The Independents had the conviction that reform would be impossible while religion continued to be an affair of state patronage. They accordingly withdrew, and formed companies of their own. The so-called Brownists,' who received the designation from having a pastor of that name, first went to Holland, but afterward chartered the ship "Mayflower" and sailed to America. Others followed them. A great many remained in England and endured persecution. In 1662, when the Act of Uniformity was passed, requiring every minister, and also every head master of a school, to declare publicly his adherence to the "Book of Common Prayer," two thousand ministers gave up their positions rather than obey the law.

The general spirit and attitude of the Puritans is well illustrated in the life of the poet John Milton. A man of the broadest culture, a finished scholar, a profound theologian, he yet stands out most prominently as the stanch defender of liberty, political and religious, and of the Bible as the Christian's sole rule in matters of faith. Loyalty to the Word of God is a marked characteristic of all the writings of Milton, even those not dealing directly with religion. In a controversy with the learned Usher, he summarily swept aside all his opponent's arguments drawn from the Fathers. The archbishop, he said, is not "contented with the plentiful and wholesome fountains of the gospel, as if the divine Scriptures wanted a supplement, and were to be eked out... by that indigested heap and fry of authors called antiquity." He then affirmed "that neither traditions, councils, nor canons of any visible church, much less edicts of any magistrate or civil session, but the Scripture only, can be the final judge or rule in matters of religion, and that only in the conscience of every Christian to himself."- Quoted in "History of the Baptists," by Thomas Armitage, pp. 544, 545.

It will be noticed that on the question of infant baptism Milton occupied ground in advance of the generality of Puritans; in fact, he seems to have held precisely the same convictions as the Baptists.

Let us consider briefly the origin and development of this much-derided sect, formerly known by the name Anabaptists, and try to ascertain what part it was called to act in carrying to further completion the great reforms inaugurated by Luther. The Baptists were opposed to a state church, and to religious doctrines and rites prescribed by law. Religion was to them

All Pilgrims were Brownists, but only a few of the Brownists became Pilgrims. The Brownists were those Puritans who, espousing the views of Robert Browne, refused all compromise with the Established Church, and went into voluntary exile in Holland for the double purpose of securing freedom of worship and escaping wearing persecution. They were those of whom King James said, I will make them conform, or will harry them out of the kingdom."

essentially a spiritual thing, consisting not so much in outward ceremonies as in having the heart right with God, and enjoying daily fellowship with Him. In harmony with this opposition to external churchism, was the Baptist view of justification,- that it really involved sanctification; that is, that the sinner does not profit by the justifying blood of Christ unless his attitude to sin is such that it can be seen that the Holy Spirit is having His sanctifying influence on the life. Baptists were essentially pleading for a church not dependent on the support of the elector of Saxony or the landgrave of Hesse, and not containing within its fold all persons, young and old, who happened to live within the dominions of that particular prince. Their conception of the church was of a company of persons who had experienced conversion, and were living daily in the power of a new life. Moreover, like the Puritans, the Baptists objected to ceremonies performed and doctrines taught by the Lutheran Church which they deemed not in harmony with the Scriptures.

Luther, on the other hand, though in parts of his numerous writings he enunciates great spiritual truths and seems even to teach some of the fundamentals the Baptists endeavored to proclaim, never did attain to a complete and consistent view of the church and its activities as a thing apart from the state. He left Rome, but he did not wholly dissociate himself from papal principles. He dispensed with the pope, but practically put in the place of the pope the reigning sovereign. His ideas in this respect were those of his time. He saw that measure of truth which could be understood by the generality of the people of that day, and he obtained a large following and did a great and good work.

The Baptists saw beyond their time, and suffered severe persecution at the hands of both Lutherans and Romanists. Their message was rejected by the masses of the people, but it was joyfully received by those whose hearts God had prepared. There was no German state or principality that adopted the Baptist belief, and no German prince stood up at Spires and said, "I and my people will be Baptists; " but it may be truly said of this people, as of the Christians of apostolic times, that in their hands the word grew and multiplied, and God "added to the church daily such as should be saved."

If it be asked, "What spirit did the Baptists manifest toward their persecutors?" the answer must be, "The spirit of Christ." The Baptists of those days, even as judged by their enemies, are admitted to have been simple, inoffensive people, adorning by their lives the great Scriptural truths for which they stood so

firmly. The words of John Denk, pastor of the Baptist church of Augsburg, well represent the attitude of the whole denomination toward its persecutors:

"Love forgets itself, and the possessor of it minds no injury which he receives for the sake of the object of his love. The less love is recognized, the more it is pained, and yet it does not cease. Pure love stretches out to all, and seeks to be at one with all. But even if men and all things are withdrawn from her, she is so deep and rich she can get along without them, and would willingly perish herself if she could thereby make others happy." - Id., p. 405.

There was also a notable reform movement within the Lutheran Church, known as Pietism. Philipp Jakob Spener, the founder and chief exponent of the movement, was born at Rappoltsweiler, upper Alsace, in 1635. His early university training was chiefly at Strassburg, where he took his master's degree in 1653. After some years spent in travel and study at other centers of learning, he accepted the position of assistant preacher at the cathedral in Strassburg. Here he continued his studies, taking the doctor's degree in theology in 1664.

Spener's real life-work began when he was called in 1666 to the pastorate of a large Lutheran church in Frankfort. Here his heart was deeply stirred as he saw the low spiritual condition of the great majority of his parishioners, and he set about preaching in a direct, simple style, expounding the practical truths of the Bible, and applying its precepts to the daily lives of his people. In the summer of 1669 he preached a notable sermon on" The Vain Righteousness of the Pharisees," in which he showed that a person could attend church regularly, receive the sacraments, profess belief in all the articles of the creed, and yet not be in a saved condition.

The sermon brought about a division in the church. From that time on the awakened ones, those who wished to walk in all the light of God's Word, met Spener at regular times in his home, and were there instructed more fully in the principles of the consecrated life. These meetings, called by Spener the collegia pietatis, and conducted in a very free and informal manner, were the parent of the class meeting of Methodist times and of the prayer and social meeting of today. They proved so helpful in building up the spiritual life of the community that they were started in other places, and in time were being held in many different parts of Germany.

In the year 1675 Spener published his epoch-making book, "Pia Desideria," which, with the collegia pietatis, may be said to have laid the foundations of Pietism. The book first passes in review the Christianity of the time, showing how far short it

comes of the divine standard. Then it presents the Scripture promises for a better condition of things in the church, and offers definite suggestions as to how they may be brought about:

First, the Word of God should be more widely circulated among the people, and interest in its truths should be stimulated by informal study and discussion carried on under the direction of the pastor.

Second, the fact should be recognized that there is a spiritual priesthood including every true child of God; hence the members of the laity should be taught to recognize this responsibility, and to feel under obligation to exhort, warn, and encourage their fellow Christians, that all may be kept from straying into the paths of sin, and that the church as a whole may be a pure church.

Third, the important fact must be recognized that mere knowledge is a small part of Christian living; it is doing the will of God that counts.

Fourth, the university training of candidates for the ministry should be so changed as to develop personal piety in those preparing for the sacred office; and to this end they should be required to read, not only theological and controversial works, but also books calculated to build up the spiritual life.

Fifth, sermons should be practical and devotional rather than rhetorical, and should aim to convict sinners rather than to make a display of learning.

Most of these truths would seem, in the light of today, to be self-evident, but in Spener's time they awakened intense opposition. From this time on the Frankfort pastor was a marked man. While he had friends and supporters all over Germany, he also had bitter enemies, who did what they could to oppose him personally and hinder the reform work which he was trying to bring about in the Lutheran Church. When conditions at Frankfort seemed to be such that his work there was finished, Spener accepted a call to Dresden, to serve as chaplain and court preacher to Elector John George III. Here still greater difficulties awaited him, but he continued quietly to carry on his work.

From Dresden he went to Berlin as provost of Nikolaikirche. Here, under the protection of Elector Frederick III, he was able to prosecute his labors with less local opposition; but by this time all Germany was astir over Pietism, and the Lutherans were divided into two camps. The universities took an active. part in the controversy. In 1689 August Hermann Francke and Paul Anton, enthusiastic disciples of Spener, organized, among the students of the University of Leipsic, a gathering for the

devotional study of the Bible on the same lines as the one organized by Spener. Francke also lectured on the Bible, expounding its practical truths with rare simplicity and fervor, to the great edification of the students and citizens of Leipsic; but the opposition was so intense that an electoral edict was issued forbidding "doubtful conventicles and private assemblies," and Francke was compelled to leave Leipsic.

When Leipsic University closed its doors to Pietism, the newly founded university at Halle became the rallying point of the new movement, and for a generation or more exerted a powerful influence throughout Germany. Francke was appointed professor of Hebrew and Greek; but he immediately began to lecture on Biblical exegesis, and under his guidance and that of his equally enthusiastic colleagues on the faculty, Joachim Breithaupt, Paul Anton, and others, the school attained a position of high eminence as a training place for ministers of the gospel of the spiritual type and for missionaries to foreign lands.

Francke also opened, in 1695, with the aid of a poor student, his school for pauper children, and shortly afterward his orphanage. Then followed in quick succession a school for boys, a Latin school, a publishing establishment, and other enterprises. All these institutions grew with almost incredible rapidity. The teachers were mostly university students who received free board in return for their services. Francke, in addition to great learning and a faculty for imparting knowledge, had organizing ability of a high order; but it was his humble trust in God that insured the success of the extensive enterprises for which he carried the chief responsibility. In response to believing prayer, voluntary contributions continued to flow in from all Germany and other parts of Europe, so that the large family of orphans and the still larger family of pupils in the various institutions never lacked the necessaries of life.

In Halle the fundamental principles of Pietism, which consisted largely in emphasizing practical Christianity, and giving a strong religious mold to education, had their fullest development. In knowledge for its own sake Francke saw little to desire. He believed the chief aim in education was to lead the child to a saving knowledge of God. Nor did he confine religious teaching to the child. In all his classes in the university, he held up the same ideal of a learning based on the principles of Holy Writ, and existing for the purpose of glorifying God, and benefiting one's fellow men. Under his leadership the university became the center alike of broad, comprehensive learning and of ardent piety, and the young men who were his enthusiastic stu