CHAPTER XXI.

CONCLUSION.

In the foregoing pages the aim has been to give a general view of the Reformation in the 16th century, by selecting the most important and interesting facts connected with that event. Before closing the work it may be well to add a few remarks, to aid the young reader in the formation of a correct judgment concerning the character and consequences of a revolution, which has been the cause of such momentous changes in the condition of Christendom.

In reading the history of the Reformation. care should be taken not to imbibe unjust and false prejudices against the Romish Church. That history necessarily exhibits many of the worst errors, and the most abandoned supporters of popery. To receive it therefore as containing the whole truth in regard to the papal system, would be a great mistake. Corrupt as were the prevalent ideas of Christianity, while Europe was shrouded in the darkness of ignorance, and gross as were the abuses introduced by those who, to accomplish their own bad ends, took advantage of the superstitious credulity of the

people, it is not to be supposed that no good thing remained in the church. Among the opponents of the Reformers were men of piety, sincere in their attachment to the ancient faith, and conscientious in their dread of innovations. Many of the clergy were indeed wicked, many of the monasteries the abodes of vice, and many men clung to popery from base motives; but there were also those among the priesthood whose lives were pure, there were religious houses where God was worshipped in sincerity, and man was loved as a brother, and, among the thousands who adhered to the old religion, multitudes undoubtedly did so from a belief that it was true. This statement finds proof of its correctness in the fact, that the most diligent and pure-hearted among the Reformers came from the bosom of the church. Luther, Melancthon, Zwingle, Knox, and others, were once Catholics; and even in the darkest of the middle ages we may believe that many a pure spirit was illuminated and warmed by rays from the "sun of righteousness."

Another error which some Protestant writers have encouraged, and against which the reader of the history of the Reformation ought to be on his guard, is the impression that Roman Catholics of the present day are necessarily chargeable with the same faults, as the Roman

Catholics of former times. However far from the simplicity of the Gospel and pure Christianity the church of Rome in its government and its doctrines may have wandered, it would be wrong to imagine that it has remained always the same, or been entirely unaffected by the changes which have taken place in the world within a few centuries. Catholics as well as Protestants have been taught wisdom; and the former as well as the latter have been benefited by the clearer light which has been shed upon the page of Revelation; and where they have been placed on a footing with other sects, and enjoyed the privileges of knowledge, they have given to the world bright examples of Christian character. Justice demands that this should be remembered in their favor, however much we may deplore what seems to us their corrupt faith; and justice also demands that they be judged of according to their own deeds and opinions, at any particular period, and not be made to answer for the sins or absurdities of their ancestors. It is unfair and irrational to argue that, because in an age of comparative darkness a church was sadly corrupt, it must be equally so in an age of greater knowledge.

Again, while discrimination and charity are to be exercised towards the defenders of popery in the sixteenth century, we are to avoid bestow

ing unqualified admiration upon its adversaries. Gratitude for the blessings they were instrumental in procuring has sometimes betrayed men into extravagant eulogy of the Reformers. It has been forgotten that they were but men, fallible, imperfect men, who could not be expected to throw off at once all the errors which had been accumulating for centuries. The time has come to read their history with an impartial eye; and he who does so read it must see that they were guilty of many mistakes. These, it is true, are to be attributed, for the most part, to the circumstances in which they were placed, and explained by a reference to the character of the age in which they lived. But still they are not on this account to be passed over without exposure. The Protestant leaders were at times violent, intolerant, and cruel. They accomplished their ends, in some instances, by unjustifiable means and instruments. While they abandoned many of the hoary falsehoods of popery, they retained doctrines which to us appear hardly less unscriptural and irrational; while they withstood, even unto death, the tyranny of Rome, they failed on more than one occasion to remember that "charity is not easily provoked." The obstinacy and ill-temper of Luther, in refusing to meet the friendly advances of Zwingle; the persecution of the

Anabaptists; the martyrdom of Joan Bocher; the condemnation of Sir Thomas More; the destruction of the monasteries, and other sad facts, are too plainly recorded on the page of history, to permit us, with all our reverence for the noble virtues and heroic courage of some of their number, to bestow unqualified praise upon the Reformers.

But leaving the character of the Reformers to be tried by the history of their deeds, we turn to a more important question, and that is, what was the result of their labors, or, in other words, in what did the Reformation consist? We will first give what seems to us the true answer to this inquiry, and afterwards throw out a few suggestions to show its correctness. We say, then, that the Reformation consisted in a denial of the supremacy of, and a separation from, the church of Rome, and in the declaration of these two principles, namely the sufficiency of the Scriptures, and the right of private judgment. Other benefits were gained, undoubtedly, by the great revolution in the sixteenth century: but this one statement includes all that was alike effected by that event in the different countries in which it took place, all that belongs to it as a whole,all that can be justly esteemed its essence. And even this was not the consequence of a distinct plan and a definite purpose, clearly formed and