be proposed or disputed. That it was impossible for their ministers or churches to submit to the Council of Trent, or any other so constituted. It was not held in an apostolic manner, it was presided over by the creatures of the Pontiff, who would not act impartially towards the Zurichers; that the reformed would not object to a council which was free, universal, Christian, and whose object was the investigation of truth; that this council was not a general one, for all the members of Christendom were not admitted, nor was it acquiesced in by England and other kingdoms; neither was it free and secure, for the whole power was in the hands of the Pope; nor did it correspond to the name of Christian, which it bore, inasmuch as it was not concerned for the glory of the Saviour but the dignity of the Pontiff; and, in fine, it had determined already, in its fourth session, that it would not be guided by the Scriptures alone, but by tradition and uncanonical books, not allowing of any other sense of Scripture than is admitted by the Roman See." A dispute arose at Geneva, between Calvin and Bolsec, who had been a Carmelite at Paris, but was then acting as a physician, respecting the doctrine of election. The latter protested against the sentiments of the former on the divine decrees, warning the citizens against what he conceived their erroneous tendency. That eminent Reformer replying to his opponent, and confuting his arguments by testimonies from Scripture and the writings of Augustine, he persevered in his objections, and asserted that Bullinger and many other divines whose names were held in deserved estimation, entertained the same views as himself on this mysterious subject. The Genevese Protestants wrote to Bullinger, requesting the sentiments of the Zurichers. He answered, that his brethren were unanimous in declaring, that whoever taught that election depended on faith foreseen, and faith itself on man's free will noless than divine inspiration, slandered the church to which they belonged, if he pretended that they agreed with him in sentiment. "I know, indeed," says Simler, " that many suspected Bullinger of not holding exactly the same opinion as Zuinglius of blessed memory, respecting the eternal foreknowledge of God, election, and human liberty; but in this suspicion they did him great injury. For when certain persons in private and public conferences, disputing on these mysterious points, were heard to say, that man was compelled to sin against his own will, and simply asserted God to be the author of sin*, he used to check them, and beg that they would speak soberly of such great mysteries, lest men should be furnished with a handle for transferring their culpability to another, and blaspheming the Deity. To avoid such inference, he advised them to instruct their people to acknowledge the free grace of God, in choosing us without any regard to our merit; he always affirmed, that faith was the gift of God, and that gratuitous, by which we were made partakers of Christ; and that to the endeavours of an unrenewed man we could only attribute corruption, fault, and punishment. He gave his opinions on these subjects in various parts of his writings, particularly in his Decades of Sermons; Books against the Anabaptists; and compendium of Christian religion. In fact, there was an entire agreement between him and Calvin and Peter Martyr; ; which not only appears from the great intimacy which subsisted between them, but from his published consent with the Genevan church on the matter of the Sacrament, at the commencement of which he briefly but clearly speaks on these points." * The original is, "Deum causam peccati simpliciter assererent." One of the first acts of the Landgrave of Hesse, on being restored to liberty, in consequence of the pacification of Passau between the Roman Catholic and Protestant princes in 1552, was to write to Bullinger, requesting him, if possible, to give Thammer, the Lecturer at Marpurg, to whom reference has been already made, clearer notions in divinity. He sent this theologian to Zurich, accompanied by one of his nobles; when our Reformer and some of his colleagues gave him the meeting, but the result was unsatisfactory. Thammer impugned the doctrine of justification by faith, disparaged the authority of Scripture, and maintained some strange metaphysical notions. The Zurich ministers heard him with patience, and replied to his arguments with courtesy; he, on the contrary, behaved with so much arrogance, and vociferated with so much violence, as to lead some of the honest Switzers to doubt his sanity. He equally condemned the doctrine of Papists and Lutherans, but could not agree with Zuinglians. Bullinger pitied the case of this unhappy man, who ended his inconsistent career by returning to the Roman Catholic profession. Our Reformer composed, in 1553, a valuable tract "On the Grace of God justifying us for Christ's Sake, through Faith alone without good Works, Faith meanwhile abounding in good Works." The general cause of Protestantism is so well pleaded in this tract, that Melancthon spoke of its merits in a public lecture, and wrote to congratulate him on its publication. At this period, Edward VI. of England dying, to the great grief of all friends to the revival of true religion, was succeeded by his sister Mary, whose bigoted attachment to Popery elevated the hopes of the Roman Catholic party in that kingdom, while it spread among the Protestants apprehensions of severe persecution, which were speedily realized. Many British nobles and gentlemen, as well as illustrious scholars and divines, fled to Germany and Switzerland; and through the kind assistance of Bullinger, who had contracted intimacies with several English reformers in the time of Henry VIII. and was now touched with the deepest sympathy at their political reverses, established a college at Zurich. John Parkhurst, Robert Horne, James Pilkington, Richard Chambers, Thomas Lever, Lawrence Humphries, Thomas Spencer, Michael Renninger, Thomas Bentham, and William Coles, names embalmed in the affectionate remembrance of their countrymen, were amongst those exiles, who found in the generosity of this pious foreigner and his colleagues that protection and support denied them by their own tyrannical and infatuated government. The people of Locarno, at the Lago Maggiore, forming themselves into a Protestant communion, incurred the displeasure of the Catholic cantons, who threatened them with signal punishment for their defection from the Romish church. The Protestant members of the confederacy remonstrated against this cruel design, denying their right to molest them on the pretext of religion, on account of the toleration which had been publicly established in the Helvetic states. As the Papists declared that the people of Locarno were not entitled to such privilege, because they were part of the Italian bailiwicks, which had been ceded to Switzerland by Francis I. of France, in his character of Duke of Milan, the affair was discussed in several Diets; and it was at length settled by arbitration, that all who were unwilling to profess the Romish faith, should be allowed to quit the town with all their goods and chattels. The Zurichers could never be brought to subscribe to this sentence; but, finding themselves in the minority, they were unable to hinder its execution, and above a hundred Protestants were in consequence driven from their homes, of whom the greater number sought an asylum at Zurich while some went to Basle, or were scattered among the Grisons. The amiable Bullinger and other ministers exerted themselves for these distressed exiles, as in the former case of the English, and had almost prevailed on the magistracy to give them a settlement on the Italian border; but the Papists left no means untried, in the bitterness of their hatred, to hinder even this slight indulgence; instigated, it is supposed, by the emissaries of the Pope, who dreaded the vicinity of such heretics to the sacred ground of Italy. At length, those who had gone to Zurich were permitted the use of a private chapel; and Bernard Ochino, a native of Sienna, formerly general of the Capuchins, who had abjured the errors of Popery, and was then staying at Basle, was offered a stipend as their pastor, on subscribing the Helvetic confession of faith. Ochino himself had accompanied Peter Martyr to England in 1547, on the invitation of Archbishop Cranmer, for the purpose of carrying on the work of reformation. He was much esteemed for his learning and eloquence, and, according to Wood, made Prebendary of Canterbury; but was forced to quit the country on the accession of Mary. Bullinger found much pleasure in the conversation of this able Siennese, distinguishing him with peculiar marks of regard, and inviting him to become sponsor to one of his children in baptism. He continued minister of the Italian congregation till 1563, when their friendship was interrupted under painful circumstances. Ochino published thirty dialogues in Italian, which ch Castalio, Greek Professor at Basle, turned into Latin; one of which defended the practice of polygamy. They had not yet been seen by the Zurich ministers, when some foreigners complained to the magistracy that this pastor had sent out a work of heretical tendency, who immediately summoned the ministers, and inquired into the grounds of the allegation. The ministers replied, that they had indeed been informed of the appearance of such a work, and had admonished the author to remember his subscription, and engagement not to introduce any new dogma to public notice before it had been submitted to the Synod, which sat twice a year; as well as his civil obedience, which required him to send his writing for perusal to the ordinary censors previous to publication. That on hearing a rumour of the Dialogues, they had remonstrated with him on his neglect of their admonition; when he made a sort of apology for proceeding, by informing them that the work was then in the press. That as to the more obnoxious part on the subject of polygamy, he had carried on the dispute on both sides, but in such a way that it would appear to which he inclined, as he concluded by only allowing its expediency in certain cases. They added, that as many good men had complained of the other dialogues, they would diligently examine them, and provide for the purity of doctrine and credit of the church. Bullinger and his worthy colleagues had been very urgent with Ochino, both before and after the interference of the Senate, that he would send out a paper containing some plain and orthodox declaration of his sentiments, and endeavour to remove the scandal which he had occasioned; but all 4 their remonstrances were in vain. The Senate, therefore, sent out a decree to this effect: "Whereas Ochino hath published a book contrary to the laws and edicts of the magistracy, which ought to be suppressed, and on whose account this church and republic is evil reported of, it is our will and pleasure that he forthwith depart from the city and territory of Zurich." Before his departure, he requested Bullinger to grant him a letter of recommendation. He answered, that "he was grieved for his case, both on account of his own advanced age and of his family; but, as it appeared to him that he had suffered himself to be led away by other restless characters, and had published such offensive tenets, the Senate could act no otherwise than it had done; that there yet remained other parts of his work to be examined; that for his own part he considered his opinions as very culpable, and could not have supposed that he would have been so pertinacious; and that as he had caused such disturbance, it was impossible for him in conscience and honour to give him testimonials, and recommend him to other individuals or congregations." Thus did this excellent man discharge the difficult duty of reproof; and while he regarded his friend with feelings of genuine compassion, he was not unmindful of the scriptural injunction; "Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him."-Lev. xix. 17. Ochino went first to Basle, where he had been formerly respected, and entreated his friends to obtain for him leave of residence; but when asked by some his sentiments concerning the Dialogues, and replying that he agreed with them, they exhorted him to write his retractation, and satisfy the churches of Zurich and Basle. He said he would do so, in compliance with their wishes, requiring liberty to pass the winter in their city with his family. But the Senate rejected his petition; observing that he had brought great disgrace on the community he had just quitted; that his tenets would hereafter undergo examination; and that they would not harbour him, unless he made speedy amends to the magistracy and clergy of Zurich. He was therefore constrained, in his seventy-sixth year, and in an inclement season, to retire into Poland; but rendering himself obnoxious there also by his Arian sentiments, he soon withdrew to Moravia, where, with two sons and a daughter, he fell a victim to the plague*. Bullinger had to oppose a variety of other heresies which troubled the church at this period, after the death of Melancthon, whose argumentative powers they feared to encounter. Francis Stancar, Valentine Gentili, and George Blandrata, were guilty of broaching unsound doctrines, but found in the Zurich pastor a determined defender of the faith once delivered to the saints. In a letter to Rudzure concerning these corruptions, Bullinger observes, " If Christ be not coequal and coeternal with the Father, he is not Jehovah; and in that case cannot be the Head, nor Saviour, nor High Priest of the church for eternity. Thus our faith would be vain, and we should have a worse hope than either Turks or Jews." He was also engaged in controversy with a very different character, the pious and able Dr. Brentzen, Pastor at Stutgard, who had great influence among the Lutherans. This divine differed, however, in some metaphysical distinctions from the Wittenberg Professor, and became the head of a party called Ubiquitarians. He thought proper to send out a book * Simler, pp. 39, 40.-Hottinger, Hist. Eccl. Tom. ix. Sec. xvi. P. v. c. 3. p. 475.Bayle, Dict. Ochin. 1 on the personal union of the two natures in Christ, his ascension into heaven, and session at the right hand of the Father; in which he laboured to prove the substantial presence of Christ's body in the supper, from the argument, that wherever his divinity was, there was also his humanity. Bullinger had published a tract on these words, "In my Father's house are many mansions," in which he spoke in favour of the locality of heaven; and showed that the happiness of saints would consist in their view of the glorified humanity of Jesus, distinguishing his bodily from his spiritual presence. This also Brentzen declared he could not suffer to pass unnoticed, particularly as it opposed his doctrines of ubiquity and consubstantiation; and on Bullinger's replying, he rejoined, that the Helvetic church denied the majesty of Christ, and the omnipotence of God. He even went so far as in his last will and testament, published at Wittenberg in 1570, to warn all states against the toleration of Zuinglians, which was of course protested against by Bullinger. The Synod of Rochelle condemning those who rejected the words substance and substantially, in speaking of the Eucharist, the ministers of Zurich felt aggrieved, and wrote to Beza complaining of the terms of their decree. Beza replied, that nothing was further from their intention than to hurt the minds of their Helvetic brethren; but that it merely alluded to some French Protestants, who had spoken unskilfully on the sole effect of the bread and wine, omitting their signification; and that as to the substantial presence of Christ in the elements, they objected to such doctrine equally with themselves. As, however, they had been blamed for denying the communion of the body and blood they retained the word substance, not as implying the bodily presence, but as a spiritual participation; and had taken care so to explain their meaning, that it could not favour the tenet of transubstantiation. Bullinger then represented the expediency of such an alteration, as might evidence a conformity of faith; on which suggestion satisfactory explications were given at the subsequent Synod of Nismes *. As a husband and father, our Reformer had experienced the bereavements of providence. He lost three sons in their youth; and in 1564, a pestilence breaking out in Zurich proved fatal to his wife and three daughters, who were all married to ministers; one to Ulric Zuinglius, son of his eminent predecessor; another to Lewis Lavater; and a third to his affectionate biographer Josias Simler. A few years afterwards, he received the melancholy intelligence of the death of another son, a young officer serving in the troops of the Prince of Orange. He had himself been attacked by the pestilence, but had been restored by that Father of Mercies, who heard the intercession of the church in his behalf. He was moreover subject to the stone, and other disorders, which afflicted the latter years of his life. These he bore with exemplary patience, and prosecuted his labours and writings in the intervals of convalescence. It may be particularly noticed, that in 1569 he published a confutation of the Bull sent out by Pius V. against Queen Elizabeth, depriving her of all title to the crown of England, and absolving her subjects from their oath of allegiance. At length, on the 24th of May, 1575, he relapsed into a nephritic disease, and suffered excruciating pains, which he endured * Bayle, V. ii. p. 196.-Simler, p. 44. |