Orleans. There were also other members of the Palatine family, whose claims by seniority stood before Sophia's. In fact, there were about forty individuals then living descended from James I. But all of them, except the dowager electress, were Romanists, her nearest connections of the Palatine family having apostatised from that scriptural religion for which their house had undergone so much. If, however, a prospect were opened of succeeding to the English throne, some of these individuals might probably have been found quite willing to talk of undue haste in embracing popery, and to make a profession of Protestantism. But the English parliament wisely refused interested minds any temptation to a conformity which was likely to prove hollow and insidious, settling the crown upon an individual whose religious position had never afforded any ground for suspicion. The Act of Settlement was therefore a political arrangement of the highest importance to the religious world. It secured from the pestilent operations of a Romish confessional, a throne which was rising in power throughout the eighteenth century, and which has now no equal in Europe, except in France and Russia. Had not allegiance to the British sovereign been made conditional, the temptation of matrimonial connections with the principal royal houses abroad might have introduced again artful Jesuits, with all the seductive blandishments of paganised christianity, so germane to the

4 Ibid. 145.

5 "Though many of her family were rigid members of the Roman catholic church, she" (Sophia)" was educated a Protestant, under the care of her cousin, the Princess of Orange, and she remained firmly attached to the doctrines and principles of that faith." (Ibid. 165.) She was born on the 13th of October, 1630, married in 1658, left a widow in 1698, and died on the 8th of June, 1714. Anne died on the first of the following August. Sophia's son, the elector George Lewis, had now become heir to the British throne, and under the designation of George I. was its first occupant of the Hanoverian family.

Queen

6 "These last" (others of the Palatine family) "had abjured the Reformed faith, of which their ancestors

had been the strenuous assertors; but it seemed not improbable that some one might return to it." (Hallam's Const. Hist. iii. 244.) "While the bill regulating the succession" (that of 1689) "was in the House of Commons, a prociso was offered by Mr. Godolplin, that nothing in this Act is intended to be drawn into example or consequence hereafter, to prejudice the right of any Protestant prince or princess, in their hereditary succession to the imperial crown of these realms. This was much opposed by the whigs; both because it tended to let in the son of James II. if he should become a Protestant, and for a more secret reason, that they did not like to recognise the continuance of any hereditary right. It was rejected by 179 to 125." Ibid. note.

corrupt nature of man, into the families of our sovereigns. But by guarding effectually against any such contingency, the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement have opposed a solid bulwark to the range of Romish sophistry and ambition.

CHAPTER IV.

HISTORY OF THE ARMINIANS OR REMONSTRANTS.

§ 1. The name of Arminians.-§ 2. Their origin.-§ 3. Their progress.-§ 4. The five points.-§ 5, 6. Maurice resolves on their destruction.-§ 7. Opinion of the synod of Dort.-§ 8. Condition after the synod of Dort.-§ 9. Recalled from exile.-§ 10. Early and later theology of the Arminians.-§ 11. Its aim, and principal heads.-§ 12. Their Confession of Faith.-§ 13. Present state of the Arminians.

§ 1. FROM the bosom of the Reformed church, to its great injury, there originated in the present century two sects, the Arminians and the Quakers; the former owing its birth to an excessive regard for human reason, and the latter to a neglect of it. The Arminians derived their name and their rise from James Harmensen, or, (as he chose to be called in Latin,) James Arminius; first a minister of the Gospel at Amsterdam, and then professor of theology at Leyden; a man whom even his enemies commend for his ingenuity, acuteness, and piety'.

The fullest account given of him is by Caspar Brandt, in his Historia Vita Jac. Arminii, Leyden, 1724. 8vo. and republished, with a preface and some notes, by me; Brunsw. 1725. 8vo. Add the Noureau Dictionnaire Hist. et Critique, tom. i. p. 471, &c. [and The Creed of Arminius, with a brief sketch of his life and times, by M. Stuart, in the Biblical Repertory, Andover, 1831. vol. i. No. ii. p. 226–308. Tr.] The entire works of Arminius have been repeatedly published, in a moderatesized 4to volume. I use the edition

of Frankfort, 1634. 4to. Those who wish to discover and estimate correctly the genius of the man, should read especially his Disputationes, both the public and the private. His manner of teaching partakes somewhat of the dark scholasticism of his age; and yet it approximates to that simplicity and perspicuity, which his followers have regarded, and still regard, as among the primary excellences of a theologian. The historians of the sect, and its Confessions, are treated of by Jo. Christ. Köcher, Biblioth. Theol. Symbolicæ, p.

They are also called Remonstrants, from the petition they presented to the states of Holland and West Friesland, in 1610, which was entitled a Remonstrance. And as the friends of Calvinism presented another petition, in opposition to this, under the title of a Counter-Remonstrance, they obtained the name of Contra-Remonstrants.

§ 2. Arminius, though trained from infancy in the Genevan doctrines, and also a student in the academy of Geneva, when arrived at manhood, abandoned the common doctrine of the majority in the Reformed church, respecting predestination and the divine decrees, and went over to the side of those who believe that the love of God and the merits of our Saviour respect the whole human race'. Time and reflection confirmed him in his sentiments; and when called to the office of a professor at Leyden, he thought duty and candour required him publicly to teach his sentiments, and to oppose the opinions of Calvin, which were embraced by most of the Dutch divines. And this he was the more bold to do, because he knew that many persons besides himself, and some of them men of the highest respectability, were averse from the Genevan opinions on this subject; neither were the teachers required, either by the Belgic Confession, or by any other public law, to think and teach just as Calvin did. Arminius inculcated what he deemed true, not without effect: for he persuaded great numbers to adopt his sentiments. But at the same time, he drew on himself immense odium from the Calvinistic school, which then flourished greatly in Holland. In particular, Francis Gomar,

481, &c. [See also G. S. Franck's Diss. Theologica de Historia Dogmatum Arminianorum, Keil, 1813. 8vo. Tr.Among their Confessions may be reckoned, I. Their Remonstrance, in 1610, which was presented to the States, in vindication of Arminius and other divines accused of error, and was first printed in 1617.-II. Their proper Confession, of 1621, which Saml. Episcopius set forth.-III. Their Apology, in 1629, in reply to the confutation of their Confessions by the Leyden divines, set forth by Episcopius.—IV. Their Catechism, of 1640, by Jo. Uytenbogaerd. — V. Lastly, their Acta et

his colleague, was very hostile to him. Such was the commencement of the long and most unpleasant controversy. But Arminius died, in 1609, just as it began to rage and pervade the whole United Provinces.

§ 3. After the death of Arminius, the controversy was carried on, for several years, without any decisive advantage gained by either party. The wishes of the Arminians, who sought only to have their opinions tolerated in the state or republic, were not a little favoured by the first men in the commonwealth, such as John van Oldenbarnevelt, Hugo Grotius, Rombold Hoogerbeets, and others. For these supposed that, in their free country, every one might believe what he chose, on subjects not determined by the Belgic Confession: and they used every means to bring the Calvinists to bear with moderation the dissent of the opposite party. And even Prince Maurice of Orange, the head of the commonwealth, and who afterwards became the capital enemy of the Arminians, together with his mother and the court, was at first not averse from these views. Hence the conference between the parties at the Hague in 1611: hence also the discussion at Delft in 1613 and likewise the edict of the States of Holland in 1614, in favour of peace; and all the other efforts to reconcile the brethren, whom religion had separated from each other. But the suspicion of the Calvinists, that the Arminians aimed at the overthrow of all religion, was so far from being allayed by

3 No one has more copiously treated the whole history of the controversy, and the public schism that arose from it, than Gerhard Brandt, in his excellent work, The History of the Reformation in Belgium, written in Dutch,

volumes ii. and iii. of which there are extant concise epitomes, both in English and in French. To this may be added Jo. Uytenbogaerd's Ecclesiastical History [of the United Provinces, 1647. fol.] also written in Dutch; Phil. Limborch's Historia Vita Episcopii, and the Epistola Clarorum Virorum, (commonly called, Epistolæ Arminianorum,) published by Limborch. Such as wish for a shorter narrative, may consult Phil. Limborch's Relatio Historica de Origine et Progressu Controversiarum in Foederato Belgio de Prædestinatione et

Capitibus annexis, which is subjoined to the later editions of his Theologia Christiana. But all these were Arminians. Such as think proper to hear also the contrary party, may consult Jac. Trigland's Ecclesiastical History, written in Dutch, and some of the numerous writings which have been published against the Remonstrants.

4 The authors who treat particularly of these events are mentioned by the writers of the general history; and we therefore omit to name them. Yet Michael le Vassor, who in the i. and ii. volumes of his Histoire de Louis XIII. has particularly treated of these troubles, deserves especially to be read. [But still more, Van Wagenaer, History of the United Netherlands, vol. iv. p.311, &c. of the German translation. Sch.]

these measures, that it daily became more confirmed; and they spiritedly censured the zeal of the magistrates, for interposing their authority in behalf of public peace. And whoever regards truth more than every other consideration, must acknowledge, that the Arminians were not sufficiently cautious in avoiding intercourse and familiarity with persons who were eager to advance opinions that were a very wide departure from the Reformed religion; and in this way they gave the greatest occasion to their adversaries of suspecting every thing bad and pernicious to the public religion.

§ 4. The whole controversy, however, which assumed, after the council at Dort, a very different form, and was enlarged by many additions, was at this time confined to the doctrines of grace and predestination; and was comprehended by the Remonstrants in the five propositions, which are so well known under the name of the Five Points. For the Arminians taught -I. That God, before the foundation of the world, or from eternity, decreed to bestow eternal salvation on those who he foresaw would keep their faith in Christ Jesus inviolate until death; and on the other hand, to consign over to eternal punishments the unbelieving, who resist the invitations of God to the end of their lives.-II. That Jesus Christ, by his death, made expiation for the sins of all and every one of mankind : yet that none but believers can become partakers of this divine benefit.-III. That no one can, of himself, or by the powers of his free will, produce or generate in his own mind faith; but that it is necessary a man, who is by nature evil, and incompetent (ineptus) both to think and to do good, should be born again, and renewed by God, for Christ's sake, through the Holy Spirit. IV. That this divine grace or energy, which heals the soul of man, commences, advances, and perfects all that can be called truly good in man: and therefore all good works are ascribable to no one except to God only, and to his

5 The conduct of the magistrates, who sought to quiet the commotions by their interposition, and who not only employed persuasion, but likewise commands, was eloquently and learnedly defended by Hugo Grotius, in two treatises. The one, which is in every

body's hands and has been often printed, is a general treatise, entitled, De Jure summarum Potestatum circa Sacra: the other descends to particulars, and is entitled, Ordinum Hollandia et Westfrisia Pietas a multorum Calumniis vindicta. Lugd. Bat. 1613. 4to.