. He and
Ronge have been both, by letter from high quarters, admonished to be on
their guard, as attempts on their life from some fanatics were dreaded.
Several threatening letters had been also sent to some of the more
active lay members in the new Church. At Breslau, on Sabbath, 9th
March, the first public service was celebrated. Dr. Steiner delivered an
Address on the momentous step which had been taken, and then requested
the community to use the right of _free election of their pastor_, now
restored to them. John Ronge was unanimously chosen. Czerski was present
from Schneidemuehl, to take part in the services of the day. Intimation
was made that Kerbler, hitherto vicar in Lindenau, was present, and had
joined the New Church. Then followed the induction of the new pastor
into his charge. Twelve girls dressed in white, with garlands of
flowers, formed a procession,* which was followed by John Ronge,
Czerski, Kerbler, and the chief members of the congregation. Dr. Steiner
then delivered a powerful Address to the new pastor on the duties of his
office. Ronge replied to his people, and promised not to forsake them
in joy or sorrow, after which the ordinary services of public worship
began. After a hymn, he ascended the pulpit, and delivered a discourse
_on the true character of the Church_, which he said was founded on
the two maxims of Christ,--"Be ye perfect as your Father in Heaven is
perfect;" and "Love God, and your neighbour as yourself," and not on
exclusive confessions, forms, and ceremonies. The great matter was to
make Christianity inward and spiritual, and then to act accordingly. The
man who did this was a true Christian, and herein lay the possibility of
having a universal Christian Church, which should be one in knowledge,
in love, and in deed. After leaving the pulpit, he read the New
Confession of Faith from the altar, to which those present responded
with a hearty "Amen." A selected piece from the Passion was then read,
with the words of the institution of the Supper, which was followed by
the choral, "Holy, holy, holy." The whole was closed with the Lord's
prayer, the Hymn "Great God we praise thee," and the Benediction. The
service seems to be pretty nearly the same as in the Protestant German
Church, at least as it is now celebrated in the Cathedral of Berlin.
* This must be regarded as a German rather than Popish
custom.
But the matter of controversy is not confined to the humble
parish-priests of Silesia. While the two Bishops of Treves and Cologne,
Arnoldi and von Geissel, have been issuing their annual pastoral letters
in Lent, filled with the most extravagant declarations of ultramontane
opinions, the Bishop of Mayence, von Kaiser, has issued a document
breathing a very different spirit. In the former, each of the faithful
is admonished in opposition to the movements which are at present taking
place in the Catholic Church, to hold firmly by Rome and the Pope, as
the central-point of the Church--is warned against apostacy and false
doctrine, whilst the faith in relics, and what belongs thereto, is
expressly inculcated. Bishop Kaiser, again, in a mild and tolerant
spirit, dwells largely upon the fundamental principle of brotherly love
and reconciliation, and although he attaches great weight to positive
belief, yet, above all things, he gives prominence to the principle
of the Apostle Paul:--"If I had all faith, and had not charity, I am
nothing." Without this, he adds, all our works have no value before God.
This pastoral letter has, in its whole contents, reference to the Church
relations of the present times, and must be regarded as a determined
protest against the wild proceedings of the Jesuits. He proves that
it is neither Catholic nor Christian to make a tool of fanaticism,
intolerance, and proselytism,--that the principle of toleration is also
a Catholic one, and that both Churches can subsist together in peace, if
the authors of disturbance were only powerfully restrained. He moreover
_acknowledges the claims of Protestantism_,--a fact which, in reference
to the recent course of events, is of vast importance:--"It is
possible," says he, "for men of different creeds, if they have good
moral principles, to live together in the same country, and to meet
in civil life peacefully, friendly, and lovingly, and yet for each to
remain unchangeably true to his individual belief. This experience has
taught; already 300 years have past since in Germany a section of our
brethren in the faith separated themselves from us. The division has
taken place. Divine Providence has permitted it, and permits it still.
What God permits, man should permit too; or should man not will it
so--still he _must_. If the mixture of men of different creeds has
once become realized as a fact, then has their living together become a
matter of necessity. It were, accordingly, foolish and unreasonable,
if they did not wish, as much as in them lay, honestly and truly, by
reciprocal toleration and indulgence, to make these differences lighter
and less felt. It were foolish, hypocritical, and supercilious, at the
same time, if they passed judgment upon each other's faith and believing
life harshly and uncharitably, rather than to be reserved in their
judgment, and to consider that each man for himself, and among his own
fellow-believers, has faults enough to rectify. * * * * God is love, and
we prove our love of God by our love of man. In faith we are not at
one, but in love we can and ought to be so--in love, we can and ought
to strive with one another, and by love can we best show the truth
and purity of our belief, and place ourselves in the best position
for recommending it to others, until it shall please God that we all
together should attain to the unity of the faith.'"
We believe it difficult to exaggerate the importance of this document.
Here is a man holding a high office in the Catholic Church--living in
the very midst of the scenes lately enacted, with two bishops on either
side of his diocese, who seem equally ready personally to take part in,
or with all the power of their office, to defend the most extravagant
superstitions, or the most insidious policy of Jesuitism, with a people
who showed how thoroughly they were given up to idolatry, and with a
clergy equally capable of misleading or being misled,--still calmly
lifting up his voice for a purer faith, and for the manifestation of the
true spirit of Christian liberty and love. It seems most probable that
this defence of _toleration_ may, ere long, make its author
personally feel what _intolerance_ is. He is already denounced by the
ultra-Catholic party in the Rhine provinces, and report says, in the
Vatican itself. If so, we may expect to hear more of Bishop Kaiser of
Mayence. Meanwhile, it is gratifying to state that Addresses have been
sent to him by his clergy and fellow-citizens, fully participating
in his spirit, and expressive of their joy that he has all along so
strongly discountenanced the doings in the neighbouring diocese
of Treves; while a Special Address has been presented to him from
Offenbach, praying that he, as their spiritual guide, would lead the way
in making them discard the leading errors of Popery. To show that this
spirit of dissatisfaction is not confined to an individual case, we may
state, that at least one other Bishop has, in his annual Address, passed
over what has taken place without a single allusion or remark; nay, that
even in Treves itself, which seems destined to become the _Mecca_ of
continental Popery, there were priests whom nothing but the fear of
consequences compelled to take part in the degrading scenes referred to.
And now, in drawing this hasty sketch to a close, we have left ourselves
room for but one or two general remarks.
1. From what has been said, it must be as a matter of fact, plain,
that Germany is now the scene of a most remarkable awakening. Catholic
Germany is again, after a lapse of more than three centuries, the scene
of an open secession from the Church of Rome; and at the head of the
movement stands one, who writes with Luther-like power--who has gone
through many of Luther's experiences, and who has already shown that he
has imbibed a vast deal of Luther's spirit, in deed as well as word. The
occasion too, of the movements, was not unlike--Indulgences in the
one case, and relics, accompanied with Indulgences, in the other, have
awakened men's minds to see the evils of the whole system, and to shake
off their connection with it. Congregations have been formed--a new
Church is being established, and men on all sides say and show that
they identify themselves with the movement. The Pope is busied now with
giving new directions for the German Church; and is earnestly setting
himself to narrow, as far as policy, or concession, or remonstrance
can do, the evils of the schism which has already taken place. The new
Church, it is true, still adheres to the name Catholic, and Ronge has
said, that to pure Catholicism he remains true; but we quarrel not with
names, if the faith and doings of the men be Protestant in fact. And
moreover, it is at once evident, that as regards the immediate progress
of the movement, it is perhaps well that Ronge should still, if he so
pleases, call himself Catholic, as by so doing, he is not to be viewed
with the same jealousy or distrust by his Catholic brethren, which would
be the case, if he at once openly avowed that he had become Protestant.
In this event he would be treated as a heretic by hundreds, whose eyes,
like Luther's, may not at once be opened to see that the Church of Rome
is not the true and only Church of Christ.
2. As to the _real character_ of the present movement, in a religious
point of view, it becomes us, _as yet_, to speak with caution. The
period has not arrived for our forming a proper estimate of it, as we
have not yet all the materials for so doing; and still more as great
allowance must be made for two circumstances--1st, The half-formed
condition of the new community in its present transition state; and 2d,
That progress in their views of divine truth, which may take place with
them as it did with Luther. Meanwhile, taking both circumstances into
view, it cannot be questioned that much of the present movement may be
traced to causes other than those connected with the deeply Evangelical
principles, which characterized the Reformation. It is true, the
Reformation began also with a mere outward abuse; but this was rather
the first occasion for the manifestation of the Christian principle,
that was the soul of the movement in the sixteenth century, and
determined its whole spiritual character. The great Evangelical doctrine
of _Justification by Faith_ was, _in principle_, opposed to all such
practices, of which _Indulgences_ was only one specimen; but this
doctrine went a great deal further, namely, in supplying the positive
and constructive principle of the Reformation throughout. The trade
in Indulgences might have been opposed upon grounds of mere worldly
politics--from an infidel hatred of all systems of religion--from a
mere moral dislike at hypocrisy or superstition; but it required a true
spiritual principle, connected with man's relation to God as a sinner,
to give it its full value as regards the cause of Evangelical truth. The
Reformation proceeded from a living principle within, which was at war
with outward practices and systems,--instead of merely opposing these
from principles drawn from a different circle of motives and actions
apart from religion. Popery was overthrown by the French Revolution,
as well as the Reformation; but no one would think of comparing as
analagous the moral causes at work in both cases. And now as to
Ronge's movement, we desiderate the statement of the great evangelical
principles on which he falls back, and which would prove his struggle
to be freed from priestly thraldom to be the desire of reaching the true
liberty of the sons of God in Christ. It cannot be concealed that much
of the spirit of Ronge's letters is explicable from the mere desire
of independence of priestly tyranny, or from principles of a general
enlightenment--or of warm patriotism, not necessarily of a religious
character. Certain it is, that in all his productions there is much to
desiderate; nay, we may go farther, and declare that there is much in
them which seems to savour of the modern German Liberalism, with all its
parade of words about the dignity of human nature, and the demands
of the spirit of the age, and the shadowy future of an ideal
perfectibility. It is not to be denied, moreover, that many of the
Addresses sent to Ronge breathe a good deal the same spirit, and are
sadly wanting in the strong statements of men who have been really made
to feel that this is a matter affecting the salvation of the soul,
and man's highest interests as an immortal being. This we are far from
stating from feelings of suspicion or hypercritical jealousy. Quite the
reverse. We are merely pointing out a source of danger in passing too
hurried a decision on a movement which may not yet have had time or
opportunities enough to bring out or establish its real spiritual
character.
But on this point we have said enough, and desire that what we have
said be not construed into an avowed opinion as to the character of this
movement as a whole; but rather as indicating the possible direction
which may be given to it, if the principles hinted at be really at the
bottom of it. We earnestly hope that such is not the fact.
3. What we have now said leads us, in conclusion, to state the
obligation which lies on the Protestants of this country to give, if
possible, a proper direction to this movement, and to encourage it, in
so far as it has this direction, by all means in their power. A voice
from Protestant Britain might do much to strengthen the hands, and
encourage the hearts, of those who are now occupied in opposing error,
and, we hope, testifying for the truth, from a true knowledge of it
as it is in Jeans. Most desirable it is that this movement be guarded
against the influences of Rationalism, of whatever kind, and thus of
becoming a scandal to Protestantism, and a new cause for the enemy to
triumph. The awakened and evangelical Protestantism of Germany will
be ready to co-operate with us and with them, in proportion to their
increased purity of creed, and their daily increasing activity and
efficiency as a branch of the Church of Christ. A noble opportunity
seems now, in the providence of God, presented, for drawing together
different parts of the Christian Church, as well as of aiding in a great
effort to overthrow the system which has so long kept the nations in the
very darkness of the shadow of death. We have means of knowing that many
of the best and wisest men in Germany believe that we are now standing
on the threshold of great events; and meanwhile, when on both sides of
the Alps, Popery is reorganizing itself for a new and fierce attack on
Christendom and Heathenism alike, it is most gratifying to know that
in the very country of the Reformation--aye, and in the bosom of the
Catholic Church itself, there should still be found slumbering the
spirit of Luther and his times. Let us hope that the presence of Him who
led the spirit of Luther to larger conceptions of Divine Truth, and gave
him courage equal to his mighty work, may now be vouchsafed to many
who, like him, may still be groping in a kind of twilight knowledge and
faith, and be led, as all around and within them brightens, to have
no longer any fellowship with the works of darkness! May God grant the
Churches of Christendom light to act as becomes the emergency; and may
all that has taken place, or that may yet take place, in connection
therewith, tend to advance the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. We conclude with the well known words of Luther:--"If this is
God's work it will advance; if it be man's it will come to nought."