began to inveigh openly against the ceremonies of the church, at Norwich,
in 1580; but, being much opposed by the bishops, he, with his
congregation, left England, and settled at Middleburgh, in Zealand, where
they obtained leave to worship God in their own way, and form a church
according to their own model. They soon, however, began to differ among
themselves, so that Brown, growing weary of his office, returned to
England in 1589, renounced his principles of separation, and was preferred
to the rectory of a church in Northamptonshire. He died in prison in 1630.
The revolt of Brown was attended with the dissolution of the church at
Middleburgh; but the seeds of Brownism which he had sown in England were
so far from being destroyed, that Sir Walter Raleigh, in a speech in 1592,
computes no less than twenty thousand of this sect.
James Arminius.
A native of Oude-water, in Holland, 1560, founder of the sect of the
Arminians. As he lost his father early, he was supported at the university
of Utrecht, and of Marpurg, by the liberality of his friends; but when he
returned home, in the midst of the ravages caused by the Spanish arms,
instead of being received by his mother, he found that she, as well as her
daughters, and all her family, had been sacrificed to the wantonness of
the ferocious enemy. His distress was for a while inconsolable; but the
thirst after distinction called him to the newly-founded university of
Leyden, where his industry acquired him the protection of the magistrates
of Amsterdam, at whose expense he travelled to Geneva and Italy, to hear
the lectures of Theodore Beza and James Zabarella. On his return to
Holland, he was ordained minister of Amsterdam, 1588. As professor of
divinity at Leyden, to which office he was called 1603, he distinguished
himself by three valuable orations on the object of theology, on the
author and end of it, and on the certainty of it; and he afterwards
explained the prophet Jonah. In his public and private life, Arminius has
been admired for his moderation; and though many gross insinuations have
been thrown against him, yet his memory has been fully vindicated by the
ablest pens, and he seemed entitled to the motto which he assumed,—_A good
conscience is a paradise._ A life of perpetual labor and vexation of mind
at last brought on a sickness of which he died, October 19, 1619. His
writings were all on controversial and theological subjects, and were
published in one volume, quarto, Frankfort, 1661.
Francis Higginson.
First minister of Salem, Massachusetts, after receiving his education at
Emanuel College, in Cambridge, became the minister of a church at
Leicester, in England. While his popular talents filled his church with
attentive hearers, such was the divine blessing upon his labors, that a
deep attention to religious subjects was excited among his people.
Becoming at length a conscientious Nonconformist to the rites of the
English church, some of which he thought not only were unsupported by
Scripture, but corrupted the purity of Christian worship and discipline,
he was excluded from the parish church, and became obnoxious to the High
Commission Court. One day two messengers came to his house, and with loud
knocks cried out, “Where is Mr. Higginson? We must speak with Mr.
Higginson!” His wife ran to his chamber, and entreated him to conceal
himself; but he replied, that he should acquiesce in the will of God. He
went down, and, as the messengers entered the hall, they presented him
with some papers, saying, in a rough manner, “Sir, we came from London,
and our business is to convey you to London, as you may see by those
papers.” “I thought so,” exclaimed Mrs. Higginson, weeping; but a woman’s
tears could have but little effect upon hard-hearted pursuivants. Mr.
Higginson opened the packet to read the form of his arrest, but, instead
of an order from Bishop Laud for his seizure, he found a copy of the
charter of Massachusetts, and letters from the governor and company,
inviting him to embark with them for New England. The sudden transition of
feeling from despondence to joy, may be better imagined than described.
Having sought advice and implored the divine direction, he resolved to
accept the invitation. In his farewell sermon, preached before a vast
assembly, he declared his persuasion, that England would be chastised by
war, and that Leicester would have more than an ordinary share of
sufferings. It was not long before his prediction was verified. It is not
meant that he claimed the power of foretelling future events, but he could
reason with considerable accuracy from cause to effect, knowing that
iniquity is generally followed by its punishment; and he lived in an age
when it was usual for ministers to speak with more confidence, and
authority, and efficacy, than at present. He sailed from Gravesend, April
25, 1629, accompanied by Mr. Skelton, whose principles accorded with his
own. When he came to the Land’s End, he called his children and the other
passengers on deck to take the last view of their native country; and he
now exclaimed, “Farewell, England! farewell, the church of God in England,
and all the Christian friends there! We do not go to America as
separatists from the church of England, though we cannot but separate from
its corruptions.” He then concluded with a fervent prayer for the king,
church, and state, in England. He arrived at Cape Ann, June 27, 1629, and,
having spent the next day there, which was Sunday, on the 29th he entered
the harbor of Salem. July the 20th was observed as a day of fasting by the
appointment of Governor Endicott, and the church then made choice of Mr.
Higginson to be their teacher, and Mr. Skelton their pastor.
Thus auspicious was the commencement of the settlement of Naumkeag, or
Salem; but the scene was soon changed. During the first winter, about one
hundred persons died, and Mr. Higginson was soon seized with a hectic,
which terminated his days in August, 1630, aged forty-two. In his last
sickness, he was reminded of his benevolent exertions in the service of
the Lord Jesus Christ. To consoling suggestions of this kind he replied,
“I have been an unprofitable servant, and all my desire is to win Christ,
and be found in him, not having my own righteousness.”
Richard Baxter.
A Nonconformist, born at Rowton, Shropshire, 12th November, 1615. He
compensated for the deficiencies of a neglected education by unusual
application, and was appointed master of Dudley free-school by the
interest of Mr. Richard Foley, of Stourbridge, and soon after admitted
into orders by the bishop of Winchester. His scruples were raised by the
oath which was proposed by the convention at that time sitting, and he was
among the number of those who showed their dislike to an unqualified
submission “to archbishops, bishops, et cetera,” as they knew not what the
_et cetera_ comprehended. In 1640, he was invited to be minister at
Kidderminster; but the civil war, which broke out soon after, exposed him
to persecution, as he espoused the cause of the parliament. He retired to
Coventry, and continued his ministerial labors till the success of the
republicans recalled him to his favorite flock at Kidderminster. The
usurpation of Cromwell gave him great offence, and he even presumed to
argue in private with the tyrant on the nature and illegality of his
power; but in the only sermon which he preached before him, he wisely
confined his subject to the dissensions which existed in the kingdom on
religious matters. He was in London after Cromwell’s death, and preached
before parliament the day before the king’s return was voted, and likewise
before the lord mayor for Monk’s successes. Charles II. made him one of
his chaplains, and Chancellor Clarendon offered him the bishopric of
Hereford, which he declined. He was, however, soon involved in the general
persecution of the Nonconformists. His paraphrase on the New Testament
drew upon him, in 1685, the vengeance of Jeffreys, and he was condemned to
be imprisoned for two years, from which punishment, six months after, he
was discharged by the interference of Lord Powis with King James. He died
December 8th, 1691, and was interred in Christ Church.
George Fox.
The founder of the society of Friends, or Quakers, was born, in 1624, at
Drayton, in Leicestershire, and was the son of a weaver, a pious and
virtuous man, who gave him a religious education. Being apprenticed to a
grazier, he was employed in keeping sheep—an occupation, the silence and
solitude of which were well calculated to nurse his naturally enthusiastic
feelings. When he was about nineteen, he believed himself to have received
a divine command to forsake all, renounce society, and dedicate his
existence to the service of religion. For five years, he accordingly led a
wandering life, fasting, praying, and living secluded; but it was not till
about 1648 that he began to preach his doctrines. Manchester was the place
where he first promulgated them. Thenceforth he pursued his career with
untirable zeal and activity, in spite of frequent imprisonment and brutal
usage. It was at Derby that his followers were first denominated
_Quakers_, either from their tremulous mode of speaking, or from their
calling on their hearers to “tremble at the name of the Lord.” The labors
of Fox were crowned with considerable success; and, in 1669, he extended
the sphere of them to America, where he spent two years. He also twice
visited the continent. He died in 1690. His writings were collected in
three volumes, folio. Whatever may be thought of the tenets of Fox there
can be no doubt that he was sincere in them, and that he was a man of
strict temperance, humility, moderation, and piety.
William Penn.
The founder of Pennsylvania, born in London, 1644, From a private school
at Chigwell, Essex, he entered, in 1660, as a gentleman commoner at Christ
Church, Oxford; but, as he withdrew from the national forms of worship
with other students, who, like himself, had listened to the preaching of
Thomas Loe, a Quaker of eminence, who was fined for Non-conformity, and,
the next year, as he pertinaciously adhered to his opinions, he was
expelled from the college. His father sent him to France, and, on his
return, he entered at Lincoln’s Inn, as a law student. In 1666, he was
sent to manage an estate in Ireland, and, during his residence there, he
renewed his acquaintance with Loe, and showed such partiality to the
Quakers, that he was, in those days of persecution, taken up at a meeting
at Cork, and imprisoned by the mayor, who at last restored him to liberty
at the request of Lord Orrery. His return to England produced a violent
altercation with his father, who wished him to abandon those singular
habits so offensive to decorum and established forms; and, when he refused
to appear uncovered before him and before the king, he a second time
dismissed him from his protection and favor. In 1668, he first appeared as
a preacher and as an author among the Quakers; and, in consequence of some
controversial dispute, he was sent to the Tower, where he remained in
confinement for seven months. The passing of the conventicle act soon
after again sent him to prison in Newgate, from which he was released by
the interest of his father, who about this time was reconciled to him, and
left him, on his decease some time after, a valuable estate of about
fifteen hundred pounds per annum. In 1672, he married Gulielma Maria
Springett, a lady of principles similar to his own, and then fixed his
residence at Rickmansworth, where he employed himself zealously in
promoting the cause of the Friends by his preaching, as well as by his
writings. In 1677, he went, with George Fox and Robert Barclay, to the
continent on a religious excursion; and, after visiting Amsterdam and the
other chief towns of Holland, they proceeded to the court of Princess
Elizabeth, the granddaughter of James I., at Herwerden or Herford, where
they were received with great kindness and hospitality. Soon after his
return to England, Charles II. granted him, in consideration of the
services of his father, and for a debt due to him from the crown, a
province of North America, then called New Netherlands, but now making the
state of Pennsylvania. In consequence of this acquisition, he invited,
under the royal patent, settlers from all parts of the kingdom, and drew
up, in twenty-four articles, the fundamental constitution of his new
province, in which he held out a greater degree of religious liberty than
had at that time appeared in the Christian world. A colony of people,
chiefly of his persuasion, soon flocked to share his fortunes; the lands
of the country were cleared and improved, and a town was built, which, on
the principle of brotherly love, received the name of _Philadelphia_. In
1682, Penn visited the province, and confirmed that good understanding
which he had recommended with the natives; and, after two years’
residence, and with the satisfaction of witnessing and promoting the
prosperity of the colonists, he returned to England. Soon after, Charles
died, and the acquaintance which Penn had with the new monarch was
honorably used to protect the people of his persuasion. At the revolution
however, he was suspected of treasonable correspondence with the exiled
prince, and therefore exposed to molestation and persecution. In 1694, he
lost his wife; but, though severely afflicted by the event, he in about
two years married again, and afterwards employed himself in travelling in
Ireland, and over England, in disseminating, as a preacher, the doctrines
of his sect. He visited, in 1699, his province with his wife and family,
and returned to England in 1701. The suspicion with which he had been
regarded under William’s government, ceased at the accession of Queen
Anne, and the unyielding advocate of Quakerism was permitted to live with
greater freedom, and to fear persecution less. In 1710, he removed to
Rushcomb, near Twyford, Berks, where he spent the rest of his life. Three
repeated attacks of an apoplexy at last came to weaken his faculties and
his constitution, and, after nearly losing all recollection of his former
friends and associates, he expired, 30th July, 1718, and was buried at
Jordan, near Beaconsfield, Bucks. The character of Penn is truly amiable,
benevolent, and humane; his labors were exerted for the good of mankind,
and, with the strictest consistency of moral conduct and religious
opinion, he endured persecution and malice with resignation; and, guided
by the approbation of a pure conscience, he showed himself indefatigable
in the fulfilling of what he considered as the law of God, and the clear
demonstration of the truth of the gospel. The long prosperity of
Pennsylvania, and of his favorite city, Philadelphia, furnishes the best
evidence of his wisdom as a legislator.
Benedict Spinoza.
An atheistical writer, son of a Portuguese Jew, born at Amsterdam, 1638.
He studied medicine and theology; but his religion was so loose, and his
inquiries for the reason of every thing which he was to believe, became so
offensive to the rabbies, that he was thrust out of the synagogue. In
consequence of this, he became a Christian, and was baptized; but his
conversion was insincere, and though, during his life, he did not openly
profess himself an atheist, his posthumous works plainly proved him such.
He died, of a consumption, at the Hague, February, 1677, aged forty-five.
He is the founder of a regular system of atheism, and by his hypothesis he
wished to establish that there is but one substance in nature, which is
endowed with infinite attributes, with extension and thought; that all
spirits are modifications of that substance; and that God, the necessary
and most perfect being, is the cause of all things that exist, but does
not differ from them. These monstrous doctrines, though not new, were thus
built into a regular system by this extraordinary man, who is said in
other respects to have been of a good moral character in private life,
benevolent, friendly, and charitable. His conduct was marked by no
licentiousness or irregularity; but he retired from the tumults of
Amsterdam to a more peaceful residence at the Hague, where curiosity led
princes, philosophers, and learned men, to see and to converse with this
bold assertor of atheism.
Ann Lee.
Born in the town of Manchester, in England, in 1736. Her father, John Lee,
though not in affluent circumstances, was an honest and industrious man.
Her mother was esteemed as a very pious woman. As was common with the
laboring classes of people in England at that period, their children,
instead of being sent to school, were brought up to work from early
childhood. By this means, Ann, though quite illiterate, acquired a habit
of industry, and was early distinguished for her activity, faithfulness,
neatness, and good economy in her temporal employments.
From early childhood she was the subject of religious impressions and
divine manifestations. These continued, in a greater or less degree, as
she advanced in years; so that, at times, she was strongly impressed with
a sense of the great depravity of human nature, and of the lost state of
mankind by reason of sin. But losing her mother at an early age, and
finding no person to assist her in the pursuit of a life of holiness, and
being urged by the solicitations of her relations and friends, she was
married to Abraham Stanley, by whom she had four children, who all died in
infancy. But the convictions of her youth often returned upon her with
great force, which at length brought her under excessive tribulation of
soul. In this situation, she sought earnestly for deliverance from the
bondage of sin.
While under these exercises of mind, she became acquainted with a society
of people associated under the ministration of James Wardly, who, with
Jane, his wife, had been greatly favored with divine manifestations
concerning the second appearing of Christ, which they foresaw was near at
hand. Ann readily embraced their testimony, and united herself to the
society in the month of September, 1758.
In this society, Ann found that strength and protection against the
powerful influences of evil, which, for the time being, were answerable to
her faith; and, by her faithful obedience, she by degrees attained to the
full knowledge and experience in spiritual things which they had found.
But as she still found in herself the remains of the propensities of
fallen nature, she could not rest satisfied short of full salvation; she
therefore sought earnestly, day and night, in the most fervent prayers and
cries to God, to find complete deliverance from a sinful nature, and to
know more perfectly the way of full redemption and final salvation.
After passing through many scenes of tribulation and suffering, she
received a full answer to her prayers and desires to God. She then came
forward, and, with extraordinary power and energy of spirit, testified
that she had received, through the Spirit of Christ, a full revelation of
the fallen nature of man, and of the only means of redemption, which were
comprised in his precepts and living example while on earth. The
astonishing power of God which accompanied her testimony of this
revelation to the society, was too awakening and convincing to leave a
doubt on the minds of the society of its divine authority. When,
therefore, Ann had thus manifested to the society the revelation of light
which she had received, she was received and acknowledged as their leader
and spiritual _Mother in Christ_. This was the only name of distinction by
which she was known in the society. The term _Elect Lady_ was given to her
by her enemies. Ann, with a number of her followers, visited America in
1774, and formed the first society of Shakers in this country, at
Watervliet, N. Y., where she died in 1784.
John Glass.
Scotch divine, born at Dundee, 1698, and educated at Aberdeen. Upon his
publication of a pamphlet on the inconsistency of a civil establishment
with Christianity, he was deposed from his church, near Dundee, and then
became the founder of a new sect, called the _Glassites_ in Scotland, and
_Sandemanians_ in England. As the discipline of his sect was very
rigorous, few embraced his tenets, and the name is scarce known now.
George Keith.
A Quaker, born at Aberdeen, and was well educated. He came, in 1682, to
East Jersey, where he was surveyor-general. In 1689, he taught a school in
Philadelphia. After various exertions, writing and travelling for the
propagation of the sentiments of his sect, he at first seceded, and at
length entirely deserted the society. In England, he became an
Episcopalian, and was consecrated as an Episcopal missionary, and in that
capacity officiated for a short time in New York and Boston. Returning to
England in 1706, he was a rector at Edburton, in Sussex, where he died.
His publications were numerous, but almost exclusively controversial.
Nicholas Louis, Count Zinzendorf.
The patron of the sect of the Moravians, was born at Dresden, in May,
1700. He studied at Halle and Utrecht. About the year 1721, he purchased
the lordship of Bertholdsdorf, in Lusatia. Some poor Christians, the
followers of John Huss, obtained leave, in 1722, to settle on his estate.
They soon made converts. Such was the origin of the village of Herrnhut.
Their noble patron soon after joined them.
From this period Count Zinzendorf devoted himself to the business of
instructing his fellow-men by his writings and by preaching. He travelled
through Germany, and in Denmark became acquainted with the Danish missions
in the East Indies and Greenland. About 1732, he engaged earnestly in the
promotion of missions by his Moravian brethren, whose numbers at Herrnhut
were then about five hundred. So successful were these missions, that in a
few years four thousand negroes were baptized in the West Indies, and the
converts in Greenland amounted to seven hundred and eighty-four.
In 1737, he visited London, and, in 1741, came to America, and preached at
Germantown and Bethlehem. February 11, 1742, he ordained at Oly, in
Pennsylvania, the missionaries Rauch and Buettner, and Rauch baptized
three Indians from Shekomeco, east of the Hudson, “the firstlings of the
Indians.” He soon, with his daughter, Benigna, and several brethren and
sisters, visited various tribes of Indians. At Shekomeco he established
the first Indian Moravian congregation in North America. In 1743, he
returned to Europe. He died at Herrnhut, in 1760, and his coffin was
carried to the grave by thirty-two preachers and missionaries, whom he had
reared, and some of whom had toiled in Holland, England, Ireland, North
America, and Greenland. What monarch was ever honored by a funeral like
this?
William Courtney.
Archbishop of Canterbury, the fourth son of Hugh Courtney, earl of
Devonshire, by Margaret, granddaughter of Edward I. He was educated at
Oxford, and, though possessed of abilities, owed his elevation in the
church to the consequence of his family. When twenty-eight, he was made
bishop of Hereford, and afterwards translated to London, where he summoned
before him the great Wickliffe, in St. Paul’s Cathedral, 1377. The bold
reformer was on this occasion attended by his friends John of Gaunt and
Lord Percy, who, in supporting his tenets, treated the prelate with such
asperity, that a tumult was excited among the citizens of London. Courtney
was made chancellor, 1381, and afterwards raised to the see of Canterbury.
He was a violent persecutor of the Wickliffites, and condemned their
tenets in a synod. He died at Maidstone, 1396, aged 55.
Richard Hooker.
An eminent divine of the church of England, was born in 1553, at
Heavitree, near Exeter, and, under the patronage of Bishop Jewel, was
educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he was distinguished for
his piety and exemplary conduct. An unhappy marriage, which he contracted
before he was thirty, with a scold who had neither beauty, money, nor
manners, lost him his college fellowship, and was a fertile source of
annoyance to him. In 1585, he was made master of the Temple; but, weary of
disputes with the afternoon lecturer,—a violent Presbyterian,—and longing
for rural retirement, he relinquished this preferment, and obtained the
rectory of Bishop’s Bourne, in Kent, at which he resided till his decease,
in 1600. His great work is the treatise on “Ecclesiastical Polity;” of
which Pope Clement VIII. said, “There are in it such seeds of eternity as
will continue till the last fire shall devour all learning.”
Charles Chauncey.