Nevertheless, the schemes of the reformers, though bearing no proportion to the real emergencies of the Church, were wise as far as they went, and calculated to prolong the existing system. Had they been cordially carried into effect, some useful improvements would have been introduced, some unpopular scandals removed; the most distinguished ecclesiastics would have rallied round the Pope, and the laity would have respected, for a certain time, the concessions and the union of the clergy. But even this imperfect result did not take place. It has been shown with how great pertinacity the Pope and his profligate adherents fought the battle of corruption, and defended every abuse, which was fraught with present profit, and future and early destruction*. In the struggle which divided the Church, the policy of the hour prevailed. The unity of power and design, the keen sense of personal interest, the tyranny of inveterate prejudice, gave the triumph to the less virtuous, the less provident, even the less numerous party; and after the fathers of Basle had reluctantly dispersed, and their creature Felix V. resigned the name of Pontiff, the bark of St. Peter was urged forward by a gale of unruffled prosperity, until suddenly, and soon, and in the moment of most exulting security, it was dashed against the rocks and shattered irreparably.

A circumstance, which may have suspended the downfall of the Church, was the elevation of two Popes (Nicholas V. and Pius II.), whose reputation and pursuits were in harmony with the popular passion for reviving letters. Their personal qualities concealed for a moment the vices of the system, and substituted in public observation the splendour of a literary court. Again, the overthrow of the Eastern Empire, and the danger of Turkish invasion, became powerful instruments for diverting attention from ecclesiastical grievances: and the clamour for reform was, for a while, drowned in specious appeals to the policy of princes, and the enthusiasm of their subjects-but for a while only. The spirit of the age, when once decided and pronounced, can neither be long eluded, nor safely resisted. A little time may be gained: the progress of improvement may be slightly retarded; but it will presently spring forward the more rapidly, as it has been the longer held back. Now, the preceding century (the fourteenth) was one of mixed and conflicting principles; it had not assumed any marked or definite character; and thus the Church marched safely through it, with all its depravity on its head. But in the fifteenth, the principles of society were fixed; the general voice of Christendom proclaimed the necessity of reformation; the high-church dominant party presumed to disobey, or, with equal impolicy, descended to evasion; and through their own perversity they fell. And whether it was, that they were too blind to see their danger, or too obstinate to sacrifice their vices, they fell by a fate, which few will affect to deplore, and which none can deem undeserved. Howbeit, since the secession of the Protestant communities, a gradual

*It might seem unnecessary to fortify this position by any authority. Yet the opinion of one of the most clear-sighted prelates, who have ever adorned and defended the Roman Catholic Church, may not by some be thought superfluous. C'est ainsi (says Bossuet) que dans le quinzième siècle le Cardinal (Julien), le plus grand homme de son temps, en déplorait les maux, et en prévoyait la suite funeste: par où il semble avoir prédit ceux, que Luther allait apprêter à toute la Chrestienté, en commençant par l'Allemagne; et il ne s'est pas trompé lorsqu'il a crû, que la Réformation méprisée, et la haine redoublée contre le Clergé allait enfanter une secte plus redoutable à l'Eglise, que celle des Bohémiens. Elle est venue cette secte sous la conduite de Luther; et en prenant le titre de Reforme, elle s'est vantée d'avoir accompli les vœux de toute la Chrestienté, puisque la réformation estoit desirée par les peuples, par les docteurs, et par les prélats Catholiques.' Histoire des Variations, liv. i.

though tardy reformation has been virtually accomplished in the bosom of the Roman Catholic Church. Its most extravagant pretensions have been generally withdrawn; and if no important change has been introduced into the body of its doctrine, yet the abuse of some of its tenets has been in some places mitigated; and its discipline has been every where amended and purified. When it had lost the half of its dominions, it turned itself to improve and preserve the rest-from the blow which cleft its triple crown, it first began to learn the wisdom of moderation; and to discover in sackcloth and ashes, that its wisest counsellors and truest friends had ever been those, who had warned it to repent and amend.

Attempts to trace the continuity of the Protestant opinions to the Apostolical times.

II. Several learned and pious Protestants have attempted to trace the uninterrupted descent of their doctrines, or at least of some essential portion of them, even from the apostolic times. Great ingenuity and research have been employed for this purpose, partly to make it thus manifest, that the Almighty, while he permitted so much iniquity to be perpetrated in his name, did still nourish in secret his true and perpetual Church; partly, that the perpetual succession of the ministry might not seem wanting to the reformed communities; partly, because the reverence for antiquity, especially in ecclesiastical matters, has a powerful, perhaps an undue, influence on the greater part of mankind. For these reasons very much has been written about the "Lutheranism which was prevalent before Luther;" the unbroken series of Witnesses of the truth;" the unceasing protestations which have been silently breathed in all ages, against the abuses of Rome *.

.

This subject has been treated by Bossuet, in the eleventh chapter of his Variations, eloquently, learnedly, and of course not impartially: and thus, while he has unquestionably established many of his positions, he has advanced others which are untenable. (1) Respecting the Albigeois. He has established that they were wholly distinct from the Vaudois: and that they held many opinions which are condemned by all Protestants. But he has failed in proving their Manichean origin-still more their Manichean doctrines -for to make out this identity he has invented so many marks or characters of Manicheism, wholly unconnected with its original and only true mark, the doctrine of the two principles, as to embrace under that name errors entirely dissociated from it. He calls them indeed new Manicheans, and admits that they had softened some of their errors.' But they had parted with the characteristic error, or, in fact, they had never held it. For the same reason he has failed in confounding them with the Catharists, Bulgari, &c., who were the real descendants of the Paulicians. (2) Respecting the Vaudois. He shows the great uncertainty, perhaps the entire vanity, of their claims to a separate descent from the Antenicene Church. He shows that, at their first appearance, their differences with Rome were less numerous and important than they became afterwards: that they adopted some new opinions after their union with the Protestants: that they were the same with the Leonists and the Insabbatés. But he does not establish his assertion, that they were founded by Peter Waldo of Lyons. (3) Respecting the Bohemian Brethren. He rightly supposes, that the Hussites were not descended from the Vaudois; and that the Brethren made some doctrinal concessions on their union with the Lutherans. But when he asserts that Huss had no doctrinal difference with the Church, except on the single communion; and that the same was the only subject of disaffection with the Calixtines; he has not fairly represented either the one or the other. The 'heresies' of Huss were less bold and numerous than those of Wicliff; those of the Calixtines than those of the Thaborites; and that respecting the cup was the most publicly professed; but it was associated with others less notorious. In the mean time, we must admit, that he has, in our opinion, established his two leading positions; viz., that the Protestants fail in their attempts to prove an uninterrupted succession; and that those whom they claim as their ancestors differed from them in numerous points of doctrine. We might notice some rash assertions on less important points-but our readers are aware that they should be cautious in following Bossuet on his own unsupported assertion-on that parole ' toujours éloquente' (as Voltaire truly says of it) 'et quelquefois trompeuse.'

It is unquestionable, that so early as the beginning of the twelfth century, some of the Protestant opinions were openly professed, and atoned for by death. And it is equally certain, that, from the preaching of Peter de Bruis to that of Luther, there have subsisted in some quarter or other of the western community various bodies of Sectaries*, who were at open or secret variance with the Church of Rome-who rejected, according to their respective principles, in part or in whole, her tenets, or her ceremonies, or her ministry. It may be doubted, whether the Albigeois, in spite of the crusades of Innocent, and the Inquisition of Toulouse, were ever entirely extirpated. The Vaudois were certainly preserved through the perils of four centuries of oppression. The ashes of Wicliff were not lost in their rough descent into the ocean; and the spirit, which rose out of the funeral flames of Huss, survived to expand in the bosoms of his compatriots.

From this short catalogue we have purposely excluded innumerable denominations of heresy, of which there were scarcely any which did not, in some one respect, or in more than one, anticipate the Confession of Augsbourg. The various forms of Mysticism were universally opposed, in their progress as in their origin, to the outward pageantry of the Roman Church. The spiritual Franciscans, who questioned the omnipotence of the Pope, and denounced the corruptions, no less than the wealth, of the Clergy, are even placed by Mosheim among the forerunners of the Reformation. At least, it is certain, that their continued insubordination, combined with such high pretensions to sanctity, had its effect in preparing the downfal of Papacy; and thus they may properly be numbered among the instruments appointed to divide its strength, and betray its fortress by intestine discord to the foe without.

Again, among the sects, which we have mentioned as the more genuine precursors of Luther and Zuinglius †, there was not one which furnished in all respects a faithful model for their more perfect reformation. There were points on which they differed from each other. There were points on which they differed both from Roman Catholics and Protestants. There were even points in which they agreed with the former, and fell far short of the subsequent doctrine of the latter. But there were also many articles of essential importance, on which they opposed, with premature independence, their reason and their Bible to the abuses, and even to the authority, of the Church.

Such were the sects, from which the Protestants claim their descent, and to which they are justly grateful for having prepared their path, and set the example of non-conformity. But they sprang up before their season; their imperfect lights were unable to preserve them from error; curiosity and knowledge were yet too scantily distributed among the mass

It might seem scarcely necessary to remark, that we have frequently, in the course of this work, used the word Sect in its original and proper sense-of a body of men united by certain tenets,-the sense in which Tertullian used it (Apol. cap. v.) when he called the whole Christian community hanc Sectam. Only it is a common error to connect with this term the idea of cutting off, and thus to attach a degrading notion to it. In the same manner, the term Heresy (in its origin equally inoffensive), we have commonly applied to those, whom the church has denounced as heretics-without any reference whatever to the nature of their opinions.

+ Semler (Secul. xv. cap. iv. p. 218) enumerates a variety of opinions hostile to the Church, in the design to show that Luther was not so much the first who came into the design of vindicating the public Christian religion, as that he trod in footsteps clearly traced before him-so that those are in error, who consider the Reformation as a political, rather than a religious, movement.

of the people to give them a substantial footing there; and thus they fell before the established despotism, and shed their precious blood, both as an eternal testimony against the Church, and as the seed of more enlarged principles in a happier age.

In our journey back towards the apostolical times, these separatists conduct us as far as the beginning of the twelfth century;

but when we would advance farther, we are intercepted The Vaudois. by a broad region of darkness and uncertainty.

spark of hope is indeed suggested by the history of the Vaudois. Their origin is not ascertained by any authentic record; and being immemorial, it may have been coeval with the introduction of Christianity. Among their own traditions there is one, which agrees well with their original and favourite tenet, which objects to the possession of property by ecclesiastics. It is this-that their earliest fathers, offended at the liberality with which Constantine endowed the Church of Rome, and at the worldliness with which Pope Sylvester accepted those endowments, seceded into the Alpine solitudes; that they there lay concealed and secure for so many ages through their insignificance and their innocence. This may have been so-it is not even very improbable, that it was so. But since there is not one direct proof of their existence during that long space; since they have never been certainly discovered by the curiosity of any writer, nor detected by the inquisitorial eye of any orthodox bishop, nor named by any Pope or Council, or any Church record, chronicle, or memorial, we are not justified in attaching any historical credit to their mere unsupported tradition. It is sufficient to prove, that they had an earlier existence than the twelfth century; but that they had then been perpetuated through eight or nine centuries, uncommemorated abroad, and without any national monument to attest their existence, is much more than we can venture, on such evidence, to assert. Here then the golden chain of our apostolical descent disappears; and though it may exist, buried in the darkness of those previous ages, and though some writers have seemed to discern a few detached links which they have diligently exhibited, there is still much wanting to complete the continuity*.

*The claims of the Protestant Mountaineers in Dauphiné appear to be somewhat stronger than those of the Vaudois; because (as has been mentioned) neither the worship of images, nor the pontifical jurisdiction was established in France, so early as in Italyprobably not till the middle of the ninth century. Now, as soon afterwards as the year 1025 we have records of the existence, at Arras, of certain erroneous opinions, which were supposed to have proceeded from "the Alpine borders of Italy." In this case, the interval of silence is reduced to rather less than two centuries: and though this space will seem to many sufficient to destroy all historical ground for asserting an uninterrupted succession, nevertheless, upon the whole, we are disposed to consider it as very probable, that on the sides and under the brows of those desolate mountains there may have existed in every age a few obscure peasants, whom all the innovations of Rome have never reached. Different persons will attach different degrees of importance to this result-we therefore refer the curious reader, with great pleasure, to Mr. Gilly's 'Memoirs of Neff,' where the subject is argued with learning and earnestness. At the same time it is proper to mention what those opinions really were which were condemned at Arras in 1025; lest it should be supposed, that they were at variance only with the Roman Catholic Church, and strictly in accordance with apostolical truth. (1.) It was asserted, that the sacrament of baptism was useless, and of no efficacy to salvation. (2.) That the sacra ment of the Lord's Supper was equally unnecessary. (It would seem that the objections of the heretics on this point went beyond the mere denial of the change of substance.) (3.) That there was no peculiar sanctity in churches, (4.) nor holiness in the altar. (5.) That the use of bells, &c., to summon the people to worship, was objectionable. (6.) That the sacred orders of the ministry were not of divine institution. (7.) That the Church rites of sepulture are to be ascribed to the avarice of the clergy. (8.) That penance was altogether inefficacious. (This appears to have been an inference from their

When we turn to the history of the Albigeois, we find there still less to flatter our hopes, or encourage our pursuit. For The Albigeois. if we adopt the more probable opinion respecting the origin of that sect-that it was engendered by the contrast, so perceptible even to the least instructed, between the character of the Church and the first principles of Christianity-its birth must at least have succeeded the manifest corruption of the Church; nor is there any evidence to prove it more ancient, than the twelfth or perhaps eleventh century. If, on the other hand, we should identify those Dissenters (as some have done) with the Cathari, the Gazari, Paterini, Publicani, and others of the same age, who were collateral branches of the Paulician family, we are not, indeed, any longer at a loss to trace the suc cession to very high antiquity. It is also true, that the contempt of images, the disbelief in transubstantiation, and some other protestant principles, were faithfully perpetuated in that heretical race. But these attractive characteristics were tainted, more or less deeply, by the poison of Manichæism: and since it is our object to establish a connexion with the primitive Church, we shall scarcely attain it through those, whose fundamental principle was unequivocally rejected by that Church, as irrational and impious*.

Mysticism.

If the claim again be reduced from a succession of sects to a series of pious individuals, who in every age of the Church may have secretly protested against its abuses and its worldliness, it becomes equally impossible to prove its existence, and to deny its probability. The aspirations of mysticism, sometimes degraded into absurdity, sometimes exalted into the purest piety, have unquestionably pervaded and warmed every portion of the ecclesiastical system, from the earliest æra even to the present. Its perpetual existence alone shows, that in private bosoms, and especially in the abstractions of the monastery, a disaffection towards the ceremonies, towards the grosser abuses, and perhaps towards some of the sacraments of the Church, has been unceasingly nourished, even within its own precincts. But the names of these contemplative and unambitious individuals are, for the most part, lost in oblivion; and even if they were not so, the truth of the Protestant principles would gain little assurance, and their dignity little increase, from so slender, imperfect and precarious a connexion with the apostolical purity.

denial of the efficacy of baptism.) (9.) That alms, vicarious penance, &c., are of no use to the dead (which involved the denial of purgatory.) (10.) That marriage in general was contrary to the evangelical and apostolical laws. (11.) That saint-worship is to be confined to the apostles and martyrs—not extended to the confessors, i. e. holy men, not martyrs. (12.) That church music is reprehensible. (13.) That the cross is not an object of worship, (14) nor the Saviour's image on the cross, nor any other image. (15.) That the orders of the hierarchy are objectionable. (16.) That the doctrine of works (Justitia) supersedes that of divine grace, and every man's hope of salvation lies in his own deserts (see Labbæi Concil. tom. xix. p. 423. Ex Dacherii Spicileg. 2 ed. vol. i. p. 607.) So mixed and various is the substance of those opinions, to which learned writers on this subject appeal with so much satisfaction.

* Manes, a Persian, (the pretended Paraclete,) propounded his system, for reconciling the Magian with the Christian opinions, in the third century. The system was, indeed, original, in as far only as it was a new application of the doctrine of the two principlesbut the doctrine itself had been (as we have seen) employed by the Gnostics for the corruption of Christianity, long before the time of Manes. It is for this reason, that we have not bestowed that attention on the system of the Persian fanatic, which it usually receives from ecclesiastical writers. It may suffice to refer the ordinary reader to Mosheim, cent. iii. p. 11. chap. v., and Bayle, Article-Manichéens.