THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. VOLUME THE FOURTH: CONTAINING THE REMAINDER OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY EDITED ON THE PLAN AND IN PART FROM THE MSS. OF THE LATE REV. JOSEPH MILNER, A.M. BY THE REVD ISAAC MILNER, D.D. F.R.S. DEAN OF CARLISLE, AND PRESIDENT OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. London: Printed by Luke Hansard & Sons, FOR T.CADELL AND W. DAVIES, IN THE STRAND, PREFACE. THE EDITOR has no doubt but the subjectmatter of this Volume will afford abundant satisfaction to the Christian Reader. Almost every page is replete both with instruction and entertainment; and what certainly distinguishes this History through a very large portion of it,-that portion, which peculiarly entitles it to the naine of the History of the Church of Christ,-is of such a nature as not to have found its way into our ordinary Ecclesiastical histories. The learned Reader, when he has perused this book, can scarcely fail to exclaim, How little notice, in general, has been taken of the genuine religious principles and practice of the bishops Grosseteste and Bradwardine! How are the very best parts of the character of Wickliff almost consigned to oblivion! What defective and erroneous notions of John Huss, and Jerom of Prague, are inculcated by authors who have attempted to abstract and condense the proceedings of the Council of Constance; and lastly, how little acquainted are even many studious and well-informed persons with the religious part of the character of Martin Luther! Perhaps few men have been more exposed than, this celebrated German, to the extremes of calumny and panegyric. Ecclesiastical histories are full, not only of discordant sentiments relative to his proceedings, but also of contradictory statements of the facts. His bold and enterprising genius, his firm and intrepid temper, and above all, his persevering spirit of inquiry, continue to be the admiration of every true Protestant; while those of the papal persuasion have endeavoured to load his memory with charges, which at first originated in chagrin and hatred, and have been kept alive by bigotry and superstition. The infidel writers, who usually affect extraordinary moderation in every thing but religious concerns, have rashly followed the Papists in questioning the purity of the Reformer's motives. Nobody is surprised at this. But it may well seem a wonderful, as it is truly an affecting circumstance, that, in our enlightened times, many should be found, who, though they have not only never renounced Christianity, but even profess themselves sincere friends of the Reformation, yet appear to understand very little of the real dispositions of Luther. Some of his natural qualities have been the subject of much observation; but the ruling principles of the man, those principles which were eminently spiritual and christian, are almost buried in silence. There would be little room left for controversy respecting this extraordinary personage, if men would turn their attention to the investigation of his private conduct and secret motives, and would accustom themselves to estimate characters by scriptural rules. Happily, the authentic documents for this purpose, though by no means so plentiful, in some of the earlier years of his life, as might be wished, -are yet, in the main, sufficiently clear and numeThey establish, beyond dispute, the singular purity and disinterested integrity of Luther. And 3 |