r the objective truth of that which he believes. No martyrs
have sealed their faith with their blood more steadfastly than the
Anabaptists.

Last, but not least, the Protestant principle contained within itself
the germs of the destruction of the finality, which the Lutheran,
Calvinistic, and other Protestant Churches fondly imagined they had
reached. Since their creeds were professedly based on the canonical
Scriptures, it followed that, in the long run, whoso settled the
canon defined the creed. If the private judgment of Luther might
legitimately conclude that the epistle of James was contemptible,
while the epistles of Paul contained the very essence of Christianity,
it must be permissible for some other private judgment, on as good or
as bad grounds, to reverse these conclusions; the critical process
which excluded the Apocrypha could not be barred, at any rate by
people who rejected the authority of the Church, from extending its
operations to Daniel, the Canticles, and Ecclesiastes; nor, having got
so far, was it easy to allege any good ground for staying the further
progress of criticism. In fact, the logical development of
Protestantism could not fail to lay the authority of the Scriptures at
the feet of Reason; and, in the hands of latitudinarian and
rationalistic theologians, the despotism of the Bible was rapidly
converted into an extremely limited monarchy. Treated with as much
respect as ever, the sphere of its practical authority was minimised;
and its decrees were valid only so far as they were countersigned by
common sense, the responsible minister.

The champions of Protestantism are much given to glorify the
Reformation of the sixteenth century as the emancipation of Reason;
but it may be doubted if their contention has any solid ground; while
there is a good deal of evidence to show, that aspirations after
intellectual freedom had nothing whatever to do with the movement.
Dante, who struck the Papacy as hard blows as Wicliff; Wicliff himself
and Luther himself, when they began their work; were far enough from
any intention of meddling with even the most irrational of the dogmas
of mediaeval Supernaturalism. From Wicliff to Socinus, or even to
Muenzer, Rothmann, and John of Leyden, I fail to find a trace of any
desire to set reason free. The most that can be discovered is a
proposal to change masters. From being the slave of the Papacy the
intellect was to become the serf of the Bible; or, to speak