kept. The Book of Common Prayer and Catechism were declared heretical; the kingdom was reconciled to the see of Rome; a persecution of the chief reformers commenced-Rogers was burned at Smithfield, Hooper at Gloucester, Sanders at Coventry, Taylor at Hadley; the prisons were filled with "heretics." Many fled beyond the sea; some purchased safety by an outward conformity; Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley perished in the flames at Oxford. Mary surrendered all the churchlands, as well as the first fruits and tenths, which had been seized by Henry. At last the death of Mary with that of the cardinals, delivered the church from its oppressors. In the reign of Elizabeth the Book of Common Prayer, and the tests of orthodoxy in the English church were restored.

An attempt was made in the reign of James I. at the Hampton Court to satisfy the scruples of the Protestant non-conformists. Attempts were made to win over the Puritan leaders; bishoprics were offered Baxter, Calamy and Reynolds; but the last only accepted. The demands of the Presbyterians were most immoderate. Baxter proposed the substitution of a new book of his own composition to take the place of the Common Prayer Book. In 1662 its use was made compulsory in all the churches as it now stands.

In 1687 James II. published the famous declaration of indulgence, which filled up the measure of popular discontent, and finally cost him his crown.

The Church of England, after fighting for its existence against popery on the one hand, and against Puritanism on the other, subsided into inactivity during the reigns of the Georges.

That she failed to see a grand opportunity for herself in the rise of John Wesley in 1730, is a matter of both surprise and regret; she let it pass; she can hardly hope that such another will ever present itself. The Church of England has bishops, priests, and deacons. She has two archbishops, and 28 bishops in England, besides two archbishops and ten bishops in Ireland.

Established Church,

Established Church, a church established and maintained by a state for the teaching of Christianity in a particular form within it boundaries. Subsequent to the Reformation, many of the opinions which had given sanctity to the church of Rome still kept possession of men's minds; among these was the notion that the civil government of each state was bound to maintain a particular form of Christianity. The same fallacious reasoning which in more recent times has led to the search for one absolutely best form of civil government was at work then with reference to the church. The Roman Catholic Church was not the best form-of that the Protestant states had become convinced-but all forms were not

therefore indifferent; and if one was better than another, and another better than that, there must be an absolutely best, which the state was bound to discover, and when discovered, to substitute it for that which had been abolished. The idea that the good or bad qualities of forms of government, whether civil or ecclesiastical, so long as they did not violate the fundamental doctrines of Christianity or morality, were relative and not absolute, and that while one might be the best for men in one stage of development or of one particular temperament, another might be the best for those who differed from them in those respects, did not belong to that age.

Each Protestant state established a church in conformity to the tenets which it enforced, not only upon those who as ministers were henceforth to enjoy the property which in Roman Catholic times had been devoted to the spirituality of the community, but very often on its own civil servants and advisers. The benefit of the arrangement was that, to a greater or less extent, the means which the community had set apart for its own spiritual improvement were protected from the spoliation of private individuals; and this benefit was secured more effectually and more completely when the new church took the place of the old. In England, for example, better than in Scotland; but as each of the Protestant states had substituted one form of church government for another, and as the same form had not been adopted by them all, the idea of there being one form which was absolutely preferable to the others, though not abolished, was rudely shaken. In England. queen Elizabeth had stated in her celebrated declaration that she, as head of the church, "would not endure any varying or departure in the least degree from the doctrines of the Episcopal church of England as set forth in the 39 articles; and yet Presbyterianism was established in England in 1649. In Scotland, where Presbyteriansm had at first taken root, Episcopalianism had more than once become the law of the land. The pastors of these sects were not at first recognized by the civil law as entitled to any of the privileges of Christian ministers. They were pastors to their own flock, but to the state they were laymen, and their churches were mere lecture-rooms, secularized by the domination of the civil government. This is an exhibition of the disadvantage of the church when she is subjected to the authority of the state. Gradually this has been modified, so that the civil consequences attaching to sacred rites, are extended to clergymen of different denominations of Christians, but still the established churches of England and Scotland are supported by the state by the coronation oath, which is extended to no other church in those countries, while in France endowments are extended to different churches without discrimination. In the sense of justice and equal rights it cannot be maintained that the state should support one church to the exclusion of other churches, unless it assumes that religious truth and worth belong exclusively to that denomination.

Evangelical Alliance.

5. The

Evangelical Alliance, an association of Evangelical Christians belonging to various churches and countries, had its origin in a general desire for a more practical union among Protestants, in order to promote the interests of Christian faith. The Alliance was formed at London, Aug. 19-23, 1846, at a meeting of about 800 persons, representing different denominations, and from different countries. The following articles were adopted as an expression of faith: 1. The divine inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures. 2. The right and duty of private judgment in the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. 3. The unity of the Godhead and the Trinity of the persons therein. 4. The utter depravity of human nature in consequence of the fall. incarnation of the Son of God, his work of atonement for the sins of mankind, and his mediatorial intercession and reign. 6. The justification of the sinner by faith alone. 7. The work of the Holy Spirit in conversion and sanctification. 8. The immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, the judgment by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the eternal blessedness of the righteous and the eternal punishment of the wicked. 9. The divine institution of the Christian ministry and the obligation and perpetuity of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper. The organization thus commenced has since been extended throughout Protestant Christendom. Branch alliances have been formed in Great Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Brazil, and Japan. The whole Alliance appears in active operation only when it meets in general conferences. These have been held in different countries. A very enthusiastic one was held in New York in 1873. Since its organization several cases of persecution have occurred in southern Europe under the operation of penal laws against Protestants. In these cases the influence of the Alliance has been successfully exerted to bring the persecution to an end. It interceded for Methodists and Baptists in Sweden, and since the laws against Dissenters have been abrogated. It remonstrated against the persecutions of Roman Catholics and other Christians in Japan, and these have not been renewed. The Christian public sentiment of the Alliance commands a respectful hearing everywhere.

Evangelical Church Conference.

Evangelical Church Conference is the name given to periodical meetings of the Protestant churches of the German states, the holding of which was suggested by King William of Wurtemberg, in 1815. The first was held at Berlin in 1846, and included representatives from nearly all the German states. At the second, held at Eisenach in 1852, a central organ was established at From 1855 to 1868 the conferences were held at

Stu tgart.

Eisenach.

Evangelical Union.

Evangelical Union, the name assumed by a religious body in Scotland in 1843 by Rev. James Morrison, of Kilmarnock (now Dr. Morrison of Glasgow,) and three other ministers (with their respective adherents,) who had been separated from the United Secession church for doctrinal views, of which the fundamental and determining article was the strict universality of the Savior's atonement. Co-eval with the body is its theological academy, presided over by Dr. Morrison, and attended by over twenty students annually. They were soon joined by a number of ministers and churches of the Congregational union of Scotland and have since extended in Scotland and in the north of England. Their church government is independent, but many congregations have ruling elders. Their doctrine is that the divine Father loves all, the divine Savior died for all, the divine Spirit strives for the salvation of all. They believe in the freedom of the will. On the Trinity, atonement and justification, they are in agreement with other evangelical bodies.

Free Church of Scotland.

Free Church of Scotland, the name assumed by those who at the disruption of the Established Church of Scotland, in 1843, withdrew from connection with the state and formed themselves into a distinct religious community, at the same time claiming to represent the historic church of Scotland, as maintaining the principles for which it had contended since the Reformation.

There is no difference between the Free Church of Scotland and the Established Church in the standards which they receive, except some of the laws since the disruption may have been repealed. The same Presbyterian constitution subsists in both churches, with the same classes of offices and gradations of church courts. The Free Church maintains the constitution and church government in a perfection impossible in the present circumstances of the Established Church, because of acts of Parliament by which the Established Church is trammeled, and interventions of civil authority to which it is liable. The whole difference between the Free Church and the Established Church relates to the consent and submission of the Established Church to the control of the civil power in things which the Free Church regards as beloniging not to the province of civil government, but to the church of Christ and to His office-bearers and courts, as deriving authority from Him. Those who constituted the Free Church of Scotland in 1843 believed that the church might be connected with the state, receive support from it to the advantage of both, but there should be no sacrifice of the independence of self government of the church, as the kingdom of Christ derived its existence, organization, and laws from Him.

The Westminster Confession of Faith asserts that there is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ; and he appointed a government in the hand of church-officers, distinct from civil magistrates. It ascribes to civil magistrates much power and many duties concerning things spiritual, but no power in or over these things. All this was the doctrine of the Church of Scotland before the Westminster Confession was compiled.

Since 1843, the history of the Free Church has been generally that of peaceful progress. The minister of the Free Church at Cardross having been suspended by the general assembly of 1858, he raised an action in the court of session. The case terminated in a recognition of the independence of the church in things purely spiritual, and a full admission of its subjection to the civil courts in all things temporal, including the right of these courts to demand full information as to all ecclesiastical proceedings, and production of minutes and other documents, when they should see cause. 1873, the Free Church of Scotland had 908 ministerial charges. The whole sum raised for religious and educational purposes for 30 years was 10,299,306 Pounds, rather more than 343,310 Pounds a year.

In

In 1876 the Free Church of Scotland, and the Reformed Presbyterian church were united.

Friends.

Friends, a religious sect, better known as Quakers; founded. by George Fox, born at Drayton, in Leicestershire in 1624, who devoted himself to the propagation of what he regarded as a more spiritual form of Christianity than prevailed in his day. In spite of severe persecutions, the society has succeeded in establishing themselves both in England and America.

In doctrine they differ from other orthodox Christians more in the spirit than in the letter. The Declaration of Doctrine of the society given in 1693, expresses a belief in the Trinity, in the atonement made by Christ for sin, in the resurrection from the dead, and of eternal judgment. In the yearly meeting in 1829 they declared their belief in the inspiration and divine authority of the Old and New Testaments, the depravity of human nature consequent on the fall of Adam. Friends, in general, in the expression of their belief, have avoided the technical phraseology of other Christian churches, restricting themselves with commendable modesty to the words of the Scripture itself as far as that is possible, and avoiding, in particular, the knotty points of Calvinistic divinity. Allowing each individual the freedom of interpreting the Scriptures has rendered it more difficult to ascertain to what extent individuals in the society may have differed in the doctrines of Christianity dogmatically expressed. Their principle distinguishing doctrine is that of the "light of Christ in man,"