Presbyterianism is of its Scotch model, and of the English Presbyterianism of the Westminster assembly. It is Calvinistic in doctrine, and attaches great importance to its Calvinism. It has about three hundred churches, and a membership of about thirty-five thousand, but is not increasing with any considerable rapidity. In some places it is on the decline as an independent church order; and many of the Dutch Presbyterians are absorbed by the Old School. They have little affinity for the New School body.-Murdock's Mosheim, vol. II., pp. 435-447.

CHAPTER VII.

THE WALDENSES.

THE Waldenses, in the valleys of Piedmont, were led, by their proximity to the French and Swiss, to embrace their doctrines and church polity. They retained some of their ancient rules of discipline till 1630, when the greater part of them were swept off by pestilence. After this calamity, they obtained new teachers from France, who regulated all their affairs after the model of the French churches. In 1530 the Waldenses sent two of their ministers to Switzerland, to confer with the reformers, and ascertain their principles, both of doctrine and church polity. These commissioners visited Bern, Basle and Strasburg, and described their own faith and practice with great simplicity, in a written communication to Ecolampadius, at Basle.

In a council of theirs, in 1532, they adopted a confession of faith professedly setting forth the doctrines which they had held for four hundred years, yet manifestly departing from the views communicated to Ecolampadius, and leaning to those of Calvin.

The Waldenses were, at many different times, subjected to

violent persecution; especially in the years 1632, 1655 and 1685. The dukes of Savoy made war upon these people, and expelled them from their country, in 1686. Three years later, most of them returned, but some entire congregations remained abroad. These cruel persecutions were renewed in 1696; and those who survived these frequent and furious assaults owed their preservation to the intercessions of the Dutch, English and Swiss, with the duke of Savoy.

At the present time, the Waldensian churches are Presbyterian and Calvinistic. They are said to have thirteen parishes and twenty thousand souls in Piedmont. The descendants of those who settled at Wittemburg, in 1699, have ten parishes and sixteen thousand souls.

Presbyterianism was transplanted from Switzerland into Poland and Hungary. In the latter country it became extensively prevalent, and it continues still to flourish there.

CHAPTER VIII.

HISTORY OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN ENGLAND.

MOST of the early Puritans, in England, were friendly to Presbyterianism. But the fortunes of the reformation were very different there from what they were in other countries, in consequence of the defection of Henry VIII. from the Papal church. Parliament, at the suggestion of Henry VIII., annulled the authority of the Pope, and conferred on the king the supreme headship of the church in 1533; giving him most of the prerogatives previously exercised by the Pope.

This only changed the church in respect to the supremacy, not in respect to its doctrines or worship. It appears to have been the design of Henry VIII. to constitute the Anglican church,

differing from the Papal only in respect to the supremacy. In 1535, Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More perished on the scaffold for refusing to take the oath of supremacy in favor of the king. The king, with the aid of parliament, suppressed a great number of monasteries, and added their endowments to the revenues of the crown. He died 1547, and was succeeded by Edward VI., under ten years of age. During the minority of Edward VI., the Earl of Somerset being at the head of affairs, and being a zealous Protestant, he educated the prince in the Protestant faith, and concerted with Cranmer a general reformation of the church. Edward VI. died in his sixteenth year, July 6, 1553, and was succeeded by Mary, a daughter of Henry VIII. by Catharine of Arragon. Mary was a zealous Catholic, generally known as the bloody Mary, on account of her cruel persecutions.

Mary died in 1558, after an inglorious reign of five years, an object of detestation to her subjects and was succeeded by Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII. by Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth was violently opposed to the Catholics, who supported Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Elizabeth adopted Protestantism as the religion of the country; and parliament again abolished the papal supremacy January 25, 1559. This was the foundation of the present church of England. Elizabeth received the supremacy of the church, as Henry VIII. had done; and the oath of supremacy being required of all members of the house of commons, teachers, lawyers and clerks, in 1563, the Puritans separated from the national church. It does not appear, however, that they immediately organized dissenting churches; and, when they came to organize, they adopted, in the first instance, the Presbyterian system, which had already obtained extensive prevalence in Switzerland and France, and had recently been adopted in the national church of Scotland (1560).

The first Presbyterian Church in England was organized secretly at Wandsworth, five miles from London, in 1572, in the fourteenth year of the reign of Elizabeth. Other Presby

terian churches were organized subsequently, in different parts of the country. But most of the clergy, and others who favored Presbyterianism, continued in the church of England, hoping to reform it, and remodel it on the Presbyterian plan. In 1586, more than five hundred ministers in the church of England are said to have favored Presbyterianism. This change in the public mind, and among the ministers and laity of the established church, in favor of Presbyterianism, continued till the end of the reign of Elizabeth in 1603, through the reign of James I., to 1625, and into that of Charles I., till 1642, when Episcopacy was abolished by act of parliament, and the next year, 1643, the Westminster assembly was convened by act of parliament, to settle the religion of the country on a new basis. The Westminster assembly was so called from Westminster, the place of its meeting. Westminster is now united with London, and forms a part of that city. Formerly it was separated from it. The Westminster assembly consisted originally of a hundred and twenty-one divines, and thirty lay members. They were appointed by parliament to aid them by their advice in regulating the doctrines and polity of the church of England. sessions were continued for several years. The members of the Westminster assembly differed among themselves in regard to church polity; some of them being Congregationalists, and some Episcopalians, but the great majority of them were Presbyte

rians.

Its

Not long after this assembly met, the general assembly of the Scotch church, at the request of the English parliament, sent four commissioners to join them, on condition that the Westminster assembly and parliament would take the solemn league and covenant, and agree to establish one uniform religion throughout the three kingdoms. The parliament reluctantly assented to this condition, but did so for the sake of securing the coöperation of the Scotch in their political designs. After the arrival of the Scotch commissioners, the solemn league and covenant were adopted ; and, in February, 1644, the assembly, by

the order of parliament, drew up an exhortation to the people of England to join them in this assent. Through the Westminster assembly parliament licensed preachers, and directed all ecclesiastical affairs. The assembly composed a directory for public worship, which was sanctioned by parliament January, 1645; and the same year they composed a directory for the ordination of ministers, and for church government and discipline.

After a long and earnest debate, a majority of the assembly declared for Presbyterianism as of divine institution; but parliament voted for it only as lawful and agreeable to the word of God. The assembly also put the supreme ecclesiastical power wholly into the hands of the church courts; but parliament imposed restrictions, and allowed an appeal from the highest church. court to parliament, thus putting the church under the supreme control of parliament. This gave great offence to the Scotch, and to most of the English Presbyterians. In 1646, the king being in the hands of the Scotch, the English Presbyterians determined to enforce Presbyterianism on all England. Parliament ordered ruling elders to be chosen in all the churches, and also ordered the establishment of presbyteries, synods, and the general assembly.

system should be

The Presbyterians determined that this supported, and all others prohibited by law. For this purpose, a strong address was presented to parliament by the mayor, aldermen and common council, of London. The Congregationalists procured a counter petition from numerous artisans of London. On the question of toleration parliament differed from the Westminster assembly; and this difference led, in its ultimate results, to the subversion of the Presbyterian establishment.

Parliament, on being desired to establish Presbyterianism by divine right, and to prohibit all other orders, demanded Scripture proofs of this right. The search for these produced long and warm debates in the assembly, when the Congregationalists, and those who sympathized with them, withdrew, leaving the Presbyterians as the sole members of that body. Their number was