~ Here we shall close our remarks on the method taken to spread the light of the gospel" in the Netherlands, and the impious fruits this pretended light produced; before however we quit this section we shall take leave to expose a gross perversion of history for the purpose of delusion. The account of the assassination of the prince of Orange is thus stated: Balthazar Gerard, a native of Franche Comté, a "bigotted and furious Roman Catholic, thinking to advance his own for"tune and the popish cause by one desperate act, resolved upon the as"sassination of the prince of Orange. Having provided himself with "fire-arms, he watched the prince as he passed through the great hall "of his palace to dinner, and demanded a passport. The princess of Orange, observing in his tone of voice and manner something con"fused and singular, asked who he was, saying she did not like his “countenance. The prince answered, it was one that demanded a "passport, which he should have presently. Nothing farther transpired until after dinner, when on the return of the prince and princess through the same hall, the assassin, from behind one of the pillars, "fired at the prince; the balls entering at the left side, and passing through the right, wounded in their passage the stomach and vital (6 parts. The prince had only power to say, 'Lord have mercy upon "my soul, and upon this poor people,' and immediately expired.

"The death of this virtuous prince, who was considered as the "father of his people, spread universal sorrow throughout the United "Provinces. The assassin was immediately taken, and received sen

"tence to be put to death in the most exemplary manne

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yet such

" was his enthusiasm and blindness for his crime, that while suffering "for it, he coolly said, "Were I at liberty I would repeat the same." This is the statement in the Book of Martyrs, and we might suppose by it that this "virtuous prince," this looked-upon "father of his people," was the paragon of governors and the most faithful of Christians. Other writers, however, give a different colour of his character, and represent him as a dissembler, a cheat, and an oppressor;* and differ from Fox as to the manner of his assassination. Dr. Heylin writes, in his history aforesaid, that as there was no hopes of reducing Holland and Zealand to the king of Spain's subjection, while the prince of Orange remained at the head of the insurgents, and as there was no chance of overcoming the prince by open force, it was resolved to take his life by treachery. This was an unjustifiable determination, and it is evident that religion had no more to do with it, than it had with the horrible massacre of Glencowe by the prince of Orange of England. However the decision was made and acted upon. The first who made the attempt was a young fellow, who discharged a pistol in his face when he was attending on the duke of Anjou at Antwerp, but without effect. Being recovered of that blow," says Dr. Heylin, “he was not long after shot with three poisoned bullets, by "one Balthasar Gerard, a Burgundian born, whom he had lately taken "into his service which murder was committed at Delph, in Holland, "on the 10th of June, 1584, when he had lived but fifty years and some months over." Here then we have a different relation of this transaction. Heylin says the assassin was a servant of the prince, and being such, we may suppose he was not a Catholic, his master being,

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like the "few plain Christians," a Catholic-hater. The assassin, we are told by Fox, was put to death in the most exemplary manner,' but what kind of death he suffered we are not informed, though we are told it was worthy of imitation. Fox represents this leader of armed spreaders of "the light of the gospel," to be a "virtuous "prince; but Dr. Heylin gives a different account of him. The doctor says, "For compassing his designs he made use of that religion which "best served his turn: being bred a Lutheran by his father, he professed "himself a Romanist under Charles the fifth; and after finding the "Calvinians the more likely men to advance his purposes, he declared "himself chiefly in their favour, though he permitted other sects and "sectaries to grow up with them; in which respect he openly op"posed all treaties, overtures, and propositions, looking towards a peace, which might not come accompanied with such a liberty of "conscience, both in doctrine and worship, as he knew well could “never be admitted by the ministers of the Catholic king."

That the prince has occasion to exclaim "Lord have mercy upon "my soul, and upon this poor people," we verily believe; for, in the first place he was the cause of much blood being shed, and, in the second, he took care to fleece the "poor people" pretty closely to carry on his ambitious designs. In concluding his account of " their "(the Presbyterians) positions and proceedings in the higher Ger"many; their dangerous doctrines and seditions; their innovations in “the Church, and alteration of the civil government of the Belgic "provinces from the year 1559 to the year 1585," Dr. Heylin records the successful artifice practised to cheat the clergy of the tithes, and transfer them to the coffers of this "virtuous prince." This trick is so curious that we shall give it in the doctor's words, to shew how easily a bewildered and fanatic people can be cheated out of their faith and property. They," (the Calvinist declaimers) he writes, "had" "besides, so often preached down tithes as a Jewish maintenance im" proper and unfit for ministers of the holy gospel, when they were paid unto the clergy of the church of Rome, that at the last the peo" ple took them at their word, believe them to be so indeed, and are "spurred on the faster to a change of religion, in which they saw some "glimmering of a present profit. Of these mistakes the prince of ' Orange was too wise not to make advantage; giving assurance to "the land-holders and country villagers, that if they stood to him in "the wars against the Spaniard, they should from thenceforth pay no * tithes unto their ministers, as before they did. The tithes in the "mean time to be brought into the common treasury toward the charges. "of the war, the ministers to be maintained by contributions at an easy "rate. But when the war was come to so fair an issue, that they "thought to be exempted from the payment of tithes, answer was made "that they should pay none to the ministers, as they had done for"merly, whereby their ministers in effect were become their masters; but that the tithes were so considerable a revenue to the commonwealth, that the state could not possibly subsist without them; that * therefore they must be content to pay them to the state's commis*sioners, as they had done hitherto, and that the state would take "due care to maintain a ministry. By means whereof they do not only

"" pay the tithes as in former times; but seeing how much the public al"lowance of the state doth come short of a competency (though by "that name they please to call it) they are constrained, as it were, "out of common charity, if not compelled thereto by order, to con"tribute over and above with the rest of the people, for the improve"ment and increase of the ministers maintenance. But as they bake, "(observes the doctor) so let them brew, to make good the proverb." So say we, and here we may safely leave the persecutions in the Netherlands to the judgment of the reader.

"SECTION VI.

"PERSECUTIONS IN LITHUANIA."

The country here selected is a large portion of Europe now forming part of the kingdom of Poland, with the title of a grand duchy. The following is the account given by the Book of Martyrs of the pretended persecutions in this country:" The persecutions in Lithuania "began in 1648, and were carried on with great severity by the Cos↳ "sacks and Tartars. The cruelty of the former was such, that even "the Tartars, at last, revolted from it, and rescued some of the in"tended victims from their hands.

"The Russians perceiving the devastations which had been made in "the country, and its incapability of defence, entered it with a consi“derable army, and carried ruin wherever they went. Fvery thing they met with was devoted to destruction. The ministers of the "gospel were peculiarly singled out as the objects of their hatred, "while every Christian was liable to their barbarity.

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Lithuania no sooner recovered itself from one persecution, than "succeeding enemies again reduced it. The Swedes, the Prussians, “and the Courlanders, carried fire and sword through it, and continual " calamities, for some years, attended that unhappy district. It was "afterwards attacked by the prince of Transylvania, at the head of an "army of barbarians, who wasted the country, destroyed the churches, "burnt the houses, plundered the inhabitants, murdered the infirm, "and enslaved the healthy.

"In no part of the world have the followers of Christ been exempt “from the rage and bitterness of their enimies; and well have they "experienced the force of those scripture truths, that they who live "godly in Christ, shall suffer persecution, and those who are born af "ter the flesh have always been enemies to such as are born after "the spirit: accordingly the Protestants of Poland suffered in a dread"ful manner. The ministers in particular were treated with the most "unexampled barbarity; some having their tongues cut out, because "they had preached the gospel truths; others being deprived of their 'sight on account of having read the bible; and great numbers were "cut to pieces for not recanting. Several private persons were put to "death by the most cruel means. Women were murdered without the "least regard to their sex; and the persecutors even went so far as to “cut off the heads of sucking babes, and fasten them to the breasts of "their unfortunate mothers!

"Even the silent habitations of the dead escaped not the malice of

"these savages; for they dug up the bodies of many eminent persons, "and either cut them to pieces and exposed them to be devoured by "birds and beasts, or hung them up in the most conspicuous places. "The city of Lesna, in this persecution, particularly suffered; for he "ing taken the inhabitants were totally extirpated.'

4

We have here the date when the persecutions are said to have commenced, but the rest is all assertion, and, we will add, in a great measure fiction. In the first place we must observe, that the beginners of the persecution being stated to be Cossacks and Tartars, the Catholics cannot surely be blameable for their deeds, as they were infidels or Mahometans, and the victims most probably, we believe really, were Catholics. Then the Russians carried on what was begun by the Cossacks and Tartars. Well, the Russians were not Catholics, they had seceded from the church of Rome, and therefore the professors of that church cannot consequently be made responsible for the actions of the seceders. Then the Swedes and Prussians, and the Courlanders carried fire and sword through it; here again the persecutors are not Catholics. These people were Protestants, reader; they were the childen of the reformation, so called; is it right that poor Popery should be bur thened with the sins of others? Next comes the prince of Transylvania and his army of barbarians, who wasted the country, destroyed the churches, and carried total destruction before him. This prince and his barbarians were Mahometans, and by the demolition of churches we may suppose the victims were Catholics, for they were the builders of the churches. We agree with Fox, that "in no part of the world have "the followers of Christ been exempt from the rage and bitterness of their enemies;". this was foretold by Christ, and the page of history bears testimony to the accuracy of the prophecy. The primitive Catholic Christians suffered persecution from the Pagans; they suffered from the Arians, they suffered under Mahometanism, and they felt the persecuting hand of Protestantism, whenever the latter gained the ascendency. At this very day this intolerant spirit is shewing itself in Ireland, where the unoffending Christian, who forsakes the path of error to embrace the glorious light of truth, is sure to be marked out as the victim of persecution by the Orange faction.

But to return to the Book of Martyrs. The Protestants of Poland are said to have suffered in a dreadful manner, and a brief account is given to harrow up the feelings of the reader ;-but if they did suffer, they have themselves to blame, for they were the basest traitors to their country that ever a country was cursed with. From motives of revenge they introduced foreign mercenaries into their native country, created a civil war, and finally occasioned it to fall into the hands of the neighbouring powers. Poland had long been a prey to faction, from the formation of her civil constitution, and when the seeds of the reformation were sown in that country, and began to fructify, to civil faction was united religious regard on one side, and fanaticism on the other. We have now before us De la Croix's Review of the Constitutions of the principal States of Europe, from whose account of the Constitution of Poland we here make some extracts. We know not what religion this author professed, but it is clear he was not a Catholic, and therefore he could have no predilection for that faith. He writes,The Protestant doctrines which were spread all

OF

For's Book of Martyrs,

CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL.

No. 25. Printed and Published by W. E. ANDREWS, 3, Chapter- Price 3d.

house-court, St. Paul's Churchyard, London.

EXPLANATION OF THE ENGRAVING.-The Hugonots forced a priest, on whom they laid their hands, to celebrate mass, for no other cause than that they might make a jest of it White celebrating the martyr in several parts

of his body divine mysteries, the barbarous miscreants wounded the in the church by his

their poignards, they then fastened him a hands and feet, and in that posture they shot at him till he was dead.

"over Germany, had penetrated Poland, and were there opposed by " persecutions. Novelties, which would die away, if treated with in"difference, increase and multiply under intolerance. This new faith "had already made such a progress, that Sigismund-Augustus, instead "of persecuting his Protestant subjects, as his father had done, took "the wiser part of granting them full liberty of exercising their religion; and admitted them, as well as those of the Greek church, and "other sectaries, to a right of suffrage in the diets; and of all the honours and privileges which the Catholics were desirous of enjoying "exclusively. But this prince, worthy of the name of Augustus, dif"fused his own spirit of moderation and impartiality with such effect through the whole nation, that the people consented that no differ"ence of opinion in religious matters should produce any in civil or